sleepless night to many. Even the Caffres, notwithstanding their
greased and ochre-coated skins, suffered the same, every now and then
one or other taking a plunge into the river by way of soothing the
irritation.
Joyously all hailed the return of daylight, which chased the persecutors
away. And they were merry again over the morgen-maal, which they ate
before leaving the landing-place. Nor was their hilarity less, after
they had parted from moorings, and were once more in mid-stream, moving
onwards. The delight of yesterday's downward glide, with its many
pleasant incidents, led them to anticipate the same all along.
A disappointment it proved, as with most other matters of too sanguine
expectation. For a few miles farther the current carried them smoothly
as on the day before, and they made good way. But then things began to
change, the stream becoming wider with a slower flow. This, they could
see, was constantly decreasing, and at length ended in complete
stagnation, as though the water were dammed up below.
Now, for the first time, had they to take to oars and poling, the poles
serving best in such shallow water. For they found it to be less than a
fathom's depth, and still getting shallower as they pushed onward. But
they had not much farther onward to go, nor could they. Another mile or
so and the rafts, all three, became grounded. Just what Jan Van Dorn
had been for some time apprehending--_the river was run out_!
CHAPTER NINETEEN.
A CONGREGATION OF CROCODILES.
Yes; the river had run out, or, to speak more correctly, run in,
underground. Its channel was there extending on ahead of them, a belt
of silver-white sand, hollow in the centre, and with a bordering of
brown, withered reeds. But no water in it; not a drop, nor the sign of
such, far as they could see, though commanding a view of it to more than
a mile's distance. For they were looking down an Omaramba, a river's
bed, in which water flows only in the season of inundation, at other
times sinking into the earth, to filter away underneath. To the
Vee-Boers the thing was neither strange nor new. In their migrations
they had met the like before, and ofttimes; for a stream periodically
dried up is no rare phenomenon in Southern Africa, nor indeed in other
parts of the world. The same occurs in Asia, notably in Australia, as
also in both divisions of the American continent. Nor is it unknown in
the eastern countries of Europe, by the Black and Caspian Seas.
To our voyagers, then, it was less a surprise than vexation--indeed,
bitter disappointment. All the time spent in the construction of the
rafts, all their labour lost, to say nought of the helpless, hopeless
situation they were now placed in!
But was it so helpless or hopeless? That remained to be seen;
fortunately so, else they might have despaired indeed. They did not
yet, nor could they, till the question had answer--
"How far does the dried-up channel extend?"
To determine this was, of course, the next step, with little else
thought of, till it was determined. An exploring party, with Smutz to
conduct it, was at once landed from the rafts, and set off down the
sandy strip. Going in all haste they were soon lost to view among the
reeds and bushes at its lower end. Then their reappearance was looked
for with eagerness, gradually becoming anxiety as time passed. For the
longer they were out of sight, the greater should be the distance to
running water again, if such were to be found at all.
They were gone above two hours, which looked bad. But on return, as
they drew near, an expression was visible on their faces, which
betokened the contrary. The report they brought was that the stream,
with abundance of water, issued forth again about five miles below.
This was as favourable as Jan Van Dorn had expected, and, in concert
with the other baases, he had conceived a plan, now to be acted on. The
rafts were to be taken apart, and, with their lading, transported
overland piecemeal. Their lading had been already put ashore, as river,
or no river, they could be of no further service there. But they would
be below, as much as ever, and it was only a question of portage.
The work was at once set about, the huge structures dismembered, beam by
beam, and dragged out on the dry strand. Then a stream of carriers
commenced moving along the track where water had once streamed, each
with a koker-boom log on his shoulders, that seemed as though it would
crush him under its weight. With their naked, bronzed bodies, they
looked like so many Atlases bearing worlds, though, in reality, their
loads were of the lightest.
Down the omaramba went they, and up again, to and fro, till the last
beam had been transported from water to water, with oars, poles, ropes,
and all the other paraphernalia, the cargoes being conveyed in like
manner. It took time though; all the remainder of that day, and the
forenoon of the following, while another day and a half were consumed in
the reconstruction of the rafts. An easy task it was, compared with the
original building of them, the place of everything being now known,
deck-timbers with their attachments, steering gear, the fixing of the
cabins and sheds, even to the stowage of the goods and chattels.
On the morning of the fourth day, all was ready for re-embarking, which
commenced as soon as breakfast had been eaten. Then off again started
the flotilla, water-horses, and everything as before. But not as before
carried along by the current, since there was none.
Nor in its absence did the rafters see anything amiss. The place of
their re-embarkation was at the inner and upper end of a narrow leit,
which widened abruptly below. Once down there, they would find the
stream flowing, and get into its current. So supposed they, while
pulling and poling on.
Soon, however, to be undeceived, and sadly. After passing the point
where the leit terminated, they still found no flow; instead, the water
stagnant as in a tan-pit. It stretched before them in a sheet of
smooth, unrippled surface, nearly a mile in length, with a width of two
or three hundred yards, again narrowing at the lower end, where it
entered among trees. On each side it was bordered by a ribbon of sandy
beach, which would have been white, but for an array of dark forms that
lay thickly over it, giving it a mottled or striated appearance. The
sun had not yet dissipated the film which hung over the water, and, seen
through this, they might have been mistaken for trunks of trees,
stranded when the stream was in flood.
But the Vee-Boers knew better; knew them to be living creatures--the
most repulsive of all in the world of animated nature--for they were
crocodiles. Of different sizes were they: from ten or twelve feet in
length to twice as long; the larger ones having bodies thick as an
ordinary barrel; their bulk, too, exaggerated by the magnifying effect
of the mist.
There would have been nothing in that, nor their presence there, to
cause surprise, but for their numbers. All along the stream, crocodiles
had been observed at intervals, basking on the banks, sometimes three or
four together. But here were so many hundreds, the strip of beach on
both shores literally black with them. They were in all attitudes, some
lying flat and at full stretch, others with heads erect and jaws wide
apart; still others holding the tail high in air with a turn back
towards the body, or laid in crescent curve along the surface of the
sand. But all motionless, the only movement observable among them being
made by birds of the insect--eating species, a number of which sate
perched on their shoulders, every now and then flittering off to catch
flies that swarmed around the reptiles, alighting on their foul,
ill-odoured skins.
Although an astounding and fear-inspiring spectacle, they upon the rafts
were, in a manner, prepared for it. On the nights preceding they had
heard loud noises below, as the bellowing of a hundred bulls, knowing
them to be caused by crocodiles, and only wondering that there were so
many in one place. Now seeing the reptiles themselves their wonder was
undiminished, with no clearer comprehension of why they were thus
congregated.
Nor learnt they the reason till later on, no time being then allowed
them to think of it; for scarce had the rafts emerged from the narrow
leit when the birds, sighting them, rose up into the air, uttering
shrill cries of alarm.
On the saurians the effect was instantaneous. Hitherto motionless, and
many of them asleep, all became at once active; their activity displayed
by a quick uprising on their short, thick legs, and a hurried crawl for
the water. It was their place of safety, as instinct admonished them,
and the rafters supposed they were but retreating from an enemy yet
unknown to them. Soon to be undeceived, and find it was no retreat, but
an intended attack, themselves the object of it! For although the
crocodiles on plunging in, went under, and were for a time out of sight,
they came to the surface again, now nearer the rafts, a line on either
side of them. In threatening attitude too, heads raised on high, jaws
opening and closing with a snap, grunting and roaring, while, with their
powerful muscular tails in violent vibration, they whipped the water
into foam.
There was consternation, with quick scampering among the riders of the
water-horses, who had been gaily skirmishing about, as was usual with
them at the start off. Never did sailors bathing beside a becalmed ship
make quicker on board at the cry "Shark!" than made they to get upon the
rafts.
With loud cries of alarm, one and all together darted towards these, and
swarmed up, leaving the koker-logs to bob about below, or drift away
wherever the surge might carry them. Nor were the rafters themselves
without fear, but rushed affrightedly about, the women and children
shrieking in chorus. Even some of the men felt dismay at the fierce
bearing of the crocodiles, an incident altogether unexpected and new to
them. Its very novelty made it the more alarming, from its cause being
a mystery. But there was no time to speculate upon causes; the reptiles
were still advancing in menace, and steps needed taking to repel them.
Fire was at once opened on them, broadsides from both beams, and the
firing kept up, hot and fast as the guns could be loaded again. Shot
after shot, and volley after volley was poured upon them, till the rafts
became shrouded in smoke, and the water around red with the blood of the
dead and wounded reptiles, that for a time seemed insensible to fear.
But at length it got the better of them; and, seeing nigh a dozen of
their number writhing in death throes, at last all turned tail, going
down to the bottom and staying there.
Continuing to ply poles and oars, the rafters reached the lower end of
the water sheet without encountering another crocodile, or even seeing
one. There to get explanation of what had so puzzled them, by _finding
the river again run out_!
CHAPTER TWENTY.
THE KARL-KOP.
So was it; the water, once more gone underground, sank into the sand,
just as above. Even worse than above, as regarded navigation, for an
exploring party sent forward, returned to report the channel dry to a
distance of at least ten miles, twice as far as before.
This made still more intelligible the great congregation of crocodiles.
They were the denizens of nigh twenty miles of the stream's length,
driven, by a long-continued drought, into such close companionship.
Crowded together, as frogs in a pond, they had devoured every fish,
every living thing dammed up along with them in the sheet of stagnant
water, and were famishing. Hence their hostility and fearlessness of
man, due as much to hunger, as to any natural ferocity.
But the Vee-Boers thought no more about them now. Enough was there to
occupy their minds in this second obstruction that had arisen, and which
vexed them more than the first, their leader far more--to him a very
chagrin--as he reflected on his want of forethought. He should not have
been satisfied with such a short, careless reconnaissance, but examined
the omaramba to the farthest end, wherever that might be. Resolved to
act with more prudence in this second exploration, he had taken charge
of it himself, nor turned back, till assured of the stream's re-issue
and onward flow without any other interruption.
This assurance had been obtained by discovering that the sandy tract
they were traversing was but a belt of some ten or twelve leagues in
breadth, beyond which the nature of the country was different, the
surface-soil being firm and clayey. Rivers running over a bed of clay
do not go underground, and there was no fear of a third obstruction, at
least of that special kind. These facts were not all ascertained in a
few hours, nor yet in a single day. Two, and part of a third, were
spent in the exploration.
While it was in progress, those left behind had remained inactive, as
there was nothing for them to do. Should there be no more stream, there
could be no further navigation, and again taking the rafts to pieces
would be so much labour lost. In this uncertainty, even their lading
was left undisturbed; only such chattels carried on shore as were needed
for a camp of temporary occupation. Nor did any of the people, white or
coloured, elect to sleep on land, having by this time discovered the be
a better place. Upon it they were less exposed to the torture of
mosquitoes, to avoid which, the rafts were each night drawn out to some
distance from the beach, and there brought to anchor. So shoal was it
all round, they had no difficulty in communicating with the shore
whenever desirable.
It was an interval of great anxiety, full of doubts and apprehensions.
Not all dulness, however, as the monotony of their life was now and then
varied by episodes of a curious kind--scenes and incidents of nature,
such as may be witnessed only in her wild, untrodden domain. One which
occurred on the evening after their arrival was of this character--
indeed, so strange as to test the reader's credulity. Yet is it here
chronicled as a fact, on the authority of trustworthy witnesses, the
adventurers themselves.
It had got to be near sunset; the people all on shore, and seated at the
nacht-maal, when a swishing and crackling among the trees close by,
admonished them of some large quadruped making its way towards the
water. It might be buffalo, rhinoceros, or hippopotamus; but, judging
from the volume of sound, more likely an elephant. And an elephant it
was, as was soon seen; one of the largest size, and a Karl-kop, in other
words, a tuskless bull. Alone was he, which proclaimed him an outcast
from elephantine society--an Ishmaelite in his own land.
All this indicated danger, as they watching him well knew. For the
solitary male elephant is vicious beyond conception, being absolutely
insane, or _musty_ as it is termed in India.
He was approaching the water, presumably to quench his thirst, and in a
few more strides stood upon its edge, not fifty yards from the spot
where the people were sitting, luckily behind some bushes that screened
them from his sight. They were not all seated now, however, as several
of the young Boers had sprung upon their feet, and were hastening to get
hold of their guns. Some already had them in hand, but delayed opening
fire, a word from baas Rynwald restraining them. A caution it was in
view of the risk to be run. For, should they fail to kill the bull at
once, and only wound and infuriate him, then would they all be at his
mercy. Besides, he was only a Karl-kop, an aged one, and not worth
powder and ball. These admonitions were spoken in a whisper, nor was
there any noise made otherwise, lest the elephant should hear and strike
off in retreat, or, what was just as likely, charge into their midst.
But the caution was acted upon, and not a shot fired; instead, silence
preserved by one and all, so profound that the rustling of a leaf might
have been heard from afar. There was not a breath of air stirring at
the time, and the water was still and smooth as a mirror.
By this the old bull had entered it, and they now saw that something
besides thirst had brought him thither. He drank, too, till satisfied,
his first performance. After which, wading a stride or two farther in,
he proceeded to give himself a shower-bath, drawing the water into his
trunk, and blowing it out again upwards, so that it fell over his back
in spray as from a whale-spout. For some five minutes had he been thus
sprinkling himself, when he was seen all at once to start, pluck his
proboscis out of the water, and, uttering a cry as of rage and pain,
wheel back towards the beach.
What the cause of this unexpected demonstration was, the spectators
could not tell. Amid the eddies he had raised, with floating froth and
bubbles, nothing was observable to explain it. And the Karl-kop himself
seemed equally ignorant of it, for, on reaching dry land, he faced round
again, and stood regarding the spot he had so abruptly abandoned with a
puzzled, mystified air.
Only for a few seconds stood he thus, when his little eyes began to
sparkle with a peculiar intelligence, his ears giving indication of the
same by a satisfied flap or two, as much as to say, "Now I know what did
it." Then, as if determined to have his bath out, he strode back into
the water, till nearly knee-deep, and once more plunged his proboscis
underneath. But his design was all different, as the spectators were
soon made aware by seeing a ripple on the surface of the water, a moving
furrow as from the dorsal fin of a shark, but which they knew to be
caused by a crocodile. And a crocodile it was; one of small size, not
over six or seven feet in length. But surely the same that had made a
snap at the elephant's trunk, inflicting a wound which, though slight,
was enough to account for that angry scream, with the action
accompanying.
Many tales have been told of the sagacity of elephants, and many
instances recorded, truthful too. But, perhaps, never one affording
better proof of it, and certainly none stranger, than that the Vee-Boers
were witnesses of there and then. Standing still, with trunk partly
submerged, the great pachyderm kept the long, flexible feeler in
constant, but gentle oscillation, playing its tip horizontally from side
to side, as an angler his fly, or mock-minnow.
The bait took almost instantly. Scarce a minute had elapsed, ere the
crocodile, drawing close up, under the surface, cautiously, made a
second attempt to seize it. This time to get seized itself, and jerked
out of the water, as if it had been but a sprat. Then the elephant
again facing shoreward, strode out, still holding it in his trunk with
octopus-like clasp, more than one lap of the gristly tube being around
it. High in air was the reptile raised, to be hoisted yet higher, as
soon as the Karl-kop set foot on land.
For it was tossed up into a tree, and fell in a fork between two
branches, elastic boughs, that, closing upon it, held it as in a vice,
despite all its writhings and wrigglings!
The spectators affirm that the elephant flung it into that particular
crotch, with a foreknowledge of the result, though I myself rather think
that the deposition was a thing of chance.
From that high eminence the ugly creature never came down, though a
bullet, afterwards sent into it in mercy, brought its struggles to an
end.
But before this, the Karl-kop had been permitted so depart in peace,
without a shot fired at him, young Boers and all now desirous that he
should go unscathed. Recalling the scare which the crocodiles had given
them, they looked upon him in the light of an ally and avenger. So that
without seeing, or having any suspicion of the danger so near him, he
went away back upon the same spoor, to continue his lonely life and
wanderings.
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.
AFLOAT ON THE LIMPOPO.
A broad river coursing eastward for the Indian Ocean, nearly in the
latitude of the Tropic of Capricorn. Drifting down it is a large raft,
with many people upon it, and that which, seen from a distance, might be
taken for three trek-waggons. On nearer view, however, these are
discovered to be but waggon--tilts, supported on upright posts instead
of wheels. Needless to say, they are the same which have been all along
sheltering our party of migrating Boers, and the river the Limpopo;
while the large raft is a composite structure of the three small ones
lashed and braced together, with some additional timbers to give it
greater size and strength. The original beams of koker-boom had been
carried across the second portage, put together as before, and brought
on down the branch stream, without encountering any other interruption.
On reaching its mouth, however, it was deemed better to continue the
voyage with the three united in one, and the union has been made. In
the new arrangement the waggon-tilts still hold position on the
quarter-deck, side by side and parallel to one another; while only one
of the steering-oars--the central one--is retained. The sheds are also
re-erected on the fore-deck, with the cargo collected into one pile, and
instead of three fire-hearths, a single one now serves for all. With
the thermometer often at 100 degrees in the shade it is not there for
warmth, but culinary needs.
There are still a half-score of the water-horses attached, but now in
tow astern, and with no one bestriding them. Nor have they been much
ridden since that great crocodile scare; all along the branch stream,
thence downward, the reptiles being in such numbers, and so fiercely
disposed, as to make it unsafe. The horses, however, have been retained
to meet certain emergencies, as when quick communication with the banks
may be necessary or desirable. But there is now another tender
attached, of quite a different kind; a canoe full twenty feet in length,
with a beam's breadth of about five, capable of holding a crew of eight
or ten. It is of the "dug-out" pattern, hollowed from a single trunk,
the handicraft of the Imacobas.
All this occupied time, more than a fortnight having been spent in the
work of remodelling and reconstruction, the scene of operations being
inside the embouchure of the tributary. During that period the people
were, of course, compelled to live on land, and there passing sleepless
nights, through the torment of mosquitoes, they are glad to get out upon
the bosom of the broad river, where but few of these persecutors will
follow them [Note 1].