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Off to the Wilds, a fiction by George Manville Fenn |
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Chapter 41. Onward From Wonderland |
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_ CHAPTER FORTY ONE. ONWARD FROM WONDERLAND. They lingered about the falls for days, to revel in the beauties of the mighty cataract and the great gorge through which the waters afterwards ran. Then unwillingly the oxen were in-spanned, and their course was directed up the river, beyond the beautiful islands, and on mile after mile, till the bright transparent river flowed smoothly downward, and from its reedy banks plenty of game was obtained, the birds being plentiful, and very welcome as a change. It was rather a dangerous haunt here on account of the crocodiles, but Jack was so passionately fond of fishing that he was humoured at times, and some transparent nook was chosen where the others could keep a look out for crocodiles; and as Jack fished, Dick would lie down upon the bank, with his face at times close to the water, and gazing through its limpid depths he tried to trace the long stalks of the water-lilies which rose from the depths to expand their broad leaves and cap-like flowers on the surface. The great reeds, too, rising joint by joint till their arrowy heads and green streamer-like leaves were in the broad sunshine, seemed to be moving and to quiver in the clear water. This sub-fluvial growth was so beautiful that Dick never grew weary of watching it; while the coming and going of the many brightly-tinted fish, darting about among the water-plants or hanging poised in the sunlit depths, with their burnished scales flashing silvery and steel-blue rays, added greatly to the interest of the scene. "Let us know when you see one coming," Jack would say; and now and then Dick would whisper that a large perch-like fish, or perhaps one of the huge eely siluri, was approaching; though just as often Coffee or Chicory would utter a word of warning, when a rifle-bullet would be sent to startle some great crocodile, floating in fancied security down the calm waters, its hideous eyes turned from side to side in search of prey. Once only did they succeed in getting the monster ashore, the others, when hit, sinking sullenly to the bottom, or descending with a rush that made the water foam. The want of a boat prevented them from having far more sport upon the river; but, as Mr Rogers said, they had come upon a land expedition, and their horses were getting fresh for want of work. So Jack had to bring his fishing to an end; though, truth to tell, it was not much of a loss, for his additions to the larder in the way of fish were not particularly large, nor so toothsome as they might have been. The good old round-hand copy slip, "Familiarity breeds contempt," is thoroughly exemplified in South Africa; and it is fortunate that this is the case, or it would be hard work travelling across a country where every stone may conceal a poisonous serpent, every clump of rocks hold the lurking-place of a boa-constrictor, and every patch of grass its prowling lion or fierce rhinoceros--where a walk along a river's bank may invite a charge from the fierce hippopotamus, and no man can bathe without running the risk of being pulled under water and devoured by that loathsome saurian lizard the crocodile. But familiarity breeds contempt, and after the first nervousness has worn off people go about in South Africa in a calm matter-of-fact way, without troubling themselves about their hidden enemies, otherwise than by taking ordinary precautions, and keeping what a sailor would call a sharp look out for squalls. If this were not so life would be almost intolerable, and every one would exist in a state of nervous trepidation as hard as that of the classical gentleman who passed his time with a keen sword suspended over his head by a single hair--no doubt of a kind such as would make an admirable roach-line for a fisherman. The members of Mr Rogers' hunting expedition thus passed their time happily enough in the continuous round of excitement, taking the pleasure and the pain turn and turn as they came; not grumbling at thorns, or weariness, or mosquito bites; resting when they grew weary, and putting up with hard couches, hunger, and thirst, as they came, without a murmur. They looked out for danger in a sharp matter-of-fact way, and by consequence rarely had a mishap; while Dinny, who was a perfect slave to his fears, and never stirred without taking the most wonderful precautions, generally managed to come in for the worst of the misfortunes that affected the camp. It was he who would manage to run his head in the dark amidst the prickly euphorbias. If there was a cloud of vicious gnats, Dinny generally got bitten. If there was a poisonous snake anywhere near the camp, Dinny tried to put his foot upon it; and over and over again when near the crocodile-haunted streams he sauntered regularly into the ferocious creature's way. The General and his boys saved him from several perils, over and over again. But Dinny never seemed to realise that his own want of care got him into trouble, always declaring that it was "a baste of a place," and no more to be compared to Ould Oireland than a beggar was to a king. Dinny's grumblings would soon have proved to be a nuisance, but for a certain quaintness of humour in the man, which supplied matter for mirth when he was most disagreeable; and in spite of his defects, he was very useful in his way. While camp was kept up near the great falls, Jack and Chicory had some splendid nesting expeditions, the pendulous weaver, birds' nests coming in largely for their attention. They disturbed very few though, for, as Jack said, it was hard upon the poor birds, seeing what a lot of enemies they had--artful monkeys slipping down the long thin branches, till they could hang by one hand, and thrust the other little thin brown extremity up the bottle-neck shaped opening, to forage for eggs or young birds, as the case might be. Then there were the snakes--long, thin, twining creatures, a yard or a yard and a half long, but no thicker than the finger. These showed no little cleverness in ascending trees, and proceeding along the branches till they found their way to a nest, where, in spite of the frantic cries and flutterings of the birds, the little serpent would glide in, and the parents might go and start afresh, for their labours would prove to have been only to find the little snake a pleasant larder, where it could coil up and glut itself with food. Many of these twining little creatures fell victims to Jack's shot-gun, as well as to that of his brother, the guns being constantly in use as well to bring down the brilliantly plumaged birds that abounded in the rich forest growth of this well-watered land. The glorious scenery of wood, rock, and water had to be left, though, at last; and at the General's suggestion, and by way of change, the more rugged part of the country was now sought; though even here there was plenty of wood, and they passed along the banks of a pleasant stream that had its rise somewhere in the mountainous region ahead. And now Mr Rogers began to look out anxiously for a danger that, though small, was terribly insidious, and one which, if not avoided, would bring a misfortune upon them that they would have given anything to avoid. This danger was the notorious tsetse fly, whose bite was generally fatal to horses, the poisonous nature of the little creature so infusing itself in the blood of the unfortunate horses bitten that they gradually died off without their owners being able to do anything to save them. Fortunately the limits of the land occupied by these dangerous little creatures is pretty well-known, and those who venture upon it with horses do so at their own risk. Game had been rather scarce for some days, when, mounting their horses, Dick and Jack left their father with the waggon, and went in search of something suitable for present use. Partly for the sake of their help, but more particularly to give them a change, Pompey and Caesar were let loose, the latter following Dick down to the low land at the side of the stream. It was a tolerably open place, dotted with willow-like trees rising from amongst the thick grass; and they had not gone far before, after a good deal of rustling about among the reeds and grass, Caesar started something, which, however, refused to come into sight, but kept running from cover to cover, till at last, as Caesar was diligently hunting it by scent, Dick caught sight of a dark back, and a head bearing a pair of stout, fully-ringed horns, curved back in a remarkable way, and ending in very sharp points. It was but a moment's glance, and he had no time to fire before the creature was out of sight again; and he rode on right to the very edge of the stream, where he arrived just in time to see the antelope leaving the water, across which it had swum, and Caesar puffing and panting as he swam on in the creature's wake. The antelope looked so playful and full of life as it shook its head to get rid of the water that streamed from it, with the drops flashing in the sun, that Dick sat like a statue upon his cob; and though he held his rifle ready, he forgot to fire, but let the buck bound out of the shallow water on to the bank and disappear amongst the trees, where it went off at a tremendous rate, while Caesar, as he reached the bank in turn, paused to get rid of some water by a good shake, and then stood and gazed at his master, and howled with disappointment that he should not have attempted to shoot. The consequence was that Dick, after a long ride returned empty to camp, where Jack, however, had preceded him, having been less scrupulous, and bearing before him a good-sized springbok, which he had brought down with the longest shot he had ever made. _ |
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