CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE.
NEARLY A WAGGON-WRECK.
There were no temptations to tarry much upon these plains, where therewere certainly plenty of antelopes, quagga, and zebras, but little elseto interest them. Lions were pretty common, but somehow they did nottrouble the travellers much, being pretty well supplied from the herdsof antelopes and the like; but the hyaenas proved to be a perfect pest,howling about the cattle-kraal of a night, and harrying the oxen so thatthey could not rest in peace. Upon two successive nights it was hardwork to save the cattle from making a regular stampede, for the poorcreatures were so alarmed that they broke down the thorn fence and wouldhave galloped over the plains but for the efforts and voices of theirdrivers and the Zulus.
So bad did the hyaenas become, that the first moonlight night it wasresolved to lie in wait and try and shoot two or three.
The boys were delighted with the idea, but the sole result was the lossof the night's rest, for though they could hear the ugly brutes utteringtheir dismal howl all round the camp, not one was seen; and Dick at lastdeclared that they were ventriloquists, and lay in a hole and sent theirvoices all around.
The next day's trekking was very arduous, for the ground was dry andsterile, awkward pieces of rock, each big enough to wreck the waggon,protruding from the sand in all directions. The dryness, too, wasexcessive, and they seemed to have got into a most terribly steriletract, which now and then was cut by great deep crevices, which were asif the ground had cracked, each of these cracks being big enough toswallow waggon and team if they had inadvertently gone in.
The poor beasts suffered terribly from thirst; but as evening was comingon, the black clouds gathered, and it soon become evident that beforelong there would be a perfect deluge of rain.
It was upon them before they knew it, almost literally streaming down,and soaking everything; but in spite of the discomfort it was delightfulto see the thirsty oxen stop to drink with avidity from the great poolsthat the rain soon formed. In fact, the storm was so cooling andrefreshing that Chicory seemed to revel in it, his dark skin shiningwith moisture; and the boys themselves did not seem to mind getting wet;but as the night came on intensely dark, and in addition to the pitilessrain there set in a tremendous thunderstorm, with deafening peals, andvivid lightning cutting the black clouds in all directions, the positionof the travellers began to get uncomfortable.
The General promised a good halting-place further on; but the darknessgrew so intense that the foremost oxen had to be led, and Mr Rogers,and the General, armed with a long pole, went on in advance.
If they could have halted where they were they would gladly have doneso; but it seemed madness to stop in that wretched wilderness, and sothey crept slowly on, drenched, depressed, and miserable, the thunderdeafening them with its peals, and the lightning seeming to crackle asit fell in jagged lines from the skies.
Even the oxen seemed to participate in the general depression, for theywent on very slowly, step by step, as if helping their leaders to find asuitable track, so as not to overturn the waggon against some piece ofrock.
Suddenly the General gave a warning cry, one that was echoed by MrRogers, and the bullocks were pulled up short just as they touched theleaders.
The warning was needed, for as he felt his way onward with the pole theGeneral had suddenly felt it go down into a rift stretching right acrosstheir road; and as it proved to be bottomless as far as he could tell,and went to right and left for some distance, there was nothing to bedone but to camp just as they were, and wait through the cold wet nightfor morning.
It was a pitiless and a bitter night, and those who believe in Africabeing a land of intense heat would have felt their preconceived ideasshaken had they sat and shivered in that waggon, through whose doubletilt covering the wind seemed to pierce as though it was so much opencanvas. Far worse was it beneath, where, sheltering themselves as bestthey could, the black servants, Dinny, and the Zulus huddled togetherfor mutual warmth. Even the dogs refused to be excluded, and, in spiteof Dinny's rather unmerciful kicks, kept crawling under the waggon, tillChicory took pity upon them and curled up in company, forming such aknot that it was hard to make out which was Chicory and which was dog.But the Zulu boy said it was nice and warm, all but one little placewhere there was no Pompey, and one leg which he couldn't get underCrass.
Fortunately the roar of the elements was sufficient to keep thepredatory beasts in their lairs, or they would have had an easy task toseize upon oxen or horses, for it was as impossible in the darkness tofind thorns and build a kraal, as it was in the wet to get a fire toburn.
Dick said the night was "as miserable as mizzer," and that Jack got allthe blanket; but, like all other things, that miserable night came to anend, and as the sun rose up warm and bright, up sprang the spirits ofall with it; and as the steam reeked from the soaked waggon, they turnedfrom it to look with a curious sense of shrinking at the narrow escapethey had had.
For where the foremost oxen had been checked, consequent upon theGeneral's warning, there was a great crack right across their path, sometwenty feet wide, double that distance deep, and running for severalhundred yards right and left.
But for the General's timely warning the whole team would have gone in,dragging after them the waggon, and the horses which were haltered onbehind, producing such an awful wreck that the expedition must havestopped; and then there would have been the problem to solve, how shouldthey get back to Natal.
As the sun grew warmer, and a fire had been lighted, food cooked, and ahearty breakfast made, the troubles of the past night were forgotten,and in the best of spirits they went on again, after a detour to avoidthe chasm, the moistened earth smelling delicious, and the birdstwittering and singing joyously in every tree.
So far they had avoided the kraals or villages of the various peoples ofthese parts of Africa, but now the General announced that they were atlast approaching the big river, where they would have to ask the blackking's permission to hunt, and make him a present for his concession.
For in his land there were the giraffe, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, andelephant--huge beasts, the names of which made the boys' pulses throbwith excitement.
There were crocodiles too in plenty in the big river, so the Generalsaid; and it was there that the river fell.
The idea of seeing the wondrous falls of the Zambesi had long beennurtured in Mr Rogers' heart; and as they had in their many months'journey come so far, he determined that they would if possible reachthat part of the river, and see the falls, even if they did not gofarther.
There seemed to be no reason why they should not, for every one, thanksto his care and management, was in the best of health, the change inDick being wondrous. Certainly there was poor Coffee: but he wasgrowing stronger day by day, and vowing vengeance against every lion inthe land.
That they were approaching a more inhabited tract they soon had warningin the increasing scarcity of the game. In place of the vast herds theyhad so often encountered, the herds were small, and so shy that it wasonly by lying in ambush, while the others went miles round to showthemselves and make the antelopes take flight in the direction of thehidden hunters, that a sufficiency was obtained for the daily needs.
The boys, however, managed to supplement the animal food with the birdsthat were shot, or knocked down with kiris; and fishing became afavourite pursuit in some one or other of the rocky pools in theriver-beds that they had to cross, silurus and other kinds beingfrequently captured with a hook and line.
They were curious fish these silurus, and, of course in happy ignoranceof the meaning of angling, readily took the bait thrown to them in thedeep pools; but when hooked their behaviour was almost startling, fromthe tremendous rushes they made in all directions. Being very much ofthe same configuration as the eel, they partook of that long, lithefellow's strength in the water; so that it was no uncommon thing for onethat was hooked, and had been played for some time, to break away andcarry with it half of a good line. Several we
re lost, but many weretaken, and found famous when cooked, though Dinny avoided them as"avil-looking bastes."
Game grew scarcer still; and Mr Rogers, the boys, and Chicory weresitting in the long grass, partaking of some lunch they had brought,after a long toilsome walk in search of hartebeeste, a herd of whichcuriously-formed animals had been seen from a distance, when Chicorysuddenly pricked up his ears, leaped to his feet, and then signed to hiswhite companions to look.
About a mile away, but coming on at a tremendous rate, was a little herdof zebras, whose beautiful forms and clearly-marked stripes could easilybe distinguished as they ran through the long grass.
Just about the size of an ordinary donkey, but with the build and sturdyshapeliness of a well-bred pony, they literally spurned the ground withtheir hoofs in their efforts to get away, for after them in swift chasecame three Kaffirs, well-mounted upon sturdy cobs, and armed withassegais.
As they came abreast of Jack and Dick, the pursuers were close upon thetail of the herd, the speed and stride of the horses telling in a longrace; and as they passed, the boys could see that the Kaffirs were nudeall but a loin-cloth, and that in place of a saddle they used for theirhorses merely a small skin.
The pace was tremendous. And growing excited at what they saw, Dick andJack, while longing for their own cobs, so as to join in the chase, setoff at a run, followed by their father and Chicory.
As they ran on they saw one of the Kaffirs overtake the hindmost zebra,ride alongside for a few moments, and then spear it, the unfortunatebeast stumbling as the assegai was driven home, and then fallingheadlong to the ground.
The Kaffir's companions kept on the chase, singling out two more of thezebras, one of which was directly after brought down by a well-directedspear-thrust, but the other managed to escape, the hunters being contentwith their success.
The approach of the party of whites was looked upon as dangerous, andgetting together, spear in hand, the three hunters seemed to bepreparing to meet the white strangers as men of war.
Seeing this, Mr Rogers sent Chicory on as an ambassador to assure thestrangers of their friendly feelings: and on seeing the Zulu boy advancealone, they waited, heard what he had to say, and then cantered up,holding out a hand in token of friendship.
They were fine manly-looking young fellows, and said through Chicorythat they had come many journeys after zebras; and they smiled withdelight on being presented each with a common pocket-knife.
The coming of the General somewhat disturbed their equanimity; but onhearing his friendly words they readily accepted his help in skinningthe zebras, whose hides, with some of the choicest portions of the meat,they packed in front of them upon the horses: and after a littleconversation respecting the town upon the river to which they werebound, the three Kaffirs rode off; and the great flap-winged vulturesswept down, one after the other, attacking the unfortunate zebras: andshortly there was nothing left but a few scattered bones.