Basutoland to Bulawayo
moth task, especially for a former bank clerk. The route was Ficksburg, Senekal, Kroonstad, Potchefstroom, Lichtenburg, Zeerust, Gaborone, Francistown, Plumtree and Bulawayo. He must have really loved my great-grandmother!
CHARLES CHOSE TO take a Cape gun made by C Maybury in No2 Musket/ 16-bore as his long-arm and a .41 Colt Thunderer as his side-arm. Because he carried the Colt in his pocket, he cut the spur off the hammer to allow for quicker withdrawal. Years later, my uncle fitted a replacement hammer. Somewhere near Zeerust, Charles Barrett was thrown from his horse and the Cape gun cracked at the hand-grip and lost a hammer. A Zeerust blacksmith made a crude replacement hammer and strapped the grip with steel wire. The gun completed the journey, fending off at least one lion along the way. Years later, my father replaced the rusted steel wire with copper wire.
The earliest Cape guns were muzzleloading percussion pieces with a rifled barrel in any calibre from .450 to .750 and a smoothbore barrel from 28-bore to 8-bore. Later, black powder cartridge-fed combinations in .577 Snider, .577/.450 Martini-henry or No2 Musket (or practically any other rifle calibre of the time) and anything from 20- to 10-bore on the shotgun side, became popular. Later still, they were nitroproofed and chambered for .303/12bore or even .300 Sherwood/.410 shotgun, with internal or external hammers. They were called Cape guns as they were popular in South Africa, particularly in the Eastern Cape where one might encounter anything from quail to elephant in the course of a morning in the veld. These guns were made in England, Belgium or Germany. English guns have the shotgun barrel on the right, German guns on the left.
During my great-grandfather’s journey, his No2 Musket/16-bore Cape gun was to keep the party in meat (feathered and furred game) and to fend off predators. Although the rifle ballistics are similar to those of the military .577/.450, the No2 Musket (.500/.450) tends to be more accurate as the chamber tolerances are tighter and the bullet aligns better with the bore. In my opinion, it was the right choice of calibre, although I would have preferred a .303. Nowadays 12-bores dominate the shotgun world but I have yet to see a dead guineafowl that could tell the difference between a 12-bore and a 16-bore.
My great-grandfather’s Cape gun must have been made sometime before 1886, as Charles Maybury, a Birmingham gun maker, was in business from 1834 to 1886. It features a Jones patent rotary under-lever action, side-lock hammers (non-rebounding), an extractor (not ejectors), a well-figured, though not the best, 14¼-inch walnut stock with a patch-box (still containing the original pull-through), a splinter forestock, a stippled matt rib with a standing 100 yard rear sight, and the usual flip-up leaf sights from 200 to a very
optimistic 700 yards. The front sight is exceptionally fine, as is the V in the standing rear sight. The flip-up leaf sights do not have Vs cut into them; instead they have inlaid vertical silver lines for sighting. The rifling is still sharp and the shotgun bore free of pitting. Both 26-inch barrels are of Damascus steel, Birmingham proofed. The shotgun barrel is marked “NOT FOR BALL” and the rifled barrel, “HENRY’S RIFLING”. It weighs 8lb 7oz – enough to comfortably absorb the No2 Musket’s recoil.
I have found the best load for the No2 Musket to be 80 grains of FFG black powder behind a .452ˈˈ diameter, 405gr soft lead, lubricated bullet. I have never fired the shotgun barrel, owing to the replacement hammer.
THE 1877 COLT Thunderer in .41 Colt would not have been my first choice of side-arm. The Colt Double Action revolver of 1877 was most likely introduced as a response to Webley’s popular ‘Bulldog’ of 1872. The Model 1877 DA was Colt’s first foray into the field of double-action revolvers and appeared three years before Smith & Wesson produced their first double-action. Originally called the New Double Action Self-cocking Central Fire Six Shot Revolver, the M1877 was designed by their well-known employee, William Mason. He also developed the famed Single Action Army Model of 1873.
The M1877 Colt is similar in many respects to its single-action predecessor. Unfortunately, the one important respect in which it differs from the SAA is its reliability. The 1877 DA is notorious for mechanical problems, particularly as the gun ages and parts become worn. The 1877 DA pistol has a three-position hammer, just like the 1873 SAA, with safety, half-cock and full-cock notches. It likewise has a cylinder pin mounted through the centre of the frame, a loading gate mounted on the frame, and, in most cases, a rod ejector mounted under the barrel. My great-grandfather’s Colt, however, is an ejectorless model. These were fitted with a cylinder pin with a long head as the pin was used to eject spent cases from the cylinder and had to come out often.
The original grips on early models were one-piece chequered rosewood, but later models, like my great-grandfather’s, have two-piece hardened rubber grips with the rampant Colt in an oval at the top. One- and two-piece ivory and pearl grips were available as upgrades. Finishes were blue or nickel. The 1877 DA was initially produced in .38 Colt (long or short), followed by the .41 Colt, and later a few were made in .32 Colt. The .38 eventually became known by the trade name Lightning because of its rapid-fire capability, and the .41 was called the Thunderer. The .32 was made between 1877 and 1912, and was known as the Rainmaker.
Surely an excellent old Boer War MKI, II, III or IV Webley would have served better? I am sure the Webley’s .455 man-stopper would have been more of a deterrent to a would-be horse thief than the Colt’s .41. My great-grand-father also owned a .442 Webley No 1½, RIC type revolver but he chose to take the Colt on his adventure. Perhaps the answer lies in my great-grandfather’s dress code. He always wore a waistcoat, collar, tie and cufflinks, even when hunting, farming or herding 500 horses. The Webley would simply not have fitted comfortably (or fashionably?) in his pocket.
My great-grandfather sold his horses at a handsome profit (we have no record of how many he lost along the way) and returned home to marry Minnie in 1904. He was an enthusiastic field-sportsman and took my grandfather on extended hunting and fishing trips from St Lucia to St Francis Bay. I’m told the Cape gun later stayed at home, as my greatgrandfather’s new favourite was a .303 Lee Speed sporting carbine.
Although I enjoy restoring old firearms in my spare time, I am keeping this Cape gun as is. It is often said of an old gun, “If only it could talk”. Well, though these guns can’t talk, I am glad they have a story preserved within my family.
MY FAMILY LOVE pork and I always try to do something different with it. Pork belly is one of those cuts that is delicious when done well, but can be a disaster if it is not perfect. I have cooked pork belly many ways – this recipe is a little time consuming, but is easy and so worth the effort.
The secret to perfect crackling on pork belly is to:
■ Make sure you use good quality
meat
■ Leave the pork uncovered in
the fridge overnight to dry out
■ Place the pork in a very hot
■ oven
Score the pork skin in small blocks or lines with a sharp knife or scalpel
INGREDIENTS:
■ 2 – 2.5kg good quality pork
belly
■ 2 teaspoons coarse salt
■ 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
■ 2 teaspoons coarse black peppercorns
■ 2 teaspoons coriander seeds
■ 4 large onions
■ olive oil
■ 3 teaspoons flour
Preheat the oven to 240° – 260°C. Score the pork skin with a sharp knife – I prefer to make fine lines and not the usual blocks as the spice mix penetrates better with lines.
Place the salt, fennel seeds, peppercorns and coriander seeds in a pestle or small electrical grinder. Grind until fine.
Rub 2 tablespoons of the fine spice mixture over the pork. Make sure you get it into all the cuts and folds. Brush away the excess spice so it doesn’t burn in the hot oven.
Brush a little olive oil over the pork skin.
Cut the unpeeled onions into big wedges and place them in the oven dish with the skin side up.
Put the pork belly onto the onions and roast for 40 to 50 minutes in the smoking hot oven until the crackling is very crunchy.
While the pork belly is in the oven prepare the vegetables. Wash the carrots and potatoes, trim and wash the celery and cut the fennel into chunks. Cut the butternut into bite sized pieces – with the skin on if you choose. Place the vegetables in an oven baking tray. Break up the garlic bulb and put the cloves (with the skin on) into the tray. Season the vegetables with salt and pepper.
When the pork skin is very crunchy, reduce the oven temperature to 150°C.
Carefully take the pork off the onions and place it directly onto the top rack of the oven. Position the tray of vegetables underneath the meat to catch the juices.
Cook for 2 to 4 hours. Within 2 hours the pork will be soft enough to carve into portions, and if you leave it to cook for up to 4 hours, you will be able to pull the meat apart.
Check the vegetables regularly until they are caramelized and cooked to your liking.
To make the gravy, carefully drain the fat from the first pan and remove the onions. Place the tray onto your stove top on medium heat.
Add some boiling water and scrape the sticky goodness in the tray.
Slowly stir in the flour and then gradually pour the remaining boiling water into the pan.
Stir for 15 minutes until thickened and reduced.
Strain the gravy into a jug.
Carve the pork and serve on a bed of vegetables with gravy and some good English mustard on the side.