St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1873-07-18
A South African Adventure.

hottest days of an African summer that
| left my farm to ascend the Draakens
burg Mountains, for the purpose of find
ing. if possible. an Gland. il species o
antelope. to rcplcniSh my lar,lcr for tho
canning Christmas. | was at the tim,
living alone i'll Il glcu formed Ivy two
spurs of the mountain. with hut few
nCighhorS. and no town within fifty
miles. but. aS my katirS had hccom,
sufficiently civilized to understand that
Christmas time meant unlimited eating
wished. 10y providing game. to Sav,
:tn OK. | had only five or six miles Ia
go. and WIS well mounted. so did not
hurry. but, leading my horse up the
steep pass, reached the place where
intended to sleep just as the sun was
setting.
The scene around, though quite diff
fcrcnt from ON ideas of what it should
hc in December. WAS very beautiful.
Ihcrc WAS no SNOW; no lcatlCSs trees
with their delicate tllccry set oft by
| the gliStcning hoar- nor dark green
| iirS bending under their white load :
hnt still there was enough to keep me
standing. forgcttiul of lircwood and all
| | had To do tOr my comfort during the
night.
WAS on IL narrow ledge of rock. sep
aratcd from the network of hills hcyOnd
hy deep perpendicular gorge. ut the
bottom of which. 50 far down that |
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
far as tn" eye could reach. Law the
/ thorn covered flats and hills of Natal
i'mdcr the rock was large cave.
| WhciC had determined to sleep. 1t
had in oldCn times been IL regular re-
sort of thr Iiu>hmcn. but few came near
/ it NOW indeed. had not known they
came ut all. hut on going in found
some claha>hcS. and the ashes of Il new
/ ly made fire. which could have been
only left hv 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 IL liuShman riding
1t is most curious that II race So low
down in the scale of humanity that
their language only contains a few
words made up of unprnununccahlc
clicks, and who. with the exception of
III" use of fire, in their mode OF life
differ hut little from the ape. should
nave learned to do this. II may he
that ii * II remnant of an old Siwn-lan-
gua%c. OF the last relic of some former
civilization. II WAS full moon. and
after admiling the wonderful lights and
shadows thrown 10y it on the broken
ground. | turned in and slept till near
day lyht.
.\S soon as could see. | started Ia
hunt. Much t" my ann"lamrr al the
time. though had afterwards caII>c to
hc thankful that my horse wa> >palcd
such Il %Illnp a> riding down an clImd
entails. could lind nothing. and could
tell 10y the >p0nIS that no herd had been
about fnr some DAYS. 1t WAS nearly
noon before ! hcCamc convinced of this:
and. tempted 10y the shade oi Il line "f
trcc-tcrms cdging Il little hrnok whose
bubble sounded rcfrc>hiucly amid the
great heat. took my saddle oil. knee
haltcrcd Prince, and lay down. OF
course | soon dOZcd off. hut hrramt,
awake again III about Il couple of hours
| say ''hccamc awake" because it WAS
not the natural rnIlSimg up of Il person
who has been asleep. but :; ~'Iddcu Ic-
turn ntoConSci"uSurSS. without amy move
mcmt. and with all my wits about me.
and that inward feeling which perhaps
some of my readers may have expert
rnccd. of something being wrong and
IL tension of ali the powers of hearing
To discover what it is. | had not Ion"
to wait: whiz came Il tiny arrow, Strik-
ing the stone on which my head had
been resting. and where my cap stIl
was. 1t did not require much think
ma tn Il
held the bow il had come from. nor
t" determine that the safest thing
to do WIS to roll quietly into the he'd
of the little brook below me. Luckily.
this would afford good shelter. and |
conld almost reach the edge with my
hand.
The tremendous violence with which
these streams come down from the hills
during the heavy thunder storms, wears
Il deep passage even in the hardest
ground, and though there was only
about au inch of water, and if WAS not
Il ward broad. the banks were to the
full foIU. fcct high. Leaving my cap
where il VAS. rolled over as quietly
as ! could: hut inst us | was disap-
pcaIng. another arrow came and struck
me in the thigh. the only part not Vet
in safety. 1t took all my srlt-contrnl
to continue my movements as before.
until stood crouching at the bottom.
"Why," the reader may cXclaim. 1.-THE
pain of such Il tiny arrow could not he |
very great" No. neither is the bite of
II snake III itself, vet of the two the lat
ter is the least to he dreaded. 1t was |
of course poisoned with that deadly |
skill for which the whole tribe is fam
ouS; !; and as | stood below, | knew |
had little chance of seeing another sun
rise.
However, with that self-help that |
men who lead Il solitary life acquire. |
instantly drew my hunting knife. rip
ped up the trousers. and with steady !
hand. cut ont the arrow head. not spar
ing myself. | then took my flask, and !
poured powder into the wound. and |
gently striking II match. set fire to it.
That done. took off my belt. and using
my full force. strapped il il little above.
as tight as it would go.
do not think that i'll doing all this
had any hope of saving my life there
was only Il SOFT of feeling that | WAS
doing 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 had missed me, and that | was still |
lying asleep: i'll proof of which. | soon
heard the whiZ of another arrow strik-
ing above. Moving down about II ward |
to where the overhanging ferns would
conceal me. quietly raised my head
the ground was slightly rising. and
could see around for some distance.
There was my horse unconsciously graz
ing away. but the grass WAS too long