CHAPTER III.. A Question of Etiquette--the Fair Hunter

A QUESTION OF ETIQUETTE--THE FAIR HUNTER DISCUSSED--LIONS VISIT US AT NIGHT.

"What!" exclaimed Harry and Jack simultaneously.

"Yes, it's a woman, and she shot an elephant this afternoon."

Another exclamation of astonishment followed my assertion, and then Harry asked:

"Who is she?"

"Her name is Miss Boland," I answered; "at least that's what she told me, and she said her companion was Mrs. Roberts. They came from Walvisch Bay, and that's pretty much all I know about them."

Then I explained the circumstances under which we met, and detailed the conversation, word for word, as nearly as I could remember it.

The information almost broke up the dinner of my companions. That a woman, or two women, should take to hunting big game in South Africa was enough to take away any man's breath, and with his breath gone there was not much chance for him to need an appetite. Both of them stopped eating long enough to allow me to take the choicest cuts of the hippopotamus, and if I had managed the affair shrewdly, and maintained a good deal of mystery about the matter, I think I might have stolen the entire dinner. But when I said that was all I knew about it, their appetites returned, and they fell to eating again with their accustomed vigor.

"We must go and call on them to-morrow morning," said Harry. "Pity we haven't a barber and a tailor and a fashionable bootmaker here on the borders of the Luranga River."

"Oh, nonsense," said Jack. "What business have we to go calling on them? We've never been introduced." Then, turning to me, Jack inquired if the fair one I met had requested a visit from me or my friends.

I told him what the reader already knows, and then Jack remarked:

"That settles it; if those women want us they'll send for us, or if they want us and don't send for us they'll manage to hunt around in this direction and stumble upon our camp by the merest accident, first finding out exactly where it is, so that there won't be any mistake about their accident. My idea is, that we had better stick to our business; mind our own affairs, in fact, and let them politely alone. We may run across them hunting some day, and they'll be far more likely to respect us if we hold aloof than if we go running after them."

"Oh, that's all rubbish," said Harry; "we'll ride over to their camp; that is, we'll get within half a mile or so of it, and send along the most intelligent of our servants. He can go to their camp, and through their principal servant let the women know that it would give us pleasure to call on them if entirely agreeable."

"Yes," said Jack, "and thereby compel them to receive us, or appear rude in declining our call. We push ourselves forward and put them in an awkward position. We are just like the man whom you know, but don't care a straw about, who comes to you with a plausible yarn, with the object of borrowing five dollars. He forces you to do one of two things, either of which is disagreeable: part with your money--with a prospect of never seeing it again--or affront him by a refusal. I tell you flatly I will not go. Understand me, I would like to meet the ladies, for such I presume they are, but I don't want to force myself on their acquaintance."

Harry did not admit the force of Jack's argument, at least not audibly. Before committing himself he turned to me and asked my opinion. I coincided with Jack, but made a suggestion that it would do no harm for us to hunt in that direction, and possibly we might meet one or both the amazons in field or forest.

Harry and Jack assented to this view, and the discussion as to the propriety of calling upon the women was dropped.

"The one you saw must have been an accomplished huntress," Harry remarked, after a pause.

"Oh, call her a hunter," said Jack; "don't bother about that straining word 'huntress.' In sport, as in science, there's no distinction of sex. When women first began to study medicine one who obtained her degree was called 'doctress.' Now that nonsense is dropped, and she's called doctor, like any other medical practitioner. Hunting big game in South Africa is entitled to be called a science; anyhow, it requires a lot of science to succeed in it. She's a hunter just as much as you or I."

"All right," said Harry; "I won't dispute with you, especially because I think you are right; and I don't think Frank will, either."

I assented to the adoption of the term as Jack proposed, at which the latter remarked that we seemed to be settling a good many important questions over our hippopotamus-steak.

Then they asked me as to the appearance, dress, and manner of Miss Boland, and I answered them to the best of my ability. After our dinner was over we had our smoke, and soon after went to bed. Before we retired our wagonmaster reported that lions were about the kraal the previous night, as he had heard them growling several times, and found their spoor close up to the fence. He thought we might have another visit that night, and wished to know if he should call us.

"By all means," I answered; "when you're entirely sure they're outside, let us know."

When we camped on that spot we made a kraal of thorn-bushes, which surrounded everything, including our tent and wagons. The cattle were driven into the kraal at night, and were carefully watched during the day by the men who had them in charge. We had about fifty oxen altogether, and five horses, and the horses were secured in the same way as the cattle. The kraal was built high and strong; it is necessary to make it high, otherwise the lions might attempt to jump it. On the outside of the kraal thorn-bushes were scattered all over the ground, at least ten or fifteen feet from the fence, the object being to prevent the lions approaching close to the kraal, where they could get a favorable opportunity for a jump.

We got our guns ready for work in case the lions showed themselves, and then turned in.

About one o'clock in the morning my Kafir came to wake me, and said the lions were outside the kraal. I was up on the instant, and so were Harry and Jack; fact is, we had not undressed at all, as we felt it reasonably certain that we would be called, and wanted to have as little delay as possible in getting at work.

At least one half of our people were out and about when we made our appearance. That there were lions around was evident by the actions of the horses and oxen. The horses were in a little kraal by themselves, each one tethered to a stake, and on a quiet night all would be lying down and at rest; now every horse was up, dancing around uneasily, and straining at his halter. My favorite, Brickdust--as I called him on account of his color--was snorting and stamping in a condition of excitement. When I spoke to him he quieted down instantly, but not altogether. He felt a good deal reassured by my presence, but at the same time believed himself in danger. It was the same with the other horses; and as for the oxen, they were likewise on the alert, and aware of the presence of their natural enemy.

The Kafirs were jabbering away at a great rate when we appeared. We enjoined silence, but it was not easy to quiet them; in fact, it was necessary to threaten them with the jambok before we succeeded in hushing their voices. When they were hushed we could distinctly hear the lions, now in one quarter, and now in another. They were evidently prowling around the outside of the kraal looking for a spot where they could penetrate to the interior.

Harry suggested that we go outside and find them; to this proposition I demurred most emphatically, and so did Jack. I presume Harry really did not intend to do anything so foolish, but made the suggestion out of bravado. It would have been folly for us to do what he suggested, as the lions would have seen us far easier than we could have seen them. They had come in search of food, and were, therefore, hungry. We should run a very good chance of becoming their victims instead of their becoming ours.

The Kafirs had erected their huts of grass and bushes inside the kraal, close up to the fence. I suggested that we climb to the top of these huts, which would give us a view over the fence; and my friends acted upon the suggestion. We scattered so that the three of us commanded three sides of the kraal with our weapons, and from this point of vantage we peered out as well as we could into the darkness.

There was a small moon, which was nearly set, so that we had not much light to help us. I was favored in my position by having the moon almost directly in front of me, while the ground outside the kraal sloped off gradually at that point. It was understood that we were to act independently of one another, and also not to waste our bullets. No one was to fire except when he felt certain that he saw a good mark to fire at.

The uneasiness of the oxen and horses continued; our dogs were also running around, and manifesting a desire to take part in whatever fighting was about to occur. Now and then they indicated their feelings by growling; they would have barked outright had they not been ordered most emphatically to emulate the example of the oyster and "shut up."

We had been ten or fifteen minutes on the top of the huts when I made out the forms of three lions that were half walking and half crawling along the ridge betwixt me and the sky. They seemed to be a lion and two lionesses, or possibly an old lion with two younger ones. At any rate, I could make out a heavy mane on the foremost of the brutes, and little or none at all on the others.

I brought my rifle to the shoulder, and let fly at the leader and largest of the trio. I aimed to take him in the shoulder-blade, and either kill or disable him at the first shot.

My rifle rang out on the still night air, and immediately following it there was a terrific roar, which told that my bullet had hit its mark. Following the roar was a rush toward my position; the victim of my shot desired revenge, and in order to obtain it made for the direction of the flash.

His companions followed him; and the whole three came dashing on through the outlying mass of thorn-bushes and up to the very front of the kraal. But an African lion is not proof; against the wait-a-bit thorn. The only animals that can successfully defy this product of the African soil are the elephant, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, and alligator. Well, yes, I do not think the buffalo minds the wait-a-bit, at least when he is old, and his skin has acquired the proper toughness; but the young buffalo treats it with respect after he has become experienced in its qualities.

The lion came no farther than the fence, just outside the hut on which I stood; another leap and he would have reached me.

This reminds me of one night when I was in camp in the Impanyi country and had not made a strong kraal. The lions came around the kraal at night, and I was waked up suddenly by hearing one of the oxen bellowing and the dogs barking. The night was pretty dark, and it was not easy for me to perceive objects more than fifteen or twenty feet away. My tent was pitched close to the rear of the wagon; when I got outside I saw the driver standing on the top of a grass-hut about six feet high, which was near the front wheels of the wagon. The ox was bellowing and the lion was growling; they were not more than twenty yards from me, but it was so dark that I could not see them. I climbed to the top of the hut by the side of the driver, and after fixing my eyes steadily on the spot for some minutes I thought I could make out the lion's form. At any rate, I fired in that belief, and the growl and roar which immediately followed told me I had made a hit. The ox was evidently dead by this time, as all sound from him had ceased.

I put in another cartridge and fired again, this time a few inches lower than before. My shot was followed by a loud roar, far more terrific than the one which had preceded it, and the roar was followed by a spring. How many bounds the lion made I do not know, but he struck me full in the chest with his head, and sent me tumbling off the hut to the ground on which it stood. In my fall I brought with me the wagon-driver, and at first I thought it was the lion that was mixed up with me on the ground, instead of the harmless Kafir. The driver scrambled to the top of the wagon, and I followed and got on the box. I do not understand how the driver managed to get there so quickly, as the whole thing passed in a very short time.

Not only was the driver there, but all the Kafirs from the kraal; some were inside the wagon, some on top, and others standing on the wheels, or in any place where they could find clinging-room.

My driver got his gun out from the inside of the wagon, and then took a shot from the top of it; the recoil knocked him over and landed him on the top of my tent. It would have been a pretty serious fall for him had it not been for the tent, which broke the force of his tumble, and was badly broken up as the result.

As near as we could make out by the growling there was a family of lions, and they did not at all relish being disturbed at their meal. We all stayed in and around the wagon until daylight; the lions made off just before it came, and we ventured to descend.

I stayed in camp that day repairing damages and making ready for the lions in case they returned the next night, which I felt they were pretty sure to do. I had the men drag the remains of the ox to the best spot for getting a shot, right on the crest of a ridge a little higher up than the wagon, and about twenty-five yards from it. I had the carcass fastened down with stakes, so that they could not drag it away; then I dug a hole in the ground just under the rear of the wagon, so as to screen me and at the same time give me the horizon to shoot against.

Well, I had my revenge. The lions were there not later than an hour after dark; I heard them before seeing them, but I saw them very soon. The head of the family made his appearance first, and he stood up against the sky so that his whole figure was outlined, and I could determine just where to shoot. My greatest difficulty was to make out the front sight of my rifle; any sportsman will tell you that you cannot do any accurate shooting when the front sight is obscured. The best thing at night is to cover it with white paper, and this I did.

I gave Master Leo a shot just back of the shoulder that brought him to the ground instanter. Mrs. Leo next put in an appearance; she did not give me as fair a shot, but, under the circumstances, I do not think I ought to complain. The ball entered her body just a little forward of the tail, and to one side, and plowed along until near the foreshoulder, where it stopped. My driver fired just after me, and his shot was followed by a loud roar on the part of the lioness. After a few moments the sound subsided, or rather it came from farther and farther away. We waited awhile longer, and then, as everything was quiet, we went to bed.

Daylight the next morning repealed the lion, dead, close to the remains of the ox, my shot having killed him. The lioness was half a mile away with a broken foreleg, and the bullet in her skin as I have described. With her were two cub-lions, which I wanted ever so much to keep and take to the coast; but I saw that it would be impossible to do so, and so allowed my men to finish them off.

We removed the skins of all four lions, and I took them back with me as trophies. That will do for that story. Now I will come back to where we were.

Harry got a shot at another of our disturbers, and then the growling died away in the distance and finally ceased altogether. We went back to our beds and were not called again. When we rose in the morning we found that our shots had told, as a lion and lioness, both severely wounded, were on the ground half a mile or so from camp. Jack went out with his rifle and finished them in short order, and the Kaffirs removed their skins.