Part 20 (1/2)
”I have already said they were northern Caffre tribes, dispossessed of their territory by Chaka The names of the tribes we do not know
Mantatee, in the Caffre language, signifies an invader, and Ficani also, marauders; both terms applicable to the people, but certainly not the nah on the subject to allow me to enter upon the history of this last invasion; but, to tell you the truth, the heat is so overpowering, and I feelthis account till another opportunity As soon as we are a little ive you the history of the Mantatees”
”We are ed to you for what you have told us, Swinton, and will spare you for the present,” replied Alexander ”What aninoos,” replied Swinton ”There are two varieties of thenoo They form an intermediate link between the antelope fa”
”Then, I ere able to go after them They do not seeallop which they reat deal of curiosity,” replied Swinton ”Watch theain, as Swinton spoke, and then returned to gaze upon the caravan, stirring up the dust with their hoofs, tossing theirtails, as they curvetted and shook their heads, so away like the wind, as if from fear
”They are safe this time,” observed Major Henderson; ”but another day ill try their erous ounded, sir,” said Bremen, who had ridden up ”We are not in to sniff”
”I ahted to hear you say so; for then there ether are so great that we cannot distinguish above two miles, if so much”
”No, sir,” replied the Hottentot; ”but I can see well enough to see theround about a hundred yards off; on the right of them ”One, two, three--there are five of the in the direction pointed out
”I see; they are lions”
”Yes, sir; but we must take no notice of thery”
”You are right,” said Swinton: ”weour speed Let the driver look to the oxen; for tired as they are, the sovernable strength for the uns, Bre to accept the armed neutrality, if they will consent to it”
The caravan passed on; the lions re the froh fear of the lions, or the scent of water near, became more brisk in their motions, and in half an hour they perceived a line of trees before them, which told them that they were near the bed of the Nu Gareip or Cradock River
The poor animals redoubled their exertions, and soon arrived at the banks Bremen had ridden forward and reported that there still ater in the river, but only in pools As the herbage was destroyed on the side where they were, they would have crossed the bed of the river before they unyoked, but that they found impossible The animals were so impatient for the water, that, had they not been released, they would have broken the waggons
Horses, oxen, and sheep all plunged into the pools together, and for soh they would never be satisfied They at last went out, but soon returned again, till their sides were distended with the quantity of the element which they had imbibed
An hour was allowed for the aniain yoked to drag the waggons to the other side of the river, where there was a sufficiency of pasturage and of wood to make up their fires
As it was their intention to reons were drawn up at some distance from the river, so as not to interfere with the path by which the wild animals went down to drink The spoors or tracks of the lions and buffaloes and other animals were so abundant, as to show that this precaution was necessary
As soon as the waggons were arranged in the usual , when they were brought in and secured, as usual, inside and round the waggons They supped off the rebok, which was not very sweet; but the horses andjourney to hunt until the following day
That night they were not disturbed by lions, but the hyenas contrived to crawl under the waggons, and, having severely bitten one of the oxen, succeeded in carrying off one of the sheep They had been so often annoyed by these aniit was found that the ox had been so seriously injured that the leg-bone was broken, and they were obliged to destroy the anith, it would be a most formidable animal,” observed Swinton; ”but the fact is, it seldoh therethe Caffres they very often do enter the huts of the natives, and occasionally devour children and infire their dead to be devoured by these ani for human flesh, and makes them more bold to obtain it”
”They must have a tremendous power in their jaw,” observed Alexander
”They have, and it is given them for all-wise purposes The hyena and the vulture are the scavengers of the tropical regions The hyena devours what the vulture leaves, which is the skin and bones of a dead carcass Its power of jaw is so great, that it breaks the largest bone with facility”
”Are there many varieties of them?”
”In Africa there are four:--The common spotted hyena, or wolf of the colonists, whose sust after it is killed; its own felloill, however, devour it immediately The striped or ferocious hyena, called the shard-wolf; and another, which the colonists call the bay-wolf, and which I believe to be the one known as the laughing hyena There is another variety, which is a sort of link between the hyena and the dog, called the venatica