CHAPTER FOUR.
TOM SEES WONDERFUL SIGHTS, AND AT LAST HAS HIS DREAMS FULFILLED.
Thus the travellers advanced day by day--sometimes in sunshine,sometimes in rain, now successful in hunting and now unsuccessful--untilthey reached the Zulu country and the banks of the river Umveloose.
Here they called a halt for a time, and began to hunt vigorously in alldirections, aiming at every species of game. Our hero's firstintroduction to the river scenery was interesting, to himself at least,and singular. Having placed himself at the disposal of his friends tobe appointed to whatever duty they pleased, he was sent off in the smallboat belonging to the party with plenty of ammunition and provisions;Lieutenant Wilkins being his companion, and the tall Caffre, Mafuta, hisguide and instructor in African warfare against the brute creation.
Between Tom Brown and this man Mafuta there had sprung up a species offriendship, which grew stronger the more they became acquainted witheach other. Mafuta was an unusually honest, affectionate andstraightforward Caffre, who had been much in the settlements, and couldspeak a little English. He first drew forth our hero's regard bynursing him with almost womanly tenderness during a three-days' severeillness at the beginning of the journey. Thereafter Tom gained hisaffection by repeated little acts of kindness, done in a quiet, offhand,careless way, as though he had pleasure in being kind, and did not caremuch whether the kindness were appreciated or not. He also excited hisadmiration by the imperturbable coolness and smiling good-humour withwhich he received every event in life; from the offer of an elephantsteak to the charge of a black rhinoceros. Mafuta was also fond ofWilkins; but he worshipped Tom Brown.
On reaching the river the boat was launched on a part where there wasnothing particularly striking to merit notice, so Tom said: "D'you know,Bob, I've taken a fancy to ramble alone for an hour along the banks ofthis river; will you, like a good fellow, get into the boat with Mafuta,and let me go along the banks on foot for a few miles. As your workwill only be dropping down stream, you won't find it hard."
"By all means, Tom; a pleasant journey to you but see that you don'tfall into the jaws of a lion or a crocodile!"
Our hero smiled as he waved his hand to his companions, and, turningaway, was soon lost to sight among the bushes.
Now the fact was that Tom Brown, so far from being the unromanticcreature that his name is erroneously supposed to imply, had such asuperabundance of romance in his composition that he had, for some timepast, longed to get away from his companions, and the noise and bustleof the wagon train, and go off alone into the solitudes of the greatAfrican wilderness, there to revel in the full enjoyment of the factthat he was in reality far far away from the haunts of civilised men;alone with primeval Nature!
The day happened to be delightful. Not too hot for walking, yet warmenough to incline one of Tom's temperament to throw open his vest andbare his broad bosom to any breeze that might chance to gambol throughthe forest. With characteristic nonchalance he pushed his wideawake offhis forehead for the sake of coolness, and in so doing tilted it verymuch on one side, which gave him a somewhat rakish air. He carried hisheavy double-barrelled gun on one of his broad shoulders with the buttbehind him, and his right hand grasping the muzzle, while in his left heheld a handkerchief, with which he occasionally wiped his heated brow.It was evident that Tom experienced the effects of the heat much, but hedid not suffer from it. He perspired profusely, breathed heavily, andswaggered unwittingly, while a beaming smile played on his ruddycountenance, which told of peace with himself and with all mankind.
Not so, however, with brute kind, as became apparent after he hadadvanced about half a mile in a dreamy state down the banks of the quietriver, for, happening to observe something of a tawny yellow colouramong the bushes, he brought his gun to the "present" with greatprecipitancy, cocked both barrels, and advanced with the utmost caution.
Up to this period he had not been successful in accomplishing his greatwish--the shooting of a lion. Many a time had he heard the strongvoices of the brutes, and once or twice had seen their forms dimly inthe night sneaking round the bullocks wagons, but he had not yet managedto get a fair full view of the forest king, or a good shot at him. Hisheart now beat high with hope, for he believed that he was about torealise his ancient dream. Slowly, step by step, he advanced, avoidingthe dense bushes, stepping lightly over the small ones, insinuatinghimself through holes and round stems, and conducting himself in a waythat would have done credit to a North American Indian, until he gaineda tree, close on the other side of which he knew the tawny object lay.With beating heart, but steady hand and frowning eye, he advancedanother step and found--that the object was a yellow stone!
There was a sudden motion about Tom's jaws, as if he had gnashed histeeth, and a short gasp issued from his mouth, but that was all. Thecompressed steam was off; a smile wrinkled his visage immediately after,and quietly uncocking his gun he threw it over his shoulder and resumedhis march.
On rounding a point a few minutes after, he was again arrested by ascene which, while it charmed, amazed him. Often had he observed themultitudes of living creatures with which the Creator has peopled thatgreat continent, but never before had he beheld such a concentratedpicture as was presented at that moment. Before him lay a wide stretchof the river, so wide, and apparently currentless, that it seemed like acalm lake, and so perfectly still that every object on and around it wasfaithfully mirrored on its depths--even the fleecy clouds that floatedin the calm sky were repeated far down in the azure vault below.
Every part of this beautiful scene teemed with living creatures of everysort and size, from the huge alligators that lay like stranded logs uponthe mud-banks, basking in the sun, to the tiny plover that waded incheerful activity among the sedges. There were tall reeds in manyplaces, and among these were thousands of cranes, herons, flamingoes,and other members of that long-necked and long-legged family; someengaged in solemnly searching for food, while others, already gorged,stood gravely on one leg, as if that position assisted digestion, andwatched with quiet satisfaction the proceedings of their companions.The glassy surface of the mirror was covered in places with a countlesshost of geese, widgeons, teals and other water-fowl either gambollingabout in sport, or sleeping away a recent surfeit, and thousands ofother small birds and beasts swarmed about everywhere, giving a sort offaint indication of the inconceivable numbers of the smaller creatureswhich were there, though not visible to the observer. But Tom'sinterest was chiefly centred on the huge animals--the crocodiles andhippopotami--which sprawled or floated about.
Not far from the bush from behind which he gazed, two large crocodileslay basking on a mudbank--rugged and rough in the hide as two ancienttrees--the one using the back of the other as a pillow. A little beyondthese three hippopotami floated in the water, only the upper parts oftheir heads and rotund bodies being visible. These lay so motionlessthat they might have been mistaken for floating puncheons, and theobserver would have thought them asleep, had he not noticed anoccasional turn of the whites of their small eyes, and a slight puff ofsteam and water from their tightly compressed nostrils.
Truly it was a grand sight; one calculated to awaken in the mostunthinking minds some thoughts about the infinite power of Him who madethem all. Tom's mind did rise upwards for a little. Although not atthat time very seriously inclined, he was, nevertheless, a man whosemind had been trained to think with reverence of his Creator. He wasengaged in solemn contemplation of the scene before him, when a deepgurgling plunge almost under the bush at his feet aroused him. It was ahippopotamus which had been standing on the river-brink within six yardsof the muzzle of his gun. Tom cocked and presented, but thinking thatthe position of the animal did not afford him a good chance of killingit, he waited, feeling sure, at all events, of securing one of thevarious huge creatures that were lying so near him.
It says much for Tom's powers of wood-craft that he managed to advanceas near as he did to these animals without disturbing them. Few h
unterscould have done it; but it must be remembered that our hero, like allother heroes, was a man of unusual and astonishing parts!
While he hesitated for a few moments, undecided whether to fire at thecrocodiles or the hippopotami, one of the latter suddenly uttered aprolonged snort or snore, and opened a mouth of such awful dimensionsthat Tom's head and shoulders would have easily found room in it. As hegazed into the dark red throat he felt that the wild fictions ofuntravelled men fell far short of the facts of actual life, in regard tograndeur and horribility, and it struck him that if the front half of ahippopotamus were sewed to the rear half of a crocodile there would beproduced a monster incomparably more grand and horrible than thefiercest dragon St. George ever slew! While these ideas were passingquickly through his excited brain, the boat, which he had totallyforgotten, came quietly round the bend of the river above him. But thesharp-eared and quick-eyed denizens of the wilderness were on the alert;it had scarcely shown its prow round the point of land, and thehippopotamus had not quite completed its lazy yawn, when the entirewinged host rose with a rushing noise so thunderous, yet so soft andpeculiar, that words cannot convey the idea of the sight and sound. Atthe same time, many grunts and snorts and heavy plunges told that sundryamphibious creatures had been disturbed, and were seeking safety in theclear stream.
Tom hesitated no longer. He aimed at the yawning hippopotamus andfired, hitting it on the skull, but at such an angle that the ballglanced off. If there was noise before, the riot and confusion now wasindescribable! Water-fowl that had not moved at the first alarm nowsprang in myriads from reeds and sedges, and darkened the very air. Thetwo alligators just under Tom's nose spun their tails in the air with awhirl of awful energy that seemed quite incompatible with their sluggishnature, and rushed into the river. The hippopotami dived with a splashthat covered the water around them with foam, and sent a wave ofconsiderable size to the shore. The sudden burst of excitement, noise,splutter, and confusion was not less impressive than the previous calmhad been, but Tom had not leisure to contemplate it, being himselfinvolved in the whirl. Four shots from the boat told him that hiscompanions were also engaged. One of the crocodiles re-appearedsuddenly as if to have another look at Tom, who discharged his secondbarrel at it, sent a ball into its brain, and turned it over dead. Hereloaded in great haste, and was in the act of capping when he heard aloud shout in the direction of the boat, and looking up, observed thatWilkins was standing in the bow gesticulating violently. He listenedfor a moment, but could not make out what he said.
"Hallo!" he cried, "shout louder; I don't hear you."
Again Wilkins shouted at the top of his voice, and waved his arms morefrantically than before. Tom could not make out the words. He judged,however, that no man would put himself to such violent physical exertionwithout good reason, so he turned and looked cautiously around him.Presently he heard a crashing sound in the bushes, and a few momentsafterwards observed three buffaloes tearing along the path in which hestood. It was these that Wilkins had seen from the boat when heattempted in vain to warn his friend. Tom jumped behind a bush, and asthey passed tried to fire, but the foliage was so dense that he failedto get a good aim. Reserving his fire, therefore, he dashed after themat full speed. After running some distance the buffaloes stood still,and the nearest bull turned round and looked at Tom, who instantly senta two ounce ball crashing into his shoulder. This turned them, and theyall three made off at once, but the wounded one fell behind. Tomtherefore stopped to reload, feeling pretty sure of him. Starting offin pursuit, he gained on the wounded animal at every stride, and wasabout to fire again, when his limbs were for a moment paralysed, and hisheart was made almost to stand still at the sight of three full-grownlions which sprang at the unfortunate brute from a neighbouring thicket.They had no doubt gone there to rest for the day, but the sight of alame and bleeding buffalo was a temptation too strong for them. Thelions did not leap upon him, but, seizing him with their teeth andclaws, stood on their hind legs and tried to tear him down with terribleferocity.
Our hero, who, as we have said, was for a few moments bereft of thepower of action, could do nothing but stand and gaze in amazement. Allthe dreams of his youth and manhood were as nothing to this! The poorbuffalo fought nobly, but it had no chance against such odds, and wouldcertainly have been torn to pieces and devoured had not Tom recoveredhis self-possession in a few minutes. Creeping up to within thirtyyards he fired at one of the lions with such good aim that it fell deadalmost on the spot, having time only to turn and seize a bush savagelywith its teeth ere it died. The second barrel was discharged, but notwith the same effect. Another of the lions was wounded, and sprang intothe bushes with an angry roar. The third merely lifted his head, lookedat Tom for a moment as if with indignant surprise, and then went ontearing at the carcass as hard as ever.
With a feeling of thankfulness that this particular king of the foresthad treated him so contemptuously, Tom slunk behind a tree and rechargedhis gun, after which he advanced cautiously and sent a ball crashingthrough the lion's shoulder. It _ought_ to have killed him, he thought,but it did not, for he made off as fast as possible, just as Wilkins andMafuta arrived, panting, on the scene of action.
"What a magnificent fellow!" exclaimed Wilkins going up to the deadlion. "Bravissimo, Tom, you've done it at last."
"Done _it_!" cried Tom, as he loaded hastily, "why, I've all but done_three_. Follow up the trail, man, as fast as you can. I'll overtakeyou in no time!"
Wilkins did not wait for more, but dashed into the thicket after Mafuta,who had preceded him.
Tom was quickly on their heels, and they had not gone far when one ofthe wounded lions was found lying on the ground quite dead. The otherwas not overtaken, but, as Wilkins said, two lions, a buffalo, and ahippopotamus, which latter he had shot from the boat, was not a badbeginning!
That night they encamped under the shelter of a spreading tree, and asthey reclined at full length between two fires, which were kindled tokeep off the wild beasts, enjoying a pipe after having feastedluxuriously on hippopotamus steaks and marrow bones, Tom Brown remarked:"Well, my dream has been realised at last, and, upon my word, I have notbeen disappointed."