CHAPTER ELEVEN.
EXPLORATIONS AND HUNTING EXPERIENCES.
Oh, they were happy times, these first days of the infant colony, whenevery man felt himself to be a real Robinson Crusoe,--with the triflingdifference of being cast on heights of the mainland, instead of an isletof the sea, and with the pleasant addition of kindred company!
So rich and lovely was their domain that some of the facetious spirits,in looking about for sites for future dwellings, affected a rollickingindifference to situations that would have been prized by any noblemanin making choice of a spot for a shooting-box.
"Come now, McTavish," said Considine, on one of their exploringexpeditions, "you are too particular. Yonder is a spot that seems tohave been made on purpose for you--a green meadow for the cattle andsheep, when you get 'em; stones scattered here and there, of a shapethat will suit admirably for building purposes without quarrying ordressing; a clump of mimosa-trees to shelter your cottage from windsthat may blow down the valley, and a gentle green slope to break thosethat blow up; a superb acacia standing by itself on a ready-made lawnwhere your front door will be, under which you may have a rustic seatand table to retire to at eventide with Mrs McTavish and lovely youngJessie, to smoke your pipe and sip your tea."
"Or toddy," suggested Sandy Black.
"Or toddy," assented Considine.
"Besides all this, you have the river making a graceful bend in front ofyour future drawing-room windows, and a vista of the valley away to theleft, with a rocky eminence on the right, whence baboons can descend torob your future orchard at night, and sit chuckling at you in safetyduring the day, with a grand background of wooded gorges,--or corries,as you Scotch have it, or kloofs, according to the boers--and a noblerange of snow-clad mountains to complete the picture!"
"Not a bad description for so young a man," said McTavish, surveying thespot with a critical eye; "quite in our poetical leader's style. Youshould go over it again in his hearing, and ask him to throw it intoverse."
"No; I cannot afford to give away the valuable produce of my brain. Iwill keep and sell it some day in England. But our leader has alreadyforestalled me, I fear. He read to me something last night which he hasjust composed, and which bears some resemblance to it. Listen:--
"`Now we raise the eye to range O'er prospect wild, grotesque, and strange; Sterile mountains, rough and steep, That bound abrupt the valley deep, Heaving to the clear blue sky Their ribs of granite bare and dry. And ridges, by the torrents worn, Thinly streaked with scraggy thorn, Which fringes Nature's savage dress, Yet scarce relieves her nakedness. But where the Vale winds deep below, The landscape hath a warmer glow There the spekboom spreads its bowers Of light green leaves and lilac flowers; And the aloe rears her crimson crest, Like stately queen for gala drest And the bright-blossomed bean-tree shakes Its coral tufts above the brakes, Brilliant as the glancing plumes Of sugar-birds among its blooms, With the deep-green verdure blending In the stream of light descending.'
"Something or other follows, I forget what, and then:--
"`With shattered rocks besprinkled o'er, Behind ascends the mountain hoar, Where the grin satyr-faced baboon Sits gibbering to the rising moon, Or chides with hoarse or angry cry Th'intruder as he wanders by.'
"There--I can't remember the rest of it," said Considine, "and I'm noteven sure that what I've quoted is correct, but you see Mr Pringle'smind has jumped before mine,--and higher."
"Man, it's no' that bad," observed Black, with emphasis. "Depend on't--though I mak' nae pretence to the gift o' prophecy--he'll come oot as abard yet--the bard o' Glen Lynden maybe, or Sooth Afriky.--Hech, sirs!"added Sandy, pointing with a look of surprise to a tree, many of thependent branches of which had peculiar round-shaped birds'-nestsattached to them, "what's goin' on there, think 'ee?"
The tree to which the Scot directed attention overhung the stream, anddown one of its branches a snake was seen twining itself with caution.It evidently meant to rob one of the nests, for the little owner, withsome of its companions, was shrieking and fluttering round the would-berobber. This kind of bird has been gifted with special wisdom to guardits home from snakes. It forms the entrance to its pendent nest at thebottom instead of the top, and hangs the nest itself at the extremepoint of the finest twigs, so that the snake is compelled to wriggledownwards perpendicularly, and at last has to extend part of its bodypast the nest, in order to be able to turn its head upwards into thehole. Great, unquestionably, is a snake's capacity to hold on by itstail, but this holding on as it were to next-to-nothing is usually toomuch for it. While the explorers were watching, the snake turned itshead upwards for the final dive into the nest, but its coils slipped,and it fell into the water amid triumphant shrieks from the littlebirds. Nothing daunted, however, the snake swam ashore and made anotherattempt--with the same result. Again it made the trial; a third time itfailed, and then, in evident disgust, went off to attack some easierprey.
While Considine and his companions were thus out in search of goodlocalities on which to plant future homesteads, the greater part of thesettlers were engaged, at a spot which they had named Clifton, inerecting temporary huts of the wattle-and-dab order. Mr Pringlehimself, with a bold fellow named Rennie, remained to guard the camp, asthey had reason to fear a surprise from Bushmen marauders, known at thattime to be roaming the neighbourhood. More than once the sentinels weretempted to fire into a band of baboons, whom they not unnaturallymistook for Bushmen!
Other parties were sent out to cut wood and reeds, which they had tocarry into camp, sometimes two or three miles, on their shoulders, whilesome were despatched into the kloofs to hunt, provisions having by thattime grown scarce. Not being a sportsman himself, and not feeling sureof the power of his men, who were at that time unaccustomed to the gun,Mr Pringle wisely sent two of the party to the nearest station--aboutforty miles distant--to inquire about a supply of provisions and a fewhorses, which were expected from the Government-farm of Somerset.
The first hunting party sent out was not a select one, the peoplegenerally being too eager about examining and determining theirimmediate locations to care about sport. It consisted of young Riversand Jerry Goldboy. The former was appointed, or rather allowed, to go,more because of his sporting enthusiasm than because of any evidence hehad yet given of his powers, and the latter merely because he desired togo. For the same reason he was permitted to arm himself with hisblunderbuss. Rivers carried a heavy double-barrelled fowling-piece. Hewas a stout active impulsive young fellow, with the look of a capableNimrod.
"You'd have been better with a fowling-piece, or even a Dutch roer,"said Rivers, casting a doubtful look at the blunderbuss as they enteredthe jungle and began to ascend one of the nearest subsidiary glens orkloofs.
"Well now, sir," said Jerry respectfully, "I don't agree with you. Aman who goes a-shootin' with a fowlin'-piece or a Dutch gun must 'avesome sort o' capacity for shootin'--mustn't 'e, sir?"
"Well, I suppose he must."
"W'ereas," continued Jerry, "a man who goes a-shootin' with ablunderbuss don't require no such qualification--that's w'ere it is,sir."
"D'you mean to say that you can't shoot?" asked Rivers, with a look ofsurprise.
"No more, sir," replied Jerry with emphasis, "than the weathercock of aDutch Reformed Church. Of course I know 'ow to load--powder first, ballor shot arterwards; it's usually gravel with me, that bein', so tospeak, 'andy and cheap. An' I knows w'ich end o' the piece to putt tomy shoulder, likewise 'ow to pull the trigger, but of more than that I'mhinnocent as the babe unborn. Ah! you may laugh, sir, but after all I'ma pretty sure shot. Indeed I seldom miss, because I putt in such a'eavy charge, and the 'buss scatters so fearfully that it's all butimpossible to miss--unless you fairly turn your back on the game andfires in the opposite direction."
"You're a pleasant hunting companion!" said Rivers. "Do you know theimportance of always keeping the muzzle of your gun _away_ from theunfortunate fellow you chance t
o be shooting with?"
"Ho, yes, sir. The dangerous natur' of my weapon is so great that I'veadopted the plan of always walking, as you see, with what the milingtarycall `shouldered arms,' which endangers nothin' but the sky--includin'the planetory system--except w'en I 'appens to fall, w'en, of course,it's every man lookout for hisself. But there's one consolation foryou, sir,--my blunderbuss don't go off easy. It takes two pulls of thetrigger, mostly, to bring fire out o' the flint, and as I often forgetto prime--there's a third safeguard in that, so to speak."
Further converse was interrupted by the sudden bursting of a duiker, orlarge antelope, from a thicket close beside them. Both sportsmenlevelled their pieces, but, the jungle there being dense, the animalvanished before either could fire. With the eager haste of tyros,however, they ran stumbling after it until they came to an open stretchof ground which led them to the edge of a small plain. Here theysimultaneously discovered that no duiker was to be seen, though theyobserved a troop of quaggas far out of range, and a hartebeest in thedistance. The former, observing them, kicked up their heels, and dashedaway into the mountains. The latter, a handsome creature, the size ofan average pony and fleet as a stag, bounded into the jungle.
"No use going after these," said Rivers, with a wistful gaze.
"No, sir,--none w'atever."
"Better keep to the jungle and be ready next time," said the youngsportsman. "We mustn't talk, Jerry."
"No, sir; mum's the word. But 'ow if we should meet with a lion?"
"Shoot it of course. But there is no such luck in store for us."
After this the hunters proceeded with greater caution. As they kept inthe thick bush, they frequently startled animals, which they heardleaping up and bursting through the underwood, but seldom got a glimpse,and never a shot.
"Tantalising, ain't it, sir?"
"Hush!"
They issued on another open space at this point, and, seeing a thick bedof sedges near the margin of a stream, proceeded towards it, separatingfrom each other a few yards in order to cover the ground.
There was a sudden and violent shaking in the sedges on their approach,as if some large animal had been aroused from sleep, but the tall reedsprevented its being seen.
"Look out, Jerry, and keep more on the other side--there--Hallo!"
As he spoke, a creature called by the Dutch colonists a reit-vark, orreed-swine, whose quick starts and sharp stoppages betrayed itsindecision, at length made up its mind and rushed out of the reeds inwild alarm close to Rivers, who, although ready, was incapable ofrestraining himself, and fired in haste. The ball nevertheless slightlygrazed the animal's side.
With a shriek of intense agony, such as only a brute of the porcinetribe can utter, the reit-vark swerved aside and ran straight, thoughunintentionally, at Jerry Goldboy.
Self-control not being Jerry's forte, he uttered a great cry, presentedthe blunderbuss with both hands, shut his eyes, and fired. The butt ofhis piece came back on his chest and floored him, and the half-pound ofgravel charge went into the forehead of the reit-vark, which droppedwith a final groan, whose clear import was--"no earthly use instruggling after _that_!" Recovering himself, Jerry was jubilant overhis success. Rivers was almost envious.
They proceeded, but killed nothing more afterwards, though they sawmuch. Among other things, they saw a footprint in the sand which filledthem with interest and awe.
It was that of a lion! During the journey up from the coast they hadseen much game, large and small, of every kind, except the Cape "tiger"and the lion. They had indeed, once or twice, _heard_ the peculiargrowl or _gurr_ of the former, but until this day none of the party hadseen even the footprint of the king of beasts. Of course the interestand excitement was proportional. Of course, also, when the subject wasdiscussed round the camp-fires that night, there was a good deal of"chaffing" among the younger men about the probability of a mistake asto the nature of the footprints by such unaccustomed sportsmen; butRivers was so confident in his statements, and Jerry was so contemptuousin his manner of demanding whether there was any difference between thepaw of a cat and a lion, except in size, and whether he was notperfectly familiar with a cat's paw, that no room for scepticismremained.
It had been a threatening day. Muttered thunder had been heard atintervals, and occasional showers,--the first that had assailed themsince their arrival in the glen. The night became tempestuous, cold,and very dark, so that soon all were glad to seek the shelter of thetents or of the half-finished wattle-and-dab huts, except the sentinels.Of these, two were appointed for every watch. Masters and servantsshared this disagreeable duty equally. Particularly disagreeable it wasthat night, for the rain came down in such torrents that it wasdifficult to keep the fires alight despite a good supply of firewood.
About midnight the sleeping camp was aroused by the roar of a lion closeto the tents. It was so loud and so tremendous that some of thesleepy-heads thought for a moment a thunderstorm had burst upon them.Every one was up in a second--the men with guns, pistols, swords, andknives. There was no mistaking the _expression_ of the roar--the voiceof fury as well as of power.
"Whereaboots is the brute?" cried Sandy Black, who, roused to unwontedexcitement by the royal voice, issued from his tent in a red nightcapand drawers, with a gun in one hand and a carving-knife in the other.
"Here!" "There!" "In this direction!" "No, it isn't!" "I say it is!"and similar exclamations, burst from every one. The uncertainty wasprobably occasioned partly by the mode the animal has of sometimesputting his mouth close to the ground when he roars, so that the voicerolls along like a billow; partly also by the echo from a mountain-rockwhich rose abruptly on the opposite bank of the river. Finding itimpossible to decide the question of direction, the party fired volleysand threw firebrands in all directions, and this they did with suchvigour that his kingship retired without uttering another sound.
It was a grand, a royal, almost a humorous mode of breaking a spell--thespell of unbelief in lions,--which some of the party had been under upto that moment. They remained under it no longer!
As if to confirm and fix the impression thus made, this lion,--oranother,--gave some of the party a daylight interview. George Rennie,McTavish, Considine, Black, and others, had gone up the river to cutreeds in the bed of the stream. While they were busily engaged withtheir sickles, up rose a majestic lion in their very midst!
"Preserve us a'!" exclaimed Black, who was nearest to him.
Jerry Goldboy turned to seize his blunderbuss. The lion leaped upon thebank of the river, turned round and gazed upon the men.
"Let go!" exclaimed Jerry in a hoarse whisper, endeavouring to shake offthe vice-like grip that Black had laid on his arm.
"Keep quiet, man," growled Black sternly.
The rest of the party were wise enough not to interfere with the lion.They were at that time inexperienced. To have wounded him would havebrought disaster, perhaps death, on some of them. George Rennie (whoafterwards became a celebrated lion-hunter) was emphatic in advisingcaution. After gazing in quiet surprise on the intruders for a minuteor so, he turned and retired; first slowly, and then, after getting somedistance off, at a good round trot.
This was the first sight they had of the royal beast. Afterwards,during the winter and spring, they had frequent visits from lions, butdid not suffer actual damage from them. They also, in course of time,dared to "beard the lion in his den,"--but of that more anon.
The labour of the settlers at this time--before oxen and horses wereprocured--was very severe. Of course this had the effect of weeding thelittle company of some of its chaff in the shape of lazy anddiscontented men. One said that he "had not been engaged to work byday, and watch by night, as well as living in constant fear of beingscalped by savages or devoured by wild beasts." The observation beingtrue and unanswerable, he was "graciously permitted to retire from theservice," and returned to Algoa Bay. But on the whole there was littlemurmuring, and no rebellion. By degrees difficul
ties were smootheddown. A squatter on one of the forfeited farms, about eight miles off,who with his family lived solely on flesh and milk, was engaged to lenda hand with his waggon and oxen to "flit" the families to their variouslocations. He also sold the settlers a few sheep. In time, more sheepand oxen were purchased from the Dutch farmers on the Tarka, a river onthe other side of the mountains. Hottentots came from Somerset withflour. Thatched huts replaced the tents. A few horses were obtained.Gardens were cleared and enclosed. Trenches for irrigation were cut.Trees were rooted out, and ploughs were set to work. Ten armedHottentots were sent by the magistrates of the district to which theybelonged, to guard and relieve them of night-watches, and with thesecame the news that ten of their friend Opperman's cattle, and sevenbelonging to their neighbour the squatter, had been carried off byBushmen.
At this point Sandy Black aroused the admiration of the ten Hottentotsby setting to work one morning in September--the beginning of spring inSouth Africa--with a Scotch plough, which was guided entirely by himselfand drawn by only two oxen. His dark-skinned admirers had never seenany other plough than the enormous unwieldy implement then in use amongthe Dutch, which had only one handle, no coulter, was usually drawn byten or twelve oxen, and managed by three or four men and boys.
By degrees those of the party who were good linguists began to pick upDutch. Mr Pringle, especially, soon became familiar enough with it tobe able to hold a Dutch service on Sundays, in addition to the English,for the benefit of the Hottentot guards. He also added a slightknowledge of medicine to his other qualifications, and was thus enabledto minister to the wants of body and soul, at a time when the people hadno regular physician or professional minister of the Gospel.
The arrival of horses gave the settlers opportunities of making moreextended and more thorough explorations of their own domain, and thedaily routine of life was varied and enlivened by an occasional visitfrom the Tarka boers, whom they found good-natured and hospitable--alsovery shrewd at a bargain!
Thus they took root and began to grow.
But before many of these things occurred Hans Marais came over themountains, according to promise, and "Professor" Considine was fain tobid the Scotch settlers farewell, promising, however, to return andvisit them on some future day.