Vol. II.

Frontispiece.

Seven Years in South Africa:

TRAVELS, RESEARCHES, AND HUNTING ADVENTURES,
BETWEEN THE DIAMOND-FIELDS AND THE ZAMBESI (1872–79).

BY

Dr. EMIL HOLUB.

TRANSLATED BY ELLEN E. FREWER.

WITH ABOUT TWO HUNDRED ORIGINAL ILLUSTRATIONS AND A MAP.

IN TWO VOLUMES.

VOL. II.

London:

SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, SEARLE, & RIVINGTON,

CROWN BUILDINGS, 188, FLEET STREET.

1881.

[All rights reserved.]

LONDON:
GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, PRINTERS,
ST. JOHN’S SQUARE.

CONTENTS.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOL. II.

SEVEN YEARS IN SOUTH AFRICA.

THIRD JOURNEY INTO THE INTERIOR.

CHAPTER I.
FROM THE DIAMOND FIELDS TO THE MOLAPO.

Departure from Dutoitspan—Crossing the Vaal—Graves in the Harts River valley—Mamusa—Wild-goose shooting on Moffat’s Salt Lake—A royal crane’s nest—Molema’s Town—Barolong weddings—A lawsuit—Cold weather—The Malmani valley—Weltufrede farm.

I was now standing on the threshold of my real design. After three years spent upon the glowing soil of the dark continent, the scene of the endurances and the renown of many an enthusiast, I had now arrived at the time for putting into execution the scheme I had projected. My feelings necessarily were of a very mingled character. Was I sufficiently inured to the hardships that could not be separated from the undertaking? Could I fairly indulge the hope of reaching the goal for which I had so long forsaken home, kindred, and friends? The experience of my two preliminary journeys made me venture to answer both these questions without misgiving. I had certainly gained a considerable insight into the nature of the country; I had learned the character of the contingencies that might arise from the disposition of the natives and their mode of dealing, and I had satisfied myself of the necessity as well as the comfort of having trustworthy associates on whom I could rely. Altogether I felt justified in commencing what I designed to be really a journey of exploration. At the same time I could not be otherwise than alive to the probability that some unforeseen difficulty might arise which no human effort could surmount.

It was a conflict of hopes and fears, but the picture of the Atlantic at Loanda seemed to unfold itself to my gaze, and its attraction was irresistible; hitherto in my lesser enterprises I had been favoured by fortune, and why should she now cease to smile? I felt that there was everything to encourage me, and definitely resolved to face the difficulties that an expedition into the interior of Africa cannot fail to entail.

It was on the 2nd of March, 1875, that I left Dutoitspan. I went first of all to a friend at Bultfontein, intending to stay with him until the 6th, and there to complete my preparations. Not alone was it my scheme to explore Southern-Central Africa, but I hardly expected to return to Cape Colony at all, consequently my arrangements on leaving this time were rather more complicated than they had been on the two previous occasions.

Quitting Bultfontein on the day proposed, I proceeded for eleven miles, and made my first halt by the side of a sandy rain-pool, enclosed by the rising ground that was visible from the diamond-fields. We slept in the mimosa woods, through which the road to the Transvaal runs for several miles, and the deep sand of which is so troublesome to vehicles.

On the 7th we passed the Rietvley and Keyle farms, around which we saw a good many herds of springbocks in the meadow-lands.

The next day’s march took us by the farms at Rietfontein, and Pan Place, and we made our night camp on Coetze’s land. Near these farms, which lay at the foot of the considerable hill called the Plat Berg, I secured some feathered game, amongst which was a partridge. To me the most interesting spot in the day’s journey was a marshy place on Coetze’s farm; it was a pond with a number of creeks and various little islands, which were the habitat of water-fowl, particularly wild ducks, moorhens, and divers. In the evening I called upon Mynheer Coetze, and in the course of conversation mentioned his ponds with their numerous birds. He surprised me somewhat by his reply. “Yes,” he said, “the birds breed there, and we never disturb them; we allow strangers to shoot them, but for our own part we like to see them flying about.” I admired his sentiment, and wished that it was more shared by the Dutch farmers in general.

The property was partially wooded, and extended both into Griqualand West and into the Orange Free State. Amongst other game upon it, there was a large herd of striped gnus.

POND NEAR COETZE’S FARM.

On the next day but one we made the difficult passage of the Vaal at Blignaut’s Pont. From the two river-banks I obtained some skins of birds, and several varieties of leaf-beetles (Platycorynus). At the ferry, on the shore by which we arrived, stood a medley of clay huts, warped by the wind, and propped up on all sides, claiming to be an hotel; on the further shores were a few Koranna huts, the occupiers of which were the ferrymen. For taking us across the river they demanded on behalf of their employer the sum of twenty-five shillings.

The rain had made the ground very heavy, and it was after a very tedious ride that we reached Christiana, the little Transvaal town with which the reader has been already made acquainted, and made our way to Hallwater Farm (erroneously called Monomotapa), where we obtained a supply of salt from the resident Korannas.

We next took a northerly course, and passed through Strengfontein, a farm belonging to Mynheer Weber, lying to the east of the territory of the independent Korannas. The country beyond was well pastured, and contained several farmsteads; although it was claimed by the Korannas, by Gassibone, by Mankuruane, and by the Transvaal government, it had no real ruler. The woods afforded shelter for duykerbocks, hartebeests, and both black and striped gnus, whilst the plains abounded with springbocks, bustards, and many small birds.

After passing Dreifontein, a farm that had only a short time previously been reduced to ashes by the natives from the surrounding heights, we encamped on the Houmansvley, that lay a little further ahead. Near the remains of the place were some huts, from which some Koranna women came out, their intrusive behaviour being in marked contrast with that of some Batlapins, who modestly retired into the background. Not far off was a vley, or marshy pond, where I found some wild ducks, grey herons, and long-eared swamp-owls (Otus capensis). Houmansvley was the last of the farms we had to pass before we entered the territory of the Korannas of Mamusa.

GRAVES UNDER THE CAMEL-THORN TREES AT MAMUSA.

We reached the Harts River valley on the evening of the 15th. Before getting to the river we had to traverse a slope overgrown with grass, and in some places with acacias which must be a hundred years old, and under the shadow of which were some Batlapin and Koranna graves, most of them in a good state of preservation. The river-bed is very often perfectly dry, but as the stream was very much swollen, the current was too strong to allow us to cross without waiting for it to subside; the district, however, was so attractive that it was by no means to be regretted that we were temporarily delayed. The high plateau, with its background of woods, projected like a tongue into the valley, and opposite to us, about three-quarters of a mile to the right, rose the Mamusa hills.

We visited Mamusa, encamping on its little river a short distance from the merchants’ offices under the eastern slope of the hills. A few years back it had been one of the most populous places representing the Hottentot element in South Africa, but now it was abandoned to a few of the descendants of the aged king Mashon and their servants. Some of the people had carried off their herds to the pasture-lands; others had left the place for good, to settle on the affluents of the Mokara and the Konana, on the plains abounding in game that stretched northwards towards the Molapo. This small Koranna principality is an enclave in the southern Bechuana kingdoms, a circumstance which is not at all to their advantage, as any mixture of the Hottentot and Bantu elements is sure to result in the degeneration of the latter.

The merchants received me most kindly. One of them, Mr. Mergusson, was a naturalist, and amused himself by taming wild birds. He showed me several piles, at least three feet high, of the skins of antelopes, gnus, and zebras, which he intended taking to Bloemhof for sale. He and his brother had twice extended their business-journeys as far as Lake Ngami.

While in the neighbourhood, I heard tidings of the two dishonest servants that I had hired at Musemanyana, and who had decamped after robbing me on my second journey.

Leaving Mamusa on the 17th, we had to mount the bushy highland, dotted here and there with Koranna farmsteads, and in the evening reached the southern end of the grassy quagga-flats. The soil was so much sodden with rain, that in many places the plains were transformed into marshes; on the drier parts light specks were visible, which on nearer approach turned out to be springbock gazelles. On every side the traveller was greeted by the melodious notes of the crowned crane, and the birds, less shy here than elsewhere, allowed him to come in such close proximity, that he could admire the beauty of their plumage. The cackle of the spurred and Egyptian geese could be heard now in one spot and now in another, and wild-ducks, either in rows or in pairs, hovered above our heads.

Our next march afforded us good sport. It was rather laborious, but our exertions were well rewarded, as amongst other booty, we secured a silver heron, some plovers, and some snipes. I had our camp pitched by the side of a broad salt-water lake, proposing to remain there for several days, the surrounding animal-life promising not merely a choice provision for our table, but some valuable acquisitions for my collection.

Vol. II.

Page 9.

SHOOTING WILD GEESE AT MOFFAT’S SALT PAN.

At daybreak next morning, I started off with Theunissen on a hunting-excursion. There had been rain in the night, and the air was somewhat cool, so that it was with a feeling of satisfaction that I hailed the rising sun as its early beam darted down the vale and was reflected in the water. On the opposite shore we noticed a flock of that stateliest of waders, the flamingo, with its deep red plumage and strong brown beak. Close beside them was a group of brown geese wading towards us, and screeching as they came was a double file of grey cranes, whilst a gathering of herons was keeping watch upon some rocks that projected from the water. High above the lake could be heard the melodious long-drawn note of the mahem, and amidst the numbers of the larger birds that thronged the surface of the water was what seemed a countless abundance of moorhens and ducks. I stood and gazed upon the lively scene till I was quite absorbed. All at once a sharp whistle from my companion recalled me to myself. I was immediately aware of the approach of a flock of dark brown geese; though unwieldly, they made a rapid flight, their heavy wings making a considerable whirr. A shot from each of my barrels brought down two of the birds into the reeds; the rest turned sharply off to the left, leaving Theunissen, disappointed at not getting the shot he expected, to follow them towards the plain to no purpose. Great was the commotion that my own shots made amongst the denizens of the lake. Quickly rose the grey cranes from the shallow water, scarce two feet deep, and made for the shore where we were standing. In the excitement of their alarm, the crowned cranes took to flight in exactly the opposite direction; the flamingoes hurried hither and thither, apparently at a loss whether to fly or to run, until one of them catching sight of me rose high into the air, screeching wildly, and was followed by the entire train soaring aloft till they looked no larger than crows; the black geese, on the other hand, left the grass to take refuge in the water, and the smaller birds forsook the reeds, as deeming the centre of the lake the place of safety.

We were not long out. We returned to breakfast, and while we were taking our meal we caught sight of a herd of blessbocks, numbering at least 250 head, grazing in the depression of the hills on the opposite shore. Breakfast, of course, was forgotten and left unfinished. Off we started; the chase was long, but it was unattended with success. Our toil, however, was not entirely without compensation, as on our return we secured a fine grey crane. Pit likewise in the course of the day shot several birds, and in the afternoon excited our interest by saying that he had discovered the nest of a royal crane.

I went to the reedy pool to which he directed me, about a mile and a half to the north of our place of encampment, and on a little islet hardly more than seven feet square, sure enough was a hollow forming the nest, which contained two long white eggs, each about the size of my fist. I took the measurement of the nest, and found it as nearly as possible thirty inches in diameter, and six inches deep.

Vol. II.

Page 11.

HUNTING AMONG THE ROCKS AT MOLEMA.

While I was resting one afternoon in a glen between the hills, I noticed a repetition of what I had observed already in the course of my second journey, namely, that springbocks, in going to drink, act as pioneers for other game, and that blessbocks and gnus follow in their wake, but only when it has been ascertained that all is safe.

To the lake by which we had been making our pleasant little stay, I gave the name of Moffat’s Salt Lake. On the 23rd we left it, and after quitting its shore, which, it may be mentioned, affords excellent hiding-places for the Canis mesomelas, we had to pass several deepish pools which seemed to abound with moorhens and divers. On a wooded eminence, not far away from our starting-place, we came across some Makalahari, who were cutting into strips the carcase of a blessbock. On the same spot was a series of pitfalls, now partially filled up with sand, but which had originally been made with no little outlay of labour, being from thirty to fifty feet long, and from five to six feet wide.

In the evening we passed a wood where a Batlapin hunting-party, consisting of Mankuruane’s people, had made their camp. They commenced at once to importune us for brandy, first in wheedling, and then in threatening tones.

Game, which seemed to have been failing us for a day or two, became on the 25th again very abundant. The bush was also thicker. A herd of nearly 400 springbocks that were grazing not far ahead, precisely across the grassy road, scampered off with great speed, but not before Theunissen had had the good luck to bring down a full-grown doe. As we entered upon the district of the Maritsana River, the bushveldt continued to grow denser, and the country made a perceptible dip to the north-west. Several rain-glens had to be crossed, and some broad shallow valleys, luxuriantly overgrown, one of which I named the Hartebeest Vale. In the afternoon we reached the deep valley of the Maritsana. On the right hand slope stood a Barolong-Makalahari village, the inhabitants of which were engaged in tending the flocks belonging to Molema’s Town. The valley itself was in many parts very bushy, and no doubt abounded in small game, whilst the small pools from two feet to eight feet deep in the river-bed, here partaking of the nature of a spruit, contained Orange River fish, lizards, and crabs; two kinds of ducks were generally to be seen upon them.

As we passed through a mimosa wood on the morning after, we met two Barolongs, who not only made me aware how near we had come to Molema’s Town, but informed me that Montsua was there, having arrived to preside over a trial in a poisoning case. I had not formed the intention of going into the place, but the information made me resolve to deviate a little from my route, that I might pay my respects to the king and his brother Molema.

Descending the Lothlakane valley, where Montsua was anxious that his heir should fix his residence, we reached the town on the 28th. The Molapo was rather fuller than when I was here last, but we managed to cross the rocky ford, and pitched our camp on the same spot that I had chosen in 1873.

As soon as I heard that the judicial sitting had adjourned, I lost no time in paying my personal respects to the Barolong authorities. I found the king with Molema and several other chiefs at their midday meal, some sitting on wooden stools and some upon the ground; but no sooner were they made acquainted with my arrival, than they hastened to show signs of unfeigned pleasure, making me shake hands with them again and again. Montsua at once began to talk about the cures I had effected at Moshaneng, and begged me to stay for at least a few days. After spending a short time in Molema’s courtyard, we all adjourned to the house of his son, which was fitted up in European style, and where we had some coffee served in tin cups. Molema was upon the whole strong and active, but he was still subject to fits of asthma, and requested me to supply him with more medicine like that he had had before; and so grateful was he for my services, that he gave me a couple of good draught-oxen, one of which I exchanged with his son Matye for an English saddle.

Molema is a thin, slight man of middle height, with a nose like a hawk’s beak, which, in conjunction with a keen, restless eye, gives to his whole countenance a peculiarly searching expression. At times he is somewhat stern, but in a general way he is very indulgent to his subjects, who submit implicitly to his authority; this was illustrated in the issue of the cause over which Montsua was now visiting him to preside. He is very considerate for his invalid wife, and, considering his age, he is vigorous both in mind and body; although his sons and the upper class residents of the town have adopted the European mode of fitting up their houses, he persists in adhering to the native style of architecture.

During our stay here, Mr. Webb had to perform the marriage service for three couples; one of the bridegrooms had a remarkable name, the English rendering of which would be “he lies in bed.” Singular names of this character are by no means unusual among the Bechuana children, any accidental circumstance connected with their parentage or birth being seized upon to provide the personal designation for life. Taking a stroll through the place late in the evening, I heard the sound of hymns sung by four men and ten women, bringing the wedding observances to a close.

BABOON ROCKS.

Wandering about the town, I noticed that although the garments worn were chiefly of European manufacture, the inhabitants very frequently were dressed in skins either of the goat, the wild cat, the grey fox, or the duyker gazelle. Boys generally had a sheepskin or goatskin thrown across their shoulders, although occasionally the skin of a young lion took its place; girls, besides their leather aprons, nearly always covered themselves with an antelope-hide.

As far as I could learn, the disputes between the Transvaal government and the Barolongs had in great measure subsided, owing to Montsua having threatened, in consequence of the encroachments of the Boers, to allow the English flag to be planted in his villages.

I have already referred to the trial which had brought Montsua to the town, and in order that I may convey a fair idea of the way in which Bechuana justice is administered, I will give a brief outline of the whole transaction.

A Barolong, quite advanced in years, had set his affections upon a fatherless girl of fifteen, living in the town; she peremptorily refused to become his wife, and as he could not afford to buy her, he devised a cunning stratagem to obtain her. He offered his hand to the girl’s mother, who did not hesitate to accept him; by thus marrying the mother, he secured the residence of the daughter in his own quarters; the near intercourse, he hoped, would overcome her repugnance to himself; but neither his appearance nor his conversation, mainly relating to his wealth in cattle, had the least effect in altering her disposition towards him. Accordingly, he resorted to the linyaka. Aware of the pains that were being taken to force her into the marriage, the girl carefully avoided every action that could be interpreted as a sign of regard. As she was starting off to the fields one morning to her usual work, her stepfather called her back, and if her own story were true, the following conversation took place,—

“I know you hate me,” he said.

“E-he, e-he!” she assented.

“Well, well, so it must be!” he answered, but he stamped his staff with rage upon the ground.

“Yes, so it must be,” replied she.

“But you must promise me,” he continued, “that you will not marry another husband.”

“Na-ya,” she cried, bursting out laughing, “na-ya.”

“Then I’ll poison you,” he yelled.

The girl, according to her own account, was alarmed, and went and told her mother and another woman who were working close by the river. They tried to reassure her, telling her that her stepfather was only in joke, but they did not allay her apprehensions.

That very evening, while she was taking her simple supper of water-melon, he called her off and sent her on some message; when she returned she finished her meal, but in the course of an hour or two she was writhing in most violent agony. In the height of her sufferings, she reminded her mother and the friends who gathered round her of what had transpired in the morning. Her shrieks of pain grew louder and louder, and when they were silenced, she was unconscious. Before midnight she was a corpse.

The stepfather was of course marked out as the murderer; the evidence to be produced against him seemed incontestible; the old man had actually been seen gathering leaves and tubers in the forenoon, which he had afterwards boiled in his own courtyard.

The accused, however, was one of Molema’s adherents; he had served him faithfully for half a century, and Molema accordingly felt it his duty to do everything in his power to protect him, and so sent over to Moshaneng for Montsua to come and take the office of judge at the trial. He was in the midst of the inquiry when I arrived.

Meanwhile, the defendant had complete liberty; he might for the time be shunned by the population, but he walked about the streets as usual, trusting thoroughly to Molema’s clemency and influence, and certain that he should be able to buy himself off with a few bullocks.

The trial lasted for two days; after each sitting the court was entertained with bochabe, a sort of meal-pap.

The evidence was conclusive; the verdict of “guilty” was unanimous. Montsua said he should have been bound to pass a sentence of death, but Molema had assured him there were many extenuating circumstances; and, taking all things into account, he considered it best to leave the actual sentence in his hands. Molema told the convicted man to keep out of the way for a few days until Montsua had ceased to think about the matter, and then sending for him, as he strolled about, passed the judgment that he should forfeit a cow as a peace-offering to the deceased girl’s next-of-kin, the next-of-kin in this case being his wife and himself!

Before quitting the place, I went to take my leave of Mr. Webb. While I was with him a dark form presented itself in the doorway, which I quickly recognized as none other than King Montsua. He had followed me, and, advancing straight to my side, put five English shillings into my hand, requesting me to give him some more of the physic which had done his wife so much good at the time of my visit to Moshaneng.

On the afternoon of the 2nd of April we left Molema’s Town, to proceed up the valley of the Molapo. Next morning we passed the last of the kraals in this direction, in a settlement under the jurisdiction of Linkoo, a brother of Molema’s.

Early morning on this day was extremely cold, and the keen south-east wind made us glad to put on some overcoats. We made a halt at Rietvley, the most westerly of the Molapo farms in the Jacobsdal district, the owner of which was a Boer of the name of Van Zyl, a brother of the Damara emigrant to whom I shall have subsequently to refer.

From this point the farms lay in close proximity to each other, as far as the sources of the Molapo. The river valley extended for about twenty-two miles towards the east, retaining its marshy character throughout, but growing gradually narrower as its banks became more steep and wooded. Although its scenery cannot be said to rank with the most attractive parts of the western frontier of the Transvaal, yet, for any traveller, whether he be ornithologist, botanist, or sportsman, the valley is well worth a visit.

The waggon-track which we had been following led, by way of Jacobsdal and Zeerust, direct to the Baharutse kraal Linokana, by which I had made up my mind to pass. We kept along the road as far as Taylor’s farm, “Olive-wood-dry,” where the density of the forest and the steepness of the slopes obliged us to leave the valley, and betake ourselves to the table-land. Olive-wood-dry is unquestionably one of the finest farms on the upper Molapo; it has a good garden, and is watered by one of the most important of the springs that feed the river, whilst the rich vegetation in the valley, thoroughly protected as it is from cold winds, forms quite an oasis in the plateau of the western Transvaal. A dreary contrast to this was the aspect of the Bootfontein farm, where the people seemed to vegetate rather than to thrive.

In the evening we crossed the watershed between the Orange River and the Limpopo, and spent the night near a small spruit, one of the left-hand affluents of the Malmani, which I named the Burgerspruit. Next day we entered the pretty valley of the Malmani, the richly-wooded slopes of which looked cheerful with the numerous farms that covered them.

Quitting the Malmani valley on the 5th, we journeyed on eastwards past Newport farm, along a plain where the grass was short and sour. In the east and north-east could be seen the many spurs of the Marico hills; the hills, too, of the Khame or Hieronymus district were quite distinct in the distance, all combining to form one of the finest pieces of scenery in what may be called the South African mountain system.

The slope towards the side valley, which we should have to descend in order to reach the main valley, was characterized by a craggy double hill, to which I gave the name of Rohlfsberg. Further down, I noticed a saddle-shaped eminence, which I called the Zizka-saddle. The descent was somewhat difficult, on account of the ledges of rock, but we were amply compensated by the splendid scenery, the finest bit, I think, being that at Buffalo’s-Hump farm, where in the far distance rises the outline of the Staarsattel hills.

By the evening we reached the valley of the Little Marico, and the Weltufrede farm. This belongs to Mynheer von Groomen, one of the wealthiest Boers in the district. His sons have been elephant-hunters for years, and have met with exceptional success, having managed to earn a livelihood by the pursuit. In the paddock of the farm they showed me a young giraffe that they had brought home with them from one of their expeditions.

CHAPTER II.
FROM JACOBSDAL TO SHOSHONG.

Zeerust—Arrival at Linokana—Harvest-produce—The lion-ford on the Marico—Silurus-fishing—Crocodiles in the Limpopo—Damara-emigrants—A narrow escape—The Banks of the Notuany—The Puff-adder valley.

We could see Jacobsdal from the Weltufrede farm, a few buildings on the banks of a brook, and a neat little church, being all that this embryo town of the western Transvaal had then to show. After leaving it we turned north, then north-east towards Zeerust, the most important settlement in the Marico district. On our way thither we passed one of the most productive farms in the neighbourhood; it belonged to a man named Bootha, and was traversed by the Malmani, which wound its way through a low rocky ridge to its junction with the Marico.

I made a preliminary visit by myself to the little town, but we did not actually move our quarters into Zeerust till next day. It covers a larger area than Jacobsdal, and any one devoted to natural science would find abundant material to interest him in its vicinity. We, however, only remained there a few hours, and started off for Linokana, outside which we encountered Mr. Jensen, who was bringing the mail-bag from the interior. The missionary received us with the utmost cordiality, and gave us an invitation, which I accepted most gratefully, to stay with him for a fortnight; the time that I spent with him was beneficial in more ways than one, as not only did it afford me an opportunity of thoroughly exploring the neighbourhood, but it permitted my companions to enjoy a rest which already they much required.

In 1875, the Baharutse in Linokana gathered in as much as 800 sacks of wheat, each containing 200 lbs., and every year a wider area of land is being brought under cultivation. Besides wheat, they grow maize, sorghum, melons, and tobacco, selling what they do not require for their own consumption in the markets of the Transvaal and the diamond-fields; it cannot be said, however, that their fields are as carefully kept as those of the Barolongs. A great deal of their land has been transferred to the Boer government, and they only retain the ownership of a few farms.

On the 9th I went to the sources of the Matebe and wandered about the surrounding hills, where mineral ores seem to abound. The following day I employed myself in drawing out a sketch-map of my route, and when I had completed it, I amused myself by an inspection of the plantations and gardens which surround the mission-station. I attended the chapel, where the service consisted of a hymn, the reading of a portion of one of the gospels, then another hymn, followed by a sermon; the impression made upon the congregation as they squatted on their low wooden stools being very marked, and the whole service in its very simplicity being to my mind as solemn as the most gorgeous ritual.

The native postman from Molopolole arrived late on the evening of the 15th, the journey having taken him three days; he only stayed one night, and started back again with the European mail that came through Zeerust from Klerksdorf. To my great surprise it brought me a kind letter from Dr. A. Petermann, the renowned geographer at Gotha.

An English major likewise arrived from the Banguaketse countries; he was in search of ore and was now on his way to Kolobeng and Molopolole; he gave us an interesting account of the reasons that had induced him and Captain Finlayson to explore the north-eastern Transvaal.

The Baharutse girls seem to be particularly fond of dancing, and we hardly ever failed of an evening to hear music and occasionally singing in various parts of the town.

One of the most picturesque spots in the whole neighbourhood is in the valley of the Notuany, about three miles below its confluence with the Matebe; it is enclosed by rocky slopes broken here and there by rich glens and luxuriant woodlands that afford cover for countless birds, whilst in the sedge-thickets on the Matebe wild cats nearly as large as leopards lurk about for their prey.

ON THE BANKS OF THE MATEBE RIVULET.

We left Linokana on the 23rd, and crossed the Notuany, a proceeding that occupied us nearly two hours, as the half-ruined condition of the bridge made it necessary for us to use even more caution than on my previous journey.

I spent a pleasant day in the Buisport glen, and had some good fishing in the pools of the Marnpa stream, as well as some excellent sport on its banks. The upper pools contain many more fish and water-lizards than those near the opening of the glen, for being deeper and more shady they are less liable to get dried up. Some of the mimosas and willows that overhang the stream were sixty feet high, and as much as four feet in diameter.

Next day we passed the Witfontein and Sandfontein farms, both in the Bushveldt. The residents at Witfontein were making preparations for a great hunting-excursion into the interior, where they expressed a hope that they might meet me again. Zwart’s farm I found quite forsaken, its owner having started off on a similar errand the week before; from his last excursion he had brought back some ostriches and elands. Some Boers that we met informed me that fresh stragglers from the Transvaal were continually joining Van Zyl, and that the Damara emigrants would soon feel themselves sufficiently strong to continue their north-westerly progress; their place of rendezvous was on the left bank of the Crocodile River between the Notuany and the Sirorume.

Before the day was at an end we reached Fourier’s farm at Brackfontein, and spent the night there, encamping next day at Schweinfurth’s Pass, in the Dwars mountains. By the evening we had come as far as the springs in the rocks on the spurs of the Chwene-Chwene heights, whence we skirted the town of Chwene-Chwene itself, and after crossing the valley on the Bechuana spruit, took up our quarters on the northern slope of the spur of the Bertha hills. On the banks of the spruit I noticed a deserted Barwa village containing about fifteen huts; they lay in an open meadow, and consisted merely of bundles of grass thrown like a cap over stakes about five feet long bound together at their upper ends.

The Great Marico was reached on the afternoon of the 30th. We made our encampment at a spot where a couple of diminutive islands, projecting above the rapid, made it possible to get across without any danger from crocodiles. The probability of there being an abundance of game on the opposite side induced me to stay for two or three days. Regardless of Pit’s warning that he had seen a lion’s track close by, I selected a place some hundred yards lower down, and resolved to go and keep watch there for whatever game might turn up. I took the precaution to enclose the spot with a low fence.

Soon after sunset I proceeded to carry out my intention. The passage of the river with its somewhat strong current in the dark was troublesome as well as fatiguing. I reached my look-out, which I found by no means comfortable, and as the darkness gathered round me, I became conscious of a strange yearning for my distant home, and the image of my mother seemed to arise so visibly before me, that I could hardly persuade myself that she was not actually approaching. Phantasies of this kind were altogether unusual with me, and as the sense of awe appeared to increase, I began to debate with myself whether I had not better retire from my position and make my way back to the waggon. It came, however, to my recollection that this was just the hour when the crocodiles left the water and made their way to the banks, in order to avoid the rapids.

The night continued to grow darker, and dense masses of cloud rose up to obscure the sky. I came to the final decision that my watch would be to no purpose, and was just about setting out to return, when I became aware of the movement of some great object scarcely ten yards away. Of course in the dark no reliance was to be placed upon my gun; my long hunting-knife was the only weapon on which I had to depend; this I grasped firmly, and stooped down, straining every power of vision to penetrate the gloom; but nothing was to be discerned; only a strange and inexplicable glimmer still moved before my eyes. Again, with startling vividness, the image of my mother rose before me; I could not help interpreting it to betoken that some danger was near, and once more I determined to hasten back at all hazards to our encampment. I placed my foot upon the twigs with which I had built up my fence, and it came down with a crash which sounded sufficiently alarming. Gun in one hand, and knife in the other, I proceeded to grope my way along, but recollecting that my gun was useless, and finding it an incumbrance, I threw it into a bush; after it had fallen I heard a noise like scratching or scraping, and I am much mistaken if I did not distinguish a low growl, and it occurred to me that it was more than likely that some beasts of prey had been stealthily making their way to my place of retreat. Having no longer the shelter of my fence-work I confess a feeling of tremor came over me, and my heart beat very fast. Still slashing about with my hunting-knife, I cut my way through the overhanging boughs, pausing at every step, and listening anxiously to every sound. In spite of all my care I came from time to time into collision with the branches, and I staggered in wonder whether I had not at last encountered some gigantic beast of prey.

It took me a considerable time to get over that hundred yards by which I was separated from the stream, but at length I accomplished it, and reached a narrow rain-channel, that facilitated my descent to the brink of the water. It was with extreme caution that I placed one foot before another, as my sole clue to the direction of the ford was derived from the increase or decrease in the sound of the current; more than once I lost my footing, and fell down bodily into the water, but after a time, with much difficulty, managed to get on to the first of the two islands; upon this I did not rest for a minute, but plunged at once into the main stream, whence I succeeded in gaining the second island. Here I paused long enough to recover my somewhat exhausted breath, and then re-entering the seething waters, tottered over the slippery stones till I found myself safely on the shore. As I set my foot upon the ground I could not do otherwise than experience a great sense of relief, although I was quite aware that there might be danger yet in store. I was so tired that I should have been glad to throw myself upon the ground then and there, but the chance of exposing myself to the crocodiles at that hour was too serious to be risked.

Just as I was on the point of clambering up the bank I heard a rustling above my head; I kept perfectly silent, and soon discovered that the noise came from a herd of pallahs, on their way to drink. I recognized them by the crashing which their horns made in the bushes, and by their peculiar grunt. Swinging myself up by means of the branches, I reached the top of the bank, and wending my way along the glen, before long recognized the barking of the dogs, which had been disturbed by the antelopes. My whistle quickly brought my faithful Niger to my side, and his company agreeably relieved the rest of my way back to the fires which marked the place of our encampment.

Taking Pit with me next morning, I made an investigation of the place where I had spent so much of the previous dreary night. It was covered with lion-tracks, and the little barricade was completely trampled down. One of my dogs at this place fell a victim to the flies, that settled in swarms on its eyes, ears, and nose, so that the poor brute was literally stung to death.

Shortly afterwards I took Pit on another long excursion inland. Having heard that the colonists are accustomed to creep into the large hyæna-holes under ground, and that when they have ascertained that the hyæna is “at home,” they kindle a fire at its mouth, so that the animal is obliged to make an exit, when it is either shot or killed by clubs, I made Pit put the experiment into practice. We found the hole, and we lighted the fire, but we did not secure our prey; somehow or other Pit was not able to make the smoking-out process go off successfully.

We continued our journey the same day. A few miles down the river I met an ivory-trader from the Matabele country, who had instructions from the Matabele king to convey the intelligence to the English governor in Kimberley that a white traveller had been killed amongst the Mashonas, on the eastern boundary of his domain.

I had throughout the day noticed such a diversity of birds, reptiles, insects, plants, and minerals, that I was further disposed to try my luck at fishing, and taking my tackle, I lost no time in dropping my line into the river. I succeeded in hooking three large sheat-fish, the smallest of which weighed over six pounds, but they were too heavy for me to drag to land; two of them broke my line, and the other slipped back into the stream. I had almost contrived to get a fourth safely ashore, when my foot slipped, and overbalancing myself, I fell head foremost down the bank; happily a “wait-a-bit” bush prevented my tumbling into the river.

Guinea-fowl I observed in abundance everywhere along the Marico, in parts where the bushes were thick; but I noticed that they never left their roosting-places until the heavy morning dew was dry. The speed at which they ran was quite incredible.

Proceeding on our way we came up with several Bechuana families belonging to the Makhosi tribe, who had been living on Sechele’s territory, near the ruins of Kolobeng; but they had been so much harassed by Sechele that they were now migrating, and about to settle at the foot of the Dwars Mountains. Sechele had been preparing an armed attack upon both the Makhosi and the Bakhatlas, but the latter having gained intelligence of his scheme, took prompt measures to resist him, and made him abandon the design. It is in every way desirable, both for traders and travellers, as well as for the neighbouring colonies, that the integrity of the six existing Bechuana kingdoms should be maintained. Any splitting-up into smaller states would be attended with the same inconveniences as the European colonists and travellers have to suffer on the east coast north of Delagoa Bay.

Whilst we were passing through the light woods of the Marico on the 4th, we caught sight of a water-bock doe in the long grass. Theunissen stalked it very adroitly, but unfortunately his cartridge missed fire, and before Pit could hand him a second, the creature took to flight. In spite of our having had frost for the last two days, the morning was beautifully fine.

Leaving the Marico, only to rejoin it again at its mouth, we traversed the triangular piece of wood which lies between it and the Limpopo. On our way we fell in with a party of Makalakas, who were reduced almost to skeletons, having travelled from the western Matabele-land, 500 miles away, for the purpose of hiring themselves out at the diamond-fields, each expecting in six months to earn enough to buy a gun and a supply of ammunition. We were sorry not to be able to comply with their request that we would give them some meat, but as it happened we had not killed any game for several days.

The next morning found us on the Limpopo; and as I purposed staying here for a few days, we set to work and erected a high fence of mimosa boughs, for the greater security of our bullocks. In the afternoon Theunissen and I made an excursion, in the course of which we shot two apes and four little night monkeys, that were remarkable for their fine silky hair and large bright eyes. As a general rule they sleep all day and wake up at night, when they commence spending a merry time in the trees, hunting insects and moths, eating berries, and licking down the gum of the mimosas.

CROCODILE IN THE LIMPOPO.

One of our servants had a rencontre that was rather alarming, with one of the crocodiles, from which the river derives its name. He was washing clothes upon the bank, when a dark object emerged from the water, startling him so much that he let the garment slip from his hands. He called out, and had the presence of mind to hurl a big stone at the crocodile’s head, and succeeded in clutching the article back just as the huge creature was snapping at it. An adventure of a somewhat similar character happened to myself. Finding that the Limpopo was only three feet deep just below its confluence with the Marico, I determined to make my way across. We felled several stout mimosa stems, and made a raft; but the new wood was so heavy that under my weight it sank two feet into the water. Convinced that my experiment was a failure, I was springing from one side of the raft on to the shore, when a crocodile mounted the other side—an apparition sufficiently startling to make me give up the idea of crossing for the present.

Taking our departure on the 7th, we proceeded down the stream, having as many as fifteen narrow rain-channels to pass on our way. The whole district was one unbroken forest, and we noticed some very fine hardekool trees. On the left the country belonged to Sechele, on the right to the Transvaal republic.

Though our progress was somewhat slow, being retarded by the sport which we enjoyed at every opportunity, we reached the mouth of the Notuany next evening, having passed the first of the two encampments where the Damara emigrants were gathering together their contingent. It contained about thirty waggons, and at least as many tents; large herds of sheep and cows, under the care of armed sentinels, were grazing around, while the people were sitting about in groups, some drinking coffee and some preparing their travelling-gear. I was rather struck by the circumstance that nearly all the women were dressed in black. Some of the men asked us whether we had seen any Boer waggons as we came along; and on our replying that we had passed a good many emigrants, they expressed great satisfaction, and said that their numbers would now very soon be large enough to allow them to start. They all declared their intention to show fight if either of the Bamangwato kings attempted to molest them or oppose their movements. When I spoke to them about the difficulty they would probably experience in conducting so large a quantity of cattle across the western part of the kingdom, where water was always very scarce, they turned a deaf ear to all my representations. It was just the same with the emigrants at the other camp, whom I saw at Shoshong on my return; they would pay no attention to any warning of danger; nothing could induce them to swerve from their design.

When I pressed my inquiries as to their true motive in migrating, they told me that the president had taken up with some utterly false views as to the interpretation of various passages in the Bible, and that the government had commenced forcing upon them a number of ill-timed and annoying innovations. If their fathers, they said, had lived, and grown grey, and died, without any of these new-fangled notions being thrust upon them, why should they now be expected to submit to the novelties against their will? And another thing which they felt to be peculiarly irritating was, that these state reforms were being brought about by a lot of foreigners, and chiefly by a clique of Englishmen. What President Burgers was aiming at effecting would have an effect the very reverse of remedying the deep-seated evils that oppressed them. It seemed to me that the project which they considered the most obnoxious was that for the formation of a railroad which should connect Delagoa Bay with the Transvaal.

Were it not for their own statements, it would be quite incredible that men, who already have had to struggle hard for their property and farms, should for trivial reasons such as these, and at the instigation of one man, give up their homes and wander away into the interior. The first troop of them, without including stragglers, soon amounted to seventy waggons. They were anxious to get possession of the fine pasturage on the Damara territory, and prepared, in the event of opposition, to drive the Damaras away altogether. They experienced so much difficulty through the scarcity of water, that, after reaching Shoshong, they had to return to the Limpopo, and wait until after a plentiful rain had fallen upon the country they had to traverse.

Under the impression that the emigrants intended to purchase whatever land they required, both the Bamangwato kings granted them a safe pass across their dominions; but as soon as it transpired that they were going to establish themselves by force of arms, Khame immediately withdrew his promise. He could not see why his own territory might not be subject to a like invasion. This led the emigrants openly to avow their determination, in the event of a long drought, to overcome the Matabele Zulus, otherwise they would have to fight their way through the eastern Bamangwatos.

At the end of my journey, after my return to the diamond-fields in 1877, I took up this matter publicly, anxious to do anything in my power to prevent any overt conflict between the emigrants and the noble Bamangwato king. The tenour of my views will be apprehended from the concluding paragraph of my first article, published in the Diamond News of March 24th: “It is absurd for people like these Boers, who are not in a condition to make any progress whatever in their own country, and who regard the most necessary reforms with suspicion, to think of founding a new state of their own.”[1]

Two months after writing that article, I heard they were in expectation of securing the friendship of Khamane, while he was living with Sechele at enmity with Khame. Their scheme of raising him to the throne failed, and no better success attended them in their subsequent attempt to form an alliance with Matsheng.

During 1876 and the following year, the condition of the emigrants, as they still lingered about the Limpopo, changed decidedly for the worse; they had ceased to talk about the conquest of a hostile country, but on the contrary took every means to avoid a battle; many of them had succumbed to fever, and sickness continued to make such ravages amongst them that they resolved to start once more. Again they applied to Khame for a safe passage through his land, but made a move in the direction of the Mahalapsi River, instead of to Shoshong, in order to mislead him. Khame meanwhile kept himself all ready for a battle; he drilled his people every day; and having kept spies on the watch, he soon learnt that the emigrant party had fallen into a state of complete decay; but instead of taking advantage of their condition, and seizing their cattle and property, he sent Mr. Hepburn to ascertain the facts of the case; and when he found that the statements already brought to him were confirmed, he renewed his guarantee to them that they should traverse his country in security; he was really afraid that they would fail in the strength to move on at all. Their difficulties increased every day. Between Shoshong and the Zooga the district is one continuous sandy forest, known amongst the Dutch hunters as Durstland; it contained only a few watering-places for cattle, most of these being merely holes in the sand or failing river-beds; dug over night, they would only contain a few buckets full of water in the morning; and this was all the provision they had for their herds; their bullocks, consequently, became infuriated, and ran away, so that when the concourse reached the Zooga they were in a most helpless plight.

Their want of servants, too, was very trying. I saw quite little children leading the draught-oxen, and young girls brandishing the cumbrous bullock-whips. By slow and painful degrees, however, sadly diminished in numbers by sickness, and having suffered the loss of half their goods, they reached Lake Ngami, only to begin another march as tedious and fatal as that they had already accomplished. At last, what might almost be described as a troop of helpless orphans reached Damara, the sole representatives of the wild and ill-fated expedition.

In London in the present year (1880) I heard that the survivors of this wild enterprise were in a condition so destitute that the English Government, assisted by free-will offerings from the Dutch and English residents, had sent out to them several consignments of food and clothing, despatched by steamer, viâ Walvisch Bay. Such was the end of the undertaking originated by a party of headstrong men, who, in ignorant opposition to reform, and from motives of political ill-feeling, rushed with open eyes to the destruction that awaited them.

Before reaching the Notuany, I had found out that the game which at the time of my last visit had been very abundant on the Limpopo, had been considerably reduced by the continual hunting carried on by the emigrants. I found only a few traces of hippopotamuses and some giraffe-tracks in the bushes by the footpath down by the river, but neither had I opportunity for hunting myself, nor did I wish to reveal their existence to the Boers.

During one of our excursions I had a narrow escape of my life. We were chasing a flock of guinea-fowl that were running along in front of us, one of which kept rising and looking back upon us. Coming to a broadish rain-channel about twelve feet in depth, and much overgrown with long grass, I called out to Theunissen, who was close behind me, to warn him to be careful how he came; but his attention was so entirely engrossed by the bird of which he was in pursuit that he did not hear me, and at the very edge of the dip he stumbled and fell forward. His rifle was at full cock, ready for action; his finger slipped and touched the trigger; the bullet absolutely grazed my neck. Another eighth of an inch and I must have been killed on the spot.

To explore the neighbourhood, we remained for a few days upon the banks of the Notuany. I first went southwards down to the confluence of the river with the Limpopo. In striking contrast to the time of my previous visit, when the entire district seemed teeming with game, I had now to wait long under the shade of the mimosas before getting any sport at all; at length a solitary gazelle bounded out of the grass in front of me, and as I was all ready with a charge of hare-shot, I soon put an end to its graceful career. Some Masarwas, dependents of Sechele, residing in the wood close at hand, brought me some pallah-skins, of which I made a purchase.

The shores both of the lower Marico and the Limpopo are composed of granite, gneiss, and grey and red sandstone, the last often containing flints; these rocks sometimes assume very grotesque forms; one, for example, on the bank of the Limpopo, being called “The Cardinal’s Hat;” occasionally they contain also greenstone and ferruginous limestone. To the first spruit running into the Notuany above the Limpopo I gave the name of Purkyne’s Spruit. Some of the mimosas here were ten feet in circumference; here and there I noticed some vultures’ nests, and the trees were the habitat of many birds, amongst which we noticed Bubo Verreauxii and maculosus, Coracias caudata and C. nuchalis and parrots.

I left the Notuany a day sooner than I intended, moving about four miles down the valley of the Limpopo, where the country seemed to promise me some desirable acquisitions. On the 14th, I secured the skins of two cercopithecus, one sciurus, two guinea fowl, and two francolins. An ape that I shot was disfigured and no doubt painfully distressed by two great swellings like abscesses. It was impossible to go a hundred yards along the bank of the river without seeing a crocodile lift its head above the water, to submerge it again just as quickly.

When we quitted the river-side, we proceeded to cross the wooded heights, sandy on one side, rocky on the other, that would bring us to the valley of the Sirorume. On our way, Niger enjoyed the excitement of chasing two spotted hyænas that crossed the path, but he did not succeed in overtaking either of them. By the middle of the day we reached the pond which I have already mentioned as lying on the top of these heights, and soon afterwards found ourselves descending towards the river. The name of Puff-adder valley, which I had given the place, seemed still as appropriate as ever, for we killed two of these snakes that were lying rolled up together just where we passed along. Following a Masarwa track that I remembered in search of water, I came upon a pool some ten feet deep; fastening my cap to my gun-strap, I was about to dip my extemporized bucket below the surface, when I caught sight of something glittering half in and half out of the water, which proved to be another puff-adder trying in vain to escape from a hole.

To judge from the tracks, I should be inclined to say that leopards are almost as abundant as snakes, the thorn-bushes and the crevices in the rocks affording them precisely the kind of hiding-places that they delight in.

In the course of our next day’s march we came to a Bamangwato station. Sekhomo had not had sufficient men at his disposal to keep a station there; the consequence was that Sechele at that time looked upon the locality as his hunting-ground. It appeared to abound not only with giraffes, koodoos, elands, and hartebeests, but likewise with gazelles and wild swine, and numbers of hyænas and jackals.

I reached Khame’s Saltpan on the 17th, and had the bullocks taken to drink at the cisterns in the rocks. Some Bamangwato and Makalahari people were passing by, from whom I obtained several curiosities, amongst which was a remarkable battle-axe. I came across some of the venomous horned vipers, which fortunately give to the unwary notice of their presence by the loud hissing they make.

In the evening five gigantic Makalakas came to the waggon, hoping that I should engage them as servants, but I was too well acquainted with their general character to have anything to do with them.

We remained at the salt-pan until the 19th, and reached Shoshong quite late at night. The town was much altered since my last visit. Khame, after his victory, had set it on fire, and had rebuilt it much more compactly nearer the end of the glen in the Francis Joseph valley. The European quarter was now quite isolated. I was delighted to meet Mr. Mackenzie again, and he kindly invited me to be his guest during the fortnight that I proposed spending in the place.

CHAPTER III.
FROM SHOSHONG TO THE GREAT SALT LAKES.

Khame and Sekhomo—Signs of erosion in the bed of the Luala—The Maque plains—Frost—Wild ostriches—Eland-antelopes—The first palms—Assegai traps—The district of the Great Salt Lakes—The Tsitane and Karri-Karri salt-pans—The Shaueng—The Soa salt-pan—Troublesome visitors—Salt in the Nataspruit—Chase of a Zulu hartebeest—Animal life on the Nataspruit—Waiting for a lion.

IT was quite obvious that since my previous visit a great change for the better had taken place in the social condition of the Bamangwatos. At that time Sekhomo had been at the head of affairs, and, indefatigable in promoting heathen orgies, had been the most determined opponent of every reform that had tended to introduce the benefits of civilization. Khame, his eldest son, who had now succeeded him, was the very opposite of his father; the larger number of the adherents who had followed him into his voluntary banishment had returned with him and placed themselves under his authority, so that the population of the town was increased threefold. Khame’s great measure was the prohibition of the sale of brandy; it was a proceeding on his part that not only removed the chief incentive to idleness, but conduced materially to the establishment of peace and order, and made it considerably easier for him to suppress the heathen rites that had been so grievously pernicious.

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BATTLE ON THE HEIGHTS OF BAMANGWATO.

In company with Mr. Mackenzie I paid several visits to Khame, and had ample opportunity of becoming acquainted with his good qualities. My time was much occupied with excursions, in working out the survey of my route between Linokana and Shoshong, and in medical attendance upon sick negroes. Khame offered me one of his own servants to accompany me to the Zambesi, and upon whom I could rely to bring back my waggon to Shoshong, if I should determine to go further north. As remuneration for the man’s services, I was to give him a musket.

Mr. Mackenzie pointed out to me the various places that had been of any importance in the recent contest between the kings. I have already mentioned how Khame, on leaving the town, had been followed by the greater number of the Bamangwatos to the Zooga river, where the district was so marshy that the people were decimated by fever, and Khame was forced to abandon the settlement he had chosen. Resolved to return to Shoshong, he proceeded to assert his claim, not in any underhand or clandestine manner, but by a direct attack upon his father and brother. He openly appointed a day on which he intended to arrive; and advancing from the north-west, made his way across the heights to the rocks overhanging the glen, and commanding a strong position above the town. Sekhomo meanwhile had divided his troops into two parts, and leaving the smaller contingent to protect the town, posted the main body so as to intercept Khame’s approach. Augmented as it was by the people of the Makalaka villages, Sekhomo’s army in point of numbers was quite equal to that of his son; but, as on previous occasions, these Makalakas, fugitives from the Matabele country, proved utterly treacherous; although they professed to be Sekhomo’s allies, they had sent a message of friendship to Khame, assuring him that they should hold themselves in readiness to welcome him at the Shoshon pass. Khame’s attack was so sudden that Sekhomo’s troops were completely disorganized, and before they had time to recover themselves and commence a retreat, the conqueror took advantage of the condition of things to bring his men on to the plateau where the Makalakas had been posted. These unscrupulous rascals being under the impression that Khame’s people had been worsted, and being only anxious to get what cattle they could find, opened a brisk fire, a proceeding which so exasperated the Bamangwatos that they hurried up their main contingent, and having discharged a single volley, set to and felled the faithless Makalakas with the butt ends of their muskets.

In contrast to the incessant rain which had marked my previous visit, the drought was now so protracted that my cattle began to get rather out of condition, but not enough to prevent my starting for the Zambesi on the 4th of June. We proceeded up the Francis Joseph valley, and turning northwards, reached the high plateau on the following day by the way of the Unicorn pass. The scenery was very pretty, the sides of the valley being ever and again formed of isolated rocks, adorned most picturesquely with thick clumps of arboreal euphorbiaceæ.

On the 6th our course led us across a plain, always sandy and occasionally wooded; and it was quite late in the evening when we reached the Letlosespruit, a stream which never precipitates itself over the granite boulders with much violence, except after heavy rain. The upper strata of the adjacent hills, where ground game is abundant, consist in considerable measure of red sandstone, interspersed with quartzite and black schist, the lower being entirely granite.

The limit of our next day’s march was to be the pools at Kanne. Ranged in a semicircle to our right were more than thirty conical hills, connecting the Bamangwato with the Serotle heights. There was a kraal close to the pools, and the natives, as soon as they were aware of our approach, drove their cattle down to drink, so that by the time we arrived all the water was exhausted, and fresh holes had to be dug.

On the 8th we reached the valley of the Lualaspruit, where the vegetation and surrounding scenery were charming. The formation of the rocks, and especially the signs of erosion in the river-bed were very interesting; in one place were numerous grottoes, and in another were basins or natural arches washed out by the water, which nevertheless only flowed during a short period of the year. The ford was deep and difficult. On crossing it I met with two ivory-traders, one of whom, Mr. Anderson, had been formerly known to me by name as a gold-digger; they had been waiting camped out here for several days, while their servants were ascertaining whether the district towards the Maque plain was really as devoid of water as it had been reported. The Luala and its affluents were now quite dry, and water could only be obtained by persevering digging. Mr. Anderson’s people brought word that the next watering-place could not be reached in less than forty-eight hours, and I immediately gave orders for food enough for two days’ consumption to be cooked while we had water for our use. We fell in with Mr. Anderson’s suggestion that we should travel in his company as far as the salt-lakes.

GROTTOES OF THE LUALA.

After ascending the main valley of the little river, on the evening of the 10th we reached the sandy and wooded plateau thirty miles in length, that forms a part of the southern “Durstland.” The scarcity of water in front of us made it indispensable that we should hurry on, and after marching till it was quite dark, we only allowed ourselves a few hours’ rest before again starting on a stage which continued till midday, when the excessive heat compelled us once again to halt. No cattle could toil through the deep sandy roads in the hottest hours of the afternoon, so that rest was then compulsory. By the evening, however, we had reached the low Maque plains, remarkable for their growth of mapani-trees; in all directions were traces of striped gnus, zebras, and giraffes, and even lion-tracks in unusual numbers were to be distinctly recognized. We came across some Masarwas, who refused to direct us to a marsh which we had been told was only a few miles away to the right; they were fearful, they said, of being chastised by the Bamangwatos, if it should transpire that they had given the white men any information on such a matter.

The whole of the Maque plain, which is bounded on the west by table-hills, and slopes down northwards to the salt-lake district, consists entirely of mould, equally trying to travellers at all seasons of the year, being soft mire during the rains, and painfully dry throughout the winter season. In the hands of an European landowner, however, that which now serves for nothing better than a hunting-ground might soon be transformed into prolific corn-fields and remunerative cotton-plantations.

By the time we reached the pools our poor bullocks were quite done up. The ivory-traders had pushed on in front and reached the place before us.

We were here overtaken by a messenger from Khame, who had been despatched to visit all the Bamangwato farms, and to leave the king’s instructions that no hunters should be allowed upon any pretext whatever to remain at any watering-place for more than three days. This prohibition had been brought about by the conduct of the Boers, who had been going everywhere killing the game in the most indiscriminate manner for the sake of their skins, and leaving their carcases for the vultures. The order was probably reasonable enough, but it came at an unfortunate time for us, as the natives at once took us for hunters, and consequently were occasionally far from conciliatory in their behaviour. The very spot where we had encamped had been visited by the Boers only about two months before, and we found a number of the forked runners on which they had dragged the animals behind their waggons.

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Page 49.

TROOP OF OSTRICHES.

North of the Maque plain large serpents are often to be met with. Although they are by no means uncommon in Natal, they are rarely found on the hills of the southern Bechuana countries. Some plants of a semi-tropical form are here represented, not the least noticeable among them being the mapani-tree, with its oleaginous leaves and porous brittle wood. Nevertheless, the temperature in winter is often low, though perhaps not to the same extent as on the table-land on the Vaal and Orange rivers, which is 1200 feet higher. One morning during our stay the pools had a coating of ice nearly half an inch thick.

Whilst hunting a large snake in a thicket on the afternoon of the day after our arrival, I was startled by a loud shout from the waggon. Hurrying back, I found Mr. Anderson all excited because a herd of wild ostriches had just rushed by him on their way to drink at the pool; the sight, however, of the waggon had somewhat alarmed them, and they had turned aside into the mimosa-wood, where they were being chased by the drivers. The pursuit was long and arduous, and the men at last had to return hot and tired, without having been able to get within gunshot of one of the birds.

Still keeping with Mr. Anderson, we started off again next morning, making our way northwards towards a spring seventy miles away, known to the Boers as Bergfontein. In these waterless districts glades of tall grass and rushes alternate with light mapani-woods, game being abundant everywhere. We were overtaken on our way by some Makalaharis and Masarwas proceeding to an eland-hunt, armed with assegais.

Of all the antelopes the eland, especially the male, is the most lusty and well-fed, its heart having been known to be imbedded in a mass of fat weighing twenty-five pounds; the animal is consequently generally so short-breathed that it can be readily overtaken and speared. The Masarwas are very fleet-footed and skilful in hurling their assegais so as mortally to wound the heart or lungs. Mounted Dutch and English hunters chase the elands in the same way as giraffes right up to their waggons, where they shoot them down, thus sparing themselves the trouble of having to transport the skins or carcases from the hunting-ground. I have been told both by hunters and natives, and I think it quite credible, that without any great difficulty elands may be tamed and trained to draw or to carry light burdens.

Shortly afterwards we met two Bamangwatos armed with muskets, and driving a couple of oxen laden with meat. They were accompanied by five Masarwas, each of them also carrying a load of meat weighing over fifty pounds. The party was on its way to Shoshong to get instructions from Khame as to its future proceedings, as some of the Makalakas, banished for their treachery, were prowling about the northern confines of the kingdom, and preventing the Masarwas from rendering allegiance to their rightful master.

Bergfontein, at which we arrived early on the 17th, is a spring situated on a woody slope; it is regarded by the natives as the source of the Nokane stream, which flows northwards, but only in the rainy season. The slope, which is very rugged and clothed with luxuriant vegetation, is the declivity of the Maque plain down to the great salt-lakes. At a short distance from the bank of the Nokane spruit the traveller from the south is greeted by the sight of a cluster of fan-palms, a foretaste of the wonders of tropical vegetation; overtopping all the surrounding trees, they were probably the most southerly specimens of that queen of palm-trees in Central Africa. I shot down some examples of the fruit, and added them to my collection. Encircling the base of the slim stems that were crowned with the magnificent foliage was a wonderful undergrowth of young plants that had germinated from the fallen fruit, the leaves of which had already assumed fine proportions, and were rapidly developing into their fan-like form.

Vol. II.

Page 50.

MASARWAS CHASING THE ELAND.

In the broad but shallow bed of a spruit that lay on the side of a gentle slope, I found a shrub that reminded me of a baobab; it was between four and five feet in height, its lower part immensely thick and fleshy, and covered with a yellowish bark; but scarcely a foot from the ground it contracted into little branches only two or three inches thick, that proceeded direct from the great superficial root. Some of these stems weighed several hundredweight, and on some future occasion I shall hope to obtain a specimen for myself.

From the Makalaharis and Masarwas residing hereabouts I obtained a variety of ornaments and some domestic utensils made of wood and bone, but I was unfortunate enough afterwards to lose them all.

PURSUED BY MATABELE.

All around the hills for the most part were thickly wooded, having no paths except the game-tracks leading generally towards the Nokane. Over these tracks the natives are accustomed to set assegai-traps for catching the game at night; a pile of underwood is heaped up to bring the animals to a standstill; a grass rope with one end very loosely attached to a short stake is carried across the path about a foot above the ground, and supported horizontally by two uprights and a cross-pole placed on the opposite side; the rope is thence taken up to the nearest overhanging bough, and an assegai left suspended from the other end. The slightest jerk made by the movements of the game suffices to detach the loose end of the rope, and the assegai immediately falls. The assegai used for this purpose is generally of very rude construction, being nothing but a rough pole with a rusty spear-head fixed at the end; but its efficiency is due to the point being dipped in a most deadly poison. The wound inflicted by the descending weapon is generally slight in itself, and although only a scratch may be made in the neck, the victim is doomed, as the poison is sure to take quick effect. In the winter months snares of this kind are continually being set, and are always visited as frequently as possible, that the carcase may be dissected soon after death; the flesh close round the wound is cut away, but all the rest is considered by the natives to be perfectly fit for food. Once, while in pursuit of some koodoos, one of Anderson’s people narrowly escaped running into an assegai-trap, being only warned by his servant just in time, and I have myself in the course of my rambles come upon several tracks stopped up in this way.

I wandered during the afternoon with the two traders a considerable distance down the hill to the north, crossing the Nokane and two other dry spruits more than once. On the way I noticed some aloes of unusual size, and some tiger-snails in the long grass in the valleys.

Early on the morning of the 18th we came to the south-east shore of the smallest and most southerly of the three of the great salt-lakes that I was able to visit. Away to the west this lake extended as far as the eye could see, and it took me two hours to travel the length of the eastern coast. It had an uniform depth of barely two feet, and presented a light grey surface edged with stiff arrow-grass, and surrounded by dense bush-forest, whilst round about it, in the very thickest of the grass, were considerable numbers of miniature salt-pans. It is scarcely once a year that it is full of water, for although after violent rains torrents stream down from all directions, very few of these make their way into the lake itself, but stagnate in another and deeper bed close by; the overflow of this, however, escapes into the lake. The name of this salt-pan is Tsitane, the same as that of the most important of the rivers flowing from the heights upon our left, which were the projecting spurs of the slope from the table-land to the lake basin. The greater part of the lake-bottom consists of rock, partly bare and partly covered with the deposit from the rain-torrents. While I was taking the measurement of the eastern shore, I came upon a herd of striped gnus, but without being able to shoot one of them. In the brackish waters of the river, and in the pools near its mouth, there were a good many spoonbills and ducks, and for the first time for a long while I noticed some grunters.

After finishing my sketch-chart of the Tsitane lake next morning, I went out and shot a great horned owl that I found in the trees on the bank.

Every depression in the soil round the smaller pans contains salt. However short a time the rainwater may stand in them, vegetation is sure to be checked; the evaporation is rapid, and so great that the ground is continually crusted with large patches of salt some five inches above the soil, which break in when trodden on. In high winds the salt and salt earth are swept along in great white clouds like dust. The edge of the lake was covered with little chalcedonies and milk-pebbles that had been washed down by the rain.

We quitted the shores of the Tsitane salt-pan on the 21st, but as I had understood from the natives that there would be much difficulty in getting water farther on, and I did not wish to impede the progress of the ivory-traders, we parted company, but only to meet again after a fortnight in the valley of the Panda ma Tenka, and yet again a year later at Shoshong.

It was at the salt-pan that I saw my first baobab, the most southerly specimen along my route, although Mauch had seen some further south in the western Transvaal on the right bank of the Limpopo. The one I noticed was twenty-five feet in height, its circumference measuring nearly fifty-two feet.

On starting northwards we had first to cross the small outlying salt-pans on the Tsitane, then the river itself, and finally to take a course due north right over the basin. The trees of the dense underwood were all more or less stunted, the bush-land alternating with meadow-land overgrown with rich sweet grass and studded with flowers. Near the pans and adjacent streams the soil was brackish, and the vegetation for the most part of a prickly character. Springbocks and duykerbocks, Zulu hartebeests, and striped gnus frequented the woods, which in some parts revealed clearly the vestiges of lions.

All the next day our journey took us past a series of large depressions in the soil, the middle of most of them being marked by small salt-pans, of which I counted no less than forty-two in the course of the day’s progress. We halted for the night near one of them known as the little Shonni; we also crossed some fresh-water pools, at once to be distinguished from salt-pans by the fringe of reeds with which they were surrounded.

We now arrived at the eastern shore of a far larger and deeper lake than the Tsitane, called by the natives Karri-karri; its shores were circled by a number of baobabs, and its geological formation seemed very interesting. Like the Tsitane in shape it was almost an isosceles triangle with its apex far away out of sight in the west. On their western side both these lakes are connected with the north of the Soa salt-pan by means of the Zooga river.

Some Masarwas bearing traces of the red salt-crust on their ankles came to us offering some baobab-fruit, and asking for maize and tobacco in exchange. We had not much time to spend either in bartering commodities or in exploring the shore of the lake, as the rain came on and compelled us to hurry forwards, otherwise I do not doubt I should have discovered a number of natural curiosities.

At the north-east end of the lake, at one of the principal creeks I crossed the Mokhotsi river, which flows northwards, and carries off the superfluous water of the shallow salt-pan.

Our way next led through a dense mapani-forest, after which we had to cross a dried-up stream sixty feet wide, and from ten to sixteen feet deep, having a decided fall towards the east, and on account of the fine trees that adorned its banks called by the Masarwas the Shaneng, or beautiful river. Parallel to this was a spruit, which the Dutch hunters called Mapanifontein; it is fed by a number of springs, and as it receives a portion of the water of the Shaneng whenever that stream is overfull, its deeper parts are hardly ever dry at any period of the year. I cannot resist the opinion that the Shaneng is an outlet either of the Zooga river or of the Soa salt-lake, and that it empties itself into the Matliutse or one of its affluents. In the course of the afternoon I killed a great bird that was chasing lizards, known amongst the colonists as the jackal-bird.

Vol. II.

Page 57.

THE SOA SALT LAKE.

Towards the evening of the 23rd Anderson overtook us again, and travelling on together we traversed a wood called the Khori, and passing a deserted Masarwa village near the ford, we arrived in good time next morning in sight of the Soa. This was the third of the Great Salt Lakes. Near it we met some Dutch hunters, on a chase for elephants and ostriches.

Thanks to the dry weather, we were able to cross several spruits that ran in and out the various creeks, a proceeding that after much rain would have been quite impracticable. Having chosen a good position for our camping out, we resolved to stay there until the 27th, as we ascertained that there was excellent drinking-water to be found by digging holes in the bed of the Momotsetlani, a river that flowed through the adjacent wood. According to my habit when halting for any longer time than usual, I made several excursions, in the course of which I shot five ducks, two guinea-fowl, that were in unusually large numbers, and a brown stork, the first example of the kind I had seen.

The Soa is the largest salt-pan in the Great Lake basin, extending westward beyond Lake N’gami, and connected with the Limpopo system by the Shaneng; like the Karri-Karri and Tsitane, it is quite shallow, being only four feet deep; it is grey in colour, and is rarely completely full, indeed a great part of it is quite dry. In order to ascertain the exact relations between the basin and Lake N’gami and the Zooga, it would be necessary to take a series of observations for an entire year; during the rainy season, however, travelling is extremely difficult and the climate is very unhealthy, so that it is easy to account for the task not having been accomplished hitherto. The general uniformity of level of the great central South African basin causes the Zooga at some times to flow east and at others to flow west. When the shallow bed of Lake N’gami is filled by its northern and western feeders it sheds its overflow eastwards down the Zooga to the salt-pans, whence it is carried off by the Shaneng, their natural outlet; on the other hand, if the N’gami should be low, it receives itself the overflow of the Zooga, which in its deep bed, overgrown as it is with weeds, is able for a long period to retain the water received from its many affluents; nor is it impossible that it is likewise occasionally fed by waters running over from the western side of the salt-pans.

It took our team more than three hours after our next start to cross the numerous creeks and smaller pans on the shore of the lake: we came to the end of them, however, in the course of the forenoon, and entered upon a plain stretching northwards as far as the eye could reach, and bounded on the east by a mapani-wood. Herds of game were frequent, but not large. We noticed a good many clumps of reeds, and were not disappointed in the expectation of finding fresh-water in proximity to them, inducing us to rest awhile in the place.

I was very busy arranging some of the curiosities that I had collected on my recent rambles, when I was startled by a loud cry of distress. On looking out of the waggon I saw Meriko, my Bamangwato servant, running with all his might through the long grass, and shrieking, in the Sechuana dialect, “They are killing me! they are killing me!” He cleared the bushes like an antelope; in his hurry he had lost both his grass hat and his caama mantle, and had scarcely breath to reach the waggon. Pointing to a number of natives at no great distance from him, with their spears brandished in the air, he gasped out, “Zulus! Matabele! they want to kill me!”

For my part I could not comprehend how it happened that these Matabele should be on Khame’s territory. I began to wonder whether it was possible that war had broken out between the tribes, and I confess that I was not without apprehension that we were going to be attacked. The savages advanced yelling and screeching, and looked like wolves in human form. Unwilling to risk the mischief that might ensue if I fired upon them, I resolved to remain steadily where I was until I had ascertained their real intentions. Meriko’s opinion did not in the least coincide with mine; he could not bring himself to await their approach, but bounding over the pole of the waggon, he scampered off into the bush beyond, but without further outcry, evidently anxious to conceal himself in the long grass. I called out to him that he had more to fear from the lions in the grass than from the Zulus, and that he had better stay in the waggon; so terrified, however, was he at the prospect of falling into the hands of the Matabele, that he turned a deaf ear to my words, and rushed out of sight.

The savage band flocked round the waggon, still flourishing their kiris. Excepting the two ringleaders they proved to be not true Zulus, but belonging to various plundered tribes, having been stolen away as boys by Moselikatze, and brought up as Zulu warriors. They had small leather aprons with fringes, or occasionally a gourd-shell or piece of basket-work on their bodies, otherwise they were quite naked; only some of them wore balloon-shaped head-dresses made of ostrich feathers or other plumage. Their expression was exceedingly wild. The fierce rolling eye was a witness that they belonged to a warlike race, expecting that their commands should be obeyed; and probably there was not one amongst them who would have hesitated to perpetrate a murder if he considered that anything was to be gained by it.

One of the leaders swung himself on to the pole of the waggon, and speaking in broken Dutch gave me to understand that they were “Lo Bengulas,” and that it was their wont to slaughter every captive they made, except he were bought off by a ransom; they were now ready to put their rule into force upon my servants; and as for my dog they should shoot him then and there, unless I paid them down at once a handsome sum to save him.

I put as bold a face as I could upon the matter. I told them that I was not going to be frightened into making them any payment whatever, but that if they would promise to go quietly away from the waggon, I would make them a present all round. I hoped by this device to anticipate their notorious thievish propensities; but although Pit and Theunissen were on the watch, they could not prevent one of the fellows stealing a knife that was lying close to my side, but I caught sight of him just in time, and insisted upon his giving it up again.

After a brief consultation, the two captains drew their followers apart, and made them acquainted with my determination; they all grinned cunningly, and hailed the proposal with shouts of satisfaction. Having had the whole body collected right in front of the waggon, where I could keep my eye upon them, I called the leaders forward and handed to each of them a bowl of gunpowder and about two pounds of lead. One of them first pointed to my pocket-handkerchief, and then ran his finger round his own loins. “Lapiana!” he said, indicating the purpose to which it could be applied. Accordingly I brought out a few yards of calico, and tore it into strips, which were immediately used for girdles, except that a few of the men twisted the stuff round their heads. They requested me to give the captains an extra piece or two; to this I willingly consented, and they all expressed themselves perfectly satisfied. Upon this I turned my back upon the clamorous troop, and retreated calmly to my own people. Soon afterwards they all began slowly to depart, waving their presents over their heads. We were greatly relieved. The hour that had passed since Meriko had come and announced their approach had unquestionably been an anxious time. A few of them had bartered salt with Theunissen for tobacco.

When Meriko could be induced to quit his hiding-place, he informed us that we had now almost reached the bank of the principal feeder of the Soa, called the Nata, where salt may be most readily procured, and whither the Matabele are sent by their rulers every year to collect it. This was the ostensible employment of the gang that had just taken their departure. The Bamangwato king was quite aware of the marauding habits of these parties, but did nothing to control them, although they perpetually disarm any Bamangwatos they may meet, and delight in breaking the legs of the Masarwas.[2]

HUNTING THE ZULU HARTEBEEST.

To the great satisfaction of poor Meriko we decided to push on immediately to the Nata river. As we proceeded, the game became more and more plentiful. The herds of springbocks were much larger than I should have expected to see so far north, and we noticed a surprising number of gnus, hartebeests, zebras, and ostriches. Although Meriko had in some measure recovered his nervousness, and walked on contentedly with Niger at his side, he kept from time to time jumping up from the ground to the waggon, to look all round and satisfy himself that no Matabele gang was in sight. While mounted up for this purpose he cried out that he could see a herd of “sesephi” (Zulu hartebeests). He described them as about 600 yards to our right. I could not see them myself, but both Pit and Theunissen affirmed that it was a good-sized herd. We all agreed that it would be best to allow the waggon to advance some 300 yards further, and I could then alight, and with my gun all ready for a shot, make my way to a hardekool-tree about 200 yards from the road, and from thence take my aim. Nothing could be simpler than the plan, and I was soon making my way through the long grass by myself on foot.

I had not reached the hardekool-tree before I heard a low whistle from Theunissen which I quite understood was to inform me that the hartebeests had been disturbed by the waggon, and were commencing a flight. Hurrying on, I made my way to the tree, when the two foremost of the herd came in sight at full speed. I aimed at the first, and fired. The whole of our people raised a shout, and leaving the oxen to take their chance started off in pursuit, followed by the dogs. My own impression was that I had seen the entire herd scamper off. I returned to the waggon to satisfy myself that the bullocks were grazing quietly, and then hastened after my friends. My surprise was considerable when I discovered that my shot had been successful, and that a magnificent sesephi was lying dead upon the ground.

All the bullocks were so tired that I had quite made up my mind to give them a good rest as soon as we reached the Nataspruit, but there was the preliminary difficulty to be overcome of finding a proper drinking-place, nearly all the pools in the bed being salt. We had, however, been assured two days before by a Masarwa that there were several fresh-water ponds in the district, and accordingly Theunissen and I set out on an expedition of discovery. The river-bed varied in breadth from 100 to 150 feet; it was about twenty feet deep, and manifestly after rain was quite full up to the grass upon its edge. We wandered about for some time searching in vain, but at length Theunissen announced that he had come upon a pool of fresh water, a discovery that we considered especially fortunate, as all the pools beyond appeared again to be salt.

The game-tracks were absolutely countless. For the most part they seemed to belong to the same species that we had noticed on the banks of the Soa, but fresh lion-tracks were quite conspicuous among them. Pit suggested what looked like a suitable place for encamping; Theunissen and myself agreed, but Meriko protested that it was too near the quarters of the Matabele. His objection, however, was not allowed to prevail, and his nervousness was much moderated when he found he was to be entrusted with a breech-loader to keep guard over the bullocks. An extra strong fence was made, considerably higher than usual, and four great fires were lighted, which would keep burning till nearly two o’clock in the morning.

Poor Niger was in a state of great excitement all night. Lions were prowling around us, and the hyænas and jackals kept up such a noise that sound sleep was out of the question, and in my dreams I saw nothing but stuffed lion-skins dancing before my eyes. Just before morning the concert seemed to rise to its full pitch; two jackals yelped hideously in two different keys, the hyænas howled angrily with all their might, while the lion with its deep and sonorous growl might be taken as chorægus to the whole performance.

In the rambles that Pit and I took, the following morning, the lion-traces were so many and so recent that we felt it prudent to keep a very sharp look-out. We crossed the river-bed several times, and observed that the tracks were particularly numerous in the high grounds that commanded a view of the place where the various antelopes, attracted by the salt, would be likely to descend. On our way we passed a tree, the bark of which was torn in a way which showed that it had been used by lions for sharpening their claws; the boughs of the tree were wide-spreading, branching out like a candelabrum, and forming what struck me as a convenient perch. Here I resolved to keep a long watch of some ten or twelve hours. I was determined if I could to see the lions for myself. Accordingly, just before sundown, I took Niger, and accompanied by Pit I returned to the tree, and having made myself comfortable in my concealment, I sent Pit back to the waggon in time for him to arrive while it was still tolerably light.

IN THE TREE.

The sensation of being alone in such a spot was sufficiently strange. I soon began to look about me, and noticed that the trees around were considerably higher than that in which I was perched; the ground was in some places elevated, but thinly grassed, so that the light sand could be distinguished which covers the flaky strata of the salt lakes. Just below me was a bare circular patch, which bore no footprints at all except our own and those of the lions that had passed by; on my left was a rain-channel some six feet deep and twenty feet wide, much overgrown, and opening into the Nataspruit about twenty yards away. The nights were now extremely cold, and appeared especially so in contrast to the high temperature of the day, and I took the precaution of tying myself to one of the strongest boughs, in case I should fall asleep; to tumble off might bring me into closer contact with the monarchs of the forest than might be agreeable; but having made myself secure, I soon settled down in the middle of the triple-forked recess that I had chosen for my ambush.

The sun, meanwhile, had all but set; only a few golden streaks on the highest boughs remained, and these gradually faded away. My insight that night into scenes of animal life proved even far more diversified than I could venture to anticipate.

Amongst the first of the sounds to arrest my attention was the sonorous “quag-ga, quag-ga” of the male zebras; they were on the grass-plains, keeping watch over their herds; with this was soon mingled the melancholy howl of the harnessed jackal, awakening the frightful yell of its brother, the grey jackal; the beasts, I could not doubt, were all prowling round the enclosure of our camp. For some hours the various noises seemed to be jumbled together, but towards midnight they became more and more distinct, so that I could identify them separately, and fancied that I could count the beasts that made them. After a while a peculiar scraping commenced, caused by rhyzænas hunting in the sand for worms and larvæ; it went on all night except during the brief intervals when the busy little creatures were temporarily disturbed by some movement near them.

The gazelles and antelopes came down quite early to lick at the salt mud in the Nata-bed; they evidently were accustomed to get back to their haunts in the open lands before the beasts of prey quitted their lairs in the wood. Some of the little steinbocks (those most graceful of South African gazelles) came down so cautiously along the track that it was only through accidentally looking down that I was aware of their being near me. I think there were three or four of them. They were followed by some other gazelle, of which the movements were so light and rapid that I failed to catch a glimpse of it. After a considerable time a single antelope passed beneath me, of another species larger than the others, making a succession of short leaps, then pausing and bounding on again, but I could not recognize what kind it really was.

The slow, steady tramp of a large herd on the other side of the bank proceeding towards the salt pools, and in the direction of the one fresh-water pool, could not be mistaken; moreover, the crashing of their horns against the wood in the thickets left no doubt of the approach of a number of koodoos. While I was listening to their movements I heard another tread on the game-path beside the river; straining my eyes in that direction I saw a dark form stealthily making its way towards the descent: it was about the size of a young calf, and I could have little doubt that it was a brown hyæna; it sniffed the air at every step, and after stopping a few seconds just beyond the channel started off at a brisk trot.

As the hours of the night waned away I was beginning to think that I should hear or see nothing of the monarch of the forest. I had not, however, to wait much longer before the unmistakable roar, apparently about half a mile away, caught my ear. I could only hope that the beast was on its way once more to sharpen its claws upon the accustomed tree. I had now no heed to give to any other sound; neither the barking of our own dogs beside the waggon, nor the yelling of the jackals around our encampment could distract my attention, and I listened eagerly for at least half an hour before the roaring was repeated; it was now very much nearer; I listened on, and it must have been nearly twenty minutes more when I distinguished its footsteps almost within gunshot. The lion was not in the ordinary track, as I had expected, but right in the long grass in the rain-channel. Its strides were generally rapid, but it paused frequently. I could only hear its movements; it was too dark for me to see. I was sure that it could not be more than about fifteen yards from me, and could hardly restrain myself from firing. I feared, however, that a random shot would only be fired in vain, and with no other effect than that of driving the lion away. Accordingly I waited on. It came still nearer and crouched down somewhere for about another quarter of an hour without stirring an inch. At last I became convinced that it had caught sight of me; I saw the bushes shake, and the great brute looked out as if uncertain whether to make a spring towards me, or to effect its escape. It was a terrible mistake on my part not to fire then and there, but my moment of hesitation was fatal to my design; the lion made a sudden bound, and in an instant had disappeared for good. It was no use to me that Niger’s frantic barking made me aware what direction it had taken. My chance was gone. I was much mortified; but there was no help for it. With the cold night air and my cramped position I was stiff all over, and much relieved when daylight dawned, and Pit appeared with Niger to accompany me back to the warmth and shelter of the waggon.

CHAPTER IV.
FROM THE NATASPRUIT TO TAMASETZE.

Saltbeds in the Nataspruit—Poisoning jackals—A good shot—An alarm—The sandy-pool plateau—Ostriches—Travelling by torchlight—Meeting with elephant-hunters—The Madenassanas—Madenassana manners and customs—The Yoruah pool and the Tamafopa springs—Animal-life in the forest by night—Pit’s slumbers—An unsuccessful lion-hunt—Watch for elephants—Tamasetze.

After my night on the tree, I was not so tired as to prevent my starting next morning on an excursion to examine the formation of the banks of the Nata. We soon noticed two fine storks (Mycteria Senegalensis) wheeling in circles over the stream, on the look-out for some of the fishes that hid themselves under the stones in the shallow salt-pools. I stooped down so as not to startle them, and had the good luck to secure both the birds for my collection.

In the afternoon I took a much longer walk, crossing the plain to the south, curious both to see the quarters of the Matabele people and to inspect the place where they obtained their salt. About three-quarters of a mile from the waggons, we startled a herd of zebras, of the dark species; so impetuous was their flight that I quite expected to see them all dash headlong over the steep bank, but they suddenly stayed their course and turned off short into a narrow rain-channel; they raised a great cloud of dust as they scampered down into the river-bed, whence they clambered up again on the other side where the bank was less steep. On account of the great size of their head and neck they look much larger at a distance than they really are; the peculiar noise they make, “ouag-ga, ouag-ga,” the last syllable very much prolonged, has caused both the Masarwas and the Makalaharis to call them quaggas.

When we got near the quarters of the Matabele gang, I thought it needful to take care that we should be unobserved. In the open plain of course there was nothing to cover our approach, and I turned into the bed of a side-stream that I reckoned would take us in the right direction. I supposed this to be a branch of the Nata leading to the Soa, along which I proposed to go for a mile or so, and then turn off, but we had not proceeded very far before we found the camp of which we had come in search right before us. It was now deserted.

Standing in the middle of the river-bed, I could see a considerable number of pools all full of a salt fluid, the colour of which was a deep red; the soil around was covered with a salt deposit, and fragments of salt beautifully crystallized and resting on a stratum of clay an inch or more thick, were scattered about. Close to these were lying the poles and stakes with which the salt had been broken out of the pools. The departure of the Matabele troop allowed us to examine everything without fear of molestation.

In winter, when the water is low, the pools vary from twelve to eighteen inches in depth; the breadth and length range very widely from thirty to 900 feet. The deposit is sometimes as much as three inches in thickness, extending from bank to bank about six or eight inches under the surface of the water like a stout layer of ice, which when broken discloses the real bottom of the pool nearly another foot below. To walk into the pools is like treading upon needle-crystals, and the feet are soon perceptibly covered with a deposit. Where they are very salt, they are never resorted to either by birds or quadrupeds. Anything thrown into them quickly becomes incrusted, but the beautiful red crystals unfortunately evaporate on being exposed to the air, and it was to little purpose that I carried a number of specimens away with me.

I sent Pit again next day to get a supply of salt for our use. This had first to be boiled to free it from the particles of lime, and afterwards to be crumbled up. We wanted it to preserve the flesh of the game we killed.

The bed in which these pans are situated is really an arm of the Nata, having branched off from it to rejoin it again. As I followed it on my way back to the waggon, I came across the last herds of springbocks that we were to see so far to the north; I likewise saw several herds of striped gnus, that here took the place of black gnus, none of which had appeared this side of Shoshong.

A capital shot was made by Theunissen on the following day; he brought down a steinbock at the distance of nearly 300 yards. Being anxious to procure some jackals’ skins, I laid out several bits of meat covered with strychnine over night, and in the morning, I found no less than four of the beasts lying poisoned beside them; the flesh of one of these was afterwards devoured by some of its own kind, and they too all died in consequence, and were discovered in the bush close by. Palm-bushes and baobabs, that flourish in salt soil just as well as in mould, grow very freely about the lower part of the Nata.

So large had my collection now become, that I made up my mind to send a good portion of it to Mr. Mackenzie at Shoshong by the first ivory-traders whom I should meet and could trust to take charge of it. We did not, however, just at this time fall in with any parties returning to the south.

Although we knew that our encampment was liable to attacks from lions, we found it in many other respects so agreeable that we quitted it with regret, and on the 3rd of July started up the left bank of the Nata, along a deep sandy road on the edge of the eastern plain. On our way we saw a herd of zebras grazing about 500 yards off. Theunissen was again anxious to try his skill as a marksman, and creeping on some fifty yards or more, fired from the long grass; he had taken a good aim and one of the zebras fell, but it sprang up and ran for a dozen yards further, when it fell for the second time. We hurried up, and Pit incautiously seized the animal by the head, and narrowly escaped being severely wounded, for the creature with its last gasp made a desperate plunge and tried to bite. As soon as it was dead, we set to work to skin it, carrying away with us all the flesh, except the neck and breast, to make into beltong. About two miles further on, we came to a good halting-place in the wood, where we could finish the process of preparing the skin. Meriko, with his gun, kept watch over our bullock-team, and whilst Pit helped Theunissen to cut up the meat ready for hanging up, I worked away at the skin, and afterwards at the skull.

The same afternoon I took a short stroll round about, and found that although the bushes were thick, the trees generally were scanty; there were, however, some very fine baobabs here and there. Several beautifully wooded islands in the spruit had steep high banks, and there was a pool some hundred yards long that apparently abounded in tortoises and fish. Our time, however, did not allow us to make any complete examination of the spot; it was desirable for us to hurry on with all speed, and to get across the Zambesi, if we could, before the middle of the month, so that we might stay until December in the more healthy highlands on the watershed.

We looked about for lion-tracks, but could see none; and being unaware that lions are accustomed very often to wander away from their usual haunts for a day or more, we thought it would be quite sufficient to put up a low fence; but as the night set in cold and dark with a piercing S.S.W. wind that made us all press closely round the fire, we could only regret our mistake and own that we ought to have made it higher. By eight o’clock the darkness was complete, and the wind, still howling, threatened a singularly uncomfortable night; but we consoled ourselves by recollecting that the zebra-skin would be sufficiently dry in the early morning, when we might move off.

Suddenly, so suddenly that we one and all started to our feet, the oxen began to bellow piteously, and to scamper about the enclosure, breaking down the slight fence that bounded it. Niger commenced barking furiously; the other dog whined in miserable fear underneath the waggon, and the bullocks that did not try to make off, crouched together in a corner and lowed feebly. We could not do otherwise than conclude that we were attacked by lions. It happened that Theunissen had only just left us to shorten the tether of the bullocks, and, jumping on to the box of the waggon, I tried to see where he was. I seized my breech-loader; Pit and Meriko in an instant each held up a firebrand, which threw a gleam of light some distance around. But I could not discover Theunissen. I called louder and louder, and hardly know whether I was more relieved or terrified, when, from amongst the struggling cattle, I heard his voice crying, “Help, help!” We hurried out, and quickly ascertained the cause of his alarm. While he was tightening the bullocks’ tethers, the roar of a lion, apparently close at hand, had put the animals into such a state of commotion, that two of them had got loose from the enclosure; and two others had so entangled Theunissen in the ropes, that he and they had all fallen together. It was undoubtedly due to Niger’s vigilance that the lion had retreated.

STARTLED BY LIONS.

Theunissen was fortunately unhurt; and, while we were releasing him from his critical position, the two bullocks that had escaped came back of their own accord. After seeing the whole of the oxen securely fastened to the waggon, I had five large fires lighted, and, late as it was, felled several mapani-trees, with which to raise the height of the fence.

In spite of the heavy rain, we proceeded as soon as we could upon our journey. The downpour, however, had the effect of making the travelling less toilsome, by binding the sand together; though it was not without much difficulty that the bullocks pulled through the deep sand-drifts at the ford where we crossed the spruit. On the farther side we found a deserted encampment, containing the remnants of a broken-down Boer waggon. We saw comparatively little game—only two gnus, a few zebras, and an occasional guinea-fowl or two, of which I brought down one.

During the after-part of the day we were quite out of the woods, and upon a plain where the mapanis stood only singly or in detached clumps with the mimosas. Though reluctant to do so, we were obliged to unfasten the bullocks and allow them to graze awhile in the evening; but we took every precaution to make them safe, so that there should be no repetition of the lion panic. They had hardly been freed from the yokes, when they were startled by an animal dashing wildly at no great distance across the plain. It was a hyæna, which Pit and Theunissen, with my good Niger’s aid, managed to knock over; but it was far from being a single specimen of its kind, as all night long our sleep was interrupted by the incessant music of a regular hyæna-chorus.

Throughout the next morning the journey was very similar to that of the previous day; but in the afternoon we passed along an extensive glade, surrounded with underwood and full of game. A heavy shower provided us with the drinking-water which the soil failed to supply. We saw some ostriches, duykerbocks, and striped gnus on the plain, and, in the distance, some lions on the look-out for zebras. Coming to a wood that seemed a suitable resting-place, I determined to spend the night there.

Before the following evening we arrived at a great forest, stretching nearly 100 miles to the north, and forming a part of the sandy-pool plateau. With the exception of a few glades containing water, the soil is entirely of sand, and is the western portion of the district to which Mohr has given the name of “the land of a thousand pools.” I only apply the term to the region without any appreciable slope, where the rain can have no downfall to the rivers. The pools are almost all fed solely by the rain, and are generally small and overgrown with grass; they retain their supply of water very differently, sometimes for eight months in the year, sometimes only for two. A comparatively small number are fed by springs, and such of them as are perennial have special names given to them by the Madenassanas who live in the underwood; whilst others, full only a part of the year, have been named on various occasions by Dutch or English hunters and ivory-traders. The boundaries of this pool plateau are the Nata and Soa salt-lake on the south, the Zambesi on the north, the Mababi veldt on the west, and the Nata and Uguay rivers on the east. It is the district of Central South Africa where the larger mammalia, such as elephants, rhinoceroses, and giraffes begin to be more abundant; thence extending eastwards and westwards, as well as northwards beyond the Zambesi. In the winter, owing to the deficiency of water, it is always difficult to cross it, and even in the beginning of summer the transit is always a matter of some anxiety, as a poisonous plant which sprouts up amongst the grass from October to December is very injurious to cattle; the evil is so great as very often to induce the traders on their way to do business with the tribes on the Zambesi, to choose the eastern route through the Matabele and Makalaka district; but this proceeding has the disadvantage of exposing them to the dishonesty and untrustworthiness of the natives.

While we were crossing the last glade before entering the forest, Meriko, who was walking on in front with the bullocks, pointed suddenly to the left, and called out something that I did not understand; he was evidently rather excited, and both I and Theunissen, who was sitting with me on the box, were curious to know what had disturbed him. He soon managed to make us comprehend that he had caught sight of two ostriches about 250 yards from the road, and, on looking again, I saw one of them standing near a high bush. Although I was quite aware that, as matter of right, they really belonged to the king of the Bamangwatos, my sportsman’s instinct was far too keen to permit me to go my way without having a chase; accordingly, a very few minutes elapsed before I was stalking them in the grass. Almost directly I discovered the second ostrich, which I had not seen before, squatting on the ground and peeping at me; it did not wait long before it took to running off, but an intervening bush prevented my getting a proper aim at it. I followed on to the more open plain, and just as the two birds together were entering the underwood about 400 yards in front of me, I fired; but my bullet struck a tree, quite close to them, without touching them. Meriko had the laugh of me; he could not refrain from expressing his satisfaction that the property of his liege lord had been uninjured, and pledged himself to report the circumstance to the king on his return to Shoshong.

The bullocks had not a drop of water all day long. It was consequently of the most urgent importance that we should get on to the next spring, and we agreed that there was no alternative but to travel on all night, if need be, in defiance of the difficulties we might encounter. Niger, unbidden, took the lead, followed by Pit carrying a breech-loader; Meriko led the foremost oxen by the bridle, which he held in his left hand, whilst he held up a flaming torch in the other; Theunissen took the reins, and I sat on the box with one loaded gun in my hand, and another behind me ready to be used in any emergency. By eleven o’clock, however, we reached some springs; they proved to be the most southerly of those known to the neighbouring Madenassanas as the Klamaklenyana springs, and here we came across several elephant-hunters whom I had seen before, some of them a few weeks previously, and others at the Soa lake. They were all full of complaints at the bad luck they had experienced.

As implied by their name “four, one behind another,” the Klamaklenyana springs consist of four separate marshy pieces of water, between which, on either hand, are numerous rain-pools, full at various periods of the year. Close to the spring by which we were halting there was a waggon-track, made by the Dutch hunters, which branched off towards the Mababi-veldt.

At this place, too, I fell in with one of Anderson’s servants, named Saul; he was travelling with a Makalahari who had four children, whom he had met at the Nataspruit and invited to join him; he told me he was sure that his master would not disapprove of what he had done, as the man would be very serviceable to him in helping to hunt ostriches.

“Hunt ostriches!” I exclaimed; “how can such a bad shot as you hunt ostriches?”

“Ah, sir,” he answered, “I manage to get at them well enough.”

“How so?” I inquired.

“Well, I always take a man with me, and we look about till we discover a nest, and then we dig a hole pretty close to it in which I hide myself. The birds come to sit, and it doesn’t want a very good shot to knock over an ostrich when it is just at hand. Well, having made sure of one bird, we stick up its skin on a pole near the nest, and except we are seen, and so scare the birds away, a second ostrich is soon decoyed, and I get another chance. In this way I succeed very well; besides, I get lots of eggs.”

Whilst at the springs I learnt the meaning of some of the Masarwa and Bamangwato appellations. I might give numerous examples, but one or two will suffice. I found, for instance, that Khori, the district on the side arm of the Shaneng, means “a bustard,” and that Mokhotsi means “a strong current.”

On leaving our encampment on the 10th we had to travel for two hours through the sandy underwood to the next of the Klamaklenyana springs. Here I met an elephant-hunter named Mayer and a Dutchman, Mynheer Herbst, and only a little further on at another watering-place I fell in with a second Dutchman called Jakobs, and Mr. Kurtin, an ivory-trader. Mr. Kurtin told me that on previous expeditions into this neighbourhood he had lost no fewer than sixty-six oxen through the poisonous plant that I have mentioned. Jakobs entertained us with the accounts of his hunting-expeditions, and particularly with some adventures of the famous Pit Jacobs. Mayer and Herbst were in partnership, and had recently had the satisfaction of shooting a fine female elephant; they had just engaged the services of some Makalakas, who a few days previously had offered themselves to me, but so bad was my opinion of all that branch of the Bantus, and so evil was the appearance of the men themselves, that not only would I have nothing to do with them, but recommended their new employers to get rid of them at once. To their cost, however, they acted without regard to my advice. When I met Mayer some seven months later, he told me that they had robbed him freely and had then run away.

It was about this time that I made my first acquaintance with the Madenassanas, the serfs of the Bamangwatos. They are a fine race, tall and strongly built, especially the men, but with a repulsive cast of countenance, so that it was somewhat surprising to find from time to time some nice-looking faces among the women. Their skin is almost black, and they have stiff woolly hair which hangs down for more than an inch over their forehead and temples, whilst it is quite short all over the skull.

Whenever a Bamangwato makes his expedition to the pool plateau, his first proceeding is to look up some Madenassanas whom he may compel to go hunting with him and assist him in procuring ivory, whether for himself or for the king; but their residences are generally in such secluded and remote places, that it is often very difficult to find them, unless conducted by some of the Madenassanas themselves. The eldest inhabitant in each little settlement is regarded as a sort of inferior chief, so that it is best for any white man, in want of Madenassana help, to make direct application to him. If hired only for a short period, they are sufficiently paid by three or four pounds of beads, or by a few articles of woollen clothing; but if the engagement should extend to anything like six months the remuneration generally expected would be a musket.

Unlike many of the Bantu races, the Madenassanas respect the law of marriage, which is performed with very simple rites; conjugal fidelity is held in the highest esteem, but jealousy, I was told, which rarely shows itself very prominently amongst other tribes, often impels them to serious crimes. They were uniformly spoken of as a very contented people, and certainly they make far better servants than either the Masarwas or Makalaharis. Dwelling as they do, in the north-west corner of the kingdom, far away from Shoshong, their relations with the Bamangwatos are much less servile than those of the Masarwas, who are found all over the country. They have guns of their own, and are visited only once a year by officials sent by the king to collect their tribute, and to appoint them their share of hunting-work.

The Makalakas (of whom I had so low an opinion) were moving about in large numbers between the Nata and Zambesi in 1875 and 1876; they were chiefly fugitives from Shoshong, having been expelled thence by the inhabitants, who were infuriated by their treachery.

When we reached the third spring we found that Jakobs and Kurtin had already settled there before us. Another trader, whom I may distinguish as X., arrived after us on the same day; he had visited Sepopo, the king of the Marutse-land, whither I was directing my course, and he gave me an introduction to a friend of his, whom I should be sure to meet further north on the Panda ma Tenka. I asked him to convey two of my cases of curiosities to Shoshong, but although he promised to deliver them, I am sorry to record that I never heard any more about them. In exchange for 800 lbs. of ivory, Mr. Kurtin sold him two cream-coloured horses, one of which I had myself cured of an illness in Shoshong; the ivory that X. was conveying in two waggons did not weigh less than 7000 lbs., of which 5000 lbs. had been obtained from Sepopo, the rest having been procured by his own people during their excursions on the southern shore of the Zambesi, between the Victoria Falls and the mouth of the Chobe. He warned me that there was great risk of getting fever on the Zambesi, and that in the district ahead of us there was great scarcity of water. In return for some medicines with which I supplied him, he very courteously sent me a good portion of a cow that he had just killed.

After starting in the afternoon west by north towards the most northerly of the Klamaklenyana springs, we had to pass through a part of the forest, where we saw some fine camel-thorn acacias and mimosas; also some trees like maples, some mochononos, and bushes of fan-palms. The scenery remained very much of the same character all through the next morning’s march, until we reached the spring in time for our midday halt. Between the first and the last of the four springs, I counted twenty-five depressions in the ground that are all full of water after heavy rain.

As we came along, I made several little détours into the woods, and saw buffaloes, striped gnus, Zulu-hartebeests and zebras, and noticed that lion-tracks were by no means wanting. At a point near the spring, where a trader’s road brings them out from the western Matabele, I met three hunters, named Barber, Frank, and Wilkinson. Barber’s skill as a hunter was notorious; he had a mother who was not only a keen observer of animal life, but was so gifted with artistic power of delineating what she saw, that she had published several little works on the subject. Barber likewise showed me his own sketch-book, in which he had made some very clever illustrations of his hunting-adventures.

We went a few miles further before we stopped for the night. Some of the trees that we passed next morning were of remarkably well-developed growth, several of the trunks being sixty feet in height; they belonged to a species called wild syringa by the Dutch, and “motsha” by the Bamangwatos; there is another sort quite as common, which they call “monati.” Near the groves I observed a great many orchids with red blossoms.

About noon we came to a slight hollow, containing a pond known as Yoruah, where we again fell in with our hunting acquaintances. X. had advised them to make it their headquarters for a time, because he had himself been extremely fortunate in killing elephants there during his own stay. There were traces from which it was clear that a herd had passed along quite recently, and it was hoped that they might soon return again. Not wishing that my dogs should cause the hunting-party any annoyance, I pushed on at once without stopping, and reached the Tamafopa, or Skeleton-springs, in good time next day.

Here I made up my mind to stay for a few days, and taking the waggon about half a mile into the forest, fixed upon a station close to some rain-pools that were generally more or less full of water throughout the year; one of my principal objects for this rest was that I might try and get a skin of the sword-antelope, the finest of all the South African species.

Taking a stroll westwards I saw some steinbocks, and observing countless tracks of animals of all sorts, I could not doubt but that the whole district was teeming with life, and accordingly I came to the conclusion that I would spend another night of observation in the open air; even if I failed to accomplish my end with regard to the skin of which I was in quest, I might at least reckon upon being entertained. Instead of going alone as I did before, I resolved this time to take Pit with me, and in reply to my question whether he thought he would be able to keep awake, he told me he had not the least doubt on that point.

About an hour or two before sunset I saw that a thoroughly good enclosure was made round the waggon, and Theunissen undertook to keep a good look-out against lions. I and Pit then made our way towards the spot which I had already selected in a forest glade about 500 yards in circumference, partially overgrown with grass, and about ten feet above the level of the woods; in the centre was a small rain-pool that had been full of water some months back, but was now much covered with weeds, and nearly empty. Near the edge of the glade stood a fine hardekool-tree, and about fifteen yards from this was an Acacia detinens thirty feet high, of which the branches drooped nearly to the ground, and partly sheltered and partly supported a great ant-hill at its side. Altogether the place seemed well adapted for my purpose.

The first thing I made Pit do was to collect some of the branches of the trees, to make a sort of breastwork about two feet high; we reserved an open space of eight feet or more of bare plain between ourselves and the tall grass; and then we carefully examined our guns and put them in perfect readiness for use. The sun was now sinking, and all the birds had gone to roost except a few glossy starlings that kept twittering around the nests which they occupy all through the year. Pit offered a piece of advice which I thought it advisable to follow, and we left our retreat before it was absolutely dark to fetch some branches of acacia to throw over the enclosure as a light covering, and while we were doing this the howling of the jackals at no great distance made us aware that the hour was at hand when the deer would be on the move to drink, and when the beasts of prey would set forth for their nightly prowl.

Taking his usual posture, Pit half lay down, while I, for my part, preferred a squatting position as being the least uncomfortable for a long period of watching. For a little while we kept up a conversation in an undertone, but soon afterwards I suggested that it might be better if we were quite quiet. Half an hour or more might have elapsed when I heard a peculiar sound that induced me to rise cautiously and listen; for a moment or two I was puzzled, but hardly knew whether to be more amused or disgusted to find that the noise had no other origin than the open countenance of my slumbering servant. The poke that I gave him was not particularly gentle. At first he seemed inclined to be aggrieved, but immediately recollected himself, and apologizing for falling asleep, promised now to keep wide awake. I knew his propensity too well to have much confidence in his vigilant intentions, but I really was surprised to find after how brief an interval he had begun to snore again as loud as ever.

Shortly before ten o’clock the moon had risen so high that the whole glade was illuminated by the beams. I was getting somewhat weary of Pit’s music, when my ear caught a distant sound like the trotting of a number of horses. I could see to a considerable distance, and after about a quarter of an hour I found, as I conjectured might be the case, that the noise proceeded from a herd of zebras advancing towards the glade. Looking through the opening between the mimosa and the ant-hill I could make out all their movements. They came on with the utmost caution. They pricked up their ears and stopped at almost every second step, standing awhile as motionless as if carved in stone. Two of the herd were in front; the rest followed at a little distance. I hardly knew whether to fire at once, or to wake up Pit to help me if necessary, but while I was debating in my mind the fellow gave such a tremendous snore that he woke himself; hearing me call, he started up so suddenly that he pulled down the whole of our canopy of acacia boughs, and made such a commotion that the whole of the zebras scampered off without my getting another fair chance of a shot.

My incorrigible man was not long in falling asleep for the third time. Midnight had now passed without any further signs of sport, and it was past one when I fancied that I could hear, although a long way off, the lowing of buffaloes. The sound appeared to come gradually nearer, but after coming almost close it receded again, making me suppose that the herd had got scent of us and had altered their course. It was hardly worth the trouble I took to tell Pit about their movements, as he only groaned in reply and rolled himself over on to his other side.

After this I confess I began to feel somewhat drowsy myself. Yielding to fatigue I fell into a doze, from which I was aroused by what struck me as the rustling of a coming storm. I listened for quite twenty minutes, making out nothing beyond the fact that the noise came from one of the neighbouring pools; after a while, however, I found out that the shrill trumpet-like splash and roar proceeded from a herd of elephants that were enjoying themselves in the water. To rouse Pit was now indispensable. It was no easy matter to make him aware of his position; he muttered something about my wrapping myself up because the wind was blowing and it was cold. This time, however, I was not to be put off, and by giving him a good shaking I brought him to his feet.

My own desire was to leave our shelter and go and set light to two patches of dry grass that I recollected were close at hand. It was a proceeding that I imagined would have the effect of putting the brutes into a high state of alarm, and would bring about a romantic scene such as is rarely witnessed even in the heart of Africa. Pit, however, could not be induced to view the proposal with any favour; he insisted upon what indeed was quite true, that to accomplish what we intended, we should have to cross a great number of the lion-tracks that we knew were there, and that every step would leave us liable to attack before we could be aware of it. As no representations on my part could stir him, and as the moon had set, and it was very dark, I came to the conclusion that perhaps after all discretion was the better part of valour, and yielded my own wish to his. We both of us watched for a long time, but experiencing nothing to keep our interest alive, we at length, one after the other, began to doze again.

I am certain that I had been asleep for a very short time when I was brought to consciousness by a sound that ever makes one oblivious of any other; the roar of a lion was distinctly followed by the low growl of a lioness, both unquestionably within thirty yards of where I was lounging. My hands were benumbed with cold; it was darker than it had been all night, but I rose and dropped upon my knee prepared to fire, having a most uncomfortable consciousness that in all likelihood the animals had been watching us for some time.

“PIT, ARE YOU ASLEEP?”

It did not now require much effort on my part to wake my servant. At the first recognition of the lion’s roar Pit was on his feet in a second. Standing bolt upright, he laid his hands upon the drooping boughs of the mimosa; his hint was worth taking; to escape the spring of the beasts of prey which were only too probably close upon us, we should not lose an instant in climbing up into the tree; the difficulty was how to get there. I had a flat Scotch cap on my head, a pair of long boots, and an overcoat that reached my knees. To pull off my coat and make it a protection for my face was the work of an instant. Pit pushed me up from behind; then he handed me my gun. In my turn I lent him a helping hand up, and as if by magic we found ourselves elevated in the tree, and at least temporarily safe. Our height from the ground was not more than ten feet, but the night continued so dark, and the grass was so high that it was impossible to make out where it would be of any avail to fire. Until it was nearly morning the lions continued to prowl round about, but when dawn appeared they had made off in the same direction as the buffaloes. We afterwards went to examine the pool; there were no longer any signs either of buffaloes or elephants, except the footprints that plainly showed that at least thirty elephants with their cubs had been there during the night. From Theunissen I learnt that a lion and lioness, no doubt the same, had been heard growling within a stone’s throw of the waggon.

After breakfast next day I set out with Pit to follow up the elephants; finding, however, from the condition of the tracks, that they must have had several miles start, I considered that it would be of no use to persevere in the pursuit. The fact, however, of my having been so close to the elephants the previous night stirred up my eagerness, and although I had quite intended to leave Tamafopa that day, I made up my mind to lie in wait a night by myself as near as I could to the pool in which I had heard them disporting themselves. After a good examination of the place I chose a fine hardekool-tree, nearly fifty feet high, from which to keep my look-out, but the lowest branch of it was so much above the ground, that Pit and Meriko had to hoist me up with some strips of oxhide. Once mounted, I was quite satisfied with the position, as it commanded a complete view of the pond. The night was clear and bright, but decidedly wintry, and after a time I felt the cold very severely. It was verging towards midnight, when my hopes were raised by the sound of the tramp which made me sure that a herd of elephants was approaching; my best anticipations, however, had hardly been excited before they were doomed to disappointment, for the noise of the elephants was followed immediately by the crack of a huge African bullock-whip. The waggon of the hunters came nearer, but the herd had turned off into the bushes, and was before long quite out of hearing. I afterwards heard that it was Kurtin, on his way to meet his brother in the Panda ma Tenka valley, who had thus unwittingly spoiled my night’s entertainment.

My sport on the 17th consisted chiefly in an attempt to dig out an ant-eater. On the night of the 18th we killed a couple of jackals. After passing laboriously over great tracts of sand we arrived at the pools at Tamasetze, where we stayed for a night; a very keen wind was blowing down the glade in which the pools were situated, but I fancied I might get the chance I wanted to secure a sword-antelope. I had the waggon removed to the most sheltered place we could find. We were awakened shortly after midnight by a loud cry from Meriko, who had discovered a snake nestling against his legs; the reptile tried to escape, but he mutilated it so terribly that its skin was useless for my collection.

After my recent exertions and nights without sleep, I was not feeling at all well, and was very glad to get as close as I could to the fire. I was occupying myself with my diary when Theunissen, speaking very gently, told me to look behind me; on turning round, I found that I had been sitting with a puff-adder close to my feet, probably enjoying the warmth of the fire as much as myself. This time we were much more cautious in our proceedings, and I was very pleased to be able to enrich my collection with a singularly fine specimen.

CHAPTER V.
FROM TAMASETZE TO THE CHOBE.

Henry’s Pan—Hardships of elephant-hunting—Elephants’ holes—Arrival in the Panda ma Tenka valley—Mr. Westbeech’s depôt—South African lions—Their mode of attack—Blockley—Schneeman’s Pan—Wild honey—The Leshumo valley—Trees damaged by elephants—On the bank of the Chobe.

Leaving our encampment in the Tamasetze wood early on the morning of July 20th, we proceeded northwards across the grassy hollow. In the afternoon we were overtaken by a Dutch boy on horseback, very miserably clad. He was not more than fourteen years of age, and in reply to my question whither he was going, he told me that his father, who lived in a hut near the next pool, had sent him to take a waggon, and two negroes to attend to it, all the way to the Makalaka country, to barter beads and calico for kaffir-corn.

We arrived next day at the pool of which the lad had spoken. It was called Henry’s Pan, after the name of a hunter’s servant who had killed a giraffe there. I found three Boer families settled at the place, as well as three Dutch hunters, Schmitt and the two brothers Lotriet. For the last month Schmitt had been living in a grass-hut, and had killed a sword-antelope on the day before our arrival. His narratives of hunting-excursions were most interesting.

One of the Henry’s Pan people had a cancer in his lower jaw, and both the Lotriet families—one a party of three, and the other of nine—were suffering from fever. Their huts, wretched structures of dry branches and grass, were quite inadequate to protect them either from sun or rain, and as they lay upon the ground, their condition seemed pitiable in the extreme. They attributed all their hardships to a trader who had unscrupulously enticed them into the district, and wiped his hands of them almost directly afterwards. The account they gave was entirely substantiated by six hunters of whom I subsequently made inquiries; and so convinced was I that the facts ought to be circulated as a warning to others, that I sent the story of the Lotriets to the Diamond News, in which it was inserted under the title of “Dark Deeds.” I am in possession of other narratives of a similar character, which I am reserving for future publication.

So violent had been the fever that one or two of the Lotriets were really dangerously ill, the condition of the whole family being seriously aggravated by the want of clothing and proper medicines. I supplied them with what covering I could, and prescribed for their malady, in return receiving from them a tusk weighing nearly eight pounds, about equivalent in value to the quinine which I had given. Three days previously they had had to part with quite as much ivory for about six ounces of castor-oil.

I made an excursion in which I had the opportunity of getting very near to some koodoo-antelopes, but unfortunately I lost my way in the forest, and did not get back until it was quite late.

In another ramble I came upon a number of holes that had been dug out by elephants, most of them being more than a foot deep, some as much as eighteen inches. Having scented out their favourite roots and tubers, they go down on their knees and use their tusks to make the excavations, and as the soil is often very stony, and the slopes full of rock, the tusks are apt to get very much worn. Sometimes the result of the attrition is so considerable that a difference of four pounds is caused in their weight.