Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1895-08-16
My dark Rosaleen!
] WHERESAVAGES WALK ON GOLD

My first visit to South Africa was
4 made one lovely summer afternoon in
the City Of New Orleans. My guide
| on that occasion was the well-known
Phil Crozier, brother of the famous
| Arctic explorer.
| We were sitting in one of those de-
| lightfully cool arbors back of an old
| patterned Widowed creole house on
| Ursuline street, grouped around a ta-
BILE wherein stood those pillars of
| Southern comfort big box of regal
las and huge pitcher of julep. The
| company was rather a distinguished
one, and remember how magnificent
! ly Col. William p. Curtis, of the Gov
ernor's staff, who had just come from
some arduous duty, shone among us
| civilians in his rare and radiant uni
| form.
! ''One of the oldest things l ever
| saw in my life" remarked Crozier
with luxurious drawl Of reminis-
| cence, land | have seen more odd
sights than most men, happened one
| day when / was out hunting lions in
| the South African bush. / always
| took my dead ease about it, and that
was probably the reason why bag
| ged so many in South Africa. where
| lions are easy enough to find, but diff
ficult to get a good quiet pop at.
II Travelled through that country
with two Kaffir guides, proper tall fell
| lows without a stitch ON them, shin
ing in the sun like great bronze liz
ards. ! also had Kaffir boy about -
q clever little chap, but, like most of
his kind, wofully given not merely to
prevarication, but to deliberate "
ing.
''On this particular day S had struck
the bad luck of tanning my horse, and
my two Kaf11rs had ridden ahead of
and in which we slept at night. to see
il they could find a native doctor.
II may remark in passing that the
South African grass. like the Western
wheat of this country, grows very
high. We were within sight Of that
mountain peak called Crows Nest,
which may be considered as marking
the line of division between Mashona-
land and Portuguese OAKLAND.
1T was the dry season, and the ssh
"i"ti Iiol III SOull AIE1cd,. seemed
simply trying to broil everything in
sight that afternoon
Though l had in the wagon a good
supply of wet goods we had run short
OF water and | would have given a
cool hundred. | think, for one cool
drink or Adams ale, of which, how
ever, my guide told me there was no
prospect I'LL we reached the next
camp.
L was very much amused to see a
huge black-topped silver-sided cloud
In the shape of a funnel, with a spir-
al twist, travelling along very rapidly
hlgh III the air, toward Mt. Crows
Nest, the peak of which NAV have
been some ten miles from where we
We're trekking along in middle valley.
Ihe cause for my amazement You
VIII readily understand when / tell
you that during the dry season South
AFRICA, though noted for its FREQUENT
Draclng breezes, is also noted for it's
absolutely cloudless skies.
AS 1t neared Crows Nest. with OK
traordinary velocity, it seemed almost
as vast as the mountain itself. though
much broader at top than at bottom.
suddenly as | gazed there came a col
llslon colossal. and the next moment
my summer cloud of wonder had van
lshed like a vision
1t was the most sudden disappear-
ancs conceivable. 1t was seen and
not seen, like the smile of the light
nln2, and stood there under the broiI
ing sun, bathed in perspiration. rub
Dlng my eyes in amaZement and temp
tea TO fancy that l must have had a
symptom OF some impending disease
C: the optic nerve.
was climbing back into the OK
cart and we had trekked along two
nlies further, as my thirst was be-
coming simple Internal torture.
When my ears always preternaturally
acute. heard over in the bush toward
the right. near the mountain, Il sort
OF splashing, dashing sound quite
faint at first, to be sure, but sugges-
tive of falling water
: Thank heavenv cried: that must
be mountain brook, Tom and l kick
ed my kaffir boy, who was a little in
front driving the oxen. take the buck
en- you lazy rascal, and run into the
push over there, and don't come back
I'LL you can fetch me some water.
I'm sure | heard brook
SfurhDled something about a
lions getting him. and / replied-f.r
| spoke the Kaffir language almost SIS
fuently as | do English--that I
would be sorry for the lion: such a
boy would give him an awful stom-
ach ache
''Sulkily he went into tie thicket
with his pail and l stopped the oxen
and waited his return. In about ten
minutes he came down from the hill-
SIDE, saying with Il queer lock, that
he had found n little mountain cata-
fact, yet that he couldn't get any wa
ter because it was nothing but cata-
ract of big fish.
Well aware what big liars these
haiflr are, and, generally speaking.
the smaller the Kaf1ir the bigger the
liar | instantly laid my oxwhip over
his legs and back. He dropped the
bucket and ran bowling to the thicket.
picked it up, and taking also my
rifle on the chance of meeting lion.
! trudged through the bush UP along
the side of the mountain in The di.