The Young Colonists: A Story of the Zulu and Boer Wars Read online

Harvey's decision, for after the charge of thebull-elephant he felt just at present he should not care aboutencountering another. The next morning Mr Harvey, accompanied by thethree native hunters and the greater portion of the others, started inpursuit of the elephants.

  Dick, after sitting for some time with Tom, took his gun and wanderedround near the camp, shooting birds. As the sun got high, and the heatbecame fiercer and fiercer, he returned to camp, and had just taken offhis coat and sat down by the side of Tom when he heard shouts of terroroutside the tent.

  Running out to see what was the matter, he saw the natives in a state ofwild terror. They pointed across the plain, and Dick, to hisastonishment and alarm, saw a great elephant approaching at a rapidtrot, with his trunk in the air and his ears extended to the fullest.He recognised at once the bull which had charged them on the previousday. The natives were now flying in all directions. Dick shouted tothem to stand and get their muskets, but his words were unheeded; he ranto the tent, seized the long-bore gun which he had carried the daybefore and also that of Tom, and charged them both hastily, but coolly.

  "What on earth is it all about?" Tom asked.

  "It is the elephant again, Tom; lie quiet, whatever you do; you cannotrun away, so lie just as you are."

  Then with a gun in each hand Dick ran out of the tent again. Theelephant was now but a hundred yards away. Dick climbed into a waggonstanding in the line on which he was coming, knelt down in the bottomand rested the muzzle on the side, standing up and waving his arm beforehe did so, so as to attract the attention of the elephant. The greatbeast saw him, and trumpeting loudly came straight down at him; Dickknelt, as steady as a rock, with the sight of the gun upon theelephant's forehead.

  When he was within twenty yards Dick drew the trigger, and, withoutwaiting to see the result, snatched up and levelled the second gun. Theelephant had staggered as he was hit, and then, as with a great effort,he pulled himself together and again moved forward, but with a stumblingand hesitating step; taking steady aim again, Dick fired when theelephant's trunk was within a yard of the muzzle of his gun, and thenspringing to his feet, leapt on the opposite side of the waggon and tookto his heels.

  After running a few steps, he glanced back over his shoulder, and thenceased running; the elephant was no longer in sight above the waggon,but had fallen an inert mass by its side.

  "All right, Tom!" Dick shouted loudly; "I have done for him."

  Before going to look at the fallen elephant Dick went to the spot wherestood the piled muskets of the natives who had fled; dropping a ramrodinto them, he found that two were loaded, and taking these in his handshe advanced towards the elephant. The precaution was needless; thegreat beast lay dead; the two heavy balls had struck within an inch ortwo of each other, and penetrated the brain. The first would have beenfatal, and the elephant was about to fall when Dick had fired the secondtime.

  Gradually the drivers and other natives returned to camp with shouts oftriumph. These, however, Dick speedily silenced by a volley of abusefor their cowardice in running away and leaving Tom to his fate. A fewminutes later Mr Harvey galloped in at full speed, closely followed bythe swift footed Blacking.

  "Thank God, you are safe, my boys," Mr Harvey said, as he leapt fromhis horse. "I have had a terrible fright. We followed the spoor to thepoint where they had passed the night; here the trackers were muchpuzzled by the fact that the great elephant, whose tracks were easilydistinguished from the others, seemed to have passed the night inrushing furiously about. Numbers of young trees had been torn up by theroots, and great branches twisted off the larger trees. They concludedthat he must have received some wound which had maddened him with pain.We took up the track where the herd had moved on, but soon found that hehad separated himself from it, and had gone off at full speed byhimself. We set off in pursuit, observing a good deal of caution, forif he had turned, as was likely enough, and had come upon us while insuch a frantic state, we should have had to bolt for our lives. I wasthinking only of this when I saw the hunters talking together andgesticulating. I soon found out what was the matter. They told me thatif the elephant kept on in the line he was taking, it would assuredlybring him in sight of the camp, if not straight upon it. As I had nodoubt that he would in that case attack it, I put spurs to my horse atonce, and dashed on at full speed in hopes of overtaking the elephant,and turning it, before it came within sight of the camp. I became moreand more anxious as I neared the camp and found the elephant was stillbefore me; then I heard two shots close together, and I could hear noothers, and you may guess how relieved I was when I caught sight of thecamp, and saw the natives gathered round something which was, I had nodoubt, the elephant. I had feared that I should see the whole place inconfusion, the waggons upset, and above all the tent levelled. ThankGod, my dear boy, you are all safe! Now tell me all about it."

  Dick related the circumstances, and Mr Harvey praised him highly forthe promptness, coolness, and courage with which he had acted. Then heroundly abused the natives in their own language for their cowardlyconduct.

  "Are you not ashamed of yourselves?" he asked; "what do you carry yourarms for, if you are afraid to use them? Here are sixteen men, all withmuskets, who run away in a panic, and leave one white lad to defend hiswounded friend alone."

  The reproaches of Mr Harvey were mild by the side of the abuse whichthe three hunters--for by this time Tony and Jumbo had reached thecamp--lavished upon their compatriots.

  "What are you good for?" they asked scornfully; "you are fit only to beslaves to the Dutch; the master had better hire women to march with him;he ought to take your arms away, and to set you to spin."

  Crestfallen as the natives were at their own cowardice, they were rousedby the abuse of the hunters, and a furious quarrel would have ensued,had not Mr Harvey interposed his authority and smoothed matters down,admitting that the attack of the enraged elephant was really terrifying,and telling the natives that now they saw how well the white men couldfight, they would no doubt be ready to stand by them next time.

  The hunters now proceeded to cut out the tusks of the elephant. Whenthey did so the cause of the animal's singular behaviour becamemanifest; a ball had struck him just at the root of the tusk, and hadburied itself in one of the nerves there, no doubt causing excruciatingpain.

  The tusks were grand ones, Mr Harvey saying that he had seldom seen afiner pair. The news of the slaughter of three elephants drew togethera considerable number of natives, who were delighted to receivepermission to carry off as much meat as they chose. When the greaterportion of the flesh of the old bull had been removed, ten oxen wereharnessed to the remains of the carcass, and it was dragged to adistance from camp, as Mr Harvey was desirous of remaining where he wasfor some days longer on Tom's account, and the effluvia from the carcasswould in a very short time have rendered the camp uninhabitable had itremained in the vicinity.

  In a week Tom was convalescent; he was still, however, very stiff andsore. A hammock was therefore slung under the tilt of one of thewaggons, the sides were drawn up to allow of a free passage of air, andthe caravan then went forward on its journey.

  For the next fortnight nothing of importance happened; sometimes thejourneys were short, sometimes extremely long, being regulated entirelyby the occurrence of water. At many of the halting-places a good dealof trade was done, as the news of the coming of the caravan spread farahead of it, and the natives for a considerable distance on each side ofthe line of route came down to trade with it. They brought with themskins of beasts and birds, small packets of gold-dust, ostrich feathers,and occasionally ivory. Mr Harvey was well content with his success sofar.

  For some time past, owing to the disturbed state of the country and thedemand for waggons occasioned by the war, the number of traders who hadmade their way north had been very small, and the natives consequentlywere eager to buy cotton and cloth, and to get rid of the articles whichthey had been accumulating for the purpose of barter with the whites.Never befo
re, Mr Harvey said, had he done so good a trade in so short atime.

  At the end of the fortnight after starting Tom was again able to takehis seat in the saddle and ride quietly along by the side of thecaravan, Mr Harvey warning him on no account to go above a walking paceat present, as a jerk or a jar might break the newly-knit bones, andundo all the work that had been effected.

  In the meantime Dick, accompanied by one or other of the hunters, alwaysrode out from the line of march, and had no difficulty in providing anample supply of game. He was careful, however, not to shoot more thanwas required, for both he and Mr Harvey viewed with abhorrence thetaking of life unnecessarily, merely for the purpose of sport. He wasable, nevertheless, to kill a great many deer without feeling that theirflesh was wasted; for not only were the number of mouths in the caravanlarge, and their powers of eating wonderful, but the natives who came into trade were always glad to