Those of us who remained in camp amused themselves with quail shooting, or with reading under the shade of the yellow-wood trees. Hundreds of turtle-doves swarmed in every direction; and though at first there were some scruples about killing them, they were soon remorselessly shot and converted into pigeon pies. Monkeys and brilliantly-plumaged _touracos_, or crested parrots, of a dark green, with purple and crimson tails and wings, filled the belt of the wood along the river with their discordant chattering. One morning, in beating for quail along a reedy _sluit_, or watercourse, we came on the corpses of some of the Kaffirs killed during the late patrols, which, half devoured by vultures and jackals, lay festering in the jungle. For three days we endured the misery of a sand storm. The hot air was filled with clouds of fine red sand, driven by a burning wind, and shutting out every object at a few yards' distance, blinding the eyes and stifling the breath, while it not only penetrated the tents, covering everything with a thick red coating, but even found its way into every box and valise. Nothing can be more wretchedly uncomfortable than one of these inflictions, unluckily but too common. The skin becomes dry and hot; an irresistible lassitude is felt, accompanied with headache; the face and hair are red with sand, which, to complete the discomfort, finds its way even under one's clothing. No one ventures out who can possibly avoid it, though even a house is but a partial protection, the closest-fitting doors and windows failing to exclude the finer particles, as the red hue of the furniture quickly shows. Those who, like ourselves, had no choice, braved the storm, with heads bent down and eyes half shut, or shielded by wire goggles with dark blue glasses, giving a most comical aspect to the wearer. The sand storm at last blown over, we saw in the evening a dense smoke rising about two miles off. A reconnoitring party discovered that the enemy had set fire to the grass, a common expedient with them to oblige us to abandon a position inconvenient to themselves, by destroying the pasturage, and a mode of ejectment so effective, as generally to have no remedy but to trek. As night advanced, the spectacle was really grand, and all turned out of their tents to look at it; the whole plain, for miles in extent, being one sheet of flame, tinging the sky with a lurid red. FOOTNOTES: [8] Holcus Caffrorum. [9] Chiefs and councillors. [10] Come on--come on, you Kaffirs!-- We will kill you--we will kill you! [11] Taxus elongatus. [12] Tecoma Capensis. CHAPTER V. REIT FONTEIN--STANDING CAMP--MARCH TO SOMERSET--ACTION ON KROMME HEIGHTS--RETURN TO FORT BEAUFORT.