Hunters three: Sport and adventure in South Africa

by Thomas Wallace Knox

"I'm afraid they might be tempted to take a sip of it," he replied, "and I think I can manage it with my own hands."

He went outside the tent, got into an amiable conversation with the soldiers, and then invited them to take a drink. He poured out a glass for each of them in turn, and then pretended to take one himself. His pretense was one of the prettiest feats of legerdemain on record. In less than fifteen minutes the fellows were very sleepy and concluded they would take a nap. They were accommodated with a comfortable place, and then the work of inspanning and pulling out was pushed with great vigor.

There was no further need of our presence at the ladies' camp. While the process of subduing Macatese's men had been going on we told our friends that we should inspan at once and meet them on the south side of the river. To this end we hastened away to our own kraal as soon as the manager reported that the redoubtable four no longer possessed any powers of observation.

We rode home at full speed, and gave orders to the manager to inspan at once. We packed our rifles and ammunition so as to have them handy in case of trouble, and told the manager to get ready for fighting at a moment's notice. This alarmed him a good deal, and we quieted his fears by saying we did not expect any trouble, but had heard that the natives were quarrelsome and might come about us with hostile intentions.

There was a good moon in the early part of the night, and we told our friends before leaving them that we should trek until midnight at least. We advised them to do the same thing, and also spoke to their manager on the subject. He said he would trek until morning if necessary, but thought if they kept on the road till midnight it would be quite late enough.

We made the best speed we could through the country to the north of the Luranga, deeming it all-important that we should get that river between us and Macatese as soon as we could. We were fearful that some of his people might have lingered behind and witnessed the start of the ladies' expedition. Of course we had to take our chances on that point, but gathered courage from the fact that the four soldiers were left behind to give notice of any movement, and therefore there would be no necessity of any other watch upon the party.

The reader will remember about the hilly country through which we passed to the north of the Luranga, and the troubles we had in traversing it. Some natives who came into our camp offered to show us a much better route through that region than the one by which we came—a route, they said, which was not generally known. We stipulated to give each of them a string of beads and a cotton shirt, provided their statement proved true and the route was as represented, payment to be made on our arrival on the other bank of the river.

We kept up a constant communication with our friends, and as we proceeded our routes converged to bring us to the same point on the river. When we had completed our negotiation with these natives, I sent two of them with a note to Mrs. Roberts, telling her what the men had promised, and advising them to join us the next day. They joined us, and the whole party proceeded in company.

For once we found that the stories of the natives were not exaggerated; they guided us to a valley reaching from the level country to the bottom-land of the river—a valley through which water flowed in the rainy season, or in times of great floods. It was narrow and crooked, but a vast improvement over the hilly route we traveled during our upward journey.

It was near sunset when we reached the Luranga, and our manager said that we had better outspan where we were and wait till morning for the crossing. I vehemently opposed the proposition, and told him we must cross that evening if it took all night to do it. We did not know what would happen, and wanted to be on the safe side of the stream.