Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1901-11-21
BY b. C. Brigham.

TT is greatly in favor of the automo-
bile in South Africa that it IS not
Subject TO the fatal "horse sickness,
or to the rayages Of the tsetse-tiy As
yet, however, horseless carriages are
not very numerous there. One OF the
first was brought into the country by
young English ranchman, named Al
bert Hill.
In addition to its tank 2o-gallon
can of gasoline or oil was transported,
which for time added materially TO
the weight Of the outfit. Hill himself,
however, weighed not more than ZIG
pounds; and his entire outfit, eXelud-
ing fuel. was kept down to less than
50 pounds. The young ranehman pos
sessed the nimbleness which is one OF
the advantages of light weight, and
this agility stood him in good stead, as
will be seen.
There were rivers and creeks to be
| crossed where there were no bridges.
HIPS method in these eNigencies was
to wade across in advance, and pull
the automobile over with line.
A little after sunset one evening.
while he was passing beneath some
| mabolo-trees, leopard attempted to
drop upon him, but misealculated his
speed and landed in the road behind.
The animal was so much Disguised,
either with its ill-suecess, or with the
gaseous odor of the machine, that 1t
sneaked away without further effort
| TO modest the ranehman.
! At another time, while he was pass
| ing a swamp which the road skirted, q
buffalo charged out after him. For
so yards 1t was nearly a drawn race,
when the motor-carriage showed the
better speed and pulled away.
These. however, were but unimpor
tant incidents, soon over: the real ad-
venture of the trip befeil Hill after en-
tering Mashonaland. He was now in a
tract of country which was remote
from settlers ranches. At little past
noon one day he was crossing a kind
of grassy marsh. In the wet season
such depressions are shallow lakes,
the shores of which are marked by an
irregular fringe of m'pame trees. The
road was here merely trail over the
beaten-down grass, but there were
neither stones nor logs to obstruci
the traveller; and the Little Ajax, as
Hill called his small motor-carriage,
was putting forward at a fair rate OF
speed and approaching the fringe Of
wood
Suddenly the underbrush immedi
ately ahead teemed with antlerec
heads, and the next moment the soil
tary scout found himself in the mids
of a herd of duiker-bok, not fleeing
from him, but rushing upon him, run
ming madly out into the open marsh
As many as 200 of the animals dashet
by him as he was passing through tn
thin fringe of trees.
In his establishment at this unex
pected stampede, Hill did not, for tn
! moment. reflect that the cause of
must be near at hand: but the caus
disclosed itself promptly. Not 40yard
away stood a number Of large lion
that had evidently been stalking tn
duiker-bok. He had hardly taken !
this startling sight. when he heard
TREMENDOUS roar a little way TO tn
left. and saw another lion even bigge
than the others that had just killed
buck, and was standing over its pre-
There was no time to unstrap hi
carbine, no time for anything. TIL
instinct which prompts the locomotiy
driver. when he sees a head-on co
lision coming. to shut of and jun
led Hill to give one convulsive shoy
at the steering lever and leap clear {
: the vehicle His idea was 10 get int
Z the fringe Of timber and climb a ire,
but he had already passed most of II
/ trees. The nearest was a large q
z trunk that had fallen partly over ar
! Law at an angle of as degrees or les
:, its top lodged in another smaller TT,
which had arrested its fan. and act,
= as a prop 10 hold IL up. He made
= dash for this inclined tree, and ran l
IS or 20 feet TO where a large bran,
- rose vertically. Twisting his DO,
% nimbly around this branch. II
Y glanced back to see what the lioI
10 were doing.
"a Luckily for him. they were beii
2 entertained BY the motor-carriaa
- The machine was still going. Al
;semed fully 10 occupy their attenti,
H. as a new and very dubious sort
Div game. The movements Of the lit
6. automobile were somewhat laughab
All The hard shove 70 left which Hill b
given the steering handle caused I
machine 70 describe vagrant circl
5 out on the weld beyond the tire,
There were thorn-bushes, thin. d
4 grass and numbers Of stones in 1
open; but the Little Ajax was acct
toned 70 such distractions, and Wa
\ died its way merTily over them. I
scribing q circle ard c.zuinr ron