Part 18 (1/2)
They ht cold, after the heat to which they had been subjected The second day was also one of toil and danger, but on the third they found that they had commenced the descent, and the whole Bushman country was spread before them But the descent was even reat exertion that they saved their waggons fro they had crossed the mountains, and were now at the foot of them on the western side It ith difficulty that they collected wood enough totold them that they were now in the domain of the lion and his satellites
At break of day they all rose, that they ht view the country which they were about to traverse It was one wild desert of sand and stones, interspersed with small shrubs, and here and there a patch of bushes; apparently one vast, dry, arid plain, with a haze over it, arising from the heat Our travellers, however, did not at first notice this change; their eyes were fixed upon the groups of quaggas and various antelopes which were strewed over the whole face of the country; and, as soon as they had taken their breakfast, they mounted their horses in pursuit
It had been their intention to have dis, but the chief of the band pointed out that it would be as well that they should kill soame, to provide them with food for their journey back; and our travellers approved of the suggestion, as it would save their sheep
Alexander and the Major set off with Bremen, Swanevelt, and Omrah on horseback, while the Caffres on foot kept well up with them The other Hottentots were ordered to remain with Swinton at the encaons in crossing the mountains
Omrah had shown himself so useful, that he had been per ball, and had proved himself very expert He noas mounted on the Major's spare horse; that, in case the Major's was knocked up, he
The plan of the chase was, that the Caffres should spread in a half-circle, and conceal themselves as much as possible, while those on horseback should turn the animals and drive them in their direction As they advanced on the plain, they discovered what the haze had prevented their seeing at early dawn, that the plain was covered with a variety of beautiful flowers, of the amaryllis and other tribes, and with the hills of ants and the ant-eaters' holes, which latter were very dangerous to the horses
The sun was now up in the heavens, and blazed fiercely; the heat was intense, although still early in the day When they turned their heads towards the mountains which they had passed, they were struck with astonishrandeur of the scene: rocks and cliffs in wild chaos, barren ridges and towering peaks, worn by tie shapes, calling to their fancy the ruins of a former world
With the exception of a pool of water, near to which the caravan had halted, not a vestige of that element was to be seen in any direction; all was one plain, ending only in the horizon, without a tree, the line only broken by the groups of ani necks of the packs of ostriches in the distance
If, however, the vegetable kingdom was deficient, the animal was proportionably abundant, and Alexander and the Major were soon at their speed after a troop of quaggas and zebras, which they succeeded in turning towards the Caffres As soon as the animals had entered the radius of the half-circle, and ithin distance, they checked their horses and opened their fire upon them; at the same time the Caffres showed the the their hesitation, and while they atteain, several were brought to the ground by the guns of the mounted party, till at last, as if they had summoned up their resolution, the whole herd, led by a splendid male, burst away in a direction close to the horsemen, and made their escape fro the stones behind them as they fled
The Caffres ran up to the animals which lay wounded, and put theuays into the spine, which caused immediate death Seven anias; and as Swinton had requested that they ht not be cut up till he had ascertained if he required their skins, O
Swinton soon came and Alexander said to him, ”Nointon, let us know if you want any of the skins of these animals to preserve”
”No,” replied Swinton, ”I have theht have killed a zebra”
”Well, have we not? there are three of theood fellow, they are not of the real zebra species; they belong to a class described by Burchell, the traveller, which is tera, as you may see, have the ears of a horse, while the zebra has those of the ass The true zebra hardly ever descends upon the plains, but lives altogether upon the ions; occasionally it may be found, it is true, and that is the reason why I ca, these ania is very indifferent food, but the striped quagga is very passable; so if you intend to save any for our dinner, pray let it be so to-day?”
”Yes,” replied the Major, ”if Wilmot is of my opinion; I think we had better not work our horses any e holes,--ant-eaters' holes, Bremen says they are”
”Yes, they are ant-eaters' holes, and very dangerous; I have seen them several feet deep If we do not start to-day, I will ask the Hottentots to try and procure one for ht, as I wish to have a stuffed speci,” replied Alexander; ”we ht, that they o hoh”
Our travellers now rode back to the caravan, leaving the Caffres to bring home the flesh As soon as they had dined, the chief of the warriors was desired to come with all his men, and Alexander thenof tobacco, snuff, cloth, knives, and beads To the chief of the band he gave three ti delivered to hi Hinza, Alexander told the chief to acquaint the king that he had been very much pleased with the conduct of the men, and thanked his majesty for the loan of them, and requested that his majesty would accept of the packet of articles which he had selected for hiood conduct, told them to take all the flesh that they wished for the journey, and stated that they were at liberty to depart that evening or the next ht proper The Caffres were perfectly satisfied with Alexander's liberality, and the chief of the warriors,a short speech in reply, retired with his men
”Well, I',” said the Major
”And so am I; but I could not well detain theo further with us without the king's permission,” replied Alexander
”Of course not,” replied the Major; ”but that does not lessen ret at their departure; they have been both steady and brave, as well as active and willing, and I do not expect that our Hottentots will serve us so well”
”You are right not to expect it, Major,” replied Swinton; ”if you did, you would be , they would desert us The only hold that we have upon the greater nuo forward because they are afraid to go back; but if they could get hold of our horses, with their guns and ammunition, they would leave us as soon as we advanced in the desert”
”Very true, I fear; but we have a few stanch fellows a them, and two at least e can depend upon--Bremen and Swanevelt”