Adventures in Africa, Page 2

  CHAPTER TWO.

  We soon passed through the tsetse district, which was not more than acouple of miles wide, and, as our animals showed no appearance ofsuffering, we hoped that they had escaped injury.

  We had determined to encamp early in the day near a pool fed by arivulet which fell into the main stream, in order that we might shootsome game for our supper. Leaving Jan in charge of the camp, my uncleand I set off, believing that we could easily find our way back to thefire. We had gone some distance when we caught sight of a herd ofantelopes. In order that we might have a better chance of killing oneof them, my uncle told me to make a wide circuit, keeping to leeward ofthe deer towards a clump of trees, whence I might be able to get afavourable shot, while he lay down concealed by the brushwood near wherewe then were.

  Taking advantage of all the bushes and trunks of trees on the way, Iapproached the antelopes without disturbing them. Looking out from thecover I had gained, I watched the beautiful creatures, hoping that oneof them would come within range of my rifle. It was tantalising to seethem feeding so quietly just out of my reach. Still, though I might notget a shot, I hoped that they might go off towards where my uncle waslying hid. Presently, however, they bounded towards me; and, thinkingit possible that they might again turn, I fired at one of the leadinganimals, which, notwithstanding its wound, still went on, though atslackened speed. Instead of reloading, as I ought to have done, Idashed forward to secure it. Scarcely, however, had I left my coverthan what was my surprise, and I must confess my dismay, to see a hugelion! Should I attempt to escape by flight, the savage brute would, Iknew, follow me. I fixed my eyes as steadily as I could upon him, whileI attempted to reload. At the same time I knew that, even should Ifire, I might only wound him, when he would become more fierce. Therewere trees near, up which it was possible I might climb should he giveme time, but it was not likely that he would do that. I wondered thathe did not pursue the antelope; but probably he had lately had hisdinner, or he certainly would have done so. I continued loading, helashing his tail and roaring furiously. I expected every moment that hewould spring upon me. To escape by any other way than by shooting himdead seemed impossible.

  I finished loading, and brought my gun up ready to fire. Should I missor only wound him, he would be upon me in a moment. I had hithertoremained quite silent, but it occurred to me that if I should shoutloudly enough my uncle would hear my cry for help. I thought, too, thatI might scare the lion. When once I had made up my mind to shout, I didso with might and main.

  I was answered by a distant "hollo!" by which I knew that my uncle wasstill a long way off. He would, however, understand that I was indanger, and come to my assistance; or, if too late to help me, wouldprovide for his own safety.

  The lion seemed as undecided how to act as I was. As I shouted heroared, and again lashed his tail, but did not advance a step. Thisgave me courage; but, although the monarch of the forest did not appearin a combative mood, I felt very sure that, should I wound him, his ragewould be excited. I dared not for a moment withdraw my eye from him,and thus we stood regarding each other. To me it seemed a prodigiouslylong time. At last he seemed to lose patience, for his roars becamemore frequent and louder and louder, and he lashed his tail morefuriously. I raised my rifle to my shoulder. He came on at a cat-likepace, evidently ignorant of the power of the weapon I held in my hands.In another instant he would spring at me. I pulled the trigger. To myhorror, the cap failed to ignite the powder. I saw the monstrous brutein the act of springing, but at the same moment I heard the crack of arifle close to me; the next, a tremendous roar rent the air. I wasfelled to the earth, and felt myself weighed down by a vast body, unableto breathe or move. It was some time before I came to myself, when,looking up, I saw my uncle kneeling by my side.

  "The lion very nearly did for you, Fred," he said; "but cheer up, lad.I don't think you're mortally hurt, though you've had a narrow squeakfor it. Had your gun not missed fire, you might have shot the lionyourself. Here he lies, and there's the springbok."

  While my uncle was talking, he was examining my hurts. The lion hadgiven me a fearful blow with his paw, and had injured one of myshoulders. It was a wonder indeed that he did not kill me.

  "We must get you to the camp somehow," said my uncle; "I cannot leaveyou here while I bring the ox, so the sooner we set off the better."

  Taking me up in his arms, he began to stagger on with me; but, though hewas a strong man, I was no slight weight, and he had great difficulty ingetting along. I asked him to let me walk, as I thought that I could doso with his support. When I tried, however, I found that I could notmove one foot before the other. As we got within hail of the camp heshouted to Jan to come and help him; and together they carried me alongthe remainder of the distance.

  "Now that we have you safe here, though I am unwilling to leave you, Imust go back and fetch the antelope, for we cannot do without food," hesaid.

  Telling Jan to collect materials for building a hut, as it was evidentthat I should be unable to move for some time, and also charging him tokeep an eye on me, he started off.

  I felt a great deal of pain, but I retained my senses, and tried todivert my thoughts by watching Jan, who was busily employed in cuttinglong sticks and branches for the hut.

  It seemed to me that my uncle had been gone for more than an hour, and Ibegan to fear that some accident might have happened to him. Wherethere was one lion it was probable that there were others, and theymight revenge themselves on the slayer of their relative.

  Jan, however, kept working away as if satisfied that all was right, nowand then taking a look at me, and throwing a few sticks on the fire toget it to burn brightly. He then began to prepare for roasting theexpected venison by placing some uprights, with cross pieces to serve asspits, close to the fire.

  "Hurrah! here am de Cap'n!" he at length shouted, such being the titlehe usually bestowed on my uncle. "He bring springbok, an' someting elsetoo."

  I felt greatly relieved when I saw my uncle throw down his heavy load,consisting not only of the antelope which I had shot, but of the lion'sskin.

  "I brought this," he said, "to make a bed for you. You want it, thoughit is not fit at present to serve the purpose."

  I thanked him for his offer, but declared that I would rather just thenbe left where I was, as any movement pained me.

  Jan lost no time in cutting off some pieces of venison, and placing themto roast. My uncle also put on a pot with a small portion to make somesoup, which he said would suit me better than the roast. Hungry as Iwas, though I tried to eat some of the latter as soon as Jan declared itsufficiently done, I could not manage to get it down. My thirst becameexcessive, and it was fortunate that we were near water, or I believe Ishould otherwise have died.

  The hut was soon finished, and some leaves and grass placed in it for meto lie upon. The soup did me some good, but I suffered so much painthat I could scarcely sleep all the night, and in the morning was in sofevered a condition, that I was utterly unfit to travel. I was verysorry to delay my uncle, but it could not be helped, and he bore thedetention with his usual good temper. Nothing could exceed hiskindness. He sat by my side for hours together; he dressed my woundswhenever he thought it necessary, and indeed tended me with the greatestcare.

  Day after day, however, went by, and I still remained in the samehelpless state. He would not have left me for a moment, I believe, butit was necessary to go out and procure more game.

  Jan had undertaken to scrape and prepare the lion's skin. He was thusemployed near the stream at a little distance from the camp when I wasstartled by hearing a loud snort; and, looking up, what was my horror tosee him rushing along, with a huge hippopotamus following him! Inanother minute I expected to see him seized by its formidable jaws andtrampled to death, and then I thought that the savage brute would makeat me. In vain I attempted to rise and get my gun, but my uncle, whenhe went out, had forgotten to place it near me. I tried to cry out an
dfrighten the brute, but I could not raise my voice sufficiently high.Poor Jan shrieked loud enough, but his cries had no effect on themonster. He was making for a tree, up which he might possibly haveclimbed, when his feet slipped, and over he rolled on the ground. Hewas now perfectly helpless, and in a few minutes the hippopotamus wouldtrample him to death. It seemed as if all hope was gone; but, at thevery instant that I thought poor Jan's death was certain, my unclesuddenly appeared, when, aiming behind the ear of the hippopotamus, hefired, and the monster fell. Jan narrowly escaped being crushed, whichhe would have been had he not by a violent effort rolled out of the way.

  Suffering as I was, I could scarcely help laughing at Jan's face, as,getting up on his knees, he looked with a broad grin at thehippopotamus, still uncertain whether it was dead or not. At length,convinced that his enemy could do him no further harm, he rose to hisfeet, exclaiming--

  "Tankee, tankee, cap'n! If de gun not go off, Jan no speak 'gain."

  Then, hurrying on, he examined the creature, to be certain that no liferemained in it.

  "What we do wid dis?" he asked, giving the huge body a kick with hisfoot.

  "As it will shortly become an unpleasant neighbour, we must manage todrag him away from the camp," observed my uncle. "If the stream weredeep enough, I would drag it in, and let it float down with the current;but, as it would very likely get stranded close to us, we must haul itaway with the ox and the horses, though I doubt if the animals will likebeing thus employed."

  I thought the plan a good one; and my uncle told Jan to catch the horsesand ox, while he contrived some harness with the ropes and straps usedfor securing their cargoes. The ox showed perfect indifference to thedead hippopotamus, but the horses were very unwilling to be harnessed.They submitted, however, to act as leaders, while the ox had thecreature's head, round which a rope was passed, close to its heels.Even then the animals found it no easy task to drag the huge body alongover the rough ground.

  "We shall not be long gone, Fred," said my uncle, placing a rifle and abrace of pistols close to me. "I hope that no other hippopotamus orlion or leopard will pay you a visit while we are away. If they do, youmust use these, and I trust that you'll be able to drive off thecreatures, whatever they may be."

  I felt rather uncomfortable at being left alone in the camp, but itcould not be helped; and I could only pray that another hippopotamusmight not make its appearance. This one, in all probability, came upthe stream far from its usual haunts.

  I kept my rifle and pistols ready for instant use. The time seemed verylong. As I listened to the noises in the forest, I fancied that I couldhear the roaring and mutterings of lions, and the cries of hyaenas.Several times I took my rifle in my hand, expecting to see a lionstealing up to the camp. I caught sight in the distance of the tallnecks of a troop of giraffes stalking across the country, followed soonafterwards by a herd of bounding blesboks, but no creatures came nearme. At last my uncle and Jan returned with our four-footed attendants.

  "We have carried the monster's carcase far enough off to prevent it frompoisoning us by its horrible odour when it putrifies, which it will in afew hours," he observed. "But I am afraid that it will attract thehyaenas and jackals in no small numbers, so that we shall be annoyed bytheir howls and screechings. I am sorry to say also that the horsesseem ill able to perform their work, and I greatly fear that they havebeen injured by the tsetse fly. If we lose them we shall have adifficulty in getting along. However, we won't despair until the evilday comes."

  I should have said that my uncle, just before he rescued Jan from thehippopotamus, had shot another antelope, which he had brought to thecamp, so that we were in no want of food.

  Several days went by. Though I certainly was not worse, my recovery wasvery slow, and I was scarcely better able to travel than I was at first;though I told my uncle that I would try and ride if he wished to moveon.

  "I doubt if either of the horses can carry you," he answered. "Both aregetting thin and weak, and have a running from their nostrils, which Jansays is the result of the tsetse poison. If you are better in a day ortwo we will try and advance to the next stream or water-hole; andperhaps we may fall in with natives, from whom we may purchase some oxento replace our horses. It will be a great disappointment to lose theanimals, for I had counted on them for hunting."

  That night we were entertained by a concert of hideous howlings andcries, produced we had no doubt by the hyaenas and jackals; but bykeeping up a good fire, and occasionally discharging our rifles, weprevented them from approaching the camp.

  At the end of two days I fancied myself better. We accordinglydetermined the next morning to recommence our journey. At daybreak webreakfasted on the remains of the last deer shot, and my uncle havingplaced me on his horse, which was the stronger of the two, put part ofits cargo on the other. Pushing on, we soon left behind the camp we hadso long occupied.

  On starting I bore the movement pretty well, and fancied that I shouldbe able to perform the journey without difficulty. For the first twodays, indeed, we got on better than I had expected, though I wasthankful when the time for camping arrived. On the third morning Isuffered much, but did not tell my uncle how ill I felt, hoping that Ishould recover during the journey. We had a wild barren tract to cross,almost as wild as the desert. The ox trudged on as patiently as ever,but the horses were very weak, and I had great difficulty in keepingmine on its legs. Several times it had stumbled, but I was fortunatelynot thrown off. Our pace, however, was necessarily very slow, and wecould discover no signs of water, yet water we must reach before wecould venture to camp.

  Jan generally led the ox, while my uncle walked by my side, holding therein of the other horse. Again and again my poor animal had stumbled;when, as my uncle was looking another way, down it came, and I wasthrown with considerable violence to the ground.

  My uncle, having lifted me up, I declared that I was not much hurt, andbegged him to replace me on the horse. The poor animal was unable torise. In vain Jan and he tried to get it on its legs. He and Jan tookoff the saddle and the remaining part of the load, but all was of nouse. At last we came to the melancholy conclusion that its death wasinevitable. Our fears were soon realised: after it had given a fewstruggles, its head sinking on the sand, it ceased to move. We hadconsequently to abandon some more of our heavier things, and havingtransferred the remaining cargo to the ox, my uncle put me on the backof the other horse. Scarcely, however, had we proceeded a mile thandown it came, and I was again thrown to the ground, this time to be morehurt than at first.

  I bore the suffering as well as I could, and made no complaint, while myuncle and Jan tried to get the horse up. It was soon apparent, however,that its travelling days were done, and that we had now the ox alone todepend upon.

  "I wish that I could walk," I said, but when I made the attempt I couldnot proceed a dozen paces. Had not my uncle supported me I should havesunk to the ground. We could not stay where we were, for both we andour poor ox required water and food.

  "We must abandon our goods," said my uncle; "better to lose them thanour lives. We will, however, if we can find a spot near here, leavethem _en cache_, as the Canadian hunters say; and if we soon fall inwith any friendly natives, we can send and recover them."

  He had just observed, he said, a small cave, and he thought that bypiling up some stones in front of it the things would remain uninjuredfrom the weather or wild beasts for a considerable time.

  As it was only a short distance off, while Jan remained with me, he ledthe ox to the spot. The cave, fortunately, had no inhabitant; and,having placed the goods within, and piled some stones so as completelyto block up the entrance, he returned, retaining only the powder andshot, the ostrich feathers, three or four skins, our cooking utensils, afew packages of tea, coffee, sugar, pepper, and similar articlesweighing but little. Unfortunately, in building up the wall, one of thelarger stones had dropped, and severely injured his foot. He found itso painful that he was unable to
walk. He, therefore, mounting the ox,took me up before him. I, indeed, by this time could not even hold onto the saddle, so had not he carried me I should have been unable totravel. We now once more went on. It was already late in the day, andbefore long darkness overtook us; still we could not stop without water,which we hoped, however, to find before long. In a short time the moonrose and enabled us to see our way.

  The prospect was dreary in the extreme. Here and there a few treessprang out of the arid soil, while on every side were rocks with littleor no vegetation round them. We looked out eagerly for water, but mileafter mile was passed over and not a pool nor stream could we see. Isuffered greatly from thirst, and sometimes thought that I shouldsuccumb. My uncle cheered me up, and Jan declared that we should soonreach water and be able to camp. Still on and on we went. At lengthJan cried out--

  "Dare water, dare water!"

  I tried to lift up my head, but had not strength to move. I heard myuncle exclaim--

  "Thank heaven! there's water, sure enough. I see the moonbeams playingon the surface of a pool."

  I believe I fainted, for I remember no more until I found him splashingwater over my face; and, opening my eyes. I saw him kneeling by myside. Jan was busily engaged in lighting a fire, while the ox wasfeeding not far off. A hut was then built for me, and as soon as I wasplaced in it I fell asleep. In the morning I awoke greatly revived. Myuncle said he was determined to remain at the spot until I wassufficiently recovered to travel, and I promised to get well as soon asI could. When breakfast was over he started off with his gun to try andshoot a deer, for we had just exhausted the last remnant of venison wepossessed.

  As, sheltered from the rays of the sun, I lay in my hut, which was builton a slight elevation above the lakelet, I could enjoy a fine view ofthe country in front of me.

  Jan, having just finished cleaning my gun, was engaged a little waybelow me in cutting up the wood for the fire, singing in a low voice oneof his native songs.

  Presently I caught sight of my uncle in the far distance advancingtowards a rounded hillock which rose out of the plain below. Almost atthe same moment, I saw still further off several animals which I at onceknew to be deer coming on at a rapid rate towards our camp. They weretaking a direction which would lead them close to where my uncle lay inambush. They were followed by others in quick succession, until a vastherd came scampering and bounding across the plain like an army, two orthree abreast, following each other. Twice I heard the report of myuncle's rifle. On each occasion a deer fell to the ground.

  Jan cried out that they were blesboks, one of the finest deer in SouthAfrica. They had long twisting horns, and were of a reddish colour, thelegs being much darker, with a blaze of white on the face.

  I never saw a more beautiful sight. Jan was all eagerness, and, takingmy gun, he went in chase; but before he could get near enough to obtaina shot, the whole herd was scampering away across the plain, laughing athis puny efforts to overtake them.

  In a short time my uncle appeared, carrying a portion of one of theanimals on his back, and immediately sent off Jan with the ox to fetchin the remainder.

  Here was wood and water, and game in abundance, so that we could nothave chosen a better spot for remaining in until I was myself again. Aswe had plenty of meat he was able to concoct as much broth as I couldconsume. It contributed greatly to restore my strength; and, judging bythe progress I was making, I hoped that we should be able shortly toresume our journey.