The Vee-Boers: A Tale of Adventure in Southern Africa

When the waggons were again drawn back upon track, and moved off inland, in addition to their usual loading, they carried several hundred pounds weight of valuable ivory.

Chapter Fifteen.

A Camp full of Carcasses

Another encampment of the Vee-Boers, their three waggons as before, forming its substantial centre. In almost everything else it is different from that under the baobab, being situated in a kloof 31 between two rocky ridges, which, trending towards one another, meet and form a sort of cul-de-sac. The valley’s bottom is of some breadth, grass – covered but treeless, save some stunted bushes scattered thinly over it, with here and there a tall camel-thorn, from which hang the purse-like pensile nests of a colony of weaver birds. The ridges are of basalt, and along their slopes lie huge boulders, some square-shaped and big as houses; other similar blocks being strewn about on the level below. Just over the camp, and shadowing it from the sun, is a high kop 32, on whose ledges cling aloes, euphorbias, and other plants, characteristic of desert vegetation; for all is barrenness, above and around, the bottom land alone showing any sign of fertility. This last is due to a spring, which, issuing from the cliff’s base, trickles down the valley, to be caught in a little pool, some hundred paces below. Being a permanent fontein, it afforded sufficient water for all the animals when they wanted it. But few of them want it now; most being dead, whilst those that survive are in death’s throes, without hope of recovery. The fatal work begun by the tulp, is being finished by the tsetse; good as finished already – and the migrating graziers will soon be without stock of any kind, horse, ox, or cow. Even their dogs are dead or dying.

This wholesale fatality, as they have since ascertained, was brought about by the buffaloes; some of the people, sent back to the river higher up, having there found no signs of the venomous insect. They had gone with a view to continuing the journey; but before a fresh start could be made, the too well-known symptoms of tsetse-sickness had declared themselves, and all thoughts of treking further were relinquished.

For the first forty-eight hours the effect of the poison had not been perceptible, and there was a hope of the animals escaping. A hope which had to be abandoned when they began to water at the eyes, and run at the nostrils, their hair standing on end as in the midst of an arctic winter, while they were under the hottest of tropical suns. Soon after came swelling of the jaws, scouring, with consequent emaciation, weakness to staggering; some actually going mad, as with hydrophobia, and having to be shot. All would have been shot ere this, but for a lingering, half-despairing belief that some might still get over it.

This is now gone; many of them have been buried; and of those above ground, the dying lie mingled with the dead, groaning and moaning piteously.

When at length comes the conviction that all are doomed, the fiat goes forth to put the suffering creatures out of pain. The guns are again brought into requisition; a brisk, though reluctant, fusillade follows, and the camp is left without a living quadruped.

For a time there was silence, profound and solemn as that which succeeds the firing over a soldier’s grave. Every one sate despondent, or stood in listless attitude, ignorant of what was next to be done. They but knew that to remain there would be out of the question, while treking away with their waggons was no longer possible. These huge vehicles, now teamless, with their white canvas covers, were as ships becalmed in mid-ocean; all sails set, but not a breath of wind to blow them on. And the migrating Boers themselves might be likened to shipwrecked sailors – castaways on a desert shore – for not much better was their situation. Around they saw the ruin of their hopes, the wreck of their fortunes, but nothing of what lay before them, or beyond.

Under such circumstances no wonder at their being sad and despondent.

But if silent, not so was the scene around. Throughout the kloof were noises enough, and more than enough, since all were disagreeable to their ears. Skulking among the rocks and bushes, the jackal gave out its long – drawn, lugubrious whine, in concert with the wild, hysterical laughter of the hyena; while from the ledges above came the hoarse wah-wah of baboons, as though these quadrumana were afflicted with colds, and all the time clearing their throats.

Along the cliff’s crest were perched vultures of various species, sunning themselves, with wings outstretched, now and then uttering harsh croaks as they contemplated the rich banquet below, soon to be ready for their beaks. 33 Eagles, soaring high in air, meant partaking of it also, as betokened by their necks craned downwards, and screams of eager concupiscence.

An interval having elapsed, and the necessity for action forcing itself upon his mind, the head baas, Jan Van Dorn, summoned his two associates into council, for deliberation on what should be done.

A flat-topped stone near the centre of the camp offered a convenient seat, and, sitting down upon it – all three pipe in mouth – the leader thus delivered himself —

“Brothers! we’re in a bad way now; it couldn’t well be worse.”

“Ya – ya, that is true,” responded the others in a breath, Blom adding —

“Nach Mynheer Jan, it couldn’t possibly be worse.”

“Then what ought we to do, think you?”

To which merely formal question Van Dorn received no answer, the other two tacitly puffing away at their pipes in expectation that he would tell them. Accustomed to this sort of deference the old jäger no longer held back, but proceeded to unburden himself, saying —

“Well, brothers; the first thing we must do is to look out for our lives – our very lives. And it’s the only thing we can do now. To keep on to the place we were making for, even though sure of reaching it, wouldn’t help us a bit. Without our cattle we’d be no better off there than here; and now that our horses and dogs are gone too, there’s but small chance for us subsisting by the chase. Once our ammunition gave out, we’d be just as Bosjesmen, have to live on roots and reptiles. That’s not the life for a Vee-Boer, nor the diet either.”

“Gott der himmel, no!” was the deprecatory exclamation of Blom, sent forth between two puffs of smoke.

“So,” continued Van Dorn, “I see no hope for us but return to the Transvaal.”

“Neither I. Nor I,” assented the associate baases, Rynwald adding interrogatively —

“But, Mynheer Jan, how are we to get back there?”

This was just the trouble that stared all in the face, and had been in their thoughts ever since the tsetse-sickness first made its appearance among the stock. For in their thoughts, also, was the Karoo they had lately crossed with so much difficulty and danger. This when they had all the means of transport, waggons to carry their women, children, provisions, and other effects, with horses to ride upon. What would be the recrossing it without these, and afoot? Impossible, as Van Dorn well knew; and so declared, saying —

“Overland, brothers, we never could get back. We are more than three hundred miles from Zoutpansberg, the nearest settlement of our people, as you know. Some of us might hold out to reach it, but not all; only the strongest. The weak ones, our dear ones, would many of them perish by the way. Need I say more?”

“No – no!” promptly responded Rynwald, thinking of a wife and only daughter, the fair Katharina. “That’s enough, Mynheer Jan. We mustn’t attempt to go back over the Karoo; it would be our ruin, as you say.”

“Then how are we to go?” demanded Blom. “What other way?”

“By water,” answered the head baas. “We must make down the river, and on to the sea.”

“What river are you speaking of?”

“The Limpopo. The stream we’ve just left should run into it, not a great way below; and the Limpopo itself empties somewhere to the northward of Delagoa Bay. I have heard there is a Portugese settlement, a small port near its mouth, where whalers and coasting vessels occasionally call. If we can reach that, ’twill give us a chance to get down the coast to Port Natal, and then over the Drakenbergs back home.”

“That would be a long voyage,” suggested Blom, “full of all sorts of dangers, too.”

“In time not near so long as by land, and not half as many dangers either – if we have luck.”

“Ay, if we have luck. But suppose we haven’t?”

“We must take the chances, Mynheer Hans; all the more as there’s no help for it. But I’m sure it’s our best way.”

“So I,” seconded Rynwald.

“But,” said Blom, less objecting than to get a clearer comprehension of what their chief intended, “you don’t propose our descending the river afoot – tramping along the banks, do you?”

“Certainly not! That would be a trudge to take time, indeed; harder than crossing the Kalahari 34 itself. We’ll sail down to the sea.”

“But what about boats? We have none.”

“We must do without them – build rafts, which in a way will be better than boats.”

“Oh! that’s your idea, Mynheer Jan. I suppose it’s a good one, and for the best. Well, I’m willing too. So let us make it a water journey.”

The other two having already pronounced in favour of this, the consultation came to a close by Van Dorn saying —

“And, brothers; the sooner we start the better. We can gain nothing by staying longer in this tainted spot; but may lose something – our health, likely, if not our very lives.”

Chapter Sixteen.

A Carnival of the Carnivora

Needless to say that Van Dorn’s last words, pointing to the urgency of immediate departure, were convincing to his associate baases, had they stood in need of conviction. But neither did; they, as he, being but too glad to get away from a scene where they had suffered so much loss, to say nothing of the misery. The spectacle now under their eyes was itself sufficiently disagreeable, seeming a very charnel-house. Scores of carcasses lay in and around the camp; and, as the hot sun continued to burn down upon them, the effluvia was every moment becoming more offensive, and would soon be unbearable. True, they could be buried as those first dying had been. But, for days past, an understanding prevailed that the encampment was to be changed, time and place alone remaining undetermined. The former had now come, and the latter been also resolved upon; no new ground, but one familiar to them – in short, that they had so lately and hurriedly abandoned.

They need have no fear of re-occupying it, nor had they. Tsetses might be swarming there thick as midges in midsummer; but nothing cared they now. The only hurt these insects could hereafter do was by their presence to remind them of the damage already done, recalling dissipated hopes and expectations. So far as the accursed fly was concerned, however, it was no longer thought of; and all were full of eagerness to be back under the mowana. They had pleasant remembrance of the hours spent beneath its shade, so different from that of the kop, which but gave them shadow when the sun had either not reached, or passed meridian. Besides, on the river’s banks grew trees of many kinds, affording edible fruits, some even delicious. No wonder, then, at the general joy, when it became known they were to move back to the river.

The prospect inspired every one, as it were, with new life; and when the moving commenced, as on the instant it did, all hastened to lend hand of help. For there was much work to be done, big burdens to be carried in the transference of their effects from camp to camp. And it would take more than one trip ere completed.

The women and children were marched off first, even these carrying loads proportioned to their strength. And with them went the first batch of regular carriers, to be followed by another, soon as the packages were made ready for transport; then another, and so on – all to return again. Thus down the ten miles of slope between mountain range and river passed a continuous stream of men bearing burdens, like ants on return to their hills; the same men soon after going back upward, unweighted, and with light elastic step. Only the downward journey was accomplished on the first day, as it was late ere they had commenced it. But on the second they made the “round trip,” and more; three times traversing the space between the camps.

Not all were of the last party that returned to the hills, only a certain number needing to go thither now. Most of the effects intended for removal had been got down on the second day, the waggons alone remaining in the kloof. Of course these cumbrous vehicles, of no use now, would be left behind; but not their tilts. These, sure to prove of good service afterwards, were to be fetched away, and it was chiefly for them the carriers had come back. The party consisted of half-a-dozen young Boers, with about twice the number of Caffres and Hottentots, Piet Van Dorn having charge of it.

The sun had set ere they re-entered the old camp; and as all were fagged out by the incessant toil of the two days, their thoughts alone dwelt upon rest and sleep. The return journey, their last, was to be made on the following morning, and there was no necessity for further work that night. So they at once betook them to their respective sleeping-places; the young white men climbing into the waggons, their native attendants, wrapped in karosses (Note 1) laying themselves along the ground underneath.

Soon all were buried in a profound slumber; the dismantled camp around them silent as a cemetery. But it was a silence of short duration. Scarce had they become unconscious, ere getting awakened by sounds which robbed them of the power of sleep, if not its desire. For their ears were saluted with the cries of wild beasts, coming from every side, and of so many kinds, it seemed as if all the predatory species of Africa were assembled within the kloof. In point of fact, most were there, attracted from far and near by the scent of the dead animals, whose carcasses were now far gone in decomposition. On previous nights there had been something of the same, though never such a racket as now. Then fires had been kept burning to frighten the beasts off; but this night being warm, and the last they were to spend on that spot – tired, too, – the young men had neglected taking such precaution; imprudently, as all saw, when startled out of their sleep by the roar of a lion, multiplied in loud reverberation along the adjacent cliffs. It was but the prelude of a horrible chorus quick succeeding, in which could be distinguished the angry “gurr” of the leopard, the spiteful snarl of the cheetah, and the cat-like miaulling of the serval. Hyenas of different species alternatively howled, chattered, and laughed, while jackals contributed their snappish bark to the fear-inspiring din.

Fear-inspiring it was to those freshly awakened; all the more when, after rubbing their eyes, they looked off, to see a sight which made their flesh creep, and blood run cold. No wonder. Over the camp-ground were lions, leopards, and the other sorts, thick as sheep in a pen, in all attitudes, and every variety of action; some tugging and tearing at the carcasses, others in dispute about pieces already severed: still others rushing to and fro in quest of a stray morsel. The moon shining in full effulgence rendered them distinguishable, almost as by daylight; while on the still calm air within the kloof, the roaring, growling, yelping, and howling, all repeated in echo from the cliffs, combined to make a very Pandemonium.

Fortunate for those who listened that the tilts were still upon the waggons, with end curtains of strong stuff to draw close – in part designed for just such a danger. In a trice everybody was inside them – white, black, and yellow – the flaps pulled to, and all made safe as might be. Still the situation was one of greatest peril. What if, after eating the dead animals, the devourers should turn their attention to the living men, and make a burst through the canvas? The stroke of lion’s paw, or leopard’s either, would tear that screen to sheds as though it were but tissue-paper, and they, concealing themselves under it, well knew this. But they knew also, that if left unmolested, more likely the fierce brutes, having filled their bellies, would retire from the ground, and give no further trouble.

For a time they were so left; but not long. The position was too ticklish and irksome for continued endurance. The young Boers, deprived of their rest, and kept in such a stretch of apprehension, soon began to chafe at it, till their impatience became anger, rendering them reckless. Besides there was one always eager to distinguish himself as a hunter, and never might such opportunity occur again. This was Piet Van Dorn, who at length casting all prudence aside, proposed opening fire on the enemy. Being chief of the party, and with controlling power, his proposal was unanimously agreed to; and, in less than five minutes after, the brutes making such noise over the camp-ground, heard other noises that were new to them – the cracking of guns – at the same time saw puffs of smoke, with jets of flame, darting out from the white covers of the waggons.

Surprise, with some fear, hushed the wild beasts into a momentary silence; the cowardly canidae– hyenas and jackals – scampering off at the first fire. But the fiercer and more courageous felines kept their ground, till a second volley had been sent into their midst; then only moving away with sullen reluctance, some even staying to receive a third discharge from the death-dealing guns. But of those that thus stayed, not many got off afterwards. The clear moonlight afforded a fine chance for sure aim, and the young Boers – all best marksmen – made deadly play with their roers, scarce missing a shot.

In fine, the camp was cleared of its fierce four-footed invaders, save those that had fallen. And of these could be counted a goodly array; four lions, with two lionesses, three leopards, and a couple of cheetahs!

Their pelts, stripped off the next morning, added to the weight requiring transport. But the young jägers could make light of this additional lading, in anticipation of the triumph such spoils would secure them.

Note 1. “Kaross.” A wrap of blanket size and shape, made of the skins of wild animals stitched together; they are worn by most of the uncivilised natives of South Africa. Various sorts of skins are used in their manufacture; those of the leopard and cheetah, or hunting-leopard, forming the distinctive garb of a chief.

Chapter Seventeen.

Water-Horses

Over a week has elapsed, and the Vee-Boers are still in their old camp under the baobab. Its appearance is much the same as during their former occupation of it – that is, the portion inside the laager-fence. For though the waggons are absent, their arched covers, supported on short uprights, stand just as they stood, now doing service as tents. They are the sleeping-places of the women and children, also giving shelter to such household gods as need the protection of a roof.

To speak of a Vee-Boer having household gods may seem a misnomer, since he never has a house. Still there are certain Penates he carries about; the most cherished being a black-letter Bible, large as a volume of the “Encyclopedia Britannica,” in thick leather binding, with brass clasps. This ponderous tome goes with him, wander where he will; for the South African Dutchman is strong in the protestation of religion, whatever his practice of it.

There had been one such Bible in each of the three waggons – the respective belongings of the families, Van Dorn, Blom, and Rynwald – and, it need scarce be said, that these sacred volumes were not left behind in the kloof.

Outside, on the veldt, all is different. The groups of grazing stock are no more seen there – not a single head; while close to the laager’s edge appears a new feature, a “hartebeest house” 35( late erected. It is for the young whites of the party; the native employés contenting themselves with such coigns of shelter as are afforded by the trunks of the mowanas. In these, some have ingeniously hewn out cavities, large enough to give them lodgment, others having in like manner utilised the adjacent ant-hills.

All this bespeaks prolonged residence there, and not far off is a spectacle, showing the reason; telling also they have not been idle in the interval. Down on the river’s bank by the drift is a scene of greatest activity, where some scores of logs have been collected, and are being made ready for the timbers of rafts. They are the trunks of koker-booms, 36 each about eleven feet in length, with a diameter of three. Their top-knots of bayonetlike leaves having been lopped off, they are now in process of desiccation, by huge fires that have been kindled around them. When the sap is drawn out, they will be light as cork wood, just the material required for raft-building.

Jan Van Dorn himself superintends this quaint naval architecture, by good luck having skilled assistants. As it chances, among the native employés are two Macobas 37 of Lake Ngami – fugitive from the tyranny of King Letchoulatebe – who understand all about the various kinds of craft used in South African inland navigation, and under their hands the rafts will be properly constructed.

Nor is this the only industry in progress. On the other side of the camp, out upon the open veldt, a number of the young Boers are busy too, their work being the conversion of fresh meat into bultong. Strips of it hang over riems extended between the trees, where these stand thinly, so as not to shadow it from the sun. It was the same on a former occasion, but the meat is not the same. Then it was buffalo-beef, which has been all lost. For at the time of their hurried abandonment of the place, it was not thought sufficiently cured to be taken along, and it was their intention to return for it. Unluckily, left hanging too low, the hyenas and jackals had dragged it down, and devoured it to the last scrap. The sausage-like strings now replacing it, are the flesh of elands, and other large antelopes, the carcass of a giraffe having contributed to the stock. While the raft-builders had been busy with axe and bill-hook, the hunters were alike industrious in the chase, and have already laid in a good store of provisions for the proposed voyage. It may be a long one – how long they cannot tell – and in descending the rivers they might not easily find subsistence for such a numerous party. At all events, the precaution is a wise one, and fortune has favoured them in it, by guiding many wild animals toward the drift; some on their way to drink, others intending to cross over. They have enough meat now to last them for weeks – even months – once it becomes bultong; and, to insure its becoming this of the best, light fires are kept underneath it, whose gentle heat, with the smoke, assists in the curing process.

Nor are the voyagers to be dependent on an exclusively meat diet. There are yet left them several bags of meal, both of maize and Caffre-corn 38; while, as already said, the trees standing near bear a variety of edible fruits and nuts, some of which are being added to the intended “ship’s stores.” Collecting these is the task of the youngsters; so all, young and old, have something or other to do. And they are doing it with all their might and will. For even the youngest now know that their situation is one of uncertainty and peril; dangers on the spot, with other dangers ahead, the avoidance of which calls for every exertion.

Another week has passed, showing much progress made. In short, the rafts are finished, and afloat on the water. There are three of them, corresponding to the three families who make up the migrant party. It was not for this, however, that a trio was constructed; but because of the stream being too shoal and narrow to admit of a raft large enough to carry all. That is a thing to be thought of when they reach the great river below.

Each of the three built has a breadth of beam of some ten to twelve feet, in correspondence with the length of the koker-booms; whose trunks, laid side by side, have been firmly lashed together by lianas – the Baavian-touw 39. Lengthwise, the rafts are nearly four times as much, from stem to stern being about forty feet. On what might be called the quarter-deck of each, one of the waggon-tilts has been placed on supporting stanchions, and is the cabin. On the fore, also, is a sort of shed or round house, roofed over with reeds and palm leaves, for the accommodation of the crew. A huge pile occupies the main deck, leaving a narrow passage or gangway on either side, for the polemen and rowers. Over it are spread the skins of wild animals lately killed, now utilised as tarpaulings, to give protection to a variety of effects – in short, the general cargo. Amidships, on each raft, is a little platform of clay, raised some eight or ten inches above the timber’s level. That is the hearth, intended for culinary purposes. In fine, upon the extreme stern, abaft the cabin of bamboos and canvas, a long broad-bladed oar, balanced on a pivot, is to do the rudder-work.