Perils in the Transvaal and Zululand

which,however, are to be found in large numbers in these regions. They arecurious animals, more resembling hyenas than dogs, though the speciallydistinctive mark of the hyena, the drooping off at the hind-quarters, isnot to be found in them. But in the stripe, and the bushy tail, and thepeculiar-shaped ear, they closely resemble the hyena. They are not socowardly as the last-named creatures, and are in consequence moredangerous to encounter.

  The hartebeest was evidently almost exhausted. It was not likely thatit could run another mile; and George, who had omitted to take anyprovision with him, expecting to get his dinner at the Kaffir kraal,resolved to follow and rescue the carcase from the wild dogs, whom ashot from his rifle would probably disperse, or, at all events, keep ata distance, while he cut off the meat he required. He spurred his horseaccordingly, and started in pursuit. But the ground was soft, and forsome time he gained but little on his quarry. The hartebeest held onwith more vigour than he had expected, and at last, when he had gotwithin distance, a sudden stumble of his horse caused him altogether tomiss his mark. He was obliged to stop and reload, and the ground thuslost was difficult to regain. It was not until after a full hour'spursuit that he saw the hartebeest, unable to go any further, at lastturn round in despair and face his enemies. Rivers had now sufficienttime to take aim at the leader of the pack with his first barrel, andthe hartebeest with the second. Both shots were successful. Thehartebeest dropped instantly, with a ball through its heart, and the dogrushed off with a yell of pain, falling dead before it had gone ahundred yards. But the rest of the troop did not take to flight, asGeorge had expected. Probably the pursuit of the prey had beenstimulated by hunger, which now rendered them insensible to danger.After a moment's hesitation they rushed on the carcase, while one ortwo, bolder than the rest, sprang on his horse, from which he hadalighted to drive off the dogs with his hunting-knife. Terrified at theattack, the steed broke loose from George's hold, galloping off at fullspeed, and pursued by the greater part of the pack. George shouted andendeavoured to follow, but became instantly aware of the hopelessness ofthe attempt. The horse was already a hundred yards off, galloping atthe utmost of its speed, in the hope of distancing its pursuers. Thedarkness, too, was rapidly coming on. It would plainly be impossiblefor him to recover his horse that night, as it would presently be toodark to discern any objects at a distance. He must provide himself aswell as he was able with food and shelter for the night. Hastilyreloading, he first rid himself of the two or three dogs that werebusily engaged in mangling the body of the hartebeest. Next with hishunting-knife he cut down a quantity of bushes, part of which he piledup as a shelter against the wind, which began to blow with somesharpness as the dusk came on. The rest of the wood he set alight bythe help of the matches in his belt, and presently succeeded in kindlinga tolerable fire. Then he cut off some meat from the carcase of thehartebeest, of which there was a good deal left, notwithstanding theravages of the dogs. By these means, and by obtaining water from aclear rivulet, which he found flowing at a little distance, he contrivedto satisfy his hunger and thirst. He sat down in the shelter which hehad provided for himself, and looked up at the sky above him. It was adelicious night. The constellations of the Southern Hemisphere are notin themselves as beautiful, as those with which we of the northernregions are familiar. But their liquid brilliancy, seen against thebackground of the deepest blue, renders the general aspect of theheavens far more lovely and imposing. The sense also of entireloneliness came upon him with profound solemnity. He was here far--heknew not how far--from all human help and sympathy. Whatever good orevil fortune might befall him was his concern and his only. The utterhelplessness of man so situated impressed him painfully. We seldomrealise the full meaning of passages of Holy Writ until some strikingcircumstance of our lives bring them home to us, and George felt for thefirst time how profound a meaning was contained in these words: "It isnot good for man to be alone."

  CHAPTER TWENTY.

  George awoke chilled and cramped with the night air, and was preparingleisurely to get up and commence the search after his missing steed,when his eye lit on an object a few feet of him, which caused himinstantly to leap to his feet. A snake, which had probably beenattracted to the spot during the night by the warmth of his fire, wasjust raising its head, as if preparing to dart upon him, spitting venomat the same time from its open jaws. His rapid backward spring justenabled him to avoid its fangs. But some of the poison had been spurtedon to his face, and he instantly felt a sharp sting of pain. His firstact was to crush the head of the reptile with his heel, and then tosever its neck with his knife. It was of a dark brown, almost a blackcolour, and six or seven feet long. George had never seen one of thekind before, but recognised it from the descriptions that had been givenhim as the picakholu, the most venomous, it was said, of any knownserpent, and called by the natives the "spitting snake." George noticedthat the fangs were still distilling poison in a considerable quantity,notwithstanding that the neck had been completely severed. He felt agood deal of pain in the places where the poison had fallen, andespecially in the white of the left eye. He hurried to the spring,which was fortunately only at a short distance, and, kneeling down,plunged his head again and again into the water, hoping in that mannerto get rid of the painful smart. This gave him some slight relief, andhe hoped that, as no poison could have mixed with his blood, the painwould gradually wear itself out.

  The first thing, of course, was to find his horse. He had hoped that ifit had succeeded in shaking off the wild dogs, it would return to thespring to drink. But though he did not doubt that it would soonoutstrip them, they having been evidently completely exhausted by thelong previous chase, there might be water nearer to the point at whichthe animal found itself after its escape, and in that case of course itwould make for it. Taking up his gun, he began following the track ofthe animal's hoofs, which were clear enough to be traced in the softgrass of the veldt. After an hour's search, the grass was exchanged fora long arid stretch of sand, diversified by scrub and stone. Here thehoofs of the horse and the lighter prints of the dogs' feet were stillmore plainly to be distinguished. The sand became looser and looser ashe advanced. It was evident that the horse must have grown rapidly moreexhausted, as its feet plunged almost to the fetlock at every step. Atlast he came upon the carcase of the animal itself, which had evidentlybeen torn down by the pack and devoured. There had plainly been afurious struggle, one or two of the dogs having been killed by the dyingefforts of the horse.

  Rivers was now seriously alarmed. He must retrace his steps as well ashe was able to the spring, and seek again to relieve the burning painsin his face, which under the scorching heat of the sun stung him moresharply than even at first. Then he must make his way on foot, keepingas before to the north-west, and hope to fall in with some traveller, orreach the shelter of some friendly habitation. He was well aware that,if all these chances failed him, his life on earth would soon be ended.He began his return across the sandy waste, and, after several hours ofpainful exertion, succeeded in reaching the spring, by the side of whichhe sank down completely exhausted. Long and copious draughts somewhatrestored him; and as the cool of the evening came on, he got up andresumed his journey, making another meal before he started on whatremained of his morning's repast. He walked on for a mile or two,leaning on his gun, and hardly sensible of the objects round him. Atlast he got to a part of the wood where the trees seemed to have beencut away, and a broader path, almost approaching to a road, cut out. Hestaggered for some distance along this track, and then his sensescompletely deserted him, and he dropped to the ground, his gun going offas he fell, though happily without injury to himself.

  When he opened his eyes again, he looked around him with great surprise.He was lying on a comfortable bed, in a tolerable-sized room; which,though different in many respects from any chamber he had hithertooccupied, was nevertheless evidently of European construction. Therewas a sash window, looking out, so far as George could distinguish, up
ona garden. The walls were of plank, planed and fitted together with someneatness; the floor of mud, beaten hard and smeared with cow-dung.There were no tables or chairs, no chests of drawers, or washingapparatus, but there was a bench and one or two solid chests. The beditself was tolerably clean, and there were sheets, but of coarsematerial. By his side, on a shelf, were a tea-cup and spoon and severalbottles.

  With some difficulty he recalled the incidents which had taken placepreviously to his fainting fit,--the poison spirted on his face by thesnake, his search after his horse, and his subsequent journey throughthe wood. But all seemed dim and confused, and as if it had taken placea long while ago. He lay thinking for a long time, or rather in a stateof half consciousness, in which dream and reality were blended together.Then he closed his eyes and again fell asleep, waking up a second time,also to his confused fancy after a long period of