Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1873-07-10
A SOUTH AFRICAN ADVENTURE,

IL was on tAo AFTERNOON OF one OF the
hottest days Of an African summer
that l left my farm to ascend the Dr;.a-
kensburg mountain for the purpose of
finding, If possible, an Gland, Il specie
of antelope, to reple;.ish my larler for
the coming Christmas. L WAS 1T the
time living alone in glen formed by
two spurs of the mountain, Will but
few neighbors, and no town within 50
miles, but as my Kaf1irs had become
sufficiently civilized to understand
that Christmas time meant unlimited
eating, l wished, 10y providing game,
to save an OK. I had only five or six
miles to go, and was we'll mounted, 50
l did rot hurry, but, leading my Horse
mp the steep pass, reached the place
where l intended to sleep 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; II" leafless trees
with their delicate tracery set off by
the glistening hoar frost, nor dark
green frs bending under their white
load but still there WAS enough to
keep me standing, forgetful Of fire.
wood, and I'LL mad to do for my COM
fort during the night.
l was On Il narrow ledge of rock, sep
arated from the network Of hills be-
You'd by deep, perpendicular gorge,
ut the bottom Of winch, SO far down
that I could hardly distinguish it, ran
! little burn. The setting sun gave the
peaks that rich purple: hue seldom seen
away from heather and on the other
side, as fur rs the eye could reach, lay
the thOrn-covcrcu flats and hills of
Natal.
Under tho rock was large cave,
| where L hud determined to sleep. 1t
had i'll ollen times been u regular re-
sort Of the Bushmon, but few came
near it now; indeed, hal not known
they came at all, but, on going in, [
found some calabashes and the ashes
of a newly made fire, which could have
only been left by them. There were
other marks on the walls, though cvi.
IDENTIFY Of great antiquity rude sketch
es 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 nnpronounceable
clicks, and who, with the exception of
the use Of fire, in their mode of life
differed but little from the ape, should
have learned to do this. 1T may be
that it is Il remnant of al old sign Ian
guage, or the remnant of some former
civilization. 1t was full moon, and
after atlmiring the wonderful lights
and shadows thrown by it on the broken
ground, turned in and slept till near
daylight.
As soon as could SEQ I started to
hunt. Much to my annoyance at the
time, though. [ had afterwards cause to
sucI, gallop us riding down an Gland
could tell by the spoons that no herd
had been about for some days. It was
nearly noon before became convinced
Of this and, tempted by the shade of
a line OF tree ferns cuging little brook
whose bubble sounded rcfrcshingly
amid the great heat, I took NV
saddle of, knce-haItcrrd Prince.
and lay down. OF course, I soon
dozed of, but became awake
again in about Il couple of hours;
I say "bccame awake" because it was
not the natural rolsi,Ig mp of II person
who has been asleep, but II sudden re.
turn to consciousness, without any
movement. and with Ill my wits about
me, and that inward feeling which per
l'aps some Of my readers may have ex
ncr'cncc'l, Of something being wrong,
and Il tension of all the powers Of hear
ing to discover what it is. had not
long t" wait; wliz come II tiny arrow,
striking the stone on which my head
had Lccn resting, and where my cap
still was. It did not require much
thinking to know that n Bushman's
han"l hc'd the bow il had come from,
nor I" determine that the safest thing
TO- a." was I" roll quietly into the bed
OF the little brook below me. Luckily
THIS would afford good shelter, and i
co"lu almost reach the edge with NV
hand.
The tremendous vinlcllc, with which,
these streams come down FROM the
hills during the heavy thunder storms.
wears a deep passage even in the hard,
est ground and though, there was only
about IN inch Of water, and it was not
yard broad, the banks were full four
feet deep. Leaving my cap where IT
was, rolled over as quietly rs I
could; but just us ! was disappearing,
another arrow came and struck me- in
thu: thigh, the only part not yet in
safety. 1t took all my Self-control to
continue my movements as before nm
til l stood crotching ut the bottom.
why, the reader may "xclain', "thc
| pam OF such q tiny arrow .,nlI MT hn
very great " No, neither is the bite
OF u snake itself, yet Of the two the