National Prosecuting Authority, SA Police Service And SANParks Rangers Commended For Sterling Work In Adressing Poaching

The Department of Environmental Affairs welcomes the sentencing of two rhino poachers to 10 years imprisonment... each by the Vryheid Magistrate’s Court in KwaZulu-Natal for poaching a black rhino and possession of two rhino horn. The men - Philani Khanyile and Nhlathu Siyaya – were arrested at a roadblock in November 2010. The rhino horns were discovered in their vehicle.

The Department has also commended SANParks rangers and the police for their sterling efforts that have led to the arrest of 13 rhino poaching suspects countrywide in the past two weeks. This brings to 285 the number of alleged rhino poachers arrested since January this year. A total of 267 alleged poachers were arrested in 2012.

It is due to the combined efforts of SANParks rangers, the SANDF and the police that the battle against rhino poachers in particularly the Kruger National Park will be won. Were it not for these men and women working at the coalface of rhino poaching in South Africa, many more of these iconic animals will have been poached this year.

The number of rhinos killed for their horns in South Africa since January has increased to 860. Of the rhino poached, 521 have been killed in the Kruger National Park. A total of 87 rhinos have been poached in Limpopo, 82 in North West, 79 in KwaZulu-Natal and 77 in Mpumalanga.

South Africans and members of the international community are encouraged to information regarding rhino poaching and related tip-offs to the anonymous tip-off lines 0800 205 005, 08600 10111 or Crime-Line on 32211.

Issued by:
The Department of Environmental Affairs

 

 

Rhino Poaching

#PoachersUpdate: 20/09 (Houtboschrand). Whilst conducting a follow-up this morning after last night's contact with 3 poachers, Rangers made contact with 4 suspected poachers coming into the park. During the contact, two of the suspects were fatally wounded and the other two arrested. A .458 hunting rifle, ammo and poaching equipment were recovered.

Crime Scene Investigation: Rhino Division

 

It took Noddy Tshabalala only one minute to find the bullet. Treading softly among the scattered remains of a recently killed rhino, she swept a metal detector over the largest part of the carcass. The detector whined.

"There," said Kobus de Wet, head of the Kruger National Park's crime investigations unit. The machine was silent. "Back a bit."

Tshabalala moved the detector a hair's breadth. A long beep. De Wet knelt and dug gently into the soil with his gloved hands.

"There," he said, and held up a bullet.

It was a .357 calibre round, fired roughly two weeks ago, probably by a practised shot using a high-quality hunting rifle.

The crime scene was a tiny clearing in the thick bush, about 80km southeast of Skukuza camp.

Like any crime scene, the area was cordoned off until De Wet and Tshabalala had completed their first thorough sweep of the ground.

While his assistant continued sweeping the clearing for other clues, De Wet turned his attention to the carcass. There was little left. In the time between the shooting and the discovery of the carcass by rangers, hyenas and vultures had fought over the remains, tossing them about the clearing.

De Wet pointed to gouges on the animal's upper jaw where the poachers had hacked off its horns.

"Axe," he said.

The Kruger National Park is losing about two rhinos a day to poachers.

The stakes are high: according to a recent report on the Bloomberg business news website, rhino horn trades for as much as $65000/kg (about R650000/kg), making it more costly than gold, on the black markets in Asia. It is used as a cure for fevers and as a hangover remedy in Vietnam.

The potential earnings have attracted the attention of organised crime. The poaching is largely controlled by syndicates based in Mozambique.

"If you take out the syndicates, then you really solve the poaching problem," said retired army major-general Johan Jooste, who is head of the Kruger Park's anti-poaching operation.

The two investigators have worked hundreds of crime scenes but the job never gets any easier.

They recently found an injured female rhino near Satara camp.

"They had cut her tendons," said De Wet, "so she was sitting [on her haunches] for about a week."

She was the 397th rhino poached in Kruger this year.

There was no more evidence to find. The bullet was bagged and sealed. Perhaps it will turn up as a match. De Wet shrugged. Perhaps.

By:
 Times LIVE

Five Days Old Baby Elephant Rescued from Muddy Pond

Rhino Poaching Update

#RhinoPoachingUpdate: The total number of rhinos poached in South Africa since the beginning of the year has increased to 461. Since the start of 2013, a total of 288 rhinos have been poached in the Kruger National Park. A total of 51 rhinos have been poached in North West, 47 in Limpopo, 41 in KwaZulu-Natal, 31 in Mpumalanga, 2 in the Eastern Cape and 1 in Gauteng.
Of the 137 alleged poachers arrested, 60 have been caught in the Kruger National Park. Five people have been charged with being receivers.

South Africa cannot continue to be held hostage by the syndicates slaughtering our rhinos, said Water and Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa.

South Africans are urged to report incidents of poaching and tip-offs to the anonymous tip-off lines             0800 205 005       ,             08600 10111       or Crime-Line on 32211.

For media queries contact:

Albi Modise
Cell:             083 490 2871

      

June Photos

Hippos

Baboons

Warthog

Rhino


 

SANParks Kruger National Park To Close Four Artificial Water Holes

@SANParksKNP to close four artificial water holes in the southern part of the park in the week of 27 - 31 May 2013. http://www.sanparks.org/about/news/default.php?id=55531

On Safari with Mark Starting 1 May 2013

1 May 2013

Route: Napi - Skakuza - Doispan - Albaseni - Napi - Transport dam – Napi.

Animals seen were:

2 elephant bulls 1.2kms from Shithave Access road, Many different sightings of rhino throughout the day, 2 male lions and a lioness 1.8kms down the H3 from Napi. We spent 10min with them and then they got up and moved into the bush. 2.3kms past S65 on Doispan we had a leopard lying in a marola tree. Very good sighting of a female spotted hyena at her den. Herd of buffalo (200) near Mestal dam on Albaseni. After picking up the new clients we went for a drive down Napi. A great herd of elephant (50) on Napi just before boulders entrance was experienced. On our return towards the gate we had a buffalo bull right next to the Open Vehicle walking parallel with the road towards Numbi gate.

2 May 2013

Route: Napi - H3 - Napi - Tsokwane tar - Doispan - River link - River road - Kruger gate road - Napi - back to Nkambeni Camp.

Animals seen were:

3 spotted hyenas came running past the open vehicle on the scavenge just before shithave. A large journey (9) giraffe between boulders entrance and exit. At the flat rocks 1 male cheetah walking in the road. 2.3km from transport dam access road we found a female cheetah 20m off the road. 700m past transport access road a coalition of 4 cheetah walking parallel with the road. They made a run for some impala but all gave up very quickly as the grass is still to long and they were spotted from a distance. 3.2km down the H3 we had a distant visual of a lioness sleeping. After lunch we heard of lions at mutlamuvi bridge so went up there and found them. 2 males and a female (mating pair). Many herds of elephant seen throughout the day as well as rhino. Large herd of buffalo (100) on the tshokwane tar just before sandriver lowlevel bridge. Brilliant visuals of goshawks hovering and diving for their prey.  Mark got some brilliant photo's of  hippo's and crocs on the sabi lowlevel bridge.

3 May 2013

Route: Numbi tar - Voortrekker - H3 - Napi - Albaseni - Shabeni loop - back to camp.

Animals seen were:

Very little on voortrekker at the moment, with distant visuals of giraffe, warthog, waterbuck, blue wildebeest, kudu and small antelope like steenbok and duikers. 2.2km from afsaal on H3 we got 13 wild dog hunting next to the open vehicle. Great sighting and guests got fantastic photo's. Great rhino sightings today with them very close to the road. A herd of elephant (20) crossed over the road 1.3km from the S113. A herd of sable antelope (9) crossed albaseni 1.7km before mestal dam. At mestal dam we had 3 elephant, swimming. What a fantastic sighting.

What Lies Beneath

By Dr Ian Whyte

I was only ever chased up a tree by an animal once in my 37 years in the Kruger National Park, by a hippo that had come to graze on the lawn in my garden. Though there is little data to corroborate the reputation hippos have as being the mammal that kills more humans than any other in Africa, and i do wonder heather this reputation is deserved, I wasn’t taking any chances. It may well have been the case when humans and hippos tended to live along-side one another and potential for conflict was far greater. Hippos attacking fish boats, raiding crops or simply grazing around villages are all situations with the potential for fatal consequences to humans. These days I suspect elephants have taken over this role.  Humans and elephant populations are growing rapidly in many parts of the continent and conflict is on the rise. Be as it may, hippos remain dangerous animals capable of inflicting fearsome injuries and have been responsible for many human deaths. In most instances attacks on boats or people on the edge of the water are by mothers with small calves.  You only have to look at their teeth to understand why hippos are so fearsome.  Their huge canine teeth, measuring up to 300 millimetres in the lower jaw and 150 millimetres in the upper, grow continuously. These teeth protrude from the skull in such a way that they wear off against each other, keeping them razor sharp. The jaws open wide enough to encompass a human torso. In a bite from a hippo the upper and lower canines would probably meet inside the body, punching two huge holes right through it, almost certainly a fatal injury. Most field guides will tell you that hippos can stay submerged for up to six minutes, but rangers in the Kruger have recorded times of up to eight minutes. Once alarmed, the animals are wary of exposing themselves and will breath by cautiously allowing only the tip of the nostrils to break the surface of the water. So as not to give their position away, they do this in almost complete silence, compared to the explosive release of air normally heard from relaxed animals in the water. Hippo bulls are very territorial. They maintain a territory, usually consisting of a good pool with sandbanks for sunbathing, for many years. The territory is confined to a stretch of river and its immediate embankments, and does not extend to the grazing areas away from the river. Each territory has its associated females and calves that return to the same pool during the daylight hours. This status quo remains while the bull holds tenure, which he does for as long as he can fend off rivals. Displacement by a younger, more vigorous bull results in a upheaval in which the new contender may kill the calves sired by the previous bull. This behaviour ensures the new bulls genes are passes on into future generations and not those of his predecessor. Fighting is generally ritualised with much posturing and open-jawed displaying of the canines.  But sometimes more serious fights erupt in which males may inflict serious wounds by slashing at each other with their sharp canine teeth. These may last for several hours and are accompanied by weird vocalisations such as squeals, grunts and roars. Such battles can result in the death of one, or sometimes both, of the protagonists. Given their size, hippos have an extraordinarily short gestation period of eight months. Growth of the foetus in the womb is incredibly fast. Black rhinos, which are similar in size to hippos, have a gestation time almost twice as long, yet rhino calf weighs less at birth, about 40 kilograms, compared to a newborn hippo at about 50 kilograms. Calves may be born at any time of the year but the majority are born during the mid-summer, rainy months. When the time comes to give birth, female hippos move away from the herd and remain separated for about a fortnight. The calves are capable of going into deep water and can suckle underwater within minutes of being born. Initially the calf stays in shallow water near a shore while the mother grazes nearby. Growth of the first 10 years of life is also rapid. The average increase in weight is in the order of 100 kilograms a year, so that at 10 years old, a hippo can weigh in excess of 1200 kilograms. Males and females are similar in size, the male being only slightly larger than the female.

Wild magazine summer 2013/2013

On Safari With Dean Starting 7 March 2013

7 March 2013

Route: Numbi Gate - Pretoriuskop - Napi road -H3 - Quagga Pan - into the camp

A slow day experienced with the only animals seen where a mating pair of lions 100 meters from napi boulders exit, impala and kudu between napi boulders and transport dam and some impalas and wharthog on the H3.

8 March 2013

Upon leaving the camp this morning we found a good buffalo bull on the camp access road, after watching him for a time, we made our way to Napi Road then in the direction of Skukuza getting more good sightings of buffalo, elephant, and rhino. After a break at skukuza, we made our way down to the Sabie river in search of hippos and crocodiles. We managed to find some on elloff street and then made our way down to the sabieclow level bridge and found a crocodile in the water. We made our way back up to the skukuza fourways, and got back onto napi as we made our way to Numbi gate to pick up more guests. After check in formalities, it was off to Pretoriuskop for lunch, before departing on an afternoon drive going down to shithave dam and napi boulders, before making our way to the camp in order for the guests to settle in before departing on their late afternoon / evening safari. Numerous good sightings were experienced during the day.

9 March 2013

Today after enjoying a good breakfast, we made our way onto napi road, and as it turned out to be very quiet, with only a couple of sightings of elephant and rhino as well as giraffe. We made our way in the direction of Skukuza going down watergate, where we found hippo and a cheetah lying in the river bed. After leaving watergate, we turned onto doispane and then Paul Kruger Gate road before going into skukuza for a break as the heat had already set in. After a good break, we made our way back down napi making our way onto the h3 going down as far as quagga pan, before turning around due to no animals been seen and going back in the direction of napi. We turned onto napi and made our way in the direction of transport dam, going down to see what we could find. A Great sighting of hippo as well as mating waterbuck were seen. We made our way back down napi in order to drop guests off returning to Johannesburg and picking up more that were starting their safari. We again made our way down to Pretoriuskop for lunch. After a well deserved lunch. It was out onto the albasini road and then doispane in the direction of watergate. All that was seen on these roads was elephant, rhino, buffalo, zebra and impala. We made our way onto watergate and after getting to the causeway, we came across the same cheetah lying in the river bed. After a good photo opportunity, we made our way in the direction of napi road and then onto Pretoriuskop as it was starting to rain. After dropping some clients off in Pretoriuskop camp, the rest of us made our way back to Nkambeni for the night and some well deserved rest, before going out again tomorrow morning to look further for some of the inhabitants of the Kruger National Park.

10 March 2013

The route was as follows today. This morning we drove out of camp down the Napi road getting buffalo and elephant, turned onto the h3 that was very quiet, we heard about lions on the s112, and went down and did not find them. We then turned around and went back to h3 and back up to Napi road. We Found more buffalo at Klipspringer Koppies and heard about a leopard close to that area we went down to see if we could find it and it was not long before he was walking close to the road in the long grass. After a good sighting we went back to Pretoriuskop for breakfast as the one guest staying over at the camp had not had anything to eat. After breakfast we left the park to meet Verity in Nelspruit who was dropping off clients and picked up the next ones to return. We then came back in and stopping at Pretoriuskop for lunch. After lunch made our way down Napi to the h3 junction and then turned back. Animals found were impala, elephant, kudu, zebra, warthog and the leopard from the morning, this time lying in the bush ten meters from my vehicle. On the way back more elephants, rhino and buffalo were seen.

11 March 2013

Today Verity is heading to the Kruger National Park to drop off more guests, keep watching for more updates on how the Safaris are going and what is being experienced.

Elephant Mock Charge - Kruger National Park - Bubezi Safaris

Update On Rhino Poaching Stats

View an update on rhino poaching stats.. Click the link to get full story:  http://www.sanparks.org/about/news/default.php?id=55452

Feedback From Our Clients Dorothy And Buz Who Were On Safari With Us

Hi Verity,

Thanks so much for the email, I spoke to them about 3 hours ago and they both raved about the safari, said they saw everything and more and that Mark was exceptional, knew everything and more and was very entertaining!

They had an absolute ball and I can't thank you all enough for your communication/ handling of the situation throughout the period between booking and them actually travelling.

They said that the downtime during the rain was perfect for them ( they are getting old!! ) so I hope mark didn't take offence to them deciding to stay in!

My husband and I have done safaris from Kenya to Botswana and everything in between but are really looking forward to coming to do Kruger with you one day in the future.

Thanks again for everything :)

Kind regards,

Nhongo Safaris brings you Animals of the Kruger National Park

Feedback Of Our First Safaris For 2013 Coming Soon!

A very busy month ahead of us with both Dean and Mark in the Kruger National Park. Keep watching for feedback on their safaris coming soon!

Kruger National Park Photos Taken By Ronesh Parbhoo

Baby Elephant Doing A Mock Charge

Male Lion With A Bottle That Had Been Thrown Out The Window Of A Car

Male Lion



 

Animals Of The Kruger National Park

Elephant Walking Across The Road

Giraffe Standing In The Bush

African Fish Eagle



 

Jock Of The Bushveld by Sir Percy Fitzpatrick (Chapter 26)( Page 4 ) Our Various Ways

They had failed to find the mine; the native who was supposed to know all about it had deserted, with all he could carry off; they were short of food and money, and out of medicines; the delays had been great; they were two hundred miles from any white men; there was no road but their own erratic track through the bush; the rains had begun and the fever season set in; the cattle--they had one waggon and span--were worn-out; the fever had gripped them, and of the six white men, three were dead, one dying, and two only able to crawl; most of their boys had deserted; one umfaan fit for work, and the driver--then delirious with fever-- completed the party. The long journey was almost over; and they were only a few treks from the store and camp for which they were making; but they were so stricken and helpless it seemed as though that little was too much, and they must die within reach of help.  The driver, a big Zulu, was then raving mad; he had twice run off into the bush and been lost for hours.  Precious time and waning strength were spent in the search, and with infinite effort and much good luck they had found him and induced him to return. On the second occasion they had enticed him on to the waggon and, as he lay half unconscious between bursts of delirium, had tied him down flat on his back, with wrists and ankles fastened to the buck-rails.  It was all they could do to save him: they had barely strength to climb up and pour water into his mouth from time to time. It was midday then, and their dying comrade was so far gone that they decided to abandon one trek and wait for evening, to allow him to die in peace.  Later on, when they thought it was all over, they tried to scrape out a grave for him, and began to pull out one old blanket to wrap round him in place of a shroud and coffin.  It was then that the man opened his eyes and faintly shook his head; so they inspanned as best they could and made another trek.  I met the man some years afterwards, and he told me he had heard all they said, but could only remember one thing, and that was Harry's remark, that `two gin-cases were not enough for a coffin, so they would have to take one of the blankets instead.' In the morning they went on again.  It was then at most two treks more to their destination; but they were too weak to work or walk, and the cattle were left to crawl along undriven; but after half an hour's trekking, they reached a bad drift where the waggon stuck; the cattle would not face the pull.  The two tottering trembling white men did their best, but neither had strength to use the whip; the umfaan led the oxen this way and that, but there was no more effort in them.  The water had given out, and the despairing helpless men saw death from thirst awaiting them within a few hours' trek of help; and to add to the horror of it all, the Zulu driver, with thirst aggravating his delirium, was a raving lunatic--struggling and wrenching at his bonds until the waggon rattled, and uttering maniac yells and gabbling incessantly.

Jock Of The Bushveld by Sir Percy Fitzpatrick (Chapter 24)( Page 4 ) The Last Trek

I said nothing.  It was just about Sam's form; it annoyed but did not surprise me.  Jim favoured me with a hard searching look, a subdued grunt, and a click expressive of things he could not put into words, and without another word he turned and walked back towards his waggon.  But half-way to it he broke silence: facing me once more, he thumped his chest and hurled at me in mixed Zulu and English: "I said so!  Sam lead a Bible.  Sam no good.  Umph!  M'Shangaan!  I said so!  I always said so!" When Jim helped me to inspan Sam's waggon, he did it to an accompaniment of Zulu imprecations which only a Zulu could properly appreciate.  They were quite `above my head,' but every now and then I caught one sentence repeated like the responses in a litany: "I'll kill that Shangaan when I see him again!" At Lion Spruit there was more bad luck.  Lions had been troublesome there in former years, but for a couple of seasons nothing had been seen of them.  Their return was probably due to the fact that, because of the drought and consequent failure of other waters, the game on which they preyed had moved down towards the river.  At any rate, they returned unexpectedly and we had one bad night when the cattle were unmanageable, and their nerves all on edge.  The herd boys had seen spoor in the afternoon; at dusk we heard the distant roaring, and later on, the nearer and more ominous grunting.  I fastened Jock up in the tent-waggon lest the sight of him should prove too tempting; he was bristling like a hedgehog and constantly working out beyond the cattle, glaring and growling incessantly towards the bush.  We had four big fires at the four corners of the outspan, and no doubt this saved a bad stampede, for in the morning we found a circle of spoor where the lions had walked round and round the outspan.  There were scores of footprints--the tracks of at least four or five animals. In the Bushveld the oxen were invariably tied up at night, picketed to the trek-chain, each pair at its yoke ready to be inspanned for the early morning trek.  Ordinarily the weight of the chain and yokes was sufficient to keep them in place, but when there were lions about, and the cattle liable to be scared and all to sway off together in the same direction, we took the extra precaution of pegging down the chain and anchoring the front yoke to a tree or stake.  We had a lot of trouble that night, as one of the lions persistently took his stand to windward of the cattle to scare them with his scent.  We knew well enough when he was there, although unable to see anything, as all the oxen would face up wind, staring with bulging eyeballs in that direction and braced up tense with excitement.  If one of them made a sudden move, the whole lot jumped in response and swayed off down wind away from the danger, dragging the gear with them and straining until the heavy waggons yielded to the tug.  We had to run out and then drive them up again to stay the stampede.  It is a favourite device of lions, when tackling camps and outspans, for one of them to go to windward so that the terrified animals on winding him may stampede in the opposite direction where the other lions are lying in wait. Two oxen broke away that night and were never seen again.  Once I saw a low light coloured form steal across the road, and took a shot at it; but rifle-shooting at night is a gamble, and there was no sign of a hit. I was too short-handed and too pressed for time to make a real try for the lions next day, and after a morning spent in fruitless search for the lost bullocks we went on again. Instead of fifteen to eighteen miles a day, as we should have done, we were then making between four and eight--and sometimes not one.  The heat and the drought were awful; but at last we reached the Crocodile and struck up the right bank for the short cut--Pettigrew's Road--to Barberton, and there we had good water and some pickings of grass and young reeds along the river bank. The clouds piled up every afternoon; the air grew still and sultry; the thunder growled and rumbled; a few drops of rain pitted the dusty road and pattered on the dry leaves; and that was all.  Anything seemed preferable to the intolerable heat and dust and drought, and each day I hoped the rain would come, cost what it might to the fly-bitten cattle; but the days dragged on, and still the rain held off.

Jock Of The Bushveld by Sir Percy Fitzpatrick (Chapter 20)( Page 6 ) Jantje

At night as he lay unable to sleep the bats came and made faces at him; a night adder rose up before his face and slithered out its forked tongue--the two black beady eyes glinting the firelight back; and whichever way he looked there was a honey-bird, silent and angry, yet with a look of satisfaction, as it watched.  So it went all night: no sleep for him; no rest! In the morning he rose early and taking his gun and chopper set out in search of hives: he would give all to the honey-bird he had cheated, and thus make amends. He had not gone far before, to his great delight, there came a welcome chattering in answer to his low whistle, and the busy little fellow flew up to show himself and promptly led the way, going ahead ten to twenty yards at a flight.  Jantje followed eagerly until they came to a small donga with a sandy bottom, and then the honey-bird calling briskly, fluttered from tree to tree on either bank, leading him on. Jantje, thinking the hive must be near by, was walking slowly along the sandy bed and looking upwards in the trees, when something on the ground caught his eye and he sprang back just as the head of a big puff-adder struck where his bare foot had been a moment before.  With one swing of his chopper he killed it; he took the skin off for an ornament, the poison-glands for medicine, and the fangs for charms, and then whistled and looked about for the honey-bird; but it had gone. A little later on, however, he came upon another, and it led him to a big and shady wild fig tree.  The honey-bird flew to the trunk itself and cheeped and chattered there, and Jantje put down his gun and looked about for an easy place to climb.  As he peered through the foliage he met a pair of large green eyes looking full into his: on a big limb of the tree lay a tiger, still as death, with its head resting on its paws, watching him with a cat-like eagerness for its prey.  Jantje hooked his toe in the reim sling of his old gun and slowly gathered it up without moving his eyes from the tiger's, and backing away slowly, foot by foot, he got out into the sunshine and made off as fast as he could. It was the honey-bird's revenge: he knew it then! He sat down on some bare ground to think what next to do; for he knew he must die if he did not find honey and make good a hundred times what he had cheated. All day long he kept meeting honey-birds and following them; but he would no longer follow them into the bad places, for he could not tell whether they were new birds or the one he had robbed!  Once he had nearly been caught; the bird had perched on an old ant-heap, and Jantje,  thinking there was a ground hive there, walked boldly forward.  A small misshapen tree grew out of the ant-heap, and one of the twisted branches caught his eye because of the thick ring around it: it was the coil of a long green mamba; and far below that, half hidden by the leaves, hung the snake's head with the neck gathered in half-loop coils ready to strike at him. After that Jantje kept in the open, searching for himself among rocks and in all the old dead trees for the tell-tale stains that mark the hive's entrance; but he had no luck, and when he reached the river in the early afternoon he was glad of a cool drink and a place to rest. For a couple of hours he had seen no honey-birds, and it seemed that at last his pursuer had given him up, for that day at least.  As he sat in the shade of the high bank, however, with the river only a few yards from his feet he heard again a faint chattering: it came from the river-side beyond a turn in the bank, and it was too far away for the bird to have seen Jantje from where it called, so he had no doubt about this being a new bird.  It seemed to him a glorious piece of luck that he should find honey by the aid of a strange bird and be able to take half of it back to the hive he had emptied the day before and leave it there for the cheated bird. There was a beach of pebbles and rocks between the high bank and the river, and as Jantje walked along it on the keen lookout for the bird, he spotted it sitting on a root half-way down the bank some twenty yards ahead.  Close to where the chattering bird perched there was a break in the pebbly beach, and there shallow water extended up to the perpendicular bank.  In the middle of this little stretch of water, and conveniently placed as a stepping-stone, there was a black rock, and the bare-footed Jantje stepped noiselessly from stone to stone towards lit. An alarmed cane-rat, cut off by Jantje from the river, ran along the foot of the bank to avoid him; but when it reached the little patch of shallow water it suddenly doubled back in fright and raced under the boy's feet into the river. Jantje stopped!  He did not know why; but there seemed to be something wrong.  Something had frightened the cane-rat back on to him, and he stared hard at the bank and the stretch of beach ahead of him.  Then the rock he meant to step on to gave a heave, and a long blackish thing curved towards him; he sprang into the air as high as he could, and the crocodile's tail swept under his feet! Jantje fled back like a buck--the rattle on the stones behind him and crash of reeds putting yards into every bound. For four days he stayed in camp waiting for some one to find a hive and give him honey enough to make his peace; and then, for an old snuff-box and a little powder, he bought a huge basket full of comb, young and old, from a kaffir woman at one of the kraals some miles away, and put it all at the foot of the tree he had cleaned out. Then he had peace. The boys believed every word of that story: so, I am sure, did Jantje himself.  The buffalo story was obviously true, and Jantje thought nothing of it: the honey-bird story was not, yet he gloried in it; it touched his superstitious nature, and it was impossible for him to tell the truth or to separate fact from fancy and superstition.