“Hold on,” shouted Ernest to the voorlooper; and then, turning to Mr. Alston, “There is a jolly row going on there; let us go and see what it is.”
“All right, my boy; where the fighting is, there will the Englishmen be gathered together;” and they climbed down off the waggon and made for the crowd.
The row was this. Among the Boers assembled for the “nachtmaal” festival was a well-known giant of the name of Van Zyl. This man’s strength was a matter of public notoriety all over the country, and many were the feats which were told of him. Among others it was said that he could bear the weight of the after-part of an African buck waggon on his shoulders, with a load of three thousand pounds of corn upon it, while the wheels were greased. He stood about six feet seven high, weighed eighteen
