By the time that Piet and I got back to the wagon it was within an hour
of sunset; I therefore decided to remain for the night where we were,
the grass being good, and our outspan situated within half a mile of a
considerable stream of water with which we should lose touch upon
entering the gorge, since the river turned eastward immediately opposite
the spot where we were outspanned. But although I decided not to move
the wagon until the morrow, I was not disposed to remain personally
inactive; for I had observed that about two miles to the eastward the
river flowed through a slight depression, which had thus become
converted into a water vley, or wide sheet of shallow water, where I
thought it not improbable that I might find a few widgeon to afford a
welcome change from the buck meat that had now become our almost
continuous fare. Moreover, I had begun to break to the saddle the two
ponies which Moshesh had given me, and had already advanced so far in
the matter of their education that they would both allow me to mount
them, and I regarded the present as a favourable opportunity to give
Jack, the stallion, a little gentle exercise. Therefore I instructed
Piet to shift my saddle from Prince to Jack, and, taking my
double-barrelled sporting gun and a few cartridges, I mounted and
cantered away along the river bank, with Thunder and Juno, the two dogs,
bounding gaily along on either hand, and with Jack pulling hard upon his
snaffle and doing his utmost to break away, for he was so fresh as to be
almost unmanageable. A good brisk five-mile gallop over the veld to the
farther extremity of the vley, however, somewhat calmed his exuberant
spirits, and when at length I dismounted, the youngster was placid
enough to be quite willing to follow at my heels with the bridle resting
loosely upon his neck, or to stand still when it was allowed to trail
upon the ground.
The sun had already vanished in a haze of regal purple hanging low along
the western horizon when at length I managed to bag three brace of the
widgeon that I had been hoping for; and with these neatly strung
together by the feet, and slung across Jack's shoulders in front of the
saddle, I was just preparing to mount and canter away back to camp when,
looming monstrously through the thin, grey mist that was insidiously
rising from the veld, I beheld a long procession of enormous forms
gradually resolving out of the fog wreaths about half a mile away.
Vague and shapeless as were those vast, ghostly objects, I knew at once
that they could only be elephants coming over the veld to the great pool
to drink and bathe; and I at once determined to ascertain, if possible,
how many of them there were, for I estimated that there must already be
between twenty and thirty in sight, while others were momentarily
emerging into view from out the veil of mist. Therefore, instead of
mounting, and thus rendering myself more conspicuous than I was already,
I remained on foot, and headed for the nearest clump of bush with Jack
and the two dogs following at my heels, my intention being to conceal
myself and my following behind that convenient screen and thence observe
the movements and note the numbers of the approaching elephants. But I
had scarcely advanced thirty paces when there arose a sudden commotion
in the long grass almost under my feet, a terrific uproar of angry
grunts and squeals rent the evening stillness, and a sounder of hog,
consisting of a boar, three sows, and upwards of a score of half-grown
young, which had been lying in the grass, rose to their feet and dashed
noisily away, the sudden and violent disturbance startling Jack to such
an extent and so completely upsetting his equanimity that he flung up
his head, swerved away before I could grasp his bridle, and with a
squeal of consternation took to his heels and dashed off full pelt in
the direction of the distant wagon, while the two dogs, wild with
excitement, went off in chase of the pigs, leaving me to my own devices.
To be left like that, alone and on foot, in strange country, a good five
miles from the wagon, with the darkness of a moonless and misty night
already gathering about me, was just a trifle awkward, perhaps, for I
was both hungry and tired, and a five-mile walk through the long grass
would be something beyond a joke. But with the river to guide me on the
one hand, and the hills on the other, I could not very well miss my way,
while as for the pony, he would probably return to the wagon, and the
dogs would certainly find me as soon as they were tired of chasing the
pigs; so, shouldering my gun, I stepped out toward the clump of bush for
which I was bound, and presently took up a position within its heavy
shadow where I should be pretty effectually concealed, while I could at
the same time observe the movements of the elephants. Luckily, they
were still so far away when the disturbance caused by the pigs occurred
that they had taken no notice of it, but came steadily on, led by an
enormous tusker; and presently they made their way well into the deepest
part of the pool, where, after drinking, they stood for some time
spraying their bodies with water spouted from their trunks. I did my
best to count them, but before the entire herd had arrived upon the
scene it had fallen quite dark, so that what with the darkness, the fog,
and the constant movements of the animals, I found the task an utter
impossibility. But I came to the conclusion that, from what I could see
and hear, there must be nearly or quite a hundred of them.
Then, as I stood motionless and invisible in the deep shadows of the
clump of bush, soft swishing sounds in the long grass grew increasingly
frequent all round me, and in the misty starlight I caught frequent
sudden glimpses of indeterminate forms gliding ghost-like toward the
water, which was evidently the recognised drinking place for most of the
game in the neighbourhood. And at length, when I had been standing
there for about twenty minutes, two pairs of lambent orbs loomed up
through the long grass, and Thunder and Juno came wriggling
apologetically to my feet, having apparently made their way back to the
spot where they had deserted me, and tracked me thence by scent.
I had by this time seen all that I wanted to see, or rather all that it
was possible to see; therefore, with a low-murmured call to the two
dogs, I set out to walk back through the misty landscape to the wagon,
taking the stars for my guide, since the fog had by this time become so
thick that it was difficult to distinguish anything beyond a hundred
yards distant in any direction. Fortunately I had walked little more
than a mile when shouts in Piet's high-pitched voice reached my ears,
and presently, guided by my shouts in reply, the Hottentot hove in
sight, mounted upon Tempest and leading the errant Jack by the bridle--
the latter having galloped straight to the wagon, as I had fully
expected he would; and half an hour later we rode into camp without
further adventure.
The first thing in order after our arrival was, of course, dinner, which
I found quite ready when I rode into camp, the _piece de resistance_
consisting of the widgeon which I had shot, and which Piet had found
still hanging across the pony's withers when Master Jack arrived in
camp, and had had sense enough to hand over to Jan to prepare. Then,
after dinner, the elephant gun and my rifle were brought forth from the
wagon and thoroughly cleaned by the light of the camp fire; and while
this was being done Piet and I anxiously discussed a programme for the
doings of the morrow, finally settled upon a more or less definite plan,
and made all the arrangements necessary for carrying it into effect;
after which the fire was made up, the oxen were driven in and tethered
to the trek tow, as a precaution against possible attack by lions, and
all hands turned in.
The night passed uneventfully and quietly, save for the constant barking
of the jackals and baboons and the occasional cry of a leopard or roar
of a lion; but we had by this time grown quite accustomed to such sounds
as these, and were not in the least disturbed by them, even the dogs
disdaining to take the slightest notice of them, except when the authors
approached within certain fairly well-defined limits which Thunder and
Juno seemed to have mutually agreed were too near; then indeed our
guardians would respond with low warning growls which, if the offenders
drew still nearer, rapidly merged into a deafening clamour of savage
barks that effectually aroused everybody.
But on the night in question the marauders gave the wagon a wide berth;
probably there was a sufficiency of game near the water-hole to supply
all their wants without the necessity for them to approach the hateful
blaze of the camp fire, and our rest was undisturbed. With the
appearance of the first gleam of dawn in the eastern sky, however, the
three blacks crawled out from underneath the wagon, made up the fire
afresh, fetched water from the river, and proceeded to prepare
breakfast, for Piet and I had agreed upon the wisdom of getting upon the
spoor of the elephants as early as possible, in order that the greater
part of the travelling might be done before the heat became oppressive.
It was about a quarter to seven o'clock when, having breakfasted and
completed our final preparations, Piet and I swung ourselves into our
saddles and started for the water-hole at an easy canter, Jan's
instructions being to follow with the wagon until he should reach a
certain signal which we would leave behind us, and which was to be the
intimation that he had trekked far enough and must outspan until he
received further orders. Piet was mounted on Punch, the chestnut, a
thoroughly steady and reliable animal, and carried the provisions for
the expedition, half the ammunition, and the elephant gun; while I rode
Prince, and carried the other half of the ammunition and my rifle, as
well as a stout, double-edged hunting knife which I wore in a sheath
attached to my belt. Thunder and Juno accompanied us as usual, and,
like the sensible animals that they were, trotted quietly along close to
the horses' heels, saving their strength for what was possibly to come
later, instead of wasting it, as in their younger and less experienced
days, by dashing hither and thither, in the exuberance of their spirits,
over an utterly unnecessary extent of ground.
Going at an easy pace, we reached the farther extremity of the pool in
about three-quarters of an hour, and at once picked up the spoor of the
elephants without the least trouble. It was very difficult to form a
close estimate of the number of animals in the herd by examining the
spoor, but it was certain that the herd was a very large one, and an
inspection of the footprints left in the soft soil about the margin of
the pool showed that there were several animals of gigantic size in it.
The spoor led away to the eastward, in the direction from which I had
seen the herd approaching on the previous evening, and the passage of so
many heavy animals had trampled the long, parched grass so flat that the
trail was as plain as a road to follow, and we proceeded along it at an
easy canter.
We had been progressing in this fashion for about three hours, and had
covered some twenty miles of perfectly flat country, when we observed
that the character of the scenery ahead was changing, the scattered
clumps of bush through which we had been riding giving place to forest
trees of various descriptions, imparting quite a park-like aspect to the
scene. And here we came to a halt for the purpose of setting up the
mark which was to give Jan, my Hottentot driver, the signal to outspan,
for Piet was strongly of opinion that the herd of elephant would be
found somewhere in the forest ahead, either browsing upon the small and
tender shoots of the trees or sheltering from the sun beneath their
leafy shade. This done, we looked to our weapons, satisfying ourselves
that they were in order for immediate use, and then again proceeded
along the trail, this time at a walking pace.
The trail continued to lead straight toward the forest; but when we had
proceeded about a mile farther the spoor showed that the herd had
gradually scattered, some of the animals seeming to have halted for a
time to feed, while others had swerved off to right and left, as though
to enter the forest individually, instead of in a compact body. We were
thus enabled to pick up the spoor of particular animals, and, coming at
length upon that of an elephant of extraordinary size, I determined to
follow it, and did so right up to the outskirts of the forest. Here we
dismounted, and, leaving our horses, with their bridles trailing on the
ground, where we could easily find them again, but where they were not
likely to be sighted by the elephants, continued to follow on foot the
spoor of the big beast that we were after. It led deviously, with many
twists and turnings, toward the deepest part of the forest, and when we
had been following it for about three-quarters of an hour we were
suddenly halted by the sound of a distant swishing and cracking of
branches, which caused us to conceal ourselves hurriedly behind the bole
of a big yellow-wood.
Reconnoitring from this coign of vantage, we found that the animal, or
animals, by which the sounds were made were still invisible; we
therefore continued with the utmost caution to follow up the spoor of
the elephant which we were tracking, dodging from one tree to another,
pausing behind each as we reached it to take another observation, and
being careful to make no sound as we threaded our way through the
underscrub, until we finally reached a spot where, peering out from
behind the trunk of a big baobab, we were able to catch an occasional
glimpse of an enormous grey mass moving slowly among the trees, while
the sound of swishing and snapping branches, the crackling of the
undergrowth as the creature moved from time to time, and an occasional
low grunt of satisfaction told us how near we were to our quarry.
Luckily, too, for us, the wind was in exactly the right direction--that
is to say, it was blowing from the elephant toward us, so that instead
of him scenting us we caught an occasional whiff of the peculiar odour
which emanated from him. The extreme deliberation with which the animal
moved proved conclusively that thus far he had not the slightest
suspicion of our presence, but unfortunately the foliage was so dense
that it was only occasionally that we could get even a partial glimpse
of him, and then it was of such a character that I could not tell with
certainty what part of his body I was looking at; therefore, after a
very brief and low-whispered consultation with Piet, I decided to make a
rather wide circuit toward the part of the forest for which the creature
was heading, and, having chosen a favourable spot, patiently to await
his approach.
This we accordingly did, the fallen trunk of a tree half-buried in dense
undergrowth affording us a perfectly ideal ambush; and we had scarcely
settled ourselves comfortably therein when a violent swaying of the
underbrush warned us that our quarry was approaching. The next instant
the scrub parted right and left, the points of two enormous tusks
protruded from the swaying tangle of leaves and creepers, and in the
drawing of a breath the head and fore quarters of the biggest bull
elephant I had ever seen came into view. For a moment the huge beast
stood looking about him, and then his immense trunk swung upward, the
point twined itself tightly about an unusually leafy twig, there came a
slight snapping and swishing sound as the twig was torn from its parent
branch, and the next instant both stem and leaves vanished down a
cavernous throat. Then, as the ponderous trunk swung downward again,
and the beast uttered a grunt of enjoyment, I pressed the trigger of my
elephant gun, the barrel of which I had levelled over the bole of the
fallen tree a minute or two earlier: there was a flash, a blinding puff
of white smoke, and as the forest resounded with the crashing report, an
answering crash close at hand proclaimed the fall of the great beast.
Then, as the smoke gradually drifted away, we saw that the animal had
flung himself convulsively forward at the impact of the bullet, and now
lay stone-dead just on the other side of the prostrate tree behind which
we were crouching.
For several seconds after the echoes of the report died away there was
perfect silence in the forest: not a leaf seemed to stir or a bird to
twitter; even the very insects ceased their chirring, as though they
were wondering what had happened. Then, almost as though at a given
signal, the forest resounded with loud trumpetings of alarm and the
crashing of heavy bodies through the undergrowth, as the rest of the
unseen herd began to move restlessly and angrily hither and thither,
seeking the source of the sudden disturbance.
We remained where we were, crouching in our ambush, for a quarter of an
hour or more, listening to the gradually subsiding disturbance and
waiting for the possible appearance of one of the great pachyderms in
the tiny clearing where the dead giant lay; but although several passed
us at no great distance we saw none of them, and at length, when silence
again reigned, we cautiously emerged from our hiding place and pushed
our way up-wind still deeper into the recesses of the forest.
Breathless and perspiring profusely with the exertion of worming our way
through the undergrowth, we had progressed about half a mile when, away
on our left, and apparently only a few yards distant, we suddenly heard
a loud blowing sound, followed by several grunts, and the next instant a
big cow elephant, with a calf at her heels, burst through the
intervening growth and came charging toward us with blazing eyes and
uplifted trunk thrust straight out in front of her. Fortunately we had
just stepped out from behind the cover of a big mahogany, and as I
doubted whether the beast had actually sighted us, I thrust Piet back
behind the tree and instantly followed, working round the bole as the
elephant advanced, so as to keep it between her and ourselves. Whether
or not she had winded us I cannot say, but I am of opinion that she must
have done so; be that as it may, she continued her furious charge,
actually grazing the other side of the tree behind which we were hiding
as she passed, and in another instant had disappeared again, leaving a
broad trail of trampled undergrowth and broken saplings behind her. For
the ensuing five minutes we remained where we were, fully expecting the
irate beast to return in search of us; but hearing nothing more of her
we resumed our way.
About a quarter of a mile farther on we became aware that elephants were
not far-distant, for away ahead of us there was a sound of heavy
movement, accompanied by a good deal of grunting. Then suddenly an
angry squeal pealed out upon the startled air, immediately followed by a
violent clashing of tusks, furious trumpetings, and a tremendous
commotion generally.
"Olifants fighting, baas!" excitedly whispered Piet in my ear. "Now's
de time for us: come on quick, baas, we get close up to 'em and they
never see us; then you get 'em bofe."
"Right you are, boy," I returned; "come along; they cannot be very far
ahead."
We pushed on, not troubling ourselves very much now as to whether or not
we made any noise, for the forest was fairly ringing with the squeals
and trumpetings of the contending beasts; and presently we caught an
occasional fleeting glimpse, through the interlacing foliage, of their
twisting and rushing bodies as they moved hither and thither. But we
were not yet near enough to see them distinctly; we therefore forced our
way a few yards farther, until, peering through the tangled undergrowth,
we obtained a tolerably good view of a little clearing of about an acre
and a half in extent, in the midst of which two gigantic tuskers were
circling round each other, looking for an opening, and occasionally
rushing in with lowered heads to plunge their already ensanguined tusks
into each other's bodies.
Kneeling down among the underwood in such a position that I could get a
clear view of the amphitheatre without running much risk of being myself
seen, I found a gnarled stump of a creeper that afforded a very
convenient rest for my heavy double-barrelled elephant gun, and, roughly
levelling the weapon, awaited a favourable opportunity to fire. A few
minutes later it came, the two huge beasts drawing apart, as by common
consent, to recover their breath. Like two immense statues they stood,
about twelve feet apart, motionless save for their heaving flanks and
their great twitching ears, the trunk of each upraised and thrown back
over the head as though to be out of harm's way; and I saw that both
were bleeding freely from several ghastly-looking wounds. The moment
was as favourable as any that I should be at all likely to get, for both
were standing practically broadside-on to me; therefore, glancing
quickly from one to the other, to determine the precise position of the
vital spot for which I intended to aim, I levelled and sighted the
weapon, pressed the trigger, and then, with a lightning movement of the
barrel, shifted my aim and again fired. The second report followed the
first at an interval of scarcely a second, and I heard the loud _clap
clap_ of both bullets as they struck; then the thick veil of powder
smoke enveloped me, and for a few seconds I could see nothing. While
still waiting for the smoke to disperse, I heard a heavy thud which told
me that at least one of the animals was down, and a moment or two later,
as the smoke gradually thinned, I dimly saw the second standing, with
legs wide apart, swaying a little and trembling violently. For a space
of time in which one might have slowly counted ten the great brute stood
thus; then, as he uttered a low moan, his mighty limbs suddenly
collapsed and he too sank to the ground with a thud that seemed to make
the very earth tremble. And at that precise moment there again broke
forth the same kind of uproar of alarmed trumpeting and swiftly moving
heavy bodies that had followed my first shot.
The sounds were this time of such a character as to indicate clearly
that the herd had been thoroughly alarmed and effectually stampeded;
therefore, after waiting some five minutes or so until the forest was
again silent, and it had become quite clear that none of the animals
were coming in our direction, we left our hiding place, and, taking
careful note of the spot where the two great tuskers lay, proceeded to
retrace our steps toward the place where we had left our horses. We
found them placidly grazing, and, springing into our saddles, started on
the back trail to meet the wagon, which I intended to outspan for the
night close to the outskirts of the forest, that we might not have far
to carry the ivory when we had cut it out on the morrow.
We proceeded at a foot-pace, since there was no need for hurry, and had
travelled a distance of some three miles when, borne faintly to our ears
by the gentle breeze that was blowing behind us, we heard a peculiar
yapping howl which told us that a pack of wild dogs was in full cry
somewhere in our rear. Being curious to learn what kind of animal they
were hunting, we looked about us for a spot whence, ourselves unseen, we
might witness the chase, which the increasing loudness of the cries told
us was coming our way. Such a spot was found close at hand in the
shadow of a big clump of thorn bush, within a few yards of the margin of
a small stream, evidently a tributary of the river which flowed a mile
or two farther to the westward.
We had scarcely established ourselves in our place of concealment when a
beautiful zebra mare, accompanied by her foal, appeared coming toward us
at a trot, which circumstance, taken in conjunction with the laboured
action of the animals, clearly indicated that both were in the very last
stage of exhaustion; and indeed the fugitives had only gone a few yards
past us when the mare stumbled heavily, recovered herself with
difficulty, and then, with a scream that marked the extremity of her
terror and despair, crashed heavily to the ground, where, after an
ineffectual effort to scramble to her feet again, she lay flat on her
side, panting heavily and with her tongue protruding. And as the mare
fell the foal pulled up short beside her and stood, with lowered head
and legs wide apart, trembling so violently that the action was visible
even to us nearly a hundred yards away.
By this time the yapping sounds had become so loud that we knew the pack
must be close at hand, and a moment later they swept into view, some
thirty or so in number; and as they sighted the prostrate zebra, with
her foal standing beside her, their yapping changed to a howl of
exultation, which caused the mare again to make an ineffectual effort to
scramble to her feet, while the foal hobbled away a yard or two, but
returned to his dam when he saw that she was unable to rise. It was a
rather pathetic sight to see those two beautiful animals awaiting
destruction at the fangs of the dogs, and, moved suddenly by a sense of
pity, I pressed my heels to Prince's flanks, and, calling Piet to
follow, rode forward into the open.
At the sight of two mounted figures advancing to bar their progress the
pack suddenly pulled up in a bunch and stood panting, with their tongues
lolling out and the foam dripping from their jaws, for the wild dog does
not love to meet man, especially a white man, at least in daylight. As
the pack bunched themselves together, uncertain whether to continue
their advance or to retire, but evidently very strongly impelled by the
sight of the fallen zebra to do the former, it offered a target so
tempting that I was quite unable to resist it; and, leaping lightly from
the saddle, I ran forward a pace or two and, sinking upon one knee,
levelled my rifle and fired right into the thick of the bunch. The
range was only about four hundred yards, and while the sharp, whip-like
report of the piece was still echoing along the side of the range of
hills in front of me I heard the clap of the bullet, and, as the smoke
drifted away, saw that one dog was down, dead, while a second was
struggling feebly on the ground, and a third, with a broken leg, was
making the welkin ring with his howls of anguish.
At the flash and report of the piece some eight or ten of the dogs in
the rear of the pack wheeled sharply round, and, with their tails tucked
tightly between their legs, beat a hasty retreat along the back trail,
uttering sharp yelps of terror as they went; but the remainder of the
pack stood its ground, staring at us as though wondering what new kind
of animals we could be who had the power of slaying from a distance.
There was one big gaunt brute, however, apparently the leader of the
pack, who kept his flaming eyes fixed upon the zebras, and as the smoke
of the discharge cleared away I saw him slink out from the rest of the
pack in a crouching attitude, with bared fangs, as though meditating a
dash at the gasping mare.
"The gun--quick!" I ejaculated to Piet, who retained his saddle and sat
motionless as a statue, watching intently; and at the word he held out
to me the loaded elephant gun, and received from me the empty rifle in
its stead. A moment later the heavy piece roared out its death message,
and the big brute who had separated himself from the rest of the pack
sprang with a convulsive twist into the air and fell stone-dead.
"Now," said I, as I sprang into the saddle, "unclip one of your
stirrups, Piet, and we will see if we cannot beat off the brutes with
our stirrup irons!" And as I spoke the words we urged our horses to a
gallop, unclipping our off-side stirrups as we went, and charged right
down between the pack and the zebras, wheeling upon the dogs as soon as
we had cut them off from the mare and foal. Then, swinging the loose
stirrups round our heads, we thundered down upon the discomfited pack,
uttering loud yells as we went. The brutes stood irresolute for a few
seconds longer, but presently, when we wheeled directly toward them,
they turned tail and bolted by the way that they had come, yelping with
fear as they went. But I was determined to inspire them with a
wholesome feeling of terror now that I had begun; therefore as soon as
we had overtaken the rearmost members of the flying pack we checked our
horses just sufficiently to keep pace with them, and then proceeded to
belabour the brutes soundly with our stirrup irons, the howls of anguish
to which the belaboured ones gave vent serving to add wings to the feet
of the rest. We chased the howling mob a good two miles--by which time
its members were crazy with fear--and then drew rein, feeling convinced
that they would give us no further trouble. Then we turned and cantered
back along the way by which we had come.
As we approached the spot where the zebra mare had fallen we saw,
somewhat to our astonishment, that the poor beast still lay where we had
left her, with the foal standing over her, smelling at her and licking
her face; and it then occurred to me that possibly we might be able to
capture the foal. I therefore spoke a word to Piet, and we pulled our
horses back to a walk. As the sound of our approaching hoofs reached
her ears, the mare made a scrambling effort to rise, and all but
succeeded, only to sink again to the earth with a moan, while the foal
threw up his head, galloped stiffly away a few yards, and then returned,
standing close to his prostrate parent's head and gazing at us with
enquiring eyes, his ears pointed forward, his nostrils twitching, and
his upper lip slightly raised, revealing his teeth in a somewhat
threatening manner.
At a distance of about seven or eight yards we reined up and dismounted,
moving slowly and with deliberation, in order that we might frighten the
animals as little as possible. Then, throwing our reins to the ground,
we walked quietly up to the pair and stood looking down at the mare, who
still lay upon her left side, with her limbs stretched stiffly out, her
sides heaving with a slow, laboured movement, her tongue hanging from
her mouth, her glassy eyes rolling in their sockets, and her breath
coming in heavy gasps.
"She's dyin', baas," remarked Piet, "dyin' of tiredness and thirst! She
mus' have run a long, long way when she too tired to get up at sight of
we."
Yes, there was no doubt about it, the poor beast was at her last gasp;
and unless something were quickly done to relieve her she would
assuredly die. Piet and I were both wearing soft, wide-brimmed felt
hats, of sufficient capacity to contain about three pints of water and
to retain it without very much leakage for several minutes, while there
was a stream within twenty yards of the spot where we stood. It was
possible that we might yet save the beautiful creature's life if we
bestirred ourselves.
"Quick, Piet!" I exclaimed. "Come to the river with me and fill your
hat with water. We must do what we can for the poor brutes. I should
like to capture and tame them both if possible."
"No, baas, you never do that," answered Piet. "Don' you know that a
zebra can never be tame?"
"So I have heard; but I don't altogether believe it," said I. "At all
events I mean to try; so hurry, you black rascal!"
In less than five minutes we were back with our dripping hats still
nearly full of water, and as I knelt down by the head of the mare, and
held my hat close to her gaping nostrils, the poor beast smelt the water
and uttered a sound that might be best described as a sort of gasping
whinny; then, raising her head with an effort, she plunged her muzzle
into the hat and sucked up its contents with indescribable eagerness,
allowing her head to sink back with something that sounded like a sigh
of contentment when both hats had been emptied. Then Piet and I dashed
off to the river and procured a second supply, which the zebra also
drank. Meanwhile the colt had been making desperate efforts to get a
share of the water, but we had kept him off, with some difficulty, the
mare being obviously in the greater need. But now that we had given her
as much as we deemed good for her, for the moment, we turned out
attention to the colt, administering to him two hatfuls of water, which
he absorbed with an eagerness that quite equalled that of his mother.
Then, perceiving that the little chap's gratification at our
ministrations seemed to have quite conquered any fear of us which he
might have originally entertained, I walked over to where the horses
were standing and detached from Piet's saddle a long rein of twisted raw
hide that we usually carried with us for use in case of an emergency,
while the Hottentot went off to fetch a further supply of water.
Then, having obtained the rein, I returned to the colt--who stood quite
still as I approached him--and, murmuring a caressing word or two to
him, quietly lifted my hand and gently patted his neck. He flinched
somewhat at my first touch, but did not attempt to run away, and
presently, when Piet returned with more water, I seized the opportunity
to slip the end of the rein round the little fellow's neck and knot it
while he was drinking. He did not much like the feel of the rein round
his neck at first, and tried to shake it off, but he no longer shrank
from my touch, and allowed me to pat his neck, and even pull his ears
gently, an operation which he appeared to enjoy greatly. Then, while I
continued to handle the colt, Piet again turned his attention to the
mare and gave her a further drink, when, after a few minutes, she made
another effort to rise, which was this time successful. But for several
minutes she could only stand with difficulty, trembling violently and
not attempting to move. At this juncture I chanced to slip my hand into
my jacket pocket, when it came into contact with some half-dozen small
sweet biscuits for which I had rather a weakness. These I had slipped
into my pocket the last thing before leaving the wagon and had then
entirely forgotten; and the fancy seized me to offer one of them to the
colt. He smelt at it for a moment or two, and then, somewhat
hesitatingly, closed his teeth upon it and began to masticate it.
Evidently he liked it, for having swallowed it he thrust forward his
head, as though asking for more, whereupon I produced a second, which he
at once accepted. I then offered a third, holding it far enough from
him to compel him to advance a step or two in order to secure it, which
he did. I next offered him a fourth in the same way; but as he moved
forward so did I, compelling him to follow me a few steps before I let
him have it, at the same time putting a gentle strain upon the rein
round his neck, and by this means I successfully coaxed the little
creature into submitting to be led.
When I had fairly got him going the mare followed, at first moving
stiffly and with difficulty, uttering small whinnying sounds, as though
entreating the colt not to leave her; but with every yard of progress
her movements became less difficult, and by the time that we had
traversed a quarter of a mile both animals were walking with comparative
ease and following me quite contentedly, especially the colt, who
continued to beg for biscuits until he had exhausted my limited supply.
Meanwhile Piet, who clearly understood what I was endeavouring to do,
returned to where we had left the horses and followed with them, and in
this curious fashion we at length met the wagon, and, joining forces,
arrived at the spot where I planned to outspan for the night. I had a
little trouble with my captives when we first met the wagon, both of
them being somewhat startled by the hideous yells and rifle-like
whip-crackings wherewith Jan urged forward the oxen; but a few more
biscuits, hastily obtained from the wagon, restored the colt's
equanimity. And, not to dwell at undue length upon this incident, we
had scarcely any further trouble with either of our prizes, the colt
very rapidly developing perfect amenability, while the mare, although
less tractable, never attempted to desert her offspring, and was
becoming quite tame when tragedy unhappily overtook them both.