Adventures in Africa

by William Henry Giles Kingston

  CHAPTER FOUR.

  My uncle and I felt far from happy up our trees. He had had nothing toeat since he left camp in the morning, and I too was getting _very_hungry. An hour or more went by, and yet the old "rogue" elephantshowed no inclination to take its departure. Fortunately it had notdiscovered my uncle's rifle, which lay concealed in the grass close tothe foot of the tree.

  He now shouted to me to try to shoot the brute. This was no easy matterperched as I was high up; and as I was not likely to hit any vital part,I feared that any shot would only contribute to increase its ragewithout bringing it to the ground or driving it off. I had but fivemore bullets in my pouch, but I determined to do my best and not throw ashot away. I waited until the animal presented its side to me, when Ifired, and the bullet struck it on the neck; but, though the bloodflowed, it seemed to take no notice of the wound. The next I plantedjust below the shoulder. The elephant uttered several loud trumpetingsand rushing again at the tree, seized the stem with its trunk, andendeavoured to pull it down. It shook violently, compelling my uncle tohold on with arms and legs.

  I quickly reloaded and fired another shot directly behind the creature'sear. I saw the blood spouting forth and flowing down until it formed apool dyeing the surrounding grass. Gradually the elephant's trunkunwound and hung down from its vast head.

  "You've done for it," shouted my uncle; "send another shot into its neckand we shall be free."

  I was reloading while he spoke, and before the elephant altered itsfavourable position I again fired.

  Less than a minute elapsed, then down it sank on its knees. It madeseveral efforts to rise but without success--its strength was fastfailing. I had one more bullet remaining, but I wished to save it forany emergency which might occur. We had not long to wait before theelephant fell over on its side and lay an inanimate mass.

  My uncle quickly descended the tree and I followed his example. Hisfirst act was to pick up and examine his gun. It having escaped injuryhe at once reloaded, and then, shaking hands, we surveyed our fallenfoe.

  "I wish that we could carry these magnificent tusks with us, but that isout of the question," observed my uncle. "We will, however, try tosecure them. Help me to cut them out."

  We set to work; and having fastened all the straps we could muster roundone of them, he ascended the tree in which I had taken refuge, and Iassisting him, we hauled up one of the tusks, and deposited it safelyamong the branches. The other was hauled up in the same fashion, andpretty hard work it was, as each tusk was considerably above half ahundredweight.

  "I hope that we shall be able to send for these some day or other, andwe are not likely to forget this spot in a hurry," remarked my uncle.

  Having cut off one of the elephant's feet we ran a stick through it andstarted off for the camp. The day, however, was not to pass withoutanother adventure. We had not gone half the distance when we saw, abovethe bushes, the head and neck of a giraffe. It did not appear to bealarmed; but influenced by curiosity, instead of cantering away, it drewnearer, coming round the end of the clump, evidently wondering whatstrange creatures we could be. So interested was it that it did notnotice another and more formidable enemy which had been creeping upclose behind. This was a lion, which, engaged in stalking its prey, didnot discover us. We, therefore, could watch at a safe distance what wastaking place. The lion kept creeping on, cautious as a cat, and withmovements very similar, when, believing that it had got near enough forits purpose, with a rush and a tremendous bound, it leapt on the back ofthe giraffe before the latter could use its heels to drive off its foe.With fearful tenacity the savage creature hung on to the shoulders ofthe terrified giraffe, which bounded forward, and leapt and sprang fromside to side in a vain endeavour to shake off its foe. Not a sound didit utter, but dashed on, with head erect; while the lion was tearingaway with its teeth and claws at its shoulders and neck. There was nodoubt from the first which of the two would gain the victory. Blood wasstreaming from the neck and flanks of the poor giraffe, which veryquickly slackened its pace and then down it came, unable longer toendure the pain it was suffering. The lion at once began tearing awayat the flesh. Still it kicked, and struggled, but its efforts wereuseless, and it very quickly ceased to move.

  "We must have that lion," said my uncle.

  Having examined our rifles we hurried towards the spot where the savagebrute was enjoying its banquet, so busily employed that it did not seeus. When at length it was aware of our approach it ceased feeding, andgazed at us with its fore paws on the body of its victim, presenting atruly magnificent spectacle.

  We were near enough by this time to take a steady aim.

  "Do you fire, Fred, and then reload as rapidly as you can, while I willwait until you are ready."

  "But I have no second bullet," fortunately recollecting at the momentthat I had expended all my bullets but one.

  My uncle handed me a couple, and I obeyed his injunctions. My bulletpassed through the lion's thick mane and crashed into its neck.

  Uttering a tremendous roar as it felt the pain, it came towards us.Without a moment's loss of time I reloaded, fearing that, should myuncle's bullet fail to stop it, the brute would be upon us.

  Notwithstanding the lion's near approach my uncle waited, and thenfired, hitting it between the eyes. Still it advanced, but, blinded andalmost stunned, though it made a desperate bound towards us, its aim wasuncertain. My uncle sprang on one side and I on the other, when, beforeI had finished loading, over it fell, and lay dead between us.

  "A pretty good afternoon's sport," observed my uncle. "We'll take theliberty of cutting a few steaks from the giraffe which this brute herehas hunted for us, and the sooner we get back to camp the better."

  The chief difficulty in obtaining the steaks was in cutting through thetough skin of the giraffe, which was almost as thick as that of arhinoceros. By employing our axes we soon, however, accomplished ourtask, and in a few minutes reached the camp, where Jan, who had heardour shots, had made up a large fire in expectation of any game we shouldbring.

  While the elephant foot was cooking we regaled ourselves on some fineslices of giraffe meat, which assisted to stop the cravings of hunger.All night long we were surrounded by the abominable cries of hyaenas andjackals which were collected round the carcases of the slain animals.

  It is said that they dare not touch even a dead lion, but at all eventswhen we went out to look the next morning the bones only of the twoanimals remained.

  We now once more reloaded our ox and set out northward. We remarkedthat the poor creature, in spite of its long rest, looked thinner, andin worse condition than before.

  "Him tsetse do it. You see, ox die!" exclaimed Jan.

  Still the faithful brute stepped on with its heavy load, and we hopedthat Jan was mistaken.

  At length we came in sight of a broader river than we had crossed sincewe had left the desert.

  We had no doubt that it would conduct us down to the lake, on theborders of which we hoped to find our friends encamped. How to cross itwas the difficulty. I suggested that we should construct a raft, as thereeds which fringed the bank would supply us with abundance of material.

  Not far off was a tree-covered island, the intervening space beingfilled with reeds. Leaving Jan and the ox on the shore, my uncle and Iset off to reach the island, thinking that we could there moreconveniently build our raft and launch it than from the main land.

  Plunging in among the reeds we soon found ourselves almost overwhelmed:not a breath of air could reach us, and the heat was so stifling that wealmost fainted. Still, having begun, we were unwilling to give up.

  Frequently we could only get on by leaning against the mass of reeds,and bending them down until we could stand upon them. They were mixedwith a serrated grass which cut our hands, while the whole was boundtogether by the climbing convolvulus, with stalks so strong that wecould not break them.

  Plying our axes, however, we managed to make our onward way until w
egained the island, but here to our disappointment we found that we werethirty yards or more from the clear water, which was full of greatmasses of papyrus with stalks ten feet in height, and an inch and a halfin diameter. These also were bound together by the convolvulus in a waywhich made them perfectly impenetrable. While we stood on the shore ofthe island the sound of human voices reached our ears, and we saw in thedistance several canoes descending the stream. Each carried three men,two paddling and one standing up with a large harpoon attached to a ropein his hand. They were in pursuit of some large dark creatures whoseheads, just rising above the water, looked like those of enormouscart-horses.

  "They are hippopotami!" exclaimed my uncle, "and we shall see some sportpresently."

  Suddenly, down came the harpoon, and was fixed in the back of one of themonsters, which almost sprang out of the water as it felt the pain ofthe wound; then off it went, towing the canoe at a tremendous rate afterit, the end of the rope being secured to the bows, while the barb towhich the rope was attached being shaken out of its socket remainedfirmly fixed in the animal's body.

  We ran along the island to watch the canoe as long as it remained insight, but it was towed so rapidly that it soon disappeared. Presently,however, we saw another coming down the stream fast to a secondhippopotamus, not only the head but a considerable portion of the bodyof which was floating above the water. The men in the canoe werehauling themselves up closer to their prey, preparatory to plungingtheir lances or harpoons into its body. I fancied that I could almostdistinguish the savage glance of the brute's eyes. Suddenly it stopped;then, turning round, gave a rush at the canoe.

  In vain the blacks slackened the rope, and seizing their paddles,endeavoured to escape from it. With open mouth the hippopotamus rushedon the boat, and, seizing it in its enormous jaws, crushed it up as ifit had been made of paper.

  One poor fellow was caught; a fearful shriek was heard; and, directlyafterwards, we saw his body, cut in two, floating down the stream. Theother two men had disappeared, and we fancied must also have beenkilled. Again and again the animal darted at the canoe, expending hisrage upon it.

  While he was thus employed the two men rose to the surface and instantlymade for the shore, dragging the end of the rope by a path we had notbefore observed, between the reeds. With wonderful activity they madeit fast to the trunk of a tree. Directly afterwards three other canoesarrived, and the men, armed with harpoons and heavy spears, jumping onshore, joined their companions in hauling in on the rope attached to thehippopotamus. In vain the monster struggled, endeavouring to tearitself away from the rope. The blacks with wonderful boldness rushedinto the water, darting their spears at it. It had seized the shaft ofthe harpoon, which had broken in two, and was endeavouring to bitethrough the rope.

  Two other canoes now came up and their crews attacked the hippopotamusin the rear. So engaged were the hunters that they did not observe us.As we watched their proceedings it appeared very probable that in spiteof its wounds the hippopotamus would break away. Seeing this, my uncleunslung his rifle and advanced towards the monster, which had alreadysevered several strands of the rope. As it opened its vast mouth, hefired down its throat, and it almost instantly, giving anotherconvulsive struggle, rolled over.

  His success was greeted with triumphant shouts by the hunters who hadonly just before discovered us. Having drawn the body of thehippopotamus up to the dry land, the blacks crowded round us, and bysigns and exclamations expressed their admiration of the way in which myuncle had killed the creature.

  We tried to explain that we were very happy to have been of service tothem, and that we should feel obliged, if, in return, they would ferryus across the river, and guide us to the waggons of the white men whohad encamped not far off.

  Leaving the hunters to cut up the hippopotamus, and stow its flesh onboard their canoes, we returned to where we had left Jan and the ox. Asit was getting late, we agreed to remain where we were until thefollowing day,--in the meantime to try to shoot an antelope or deer ofsome sort which would enable us to provide a feast for the natives bywhom we might be visited.

  I was fortunate enough, while lying down among some rocks near our camp,to kill a springbok, one of the most light and elegant of the gazelletribe; but its companions, of which it had several, bounded off at sorapid a rate that I had no chance of killing another. I, therefore,lifting my prize on my shoulder, returned to camp, where my uncle soonafter arrived, laden with the flesh of a quagga, which, althoughbelonging to the family of asses, is good food.

  Scarcely had we put on some meat to cook, when half a dozen of ouracquaintances arrived. It was satisfactory to find that Jan understoodtheir language. They appeared to be well-disposed towards us, and ourfriendship was cemented by the feast of quagga flesh which we got readyfor them. We ourselves, however, preferred the more delicate meat ofthe springbok. We kept some of the meat for our next day's breakfast,and offered the remainder to our guests, which they quickly stowed away.

  They undertook to convey us down the river the following morning intheir canoes, or on a raft, observing that, if we went in the canoes, wemust be separated, as each could carry only one of us. We, therefore,determined to trust to a raft, such as we ourselves had proposedbuilding. Our guests retired for a short distance from us, and formed acamp by themselves for the night.

  I awoke about two hours before dawn, when my attention was attracted toa peculiar noise which I might liken to a low grunting and the tread ofnumberless feet. As day broke, I saw the ground to the southwardcovered with a dense mass of deer moving slowly and steadily on towardsan opening in a long range of hills to the east. They appeared to be inno hurry, but continued feeding as they went. I aroused my uncle, whopronounced them to be springboks, one of which I had shot on theprevious evening migrating for the winter to the northward. They werebeautiful animals, graceful in form, of a light cinnamon red on theback, fading into white on the under part of the body, a narrow band ofreddish brown separating the two colours. As far as the eye couldreach, the whole country seemed alive with them,--not only the plain butthe hill-side, along which they bounded with graceful leaps.

  Our guests on the previous evening had disappeared, but they quicklycame back with a large party of their tribe, and gave us to understandthat they could not escort us down to the river for the present, as theymust set out to attack the springboks, and hoped that we would accompanythem.

  This my uncle and I at once agreed to do, and, supplying ourselves witha good stock of ammunition, we set off with the first party thatstarted. Our friends led us at a rapid rate over the hills by a shortcut, so that we might intercept the animals, as they passed through themountains. Another party, we found, remained behind, to drive themthrough, or prevent them turning back when frightened by our presence.We were only just in time, for already the leaders of the herd had madetheir appearance. As we approached the mouth of the gorge, while someof the hunters rushed up the hills, and stationed themselves on eitherside, so as to dart their javelins at the passing deer, others took postat the mouth of the gorge, thus preventing the egress of the animals,without coming within range of their weapons.

  Now a scene of slaughter commenced such as I have seldom witnessed. Theleaders of the herd turned to retreat, but were met by the party who hadremained on the other side shrieking and shouting, and knocking thehandles of their spears against their shields. Some of the animalstried to escape up the mountains, others dashed forward to our veryfeet, and many fell down killed by terror itself. We shot a few, butthe slaughter seemed so unnecessary that we refrained from again firing,and would gladly have asked the natives to desist; but while the animalswere in their power, they would evidently have refused to do so.

  Happily the affrighted deer found an opening, which, from the excessivesteepness of the path, had been neglected. Through this a considerablenumber made their escape, and were soon beyond the reach of theirmerciless pursuers.

  The natives now began to collect th
e animals they had slain, and eachman returned in triumph with a springbok on his shoulders.

  We, not to be outdone, each carried one of those we had shot, and apretty heavy load it was. I was thankful when we got back to the camp,where we cooked a portion of the venison.

  As we might have felt sure, the natives, having plenty of food, were notat all disposed to move from the spot, and, indeed, continued feastingthe whole of the next day. On the following, they were so gorged thatthey were utterly unable to make any exertion. Had an enemy been near,and found them in this condition, the whole tribe might have been killedor carried off into captivity.

  We in the meantime explored the banks of the river until we found aconvenient spot for forming our raft. In most places the reeds extendedso far from the shore that during the operation we should have had tostand up to our middles in water among them, with the risk of beingpicked up by a crocodile or hippopotamus, both of which delectablecreatures were, in considerable numbers, frequenters of the stream.

  As the blacks still showed no inclination to accompany us, Janvolunteered to return for the elephant's tusks and other articles we hadleft behind, if I would go with him.

  To this my uncle somewhat demurred, but, at last, when I pressed thepoint, he consented to remain in charge of the goods we had broughtwhile we set off on our expedition.