Through Veld and Forest Part 7

Kneeling down among the underwood in such a position that I could get a clear view of the amphitheatre without running much risk of being myself seen, I found a gnarled stump of a creeper that afforded a very convenient rest for my heavy double-barrelled elephant gun, and, roughly levelling the weapon, awaited a favourable opportunity to fire. A few minutes later it came, the two huge beasts drawing apart, as by common consent, to recover their breath. Like two immense statues they stood, about twelve feet apart, motionless save for their heaving flanks and their great twitching ears, the trunk of each upraised and thrown back over the head as though to be out of harm's way; and I saw that both were bleeding freely from several ghastly-looking wounds. The moment was as favourable as any that I should be at all likely to get, for both were standing practically broadside-on to me; therefore, glancing quickly from one to the other, to determine the precise position of the vital spot for which I intended to aim, I levelled and sighted the weapon, pressed the trigger, and then, with a lightning movement of the barrel, shifted my aim and again fired. The second report followed the first at an interval of scarcely a second, and I heard the loud _clap clap_ of both bullets as they struck; then the thick veil of powder smoke enveloped me, and for a few seconds I could see nothing. While still waiting for the smoke to disperse, I heard a heavy thud which told me that at least one of the animals was down, and a moment or two later, as the smoke gradually thinned, I dimly saw the second standing, with legs wide apart, swaying a little and trembling violently. For a s.p.a.ce of time in which one might have slowly counted ten the great brute stood thus; then, as he uttered a low moan, his mighty limbs suddenly collapsed and he too sank to the ground with a thud that seemed to make the very earth tremble. And at that precise moment there again broke forth the same kind of uproar of alarmed trumpeting and swiftly moving heavy bodies that had followed my first shot.

The sounds were this time of such a character as to indicate clearly that the herd had been thoroughly alarmed and effectually stampeded; therefore, after waiting some five minutes or so until the forest was again silent, and it had become quite clear that none of the animals were coming in our direction, we left our hiding place, and, taking careful note of the spot where the two great tuskers lay, proceeded to retrace our steps toward the place where we had left our horses. We found them placidly grazing, and, springing into our saddles, started on the back trail to meet the wagon, which I intended to outspan for the night close to the outskirts of the forest, that we might not have far to carry the ivory when we had cut it out on the morrow.

We proceeded at a foot-pace, since there was no need for hurry, and had travelled a distance of some three miles when, borne faintly to our ears by the gentle breeze that was blowing behind us, we heard a peculiar yapping howl which told us that a pack of wild dogs was in full cry somewhere in our rear. Being curious to learn what kind of animal they were hunting, we looked about us for a spot whence, ourselves unseen, we might witness the chase, which the increasing loudness of the cries told us was coming our way. Such a spot was found close at hand in the shadow of a big clump of thorn bush, within a few yards of the margin of a small stream, evidently a tributary of the river which flowed a mile or two farther to the westward.

We had scarcely established ourselves in our place of concealment when a beautiful zebra mare, accompanied by her foal, appeared coming toward us at a trot, which circ.u.mstance, taken in conjunction with the laboured action of the animals, clearly indicated that both were in the very last stage of exhaustion; and indeed the fugitives had only gone a few yards past us when the mare stumbled heavily, recovered herself with difficulty, and then, with a scream that marked the extremity of her terror and despair, crashed heavily to the ground, where, after an ineffectual effort to scramble to her feet again, she lay flat on her side, panting heavily and with her tongue protruding. And as the mare fell the foal pulled up short beside her and stood, with lowered head and legs wide apart, trembling so violently that the action was visible even to us nearly a hundred yards away.

By this time the yapping sounds had become so loud that we knew the pack must be close at hand, and a moment later they swept into view, some thirty or so in number; and as they sighted the prostrate zebra, with her foal standing beside her, their yapping changed to a howl of exultation, which caused the mare again to make an ineffectual effort to scramble to her feet, while the foal hobbled away a yard or two, but returned to his dam when he saw that she was unable to rise. It was a rather pathetic sight to see those two beautiful animals awaiting destruction at the fangs of the dogs, and, moved suddenly by a sense of pity, I pressed my heels to Prince's flanks, and, calling Piet to follow, rode forward into the open.

At the sight of two mounted figures advancing to bar their progress the pack suddenly pulled up in a bunch and stood panting, with their tongues lolling out and the foam dripping from their jaws, for the wild dog does not love to meet man, especially a white man, at least in daylight. As the pack bunched themselves together, uncertain whether to continue their advance or to retire, but evidently very strongly impelled by the sight of the fallen zebra to do the former, it offered a target so tempting that I was quite unable to resist it; and, leaping lightly from the saddle, I ran forward a pace or two and, sinking upon one knee, levelled my rifle and fired right into the thick of the bunch. The range was only about four hundred yards, and while the sharp, whip-like report of the piece was still echoing along the side of the range of hills in front of me I heard the clap of the bullet, and, as the smoke drifted away, saw that one dog was down, dead, while a second was struggling feebly on the ground, and a third, with a broken leg, was making the welkin ring with his howls of anguish.

At the flash and report of the piece some eight or ten of the dogs in the rear of the pack wheeled sharply round, and, with their tails tucked tightly between their legs, beat a hasty retreat along the back trail, uttering sharp yelps of terror as they went; but the remainder of the pack stood its ground, staring at us as though wondering what new kind of animals we could be who had the power of slaying from a distance.

There was one big gaunt brute, however, apparently the leader of the pack, who kept his flaming eyes fixed upon the zebras, and as the smoke of the discharge cleared away I saw him slink out from the rest of the pack in a crouching att.i.tude, with bared fangs, as though meditating a dash at the gasping mare.

"The gun--quick!" I e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed to Piet, who retained his saddle and sat motionless as a statue, watching intently; and at the word he held out to me the loaded elephant gun, and received from me the empty rifle in its stead. A moment later the heavy piece roared out its death message, and the big brute who had separated himself from the rest of the pack sprang with a convulsive twist into the air and fell stone-dead.

"Now," said I, as I sprang into the saddle, "unclip one of your stirrups, Piet, and we will see if we cannot beat off the brutes with our stirrup irons!" And as I spoke the words we urged our horses to a gallop, unclipping our off-side stirrups as we went, and charged right down between the pack and the zebras, wheeling upon the dogs as soon as we had cut them off from the mare and foal. Then, swinging the loose stirrups round our heads, we thundered down upon the discomfited pack, uttering loud yells as we went. The brutes stood irresolute for a few seconds longer, but presently, when we wheeled directly toward them, they turned tail and bolted by the way that they had come, yelping with fear as they went. But I was determined to inspire them with a wholesome feeling of terror now that I had begun; therefore as soon as we had overtaken the rearmost members of the flying pack we checked our horses just sufficiently to keep pace with them, and then proceeded to belabour the brutes soundly with our stirrup irons, the howls of anguish to which the belaboured ones gave vent serving to add wings to the feet of the rest. We chased the howling mob a good two miles--by which time its members were crazy with fear--and then drew rein, feeling convinced that they would give us no further trouble. Then we turned and cantered back along the way by which we had come.

As we approached the spot where the zebra mare had fallen we saw, somewhat to our astonishment, that the poor beast still lay where we had left her, with the foal standing over her, smelling at her and licking her face; and it then occurred to me that possibly we might be able to capture the foal. I therefore spoke a word to Piet, and we pulled our horses back to a walk. As the sound of our approaching hoofs reached her ears, the mare made a scrambling effort to rise, and all but succeeded, only to sink again to the earth with a moan, while the foal threw up his head, galloped stiffly away a few yards, and then returned, standing close to his prostrate parent's head and gazing at us with enquiring eyes, his ears pointed forward, his nostrils twitching, and his upper lip slightly raised, revealing his teeth in a somewhat threatening manner.

At a distance of about seven or eight yards we reined up and dismounted, moving slowly and with deliberation, in order that we might frighten the animals as little as possible. Then, throwing our reins to the ground, we walked quietly up to the pair and stood looking down at the mare, who still lay upon her left side, with her limbs stretched stiffly out, her sides heaving with a slow, laboured movement, her tongue hanging from her mouth, her gla.s.sy eyes rolling in their sockets, and her breath coming in heavy gasps.

"She's dyin', baas," remarked Piet, "dyin' of tiredness and thirst! She mus' have run a long, long way when she too tired to get up at sight of we."

Yes, there was no doubt about it, the poor beast was at her last gasp; and unless something were quickly done to relieve her she would a.s.suredly die. Piet and I were both wearing soft, wide-brimmed felt hats, of sufficient capacity to contain about three pints of water and to retain it without very much leakage for several minutes, while there was a stream within twenty yards of the spot where we stood. It was possible that we might yet save the beautiful creature's life if we bestirred ourselves.

"Quick, Piet!" I exclaimed. "Come to the river with me and fill your hat with water. We must do what we can for the poor brutes. I should like to capture and tame them both if possible."

"No, baas, you never do that," answered Piet. "Don' you know that a zebra can never be tame?"

"So I have heard; but I don't altogether believe it," said I. "At all events I mean to try; so hurry, you black rascal!"

In less than five minutes we were back with our dripping hats still nearly full of water, and as I knelt down by the head of the mare, and held my hat close to her gaping nostrils, the poor beast smelt the water and uttered a sound that might be best described as a sort of gasping whinny; then, raising her head with an effort, she plunged her muzzle into the hat and sucked up its contents with indescribable eagerness, allowing her head to sink back with something that sounded like a sigh of contentment when both hats had been emptied. Then Piet and I dashed off to the river and procured a second supply, which the zebra also drank. Meanwhile the colt had been making desperate efforts to get a share of the water, but we had kept him off, with some difficulty, the mare being obviously in the greater need. But now that we had given her as much as we deemed good for her, for the moment, we turned out attention to the colt, administering to him two hatfuls of water, which he absorbed with an eagerness that quite equalled that of his mother.

Then, perceiving that the little chap's gratification at our ministrations seemed to have quite conquered any fear of us which he might have originally entertained, I walked over to where the horses were standing and detached from Piet's saddle a long rein of twisted raw hide that we usually carried with us for use in case of an emergency, while the Hottentot went off to fetch a further supply of water.

Then, having obtained the rein, I returned to the colt--who stood quite still as I approached him--and, murmuring a caressing word or two to him, quietly lifted my hand and gently patted his neck. He flinched somewhat at my first touch, but did not attempt to run away, and presently, when Piet returned with more water, I seized the opportunity to slip the end of the rein round the little fellow's neck and knot it while he was drinking. He did not much like the feel of the rein round his neck at first, and tried to shake it off, but he no longer shrank from my touch, and allowed me to pat his neck, and even pull his ears gently, an operation which he appeared to enjoy greatly. Then, while I continued to handle the colt, Piet again turned his attention to the mare and gave her a further drink, when, after a few minutes, she made another effort to rise, which was this time successful. But for several minutes she could only stand with difficulty, trembling violently and not attempting to move. At this juncture I chanced to slip my hand into my jacket pocket, when it came into contact with some half-dozen small sweet biscuits for which I had rather a weakness. These I had slipped into my pocket the last thing before leaving the wagon and had then entirely forgotten; and the fancy seized me to offer one of them to the colt. He smelt at it for a moment or two, and then, somewhat hesitatingly, closed his teeth upon it and began to masticate it.

Evidently he liked it, for having swallowed it he thrust forward his head, as though asking for more, whereupon I produced a second, which he at once accepted. I then offered a third, holding it far enough from him to compel him to advance a step or two in order to secure it, which he did. I next offered him a fourth in the same way; but as he moved forward so did I, compelling him to follow me a few steps before I let him have it, at the same time putting a gentle strain upon the rein round his neck, and by this means I successfully coaxed the little creature into submitting to be led.

When I had fairly got him going the mare followed, at first moving stiffly and with difficulty, uttering small whinnying sounds, as though entreating the colt not to leave her; but with every yard of progress her movements became less difficult, and by the time that we had traversed a quarter of a mile both animals were walking with comparative ease and following me quite contentedly, especially the colt, who continued to beg for biscuits until he had exhausted my limited supply.

Meanwhile Piet, who clearly understood what I was endeavouring to do, returned to where we had left the horses and followed with them, and in this curious fashion we at length met the wagon, and, joining forces, arrived at the spot where I planned to outspan for the night. I had a little trouble with my captives when we first met the wagon, both of them being somewhat startled by the hideous yells and rifle-like whip-crackings wherewith Jan urged forward the oxen; but a few more biscuits, hastily obtained from the wagon, restored the colt's equanimity. And, not to dwell at undue length upon this incident, we had scarcely any further trouble with either of our prizes, the colt very rapidly developing perfect amenability, while the mare, although less tractable, never attempted to desert her offspring, and was becoming quite tame when tragedy unhappily overtook them both.

CHAPTER NINE.

I ARRIVE IN MASHONALAND.

The whole of the next morning was devoted by us to the task of cutting out the ivory from the three big tuskers killed in the forest, and the exceptional size of the elephants may be judged from the fact that the weight of ivory taken from them amounted in the aggregate to four hundred and forty-seven pounds. Then, about two o'clock in the afternoon, we inspanned the oxen and trekked in a north-easterly direction, with the range of hills cut through by the curious gorge about a quarter of a mile on our left and the Drakensberg range of mountains towering aloft on our right some fifty miles distant. We trekked until within half an hour of sunset, by which time we had rounded the north-eastern spur of the range of hills, pa.s.sed the northern extremity of the gorge, and "struck" another river, about one hundred and twenty yards in width, flowing northward, on the right bank of which we outspanned for the night. Two days later, trekking northward along the course of the last-mentioned river, we arrived at its junction with the Limpopo, on the farther side of which lay my goal, Mashonaland; and here we again outspanned, while Piet and I went on a prospecting tour in search of a drift by means of which the wagon might be safely taken across.

Leaving the wagon, our spare horses, and the zebras in charge of Jan, the Hottentot driver, with strict injunctions that he was to take the utmost care of the captives, and treat them with the greatest kindness, Piet and I set out at daybreak--the former mounted upon Punch, while I rode Prince as usual--taking with us the elephant gun and my rifle, with a sufficiency of ammunition for each, and provisions for four days. The dogs Thunder and Juno accompanied us as a matter of course. We were on the right or southern bank of the mighty stream, and this we followed closely, mile after mile, anxiously scrutinising every foot of the turbid flood for signs indicative of a sand bar extensive enough to enable us to transport the wagon to the opposite bank; but although we found no less than four shoals in the course of our first day's search, three of them extended less than halfway across the river, while the fourth proved to be a quicksand in which we narrowly escaped losing both our horses, saving them at last only by the skin of our teeth and after nearly an hour's hard and strenuous labour. This occurred about three o'clock in the afternoon, and when at length we were all once more safe on solid ground we were, horses as well as men, so utterly f.a.gged out that there was nothing for it but to off-saddle for the remainder of the day in order to recover. A good night's rest, however, completely restored us all, and enabled us to resume our search on the following morning.

Our experiences on the morning of this day were simply a repet.i.tion of those of the previous day, except that, profiting by experience, we took care not to allow ourselves to be trapped in any more quicksands; and I began to fear that our search was going to be a much more protracted one than I had antic.i.p.ated. But shortly after midday we arrived at a spot where, on the opposite side of the river, another river, about a hundred yards wide, discharged into the main stream. At this point also the Limpopo widened out until it was fully a quarter of a mile in width, the combined effect of these two circ.u.mstances being the formation of numerous eddies and so much slack water that the soil held in suspension by the two streams was here afforded an opportunity to settle and form a shoal extending right across the main river, with a maximum depth of water over it of barely four feet. This shoal we thoroughly tested both on foot and on horseback, with the result that we found it to be an ideal crossing place.

Having satisfied myself as to this, my next business was to arrange for the dispatch of Piet as my amba.s.sador into the Mashona country. I had been considering the matter very carefully during the past two days, recalling to mind all that my friend, Major Henderson, had told me with regard to his experiences among the Mashona, and the advice that he had given me; and I finally determined that my most prudent course would be to send Piet into the country absolutely empty-handed, with a message to the effect that I desired the permission of the king to cross his borders, traverse the country, and visit him at his Place, hunting and trading with his people on the way. I was at first somewhat undecided as to whether or not I should entrust Piet with a present for the king, but I finally decided that it would be better to wait until I should obtain audience with His Majesty and then personally hand him the gift; otherwise, for aught that I could tell to the contrary, the sable monarch might seize the gift and then do away with poor Piet in some horrible manner, while if the Tottie went empty-handed there would be no inducement for the king to destroy him, or rather there would be the prospect of the gift to deter him from doing so. Therefore, upon the following morning, after charging the man with my message, and making him repeat it over and over again to me until there was no possibility of his forgetting it, I sent him across the river on foot with all the provisions that we had left, and then, riding Prince and leading Punch, to whose saddle I had securely strapped the elephant gun and my stock of ammunition, I set out, accompanied by the dogs, on my return to the spot where I had left the wagon.

Upon my arrival I found Jan, my Tottie driver, in great tribulation, it appearing that he had been beset by lions during the second night of my absence, and that the brutes had killed no less than three of the oxen and both zebras, despite the utmost efforts of himself and 'Ngulubi, the Bantu voorlouper; while two other oxen had died through eating tulip, a poisonous plant which he had too late discovered grew in profusion in the immediate neighbourhood of the outspan. Furthermore, it appeared that four of the other oxen had suffered severely from the same poison, but had been saved by the prompt administration of a decoction made from the roots of the plant. This was serious news, because I had promised Piet that he should find us outspanned at the spot where he and I had parted, and I knew not how soon he might return; therefore it was very desirable that we should reach that spot without delay. After considering the matter, therefore, I finally decided to cache all the ivory which I had with me, abandon the pelts, and go forward to the rendezvous with nothing in the wagon save the "truck" which I had brought up with me as presents and for trading, the ammunition, and the remains of our stock of provisions, which by this time was becoming pretty well depleted. And this I did, arriving at the arranged meeting place three days later, without suffering any further loss.

It was well on in the afternoon of the tenth day after Piet's departure when he turned up again, dusty, leg-weary, and somewhat footsore, but otherwise not very much the worse for wear. He reported that the country was pretty densely populated, the kraals being very extensive, and dotted over the country at intervals of, in some cases, not more than twenty miles apart, the first kraal at which he arrived being within ten miles of the river bank. He described the Mashona as being a very fine race of people, almost if not quite equal in physique to the Zulus, but of a much more suspicious and unreliable character than the latter, and apparently exceedingly averse to the intrusion of strangers.

Nevertheless, upon stating the nature of his mission, he had been pa.s.sed on from kraal to kraal until finally he had arrived at Gwanda, the Place (or town) of King Lomalindela, which, it appeared, was situated among a rather curious group of mountains, five days' march from the river. Lomalindela, it seemed, had received my envoy with a very considerable display of austerity, and had submitted him to a most rigorous cross-questioning; but, luckily, the Tottie had nothing to conceal, and was therefore able to tell a perfectly straightforward story, which, as Piet believed, had not only allayed the monarch's suspicions, but had also aroused in him a very lively curiosity to see the white man and his wonderful fire tubes which slew from afar. The result of the mission was therefore, on the whole, quite satisfactory, the king having not only accorded me permission to enter his country and kill game in it, but also entrusted my messenger with an invitation to me to visit him at Gwanda, and remain there as long as I pleased. This being the case, and the river having fallen nearly a foot since Piet and I had first arrived at the ford, I seized the favourable opportunity, and safely transferred the wagon and all my other belongings to the Mashona side of the river upon the afternoon of the day of Piet's return; and, following the course of the stream to which I attributed the formation of the ford--and which, Piet informed me, led direct to Gwanda--outspanned for the night some six miles to the northward of the Limpopo.

The next day we continued our trek, and shortly before noon arrived at the first Mashona village on the route. It was a place of some importance, containing about a thousand huts of the usual beehive shape, but somewhat larger than those usually built by the Zulus, and with entrances large enough to enable a man to pa.s.s through by merely bending his body instead of having to go down upon his knees. The village was circular in plan, and was protected by a solidly constructed stockade, built of stout tree trunks driven deeply into the ground, with a slight outward slope; the stockade being about sixteen feet high on the outside, with the tops of the piles sharpened to render it unclimbable.

There were four gateways in the stockade, giving access to the two princ.i.p.al streets, which crossed each other at right angles, intersecting in the centre of the village, at which point there was a s.p.a.cious open square, where the public business of the village was transacted and where the village sports were held. We did not enter the village, but outspanned at a distance of about half a mile from its eastern gate.

The cattle had scarcely been turned loose to graze, under the guardianship of 'Ngulubi, the voorlouper, when the headman of the village, accompanied by some half a dozen minor dignitaries, and followed by ten women bearing baskets containing preternaturally skinny fowls, eggs, green mealie cobs, sugar cane, and calabashes of milk, emerged from the village and advanced upon the wagon. The men were unarmed, and the presence of the women with the baskets--the contents of which were of course a present to us--showed that the visit was to be one of ceremony and compliment; therefore with Piet's a.s.sistance I at once proceeded to unpack one of my bales of "truck", and withdrew therefrom the articles which I proposed to present in turn. I had hardly completed my preparations when the little party arrived, and I had an opportunity to study the first Mashonas I had ever seen.

Both men and women were finely built and well proportioned, but their best friends could not conscientiously p.r.o.nounce them handsome; and their unattractiveness was further increased by the expression of their countenances which seemed to be compounded of suspicion, craftiness, greed, and cruelty. They saluted me respectfully enough, however, offered their presents, and then sat down, at my invitation, squatting upon their heels in the usual native fashion, while I sorted out the gifts which I intended to give them. These consisted of a bandana handkerchief or two, a few yards of gaudily printed calico, a few yards of copper wire, and a handful of mixed beads to each of the women; and from the grins of appreciation of the recipients I concluded that they were all well satisfied. Then, with the inquisitiveness of the lower type of savage, they began to question me, not in a straightforward fashion, but covertly and by roundabout processes, with the view of discovering my motive for journeying so far from my own people; whereupon I told them frankly that I was a hunter and trader, seeking for ivory and gold. They did not seem to understand what I meant by "gold" until I spoke of it as the yellow metal that shines when polished, and showed them the ring that I wore; whereupon they nodded their heads in comprehension, and shortly afterward rose and returned to the village. But about half an hour later the headman and three others came back to the wagon, bringing with them a number of rough-shaped nuggets of a dull, ruddy-yellow gold, which looked as though they might have been crudely smelted out of the quarried ore, and wanted to trade them with me for beads and printed calico. The quant.i.ty which they brought amounted to about twelve pounds avoirdupois altogether, which I estimated to be worth between six and seven hundred pounds sterling; but they fixed such an exorbitant value upon the metal that had I acceded to their demands my stock of trade stuff would soon have been exhausted.

Of course the gold was worth far more than my entire stock of "truck", but when I purchased the latter I had quite reckoned upon being able to obtain for it as much gold as I could possibly load upon the wagon, and still have "notions" enough left to supply all the presents that I should probably find it necessary to make; therefore as soon as my visitors pointed out to me what they required in exchange for their gold I laughed at them, waved them away, and proceeded--not too hurriedly--to repack my treasures. The result was what I had antic.i.p.ated and intended; they refused to leave the wagon, and gradually reduced their demands until finally I obtained the whole of the gold for about two yards of calico, a bandana handkerchief, four yards of copper wire, and a handful of beads; and even these prices, I explained, were far higher than I could possibly afford to give in future!

I fully antic.i.p.ated that the result of this transaction would be to bring out the remainder of the villagers with proposals to barter such gold as they might possess; but although so many of them turned out that by sunset I estimated that every man, woman, and child in the village must have visited the wagon, I saw no more gold that day. And for a very good reason; for it afterwards appeared that the headman had spent a busy afternoon going round the village, buying up every particle of gold he could lay hands upon, doubtless with much profit to himself: and on the following morning, while we were inspanning the oxen, he turned up, accompanied by a couple of women bearing between them nearly sixty pounds of gold, and detained me more than two hours while he haggled with me over the sale of it. But I had by this time come fully to understand that gold possessed absolutely no value for these people, except as a plaything for the children; and the result was that when at length I bade the man goodbye, and gave the order to trek, the fellow was glad to let me have the whole at my own price, and I secured it upon very favourable terms.

I was now in high feather, for I had already secured, from one village alone, more than seventy pounds of gold, which I estimated must be worth close upon four thousand pounds sterling; and if I could do so well at only one village, what might not I achieve by the time that I had traded away all my "truck"? Already, in imagination, I saw myself back at Bella Vista, with the house rebuilt and furnished in luxurious style, the land amply restocked, and plenty of money in the bank as well!

Alas, I little guessed what lay before me; and it was just as well, perhaps, that I did not; otherwise--But I must not get ahead of my story.

With my head full of pleasant visions, and my imagination busily employed in the construction of _chateaux en Espagne_, we proceeded upon our journey, travelling over undulating country which ahead manifested a disposition to become hilly, and still closely following the course of the stream, until, about noon, we arrived in the midst of what in the distance had appeared to be a cl.u.s.ter of curiously shaped kopjes, but now proved, to my great surprise, to be ruins, thickly overgrown with vegetation. Here, my curiosity being powerfully aroused at so unexpected a sight, and it being also time to outspan, I called a halt; and while Piet busied himself in the preparation of my midday meal, I took my rifle and sauntered off to examine the ruins.

They proved to be very much more extensive than I had imagined, for when I came to inspect them at close quarters I found that the structures which had at first attracted my attention formed but a very small part of the whole, the greater portion of the buildings having been razed to the level of the ground, large heaps of rubbish and the foundations being all that now remained, with the exception of the ruins above-mentioned, of a town or village that had originally covered more than a hundred acres of ground.

But it was to the ruins which had originally arrested my attention that I now chiefly devoted myself, entirely forgetful of the fact that a meal was awaiting me at the wagon. And these remains I found to be extraordinarily interesting, for I had not been among them ten minutes before I became convinced that they were the work of a people of far higher intelligence than the Mashonas--that they must indeed have been built by a race having some pretensions to civilisation. For, while the walls were for the most part built of dry rubble masonry, the lintels and doorposts were of dressed stone, and--most remarkable circ.u.mstance of all--were in many cases adorned with sculptures in low relief, of a character strongly resembling those which I had seen portrayed in pictures of Egyptian ruins. For example, there were figures of men ploughing with oxen, driving laden a.s.ses, leading by the horns antelopes which were perfectly recognisable as the oryx and springbok, others leading baboons, leopards, giraffes, dogs, lions, and elephants, human figures with heads of birds, lions, and rams, and figures of sphynxes with human heads, or the heads of rams. And these figures were not by any means the rough efforts of uncultured savages; on the contrary, they were distinguished by a precision of line, a delicacy yet firmness of touch, and an artistic beauty that could only have resulted from a very high state of civilisation and culture.

The buildings appeared to be mostly circular in plan, ranging from about thirty to fifty feet in diameter, with walls averaging three feet in thickness, one or more of these being surrounded by an outer wall, approximately elliptical in plan, of some five feet in thickness. There were five of these structures still standing in a sufficient state of preservation to render them recognisable at a distance as buildings, and a great many more--the precise number I did not trouble to ascertain--of which nothing but the foundations remained. I prowled about among these intensely interesting remains for several hours, until close upon sunset in fact, examining them and striving to puzzle out their origin, and then made my way back to the wagon, where I found Piet and Jan rapidly working themselves into a fever of anxiety about my prolonged absence, and earnestly debating the propriety of inst.i.tuting a search for me.

So profound were the interest and curiosity aroused within me by these remarkable and mysterious relics of a lost and forgotten civilisation that when Piet awakened me on the following morning with my early cup of coffee and the enquiry whether it was my pleasure that the oxen should be inspanned, I determined to devote at least a few hours to their further examination, and issued my instructions accordingly. Then, as soon as we had all breakfasted, I ordered Piet to take the sporting double-barrel while I carried my rifle, and, with the two dogs accompanying us, set out to complete my inspection. But, beyond the finding of an elaborately sculptured stone sarcophagus, which we took the liberty of breaking open, and which contained a mummified human body and several earthenware utensils decorated with exquisite paintings--one of which I appropriated and carried away--we discovered nothing further that was worthy of particular mention; and about two o'clock in the afternoon we inspanned and resumed our journey.

An hour later, however, at a distance of some three miles from the ruins, we arrived opposite a hill of solid rock some four hundred feet in height and about a mile long, in the face of which I observed what I at first took to be the mouth of a cave; but, looking at it more closely, I presently perceived alongside it a great ma.s.s of debris. My curiosity again got the better of me, and, calling a halt, I walked over to it and proceeded to examine it at close quarters, with the result that I soon convinced myself that the "cave" and its accompanying mound of debris could be nothing else than an ancient working; while upon entering the opening, which extended inward and downward for a distance of nearly half a mile, I discovered evidence enough to prove that the working was that of an extraordinarily rich gold mine, visible gold showing everywhere in the worked face of the rock! And at once the idea seized me that if I could but contrive to ingratiate myself sufficiently with Lomalindela, His Majesty might be induced to grant me a concession to work the mine, and so place me in possession of wealth "beyond the dreams of avarice". I thought at first that possibly this might be the identical mine from which the gold in my wagon had come, but a close examination of the working at length convinced me that the rock had remained untouched for ages; and then it occurred to me that perhaps the dead and forgotten inhabitants of the ruined village which I had so recently left might have been the miners.

And now, with every mile of our progress, the country became more broken and hilly, and at the same time more open and park-like, the great ma.s.ses of bush and scrub with which we had so long been familiar giving place to trees of handsome appearance and n.o.ble proportions, growing for the most part singly, but occasionally in clumps of from three or four to a dozen or two, while occasionally the clumps magnified themselves sufficiently to justify the term of a wood, or even a small forest; moreover, the gra.s.s was in places profusely dotted with beautiful flowers, while where the trees grew most thickly they were often enwreathed with parasitic growths which, if they were not actually orchids, very strongly resembled them, the blooms they abundantly bore being of the most remarkable and often most beautiful shapes and colours. Thus the broken character of the country, with its accompanying features of swelling hills, scarred here and there with foaming rivulets, ravines, and gorges hemmed in and overhung by lofty trees garlanded with flowering parasites, and intermingled in places with luxuriant shrubs--some of which bore leaves of such curious shapes and brilliant colours that they might easily have been mistaken for flowers--and with birds of strange forms and gaudy plumage flitting hither and thither, was a most agreeable change from the characteristic scenery of South Africa. It was a beautiful and very fertile country, taken as a whole, and the nearer that we drew to Gwanda the more forcibly was this fact borne in upon me, as also was the further fact that the Mashonas were a very powerful nation, so far at least as numbers were concerned; for every kraal at which we arrived was bigger and more important in every way than the one that preceded it.

The evening of the sixth day after we had crossed the Limpopo found us outspanned upon the left bank of the stream which we had been closely following from the moment of our pa.s.sage of the river, with a lofty, flat-topped mountain range, some fifty miles long, on our left hand, springing from the plain close to the opposite margin of the stream, and on our right two enormous mountains, some twenty miles apart from peak to peak, and remarkable for their exceptional height--which I estimated at fully fourteen thousand feet--as well as from the fact that they were identical not only in shape, but also apparently in size and alt.i.tude.

In shape they were almost hemispherical, and to add to their similarity each bore on its very summit a protuberance very much resembling in appearance a beehive-shaped Kafir hut, but much larger, being probably quite two hundred feet in height. The tops of these remarkable mountains were covered with snow for a distance of about two thousand feet from the summit, and very beautiful they looked, blushing a soft, delicate pink in the last rays of the setting sun. The ground between the two mountains--which I took to be a pair of long-extinct volcanoes-- and the range on our left rose steadily, and therefore somewhat r.e.t.a.r.ded our progress when we continued our trek on the following day; but about two o'clock in the afternoon we reached the summit of the slope and saw before us a valley or basin, roughly circular in shape and some twenty miles in diameter, hemmed in on all sides by hills, some of which were lofty enough to be snow-capped on their summits; and in the very centre of this valley lay Gwanda, the Kraal or Place of Lomalindela, the king of the Mashona nation.

It was an immense place, far exceeding in dimensions the biggest native kraal that I had ever yet seen. It was circular in plan, like the other Mashona kraals that I had pa.s.sed on my way, and, also like them, it was intersected by two main roads or streets, crossing each other at right angles in the centre of the kraal, one road running due north and south, while the other ran east and west. Each of these roads was about two and a half miles long, with a great gate at either extremity, pierced in the high and strong circular palisade which completely surrounded the kraal; and at the point where these two main roads intersected in the centre of the kraal each was widened in such a manner as to form a great square about one hundred and sixty acres in extent, this doubtless being the spot where all business of a ceremonial character was conducted.

That some such business was impending we shortly afterward became aware, for during the descent of the wagon into the valley we were overtaken and pa.s.sed by regiment after regiment of warriors, all decorated in full war paraphernalia; and the induna of one of these informed me that a general muster was proceeding, in preparation for the annual festival, which was to be held on the day after the morrow. During the remainder of that day we beheld an almost continuous stream of armed men converging upon the town, not only by way of the road along which we were travelling, but also from pa.s.ses in the mountains all round the valley.

When the wagon had arrived within about a mile of the southern gate of the town I was met by an official, who bore me a formal message of welcome from the king, with an intimation that His Majesty would see me on the morrow. The officer also indicated a certain spot, about half a mile outside the south gate and near the bank of the stream, where he suggested I should outspan the wagon, explaining that the king was of opinion that I would be more comfortable out there, in comparative seclusion, than in the overcrowded town, an opinion with which my own completely coincided. And this opinion was strengthened to absolute conviction when, as the sun sank behind the western mountains and the soft, tropical night settled down upon the valley, our ears were a.s.sailed by a perfect babel of sound emanating from the town, which, even at the distance of half a mile, rendered sleep almost impossible.

What it would have been like to be lodged in the midst of the storm focus I trembled to think.

The din above hinted at was kept up until such a preposterously late hour that it was not until early in the morning of the following day that I finally fell asleep, with the result that I rather overslept myself; and when Piet brought me my usual cup of coffee he at the same time brought me an intimation that envoys had already arrived from Gwanda with a message from the king, to the effect that His Majesty was now prepared to grant me an interview. I did not hurry, however, but rose and dressed with more deliberation than usual, for my experience is that a savage--even although that savage happens to be a king--respects a white man in direct proportion to the time that the latter keeps him waiting; therefore I directed Piet to inform the messengers that I was not yet ready to receive them, but would do so as soon as I had partaken of breakfast. I kept the men--it required six of them, it appeared, to bring the king's message--about an hour, and then condescended to interview them, sending them back with an intimation that I was about to select from among my treasures certain articles which I intended to offer as gifts to His Majesty, and that when I had done so I would so far honour him as to call and make the presentation in person.