by Mayne Reid
CHAPTER XXXVII.
THE PIT-TRAP.
While they were watching the movements of the quaggas, Von Bloom rosesuddenly to his feet. All turned their eyes upon him as he did so. Theysaw by his manner that he was about to propose something. What could itbe?
The thought had just occurred to him that they should at once set aboutdigging the pit.
It was near sunset--wanting only half-an-hour of it; and one wouldsuppose he would have done better to leave the work till next morning.But no. There was a good reason why they should set about it at once;and that was, that they might not be able to complete it in time if theydid not do part of it that night.
It would be no slight undertaking to dig a pit of proper size, for theywould require one that would at least hold half-a-dozen quaggas at atime. Then there was the carrying away the earth that should come out ofit, the cutting the poles and branches to cover it, and the placing ofthese in a proper manner.
To do all these things would take up a great deal of time; and they mustbe all done against the return of the quaggas, else the whole schemewould be a failure. Should the animals arrive upon the ground before thepit was covered in and all traces of the work removed, they would makeoff without entering the water, and perhaps never visit that vley again.
Such were the conjectures of the field-cornet. Hans, Hendrik, andSwartboy, acknowledged their justice. All saw the necessity of going towork at once, and to work they all went.
Fortunately among the "implements," were two good spades, a shovel, anda pick-axe, and all of them could be busy at the same time. There werebaskets in which the dirt could be carried off, and thrown into the deepchannel close by, where it would not be seen. This was also a fortunatecircumstance; for to have carried the stuff any great distance, wouldhave made the job still heavier, and more difficult to execute in propertime.
Having marked the outlines of the pit, they went to work with spade,shovel, and pick. The ground proved tolerably loose, and the pick wasbut little needed. The field-cornet himself handled one of the spadesHendrik the other, while Swartboy acted as shoveller, and filled thebaskets as fast as Hans and Totty, assisted by Trueey and little Jan,could empty them. These last carried a small basket of their own, andcontributed very materially to the progress of the work, by lighteningthe labours of Hans and Totty.
And so the work went merrily on until midnight, and even after thathour, under the light of a full moon; by which time the diggers wereburied to their necks.
But they were now fatigued. They knew they could easily complete the pitnext day; and so they laid down their implements, and after performingtheir ablutions in the crystal water of the stream, retired to theirsleeping-quarters in the tree.
By early dawn they were at it again, busy as bees; and the pitprogressed so rapidly that before they stopped to take breakfast, VonBloom could scarce see out of it standing on his toes, and the crown ofSwartboy's woolly head was nearly two feet below the surface. A littlemore digging would do.
After breakfast they went to work as briskly as ever; and laboured awayuntil they considered that the hole was sunk to a sufficient depth. Itwould have taken a springbok to have leaped out of it; and no quaggacould possibly have cleared itself from such a pit.
Poles and bushes were now cut; and the pit was neatly covered withthese, and strewed over, as well as a large tract of the adjoiningground, with rushes and grass. The most sagacious animal would have beendeceived by the appearance; even a fox could not have discovered thetrap before tumbling into it.
They had completed the work before going to dinner,--which,consequently, fell late on that day--so nothing more remained to be donebut to dine, and await the coming of the quaggas.
At dinner they were all very merry, notwithstanding the immense fatiguethey had gone through. The prospect of capturing the quaggas was veryexciting, and kept the party in high spirits.
Each offered a prognostication as to the result. Some said theywould trap three quaggas at the least; while others were more sanguine,and believed they might take twice that number. Jan did not see whythe pit should not be full; and Hendrik thought this probableenough--considering the way they intended to drive the quaggas into it.
It certainly seemed so. The pit had been made of sufficient width topreclude the possibility of the animals leaping over it, while it wasdug lengthwise across the path, so that they could not miss it. The layof the ground would guide them directly into it.
It is true that, were they to be left to themselves, and permitted tofollow their usual method of marching--that is, in single file--onlyone, the leader, might be caught. The rest, seeing him fall in, would besure to wheel round, and gallop off in a different direction.
But it was not the intention of the hunters to leave things thus. Theyhad planned a way by which the quaggas, at a certain moment, would bethrown into a complete panic, and thus forced pell-mell upon the pit. Inthis lay their hopes of securing a large number of the animals.
Four was as many as were wanted. One for each of the hunters. Four woulddo; but of course it mattered not how many more got into the pit. Themore the better, as a large number would give them the advantage of"pick and choose."
Dinner over, the hunters set about preparing for the reception of theirexpected visitors. As already stated, the dinner had been later thanusual; and it was now near the hour when the quaggas might be lookedfor.
In order to be in time, each took his station. Hans, Hendrik, andSwartboy, placed themselves in ambush around the lake--at intervals fromone another; but the lower end, where the animals usually approached andwent out, was left quite open. Von Bloom remained on the platform in thetree, so as to mark the approach of the quaggas, and give warning by asignal to the other three. The positions taken by these were such, thatthey could guide the herd in the direction of the pit, by merely comingout of the bushes where they lay concealed. In order that they shouldshow themselves simultaneously, and at the proper moment, they were towait for a signal from the tree. This was to be the firing of the great"roer," loaded blank. Hans and Hendrik were also to fire blank shots ondiscovering themselves, and by this means the desired panic would beproduced.
The whole scheme was well contrived, and succeeded admirably. The herdappeared filing over the plain, just as on the preceding days. Von Bloomannounced their approach to the three in ambush, by repeating in asubdued tone the words,--
"Quaggas are coming!"
The unsuspecting animals filed through the gorge, scattered about in thewater, drank their fill, and then commenced retiring by the path onwhich lay the trap.
The leader having climbed the bank, and seeing the fresh grass andrushes strewed upon the path, uttered a snorting bark, and seemed halfinclined to wheel round. But just at that moment boomed the louddetonation of the roer; and, then, like lesser echoes, the reports ofthe smaller guns on the right and left, while Swartboy shouted at thetop pitch of his voice, from another quarter.
A look back showed the quaggas that they were well-nigh surrounded bystrange enemies. But one course appeared open to them--the way they werewont to go; and barking with affright, the whole drove dashed up thebank, and crowded on towards the pit.
Then was heard a confused noise--the cracking of the poles--thetrampling of many hoofs--the dull sounds of heavy bodies fallingtogether, and mingling in a continuous struggle--and the wild snorting,as the creatures hurried forward in affright. Some were seen springinghigh in the air, as if to overleap the pit. Others poised themselves ontheir hind hoofs, and wheeling round, ran back into the lake. Somedashed off through the bushes, and escaped in that way; but the greatbody of the drove came running back, and plunging through the water,made off by the gorge through which they had come. In a few minutes notone was in sight.
The boys thought they had all escaped; but Von Bloom, from his moreelevated position in the tree, could perceive the snouts of severalprotruding above the edge of the pit.
On arriving at the spot, to their great satisfaction the hunter
sdiscovered no less than eight full-grown quaggas in the trap--just twicethe number required to mount the party.
In less than two weeks from that time, four of the quaggas were brokento the saddle, and perfectly obedient to the bit. Of course there was agood deal of kicking, and plunging, and flinging, and many hard gallops,and some ugly falls, before it came to this; but both the BushmanSwartboy and the Bush-boy Hendrik were expert in the _manege_ of horses,and soon tamed the quaggas to a proper degree of docility.
Upon the very first occasion when these animals were used in the hunt ofthe elephant, they rendered the very service expected of them. Theelephant, as usual, bolted after receiving the first shot; but thehunters on "quagga-back" were enabled to keep him in sight, and followrapidly upon his heels. As soon as the elephant discovered that, run ashe would, his pursuers had the power of overtaking him, he disdained tofly farther, and stood to bay; thus giving them the opportunity ofdelivering shot after shot, until a mortal wound brought his huge bodyto the earth.
Von Bloom was delighted. His hopes were high, his benignant star wasonce more in the ascendant.
He would yet accomplish his design. He would yet be rich. A few years,would enable him to build up his fortune--to construct a pyramid ofivory!
