by Mayne Reid
CHAPTER TWO.
A WEIRD SPECTACLE.
Going at a slow crawl in profound silence, the huge vehicles, with theirdark bodies and white tilts, the long serried line of yoked oxenextended in advance of them, would have presented a strange mystifyingspectacle to one not knowing what it was. Weird and ghostlike under thesilvery light of the moon, a native of the country, where such had neverbeen seen before, viewing it from a distance, might have imagined itsome monster of a world unknown.
But before morning came, the travellers were themselves witnesses of aspectacle common enough in that same district, yet, in seeming, quite asstrange and mysterious as that of the waggon-train.
Proceeding in the opposite direction, and at no great distance off,appeared a number of dark forms, one following the other in single file.Immense creatures they were; each nearly as large as any of thewaggons, but, unlike these, living and breathing. For they wereelephants--a troop on the march--nigh threescore in number, their lineextending for hundreds and hundreds of yards across the karoo. Theywere passing on silent as spectres, the tread of the ponderous pachydermbeing noiseless as that of a cat. Even on stony ground it is scarcedistinguishable at the shortest distance, and on that sand-bestrewedplain it made not the slightest sound to betray their presence.
Adding to their spectral appearance were the long, withered grass-tuftsand karoo bushes, white as if coated with hoar frost. These concealingtheir stride, they seemed to glide along as boats upon water, propelledby some invisible agency, acting underneath.
To the Vee-Boers, as much hunters as herdsmen, it was a tempting,tantalising sight, and under other circumstances the silence of thenight would have been broken by the cracking of shots. But they knewthat to attack the elephants might infuriate and bring them in chargeupon the waggon-train, which would surely be its destruction. [Note 1.]So they resisted the temptation, and let the herd pass on; the twoparties, silent and weird-like as ever, gradually widening the spacebetween, till at length they were beyond sight of one another.
Soon after daylight declared itself; but it brought no rest to the nowwearied wayfarers--not even when the sun had risen high above thehorizon. For they had failed to come across any water, and haltingwithout that were worse than keeping on. Already suffering from thirst,it would but prolong their suffering to make stop or stay.
Several of the so-called cisterns, or natural tanks, had been passed,and as many pools, but all were dry, or with only just enough moistureto keep the mud in their bottoms. Remaining by these would be restneither to them nor the animals, now needing water as much or more thanthemselves.
Another element also contributed to their torture--heat. As the sunmounted higher in the firmament, this became excessive; so sultry thatmen and animals were perspiring at every pore; while on the ground, hotas the floor of a baker's oven, it was painful to set foot.
The shoeless natives--Hottentots and Caffres alike--suffered especially,notwithstanding the soles of their feet being callous, and hard as horn.Some were seen to adopt a singular plan for keeping them cool--by aplaster of mud, taken from the waterless but still moist pools, applyingit poultice-fashion, and at intervals damping them with the juice of theeuphorbia, and other succulent plants.
Equally odd, and more amusing, was the behaviour of the dogs. Theywould make a rush ahead of the waggons; dive under a bush, tussock ofgrass, or anything giving shade; and there lie panting till the traingot past. Then, rising reluctantly, they would stand for a timecontemplating the heated surface of sand, afraid to set paw upon it;whine piteously; and finally, with a plunge, start off afresh, dash pastthe waggons, and repeat the performance as before.
Thus on over the sun-parched plain moved the party of migrant Boers; butnot now silent as in the night. What with oxen bellowing, cows lowingin response to their bawling calves, sheep bleating, and dogs howling,there was noise enough, and a surfeit of it.
And mingling with these cries of distress, at intervals came the crackof a whip, loud as the report of a pistol, and the shouts of the driversurging their oxen on.
As if to add to their difficulty, they had entered upon a tract thicklyovergrown with _waaght-een-beetje_ [Note 2]; while those of them whowere on foot, had their ankles lacerated by the "_grapple-plant_."[Note 3.]
Retarded by these various obstructions, they made but slow progress;less than three miles an hour--the orthodox rate of speed made by SouthAfrican travellers "on trek;" and it had come to be a struggle painfulas it was perilous. Fearfully dispiriting too; since they knew not whenor how it was to end. Their sole hope rested on a large pond or laketheir guide told them of, and which he had never known to go dry. Butit was still over ten miles distant, which meant at least four hours oftime--an appalling prospect in their then condition; men, horses, andoxen, all athirst, all tottering in their steps. There was no help forit, no alternative, but keep on; and on they kept.
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Note 1. Elephants often march in single file--indeed, it is theircommon way--the sagacity of these animals telling them they are thusless exposed to danger. Often, too, a party of hunters, especiallyVee-Boers, well acquainted with the habits of the great pachyderms, willallow them to pass unmolested, to be pursued and attacked farther on. Acharge of infuriated elephants on a camp might result in its wholesaledestruction.
Note 2. "Waaght-een-beetje" is the Dutch synonym for "Wait-a-bit." Thetree or bush, so quaintly designated, is another of the many species ofSouth African acacias having spines sharp as fish-hooks and so set as tohold on whatever they have caught, requiring skill, with an expenditureof time, to get clear of them. It is the _acacia detinens_ of thebotanists.
Note 3. The "Grapple-plant" (uncaria procumbens) is a creeper, withbeautiful purple blossoms and a fruit beset with hooked spines thatreadily catch on to the clothes, or even the skin. It is verytroublesome to the barefooted natives who may have occasion to pass overground where it grows.
