It was a pitiless and a bitter night, and those who believe in Africa being a land of intense heat would have felt their preconceived ideas shaken had they sat and shivered in that waggon, through whose double tilt covering the wind seemed to pierce as though it was so much open canvas. Far worse was it beneath, where, sheltering themselves as best they could, the black servants, Dinny, and the Zulus huddled together for mutual warmth. Even the dogs refused to be excluded, and, in spite of Dinny’s rather unmerciful kicks, kept crawling under the waggon, till Chicory took pity upon them and curled up in company, forming such a knot that it was hard to make out which was Chicory and which was dog. But the Zulu boy said it was nice and warm, all but one little place where there was no Pompey, and one leg which he couldn’t get under Crass.
Fortunately the roar of the elements was sufficient to keep the predatory beasts in their lairs, or they would have had an easy task to seize upon oxen or horses, for it was as impossible in the darkness to find thorns and build a kraal, as it was in the wet to get a fire to burn.
Dick said the night was “as miserable as mizzer,” and that Jack got all the blanket; but, like all other things, that miserable night came to an end, and as the sun rose up warm and bright, up sprang the spirits of all with it; and as the steam reeked from the soaked waggon, they turned from it to look with a curious sense of shrinking at the narrow escape they had had.
For where the foremost oxen had been checked, consequent upon the General’s warning, there was a great crack right across their path, some twenty feet wide, double that distance deep, and running for several hundred yards right and left.
But for the General’s timely warning the whole team would have gone in, dragging after them the waggon, and the horses which were haltered on behind, producing such an awful wreck that the expedition must have stopped; and then there would have been the problem to solve, how should they get back to Natal.
As the sun grew warmer, and a fire had been lighted, food cooked, and a hearty breakfast made, the troubles of the past night were forgotten, and in the best of spirits they went on again, after a detour to avoid the chasm, the moistened earth smelling delicious, and the birds twittering and singing joyously in every tree.
So far they had avoided the kraals or villages of the various peoples of these parts of Africa, but now the General announced that they were at last approaching the big river, where they would have to ask the black king’s permission to hunt, and make him a present for his concession.
For in his land there were the giraffe, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, and elephant—huge beasts, the names of which made the boys’ pulses throb with excitement.
There were crocodiles too in plenty in the big river, so the General said; and it was there that the river fell.
The idea of seeing the wondrous falls of the Zambesi had long been nurtured in Mr Rogers’ heart; and as they had in their many months’ journey come so far, he determined that they would if possible reach that part of the river, and see the falls, even if they did not go farther.