UNEXPECTED MEETING--HANS TELLS HIS STORY--THE AMBUSCADE--GREEK MEETS
GREEK IN WAR--THE COUNTRY NEAR NATAL--THE NEWS--THE SOLITARY HUNT IN THE
BUSH.
Believing that as soon as the Zulus found that they had been again
cheated they would follow on his trace, Hans ran and walked as fast as
he could, avoiding all detached bushes in order to escape any ambuscade
which stragglers might have prepared for him. He thus continued his
course until it became too dark to find his way, when having chosen a
tree, near an open space, where he believed he could have good warning
if any enemy approached him, he sat himself down, and began to think how
he could procure some food for himself. To light a fire in order to
cook was too dangerous a proceeding to adopt, and though almost starving
with hunger, yet he could not bring himself to eat raw flesh, and thus
he did not see any means of procuring a supper. For two nights he had
had no sleep, and though the excitement of his escapes had kept him up,
and the water of the river had refreshed him, still nature would not be
denied, and he had not long been seated beneath the tree before he felt
sleep stealing over him.
"I can sleep safely for an hour or two," thought Hans, "and will then
awake, be ready to proceed at daybreak, and shall certainly find some
means of procuring food."
Arranging himself so as to be ready to grasp his gun at a moment's
notice, he turned on his side, and in a very few minutes was fast
asleep, undisturbed by a dream of any kind.
The sun had risen, and was well above the horizon before Hans awoke from
his deep sleep, which he did with a sudden start of alarm, as he
perceived that it was broad daylight. He instantly stretched out his
hand for his gun, but could not find it. Jumping up, he saw that he was
surrounded by a large party of Kaffirs, who, armed with assagies and
shields, had surrounded him. Without a single weapon to defend himself
with, he knew that resistance was useless, and therefore stood calmly
awaiting his fate, which he expected was to be assagied immediately. As
soon as he stood up, however, several of the Kaffirs called as though to
some chief or other person in the distance, and Hans, turning in the
direction in which it appeared the person was whom the Kaffirs had
called, he first saw the smoke of a fire, and even his strong heart
quailed as the thought occurred to him that he was to be roasted alive.
His astonishment, however, was extreme, when he saw four white men
coming towards him, one of whom was decidedly Dutch in his appearance.
"Could these also be prisoners?" was Hans' first thought, "and are we
all to be burnt together?" But seeing that the white men carried their
guns, he was more puzzled than before. He waited till the men came
close to him before he spoke; he then said, "You have caught me asleep;
few men have ever done that before." For an instant the men looked at
one another, and then the stranger, addressing Hans in Dutch, said, "You
must be one of the Mensch, but what, in God's name, are you doing here,
and why is your face black?" Hans, forgetting for the moment that he
had blackened his face with mud, and that though the water had partly
washed off that which had been on his legs, still they had a very
Kaffir-like tinge about them, whilst his hair was so matted with mud,
that it was unlike a white man's, burst out laughing at the remark of
the Dutchman.
"My face may be black," he replied, "but I am Hans Sterk, a true-born
Africander."
"You Hans Sterk!" said the other with incredulity. "We heard he was
killed with the two Uys." "You Hans Sterk!" the man repeated, as he
came nearer, and examined Hans closely, "and how did you escape? You
must be a Dutchman by your speech, though in the dim light of the
morning I took you for a Kaffir spy, wearing the clothes of some of
Retief's murdered men. Come to the fire and let us hear your story."
"Let me eat and drink first," said Hans. "I have been two days without
food, and have travelled on foot at a rate that would have puzzled an
ostrich. Then, when I'm washed, you shall hear of my escape. But tell
me the news. How came you here? and have all my people escaped?"
"We are out on patrol from the Bay, for we, too, were defeated when your
people were; and we came up yesterday to pick up any stragglers. Your
people have gone back to Bushman's river, but it is bad for them. Their
cattle are swept away, and they have little or no food. Their crops are
destroyed, and they dare not again attack the Zulus, at least not till
they get more help."
Having gained this information, Hans commenced his meal, which consisted
of grilled buffaloe. He knew there was a journey before him, so he did
not eat to excess; but, having taken sufficient to satisfy his immediate
craving for food, he inquired for the nearest stream, and, accompanied
by the white men, soon washed off his disguise, and showed himself in
his natural colours.
"Then all those Kaffirs are from Natal Bay?" inquired Hans.
"Yes, these are our Kaffirs," replied the Dutchman. "There were many
Kaffirs killed in the battle, and these men have come up to look after
any of their friends who may be hidden hereabouts. Our people had a
greater defeat than yours, and we lost ten or twelve white men, whilst
hundreds of our Kaffirs were killed."
"How is it that you don't fear a strong party coming now?" inquired
Hans; "for I was followed to within three miles of this place by a party
of Zulus."
"We have our spies out, and one is hidden in that tree on the hill
there, and if he saw danger he would signal to us at once. A man
reported yesterday afternoon that he heard a shot fired from near the
Tugela, but as no one else heard it we began to doubt his report. Still
we came on this way on the chance of its being true, and we camped last
night about a mile from here, and at daybreak crossed your spoor, and
followed it for some time, when a spy came in, and said he had seen a
man asleep under a tree, and thought he was a Zulu. You were lucky to
escape being assagied at once, before we found out our mistake."
"Ah!" said the Dutchman, "there's a signal. Matuan, come here. What
does Kangela mean?"
A Kaffir approached at this remark, and looking steadily towards a
Kaffir who was signalling from a hill on which the Dutchman had said a
spy was concealed, he at once replied--
"Zulus are coming. Not many; we can fight them."
The Kaffir's words were heard with delight by the assembled men, who
waited for the Dutchman's directions before acting in any way. "Select
three men," said the Dutchman, who answered to the name of Berg, "and
let them be good runners. They must draw the Zulus into an ambush.
Conceal the remainder, Matuan, hereabouts."
Berg having given these directions, and seen the three Kaffirs
despatched in the direction in which the Zulus were advancing, followed
the Kaffirs, who had run to some bushes, and were all concealed amongst
them.
"Next to cattle, these fellows will like to carry off the spears and
shields of their enemies," said Berg, "and we may please them. They are
disheartened at the defeat of their people. Our guns will ensure us a
victory, so we need not fear the results. We will wait here."
The Kaffirs on the hill had again disappeared, and a traveller who
passed this way, and could not read the spoor that was written on the
ground, would have fancied that no human being was within miles of him.
There were, however, half-a-dozen white men, and nearly a hundred
Kaffirs, crouching among the bushes, waiting to slay an enemy.
"I expect the Zulus who have hunted me are those who are now coming this
way," said Hans.
"How many are there?" inquired Berg.
"Upwards of twenty."
"Here they come!" exclaimed the Dutchman. "They are in haste to be
slain, for not a man will escape."
The three Kaffirs who had been sent on had soon discovered the Zulus,
but pretending not to have seen them, they looked about on the ground as
though searching for something. The Zulus soon perceived the three men,
and taking advantage of the bushes dodged from one to another, till
within a hundred yards of the supposed unsuspicious Kaffirs. Suddenly
the Natal Kaffirs, giving a shout of alarm, ran back towards where their
people were concealed, but not with such speed as to make their pursuers
imagine pursuit would be useless. A race then commenced, in which the
Natal Kaffirs had more than once to use their utmost speed, on account
of the number of their enemy, and to keep beyond the effective range of
an assagy. At length the three men ran past the bushes among which
their companions were concealed, and one of them uttering a shrill
whistle, the pursuing Zulus suddenly found themselves face to face with
five times their number of those who, though almost of the same race,
were now their deadly enemies. The trained Zulus were not the men,
however, to be slaughtered like sheep. They immediately closed
together, and feeling after their late run that they stood no chance of
escaping by speed from men who had been lying quiet whilst they had been
running, determined to fight where they were. Shortening their grasp on
their assagies, they moved slowly forwards against the Natal force, a
fine example of trained savages. Berg, upon seeing this, called to his
people, who were between him and the Zulus, to lie down. The Natalians
having learnt to trust their Dutch masters, obeyed instantly, when Berg
and his companions fired a volley at the Zulus with the usual effect.
Three Zulus fell dead, and one rolled on the ground mortally wounded.
The Natal Kaffirs instantly started to their feet, and rushed on to
their enemies, and for a minute a scene of skill and agility was
exhibited, such as is rarely witnessed by white men. The two opposing
parties met, and rapidly exchanged thrusts, which were, however, parried
by the ox-hide shield, which, held sideways, turned the stab. Here and
there an assagy was hurled at a foe with deadly aim and great velocity,
but the Kaffir seeing its approach, either sprang on one side, and thus
avoided it, or received it obliquely on his shield, and sent it glancing
in another direction. Where there was no great difference in the style
of weapons used, or in the skill of the combatants, numbers very soon
decided the encounter, and in less than two minutes only two or three
Zulus were seen fleeing over the plain with speed, pursued by a host of
relentless enemies, who returned before long, shouting triumphantly, and
carrying the shields and assagies of their enemies.
Not one out of the party had escaped, and thus Hans, who would be no
party to this slaughter, saw the whole of those who had so nearly
terminated his existence cut up to a man at the instant that they were
under the belief that they were in such force as to be formidable to the
small party they were pursuing. Such are the changes which often occur
in savage warfare, the strong party becoming the weak, and being again
outnumbered unexpectedly.
"It will not be safe for you to join your people by walking from here,"
said Berg to Hans. "There are many spies out from Dingaan, and you
would not be likely to reach Bushman's river. You had better return to
the bay with us; then we can talk about our best plan of acting, and you
can carry the news up to your people."
Hans agreed to this proposal, and joined his new friends on their return
journey to the bay, on reaching which he was delighted at the beauty of
the country and the fertility of the soil. Though the settlers had as
yet done little towards cultivating the land, yet it was evident that
there were immense capabilities for agricultural pursuits, and it was
thus considered a place likely eventually to become of great importance.
The vicinity of their treacherous neighbour Dingaan alone seemed to be
a drawback, but the emigrants had no doubt that with more caution and
fresh strength they would be able to overcome this despot, and prevent
him from in future molesting the white men.
Hans remained at Natal Bay for a week, and then started on horseback for
the head-quarters of his people, which he reached in four days. Hans
was received like one risen from among the dead, for his loss had been
mourned by his friends, and by Katrine, so that his return was never
expected, and was as much a surprise as any thing could be. He found
the camp in a sad state, a want of food being actually felt. Having
informed the leaders of his party what were the views of the few
residents at Natal, and having pointed out the necessity for maintaining
a system of espionage on the Zulus, he made preparations for a hunting
expedition into the plains under the Draakensberg for the purpose of
supplying his people with eland beef. It is a common practice of those
farmers who reside in the vicinity of the plains on which large game are
found to devote a certain portion of their time to hunting, in order to
supply themselves with a stock of meat. This meat is either salted, or
made into beltong; that is, it is cut into strips, rubbed with salt and
pepper, and hung in a sunny place, where it gets dry, and can be eaten
with no further cooking; or it can be placed in water for a short time,
and then boiled. Thus provided with a supply of meat, the fanner need
not kill his own cattle, but can allow his live stock to increase, and
can thus have very shortly a plentiful supply of cows and oxen, so that
he has no want of milk or means to draw his waggons.
Running in nearly a northerly direction, and varying in distance from
the coast between 100 and 300 miles, are a range of lofty mountains
known as the Quathlamba or Draakenberg. From these mountains all the
rivers rise which flow through the Natal district, and empty themselves
into the Indian Ocean. The principal rivers that there take their rise
are the Umzimkulu, the Umkomazi, the Umgani, the Tugela, with its
tributaries, the Mooi river, the Bushman's, the Klip river, and the
Umzimyati or Buffalo river. The Quathlamba mountains descend into the
plains, in many cases, by a series of terraces, which extend several
miles, and on which are grassy plains of great extent. These plains
being well watered and fertile, were, in the days when the first Dutch
emigrants visited this district, inhabited by large herds of game.
Troops of magnificent elands, amounting to three and four hundred, would
be found herding on these terraces. The hartebeest and wildebeest, the
wild boar, the quagga, and numberless other animals, could be seen and
hunted. Thus, as the African farmer is by nature a sportsman, this
neighbourhood was to him a paradise.
The Englishman in his overtrodden land, but with a love for sport, is
compelled to put up with a feeble or artificial imitation of it. The
hunting of a half-tame fox, following a stabled deer, or even galloping
after the hounds who are hunting the boy who pulls the drag, is
considered sport. This substitute, however, cannot fairly be termed
sport, though it supplies excitement. It is, in fact, not very
different from a steeple-chase, but produces utterly different
sensations from those which are engendered when hunting the wildest of
wild game in a country where man is so rarely seen that he is gazed at
as an intruder, and where hunting is a practical reality and necessity
as a means of subsistence, upon which the hunter depends, and not as a
mere pastime to kill a few hours, or to endeavour to obtain a little
excitement. Very much has been written by those who have never tasted
the real sport of the wilderness, in favour of the artificial production
in our own land, or those have advanced their opinions who from
imperfect knowledge of the art, or from a mere glimpse of some of the
minor sports of foreign lands, have found nothing in it to gratify them,
whilst from long habit and practice these same men were habituated to
English sports. Such persons are not competent judges, and cannot be
impartial writers. Let us ask those who, having been accustomed to our
English field sports, and having enjoyed all the pleasure of a good day
among the turnips, have watched with delight the cautious Rover, or the
keen-nosed Fan,--who have lived in the front rank during a twenty
minutes' burst over the grass land, enclosed with ox-fences, have at the
death been there,--and such will undoubtedly tell us it is good sport,
and very exciting. But let these same witnesses tell us what were their
feelings as, treading cautiously the rough and tangled buffalo or
elephant track, they first comprehended the singular feeling of being
utterly alone in the forest, dependent not only for success, but safety,
upon their own unaided caution and skill. How fully, too, they
appreciated the scene, when a glancing flash of something seemed to dart
from out of a tree-fork on to the ground beneath, whilst the light,
graceful leopard was recognised as his gorgeous-spotted coat flashed in
the sunlight! How thoroughly in harmony seemed the whole scene, as the
brilliant trogan or crimson-winged lowry skimmed amidst the festoons of
forest vines! The social chattering monkey on the distant branches has
long since seen the intruders into his domain, and now performs antics
and acts in a manner so like those which illiterate human beings would
practise under similar conditions, that we are not surprised at the
opinion of those who trace man's origin to his tailed caricature. It is
not, however, in the trees, or in the actual living creatures
themselves, that all the interest need be concentrated: the very path we
tread is a page deeply written. The ploughed field, meadow, or road of
England rarely produces much that is noticed as the hunter rides over
them. The forest path in the wilderness must, however, be read with
care. Here, at our feet, is a record which must be noted. A
smooth-looking spot attracts our attention; the leaves are all pressed
down, and it is at once seen that some animal has rested there. Down on
your knees, and look with microscopic eyes for some sign of the
creature. There are one, two, three hairs, all lying together. They
are from the coat of a leopard, whose lair we find warm, evincing that
he has been lately disturbed. There, beyond, is the mark of a heavy
animal; a hoof is impressed on the soil, and we see a buffalo has lately
trodden the path before us. So fresh is the footprint that the buffalo
probably disturbed the leopard. Now that our large game is near, we
scarcely notice the graceful festoons of wild vine, the masses of rich
foliage, or the many rare insects that we disturb as we move the bushes.
Before us is the spoor, and we follow this, till we hear a slight
movement amidst the dense mass of tangled brushwood before us, and for a
few seconds we stand with half-raised rifle, watching for some sign to
guide us; but all is still, and with cautiously-raised foot we advance
one pace, then a second, and are preparing for a third, when, like a
thunderbolt, a magnificent buffalo dashes from his dense cover, bounds
over a bush as though he were a mere antelope, crashes through the
underwood, and scarcely seeming to feel the heavy bullet which has
struck him as he fled, is lost to sight in an instant. A few seconds'
quiet, and then the crack of a heavy branch being broken is heard; then
another and another, and the hunter stands half disappointed as these
sounds tell him he has disturbed a herd of elephants who were taking
their mid-day siesta in the forest near him, but are now striding
through the bush, and carrying all before them. This to some
constitutions seems more complete sport than England can afford, though
there are men who tell us that nothing can be equal to that which they
have seen and daily enjoy in the hunting counties of England. _Nous
verrons_. Let the man who angles in his tank, and catches the home-fed
gold-fish, tell the Norwegian salmon-fisher that tank fishing is the
best sport of the two, and we can but conclude that either his skill or
frame is unfitted for the nobler sport, or he has never had the
opportunity of seeing more than that of which he is so fond. On the
plains there is, perhaps, less excitement than in the bush, when hunting
the creatures that are there found; yet to see several herds of wild
animals grazing in undisturbed freedom on plains glowing like satin, and
through which silver streams wind their way, is to the eye of the man
who has been accustomed to crowded cities a gratifying sight. To the
hunter who purposes supplying his larder from these herds, it becomes
even more interesting; and thus, as Hans and his companions, riding on a
commanding ridge, waiting for the morning mist to clear off the valleys
beneath them, saw the plains sprinkled with small herds of elands, they
rejoiced at their anticipated success, and at once, made their plans for
hunting their game.
When disturbed by the sight of man, the antelopes of Africa, to which
class the eland belongs, will almost invariably start at a long trot
with their heads towards the wind. They pursue this course because they
are very keen-scented, and as they meet the wind can tell whether any
enemy is concealed before them. Even when they have to run the gauntlet
of the hunters, the eland will usually prefer doing so and keeping his
head to the wind, rather than run down wind. The only exception to this
rule is when the animals know that a very difficult country for hunting
is in any one direction. They will then run to this country as to a
sanctuary, and can thus escape the hunter; for whilst an eland can
descend a steep hill on which are large masses of loose stones at the
most rapid trot, a horseman is obliged to dismount and lead his horse
until riding becomes possible. Thus it is always one of the objects of
a hunter to cut off the retreat of a herd of game from any portion of
country in which he knows he could not hunt them with advantage.
A fortnight in the plains enabled Hans to fill his waggons with beltong,
and he then returned to the head-quarters of his friends, ready to take
any part in the expedition which he knew must be carried out before
long.