CHAPTER FORTY FIVE.
A FLIGHT FROM A FLY.
There was no time to lose, for, to the dismay of all, Peter announcedthat he had found tsetse fly that afternoon upon the two horses that hadbeen grazing near the waggon.
"Three horses gone, boys," said Mr Rogers. "It is a bad job; but itwould have been worse if it had happened to your pets. We must be wellon the way back into a more wholesome country before day, so lie downand have a rest at once. The General or the boys shall go on with you,so that you may try to save your nags. I'll come on with the rest."
"But your horses don't seem any the worse for it, father," said Dick.
"No, my boy, and it may not show for days; but the poison will work, andthey will gradually grow weaker and weaker. They are all doomed."
"But is there no cure for it, father?"
"None that I know of, my boys; and it must act as a preventative to theopening out of this grand country to civilisation, unless man canimprove these poisonous little pests off the face of the earth."
"It is wonderful," cried Dick; "such a little fly to do so muchmischief."
Coffee and Chicory aroused them hours before it was day, and with theunderstanding that they were to keep on till night straight back upontheir old track, the boys started, enjoying to a certain extent thejourney without the waggon, but feeling the awful loneliness of thecountry now more and more.
They made the best of their way on, however, getting over all the groundpossible, not halting till it was almost dark, and hardly leavingthemselves time to collect enough wood for a roaring fire, which theykept blazing turn and turn, for they were in a place where from thesounds they heard lions seemed to be plentiful once more.
The next morning they were able to add some guinea-fowl and a littlegazelle to their scanty store of dried meat, and as they had nothing nowto do but wait for the coming of the waggon, they amused themselves byexploring a little here and there as their horses grazed, their rambleresulting in the discovery of many beautiful flowers and insects, suchas they had not seen before.
That day went by, but still no waggon arrived; and as they again made uptheir roaring fire, the boys felt no little uneasiness, till they beganto recall what a slow leisurely crawl was that of the ox-team, and thatthey had come over the greater part of their journey at a brisk canter,with which, by holding on to the cob's mane, the two Zulu boys seemed tohave no difficulty in keeping up.
But all doubts were solved the next morning by the arrival of thewaggon, those who accompanied it being only too ready to join in theroast ready for breakfast.
There had been no delay; the length of time was only due to the slowprogress of the oxen; and this slow progress continued, as, avoiding theback track, they made their way by another route to where King Mosetiwas ready to receive them with open arms, and was made happy by thepresentation of some of the surplus store of beads and other trifles,Mr Rogers retaining merely enough for their wants on the way back.
The king was eager enough to be generous in turn, presenting his guestswith several tusks aid some beautiful skins and ostrich feathers, whichadded in no little decree to the travellers' store.
Here Mr Rogers shot a couple of hippopotami, and the boys made somegood practice amongst the hideous crocodiles that were every day killingsome one or other of the king's subjects. Now it was a girl gone downto draw water; at another time a boy venturing to bathe. And thetravellers could not help admiring the love of cleanliness amongst thesepeople, for too often they had to risk their lives for the sake of abathe.
The horses had now begun to show signs of having been bitten by thetsetse fly, the chestnut and grey displaying roughened skins and ageneral uneasiness; while the bay, though slightly roughened about thecoat, still held out.
They lost no time then in getting on with their journey southwards,meeting with plenty of vicissitudes in the shape of hunger, heat, andthirst, but taking these calmly, along with the good things; and at lastthe Limpopo was once more reached.
The reader of this, who knows how easily a person may have his tea inLondon and his breakfast the next morning in Scotland--400 miles--may besurprised to hear that to get over such a distance in South Africa witha heavy waggon and an ox-team takes over a month; and a driver andforeloper would consider that they had done well if they had achieved somuch.
For hurrying means losing ground. The oxen must be kept well-fed withgood pasture, and not overworked, or in a few hours sores will beproduced by the harsh yokes that will take a month to cure, if they everheal at all.
But the country was grand, and the weather exceptionally lovely, as theymade their way southward, crossing the Limpopo without accident, inspite of the crocodiles, Dinny managing to get a place on the top of thewaggon-tilt just before they started to ford the stream.
"Why, what are you doing there, Dinny?" cried Dick, who was the first tosee him.
"Shure, Masther Dick, dear, I was feared for these valuable skins thatlie stretched out here, for I says to meself, `Dinny,' I says, `if themasther was to have thim skins slip off into the dirthy river, he'dnever forgive himself.'"
So amidst a good deal of laughter Dinny crossed over the crocodile riveron the top of the tilt; while, as much alarmed as he, the dogs, taughtby experience, kept close behind the aftermost oxen's heels, swimmingwith the protection of the waggon-wheels on either side.
Mr Rogers proposed that they should go back by way of the districtwhere there were some curious caves, saying that it would be a pity tobe within reach and not to see them. So with the intent of making ahalt near them, the General announcing his intention of finding theplace, though he had never been there before, the return journey wascontinued.
This return journey was, as maybe supposed, one of months, but it wasnot uneventful. The constant demands of the larder rendered huntingnecessary almost every day; and in these hunting expeditions beautifulskins, and horns of great size and peculiarity, were obtained. Everyday, too, added to the collection of gorgeously-plumaged birds andbright beetles; several times over, too, they were able to add a goodlybundle of ostrich plumes to the store.
It may sound strange, but over this even Dinny felt aggrieved, coming toDick coolly enough one night, just before sleeping time, with,--
"Would ye mind handing me out two or three of thim bundles o' feathers,Masther Dick, dear?"
"What for, Dinny?" he asked in astonishment.
"An' is it what for?" said Dinny indignantly; "shure, an' ye wouldn'thave a boy slape on the bare flure, when ye've got hapes of feather tomake beds with inside?"
Poor Dinny was sent to the right about, and the feathers had a verynarrow escape the very next day from being burned to blackened ashes.
Off to the Wilds: Being the Adventures of Two Brothers Page 45
