After the fall of the first victim the dreadful work proceeded quite
briskly, each witch doctor seeming to feel it incumbent upon him to
display his skill and zeal by providing at least as many victims as the
most active and zealous of his brother practitioners. And as victim
after victim fell a sacrifice to as cruel, wicked, and debasing a
superstition as it is possible for the mind to conceive, so did my anger
burn the more fiercely, until I felt an almost irresistible impulse
impelling me to spring to my feet, and, with my pistol levelled at the
king's head, insist upon an end being put to the slaughter.
Yet all the while I knew that I could do nothing in the way of
interposition; I was as utterly helpless as though I had been a thousand
miles away, instead of sitting there within arm's length of the man who
was responsible for it all. For supposing that I should be crazy enough
to obey that impulse, what would happen? Why, the king's guards would
be upon me in a second, and I should be hacked to pieces by their
terrible bangwans in the drawing of a single breath, while probably an
even worse fate would befall my hapless followers! No, of course, the
idea was madness, the act an impossibility; yet when a few minutes later
I saw the tall induna, Logwane--Mapela's friend--led forth and
mercilessly done to death, I could not refrain from leaning toward the
king and murmuring:
"O King, your witch doctors are not infallible; they made a dreadful
mistake when they smelled out that man! Among all your subjects none
was more loyal and faithful than Logwane. Why did you suffer him to be
slain?"
The king glowered at me for a moment, his eyes smouldering with
suppressed anger. Then he answered coldly:
"White man, I believed Logwane to be all that you say. But I was
mistaken, for my witch doctors cannot err; no man can hide his guilt
from them: and had Logwane not harboured treachery in his heart they
would not have smelled him out. Therefore I suffered him to be slain.
No man may think evil of me and continue to live."
At this moment Machenga, who seemed to have gradually sunk into a kind
of trance, rose slowly to his feet, and, with fixed, glassy eyes staring
straight before him, began to mutter to himself in a voice pitched so
low that at first I could distinguish nothing of what he said. Then he
began to glide slowly round in a very small circle, and I perceived that
presently, when he faced me, he raised his head and sniffed the air
strongly. This occurred three times, and upon the third occasion I
detected that for an instant the fixed, glassy stare of his eyes gave
place to a lightning-like glance of triumphant malignity; and then I
knew that his entire pose was merely a piece of exceedingly clever
acting, and that he was no more in a trance than I was. When he had
completed the fourth half-circle he halted, at a distance of about ten
yards from where I was sitting, and, with his back turned toward me,
proceeded to sniff the air still more strongly.
"Yes," he presently exclaimed in a voice quite loud enough for the king
and me to hear, "I am not deceived, I smell him; though his skin is
white his heart is black, and I smell the evil thoughts against the
Great, Great One that lurk deep down in it!" And a smile of diabolical
malice overspread his evil face as he shook his great spear aloft and
began to dance very slowly, singing softly to himself.
So that was it--the villain was actually going to smell me out!
But--"Not if I know it," thought I; and starting to my feet as I drew a
pistol from my belt and levelled it at him, I cried:
"Halt there, Machenga! Halt, I say, or thou diest! Deceiver and
murderer, destroyer of the king's most faithful friends, and giver of
evil counsel to the Great, Great One, my magic tells me that in that
evil heart of thine thou hast conceived the design to slay me, because
when thou didst come secretly to my wagon last night I refused to give
thee one of my magic fire tubes. Now I will prove thee, rascal; I will
show the king that thou, his chief witch doctor forsooth, art nothing
but a base pretender, a player upon his credulity. Thou dost claim to
be a great and powerful magician; well, so am I. Kill me, if thou
canst; and it shall be that he of us two who kills the other shall be
the more powerful magician, and shall also be the one whose mouth speaks
the truth."
Meanwhile, during this interlude, brief as it was, five new victims--two
of them indunas--had been smelled out and brought forward; but the king,
intent only upon what was passing between Machenga and myself, had
forborne to give the fatal signal to the Slayers, and thus the little
group of victims and executioners stood motionless in the centre of the
arena, while every eye was turned upon the chief witch doctor and
myself.
Machenga had obeyed my imperative command to halt, thus unconsciously
demonstrating at once that his state of trance was merely a pretence;
and when I ceased to speak he further betrayed himself by answering me.
"Au, Chia'gnosi!" he exclaimed, "so thou, too, art a magician? And thou
dost threaten to kill me! Fool! no man living, magician or otherwise,
can kill me, else I should have died ages before thou wert born. But I
can and will kill thee, in despite of thy magic, and thus I do it!"
And, as he spoke, up went his right hand, with the great bangwan in it,
his intent being evidently to transfix me by hurling the spear at me.
But I guessed at his purpose, read it in his eyes; and, quick though he
was, I was the quicker, and before he had time to gather his strength to
cast the spear I had levelled my pistol and pulled the trigger. The
good little weapon barked out as the hammer fell, and through the thin
veil of powder smoke I saw Machenga spin round on his heels, flinging up
his arms at the same time, and the next instant down he crashed upon his
back, with a small blue hole in the very centre of his forehead, from
which a thin stream of blood began to trickle slowly.
With a lightning-like movement I thrust the empty pistol into my jacket
pocket, and transferred my rifle from my left hand to my right, at the
same time wheeling sharply round upon the king to see what action, if
any, he intended to take. I caught him in the act of springing to his
feet, and at once flung up my left hand warningly.
"Nay, O Great, Great One," I said very firmly, "rise not, I pray thee,
lest evil befall. My magic is just now very strong, as thou hast seen--
so strong that I can scarcely control it--and if anyone here cherishes
evil designs against me he had better forget them now, this instant,
lest they rise up and destroy him. So: that is well!"--as the king sank
limply back into his seat. "Now," I continued, raising my voice so that
it could be heard by at least the greater part of the warriors gathered
there in the great square, "the king and I are about to confer together;
therefore let no man move hand or foot, or utter a single word, for the
air is full of terrible magic that only I can control; and if we are
disturbed it may break loose, when--!" I concluded with an expressive
gesture which was meant to convey all sorts of dreadful things; and I
had the satisfaction of seeing Lomalindela's black skin turn a kind of
slate colour, while his lips became a dirty blue-white.
For a few seconds the king stared stupidly at Machenga's dead body, as
though he could not believe the evidence of his own eyes; then he turned
to me and said:
"Truly, Chia'gnosi, thou art well named, for thy lightning has slain him
who was as we have always known him, even when the oldest living man in
Mashonaland was a boy running at his mother's heels. Why hast thou
slain the chief of my witch doctors?"
"I slew him, O King," answered I, "because he was a liar, a cheat, a
betrayer, and a murderer. He lied to thee and cheated thee by
pretending that he could smell out thine enemies, whereas he possessed
no such power; and he smelled out and caused to be destroyed Logwane,
one of the most loyal and faithful of your indunas, because, after
heavily bribing Machenga for several years, in order to obtain immunity,
Logwane refused to submit to further robbery. And what he has done to
Logwane he has, doubtless, done to many others of Your Majesty's loyal
and faithful subjects."
"How knowest thou all this, Chia'gnosi," demanded the king; "and how am
I to know that thy words are true?"
"Have I not proved it to thee by destroying Machenga?" retorted I.
"Thinkest thou that if Machenga had been what he claimed to be I could
have slain him? As to how I know it, my snake told me, and he never
lies. And if thou dost still doubt me, question the indunas. Doubtless
there are some among them whom thou canst trust, who will tell thee
whether Logwane was true, or whether he was false to thee."
The king frowningly considered my proposition for a little, and finally,
looking up, called Mapela to approach.
"Mapela," said Lomalindela, when the induna had drawn near and saluted,
"I am perplexed, and know not what to believe. I can believe thy words,
because I have proved thee, and know thee to be faithful and true. Thou
didst know Logwane intimately; tell me, therefore, was he loyal to me,
or was he not?"
"There was no man in all Mashonaland more faithful to thee than
Logwane," answered Mapela.
"Yet Machenga smelled him out and caused him to be slain as an enemy of
mine," the king reminded him.
"Do I not know it?" retorted the old man bitterly. "And if Machenga had
smelled me out, I too should have been slain, although, as thou sayest,
thou hast proved me and know me to be faithful and true! But thank thy
snake, O Lomalindela, King of the Mashona, that Chia'gnosi saw the evil
and falsehood that lurked in that black heart,"--pointing to the dead
body of Machenga--"else would many another of thy friends--myself among
the number, perchance--have died before yon sun sank behind the hills."
The king placed his elbows on his knees and buried his face in his hands
for several minutes, evidently overwhelmed by a sense of profound
perplexity. At length, however, he looked up again, and, still
addressing Mapela, asked:
"And think ye, Mapela, that all those,"--pointing to the long array of
slain--"suffered unjustly?"
"Nay," answered Mapela, "I am but a simple induna, knowing nothing save
the art of warfare, and the way in which warriors should be trained in
order to make good fighters of them. Who am I that I should presume to
answer such a question? Ask Chia'gnosi; he is young, but he is very
wise. Perhaps his wisdom may be able to answer thee. Ask him."
The king turned to me.
"Thou hast heard my question, Chia'gnosi, and Mapela's answer," said he.
"Canst thou tell me what I want to know?"
"Listen to my words, O King," said I. "Last night, when the moon was so
high in the heavens,"--I pointed to the approximate altitude of the
planet--"Machenga came secretly and in disguise to my wagon, asking for
gifts. I knew not then who he was, nor did he say; indeed, he pretended
to be a messenger from Machenga: but presently I knew him for Machenga
himself, although I had never before seen him, and I set forth certain
gifts, which I offered him. But he refused them, demanding as a gift
one of my magic fire tubes; and when I refused him he went away,
threatening me that to-day I should be sorry that I had refused him.
Then I knew that it was no messenger, but Machenga himself who had
visited me; and I knew the man for a liar and cheat. Thou dost ask
whether all those slain suffered unjustly. I answer thee that they did!
I know none of them save Logwane; but send thou and ascertain the names
of the other indunas who have died to-day by the hands of the Slayers,
and thou shalt find that, like Logwane, they were rich men, the half of
whose riches would pass to Machenga; or they were men who had incurred
Machenga's hatred. Let the smellers-out be brought before thee and
questioned, and thou shalt find that it was by Machenga's orders that
they smelled out the indunas. As for the others, it was necessary that
a certain number of the common people should also die, else would the
choice of the indunas have been too obvious."
"By the bones of my royal father, thy words, Chia'gnosi, are the words
of wisdom, and I will do as thou sayest!" exclaimed the king. "Mapela,
give orders that the smellers-out be brought before me."
Some ten minutes later the subordinate witch doctors, or "smellers-out",
were called together and drawn up before the king, when, prompted by me,
Mapela subjected the wretches to a searching cross-examination, with the
result that my surmise was completely confirmed. It is not easy to
shock a savage, but there could be no doubt that when the investigation
was finished Lomalindela was shocked, not so much at the fact that a
great deal of innocent blood had been shed, but that so many of his most
loyal and devoted indunas had been removed, and could therefore no
longer exercise their loyalty and fidelity on his behalf; and no one
knows better than a savage autocrat the value of true loyalty and
fidelity. He was distinctly perturbed at the disquieting thoughts that
came crowding into his mind; and it was characteristic of him that he
seemed more than half-inclined to blame me for what had happened--on the
principle, I suppose, that but for me he would have known nothing about
it, and would consequently have escaped the perturbation and disquiet
which resulted from the revelation. At all events, when the revelation
was complete, it was upon me that he turned, demanding sharply:
"And now, Chia'gnosi, having revealed the evil, reveal also the remedy."
"That, O Great, Great One, is easy," I replied. "Let there be no more
smelling out, and there will be no more mistakes."
"No more smelling out?" he repeated. "Then how shall those who meditate
evil against me be found?"
"They will not need to be found," I replied; "for if such there be, rest
assured that they will betray themselves, even as Machenga betrayed
himself to me. I repeat, let there be no more smelling out; but if any
man be discovered meditating evil, let his accusers bring him before
thee and bear witness against him, and if he be found guilty, let him
suffer."
The king meditated upon this proposition at considerable length, and
asked a multitude of questions before he appeared able to grasp the idea
fully; but finally he seemed to apprehend my plan, and graciously
announced his willingness to consider it. The "smelling out" function
was thus brought to a somewhat premature conclusion--to the obvious
relief of everybody except perhaps Lomalindela himself--and the troops
were dismissed. But when I, too hastily assuming that everything was
over, rose to take my leave and return to the wagon, I was imperiously
ordered to stop. Upon resuming my seat I was thanked by the king in a
somewhat perfunctory, half-hearted way for what I had done; but he added
that my revelations had so upset him that he found it impossible to
tolerate my presence in his country any longer, and he therefore begged
me so to arrange matters that I could resume my journey that same
afternoon. Naturally, I remonstrated against such discourteous
treatment, reminding His Majesty that although the revelation was
certainly mine, the evil-doing was Machenga's; and I wound up by saying
that, so far from expecting to be expelled from the country, I had
confidently reckoned upon being granted a concession to mine gold in
Mashonaland. But it was all of no avail; it was through me that the
upset had occurred, therefore out I must go--escorted by an impi, the
induna of which would receive instructions to see that I did not unduly
loiter on the way. And, as to gold, if I wanted that, the king strongly
advised me to go to the Bandokolo country, far away to the north, where
I would doubtless be able to obtain as much of the metal as I needed.
After generously giving me this piece of valuable advice His Majesty
curtly dismissed me, with the intimation that I must be prepared to
start in the equivalent of two hours' time--or take the consequences of
my disobedience. Upon which I, in turn, got angry, and, having told the
king one or two plain truths in distinctly undiplomatic language, bade
him an abrupt farewell and hastened back to the wagon.
We were quite ready to make a start, even to the extent of having the
oxen inspanned, by the time that the escorting impi put in an
appearance; and when it did I was thankful to discover that it was
commanded by my friend Mapela.
"Au, Chia'gnosi!" the old chap exclaimed, as the impi halted and
saluted, with great heartiness; "so thou art ready. It is well; for the
Great, Great One is in an evil temper, and his face is black toward thee
because thou hast spoiled the festival: therefore it will be good for
thee to withdraw thyself from before his eyes as soon as possible.
Which way go ye--forward or backward?"
"I go forward, Mapela," I replied. "I came to this country in the hope
of obtaining gold, and gold I must have; therefore I am going forward to
the country of the Bandokolo, where, so your king tells me, gold is to
be obtained in great abundance."
"Wao! ma me! the Bandokolo!" exclaimed the old fellow in great
astonishment. "Know ye aught of the Bandokolo, or where they are to be
found?" he demanded.
"Nay," answered I; "I know nothing of them, save that their country lies
far to the north, and that they have much gold."
"That is true," returned Mapela. "Then, let us start, for delay is
dangerous; and if we linger, the Great, Great One may change his mind
and not suffer thee to go at all. Yonder is the way, up that valley.
Give the word, Chia'gnosi. And, as we go, we can talk together; and if
what I can tell thee should cause thee to change thy mind, we can take
the road back on the other side of the mountains when we have passed
through the valley."
He paused and left me for a moment while the wagon was getting into
motion and the impi was forming up round it; then, when we were fairly
under way, he came to my side again, and remarked:
"Au, Chia'gnosi! thine arrival at Gwanda was well timed; for many are
still alive who, but for thee, would have lain dead in the great square
before the setting of yonder sun. Did not I say that my snake told me
thou wouldst save many lives? And thou hast done so; and mark thou
this, Chia'gnosi, though to-day the king's face be black against thee,
the people know what thou hast done; and henceforth thy name will be
hlonipa among the Mashona." [Hlonipa means "unmentionable". To make a
man's name hlonipa is the highest honour that the Kafirs can render the
bearer; for it indicates that the name is regarded as too sacred, too
highly venerated, to be spoken. Thus I subsequently learned that after
my departure from the country the Mashona never mentioned Chia'gnosi
(Smiter with Lightning), but, when they referred to me, spoke of "Him
who slew with thunderbolts", or in some other more or less roundabout
fashion evaded any direct use of the word lightning.]
"Well," I replied, "to be quite candid with you, Mapela, I believe it is
a very good thing for the Mashona that Machenga is dead; and I am not
sorry that he compelled me to kill him. Also I am glad that the king
has promised to abolish the system of `smelling out', for in the first
place I do not in the least believe in it, and, in the next, it is
perfectly evident that an unscrupulous scoundrel like Machenga would
only be too likely to use it for his own vile purposes. And now let us
talk about something else. Tell me, for instance, what you know about
the Bandokolo, and whereabout their country is situated."
"Their country lies yonder," answered Mapela, pointing a little to the
west of north; "and it is a long way off. Thou wilt have to cross the
Great River (Zambezi), and then travel through the wilderness for the
space of a moon and a half, or, maybe, two moons, before thou wilt reach
it. For myself, I have never been beyond the Great River; but many
moons ago there came into Mashonaland a stranger who said that he had
been one of a band accompanying a white man from afar, who, after much
weary wandering, had arrived in the Bandokolo country, and had there
died--how I know not. And when the white man died the Bandokolo took
his followers and made slaves of them, treating them so cruelly that at
last the man who told me these things resolved to escape. And after
waiting many moons for an opportunity it came, and he succeeded. But
when he arrived in Mashonaland he was so weak and ill with fever and
starvation that, after lingering for a short time, he died.
"But before he died he told me many wonderful things about the
Bandokolo. He said that they were little people, about so tall
(indicating with his hand a stature of about four feet eight or nine
inches). Also, that instead of being black, as I am, they are almost
white; that they live in great houses dug out of the rocks of the
hillside; that the men wear clothes made of small plates of gold, and
carry spears, shields, and great knives made of gold; that they adorn
themselves with shining stones which they dig out of the ground; and
that they are all 'mkulu 'mtagati (great wizards)."
"That is a very extraordinary story, Mapela," said I. "Did you believe
it; or do you think that the man who told you had a sick brain and
imagined things that were not?"
"Nay, who can say?" returned Mapela. "As I have told you, the man was
very sick when he reached Mashonaland; but I think his sickness was of
the body, not of the mind: and he told me these things many times before
he died, therefore I believed him."
I spent the best part of the afternoon in cross-questioning Mapela upon
the exceedingly interesting and remarkable story which he had told me;
but the old fellow stuck to his text so perfectly that at length I was
forced to the conclusion that what he had told me was substantially what
he had himself been told, and that if there was any falsehood or
exaggeration in the yarn it was not he who was responsible for it. We
outspanned that night at a distance of twelve good miles north-east of
Gwanda, in a most beautiful valley full of lush grass, and beside the
stream, now much diminished in volume, which we had been following ever
since our passage of the Limpopo; and, I having shot an elephant about
an hour before our arrival at the outspan, we all feasted royally that
night, the impi building an enormous watch fire and squatting round it,
stuffing themselves with elephant meat until they could eat no more.
Early in the forenoon of the eleventh day after our departure from
Gwanda we reached the Zambezi, at a point where, by a stroke of good
luck, the river chanced to be fordable; and, having got the wagon and
all my other belongings safely across to the left bank, I immediately
outspanned, and then proceeded to distribute liberal largesse among the
subordinate officers of the impi, gave Mapela a specially handsome
present, and so parted upon excellent terms from my Mashona friends, not
without a qualm of regret and of wistful surmise as to my chances of
ever again seeing them. Later on, after a meal and a rest, we again
inspanned, and, trekking a few miles upstream, rounded the shoulder of a
range of low hills and plunged into a valley stretching northward, with
a small southward-flowing stream running through its centre and
discharging into the Zambezi, upon which splendid river we now turned
our backs. 'Mfuni, the man who had fought me by command of Lomalindela,
and had afterwards attached himself to my train, exhibited some slight
symptoms of regret at parting from his friends in the returning impi;
but he quickly recovered from his fit of the blues, and, evidently being
very fond of animals, devoted himself with zest to the task of making
friends with the horses and dogs. Also the poor fellow speedily
developed a most devoted attachment to myself, so arousing in Piet a
feeling of profound jealousy and disgust which I only succeeded in
dissipating with difficulty after the occurrence of several more or less
serious quarrels between the pair.
During the three weeks that immediately followed our passage of the
Zambezi, our route lay through a wilderness in which for days together
we never saw a solitary human being. But this did not very greatly
matter, for the country, consisting for the most part of low, rolling
hills, was well watered by streams which, flowing generally in a
direction more or less north and south, we were able to follow day after
day, while the grass was plentiful and of very good quality. Moreover,
there was not much bush, which would have been to some extent a
disadvantage but for the fact that, as we advanced, the game became so
tame that we had very little difficulty in stalking it through the long
grass. During this particular period of our journey we encountered very
few elephants or big game of any kind, but antelope of various
descriptions were abundant, so that we always had plenty of buck meat in
the larder. Then, one day, scouting far ahead of the wagon, accompanied
by Piet, 'Mfuni, and the dogs, I discovered that we were approaching a
vast open plain, where the grass was not nearly so good. I therefore
rode back a few miles, and, upon meeting the wagon, gave orders for a
prolonged outspan at a suitable spot, so that the oxen, which were
becoming thin from constant work, might have a few days' rest, and
recover flesh in preparation for the journey across the plain.
We remained at that outspan five days, and when we resumed our journey I
had every reason to regard the time as well spent; for as we pushed
forward across the open plain the grass became so poor that, but for the
period of rest and recuperation which I had allowed them, I am convinced
that the oxen would never have accomplished the journey at all. Luckily
for us, when we had lost three oxen, and the remainder had become little
better than walking skeletons, we reached the other side of the plain,
and once more came to good grass and water; and here we rested again for
a week.
On the second day after the resumption of our trek, two mountains of
almost perfect pyramidal form were sighted right ahead and apparently
about fifty miles apart; and on the following day the flat, open plain
gave place to undulating country, which gradually grew more rugged and
park-like as we advanced, with good grass, small, detached patches of
bush, and a few trees, singly or in clumps, scattered thinly here and
there. But we soon noticed that, apart from the grass, the vegetation
generally was new and strange, of a kind that none of us had ever before
seen; the trees in particular being very curious and grotesque in shape,
both as to their trunks and branches, and their foliage being of almost
any other colour than green. In some cases the trees, notwithstanding
their strange and abnormal configuration, were very beautiful, the
large, heart-shaped leaves being of almost every conceivable tint of
red, ranging from palest pink to a very deep, rich crimson, with great
bunches of snow-white blossom; while at the opposite end of the scale,
as it were, there occurred examples in which the trunks and branches
were swollen, knotted, and twisted into the most extraordinary and
uncouth shapes, while the foliage consisted of long, flat, ribbon-like
streamers of a dirty brownish-grey hue, coated with an exudation the
odour of which was offensive beyond the power of words to express.
Fortunately for us, these last were comparatively rare, and we soon
learned to give them plenty of room and to pass them to windward, where
possible.
And here, too, we saw the first of several new and strange forms of
animal life. As Piet and I were, as usual, riding forward some distance
ahead of the wagon, we suddenly came upon a small herd of seven
curious-looking animals, which we at first mistook for young giraffes;
but as they stood gazing at us curiously, thus permitting us to approach
within less than a hundred yards of them, we observed that while the
creatures bore a certain general resemblance to giraffes, there were
differences, the most important of which was that of size. For these
creatures stood, at the shoulders, only about as high as an eland; the
neck, although abnormally long, was not proportionately as long as that
of a giraffe; the head was hornless, and of quite different shape from a
giraffe's head; and, lastly, their colour was a deep, rich, ruddy brown
on the head, shading gradually away along the body and legs until, about
the fetlock, it became quite a pale buff. I shot one of them, and have
the skin to this day, which has been a source of great interest and also
a bit of a puzzle to several naturalists who have seen it, and who all
declare it to have belonged to an animal of which they had no knowledge
whatever. The flesh of the creature proved to be very tender and juicy,
and my "boys" ate of it freely; but after trying a mouthful I decided
that I did not care for it, the meat having a very strong and peculiar
musky flavour which I found much the reverse of appetising.
And then, as an appropriate wind-up to a day that had been rich in
surprises, while we were looking about for a suitable spot at which to
outspan for the night, we came upon the first of the Bandokolo people,
or rather, she--for it was a woman--came upon us. We were, at the
moment, riding through a shallow depression, about half a mile wide,
bordered on either side by rising, bush-clad ground that was scarcely
high enough to be worthy of the name of hills, with a narrow, shallow
rivulet on our right; and we had about decided that the spot where we
had reined up would answer our purpose quite well, when the two dogs,
Thunder and Juno, who had been following quietly enough at our horses'
heels, suddenly ran forward a few paces and then stood pointing,
uttering low, half-yelping, half-whining noises the while, as was their
wont when they were puzzled. For a few moments I could see nothing to
account for their excitement, and I was about to speak to them, when,
looking forward, I suddenly saw something raise itself in the grass,
remain visible for perhaps half a dozen seconds, and then sink down
again. It was about a hundred yards from the spot where we had pulled
up, and from the brief glimpse which I had obtained I almost thought
that, strange as it might be, I had seen a child! To satisfy myself,
therefore, I called to Piet, and, accompanied by the dogs, cantered
forward toward the place where the strange apparition had appeared.