"Well," continued Hans, after a pause, "I began to congratulate myself
on my fortunate escape; for I was convinced that but for the ant-hill I
would have been trampled and gored to death. The bull was one of the
largest and fiercest of his kind, and a _very_ old one too, as I could
tell by the bases of his thick black horns nearly meeting over his
forehead, as well as by his dark colour. I had plenty of time to note
these things. I felt that I was now safe--that the wildebeest could not
get near me; and I sat perched upon the top of the central cone,
watching his movements with perfect coolness.
"It is true he did everything to reach my position. A dozen times he
charged up the hill, and more than once effected a lodgment among the
tops of the lower turrets, but the main one was too steep for him. No
wonder! It, had tried my own powers to scale it.
"At times he came so close to me in his desperate efforts, that I could
have touched his horns with the muzzle of my gun; and I had prepared to
give him a blow whenever I could get a good chance. I never saw a
creature behave so fiercely. The fact was, that I had hit him with my
bullet,--the wound was there along his jaw, and bleeding freely. The
pain of it maddened him; but that was not the only cause of his fury, as
I afterwards discovered.
"Well. After several unsuccessful attempts to scale the cone, he varied
his tactics, and commenced butting the ant-heap as though he would bring
it down. He repeatedly backed, and then charged forward upon it with
all his might; and, to say the truth, it looked for some time as though
he would succeed.
"Several of the lesser cones were knocked over by his powerful blows;
and the hard tough clay yielded before his sharp horns, used by him as
inverted pickaxes. In several places I could see that he had laid open
the chambers of the insects, or rather the ways and galleries that are
placed in the outer crust of the hill.
"With all this I felt no fear. I was under the belief that he would
soon exhaust his rage and go away; and then I could descend without
danger. But after watching him a good long spell, I was not a little
astonished to observe that, instead of cooling down, he seemed to grow
more furious than ever. I had taken out my handkerchief to wipe the
perspiration off my face. It was as hot as an oven where I sat. Not a
breath of air was stirring, and the rays of the sun, glaring right down
and then reflecting up again from the white clay, brought the
perspiration out of me in streams. Every minute I was obliged to rub my
eyes clear of it with the handkerchief.
"Now, before passing the kerchief over my face, I always shook it open;
and each time I did so, I noticed that the rage of the wildebeest seemed
to be redoubled! In fact, at such times he would leave off goring the
heap, and make a fresh attempt to rush up at me, roaring his loudest as
he charged against the steep wall!
"I was puzzled at this, as well as astonished. What could there be in
my wiping my face to provoke the wildebeest anew? And yet such was
clearly the case. Every time I did so, he appeared to swell with a
fresh burst of passion!
"The explanation came at length. I saw that it was not the wiping off
the perspiration that provoked him. It was the shaking out of my
handkerchief. This was, as you know, of a bright scarlet colour. I
thought of this, and then, for the first time, remembered having heard
that anything scarlet has a most powerful effect upon the wildebeest,
and excites him to a rage resembling madness.
"I did not wish to keep up his fury. I crumpled up the handkerchief and
buried it in my pocket--preferring to endure the perspiration rather
than remain there any longer. By hiding the scarlet, I conceived a hope
he would the sooner cool down, and go away.
"But I had raised a devil in him too fierce to be so easily laid. He
showed no signs of cooling down. On the contrary, he continued to
charge, butt, and bellow, as vengefully as ever--though the scarlet was
no longer before his eyes.
"I began to feel really annoyed. I had no idea the gnoo was so
implacable in his rage. The bull evidently felt pain from his wound. I
could perceive that he moaned it. He knew well enough it was I who had
given him this pain.
"He appeared determined not to let me escape retribution. He showed no
signs of an intention to leave the place; but laboured away with hoof
and horns, as if he would demolish the mound.
"I was growing very tired of my situation Though not afraid that the
bull could reach me, I was troubled by the thought of being so long
absent from our camp. I knew I should have been there. I thought of my
little sister and brother. Some misfortune might befall them. I was
very sad about that, though up to that time I had little or no fears for
myself. I was still in hopes the wildebeest would tire out and leave
me, and then I could soon run home.
"I say, up to that time I had no very serious fears for myself--
excepting the moment or two when the bull was chasing me to the hill;
but that little fright was soon over.
"But now appeared a new object of dread--another enemy, as terrible as
the enraged bull--that almost caused me to sprint down upon the horns of
the latter in my first moments of alarm!
"I have said that the wildebeest had broken down several of the lesser
turrets--the outworks of the ant-hill--and had laid open the hollow
spaces within. He had not penetrated to the main dome, but only the
winding galleries and passages that perforate the outer walls.
"I noticed, that, as soon as these were broken open, a number of ants
had rushed out from each. Indeed, I had observed many of the creatures
crawling outside the hill, when I first approached it, and had wondered
at this--as I knew that they usually keep under ground when going and
coming from their nests. I had observed all this, without taking note
of it at the time--being too intent in my stalk to think of anything
else. For the last half-hour I was too busy watching the manoeuvres of
the wildebeest bull, to take my gaze off him for a moment.
"Something in motion directly under me at length caught my eye, and I
looked down to see what it was. The first glance caused me to jump to
my feet; and, as I have already said, very nearly impelled me to leap
down upon the horns of the bull!
"Swarming all over the hill, already clustering upon my shoes, and
crawling still higher, were the crowds of angry ants. Every hole that
the bull had made was yielding out its throng of spiteful insects; and
all appeared moving towards _me_!
"Small as the creatures were, I fancied I saw design in their movements.
They seemed all actuated with the same feeling--the same impulse--that
of attacking me. I could not be mistaken in their intent. They moved
all together, as if guided and led by intelligent beings; and they
advanced towards the spot on which I stood.
"I saw, too, that they were the _soldiers_. I knew these from the
workers, by their larger heads and long horny mandibles. I knew they
could bite fiercely and painfully.
"The thought filled me with horror. I confess it, I never was so
horrified before. My late encounter with the lion was nothing to
compare with it.
"My first impression was that I would be destroyed by the termites. I
had heard of such things--I remembered that I had. It was that, no
doubt, that frightened me so badly. I had heard of men in their sleep
being attacked by the white ants, and bitten to death. Such memories
came crowding upon me at the moment, until I felt certain, that if I did
not soon escape from that spot, the ants would _sting me to death and
eat me up_!"