THE MULE REBELS 109 so far had been when a pair of partridges lay close in their tussock of grass until the mule's foot came near them. The flurry of the flight and the brush of the wings was startling to both rider and mule, and caused many a narrow escape from a throw.

But there was also a calmness about that mule ; she knew her own wants and disliked interference. For the moment she yearned for the simple life. During the dismemberment of the waterbuck, she had learned to love the coarse straw of the maya, and there was enough before her for the rest of the year.

The day was hot and the maya treeless ; my water-bottle hung on the pommel, and I approached to detach it. She divined my intentions differently, and, being content, conceived that my wish was to disturb her enjoyment.

She therefore, without vice or ill-feeling, gently lifted her hind-leg, planted her foot deftly in my waistcoat, and sent me flying over the wilderness of the maya. My laughter demonstrating no evil effects, the boys rushed smiling to help me, but their occupation rendered assistance undesirable.

The time of year was unfavourable for studying the flora of the country ; in fact, in this locality I only saw one bush in flower, the blooms having the heavy scent of the Christmas-rose, the white male flower and the yellow mate often appearing side by side on the same twig.

The flower of the tebeldi is gorgeous, and in keeping with the majestic appearance of the tree when