CHAPTER TEN.
TELLS OF A GRAND HUNT AND OTHER THINGS.
While the party of hunters awaited the approach of night, (for the wildcattle feed chiefly at night), they kept as quiet as possible. Thescouts had brought news that a large herd was feeding on a part of theplain which was not far distant, although concealed from view by theformation of the land.
Still thinking of the recent conversation which he had had with theguide, Mark Breezy retired a little from the rest of the party and flunghimself on the ground under a tree to rest and meditate.
He was not left long, however, in solitude, for Hockins and Ebony soondiscovered his retreat. Each of these worthies was armed with a spear.
"Hallo, Doctor," exclaimed the former, as he came up, "are you notsupplied with a weapon?"
"Yes, I am," replied Mark, pointing to a native spear which lay at hisside, "but I think I won't use it."
"Why not, massa?" asked Ebony.
"Because I don't yet know how to go about this style of hunting, and ifI were to attempt anything I might spoil the sport. I intend merely tolook on."
"Right you are, sir," remarked the sailor. "P'r'aps it'll be as wellfor all of us to keep in the background."
"Pooh!" ejaculated Ebony, turning up his nose--a needless action, as itwas well-turned up already--"pooh! I not keep in de background! You'reall wrong. W'en you knows nuffin, jest you wait till you knowssuffin'--ebber so little--an' den go at 'im."
"That's just what I said I should do, Ebony. I will merely look on atfirst."
"But how long does you prepose to look on, massa? Ain't five or sixminits enuff? Dis is what I's a-gwine to do. I'll foller close on dechief--what you call 'im?--Vollyvo--an' w'en I sees him stick one hox,das nuff for me. I den go at 'im on my own hook, an' stick away rightan' left!"
"I'll give you a wide berth, then, for it's as like as not that you'llstick some o' the hunters in the dark," said Hockins, rising, for justthen there was a stir in the camp as if preparation was being made to goout.
A few minutes later and Laihova came to them with the news that he hadheard the chief say they were getting ready, as it was necessary to makea long round through the woods to get well to leeward of the cattle.
This process of getting ready consisted in every man stripping andwashing himself all over in order to get rid of the smell of the smokeof their huts. Even the guests were obliged to conform to the custom.Then they set off in profound silence, every man being armed with acouple of spears, excepting the guests, who were allowed only one speareach, it being feared that if they carried two they might chance torattle them together and thus alarm the game, for the kind of cattlethey were about to attack are exceedingly active and suspicious--alwayson the alert, continually snuffing and snorting at the bare idea, as itwere, of an approaching enemy. Unlike the tame cattle of the island,these animals have no hump, but strongly resemble the ordinary cattle ofEngland, save that their horns are shorter and their bellowings deeper.They are, however, very savage, and when wounded or annoyed are apt toattack their enemies with terrible ferocity.
To Mark Breezy and his companions the expedition proved to be full ofexcitement, for, apart from the novelty of the situation, anduncertainty as to what lay before them or was expected of them, theextreme darkness of the night, and the quick silent stealthy motion ofthe almost invisible hunters, filled their minds with--if we may sayso--awfully pleasurable anticipations!
The whole band followed their chief in single file, and as he wasintimately familiar with the topography of the region, the only anxietyof each man was to tread carefully in his footsteps.
As for Ebony, his whole soul and spirit were in the enterprise, as wellas his black body, and the varying expression of his mobile featureswould have charmed the heart of a physiognomist, had such a man beenthere with light enough to enable him to see. As there was nophysiognomist, and no light, the reader must fall back on imagination.
Intent on carrying out his pre-arranged plans, our negro walked closebehind the chief--so close indeed, that he inadvertently brought hisspear down rather heavily on the left shoulder of that fiery person, forwhich he received a buffet on the ear, and an order to keep furtherback. In other circumstances the plucky spirit of Ebony would have beenroused to indignation--perhaps to retaliation; but a sense of justicewas strong in that negro's breast. Overwhelmed with shame at hisclumsiness, and eager to rectify the error--yet not daring to speak, forsilence had been strictly enjoined--he raised the spear over hisshoulder and turned the point backwards, thereby bringing it down on thehead of the man in the rear.
Doubly shocked at this, he raised his weapon to the perpendicular, andknocked some tropical bird violently off the lower branches of a tree.It fluttered screeching to the ground, and bounced angrily into thebushes.
The whole band of hunters came to a sudden and breathless halt, but noword was uttered. In a few moments the chief resumed his silent march,and the ghostly column moved on--Ebony, greatly subdued but by no meanscrushed, keeping his weapon at such a slope as would prevent its doingdamage to birds above or men below.
Thus they proceeded for nearly an hour, at the end of which time theycould hear the wild cattle roaring and bellowing not far-off.
When the hunters had got completely to leeward, and were beginning todraw quite near to the feeding-ground, they advanced with increasedcaution, and some of the men began to pull the tops of the grass withtheir hands, as they went, in order to mimic as nearly as possible thenoise made by an ox grazing.
The instant this sound reached the ears of the cattle they becameabsolutely silent, neither bellowing nor feeding! It was evident thatthey were listening with the utmost attention. Understanding this, thehunters stood quite still, without a whisper, but a few of those whowere adepts at the art continued their imitation of cropping the grass.After listening for a time the animals appeared to arrive at theconclusion that it was a false alarm, for they re-commenced feeding, andthe hunters continued their stealthy approach.
Soon they came to the thinly scattered shrubbery which marked thetermination of the woods and the beginning of the plain. And now,profoundly dark though the night was, they could faintly perceive theforms of their game looming black against the dark sky beyond--themselves being quite invisible, however, owing to their background offorest.
Nearer and nearer the men moved, still cropping the grass as theyadvanced, until they fairly got up to the herd, and were less liable todisturb them, for, being almost invisible, they were, no doubt, mistakenfor members of the family!
As the hunters now scattered, Ebony had some difficulty in keeping closeenough to the chief to observe his movements. Voalavo himself was toointent upon his work to think of anything else, or to care who was nearhim.
Gradually he approached close enough to an animal to thrust his speardeep into its side. It sprang from the ground and made a noise as ifhurt by the horn of a comrade, but this is so common an event that therest of the cattle were in no way disturbed by it.
The chief saw by the staggering of the animal that it was mortallywounded, and that there was no need to follow it up, as it could beeasily tracked and found in daylight. He therefore turned to attackanother animal that was close at hand.
"Now den," said Ebony to himself mentally, "your time's come. Go at'im!"
Lowering his weapon to the charge, he glanced round and observed theindistinct form of an animal on his right. It was apparently a littleone.
"Weal is as good as beef," thought Ebony, as he made a silent butfurious rush, scarcely able to restrain a shout of anticipated victory.
The spear-point missed the animal, just grazing its back, and went deepinto the ground, while the negro plunged with crushing violence on theback of John Hockins, who had been trying to approach his game _a la_Red Indian!
To say that poor Ebony was filled with horror, as well as shame andself-abhorrence, is but a feeble statement.
"Don't speak, you black monster!" whispe
red the seaman in his ear, as heseized him by the throat.
The rush of apology which had sprung from Ebony's heart was checkedabruptly at the lips.
Hockins released him, picked up his spear, and resumed his creeping way.By this time several of the hunters had dealt silent death around them,but still the herd failed to take alarm!
Being left alone Ebony's courage returned, and with it his enthusiasm.
"Come," he muttered, mentally, as he drew the spear from the ground,"'Ockins not killed yet. Das one good job. No use to cry for not'ing.You try again, Ginjah. Better luck nixt time."
Greatly encouraged by these thoughts he advanced on tip-toe--spear atthe charge--eyes glancing sharply all round. Suddenly a tall formseemed to rise up right in front of him. The negro's heart leapedviolently. He was on the point of charging when a doubt assailed him.The creature before him, though scarce distinguishable from thesurrounding gloom, was not long-bodied like an ox. He could perceivethat clearly. It was tall like a man--very tall. Perhaps it was MarkBreezy? The recent mistake made him think anything possible!
"Is dat you, massa?" he whispered, in anxious alarm.
A furious bellow was the reply, followed by a still more furious charge.Ebony had forgotten that an ox "end on" and head up is tall and notlong!
Happily, in stepping back he tripped, and the animal went right overhim. But the alarm had been given, and a sudden thundering of feet toldthat the entire herd had taken to flight, while the shouting and criesof the hunters, added to the confused roaring, showed that there was nowno need for concealment.
When the muster-roll was called it was found that nobody was missing orhurt, though several had to tell of narrow escapes, especially JohnHockins, whose account of Ebony's exploit formed, at the feast thatfollowed, subject of interesting converse and much comment during thebrief intervals of relaxation between beef-steaks and marrow-bones.
Daylight revealed the fact that somewhere between thirty and fortyanimals had been killed outright, besides a dozen or so which, havingbeen fatally wounded, were afterwards followed up and some of themsecured.
But daylight also brought a large party of men from a distant villagewith a pressing invitation to Voalavo and his men to pay them a visit,and a possibly disinterested offer to assist him in the consumption ofthe cattle which he had slain; for it chanced that several young men ofthis village were encamped in the woods that night near the spot wherethe hunters attacked the cattle. Knowing full well what was being done,these youths hurried home to tell what was going on. The head-man ofthe village was on good terms with Voalavo at the time, besides being adistant relative. Hence the message and the invitation.
As our happy-go-lucky chief was out in what may be termed a larky stateof mind, and had nothing particular to do, he accepted the invitation.The meat was slung to bamboo poles, hoisted on the shoulders of his men,and away they went over the plains to pay this visit. Happily thevillage lay on the way to the capital, so that the guide and his partycould still accompany them without losing ground.
The plain over which they passed was a very wide one, seeming to extendto the very base of the distant mountains of the interior, but ourtravellers were mistaken in their ideas about it. The plain was itselfpart of the mountain region into which they had already advanced, but byso gradual an ascent that they had scarcely perceived the rise in theland--a deception which was increased somewhat by the frequent descentsthey had to make when passing over ridges.
On the way Hockins pushed up alongside of Ravonino, who was walkingbeside Mark.
"Ravvy," said the seaman, (for to this had he at last curtailed theguide's name), "where do these fellows fall in wi' the iron to maketheir spearheads and other things?"
"In the earth," answered the guide.
"What! D'ee mean to say that you manufacture your own iron in themparts?"
"Of course we do. Think you that no people can work in iron except theBritish? We have plenty iron ore of good quality in the island. One ofour mountains is so full of ore that we call it the iron mountain. Itis named in our language the mountain of Ambohimiangavo."
"An' how d'ee work the ore o' this Am-Ambo-bo-bominable-avo mountain?"asked the sailor.
"We smelt it, of course. We break the lumps of ore into smallish bitsand spread them on charcoal, layer and layer about, in a hollow in theground. This is covered over with a top-dressing of stone and clay.Then we set it on fire and keep the blast going with wooden bellows,till the metal is melted and runs in a mass to the bottom of the hole.This we break into smaller pieces, purify them with more fire, and runthem into bars convenient for use. Our bellows," continued the guide,"are not like yours, with two boards and leather between. The ratswould soon make short work with these. They are two cylinders formedfrom the trunk of a tree, with a piston in each, packed with coarsecloth, and having valves. An old musket-barrel carries the air to thefurnace, and, by pumping them time about, the blow is kept goingcontinuously."
"Why, how do _you_ come to know so much about valves, pistons,cylinders, and such like?" asked Mark.
"You forget that my father was an Englishman," returned the guide, "and,besides being a trader, was a sort of Jack-of-all-trades. He taught memany things about which the kinsfolk of my mother know very little. Youmust not suppose that because some of us are only half-civilised we cando nothing neatly or well. Many of our men are skilful workers inmetal, and we owe much of our power in that way to English missionaries,who brought Christian mechanics to the capital. There is hardlyanything in the shape of wrought iron-work that we cannot execute if wehave a model or pattern. We can work also in copper and brass. But itis not only in metals that we can work fairly well--indeed _very_ well,if we are to take the word of some of your own countrymen who have seenand judged our work--we are also pretty good at pottery andcabinet-making. As you have seen, we can weave good cloth of cotton andsilk, and some of our ingenious men have even tried their hands atclock-making and musical instruments."
"From what you say, Madagascar will soon become a great country, Ishould think," said Mark, somewhat amused as well as interested by theevident enthusiasm of the guide.
Ravonino shook his head. "My country might become great," he returned,"but there are some things much against her. The system of forcedservice to the government instead of taxes is one. This tends torepress ingenuity, for the cleverer and more ingenious a man is the morewill be demanded of him, both by the government and his own feudalsuperior. Then the love of strong drink is too common among us; andlast, as well as most serious, great multitudes of our people have noregard at all for their Maker."
"Why, Ravonino," said Mark, with something of a smile, "from the way youspeak of `our' people and `my' country, I fear you think more of yourMalagasy than your English extraction."
For a few moments the guide was silent. At length he said, slowly,"England has indeed done us a service that we can never repay. She hassent us the blessed Gospel of Jesus Christ. She is also the land of myfather, and I reverence my father. He was very kind and good to me.But this is the land of my _mother_! I am a man of Madagascar."
It was evident from the expressive features of Ebony, who had joinedthem, that he heartily approved of this maternal preference, but thegravity of the guide's countenance, no less than his pathetic tones,prevented his giving the usual candid vent to his ever-ready opinion.
Towards the afternoon the party arrived at the native village, wheregrand preparations for festivities had been made. It was evident alsothat some parts of the festive libations had been taken in advance, forthe head-man had reached the solemnised point of intoxication, and someof his young men the owlish condition.
In some parts of this island of Madagascar, as in other parts of theworld, the people reduced themselves to great poverty through strongdrink. Though they had abundance of rice, and much beef, which latterwas salted for exportation, they sold so much of their food for arrack--imported by traders from Mauritius and Bourbon--
that little was left forthe bare maintenance of life, and they, with their families, were oftencompelled to subsist on roots. They did not understand "moderatedrinking"! Intoxication was the rule until the arrack was done. Thewise King Radama the First attempted to check the consumption of ardentspirits by imposing a heavy duty on them, but his efforts were onlypartially successful.
The tribe to which our travellers were at this time introduced had justsucceeded in obtaining a quantity of the coarse and fiery spirits of thetraders. Their native visitors being quite ready to assist in theconsumption thereof, there was every prospect of a disgusting exhibitionof savagery that night.
"Don't you think we might escape this feast?" said Mark to the guide,after the ceremony of introduction was over, "by urging the importanceof our business at Antananarivo?"
"Not easily. Voalavo is one of those determined and hearty men whoinsist on all their friends enjoying themselves as they themselves do.To-morrow we may persuade him to let us go. Besides, I do not object tostay, for I intend to preach them a sermon on ungodliness andintemperance in the middle of the feast."
Mark could scarcely forbear smiling at what he deemed the originality ofthe guide's intention, as well as the quiet decision with which hestated it.
"Don't you think," he said, "that this way of bearding the lion in hisden may rouse the people to anger?"
"I know not--I think not; but it is my business to be instant in seasonand out of season," replied Ravonino, simply.
Mark said no more. He felt that he had to do with a Christian of asomewhat peculiar type, and thereafter he looked forward with not alittle curiosity and some anxiety to the promised sermon. He wasdoomed, like the reader, to disappointment in this matter, for thatnight had not yet run into morning when an event occurred which modifiedand hastened the proceedings of himself and his friends considerably.