Part 4 (1/2)
At this sign that the night had begun, we turned in A few hyenas moaned, a few jackals barked: otherwise the first part of the night was silent, for the hunters were at their silent business, and the hunted were ”layin' low and sayin' nuffin'”
Day after day we rode out, exploring the country in different directions The great uncertainty as to what of interest ould find filled the hours with charm So to find klipspringers; again we ran ot er than had attended the killing of B's On this occasion, however, I hadskill of the first-class gunbearer
Having fired both barrels, and staggered the beast, I threw open the breech and withdrew the e, of course, as my next move to fish two more out of my belt The empty shells were hardly away fro brown ares in the breech So astonished was I at this unexpected apparition, that for a second or so I actually forgot to close the gun
VII ON THE MARCH
After leaving the First Ga hills piling ever higher and higher until they broke through a pass to illimitable plains These plains werefroreen velvet Here and there this scrub broke in round or oval patches of grass plain Great e of a horizon
Lesser le buttes, castles-had ventured singly from behind that same horizon barricade The course of a river was le
It took us two days to get to that river Our intermediate canant straw-coloured monkeys and twice as many baboons fro over their shoulders at us Next day we debouched on the plains They were rolling, densely grown, covered with volcanic stones, swarame of various sorts The men marched well They were happy, for they had had a week ofor jerky So some ”fresh” meat We found it advisable to pass to ard of these; but they themselves did not seem toto the lower elevations
The rass and over volcanic stones was not easy
Shortly we caroith cactus and discouraged desiccated thorn scrub Here the sun reflected powerfully and the bearers began to flag
Then suddenly, without warning, we pitched over a little rise to the river
No more marvellous contrast could have been devised Froed into the lush jungle It was not a very wide jungle, but it was sufficient The trees were large and variegated, reaching to a high and spacious upper story above the ground tangle
Froreat serpents Through this upper corridor flitted birds of bright hue or striking variegation We did not know many of them by name, nor did we desire to; but were content with the i alloped sloay before our advance; pausing to look back at us curiously, the ruffs of fur standing out all around their little black faces The lower half of the forest jungle, however, had no spaciousness at all, but a certain breathless intimacy Great leaved plants as tall as little trees, and trees as sether by vines, ining Here were rustlings, sudden scurryings, half-caught glireater anih the thicket wandered well beaten trails, wide, but low, so that to follow them one would have to bend double These were the paths of rhinoceroses The air sreenhouse
We skirted this jungle until it gave way to let the plain down to the river Then, in an open grove of acacias, and fairly on the river's bank, we pitched our tents
These acacia trees were very noble big chaps, with many branches and a thick shade In their season they are wonderfully blossomed hite, with yellow, sometimes even with vivid red flowers Beneath them was only a small matter of ferns to clear away
Before us the sodded bank rounded off ten feet the river itself At this point far up in its youth it was a friendly river Its noble width ran over shallows of yellow sand or of small pebbles Save for unexpected deep holes one could wade across it anywhere Yet it was very wide, with still reaches of water, with islands of gigantic papyrus, with sand bars dividing the current, and with always the vista for a greater or lesser distance down through the jungle along its banks Froh on one side to the arid country, and on the other to this tropical wonderland
Yes, at this point in its youth it was indeed a friendly river in every sense of the word There are three reasons, ordinarily, why one cannot bathe in the African rivers In the first place, they are nearly all disagreeably muddy; in the second place, cold water in a tropical cliestions; in the third place they sith crocodiles and hippos But this river was as yet unpolluted by the alluvial soil of the lower countries; the sun on its shallows had warmed its waters alenial haunts in these clear shoals Al And always e of that river's beautiful expanse ourds where the water ran s the strearove the men had pitched their little white shelters Happily they settled down to ease Settling down to ease, in the case of the African porter, consists in discarding as many clothes as possible While on thehe ohether from pride or a desire to simplify transportation I am unable to say He is supplied by his eenerally produce a half dozen white ed pair of khaki breeches, a kitchen tablecloth for a skirt, or so of the sort If he can raise an overcoat he is happy, especially if it happen to be a long, thick WINTER overcoat The possessor of such a garest journey and during the hottest noons But when he relaxes in camp, he puts away all these prideful possessions and turns out in the savage siently, soa fashi+on, he stalks about or squats before his little fire in all the glory of a regained savagery The contrast of the red with his red bronze or black skin, the freedoe of his fine figure, and the flickering savagery playing in his eyes are very effective
Our reat deal of tiThis talk was almost invariably of specific personal experiences They bathed frequently and with pleasure They slept Between tienious affairs of orna clubs, snuff-boxes of the tips of antelope horns, bound prettily with bright wire, wooden swords beautifully carved in exact imitation of the white man's service weapon, and a hundred other such affairs At this particular tiainst the thorns These were flat soles of rawhide, the edges pounded to s; very ingenious, and very useful To their task they brought song The labour of Africa is done to song; weird h in the falsetto to trickle unevenly down to the lower registers, or where the matter is one of serious effort, an antiphony of solo and chorus Fros, low and sweet, occasionally breaking into full voice as the inner occasion swells, then al undertone of enerally worn knotted from one shoulder or bound around the waist Malay fashi+on When it turned into a coith a miserable and hue of Illness Noto do-to throw the blanket over the head and to assume as miserable a demeanour as possible A sore toe demanded just as much concentrated woe as a case of pneumonia Sick call was cried after the day's as finished Then M'ganga or one of the askaris lifted up his voice
”N'gonjwa! n'gonjwa!” he shouted; and at the shout the red cowls gathered in front of the tent Three things were likely to be the ht wounds To these in the rainy season would be added the various sorts of colds
That meant either Epsom salts, quinine, or a little excursion with the lancet and per medicine man within these narrow limits
All the red cowls squatted miserably, oh, very miserably, in a row
The headman stood over the to heaven that nothing co to turn up One of the tent boys hovered in the background as dispensing chemist
”Well,” said F at last, ”what's the matter with you?”
The man indicated pointed to his head and the back of his neck and groaned If he had a slight headache he groaned just asF asked a few questions, and took his temperature The clinical ther ood