A Buffalo Hunt
"Dear old uncle!" said Jack as he handed the letter to Barney. "'Pon
my soul, I'd forgotten my own birthday, and I haven't the ghost of a
notion what the day of the month is; have you, Barney?"
"Divil a bit, sorr."
"Though, of course, I could reckon it out by counting up the Sundays.
D'you know, Barney, I almost wish I'd made these negroes knock off work
one day a week."
"Sure it wouldn't have answered atall atall sorr. A day's idleness
would mean a day's quarrelling. Uv coorse 'tis a pity they're ignorant
haythens, an' I wish we could have Father Mahone out for a month or two
to tache the poor craturs; but until they can be tached in the proper
way, betther let 'em alone, sorr."
"Perhaps you're right, Barney. Doesn't it seem to you odd that Uncle
says nothing about the rubber question? His first letter, you
remember, was full of it."
"Master's a wise man, sorr. What he does not say says more than what
he does. He wouldn't be sure, you see, that his letter would iver
reach you. And bedad, if he'd had good things to say uv the State
officers, wouldn't he have said 'em? He's found 'em out, sorr, 'tis my
belief."
"I shall be jolly glad to see him, dear old boy."
"And so will I, sorr, an' to see some things fit for a Christian to
ate. Master's stomach won't take niggers' food, an' mine wouldn't if I
could help it."
"But you're getting fat, man!"
"Sure that's the terrible pity uv it. Wid dacent food I kept as lean
as a rake, and I'd niver have believed that the only way to get fat was
to ate pig's food; for that's what it is, sorr, this maniac and other
stuff. I'll now be wanting to get thin again, sorr."
The white men's stores had long since given out. For weeks they had
had no sugar, no coffee, tea, or cocoa. Jack as well as Barney had to
share the natives' food. Jack did not mind the change, and he believed
that Barney's objection was more than half feigned, for the Irishman
ate with unfailing appetite. The native diet was indeed nutritious and
not unappetising. It included fish from the streams, which they ate
both fresh and smoked; bananas, pine-apples, plantains, Indian corn,
manioc, ground-nuts, and sweet potatoes. Manioc was their most
important food, and Jack after a time began to like it, as made into
_kwanga_. The root of the plant is pounded to a pulp, soaked for
twenty-four hours in running water, and when it ferments, is worked up
into a stiff dough. Cut into slices and fried in ground-nut oil it is
very palatable. Jack also found the groundnuts delicious when roasted.
A few goats kept in the settlement provided milk, and they had a
regular supply of eggs from their fowls, so that Jack at least
considered himself very well off.
The crops around the settlement ripened and were gathered: fine fields
of Indian corn, amazing quantities of manioc and ground-nuts, that
ripen beneath the soil. Yet Jack began to wonder whether his
plantations would meet the needs of the population. It was still
growing. The renown of Lokolobolo and Ilombekabasi had evidently
spread far and wide, for every week more refugees came in from villages
far apart. Besides the men of Jack's original party, there were now
nearly two hundred people in the settlement, and Jack always had to
remember that these might any day be increased by the four hundred from
Imbono's villages, if Elbel returned to avenge Boloko's expulsion, as
he certainly would do. Further, Mr. Martindale would no doubt bring
back with him a certain number of trained workmen--carpenters,
engine-men, and so forth; all these must be provided with house room
and food. Jack was glad that he had planned the settlement on generous
lines, though as he looked around he asked himself somewhat anxiously
whether it would suffice to accommodate all. And what would his uncle
say to it? Would he endorse what Jack had done, and take upon himself
the protection of these outcasts against their own lawfully
constituted, however unlawfully administered, government? Only time
could decide that, and Jack awaited with growing impatience his uncle's
return.
One morning a messenger came in from Ilola to say that news had reached
Imbono of a herd of buffaloes which were feeding about five miles off
in the open country to the west. Hitherto Jack had not had leisure to
indulge his tastes for sport; but the knowledge that big game was now
so near at hand prompted him to try his luck. Leaving Barney in charge
of the settlement, he set off the same morning with Imbono and Mboyo,
who had both become very fair marksmen, the former with an Albini rifle
that had been Boloko's, the latter with a Mauser presented to him by
Jack.
Samba and Lepoko were in attendance, carrying lunch for the party.
Though Jack had picked up a good deal of the language, he found it in
some respects so extraordinarily difficult that he was always glad of
Lepoko as a stand-by.
By the time they had reached the spot where the herd had first been
sighted, it had moved some distance away; but it was easily tracked,
and by dint of careful stalking up the wind the party got within three
hundred yards without being discovered by the keen-scented beasts.
Then, however, the country became so open that to approach nearer
unseen was impossible, and Jack decided to take a shot at them without
going farther.
He had brought the heavy sporting rifle which had accounted for
Imbono's enemy the hippopotamus in the river. Selecting the largest of
the herd--they were the red buffaloes of the district, a good deal
smaller than the kind he had seen in America--he fired and brought it
down. The others broke away towards a clump of euphorbias, and Jack
got another shot as they disappeared; but neither this nor the
small-bore bullets of the chiefs' rifles appeared to take effect, for
in an instant, as it seemed, the whole remaining herd vanished from
sight.
Jack slipped two more cartridges into his empty chamber, and, leaving
the bush from behind which he had fired, ran towards his kill. It was
his first buffalo, and only those who have known the delight of bagging
their first big game could appreciate his elation and excitement. He
outstripped the rest of his party. The two chiefs, chagrined at their
failure to bring down the animals at which they had aimed, seemed to
have lost all interest in the hunt. Samba left them discussing with
Lepoko the relative merits of their rifles, and hurried on after his
master.
Jack bent over the prostrate body. Despite the tremor of excitement he
had felt as he cocked his rifle he found that his aim had been true:
the buffalo had been shot through the brain. At that moment--so
strange are mental associations--he wished his school chum Tom Ingestre
could have been there. Tom was the keenest sportsman in the school;
how he would envy Jack when he saw the great horns and skull hanging as
a trophy above the mantelpiece when he paid that promised visit to New
York!
But while recollections of "Tiger Tom," as the school had nicknamed
him, were running through his mind, Jack was suddenly startled by a
bellow behind him and a couple of shots. Springing erect, he faced
round towards the sound, to see Samba's dark body darting between
himself and a second buffalo plunging towards him from the direction of
the bushes. As happened once to Stanley travelling between Vivi and
Isangila, the suddenness of the onset for the moment paralysed his
will; he was too young a sportsman to be ready for every emergency.
But the most seasoned hunter could not have dared to fire, for Samba's
body at that instant almost hid the buffalo from view, coming as it did
with lowered head.
The animal was only ten yards away when Samba crossed its track; but
the boy's quick action broke its charge, and it stopped short, as
though half inclined to turn in pursuit of Samba, who had now passed to
its left. Then it again caught sight of Jack and the dead buffalo, and
with another wild bellow dashed forward. In these few instants,
however, Jack had recovered his self-possession, and raised his rifle
to his shoulder. As the beast plunged forward it was met by a bullet
which stretched it inert within a few feet of Jack's earlier victim.
"Bonolu mongo!"[1] exclaimed Jack, clapping Samba on the shoulder.
"But for your plucky dash I should have been knocked over and probably
killed. You saw him coming, eh?"
"Njenaki!"[2] replied Samba, with his beaming smile.
Meanwhile the two chiefs had run up with Lepoko and were examining the
second buffalo, with an air of haste and excitement. They began to
talk at one another so loud and fiercely, and to gesticulate so
violently, that Jack, though he could not make out a word of what they
were saying, saw that a pretty quarrel was working up.
"Now, Lepoko," he said, putting himself between the chiefs and sitting
on the buffalo's head, "what is all this about?"
"Me tell massa," said Lepoko. "Imbono he say he kill ngombo; Mboyo say
no, he kill ngombo; Lepoko say massa kill ngombo; no can tell; me fink
one, two, free hab kill ngombo all same."
"Well, my own opinion is pretty well fixed, but we'll see. Why, there
are three bullet marks in his hide besides mine. That's mine, you see,
that large hole in the middle of the forehead. One of you two must
have hit him twice. And I'm hanged if the bullets didn't go clean
through him. No wonder he was in a rage. Tell them what I say,
Lepoko."
On hearing what Jack had said, the chiefs began to jabber at each other
again.
"Kwa te!" said Jack. "What do they say now, Lepoko?"
"Imbono say he make two holes, Mboyo say no, he make two holes. Lepoko
fink bofe make two holes--how can do uvver way?"
"Two and one make three, my man, not four. I'll soon tell you who made
the two."
By comparing the wounds he found that two of them had been made by
Mauser bullets and one by an Albini.
"There's no doubt about it, Mboyo hit him twice. But to put an end to
your squabble let me tell you that you both might have fired at him all
day and never killed him if you hit him in those parts. Neither of you
did him any damage, though you might have done for me, irritating him
as you did. We'll settle the matter by saying he is Samba's buffalo.
It was Samba who got in his way and gave me time to take good aim at
him. And Samba might have been killed himself. I am grateful to your
son, Mboyo, and proud of him, and when I get back I shall give him one
of the rifles I have left, as a reward."
This end to the controversy satisfied both the chiefs. Neither grudged
Samba anything. As for the boy, he was more than delighted. He had
never dreamt of handling a rifle until he was at least fifteen, when
the negro boy is as old as the white boy of twenty; and to have one his
very own made him enormously proud.
"He say larn shoot one time, massa," said Lepoko. "Lepoko plenty
mislable. What for? 'Cos he shoot plenty well; but massa no tell him
to bring gun. No; Lepoko must lib for talk, talk, talk all time; me no
happy all same."
"You shall have your chance next time. Now, Samba, run off to the camp
and bring some men to cut up the buffaloes. We will wait hereabouts
until you come back."
When Samba had gone it occurred to Jack that he would eat his luncheon
at the summit of a small hill that rose steeply about half a mile from
the spot where the buffaloes had been killed. The chiefs, disinclined
like all Africans for exertion that was avoidable and seemed to have no
object, pointed out that their present situation was quite suited for
having the meal, and they were quite hungry enough without climbing for
an appetite. But Jack persisted. He wished to ascertain whether there
was a clear view from the hill, and though he might have ascended it
alone, he feared lest in his absence the chiefs would again fall out
over the buffalo. With an air of resignation the negroes accompanied
him on the short walk, and luncheon was eaten on the hill-top.
Jack at least felt that he was well rewarded for his climb. A
magnificent panorama was open to his view--a vast extent of forest-clad
country, with here and there strips of open ground such as that below
in which they had discovered the buffaloes. The forest stretched in an
almost unbroken mass of foliage as far as the eye could reach,
approaching on the north-east very close to Imbono's village.
After luncheon Jack got up and walked about the hilltop, taking a
nearer view of the country through his field-glass. Here he caught a
glimpse of the river, a small bluish patch amid the green; there, of a
little spire of smoke rising perhaps from the fire of one of Imbono's
scouts. All at once he halted and stood for some moments gazing
intently in one direction. Far away, across a clearing only just
visible through the trees, something was moving, continuously, in one
direction. So great was the distance that the appearance was as of an
army of ants. But he fancied he detected a patch or two of white amid
the mass of black.
"Mboyo, look here!" he called.
The chief went to his side, and, stretching his head forward, gazed
fixedly at the moving mass.
"Soldiers!" he exclaimed suddenly. "Black soldiers, and white chiefs!
They are going to Ilola."
Imbono sprang to his side.
"It is true," he cried. "Mboyo speaks the truth. They are going to
Ilola!"
Jack drew a deep breath. The long-expected was coming to pass. The
enemy was at hand! And it was ominous that he was coming from the west
by land instead of by river from the south. This must have involved a
detour of many miles, through difficult forest country; but thus the
enemy avoided the certainty of his approach being heralded in advance,
as it would have been if he had come by the river. Elbel was planning
a surprise!
There was no time to be lost in getting ready for his coming.
"Can they reach Ilola to-day, coming through the forest?" Jack asked
Imbono.
It was just possible, replied the chief, but only by dint of very hard
marching, and they could not arrive before nightfall.
"We must get back," said Jack. "Come, my brothers."
They descended the hill, and set off at full speed for Ilombekabasi.
On the way they met a party of men coming under Samba's guidance to
bring in the buffaloes. Jack bade them hasten in their task; they were
far from any probable line of march of the enemy, and the meat might
now prove very valuable. Hurrying on to his camp, Jack told Barney
what he had seen.
"We're in for it now, Barney," he said.
"And we're ready, sorr, praise be!" said Barney.
Jack lost no time. At his request Imbono sent out scouts to get more
exact particulars of the column and its progress, warning them to use
the utmost care to avoid discovery. Imbono himself returned to Ilola
to prepare his people for a migration to Ilombekabasi. Later in the
day the scouts returned with the news that the enemy had pitched their
camp about ten miles away. The force consisted of some two hundred
forest guards armed with rifles, and a much larger number of followers
carrying spears. Boloko was with them, and Elobela, and two other
white men. The line of march had been direct for Ilola, and strict
silence was kept. One of the scouts had seen Elobela himself strike a
man who had incautiously shouted to his comrades.
"There's no doubt of their intentions, Barney," said Jack. "They want
to surprise Ilola. That means a massacre; but by God's mercy we know
in time!"
The inhabitants of Ilola and of Imbono's other villages were already
flocking into the camp, bringing with them large supplies of food and
their principal belongings. Before the sun set the villages were
deserted. Jack was glad now to think that this contingency had been so
long foreseen. It would have been impossible to make adequate
arrangements for so large an additional population if he had waited
until the danger was upon them. As it was, the huts stood ready.
It was a strange and impressive scene as Imbono's people filed in.
They were excited, but not with alarm or fear. Some of them even were
merry, laughing at little mishaps--the dropping of a basket of manioc,
the breaking of a pot, the sprawling of children as Pat dashed in and
out among them, barking as though it was he that was shepherding the
throng. Barney was the master of ceremonies. With Samba's help he
separated the various families, and showed each father the hut or huts
he was to occupy. It was not a wealthy community, and only a few of
the men had more wives than one; but these tried Barney's patience
sorely, and he sighed for Father Mahone to come and tache the haythens
betther manners.
"Only what could he do, if he came?" he said. "Whin a man has been
fool enough to marry two or three wives, faith, I don't see how ye can
alter it unless ye make 'em all widders."
About two miles from the camp there was a spot above the river from
which the clearing and village of Ilola could be seen. An hour before
dawn Jack went out with Samba to this spot and waited. Just after day
had broken they perceived a large body of men rushing out from the
forest towards the village stockade. Through his field-glasses Jack
saw that the negroes were led by two men in white. Imbono, before he
left, had had the gate of Ilola closed and barricaded. The invaders
did not pause to break it down; they swarmed up the stockade and
momentarily hesitated at the top, as though suspecting, from the
silence of the village, that a trap had been laid for them. Then some
of them could be seen dropping down inside; the rest instantly
followed; and Jack smiled as he saw them assemble in little groups in
the deserted compound, gesticulating in their excitement.
A few minutes later dense volumes of smoke rose from the village. The
forest guards had fired the huts, no doubt in their first fury at the
escape of the villagers. Jack could not help thinking that they would
regret their hasty action. If they intended any long stay in the
neighbourhood, the village would have been more useful to them intact
than as a ruin. He had dismantled his own former camp, so that unless
Elbel's men set about building for themselves they would have no
shelter. Their folly only confirmed Jack's belief that they were but a
poorly-disciplined rabble, and that Elbel himself was out of his
element in work of a military kind.
Having learnt all that he wished to know, Jack returned to his camp.
Elbel had clearly not expected the village to be abandoned. Jack
wondered if he had learnt of the formation of the new camp. It seemed
likely that news of it would long since have been carried down the
river. He had apparently planned to wipe out the villagers first and
tackle Jack later.
"Bedad, sorr, if he's any sinse at all he will lave us alone," said
Barney when Jack told him what he had seen.
"I don't expect that. I'm sure he'll use his men against me. He'll
want his revenge, for one thing; and then he has his eye on the gold,
remember. He didn't dig about the cataract for nothing. He'll be glad
of any excuse for attacking, if he sees a fair chance of beating us.
You may depend upon it he knows all that Uncle has been doing, and if
he can manage to drive us out and occupy this ground before Uncle gets
back, it's all up with poor Uncle's claim, Barney. Possession is more
than nine points of the law in this State. If Uncle had known the sort
of things that go on here, he'd have thought twice before spending his
money."
Very soon after Jack regained his camp, Imbono's scouts came in to
report that the enemy was on the move. Before midday the head of the
column was sighted making its way up the stream, this forming on the
whole an easier approach than the rough stony ground on either bank.
There was immense excitement in the camp as the people watched the
advancing crowd. Jack could not but be touched as he observed the
demeanour of the people. A few months before the sight of so many of
the dreaded forest guards would have made them cower in abject fear;
now, so great was their trust in the young Inglesa who had twice
defeated Elobela, and who had prepared for them this fine new village
with its wonderful defences, that they viewed the progress of the enemy
with feelings only of anticipated triumph.
"Please God, I won't fail them," thought Jack.
About half a mile below the cataract the column came to a halt, and
three men in white, attended by half a dozen armed negroes, advanced to
within less than a quarter of a mile of the wall.
"The impident scoundhrels!" quoth Barney, standing at Jack's side.
"They do show a pretty cool trust in our forbearance," said Jack; "we
could pick them off easily enough."
"Begorra, I would, sorr; do they deserve any betther? Elbel was a
deceitful villain--you remimber, sorr, whin he fired under a flag uv
truce at the ould camp. I wouldn't have any more mercy on him than I
would on a rat."
"Yes, you would, Barney. We must play the game, whatever they do. And
I wonder what they're up to. Here comes a man with a white flag. We
shall soon see."
[1] "Brave boy."
[2] "I saw."