CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.
A BATTLE WITH A BORELe.
Hans and Arend on this occasion had followed the chase, and were almost"in at the death;" and Klaas and Jan, who from the openness of theground had had a view of the whole run, shortly after came up, spurringtheir panting ponies to the very top of their speed.
All six now dismounted to rest both themselves and horses after theirsharp gallop, and also to skin the bull. Though Arend was habitually_chef-de-cuisine_, Hendrik and Groot Willem were the butchers; Hans,"the botanist of the expedition," might also be termed its"green-grocer," as his knowledge of botany enabled him to keep thecamp-table supplied with many species of esculent roots and vegetablesto be found growing wild upon the plains of Southern Africa.
While Hendrik and Groot Willem were flaying off the skin, Hans and Arendwere busy with the head and horns, preparing them for preservation. Itwas nearly as much on account of these as for his meat that they hadhunted the gnoo. They would also be trophies in the halls of the GraafReinet; for although the horns of the common gnoo are easily had, thoseof the brindled species are more precious, for the reason that thelatter animal inhabits a more remote part of the country.
Klaas and Jan acted as assistants to the other four--now handing aknife, now holding a limb or flap of skin, and making themselves"generally useful." All six, therefore, were engaged.
While thus employed, all of them bending and stooping one way oranother, over the dead bull, and none of them keeping a look-out, aqueer sound fell upon their ears that caused them to start all togetherinto an erect attitude. The sound they had heard was a loud snort,followed by a blowing noise, somewhat similar to that made by terrifiedswine, but much fuller and louder. There was, also, the noise ofsnapping twigs and breaking branches.
These sounds caused all six to start, and some of them to tremble withfear; and the sight that came under their eyes as they looked upconfirmed them in that emotion. In truth, it was a sight that wouldhave inspired with alarm older hearts than theirs.
Breaking through the bushes, and causing the branches to bend andcrackle, came a large animal. The tall upright horn upon its snout, itshuge heavy body, and strong massive limbs, left them no room to doubtwhat sort of animal it was. It was a rhinoceros!
There are four species of these in South Africa; but the dark colour ofits skin and the double horn proclaimed the one now seen to be the blackrhinoceros, or "borele"--the fiercest and most dangerous of the four.
When the boys first heard it, it was crashing through the bushes closeto the edge of the thicket, but they had scarce turned their eyes inthat direction before it shot out of the timber, head towards them, andcame on at full gallop. Its head was raised high in air, its ears werein motion, and its small but saucy-looking tail was flirted about in aconfident manner. Its black eyes gleamed with a malicious expression,and its air was one of anger and menace. The terror inspired by itslook was not lessened by the loud snorting and blowing that issued fromits fiery nostrils.
The boys saw at once, and to their alarm, that it was charging upon_them_! There could be no doubt about the matter. Its whole appearancedenoted that it was bent upon attacking them, for it was headingdirectly for the spot where they stood. They knew, moreover, that therewas nothing odd in that,--they knew that the black rhinoceros willcharge upon any creature, whether man, quadruped, bird, or _bush_,without the slightest provocation!
It is needless to say that the boys were in a dilemma, and were aware ofit as well. There were they, all six afoot upon the plain, with afierce borele rushing up to them, and at less than a hundred yardsdistance!
Fortunately for them the steeds were all well-trained, and fortunatelythe riders had had the precaution to fasten them in such a manner thatit required but little time to get them free. But for these twocircumstances some one of the six must certainly have been lifted uponthe death-dealing horn of the borele.
As it was the horses had been tied all around a tree that stood near.Each had his bridle looped to a small branch, so small that it could bewrenched off in a second of time, but large enough to keep a horsesteady for awhile, unless something should alarm and startle him. Thiswas a precaution the hunters had been taught by their fathers, and theknowledge now stood them in stead.
Of course the moment the borele "hove" in sight, there was an end to theskinning of the gnoo. There was a chorus of cries expressing terror, aflinging away of knives, a sudden rush to the horses, a seizing ofbridles, a snapping off of branches, and a simultaneous leaping into sixsaddles. All these acts did not take ten seconds of time to accomplish,and the last of them was not accomplished one second too soon; for theriders had just time to turn the heads of their horses to the plain asthe borele came up. In fact, so close to them had he got his hideoussnout that several of the horses shied and plunged as they took toflight, nearly dismounting one or two of the riders. To have beenunhorsed at that moment would have been a perilous business.
All kept their seats, however, and in a moment more were flying over theplain in a close clump, the borele snorting at their heels.
Now that they were in their saddles, and galloped freely off, some ofthe yagers were disposed to laugh. Hendrik and Groot Willem were amongthe number. They knew that the speed of a rhinoceros is no match forthat of a horse, and they would soon get out of his way. They weredisposed to regard the chase as a bit of fun rather than otherwise. Allat once, however, a thought came into their minds that turned theirmerry mood into a feeling of new and painful apprehension.
The young yagers were riding in pairs. Hendrik and Groot Willem,mounted on their swift horses, had forged some distance ahead of theothers. On turning their faces backward they perceived that the twoboys, Klaas and Jan, had fallen considerably to the rear, and that theborele was pushing them closely. He was not twenty yards behind either,for they rode side by side, as if in a racing gallop. Hans and Arendwere further in advance, and these also looking back at the same instantperceived the perilous situation of their younger brothers.
To all four the idea seemed to occur at the same moment, that though ahorse can outrun the rhinoceros, a pony _cannot_, and the thought drewfrom them a simultaneous expression of alarm. Beyond a doubt Klaas andJan were in danger. Should the borele overtake them, their ponies wouldnot save them. The huge brute would gore these animals to death, orimpale them at the first stroke of his stout sharp horn. Beyond a doubtthe boys were in danger!
So thought their four brothers as they glanced back; and, as theycontinued to gaze, they became the more convinced of this fearful truth.They saw that the distance between them and the rhinoceros, instead ofwidening, was gradually growing less--the borele was gaining upon them!
It was a moment of painful apprehension with all four; but at thismoment Hendrik performed one of the neatest manoeuvres that had occurredduring the whole expedition. With a wrench upon his bridle he turnedsuddenly out of his course, and then wheeling round rode backward,calling on Groot Willem to act similarly, but with his head turned tothe opposite side.
Groot Willem, as if by instinct, obeyed, and, diverging suddenly fromeach other, the two wheeled right and left at the same instant. Theirhorses' heads were now turned to the rear, and after going a pace or twothey halted, and got their guns in readiness.
First Hans and Arend swept past between the two halted hunters,--thenpassed Klaas and Jan upon the frightened ponies, and then came "borele."
Before the last had got fairly on a line, Hendrik and Groot Willemcovered his huge body, fired, and then, galloping round to his rear,commenced reloading.
Both balls took effect, and, though neither brought the brute to theground, they made a decided alteration in his pace, and in a moment itwas perceived that he was running slower, while the blood flowed freelyfrom his wounds. He still, however, kept on after the ponies; and it ishard to say how far he might have followed them, had it not been thatHans and Arend, exactly imitating the manoeuvre of Hendrik and GrootWillem, now also w
heeled right and left, came back a pace or two,halted, and delivered their pieces in the face of the rhinoceros.
Again the bullets took effect, and again did not prove fatal. But thedanger, as far as Klaas and Jan were concerned, was over; for theborele, instead of pursuing the ponies further, turned short on hisnearer antagonists, and rushed first upon one, then the other, with allthe strength and fury that was left in his body.
Several charges were made by him without effect, as the riders, nowfaced towards him, were able to spring to one side and gallop out of hisway.
For nearly a quarter of an hour the battle was kept up, the four loadingand firing as fast as they could under the circumstances.
At length the day was decided by a bullet from the big elephant-gun ofGroot Willem, which, penetrating the skull of the huge borele, sent himrolling over in the dust.
A loud "hurrah!" proclaimed the victory, and the six yagers now rode upand alighted by the huge body of the borele, that, prostrate andlifeless, no longer caused them alarm.
An axe was obtained from the wagon, and his long anterior horn--asplendid trophy--was hacked off from his snout, and carried away; whileanother journey was made for the meat and horns of the blauw-wildebeest,which were packed behind the hunters upon the croups of their horses,and brought safely into camp.