Of course his anxiety about these animals rendered it impossible for him to enjoy a moment"s peace of mind, until he should start back in search of them. He had only taken out his pipe to pa.s.s the time, while the horses were gathering a bite of gra.s.s. As soon as their strength should be recruited a little, it was his design to take three of the strongest of them, and with Hendrik and Swartboy, ride back to the old kraal.
As soon, therefore, as the horses were ready for the road again, they were caught and saddled up; and Von Bloom, Hendrik, and Swartboy, mounted and set out, while Hans remained in charge of the camp.
They rode at a brisk rate, determined to travel all night, and, if possible, reach the kraal before morning. At the last point on the route where there was gra.s.s, they off-saddled, and allowed their horses to rest and refresh themselves. They had brought with them some slices of the roast mutton, and this time they had not forgotten to fill their gourd-canteens with water--so that they should not again suffer from thirst. After an hour"s halt they continued their journey.
It was quite night when they arrived at the spot where the oxen had deserted them; but a clear moon was in the sky, and they were able to follow back the wheel-tracks of the wagon, that were quite conspicuous under the moonlight. Now and then to be satisfied, Von Bloom requested Swartboy to examine the spoor, and see whether the cattle had still kept the back-track. To answer this gave no great trouble to the Bushman.
He would drop from his horse, and bending over the ground, would reply in an instant. In every case the answer was in the affirmative. The animals had certainly gone back to their old home.
Von Bloom believed they would be sure to find them there, but should they find them _alive_? That was the question that rendered him anxious.
The creatures could obtain water by the spring, but food--where? Not a bite would they find anywhere, and would not hunger have destroyed them all before this?
Day was breaking when they came in sight of the old homestead. It presented a very odd appearance. Not one of the three would have recognised it. After the invasion of the locusts it showed a very altered look, but now there was something else that added to the singularity of its appearance. A row of strange objects seemed to be placed upon the roof ridge, and along the walls of the kraals. What were these strange objects, for they certainly did not belong to the buildings? This question was put by Von Bloom, partly to himself, but loud enough for the others to hear him.
"_Da vogels_!" (the vultures), replied Swartboy.
Sure enough, it was a string of vultures that appeared along the walls.
The sight of these filthy birds was more than ominous. It filled Von Bloom with apprehension. What could they be doing there? There must be carrion near?
The party rode forward. The day was now up, and the vultures had grown busy. They flapped their shadowy wings, rose from the walls, and alighted at different points around the house.
"Surely there must be carrion," muttered Von Bloom.
There _was_ carrion, and plenty of it. As the hors.e.m.e.n drew near the vultures rose into the air, and a score of half-devoured carca.s.ses could be seen upon the ground. The long curving horns that appeared beside each carca.s.s, rendered it easy to tell to what sort of animals they belonged. In the torn and mutilated fragments, Von Bloom recognised the remains of his lost herd!
Not one was left alive. There could be seen the remains of all of them, both cows and oxen, lying near the enclosures and on the adjacent plain--each where it had fallen.
But how had they fallen? That was the mystery.
Surely they could not have perished of hunger, and so suddenly? They could not have died of thirst, for there was the spring bubbling up just beside where they lay? The vultures had not killed them! What then?
Von Bloom did not ask many questions. He was not left long in doubt.
As he and his companions rode over the ground, the mystery was explained. The tracks of lions, hyenas, and jackals, made everything clear enough. A large troop of these animals had been upon the ground.
The scarcity of game, caused by the migration of the locusts, had no doubt rendered them more than usually ravenous, and in consequence the cattle became their prey.
Where were they now? The morning light, and the sight of the house perhaps, had driven them off. But their spoor was quite fresh. They were near at hand, and would be certain to return again upon the following night.
Von Bloom felt a strong desire to be revenged upon the hideous brutes; and, under other circ.u.mstances, would have remained to get a shot at them. But just then that would have been both imprudent and unprofitable work. It would be as much as their horses could accomplish, to get back to camp that night; so, without even entering the old house, they watered their animals, refilled their calabashes at the spring, and with heavy hearts once more rode away from the kraal.
CHAPTER NINE.
A LION "COUCHANT."
They had not proceeded an hundred steps when an object appeared before them that caused all three to draw bridle suddenly and simultaneously.
That object was a lion!
He was couched upon the plain directly in the path they intended to take--the very same path by which they had come!
How was it they had not seen him before? He was under the lee of a low bush; but, thanks to the locusts, this bush was leafless, and its thin naked twigs formed no concealment for so large a creature as a lion.
His tawny hide shone conspicuously through them.
The truth is, he had not been there when the hors.e.m.e.n pa.s.sed towards the kraal. He had just fled from among the carca.s.ses, on seeing them approach; and had skulked around the walls, and then run to their rear.
He had executed this manoeuvre to avoid an encounter--for a lion reasons as a man does, though not to the same extent. Seeing the hors.e.m.e.n come that way, his reasoning powers were strong enough to tell him that they were not likely to return by the same path. It was more natural they should continue on. A man, ignorant of all the preceding events connected with their journey would have reasoned much in the same way.
If you have been at all observant, you have seen other animals--such as dogs, deer, hares, or even birds--act just as the lion did on this occasion.
Beyond a doubt the intellectual process described pa.s.sed through the mind of this lion; and he had skulked round to shun an encounter with the three travellers.
Now a lion will not always act so--though he will in five cases out of six, or oftener. Hence very erroneous views are held in relation to the courage of this animal. Some naturalists, led away by what appears to be a feeling of envy or anger, accuse the lion of downright _cowardice_, denying him a single n.o.ble quality of all those that have from earliest times been ascribed to him! Others, on the contrary, a.s.sert that he knows no fear, either of man or beast; and these endow him with many virtues besides courage. Both parties back up their views, not by mere a.s.sertions, but by an ample narration of well-attested facts!
How is this? There is a dilemma here. Both cannot be right in their opinions? And yet, odd as it may appear to say so, both _are_ right in a certain sense.
The fact is, _some lions are cowardly, while others are brave_.
The truth of this might be shown by whole pages of facts, but in this little volume we have not room. I think, however, boy reader, I can satisfy you with an a.n.a.logy.
Answer me--Do you know any species of animal, the individuals of which are exactly alike in character? Think over the dogs _of your acquaintance_! Are they alike, or anything near it? Are not some of them n.o.ble, generous, faithful, brave to the death? Are not others mean, sneaking, cowardly curs? So is it with lions.
Now, you are satisfied that my statement about the lions may be true.
There are many causes to affect the courage and ferocity of the lion.
His age--the state of his stomach--the season of the year--the hour of the day--but, above all, the _sort of hunters that belong to the district he inhabits_.
This last fact appears quite natural to those who believe in the _intellect_ of animals, which of course _I_ do. It is perfectly natural that the lion, as well as other animals, should soon learn the character of his enemy, and fear him or not, as the case may be. Is this not an old story with us? If I remember aright, we had a talk upon this subject when speaking of the crocodiles of America. We remarked that the alligator of the Mississippi rarely attacks man in modern times; but it has not been always so. The rifle of the alligator-leather hunter has tamed its ferocity. The very _same species_ in South America eats Indians by scores every year; and the crocodile of Africa is dreaded in some parts even more than the lion!
It is a.s.serted that the lions of the Cape are more cowardly in some districts than in others. They are less brave in those districts where they have been "jaged" by the courageous and stalwart boor with his long loud-cracking "roer."
Beyond the frontier, where they have no enemy but the tiny arrow of the Bushman (who does not desire to kill them!) and the slender "a.s.segai" of the Bechuana, the lion has little or no fear of man.
Whether the one, before the eyes of our party, was naturally a brave one, could not yet be told. He was one with a huge black mane, or "schwart-fore life," as the boors term it; and these are esteemed the fiercest and most dangerous. The "yellow-maned,"--for there is considerable variety in the colour of the Cape lions--is regarded as possessing less courage; but there is some doubt about the truth of this. The young "black-manes" may often be mistaken for the true yellow variety, and their character ascribed to him to his prejudice,--for the swarthy colour of the mane only comes after the lion is many years of age.
Whether the "schwart-fore life" was a fierce and brave one, Von Bloom did not stay to think about. It was evident that the edge had been taken off the animal"s appet.i.te. It was evident he did not meditate an attack; and that had the hors.e.m.e.n chosen to make a detour, and ride peacefully away, they might have continued their journey without ever seeing or hearing of him again.
But the field-cornet had no such intention. He had lost his precious oxen and cattle. _That_ lion had pulled down some of them, at least.
The Dutch blood was up, and if the beast had been the strongest and fiercest of his tribe, he was bound to be brought out of that bush.
Ordering the others to remain where they were, Von Bloom advanced on horseback until within about fifty paces of where the lion lay. Here he drew up, coolly dismounted, pa.s.sed the bridle over his arm, stuck his loading-rod into the ground, and knelt down behind it.
You will fancy he would have been safer to have kept his saddle, as the lion cannot overtake a horse. True; but the lion would have been safer too. It is no easy matter to fire correctly from any horse, but when the mark happens to be a grim lion, he is a well-trained steed that will stand sufficiently firm to admit of a true aim. A shot from the saddle under such circ.u.mstances is a mere chance shot; and the field-cornet was not in the mood to be satisfied with a chance shot. Laying his roer athwart the loading-rod, and holding the long barrel steady against it, he took deliberate aim through the ivory sights.
During all this time the lion had not stirred. The bush was between him and the hunter; but he could hardly have believed that it sufficed to conceal him. Far from it. His yellow flanks were distinctly visible through the th.o.r.n.y twigs, and his head could be seen with his muzzle and whiskers stained red with the blood of the oxen.
No--he did not believe himself hid. A slight growl, with one or two shakes of his tail, proved the contrary. He lay still however, as lions usually do, until more nearly approached. The hunter, as already stated, was full fifty yards from him.
Excepting the motion of his tail, he made no other till Von Bloom pulled trigger; and then with a scream he sprang several feet into the air.
The hunter had been afraid of the twigs causing his bullet to glance off; but it was plain it had told truly, for he saw the fur fly from the side of that lion where it struck him.