Perils in the Transvaal and Zululand

poisoned arrows."

  "No doubt, and we might have fired as many rounds of ammunition as wepleased and hit nothing but the rocks. Praetorius and the others knewbetter than to try that."

  "What did they do?" asked George.

  "They first tried to blast the rocks, but that had no effect but that ofwasting powder. Then a sort of blockade was established. Guards wereset at every opening, and nothing allowed to come out or go in. Buteither the Kaffirs had collected large stores of food, or they had someway of going out and getting in which we could not detect. At last theDutchmen came to the conclusion that the only thing to be done was tobuild them in."

  "Build them in! What, build a wall in front of the cave, do you mean?"

  "Build up the mouth of the cave itself. They had pretty clearlydetermined that there was but one mouth,--the fact that the cave randeeper and deeper into the hillside seemed to prove that,--and if so,there could be no way out."

  "Why, that is very much what I remember reading in my history ofScotland," said Margetts, "that a very barbarous Highland tribe did toanother. It was in prehistoric times, so that there was only a legendabout it."

  "As for barbarity, Redgy," observed George, "I don't fancy the Boers ofthe nineteenth century are much behind the McLeods of whom that story istold. And the French performed nearly the same feat in Algeria fortyyears or so ago. Only they, I believe, smoked the Arabs like bees in ahive."

  "That would have been much more merciful," observed Prestcott. "TheseKaffirs died of hunger, the most dreadful of all deaths, and no quarterwas given them. Whenever any of them made their appearance at the mouthof the cave, they were shot down. More than a thousand were killed inthat way. The blockade was maintained for nearly a month. After thatno Kaffirs appeared, and there came so dreadful a stench from the cavethat the Dutch could endure it no longer, and made their way in. I hadgone away some time before that, not being able to endure the horror ofit. But I am told that they found no living thing. The whole tribe hadbeen destroyed."

  "Then, I suppose, they went home and celebrated their victory," saidGeorge.

  "Yes, and boast that peace has been maintained in that district eversince," replied Mr Prestcott.

  "Solitudinem faciunt pacem appellant," said George, who had notforgotten his classics. "I did not know the Boers were as bad as that!"

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.

  "I should like to ask you, sir," said Margetts after a pause, "therights about the presence of the larger animals--wild animals, I mean--in these parts. In Zululand, which is very nearly on the same parallelas this, they were certainly to be found. Some of the horses wereattacked by lions while we were actually in the country. We had beeninformed that it was very much the same state of things in theTransvaal. But here we have been journeying several days, and we havenot come upon the slightest trace of elephant, or lion, or giraffe, orrhinoceros. We did hear a roaring one day, which we thought was that ofa lion, but it turned out to be only an ostrich,--so Matamo said, at allevents."

  "If you heard the roaring by day, Mr Margetts," said Prestcott, "it waspretty sure to be that of an ostrich. As a rule, the lion only roars bynight. The two roars are certainly very much alike, though a practisedhunter could distinguish between them easily enough. As for the greatgame of which you speak, it has certainly left the lower parts of theTransvaal. If a solitary specimen here and there is to be met with, theanimal in question has been driven southward by some accident. It is adifferent thing in Zululand from what it is here. The natives do nothunt the lion or the rhinoceros, as the European settlers do. Afterthey have once begun to people a land, the big game soon disappears. Wehave, however, still herds of antelopes of all kinds, springboks,gemsboks, elands, koodoos, hartebeests, and gnus. The lion preys uponall these, and where they are to be found in great numbers he might belooked for also. But the white hunter is too much for him, I expect."

  "They are old acquaintances of yours, I perceive, sir," suggestedGeorge. "Have you ever had any perilous encounters with them?"

  "Well, sir, I have had one or two brushes--narrow escapes they may becalled. I had one in Namaqualand some years ago--no one ever had anarrower, I may say."

  "Please let us hear it, sir," said Redgy. "If one can't see the lionsthemselves, as I had hoped, at all events one may hear about them."

  "Well, I'll tell you my adventure, sir, if you like it," said MrPrestcott, who had evidently no disinclination to relate his personalexperience. "I had gone to Walfisch Bay, where some English traders hadsettled, with whom I wished to establish business relations. I had topass through the Hottentot country. At that time there were a good manyvillages scattered about, and there I could procure food and lodging.There were few or no white men at that time in the country, and thelions had never been disturbed in their occupation. One evening Ireached a kraal on the Fish river, and there I found all the Hottentotsin a terrible state of alarm about a very big lion, which was lurkingsomewhere in their neighbourhood and had taken to man-eating. I daresayyou may have heard that when a lion once does that, the only chance isto kill him at once. He gets so fond of human flesh that he won't eatany other, and he will lie in wait near one of the villages for days andweeks together, hiding himself in one place or another, and springingsuddenly out on some unwary traveller."

  "Isn't that fact disputed, Mr Prestcott?" asked Hardy. "I have metwith old hunters who say that the man-eating lion is merely an oldanimal, who has become too stiff in the joints to run his victims down,and that he only preys on men in the way you have described, becausethey can't run away from him in the way that an antelope or a gnuwould."

  "Yes, I have heard that," assented Mr Prestcott, "and think it may verypossibly be true. Certainly such man-eating lions as I have seen killedwere very wretched, mangy-looking creatures. That was attributed to thefact of their living on human flesh, but I don't know why that shouldcause such a result. Their appearance is certainly consistent withtheir being old, worn-out animals. Any way, the Hottentots were in astate of great disquietude about this lion. No less than five victims--two men and three children--had been killed and carried off into thelong jungle grass, where he principally took up his abode, within thelast week or two. Several times the whole of the men had gone out tospear him. But though they had seen him at a distance, they could notget near enough to wound him with their shots or arrows. They imploredme so earnestly to deliver them from this terrible pest, that I agreedto remain for a day or two and see what I could do for them. Well, Istayed with them a week, and made several excursions, but could seenothing of him. At last it was supposed that he had been killed or hadleft the neighbourhood. I had delayed there longer than I liked, so Itook my leave one morning, and, having loaded both barrels of my gun, Iset off on my way for Walfisch Bay. About a mile from the Hottentotvillage there was a clear spring of water. As the day was very hot, Iresolved to bathe my hands and feet and take a good draught before goingfarther. I took off my coat and shoes and stockings and laid them atthe foot of a large mootjeeri that almost overhung the pool, but Iretained my gun in my hand. I was just stooping to take a draught ofwater, when I heard a stealthy movement in the long tambookie grass,like that of a large animal creeping towards me, and at the same momentmy horse, which I had fastened to the bough of a small tree, broke awayand rushed off at full speed I sprang up and swung myself round themootjeeri, only just in time to escape the spring of a large lion, whichstruck against the tree and was thrown by the shock on its side. Beforeit could regain its legs I had dropped my gun and skimmed up into thetree, the lower limbs of which were only six feet or so from the ground.I seated myself on a branch, and took a good look at my assailant, whowas now standing only a few feet below me, eyeing me with a hungry look,and every now and then giving vent to his impatience at being kept fromhis supper in short, angry roars. There could be no doubt that it wasthe man-eater, and that he had tracked me, waiting his opportunity. Itwas a good job for me that the mootjeeri was so close at ha
nd, and thatlions cannot climb, or he would have made short work with me. Butthough I thanked Heaven for my escape so far, I was by no means out ofthe scrape. If I had been able to take my gun up into the tree with me,I could soon have rid myself of him, but it was lying on the brink ofthe spring. Nor could I even recover my coat and shoes, which I hadplaced at the foot of the tree, a couple of yards below the branch. Icould only reach them by hooking them up with a long stick. I did trythis. I cut a long wand with a crook at the end, and let this down.But the lion instantly seized my coat in its teeth and tore it away. Itwas the same with my shoes, and I was presently obliged to give up theattempt. He instantly clutched anything which I attempted to move.

  "I was obliged to remain quite passive, but my condition was gettingvery uncomfortable. My arms and feet were bare, and the leaves of themootjeeri afforded me a very insufficient shade from the blazing heat ofthe sun overhead. I also became very hungry as the evening came on.What food I had had with me was all in the bags attached to my saddle.My only chance, I felt, was that the lion might get tired of waiting forme and go off to seek food elsewhere. But I was sensible that this wasnot worth much. It was clear that he wanted me, or he would have sprungon my horse when he first made his attack; and I knew how eager thecraving of the man-eater is for human flesh. He would wait as long asnature would allow him to hold out, in the hope of making his meal onme, and he would probably be able to last out much longer than I could.

  "Presently he left the foot of the tree and went back to the spring,where he took a long draught, and then lay down on the grass under theshrubs, keeping his red and angry eye still fixed on me, and every nowand then displaying his terrible teeth. The whole afternoon passedthus. I was in hopes that some of the Hottentots might pass that way,and repeatedly shouted at the top of my voice for help.

  "By and by it grew dark, and some of the smaller animals which wereaccustomed to resort to the fountain to drink made their appearance inthe distance, and again I hoped that he would pursue and make his supperon one of them. But no, it was quite plain that he had made up his mindto have me and nothing else. At last it grew quite dark, only a fewstars being visible in the sky, and the lion, so far as I could makeout, was sound asleep. I attempted to creep stealthily down from thebranch, but the moment I moved he started up with a short roar, andrushed up to the tree so quickly that I had only just time to regain myformer position.

  "Daybreak came at last. I was worn out for want of sleep and ravenouswith hunger. I foresaw that I should soon get weak and dizzy and dropfrom my perch into the jaws of my enemy. Suddenly it occurred to me,that although my supply of tobacco, was in my saddle-bags, I might havea small quantity in my belt, which would for the moment relieve myhunger. I felt accordingly, and drew out--not, alas! any tobacco, butmy match-box. I usually carried this in my coat pocket, but by goodluck I had thrust it into my belt at starting. The matches were of anunusually good kind, and when once ignited would burn for two or threeminutes quite to the very end. The moment I saw them, I felt I hadfound a mode of deliverance if I could only accomplish it. I took mypowder-flask, which was fortunately quite full, and dropped some loosepowder on the ground. I then took one of the matches and fastened it tothe end of the long stick by which I had endeavoured to hook up my coatand shoes. Having firmly secured it, I lighted it, and then dropped theflask on the heap of powder which I had scattered below. The lion, asbefore, rushed instantly up and put his head down to lay hold of theflask. Quick as lightning I thrust the stick down and applied it to thepowder. The flask exploded directly in the lion's face, setting hismane and whiskers on fire and severely scorching his mouth and nose.With a yell of terror and pain, he galloped off at the top of his speed,while I crawled down so exhausted that a long draught from the fountainand a feast of some wild medlars, which I fortunately found growing bythe fountain, only restored me so far as to enable me with a greateffort to get back to the Hottentot village, where I had to rest severaldays before I was fit to resume my journey."

  "What became of the lion?" asked Redgy.

  "Nothing more was, I believe, ever heard of him. I inquired about himon my way back, but the Hottentots said he had entirely disappeared fromthe neighbourhood. They fancied that the fright he had had preventedhis returning to his old haunts. But my opinion is that his eyesighthad been completely destroyed by the explosion, and that, being renderedunable to provide himself with food, he had soon died of hunger."

  "Well, sir, that was a near touch, certainly," said Hardy. "But I thinkwhat happened to my old comrade Robson may match it. He and I were inthe same regiment in the war with the Ashantees. He told me the story,I remember, one night on our march to Coomassie, when the mosquitoes andthe heat made it impossible to sleep. Robson had been servant to anofficer who was very fond of field sports. He and two or three otherswho had got a short leave were resolved to pass it in some genuineAfrican hunting, as they called it, going quite beyond the usual resortsof white men. They started from Graham's Town, and travelled northwardsacross what is now the Orange Free State and the Transvaal, till theycame within a short distance of the Limpopo. The country was wildenough even for them. They fell in with a number of savage tribes, andhere and there a Dutch settler. But there had been nothing to scareaway the wild beasts. When they encamped for the night, Robson saidthey could hear the lions roaring about them to their heart's content.They were obliged at night to light two large fires, one on each side ofthe space enclosed by their waggons. The oxen were all placed in themiddle, so that they couldn't get out, or the lions get in, otherwisethey would certainly have been seized and devoured. Sometimes the lionswere so bold, that they were obliged to cut long stout poles and lashthem to the spokes of the wheels to prevent the animals creeping inunder the waggons. One or two always kept watch, and the others sleptwith their loaded rifles by their sides. Robson said that if any of theoxen had contrived to slip out, they would have been seized and devouredin no time. By the light of the moon, he had sometimes seen three orfour lions stalking about, trying to find some way in. Till he got usedto it, their roaring was the most terrible sound to him that could beimagined, and he used to lie quaking with terror. It seemed to fill thewhole air in all directions, he said."

  "Ay," remarked Prestcott; "that is because the lion when he roars putshis head close to the earth, so that his voice rolls along the groundand echoes among the rocks. Go on with your story."

  "Well," resumed Hardy, "what the party wanted above all things was tofall in with a herd of elephants. They had been told how they wentabout everywhere in that country in large herds, breaking their waythrough the thick forests like a fleet of men-of-war through the waves.They were a good deal disappointed that several weeks passed withouttheir meeting so much as a single elephant. Robson said that he was asmuch disappointed as the rest. But one day he had his wish, andsomething over, as the saying is. There had been a great hunt among theMatabeles to the north, and a large herd had been driven some way southof the Limpopo. One evening the scouts came hurrying in with theinformation that the whole forest a few miles to the north of them wasfull of elephants. They were resting for the night, the blackies said,but in the morning they would be pretty sure to make for a piece ofwater which lay about a mile to the south of us. They would passthrough the very glade where we now were, in which there were some verylarge trees. If we climbed up into these, we should get some capitalshots as they passed. But not a moment was to be lost in placing thewaggons and oxen in some secure spot. The elephants would pass down themiddle of the glade, trampling everything to powder that came in theirway.

  "The oxen were inspanned accordingly, there being just daylight enoughfor the purpose. Fortunately one of the party had seen some high steepcliffs about half a mile off, which the elephants could not get down ifthey tried. Thither the waggons and oxen were conveyed, and were placedin a shady nook immediately under the precipice, leaving some of the menin charge of them. The rest returned to the gl
ade, and, after takingtheir supper, climbed up into the largest trees they could find, takingcare to be fully eighteen or twenty feet from the ground. Robson madehimself as comfortable as he could, but he could not sleep. The air wasfull of insects of one kind or another, and their bite was veryannoying. Besides this, he kept continually fancying that he heardnoises of one kind or another in the distance. Now it was a lowrumbling, which he presently discovered to be the wind, now a shrill cryfor help, which, after intense listening, he recognised to be the callof some bird. Repeatedly, too, he imagined he was falling out of thetree, in a fork of which he had fixed himself. At last he resolved todescend and lie down to rest on a heap of long grass which lay near thefoot of the tree. He was convinced that his slumbers would be butlight. Anyhow the crash of the advancing herd would be enough, heargued, to wake the dead. Two minutes would be enough to enable him toregain his station on the branch.

  "He descended accordingly, and having made a careful examination of thegrass, to make sure there were no snakes in it, he lay down with hisrifle in his hand, and almost instantly dropped asleep. He did not knowhow long he slept, but it was probably several hours, for it was broadday when he awoke. The crash and din he had anticipated were fullyrealised. Babel itself seemed to have broken loose, but it was not theherd of elephants that created it. They were no doubt in motion. Hecould see, indeed, from the excited gestures of his companions in thegreat nowana above him, that the leaders were already in sight. But itwas a crowd of frightened animals of all descriptions