_ CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE. NEARLY A WAGGON-WRECK.
There were no temptations to tarry much upon these plains, where there were certainly plenty of antelopes, quagga, and zebras, but little else to interest them. Lions were pretty common, but somehow they did not trouble the travellers much, being pretty well supplied from the herds of antelopes and the like; but the hyaenas proved to be a perfect pest, howling about the cattle-kraal of a night, and harrying the oxen so that they could not rest in peace. Upon two successive nights it was hard work to save the cattle from making a regular stampede, for the poor creatures were so alarmed that they broke down the thorn fence and would have galloped over the plains but for the efforts and voices of their drivers and the Zulus.
So bad did the hyaenas become, that the first moonlight night it was resolved to lie in wait and try and shoot two or three.
The boys were delighted with the idea, but the sole result was the loss of the night's rest, for though they could hear the ugly brutes uttering their dismal howl all round the camp, not one was seen; and Dick at last declared that they were ventriloquists, and lay in a hole and sent their voices all around.
The next day's trekking was very arduous, for the ground was dry and sterile, awkward pieces of rock, each big enough to wreck the waggon, protruding from the sand in all directions. The dryness, too, was excessive, and they seemed to have got into a most terribly sterile tract, which now and then was cut by great deep crevices, which were as if the ground had cracked, each of these cracks being big enough to swallow waggon and team if they had inadvertently gone in.
The poor beasts suffered terribly from thirst; but as evening was coming on, the black clouds gathered, and it soon become evident that before long there would be a perfect deluge of rain.
It was upon them before they knew it, almost literally streaming down, and soaking everything; but in spite of the discomfort it was delightful to see the thirsty oxen stop to drink with avidity from the great pools that the rain soon formed. In fact, the storm was so cooling and refreshing that Chicory seemed to revel in it, his dark skin shining with moisture; and the boys themselves did not seem to mind getting wet; but as the night came on intensely dark, and in addition to the pitiless rain there set in a tremendous thunderstorm, with deafening peals, and vivid lightning cutting the black clouds in all directions, the position of the travellers began to get uncomfortable.
The General promised a good halting-place further on; but the darkness grew so intense that the foremost oxen had to be led, and Mr Rogers, and the General, armed with a long pole, went on in advance.
If they could have halted where they were they would gladly have done so; but it seemed madness to stop in that wretched wilderness, and so they crept slowly on, drenched, depressed, and miserable, the thunder deafening them with its peals, and the lightning seeming to crackle as it fell in jagged lines from the skies.
Even the oxen seemed to participate in the general depression, for they went on very slowly, step by step, as if helping their leaders to find a suitable track, so as not to overturn the waggon against some piece of rock.
Suddenly the General gave a warning cry, one that was echoed by Mr Rogers, and the bullocks were pulled up short just as they touched the leaders.
The warning was needed, for as he felt his way onward with the pole the General had suddenly felt it go down into a rift stretching right across their road; and as it proved to be bottomless as far as he could tell, and went to right and left for some distance, there was nothing to be done but to camp just as they were, and wait through the cold wet night for morning.
It was a pitiless and a bitter night, and those who believe in Africa being a land of intense heat would have felt their preconceived ideas shaken had they sat and shivered in that waggon, through whose double tilt covering the wind seemed to pierce as though it was so much open canvas. Far worse was it beneath, where, sheltering themselves as best they could, the black servants, Dinny, and the Zulus huddled together for mutual warmth. Even the dogs refused to be excluded, and, in spite of Dinny's rather unmerciful kicks, kept crawling under the waggon, till Chicory took pity upon them and curled up in company, forming such a knot that it was hard to make out which was Chicory and which was dog. But the Zulu boy said it was nice and warm, all but one little place where there was no Pompey, and one leg which he couldn't get under Crass.
Fortunately the roar of the elements was sufficient to keep the predatory beasts in their lairs, or they would have had an easy task to seize upon oxen or horses, for it was as impossible in the darkness to find thorns and build a kraal, as it was in the wet to get a fire to burn.
Dick said the night was "as miserable as mizzer," and that Jack got all the blanket; but, like all other things, that miserable night came to an end, and as the sun rose up warm and bright, up sprang the spirits of all with it; and as the steam reeked from the soaked waggon, they turned from it to look with a curious sense of shrinking at the narrow escape they had had.
For where the foremost oxen had been checked, consequent upon the General's warning, there was a great crack right across their path, some twenty feet wide, double that distance deep, and running for several hundred yards right and left.
But for the General's timely warning the whole team would have gone in, dragging after them the waggon, and the horses which were haltered on behind, producing such an awful wreck that the expedition must have stopped; and then there would have been the problem to solve, how should they get back to Natal.
As the sun grew warmer, and a fire had been lighted, food cooked, and a hearty breakfast made, the troubles of the past night were forgotten, and in the best of spirits they went on again, after a detour to avoid the chasm, the moistened earth smelling delicious, and the birds twittering and singing joyously in every tree.
So far they had avoided the kraals or villages of the various peoples of these parts of Africa, but now the General announced that they were at last approaching the big river, where they would have to ask the black king's permission to hunt, and make him a present for his concession.
For in his land there were the giraffe, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, and elephant--huge beasts, the names of which made the boys' pulses throb with excitement.
There were crocodiles too in plenty in the big river, so the General said; and it was there that the river fell.
The idea of seeing the wondrous falls of the Zambesi had long been nurtured in Mr Rogers' heart; and as they had in their many months' journey come so far, he determined that they would if possible reach that part of the river, and see the falls, even if they did not go farther.
There seemed to be no reason why they should not, for every one, thanks to his care and management, was in the best of health, the change in Dick being wondrous. Certainly there was poor Coffee: but he was growing stronger day by day, and vowing vengeance against every lion in the land.
That they were approaching a more inhabited tract they soon had warning in the increasing scarcity of the game. In place of the vast herds they had so often encountered, the herds were small, and so shy that it was only by lying in ambush, while the others went miles round to show themselves and make the antelopes take flight in the direction of the hidden hunters, that a sufficiency was obtained for the daily needs.
The boys, however, managed to supplement the animal food with the birds that were shot, or knocked down with kiris; and fishing became a favourite pursuit in some one or other of the rocky pools in the river-beds that they had to cross, silurus and other kinds being frequently captured with a hook and line.
They were curious fish these silurus, and, of course in happy ignorance of the meaning of angling, readily took the bait thrown to them in the deep pools; but when hooked their behaviour was almost startling, from the tremendous rushes they made in all directions. Being very much of the same configuration as the eel, they partook of that long, lithe fellow's strength in the water; so that it was no uncommon thing for one that was hooked, and had been played for some time, to break away and carry with it half of a good line. Several were lost, but many were taken, and found famous when cooked, though Dinny avoided them as "avil-looking bastes."
Game grew scarcer still; and Mr Rogers, the boys, and Chicory were sitting in the long grass, partaking of some lunch they had brought, after a long toilsome walk in search of hartebeeste, a herd of which curiously-formed animals had been seen from a distance, when Chicory suddenly pricked up his ears, leaped to his feet, and then signed to his white companions to look.
About a mile away, but coming on at a tremendous rate, was a little herd of zebras, whose beautiful forms and clearly-marked stripes could easily be distinguished as they ran through the long grass.
Just about the size of an ordinary donkey, but with the build and sturdy shapeliness of a well-bred pony, they literally spurned the ground with their hoofs in their efforts to get away, for after them in swift chase came three Kaffirs, well-mounted upon sturdy cobs, and armed with assegais.
As they came abreast of Jack and Dick, the pursuers were close upon the tail of the herd, the speed and stride of the horses telling in a long race; and as they passed, the boys could see that the Kaffirs were nude all but a loin-cloth, and that in place of a saddle they used for their horses merely a small skin.
The pace was tremendous. And growing excited at what they saw, Dick and Jack, while longing for their own cobs, so as to join in the chase, set off at a run, followed by their father and Chicory.
As they ran on they saw one of the Kaffirs overtake the hindmost zebra, ride alongside for a few moments, and then spear it, the unfortunate beast stumbling as the assegai was driven home, and then falling headlong to the ground.
The Kaffir's companions kept on the chase, singling out two more of the zebras, one of which was directly after brought down by a well-directed spear-thrust, but the other managed to escape, the hunters being content with their success.
The approach of the party of whites was looked upon as dangerous, and getting together, spear in hand, the three hunters seemed to be preparing to meet the white strangers as men of war.
Seeing this, Mr Rogers sent Chicory on as an ambassador to assure the strangers of their friendly feelings: and on seeing the Zulu boy advance alone, they waited, heard what he had to say, and then cantered up, holding out a hand in token of friendship.
They were fine manly-looking young fellows, and said through Chicory that they had come many journeys after zebras; and they smiled with delight on being presented each with a common pocket-knife.
The coming of the General somewhat disturbed their equanimity; but on hearing his friendly words they readily accepted his help in skinning the zebras, whose hides, with some of the choicest portions of the meat, they packed in front of them upon the horses: and after a little conversation respecting the town upon the river to which they were bound, the three Kaffirs rode off; and the great flap-winged vultures swept down, one after the other, attacking the unfortunate zebras: and shortly there was nothing left but a few scattered bones. _