"This," explained the king, as we dashed through the natural gateway at the head of the galloping regiment, "is the exercise ground where I bring my regiments from time to time to exercise them in the tactics of war."

"And a very excellent place it is for such a purpose," I agreed, as my eye took in the wide area of level, unbroken ground. "There is room enough here in which to fight a battle of quite respectable dimensions. But what are those moving objects yonder?" I interrupted myself eagerly, as my gaze was arrested by a group of some ten or a dozen dark dots moving slowly among the long grass at the opposite extremity of the valley. "Surely they must be buffalo, or I am greatly mistaken."

"You are not mistaken, they are buffalo; and you have a marvellously sharp eye, white man," returned the king. Then he flung up his hand, and the galloping regiment came to a sudden halt, reining-in their sweating horses so sharply as to throw the animals back upon their haunches. At the same moment we also reined up. Then the king called his indunas round him, instructing one of them to take fifty men, and with them ride round the outside of the basin until they reached the only other exit from the valley, and block it, so that the buffalo might not escape through it; while a second induna was also to take fifty men and block the exit through which we had just passed, thus rendering escape from the valley an impossibility, for, as the king now informed me, the surrounding cliffs were everywhere vertical, so that no animal, save, perhaps, a baboon, could possibly enter or leave the basin except by one or the other of the two natural gateways in the cliff.

"Now, white man," said the king, turning to me with sparkling eyes and pointing toward the buffalo, "there is your opportunity. Kill me two or three of those with your fire weapon, and then you shall see how the Basuto hunt buffalo."

"Very well," I said; "I will see what I can do. But we shall have to get very much nearer to them than we are at present; for even my fire weapon will not kill at such a distance as that."

"No?" demanded the king. "Then how close must you get before it will kill?"

"Oh," I said, "perhaps one-sixth of the present distance of the buffalo."

The king was evidently disappointed to learn that there was a limit to the range of the rifle, and for the moment seemed inclined to regard it somewhat contemptuously. Without wasting further words upon so very ineffective a weapon, he proceeded to issue his orders to the other indunas, in obedience to which the regiment divided itself into two, one half riding to the left and the other to the right, and stringing themselves out, single file, close in under the shadows of the overhanging cliffs, where they quickly became so inconspicuous as to be practically invisible. Then, accompanied by a body of twenty picked men, who spread themselves out in open order in our rear, the king and I advanced toward the buffalo at a slow walking pace.

It fortunately happened that the wind was blowing across the basin directly from the buffalo toward us, consequently it was a long while before the brutes became aware of our presence; indeed, we had arrived within about three-quarters of a mile of them before they betrayed any sign of uneasiness, and even then it was toward the upper end of the valley, and not toward us, that their attention seemed to be directed.

"It is Bulangu and his party that they scent," said the king, referring to the squadron of men whom he had sent round outside the basin to bar the upper exit; and, sure enough, a minute or two later the whole herd swung round and began to move toward us. But the moment that this occurred they of course caught sight of us and at once came to a halt, tossing their heads impatiently, lashing their flanks with their tails, and emitting low, moaning bellows of annoyance. After a short pause, however, accompanied by the display of many indications of rapidly increasing anger, the herd again began to move toward us, first at a walking pace that rapidly merged into a trot, till finally the whole herd broke into a gallop as the induna Bulangu and his party appeared at the far end of the plain.

"Now," said I to the king as the herd rapidly approached within range, "I will show you what the fire weapon is capable of doing. Watch the old bull who is leading the herd and see what happens. And perhaps you had better dismount, for your horse is unused to fire weapons, and when I shoot he may possibly swerve suddenly and throw you."

"Nay," answered the king, "I will not dismount; for now that you have warned me I shall know what to expect, and shall not be taken unawares." And he gathered in the slack of his single bridle, tightly gripped the animal between his knees, and sat prepared for whatsoever might happen.

The herd, meanwhile, had approached to within about eight hundred yards of us, and were thundering straight in our direction at a somewhat ungainly but nevertheless rapid gallop, with heads down and tails up, giving vent to low, angry bellows as they came. I was riding Prince, upon whom I knew I could absolutely depend; therefore, instead of dismounting, I turned him to the right with a touch of my heel and a slight pressure of the rein, very nearly broadside-on to the approaching herd, and flung the rifle up to my shoulder. It was a rather long shot, and at eight hundred yards even a buffalo, coming head on, presents but a comparatively small target, especially when the grass happens to be breast-high; nevertheless I got the sights to bear dead upon the centre of the bull's forehead, about halfway between the horns and the eyes, and, watching for the proper moment, pressed the trigger. The flash and report of the piece were immediately followed by sounds of fierce stamping and plunging close at hand, and out of the corner of my eye I saw that the king's high-mettled stallion was fighting hard to break away and make a bolt for it; then, just as the bull stumbled, recovered himself, and finally turned a complete somersault, I heard the loud thud of the bullet on the thick skull, and knew that my shot had got home.

"W-a-a-u!" ejaculated the king, giving vent to a long-drawn expression of amazement; "yena chiele (he is hit)! The fire weapon is indeed 'mkulu 'mtagati (great magic)! The beast fell dead as though smitten by lightning. Can you do that again, white man, or was it merely chance?"

"You shall see," said I, as I rammed a wad down upon a fresh powder charge and slipped a bullet in after it. As I set the trigger to half-cock I saw that the powder was well up in the nipple; therefore, slipping on a cap and setting the trigger to full-cock, I again levelled the piece and bowled over the leading buffalo.

"It is enough!" exclaimed the king soberly. "No wonder that you conquered the tribes who rose against you if you were all armed like that! Now, children," he continued, throwing up his hand as he addressed his little body of immediate followers, "show the white man how the Basuto kills buffalo!"

The herd had originally numbered eleven, nine of which were still upon their feet, and, with the vindictive fearlessness which is the chief characteristic of the Cape buffalo, charging straight down upon our party; at a word, therefore, from the induna who was in command of the contingent, nine of the warriors flung away their shields and casting assagais, and, gripping the single bangwan, or stabbing assagai, with which each of them was also armed, drove their heels into their horses' flanks and dashed forward to meet the bellowing foe. To see those nine men fearlessly charge the rushing herd was a distinctly thrilling sight; for none knew better than they the implacably savage nature of the brutes they were about to contend with, or the deadliness of the peril to which they were so light-heartedly exposing themselves. Yet not one of them manifested the slightest disposition to shirk the encounter: possibly they all knew that to perish upon the horns of a buffalo would be preferable to the punishment that surely awaited them should they disgrace themselves and their king by showing fear in the presence of a white man. But if the riders scorned to exhibit fear, the horses were animated by no such scruples, for when they had approached to within about two hundred feet of the charging buffalo, the low, fierce, grunting bellows, the blazing eyes, and the sharp, threatening horns of the latter seemed to strike such panic into them that suddenly, as though by concerted arrangement, they wheeled sharply round, and, despite their riders' utmost efforts, bolted ignominiously in all directions.

I had by this time succeeded in recharging my rifle, and, slipping on a fresh cap, I raised the piece to my shoulder and held myself ready to shoot upon the instant that I dared do so without the risk of hitting a Basuto, for a tragedy seemed imminent. But Moshesh, who was now with difficulty restraining his own mount from bolting, stopped me.

"Wait, white man, and watch!" he enjoined me; and as the words passed his lips I saw the nine warriors throw themselves very cleverly from the backs of their bolting horses, wheel round as upon a pivot, and dash back until they were immediately in the path of the furious buffalo, which seemed now to have marked down as their destined victims the little body of men of whom the king and I formed a part. In the twinkling of an eye each warrior had selected one buffalo in particular as his own especial foe, and had planted himself with uplifted bangwan square in the brute's path, while the buffalo, promptly accepting the challenge, responded to it with fierce bellows and savage flourishings of the terrible horns. Three breathless seconds later the leading buffalo, with head lowered and slightly turned to allow of a more effective thrust of the sharp, upturned point of its murderous horn, was upon his antagonist, and I caught my breath sharply, fully expecting to see the man impaled, or at least tossed high in the air. But instead I beheld as splendid an exhibition of courage and alertness as I think I have ever witnessed, for the man, firmly standing his ground to the very last fraction of a second, sprang nimbly to one side at the precise moment when, as it seemed, the point of the horn was about to be dashed into his naked body, and then, as the great beast thundered past within reach of his hand, down flashed the formidable, broad-bladed bangwan, with so sure and strong a stroke that the buffalo crashed headlong to the ground dead, with its fierce heart cleft in twain.

And in like manner perished seven of its companions, the ninth buffalo wreaking its revenge for the death of the other eight in a peculiarly ghastly manner. Precisely how the tragedy happened none of us knew, for it chanced that our attention was concentrated elsewhere at the moment; but a sharp, shrill scream of mortal agony sounding out on the hot air apprised us that something untoward was happening. Glancing quickly in the direction from which the sound proceeded, I was horrified to see that one unfortunate warrior had somehow failed to avoid a buffalo's charge, and was now writhing transfixed on one of the horns of the great brute, which the next instant flung the poor fellow high in the air, and then, with a savage bellow, swerved and came thundering straight toward the king and myself, where we sat on our horses close together watching the exciting scene that was being enacted before us. A startled cry from the induna commanding the squad which was at that moment in special charge of the king's person caused the eleven men who had until now sat quiescent upon their horses to fling themselves hastily to the ground and dash forward to protect their monarch. But there was no time for this; the buffalo was within a dozen yards of us, and I could see that he had singled out Moshesh as the particular object of his attack, attracted, no doubt, by His Majesty's scarlet tunic. The king might of course have escaped by promptly wheeling his horse and galloping away; but his pride and self-esteem would have suffered a mortal wound had he been driven to flight in the presence of a white man, although there was a certain quality in his hurried glances to right and left that seemed to tell me that he meditated something of the sort, rather than stand his ground and take his chance. Fortunately I had reloaded my rifle a minute or two earlier, and now I saw my opportunity to render the king an important service by sparing him the ignominy of flight: I therefore flung up my piece and pressed the trigger, and the buffalo—an enormous and most formidable brute—stumbled and fell dead literally at our horses' feet.

"That was well done, 'mlungu," exclaimed the king, with just the faintest suggestion of a feeling of relief in the tones of his voice; "that was marvellously well done! But for thy quickness and sureness of eye and hand I should have been overthrown, and the Basutos might have been obliged to choose another king. 'Mtala," to the induna, "let them see to yonder clumsy fool who allowed the buffalo to catch him; and if he be not dead let four of thy men make a litter and carry him back to the kraal."

The induna saluted, and, beckoning to four of his men, proceeded in person to examine the unlucky wight who had been gored; but such examination was scarcely necessary, for even from where I sat it was apparent that the unfortunate man's injuries were of such a dreadful character that survival was impossible, and a few minutes later 'Mtala returned to report that the victim was quite dead.

"It is well!" commented the king briefly. "Let the carrion be moved out of the way; and let the regiment form up and be put through its evolutions." Whereupon, at a word from the induna, a man dismounted, and, uncoiling his hobble rope, slipped the noose round one of the ankles of the corpse, attached the other end to his horse's girth, and, mounting, galloped off toward the edge of the plateau, dragging the body after him until it was removed to a sufficient distance to be quite out of the way of the manoeuvring troops, when it was abandoned to become a prey to the jackals and vultures!

Meanwhile the troops were recalled and formed up in the centre of the plain, where the king critically inspected them, while I, at his invitation, rode beside him. And I feel bound to say that seldom have I seen a finer body of men, either savage or civilised, which, after all, is not to be greatly wondered at, seeing that, as the king's own special regiment of bodyguards, they were, naturally, the very pick and flower of the entire nation.

The inspection occupied about a quarter of an hour, and at its conclusion the regiment as a whole was put through a number of movements, which they executed very creditably. Then they were divided into two equal parts, which were marched to the opposite extremities of the plateau, when they faced about, and, charging down upon each other, engaged in a very realistic sham fight, lasting for the best part of an hour, and resulting in quite a number of casualties, several of the men being unhorsed and sustaining more or less serious injuries; after which the regiment re-formed, and we all returned to the kraal at a gallop, a party being detailed to remain behind and bring in the injured at a more sober pace.

I soon found that Moshesh, like all other savages, possessed his full share of vanity, which he was quite unable to conceal; also, it was evident that he was inordinately proud of his regiment, and was not above fishing for compliments upon it: I therefore dutifully did what was manifestly expected of me, and immensely gratified His Majesty by being as complimentary as I possibly could be without unduly straining the truth. But when all was said and done I had a very shrewd suspicion that while Moshesh might perhaps be credited with a genuine desire to show me some honour by inviting me to witness the review of his troops, he was principally animated by a craving for his own glorification, and, incidentally, was glad to seize the occasion as affording him an early opportunity to exhibit himself before his people in all the magnificence of his new "toggery."



CHAPTER SEVEN.

STRANGE OCCURRENCES IN THE WILDERNESS.

About an hour after sunrise on the following morning I again presented myself before the king, with the request that I be permitted to continue my journey. I was very cordially received by His Majesty, who again thanked me for the service which I had rendered him on the preceding day by slaying the buffalo, and so saving him from the ignominy of flight, or the almost equally unpleasant alternative of submitting to be charged by the brute. In the privacy of his itunkulu he was much more expansive than he had been on the previous day in the presence of his indunas, unhesitatingly admitting that, had he been compelled to accept either of the above-mentioned alternatives, he would have suffered serious loss of prestige in the eyes of his own people. He informed me that upon his return to the kraal on the preceding day he had given instructions that a body of men should be dispatched to bring in the carcasses of the slaughtered buffalo, which had been done, and he now made the offer that, if I pleased, he would have the skins carefully dressed, and the skulls and horns preserved, so that I might take the whole back with me to civilisation, as trophies, upon my return. Of course I thanked him for his exceedingly generous offer, which I gladly accepted so far as the three buffalo killed by myself were concerned; and therewith we parted upon the very best of terms, the king according me full permission to go where I pleased in his country, remain in it as long as I chose, and kill all the game that I had a mind to, while I made His Majesty inexpressibly proud and happy by presenting him with a burning-glass and showing him how to kindle a fire by its means. Then, my ceremonial visit being at an end, I returned to the wagon, ordered the oxen to be inspanned, and resumed my journey.

The ensuing fortnight was spent in progressing slowly northward through that part of Basutoland which lies between the Machacha mountain range and what is now known as the Caledon River, hunting all the way. But although the sport, such as it was, was good, enabling me to bag five lions, eight leopards, and three splendid specimens of rhinoceros, and although buck of all kinds, and buffalo, were plentiful enough to have enabled me to fill the wagon with their skins and horns, had I desired to do so, the sport was not the kind that I desired; I was out after elephant, and Basutoland was not elephant country. Therefore, at the end of the fortnight, I crossed the headwaters of the Caledon, and entered what in after years became the Orange Free State, and, still later, the Orange River Colony. Thence, passing between the two mountain ranges which later received the names of Witte and Roode Bergen, we "struck" a wide expanse of level, open country; through this a stream flowed in a northerly direction, along the left bank of which we trekked for a full week, not only for the sake of the water and the richer grass growing in the immediate vicinity of the stream, but also because if there was any game in the neighbourhood it was sure to be found within easy reach of the water. And here I got my first slice of luck, potting a brace of elephants, both of them magnificent tuskers, as well as another rhinoceros, three giraffes, and seven cock ostriches in perfect plumage. Then, crossing the Wilge River, and, two days later, the Klip River, we entered the country now known as the Transvaal, the Klip River being, as a matter of fact, the headwater of the Vaal.

And now I found myself in a very hunter's paradise, for the country was literally swarming with game of almost every description, consisting of eland, gemsbok, springbok, reitbok, and antelope of all kinds, often in herds numbering several thousands; also that curious-looking beast the gnu, of which I now got my first glimpse; troops of quagga and zebra; giraffes, rhinoceroses, lions, leopards, and ostriches; hippopotami and crocodiles in the rivers; but still very few elephants, and those so shy that it was only with the utmost difficulty I succeeded in securing three within the first fortnight after crossing the Klip River. And during all this time, although I enjoyed some splendid hunting, I did not meet with a single adventure worthy of record, and met very few natives, while those whom I encountered were either very friendly disposed on the one hand, or, on the other, too shy to come near me. But I saw several very curious sights, one or two of which I may perhaps be excused for recording.

For instance, about a week after crossing the Klip River we found ourselves striking northward across a tract of practically level country, dotted here and there with herds of various kinds of game, which took but little notice of us beyond moving leisurely out of our way when we seemed to be approaching them rather too closely for their liking. Piet and I were, as usual, riding forward about a mile ahead of the wagon, on the lookout for ostriches or elephant spoor, when we sighted a troop of the great birds which we were seeking some two miles ahead of us, immediately in line with a range of those curious flat-topped hills which are such a distinctive feature of the South African landscape. Away to our left, about a quarter of a mile distant, was a small kopje, about two hundred feet high, consisting of an outcrop of rock the sides of which, although almost perpendicular, were so rough that I believed they might be easily climbed; and as the summit of the kopje promised to afford an excellent spying place from which to observe the movements of the ostriches, we turned our horses' heads toward it and approached it at a gallop, reining up at its base. Upon arriving at the foot of the kopje I at once saw that it might be scaled without the slightest difficulty, for not only were the rocky projections so bold and rough as almost to amount to steps, but on the southern or shady side of the hill—which was the face that we approached—a multitude of tough, fern-like plants were sprouting from the interstices, affording excellent hold for the hands; therefore, dismounting and handing my horse's bridle to Piet, and bidding him remain where he was, in the shadow of the rock, I took my rifle in one hand, and with the small but very powerful telescope which I always carried when out after game slung over my shoulder, proceeded to scale the kopje.

Reaching its summit without difficulty, I found, as I had expected, that my lofty perch afforded a magnificent outlook over the plain in every direction. The ostriches whose movements I particularly desired to watch were now in plain view, and with the aid of my telescope I could not only distinguish the cocks from the hens, but could also perceive that the plumage of the former was in the very pink of perfection. But, in addition to the ostriches, there were several other exceedingly interesting objects and sights clearly distinguishable from the summit of the kopje, of which no hint was obtainable from the level of the plain below.

For instance, upon removing the telescope from my eye, after an exhaustive study of the movements and behaviour of the great birds, I allowed my gaze to travel over the surface of the grassy plain immediately before me, and presently became aware of a solitary antelope, of a species which was quite new to me, grazing at a distance of some two hundred yards from the base of the kopje. The creature was about the size of a bushbok, was a dirty white in colour, and carried a pair of horns about two and a half feet in length, slightly curved, enormously thick at the base, strongly ridged for about half their length, and thence sweeping smoothly away to points as sharp apparently as those of bayonets. The most curious thing about it, however, was that its coat was long and thick, like that of a goat, but apparently very much finer and more silky; and I was speculating upon the possibility of capturing and domesticating a few specimens, with the view of testing the commercial value of the hair, when suddenly the animal ceased feeding, threw up its head, twitched its long ears nervously to and fro, and proceeded to sniff the air anxiously, turning its head hither and thither as it did so.

Finally it faced right round, almost broadside-on to me, and stood motionless, very erect, and with its body seemingly braced in readiness to bound away upon confirmation of its evident suspicion that an enemy was somewhere in its immediate neighbourhood. I knew that the suspected enemy could not possibly be myself, for I was dead to leeward of the animal, and I therefore proceeded to reconnoitre with the view of ascertaining whether danger was threatening it from some other quarter. And presently I became aware of certain suspicious-looking movements of the long grass, about a hundred yards distant, suggestive of the presence of an animal of some kind approaching the antelope cautiously along a sort of wavering, serpentine course. When I first discovered this movement the creature that caused it was at such a distance that it was completely concealed among the long grass, even from the elevation which I occupied; but a minute later I was able to catch occasional glimpses of a darkish grey body, thickly dotted with irregularly shaped spots of lighter grey, slinking toward the antelope, which still remained perfectly motionless and expectantly watchful. The course pursued by the approaching creature was such as gradually to bring it into full view from where I crouched on the summit of the kopje, and at length I made it out to be also an animal hitherto unknown to me, about the size of a half-grown leopard, and of very similar build and shape, except that its tail was only about a foot long, thick, and of uniform dimensions right to its extremity; its ears were tufted like those of a lynx, and indeed in general appearance it greatly resembled a lynx, excepting that it was very much larger.

It was very interesting to watch the progress of this little drama—was it a tragedy?—which was rapidly unfolding itself almost at my very feet, and I was curious to see what steps the threatened antelope would take to provide for its safety—for it was certain that the creature was fully conscious of the fact that danger threatened it. Why did it not seek safety in flight, as most creatures of the antelope species are wont to do? Or did some subtle instinct warn it that flight could but prolong its agony, and that the superior endurance of its approaching enemy would cause it to be run down and brought to bay sooner or later; and that its best chance lay in facing the danger now, before its strength should be worn out by a prolonged and exhausting flight? Apparently some such instinct or conviction must have possessed it, for the antelope remained standing motionless, as though carved out of stone, the only signs of life which it betrayed being a continuous quivering of its nostrils and an occasional slight twitching of its forward-pointing ears, while its enemy slunk sinuously toward it, foot by foot, like a cat stalking a bird. At length the would-be destroyer arrived within about twenty feet of its quarry—at which distance I suspected that each animal was able to obtain at least an occasional partial glimpse of the other—when it halted, and seemed to be gathering itself together for a sudden rush, while the antelope still stood as though rooted to the spot.

Why did not the latter take to its heels and run? I wondered. Was it that the creature was paralysed with terror, and so unable to make any effort to save itself? I thought not, for I could detect no sign of terror; all the indications were in favour of the conviction that while the antelope was undoubtedly fully aware of the close proximity of its enemy, and was alertly watchful for the next movement on the part of the latter, its attitude and aspect were in nowise suggestive of a feeling of dismay—on the contrary, the idea conveyed to me was that of reckless temerity. Yet surely the poor, misguided beast could never be so foolish as to imagine that it stood the slightest chance of victory in the event of a fight? I was not allowed very much time to ponder the question, for, after a pause of about half a dozen seconds, the lynx-like creature made a sudden lightning-like dash at the motionless antelope, which I fully expected to see go down instantly, with the formidable fangs of its enemy buried deep in its throat. Not so, however, for as the lithe, spotted form darted through the grass the antelope rose from the ground, as though shot into the air by a powerful spring, descending fair and square upon its enemy's back, its four sharp-pointed hoofs digging viciously through the spotted hide and extorting a scream of mingled rage and pain from the astonished assailant; and then, so quickly that the eye could hardly follow the movement, a second vigorous leap landed the antelope fully twenty feet away, while the power expended in the leap sent the screaming, snarling enemy rolling and sprawling helplessly in the grass.

"Well done, antelope!" thought I. "Now is your chance to make a clean bolt for it, before your enemy has time to recover from his amazement."

But not a bit of it; evidently the very last thing that the antelope contemplated was flight, for no sooner did its hoofs touch the earth than it swung round like lightning, facing toward its adversary, while the latter picked itself up and, with four little streams of blood trickling down its sides, proceeded afresh to the attack. Again it crept up to within a short distance of the waiting antelope, paused, and suddenly dashed in; and again the antelope leaped into the air, alighted upon its enemy's back, inflicting four fresh wounds with its stabbing hoofs, and sprang away, spurning the snarling foe with such violence that once more it was sent sprawling in the grass.

This performance was repeated some eight or ten times, until at length it became quite evident that the antelope was getting very much the better of the fight, for thus far it had not received a single scratch, while its enemy's back was punctured all over with wounds that, although none of them were very deep, were bleeding freely, and in the aggregate were probably very painful. It was clear that matters were fast nearing the point at which the grey-spotted beast would be more than willing to regard the fight as a drawn battle, for every bout left it less willing to continue the fight; but the plucky little antelope evidently disapproved of half-measures, and was determined to press the matter to a definite conclusion, for when his antagonist began to betray a disinclination to continue the fight he no longer waited for the onset, but boldly advanced, leaping hither and thither with astounding rapidity, each leap landing him nearer his enemy, until the latter was compelled, in self-defence, to continue. But at length a moment arrived when the feline lay moaning and snarling, covered with blood, and either unable or unwilling to continue the combat; and then the antelope, after approaching the enemy by the usual bewildering series of leaps and bounds, stood for several seconds meditatively regarding him.

Finally, the plucky little beast seemed to come to the conclusion that the decisive moment had arrived, for, suddenly placing his head between his fore legs, so that his long, powerful horns pointed straight at his opponent's body, he hurled himself violently forward, like a bolt shot from a catapult; the sharp, bayonet-like horns buried themselves deeply in the grey-spotted, blood-smeared body; and as a prolonged yell of agony rent the air the antelope turned a complete somersault over his antagonist and staggered to his feet, bewildered but unhurt, the force with which the final stroke had been delivered having been so tremendous that the horns had disengaged themselves by the simple process of tearing two ghastly slashes in the fearfully lacerated carcass of the now defunct enemy. Then, after satisfying himself, by sight and smell, that nothing further was to be feared from his victim, the conqueror bent his head and resumed his grazing as calmly as though nothing had happened.

The extraordinary combat took some twenty minutes to reach its unexpected conclusion, and then, there being nothing to detain me any longer on the summit of the slope, I descended, rejoined Piet where he was patiently awaiting me within the shadow of the rock, remounted, and rode forward, our appearance at once putting the plucky little victor to precipitate flight. I had a mind to secure the skin of the conquered lynx-like creature, not only as a curiosity and an interesting memento of a rather remarkable occurrence, but also because of its interest to the zoologists upon my return to civilisation; but when we presently found the carcass it proved to be so terribly mauled that I saw it would be impossible to remove the pelt otherwise than in fragments, and so abandoned the idea. But we went after the ostriches, and succeeded in securing the two full-grown cocks of the troop, with the result that I became the richer by about ten pounds' worth of the most magnificent plumes I had ever seen.

A few days later, our route at the time lying through hilly country, it became a question whether we should enter a long ravine which divided a range of hills ahead, trusting to the possibility of our being able to pass through it and emerge at the other end, or whether it would be necessary to make a rather wide detour round one or the other extremity of the range. The route through the ravine would suit us best from every point of view, provided that it did not prove to be a cul de sac, because it led straight in the desired direction, and appeared to be tolerably level, also it would probably save us nearly forty miles; therefore I ordered Jan to outspan upon his arrival at the mouth of the ravine, while Piet and I rode on ahead to reconnoitre, taking our rifles with us, as usual, as well as the two dogs, Thunder and Juno.

The range of hills lying in front of us was about twenty miles in length, running almost due east and west, and the ravine which it was my purpose to explore pierced it as nearly as might be in its middle, running practically north and south; and even at the first glance I was impressed by the remarkable character of the place. For the ravine irresistibly suggested the idea that at some time in the more or less remote past a giant had taken a shovel measuring about a quarter of a mile in width, and with this gigantic tool had cut a gap right through the range. The most singular feature of the case, however, was that, although the gap was undoubtedly there, and although a vast quantity of material must have been removed in order to create it, there was nothing whatever to show what had become of that material. The floor of the gap was quite smooth and level, unencumbered by boulders or debris of any kind, and its rocky sides were absolutely vertical, rising in the centre to a height of very nearly three thousand feet, which height they maintained for about half a mile before they started to dip toward the far end. Small patches of wait-a-bit and other thorn bushes sparsely dotted the floor of the ravine, or gorge, and about halfway through there was a little grove of mimosa, in the midst of which we caught fleeting, indistinct glimpses of certain moving things which Piet declared were giraffes.

Now, I had not yet shot a giraffe, and was rather anxious to obtain a really good—or it would be nearer the truth to say an exceptionally fine—specimen; therefore, hastily taking cover behind the nearest clump of bush, we proceeded to approach the creatures warily until we had arrived within about half a mile of them. Then, detecting certain signs of growing uneasiness among them, which I attributed to the possibility of their having sighted our moving figures, I dismounted, and, leaving Piet with the dogs and horses well sheltered behind a big clump of bush, took my rifle and set off to complete the stalk through the long grass alone and on foot. I reckoned upon being able to manage this without very much difficulty, for the wind was blowing from the west right across the ravine, while the giraffes were upon the eastern side, and I was to the southward of them; therefore I knew that I ought to be able to get quite close to them before they could wind me, while the grass was tall enough to enable me to approach them unseen. Nevertheless, although I was stalking them with the utmost caution, using the wind to guide me, and only raising my head to reconnoitre at rare intervals and with the exercise of the greatest care, I was annoyed to observe that the uneasiness of my quarries was rapidly increasing; they had ceased to feed, and were standing at attention, with their ears switching quickly to and fro and their heads continually turning this way and that, as though they scented danger of some sort but could not determine its character or, more important still, from which direction it was coming: and I began to fear that before I could get near enough to put in a decisive shot they would stampede and I should lose them altogether. And, sure enough, that was precisely what they did, a great bull giraffe, evidently the leader of the herd, and the animal which I had finally fixed upon as my own particular prey, suddenly tossing up his head and breaking away up the valley in a long, lumbering, ungainly canter, instantly followed by the rest of the herd.

I was not only intensely annoyed but also greatly puzzled at this behaviour on the part of the great, long-legged, long-necked creatures, for I could not believe that the flight had been the result of any carelessness on my part; but while I stood watching them rapidly increasing the distance between themselves and me I became aware of a curious dimming of the atmosphere along the top edge of the cliffs on the western side of the ravine, and while I was still wondering what this might be, a low, murmurous, rumbling sound gradually evolved itself out of the faint sigh of the breeze over the grass and through the foliage of the bush—a sound which, as I listened, rapidly developed into the beat of innumerable hoofs, mingled with the bleatings and barkings of a veritable army of bucks of various descriptions. Then I knew that the dimming of the atmosphere along the summit of the western cliffs was due to a cloud of light, impalpable dust, swept along before a great migrating army of game crossing the mountain range, probably on the march in search of water, and I waited to see what would happen when the vanguard of the army should reach the edge of the cliffs.

I had not very long to wait; the dust cloud rapidly thickened, and the low rumbling beat of hoofs on the hard dry soil of the hill crest quickly increased in volume until it became like the thunderous roar of surf upon a rock-bound shore, mingled with the continuous cries of a countless host of animals all herded together under the influence of some mysterious but powerful influence. And presently the advance guard of the great army appeared against the skyline on the edge of the beetling cliffs, almost immediately opposite where I was standing; first a solitary eland, then three gemsbok, closely followed by seven or eight hartebeeste, then a small troop of quagga, upon the heels of which came a herd of some fifty klipspringers. All these advanced right up to the edge of the cliff, halted abruptly, staring down into the ravine below, and then, wheeling sharply to right and left, threw up their heads and, with characteristic cries of dismay, took to their heels and galloped furiously along the very edge of the cliff, in an evident effort to escape the pressure of the great army in their rear. But as these first arrivals wheeled and sped, terrified, to right and left, others appeared in increasing numbers and, suddenly realising their danger, sought to escape it, some following in the footsteps of the vanguard, while others faced about and strove to retreat along the way by which they had come.

It soon became evident, however, that escape was impossible, for even as I stood watching their efforts the front rank of the main body appeared, a great compact mass of animals extending fully half a mile along the edge of the cliff; and although it was evident that this front rank now realised that danger threatened it in front, and was trying to hang back, the pressure of the vast multitude in its rear was irresistible, and foot by foot it was pushed forward until in a few seconds I was gazing at the awful spectacle of hundreds of helpless animals being thrust over the cliff edge and falling to their death more than two thousand feet below, while the air throbbed and vibrated with their cries of terror. It was a terrible experience to stand there and helplessly watch those unfortunate creatures pouring over the cliff like the waters of a cataract, to listen to their cries as they found themselves being irresistibly thrust forward to their death, and to see the long and rapidly growing pile of the dead stretching along the foot of the cliffs.

There were several varieties of animals in this great migrating army which was being so disastrously wiped out, some of them being of a kind that set me wondering by what extraordinary accident they could have become entangled among such incongruous companions. For example, tightly wedged in among a herd of blesbok I saw a full-grown lion forced over the cliff; and the only way in which I could possibly account for the presence of the beast was upon the assumption that he had been following the herd, and in springing upon some victim had become so closely involved that he had found it impossible to make his way out again.

I have always stoutly maintained that animals possess the power of communicating with each other, and what I witnessed now only tended to confirm me in my belief: for after the thing which I have been attempting to describe had continued for some ten minutes it suddenly came to an end; the remainder of the army had evidently halted, for although the cries from above still created a tremendous volume of sound, indicating that an innumerable multitude of animals survived up there on the top of the cliff, the thunder of the trampling hoofs had died down to almost nothing, while the animals, instead of being thrust helplessly over the edge, advanced thereto in little groups, gazed down into the ravine, and then retired again. When this had continued for some few minutes the sound of hoofs again became audible; but now the hoofs were retiring instead of advancing, and in the space of ten minutes had become inaudible. The creatures had retired to seek a safer road elsewhere.

Then, emerging into the open, and beckoning Piet, who also had quitted cover, to join me, I walked over to the foot of the fatal cliff to examine more closely the ghastly pile of carcasses that lay there, and by the time that I arrived the air was already darkening with the vast flock of vultures which was gathering to the feast thus bountifully provided for them.

The lion that I had seen come hurtling over the precipice in company with the herd of blesbok happened to be lying in such a position that I could get at him without very much difficulty, and I determined to have his hide if upon examination it should prove worth taking. Accordingly, upon the arrival of Piet, we both clambered up on the mound of dead and dying animals until we reached the spot where the lion lay doubled up in a heap and partially buried beneath the carcasses of the animals that had fallen on top of him. He was quite dead, his spine, and almost every other bone in his body apparently, being broken; but his skin was uninjured, so far as we could see. Piet and I therefore each seized one of his great fore paws, and, with a long pull, a strong pull, and a pull all together, contrived to drag him clear and roll him down to the bottom of the heap, to which we quickly followed him. He proved to be a magnificent beast, quite young but full-grown, in perfect condition, with a most formidable set of claws and fangs, a smooth, glossy hide of a rich deep tawny hue, and a splendid mane, of so deep a tint as to be almost black; altogether he was a specimen well worth having, and we quickly stripped him of his hide, taking also the head, which we deposited in close proximity to an ants' nest in the full assurance that the industrious little creatures would clear the skull of every particle of flesh in the course of a few hours. Then, leaving Piet to clean the skin and prepare it for packing, I sprang into the saddle and, taking my rifle, cantered off down the ravine to explore the remaining portion of it and ascertain whether, as I conjectured, there was a means of egress at the far end.

I found that, as I had anticipated, the ravine, or gorge, passed right through the range of hills, and gave access to the open country beyond; that the route was quite practicable for a wagon throughout its entire length; and that by making use of it I should save a distance of about forty miles, or the equivalent of two days' trek: and having satisfied myself upon these points, I turned my horse's head and proceeded to ride leisurely back to the wagon, intending to pick up Piet and the lion's skin on the way.

I had returned about three miles along the ravine, allowing Prince to proceed at his own pace, with the bridle hanging loose upon his neck, when I was aroused from a reverie into which I had fallen by a low whinny from my horse as he suddenly flung up his head, twitched his ears forward, and directed his glances toward a point some distance ahead and to the left. I knew at once that he had either sighted or scented something, or both; and, glancing in the direction indicated, I became aware that we were approaching an enormous flat boulder, which had attracted my attention some two hours earlier on my outward journey because of its immense size and the impossibility of accounting satisfactorily for its presence just where it was.

But now the boulder was remarkable for quite another reason; for whereas when I first passed it its flat top was perfectly bare, I perceived that in the interim it had become a scene of feverish activity, a troop of quite a hundred monkeys seeming to have taken possession of it. There was of course nothing very extraordinary in that; the strangeness of the matter consisted in the fact that they were all hard at work, apparently in concert with another troop of their brethren down below who seemed to be rushing to and fro between the rock and an adjacent clump of thorn bush. A touch on the bridle brought Prince to a halt, and I then produced my telescope and brought it to bear upon the busy party, when I perceived, to my amazement, that the gang of monkeys who were rushing to and fro between the clump of bush and the boulder were engaged in collecting and dragging to the rock a great number of branches of thorns, which they were passing up to their comrades upon the surface of the rock; and that these, in their turn, as it seemed to me, were constructing a scherm, or hedge of thorns, working in such feverish haste that their lives might have been depending upon its speedy completion.

The behaviour of that active gang of simians was so extraordinary that I determined to wait and see the thing out. I therefore remained where I was, at such a distance that my presence would not be likely to disturb or alarm them, and kept my telescope focused upon them, with the result that I soon began to realise, from their behaviour, that, rapid as were all their movements, the monkeys were nevertheless taking considerable pains to preserve silence. I noticed that none of them attempted to drag the thorns after them through the grass; every branch was carried at arm's length overhead; and when it was passed up to those on the top of the rock it was not permitted to scrape or grate against the surface of the rock, but was carefully held away from it, although it was evident that some of the monkeys got more or less severely pricked during the process. I also observed that those monkeys who were actually engaged in the construction of the scherm laid the bunches of thorns in place with elaborate care and, as it appeared to me, with quite amazing skill and cunning.

Some ten or twelve minutes after I had come to a halt the scherm was finished, and then came an end to the silence which the monkeys had been at such pains to observe during the progress of the work; for, with its completion, the creatures set up a sudden chattering and howling and shrieking which distinctly reached me even at the distance of a good half-mile. And with the outbreak of the clamour, all hands beat a precipitate retreat from the surface of the rock, and arranged themselves in a circle round it down below, at a sufficient distance away to enable them to see anything that might happen on the top of the boulder. But what, I asked myself, could happen up there; why had those monkeys taken the trouble to construct that fine scherm; and why, in the name of fortune, were they exerting themselves to create such a terrific row? The answer was not long in coming; for, as I sat there intently scanning the scene through my telescope, I saw the head and about six feet of the body of an enormous python upreared from inside the scherm, its appearance being greeted by a yell of delight from the monkeys that caused Prince to snort and stamp with excitement. I saw the huge reptile up-rear itself still further and attempt to get out of the scherm; but it could not do so without crawling over the hedge of thorns, and the moment that its body touched these it recoiled, its immense jaws gaped open, its tongue flickered in and out, and I could in imagination hear its angry hisses as plainly as I could hear the howls of derision and defiance with which the monkeys greeted its appearance.

And then I understood, or believed I understood, the whole thing. The python, doubtless, had its lair somewhere in the immediate vicinity of the boulder, the flat top of which was probably its favourite basking place; the troop of monkeys, perhaps gambolling about on the face of the adjacent cliff, had chanced to see the huge snake lying asleep upon the rock, and, instantly seizing the opportunity to take their enemy at a disadvantage, had, with diabolical ingenuity, hastened to enclose the creature in a circular fence of thorns, from which it now seemed that it would find it impossible to escape—for I saw it make several attempts, at various points around the circumference of the scherm, and upon each occasion, when it essayed to crawl over the thorns, it shrank back, baffled by the innumerable sharp points which everywhere met it. At length, after I had watched its unavailing efforts for about a quarter of an hour, I cantered up to the rock—putting the monkeys to flight amid a chorus of angry protests—and, after a careful survey, proceeded to climb to the top, taking the precaution to carry my rifle with me. I now found that the scherm, constructed of small branches of formidable thorns—each thorn being nearly three inches long, and sharp-pointed as a needle—was about waist high, a yard in thickness, and some ten yards in diameter, completely hemming in the great python, who was now wideawake and rapidly circling the interior of his prison, in an atrociously bad temper, vainly seeking some spot through which he might force his way and escape. But the monkeys had evidently known quite well what they were about; instinct or observation had taught them that, once completely surrounded by a ring of thorns, the creature could not possibly escape, because its every effort would result in the self-infliction of so many severe wounds that it would rather remain a prisoner than persevere. And that was precisely what was happening; the moment that, in attempting to crawl over the barrier, the python's ponderous weight was thrown upon the encircling fence, the long, sharp thorns pierced it in twenty or thirty places, and already, as it circled inside the enclosure, it was leaving a broad trail of blood behind it and emitting a powerful, sickening, musky odour which I only endured with difficulty. The creature glared at me murderously every time it came opposite me in its frantic circling of the scherm, and once made a determined effort to reach me, but the thorns were too much for it; and finally, when I was at length convinced that it could not possibly escape, I levelled my rifle and sent a bullet crashing through its enormous head, instantly thereafter beating a hasty retreat from the top of the rock, in order to avoid the terrific threshing of its convolutions, which now, in its death agonies, sent the thorns flying in all directions.



CHAPTER EIGHT.

AN EXCITING DAY.

By the time that Piet and I got back to the wagon it was within an hour of sunset; I therefore decided to remain for the night where we were, the grass being good, and our outspan situated within half a mile of a considerable stream of water with which we should lose touch upon entering the gorge, since the river turned eastward immediately opposite the spot where we were outspanned. But although I decided not to move the wagon until the morrow, I was not disposed to remain personally inactive; for I had observed that about two miles to the eastward the river flowed through a slight depression, which had thus become converted into a water vley, or wide sheet of shallow water, where I thought it not improbable that I might find a few widgeon to afford a welcome change from the buck meat that had now become our almost continuous fare. Moreover, I had begun to break to the saddle the two ponies which Moshesh had given me, and had already advanced so far in the matter of their education that they would both allow me to mount them, and I regarded the present as a favourable opportunity to give Jack, the stallion, a little gentle exercise. Therefore I instructed Piet to shift my saddle from Prince to Jack, and, taking my double-barrelled sporting gun and a few cartridges, I mounted and cantered away along the river bank, with Thunder and Juno, the two dogs, bounding gaily along on either hand, and with Jack pulling hard upon his snaffle and doing his utmost to break away, for he was so fresh as to be almost unmanageable. A good brisk five-mile gallop over the veld to the farther extremity of the vley, however, somewhat calmed his exuberant spirits, and when at length I dismounted, the youngster was placid enough to be quite willing to follow at my heels with the bridle resting loosely upon his neck, or to stand still when it was allowed to trail upon the ground.

The sun had already vanished in a haze of regal purple hanging low along the western horizon when at length I managed to bag three brace of the widgeon that I had been hoping for; and with these neatly strung together by the feet, and slung across Jack's shoulders in front of the saddle, I was just preparing to mount and canter away back to camp when, looming monstrously through the thin, grey mist that was insidiously rising from the veld, I beheld a long procession of enormous forms gradually resolving out of the fog wreaths about half a mile away. Vague and shapeless as were those vast, ghostly objects, I knew at once that they could only be elephants coming over the veld to the great pool to drink and bathe; and I at once determined to ascertain, if possible, how many of them there were, for I estimated that there must already be between twenty and thirty in sight, while others were momentarily emerging into view from out the veil of mist. Therefore, instead of mounting, and thus rendering myself more conspicuous than I was already, I remained on foot, and headed for the nearest clump of bush with Jack and the two dogs following at my heels, my intention being to conceal myself and my following behind that convenient screen and thence observe the movements and note the numbers of the approaching elephants. But I had scarcely advanced thirty paces when there arose a sudden commotion in the long grass almost under my feet, a terrific uproar of angry grunts and squeals rent the evening stillness, and a sounder of hog, consisting of a boar, three sows, and upwards of a score of half-grown young, which had been lying in the grass, rose to their feet and dashed noisily away, the sudden and violent disturbance startling Jack to such an extent and so completely upsetting his equanimity that he flung up his head, swerved away before I could grasp his bridle, and with a squeal of consternation took to his heels and dashed off full pelt in the direction of the distant wagon, while the two dogs, wild with excitement, went off in chase of the pigs, leaving me to my own devices.

To be left like that, alone and on foot, in strange country, a good five miles from the wagon, with the darkness of a moonless and misty night already gathering about me, was just a trifle awkward, perhaps, for I was both hungry and tired, and a five-mile walk through the long grass would be something beyond a joke. But with the river to guide me on the one hand, and the hills on the other, I could not very well miss my way, while as for the pony, he would probably return to the wagon, and the dogs would certainly find me as soon as they were tired of chasing the pigs; so, shouldering my gun, I stepped out toward the clump of bush for which I was bound, and presently took up a position within its heavy shadow where I should be pretty effectually concealed, while I could at the same time observe the movements of the elephants. Luckily, they were still so far away when the disturbance caused by the pigs occurred that they had taken no notice of it, but came steadily on, led by an enormous tusker; and presently they made their way well into the deepest part of the pool, where, after drinking, they stood for some time spraying their bodies with water spouted from their trunks. I did my best to count them, but before the entire herd had arrived upon the scene it had fallen quite dark, so that what with the darkness, the fog, and the constant movements of the animals, I found the task an utter impossibility. But I came to the conclusion that, from what I could see and hear, there must be nearly or quite a hundred of them.

Then, as I stood motionless and invisible in the deep shadows of the clump of bush, soft swishing sounds in the long grass grew increasingly frequent all round me, and in the misty starlight I caught frequent sudden glimpses of indeterminate forms gliding ghost-like toward the water, which was evidently the recognised drinking place for most of the game in the neighbourhood. And at length, when I had been standing there for about twenty minutes, two pairs of lambent orbs loomed up through the long grass, and Thunder and Juno came wriggling apologetically to my feet, having apparently made their way back to the spot where they had deserted me, and tracked me thence by scent.

I had by this time seen all that I wanted to see, or rather all that it was possible to see; therefore, with a low-murmured call to the two dogs, I set out to walk back through the misty landscape to the wagon, taking the stars for my guide, since the fog had by this time become so thick that it was difficult to distinguish anything beyond a hundred yards distant in any direction. Fortunately I had walked little more than a mile when shouts in Piet's high-pitched voice reached my ears, and presently, guided by my shouts in reply, the Hottentot hove in sight, mounted upon Tempest and leading the errant Jack by the bridle— the latter having galloped straight to the wagon, as I had fully expected he would; and half an hour later we rode into camp without further adventure.

The first thing in order after our arrival was, of course, dinner, which I found quite ready when I rode into camp, the piece de resistance consisting of the widgeon which I had shot, and which Piet had found still hanging across the pony's withers when Master Jack arrived in camp, and had had sense enough to hand over to Jan to prepare. Then, after dinner, the elephant gun and my rifle were brought forth from the wagon and thoroughly cleaned by the light of the camp fire; and while this was being done Piet and I anxiously discussed a programme for the doings of the morrow, finally settled upon a more or less definite plan, and made all the arrangements necessary for carrying it into effect; after which the fire was made up, the oxen were driven in and tethered to the trek tow, as a precaution against possible attack by lions, and all hands turned in.

The night passed uneventfully and quietly, save for the constant barking of the jackals and baboons and the occasional cry of a leopard or roar of a lion; but we had by this time grown quite accustomed to such sounds as these, and were not in the least disturbed by them, even the dogs disdaining to take the slightest notice of them, except when the authors approached within certain fairly well-defined limits which Thunder and Juno seemed to have mutually agreed were too near; then indeed our guardians would respond with low warning growls which, if the offenders drew still nearer, rapidly merged into a deafening clamour of savage barks that effectually aroused everybody.

But on the night in question the marauders gave the wagon a wide berth; probably there was a sufficiency of game near the water-hole to supply all their wants without the necessity for them to approach the hateful blaze of the camp fire, and our rest was undisturbed. With the appearance of the first gleam of dawn in the eastern sky, however, the three blacks crawled out from underneath the wagon, made up the fire afresh, fetched water from the river, and proceeded to prepare breakfast, for Piet and I had agreed upon the wisdom of getting upon the spoor of the elephants as early as possible, in order that the greater part of the travelling might be done before the heat became oppressive.

It was about a quarter to seven o'clock when, having breakfasted and completed our final preparations, Piet and I swung ourselves into our saddles and started for the water-hole at an easy canter, Jan's instructions being to follow with the wagon until he should reach a certain signal which we would leave behind us, and which was to be the intimation that he had trekked far enough and must outspan until he received further orders. Piet was mounted on Punch, the chestnut, a thoroughly steady and reliable animal, and carried the provisions for the expedition, half the ammunition, and the elephant gun; while I rode Prince, and carried the other half of the ammunition and my rifle, as well as a stout, double-edged hunting knife which I wore in a sheath attached to my belt. Thunder and Juno accompanied us as usual, and, like the sensible animals that they were, trotted quietly along close to the horses' heels, saving their strength for what was possibly to come later, instead of wasting it, as in their younger and less experienced days, by dashing hither and thither, in the exuberance of their spirits, over an utterly unnecessary extent of ground.

Going at an easy pace, we reached the farther extremity of the pool in about three-quarters of an hour, and at once picked up the spoor of the elephants without the least trouble. It was very difficult to form a close estimate of the number of animals in the herd by examining the spoor, but it was certain that the herd was a very large one, and an inspection of the footprints left in the soft soil about the margin of the pool showed that there were several animals of gigantic size in it. The spoor led away to the eastward, in the direction from which I had seen the herd approaching on the previous evening, and the passage of so many heavy animals had trampled the long, parched grass so flat that the trail was as plain as a road to follow, and we proceeded along it at an easy canter.

We had been progressing in this fashion for about three hours, and had covered some twenty miles of perfectly flat country, when we observed that the character of the scenery ahead was changing, the scattered clumps of bush through which we had been riding giving place to forest trees of various descriptions, imparting quite a park-like aspect to the scene. And here we came to a halt for the purpose of setting up the mark which was to give Jan, my Hottentot driver, the signal to outspan, for Piet was strongly of opinion that the herd of elephant would be found somewhere in the forest ahead, either browsing upon the small and tender shoots of the trees or sheltering from the sun beneath their leafy shade. This done, we looked to our weapons, satisfying ourselves that they were in order for immediate use, and then again proceeded along the trail, this time at a walking pace.

The trail continued to lead straight toward the forest; but when we had proceeded about a mile farther the spoor showed that the herd had gradually scattered, some of the animals seeming to have halted for a time to feed, while others had swerved off to right and left, as though to enter the forest individually, instead of in a compact body. We were thus enabled to pick up the spoor of particular animals, and, coming at length upon that of an elephant of extraordinary size, I determined to follow it, and did so right up to the outskirts of the forest. Here we dismounted, and, leaving our horses, with their bridles trailing on the ground, where we could easily find them again, but where they were not likely to be sighted by the elephants, continued to follow on foot the spoor of the big beast that we were after. It led deviously, with many twists and turnings, toward the deepest part of the forest, and when we had been following it for about three-quarters of an hour we were suddenly halted by the sound of a distant swishing and cracking of branches, which caused us to conceal ourselves hurriedly behind the bole of a big yellow-wood.

Reconnoitring from this coign of vantage, we found that the animal, or animals, by which the sounds were made were still invisible; we therefore continued with the utmost caution to follow up the spoor of the elephant which we were tracking, dodging from one tree to another, pausing behind each as we reached it to take another observation, and being careful to make no sound as we threaded our way through the underscrub, until we finally reached a spot where, peering out from behind the trunk of a big baobab, we were able to catch an occasional glimpse of an enormous grey mass moving slowly among the trees, while the sound of swishing and snapping branches, the crackling of the undergrowth as the creature moved from time to time, and an occasional low grunt of satisfaction told us how near we were to our quarry. Luckily, too, for us, the wind was in exactly the right direction—that is to say, it was blowing from the elephant toward us, so that instead of him scenting us we caught an occasional whiff of the peculiar odour which emanated from him. The extreme deliberation with which the animal moved proved conclusively that thus far he had not the slightest suspicion of our presence, but unfortunately the foliage was so dense that it was only occasionally that we could get even a partial glimpse of him, and then it was of such a character that I could not tell with certainty what part of his body I was looking at; therefore, after a very brief and low-whispered consultation with Piet, I decided to make a rather wide circuit toward the part of the forest for which the creature was heading, and, having chosen a favourable spot, patiently to await his approach.

This we accordingly did, the fallen trunk of a tree half-buried in dense undergrowth affording us a perfectly ideal ambush; and we had scarcely settled ourselves comfortably therein when a violent swaying of the underbrush warned us that our quarry was approaching. The next instant the scrub parted right and left, the points of two enormous tusks protruded from the swaying tangle of leaves and creepers, and in the drawing of a breath the head and fore quarters of the biggest bull elephant I had ever seen came into view. For a moment the huge beast stood looking about him, and then his immense trunk swung upward, the point twined itself tightly about an unusually leafy twig, there came a slight snapping and swishing sound as the twig was torn from its parent branch, and the next instant both stem and leaves vanished down a cavernous throat. Then, as the ponderous trunk swung downward again, and the beast uttered a grunt of enjoyment, I pressed the trigger of my elephant gun, the barrel of which I had levelled over the bole of the fallen tree a minute or two earlier: there was a flash, a blinding puff of white smoke, and as the forest resounded with the crashing report, an answering crash close at hand proclaimed the fall of the great beast. Then, as the smoke gradually drifted away, we saw that the animal had flung himself convulsively forward at the impact of the bullet, and now lay stone-dead just on the other side of the prostrate tree behind which we were crouching.

For several seconds after the echoes of the report died away there was perfect silence in the forest: not a leaf seemed to stir or a bird to twitter; even the very insects ceased their chirring, as though they were wondering what had happened. Then, almost as though at a given signal, the forest resounded with loud trumpetings of alarm and the crashing of heavy bodies through the undergrowth, as the rest of the unseen herd began to move restlessly and angrily hither and thither, seeking the source of the sudden disturbance.

We remained where we were, crouching in our ambush, for a quarter of an hour or more, listening to the gradually subsiding disturbance and waiting for the possible appearance of one of the great pachyderms in the tiny clearing where the dead giant lay; but although several passed us at no great distance we saw none of them, and at length, when silence again reigned, we cautiously emerged from our hiding place and pushed our way up-wind still deeper into the recesses of the forest.

Breathless and perspiring profusely with the exertion of worming our way through the undergrowth, we had progressed about half a mile when, away on our left, and apparently only a few yards distant, we suddenly heard a loud blowing sound, followed by several grunts, and the next instant a big cow elephant, with a calf at her heels, burst through the intervening growth and came charging toward us with blazing eyes and uplifted trunk thrust straight out in front of her. Fortunately we had just stepped out from behind the cover of a big mahogany, and as I doubted whether the beast had actually sighted us, I thrust Piet back behind the tree and instantly followed, working round the bole as the elephant advanced, so as to keep it between her and ourselves. Whether or not she had winded us I cannot say, but I am of opinion that she must have done so; be that as it may, she continued her furious charge, actually grazing the other side of the tree behind which we were hiding as she passed, and in another instant had disappeared again, leaving a broad trail of trampled undergrowth and broken saplings behind her. For the ensuing five minutes we remained where we were, fully expecting the irate beast to return in search of us; but hearing nothing more of her we resumed our way.

About a quarter of a mile farther on we became aware that elephants were not far-distant, for away ahead of us there was a sound of heavy movement, accompanied by a good deal of grunting. Then suddenly an angry squeal pealed out upon the startled air, immediately followed by a violent clashing of tusks, furious trumpetings, and a tremendous commotion generally.

"Olifants fighting, baas!" excitedly whispered Piet in my ear. "Now's de time for us: come on quick, baas, we get close up to 'em and they never see us; then you get 'em bofe."

"Right you are, boy," I returned; "come along; they cannot be very far ahead."

We pushed on, not troubling ourselves very much now as to whether or not we made any noise, for the forest was fairly ringing with the squeals and trumpetings of the contending beasts; and presently we caught an occasional fleeting glimpse, through the interlacing foliage, of their twisting and rushing bodies as they moved hither and thither. But we were not yet near enough to see them distinctly; we therefore forced our way a few yards farther, until, peering through the tangled undergrowth, we obtained a tolerably good view of a little clearing of about an acre and a half in extent, in the midst of which two gigantic tuskers were circling round each other, looking for an opening, and occasionally rushing in with lowered heads to plunge their already ensanguined tusks into each other's bodies.

Kneeling down among the underwood in such a position that I could get a clear view of the amphitheatre without running much risk of being myself seen, I found a gnarled stump of a creeper that afforded a very convenient rest for my heavy double-barrelled elephant gun, and, roughly levelling the weapon, awaited a favourable opportunity to fire. A few minutes later it came, the two huge beasts drawing apart, as by common consent, to recover their breath. Like two immense statues they stood, about twelve feet apart, motionless save for their heaving flanks and their great twitching ears, the trunk of each upraised and thrown back over the head as though to be out of harm's way; and I saw that both were bleeding freely from several ghastly-looking wounds. The moment was as favourable as any that I should be at all likely to get, for both were standing practically broadside-on to me; therefore, glancing quickly from one to the other, to determine the precise position of the vital spot for which I intended to aim, I levelled and sighted the weapon, pressed the trigger, and then, with a lightning movement of the barrel, shifted my aim and again fired. The second report followed the first at an interval of scarcely a second, and I heard the loud clap clap of both bullets as they struck; then the thick veil of powder smoke enveloped me, and for a few seconds I could see nothing. While still waiting for the smoke to disperse, I heard a heavy thud which told me that at least one of the animals was down, and a moment or two later, as the smoke gradually thinned, I dimly saw the second standing, with legs wide apart, swaying a little and trembling violently. For a space of time in which one might have slowly counted ten the great brute stood thus; then, as he uttered a low moan, his mighty limbs suddenly collapsed and he too sank to the ground with a thud that seemed to make the very earth tremble. And at that precise moment there again broke forth the same kind of uproar of alarmed trumpeting and swiftly moving heavy bodies that had followed my first shot.

The sounds were this time of such a character as to indicate clearly that the herd had been thoroughly alarmed and effectually stampeded; therefore, after waiting some five minutes or so until the forest was again silent, and it had become quite clear that none of the animals were coming in our direction, we left our hiding place, and, taking careful note of the spot where the two great tuskers lay, proceeded to retrace our steps toward the place where we had left our horses. We found them placidly grazing, and, springing into our saddles, started on the back trail to meet the wagon, which I intended to outspan for the night close to the outskirts of the forest, that we might not have far to carry the ivory when we had cut it out on the morrow.

We proceeded at a foot-pace, since there was no need for hurry, and had travelled a distance of some three miles when, borne faintly to our ears by the gentle breeze that was blowing behind us, we heard a peculiar yapping howl which told us that a pack of wild dogs was in full cry somewhere in our rear. Being curious to learn what kind of animal they were hunting, we looked about us for a spot whence, ourselves unseen, we might witness the chase, which the increasing loudness of the cries told us was coming our way. Such a spot was found close at hand in the shadow of a big clump of thorn bush, within a few yards of the margin of a small stream, evidently a tributary of the river which flowed a mile or two farther to the westward.

We had scarcely established ourselves in our place of concealment when a beautiful zebra mare, accompanied by her foal, appeared coming toward us at a trot, which circumstance, taken in conjunction with the laboured action of the animals, clearly indicated that both were in the very last stage of exhaustion; and indeed the fugitives had only gone a few yards past us when the mare stumbled heavily, recovered herself with difficulty, and then, with a scream that marked the extremity of her terror and despair, crashed heavily to the ground, where, after an ineffectual effort to scramble to her feet again, she lay flat on her side, panting heavily and with her tongue protruding. And as the mare fell the foal pulled up short beside her and stood, with lowered head and legs wide apart, trembling so violently that the action was visible even to us nearly a hundred yards away.

By this time the yapping sounds had become so loud that we knew the pack must be close at hand, and a moment later they swept into view, some thirty or so in number; and as they sighted the prostrate zebra, with her foal standing beside her, their yapping changed to a howl of exultation, which caused the mare again to make an ineffectual effort to scramble to her feet, while the foal hobbled away a yard or two, but returned to his dam when he saw that she was unable to rise. It was a rather pathetic sight to see those two beautiful animals awaiting destruction at the fangs of the dogs, and, moved suddenly by a sense of pity, I pressed my heels to Prince's flanks, and, calling Piet to follow, rode forward into the open.

At the sight of two mounted figures advancing to bar their progress the pack suddenly pulled up in a bunch and stood panting, with their tongues lolling out and the foam dripping from their jaws, for the wild dog does not love to meet man, especially a white man, at least in daylight. As the pack bunched themselves together, uncertain whether to continue their advance or to retire, but evidently very strongly impelled by the sight of the fallen zebra to do the former, it offered a target so tempting that I was quite unable to resist it; and, leaping lightly from the saddle, I ran forward a pace or two and, sinking upon one knee, levelled my rifle and fired right into the thick of the bunch. The range was only about four hundred yards, and while the sharp, whip-like report of the piece was still echoing along the side of the range of hills in front of me I heard the clap of the bullet, and, as the smoke drifted away, saw that one dog was down, dead, while a second was struggling feebly on the ground, and a third, with a broken leg, was making the welkin ring with his howls of anguish.

At the flash and report of the piece some eight or ten of the dogs in the rear of the pack wheeled sharply round, and, with their tails tucked tightly between their legs, beat a hasty retreat along the back trail, uttering sharp yelps of terror as they went; but the remainder of the pack stood its ground, staring at us as though wondering what new kind of animals we could be who had the power of slaying from a distance. There was one big gaunt brute, however, apparently the leader of the pack, who kept his flaming eyes fixed upon the zebras, and as the smoke of the discharge cleared away I saw him slink out from the rest of the pack in a crouching attitude, with bared fangs, as though meditating a dash at the gasping mare.

"The gun—quick!" I ejaculated to Piet, who retained his saddle and sat motionless as a statue, watching intently; and at the word he held out to me the loaded elephant gun, and received from me the empty rifle in its stead. A moment later the heavy piece roared out its death message, and the big brute who had separated himself from the rest of the pack sprang with a convulsive twist into the air and fell stone-dead.

"Now," said I, as I sprang into the saddle, "unclip one of your stirrups, Piet, and we will see if we cannot beat off the brutes with our stirrup irons!" And as I spoke the words we urged our horses to a gallop, unclipping our off-side stirrups as we went, and charged right down between the pack and the zebras, wheeling upon the dogs as soon as we had cut them off from the mare and foal. Then, swinging the loose stirrups round our heads, we thundered down upon the discomfited pack, uttering loud yells as we went. The brutes stood irresolute for a few seconds longer, but presently, when we wheeled directly toward them, they turned tail and bolted by the way that they had come, yelping with fear as they went. But I was determined to inspire them with a wholesome feeling of terror now that I had begun; therefore as soon as we had overtaken the rearmost members of the flying pack we checked our horses just sufficiently to keep pace with them, and then proceeded to belabour the brutes soundly with our stirrup irons, the howls of anguish to which the belaboured ones gave vent serving to add wings to the feet of the rest. We chased the howling mob a good two miles—by which time its members were crazy with fear—and then drew rein, feeling convinced that they would give us no further trouble. Then we turned and cantered back along the way by which we had come.

As we approached the spot where the zebra mare had fallen we saw, somewhat to our astonishment, that the poor beast still lay where we had left her, with the foal standing over her, smelling at her and licking her face; and it then occurred to me that possibly we might be able to capture the foal. I therefore spoke a word to Piet, and we pulled our horses back to a walk. As the sound of our approaching hoofs reached her ears, the mare made a scrambling effort to rise, and all but succeeded, only to sink again to the earth with a moan, while the foal threw up his head, galloped stiffly away a few yards, and then returned, standing close to his prostrate parent's head and gazing at us with enquiring eyes, his ears pointed forward, his nostrils twitching, and his upper lip slightly raised, revealing his teeth in a somewhat threatening manner.

At a distance of about seven or eight yards we reined up and dismounted, moving slowly and with deliberation, in order that we might frighten the animals as little as possible. Then, throwing our reins to the ground, we walked quietly up to the pair and stood looking down at the mare, who still lay upon her left side, with her limbs stretched stiffly out, her sides heaving with a slow, laboured movement, her tongue hanging from her mouth, her glassy eyes rolling in their sockets, and her breath coming in heavy gasps.

"She's dyin', baas," remarked Piet, "dyin' of tiredness and thirst! She mus' have run a long, long way when she too tired to get up at sight of we."

Yes, there was no doubt about it, the poor beast was at her last gasp; and unless something were quickly done to relieve her she would assuredly die. Piet and I were both wearing soft, wide-brimmed felt hats, of sufficient capacity to contain about three pints of water and to retain it without very much leakage for several minutes, while there was a stream within twenty yards of the spot where we stood. It was possible that we might yet save the beautiful creature's life if we bestirred ourselves.

"Quick, Piet!" I exclaimed. "Come to the river with me and fill your hat with water. We must do what we can for the poor brutes. I should like to capture and tame them both if possible."

"No, baas, you never do that," answered Piet. "Don' you know that a zebra can never be tame?"

"So I have heard; but I don't altogether believe it," said I. "At all events I mean to try; so hurry, you black rascal!"

In less than five minutes we were back with our dripping hats still nearly full of water, and as I knelt down by the head of the mare, and held my hat close to her gaping nostrils, the poor beast smelt the water and uttered a sound that might be best described as a sort of gasping whinny; then, raising her head with an effort, she plunged her muzzle into the hat and sucked up its contents with indescribable eagerness, allowing her head to sink back with something that sounded like a sigh of contentment when both hats had been emptied. Then Piet and I dashed off to the river and procured a second supply, which the zebra also drank. Meanwhile the colt had been making desperate efforts to get a share of the water, but we had kept him off, with some difficulty, the mare being obviously in the greater need. But now that we had given her as much as we deemed good for her, for the moment, we turned out attention to the colt, administering to him two hatfuls of water, which he absorbed with an eagerness that quite equalled that of his mother. Then, perceiving that the little chap's gratification at our ministrations seemed to have quite conquered any fear of us which he might have originally entertained, I walked over to where the horses were standing and detached from Piet's saddle a long rein of twisted raw hide that we usually carried with us for use in case of an emergency, while the Hottentot went off to fetch a further supply of water.