Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1873-08-14
A south African Adventure.

II was on the afternoon of one OF the
hottest DAYS of an African summer .that
| left nv farm to ascend DraakensDurg
Mountain for the purpose or nndlng, IT
nossible. an Gland, specie of antelope,
Ia repIenish my larder for the coming
Christmas. | was at the same time liv
inc alone in a glen formed by two spurs
of the mountain, with but few neigh
bors. and no town within fifty miles, but
"a nv Kaffirs had become sufficiently
civilized to understand that Christmas
time meant unlimited eating, l wished,
by providing game, to save an OK. had
ONLY five or six miles to 60, and was well
mounted, SO did not hurry; but, lead
ing my horse up to the steep pass, reach
ed the place where | intended To sleep
lust as the sun was setting.
The scene around, though quite differ
ent from our ideas of what it should be
in December, was very beautiful. There
was no snow no leafless trees with del
icate tracery set off by the glistening
boar frost, nor dark green frs bendihg
under their white load; but still there
was enough to keep me standing, Tor
getful of firewood, and all had TO 90
was for my comfort during the night.
| was on a narrow ledge OF rock sepa--
rated from the network of hills beyond
by deep, perpendicular gorge, at the
bottom Of which, so far that l could
hardly distinguish 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 cover
ed flats and hills of Natal. ~
Under the rock was q large cave,
where had determined to sleep. 1t had
in olden times been a 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
calabashes, and the ashes of newly
made fire, which could have been only
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 a few words made up of
unpronounceable clicks, and who, with
the execution 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 remnant of an old
sign language, or the remnant of some
foreign civilization. 1t was full moon,
and after admiring the wonderful lights
and shadows thrown by it on the unbrok-
en- ground, turned in and slept till near
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 Gland
entails, | could find nothing, and could
tell by the spores that no herd had been
about for days. 1t was nearly noon be-
fore / became convinced of this; and,
tempted by the shade of a line of tree
ferns, edging little brook whose bub-
Bile sounded refreshingly amid the great
heat, / took my saddle off, knee-haltered
Prince, and lay down. OF course | soon
dozed off, but became awake again in
about couple of hours | say "became
awake, because it was not the natural
rousing up of a person who has been
asleep, but sudden return to conscious
ness, without any movement, and with
all my wits about me, and that inward
feeling which perhaps some of my read
being wrong, and a tension of all the
powers of hearing to discover what it is.
had not long to wait whiZ come tiny
arrow, striking the 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 hand
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 tremendous violence with which
these streams come down from the hills
during the neavy thunder-storms, wears
a deep passage, even in the hardest
ground and though there was only
about an inch of water, and it was not
a yard broad, the banks were full four
feet deep. Leaving my cap where it
was, rolled over as quietly as | could !;
but just as | was disappearing, another
arrow came and struck me in the thigh,
the only partnot yet in safety. 1t took
all my self-control to continue my
movements as before until | stood
crouching at the bottom. 'Why,p the
reader may exclaim, ''the pain of such a
tiny arrow could not be very great. "
No, neither is the bite of snake 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 see
ing another sunrise.
N However, with that self-help that men
who lead solitary life acquire, in
stantly drew my hunting-knife, ripped
up the trousers with a steady hand, cut
out the arrowhead, not sparing myself
| then took my flask, and poured powder
into the wound and gently striking a
match, set fire to it. That done, I took
off my belt, and using my full force,
strapped il a little above, as tight as it
would go.
do not think that in doing all this
had any hope of saving my life; there
was only a sort of feeling that was do
ing my duty. The pain was not very
great, and my chief thought was for
vengeance on the malignant creature
that | looked upon as my murderer. /
rightly imagined that he was not aware
\ of his success. No doubt he thought he
missed me, and that | was still lying
atslCCp III pIOOl VI WHICH soon DedTu
fthe whiz of another arrow striking
above. Moving down about yard to
where the overhanging ferns could con-
ceal me, quietly raised my head the
ground was slightly rising, and ] could
see around for some distance. There
was my horse unconsciously grazing
away, but the grass was too long for me
to see my enemy's whereabouts. !, how
& ever, guessed that he would try and get
between us, and so | waited, watching
and grasping my rifle.
Ten minutes passed in silence, and
then fancied that the grass was moving
unnaturally. In another second a hand
and bow appeared; heard a little twang
sand saw the tiny messenger of death
1again pierce the spot where | had been.
kept myself from firing, though l COW
cred the place. Surely he would become
Impatient and give me better chance
a Another ten minutes, and suddenly in a
K different spot, which commanded a bet
ter view of my cap, little black head
peeped over the grass. 1t was enough !;
aud as / fired, shril shrek and a