by Mayne Reid
CHAPTER VII.
WATER! WATER!
On moved the little caravan, but not in silence. Swartboy's voice andwhip made an almost continual noise. The latter could be plainly heardmore than a mile over the plain, like repeated discharges of a musket.Hendrik, too, did a good deal in the way of shouting; and even theusually quiet Hans was under the necessity of using his voice to urgethe flock forward in the right direction.
Occasionally both the boys were called upon to give Swartboy a help withthe leading oxen when those became obstinate or restive, and would turnout of the track. At such times either Hans or Hendrik would gallop up,set the heads of the animals right again, and ply the "jamboks" upontheir sides.
This "jambok" is a severe chastener to an obstinate ox. It is an elasticwhip made of rhinoceros or hippopotamus skin,--hippopotamus is thebest,--near six feet long, and tapering regularly from butt to tip.
Whenever the led oxen misbehaved, and Swartboy could not reach them withhis long "voor-slag," Hendrik was ever ready to tickle them with histough jambok; and, by this means, frighten them into good behaviour.Indeed, one of the boys was obliged to be at their head nearly all thetime.
A leader is used to accompany most teams of oxen in South Africa. Butthose of the field-cornet had been accustomed to draw the wagon withoutone, ever since the Hottentot servants ran away; and Swartboy had drivenmany miles with no other help than his long whip. But the strange lookof everything, since the locusts passed, had made the oxen shy and wild;besides the insects had obliterated every track or path which oxen wouldhave followed. The whole surface was alike,--there was neither trace normark. Even Von Bloom himself could with difficulty recognise thefeatures of the country, and had to guide himself by the sun in the sky.
Hendrik stayed mostly by the head of the leading oxen. Hans had nodifficulty in driving the flock when once fairly started. A sense offear kept all together, and as there was no herbage upon any side totempt them to stray, they moved regularly on.
Von Bloom rode in front to guide the caravan. Neither he nor any of themhad made any change in their costume, but travelled in their everydaydress. The field-cornet himself was habited after the manner of mostboers, in wide leathern trousers, termed in that country "crackers;" alarge roomy jacket of green cloth, with ample outside pockets; afawn-skin waistcoat; a huge white felt hat, with the broadest of brims;and upon his feet a pair of brogans of African unstained leather, knownamong the boers as "feldt-schoenen" (country shoes). Over his saddle laya "kaross," or robe of leopard-skins, and upon his shoulder he carriedhis "roer"--a large smooth-bore gun, about six feet in length, with anold-fashioned flint-lock,--quite a load of itself.
This is the gun in which the boer puts all his trust; and although anAmerican backwoodsman would at first sight be disposed to laugh at sucha weapon, a little knowledge of the boer's country would change hisopinion of the "roer." His own weapon--the small-bore rifle, with abullet less than a pea--would be almost useless among the large gamethat inhabits the country of the boer. Upon the "karoos" of Africa thereare crack shots and sterling hunters, as well as in the backwoods or onthe prairies of America.
Curving round under the field-cornet's left arm, and resting against hisside, was an immense powder-horn--of such size as could only be producedupon the head of an African ox. It was from the country of theBechuanas, though nearly all Cape oxen grow horns of vast dimensions. Ofcourse it was used to carry the field-cornet's powder, and, if full, itmust have contained half-a-dozen pounds at least! A leopard-skin pouchhanging under his right arm, a hunting-knife stuck in his waist-belt,and a large meerschaum pipe through the band of his hat, completed theequipments of the trek-boer, Von Bloom.
Hans and Hendrik were very similarly attired, armed, and equipped. Ofcourse their trousers were of dressed sheep-skin, wide--like thetrousers of all young boers--and they also wore jackets and"feldt-schoenen," and broad-brimmed white hats. Hans carried a lightfowling-piece, while Hendrik's gun was a stout rifle of the kind knownas a "yaeger" an excellent gun for large game. In this piece Hendrik hadgreat pride, and had learnt to drive a nail with it at nearly a hundredpaces. Hendrik was _par excellence_ the marksman of the party. Each ofthe boys also carried a large crescent-shaped powder-horn, with a pouchfor bullets; and over the saddle of each was strapped the robe orkaross, differing only from their father's in that his was of the rarerleopard-skin, while theirs were a commoner sort, one of antelope, andthe other of jackal-skin.
Little Jan also wore wide trousers, jacket, "feldt-schoenen," andbroad-brimmed beaver,--in fact, Jan, although scarce a yard high, was,in point of costume, a type of his father,--a diminutive type of theboer. Trueey was habited in a skirt of blue woollen stuff, with a neatbodice elaborately stitched and embroidered after the Dutch fashion, andover her fair locks she wore a light sun-hat of straw with a ribbon andstrings. Totty was very plainly attired in strong homespun, without anyhead-dress. As for Swartboy, a pair of old leathern "crackers" and astriped shirt were all the clothing he carried, beside his sheep-skinkaross. Such were the costumes of our travellers.
For full twenty miles the plain was wasted bare. Not a bite could thebeasts obtain, and water there was none. The sun during the day shonebrightly,--too brightly, for his beams were as hot as within thetropics. The travellers could scarce have borne them had it not beenthat a stiff breeze was blowing all day long. But this unfortunatelyblew directly in their faces, and the dry karoos are never without dust.The constant hopping of the locusts with their millions of tiny feet hadloosened the crust of earth: and now the dust rose freely upon the wind.Clouds of it enveloped the little caravan, and rendered their forwardmovement both difficult and disagreeable. Long before night theirclothes were covered, their mouths filled, and their eyes sore.
But all that was nothing. Long before night a far greater grievance wasfelt,--the want of water!
In their hurry to escape from the desolate scene at the kraal, Von Bloomhad not thought of bringing a supply in the wagon--a sad oversight, in acountry like South Africa, where springs are so rare, and runningstreams so uncertain. A sad oversight indeed, as they now learnt--forlong before night they were all crying out for water--all were equallysuffering from the pangs of thirst.
Von Bloom thirsted, but he did not think of himself, except that hesuffered from self-accusation. He blamed himself for neglecting to bringa needful supply of water. He was the cause of the sufferings of all therest. He felt sad and humbled on account of his thoughtless negligence.
He could promise them no relief--at least none until they should reachthe spring. He knew of no water nearer.
It would be impossible to reach the spring that night. It was late whenthey started. Oxen travel slowly. Half the distance would be as much asthey could make by sundown.
To reach the water they would have to travel all night; but they couldnot do that for many reasons. The oxen would require to rest--the moreso that they were hungered; and now Von Bloom thought, when too late, ofanother neglect he had committed--that was, in not collecting, duringthe flight of the locusts, a sufficient quantity of them to have givenhis cattle a feed.
This plan is often adopted under similar circumstances; but thefield-cornet had not thought of it: and as but few locusts fell in thetrails where the animals had been confined, they had therefore beenwithout food since the previous day. The oxen in particular showedsymptoms of weakness, and drew the wagon sluggishly; so that Swartboy'svoice and long whip were kept in constant action.
But there were other reasons why they would have to halt when night cameon. The field-cornet was not so sure of the direction. He would not beable to follow it by night, as there was not the semblance of a track toguide him. Besides it would be dangerous to travel by night, for thenthe nocturnal robber of Africa--the fierce lion--is abroad.
They would be under the necessity, therefore, of halting for the night,water or no water.
It wanted yet half-an-hour of sundown when Von Bloom had arrived at thisdecision. He only kept on a l
ittle farther in hopes of reaching a spotwhere there was grass. They were now more than twenty miles from theirstarting-point, and still the black "spoor" of the locusts covered theplain. Still no grass to be seen, still the bushes bare of their leaves,and barked!
The field-cornet began to think that he was trekking right in the waythe locusts had come. Westward he was heading for certain; he knew that.But he was not yet certain that the flight had not advanced from thewest instead of the north. If so, they might go for days before comingupon a patch of grass!
These thoughts troubled him, and with anxious eyes he swept the plain infront, as well as to the right and left.
A shout from the keen-eyed Bushman produced a joyful effect. He sawgrass in front. He saw some bushes with leaves! They were still a mileoff, but the oxen, as if the announcement had been understood by them,moved more briskly forward.
Another mile passed over, and they came upon grass, sure enough. It wasa very scanty pasture, though--a few scattered blades growing over thereddish surface, but in no place a mouthful for an ox. There was justenough to tantalize the poor brutes without filling their stomachs. Itassured Von Bloom, however, that they had now got beyond the track ofthe locusts; and he kept on a little farther in hopes that the pasturemight get better.
It did not, however. The country through which they advanced was a wild,sterile plain--almost as destitute of vegetation as that over which theyhad hitherto been travelling. It no longer owed its nakedness to thelocusts, but to the absence of water.
They had no more time to search for pasture. The sun was already belowthe horizon when they halted to "outspan."
A "kraal" should have been built for the cattle, and another for thesheep and goats. There were bushes enough to have constructed them, butwho of that tired party had the heart to cut them down and drag them tothe spot?
It was labour enough--the slaughtering a sheep for supper, andcollecting sufficient wood to cook it. No kraal was made. The horseswere tied around the wagon. The oxen, cattle, and sheep and goats, wereleft free to go where they pleased. As there was no pasture near totempt them, it was hoped that, after the fatigue of their long journey,they would not stray far from the camp-fire, which was kept burningthroughout the night.
