Part 16 (2/2)
”Yes, I can There are very large snakes there, but these large snakes are not poisonous They live in the long grass near rocks or old trees, and feed on birds, ss They will not attack you, I believe; but they could kill a man, as one I shot there had killed and eaten a calf It was about twenty-five feet long, and two er than this one, and I have heard fro as a span of oxen; but this I cannot speak to, for I never even saw the spoor; yet they reat size But there are puff-adders, cobras, ring-hals, and ood to walk rass There are elephants, too, near the bay, but the bush is very dense, and the elephants are fierce; it does not do to atte them there”
”We have a fine country about us,” exclaimed Hans, ”and now that Panda is chief of the Zulus we aone from about there, and the place orn out My father shot elephants near Algoa Bay, and all the ga there, though it is not so far fro time before the elands are driven away froo after elephants e choose, and now that we have won our land we may enjoy it Good luck to us on our trek, Karls! and I think noill sleep, and by and by we ame; so we had better sleep nohen it is not so plentiful”
The advice of Hans was relished by all the party, who having directed two Hottentots to watch, and to call others in succession, the hunters sought their waggons, and wrapping themselves in their blankets, lay down to rest in these vehicles, which to the hunter are like a shi+p to a sailor
The cauttural voices of the Hottentots, or the low tones of the more harmonious Zulu, as the Kaffirs talked over the scenes of the past few months, and wondered at the power of the white hty Zulu chieftain who had so long been the terror of those tribes, which, having either fled from him or from other nations near, had settled at Natal, had welcomed the arrival of the white man, and had at once accepted hi of a wolf, and the shrill barking cry of the jackal, being the other sounds that plainly told that the wilderness was around
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
ELEPHANTS FOUND--THE HUNT--THE EVENING AT THE CAMP--AN ELEPHANT ADVENTURE--ENCOUNTER WITH A KAFFIR SPY--MORE ELEPHANTS--STRANGE MEN-- HANS MADE PRISONER
During the first few days of their journey the only game that the hunters encountered were elands, buffaloes, and antelopes of various kinds Of these numbers were killed, so as to supply the ca for the future; for in soame suddenly disappears, apparently without cause, and the hunter finds it extremely difficult to obtain even the necessaries for his daily meals More than once there had been expectations raised in consequence of elephants' foot been discovered, but on examination these proved to be old, and the elephants were evidently journeying northwards when they left their traces on the ground The party had now reached the sources of the Pongola river, and the traces of elephants were most numerous
”We must have passed many herds of elephants in the forests,” said Victor, as he rode beside Hans, and followed the spoor of some bull elephants which was very fresh, and which had been traced since daybreak ”We should have stopped and hunted them”
”We can do that on our return, if we do not obtain enough ivory hereabouts to fill our waggons; but I think this countrythan the thicker bush further down We can always ride our horses here, which we could not in the bush we have passed; and so our success here will be probably greater We ought soon to sight these elephants, for the spoor is quite fresh Hark! did you not hear a truet them to-day Where are the rest of our party?”
”They have all gone after the spoor that led along the river's bank, and I don't think that was as fresh as this; but need ait for theame, and will not wish to join us”
”We will ride on,” said Hans ”It was a those trees in that slope I heard the trumpet, and see! there is a bull elephant Pull up; let us watch hinificent tusker, and there are at least half-a-dozen others Victor, we ood day's work to do that, though, for they will carry away many bullets Ah! there was a shot from down to leeward: so the others have found elephants See! the bull has heard the shot, and is alarh probably not an unusual sound, was yet one that alarether, and strode away at a rapid pace
”I e could have lodged our bullets in them before they became alarmed,” said Hans; ”but we may do that now, if we ride on before theht, and he alloped forward in the direction in which they had seen the elephants, taking care not to follow exactly in their foote ani acacias, and were elevating their ears to endeavour to hear if any danger threatened them, whilst their trunks were raised to catch the scent of any foe
”Now,” said Hans, ”we ive them the alarm They don't knohat to fear; they only know not what to un They have not been much hunted, it is evident, or they would not stop so soon after being alarmed We will now fasten our horses to these trees, and stalk the elephants; then we can retreat to our horses, and follow theht to put four bullets into that large bull first,” said Victor; ”then the others, not having a leader, will not knohat to do”
”We will stop his getting away, Victor I can hit hi, and can then take hie, it is between the eye and the ear that you had better shoot, on the chance of a death-shot I have killedthem there”
The two hunters fastened their horses to a tree at about 300 yards froah but lately disturbed by the discharge of a gun, had recovered from their alar their ears to listen; but the cautious advance of Hans and his co of the elephant could not discover that an ene a tree that ithin eighty yards of the largest bull without being seen or heard by their for was too i throay Thus no as uttered by either, and iven by one or the other to draw attention to so of a dead stick by treading on it would have been fatal to their success, and thus it was necessary to watch where each foot was placed, in order to avoid such a contingency
Upon reaching the corner of the tree Hans signalled to Victor that they would fire at the sa uneasy, and were uttering short sharp cries, which seereat bull of the herd, whose polished white teeth protruded far out of his mouth, stood broadside to the hunters; but his watchful ht at any moment turn and retreat, or at least alter his position; so Hans, taking ai at his fore-leg just above the knee, fired at the same instant The aih a mass of bone to the elephant's brain, for it fell dead to the shot, and there was, therefore, no need for the second bullet The instant the sound of the guns was heard, the reround with a headlong, reckless speed Trees that stood in the ere knocked down, the noise of their being broken sounding like the crack of a rifle There are few things which give one a greater idea of ani rush of a troop of elephants through a forest
The elephant is usually a quiet anih the bush it proceeds with scarcely any noise, its feet being well suited for walking quietly When alarreat weight causes it toalmost impossible Thus if a tree stand in its way, and is of ainst it, and breaks it off On several occasions we have had opportunities ofthe diameter of the stems of trees thus broken off, and we have found ht inches in dia snapped in two, one after the other ined
As soon as Hans saw the elephant fall, he said, ”Bring up the horses, Victor; I'll cut off the tail, in case any one comes this way”
Hans had completed his work before Victor had reached hiun, he ran back to meet Victor The two thenelephants, which by this ti start; but elephants which have led a quiet, unhunted life for a considerable tith of time, and stand no chance with a horse, except for a few hundred yards If, however, the huge ani on at a speed of eight or ten allop, the hunters were once ame, and now quite a different kind of sport co which had been previously practised
Riding forward, so as to be slightly in advance of the elephants, the hunters pulled up their horses, jumped off, and as the aniest elephant that re itself hit, the creature turned on its assailants, and with upraised trunk and shrill piercing shrieks rushed on Towith both Hans and Victor; but so furious was the savage ani Victor's horse, and did not cease to pursue until it had followed its ene further pursuit useless, it followed the other elephants It was not allowed to go so quietly, however; for the hunters, having reloaded, followed it, and with a second volley brought it to the ground