MISCELLANEOUS HUNTING--SUDDEN CALL FOR HELP--THE LADIES
BESIEGED BY AN AFRICAN CHIEF--FOREIGNERS' MAGIC.
"Shall we call on the ladies to-morrow to ask how they are, or wait
until we hear from them?" Harry asked.
"Oh, we'll call on them, of course," responded Jack.
"I think," said I, "that we'll do neither. We won't disturb them by
a call, and we won't neglect them by waiting till they send to us."
"Then what do you propose to do?"
"That's very simple," said I: "we'll send our manager over to ask how
they are, and if it would please them to have a call from us."
"You're a diplomat of the first water," said Jack, "and have mistaken
your vocation. Instead of hunting big game in South Africa, you
should be representing your country in a foreign capital, where
difficult questions are often arising."
I thanked him for the compliment, and explained that my desires did
not run in that direction. I had been offered a diplomatic
appointment, which I declined, partly because I had no taste for the
life, and partly in consequence of the feeling that I was not fully
adequate to the duties of the position. "And speaking of diplomacy,"
I added, "shall we do any hunting this afternoon?"
As I asked this question Mirogo appeared at the door of our tent and
announced a herd of elephants--a small herd--about two miles to the
eastward.
"There's the answer to your question." said Harry, as he rose from
the table and reached for his rifle.
"Yes, that's the answer," said Jack; "no necessity for any further
talking."
In a few minutes we were off for the chase, which I will not
describe, as it would be a practical repetition of previous
elephant-hunts. We each bagged an animal, and all three were good
ones--that is, they had good tusks.
The next day we sent our manager to the ladies' camp. He returned
with the report that our friends were pretty well recovered from the
shock they had received during the buffalo-chase, and with the
statement, by way of postscript, that they would be pleased to see us
at any time when we chose to call. They did not think they would go
out hunting for the next two or three days, and if we made a visit
within that time we would be pretty sure to find them at home.
Needless to say, we made it in our way to call there the next day.
We were intending to pursue the buffaloes, and had a cold luncheon
with us; but they pressed us so hard that we remained to luncheon,
and, in fact, remained so late that we postponed our buffalo-hunt
until the following day.
We remained in that region a fortnight and more, dividing our time
between hunting the various kinds of game which abounded there,
calling every few days at the ladies' camp, and receiving occasional
prearranged visits from Mrs. Roberts and Miss Boland about
luncheon-time. Needless to say, we became well acquainted, and the
acquaintance ripened into friendship, and, in certain quarters, into
love. We arranged that the next time we made a move we would go in
company and form our camps more nearly together.
I had a large map of South Africa--the best I could find in
Durban--and we studied it a good deal to determine where we would
next go. We also obtained all the information possible from the
natives; but such information, except as concerned the immediate
neighborhood, was never reliable and always exaggerated. If you ask
a question of a Kafir or a Zulu, and he knows the correct answer, he
may possibly give it to you; if he does not know it he will give you
the first that his imagination suggests, and he generally endeavors
to make it of a pleasing character.
We had about made up our minds to trek for three or four days in an
easterly direction; the natives reported an abundance of game there,
and their report was confirmed by some of our own people, whom we
sent out on a scouting-expedition. They saw several herds of
elephants and buffaloes; and as for the divers members of the
antelope family, they answered the Irishman's description of the
absentee landlords of Ireland: "The country was full of 'em." The
question was not fully decided, but was to be at the next meeting of
our friends and ourselves.
On the morning of the day when we were to take luncheon together and
decide the question, the after-rider of the ladies' expedition came
into our camp in great haste with a note, which he brought to me. It
was addressed to all three of us by our surnames only, and had
evidently been written in great haste. It said, briefly:
"Please come immediately, and bring your Winchesters. We are in
peril."
The only signature to the letter was that of Mrs. Roberts. Needless
to say, "there was mounting in hot haste," to use the words of Byron,
and we went off at a brisk canter in the direction of our friends.
As we neared their camp we saw that it was surrounded by two or three
hundred negroes, armed with spears and equipped with shields. Our
hearts rose in our mouths, as we feared that our fair friends were
prisoners in the hands of the natives.
"What shall we do," said Jack--"ride up slowly and parley with them,
or send in our after-rider [who accompanied us] and find out what the
trouble is?"
"No," I answered, "we'll ride right in among them, straight up to the
wagon and the tent. We'll find out from those who can best tell us."
"Yes, that's the best way," said Harry; "no use parleying with these
fellows, or they'll think we're afraid of them."
We rode right on to the kraal, straight up to the wagon and the tent.
The natives pushed up against us, and we pushed them vigorously
aside, dismounting instantly and giving the reins of our horses to
the after-rider. It is proper to say that he was well armed and
ready for his share of the fighting in case any occurred.
The manager of the camp came out as we dismounted, pushing his way
with some difficulty through the crowd. As I caught sight of him I
said:
"Tell the ladies we are here."
He disappeared, returned in a moment, and said they wished us to walk
into the tent.
We did not wait for a second invitation, but proceeded there at once.
Mrs. Roberts came to the door of the tent and shook our hands
convulsively one after the other, repeating several times, "I'm so
glad you've come! I'm so glad you've come!"
"What is the matter?" we all asked in a breath.
"The matter is just this," she replied: "Macatese, the chief who owns
this land, came here early this morning and demanded to see us. We
were both in bed at the time, and sent word to him that he could not
be received. He sent back that his time was precious---as if the
time of these natives ever amounted to anything--and he could not
wait. We answered that he could see us as soon as we were dressed,
and not before. He threatened to come into our tent, and our manager
told him he would certainly be shot if he did so, and that any of his
followers who invaded our tent would be killed. That seemed to
frighten him, and he concluded to wait.
"We dressed as quickly as we could, and then received him. He said
we had come into his lands without permission. We told him we didn't
know that any permission was required, but if we had violated any of
his rules we were willing to pay whatever damage was proper. Then he
said that we need not pay anything, but he wanted us at his kraal--he
wanted some white wives. His people had reported that two white
women were hunting in his territory, and he had decided they must be
his wives and form a part of his household."
The three of us stood open-mouthed with astonishment, but only for a
moment; I broke the silence by asking where the chief was at that
moment.
"He's in the other tent, with two of his followers, the fore-looper,
who is acting as interpreter, and Miss Boland. He has been trying
all his powers of persuasion to induce us to become his wives; he
promises that we shall have authority over all others, and be the
queens of the land!"
In spite of her indignation Mrs. Roberts could not help laughing when
she reached this point in the story, and I felt a smile endeavoring
to spread itself over my face. The idea of two refined, educated
Englishwomen becoming the wives of an African chief was about as
ridiculous a thing as I ever heard of.
"Realizing our helplessness, we decided to send word to you, and I
wrote the very hasty note that you received."
"We are very glad you did so," I replied, "and I think the best thing
we can do is to interview this African potentate at once. Please
lead the way into the tent where he is."
Mrs. Roberts did as requested, and in a moment we stood in the
presence of the chief, or king, as he was pleased to call himself.
Miss Boland rose and shook us warmly by the hand, with more composure
than Mrs. Roberts had shown when she greeted us. There was reason
for this, however, as she had heard us talking outside the tent, and
had known for several minutes of our arrival.
I had a little acquaintance with the native language, though not a
great deal. It was possible for me to talk in a fragmentary sort of
way, and with the aid of the fore-looper I got along very well with
his majesty; at all events, I made sure that he understood what I
said. My impulse was to begin the conversation very abruptly by
ordering him out of the tent and away from the kraal; but the thought
arose that diplomacy might be better, and so I greeted him as amiably
as was possible for me under the circumstances. He seemed somewhat
disconcerted at our appearance, and this gave me an advantage.
I praised his country and the game that we had found in it, and told
him we were intending to call on him that very day to pay our
_hongo_, or tribute, for hunting in his dominions. He seemed pleased
at the suggestion, and said he would receive us in the afternoon.
I suggested that as his residence was some twelve or fifteen miles
away we might defer our visit till the next day, or possibly the day
after; to which he assented. Then I invited him to come outside the
tent, where I would show him some foreign magic.
The natives all over Africa are great believers in magic, and nowhere
more so than in the region where we were. Everything they do not
understand is at once attributed to supernatural powers, and it is
this belief which has enabled foreigners to penetrate their country
to the extent they have. A watch is regarded as a living thing with
magical powers, and so is every piece of machinery, whether elaborate
or simple. Firearms of all kinds are supposed to be of magical
production, and the more effective they are and the more rapidly
loaded and fired the greater is the amount of magic they contain.
Mrs. Roberts had asked us to bring our Winchesters, with a view to
their rapid use in case of actual fighting; I immediately saw, or
thought I saw, a use for these weapons that she had not counted upon.
After getting Macatese outside the tent, and also outside the kraal,
I called his attention to my rifle, telling him it was the newest
magic of the white man. He looked at it in wonderment, and then
asked me to fire it. His people meanwhile had gathered around us,
and were intently watching the proceedings. There was a large tree
about a hundred yards away, and I indicated that as the mark at which
I would fire; then I drew the weapon to my shoulder, and fired five
shots at the tree as fast as I could pump them out.
The first and second shots did not seem to startle him, as he had
seen double-barreled guns fired before; but the third, fourth, and
fifth shots were what may be termed, in slang, "corkers." A look of
astonishment overspread his face, and if his complexion had permitted
I think he would have turned pale! He was one of the most surprised
Africans I ever saw.
I paused at the fifth shot, intimating to him that I could go on
indefinitely, and then pointed to the weapons of my companions to
show that they were of the same sort and of the same magical powers
as mine. I further told him that we had a hundred such guns in our
wagons (may the Lord forgive me for lying!), and we had a hundred men
who could use them. I also averred that we had other things of much
greater powers than these, and when we visited his kraal we would
exhibit them.