"Well, major, what are your orders for the day?" asked Tom Brown one
fine morning after breakfast, while they were enjoying their usual pipe
under the shade of a large umbrageous tree.
"You'd better try the river that we have just come to," said the major.
"Do you think me amphibious, that you should always assign me that
work?" asked Tom.
"Not exactly, Tom, but I know you are fond of telling fibs, and perhaps
the amphibious animals may afford you some scope in that way. At all
events they are capable of such astonishing feats that if you merely
relate the truth about them you will be sure to get credit in England
for telling fibs--like poor Mungo Park, who was laughed at all his life
for a notorious drawer of the long-bow, although there never was a more
truthful man."
"People won't judge _us_ so harshly, major," said Wilkins; "for so many
African travellers have corroborated Mungo Park's stories that the truth
is pretty well known and believed by people of average education. But
pray is it your lordship's pleasure that I should accompany Tom? You
know he cannot take care of himself, and no one of the party can act so
powerfully as a check on his inveterate propensity to inordinate smoking
as myself."
"You must have studied Johnson's dictionary very closely in your
boyhood," said Tom, puffing a prolonged cloud as a termination to the
sentence.
"But, major, if you do condemn me to his company, please let us have
Mafuta again, for Wilkins and I are like two uncongenial stones, and he
acts as lime to keep us together."
"Don't you think that Hicks had better be consulted before we make
arrangements?" suggested Pearson.
"Hear, hear," cried Ogilvie; "and I should like to know what is to be
done with Brand and Anson, for they are both very much down with fever
of some sort this morning."
"Leave Jumbo with them," said Tom Brown; "he's better at nursing than
hunting. By the way, was it not he who nursed the native that died last
night in the kraal?"
"It was, and they say he killed the poor nigger by careless treatment,"
said Pearson.
"What nigger do you refer to?" asked Ogilvie.
"The one who died--but, I forgot, you were out after that hyena when it
happened, and so I suppose have not heard of it," said Pearson. "We had
a funeral in the village over there last night, and they say that our
fellow Jumbo, who it seems was once a friend of the sick man, offered to
sit up with him last night. There is a rumour that he was an enemy of
Jumbo's, and that our cowardly scoundrel made this offer in order to
have an opportunity of killing him in a quiet way. Hicks even goes the
length of saying he is sure that Jumbo killed him, for when he saw the
sick man last he was under the impression what he had got the turn, and
gave him a powder that would have been certain to cure--"
"Or kill," interrupted Tom Brown; "I've no faith in Hicks's skill as a
practitioner."
"Of course not," said Wilkins, "proverbial philosophy asserts and
requires that doctors should disagree."
"Be that as it may," continued Pearson, "the native did die and was
buried, so that's an end of him, and yonder sits Jumbo eating his
breakfast at the camp-fire as if he had done a most virtuous action.
The fact is, I don't believe the reports. I cannot believe that poor
Jumbo, coward though he is, would be guilty of such an act."
"Perhaps not," said the major, rising, "but there's no possibility of
settling the question now, and here comes Hicks, so I'll go and make
arrangements with him about the day's proceedings."
"They have a primitive mode of conducting funerals here," said Tom Brown
when the major had left. "I happened to be up at the kraal currying
favour with the chief man, for he has the power of bothering us a good
deal if he chooses, and I observed what they did with this same dead
man. I saw that he was very low as I passed the hut where he lay, and
stopped to look on. His breath was very short, and presently he fell
into what either might have been a profound sleep, or a swoon, or death;
I could not be quite sure which, not being used to black fellows. I
would have examined the poor man, but the friends kicked up a great row
and shoved me off. Before the breath could have been well out of his
body, they hoisted him up and carried him away to burial. I followed
out of mere curiosity, and found that the lazy rascals had shoved the
body into an ant-eater's hole in order to save the trouble of digging a
grave."
While Tom and his friends were thus conversing over their pipes, their
attention was attracted by a peculiar cry or howl of terror, such as
they had never heard from any animal of those regions. Starting up they
instinctively grasped their guns and looked about them. The utterer of
the cry was soon obvious in the person of Jumbo, who had leaped up
suddenly--overturning his breakfast in the act--and stood gazing before
him with his eyes starting out of their sockets, his teeth rattling
together like a pair of castanets, his limbs quivering, and in fact his
whole person displaying symptoms of the most abject terror of which the
human frame is capable.
The major and Hicks, who stood not far from him, were both unusually
pale in the face, as they gazed motionless before them.
The fixedness of their looks directed the eyes of Tom Brown and his
comrades towards a neighbouring thicket, where they beheld an object
that was well calculated to inspire dread. It appeared to be a living
skeleton covered with a black skin of the most ghastly appearance, and
came staggering towards them like a drunken man. As it drew nearer
Jumbo's limbs trembled more and more violently and his face became of a
leaden blue colour. At last he became desperate, turned round, dashed
right through the embers of the fire, and fled wildly from the spot with
a howl that ended in a shriek of terror.
"No wonder he's terrified," observed Tom Brown to his alarmed comrades;
"I felt more than half certain the nigger was not dead last night, and
now it is beyond question that they had buried him alive. Jumbo
evidently thinks it's his ghost!"
"_Won't_ he give his friend a fright?" said Wilkins, on observing that
the poor man went staggering on in the direction of the kraal.
"He will," said Hicks, laughing; "but they'll make up for their haste by
taking good care of him now. I declare I thought for a moment or two
that it was a real ghost! Come now, gentlemen, if you want good sport
you've got the chance before you to-day. The last party that passed
this way left an old boat on the river. I dare say it won't be very
leaky. Some of you had better take it and go after the 'potimusses.
There's plenty of buffalo and elephants in this region also, and the
natives are anxious to have a dash at them along with you. Divide
yourselves as you choose, and I'll go up to make arrangements with the
old chief."
In accordance with the trader's advice the party was divided. Tom
Brown, Wilkins, and Mafuta, as on a former occasion, determined to stick
together and take to the boat. The others, under the major, went with
Hicks and the natives after elephants.
"Another capital stream," remarked Tom to his companion as they emerged
from the bushes on the banks of a broad river, the surface of which was
dotted here and there with log-like hippopotami, some of which were
floating quietly, while others plunged about in the water.
"Capital!" exclaimed Wilkins, "now for the boat! According to
directions we must walk upstream till we find it."
As they advanced, they came suddenly on one of the largest crocodiles
they had yet seen. It was lying sound asleep on a mud-bank, not
dreaming, doubtless, of the daring bipeds who were about to disturb its
repose.
"Hallo!" exclaimed Wilkins, cocking and levelling his gun, "what a
splendid chance!"
It was indeed a splendid chance, for the brute was twenty feet long at
least; the rugged knobs of its thick hide showed here and there through
a coat of mud with which it was covered, and its partially open jaws
displayed a row of teeth that might have made the lion himself shrink.
The mud had partially dried in the sun, so that the monster, as it lay
sprawling, might have been mistaken for a dead carcass, had not a gentle
motion about the soft parts of his body given evidence of life.
Before Wilkins could pull the trigger, Mafuta seized him by the arm with
a powerful grip.
"Hold on!" he cried with a look of intense anxiety, "what you go do?
Fright all de 'potimus away for dis yer crackodl. Oh fy! go away."
"That's true, Bob," said Tom Brown, who, although he had prepared to
fire in case of need, intended to have allowed his friend to take the
first shot; "'twould be a pity to lose our chance of a sea-cow, which is
good for food, for the sake of a monster which at the best could only
give us a fine specimen-head for a museum, for his entire body is too
big to haul about through the country after us."
Well, be it so, said Wilkins, somewhat disappointed, "but I'm determined
to kick him up anyhow."
Saying this he advanced towards the brute, but again the powerful hand
of Mafuta seized him.
"What you do? want git kill altogidder? You is a fool! (the black had
lost temper a little). Him got nuff strong in hims tail to crack off de
legs of 'oo like stem-pipes. Yis, kom back?"
Wilkins felt a strong tendency to rebel, and the Caffre remonstrated in
so loud a voice that the crocodile awoke with a start, and immediately
convinced the obstinate hunter that he had at least been saved broken
bones by Mafuta, for he never in his life before had seen anything like
the terrific whirl that he gave his tail, as he dashed into the water
some fifteen yards ahead. Almost immediately afterwards he turned
round, and there, floating like a log on the stream, took a cool survey
of the disturbers of his morning's repose!
"It's hard to refuse such an impudent invitation to do one's worst,"
said Wilkins, again raising his gun.
"No, you mustn't," cried Tom Brown, grasping his friend's arm; "come
along, I see the bow of the boat among the rushes not far ahead of us,
and yonder is a hippopotamus, or sea-cow as they call it here, waiting
to be shot."
Without further delay they embarked in the boat, which, though small,
was found to be sufficiently tight, and rowed off towards the spot where
the hippopotamus had been seen. Presently his blunt ungainly head rose
within ten feet of them. Wilkins got such a start that he tripped over
one of the thwarts in trying to take aim, and nearly upset the boat. He
recovered himself, however, in a moment, and fired--sending a ball into
the brute which just touched the brain and stunned it. He then fired
his second barrel, and while he was loading Tom put two more balls into
it. It proved hard to kill, however, for they fired alternately, and
put sixteen bullets--seven to the pound--into different parts of its
head before they succeeded in killing it.
They towed their prize to the shore, intending to land and secure it,
when a calf hippopotamus shoved its blunt nose out of the water close at
hand, gazed stupidly at them and snorted. Tom at once shot it in the
head, and it commenced to bellow lustily. Instantly the mother's head
cleft the surface of the water as she came up to the rescue and rushed
at the boat, the gunwale of which she seized in her mouth and pulled it
under.
"Quick!" shouted Tom, as he fired his second barrel into her ear.
Wilkins did not require to be urged, as the water was flowing into the
boat like a deluge. He delivered both shots into her almost
simultaneously, and induced her to let go! Another shot from Tom in the
back of her neck entered the spine and killed her.
By this time a large band of natives had collected, and were gazing
eagerly on the proceedings. They had come down from the kraal to enjoy
the sport and get some of the meat, of which they are particularly fond.
They were not disappointed in their expectations, for the hippopotami
were very numerous in that place, and the sportsmen shot well. Four
other animals fell before their deadly guns before another hour had
passed, and as the bay was shallow the natives waded in to drag them
ashore.
This was a very amusing scene, because crocodiles were so numerous that
it was only possible for them to accomplish the work safely by entering
the water together in large numbers, with inconceivable noise, yelling
and splashing, in order to scare them away. They would not have
ventured in singly, or in small numbers, on any account whatever; but on
the present occasion, being numerous, they were very courageous, and
joining hands, so as to form a line from the shore to the floating
animals, soon dragged them out.
As the carcasses belonged to Hicks the trader, these black fellows knew
well enough that they were not at liberty to do with them as they
pleased, so they waited as patiently as they could for the glorious
feast which they fondly hoped was in store for them.
When the sportsmen at last landed to look after their game, they found
four fine sea-cows and the calf drawn up on the banks, side by side,
with upwards of a hundred Caffres gazing at them longingly! Nothing
could be more courteous than the behaviour of these savages when Mafuta
cut off such portions as his party required; but no sooner was the
remainder of the spoil handed over to them than there ensued a scene of
indescribable confusion. They rushed at the carcasses like vultures,
with assegais, knives, sticks, and axes, hallooing, bellowing, shoving,
and fighting, in a manner that would have done credit to the wildest of
the wild beasts by which they were surrounded! Yet there was a distinct
sense of justice among them. It was indeed a desperate fight to obtain
possession, but no one attempted to dispossess another of what he had
been fortunate enough to secure. The strongest savages got at the
carcasses first, and cut off large lumps, which they hurled to their
friends outside the struggling circle. These caught the meat thus
thrown, and ran with it, each to a separate heap, on which he deposited
his piece and left it in perfect security.
In order to introduce a little more fair play, however, for the benefit
of the weaker brethren, Mafuta dashed in among them with a terrible
sjambok, or whip, of rhinoceros hide, which he laid about him with
wonderful effect. In a very short time the whole of the meat was
disposed of, not a scrap being left large enough to satisfy the cravings
of the smallest conceivable crocodile that ever dwelt in that river!
The effects of this upon the native mind was immediate and satisfactory.
That night the sportsmen received from the kraal large and gratifying
gifts of eggs, bread, rice, beer, pumpkins, and all the produce of the
land.
But we must not forestall. Before these dainties were enjoyed that
night the other members of the expedition had to come in with the result
of their day's hunt. Let us therefore turn for a little to follow their
footsteps.