Wichita eagle., 1890-01-18


| a loud Shrek, coming from the interior OF
the cave, reached our ears, and an instant
after the Griqua boy came flying toward us,
| an expression of alarm mingled with one of
puzzlement upon his face.
..Baas." he shouted out, there is man
| in there-a queer Kind of man, too. He sits
| and sits, looking mighty straight. 1 think,
| Baas, he must be deadr'
Nonsense, Jan" | replied; ''you are scared
by your fancies. There are no Kafirs living
ENTHUSIASTICALLY no white meu--or we
should have heard or seen something of them
Come, let us go and see what it is that has
frightened you"
Jan, ike most natives, INDUCED in a GER
tain amount OF superstition, and it was not
without some show of reluctance that he
turned to accompany Norah and myself to
the object he SO firmly declared must be a
man, alive or dead.
He led US into dark passage, which had
escaped observation when Norab and myself
first entered. As we progressed | saw what
appeared to be signs indicative of the pres
ence of man at some time or other-signs
slight in themselves, but sufficient to satisfy
ME that Jan, after all, might not have been
entirely wrong. Rude attempts at carving,
figures without any recognizable claim to
form, either human or otherwise, but such
as must have been cut by the hand of man,
having as his means some sharp instrument,
for the rock of which the sides of the cave
were formed was hard and of d basaitic
character
Presently the walls seemed to narrow, and,
after proceeding some little distance, opened
into largish chamber, wherein faint streaks
Of daylight streaned. Here, however, JAMS
nerves began TO fail him, and he steadfastly
refused TO precede us any further. Pushing
MIN on one side, / entered, closely followed
by my wife. The doubtful gloom of the
place prevented me at first from distinguish
ing objects that lay strewn about. Turning
TO Norah, / said:
II don't see much here 10 scare the stupid
fellow. Truly there is an uncanny look about
tine place, but one can account for that by
the amount Of awe conjured up by JAMS as
sertion, to say nothing Of the awful look Of
fear his face was wearing when he came run
ming back to u.s."
As finished this remark my wife touched
me on the arm and said: Look over therel
What can it be? Oh, Geof, it is a mani"
Turning my eyes in the direction Norah
was pointing, | saw what | at once knew 10
be the figure Of man, but whether of Gods
creation or the fanciful work of nature l
could not say The queer sensation of an icy
finger tracing out the line of my spinal YER
tea'brae began TO affect me-not that | was in
the least alarmed. | have never been the
faintest bit nervous | knew that if TIE fig
ure was a thing of life, one man, in ninety
nine cases out of hundred, is as good as an
other Besides, had | not Norah with mel
She was host in herself. | never for a mo-
ment reckoned on Jan; he, though brave as
a Trojan in the open and among his fellows,
was too strong a believer in the supernatural
TO be of any assistance when it appeared to
him question of battling with the Evil One.
Or going up to the object which had pro-
voked SO much alarm / found it to be the
body of a native in a sitting posture The
seat upon which it rested rudely resembled a
chair-such an one as is usually described as
a hall porter's-and had apparently been
roughly hewn from a fragment of neighbour
ing stone.
The body seemed at first to give evidences
of a sudden death, but on closer examination
| recognized that there was method in its dis
position, and, Judging by the fact that several
articles were placed methodically i'll half
circle in from. of the body, came to the con-
clusion that native burial of more than
ordinary character had been here carried out,
but how long since remains to this day
mystery.
The body, found on closer inspection under
the light of sundrv matches, was in an ex-
tremely mummilied condition Indeed, l
have never seen anything of a similar order
SO well preserved The most curious fact
was that there appeared to be nothing on or
about the body 70 show that any process had
been used to bring about such perfect preser-
walton, unless, as ! afterward thought, smoke
had acted as a preservative. l was led to
fancy this from the large quantity Of wood
ashes with which the floor of the cavern was
strewn, and the dark, grimy appearance of
the roof, as seen by the dim light of the
burned. The atmosphere of the cave
was very dry; no moisture could be detected
On the walls, this condition of surroundings
going long way in helping the smoke to per-
feet its work
As for the mummy itself. when in life the
man must have been Of an age experimenting
to forty years-a fine specimen. too, Of his
kind, considerably above six feet in height
On touching it a gray kind of dust remained
upon the finger, and the body when tapped
gave out a sound as does stretched parch-
Inent. There was scarcely any shrunken APP
pearance, except below the eyes, the lids of
which were down, the other parts of the
body appearing much the same as they may
have done during life; the lips, in particular,
had retained their fuilness. 7 have never !
been able TO account for this extraordinary !
instance of the flesh retaining its solidity |
long for the skin to become dry /
enough 30 escape the ordinary shrinking |
thereby losing, most mumulies do what | |
may call their resemblance TO their living |
selves.
well, Geof. what do you think of him!n |
asked Norah
Quite puzzle, little woman; can't make
him out at all; there are no Ksffirs living /
lereabouts, nor have l heard of any ever
having done 50; yet he is a kat1ir, as his wool /
shows
Don't You think, Geof, that he may have /
,een some great swell among people living /
lbout here ages ago, or perhaps have come
rat on big hunting expedition and met
With some accident OF died very suddenly, !
md SO have been 'veuited' in this cave as a
neap and expeditions means of interment. |
DO you know | seem to have an indistinct
CAhoiuhi ahCS "a iSouiug tHaI sonic" mere III
he interior OF Africa there did once exist a
rioe who were acquainted with some won
lerful means of preserving their dead"
''SkitrieS," | replied; you are off now
nto vain maginings, rs our parson friend
t klipdritt used TO say never heard OF
uch report. nor do believe have YOU: bat
Il tell yea what-I'm going TO bring him
long as the Americans have it, | guess
veil trade him off TO some advantage; the
ape Town museum authorities ought to !
make bid; at any rate they shall have
nance, if the beggar doesn't cut up rusty
nd make b aself small by falling INTO dust
1