Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1873-10-14
A South African Adventure.

A South African Adventure.
1t was on the afternoon Of one of
the hottest days of an African sum-
mer that / left my farm to ascend
the Draakensburg Mountain, for
the purpose of finding, if possible,
an eland-a species of antelope-to
replenish my lardar for the coming
Christmas. Twas at the time living
alone in a glen formed by two spurs
of the mountain, with but few
neighbors, and no town within fif-
ty miles; but my Kafires had be-
come sufficiently civilized to under
stand that Christmas-time meant
unlimited eating, I wished, by pro-
viding game, to save an OK. l had
only five or six miles to go, and
was we'll mounted; so / did not
hurry, but, leading my horse up
the steep pass, reached the place
where I intended to sleep, just as
the sun was setting.
The scene around, though quite
different from our ideas of what it
should be in December, was very
beautiful. There was no snow, no
leahess trees with their delicate
tracery set off by the glittering
hoarfrost, nor dark green frs bend
ing under their white load +; but still
there was enough to keep me stand
ing, forgetful of fire-wood and all ]
had to do for my comfort during the
night.
was on a narrow ledge of rock,
separated from the network of hills
beyond, by deep, perpendicular
gorge, at the bottom of which, so
low down that could hardly dis
tinguish it, ran a little burn. The
setting sun gave the peaks that
rich purple hue seldom seen away
from heather; and on the other
side, as far as the eye could reach,
lay the thorn-covered flats and hills
of Natal.
Under the rock was large cave,
where l had determined to sleep. 1t
had in olden times been q regular
resort of the Busbmen, but few
came near it tnow-indeed, / had not
known they came at all, but, on 60
ing in, found some calabashes, and
the ashes of a newly-made fire, that
could have been left only by them.
There were other marks on the
walls, though evidently of great an
tiquity; rude sketches and draw
ings of cattle, horses, bows and ar
rows, and even of Bushman rid
ing. 1t is most curious that race
so low down in the scale of human
ity that their language contains on
ly,afew unpronounceable clicks, and
who, with the exception of the use
of fire, in their mode of life differ
but little from the ape, should have
learned to do this. 1t may be that
it is a remnant of an old sign-lan-
guage, or the last relic of some
former civilization. 1t was full
moon, and, after admiring the won
derful lights and shadows thrown
by it on the broken ground, turn
ed in and slept till near daylight.
AS soon as / could see, l started
to hunt. Much to my annoyance
at the time, though had afterward
cause to be thankful that my horse
was spared such a gallop as riding
down an eland entails, l could find
and could tell by the spoors
that no herd had been about for
some days. 1t was nearly noon be-
fore l became convinced of this
md tempted by the shade of line
Of tree-ferns, edging little brook
whose bubble sounded refreshingly
amid the great heat, / took my sad
lle off, -haltered Prince, and
ay down. OF course / soon dozed
off, but became awake in about a
couple of hours-I say "became
awake" because it was not the nat
nral rousing up Of a person who has
been asleep, but a sudden return to
consciousness, without any move
ment, and with all my wits about
me, and that inward feeling, which
nerhaps some Of nv readers NAV