hand; but to my astonishment, found not a single bean upon the plate.
Kees had stolen them all, and taken himself out of the way. When he had
committed any trespass of this kind, he used always, about the time when
I drank tea, to return quietly, and seat himself in his usual place,
with every appearance of innocence, as if nothing had happened; but this
evening he did not let himself be seen; and on the following day, also,
he was not seen by any of us; and in consequence, I began to grow
seriously uneasy about him, and apprehensive that he might be lost for
ever, but on the third day, one of my people, who had been to fetch
water, informed me that he had seen Kees in the neighbourhood; but that
as soon as the animal espied him, he had concealed himself again. I
immediately went out and beat the whole neighbourhood with my dogs. All
at once, I heard a cry, like that which Kees used to make when I
returned from my shooting, and had not taken him with me. I looked about
and at length espied him, endeavouring to hide himself behind the large
branches of a tree. I now called to him in a friendly tone of voice, and
made motions to him to come down to me. But he would not trust me, and I
was obliged to climb up the tree to fetch him. He did not attempt to
fly, and we returned together to my quarters; here he expected to
receive his punishment; but I did nothing, as it would have been of no
use.

"When exhausted with the heat of the sun, and the fatigues of the day,
with my throat and mouth covered with dust and perspiration, I was ready
to sink gasping to the ground, in tracts destitute of shade, and longed
even for the dirtiest ditch-water; but after seeking long in vain, lost
all hopes of finding any in the parched soil. In such distressing
moments, my faithful Kees never moved from my side. We sometimes got out
of our carriage, and then his sure instinct led him to a plant.
Frequently the stalk was fallen off, and then all his endeavours to pull