FURTHER EXPERIENCES.
Abd-el-Kader (but not the Emir).--Difficult Road.--Perils of the
Way.--Prospect of Sport.--The First Boar.--The Chasseurs
d'Afrique.--Mine Hostess of the "Scorpion."--Teniet.
In the hope of obtaining some reliable information as to hunting
prospects, I had in the Caid's lieutenant a fine-looking fellow,
rejoicing in the famous name of Abd-el-Kader, though he was no
relation to the renowned chief. He gave a long description of the
capture of a boar, that had been wounded by some Arabs; how he caught
the brute by the hoofs, gagged it, and brought it home alive. Mr.
----, he also informed us, had been surprised, about a month before,
by a lion, as he was returning at dusk from Milianah. There were many
lions in the vicinity, he added; and promised that his friend the Caid
should treat us to a lion-hunt on our return, if we came back this
way.
Then we started, Abd-el-Kader accompanying us to show us a short
way over the mountains to the caravanserai of Oued-el-Massin, where
we were to pass the night, and expected to find our luggage. We
were prepared to find the river very high, and our anticipations were
not deceived. Abd-el-Kader admonished me to wait on the bank while
he went in to try if there was any getting through. He returned and
asked if my horse was good, and if I was willing to follow him. On
receiving my affirmative answer, he told me to fix my eyes on the
opposite shore, and, above all things, to abstain from looking at
the water, which was tearing along at a tremendous rate; if I
neglected his instructions, I should infallibly be carried away and
drowned. I started, and, by dint of spurring, managed to get
across, though my horse plunged up to his shoulder, and at one
moment I thought I was a "gone coon." Abd-el-Kader, the undaunted,
then went back once more for the second horse, which he dragged
across in due time by the bridle. Then he pointed out to us the road
over the mountain to Oued-el-Massin; nor did he think it derogatory to
his dignity to accept a reward for the trouble he had taken on our
behalf.
In spite of the valiant lieutenant's directions, the road was a very
difficult one to find. After wandering about in the forest through a
number of out-of-the-way paths, we managed at last to stumble on an
Arab house or two, where the promise of a supply of powder prevailed
with an Arab, and he piloted us down to the caravanserai, where we
arrived at about six P.M., wet to the skin, and weary with a most
fatiguing day's march. We found our luggage had preceded us by about
half an hour; so we had a change of clothes, and sat down gleefully to
a capital dinner in very comfortable quarters. These caravanserais are
a famous institution. They are built by the French Government for the
convenience of travellers, and are very well organised. Each one is
under the superintendence of a Frenchman, and has one part devoted to
Europeans and another to Arabs. We had an excellent sitting-room and
bed-room to ourselves, and, as may be supposed, were exceedingly
comfortable.
Wednesday, the 14th of March, was ushered in by a pouring rain; and we
received the agreeable intelligence that the river between this and
our next station was perfectly impassable; so we made up our minds to
stay where we were. There was some consolation in the thought that
Joseph, the exceedingly keen horse-dealer at Medea, will not be
entitled to charge extra for the delay to his mules, he having bound
himself, by solemn covenant, to deliver the baggage safely at Teniet
for a certain stipulated sum.
After breakfast I walked into the forest which surrounds the
caravanserai on all sides, and shot two or three brace of red-legged
partridges and a woodcock. I saw the traces of several wild boars;
they were evidently quite recent; also a wretched porcupine the Arabs
had killed.
In the course of the day the Arabs brought in a boar which they had
killed in the morning. They threw the entrails outside the house, and,
during the night, quite an army of jackals came down to devour them.
It was so dark that we could not get a shot at these African
scavengers, though I sallied out once or twice after them.
It rained all night, so that going on was out of the question, from
the swollen state of the river; so I walked off before breakfast, with
Angelo, to an Arab village, about a mile and a half distant, to
inquire about boars. The promise of some powder brought out the
inhabitants; and, after a little banter and chaffing, they agreed to
meet me after breakfast, and to show me one of those animals. So I
returned to the caravanserai to breakfast, and then, with my friend,
rode back to the Arab huts. We left our horses at the village, and
proceeded to climb a horribly steep hill in company with some of the
natives, to whom I had promised tobacco-money, on condition of being
brought face to face with a boar. After some tremendously steep
climbing, we came upon a number of recent tracks, one of which B----
followed with his Arab, while I remained in another gorge. Presently I
heard a shot fired, about a mile off; and, on returning to where the
horses were tethered, I found that B---- and his Arab had succeeded in
discovering a boar. The Arab had fired at the brute at twenty paces,
but missed his aim. It was now past five o'clock, so we returned to
the caravanserai to dinner. Some Chasseurs d'Afrique had arrived in
the interim. Their captain joined us in our room, and promised us an
escort for the morrow. He was from Boulogne-sur-Mer, and spoke English
pretty well. He told us we should have to start at six in the morning
to cross the river.
Accordingly, next morning the Frenchman set out at six o'clock with
his troops and traps, leaving a dragoon behind as an escort for us,
but with the important qualification that the man might only stay one
hour behind the rest, as he must be present on the arrival of the
troop at Teniet. "_Et maintenant_," quoth this bold warrior, "_je vais
me servir d'un peu de votre tabac, s'il vous plait, car je vois que
votre blague est bien garni;_" and, filling his pipe, he vanished,
with a polite "_Au revoir, messieurs_!"
Feeling too tired to rise at seven for the sake of escort, especially
as we had not a very long journey before us, I remained comfortably
for breakfast, and B---- started alone. After a good meal, I set out
with Angelo, and we forced our way through a densely-wooded country,
till we came upon the obstacle which had lost us two days--the river
Klebah. This stream we managed with some difficulty to cross; a
Frenchman, who emerged from the auberge on the other side, assisting
us, by his advice, as to the best spot to choose for our passage.
B---- and the trooper had just finished breakfast in the auberge, and
departed. The landlady of the "Scorpion," a very chatty and amusing
personage, insisted upon it that I was a German. She favoured me with
a sporting anecdote, setting forth how she had killed three rabbits
during an expedition to pick some rose laurier on the hills. As the
bunnies popped their noses out of their holes, she had managed to pop
them off with the branches. As this was the only house to be met with
on that day's journey, I halted there for half an hour. Mine hostess
related how an "English milord" had stayed there for six months with
his wife, in a tent, without even a servant--"_Qu'ils sont droles ces
Anglais!_" was the landlady's final comment; and it was not for me to
contradict the oft-repeated sentiment.
Through a mountainous and most barren country, amid a pelting
snow-storm, we wended onwards to Teniet. In my way from El Massin to
the "Scorpion," I might almost have knocked over several partridges
with my whip, so close did they come; but here there were none to be
seen, nor was there any cover that might shelter them. At a miserable
auberge called "_les Cedres_," I found B----.
The fort at Teniet is a fine edifice, in a commanding position. I went
up and left my letter of introduction for Captain Camatte, who gave us
very small hope of sport. He did not seem very keen on the subject,
and advised us to try some other place, offering to give us
recommendations, &c. I returned to a most miserable room, where we
could hardly sit, so much were we annoyed by the smoke from the fire;
we could scarcely decide which was hardest to bear, the smoke within,
or the cold without. With a hearty laugh at the absurdity of coming to
such a place as Teniet in search of game, and with a determination to
set out on our return the next day, we betook ourselves to an early
bed.