Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1873-08-01
a south African Adventure.

ing III possible, III etuHu species Vi du-
telope, 10 replenish my larder for the
coming Christmas. / was at the time
living alone in glen formed by two
spurs OF the mountain, with but few
neighbors and no town within fifty miles
but, as my Kaffirs had become sufficient
ly civilized to understand that Christ
mas time meant unlimited eating, / wish
ed by providing game, to save an OK. |
had only FIVE or six miles TO go, and
vas well mounted, SO | did not hurry,
but, leading my horse up a steep pass
reached the place where l intended to
7leep Just as the sun was setting,
The scene around, though quite diff
ferent from our ideas of what it should
be in December, was very beautiful.
There was no snow, no leafless trees with
their delicate tracery set off by the glis-
tening hoar-trost, nor dark green frs
bending under their white load but
still there was enough to keep me stand
ing, forgetfu] of firewood and all bad
to do for my comfort during the night.
was on narrow ledge OF rock, sepa-
rated from the network of hills beyond
by deep perpendicu ar gorge, at the
bottom of which, so far down that could
hardly distinguish it, ran little burn.
The setting sun gave the peaks that rich
purple hue seldom seen away from heath
er 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 | had determined to sleep. 1t
had in olden times been regular resort
of the Bushmen, but few came near it
now; indeed | had not known they
came at all. but on going in | found
some clabsshes, and the ashes of new
ly made fire, which could only have been
left by them. There were other marks
on the walls, though evidently of great
antiquity; rude sketches and drawings
of horses, cattle, bows and arrows, and
even of Bushman riding. 1t is most
curious that race so low down in the
scale of humanity that their language
only contains few words made up of
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. IL
may be that it is a remnant of an old
sign language or the last relic of some
former civilization. 1t was full moon
and after admiring the wonderful lights
and shadows thrown by it ON the broken
ground, | turned in and slept till nearly
daylight.
As soon as | could see, / started to
hunt. Much to my annoyance at the
time, though | had afterwards cause to
be thankful that my horse was spared
such gallop as riding down an eland
entails, | could find nothing, and could
tell by the spoors that no herd had been
about for some days. 1t was nearly
noon before | became convinced of this !;
and, tempted by the shade of line of
tree-ferns edging little brook whose
bubble sounded refreshingly amid the
great heat; ; took my saddle off. knee
battered Prince, and lay down. OF
course | soon dozed off, but became
awake in about a couple of hours say
became awake" because it was not the
natural rousing up of a person who has
been asleep but a sndden return to con-
sciousness, without any movement, and
with my wits about me, and that inward
feeling which perhaps some of my read
ers may have experienced, of something
being wrong and tension of all the
powers of hearing to discover what it is.
/ had not long to wait; whiz came q
tiny arrow striking stone on which my
head had been resting, and where my
cap still was. 1t did not require much
thinking to know that Bushman's ar
row held the bow it had come from, nor
to determine that the safest thing to do
was to roll quietly into the bed of the
little brook below me. Luckily this
would afford good shelter, and | could
almost reach the edge with my hand.
The tremulous violence with which
there streams come down from the hills
during heavy thunder storms, wears a
deep passage even in the hardest ground,
and though there was only about an
inch of water it was not yard broad l.,
the banks were full four feet high.
Leaving my cap where it was, / rolled
over as quietly MS | could but just as 7
was disappearing another arrow came
and struck me in the thigh. the only
part not yet in safety. 1t took all my
lfcontrol to continue my movements
as before, until | stood crouching at the
bottom. "Why," the reader may ex-
claim the pain of such tiny arrow
could not be SO very great" No, neither
is the bite of a snake in itself, yet of the
two the latter is the least to be dreaded.
1t was of course poisoned with that
deadly skill for which the whole tribe is
famous and as / stood below / knew /
had little chance OF seeing another sun
rise.
However with that self help that men
who lead a solitary life acquire, / in
stantly drew my hunting-knife, ripped
up the trousers, end with steady
hand cut out the arrowhead not spar
ing myself | then took my flask,
poured powder into the wound, and gen.
tly striking match set fire to it. That
done, / took off my belt and using my
full force, strapped it little above, as
tight as it would 60.
do not think that in doing all this l
had any hope of saving my life; there
was only sort of feeling that | was do
ing my duty. The pain was not very
great, and my chief thought was Tor yen-
geance ON the malignant creature that
looked upon as my murderer. Irightly /
imagined that he was not aware of his