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diff --git a/36951.txt b/36951.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..be1f5fb --- /dev/null +++ b/36951.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12642 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Jock of the Bushveld, by Percy FitzPatrick + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Jock of the Bushveld + +Author: Percy FitzPatrick + +Illustrator: E. Caldwell + +Release Date: August 2, 2011 [EBook #36951] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOCK OF THE BUSHVELD *** + + + + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + + + + +Jock of the Bushveld +By Sir Percy FitzPatrick +Illustrations by E. Caldwell +Published by Longmans, Green, and Co, London. +This edition dated 1922. +Jock of the Bushveld, by Sir Percy FitzPatrick. + +________________________________________________________________________ + +________________________________________________________________________ +JOCK OF THE BUSHVELD, BY SIR PERCY FITZPATRICK. + + +PREFACE. + +"Sonny, you kin reckon it dead sure, thar's something wrong 'bout a +thing that don't explain itself." + +That was Old Rocky's advice, given three-and-twenty years ago--not +forgotten yet, but, in this instance, respectfully ignored. + +It happened some years ago, and this was the way of it: the Fox of +Ballybotherem having served three generations--in his native Tipperary, +in Kaffraria, and in the Transvaal--seemed entitled to a rest; and when, +in the half-hour before `lights out,' which is the Little People's +particular own, the demand came from certain Autocrats of the Nightgown: +"Now, tell us something else!" it occurred to the Puzzled One to tell of +Jock's fight with the table leg. And that is how the trouble began. +Those with experience will know what followed; and, for those less +fortunate, the modest demand of one, comfortably tucked up tailorwise, +and emphasising his points by excited hand-shakes with his toes, will +convey the idea: "It must be _all true_! and don't leave out +_anything_!" + +To such an audience a story may be told a hundred times, but it must be +told, as Kipling says, "Just so!" that is, in the same way; because, +even a romance (what a three-year-old once excused as "only a play +tell") must be true--to itself! + +Once Jock had taken the field it was not long before the narrator found +himself helped or driven over the pauses by quick suggestions from the +Gallery; but there were days of fag and worry when thoughts lagged or +strayed, and when slips were made, and then a vigilant and pitiless +memory swooped like the striking falcon on its prey. There came a night +when the story was of the Old Crocodile, and one in the Gallery--one of +more exuberant fancy--seeing the gate open ran into the flower-strewn +field of romance and by suggestive questions and eager promptings helped +to gather a little posy: "And he caught the Crocodile by the tail, +didn't he?" "And he hung on and fought him, didn't he?" "And the Old +Crocodile flung him high into the air? High!" and, turning to the two +juniors, added "quite as high as the house?" And the narrator-- +accessory by reason of a mechanical nod and an absent-minded "Yes" +passed on, thinking it could all be put right next time. But there is +no escape from the `tangled web' when the Little People sit in judgment. +It was months later when retribution came. The critical point of the +story was safely passed when--Oh; the irony and poetic justice of it--it +was the innocent tempter himself who laid his hand in solemn protest on +the narrator's shoulder and, looking him reproachfully in the eyes, said +"Dad! You have left out the best part of all. Don't you remember +how..." + +And the description which followed only emphasises the present writer's +unfitness for the task he has undertaken. In the text of the story and +in the illustration by my friend Mr Caldwell (who was himself subjected +to the same influence) there is left a loophole for fancy: it is open to +any one to believe that Jock is just beginning or just ending his aerial +excursion. The Important People are not satisfied; but then the page is +not big enough to exhibit Jock at the top of that flight--of fancy! + +From the date of that lesson it was apparent that reputations would +suffer if the story of Jock were not speedily embodied in some durable +and authoritative form, and during a long spell of ill health many of +the incidents were retold in the form of letters to the Little People. +Other Less Important Persons--grown-ups--read them and sometimes heard +them, and so it came about that the story of Jock was to be printed for +private circulation, for the Little People and their friends. Then the +story was read in manuscript and there came still more ambitious +counsels, some urging the human story of the early days, others the wild +animal life of South Africa. Conscious of many deficiencies the +narrator has left two great fields practically untouched, adhering to +the original idea--the story of Jock; and those who come into it, men +and animals, come in because of him and the life in which he played so +large a part. The attempt to adapt the original letters to the symmetry +of a connected story involved, as one might have known, endless trouble +and changes, necessitating complete re-writing of most parts; and the +responsibility and work became still greater when, after a casual and +unforeseen meeting, my friend Mr Caldwell accepted the suggestion to +come out to South Africa and spend six months with us in order to study +the game in its native bush and to know the conditions of the life and +put that experience into the work of illustrating "Jock." + +The writer is well aware that, from the above causes and one other, +there are grave inequalities in style and system, and in plane of phrase +and thought, in different parts of the book. For this feature the `one +other' cause is alone put forward as a defence. The story belongs to +the Little People, and their requirements were defined--"It must be _all +true_! Don't leave out _anything_!" It has been necessary to leave out +a great deal; but the other condition has been fully and fairly complied +with; for it is a true story from beginning to end. It is not a diary: +incidents have been grouped and moved to get over the difficulty of +blank days and bad spells, but there is no incident of importance or of +credit to Jock which is not absolutely true. The severest trial in this +connection was in the last chapter, which is bound to recall perhaps the +most famous and most cherished of all dog stories. Much, indeed, would +have been sacrificed to avoid that; but it was unthinkable that, for any +reason, one should in the last words shatter the spell that holds Jock +dear to those for whom his life is chronicled--the spell that lies in `a +true story.' + +Little by little the book has grown until it has come perilously near +the condition in which it might be thought to have Pretensions. It has +none! It is what it was: a simple record, compiled for the interest and +satisfaction of some Little People, and a small tribute of remembrance +and affection offered at the shrine of the old life and those who made +it--tendered in the hope that some one better equipped with +opportunities and leisure may be inspired to do justice to it and to +them for the sake of our native land. + + +CHAPTER ONE. + +THE BACKGROUND. + +Of the people who live lonely lives, on the veld or elsewhere, few do so +of their own free choice. Some there are shut off from all their kind-- +souls sheathed in some film invisible, through which no thrill of +sympathy may pass; some barred by their self-consciousness, heart hungry +still, who never learned in childhood to make friends; some have a +secret or a grief; some, thoughts too big or bad for comradeship. But +most will charge to Fate the thoughtless choice, the chance, or hard +necessity, that drew or drove them to the life apart; they know the +lesson that was learned of old: "It is not good for man to be alone." + +Go out among them, ever moving on, whose white bones mark the way for +others' feet--who shun the cities, living in the wilds, and move in +silence, self-contained. Who knows what they think, or dream, or hope, +or suffer? Who can know? For speech among that hard-schooled lot is +but a half-remembered art. + +Yet something you may guess, since with the man there often goes--his +dog; his silent tribute to The Book. Oh, it's little they know of life +who cannot guess the secret springs of loneliness and love that prompt +the keeping of a trifling pet; who do not know what moves a man who +daily takes his chance of life and death--man whose "breath is in his +nostrils"--to lay his cheek against the muzzle of his comrade dog, and +in the trackless miles of wilderness feel he has a friend. Something to +hold to; something to protect. + +There was old Blake--"mad, quite mad," as everybody knew--of whom they +vaguely said that horses, hounds, coaches, covers, and all that goes +with old estates, were his--once. We knew him poor and middle-aged. +How old to us! Cheery and unpractical, with two old pointers and a +fowling-piece, and a heart as warm as toast. We did not ask each +other's business there; and, judging by the dogs and gun, we put him +down as a `remittance man.' But that, it seems, was wrong. They were +his all. + +He left no letters--a little pile of paper ash; no money and no food! +That was his pride. He would not sell or give away his dogs! That was +his love. When he could not keep them it seemed time to go! That was +his madness. But before he went, remembering a friend in hospital, he +borrowed two cartridges and brought him in a brace of birds. That was +old mad Blake, who `moved on' and took his dogs with him, because they +had always been together, and he could not leave their fate to chance. +So we buried him with one on either side, just as he would have liked +it! + +There was Turner, who shot the crocodile that seized his dog, and +reckless of the others, swam in and brought the dog to land. + +There was the dog that jumped in when his master slipped from the rock, +and, swimming beside him, was snapped down in his stead! And there was +the boy who tried a rescue in the dark--when a rustle, yelp and growl +told that the lions had his dog--and was never seen again. + +So it goes, and so it went, from year to year: a little showing now and +then, like the iceberg's tip, from which to guess the bulk below. + +There was a Boy who went to seek his fortune. Call him boy or man: the +years proved nothing either way! Some will be boyish always; others +were never young: a few--most richly dowered few--are man and boy +together. He went to seek his fortune, as boys will and should; no +pressure on him from about; no promise from beyond. For life was easy +there, and all was pleasant, as it may be--in a cage. `To-day' is sure +and happy; and there is no `to-morrow'--in a cage. + +There were friends enough--all kind and true--and in their wisdom they +said: "Here it is safe: yonder all is chance, where many indeed are +called, but few--so few--are chosen. Many have gone forth; some to +return, beaten, hopeless, and despised; some to fall in sight outside; +others are lost, we know not where; and ah! so few are free and well. +But the fate of numbers is unheeded still; for the few are those who +count, and lead; and those who follow do not think `How few,' but cry +`How strong! How free!' Be wise and do not venture. Here it is safe: +there is no fortune there!" + +But there was something stronger than the things he knew, around, +without, beyond--the thing that strove within him: that grew and grew, +and beat and fought for freedom: that bade him go and walk alone and +tell his secret on the mountain slopes to one who would not laugh--a +little red retriever; that made him climb and feel his strength, and +find an outlet for what drove within. And thus the end was sure; for of +all the voices none so strong as this! And only those others reached +him that would chime with it; the gentle ones which said: "We too +believe," and one, a stronger, saying: "Fifty years ago I did it. I +would do it now again!" + +So the Boy set out to seek his fortune, and did not find it; for there +was none in the place where he sought. Those who warned him were--in +the little--right: yet was he--in the greater--right too! It was not +given to him as yet to know that fortune is not in time or place or +things; but, good or bad, in the man's own self for him alone to find +and prove. + +Time and place and things had failed him; still was effort right; and, +when the first was clear beyond all question, it was instinct and not +knowledge bade him still go on, saying: "Not back to the cage. Anything +but that!" + +When many days had passed, it was again a friend who met him, saying: +"Commonsense is not cowardice. You have made a mistake: repair it while +you may. I have seen and know: there is nothing here. Come back with +me, and all will be made easy." And answer, in reason, there was none; +for the little truth was all too plain, and the greater not yet seen. +But that which had swelled to bursting and had fought within for freedom +called out: "Failure is the worst of all!" And the blind and struggling +instinct rose against all knowledge and all reason. "Not back to the +cage! Not that!" + +And the heart that had once been young spoke up for Auld Lang Syne: the +old eyes softened and dropped: "God speed you, Boy--Good-bye!" And as +the mail-coach rumbled off the Boy put up his head--to try again. + +The days passed, and still there was no work to do. For, those who were +there already--hardened men and strong, pioneers who had roughed it-- +were themselves in straitened case, and it was no place for boys. + +So the Boy moved on again, and with him a man in, equal plight, but, +being a man, a guide and comfort to the Boy, and one to lead him on the +way. Hungry, they walked all day; yet when the sun went down and light +began to fail the place where work and food and sleep should be was +still far off. The mountain tracks were rough and all unknown; the +rivers many, cold and swift: the country wild; none lived, few ever +passed, that way. When night closed in the Boy walked on in front, and +the man lagged wearily, grumbling at their luck. In the valley at the +mountain foot they came at midnight upon water, black and still, between +them and the cabin's lights beyond; and there the man lay down. Then +the Boy, turning in his anger, bade him come on; and, dragging him out +upon the further bank, had found--unknowing--some little of the fortune +he had come to seek. + +Still, morning brought no change; still, was there no work to do. So +the man gave up, and sagging back, was lost. And the Boy went on alone. + +Rough and straight-spoken, but kindly men and true, were those he came +among. What they could they did: what they had they gave. They made +him free of board and bed; and, kinder still, now and then made work for +him to do, knowing his spirit was as theirs and that his heart cried +out: "Not charity, but work! Give me work!" But that they could not +do, for there was no work they could not do themselves. + +Thus the days and weeks went by. Willing, but unused to fend for +himself--unfit by training for the wild rough life, heart and energy all +to waste, the little he did know of no value there--the struggle with +the ebbing tide went on; it was the wearing hopeless fight against that +which one cannot grapple, and cannot even see. There was no work to be +done. A few days here and there; a little passing job; a helping hand +disguised; and then the quest again. They were all friendly--but, with +the kindly habit of the place: it told the tale of hopelessness too +well. They did not even ask his name; it made no difference. + +Then came a day when there was nowhere else to try. Among the lounging +diggers at their week-end deals he stood apart--too shy, too proud to +tell the truth; too conscious of it to trust his voice; too hungry to +smile as if he did not care! And then a man in muddy moleskins, with +grave face, brown beard, and soft blue eyes, came over to him, saying +straight: "Boy, you come along o' me!" And he went. + +It was work--hard work. But the joy of it! Shovelling in the icy +water, in mud and gravel, and among the boulders, from early dawn to +dark. What matter? It was work. It was not for hire, but just to help +one who had helped him; to `earn his grub' and feel he was a man, doing +the work of his friend's partner, `who was away.' + +For three full weeks the Boy worked on; grateful for the toil; grateful +for the knowledge gained; most grateful that he could by work repay a +kindness. And then the truth came out! The kindly fiction fell away as +they sat and rested on the day of rest. "The claim could not stand two +white men's grub" had fallen from the man, accounting for his partner's +absence. + +It was the simple and unstudied truth and calm unconsciousness of where +it struck that gave the thrust its force; and in the clear still air of +the Sunday morning the Boy turned hot and cold and dizzy to think of his +folly, and of the kindness he had so long imposed upon. It was a little +spell before his lips would smile, and eyes and voice were firm enough +to lie. Then he said gently: If he could be spared--he had not liked to +ask before, but now the floods were over and the river turned perhaps it +could be managed--he would like to go, as there were letters waiting, +and he expected news. + +Up the winding pathway over rocky ledge and grassy slope, climbing for +an hour to the pass, the toil and effort kept the hot thoughts under. +At the top the Boy sat down to rest. The green rock-crested mountains +stood like resting giants all around: the rivers, silvered by the sun, +threaded their ways between: the air was clear, and cool, and still. +The world was very beautiful from there. + +Far, far below--a brownish speck beside the silver streak--stood the +cabin he had left. And, without warning, all came back on him. What he +had mastered rose beyond control. The little child that lies hidden in +us all reached out--as in the dark--for a hand to hold; and there was +none. His arms went up to hide the mocking glory of the day, and, face +buried in the grass, he sobbed: "Not worth my food!" + +Science tells that Nature will recoup herself by ways as well defined as +those that rule mechanics. The blood flows upward--and the brain's +awhirl; the ebb-tide sets--and there is rest. Whatever impulse sways +the guiding hand, we know that often when we need it most there comes +relief; gently, unbidden, unobserved. + +The Boy slept, and there was peace awhile. Then came faint echoes of +the waking thoughts--odd words shot out, of hope and resolution; +murmured names of those at home. Once his hand went out and gently +touched the turf, reaching for the friend and comrade of the past--one +who knew his every mood, had heard his wildest dreams described, had +seen him, hot-eyed, breathless, struggling to escape the cage; one to +whom the boyish soul was often bared in foolish confidence; one who +could see and hear and feel, yet never tell--a little red retriever left +at home; and the boy stirred and sighed, for answer to the soft brown +eyes. + +No! It is not good for man to be alone. A wisp of drifting cloud came +by, a breath of cooler air, and the fickle spirit of the mountain +changed the day as with a wand. The Boy woke up shivering, dazed, +bewildered: the mountain of his dreams had vanished; and his dog was not +there! The cold driving mist had blotted out the world. Stronger and +stronger grew the wind, driving the damp cold through and through; for +on the bleak plateau of the mountain nothing broke its force. + +Pale and shaken, and a little stiff, he looked about; then slowly faced +the storm. It had not struck him to turn back. + +The gusts blew stronger, and through the mist came rain, in single +stinging drops--portents of the greater storm. Slowly, as he bent to +breast it, the chilled blood warmed, and when the first thunderclap +split overhead, and lost itself in endless roars and rumblings in the +kloofs and hills around, there came a warmth about his heart and a light +into his eye--mute thanksgiving that here was something he could battle +with and be a man again. + +On the top of the world the storms work all their fury. Only there come +mist and wind and rain, thunder and lightning and hail together--the +pitiless terrible hail: there, where the hare hiding in the grass may +know it is the highest thing in all God's world, and nearest to the +storm--the one clear mark to draw the lightning--and, knowing, scurries +to the sheltered slopes. + +But the Boy pressed on--the little path a racing stream to guide him. +Then in the one group of ghostly, mist-blurred rocks he stopped to +drink; and, as he bent--for all the blackness of the storm--his face +leaped out at him, reflected for one instant in the shallow pool; the +blue-white flame of lightning, blinding his aching eyes, hissed down; +the sickening smell of brimstone spread about; and crashing thunder +close above his head left him dazed and breathless. + +Heedless of the rain, blinking the blackness from his eyes, he sat still +for head to clear, and limbs to feel their life again; and, as he +waited, slowly there came upon a colder stiller air that other roar, so +far, so dull, so uniform; so weird and terrifying--the voice of the +coming hail. + +Huddled beneath the shelving rock he watched the storm sweep by with +awful battering din that swamped and silenced every other sound--the +tearing, smashing hail that seemed to strip the mountain to its very +bone. + +Oh! the wanton fury of the hail; the wild, destructive charge of hordes +of savage cavalry; the stamping, smashing sweep along the narrow strip +where all the fury concentrates; the long black trail of death and +desolation! The birds and beasts, the things that creep and fly, all +know the portents, and all flee before it, or aside. But in the +darkness--in the night or mist--the slow, the weak, the helpless, and +the mothers with their young--for them is little hope. + +The dense packed column swept along, ruthless, raging, and unheeding, +overwhelming all... A sudden failing of its strength, a little +straggling tail, and then--the silence! + +The sun came out; the wind died down; light veils of mist came slowly +by--bits of floating gossamer--and melted in the clear, pure air. + +The Boy stepped out once more. Miles away the black column of the +falling hail sped its appointed course. Under his feet, where all had +been so green and beautiful, was battered turf, for the time transformed +into a mass of dazzling brilliants, where jagged ice-stones caught the +sunlight on their countless facets, and threw it back in one fierce +flashing glare, blinding in its brilliance. + +On the glittering surface many things stood out. + +In the narrow pathway near the spring a snake lay on its back, crushed +and broken; beyond it, a tortoise, not yet dead, but bruised and +battered through its shell; then a partridge--poor unprotected thing-- +the wet feathers lying all around, stripped as though a hawk had +stricken it, and close behind it all the little brood; and further +afield lay something reddish-brown--a buck--the large eyes glazed, an +ooze of blood upon its lips and nose. He stooped to touch it, but drew +back: the dainty little thing was pulp. + +All striving for the sheltering rocks; all caught and stricken by the +ruthless storm; and he, going on to face it, while others fled before-- +he, blindly fighting on--was spared. Was it luck? Or was there +something subtle, more? He held to this, that more than chance had +swayed the guiding hand of fate--that fortune holds some gifts in store +for those who try; and faith resurgent moved him to a mute Te Deum, of +which no more reached the conscious brain than: "It is good to be alive! +But... better _so_ than in the cage." + +Once more, a little of the fortune that he had come to seek! + +At sunset, passing down the long rough gorge, he came upon one battling +with the flood to save his all--the white man struggling with the +frightened beasts; the kaffir swept from off his feet; the mad +bewildered oxen yielding to the stream and heading downwards towards the +falls--and in their utmost need the Boy swam in and helped! + +And there the long slow ebb was stayed: the Boy was worth his food. + +But how recall the life when those who made it set so little store by +all that passed, and took its ventures for their daily lot; when those +who knew it had no gift or thought to fix the colours of the fading +past: the fire of youth; the hopes; the toil; the bright illusions gone! +And now, the Story of a Dog to conjure up a face, a name, a voice, or +the grip of a friendly hand! And the half-dreamed sound of the tramping +feet is all that is left of the live procession long since passed: the +young recruits; the laggards and the faint; the few who saw it through; +the older men--grave-eyed, thoughtful, unafraid--who judged the future +by the battered past, and who knew none more nor less than man-- +unconscious equals of the best and least; the grey-hued years; the +thinning ranks; the summons answered, as they had lived--alone. The +tale untold; and, of all who knew it, none left to picture now the life, +none left to play a grateful comrade's part, and place their record on a +country's scroll--the kindly, constant, nameless Pioneers! + + +CHAPTER TWO. + +INTO THE BUSHVELD. + +"Distant hills are always green," and the best gold further on. That is +a law of nature--human nature--which is quite superior to facts; and +thus the world moves on. + +So from the Lydenburg Goldfields prospectors `humping their swags' or +driving their small pack-donkeys spread afield, and transport-riders +with their long spans and rumbling waggons followed, cutting a wider +track where traders with winding strings of carriers had already +ventured on. But the hunters had gone first. There were great hunters +whose names are known; and others as great who missed the accident of +fame; and after them hunters who traded, and traders who hunted. And so +too with prospectors, diggers, transport-riders and all. + +Between the goldfields and the nearest port lay the Bushveld, and game +enough for all to live on. + +Thus, all were hunters of a sort, but the great hunters--the hunters of +big game--were apart; we were the smaller fry, there to admire and to +imitate. + +Trophies, carried back with pride or by force of habit, lay scattered +about, neglected and forgotten, round the outspans, the tents of lone +prospectors, the cabins of the diggers, and the grass wayside shanties +of the traders. How many a `record' head must have gone then, when none +had thought of time or means to save them! Horns and skins lay in +jumbled heaps in the yards or sheds of the big trading stores. The +splendid horns of the Koodoo and Sable, and a score of others only less +beautiful, could be seen nailed up in crude adornment of the roughest +walls; nailed up, and then unnoticed and forgotten! And yet not quite! +For although to the older hands they were of no further interest, to the +new-comer they spoke of something yet to see, and something to be done; +and the sight set him dreaming of the time when he too would go +a-hunting and bring his trophies home. + +Perched on the edge of the Berg, we overlooked the wonder-world of the +Bushveld, where the big game roamed in thousands and the "wildest tales +were true." Living on the fringe of a hunter's paradise, most of us +were drawn into it from time to time, for shorter or longer spells, as +opportunity and our circumstances allowed; and little by little one got +to know the names, appearances, and habits of the many kinds of game +below. Long talks in the quiet nights up there under waggons, in grass +shelters in the woods, or in the wattle-and-daub shanties of the +diggers, where men passed to and fro and swapped lies, as the polite +phrase went, were our `night's entertainments,' when younger hands might +learn much that was useful and true, and more that was neither. + +It was a school of grown-up schoolboys; no doubt a hard one, but it had +its playground side, and it was the habit of the school to `drop on to' +any breach of the unwritten laws, to `rub in' with remorseless good +humour the mistakes that were made, and to play upon credulity with a +shamelessness and nerve quite paralysing to the judgment of the +inexperienced. Yet, with it all, there was a kindliness and quick +instinct of `fair doos' which tempered the wind and, in the main, gave +no one more than was good for him. + +There the new boy had to run the gauntlet, and, if without a watchful +instinct or a friendly hint, there was nothing to warn him of it. When +Faulkner--dragged to the piano--protested that he remembered nothing but +a mere `morceau,' he was not conscious of transgression, but a delighted +audience caught up the word, and thenceforth he was known only as +`Ankore'--Harry the Sailor having explained that `more so' was a +recognised variant. + +"Johnny-come-lately's got to learn" was held to be adequate reason for +letting many a beginner buy his experience, while those who had been +through it all watched him stumble into the well-known pitfalls. It +would no doubt have been a much more comfortable arrangement all round +had there been a polite ignoring of each other's blunders and +absurdities. But that is not the way of schools where the spirit of fun +plays its useful part; and, after all, the lesson well `rubbed in' is +well remembered. + +The new assayer, primed by us with tales of Sable Antelope round Macmac +Camp, shot old Jim Hill's only goat, and had to leave the carcase with a +note of explanation--Jim being out when he called. What he heard from +us when he returned, all prickly with remorse and shame, was a liberal +education; but what he remembers best is Jim's note addressed that +evening to our camp: + +"Boys! Jim Hill requests your company to dinner to-morrow, Sunday!" + +"Mutton!" + +As the summer spent itself, and whispers spread around of new strikes +further on, a spirit of restlessness--a touch of trek fever--came upon +us, and each cast about which way to try his luck. Our camp was the +summer headquarters of two transport-riders, and when many months of +hard work, timber-cutting on the Berg, contracting for the Companies, +pole-slipping in the bush, and other things, gave us at last a `rise,' +it seemed the natural thing to put it all into waggons and oxen, and go +transport-riding too. + +The charm of a life of freedom and complete independence--a life in +which a man goes as and where he lists, and carries his home with him-- +is great indeed; but great too was the fact that hunting would go with +it. + +How the little things that mark a new departure stamp themselves +indelibly on the memory! A flower in the hedgerow where the roads +divide will mark the spot in one's mind for ever; and yet a million +more, before and after, and all as beautiful, are passed unseen. In +memory, it is all as fresh, bright and glorious as ever: only the years +have gone. The start, the trek along the plateau, the crystal streams, +the ferns and trees, the cool pure air; and, through and over all, the +quite intoxicating sense of freedom! Then came the long slow climb to +Spitzkop where the Berg is highest and where our ascent began. For +there, with Africa's contrariness, the highest parts banked up and +buttressed by gigantic spurs are most accessible from below, while the +lower edges of the plateau are cut off sheer like the walls of some +great fortress. There, near Spitzkop, we looked down upon the promised +land; there, stood upon the outmost edge, as a diver on his board, and +paused and looked and breathed before we took the plunge. + +It is well to pitch one's expectations low, and so stave off +disappointments. But counsels of perfection are wasted on the young, +and when accident combines with the hopefulness of youth to lay the +colours on in all their gorgeousness, what chance has Wisdom? + +"See here, young feller!" said Wisdom, "don't go fill yourself up with +tomfool notions 'bout lions and tigers waitin' behind every bush. You +won't see one in a twelvemonth! Most like you won't see a buck for a +week! You don't know what to do, what to wear, how to walk, how to +look, or what to look for; and you'll make as much noise as a traction +engine. This ain't open country: it's bush; they can see and hear, and +you can't. An' as for big game, you won't see any for a long while yet, +so don't go fool yourself!" + +Excellent! But fortune in a sportive mood ordained that the very first +thing we saw as we outspanned at Saunderson's on the very first day in +the Bushveld, was the fresh skin of a lion stretched out to dry. What +would the counsels of Solomon himself have weighed against that wet +skin? + +Wisdom scratched its head and stared: "Well, I am completely sugared!" + +Of course it was a fluke. No lions had been seen in the locality for +several years; but the beginner, filled with all the wildest +expectations, took no heed of that. If the wish be father to the +thought, then surely fact may well beget conviction. It was so in this +case, at any rate, and thus not all the cold assurances of Wisdom could +banish visions of big game as plentiful as partridges. + +A party had set out upon a tiger hunt to clear out one of those +marauders who used to haunt the kloofs of the Berg and make descents +upon the Kaffir herds of goats and sheep; but there was a special +interest in this particular tiger, for he had killed one of the white +hunters in the last attempt to get at him a few weeks before. Starting +from the store, the party of men and boys worked their way towards the +kloof, and the possibility of coming across a lion never entered their +heads. No notice was taken of smaller game put up from time to time as +they moved carelessly along; a rustle on the left of the line was +ignored, and Bill Saunderson was as surprised as Bill ever could be to +see a lion facing him at something like six or seven yards. The lion, +with head laid level and tail flicking ominously, half crouched for its +spring. Bill's bullet glanced along the skull, peeling off the skin. +"It was a bad shot," he said afterwards, in answer to the beginner's +breathless questions. "He wasn't hurt: just sank a little like a +pointer when you check him; but before he steadied up again I took for +the nose and got him. You see," he added thoughtfully, "a lion's got no +forehead: it is all hair." + +That was about all he had to say; but, little store as he may have set +on it, the tip was never forgotten and proved of much value to at least +one of our party years afterwards. To this day the picture of a lion +brings up that scene--the crouching beast, faced by a man with a long +brown beard, solemn face, and clear unfaltering eyes; the swift yet +quiet action of reloading; and the second shot an inch or so lower, +because "a lion's got no forehead: it's all hair." + +The shooting of a lion, fair and square, and face to face, was the Blue +Riband of the Bush, and no detail would have seemed superfluous; but +Bill, whose eye nothing could escape, had, like many great hunters, a +laggard tongue. Only now and then a look of grave amusement lighted up +his face to show he recognised the hungry enthusiasm and his own +inability to satisfy it. The skin with the grazed stripe along the +nose, and the broken skull, were handled and looked at many times, and +the story was pumped from every Kaffir--all voluble and eager, but none +eye-witnesses. Bob, the sociable and more communicative, who had been +nearest his brother, was asked a hundred questions, but all he had to +say was that the grass was too long for him to see what happened: he +reckoned that it was "a pretty near thing after the first shot; but +Bill's all right!" + +To me it was an absurd and tiresome affectation to show interest in any +other topic, and when, during that evening, conversation strayed to +other subjects, it seemed waste of time and priceless opportunity. Bob +responded good-naturedly to many crude attempts to head them back to the +entrancing theme, but the professional interest in rates, loads, rivers, +roads, disease, drought, and `fly,' was strong in the older +transport-riders, as it should have been, but, for the time at least, +was not, in me. If diplomacy failed, however, luck was not all out; for +when all the pet subjects of the road had been thrashed out, and it was +about time to turn in, a stray question brought the reward of patience. + +"Have you heard if Jim reached Durban all right?" + +"Yes! Safely shipped." + +"You got some one to take him right through?" + +"No! A Dutchman took him to Lydenburg, and I got Tom Hardy, going back +empty, to take him along from there." + +"What about feeding?" + +"I sent some goats," said Bob, smiling for a moment at some passing +thought, and then went on: "Tom said he had an old span that wouldn't +mind it. We loaded him up at Parker's, and I cleared out before he got +the cattle up. But they tell me there was a gay jamboree when it came +to inspanning; and as soon as they got up to the other waggons and the +young bullocks winded Jim, they started off with their tails up--a +regular stampede, voorloopers and drivers yelling like mad, all the +loose things shaking out of the waggons, and Tom nearly in a fit from +running, shouting and swearing." + +Judging by the laughter, there was only one person present who did not +understand the joke, and I had to ask--with some misgiving--who was this +Jim who needed so much care and feeding, and caused such a scare. + +There was another burst of laughter as they guessed my thoughts, and it +was Bob who answered me: "Only a lion, lad--not a wild man or a lunatic! +Only a young lion! Sold him to the Zoo, and had to deliver him in +Durban." + +"Well, you fairly took me in with the name!" + +"Oh! Jim? Well that's his pet name. His real name is Dabulamanzi. +Jim, my hunting boy, caught him, so we call him Jim out of compliment," +he added with a grin. "But Jim called him Dabulamanzi, also out of +compliment, and I think that was pretty good for a nigger." + +"You see," said Bob, for the benefit of those who were not up in local +history, "Dabulamanzi, the big fighting General in the Zulu War, was +Jim's own chief and leader; and the name means `The one who conquers the +waters.'" + +Then one of the others exclaimed: "Oh! Of course, that's how you got +him, isn't it: caught him in a river? Tell us what did happen, Bob. +What's the truth of it? It seemed a bit steep as I heard it." + +"Well, it's really simple enough. We came right on to the lioness +waiting for us, and I got her; and then there were shouts from the boys, +and I saw a couple of cubs, pretty well grown, making off in the grass. +This boy Jim legged it after one of them, a cub about as big as a +Newfoundland dog--not so high, but longer. I followed as fast as I +could, but he was a big Zulu and went like a buck, yelling like mad all +the time. We were in the bend of one of the long pools down near the +Komati, and when I got through the reeds the cub was at the water's edge +facing Jim, and Jim was dancing around heading it off with only one +light stick. As soon as it saw us coming on, the cub took to the water, +and Jim after it. It was as good as a play. Jim swam up behind, and +putting his hand on its head ducked it right under: the cub turned as it +came up and struck out at him viciously, but he was back out of reach: +when it turned again to go Jim ducked it again, and it went on like that +six or eight times, till the thing was half drowned and had no more +fight in it. Then Jim got hold of it by the tail and swam back to us, +still shouting and quite mad with excitement. + +"Of course," added Bob with a wag of his head, "you can say it was only +a cub; but it takes a good man to go up naked and tackle a thing like +that, with teeth and claws to cut you into ribbons." + +"Was Jim here to-day?" I asked, as soon as there was an opening. Bob +shook his head with a kindly regretful smile. "No, Sonny, not here; +you'd 'a' heard him. Jim's gone. I had to sack him. A real fine +nigger, but a terror to drink, and always in trouble. He fairly wore me +right out." + +We were generally a party of half a dozen--the owners of the four +waggons, a couple of friends trading with Delagoa, a man from Swaziland, +and--just then--an old Yankee hunter-prospector. It was our holiday +time, before the hard work with loads would commence, and we dawdled +along feeding up the cattle and taking it easy ourselves. + +It was too early for loads in the Bay, so we moved slowly and hunted on +the way, sometimes camping for several days in places where grass and +water were good; and that lion skin was the cause of many +disappointments to me. Never a bush or ant-heap, never a donga or a +patch of reeds, did I pass for many days after that without the +conviction that something was lurking there. Game there was in plenty, +no doubt, but it did not come my way. Days went by with, once or twice, +the sight of some small buck just as it disappeared, and many times, the +noise of something in the bush or the sound of galloping feet. Others +brought their contributions to the pot daily, and there seemed to be no +reason in the world why I alone should fail--no reason except sheer bad +luck! It is difficult to believe you have made mistakes when you do not +know enough to recognise them, and have no extent your own ignorance; +and then bad luck is such an easy and such a flattering explanation! If +I did not go so far on the easy road of excuse-making as to put all the +failures down to bad luck, perhaps some one else deserves the credit. + +One evening as we were lounging round the camp fire, Robbie, failing to +find a soft spot for his head on a thorn log, got up reluctantly to +fetch his blankets, exclaiming with a mock tragic air: + +"The time is out of joint; O cursed spite, That ever I was born to set +it right." + +We knew Robbie's way. There were times when he would spout heroics, +suggested by some passing trifle, his own face a marvel of solemnity the +whole time, and only the amused expression in his spectacled grey eyes +to show he was poking fun at himself. An indulgent smile, a chuckle, +and the genial comment "Silly ass!" came from different quarters; for +Robbie was a favourite. Only old Rocky maintained his usual gravity. + +As Robbie settled down again in comfort, the old man remarked in level +thoughtful tones: "I reckon the feller as said that was a waster, he +chucked it!" There was a short pause in which I, in my ignorance, began +to wonder if it was possible that Rocky did not know the source; or did +he take the quotation seriously? Then Robbie answered in mild protest: +"It was a gentleman of the name of Hamlet who said it." + +"Well, you can bet he was no good, anyhow," Rocky drawled out. "`Jus' +my luck!' is the waster's motto!" + +"They do say he was mad," Robbie replied, as his face twitched with a +pull-your-leg expression, "but he got off a lot of first-class things +all the same--some of the best things ever said." + +"I da' say; they mostly can. But a man as sets down and blames his luck +is no good anyhow. He's got no sand, and got no sense, and got no +honesty! It ain't the time's wrong: it's the man! It ain't the job's +too big: it's the man's too little!" + +"You don't believe in luck at all, Rocky?" I ventured to put in. + +"I don't say thar's no such thing as luck--good and bad; but it ain't +the explanation o' success an' failure--not by a long way. No, sirree, +luck's just the thing any man'd like ter believe is the reason for his +failure and another feller's success. But it ain't so. When another +man pulls off what you don't, the first thing you got ter believe is +it's your own fault; and the last, it's his luck. And you jus' got ter +wade in an' find out whar you went wrong, an' put it right, 'thout any +excuses an' explanations." + +"But, Rocky, explanations aren't always excuses, and sometimes you +really have to give them!" + +"Sonny, you kin reckon it dead sure thar's something wrong 'bout a thing +that don't explain itself; an' one explanation's as bad as two +mistakes--it don't fool anybody worth speaking of, 'cept yerself. You +find the remedy; you can leave other folks put up the excuses." + +I was beaten. It was no use going on, for I knew he was right. I +suppose the other fellows also knew whom he was getting at, but they +said nothing; and the subject seemed to have dropped, when Rocky, +harking back to Robbie's quotation, said, with a ghost of a smile: "I +reckon ef that sharp o' your'n hed ter keep the camp in meat we'd go +pretty nigh hungry." + +But it seemed a good deal to give up all at once--the bad luck, the +excuses and explanations, and the comfort they afforded; and I could not +help thinking of that wretched wrong-headed stembuck that had actually +allowed me to pass it, and then cantered away behind me. + +Rocky, known, liked and respected by all, yet intimate with none, was +`going North'--even to the Zambesi, it was whispered--but no one knew +where or why. He was going off alone, with two pack-donkeys and not +even a boy for company, on a trip of many hundreds of miles and +indefinite duration. No doubt he had an idea to work out; perhaps a +report of some trader or hunter or even native was his pole-star: most +certainly he had a plan, but what it was no living soul would know. +That was the way of his kind. With them there was no limit in time or +distance, no hint of purpose or direction, no home, no address, no +`people'; perhaps a partner somewhere or a chum, as silent as +themselves, who would hear some day--if there was anything to tell. + +Rocky had worked near our camp on the Berg. I had known him to nod to, +and when we met again at one of the early outspans in the Bush and +offered a lift for him and his packs he accepted and joined us, it being +still a bit early to attempt crossing the rivers with pack-donkeys. It +may be that the `lift' saved his donkeys something on the roughest roads +and in the early stages; or it may be that we served as a useful screen +for his movements, making it difficult for any one else to follow his +line and watch him. Anyway, he joined us in the way of those days: that +is, we travelled together and as a rule we grubbed together; yet each +cooked for himself and used his own stores, and in principle we +maintained our separate establishments. The bag alone was common; each +man brought what game he got and threw it into the common stock. + +The secret of agreement in the veld is--complete independence! Points +of contact are points of friction--nowhere more so; and the safest plan +is, each man his own outfit and each free to feed or sleep or trek as +and when he chooses. I have known partners and friends who would from +time to time move a trek apart, or a day apart, and always camp apart +when they rejoined; and so remain friends. + +Rocky--in full, Rocky Mountain Jack--had another name, but it was known +to few besides the Mining Commissioner's clerk who registered his +licences from time to time. "In the Rockies whar I was raised" is about +the only remark having deliberate reference to his personal history +which he was known to have made; but it was enough on which to found the +name by which we knew him. + +What struck me first about him was the long Colt's revolver, carried on +his hip; and for two days this `gun,' as he called it, conjured up +visions of Poker Flat and Roaring Camp, Jack Hamlin and Yuba Bill of +cherished memory; and then the inevitable question got itself asked: + +"Did you ever shoot a man, Rocky?" + +"No, Sonny," he drawled gently, "never hed ter use it yet!" + +"It looks very old. Have you had it long?" + +"Jus' 'bout thirty years, I reckon!" + +"Oh! Seems a long time to carry a thing without using it!" + +"Waal," he answered half absently, "thet's so. It's a thing you don't +want orfen--but when you do, you want it derned bad!" + +Rocky seemed to me to have stepped into our life out of the pages of +Bret Harte. For me the glamour of romance was cast by the Master's +spell over all that world, and no doubt helped to make old Rocky +something of a hero in the eyes of youth; but such help was of small +account, for the cardinal fact was Rocky himself. He was a man. + +There did not seem to be any known region of the earth where prospectors +roam that he had not sampled, and yet whilst gleaning something from +every land, his native flavour clung to him unchanged. He was silent by +habit and impossible to draw; not helpful to those who looked for short +cuts, yet kindly and patient with those who meant to try; he was not to +be exploited, and had an illuminating instinct for what was not genuine. +He had `no use for short weight'--and showed it! + +I used to watch him in the circle round the fire at nights, his face +grave, weather-stained and wrinkled, with clear grey eyes and long brown +beard, slightly grizzled then--watch and wonder why Rocky, experienced, +wise and steadfast, should--at sixty--be seeking still. Were the prizes +so few in the prospector's life? or was there something wanting in him +too? Why had he not achieved success? + +It was not so clear then that ideals differ. Rocky's ideal was the +life--not the escape from it. There was something--sentiment, +imagination, poetry, call it what you will--that could make common +success seem to him common indeed and cheap! To follow in a new rush, +to reap where another had sown, had no charm for him. It may be that an +inborn pride disliked it; but it seems more likely that it simply did +not attract him. And if--as in the end I thought--Rocky had taken the +world as it is and backed himself against it--living up to his ideal, +playing a `lone hand' and playing it fair in all conditions, treading +the unbeaten tracks, finding his triumph in his work, always moving on +and contented so to end: the crown, "He was a man!"--then surely Rocky's +had achieved success! + +That is Rocky, as remembered now! A bit idealised? Perhaps so: but who +can say! In truth he had his sides and the defects of his qualities, +like every one else; and it was not every one who made a hero of him. +Many left him respectfully alone; and something of their feeling came to +me the first time I was with him, when a stupid chatterer talked and +asked too much. He was not surly or taciturn, but I felt frozen through +by a calm deadly unresponsiveness which anything with blood and brain +should have shrunk under. The dull monotone, the ominous drawl, the +steady something in his clear calm eyes which I cannot define, gave an +almost corrosive effect to innocent words and a voice of lazy +gentleness. + +"What's the best thing to do following up a wounded buffalo?" was the +question. The questions sprung briskly, as only a `yapper' puts them; +and the answers came like reluctant drops from a filter. "Git out!" + +"Yes, but if there isn't time?" + +"Say yer prayers!" + +"No--seriously--what is the best way of tackling one?" + +"Ef yer wawnt to know, thar's only one way: Keep cool and shoot +straight!" + +"Oh! of course--_if you can_?" + +"An' ef you can't," he added in fool-killer tones, "best stay right +home!" + +Rocky had no fancy notions: he hunted for meat and got it as soon as +possible; he was seldom out long, and rarely indeed came back +empty-handed. I had already learnt not to be too ready with questions. +It was better, so Rocky put it, "to keep yer eyes open and yer mouth +shut"; but the results at first hardly seemed to justify the process. +At the end of a week of failures and disappointments all I knew was that +I knew nothing--a very notable advance it is true, but one quite +difficult to appreciate! Thus it came to me in the light of a +distinction when one evening, after a rueful confession of blundering +made to the party in general, Rocky passed a brief but not unfriendly +glance over me and said, "On'y the born fools stays fools. You'll git +ter learn bymbye; you ain't always yappin'!" + +It was not an extravagant compliment; but failure and helplessness act +on conceit like water on a starched collar: mine was limp by that time, +and I was grateful for little things--most grateful when next morning, +as we were discussing our several ways, he turned to me and asked +gently, "Comin' along, Boy?" + +Surprise and gratitude must have produced a touch of effusiveness which +jarred on him; for, to the eager exclamation and thanks, he made no +answer--just moved on, leaving me to follow. In his scheme of life +there was `no call to slop over.' + +There was a quiet unhesitating sureness and a definiteness of purpose +about old Rocky's movements which immediately inspired confidence. We +had not been gone many minutes before I began to have visions of +exciting chases and glorious endings, and as we walked silently along +they took possession of me so completely that I failed to notice the +difference between his methods and mine. Presently, brimful of +excitement and hope, I asked cheerily what he thought we would get. The +old man stopped and with a gentle graveness of look and a voice from +which all trace of tartness or sarcasm was banished, said, "See, Sonny! +If you been useter goin' round like a dawg with a tin it ain't any +wonder you seen nothin'. You got ter walk soft an' keep yer head shut!" + +In reply to my apology he said that there was "no bell an' curtain in +this yere play; you got ter be thar waitin'." + +Rocky knew better than I did the extent of his good nature; he knew that +in all probability it meant a wasted day; for, with the best will in the +world, the beginner is almost certain to spoil sport. It looks so +simple and easy when you have only read about it or heard others talk; +but there are pitfalls at every step. When, in what seemed to me +perfectly still air, Rocky took a pinch of dust and let it drop, and +afterwards wet one finger and held it up to feel which side cooled, it +was not difficult to know that he was trying the wind; but when he +changed direction suddenly for no apparent reason, or when he stopped +and, after a glance at the ground, slackened his frame, lost all +interest in sport, wind and surroundings, and addressed a remark to me +in ordinary tones, I was hopelessly at sea. His manner showed that some +possibility was disposed of and some idea abandoned. Once he said +"Rietbuck! Heard us I reckon," and then turned off at a right-angle; +but a little later on he pointed to other spoor and, indifferently +dropping the one word `Koodoo,' continued straight on. To me the two +spoors seemed equally fresh; he saw hours'--perhaps a whole day's-- +difference between them. That the rietbuck, scared by us, had gone +ahead and was keenly on the watch for us and therefore not worth +following, and that the koodoo was on the move and had simply struck +across our line and was therefore not to be overtaken, were conclusions +he drew without hesitation. I only saw spoor and began to palpitate +with thoughts of bagging a koodoo bull. + +We had been out perhaps an hour, and by unceasing watchfulness I had +learnt many things: they were about as well learnt and as useful as a +sentence in a foreign tongue got off by heart; but to me they seemed the +essentials and the fundamentals of hunting. I was feeling very pleased +with myself and confident of the result; the stumbling over stones and +stumps had ceased; and there was no more catching in thorns, crunching +on bare gritty places, clinking on rocks, or crackling of dry twigs; and +as we moved on in silence the visions of koodoo and other big game +became very real. There was nothing to hinder them: to do as Rocky did +had become mechanically easy; a glance in his direction every now and +then was enough; there was time and temptation to look about and still +perhaps to be the first to spot the game. + +It was after taking one such casual glance around that I suddenly missed +Rocky: a moment later I saw him moving forward, fast but silently, under +cover of an ant-heap--stooping low and signing to me with one hand +behind his back. With a horrible feeling of having failed him I made a +hurried step sideways to get into line behind him and the ant-heap, and +I stepped right on to a pile of dry crackly sticks. Rocky stood up +quietly and waited, while I wished the earth would open and swallow me. +When I got up abreast he half turned and looked me over with eyes +slightly narrowed and a faint but ominous smile on one side of his +mouth, and drawled out gently: + +"You'd oughter brought some fire crackers!" If only he had sworn at me +it would have been endurable. + +We moved on again and this time I had eyes for nothing but Rocky's back, +and where to put my foot next. It was not very long before he checked +in mid-stride and I stood rigid as a pointer. Peering intently over his +shoulder in the direction in which he looked I could see nothing. The +bush was very open, and yet, even with his raised rifle to guide me, I +could not for the life of me see what he was aiming at. Then the shot +rang out, and a duiker toppled over kicking in the grass not a hundred +yards away. + +The remembrance of certain things still makes me feel uncomfortable; the +yell of delight I let out as the buck fell; the wild dash forward, which +died away to a dead stop as I realised that Rocky himself had not moved; +the sight of him, as I looked back, calmly reloading; and the silence. +To me it was an event: to him, his work. But these things were +forgotten then--lost behind the everlasting puzzle, How was it possible +I had not seen the buck until it fell? Rocky must have known what was +worrying me, for, after we had picked up the buck, he remarked without +any preliminary, "It ain't easy in this bush ter pick up what don't +move; an' it ain't hardly possible ter find what ye don't know!" + +"Game you mean?" I asked, somewhat puzzled. + +"This one was feeding," he answered, after a nod in reply. "I saw his +head go up ter listen; but when they don't move, an' you don't jus' know +what they look like, you kin 'most walk atop o' them. You got ter kind +o' shape 'em in yer eye, an' when you got that fixed you kin pick 'em up +'most anywhere!" + +It cost Rocky an effort to volunteer anything. There were others always +ready to talk and advise; but they were no help. It was Rocky himself +who once said that "the man who's allus offerin' his advice fer nothin' +'s askin' 'bout's much's it's worth." He seemed to run dry of words-- +like an overdrawn well. For several days he took no further notice of +me, apparently having forgotten my existence or repented his good +nature. Once, when in reply to a question, I was owning up to the hopes +and chances and failures of the day, I caught his attentive look turned +on me and was conscious of it--and a little apprehensive--for the rest +of the evening; but nothing happened. + +The following evening however it came out. I had felt that that look +meant something, and that sooner or later I would catch it. It was +characteristic of him that he could always wait, and I never felt quite +safe with him--never comfortably sure that something was not being saved +up for me for some mistake perhaps days old. He was not to be hurried, +nor was he to be put off, and nobody ever interrupted him or headed him +off. His quiet voice was never raised, and the lazy gentleness never +disturbed; he seemed to know exactly what he wanted to say, and to have +opening and attention waiting for him. I suppose it was partly because +he spoke so seldom: but there was something else too--the something that +was just Rocky himself. Although the talk appeared the result of +accident, an instinct told me from the start that it was not really so: +it was Rocky's slow and considered way. + +The only dog with us was licking a cut on her shoulder--the result of an +unauthorised rush at a wounded buck--and after an examination of her +wound we had wandered over the account of how she had got it, and so on +to discussing the dog herself. Rocky sat in silence, smoking and +looking into the fire, and the little discussion was closed by some one +saying, "She's no good for a hunting dog--too plucky!" It was then I +saw Rocky's eyes turned slowly on the last speaker: he looked at him +thoughtfully for a good minute, and then remarked quietly: + +"Thar ain't no sich thing as too plucky!" And with that he stopped, +almost as if inviting contradiction. Whether he wanted a reply or not +one cannot say; anyway, he got none. No one took Rocky on +unnecessarily; and at his leisure he resumed: + +"Thar's brave men; an' thar's fools; an' you kin get some that's both. +But thar's a whole heap that ain't! An' it's jus' the same with dawgs. +She's no fool, but she ain't been taught: that's what's the matter with +her. Men ha' got ter larn: dawgs too! Men ain't born equal: no more's +dawgs! One's born better 'n another--more brains, more heart; but I +ain't yet heard o' the man born with knowledge or experience; that's +what they got ter learn--men an' dawgs! The born fool's got to do +fool's work all the time: but the others larn; and the brave man with +brains 's got a big pull. He don't get shook up--jus' keeps on thinkin' +out his job right along, while the other feller's worryin' about his +hide! An' dawgs is the same." + +Rocky's eyes--for ever grave and thoughtful--rested on the fire; and the +remarks that came from the other men passed unnoticed, but they served +to keep the subject alive. Presently he went on again--opening with an +observation that caused me to move uneasily before there was time to +think why! + +"Boys is like pups--you got ter help 'em some; but not too much, an' not +too soon. They got ter larn themselves. I reckon ef a man's never made +a mistake he's never had a good lesson. Ef you don't pay for a thing +you don't know what it's worth; and mistakes is part o' the price o' +knowledge--the other part is work! But mistakes is the part you don't +like payin': thet's why you remember it. You save a boy from makin' +mistakes and ef he's got good stuff in him, most like you spoil it. He +don't know anything properly, 'cause he don't think; and he don't think, +'cause you saved him the trouble an' he never learned how! He don't +know the meanin' o' consequences and risks, 'cause you kep' 'em off him! +An' bymbye he gets ter believe it's born in him ter go right, an' knows +everything, an' can't go wrong; an' ef things don't pan out in the end +he reckon it's jus' bad luck! No! Sirree! Ef he's got ter swim you +let him know right there that the water's deep an' thar ain't no one to +hol' him up, an' ef he don't wade in an' larn, it's goin' ter be his +funeral!" + +My eyes were all for Rocky, but he was not looking my way, and when the +next remark came, and my heart jumped and my hands and feet moved of +their own accord, his face was turned quite away from me towards the man +on his left. + +"An' it's jus' the same 'ith huntin'! It looks so blamed easy he +reckons it don't need any teachin'. Well, let him try! Leave him run +on his own till his boots is walked off an' he's like to set down and +cry, ef he wasn't 'shamed to; let him know every pur-tickler sort o' +blamed fool he can make of himself; an' then he's fit ter teach, 'cause +he'll listen, an' watch, an' learn--at? say thank ye fer it! Mostly you +got ter make a fool o' yourself once or twice ter know what it feels +like an' how t' avoid it: best do it young--it teaches a boy; but it +kind o' breaks a man up!" + +I kept my eyes on Rocky, avoiding the others, fearing that a look or +word might tempt some one to rub it in; and it was a relief when the old +man naturally and easily picked up his original point and, turning +another look on Jess, said: + +"You got ter begin on the pup. It ain't her fault; it's yours. She's +full up o' the right stuff, but she got no show to larn! Dawgs is all +different, good an' bad--just like men: some larns quick; some'll never +larn. But thar ain't any too plucky!" + +He tossed a chip of green wood into the heart of the fire and watched it +spurtle and smoke, and after quite a long pause, added: + +"Thar's times when a dawg's got to see it through an' be killed. It's +his dooty--same as a man's. I seen it done!" + +The last words were added with a narrowing of his eyes and a curious +softening of voice--as of personal affection or regret. Others noticed +it too; and in reply to a question as to how it had happened Rocky +explained in a few words that a wounded buffalo had waylaid and tossed +the man over its back, and as it turned again to gore him the dog rushed +in between, fighting it off for a time and eventually fastening on to +the nose when the buffalo still pushed on. The check enabled the man to +reach his gun and shoot the buffalo; but the dog was trampled to death. + +"Were you...?" some one began--and then at the look in Rocky's face, +hesitated. Rocky, staring into the fire, answered: + +"It was my dawg!" + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Long after the other men were asleep I lay in my blankets watching the +tricks of light and shadow played by the fire, as fitfully it flamed or +died away. It showed the long prostrate figures of the others as they +slept full stretch on their backs, wrapped in dark blankets; the +waggons, touched with unwonted colours by the flames, and softened to +ghostly shadows when they died; the oxen, sleeping contentedly at their +yokes; Rocky's two donkeys, black and grey, tethered under a +thorn-tree--now and then a long ear moving slowly to some distant sound +and dropping back again satisfied. I could not sleep; but Rocky was +sleeping like a babe. He, gaunt and spare--6 foot 2 he must have +stood--weather-beaten and old, with the long solitary trip before him +and sixty odd years of life behind, he slept when he laid his head down, +and was wide awake and rested when he raised it. He, who had been +through it all, slept; but I, who had only listened, was haunted, +bewitched, possessed, by racing thoughts; and all on account of four +words, and the way he said them, "It was my dawg." + +It was still dark, with a faint promise of saffron in the East, when I +felt a hand on my shoulder and heard Rocky's voice saying, "Comin' +along, Sonny?" + +One of the drivers raised his head to look at us as we passed, and then +called to his voorlooper to turn the cattle loose to graze, and dropped +back to sleep. We left them so and sallied out into the pure clear +morning while all the world was still, while the air, cold and subtly +stimulating, put a spring into the step and an extra beat or two into +the pulse, fairly rinsing lungs and eyes and brain. + +What is there to tell of that day? Why! nothing, really nothing, except +that it was a happy day--a day of little things that all went well, and +so it came to look like the birthday of the hunting. What did it matter +to me that we were soaked through in ten minutes? for the dew weighed +down the heavy-topped grass with clusters of crystal drops that looked +like diamond sprays. It was all too beautiful for words: and so it +should be in the spring-time of youth. + +Rocky was different that day. He showed me things; reading the open +book of nature that I could not understand. He pointed out the spoors +going to and from the drinking-place, and named the various animals; +showed me one more deeply indented than the rest and, murmuring "Scared +I guess," pointed to where it had dashed off out of the regular track; +picked out the big splayed pad of the hyena sneaking round under cover; +stopped quietly in his stride to point where a hare was sitting up +cleaning itself, not ten yards off; stopped again at the sound of a +clear, almost metallic, `clink' and pointed to a little sandy gully in +front of us down which presently came thirty or forty guinea-fowl in +single file, moving swiftly, running and walking, and all in absolute +silence except for that one `clink.' How did he know they were there, +and which way they would go, and know it all so promptly? were questions +I asked myself. + +We walked with the sun--that is towards the West--so that the light +would show up the game and be in their eyes, making it more difficult +for them to see us. We watched a little red stembuck get up from his +form, shake the dew from his coat, stretch himself, and then pick his +way daintily through the wet grass, nibbling here and there as he went. +Rocky did not fire; he wanted something better. + +After the sun had risen, flooding the whole country with golden light, +and, while the dew lasted, making it glisten like a bespangled +transformation scene, we came on a patch of old long grass and, parted +by some twenty yards, walked through it abreast. There was a wild rush +from under my feet, a yellowish body dashed through the grass, and I got +out in time to see a rietbuck ram cantering away. Then Rocky, beside +me, gave a shrill whistle; the buck stopped, side on, looked back at us, +and Rocky dropped it where it stood. Instantly following the shot there +was another rush on our left, and before the second rietbuck had gone +thirty yards Rocky toppled it over in its tracks. From the whistle to +the second shot it was all done in about ten seconds. To me it looked +like magic. I could only gasp. + +We cleaned the bucks, and hid them in a bush. There was meat enough for +the camp then, and I thought we would return at once for boys to carry +it; but Rocky, after a moment's glance round, shouldered his rifle and +moved on again. I followed, asking no questions. We had been gone only +a few minutes when to my great astonishment he stopped and pointing +straight in front asked: + +"What 'ud you put up for that stump?" I looked hard, and answered +confidently, "Two hundred!" + +"Step it!" was his reply. I paced the distance; it was eighty-two +yards. + +It was very bewildering; but he helped me out a bit with "Bush +telescopes, Sonny!" + +"You mean it magnifies them?" I asked in surprise. "No! Magnifies the +distance, like lookin' down an avenue! Gun barr'l looks a mile long +when you put yer eye to it! Open flats brings 'em closer; and 'cross +water or a gully seems like you kin put yer hand on 'em?" + +"I would have missed--by feet--that time Rocky!" + +"You kin take it fer a start, Halve the distance and aim low!" + +"Aim low, as well?" + +"Thar's allus somethin' low: legs, an' ground to show what you done! +But thar's no `outers' marked on the sky!" + +Once, as we walked along, he paused to look at some freshly overturned +ground, and dropped the one word, `Pig.' We turned then to the right +and presently came upon some vlei ground densely covered with tall green +reeds. He slowed down as we approached; I tip-toed in sympathy; and +when only a few yards off he stopped and beckoned me on, and as I came +abreast he raised his hand in warning and pointed into the reeds. There +was a curious subdued sort of murmur of many deep voices. It conveys no +idea of the fact to say they were grunts. They were softened out of all +recognition: there is only one word for it, they sounded `confidential.' +Then as we listened I could make out the soft silky rustling of the +rich undergrowth, and presently, could follow, by the quivering and +waving of odd reeds, the movements of the animals themselves. They were +only a few yards from us--the nearest four or five; they were busy and +contented; and it was obvious they were utterly unconscious of our +presence. As we peered down to the reeds from our greater height it +seemed that we could see the ground and that not so much as a rat could +have passed unnoticed. Yet we saw nothing! + +And then, without the slightest sign, cause or warning that I could +detect, in one instant every sound ceased. I watched the reeds like a +cat on the pounce: never a stir or sign or sound: they had vanished. I +turned to Rocky: he was standing at ease, and there was the faintest +look of amusement in his eyes. + +"They must be there; they can't have got away?" It was a sort of +indignant protest against his evident `chucking it'; but it was full of +doubt all the same. + +"Try!" he said, and I jumped into the reeds straight away. The +under-foliage, it is true, was thicker and deeper than it had looked; +but for all that it was like a conjuring trick--they were not there! I +waded through a hundred yards or more of the narrow belt--it was not +more than twenty yards wide anywhere--but the place was deserted. It +struck me then that if they could dodge us at five to ten yards while we +were watching from the bank and they did not know it--Well, I `chucked +it' too. Rocky was standing in the same place with the same faint look +of friendly amusement when I got back, wet and muddy. + +"Pigs is like that," he said, "same as elephants--jus' disappears!" + +We went on again, and a quarter of an hour later, it may be, Rocky +stopped, subsided to a sitting position, beckoned to me, and pointed +with his levelled rifle in front. It was a couple of minutes before he +could get me to see the stembuck standing in the shade of a thorn-tree. +I would never have seen it but for his whisper to look for something +moving: that gave it to me; I saw the movement of the head as it +cropped. + +"High: right!" was Rocky's comment, as the bullet ripped the bark off a +tree and the startled stembuck raced away. In the excitement I had +forgotten his advice already! + +But there was no time to feel sick and disgusted; the buck, puzzled by +the report on one side and the smash on the tree on the other, half +circled us and stopped to look back. Rocky laid his hand on my +shoulder: + +"Take your time, Sonny!" he said, "Aim low; an' _don't full! Squeeze_!" +And at last I got it. + +We had our breakfast there--the liver roasted on the coals, and a couple +of `dough-boys,' with the unexpected addition of a bottle of cold tea, +weak and unsweetened, produced from Rocky's knapsack! We stayed there a +couple of hours, and that is the only time he really opened out. I +understood then--at last--that of his deliberate kindliness he had come +out that morning meaning to make a happy day of it for a youngster; and +he did it. + +He had the knack of getting at the heart of things, and putting it all +in the fewest words. He spoke in the same slow grave way, with habitual +economy of breath and words; and yet the pictures were living and real, +and each incident complete. I seemed to get from him that morning all +there was to know of the hunting in two great continents--Grizzlies and +other `bar,' Moose and Wapiti, hunted in the snows of the North West; +Elephant, Buffalo, Rhino, Lions, and scores more, in the sweltering heat +of Africa! + +That was a happy day! + +When I woke up next morning Rocky was fitting the packs on his donkeys. +I was a little puzzled, wondering at first if he was testing the +saddles, for he had said nothing about moving on; but when he joined us +at breakfast the donkeys stood packed ready to start. Then Robbie +asked: + +"Going to make a move, Rocky?" + +"Yes! Reckon I'll git!" he answered quietly. + +I ate in silence, thinking of what he was to face: many hundreds of +miles--perhaps a thousand or two; many, many months--may be a year or +two; wild country, wild tribes, and wild beasts; floods and fever; +accident, hunger, and disease; and alone! + +When we had finished breakfast he rinsed out his beaker and hung it on +one of the packs, slung his rifle over his shoulder, and picking up his +long assegai-wood walking-stick tapped the donkeys lightly to turn them +into the Kaffir footpath that led away North. They jogged on into place +in single file. + +Rocky paused a second before following, turned one brief grave glance on +us, and said! + +"Well. So long!" + +He never came back! + + +CHAPTER THREE. + +JESS. + +Good dogs were not easy to get; I had tried hard enough for one before +starting, but without success. Even unborn puppies had jealous +prospective owners waiting to claim them. + +There is always plenty of room at the top of the tree, and good hunting +dogs were as rare as good men, good horses, and good front oxen. A lot +of qualities are needed in the make-up of a good hunting dog: size, +strength, quickness, scent, sense and speed--and plenty of courage. +They are very very difficult to get; but even small dogs are useful, and +many a fine feat stands to the credit of little terriers in guarding +camps at night and in standing off wounded animals that meant mischief. + +Dennison was saved from a wounded lioness by his two fox-terriers. He +had gone out to shoot bush-pheasants, and came unexpectedly on a lioness +playing with her cubs: the cubs hid in the grass, but she stood up at +bay to protect them, and he, forgetting that he had taken the big +`looper' cartridges from his gun and reloaded with Number 6, fired. The +shot only maddened her, and she charged; but the two dogs dashed at her, +one at each side, barking, snapping and yelling, rushing in and jumping +back so fast and furiously that they flustered her. Leaving the man for +the moment, she turned on them, dabbing viciously with her huge paws, +first at one, then at the other; quick as lightning she struck right and +left as a kitten will at a twirled string; but they kept out of reach. +It only lasted seconds, but that was long enough for the man to reload +and shoot the lioness through the heart. + +There was only the one dog in our camp; and she was not an attractive +one. She was a bull-terrier with a dull brindled coat--black and grey +in shadowy stripes. She had small cross-looking eyes and uncertain +always-moving ears; she was bad tempered and most unsociable; but she +was as faithful and as brave a dog as ever lived. She never barked; +never howled when beaten for biting strangers or kaffirs or going for +the cattle; she was very silent, very savage, and very quick. She +belonged to my friend Ted, and never left his side day or night. Her +name was Jess. + +Jess was not a favourite, but everybody respected her, partly because +you knew she would not stand any nonsense--no pushing, patting or +punishment, and very little talking to--and partly because she was so +faithful and plucky. She was not a hunting dog, but on several +occasions had helped to pull down wounded game; she had no knowledge or +skill, and was only fierce and brave, and there was always the risk that +she would be killed. She would listen to Ted, but to no one else; one +of us might have shouted his lungs out, but it would not have stopped +her from giving chase the moment she saw anything and keeping on till +she was too dead beat to move any further. + +The first time I saw Jess we were having dinner, and I gave her a bone-- +putting it down close to her and saying, "Here! good dog!" As she did +not even look at it, I moved it right under her nose. She gave a low +growl, and her little eyes turned on me for just one look as she got up +and walked away. + +There was a snigger of laughter from some of the others, but nobody said +anything, and it seemed wiser to ask no questions just then. +Afterwards, when we were alone, one of them told me Ted had trained her +not to feed from any one else, adding, "You must not feed another man's +dog; a dog has only one master!" + +We respected Jess greatly; but no one knew quite how much we respected +her until the memorable day near Ship Mountain. + +We had rested through the heat of the day under a big tree on the bank +of a little stream; it was the tree under which Soltke prayed and died. +About sundown, just before we were ready to start, some other waggons +passed, and Ted, knowing the owner, went on with him intending to rejoin +us at the next outspan. As he jumped on to the passing waggon he called +to Jess, and she ran out of a patch of soft grass under one of the big +trees behind our waggons. She answered his call instantly, but when she +saw him moving off on the other waggon she sat down in the road and +watched him anxiously for some seconds, then ran on a few steps in her +curious quick silent way and again stopped, giving swift glances +alternately towards Ted and towards us. Ted remarked laughingly that +she evidently thought he had made a mistake by getting on to the wrong +waggon, and that she would follow presently. + +After he had disappeared she ran back to her patch of grass and lay +down, but in a few minutes she was back again squatting in the road +looking with that same anxious worried expression after her master. +Thus she went to and fro for the quarter of an hour it took us to +inspan, and each time she passed we could hear a faint anxious little +whine. + +The oxen were inspanned and the last odd things were being put up when +one of the boys came to say that he could not get the guns and +water-barrel because Jess would not let him near them. There was +something the matter with the dog, he said; he thought she was mad. + +Knowing how Jess hated kaffirs we laughed at the notion, and went for +the things ourselves. As we came within five yards of the tree where we +had left the guns there was a rustle in the grass, and Jess came out +with her swift silent run, appearing as unexpectedly as a snake does, +and with some odd suggestion of a snake in her look and attitude. Her +head, body and tail were in a dead line, and she was crouching slightly +as for a spring; her ears were laid flat back, her lips twitching +constantly, showing the strong white teeth, and her cross wicked eyes +had such a look of remorseless cruelty in them that we stopped as if we +had been turned to stone. She never moved a muscle or made a sound, but +kept those eyes steadily fixed on us. We moved back a pace or two and +began to coax and wheedle her; but it was no good; she never moved or +made a sound, and the unblinking look remained. For a minute we stood +our ground, and then the hair on her back and shoulders began very +slowly to stand up. That was enough: we cleared off. It was a mighty +uncanny appearance. + +Then another tried his hand; but it was just the same. No one could do +anything with her; no one could get near the guns or the water-barrel; +as soon as we returned for a fresh attempt she reappeared in the same +place and in the same way. + +The position was too ridiculous, and we were at our wits' end; for Jess +held the camp. The kaffirs declared the dog was mad, and we began to +have very uncomfortable suspicions that they were right; but we decided +to make a last attempt, and surrounding the place approached from all +sides. But the suddenness with which she appeared before we got into +position so demoralised the kaffirs that they bolted, and we gave it up, +owning ourselves beaten. We turned to watch her as she ran back for the +last time, and as she disappeared in the grass we heard distinctly the +cry of a very young puppy. Then the secret of Jess's madness was out. + +We had to send for Ted, and when he returned a couple of hours later +Jess met him out on the road in the dark where she had been watching +half the time ever since he left. She jumped up at his chest giving a +long tremulous whimper of welcome, and then ran ahead straight to the +nest in the grass. + +He took a lantern and we followed, but not too close. When he knelt +down to look at the puppies she stood over them and pushed herself in +between him and them; when he put out a hand to touch them she pushed it +away with her nose, whining softly in protest and trembling with +excitement--you could see she would not bite, but she hated him to touch +her puppies. Finally, when he picked one up she gave a low cry and +caught his wrist gently, but held it. + +That was Jess, the mother of Jock! + + +CHAPTER FOUR. + +THE PICK OF THE PUPPIES. + +There were six puppies, and as the waggons were empty we fixed up a +roomy nest in one of them for Jess and her family. There was no trouble +with Jess; nobody interfered with her, and she interfered with nobody. +The boys kept clear of her; but we used to take a look at her and the +puppies as we walked along with the waggons; so by degrees she got to +know that we would not harm them, and she no longer wanted to eat us +alive if we went near and talked to her. + +Five of the puppies were fat strong yellow little chaps with dark +muzzles--just like their father, as Ted said; and their father was an +imported dog, and was always spoken of as the best dog of the breed that +had ever been in the country. I never saw him, so I do not really know +what he was like--perhaps he was not a yellow dog at all; but, whatever +he was, he had at that time a great reputation because he was +`imported,' and there were not half a dozen imported dogs in the whole +of the Transvaal then. Many people used to ask what breed the puppies +were--I suppose it was because poor cross faithful old Jess was not much +to look at, and because no one had a very high opinion of yellow dogs in +general, and nobody seemed to remember any famous yellow bull-terriers. +They used to smile in a queer way when they asked the question, as if +they were going to get off a joke; but when we answered "Just like their +father--Buchanan's _imported_ dog," the smile disappeared, and they +would give a whistle of surprise and say "By Jove!" and immediately +begin to examine the five yellow puppies, remark upon their ears and +noses and legs, and praise them up until we were all as proud as if they +had belonged to us. + +Jess looked after her puppies and knew nothing about the remarks that +were made, so they did not worry her, but I often looked at the faithful +old thing with her dark brindled face, cross-looking eyes and +always-moving ears, and thought it jolly hard lines that nobody had a +good word for her; it seemed rough on her that every one should be glad +there was only one puppy at all like the mother--the sixth one, a poor +miserable little rat of a thing about half the size of the others. He +was not yellow like them, nor dark brindled like Jess, but a sort of +dirty pale half-and-half colour with some dark faint wavy lines all over +him, as if he had tried to be brindled and failed; and he had a dark +sharp wizened little muzzle that looked shrivelled up with age. + +Most of the fellows said it would be a good thing to drown the odd one +because he spoilt the litter and made them look as though they were not +really thoroughbred, and because he was such a miserable little rat that +he was not worth saving anyhow; but in the end he was allowed to live. +I believe no one fancied the job of taking one of Jess's puppies away +from her; moreover, as any dog was better than none, I had offered to +take him rather than let him be drowned. Ted had old friends to whom he +had already promised the pick of the puppies, so when I came along it +was too late, and all he could promise me was that if there should be +one over I might have it. + +As they grew older and were able to crawl about they were taken off the +waggons when we outspanned and put on the ground. Jess got to +understand this at once, and she used to watch us quite quietly as we +took them in our hands to put them down or lift them back again. When +they were two or three weeks old a man came to the waggons who talked a +great deal about dogs, and appeared to know what had to be done. He +said that the puppies' tails ought to be docked, and that a bull-terrier +would be no class at all with a long tail, but you should on no account +clip his ears. I thought he was speaking of fox-terriers, and that with +bull-terriers the position was the other way round, at that time; but as +he said it was `the thing' in England, and nobody contradicted him, I +shut up. We found out afterwards that he had made a mistake; but it was +too late then, and Jess's puppies started life as bull-terriers up to +date, with long ears and short tails. + +I felt sure from the beginning that all the yellow puppies would be +claimed and that I should have to take the odd one, or none at all; so I +began to look upon him as mine already, and to take an interest in him +and look after him. A long time ago somebody wrote that "the sense of +possession turns sand into gold," and it is one of the truest things +ever said. Until it seemed that this queer-looking odd puppy was going +to be mine I used to think and say very much what the others did--but +with this difference, that I always felt sorry for him, and sorry for +Jess too, because he was like her and not like the father. I used to +think that perhaps if he were given a chance he might grow up like poor +old Jess herself, ugly, cross and unpopular, but brave and faithful. I +felt sorry for him, too, because he was small and weak, and the other +five big puppies used to push him away from his food and trample on him; +and when they were old enough to play they used to pull him about by his +ears and pack on to him--three or four to one--and bully him horribly. +Many a time I rescued him, and many a time gave him a little preserved +milk and water with bread soaked in it when the others had shouldered +him out and eaten everything. + +After a little while, when my chance of getting one of the good puppies +seemed hopeless and I got used to the idea that I would have to take the +odd one, I began to notice little things about him that no one else +noticed, and got to be quite fond of the little beggar--in a kind of +way. Perhaps I was turning my sand into gold, and my geese into swans; +perhaps I grew fond of him simply because, finding him lonely and with +no one else to depend on, I befriended him; and perhaps it was because +he was always cheerful and plucky and it seemed as if there might be +some good stuff in him after all. Those were the things I used to think +of sometimes when feeding the little outcast. The other puppies would +tumble him over and take his food from him; they would bump into him +when he was stooping over the dish of milk and porridge, and his head +was so big and his legs so weak that he would tip up and go heels over +head into the dish. We were always picking him out of the food and +scraping it off him: half the time he was wet and sticky, and the other +half covered with porridge and sand baked hard by the sun. + +One day just after the waggons had started, as I took a final look round +the outspan place to see if anything had been forgotten, I found the +little chap--who was only about four inches high--struggling to walk +through the long grass. He was not big enough or strong enough to push +his way--even the stems of the down-trodden grass tripped him--and he +stumbled and floundered at every step, but he got up again each time +with his little tail standing straight up, his head erect, and his ears +cocked. He looked such a ridiculous sight that his little tragedy of +"lost in the veld" was forgotten--one could only laugh. + +What he thought he was doing, goodness only knows; he looked as proud +and important as if he owned the whole world and knew that every one in +it was watching him. The poor little chap could not see a yard in that +grass; and in any case he was not old enough to see much, or understand +anything, for his eyes still had that bluish blind look that all very +young puppies have, but he was marching along as full of confidence as a +general at the head of his army. How he fell out of the waggon no one +knew; perhaps the big puppies tumbled him out, or he may have tried to +follow Jess, or have climbed over the tail-board to see what was the +other side, for he was always going off exploring by himself. His +little world was small, it may be--only the bed-plank of the waggon and +the few square yards of the ground on which they were dumped at the +outspans--but he took it as seriously as any explorer who ever tackled a +continent. + +The others were a bit more softened towards the odd puppy when I caught +up to the waggons and told them of his valiant struggle to follow; and +the man who had docked the puppies' tails allowed, "I believe the rat's +got pluck, whatever else is the matter with him, for he was the only one +that didn't howl when I snipped them. The little cuss just gave a grunt +and turned round as if he wanted to eat me. I think he'd 'a' been +terrible angry if he hadn't been so s'prised. Pity he's such an +awful-looking mongrel." + +But no one else said a good word for him: he was really beneath notice, +and if ever they had to speak about him they called him "The Rat." +There is no doubt about it he was extremely ugly, and instead of +improving as he grew older, he became worse; yet, I could not help +liking him and looking after him, sometimes feeling sorry for him, +sometimes being tremendously amused, and sometimes--wonderful to +relate--really admiring him. He was extraordinarily silent; while the +others barked at nothing, howled when lonely, and yelled when frightened +or hurt, the odd puppy did none of these things; in fact, he began to +show many of Jess's peculiarities; he hardly ever barked, and when he +did it was not a wild excited string of barks but little suppressed +muffled noises, half bark and half growl, and just one or two at a time; +and he did not appear to be afraid of anything, so one could not tell +what he would do if he was. + +One day we had an amusing instance of his nerve: one of the oxen, +sniffing about the outspan, caught sight of him all alone, and filled +with curiosity came up to examine him, as a hulking silly old tame ox +will do. It moved towards him slowly and heavily with its ears spread +wide and its head down, giving great big sniffs at this new object, +trying to make out what it was. "The Rat" stood quite still with his +stumpy tail cocked up and his head a little on one side, and when the +huge ox's nose was about a foot from him he gave one of those funny +abrupt little barks. It was as if the object had suddenly `gone off' +like a cracker, and the ox nearly tumbled over with fright; but even +when the great mountain of a thing gave a clumsy plunge round and +trotted off, "The Rat" was not the least frightened; he was startled, +and his tail and ears flickered for a second, but stiffened up again +instantly, and with another of those little barks he took a couple of +steps forward and cocked his head on the other side. That was his way. + +He was not a bit like the other puppies; if any one fired off a gun or +cracked one of the big whips the whole five would yell at the top of +their voices and, wherever they were, would start running, scrambling +and floundering as fast as they could towards the waggon without once +looking back to see what they were running away from. The odd puppy +would drop his bone with a start or would jump round; his ears and tail +would flicker up and down for a second; then he would slowly bristle up +all over, and with his head cocked first on one side and then on the +other, stare hard with his half-blind bluish puppy eyes in the direction +of the noise; but he never ran away. + +And so, little by little, I got to like him in spite of his awful +ugliness. And it really was awful! The other puppies grew big all +over, but the odd one at that time seemed to grow only in one part--his +tummy! The poor little chap was born small and weak; he had always been +bullied and crowded out by the others, and the truth is he was half +starved. The natural consequence of this was that as soon as he could +walk about and pick up things for himself he made up for lost time, and +filled up his middle piece to an alarming size before the other parts of +his body had time to grow; at that time he looked more like a big +tock-tockie beetle than a dog. + +Besides the balloon-like tummy he had stick-out bandy-legs, very like a +beetle's too, and a neck so thin that it made the head look enormous, +and you wondered how the neck ever held it up. But what made him so +supremely ridiculous was that he evidently did not know he was ugly; he +walked about as if he was always thinking of his dignity, and he had +that puffed-out and stuck-up air of importance that you only see in +small people and bantam cocks who are always trying to appear an inch +taller than they really are. + +When the puppies were about a month old, and could feed on porridge or +bread soaked in soup or gravy, they got to be too much for Jess, and she +used to leave them for hours at a time and hide in the grass so as to +have a little peace and sleep. Puppies are always hungry, so they soon +began to hunt about for themselves, and would find scraps of meat and +porridge or old bones; and if they could not get anything else, would +try to eat the raw-hide nekstrops and reims. Then the fights began. As +soon as one puppy saw another busy on anything, he would walk over +towards him and, if strong enough, fight him for it. All day long it +was nothing but wrangle, snarl, bark and yelp. Sometimes four or five +would be at it in one scrum; because as soon as one heard a row going on +he would trot up hoping to steal the bone while the others were busy +fighting. + +It was then that I noticed other things about the odd puppy: no matter +how many packed on to him, or how they bit or pulled him, he never once +let out a yelp; with four or five on top of him you would see him on his +back, snapping right and left with bare white teeth, gripping and +worrying them when he got a good hold of anything, and all the time +growling and snarling with a fierceness that was really comical. It +sounded as a lion fight might sound in a toy phonograph. + +Before many days passed, it was clear that some of the other puppies +were inclined to leave "The Rat" alone, and that only two of them--the +two biggest--seemed anxious to fight him and could take his bones away. +The reason soon became apparent: instead of wasting his breath in making +a noise, or wasting strength in trying to tumble the others over, "The +Rat" simply bit hard and hung on; noses, ears, lips, cheeks, feet and +even tails--all came handy to him; anything he could get hold of and +hang on to was good enough, and the result generally was that in about +half a minute the other puppy would leave everything and clear off +yelling, and probably holding up one paw or hanging its head on one side +to ease a chewed ear. + +When either of the big puppies tackled the little fellow the fight +lasted much longer. Even if he were tumbled over at once--as generally +happened--and the other one stood over him barking and growling, that +did not end the fight: as soon as the other chap got off him he would +struggle up and begin again; he would not give in. The other puppies +seemed to think there was some sort of rule like the `count out' in +boxing, or that once you were tumbled over you ought to give up the +bone; but the odd puppy apparently did not care about rules; as far as I +could see, he had just one rule: "Stick to it," so it was not very long +before even the two big fellows gave up interfering with him. The bites +from his little white teeth--sharp as needles--which punctured noses and +feet and tore ears, were most unpleasant. But apart from that, they +found there was nothing to be gained by fighting him: they might roll +him over time after time, but he came back again and worried them so +persistently that it was quite impossible to enjoy the bone--they had to +keep on fighting for it. + +At first I drew attention to these things, but there was no +encouragement from the others; they merely laughed at the attempt to +make the best of a bad job. Sometimes owners of other puppies were +nettled by having their beauties compared with "The Rat," or were +annoyed because he had the cheek to fight for his own and beat them. +Once, when I had described how well he had stood up to Billy's pup, +Robbie caught up "The Rat," and placing him on the table, said: "Hats +off to the Duke of Wellington on the field of Waterloo." That seemed to +me the poorest sort of joke to send five grown men into fits of +laughter. He stood there on the table with his head on one side, one +ear standing up, and his stumpy tail twiggling--an absurd picture of +friendliness, pride and confidence; yet he was so ugly and ridiculous +that my heart sank, and I whisked him away. They made fun of him, and +he did not mind; but it was making fun of me too, and I could not help +knowing why; it was only necessary to put the puppies together to see +the reason. + +After that I stopped talking about him, and made the most of the good +points he showed, and tried to discover more. It was the only +consolation for having to take the leavings of the litter. + +Then there came a day when something happened which might easily have +turned out very differently, and there would have been no stories and no +Jock to tell about; and the best dog in the world would never have been +my friend and companion. The puppies had been behaving very badly, and +had stolen several nekstrops and chewed up parts of one or two big +whips; the drivers were grumbling about all the damage done and the +extra work it gave them; and Ted, exasperated by the worry of it all, +announced that the puppies were quite old enough to be taken away, and +that those who had picked puppies must take them at once and look after +them, or let some one else have them. When I heard him say that my +heart gave a little thump from excitement, for I knew the day had come +when the great question would be settled once and for all. Here was a +glorious and unexpected chance; perhaps one of the others would not or +could not take his, and I might get one of the good ones... Of course +the two big ones would be snapped up: that was certain; for, even if the +men who had picked them could not take them, others; who had been +promised puppies before me would exchange those they had already chosen +for the better ones. Still, there were other chances; and I thought of +very little else all day long, wondering if any of the good ones would +be left; and if so, which? + +In the afternoon Ted came up to where we were all lying in the shade and +startled us with the momentous announcement: + +"Billy Griffiths can't take his pup!" + +Every man of us sat up. Billy's pup was the first pick, the champion of +the litter, the biggest and strongest of the lot. Several of the others +said at once that they would exchange theirs for this one; but Ted +smiled and shook his head. + +"No," he said, "you had a good pick in the beginning." Then he turned +to me, and added: "You've only had leavings." Some one said "The Rat," +and there was a shout of laughter, but Ted went on; "You can have +Billy's pup." + +It seemed too good to be true; not even in my wildest imaginings had I +fancied myself getting the pick of the lot. I hardly waited to thank +Ted before going off to look at my champion. I had seen and admired him +times out of number, but it seemed as if he must look different now that +he belonged to me. He was a fine big fellow, well built and strong, and +looked as if he could beat all the rest put together. His legs were +straight; his neck sturdy; his muzzle dark and shapely; his ears equal +and well carried; and in the sunlight his yellow coat looked quite +bright, with occasional glints of gold in it. He was indeed a handsome +fellow. + +As I put him back again with the others the odd puppy, who had stood up +and sniffed at me when I came, licked my hand and twiddled his tail with +the friendliest and most independent air, as if he knew me quite well +and was glad to see me, and I patted the poor little chap as he waddled +up. I had forgotten him in the excitement of getting Billy's pup; but +the sight of him made me think of his funny ways, his pluck and +independence, and of how he had not a friend in the world except Jess +and me; and I felt downright sorry for him. I picked him up and talked +to him; and when his wizened little face was close to mine, he opened +his mouth as if laughing, and shooting out his red tongue dabbed me +right on the tip of my nose in pure friendliness. The poor little +fellow looked more ludicrous than ever: he had been feeding again and +was as tight as a drum; his skin was so tight one could not help +thinking that if he walked over a mimosa thorn and got a scratch on the +tummy he would burst like a toy balloon. + +I put him back with the other puppies and returned to the tree where Ted +and the rest were sitting. As I came up there was a shout of laughter, +and--turning round to see what had provoked it--I found "The Rat" at my +heels. He had followed me and was trotting and stumbling along, +tripping every yard or so, but getting up again with head erect, ears +cocked and his stumpy tail twiddling away just as pleased and proud as +if he thought he had really started in life and was doing what only a +`really and truly' grown-up dog is supposed to do--that is, follow his +master wherever he goes. + +All the old chaff and jokes were fired off at me again, and I had no +peace for quite a time. They all had something to say: "He won't swap +you off!" + +"I'll back `The Rat'!" "He is going to take care of you!" + +"He is afraid you'll get lost!" and so on; and they were still chaffing +about it when I grabbed "The Rat" and took him back again. + +Billy's failure to take his puppy was so entirely unexpected and so +important that the subject kept cropping up all the evening. It was +very amusing then to see how each of those who had wanted to get him +succeeded in finding good reasons for thinking that his own puppy was +really better than Billy's. However they differed in their estimates of +each other's dogs, they all agreed that the best judge in the world +could not be certain of picking out the best dog in a good litter until +the puppies were several months old; and they all gave instances in +which the best looking puppy had turned out the worst dog, and others in +which the one that no one would look at had grown up to be the champion. +Goodness knows how long this would have gone on if Robbie had not +mischievously suggested that "perhaps `The Rat' was going to beat the +whole lot." There was such a chorus of guffaws at this that no one told +any more stories. + +The poor little friendless Rat! It was unfortunate, but the truth is +that he was uglier than before; and yet I could not help liking him. I +fell asleep that night thinking of the two puppies--the best and the +worst in the litter. No sooner had I gone over all the splendid points +in Billy's pup and made up my mind that he was certainly the finest I +had ever seen, than the friendly wizened little face, the half-cocked +ears and head on one side, the cocky little stump of a tail, and the +comical dignified plucky look of the odd puppy would all come back to +me. The thought of how he had licked my hand and twiddled his tail at +me, and how he dabbed me on the nose, and then the manful way in which +he had struggled after me through the grass, all made my heart go soft +towards him, and I fell asleep not knowing what to do. + +When I woke up in the morning, my first thought was of the odd puppy-- +how he looked to me as his only friend, and what he would feel like if, +after looking on me as really belonging to him and as the one person +that he was going to take care of all his life, he knew he was to be +left behind or given away to any one who would take him. It would never +have entered his head that he required some one to look after him; from +the way he had followed me the night before it was clear he was looking +after me; and the other fellows thought the same thing. His whole +manner had plainly said: "Never mind old man! Don't you worry: I am +here." + +We used to make our first trek at about three o'clock in the morning, so +as to be outspanned by sunrise; and walking along during that morning +trek I recalled all the stories that the others had told of miserable +puppies having grown into wonderful dogs, and of great men who had been +very ordinary children; and at breakfast I took the plunge. + +"Ted," I said, bracing myself for the laughter, "if you don't mind, I'll +stick to `The Rat.'" + +If I had fired off a gun under their noses they would have been much +less startled. Robbie made a grab for his plate as it slipped from his +knees. + +"_Don't_ do that sort of thing!" he protested indignantly. "My nerves +won't stand it!" + +The others stopped eating and drinking, held their beakers of steaming +coffee well out of the way to get a better look at me, and when they saw +it was seriously meant there was a chorus of: "Well, I'm hanged." + +I took him in hand at once--for now he was really mine--and brought him +over for his saucer of soaked bread and milk to where we sat at +breakfast. Beside me there was a rough camp table--a luxury sometimes +indulged in while camping or trekking with empty waggons--on which we +put our tinned-milk, treacle and such things to keep them out of reach +of the ants, grasshoppers, Hottentot-gods, beetles and dust. I put the +puppy and his saucer in a safe place under the table out of the way of +stray feet, and sank the saucer into the sand so that when he trod in it +he would not spill the food; for puppies are quite stupid as they are +greedy, and seem to think that they can eat faster by getting further +into the dish. He appeared to be more ravenous than usual, and we were +all amused by the way the little fellow craned his thin neck out further +and further until he tipped up behind and his nose bumping into the +saucer see-sawed him back again. He finished it all and looked round +briskly at me, licking his lips and twiddling his stumpy tail. + +Well, I meant to make a dog of him, so I gave him another lot. He was +just like a little child--he thought he was very hungry still and could +eat any amount more; but it was not possible. The lapping became slower +and more laboured, with pauses every now and then to get breath or lick +his lips and look about him, until at last he was fairly beaten: he +could only look at it, blink and lick his chops; and, knowing that he +would keep on trying, I took the saucer away. He was too full to object +or to run after it; he was too full to move. He stood where he was, +with his legs well spread and his little body blown out like a balloon, +and finished licking the drops and crumbs off his face without moving a +foot. + +There was something so extraordinarily funny in the appearance and +attitude of the puppy that we watched to see what he would do next. He +had been standing very close to the leg of the table, but not quite +touching it, when he finished feeding; and even after he had done +washing his face and cleaning up generally, he stood there stock-still +for several minutes, as though it was altogether too much trouble to +move. One little bandy hind leg stuck out behind the table-leg, and the +bulge of his little tummy stuck out in front of it; so that when at last +he decided to make a move the very first little lurch brought his hip up +against the table-leg. In an instant the puppy's appearance changed +completely: the hair on his back and shoulders bristled; his head went +up erect; one ear stood up straight and the other at half cock; and his +stumpy tail quivered with rage. He evidently thought that one of the +other puppies had come up behind to interfere with him. He was too +proud to turn round and appear to be nervous: with head erect he glared +hard straight in front of him, and, with all the little breath that he +had left after his big feed, he growled ferociously in comical little +gasps. He stood like that, not moving an inch, with the front foot +still ready to take that step forward; and then, as nothing more +happened, the hair on his back gradually went flat again; the fierceness +died out of his face; and the growling stopped. + +After a minute's pause, he again very slowly and carefully began to step +forward; of course exactly the same thing happened again, except that +this time he shook all over with rage, and the growling was fiercer and +more choky. One could not imagine anything so small being in so great a +rage. He took longer to cool down, too, and much longer before he made +the third attempt to start. But the third time it was all over in a +second. He seemed to think that this was more than any dog could stand, +and that he must put a stop to it. The instant his hip touched the leg, +he whipped round with a ferocious snarl--his little white teeth bared +and gleaming--and bumped his nose against the table-leg. + +I cannot say whether it was because of the shout of laughter from us, or +because he really understood what had happened, that he looked so +foolish, but he just gave one crestfallen look at me and with a feeble +wag of his tail waddled off as fast as he could. + +Then Ted nodded over at me, and said: "I believe you have got the +champion after all!" And I was too proud to speak. + + +CHAPTER FIVE. + +JOCK'S SCHOOLDAYS. + +After that day no one spoke of "The Rat" or "The Odd Puppy," or used any +of the numberless nicknames that they had given him, such as "The +Specimen," "The Object," "Number 6," "Bully-Beef," (because he got his +head stuck in a half-pound tin one day), "The Scrap"; and even "The Duke +of Wellington" ceased to be a gibe. They still laughed at his +ridiculous dignity; and they loved to tease him to see him stiffen with +rage and hear his choky little growls; but they liked his independence +and admired his tremendous pluck. So they respected his name when he +got one. + +And his name was "Jock." + +No one bothered about the other puppies' names: they were known as +"Billy's pup," "Jimmy's pup," "Old Joe's Darling," "Yellow Jack," and +"Bandy-Legged Sue"; but they seemed to think that this little chap had +earned his name, fighting his way without anybody's help and with +everything against him; so they gave up all the nicknames and spoke of +him as "Jock." + +Jock got such a good advertisement by his fight with the table-leg that +every one took notice of him now and remarked about what he did; and as +he was only a very young puppy, they teased him, fed him, petted him, +and did their best to spoil him. He was so young that it did not seem +to matter, but I think if he had not been a really good dog at heart he +would have been quite spoilt. + +He soon began to grow and fill out; and it was then that he taught the +other puppies to leave him alone. If they had not interfered with him +he might perhaps have left them alone, as it was not his nature to +interfere with others; but the trouble was they had bullied him so much +while he was weak and helpless that he got used to the idea of fighting +for everything. It is probably the best thing that could have happened +to Jock that as a puppy he was small and weak, but full of pluck; it +compelled him to learn how to fight; it made him clever, cool, and +careful, for he could not afford to make mistakes. When he fought he +meant business; he went for a good spot, bit hard, and hung on for all +he was worth; then, as the enemy began to slacken, he would start +vigorously worrying and shaking. I often saw him shake himself off his +feet, because the thing he was fighting was too heavy for him. + +The day Jock fought the two big puppies--one after the other--for his +bone, and beat them off, was the day of his independence; we all saw the +tussle, and cheered the little chap. And then for one whole day he had +peace; but it was like the pause at low water before the tide begins to +flow the other way. He was so used to being interfered with that I +suppose he did not immediately understand they would never tackle him +again. + +It took a whole day for him to realise this; but as soon as he did +understand it he seemed to make up his mind that now his turn had come, +and he went for the first puppy he saw with a bone. He walked up slowly +and carefully, and began to make a circle round him. When he got about +half-way round the puppy took up the bone and trotted off; but Jock +headed him off at once, and again began to walk towards him very slowly +and stiffly. The other puppy stood quite still for a moment, and then +Jock's fierce determined look was too much for him: he dropped the bone +and bolted. + +There was mighty little but smell on those bones, for we gave the +puppies very little meat, so when Jock had taken what he could off this +one, he started on another hunt. A few yards away Billy's pup was +having a glorious time, struggling with a big bone and growling all the +while as if he wanted to let the world know that it was as much as any +one's life was worth to come near him. None of us thought Jock would +tackle him, as Billy's pup was still a long way the biggest and +strongest of the puppies, and always ready to bully the others. + +Jock was about three or four yards away when he caught sight of Billy's +pup, and for about a minute he stood still and quietly watched. At +first he seemed surprised, and then interested, and then gradually he +stiffened up all over in that funny way of his; and when the hair on his +shoulders was all on end and his ears and tail were properly up, he +moved forward very deliberately. In this fashion he made a circle round +Billy's pup, keeping about two feet away from him, walking infinitely +slowly and glaring steadily at the enemy out of the corners of his eyes; +and while he was doing this, the other fellow was tearing away at his +bone, growling furiously and glaring sideways at Jock. When the circle +was finished they stood once more face to face; and then after a short +pause Jock began to move in closer, but more slowly even than before. + +Billy's pup did not like this: it was beginning to look serious. He +could not keep on eating and at the same time watch Jock; moreover, +there was such a very unpleasant wicked look about Jock, and he moved so +steadily and silently forward, that any one would feel a bit creepy and +nervous; so he put his paw on the bone and let out a string of snarly +barks, with his ears flat on his neck and his tail rather low down. But +Jock still came on--a little more carefully and slowly perhaps, but just +as steadily as ever. When about a foot off the enemy's nose he changed +his direction slightly, as if to walk past, and Billy's pup turned his +head to watch him, keeping his nose pointed towards Jock's, but when +they got side by side he again looked straight in front of him. + +Perhaps he did this to make sure the bone was still there, or perhaps to +show his contempt when he thought Jock was going off. Whatever the +reason was, it was a mistake; for, as he turned his head away, Jock flew +at him, got a good mouthful of ear, and in no time they were rolling and +struggling in the dust--Jock's little grunts barely-audible in the noise +made by the other one. Billy's pup was big and strong, and he was not a +coward; but Jock was worrying his ear vigorously, and he could not find +anything to bite in return. In less than a minute he began to howl, and +was making frantic efforts to get away. Then Jock let go the ear and +tackled the bone. + +After that he had no more puppy fights. As soon as any one of the +others saw Jock begin to walk slowly and carefully towards him he seemed +to suddenly get tired of his bone, and moved off. + +Most dogs--like most people--when their hearts fail them will try to +hide the truth from one another and make some sort of effort or pretence +to keep their dignity or self-respect or the good opinion of others. +You may see it all any day in the street, when dogs meet and stop to +`size' each other up. As a rule the perfectly shameless cowards are +found in the two extreme classes--the outcasts, whose spirits are broken +by all the world being against them; and the pampered darlings, who have +never had to do anything for themselves. Many dogs who are clearly +anxious to get out of fighting will make a pretence of bravery at +the time, or at least cover up their cowardice, with a +`wait-till-I-catch-you-next-time' air, as soon as they are at a safe +distance. Day after day at the outspans the puppies went through every +stage of the business, to our constant amusement and to my unconcealed +pride; for Jock was thenceforth cock of the walk. If they saw him some +distance off moving towards them or even staring hard and with his ears +and tail up, the retreat would be made with a gloomy and dignified air, +sometimes even with growls just loud enough to please themselves without +provoking him; if he was fairly close up when spotted they wasted no +time in putting on airs, but trotted off promptly; but sometimes they +would be too busy to notice anything until a growl or a rustle in the +grass close behind gave warning; and it was always followed by a jump +and a shameless scuttle, very often accompanied by a strangled sort of +yowling yelp, just as if he had already got them by the ear or throat. + +Some of them became so nervous that we could not resist playing +practical jokes on them--making sudden strange noises, imitating Jock's +growls, tossing bits of bark at them or touching them from behind with a +stick while they were completely occupied with their bones--for the fun +of seeing the stampede and hearing the sudden howls of surprise and +fright. + +One by one the other puppies were taken away by their new masters, and +before Jock was three months old he and Jess were the only dogs with the +waggons. Then he went to school, and like all schoolboys learnt some +things very quickly--the things that he liked; and some things he learnt +very slowly, and hated them just as a boy hates extra work in play-time. +When I poked about with a stick in the banks of dongas to turn out mice +and field-rats for him, or when I hid a partridge or a hare and made him +find it, he was as happy as could be; but when I made him lie down and +watch my gun or coat while I pretended to go off and leave him, he did +not like it; and as for his lessons in manners! well, he simply hated +them. + +There are some things which a dog in that sort of life simply must learn +or you cannot keep him; and the first of these is, not to steal. Every +puppy will help himself until he is taught not to; and your dog lives +with you and can get at everything. At the outspans the grub-box is put +on the ground, open for each man to help himself; if you make a stew, or +roast the leg of a buck, the big three-legged pot is put down handy and +left there; if you are lucky enough to have some tinned butter or +condensed milk, the tins are opened and stood on the ground; and if you +have a dog thief in the camp, nothing is safe. + +There was a dog with us once--a year or two later--who was the worst +thief I ever knew. He was a one-eyed pointer with feet like a duck's, +and his name was Snarleyow. He looked the most foolish and most +innocent dog in the world, and was so timid that if you stumbled as you +passed him he would instantly start howling and run for the horizon. +The first bad experience I had of Snarley was on one of the little +hunting trips which we sometimes made in those days, away from the +waggons. We travelled light on those occasions, and, except for some +tea and a very little flour and salt, took no food; we lived on what we +shot and of course kept `hunter's pot.' + +`Hunter's pot' is a perpetual stew; you make one stew, and keep it going +as long as necessary, maintaining a full pot by adding to it as fast as +you take any out; scraps of everything go in; any kind of meat--buck, +bird, pig, hare--and if you have such luxuries as onions or potatoes, so +much the better; then, to make the soup strong, the big bones are +added--the old ones being fished out every day and replaced by a fresh +lot. When allowed to cool it sets like brawn, and a hungry hunter wants +nothing better. + +We had had a good feed the first night of this trip and had then filled +the pot up leaving it to simmer as long as the fire lasted, expecting to +have cold pie set in jelly--but without the pie-crust--for early +breakfast next morning before going off for the day; but, to our +amazement, in the morning the pot was empty. There were some strange +kaffirs--camp followers--hanging on to our trail for what they could +pick up, and we suspected them. There was a great row, but the boys +denied having touched the pot, and we could prove nothing. + +That night we made the fire close to our sleeping-place and moved the +kaffirs further away, but next morning the pot was again empty--cleaned +and polished as if it had been washed out. While we, speechless with +astonishment and anger, were wondering who the thief was and what we +should do with him, one of the hunting boys came up and pointed to the +prints of a dog's feet in the soft white ashes of the dead fire. There +was only one word: "Snarleyow." The thief was lying fast asleep +comfortably curled up on his master's clothes. There could be no +mistake about those big splayed footprints, and in about two minutes +Snarleyow was getting a first-class hammering, with his head tied inside +the three-legged pot for a lesson. + +After that he was kept tied up at night; but Snarleyow was past curing. +We had practically nothing to eat but what we shot, and nothing to drink +but bush tea--that is, tea made from a certain wild shrub with a very +strong scent; it is not nice, but you drink it when you cannot get +anything else. We could not afford luxuries then, but two days before +Ted's birthday he sent a runner off to Komati Drift and bought a small +tin of ground coffee and a tin of condensed milk for his birthday treat. +It was to be a real feast that day, so he cut the top off the tin +instead of punching two holes and blowing the milk out, as we usually +did in order to economise and keep out the dust and insects. What we +could not use in the coffee that day we were going to spread on our +`dough-boys' instead of butter and jam. It was to be a real feast! + +The five of us sat down in a circle and began on our hunter's pot, +saving the good things for the last. While we were still busy on the +stew, there came a pathetic heartbreaking yowl from Snarleyow, and we +looked round just in time to see him, his tail tucked between his legs +and his head high in the air, bolting off into the bush as hard as he +could lay legs to the ground, with the milk tin stuck firmly on to his +nose. The greedy thief in trying to get the last scrap out had dug his +nose and top jaw too far in, and the jagged edges of the tin had gripped +him; and the last we saw of our birthday treat was the tin flashing in +the sunlight on Snarley's nose as he tore away howling into the bush. +Snarleyow came to a bad end: his master shot him as he was running off +with a ham. He was a full-grown dog when he came to our camp, and too +old to learn principles and good manners. + +Dogs are like people: what they learn when they are young, whether of +good or of evil, is not readily forgotten. I began early with Jock, +and--remembering what Rocky had said--tried to help him. It is little +use punishing a dog for stealing if you take no trouble about feeding +him. That is very rough on the dog; he has to find out slowly and by +himself what he may take, and what he may not. Sometimes he leaves what +he was meant to take, and goes hungry; and sometimes takes what was not +intended for him, and gets a thrashing. That is not fair. You cannot +expect to have a good dog, and one that will understand you, if you +treat him in that way. Some men teach their dogs not to take food from +any one but themselves. One day when we were talking about training +dogs, Ted told one of the others to open Jess's mouth and put a piece of +meat in it, he undertaking not to say a word and not even to look at +her. The meat was put in her mouth and her jaws were shut tight on it; +but the instant she was free she dropped it, walked round to the other +side of Ted and sat close up to him. He waited for a minute or so and, +without so much as a glance at her, said quietly "All right." She was +back again in a second and with one hungry bite bolted the lump of meat. + +I taught Jock not to touch food in camp until he was told to `take it.' +The lesson began when he got his saucer of porridge in the morning; and +he must have thought it cruel to have that put in front of him, and then +to be held back or tapped with a finger on the nose each time he tried +to dive into it. At first he struggled and fought to get at it; then he +tried to back away and dodge round the other side; then he became dazed, +and, thinking it was not for him at all, wanted to walk off and have +nothing more to do with it. In a few days, however, I got him to lie +still and take it only when I patted him and pushed him towards it; and +in a very little time he got on so well that I could put his food down +without saying anything and let him wait for permission. He would lie +down with his head on his paws and his nose right up against the saucer, +so as to lose no time when the order came; but he would not touch it +until he heard `Take it.' He never moved his head, but his little +browny dark eyes, full of childlike eagerness, used to be turned up +sideways and fixed on mine. I believe he watched my lips; he was so +quick to obey the order when it came. + +When he grew up and had learned his lessons there was no need for these +exercises. He got to understand me so well that if I nodded or moved my +hand in a way that meant `all right,' he would go ahead: by that time +too he was dignified and patient; and it was only in his puppyhood that +he used to crouch up close to his food and tremble with impatience and +excitement. + +There was one lesson that he hated most of all. I used to balance a +piece of meat on his nose and make him keep it there until the word to +take it came. + +Time after time he would close his eyes as if the sight of the meat was +more than he could bear, and his mouth would water so from the savoury +smell that long streels of dribble would hang down on either side. + +It seems unnecessary and even cruel to tantalise a dog in that way; but +it was not: it was education; and it was true kindness. It taught him +to understand his master, and to be obedient, patient, and observant; it +taught him not to steal; it saved him from much sickness, and perhaps +death, by teaching him not to feed on anything he could find; it taught +him manners and made it possible for him to live with his master and be +treated like a friend. + +Good feeding, good care, and plenty of exercise soon began to make a +great change in Jock. He ceased to look like a beetle--grew bigger +everywhere, not only in one part as he had done at first; his neck grew +thick and strong, and his legs straightened up and filled out with +muscle. The others, seeing him every day, were slow to notice these +things, but my sand had been changed into gold long ago, and they always +said I could not see anything wrong in Jock. + +There was one other change which came more slowly and seemed to me much +more wonderful. After his morning feed, if there was nothing to do, he +used to go to sleep in some shady place, and I remember well one day +watching him as he lay. His bit of shade had moved away and left him in +the bright sunshine; and as he breathed and his ribs rose and fell, the +tips of the hairs on his side and back caught the sunlight and shone +like polished gold, and the wavy dark lines seemed more distinct and +darker, but still very soft. In fact, I was astonished to see that in a +certain light Jock looked quite handsome. That was the first time I +noticed the change in colour; and it made me remember two things. The +first was what the other fellows had said the day Billy gave up his pup, +"You can't tell how a puppy will turn out: even his colour changes;" and +the second was a remark made by an old hunter who had offered to buy +Jock--the real meaning of which I did not understand at the time. + +"The best dog I ever owned was a golden brindle," said the old man +thoughtfully, after I had laughed at the idea of selling my dog. I had +got so used to thinking that he was only a faded wishy-washy edition of +Jess that the idea of his colour changing did not occur to me then, and +I never suspected that the old man could see how he would turn out; but +the touch of sunlight opened my eyes that day, and after that whenever I +looked at Jock the words "golden brindle" came back to my mind, and I +pictured him as he was going to be--and as he really did grow up--having +a coat like burnished gold with soft, dark, wavy brindles in it and that +snow-white V on his chest. + +Jock had many things to learn besides the lessons he got from me--the +lessons of experience which nobody could teach him. When he was six +months old--just old enough, if he had lived in a town, to chase a cat +and make a noise--he knew many things that respectable puppies of twice +his age who stay at home never get a chance of learning. + +On trek there were always new places to see, new roads to travel, and +new things to examine, tackle or avoid. He learnt something fresh +almost every day: he learnt, for instance, that, although it was shady +and cool under the waggon, it was not good enough to lie in the wheel +track, not even for the pleasure of feeling the cool iron tyre against +your back or head as you slept; and he knew that, because one day he had +done it and the wheel had gone over his foot; and it might just as +easily have been his back or head. Fortunately the sand was soft and +his foot was not crushed; but he was very lame for some days, and had to +travel on the waggon. + +He learned a good deal from Jess: among other things, that it was not +necessary to poke his nose up against a snake in order to find out what +it was. He knew that Jess would fight anything; and when one day he saw +her back hair go up and watched her sheer off the footpath wide into the +grass, he did the same; and then when we had shot the snake, both he and +Jess came up very very cautiously and sniffed at it, with every hair on +their bodies standing up. + +He found out for himself that it was not a good idea to turn a scorpion +over with his paw. The vicious little tail with a thorn in it whipped +over the scorpion's back, and Jock had such a foot that he must have +thought a scorpion worse than two waggons. He was a very sick dog for +some days; but after that, whenever he saw a thing that he did not +understand, he would watch it very carefully from a little way off and +notice what it did and what it looked like, before trying experiments. + +So, little by little, Jock got to understand plenty of things that no +town dog would ever know, and he got to know--just as some people do--by +what we call instinct, whether a thing was dangerous or safe, even +though he had never seen anything like it before. That is how he knew +that wolves or lions were about--and that they were dangerous--when he +heard or scented them; although he had never seen, scented or heard one +before to know what sort of animal it might be. You may well wonder how +he could tell whether the scent or the cry belonged to a wolf which he +must avoid, or to a buck which he might hunt, when he had never seen +either a wolf or a buck at the time; but he did know; and he also knew +that no dog could safely go outside the ring of the camp fires when wolf +or lion was about. I have known many town-bred dogs that could scent +them just as well as Jess or Jock could, but having no instinct of +danger they went out to see what it was, and of course they never came +back. + +I used to take Jock with me everywhere so that he could learn everything +that a hunting dog ought to know, and above all things to learn that he +was my dog, and to understand all that I wanted to tell him. So while +he was still a puppy, whenever he stopped to sniff at something new or +to look at something strange, I would show him what it was; but if he +stayed behind to explore while I moved on, or if he fell asleep and did +not hear me get up from where I had sat down to rest, or went off the +track on his own account, I used to hide away from him on top of a rock +or up a tree and let him hunt about until he found me. + +At first he used to be quite excited when he missed me, but after a +little time he got to know what to do and would sniff along the ground +and canter away after me--always finding me quite easily. Even if I +climbed a tree to hide from him he would follow my track to the foot of +the tree, sniff up the trunk as far as he could reach standing up +against it, and then peer up into the branches. If he could not see me +from one place, he would try another--always with his head tilted a bit +on one side. He never barked at these times; but as soon as he saw me, +his ears would drop, his mouth open wide with the red tongue lolling +out, and the stump of a tail would twiggle away to show how pleased he +was. Sometimes he would give a few little whimpery grunts: he hardly +ever barked; when he did I knew there was something worth looking at. + +Jock was not a quarrelsome dog, and he was quick to learn and very +obedient, but in one connection I had great difficulty with him for +quite a little time. He had a sort of private war with the fowls; and +it was due to the same cause as his war with the other puppies: they +interfered with him. Now, every one knows what a fowl is like: it is +impudent, inquisitive, selfish, always looking for something to eat, and +has no principles. + +A friend of mine once told me a story about a dog of his and the trouble +he had with fowls. Several of us had been discussing the characters of +dogs, and the different emotions they feel and manage to express, and +the kind of things they seem to think about. Every one knows that a dog +can feel angry, frightened, pleased, and disappointed. Any one who +knows dogs will tell you that they can also feel anxious, hopeful, +nervous, inquisitive, surprised, ashamed, interested, sad, loving, +jealous, and contented--just like human beings. + +We had told many stories illustrating this, when my friend asked the +question: "Have dogs a sense of humour?" Now I know that Jock looked +very foolish the day he fought the table-leg--and a silly old hen made +him look just as foolish another day--but that is not quite what my +friend meant. On both occasions Jock clearly felt that he had made +himself look ridiculous; but he was very far from looking amused. The +question was: Is a dog capable of sufficient thinking to appreciate a +simple joke, and is it possible for a dog to feel amused. If Jess had +seen Jock bursting to fight the table-leg would she have seen the joke? +Well, I certainly did not think so; but he said he was quite certain +some dogs have a sense of humour; and he had had proof of it. + +He told the story very gravely, but I really do not even now know +whether he--Well, here it is: He had once owned a savage old watch-dog, +whose box stood in the back-yard where he was kept chained up all day; +he used to be fed once a day--in the mornings--and the great plague of +his life was the fowls. They ran loose in the yard and picked up food +all day, besides getting a really good feed of grain morning and +evening; possibly the knowledge of this made the old dog particularly +angry when they would come round by ones or twos or dozens trying to +steal part of his one meal. Anyhow, he hated them, and whenever he got +a chance killed them. The old fowls learned to keep out of his way and +never ventured within his reach unless they were quite sure that he was +asleep or lying in his kennel where he could not see them; but there +were always new fowls coming, or young ones growing up; and so the war +went on. + +One Sunday morning my friend was enjoying a smoke on his back stoep when +feeding time came round. The cook took the old dog's food to him in a +high three-legged pot, and my friend, seeing the fowls begin to gather +round and wishing to let the old dog have his meal in peace, told the +cook to give the fowls a good feed in another part of the yard to draw +them off. So the old fellow polished off his food and licked the pot +clean, leaving not a drop or a speck behind. + +But fowls are very greedy; they were soon back again wandering about, +with their active-looking eyes searching everything. The old dog, +feeling pretty satisfied with life, picked out a sandy spot in the +sunshine, threw himself down full stretch on his side, and promptly went +to sleep--at peace with all the world. Immediately he did this, out +stepped a long-legged athletic-looking young cockerel and began to +advance against the enemy. As he got nearer he slowed down, and looked +first with one eye and then with the other so as to make sure that all +was safe, and several times he paused with one foot poised high before +deciding to take the next step. My friend was greatly amused to see all +the trouble that the fowl was taking to get up to the empty pot, and, +for the fun of giving the conceited young cockerel a fright, threw a +pebble at him. He was so nervous that when the pebble dropped near him, +he gave one great bound and tore off flapping and screaming down the +yard as if he thought the old dog was after him. The old fellow himself +was startled out of his sleep, and raised his head to see what the row +was about; but, as nothing more happened, he lay down again, and the +cockerel, finding also that it was a false alarm, turned back not a bit +ashamed for another try. + +The cockerel had not seen the old dog lift his head; my friend had, and +when he looked again he saw that, although the underneath eye--half +buried in the sand--was shut, the top eye was open and was steadily +watching the cockerel as he came nearer and nearer to the pot. My +friend sat dead still, expecting a rush and another fluttering scramble. +At last the cockerel took the final step, craned his neck to its utmost +and peered down into the empty pot. The old dog gave two gentle pats +with his tail in the sand, and closing his eye went to sleep again. + +Jock had the same sort of trouble. The fowls tried to steal his food; +and he would not stand it. His way of dealing with them was not good +for their health: before I could teach him not to kill, and before the +fowls would learn not to steal, he had finished half a dozen of them one +after another with just one bite and a shake. He would growl very low +as they came up and, without lifting his head from the plate, watch them +with his little eyes turning from soft brown to shiny black; and when +they came too near and tried to snatch just one mouthful--well, one +jump, one shake, and it was all over. + +In the end he learned to tumble them over and scare their wits out +without hurting them; and they learned to give him a very wide berth. + +I used always to keep some fowls with the waggons, partly to have fresh +meat if we ran out of game, but mainly to have fresh eggs, which were a +very great treat; and as a rule it was only when a hen turned obstinate +and would not lay that we ate her. I used to have one old rooster, +whose name was Pezulu, and six or eight hens. The hens changed from +time to time--as we ate them--but Pezulu remained. + +The fowl-coop was carried on top of everything else, and it was always +left open so that the fowls could go in and out as they liked. In the +very beginning of all, of course, the fowls were shut in and fed in the +coop for a day or two to teach them where their home was; but it is +surprising how quickly a fowl will learn and how it observes things. +For instance, the moving of the coop from one waggon to another is not a +thing one would expect the fowls to notice, all the waggons being so +much alike and having no regular order at the outspans; but they did +notice it, and at once. They would first get on to the waggon on which +the coop had been, and look about in a puzzled lost kind of way; then +walk all over the load apparently searching for it, with heads cocked +this way and that, as if a great big coop was a thing that might have +been mislaid somewhere; then one after another would jerk out short +cackles of protest, indignation and astonishment, and generally make no +end of a fuss. It was only when old Pezulu led the way and perched on +the coop itself and crowed and called to them that they would get up on +to the other waggon. + +Pezulu got his name by accident--in fact, by a misunderstanding. It is +a Zulu word meaning `up' or `on top,' and when the fowls first joined +the waggons and were allowed to wander about at the outspan places, the +boys would drive them up when it was time to trek again by cracking +their big whips and shouting "Pezulu." In a few days no driving or +whip-cracking was necessary; one of the boys would shout "Pezulu" three +or four times, and they would all come in and one by one fly and +scramble up to the coop. One day, after we had got a new lot of hens, a +stranger happened to witness the performance. Old Pezulu was the only +one who knew what was meant, and being a terribly fussy nervous old +gentleman, came tearing out of the bush making a lot of noise, and +scrambled hastily on to the waggon. The stranger, hearing the boys call +"Pezulu" and seeing him hurry up so promptly, remarked: "How well he +knows his name!" So we called him Pezulu after that. + +Whenever we got new fowls Pezulu became as distracted as a nervous man +with a large family trying to find seats in an excursion train. As soon +as he saw the oxen being brought up, and before any one had called for +the fowls, he would begin fussing and fuming--trying all sorts of dodges +to get the hens up to the waggons. He would crow and cluck-cluck or +kip-kip; he would go a few yards towards the waggons and scratch in the +ground, pretending to have found something good, and invite them to come +and share it; he would get on the disselboom and crow and flap his wings +loudly; and finally he would mount on top of the coop and make all sorts +of signals to the hens, who took not the least notice of him. As the +inspanning went on he would get more and more excited; down he would +come again--not flying off, but hopping from ledge to ledge to show them +the easy way; and once more on the ground he would scrape and pick and +cluck to attract them, and the whole game would be played over again and +again. So even with new fowls we had very little trouble, as old Pezulu +did most of the teaching. + +But sometimes Pezulu himself was caught napping--to the high delight of +the boys. He was so nervous and so fussy that they thought it great fun +to play tricks on him and pretend to go off and leave him behind. It +was not easy to do this because, as I say, he did not wait to be called, +but got ready the minute he saw the oxen coming up. He was like those +fussy people who drive every one else crazy and waste a lot of time by +always being half an hour early, and then annoy you by boasting that +they have never missed a train in their lives. + +But there was one way in which Pezulu used to get caught. Just as he +knew that inspanning meant starting, so, too, he knew that outspanning +meant stopping; and whenever the waggons stopped--even for a few +minutes--out would pop his head, just like the fussy red-faced father of +the big family looking out to see if it was their station or an accident +on the line. Right and left he would look, giving excited inquisitive +clucks from time to time, and if they did not start in another minute or +two, he would get right out and walk anxiously to the edge of the load +and have another good look around--as the nervous old gentleman gets +half out, and then right out, to look for the guard, but will not let go +the handle of the door for fear of being left. Unless he saw the boys +outspanning he would not get off, and if one of the hens ventured out he +would rush back at her in a great state and try to bustle her back into +the coop. But often it happens while trekking that something goes wrong +with the gear--a yokeskey or a nek-strop breaks, or an ox will not pull +kindly or pulls too hard where he is, and you want to change his place; +and in that way it comes about that sometimes you have to outspan one or +two or even more oxen in the middle of a trek. + +That is how Pezulu used to get caught: the minute he saw outspanning +begin, he would nip off with all the hens following him and wander about +looking for food, chasing locusts or grasshoppers, and making darts at +beetles and all sorts of dainties--very much interested in his job and +wandering further from the waggons at every step. The boys would watch +him, and as soon as they were fixed up again, would start off without a +word of warning to Pezulu. Then there was a scene. At the first sound +of the waggon-wheels moving he would look up from where he was or walk +briskly into the open or get on to an ant-heap to see what was up, and +when to his horror he saw the waggon actually going without him, he +simply screamed open-mouthed and tore along with wings outstretched--the +old gentleman shouting "Stop the train, stop the train," with his family +straggling along behind him. It never took him long to catch up and +scramble on, but even then he was not a bit less excited: he was +perfectly hysterical, and his big red comb seemed to get quite purple as +if he might be going to have apoplexy, and he twitched and jerked about +so that it flapped first over one eye and then over the other. This was +the boys' practical joke which they played on him whenever they could. + +That was old Pezulu--Pezulu the First. He was thick in the body, all +chest and tail, short in the legs, and had enormous spurs; and his big +comb made him; look so red in the face that one could not help thinking +he was too fond of his dinner. In some old Christmas number we came +across a coloured caricature of a militia colonel in full uniform, and +for quite a long time it remained tacked on to the coop with "Pezulu" +written on it. + +Pezulu the Great--who was Pezulu the Second--was not like that: he was a +game cock, all muscle and no frills, with a very resolute manner and a +real love of his profession; he was a bit like Jock in some things; and +that is why I fancy perhaps Jock and he were friends in a kind of way. +But Jock could not get on with the others: they were constantly +changing; new ones who had to be taught manners were always coming; so +he just lumped them together, and hated fowls. He taught them manners, +but they taught him something too--at any rate, one of them did; and one +of the biggest surprises and best lessons Jock ever had was given him by +a hen while he was still a growing-up puppy. + +He was beginning to fancy that he knew a good deal, and like most young +dogs was very inquisitive and wanted to know everything and at once. At +that time he was very keen on hunting mice, rats and bush squirrels, and +had even fought and killed a meerkat after the plucky little rikkitikki +had bitten him rather badly through the lip; and he was still much +inclined to poke his nose in or rush on to things instead of sniffing +round about first. + +However, he learned to be careful, and an old hen helped to teach him. +The hens usually laid their eggs in the coop because it was their home, +but sometimes they would make nests in the bush at the outspan places. +One of the hens had done this, and the bush she had chosen was very low +and dense. No one saw the hen make the nest and no one saw her sitting +on it, for the sunshine was so bright everywhere else, and the shade of +the bush so dark that it was impossible to see anything there; but while +we were at breakfast Jock, who was bustling about everywhere as a puppy +will, must have scented the hen or have seen this brown thing in the +dark shady hole. + +The hen was sitting with her head sunk right down into her chest, so +that he could not see any head, eyes or beak--just a sort of brown lump. +Suddenly we saw Jock stand stock-still, cock up one ear, put his head +down and his nose out, hump up his shoulders a bit and begin to walk +very slowly forward in a crouching attitude. He lifted his feet so +slowly and so softly that you could count five between each step. We +were all greatly amused and thought he was pointing a mouse or a locust, +and we watched him. + +He crept up like a boy showing off until he was only six inches from the +object, giving occasional cautious glances back at us to attract +attention. Just as he got to the hole the hen let out a vicious peck on +the top of his nose and at the same time flapped over his head, +screaming and cackling for dear life. It was all so sudden and so +surprising that she was gone before he could think of making a grab at +her; and when he heard our shouts of laughter he looked as foolish as if +he understood all about it. + + +CHAPTER SIX. + +THE FIRST HUNT. + +Jock's first experience in hunting was on the Crocodile River not far +from the spot where afterwards we had the great fight with The Old +Crocodile. In the summer when the heavy rains flood the country the +river runs `bank high,' hiding everything--reeds, rocks, islands, and +stunted trees--in some places silent and oily like a huge gorged snake, +in others foaming and turbulent as an angry monster. In the rainless +winter when the water is low and clear the scene is not so grand, but is +quiet, peaceful, and much more beautiful. There is an infinite variety +in it then--the river sometimes winding along in one deep channel, but +more often forking out into two or three streams in the broad bed. The +loops and lacings of the divided water carve out islands and spaces of +all shapes and sizes, banks of clean white sand or of firm damp mud +swirled up by the floods, on which tall green reeds with yellow +tasselled tops shoot up like crops of Kaffir corn. Looked down upon +from the flood banks the silver streaks of water gleam brightly in the +sun, and the graceful reeds, bowing and swaying slowly with the gentlest +breeze and alternately showing their leaf-sheathed stems and crested +tops, give the appearance of an ever-changing sea of green and gold. +Here and there a big rock, black and polished, stands boldly out, and +the sea of reeds laps round it like the waters of a lake on a bright +still day. When there is no breeze the rustle of the reeds is hushed, +and the only constant sound is the ever-varying voice of the water, +lapping, gurgling, chattering, murmuring, as it works its way along the +rocky channels; sometimes near and loud, sometimes faint and distant; +and sometimes, over long sandy reaches, there is no sound at all. + +Get up on some vantage point upon the high bank and look down there one +day in the winter of the tropics as the heat and hush of noon approach, +and it will seem indeed a scene of peace and beauty--a place to rest and +dream, where there is neither stir nor sound. Then, as you sit silently +watching and thinking, where all the world is so infinitely still, you +will notice that one reed down among all those countless thousands is +moving. It bows slowly and gracefully a certain distance, and then with +a quivering shuddering motion straightens itself still more slowly and +with evident difficulty, until at last it stands upright again like the +rest but still all a-quiver while they do not move a leaf. Just as you +are beginning to wonder what the reason is, the reed bows slowly again, +and again struggles back; and so it goes on as regularly as the swing of +a pendulum. Then you know that, down at the roots where you cannot see +it, the water is flowing silently, and that something attached to this +reed is dragging in the stream and pulling it over, and swinging back to +do it again each time the reed lifts it free--a perpetual seesaw. + +You are glad to find the reason, because it looked a little uncanny; but +the behaviour of that one reed has stopped your dreaming and made you +look about more carefully. Then you find that, although the reeds +appear as still as the rocks, there is hardly a spot where, if you watch +for a few minutes, you will not see something moving. A tiny +field-mouse climbing one reed will sway it over; a river rat gnawing at +the roots will make it shiver and rustle; little birds hopping from one +to another will puzzle you; and a lagavaan turning in his sunbath will +make half a dozen sway outwards. + +All feeling that it is a home of peace, a place to rest and dream, +leaves you; you are wondering what goes on down below the green and gold +where you can see nothing; and when your eye catches a bigger, slower, +continuous movement in another place, and for twenty yards from the bank +to the stream you see the tops of the reeds silently and gently parting +and closing again as something down below works its way along without +the faintest sound, the place seems too quiet, too uncanny and +mysterious, too silent, stealthy and treacherous for you to sit still in +comfort: you must get up and do something. + +There is always good shooting along the rivers in a country where water +is scarce. Partridges, bush-pheasants and stembuck were plentiful along +the banks and among the thorns, but the reeds themselves were the home +of thousands of guinea-fowl, and you could also count on duiker and +rietbuck as almost a certainty there. If this were all, it would be +like shooting in a well-stocked cover, but it is not only man that is on +the watch for game at the drinking-places. The beasts of prey--lions, +tigers, hyenas, wild dogs and jackals, and lastly pythons and +crocodiles--know that the game must come to water, and they lie in wait +near the tracks or the drinking-places. That is what makes the mystery +and charm of the reeds; you never know what you will put up. The lions +and tigers had deserted the country near the main drifts and followed +the big game into more peaceful parts; but the reeds were still the +favourite shelter and resting-place of the crocodiles; and there were +any number of them left. + +There is nothing that one comes across in hunting more horrible and +loathsome than the crocodile: nothing that rouses the feeling of horror +and hatred as it does: nothing that so surely and quickly gives the +sensation of `creeps in the back' as the noiseless apparition of one in +the water just where you least expected anything, or the discovery of +one silently and intently watching you with its head resting flat on a +sand spit--the thing you had seen half a dozen times before and mistaken +for a small rock. Many things are hunted in the Bushveld; but only the +crocodile is hated. There is always the feeling of horror that this +hideous, cowardly, cruel thing--the enemy of man and beast alike--with +its look of a cunning smile in the greeny glassy eyes and great wide +mouth, will mercilessly drag you down--down--down to the bottom of some +deep still pool, and hold you there till you drown. Utterly helpless +yourself to escape or fight, you cannot even call, and if you could, no +one could help you there. It is all done in silence: a few bubbles come +up where a man went down; and that is the end of it. + +We all knew about the crocodiles and were prepared for them, but the +sport was good, and when you are fresh at the game and get interested in +a hunt it is not very easy to remember all the things you have been +warned about and the precautions you were told to take. It was on the +first day at the river that one of our party, who was not a very old +hand at hunting, came in wet and muddy and told us how a crocodile had +scared the wits out of him. He had gone out after guinea-fowl, he said, +but as he had no dog to send in and flush them, the birds simply played +with him: they would not rise but kept running in the reeds a little way +in front of him, just out of sight. He could hear them quite +distinctly, and thinking to steal a march on them took off his boots and +got on to the rocks. Stepping bare-footed from rock to rock where the +reeds were thin, he made no noise at all and got so close up that he +could hear the little whispered chink-chink-chink that they give when +near danger. The only chance of getting a shot at them was to mount one +of the big rocks from which he could see down into the reeds; and he +worked his way along a mud-bank towards one. A couple more steps from +the mud-bank on to a low black rock would take him to the big one. +Without taking his eyes off the reeds where the guinea-fowl were he +stepped cautiously on to the low black rock, and in an instant was swept +off his feet, tossed and tumbled over and over, into the mud and reeds, +and there was a noise of furious rushing and crashing as if a troop of +elephants were stampeding through the reeds. He had stepped on the back +of a sleeping crocodile; no doubt it was every bit as frightened as he +was. There was much laughter over this and the breathless earnestness +with which he told the story; but there was also a good deal of chaff, +for it seems to be generally accepted that you are not bound to believe +all hunting stories; and Jim and his circus crocodile became the joke of +the camp. + +We were spending a couple of days on the river bank to make the most of +the good water and grazing, and all through the day some one or other +would be out pottering about among the reeds, gun in hand, to keep the +pot full and have some fun, and although we laughed and chaffed about +Jim's experience, I fancy we were all very much on the look-out for +rocks that looked like crocs and crocs that looked like rocks. + +One of the most difficult lessons that a beginner has to learn is to +keep cool. The keener you are the more likely you are to get excited +and the more bitterly you feel the disappointments; and once you lose +your head, there is no mistake too stupid for you to make, and the +result is another good chance spoilt. The great silent bush is so +lonely; the strain of being on the look-out all the time is so great; +the uncertainty as to what may start up--anything from a partridge to a +lion--is so trying that the beginner is wound up like an alarum clock +and goes off at the first touch. He is not fit to hit a haystack at +twenty yards; will fire without looking or aiming at all; jerk the rifle +as he fires; forget to change the sight after the last shot; forget to +cock his gun or move the safety catch; forget to load; forget to fire at +all: nothing is impossible--nothing too silly. + +On a later trip we had with us a man who was out for the first time, and +when we came upon a troop of koodoo he started yelling, war-whooping and +swearing at them, chasing them on foot and waving his rifle over his +head. When we asked him why he, who was nearest to them, had not fired +a shot, all he could say was that he never remembered his rifle or +anything else until they were gone. + +These experiences had been mine, some of them many times, in spite of +Rocky's example and advice; and they were always followed by a fresh +stock of good resolutions. + +I had started out this day with the same old determination to keep cool, +but, once into the reeds, Jim's account of how he had stepped on the +crocodile put all other thoughts out of my mind, and most of my +attention was given to examining suspicious-looking rocks as we stole +silently and quietly along. + +Jock was with me, as usual; I always took him out even then--not for +hunting, because he was too young, but in order to train him. He was +still only a puppy, about six months old, as well as I remember, and had +never tackled or even followed a wounded buck, so that it was impossible +to say what he would do; he had seen me shoot a couple and had wanted to +worry them as they fell; but that was all. He was quite obedient and +kept his place behind me; and, although he trembled with excitement when +he saw or heard anything, he never rushed in or moved ahead of me +without permission. The guinea-fowl tormented him that day; he could +scent and hear them, and was constantly making little runs forward, half +crouching and with his nose back and tail dead level and his one ear +full-cocked and the other half-up. + +For about half an hour we went on in this way. There was plenty of +fresh duiker spoor to show us that we were in a likely place, one spoor +in particular being so fresh in the mud that it seemed only a few +minutes old. We were following this one very eagerly but very +cautiously, and evidently Jock agreed with me that the duiker must be +near, for he took no more notice of the guinea-fowl; and I for my part +forgot all about crocodiles and suspicious-looking rocks; there was at +that moment only one thing in the world for me, and that was the duiker. +We crept along noiselessly in and out of the reeds, round rocks and +mudholes, across small stretches of firm mud or soft sand, so silently +that nothing could have heard us, and finally we came to a very big +rock, with the duiker spoor fresher than ever going close round it down +stream. The rock was a long sloping one, polished smooth by the floods +and very slippery to walk on. I climbed it in dead silence, peering +down into the reeds and expecting every moment to see the duiker. + +The slope up which we crept was long and easy, but that on the +down-stream side was much steeper. I crawled up to the top on hands and +knees, and raising myself slowly, looked carefully about, but no duiker +could be seen; yet Jock was sniffing and trembling more than ever, and +it was quite clear that he thought we were very close up. Seeing +nothing in front or on either side, I stood right up and turned to look +back the way we had come and examine the reeds on that side. In doing +so a few grains of grit crunched under my foot, and instantly there was +a rush in the reeds behind me; I jumped round to face it, believing that +the crocodile was grabbing at me from behind, and on the polished +surface of the rock my feet slipped and shot from under me, both bare +elbows bumped hard on the rock, jerking the rifle out of my hands; and I +was launched like a torpedo right into the mass of swaying reeds. + +When you think you are tumbling on to a crocodile there is only one +thing you want to do--get out as soon as possible. How long it took to +reach the top of the rock again, goodness only knows! It seemed like a +life-time; but the fact is I was out of those reeds and up that rock in +time to see the duiker as it broke out of the reeds, raced up the bank, +and disappeared into the bush with Jock tearing after it as hard as ever +he could go. + +One call stopped him, and he came back to me looking very crestfallen +and guilty, no doubt thinking that he had behaved badly and disgraced +himself. But he was not to blame at all; he had known all along that +the duiker was there--having had no distracting fancies about +crocodiles--and when he saw it dash off and his master instantly jump in +after it, he must have thought that the hunt had at last begun and that +he was expected to help. + +After all that row and excitement there was not much use in trying for +anything more in the reeds--and indeed I had had quite enough of them +for one afternoon; so we wandered along the upper banks in the hope of +finding something where there were no crocodiles, and it was not long +before we were interested in something else and able to forget all about +the duiker. + +Before we had been walking many minutes, Jock raised his head and ears +and then lowered himself into a half crouching attitude and made a +little run forward. I looked promptly in the direction he was pointing +and about two hundred yards away saw a stembuck standing in the shade of +a mimosa bush feeding briskly on the buffalo grass. It was so small and +in such bad light that the shot was too difficult for me at that +distance, and I crawled along behind bushes, ant-heaps and trees until +we were close enough for anything. The ground was soft and sandy, and +we could get along easily enough without making any noise; but all the +time, whilst thinking how lucky it was to be on ground so soft for the +hands and knees, and so easy to move on without being heard, something +else was happening. With eyes fixed on the buck I did not notice that +in crawling along on all-fours, the muzzle of the rifle dipped regularly +into the sand, picking up a little in the barrel each time. There was +not enough to burst the rifle, but the effect was surprising. Following +on a painfully careful aim, there was a deafening report that made my +head reel and buzz; the kick of the rifle on the shoulder and cheek left +me blue for days; and when my eyes were clear enough to see anything the +stembuck had disappeared. + +I was too disgusted to move, and sat in the sand rubbing my shoulder and +thanking my stars that the rifle had not burst. There was plenty to +think about, to be sure, and no hurry to do anything else, for the noise +of the shot must have startled every living thing for a mile round. + +It is not always easy to tell the direction from which a report comes +when you are near a river or in broken country or patchy bush; and it is +not an uncommon thing to find that a shot which has frightened one +animal away from you has startled another and driven it towards you; and +that is what happened in this case. As I sat in the shade of the thorns +with the loaded rifle across my knees there was the faint sound of a +buck cantering along in the sand; I looked up; and only about twenty +yards from me a duiker came to a stop, half fronting me. There it stood +looking back over its shoulder and listening intently, evidently +thinking that the danger lay behind it. It was hardly possible to miss +that; and as the duiker rolled over, I dropped my rifle and ran to make +sure of it. + +Of course, it was dead against the rules to leave the rifle behind; but +it was simply a case of excitement again: when the buck rolled over +everything else was forgotten! I knew the rule perfectly well--Reload +at once and never part with your gun. It was one of Rocky's lessons, +and only a few weeks before this, when out for an afternoon's shooting +with an old hunter, the lesson had been repeated. The old man shot a +rietbuck ram, and as it had been facing us and dropped without a kick we +both thought that it was shot through the brain. There was no mark on +the head, however, and although we examined it carefully, we failed to +find the bullet-mark or a trace of blood; so we put our rifles down to +settle the question by skinning the buck. After sawing at the neck for +half a minute, however, the old man found his knife too blunt to make an +opening, and we both hunted about for a stone to sharpen it on, and +while we were fossicking about in the grass there was a noise behind, +and looking sharply round we saw the buck scramble to its feet and +scamper off before we had time to move. The bullet must have touched +one of its horns and stunned it. My companion was too old a hunter to +get excited, and while I ran for the rifles and wanted to chase the buck +on foot he stood quite still, gently rubbing the knife on the stone he +had picked up. Looking at me under bushy eyebrows and smiling +philosophically, he said: + +"That's something for you to remember, Boy. It's my belief if you lived +for ever there'd always be something to learn at this game." + +Unfortunately I did not remember when it would have been useful. As I +ran forward the duiker tumbled, struggled and rolled over and over, then +got up and made a dash, only to dive head foremost into the sand and +somersault over; but in a second it was up again and racing off, again +to trip and plunge forward on to its chest with its nose outstretched +sliding along the soft ground. The bullet had struck it in the +shoulder, and the broken leg was tripping it and bringing it down; but, +in far less time than it takes to tell it, the little fellow found out +what was wrong, and scrambling once more to its feet was off on three +legs at a pace that left me far behind. Jock, remembering the mistake +in the reeds, kept his place behind, and I in the excitement of the +moment neither saw nor thought of him until the duiker, gaining at every +jump, looked like vanishing for ever. Then I remembered and, with a +frantic wave of my hand, shouted, "After him, Jock." + +He was gone before my hand was down, and faster than I had ever seen him +move, leaving me ploughing through the heavy sand far behind. Past the +big bush I saw them again, and there the duiker did as wounded game so +often do: taking advantage of cover it changed direction and turned away +for some dense thorns. But that suited Jock exactly; he took the short +cut across to head it off and was close up in a few more strides. He +caught up to it, raced up beside it, and made a jump at its throat; but +the duiker darted away in a fresh direction, leaving him yards behind. +Again he was after it and tried the other side; but the buck was too +quick, and again he missed and overshot the mark in his jump. He was in +such deadly earnest he seemed to turn in the air to get back again and +once more was close up--so close that I the flying heels of the buck +seemed to pass each side of his ears; then he made his spring from +behind, catching the duiker high up on one hind leg, and the two rolled +over together, kicking and struggling in a cloud of dust. Time after +time the duiker got on its feet, trying to get at him with its horns or +to break away again; but Jock, although swung off his feet and rolled +on, did not let go his grip. In grim silence he hung on while the +duiker plunged, and, when it fell, tugged and worried as if to shake the +life out of it. + +What with the hot sun, the heavy sand, and the pace at which we had +gone, I was so pumped that I finished the last hundred yards at a walk, +and had plenty of time to see what was going on; but even when I got up +to them the struggle was so fierce and the movements so quick that for +some time it was not possible to get hold of the duiker to finish it +off. At last came one particularly bad fall, when the buck rolled over +on its back, and then Jock let go his grip and made a dash for its +throat; but again the duiker was too quick for him; with one twist it +was up and round facing him on its one knee, and dug, thrust, and swept +with its black spiky horns so vigorously that it was impossible to get +at its neck. As Jock rushed in the head ducked and the horns flashed +round so swiftly that it seemed as if nothing could save him from being +stabbed through and through, but his quickness and cleverness were a +revelation to me. If he could not catch the duiker, it could not catch +him: they were in a way too quick for each other, and they were a long +way too quick for me. + +Time after time I tried to get in close enough to grab one of the buck's +hind legs, but it was not to be caught. While Jock was at it fast and +furious in front, I tried to creep up quietly behind--but it was no use: +the duiker kept facing Jock with horns down, and whenever I moved it +swung round and kept me in front also. Finally I tried a run straight +in; and then it made another dash for liberty. On three legs, however, +it had no chance, and in another minute Jock had it again, and down they +came together, rolling over and over once more. The duiker struggled +hard, but he hung on, and each time it got its feet to the ground to +rise he would tug sideways and roll it over again, until I got up to +them, and catching the buck by the head, held it down with my knee on +its neck and my Bushman's Friend in hand to finish it. + +There was, however, still another lesson for us both to learn that day; +neither of us knew what a buck can do with its hind feet when it is +down. The duiker was flat on its side; Jock, thinking the fight was +over, had let go; and, before I could move the supple body doubled up, +and the feet whizzed viciously at me right over its head. The little +pointed cloven feet are as hard and sharp as horns and will tear the +flesh like claws. By good luck the kick only grazed my arm, but +although the touch was the lightest it cut the skin and little beads of +blood shot up marking the line like the scratch of a thorn. Missing my +arm the hoof struck full on the handle of the Bushman's Friend and sent +it flying yards out of reach. And it was not merely one kick: faster +than the eye could follow them the little feet whizzed and the legs +seemed to buzz round like the spokes of a wheel. Holding the horns at +arm's length in order to dodge the kicks, I tried to pull the duiker +towards the knife; but it was too much for me, and with a sudden twist +and a wrench freed itself and was off again. + +All the time Jock was moving round and round panting and licking his +chops, stepping in and stepping back, giving anxious little whimpers, +and longing to be at it again, but not daring to join in without +permission. When the duiker broke away, however, he waited for nothing, +and was on to it in one spring--again from behind; and this time he let +go as it fell, and jumping free of it, had it by the throat before it +could rise. I ran to them again, but the picking up of the knife had +delayed me and I was not in time to save Jock the same lesson that the +duiker had just taught me. + +Down on its side, with Jock's jaws locked in its throat, once more the +duiker doubled up and used its feet. The first kick went over his head +and scraped harmlessly along his back; but the second caught him at the +point of the shoulder, and the razor-like toe ripped his side right to +the hip. Then the dog showed his pluck and cleverness. His side was +cut open as if it had been slashed by a knife, but he never flinched or +loosened his grip for a second; he seemed to go at it more furiously +than ever, but more cleverly and warily. He swung his body round clear +of the whizzing feet, watching them with his little beady eyes fixed +sideways and the gleaming whites showing in the corners; he tugged away +incessantly and vigorously, keeping the buck's neck stretched out and +pulling it round in a circle backwards so that it could not possibly +double its body up enough to kick him again; and before I could catch +the feet to help him, the kicks grew weaker; the buck slackened out, and +Jock had won. + +The sun was hot, the sand was deep, and the rifle was hard to find; it +was a long way back to the waggons, and the duiker made a heavy load; +but the end of that first chase seemed so good that nothing else +mattered. The only thing I did mind was the open cut on Jock's side; +but he minded nothing: his tail was going like a telegraph needle; he +was panting with his mouth open from ear to ear, and his red tongue +hanging out and making great slapping licks at his chops from time to +time; he was not still for a second, but kept walking in and stepping +back in a circle round the duiker, and looking up at me and then down at +it, as if he was not at all sure that there might not be some fresh game +on, and was consulting me as to whether it would not be a good thing to +have another go in and make it all safe. + +He was just as happy as a dog could be, and perhaps he was proud of the +wound that left a straight line from his shoulder to his hip and showed +up like a cord under the golden brindle as long as he lived--a memento +of his first real hunt. + + +CHAPTER SEVEN. + +IN THE HEART OF THE BUSH. + +When the hen pecked Jock on the nose, she gave him a useful lesson in +the art of finding out what you want to know without getting into +trouble. As he got older, he also learned that there are only certain +things which concerned him and which it was necessary for him to know. +A young dog begins by thinking that he can do everything, go everywhere, +and know everything; and a hunting dog has to learn to mind his own +business, as well as to understand it. Some dogs turn sulky or timid or +stupid when they are checked, but an intelligent dog with a stout heart +will learn little by little to leave other things alone, and grow +steadily keener on his own work. There was no mistake about Jock's +keenness. When I took down the rifle from the waggon he did not go off +into ecstasies of barking, as most sporting dogs will do, but would give +a quick look up and with an eager little run towards me give a whimper +of joy, make two or three bounds as if wanting to stretch his muscles +and loosen his joints, then shake himself vigorously as though he had +just come out of the water, and with a soft suppressed "Woo-woo-woo" +full of contentment, drop silently into his place at my heels and give +his whole attention to his work. + +He was the best of companions, and through the years that we hunted +together I never tired of watching him. There was always something to +learn, something to admire, something to be grateful for, and very often +something to laugh at--in the way in which we laugh only at those whom +we are fond of. It was the struggle between Jock's intense keenness and +his sense of duty that most often raised the laugh. He knew that his +place was behind me; but probably he also knew that nine times out of +ten he scented or saw the game long before I knew there was anything +near, and naturally wanted to be in front or at least abreast of me to +show me whatever there was to be seen. + +He noticed, just as surely and as quickly as any human being could, any +change in my manner: nothing escaped him, for his eyes and ears were on +the move the whole time. It was impossible for me to look for more than +a few seconds in any one direction, or to stop or even to turn my head +to listen, without being caught by him. His bright brown eyes were +everlastingly on the watch and on the move: from me to the bush, from +the bush back to me. When we were after game, and he could scent or see +it, he would keep a foot or two to the side of me so as to have a clear +view; and when he knew by my manner that I thought there was game near, +he kept so close up that he would often bump against my heels as I +walked, or run right into my legs if I stopped suddenly. Often when +stalking buck very quietly and cautiously, thinking only of what was in +front, I would get quite a start by feeling something bump up against me +behind. At these times it was impossible to say anything without risk +of scaring the game, and I got into the habit of making signs with my +hand which he understood quite as well. + +Sometimes after having crawled up I would be in the act of aiming when +he would press up against me. Nothing puts one off so much as a touch +or the expectation of being jogged when in the act of firing, and I used +to get angry with him then, but dared not breathe a word; I would lower +my head slowly, turn round, and give him a look. He knew quite well +what it meant. Down would go his ears instantly, and he would back away +from me a couple of steps, drop his stump of a tail and wag it in a +feeble deprecating way, and open his mouth into a sort of foolish laugh. +That was his apology! "I beg your pardon: it was an accident! I won't +do it again." + +It was quite impossible to be angry with him, he was so keen and he +meant so well; and when he saw me laughing softly at him, he would come +up again close to me, cock his tail a few inches higher and wag it a bit +faster. + +There is a deal of expression in a dog's tail: it will generally tell +you what his feelings are. My friend maintained that that was how he +knew his old dog was enjoying the joke against the cockerel; and that is +certainly how I knew what Jock was thinking about once when lost in the +veld; and it showed me the way back. + +It is easy enough to lose oneself in the Bushveld. The Berg stands up +some thousands of feet inland on the west, looking as if it had been put +there to hold up the High veld; and between the foothills and the sea +lies the Bushveld, stretching for hundreds of miles north and south. +From the height and distance of the Berg it looks as flat as the floor, +but in many parts it is very much cut up by deep rough dongas, sharp +rises and depressions, and numbers of small kopjes. Still, it has a way +of looking flat, because the hills are small, and very much alike; and +because hill and hollow are covered and hidden mile after mile by small +trees of a wonderful sameness, just near enough together to prevent you +from seeing more than a few hundred yards at a time. Most people see no +differences in sheep: many believe that all Chinamen are exactly alike; +and so it is with the Bushveld: you have to know it first. + +So far I had never lost my way out hunting. The experiences of other +men and the warnings from the old hands had made me very careful. We +were always hearing of men being lost through leaving the road and +following up the game while they were excited, without noticing which +way they went and how long they had been going. There were no beaten +tracks and very few landmarks, so that even experienced hunters went +astray sometimes for a few hours or a day or two when the mists or heavy +rains came on and nothing could be seen beyond fifty or a hundred yards. + +Nearly every one who goes hunting in the Bushveld gets lost some time or +other--generally in the beginning before he has learned to notice +things. Some have been lost for many days until they blundered on to a +track by accident or were found by a search-party; others have been lost +and, finding no water or food, have died; others have been killed by +lions, and only a boot or a coat--or, as it happened in one case that I +know of, a ring found inside a lion--told what had occurred; others have +been lost and nothing more ever heard of them. There is no feeling +quite like that of being lost--helplessness, terror, and despair! The +horror of it is so great that every beginner has it before him; every +one has heard of it, thought of it, and dreamed of it, and every one +feels it holding him to the beaten track, as the fear of drowning keeps +those who cannot swim to shallow water. That is just in the beginning. +Presently, when little excursions, each bolder than the previous, have +ended without accident, the fear grows less and confidence develops. +Then it is, as a rule, that the accident comes and the lesson is +learned, if you are lucky enough to pull through. + +When the camp is away in the trackless bush, it needs a good man always +to find the way home after a couple of hours' chase with all its twists +and turns and doublings; but when camp is made on a known road--a long +main road that strikes a fair line between two points of the compass--it +seems impossible for any one to be hopelessly lost. If the road runs +east and west you, knowing on which side you left it, have only to walk +north or south steadily and you must strike it again. The old hands +told the beginners this, and we were glad to know that it was only a +matter of walking for a few hours, more or less, and that in the end we +were bound to find the road and strike some camp. "Yes," said the old +hands, "it is simple enough here where you have a road running east and +west; there is only one rule to remember: When you have lost your way, +don't lose your head." But indeed that is just the one rule that you +are quite unable to observe. + +Many stories have been told of men being lost: many volumes could be +filled with them for the trouble of writing down what any hunter will +tell you. But no one who has not seen it can realise how the thing may +happen; no one would believe the effect that the terror of being lost, +and the demoralisation which it causes, can have on a sane man's senses. +If you want to know what a man can persuade himself to believe against +the evidence of his senses--even when his very life depends upon his +holding to the absolute truth--then you should see a man who is lost in +the bush. He knows that he left the road on the north side; she loses +his bearings; he does not know how long how fat, or how far he has +walked; yet if he keep his head he will make due south and must +inevitably strike the road. After going for half an hour and seeing +nothing familiar, he begins to feel that he is going in the wrong +direction; something pulls at him to face right about. Only a few +minutes more of this, and he feels sure that he must have crossed the +road without noticing it, and therefore that he ought to be going north +instead of south, if he hopes ever to strike it again. How, you will +ask, can a man imagine impossible to cross a big dusty road twenty or +thirty feet wide without seeing it? The idea seems absurd; yet they do +really believe it. One of the first illusions that occurs to men when +they lose their heads is that they have done this, and it is the cause +of scores of cases of `lost in the bush.' The idea that they may have +done it is absurd enough; but stranger still is the fact that they +actually _do_ it. + +If you cannot understand a man thinking he had done such a thing, what +can you say of a man actually doing it? Impossible, quite impossible, +you think. Ah! but it is a fact: many know it for a fact and I have +witnessed it twice myself, once in Mashonaland and once on the Delagoa +road. I saw men, tired, haggard and wild-eyed, staring far in front of +them, never looking at the ground, pressing on, on, on, and actually +cross well-worn waggon roads, coming from hard veld into a sandy +wheel-worn track and kicking up a cloud of dust as they passed, and +utterly blind to the fact that they were walking across the roads they +had been searching for--in one case for ten hours, and in the other for +three days. When we called to them they had already crossed and were +disappearing again into the bush. In both cases the sound of the human +voice and the relief of being `found,' made them collapse. The knees +seemed to give way: they could not remain standing. The man who loses +his head is really lost. He cannot think, remember, reason, or +understand; and the strangest thing of all is that he often cannot even +_see_ properly--he fails to see the very things that he most wants to +see, even when they are as large as life before him. Crossing the road +without seeing it is not the only or the most extraordinary example of +this sort of thing. We were out hunting once in a mounted party, but to +spare a tired horse I went on foot and took up my stand in a game run +among some thorn-trees on the low spur of a hill, while the others made +a big circuit to head off a troop of koodoo. Among our party there was +one who was very nervous: he had been lost once for six or eight hours, +and being haunted by the dread of being lost again, his nerve was all +gone and he would not go fifty yards without a companion. In the +excitement of shooting at and galloping after the koodoo probably this +dread was forgotten for a moment: he himself could not tell how it +happened that he became separated, and no one else had noticed him. + +The strip of wood along the hills in which I was waiting was four or +five miles long but only from one to three hundred yards wide, a mere +fringe enclosing the little range of kopjes; and between the stems of +the trees I could see our camp and waggons in the open a quarter of a +mile away. Ten or twelve shots faintly heard in the distance told me +that the others were on to the koodoo, and knowing the preference of +those animals for the bush I took cover behind a big stump and waited. +For over half an hour, however, nothing came towards me, and believing +then that the game had broken off another way, I was about to return to +camp when I heard the tapping of galloping feet a long way off. In a +few minutes the hard thud and occasional ring on the ground told that it +was not the koodoo; and soon afterwards I saw a man on horseback. He +was leaning eagerly forward and thumping the exhausted horse with his +rifle and his heels to keep up its staggering gallop. I looked about +quickly to see what it was he was chasing that could have slipped past +me unnoticed, but there was nothing; then thinking there had been an +accident and he was coming for help, I stepped out into the open and +waited for him to come up. I stood quite still, and he galloped past +within ten yards of me--so close that his muttered "Get on, you brute; +get on, get on!" as he thumped away at his poor tired horse, were +perfectly audible. + +"What's up, sportsman?" I asked, no louder than you would say it across +a tennis-court; but the words brought him up, white-faced and terrified, +and he half slid, half tumbled, off the horse gasping out, "I was lost, +I was lost!" How he had managed to keep within that strip of bush, +without once getting into the open where he would have seen the line of +kopjes to which I had told him to stick or could have seen the waggons +and the smoke of the big camp fire, he could never explain. I turned +him round where he stood, and through the trees showed him the white +tents of the waggons and the cattle grazing near by, but he was too +dazed to understand or explain anything. + +There are many kinds of men. That particular kind is not the kind that +will ever do for veld life: they are for other things and other work. +You will laugh at them at times--when the absurdity is greatest and no +harm has been done. But see it! See it--and realise the suspense, the +strain, and the terror; and then even the funniest incident has another +side to it. See it once; and recall that the worst of endings have had +just such beginnings. See it in the most absurd and farcical +circumstances ever known; and laugh--laugh your fill; laugh at the +victim and laugh with him, when it is over--and safe. But in the end +will come the little chilling thought that the strongest, the bravest, +and the best have known something of it too; and that even to those +whose courage holds to the last breath there may come a moment when the +pulse beats a little faster and the judgment is at fault. + +Buggins who was with us in the first season was no hunter, but he was a +good shot and not a bad fellow. In his case there was no tragedy; there +was much laughter and--to me--a wonderful revelation. He showed us, as +in a play, how you can be lost; how you can walk for ever in one little +circle, as though drawn to a centre by magnetic force, and how you can +miss seeing things in the bush if they do not move. + +We had outspanned in a flat covered with close grass about two feet high +and shady flat-topped thorn trees. The waggons, four in number, were +drawn up a few yards off the road, two abreast. The grass was sweet and +plentiful; the day was hot and still; and as we had had a very long +early morning trek there was not much inclination to move. The cattle +soon filled themselves and lay down to sleep; the boys did the same; and +we, when breakfast was over, got into the shade of the waggons, some to +sleep and others to smoke. + +Buggins--that was his pet name--was a passenger returning to "England, +Home, and Beauty"--that is to say, literally, to a comfortable home, +admiring sisters and a rich indulgent father--after having sought his +fortune unsuccessfully on the goldfields for fully four months. Buggins +was good-natured, unselfish, and credulous; but he had one fault--he +`yapped': he talked until our heads buzzed. He used to sleep +contentedly in a rumpled tarpaulin all through the night treks and come +up fresh as a daisy and full of accumulated chat at the morning outspan, +just when we--unless work or sport called for us--were wanting to get +some sleep. + +We knew well enough what to expect, so after breakfast Jimmy, who +understood Buggins well, told him pleasantly that he could "sleep, +shoot, or shut up." To shut up was impossible, and to sleep again-- +without a rest--difficult, even for Buggins; so with a good-natured +laugh he took the shot gun, saying that he "would potter around a bit +and give us a treat." Well, he did! + +We had outspanned on the edge of an open space in the thorn bush; there +are plenty of them to be found in the Bushveld--spaces a few hundred +yards in diameter, like open park land, where not a single tree breaks +the expanse of wavy yellow grass. The waggons with their greyish tents +and buck-sails and dusty wood-work stood in the fringe of the trees +where this little arena touched the road, and into it sallied Buggins, +gently drawn by the benevolent purpose of giving us a treat. What he +hoped to find in the open on that sweltering day he only could tell; we +knew that no living thing but lizards would be out of the shade just +then, but we wanted to find him employment harmless to him and us. + +He had been gone for more than half an hour when we heard a shot, and a +few minutes later Jimmy's voice roused us. + +"What the dickens is Buggins doing?" he asked in a tone so puzzled and +interested that we all turned to watch that sportsman. According to +Jimmy, he had been walking about in an erratic way for some time on the +far side of the open ground--going from the one end to the other and +then back again; then disappearing for a few minutes in the bush and +re-appearing to again manoeuvre in the open in loops and circles, angles +and straight lines. Now he was walking about at a smart pace, looking +from side to side apparently searching for something. We could see the +whole of the arena as clearly as you can see a cricket-field from the +railings--for our waggon formed part of the boundary--but we could see +nothing to explain Buggins's manoeuvres. Next we saw him face the +thorns opposite, raise his gun very deliberately, and fire into the top +of the trees. + +"Green pigeons," said Jimmy firmly; and we all agreed that Buggins was +after specimens for stuffing; but either our guess was wrong or his aim +was bad, for after standing dead still for a minute he resumed his +vigorous walk. By this time Buggins fairly fascinated us; even the +kaffirs had roused each other and were watching him. Away he went at +once off to our left, and there he repeated the performance, but, again +made no attempt to pick up anything and showed no further interest in +whatever it was he had fired at, but turned right about face and walked +across the open ground in our direction until he was only a couple of +hundred yards away. There he stopped and began to look about him and +making off some few yards in another direction climbed on to a +fair-sized ant-heap five or six feet high, and balancing himself +cautiously on this he deliberately fired off both barrels in quick +succession. Then the same idea struck us all together, and "Buggins is +lost" came from several--all choking with laughter. + +Jimmy got up and, stepping out into the open beside the waggon, called, +"Say, Buggins, what in thunder _are_ you doing?" + +To see Buggins slide off the ant-heap and shuffle shamefacedly back to +the waggon before a gallery of four white men and a lot of kaffirs, all +cracking and crying with laughter, was a sight never to be forgotten. + +I did not want to get lost and be eaten alive, or even look ridiculous, +so I began very carefully: glanced back regularly to see what the track, +trees, rocks, or kopjes looked like from the other side; carefully noted +which side of the road I had turned off; and always kept my eye on the +sun. But day after day and month after month went by without accident +or serious difficulty, and then the same old thing happened: familiarity +bred contempt, and I got the beginner's complaint, conceit fever, just +as others did: thought I was rather a fine fellow, not like other chaps +who always have doubts and difficulties in finding their way back, but +something exceptional with the real instinct in me which hunters, +natives, and many animals are supposed to have; though, in fact, I could +not get lost. So each day I went further and more boldly off the road, +and grew more confident and careless. + +The very last thing that would have occurred to me on this particular +day was that there was any chance of being lost or any need to take note +of where we went. For many weeks we had been hunting in exactly the +same sort of country, but not of course in the same part; and the truth +is I did not give the matter a thought at all, but went ahead as one +does with the things that are done every day as matters of habit. + + +CHAPTER EIGHT. + +LOST IN THE VELD. + +We were outspanned near some deep shaded water-holes, and at about three +o'clock I took my rifle and wandered off in the hope of dropping across +something for the larder and having some sport during the three hours +before the evening trek would begin; and as there was plenty of spoor of +many kinds the prospects seemed good enough. + +We had been going along slowly, it may be for half an hour, without +seeing more than a little stembuck scurrying away in the distance, when +I noticed that Jock was rather busy with his nose, sniffing about in a +way that looked like business. He was not sure of anything; that was +clear, because he kept trying in different directions; not as you see a +pointer do, but very seriously silently and slowly, moving at a cautious +walk for a few yards and then taking a look about. + +The day was hot and still, as usual at that time of the year, and any +noise would be easily heard, so I had stopped to give Jock a chance of +ranging about. At the moment we were in rather open ground, and finding +that Jock was still very suspicious I moved on towards where the bush +was thicker and we were less likely to be seen from a distance. As we +got near the better cover there was a rasping, squawky cry in a +cockatoo's voice, "Go 'way; go 'way; go' way!" and one of those ugly +big-beaked Go 'way birds came sailing up from behind and flapped on to +the trees we were making for. No doubt they have another name, but in +the Bushveld they were known as Go 'way birds, because of this cry and +because they are supposed to warn the game when an enemy is coming. But +they are not like the tick bird or the rhinoceros bird, who stick close +to their friends and as soon as they see or hear anything suspicious +flutter straight up filling the air with twittering cries of alarm; the +Go 'way birds do not feed on ticks and have nothing to do with the game; +you find them where there is no game, and it always seemed to me that it +is not concern for the game at all, but simply a combination of vulgar +curiosity, disagreeableness and bad manners, that makes them interfere +as they do. + +The reason why I do not believe the Go 'way birds care a rap about the +game and only want to worry you is that often one of them will make up +its mind to stick to you, and you can turn twist and double as many ways +as you like, but as soon as you begin to walk on again the wretched +thing will fly over your head and perch twenty yards or so in front of +you, screeching out "Go 'way" at the top of its voice. There it will +sit ready to fly off again as you come on, its ugly head on one side and +big hooked bill like an aggressive nose, watching you mercilessly, as +vigilant as a hungry fowl and as cross as a tired nurse in a big family. +They seem to know that you cannot shoot them without making more row +and doing more harm than they do. + +I stood still for a few minutes to give this one a chance to fly away, +and when it would not do so, but kept on screeching and craning its neck +at me, I threw a stone at it. It ducked violently and gave a choking +hysterical squawk of alarm and anger as the stone whizzed close to its +head; then flying on to another tree a few yards off, screamed away more +noisily than ever. Evidently the best thing to do was to go ahead +taking no notice of the creature and trusting that it would tire and +leave me alone; so I walked off briskly. + +There was a slight rustling in the bush ahead of us as I stepped out, +and then the sound of feet. I made a dash for the chance of a running +shot, but it was too late, and all we saw was half a dozen beautiful +koodoo disappearing among the tree stems. + +I turned towards that Go 'way bird. Perhaps he did not like the look on +my face or the way I held the rifle; for he gave one more snarling +shriek, as if he was emptying himself for ever of his rage and spite, +and flapped away. + +Jock was standing like a statue, leaning slightly forward but with head +very erect, jaws tightly closed, and eyes looking straight in front, as +bright as black diamonds. + +It was a bad disappointment; for that was the first time we had fairly +and squarely come upon koodoo. However, it was still early and the game +had not been scared, but had gone off quietly; so hoping for another +chance we started off at a trot along the fresh spoor. + +A big koodoo bull stands as high as a bullock, and although they have +the small shapely feet of an antelope the spoor is heavy enough to +follow at a trot except on stony ground. Perhaps they know this, for +they certainly prefer the rough hard ground when they can get it. We +went along at a good pace, but with many short breaks to make sure of +the spoor in the stony parts; and it was pretty hot work, although +clothing was light for hunting. A rough flannel shirt, open at the +throat, and moleskin trousers dyed with coffee--for khaki was unknown to +us then--was the usual wear; and we carried as little as possible. +Generally a water-bottle filled with unsweetened cold tea and a +cartridge belt were all we took besides the rifle. This time I had less +than usual. Meaning to be out only for a couple of hours at most and to +stick close to the road, I had pocketed half a dozen cartridges and left +both bandolier and water-bottle behind. + +It was not long before we came upon the koodoo again; but they were on +the watch. They were standing in the fringe of some thick bush, +broadside on but looking back full at us, and as soon as I stopped to +aim the whole lot disappeared with the same easy movement, just melting +away in the bush. + +If I had only known it, it was a hopeless chase for an inexperienced +hunter: they were simply playing with me. The very things that seemed +so encouraging to me would have warned an old hand that running on the +trail was quite useless. When they moved off quietly, it was not +because they were foolhardy or did not realise the danger. When they +allowed us to catch up to them time after time, it was not because they +did not expect us. When they stood on the edge of thick bush where we +could see them, it was not stupidity. When they could disappear with an +easy bound, it was not accident. It was all part of the game. They +were keeping in touch with us so that we could not surprise them, and +whenever they stopped it was always where they could see us coming +through the thinner bush for a long way and where they themselves could +disappear in the thick bush in a couple of strides. Moreover, with each +fresh run they changed their direction with the object of making it +difficult for us to follow them up, and with the deliberate purpose of +eventually reaching some favourite and safe haunt of theirs. + +An old hand might have known this; but a beginner goes blindly along the +spoor--exactly where they are expecting him. The chase was long and +tiring, but there was no feeling of disappointment and no thought of +giving it up: each time they came in sight we got keener and more +excited, and the end seemed nearer and more certain. I knew what the +six animals were--four cows, one young bull, and a magnificent old +fellow with a glorious head and great spiral horns. I carried his +picture in my eye and could pick him out instantly wherever he stood and +however motionless; for, incredibly difficult as it is to pick out still +objects in the bush before your eye becomes accustomed to it, it is +wonderful what you can do when your eye is in and you are cool and +intent and know what you are looking for. I had the old bull marked +down as mine, and knew his every detail--his splendid bearing, strong +shaggy neck with mane to the withers and bearded throat, the soft grey +dove-colour of the coat with its white stripes, the easy balancing +movement in carrying the massive horns as he cantered away, and the +trick of throwing them back to glide them through the bush. + +The last run was a long and hard one; and the koodoo seemed to have +taken matters seriously and made up their minds to put a safe distance +between us and them. The spooring was often difficult and the pace hot. +I was wet through from the hard work, and so winded that further effort +seemed almost impossible; but we plodded away--the picture of the koodoo +bull luring me on, and Jock content with any chase. Without him the +spoor would have been lost long before; it was in many places too faint +and scattered for me to follow, but he would sniff about quietly, and, +by his contented looks back at me and brisk wagging of that stumpy tail, +show that he was on it again, and off we would go on another tired +straggling trot. But at last even his help was not enough: we had come +to the end of the chase, and not a spoor, scratch, or sign of any sort +was to be seen. + +Time had passed unnoticed, and it was only when it became clear that +further search would be quite useless that I looked at my watch and +found it was nearly five o'clock. That was rather a shock, for it +seemed reasonable to think that, as we had been out for pretty nearly +two hours and going fast for most of the time, it would take almost as +long to get back again. + +I had not once noticed our direction or looked at the sun, yet when it +came to making for camp again the idea of losing the way never occurred +to me. I had not the slightest doubt about the way we had come, and it +seemed the natural thing to go back the same way. + +A short distance from where we finally gave up the chase there was a +rise crowned by some good-sized rocks and bare of trees; it was not high +enough to be fairly called a kopje, but I climbed it on chance of +getting a view of the surrounding country--to see, if possible, how far +we had come. The rise was not sufficient, however, to give a view; +there was nothing to be seen, and I sat down on the highest rock to rest +for a few minutes and smoke a cigarette. + +It is over twenty years since that day, but that cigarette is not +forgotten, and the little rise where we rested is still, to me, +Cigarette Kopje. I was so thoroughly wet from the heat and hard work +that the matches in the breast pocket of my shirt were all damp, and the +heads came off most of them before one was gently coaxed into giving a +light. Five minutes rest was enough. We both wanted a drink, but there +was no time then to hunt for water in such a dry part as that, so off we +started for camp and jogged along for a good time, perhaps half an hour. +Then little by little I began to feel some uncertainty about the way +and to look about from side to side for reminders. + +The start back had been easy enough: that part of the ground where we +had lost the spoor had been gone over very thoroughly and every object +was familiar; but further back, where we had followed the spoor at a +trot for long stretches and I had hardly raised my eyes from the ground +before me, it was a very different matter. I forgot all about those +long stretches in which nothing had been noticed except the koodoo +spoor, and was unconsciously looking out for things in regular +succession which we had passed at quite long intervals. Of course, they +were not to be found, but I kept on looking out for them--first feeling +annoyed, then puzzled, then worried. Something had gone wrong, and we +were not going back on our old tracks. Several times I looked about for +the koodoo spoor as a guide; but it might be anywhere over a width of a +hundred yards, and it seemed waste of precious time to search the dry +grass-grown and leaf-strewn ground for that. + +At the first puzzled stop I tried to recall some of the more noticeable +things we had passed during the chase. There were two flat-topped +mimosas, looking like great rustic tables on a lawn, and we had passed +between them; there was a large ant-heap, with a twisty top like a +crooked mud chimney, behind which the koodoo bull had calmly stood +watching us approach; then a marula tree with a fork like a giant +catapult stick; and so on with a score of other things, all coming +readily to mind. + +That was what put me hopelessly wrong. I began to look for particular +objects instead of taking one direction and keeping to it. Whenever a +flat-topped thorn, a quaint ant-heap, a patch of tambookie grass, or a +forked marula came in sight, I would turn off to see if they were the +same we had passed coming out. It was hopeless folly, of course; for in +that country there were hundreds and thousands of such things all +looking very much alike, and you could walk yourself to death zigzagging +about from one to another and never get any nearer home: when it comes +to doing that sort of thing your judgment is gone and you have lost your +head; and the worst of it is you do not know it and would not believe it +if any one could tell you so. I did not know it; but it was +nevertheless the fact. + +As the sun sank lower I hurried on faster, but never long in one line-- +always turning this way and that to search for the particular marks I +had in mind. At last we came to four trees in a line, and my heart gave +a great jump, for these we had certainly passed before. In order to +make quite sure I hunted for koodoo spoor; there was none to be seen, +but on an old molehill there was the single print of a dog's foot. "Ha, +Jock's!" I exclaimed aloud; and Jock himself at the sound of his name +stepped up briskly and sniffed at his own spoor. Close beside it there +was the clear mark of a heeled boot, and there were others further on. +There was no doubt about it, they were Jock's and mine, and I could have +given a whoop of delight; but a chilly feeling came over me when I +realised that the footprints were _leading the same way as we were +going_, instead of the opposite way. What on earth did it mean? + +I laid the rifle down and sat on an old stump to think it out, and after +puzzling over it for some minutes came to the conclusion that by some +stupid blunder I must have turned round somewhere and followed the line +of the koodoo, instead of going back on it. The only thing to be done +was to right about face and go faster than ever; but, bad as the +disappointment was, it was a certain consolation to know that we were on +the track at last. That at any rate was a certainty; for, besides the +footprints, the general appearance of the country and many individual +features were perfectly familiar, now that I took a good look at them +from this point. + +At that moment I had not a shadow of doubt about the way--no more, +indeed, than if we had been on the road itself: no suspicion of the +truth occurred to me; yet the simple fact is we were not then on the +koodoo trail at all, but, having made a complete circle, had come on to +our own trail at the molehill and were now doing the circle the second +time--but the reverse way now. + +The map on the opposite page is an attempt to show what happened; the +details are of course only guesswork, but the general idea is correct. +The koodoo themselves had moved in a rough circle and in the first +attempt to return to the waggons I had started back on their trail but +must have turned aside somewhere, and after that, by dodging about +looking for special landmarks, have made a complete circle. Thus we +eventually came back to the track on which we had started for home, and +the things that then looked so convincingly familiar were things seen +during the first attempt to return, and not, as I supposed, landmarks on +the original koodoo trail. Jock's footprints in the molehill were only +a few hundred yards from the Cigarette Kopje and about the same distance +from where we had lost the koodoo spoor; and we were, at that moment, +actually within a mile of the waggons. + +It seems incredible that one could be so near and not see or understand. +Why should one walk in circles instead of taking a fairly straight +line? How was it possible to pass Cigarette Kopje and not recognise it, +for I must have gone within fifty yards or less of it? As for not +seeing things, the answer is that the bush does not allow you to see +much: the waggons, for instance, might as well have been a hundred miles +away. As for Cigarette Kop--things do not look the same unless seen +from the same point; moreover there are heaps of things easily visible +which you will never see at all because you are looking only for +something else: you carry a preconceived idea, a sort of picture in your +eye, and everything that does not fit in with that is not noticed--not +even seen. As for walking in circles, it is my belief that most people, +just like most horses, have a natural leaning or tendency towards one +side or the other, and unless checked unconsciously indulge it. When +riding in the veld, or any open country, you will notice that some +horses will want to take any turn off to the right, others always go to +the left, and only very few keep straight on. When out walking you will +find that some people cannot walk on your right hand without coming +across your front or working you into the gutter; others `mule' you from +the left. Get them out in open country, walk briskly, and talk; then +give way a little each time they bump you, and in a very little while +you will have done the circle. If you have this tendency in the +Bushveld, where you cannot see any distant object to make for as a goal, +any obstacle straight in front of you throws you off to the side you +incline to; any openings in the trees which look like avenues or easy +ways draw you; and between any two of them you will always choose the +one on your favourite side. Finally, a little knowledge is a dangerous +thing in the veld, as elsewhere. When you know enough to recognise +marks without being able to identify or locate them--that is, when you +know you have seen them before but are not sure of the when and the +where--goodness only knows what conclusion you will come to or what you +will do. + +I had passed Cigarette Kopje, it's true; but when coming towards it from +a new side it must have looked quite different; and besides that, I had +not been expecting it, not looking for it, not even thinking of it--had +indeed said good-bye to it for ever. When we turned back at the +molehill, beginning to do the circle for the second time, we must have +passed quite close to Cigarette Kopje again, but again it was from a +different opening in the bush, and this time I had thought of nothing +and seen nothing except the things I picked out and recognised as we +hurried along. To my half-opened beginner's eyes these things were +familiar: we had passed them before; that seemed to be good enough: it +must be right; so on we went, simply doing the same circle a second +time, but this time the reverse way. The length of my shadow stretching +out before me as we started from the molehill was a reminder of the need +for haste, and we set off at a smart double. A glance back every few +minutes to make sure that we were returning the way we had come was +enough, and on we sped, confident for my part that we, were securely on +the line of the koodoo and going straight for the waggons. + +It is very difficult to say how long this lasted before once more a +horrible doubt arose. It was when we had done half the circle that I +was pulled up as if struck in the face: the setting sun shining into my +eyes as we crossed an open space stopped me; for, as the bright +gold-dust light of the sunset met me full, I remembered that it was my +long shadow _in front_ of me as we started from the molehill that had +urged me to hurry on. We had started due east: we were going dead west! +What on earth was wrong? There were the trees and spaces we had +passed, a blackened stump, an ant-bear hole; all familiar. What then +was the meaning of it? Was it only a temporary swerve? No! I tested +that by pushing on further along the track we were following, and it +held steadily to the west. Was it then all imagination about having +been there before? No, that was absurd! And yet--and yet, as I went +on, no longer trotting and full of hope but walking heavily and weighted +with doubt, the feeling of uncertainty grew until I really did not know +whether the familiar-looking objects and scenes were indeed old +acquaintances or merely imagination playing tricks in a country where +every style and sample was copied a thousand times over. + +A few minutes later I again caught sight of the sunset glow--it was on +my direct right: it meant that the trail had taken another turn, while I +could have sworn we were holding a course straight as an arrow. It was +all a hopeless tangle. I was lost then--and knew it. It was not the +dread of a night out in the bush--for after many months of roughing it, +that had no great terrors for me--but the helpless feeling of being lost +and the anxiety and uncertainty about finding the road again, that +gnawed at me and made me feel tucked-up and drawn. I wondered when they +would begin to look for me, if they would light big fires and fire +shots, and if it would be possible to see or hear the signals. The +light would not last much longer; the dimness, the silence, and the +hateful doubts about the trail made it more and more difficult to +recognise the line; so I thought it was time to fire a signal shot. + +There was no answer. It was silly to hope for one; for even if it had +been heard they would only have thought that I was shooting at +something. Yet the clinging to hope was so strong that every twenty +yards or so I stopped to listen for a reply; and when, after what seemed +an eternity, none came, I fired another. When you shoot in the +excitement of the chase the noise of the report does not strike you as +anything out of the way; but a signal shot when you are alone and lost +seems to fill the world with sound and to shake the earth itself. It +has a most chilling effect, and the feeling of loneliness becomes acute +as the echoes die away and still no answer comes. + +Another short spell of tip-toe walking and intent listening, and then it +came to me that one shot as a signal was useless; I should have fired +more and at regular intervals, like minute-guns at sea. I felt in my +pocket: there were only four cartridges there and one in the rifle; +there was night before me, with the wolves and the lions; there was the +food for to-morrow, and perhaps more than to-morrow! There could be no +minute-guns: two shots were all that could be spared, and I looked about +for some high and open ground where the sound would travel far and wide. +On ahead of us to the right the trees seemed fewer and the light +stronger; and there I came upon some rising ground bare of bush. It was +not much for my purpose, but it was higher than the rest and quite open, +and there were some rocks scattered about the top. The same old feeling +of mixed remembrance and doubt came over me as we climbed it: it looked +familiar and yet different. Was it memory or imagination? + +But there was no time for wonderings. From the biggest rock, which was +only waist high, I fired off two of my precious cartridges, and stood +like a statue listening for the reply. The silence seemed worse than +before: the birds had gone to roost; even the flies had disappeared; +there was no sound at all but the beat of my own heart and Jock's +panting breath. + +There were three cartridges and a few damp matches left. There was no +sun to dry them now, but I laid them out carefully on the smooth warm +rock, and hoped that one at least would serve to light our camp fire. +There was no time to waste: while the light lasted I had to drag up wood +for the fire and pick a place for the camp--somewhere where the rocks +behind and the fire in front would shelter us from the lions and hyenas, +and where I could watch and listen for signals in the night. + +There was plenty of wood near by, and thinking anxiously of the damp +matches I looked about for dry tindery grass so that any spark would +give a start for the fire. As I stooped to look for the grass I came on +a patch of bare ground between the scattered tufts, and in the middle of +it there lay a half-burnt match; and such a flood of relief and hope +surged up that my heart beat up in my throat. Where there were matches +there had been men! We were not in the wilds, then, where white men +seldom went--not off the beaten track: perhaps not far from the road +itself. + +You must experience it to know what it meant at that moment. It drew me +on to look for more! A yard away I found the burnt end of a cigarette; +and before there was time to realise why that should seem queer, I came +on eight or ten matches with their heads knocked off. + +For a moment things seemed to go round and round. I sat down with my +back against the rock and a funny choky feeling in my throat. I knew +they were my matches and cigarette, and that we were exactly where we +had started from hours before, when we gave up the chase of tie koodoo. +I began to understand things then: why places and landmarks seemed +familiar; why Jock's spoor in the molehill had pointed the wrong way; +why my shadow was in front and behind and beside me in turns. We had +been going round in a circle. I jumped up and looked about me with a +fresh light; and it was all clear as noonday then. Why, this was the +fourth time we had been on or close to some part of this same rise that +day, each time within fifty yards of the same place; it was the second +time I had sat on that very rock. And there was nothing odd or +remarkable about that either, for each time I had been looking for the +highest point to spy from and had naturally picked the rock-topped rise; +and I had not recognised it, only because we came upon it from different +sides each time and I was thinking of other things all the while. + +All at once it seemed as if my eyes were opened and all was clear at +last. I knew what to do: just make the best of it for the night; listen +for shots and watch for fires; and if by morning no help came in that +way, then strike a line due south for the road and follow it up until we +found the waggons. It might take all day or even more, but we were sure +of water that way and one could do it. The relief of really +understanding was so great that the thought of a night out no longer +worried me. + +There was enough wood gathered, and I stretched out on the grass to rest +as there was nothing else to do. We were both tired out, hot, dusty, +and very very thirsty; but it was too late to hunt for water then. I +was lying on my side chewing a grass stem, and Jock lay down in front of +me a couple of feet away. It was a habit of his: he liked to watch my +face, and often when I rolled over to ease one side and lie on the other +he would get up when he found my back turned to him and come round +deliberately to the other side and sling himself down in front of me +again. There he would lie with his hind legs sprawled on one side, his +front legs straight out, and his head resting on his paws. He would lie +like that without a move, his little dark eyes fixed on mine all the +time until the stillness and the rest made him sleepy, and he would +blink and blink, like a drowsy child, fighting against sleep until it +beat him; and then--one long-drawn breath as he rolled gently over on +his side, and Jock was away in Snoozeland. + +In the loneliness of that evening I looked into his steadfast resolute +face with its darker muzzle and bright faithful eyes that looked so soft +and brown when there was nothing to do but got so beady black when it +came to fighting. I felt very friendly to the comrade who was little +more than a puppy still; and he seemed to feel something too; for as I +lay there chewing the straw and looking at him, he stirred his stump of +a tail in the dust an inch or so from time to time to let me know that +he understood all about it and that it was all right as long as we were +together. + +But an interruption came. Jock suddenly switched up his head, put it a +bit sideways as a man would do, listening over his shoulder with his +nose rather up in the air. I watched him, and thinking that it was +probably only a buck out to feed in the cool of the evening, I tickled +his nose with the long straw, saying, "No good, old chap; only three +cartridges left. We must keep them." + +No dog likes to have his nose tickled: it makes them sneeze; and many +dogs get quite offended, because it hurts their dignity. Jock was not +offended, but he got up and, as if to show me that I was frivolous and +not attending properly to business, turned away from me and with his +ears cocked began to listen again. + +He was standing slightly in front of me and I happened to notice his +tail: it was not moving; it was drooping slightly and perfectly still, +and he kept it like that as he stepped quietly forward on to another +sloping rock overlooking a side where we had not yet been. Evidently +there was something there, but he did not know what, and he wanted to +find out. + +I watched him, much amused by his calm businesslike manner. He walked +to the edge of the rock and looked out: for a few minutes he stood +stock-still with his ears cocked and his tail motionless; then his ears +dropped and his tail wagged gently from side to side. + +Something--an instinct or sympathy quickened by the day's experience, +that I had never quite known before--taught me to understand, and I +jumped up, thinking, "He sees something that he knows: he is pleased." +As I walked over to him, he looked back at me with his mouth open and +tongue out, his ears still down and tail wagging--he was smiling all +over, in his own way. I looked out over his head, and there, about +three hundred yards off, were the oxen peacefully grazing and the herd +boy in his red coat lounging along behind them. + +Shame at losing myself and dread of the others' chaff kept me very +quiet, and all they knew for many months was that we had had a long +fruitless chase after koodoo and hard work to get back in time. + +I had had my lesson, and did not require to have it rubbed in and be +roasted as Buggins had been. Only Jock and I knew all about it; but +once or twice there were anxious nervous moments when it looked as if we +were not the only ones in the secret. The big Zulu driver, Jim +Makokel'--always interested in hunting and all that concerned Jock-- +asked me as we were inspanning what I had fired the last two shots at; +and as I pretended not to hear or to notice the question, he went on to +say how he had told the other boys that it must have been a klipspringer +on a high rock or a monkey or a bird because the bullets had whistled +over the waggons. I told him to inspan and not talk so much, and moved +round to the other side of the waggon. + +That night I slept hard, but woke up once dreaming that several lions +were looking down at me from the top of a big flat rock and Jock was +keeping them off. + +Jock was in his usual place beside me, lying against my blankets. I +gave him an extra pat for the dream, thinking, "Good old boy; we know +all about it, you and I, and we're not going to tell. But we've learned +some things that we won't forget." And as I dropped off to sleep again +I felt a few feeble sleepy pats against my leg, and knew it was Jock's +tail wagging "Good night." + + +CHAPTER NINE. + +THE IMPALA STAMPEDE. + +Not all our days were spent in excitement--far far from it. For six or +seven months the rains were too heavy, the heat too great, the grass too +rank, and the fever too bad in the Bushveld for any one to do any good +there; so that for more than half of the year we had no hunting to speak +of, as there was not much to be done above the Berg. But even during +the hunting season there were many off-days and long spells when we +never fired a shot. The work with the waggons was hard when we had full +loads, the trekking slow and at night, so that there was always +something to do in the daytime--repairs to be done, oxen to be doctored, +grass and water to be looked for, and so on; and we had to make up sleep +when we could. Even when the sport was good and the bag satisfactory +there was usually nothing new to tell about it. So Jock and I had many +a long spell when there was no hunting, many a bad day when we worked +hard but had no sport, and many a good day when we got what we were +after and nothing happened that would interest any one else. Every hunt +was exciting and interesting for us, even those in which we got nothing; +indeed some of the most interesting were those in which the worst +disappointments occurred, when after hard work and long chases the game +escaped us. To tell all that happened would be to tell the same old +story many times over; but indeed, it would not be possible to tell all, +for there were some things--the most interesting of all, perhaps--which +only Jock knew. + +After the fight with the duiker there was never any doubt as to what he +would do if allowed to follow up a wounded animal. It made a deal of +difference in the hunting to know that he could be trusted to find it +and hold on or bay it until I could get up. The bush was so thick that +it was not possible to see more than a very few hundred yards at best, +and the country was so dry and rough that if a wounded animal once got +out of sight only an expert tracker had any chance of finding it again. +Jock soon showed himself to be better than the best of trackers, for +besides never losing the trail he would either pull down the buck or, if +too big for that, attack and worry even the biggest of them to such an +extent that they would have to keep turning on him to protect themselves +and thus give me the chance to catch up. + +But the first result of my confidence in him was some perfectly hopeless +chases. It is natural enough to give oneself the benefit of any doubt; +the enthusiastic beginner always does so, and in his case the lack of +experience often creates a doubt where none should have existed; and the +doubt is often very welcome, helping him out with explanations of the +unflattering facts. For the listener it is, at best and worst, only +amusing or tiresome; but for the person concerned it is different--for, +as Rocky said, `It don't fool any one worth speakin' of 'cept yerself.' +And `there's the rub.' Whenever a bullet struck with a thud, and no +dust appeared to show that it had hit the ground, I thought that it must +have wounded the buck; and once you get the idea that the buck is hit, +all sorts of reasons appear in support of it. There is hardly anything +that the buck can do which does not seem to you to prove that it is +wounded. It bounds into the air, races off suddenly, or goes away quite +slowly; it switches its tail or shakes its head; it stops to look back, +or does not stop at all; the spoor looks awkward and scrappy; the rust +on the grass looks like dry blood. If you start with a theory instead +of weighing the evidence all these things will help to prove that +theory: they will, in fact, mean exactly what you want them to mean. +You `put up a job on yerself'--to quote Rocky again--and with the sweat +of your brow and vexation of spirit you have to work that job out. + +Poor old Jock had a few hard chases after animals which I thought were +wounded but were not hit at all--not many, however, for he soon got hold +of the right idea and was a better judge than his master. He went off +the instant he was sent, but if there was nothing wounded--that is, if +he could not pick up a `blood spoor'--he would soon show it by casting +across the trail, instead of following hard on it; and I knew then there +was nothing in it. Often he would come back of his own accord, and +there was something quite peculiar in his look when he returned from +these wild-goose chases that seemed to say, "No good: you were quite +wrong. You missed the whole lot of them." He would come up to me with +his mouth wide-open and tongue out, a bit blown, and stand still with +his front legs wide apart, looking up at me with that nothing-in-it sort +of look in his eyes and not a movement in his ears or tail and never a +turn of his head to show the least interest in anything else. I got to +know that look quite well; and to me it meant, "Well, that job was a +failure--finished and done for. Now is there anything else you can +think of?" + +What always seemed to me so curious and full of meaning was that he +never once looked back in the direction of the unwounded game, but +seemed to put them out of his mind altogether as of no further interest. +It was very different when he got on to the trail of a wounded buck and +I had to call him off, as was sometimes necessary when the chase looked +hopeless or it was too late to go further. He would obey, of course--no +amount of excitement made him forget that; but he would follow me in a +sort of sideways trot, looking back over his shoulder all the time, and +whenever there was a stop, turning right round and staring intently in +the direction of the game with his little tail moving steadily from side +to side and his hind legs crouched as if ready to spring off the instant +he got permission. + +Twice I thought he was lost for ever through following wounded game. +The first occasion was also the first time that we got among the impala +and saw them in numbers. There is no more beautiful and fascinating +sight than that of a troop of impala or springbuck really on the move +and jumping in earnest. The height and distance that they clear is +simply incredible. The impala's greater size and its delicate spiral +horns give it a special distinction; the springbuck's brilliant white +and red, and the divided crest which fans out along the spine when it is +excited, are unique. But who can say which of the many beautiful +antelopes is the most beautiful? The oldest hunter will tell you of +first one, then another, and then another, as they come to mind, just as +he saw them in some supreme unforgettable moment; and each at that +moment has seemed quite the most beautiful animal in the world. + +It is when they are jumping that the impala are seen at their best. No +one knows what they really can do, for there are no fences in their +country by which to judge or guess, and as they run in herds it is +practically impossible ever to find the take-off or landing-place of any +single animal. Once when hunting along the Wenhla Mohali River we +managed to turn seven of them into an old run ending in a rocky gorge; +but suspecting danger they would not face the natural outlet, and +turning up the slope cleared a barrier of thick thorn scrub and escaped. +When we looked at the place afterwards we found that the bushes were +nine feet high. We were not near enough to see whether they touched the +tops or cleared them; all we were sure of was that they did not hesitate +for a second to face a jump nine feet high at the top of a sharp rise, +and that all seven did it in follow-my-leader order with the most +perfect ease and grace. + +Every hunter has seen a whole troop, old and young, following the +example of the leader, clear a road or donga twenty feet wide, +apparently in an effortless stride. It is a fine sight, and the steady +stream of buck makes an arch of red and white bodies over the road +looking like the curve of a great wave. You stand and watch in +speechless admiration; and the first gasp at a glorious leap is followed +by steady silent wonder at the regularity of the numbers. Then suddenly +you see one animal--for no apparent reason: it may be fright or it may +be frolic--take off away back behind the others, shoot up, and sail high +above the arch of all the rest, and with head erect and feet comfortably +gathered, land far beyond them--the difference between ease and effort, +and oh! the perfect grace of both! Something is wrung from you--a word, +a gasp--and you stand breathless with wonder and admiration until the +last one is gone. You have forgotten to shoot; but they have left you +something better than a trophy, something which time will only glorify-- +a picture that in daylight or in dark will fill your mind whenever you +hear the name Impala. + +Something of this I carried away from my first experience among them. +There were a few minutes of complete bewilderment, a scene of the +wildest confusion, and flashes of incident that go to make a great +picture which it is impossible to forget. But then there followed many +hours of keen anxiety when I believed that Jock was gone for ever; and +it was long before that day found its place in the gallery of happy +memories. + +We had gone out after breakfast, striking well away from the main road +until we got among the thicker thorns where there was any amount of +fresh spoor and we were quite certain to find a troop sooner or later. +The day was so still, the ground so dry, and the bush so thick that the +chances were the game would hear us before we could get near enough to +see them. Several times I heard sounds of rustling bush or feet +cantering away: something had heard us and made off unseen; so I dropped +down into the sandy bed of a dry donga and used it as a stalking trench. +From this it was easy enough to have a good look around every hundred +yards or so without risk of being heard or seen. We had been going +along cautiously in this way for some time when, peering over the bank, +I spied a single impala half hidden by a scraggy bush. It seemed queer +that there should be only one, as their habit is to move in troops; but +there was nothing else to be seen; indeed it was only the flicker of an +ear on this one that had caught my eye. Nothing else in the land moved. + +Jock climbed the bank also, following so closely that he bumped against +my heels, and when I lay flat actually crawled over my legs to get up +beside me and see what was on. Little by little he got into the way of +imitating all I did, so that after a while it was hardly necessary to +say a word or make a sign to him. He lay down beside me and raised his +head to look just as he saw me do. He was all excitement, trembling +like a wet spaniel on a cold day, and instead of looking steadily at the +impala as I was doing and as he usually did, he was looking here there +and everywhere; it seemed almost as if he was looking at things--not for +them. It was my comfortable belief at the moment that he had not yet +spotted the buck, but was looking about anxiously to find out what was +interesting me. It turned out, as usual, that he had seen a great deal +more than his master had. + +The stalking looked very easy, as a few yards further up the donga there +was excellent cover in some dense thorns, behind which we could walk +boldly across open ground to within easy range of the buck and get a +clear shot. We reached the cover all right, but I had not taken three +steps into the open space beyond before there was a rushing and +scrambling on every side of me. The place was a whirlpool of racing and +plunging impala; they came from every side and went in every direction +as though caught suddenly in an enclosure and, mad with fear and +bewilderment, were trying to find a way out. How many there were it was +quite impossible to say: the bush was alive with them; and the dust they +kicked up, the noise of their feet, their curious sneezy snorts, and +their wild confusion completely bewildered me. Not one stood still. +Never for a moment could I see any single animal clearly enough or long +enough to fire at it; another would cross it; a bush would cover it as I +aimed; or it would leap into the air, clearing bushes, bucks and +everything in its way, and disappear again in the moving mass. They +seemed to me to whirl like leaves in a wind eddy: my eyes could not +follow them and my brain swam as I looked. + +It was a hot day; there was no breeze at all; and probably the herd had +been resting after their morning feed and drink when we came upon them. +By creeping up along the donga we had managed to get unobserved right +into the middle of the dozing herd, so they were literally on every side +of us. At times it looked as if they were bound to stampede over us and +simply trample us down in their numbers; for in their panic they saw +nothing, and not one appeared to know what or where the danger was. +Time and again, as for part of a second I singled one out and tried to +aim, others would come racing straight for us, compelling me to switch +round to face them, only to find them swerve with a dart or a mighty +bound when within a few paces of me. + +What Jock was doing during that time I do not know. It was all such a +whirl of excitement and confusion that there are only a few clear +impressions left on my mind. One is of a buck coming through the air +right at me, jumping over the backs of two others racing across my +front. I can see now the sudden wriggle of its body and the look of +terror in its eyes when it saw me and realised that it was going to land +almost at my feet. I tried to jump aside, but it was not necessary: +with one touch on the ground it shot slantingly past me like a ricochet +bullet. Another picture that always comes back is that of a splendid +ram clearing the first of the dense thorn bushes that were to have been +my cover in stalking. He flew over it outlined against the sky in the +easiest most graceful and most perfect curve imaginable. It came back +to me afterwards that he was eight or ten yards from me, and yet I had +to look up into the sky to see his white chest and gracefully gathered +feet as he cleared the thorn bush like a soaring bird. + +One shot, out of three or four fired in desperation as they were melting +away, hit something; the unmistakable thud of the bullet told me so. +That time it was the real thing, and when you hear the real thing you +cannot mistake it. The wounded animal went off with the rest and I +followed, with Jock ahead of me hot on the trail. A hundred yards +further on where Jock with his nose to the ground had raced along +between some low stones and a marula tree I came to a stop--bush all +round me, not a living thing in sight, and all as silent as the grave. +On one of the smooth hot stones there was a big drop of blood, and a few +yards on I found a couple more. Here and there along the spoor there +were smears on the long yellow grass, and it was clear enough, judging +by the height of the blood-marks from the ground, that the impala was +wounded in the body--probably far back, as there were no frothy bubbles +to show a lung shot. I knew that it would be a long chase unless Jock +could head the buck off and bay it; but unless he could do this at once, +he was so silent in his work that there was little chance of finding +him. The trail became more and more difficult to follow; the blood was +less frequent, and the hot sun dried it so quickly that it was more than +I could do to pick it out from the red streaks on the grass and +many-coloured leaves. So I gave it up and sat down to smoke and wait. + +Half an hour passed, and still no Jock. Then I wandered about whistling +and calling for him--calling until the sound of my own voice became +quite uncanny, the only sound in an immense silence. Two hours passed +in useless calling and listening, searching and waiting, and then I gave +it up altogether and made back for the waggons, trying to hope against +my real conviction that Jock had struck the road somewhere and had +followed it to the outspan, instead of coming back on his own trail +through the bush to me. + +But there was no Jock at the waggons; and my heart sank, although I was +not surprised. It was nearly four hours since he had disappeared, and +it was as sure as anything could be that something extraordinary must +have happened or he would have come back to me long before this. No one +at the waggons had seen him since we started out together; and there was +nothing to be done but to wait and see what would happen. It was +perfectly useless to look for him: if alive and well, he was better able +to find his way than the best tracker that ever lived; if dead or +injured and unable to move, there was not one chance in a million of +finding him. + +There was only one kaffir whom Jock would take any notice of or would +allow to touch him--a great big Zulu named Jim Makokel'. Jim was one of +the real fighting Zulu breed; and the pride he took in Jock, and the +sort of partnership that he claimed in tastes, disposition and exploits, +began the day Jock fought the table-leg and grew stronger and stronger +to the end. Jim became Jock's devoted champion, and more than once, as +will be seen, showed that he would face man or beast to stand by him +when he needed help. + +This day when I returned to the waggons Jim was sitting with the other +drivers in the group round the big pot of porridge. I saw him give one +quick look my way and heard him say sharply to the others, "Where is the +dog? Where is Jock?" He stood there looking at me with a big wooden +spoon full of porridge stopped on the way to his mouth. In a few +minutes they all knew what had happened; the other boys took it calmly, +saying composedly that the dog would find his way back. But Jim was not +calm: it was not his nature. At one moment he would agree with them, +swamping them with a flood of reasons why Jock, the best dog in the +world, would be sure to come back; and the next--hot with restless +excitement--would picture all that the dog might have been doing and all +that he might still have to face, and then break off to proclaim loudly +that every one ought to go out and hunt for him. Jim was not practical +or reasonable--he was too excitable for that; but he was very loyal, and +it was his way to show his feelings by doing something--generally and +preferably by fighting some one. Knowing only too well how useless it +would be to search for Jock, I lay down under the waggon to rest and +wait. + +After half an hour of this Jim could restrain himself no longer. He +came over to where I lay and with a look of severe disapproval and +barely controlled indignation, asked me for a gun, saying that he +himself meant to go out and look for Jock. It would be nearer the mark +to say that he demanded a gun. He was so genuinely anxious and so +indignant at what he considered my indifference that it was impossible +to be angry; and I let him talk away to me and at me in his exciting +bullying way. He would take no answer and listen to no reason; so +finally to keep him quiet I gave him the shot gun, and off he went, +muttering his opinions of every one else--a great springy striding +picture of fierce resolution. + +He came back nearly three hours later, silent, morose, hot and dusty. +He put the gun down beside me without a word--just a click of disgust; +and as he strode across to his waggon, called roughly to one of the +drivers for the drinking water. Lifting the bucket to his mouth he +drank like an ox and slammed it down again without a word of thanks; +then sat down in the shade of the waggon, filled his pipe, and smoked in +silence. + +The trekking hour came and passed; but we did not move. The sun went +down, and in the quiet of the evening we heard the first jackal's +yapping--the first warning of the night. There were still lions and +tigers in those parts, and any number of hyenas and wild dogs, and the +darker it grew and the more I thought of it, the more hopeless seemed +Jock's chance of getting through a night in the bush trying to work his +way back to the waggons. + +It was almost dark when I was startled by a yell from Jim Makokel', and +looking round, saw him bound out into the road shouting, "He has come, +he has come! What did I tell you?" He ran out to Jock, stooping to pat +and talk to him, and then in a lower voice and with growing excitement +went on rapidly, "See the blood! See it! He has fought: he has killed! +Dog of all dogs! Jock, Jock!" and his savage song of triumph broke off +in a burst of rough tenderness, and he called the dog's name five or six +times with every note of affection and welcome in his deep voice. Jock +took no notice of Jim's dancing out to meet him, nor of his shouts, +endearments and antics; slowing his tired trot down to a walk, he came +straight on to me, flickered his ears a bit, wagged his tail cordially, +and gave my hand a splashy lick as I patted him. Then he turned round +in the direction he had just come from, looked steadily out, cocked his +ears well up, and moved his tail slowly from side to side. For the next +half-hour or so he kept repeating this action every few minutes; but +even without that I knew that it had been no wild-goose chase, and that +miles away in the bush there was something lying dead which he could +show me if I would but follow him back again to see. + +What had happened in the eight hours since he had dashed off in pursuit +can only be guessed. That he had pulled down the impala and killed it +seemed certain--and what a chase and what a fight it must have been to +take all that time! The buck could not have been so badly wounded in +the body as to be disabled or it would have died in far less time than +that: then, what a fight it must have been to kill an animal six or +eight times his own weight and armed with such horns and hoofs! But was +it only the impala? or had the hyenas and wild dogs followed up the +trail, as they so often do, and did Jock have to fight his way through +them too? + +He was hollow-flanked and empty, parched with thirst, and so blown that +his breath still caught in suffocating chokes. He was covered with +blood and sand; his beautiful golden coat was dark and stained; his +white front had disappeared; and there on his chest and throat, on his +jaws and ears, down his front legs even to the toes, the blood was caked +on him--mostly black and dried but some still red and sticky. He was a +little lame in one fore leg, but there was no cut or swelling to show +the cause. There was only one mark to be seen: over his right eye there +was a bluish line where the hair had been shaved off clean, leaving the +skin smooth and unbroken. What did it? Was it horn, hoof, tooth, or-- +what? Only Jock knew. + +Hovering round and over me, pacing backwards and forwards between the +waggons like a caged animal, Jim, growing more and more excited, filled +the air with his talk his shouts and savage song. Wanting to help, but +always in the way, ordering and thrusting the other boys here and there, +he worked himself up into a wild frenzy: the Zulu fighting blood on fire +and he `saw red' everywhere. + +I called for water. "Water!" roared Jim, "bring water"; and glaring +round he made a spring--stick in hand--at the nearest kaffir. The boy +fled in terror, with Jim after him for a few paces, and brought a bucket +of water. Jim snatched it from him and with a resounding thump on the +ribs sent the unlucky kaffir sprawling on the ground. Jock took the +water in great gulpy bites broken by pauses to get his breath again; and +Jim paced up and down--talking, talking, talking! Talking to me, to the +others, to the kaffirs, to Jock, to the world at large, to the heavens, +and to the dead. His eyes glared like a wild beast's and gradually +little seams of froth gathered in the corners of his mouth as he poured +out his cataract of words, telling of all Jock had done and might have +done and would yet do; comparing him with the fighting heroes of his own +race, and wandering off into vivid recitals of single episodes and great +battles; seizing his sticks, shouting his war cries, and going through +all the mimicry of fight with the wild frenzy of one possessed. Time +after time I called him and tried to quiet him; but he was beyond +control. + +Once before he had broken out like this. I had asked him something +about the Zulu war; and that had started a flood of memories and +excitement. In the midst of some description I asked why they killed +the children; and he turned his glaring eyes on me a and said, "Inkos, +you are my Inkos; but you are white. If we fight to-morrow, I will kill +you. You are good to me, you have saved me; but if our own king says +`Kill!' we kill! We see red; we kill all that lives. I must kill you, +your wife, your mother, your children, your horses, your oxen, your dog, +the fowls that run with the waggons--all that lives I kill. The blood +must run." And I believed him; for that was the Zulu fighting spirit. +So this time I knew it was useless to order or to talk: he was beyond +control, and the fit must run its course. + +The night closed in and there was quiet once more. The flames of the +camp fires had died down; the big thorn logs had burnt into glowing +coals like the pink crisp hearts of giant water-melons; Jock lay +sleeping, tired out, but even in his sleep came little spells of panting +now and then, like the after-sobs of a child that has cried itself to +sleep; we lay rolled in our blankets, and no sound came from where the +kaffirs slept. But Jim--only Jim--sat on his rough three-legged stool, +elbows on knees and hands clasped together, staring intently into the +coals. The fit worked slowly off, and his excitement died gradually +away; now and then there was a fresh burst, but always milder and at +longer intervals, as you may see it in a dying fire or at the end of a +great storm; slowly but surely he subsided until at last there were only +occasional mutterings of "Ow, Jock!" followed by the Zulu click, the +expressive shake of the head, and that appreciative half grunt, half +chuckle, by which they pay tribute to what seems truly wonderful. He +wanted no sleep that night: he sat on, waiting for the morning trek, +staring into the red coals, and thinking of the bygone glories of his +race in the days of the mighty Chaka. + +That was Jim, when the fit was on him--transported by some trifling and +unforeseen incident from the hum-drum of the road to the life he once +had lived with splendid recklessness. + + +CHAPTER TEN. + +JOCK'S NIGHT OUT. + +Jock was lost twice: that is to say, he was lost to me, and, as I +thought, for ever. It came about both times through his following up +wounded animals and leaving me behind, and happened in the days when our +hunting was all done on foot; when I could afford a horse and could keep +pace with him that difficulty did not trouble us. The experience with +the impala had made me very careful not to let him go unless I felt sure +that the game was hard hit and that he would be able to pull it down or +bay it. But it is not always easy to judge that. A broken leg shows at +once; but a body shot is very difficult to place, and animals shot +through the lungs, and even through the lower part of the heart, often +go away at a cracking pace and are out of sight in no time, perhaps to +keep it up for miles, perhaps to drop dead within a few minutes. + +After that day with the impala we had many good days together and many +hard ones: we had our disappointments, but we had our triumphs; and we +were both getting to know our way about by degrees. Buck of many kinds +had fallen to us; but so far as I was concerned there was one +disappointment that was not to be forgotten. The picture of that koodoo +bull as he appeared for the last time looking over the ant-heap the day +we were lost was always before me. I could not hear the name or see the +spoor of koodoo without a pang of regret and the thought that never +again would such a chance occur. Koodoo, like other kinds of game, were +not to be found everywhere; they favoured some localities more than +others, and when we passed through their known haunts chances of smaller +game were often neglected in the hope of coming across the koodoo. + +I could not give up whole days to hunting--for we had to keep moving +along with the waggons all the time--or it would have been easy enough +in many parts to locate the koodoo and make sure of getting a good bag. +As it was, on three or four occasions we did come across them, and once +I got a running shot, but missed. This was not needed to keep my +interest in them alive, but it made me keener than ever. Day by day I +went out always hoping to get my chance, and when at last the chance did +come it was quite in accordance with the experience of many others that +it was not in the least expected. + +The great charm of Bushveld hunting is its variety: you never know what +will turn up next--the only certainty being that it will not be what you +are expecting. + +The herd boy came noon to say that there buck feeding among the oxen +only a couple of hundred yards away. He had been quite close to it, he +said, and it was very tame. Game, so readily alarmed by the sight of +white men, will often take no notice of natives, allowing them to +approach to very close quarters. They are also easily stalked under +cover of cattle or horses, and much more readily approached on horseback +than on foot. The presence of other animals seems to give them +confidence or to excite mild curiosity without alarm, and thus distract +attention from the man. In this case the bonny little red-brown fellow +was not a bit scared; he maintained his presence of mind admirably; from +time to time he turned his head our way and, with his large but shapely +and most sensitive ears thrown forward examined us frankly while he +moved slightly one way or another so as to keep under cover of the oxen +and busily continue his browsing. + +In and out among some seventy head of cattle we played hide-and-seek for +quite a while--I not daring to fire for fear of hitting one of the +bullocks--until at last he found himself manoeuvred out of the troop; +and then without giving me a chance he was off into the bush in a few +frisky skips. I followed quietly, knowing that as he was on the feed +and not scared he would not go far. + +Moving along silently under good cover I reached a thick scrubby bush +and peered over the top of it to search the grass under the surrounding +thorn-trees for the little red-brown form. I was looking about low down +in the russety grass--for he was only about twice the size of Jock, and +not easy to spot--when a movement on a higher level caught my eye. It +was just the flip of a fly-tickled ear; but it was a movement where all +else was still, and instantly the form of a koodoo cow appeared before +me as a picture is thrown on a screen by a magic-lantern. There it +stood within fifty yards, the soft grey-and-white looking still softer +in the shadow of the thorns, but as clear to me--and as still--as a +figure carved in stone. The stem of a mimosa hid the shoulders, but all +the rest was plainly visible as it stood there utterly unconscious of +danger. The tree made a dead shot almost impossible, but the risk of +trying for another position was too great, and I fired. The thud of the +bullet and the tremendous bound of the koodoo straight up in the air +told that the shot had gone home; but these things were for a time +forgotten in the surprise that followed. At the sound of the shot +twenty other koodoo jumped into life and sight before me. The one I had +seen and shot was but one of a herd all dozing peacefully in the shade, +and strangest of all, it was the one that was farthest from me. To the +right and left of this one, at distances from fifteen to thirty yards +from me, the magnificent creatures had been standing, and I had not seen +them; it was the flicker of this one's ear alone that had caught my eye. +My bewilderment was complete when I saw the big bull of the herd start +off twenty yards on my right front pass away like a streak in a few +sweep-strides. It was a matter of seconds and they were all out of +sight--all except the wounded one, which had turned off from the others. +For all the flurry and confusion I had not lost sight of her, and +noting her tucked-up appearance and shortened strides set Jock on her +trail, believing that she would be down in a few minutes. + +It is not necessary to go over it all again: it was much the same as the +impala chase. I came back tired, disappointed and beaten, and without +Jock. It was only after darkness set in that things began to look +serious. When it came to midnight, with the camp wrapped in silence and +in sleep, and there was still no sign of Jock, things looked very black +indeed. + +I heard his panting breath before it was possible to see anything. It +was past one o'clock when he returned. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +As we had missed the night trek to wait for Jock I decided to stay on +where we were until the next evening and to have another try for the +wounded koodoo, with the chance of coming across the troop again. + +By daybreak Jock did not seem much the worse for his night's +adventures--whatever they were. There were no marks of blood on him +this time; there were some scratches which might have been caused by +thorns during the chase, and odd-looking grazes on both hind quarters +near the hip-bones, as though he had been roughly gravelled there. He +seemed a little stiff, and flinched when I pressed his sides and +muscles, but he was as game as ever when he saw the rifle taken down. + +The koodoo had been shot through the body, and even without being run to +death by Jock must have died in the night, or have lain down and become +too cold and stiff to move. If not discovered by wild animals there was +a good chance of finding it untouched in the early morning; but after +sunrise every minute's delay meant fresh risk from the aasvogels. There +is very little which, if left uncovered, will escape their eyes. You +may leave your buck for help to bring the meat in, certain from the most +careful scrutiny that there is not one of these creatures in sight, and +return in half an hour to find nothing but a few bones, the horns and +hoofs, a rag of skin, and a group of disgusting gorged vultures +squatting on a patch of ground all smeared, torn and feather-strewn from +their voracious struggles. + +In the winter sky unrelieved by the least fleck of cloud--a dome of +spotless polished steel--nothing, you would think, can move unseen. Yet +they are there. In the early morning, from their white-splashed eeries +on some distant mountain they slide off like a launching ship into their +sea of blue, and, striking the currents of the upper air, sweep round +and upwards in immense circles, their huge motionless wings carrying +them higher and higher until they are lost to human sight. Lie on your +back in some dense shade where no side-lights strike in, but where an +opening above forms a sort of natural telescope to the sky, and you may +see tiny specks where nothing could be seen before. Take your +field-glasses: the specks are vultures circling up on high! Look again, +and far, far above you will see still other specks; and for aught you +know, there may be others still beyond. How high are they? And what +can they see from there? Who knows? But this is sure, that within a +few minutes scores will come swooping down in great spiral rushes where +not one was visible before. My own belief is that they watch each +other, tier above tier away into the limitless heavens--watching +jealously, as hungry dogs do, for the least suspicious sign--to swoop +down and share the spoil. + +In the dewy cool of the morning we soon reached the place where Jock had +left me behind the evening before; and from that on he led the way. It +was much slower work then; as far as I was concerned, there was nothing +to guide me, and it was impossible to know what he was after. Did he +understand that it was not fresh game but the wounded koodoo that I +wanted? And, if so, was he following the scent of the old chase or +merely what he might remember of the way he had gone? It seemed +impossible that scent could lie in that dry country for twelve hours; +yet it was clearly nose more than eyes that guided him. He went ahead +soberly and steadily, and once when he stopped completely, to sniff at a +particular tuft of grass, I found out what was helping him. The grass +was well streaked with blood: quite dry, it is true; still it was blood. + +A mile or so on we checked again where the grass was trampled and the +ground scored with spoor. The heavy spoor was all in a ring four or +five yards in diameter; outside this the grass was also flattened, and +there I found a dog's footprints. But it had no further interest for +Jock; while I was examining it he picked up the trail and trotted on. +We came upon four or five other rings where they had fought. The last +of these was curiously divided by a fallen tree, and it puzzled me to +guess how they could have made a circle with a good-sized trunk some two +feet high intersecting it. I examined the dead tree and found a big +smear of blood and a lot of coarse greyish hair on it. Evidently the +koodoo had backed against it whilst facing Jock and had fallen over it, +renewing the fight on the other side. There were also some golden hairs +sticking on the stumpy end of a broken branch, which may have had +something to do with Jock's scraped sides. + +Then for a matter of a hundred yards or more it looked as if they had +fought and tumbled all the way. Jock was some distance ahead of me, +trotting along quietly, when I saw him look up, give that rare growling +bark of his--one of suppressed but real fury--lower his head, and +charge. Then came heavy flapping and scrambling and the wind of huge +wings, as twenty or thirty great lumbering aasvogels flopped along the +ground with Jock dashing furiously about among them--taking flying leaps +at them as they rose, and his jaws snapping like rat-traps as he missed +them. + +On a little open flat of hard-baked sand lay the stripped frame of the +koodoo: the head and leg-bones were missing; meat-stripped fragments +were scattered all about; fifty yards away among some bushes Jock found +the head; and still further afield were remains of skin and thigh-bones +crushed almost beyond recognition. + +No aasvogel had done this: it was hyenas' work. The high-shouldered +slinking brute, with jaws like a stone-crusher, alone cracks bones like +those and bigger ones which even the lion cannot tackle. I walked back +a little way and found the scene of the last stand, all harrowed bare; +but there was no spoor of koodoo or of Jock to be seen there--only +prints innumerable of wild dogs, hyenas and jackals, and some traces of +where the carcase, no doubt already half-eaten, had been dragged by them +in the effort to tear it asunder. + +Jock had several times shown that he strongly objected to any +interference with his quarry; other dogs, kaffirs, and even white men, +had suffered or been badly scared for rashly laying hands on what he had +pulled down. Without any doubt he had expected to find the koodoo there +and had dealt with the aasvogels as trespassers; otherwise he would not +have tackled them without word from me. It was also sure that until +past midnight he had been there with the koodoo, watching or fighting. +Then when had the hyenas and wild dogs come? That was the question I +would have given much to have had answered. But only Jock knew that! + +I looked at him. The mane on his neck and shoulders which had risen at +the sight of the vultures was not flat yet; he was sniffing about slowly +and carefully on the spoor of the hyenas and wild dogs; and he looked +`fight' all over. But what it all meant was beyond me; I could only +guess--just as you will--what had happened out in the silent ghostly +bush that night. + + +CHAPTER ELEVEN. + +THE KOODOO BULL. + +Jock had learned one very clever trick in pulling down wounded animals. +It often happens when you income unexpectedly upon game that they are +off before you see them, and the only chance you have of getting +anything is with a running shot. If they go straight from you the shot +is not a very difficult one, although you see nothing but the lifting +and falling hind quarters as they canter away; and a common result of +such a shot is the breaking of one of the hind legs between the hip and +the hock. Jock made his discovery while following a rietbuck which I +had wounded in this way. He had made several tries at its nose and +throat, but the buck was going too strongly and was out of reach; +moreover it would not stop or turn when he headed it, but charged +straight on, bounding over him. In trying once more for the throat he +cannoned against the buck's shoulder and was sent rolling yards away. +This seemed to madden him: racing up behind he flew at the dangling leg, +caught it at the shin, and thrusting his feet well out, simply dragged +until the buck slowed down, and then began furiously tugging sideways. +The crossing of the legs brought the wounded animal down immediately and +Jock had it by the throat before it could rise again. + +Every one who is good at anything has some favourite method or device of +his own: that was Jock's. It may have come to him, as it comes to many, +by accident; but having once got it, he perfected it and used it +whenever it was possible. Only once he made a mistake; and he paid for +it--very nearly with his life. + +He had already used this device successfully several times, but so far +only with the smaller buck. This day he did what I should have thought +to be impossible for a dog of three or four times his size. I left the +scene of torn carcase and crunched bones, consumed by regrets and +disappointment; each fresh detail only added to my feeling of disgust, +but Jock did not seem to mind; he jumped out briskly as soon as I +started walking in earnest, as though he recognised that we were making +a fresh start, and he began to look forward immediately. + +The little bare flat where the koodoo had fallen for the last time was +at the head of one of those depressions which collect the waters of the +summer floods and, changing gradually into shallow valleys, are +eventually scoured out and become the dongas--dry in winter but full +charged with muddy flood in summer--which drain the Bushveld to its +rivers. Here and there where an impermeable rock formation crosses +these channels there are deep pools which, except in years of drought, +last all through the winter; and these are the drinking-places of the +game. I followed this one down for a couple of miles without any +definite purpose until the sight of some greener and denser wild figs +suggested that there might be water, and perhaps a rietbuck or a duiker +near by. As we reached the trees Jock showed unmistakable signs of +interest in something, and with the utmost caution I moved from tree to +tree in the shady grove towards where it seemed the water-hole might be. + +There were bushy wild plums flanking the grove, and beyond them the +ordinary scattered thorns. As I reached this point, and stopped to look +out between the bushes on to the more open ground, a koodoo cow walked +quietly up the slope from the water, but before there was time to raise +the rifle her easy stride had carried her behind a small mimosa tree. I +took one quick step out to follow her up and found myself face to face +at less than a dozen yards with a grand koodoo bull. It is impossible +to convey in words any real idea of the scene and how things happened. +Of course, it was only for a fraction of a second that we looked +straight into each other's eyes; then, as if by magic, he was round and +going from me with the overwhelming rush of speed and strength and +weight combined. Yet it is the first sight that remains with me: the +proud head, the huge spiral horns, and the wide soft staring eyes-- +before the wildness of panic had stricken them. The picture seems +photographed on eye and brain, never to be forgotten. A whirlwind of +dust and leaves marked his course, and through it I fired, unsteadied by +excitement and hardly able to see. Then the right hind leg swung out, +and the great creature sank for a moment, almost to the ground; and the +sense of triumph, the longed for and unexpected success, `went to my +head' like a rush of blood. + +There had been no time to aim, and the shot--a real snap shot--was not +at all a bad one. It was after that that the natural effect of such a +meeting and such a chance began to tell. Thinking it all out beforehand +does not help much, for things never happen as they are expected to; and +even months of practice among the smaller kinds will not ensure a steady +nerve when you just come face to face with big game--there seems to be +too much at stake. + +I fired again as the koodoo recovered himself, but he was then seventy +or eighty yards away and partly hidden at times by trees and scrub. He +struck up the slope, following the line of the troop through the +scattered thorns, and there, running hard and dropping quickly to my +knee for steadier aim, I fired again and again--but each time a longer +shot and more obscured by the intervening bush; and no tell-tale thud +came back to cheer me on. + +Forgetting the last night's experience, forgetting everything except how +we had twice chased and twice lost them, seeing only another and the +grandest prize slipping away, I sent Jock on and followed as fast as I +could. Once more the koodoo came in sight--just a chance at four +hundred yards as he reached an open space on rising ground. Jock was +already closing up, but still unseen, and the noble old fellow turned +full broadside to me as he stopped to look back. Once more I knelt, +gripping hard and holding my breath to snatch a moment's steadiness, and +fired; but I missed again, and as the bullet struck under him he plunged +forward and disappeared over the rise at the moment that Jock, dashing +out from the scrub, reached his heels. + +The old Martini carbine had one bad fault; even I could not deny that; +years of rough and careless treatment in all sorts of weather--for it +was only a discarded old Mounted Police weapon--had told on it, and both +in barrel and breech it was well pitted with rust scars. One result of +this was that it was always jamming, and unless the cartridges were kept +well greased the empty shells would stick and the ejector fail to work; +and this was almost sure to happen when the carbine became hot from +quick firing. It jammed now, and fearing to lose sight of the chase I +dared not stop a second, but ran on, struggling from time to time to +wrench the breach open. + +Reaching the place where they had disappeared, I saw with intense relief +and excitement Jock and the koodoo having it out less than a hundred +yards away. The koodoo's leg was broken right up in the ham, and it was +a terrible handicap for an animal so big and heavy, but his nimbleness +and quickness were astonishing. Using the sound hind leg as a pivot he +swung round, always facing his enemy; Jock was in and out, here, there +and everywhere, as a buzzing fly torments one on a hot day; and indeed, +to the koodoo just then he was the fly and nothing more; he could only +annoy his big enemy, and was playing with his life to do it. Sometimes +he tried to get round; sometimes pretended to charge straight in, +stopping himself with all four feet spread--just out of reach; then like +a red streak he would fly through the air with a snap for the koodoo's +nose. It was a fight for life and a grand sight; for the koodoo, in +spite of his wound, easily held his own. No doubt he had fought out +many a life and death struggle to win and hold his place as lord of the +herd and knew every trick of attack and defence. Maybe too he was +blazing with anger and contempt for this persistent little gad-fly that +worried him so and kept out of reach. Sometimes he snorted and feinted +to charge; at other times backed slowly, giving way to draw the enemy +on; then with a sudden lunge the great horns swished like a scythe with +a tremendous reach out, easily covering the spot where Jock had been a +fraction of a second before. There were pauses too in which he watched +his tormentor steadily, with occasional impatient shakes of the head, +or, raising it to full height, towered up a monument of splendid and +contemptuous indifference, looking about with big angry but unfrightened +eyes for the herd--his herd--that had deserted him; or with a slight +toss of his head he would walk limpingly forward, forcing the ignored +Jock before him; then, interrupted and annoyed by a flying snap at his +nose, he would spring forward and strike with the sharp cloven fore +foot--zip-zip-zip--at Jock as he landed. Any one of the vicious +flashing stabs would have pinned him to the earth and finished him; but +Jock was never there. + +Keeping what cover there was I came up slowly behind them, struggling +and using all the force I dared, short of smashing the lever, to get the +empty cartridge out. At last one of the turns in the fight brought me +in view, and the koodoo dashed off again. For a little way the pace +seemed as great as ever, but it soon died away; the driving power was +gone; the strain and weight on the one sound leg and the tripping of the +broken one were telling; and from that on I was close enough to see it +all. In the first rush the koodoo seemed to dash right over Jock--the +swirl of dust and leaves and the bulk of the koodoo hiding him; then I +saw him close abreast, looking up at it and making furious jumps for its +nose, alternately from one side and the other, as they raced along +together. The koodoo holding its nose high and well forward, as they do +when on the move, with the horns thrown back almost horizontally, was +out of his reach and galloped heavily on completely ignoring his +attacks. + +There is a suggestion of grace and poise in the movement of the koodoo +bull's head as he gallops through the bush which is one of his +distinctions above the other antelopes. The same supple balancing +movement that one notes in the native girls bearing their calabashes of +water upon their heads is seen in the neck of the koodoo, and for the +same reason: the movements of the body are softened into mere +undulations, and the head with its immense spiral horns seems to sail +along in voluntary company--indeed almost as though it were bearing the +body below. + +At the fourth or fifth attempt by Jock a spurt from the koodoo brought +him cannoning against its shoulder, and he was sent rolling unnoticed +yards away. He scrambled instantly to his feet, but found himself again +behind: it may have been this fact that inspired the next attempt, or +perhaps he realised that attack in front was useless; for this time he +went determinedly for the broken leg. It swung about in wild eccentric +curves, but at the third or fourth attempt he got it and hung on; and +with all fours spread he dragged along the ground. The first startled +spring of the koodoo jerked him into the air; but there was no let go +now, and although dragged along the rough ground and dashed about among +the scrub, sometimes swinging in the air, and sometimes sliding on his +back, he pulled from side to side in futile attempts to throw the big +animal. Ineffectual and even hopeless as it looked at first, Jock's +attacks soon began to tell; the koodoo made wild efforts to get at him, +but with every turn he turned too, and did it so vigorously that the +staggering animal swayed over and had to plunge violently to recover its +balance. So they turned, this way and that, until a wilder plunge swung +Jock off his feet, throwing the broken leg across the other one; then, +with feet firmly planted, Jock tugged again, and the koodoo trying to +regain its footing was tripped by the crossed legs and came down with a +crash. + +As it fell Jock was round and fastened on the nose; but it was no +duiker, impala or rietbuck that he had to deal with this time. The +koodoo gave a snort of indignation and shook its head: as a terrier +shakes a rat, so it shook Jock, whipping the ground with his swinging +body, and with another indignant snort and toss of the head flung him +off, sending him skidding along the ground on his back. The koodoo had +fallen on the wounded leg and failed to rise with the first effort; Jock +while still slithering along the ground on his back was tearing at the +air with his feet in his mad haste to get back to the attack, and as he +scrambled up, he raced in again with head down and the little eyes black +with fury. He was too mad to be wary, and my heart stood still as the +long horns went round with a swish; one black point seemed to pierce him +through and through, showing a foot out the other side, and a jerky +twist of the great head sent him twirling like a tip-cat eight or ten +feet up in the air. It had just missed him, passing under his stomach +next to the hind legs; but, until he dropped with a thud and, tearing +and scrambling to his feet, he raced in again, I felt certain he had +been gored through. + +The koodoo was up again then. I had rushed in with rifle clubbed, with +the wild idea of stunning it before it could rise, but was met by the +lowered horns and unmistakable signs of charging, and beat a retreat +quite as speedy as my charge. + +It was a running fight from that on: the instant the koodoo turned to go +Jock was on to the leg again, and nothing could shake his hold. I had +to keep at a respectful distance, for the bull was still good for a +furious charge, even with Jock hanging on, and eyed me in the most +unpromising fashion whenever I attempted to head it off or even to come +close up. + +The big eyes were blood-shot then, but there was no look of fear in +them--they blazed with baffled rage. Impossible as it seemed to shake +Jock off or to get away from us, and in spite of the broken leg and loss +of blood, the furious attempts to beat us off did not slacken. It was a +desperate running fight, and right bravely he fought it to the end. + +Partly barring the way in front were the whitened trunks and branches of +several trees struck down by some storm of the year before, and running +ahead of the koodoo I made for these, hoping to find a stick straight +enough for a ramrod to force the empty cartridge out. As I reached them +the koodoo made for me with half a dozen plunges that sent me flying off +for other cover; but the broken leg swayed over one of the branches, and +Jock with feet planted against the tree hung on; and the koodoo, turning +furiously on him, stumbled, floundered, tripped, and came down with a +crash amongst the crackling wood. Once more like a flash Jock was over +the fallen body and had fastened on the nose--but only to be shaken +worse than before. The koodoo literally flogged the ground with him, +and for an instant I shut my eyes; it seemed as if the plucky dog would +be beaten into pulp. The bull tried to chop him with its fore feet, but +could not raise itself enough, and at each pause Jock, with his watchful +little eyes ever on the alert, dodged his body round to avoid the +chopping feet without letting go his hold. Then with a snort of fury +the koodoo, half rising, gave its head a wild upward sweep, and shook. +As a springing rod flings a fish the koodoo flung Jock over its head and +on to a low flat-topped thorn-tree behind. The dog somersaulted slowly +as he circled in the air, dropped on his back in the thorns some twelve +feet from the ground, and came tumbling down through the branches. +Surely the tree saved him, for it seemed as if such a throw must break +his back. As it was he dropped with a sickening thump; yet even as he +fell I saw again the scrambling tearing movement, as if he was trying to +race back to the fight even before he reached ground. Without a pause +to breathe or even to look, he was in again and trying once more for the +nose. + +The koodoo lying partly on its side, with both hind legs hampered by the +mass of dead wood, could not rise, but it swept the clear space in front +with the terrible horns, and for some time kept Jock at bay. I tried +stick after stick for a ramrod, but without success; at last, in +desperation at seeing Jock once more hanging to the koodoo's nose, I +hooked the lever on to a branch and setting my foot against the tree +wrenched until the empty cartridge flew out and I went staggering +backwards. + +In the last struggle, while I was busy with the rifle, the koodoo had +moved, and it was then lying against one of the fallen trunks. The +first swing to get rid of Jock had literally slogged him against the +tree; the second swing swept him under it where a bend in the trunk +raised it: about a foot from the ground, and gaining his foothold there +Jock stood fast--there, there, with his feet planted firmly and his +shoulder humped against the dead tree, he stood this tug-of-war. The +koodoo with its head twisted back, as caught at the end of the swing, +could put no weight to the pull; yet the wrenches it gave to free itself +drew the nose and upper lip out like tough rubber and seemed to stretch +Jock's neck visibly. I had to come round within a few feet of them to +avoid risk of hitting Jock, and it seemed impossible for bone and muscle +to stand the two or three terrible wrenches that I saw. The shot was +the end; and as the splendid head dropped slowly over, Jock let go his +hold. + +He had not uttered a sound except the grunts that were knocked out of +him. + + +CHAPTER TWELVE. + +JIM MAKOKEL'. + +I am very much afraid that most people would consider him rather a bad +lot. The fact of the matter is he belonged to another period and other +conditions. He was simply a great passionate fighting savage, and, +instead of wearing the cast-off clothing of the white man and peacefully +driving bullock waggons along a transport road, should have been decked +in his savage finery of leopard skin and black ostrich-feathers, showing +off the powerful bronzed limbs and body all alive with muscle, and +sharing in some wild war-dance; or, equipped with shield and assegais, +leading in some murderous fight. Yes, Jim was out of date: he should +have been one of the great Chaka's fighting guard--to rise as a leader +of men, or be killed on the way. He had but one argument and one answer +to everything: Fight! It was his nature, bred and born in him; it ran +in his blood and grew in his bones. He was a survival of a great +fighting race--there are still thousands of them in the kraals of +Zululand and Swaziland--but it was his fate to belong to one of the +expelled families, and to have to live and work among the white men +under the Boer Government of the Transvaal. + +In a fighting nation Jim's kraal was known as a fighting one, and the +turbulent blood that ran in their veins could not settle down into a +placid stream merely because the Great White Queen had laid her hand +upon his people and said, "There shall be peace!" Chaka, the `black +Napoleon' whose wars had cost South Africa over a million lives, had +died--murdered by his brother Dingaan--full of glory, lord and master +wherever his impis could reach. "Dogs whom I fed at my kraal!" he +gasped, as they stabbed him. Dingaan his successor, as cruel as +treacherous, had been crushed by the gallant little band of Boers under +Potgieter for his fiendish massacre of Piet Retief and his little band. +Panda the third of the three famous brothers--Panda the peaceful--had +come and gone! Ketshwayo, after years of arrogant and unquestioned +rule, had loosed his straining impis at the people of the Great White +Queen. The awful day of 'Sandhl'wana--where the 24th Regiment died +almost to a man--and the fight on H'lobani Mountain had blooded the +impis to madness; but Rorke's Drift and Kambula had followed those +bloody victories--each within a few hours--to tell another tale; and at +Ulundi the tides met--the black and the white. And the kingdom and +might of the house of Chaka were no more. + +Jim had fought at 'Sandhl'wana, and could tell of an umfaan sent out to +herd some cattle within sight of the British camp to draw the troops out +raiding while the impis crept round by hill and bush and donga behind +them; of the fight made by the red-coats as, taken in detail, they were +attacked hand to hand with stabbing assegais, ten and twenty to one; of +one man in blue--a sailor--who was the last to die, fighting with his +back to a waggon-wheel against scores before him, and how he fell at +last, stabbed in the back through the spokes of the wheel by one who had +crept up behind. + +Jim had fought at Rorke's Drift! Wild with lust of blood, he had gone +on with the maddest of the victory-maddened lot to invade Natal and eat +up the little garrison on the way. He could tell how seventy or eighty +white men behind a little rampart of biscuit-tins and flour-bags had +fought through the long and terrible hours, beating off five thousand of +the Zulu best, fresh from a victory without parallel or precedent; how, +from the burning hospital, Sergeant Hook, V.C., and others carried sick +and wounded through the flames into the laager; how a man in black with +a long beard, Father Walsh, moved about with calm face, speaking to +some, helping others, carrying wounded back and cartridges forward-- +Father Walsh who said "Don't swear, boys: fire low;" how Lieutenants +Chard and Bromhead--V.C.s too for that day's work--led and fought, and +guided and heartened their heroic little band until the flour-bags and +biscuit-tins stood lower than the pile of dead outside, and the Zulu +host was beaten and Natal saved that day. + +Jim had seen all that--and Ulundi, the Day of Despair! And he knew the +power of the Great White Queen and the way that her people fight. But +peace was not for him or his kraal: better any fight than no fight. He +rallied to Usibepu in the fight for leadership when his King, Ketshwayo, +was gone, and Jim's kraal had moved--and moved too soon: they were +surrounded one night and massacred; and Jim fought his way out, wounded +and alone. Without kith or kin, cattle, king, or country, he fled to +the Transvaal--to work for the first time in his life! + +Waggon-boys--as the drivers were called--often acquired a certain amount +of reputation on the road or in the locality where they worked; but it +was, as a rule, only a reputation as good or bad drivers. In Jim's case +it was different. He was a character and had an individual reputation, +which was exceptional in a Kaffir. I had better say at once that not +even his best friend would claim that that reputation was a good one. +He was known as the best driver, the strongest nigger, the hardest +fighter, and the worst drinker on the road. + +His real name was Makokela, but in accordance with a common Zulu habit, +it was usually abbreviated to Makokel'! Among a certain number of the +white men--of the sort who never can get any name right--he was oddly +enough known as McCorkindale. I called him Jim as a rule--Makokel', +when relations were strained. The waggon-boys found it safer to use his +proper name. When anything had upset him it was not considered wise to +take the liberty of shouting "Jim": the answer sometimes came in the +shape of a hammering. + +Many men had employed Jim before he came to me, and all had `sacked' him +for fighting, drinking, and the unbearable worry he caused. They told +me this, and said that he gave more trouble than his work was worth. It +may have been true: he certainly was a living test of patience, purpose, +and management; but, for something learnt in that way, I am glad now +that Jim never `got the sack' from me. Why he did not, is not easy to +say; perhaps the circumstances under which he came to me and the hard +knocks of an unkind fate pleaded for him. But it was not that alone: +there was something in Jim himself--something good and fine, something +that shone out from time to time through his black skin and battered +face as the soul of a real man. + +It was in the first season in the Bushveld that we were outspanned one +night on the sand-hills overlooking Delagoa Bay among scores of other +waggons dotted about in little camps--all loading or waiting for loads +to transport to the Transvaal. Delagoa was not a good place to stay in, +in those days: liquor was cheap and bad; there was very little in the +way of law and order; and every one took care of himself as well as he +could. The Kaffir kraals were close about the town, and the natives of +the place were as rascally a lot of thieves and vagabonds as you could +find anywhere. The result was everlasting trouble with the waggon-boys +and a chronic state of war between them and the natives and the banyans +or Arab traders of the place. The boys, with pockets full of wages, +haggled and were cheated in the stores, and by the hawkers, and in the +canteens; and they often ended up the night with beer-drinking at the +kraals or reprisals on their enemies. Every night there were fights and +robberies: the natives or Indians would rob and half-kill a waggon-boy; +then he in turn would rally his friends, and raid and clear out the +kraal or the store. Most of the waggon-boys were Zulus or of Zulu +descent, and they were always ready for a fight and would tackle any +odds when their blood was up. + +It was the third night of our stay, and the usual row was on. Shouts +and cries, the beating of tomtoms, and shrill ear-piercing whistles, +came from all sides; and through it all the dull hum of hundreds of +human voices, all gabbling together. Near to us there was another camp +of four waggons drawn up in close order, and as we sat talking and +wondering at the strange babel in the beautiful calm moonlight night, +one sound was ever recurring, coming away out of all the rest with +something in it that fixed our attention. It was the sound of two +voices from the next waggons. One voice was a kaffir's--a great, deep, +bull-throated voice; it was not raised--it was monotonously steady and +low; but it carried far, with the ring and the lingering vibration of a +big gong. + +"Funa 'nyama, Inkos; funa 'nyama!" ("I want meat, Chief; I want meat!") +was what the kaffir's voice kept repeating at intervals of a minute or +two with deadly monotony and persistency. + +The white man's voice grew more impatient, louder, and angrier, with +each refusal; but the boy paid no heed. A few minutes later the same +request would be made, supplemented now and then with, "I am hungry, +Baas, I can't sleep. Meat! Meat! Meat!" or, "Porridge and bread are +for women and piccaninnies. I am a man: I want meat, Baas, meat." From +the white man it was, "Go to sleep, I tell you!" + +"Be quiet, will you?" + +"Shut up that row!" + +"Be still, you drunken brute, or I'll tie you up!" and "You'll get +twenty-five in a minute!" + +It may have lasted half an hour when one of our party said, "That's +Bob's old driver, the big Zulu. There'll be a row to-night; he's with a +foreigner chap from Natal now. New chums are always roughest on the +niggers." + +In a flash I remembered Bob Saunderson's story of the boy who had caught +the lion alive, and Bob's own words, "a real fine nigger, but a terror +to drink, and always in trouble. He fairly wore me right out." + +A few minutes later there was a short scuffle, and the boy's voice could +be heard protesting in the same deep low tone: they were tying him up to +the waggon-wheel for a flogging. Others were helping the white man, but +the boy was not resisting. + +At the second thin whistling stroke some one said, "That's a sjambok +he's using, not a nek-strop!" Sjambok, that will cut a bullock's hide! +At about the eighth there was a wrench that made the waggon rattle, and +the deep voice was raised in protest, "Ow, Inkos!" + +It made me choke: it was the first I knew of such things, and the horror +of it was unbearable; but the man who had spoken before--a good man too, +straight and strong, and trusted by black and white--said, "Sonny, you +must not interfere between a man and his boys here; it's hard sometimes, +but we'd not live a day if they didn't know who was baas." + +I think we counted eighteen; and then everything seemed going to burst. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +The white man looked about at the faces close to him--and stopped. He +began slowly to untie the outstretched arms, and blustered out some +threats. But no one said a word! + +The noises died down as the night wore on, until the stillness was +broken only by the desultory barking of a kaffir dog or the crowing of +some awakened rooster who had mistaken the bright moonlight for the dawn +and thought that all the world had overslept itself. But for me there +was one other sound for which I listened into the cool of morning with +the quivering sensitiveness of a bruised nerve. Sometimes it was a long +catchy sigh, and sometimes it broke into a groan just audible, like the +faintest rumble of most distant surf. Twice in the long night there +came the same request to one of the boys near him, uttered in a deep +clear unshaken voice and in a tone that was civil but firm, and +strangely moving from its quiet indifference. + +"Landela manzi, Umganaam!" ("Bring water, friend!") was all he said; +and each time the request was so quickly answered that I had the guilty +feeling of being one in a great conspiracy of silence. The hush was +unreal; the stillness alive with racing thoughts; the darkness full of +watching eyes. + +There is, we believe, in the heart of every being a little germ of +justice which men call conscience! If that be so, there must have been +in the heart of the white man that night some uneasy movement--the first +life-throb of the thought which one who had not yet written has since +set down: + + "Though I've belted you and flayed you, + By the living God that made you, + You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din!" + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +The following afternoon I received an ultimatum. We had just returned +from the town when from a group of boys squatting round the fire there +stood up one big fellow--a stranger--who raised his hand high above his +head in Zulu fashion and gave their salute in the deep bell-like voice +that there was no mistaking, "Inkos! Bayete!" + +He stepped forward, looking me all over, and announced with calm and +settled conviction, "I have come to work for you!" I said nothing. +Then he rapped a chest like a big drum, and nodding his head with a sort +of defiant confidence added in quaint English, "My naam Makokela! Jim +Makokel'! Yes! My catchum lion 'live! Makokela, me!" + +He had heard that I wanted a driver, had waited for my return, and +annexed me as his future `baas' without a moment's doubt or hesitation. + +I looked him over. Big, broad-shouldered, loose-limbed, and as straight +as an assegai! A neck and head like a bull's; a face like a +weather-beaten rock, storm-scarred and furrowed, rugged and ugly, but +steadfast, massive and strong! So it looked then, and so it turned out: +for good and for evil Jim was strong. + +I nodded and said, "You can come." + +Once more he raised his head aloft, and, simply and without a trace of +surprise or gratification, said: + +"Yes, you are my chief, I will work for you." In his own mind it had +been settled already: it had never been in doubt. + +Jim--when sober--was a splendid worker and the most willing of servants, +and, drunk or sober, he was always respectful in an independent, +upstanding, hearty kind of way. His manner was as rough and rugged as +his face and character; in his most peaceful moments it was--to one who +did not understand him--almost fierce and aggressive; but this was only +skin deep; for the childlike simplicity of the African native was in him +to the full, and rude bursts of Titanic laughter came readily--laughter +as strong and unrestrained as his bursts of passion. + +To the other boys he was what his nature and training had made him--not +really a bully, but masterful and over-riding. He gave his orders with +the curtness of a drill sergeant and the rude assurance of a savage +chief. Walking, he walked his course, giving way for none of them. At +the outspan or on the road or footpath he shouldered them aside as one +walks through standing corn, not aggressively but with the superb +indifference of right and habit unquestioned. If one, loitering before +him, blocked his way unseeing, there was no pause or step aside--just +"Suka!" ("Get out") and a push that looked effortless enough but sent +the offender staggering; or, if he had his sticks, more likely a smart +whack on the stern that was still more surprising; and not even the +compliment of a glance back from Jim as he stalked on. He was like the +old bull in a herd--he walked his course; none molested and none +disputed; the way opened before him. + +When sober Jim spoke Zulu; when drunk, he broke into the strangest and +most laughable medley of kitchen-Kaffir, bad Dutch, and worse English-- +the idea being, in part to consider our meaner intelligences and in part +to show what an accomplished linguist he was. There was no difficulty +in knowing when Jim would go wrong: he broke out whenever he got a +chance, whether at a kraal, where he could always quicken the reluctant +hospitality of any native, at a wayside canteen, or in a town. Money +was fatal--he drank it all out; but want of money was no security, for +he was known to every one and seemed to have friends everywhere; and if +he had not, he made them on the spot--annexed and overwhelmed them. + +From time to time you do meet people like that. The world's their +oyster, and the gift of a masterful and infinite confidence opens it +every time: they walk through life taking of the best as a right, and +the world unquestioningly submits. + +I had many troubles with Jim, but never on account of white men: drunk +or sober, there was never trouble there. It may have been Rorke's Drift +and Ulundi that did it; but whatever it was, the question of black and +white was settled in his mind for ever. He was respectful, yet stood +upright with the rough dignity of an unvanquished spirit; but on the one +great issue he never raised his hand or voice again. His troubles all +came from drink, and the exasperation was at times almost unbearable--so +great, indeed, that on many occasions I heartily repented ever having +taken him on. Warnings were useless, and punishment--well, the shiny +new skin that made patterns in lines and stars and crosses on his back +for the rest of his life made answer for always upon that point. + +The trials and worries were often great indeed. The trouble began as +soon as we reached a town, and he had a hundred excuses for going in, +and a hundred more for not coming out: he had some one to see, boots to +be mended, clothes to buy, or medicine to get--the only illness I ever +knew him have was `a pain inside,' and the only medicine wanted--grog!-- +some one owed him money--a stock excuse, and the idea of Jim, always +penniless and always in debt, posing as a creditor never failed to raise +a laugh, and he would shake his head with a half-fierce half-sad disgust +at the general scepticism and his failure to convince me. Then he had +relations in every town! Jim, the sole survivor of his fighting kraal, +produced `blulus,' `babas,' `sisteles,' and even `mamas,' in profusion, +and they died just before we reached the place, as regularly as the +office-boy's aunt dies before Derby Day, and with the same consequence-- +he had to go to the funeral. + +The first precaution was to keep him at the waggons and put the towns +and canteens `out of bounds'; and the last defence, to banish him +entirely until he came back sober, and meanwhile set other boys to do +his work, paying them his wages in cash in his presence when he returned +fit for duty. + +"Is it as I told you? Is it just?" I would ask when this was done. + +"It is just, Inkos," he would answer with a calm dispassionate +simplicity which appealed for forgiveness and confidence with far +greater force than any repentance; and it did so because it was genuine; +it was natural and unstudied. There was never a trace of feeling to be +detected when these affairs were squared off, but I knew how he hated +the treatment, and it helped a little from time to time to keep him +right. + +The banishing of him from the waggons in order that he might go away and +have it over was not a device to save myself trouble, and I did it only +when it was clear that he could stand the strain no longer. It was +simply a choice of evils, and it seemed to me better to let him go, +clearly understanding the conditions, than drive him into breaking away +with the bad results to him and the bad effects on the others of +disobeying orders. It was, as a rule, far indeed from saving me +trouble, for after the first bout of drinking he almost invariably found +his way back to the waggons: the drink always produced a ravenous +craving for meat, and when his money was gone and he had fought his fill +and cleared out all opposition, he would come back to the waggons at any +hour of the night, perhaps even two or three times between dark and +dawn, to beg for meat. Warnings and orders had no effect whatever; he +was unconscious of everything except the overmastering craving for meat. +He would come to my waggon and begin that deadly monotonous recitation, +"Funa 'nyama, Inkos! Wanta meat, Baas!" There was a kind of hopeless +determination in the tone conveying complete indifference to all +consequences: meat he must have. He was perfectly respectful; every +order to be quiet or go away or go to bed was received with the formal +raising of the hand aloft, the most respectful of salutations, and the +assenting, "Inkos!" but in the very next breath would come the old +monotonous request, "Funa 'nyama, Inkos," just as if he was saying it +for the first time. The persistency was awful--it was maddening; and +there was no remedy, for it was not the result of voluntary or even +conscious effort on his part; it was a sort of automatic process, a +result of his physical condition. Had he known it would cost him his +life, he could no more have resisted it than have resisted breathing. + +When the meat was there I gave it, and he would sit by the fire for +hours eating incredible quantities--cutting it off in slabs and +devouring it when not much more than warmed. But it was not always +possible to satisfy him in that way; meat was expensive in the towns and +often we had none at all at the waggons. Then the night became one long +torment: the spells of rest might extend from a quarter of an hour to an +hour; then from the dead sleep of downright weariness I would be roused +by the deep far-reaching voice; "Funa 'nyama, Inkos" wove itself into my +dreams, and waking I would find Jim standing beside me remorselessly +urging the same request in Zulu, in broken English, and in Dutch--"My +wanta meat, Baas," "Wil fleisch krij, Baas," and the old, old, hatefully +familiar explanation of the difference between "man's food" and +"piccanins' food," interspersed with grandiose declarations that he was +"Makokela--Jim Makokel'," who "catchum lion 'live." Sometimes he would +expand this into comparisons between himself and the other boys, much to +their disadvantage; and on these occasions he invariably worked round to +his private grievances, and expressed his candid opinions of Sam. + +Sam was the boy whom I usually set to do Jim's neglected work. He was a +`mission boy,' that is a Christian kaffir--very proper in his behaviour, +but a weakling and not much good at work. Jim would enumerate all Sam's +shortcomings; how he got his oxen mixed up on dark nights and could not +pick them out of the herd--a quite unpardonable offence; how he stuck in +the drifts and had to be `double-spanned' and pulled out by Jim; how he +once lost his way in the bush; and how he upset the waggon coming down +the Devil's Shoot. + +Jim had once brought down the Berg from Spitzkop a loaded waggon on +which there was a cottage piano packed standing upright. The road was +an awful one, it is true, and few drivers could have handled so +top-heavy a load without capsizing--he had received a bansela for his +skill--but to him the feat was one without parallel in the history of +waggon driving; and when drunk he usually coupled it with his other +great achievement of catching a lion alive. His contempt for Sam's +misadventure on the Devil's Shoot was therefore great, and to it was +added resentment against Sam's respectability and superior education, +which the latter was able to rub in in safety by ostentatiously reading +his Bible aloud at nights as they sat round the fire. Jim was a +heathen, and openly affirmed his conviction that a Christian kaffir was +an impostor, a bastard, and a hypocrite--a thing not to be trusted under +any circumstances whatever. The end of his morose outburst was always +the same. When his detailed indictment of Sam was completed he would +wind up with, "My catchum lion 'live. My bling panyanna fon Diskop (I +bring piano from Spitzkop). My naam Makokela: Jim Makokel'. Sam no +good; Sam leada Bible (Sam reads the Bible). Sam no good!" The +intensity of conviction and the gloomy disgust put into the last +reference to Sam are not to be expressed in words. + +Where warning and punishment availed nothing threats would have been +worse than foolish. Once, when he had broken bounds and left the +waggons, I threatened that if he did it again I would tie him up, since +he was like a dog that could not be trusted; and I did it. He had no +excuse but the old ones; some one, he said, had brought him liquor to +the waggons and he had not known what he was doing. The truth was that +the craving grew so with the nearer prospect of drink that by hook or by +crook he would find some one, a passerby or a boy from other waggons, to +fetch some for him; and after that nothing could hold him. + +If Jim ever wavered in his loyalty to me, it must have been the day I +tied him up: he must have been very near hating me then. I had caught +him as he was leaving the waggons and still sober; brought him back and +told him to sit under his own waggon where I would tie him up like a +dog. I took a piece of sail twine, tied it to one wrist, and, fastening +the other end to the waggon-wheel, left him. + +A kaffir's face becomes, when he wishes it, quite inscrutable--as +expressionless as a blank wall. But there are exceptions to every rule; +and Jim's stoicism was not equal to this occasion. The look of +unspeakable disgust and humiliation on his face was more than I could +bear with comfort; and after half an hour or so in the pillory I +released him. He did not say a word, but, heedless of the hot sun, +rolled himself in his blankets and, sleeping or not, never moved for the +rest of the day. + + +CHAPTER THIRTEEN. + +THE ALLIES. + +Jock disliked kaffirs: so did Jim. To Jim there were three big +divisions of the human race--white men, Zulus, and niggers. Zulu, old +or young, was greeted by him as equal, friend and comrade; but the rest +were trash, and he cherished a most particular contempt for the +Shangaans and Chopis, as a lot who were just about good enough for what +they did--that is, work in the mines. They could neither fight nor +handle animals; and the sight of them stirred him to contempt and +pricked him to hostilities. + +It was not long before Jim discovered this bond of sympathy between him +and Jock, and I am perfectly sure that the one bad habit which Jock was +never cured of was due to deliberate encouragement from Jim on every +possible opportunity. It would have been a matter of difficulty and +patience in any case to teach Jock not to unnecessarily attack strange +kaffirs. It was very important that he should have nothing to do with +them, and should treat them with suspicion as possible enemies and keep +them off the premises. I was glad that he did it by his own choice and +instinct; but this being so, it needed all the more intelligence and +training to get him to understand just where to draw the line. Jim made +it worse; he made the already difficult task practically impossible by +egging Jock on; and what finally made it quite impossible was the +extremely funny turn it took, which caused such general amusement that +every one joined in the conspiracy and backed up Jock. + +Every one knows how laughable it is to see a person dancing about like a +mad dervish, with legs and arms going in all directions, dodging the +rushes of a dog, especially if the spectator knows that the dog will not +do any real harm and is more intent on scaring his victim, just for the +fun of the thing, than on hunting him. Well, that is how it began. + +As far as I know the first incident arose out of the intrusion of a +strange kaffir at one of the outspans. Jock objected, and he was +forcing a scared boy back step by step--doing the same feinting rushes +that he practised with game--until the boy tripped over a camp stool and +sat plump down on the three-legged pot of porridge cooking at the camp +fire. I did not see it; for Jock was, as usual, quite silent--a feature +which always had a most terrifying effect on his victims: it was a roar +like a lion's from Jim that roused me. Jock was standing off with his +feet on the move forwards and backwards, his head on one side and his +face full of interest, as if he would dearly love another romp in; and +the waggon-boys were reeling and rolling about the grass, helpless with +laughter. + +A dog is just as quick as a child to find out when he can take +liberties; he knows that laughter and serious disapproval do not go +together; and Jock with the backing of the boys thoroughly enjoyed +him-self. That was how it began; and by degrees it developed into the +great practical joke. The curious thing to note was the way in which +Jock entered into the spirit of the thing, and how he improved and +varied his methods. It was never certain what he would do; sometimes it +would be a wild romp, as it was that day; at other times he would stalk +the intruder in the open, much as a pointer approaches his birds in the +last strides, and with eyes fixed steadily and mouth tightly pursed-up, +he would move straight at him with infinite slowness and deliberation +until, the boy's nerve failed, and he turned and ran. At other times +again he trotted out as if he had seen nothing, and then stopped +suddenly. If the boy came on, Jock waited; but if there was any sign of +fear or hesitation, he lowered his head, humped up his shoulders--as a +stagey boxer does when he wants to appear ferocious--and gave his head a +kind of chuck forward, as if in the act of charging: this seldom failed +to shake the intruder's nerve, and as soon as he turned or backed, the +romp began. Still another trick was to make a round in the bush and +come up behind unobserved, and then make a furious dash with rumbly +gurgly growls; the startled boy invariably dropped all he had, breaking +into a series of fantastic capers and excited yells, to the huge delight +of Jim and the others. + +But these things were considered trifles: the piece that always `brought +the house down' was the Shangaan gang trick, which on one occasion +nearly got us all into serious trouble. The natives going to or from +the goldfields travel in gangs of from four or five to forty or fifty; +they walk along in Indian-file, and even when going across the veld or +walking on wide roads they wind along singly in the footsteps of the +leader. What prompted the dog to start this new game I cannot imagine: +certainly no one could have taught it to him; and as well as one could +judge, he did it entirely `off his own bat,' without anything to lead up +to or suggest it. + +One day a gang of about thirty of these Shangaans, each carrying his +load of blankets, clothing, pots, billies and other valuables on his +head, was coming along a footpath beside the road some twenty yards away +from the waggons. Jock strolled out and sat himself down in the middle +of the path; it was the way he did it and his air, utterly devoid of +hostile or even serious purpose, that attracted my attention without +rousing any doubts. The leader of the gang, however, was suspicious and +shied off wide into the veld; he passed in a semicircle round Jock, a +good ten yards away, and came safely back to the path again, and the dog +with his nose in the air merely eyed him with a look of humorous +interest and mild curiosity. The second kaffir made the loop shorter, +and the third shorter still, as they found their alarm and suspicions +unjustified; and so on, as each came along, the loop was lessened until +they passed in safety almost brushing against Jock's nose. And still he +never budged--never moved--except, as each boy approached, to look up at +his face and, slowly turning his head, follow him round with his eyes +until he re-entered the path. There was something extremely funny in +the mechanical regularity with which his head swung round. It was so +funny that not only the boys at the waggons noticed it and laughed; the +unsuspecting Shangaans themselves shared the joke. When half a dozen +had passed round in safety, comments followed by grunts of agreement or +laughter ran along the line, and then, as each fresh boy passed and +Jock's calm inspection was repeated, a regular chorus of guffaws and +remarks broke out. The long heavy bundles on their heads made turning +round a slow process, so that, except for the first half-dozen, they +were content to enjoy what they saw in front and to know by the laughter +from behind that the joke had been repeated all down the line. + +The last one walked calmly by; but as he did so there came one short +muffled bark, "Whoop!" from Jock as he sprang out and nipped the +unsuspecting Shangaan behind. The boy let out a yell that made the +whole gang jump and clutch wildly at their toppling bundles, and Jock +raced along the footpath, leaping, gurgling and snapping behind each one +he came near, scattering them this way and that, in a romp of wild +enjoyment. The shouts of the scared boys, the clatter of the tins as +their bundles toppled down, the scrambling and scratching as they clawed +the ground pretending to pick up stones or sticks to stop his rushes, +and the ridiculous rout of the thirty Shangaans in every direction, +abandoning their baggage and fleeing from the little red enemy only just +visible in the grass as he hunted and harried them, were too much for my +principles and far too much for my gravity. To be quite honest, I +weakened badly, and from that day on preferred to look another way when +Jock sallied out to inspect a gang of Shangaans. Between them, Jim and +Jock had beaten me. + +But the weakening brought its own punishment and the joke was not far +from making a tragedy. Many times while lying some way off in the shade +of a tree or under another waggon I heard Jim, all unconscious of my +presence, call in a low deep voice, almost a whisper, "Jock, Jock; +kaffirs; Shangaans!" Jock's head was up in a moment, and a romp of some +sort followed unless I intervened. Afterwards, when Jock was deaf, Jim +used to reach out and pull his foot or throw a handful of sand or a +bunch of grass to rouse him, and when Jock's head switched up Jim's big +black fist pointing to their common enemy was quite enough. + +Jim had his faults, but getting others into mischief while keeping out +of it himself was not one of them. If he egged Jock on, he was more +than ready to stand by him, and on these occasions his first act was to +jump for his sticks, which were always pretty handy, and lie in +readiness to take a hand if any of the gang should use what he +considered unfair means of defence, such as throwing stones and kerries +or using assegais or knives; and Jim--the friend of Jock, the avoided +enemy of all Shangaans, aching for an excuse to take a hand in the row +himself--was not, I fear, a very impartial judge. + +There was a day outside Barberton which I remember well. We were to +start that evening, and knowing that if Jim got into the town he might +not be back and fit to work for days, I made him stay with the waggons. +He lay there flat out under his waggon with his chin resting on his +arms, staring steadily at the glistening corrugated iron roofs of the +town, as morose and unapproachable as a surly old watch-dog. From the +tent of my waggon I saw him raise his head, and following his glance, +picked out a row of bundles against the sky-line. Presently a long +string of about fifty time-expired mine-boys came in sight. Jim on his +hands and knees scrambled over to where Jock lay asleep, and shook him; +for this incident occurred after Jock had become deaf. + +"Shangaans, Jock; Shangaans! Kill them; kill, kill, kill!" said Jim in +gusty ferocious whispers. It must have seemed as if Fate had kindly +provided an outlet for the rebellious rage and the craving for a fight +that were consuming him. + +As Jock trotted out to head them off Jim reached up to the buck-rails +and pulled down his bundle of sticks and lay down like a tiger on the +spring. I had had a lot of trouble with Jim that day, and this annoyed +me; but my angry call to stop was unavailing. Jim, pretending not to +understand, made no attempt to stop Jock, but contented himself with +calling to him to come back; and Jock, stone deaf, trotted evenly along +with his head, neck, back, and tail, all level--an old trick of Jess's +which generally meant trouble for some one. Slowing down as he neared +the Shangaans he walked quietly on until he headed off the leader, and +there he stood across the path. It was just the same as before: the +boys, finding that he did nothing, merely stepped aside to avoid bumping +against him. They were boys taking back their purchases to their kraals +to dazzle the eyes of the ignorant with the wonders of civilisation-- +gaudy blankets, collections of bright tin billies and mugs, tin plates, +three-legged pots, clothing, hats, and even small tin trunks painted +brilliant yellow, helped to make up their huge bundles. The last boy +was wearing a pair of Royal Artillery trousers; and I have no doubt he +regarded it ever afterwards as nothing less than a calamity that they +were not safely stowed away in his bundle--for a kaffir would sacrifice +his skin rather than his new pants any day. It was from the seat of +these too ample bags that Jock took a good mouthful; and it was the +boy's frantic jump, rather than Jock's tug, that made the piece come +out. The sudden fright and the attempts to face about quickly caused +several downfalls; the clatter of these spread the panic; and on top of +it all came Jock's charge along the broken line, and the excited shouts +of those who thought they were going to be worried to death. + +Jim had burst into great bellows of laughter and excited--but quite +superfluous--shouts of encouragement to Jock, who could not have heard a +trumpet at ten yards. + +But there came a very unexpected change. One big Shangaan had drawn +from his bundle a brand new side-axe: I saw the bright steel head flash, +as he held it menacingly aloft by the short handle and marched towards +Jock. There was a scrambling bound from under the waggon, and Jim, with +face distorted and grey with fury, rushed out. In his right hand he +brandished a tough stout fighting stick; in his left I was horrified to +see an assegai, and well I knew that, with the fighting fury on him, he +would think nothing of using it. The Shangaan saw him coming, and +stopped; then, still facing Jim, and with the axe raised and feinting +repeatedly to throw it, he began to back away. Jim never paused for a +second: he came straight on with wild leaps and blood-curdling yells in +Zulu fighting fashion and ended with a bound that seemed to drop him +right on top of the other. The stick came down with a whirr and a crash +that crimped every nerve in my body; and the Shangaan dropped like a +log. + +I had shouted myself hoarse at Jim, but he heard or heeded nothing; and +seizing a stick from one of the other boys I was already on the way to +stop him, but before I got near him he had wrenched the axe from the +kicking boy and, without pause, gone headlong for the next Shangaan he +saw. Then everything went wrong: the more I shouted and the harder I +ran, the worse the row. The Shangaans seemed to think I had joined in +and was directing operations against them: Jim seemed to be inspired to +wilder madness by my shouts and gesticulations; and Jock--well, Jock at +any rate had not the remotest doubt as to what he should do. When he +saw me and Jim in full chase behind him, his plain duty was to go in for +all he was worth; and he did it. + +It was half an hour before I got that mad savage back. He was as +unmanageable as a runaway horse. He had walloped the majority of the +fifty himself; he had broken his own two sticks and used up a number of +theirs; on his forehead there was a small cut and a lump like half an +orange; and on the back of his head another cut left by the sticks of +the enemy when eight or ten had rallied once in a half-hearted attempt +to stand against him. + +It was strange how Jim, even in that mood, yielded to the touch of one +whom he regarded as his "Inkos." I could not have forced him back: in +that maniac condition it would have needed a powerful combination indeed +to bring him back against his will. He yielded to the light grip of my +hand on his wrist and walked freely along with me; but a fiery bounding +vitality possessed him, and with long springy strides he stepped out-- +looking excitedly about, turning to right and left or even right about, +and stepping sideways or even backwards to keep pace with me--yet always +yielding the imprisoned arm so as not to pull me about. And all the +time there came from him a torrent of excited gabble in pure Zulu, too +fast and too high-flown for me to follow, which was punctuated and +paragraphed by bursting allusions to `dogs of Shangaans,' `axes,' +`sticks,' and `Jock.' + +Near the waggons we passed over the `battlefield,' and a huge guffaw of +laughter broke from Jim as we came on the abandoned impedimenta of the +defeated enemy. Several of the bundles had burst open from the violence +of the fall, and the odd collections of the natives were scattered +about; others had merely shed the outside luggage of tin billies, +beakers, pans, boots and hats. Jim looked on it all as the spoils of +war, wanting to stop and gather in his loot there and then, and when I +pressed on, he shouted to the other drivers to come out and collect the +booty. + +But my chief anxiety was to end the wretched escapade as quickly as +possible and get the Shangaans on their way again; so I sent Jim back to +his place under the waggon, and told the cook-boy to give him the rest +of my coffee and half a cup of sugar to provide him with something else +to think of and to calm him down. + +After a wait of half an hour or so, a head appeared just over the rise, +and then another and another, at irregular intervals and at various +points: they were scouting very cautiously before venturing back again. +I sat in the tent-waggon out of sight and kept quiet, hoping that in a +few minutes they would gain confidence, collect their goods, and go +their way again. Jim, lying flat under the waggon, was much lower than +I was, and--continuing his gabble to the other boys--saw nothing. +Unfortunately he looked round just as a scared face peered cautiously +over the top of an ant-heap. The temptation was, I suppose, +irresistible: he scrambled to his knees with a pretence of starting +afresh and let out one ferocious yell that made my hair stand up; and in +that second every head bobbed down and the field was deserted once more. + +If this went on there could be but one ending: the police would be +appealed to, Jim arrested, and I should spend days hanging about the +courts waiting for a trial from which the noble Jim would probably +emerge with three months' hard labour; so I sallied out as my own herald +of peace. But the position was more difficult than it looked: as soon +as the Shangaans saw my head appearing over the rise, they scattered +like chaff before the wind, and ran as if they would never stop. They +evidently took me for the advance guard in a fresh attack, and from the +way they ran seemed to suspect that Jim and Jock might be doing separate +flanking movements to cut them off. I stood upon an ant-heap and waved +and called, but each shout resulted in a fresh spurt and each movement +only made them more suspicious. It seemed a hopeless case, and I gave +it up. + +On the way back to the waggons, however, I thought of Sam--Sam, with his +neatly patched European clothes, with the slouchy heavy-footed walk of a +nigger in boots, with his slack lanky figure and serious timid face! +Sam would surely be the right envoy; even the routed Shangaans would +feel that there was nothing to fear there. But Sam was by no means +anxious to earn laurels; he was clearly of the poet's view that "the +paths of glory lead but to the grave;" and it was a poor-looking +weak-kneed and much dejected scarecrow that dragged its way reluctantly +out into the veld to hold parley with the routed enemy that day. + +At the first mention of Sam's name Jim had twitched round with a snort, +but the humour of the situation tickled him when he saw the too obvious +reluctance with which his rival received the honour conferred on him. +Between rough gusts of laughter Jim rained on him crude ridicule and +rude comments; and Sam slouched off with head bent, relieving his heart +with occasional clicks and low murmurs of disgust. How far the new +herald would have ventured, if he had not received most unexpected +encouragement, is a matter for speculation. Jim's last shout was to +advise him not to hide in an ant-bear hole; but, to Sam's relief, the +Shangaans seemed to view him merely as a decoy, even more dangerous than +I was; for, as no one else appeared, they had now no idea at all from +which quarter the expected attack would come. They were widely +scattered more than half a mile away when Sam came in sight; a brief +pause followed in which they looked anxiously around, and then, after +some aimless dashes about like a startled troop of buck, they seemed to +find the line of flight and headed off in a long string down the valley +towards the river. + +Now, no one had ever run away from Sam before, and the exhilarating +sight so encouraged him that he marched boldly on after them. Goodness +knows when, if ever, they would have stopped, if Sam had not met a +couple of other natives whom the Shangaans had passed and induced them +to turn back and reassure the fugitives. + +An hour later Sam came back in mild triumph, at the head of the Shangaan +gang; and, `clothed in a little brief authority,' stood guard and +superintended while they collected their scattered goods--all except the +axe that caused the trouble. That they failed to find. The owner may +have thought it wise to make no claim on me; Sam, if he remembered it, +would have seen the Shangaans and all their belongings burned in a pile +rather than raise so delicate a question with Jim; I had forgotten all +about it--being anxious only to end the trouble and get the Shangaans +off; and that villain Jim `lay low.' At the first outspan from +Barberton next day I saw him carving his mark on the handle, unabashed, +under my very nose. + +The next time Jim got drunk he added something to his opinion of Sam: + +"Sam no good: Sam leada Bible! Shangaan, Sam; Shangaan!" + + +CHAPTER FOURTEEN. + +THE BERG. + +The last day of each trip in the Bush veld was always a day of trial and +hard work for man and beast. The Berg stood up before us like an +impassable barrier. Looked at from below the prospect was despairing-- +from above, appalling. There was no road that the eye could follow. +Here and there a broad furrowed streak of red soil straight down some +steep grass-covered spur was visible: it looked like a mountain +timber-slide or the scour of some tropical storm; and that was all one +could see of it from below. For perhaps a week the towering bulwarks of +the High veld were visible as we toiled along--at first only in +occasional hazy glimpses, then daily clearer higher and grander, as the +great barrier it was. + +After many hard treks through the broken foothills, with their rocky +sideling slopes and boulder-strewn torrent beds, at last the Berg itself +was reached. There, on a flat-topped terrace-like spur where the last +outspan was, we took breath, halved our loads, double-spanned, and +pulled ourselves together for the last big climb. + +From there the scoured red streaks stood out revealed as road tracks-- +for, made road there was none; from there, lines of whitish rock and +loose stones and big boulders, that one had taken for the beds of +mountain torrents, stood revealed as bits of `road,' linking up some of +the broken sections of the route; but even from there not nearly all the +track was visible. The bumpy rumbling and heavy clattering of waggons +on the rocky trail, the shouts of drivers and the crack of whips, mixed +with confusing echoes from somewhere above, set one puzzling and +searching higher still. Then in unexpected places here and there other +waggons would be seen against the shadowy mountains, creeping up with +infinite labour foot by foot, tacking at all sorts of angles, winding by +undetected spur and slope and ridge towards the summit--the long spans +of oxen and the bulky loads, dwarfed into miniature by the vast +background, looking like snails upon a face of rock. + +To those who do not know, there is not much difference between spans of +oxen; and the driving of them seems merely a matter of brute strength in +arm and lung. One span looks like another; and the weird unearthly +yells of the drivers, the cracks--like rifle-shots--of the long lashes, +and the hum and thud of the more cruel doubled whip, seem to be all that +is needed. But it is not so: heart and training in the cattle, skill +and judgment in the driver, are needed there; for the Berg is a +searching test of man and beast. Some, double-spanned and relieved of +half their three-ton loads, will stick for a whole day where the pull is +steepest, the road too narrow to swing the spans, and the curves too +sharp to let the fifteen couples of bewildered and despairing oxen get a +straight pull; whilst others will pass along slowly but steadily and +without check, knowing what each beast will do and stand, when to urge +and when to ease it, when and where to stop them for a blow, and how to +get them all leaning to the yoke, ready and willing for the `heave +together' that is essential for restarting a heavy load against such a +hill. Patience, understanding, judgment, and decision: those are the +qualities it calls for, and here again the white man justifies his claim +to lead and rule; for, although they are as ten or twenty to one, there +is not a native driver who can compare with the best of the white men. + +It was on the Berg that I first saw what a really first-class man can +do. There were many waggons facing the pass that day; portions of +loads, dumped off to ease the pull, dotted the roadside; tangles of +disordered maddened spans blocked the way; and fragments of yokes, +skeys, strops, and reims, and broken disselbooms, told the tale of +trouble. + +Old Charlie Roberts came along with his two waggons. He was `old' with +us--being nearly fifty; he was also stout and in poor health. We buried +him at Pilgrim's Rest a week later: the cold, clear air on top of the +Berg that night, when he brought the last load up, brought out the +fever. It was his last trek. + +He walked slowly up past us, to "take a squint at things," as he put it, +and see if it was possible to get past the stuck waggons; and a little +later he started, making three loads of his two and going up with single +spans of eighteen oxen each, because the other waggons, stuck in various +places on the road, did not give him room to work double-spans. To us +it seemed madness to attempt with eighteen oxen a harder task than we +and others were essaying with thirty; we would have waited until the +road ahead was clear. + +We were half-way up when we saw old Charlie coming along steadily and +without any fuss at all. He had no second driver to help him; he did no +shouting; he walked along heavily and with difficulty beside the span, +playing the long whip lightly about as he gave the word to go or called +quietly to individual oxen by name, but he did not touch them; and when +he paused to `blow' them he leaned heavily on his whip-stick to rest +himself. We were stopped by some break in the gear and were completely +blocking the road when he caught up. Any one else would have waited: he +pulled out into the rough sideling track on the slope below, to pass us. +Even a good span with a good driver may well come to grief in trying to +pass another that is stuck--for the sight and example are demoralising-- +but old Charlie did not turn a hair; he went steadily on, giving a +brisker call and touching up his oxen here and there with light flicks. +They used to say he could kill a fly on a front ox or on the toe of his +own boot with the voorslag of his big whip. + +The track he took was merely the scorings made by skidding waggons +coming down the mountain; it was so steep and rough there that a pull of +ten yards between the spells for breath was all one could hope for; and +many were thankful to have done much less. At the second pause, as they +were passing us, one of his oxen turned, leaning inwards against the +chain, and looked back. Old Charlie remarked quietly, "I thought he +would chuck it; only bought him last week. He's got no heart." + +He walked along the span up to the shirking animal, which continued to +glare back at him in a frightened way, and touched it behind with the +butt of his long whip-stick to bring it up to the yoke. The ox started +forward into place with a jerk, but eased back again slightly as Charlie +went back to his place near the after-oxen. Once more the span went on +and the shirker got a smart reminder as Charlie gave the call to start, +and he warmed it up well as a lesson while they pulled. At the next +stop it lay back worse than before. + +Not one driver in a hundred would have done then what he did: they would +have tried other courses first. Charlie dropped his whip quietly and +outspanned the ox and its mate, saying to me as I gave him a hand: + +"When I strike a rotter, I chuck him out before he spoils the others!" +In another ten minutes he and his stalwarts had left us behind. + +Old Charlie knew his oxen--each one of them, their characters and what +they could do. I think he loved them too; at any rate, it was his care +for them that day--handling them himself instead of leaving it to his +boys--that killed him. + +Other men had other methods. Some are by nature brutal; others, only +undiscerning or impatient. Most of them sooner or later realise that +they are only harming themselves by ill-treating their own cattle; and +that is one--but only the meanest--reason why the white man learns to +drive better than the native, who seldom owns the span he drives; the +better and bigger reasons belong to the qualities of race and the +effects of civilisation. But, with all this, experience is as essential +as ever; a beginner has no balanced judgment, and that explains +something that I heard an old transport-rider say in the earliest days-- +something which I did not understand then, and heard with resentment and +a boy's uppish scorn. + +"The Lord help the beginner's boys and bullocks: starts by pettin', and +ends by killin'. Too clever to learn; too young to own up; swearin' and +sloggin' all the time; and never sets down to _think_ until the boys are +gone and the bullocks done!" + +I felt hot all over, but had learned enough to keep quiet; besides, the +hit was not meant for me, although the tip, I believe, was: the hit was +at some one else who had just left us--one who had been given a start +before he had gained experience and, naturally, was then busy making a +mess of things himself and laying down the law for others. It was when +the offender had gone that the old transport-rider took up the general +question and finished his observations with a proverb which I had not +heard before--perhaps invented it: + +"Yah!" he said, rising and stretching himself, "there's no rule for a +young fool." + +I did not quite know what he meant, and it seemed safer not to inquire. + +The driving of bullocks is not an exalted occupation: it is a very +humble calling indeed; yet, if one is able to learn, there are things +worth learning in that useful school. But it is not good to stay at +school all one's life. + +Brains and character tell there as everywhere; experience only gives +them scope; it is not a substitute. The men themselves would not tell +you so; they never trouble themselves with introspections and analyses, +and if you asked one of them the secret of success, he might tell you +"Commonsense and hard work," or curtly give you the maxims `Watch it,' +and `Stick to it'--which to him express the whole creed, and to you, I +suppose, convey nothing. Among themselves, when the prime topics of +loads, rates, grass, water and disease have been disposed of, there is +as much interest in talking about their own and each other's oxen as +there is in babies at a mothers' meeting. Spans are compared; +individual oxen discussed in minute detail; and the reputations of +`front oxen,' in pairs or singly, are canvassed as earnestly as the +importance of the subject warrants--for, "The front oxen are half the +span," they say. The simple fact is that they `talk shop,' and when you +hear them discussing the characters and qualities of each individual +animal you may be tempted to smile in a superior way, but it will not +eventually escape you that they think and observe, and that they study +their animals and reason out what to do to make the most of them; and +when they preach patience, consistency and purpose, it is the fruit of +much experience, and nothing more than what the best of them practise. + +Every class has its world; each one's world--however small--is a whole +world, and therefore a big world; for the little things are magnified +and seem big, which is much the same thing: Crusoe's island was a world +to him and he got as much satisfaction out of it as Alexander or +Napoleon--probably a great deal more. The little world is less +complicated than the big, but the factors do not vary; and so it may be +that the simpler the calling, the more clearly apparent are the working +of principles and the relations of cause and effect. It was so with us. +To you, as a beginner, there surely comes a day when things get out of +hand and your span, which was a good one when you bought it, goes wrong: +the load is not too heavy; the hill not too steep; the work is not +beyond them for they have done it all before; but now no power on earth, +it seems, will make them face the pull. Some jib and pull back; some +bellow and thrust across; some stand out or swerve under the chain; some +turn tail to front, half choked by the twisted strops, the worn-out +front oxen turn and charge downhill; and all are half frantic with +excitement, bewilderment or terror. The constant shouting, the battle +with refractory animals, the work with the whip, and the hopeless chaos +and failure, have just about done you up; and then some one--who knows-- +comes along, and, because you block the way where he would pass and he +can see what is wrong, offers to give a hand. Dropping his whip he +moves the front oxen to where the foothold is best and a straight pull +is possible; then walks up and down the team a couple of times talking +to the oxen and getting them into place, using his hand to prod them up +without frightening them, until he has the sixteen standing as true as +soldiers on parade--their excitement calmed, their confidence won, and +their attention given to him. Then, one word of encouragement and one +clear call to start, and the sixteen lean forward like one, the waggon +lifts and heaves, and out it goes with a rattle and rush. + +It looks magical in its simplicity; but no lecturer is needed to explain +the magic, and if honest with yourself you will turn it over that night, +and with a sense of vague discomfort it will all become clear. You may +be tempted, under cover of darkness, to find a translation for `watch +it' and `stick to it!' more befitting your dignity and aspirations: +`observation and reasoning,' `patience and purpose,' will seem better; +but probably you will not say so to any one else, for fear of being +laughed at. + +And when the new-found knowledge has risen like yeast, and is ready to +froth over in advice to others, certain things will be brought home to +you with simple directness: that, sufficient unto the yeast is the loaf +it has to make; that, there is only one person who has got to learn from +you--yourself; and that, it is better to be still, for if you keep your +knowledge to yourself you keep your ignorance from others. + +A marked span brands the driver. The scored bullock may be a rogue or +may be a sulky obstinate brute; but the chances are he is either badly +trained or overworked, and the whip only makes matters worse; the +beginner cannot judge, and the oxen suffer. Indeed, the beginner may +well fail in the task, for there are many and great differences in the +temperaments and characters of oxen, just as there are in other animals +or in human beings. Once in Mashonaland, when lions broke into a kraal +and killed and ate two donkeys out of a mixed lot, the mules were found +next day twenty miles away; some of the oxen ran for several miles, and +some stopped within a few hundred yards; two men who had been roused by +the uproar saw in the moonlight one old bullock stroll out through the +gap in the kraal and stop to scratch his back with his horn; and three +others were contentedly dozing within ten yards of the half-eaten +donkeys when we went to the kraal in the early morning and found out +what had happened. + +There are no two alike! You find them nervous and lethargic, timid and +bold, independent and sociable, exceptional and ordinary, willing and +sulky, restless and content, staunch and faint-hearted--just like human +beings. I can remember some of them now far better than many of the men +known then and since:--Achmoed and Bakir, the big after-oxen who carried +the disselboom contentedly through the trek and were spared all other +work to save them for emergencies; who, at a word, heaved together-- +their great backs bent like bows and their giant strength thrown in to +hoist the waggon from the deepest hole and up the steepest hill; who +were the standby in the worst descents, lying back on their haunches to +hold the waggon up when brakes could do no more; and inseparables +always--even when outspanned the two old comrades walked together. +There was little Zole, contented, sociable and short of wind, looking +like a fat boy on a hot day, always in distress. There was Bantom, the +big red ox with the white band, lazy and selfish, with an enduring evil +obstinacy that was simply incredible. There was Rooiland, the light +red, with yellow eyeballs and topped horns, a fierce, wild, +unapproachable, unappeasable creature, restless and impatient, always +straining to start, always moaning fretfully when delayed, nervous as a +young thoroughbred, aloof and unfriendly to man and beast, ever ready to +stab or kick even those who handled him daily, wild as a buck, but +untouched by whip and uncalled by name; who would work with a straining, +tearing impatience that there was no checking, ever ready to outpace the +rest, and at the outspan standing out alone, hollow-flanked and panting, +eyes and nostrils wide with fierceness and distress, yet always ready to +start again--a miracle of intense vitality! And then there was old +Zwaartland, the coal-black front ox, and the best of all: the sober +steadfast leader of the span, who knew his work by heart and answered +with quickened pace to any call of his name; swinging wide at every +curve to avoid cutting corners; easing up, yet leading free, at every +steep descent, so as neither to rush the incline nor entangle the span; +holding his ground, steady as a rock when the big pull came, heedless of +how the team swayed and strained--steadfast even when his mate gave in. +He stood out from all the rest; the massive horns--like one huge spiral +pin passed through his head, eight feet from tip to tip--balancing with +easy swing; the clean limbs and small neat feet moving with the quick +precision of a buck's tread; and the large grave eyes so soft and clear +and deep! + +For those who had eyes to see the book lay open: there, as elsewhere; +there, as always. Jock, with his courage, fidelity and concentration, +held the secrets of success! Jim--dissolute, turbulent and savage-- +could yield a lesson too; not a warning only, sometimes a crude but +clear example! The work itself was full of test and teaching; the hard +abstemious life had its daily lessons in patience and resource, driven +home by every variety of means and incident on that unkindly road. And +the dumb cattle--in their plodding toil, in their sufferings from +drought and over-work, and in their strength and weakness--taught and +tested too. There is little food for self-content when all that is best +and worst comes out; but there is much food for thought. + +There was a day at Kruger's Post when everything seemed small beside the +figure of one black front ox, who held his ground when all others +failed. The waggon had sunk to the bed-plank in gluey turf, and, +although the whole load had been taken off, three spans linked together +failed to move it. For eight hours that day we tried to dig and pull it +out, but forty-four oxen on that soft greasy flat toiled in vain. The +long string of bullocks, desperate from failure and bewilderment, swayed +in the middle from side to side to seek escape from the flying whips; +the unyielding waggon held them at one end, and the front oxen, with +their straining fore feet scoring the slippery surface as they were +dragged backwards, strove to hold them true at the other. Seven times +that day we changed, trying to find a mate who would stand with +Zwaartland; but he wore them all down. He broke their hearts and stood +it out alone! I looked at the ground afterwards: it was grooved in long +parallel lines where the swaying spans had pulled him backwards, with +his four feet clawing the ground in the effort to hold them true; but he +had never once turned or wavered. + +And there was a day at Sand River, when we saw a different picture. The +waggons were empty, yet as we came up out of the stony drift, Bantom the +sulky hung lazily back, dragging on his yoke and throwing the span out +of line. Jim curled the big whip round him, without any good effect, +and when the span stopped for a breather in the deep narrow road, he lay +down and refused to budge. There was no reason in the world for it +except the animal's obstinate sulky temper. When the whip--the +giraffe-hide thong, doubled into a heavy loop--produced no effect, the +boys took the yoke off to see if freedom would tempt the animal to rise! +It did. At the first touch of the whip Bantom jumped up and charged +them; and then, seeing that there was nothing at all the matter, the +boys inspanned him and made a fresh start--not touching him again for +fear of another fit of sulks; but at the first call on the team, down he +went again. + +Many are the stories of cruelty to oxen, and I had never understood how +human beings could be so fiendishly cruel as to do some of the things +that one heard of, such as stabbing, smothering and burning cattle; nor +under what circumstances or for what reasons such acts of brutality +could be perpetrated; but what I saw that day threw some light on these +questions, and, more than anything else, it showed the length to which +sulkiness and obstinacy will go, and made me wonder whether the +explanation was to be sought in endurance of pain through temper or in +sheer incapacity to feel pain at all. This is no defence of such +things; it is a bare recital of what took place--the only scene I can +recall of what would be regarded as wanton cruelty to oxen; and to that +extent it is an explanation, and nothing more! Much greater and real +cruelty I have seen done by work and punishment; but it was due to +ignorance, impatience, or--on rare occasions--uncontrollable temper; it +did not look deliberate and wanton. + +There were two considerations here which governed the whole case. The +first was that as long as the ox lay there it was impossible to move the +waggon, and there was no way for the others to pass it; the second, that +the ox was free, strong and perfectly well, and all he had to do was to +get up and walk. + +The drivers from the other waggons came up to lend a hand and clear the +way so that they might get on; sometimes three were at it together with +their double whips; and, before they could be stopped, sticks and stones +were used to hammer the animal on the head and horns, along the spine, +on the hocks and shins, and wherever he was supposed to have feeling; +then he was tied by the horns to the trek-chain, so that the span would +drag him bodily; but not once did he make the smallest effort to rise. +The road was merely a gutter scoured out by the floods and it was not +possible either to drag the animal up the steep sides or to leave him +and go on--the waggon would have had to pass over him. And all this +time he was outspanned and free to go; but would not stir. + +Then they did the kaffir trick--doubled the tail and bit it: very few +bullocks will stand that, but Bantom never winced. Then they took their +clasp knives and used them as spurs--not stabbing to do real injury, but +pricking enough to draw blood in the fleshy parts, where it would be +most felt: he twitched to the pricks--but nothing more. Then they made +a fire close behind him, and as the wood blazed up, the heat seemed +unendurable; the smell of singed hair was strong, and the flames, not a +foot away, seemed to roast the flesh, and one of the drivers took a +brand and pressed the glowing red coal against the inside of the hams; +but, beyond a vicious kick at the fire, there was no result. Then they +tried to suffocate him, gripping the mouth and nostrils so that he could +not breathe; but, when the limit of endurance was reached and even the +spectators tightened up with a sense of suffocation, a savage shake of +the head always freed it--the brute was too strong for them. Then they +raised the head with reims, and with the nose held high poured water +down the nostrils, at the same time keeping the mouth firmly closed; but +he blew the water all over them and shook himself free again. + +For the better part of an hour the struggle went on, but there was not +the least sign of yielding on Bantom's part, and the string of waiting +waggons grew longer, and many others, white men and black, gathered +round watching, helping or suggesting. At last some one brought a +bucket of water, and into this Bantom's muzzle was thrust as far as it +would go, and reims passed through the ears of the bucket were slipped +round his horns so that he could not shake himself free at will. We +stood back and watched the animal's sides for signs of breathing. For +an incredible time he held out; but at last with a sudden plunge he was +up; a bubbling muffled bellow came from the bucket; the boys let go the +reims; and the terrified animal ridding himself of the bucket after a +frantic struggle, stood with legs apart and eyeballs starting from the +sockets, shaking like a reed. + +But nothing that had happened revealed the vicious ingrained obstinacy +of the animal's nature so clearly as the last act in the struggle: it +stood passive, and apparently beaten, while the boys inspanned it again. +But at the first call to the team to start, and without a touch to +provoke its temper again, it dropped down once more. Not one of all +those looking on would have believed it possible; but there it was! In +the most deliberate manner the challenge was again flung down, and the +whole fight begun afresh. + +We felt really desperate: one could think of nothing but to repeat the +bucket trick; for it was the only one that had succeeded at all. The +bucket had been flung aside on the stones as the ox freed itself, and +one of the boys picked it up to fetch more water. But no more was +needed: the rattle of the bucket brought Bantom to his feet with a +terrified jump, and flinging his whole weight into the yoke, he gave the +waggon a heave that started the whole span, and they went out at a run. +The drivers had not even picked up their whips: the only incentive +applied was the bucket, which the boy--grasping the position at once-- +rattled vigorously behind Bantom, doubling his frantic eagerness to get +away, amid shouts of encouragement and laughter from the watching group. + +The trials and lessons of the work came in various shapes and at every +turn; and there were many trials where the lesson was not easy to read. +It would have taken a good man to handle Bantom, at any time--even in +the beginning; but, full-grown, and confirmed in his evil ways, only the +butcher could make anything out of him. + +And only the butcher did! + + +CHAPTER FIFTEEN. + +PARADISE CAMP. + +There is a spot on the edge of the Berg which we made our summer +quarters. When September came round and the sun swung higher in the +steely blue, blazing down more pitilessly than ever; when the little +creeks were running dry and the water-holes became saucers of cracked +mud; when the whole country smelt of fine impalpable dust; it was a +relief to quit the Bushveld, and even the hunting was given up almost +without regret. + +On the Berg the air was clear and bracing, as well it might be five to +seven thousand feet above the sea. The long green sweeps of undulating +country were broken by deep gorges where the mountain streams had cut +their way through the uptilted outer edge of the big plateau and tumbled +in countless waterfalls into the Bushveld below; and behind the rolling +downs again stood the remnants of the upper formation--the last tough +fragments of those rocks which the miners believed originally held the +gold--worn and washed away, inch by inch and ounce by ounce ever since +the Deluge. These broken parapets stood up like ruins of giant castles +with every layer in their formation visible across their rugged +time-worn fronts--lines, in places a few yards only and in others a mile +or more in length, laid one upon another as true as any spirit level +could set them--and a wealth of colouring over all that, day by day, one +thought more wonderful in variety and blend. Grey and black and yellow, +white and red and brown, were there; yet all harmonising, all shaded by +growths of shrub and creeper, by festoons of moss or brilliant lichen, +all weather-stained and softened, all toned, as time and nature do it, +to make straight lines and many colours blend into the picturesque. + +Paradise Camp perched on the very edge of the Berg. Behind us rolled +green slopes to the feet of the higher peaks, and in front of us lay the +Bushveld. From the broken battlements of the Berg we looked down three +thousand feet, and eastward to the sea a hundred and fifty miles away, +across the vast panorama. Black densely-timbered kloofs broke the edge +of the plateau into a long series of projecting turrets, in some places +cutting far in, deep crevices into which the bigger waterfalls plunged +and were lost. But the top of the Berg itself was bare of trees: the +breeze blew cool and fresh for ever there; the waters trickled and +splashed in every little break or tumbled with steady roar down the +greater gorges; deep pools, fringed with masses of ferns, smooth as +mirrors or flecked with dancing sunlight, were set like brilliants in +the silver chain of each little stream; and rocks and pebbles, wonderful +in their colours, were magnified and glorified into polished gems by the +sparkling water. + +But Nature has her moods, and it was not always thus at Paradise Camp. +When the cold mist-rains, like wet grey fogs, swept over us and for a +week blotted out creation, it was neither pleasant nor safe to grope +along the edge of the Berg, in search of strayed cattle--wet and cold, +unable to see, and checked from time to time by a keener straighter gust +that leapt up over the unseen precipice a few yards off. + +And there was still another mood when the summer rains set in and the +storms burst over us, and the lightning stabbed viciously in all +directions, and the crackling crash of the thunder seemed as if the very +Berg itself must be split and shattered. Then the rivers rose; the roar +of waters was all around us; and Paradise Camp was isolated from the +rest by floods which no man would lightly face. + +Paradise Camp stood on the edge of the kloof where the nearest timber +grew; Tumbling Waters, where stood the thousand grey sandstone sentinels +of strange fantastic shapes, was a couple of miles away facing Black +Bluff, the highest point of all, and The Camel, The Wolf, The Sitting +Hen and scores more, rough casts in rock by Nature's hand, stood there. +Close below us was the Bathing Pool, with its twenty feet of purest +water, its three rock-ledge `springboards,' and its banks of moss and +canopies of tree-ferns. Further down the stream spread in a thousand +pools and rapids over a mile of black bedrock and then poured in one +broad sheet over Graskop Falls. And still further down were the Mac Mac +Falls, three hundred feet straight drop into the rock-strewn gorge, +where the straight walls were draped with staghorn moss, like countless +folds of delicate green lace, bespangled by the spray. We were felling +and slipping timber for the goldfields then, and it was in these +surroundings that the work was done. + +It was a Sunday morning, and I was lying on my back on a sack-stretcher +taking it easy, when Jock gave a growl and trotted out. Presently I +heard voices in the next hut and wondered who the visitors were--too +lazily content to get up and see; then a cold nose was poked against my +cheek and I looked round to see Jess's little eyes and flickering ears +within a few inches of my face. For the moment she did not look cross, +but as if a faint smile of welcome were flitting across a soured face; +then she trotted back to the other hut where Ted was patting Jock and +trying to trace a likeness to The Rat. + +It was a long time since mother and son had been together, and if the +difference between them was remarkable, the likeness seemed to me more +striking still. Jock had grown up by himself and made himself; he was +so different from other dogs that I had forgotten how much he owed to +good old Jess; but now that they were once more side by side everything +he did and had done recalled the likeness and yet showed the difference +between them. Many times as we moved about the camp or worked in the +woods they walked or stood together, sometimes sniffing along some spoor +and sometimes waiting and watching for us to come up--handsome son and +ugly mother. Ugly she might be, with her little fretful hostile eyes +and her uncertain ever-moving ears, and silent sour and cross; but +stubborn fidelity and reckless courage were hers too; and all the good +Jock had in him came from Jess. + +To see them side by side was enough: every line in his golden brindled +coat had its counterpart in her dull markings; his jaw was hers, with a +difference, every whit as determined but without the savage look; his +eyes were hers--brown to black as the moods changed--yet not fretful and +cross, but serenely observant, when quiet, and black, hot and angry, +like hers, when roused--yet without the look of relentless cruelty; his +ears were hers--and yet how different, not shifting, flickering and ever +on the move, nor flattened back with the look of most uncertain temper, +but sure in their movements and faithful reflectors of more sober moods +and more balanced temper, and so often cocked--one full and one half-- +with a look of genuinely friendly interest which, when he put his head +on one side, seemed to change in a curiously comical way into an +expression of quiet amusement. + +The work kept us close to camp and we gave no thought to shooting; yet +Jess and Jock had some good sport together. We gave them courses for +breathers after Oribi in the open, but these fleetest of little +antelopes left them out of sight in very few minutes. Bushbuck too were +plentiful enough, but so wily in keeping to the dark woods and deep +kloofs that unless we organised a drive the only chance one got was to +stalk them in the early morning as they fed on the fringes of the bush. +I often wondered how the dogs would have fared with those desperate +fighters that have injured and killed more dogs and more men than any +other buck, save perhaps the Sable. + +Once they caught an ant-bear in the open, and there was a +rough-and-tumble; we had no weapons--not even sticks--with us, and the +dogs had it all to themselves. The clumsy creature could do nothing +with them; his powerful digging claws looked dangerous, but the dogs +never gave him a chance; he tried hard to reach his hole, but they +caught him as he somersaulted to dodge them, and, one in front and one +behind, worried the life out of him. + +Once they killed a tiger-cat. We heard the rush and the row, and +scrambled down through the tangled woods as fast as we could, but they +fought on, tumbling and rolling downhill before us, and when we came up +to them it was all over and they were tugging and tearing at the +lifeless black and white body, Jess at the throat and Jock at the +stomach. The cat was as big as either of them and armed with most +formidable claws, which it had used to some purpose, for both dogs were +torn and bleeding freely in several places. Still they thoroughly +enjoyed it and searched the place afresh every time we passed it, as +regularly as a boy looks about where he once picked up a sixpence. + +Then the dainty little klipspringers led them many a crazy dance along +the crags and ledges of the mountain face, jumping from rock to rock +with the utmost ease and certainty and looking down with calm curiosity +at the clumsy scrambling dogs as they vainly tried to follow. The +dassies too--watchful, silent and rubber-footed--played hide-and-seek +with them in the cracks and crevices; but the dogs had no chance there. + +Often there were races after baboons. There were thousands of them +along the Berg, but except when a few were found in the open, we always +called the dogs in. Among a troop of baboons the best of dogs would +have no show at all. Ugly, savage and treacherous as they are, they +have at least one quality which compels admiration--they stand by each +other. If one is attacked or wounded the others will often turn back +and help, and they will literally tear a dog to pieces. Even against +one full-grown male a dog has little or no chance; for they are very +powerful, quick as lightning, and fierce fighters. Their enormous jaws +and teeth outmatch a dog's, and with four `hands' to help them the +advantage is altogether too great. Their method of fighting is to hold +the dog with all four feet and tear pieces out of him with their teeth. + +We knew the danger well, for there was a fighting baboon at a wayside +place not far from us--a savage brute, owned by a still greater savage. +It was kept chained up to a pole with its house on the top of the pole; +and what the owner considered to be a good joke was to entice dogs up, +either to attack the baboon or at least to come sniffing about within +reach of it, and then see them worried to death. The excuse was always +the same: "Your dog attacked the baboon. I can't help it." Sometimes +the dogs were rescued by their owners; but many were killed. To its +native cunning this brute added all the tricks that experience had +taught, sometimes hiding up in its box to induce the dog to come +sniffing close up; sometimes grubbing in the sand for food, pretending +not to see the intruder until he was well within reach; sometimes +running back in feigned alarm to draw him on. Once it got a grip the +baboon threw itself on its side or back and, with all four feet holding +the dog off, tore lumps out of the helpless animal. A plucky dog that +would try to make a fight of it had no chance; the only hope was to get +away, if possible. + +Not every baboon is a fighter like this, but in almost every troop there +will be at least one terrible old fellow, and the biggest, strongest and +fiercest always dominate and lead the others; and their hostility and +audacity are such that they will loiter behind the retreating troop and +face a man on foot or on horseback, slowly and reluctantly giving way, +or sometimes moving along abreast, a hostile escort, giving loud roars +of defiance and hoarse challenges as though ready on the least +provocation or excuse to charge. It is not a pleasant position for an +unarmed man, as at the first move or call from the leader the whole +troop would come charging down again. It is not actual danger that +impresses one, but the uncanny effect of the short defiant roars, the +savage half-human look of the repulsive creatures, their still more +human methods of facial expression and threatening attitudes, their +tactics in encircling their object and using cover to approach and peer +out cautiously from behind it, and their evident co-operation and +obedience to the leader's directions and example. + +One day while at work in the woods there came to us a grizzled +worn-looking old kaffir, whose head ring of polished black wax attested +his dignity as a kehla. He carried an old musket and was attended by +two youngsters armed with throwing-sticks and a hunting assegai each. +He appeared to be a `somebody' in a small way, and we knew at a glance +that he had not come for nothing. + +There is a certain courtesy and a good deal of formality observed among +the natives which is appreciated by but few of the white men who come in +contact with them. One reason for this failure in appreciation is that +native courtesy is in its method and expression sometimes just the +reverse of what we consider proper; and if actions which seem suggestive +of disrespect were judged from the native's standpoint, and according to +his code, there would be no misunderstanding. The old man, passing and +ignoring the group of boys, came towards us as we sat in the shade for +the midday rest, and slowly came to a stand a few yards off, leaning on +his long flint-lock quietly taking stock of us each in turn, and waiting +for us to inspect him. Then, after three or four minutes of this, he +proceeded to salute us separately with "Sakubona, Umlungu!" delivered +with measured deliberation at intervals of about a quarter of a minute, +each salutation being accompanied by the customary upward movement of +the head--their respectful equivalent of our nod or bow. When he had +done the round, his two attendants took their turns, and when this was +over, and another long pause had served to mark his respect, he drew +back a few paces to a spot about half-way between us and where the +kaffirs sat, and, tucking his loin skins comfortably under him, squatted +down. Ten minutes more elapsed before he allowed his eyes to wander +absently round towards the boys and finally to settle on them for a +repetition of the performance that we had been favoured with. But in +this case it was they who led off with the "Sakubona, Umganaam!" which +he acknowledged with the raising of the head and a soft murmur of +contented recognition, "A-he." + +Once more there was silence for a spell, while he waited to be +questioned in the customary manner and to give an account of himself, +before it would be courteous or proper to introduce the subject of his +visit. It was Jim's voice that broke the silence--clear and imperative, +as usual, but not uncivil. It always was Jim who cut in, as those do +who are naturally impatient of delays and formalities. + +"Velapi, Umganaam?" (Where do you come from, friend?) he asked, putting +the question which is recognised as courteously providing the stranger +with an opening to give an account of himself; and he is expected and +required to do so to their satisfaction before he in turn can ask all +about them, their occupations, homes, destination and master, and his +occupation, purpose and possessions. + +The talk went round in low exchanges until at last the old man moved +closer and joined the circle; and then the other voices dropped out, +only to be heard once in a while in some brief question or that briefest +of all comments--the kaffir click and "Ow!" It may mean anything, +according to the tone, but it was clearly sympathetic on that occasion. +The old man's voice went on monotonously in a low-pitched impassive +tone; but the boys hung intent on every word to the end. Then one or +two questions, briefly answered in the same tone of detached philosophic +indifference, brought their talk to a close. The old fellow tapped his +carved wood snuff-box with the carefully-preserved long yellowish nail +of one forefinger, and pouring some snuff into the palm of his hand, +drew it into each nostril in turn with long luxurious sniffs; and then, +resting his arms on his knees, he relapsed into complete silence. + +We called the boys to start work again, and they came away, as is their +custom, without a word or look towards the man whose story had held them +for the last half-hour. Nor did he speak or stir, but sat on unmoved, a +picture of stoical indifference. But who can say if it be indifference +or fatalism or the most astute diplomacy? Among white men opinions +differ: I put it down as fatalism. + +We asked no questions, for we knew it was no accident that had brought +the old man our way: he wanted something, and we would learn soon enough +what it was. So we waited. + +As we gathered round the fallen tree to finish the cleaning and slip it +down to the track Jim remarked irrelevantly that tigers were `schelms,' +and it was his conviction that there were a great many in the kloofs +round about. At intervals during the next hour or so he dropped other +scraps about tigers and their ways, and how to get at them and what good +sport it was, winding up with a short account of how two seasons back an +English `Capitaine' had been killed by one only a few miles away. + +Jim was no diplomatist: he had tiger on the brain, and showed it; so +when I asked him bluntly what the old man had been talking about, the +whole story came out. There was a tiger--it was of course the biggest +ever seen--which had been preying on the old chief's kraal for the last +six months: dogs, goats and kaffir sheep innumerable had disappeared, +even fowls were not despised; and only two days ago the climax had been +reached when, in the cool of the afternoon and in defiance of the +yelling herd boy, it had slipped into the herd at the drinking-place and +carried off a calf--a heifer-calf too! The old man was poor: the tiger +had nearly ruined him; and he had come up to see if we, "who were great +hunters," would come down and kill the thief, or at least lend him a +tiger-trap, as he could not afford to buy one. + +In the evening when we returned to camp we found the old fellow there, +and heard the story told with the same patient resignation or stoical +indifference with which he had told it to the boys; and, if there was +something inscrutable in the smoky eyes that might have hidden a more +calculating spirit, it did not trouble us--the tiger was what we wanted; +the chance seemed good enough; and we decided to go. Tigers--as they +are almost invariably called, but properly, leopards--were plentiful +enough and were often to be heard at night in the kloofs below; but they +are extremely wary animals and in the inhabited parts rarely move about +by day; however, the marauding habits and the audacity of this fellow +were full of promise. + +The following afternoon we set off with our guns and blankets, a little +food for two days, and the tiger-trap; and by nightfall we had reached +the foot of the Berg by paths and ways which you might think only a +baboon could follow. + +It was moonlight, and we moved along through the heavily-timbered kloofs +in single file behind the shadowy figure of the shrivelled old chief. +His years seemed no handicap to him, as with long easy soft-footed +strides he went on hour after hour. The air was delightfully cool and +sweet with the fresh smells of the woods; the damp carpet of moss and +dead leaves dulled the sound of our more blundering steps; now and again +through the thick canopy of evergreens we caught glimpses of the moon, +and in odd places the light threw stumps or rocks into quaint relief or +turned some tall bare trunk into a ghostly sentinel of the forest. + +We had crossed the last of the many mountain streams and reached open +ground when the old chief stopped, and pointing to the face of a high +krans--black and threatening in the shadow, as it seemed to overhang +us--said that somewhere up there was a cave which was the tiger's home, +and it was from this safe refuge that he raided the countryside. + +The kraal was not far off. From the top of the spur we could look +round, as from the pit of some vast coliseum, and see the huge wall of +the Berg towering up above and half enclosing us, the whole arena roofed +over by the star-spattered sky. The brilliant moonlight picked out +every ridge and hill, deepening the velvet black of the shadowed +valleys, and on the rise before us there was the twinkling light of a +small fire, and the sound of voices came to us, borne on the still night +air, so clearly that words picked out here and there were repeated by +our boys with grunting comments and chuckles of amusement. + +We started on again down an easy slope passing through some bush, and at +the bottom came on level ground thinly covered with big shady trees and +scattered undergrowth. As we walked briskly through the flecked and +dappled light and shade, we were startled by the sudden and furious rush +of Jess and Jock off the path and away into the scrub on the left; and +immediately after there was a grunting noise, a crashing and scrambling, +and then one sharp clear yelp of pain from one of the dogs. The old +chief ran back behind us, shouting "Ingwa, ingwa!" (Tiger, tiger). We +slipped our rifles round and stood facing front, unable to see anything +and not knowing what to expect. There were sounds of some sort in the +bush--something like a faint scratching, and something like smothered +sobbing grunts, but so indistinct as to be more ominous and disquieting +than absolute silence. + +"He has killed the dogs," the old chief said, in a low voice. + +But as he said it there was a rustle in front, and something came out +towards us. The guns were up and levelled, instantly, but dropped again +when we saw it was a dog; and Jess came back limping badly and stopping +every few paces to shake her head and rub her mouth against her +fore-paws. She was in great pain and breathed out faint barely-audible +whines from time to time. + +We waited for minutes, but Jock did not appear; and as the curious +sounds still came from the bush we moved forward in open order, very +slowly and with infinite caution. As we got closer, scouting each bush +and open space, the sounds grew clearer, and suddenly it came to me that +it was the noise of a body being dragged and the grunting breathing of a +dog. I called sharply to Jock and the sound stopped; and taking a few +paces forward then, I saw him in a moonlit space turning round and round +on the pivot of his hind legs and swinging or dragging something much +bigger than himself. + +Jim gave a yell and shot past me, plunging his assegai into the object +and shouting "Porcupine, porcupine," at the top of his voice. We were +all round it in a couple of seconds, but I think the porcupine was as +good as dead even before Jim had stabbed it. Jock was still holding on +grimly, tugging with all his might and always with the same movement of +swinging it round him, or, of himself circling round it--perhaps that is +the fairer description, for the porcupine was much the heavier. He had +it by the throat where the flesh is bare of quills, and had kept himself +out of reach of the terrible spikes by pulling away all the time, just +as he had done with the duiker and other buck to avoid their hind feet. + +This encounter with the porcupine gave us a better chance of getting the +tiger than we ever expected--too good a chance to be neglected; so we +cut the animal up and used the worthless parts to bait the big +tiger-trap, having first dragged them across the veld for a good +distance each way to leave a blood spoor which would lead the tiger up +to the trap. This, with the quantity of blood spread about in the +fight, lying right in the track of his usual prowling ought to attract +his attention, we thought; and we fastened the trap to a big tree, +making an avenue of bushes up to the bait so that he would have to walk +right over the trap hidden under the dead leaves, in order to get at the +bait. We hoped that, if it failed to hold, it would at least wound him +badly enough to enable us to follow him up in the morning. + +In the bright light of the fire that night, as Jock lay beside me having +his share of the porcupine steaks, I noticed something curious about his +chest, and on looking closer found the whole of his white `shirt front' +speckled with dots of blood; he had been pricked in dozens of places, +and it was clear that it had been no walk-over for him; he must have had +a pretty rough handling before he got the porcupine on the swing. He +was none the worse, however, and was the picture of contentment as he +lay beside me in the ring facing the fire. + +But Jess was a puzzle. From the time that she had come hobbling back to +us, carrying her one foot in the air and stopping to rub her mouth on +her paws, we had been trying to find out what was the matter. The foot +trouble was clear enough, for there was a quill fifteen inches long and +as stiff and thick as a lead pencil still piercing the ball of her foot, +with the needle-like point sticking out between her toes. Fortunately +it had not been driven far through and the hole was small, so that once +it was drawn and the foot bandaged she got along fairly well. It was +not the foot that was troubling her; all through the evening she kept +repeating the movement of her head, either rubbing it on her front legs +or wiping her muzzle with the paws, much as a cat does when washing its +face. She would not touch food and could not lie still for five +minutes; and we could do nothing to help her. + + +CHAPTER SIXTEEN. + +THE TIGER AND BABOONS. + +No one had doubted Jess's courage, even when we saw her come back alone: +we knew there was something wrong, but in spite of every care and effort +we could not find out what it was, and poor old Jess went through the +night in suffering, making no sound, but moving from place to place +weary and restless, giving long tired quivering sighs, and pawing at her +mouth from time to time. In the morning light we again looked her all +over carefully, and especially opened her mouth and examined that and +her nostrils, but could find nothing to show what was wrong. + +The puzzle was solved by accident: Ted was sitting on the ground when +she came up to him, looking wistfully into his face again with one of +the mute appeals for help. + +"What is it, Jess, old girl?" he said, and reaching out, he caught her +head in both hands and drew her towards him; but with a sharp +exclamation he instantly let go again, pricked by something, and a drop +of blood oozed from one finger-tip. Under Jess's right ear there was a +hard sharp point just showing through the skin: we all felt it, and when +the skin was forced back we saw it was the tip of a porcupine quill. +There was no pulling it out or moving it, however, nor could we for a +long time find where it had entered. At last Ted noticed what looked +like a tiny narrow strip of bark adhering to the outside of her lower +lip, and this turned out to be the broken end of the quill, snapped off +close to the flesh; not even the end of the quill was visible--only the +little strip that had peeled off in the breaking. + +Poor old Jess! We had no very grand appliances for surgery, and had to +slit her lip down with an ordinary skinning knife. Ted held her between +his knees and gripped her head with both hands, while one of us pulled +with steel pliers on the broken quill until it came out. The quill had +pierced her lower lip, entered the gums beside the front teeth, run all +along the jaw and through the flesh behind, coming out just below the +ear. It was over seven inches long. She struggled a little under the +rough treatment, and there was a protesting whimper when we tugged; but +she did not let out one cry under all the pain. + +We knew then that Jess had done her share in the fight, and guessed that +it was she who in her reckless charge had rolled the porcupine over and +given Jock his chance. + +The doctoring of Jess had delayed us considerably, and while we were +still busy at it the old chief came up to say that his scouts had +returned and reported that there was no tiger to be seen, but that they +thought the trap had been sprung. They had not liked to go close up, +preferring to observe the spot from a tree some way off. + +The first question was what to do with Jess. We had no collar or chain, +of course, and nothing would induce her to stay behind once Ted started; +she would have bitten through ropes and reims in a few minutes, and no +kaffir would have faced the job of watching over and checking her. +Finally we put her into one of the reed and mud huts, closing the +entrance with some raw hides weighted with heavy stones; and off we +went. + +We found the trap sprung and the bait untouched. The spoor was a +tiger's, right enough, and we saw where it had circled suspiciously all +round before finally entering the little fenced approach which we had +built to shepherd it on to the trap. There each footprint was clear, +and it appeared that instead of cautiously creeping right up to the bait +and stepping on the setting-plate, it had made a pounce at the bait from +about ten feet away, releasing the trap by knocking the spring or by +touching the plate with the barrel of its body. The tiger had evidently +been nipped, but the body was too big for the teeth to close on, and no +doubt the spring it gave on feeling the grip underneath set it free with +nothing worse than a bad scraping and a tremendous fright. There was +plenty of hair and some skin on the teeth of the trap, but very little +blood there, and none at all to be found round about. + +That was almost the worst result we could have had: the tiger was not +crippled, nor was it wounded enough to enable us to track it, but must +have been so thoroughly alarmed that it would certainly be extremely +nervous and suspicious of everything now, and would probably avoid the +neighbourhood for some time to come. + +The trap was clearly of no further use, but after coming so far for the +tiger we were not disposed to give up the hunt without another effort. +The natives told us it was quite useless to follow it up as it was a +real `schelm,' and by that time would be miles away in some inaccessible +krans. We determined however to go on, and if we failed to get a trace +of the tiger, to put in the day hunting bushbuck or wild pig, both of +which were fairly plentiful. + +We had not gone more than a few hundred yards when an exclamation from +one of the boys made us look round, and we saw Jess on the opposite +slope coming along full speed after us with her nose to the trail. She +had scratched and bitten her way through the reed and mud wall of the +hut, scared the wits out of a couple of boys who had tried to head her +off, and raced away after us with a pack of kaffir mongrels yelping +unnoticed at her heels. She really did not seem much the worse for her +wounds, and was--for her--quite demonstrative in her delight at finding +us again. + +In any case there was nothing to be done but to let her come, and we +went on once more beating up towards the lair in the black krans with +the two dogs in the lead. + +The guides led us down into the bed of one of the mountain streams, and +following this up we were soon in the woods where the big trees meeting +overhead made it dark and cool. It was difficult in that light to see +anything clearly at first, and the considerable undergrowth of shrub and +creepers and the boulders shed from the Berg added to the difficulty and +made progress slow. We moved along as much as possible abreast, five or +six yards apart, but were often driven by obstacles into the bed of the +stream for short distances in order to make headway at all, and although +there did not seem to be much chance of finding the tiger at home, we +crept along cautiously and noiselessly, talking--when we had to--only in +whispers. + +We were bunched together, preparing to crawl along a rock overhanging a +little pool, when the boy in front made a sign and pointed with his +assegai to the dogs. They had crossed the stream and were walking--very +slowly and abreast--near the water's edge. The rawest of beginners +would have needed no explanation. The two stood for a few seconds +sniffing at a particular spot and then both together looked steadily +upstream: there was another pause and they moved very slowly and +carefully forward a yard or so and sniffed again with their noses almost +touching. As they did this the hair on their backs and shoulders began +to rise until, as they reached the head of the pool, they were bristling +like hedgehogs and giving little purring growls. + +The guide went over to them while we waited, afraid to move lest the +noise of our boots on the stones should betray us. After looking round +for a bit he pointed to a spot on the bank where he had found the fresh +spoor of the tiger, and picking up something there to show to us he came +back to our side. It was a little fragment of whitish skin with white +hairs on it. There was no doubt about it then: we were on the fresh +spoor of the tiger where it had stopped to drink at the pool and +probably to lick the scratches made by the trap; and leaving the bed of +the stream it had gone through the thick undergrowth up towards the +krans. + +We were not more than a hundred yards from the krans then, and the track +taken by the tiger was not at all an inviting one. It was at first +merely a narrow tunnel in the undergrowth up the steep hillside, through +which we crept in single file with the two dogs a few yards in front; +they moved on in the same silent deliberate way, so intent and strung up +that they started slightly and instantly looked up in front at the least +sound. As the ascent became steeper and more rocky, the undergrowth +thinned and we were able to spread out into line once more, threading +our way through several roughly-parallel game tracks or natural openings +and stooping low to watch the dogs and take our cue from them. + +We were about fifteen yards from the precipitous face of the krans, and +had just worked round a huge boulder into a space fairly free of bush +but cumbered with many big rocks and loose stones, when the dogs stopped +and stood quivering and bristling all over, moving their heads slowly +about with noses well raised and sniffing persistently. There was +something now that interested them more than the spoor: they winded the +tiger itself, but could not tell where. No one stirred: we stood +watching the dogs and snatching glances right and left among the +boulders and their a shady creeper-hidden caves and recesses, and as we +stood thus, grouped together in breathless silence, an electrifying +snarling roar came from the krans above and the spotted body of the +tiger shot like a streak out of the black mouth of a cave and across our +front into the bush; there was a series of crashing bounds, as though a +stone rolled from the mountain were leaping through the jungle; and then +absolute silence. + +We explored the den; but there was nothing of interest in it--no remains +of food, no old bones, or other signs of cubs. It seemed to be the +retreat of a male tiger--secluded, quiet, and cool. The opening was not +visible from any distance, a split-off slab of rock partly hiding it; +but when we stood upon the rock platform we found that almost the whole +of the horse-shoe bay in the Berg into which we had descended was +visible, and it was with a "Wow!" of surprise and mortification that the +kraal boys found they could see the kraal itself and their goats and +cattle grazing on the slopes and in the valley below. + +Tigers do not take their kill to their dens unless there are young cubs +to be fed; as a rule they feed where they kill, or as near to it as +safety permits, and when they have fed their fill they carry off the +remainder of the carcase and hide it. Lions, hyenas, and others leave +what they cannot eat and return to it for their next feed; but tigers +are more provident and more cunning, and--being able to climb trees-- +they are very much more difficult to follow or waylay by means of their +kill. They are not big fellows, rarely exceeding seven feet from nose +to tip of tail and 130 pounds in weight; but they are extraordinarily +active and strong, and it is difficult to believe until one has seen the +proof of it that they are able to climb the bare trunk of a tree +carrying a kill much bigger and heavier than themselves, and hang it +safely wedged in some hidden fork out of reach of any other animal. I +have repeatedly seen the remains of their victims in the forks of trees; +once it was part of a pig, but on the other occasions the remains were +of horned animals; the pig was balanced in the fork; the others were +hooked in by the heads and horns. + +A well-known hunter once told me an experience of his illustrating the +strength and habits of tigers. He had shot a young giraffe and carried +off as much as he could put on his horse, and hid the rest; but when he +returned next morning it had disappeared, and the spoor of a full-grown +tiger told him why. He followed the drag mark up to the foot of a big +tree and found the remains of the carcase, fully 300 pounds in weight, +in a fork more than twenty feet from the ground. + +He left it there as a bait and returned again the following morning on +the chance of a shot; but the meat had once more been removed and on +following up the spoor he found what was left hidden in another tree +some two hundred yards away. + +It would have been waste of time to follow our tiger--he would be on the +watch and on the move for hours; so we gave it up at once, and struck +across the spurs for another part of the big arena where pig and +bushbuck were known to feed in the mornings. It was slow and difficult +work, as the bush was very dense and the ground rough. The place was +riddled with game tracks, and we saw spoor of koodoo and eland several +times, and tracks innumerable of wild pig, rietbuck, bushbuck, and +duiker. But there was more than spoor: a dozen times we heard the crash +of startled animals through the reeds or bush only a few yards away +without being able to see a thing. + +We had nearly reached the kloof we were aiming for when we had the good +luck to get a bushbuck in a very unexpected way. We had worked our way +out of a particularly dense patch of bush and brambles into a corner of +the woods and were resting on the mossy ground in the shade of the big +trees when the sound of clattering stones a good way off made us start +up again and grab our rifles; and presently we saw, outlined against the +band of light which marked the edge of the timber, a buck charging down +towards us. Three of us fired together, and the buck rolled over within +a few yards of where we stood. + +We were then in a `dead end' up against the precipitous face of the Berg +where there was no road or path other than game tracks, and where no +human being ever went except for the purpose of hunting. We knew there +was no one else shooting there, and it puzzled us considerably to think +what had scared the bushbuck; for the animal had certainly been startled +and perhaps chased; the pace, the noise it made, and the blind +recklessness of its dash, all showed that. The only explanation we +could think of was that the tiger, in making a circuit along the slopes +of the Berg to get away from us, must have put the buck up and driven it +down on to us in the woods below, and if that were so, the reports of +our rifles must have made him think that he was never going to get rid +of us. + +We skinned and cut up the buck and pushed on again; but the roughness of +the trail and the various stoppages had delayed us greatly, and we +failed to get the expected bag. We got one rietbuck and a young boar; +the rietbuck was a dead shot; but the pig, from the shooting standpoint, +was a most humiliating failure. A troop of twenty or thirty started up +from under our feet as we came out of the blazing sunlight into the +gloom of the woods, and no one could see well enough to aim. They were +led by a grand boar, and the whole lot looked like a troop of charging +lions as they raced by with their bristly manes erect and their tufted +tails standing straight up. + +As we stood there, crestfallen and disgusted, we heard fresh grunting +behind, and turning round we saw one pig racing past in the open, having +apparently missed the troop while wallowing in a mudhole and known +nothing of our intrusion until he heard the shooting. We gave him a +regular broadside, and--as is usually the case when you think that +quantity will do in place of quality--made an awful mess of it, and +before we had time to reload Jess and Jock had cut in, and we could not +fire again for fear of hitting them. The boys, wildly delighted by this +irregular development which gave them such a chance, joined in the chase +and in a few seconds it became a chaotic romp like a rat hunt in a +schoolroom. The dogs ranged up on each side and were on to the pig +together, Jess hanging on to one ear and Jock at the neck; the boar dug +right and left at them, but his tusks were short and blunt, and if he +managed to get at them at all they bore no mark of it afterwards. For +about twenty yards they dragged and tugged, and then all three came +somersaulting over together. In the scramble Jock got his grip on the +throat, and Jess--rolled and trampled on--appeared between the pig's +hind legs, sliding on her back with her teeth embedded in one of the +hams. For half a minute the boar, grunting and snorting, plunged about +madly, trying to get at them or to free himself; and then the boys +caught up and riddled him with their assegais. + +After the two bombardments of the pigs and the fearful row made by the +boys there was not much chance of putting up anything more, and we made +for the nearest stream in the woods for a feed and a rest before +returning to camp. + +We had failed to get the tiger, it is true, and it would be useless +giving more time or further thought to him, for in all probability it +would be a week or more before he returned to his old hunting-ground and +his old marauding tricks, but the porcupine and the pig had provided +more interest and amusement than much bigger game might have done, and +on the whole, although disappointed, we were not dissatisfied: in fact, +it would have needed an ungrateful spirit indeed to feel discontented in +such surroundings. + +Big trees of many kinds and shapes united to make a canopy of leaves +overhead through which only occasional shafts of sunlight struck. The +cold mountain stream tumbling over ledges, swirling among rocks or +rippling over pebble-strewn reaches, gurgled, splashed and bubbled with +that wonderful medley of sounds that go to make the lullaby of the +brook. The floor of the forest was carpeted with a pile of staghorn +moss a foot thick, and maidenhair fern grew everywhere with the +luxuriant profusion of weeds in a tropical garden. Traveller's Joy +covered whole trees with dense creamy bloom and spread its fragrance +everywhere; wild clematis trailed over stumps and fallen branches; +quantities of maidenhair overflowed the banks and drooped to the water +all along the course of the stream; whilst, marshalled on either side, +huddled together on little islands, perched on rocks, and grouped on +overhanging ledges, stood the tree-ferns--as though they had come to +drink--their wide-reaching delicate fronds like giant green +ostrich-feathers waving gently to each breath of air or quivering as the +movement of the water shook the trunks. + +Long-tailed greeny-grey monkeys with black faces peered down at us, +moving lightly on their branch trapezes, and pulled faces or chattered +their indignant protest against intrusion; in the tops of the wild fig +trees bright green pigeons watched us shyly--great big birds of a +wonderful green; gorgeous louries too flashed their colours and raised +their crests--pictures of extreme and comical surprise; golden cuckoos +there were also and beautiful little green-backed ruby-throated +honey-suckers, flitted like butterflies among the flowers on the sunlit +fringe of the woods. + +Now and again guinea-fowl and bush-pheasant craned their necks over some +fallen log or stone to peer curiously at us, then stooping low again +darted along their well-worn runs into the thick bush. The place was in +fact a natural preserve; a `bay' let into the wall of the Berg, +half-encircled by cliffs which nothing could climb, a little world where +the common enemy--man--seldom indeed intruded. + +We stayed there until the afternoon sun had passed behind the crest of +the Berg above us; and, instead of going back the way we came, skirted +along the other arm enclosing the bay to have the cool shade of the +mountain with us on our return journey. But the way was rough; the +jungle was dense; we were hot and torn and tired; and the shadow of the +mountain stretched far out across the foothills by the time the corner +was reached. We sat down to rest at last in the open on the long spur +on which, a couple of miles away, the slanting sun picked out the red +and black cattle, the white goats, and the brown huts of the kaffir +kraal. + +Our route lay along the side of the spur, skirting the rocky backbone +and winding between occasional boulders, clumps of trees and bush, and +we had moved on only a little way when a loud "Waugh" from a baboon on +the mountain behind made us stop to look back. The hoarse shout was +repeated several times, and each time more loudly and emphatically; it +seemed like the warning call of a sentry who had seen us. Moved by +curiosity we turned aside on to the ridge itself, and from the top of a +big rock scanned the almost precipitous face opposite. The spur on +which we stood was divided from the Berg itself only by a deep but +narrow kloof or ravine, and every detail of the mountain side stood out +in the clear evening air, but against the many-coloured rocks the grey +figure of a baboon was not easy to find as long as it remained still, +and although from time to time the barking roar was repeated, we were +still scanning the opposite hill when one of the boys pointed down the +slope immediately below us and called out, "There, there, Baas!" + +The troop of baboons had evidently been quite close to us--hidden from +us only by the little line of rocks--and on getting warning from their +sentry on the mountain had stolen quietly away and were then +disappearing into the timbered depth of the ravine. We sat still to +watch them come out on the opposite side a few minutes later and clamber +up the rocky face, for they are always worth watching; but while we +watched, the stillness was broken by an agonised scream--horribly human +in its expression of terror--followed by roars, barks, bellows and +screams from scores of voices in every key; and the crackle of breaking +sticks and the rattle of stones added to the medley of sound as the +baboons raced out of the wood and up the bare rocky slope. + +"What is it?" + +"What's the matter?" + +"There's something after them." + +"Look, look! there they come:" burst from one and another of us as we +watched the extraordinary scene. The cries from below seemed to waken +the whole mountain; great booming "waughs" came from different places +far apart and ever so high up the face of the Berg; each big roar seemed +to act like a trumpet-call and bring forth a multitude of others; and +the air rang with bewildering shouts and echoes volleying round the +kloofs and faces of the Berg. The strange thing was that the baboons +did not continue their terrified scramble up the mountain, but, once out +of the bush, they turned and rallied. Forming an irregular semicircle +they faced down hill, thrusting their heads forward with sudden jerks as +though to launch their cries with greater vehemence, and feinting to +charge; they showered loose earth, stones and debris of all sorts down +with awkward underhand scrapes of their fore-paws, and gradually but +surely descended to within a dozen yards of the bush's edge. + +"Baas, Baas, the tiger! Look, the tiger! There, there on the rock +below!" + +Jim shot the words out in vehement gusts, choky with excitement; and +true enough, there the tiger was. The long spotted body was crouched on +a flat rock just below the baboons; he was broadside to us, with his +fore-quarters slightly raised and his face turned towards the baboons; +with wide-opened mouth he snarled savagely at the advancing line, and +with right paw raised made threatening dabs in their direction. His +left paw pinned down the body of a baboon. + +The voices from the mountain boomed louder and nearer as, clattering and +scrambling down the face, came more and more baboons: there must have +been hundreds of them; the semicircle grew thicker and blacker, more and +more threatening, foot by foot closer. The tiger raised himself a +little more and took swift looks from side to side across the advancing +front, and then his nerve went, and with one spring he shot from the +rock into the bush. + +There was an instant forward rush of the half-moon, and the rock was +covered with roaring baboons, swarming over their rescued comrade; and a +moment later the crowd scrambled up the slope again, taking the tiger's +victim with them. In that seething rabble I could pick out nothing, but +all the kaffirs maintained they could see the mauled one dragged along +by its arms by two others, much as a child might be helped uphill. + +We were still looking excitedly about--trying to make out what the +baboons were doing, watching the others still coming down the Berg, and +peering anxiously for a sight of the tiger--when once more Jim's voice +gave us a shock. + +"Where are the dogs?" he asked; and the question turned us cold. If +they had gone after the baboons they were as good as dead already-- +nothing could save them. Calling was useless: nothing could be heard in +the roar and din that the enraged animals still kept up. We watched the +other side of the ravine with something more than anxiety, and when +Jock's reddish-looking form broke through the bracken near to the +tiger's rock, I felt like shutting my eyes till all was over. We saw +him move close under the rock and then disappear. We watched for some +seconds--it may have been a minute, but it seemed an eternity--and then, +feeling the utter futility of waiting there, jumped off the rock and ran +down the slope in the hope that the dogs would hear us call from there. + +From where the slope was steepest we looked down into the bed of the +stream at the bottom of the ravine, and the two dogs were there: they +were moving cautiously down the wide stony watercourse just as we had +seen them move in the morning, their noses thrown up and heads turning +slowly from side to side. We knew what was coming; there was no time to +reach them through the bush below; the cries of the baboons made calling +useless; and the three of us sat down with rifles levelled ready to fire +at the first sight. With gun gripped and breath hard held, watching +intently every bush and tree and rock, every spot of light and shade, we +sat--not daring to move. Then, over the edge of a big rock overlooking +the two dogs, appeared something round; and, smoothly yet swiftly and +with a snake-like movement, the long spotted body followed the head and, +flattened against the rock, crept stealthily forward until the tiger +looked straight down upon Jess and Jock. + +The three rifles cracked like one, and with a howl of rage and pain the +tiger shot out over the dogs' heads, raced along the stony bed, and +suddenly plunging its nose into the ground, pitched over--dead. + +It was shot through the heart, and down the ribs on each side were the +scraped marks of the trap. + + +CHAPTER SEVENTEEN. + +BUFFALO BUSHFIRE AND WILD DOGS. + +The summer slipped away--the full-pulsed ripeness; of the year; beauty +and passion; sunshine and storm; long spells of peace and gentleness, of +springing life and radiant glory; short intervals of reckless tempest +and destructive storm! Among the massed evergreens of the woods there +stood out here and there bright spots of colour, the careless dabs from +Nature's artist hand; yellow and brown, orange and crimson, all vividly +distinct, yet all in perfect harmony. The rivers, fed from the +replenished mountains' stores, ran full but clear; the days were bright; +the nights were cold; the grass was rank and seeding; and it was time to +go. + +Once more the Bushveld beckoned us away. + +We picked a spot where grass and water were good, and waited for the +rivers to fall; and it was while loitering there that a small hunting +party from the fields making for the Sabi came across us and camped for +the night. In the morning two of our party joined them for a few days +to try for something big. + +It was too early in the season for really good sport. The rank tropical +grass--six to eight feet high in most places, twelve to fourteen in +some--was too green to burn yet, and the stout stems and heavy seed +heads made walking as difficult as in a field of tangled sugar cane; for +long stretches it was not possible to see five yards, and the dew in the +early mornings was so heavy that after a hundred yards of such going one +was drenched to the skin. + +We were forced into the more open parts--the higher, stonier, more +barren ground where just then the bigger game was by no means plentiful. + +On the third day two of us started out to try a new quarter in the hilly +country rising towards the Berg. My companion, Francis, was an +experienced hunter and his idea was that we should find the big game, +not on the hot humid flats or the stony rises, but still higher up on +the breezy hill tops or in the cool shady kloofs running towards the +mountains. We passed a quantity of smaller game that morning, and +several times heard the stampede of big animals--wildebeeste and +waterbuck, as we found by the spoor--but it was absolutely impossible to +see them. The dew was so heavy that even our hats were soaking wet, and +times out of number we had to stop to wipe the water out of our eyes in +order to see our way; a complete ducking would not have made the least +difference. + +Jock fared better than we did, finding openings and game tracks at his +own level, which were of no use to us; he also knew better than we did +what was going on ahead, and it was tantalising in the extreme to see +him slow down and stand with his nose thrown up, giving quick soft +sniffs and ranging his head from side to side, when he knew there was +something quite close, and knew too that a few more toiling steps in +that rank grass would be followed by a rush of something which we would +never see. + +Once we heard a foot stamp not twenty yards off, and stood for a couple +of minutes on tip-toe trying to pierce the screen of grass in front, +absolutely certain that eyes and ears were turned on us in death-like +silence waiting for the last little proof of the intruder that would +satisfy their owners and start them off before we could get a glimpse. +The silence must have made them suspicious, for at some signal unknown +to us the troop broke away and we had the mortification to see +something, which we had ignored as a branch, tilt slowly back and +disappear: there was no mistaking the koodoo bull's horns once they +moved! + +After two hours of this we struck a stream, and there we made somewhat +better pace and less noise, often taking to the bed of the creek for +easier going. There, too, we found plenty of drinking-places and plenty +of fresh spoor of the bigger game, and as the hills began to rise in +view above the bush and trees, we found what Francis was looking for. +Something caught his eye on the far side of the stream, and he waded in. +I followed and when half-way through; saw the contented look on his +face and caught his words: "Buffalo! I thought so!" + +We sat down then to think it out. The spoor told of a troop of a dozen +to sixteen animals--bulls, cows, and calves; and it was that morning's +spoor: even in the soft moist ground at the stream's edge the water had +not yet oozed into most of the prints. Fortunately there was a light +breeze from the hills, and as it seemed probable that in any case they +would make that way for the hot part of the day we decided to follow for +some distance on the track and then make for the likeliest poort in the +hills. + +The buffalo had come up from the low country in the night on a course +striking the creek diagonally in the drinking-place; their departing +spoor went off at a slight tangent from the stream--the two trails +making a very wide angle at the drinking-place and confirming the idea +that after their night's feed in the rich grass lower down they were +making for the hills again in the morning and had touched at the stream +to drink. + +Jock seemed to gather from our whispered conversation and silent +movements that there was work to hand, and his eyes moved from one face +to the other as we talked, much as a child watches the faces in a +conversation it cannot quite follow. When we got up and began to move +along the trail, he gave one of his little sideways bounds, as if he +half thought of throwing a somersault and restrained himself; and then +with several approving waggings of his tail settled down at once to +business. + +Jock went in front: it was best so, and quite safe, for, whilst certain +to spot anything long before we could, there was not the least risk of +his rushing it or making any noise. The slightest whisper of a "Hst" +from me would have brought him to a breathless standstill at any moment; +but even this was not likely to be needed, for he kept as close a watch +on my face as I did on him. + +There was, of course, no difficulty whatever in following the spoor; the +animals were as big as cattle, and their trail through the rank grass +was as plain as a road: our difficulty was to get near enough to see +them without being heard. Under the down-trodden grass there were +plenty of dry sticks to step on, any of which would have been as fatal +to our chances as a pistol shot, and even the unavoidable rustle of the +grass might betray, us while the buffalo themselves remained hidden. +Thus our progress was very slow, a particularly troublesome impediment +being the grass stems thrown down across the trail by the animals +crossing and re-crossing each others' spoor and stopping to crop a +mouthful here and there or perhaps to play. The tambookie grass in +these parts has a stem thicker than a lead pencil, more like young +bamboo than grass; and these stems thrown cross-ways by storms or game +make an entanglement through which the foot cannot be forced: it means +high stepping all the time. + +We expected to follow the spoor for several miles before coming on the +buffalo--probably right into the kloof towards which it appeared to +lead--but were, nevertheless, quite prepared to drop on to them at any +moment, knowing well how game will loiter on their way when undisturbed +and vary their time and course, instinctively avoiding the too regular +habits which would make them an easy prey. + +Jock moved steadily along the trodden track, sliding easily through the +grass or jumping softly and noiselessly over impediments, and we +followed, looking ahead as far as the winding course of the trail +permitted. + +To right and left of us stood the screen of tall grass, bush and trees. +Once Jock stopped, throwing up his nose, and stood for some seconds +while we held our breath; but having satisfied himself that there was +nothing of immediate consequence, he moved on again--rather more slowly, +as it appeared to us. I looked at Francis's face; it was pale and set +like marble, and his watchful grey eyes were large and wide like an +antelope's, as though opened out to take in everything; and those +moments of intense interest and expectation were the best part of a +memorable day. + +There was something near: we felt it! Jock was going more carefully +than ever, with his head up most of the time; and the feeling of +expectation grew stronger and stronger until it amounted to absolute +certainty. Then Jock stopped, stopped in mid-stride, not with his nose +up ranging for scent, but with head erect, ears cocked, and tail +poised--dead still: he was looking at something. + +We had reached the end of the grass where the bush and trees of the +mountain slope had choked it out, and before us there was fairly thick +bush mottled with black shadows and patches of bright sunlight in which +it was most difficult to see anything. There we stood like statues, the +dog in front with the two men abreast behind him, and all peering +intently. Twice Jock slowly turned his head and looked into my eyes, +and I felt keenly the sense of hopeless inferiority. "There it is, what +are you going to do?" was what the first look seemed to say; and the +second: "Well, what are you waiting for?" + +How long we stood thus it is, not possible to say: time is no measure of +such things, and to me it seemed unending suspense; but we stood our +ground scarcely breathing, knowing that something was there, because he +saw it and told us so, and knowing that as soon as we moved it would be +gone. Then close to the ground there was a movement--something swung, +and the full picture flashed upon us. It was a buffalo calf standing in +the shade of a big bush with its back towards us, and it was the +swishing of the tail that had betrayed it. We dared not breathe a word +or pass a look--a face turned might have caught some glint of light and +shown us up; so we stood like statues each knowing that the other was +looking for the herd and would fire when he got a chance at one of the +full-grown animals. + +My eyes were strained and burning from the intensity of the effort to +see; but except the calf I could not make out a living thing: the glare +of the yellow grass in which we stood, and the sun-splotched darkness +beyond it beat me. + +At last, in the corner of my eye, I saw Francis's rifle rise, as +slowly--almost--as the mercury in a warmed thermometer. There was a +long pause, and then came the shot and wild snorts of alarm and rage. A +dozen huge black forms started into life for a second and as quickly +vanished--scattering and crashing through the jungle. The first clear +impression was that of Jock, who after one swift run forward for a few +yards stood ready to spring off in pursuit, looking back at me and +waiting for the word to go; but at the sign of my raised hand, opened +with palm towards him, he subsided slowly and lay down flat with his +head resting on his paws. + +"Did you see?" asked Francis. "Not till you fired. I heard it strike. +What was it?" + +"Hanged if I know! I heard it too. It was one of the big uns; but bull +or cow I don't know." + +"Where did you get it?" + +"Well, I couldn't make out more than a black patch in the bush. It +moved once, but I couldn't see how it was standing--end on or across. +It may be hit anywhere. I took for the middle of the patch and let +drive. Bit risky, eh?" + +"Seems like taking chances." + +"Well, it was no use waiting: we came for this!" and then he added with +a careless laugh, "They always clear from the first shot if you get 'em +at close quarters, but the fun'll begin now. Expect he'll lay for us in +the track somewhere." + +That is the way of the wounded buffalo--we all knew that; and old +Rocky's advice came to mind with a good deal of point: "Keep cool and +shoot straight--or stay right home;" and Jock's expectant watchful look +smote me with another memory--"It was my dawg!" + +A few yards from where the buffalo had stood we picked up the blood +spoor. There was not very much of it, but we saw from the marks on the +bushes here and there, and more distinctly on some grass further on, +that the wound was pretty high up and on the right side. Crossing a +small stretch of more open bush we reached the dense growth along the +banks of the stream, and as this continued up into the kloof it was +clear we had a tough job before us. + +Animals when badly wounded nearly always leave the herd, and very often +go down wind so as to be able to scent and avoid their pursuers. This +fellow had followed the herd up wind, and that rather puzzled us. + +A wounded buffalo in thick bush is considered to be about as nasty a +customer as any one may desire to tackle; for, its vindictive +indomitable courage and extraordinary cunning are a very formidable +combination, as a long list of fatalities bears witness. Its favourite +device--so old hunters will tell you--is to make off down wind when hit, +and after going for some distance, come back again in a semicircle to +intersect its own spoor, and there under good cover lie in wait for +those who may follow up. + +This makes the sport quite as interesting as need be, for the chances +are more nearly even than they generally are in hunting. The buffalo +chooses the ground that suits its purpose of ambushing its enemy, and +naturally selects a spot where concealment is possible; but, making +every allowance for this, it seems little short of a miracle that the +huge black beast is able to hide itself so effectually that it can +charge from a distance of a dozen yards on to those who are searching +for it. + +The secret of it seems to lie in two things: first, absolute stillness; +and second, breaking up the colour. No wild animal, except those +protected by distance and open country, will stand against a background +of light or of uniform colour, nor will it as a rule allow its own shape +to form an unbroken patch against its chosen background. + +They work on Nature's lines. Look at the ostrich--the cock, black and +handsome, so strikingly different from the commonplace grey hen! +Considering that for periods of six weeks at a stretch they are anchored +to one spot hatching the eggs, turn and turn about, it seems that one or +other must be an easy victim for the beast of prey, since the same +background cannot possibly suit both. But they know that too; so the +grey hen sits by day, and the black cock by night! And the ostrich is +not the fool it is thought to be--burying its head in the sand! Knowing +how the long stem of a neck will catch the eye, it lays it flat on the +ground, as other birds do, when danger threatens the nest or brood, and +concealment is better than flight. That tame chicks will do this in a +bare paddock is only a laughable assertion of instinct. + +Look at the zebra! There is nothing more striking, nothing that arrests +the eye more sharply--in the Zoo--than this vivid contrast of colour; +yet in the bush the wavy stripes of black and white, are a protection, +enabling him to hide at will. + +I have seen a wildebeeste effectually hidden by a single blighted +branch; a koodoo bull, by a few twisty sticks; a crouching lion, by a +wisp of feathery grass no higher than one's knee, no bigger than a vase +of flowers! Yet, the marvel of it is always fresh. + +After a couple of hundred yards of that sort of going, we changed our +plan, taking to the creek again and making occasional cross-cuts to the +trail, to be sure he was still ahead. It was certain then that the +buffalo was following the herd and making for the poort, and as he had +not stopped once on our account we took to the creek after the fourth +crosscut and made what pace we could to reach the narrow gorge where we +reckoned to pick up the spoor again. + +There are, however, few short cuts--and no certainties--in hunting; when +we reached the poort there was no trace to be found of the wounded +buffalo; the rest of the herd had passed in, but we failed to find blood +or other trace of the wounded one, and Jock was clearly as much at fault +as we were. + +We had overshot the mark and there was nothing for it but to hark back +to the last blood spoor and, by following it up, find out what had +happened. This took over an hour, for we spoored him then with the +utmost caution, being convinced that the buffalo, if not dead, was badly +wounded and lying in wait for us. + +We came on his `stand,' in a well-chosen spot, where the game path took +a sharp turn round some heavy bushes. The buffalo had stood, not where +one would naturally expect it--in the dense cover which seemed just +suited for his purpose--but among lighter bush on the _opposite_ side +and about twenty yards nearer to us. There was no room for doubt about +his hostile intentions; and when we recalled how we had instantly picked +out the thick bush on the left--to the exclusion of everything else--as +the spot to be watched, his selection of more open ground on the other +side, and nearer to us, seemed so fiendishly clever that it made one +feel cold and creepy. One hesitates to say it was deliberately planned; +yet--plan, instinct or accident--there was the fact. + +The marks showed us he was badly hit; but there was no limb broken, and +no doubt he was good for some hours yet. We followed along the spoor, +more cautiously than ever; and when we reached the sharp turn beyond the +thick bush we found that the path was only a few yards from the stream, +so that on our way up the bed of the creek we had passed within twenty +yards of where the buffalo was waiting for us. No doubt he had heard us +then as we walked past, and had winded us later on when we got ahead of +him into the poort. What had he made of it? What had he done? Had he +followed up to attack us? Was he waiting somewhere near? Or had he +broken away into the bush on finding himself headed off? These were +some of the questions we asked ourselves as we crept along. + +Well! what he had done did not answer our questions. On reaching the +poort again we found his spoor, freshly made since we had been there, +and he had walked right along through the gorge without stopping again, +and gone into the kloof beyond. Whether he had followed us up when we +got ahead of him--hoping to stalk us from behind; or had gone ahead, +expecting to meet us coming down wind to look for him; or, when he heard +us pass down stream again--and, it may be, thought we had given up +pursuit--had simply walked on after the herd, were questions never +answered. + +A breeze had risen since morning, and as we approached the hills it grew +stronger: in the poort itself it was far too strong for our purpose--the +wind coming through the narrow opening like a forced draught. The herd +would not stand there, and it was not probable that the wounded animal +would stop until he joined the others or reached a more sheltered place. +We were keen on the chase, and as he had about an hour's start of us +and it was already midday, there was no time to waste. + +Inside the poort the kloof opened out into a big valley away to our +left--our left being the right bank of the stream--and bordering the +valley on that side there were many miles of timbered kloofs and green +slopes, with a few kaffir kraals visible in the distance; but to the +right the formation was quite different, and rather peculiar. The +stream--known to the natives as Hlamba-Nyati, or Buffalo's Bathing +Place--had in the course of time shortened its course to the poort by +eating into the left bank, thus leaving a high, and in most places, +inaccessible terrace above it on the left side and a wide stretch of +flat alluvium on the right. This terrace was bounded on one side by the +steep bank of the creek and walled in on the other side by the +precipitous kranses of the mountains. + +At the top end it opened out like a fan which died away in a frayed edge +in the numberless small kloofs and spurs fringing the amphitheatre of +the hills. The shape was in fact something like the human arm and hand +with the fingers outspread. The elbow was the poort, the arm the +terrace--except that the terrace was irregularly curved--and the fingers +the small kloofs in the mountains. No doubt the haunts of the buffalo +were away in the `fingers,' and we worked steadily along the spoor in +that direction. + +Game paths were numerous and very irregular, and the place was a perfect +jungle of trees, bush, bramble and the tallest rankest grass. I have +ridden in that valley many times since then through grass standing +several feet above my head. It was desperately hard work, but we did +want to get the buffalo; and although the place was full of game and we +put up koodoo, wildebeeste, rietbuck, bushbuck, and duiker, we held to +the wounded buffalo's spoor, neglecting all else. + +Just before ascending the terrace we had heard the curious +far-travelling sound of kaffirs calling to each other from a distance, +but, except for a passing comment, paid no heed to it and passed on; +later we heard it again and again, and at last, when we happened to +pause in a more open portion of the bush after we had gone half-way +along the terrace, the calling became so frequent and came from so many +quarters that we stopped to take note. Francis, who spoke Zulu like one +of themselves, at last made out a word or two which gave the clue. + +"They're after the wounded buffalo!" he said. "Come on, man, before +they get their dogs, or we'll never see him again." + +Knowing then that the buffalo was a long way ahead, we scrambled on as +fast as we could whilst holding to his track; but it was very hot and +very rough and, to add to our troubles, smoke from a grass fire came +driving into our faces. + +"Niggers burning on the slopes; confound them!" Francis growled. + +They habitually fire the grass in patches during the summer and autumn, +as soon as it is dry enough to burn, in order to get young grass for the +winter or the early spring, and although the smoke worried us there did +not seem to be anything unusual about the fire. But ten minutes later +we stopped again; the smoke was perceptibly thicker; birds were flying +past us down wind, with numbers of locusts and other insects; two or +three times we heard buck and other animals break back; and all were +going the same way. Then the same thought struck us both--it was +stamped in our faces: this was no ordinary mountain grass fire; it was +the bush. + +Francis was a quiet fellow, one of the sort it is well not to rouse. +His grave is in the Bushveld where his unbeaten record among intrepid +lion-hunters was made, and where he fell in the war, leaving another and +greater record to his name. The blood rose slowly to his face, until it +was bricky red, and he looked an ugly customer as he said: + +"The black brutes have fired the valley to burn him out. Come on quick. +We must get out of this on to the slopes!" + +We did not know then that there were no slopes--only a precipitous face +of rock with dense jungle to the foot of it; and after we had spent a +quarter of an hour in that effort, we found our way blocked by the krans +and a tangle of undergrowth much worse than that in the middle of the +terrace. The noise made by the wind in the trees and our struggling +through the grass and bush had prevented our hearing the fire at first, +but now its ever growing roar drowned all sounds. Ordinarily, there +would have been no real difficulty in avoiding a bush fire; but, pinned +in between the river and the precipice and with miles of dense bush +behind us, it was not at all pleasant. + +Had we turned back even then and made for the poort it is possible we +might have travelled faster than the fire, but it would have been rough +work indeed; moreover, that would have been going back--and we did want +to get the buffalo--so we decided to make one more try, towards the +river this time. It was not much of a try, however, and we had gone no +further than the middle of the terrace again when it became alarmingly +clear that this fire meant business. + +The wind increased greatly, as it always does once a bush fire gets a +start; the air was thick with smoke, and full of flying things; in the +bush and grass about us there was a constant scurrying; the terror of +stampede was in the very atmosphere. A few words of consultation +decided us, and we started to burn a patch for standing room and +protection. + +The hot sun and strong wind had long evaporated all the dew and moisture +from the grass, but the sap was still up, and the fire--our fire--seemed +cruelly long in catching on. With bunches of dry grass for brands we +started burns in twenty places over a length of a hundred yards, and +each little flame licked up, spread a little, and then hesitated or died +out: it seemed as if ours would never take, while the other came on with +roars and leaps, sweeping clouds of sparks and ash over us in the dense +rolling mass of smoke. + +At last a fierce rush of wind struck down on us, and in a few seconds +each little flame became a living demon of destruction; another minute, +and the stretch before us was a field of swaying flame. There was a +sudden roar and crackle, as of musketry, and the whole mass seemed +lifted into the air in one blazing sheet: it simply leaped into life and +swept everything before it. + +When we opened our scorched eyes the ground in front of us was all +black, with only here and there odd lights and torches dotted about-- +like tapers on a pall; and on ahead, beyond the trellis work of bare +scorched trees, the wall of flame swept on. + +Then down on the wings of the wind came the other fire; and before it +fled every living thing. Heaven only knows what passed us in those few +minutes when a broken stream of terrified creatures dashed by, hardly +swerving to avoid us. There is no coherent picture left of that scene-- +just a medley of impressions linked up by flashes of unforgettable +vividness. A herd of koodoo came crashing by; I know there was a herd, +but only the first and last will come to mind--the space between seems +blurred. The clear impressions are of the koodoo bull in front, with +nose out-thrust, eyes shut against the bush, and great horns laid back +upon the withers, as he swept along opening the way for his herd; and +then, as they vanished, the big ears, ewe neck, and tilting hind +quarters of the last cow--between them nothing but a mass of moving +grey! + +The wildebeeste went by in Indian-file, uniform in shape, colour and +horns; and strangely uniform in their mechanical action, lowered heads, +and fiercely determined rush. + +A rietbuck ram stopped close to us, looked back wide-eyed and anxious, +and whistled shrilly, and then cantered on with head erect and white +tail flapping; but its mate neither answered nor came by. A terrified +hare with its ears laid flat scuttled past within a yard of Francis and +did not seem to see him. Above us scared birds swept or fluttered down +wind; while others again came up swirling and swinging about, darting +boldly through the smoke to catch the insects driven before the fire. + +But what comes back with the suggestion of infinitely pathetic +helplessness is the picture of a beetle. We stood on the edge of our +burn, waiting for the ground to cool, and at my feet a pair of +tock-tockie beetles, hump backed and bandy-legged, came toiling slowly +and earnestly along; they reached the edge of our burn, touched the warm +ash, and turned patiently aside--to walk round it! + +A school of chattering monkeys raced out on to the blackened flat, and +screamed shrilly with terror as the hot earth and cinders burnt their +feet. + +Porcupine, ant-bear, meerkat! They are vague, so vague that nothing is +left but the shadow of their passing; but there is one other thing--seen +in a flash as brief as the others, for a second or two only, but never +to be forgotten! Out of the yellow grass, high up in the waving tops, +came sailing down on us the swaying head and glittering eyes of a black +mamba--swiftest, most vicious, most deadly of snakes. Francis and I +were not five yards apart and it passed between us, giving a quick +chilly beady look at each--pitiless, and hateful--and one hiss as the +slithering tongue shot out: that was all, and it sailed past with +strange effortless movement. How much of the body was on the ground +propelling it, I cannot even guess; but we had to look upwards to see +the head as the snake passed between us. + +The scorching breath of the fire drove us before it on to the baked +ground, inches deep in ashes and glowing cinders, where we kept marking +time to ease our blistering feet; our hats were pulled down to screen +our necks as we stood with our backs to the coming flames; our flannel +shirts were so hot that we kept shifting our shoulders for relief. +Jock, who had no screen and whose feet had no protection, was in my +arms; and we strove to shield ourselves from the furnace-blast with the +branches we had used to beat out the fire round the big tree which was +our main shelter. + +The heat was awful! Live brands were flying past all the time, and some +struck us; myriads of sparks fell round and on us, burning numberless +small holes in our clothing, and dotting blisters on our backs; great +sheets of flame leaped out from the driving glare, and, detached by many +yards from their source, were visible for quite a space in front of us. +Then, just at its maddest and fiercest there came a gasp and sob, and +the fire devil died behind us as it reached the black bare ground. Our +burn divided it as an island splits the flood, and it swept along our +flanks in two great walls of living leaping roaring flame. + +Two hundred yards away there was a bare yellow place in a world of inky +black, and to that haven we ran. It was strange to look about and see +the naked country all round us, where but a few minutes earlier the tall +grass had shut us in; but the big bare ant-heap was untouched, and there +we flung ourselves down, utterly done. + +Faint from heat and exhaustion--scorched and blistered, face and arms, +back and feet; weary and footsore, and with boots burnt through--we +reached camp long after dark, glad to be alive. + +We had forgotten the wounded buffalo; he seemed part of another life! + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +There was no more hunting for us: our feet had `gone in,' and we were +well content to sleep and rest. The burnt stubbly ends of the grass had +pierced the baked leather of our boots many times; and Jock, too, had +suffered badly and could hardly bear to set foot to the ground next day. +The best we could hope for was to be sound enough to return to our own +waggons in two or three days' time. + +The camp was under a very large wild fig tree, whose dense canopy gave +us shade all through the day. We had burnt the grass for some twenty or +thirty yards round as a protection against bush fires; and as the trees +and scrub were not thick just there it was possible to see in various +directions rather further than one usually can in the Bushveld. The big +tree was a fair landmark by day, and at night we made a good fire, which +owing to the position of the camp one could see from a considerable +distance. These precautions were for the benefit of strayed or belated +members of the party; but I mention them because the position of the +camp and the fire brought us a strange visitor the last night of our +stay there. + +There were, I think, seven white men; and the moving spirit of the +party--old Teddy Blacklow of Ballarat--was one of the old alluvial +diggers, a warmhearted, impulsive, ever-young old boy, and a rare good +sportsman. That was Teddy, the `man in muddy moleskins,' who stretched +out the hand of friendship when the Boy was down, and said "You come +along o' me!" one of `God's sort.' + +Teddy's spirits were always up; his presence breathed a cheery optimism +on the blankest day; his humour lighted everything; _his_ stories kept +us going; and his language was a joy for ever. In a community, in which +such things savoured of eccentricity, Teddy was an abstainer and never +swore; but if actual profanity was avoided, the dear old boy all +unconsciously afforded strong support to those who hold that a man must +find relief in vigorous expression. To do this, without violating his +principles, he invented words and phrases, meaningless in themselves but +in general outline, so to say, resembling the worst in vogue; and the +effect produced by them upon the sensitive was simply horrifying. Teddy +himself was blissfully unconscious of this, for his language, being +scrupulously innocent, was deemed by him to be suited to all +circumstances and to every company. The inevitable consequence was that +the first impression produced by him on the few women he ever met was +that of an abandoned old reprobate whose scant veil of disguise only +made the outrage of his language more marked. Poor old Teddy! Kindest +and gentlest and dearest of souls! How he would have stared at this, +speechless with surprise; and how we used to laugh at what some one +called his `glittering paro-fanities!' Pity it is that they too must +go; for one dare not reproduce the best of them. + +It was between eight and nine o'clock on the last day of our stay; +Francis and I were fit again, and Jock's feet, thanks to care and +washing and plenty of castor oil, no longer troubled him; we were +examining our boots--re-soled now with raw hide in the rough but +effective veld fashion; Teddy was holding forth about the day's chase +whilst he cut away the pith of a koodoo's horns and scraped the skull; +others were busy on their trophies too; and the kaffirs round their own +fire were keeping up the simultaneous gabble characteristic of hunting +boys after a good day and with plenty of meat in camp. + +I was sitting on a small camp stool critically examining a boot and +wondering if the dried hide would grip well enough to permit of the top +lacings being removed, and Jock was lying in front of me, carefully +licking the last sore spot on one fore paw, when I saw his head switch +up suddenly and his whole body set hard in a study of intense listening. +Then he got up and trotted briskly off some ten or fifteen yards, and +stood--a bright spot picked out by the glare of the camp fire--with his +back towards me and his uneven ears topping him off. + +I walked out to him, and silence fell on the camp; all watched and +listened. At first we heard nothing but soon the call of a wild dog +explained Jock's movements; the sound, however, did not come from the +direction in which he was looking, but a good deal to the right; and as +he instantly looked to this new quarter I concluded that this was not +the dog he had previously heard, or else it must have moved rapidly. +There was another wait, and then there followed calls from other +quarters. + +There was nothing unusual in the presence of wild dogs: hyenas, jackals, +wild dogs and all the smaller beasts of prey were heard nightly; what +attracted attention in this case was the regular calling from different +points. The boys said the wild dogs were hunting something and calling +to each other to indicate the direction of the hunt, so that those in +front might turn the buck and by keeping it in a circle enable fresh or +rested dogs to jump in from time to time and so, eventually, wear the +poor hunted creature down. This, according to the natives, is the +system of the wild pack. When they cannot find easy prey in the young, +weak or wounded, and are forced by hunger to hunt hard, they first +scatter widely over the chosen area where game is located, and then one +buck is chosen--the easiest victim, a ewe with young for choice--and +cutting it out from the herd, they follow that one and that alone with +remorseless invincible persistency. They begin the hunt knowing that it +will last for hours--knowing too that in speed they have no chance +against the buck--and when the intended victim is cut out from the herd +one or two of the dogs--so the natives say--take up the chase and with +long easy gallop keep it going, giving no moment's rest for breath; from +time to time they give their weird peculiar call and others of the +pack--posted afar--head the buck off to turn it back again; the fresh +ones then take up the chase, and the first pair drop out to rest and +wait, or follow slowly until their chance and turn come round again. +There is something so hateful in the calculated pitiless method that one +feels it a duty to kill the cruel brutes whenever a chance occurs. + +The hunt went on round us; sometimes near enough to hear the dogs' eager +cries quite clearly; sometimes so far away that for a while nothing +could be heard; and Jock moved from point to point in the outermost +circle of the camp fire's light nearest to the chase. + +When at last hunters and hunted completed their wide circuit round the +camp, and passed again the point where we had first heard them, the end +seemed near; for there were no longer single calls widely separated, but +the voices of the pack in hot close chase. They seemed to be passing +half a mile away from us; but in the stillness of the night sound +travels far, and one can only guess. Again a little while and the cries +sounded nearer and as if coming from one quarter--not moving round us as +before; and a few minutes more, and it was certain they were still +nearer and coming straight towards us. We took our guns then, and I +called Jock back to where we stood under the tree with our backs to the +fire. + +The growing sounds came on out of the night where all was hidden with +the weird crescendo effect of a coming flood; we could pick them out +then--the louder harsher cries; the crashing through bush; the rush in +grass; the sobbing gasps in front; and the hungry panting after. The +hunt came at us like a cyclone out of the stillness, and in the +forefront of it there burst into the circle of light an impala ewe with +open mouth and haunting hunted despairing eyes and wide spread ears; and +the last staggering strides brought her in among us, tumbling at our +feet. + +A kaffir jumped out with assegai aloft; but Teddy, with the spring of a +tiger and a yell of rage, swung his rifle round and down on assegai arm +and head, and dropped the boy in his tracks. + +"Go-sh!--Da-ll! Cr-r-r-i-miny! What the Hex are you up to?" and the +fiery soft-hearted old boy was down on to his knees in a second, panting +with anger and excitement, and threw his arms about the buck. + +The foremost of the pack followed hot foot close behind the buck-- +oblivious of fire and men, seeing nothing but the quarry--and at a +distance of five yards a mixed volley of bullets and assegais tumbled it +over. Another followed, and again another: both fell where they had +stopped, a dozen yards away, puzzled by the fire and the shooting; and +still more and more came on, but, warned by the unexpected check in +front, they stopped at the clearing's edge, until over twenty pairs of +eyes reflecting the fire's light shone out at us in a rough semicircle. +The shot guns came in better then; and more than half the pack went +under that night before the others cleared off. Perhaps they did not +realise that the shots and flashes were not part of the camp fire from +which they seemed to come; perhaps their system of never relinquishing a +chase had not been tried against the white man before. + +One of the wild dogs, wounded by a shot, seemed to go mad with agony and +raced straight into the clearing towards the fire, uttering the +strangest maniac-like yaps. Jock had all along been straining to go for +them from where I had jammed him between my feet as I sat and fired, and +the charge of this dog was more than he could bear: he shot out like a +rocket, and the collision sent the two flying apart; but he was on to +the wild dog again and had it by the throat before it could recover. +Instantly the row of lights went out, as if switched off--they were no +longer looking at us; there was a rustle and a sound of padded feet, and +dim grey-looking forms gathered at the edge of the clearing nearest +where Jock and the wounded dog fought. I shouted to Jock to come back, +and several of us ran out to help, just as another of the pack made a +dash in. It seemed certain that Jock, gripping and worrying his enemy's +throat, had neither time nor thought for anything else; yet as the fresh +dog came at him he let go his grip of the other, and jumped to meet the +new-comer; in mid-spring Jock caught the other by the ear and the two +spun completely round--their positions being reversed; then, with +another wrench as he landed, he flung the attacker behind him and jumped +back at the wounded one which had already turned to go. + +It looked like the clean and easy movement of a finished gymnast. It +was an affair of a few seconds only, for of course the instant we got a +chance at the dogs, without the risk to Jock, both were shot; and he, +struggling to get at the others, was haled back to the tree. + +While this was going on the impala stood with wide spread legs, dazed +and helpless, between Teddy's feet, just as he had placed it. Its +breath came in broken choking sobs; the look of terror and despair had +not yet faded from the staring eyes; the head swayed from side to side; +the mouth hung open and the tongue lolled out; all told beyond the power +of words the tale of desperate struggle and exhaustion. It drank +greedily from the dish that Teddy held for it--emptied it, and five +minutes later drank it again and then lay down. + +For half an hour it lay there, slowly recovering; sometimes for spells +of a few minutes it appeared to breathe normally once more; then the +heavy open-mouthed panting would return again; and all the time Teddy +kept on stroking or patting it gently and talking to it as if he were +comforting a child, and every now and then bursting out with sudden +gusty execrations, in his own particular style, of wild dogs and +kaffirs. At last it rose briskly, and standing between his knees looked +about, taking no notice of Teddy's hands laid on either side and gently +patting it. No one moved or spoke. Jock, at my feet, appeared most +interested of all, but I am afraid his views differed considerably from +ours on that occasion, and he must have been greatly puzzled; he +remained watching intently with his head laid on his paws, his ears +cocked, and his brown eyes fixed unblinkingly; and at each movement on +the buck's part something stirred in him, drawing every muscle tense and +ready for the spring--internal grips which were reflected in the +twitching and stiffening of his neck and back; but each time as I laid a +hand on him he slackened out again and subsided. + +We sat like statues as the impala walked out from its stall between +Teddy's knees, and stood looking about wonderingly at the faces white +and black, at the strange figures, and at the fire. It stepped out +quite quietly, much as it might have moved about here and there any +peaceful morning in its usual haunts; the head swung about briskly, but +unalarmed; and ears and eyes were turned this way and that in easy +confidence and mild curiosity. + +With a few more steps it threaded its way close to one sitting figure +and round a bucket; stepped daintily over Teddy's rifle; and passed the +koodoo's head unnoticed. + +It seemed to us--even to us, and at the moment--like a scene in +fairyland in which some spell held us while the beautiful wild thing +strolled about unfrightened. + +A few yards away it stopped for perhaps a couple of minutes; its back +was towards us and the fire; the silence was absolute; and it stood thus +with eyes and ears for the bush alone. There was a warning whisk of the +white tail and it started off again--this time at a brisk trot--and we +thought it had gone; but at the edge of the clearing it once more stood +and listened. Now and again the ears flickered and the head turned +slightly one way or another, but no sound came from the bush; the +out-thrust nose was raised with gentle tosses, but no taint reached it +on the gentle breeze. + +All was well! + +It looked slowly round, giving one long full gaze back at us which +seemed to be "Good-bye, and--thank you!" and cantered out into the dark. + + +CHAPTER EIGHTEEN. + +SNOWBALL AND TSETSE. + +Snowball was an `old soldier'--I say it with all respect! He had been +through the wars; that is to say, he had seen the ups and downs of life +and had learnt the equine equivalent of "God helps those who help +themselves." For Snowball was a horse. + +Tsetse was also an old soldier, but he was what you might call a +gentleman old soldier, with a sense of duty; and in his case the +discipline and honour of his calling were not garments for occasion but +part of himself. Snowball was no gentleman: he was selfish and +unscrupulous, a confirmed shirker, often absent without leave, and upon +occasions a rank deserter--for which last he once narrowly escaped being +shot. + +Tsetse belonged to my friend Hall; but Snowball was mine! What I know +about him was learnt with mortification of the spirit and flesh; and +what he could not teach in that way was `over the head' of the most +indurated old dodger that ever lived. + +Tsetse had his peculiarities and prejudices: like many old soldiers he +was a stickler for etiquette and did not like departures from habit and +routine; for instance, he would not under any circumstances permit +mounting on the wrong side--a most preposterous stand for an old salted +shooting horse to take, and the cause of much inconvenience at times. +On the mountains it often happened that the path was too narrow and the +slope too steep to permit one to mount on the left side, whereas the +sharp rise of the ground made it very easy on the right. But Tsetse +made no allowance for this, and if the attempt were made he would stand +quite still until the rider was off the ground but not yet in the +saddle, and then buck continuously until the offender shot overhead and +went skidding down the slope. To one encumbered with a rifle in hand, +and a kettle or perhaps a couple of legs of buck slung on the saddle, +Tsetse's protest was usually irresistible. + +Snowball had no unpractical prejudices: he objected to work--that was +all. He was a pure white horse, goodness knows how old, with enormously +long teeth; every vestige of grey or other tinge had faded out of him, +and his eyes had an aged and resigned look: one warmed to him at sight +as a "dear old pet of a Dobbin!" who ought to be passing his last years +grazing contentedly in a meadow and giving bareback rides to little +children. The reproach of his venerable look nearly put me off taking +him--it seemed such a shame to make the dear old fellow work; but I +hardened my heart and, feeling rather a brute, bought him because he was +`salted' and would live in the Bushveld: beside that, all other +considerations were trivial. Of course he was said to be a shooting +horse, and he certainly took no notice of a gun fired under his nose or +from his back--which was all the test I could apply at the time; and +then his legs were quite sound; his feet were excellent; he had lost no +teeth yet; and he was in tip top condition. What more could one want? + +"He looks rather a fool of a horse!" I had remarked dubiously to Joey +the Smith, who was `willin' to let him go,' and I can recall now the +peculiar glint in Joey's eye and the way he sort of steadied himself +with a little cough before he answered feelingly: + +"He's no fool, sonny! You won't want to get a cleverer horse as long as +you live!" And no more I did--as we used to say! Snowball had one +disfigurement, consisting of a large black swelling as big as a small +orange behind his left eye, which must have annoyed him greatly; it +could easily have been removed, and many suggestions were made on the +subject but all of them were firmly declined. Without that lump I +should have had no chance against him: it was the weak spot in his +defence: it was the only cover under which it was possible to stalk him +when he made one of his determined attempts to dodge or desert; for he +could see nothing that came up behind him on the left side without +turning his head completely round; hence one part of the country was +always hidden from him, and of course it was from this quarter that we +invariably made our approaches to attack. + +So well did Snowball realise this that when the old villain intended +giving trouble he would start off with his head swung away to the right, +and when far enough away to graze in security--a hundred yards or so was +enough--would turn right about and face towards the waggons or camp, or +wherever the danger-quarter was; then, keeping us well in view, he would +either graze off sideways, or from time to time walk briskly off to +occupy a new place, with the right eye swung round on us like a +search-light. + +Against all this, however, it is only fair to admit that there were +times when for days, and even weeks, at a stretch he would behave +admirably, giving no more trouble than Jock did. Moreover he had +qualities which were not to be despised. He was as sound as a bell, +very clever on his feet, never lost his condition, and, although not +fast, could last for ever at his own pace. + +Experience taught me to take no chances with Snowball. After a hard day +he was apt to think that `enough was as good as a feast,' and then +trouble might be expected. But there was really no safe rule with him; +he seemed to have moods--to `get out of bed on the wrong side'--on +certain days and, for no reason in the world, behave with a calculated +hostility that was simply maddening. + +Hunting horses live almost entirely by grazing, as it is seldom possible +to carry any grain or other foods for them and never possible to carry +enough; and salted horses have therefore a particular value in that they +can be turned out to graze at night or in the morning and evening dews +when animals not immunised will contract horse-sickness; thus they feed +during the hours when hunting is not possible and keep their condition +when an unsalted horse would fall away from sheer want of food. + +According to their training, disposition, and knowledge of good and +evil, horses are differently treated when `offsaddled'; some may be +trusted without even a halter, and can be caught and saddled when and +where required; others are knee-haltered; others are hobbled by a strap +coupling either both fore feet, or one fore and one hind foot, with +enough slack to allow walking, but not enough for the greater reach of a +trot or gallop; whilst some incorrigibles are both knee-haltered and +hobbled; and in this gallery Snowball figured upon occasion--a mournful +and injured innocent, if appearances went for anything! + +It was not, as a rule, at the outspan, where many hands were available, +that Snowball gave trouble, but out hunting when I was alone or with +only one companion. A trained shooting horse should stop as soon as his +rider lays hand on mane to dismount, and should remain where he is left +for any length of time until his master returns; some horses require the +reins to be dropped over their heads to remind them of their duty but +many can safely be left to themselves and will be found grazing quietly +where left. + +Snowball knew well what to do, but he pleased himself about doing it; +sometimes he would stand; sometimes move off a little way, and keep +moving--just out of reach--holding his head well on one side so that he +should not tread on the trailing reins or the long weighted reimpje +which was attached to his bit for the purpose of hindering and catching +him; sometimes, with a troop of buck moving on ahead or perhaps a +wounded one to follow, this old sinner would rightabout-face and simply +walk off--only a few yards separating us--with his ears laid back, his +tail tucked down ominously, and occasional little liftings of his hind +quarters to let me know what to expect--and his right eye on me all the +while; and, if I ran to head him off, he would break into a trot and +leave me a little worse off than before; and sometimes, in familiar +country, he would make straight away for the waggons without more ado. + +It is demoralising in the extreme to be expecting a jerk when in the act +of aiming--and Snowball, who cared no more for shooting than a deaf +gunner, would plunge like a two-year-old when he was play-acting--and it +is little better, while creeping forward for a shot, to hear your horse +strolling off behind and realise that you will have to hunt for him and +perhaps walk many miles back to camp without means of carrying anything +you may shoot. The result of experience was that I had to choose +between two alternatives: either to hook him up to a tree or bush each +time or hobble him with his reins, and so lose many good chances of +quick shots when coming unexpectedly on game; or to slip an arm through +the reins and take chance of being plucked off my aim or jerked +violently backwards as I fired. But it was at the `offsaddles' on long +journeys across country or during the rest in a day's hunt that trouble +was most to be feared, and although hobbling is dangerous in a country +so full of holes, stumps, and all sorts of grass-hidden obstacles, there +were times when consideration for Snowball seemed mighty like pure +foolishness, and it would have been no grief to me if he had broken his +neck! + +To the credit of Snowball stand certain things, however, and it is but +justice to say that, when once in the ranks, he played his part well; +and it is due to him to say that during one hard season a camp of +waggons with their complement of men had to be kept in meat, and it was +Snowball who carried--for short and long distances, through dry rough +country, at all times of day and night, hot, thirsty and tired, and +without a breakdown or a day's sickness--a bag that totalled many +thousands of pounds in weight, and the man who made the bag. + +"That wall-eyed brute of yours" was launched at me in bitterness of +spirit on many occasions when Snowball led the normally well-behaved +ones astray; and it is curious to note how strength of character or +clear purpose will establish leadership among animals, as among men. +Rooiland the restless, when dissatisfied with the grass or in want of +water, would cast about up wind for a few minutes and then with his hot +eyeballs staring and nostrils well distended choose his line, going +resolutely along and only pausing from time to time to give a low moan +for signal and allow the straggling string of unquestioning followers to +catch up. When Rooiland had `trek fever' there was no rest for herd +boys. So too with old Snowball: he led the well-behaved astray and they +followed him blindly. Had Snowball been a schoolboy, a wise headmaster +would have expelled him--for the general good and discipline of the +school. + +On one long horseback journey through Swaziland to the coast, where few +white men and no horses had yet been seen, we learned to know Snowball +and Tsetse well, and found out what a horse can do when put to it. It +was a curious experience on that trip to see whole villages flee in +terror at the first sight of the new strange animals--one brown and one +white: in some places not even the grown men would approach, but too +proud to show fear, they stood their ground, their bronze faces +blanching visibly and setting hard as we rode up; the women fled with +half-stifled cries of alarm; and once, when we came unexpectedly upon a +party of naked urchins playing on the banks of a stream, the whole pack +set off full cry for the water and, jumping in like a school of alarmed +frogs, disappeared. Infinitely amused by the stampede we rode up to see +what had become of them, but the silence was absolute, and for a while +they seemed to have vanished altogether; then a tell-tale ripple gave +the clue, and under the banks among the ferns and exposed roots we +picked out little black faces half submerged and pairs of frightened +eyes staring at us from all sides. They were not to be reassured, +either: the only effect produced by our laughing comments and friendly +overtures being that the head which deemed itself pointedly addressed +would disappear completely and remain so long out of sight as to make us +feel quite smothery and criminally responsible. + +It is in the rivers that a man feels the importance of a good horse with +a stout heart, and his dependence on it. There were no roads, and not +even known tracks, there; and when we reached the Black Umbelusi we +picked a place where there was little current and apparently an easy way +out on the opposite side. It was much deeper than it looked; however, +we were prepared, and thirty yards of swimming did not trouble us; yet +it certainly was a surprise to us when the horses swam right up to the +other bank without finding bottom and, turning aside, began to swim up +stream. Looking down into the clear depths we saw that there was a +sheer wall of rock to within a few inches of the surface. Now, a horse +with a man on his back swims low--only the head and half the neck +showing above water--and by what instinct or means the horses realised +the position I do not know, but, with little hesitation and apparently +of one accord, they got back a yard or two from the ledge and, raising +first one fore foot and then the other, literally climbed out--exactly +as a man or a dog does out of a swimming bath--hoisting their riders out +with them without apparent difficulty. That was something which we had +not thought possible, and to satisfy ourselves we dismounted and tried +the depth; but the ten foot reeds failed to reach bottom. + +When it came to crossing the Crocodile River we chose the widest spot in +the hope that it would be shallow and free of rocks. We fired some +shots into the river to scare the crocodiles, and started to cross; but +to our surprise Tsetse, the strong-nerved and reliable, who always had +the post of honour in front, absolutely refused to enter. + +The water of the Crocodile is at its best of amber clearness and we +could not see bottom, but the sloping grassy bank promised well enough +and no hint reached us of what the horses knew quite well. All we had +was on our horses--food, blankets, billy, rifles and ammunition. We +were off on a long trip and, to vary or supplement the game diet, +carried a small packet of tea, a little sugar, flour, and salt, and some +beads with which to trade for native fowls and thick milk; the guns had +to do the rest. Thus there were certain things we could not afford to +wet, and these we used to wrap up in a mackintosh and carry high when it +came to swimming, but this crossing looked so easy that it seemed +sufficient to raise the packs instead of carrying part of them. + +Tsetse, who in the ordinary way regarded the spur as part of the +accepted discipline, promptly resented it when there seemed to him to be +sufficient reason; and when Hall, astonished at Tsetse's unexpected +obstinacy, gave him both heels, the old horse considerately swung round +away from the river, and with a couple of neatly executed bucks shot his +encumbered rider off the raised pack, yards away on to the soft grass-- +water-bottle, rifle, bandolier and man landing in a lovely tangle. + +I then put old Snowball at it, fully expecting trouble; but the old +soldier was quite at home; he walked quietly to the edge, sat down +comfortably, and slid into the water--launching himself with scarce a +ripple just like an old hippo. That gave us the explanation of Tsetse's +tantrum: the water came up to the seat of my saddle and walking was only +just possible. I stopped at once, waiting for Tsetse to follow; and +Hall, prepared for another refusal, sat back and again used his spurs. +No doubt Tsetse, once he knew the depth, was quite satisfied and meant +to go in quietly, and the prick of the spur must have been unexpected, +for he gave a plunge forward, landing with his fore feet in deep water +and hind quarters still on the bank, and Hall shot out overhead, landing +half across old Snowball's back. There was a moment of ludicrous but +agonised suspense! Hall's legs were firmly gripping Tsetse behind the +ears while he sprawled on his stomach on Snowball's crupper, with the +reins still in one hand and the rifle in the other. Doubled up with +suppressed laughter I grabbed a fist full of shirt and held on, every +moment expecting Tsetse to hoist his head or pull back and complete the +disaster, while Hall was spluttering out directions, entreaties and +imprecations; but good old Tsetse never moved, and Hall handing me the +rifle managed to swarm backwards on to Tsetse's withers and scramble on +to the pack again. + +Then, saddle-deep in the river--duckings and crocodiles forgotten--we +sat looking at each other and laughed till we ached. + +The river was about three hundred yards wide there with a good sandy +bottom and of uniform depth, but, to our disappointment, we found that +the other bank which had appeared to slope gently to the water edge was +in fact a sheer wall standing up several feet above the river level. +The beautiful slope which we had seen consisted of water grass and reed +tops; the bank itself was of firm moist clay; and the river bottom close +under it was soft mud. We tried a little way up and down, but found +deeper water, more mud and reeds, and no break in the bank; there was +not even a lagavaan slide, a game path, or a drinking-place. There +seemed to be nothing for it but to go back again and try somewhere else. + +Hall was `bad to beat' when he started on anything--he did not know how +to give in; but when he looked at the bank and said, "We'll have a shot +at this," I thought at first he was joking. Later, to my remark that +"no horse ever born would face that," he answered that "any way we could +try: it would be just as good as hunting for more places of the same +sort!" + +I do not know the height of the bank, as we were not thinking of records +at that time, but there are certain facts which enable one to guess +fairly closely. + +Tsetse was ranged up beside the bank, and Hall standing in the saddle +threw his rifle and bandolier up and scrambled out himself. I then +loosened Tsetse's girths from my seat on Snowball, and handed up the +packed saddle--Hall lying down on the bank to take it from me; and we +did the same with Snowball's load, including my own clothes, for, as it +was already sundown, a ducking was not desirable, I loosened one side of +Tsetse's reins, and after attaching one of mine in order to give the +necessary length to them threw the end up to Hall, and he cut and handed +me a long supple rod for a whip to stir Tsetse to his best endeavours. +The water there was rather more than half saddle-flap high; I know that +because it just left me a good expanse of hind quarters to aim at when +the moment came. + +"Now!" yelled Hall, "Up, Tsetse! Up!"; and whack went the stick! +Tsetse reared up, right on end; he could not reach the top but struck +his fore feet into the moist bank near the top, and with a mighty plunge +that soused Snowball and me, went out. The tug on the leading rein, on +which Hall had thrown all his weight when Tsetse used it to lever +himself up, had jerked Hall flat on his face; but he was up in a minute, +and releasing Tsetse threw back the rein to get Snowball to face it +while the example was fresh. + +Then for the first time we thought of the crocodiles--and the river was +full of them! But Snowball without some one behind him with a stick +would never face that jump, and there was nothing for it but to fire +some scaring shots, and slip into the water and get the job over as +quickly as possible. + +Snarleyow was with us--I had left Jock at the waggons fearing that we +would get into fly country on the Umbelusi--and the bank was too high +and too steep for him; he huddled up against it half supported by reeds, +and whined plaintively. + +To our relief Snowball faced the jump quite readily; indeed, the old +sinner did it with much less effort and splash than the bigger Tsetse. +But then came an extremely unpleasant spell. Snowball got a scare, +because Hall in his anxiety to get me out rushed up to him on the warty +side to get the reins off; and the old ruffian waltzed around, dragging +Hall through the thorns, while Snarleyow and I waited in the water for +help. + +At that moment I had a poorer opinion of Snowball and Snarley than at +any other I can remember. I wished Snarley dead twenty times in twenty +seconds. Crocodiles love dogs; and it seemed to me a million to one +that a pair of green eyes and a black snout must slide out of the water +any moment, drawn to us by those advertising whines! And the worst of +it was, I was outside Snarley with my white legs gleaming in the open +water, while his cringing form was tucked away half hidden by the reeds. +What an age it seemed! How each reed shaken by the river breeze caught +the eye, giving me goose-flesh and sending waves of cold shudders +creeping over me! How the cold smooth touch of a reed stem against my +leg made me want to jump and to get out with one huge plunge as the +horses had done! And even when I had passed the struggling yowling +Snarley up, the few remaining seconds seemed painfully long. Hall had +to lie flat and reach his furthest to grip my hand; and I nearly pulled +him in, scrambling up that bank like a chased cat up a tree. + +When one comes to think it out, the bank must have been nine feet high. +It was mighty unpleasant; but it taught us what a horse can do when he +puts, his back into it! + + +CHAPTER NINETEEN. + +JOCK'S MISTAKE. + +Half-way between the Crocodile and Komati Rivers, a few miles south of +the old road, there are half a dozen or more small kopjes between which +lie broad richly grassed depressions, too wide and flat to be; called +valleys. The fall of the country is slight, yet the rich loamy soil has +been washed out in places into dongas of considerable depth. There is +no running water there in winter, but there are a few big pools--long +narrow irregularly shaped bits of water--with shady trees around them. +I came upon the place by accident one day, and thereafter we kept it +dark as our own preserve; for it was full of game, and a most delightful +spot. It was there that Snarleyow twice cleaned out the hunter's pot. + +Apart from the discovery of this preserve, the day was memorable for the +reason that it was my first experience of a big mixed herd; and I +learned that day how difficult the work may be when several kinds of +game run together. After a dry and warm morning the sight of the big +pool had prompted an off-saddle; Snowball was tethered in a patch of +good grass, and Jock and I were lying in the shade. + +When he began to sniff and walk up wind I took the rifle and followed, +and only a little way off we came into dry vlei ground where there were +few trees and the grass stood about waist high. Some two hundred yards +away where the ground rose slightly and the bush became thicker there +was a fair-sized troop of impala, perhaps a hundred or more, and just +behind, and mostly to one side of them, were between twenty and thirty +tsessebe. We saw them clearly and in time to avoid exposing ourselves: +they were neither feeding nor resting, but simply standing about, and +individual animals were moving unconcernedly from time to time with an +air of idle loitering. I tried to pick out a good tsessebe ram, but the +impala were in the way, and it was necessary to crawl for some distance +to reach certain cover away on the right. + +Crawling is hard work and very rough on both hands and knees in the +Bushveld, frequent rests being necessary; and in one of the pauses I +heard a curious sound of soft padded feet jumping behind me, and looking +quickly about caught Jock in the act of taking his observations. The +grass was too high for him to see over, even when he stood up on his +hind legs, and he was giving jumps of slowly increasing strength to get +the height which would enable him to see what was on. I shall never +forget that first view of Jock's ballooning observations; it became a +regular practice afterwards and I grew accustomed to seeing him stand on +his hind legs or jump when his view was shut out--indeed sometimes when +we were having a slow time I used to draw him by pretending to stalk +something; but it is that first view that remains a picture of him. I +turned at the instant when he was at the top of his jump; his legs were +all bunched up, his eyes staring eagerly and his ears had flapped out, +giving him a look of comic astonishment. It was a most surprisingly +unreal sight: he looked like a caricature of Jock shot into the air by a +galvanic shock. A sign with my hand brought him flat on the ground, +looking distinctly guilty, and we moved along again; but I was shaking +with silent laughter. + +At the next stop I had a look back to see how he was behaving, and to my +surprise, although he was following carefully close behind me, he was +looking steadily away to our immediate right. I subsided gently on to +my left side to see what it was that interested him, and to my delight +saw a troop of twenty to twenty-five Blue Wildebeeste. They, too, were +`standing any way,' and evidently had not seen us. + +I worked myself cautiously round to face them so as to be able to pick +my shot and take it kneeling, thus clearing the tops of the grass; but +whilst doing this another surprising development took place. Looking +hard and carefully at the wildebeeste two hundred yards away, I became +conscious of something else in between us, and only half the distance +off, looking at me. It had the effect of a shock; the disagreeable +effect produced by having a book or picture suddenly thrust close to the +face; the feeling of wanting to get further away from it to re-focus +one's sight. + +What I saw was simply a dozen quagga, all exactly alike, all standing +alike, all looking at me, all full face to me, their fore feet together, +their ears cocked, and their heads quite motionless--all gazing steadily +at me, alive with interest and curiosity. There was something quite +ludicrous in it, and something perplexing also: when I looked at the +quagga the wildebeeste seemed to get out of focus and were lost to me; +when I looked at the wildebeeste the quagga `blurred' and faded out of +sight. The difference in distance, perhaps as much as the very marked +difference in the distinctive colourings, threw me out; and the effect +of being watched also told. Of course I wanted to get a wildebeeste, +but I was conscious of the watching quagga all the time, and, for the +life of me, could not help constantly looking at them to see if they +were going to start off and stampede the others. + +Whilst trying to pick out the best of the wildebeeste a movement away on +the left made me look that way: the impala jumped off like one animal, +scaring the tsessebe into a scattering rout; the quagga switched round +and thundered off like a stampede of horses; and the wildebeeste simply +vanished. One signal in one troop had sent the whole lot off. Jock and +I were left alone, still crouching, looking from side to side, staring +at the slowly drifting dust, and listening to the distant dying sound of +galloping feet. + +It was a great disappointment, but the conviction that we had found a +really good spot made some amends, and Snowball was left undisturbed to +feed and rest for another two hours. We made for the waggons along +another route taking in some of the newly discovered country in the home +sweep, and the promise of the morning was fulfilled. We had not been +more than a few minutes on the way when a fine rietbuck ram jumped up +within a dozen yards of Snowball's nose. Old Rocky had taught me to +imitate the rietbuck's shrill whistle and this one fell to the first +shot. He was a fine big fellow, and as Snowball put on airs and +pretended to be nervous when it came to packing the meat, I had to +blindfold him, and after hoisting the buck up to a horizontal branch +lowered it on to his back. + +Snowball was villainously slow and bad to lead. He knew that whilst +being led neither whip nor spur could touch him, and when loaded up with +meat he dragged along at a miserable walk: one had to haul him. Once-- +but only once--I had tried driving him before me, trusting to about 400 +pounds weight of koodoo meat to keep him steady; but no sooner had I +stepped behind with a switch than he went off with a cumbrous plunge and +bucked like a frantic mule until he rid himself of his load, saddle and +all. The fact is one person could not manage him on foot, it needed one +at each end of him, and he knew it: thus it worked out at a compromise: +he carried my load, and I went his pace! + +We were labouring along in this fashion when we came on the wildebeeste +again. A white man on foot seems to be recognised as an enemy; but if +accompanied by animals, either on horseback, driving in a vehicle, +leading a horse, or walking among cattle, he may pass unnoticed for a +long while: attention seems to be fixed on the animals rather than the +man, and frank curiosity instead of alarm is quite evidently the feeling +aroused. + +The wildebeeste had allowed me to get close up, and I picked out the big +bull and took the shot kneeling, with my toe hooked in the reins to +secure Snowball, taking chance of being jerked off my aim rather than +let him go; but he behaved like an angel, and once more that day a +single shot was enough. + +It was a long and tedious job skinning the big fellow, cutting him up, +hauling the heavy limbs and the rest of the meat up into a suitable +tree, and making all safe against the robbers of the earth and the air; +and most troublesome of all was packing the head and skin on Snowball, +who showed the profoundest mistrust of this dark ferocious-looking +monster. + +Snowball and I had had enough of it when we reached camp, well after +dark; but Jock I am not so sure of: his invincible keenness seemed at +times to have something in it of mute reproach--the tinge of +disappointment in those they love which great hearts feel, and strive to +hide! I never outstayed Jock, and never once knew him `own up' that he +had had enough. + +No two days were quite alike; yet many were alike in the sense that they +were successful without hitch and without interest to any but the +hunters; many others were marked by chases in which Jock's part--most +essential to success--too closely resembled that of other days to be +worth repeating. On that day he had, as usual, been the one to see the +wildebeeste and had `given the word' in time; the rest was only one +straight shot. That was fair partnership in which both were happy; but +there was nothing to talk about. + +There was very little wanton shooting with us, for when we had more +fresh meat than was required, as often happened, it was dried as +`bultong' for the days of shortage which were sure to come. + +I started off early next morning with the boys to bring in the meat, and +went on foot, giving Snowball a rest, more or less deserved. By nine +o'clock the boys were on their way back, and leaving them to take the +direct route I struck away eastwards along the line of the pools, not +expecting much and least of all dreaming that fate had one of the worst +days in store for us: "From cloudless heavens her lightnings glance" did +not occur to my mind as we moved silently along in the bright sunshine. + +We passed the second pool, loitering a few minutes in the cool shade of +the evergreens to watch the green pigeons feeding on the wild figs and +peering down curiously at us; then moved briskly into more open ground. +It is not wise to step too suddenly out of the dark shade into strong +glare, and it may have been that act of carelessness that enabled the +koodoo to get off before I saw them. They cantered away in a string +with the cows in the rear, between me and two full-grown bulls. It was +a running shot--end on--and the last of the troop, a big cow, gave a +stumble; but catching herself up again she cantered off slowly. Her +body was all bunched up and she was pitching greatly, and her hind legs +kept flying out in irregular kicks, much as you may see a horse kick out +when a blind fly is biting him. + +There was no time for a second shot and we started off in hot pursuit; +and fifty yards further on where there was a clear view I saw that the +koodoo was going no faster than an easy canter, and Jock was close +behind. + +Whether he was misled by the curious action, and believed there was a +broken leg to grip, or was simply over bold, it is impossible to know. +Whatever the reason, he jumped for one of the hind legs, and at the same +moment the koodoo lashed out viciously. One foot struck him under the +jaw close to the throat, `whipped' his head and neck back like a bent +switch, and hurled him somersaulting backwards. + +I have the impression--as one sees oneself in a nightmare--of a person +throwing up his arms and calling the name of his child as a train passed +over it. + +Jock lay limp and motionless, with the blood oozing from mouth, nose, +and eyes. I recollect feeling for his heart-beat and breath, and +shaking him roughly and calling him by name; then, remembering the pool +near by, I left him in the shade of a tree, filled my hat with water, +ran back again and poured it over him and into his mouth, shaking him +again to rouse him, and several times pressing his sides--bellows +fashion--in a ridiculous effort to restore breathing. + +The old hat was leaky and I had to grip the rough-cut ventilations to +make it hold any water at all, and I was returning with a second supply +when with a great big heart-jump, I saw Jock heel over from his side and +with his fore legs flat on the ground raise himself to a resting +position, his head wagging groggily and his eyes blinking in a very +dazed way. + +He took no notice when I called his name, but at the touch of my hand +his ears moved up and the stumpy tail scraped feebly in the dead leaves. +He was stone deaf; but I did not know it then. He lapped a little of +the water, sneezed the blood away and licked his chops; and then, with +evident effort, stood up. + +But this is the picture which it is impossible to forget. The dog was +still so dazed and shaken that he reeled slightly, steadying himself by +spreading his legs well apart, and there followed a few seconds' pause +in which he stood thus; and then he began to walk forward with the +uncertain staggery walk of a toddling child. His jaws were set close; +his eyes were beady black, and he looked `fight' all over. He took no +notice of me; and I, never dreaming that he was after the koodoo, +watched the walk quicken to a laboured trot before I moved or called; +but he paid no heed to the call. For the first time in his life there +was rank open defiance of orders, and he trotted slowly along with his +nose to the ground. Then I understood; and, thinking he was maddened by +the kick and not quite responsible for himself, and--more than that-- +admiring his pluck far too much to be angry, I ran to bring him back; +but at a turn in his course he saw me coming, and this time he obeyed +the call and signal instantly, and with a limp air of disappointment +followed quietly back to the tree. + +The reason for Jock's persistent disobedience that day was not even +suspected then; I put everything down to the kick; and he seemed to me +to be `all wrong,' but indeed there was excuse enough for him. +Nevertheless it was puzzling that at times he should ignore me in +positively contemptuous fashion, and at others obey with all his old +readiness: I neither knew he was deaf, nor realised that the habit of +using certain signs and gestures when I spoke to him--and even of using +them in place of orders when silence was imperative--had made him almost +independent of the word of mouth. From that day he depended wholly upon +signs; for he never heard another sound. + +Jock came back with me and lay down; but he was not content. Presently +he rose again and remained standing with his back to me, looking +steadily in the direction taken by the koodoo. It was fine to see the +indomitable spirit, but I did not mean to let him try again; the koodoo +was as good as dead no doubt, yet a hundred koodoo would not have +tempted me to risk taking him out: to rest him and get him back to the +camp was the only thought. I was feeling very soft about the dog then. +And while I sat thus watching him and waiting for him to rest and +recover, once more and almost within reach of me he started off again. +But it was not as he had done before: this time he went with a spring +and a rush, and with head lowered and meaning business. In vain I +called and followed: he outpaced me and left me in a few strides. + +The koodoo had gone along the right bank of the donga which, commencing +just below the pool, extended half a mile or more down the flat valley. +Jock's rush was magnificent, but it was puzzling, and his direction was +even more so; for he made straight for the donga. + +I ran back for the rifle and followed, and he had already disappeared +down the steep bank of the donga when, through the trees on the opposite +side, I saw a koodoo cow moving along at a slow cramped walk. The donga +was a deep one with perpendicular sides, and in places even overhanging +crumbling banks, and I reached it as Jock, slipping and struggling, +worked his way up the other wall writhing and climbing through the tree +roots exposed by the floods. As he rushed out the koodoo saw him and +turned; there was just a chance--a second of time: a foot of space-- +before he got in the line of fire; and I took it. One hind leg gave +way, and in the short sidelong stagger that followed Jock jumped at the +koodoo's throat and they went down together. + +It took me several minutes to get through the donga, and by that time +the koodoo was dead and Jock was standing, wide-mouthed and panting, on +guard at its head: the second shot had been enough. + +It was an unexpected and puzzling end; and, in a way, not a welcome one, +as it meant delay in getting back. After the morning's experience there +was not much inclination for the skinning and cutting up of a big animal +and I set to work gathering branches and grass to hide the carcase, +meaning to send the boys back for it. + +But the day's experiences were not over yet: a low growl from Jock made +me look sharply round, to see half a dozen kaffirs coming through the +bush with a string of mongrel hounds at their heels. + +So that was the explanation of the koodoo's return to us! The natives, +a hunting party, had heard the shot and coming along in hopes of meat +had met and headed off the wounded koodoo, turning her back almost on +her own tracks. There was satisfaction in having the puzzle solved, but +the more practical point was that here was all the help I wanted; and +the boys readily agreed to skin the animal and carry the four quarters +to the camp for the gift of the rest. + +Then my trouble began with Jock. He flew at the first of the kaffir +dogs that sneaked up to sniff at the koodoo. Shouting at him produced +no effect whatever, and before I could get hold of him he had mauled the +animal pretty badly. After hauling him off I sat down in the shade, +with him beside me; but there were many dogs, and a succession of +affairs, and I, knowing nothing of his deafness, became thoroughly +exasperated and surprised by poor old Jock's behaviour. + +His instinct to defend our kills, which was always strong, was roused +that day beyond control, and his hatred of kaffir dogs--an implacable +one in any case--made a perfect fury of him; still, the sickening awful +feeling that came over me as he lay limp and lifeless was too fresh, and +it was not possible to be really angry; and after half a dozen of the +dogs had been badly handled there was something so comical in the way +they sheered off and eyed Jock that I could only laugh. They sneaked +behind bushes and tried to circumvent him in all sorts of ways, but fled +precipitately as soon as he moved a step or lowered his head and humped +his shoulders threateningly. Even the kaffir owners, who had begun to +look glum, broke into appreciative laughter and shouts of admiration for +the white man's dog. + +Jock kept up an unbroken string of growls, not loud, of course, but I +could feel them going all the while like a volcano's rumbling as my +restraining hand rested on him, and when the boys came up to skin the +koodoo I had to hold him down and shake him sharply. The dog was mad +with fight; he bristled all over; and no patting or talking produced +more than a flicker of his ears. The growling went on; the hair stood +up; the tail was quite unresponsive; his jaws were set like a vice; and +his eyes shone like two black diamonds. He had actually struggled to +get free of my hand when the boys began to skin, and they were so scared +by his resolute attempt that they would not start until I put him down +between my knees and held him. + +I was sitting against a tree only three or four yards from the koodoo, +and the boys, who had lighted a fire in anticipation of early tit-bits +which would grill while they worked, were getting along well with the +skinning, when one of them saw fit to pause in order to hold forth in +the native fashion on the glories of the chase and the might of the +white man. Jock's head lay on his paws and his mouth was shut like a +rat-trap; his growling grew louder as the bombastic nigger, all +unconscious of the wicked watching eyes behind him, waved his +blood-stained knife and warmed to his theme. + +"Great you thought yourself," proclaimed the orator, addressing the dead +koodoo in a long rigmarole which was only partly understood by me but +evidently much approved by the other boys as they stooped to their work, +"Swift of foot and strong of limb. But the white man came, and--there!" +I could not make out the words with any certainty; but whatever the +last word was, it was intended as a dramatic climax, and to lend +additional force to his point the orator let fly a resounding kick on +the koodoo's stomach. + +The effect was quite electrical! Like an arrow from the bow Jock flew +at him! The warning shout came too late, and as Jock's teeth fastened +in him behind the terrified boy gave a wild bound over the koodoo, +carrying Jock like a streaming coat-tail behind him. + +The work was stopped and the natives drew off in grave consultation. I +thought that they had had enough of Jock for one day and that they would +strike work and leave me, probably returning later on to steal the meat +while I went for help from the waggons. But it turned out that the +consultation was purely medical, and in a few minutes I had an +interesting exhibition of native doctoring. They laid the late orator +out face downwards, and one burly `brother' straddled him across the +small of the back; then after a little preliminary examination of the +four slits left by Jock's fangs, he proceeded to cauterise them with the +glowing ends of sundry sticks which an assistant took from the fire and +handed to him as required. The victim flapped his hands on the ground +and hallooed out "My babo! My babo!" but he did not struggle; and the +operator toasted away with methodical indifference. + +The orator stood it well! + +I took Jock away to the big tree near the pool: it was evident that he, +too, had had enough of it for one day. + + +CHAPTER TWENTY. + +JANTJE. + +There was no hunting for several days after the affair with the koodoo +cow. Jock looked worse the following day than he had done since +recovering consciousness: his head and neck swelled up so that chewing +was impossible and he could only lap a little soup or milk, and could +hardly bend his neck at all. + +On the morning of the second day Jim Makokel' came up with his +hostile-looking swagger and a cross worried look on his face, and in a +half-angry and wholly disgusted tone jerked out at me, "The dog is deaf. +I say so! Me! Makokela! Jock is deaf. He does not hear when you +speak. Deaf! yes, deaf!" + +Jim's tone grew fiercer as he warmed up; he seemed to hold me +responsible. The moment the boy spoke I knew it was true--it was the +only possible explanation of many little things; nevertheless I jumped +up hurriedly to try him in a dozen ways, hoping to find that he could +hear something. Jim was right; he was really stone deaf. It was +pathetic to find how each little subterfuge that drew his eyes from me +left him out of reach: it seemed as if a link had broken between us and +I had lost my hold. That was wrong, however! In a few days he began to +realise the loss of hearing; and after that, feeling so much greater +dependence on sight, his watchfulness increased so that nothing escaped +him. None of those who saw him in that year, when he was at his very +best, could bring themselves to believe that he was deaf. With me it +made differences both ways: something lost, and something gained. If he +could hear nothing, he saw more; the language of signs developed; and +taking it all round I believe the sense of mutual dependence for success +and of mutual understanding was greater than ever. + +Snowball went on to the retired list at the end of the next trip. + +Joey the Smith stood at the forge one day, trimming a red-hot +horse-shoe, when I rode up and dropping the reins over Snowball's head, +sang out "Morning, Joey!" + +Joey placed the chisel on the shoe with nice calculation of the amount +he wanted to snip off; his assistant boy swung the big hammer, and an +inch cube of red-hot iron dropped off. Then Joey looked up with, what +seemed to me, a conflict of innocent surprise and stifled amusement in +his face. The boy also turned to look, and--the insignificant incident +is curiously unforgettable--trod upon the piece of hot iron. "Look +where you're standing," said Joey reproachfully, as the smoke and smell +of burning skin-welt rose up; and the boy with a grunt of disgust, such +as we might give at a burned boot, looked to see what damage had been +done to his `unders.' It gave me an even better idea of a nigger's feet +than those thorn digging operations when we had to cut through a solid +whitish welt a third of an inch thick. + +Joey grinned openly at the boy; but he was thinking of Snowball. + +"I wonder you had the heart, Joey, I do indeed!" I said, shaking my +head at him. + +"You would have him, lad, there was no refusin' you! You arst so nice +and wanted him so bad!" + +"But how could you bear to part with him, Joey? It must have been like +selling one of the family." + +"'Es, Boy, 'es! We are a bit stoopid--our lot! Is he still such a +fool, or has he improved any with you?" + +"Joey, I've learned him--full up to the teeth. If he stops longer he +will become wicked, like me; and you would not be the ruin of an +innocent young thing trying to earn a living honestly, if he can?" + +"Come round behind the shop, Boy. I got a pony'll suit you proper!" He +gave a hearty laugh, and added "You can always get what you arsk for--if +it ain't worth having. Moril! Don't arsk! I never offered you +Snowball. This one's different. You can have him at cost price; and +that's an old twelve month account! Ten pounds. He's worth four of it! +Salted _an'_ shootin'! Shake!" and I gripped his grimy old fist +gladly, knowing it was jonnick and `a square deal.' + +That was Mungo Park--the long, strong, low-built, half-bred Basuto +pony--well-trained and without guile. + +I left Snowball with his previous owner, to use as required, and never +called back for him; and if this should meet the eye of Joey the Smith +he will know that I no longer hope his future life will be spent in +stalking a wart-eyed white horse in a phantom Bushveld. Mungo made +amends. + +There was a spot between the Komati and Crocodile rivers on the north +side of the road where the white man seldom passed and nature was +undisturbed; few knew of water there; it was too well concealed between +deep banks and the dense growth of thorns and large trees. + +The spot always had great attractions for me apart from the big game to +be found there. I used to steal along the banks of this lone water and +watch the smaller life of the bush. It was a delightful field for +naturalist and artist, but unfortunately we thought little of such +things, and knew even less; and now nothing is left from all the +glorious opportunities but the memory of an endless fascination and a +few facts that touch the human chord and will not submit to be +forgotten. + +There were plenty of birds--guinea-fowl, pheasant, partridge, knoorhaan +and bush pauw. Jock accompanied me of course when I took the +fowling-piece, but merely for companionship; for there was no need for +him on these occasions. I shot birds to get a change of food and +trusted to walking them up along the river banks and near drinking +pools; but one evening Jock came forward of his own accord to help me--a +sort of amused volunteer; and after that I always used him. + +He had been at my heels, apparently taking little interest in the +proceedings from the moment the first bird fell and he saw what the game +was; probably he was intelligently interested all the time but +considered it nothing to get excited about. After a time I saw him turn +aside from the line we had been taking and stroll off at a walking pace, +sniffing softly the while. When he had gone a dozen yards he stopped +and looked back at me; then he looked in front again with his head +slightly on one side, much as he would have done examining a beetle +rolling his ball. + +There were no signs of anything, yet the grass was short for those +parts, scarce a foot high, and close, soft and curly. A brace of +partridges rose a few feet from Jock, and he stood at ease calmly +watching them, without a sign or move to indicate more than amused +interest. The birds were absurdly tame and sailed so quietly along that +I hesitated at first to shoot; then the noise of the two shots put up +the largest number of partridges I have ever seen in one lot, and a line +of birds rose for perhaps sixty yards across our front. There was no +wild whirr and confusion: they rose in leisurely fashion as if told to +move on, sailing infinitely slowly down the slope to the thorns near the +donga. Running my eye along the line I counted them in twos up to +between thirty and forty; and that I could not have been more than half. +How many coveys had packed there, and for what purpose, and whether +they came every evening, were questions which one would like answered +now; but they were not of sufficient interest then to encourage a second +visit another evening. The birds sailed quietly into the little wood, +and many of them alighted on branches of the larger trees. It is the +only time I have seen a partridge in a tree; but when one comes to think +it out, it seems commonsense that, in a country teeming with vermin and +night-prowlers, all birds should sleep off the ground. Perhaps they do! + +There were numbers of little squirrel-like creatures there too. Our +fellows used to call them ground-squirrels and "tree-rats"; because they +live underground, yet climb trees readily in search of food; they were +little fellows like meerkats, with bushy tails ringed in brown, black +and white, of which the waggon-boys made decorations for their slouch +hats. + +Jock wanted a go at them: they did not appear quite so much beneath +notice as the birds. + +Along the water's edge one came on the lagavaans, huge repulsive +water-lizards three to four feet long, like crocodiles in miniature, +sunning themselves in some favourite spot in the margin of the reeds or +on the edge of the bank; they give one the jumps by the suddenness of +their rush through the reeds and plunge into deep water. + +There were otters too, big black-brown fierce fellows, to be seen +swimming silently close under the banks. I got a couple of them, but +was always nervous of letting Jock into the water after things, as one +never knew where the crocodile lurked. He got an ugly bite from one old +dog-otter which I shot in shallow water; and, mortally wounded as he +was, the otter put up a rare good fight before Jock finally hauled him +out. + +Then there were the cane-rats, considered by some most excellent and +delicate of meats, as big and tender as small sucking-pigs. The +cane-rat, living and dead, I was one of the stock surprises, and the +subject of jokes and tricks upon the unsuspecting: there seems to be no +sort of ground for associating the extraordinary fat thing, gliding +among the reeds or swimming silently under the banks, with either its +live capacity of rat or its more attractive dead _role_ of roast +sucking-pig. + +The hardened ones enjoyed setting this treat before the hungry and +unsuspecting, and, after a hearty meal, announcing--"That was roast rat: +good, isn't it?" The memory of one experience gives me water in the +gills now! It was unpleasant, but not equal to the nausea and upheaval +which supervened when, after a very savoury stew of delicate white meat, +we were shown the fresh skin of a monkey hanging from the end of the +buck-rails, with the head drooping forward, eyes closed, arms dangling +lifeless, and limp open hands--a ghastly caricature of some hanged +human, shrivelled and shrunk within its clothes of skin. I felt like a +cannibal. + +The water tortoises in the silent pools, grotesque muddy fellows, were +full of interest to the quiet watcher, and better that way than as the +"turtle soup" which once or twice we ventured on and tried to think was +good! + +There were certain hours of the day when it was more pleasant and +profitable to lie in the shade and rest. It is the time of rest for the +Bushveld--that spell about middle-day; and yet if one remains quiet, +there is generally something to see and something worth watching. There +were the insects on the ground about one which would not otherwise be +seen at all; there were caterpillars clad in spiky armour made of tiny +fragments of grass--fair defence no doubt against some enemies and a +most marvellous disguise; other caterpillars clad in bark, impossible to +detect until they moved; there were grasshoppers like leaves, and +irregularly shaped stick insects, with legs as bulky as the body, and +all jointed by knots like irregular twigs--wonderful mimetic creatures. + +Jock often found these things for me. Something would move and interest +him; and when I saw him stand up and examine a thing at his feet, +turning it over with his nose or giving it a scrape with his paw, it was +usually worth joining in the inspection. The Hottentot-gods always +attracted him as they reared up and `prayed' before him; quaint things, +with tiny heads and thin necks and enormous eyes, that sat up with fore +legs raised to pray, as a pet dog sits up and begs. + +One day I was watching the ants as they travelled along their route-- +sometimes stopping to hobnob with those they met, sometimes hurrying +past, and sometimes turning as though sent back on a message or reminded +of something forgotten--when a little dry brown bean lying in a spot of +sunlight gave a jump of an inch or two. At first it seemed that I must +have unknowingly moved some twig or grass stem that flicked it; but as I +watched it there was another vigorous jump. I took it up and examined +it but there was nothing unusual about it, it was just a common light +brown bean with no peculiarities or marks; it was a real puzzle, a most +surprising and ridiculous one. I found half a dozen more in the same +place; but it was some days before we discovered the secret. Domiciled +in each of them was a very small but very energetic worm, with a +trap-door or stopper on his one end, so artfully contrived that it was +almost impossible with the naked eye to locate the spot where the hole +was. The worm objected to too much heat and if the beans were placed in +the sun or near the fire the weird astonishing jumping would commence. + +The beans were good for jumping for several months, and once in Delagoa, +one of our party put some on a plate in the sun beside a fellow who had +been doing himself too well for some time previously: he had become a +perfect nuisance to us and we could not get rid of him. He had a mouth +full of bread, and a mug of coffee on the way to help it down, when the +first bean jumped. He gave a sort of peck, blinked several times to +clear his eyes, and then with his left hand pulled slightly at his +collar, as though to ease it. Then came another jump, and his mouth +opened slowly and his eyes got big. The plate being hollow and glazed +was not a fair field for the jumpers--they could not escape; and in +about half a minute eight or ten beans were having a rough and tumble. + +With a white scared face our guest slowly lowered his mug, screened his +eyes with the other hand, and after fighting down the mouthful of bread, +got up and walked off without a word. + +We tried to smother our laughter, but some one's choking made him look +back and he saw the whole lot of us in various stages of convulsions. +He made one rude remark, and went on; but every one he met that day made +some allusion to beans, and he took the Durban steamer next morning. + +The insect life was prodigious in its numbers and variety; and the +birds, the beasts, and the reptiles were all interesting. There is a +goodness-knows-what-will-turn-up-next atmosphere about the Bushveld +which is, I fancy, unique. The story of the curate, armed with a +butterfly net, coming face to face with a black-maned lion may or may +not be true--in fact; but it is true enough as an illustration; and it +is no more absurd or unlikely than the meeting at five yards of a +lioness and a fever-stricken lad carrying a white green-lined umbrella-- +which is true! The boy stood and looked: the lioness did the same. +"She seemed to think I was not worth eating, so she walked off," he used +to say--and he was Trooper 242 of the Imperial Light Horse who went back +under fire for wounded comrades and was killed as he brought the last +one out. + +I had an old cross-bred Hottentot-Bushman boy once--one could not tell +which lot he favoured--who was full of the folklore stories and +superstitions of his strange and dying race, which he half humorously +and half seriously blended with his own knowledge and hunting +experiences. Jantje had the ugly wrinkled dry-leather face of his +breed, with hollow cheeks, high cheek-bones, and little pinched eyes, so +small and so deeply set that no one ever saw the colour of them; the +pepper-corns of tight wiry wool that did duty for hair were sparsely +scattered over his head like the stunted bushes in the desert; and his +face and head were seamed with scars too numerous to count, the +souvenirs of his drunken brawls. He resembled a tame monkey rather than +a human creature, being, like so many of his kind without the moral side +or qualities of human nature which go to mark the distinction between +man and monkey. He was normally most cheery and obliging; but it meant +nothing, for in a moment the monkey would peep out, vicious, treacherous +and unrestrained. Honesty, sobriety, gratitude, truth, fidelity, and +humanity were impossible to him: it seemed as if even the germs were not +there to cultivate, and the material with which to work did not exist. +He had certain make-believe substitutes, which had in a sense been +grafted on to his nature, and appeared to work, while there was no real +use for them; they made a show, until they were tested; one took them +for granted, as long as they were not disproved: it was a skin graft +only, and there seemed to be no real `union' possible between them and +the tough alien stock. He differed in character and nature from the +Zulu as much as he did from the white man; he was as void of principle +as--well, as his next of kin, the monkey; yet, while without either +shame of, or contempt for, cowardice; he was wholly without fear of +physical danger, having a sort of fatalist's indifference to it; and +that was something to set off against his moral deficit. I put Jantje +on to wash clothes the day he turned up at the waggons to look for work, +and as he knelt on the rocks stripped to the waist I noticed a very +curious knotted line running up his right side from the lowest rib into +the armpit. The line was whiter than his yellow skin; over each rib +there was a knot or widening in the line; and under the arm there was a +big splotchy star--all markings of some curious wound. + +He laughed almost hysterically, his eyes disappearing altogether and +every tooth showing, as I lifted his arm to investigate; and then in +high-pitched falsetto tones he shouted in a sort of ecstasy of delight, +"Die ouw buffels, Baas! Die buffels bull, Baas!" + +"Buffalo! Did he toss you?" I asked. Jantje seemed to think it the +best joke in the world and with constant squeals of laughter and graphic +gestures gabbled off his account. + +His master, it appears, had shot at and slightly wounded the buffalo, +and Jantje had been placed at one exit from the bush to prevent the herd +from breaking away. As they came towards him he fired at the foremost +one; but before he could reload the wounded bull made for him and he ran +for dear life to the only tree near--one of the flat-topped thorns. He +heard the thundering hoofs and the snorting breath behind, but raced on +hoping to reach the tree and dodge behind it; a few yards short, +however, the bull caught him, in spite of a jump aside, and flung him +with one toss right on top of the thorn-tree. + +When he recovered consciousness he was lying face upwards in the sun, +with nothing to rest his head on and only sticks and thorns around him. +He did not know where he was or what had happened; he tried to move, but +one arm was useless and the effort made him slip and sag, and he thought +he was falling through the earth. Presently he heard regular tramping +underneath him and the breath of a big animal: and the whole incident +came back to him. By feeling about cautiously he at last located the +biggest branch under him, and getting a grip on this he managed to turn +over and ease his right side. He could then see the buffalo: it had +tramped a circle round the tree and was doing sentry over him. Now and +again the huge creature stopped to sniff, snort and stamp, and then +resumed the round, perhaps the reverse way. The buffalo could not see +him and never once looked up, but glared about at its own accustomed +level; and, relying entirely on its sense of smell, it kept up the +relentless vengeful watch for hours, always stopping in the same place, +to leeward, to satisfy itself that the enemy had not escaped. + +Late in the afternoon the buffalo, for the first time, suddenly came to +a stand on the windward side of the tree, and after a good minute's +silence turned its tail on Jantje and with angry sniffs and tosses +stepped swiftly and resolutely forward some paces. There was nothing to +be seen; but Jantje judged the position and yelled out a warning to his +master whom he guessed to be coming through the bush to look for him, +and at the same time he made what noise he could in the tree top to make +the buffalo think he was coming down. The animal looked round from time +to time with swings and tosses of the head and threatening angry +sneezes, much as one sees a cow do when standing between her young calf +and threatened danger: it was defending Jantje, for his own purposes, +and facing the danger. + +For many minutes there was dead silence: no answer came to Jantje's +call, and the bull stood its ground glaring and sniffing towards the +bush. At last there was a heavy thud below, instantly followed by the +report of the rifle--the bullet came faster than the sound; the buffalo +gave a heavy plunge and with a grunting sob slid forward on its chest. + +Round the camp fire at night Jantje used to tell tales in which fact, +fancy, and superstition were curiously mingled; and Jantje when not out +of humour was free with his stories. The boys, for whose benefit they +were told, listened open-mouthed; and I often stood outside the ring of +gaping boys at their fire, an interested listener. + +The tale of his experiences with the honey-bird which he had cheated of +its share was the first I heard him tell. Who could say how much was +fact, how much fancy, and how much the superstitions of his race? Not +even Jantje knew that! He believed it all. + +The Honey-bird met him one day with cheery cheep-cheep, and as he +whistled in reply it led him to an old tree where the beehive was: it +was a small hive, and Jantje was hungry; so he ate it all. All the time +he was eating, the bird kept fluttering about, calling anxiously, and +expecting some honey or fat young bees to be thrown out for it; and when +he had finished, the bird came down and searched in vain for its share. +As he walked away the guilty Jantje noticed that the indignant bird +followed him with angry cries and threats. + +All day long he failed to find game; whenever there seemed to be a +chance an angry honey-bird would appear ahead of him and cry a warning +to the game; and that night as he came back, empty-handed and hungry, +all the portents of bad luck came to him in turn. An owl screeched +three times over his head; a goat-sucker with its long wavy wings and +tail flitted before him in swoops and rings in most ghostly silence--and +there is nothing more ghostly than that flappy wavy soundless flitting +of the goat-sucker; a jackal trotted persistently in front looking back +at him; and a striped hyena, humpbacked, savage, and solitary, stalked +by in silence, and glared. + +At night as he lay unable to sleep the bats came and made faces at him; +a night adder rose up before his face and slithered out its forked +tongue--the two black beady eyes glinting the firelight back; and +whichever way he looked there was a honey-bird, silent and angry, yet +with a look of satisfaction, as it watched. So it went all night: no +sleep for him; no rest! + +In the morning he rose early and taking his gun and chopper set out in +search of hives: he would give all to the honey-bird he had cheated, and +thus make amends. + +He had not gone far before, to his great delight, there came a welcome +chattering in answer to his low whistle, and the busy little fellow flew +up to show himself and promptly led the way, going ahead ten to twenty +yards at a flight. Jantje followed eagerly until they came to a small +donga with a sandy bottom, and then the honey-bird calling briskly, +fluttered from tree to tree on either bank, leading him on. + +Jantje, thinking the hive must be near by, was walking slowly along the +sandy bed and looking upwards in the trees, when something on the ground +caught his eye and he sprang back just as the head of a big puff-adder +struck where his bare foot had been a moment before. With one swing of +his chopper he killed it; he took the skin off for an ornament, the +poison-glands for medicine, and the fangs for charms, and then whistled +and looked about for the honey-bird; but it had gone. + +A little later on, however, he came upon another, and it led him to a +big and shady wild fig tree. The honey-bird flew to the trunk itself +and cheeped and chattered there, and Jantje put down his gun and looked +about for an easy place to climb. As he peered through the foliage he +met a pair of large green eyes looking full into his: on a big limb of +the tree lay a tiger, still as death, with its head resting on its paws, +watching him with a cat-like eagerness for its prey. Jantje hooked his +toe in the reim sling of his old gun and slowly gathered it up without +moving his eyes from the tiger's, and backing away slowly, foot by foot, +he got out into the sunshine and made off as fast as he could. + +It was the honey-bird's revenge: he knew it then! + +He sat down on some bare ground to think what next to do; for he knew he +must die if he did not find honey and make good a hundred times what he +had cheated. + +All day long he kept meeting honey-birds and following them; but he +would no longer follow them into the bad places, for he could not tell +whether they were new birds or the one he had robbed! Once he had +nearly been caught; the bird had perched on an old ant-heap, and Jantje, +thinking there was a ground hive there, walked boldly forward. A small +misshapen tree grew out of the ant-heap, and one of the twisted branches +caught his eye because of the thick ring around it: it was the coil of a +long green mamba; and far below that, half hidden by the leaves, hung +the snake's head with the neck gathered in half-loop coils ready to +strike at him. + +After that Jantje kept in the open, searching for himself among rocks +and in all the old dead trees for the tell-tale stains that mark the +hive's entrance; but he had no luck, and when he reached the river in +the early afternoon he was glad of a cool drink and a place to rest. + +For a couple of hours he had seen no honey-birds, and it seemed that at +last his pursuer had given him up, for that day at least. As he sat in +the shade of the high bank, however, with the river only a few yards +from his feet he heard again a faint chattering: it came from the +river-side beyond a turn in the bank, and it was too far away for the +bird to have seen Jantje from where it called, so he had no doubt about +this being a new bird. It seemed to him a glorious piece of luck that +he should find honey by the aid of a strange bird and be able to take +half of it back to the hive he had emptied the day before and leave it +there for the cheated bird. + +There was a beach of pebbles and rocks between the high bank and the +river, and as Jantje walked along it on the keen lookout for the bird, +he spotted it sitting on a root half-way down the bank some twenty yards +ahead. Close to where the chattering bird perched there was a break in +the pebbly beach, and there shallow water extended up to the +perpendicular bank. In the middle of this little stretch of water, and +conveniently placed as a stepping-stone, there was a black rock, and the +bare-footed Jantje stepped noiselessly from stone to stone towards lit. + +An alarmed cane-rat, cut off by Jantje from the river, ran along the +foot of the bank to avoid him; but when it reached the little patch of +shallow water it suddenly doubled back in fright and raced under the +boy's feet into the river. + +Jantje stopped! He did not know why; but there seemed to be something +wrong. Something had frightened the cane-rat back on to him, and he +stared hard at the bank and the stretch of beach ahead of him. Then the +rock he meant to step on to gave a heave, and a long blackish thing +curved towards him; he sprang into the air as high as he could, and the +crocodile's tail swept under his feet! + +Jantje fled back like a buck--the rattle on the stones behind him and +crash of reeds putting yards into every bound. + +For four days he stayed in camp waiting for some one to find a hive and +give him honey enough to make his peace; and then, for an old snuff-box +and a little powder, he bought a huge basket full of comb, young and +old, from a kaffir woman at one of the kraals some miles away, and put +it all at the foot of the tree he had cleaned out. + +Then he had peace. + +The boys believed every word of that story: so, I am sure, did Jantje +himself. The buffalo story was obviously true, and Jantje thought +nothing of it: the honey-bird story was not, yet he gloried in it; it +touched his superstitious nature, and it was impossible for him to tell +the truth or to separate fact from fancy and superstition. + +How much of fact there may have been in it I cannot say: honey-birds +gave me many a wild-goose chase, but when they led to anything at all it +was to hives, and not to snakes, tigers and crocodiles. Perhaps it is +right to own up that I never cheated a honey-bird! We pretended to +laugh at the superstition, but we left some honey all the same--just for +luck! After all, as we used to say, the bird earned its share and +deserved encouragement. + +Round the camp fire at nights it was no uncommon thing to see some one +jump up and let out with whatever was handiest at some poisonous +intruder. There was always plenty of dead wood about and we piled on +big branches and logs freely, and as the ends burnt to ashes in the +heart of the fire we kept pushing the logs further in. Of course, dead +trees are the home of all sorts of `creepy-crawly' things, and as the +log warmed up and the fire eat into the decayed heart and drove thick +hot smoke through the cracks and corridors and secret places in the logs +the occupants would come scuttling out at the butt ends. Small snakes +were common--the big ones usually clearing when the log was first +disturbed--and they slipped away into the darkness giving hard quick +glances about them; but scorpions, centipedes and all sorts of spiders +were by far the most numerous. + +Occasionally in the mornings we found snakes under our blankets, where +they had worked in during the night for the warmth of the human body; +but no one was bitten, and one made a practice of getting up at once, +and with one movement, so that unwelcome visitors should not be warned +or provoked by any preliminary rolling. The scorpions, centipedes and +tarantulas seemed to be more objectionable; but they were quite as +anxious to get away as we were, and it is wonderful how little damage is +done. + +One night when we had been watching them coming out of a big honeycombed +log like the animals from the Ark, and were commenting on the +astonishing number and variety of these things, I heard Jantje conveying +in high-pitched tones fanciful bits of information to the credulous +waggon-boys. When he found that we too were listening--and Jantje had +the storyteller's love for a `gallery'--he turned our way and dropped +into a jargon of broken English, helped out with Hottentot-Dutch, which +it is impossible to reproduce in intelligible form. + +He had made some allusion to `the great battle,' and when I asked for an +explanation he told us the story. It is well enough known in South +Africa, and similar stories are to be found in the folklore of other +countries, but it had a special interest for us in that Jantje gave it +as having come to him from his own people. He called it "The Great +Battle between the Things of the Earth and the Things of the Air." + +For a long time there had been jealousy between the Things of the Earth +and the Things of the Air, each claiming superiority for themselves; +each could do something the others could not do; and each thought their +powers greater and their qualities superior. One day a number of them +happened to meet on an open plain near the river's bank, and the game of +brag began again as usual. At last the Lion, who was very cross, turned +to the old Black Aasvogel, as he sat half asleep on a dead tree, and +challenged him. + +"You only eat the dead: you steal where others kill. It is all talk +with you; you will not fight!" + +The Aasvogel said nothing, but let his bald head and bare neck settle +down between his shoulders, and closed his eyes. + +"He wakes up soon enough when we find him squatting above the carcase," +said the Jackal. "See him flop along then." + +"When _we_ find him!" the Aasvogel said, opening his eyes wide. +"Sneaking prowler of the night! Little bastard of the Striped Thief!" + +"Come down and fight," snarled the Hyena angrily. "Thief and scavenger +yourself!" + +So the Things of the Air gathered about and joined in backing the Black +Aasvogel; and the Things of the Earth kept on challenging them to come +down and have it out; but nobody could hear anything because the Jackal +yapped incessantly and the Go'way bird, with its feathers all on end and +its neck craned out, screamed itself drunk with passion. + +Then the Eagle spoke out: + +"You have talked enough. Strike--strike for the eyes!" and he swept +down close to the Lion's head, but swerving to avoid the big paw that +darted out at him, he struck in passing at the Jackal, and took off part +of his ear. + +"I am killed! I am killed!" screamed the Jackal, racing for a hole to +hide in. But the other beasts laughed at him; and when the Lion called +them up and bade them take their places in the field for the great +battle, the Jackal walked close behind him holding his head on one side +and showing each one what the Eagle had done. + +"Where is my place?" asked the Crocodile, in a soft voice, from the bank +where no one had noticed him come up. + +The Things of the Earth that were near him moved quietly away. + +"Your place is in the water," the Lion answered. "Coward and traitor +whom no one trusts! Who would fight with his back to you?" + +The Crocodile laughed softly and rolled his green eyes from one to +another; and they moved still further away. + +"What am I?" asked the Ostrich. "Kindred of the Birds, I am of the +winged ones; yet I cannot fight with them!" + +"Let him fly!" said the Jackal, grinning, "and we shall then see to whom +he belongs! Fly, old Three Sticks! Fly!" + +The Ostrich ran at him, waltzing and darting with wings outspread, but +the Jackal dodged away under the Lion and squealed out, "Take your feet +off the ground, Clumsy, and fly!" + +Then it was arranged that there should be two Umpires, one for each +party, and that the Umpires should stand on two high hills where all +could see them. The Ostrich was made Umpire for the Things of the Air, +and as long as the fight went well with his party he was to hold his +head high so that the Things of the Air might see the long thin neck +upright and, knowing that all was well, fight on. + +The Jackal asked that he might be Umpire for the Things of the Earth. + +"You are too small to be seen!" objected the Lion gruffly. + +"No! No!" urged the Jackal, "I will stand on a big ant-heap and hold my +bushy tail on high where all will see it shining silver and gold in the +sunlight." + +"Good!" said the Lion. "It is better so, perhaps, for you would never +fight; and as soon as one begins to run, others follow!" + +The Things of the Air gathered in their numbers, and the Eagle led them, +showing them how to make up for their weakness by coming swiftly down in +numbers where they found their enemies alone or weak; how to keep the +sun behind them so that it would shine in their enemies' eyes and blind +them; and how the loud-voiced ones should attack on the rear and scream +suddenly, while those with bill and claw swooped down in front and +struck at the eyes. + +And for a time it went well with the Things of the Air. The little +birds and locusts and butterflies came in clouds about the Lion and he +could see nothing as he moved from place to place; and the Things of the +Earth were confused by these sudden attacks; and, giving up the fight, +began to flee from their places. + +Then the Jackal, believing that he would not be found out, cheated: he +kept his tail up to make them think they were not beaten. The Lion +roared to them, so that all could hear, to watch the hill where the +Jackal stood and see the sign of victory; and the Things of the Earth, +being strong, gathered together again and withstood the enemy and drove +them off. + +The battle was going against the Things of the Air when the Go'way bird +came to the Eagle and said: + +"It is the Jackal who has done this. Long ago we had won; but, Cheat +and Coward, he kept his tail aloft and his people have returned and are +winning now." + +Then the Eagle, looking round the field, said, "Send me the Bee." + +And when the Bee came the Eagle told him what to do; and setting quietly +about his work, as his habit is, he made a circuit through the trees +that brought him to the hill where the Jackal watched from the ant-heap. + +While the Jackal stood there with his mouth open and tongue out, +laughing to see how his cheating had succeeded, the Bee came up quietly +behind and, as Jantje put it, "stuck him from hereafter!" + +The Jackal gave a scream of pain and, tucking his tail down, jumped from +the ant-heap and ran away into the bush; and when the Things of the +Earth saw the signal go down they thought that all was lost, and fled. + +So was the Great Battle won! + + +CHAPTER TWENTY ONE. + +MONKEYS AND WILDEBEESTE. + +Mungo was not a perfect mount, but he was a great improvement on +Snowball; he had a wretched walk, and led almost as badly as his +predecessor; but this did not matter so much because he could be driven +like a pack donkey and relied on not to play pranks. In a gallop after +game he was much faster than Snowball, having a wonderfully long stride +for so low a pony. + +A horse made a good deal of difference in the hunting in many ways, not +the least of which was that some sort of excursion was possible on most +days. One could go further in the time available and, even if delayed, +still be pretty sure of catching up to the waggons without much +difficulty. + +Sometimes after a long night's trekking I would start off after +breakfast for some `likely' spot, off-saddle there in a shady place, +sleep during the heat of the day, and after a billy of tea start hunting +towards the waggons in the afternoon. + +It was in such a spot on the Komati River, a couple of hundred yards +from the bank, that on one occasion I settled down to make up lost +ground in the matter of sleep, and with Mungo knee-haltered in good +grass and Jock beside me, I lay flat on my back with hat covering my +eyes and was soon comfortably asleep. + +The sleep had lasted a couple of hours when I began to dream that it was +raining and woke up in the belief that a hail storm--following the +rain--was just breaking over me. I started up to find all just as it +had been, and the sunlight beyond the big tree so glaring as to make the +eyes ache. Through half-closed lids I saw Mungo lying down asleep and +made out Jock standing some yards away quietly watching me. + +With a yawn and stretch I lay back again; sleep was over but a good lazy +rest was welcome: it had been earned, and, most comforting of all, there +was nothing else to be done. In the doze that followed I was surprised +to feel quite distinctly something like a drop of rain strike my leg, +and then another on my hat. + +"Hang it all, it is raining," I said, sitting up again and quite wide +awake this time. There was Jock still looking at me, but only for the +moment of moving, it appears; for, a minute later he looked up into the +tree above me with ears cocked, head on one side, and tail held lazily +on the horizontal and moving slowly from time to time. + +It was his look of interested amusement. + +A couple of leaves fluttered down, and then the half-eaten pip of a +`wooden orange' struck me in the face as I lay back again to see what +was going on above. The pip gave me the line, and away up among the +thick dark foliage I saw a little old face looking down at me; the quick +restless eyes were watchfully on the move, and the mouth partly opened +in the shape of an O--face and attitude together a vivid expression of +surprise and indignation combined with breathless interest. + +As my eyes fairly met those above me, the monkey ducked its head forward +and promptly `made a face' at me without uttering a sound. Then others +showed up in different places, and whole figures became visible now as +the monkeys stole softly along the branches to get a better look at Jock +and me: there were a couple of dozen of them of all sizes. + +They are the liveliest, most restless, and most inquisitive of +creatures; ludicrously nervous and excitable; quick to chattering anger +and bursts of hysterical passion, which are intensely comical, +especially when they have been scared. They are creatures whose method +of progress most readily betrays them by the swaying of a branch or +quivering of leaves, yet they can steal about and melt away at will, +like small grey ghosts, silent as the grave. + +I had often tried to trap them, but never succeeded: Jantje caught them, +as he caught everything, with cunning that out-matched his wilder +kindred; pitfalls, nooses, whip-traps, fall-traps, foot-snares, drags, +slip-knots of all kinds, and tricks that I cannot now remember, were in +his repertory; but he disliked showing his traps, and when told to +explain he would half sulkily show one of the common kind. + +The day he caught the monkey he was well pleased, and may possibly have +told the truth. Baboons and monkeys, he said, can count just like men, +but they can only count two! If one man goes into a mealie field and +waits for them with a gun, their sentry will see him, and he may wait +for ever; if two go and one remains, it is useless, for they realise +that only one has come out where two went in; but if three go in, one +may remain behind to lie in wait for them, for the monkeys, seeing more +than one return, will invade the mealie field as soon as the two are +safely out of the way. That was only Jantje's explanation of the +well-known fact that monkeys and baboons know the difference between one +and more than one. + +But, as Jantje explained, their cleverness helped him to catch them. He +went alone and came away alone, leaving his trap behind, knowing that +they were watching his every movement, but knowing also that their +intense curiosity would draw them to it the moment it seemed safe. The +trap he used was an old calabash or gourd with a round hole in it about +an inch in diameter; and a few pumpkin seeds and mealies and a hard +crust of bread, just small enough to get into the calabash, formed the +bait. + +After fastening the gourd by a cord to a small stump, he left it lying +on its side on the ground where he had been sitting. A few crumbs and +seeds were dropped near it and the rest placed in the gourd, with one or +two showing in the mouth. Then he walked off on the side where he would +be longest in view, and when well out of sight sped round in a circuit +to a previously selected spot where he could get close up again and +watch. + +The foremost monkey was already on the ground when he got back and +others were hanging from low branches or clinging to the stems, ready to +drop or retreat. Then began the grunts and careful timid approaches, +such as one sees in a party of children hunting for the hidden `ghost' +who is expected to appear suddenly and chase them; next, the chattering +garrulous warnings and protests from the timid ones--the females--in the +upper branches; the sudden start and scurry of one of the youngsters; +and the scare communicated to all, making even the leader jump back a +pace; then his angry grunt and loud scolding of the frightened ones-- +angry because they had given him a fright, and loud because he was +reassuring himself. + +After a pause they began the careful roundabout approach and the +squatting and waiting, making pretences of not being particularly +interested, while their quick eyes watched everything; then the deft +picking up of one thing--instantly dropped again, as one picks up a +roasted chestnut and drops it in the same movement, in case it should be +hot; and finally the greedy scramble and chatter. + +I have seen all that, but not, alas, the successful ending, when trying +to imitate Jantje's methods. Jantje waited until the tugs at the gourd +became serious, and then, knowing that the smaller things had been taken +out or shaken out and eaten and that some enterprising monkey had put +its arm into the hole and grabbed the crust, he ran out. + +A monkey rarely lets go any food it has grabbed, and when, as in this +case, the hand is jammed in a narrow neck, the letting go cannot easily +be done instinctively or inadvertently; the act requires a deliberate +effort. So Jantje caught his monkey, and flinging his ragged coat over +the captive sat down to make it safe. By pushing the monkey's arm +deeper into the gourd the crust became released and the hand freed; he +then gradually shifted the monkey about until he got the head into the +shoulders of the loose old coat, and thence into the sleeve; and worked +away at this until he had the creature as helpless as a mummy with the +head appearing at the cuff-opening and the body jammed in the sleeve +like a bulging overstuffed sausage. The monkey struggled, screamed, +chattered, made faces, and cried like a child; but Jantje gripping it +between his knees worked away unmoved. + +He next took the cord from the calabash and tied one end securely round +the monkey's neck, to the shrinking horror of that individual, and the +other end to a stout bush stick about seven or eight feet long; and then +slipped monkey cord and stick back through the sleeve and had his +captive safe; the cord prevented it from getting away, and the stick +from getting too close and biting him. When they sat opposite and +pulled faces at each other the family likeness was surprising. + +The grimacing little imps invariably tempt one to tease or chase them, +just to see their antics and methods; and when I rose, openly watching +them and stepping about for a better view, they abandoned the silent +methods and bounded freely from branch to branch for fresh cover, always +ducking behind something if I pointed the gun or a stick or even my arm +at them, and getting into paroxysms of rage and leaning over slang and +cheek me whenever it seemed safe. + +Jock was full of excitement, thoroughly warmed up and anxious to be at +them, running about from place to place to watch them, tacking and +turning and jumping for better views, and now and then running to the +trunk and scraping at it. Whenever he did this there was a moment's +silence; the idea of playing a trick on them struck me and I caught Jock +up and put him in the fork of a big main branch about six feet from the +ground. The effect was magical: the whole of the top of the tree seemed +to whip and rustle at once, and in two seconds there was not a monkey +left. + +Then a wave in the top of a small tree some distance off betrayed them +and we gave chase--a useless romping schoolboy chase. They were in the +small trees away from the river and it was easy to see and follow them; +and to add to the fun and excitement I threw stones at the branches +behind them. Their excitement and alarm then became hysterical, and as +we darted about to head them off they were several times obliged to +scamper a few yards along the ground to avoid me and gain other trees. +It was then that Jock enjoyed himself most: he ran at them and made +flying leaps and snaps as they sprang up the trees out of reach. It was +like a caricature of children in one of their make-believe chases; the +screams, grimaces, and actions were so human that it would have seemed +like a tragedy had one of them been hurt. They got away into the big +trees once more, to Jock's disappointment but greatly to my relief; for +I was quite pumped from the romp and laughter. + +The river at this point was broken into several sluices by islands +formed of piles of rocks on which there were a few stunted trees and +dense growths of tall reeds, and here and there little spits and fringes +of white sand were visible. There was plenty of small game in that +part, and it was a great place for crocodiles. As we were then about +half a mile below where Mungo had been left I strolled along the bank on +the look out for a shot, frequently stopping to examine +suspicious-looking rocks on the sand spits or at the borders of the reed +fringes on the little islands. + +The shooting of crocodiles was an act of war: it was enmity and not +sport or a desire for trophies that prompted it, and when it did not +interfere with other chances we never missed a practice shot at these +fellows. I picked out several `rocks,' so suspicious looking that I +would have had a shot at them had there been a clear chance, and twice, +while I was trying to make them out, they slid silently into the water +before there was time to fire. + +However, further on there came a better chance than any: there was +something so peculiar about the look of this `rock' that I picked a good +spot and sat down to watch it; and presently the part nearest me turned +slightly, just enough to show that it was a crocodile lying on the flat +sand with his nose towards me and his tail hidden in the reeds. It was +fifty yards away, and from where I sat there was not much to aim at, as +a Martini bullet would glance from almost any part of that polished hard +case if it struck at such an angle. + +I was sitting on the bank above the shelving beach of the river on which +a dense mass of reeds grew, and the waving feathery tops partly obscured +the sight. I know the bullet hit him somewhere, because he bounded with +astonishing strength and activity several feet in the air and his tail +slashed through the reeds like a mighty scythe. The huge jaws opened +and he gave a horrible angry bellow--something between a roar and a +snarl--as he plunged into the river, sending masses of spray and water +flying every way. He made straight across, apparently at me, swimming +on top of the water at amazing speed and throwing up a wave on either +side and a white swirl of foam from the propelling tail. + +It was certainly a most surprising and unheard-of proceeding, and as he +reached my side of the stream, and because hidden from me by the screen +of reeds at my feet, I turned and bolted. It may be that he came at me +with murderous intent; or it may be that, blinded by rage or pain, he +came towards me simply because he happened to be facing that way; but, +whatever the reason, it was painfully clear that if he meant business he +would be on to me before it was possible to see him in the reeds. That +was enough for me. It had never occurred to me that there was going to +be any fun in this for the crocodile; but one's sense of humour and +justice was always being stimulated in the Bushveld. + +With twenty yards of open ground between us I turned and waited; but no +crocodile appeared, nor was there a sound to be heard in the reeds. A +few minutes wait; a cautious return; a careful scrutiny; and then resort +to sticks and stones; but all to no purpose: there was neither sign nor +sound of the crocodile; and not being disposed to go into the reeds to +look for something which I did not want, but might want me, I returned +to Mungo--a little wiser, it is true, but not unduly `heady' on that +account. + +Half an hour's jogging along the bank having failed to propose anything, +I struck away from the river taking a line through the bush towards +camp, and eventually came across a small herd of blue wildebeeste. +Mungo's pricked ears and raised head warned me; but the grass being high +it was not easy to see enough of them from the ground to place an +effective shot, and before a chance offered they moved off slowly. I +walked after them, leading Mungo and trying to get a fair opening on +slightly higher ground. + +Presently half a dozen blackish things appeared above the tall grass; +they were the heads of the wildebeeste--all turned one way, and all +looking at us with ears wide spread. Only the upper halves of the heads +were visible through the thinner tops of the grass, and even an ordinary +standing shot was not possible. I had to go to a tree for support in +order to tip-toe for the shot, and whilst in the act of raising my rifle +the heads disappeared; but I took chance and fired just below where the +last one had shown up. + +The wildebeeste were out of sight, hidden by grass six feet high, but a +branch of the tree beside me served as a horizontal bar and hoisting +myself chin high I was able to see them again. In front of us there was +a dry vlei quite free of bush, some two hundred yards across and four +hundred yards long, and the wildebeeste had gone away to the right and +were skirting the vlei, apparently meaning to get round to the opposite +side, avoiding the direct cut across the vlei for reasons of their own. +It occurred to me that there must be a deep donga or perhaps a mud hole +in front which they were avoiding; but that it might be possible for me +to get across, or even half-way across, in time to have another shot at +them the next time they stopped to look back, as they were almost +certain to do; so I ran straight on. + +One does not have to reason things out like that in actual practice: the +conclusion comes instantly, as if by instinct, and no time is lost. To +drop from the branch, pick up the rifle, and start running were all +parts of one movement. Stooping slightly to prevent my bobbing hat from +showing up in the grass tops, and holding the rifle obliquely before me +as a sort of snowplough to clear the grass from my eyes, I made as good +pace as the ground would allow. + +No doubt the rifle held in front of me made it difficult to notice +anything on the ground; but the concentrated stare across the vlei in +the direction of the galloping wildebeeste was quite as much the cause +of what followed. Going fast and stooping low, with all my weight +thrown forward, I ran right into a wildebeeste cow. My shot had wounded +her through the kidneys, completely paralysing the hind quarters, and +she had instantly dropped out of sight in the grass. The only warning I +got was a furious snort, and the black looking monster with great +blazing blood-shot eyes rose up on its front legs as I ran into it. + +To charge into a wounded wildebeeste ready to go for you, just when your +whole attention is concentrated upon others two hundred yards beyond, is +nearly as unpleasant as it is unexpected; it becomes a question of what +will happen to you, rather than of what you will do. That at any rate +was my experience. The rifle, if it had hindered me, also helped: held +out at arms length it struck the wildebeeste across the forehead and the +collision saved my chest from the horns. There was an angry toss of the +big head and the rifle was twirled out of my hand, as one might flip a +match away. + +I do not know exactly what happened: the impression is of a breathless +second's whirl and scramble, and then finding myself standing untouched +five yards away, with the half-paralysed wildebeeste squatting like a +dog and struggling to drag the useless hind quarters along in its +furious efforts to get at Jock who had already intervened to help me. + +The rifle lay within the circle of the big hooked horns; and the +squatting animal, making a pivot of its hind quarters, slewed round and +round, making savage lunges at Jock and great heaves at me each time I +tried to get the rifle. It often happens that shots touching the +kidneys produce a paralysis, temporarily severe, which passes off to a +great extent after some minutes and leaves the wounded animal well able +to charge: it happened to me some years later while trying to photograph +a wounded sable. + +I tried to hook the gun out with a stick but the wildebeeste swung round +and faced me at once, snapping the sticks and twirling them out of my +hands with surprising ease and quickness. I then tried another game, +and by making feint attacks from the other side at last got the animal +gradually worked away from my gun; and the next attempt at raking was +successful. + +When the excitement was over and there was a chance of taking stock of +the position, I found that Jock had a pretty good `gravel rash' on one +hip and a nasty cut down one leg; he had caught the wildebeeste by the +nose the instant I ran into it, and it had `wiped the floor' with him +and flung him aside. + +I found my bandolier with a broken buckle lying on the grass; one shirt +sleeve was ripped open; the back of the right hand cut across; hands and +knees were well grated; and there were lumps and bruises about the legs +for which there was no satisfactory explanation. I must have scrambled +out like an unwilling participant in a dog fight. + +It was a long job skinning, cutting up, and packing the wildebeeste, and +when we reached the outspan the waggons had already started and we had a +long tramp before us to catch them. + +I drove Mungo before me, keeping him at an easy-jog. We had been going +for possibly an hour and it was quite dark, except for the stars and the +young moon low down on our right; the road was soft and Mungo's jogging +paces sounded like floppy pats; there was no other sound at all, not +even a distant rumble from the waggons to cheer us; Mungo must have been +sick of it and one might have thought him jogging in his sleep but for +the occasional pricking of his ears--a trick that always makes me wonder +how much more do horses see in the dark than we do. I walked like a +machine, with rifle on shoulder and glad to be rid of the broken +bandolier, then transferred to Mungo; and Jock trotted at my heels. + +This tired monotonous progress was disturbed by Mungo: his ears pricked; +his head went up; and he stopped, looking hard at a big low bush on our +left. I gave him a tap with the switch, and without an instant +hesitation he dashed off to the right making a half circle through the +veld and coming into the road again fifty yards ahead, and galloped away +leaving a rising column of dust behind him. + +I stood and faced the bush that Mungo had shied at, and the first thing +that occurred to me was that my bandolier and cartridges were with the +pony. Then Jock growled low and moved a few steps forward and slightly +to the right, also sheering off from that bush. I felt that he was +bristling all over, but there was neither time nor light to watch him. +I stepped slowly sideways after him gripping the rifle and looking hard +at the bush. + +Our line was much the same as Mungo's and would take us some seven or +eight paces off the road--more than that was not possible owing to the +barrier of thorns on that side. When we got abreast of the bush two +large spots of pale light appeared in the middle of it, apparently waist +high from the ground. + +It is impossible to forget the tense creepy feeling caused by the dead +stillness, the soft light, and the pale expressionless glow of those +eyes--the haunting mystery of eyes and nothing more! + +It is not unusual to see eyes in the night; but this was a `nervy' +occasion, and there is no other that comes back with all the vividness +and reality of the experience itself, as this one does. And I was not +the only nervous one. Mungo incontinently bolted--probably what he saw +warranted it; Jock, as ever, faced it; but when my foot touched his hind +leg as we sidled away he flew round with a convulsive jump. He too was +strung to concert pitch. + +As we moved on and passed the reflecting angle of the moon, the light of +the eyes went out as suddenly and silently as it had appeared. There +was nothing then to show me where danger lay; but Jock knew, and I kept +a watch on him. He jogged beside me, lagging slightly as if to cover +our retreat, always looking back. A couple of times he stopped entirely +and stood in the road, facing straight back and growling; and I followed +suit. He was in command; he knew! + +There was nothing more. Gradually Jock's subdued purring growl died +down and the glances back became fewer. I found Mungo a long way on, +brought to a standstill by the slipping of his load; and we caught up to +the waggons at the next outspan. + + +CHAPTER TWENTY TWO. + +THE OLD CROCODILE. + +We reached the Crocodile River drift on a Sunday morning, after a +particularly dry and dusty night trek. `Wanting a wash' did not on such +occasions mean a mild inclination for a luxury: it meant that washing +was badly needed. The dust lay inches deep on the one worn veld road, +and the long strings of oxen toiling along kicked up suffocating clouds +of fine dust which there was seldom any breeze to carry off: it powdered +white man and black to an equal level of yellowy red. The waggons were +a couple of hundred yards from the river; and, taking a complete change, +I went off for a real clean up. + +We generally managed to get in a couple of bathes at the rivers--real +swims--but that was only done in the regular drifts and when there were +people about or waggons crossing. In such conditions crocodiles rarely +appeared; they prefer solitude and silence. The swims were very +delightful but somewhat different from ordinary bathes; however remote +may have been the risk of meeting a crocodile when you dived, or of +being grabbed by one as you swam, the idea was always there and made it +more interesting. + +Being alone that day I had no intention of having a swim or of going +into the open river, and I took a little trouble to pick a suitable pool +with a rock on which to stand and dress. The water was clear and I +could see the bottom of the pool. It was quite shallow--three feet deep +at most--made by a scour in the sandy bed and divided from the main +stream by a narrow spit of sand a couple of yards wide and twenty long. +At the top end of the sand spit was a flat rock--my dressing table. + +After a dip in the pool I stood on to the sand spit to scrub off the +brown dust, keeping one unsoaped eye roving round for intrusive +crocodiles, and the loaded rifle lying beside me. The brutes slide out +so silently and unexpectedly that in that exposed position, with water +all round, one could not afford to turn one's back on any quarter for +long. There is something laughable--it seemed faintly humorous even +then--in the idea of a naked man hastily washing soap out of his eyes +and squeezing away the water to take a hurried look behind him, and then +after careful survey, doing an `altogether' dowse just as hastily-- +blowing and spluttering all the time like a boy after his first dive. + +The bath was successful and ended without incident--not a sign of a +crocodile the whole time! Breakfast was ready when I reached the +waggons, and feeling very fit and clean in a fresh flannel shirt and +white moleskins, I sat down to it. Jim Makokel' brought the kettle of +coffee from the fire and was in the act of pouring some into a big mug +when he stopped with a grunt of surprise and, looking towards the river, +called out sharply, "What is it?" + +One of the herd boys was coming at a trot towards us, and the drivers, +thinking something had happened to the oxen, called a question to him. +He did not answer until he reached them and even then spoke in so quiet +a tone that I could not catch what he said. But Jim, putting down the +kettle, ran to his waggon and grabbing his sticks and assegais called to +me in a husky shouting whisper--which imperfectly describes Jim's way of +relieving his feelings, without making the whole world echo: "Ingwenye, +Inkos! Ingwenye Umkulu! Big Clocodile! Groot Krokodil, Baas!" + +Then abandoning his excited polyglot he gabbled off in pure Zulu and at +incredible speed a long account of the big Crocodile: it had carried off +four boys going to the goldfields that year; it had taken a woman and a +baby from the kraal near by, but a white man had beaten it off with a +bucket; it had taken all the dogs, and even calves and goats, at the +drinking-place; and goodness knows how much more. How Jim got his news, +and when he made his friends, were puzzles never solved. + +Hunting stories, like travellers tales, are proverbially dangerous to +reputations, however literally true they may be; and this is necessarily +so, partly because only exceptional things are worth telling, and partly +because the conditions of the country or the life referred to are +unfamiliar and cannot be grasped. It is a depressing but accepted fact +that the ideal, lurid--and, I suppose, convincing--pictures of wild life +are done in London, where the author is unhampered by fact or +experience. + +"Stick to the impossible, and you will be believed: keep clear of fact +and commonplace, and you cannot be checked." + +Such was the cynical advice given many years ago by one who had bought +his experience in childhood and could not forget it. Sent home as a +small boy from a mission station in Zululand to be educated by his +grandparents, he found the demand for marvels among his simple country +relatives so great that his small experience of snakes and wild animals +was soon used up; but the eager suggestive questions of the good people, +old and young, led him on, and he shyly crossed the border. The Fields +of Fancy were fair and free; there were no fences there; and he stepped +out gaily into the Little People's country--The Land of Let's Pretendia! +He became very popular. + +One day, however, whilst looking at the cows, he remarked that in +Zululand a cow would not yield her milk unless the calf stood by. + +The old farmer stopped in his walk, gave him one suspicious look, and +asked coldly, "What do they do when a calf is killed or dies?" + +"They never kill the calves there;" the boy answered, "but once when one +died father stuffed the skin, with grass and showed it to the cow; +because they said that would do." + +The old man, red with anger, took the boy to his room, saying that as +long as he spoke of the lions, tigers and snakes that he knew about, +they believed him; but when it came to farming! No! Downright lying he +would not have; and there was nothing for it but larruping. + +"It was the only piece of solid truth they had allowed me to tell for +months," he added thoughtfully, "and I got a first-class hiding for it." + +And was there no one who doubted Du Chaillu and Stanley and others? Did +no one question Gordon Cumming's story of the herd of elephants caught +and killed in a little kloof? and did not we of Barberton many years +later locate the spot by the enormous pile of bones, and name it +"Elephants' Kloof?" + +There are two crocodile incidents well-known to those whom time has now +made old hands, but believed by no one else; even in the day of their +happening they divided men into believers and unbelievers. The one was +of `Mad' Owen--only mad, because utterly reckless--riding through Komati +Drift one moonlight night alone and unarmed, who, riding, found his +horse brought to a stop, plunging, kicking and struggling on the sand +bank in mid-stream where the water was not waist deep. Owen looking +back saw that a crocodile had his horse by the leg. All he had was a +leaded hunting-crop, but, jumping into the water he laid on so +vigorously that the crocodile made off, and Owen remounted and rode out. + +There are many who say that it is not true--that it cannot be true; for +no man would do it. But there are others who have an open mind, because +they knew Owen--Mad Owen, who for a wager bandaged his horse's eyes and +galloped him over a twenty foot bank headlong into the Jew's Hole in +Lydenburg; Owen, who when driving four young horses in a Cape cart flung +the reins away and whipped up the team, bellowing with laughter, because +his nervous companion said he had never been upset and did not want to +be; Owen, who--But too many things rise up that earned him his title and +blow the `impossible' to the winds. + +Mad Owen deserves a book to himself; but here is my little testimony on +his behalf, given shamefaced at the thought of how he would roar to +think it needed. + +I crossed that same drift one evening and on riding up the bank to +Furley's store saw a horse standing in a dejected attitude with one hind +leg clothed in `trowsers' made of sacking and held up by a suspender +ingeniously fastened across his back. + +During the evening something reminded me of the horse, and I asked a +question; and the end of Furley's answer was, "They say it's all a yarn +about `horsewhipping' a crocodile: all we know is that one night, a week +ago, he turned up here dripping wet, and after having a drink told us +the yarn. He had the leaded hunting-crop in his hand; and that's the +horse he was riding. You can make what you like of it. We've been +doctoring the horse ever since, but I doubt if it will pull through!" + +I have no doubt about the incident. Owen did not invent: he had no need +to; and Furley himself was no mean judge of crocodiles and men. Furley +kept a ferry boat for the use of natives and others when the river was +up, at half a crown a trip. The business ran itself and went strong +during the summer floods, but in winter when the river was low and +fordable it needed pushing; and then Furley's boatman, an intelligent +native, would loiter about the drift and interest travellers in his +crocodile stories, and if they proved over-confident or sceptical, would +manoeuvre them a little way down stream where, from the bank, they would +usually see a big crocodile sunning himself on a sand spit below the +drift. The boys always took the boat. One day some police entered the +store and joyously announced that they had got him--"bagged the old +villain at last!"; and Furley dropped on a sack of mealies groaning out +"Glory, Boys! The ferry's ruined. Why, I've preserved him for years!" + +The other crocodile incident concerns "Lying Tom"--brave merry-faced +blue-eyed Tom; bubbling with good humour; overflowing with kindness; and +full of the wildest yarns, always good and amusing, but so steep that +they made the most case-hardened draw a long breath. + +The name Lying Tom was understood and accepted by every one in the +place, barring Tom himself; for, oddly enough, there was another Tom of +the same surname, but no relation, and once when his name cropped up I +heard the real Simon Pure refer to him as "my namesake--the chap they +call Lying Tom." To the day of his death Tom believed that it was the +other Tom who was esteemed the liar. + +Tom was a prospector who `came in' occasionally for supplies or +licences; and there came a day when Barberton was convulsed by Lying +Tom's latest. + +He had been walking along the bank of the Crocodile River, and on +hearing screams ran down just in time to see a kaffir woman with a child +on her back dragged off through the shallow water by a crocodile. Tom +ran in to help--"I kicked the dashed thing on the head and in the eyes," +he said, "and punched its ribs and then grabbed the bucket that the +woman had in her hand and hammered the blamed thing over the head till +it let go. By Jimminy, Boys, the woman was in a mess: never saw any one +in such a fright!" + +Poor Tom suffered from consumption in the throat and talked in husky +jerks broken by coughs and laughter. Is there one among them who knew +him who does not remember the breezy cheeriness, the indomitable pluck, +the merry blue eyes, so limpidly clear, the expressive bushy eyebrows, +and the teeth, too perfect to be wasted on a man, and ever flashing with +his unfailing smiles? + +Tom would end up with--"Niggers said I was `takati': asked for some of +my medicine! Blamed got no pluck: would've let the woman go." + +Of course this story went the rounds latest and best; but one day we +turned up in Barberton to deliver our loads, and that evening a whisper +went about and men with faces humorously puzzled looked at one another +and said "Lying Tom's a fraud: the crocodile story is true!" + +For our party, shooting guinea-fowl in the kaffir lands along the river, +came upon a kraal where there sat a woman with an arm so scarred and +marked that we could not but ask what had caused it. There was no +difference in the stories, except that the kaffirs after saying that the +white man had kicked the crocodile and beaten it with the bucket, added +"and he kicked and beat with the bucket the two men who were there, +saying that they were not men but dogs, who would not go in and help the +woman. But he was bewitched: the crocodile could not touch him!" + +Some of Tom's stories were truly incredible, but not those in which he +figured to advantage: he was too brave a man to have consciously gained +credit he did not deserve. He died, slowly starved to death by the +cruel disease--the brave, kindly, cheery spirit, smiling unbeaten to the +end. + +That was what Jim referred to when he called me to kill the murderer of +women and children. It pleased him and others to say that this was the +same crocodile; and I believe it was. The locality was the same, and +the kraal boys said that it was in the old place from which all its +murderous raids had been made; and that was all we knew. + +I took the rifle and went with the herd boy; Jim followed close behind, +walking on his toes with the waltzy springy movement of an ostrich, +eager to get ahead and repeatedly silenced and driven back by me in the +few hundred yards' walk to the river. + +A queer premonitory feeling came over me as I saw we were making +straight for the bathing pool; but before reaching the bank the herd boy +squatted down, indicating that somewhere in front and below us the enemy +would be found. An easy crawl brought me to the river bank and, sure +enough, on the very spot where I had stood to wash, only fifty yards +from us, there was an enormous crocodile. He was lying along the sand +spit with his full length exposed to me. Such a shot would have been a +moral certainty, but as I brought the rifle slowly up it may have +glinted in the sun, or perhaps the crocodile had been watching us all +the time, for with one easy turn and no splash at all he slid into the +river and was gone. + +It was very disgusting and I pitched into Jim and the other boys behind +for having made a noise and shown themselves; but they were still +squatting when I reached them and vowed they had neither moved nor +spoken. We had already turned to go when there came a distant call from +beyond the river. To me it was merely a kaffir's voice and a sound +quite meaningless: but to the boys' trained ears it spoke clearly. Jim +pressed me downwards and we all squatted again. + +"He is coming out on another sandbank," Jim explained. + +Again I crawled to the bank and lay flat, with the rifle ready. There +was another sand streak a hundred yards out in the stream with two +out-croppings of black rock at the upper end of it--they were rocks +right enough, for I had examined them carefully when bathing. This was +the only other sandbank in sight: it was higher than it appeared to be +from a distance and the crocodile whilst hidden from us was visible to +the natives on the opposite bank as it lay in the shallow water and +emerged inch by inch to resume its morning sun bath. The crocodile was +so slow in showing up that I quite thought it had been scared off again, +and I turned to examine other objects and spots up and down the stream; +but presently glancing back at the bank again I saw what appeared to be +a third rock, no bigger than a loaf of bread. This object I watched +until my eyes ached and swam; it was the only possible crocodile; yet it +was so small, so motionless, so permanent looking, it seemed absurd to +doubt that it really was a stone which had passed unnoticed before. + +As I watched unblinkingly it seemed to grow bigger and again contract +with regular swing, as if it swelled and shrank with breathing; and +knowing that this must be merely an optical delusion caused by staring +too long, I shut my eyes for a minute. The effect was excellent: the +rock was much bigger; and after that it was easy to lie still and wait +for the cunning old reptile to show himself. + +It took half an hour of this cautious manoeuvring and edging on the part +of the crocodile before he was comfortably settled on the sand with the +sun warming all his back. In the meantime the waggon-boys behind me had +not stirred; on the opposite side of the river kaffirs from the +neighbouring kraal had gathered to the number of thirty or forty, men, +women and children, and they stood loosely grouped, instinctively still +silent and watchful, like a little scattered herd of deer. All on both +sides were watching me and waiting for the shot. It seemed useless to +delay longer; the whole length of the body was showing, but it looked so +wanting in thickness, so shallow in fact, that it was evident the +crocodile was lying, not on the top, but on the other slope of the sand +spit; and probably not more than six or eight inches--in depth--of body +was visible. + +It was little enough to aim at, and the bullet seemed to strike the top +of the bank first, sending up a column of sand, and then, probably +knocked all out of shape, ploughed into the body with a tremendous +thump. + +The crocodile threw a back somersault--that is, it seemed to rear up on +its tail and spring backwards; the jaws divided into a huge fork as, for +a second, it stood up on end; and it let out an enraged roar, seemingly +aimed at the heavens. It was a very sudden and dramatic effect, +following on the long silence. + +Then the whole world seemed to burst into indescribable turmoil; shouts +and yells burst out on all sides; the kaffirs rushed down to the banks-- +the men armed with sticks and assegais, and the women and children with +nothing more formidable than their voices; the crocodile was alive--very +much alive--and in the water; the waggon-boys, headed by Jim, were all +round me and all yelling out together what should or should not be done, +and what would happen if we did or did not do it. It was Babel and +Bedlam let loose. + +With the first plunge the crocodile disappeared, but it came up again +ten yards away thrashing the water into foam and going up stream like a +paddle-boat gone reeling roaring mad--if one can imagine such a thing! +I had another shot at him the instant he reappeared, but one could +neither see nor hear where it struck; and again and again I fired +whenever he showed up for a second. He appeared to be shot through the +lungs; at any rate the kaffirs on the other bank, who were then quite +close enough to see, said that it was so. The waggon-boys had run down +the bank out on to the first sand spit and I followed them, shouting to +the kaffirs opposite to get out of the line of fire, as I could no +longer shoot without risk of hitting them. + +The crocodile after his first straight dash up stream had tacked about +in all directions during the next few minutes, disappearing for short +spells and plunging out again in unexpected places. One of these sudden +reappearances brought him once more abreast, and quite near to us, and +Jim with a fierce yell and with his assegai held high in his right hand +dashed into the water, going through the shallows in wild leaps. I +called to him to come back but against his yells and the excited shouts +of the ever-increasing crowd my voice could not live; and Jim, mad with +excitement, went on. Twenty yards out, where increasing depth steadied +him, he turned for a moment and seeing himself alone in the water called +to me with eager confidence, "Come on, Baas." + +It had never occurred to me that any one would be such an idiot as to go +into water after a wounded crocodile. There was no need to finish off +this one, for it was bound to die, and no one wanted the meat or skin. +Who, then, would be so mad as to think of such a thing? Five minutes +earlier I would have answered very confidently for myself; but there are +times when one cannot afford to be sensible. There was a world of +unconscious irony in Jim's choice of words "_Come_ on!" and "_Baas_!" + +The boy giving the lead to his master was too much for me; and in I +went! + +I cannot say that there was much enjoyment in it for the first few +moments--not until the excitement took hold and all else was forgotten. +The first thing that struck me was that in the deep water my rifle was +worth no more than a walking-stick, and not nearly as useful as an +assegai; but what drove this and many other thoughts from my mind in a +second was the appearance of Jock on the stage and his sudden jump into +the leading place. + +In the first confusion he had passed unnoticed, probably at my heels as +usual, but the instant I answered Jim's challenge by jumping into the +water he gave one whimpering yelp of excitement and plunged in too; and +in a few seconds he had outdistanced us all and was leading straight for +the crocodile. I shouted to him, of course in vain--he heard nothing; +and Jim and I plunged and struggled along to head the dog off. + +As the crocodile came up Jock went straight for him--his eyes gleaming, +his shoulders up, his nose out, his neck stretched to the utmost in his +eagerness--and he ploughed along straining every muscle to catch up. +When the crocodile went under he slackened and looked anxiously about, +but each fresh rise was greeted by the whimpering yelps of intense +suppressed excitement as he fairly hoisted himself out of the water with +the vigour of his swimming. + +The water was now breast-high for us, and we were far out in the stream, +beyond the sand spit where the crocodile had lain, when the kaffirs on +the bank got their first chance and a flight of assegais went at the +enemy as he rose. Several struck and two remained in him; he rose again +a few yards from Jim, and that sportsman let fly one that struck well +home. Jock, who had been toiling close behind for some time and gaining +slowly, was not five yards off then; the floundering and lashing of the +crocodile were bewildering, but on he went as grimly and eagerly as +ever. I fired again--not more than eight yards away--but the water was +then up to my arms, and it was impossible to pick a vital part; the +brain and neck were the only spots to finish him, but one could see +nothing beyond a great upheaval of water and clouds of spray and +blood-stained foam. + +The crocodile turned from the shot and dived up stream, heading straight +for Jock: the din of yelling voices stopped instantly as the huge +open-mouthed thing plunged towards the dog; and for one sick horrified +moment I stood and watched--helpless. + +Had the crocodile risen in front of Jock that would have been the end-- +one snap would have done it; but it passed clear underneath, and, coming +up just beyond him, the great lashing tail sent the dog up with the +column of water a couple of feet in the air. He did as he had done when +the koodoo bull tossed him: his head was round straining to get at the +crocodile before he was able to turn his body in the water; and the +silence was broken by a yell of wild delight and approval from the bank. + +Before us the water was too deep and the stream too strong to stand in; +Jim in his eagerness had gone in shoulder high, and my rifle when aimed +only just cleared the water. The crocodile was the mark for more +assegais from the bank as it charged up stream again, with Jock tailing +behind, and it was then easy enough to follow its movements by the +shafts that were never all submerged. The struggles became perceptibly +weaker, and as it turned again to go with the stream every effort was +concentrated on killing and landing it before it reached the rocks and +rapids. + +I moved back for higher ground and, finding that the bed shelved up +rapidly down stream, made for a position where there would be enough +elevation to put in a brain shot. The water was not more than waist +high then, and as the crocodile came rolling and thrashing down I waited +for his head to show up clearly. My right foot touched a sloping rock +which rose almost to the surface of the water close above the rapids, +and anxious to get the best possible position for a last shot, I took my +stand there. The rock was the ordinary shelving bedrock, uptilted at an +easy angle and cut off sheer on the exposed side, and the wave in the +current would have shown this to any one not wholly occupied with other +things; but I had eyes for nothing except the crocodile which was then +less than a dozen yards off, and in my anxiety to secure a firm footing +for the shot I moved the right foot again a few inches--over the edge of +the rock. The result was as complete a spill as if one unthinkingly +stepped backwards off a diving board: I disappeared in deep water, with +the knowledge that the crocodile would join me there in a few seconds. + +One never knows how these things are done or how long they take: I was +back on the rock--without the rifle--and had the water out of my eyes in +time to see the crocodile roll helplessly by, six feet away, with Jock +behind making excited but ridiculously futile attempts to get hold of +the tail; Jim--swimming, plunging and blowing like a maddened hippo-- +formed the tail of the procession, which was headed by my water-logged +hat floating heavily a yard or so in front of the crocodile. + +While a crowd of yelling niggers under the generalship of Jim were +landing the crocodile, I had time to do some diving, and managed to fish +out my rifle. + +My Sunday change was wasted. But we got the old crocodile; and that was +something, after all. + + +CHAPTER TWENTY THREE. + +THE FIGHTING BABOON. + +On the way to Lydenburg, not many treks from Paradise Camp, we were +outspanned for the day. Those were the settled parts; on the hills and +in the valleys about us were the widely scattered workings of the gold +diggers or the white tents of occasional prospectors. + +The place was a well-known and much-frequented public outspan, and a +fair-sized wayside store marked its importance. After breakfast we went +to the store to `swap' news with the men on the spot and a couple of +horsemen who had offsaddled there. + +There were several other houses of sorts; they were rough wattle and +daub erections which were called houses, as an acknowledgment of +pretensions expressed in the rectangular shape and corrugated iron roof. +One of these belonged to Seedling, the Field Cornet and only official +in the district. He was the petty local Justice who was supposed to +administer minor laws, collect certain revenues and taxes, and issue +passes. The salary was nominal, but the position bristled with +opportunities for one who was not very particular; and the then occupant +of the office seemed well enough pleased with the arrangement, whatever +the public may have thought of it. + +He was neither popular nor trusted: many tales of great harshness and +injustice to the natives, and of corruption and favouritism in dealing +with the whites, added to habitual drunkenness and uncertain temper, +made a formidable tally in the account against him; he was also a bully +and a coward, and all knew it; but unfortunately he was the law--as it +stood for us! + +Seedling, although an official of the Boer Government, was an +Englishman; there were several of them on the goldfields in those days, +and for the most part, they were good fellows and good officials--this +one was an exception. We all knew him personally: he was effusively +friendly; and we suffered him and--paid for the drinks. That was in his +public capacity: in his private capacity he was the owner of the +fighting baboon of evil and cruel repute. + +If ever fate's instruments moved unconscious of their mission and the +part they were to play, it is certain that Jock and Jim Makokel' did so +that day--the day that was the beginning of Seedling's fall and end. + +It is not very clear how the trouble began. We had been sitting on the +little store-counter and talking for over an hour, a group of half a +dozen, swapping off the news of the goldfields and the big world against +that from Delagoa and the Bushveld; Seedling had joined us early and, as +usual, began the morning with drinks. We were not used to that on the +road or out hunting; indeed, we rarely took any drink, and most of us +never touched a drop except in the towns. The transport-rider had +opportunities which might easily become temptations--the load often +consisting of liquor, easy to broach and only to be paid for at the end +of the trip; but we had always before us the lesson of the failures. +Apart from this, however, we did not take liquor, because we could not +work as well or last as long, run as fast or shoot as straight, if we +did. And that was reason enough! + +We had one round of drinks which was `called' by one of the horsemen, +and then, to return the compliment, another round called by one of us. +A few minutes later Seedling announced effusively that it was his +`shout.' But it was only ten in the morning, and those who had taken +spirits had had enough, indeed, several had only taken a sip of the +second round in order to comply with a stupid and vicious custom; I +would not and could not attack another bottle of sour gingerbeer; and +thus Seedling's round was reduced to himself and the proprietor. No man +however thirsty would drink alone in those days--it was taken a mark of +meanness or evidence of `soaking'--and the proprietor had to be ready at +any time to `take one for the good of the house.' + +A quarter of an hour passed, and Seedling, who had said nothing since +his `shout' was declined, turned away and strolled out, with hands +thrust deep in the pockets of his riding breeches and a long heavy +sjambok dangling from one wrist. There was silence as he moved through +the doorway, and when the square patch of sunlight on the earth floor +was again unbroken the man behind the counter remarked,-- + +"Too long between drinks for him! Gone for a pull at the private +bottle." + +"Is that how it's going?" + +"Yah! all day long. Drinks here as long as any one'll call, but don't +do much shoutin' on his own, I tell you! That's the first time I seen +him call for a week. He wanted to get you chaps on the go, I reckon. +He'll be wrong all day to-day. I know him!" + +"Cost him two bob for nothing, eh!" + +"Well, it ain't so much that; ye see, he reckoned you'd all shout your +turns, and drinks'd come regular; but he sees you're not on. Twig? I'm +not complainin' mind you--Lord no! He don't pay any way! It's all +`chalked up' for him, an' I got to wipe it off the slate when the next +loads comes and he collects my customs' duties. His liquor's took him +wrong to-day--you'll see!" + +We did see; and that before very long. We had forgotten Seedling, and +were hearing all about the new finds reported from Barberton district, +when one of the waggon-boys came running into the store calling to me by +my kaffir name and shouting excitedly, "Baas, Baas! come quickly! The +baboon has got Jock: it will kill him!" + +I had known all about the vicious brute, and had often heard of +Seedling's fiendish delight in arranging fights or enticing dogs up to +attack it for the pleasure of seeing the beast kill the over-matched +dogs. The dog had no chance at all, for the baboon remained out of +reach in his house on the pole as long as it chose, if the dog was too +big or the opening not a good one, and made its rush when it would tell +best. But apart from this the baboon was an exceptionally big and +powerful one, and it is very doubtful if any dog could have tackled it +successfully in an open fight. The creature was as clever as even they +can be; its enormous jaws and teeth were quite equal to the biggest +dog's, and it had the advantage of four `hands.' Its tactics in a fight +were quite simple and most effective; with its front feet it caught the +dog by the ears or neck, holding the head so that there was no risk of +being bitten, and then gripping the body lower down with the hind feet, +it tore lumps out of the throat, breast, and stomach--pushing with all +four feet and tearing with the terrible teeth. The poor dogs were +hopelessly out-matched. + +I did not see the beginning of Jock's encounter, but the boys' stories +pieced together told everything. It appears that when Seedling left the +store he went in to his own hut and remained there some little time; on +coming out again he strolled over to the baboon's pole about half-way +between the two houses and began teasing it, throwing pebbles at it to +see it dodge and duck behind the pole, and then flicking at it with the +sjambok, amused by its frightened and angry protests. While he was +doing this, Jock, who had followed me to the store, strolled out again +making his way towards the waggons. He was not interested in our talk; +he had twice been accidentally trodden on by men stepping back as he lay +stretched out on the floor behind them; and doubtless he felt that it +was no place for him: his deafness prevented him from hearing movements, +except such as caused vibration in the ground, and, poor old fellow, he +was always at a disadvantage in houses and towns. + +The baboon had then taken refuge in its box on top of the pole to escape +the sjambok, and when Seedling saw Jock come out he commenced whistling +and calling softly to him. Jock, of course, heard nothing: he may have +responded mildly to the friendly overtures conveyed by the extended hand +and patting of legs, or more probably simply took the nearest way to the +waggon where he might sleep in peace, since there was nothing else to +do. What the boys agree on is that as Jock passed the pole Seedling +patted and held him, at the same time calling the baboon, and then gave +the dog a push which did not quite roll him over but upset his balance; +and Jock, recovering himself, naturally jumped round and faced Seedling, +standing almost directly between him and the baboon. He could not hear +the rattle of the chain on the box and pole, and saw nothing of the +charging brute, and it was the purest accident that the dog stood a few +inches out of reach. The baboon--chained by the neck instead of the +waist, because it used to bite through all loin straps--made its rush, +but the chain brought it up before its hands could reach Jock and threw +the hind quarters round with such force against him that he was sent +rolling yards away. + +I can well believe that this second attack from a different and wholly +unexpected quarter thoroughly roused him, and can picture how he turned +to face it. + +It was at this moment that Jim first noticed what was going on. The +other boys had not expected anything when Seedling called the dog, and +they were taken completely by surprise by what followed. Jim would have +known what to expect: his kraal was in the neighbourhood; he knew +Seedling well, and had already suffered in fines and confiscations at +his hands; he also knew about the baboon; but he was ignorant, just as I +was, of the fact that Seedling had left his old place across the river +and come to live in the new hut, bringing his pet with him. + +It was the hoarse threatening shout of the baboon as it jumped at Jock, +as much as the exclamations of the boys, that roused Jim. He knew +instantly what was on, and grabbing a stick made a dash to save the dog, +with the other boys following him. + +When Jock was sent spinning in the dust the baboon recovered itself +first, and standing up on its hind legs reached out its long ungainly +arms towards him, and let out a shout of defiance. Jock regaining his +feet dashed in, jumped aside, feinted again and again, as he had learnt +to do when big horns swished at him; and he kept out of reach just as he +had done ever since the duiker taught him the use of its hoofs. He knew +what to do, just as he had known how to swing the porcupine: the dog-- +for all the fighting fury that possessed him--took the measure of the +chain and kept outside it. Round and round he flew, darting in, jumping +back, snapping and dodging, but never getting right home. The baboon +was as clever as he was: at times it jumped several feet in the air, +straight up, in the hope that Jock would run underneath; at others, it +would make a sudden lunge with the long arms, or a more surprising reach +out with the hind legs to grab him. Then the baboon began gradually to +reduce its circle, leaving behind it slack chain enough for a spring; +but Jock was not to be drawn. In cleverness they were well-matched-- +neither scored in attack; neither made or lost a point. + +When Jim rushed up to save Jock, it was with eager anxious shouts of the +dog's name that warned Seedling and made him turn; and as the boy ran +forward the white man stepped out to stop him. + +"Leave the dog alone!" he shouted, pale with anger. + +"Baas, Baas, the dog will be killed," Jim called excitedly, as he tried +to get round; but the white man made a jump towards him, and with a +backhand slash of the sjambok struck him across the face, shouting at +him again: + +"Leave him, I tell you." + +Jim jumped back, thrusting out his stick to guard another vicious cut; +and so it went on with alternate slash and guard, and the big Zulu +danced round with nimble bounds, guarding, dodging, or bearing the +sjambok cuts, to save the dog. Seedling was mad with rage; for who had +ever heard of a nigger standing up to a Field Cornet? Still Jim would +not give way; he kept trying to get in front of Jock, to head him off +the fight, and all the while shouting to the other boys to call me. But +Seedling was the Field Cornet, and not one of them dared to move against +him. + +At last the baboon, finding that Jock would not come on, tried other +tactics; it made a sudden retreat and, rushing for the pole, hid behind +it as for protection. Jock made a jump and the baboon leaped out to +meet him, but the dog stopped at the chain's limit, and the baboon--just +as in the first dash of all--overshot the mark; it was brought up by the +jerk of the collar, and for one second sprawled on its back. That was +the first chance for Jock, and he took it. With one spring he was in; +his head shot between the baboon's hind legs, and with his teeth buried +in the soft stomach he lay back and pulled--pulled for dear life, as he +had pulled and dragged on the legs of wounded game; tugged as he had +tugged at the porcupine; held on, as he had held when the koodoo bull +wrenched and strained every bone and muscle in his body. + +Then came the sudden turn! As Jock fastened on to the baboon, dragging +the chain taut while the screaming brute struggled on its back, Seedling +stood for a second irresolute, and then with a stride forward raised his +sjambok to strike the dog. That was too much for Jim; he made a spring +in and grasping the raised sjambok with his left hand held Seedling +powerless, while in his right the boy raised his stick on guard. + +"Let him fight, Baas! You said it! Let the dog fight!" he panted, +hoarse with excitement. + +The white man, livid with fury, struggled and kicked, but the wrist loop +of his sjambok held him prisoner and he could do nothing. + +That was the moment when a panic-stricken boy plucked up courage enough +to call me; and that was the scene we saw as we ran out of the little +shop. Jim would not strike the white man: but his face was a muddy +grey, and it was written there that he would rather die than give up the +dog. + +Before I reached them it was clear to us all what had happened; Jim was +protesting to Seedling and at the same time calling to me; it was a +jumble, but a jumble eloquent enough for us, and all intelligible. +Jim's excited gabble was addressed with reckless incoherence to +Seedling, to me, and to Jock! + +"You threw him in; you tried to kill him. He did it. It was not the +dog. Kill him, Jock, kill him. Leave him, let him fight. You said +it--Let him fight! Kill him, Jock! Kill! Kill! Kill!" + +Then Seedling did the worst thing possible; he turned on me with,-- + +"Call off your dog, I tell you, or I'll shoot him and your nigger too!" + +"We'll see about that! They can fight it out now," and I took the +sjambok from Jim's hand and cut it from the white man's wrist. "Now! +Stand back!" And he stood back. + +The baboon was quite helpless. Powerful as the brute was, and +formidable as were the arms and gripping feet, it had no chance while +Jock could keep his feet and had strength to drag and hold the chain +tight. The collar was choking it, and the grip on the stomach--the +baboon's own favourite and most successful device--was fatal. + +I set my teeth, and thought of the poor helpless dogs that had been +decoyed in and treated the same way. Jim danced about, the white seam +of froth on his lips, hoarse gusts of encouragement bursting from him as +he leant over Jock, and his whole body vibrating like an over-heated +boiler. And Jock hung on in grim earnest, the silence on his side +broken only by grunting efforts as the deadly tug--tug--tug went on. +Each pull caused his feet to slip a little on the smooth worn ground; +but each time he set them back again, and the grunting tugs went on. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +It was not justice to call Jock off; but I did it. The cruel brute +deserved killing, but the human look and cries and behaviour of the +baboon were too sickening; and Seedling went into his hut without even a +look at his stricken champion. + +Jock stood off, with his mouth open from ear to ear and his red tongue +dangling, blood-stained and panting, but with eager feet ever on the +move shifting from spot to spot, ears going back and forward, and eyes-- +now on the baboon and now on me--pleading for the sign to go in again. + +Before evening the baboon was dead. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +The day's excitement was too much for Jim. After singing and dancing +himself into a frenzy round Jock, after shouting the whole story of the +fight in violent and incessant gabble over and over again to those who +had witnessed it, after making every ear ring and every head swim with +his mad din, he grabbed his sticks once more and made off for one of the +kraals, there to find drink for which he thirsted body and soul. + +In the afternoon the sudden scattering of the inhabitants of a small +kraal on the hillside opposite, and some lusty shouting, drew attention +that way. At distances of from two to five hundred yards from the huts +there stood figures, singly or grouped in twos and threes, up to the +highest slopes; they formed a sort of crescent above the kraal; and on +the lower side of it, hiding under the bank of the river, were a dozen +or more whose heads only were visible. They were all looking towards +the kraal like a startled herd of buck. Now and then a burly figure +would dart out from the huts with wild bounds and blood-curdling yells, +and the watchers on that side would scatter like chaff and flee for dear +life up the mountain side or duck instantly and disappear in the river. +Then he would stalk back again and disappear, to repeat the performance +on another side a little later on. + +It was all painfully clear to me. Jim had broken out. + +We were loaded for Lydenburg--another week's trekking through and over +the mountains--and as we intended coming back the same way a fortnight +later I decided at once to leave Jim at his kraal, which was only a +little further on, and pick him up on the return journey. + +I nearly always paid him off in live stock or sheep: he had good wages, +and for many months at a time would draw no money; the boy was a +splendid worker and as true as steel; so that, in spite of all the awful +worry I had a soft spot for Jim and had taken a good deal of trouble on +his account. He got his pay at the end of the trip or the season, but +not in cash. It was invested for him--greatly to his disgust at the +time, I am bound to say--in live stock, so that he would not be able to +squander it in drink or be robbed of it while incapable. + +Jim's gloomy dignity was colossal when it came to squaring up and I +invited him to state what he wished me to buy for him. To be treated +like an irresponsible child; to be chaffed and cheerfully warned by me; +to be met by the giggles and squirts of laughter of the other boys, for +whom he had the most profound contempt; to see the respectable Sam +counting out with awkward eager hands and gleaming eyes the good red +gold, while he, Makokela the Zulu, was treated like a piccanin--Ugh! It +was horrible! Intolerable! + +Jim would hold aloof in injured gloomy silence, not once looking at me, +but standing sideways and staring stonily past me into the far distance, +and not relaxing for a second the expression of profound displeasure on +his weather-beaten face. No joke or chaff, no question or reason, would +move him to even look my way. All he would do was, now and again, give +a click of disgust, a quick shake of the head, and say: "Aug! +Ang-a-funa!" ("I do not desire it!") + +We had the same fight over and over again, but I always won in the end. +Once, when he would not make up his mind what to buy, I offered him +instead of cash two of the worst oxen in his span at the highest +possible valuation, and the effect was excellent; but the usual lever +was to announce that if he could not make his choice and bargain for +himself I would do it for him. In the end he invariably gave way and +bargained with his kaffir friends for a deal, venting on them by his +hard driving and brow-beating some of the accumulated indignation which +ought to have gone elsewhere. + +When it was all over Jim recovered rapidly, and at parting time there +was the broadest of grins and a stentorian shout of "Hlala Kahle! +Inkos!" and Jim went off with his springy walk, swinging his sticks and +jabbering his thoughts aloud, evidently about me, for every now and +again he would spring lightly into the air, twirl the stick, and shout a +deep throated "Inkos!" full of the joy of living. A boy going home for +his holiday! + +This time Jim was too fully wound up to be dealt with as before, and I +simply turned him off, telling him to come to the camp in a fortnight's +time. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +I was a day behind the waggons returning, and riding up to the camp +towards midday found Jim waiting for me. He looked ill and shrunken, +wrapped in an old coat and squatting against the wall of the little hut. +As I passed he rose slowly and gave his "Sakubona! Inkos!" with that +curious controlled air by which the kaffir manages to suggest a kind of +fatalist resignation or indifference touched with disgust. There was +something wrong; so I rode past without stopping--one learns from them +to find out how the land lies before doing anything. + +It was a bad story, almost as bad as one would think possible where +civilised beings are concerned. Jim's own story lacked certain details +of which he was necessarily ignorant, it also omitted the fact that had +been drunk; but in the main it was quite true. + +This is what happened, as gleaned from several sources: several days +after our departure Jim went down to the store again and raised some +liquor; he was not fighting, but he was noisy, and was the centre of a +small knot of shouting, arguing boys near the store when Seedling +returned after a two days' absence. No doubt it was unfortunate that +the very first thing he saw on his return was the boy who had defied him +and who was the cause of his humiliation; and that that boy should by +his behaviour give the slenderest excuse for interference was in the +last degree unlucky. Seedling's mind was made up from the moment he set +eyes on Jim. Throwing the reins over his horse's head he walked into +the excited gabbling knot, all unconscious of his advent, and laid about +him with the sjambok, scattering and silencing them instantly; he then +took Jim by the wrist saying, "I want you"; he called to one of his own +boys to bring a reim, and leading Jim over to the side of the store tied +him up to the horse rail with arms at full stretch. Taking out his +knife he cut the boy's clothing down the back so that it fell away in +two halves in front of him; then he took off his own coat and flogged +the boy with his sjambok. + +I would like to tell all that happened for one reason: it would explain +the murderous man-hunting feeling that possessed us when we heard it! +But it was too cruel: let it be! Only one thing to show the spirit: +twice during the flogging Seedling stopped to go into the store for a +drink. + +Jim crawled home to find his kraal ransacked and deserted, and his wives +and children driven off in panic. In addition to the flogging Seedling +had, in accordance with his practice, imposed fines far beyond the boy's +means in cash, so as to provide an excuse for seizing what he wanted. +The police boys had raided the kraal; and the cattle and goats--his only +property--were gone. + +He told it all in a dull monotone: for the time the life and fire were +gone out of him; but he was not cowed, not broken. There was a curl of +contempt on his mouth and in his tone that whipped the white skin on my +own back and made it all a disgrace unbearable. That this should be the +reward for his courageous defence of Jock seemed too awful. We went +inside to talk it over and make our plans. The waggons should go on +next day as if nothing had happened, Jim remaining in one of the half +tents or elsewhere out of sight of passers-by. I was to ride into +Lydenburg and lodge information--for in such a case the authorities +would surely act. That was the best, or at any rate the first, course +to be tried. + +There was no difficulty about the warrant, for there were many counts in +the indictment against Seedling; but even so worthless a brute as that +seemed to have one friend, or perhaps an accomplice, to give him +warning, and before we reached his quarters with the police he had +cleared on horseback for Portuguese territory, taking with him a led +horse. + +We got most of Jim's cattle back for him--which he seemed to consider +the main thing--but we were sorely disgusted at the man's escape. + +That was the year of the `rush.' Thousands of new-comers poured into +the country on the strength of the gold discoveries; materials and +provisions of all kinds were almost unprocurable and stood at famine +prices; and consequently we--the transport-riders--reaped a golden +harvest. Never had there been such times; waggons and spans were paid +for in single trips; and so great was the demand for supplies that some +refused transport and bought their own goods, which they re-sold on the +goldfields at prices twice as profitable as the highest rates of +transport. + +Thus the days lost in the attempt to catch Seedling were valuable days. +The season was limited, and as early rains might cut us off, a few days +thrown away might mean the loss of a whole trip. We hurried down, +therefore, for the Bay, doing little hunting that time. + +Near the Crocodile on our way down we heard from men coming up that +Seedling had been there some days before but that, hearing we were on +the way down and had sworn to shoot him, he had ridden on to Komati, +leaving one horse behind bad with horse-sickness. The report about +shooting him was, of course, ridiculous--probably his own imagination-- +but it was some comfort to know that he was in such a state of terror +that his own fancies were hunting him down. + +At Komati we learned that he had stayed three days at the store of that +Goanese murderer, Antonio--the same Antonio who on one occasion had +tried to drug and hand over to the enemy two of our men who had got into +trouble defending themselves against raiding natives; the same Antonio +who afterwards made an ill-judged attempt to stab one Mickey O'Connor in +a Barberton canteen and happily got brained with a bottle of his own +doctored spirit for his pains. + +Antonio suspecting something wrong about a white man who came on +horseback and dawdled aimlessly three days at Komati Drift, going +indoors whenever a stranger appeared, wormed the secret out with liquor +and sympathy; and when he had got most of Seedling's money out of him, +by pretence of bribing the Portuguese officials and getting news, made a +bold bid for the rest by saying that a warrant was out for him in +Delagoa and he must on no account go on. The evil-looking half-caste no +doubt hoped to get the horse saddle and bridle, as well as the cash, and +was quite prepared to drug Seedling when the time came, and slip him +quietly into the Komati at night where the crocodiles would take care of +the evidence. + +Antonio, however, overshot the mark; Seedling who knew all about him, +took fright, saddled up and bolted up the river meaning to make for the +Lebombo, near the Tembe Drift, where Bob McNab and his merry comrades +ran free of Governments and were a law unto themselves. It was no place +for a nervous man, but Seedling had no choice, and he went on. He had +liquor in his saddle bags and food for several days; but he was not used +to the bush, and at the end of the first day he had lost his way and was +beyond the river district where the kaffirs lived. + +So much is believed, though not positively known; at any rate he left +the last kraal in those parts about noon, and was next heard of two days +later at a kraal under the Lebombo. There he learnt that the Black +Umbelusi, which it would be necessary to swim--as Snowball and Tsetse +had done--lay before him, and that it was yet a great distance to +Sebougwaans, and even then he would be only half-way to Bob's. Seedling +could not face it alone, and turned back for the nearest store. + +The natives said that before leaving the kraal he bought beer from them, +but did not want food; for he looked sick; he was red and swollen in the +face; and his eyes were wild; the horse was weak and also looked sick, +being very thin and empty; but they showed him the footpath over the +hills which would take him to Tom's--a white man's store on the road to +Delagoa--and he left them! That was Tom Barnett's at Piscene, where we +always stopped; for Tom was a good friend of ours. + +That was how we came to meet Seedling again. He had made a loop of a +hundred and fifty miles in four days in his efforts to avoid us; but he +was waiting for us when we arrived at Tom Barnett's. We who had hurried +on to catch him, believing that the vengeance of justice depended on us, +forgot that it has been otherwise decreed. + +Tom stood in the doorway of his store as we walked up--five feet one in +his boots, but every inch of it a man--with his hands resting idly on +his hips and a queer smile on his face as he nodded welcome. + +"Did a white man come here on horseback during the last few days from +the Drift?" + +"No!" + +"On foot?" + +"No, not the whole way." + +"Is he here now?" Tom nodded. + +"You know about him, Tom?" + +"Seedling! the chap you're after, isn't it?" + +"Yes," we answered, lowering our voices. Tom looked from one to the +other with the same queer smile, and then making a move to let us into +the store said quietly: "He won't clear, boys; he's dead!" Some kaffirs +coming along the footpath from the 'Bombo had found the horse dead of +horse-sickness half a day away, and further on--only a mile or so from +the store--the rider lying on his back in the sun, dying of thirst. He +died before they got him in. He was buried under a big fig tree where +another and more honoured grave was made later on. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Jim sat by himself the whole evening and never spoke a word. + + +CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR. + +THE LAST TREK. + +It was Pettigrew's Road that brought home to me, and to others, the +wisdom of the old transport-riders' maxim: `Take no risks.' We all knew +that there were `fly' belts on the old main road but we rushed these at +night, for we knew enough of the tsetse fly to avoid it; however the +discovery of the new road to Barberton, a short cut with plenty of water +and grass, which offered the chance of working an extra trip into the +short Delagoa season, tempted me, among others, to take a risk. We had +seen no `fly' when riding through to spy out the land, and again on the +trip down with empty waggons all had seemed to be well; but I had good +reason afterwards to recall that hurried trip down and the night spent +at Low's Creek. It was a lovely moonlight night, cool and still, and +the grass was splendid; after many weeks of poor feeding and drought the +cattle revelled in the land of plenty. We had timed our treks so as to +get through the suspected parts of the road at night, believing that the +fly did not trouble after dark, and thus we were that night outspanned +in the worst spot of all--a tropical garden of clear streams, +tree-ferns, foliage plants, mosses, maidenhair, and sweet grass! I +moved among the cattle myself, watching them feed greedily and waiting +to see them satisfied before inspanning again to trek through the night +to some higher and more open ground. I noticed then that their tails +were rather busy. At first it seemed the usual accompaniment of a good +feed, an expression of satisfaction; after a while, however, the +swishing became too vigorous for this, and when heads began to swing +round and legs also were made use of, it seemed clear that something was +worrying them. The older hands were so positive that at night cattle +were safe from fly, that it did not even then occur to me to suspect +anything seriously wrong. Weeks passed by, and although the cattle +became poorer, it was reasonable enough to put it down to the +exceptional drought. + +It was late in the season when we loaded up for the last time in Delagoa +and ploughed our way through the Matolla swamp and the heavy sands at +Piscene; but late as it was, there was no sign of rain, and the rain +that we usually wanted to avoid would have been very welcome then. The +roads were all blistering stones or powdery dust, and it was cruel work +for man and beast. The heat was intense, and there was no breeze; the +dust moved along slowly apace with us in a dense cloud--men, waggons, +and animals, all toned to the same hue; and the poor oxen toiling slowly +along drew in the finely-powdered stuff at every breath. At the outspan +they stood about exhausted and panting, with rings and lines of brown +marking where the moisture from nostrils, eyes and mouths had caught the +dust and turned it into mud. At Matolla Poort, where the Lebombo Range +runs low, where the polished black rocks shone like anvils, where the +stones and baked earth scorched the feet of man and beast to aching, the +world was like an oven; the heat came from above, below, around--a +thousand glistening surfaces flashing back with intensity the sun's +fierce rays. And there, at Matolla Poort, the big pool had given out! + +Our standby was gone! There, in the deep cleft in the rocks where the +feeding spring, cool and constant, had trickled down a smooth black rock +beneath another overhanging slab, and where ferns and mosses had +clustered in one little spot in all the miles of blistering rocks, there +was nothing left but mud and slime. The water was as green and thick as +pea-soup; filth of all kinds lay in it and on it; half a dozen rotting +carcases stuck in the mud round the one small wet spot where the pool +had been--just where they fell and died; the coat had dropped away from +some, and mats of hair, black-brown and white, helped to thicken the +green water. But we drank it. Sinking a handkerchief where the water +looked thinnest and making a little well into which the moisture slowly +filtered, we drank it greedily. + +The next water on the road was Komati River, but the cattle were too +weak to reach it in one trek, and remembering another pool off the +road--a small lagoon found by accident when out hunting the year +before--we moved on that night out on to the flats and made through the +bush for several miles to look for water and grass. + +We found the place just after dawn. There was a string of half a dozen +pools ringed with yellow-plumed reeds--like a bracelet of sapphires set +in gold--deep deep pools of beautiful water in the midst of acres and +acres of rich buffalo grass. It was too incredibly good! + +I was trekking alone that trip, the only white man there, and--tired out +by the all-night's work, the long ride, and the searching in the bush +for the lagoon--I had gone to sleep after seeing the cattle to the water +and grass. Before midday I was back among them again; some odd +movements struck a chord of memory, and the night at Low's Creek flashed +back. Tails were swishing freely, and the bullock nearest me kicked up +sharply at its side and swung its head round to brush something away. I +moved closer up to see what was causing the trouble: in a few minutes I +heard a thin sing of wings, different from a mosquito's, and there +settled on my shirt a grey fly, very like and not much larger than a +common house-fly, whose wings folded over like a pair of scissors. That +was the "mark of the beast." I knew then why this oasis had been left +by transport-rider and trekker, as nature made it, untrodden and +untouched. + +Not a moment was lost in getting away from the `fly.' But the mischief +was already done; the cattle must have been bitten at Low's Creek weeks +before, and again that morning during the time I slept; and it was clear +that, not drought and poverty, but `fly' was the cause of their +weakness. After the first rains they would begin to die, and the right +thing to do, now was to press on as fast as possible and deliver the +loads. Barberton was booming and short of supplies and the rates were +the highest ever paid; but I had done better still, having bought my own +goods, and the certain profit looked a fortune to me. Even if all the +cattle became unfit for use or died, the loads would pay for everything +and the right course therefore was to press on; for delay would mean +losing both cattle and loads--all I had in the world--and starting again +penniless with the years of hard work thrown away. + +So the last hard struggle began. And it was work and puzzle day and +night, without peace or rest; trying to nurse the cattle in their daily +failing strength, and yet to push them for all they could do; watching +the sky cloud over every afternoon, promising rain that never came, and +not knowing whether to call it promise or threat; for although rain +would bring grass and water to save the cattle, it also meant death to +the fly-bitten. + +We crossed the Komati with three spans--forty-four oxen--to a waggon, +for the drift was deep in two places and the weakened cattle could not +keep their feet. It was a hard day, and by nightfall it was easy to +pick out the oxen who would not last out a week. That night Zole lay +down and did not get up again--Zole the little fat schoolboy, always out +of breath, always good-tempered and quiet, as tame as a pet dog. + +He was only the first to go; day by day others followed. Some were only +cattle: others were old friends and comrades on many a trek. The two +big after-oxen Achmoed and Bakir went down early; the Komati Drift had +over-tried them, and the weight and jolting of the heavy disselboom on +the bad roads finished them off. These were the two inseparables who +worked and grazed, walked and slept, side by side--never more than a few +yards apart day or night since the day they became yoke-fellows. They +died on consecutive days. + +But the living wonder of that last trek was still old Zwaartland the +front ox! With his steady sober air, perfect understanding of his work, +and firm clean buck-like tread, he still led the front span. Before we +reached the Crocodile his mate gave in--worn to death by the ebbing of +his own strength and by the steady indomitable courage of his comrade. +Old Zwaartland pulled on; but my heart sank as I looked at him and noted +the slightly `staring' coat, the falling flanks, the tread less sure and +brisk, and a look in his eyes that made me think he knew what was coming +but would do his best. + +The gallant-hearted old fellow held on. One after another we tried with +him in the lead, half a dozen or more; but he wore them all down. In +the dongas and spruits, where the crossings were often very bad and +steep, the waggons would stick for hours, and the wear and strain on the +exhausted cattle was killing: it was bad enough for the man who drove +them. To see old Zwaartland then holding his ground, never for one +moment turning or wavering while the others backed jibbed and swayed and +dragged him staggering backwards, made one's heart ache. The end was +sure: flesh and blood will not last for ever; the stoutest heart can be +broken. + +The worst of it was that with all the work and strain we accomplished +less than we used to do before in a quarter of the time. Distances +formerly covered in one trek took three, four, and even five now. +Water, never too plentiful in certain parts, was sadly diminished by the +drought, and it sometimes took us three or even four treks to get from +water to water. Thus we had at times to drive the oxen back to the last +place or on to the next one for their drinks, and by the time the poor +beasts got back to the waggons to begin their trek they had done nearly +as much as they were able to do. + +And trouble begot trouble, as usual! Sam the respectable, who had drawn +all his pay in Delagoa, gave up after one hard day and deserted me. He +said that the hand of the Lord had smitten me and mine, and great +misfortune would come to all; so he left in the dark at Crocodile Drift, +taking one of the leaders with him, and joined some waggons making for +Lydenburg. The work was too hard for him; it was late in the season; he +feared the rains and fever; and he had no pluck or loyalty, and cared +for no one but himself. + +I was left with three leaders and two drivers to manage four waggons. +It was Jim who told me of Sam's desertion. He had the cross, defiant, +pre-occupied look of old; but there was also something of satisfaction +in his air as he walked up to me and stood to deliver the great +vindication of his own unerring judgment: + +"Sam has deserted you and taken his voorlooper." He jerked the words +out at me, speaking in Zulu. + +I said nothing. It was just about Sam's form; it annoyed but did not +surprise me. Jim favoured me with a hard searching look, a subdued +grunt, and a click expressive of things he could not put into words, and +without another word he turned and walked back towards his waggon. But +half-way to it he broke silence: facing me once more, he thumped his +chest and hurled at me in mixed Zulu and English: "I said so! Sam lead +a Bible. Sam no good. Umph! M'Shangaan! I said so! I always said +so!" + +When Jim helped me to inspan Sam's waggon, he did it to an accompaniment +of Zulu imprecations which only a Zulu could properly appreciate. They +were quite `above my head,' but every now and then I caught one sentence +repeated like the responses in a litany: "I'll kill that Shangaan when I +see him again!" + +At Lion Spruit there was more bad luck. Lions had been troublesome +there in former years, but for a couple of seasons nothing had been seen +of them. Their return was probably due to the fact that, because of the +drought and consequent failure of other waters, the game on which they +preyed had moved down towards the river. At any rate, they returned +unexpectedly and we had one bad night when the cattle were unmanageable, +and their nerves all on edge. The herd boys had seen spoor in the +afternoon; at dusk we heard the distant roaring, and later on, the +nearer and more ominous grunting. I fastened Jock up in the tent-waggon +lest the sight of him should prove too tempting; he was bristling like a +hedgehog and constantly working out beyond the cattle, glaring and +growling incessantly towards the bush. We had four big fires at the +four corners of the outspan, and no doubt this saved a bad stampede, for +in the morning we found a circle of spoor where the lions had walked +round and round the outspan. There were scores of footprints--the +tracks of at least four or five animals. + +In the Bushveld the oxen were invariably tied up at night, picketed to +the trek-chain, each pair at its yoke ready to be inspanned for the +early morning trek. Ordinarily the weight of the chain and yokes was +sufficient to keep them in place, but when there were lions about, and +the cattle liable to be scared and all to sway off together in the same +direction, we took the extra precaution of pegging down the chain and +anchoring the front yoke to a tree or stake. We had a lot of trouble +that night, as one of the lions persistently took his stand to windward +of the cattle to scare them with his scent. We knew well enough when he +was there, although unable to see anything, as all the oxen would face +up wind, staring with bulging eyeballs in that direction and braced up +tense with excitement. If one of them made a sudden move, the whole lot +jumped in response and swayed off down wind away from the danger, +dragging the gear with them and straining until the heavy waggons +yielded to the tug. We had to run out and then drive them up again to +stay the stampede. It is a favourite device of lions, when tackling +camps and outspans, for one of them to go to windward so that the +terrified animals on winding him may stampede in the opposite direction +where the other lions are lying in wait. + +Two oxen broke away that night and were never seen again. Once I saw a +low light-coloured form steal across the road, and took a shot at it; +but rifle-shooting at night is a gamble, and there was no sign of a hit. + +I was too short-handed and too pressed for time to make a real try for +the lions next day, and after a morning spent in fruitless search for +the lost bullocks we went on again. + +Instead of fifteen to eighteen miles a day, as we should have done, we +were then making between four and eight--and sometimes not one. The +heat and the drought were awful; but at last we reached the Crocodile +and struck up the right bank for the short cut--Pettigrew's Road--to +Barberton, and there we had good water and some pickings of grass and +young reeds along the river bank. + +The clouds piled up every afternoon; the air grew still and sultry; the +thunder growled and rumbled; a few drops of rain pitted the dusty road +and pattered on the dry leaves; and that was all. Anything seemed +preferable to the intolerable heat and dust and drought, and each day I +hoped the rain would come, cost what it might to the fly-bitten cattle; +but the days dragged on, and still the rain held off. + +Then came one black day as we crawled slowly along the river bank, which +is not to be forgotten. In one of the cross-spruits cutting sharply +down to the river the second waggon stuck: the poor tired-out cattle +were too weak and dispirited to pull it out. Being short of drivers and +leaders it was necessary to do the work in turns, that is, after getting +one waggon through a bad place, to go back for another. We had to +double-span this waggon, taking the span from the front waggon back to +hook on in front of the other; and on this occasion I led the span while +Jim drove. We were all tired out by the work and heat, and I lay down +in the dusty road in front of the oxen to rest while the chains were +being coupled up. I looked up into old Zwaartland's eyes, deep, placid, +constant, dark grey eyes--the ox-eyes of which so many speak and write +and so few really know. There was trouble in them; he looked anxious +and hunted; and it made me heart-sick to see it. + +When the pull came, the back span, already disheartened and out of hand, +swayed and turned every way, straining the front oxen to the utmost; yet +Zwaartland took the strain and pulled. For a few moments both front +oxen stood firm; then his mate cut it and turned; the team swung away +with a rush, and the old fellow was jerked backwards and rolled over on +his side. He struggled gamely, but it was some minutes before he could +rise; and then his eye looked wilder and more despairing; his legs were +planted apart to balance him, and his flanks were Jim straightened up +the double-span again. Zwaartland leaned forward once more, and the +others followed his lead; the waggon moved a little and they managed to +pull it out. But I, walking in front, felt the brave old fellow +stagger, and saw him, with head lowered, plod blindly like one stricken +to death. + +We outspanned on the rise, and I told Jim to leave the reim on +Zwaartland's head. Many a good turn from him deserved one more from +me--the last. I sent Jim for the rifle, and led the old front ox to the +edge of the donga where a bleached tree lay across it... He dropped +into the donga under the dead tree; and I packed the dry branches over +him and set fire to the pile. It looks absurd now; but to leave him to +the wolf and the jackal seemed like going back on a friend; and the +queer looks of the boys, and what they would think of me, were easier to +bear. Jim watched, but said nothing: with a single grunt and a shrug of +his shoulders he stalked back to the waggons. + +The talk that night at the boys' fire went on in low-pitched tones--not +a single word audible to me; but I knew what it was about. As Jim stood +up to get his blanket off the waggon, he stretched himself and closed +off the evening's talk with his Zulu click and the remark that "All +white men are mad, in some way." + +So we crawled on until we reached the turn where the road turned between +the mountain range and the river and where the railway runs to-day. +There, where afterwards Cassidy did his work, we outspanned one day when +the heat became so great that it was no longer possible to go on. For +weeks the storm-clouds had gathered, threatened, and dispersed; thunder +had come half-heartedly, little spots of rain enough to pock-mark the +dust; but there had been no break in the drought. + +It was past noon that day when everything grew still; the birds and +insects hushed their sound; the dry leaves did not give a whisper. +There was the warning in the air that one knows but cannot explain; and +it struck me and the boys together that it was time to spread and tie +down the buck-sails which we had not unfolded for months. + +While we were busy at this there came an unheralded flash and crash; +then a few drops as big as florins; and then the flood-gates were opened +and the reservoir of the long months of drought was turned loose on us. +Crouching under the waggon where I had crept to lash down the sail, I +looked out at the deluge, hesitating whether to make a dash for my +tent-waggon or remain there. + +All along the surface of the earth there lay for a minute or so a +two-feet screen of mingled dust and splash: long spikes of rain drove +down and dashed into spray, each bursting its little column of dust from +the powdery earth. There was an indescribable and unforgettable +progression in sounds and smells and sights--a growth and change--rapid +yet steady, inevitable, breathless, overwhelming. Little enough could +one realise in those first few minutes and in the few square yards +around; yet there are details, unnoticed at the time, which come back +quite vividly when the bewildering rush is over, and there are +impressions which it is not possible to forget. + +There were the sounds and the smells and the sights! The sounds that +began with the sudden crash of thunder; the dead silence that followed +it; the first great drops that fell with such pats on the dust; then +more and faster--yet still so big and separate as to make one look round +to see where they fell; the sound on the waggon-sail--at first as of +bouncing marbles, then the `devil's tattoo,' and then the roar! + +And outside there was the muffled puff and patter in the dust; the +rustle as the drops struck dead leaves and grass and sticks; the blend +of many notes that made one great sound, always growing, changing and +moving on--full of weird significance--until there came the steady swish +and hiss of water upon water, when the earth had ceased to stand up +against the rain and was swamped. But even that did not last; for then +the fallen rain raised its voice against the rest, and little sounds of +trickling scurrying waters came to tone the ceaseless hiss, and grew and +grew until from every side the chorus of rushing tumbling waters filled +the air with the steady roar of the flood. + +And the smells! The smell of the baked drought-bound earth; the faint +clearing and purifying by the first few drops; the mingled dust and +damp; the rinsed air; the clean sense of water, water everywhere; and in +the end the bracing sensation in nostrils and head, of, not wind +exactly, but of swirling air thrust out to make room for the falling +rain; and, when all was over, the sense of glorious clarified air and +scoured earth--the smell of a new-washed world! + +And the things that one saw went with the rest, marking the stages of +the storm's short vivid life. The first puffs of dust, where drops +struck like bullets; the cloud that rose to meet them; the drops +themselves that streaked slanting down like a flight of steel ramrods; +the dust dissolved in a dado of splash. I had seen the yellow-brown +ground change colour; in a few seconds it was damp; then mud; then all +asheen. A minute more, and busy little trickles started everywhere-- +tiny things a few inches long; and while one watched them they joined +and merged, hurrying on with twist and turn, but ever onward to a given +point--to meet like the veins in a leaf. Each tuft of grass became a +fountain-head: each space between, a little rivulet: swelling rapidly, +racing away with its burden of leaf and twig and dust and foam until in +a few minutes all were lost in one sheet of moving water. + +Crouching under the waggon I watched it and saw the little streamlets, +dirty and debris-laden, steal slowly on like sluggard snakes down to my +feet, and winding round me, meet beyond and hasten on. Soon the +grass-tufts and higher spots were wet; and as the water rose on my boots +and the splash beat up to my knees, it seemed worth while making for the +tent of the waggon. But in there the roar was deafening; the rain beat +down with such force that it drove through the canvas-covered +waggon-tent and greased buck-sail in fine mist. In there it was black +dark, the tarpaulin covering all, and I slipped out again back to my +place under the waggon to watch the storm. + +We were on high ground which fell gently away on three sides--a long +spur running down to the river between two of the numberless small +watercourses scoring the flanks of the hills. Mere gutters they were, +easy corrugations in the slope from the range to the river, +insignificant drains in which no water ever ran except during the heavy +rains. One would walk through scores of them with easy swinging stride +and never notice their existence. Yet, when the half-hour's storm was +over and it was possible to get out and look round, they were rushing +boiling torrents, twenty to thirty feet across and six to ten feet deep, +foaming and plunging towards the river, red with the soil of the +stripped earth, and laden with leaves, grass, sticks, and branches-- +water-furies, wild and ungovernable, against which neither man nor beast +could stand for a moment. + +When the rain ceased the air was full of the roar of waters, growing +louder and nearer all the time. I walked down the long low spur to look +at the river, expecting much, and was grievously disappointed. It was +no fuller and not much changed. On either side of me the once dry +dongas emptied their soil-stained and debris-laden contents in foaming +cataracts, each deepening the yellowy red of the river at its banks; but +out in mid-stream the river was undisturbed, and its normal colour--the +clear yellow of some ambers--was unchanged. How small the great storm +seemed then! How puny the flooded creeks and dongas--yet each master of +man and his work! How many of them are needed to make a real flood! + +There are few things more deceptive than the tropical storm. To one +caught in it, all the world seems deluged and overwhelmed; yet a mile +away it may be all peace and sunshine. I looked at the river and +laughed at myself! The revelation seemed complete; it was humiliating; +one felt so small. Still, the drought was broken; the rains had come; +and in spite of disappointment I stayed to watch, drawn by the scores of +little things caught up and carried by--the first harvest garnered by +the rains. + +A quarter of an hour or more may have been spent thus, when amid all the +chorus of the rushing waters there stole in a duller murmur. Murmur it +was at first, but it grew steadily into a low-toned, monotoned, distant +roar; and it caught and held one like the roar of coming hail or +hurricane. It was the river coming down. + +The sun was out again, and in the straight reach above the bend there +was every chance to watch the flood from the bank where I stood. It +seemed strangely long in coming, but come it did at last, in waves like +the half-spent breakers on a sandy beach--a slope of foam and broken +waters in the van, an ugly wall with spray-tipped feathered crest +behind, and tier on tier to follow. Heavens, what a scene! The force +of waters, and the utter hopeless puniness of man! The racing waves, +each dashing for the foremost place, only to force the further on; the +tall reeds caught waist high and then laid low, their silvery tops +dipped, hidden, and drowned in the flood; the trees yielding, and the +branches snapping like matches and twirling like feathers down the +stream; the rumbling thunder of big boulders loosed and tumbled, rolled +like marbles on the rocks below; whole trees brought down, and turning +helplessly in the flood--drowned giants with their branches swinging +slowly over like nerveless arms. It was tremendous; and one had to stay +and watch. + +Then the waves ceased; and behind the opposite bank another stream began +to make its way, winding like a huge snake, spreading wider as it went +across the flats beyond, until the two rejoined and the river became one +again. The roar of waters gradually lessened; the two cataracts beside +me were silent; and looking down I saw that the fall was gone and that +water ran to water--swift as ever, but voiceless now--and was lost in +the river itself. Inch by inch the water rose towards my feet; tufts of +grass trembled, wavered, and went down; little wavelets flipped and +licked like tongues against the remaining bank of soft earth below me; +piece after piece of it leant gently forward, and toppled headlong in +the eager creeping tide; deltas of yellow scum-flecked water worked +silently up the dongas, reaching out with stealthy feelers to enclose +the place where I was standing; and then it was time to go! + +The cattle had turned their tails to the storm, and stood it out. They +too were washed clean and looked fresher and brighter; but there was +nothing in that! Two of them had been seen by the boys moving slowly, +foot by foot, before the driving rain down the slope from the outspan, +stung by the heavy drops and yielding in their weakness to the easy +gradient. Only fifty yards away they should have stopped in the +hollow--the shallow dry donga of the morning; but they were gone! +Unwilling to turn back and face the rain, they had no doubt been caught +in the rush of storm-water and swirled away, and their bodies were +bobbing in the Crocodile many miles below by the time we missed them. + +In a couple of hours the water had run off; the flooded dongas were +almost dry again; and we moved on. + +It was then that the real `rot' set in. Next morning there were half a +dozen oxen unable to stand up; and so again the following day. It was +no longer possible to take the four waggons; all the spare cattle had +been used up and it was better to face the worst at once; so I +distributed the best of the load on the other three waggons and +abandoned the rest of it with the fourth waggon in the bush. But day by +day the oxen dropped out, and when we reached the Junction and branched +up the Kaap, there were not enough left for three waggons. + +This time it meant abandoning both waggon and load; and I gave the +cattle a day's rest then, hoping that they would pick up strength on +good grass to face the eight drifts that lay between us and Barberton. + + +CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE. + +OUR LAST HUNT. + +We had not touched fresh meat for many days, as there had been no time +for shooting; but I knew that game was plentiful across the river in the +rough country between the Kaap and Crocodile, and I started off to make +the best of the day's delay, little dreaming that it was to be the last +time Jock and I would hunt together. + +Weeks had passed without a hunt, and Jock must have thought there was a +sad falling away on the part of his master; he no longer expected +anything; the rifle was never taken down now except for an odd shot from +the outspan or to put some poor animal out of its misery. Since the +night with the lions, when he had been ignominiously cooped up, there +had been nothing to stir his blood and make life worth living; and this +morning as he saw me rise from breakfast and proceed to potter about the +waggons in the way he had come to regard as inevitable, he looked on +indifferently for a few minutes and then stretched out full length in +the sun and went to sleep. + +I could not take him with me across the river, as the `fly' was said to +be bad there, and it was no place to risk horse or dog. The best of +prospects would not have tempted me to take chance with him, but I hated +ordering him to stay behind, as it hurt his dignity and sense of +comradeship, so it seemed a happy accident that he was asleep and I +could slip away unseen. As the cattle were grazing along the river bank +only a few hundred yards off, I took a turn that way to have a look at +them, with natural but quite fruitless concern for their welfare, and a +moment later met the herd boy running towards me and calling out +excitedly something which I made out to be: + +"Crocodile! Crocodile, Inkos! A crocodile has taken one of the oxen." +The waggon-boys heard it also, and armed with assegais and sticks were +on the bank almost as soon as I was; but there was no sign of crocodile +or bullock. The boy showed us the place where the weakened animal had +gone down to drink--the hoof slides were plain enough--and told how, as +it drank, the long black coffin-head had appeared out of the water. He +described stolidly how the big jaws had opened and gripped the bullock's +nose; how he, a few yards away, had seen the struggle; how he had +shouted and hurled his sticks and stones and tufts of grass, and feinted +to rush down at it; and how, after a muffled bellow and a weak +staggering effort to pull back, the poor beast had slid out into the +deep water and disappeared. It seemed to be a quite unnecessary +addition to my troubles: misfortunes were coming thick and fast! + +Half an hour was wasted in watching and searching; but we saw no more of +crocodile or bullock, and as there was nothing to be done I turned up +stream to find a shallower and a safer crossing. + +At best it was not pleasant: the water was waist high and racing in +narrow channels between and over boulders and loose slippery stones, and +I was glad to get through without a tumble and a swim. + +The country was rough on the other side, and the old grass was high and +dense, for no one went there in those days, and the grass stood unburnt +from season to season. Climbing over rocks and stony ground, crunching +dry sticks underfoot, and driving a path through the rank tambooki +grass, it seemed well-nigh hopeless to look for a shot; several times I +heard buck start up and dash off only a few yards away, and it began to +look as if the wiser course would be to turn back. At last I got out of +the valley into more level and more open ground, and came out upon a +ledge or plateau a hundred yards or more wide, with a low ridge of rocks +and some thorns on the far side--quite a likely spot. I searched the +open ground from my cover, and seeing nothing there crossed over to the +rocks, threading my way silently between them and expecting to find +another clear space beyond. The snort of a buck brought me to a +standstill among the rocks, and as I listened it was followed by another +and another from the same quarter, delivered at irregular intervals; and +each snort was accompanied by the sound of trampling feet, sometimes +like stamps of anger and at other times seemingly a hasty movement. + +I had on several occasions interrupted fights between angry rivals: once +two splendid koodoo bulls were at it; a second time it was two sables, +and the vicious and incredibly swift sweep of the scimitar horns still +lives in memory, along with the wonderful nimbleness of the other fellow +who dodged it; and another time they were blue wildebeeste; but some +interruption had occurred each time, and I had no more than a glimpse of +what might have been a rare scene to witness. + +I was determined not to spoil it this time: no doubt it was a fight, and +probably they were fencing and circling for an opening, as there was no +bump of heads or clash of horns and no tearing scramble of feet to +indicate the real struggle. I crept on through the rocks and found +before me a tangle of thorns and dead wood, impossible to pass through +in silence; it was better to work back again and try the other side of +the rocks. The way was clearer there, and I crept up to a rock four or +five feet high, feeling certain from the sound that the fight would be +in full view a few yards beyond. With the rifle ready I raised myself +slowly until my eyes were over the top of the rock. Some twenty yards +off, in an open flat of down-trodden grass, I saw a sable cow: she was +standing with feet firmly and widely planted, looking fiercely in front +of her, ducking her head in threatening manner every few seconds, and +giving angry snorts; and behind, and huddled up against her, was her +scared bewildered little red-brown calf. + +It seems stupid not to have guessed what it all meant; yet the fact is +that for the few remaining seconds I was simply puzzled and fascinated +by the behaviour of the two sables. Then in the corner of my eye I saw, +away on my right, another red-brown thing come into the open: it was +Jock, casting about with nose to ground for my trail which he had +over-run at the point where I had turned back near the deadwood on the +other side of the rocks. + +What happened then was a matter of a second or two. As I turned to look +at him he raised his head, bristled up all over, and made one jump +forward; then a long low yellowish thing moved in the unbeaten grass in +front of the sable cow, raised its head sharply, and looked full into my +eyes; and before I could move a finger it shot away in one streak-like +bound. A wild shot at the lioness, as I jumped up full height; a shout +at Jock to come back; a scramble of black and brown on my left; and it +was all over: I was standing in the open ground, breathless with +excitement, and Jock, a few yards off, with hind legs crouched ready for +a dash, looking back at me for leave to go! + +The spoor told the tale; there was the outer circle made by the lioness +in the grass, broken in places where she had feinted to rush in and +stopped before the lowered horns; and inside this there was the smaller +circle, a tangle of trampled grass and spoor, where the brave mother had +stood between her young and death. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Any attempt to follow the lioness after that would have been waste of +time. We struck off in a new direction, and in crossing a stretch of +level ground where the thorn-trees were well scattered and the grass +fairly short my eye caught a movement in front that brought me to +instant standstill. It was as if the stem of a young thorn-tree had +suddenly waved itself and settled back again, and it meant that some +long-horned buck, perhaps a koodoo or a sable bull, was lying down and +had swung his head; and it meant also that he was comfortably settled, +quite unconscious of danger. I marked and watched the spot, or rather, +the line, for the glimpse was too brief to tell more than the direction; +but there was no other move. The air was almost still, with just a +faint drift from him to us, and I examined every stick and branch, every +stump and ant-heap, every bush and tussock, without stirring a foot. +But I could make out nothing: I could trace no outline and see no patch +of colour, dark or light, to betray him. + +It was an incident very characteristic of Bushveld hunting. There I +stood minute after minute--not risking a move, which would be certain to +reveal me--staring and searching for some big animal lying half asleep +within eighty yards of me on ground that you would not call good cover +for a rabbit. We were in the sunlight: he lay somewhere beyond, where a +few scattered thorn-trees threw dabs of shade, marbling with dappled +shade and light the already mottled surface of earth and grass. I was +hopelessly beaten, but Jock could see him well enough; he crouched +beside me with ears cocked, and his eyes, all ablaze, were fixed +intently on the spot, except for an occasional swift look up to me to +see what on earth was wrong and why the shot did not come; his hind legs +were tucked under him and he was trembling with excitement. Only those +will realise it who have been through the tantalising humiliating +experience. There was nothing to be done but wait, leaving the buck to +make the first move. + +And at last it came: there was another slight shake of the horns, and +the whole figure stood out in bold relief. It was a fine sable bull +lying in the shadow of one of the thorn-trees with his back towards us, +and there was a small ant-heap close behind him, making a greyish blot +against his black back and shoulder, and breaking the expanse of colour +which the eye would otherwise easily have picked up. + +The ant-heap made a certain shot impossible, so I lowered myself slowly +to the ground to wait until he should begin feeding or change his +position for comfort or shade, as they often do: this might mean waiting +for half an hour or more, but it was better than risking a shot in the +position in which he was lying. I settled down for a long wait with the +rifle resting on my knees, confidently expecting that when the time came +to move would get up slowly, stretch himself, and have a good look +round. But he did nothing of the kind; a turn or eddy of the faint +breeze must have given him my wind; for there was one twitch of the +horns, as his nose was laid to windward, and without an instant's pause +he dashed off. It was the quickest thing imaginable in a big animal: it +looked as though he started racing from his lying position. The bush +was not close enough to save him, however, in spite of his start, and +through the thin veil of smoke I saw him plunge and stumble, and then +dash off again; and Jock seeing me give chase, went ahead and in half a +minute I was left well behind, but still in sight of the hunt. + +I shouted at Jock to come back, just as one murmurs good-day to a +passing friend in the din of traffic--from force of habit: of course, he +could hear nothing. It was his first and only go at a sable; he knew +nothing of the terrible horns and the deadly scythe-like sweep that +makes the wounded sable so dangerous--even the lioness had fought shy of +them--and great as was my faith in him, the risk in this case was not +one I would have taken. There was nothing to do but follow. A quarter +of a mile on I drew closer up and found them standing face to face among +the thorns. It was the first of three or four stands; the sable, with a +watchful eye on me, always moved on as I drew near enough to shoot. The +beautiful black and white bull stood facing his little red enemy and the +fence and play of feint and thrust, guard and dodge, was wonderful to +see. Not once did either touch the other; at Jock's least movement the +sable's head would go down with his nose into his chest and the +magnificent horns arched forward and poised so as to strike either right +or left, and if Jock feinted a rush either way the scythe-sweep came +with lightning quickness, covering more than half a circle and carrying +the gleaming points with a swing right over the sable's own back. Then +he would advance slowly and menacingly, with horns well forward ready to +strike and eyes blazing through his eyebrows, driving Jock before him. + +There were three or four of these encounters in which I could take no +hand: the distance, the intervening thorns and grass, and the quickness +of their movements, made a safe shot impossible; and there was always +the risk of hitting Jock, for a hard run does not make for good +shooting. Each time as the sable drove him back there would be a short +vicious rush suddenly following the first deliberate advance, and as +Jock scrambled back out of the way the bull would swing round with +incredible quickness and be off full gallop in another direction. +Evidently the final rush was a manoeuvre to get Jock clear of his heels +and flanks as he started, and thus secure a lead for the next run. + +Since the day he was kicked by the koodoo cow Jock had never tackled an +unbroken hind leg; a dangling one he never missed; but the lesson of the +flying heels had been too severe to be forgotten, and he never made that +mistake again. In this chase I saw him time after time try at the +sable's flanks and run up abreast of his shoulder and make flying leaps +at the throat; but he never got in front where the horns could reach +him, and although he passed and repassed behind to try on the other side +when he had failed at the one, and looked up eagerly at the hind legs as +he passed them, he made no attempt at them. + +It must have been at the fourth or fifth stand that Jock got through the +guard at last. The sable was badly wounded in the body and doubtless +strength was failing, but there was little evidence of this yet. In the +pauses Jock's tongue shot and slithered about, a glittering red streak, +but after short spells of panting, his head would shut up with a snap +like a steel trap and his face set with that look of invincible +resolution which it got in part from the pursed-up mouth and in part +from the intensity of the beady black-brown eyes: he was good for hours +of this sort of work. + +This time the sable drove him back towards a big thorn-tree. It may +have been done without design, or it may have been done with the idea of +pinning him up against the trunk. But Jock was not to be caught that +way; in a fight he took in the whole field, behind as well as in front-- +as he had shown the night the second wild dog tackled him. On his side, +too, there may or may not have been design in backing towards the tree; +who knows? I thought that he scored, not by a manoeuvre, but simply +because of his unrelaxing watchfulness and his resolute unhesitating +courage. He seemed to know instinctively that the jump aside, so safe +with the straight-charging animals, was no game to play against the side +sweep of a sable's horns, and at each charge of the enemy he had +scrambled back out of range without the least pretence of taking +liberties. + +This time the sable drove him steadily back towards the tree, but in the +last step, just as the bull made his rush, Jock jumped past the tree and +instead of scrambling back out of reach as before, dodged round and was +in the rear of the buck before it could turn on him. There were no +flying heels to fear then, and without an instant's hesitation he +fastened on one of the hind legs above the hock. With a snort of rage +and indignation the sable spun round and round, kicking and plunging +wildly and making vicious sweeps with his horns; but Jock, although +swung about and shaken like a rat, was out of reach and kept his grip. +It was a quick and furious struggle, in which I was altogether +forgotten, and as one more desperate plunge brought the bull down in a +struggling kicking heap with Jock completely hidden under him, I ran up +and ended the fight. + +It always took him some time to calm down after these tussles: he became +so wound up by the excitement of the struggle that time was needed to +run down again, so to say. While I was busy on the double precaution of +fixing up a scare for the aasvogels and cutting grass and branches to +cover the buck, Jock moved restlessly round the sable, ever ready to +pounce on him again at the least sign of life. The slithering tongue +and wide-open mouth looked like a big red gash splitting his head in +two; he was so blown, his breath came and went like the puffing of a +diminutive steam-engine at full speed, and his eyes with all the +wickedness of fight--but none of the watchfulness--gone out of them, +flickered incessantly from the buck to me: one sign from either would +have been enough! It was the same old scene, the same old performance, +that I had watched scores of times; but it never grew stale or failed to +draw a laugh, a word of cheer, and pat of affection; and from him there +came always the same response, the friendly wagging of that stumpy tail, +a splashy lick, a soft upward look, and a wider split of the mouth that +was a laugh as plain as if one heard it. But that was only an +interruption--a few seconds' distraction: it did not put him off or +satisfy him that all was well. His attention went back to the buck, and +the everlasting footwork went on again. With his front to the fallen +enemy and his fore legs well apart he kept ever on the move forwards and +backwards, in quick steps of a few inches each, and at the same time +edging round in his zigzag circle, making a track round the buck like a +weather chart with the glass at `Changeable.' + +"Silly old fusser! Can't you see he's finished?" He could not hear +anything, but the responsive wag showed that he knew I was talking to +him; and, dodging the piece of bark I threw at him, he resumed his +ridiculous round. + +I was still laughing at him, when he stopped and turning sharply round +made a snap at his side; and a few seconds later he did it again. Then +there was a thin sing of insect wings; and I knew that the Tsetse fly +were on us. + +The only thought then was for Jock, who was still working busily round +the sable. For some minutes I sat with him between my legs, wisping +away the flies with a small branch and wondering what to do. It soon +became clear that there was nothing to be gained by waiting: instead of +passing away the fly became more numerous, and there was not a moment's +peace or comfort to be had, for they were tackling me on the neck, arms, +and legs, where the thorn-ripped pants left them bare to the knees; so, +slinging the rifle over my shoulder, I picked Jock up, greatly to his +discomfort, and carried him off in my arms at the best pace possible +under the circumstances. Half a mile of that was enough, however: the +weight, the awkwardness of the position, the effort to screen him, and +the difficulty of picking my way in very rough country at the same time, +were too much for me. A tumble into a grass-hidden hole laid us both +out sprawling, and I sat down again to rest and think, swishing the +flies off as before. + +Then an idea came which, in spite of all the anxiety, made me laugh, and +ended in putting poor old Jock in quite the most undignified and +ridiculous plight he had known since the days of his puppyhood when his +head stuck in the bully-beef tin or the hen pecked him on the nose. I +ripped off as much of my shirt as was not needed to protect me against +the flies, and making holes in it for his legs and tail fitted him out +with a home-made suit in about five minutes. Time was everything; it +was impossible to run with him in my arms, but we could run together +until we got out of the fly belt, and there was not much risk of being +bitten as long as we kept up the running in the long grass. It was a +long spell, and what with the rough country and the uncontrollable +laughter at the sight of Jock, I was pretty well done by the time we +were safely out of the `fly.' We pulled up when the country began to +fall away sharply towards the river, and there, to Jock's evident +satisfaction, I took off his suit--by that time very much tattered and +awry. + +It was there, lying between two rocks in the shade of a marula tree, +that I got one of those chances to see game at close quarters of which +most men only hear or dream. There were no snapshot cameras then! + +We had been lying there it may be for half an hour or more, Jock asleep +and I spread out on my back, when a slight but distinct click, as of a +hoof against a stone, made me turn quietly over on my side and listen. +The rock beside me was about four feet high, and on the other side of it +a buck of some kind, and a big one too, was walking with easy stride +towards the river. Every footstep was perfectly clear; the walk was +firm and confident: evidently there was not the least suspicion of +danger. It was only a matter of yards between us, and what little +breeze there was drifted across his course towards me, as he too made +for the river, holding a course parallel with the two long rocks between +which we were lying. The footsteps came abreast of us and then stopped, +just as I was expecting him to walk on past the rock and down the hill +in front of me. The sudden halt seemed to mean that some warning +instinct had arrested him, or some least taint upon the pure air softly +eddying between the rocks had reached him. I could hear his sniffs, and +pictured him looking about, silent but alarmed, before deciding which +way to make his rush. + +I raised myself by inches, close to the rock, until I could see over it. +A magnificent waterbuck bull, full-grown and in perfect coat and +condition, was standing less than five yards away and a little to the +right, having already passed me when he came to a stop: he was so close +that I could see the waves and partings in his heavy coat; the rise and +fall in his flanks as he breathed; the ruff on his shaggy bearded +throat, that gave such an air of grandeur to the head; the noble +carriage, as with head held high and slightly turned to windward he +sniffed the breeze from the valley; the nostrils, mobile and sensitive, +searching for the least hint of danger; and the eye, large and full and +soft, luminous with watchful intelligence, and yet mild and calm--so +free was it from all trace of a disturbing thought. And yet I was so +close, it seemed almost possible to reach out and touch him. There was +no thought of shooting: it was a moment of supreme enjoyment. Just to +watch him: that was enough. + +In a little while he seemed satisfied that all was well, and with head +thrown slightly forward and the sure clean tread of his kind, he took +his line unhesitatingly down the hill. As he neared the thicker bush +twenty yards away a sudden impulse made me give a shout. In a single +bound he was lost among the trees, and the clattering of loose stones +and the crackle of sticks in his path had ceased before the cold +shiver-down-the-back, which my spell-breaking shout provoked, had passed +away. When I turned round Jock was still asleep: little incidents like +that brought his deafness home. + +It was our last day's hunting together; and I went back to the dreary +round of hard, hopeless, useless struggle and daily loss. + +One day, a calm cloudless day, there came without warning a tremendous +booming roar that left the air vibrating and seemed to shake the very +earth, as a thousand echoes called and answered from hill to hill down +the long valley. There was nothing to explain it; the kaffirs turned a +sickly grey, and appealed to me; but I could give them no explanation-- +it was something beyond my ken--and they seemed to think it an evil omen +of still greater ill-luck. But, as it turned out, the luck was not all +bad: some days passed before the mystery was solved, and then we came to +where Coombes, with whom a week earlier I had tried--and failed--to keep +pace, had been blown to pieces with his boys, waggon, oxen, and three +tons of dynamite: there was no fragment of waggon bigger than one's +hand; and the trees all around were barked on one side. We turned out +to avoid the huge hole in the drift, and passed on. + +There were only twenty oxen left when we reached the drift below Fig +Tree. The water was nearly breast-high and we carried three-fourths of +the loads through on our heads, case by case, to make the pull as easy +as possible for the oxen, as they could only crawl then. We got one +waggon through with some difficulty, but at nightfall the second was +still in the river; we had carried out everything removable, even to the +buck-sails, but the weakened bullocks could not move the empty waggon. + +The thunder-clouds were piling up ahead, and distant lightning gave +warning of a storm away up river; so we wound the trek-chain round a big +tree on the bank, to anchor the waggon in case of flood, and reeling +from work and weariness, too tired to think of food, I flung myself down +in my blankets under the other waggon which was outspanned where we had +stopped it in the double-rutted veld road, and settling comfortably into +the sandy furrow cut by many wheels, was `dead to the world' in a few +minutes. Near midnight the storm awoke me and a curious coldness about +the neck and shoulders made me turn over to pull the blankets up. The +road had served as a storm-water drain, converting the two wheel furrows +into running streams, and I, rolled in my blankets, had dammed up one of +them. The prompt flow of the released water as soon as I turned over, +told plainly what had happened. I looked out at the driving rain and +the glistening earth, as shown up by constant flashes of lightning: it +was a world of rain and spray and running water. It seemed that there +was neither hope nor mercy anywhere; I was too tired to care, and +dropping back into the trough, slept the night out in water. + +In the morning we found the waggon still in the drift, although partly +hidden by the flood, but the force of the stream had half-floated and +half-forced it round on to higher ground; only the anchoring chain had +saved it. We had to wait some hours for the river to run down, and then +to my relief the rested but staggering oxen pulled it out at the first +attempt. + +Rooiland, the light red ox with blazing yellow eyes and topped horns, +fierce and untamable to the end, was in the lead then. I saw him as he +took the strain in that last pull, and it was pitiful to see the +restless eager spirit fighting against the failing strength: he looked +desperate. The thought seems fanciful--about a dumb animal--and perhaps +it is; but what happened just afterwards makes it still vivid and fitted +in very curiously with the superstitious notions of the boys. We +outspanned in order to re-pack the loads, and Rooiland, who as front ox +was the last to be released, stood for a few moments alone while the +rest of the cattle moved away; then turning his back on them he gave a +couple of low moaning bellows and walked down the road back to the drift +again. I had no doubt it was to drink; but the boys stopped their work +and watched him curiously, and some remarks passed which were inaudible +to me. As the ox disappeared down the slope into the drift, Jim called +to his leader to bring him back, and then turning to me, added with his +usual positiveness, "Rooiland is mad. Umtagati! Bewitched! He is +looking for the dead ones. He is going to die to-day!" + +The boy came back presently alone. When he reached the drift, he said, +Rooiland was standing breast-high in the river, and then in a moment, +whether by step or slip, he was into the flood and swept away. The +leader's account was received by the others in absolute silence: a +little tightening of the jaws and a little brightening of the eyes, +perhaps, were all I could detect. They were saturated with +superstition, and as pagan fatalists they accepted the position without +a word. I suggested to Jim that it was nothing but a return of +Rooiland's old straying habit, and probed him with questions, but could +get nothing out of him; finally he walked off with an expressive shake +of the head and the repetition of his former remark, without a shade of +triumph, surprise, or excitement in his voice: "He is looking for the +dead ones!" + +We were out of the fly then, and the next day we reached Fig Tree. + +That was the end of the last trek. Only three oxen reached Barberton, +and they died within the week: the ruin was complete. + + +CHAPTER TWENTY SIX. + +OUR VARIOUS WAYS. + +When the trip was squared off and the boys paid, there was nothing left. +Jim went home with waggons returning to Spitzkop: once more--for the +last time--grievously hurt in dignity because his money was handed to my +friend the owner of the waggon to be paid out to him when he reached his +kraal; but his gloomy resentment melted as I handed over to him things +for which there was no further need. The waggons moved off, and Jim +with them; but twice he broke back again to dance and shout his +gratitude; for it was wealth to him to have the reims and voorslag, the +odd yokes and strops and waggon tools, the baking pot and pan and +billies; and they were little to me when all else was gone. And Jim, +with all his faults, had earned some title to remembrance for his +loyalty. My way had been his way; and the hardest day had never been +too hard for him: he had seen it all through to the finish, without a +grumble and without a shirk. + +His last shout, like the bellow of a bull, was an uproarious good-bye to +Jock. And Jock seemed to know it was something of an occasion, for, as +he stood before me looking down the road at the receding waggons and the +dancing figure of Jim, his ears were cocked, his head was tilted a +little sideways, and his tail stirred gently. It was at least a +friendly nod in return! + +A couple of weeks later I heard from my friend: "You will be interested +to hear that that lunatic of yours reached his kraal all right; but +that's not _his_ fault. He is a holy terror. I have never known such a +restless animal: he is like a change in the weather--you seem to feel +him everywhere, upsetting everything and every one the whole time. I +suppose you hammered him into his place and kept him there; but I +wouldn't have him at a gift. It is not that there was anything really +wrong; only there was no rest, no peace. + +"But he's a gay fighter! That was a treat: I never laughed so much in +my life. Below the Devil's Kantoor we met a lot of waggons from +Lydenburg, and he had a row with one of the drivers, a lanky nigger with +dandy-patched clothes. The boy wouldn't fight--just yelled blue murder +while Jim walloped him. I heard the yells and the whacks, like the +beating of carpets, and there was Jim laying it on all over him--legs, +head, back, and arms--with a sort of ferocious satisfaction, every whack +being accompanied by a husky suppressed shout: `Fight, Shangaan! +Fight!' But the other fellow was not on for fighting; he floundered +about, yelled for mercy and help, and tried to run away; but Jim simply +played round him--one spring put him alongside each time. I felt sorry +for the long nigger and was going to interfere and save him, but just +then one of his pals called out to their gang to come along and help, +and ran for his sticks. It was rare fun then. Jim dropped the patched +fellow and went like a charging lion straight for the waggons where the +gang were swarming for their sticks, letting out right and left whenever +he saw a nigger, whether they wanted to fight or not; and in about five +seconds the whole lot were heading for the bush with Jim in full chase. + +"Goodness knows what the row was about. As far as I can make out from +your heathen, it is because the other boy is a Shangaan and reads the +Bible. Jim says this boy--Sam is his name--worked for you and ran away. +Sam says it is not true, and that he never even heard of you, and that +Jim is a stranger to him. There's something wrong in this, though, +because when the row began, Sam first tried to pacify your lunatic, and +I heard him sing out in answer to the first few licks, `Kahle, Umganaam; +Kahle, Makokel'!' (Gently, friend; gently, Makokel'.) `Wow, Makokela, +y' ou bulala mena!' (Wow, Makokela, you will kill me.) He knew Jim +right enough; that was evident. But it didn't help him; he had to skip +for it all the same. I was glad to pay the noble Jim off and drop him +at his kraal. Sam was laid up when we left." + +It is better to skip the change from the old life to the new--when the +luck, as we called it, was all out, when each straw seemed the last for +the camel's breaking back, and there was always still another to come. +But the turn came at last, and the `long arm of coincidence' reached out +to make the `impossible' a matter of fact. It is better to skip all +that: for it is not the story of Jock, and it concerns him only so far +that in the end it made our parting unavoidable. + +When the turn did come it was strange, and at times almost bewildering, +to realise that the things one had struggled hardest against and +regarded as the worst of bad luck were blessings in disguise and were +all for the best. So the new life began and the old was put away; but +the new life, for all its brighter and wider outlook and work of another +class, for all the charm that makes Barberton now a cherished memory to +all who knew the early days, was not all happy. The new life had its +hours of darkness too; of almost unbearable `trek fever'; of restless, +sleepless, longing for the old life; of `home-sickness' for the veld, +the freedom, the roaming, the nights by the fire, and the days in the +bush! Now and again would come a sleepless night with its endless +procession of scenes, in which some remembered from the past were +interlinked with others imagined for the future; and here and there in +these long waking dreams came stabs of memory--flashes of lightning +vividness: the head and staring eyes of the koodoo bull, as we had stood +for a portion of a second face to face; the yawning mouth of the +maddened crocodile; the mamba and its beady hateful eyes, as it swept by +before the bush fire. And there were others too that struck another +chord: the cattle, the poor dumb beasts that had worked and died: +stepping-stones in a man's career; the `books,' the `chalk and +blackboard' of the school--used, discarded, and forgotten! No, they +were not forgotten; and the memory of the last trek was one long mute +reproach on their behalf: they had paved the roadway for the Juggernaut +man. + +All that was left of the old life was Jock; and soon there was no place +for him. He could not always be with me; and when left behind he was +miserable, leading a life that was utterly strange to him, without +interest and among strangers. While I was in Barberton he accompanied +me everywhere, but--absurd as it seems--there was a constant danger for +him there, greater though less glorious than those he faced so lightly +in the veld. His deafness, which passed almost unnoticed and did not +seem to handicap him at all in the veld, became a serious danger in +camp. For a long time he had been unable to hear a sound, but he could +_feel_ sounds: that is to say, he was quick to notice anything that +caused a vibration. In the early days of his deafness I had been +worried by the thought that he would be run over while lying asleep near +or under the waggons, and the boys were always on the look-out to stir +him up; but we soon found that this was not necessary. At the first +movement he would feel the vibration and jump up. Jim realised this +well enough, for when wishing to direct his attention to strange dogs or +Shangaans, the villain could always dodge me by stamping or hammering on +the ground, and Jock always looked up: he seemed to know the difference +between the sounds he could ignore, such as chopping wood, and those +that he ought to notice. + +In camp--Barberton in those days was reckoned a mining camp, and was +always referred to as `camp'--the danger was due to the number of +sounds. He would stand behind me as I stopped in the street, and +sometimes lie down and snooze if the wait was a long one; and the poor +old fellow must have thought it a sad falling off, a weary monotonous +change from the real life of the veld. At first he was very watchful, +and every rumbling wheel or horse's footfall drew his alert little eyes +round to the danger point; but the traffic and noise were almost +continuous and one sound ran into another; and thus he became careless +or puzzled and on several occasions had narrowly escaped being run over +or trodden on. + +Once, in desperation after a bad scare, I tried chaining him up, and +although his injured reproachful look hurt, it did not weaken me: I had +hardened my heart to do it, and it was for his own sake. At lunch-time +he was still squatting at the full length of the chain, off the mat and +straw, and with his head hanging in the most hopeless dejected attitude +one could imagine. It was too much for me--the dog really felt it; and +when I released him there was no rejoicing in his freedom as the hated +collar and chain dropped off: he turned from me without a sign or sound +of any sort, and walking off slowly, lay down some ten yards away with +his head resting on his paws! He went to think--not to sleep. + +I felt abominably guilty, and was conscious of wanting to make up for it +all the afternoon. + +Once I took him out to Fig Tree Creek fifteen miles away, and left him +with a prospector friend at whose camp in the hills it seemed he would +be much better off and much happier. When I got back to Barberton that +night he was waiting for me, with a tag of chewed rope hanging round his +neck, not the least ashamed of himself, but openly rejoicing in the +meeting and evidently never doubting that I was equally pleased. And he +was quite right there. + +But it could not go on. One day as he lay asleep behind me, a loaded +waggon coming sharply round a corner as nearly as possible passed over +him. The wheel was within inches of his back as he lay asleep in the +sand: there was no chance to grab--it was a rush and a kick that saved +him; and he rolled over under the waggon, and found his own way out +between the wheels. + +A few days after this Ted passed through Barberton, and I handed Jock +over to him, to keep and to care for until I had a better and safer home +for him. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +One day some two years later there turned up at my quarters an old +friend of the transport days--Harry Williams--he had been away on a long +trek `up north' to look for some supposed mine of fabulous richness of +which there had been vague and secret reports from natives. He stayed +with me for some days, and one evening after the bout of fever and ague +had passed off and rest and good feeding had begun to pull him round, he +told us the story of their search. It was a trip of much adventure, but +it was the end of his story that interested me most; and that is all +that need be told here. + +They had failed to find the mine; the native who was supposed to know +all about it had deserted, with all he could carry off; they were short +of food and money, and out of medicines; the delays had been great; they +were two hundred miles from any white men; there was no road but their +own erratic track through the bush; the rains had begun and the fever +season set in; the cattle--they had one waggon and span--were worn-out; +the fever had gripped them, and of the six white men, three were dead, +one dying, and two only able to crawl; most of their boys had deserted; +one umfaan fit for work, and the driver--then delirious with fever-- +completed the party. + +The long journey was almost over; and they were only a few treks from +the store and camp for which they were making; but they were so stricken +and helpless it seemed as though that little was too much, and they must +die within reach of help. The driver, a big Zulu, was then raving mad; +he had twice run off into the bush and been lost for hours. Precious +time and waning strength were spent in the search, and with infinite +effort and much good luck they had found him and induced him to return. +On the second occasion they had enticed him on to the waggon and, as he +lay half unconscious between bursts of delirium, had tied him down flat +on his back, with wrists and ankles fastened to the buck-rails. It was +all they could do to save him: they had barely strength to climb up and +pour water into his mouth from time to time. + +It was midday then, and their dying comrade was so far gone that they +decided to abandon one trek and wait for evening, to allow him to die in +peace. Later on, when they thought it was all over, they tried to +scrape out a grave for him, and began to pull out one old blanket to +wrap round him in place of a shroud and coffin. It was then that the +man opened his eyes and faintly shook his head; so they inspanned as +best they could and made another trek. I met the man some years +afterwards, and he told me he had heard all they said, but could only +remember one thing, and that was Harry's remark, that `two gin-cases +were not enough for a coffin, so they would have to take one of the +blankets instead.' + +In the morning they went on again. It was then at most two treks more +to their destination; but they were too weak to work or walk, and the +cattle were left to crawl along undriven; but after half an hour's +trekking, they reached a bad drift where the waggon stuck; the cattle +would not face the pull. The two tottering trembling white men did +their best, but neither had strength to use the whip; the umfaan led the +oxen this way and that, but there was no more effort in them. The water +had given out, and the despairing helpless men saw death from thirst +awaiting them within a few hours' trek of help; and to add to the horror +of it all, the Zulu driver, with thirst aggravating his delirium, was a +raving lunatic--struggling and wrenching at his bonds until the waggon +rattled, and uttering maniac yells and gabbling incessantly. + +Hours had gone by in hopeless effort; but the oxen stood out at all +angles, and no two would pull together in answer to the feeble efforts +of the fainting men. Then there came a lull in the shouts from the +waggon and in answer to the little voorlooper's warning shout, "Pas op, +Baas!" (Look out, Master!), the white men looked round and saw the Zulu +driver up on his knees freeing himself from the reims. In another +moment he was standing up full height--a magnificent but most unwelcome +sight: there was a thin line of froth along the half-opened mouth; the +deep-set eyes glared out under eyebrows and forehead bunched into +frowning wrinkles, as for a few seconds he leaned forward like a lion +about to spring and scanned the men and oxen before him; and then as +they watched him in breathless silence, he sprang lightly off the +waggon, picked up a small dry stick as he landed, and ran up along the +span. + +He spoke to the after-ox by name as he passed; called to another, and +touched it into place; thrust his way between the next one and the dazed +white man standing near it, tossing him aside with a brush of his arm, +as a ploughshare spurns a sod; and then they saw how the boy's madness +had taken him. His work and his span had called to him in his delirium; +and he had answered. With low mutterings, short words hissed out, and +all the sounds and terms the cattle knew shot at them--low-pitched and +with intense repression--he ran along the span, crouching low all the +time like a savage stealing up for murderous attack. + +The two white men stood back and watched. + +Reaching the front oxen, he grasped the leading reim and pulled them +round until they stood level for the straight pull out; then down the +other side of the span he ran with cat-like tread and activity, talking +to each and straightening them up as he had done with the others; and +when he reached the waggon again, he turned sharply and overlooked the +span. One ox had swung round and stood out of line; there was a pause +of seconds, and then the big Zulu called to the ox by name--not loudly +but in a deep low tone, husky with intensity--and the animal swung back +into line again. + +Then out of the silence that followed came an electrifying yell to the +span: every bullock leaned to its yoke, and the waggon went out with a +rush. + +And he drove them at a half-trot all the way to the store: without +water; without help; without consciousness; the little dry twig still in +his hand, and only his masterful intensity and knowledge of his work and +span to see him through. + +"A mad troublesome savage," said Harry Williams, "but one of the very +best. Anyhow, we thought so; he saved us!" + +There was something very familiar in this, and it was with a queer +feeling of pride and excitement that I asked: + +"Did he ever say to you `My catchum lion 'live'?" + +"By gum! You know him? Jim: Jim Makokel'!" + +"Indeed I do. Good old Jim!" + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Years afterwards Jim was still a driver, working when necessary, +fighting when possible, and enjoying intervals of lordly ease at his +kraal where the wives and cattle stayed and prospered. + + +CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN. + +HIS DUTY. + +And Jock? + +But I never saw my dog again. For a year or so he lived something of +the old veld life, trekking and hunting; from time to time I heard of +him from Ted and others: stories seemed to gather easily about him as +they do about certain people, and many knew Jock and were glad to bring +news of him. The things they thought wonderful and admirable made +pleasant news for them to tell and welcome news to me, and they were +heard with contented pride, but without surprise, as "just like him": +there was nothing more to be said. + +One day I received word from Ted that he was off to Scotland for a few +months and had left Jock with another old friend, Tom Barnett--Tom, at +whose store under the Big Fig Tree, Seedling lies buried; and although I +was glad that he had been left with a good friend like Tom, who would +care for him as well as any one could, the life there was not of the +kind to suit him. For a few months it would not matter; but I had no +idea of letting him end his days as a watch-dog at a trader's store in +the kaffir country. Tom's trouble was with thieves; for the natives +about there were not a good lot, and their dogs were worse. When Jock +saw or scented them, they had the poorest sort of luck or chance: he +fought to kill, and not as town dogs fight; he had learnt his work in a +hard school, and he never stopped or slackened until the work was done; +so his fame soon spread and it brought Tom more peace than he had +enjoyed for many a day. Natives no longer wandered at will into the +reed-enclosed yard; kaffir dogs ceased to sneak into the store and +through the house, stealing everything they could get. Jock took up his +place at the door, and hungry mongrels watched him from a distance or +sneaked up a little closer when from time to time he trotted round to +the yard at the back of the building to see how things were going there. + +All that was well enough during the day; but the trouble occurred at +night. The kaffirs were too scared to risk being caught by him, but the +dogs from the surrounding kraals prowled about after dark, scavenging +and thieving where they could; and what angered Tom most of all was the +killing of his fowls. The yard at the back of the store was enclosed by +a fence of close-packed reeds, and in the middle of the yard stood the +fowl-house with a clear space of bare ground all round it. On many +occasions kaffir dogs had found their way through the reed fence and +killed fowls perching about the yard, and several times they had burgled +the fowl-house itself. In spite of Jock's presence and reputation, this +night robbing still continued, for while he slept peacefully in front of +the store, the robbers would do their work at the back. Poor old +fellow! They were many and he was one; they prowled night and day, and +he had to sleep sometimes; they were watchful and he was deaf; so he had +no chance at all unless he saw or scented them. + +There were two small windows looking out on to the yard, but no door in +the back of the building; thus, in order to get into the yard, it was +necessary to go out of the front door and round the side of the house. +On many occasions Tom, roused by the screaming of the fowls, had seized +his gun and run round to get a shot at the thieves; but the time so lost +was enough for a kaffir dog, and the noise made in opening the reed gate +gave ample warning of his coming. + +The result was that Tom generally had all his trouble for nothing; but +it was not always so. Several times he roused Jock as he ran out, and +invariably got some satisfaction out of what followed; once Jock caught +one of the thieves struggling to force a way through the fence and held +on to the hind leg until Tom came up with the gun; on other occasions he +had caught them in the yard; on others, again, he had run them down in +the bush and finished it off there without help or hindrance. + +That was the kind of life to which Jock seemed to have settled down. + +He was then in the very prime of life, and I still hoped to get him back +to me some day to a home where he would end his days in peace. Yet it +seemed impossible to picture him in a life of ease and idleness--a +watch-dog in a house sleeping away his life on a mat, his only +excitement keeping off strange kaffirs and stray dogs, or burrowing for +rats and moles in a garden, with old age, deafness, and infirmities +growing year by year to make his end miserable. I had often thought +that it might have been better had he died fighting--hanging on with his +indomitable pluck and tenacity, tackling something with all the odds +against him; doing his duty and his best as he had always done--and died +as Rocky's dog had died. If on that last day of our hunting together he +had got at the lioness, and gone under in the hopeless fight; if the +sable bull had caught and finished him with one of the scythe-like +sweeps of the scimitar horns; if he could have died--like Nelson--in the +hour of victory! Would it not have been better for him--happier for me? +Often I thought so. For to fade slowly away; to lose his strength and +fire and intelligence; to outlive his character, and no longer be +himself! No, that could not be happiness! + +Well, Jock is dead! Jock, the innocent cause of Seedling's downfall and +death, lies buried under the same big Fig Tree: the graves stand side by +side. He died, as he lived--true to his trust; and this is how it +happened, as it was faithfully told to me: + +It was a bright moonlight night--Think of the scores we had spent +together, the mild glorious nights of the Bushveld!--and once more Tom +was roused by a clatter of falling boxes and the wild screams of fowls +in the yard. Only the night before the thieves had beaten him again; +but this time he was determined to be even with them. Jumping out of +bed he opened the little window looking out on to the fowl-house, and, +with his gun resting on the sill, waited for the thief. He waited long +and patiently; and by-and-by the screaming of the fowls subsided enough +for him to hear the gurgling and scratching about in the fowl-house, and +he settled down to a still longer watch; evidently the kaffir dog was +enjoying his stolen meal in there. + +"Go on! Finish it!" Tom muttered grimly; "I'll have you this time if I +wait till morning!" + +So he stood at the window waiting and watching, until every sound had +died away outside. He listened intently: there was not a stir; there +was nothing to be seen in the moonlit yard; nothing to be heard; not +even a breath of air to rustle the leaves in the big fig tree. + +Then, in the same dead stillness the dim form of a dog appeared in the +doorway, stepped softly out of the fowl-house, and stood in the deep +shadow of the little porch. Tom lifted the gun slowly and took careful +aim. When the smoke cleared away, the figure of the dog lay still, +stretched out on the ground where it had stood; and Tom went back to +bed, satisfied. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +The morning sun slanting across the yard shone in Tom's eyes as he +pushed the reed gate open and made his way towards the fowl-house. +Under the porch, where the sunlight touched it, something shone like +burnished gold. + +He was stretched on his side--it might have been in sleep; but on the +snow-white chest there was one red spot. + +And inside the fowl-house lay the kaffir dog--dead. + +Jock had done his duty. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +The End. + + +CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT. + +NOTES. + +Snake stories are proverbially an `uncommercial risk' for those who +value a reputation for truthfulness. Hailstorms are scarcely less +disastrous; hence these notes! + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Mamba.--This is believed to be the largest and swiftest of the deadly +snakes, and one of the most wantonly vicious. The late Dr Colenso +(Bishop of Zululand) in his Zulu dictionary describes them as attaining +a length of twelve feet, and capable of chasing a man on horseback. The +writer has seen several of this length, and has heard of measurements up +to fourteen feet (which, however, were not sufficiently verified); he +has also often heard stories of men on horseback being chased by black +mambas, but has never met the man himself, nor succeeded in eliciting +the important facts as to pace and distance. However that may be, the +movements of a mamba, even on open ground, are, as the writer has +several times observed, so incredibly swift as to leave no other +impression on the mind than that of having witnessed a magical +disappearance. How often and how far they `travel on their tails,' +whether it is a continuous movement or merely a momentary uprising to +command a view, and what length or what proportion of the body is on the +ground for support or propulsion, the writer has no means of knowing: +during the Zulu war an Imperial officer was bitten by a mamba _while on +horseback_ and died immediately. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Hailstorms.--Bad hailstorms occur every year in South Africa, but they +do not last long (ten minutes is enough to destroy everything that +stands). The distances are immense, and the area of disturbance is +usually a narrow strip; hence, except when one strikes a town, very few +people ever witness them. This summer hailstorms were more general and +more severe in the Transvaal than for some time past. A bad storm +baffles description. The size of the hailstones is only one of the +factors--a strong wind enormously increases the destructiveness; yet +some idea may be gathered from the size of the stones. The writer took +a plaster cast of one picked up at Zuurfontein (near Johannesburg), in +November 1906, which measured 4.5 inches long, 3.5 wide and 1.125 inches +thick--a slab of white ice. In the Hekpoort Valley (near Johannesburg) +and in Barberton, about the same date, the veld was like a glacier; the +hail lay like snow, inches deep, and during the worst spells the general +run of the hailstones varied in size from pigeons' eggs to hens' eggs; +but the big ones, the crash of whose individual blows was distinctly +heard through the general roar, are described as `bigger than cricket +balls' and `the size of breakfast cups,' generally with an elongation or +tail--like a balloon. Sheep and buck were killed, and full-grown cattle +so battered that some were useless and others died of the injuries; +wooden doors were broken in, the panels being completely shattered; +corrugated iron roofs were perforated, and in some cases the hailstones +drove completely through them. The writer photographed a portion of a +roof in Barberton which had suffered thus, and saw plaster casts--formed +by pouring plaster of Paris into the indentations which two hailstones +had made in a flower bed--in diameter equalling, respectively, tennis +and cricket balls. + +Near Harrismith, O.R.C., in 1903, two herd boys with a troop of about a +hundred goats and calves were caught by the hail. The boys and all the +stock, except one old goat, were killed. + + +CHAPTER TWENTY NINE. + +GLOSSARY. + +NOTE.--_The spelling of Cape Dutch and native names is in many cases not +to be determined by recognised authority. The pronunciation cannot be +quite accurately suggested through the medium of English. The figures +of weights and measurements of animals are gathered from many sources, +and refer only to first-class specimens. The weights are necessarily +approximate_. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +AASVOGEL (d), a vulture (_literally_. carrion bird). + +ANT-BEAR, AARDVARK (d) (_Orycteropus jifer_). + +ANT-HEAP, mound made by termites or `white ants.' Usually formed by one +colony of ants; about two to four feet in base diameter and height, but +often in certain localities very much larger. The writer photographed +one this year near the scene of the Last Hunt, eighteen feet base +diameter and ten feet high, and another in Rhodesia which formed a +complete background for a travelling waggonette and six mules. In both +cases these mounds were `deserted cities,' and trees, probably fifty to +one hundred years old, were growing out of them. + +ASSEGAI (_pronounced_ ass-e-guy) (n), native spear. + +BAAS (d), master. + +BANSELA (_pronounced_ baan-se-la) (n), a present. + +BEKER (_pronounced_ beaker) (d), a cup. + +BILLY, a small tin utensil with lid and handle, used for boiling water. + +BUCK-SAIL, tarpaulin used for covering transport waggons, which are +known as buck-waggons. + +BUFFALO, Cape buffalo (_Bos Caffer_). Height, 5 feet 6 inches; weight, +possibly 1000 pounds; horns, 48 inches from tip to tip and 36 inches +each in length on curve. + +BULTONG, or Biltong (_pronounced_ biltong) (n), meat cut in strips, +slightly salted, and dried in the open air. + +BUSH BUCK, a medium-sized but very courageous antelope (_Tragelaphus +scriptus_). Height, 3 feet; weight, 130 pounds; horns (male only), 18 +inches. + +BUSH VELD, properly Bosch veld (d), bush country; also called Low Veld +and Low Country. + +CANE-RAT (_Thryonomys swinderentanus_). + +CETYWAYO (_see_ Ketshwayo). + +CHAKA, properly Tshaka (n), the first of the great Zulu kings and +founder of the Zulu military power. + +DASSIE (_pronounced_ daas-ey) (d), rock-rabbit; coney (_Procavia (Hyrax) +capensis_) (_literally_. little badger). + +DINGAAN, properly Dingan (e) (n), the second of the great Zulu kings; +brother, murderer, and successor of Chaka. + +DISSELBOOM (d), the pole of a vehicle. + +DONGA (n), a gully or dry watercourse with steep banks. + +DOUGH-BOYS, scones; frequently unleavened dough baked in coals; also +ash-cakes, roaster cookies, stick-in-the-gizzards, veld-bricks, etc. + +DRIFT (d), a ford. + +DUIKER (_pronounced_ in English dyker, in Dutch dayker) (d), a small +antelope found throughout Africa (_Cephalophus grimmi_). Gross weight, +30 to 40 pounds; height, 28 inches; horns, 5.5 inches. (_literally_ +diver, so called from its habit of disappearing and re-appearing in low +scrub in a succession of bounds when it first starts running). + +GO'WAY BIRD, the grey plantain eater (_Schizorbis concolor_). + +HARTEBEESTE (_pronounced_ haar-te-beast) (d), a large antelope, of which +there are several varieties, varying in gross weight from 300 to 500 +pounds; height, 48 inches; horns, 24 inches. + +HIGH VELD, properly Hoogeveld (d), high country; the plateau, about 5000 +to 6000 feet above sea-level. + +HONEY-BIRD, the honey guide (several species; family, _Indicatoriae_). + +HONEY-SUCKER, sun bird (several species; family, _Nectariniidae_). + +HORSE-SICKNESS, a lung affection prevalent during summer in low-lying +parts; generally fatal; caused by microbes introduced in the blood by +some insect. + +IMPALA (n), an antelope (_Aepyceros melampus_); habitat, Bushveld; +weight, 140 pounds; horns, up to 20 inches, straight. + +IMPI (_pronounced_ impey) (n), an army or body of armed natives gathered +for or engaged in war. + +INDUNA (_pronounced_ in-doo-nah) (n), a head-man, captain, or chief, +great or petty. + +INKOS (_pronounced_ in-kos--`os' as in verbose) (n), chief; used as a +term of respect in address or salutation. + +INSPAN, properly Enspan (d), to yoke up, harness up, or hitch up. + +ISANDHL'WANA, also 'SANDHL'WANA, incorrectly Isandula (_pronounced_ +saan-shle-waa-na), meaning `the little hand', the hill which gave the +name to the battle in which the 24th Regiment was annihilated in the +Zulu War, 1879. + +KAFFIR CORN, sorghum. + +KAHLE (_pronounced_ kaa-shle, corrupted in kitchen-Kaffir to `gaashly') +(n), gently, carefully, pleasantly, well. `Hamba kahle,' farewell, go +in peace. `Hlala (_pronounced_ shlala) kahle,' farewell, stay in peace. + +KEHLA (_pronounced_ keh-shlaa) (n), a native of certain age and position +entitled to wear the head ring. Dutch, _ring kop_--ring head. + +KERRIE, or KIRRIE, native sticks used for fighting, frequently knobbed; +hence, knob-kerrie. + +KETSHWAYO (_pronounced_ ketsh-wy-o), incorrectly Cetywayo, fourth and +last of the great Zulu kings. + +KLIPSPRINGER (d), a small antelope, in appearance and habit rather like +chamois (_Oreotragus saltator_) (_literally_. a rock-jumper). + +KLOOF (d), a gorge. + +KNEEHALTER (d), to couple the head to one fore leg by a reim or strap +attached to the halter, closely enough to prevent the animal from moving +fast. + +KNOORHAAN, commonly, but incorrectly, Koorhaan or Koraan, (d), the +smaller bustard (_literally_ scolding cock). + +KOODOO, properly KUDU (n) (_Strepsiceros capensis_). Habitat, rugged +bushy country. Height, 5 feet; weight, 600 pounds; horns, up to 48 +inches straight, and 66 inches on curve. + +KOPJE (_pronounced_ copy) (d), a hill (_literally_ a little head). + +KRAAL (_pronounced_ in English crawl) (d), an enclosure for cattle, +sheep, etc, a corral; also a collection of native huts, the home of a +family, the village of a chief or tribe. + +KRANS (d), often spelt KRANTZ (German) (D. _krans_, a circlet or crown), +a precipitous face or coronet of rock on a hill or mountain. + +LAGAVAAN, a huge water lizard, the monitor. Cape Dutch, _lagewaan_ +(pure Dutch, _laguaan_) (_Varanus niloticus_). Maximum length up to 8 +feet. + +LOOPER, round shot for fowling-piece, about four times the size of buck +shot. + +MARULA, in Zulu UMGANO, a tree which furnishes soft white wood, which is +carved into bowls, spoons, etc; fruit eaten or fermented for drink +(_Sclerocarya caffra_). + +MEERKAT (d), a small animal of the mongoose kind (properly applied to +_Suricata tetradactyla_, but loosely to several species). + +MIDDLEVELD, properly MIDDELVELD (d), the mixed country lying between the +High veld and the Bushveld. + +NEK-STROP (d), the neck-strap, or reim, which, attached to the +yokeskeys, keeps the yoke in place. + +NIX (d), nothing (from D. _niets_). + +ORIBI (n), a small antelope (_Ourebia scoparia_). Weight, 30 pounds; +height, 24 inches; horns, 6 inches. + +OUTSPAN, properly UITSPAN (d), to unyoke or unharness; also the camp +where one has outspanned, and places where it is customary, or by law +permitted, to outspan. + +PAUW (_pronounced_ pow) (d), the great bustard (_literally_ peacock). + +PANDA, properly 'MPANDE (n), the third of the great Zulu kings. + +PEZULU (n), on top, up, above. + +PARTRIDGE, PHEASANT, names applied somewhat loosely to various species +of francolin. + +POORT (_pronounced_ pooh-rt) (d), a gap or gorge in a range of hills +(_literally_ gate). + +QUAGGA, ZEBRA (correctly applied to _Equus quagga_, now extinct, but +still applied to the various species of zebra found in South Africa). + +REIM (_pronounced_ reem) (d), a stout strip of raw hide. + +REIMPJE (_pronounced_ reempy) (d), a small reim. + +RIETBUCK, properly (d) Rietbok (_pronounced_ reet-buck), reed buck +(_Cervicapra arundinum_). Height, 3 feet 6 inches; gross weight, 140 +pounds; horns, male only, up to 16 inches. + +SABLE ANTELOPE (_Hippotragus niger_; Dutch, _zwaart witpens_). Habitat, +bushveld. Height, 4 feet 6 inches; weight, 350 pounds; horns, up to 48 +inches on curve. + +SAKUBONA (n), Zulu equivalent of `Good-day.' + +SALTED HORSE, one which has had horse-sickness, and is thus considered +immune (as in small-pox); hence `salted' is freely used colloquially as +meaning acclimatised, tough, hardened, etc. + +SCHANS (_pronounced_ skaans) (d), a stone or earth breastwork for +defence, very common in old native wars. + +SCHELM (d), a rascal; like Scotch skellum. + +SCHERM (_pronounced_ skarem) a protection of bush or trees, usually +against wild animals. + +SJAMBOK (_pronounced_ in English shambok, in Dutch saam-bok) (d), +tapering raw-hide whip made from rhinoceros, hippopotamus, or giraffe +skin. + +SKEY (_pronounced_ skay), a yokeskey; short for Dutch _jukskei_. + +SLOOT (d), a ditch. + +SPAN (d), a team. + +SPOOR (d), footprints; also a trail of man, animal, or vehicle. + +SPRINGBUCK, properly SPRINGBOK (d), a small antelope (_Antidorcas +(Gazella) euchore_). Habitat, high veld and other open grass country. +Height, 30 inches; weight, up to 90 pounds; horns, 19 inches (literally. +jumping buck). + +SPRUIT (_pronounced_ sprait; also commonly, but incorrectly, sproot) +(d), a stream. + +SQUIRREL, or TREE Rat, native name 'MCHINAAND (_Funisciurus palliatus_). + +STEMBUCK (Cape Dutch, _stembok_ or _steinbok_, from the pure Dutch +_steenbok_, the Alpine ibex), a small antelope (_Raphicerus +campestais_). Height, 22 inches; weight, 25 pounds; horns, 5 inches. + +STOEP (_pronounced_ stoop) (d), a raised promenade or paved verandah in +front or at sides of a house. + +TAMBUKI GRASS, also TAMBOOKIE, and sometimes TAMBUTI (n), a very rank +grass; in places reaches 15 feet high and stem diameter half inch. + +TICK, or RHINOCEROS, BIRD, the `ox-pecker' (_Buphaga Africana_). + +TIGER. In South Africa the leopard is generally called a tiger; first +so described by the Dutch--_tijger_. + +TOCK-TOCKIE, a slow-moving beetle, incapable of flight. Gets its name +from its means of signalling by rapping the abdomen on the ground +(_tenebrionid_ beetle of the genus _Psammodes_). + +TREK (d) (_literally_ to pull), to move off or go on a journey; a +journey, an expedition--_eg_, the Great Trek (or exodus of Boers from +Cape Colony, 1836-48); also, and commonly, the time, distance, or +journey from one outspan to another. + +TREK GEAR, the traction gear, chain, yokes, etc, of a waggon. The Boer +pioneers had no chains, and used reims plaited into a stout `rope'; +hence _trek-touw_, or pulling-rope. + +TSESSEBE, an antelope, one of the hartebeeste family (_Damaliscus +lunatus_; Dutch, bastard hartebeeste). Height, 48 inches; weight. 300 +pounds; horns, 15 inches. + +TSETSE FLY, a grey fly, little larger than the common house-fly, whose +bite is fatal to domesticated animals. + +TWIGGLE, little people's word for the excited movement of a small dog's +tail, believed to be a combination of wriggle and twiddle. + +UMFAAN (n), a boy. + +UMGANAAM (n), my friend. + +UMLUNGU (n), the native word to describe a white man. + +VELD (_pronounced_ felt) (d), the open or unoccupied country; +uncultivated or grazing land. + +VLEI (_pronounced_ flay) (d), a small, shallow lake, a swamp, a +depression intermittently damp, a water meadow. + +VOORLOOPER (d) (_literally_ front walker), the leader, the boy who leads +the front oxen; the _pat'-intambu_ (Zulu for `take the reim'). + +VOORSLAG (_pronounced_ foor-slaach) (d) (_literally_ front lash or +skin), the strip of buck hide which forms the fine end of a whip-lash. + +WATERBUCK (_Cobus ellipsiprymnus_; Dutch, _kring-gat_). Height, 48 +inches; weight, 350 pounds; horns, males only, 36 inches. + +WILDEBEESTE (_pronounced_ vill-de-beast) (d) (_literally_ wild cattle), +the brindled gnu, blue wildebeeste (_Connochaetes taurinus_). Height, 4 +feet 6 inches; weight, 400 pounds; horns, 30 inches. + +WILD DOG, the `Cape hunting dog' (_Lycaon pictus_). + +WOODEN ORANGE, fruit of the klapper (a species of _Strychnos_). + +WOLF, the usual name for the hyena, derived from _tijger-wolf_, the pure +Dutch name for the spotted hyena. + +YOKESKEY, the wooden slat which, coupled by nekstrops, holds the yoke in +place. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Jock of the Bushveld, by Percy FitzPatrick + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOCK OF THE BUSHVELD *** + +***** This file should be named 36951.txt or 36951.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/9/5/36951/ + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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