CHAPTER FORTY NINE.
GROOT WILLEM AND THE PYTHON.
Groot Willem awoke from his nap before the others. It still wantednearly two hours of sunset, and the hunter, observing a reddish objectat a distance that looked like some animal, shouldered his roer andproceeded towards it. He took with him one of the buck-dogs, awell-trained and favourite hound, that usually accompanied him--even ona stalking expedition.
The red object which he had seen was near the edge of the valley, and atthe bottom of a rocky precipice that bounded it upon that side. Therewere some trees growing along by the foot of the cliff, and the huntercalculated on being able to get a shot at the animal, whatever it was,from behind the cover of these trees. He continued on up the valley,and at length got near enough to tell what he was stalking at.
It was a small antelope, just about the size of the klipspringer, andwith little erect horns four inches in length. In colour, however, itwas unlike the latter. The upper parts of its body were a deep red, andunderneath white, while its snout and face were black. The littlecreature was higher at the croup than at the withers, and entirelywithout a tail, or with a tail only one inch long, that had more theappearance of a stump.
Groot Willem, when he came nigh, recognised this antelope to be the_steenbok_, for he had met with it before, as it is common throughoutthe colony, inhabiting high lying grounds where there are bushes. It isone of those classed under the genus _Tragulus_, of which three otherspecies--all small antelopes--are met with in South Africa. The otherthree are the "grysbok," (_Tragulus melanotis_), the "vlackte steenbok,"(_T. rufescens_), and the "bleekbok;" (_T. pediotragus_); though somenaturalists assert that the last are only _varieties_ of the steenbok,(_T. rupestris_). Groot Willem did not spend a thought upon thesematters, he only thought of "stalking" the steenbok, and having its ribsfor a roast at supper. He was able to approach it without anydifficulty, as it was close to the bushes, and appeared not to be veryshy.
There was but the creature itself--a little buck; and rarely is morethan one, or at most two of these antelopes seen together--for thesteenbok, and all the others of the genus _Tragulus_, are monogamous andsolitary.
Groot Willem was at length within range, and was about to level his roeron the game, when the movements of the little animal caused him to holdhis hand. Its actions were very odd, indeed. It was not browsing--itwas not standing still--it was not running away from the ground,--andyet it was in constant motion!
As already stated, it was close in to the edge of the timber, where anumber of small olean trees stood thinly over the ground. In front ofthese the little buck was dancing about in a very original manner. Nowit ran to the right,--anon to the left,--now zigzag,--now it startedsuddenly backwards,--then ran forwards again,--all the while its eyesturning in a particular direction and shining brilliantly, as if theanimal itself was in a state of unusual excitement.
Groot Willem looked to discover the cause of this odd manoeuvring on thepart of the steenbok; something among the olean-wood trees seemed toattract the notice of the animal. On this something the eyes of thehunter rested with wonderment; and for some moments he was unable tomake out what it was. He could perceive a large glittering mass nearthe bottom of one of the trees; but this mass at first sight appearedwithout any particular form, and lay perfectly motionless.
As Groot Willem continued to gaze upon it, however, it gradually assumeda form, or rather his eyes gradually traced one, for the mass had notyet moved.
A hideous form it was--though of smooth and regular proportions--it wasthe form of a reptile--a serpent!
A serpent of enormous size, for the mass of its body, gathered up in asort of irregular coil, covered the ground over a space of severalsquare feet, while the body itself seemed thicker than the thighs of afull-grown man! The head of the reptile rested upon the top of thecoiled body, and on running his eye along the mottled and glisteningoutlines, Groot Willem perceived that its tail was doubled around thestem of the olean-wood, and held it with firm grasp--for the serpentbelonged to a family whose tails are furnished with horny claw-likehooks, giving them a power of prehension in this member equal to that ofa hand. This is the family of the _Boidae_, or "boas," to which the onein question was generically related. It was a _python_--the _PythonNatalensis_.
Groot Willem only knew it as the "rock-snake," and that is its ordinarydesignation--given it on account of the fact of its being a dwelleramong rocks and stony places. It might very properly be called"rock-boa," which would distinguish it from its cousins of America, the_Anaconda_, or "water-boa," and the true boa, which is a denizen of theforest, and which would therefore merit the title of "tree-boa."
Notwithstanding the difference of the dwelling-place of the boas andpythons, their habits are very similar. They lie in wait for theirprey, capture it with their strong retractile teeth, and crushing it todeath by constriction, swallow it whole--though often the animalswallowed is much larger than the diameter of their own bodies. Theirelastic muscles, however, enable them to effect their purpose, aided bythe slippery saliva which is copiously supplied from their glands.
When Groot Willem first saw the huge python, its head was lying over thecoils of its body, and motionless. Presently, the head was raised upwith the neck, and several feet of the body; and the parts, thuserected, moved gently from side to side with a sort of vibratory motion.The jaws were widely extended, so that the sharp retractile teeth wereplainly visible, and the forked tongue at intervals was shot forward,and gleamed in the sun. The _eyes_ of the reptile sparkled like fire.
It was a fearful object to look upon! And yet the steenbok did notappear to dread it. On the contrary, it kept drawing nearer and nearer,excited either by curiosity or _fascination_!
There are those who ridicule the idea of _fascination_ on the part ofserpents. But whether we are to believe in such a power or not, wecannot deny the fact. Certain it is, that whether it be curiosity,fear, or fascination, both birds and animals are moved to approach notonly serpents, but crocodiles, until within reach of the jaws that areopened to devour them. Certain is this, and vouched for by thetestimony of many a correct and reliable observer.
Groot Willem witnessed the strange phenomenon. When the buck had gotwithin some six or eight feet of the python, the head of the lattersuddenly shot out; and before the antelope, which now appeared making aneffort to escape, could spring out of the way, it was seized by theteeth of the reptile, and dragged towards the tree!
A number of quick contortions followed, and when Groot Willem lookedagain, the red body of the little antelope was almost hidden under thethick folds of the spotted python, that writhing around it was crushingit to death!