[Illustration: Cover art]
[Frontispiece: HE SAW ME AND CHARGED. Page 29. Frontispiece.]
[Illustration: Title page]
HUNTERS THREE
SPORT AND ADVENTURE IN SOUTH AFRICA
BY
THOMAS W. KNOX
AUTHOR OF "THE BOY TRAVELLERS," ETC.
ILLUSTRATED BY WILLIAM M. CARY
NEW YORK
E. P. DUTTON AND COMPANY
31 WEST TWENTY-THIRD STREET
1895
Copyright, 1895,
BY E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY.
INTRODUCTION
For the last fifty years or more South Africa has been an attractive
field for the hunter in search of large game. Along in the middle of
the century it was the paradise of the sportsman, as the readers of
hunting-stories of that time can well understand; as time has gone on
the game has steadily diminished, and the hunter of to-day makes but
a poor record in comparison with Cumming, Andersson, and other men of
the early times. But even at present South Africa is not without
attractions for the hunter, though he can never hope for successes
like those which have been mentioned.
The customary methods of hunting in South Africa were, and still are,
for the hunter to outfit in one of the principal towns along the
coast or in the interior, equipping himself with wagons, oxen, and
horses, and hiring the necessary number of people to accompany him in
a journey up-country. The lading of the wagons consists of
provisions and ammunition for the hunter's use, together with various
kinds of goods to be used as presents or for trading-purposes among
the natives. As fast as the provisions are consumed and the goods
are used up, the wagons are loaded with the ivory of elephants and
the skins of other beasts, such as can be sold in the outfitting
market. The party will be absent from the point of outfitting all
the way from four months to a year or more, depending upon the luck
of the hunter in the slaughter of game, and also upon the
preservation of his oxen and horses. Not infrequently he meets with
disaster, his animals dying in the wilderness and leaving him without
motive power for his wagons. In such an event he must act according
to his judgment; sometimes he may leave his property in the care of a
friendly chief, but if no such personage can be found he must destroy
the fruits of his expedition. It is a rule all through Africa never
to abandon goods and allow them to fall into the hands of the
natives. If goods must be left behind, the true African traveler
always sets fire to them, or in some other way renders them worthless.
Down to quite recently it was the custom for hunting-parties of from
two to five or six men to club together, buy an outfit, and go
up-country on a hunting-expedition. If they are fairly successful
the sale of the ivory and skins obtained on the expedition will cover
all the expenses of it, and frequently leave a liberal profit to be
divided at the end of the tour. It was an expedition of this sort
which brought together the heroes of our story, "Hunters Three," and
we will leave the reader to ascertain by perusal of the narrative the
various adventures through which these young men passed.
And it was a similar expedition, though made with less expectation of
profit, that went out from Walvisch Bay to give two British women a
chance at the big game of South Africa. Somehow the steps of these
two expeditions trended in the same direction, and led to their
meeting as detailed in the opening chapters of the narrative. That
somebody should fall in love with somebody else as a result of the
meeting was naturally to be expected. Love exists in South Africa
quite as much as in more civilized lands, and love-making can be
pursued in the haunts of the elephant and buffalo just as readily as
in the gilded parlors of fashionable life. In justification of this
assertion this narrative of sport and love in South Africa is
submitted to the reader for his instruction and amusement.
T.W.K.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
Breakfast Interrupted--Chasing a Big Tusker
CHAPTER II.
Surprised--A Woman Hunting Elephants--Jack's Hippopotamus
CHAPTER III.
A Question of Etiquette--The Fair Hunter Discussed--Lions Visit Us at
Night
CHAPTER IV:
Narrow Escape from a Buffalo--A Divergent Excursion
CHAPTER V.
After Buffaloes and Elands--A Fortunate Snap-shot--Another Hunter's
Game
CHAPTER VI.
A Disputed Prize--Rule of African Hunting--Mrs. Roberts
CHAPTER VII.
Stalking a Koodoo--Harry and Jack among Elands--Caught in a Pitfall
CHAPTER VIII.
African Horse-sickness--Two Narrow Escapes in Elephant-hunting--Jack
and his Horse
CHAPTER IX.
A Morning Call in South Africa--Ladies at Home--How Miss Boland
Killed a Lion
CHAPTER X.
An Invitation Accepted--Another Buffalo--Preparing Luncheon in Style
CHAPTER XI.
Ice-Making in Africa--A Hunters' Luncheon--After Gemsbok Again
CHAPTER XII.
Another Elephant--A Misfortune--Harry's Luck
CHAPTER XIII.
Harry's Shot--His Tracker's Predicament--After Hippopotami--Elephants
Again
CHAPTER XIV.
Hunting Giraffes--Novel Mode of Capture--A Big Snake
CHAPTER XV.
How the Serpent was Captured--Hospitable Reception--Mystery of a
Donkey
CHAPTER XVI.
Snake Cutlets and Stews--Miss Boland Stalks a Giraffe--Oxen for
Hunting-purposes
CHAPTER XVII.
Mrs. Roberts Kills a Giraffe--Hunting the Rhinoceros--Miss Boland
Secures a Pet
CHAPTER XVIII.
Transporting a Young Rhinoceros--Harry and Jack in Love--Animal
Intelligence--Jack's Boat
CHAPTER XIX.
Two Narrow Escapes from Crocodiles--Stalking Elands with Lions in
Company--Good Record for an Afternoon
CHAPTER XX.
An Alarm--The Ladies Missing--What Happened to Them--The Rescue
CHAPTER XXI.
Rescuing the Ladies from Lions--On the Way to Camp--Fight with a
Rogue Elephant
CHAPTER XXII.
Hunting Hippos and Crocodiles--The Ladies Missing Again--Conjectures
as to their Fate
CHAPTER XXIII.
The Rescuing-party--A Startling Discovery--Caught in a Cloudburst
CHAPTER XXIV.
Unpleasant Company--Rescuing the Castaways--Shooting Lions at
Night--Miss Boland's Menagerie
CHAPTER XXV.
Ladies Hunting Hippos--Miss Boland Overboard among the
Crocodiles--Discussing a Change of Base
CHAPTER XXVI.
Change Of Base--Crossing the River--Runaway Oxen--New Hunting-ground
CHAPTER XXVII.
The Ladies Chased by a Herd of Buffaloes--How their Lives were
Saved--In Camp Again--Stories of Buffalo Adventure
CHAPTER XXVIII.
Miscellaneous Hunting--Sudden Call for Help--The Ladies Besieged by
an African Chief--Foreigners' Magic
CHAPTER XXIX.
How We Deceived the King--Solving a Matrimonial Puzzle--Inspan and
Move South--Overtaken
CHAPTER XXX.
The Last Hunt--Three Proposals--"Still Waters Run Deep"--The End
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
He Saw Me and Charged ... Frontispiece
Round and Round the Tree We Went
The Boar was Followed by a Spring
How the Serpent was Captured
Miss Boland Shoots Two Giraffes
My Escape from the Crocodiles
The Lions and the Elands
The Escape of the Ladies from the Lions
Hippopotamus-hunt
Turning the Charge of the Buffaloes
HUNTERS THREE.
CHAPTER I.
BREAKFAST INTERRUPTED--CHASING A BIG TUSKER.
We were just going inside the tent, Harry, Jack, and I, to eat our
frugal breakfast, when we saw one of our natives coming at a rapid
run. He waved his hand as he approached, and shouted:
"Tembo, Bwana!"
Rendered into English, this means, "Elephants, master!" and the
announcement of elephants put the thought of breakfast out of our
heads.
The man came to a halt in front of us, and explained, in a mixture of
English, Cape Dutch, and two or three native languages, that he had
discovered a troop of elephants a little more than a mile from our
camp. There were ten or twelve of them, he thought, and among them
were at least three or four large tuskers.
"All right," said I. "Let's go to breakfast, boys, and then go after
the elephants. They'll keep, and the breakfast won't, nor will we
keep, either, without it."
So we went to the tent and speedily made way with what the cook had
prepared. It was a modest repast, consisting of coffee, with plenty
of sugar and no milk, and some steaks of hartbeest broiled over the
coals of a thorn-bush fire. For bread we had what the English
colonist calls damper--dough made of flour and water, and baked in a
Dutch oven. Very good bread can be made in this way, but not by the
ordinary Hottentot cook, such as one engages for an African
hunting-expedition.
We disposed of our breakfast with a rapidity that would have done
honor to a railway-station where the train halts ten minutes for
refreshments. In considerably less than ten minutes we had finished
breakfast and were getting our rifles ready for business.
We took our heaviest rifles, as the game was of a kind to require a
liberal amount of lead to bring it down. My elephant-gun carried six
bullets to the pound; it was a breech-loader of the Remington
pattern, and of a weight proportioned to its caliber. A trusty negro
boy carried it for me, and his instructions were to keep close at my
heels wherever I went, whenever we were out on a hunting-expedition.
Jack and Harry had a similar equipment, except that their rifles
carried eight bullets to the pound, and consequently had a little
less penetrating power than my own. Each of us had a supply of
explosive bullets, in addition to the solid ones, and in the course
of this narrative the reader will learn how these explosive bullets
were used.
When a party goes out on a hunting-expedition there is always a risk
that somebody will shoot somebody else; elephant and buffalo hunting
is nearly always conducted among trees or bushes, very rarely in open
ground, and where parties are within gunshot of one another it is
impossible always to avoid accidents, even with the greatest care.
For this reason it was our custom to scatter about a good deal, first
ascertaining the position of the game, and the direction in which it
would be likely to run when disturbed.
Mirogo, my native tracker, who had discovered the troop of elephants,
said they were in a little piece of forest adjoining a swamp on the
banks of the Luranga River. As he described the forest we made out
that it was not more than forty or fifty acres in extent, while the
swamp was much larger. After some discussion it was arranged that
Harry should make a circuitous course to the farther side of the
forest, Jack was to remain on the hither side, while Frank (that is
my name) would penetrate the wooded ground and literally stir up the
animals, getting the most effective shot that he could while so doing.
It was necessary to be very careful about giving the elephants our
wind; if they once got scent of us they would be off in a hurry.
Fortune favored us in this respect, as the wind blew directly across
the forest toward the point where we reached it. Consequently the
animals were not likely to scent us, provided neither Harry nor Jack
proceeded too far along their respective sides of the lair of the
elephants.
I sat down and waited while Harry and Jack were reaching their
positions, and during my waiting spell I listened intently for a
sound of the animals. Now and then the breeze brought to my ears the
crashing of the limbs and trees, and the low trumpetings of the
elephants as they called to one another while taking their morning
feed. It was evident they had not been alarmed and were totally
unaware of the danger that threatened them.
When I had allowed a sufficient time, as I thought, for my friends to
reach their stations, I proceeded cautiously into the forest,
preceded by Mirogo, the tracker, and closely followed by Kalil, my
gun-bearer.
We advanced in the direction of the sound of the crashing of limbs,
keeping carefully up the wind; and when within two or three hundred
yards, as nearly as I could judge, of the elephants, I took
possession of my gun and cartridge-belt, and told Kalil to stand by
with more cartridges ready to give me in case I needed them.
The ground was difficult to march over, as it was covered with
creeping vines that every moment threatened to trip me up, and would
most certainly do so in case I were trying to run from an enraged
elephant. The elephant can crash through these creepers and
undergrowth with the greatest ease; at all events, they do not seem
to impede him in the least when he is pursuing the man who has fired
at him and failed to bring him down. Should the man fall under such
circumstances his life is not worth the value of a pin; he is
trampled out of all semblance to humanity, and sometimes the
infuriated beast will stand over him for an hour or more, long after
life is extinct, trumpeting and bellowing, and renewing his assaults
upon the shapeless remains of his adversary.
Lest the reader might suppose that this statement is a flight of
fancy let me tell what happened to my friend M----, only a few months
before the time of which I am writing. M---- and I were hunting on
one of the tributaries of the Zambesi, and had bagged a goodly
quantity of large game. I was one ahead of M---- on the score of
elephants, and the time was approaching for us to break camp and
return to the Boer country, whence we had started on our expedition.
One morning two elephants were reported not very far from our camp,
and I suggested to M---- that he had better go out and shoot one in
order to bring his account even with mine, and I added, jocularly,
"If you can shoot them both I'll divide with you and keep our scores
just equal. I don't want you to beat me and be able to boast about
it after we get back to civilization."
"Oh, I'll take care of both of them," M---- answered, "and bring in a
buffalo or two in addition."
Off he started with his tracker and gun-bearer, while I went out on
the plain to the south of us, in the hope of bagging a koodoo or a
gemsbok. I was gone until noon, or a little later.
When I came back to camp there was no one there but the cook, and two
of the men, who were guarding the oxen. The cook told me that
something terrible had happened to Mr. M----, and the rest of the men
had gone out to where he had been hunting elephants.
I followed immediately, and found that poor M---- had shot at an
elephant, but did not succeed in hitting him vitally. The animal
fell to the ground, but was up again in a moment, so the tracker
said. He wheeled about with wonderful quickness, considering his
size and apparent awkwardness, and made straight for his assailant.
M---- started to run and reach the shelter of the nearest tree; his
foot caught in a creeping vine, and he fell prostrate. In a moment
the elephant was upon him, pounding the unfortunate man with his
trunk, trampling him underfoot, and impaling him with his tusks. The
tracker watched him from the nearest shelter, but could do nothing.
The elephant remained by the side of his victim for at least half an
hour, when, hearing a trumpet-call from his companion, he moved away
into the forest.
We brought M----'s body to the camp, and buried it with all the
ceremony which our situation permitted. I at once gave orders for
inspanning the oxen and starting on our homeward journey, and a sad
journey it was, you may well believe.
But I am wandering from the thread of my story. I took the gun from
the hands of Kalil, and crept cautiously along in the direction of
the elephants. I must have been sixty yards away when I spied the
back of one rising among the bushes; an enormous back it was, fully
nine feet from the ground, but it was no use shooting at that part of
the animal, and I withheld my fire. There are only a few places
where you can hit an elephant and kill him at the first shot: one is
directly in the center of the forehead, where the skull is a little
thinner than elsewhere; another is between the eye and ear; and the
third is in the vicinity of the heart, just back of the foreshoulder.
If you hit him anywhere else he may travel some time carrying your
lead, even though the body is penetrated from side to side; and if
you hit him on the skull or any other bony place where your bullet
glances off, the principal result of your shot is to enrage him.
Mindful of all this, I watched and waited for a suitable chance, and
in a little while I had it.
The elephant fed slowly along, and, fortunately for me, though not
for him, he fed in my direction. He broke through the clump of
bushes where he was feeding, and gave me a full view of his head,
broadside on. I took aim between his eye and ear, and I took careful
aim, you may be sure. Then I fired, and heard plainly the thud of
the bullet as it reached its mark.
The smoke hung about me, and for half a minute or so I could not see
in any direction. That is a nuisance in shooting in an African
forest, and especially in a swampy one. The air is so damp that the
smoke does not quickly clear away, and the hunter is often left in
doubt at a very critical moment.
And it was a critical moment in this case: the elephant fell to the
ground as the result of my shot, and I felt that my prize was secure;
but as the smoke cleared away he rose to his feet again, and charged
directly toward where I stood. I do not think I was over fifty yards
from him when I fired, and therefore he had but a short distance to
come. He ran and I ran; but in the meantime I had got a fresh
cartridge from my belt and shoved it into the gun. I kept my eye on
a large tree a little to the right of my position, and made for that
tree with the greatest speed of which I was capable, taking care to
avoid catching my feet in any of the creeping vines. A man can
easily dodge an elephant around a large tree; the animal is so bulky
and unwieldy that he cannot turn and twist as rapidly as a man can,
and in this respect the biped has the advantage over the quadruped.
I was almost paralyzed with astonishment--of course I will not say
fear--when I saw the bulk of the creature I had shot at, and his
immense tusks. I knew it was a case of life and death, and he was
not likely to give up his pursuit of me in a hurry. At the same time
I felt that I had planted the bullet in an effective spot, and could
not altogether understand why he was up again after having fallen.
But there was no chance for theorizing; he was up, certainly, and
after me, and that is all there was about it.
[Illustration: ROUND AND ROUND THE TREE WE WENT.]
Round and round the tree we went, perhaps half a dozen times. He had
his mouth open and trunk uplifted, and I watched for a chance to give
him another shot. Shooting was difficult under the circumstances; a
man on a dead run around a tree is unable to aim a gun with any
accuracy, and, furthermore, there are not many vulnerable points
about an elephant, as I have already shown. The only thing I could
do was to fire into his mouth, but that was not likely to do any good.
The French have a saying that it is the unexpected which always
happens; so it was with me and the elephant.
Suddenly there came the sound of the trumpet-call of another
elephant. My pursuer stopped an instant to listen, turning his head
to one side. As he did so I gave him another bullet, directly in the
spot where I sent the first one. He quivered, staggered for a
moment, and fell, dead!