The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1906-09-18


! hundred and 6fty miles from, the
coast
For the first twenty days Of our
| Journey we suffered good deal from
fever that is, my men did, for 7 think
| that am feyer-proof.
Also / was hard put to IT to keep The
| camp in meat, for although the couK-
! try proved to be very sparsely popr-
lated there was but little game about.
Indeed, during all that time ! hardly
killed anything larger than water
buck. and water-buck is, ais you know,
not very appetizing food.
On the twentieth day, however, re
came to the banks OF largish river.
the Gonooroo it was called.
This crossed, and then struck in
land toward a great range Of noun
tains, continuation, as I believe, Of
the Drakenberg range that skirts the
coast of Natal, the blue crests Of which
we could see lying on the distant
heavens like shadow.
From this main range a great spur
shot out some fifty miles or so toward
the coast, ending abruptly in one ire
mendous peak.
This spur discovered separated the
territories Of two chiefs named Nala
and Wambe, Wambe's territory being
to the north and Nala's to the south.
Nala ruled a tribe Of bastard ZHlus
called the Butiana, and Wambe much
larger tribe called the Matuku, which
presented marked Basutu characteris-
tics.
For instance, they had doors and
verandas to their huts, worked skins
perfectly, and wore waistcloth, and
not a mocha.
The Butiana were more or less sub
ject to the Matuku. having been sur
prised by them some twenty years be.
fore, and mercilessly slaughtered
down.
The tribe was, however, now recover.
ing, and, as you may imagine, it did
not love the Matuku
Well, l heard as l went along that
elephants were very plentiful in the
dense forests that lay upon the slopes
and at the foot of the mountains that
Also l heard very i'll report Of this
worthy himself, who lived in kraal
upon the side Of the mountain which
was SO strongly fortified as to be prac-
tically impregnable.
1t was said that he was the most
cruel chief in this part of Africa, and
that he had murdered in cold blood an
entire party of English gentlemen who
some seven years before had gone into
his country to hunt elephants.
They had an old friend of mine with
them as guide, John Every by name,
and often had mourned over his I'M
timely death.
All the same, Wambe or no Wambe,
/ determined to hunt elephant in his
country.
I never was afraid Of natives, and
was not going to show the white
feather now.
am bit of fatalist, as you fell
lows know, so came to the conclusion
that if it was fated that Wambe
should send me to join my old friend
John Every / should have to go, and
there was an end of it.
Meanwhile meant to hunt elephant
with a peaceful heart.
On the third day from the date Of
our sighting the great peak we found
ourselves beneath its mighty shadow
Still following the course Of the river
which wound through the forests at
the base OF the peak, we neared the
territory of the redoubtable Wambe
This, however, was not accomplished
without certain difference Of opinion
between my bearers and myself. for
when we reached the spot where Wam-
BEES boundary was supposed to run the
bearers sat down and emphatically re-
fused to go step farther.
sat down, too, and argued with
them, putting my fataIistlc views be-
fore them as well as was able.(
But | could not persuade them to
look at the matter in the same light.
"At present. they said, their skins
were whole; if they went into VAN.
be's country without his leave they
would soon be like wafer eaten leaf.
1T was very well for me to say that
that would be fate.
s'Fate no doubt might be walking
about in Wambe's country, but while
they stopped outside they would not
meet him."
"Well," said TO Gobo, my head
man, ''and what do you mean to dog"
1--WE mean to so back to the coast.
Macumazahn," he answered. inso-
lently.
"Doyour' / replied, for my bile was
stirred.
sat any rate, Mr.. Gobo, you and one
or two others will never get there.
"See here my friend" and took
repeating rifle and sat myself com-
fortably down, resting my back against
tree
TO be continued.) q