Chapter Fifteen.It was not until the evening that the Caffres and Hottentots returned with the cattle, which they had great difficulty in collecting; two or three of the oxen were not brought back till late at night, so frightened had the animals been by the approach of the lion. In the afternoon, as it was too late to think of proceeding, our travellers, with their guns on their shoulders, and accompanied by Omrah and Begum, who would always follow the Major if she was not tied up, strolled away from the camp to amuse themselves. At first they walked to the hill from which they had such a splendid view of the valley covered with elephants, and, proceeding to where the male elephant had fallen, found that his flesh had, by the Caffres, the wolves, and the vultures, been completely taken off his bones, and it lay there a beautiful skeleton for a museum.As, however, they had no room for such weighty articles in their waggons, they left it, after Swinton had made some observations upon the structure of the animal. Begum would not go near the skeleton, but appeared to be frightened at it. They then proceeded to the rock which had been their place of refuge when the herd of elephants had charged upon them; and as they stood under it, they were suddenly saluted with a loud noise over their heads, sounding like quah, quah!As soon as Begum heard it, she ran up to the Major with every sign of trepidation, holding fast to his skin trousers.“What was that?” said Alexander; “I see nothing.”“I know what it is,” said the Major; “it is a herd of baboons; there they are; don’t you see their heads over the rocks?”“Let them show themselves a little more, and we’ll have a shot at them,” replied Alexander, cocking his gun.“Not for your life,” cried Swinton; “you will be skinned and torn to pieces, if they are numerous, and you enrage them. You have no idea what savage and powerful creatures they are. Look at them now; they are coming down gradually; we had better be off.”“I think so too,” said the Major; “they are very angry; they have seen Begum, and imagine that we have one of their herd in our possession. Pray don’t fire, Wilmot, unless it is for your life; we are too few to make them afraid of us. Here they come; there are a hundred of them at least—let us walk away slowly—it won’t do to run, for that would make them chase us at once.”The baboons, some of which were of gigantic size, were now descending from the rock, grunting, grinning, springing from stone to stone, protruding their mouths, shaking their heads, drawing back the skin of their foreheads, and showing their formidable tusks, advancing nearer and nearer, and threatening an instant attack. Some of the largest males advanced so close as to make a snatch at Omrah. As for Begum, she kept behind the Major, hiding herself as much as possible. At last one or two advanced so close, rising on their hind-legs, that the Major was obliged to ward them off with his gun. “Point your guns at them,” said Swinton, “if they come too close; but do not fire, I beg of you. If we only get from off this rocky ground to the plain below, we shall probably get rid of them.”The ground on which they were formed a portion of the rocky hill upon which they had taken shelter the day of the elephant-hunt; and within twenty-five yards of them there was an abrupt descent of about four feet, which joined it to the plain. They had gained half-way, parrying the animals off as well as they could, as they retreated backwards, when some of the baboons came down from the other side of the rock, so as to attempt to cut off their retreat, their object evidently being to gain possession of Begum, whom they considered as belonging to them—and a captive.Their situation now became more critical; for the whole herd were joining the foremost; and the noise they made, and anger they expressed, were much greater than before.“We must fire, I really believe,” said the Major, when at that moment they heard a deep, hollow growl, followed up by a roar of some animal, apparently not very far off. At this sound the baboons halted, and listened in silence: again the growl was repeated, and followed up by the roar, and the baboons, at a shriek given by one on the rock, turned round and took to their heels, much to the delight of our travellers, who had felt the peculiar difficulty and danger of their situation.“What animal was that which has frightened them off?” said the Major.“It was the growl of a leopard,” replied Swinton; “we must keep a sharp look-out; it can’t be far off. The leopard is the great enemy of the baboons. But where is Omrah?”They all looked round, but the boy was not to be seen. At last he showed his head above the foot of the rocky hill, where there was a descent of four feet, as we have mentioned, then sprang up the rock, and began capering, and imitating the baboons as they came on to the attack.As they were laughing at him, all at once he stopped, and putting his hands to his mouth he gave the growl and roar of a leopard, which they had heard, and then set off running away baboon fashion.“It was the Bushman, then, that frightened them off; he is a clever little fellow.”“And I am not sure that he has not saved our lives,” replied Swinton; “but he has been brought up among them, one may say, and knows their habits well. If he had not hid himself below the rock before he imitated the leopard, it would have been of no use, for they would not have been frightened, hearing the growl proceeding from him. I admire the boy’s presence of mind.”“I thought at one time that the baboons had an idea that Omrah was one of them. What a snatch they made at him!”“It would not have been the first time that these animals have carried off a boy,” said Swinton; “I saw one at Latakoo, who had lived two years with the baboons, which had carried him off.”“How did they treat him?”“Very well indeed; but they kept him a prisoner. When they found that he would not eat the coarse food which they did, they brought him other things; and they invariably allowed him to drink first at the pools.”“Well, that was homage to our superiority. Confound their quahs, I shall not get them out of my head for a week. What terrible large tusks they have!”“Yes, their incisors are very strong. They often destroy the leopard when they meet it in numbers; but if one happens to be away from the herd, he has, of course, no chance with such an animal. Begum did not appear at all willing to renew her connexion.“None of the monkey tribe, after they have lived with man, ever are; indeed it is a question, if they had taken possession of her, whether they would not have torn her to pieces immediately, or have worried her to death some way or other.”“Well, at all events, Swinton, you have been rewarded for your kindness to that poor little Bushman, and we have reaped the benefit of it,” observed Alexander. “But here come some of the oxen; I hope we shall be able to start early on Monday. The native Caffres say that the waggons cannot proceed much further.”“No, not further than to the banks of the Umtata River: but you will then be not a great way from your destination. Daaka is the chief’s name, is it not?”“Yes, that is his name; and if he is as supposed to be, he is my first cousin. How strange it sounds to me, as I look around me in this savage and wild country, that I should be within forty miles of a blood-relation, who is an inhabitant of it!”“Well, we shall soon know the truth; but I must say, if it is only to end in a morning call, you have come a long way for the purpose,” replied the Major.“I have come to ascertain a fact, which, from what I now know of the country and its inhabitants, will be the source of anything but pleasure if it be established. My only hope is that it may prove otherwise than we suppose; and there is little chance of that, I fear.”“At all events, come what may,” observed Swinton, “you will have done your duty.”On their return, they found all the men and cattle collected, and that night they increased the number of their fires, and tied the oxen to the waggons, that they might not be scattered by the return of the lion. The latter did not, however, make his appearance, and the night was passed without any disturbance. The following day being Sunday, the Hottentots were assembled, and desired not to start from the camp, as they would be expected to attend to prayers and Divine service; and as no hunting expedition was proposed, the Caffre warriors, as well as the native Caffres, who came in with their baskets of milk and other articles for sale and barter, also remained. Before dinner-time, the bell which had been brought with them from the Cape, to ring in case of any one having strayed from the camp, that he might be guided to return, was tolled by Bremen, and the Hottentots were assembled. Prayers and a portion of the Bible were then read.The Caffre warriors, who had been told that the white men were going to pray to their God, were very silent and attentive, although they could not understand what was said; and the native Caffres, men, women, and children, sat down near and listened. As soon as the service was over, the Caffre head man of the warriors asked the interpreter to inquire of our travellers why they struck the bell? was it to let their God know that they were about to pray, and did he hear what they said?Swinton replied, that their God heard all that they said, and listened to the prayers of those who trusted in him.A great many other questions were put by the Caffres, all of which were replied to with great caution by Mr Swinton, as he was fearful that they might not otherwise be understood by the Caffres; but they were, as it was proved by the questions which followed in consequence. A great portion of the afternoon was passed away in explaining and replying to the interrogatories of these people, and our travellers felt convinced that by having kept the Sabbath in that savage land they had done some good by the example; for, as Swinton truly observed—“The missionaries come into the land to spread the gospel of Christ; they tell the natives that such is the religion and belief of the white men, and that such are the doctrines which are inculcated. Now white men come here as traders, or are occasionally seen here as travellers; and if the natives find, as they have found, that these white men, stated by the missionaries to hold the same belief, not only show no evidence of their brief, but are guilty of sins expressly forbidden by the religion preached, is not the work of the missionary nearly destroyed?“I have often thought that the behaviour of the Dutch boors towards the natives must have had such an effect; indeed, I may say that the colony has been founded upon very opposite principles to those of ‘doing unto others as you would they should do unto you.’ I believe that there never yet was an intercourse between Christians nominal and savages, in any portion of the globe, but that the savages have with great justice thrown in the Christians’ teeth, that they preached one thing but did another. Unfortunately the taunt is but too true. Even those who had left their country for religious persecution have erred in the same way. The conduct of the Puritans who landed at Salem was as barbarous towards the Indians as that of Pizarro and his followers towards the Mexicans. In either case the poor aborigines were hunted to death.”On Monday they started at daylight, and proceeded on the journey; but they made little progress, on account of the difficulty of travelling with the waggons in a country consisting of alternate precipices and ravines, without any roads. The second day proved to be one of greater difficulty; they were obliged to cut down trees, fill up holes, remove large pieces of rock, and with every precaution the waggons were often out of order, and they were obliged to halt for repairs.At night they were about ten miles from the Umtata River, and it was doubtful, from the accounts received from the natives of the country, if they would be able to go further with the waggons than to its bank. But in the evening, news was brought that the Amaquibi, the nation of warriors who were governed by Quetoo, and which had come from the north, had been attacked by two of the native tribes, aided by some white men with guns; that the white men had all been destroyed, and that the hostile army were marching south.The native Caffres appeared to be in a panic, and this panic was soon communicated to the Hottentots. At first, murmurings were heard as they sat round the fire, and at last they broke out into open mutiny. Big Adam, with three others, came up to the fire where our travellers were sitting, and intimated that they must return immediately, as they would proceed no farther; that if it was decided to go on, the Hottentots would not, as they had no intention of being murdered by the savages who were advancing. Swinton, who could speak the Dutch language, having consulted with Alexander and the Major, replied that it was very true that the army of Quetoo was to the northward; but that the report of the defeat of the Caffres and of the army advancing was not confirmed. It was only a rumour, and might all be false; that even if true, it did not follow they were advancing in the direction in which they themselves were about to proceed; that it would be sufficient time for them to retreat when they found out what were the real facts, which would be the case in a few days at the furthest. But the Hottentots would not listen to anything that he said; they declared that they would proceed no further.By this time all the other Hottentots had joined the first who came up to our travellers, and made the same demand, stating their determination not to proceed a mile further. Only Bremen and Swanevelt opposed the rest, and declared that they would follow their masters wherever they chose to lead them. Alexander now sent for the interpreter and the chief of the Caffre warriors, lent him by Hinza, and desired the interpreter to ask the Caffre whether he and his band would follow them. The Caffre answered that they would; Hinza had given them in charge, and they could not return and say that they had left them because there was an enemy at hand. Hinza would kill them all if they did; they must bring back the travellers safe, or lose their lives in their defence.“Well, then,” said the Major, “now we can do without these cowardly follows, who are no use to us but to eat and drink; so now let us discharge them at once, all but Bremen and Swanevelt.”“I agree with you, Major,” said Alexander; “what do you think, Swinton?”“Yes, let us discharge them, for then they will be in a precious dilemma. We will discharge them without arms, and desire them to go home; that they dare not do, so they will remain. But let us first secure their muskets, which lie round their fire, before we dismiss them; or they will not, perhaps, surrender them, and we may be in an awkward position. I will slip away, and while I am away, do you keep them in talk until I return, which I shall not do until I have locked up all the guns in the store-waggon.”As Swinton rose, the Major addressed the Hottentots. “Now, my lads,” said he, “here are Bremen and Swanevelt who consent to follow us: all the Caffre warriors agree to follow us; and here are about twenty of you who refuse. Now I cannot think that you will leave us; you know that we have treated you well, and have given you plenty of tobacco; you know that you will be punished as soon as you return to the Cape. Why then are you so foolish? Now look you; I am sure that upon reflection you will think better of it. Let me understand clearly your reasons for not proceeding with us; I wish to hear them again, and let each man speak for himself.”The Hottentots immediately began to state over again their reasons for not going on; and thus the Major, who made each give his reason separately, gained their attention, and the time which was required. Before they all had spoken, Swinton came back and took his seat by the fire.“All’s safe,” said he; “Bremen and Swanevelt’s guns have been locked up with the others.” Our travellers had their own lying by them. The Caffre warriors, who were standing behind the Hottentots, had all their assaguays in their hands; but their shields, as usual, were hanging to the sides of the waggons. The Major allowed the whole of the Hottentots to speak, and when they were done, he said, “Now, Wilmot, turn the tables on them.”Alexander then got up with his gun in his hand, the Major and Swinton did the same, and then Alexander told the Hottentots that they were a cowardly set of fellows; that with Bremen and Swanevelt, and the band of Caffre warriors, he could do without them; that since they did not choose to proceed, they might now leave the camp immediately, as they should get neither food nor anything else from them in future. “So now be off, the whole of you; and if I find one to-morrow morning in sight of the camp, or if one of you dare to follow us, I will order the Caffres to run him through. You are dismissed, and to-morrow we leave without you.”Alexander then called the chief of the Caffre warriors, and desired him, in the presence of the Hottentots, to give particular charge of the cattle, horses, and sheep, to his warriors during the night; and that if any one attempted to touch them, to run him through the body. “Do this immediately,” said Alexander to the chief, who without delay spoke to his men, and they went off in obedience to his orders.The Hottentots, who had heard all this, now retreated to their waggon, but were struck with consternation when they found that their guns had been removed; for they trusted to their guns and ammunition to enable them to procure food and protect themselves on their return. They consulted together in a low voice; they looked round and perceived that our three travellers had quitted the fire, and were keeping guard with their guns upon the waggons, to prevent any attempt of breaking them open, on the part of the Hottentots. Moreover, ten of the Caffres, with their spears, had, since the breaking up of the conference, been put in charge of the waggons by the chief, at the request of the Major. The Hottentots now perceived their forlorn position.How could they, without arms and ammunition, and without provisions, return to the Cape, such a number of miles distant? How could they exist, if they remained where they were? When they insisted upon our travellers returning, they had quite overlooked the circumstance that these could protect themselves with the Caffre warriors, and that they were not in a condition to enforce their demand.After a long conversation, they did what all Hottentots will do under any emergency,—they lay down by the fire, and fell fast asleep. Swinton, having ascertained that they were really asleep, proposed that they themselves should retire to the waggon, and leave the Caffres on guard, which they did; as they well knew that a Hottentot once fast asleep is not easily roused up even to “treason, stratagem, or spoil.”Shortly after break of day, Bremen came to them, stating that he found the waggons could proceed no further, as he had walked on, and discovered that a mile before them there was a ravine so deep that it would be difficult for the cattle to go down, and for the waggons impossible that at a distance of three miles below he could see the river, which was also so embedded in rocks, as to be impassable by the waggons.The Major immediately went with Bremen, to satisfy himself of the truth of this, and returned, stating that further progress with waggons was impossible.“Well, then, we must now hold a council,” said Swinton. “Of course, proceed you will, Wilmot, that is decided; the only question is, as we must now proceed on horseback, what force you will take with you, and what shall be left in charge of the waggons?”“I think we can trust the Caffres, do not you?”“Yes, I do; but I wish from my heart that the Hottentots had not rebelled; for although in some respects cowardly fellows, yet with their muskets they are brave, and their muskets keep the natives in order.”“To the Caffres, the contents of the waggons would prove a temptation; but these are not temptations to the Hottentots, whose object is to get back safe, and receive their wages. Thus we play them off against each other.”“Here are all the Hottentots coming up to us,” said the Major; “I hope it is to make submission; it is very desirable that they should do so before they know that the waggons proceed no further.”The surmise of the Major was correct: the Hottentots had again canvassed the matter over, and, perceiving the helplessness of their position, had come in a body to beg forgiveness, and to offer to accompany our travellers wherever they pleased to take them.It was a long while before Alexander would consent to receive them again, and not until they had made promise upon promise, that he seemed at last to be mollified. Swinton then interceded for them, and at last Alexander consented, upon their future good behaviour, to overlook their conduct. This matter having been satisfactorily arranged, the former question was resumed.“One of you, I fear, must remain with the waggons,” observed Alexander “or both of you, if you please. I have no right to ask you to go upon any wild-goose chase, and run into danger for nothing.”“That one should remain with the waggons will be necessary,” said Swinton; “and I think that the Major, if he does not object, is the proper person. The party who are left must provide themselves with food by their guns; and it will require more military tact than I possess to arrange that, and to defend the waggons. I will accompany you, Wilmot, as I can speak better Dutch, and the interpreter will not get on well without me.”“Will you have the kindness to take charge of the waggons, Major, during our absence?”“I think, perhaps, it will be as well; although I had rather have gone with you,” replied the Major. “I propose that you take thirty of the Caffres, Bremen, and eight Hottentots with you; leave me Swanevelt and the other Hottentots.”“Yes, that will do very well; we will leave the Caffre head man with you.”“No; he must go with the larger portion of his party; he could not well be separated from them.“I will find a proper place for the waggons, and stockade myself regularly in; that will be a good job for the Hottentots, and I dare say I shall do very well.”“I shall not leave you Omrah, Major,” said Swinton; “for, as we shall take four horses with us, I wish him to ride one, and he can attend upon us, as you have Mahomed.”“You may have Begum to ride the other,” replied the Major, “if you please; then you will each have a groom.”“No, no, it would be a pity to part you and her; however, there is no time to be lost, for if this great chief and warrior Quetoo is advancing, it may be as well to be ready for a retreat; the sooner we are off, the sooner we shall be back; so now to pack up.”
It was not until the evening that the Caffres and Hottentots returned with the cattle, which they had great difficulty in collecting; two or three of the oxen were not brought back till late at night, so frightened had the animals been by the approach of the lion. In the afternoon, as it was too late to think of proceeding, our travellers, with their guns on their shoulders, and accompanied by Omrah and Begum, who would always follow the Major if she was not tied up, strolled away from the camp to amuse themselves. At first they walked to the hill from which they had such a splendid view of the valley covered with elephants, and, proceeding to where the male elephant had fallen, found that his flesh had, by the Caffres, the wolves, and the vultures, been completely taken off his bones, and it lay there a beautiful skeleton for a museum.
As, however, they had no room for such weighty articles in their waggons, they left it, after Swinton had made some observations upon the structure of the animal. Begum would not go near the skeleton, but appeared to be frightened at it. They then proceeded to the rock which had been their place of refuge when the herd of elephants had charged upon them; and as they stood under it, they were suddenly saluted with a loud noise over their heads, sounding like quah, quah!
As soon as Begum heard it, she ran up to the Major with every sign of trepidation, holding fast to his skin trousers.
“What was that?” said Alexander; “I see nothing.”
“I know what it is,” said the Major; “it is a herd of baboons; there they are; don’t you see their heads over the rocks?”
“Let them show themselves a little more, and we’ll have a shot at them,” replied Alexander, cocking his gun.
“Not for your life,” cried Swinton; “you will be skinned and torn to pieces, if they are numerous, and you enrage them. You have no idea what savage and powerful creatures they are. Look at them now; they are coming down gradually; we had better be off.”
“I think so too,” said the Major; “they are very angry; they have seen Begum, and imagine that we have one of their herd in our possession. Pray don’t fire, Wilmot, unless it is for your life; we are too few to make them afraid of us. Here they come; there are a hundred of them at least—let us walk away slowly—it won’t do to run, for that would make them chase us at once.”
The baboons, some of which were of gigantic size, were now descending from the rock, grunting, grinning, springing from stone to stone, protruding their mouths, shaking their heads, drawing back the skin of their foreheads, and showing their formidable tusks, advancing nearer and nearer, and threatening an instant attack. Some of the largest males advanced so close as to make a snatch at Omrah. As for Begum, she kept behind the Major, hiding herself as much as possible. At last one or two advanced so close, rising on their hind-legs, that the Major was obliged to ward them off with his gun. “Point your guns at them,” said Swinton, “if they come too close; but do not fire, I beg of you. If we only get from off this rocky ground to the plain below, we shall probably get rid of them.”
The ground on which they were formed a portion of the rocky hill upon which they had taken shelter the day of the elephant-hunt; and within twenty-five yards of them there was an abrupt descent of about four feet, which joined it to the plain. They had gained half-way, parrying the animals off as well as they could, as they retreated backwards, when some of the baboons came down from the other side of the rock, so as to attempt to cut off their retreat, their object evidently being to gain possession of Begum, whom they considered as belonging to them—and a captive.
Their situation now became more critical; for the whole herd were joining the foremost; and the noise they made, and anger they expressed, were much greater than before.
“We must fire, I really believe,” said the Major, when at that moment they heard a deep, hollow growl, followed up by a roar of some animal, apparently not very far off. At this sound the baboons halted, and listened in silence: again the growl was repeated, and followed up by the roar, and the baboons, at a shriek given by one on the rock, turned round and took to their heels, much to the delight of our travellers, who had felt the peculiar difficulty and danger of their situation.
“What animal was that which has frightened them off?” said the Major.
“It was the growl of a leopard,” replied Swinton; “we must keep a sharp look-out; it can’t be far off. The leopard is the great enemy of the baboons. But where is Omrah?”
They all looked round, but the boy was not to be seen. At last he showed his head above the foot of the rocky hill, where there was a descent of four feet, as we have mentioned, then sprang up the rock, and began capering, and imitating the baboons as they came on to the attack.
As they were laughing at him, all at once he stopped, and putting his hands to his mouth he gave the growl and roar of a leopard, which they had heard, and then set off running away baboon fashion.
“It was the Bushman, then, that frightened them off; he is a clever little fellow.”
“And I am not sure that he has not saved our lives,” replied Swinton; “but he has been brought up among them, one may say, and knows their habits well. If he had not hid himself below the rock before he imitated the leopard, it would have been of no use, for they would not have been frightened, hearing the growl proceeding from him. I admire the boy’s presence of mind.”
“I thought at one time that the baboons had an idea that Omrah was one of them. What a snatch they made at him!”
“It would not have been the first time that these animals have carried off a boy,” said Swinton; “I saw one at Latakoo, who had lived two years with the baboons, which had carried him off.”
“How did they treat him?”
“Very well indeed; but they kept him a prisoner. When they found that he would not eat the coarse food which they did, they brought him other things; and they invariably allowed him to drink first at the pools.”
“Well, that was homage to our superiority. Confound their quahs, I shall not get them out of my head for a week. What terrible large tusks they have!”
“Yes, their incisors are very strong. They often destroy the leopard when they meet it in numbers; but if one happens to be away from the herd, he has, of course, no chance with such an animal. Begum did not appear at all willing to renew her connexion.
“None of the monkey tribe, after they have lived with man, ever are; indeed it is a question, if they had taken possession of her, whether they would not have torn her to pieces immediately, or have worried her to death some way or other.”
“Well, at all events, Swinton, you have been rewarded for your kindness to that poor little Bushman, and we have reaped the benefit of it,” observed Alexander. “But here come some of the oxen; I hope we shall be able to start early on Monday. The native Caffres say that the waggons cannot proceed much further.”
“No, not further than to the banks of the Umtata River: but you will then be not a great way from your destination. Daaka is the chief’s name, is it not?”
“Yes, that is his name; and if he is as supposed to be, he is my first cousin. How strange it sounds to me, as I look around me in this savage and wild country, that I should be within forty miles of a blood-relation, who is an inhabitant of it!”
“Well, we shall soon know the truth; but I must say, if it is only to end in a morning call, you have come a long way for the purpose,” replied the Major.
“I have come to ascertain a fact, which, from what I now know of the country and its inhabitants, will be the source of anything but pleasure if it be established. My only hope is that it may prove otherwise than we suppose; and there is little chance of that, I fear.”
“At all events, come what may,” observed Swinton, “you will have done your duty.”
On their return, they found all the men and cattle collected, and that night they increased the number of their fires, and tied the oxen to the waggons, that they might not be scattered by the return of the lion. The latter did not, however, make his appearance, and the night was passed without any disturbance. The following day being Sunday, the Hottentots were assembled, and desired not to start from the camp, as they would be expected to attend to prayers and Divine service; and as no hunting expedition was proposed, the Caffre warriors, as well as the native Caffres, who came in with their baskets of milk and other articles for sale and barter, also remained. Before dinner-time, the bell which had been brought with them from the Cape, to ring in case of any one having strayed from the camp, that he might be guided to return, was tolled by Bremen, and the Hottentots were assembled. Prayers and a portion of the Bible were then read.
The Caffre warriors, who had been told that the white men were going to pray to their God, were very silent and attentive, although they could not understand what was said; and the native Caffres, men, women, and children, sat down near and listened. As soon as the service was over, the Caffre head man of the warriors asked the interpreter to inquire of our travellers why they struck the bell? was it to let their God know that they were about to pray, and did he hear what they said?
Swinton replied, that their God heard all that they said, and listened to the prayers of those who trusted in him.
A great many other questions were put by the Caffres, all of which were replied to with great caution by Mr Swinton, as he was fearful that they might not otherwise be understood by the Caffres; but they were, as it was proved by the questions which followed in consequence. A great portion of the afternoon was passed away in explaining and replying to the interrogatories of these people, and our travellers felt convinced that by having kept the Sabbath in that savage land they had done some good by the example; for, as Swinton truly observed—
“The missionaries come into the land to spread the gospel of Christ; they tell the natives that such is the religion and belief of the white men, and that such are the doctrines which are inculcated. Now white men come here as traders, or are occasionally seen here as travellers; and if the natives find, as they have found, that these white men, stated by the missionaries to hold the same belief, not only show no evidence of their brief, but are guilty of sins expressly forbidden by the religion preached, is not the work of the missionary nearly destroyed?
“I have often thought that the behaviour of the Dutch boors towards the natives must have had such an effect; indeed, I may say that the colony has been founded upon very opposite principles to those of ‘doing unto others as you would they should do unto you.’ I believe that there never yet was an intercourse between Christians nominal and savages, in any portion of the globe, but that the savages have with great justice thrown in the Christians’ teeth, that they preached one thing but did another. Unfortunately the taunt is but too true. Even those who had left their country for religious persecution have erred in the same way. The conduct of the Puritans who landed at Salem was as barbarous towards the Indians as that of Pizarro and his followers towards the Mexicans. In either case the poor aborigines were hunted to death.”
On Monday they started at daylight, and proceeded on the journey; but they made little progress, on account of the difficulty of travelling with the waggons in a country consisting of alternate precipices and ravines, without any roads. The second day proved to be one of greater difficulty; they were obliged to cut down trees, fill up holes, remove large pieces of rock, and with every precaution the waggons were often out of order, and they were obliged to halt for repairs.
At night they were about ten miles from the Umtata River, and it was doubtful, from the accounts received from the natives of the country, if they would be able to go further with the waggons than to its bank. But in the evening, news was brought that the Amaquibi, the nation of warriors who were governed by Quetoo, and which had come from the north, had been attacked by two of the native tribes, aided by some white men with guns; that the white men had all been destroyed, and that the hostile army were marching south.
The native Caffres appeared to be in a panic, and this panic was soon communicated to the Hottentots. At first, murmurings were heard as they sat round the fire, and at last they broke out into open mutiny. Big Adam, with three others, came up to the fire where our travellers were sitting, and intimated that they must return immediately, as they would proceed no farther; that if it was decided to go on, the Hottentots would not, as they had no intention of being murdered by the savages who were advancing. Swinton, who could speak the Dutch language, having consulted with Alexander and the Major, replied that it was very true that the army of Quetoo was to the northward; but that the report of the defeat of the Caffres and of the army advancing was not confirmed. It was only a rumour, and might all be false; that even if true, it did not follow they were advancing in the direction in which they themselves were about to proceed; that it would be sufficient time for them to retreat when they found out what were the real facts, which would be the case in a few days at the furthest. But the Hottentots would not listen to anything that he said; they declared that they would proceed no further.
By this time all the other Hottentots had joined the first who came up to our travellers, and made the same demand, stating their determination not to proceed a mile further. Only Bremen and Swanevelt opposed the rest, and declared that they would follow their masters wherever they chose to lead them. Alexander now sent for the interpreter and the chief of the Caffre warriors, lent him by Hinza, and desired the interpreter to ask the Caffre whether he and his band would follow them. The Caffre answered that they would; Hinza had given them in charge, and they could not return and say that they had left them because there was an enemy at hand. Hinza would kill them all if they did; they must bring back the travellers safe, or lose their lives in their defence.
“Well, then,” said the Major, “now we can do without these cowardly follows, who are no use to us but to eat and drink; so now let us discharge them at once, all but Bremen and Swanevelt.”
“I agree with you, Major,” said Alexander; “what do you think, Swinton?”
“Yes, let us discharge them, for then they will be in a precious dilemma. We will discharge them without arms, and desire them to go home; that they dare not do, so they will remain. But let us first secure their muskets, which lie round their fire, before we dismiss them; or they will not, perhaps, surrender them, and we may be in an awkward position. I will slip away, and while I am away, do you keep them in talk until I return, which I shall not do until I have locked up all the guns in the store-waggon.”
As Swinton rose, the Major addressed the Hottentots. “Now, my lads,” said he, “here are Bremen and Swanevelt who consent to follow us: all the Caffre warriors agree to follow us; and here are about twenty of you who refuse. Now I cannot think that you will leave us; you know that we have treated you well, and have given you plenty of tobacco; you know that you will be punished as soon as you return to the Cape. Why then are you so foolish? Now look you; I am sure that upon reflection you will think better of it. Let me understand clearly your reasons for not proceeding with us; I wish to hear them again, and let each man speak for himself.”
The Hottentots immediately began to state over again their reasons for not going on; and thus the Major, who made each give his reason separately, gained their attention, and the time which was required. Before they all had spoken, Swinton came back and took his seat by the fire.
“All’s safe,” said he; “Bremen and Swanevelt’s guns have been locked up with the others.” Our travellers had their own lying by them. The Caffre warriors, who were standing behind the Hottentots, had all their assaguays in their hands; but their shields, as usual, were hanging to the sides of the waggons. The Major allowed the whole of the Hottentots to speak, and when they were done, he said, “Now, Wilmot, turn the tables on them.”
Alexander then got up with his gun in his hand, the Major and Swinton did the same, and then Alexander told the Hottentots that they were a cowardly set of fellows; that with Bremen and Swanevelt, and the band of Caffre warriors, he could do without them; that since they did not choose to proceed, they might now leave the camp immediately, as they should get neither food nor anything else from them in future. “So now be off, the whole of you; and if I find one to-morrow morning in sight of the camp, or if one of you dare to follow us, I will order the Caffres to run him through. You are dismissed, and to-morrow we leave without you.”
Alexander then called the chief of the Caffre warriors, and desired him, in the presence of the Hottentots, to give particular charge of the cattle, horses, and sheep, to his warriors during the night; and that if any one attempted to touch them, to run him through the body. “Do this immediately,” said Alexander to the chief, who without delay spoke to his men, and they went off in obedience to his orders.
The Hottentots, who had heard all this, now retreated to their waggon, but were struck with consternation when they found that their guns had been removed; for they trusted to their guns and ammunition to enable them to procure food and protect themselves on their return. They consulted together in a low voice; they looked round and perceived that our three travellers had quitted the fire, and were keeping guard with their guns upon the waggons, to prevent any attempt of breaking them open, on the part of the Hottentots. Moreover, ten of the Caffres, with their spears, had, since the breaking up of the conference, been put in charge of the waggons by the chief, at the request of the Major. The Hottentots now perceived their forlorn position.
How could they, without arms and ammunition, and without provisions, return to the Cape, such a number of miles distant? How could they exist, if they remained where they were? When they insisted upon our travellers returning, they had quite overlooked the circumstance that these could protect themselves with the Caffre warriors, and that they were not in a condition to enforce their demand.
After a long conversation, they did what all Hottentots will do under any emergency,—they lay down by the fire, and fell fast asleep. Swinton, having ascertained that they were really asleep, proposed that they themselves should retire to the waggon, and leave the Caffres on guard, which they did; as they well knew that a Hottentot once fast asleep is not easily roused up even to “treason, stratagem, or spoil.”
Shortly after break of day, Bremen came to them, stating that he found the waggons could proceed no further, as he had walked on, and discovered that a mile before them there was a ravine so deep that it would be difficult for the cattle to go down, and for the waggons impossible that at a distance of three miles below he could see the river, which was also so embedded in rocks, as to be impassable by the waggons.
The Major immediately went with Bremen, to satisfy himself of the truth of this, and returned, stating that further progress with waggons was impossible.
“Well, then, we must now hold a council,” said Swinton. “Of course, proceed you will, Wilmot, that is decided; the only question is, as we must now proceed on horseback, what force you will take with you, and what shall be left in charge of the waggons?”
“I think we can trust the Caffres, do not you?”
“Yes, I do; but I wish from my heart that the Hottentots had not rebelled; for although in some respects cowardly fellows, yet with their muskets they are brave, and their muskets keep the natives in order.”
“To the Caffres, the contents of the waggons would prove a temptation; but these are not temptations to the Hottentots, whose object is to get back safe, and receive their wages. Thus we play them off against each other.”
“Here are all the Hottentots coming up to us,” said the Major; “I hope it is to make submission; it is very desirable that they should do so before they know that the waggons proceed no further.”
The surmise of the Major was correct: the Hottentots had again canvassed the matter over, and, perceiving the helplessness of their position, had come in a body to beg forgiveness, and to offer to accompany our travellers wherever they pleased to take them.
It was a long while before Alexander would consent to receive them again, and not until they had made promise upon promise, that he seemed at last to be mollified. Swinton then interceded for them, and at last Alexander consented, upon their future good behaviour, to overlook their conduct. This matter having been satisfactorily arranged, the former question was resumed.
“One of you, I fear, must remain with the waggons,” observed Alexander “or both of you, if you please. I have no right to ask you to go upon any wild-goose chase, and run into danger for nothing.”
“That one should remain with the waggons will be necessary,” said Swinton; “and I think that the Major, if he does not object, is the proper person. The party who are left must provide themselves with food by their guns; and it will require more military tact than I possess to arrange that, and to defend the waggons. I will accompany you, Wilmot, as I can speak better Dutch, and the interpreter will not get on well without me.”
“Will you have the kindness to take charge of the waggons, Major, during our absence?”
“I think, perhaps, it will be as well; although I had rather have gone with you,” replied the Major. “I propose that you take thirty of the Caffres, Bremen, and eight Hottentots with you; leave me Swanevelt and the other Hottentots.”
“Yes, that will do very well; we will leave the Caffre head man with you.”
“No; he must go with the larger portion of his party; he could not well be separated from them.
“I will find a proper place for the waggons, and stockade myself regularly in; that will be a good job for the Hottentots, and I dare say I shall do very well.”
“I shall not leave you Omrah, Major,” said Swinton; “for, as we shall take four horses with us, I wish him to ride one, and he can attend upon us, as you have Mahomed.”
“You may have Begum to ride the other,” replied the Major, “if you please; then you will each have a groom.”
“No, no, it would be a pity to part you and her; however, there is no time to be lost, for if this great chief and warrior Quetoo is advancing, it may be as well to be ready for a retreat; the sooner we are off, the sooner we shall be back; so now to pack up.”
Chapter Sixteen.The first step taken by Alexander was to send for the Hottentots, and, after again reproving them for their former behaviour, he asked who were ready to volunteer to proceed with him, as he had decided that he would leave the waggons with Major Henderson, and proceed on horseback the short distance of his journey which remained to be accomplished.Several of the Hottentots immediately came forward; the heads of the mutiny held back, and thus proved to Alexander that the men who had come forward were persuaded into it by the others, and regretted what they had done. He therefore immediately accepted their services, and their muskets were returned to them. Alexander then stated his intentions to the Caffre head man, who selected the thirty warriors which were required, and in the course of three hours everything was ready for their departure.It was arranged that in case of danger arising to either party, they should, if possible, fall back to the newly-established Mission of Morley, on the sea-coast; but otherwise, the waggons would remain where they were till Alexander’s return. Having packed up all they required in small packages, to be carried by the Caffres, they bade farewell to the Major, and set off, having no baggage but what we have mentioned: for Alexander would not be encumbered with a load of heavy articles which must prevent rapid progress, or rapid retreat if necessary.In two hours they arrived by difficult passes at the banks of the Umtata River, which they crossed, and soon afterwards falling in with a Caffre kraal, they were informed that Daaka, the chief whom they sought, did not reside more then twenty miles distant; and they easily procured a guide to show them the way.The reports of the advance of the Amaquibi army were here fully confirmed, and the natives were preparing to leave the kraal with all their cattle. It appeared, however, that at present the army was stationary; the warriors carousing and enjoying themselves after the victory which they had gained over the Caffres. As these had been assisted by white men and their guns, the spirits of the Amaquibi were raised to an extraordinary degree, and they were intending to carry their arms to the southward, as soon as Quetoo, their chief, had somewhat recovered from his wounds received in the late action. Indeed, it was the wounded state of their chief which was the principal cause of the army not having immediately proceeded to the southward.Having obtained this information, the travellers resumed their journey along the banks of the Umtata, over a country of surpassing beauty, the deep river being full of hippopotami, which were lying on the banks or snorting in the stream. They could not wait to kill one during the daytime, but promised the men that they would allow them to make the attempt in the evening, after their day’s march was over. Towards sunset, they stopped on the banks of the river on a rising ground, and the Hottentots and some Caffres were then directed to go down to the river in chase of the hippopotami, as it was advisable to save their provisions as much as possible.Before night they had succeeded, and the carcass of the animal was hauled on shore. As soon as the party had taken as much as they required, the native Caffres carried off the remainder of the flesh. As they were sitting down carousing by the fire which had been lighted, the Caffre head warrior came up to the interpreter, and told Alexander and Swinton not to say that they were Hinza’s warriors if asked where they came from. On being asked why, he told them that Hinza had married the daughter of the chief of this country, and after a time had sent her back again to her father, and that this had created ill-blood between the tribes, although no war had taken place. Alexander and Swinton, who perceived that the advice was judicious, told him that they would not, and after partaking of the hippopotamus-flesh they all lay down to repose under the far-spreading branches of a large tree.The next morning they set off, and after an hour’s journey the guide told them that they were at the kraal of Daaka, the descendant of the Europeans. The bellowing of the cattle and noise of the calves soon directed them to the spot, and they entered a kraal consisting of several very wretched huts. On inquiring for Daaka, a woman pointed out a hut at a little distance, and, as they dismounted and walked up, he came out to meet them. Swinton and Alexander shook hands with the chief, and said that they were very glad to see him, and that they had come far to pay him a visit. The chief ordered a hut to be swept out for their accommodation, which they took possession of.“You have no idea, Swinton,” said Alexander, “how much I am excited already by this interview.”“I can imagine it, my dear Wilmot,” said Swinton; “it is but natural, for he is your kinsman by all report, and certainly, although a Caffre in his habits and manners, his countenance and features are strikingly European.”“That I have observed myself, and it has fully convinced me of the truth of the statement. I am most anxious to examine him—we must call the interpreter.”The chief entered the hut soon afterwards, and took his seat; the interpreter was sent for, and the conversation was begun by Daaka, who, like most of the Caffre chiefs, with the hope of obtaining presents, stated himself to be very poor, his cattle to be all dying, and his children without milk. Our travellers allowed him to go on for some time in this manner, and then sent for a present of beads and tobacco, which they gave to him. They then commenced their inquiries, and the first question they asked was, why he resided so near the sea.“Because the sea is my mother,” replied he “I came from the sea, and the sea feeds me when I am hungry.”“In that reply he evidently refers to the wreck of the ship,” observed Swinton; “and I presume, from the fish-bones which we have seen about the kraal, that these Caffres feed on fish, which the other tribes do not, and therefore it is that he says his mother feeds him.”“Was your mother white?” inquired Alexander.“Yes,” replied Daaka, “her skin was white as yours; her hair was just like yours, long and dark; but before she died it was quite white.”“What was your mother’s name?”“Kuma,” replied the chief.“Had you any brothers and sisters?”“Yes, I had; I have one sister alive now.”“What is her name?” inquired Swinton.“Bess,” replied the chief.“This is very confirmatory,” said Alexander; “my aunt’s name was Elizabeth; she must have called her child after herself.”“Whom did your mother marry?”“She first married my uncle, and had no children; and then she married my father: both were chiefs, and I am a chief; she had five children by my father.”A long conversation took place after this, the substance of which we may as well communicate to the reader in few words. From the children of Kuma, supposed to be Elizabeth, the aunt of Alexander, were produced a numerous race of the European blood, who were celebrated in the Caffre-land for their courage; they were continually engaged in war, as their alliance was eagerly sought, and in consequence had nearly all perished. Daaka himself was renowned for warlike exploits, but he was now a very old man. In the evening the chief took his leave, and went to his own hut.As soon as they were alone, Alexander said to Swinton, “I have now so far fulfilled my promise to my worthy relation that I have seen this descendant of his child; but what am I to do? An old man like him is not very likely to consent to go to England, and as for his sister Bess, he states that she is equally infirm; the progeny of the rest of the family are scattered about, and he himself knows nothing about them; to collect them would be impossible, and if collected, equally impossible to remove them, for they would not leave. My old relative fancies, in his mind’s eye, his daughter weeping over her captivity, and longing to be restored to her country and her relations; still retaining European feelings and sympathies, and miserable in her position; her children brought up by her with the same ideas, and some day looking forward to their emancipation from this savage state of existence: I think if he were here, and saw old Daaka, he would soon divest himself of all these romantic ideas.”“I think so too; but there is one thing which has struck me very forcibly, Alexander, which is, if this Daaka is the son of your aunt how comes it that he is so old? When was theGrosvenorlost?”“In the year 1752.”“And we are now in 1829. Your aunt you stated to have been ten or twelve years old at the time of the wreck. Allowing her to marry at the earliest age, Daaka could not well be more than forty-eight years old; and surely he is more than that.”“He looks much older, certainly; but who can tell the age of a savage, who has been living a life of constant privation, and who has been so often wounded as his scars show that he has been? Wounds and hardship will soon make a man look old.”“That is very true, but still he appears to be to be older than the dates warrant.”“I think his stating that his sister was named Bess is full corroboration.”“It is rather circumstantial evidence, Wilmot: now what do you propose to do?”“I hardly know; but I wish to be in Daaka’s company some time longer, that I may gain more intelligence; and I think of proposing to him that we should go down to visit the remains of the wreck of his mother, as he terms it. I should like to see a spot so celebrated for misfortune, and behold the remains of the ill-fated vessel; I should like to have to tell my good old uncle all I can, and he will wish that I should be able to give him every information.”“Well, I think it is a good plan of yours, and we will propose it to him to-morrow morning.”“And I should like to visit his sister Bess—indeed, I must do so. He says she is much younger than he is.”“He did, and therefore I think his age does not correspond with our dates, as I observed before,” replied Swinton; “but, as you say, you must see his sister.”Daaka had sent an old cow as a present to Alexander, which was a very seasonable supply, as the hippopotamus-flesh had all been eaten. The next morning they proposed that he should accompany them to where theGrosvenorhad been wrecked.Daaka did not at first appear to know what they wished, and inquired, through the interpreter, whether they meant the ship that was wrecked on the sea-coast, pointing to the eastward. On receiving an answer in the affirmative, he agreed to set off with them that afternoon, saying that it was about forty miles off, and that they would not get there until the next day.About noon they set off on their journey, and as they made but slow progress over a rugged although most beautiful country, they stopped at night at a kraal about half-way. Early the next morning they were led by Daaka and some Caffres who accompanied him to the sea-shore, and when they had arrived at the beach, it being then low water, Daaka pointed to a reef, upon which were to be seen the guns, ballast, and a portion of the keelson of a ship—all that remained of the unfortunateGrosvenor.As the sea washed over the reef, now covering and now exposing these mementoes of misery and suffering, Alexander and Swinton remained for some time without speaking; at last Alexander said—“Swinton, you have read the history of this unfortunate vessel, I know, for you asked me for it to read. What a succession of scenes of horror do these remains, which from their solid weigh only have defied the power of the winds and waves, conjure up at this moment in my mind. I think I now behold the brave vessel dashed upon the reefs—the scream of despair from all on board—the heart-rending situation of the women and children—their wonderful escape and landing on shore, only to be subjected to greater suffering. See, Swinton, that must have been the rock which they all gained, and upon which they remained shivering through the night.”“It is, I have no doubt, from its position,” said Swinton.“Yes, it must have been; I think I see them all—men, women, and helpless children—huddled together, half-clothed and suffering, quitting that rock by this only path from it, and setting off upon their mad and perilous journey: the scattering of the parties—their perils and hunger—their conflicts with the natives—their sufferings from heat and from thirst—their sinking down one by one into the welcome arms of death, or torn to pieces by the wolves and hyenas as they lagged behind the others. How much more fortunate those who never gained the shore.”“Yes, indeed,” replied Swinton; “except the eight who reached the Cape, and the five that Daaka asserts were saved, all the rest must have perished in that dreadful manner.”Alexander remained for some time in painful thought; at last he turned to Daaka and said, as he pointed to the remains of the wreck, “And this then is your mother?”Daaka looked at him and shook his head. “No, not my mother this,” replied he; “my mother down there,” replied he, pointing out in a northerly direction.“What does he mean, Swinton? he says this is not his mother.”“I will speak to him, Wilmot; you are too much agitated,” replied Swinton.“Is not that the vessel which your mother was lost in?” said Swinton, through the interpreter.“No,” replied Daaka; “my mother came on shore in a vessel up the little river out there; I was a boy when this large ship was wrecked; and got some iron from her to make assaguays.”“Merciful heaven! what joy I feel; I trust it is true what he says.”“I have no doubt of it, Wilmot; I told you he was too old a man,” replied Swinton; “but let me question him further.”Our readers may imagine the impatience of Alexander while the questions of Swinton were being answered, and by which it appears that Daaka’s mother was lost at the mouth of the Lauwanbaz, a small river some miles to the eastward of the Zemsooboo. An old Caffre, who had come down with Daaka, now gave a particular account of the wreck of theGrosvenor, corroborating all Daaka’s assertions.“Were there none of theGrosvenor’speople left in the country?” inquired Swinton.“None,” replied the old man; “they all went to the southward.”“Did you hear what became of them?”“Some lay down and died, some fought the natives and were killed; the wolves ate the rest; not one left alive; they all perished.”“Were none of the women and children saved and kept as slaves?”“No, not one; they had no meat, no milk, and they all died.”After some other inquiries, the old man, who at first did not reply willingly, stated that he had, with other Caffres, followed the last party; had seen them all dead, and had taken off their clothes, and that as they died they were buried by those who still survived.“A better fate, cruel as it was, than living as they must have lived,” said Swinton.“Yes, truly,” replied Alexander; “you don’t know, Swinton, what a load has been removed from my mind, and how light-hearted I feel, notwithstanding this recital of their sufferings. My poor uncle! God grant that he may live till my return with this distinct intelligence, with the assurance that he has no grandchildren living the life of a heathen, and knowing no God. What a relief will it prove to him; how soothing will it be to his last days! How grateful am I to God, that I have had so happy an issue to my mission! Now, Swinton, we will return as soon as you please; as soon as we arrive at Daaka’s kraal, I will take down in writing the statement of these people, and then we will hasten back to the Major.”“And I dare say,” said Swinton, as he remounted his horse, “that you will make old Daaka a more handsome present, for proving himself no relation to you, than if he had satisfactorily established himself as your own first cousin.”“You may be sure that my gratitude towards him is much greater than ever could have been my kindred feelings from relationship. I am so light-hearted, Swinton, and so grateful to God, that I almost wish to dismount in my anxiety to return my thanks; but I do so in my heart of hearts, at all events.”On the following day they arrived at Daaka’s kraal, and then Alexander took down very carefully in writing the statements made by Daaka and the other Caffres. They all agreed on the one point, which was, that the European descendants now living in the country were wrecked in another vessel many years before the loss of theGrosvenor, and that not one of theGrosvenor’speople—men, women, or children—had survived, except the few who arrived at the Cape.Having obtained these satisfactory documents, they made a handsome present to Daaka and the other Caffres, and immediately set out upon their return to the waggons. As they journeyed back to the westward, they found the Caffres quitting their huts, and driving away the cattle, that they might not fall into the power of the army of Quetoo, which it was said was now in motion, and scattering the tribes before them. As our travellers were not at all anxious to have any communication with these savage invaders, in two days they crossed the Umtata, and towards the evening were within sight of the waggons. A shout from the Hottentots and Caffres gave notice of their approach. The shout was returned, and in a few minutes they were shaking hands with the Major, who was delighted to see them.“I did not expect you back so soon,” replied the Major; “and I perceive that you are unaccompanied, I presume that your Caffre relations would not quit their kraals.”“You shall know all about it, Major, very soon; it will be enough at present to let you know that we have nothing but good news.”“That I rejoice to hear; but it was well you came back as you did, for I have been making every preparation, and had you not returned in a few days, I should have retreated; the invaders are close at hand.”“We know it, and, if they are told that there are waggons here well loaded, they will come on quickly, with the hopes of plunder, so we must delay no longer,” replied Alexander; “to-morrow we will yoke and set off. We can determine upon our route as we are travelling, but the first point’s to retreat from this quarter.”“Exactly; the oxen are in prime order and can make a long day’s march, and we know our country for some days, at all events; but enter my fortress, dismount, and let us go into the tent which I have pitched. You shall then tell me your adventures, while Mahomed fries a delicate piece of elephant’s flesh for you.”“Have you killed an elephant?”“Yes, but not without much difficulty and some danger, I assure you; I wanted your help sadly, for these Hottentots are too much alarmed to take good aim, and I had only my own rifle to trust to; but I have done very well considering, and I shall prove to our commander-in-chief that I have supplied the garrison without putting him to any expense during his absence. We have been feeding upon green monkeys for three days, and very good eating they are, if you do not happen upon a very old one.”When they entered the inclosure made by the Major, they were surprised at the state of defence in which he had put it. His hedge of thorns upon rocks piled up was impregnable, and the waggons were in the centre, drawn up in a square; the entrance would only admit one person at a time, and was protected by bars at night.“Why, Major, you might have held out against the whole force of the Amaquibi in this position.”“Yes, provided I had provisions and water,” replied the Major; “but I fear they would soon have starved me out; however, it was as well to be prepared against any sudden night-attack, and therefore I fortified my camp: now come in, and welcome back again.”The news which they had to impart to the Major was soon given, and he was highly delighted at the intelligence:— “And now,” said he, “what do you mean to do, Wilmot?—go back again, of course, but by what route?”“Why, Major, you and Swinton have been so kind in coming with me thus far, and I have been so successful in my expedition, that I shall now leave you to decide as you please. I have effected all that I wished, my business is over, and I am ready to meet you in any way you choose; anything you decide upon I shall agree to willingly and join in heartily, so now speak your wishes.”“Well, I will speak mine very frankly,” replied the Major. “We have had some sport in this country, it is true, but not so much as I could have wished; for game is rather scarce, with the exception of elephants and sea-cows. Now I should like to cross the mountains, and get into the Bechuana and Bushman country, where game is as plentiful as I believe water is scarce; we can return that way, if you please, almost as well as we can through the Caffre country—what say you, Swinton?”“Well, I am of your opinion. As Wilmot says, business is over, and we have nothing to do but to amuse ourselves; I am very anxious to pass through the country, as I shall add greatly to my collections, I have no doubt; but it must not be expected that we shall fare as well as we have done in this; it will be the dry season, and we may be in want of water occasionally.”“I am equally desirous of going through that country, where I hope to shoot a giraffe,—that is my great ambition,” replied Wilmot; “therefore we may consider that we are all agreed, and the affair is settled; but the question is, how shall we proceed back? We must return to Hinza’s territory and send back the Caffres. Shall we return to Butterworth?”“I think that must depend upon circumstances, and we can talk it over as we go along: the first point to ascertain is, the best passage over the mountains; and it appears to me that we shall be diverging much too far to the eastward if we return to Butterworth; but the Caffres will soon give us the necessary information.”“I wonder if the quarrel between Hinza and Yoosani has been made up,” said Alexander; “for we must pass through the Tambookie tribe if we cross the mountains, and if there is war between them we may meet with difficulty.”“We shall hear as soon as we have crossed the Bashee river,” replied Swinton; “and then we must decide accordingly. All that can be settled now is, that to-morrow we start on our return, and that we will cross the mountains, if we possibly can.”“Yes, that is decided,” replied Alexander.“Well, then, as soon as you have finished your elephant-steak, Wilmot, we will get out a bottle of wine, drink the first half of it to congratulate you upon the success of your mission, and the other half shall be poured out in bumpers to a happy return.”
The first step taken by Alexander was to send for the Hottentots, and, after again reproving them for their former behaviour, he asked who were ready to volunteer to proceed with him, as he had decided that he would leave the waggons with Major Henderson, and proceed on horseback the short distance of his journey which remained to be accomplished.
Several of the Hottentots immediately came forward; the heads of the mutiny held back, and thus proved to Alexander that the men who had come forward were persuaded into it by the others, and regretted what they had done. He therefore immediately accepted their services, and their muskets were returned to them. Alexander then stated his intentions to the Caffre head man, who selected the thirty warriors which were required, and in the course of three hours everything was ready for their departure.
It was arranged that in case of danger arising to either party, they should, if possible, fall back to the newly-established Mission of Morley, on the sea-coast; but otherwise, the waggons would remain where they were till Alexander’s return. Having packed up all they required in small packages, to be carried by the Caffres, they bade farewell to the Major, and set off, having no baggage but what we have mentioned: for Alexander would not be encumbered with a load of heavy articles which must prevent rapid progress, or rapid retreat if necessary.
In two hours they arrived by difficult passes at the banks of the Umtata River, which they crossed, and soon afterwards falling in with a Caffre kraal, they were informed that Daaka, the chief whom they sought, did not reside more then twenty miles distant; and they easily procured a guide to show them the way.
The reports of the advance of the Amaquibi army were here fully confirmed, and the natives were preparing to leave the kraal with all their cattle. It appeared, however, that at present the army was stationary; the warriors carousing and enjoying themselves after the victory which they had gained over the Caffres. As these had been assisted by white men and their guns, the spirits of the Amaquibi were raised to an extraordinary degree, and they were intending to carry their arms to the southward, as soon as Quetoo, their chief, had somewhat recovered from his wounds received in the late action. Indeed, it was the wounded state of their chief which was the principal cause of the army not having immediately proceeded to the southward.
Having obtained this information, the travellers resumed their journey along the banks of the Umtata, over a country of surpassing beauty, the deep river being full of hippopotami, which were lying on the banks or snorting in the stream. They could not wait to kill one during the daytime, but promised the men that they would allow them to make the attempt in the evening, after their day’s march was over. Towards sunset, they stopped on the banks of the river on a rising ground, and the Hottentots and some Caffres were then directed to go down to the river in chase of the hippopotami, as it was advisable to save their provisions as much as possible.
Before night they had succeeded, and the carcass of the animal was hauled on shore. As soon as the party had taken as much as they required, the native Caffres carried off the remainder of the flesh. As they were sitting down carousing by the fire which had been lighted, the Caffre head warrior came up to the interpreter, and told Alexander and Swinton not to say that they were Hinza’s warriors if asked where they came from. On being asked why, he told them that Hinza had married the daughter of the chief of this country, and after a time had sent her back again to her father, and that this had created ill-blood between the tribes, although no war had taken place. Alexander and Swinton, who perceived that the advice was judicious, told him that they would not, and after partaking of the hippopotamus-flesh they all lay down to repose under the far-spreading branches of a large tree.
The next morning they set off, and after an hour’s journey the guide told them that they were at the kraal of Daaka, the descendant of the Europeans. The bellowing of the cattle and noise of the calves soon directed them to the spot, and they entered a kraal consisting of several very wretched huts. On inquiring for Daaka, a woman pointed out a hut at a little distance, and, as they dismounted and walked up, he came out to meet them. Swinton and Alexander shook hands with the chief, and said that they were very glad to see him, and that they had come far to pay him a visit. The chief ordered a hut to be swept out for their accommodation, which they took possession of.
“You have no idea, Swinton,” said Alexander, “how much I am excited already by this interview.”
“I can imagine it, my dear Wilmot,” said Swinton; “it is but natural, for he is your kinsman by all report, and certainly, although a Caffre in his habits and manners, his countenance and features are strikingly European.”
“That I have observed myself, and it has fully convinced me of the truth of the statement. I am most anxious to examine him—we must call the interpreter.”
The chief entered the hut soon afterwards, and took his seat; the interpreter was sent for, and the conversation was begun by Daaka, who, like most of the Caffre chiefs, with the hope of obtaining presents, stated himself to be very poor, his cattle to be all dying, and his children without milk. Our travellers allowed him to go on for some time in this manner, and then sent for a present of beads and tobacco, which they gave to him. They then commenced their inquiries, and the first question they asked was, why he resided so near the sea.
“Because the sea is my mother,” replied he “I came from the sea, and the sea feeds me when I am hungry.”
“In that reply he evidently refers to the wreck of the ship,” observed Swinton; “and I presume, from the fish-bones which we have seen about the kraal, that these Caffres feed on fish, which the other tribes do not, and therefore it is that he says his mother feeds him.”
“Was your mother white?” inquired Alexander.
“Yes,” replied Daaka, “her skin was white as yours; her hair was just like yours, long and dark; but before she died it was quite white.”
“What was your mother’s name?”
“Kuma,” replied the chief.
“Had you any brothers and sisters?”
“Yes, I had; I have one sister alive now.”
“What is her name?” inquired Swinton.
“Bess,” replied the chief.
“This is very confirmatory,” said Alexander; “my aunt’s name was Elizabeth; she must have called her child after herself.”
“Whom did your mother marry?”
“She first married my uncle, and had no children; and then she married my father: both were chiefs, and I am a chief; she had five children by my father.”
A long conversation took place after this, the substance of which we may as well communicate to the reader in few words. From the children of Kuma, supposed to be Elizabeth, the aunt of Alexander, were produced a numerous race of the European blood, who were celebrated in the Caffre-land for their courage; they were continually engaged in war, as their alliance was eagerly sought, and in consequence had nearly all perished. Daaka himself was renowned for warlike exploits, but he was now a very old man. In the evening the chief took his leave, and went to his own hut.
As soon as they were alone, Alexander said to Swinton, “I have now so far fulfilled my promise to my worthy relation that I have seen this descendant of his child; but what am I to do? An old man like him is not very likely to consent to go to England, and as for his sister Bess, he states that she is equally infirm; the progeny of the rest of the family are scattered about, and he himself knows nothing about them; to collect them would be impossible, and if collected, equally impossible to remove them, for they would not leave. My old relative fancies, in his mind’s eye, his daughter weeping over her captivity, and longing to be restored to her country and her relations; still retaining European feelings and sympathies, and miserable in her position; her children brought up by her with the same ideas, and some day looking forward to their emancipation from this savage state of existence: I think if he were here, and saw old Daaka, he would soon divest himself of all these romantic ideas.”
“I think so too; but there is one thing which has struck me very forcibly, Alexander, which is, if this Daaka is the son of your aunt how comes it that he is so old? When was theGrosvenorlost?”
“In the year 1752.”
“And we are now in 1829. Your aunt you stated to have been ten or twelve years old at the time of the wreck. Allowing her to marry at the earliest age, Daaka could not well be more than forty-eight years old; and surely he is more than that.”
“He looks much older, certainly; but who can tell the age of a savage, who has been living a life of constant privation, and who has been so often wounded as his scars show that he has been? Wounds and hardship will soon make a man look old.”
“That is very true, but still he appears to be to be older than the dates warrant.”
“I think his stating that his sister was named Bess is full corroboration.”
“It is rather circumstantial evidence, Wilmot: now what do you propose to do?”
“I hardly know; but I wish to be in Daaka’s company some time longer, that I may gain more intelligence; and I think of proposing to him that we should go down to visit the remains of the wreck of his mother, as he terms it. I should like to see a spot so celebrated for misfortune, and behold the remains of the ill-fated vessel; I should like to have to tell my good old uncle all I can, and he will wish that I should be able to give him every information.”
“Well, I think it is a good plan of yours, and we will propose it to him to-morrow morning.”
“And I should like to visit his sister Bess—indeed, I must do so. He says she is much younger than he is.”
“He did, and therefore I think his age does not correspond with our dates, as I observed before,” replied Swinton; “but, as you say, you must see his sister.”
Daaka had sent an old cow as a present to Alexander, which was a very seasonable supply, as the hippopotamus-flesh had all been eaten. The next morning they proposed that he should accompany them to where theGrosvenorhad been wrecked.
Daaka did not at first appear to know what they wished, and inquired, through the interpreter, whether they meant the ship that was wrecked on the sea-coast, pointing to the eastward. On receiving an answer in the affirmative, he agreed to set off with them that afternoon, saying that it was about forty miles off, and that they would not get there until the next day.
About noon they set off on their journey, and as they made but slow progress over a rugged although most beautiful country, they stopped at night at a kraal about half-way. Early the next morning they were led by Daaka and some Caffres who accompanied him to the sea-shore, and when they had arrived at the beach, it being then low water, Daaka pointed to a reef, upon which were to be seen the guns, ballast, and a portion of the keelson of a ship—all that remained of the unfortunateGrosvenor.
As the sea washed over the reef, now covering and now exposing these mementoes of misery and suffering, Alexander and Swinton remained for some time without speaking; at last Alexander said—
“Swinton, you have read the history of this unfortunate vessel, I know, for you asked me for it to read. What a succession of scenes of horror do these remains, which from their solid weigh only have defied the power of the winds and waves, conjure up at this moment in my mind. I think I now behold the brave vessel dashed upon the reefs—the scream of despair from all on board—the heart-rending situation of the women and children—their wonderful escape and landing on shore, only to be subjected to greater suffering. See, Swinton, that must have been the rock which they all gained, and upon which they remained shivering through the night.”
“It is, I have no doubt, from its position,” said Swinton.
“Yes, it must have been; I think I see them all—men, women, and helpless children—huddled together, half-clothed and suffering, quitting that rock by this only path from it, and setting off upon their mad and perilous journey: the scattering of the parties—their perils and hunger—their conflicts with the natives—their sufferings from heat and from thirst—their sinking down one by one into the welcome arms of death, or torn to pieces by the wolves and hyenas as they lagged behind the others. How much more fortunate those who never gained the shore.”
“Yes, indeed,” replied Swinton; “except the eight who reached the Cape, and the five that Daaka asserts were saved, all the rest must have perished in that dreadful manner.”
Alexander remained for some time in painful thought; at last he turned to Daaka and said, as he pointed to the remains of the wreck, “And this then is your mother?”
Daaka looked at him and shook his head. “No, not my mother this,” replied he; “my mother down there,” replied he, pointing out in a northerly direction.
“What does he mean, Swinton? he says this is not his mother.”
“I will speak to him, Wilmot; you are too much agitated,” replied Swinton.
“Is not that the vessel which your mother was lost in?” said Swinton, through the interpreter.
“No,” replied Daaka; “my mother came on shore in a vessel up the little river out there; I was a boy when this large ship was wrecked; and got some iron from her to make assaguays.”
“Merciful heaven! what joy I feel; I trust it is true what he says.”
“I have no doubt of it, Wilmot; I told you he was too old a man,” replied Swinton; “but let me question him further.”
Our readers may imagine the impatience of Alexander while the questions of Swinton were being answered, and by which it appears that Daaka’s mother was lost at the mouth of the Lauwanbaz, a small river some miles to the eastward of the Zemsooboo. An old Caffre, who had come down with Daaka, now gave a particular account of the wreck of theGrosvenor, corroborating all Daaka’s assertions.
“Were there none of theGrosvenor’speople left in the country?” inquired Swinton.
“None,” replied the old man; “they all went to the southward.”
“Did you hear what became of them?”
“Some lay down and died, some fought the natives and were killed; the wolves ate the rest; not one left alive; they all perished.”
“Were none of the women and children saved and kept as slaves?”
“No, not one; they had no meat, no milk, and they all died.”
After some other inquiries, the old man, who at first did not reply willingly, stated that he had, with other Caffres, followed the last party; had seen them all dead, and had taken off their clothes, and that as they died they were buried by those who still survived.
“A better fate, cruel as it was, than living as they must have lived,” said Swinton.
“Yes, truly,” replied Alexander; “you don’t know, Swinton, what a load has been removed from my mind, and how light-hearted I feel, notwithstanding this recital of their sufferings. My poor uncle! God grant that he may live till my return with this distinct intelligence, with the assurance that he has no grandchildren living the life of a heathen, and knowing no God. What a relief will it prove to him; how soothing will it be to his last days! How grateful am I to God, that I have had so happy an issue to my mission! Now, Swinton, we will return as soon as you please; as soon as we arrive at Daaka’s kraal, I will take down in writing the statement of these people, and then we will hasten back to the Major.”
“And I dare say,” said Swinton, as he remounted his horse, “that you will make old Daaka a more handsome present, for proving himself no relation to you, than if he had satisfactorily established himself as your own first cousin.”
“You may be sure that my gratitude towards him is much greater than ever could have been my kindred feelings from relationship. I am so light-hearted, Swinton, and so grateful to God, that I almost wish to dismount in my anxiety to return my thanks; but I do so in my heart of hearts, at all events.”
On the following day they arrived at Daaka’s kraal, and then Alexander took down very carefully in writing the statements made by Daaka and the other Caffres. They all agreed on the one point, which was, that the European descendants now living in the country were wrecked in another vessel many years before the loss of theGrosvenor, and that not one of theGrosvenor’speople—men, women, or children—had survived, except the few who arrived at the Cape.
Having obtained these satisfactory documents, they made a handsome present to Daaka and the other Caffres, and immediately set out upon their return to the waggons. As they journeyed back to the westward, they found the Caffres quitting their huts, and driving away the cattle, that they might not fall into the power of the army of Quetoo, which it was said was now in motion, and scattering the tribes before them. As our travellers were not at all anxious to have any communication with these savage invaders, in two days they crossed the Umtata, and towards the evening were within sight of the waggons. A shout from the Hottentots and Caffres gave notice of their approach. The shout was returned, and in a few minutes they were shaking hands with the Major, who was delighted to see them.
“I did not expect you back so soon,” replied the Major; “and I perceive that you are unaccompanied, I presume that your Caffre relations would not quit their kraals.”
“You shall know all about it, Major, very soon; it will be enough at present to let you know that we have nothing but good news.”
“That I rejoice to hear; but it was well you came back as you did, for I have been making every preparation, and had you not returned in a few days, I should have retreated; the invaders are close at hand.”
“We know it, and, if they are told that there are waggons here well loaded, they will come on quickly, with the hopes of plunder, so we must delay no longer,” replied Alexander; “to-morrow we will yoke and set off. We can determine upon our route as we are travelling, but the first point’s to retreat from this quarter.”
“Exactly; the oxen are in prime order and can make a long day’s march, and we know our country for some days, at all events; but enter my fortress, dismount, and let us go into the tent which I have pitched. You shall then tell me your adventures, while Mahomed fries a delicate piece of elephant’s flesh for you.”
“Have you killed an elephant?”
“Yes, but not without much difficulty and some danger, I assure you; I wanted your help sadly, for these Hottentots are too much alarmed to take good aim, and I had only my own rifle to trust to; but I have done very well considering, and I shall prove to our commander-in-chief that I have supplied the garrison without putting him to any expense during his absence. We have been feeding upon green monkeys for three days, and very good eating they are, if you do not happen upon a very old one.”
When they entered the inclosure made by the Major, they were surprised at the state of defence in which he had put it. His hedge of thorns upon rocks piled up was impregnable, and the waggons were in the centre, drawn up in a square; the entrance would only admit one person at a time, and was protected by bars at night.
“Why, Major, you might have held out against the whole force of the Amaquibi in this position.”
“Yes, provided I had provisions and water,” replied the Major; “but I fear they would soon have starved me out; however, it was as well to be prepared against any sudden night-attack, and therefore I fortified my camp: now come in, and welcome back again.”
The news which they had to impart to the Major was soon given, and he was highly delighted at the intelligence:— “And now,” said he, “what do you mean to do, Wilmot?—go back again, of course, but by what route?”
“Why, Major, you and Swinton have been so kind in coming with me thus far, and I have been so successful in my expedition, that I shall now leave you to decide as you please. I have effected all that I wished, my business is over, and I am ready to meet you in any way you choose; anything you decide upon I shall agree to willingly and join in heartily, so now speak your wishes.”
“Well, I will speak mine very frankly,” replied the Major. “We have had some sport in this country, it is true, but not so much as I could have wished; for game is rather scarce, with the exception of elephants and sea-cows. Now I should like to cross the mountains, and get into the Bechuana and Bushman country, where game is as plentiful as I believe water is scarce; we can return that way, if you please, almost as well as we can through the Caffre country—what say you, Swinton?”
“Well, I am of your opinion. As Wilmot says, business is over, and we have nothing to do but to amuse ourselves; I am very anxious to pass through the country, as I shall add greatly to my collections, I have no doubt; but it must not be expected that we shall fare as well as we have done in this; it will be the dry season, and we may be in want of water occasionally.”
“I am equally desirous of going through that country, where I hope to shoot a giraffe,—that is my great ambition,” replied Wilmot; “therefore we may consider that we are all agreed, and the affair is settled; but the question is, how shall we proceed back? We must return to Hinza’s territory and send back the Caffres. Shall we return to Butterworth?”
“I think that must depend upon circumstances, and we can talk it over as we go along: the first point to ascertain is, the best passage over the mountains; and it appears to me that we shall be diverging much too far to the eastward if we return to Butterworth; but the Caffres will soon give us the necessary information.”
“I wonder if the quarrel between Hinza and Yoosani has been made up,” said Alexander; “for we must pass through the Tambookie tribe if we cross the mountains, and if there is war between them we may meet with difficulty.”
“We shall hear as soon as we have crossed the Bashee river,” replied Swinton; “and then we must decide accordingly. All that can be settled now is, that to-morrow we start on our return, and that we will cross the mountains, if we possibly can.”
“Yes, that is decided,” replied Alexander.
“Well, then, as soon as you have finished your elephant-steak, Wilmot, we will get out a bottle of wine, drink the first half of it to congratulate you upon the success of your mission, and the other half shall be poured out in bumpers to a happy return.”
Chapter Seventeen.The Return.The delight of the Hottentots at the announcement of the return of the expedition was not to be concealed; and now that they knew that they were retreating from the danger, as they were further removed they become proportionably brave. We must not include all the Hottentots in this observation, as Bremen, Swanevelt, and one or two more, were really brave men; but we do refer to the principal portion of them, with Big Adam at their head, who now flourished and vapoured about, as if he could by himself kill and eat the whole army of the dreaded Quetoo.As it was the intention of our travellers to pass over the Mambookei chain of mountains, into the Bushman and Koranna territory, they did not return the same route by which they came, but more to the westward, through the territory of the Tambookie Caffres, not at any one time entering upon the territory of the Amakosas, the tribe of Caffres governed by Hinza, who had lent them his warriors.Voosani, the chief of the Tambookies, was very friendly, and had offered no opposition to their passage through a portion of his domains on their advance. They now lost no time, but continued their journey as fast as they could, although during the day they saw a great quantity of game, and were almost every night saluted with the roarings of the lions.In a week they found themselves on the banks of the White Kae River, and not far from the foot of the mountains which they intended to pass. Here they halted, with the intention of remaining some few days, that they might unload and re-arrange the packing of their waggons, repair what was necessary, and provide themselves with more oxen and sheep for their journey in the sterile territory of the Bushmen.During their route, the rumours relative to the army of Quetoo were incessant. He had attacked and murdered Lieutenant Farewell and his people, who were on a trading expedition in the interior, and taken possession of and plundered their waggons. Flushed with his success over white people armed with muskets, Quetoo had now resolved to turn his army to the southward, and attack the tribes of the Amaponda Caffres, governed by Fakoo, and the missionary station of Morley, lately established near the coast, between the St. John and the Umtata rivers.To effect this, Quetoo commenced his ravages upon all the lesser tribes tributary to Fakoo, and having put them to indiscriminate slaughter, driven away their cattle, and burnt their kraals, his army advanced to the missionary station, which the missionaries were compelled to desert, and fall back upon the St. John River.One of the men belonging to the tribe near Morley came to the caravan where our travellers had halted, and, on being questioned as to the loss they had experienced, cried out, “Ask not how many are killed, but how many are saved: our wives, where are they? and our children, do you see any of them?”But Fakoo, the chief of the Amapondas, had roused himself and collected his army. He resolved upon giving battle to the enemy. He found the Amaquibi encamped in a forest, and he surrounded them with a superior army; he then contrived, by attacking and retreating, to lead them into a position from which there was no escape but by the pass by which they had entered, and which he completely blocked up with his own forces.The Amaquibi could not retreat, and a furious conflict took place, which ended in the destruction of the whole of Quetoo’s army. Quetoo himself was not present, as he still remained confined with the wound he had received in the prior engagement, in which he had been victorious. A portion of Fakoo’s army was sent against him, and he fled with the loss of all the cattle and treasures he had collected; and thus was the invading force at last totally dispersed and not heard of any more.This news was very satisfactory to our travellers, as they did not know whether they would have had time to make their arrangements, if Quetoo’s army had been victorious; and it was still more pleasing to the Hottentots, who were now even braver than before, all lamenting that they had not remained on the banks of the Umtata River, where the combat took place, that they might have assisted at the destruction of the invaders.It was towards the end of August before our travellers had made their preparations and were ready for a start. They had decided to try the pass through the Mambookei chain of mountains, to the eastward of the one named the Storm-bergen, and as they expected to meet with some difficulties, it was decided that the Caffre warriors should not be dismissed till they had arrived at the Bushman territory; they proposed then to turn to the N.W., so as to fall in with that portion of the Orange River which was known by the name of the Vaal or Yellow River, crossing the Black or Cradock River, which is also another branch of the Orange River.This arrangement was made, that they might get into the country more abounding with game, and better furnished with water than any other portion of the sterile deserts which they had to pass through.Having, as usual, kept holy the Lord’s day, on the Monday morning they started in high spirits, and with their cattle in excellent order. The passage through the ravine was very difficult; they had to fill up holes, roll away stones, and very often put double teams to drag the waggons.They made but ten miles on the first day, and found the night cold, after the heat to which they had been subjected. The second day was also one of toil and danger, but on the third they found that they had commenced the descent, and the whole Bushman country was spread before them. But the descent was even more perilous than the ascent, and it was not without great exertion that they saved their waggons from falling over the precipices.On the fourth evening they had crossed the mountains, and were now at the foot of them on the western side. It was with difficulty that they collected wood enough to make their fires for the night, and the continual roaring told them that they were now in the domain of the lion and his satellites.At break of day they all rose, that they might view the country which they were about to traverse. It was one wild desert of sand and stones, interspersed with small shrubs, and here and there a patch of bushes; apparently one vast, dry, arid plain, with a haze over it, arising from the heat. Our travellers, however, did not at first notice this change; their eyes were fixed upon the groups of quaggas and various antelopes which were strewed over the whole face of the country; and, as soon as they had taken their breakfast, they mounted their horses in pursuit. It had been their intention to have dismissed the Caffres on that morning, but the chief of the band pointed out that it would be as well that they should kill some game, to provide them with food for their journey back; and our travellers approved of the suggestion, as it would save their sheep.Alexander and the Major set off with Bremen, Swanevelt, and Omrah on horseback, while the Caffres on foot kept well up with them. The other Hottentots were ordered to remain with Swinton at the encampment, as they had to repair the damages done to the waggons in crossing the mountains.Omrah had shown himself so useful, that he had been permitted to practise with a fowling-piece carrying ball, and had proved himself very expert. He now was mounted on the Major’s spare horse; that, in case the Major’s was knocked up, he might change it, for Omrah’s weight was a mere nothing.The plan of the chase was, that the Caffres should spread in a half-circle, and conceal themselves as much as possible, while those on horseback should turn the animals and drive them in their direction. As they advanced on the plain, they discovered what the haze had prevented their seeing at early dawn, that the plain was covered with a variety of beautiful flowers, of the amaryllis and other tribes, and with the hills of ants and the ant-eaters’ holes, which latter were very dangerous to the horses.The sun was now up in the heavens, and blazed fiercely; the heat was intense, although still early in the day. When they turned their heads towards the mountains which they had passed, they were struck with astonishment at the grandeur of the scene: rocks and cliffs in wild chaos, barren ridges and towering peaks, worn by time into castellated fortresses and other strange shapes, calling to their fancy the ruins of a former world.With the exception of a pool of water, near to which the caravan had halted, not a vestige of that element was to be seen in any direction; all was one plain, ending only in the horizon, without a tree, the line only broken by the groups of animals and the long necks of the packs of ostriches in the distance.If, however, the vegetable kingdom was deficient, the animal was proportionably abundant, and Alexander and the Major were soon at their speed after a troop of quaggas and zebras, which they succeeded in turning towards the Caffres. As soon as the animals had entered the radius of the half-circle, and were within distance, they checked their horses and opened their fire upon them; at the same time the Caffres showed themselves, and the animals were for a time confounded by finding themselves so nearly surrounded.During their hesitation, and while they attempted to break through here and there, and then turned again, several were brought to the ground by the guns of the mounted party, till at last, as if they had summoned up their resolution, the whole herd, led by a splendid male, burst away in a direction close to the horsemen, and made their escape from the circle in a cloud of dust, scattering the stones behind them as they fled.The Caffres ran up to the animals which lay wounded, and put them out of their misery by inserting the point of their assaguays into the spine, which caused immediate death. Seven animals were killed, three zebras and four quaggas; and as Swinton had requested that they might not be cut up till he had ascertained if he required their skins, Omrah was sent back to bring him to where they were lying.Swinton soon came and Alexander said to him, “Now, Swinton, let us know if you want any of the skins of these animals to preserve.”“No,” replied Swinton, “I have them already; I just thought it possible that you might have killed a zebra.”“Well, have we not? there are three of them.”“No, my good fellow, they are not of the real zebra species; they belong to a class described by Burchell, the traveller, which is termed the striped quagga. The quagga and striped quagga, as you may see, have the ears of a horse, while the zebra has those of the ass. The true zebra hardly ever descends upon the plains, but lives altogether upon the mountainous regions; occasionally it may be found, it is true, and that is the reason why I came to see.”“Are they good eating, these animals?”“The quagga is very indifferent food, but the striped quagga is very passable; so if you intend to save any for our dinner, pray let it be some of the latter. Have you done hunting to-day?”“Yes,” replied the Major, “if Wilmot is of my opinion; I think we had better not work our horses any more just now; the plain is so full of large holes,—ant-eaters’ holes, Bremen says they are.”“Yes, they are ant-eaters’ holes, and very dangerous; I have seen them several feet deep. If we do not start to-day, I will ask the Hottentots to try and procure one for me to-night, as I wish to have a stuffed specimen.”“We do not intend to start till to-morrow morning,” replied Alexander; “we must dismiss the Caffres to-night, that they may be also ready to go home to-morrow. They will now have provisions enough.”Our travellers now rode back to the caravan, leaving the Caffres to bring home the flesh. As soon as they had dined, the chief of the warriors was desired to come with all his men, and Alexander then made every man a handsome present, consisting of tobacco, snuff, cloth, knives, and beads. To the chief of the band he gave three times as much as the others, and then, having delivered to him a very liberal collection of articles for their king Hinza, Alexander told the chief to acquaint the king that he had been very much pleased with the conduct of the men, and thanked his majesty for the loan of them, and requested that his majesty would accept of the packet of articles which he had selected for him.He then thanked the men for their good conduct, told them to take all the flesh that they wished for the journey, and stated that they were at liberty to depart that evening or the next morning, as they thought proper. The Caffres were perfectly satisfied with Alexander’s liberality, and the chief of the warriors, making a short speech in reply, retired with his men.“Well, I’m very sorry that these fine fellows are leaving,” said the Major.“And so am I; but I could not well detain them, and they said that they could not go further with us without the king’s permission,” replied Alexander.“Of course not,” replied the Major; “but that does not lessen my regret at their departure; they have been both steady and brave, as well as active and willing, and I do not expect that our Hottentots will serve us so well.”“You are right not to expect it, Major,” replied Swinton; “if you did, you would be miserably disappointed. If they knew now where we were going, they would desert us. The only hold that we have upon the greater number of them is their fear; they go forward because they are afraid to go back; but if they could get hold of our horses, with their guns and ammunition, they would leave us as soon as we advanced in the desert.”“Very true, I fear; but we have a few stanch fellows among them, and two at least whom we can depend upon—Bremen and Swanevelt.”“How far is it from here to the Black River, Swinton?”“About forty miles; not so much perhaps to the river’s bed, but at least that, if not more, before we shall fall in with any water at this season of the year.”“We must not fail to fill our water-kegs before we leave this.”“No, for we shall have no water to-night, that’s certain. We cannot travel more than twenty miles over such a country as this; for, turning here and there to avoid the holes and ant-hills, the twenty miles will be at least thirty,” said Swinton; “but now I must go and tell the Hottentots to find me what I want: a pound of tobacco will procure it, I have no doubt.”“But I have mine,” observed the Major, after Swinton was gone; “we are too near the pool, and we shall be surrounded with lions to-night; the Hottentots may pretend that they will go, but they will not.”“One cannot well blame them; I’m sure a pound of tobacco would not persuade me to put my head into a lion’s mouth; but I agree with you, we are too near the pool, and as we must collect the cattle to secure them during the night, I think we had better fill our water-kegs, and then yoke and take up a position for the night about half a mile further off. But here comes Swinton, who can give us his advice.”As Swinton agreed with them, they yoked the oxen, and drove forward about a mile from the pool; they then secured them to the waggons and lighted large fires round the caravan.The Major was correct as regarded the Hottentots’ procuring an ant-eater for Swinton; they would not leave the fires, and the continual approach of the lions during the night proved that they were wise in so doing. There was no occasion for the lions to roar; the moaning of Begum, and her clinging to the Major, the trembling of the dogs, and the uneasiness of the cattle, invariably gave notice of lions being at hand. Shots were fired off during the night, to keep them at a distance, but otherwise the night was passed away undisturbed.They started the following morning at daybreak, and, at the same time, the Caffres took their departure to their own country. The ground over which the caravan travelled was stony and sandy at intervals, and they had not proceeded far before they again discovered a great variety of game dispersed over the level plain. They did not, however, attempt to pursue them, as they were anxious to go on as far as possible, so as to give the oxen an opportunity of picking up what little food they could during the middle of the day, at which time the Major and Alexander proposed that they should go in pursuit of game. But before they had travelled three hours, they were surprised at a cloud of dust, which obscured the horizon, in the direction they were proceeding.“What can that be?” said Alexander.“I think it is springbok,” said Bremen the Hottentot.“Springbok, why, there must be thousands and thousands of them.”“I believe that Bremen is right,” said Swinton; “it must be one of the migratory herds of springboks; I have never seen them, but I have often been told of them.”The body of antelopes now advanced towards them, keeping on a straight path; and to state their numbers would have been impossible: there might have been fifty or a hundred thousand, or more. As far as the eye could see in any direction, it was one moving mass covering the whole plain. As they approached the caravan, those nearest huddled on one side and occasionally bounded away with the remarkable springs made by this animal, and from which it has its name, alighting not upon the earth, but, for want of room, upon the backs of its companions, and then dropping in between the ranks.A hazy vapour arose from these countless herds as they moved on, and more than once the Hottentots, who were standing on the waggons, which had been stopped as the herd came up to them, pointed out a lion which was journeying with the crowds to feast at his leisure. The animals appeared very tame, and several were killed close to the wheels of the waggons, for the evening’s supper. Notwithstanding that the herd moved at a rapid pace, it was more than two hours before the whole had passed by.“Well,” observed Alexander, “I can now say that I have seen no want of game in Africa. Where will they go go?”“They will go directly on to the southward,” replied Swinton; “the migration of these animals is one of the most remarkable proofs of the fecundity of animal life. Like the ants, they devour everything before them; and if we journey in the direction they have come from, we shall find no food for the cattle until after the rains. After the rains fall, these animals will return to their former pastures. It is the want of food which has brought them so far to the southward.”“Their track is evidently from the north and eastward,” said the Major; “had we not better change our course more to the northward?”“No, I should think not; they have probably travelled on this side of the Nu Gareip or Black River. We shall have neither water nor food for the cattle to-night, and therefore I think we had better go on as we are going, so as to make sure of water for them to-morrow, at all events. It’s useless now stopping to feed the cattle, we had better continue right on till the evening; we shall sooner arrive at the river, and so gain by it.”It was but half an hour before dark that they unyoked the tired oxen. Water or grass there was none; and, what was another misfortune, they could not find sufficient wood of any kind to keep up the necessary fires during the night. All they could collect before dark was but enough for one fire, and they considered it better, therefore, that only one should be lighted.The waggons were drawn up so as to form a square, inside of which were tied the horses; the sheep were driven underneath, and the oxen were tied up outside. They feasted well themselves upon the delicate meat of the springboks, but the poor animals had neither food nor water after their hard day’s journey.As soon as they had supped they retired to their waggons, and the Hottentots remained by the side of the fire, which was but frugally supplied, that it might last till morning; but that there were lions prowling in the vicinity was evident from the restlessness of the oxen, who tried to break the leathern thongs with which they were fastened.The moon had just risen, and showed an imperfect light, when they perceived the bodies of some animals between them and the horizon. They appeared very large, as they always do in an imperfect light, and the Hottentots soon made out that they were five or six lions not forty yards distant. The truth of this supposition was confirmed by an angry roar from one of them, which induced most of the Hottentots to seize their guns, and some to creep under the waggons.The oxen now struggled furiously to escape, for the roar of the lions had spread consternation.Our travellers heard it in their waggons, and were out with their guns in a minute. At last one of the oxen broke loose, and, as it was running behind its companions, as if seeking a more secure shelter, being not more than three or four yards from them, another roar was followed by a spring of one of the lions, which bore the animal to the earth.The Major and Wilmot were advancing before the fire to the attack, when the animal for a moment let go his prey, and was about to spring upon them. Bremen called out for them to retreat, which they did, as the animal advanced step by step towards them.Satisfied with their retiring, the lion then went to his prey, and dragged it to a distance of about fifty yards, where it commenced its meal; and they distinctly heard, although they could not plainly distinguish, the tearing of the animal’s flesh and the breaking of its bones by the lion, while its bellowings were most pitiful.They all now fired in the direction where they heard the noise; the lion replied to the volley by a tremendous roar, and rushed up within twenty yards of the waggons, so as to be distinctly visible. Bremen begged our travellers not to molest the animal, as it was evidently very hungry and very angry, and would certainly make a spring upon them, which must be attended with disastrous effects.The other lions were also now moving round and round the camp; they therefore reloaded their guns, and remained still, looking at the lion tearing and devouring his prey.“We must be quiet here,” said Bremen to Alexander; “there are many lions round us, and our fire is not sufficient to scare them away, and they may attack us.”“Would it not be better to fire our guns,—that would frighten them?”“Yes, sir, it would frighten the other lions, perhaps, but it would enrage this one so near to us, and he would certainly make a charge. We had better throw a little gunpowder upon some ashes now and then, as we have but a small fire: the flash will drive them away for the time.”In the mean time the lion was making his meal upon the poor ox, and when any other of the hungry lions approached him, he would rush at them, and pursue them for some paces with a horrible growl, which made not only the poor oxen, but the men also, to shudder as they heard it.In this manner was the night passed away, every one with his gun in his hand, expecting an immediate attack; but the morning at last dawned, to the great relief of them all. The lions had disappeared, and they walked out to where the old lion had made his meal, and found that he had devoured nearly the whole of the ox; and such was the enormous strength of his jaws, that the rib-bones were all demolished, and the bones of the legs, which are known as the marrow-bones, were broken as if by a hammer.“I really,” observed the Major, “have more respect for a lion, the more I become intimate with his feline majesty.”“Well, but he is now,” observed Swinton, “and I think that we had better be off too.”
The delight of the Hottentots at the announcement of the return of the expedition was not to be concealed; and now that they knew that they were retreating from the danger, as they were further removed they become proportionably brave. We must not include all the Hottentots in this observation, as Bremen, Swanevelt, and one or two more, were really brave men; but we do refer to the principal portion of them, with Big Adam at their head, who now flourished and vapoured about, as if he could by himself kill and eat the whole army of the dreaded Quetoo.
As it was the intention of our travellers to pass over the Mambookei chain of mountains, into the Bushman and Koranna territory, they did not return the same route by which they came, but more to the westward, through the territory of the Tambookie Caffres, not at any one time entering upon the territory of the Amakosas, the tribe of Caffres governed by Hinza, who had lent them his warriors.
Voosani, the chief of the Tambookies, was very friendly, and had offered no opposition to their passage through a portion of his domains on their advance. They now lost no time, but continued their journey as fast as they could, although during the day they saw a great quantity of game, and were almost every night saluted with the roarings of the lions.
In a week they found themselves on the banks of the White Kae River, and not far from the foot of the mountains which they intended to pass. Here they halted, with the intention of remaining some few days, that they might unload and re-arrange the packing of their waggons, repair what was necessary, and provide themselves with more oxen and sheep for their journey in the sterile territory of the Bushmen.
During their route, the rumours relative to the army of Quetoo were incessant. He had attacked and murdered Lieutenant Farewell and his people, who were on a trading expedition in the interior, and taken possession of and plundered their waggons. Flushed with his success over white people armed with muskets, Quetoo had now resolved to turn his army to the southward, and attack the tribes of the Amaponda Caffres, governed by Fakoo, and the missionary station of Morley, lately established near the coast, between the St. John and the Umtata rivers.
To effect this, Quetoo commenced his ravages upon all the lesser tribes tributary to Fakoo, and having put them to indiscriminate slaughter, driven away their cattle, and burnt their kraals, his army advanced to the missionary station, which the missionaries were compelled to desert, and fall back upon the St. John River.
One of the men belonging to the tribe near Morley came to the caravan where our travellers had halted, and, on being questioned as to the loss they had experienced, cried out, “Ask not how many are killed, but how many are saved: our wives, where are they? and our children, do you see any of them?”
But Fakoo, the chief of the Amapondas, had roused himself and collected his army. He resolved upon giving battle to the enemy. He found the Amaquibi encamped in a forest, and he surrounded them with a superior army; he then contrived, by attacking and retreating, to lead them into a position from which there was no escape but by the pass by which they had entered, and which he completely blocked up with his own forces.
The Amaquibi could not retreat, and a furious conflict took place, which ended in the destruction of the whole of Quetoo’s army. Quetoo himself was not present, as he still remained confined with the wound he had received in the prior engagement, in which he had been victorious. A portion of Fakoo’s army was sent against him, and he fled with the loss of all the cattle and treasures he had collected; and thus was the invading force at last totally dispersed and not heard of any more.
This news was very satisfactory to our travellers, as they did not know whether they would have had time to make their arrangements, if Quetoo’s army had been victorious; and it was still more pleasing to the Hottentots, who were now even braver than before, all lamenting that they had not remained on the banks of the Umtata River, where the combat took place, that they might have assisted at the destruction of the invaders.
It was towards the end of August before our travellers had made their preparations and were ready for a start. They had decided to try the pass through the Mambookei chain of mountains, to the eastward of the one named the Storm-bergen, and as they expected to meet with some difficulties, it was decided that the Caffre warriors should not be dismissed till they had arrived at the Bushman territory; they proposed then to turn to the N.W., so as to fall in with that portion of the Orange River which was known by the name of the Vaal or Yellow River, crossing the Black or Cradock River, which is also another branch of the Orange River.
This arrangement was made, that they might get into the country more abounding with game, and better furnished with water than any other portion of the sterile deserts which they had to pass through.
Having, as usual, kept holy the Lord’s day, on the Monday morning they started in high spirits, and with their cattle in excellent order. The passage through the ravine was very difficult; they had to fill up holes, roll away stones, and very often put double teams to drag the waggons.
They made but ten miles on the first day, and found the night cold, after the heat to which they had been subjected. The second day was also one of toil and danger, but on the third they found that they had commenced the descent, and the whole Bushman country was spread before them. But the descent was even more perilous than the ascent, and it was not without great exertion that they saved their waggons from falling over the precipices.
On the fourth evening they had crossed the mountains, and were now at the foot of them on the western side. It was with difficulty that they collected wood enough to make their fires for the night, and the continual roaring told them that they were now in the domain of the lion and his satellites.
At break of day they all rose, that they might view the country which they were about to traverse. It was one wild desert of sand and stones, interspersed with small shrubs, and here and there a patch of bushes; apparently one vast, dry, arid plain, with a haze over it, arising from the heat. Our travellers, however, did not at first notice this change; their eyes were fixed upon the groups of quaggas and various antelopes which were strewed over the whole face of the country; and, as soon as they had taken their breakfast, they mounted their horses in pursuit. It had been their intention to have dismissed the Caffres on that morning, but the chief of the band pointed out that it would be as well that they should kill some game, to provide them with food for their journey back; and our travellers approved of the suggestion, as it would save their sheep.
Alexander and the Major set off with Bremen, Swanevelt, and Omrah on horseback, while the Caffres on foot kept well up with them. The other Hottentots were ordered to remain with Swinton at the encampment, as they had to repair the damages done to the waggons in crossing the mountains.
Omrah had shown himself so useful, that he had been permitted to practise with a fowling-piece carrying ball, and had proved himself very expert. He now was mounted on the Major’s spare horse; that, in case the Major’s was knocked up, he might change it, for Omrah’s weight was a mere nothing.
The plan of the chase was, that the Caffres should spread in a half-circle, and conceal themselves as much as possible, while those on horseback should turn the animals and drive them in their direction. As they advanced on the plain, they discovered what the haze had prevented their seeing at early dawn, that the plain was covered with a variety of beautiful flowers, of the amaryllis and other tribes, and with the hills of ants and the ant-eaters’ holes, which latter were very dangerous to the horses.
The sun was now up in the heavens, and blazed fiercely; the heat was intense, although still early in the day. When they turned their heads towards the mountains which they had passed, they were struck with astonishment at the grandeur of the scene: rocks and cliffs in wild chaos, barren ridges and towering peaks, worn by time into castellated fortresses and other strange shapes, calling to their fancy the ruins of a former world.
With the exception of a pool of water, near to which the caravan had halted, not a vestige of that element was to be seen in any direction; all was one plain, ending only in the horizon, without a tree, the line only broken by the groups of animals and the long necks of the packs of ostriches in the distance.
If, however, the vegetable kingdom was deficient, the animal was proportionably abundant, and Alexander and the Major were soon at their speed after a troop of quaggas and zebras, which they succeeded in turning towards the Caffres. As soon as the animals had entered the radius of the half-circle, and were within distance, they checked their horses and opened their fire upon them; at the same time the Caffres showed themselves, and the animals were for a time confounded by finding themselves so nearly surrounded.
During their hesitation, and while they attempted to break through here and there, and then turned again, several were brought to the ground by the guns of the mounted party, till at last, as if they had summoned up their resolution, the whole herd, led by a splendid male, burst away in a direction close to the horsemen, and made their escape from the circle in a cloud of dust, scattering the stones behind them as they fled.
The Caffres ran up to the animals which lay wounded, and put them out of their misery by inserting the point of their assaguays into the spine, which caused immediate death. Seven animals were killed, three zebras and four quaggas; and as Swinton had requested that they might not be cut up till he had ascertained if he required their skins, Omrah was sent back to bring him to where they were lying.
Swinton soon came and Alexander said to him, “Now, Swinton, let us know if you want any of the skins of these animals to preserve.”
“No,” replied Swinton, “I have them already; I just thought it possible that you might have killed a zebra.”
“Well, have we not? there are three of them.”
“No, my good fellow, they are not of the real zebra species; they belong to a class described by Burchell, the traveller, which is termed the striped quagga. The quagga and striped quagga, as you may see, have the ears of a horse, while the zebra has those of the ass. The true zebra hardly ever descends upon the plains, but lives altogether upon the mountainous regions; occasionally it may be found, it is true, and that is the reason why I came to see.”
“Are they good eating, these animals?”
“The quagga is very indifferent food, but the striped quagga is very passable; so if you intend to save any for our dinner, pray let it be some of the latter. Have you done hunting to-day?”
“Yes,” replied the Major, “if Wilmot is of my opinion; I think we had better not work our horses any more just now; the plain is so full of large holes,—ant-eaters’ holes, Bremen says they are.”
“Yes, they are ant-eaters’ holes, and very dangerous; I have seen them several feet deep. If we do not start to-day, I will ask the Hottentots to try and procure one for me to-night, as I wish to have a stuffed specimen.”
“We do not intend to start till to-morrow morning,” replied Alexander; “we must dismiss the Caffres to-night, that they may be also ready to go home to-morrow. They will now have provisions enough.”
Our travellers now rode back to the caravan, leaving the Caffres to bring home the flesh. As soon as they had dined, the chief of the warriors was desired to come with all his men, and Alexander then made every man a handsome present, consisting of tobacco, snuff, cloth, knives, and beads. To the chief of the band he gave three times as much as the others, and then, having delivered to him a very liberal collection of articles for their king Hinza, Alexander told the chief to acquaint the king that he had been very much pleased with the conduct of the men, and thanked his majesty for the loan of them, and requested that his majesty would accept of the packet of articles which he had selected for him.
He then thanked the men for their good conduct, told them to take all the flesh that they wished for the journey, and stated that they were at liberty to depart that evening or the next morning, as they thought proper. The Caffres were perfectly satisfied with Alexander’s liberality, and the chief of the warriors, making a short speech in reply, retired with his men.
“Well, I’m very sorry that these fine fellows are leaving,” said the Major.
“And so am I; but I could not well detain them, and they said that they could not go further with us without the king’s permission,” replied Alexander.
“Of course not,” replied the Major; “but that does not lessen my regret at their departure; they have been both steady and brave, as well as active and willing, and I do not expect that our Hottentots will serve us so well.”
“You are right not to expect it, Major,” replied Swinton; “if you did, you would be miserably disappointed. If they knew now where we were going, they would desert us. The only hold that we have upon the greater number of them is their fear; they go forward because they are afraid to go back; but if they could get hold of our horses, with their guns and ammunition, they would leave us as soon as we advanced in the desert.”
“Very true, I fear; but we have a few stanch fellows among them, and two at least whom we can depend upon—Bremen and Swanevelt.”
“How far is it from here to the Black River, Swinton?”
“About forty miles; not so much perhaps to the river’s bed, but at least that, if not more, before we shall fall in with any water at this season of the year.”
“We must not fail to fill our water-kegs before we leave this.”
“No, for we shall have no water to-night, that’s certain. We cannot travel more than twenty miles over such a country as this; for, turning here and there to avoid the holes and ant-hills, the twenty miles will be at least thirty,” said Swinton; “but now I must go and tell the Hottentots to find me what I want: a pound of tobacco will procure it, I have no doubt.”
“But I have mine,” observed the Major, after Swinton was gone; “we are too near the pool, and we shall be surrounded with lions to-night; the Hottentots may pretend that they will go, but they will not.”
“One cannot well blame them; I’m sure a pound of tobacco would not persuade me to put my head into a lion’s mouth; but I agree with you, we are too near the pool, and as we must collect the cattle to secure them during the night, I think we had better fill our water-kegs, and then yoke and take up a position for the night about half a mile further off. But here comes Swinton, who can give us his advice.”
As Swinton agreed with them, they yoked the oxen, and drove forward about a mile from the pool; they then secured them to the waggons and lighted large fires round the caravan.
The Major was correct as regarded the Hottentots’ procuring an ant-eater for Swinton; they would not leave the fires, and the continual approach of the lions during the night proved that they were wise in so doing. There was no occasion for the lions to roar; the moaning of Begum, and her clinging to the Major, the trembling of the dogs, and the uneasiness of the cattle, invariably gave notice of lions being at hand. Shots were fired off during the night, to keep them at a distance, but otherwise the night was passed away undisturbed.
They started the following morning at daybreak, and, at the same time, the Caffres took their departure to their own country. The ground over which the caravan travelled was stony and sandy at intervals, and they had not proceeded far before they again discovered a great variety of game dispersed over the level plain. They did not, however, attempt to pursue them, as they were anxious to go on as far as possible, so as to give the oxen an opportunity of picking up what little food they could during the middle of the day, at which time the Major and Alexander proposed that they should go in pursuit of game. But before they had travelled three hours, they were surprised at a cloud of dust, which obscured the horizon, in the direction they were proceeding.
“What can that be?” said Alexander.
“I think it is springbok,” said Bremen the Hottentot.
“Springbok, why, there must be thousands and thousands of them.”
“I believe that Bremen is right,” said Swinton; “it must be one of the migratory herds of springboks; I have never seen them, but I have often been told of them.”
The body of antelopes now advanced towards them, keeping on a straight path; and to state their numbers would have been impossible: there might have been fifty or a hundred thousand, or more. As far as the eye could see in any direction, it was one moving mass covering the whole plain. As they approached the caravan, those nearest huddled on one side and occasionally bounded away with the remarkable springs made by this animal, and from which it has its name, alighting not upon the earth, but, for want of room, upon the backs of its companions, and then dropping in between the ranks.
A hazy vapour arose from these countless herds as they moved on, and more than once the Hottentots, who were standing on the waggons, which had been stopped as the herd came up to them, pointed out a lion which was journeying with the crowds to feast at his leisure. The animals appeared very tame, and several were killed close to the wheels of the waggons, for the evening’s supper. Notwithstanding that the herd moved at a rapid pace, it was more than two hours before the whole had passed by.
“Well,” observed Alexander, “I can now say that I have seen no want of game in Africa. Where will they go go?”
“They will go directly on to the southward,” replied Swinton; “the migration of these animals is one of the most remarkable proofs of the fecundity of animal life. Like the ants, they devour everything before them; and if we journey in the direction they have come from, we shall find no food for the cattle until after the rains. After the rains fall, these animals will return to their former pastures. It is the want of food which has brought them so far to the southward.”
“Their track is evidently from the north and eastward,” said the Major; “had we not better change our course more to the northward?”
“No, I should think not; they have probably travelled on this side of the Nu Gareip or Black River. We shall have neither water nor food for the cattle to-night, and therefore I think we had better go on as we are going, so as to make sure of water for them to-morrow, at all events. It’s useless now stopping to feed the cattle, we had better continue right on till the evening; we shall sooner arrive at the river, and so gain by it.”
It was but half an hour before dark that they unyoked the tired oxen. Water or grass there was none; and, what was another misfortune, they could not find sufficient wood of any kind to keep up the necessary fires during the night. All they could collect before dark was but enough for one fire, and they considered it better, therefore, that only one should be lighted.
The waggons were drawn up so as to form a square, inside of which were tied the horses; the sheep were driven underneath, and the oxen were tied up outside. They feasted well themselves upon the delicate meat of the springboks, but the poor animals had neither food nor water after their hard day’s journey.
As soon as they had supped they retired to their waggons, and the Hottentots remained by the side of the fire, which was but frugally supplied, that it might last till morning; but that there were lions prowling in the vicinity was evident from the restlessness of the oxen, who tried to break the leathern thongs with which they were fastened.
The moon had just risen, and showed an imperfect light, when they perceived the bodies of some animals between them and the horizon. They appeared very large, as they always do in an imperfect light, and the Hottentots soon made out that they were five or six lions not forty yards distant. The truth of this supposition was confirmed by an angry roar from one of them, which induced most of the Hottentots to seize their guns, and some to creep under the waggons.
The oxen now struggled furiously to escape, for the roar of the lions had spread consternation.
Our travellers heard it in their waggons, and were out with their guns in a minute. At last one of the oxen broke loose, and, as it was running behind its companions, as if seeking a more secure shelter, being not more than three or four yards from them, another roar was followed by a spring of one of the lions, which bore the animal to the earth.
The Major and Wilmot were advancing before the fire to the attack, when the animal for a moment let go his prey, and was about to spring upon them. Bremen called out for them to retreat, which they did, as the animal advanced step by step towards them.
Satisfied with their retiring, the lion then went to his prey, and dragged it to a distance of about fifty yards, where it commenced its meal; and they distinctly heard, although they could not plainly distinguish, the tearing of the animal’s flesh and the breaking of its bones by the lion, while its bellowings were most pitiful.
They all now fired in the direction where they heard the noise; the lion replied to the volley by a tremendous roar, and rushed up within twenty yards of the waggons, so as to be distinctly visible. Bremen begged our travellers not to molest the animal, as it was evidently very hungry and very angry, and would certainly make a spring upon them, which must be attended with disastrous effects.
The other lions were also now moving round and round the camp; they therefore reloaded their guns, and remained still, looking at the lion tearing and devouring his prey.
“We must be quiet here,” said Bremen to Alexander; “there are many lions round us, and our fire is not sufficient to scare them away, and they may attack us.”
“Would it not be better to fire our guns,—that would frighten them?”
“Yes, sir, it would frighten the other lions, perhaps, but it would enrage this one so near to us, and he would certainly make a charge. We had better throw a little gunpowder upon some ashes now and then, as we have but a small fire: the flash will drive them away for the time.”
In the mean time the lion was making his meal upon the poor ox, and when any other of the hungry lions approached him, he would rush at them, and pursue them for some paces with a horrible growl, which made not only the poor oxen, but the men also, to shudder as they heard it.
In this manner was the night passed away, every one with his gun in his hand, expecting an immediate attack; but the morning at last dawned, to the great relief of them all. The lions had disappeared, and they walked out to where the old lion had made his meal, and found that he had devoured nearly the whole of the ox; and such was the enormous strength of his jaws, that the rib-bones were all demolished, and the bones of the legs, which are known as the marrow-bones, were broken as if by a hammer.
“I really,” observed the Major, “have more respect for a lion, the more I become intimate with his feline majesty.”
“Well, but he is now,” observed Swinton, “and I think that we had better be off too.”