Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1890-02-06

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ON THE WESTERN SIDE or THE GREAT
PEAK.
found his scattered and broken bones,
the fragments Of his assegai, and four
dead balloons. They had set upon him
and torn him to pieces.
my father was very much frightened
al this, but still he would not let Hen
drika go, because he said she was
human, and that it was our duty to re-
claim her. And so we did-to a certain
extent, at least After the murder of
Hendrix the balloons vanished from the
neighborhood, and have only returned
quite recently, so at length we vent
ured to let Hendrika out BY this
time she had grown very fond Of me;
still, on the first opportunity, she ran
away. But in the evening she returned
again. She had been seeking the
balloons, and could not find them.
Shortly afterward she began to speak
| taught her-and from that time she
has loved me 50 that she will not leave
me. | think it would kill her if | went
away from her. She watches me all
day and at night sleeps on the floor OF
my hut. Once, too, She saved my life
when was swept down the river in
flood; but she is jealous, and hates
every body else. Look how she is glar-
ing at you now because | am talking to
you'll"
/ looked. Hendrika was tramping
along with the child in her arms and
staring at me in a most sinister fashion
out of the corners of her eyes.
While was rejecting on the baboon
woman's strange story and thinking
that she was an exceedingly awkward
customer, the path took sudden turn.
Look said Stella, there is our
house. Is it not beautiful"
1t was beautiful indeed. Here on the
western side of the great peak bay had
been formed in the mountain, which
might have measured eight hundred or
a thousand yards across by three-quar.
ters of mile in depth At the back OF
the indentation the sheer cliff rose to
behind ii and above 1t the great Babyan
Peak lowered up towards the heavens.
The space Of ground, embraced thus in
the arms Of the mountain, as it were,
was laid out, as though by the cunning
hand of man, in three terraces that rose
one above the other. TO the right and
left of the topmost terrace were chasms
In the cliff, and from each chasm fell
a waterfall, from no great height, in
deed, but of considerable volume. These
two streams flowed away on either side
of the inclosed space, one towards the
north, and the other, the course of
which we had been following, round the
base of the mountain. At each terrace
they made a cascade, so that the travel,
er approaching had a view of eight
waterfalls at once. Along the
edge of the stream to our left were
placed Kaffir kraals, built in orderly
groups with verandas, after the Basutu
fashion, and very large part of the en-
tire space of land was under cultivation.
All of this l noted at once, as we'll as
the extraordinary richness and depth Of
the soil, which for many ages past had
been washed down from the mountain
heights. Then following the line Of
an excellent wagon road, on
which we now found ourselves,
that wound up from terrace
to terrace, my eye lit upon the browning
wonder Of the scene. For in the center
of the topmost platform or terrace,
which may have inclosed eight or ten
acres Of ground, and almost surrounded
by groves of orange trees, CLEANED
buildings of which had never seen the
like. There were three groups OF them,
one in the middle and one on either
side, and a little TO the rear, but, as |
afterwards discovered, the plan Of all
was the same. In the center was an edi-
fee constructed like an ordinary Zulu
hut-that is to say, in the shape of
beehive, only 1t was five times the size
of any hut | ever saw, and built of blocks
of hewn white marble, fitted together
with extraordinary knowledge Of the
principles and properties of arch build
ing, and with SO much accuracy and fin
ish that it was often difficult to find the
fronts Of the massive blocks. From this
center hut ran three covered passages
leading to other buildings Of an exactly
similar character, only smaller, and each
whole block was inclosed by marble
wall about four feet in height
OF course we were as yet too far off to
see all these details, but the general
outline | saw at once, and it astonished
me considerably. Even old Indaba-zim-
BIZ whom the baboon-woman had been
unable to move, deigned TO show Won
der.
"Oh!' he said; ''this Is place Of mar
vels Who ever saw l1raals built of
white stone?"
Stella watched our faces with an ex-
preston of intense amusement, but
said nothing.
Ibid your father build those kraals?"
gasped at length.
"My father! no, Of course not" she
answered. How would 1t have been
possible for one white man to do so, or
to have made this road2 He found them
as you see"
who built them, them ] said again.
81 do not know. My father thinks
that they are very ancient, for the
people who live here now do not know
how to lay one stone upon another, and
these huts are so wonderfully con-
structed that, though they must have
stood for ages. not stone Of them has
fallen. But can show you the quarry
where the marble vas cut; 1t is close
by, and behind it is the entrance to an
ancient mine, which my father thinks
was silver mine. Perhaps the people
who worked the mine built the marble
huts The world Is old, and no doubt
plenty Of people have lived in it and
been forgotten
Then we rode on in silence. have
seen many beautiful sights in Africa,
and in such matters. as in others, com
parsons are odious and worthless, but
/ do not think that | ever saw love-
lier scene. 1t was no one thing-it was
the com bination OF the mighty peak
looking forth on the everlasting plains,
the great cliffs, the waterfalls that
sparkled in rainbow hues- the riveBs
girdling the rich, cultivated lands, the
gold-specked green Of the orange trees,
the flashing domes Of the marble huts
and a Thousand other things. Then
over all broodcd the peace OF evening,
and the infinite glory Of the sunset that
filed heaven with changing hues Of