It was not by any means a dull camp since the diaries and note-books
were destroyed.
Before this fatal accident matters had been slightly monotonous for
Cocoeni and the other young sporting Basuto and Matabele braves. Since
that irreparable loss, however--to use Cocoeni's slangy English--"things
were humming, instead of being humdrum."
They were merry boys, all of them, and could not have been more wisely
assorted for such an uncertain enterprise. Regardless of danger and
privation, and well-nigh impervious to fatigue, they took their troubles
laughing.
They made sport of their work, and, unless silence was necessary, turned
their daily march into a Christy Minstrel serenade. Repartee, song, and
jest were the orders of the hours, and never had Ned seen a moody brow
about him since Cocoeni brought the sorrowful tidings back from the
rapids about the saurian and the valise.
Splendid-looking fellows the natives were, also; the flower and chivalry
of their tribes. Deep brown eyes that could melt with emotion, flash
with courage, and sparkle with fun; lips full, and ever on the ripple
with appreciation of a joke; teeth even and white as the purest ivory
could be; limbs muscular, shapely, and supple, with epidermis smooth,
sleek, and sheeny as satin. Whether they were lying, standing,
wrestling, or running, they were bronze models of grace and symmetry to
draw the eye artistic upon them with admiration and delight.
Ned put them through their facings morning and evening for half an hour
each time, before they commenced and after they had ended their day's
march. They took to this military exercise most congenially, and as
they were quick to learn, very soon became splendidly drilled soldiers.
He and his chums had cause to be proud of these glorious young warriors,
as with lightning speed they obeyed orders, forming squares, scattering
out into skirmishing order, marching steady as Romans, and pitching
themselves flat on the ground to the word of command. With what they
had learnt of British war tactics, added to their own native training,
Ned had charge of as fine a body of men as captain or centurion could
have desired.
Our heroes had not been so long from school to forget or forego the
delights of outdoor games and athletic exercises, and these they taught
their followers, much to their delight.
Cecil Rhodes, with that profound knowledge of men which has made him
such a success, had not omitted cricket-bats, wickets, and balls, with
the more necessary items of their equipment. These furnished them with
constant amusement at such times as they might otherwise have felt
wearied when game was not in their vicinity.
Football was an unfailing source of amusement with these stalwart dusky
athletes. Ned was referee on these occasions, and Clarence and Fred the
touch-judges. Rugby was their favourite game, and as it was played on
those level veldts, it was a pretty and exhilarating game.
Cricket also they enjoyed hugely. They usually fixed Saturdays for
their big matches, but some practised all the week. Cocoeni became a
crack bowler, and much of the evenings were spent in discussing the
qualities of the different players.
They had also racing contests and jumping matches. The steeplechases
would have been eye-openers to some British experts, for these fellows
could leap like kangaroos and run like racehorses.
They had wild tugs of war, and putting and throwing the weights; also
wrestling, lifting, and club exercise. In all these feats the Matabeles
contested with the Basutos, yet never lost their temper once.
It was the general good temper and fine control displayed by those hardy
young warriors, as well as their expertness, quickness, obedience, and
strength, that made them such valuable allies. Ned felt that his
hundred and twenty-five trained heroes were equal to a thousand or more
irresponsible savages, if they were forced to fight for their lives.
With these at his back, he was hardly afraid of any odds now that they
knew and could depend upon each other.
Our heroes were well-trained and religious young men, and while paying
such strict attention to their physical exercises, you may depend upon
it, did not neglect their spiritual devotions. On Sundays they
conducted Church service twice regularly, each of them taking turns to
deliver a discourse suitable to their audience and their own abilities.
They explained the Scripture as they read it, and did their best to
demonstrate how good and beautiful, as well as knightly, were the
qualities of mercy, purity, truth, and faith.
They showed their heroic and simple listeners that fearlessness,
endurance, courage, and strength were only the common attributes shared
alike by beast and man; that where the man proved his heroism and
superiority over the beast was in his generosity and chivalry towards
his weaker or viler enemy, and also in his humility, trust, and
obedience to the higher and Divine laws of God. When they told of that
great and perfect Example and Sacrifice to humanity, those emotional
Africans sobbed their sympathy for His sufferings for them. He was the
true and perfect Knight who faced and endured ignominy and death that
they might live eternally.
They pointed out the living example of King Khama, who had proved that a
Christian could also be a brave and great warrior. They told about that
other hero, Gordon of Khartoum, who did not lose his faith or courage
even although so basely betrayed by those from whom he expected help.
The Matabeles and Basutos quickly comprehended and appreciated these
specimens of fidelity and heroism. They remembered, also, during the
week what they had listened to on Sunday.
"You will be brave in the hour of danger, for that is your nature, I
know," said Ned on one of these occasions. "Be brave enough, also, to
stay your hand in the hot moment of triumph, for that is the moment of
greatest peril to the hero. You can endure privations, I have seen; you
must also learn to resist temptations. The perfect warrior is temperate
in all things, true to his brothers, and true also to his pledge even
when given to a foe. His shield is meant to protect his own body, and
his body is given to him to aid and protect the weak, raise the fallen,
comfort the afflicted, and keep it holy and clean."
These were boyish orations, but they went straight to the hearts of
those child-like hearers. The ideals were those of uncontaminated youth
appealing to unsophisticated and malleable Nature. Our heroes had no
scoffers amongst their congregation, but only young men devoted to them,
who were as easy to lead upwards or downwards as children. Ned and his
two chums led them upwards as far as they could; and made them to see
how much better virtue was than vice, how much happier faith made one
than did doubt. Each had their departments to debate upon. Ned showed
the greatness of the Creator by botanical illustrations. Fred brought
in his chemistry, and filled them with wonder at the marvels he
revealed. Clarence explained the stars, and entertained them with the
fairy-like tales of astronomy. Thus their days and nights were fully
occupied.
They began and ended each day with prayer. As they walked along they
felt that they were environed with unseen protection. This inspired
them constantly with renewed and lofty courage. So long as man can rely
on prayer, he need fear no enemy, for his buckler is impregnable.
On the next morning after Ned had killed the lion, they started at
daybreak towards the mountain.
They had not gone half the distance, however, when the sun, which had
risen brightly, suddenly became overcast with what appeared to be a
dense, dark cloud, which completely blotted out the light, and threw a
dismal shadow over the landscape.
Our heroes looked at the dark cloud which was so swiftly rising out of
the east and overspreading the blue sky. It was like nothing they had
ever seen before, of a violet blackness, with copper-coloured upper
edges that glistened metallically. A strange rustling sound came from
it, growing louder as it advanced.
Myriads of birds circled above this cloud, diving in and darting out
from it perpetually. As it came on with incredible rapidity, they could
see it trailing along and covering the ground like a black pall.
The Kaffirs flung down their loads, and stood watching it with
glittering eyes, while Cocoeni stretched out his arm and explained the
startling phenomenon with one word, "Locusts!"
One of the plagues of Moses was coming. Even while Cocoeni still
pointed, the swarming insects with their violet wings were upon them in
countless hosts.
They filled miles of space with such a palpable mass that only a dim
twilight prevailed. They covered the earth like a fall of snow six
inches deep with no intervening space. All the air was reverberating
with their loud chirping, the rustling of their crisp wings, and the
shrieking cries of the birds who devoured them wholesale, yet without
apparently diminishing their bulk.
Our heroes were appalled at this numberless host, and dazed with the
darkness and noise. They staggered about trying vainly to shake the
pests off, that dropped so thickly and incessantly upon them. They slid
and squashed thousands under their feet; while they felt sick as they
watched their followers greedily imitating the ravenous birds, and
devouring handfuls of them, as fast as they could chew and swallow.
For an hour this went on, as the rustling, whistling, shrieking, and
living cloud of darkness swept over them. Then gradually the air
cleared, and the fierce sun poured down upon that glistening and
writhing plain.
Not a blade of grass or leaf of herbage was left. Around them spread a
barren desert; even the river-bed was choked up with a moving compact
mass of blackness.
They resumed their march, watching the cloud as it swept westward, and
slipping about as if treading amongst slushy ice, over the ankles. It
was horrible. It was sickeningly disgusting.
The Kaffirs, however, showed no disgust. After gorging themselves, they
filled their bags with these insects, and trudged along singing merrily.
"Are they good to eat, Cocoeni?" asked Ned.
"You bet they are, baas, bully fine. You eat one, and then you will
find out."
"No, thanks; I'll take your word for it, old man. They ought to be good
for something, since they have used up the country."
"Oh, next rains will make that all right."
"Meantime, I suppose there will be starvation amongst the game?"
"No; they will eat these as we do; after that they will move off to
other parts."
In another couple of hours the company arrived at the cliffs. The
ground was still covered with locusts, which had been unable to rise,
and the stream-bed was completely filled, so that no water could be
seen.
In front of them yawned a chasm of about a hundred yards wide.
Wall-like precipices rose on either side and stretched upward for five
thousand feet with hardly a break. A few fissures and cracks were
discernible here and there, but no ledge which could afford a foot or
handgrip for even the most expert climber.
The ground was hard and stony, yet even here, as far as they could look
into the cavity, it was overspread with locusts.
The stream penetrated this barren gully, and also continued as far as
they could see. Eastward and west these same smooth precipices
extended, like a coastline until merged in distance. Serrated on the
ridges, at long intervals they presented similar openings to the one
they now stood before. Possibly these were water-sheds in the rainy
seasons, but at present there were no signs of streams flowing. After a
careful survey east and westward, Ned decided that the Rhodes river
opening was the most promising route to follow.
Without any more hesitation, he strode into the shadow of the cliffs and
out of the sun glare, crushing his hundreds of locusts each step he
took. The rest followed him obediently, still singing as they went
along.
A crowd of aasvogels had come down from their lofty watching-posts, and
were busy glutting themselves with the locusts. These vultures merely
lifted their ugly bald heads and bare necks and looked at the invaders
as they passed, and then continued their feasting, hardly budging out of
the way.
After penetrating for about a mile of this shadow-land they crossed the
belt of locusts, and found that the ground was ascending.
It was paved with water-worn smooth rocks between patches of yellow
sand, and rose in a series of steppes. In the centre of this channel,
the brook still ran purling and clear over its stony bed, with here and
there small fringes of vegetation at its edges. All else, however,
round and above them was sterile in the extreme. A deep silence brooded
over this rocky valley, which, although at present in shadow, was
intensely hot and airless. The sun glared on the upper half of one
side, but the rocks in the bed still retained the heat where it had
lately shone. As they walked, our heroes felt as if enclosed in a
bakehouse.
They were winding round a corner, when suddenly Cocoeni and the other
Kaffirs uttered cries of affright and rushed into the middle of the
running stream, where they stood in a line, trembling. Ned and his
chums at once promptly followed their example; then they asked--
"What is it, Cocoeni, that frightens you?"
"Look, baas, the bashikonay is coming!"