CHAPTER XV.
THE TERRIBLE TSETSE.
The verdant carpet that stretched away around them--the green leavesupon the trees--the flowers by the fountain--the crystal water in itsbed--the black bold rocks towering up at a distance--all combined tomake a lovely picture. The eyes of the wayfarers were glad as theybeheld it; and while the wagon was outspanning, every one gave utteranceto their delightful emotions.
The place seemed to please every one. Hans loved its quiet and sylvanbeauty. It was just such a place as he would choose to ramble in, book inhand, and dream away many a pleasant hour. Hendrik liked it much,because he had already observed what he termed "extensive spoor" aboutthe spot: in other words, he had noticed the tracks of many of Africa'slargest wild animals.
Little Trueey was delighted to see so many beautiful flowers. There werebright scarlet geraniums, and starlike sweet-scented jessamines, and thegorgeous belladonna lily, with its large blossoms of rose-colour andwhite; and there were not only plants in flower, but bushes, and eventrees, covered with gaudy and sweetly-perfumed blossoms. There was the"sugar-bush," the most beautiful of its family, with its largecup-shaped corollas of pink, white, and green; and there, too, was the"silver-tree" whose soft silvery leaves playing in the breeze, lookedlike a huge mass of silken flowers; and there were the mimosas coveredwith blossoms of golden yellow that filled the air with their strong andagreeable perfume.
Rare forms of vegetation were around or near at hand: the arborescentaloes, with their tall flower-spikes of coral red, and euphorbias ofmany shapes; and _zamia_, with its palm-like fronds; and the soft-leaved_Strelitzia reginae_. All these were observed in the neighbourhood ofthis new-discovered fountain.
But what received little Trueey's admiration more than any other was thebeautiful blue water-lily, which is certainly one of the loveliest ofAfrica's flowers. Close by the spring, but a little farther in thedirection of the plain, was a vley, or pool--in fact, it might have beentermed a small lake--and upon the quiet bosom of its water the sky-bluecorollas lay sleeping in all their gorgeous beauty.
Trueey, leading her little pet on a string, had gone down on the bank tolook at them. She thought she could never cease gazing at such prettythings.
"I hope papa will stay here a long time," she said to her companion,little Jan.
"And I hope so too. Oh! Trueey, what a fine tree yon is! Look! nuts asbig as my head, I declare. Bless me, sis! how are we to knock some ofthem down?"
And so the children conversed, both delighted with the new scenes aroundthem.
Although all the young people were inclined to be happy, yet they werechecked in their expression of it, by observing that there was a cloudon the brow of their father. He had seated himself under the great tree,but his eyes were upon the ground, as though he were busy with painfulreflections. All of them noticed this.
His reflections were, indeed, painful--they could not well have beenotherwise. There was but one course left for him--to return to thesettlements, and begin life anew. But how to begin it? What could he do?His property all gone, he could only serve some of his richerneighbours; and for one accustomed all his life to independence, thiswould be hard indeed.
He looked towards his five horses, now eagerly cropping the luxuriantgrass that grew under the shadow of the cliffs. When would they be readyto trek back again? In three or four days he might start. Fine animals,most of them were--they would carry the wagon lightly enough.
So ran the reflections of the field-cornet. He little thought at themoment that those horses would never draw wagon more, nor any othervehicle. He little thought that those five noble brutes were doomed!
Yet so it was. In less than a week from that time, the jackals andhyenas were quarrelling over their bones. Even at that very moment whilehe watched them browsing, the poison was entering their veins, and theirdeath-wounds were being inflicted. Alas! alas! another blow awaited VonBloom.
The field-cornet had noticed, now and again, that the horses seemeduneasy as they fed. At times they started suddenly, whisked their longtails, and rubbed their heads against the bushes.
"Some fly is troubling them," thought he, and had no more uneasinessabout the matter.
It was just that--just a fly that was troubling them. Had Von Bloomknown what that fly was, he would have felt a very different concernabout his horses. Had he known the nature of that little fly, he wouldhave rushed up with all his boys, caught the horses in the greatesthurry, and led them far away from those dark cliffs. But he knew not the"tsetse" fly.
It still wanted some minutes of sunset, and the horses were permitted tobrowse freely, but Von Bloom observed that they were every momentgetting more excited--now striking their hoofs upon the turf,--nowrunning a length or two--and at intervals snorting angrily. At thedistance they were off--a quarter of a mile or so--Von Bloom could seenothing of what was disturbing them; but their odd behaviour at lengthinduced him to walk up to where they were. Hans and Hendrik went alongwith him.
When they arrived near the spot, they were astonished at what they thenbeheld. Each horse seemed to be encompassed by a swarm of bees!
They saw, however, they were not bees, but insects somewhat smaller, ofa brown colour, resembling gad-flies, and exceedingly active in theirflight. Thousands of them hovered above each horse, and hundreds couldbe seen lighting upon the heads, necks, bodies, and legs of theanimals,--in fact, all over them. They were evidently either biting orstinging them. No wonder the poor brutes were annoyed.
Von Bloom suggested that they should drive the horses farther out intothe plain, where these flies did not seem to haunt. He was onlyconcerned about the annoyance which the horses received from them.Hendrik also pitied their sufferings; but Hans, alone of all the three,guessed at the truth. He had read of a fatal insect that frequented somedistricts in the interior of South Africa, and the first sight of theseflies aroused his suspicions that it might be they.
He communicated his thoughts to the others, who at once shared hisalarm.
"Call Swartboy hither!" said Von Bloom.
The Bushman was called, and soon made his appearance, coming up from thespring. He had for the last hour been engaged in unpacking the wagon,and had taken no notice of the horses or the interest they wereexciting.
As soon, however, as he got near, and saw the winged swarm whirringaround the horses, his small eyes opened to their widest extent, histhick lips fell, and his whole face yielded itself to an expression ofamazement and alarm.
"What is it, Swart?" inquired his master.
"Mein baas! mein baas! der duyvel um da--dar skellum is da 'tsetse!'"
"And what if it be the tsetse?"
"Mein Gott!--all dead--dead--ebery horse!"
Swartboy then proceeded to explain, with a loud and continuous"clicking," that the fly which they saw was fatal in its bite, that thehorses would surely die--sooner or later, according to the number ofstings they had already received; but, from the swarm of insects aroundthem, the Bushman had no doubt they had been badly stung, and a singleweek would see all five of the horses dead.
"Wait, mein baas--morrow show."
And to-morrow did show; for before twelve o'clock on the next day, thehorses were swollen all over their bodies and about their heads. Theireyes were quite closed up; they refused any longer to eat, but staggeredblindly among the luxuriant grass, every now and then expressing thepain they felt by a low melancholy whimpering. It was plain to every onethey were going to die.
Von Bloom tried bleeding, and various other remedies; but to no purpose.There is no cure for the bite of the tsetse fly!