The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1875-06-24
LOST IN AN AFRICAN WILDER
NESS.
d AnBERT HAnr.

captain dafrtSs eXped ton, on It's
return from the Casban mountains,
chose an as yet untraveled route by way
of the Vsal river. Proceeding some
distance south of this river, the country
still seemed literal menagerie: afford
ing opportunities for the chase such as
the most enthusiastic sportsman could
encounter a herd of believing buffaloes.
now ride down a troop Of towering
giraffes, now secure some new species of
antelope, now bring low some tawny-
named and furious forest king or in
quisitive rhinOceros or thick-hided and
almost bullet-proof hippOpotamUs.
One day numbers of blesboks-a
white-faeed and variegated antelope
were seen grazing on the richly carpeted
plain. Captain Harris mounted his
favorite steed and, his zeal in no whit
abated, dashed into the thick of the
herd. A hill shaped like a pineapple,
about FIVE miles to the east, he relied
upon as a landmark to direct his return
to the road.
Securing the plain, an unerring
marksman, after several shots he de-
sisted, as the herd continued to increase
from hundreds TO thousands, reinforce
ments pouring in from every side. Dis
mounting, he ladened his horse with
the parti- colOred robes of some of the
slain, and set out to reiOin his party.
But they we're nowhere in sight. EtFain-
ing his eyes to- discern the obscure
wagon tracks. he rode to and fro, search
ing in vain. The pineapple hill upon
which he had depended, by the refrac-
ton of the suns rsys-so treacherous is
the mirage In that region-now seemed
as if poised In the sky, and could no
longer be trusted as q guide. Other
wise, the sameness of the landscape
tended to confuse, and thus our traveller,
losing the points of the compass, became
at last utterly bewildered.
It was impossible TO retrace his steps
over the plain so recently trampled by
innumerable herds. Now the white
tilt of wagon would seem to loom in
the distance, but would prove to be
only a solitary qua8za, or some other
denizen of the wilderness. Now q group
of pigmy bushwomen, walking unheeded
among a herd of blesboks, magnified by
the mirage, he would mistake for his
own attendants following with the cattle
quite a drove of oxen being neces-
sary appendage to the expedition for
the purpose of relays.
Fatigued with searching and burning
and thither, still on the watch for traces
of his caravan, nor finding in all the
howery waste--a Veritable garden of
pinks and marigolds-stream or pool
where he might moisten his parched
lips.
The refraction dissipating as the day
declined, three table-topped mountains
which had for some time served the
party as landmarks, again became visi-
bic on the horizon. Consoling himself
with the thought that he was now at
least advancing in the same direction as
his company, Capt. Harris hastened
forward, refreshing himself with a
draught of clearest water from a wind
ing river which he reached at dusk. Its
banks were bordered with willows and
its sandy bed was imprinted with the
footsteps of a troop of lions.
The setting sun having given him the
bearing of the three mountains, he now
discovered that he had crossed the road
and ridden too far to the eastward. In
hope of retrieving his error he followed
the course of the river until, night
closing in, he was obliged to bivouac
among some bushes, the stars, which
are far more brilliant in that latitude
than In our northern skies, being con-
cealed by the clouds of a gathering
thunder. storm.
AS be was preparing for his nights
rest, suddenly there cleaned out upon
the water the light of 8 beacon-fire.
Approaching it with the joyful expecta
ton of joining his own people, imagine
his disappointment on behOlding band
of bushmen, strolling dwellers of those
plains, whose propensity for horse steal
ing made it necessary for our traveller
to retrace his steps with all haste and
Quietness, lest the loss of his steed
should render the situation still more
deplorable.
The restiveness and uneasy snorting
OF the horse indicated the presence of
hons in the vicinity but fear of being
discovered by his two.legged neighbOrs,
the bushmen, prevented Harris from
building q fire for its protection or for
the purposes of cooking. So the clam
ors of hunger had to remain uDsatisfed
until, about midnight, having exclvated
an underground oven, he ventured to
light fire sufficient for roasting a Wild
fowl, which served for his Christmas
dinner, this being the 25th of December.
The morning set IN with a heavy rain,
and the traveller arose from his sleep
drenched, cold, and cramped. The
soil consisting mostly of a red, loamy
earth, the rain easily destroyed all
vestiges of the wagons and rendered
futile the hope of finding the trail.
Harris now decided to follow the course
of the river, which curved to the west
ward, several miles farther, and then,
should he not meet with his party, to
cross the country in a direct line to the
cOnical hill-a still visible landmark
thus intersecting the road at some point
shoHld it not be entirely obliterated.
After a second days wandering In the
scorching heat of the midsummer sun,
extricating himself at one time from q
concealed pitfan made by the bushmen
for entrapping game, dining OF the
flesh of a spring buck which he had
shot, Harris took up his nights lodg
ings in a cave on the summit Of the hill
referred TO, having detected no traces
of the road
The night was calm and the stars
maenifeentint their brilliancy. From his
stronghold he gazed out upon the wide
expanse of PLAIN beneath, and for hours
listened for some sound which might
direct his bewildered foOtsteps-some
melody such as his followers were wont
to troll, the cracking of whips, or the
boom of signal guns which he knew
would be fred for his guidance.
He heard only the shrih neighing of
the zebra, the bleating of the timid
spring buck, the believing of the gnoO,
the roar of the prowlng lion, like the
low rumble of distant thunder. All
else was sileence, solitude.
He now debated whether to make at
once for Cape Colony or to-eontinue the
search for his caravan. Bydoing the first
he must pass through an unknown and
inhospitable region, but could probably
reach the frontier, about two hundred
miles away, in six OF seven days, should
his horse not give out. Bat the anxiety