CHAPTER XXIV.. Unpleasant Company--Rescuing the Castaways--Shooting

UNPLEASANT COMPANY--RESCUING THE CASTAWAYS--SHOOTING LIONS AT NIGHT--MISS BOLAND'S MENAGERIE.

"I wanted to try an experiment with them," continued Miss Boland, "and see if they had not been completely tamed by their experiences; but Mrs. Roberts remarked that it was no time or place for experiments of that sort, and our best policy was to kill them before they got over their fright. So we shot them, and we walked up to within four paces of them to do so. They dropped down so peacefully that I rather think they liked being shot."

"How did you manage with the boa-constrictor?" queried Jack.

"Oh, we shot him too," said Miss Boland; "he was all used up with swimming, and was an easy prey to us. We fired at him simultaneously, putting two bullets through his head. He twisted about a great deal, but did not need any more shooting."

The experiences of the ladies with these wild animals, alarmed as they were by the freshet, is corroborated by that of other travelers in Africa, and also in other countries. Winwood Reade tells about being in Senegambia during a time of flood. He said his party, which was traveling by boat, came to a small island in the river; and on this island there were lying, huddled together, two lions, a leopard, some monkeys and hyenas, two antelopes, and a wild boar. They killed all of these animals without difficulty. None of them took to the water; the leopard and the monkeys made an attempt to escape by running up a tree.

I have a friend who was on a hunting-expedition on the island of Saugor at the time of the great cyclone at Calcutta, twenty odd years ago. Saugor Island was flooded, and my friend was forced to climb into a tree for safety. A tiger--a full-grown Asiatic tiger--sought shelter in the same tree, and for more than twenty hours tiger and man remained there, neither molesting the other. My friend had dropped his rifle in his haste to save himself from drowning, and therefore was unable to make any demonstrations against the tiger. As for the latter animal, he was so overcome by fear that all his natural ferocity was gone.

But to return to the castaways. The question now was how to get them off the island. They were all agreed that there was practically no danger from crocodiles; but at the same time there was a lingering fear that some might have come down the valley in the freshet, just as lizards come down with the rain. Jack suggested that the best plan would be for one of the ladies to get into the boat with him, and be brought over to the shore where we were standing. The boat could carry only two persons, and thus two trips would be required before both of them could be brought over. The fore-looper would follow in the third and last trip of the boat, and he would lead one horse, allowing him to swim through the water; and when the other two horses found they were to be left alone on the island, they would take to the water and follow.

This was exactly what happened, and in due time all were safely ferried over. All the party that had spent the night on the island presented a very dilapidated appearance, as there was no shelter save what the trees afforded, and there are very few trees in the world that can keep out an African rain. But though dilapidated in appearance, they were in good spirits; and now that their mishap was over, were ready to laugh about it, and thought it was not so bad after all.

"We were not as frightened," said Mrs. Roberts, "as we were when the lions had us up that tree; but I am frank to say we were by no means easy in our minds. There was the uncertainty as to what height the waters would attain, and until we found that they had ceased rising we were in quite a state of alarm."

While Jack was busy with his work of rescuing the castaways, Harry and I had hunted around for the dryest wood we could find; and we had no easy task of it, I assure you. We built a fire, on which we cooked the tongues of the two buffaloes; so that when the party had been ferried over to our side we had a hot lunch ready for them. They were not particularly hungry, having eaten the cold meat which Jack took to them; but a hot buffalo-tongue, fresh from the coals, is a delicacy which no one can refuse in South Africa, unless he has just gorged himself in imitation of an anaconda. We had a substantial feast all around, and then we mounted our horses and rode at a good pace to the ladies' camp.

We made very good time on our return-journey, as we did not stop to do any hunting on our way. We saw a herd of giraffes at quite a distance, and some scattered gemsbok and other members of the antelope family; but it was not considered worth while to pursue them.

When we reached the ladies' camp it was the intention of the three men of the party to leave immediately for their own wagons; but the manager told us that the cook had an ample lunch prepared, and, as the ladies urged us to stop, we did so, frankly telling them that we would consider it no breach of hospitality if they left us to ourselves.

Mrs. Roberts thanked us for our thoughtfulness in their behalf, and said that both she and Miss Boland would take advantage of our suggestion and excuse themselves; but before doing so they arranged to come to our camp the next day and go in pursuit of hippopotami. "We have not yet hunted hippos," said Mrs. Roberts, "and I'm sure the sport will be very interesting."

We finished our meal, and then went home. It was too late in the day to think of anything like hunting, and so we busied ourselves with a few preparations for the affair of the next day.

Jack was in great glee, and Harry correspondingly depressed, over the subject of the boat; as the craft was of Jack's design and construction, the honor and pleasure of accompanying our guests would be his, while Harry and I would be obliged to take a back seat. Harry felt so ugly about it that he suggested, privately, to me a wish that the boat could be smashed all to smithereens. I evaded the subject, and endeavored to divert his thoughts by asking what a smithereen is, and whether it is something to eat, wear, or play with. This set him laughing, and he forgot his jealousy, at least for the moment.

One of our oxen died just about nightfall, and we had his carcass dragged out of the kraal and put on a ridge where it would afford a good chance for shooting. There was a hollow at one side, and a person crouched in this hollow would have the carcass between himself and the sky. We went to bed soon after sunset, so as to lay in a good stock of sleep before the lions came around to make a meal from the remains of the ox.

We were tired enough to go to sleep immediately; and the lions treated us very kindly, as they did not show up until about three o'clock in the morning. Then the manager came and waked us with the information that there was a group of lions at the carcass. He could hear them distinctly, growling and snarling in their leonine way, and he thought there were several of them, judging by the noise they made.

We took our heavy rifles and crept out to the spot we had previously selected as a good firing-point. Crouching in the hollow, or rather in the hole which we had ordered the Kafirs to dig, we had a fine position--that is, fine in every way except in case the lions should conclude to attack us. In that event it would not have been a bit fine.

I was standing at the right of our line as we faced the target--that is, the body of the ox--and it was agreed that I was to have the first fire. We waited several minutes before I had a chance; then a fine large lion stood up, and I could see his entire outline against the sky beyond the ridge. We had put pieces of white paper on our guns, so as to be able to see the foresights, and we found the arrangement worked very well. I got a good bead on the lion, and fired; he fell, but gave a tremendous roar in so doing. Whether he was killed or only wounded I was unable to say; but by the speedy cessation of the roar I thought that the former was the case.

It was Harry's turn next, and I sat down on the edge of the hole, just behind him. I think he waited a good ten minutes, and then he had a chance for a shot very much like mine, and with the same result. His animal disappeared, and there was some roaring afterward, which indicated either that he had not made a fatal shot, or there were more lions about.

Very soon it was revealed that there were more lions, or else the first ones had not received their coup de grâce. It was now Jack's turn, and Harry and I expressed a wish that he might bring down a lion, so as to make the honors of the affair equal. Jack watched and waited patiently, even longer than we had waited; but his patience had its reward: he got a good shot at a lion, and evidently bowled him over, as we heard no more noise in that direction. After waiting a quarter of an hour or so we went back to our tent to sleep again till morning.

When we got up and came out our eyes met a surprising sight.

As soon as it was fairly daylight our people went out and surveyed the scene of the slaughter during the night. They found two lions, dead, a little distance away from the carcass of the ox which had been used as a bait; and a very effective one it had proved. They were about returning to camp, dragging the bodies of the lions, when they discovered a trail of blood leading off down the slope of the ridge. Following this for a quarter of a mile, they came to the body of a lioness; and a large one she was. By her side were two lion cubs--pugnacious little fellows, that snarled and bit ferociously at the men as they attempted to pick them up. The men persisted, however, and the little fellows were brought to camp in the arms of two of the Kafirs. The carcasses of the lioness and the two lions were also dragged up to the kraal, to give us an opportunity of seeing the beasts before their skins were removed. A very fine lot of game they were.

We immediately ordered the skins removed, and the carcasses dragged away to where the remains of the ox were lying, in order to give the jackals and hyenas a chance at them. As for the cubs, Jack devised a nursing-apparatus for them, by means of a beer-bottle filled with milk, and a piece of leather fastened in the mouth of it. We found the cubs did not live on milk alone, as they ate with avidity some raw meat which was given to them. They looked more like overgrown kittens than anything else I can describe. Imagine a kitten two months old as large as a good-sized cat, but retaining the kittenish appearance, and you have a good idea of these lion cubs.

Of course we had little else to look at and think of besides these cubs until our lady friends arrived. When they came the interest in the cubs increased, and exclamations of wonder and admiration filled the air. After the vocabulary of interjections had been pretty well exhausted, Mrs. Roberts asked what we were going to do with our prizes.

"Really," I answered, "that's a subject to which none of us have given any thought. I don't know what we can do with them; 'twould be rather nice to take them back to the Cape, but I don't know how the market is for young lions at present. We'll keep them awhile, and will probably be tired of them soon enough."

"Wouldn't they make a good addition to Miss Boland's menagerie?" queried Jack. "I wonder how they would get along with the young rhinoceros? By the way, Miss Boland, what is the latest intelligence of your rhinoceros?"

"We have named him Rhino," replied Miss Boland, "and he has been getting along very well. His manners are not at all sociable, but he has an excellent appetite; I haven't seen the least sign of indigestion in him since he was brought to camp. We feed him on milk, which is supplied by one of the goats; and we give him a variety of green food such as the rhinoceros is supposed to live upon. Our manager says Rhino eats his weight every day, and would eat as much more if he could get it. I've been trying to get on friendly terms with him, but he doesn't seem to care for anybody or anything. One of the Kafirs has been assigned to act as Rhino's attendant, but the creature treats him with the same disdain as he treats everybody else."

"Would you like to take these cubs as an addition to your menagerie?" queried Jack.

"Oh, I'll take them with pleasure," was the reply; "a rhinoceros and two lions will make a very good start for a show--worth sixpence at least to go inside to see them; and just imagine how I can stand up before the audience and say, 'Ladies and Gentlemen: These are animals that I caught myself in Africa;' and then I can go on and tell all about how I had a desperate fight with the lion and lioness from whom I took the cubs. I can remove my glove and show this scar--which was made by a wait-a-bit thorn--as the scar of the wound that the lion gave me. Oh, I think I shall have a splendid menagerie, and I am very much obliged to you."