Down by the reedy margin of a pretty large lake--where wild-fowl
innumerable made the air vocal with their cries by day, and frogs, in
numbers inconceivable, chirped and croaked a lullaby to men who slept,
and a symphony to beasts that howled and growled and prowled at night in
bush and brake--Kambira pitched his camp.
He did not indeed, select the moist level of the fever-breeding marshes,
but he chose for his temporary habitation the dry summit of a wooded
hill which overlooked the lake.
Here the natives of the neighbourhood said that elephants had been
lately seen, and buffaloes, zebras, etcetera, were at all times
numerous.
After two long days' march they had reached the spot, and encamped late
in the evening. Next morning early the business of the expedition
began. Various parties of natives, armed with bows and arrows and
spears, were sent out in different directions, but the principal band
was composed of Kambira and his chief men, with Harold and his party.
They did not go far before game was found. Guinea-fowl were numerous,
and those who were aimed with bows soon procured a goodly supply of
these, but our travellers did not waste their energies or powder on such
small game. Besides these, monkeys peeped inquisitively at the hunters
from among the trees, and myriads of turtle-doves were seen in the
covers. As they advanced, wild pigs, elands, waterbucks, koodoos, and
other creatures, were seen in herds, and the natives dropped off, or
turned aside in pursuit of these, so that ere long the band remaining
with Kambira was reduced to about forty men.
Coming to a small river in which were a number of deep pools and
shallows, they saw several hippopotami lying asleep, their bodies nearly
all out of the water, appearing like masses of black rock in the stream.
But at the same place they discovered fresh traces of elephants and
buffaloes, therefore the hippopotami were left unmolested, save that
Harold sent a bullet amongst them, partly to let the natives hear the
report of his gun, and partly to see how the animals would take it.
They all started to their feet at once, and stared around them with
looks of stolid surprise that were almost equal to the looks of the
natives, to whom fire-arms were little known, except by report. Another
shot sent the whole herd with a heavy plunge into deep water.
"It's a queer country," observed Disco when they had resumed their
march. "Just look at them there lizards with red and blue tails running
about among the rocks an' eatin' up the white ants like one o'clock."
Disco might have said like twelve o'clock, if numbers would have added
to the force of his remark, for the little creatures referred to were
miraculously active in pursuit of their food.
"But I s'pose," continued Disco, "the niggers would think our country a
queerer place than this."
"Undoubtedly they would," replied Harold; "just fancy what would be the
feelings of Kambira if he were suddenly transported into the heart of
London."
"Hallo!" exclaimed Disco, stopping suddenly and pointing to one of the
men in advance, who had crouched and made signals to his friends to
halt, "breakers ahead--eh?"
"More likely buffaloes," whispered Harold, as he cocked his rifle and
advanced quickly with Kambira, who carried a short spear or javelin.
On reaching an opening in the bushes, a small herd of zebras was
observed not much more than a hundred yards in advance.
"Will the white man's gun kill so far?" asked the chief, turning to
Antonio.
The interpreter made no reply, but pointed to Harold, who was in the act
of taking aim. The loud report was followed by the fall of the nearest
zebra. Disco also fired and wounded another, which bounded away in wild
alarm with its fellows.
The natives yelled with delight, and Disco cheered in sympathy.
"You've hit him," said Harold, as he reloaded.
"Ay, but I han't disabled him. Better luck next time. I think I took
him somewhere on the port bow."
"If by that you mean the left shoulder," returned Harold, with a laugh,
"it's likely he won't run far. What does Kambira think of the white
man's gun?" he added, turning round.
The tall chief nodded approvingly, and said, with a grave
countenance--"Good, good; it is good--better than this," shaking his
short spear.
At that moment a small antelope, which had been startled and put to
flight by some of the other bands of hunters, came crashing wildly
towards them, ignorant of the enemy in its front until within about
thirty yards. It turned at a sharp angle and plunged into the jungle,
but the spear which Kambira had shaken whizzed though the air and
pierced its heart before it had time to disappear.
"A splendid heave!" cried Disco, with enthusiasm; "why, man alive, you'd
make yer fortin' as a harpooner if ye was to go to the whale-fishin'.--
Hallo! there's somethin' else; w'y, the place is swarmin'. It's for all
the world like a zoological ga'rdings let loose."
As he spoke, the hoofs of a herd of ponderous animals were heard, but
the rank grass and underwood concealed them entirely from view. The
whole party rushed to the nearest opening, and were just in time to see
the tail of an irate buffalo make a magnificent flourish in the air as
its owner plunged into cover.
There was no further attempt at conversation after this. The near
presence of large game was too exciting, so that merely a word of
advice, direction, or inquiry, passed as the party advanced rapidly--one
or two of the most active going before as pioneers.
While Disco was striding along with flashing eyes, rifle ready, and head
turning from side to side in momentary expectation of something bounding
suddenly out of somewhere, he chanced to cast his eyes upwards, and, to
his horror, beheld two huge serpents coiled together among the branches
of a tree close to his head.
Uttering a yell of alarm--for he entertained an almost superstitious
dread of serpents--he fired blindly upwards, and dashed to one side so
violently that he tumbled himself and Harold into a bush of wait-a-bit
thorns, out of which the laughing natives found it difficult to extract
them.
"What _is_ the matter, man?" said Harold somewhat testily.
"Have a care! look! Avast! A bite'll be death, an' no mistake!" cried
Disco, pointing to the reptiles.
Harold fired at once and brought them both down, and the natives,
attacking them with sticks, soon killed them.
"No fear," said Antonio, with a chuckle. "Dem not harm nobody, though
ums ugly an' big enough."
This was true. They were a couple of pythons, and the larger of the
two, a female, was ten feet long; but the python is a harmless creature.
While they were talking, smoke was observed to rise from an isolated
clump of long grass and bushes not far from the banks of the river, much
to the annoyance of Kambira, who feared that the fire might spread and
scare away the game. It was confined, however, to the place where it
began, but it had the effect of driving out a solitary buffalo that had
taken refuge in the cover. Jumbo chanced to be most directly in front
of the infuriated animal when it burst out, and to him exclusively it
directed its attentions.
Never since Jumbo was the size of Obo had that laughter-loving savage
used his lithe legs with greater energy than on this occasion. An
ostrich might have envied him as he rushed towards the river, into which
he sprang headlong when the buffalo was barely six feet behind him.
Of course Harold fired, as well as Disco, and both shots told, as also a
spear from Kambira, nevertheless the animal turned abruptly on seeing
Jumbo disappear, and charged furiously up the bank, scattering its
enemies right and left. Harold fired again at little more than fifty
yards off, and heard the bullet thud as it went in just behind the
shoulder, yet strange to say, it seemed to have no other effect than to
rouse the brute to greater wrath, and two more bullets failed to bring
him down.
This toughness of the buffalo is by no means uncommon, but different
animals vary much in their tenacity of life. Some fall at once to the
first well-directed shot; others die hard. The animal the hunters were
now in pursuit of, or rather which was in pursuit of the hunters, seemed
to be of the latter class. Harold fired another shot from behind a
tree, having loaded with a shell-bullet, which exploded on hitting the
creature's ribs. It fell, much to the satisfaction of Disco, of whom it
happened to be in pursuit at the time. The seaman at once stopped and
began to reload, and the natives came running forward, when Antonio, who
had climbed a tree to be out of harm's way, slipped down and ran with
great bravery up to the prostrate animal.
Just as he reached it the buffalo sprang up with the activity of a cat,
and charged him. Antonio turned and ran with such rapidity that his
little legs became almost invisible, like those of a sparrow in a hurry.
He gained a tree, and had just time to climb into it when the buffalo
struck it like a battering-ram, hard enough almost to have split both
head and tree. It paused a few seconds, drew back several paces, glared
savagely at Antonio, and then charged again and again, as if resolved
either to shake him out of the tree, or give itself a splitting
headache, but another shell from Harold, who could hardly take aim for
laughing, stretched the huge animal dead upon the ground. Altogether,
it took two shells and five large solid rifle-balls to finish him.
"That wos a pretty good spurt," said Disco, panting, as he joined Harold
beside the fallen beast. "It's well-known that a starn chase is a long
'un, but this would have been an exception to the rule if you hadn't
shot him, sir. He pretty nigh made short work o' _me_. He was a'most
aboard of me w'en you fired."
"True," said Harold; "and had that tree not grown where it stands, and
grown tough, too, I suspect he would have made short work of Antonio
too."
"Bah!" said the interpreter, with affected carelessness, "him was but a
slow brute, after all."
Disco looked at Jumbo, who was none the worse of his ducking, and shut
his right eye smartly. Jumbo opened his cavernous mouth, and exploded
so violently that his double row of brilliant teeth must have been blown
out and scattered on the ground, had they not been miraculously strong.
"Come, now," said Kambira, who had just given orders to some of his
followers to remain behind and look after the carcase, "we go to find
elephants."
"Have we much chance of findin' them?" inquired Disco.
Kambira thought they had, because fresh traces had been recently seen in
the neighbourhood, whereupon Disco said that he would prefer to go after
lions, but Kambira assured him that these animals were not so easy to
find, and much more dangerous when attacked. Admitting the force of
this, though still asserting his preference of lions to elephants, the
bloodthirsty son of Neptune shouldered his rifle and followed his
leader.
While the main party of hunters were thus successfully pushing along,
the other bands were not idle, though, possessing no fire-arms, they
were less noisy. In fact their proceedings were altogether of the
cat-catty. One fellow, as black as a coal, as lithe as an eel, and as
long--according to Disco's standard--as a fathom of pump-water, having
come upon a herd of buffalo unseen by them, and being armed with a small
bow and quiver of arrows, suddenly dropped on all-fours and began to
glide through the long grass.
Now there is a particular little bird in those regions which calls for
special notice here. It is a very singular bird, inasmuch as it has
constituted itself the guardian of the buffalo. It frequently sits upon
that animal's back, and, whenever it sees the approach of man, or any
other danger, it flaps its wings and screams to such an extent, that the
buffalo rushes off without waiting to inquire or see what is the matter;
and the small guardian seems to think itself sufficiently rewarded with
the pickings it finds on the back of its fat friend. So vigilant is
this little creature, that it actually renders the approach of the
hunter a matter of great difficulty in circumstances when, but for it,
he might approach with ease. [See Livingstone's _Zambesi and its
Tributaries_, page 200.]
Our wary native was, however, aware of this little fellow's
propensities, and took precautions to outwit the bird rather than the
beast. It may perhaps cause some surprise to be told that a small bow
and arrows were a sufficiently powerful species of artillery to bring to
bear against such noble game, but the surprise will vanish when we state
that the arrows were poisoned.
Having crawled to within range, the fathom of black pump-water suddenly
arose and let fly an arrow. The missile went deep into the side of a
majestic bull. The little bird fluttered and screamed too late. The
bull at once dashed away at full speed, starting off the whole herd in
alarm. The black fathom followed at the top of his speed, and was
joined by a number of other black fathoms, who were quite aware of what
had been done. The buffaloes were soon out of sight, but the fathoms
followed the trail with the unerring pertinacity of fate. After a long
run they came up with the stricken bull, which had fallen behind its
fellows, and waited patiently until the poison took full effect. In a
short time the animal fell, and the successful hunters fell to work upon
his carcase with their knives.
Leaving them thus employed, we will return to Kambira and his friends.
They had not gone far when a fine water-buck was observed feeding beside
a creek.
Kambira laid his hand on Harold's shoulder and pointed to it with a
smile, which might have been interpreted, "Now, then, there's a chance
for you!"
Harold fired, and the water-buck dropped.
"Good," said Kambira.
"Hallo!" exclaimed Disco.
And well he might, for at that moment an enormous crocodile, which had
evidently been watching the water-buck, seized and dragged it into the
water. It was not deep, however, and the wounded animal made a
desperate plunge, hauled the crocodile several yards, and tore itself
out of its hideous jaws. It then jumped into the stream and was
swimming across when another crocodile made a dash at it, but Harold
sent a ball into its ugly head, which appeared to make it change its
mind. It disappeared, and the water-buck turning, made for the bank
from which it had started. Just as it reached it the vital spark fled--
the fine head dropped and the body turned over.
It will be seen from what has been told, that on this occasion the
rifles did most of the work. The natives who followed Harold had
nothing to do but look on exultingly, glare, dance, show their teeth and
gums, and secure the game. We cannot perhaps, expect the good-natured
reader to follow us through all the details of that day's work; but it
would be unpardonable were we to close the chapter without referring to
the principal event of the day, which occurred a couple of hours after
the shooting of the water-buck.
It happened thus:--When the hunters began to grow tired, and the
prospect of falling in with large game became less hopeful, the chief
determined to return to camp; but Disco felt so disappointed at not
having seen an elephant or a lion, that he expressed a wish to continue
the chase with a small select party. Harold laughed at the idea of the
seaman leading such a party, but offered no objection, although he did
not care to accompany his friend, having, as he said, had enough of it,
and being desirous of having a long chat with the chief in camp.
"You see, sir," said Disco, patting the stock of his rifle with his
right hand, "we chance to have got, so to speak, into the heart of a
shoal o' big fish, an' there's no sayin' how soon they may take it into
their heads to up anchor, and make sail for other grounds. Therefore,
says I, blaze away at 'em while you've got the chance."
"But you may have as good a chance to-morrow, or next day," suggested
Harold.
"We ain't sure o' that sir. To-morrow, they say, never comes," returned
Disco. "It's my ambition to let fly a broadside at a lion or a elephant
so I means for to go on; an' wot I says is, Who wolunteers to sail in
company?"
When the party were given to understand what "wolunteers" meant, the
three Makololo joined the tar with alacrity, also the Somali negroes
Nakoda and Conda, and about a dozen of the natives, armed with spears.
Disco's own men were armed with their guns. Antonio, being necessary to
Harold, returned to camp; but this was a matter of little importance, as
Jumbo and his fellow-countrymen knew enough of English to act as
interpreters.
Every one who has had a few years' experience of life knows the truth of
the proverb which asserts that "fortune favours the brave." Its truth
was exemplified on the present occasion not more than an hour after the
little band of heroes had set out.
Disco led the way, as a matter of course, holding, as he said, that no
nigger could possibly be equal to a white sailor in the matter of
steering, whether ashore or afloat. He steered by the sun, and directed
his course to nowhere in particular, being influenced chiefly by the
form of the ground and the appearance of the jungle.
Jumbo grinned a good deal at the sententious gravity with which the
leader delivered his orders, and the self-important strides with which
he passed over the land. He would have grinned still more, perhaps have
laughed outright if he had understood that the occasional off-hand kicks
which Disco bestowed on a thick bush here and there, were given in the
hope that a lion might thereby be set up, as one dislodges a rabbit or a
hare!
At last on reaching the crest of a mound which was comparatively free of
underwood, Disco beheld a sight which caused him to drop on his hands
and knees as though he had been shot.
Not more than fifty yards off a herd of cow elephants and their calves
were seen feeding quietly on tall heavy-seeded grass in the plain below.
"Avast!" said Disco, in a hoarse whisper, at the same time crouching
behind a bush, and making frantic signals to the rest of the party to
advance with extreme caution.
"Wat 'um see?" inquired Jumbo in a low whisper, creeping up to his
excited leader.
There was no need for a reply. A glance over the top of the bush
sufficed.
"Be quiet as mice now, lads," said Disco, when all the members of his
party had crept around him, and become aware of the presence of
elephants. "Get your guns laid, and if any one of you dares to pull a
trigger till I give the word, I'll keel-haul him."
This, or something distantly resembling it, having been explained to the
men who carried guns, they lay down and took aim.
The noise made by the hunters attracted the attention of the nearest
elephant, and, with true motherly instinct she placed her young one
between her fore-legs for protection.
"We fire right in de middel ob de lot?" inquired Zombo hastily.
"Not at all," whispered Disco; "let every man point at the nearest one--
the one that lays broadside on to us, wi' the little un under her bows.
Now--ready--present--fire!"
Bang went the seven guns with a degree of precision that might have put
to shame any corps of volunteer riflemen in England; up went the trunks
and tails of the elephants, little and big, and away rushed the whole
herd in dire alarm. But the wounded animal suddenly stumbled and fell
on its knees, then leaped up and ran on heavily.
Meanwhile Disco, who had discharged only one barrel of his heavy gun,
leaped over the bushes, and rushed forward at a pace which for a few
seconds enabled him to keep ahead even of the fleet natives. The
elephants, however, easily left them all behind, and it appeared as if
the affair were about to end in disappointment, when the wounded beast
again stumbled.
"Hold on! halt!" cried Disco in a voice of thunder.
He kneeled at the same time, took aim, and fired.
Whether it was this last shot or the effects of previous loss of blood,
we cannot tell; but after receiving it, the ponderous animal rolled over
on its side, and died.
To say that the natives became temporarily insane would give but a
feeble idea of what now took place, because few readers are likely to be
aware of the amazing power of the negro to give expression to the
vagaries of insanity. We shall therefore content ourselves by saying
that they cheered, laughed, howled, shouted, danced, and yelled--and
leave the rest to imagination.
"Now, then, boys, avast howlin'. Clap a stopper on your bellows, will
'ee?" said Disco, in a boatswain's roar, that effectually quelled the
tumult. "Cut off to camp, every mother's son of you, an bring up
Kambira an' all the boys, with as many knives and dishes as ye can
muster, for this mountain of flesh ain't to be cut up in a hurry, an'
the sun won't be long o' goin' to bed. Away with 'ee! Let's see how
you can wag yer black legs, an' I'll keep watch over the carcase. If
anything comes to have a look at it--a lion, for instance,--so much the
worse for the lion!"
It was in vain that Jumbo explained there was no necessity for sending
more than one of the party to the camp. Disco was a strict
disciplinarian, and, having given the order, enforced it in a manner
which admitted of no disobedience. They therefore departed, leaving the
seaman seated on the elephant, smoking his pipe with his gun beside him.
But Jumbo did not go far. He soon turned aside from his companions, and
returned to the scene of the hunt, resolved if possible to give his
leader a fright. Gaining the skirts of the jungle which surrounded the
open space where Disco kept watch, he crept cautiously as near to him as
possible.
Disco still sat smoking and eyeing the elephant with a smile of
satisfaction. Presently he rose,--retreated a few yards from the
carcase, and stood admiring it with his head on one side, as if it were
a picture and he a connoisseur. He had in this act approached somewhat
nearer to Jumbo, who saluted him with a most awful growl.
No monkey in Africa could have dropped its pipe, had it been a smoker,
or sprung to seize its gun, had it been a sportsman, with greater
agility than did Disco Lillihammer on that trying occasion! Getting on
the other side of the dead elephant he faced round, cocked both barrels,
and prepared to receive whatever might come.
Jumbo, lying very low behind a bank of earth for safety, gave another
low growl. Disco started and half raised his piece. Jumbo then threw a
large stone towards a neighbouring bush, which it struck and caused to
rustle.
This was enough for Disco, who took a quick aim, and let fly the
contents of both barrels into the bush.
Jumbo noiselessly but swiftly crept back into the woods, chuckling as he
went, leaving Disco to reload in wild haste. But his haste was uncalled
for. There was no more growling; no more rustling in the bushes.
"I've done for him," muttered Disco, after waiting patiently at the
"ready" for some time. "But it won't do for me to ventur' up to it all
by myself. Pr'aps it's a lion, an' they do say that it's chancy work to
go near a wounded lion. To be sure the growl wasn't so loud as I'd have
expected o' the king o' the forest, but then they don't always growl
loud. Anyhow I'll keep a bright look-out an' wait till the niggers
return."
Philosophising thus, the bold seaman mounted guard over the elephant.
Meanwhile Jumbo, having got out of earshot of his friend, indulged in a
loud laugh and made after his friends, but, observing the visage of a
small yellow-coloured monkey among the leaves overhead, a thought
flashed into his mind and induced him to change his plans.
Throwing his spear dexterously he transfixed the monkey and brought it
down. Returning with great caution to the bush into which Disco had
fired, and gliding with the noiseless motion of a snake the latter part
of the way, he placed the dead monkey on the ground and left it there.
It was by that time too late to overtake his comrades. He therefore
waited until they returned, and then joined the party in rear, as though
he had followed them from the camp.
The same wild exhibition of delight was about to be enacted when the
party came trooping up, but Disco quickly checked it by the astounding
announcement that he thought he had shot a lion, or somethin' o' that
sort!
"You don't mean it!" said Harold, rather excited.
"All I know is," said Disco, "that I heerd somethin' uncommon like a
lion growl twice in yonder bush, an' saw the bush move too, so I fired a
broadside that seemed to finish him at once, for there was no more
rustlin' after that."
"An' no more growlin'?" asked Jumbo, with much simplicity of
countenance.
"Not a growl, nor nothin' else," answered Disco.
"Well, get your guns ready, lads," said Harold, "and stand by to fire
while we go and search the bush."
So saying, Harold and Disco advanced together with their rifles ready,
while the natives, who were more or less alarmed, according to their
respective degrees of courage, scattered in a semicircle well in rear.
Kambira, armed with a spear, kept close to Harold, and Jumbo, with
unwonted bravery, walked alongside of Disco. Antonio, quietly retiring,
took refuge in a tree.
"Yoo's _sure_ you hit um?" inquired Jumbo in a whisper.
"Can't say I'm _sure_," replied Disco, "but we'll soon see."
"Was um's growl very bad?" asked Jumbo.
"Hold yer long tongue!" said Disco testily, for he was becoming excited.
"Look! see dere!" exclaimed Jumbo in an energetic whisper.
"What? where?"
"Look! right troo de bush. Dis way. Dar, don' you zee um's skin,--
t'other side? Fire!"
"Why, eh!" exclaimed Disco, peering keenly through the leaves, "yellow
hair! yes--its--"
Stopping abruptly he pointed his gun at the bush and poured the contents
of both barrels into it. Then, clubbing his weapon and brandishing it
in the air, he uttered a wild cry--went crashing through the bush, and
next moment stood aghast before the yellow monkey, whose little carcase
he had almost blown to atoms.
We won't chronicle the roars of laughter, the yells of delight that
followed,--the immense amount of chaffing, the innumerable witticisms
and criticisms that ensued--no, no! regard for the gallant seaman
constrains us to draw a veil over the scene and leave it, as we have
left many things before, and shall leave many things yet to come, to the
reader's vivid imagination.
Fortunately for Disco, the superior attractions of the dead elephant
soon drew off attention from this exploit. The natives proceeded to cut
up the huge mass of meat, and this was indeed an amazing spectacle. At
first the men stood round the carcase in dead silence, while Kambira
delivered a species of oration, in which he pointed out minutely the
particular parts of the animal which were to be apportioned to the
head-men of the different fires of which the camp was composed,--the
left hind-leg and the parts around the eyes being allotted to his
English visitors. These points settled, the order was given to "cut
up," and immediately the excitement which had been restrained burst
forth again with tenfold violence. The natives seemed to be quite
unable to restrain their feelings of delight, as they cut away at the
carcase with spears and knives. They screamed as well as danced with
glee. Some attacked the head, others the flanks, jumping over the
animal or standing on it the better to expedite their operations; some
ever and anon ran off screaming with masses of bloody meat, threw it on
the grass and went back for more, while others, after cutting the
carcase open, jumped inside and wallowed about in their eagerness to
reach and cut out the precious fat--all talking and shouting at the
utmost pitch of their voices.
"Well, now," said Disco to Harold, with a grin of amusement, "the likes
o' that I never did see nowheres. Cuttin' up a Greenland whale is
nothin' to it."
"Come, come," said Harold, checking his laughter and seizing an excited
negro by the shoulder, "no fighting allowed."
This had reference to two who chanced to have taken a fancy for the same
mass of meat, and were quarrelling so violently over it that blows
seemed on the point of following, but having let off part of their
superabundant energy in words, they rushed back to expend the remainder
on their dead friend.
Suddenly a sharp agonised yell was heard inside the carcase. Next
moment Zombo jumped out all bloody and furious, holding up his right
hand. While groping about inside, one of his too eager comrades outside
had laid about rather incautiously with his knife, drove it through the
meat and sliced Zombo's left hand. He was easily soothed, however;
Harold bound up the cut with a piece of rag, and Zombo went to work as
recklessly as ever.
In a marvellously short time tons of meat were cut up and divided
amongst the band, and, before daylight had quite disappeared, the
hunters were on their way back to camp, while a troop of hyenas and
other carnivora were gorging themselves with the elephant's remains.