CHAPTER EIGHT.
SHOWS THAT TOO HIGH A PRICE IS SOMETIMES PAID FOR SUCCESS IN HUNTING.
The successful commencement of this part of the day's hunt was somewhatcuriously brought about by the major.
Most people have a distinct and strong antipathy for some creature whichhas the power of inspiring them with a species of loathing, amountingalmost to terror. Some who would face a mad bull coolly enough springwith disgust from a cockroach or a centipede. Others there are whowould permit a mouse to creep about their person with indifference, butwould shudder at the bare idea of a frog happening to get under theirbedclothes. Now Major Garret's peculiar horror was a serpent. He was adaring man by nature, and experience had made him almost foolhardy. Hewould have faced a lion, or an enraged elephant, any day withoutflinching, and cared nothing for a buffalo-bull, however mad, providedhe had a trustworthy gun in his hand; but a serpent would cause him toleap into the air like a kangaroo, and if it chanced to come at himunawares he would fly from it like the wind, in a paroxysm of horror--ifnot fear!
There was no lack of serpents in that region to trouble the worthymajor. Numbers of them, of all kinds and sizes, were to be seen. Onein particular, which Mafuta killed with an assegai, was eight feet threeinches long, and so copiously supplied with poison that one of the dogswhich attacked it, and was bitten, died almost instantaneously, whileanother died in about five minutes. Tom Brown, on another occasion,knocked over one of the same species, and it continued to distil purepoison from the fangs for hours after its head was cut off. Besidesthese there were the puff-adders, which were very dangerous; and severalvipers, as well as many other kinds which were comparatively harmless.But the poor major's horror was so great as to cause him to regard thewhole family in one light. He never paused to observe whether a serpentwas poisonous. Enough for him that it was one of the hated race, to bekilled in a violent hurry or fled from in tremendous haste!
This being the case, it is not to be regarded as a wonder that, when theparty, early in the day, were passing a thicket out of which glided avery large serpent, the major should give a shout and incontinentlydischarge both barrels at it simultaneously. It chanced to be a pythonof great size, full fifteen feet long, and thicker than a man's thigh,but a really harmless species of serpent. The major, however, did notknow this, or did not care. His shots, although fired at random, hitthe creature in the spine; nevertheless it retained power to raise itshead fully five feet in the air, and to open its mouth in a verythreatening manner within a few feet of the major's face. This was morethan he could bear. He turned, dropped his gun, and fled like a maniac,while his comrades, who had recognised the species of serpent, stoodlaughing at him heartily. He did not stop until he dashed headlong intoa thicket, far away to the right of their line of march. Here the"wait-a-bit" thorns effectually checked his progress.
Now it chanced that in this very thicket, which would have been passedby unnoticed but for the python, there was a portly young femaleelephant with a very stout little daughter. Amazed at the very suddenand reckless intrusion of the sportsman, this anxious mother at oncesounded her war-trumpet and charged. The major turned and fled back tohis friends as fast as he had run away from them. The elephant did notfollow, but the hunters, having discovered her retreat, were not slow tofollow and attack her.
As they drew near, the mother elephant set herself on the danger side ofher little one, and putting her proboscis over it, as if to assure it ofprotection, urged it to run, which it did pretty smartly. But neitherof them galloped; their quickest pace was only a sharp walk, which,however, was quick enough to oblige the pursuers to run at full speed.The big one frequently glanced back, apparently to see if she weregaining ground, and then looked at her young one and ran after it,sometimes sideways, as if her feelings were divided between anxiety toprotect her offspring and desire to revenge the temerity of herpersecutors. The hunters kept about a hundred yards in her rear, and asthey were pretty sure of securing her, the European sportsmen held back,in order to have an opportunity of witnessing the method of attackpractised by the band of natives who were with them.
Presently they came to a rivulet, and the time spent by the elephants indescending and getting up the opposite bank enabled the natives to getwithin twenty yards of them, when they discharged their spears at them.The old one received the most of these in various parts of her body, forshe did her best to shield the young one; but the latter received a fewnotwithstanding. After the first discharge the old one's sides ran downwith blood, and in a short time she bristled all over with spears like amonstrous porcupine. She soon seemed to give up all thought ofdefending her young, and began to flee for her life, so that the calfwas quickly killed; but no sooner did the mother observe this, than allfear forsook her; she stopped in her career, turned round, and, with ashriek of rage, charged her pursuers, who fled right and left like aband of huge black monkeys. The elephant ran straight on and went rightthrough the whole party, but came near no one. She then continued herflight, in the course of which she crossed several rivulets, and at eachof these received fresh spears. Several times she turned and charged,but never in any ease did she run more than a hundred yards.
Gradually she grew weak from loss of blood, which poured from her likerain; and at last, when she was making a charge, she staggered round andsank down dead in a kneeling posture.
The natives were overjoyed of course at their success, and at theprospect of a baked elephant's foot for supper, and Hicks was muchpleased with the tusks, which were large and valuable. He surveyed themwith a complacent smile, and observed that he had much need of a littleivory like that, for the expenses of a trading expedition were veryheavy.
"But you have reason to expect a good deal in this part of the country,"said the major, "if all that is rumoured be true."
"No doubt there is some truth in what is reported; we shall see.Meanwhile, yonder goes something to encourage us."
He pointed towards an opening in a thicket close at hand, where anelephant was seen running towards them as if ignorant of their presence.
"Some one must be after that fellow," said Hicks. About a dozen nativesemerged from the thicket as he spoke. They were evidently driving theelephant, which was a large bull, towards the hunters for the purpose ofletting them have a good shot; so the latter at once hid themselves.When the elephant drew near it seemed to suspect danger ahead, for itburned to the right when at a distance of about a hundred yards. Thiswas a great disappointment, so the major, rather than be balkedaltogether, tried a long shot and broke the animal's fore-leg. Then,running after him at a pace which even the supple natives could notequal, he got close up and sent a ball into his head, which stunned him;but it took four additional shots to kill him.
This was an unusually fortunate case, for elephants are not easilykilled. The African elephant is in many respects different from that ofIndia, and is never killed, like the Ceylon elephant, by a single ballin the brain. Dr Livingstone tells us that on one occasion, when hewas out with a large party of natives, a troop of elephants wereattacked by them, and that one of these, in running away, fell into ahole, and, before he could extricate himself, an opportunity was allowedfor all the men to throw their spears. When the elephant rose he waslike a huge porcupine, for each of the seventy or eighty men haddischarged more than one spear at him. As they had no more, they sentfor the Doctor to shoot him. He, anxious to put the animal at once outof pain, went up to within twenty yards, rested his gun on an ant-hill,so as to take steady aim; but though he fired twelve two-ounce bullets,all he had, into different parts, he could not kill it. As it wasgetting dark, they were obliged to leave it standing there, intending toreturn in the morning in the full expectation of finding it dead; butthough they searched all that day, and went over more than ten miles ofground, they never saw it again!
The female elephant killed by our hunters at this time was acomparatively small one. Its height was eight feet eight inches. Manyof those which we
re afterwards killed were of much greater height.Indian elephants never reach to the enormous size of the Africanelephant, which is distinguished from that of India by a mark thatcannot be mistaken, namely, the ear, which in the African species isenormously large. That of the female just killed measured four feetfive inches in length and four feet in breadth. A native has been seento creep under an elephant's ear so as to be quite covered from therain. The African elephant has never been tamed at the Cape, nor hasone ever been exhibited in England.
But to return to our hunters. Before that day had closed, the major andhis friends had made good bags. The total result of the day's hunt byboth parties was, five sea-cows, four elephants, two buffaloes, agiraffe, and a number of birds of various kinds.
Of course this set the natives of the kraal into a ferment of joyousfestivity, and the sportsmen rose very high in their estimation,insomuch that they overwhelmed them with gifts of native produce. Ourhero was an especial favourite, because, on several occasions, he turnedhis medical and surgical knowledge to good account, and afforded many ofthem great relief from troubles which their own doctors had failed tocure or charm away.
Some time after this, when they were travelling through a comparativelydry district, they encamped near a pool of water, and the sights theysaw there were most amazing; for all the animals in the neighbourhoodflocked to the pool to slake their burning thirst.
After supper, instead of going to rest, Tom Brown and most of the partyresolved to go and watch this pool--the moon being bright at the time.They had not lain long in ambush beside it when a troop of elephantscame rushing into it, and began to drink with great avidity, spirtingthe water over each other and shrieking with delight. For some hoursthe hunters remained on the watch there, and saw animals of all kindscome down to drink--antelopes, zebras, buffaloes, etcetera, in greatnumbers.
Thus they passed through the country, enjoying themselves, and addingconsiderably to Hicks's stock of ivory, when an incident occurred whichthrew a deep gloom over the party for some time.
One day they went out after some elephants which were reported to benear to their encampment, and about noon rested a little to refreshthemselves. They had set out as a united party on this occasionaccompanied by a large band of natives armed with spears. Just afterleaving the spot where they rested, the major discovered that he hadleft his knife behind him, and went back to look for it, in company withTom Brown. As it was only quarter of a mile off, or less, theyfoolishly left their guns behind them. On nearing the spot, Tom stoppeda few moments, and bent down to examine a beautiful flower. The majorwalked on, but had not gone many paces when three lions walked out of athicket not twenty paces off. Tom had risen, and saw the lions, and,for the first time in his life, felt a sensation about the heart whichis popularly known as "the blood curdling in the vein." The major,being totally unarmed, stopped, and stood motionless like a statue. Thelions stopped also, being evidently taken by surprise at the sudden andunexpected apparition of a man! Had the major turned and fled, it isalmost certain that his fate would have been sealed, but he stood firmas a rock, and Tom observed that he did not even change colour as hegazed with a fixed glassy stare at the lions.
Unused to such treatment, the animals winced under it. Their ownglances became uneasy; then they turned slowly round and slunk away,with the air of creatures which know that they have been doing wrong!In a few moments they bounded off at full speed, their pace beingaccelerated by the terrible yell which burst simultaneously from Tom andthe major, who found intense relief in this violent expression of theirpent-up feelings!
But this, good reader, is not the gloomy incident to which we havereferred. It was just after the occurrence of this minor episode in theproceedings of the day, that the party came upon fresh tracks of a troopof elephants, and set off in pursuit. The Englishmen were on horseback,having obtained steeds from a trader whom they had met farther south,but the natives--a very large band--were on foot.
While they were advancing through a somewhat open part of the country,four lions were seen on the top of a low sandhill, which was coveredwith bushes and a few stunted trees. It was at once resolved that theyshould be surrounded. Accordingly, the natives were ordered to form awide ring round the hill.
"Now," said Hicks, who assumed command of the party in virtue of hissuperior knowledge, "we must separate and advance from differentdirections, and be sure, gentlemen, that you don't shoot the niggers.Look well before you. That hollow is a very likely place for one ofthem to run along, therefore the best shot among you had better go upthere. Who is the best shot?"
The trader smiled knowingly, for he knew that the major esteemed himselfthe best.
"I think I am," said Wilkins, with an air of great simplicity.
There was a general laugh at this, for it was well known that Wilkinswas the worst shot of the party.
"Well, now," said he with a good-natured smile, "since you have insultedme so grossly, I think myself entitled to name the best man; I thereforesuggest Tom Brown."
"Right," said Pearson.
The others being all agreed, Tom consented, with becoming modesty, totake the post of honour and of danger.
"Are we to ride or walk?" he asked.
"Walk, of course," said Hicks. "The ground is much too rough forhorses."
"And I trust, Tom," said Wilkins, "that you will permit me to followyou. I am the worst shot, you know, and the worst and best should gotogether on the acknowledged principle that extremes meet."
This being arranged, the sportsmen dismounted, fastened their horses totrees, and separated.
The circle of men gradually closed in and ascended the hill pretty nearto each other. Presently Tom Brown observed one of the lions get upon apiece of rock. The major also saw him, and being anxious to secure thefirst shot, fired somewhat hastily and hit the rock on which themagnificent brute was standing, as if it had got up there to take a coolsurvey of the field. He bit at the spot struck, as a dog bites at astick or stone thrown at him. Next moment Tom Brown sent a bulletstraight into his heart, and his tail made a splendid flourish as hefell off his pedestal!
Almost immediately after two of the other lions broke cover, dashedtowards the circle of men, went right through them and escaped. Thecourage of the natives proved unequal to the danger of facing such acharge. A great shout--partly, no doubt, of disappointment--was givenwhen the lions escaped. This had the effect of causing the fourth lionto break cover and leap upon a rock as the first had done. The hunternearest to him was Pearson, who was not farther off than shout thirtyyards. He took good aim, fired both barrels at him, and tumbled him offthe rock into a small bush beside it.
"He is wounded," cried Hicks, "but not killed. Have a care!"
Pearson was loading his gun as fast as possible, when he heard a loudshout, and cries of "Look out!" "Take care!" Starting, and turninghalf round, he saw the animal in the act of springing on him. Before hecould move he was struck on the head, and next moment the lion and hewent down together. Growling horribly, the enraged brute seized poorPearson and shook him as a terrier dog shakes a rat. Although stunned,he was able to turn a little to relieve himself of its weight, for thelion had placed one paw on the back of his head. Instantly the major,Tom Brown, and Hicks ran up and fired six shots into him almostsimultaneously, and at a few yards' distance. With a terrific roar heleft Pearson, and, springing on Hicks, caught him by the leg. Mafutaimmediately rushed at him with a spear, but was caught by the lion onthe shoulder, and dragged down. Seeing this, Tom Brown caught up thespear and plunged it deep into the chest of the brute, which seized itsavagely in his teeth and snapped it in two like a twig, throwing Tomdown in the act; but another bullet from Wilkins, and the effects of theprevious shots, caused him to drop down suddenly quite dead.
It was found on examination that the injuries received by poor Pearsonwere mortal. As could just speak, but could not move. A litter wastherefore hastily prepared for him, and one also for Hicks, whose
legwas severely injured, though fortunately not broken. Mafuta's hurtswere trifling, and Tom Brown had only received one or two scratches inhis fall. In a short time the litters were ready, and the partyreturned to their encampment.
That night Pearson expressed a strong desire to have the Bible read tohim, and Tom Brown, who had done all that professional skill couldaccomplish to relieve his comrade's suffering body, sought out from thebottom of his box that precious book which the missionary had told himcontained medicine for the soul. The dying man was very anxious. Asgave Tom no rest, but questioned him eagerly and continuously during thewhole night about the things which concerned his soul. His doctor couldnot assist him much, and keenly did he feel, at that time, how awful itis to postpone thoughts of eternity to a dying hour. As did his best,however, to comfort his friend, by reading passage after passage fromthe sacred book, dwelling particularly on, and repeating, thistext--"The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth from all sin."Towards morning Pearson fell into a lethargic sleep, out of which henever awoke. Next day they buried him under the shade of a spreadingtree, and left him there--alone in the wilderness.