In the Wilds of Africa Part 21

"Listen to her loud 'Wa--wa--wa.' She is trying to drown the voices of your favourites, Bella."

Though we pa.s.sed close by, the ibis seemed in no way disposed to move, but continued shouting "Wa--wa--wa." However, she was not allowed to cry alone, for near her sat three fish-hawks piping away in the same fas.h.i.+on. Leo was about to stop and take a shot at one of them, but Kate intreated him to let the bird alone, and we rowed on, leaving him and his companions piping away to their hearts' content. Presently we saw a moderately-sized bird, like a plover, darting here and there, and uttering a peculiar sound. "Tine--tine--tine," cried Leo; "what is that you say?" Presently a white-necked raven, which was sitting on a stump some way down, flew off, shrieking with fear, as the plover pursued it.

"Well, that is a coward," said Leo. "He is running away from a bird half his size."

"Very wise," observed Jack. "Timbo, when he was out with me the other day, told me they call him the 'hammering iron,' on account of his 'Tine--tine--tine' cry. But it is not his cry which makes the raven fly off. He has got a sharp spur on his shoulder, just like that on the heel of a c.o.c.k, and he could dig it into the raven, and soon draw its life-blood."

On went the plover to a bank a little way ahead, where it pitched on what we thought at that distance was a log of wood. As we paddled up the seeming log turned into a huge crocodile basking in the sun.

"Stop paddling," I cried to the boys. "Let us see what the plover is about."

It ran along the back of the reptile, but stopped on the top of its snout, and then with perfect fearlessness actually flew down into its gaping mouth. I then recollected an account I had read of a bird on the Nile of that description, which is known by the name of siksak--the trochilus. It is stated by two or three credible witnesses that it performs the part of tooth-picker to the monster. Whether it was so occupied or not we could not tell, but presently the crocodile appeared to rouse itself up and to crawl towards the water, into which he plunged, diving down out of sight.

"There goes Master Tine--tine--tine flying away. I suppose he will go and warn his other friends," said Jack. "That is his business, so Timbo says; and when these birds are about you can never get a shot at a crocodile."

As we continued paddling on we were convinced that they had been warned of our approach, for they all betook themselves to the water long before we got near them. Proceeding we reached a part of the river where the banks were steep and composed of sand. Presently we saw a creature crawling out of the water, and making its way up the bank.

"What creature can that be?" asked Natty.

"A water-turtle!" I exclaimed; for I recognised it from the descriptions I had seen of it.

Presently it came to a steep part of the bank, and as it was climbing up it fell, and lay helpless on its back.

"We will make prize of him," cried Jack. "Paddle away, boys."

We were soon up to the bank, when Jack sprang out of the canoe, and before the turtle could recover itself he had seized it in his arms and placed it in the bottom of the canoe. There the creature lay utterly helpless. While the canoe's bows were on the sh.o.r.e, Chico, who had got tired of sitting so long in one position, made a spring on to the land to pick some fruit which grew on a low bush at no great distance. The boys were so interested in watching the turtle that, without seeing that Chico was absent, they shoved off, and had already got to some little distance when they discovered that we had left one of our company behind. Chico, having filled his paws with fruit, ran down the bank.

"Hillo, old fellow!" exclaimed Jack, "we will come in for you."

The current, however, just then took the canoe's head, and we drifted some way down before we could turn back. At that instant we saw a ripple in the water, and presently the huge head of a crocodile was projected above it. The monster darted forward; and poor Chico, before he was aware of his danger, was seized by its huge jaws. In vain we cried out and shrieked at the top of our voices. The crocodile had got hold of its prey. Chico struggled, but he was as helpless as a mouse in the fangs of a cat. "Oh, save him, save him!" shrieked out Bella; but it was too late. Though the boys paddled with might and main, before they reached the sh.o.r.e the crocodile sank beneath the surface, dragging the poor ape with him. A little circle alone marked the spot where it had gone down.

"There is one who will pay you off for that," cried Jack, looking into the water as if in search of the crocodile. "When Igubo hears of it he will be after you, depend on it."

We all felt sad at the loss of our pet, and much as we had enjoyed the early part of the trip, it certainly spoiled the pleasure of the remainder.

"Poor Chico!" exclaimed Natty every now and then. "I little thought you would come to so untimely an end."

Bella cried outright, and Kate could scarcely restrain her feelings. We now proceeded back to the landing-place, and Jack and the boys having drawn up the canoe to the spot where she usually lay concealed, we commenced our return home. My young cousins and Natty a.s.sisted me up the hill. We had got to about half the distance, when a loud roar came from the thicket I have before mentioned. "Roar away!" cried Jack, "you will not frighten us." Bella, and even Kate, could not, however, help trembling at the sound; indeed, there is something peculiarly terrific in the cry of the lion in his native wilds. I trusted that he would confine himself to roaring, and not attempt to approach nearer. The boys and Jack looked to their guns.

"We will be ready for him if he dares to show his face," cried Jack.

"Now, you young gentlemen fire first, if he looks as if he was going to attack us. I will keep my fire in case you miss."

The lion, however, allowed us to gain our home, where we found David and Timbo looking out for us, and ready to fire at the beast should he approach.

"But where Chico?" cried Timbo when he saw us. Jack told him what had happened. "When I tell Igubo, he soon punish crocodile," he said.

"Igubo great crocodile hunter."

"But what have you there, Jack?" asked David, as he saw the turtle which Jack had brought up on his back. "Well, you have indeed a prize, for the turtle will be a pleasant addition to our bill of fare."

When the girls went to their hut, we examined the water-turtle, which Timbo and Jack at once prepared for cooking. Opening it, we found that it had upwards of thirty eggs in its body. The sh.e.l.ls were flexible, and the same size at both ends, like those of the crocodile.

"Dis make one bery fine dish," said Timbo, "and de liber is first-rate.

We hab it ready for when de captain come back."

"We must leave the charge of cooking it to you," said David, "for I doubt whether my sisters will understand the art so well."

Part of the turtle was cooked, and supper made ready, but still our friends did not appear. Night drew on, and we became somewhat anxious.

At last David advised his sisters to take supper and to return to their hut, while we sat up waiting for the party. Hour after hour pa.s.sed by, and still they did not appear. At last David insisted on the boys and I going to bed, while he and Jack and Timbo kept watch. Every now and then we could hear the roar of the lion in the distance, replied to by their loud shouts to scare him away. I could only hope that my cousins were asleep: as for myself, I could not close my eyes. Not a breath of wind was stirring, not a sound was heard except that ominous roar which occasionally broke the silence of night. At length David came in, pretty well tired out, and lay down, saying that Jack had undertaken to keep the morning watch. I also, in spite of my anxiety, at last fell asleep. I awoke suddenly with the sound of the lion's roar in my ears.

It seemed far louder and dearer than before. Could it be fancy? The morning light was streaming in through an opening over the door, which we had left to admit air. Again I heard that fearful roar. I started up, for it seemed to be in the very midst of our camp. I thought of my young cousins and the boys, who were likely enough to have gone out early. I sprang to the opening, and there I saw, in the very midst of the cattle-yard, an enormous lion, his head lifted up proudly, while his huge paws were placed on one of the animals he had struck down. Never had I seen so magnificent a creature--his vast mane covering his neck and shoulders, while his tail waved to and fro as a signal of defiance, looking up as if he saw an enemy approaching. The other animals, terror-stricken, were trying to force their way out of the yard. I could see no one. What had become of Jack and Timbo I could not tell.

They could not have deserted their posts, for both had given too many proofs of courage to make me suppose so. Calling to David, who was yet sleeping soundly, I seized my gun; but when I returned, the lion had gone, with the animal he had struck down. David and I rushed out of the hut. At that moment there were several shots. Looking out in the direction from which the roars had previously come, I saw the lion bounding away along the hill, still apparently unwounded.

"Has he gone? has he gone?" I heard Leo and Natty shouting out. "Yes, yes! and he has carried off our little gemsbok!"

"But where are Jack and Timbo?" I asked. "How was it they let the creature come in?"

"They heard some shots in the distance, and thinking that they were fired as signals by Stanley and his party, they were just setting off to meet them, and the lion must have taken that opportunity of coming into our camp. They had not got far, and must have caught sight of the lion as he was making his escape. It is a mercy the girls are safe!"

As they were speaking, Jack and Timbo came back. "Well, I never did think he was going to play us so scurvy a trick," exclaimed Jack, "or we would not have left the camp. But what do you fancy those shots can mean, Mr Crawford?"

Both David and I agreed, however, that they were probably fired by Stanley or his companions, either at some animals, or as a signal to give us notice of their return; and we therefore begged Jack and Timbo to proceed as they had purposed, while we remained on the watch for the lion, should he venture to come back. Kate and Bella now came out of their hut, and great was their grief at hearing of the loss of one of their pets--the most promising, indeed, of all, for in a few days it had become so thoroughly tame, that it would follow them about like a lamb.

They, like us, had been kept awake the greater part of the night, and, owing to this, had not been aroused by the sound of the lion's voice; indeed, the events I have described occupied less time than I have taken to write them. The boys now employed themselves in collecting the trembling animals, who had not yet recovered from the fright which the appearance of their dread enemy had given them. The little koodoo and zebra had, however, been safe in their pen, or they would probably have run off, and we should have seen no more of them.

"I did not fancy that a lion could have leaped so high a palisade," said David; "but I see we must take other measures to secure our camp for the future. I believe that even a lion cannot break through an enclosure of p.r.i.c.kly-pear, and I propose that as soon as Stanley comes back we all set to work to surround our camp with a thick line of it; and if we fasten a fringe of its sharp leaves to the top of our fence, we shall be able to bid defiance to either lion or leopard. I doubt, indeed, if elephants, or even human beings, would willingly a.s.sail such a fortification as ours will then be."

I fully agreed with David, and we settled that we would immediately set to work and collect the cactus plants which grew in abundance on the hill-side.

"They will be very hungry when they do come back," said Kate, "and therefore, Bella, you and I will prepare breakfast for them forthwith."

David and I a.s.sisted them in getting the repast ready, and our anxiety was shortly relieved by Leo running in exclaiming that Stanley and all hands were coming up the hill. "They have got no end of game," he added--"birds and beasts enough to feed us all for a month to come, if we were in Siberia and could freeze the meat and keep it till we want it, instead of being in the middle of Africa. Unless we can salt it pretty quickly, however, it will not be fit for much by to-morrow morning."

Having thus delivered himself, he ran out again, and down the hill. In a short time our friends arrived, pretty well tired out, however, for they had been to a long distance, and found it impossible to reach home the night they had intended. They had therefore encamped a few miles off, and started again at dawn. The shots we had heard had, as we supposed, been fired by them to give us notice of their approach. They had pushed on without stopping for breakfast, and were duly grateful to Kate and Bella for enabling them thus speedily to satisfy their hunger.

Stanley said he had a long account to give us of their adventures. They had fallen in with a native village, the inhabitants of which appeared to be inclined to be friendly, and had invited them to join in a grand hunting expedition. "I will tell you all about it as soon as I have eaten something," said Stanley. "But what is this I hear of a visit from a lion? Did the brute actually dare to leap into the midst of our camp and carry off one of its inmates? It shall not be the fault of my rifle if he does not pay dearly for his freak before another sun rises."

CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

STANLEY'S ADVENTURES AMONG THE PEOPLE OF KABOMBA.

We were, of course, eager to hear Stanley's adventures.

"Finding the day tolerably cool, though I doubt if our friends in England would have called it so, we pushed on further south than we have ever gone before," said Stanley. "The country, though wooded in parts, was generally open, and we had little difficulty in making our way across the prairie. I have never seen such large herds of buffaloes, zebras, gnus, rhinoceroses, and giraffes. Had we been mounted, we should have had no difficulty in coming up with them, but on foot it was a very different matter. Often, as we got up to them, almost within range of our rifles, they were off again, leaving us standing alone, without a hope of overtaking them. As the sun rose higher and grew hotter, the buffaloes and rhinoceroses retired to their coverts, as did many of the other animals, the zebras and giraffes alone defying the sun's rays. I now hoped, by keeping under shelter of the woods, we might the more easily surprise some of the animals we were in search of.

Before proceeding further, however, I proposed that we should open our wallets and dine; and having selected a shady spot under tree at a little distance from the forest, where there was probability of our being surprised by any prowling leopard or hungry lion, we formed our noonday camp. We had not sat long, when Mango came in and told us that he had seen the head of a buffalo projecting from the forest at some little distance, and that he was sure there must be several there. I had been so annoyed at not killing anything, that, without finis.h.i.+ng my dinner, I set off with Mango to try and reach the spot un.o.bserved by our expected prey. We at once got under shelter of the wood, and worked our way along through the borders of the forest, hoping to get up to the spot without disturbing the herd. Mango at length made me understand by signs that we had now reached the place where he had seen the buffalo.

I can tell you they are very different animals from those we met with further to the north. These are pictures of brute strength and ferocity, their horns, short and curling, but pointed like daggers, meeting at the roots, where they form a thick ma.s.s, serving as a helmet to the animal. I was afraid of coming suddenly upon them, for I knew that if startled they would be off before I could obtain a shot. Mango was positive that we were near them. He suggested at last that we should climb a tree, whence we might survey the neighbourhood. Finding one, we mounted it, and when I had got a steady footing, I looked round me, hoping to discover the animals. Not a living creature, however, stirred. At last my companion pointed out some dark objects just seen indistinctly through the thick foliage. They were the backs of the buffaloes, I had little doubt. I fired, but nothing moved, and I could not help supposing that I had mistaken some large stone for a living creature. To settle the matter, I again loaded and fired. At the report of the gun, half-a-dozen superb male buffaloes sprang to their feet, and, tossing their heads, sniffed the air for a few seconds, and darted off through the wood. My companion and I immediately descended the tree and I made chase in the hopes of coming up with them by following their tracks. We proceeded for some little way along the borders of the forest, when Mango stopping, pointed ahead, and I saw a vast herd of buffaloes--there might have been nearly three hundred of them--suddenly rus.h.i.+ng out of the wood, overthrowing and stamping down every object they met with in their headlong course. We rushed back towards the wood, where alone we could hope for safety. A portion of it projected some way at an angle from that part whence the buffaloes had issued. They espied us, however, and came tearing on across the open.

We dashed in among the underwood, but before we had got far they were at our heels. Two savage brutes led the way. The horns of the first were almost into poor Mango. A tree with low branches was near me. It would afford us the only prospect of safety. Had I stopped for a moment to fire, it would have been too late, and it might not have served to turn them in their course. I sprang to the tree, helping up the boy, who had barely time to get out of the way of the leader's horns, when the herd rushed by us. I turned round and fired, but having to cling to the tree, I had great difficulty in taking aim. The effect of the report was to bring the whole herd to a halt, and, facing round, they confronted us in one dark and formidable phalanx, as if they had resolved to besiege us in our tree. I remembered the way you, Andrew, had been caught by the elephant, and I fancied that the buffaloes were about to treat us in the same manner. One or two buffaloes might have been disposed of, but we had not ammunition sufficient to kill one half of our a.s.sailants, even should each bullet lay one low. They kept looking at us with savage glances, as if determined to punish us for our audacity. They looked, indeed, as if they could very easily have brought the tree in which we were perched down to the ground; and so they might, if they had known how to do it. I, however, resolved to try the effect of a few shots. I fired one, and felt sure I had hit the animal--a large bull--but he did not move. Again and again I fired, but, strange as it may seem, neither he nor any of the herd moved a foot, though they eyed me and my companion all the time with an ominous look, as if resolving how they should treat us. Every moment I expected them to charge. Suddenly, as I was about to fire for the fourth or fifth time, the whole herd, wheeling about with a curious shriek rather than a bellow, their heads lowered to the ground, and their tails swis.h.i.+ng to and fro vehemently over their backs, off they set at a furious pace, which made the very ground tremble under their feet.

Mango and I were left to follow them if we chose, or return to camp. We did the latter. I must confess I felt somewhat ashamed of my want of success when I resumed my seat by the fire. I consoled myself, however, with a couple of pigeons which Igubo had in the meantime roasted.

Though we saw vast quant.i.ties of game of all sorts, we were equally unsuccessful, and at length I proposed to return, when Igubo pointed out some smoke rising over a belt of forest which appeared before us. He said that he was sure it arose from a native village, and as I was anxious to make the acquaintance of our neighbours, I resolved to push forward and visit them. I sent Igubo on ahead to win the confidence of the people by showing them that he was unarmed. He soon made a signal to us to come on, and I found him and the chief man apparently on the most friendly terms. The chief, a remarkably stout black, wore a scanty petticoat, with a fillet of crocodile's teeth round his head, a similar ornament on his neck, and bracelets on his arms. He was attended by a drummer, who, as I approached, beat with might and main to do me honour.

His followers were armed with s.h.i.+elds made of reeds, very cleverly woven, sufficiently long to protect the whole body and legs, and about three feet broad. At their backs hung quivers of iron-headed arrows, and two short broadswords were slung to their sides. The chief invited us into his hut. It was of good size, with a verandah in front. In a short time his wife and her attendants brought a large mess of manioc flour and some pieces of cooked meat, but what it was I did not at first inquire. After eating some, Igubo told me that it was zebra's flesh.