CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.
TREATS OF MATTERS TOO NUMEROUS AND STIRRING TO BE BRIEFLY REFERRED TO.
Soon after this the explorers passed beyond the level country, and theirsufferings were for the time relieved. The region through which theythen passed was varied--hilly, wooded, and beautiful, and, to crown all,water was plentiful. Large game was also abundant, and one day thefootprints of elephants were discovered.
To some of the party that day was one of deepest interest andexcitement.
Charlie Considine, who was, as we have said, an adept with the pencil,longed to sit down and sketch the lordly elephant in his native haunts.Andrew Rivers and Jerry Goldboy wanted to shoot him, so did GeorgeRennie and the Mullers and Lucas Van Dyk. More moderate souls, likeSandy Black, said they would be satisfied merely to _see_ him, whileSlinger and Dikkop, with their brethren, declared that they wanted to_eat_ him.
At last they came in sight of him! It was a little after mid-day. Theywere traversing at the time a jungle so dense that it would have beenimpassable but for a Kafir-path which had been kept open by wildanimals. The hunters had already seen herds of quaggas, and buffaloes,and some of the larger sorts of antelopes, also one rhinoceros, but notyet elephants. Now, to their joy, the giant tracks of these monsterswere discovered. Near the river, in swampy places, it was evident thatsome of them had been rolling luxuriously in the ooze and mud. But itwas in the forests and jungles that they had left the most strikingmarks of their habits and mighty power, for there thorny brakes of themost impenetrable character had been trodden flat by them, and trees hadbeen overturned. In traversing such places the great bull-elephantalways marches in the van, bursting through everything by sheer forceand weight, breaking off huge limbs of the larger trees with hisproboscis when these obstruct his path, and overturning the smaller onesbodily, while the females and younger members of the family follow inhis wake.
A little further on they came to a piece of open ground where theelephants had torn up a number of mimosa-trees and inverted them so thatthey might the more easily browse on the juicy roots. It was evidentfrom appearances that the animals had used their tusks as crowbars,inserting them under the roots to loosen their hold of the earth, and itwas equally clear that, like other and higher creatures, they sometimesattempted what was beyond their strength, for some of the larger treeshad resisted their utmost efforts.
As these signs multiplied the hunters proceeded with increased vigilanceand caution, each exhibiting the peculiarity of his character, more orless, by his look and actions. The Mullers, Van Dyk, Rennie, Hans, andother experienced men, rode along, calmly watchful, yet not so muchabsorbed as to prevent a humorous glance and a smile at the conduct oftheir less experienced comrades. Considine and Rivers showed that theirspirits were deeply stirred, by the flash of their ever-roving eyes, thetight compression of their lips, the flush on their brows, and theposition of readiness in which they carried their guns--elephant-guns,by the way, lent them by their Dutch friends for the occasion. SandyBlack rode with a cool, sober, sedate air, looking interested andattentive, but with that peculiar twinkle of the eyes and slightlysarcastic droop at the corners of the mouth which is oftencharacteristic of the sceptical Scotsman. On the other hand, JerryGoldboy went along blazing with excitement, while every now and then heuttered a suppressed exclamation, and clapped the blunderbuss to hisshoulder when anything moved, or seemed to move, in the jungle.
Jerry had flatly refused to exchange his artillery for any other weapon,and having learned that small shot was useless against elephants, he hadcharged it with five or six large pebbles--such as David might have usedin the slaying of Goliath. Mixed with these was a sprinkling of largenails, and one or two odd buttons. He was a source of constant andjustifiable alarm to his friends, who usually compelled him either toride in front, with the blunderbuss pointing forward, or in the rear,with its muzzle pointing backward.
"There go your friends at last, Jerry," said Van Dyk, curling his blackmoustache, with a smile, as the party emerged from a woody defile into awide valley.
"What? where? eh! in which direction? point 'em out quick!" cried Jerry,cocking the blunderbuss violently and wheeling his steed round with suchforce that his haunch hit Sandy Black's leg pretty severely.
"Hoot, ye loupin' eedyit!" growled the Scot, somewhat nettled.
Jerry subdued himself with a violent effort, while the experiencedhunters pointed out the elephants, and consulted as to the best plan ofprocedure.
There were fifty at least of the magnificent animals scattered in groupsover the bottom and sides of a valley about three miles in extent; somewere browsing on the succulent spekboom, of which they are very fond.Others were digging up and feeding among the young mimosa-thorns andevergreens. The place where the hunters stood was not suitable for anattack. It was therefore resolved to move round to a better position.As they advanced some of the groups of elephants came more distinctlyinto view, but they seemed either not to observe, or to disregard, theintruders.
"Why not go at 'em at once?" asked young Rivers in an impatient whisper.
"Because we don't want to be killed," was the laconic reply fromDiederik Muller.
"Don't you see," explained Van Dyk, with one of his quiet smiles, "thatthe ground where the nearest fellows stand is not suitable forhorsemen?"
"Well, I don't see exactly, but I'll take your word for it."
While they were speaking, and riding through a meadow thickly studdedover with clumps of tall evergreens, Considine observed something movingover the top of a bush close ahead of him.
"Look out there!" he exclaimed, but those in advance had already turnedthe corner of a bush, and found themselves within a hundred paces of ahuge male elephant.
Jerry at once pointed the blunderbuss and shut his eyes, and wouldinfallibly have pulled the trigger, if Sandy Black, who had in somemeasure become his keeper, had not seized his wrist and wrenched theweapon from his grasp.
"Man, ye'll be the death o' somebody yet," he said in a low stern tone.
Jerry at once became penitent and on giving a solemn promise that hewould not fire till he obtained permission, received his weapon back.
"Een groot gruwzaam karl," whispered one of the Hottentots, in brokenDutch.
"My certie, but he _is_ a great gruesome carl!" said Black, echoing inScotch the Dutchman's expression as he gazed in admiration.
"He's fourteen feet high if he's an inch," observed George Rennie.
The scent and hearing of the elephant are both keen, but his sight isnot very good. As the wind chanced to blow from him to the hunters hehad not perceived them. This was fortunate, for it would have beenhighly dangerous to have attacked him in such ground. They wheeledround therefore and galloped away towards some scattered rocks, whencethey could better approach him on foot. Dismounting, the leaders formeda hasty plan of operations, and immediately proceeded to put it inexecution.
It may have been that their explanation of the plan was not lucid, orthat Jerry Goldboy's head was not clear, but certain it is that afterhaving been carefully told what to do, he dashed into the jungle afterSandy Black and did what seemed right in his own eyes.
Black kept close to the heels of Hans Marais, and so did Considine, butJerry soon began to pant with excitement; then he stumbled and fell.Before recovering himself from a "wait-a-bit" thorn he had been left outof sight behind. He pushed valiantly on however and came to a smallopen plain, where he looked anxiously round, but his comrades werenowhere to be seen. Just then a shot was fired, it was followed quicklyby another, and then was heard, above the shouting of excitedHottentots, the shrill screaming of wounded and enraged elephants.Jerry heard the tremendous sounds for the first time, and quaked in hisspinal marrow.
Observing the smoke of a shot on the opposite side of the little plain,he proceeded to cross over hastily, but had barely gained the middle ofthe open space when the shrill screams were repeated with redoubledfury. At the same time Jerry heard cries of warning
, coupled with hisown name. He looked right and left in alarm, not knowing where thethreatened danger was likely to come from. He was not kept long insuspense. Behind him he heard the crackling and crashing of branchescaused by elephants bursting through the wood. Then a large female withthree young, but by no means small, ones issued from the edge of thejungle and made straight at the unfortunate man. Jerry turned and ran,but he had no chance; the elephants gained on him so fast that he felt,with an awful sickening of the heart, it was not possible to reach therocky ground beyond the meadow, where he might have been safe. With thecourage of despair he faced about and fired straight in the face of theold female, which ran him down with a shriek of indignation. She hadonly one tusk, but with that she made a prod at Jerry that would havequickly ended his days if it had not missed the mark and gone deep intothe ground. She then caught him by the middle with her trunk, threw himbetween her fore-feet, and attempted to tread him to death. This shecertainly would have accomplished, but that Jerry was remarkably agileand very small; the ground being soft and muddy was also in his favour.Once she set her foot on his chest, and he felt the bones bending. Ofcourse had the creature's full weight pressed it, Jerry would have beencracked like a walnut, but the monster's foot was rounded and wet, and,the poor man making a desperate wrench, it slipped into the mud; thenshe trod on his arm, and squeezed it into the ground without snappingthe bone. Thus stamping and wriggling for a few seconds, the two foughton for vengeance and for life, while George Rennie, Hans, and the twoMullers ran to the rescue and fired a volley. This caused the animal towince and look up. Jerry, taking advantage of the pause, jumped up anddived out from below her between her hind-legs--alighting on his headand turning a complete somersault. He regained his feet just as sheturned round again to seize him. At that critical moment Lucas Van Dykput a ball in her head, and Considine sent another into the root of hertrunk, which induced her to turn and join her screaming offspring in thebushes.
The hunters pursued, while Jerry, covered with mud and bruises, andscarcely able to run, made off in the opposite direction. He hadscarcely reached the shelter of some broken ground, when the enormousmale elephant which had been previously encountered, came running past,either to the rescue of its mate, or flying in alarm at the firing. Itcaught one of the Hottentots who had loitered in rear of the attackingparty, carried him some distance in its trunk, and then, throwing him onthe ground, brought its four feet together and trod and stamped on himfor a considerable time. The unfortunate man was killed instantly. Itleft the corpse for a little, and then returned to it, as if to makequite sure of its deadly work, and, kneeling down, crushed and kneadedthe body with its fore-legs. Then seizing it again with its trunk, itcarried it off and threw it into the jungle.
This delay on the elephant's part gave the hunters time to return fromthe destruction of the female, and with several successful shots to killthe male.
"'Tis a heavy price to pay for our sport," said Considine sadly, as hestood with his companions gazing on the body of the Hottentot, which wastrodden into a shapeless mass.
"Hunters don't go out for _mere sport_," said Lucas Van Dyk, "they do itin the way of business--for ivory and hides. Of course they must takethe chances of a risky trade."
This sad incident naturally cast a gloom over the party, and theyremained there only long enough to cut out the tusks of the maleelephant and stow them away with choice parts of the meat in theirwaggon.
After quitting the valley they fell in with the party under John Skydand Frank Dobson, and led by Stephen Orpin. They were much surprised tofind with these their friends Kenneth McTavish and Groot Willem, whosoon accounted for their unexpected appearance. They had been steadilytracing the spoor of poor Junkie, had lost and re-found it several timesand, during their pursuit, had crossed the waggon-tracks of Skyd and hisparty, whom they followed up, in the faint hope that they might haveheard or seen something to guide them in their search. In this theywere disappointed.
After a brief council of war it was resolved to join their forces andcontinue the search after Junkie.
Proceeding on their way, they fell in with a wounded Kafir. He laydying under a bush, and made no attempt to escape, although he evidentlyregarded the white men as enemies. Having been reassured on this point,and comforted with a piece of tobacco, he told them that his village hadbeen attacked by the Fetcani and completely destroyed, with all thewomen and children--only a few of the wounded warriors like himselfhaving escaped, to perish in the jungle. The Fetcani he described asthe most ferocious warriors ever seen. They did not use the ordinaryassagai or throwing spear, but a short stabbing one, and invariablyclosed at once with their foes with irresistible impetuosity.
On being questioned about prisoners, and reference being made to whitemen's children, he said that he had heard of a white boy who was broughtto a village a day's march or more from where they then were, but addedthat the Fetcani hordes had gone off to destroy that village just afterdestroying his own, and that he had no doubt it was by that time reducedto ashes and all its inhabitants slain.
On hearing this, and learning the direction of the village in question,the hunters went off at full gallop, leaving the waggons to follow theirspoor.
It was nearly sunset when they came to an eminence beyond which lay theKafir town of which they were in search. The first glance showed thatsomething unusual was going on in it--at the same time it relieved theirfears to observe that it was not yet destroyed. The mud hovels, likehuge beehives, in which the Kafirs dwelt, were not yet burnt, and theonly smoke visible was that which rose from cooking fires. But it wasquite plain that the people, who in the distance seemed to swarm in andabout the place like black ants, were in wild excitement.
"No doubt they've heard that the Fetcani are coming," said Groot Willem,riding to the highest point of the ridge on which they stood. "Theplace seems pretty strong. I think we might do worse than go lend theniggers a helping hand till we've made inquiries about the lad."
Lucas Van Dyk echoed this sentiment, and so did Stephen Orpin, but therewere others who thought it best to let the niggers fight their ownbattles.
"Well, friends," said Kenneth McTavish, "you may hold what opinion youlike on that point, but my business just now is to go into that town andsee if I can find Junkie Brook. The sooner I do so the better, so letthose who choose follow me."
He rode off at a brisk trot, and was followed by the whole party. Onreaching the town they halted, and the principal chief, Eno, came out tomeet them. One of the Hottentots being called to interpret, the hunterswere informed that the Fetcani had threatened to attack the town, andthat the inhabitants were busy putting themselves in a state of defence.They were glad, said the chief, to see the white men, and hoped theywould stay to assist him.
To this Stephen Orpin replied through the interpreter. Stephen somehowfell naturally into the position of spokesman and chief of the party inpositions where tact and eloquence or diplomacy were wanted, though inthe hunting-field he held a very subordinate place.
He told Eno that the white men had come to seek for a white boy who hadbeen stolen from one of the frontier settlements, and that he had heardthe boy was in his, Eno's, town. That he was glad to hear it, though ofcourse he did not suppose Eno had stolen the boy, seeing that none ofhis people had been yet near the colony. That he and his friends nowcame to claim the boy, and would be glad to aid them in defending thetown, if attacked while they were in it.
In reply the chief said he knew nothing about a white boy being in histown, but would make inquires.
While this conference was going on, a man was seen to approach, runningat full speed. He fell from exhaustion on arriving, and for somemoments could not speak. Recovering, he told that he had just escapedfrom a band of two hundred Fetcani warriors, who were even then on theirway to attack the town.
Instantly all was uproar and confusion. The warriors, seizing theirshields and spears, sallied forth under their chief to meet the enemy--
afew of the youngest being left behind to guard the women and children.A party of the Hottentots under Kenneth McTavish also remained to guardthe town, while the rest set off to aid the Kafirs. They werecompelled, however, to ride back a short distance to meet the waggons,and obtain a supply of ammunition. Thus a little time was lost, andbefore they could reach the scene of action the Kafirs had met with theFetcani warriors, been thoroughly beaten, and put to flight.
On the appearance, however, of the horsemen the pursuers halted.
"Now, lads," cried Groot Willem, "a steady volley and a charge home willsend them to the right about."
"Better fire over their heads," said Orpin earnestly. "We are not atwar with these men. Let us not kill if we can help it."
"I agree with that heartily," cried Charlie Considine.
"So do I," said Hans. "Depend on't the sound will suffice for men whoperhaps never saw fire-arms before."
"Quite right, Maister Marais," said Sandy Black, with grave approval,"an' if oor charge is only heeded by Groot Willem an' Jerry Goldboy,tak' my word for't thae Fit-canny craters'll flee like chaff before thewund."
"Very good," said Groot Willem, with a grin.--"Come along, Jerry."
The dauntless little man answered the summons with delight, and thewhole party approached the wondering Fetcani at a trot. Halting whenwithin about eighty yards, they fired a volley from horseback over theheads of the enemy. Then, through the smoke, they charged at full speedlike thunderbolts, Groot Willem roaring like a mad buffalo-bull, JerryGoldboy shrieking like a wounded elephant, and energising fearfully withlegs, arms, reins, and blunderbuss, while the others shouted or laughedin wild excitement.
The Fetcani, as Sandy Black had prophesied, could not stand it. Turningtheir backs to the foe, they fled as only panic-stricken and nakedniggers _can_ fly, and were soon scattered and lost in the jungle.
While this was going on far out on the plain, Kenneth McTavish had muchado to keep the people quiet in the town--so great was their dread offalling into the hands of the ferocious Fetcani. But when the woundedwarriors began to come in, breathless, gashed, and bleeding, with thereport of their disaster, he found it impossible to restrain the people.The young warriors ignominiously left the place and fled, while thewomen followed, carrying their children and such of their worldly goodsas they were loath to leave behind. For some time McTavish managed torestrain the latter, but when at last the hunters came thundering backafter their bloodless victory, the poor women, fancying they were theenemy, flung down goods, and even babies, and ran.
The horsemen called out to assure them they were friends, but theirterror was too great to permit of their comprehending, and theycontinued to fly.
"Come, Charlie, we must head these poor creatures, and drive them back,"said Hans, as he rode over ground which was strewn with utensils,mantles, and victuals, among which many little black and naked childrenwere seen running, stumbling, tottering, or creeping, according to ageand courage.
Followed by the other horsemen, they rode ahead of the flying multitude,and, cracking their whips menacingly in front, with an occasionalcharge, they succeeded in staying the flight and turning the poor womenback. No sooner did these comprehend how matters stood than theyturned, and caught up their little ones with as much affection andthankfulness as if they had just shown a readiness to die for, ratherthan forsake, them.
Among these children was one who, although as black as the ace of spadesin body and face, had light curly flaxen hair. He ran about in a wildunaccountable manner, darting hither and thither, from side to side.
McTavish and the others, who had by that time dismounted, and werestanding at their horses' heads amused spectators of the scene, lookedat this urchin in surprise, until they observed that he was endeavouringto escape from a stout young woman who did her best to catch him. Shehad nearly succeeded, when he suddenly doubled like a hare and borestraight down on the horsemen. Seeing this, the woman gave in, and,turning, fled to the town, while the little fellow ran and clasped theHighlander by the knees.
"Oh! Miss'r Tavish!" he cried, and looked up.
"Ah! why--it's Junkie!" cried the Highlander, catching the child up inhis arms and hugging him, by which means he left a dark imprint of himon his own breast and face.
It was indeed Junkie--naked as on the day of his birth, greased fromhead to foot, and charcoaled as black as the King of Ashantee!
Although an object of the deepest interest to the white men, poor Junkiewas not at that moment personally attractive. He was, however,unspeakably happy at seeing white and familiar faces once more. He wasalso very much subdued, and had obviously profited by the rude teachinghe had undergone in Kafirland, for his obedience to orders was promptand unquestioning.
The first important matter was to clean Junkie. This was only partiallyeffected, and with difficulty. The next was to clothe him. This wasdone, on the spur of the moment, with pocket-handkerchiefs, each huntercontributing one till the costume was complete. A large red cotton oneformed a sort of plaid; a blue one with a hole in the middle, throughwhich his head was thrust, served as a pretty good poncho or tippet; agreen one with white spots, tied round the loins, did duty as a tunic orkilt; and one of crimson silk round the head formed a gorgeous turban.
Returning to the village, the hunters found Eno the chief, and, afterexpressing much satisfaction at having arrived in time to lend himeffectual aid at so critical a period, they presented him with gifts ofbrass wire and cotton cloth, from the stores in Skyd and Dobson'swaggons.
The chief expressed his gratitude in glowing terms, and begged thehunters to stay with him for some time. But this they would not do, asit was important to return to the colony, and report what they had seenwithout delay. Notwithstanding their professions of gratitude, however,these rascals stole as many small articles front the waggons as theycould lay hands on, and would doubtless have taken all that the hunterspossessed, if they had not been impressed by their valour, and by thedreadful firearms which they carried.
This accidental skirmish was the first meeting of the colonists with theFetcani. It was not till two years later that the Government feltconstrained to take active measures against these savages.
The Fetcani, or Mantatee hordes, having been driven from their owncountry by the bloodthirsty Zulu chief Chaka, had been preying uponother tribes for many years, and at last, in 1827, they precipitatedthemselves on the Tambookies, and afterwards on the Galekas, threateningto extirpate these Kafirs altogether, or to drive them into the colonyas suppliants and beggars. In this extremity the Kafir chief Hintzaurgently craved assistance.
It was granted. A body of the colonists sent out by Government, underMajor Dundas of the Royal Artillery, defeated the warlike Fetcani, whowere afterwards utterly routed and scattered, and their dreaded powerfinally annihilated, near the sources of the Umtata river, by a body oftroops under Colonel Somerset. Hintza's warriors were present at thataffair, to the number of about twenty thousand, and they hovered aboutduring the engagement admiringly, though without rendering assistance.But when the enemy were routed and in confused retreat, they fell uponthem, and, despite the remonstrances of the white men, committed themost appalling atrocities, mutilating the dead, and cutting off the armsand legs of the living, in order the more easily to obtain their brassrings and ornaments.
This warlike episode did not, however, affect the general condition ofthe frontier. The settlers, having overcome the misfortunes of thefirst years, began to prosper and multiply, troubled a good deal, nodoubt, by the thievish propensities of their ungrateful blackneighbours, but on the whole enjoying the fruit of their labours incomparative peace for several years.