CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.
THE INTERRUPTED BREAKFAST.
Next morning the young yagers slept late--because they had nothingparticular to do. They did not purpose continuing their journey beforethe following morning; and on that day they intended to lie up, so thattheir horses, might rest and be fresh for the _road_.
They rose, therefore, a little later than usual, and breakfasted on thetongue of the brindled gnoo, with hot coffee and hard bread; a stock ofwhich they had brought along in their wagons, and which still held out.It would not have been as great a deprivation to the young yagers tohave gone without bread, as it would to you, boy reader. There livemany people in South Africa to whom bread is a luxury almost unknown.Many tribes of the native people never eat such a thing, and there arethousands of the frontier Dutch colonists, that do without italtogether. The people of South Africa, both native and colonial, arenot an _agricultural_ but a _pastoral people_, and therefore pay butlittle attention to the cultivation of the soil. Their herds of hornedcattle, their horses, their flocks of big-tailed sheep and goats,engross all their time, and _agricultural_ farming is not to theirtaste. Although the wealthier among the boors plant a few acres ofKaffir corn--a variety of the "Indian corn," or maize--and sow somebushels of "buckwheat," yet this is principally for their own use. Thisclass also cultivate many kinds of vegetables in their gardens, and havelarge orchards containing apples, peaches, pomegranates, pears, andquinces, with vineyards for the grape, and enclosures for melons,cucumbers, and pumpkins. But among the poorer classes, and particularlyon the remote frontier, such things are hardly thought of; and theircattle _kraals_ are the only enclosures around the dwelling of the"vee-boor," or stock-farmer. Among these people, bread is a rarity, andtheir staple food is "biltong," and fresh beef or mutton cooked in avariety of ways, and so as to be quite palatable--for the _cuisine_ ofthe boor is by no means to be despised.
In many parts the staple food of the frontier boor is venison--that is,in districts where the ordinary game has not yet been exterminated.Within the frontier districts, springboks are plenty, as also the commonwildebeests; and piles of the horns of these may be seen lying aroundthe kraals of every vee-boor. The flesh of the wildebeests, as alreadystated, is more like beef than venison, and when fat, or cooked in thedelicious fat of the great sheep's tails, is excellent eating.
The quagga, which is also common in these parts, is killed for itsflesh; but this is rank and oily, and only eaten by the Hottentotservants.
Our young yagers were the children of wealthy parents, and had thereforelearnt to eat bread, though on a pinch they could have got along withoutit. But they had brought several sacks of biscuit with them, and withthese and coffee, and the tongue of the blauw-wildebeest, they weremaking a hearty breakfast.
They were all right merry, chatting over their adventure with theborele, and laughing at the danger now that it was past.
They were taking their time with their breakfast, eating it leisurelyand in no hurry, as they meant to spend the day in a sort of _dolce farniente_ manner--loitering about the camp, or perhaps putting in a stitchwherever there should be a weak place in either saddle or bridle, so asto make themselves thoroughly ready for the route. Every precautionwould be required to ensure their safety against the wide stretch ofdesert they would have to cross.
While in this mood, and about half through with their meal, anannouncement was made that was likely to upset all their plans for theday. The announcement came from Congo, who had been loitering out onthe desert side of the mokhala grove, and who came running into camp, inbreathless haste, to report that a large flock of ostriches were outupon the plain!
The yagers, but particularly Klaas and Jan, bristled up at the news,uttering various exclamations of joy. A sudden change took place intheir manner. Their jaws wagged more rapidly; the gnoo-tonguedisappeared in larger slices; the coffee was quaffed in big hurriedgulps; and the second half of their meal did not occupy the tenth partof the time that had been taken up with the first.
In less than two minutes from the time Congo made his report thebreakfast was finished; and in five minutes more the horses were allsaddled, bridled, and mounted. Resting the animals was no longerthought of. Everything had gone out of the heads of their riders exceptan ostrich "surround."
Where was Swartboy to take part in the affair, and to give his advice?All acknowledged that the Bushman knew more about hunting the ostrichthan any of them--Congo not excepted. Indeed, this was true in regardto most kinds of _desert_ animals, as also of the smaller mammalia andbirds. Congo had lived all his life among a people who keep cattle--forthe Kaffir nations are not mere hunters, but a pastoral people--andalthough he knew how to destroy the lion, the leopard, the hyena, andother carnivorous creatures, he was less accustomed to the killing orcapturing of game, since the vast herds of cattle bred and reared in hiscountry render such knowledge but of secondary importance. Not so withSwartboy. The Bushmen have no cattle, except those which at times theysteal from their neighbours, the Griquas, Bastaards, and trek-boors; andthese are never _kept_, but killed and devoured as soon as they aredriven to the Bushmen haunts. The want of domestic animals, therefore,with the necessity of having something to eat, compels the Bushman touse all his ingenuity in the capturing or killing of wild _game_, whichamong Bushmen includes every living creature from the locust and lizardto the camelopard and elephant!
The natural consequence of such a life must be the arriving at a perfectknowledge of the haunts, habits, and mode of hunting the wild creaturesthat people their country; and in this very knowledge Swartboy wasbelieved to excel even among his countrymen, for it was known that inhis own land he had been considered a "mighty hunter."
Where was Swartboy at that moment? He had not been seen for an hour ormore. Congo said that he had driven off the oxen to pasture upon thegrass plain to the rear of the camp, and no doubt he was there herdingthem.
It was proposed that some one should go for him, but this was objectedto on account of the loss of time. Congo said that the oxen were a goodway off. It would take half-an-hour to bring Swartboy into camp, andbefore the end of that period the ostriches might be ten miles off.
No; they could not wait for Swartboy. They must proceed without him;and, mounting their horses, the yagers rode off towards the desertplain.