EXPEDITION TO THE RIVER--FLORA AND FAUNA--THE PNEUMORAS--ABNORMAL
SPRINGBUCK--THE SEA-FOG--WILD HORSES--FAUNA AND BIMINI.
In the grey dawn I arose and resumed preparations for the expedition.
When, after breakfast, I sent word to the scherms that I wished the
guides to report themselves for duty, I was both flattered and
embarrassed to find that every man, woman and child of my camp following
was not only willing, but apparently determined to join my colours. The
previous day had seen a considerable increase to the contingent, which
now included two members of the Raad. The number was alarming; nearly
twenty-five per cent, of the estimated population of the Richtersveld
must have been in the vicinity of the camp. The fame of my liberality
had gone forth; I had distributed some tobacco among the adults and with
a few dates had gladdened the hearts of the children. But I could not
afford to bestow largesse upon the crowd which at my call eagerly stood
forth.
It was a strange gathering. The people reminded me of gnomes, so ugly
were they--and their personal uncleanliness I fear corresponded with
their looks. Yet I found them lovable, because they were natural,
ingenuous and unspoilt. There was not a pair of breeches nor a
petticoat among the lot; men and women were dressed either in brayed
skins or ancient gunny-bags. The children were hardly dressed at all.
I think it was the feeling that I was honoured and appreciated far above
my deserts by those people that caused me to like them so much. They
looked upon me as a powerful and beneficent being of fabulous
resources,--just because I had treated them with common fairness and
given away a few pounds of cheap tobacco and some handfuls of dates.
One thing was clear: my influence was increasing; every hour fresh
arrivals testified to the growth of my fame. I felt almost sure I could
organise a successful revolution in the Richtersveld, attack Kuboos and
sack it, depose Mr Hein, and reign in his stead. However, I at once
put the temptation behind me. I had eaten the Vicar's honey and drunk
his coffee; therefore, I would not rob him of his crown and kingdom.
Besides,--who knew but that when my supply of tobacco and dates ran out,
my popularity might not wane?
The immediate question as to who was to accompany me was a delicate one.
Hendrick, of course, was chief of my staff. I only required two
others, but ten--of whom four were women--clamoured insistently for
enlistment, declaring that Hendrick had, the previous night, contracted
with them individually and collectively for the intended trip. I
explained the inadequacy of my reserve of food; I laid stress on the
local scarcity of game. I was informed that at that time of year
"veld-kost," the uncultivated produce of Nature's vegetable garden, was
plentiful, and that monkeys abounded in the river forest. In despair I
called up the two members of the Raad and begged of them to arbitrate.
These men were diplomatists; they were accustomed to dealing with
important questions.
A violent disputation followed; in the course of it the clicks of the
Hottentot tongue flew about like fire-crackers. Eventually a most
preposterous award was given. Five Richtersvelders--three men and two
women--were to be enrolled as my corps of guides. One of the women was
old; she might have passed for a revised edition of the Witch of Endor.
However, she looked wiry. The other was young--not more than thirty.
Was she married? Yes. Where was her husband? There he sat, with
downcast visage, among the rejected. Then I would not take her. The
lady was neither well-favoured nor savoury; nevertheless I had my
character to consider, and the punishment locally prescribed for the
abduction of a married woman--even with her husband's consent--might
have been three dozen with a strop.
But the members of the Raad had selected her. She threw the tanned skin
over her head and wailed. Beauty in distress prevailed; but her husband
also had to be included in the contingent. The two ladies had names,
but such were difficult to remember and almost impossible to pronounce,
so I decided to substitute for them, respectively, Fauna and Flora. The
special work of these insistent females was to be the collection of
natural history specimens.
Very early that morning I sent some of the children out to look for
reptiles, insects and miscellaneous small deer. It was principally
beetles and lizards they brought back. None were very rare. _Julodis
Gariepina_, a beetle somewhat resembling a green and yellow
bottle-brush, I was glad to add to my stock for distribution. Of this
there were a number of specimens. But one of the boys had brought three
examples of an Orthopterous insect,--a _pneumora_, which was new to me.
The _pneumora_ is a large, green, bladder-like creature, whose whole
body has been converted into a musical instrument; there is, in fact, a
complete key-board on each flank. Using its trochanter as a plectrum,
this insect makes weird music, which can be heard at a considerable
distance. The youngster who had brought these quaint creatures
received, in addition to the ordinary currency of dates, a special
reward of three pence. The nearest shop where these could be spent was
at Port Nolloth, upwards of a hundred miles away. This reckless
liberality on my part was fraught with seriously embarrassing
consequences. The _pneumora_ is colloquially known as the "ghoonya."
At length we made a start. Andries was so amused at the details of my
caravan that he almost became apoplectic. I felt sure that the regard
my old friend had for me was often mitigated by doubts as to my sanity.
The outlook of Andries was limited; however, he possessed the saving
grace of a sense of humour.
Our course lay along the western side of the long, diminishing spur
which almost connects the T'Oums range with the river, its
compass-bearing being north-east by north. Fauna, the elder of the two
ladies, was ordered to devote her attention to collecting zoological
specimens. She was given a strong metal receptacle half filled with
methylated spirits in which corrosive sublimate had been dissolved. In
this she had to souse her trove of lizards, scorpions, centipedes and
such snakes as were not too large. She also carried a cyanide bottle in
which to immolate beetles and other insects. Flora was entrusted with a
portfolio and directed to gather botanical specimens. She wandered far
afield, gleaning the arid pastures. Fauna begged hard for permission to
accompany her, but this I sternly refused. I was positive that--in
spite of my solemn warnings on the subject--as soon as these women had
got out of sight they would have drunk the poisoned spirit. If this had
happened, the Raad might have hanged me. I realised what a dangerous
precedent I had established in tacitly approving of the punishment
inflicted on Lothario. Whilst Fauna carried that tank, she should not
stir from my side.
We passed over some broken country and then reached a more or less level
plateau, which seemed to extend almost to the river. Anon we crossed
the ancient bed of what had once been a tributary river. It was as dry
as the Bone-Valley of Ezekiel. Yet undoubtedly water had flowed
therein, continuously, and that not so very long before. The course was
full of deep, water-rounded drift. It was this kind of thing that
brought home to one the circumstance that a great change in the
direction of aridity must have taken place in South Africa within a
comparatively short period. It was clear that not long previously this
valley had carried a constantly-flowing stream,--one that took its
source from the great T'Oums range. The latter, not more than ten miles
away, was now arid as a heap of cinders.
As we approached the river the naked and enormous ramparts of the Great
Namaqualand Mountains came more and more into evidence. They seemed to
spring sheer from the narrow strip of forest at the water side. From a
distance the upper strata appeared to be of black basalt. The purple
mystery which so richly filled their vast chasms was a feast to the eye.
In the middle of the afternoon we reached the river. It was at
half-flood. In the mass, the water looked muddy, but one could see the
bottom of a pannikin filled with it, and the taste was delicious. The
lovely, dark-green fringe of forest--generally continuous on both sides,
but occasionally adorning one only--was soothing to gaze on. We rested
for a while, and then took our course along the left-hand curve of the
sickle-bend,--thus trending more to the north-westward. The way was
extremely rough. When it was practicable to keep close to the river
bank we made good progress, but now and then were obliged to recede for
the purpose of avoiding rocky bluffs. Then our experiences were
purgatorial, for we had to plunge into and climb out of a succession of
deep, sand-choked clefts. On the southern bank of the river there was
comparatively little forest.
Just about sundown we reached a wide terrace of stone below a cliff, and
close to the water's edge, so we decided to camp there for the night.
The only game we had seen was a covey of pheasants; of these I managed
to bag three. I also shot two monkeys in the forest. I felt like a
murderer in consequence,--but my followers had to be fed. They had had
little or no opportunity of gathering "veld-kost."
I examined the collections of Flora and Fauna and carefully took
possession of the tank of poisoned spirit. The spoil did not amount to
very much. The most interesting item was a locust--very like those
which occasionally over-run the Cape Colony, and do such enormous
damage. It was, however, clearly a separate species, being larger and
lighter in colour than the much-dreaded migratory insect.
Soon after we halted three boys approached along our trail, each
carrying something with great care. They drew near, and with an air of
conscious virtue, deposited their offerings at my feet.
One had brought a small, elongated, circular basket made of rushes, with
the top carefully closed. I opened this and found it full of green,
bladdery ghoonyas. There were dozens and dozens of them, squirming and
crawling over one another. The next boy carried a rusty, battered
nail-keg. This, likewise, contained ghoonyas. The third boy had
denuded himself of his goatskin and tied a bunch in it, big enough to
hold a moderate plum-pudding. This, too, was full of ghoonyas--green
and bladdery, alive and squirming. The situation had got beyond me;
words could not express my over-wrought feelings.
The _pneumoras_--several hundred of them--impatient after their long
confinement and irritated at having been shaken about on the journey,
climbed out of their respective prisons and began crawling about over
the face of the rock, endeavouring to escape. The three boys, aided by
Flora and Fauna, shepherded them back with twigs plucked for the
occasion. I searched the remotest fastnesses of memory for a precedent
to guide me, but could find none. Hendrick and the others looked on
gravely. Had anyone laughed, murder would most likely have been
committed. By my direction the shepherding operations were suspended
and the ghoonyas fully restored to liberty.
Obviously, something had to be done. So as soon as my feelings were
sufficiently under control I called up the interpreter and made a
speech. I declared with emphasis that I did not want these ghoonyas;
that I had been anxious to secure only a few specimens--half-a-dozen at
most, but that I really and truly did not require or desire any more.
However (and here is where I made a blunder) as that lot of insects had
been collected on my behalf in good faith, I would reward the collectors
to the extent of three pence each, plus a few dates. The gifts were
joyfully accepted and the boys departed.
My enjoyment of the evening was largely spoilt by tarantulas. Hundreds
of these, attracted by the light of the fire, came out from among the
rocks and ran fearlessly among us. However, I managed to relish my
supper of roast pheasant; while my followers indulged in a
semi-cannibalistic repast of barbecued monkey. Then I lit my pipe, took
my kaross and sought for a suitable couch some distance away. After
lying down I felt something crawling on my neck; I sprang up, imagining
it to be a tarantula, but it turned out to be only a ghoonya.
Dawn broke deliciously. The chanting falcons swooped from their
cliff-eyries, and filled the morning with wild music. A swim in the
swirling current would be a joy. I gave Hendrick my clothes in a bundle
and sent him with them along the bank to a rocky point about a quarter
of a mile down stream. I entered the water, swimming carefully while
near the bank, for fear of snags. The current carried me luxuriously
away. I emerged at the spot where my clothes were, and returned to camp
for breakfast. All hands were foraging for "veld-kost" among the
kopjes. Soon they returned, laden with strange vegetable spoil.
The previous day had been unusually cool, but that morning opened with a
breath from the Kalihari,--the definite and unalterable promise of
severe heat. This would last until the sea-breeze reached us, late in
the afternoon. We marched along the river bank, admiring the towering
bluffs that glowed in the sunshine and then allowing our eyes to sink
down and drink refreshment from the delicious greenery of the forest.
We were now well round the eastern section of the bend, and were
travelling almost due west. More pheasants and monkeys fell to my gun.
An army on the march must levy tribute on the territory it passes
through.
The character of the country somewhat changed as the river curved
southward. On the northern side of the river the mountains were not
quite so high; on the southern, they now sprang steeply from the river
bed. Here and there, under the overhanging edges of the higher
terraces, we noticed caves. A murmur stole up the gorge and waxed as we
advanced. It came from the steep and tortuous foaming rapids where the
mighty chasm remade itself for a space. Here the river was as though
flung like a ringlet among the menacing ranges.
But in view of the fact that we had not been able to make quite as much
headway as I had anticipated, I regretfully felt constrained to leave
the vicinity of the river for a time and take a course across some very
rough country behind the south-western bluffs. We could not get from
the guides an assurance of being able to make our way down through the
tortuous gorge.
We soon reached a large, broken plateau, on which several small flocks
of goats were grazing. Later, we found some scherms occupied by human
beings. These rudimentary dwellings consisted of a few bushes piled,
crescent-wise, against the wind. A rush mat, its position being altered
with the changing hours, afforded shelter from the sun. Rain falls so
seldom that it is not taken into account in the architecture of the
Richtersveld. The dwellers in these scherms were of the same
ill-favoured type as my guides. They were filled with curiosity as to
the object of my expedition. But curiosity paled in the joy of
receiving a little tobacco. And I found I could still spare a few dates
for the children.
In one of the scherms was a newly-born baby, a girl. It weirdly
resembled a hairless, light-yellow monkey. I made the mother very happy
by presenting her with a shilling and my only pocket-handkerchief,--a
red bandana. The shilling judiciously invested at compound interest,
might provide the youngster with a dowry.
After a long, monotonous and extremely hot walk, we got beyond the
convoluted gorge and once more began to descend towards the river. We
now had a view of the level coast desert--or would have had if the
landscape had not been to a great extent shrouded in fog. The river had
widened and apparently become deeper. After its plunge into the abyss
at Aughrabies, its struggle for many hundred miles through the depths of
the black, torrid gorge,--it advanced with silent, stately, deliberate
stride to rejoin the ocean--the mother that gave it birth.
The landscape ahead had completely altered its character. On the
northern side of the river it was still mountainous, but the mountains
had receded somewhat, and they rapidly decreased in height to the
westward. On the southern side the mountain range came to an abrupt
ending. Rounded hillocks emerged here and there from the plain which,
as it approached the coast, was carpeted with patches of white,
slowly-drifting fog. This made the detail difficult to appraise.
We descended the flank of the last really high mountain, intending to
rest just below the lordly gate of the immense labyrinth from which we
had emerged,--from the threshold of which the mist-shrouded plains
extend to the Atlantic. For when the hot winds of the desert stream
over the cold antarctic current that washes this coast, they draw up
moisture which is blown back landward in the form of vapour. Herein
lies the explanation of the circumstance that the coast desert is
occasionally, for months at a time, densely shrouded in mist.
There--before the mountain gate--where the wearied water glided away in
thankful silence from the last of the thunderous rapids that vexed its
course,--was one of the favourite resorts of the only remaining school
of sea-cows on that side of Africa, south of the tropical line. Of all
the myriad hosts of wonderful wild creatures that until lately populated
these desert plains and mountains, only this one school of hippopotami
and a few hundred springbuck survive. I could hardly hope to find the
sea-cows--at all events while daylight lasted; it would suffice if at
night I might listen to their snorting and blowing--to the rustling in
the reed-brakes as the huge creatures emerged from the water in search
of food. These sounds would bring back memories of days long past--of
adventures in other pastures of South Africa's rich and varied
wonderland.
Before the sun had set we camped in a sandy hollow, a few hundred yards
from the river's bank. There were no rocks in the immediate vicinity so
we hoped to escape the usual plague of tarantulas. After a long,
luxurious swim in the placid river, I returned to examine the
collections of Flora and Fauna. The latter had been permitted to wander
afield that day. The number of centipedes, scorpions and miscellaneous
reptiles which had been soused in the poisoned spirit was so great that
I no longer feared her attempting to sample it as a beverage. The
harvest was more rich and interesting than usual. Flora had found a
gorgeous stapelia with a more than ordinarily atrocious smell, and Fauna
had captured a beetle infested with a most extraordinary parasite; also
a small, speckled toad--a novelty, I thought--and a scorpion which, when
stretched out, measured eight and a half inches. Well done, Fauna!
Hendrick had roasted a pheasant to a turn. I was savagely hungry; just
as I was about to begin eating I noticed some people approaching along
our trail. These comprised a man, two women and several children. I
was filled with foreboding. The strangers approached, each carrying
something with carefulness. They set offerings before me. These
consisted of ghoonyas, and nothing else.
What did these people take me for; did they suppose I lived on a ghoonya
diet--that I fed my caravan on ghoonya soup? Was I to have the
extinction of an innocent species of orthoptera on my already burthened
conscience; or would the result of all this be the adoption of the
ghoonya as the totem of the Richtersveld Tribe? Those unlucky
threepenny pieces,--my unfortunate enthusiasm over the first specimens--
these seemed to have set the whole of the local population on the
hunting trail for ghoonyas. Anger gave way to despair. I spoke a few
words of appeal to Hendrick, seized my fragrant pheasant and hurriedly
made for the open veld. When I returned, half an hour later, the
ghoonyas and the strangers had disappeared. I never enquired as to how
Hendrick had disposed of them.
After darkness had fallen I took my kaross and strolled down to the
water's edge. There I spent some peaceful, contemplative hours waiting
for the sea-cows which, however, did not come. Then, with a contented
heart I welcomed the touch of the wing of sleep upon my eyelids, and
turned over to compose my tired thews for recuperative repose against
the fatigues of the morrow.
Just before dawn I woke up cold and very damp. A thick fog had rolled
in with the westerly breeze. My kaross was soaked through. So dense
was the vapour that I had to wait, shivering, until it was broad
daylight before attempting to find my way back to the camp. Even then I
had to bend down and trace, step by step, my spoor of the previous
night.
Hendrick, who brought no blanket, cowered miserably over a few
inadequate embers. He was wet through. The fuel collected when we
camped had been all consumed. The candle-bush--that boon to travellers
in Bushmanland--does not grow in the coast desert. I roused up the
guides and ordered them out for fatigue duty in the form of collecting
firewood. They attempted to shift the responsibility to Flora and
Fauna, but I sternly repudiated this. The men, one and all, had to turn
out. Flora was young; she could accompany them, but the venerable Fauna
might, if she so desired, stay behind and keep the fading embers alive.
I assigned to her a duty--she had to become a fog-horn for the occasion.
She was ordered to shout at intervals and continuously bang one of our
two tin pannikins on our only tin plate. This would prevent any members
of the scattered contingent getting lost. So dense was the fog that
objects were invisible at the distance of a yard.
Soon we had a roaring fire. As we would reach Arris that afternoon, I
used up all the remaining coffee in a general treat. Hendrick's
pannikin was the only one available for use in the distribution of the
precious fluid, so after regaling Fauna first and then Flora, the four
men drew lots to determine who was to drink next. The last man claimed
the grounds as his perquisite. His claim was disputed, but after
carefully weighing the circumstances, I decided in his favour.
Soon the wind dropped and the mist thinned out. We made a start and,
after walking for about an hour, reached a camp. It comprised an
ancient wagon of the wooden-axle type, a mat-house and a small
goat-kraal full of stock. The establishment belonged to the most
well-to-do man in the Richtersveld. He was pointed out to me as such
sitting among the members of the Raad. I then noticed that he wore a
good pair of breeches and an air of prosperity. This man was the local
representative of Capital. He was the possessor of a pony--a creature
hardly as big as a middling-sized donkey.
I enquired about game. Yes, there were springbuck in the vicinity--not
more than two or three miles from the camp, and not far from out of our
course to Arris. They were said to be comparatively tame. Probably
they had acquired a contempt for the Richtersveld guns, which, I
fancied, were of an antiquated type.
I hired the pony for the day. My principal reason for doing this was to
save my boots, which were rapidly wearing out. Flora, Fauna and Flora's
husband were loaded up with the baggage and sent on to Arris. Hendrick,
the three remaining guides, the Capitalist owner of the pony and I went
to look for the springbuck.
Our course lay south-west. The fog had receded but not disappeared; it
hung more or less thickly over the plains before us. But it lifted and
fell in a most peculiar way; slow undulations, and graceful, deliberate
eddies played along its indefinite fringe. Soon we noticed game spoor.
Yes,--the Capitalist was right. But how large the spoor was; it
suggested blesbuck rather than springbuck.
What was that looming through the fog-fringe? It looked almost as large
as a cow. But the brown stripe and the lyre-formed horns shewed up
clearly every now and then; the creature was indubitably a springbuck.
It was not more than two hundred yards away. I supposed it was the
changing drift of vapour that distorted and magnified the animal.
However, I fired and it fell.
When we approached the struggling creature I gazed upon it with
astonishment; it was so immense. Why, it must have been nearly twice as
large as the springbuck of the desert. I asked the Capitalist if this
were not an extraordinary specimen. No, he said, all the bucks in the
vicinity were about as large. Then I recalled having read in Francis
Galton's book that he shot a springbuck weighing a hundred and sixty
pounds near Walfish Bay. These Richtersveld bucks,--so the Capitalist
informed me, do not trek. They must belong to a distinct sub-species,--
the range of which is restricted to the Coast Desert.
As we wandered on towards Arris, the fog-curtain kept ascending and
again settling down. But it did not lift to any great extent; one could
never see farther than from three to four hundred yards ahead. I shot
three more bucks; all were of the same type. One young animal, with
horns not more than a hands-breadth long, which I shot by mistake when
the fog was more than usually thick, was larger than the ordinary buck
of the inland desert. I presented one of the four bucks to the
Capitalist; he hid it among some bushes, intending to pick it up as he
returned from Arris with the pony. The other three carcases we took on
with us. I meant to cut one up and divide it among the guides. It
would not have done to have left the carcase to be dismembered on the
return journey; these people were so jealous of each other that a fight
would surely have resulted.
We reached Arris late in the afternoon. I learnt that some people had
been there with ghoonyas, but Fauna so terrified them with a description
of my wrath on the occasion of the last gatherers turning up, that they
fled. To prevent misunderstanding it had better be explained that Arris
is not a city--not even a hamlet. It is merely a place where, in
specially favourable seasons, a few of the Richtersvelders sojourn with
their goats. The locality is usually known by another name; one that is
more realistic than refined.
Andries had rather chafed under the delay. Not knowing that springbuck
were to be found in the vicinity he undertook the suggested expedition
to the mouth of the Orange River, but turned back on account of the
dense fog. However, he saw what I should dearly love to have seen: a
troop of those wild horses which roam over that section of the desert.
He had been walking along the river shore about ten miles from here when
the fog partially lifted. Within about two hundred yards of him he saw
eight shaggy horses with long, flowing manes and tails. They at once
plunged into the water and swam out to the celebrated islands--that
forest-covered archipelago which there enriches the river's widened
course. I much regretted having missed that sight. Descended as they
are from tame animals which escaped from man's control, these horses are
as wild as the oryx. They have so far evaded capture by invariably
taking to the water when pursued, and seeking refuge in the extensive
island labyrinth. Long may they continue to do so.
The hour had now arrived for disbanding my corps of guides. I think I
may truthfully say that we parted with genuine mutual esteem. The
carcase of one of the springbuck had been dismembered and divided by lot
among the faithful six. Pay had been distributed; likewise tobacco. I
delivered a valedictory address.
With evident reluctance these people picked up their portions of meat
and prepared to depart. Fauna apparently desired to communicate with me
privately; she stood apart and gazed with appeal in her eyes. I went to
her; she asked in a low, nervous voice--speaking in much-broken Dutch--
if I would not send her some of the medicine made from the reptiles and
insects which had been collected.
At length I caught the drift of her meaning: she thought I was about to
prepare from these ingredients some philtre that would bring back
vanished youth. Truly, the mind of man is one when the crust of
convention is pierced. This poor old creature, like Ponce de Leon,
dreamt of Bimini and longed for a return of the thrilling ecstasies of
life's morning. It cut me to the heart to have to shatter the fabric of
her dream.
We decided to start for home on the following morning. I was sorry not
to be able to visit the Orange River mouth and its flamingo-haunted
dunes--the Vigita Magna of the old geographers. Strange, that I should
again have had to miss it when only a few miles away. But I was really
pressed for time; other duties insistently called me hundreds of miles
thence. Nevertheless, had it not been for the fog, I would have
expended another day. But the fog towards the coast was denser than
ever, and there did not appear to be any reasonable likelihood of its
clearing. So I would forego the barren privilege of being able to say
that I had actually visited Vigita Magna.
Our homeward course lay more to the westward, for we travelled along the
coast until close to Port Nolloth. We found fresh water at various
spots, trickling out of sand hummocks in the immediate vicinity of the
sea. We had a comparatively easy journey, for there were no steep,
rocky ridges to cross.