inspected. The bandolier, filled with bright new cartridges, was swung
over his shoulder, and then, after putting a Testament into his coat
pocket, he was ready to proceed. He despised a uniform of any kind as
smacking of anti-republican ideas and likely to attract the attention of
the enemy. The same corduroy or mole-skin trousers, dark coat,
wide-brimmed hat, and home-made shoes which he was accustomed to wear in
every-day life on the farm were good enough for a hunting expedition, and
he needed and yearned for nothing better. A uniform would have caused him
to feel uneasy and out of place, and when lions were the game he wanted to
be thoroughly comfortable so that his arm and aim might be steady. His
vrouw, who was filling a linen sack with bread, biltong, and coffee to be
consumed on his journey to the hunting grounds, may have taken the
opportunity while he was cleaning his rifle to sew a rosette of the
vierkleur of the Republic on his hat, or, remembering the custom observed
in the old-time wars against the natives, may have found the fluffy brown
tail of a meerkatz and fixed it on the upturned brim of his grimy hat.
When these few preparations were concluded the Kafir servant brought his
master's horse and fixed to the front of the saddle a small roll
containing a blanket and a mackintosh. To another part of the saddle he
strapped a small black kettle to be used for the preparation of the
lion-hunter's only luxury, coffee, and then the list of impedimenta was
complete. The horseman who brought the summons to go to the frontier had
hardly reached the neighbouring farmhouse when the Boer lion-hunter,
uniformed, outfitted, and armed, was on his horse's back and ready for any
duty at any place. With a rifle, bandolier, and a horse the Boer felt as
if he were among kindred spirits, and nothing more was necessary to
complete his temporal happiness. The horse is a part of the Boer hunter,
and he might as well have gone to the frontier without a rifle as to go in
the capacity of a foot soldier. The Boer is the modern Centaur, and
therein is found an explanation for part of his success in hunting.