A very quiet-looking black came up directly after, to say that the king
had sent him to show the party where to camp: and he led the way to a
pleasant little grove, where there was a pool of water, and ample grass
for the cattle; and after the new arrivals were settled down--far too
near the "naygurs" to satisfy Dinny's sensitive nature, a return visit
was paid to the king, who readily gave his permission for the party to
hunt when and where they pleased in his dominions.
This was satisfactory, and it was determined that no time should be lost
in getting amongst the large game, but not until they had had a shot or
two at the large hippopotami, which were abundant in the marshes about
the river.
Still they would be obliged to remain for a few days at their present
camp out of civility to the king, who, they found, would be perfectly
willing to accept a few donations of meat, the supply kept up by his own
hunters being intermittent, so that his majesty had frequently to go
without.
All the same, though, the king's hunters were ingenious and clever in
their schemes, as Mr Rogers and his sons found out before many hours
had passed.
The king presented his visitors with fried fish and Kaffir beer in a
calabash, and as everything seemed very clean and satisfactory, Dick and
Jack made no scruple about eating heartily. After this they had to be
admired and have their heads patted by the queens, who declared that
they were capital boys.
At last they returned to the waggon, where, there being no necessity to
put up a fence to keep off lions, so near the town, the rest of the
evening was spent in a thorough good clean up and oiling of the guns.
The General was absent, or he would have willingly helped; but Coffee
and Chicory said that he had gone off to get birds, so it was concluded
that he would be back before long.
The oxen were all secured to the dissel-boom and trek-tow; and the
horses were haltered up to the wheels, everything being made safe and
sound. Then a fire was lit, and preparations made for passing the
night; but still the General did not come back.
His two boys, however, did not seem to be in the slightest degree
uncomfortable about his absence, saying that he would be back before
long; so, as they knew their father's ways better than he, Mr Rogers
concluded that there was no cause for anxiety, for the Zulu warrior
would return in his own good time.
Dick and Chicory kept the first watch, and then called Mr Rogers, who
relieved them, with Peter. But there was nothing to report, only that
there had been a great deal of drumming and tomtoming up in the town,
and that when the music and singing had ceased, the hippopotami on the
river's brink had commenced roaring, snorting, splashing, and making
noises that were quite startling in the silence of the night.
Fully expecting to see the Zulu warrior return every minute, Mr Rogers
replenished the fire, and sat listening to the monsters on the river's
bank, and wishing that he were lying ensconced there in some sheltered
position where he could get a shot at one of the huge beasts; but that
was a pleasure to come, and one which he hoped to give his sons.
His watch went by, and then Jack and Coffee were roused up to relieve
him, and being weary Mr Rogers was glad to find his blanket once more,
lying till he was roused by Dinny for breakfast.
"Has the General come back?" asked Mr Rogers, as he joined Dick and
Jack.
"No, father, and the boys are getting anxious about him. They're gone
off to find him, and I am expecting them back."
So said Dick, and as he spoke the two Zulu boys came running up in a
terrible state of excitement.
"Want our father," they exclaimed angrily. "Father killed. Come and
find."
There was something so tragic in the words of the boys that Mr Rogers
and his sons seized their guns, and telling Coffee and Chicory to lead,
they went straight for the forest-land towards which Coffee said he had
seen his father go.
Coffee was quite right, for the General had started off in this
direction, assegai in hand, and a kiri in his skin belt, partly to see
what hunting capabilities the land possessed, partly to try and obtain a
few birds or a small gazelle.
He went straight off to the forest, and with all the instinct of a good
hunter he examined the spoor of the animals going to and from the water,
and also made himself acquainted with the drinking-spots, taking in at a
glance the suitability of the places for a hunter to lie in ambush, and
then he went on once more.
To his great satisfaction, he found in addition to the spoor of
antelopes of all kind, those of the hippopotamus near the river,
elephants, giraffes, and the rhinoceros. There, too, he found an
abundance of footprints of buffalo, so that there would be ample game
for his masters to exercise their skill.
But he was not satisfied yet, and regardless at last of the coming
darkness, he went on with the instincts of the true hunter who has spent
the greater part of his life in the woods, searching here, examining
there, and he grew more and more elate and satisfied.
He had obtained nothing for the waggon larder, but that did not trouble
him, as he had made so many satisfactory discoveries; and at last, just
as the moon was shining brilliantly through the trees, he entered a
broad drink-trail, one used by the animals on the way through the forest
to the river, and prepared to make the best of his way back.
The course was pretty open, and he paused for a moment to listen whether
he could hear anything coming; but all was perfectly still, and he
started again, increasing his walk to a trot over the well-trodden
track, and this trot to a greater speed, when all at once he felt the
ground giving way beneath his feet, and instinctively making a spring
forward, he tried to clear the hollow; but he had no power in his start,
and he only touched the farther side, and then fell with a crash through
the screening brushwood into a deep hole.
He fell so heavily that for the moment he was stunned, and lay there
perfectly helpless, listening to a furious snarling howl, and feeling
the scuffling and twining about of a number of reptiles which his fall
had disturbed.
The Zulu knew well enough where he was, and that he had been unfortunate
enough to leap into one of the many pitfalls some tribes dig in the
woods to capture large game.
He knew exactly how such a pit would be dug, widening out from the top
to the bottom, so that the creatures which fell in would be unable to
escape; and he understood the hideous snarling of some beast, for as he
cautiously rose to a standing position the moonlight showed him, impaled
upon the horribly sharp stake formed by fining down a good-sized tree
and planting it in the bottom, a hideously wolfish-looking hyaena,
which, less fortunate than himself, had fallen upon the sharp spike,
which had gone completely through the wretched animal's body, leaving it
writhing, snarling, and clawing the air with its paws in its vain
efforts to get free.
It was a terrible neighbour to have in such close proximity, and for the
moment the General thought of thrusting it through and killing it out of
its misery; but his assegais had quitted his hand in his fall, and to
have found them again meant to search amidst the broken twigs and bushes
at the bottom of the pit, where he could feel and hear the snakes.
Even as he thought all this he could feel the cold scaly bodies of the
reptiles gliding over his feet, and against his bare legs; and hence he
was obliged to stand perfectly motionless, lest--though he had escaped
when he fell, his sudden dash having alarmed them, no doubt--the
slightest movement of his feet might be followed by a bite, for amongst
so many as he could feel there were, some were certain to be of a deadly
nature.
So there he stood, unarmed, with the serpents gliding about the bottom
of the pit, the moonlight glinting in through the trees, and only a foot
or two from his face that hideous snarling animal, which snapped at him
angrily, evidently looking upon him as being the cause of its
sufferings. Even if he had dared to move it would have been very
doubtful whether the General could have clambered out of the cunningly
contrived pitfall; but situated as he was, and surrounded by such
dangerous enemies, the Zulu made a virtue of necessity, and stoically
determined to wait for daylight before making any attempt to escape.
But all the same it was a terrible position, and required all the
firmness and nerve of a strong man to stand there patiently, feeling the
hideous little serpents gliding about his bare feet, and listening to
the hideous howlings of the hyaena.
But the longest and most painful nights have an end, and in due time the
day broke, and the Zulu began to consider how he could get out. With
the broad daylight he saw the wisdom he had practised in waiting, for
several very dangerous serpents were amongst those which had fallen in,
and their number was great enough to make even him, a thorough hunter,
shudder.
But the General was not destined to suffer much longer; soon after
sunrise he fancied he heard a well-known call, and then there was no
doubt about it; the call was repeated, and he sent forth a stentorian
reply.
These calls and answers soon brought Coffee and Chicory to the mouth of
the pitfall, closely followed by Mr Rogers and the boys, and amongst
them by help of their guns the unfortunate General reached the track in
safety, and leaving the hyaena dead, they set off back to the waggon,
the General congratulating himself on having escaped from a terrible
death.