Part 15 (1/2)
They all looked round, but the boy was not to be seen At last he showed his head above the foot of the rocky hill, where there was a descent of four feet, as we have , and i the baboons as they ca at hi his hands to his rowl and roar of a leopard, which they had heard, and then set off running away baboon fashi+on
”It was the Bushhtened them off; he is a clever little fellow”
”And I am not sure that he has not saved our lives,” replied Swinton; ”but he has been brought up a them, one may say, and knows their habits well If he had not hid himself below the rocks before he imitated the leopard, it would have been of no use, for they would not have been frightened, hearing the growl proceeding froht at one time that the baboons had an idea that Omrah was one of them What a snatch they made at him!”
”It would not have been the first time that these animals have carried off a boy,” said Swinton; ”I saw one at Latakoo, who had lived two years with the baboons, which had carried him off”
”How did they treat him?”
”Very well indeed; but they kept him a prisoner When they found that he would not eat the coarse food which they did, they brought his; and they invariably allowed hie to our superiority Confound their quahs, I shall not get thee tusks they have!”
”Yes, their incisors are very strong They often destroy the leopard when they meet it in numbers; but if one happens to be away from the herd, he has, of course, no chance with such an ani to renew her connection”
”None of the monkey tribe, after they have lived with man, ever are; indeed it is a question, if they had taken possession of her, whether they would not have torn her to pieces immediately, or have worried her to death some way or other”
”Well, at all events, Swinton, you have been rewarded for your kindness to that poor little Bushman, and we have reaped the benefit of it,”
observed Alexander ”But here come some of the oxen; I hope we shall be able to start early on Monday The native Caffres say that the wagons can not proceed much further”
”No, not further than to the banks of the Ureat way from your destination Daaka is the chief's name, is it not?”
”Yes, that is his name; and if he is as supposed to be, he is e it sounds to e and wild country, that I should be within forty miles of a blood-relation, who is an inhabitant of it!”
”Well, we shall soon know the truth; but Icall, you have co way for the purpose,”
replied the Major
”I have come to ascertain a fact, which, from what I no of the country and its inhabitants, will be the source of any thing but pleasure if it be established My only hope is that it may prove otherwise than we suppose; and there is little chance of that, I fear”
”At all events, come what may,” observed Swinton, ”you will have done your duty”
On their return, they found all the ht they increased the nuons, that they ht not be scattered by the return of the lion The latter did not, however, ht was passed without any disturbance The following day being Sunday, the Hottentots were assembled, and desired not to start from the camp, as they would be expected to attend to prayers and Divine service; and as no hunting expedition was proposed, the Caffre warriors, as well as the native Caffres, who came in with their baskets of milk and other articles for sale and barter, also reht with the strayed frouided to return, was tolled by Bremen, and the Hottentots were assembled Prayers and a portion of the Bible were then read
The Caffre warriors, who had been told that the whiteto pray to their God, were very silent and attentive, although they could not understand as said; and the native Caffres, men, women and children, sat down and listened As soon as the service was over, the Caffre head man of the warriors asked the interpreter to inquire of our travelers why they struck the bell? was it to let God know that they were about to pray, and did he hear what they said?
Swinton replied, that their God heard all that they said, and listened to the prayers of those who trusted in hireat many other questions were put by the Caffres, all of which were replied to with great caution by Mr Swinton, as he was fearful that they ht not otherwise be understood by the Caffres; but they were, as it was proved by the questions which followed in consequence A great portion of the afternoon was passed away in explaining and replying to the interrogatories of these people, and our travelers felt convinced that by having kept the Sabbath in that savage land they had done soood by the example; for, as Swinton truly observed--
”The ospel of Christ; they tell the natives that such is the religion and belief of the white men, and that such are the doctrines which are inculcated Nohite men come here as traders, or are occasionally seen here as travelers; and if the natives find, as they have found, that these white men, stated by the missionaries to hold the same belief, not only show no evidence of their belief, but are guilty of sins expressly forbidden by the religion preached, is not the work of the ht that the behavior of the Dutch boors toward the natives must have had such an effect; indeed, I may say that the colony has been founded upon very opposite principles to those of 'doing unto others as you would they should do unto you' I believe that there never yet was an intercourse between Christians nolobe, but that the savages have with great justice thrown in the Christians' teeth, that they preached one thing but did another Unfortunately the taunt is but too true Even those who had left their country for religious persecution have erred in the same way
The conduct of the Puritans who landed at Salem was as barbarous toward the Indians as that of Pizarro and his followers toward the Mexicans In either case the poor aborigines were hunted to death”
On Monday they started at daylight, and proceeded on the journey; but they ress, on account of the difficulty of traveling with the wagons in a country consisting of alternate precipices and ravines, without any roads The second day proved to be one of greater difficulty; they were obliged to cut down trees, fill up holes, reons were often out of order, and they were obliged to halt for repairs