It was about noon when we reached the kraal. Passing through it, we encamped under some trees in a hollow close to the bed of a torrent. The ground was covered with a rich sward that on account of its sheltered situation and its proximity to the water had retained a pleasant freshness.
Proceeding along one of the passes beyond the settlement, we ascended some high land, whence we could see that dark clouds were beginning to gather. Pit told us that the rain for which we had longed so much was certainly now coming, and after a short consultation, we decided to halt at once, and unyoked our oxen about three miles after starting. Pit was right enough; the clouds rolled on in rapidly increasing masses, and before another hour had passed the rain came down in such a deluge as I have rarely seen before or since. We would have given much for such a downpour on the previous day.
The storm lasted for about two hours; it took some time for the water to clear off; but when it ceased to foam along in torrents, and began to trickle down more gently from the hillsides, we thought we might venture to proceed another stage, though it was getting on towards sundown. The defile along which we passed was quite narrow, except in one or two places where it opened out into a plain. Niger, my dog, was on in front; he was foraging in the long grass, when suddenly he started off in pursuit of something that we could not see. There was a strangeness in his movements that perplexed me; he kept springing forwards, and as suddenly retreating, and I was curious to find out what was disturbing him. I stopped the waggon, and when I approached the dog I found him in front of a great tubular ant-hill, barking furiously. The other dogs began to bark in concert. I soon saw the cause of the animal’s excitement; a great yellow cobra-capella, nearly seven feet long, was winding itself round the ant-hill; its neck was all inflated, and it was hissing vehemently. A moment was enough for me; I put a charge of small shot clean into the reptile, and had the satisfaction of dragging it out from the bushwood, a notable addition to my naturalist’s collection.
NIGER AND THE COBRA.
In the course of the evening we came to the broad valley which had been described to us as the shortest route to Taung, and, leaving the main pass, we turned into it towards the north, and settled ourselves for the night.
The day following the storm was dull and chilly. Our road lay first across a hollow, with some Batlapin huts on one of its bare slopes; then through an opening in the hills to a dense wood, and thence into another hollow, split up into about a hundred little allotments about fifty yards square.
It took us the best part of an hour and a half to get over this ground; but when we mounted the high ground beyond, we found ourselves in sight of the Harts River valley, which was right before us. The hill-ridges round Taung seem to form a sort of network. None of them rise more than 800 feet above the level of the river, but the scenery which they form is rather attractive. To reach the ford we had to skirt the first ridge, and then bend northwards.
After a former ruler, Taung is also called Mahura’s Town. It lies under the shelter of a rocky height, a short distance from the right bank of the river, where a rush of yellow water was streaming down the bed, which in many places was overgrown with reeds.
As we wended our way down the slope, we came within view of another native village. The mere sight of our waggon served to put its population into a state of extreme excitement. A whole crowd of men, in tattered European clothes, except now and then one in a mangy skin, followed by as many women, all naked except for little leather aprons, and by a swarm of children as naked as when they were born, came shouting eagerly towards us. They were nearly all provided with bottles, or pots, or cans, and cried out for brandy. “Suppy, suppy, bas, verkup Brandwen!” they repeated impatiently. They had brought all manner of things to barter for spirits. One man held up a jackal’s hide, another a goat-skin; another offered us bullock-thongs; yet another had brought out a bullock-yoke; and some of them had their homemade wooden spoons and platters to dispose of to us. It was a disgusting scene. We tried to treat the whole matter with contempt, and to take no notice of their demand; but when we attempted to drive on, their importunities waxed louder than ever. They caught hold of the bridles, and pushed the oxen back, becoming ever more and more clamorous. One of the men made what he evidently imagined would be an irresistible appeal, by offering me a couple of greasy shillings. They next tried to bribe us with some skins of milk, which the women were made to bring out from the huts, and they were driven to despair when they found that the offer of a goat that they dragged forward was not accepted. Their screechings and shoutings were of no avail; not a drop of fire-water was to be extorted from me. We had almost to beat them off before they would allow us to proceed. A few persevered in following us to the ford, and made a final effort to secure one bottle by a private negotiation, out of sight of their neighbours. They confidentially offered five shillings for the bottle; but I was inexorable.