Off to the Wilds Part 30

The stream ran fast, but it was very shallow, and the bottom was hard, so that the waggon was got over in safety, the oxen dragging it well up on the other side before they were allowed to halt; and so successful had the pa.s.sage been that there might not have been a crocodile in the river.

The fact was of course that the trampling and disturbance of so many hoofs kept the reptiles at a distance; but as the waggon was halted, and Mr Rogers gave a glance under to see that all was right, the dogs began running and snuffing about amongst the reeds and gra.s.s at the side, when Pompey suddenly uttered a hideous yell, and bounded away, careering over the plain with his tail between his legs, having had a very narrow escape from a small and active crocodile, which had literally thrown itself out of the water in its endeavour to catch him.

The land presented an entirely different aspect now, vast plains running away towards the horizon; and in places it looked rather ominous, for it was parched and dry. Plenty of good gra.s.s and water were absolute necessities for the success of their expedition, so Mr Rogers paused to consult with the General, who pointed to the fact that there were great herds of game upon the plain, a sign which indicated that there must be pasture and water, and as he expressed his thorough conviction that plenty of gra.s.s would be found on in advance, the order was given once more to trek.

"But where's Dinny?" cried Mr Rogers; "surely we have not left him behind."

"No, sor," said a whining voice; "shure I was putting things a bit sthrait in the waggon. Are we safe across the wather yet?"

"Safe?" cried d.i.c.k contemptuously; "no! not a bit. Look out, Dinny, or we shall have one of the crocodiles pursuing us on horseback on purpose to have a snap at you."

"Shure an' ye's joking," said Dinny thrusting his head out of the back of the waggon; "and maybe he'd prefer you, Masther d.i.c.k, as being tinderer to his teeth and more gintale."

The journey during the next few days was more laborious than interesting. It was intensely hot; water was scarce, so was pasture; and but for the wise provision of the couple of goodly-sized tubs strung behind the waggon, there would have been a great deal of suffering.

n.o.body knew the position of those tubs better than Pompey, Caesar, and Cra.s.sus, unless it was Rough'un, for no sooner did they become thirsty, and fail to discover water, than they took their places behind the waggon and watched the barrels, "dhrinking 'em dhry wid their eyes," so Dinny said, and barking loudly whenever a drop was drawn.

The plains they crossed seemed to be endless, so did the herds of various kinds of game; and one evening the party separated in search of something for the larder, which had become low.

The General went in one direction with d.i.c.k, Mr Rogers went in another with Chicory, and in a very independent spirit Jack shouldered his rifle, and went off by himself to see what he could bring down.

About a mile from the bank he came upon what promised to be a capital place for stalking one or other of the herds grazing on the plain, namely, the bed of a nearly dried-up river, dotted with pools of water, one which had cut its way in stormy seasons through the rocky soil, leaving on either side a steep well-marked bank of about four feet high.

The bed of the little river was dotted with tall clumps of feathery-flowered gra.s.s, which with the bank would form excellent cover, so that the hunter could go for miles either way in a natural trench, towards whose water pools the antelopes would most probably graze.

It was a great advantage, but the place had its disadvantages as well, and Jack found them out before long.

At first he started full of hope, congratulating himself on the fact that he had on his high riding-boots, and could wade dry shod through some of the pools. But before he had gone far he began wishing that he had brought the dogs, to search the different clumps of high gra.s.s, every one of which looked to be a certain lurking-place for a lion; and knowing now full well what capital stalkers they were, he kept glancing over his shoulder at the various clumps, fully expecting to see an enemy.

There were two or three rushes and rustling noises to make him start, but as they only proved to be made by water-lizards Jack grew more confident, and creeping cautiously along, he began to make for a couple of herds feeding upon the plain--one, the gnu, or wildebeeste as the Boers call them; the others, the graceful, shapely blessbok.

The appearance of the fierce s.h.a.ggy gnu is not such as to give promise that he will prove good eating, so Jack naturally turned his attention to the blessboks, creeping cautiously along so as to get within shot; but though he was perfectly certain that he had not shown so much as the barrel of his gun, the blessbok suddenly took alarm, and went off like the wind.

Their very first dash alarmed the gnu, some thirty strong, and they dashed off in another direction.

"And I was so careful!" cried Jack pa.s.sionately; but the next instant, just as he was about to show himself, and get out of the cramped position he had occupied close to a clump of gra.s.s, he had the satisfaction of seeing that the blessboks had not been alarmed at him, for they had suddenly wheeled round, and were coming right for him as hard as they could gallop.

"Well, I shall get one this time," cried Jack, bringing his rifle to bear, and waiting for an opportunity as the beautiful animals galloped along; when a heavy beating noise behind him caught his ear, and turning he found that the gnus had also altered their course, and were coming back, with their heads down, tails up, and their horns half pointed, as if to charge the young hunter where he crouched.

There was no mistake about it; the gnu herd was coming straight for him, and in another minute they would have leaped down into the half dry watercourse, and trampled him into the sand.

It was a time for displaying a little presence of mind, and to show the power of man--in this case, boy--over the beasts of the field. If the gnus had kept on, they would have crushed Jack on the instant, each one being in strength much more than a match for a man; but on seeing him start up on one knee, and shout and wave his gun, they swerved off to the right, and thundered by, just as a lighter beating noise of feet was heard; and as Jack turned, there to his disgust was the last of the little herd of blessboks, almost close to him, galloping by.

Running round to the other side of the patch of gra.s.s he went down on one knee and fired; but the excitement had disarranged his nerves, and the bullet went over the last blessbok's back; while before he could get in another cartridge and climb out of the watercourse, his chance was gone.

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE.

NEARLY A WAGGON-WRECK.

There were no temptations to tarry much upon these plains, where there were certainly plenty of antelopes, quagga, and zebras, but little else to interest them. Lions were pretty common, but somehow they did not trouble the travellers much, being pretty well supplied from the herds of antelopes and the like; but the hyaenas proved to be a perfect pest, howling about the cattle-kraal of a night, and harrying the oxen so that they could not rest in peace. Upon two successive nights it was hard work to save the cattle from making a regular stampede, for the poor creatures were so alarmed that they broke down the thorn fence and would have galloped over the plains but for the efforts and voices of their drivers and the Zulus.

So bad did the hyaenas become, that the first moonlight night it was resolved to lie in wait and try and shoot two or three.

The boys were delighted with the idea, but the sole result was the loss of the night's rest, for though they could hear the ugly brutes uttering their dismal howl all round the camp, not one was seen; and d.i.c.k at last declared that they were ventriloquists, and lay in a hole and sent their voices all around.

The next day's trekking was very arduous, for the ground was dry and sterile, awkward pieces of rock, each big enough to wreck the waggon, protruding from the sand in all directions. The dryness, too, was excessive, and they seemed to have got into a most terribly sterile tract, which now and then was cut by great deep crevices, which were as if the ground had cracked, each of these cracks being big enough to swallow waggon and team if they had inadvertently gone in.

The poor beasts suffered terribly from thirst; but as evening was coming on, the black clouds gathered, and it soon become evident that before long there would be a perfect deluge of rain.

It was upon them before they knew it, almost literally streaming down, and soaking everything; but in spite of the discomfort it was delightful to see the thirsty oxen stop to drink with avidity from the great pools that the rain soon formed. In fact, the storm was so cooling and refreshing that Chicory seemed to revel in it, his dark skin shining with moisture; and the boys themselves did not seem to mind getting wet; but as the night came on intensely dark, and in addition to the pitiless rain there set in a tremendous thunderstorm, with deafening peals, and vivid lightning cutting the black clouds in all directions, the position of the travellers began to get uncomfortable.

The General promised a good halting-place further on; but the darkness grew so intense that the foremost oxen had to be led, and Mr Rogers, and the General, armed with a long pole, went on in advance.

If they could have halted where they were they would gladly have done so; but it seemed madness to stop in that wretched wilderness, and so they crept slowly on, drenched, depressed, and miserable, the thunder deafening them with its peals, and the lightning seeming to crackle as it fell in jagged lines from the skies.

Even the oxen seemed to partic.i.p.ate in the general depression, for they went on very slowly, step by step, as if helping their leaders to find a suitable track, so as not to overturn the waggon against some piece of rock.

Suddenly the General gave a warning cry, one that was echoed by Mr Rogers, and the bullocks were pulled up short just as they touched the leaders.

The warning was needed, for as he felt his way onward with the pole the General had suddenly felt it go down into a rift stretching right across their road; and as it proved to be bottomless as far as he could tell, and went to right and left for some distance, there was nothing to be done but to camp just as they were, and wait through the cold wet night for morning.

It was a pitiless and a bitter night, and those who believe in Africa being a land of intense heat would have felt their preconceived ideas shaken had they sat and shivered in that waggon, through whose double tilt covering the wind seemed to pierce as though it was so much open canvas. Far worse was it beneath, where, sheltering themselves as best they could, the black servants, Dinny, and the Zulus huddled together for mutual warmth. Even the dogs refused to be excluded, and, in spite of Dinny's rather unmerciful kicks, kept crawling under the waggon, till Chicory took pity upon them and curled up in company, forming such a knot that it was hard to make out which was Chicory and which was dog.

But the Zulu boy said it was nice and warm, all but one little place where there was no Pompey, and one leg which he couldn't get under Cra.s.s.

Fortunately the roar of the elements was sufficient to keep the predatory beasts in their lairs, or they would have had an easy task to seize upon oxen or horses, for it was as impossible in the darkness to find thorns and build a kraal, as it was in the wet to get a fire to burn.

d.i.c.k said the night was "as miserable as mizzer," and that Jack got all the blanket; but, like all other things, that miserable night came to an end, and as the sun rose up warm and bright, up sprang the spirits of all with it; and as the steam reeked from the soaked waggon, they turned from it to look with a curious sense of shrinking at the narrow escape they had had.

For where the foremost oxen had been checked, consequent upon the General's warning, there was a great crack right across their path, some twenty feet wide, double that distance deep, and running for several hundred yards right and left.

But for the General's timely warning the whole team would have gone in, dragging after them the waggon, and the horses which were haltered on behind, producing such an awful wreck that the expedition must have stopped; and then there would have been the problem to solve, how should they get back to Natal.

As the sun grew warmer, and a fire had been lighted, food cooked, and a hearty breakfast made, the troubles of the past night were forgotten, and in the best of spirits they went on again, after a detour to avoid the chasm, the moistened earth smelling delicious, and the birds twittering and singing joyously in every tree.

So far they had avoided the kraals or villages of the various peoples of these parts of Africa, but now the General announced that they were at last approaching the big river, where they would have to ask the black king's permission to hunt, and make him a present for his concession.

For in his land there were the giraffe, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, and elephant--huge beasts, the names of which made the boys' pulses throb with excitement.

There were crocodiles too in plenty in the big river, so the General said; and it was there that the river fell.

The idea of seeing the wondrous falls of the Zambesi had long been nurtured in Mr Rogers' heart; and as they had in their many months'

journey come so far, he determined that they would if possible reach that part of the river, and see the falls, even if they did not go farther.

There seemed to be no reason why they should not, for every one, thanks to his care and management, was in the best of health, the change in d.i.c.k being wondrous. Certainly there was poor Coffee: but he was growing stronger day by day, and vowing vengeance against every lion in the land.

That they were approaching a more inhabited tract they soon had warning in the increasing scarcity of the game. In place of the vast herds they had so often encountered, the herds were small, and so shy that it was only by lying in ambush, while the others went miles round to show themselves and make the antelopes take flight in the direction of the hidden hunters, that a sufficiency was obtained for the daily needs.

The boys, however, managed to supplement the animal food with the birds that were shot, or knocked down with kiris; and fishing became a favourite pursuit in some one or other of the rocky pools in the river-beds that they had to cross, silurus and other kinds being frequently captured with a hook and line.