CHAPTER I.
THE BOERS.
Hendrik Von Bloom was a _boer_.
When I called Hendrik Von Bloom a boer, I did not mean him anydisrespect. Quite the contrary.
All the same it may be well to explain that Mynheer Hendrik had notalways been a boer. He could boast of a somewhat higher condition--thatis, he could boast of a better education than the mere Cape farmerusually possesses, as well as some experience in wielding the sword. Hewas not a native of the colony, but of Holland; and he had found his wayto the Cape, not as a poor adventurer seeking his fortune, but as anofficer in a Dutch regiment then stationed there.
His soldier-service in the colony was not of long duration. A certaincherry-cheeked, flaxen-haired Gertrude--the daughter of a rich boer--hadtaken a liking to the young lieutenant; and he in his turn became vastlyfond of her. The consequence was, that they got married. Gertrude'sfather dying shortly after, the large farm, with its full stock ofhorses, and Hottentots, broad-tailed sheep, and long-horned oxen, becamehers. This was an inducement for her soldier-husband to lay down thesword and turn "vee-boer," or stock farmer, which he consequently did.
These incidents occurred many years previous to the English becomingmasters of the Cape colony. When that event came to pass, Hendrik VonBloom was already a man of influence in the colony and "field-cornet" ofhis district, which lay in the beautiful county of Graaf Reinet. He wasthen a widower, the father of a small family. The wife whom he hadfondly loved,--the cherry-cheeked, flaxen-haired Gertrude--no longerlived.
History will tell you how the Dutch colonists, discontented with Englishrule, rebelled against it. The ex-lieutenant and field-cornet was one ofthe most prominent among these rebels. History will also tell you howthe rebellion was put down; and how several of those compromised werebrought to execution. Von Bloom escaped by flight; but his fine propertyin the Graaf Reinet was confiscated and given to another.
Many years after we find him living in a remote district beyond thegreat Orange River, leading the life of a "trek-boer,"--that is, anomade farmer, who has no fixed or permanent abode, but moves with hisflocks from place to place, wherever good pastures and water may tempthim.
From about this time dates my knowledge of the field-cornet and hisfamily. Of his history previous to this I have stated all I know, butfor a period of many years after I am more minutely acquainted with it.Most of its details I received from the lips of his own son. I wasgreatly interested, and indeed instructed, by them. They were my firstlessons in African zoology.
Believing, boy reader, that they might also instruct and interest you, Ihere lay them before you. You are not to regard them as merely fanciful.The descriptions of the wild creatures that play their parts in thislittle history, as well as the acts, habits, and instincts assigned tothem, you may regard as true to Nature. Young Von Bloom was a student ofNature, and you may depend upon the fidelity of his descriptions.
Disgusted with politics, the field-cornet now dwelt on the remotefrontier--in fact, beyond the frontier, for the nearest settlement wasan hundred miles off. His "kraal" was in a district bordering the greatKalihari desert--the Saaera of Southern Africa. The region around, forhundreds of miles, was uninhabited, for the thinly-scattered, half-humanBushmen who dwelt within its limits, hardly deserved the name ofinhabitants any more than the wild beasts that howled around them.
I have said that Von Bloom now followed the occupation of a "trek-boer."Farming in the Cape colony consists principally in the rearing ofhorses, cattle, sheep, and goats; and these animals form the wealth ofthe boer. But the stock of our field-cornet was now a very small one.The proscription had swept away all his wealth, and he had not beenfortunate in his first essays as a nomade grazier. The emancipation law,passed by the British Government, extended not only to the Negroes ofthe West India Islands, but also to the Hottentots of the Cape; and theresult of it was that the servants of Mynheer Von Bloom had desertedhim. His cattle, no longer properly cared for, had strayed off. Some ofthem fell a prey to wild beasts--some died of the _murrain_. His horses,too, were decimated by that mysterious disease of Southern Africa, the"horse-sickness;" while his sheep and goats were continually beingattacked and diminished in numbers by the earth-wolf, the wild hound,and the hyena. A series of losses had he suffered until his horses,oxen, sheep, and goats, scarce counted altogether an hundred head. Avery small stock for a vee-boer, or South African grazier.
Withal our field-cornet was not unhappy. He looked around upon his threebrave sons--Hans, Hendrik, and Jan. He looked upon his cherry-cheeked,flaxen-haired daughter, Gertrude, the very type and image of what hermother had been. From these he drew the hope of a happier future.
His two eldest boys were already helps to him in his daily occupations;the youngest would soon be so likewise. In Gertrude,--or "Trueey," as shewas endearingly styled,--he would soon have a capital housekeeper. Hewas not unhappy therefore; and if an occasional sigh escaped him, it waswhen the face of little Trueey recalled the memory of that Gertrude whowas now in heaven.
But Hendrik Von Bloom was not the man to despair. Disappointments hadnot succeeded in causing his spirits to droop. He only applied himselfmore ardently to the task of once more building up his fortune.
For himself he had no ambition to be rich. He would have been contentedwith the simple life he was leading, and would have cared but little toincrease his wealth. But other considerations weighed upon hismind--the future of his little family. He could not suffer his childrento grow up in the midst of the wild plains without education.
No; they must one day return to the abodes of men, to act their part inthe drama of social and civilised life. This was his design.
But how was this design to be accomplished? Though his so called act oftreason had been pardoned, and he was now free to return within thelimits of the colony, he was ill prepared for such a purpose. His poorwasted stock would not suffice to set him up within the settlements. Itwould scarce keep him a month. To return would be to return a beggar!
Reflections of this kind sometimes gave him anxiety. But they also addedenergy to his disposition, and rendered him more eager to overcome theobstacles before him.
During the present year he had been very industrious. In order that hiscattle should be provided for in the season of winter he had planted alarge quantity of maize and buckwheat, and now the crops of both were inthe most prosperous condition. His garden, too, smiled, and promised aprofusion of fruits, and melons, and kitchen vegetables. In short, thelittle homestead where he had fixed himself for a time, was a miniatureoaesis; and he rejoiced day after day, as his eyes rested upon theripening aspect around him. Once more he began to dream ofprosperity--once more to hope that his evil fortunes had come to an end.
Alas! It was a false hope. A series of trials yet awaited him--a seriesof misfortunes that deprived him of almost everything he possessed, andcompletely changed his mode of existence.
Perhaps these occurrences could hardly be termed misfortunes, since inthe end they led to a happy result.
But you may judge for yourself, boy reader, after you have heard the"history and adventures" of the "trek-boer" and his family.