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22 - Jock of the Bushveld by Sir James Percy Fitzpatrick · Jock of the Bushveld

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Monkeys and Wildebius. Munger was not a perfect mount, but
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: he was a great improvement on Snowball. He had a
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: wretched walk and led almost as badly as his predecessor,
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: but this did not matter so much because he could
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: be driven like a pack donkey and relied on not
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: to play pranks in a gallop after game. He was
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: much faster than Snowball, having a wonderful long stride for
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: so low a pony. A horse made a good deal
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: of difference in the hunting in many ways, not the
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: least of which was that some sort of excursion was possible.
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: On most days, one could go further in the time available,
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: and even if delayed, still be pretty sure of catching
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: up to the wagons without much difficulty. Sometimes, after a
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: long night's Trekking I would start off after breakfast for
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: some likely spot, off saddle there in the shady place,
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: sleep during the heat of the day, and after a
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: billy of tea, start hunting towards the wagons in the afternoon.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: It was in such a spot on the Camati River,
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: a couple of hundred yards from the bank, that on
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: one occasion I settled down to make up lost ground
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: in the matter of sleep, and with Mungo knee halted
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: in good grass and drop beside me, I lay flat
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: on my back with hat covering my eyes, and was
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: soon comfortably asleep. The sleep had lasted a couple of
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: hours when I began to dream that it was raining,
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: and woke up in the belief that a hail storm
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: following the rain, was just breaking over me. I started
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: up to find all just as it had been, and
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: the sunlight beyond the big tree so glaring as to
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: make the eyes ache through half closed lids. I saw
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: Mungo lying down asleep and made out Jock standing some
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: yards away, quietly watching me with a yawn. In a stretch,
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: I lay back again. Sleep was over, but a good
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: lazy rest was welcome. It had been earned, and most
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: comforting of all, there was nothing else to be done
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: in and the doze that followed, I was surprised to
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: feel quite distinctly something like a drop of rain strike
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: my leg, and then another on my hat. Hang it all,
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: it is raining, I said, sitting up again and quite
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: wide awake. This time there was Jock still looking at me,
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: but only for the moment of moving. It appears for
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: a minute later He looked up into the tree above me,
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: with ears cocked hid on one side, and tail held
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: lazily on the horizontal and moving slowly from time to time.
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: It was his look of interested amusement. A couple of
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: leaves fluttered down, and then the half eaten pip of
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: a wooden orange struck me in the face. As I
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: lay back again to see what was going on above,
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: the pip gave me the line and away Up among
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: the thick, dark foliage, I saw a little old face
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: looking down at me. The quick, restless eyes were watchfully
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: on the move, and the mouth partly opened in the
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: shape of an oh face and attitude together a vivid
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: expression of surprise and indignation, combined with breathless interest. As
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: my eyes fairly met those above me, the monkey ducked
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: its head forward and promptly made effaced me without uttering
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: a sound. Then others showed up in different places, and
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: whole figures became visible. Now as the monkeys stole softly
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: along the branches to get a better look at Jock
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: and me. There were a couple of dozen of them,
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: of all sizes. They are the liveliest, most restless, and
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: most inquisitive of creatures ludicrously nervous and excitable, quick to
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: chattering anger and bursts of hysterical passion, which are intensely comical,
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: especially when they have been scared. They are creatures whose
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: method of progress most readily betrays them by the swaying
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: of a branch or quivering of leaves. Yet they can
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: steal about and melt away at will, like small gray ghosts,
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: silent as the grave. I had often tried to trap them,
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: but never succeeded. Yankee caught them as he caught everything
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: with cunning that outmatched his wilder Kindred pitfalls, nooses, whip traps,
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: fall traps, foot snares, drags, slip knots of all kinds,
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: and tricks that I cannot now remember were in his repertory.
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: But he disliked showing his traps, and when told to explain,
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: he would half sulkily show one of the common kind.
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: The day he caught the monkey, he was well pleased
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: and may possibly have told the truth. Baboons and monkeys,
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: he said, can count just like men, but they can
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: only count two. If one man goes into a mealyfield
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: and wits for them with a gun, their sentry will
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: see him, and he may wait for ever. If two
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: go and one remains, it is useless, for they realize
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: that only one has come out where two went in.
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: But if three go in, one may remain behind to
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: lie in wait for them, for the monkeys, seeing more
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: than one return, will invade the meaty field as soon
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: as the two are safely out of the way. That
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: was only Yankee's explanation of the well known fact that
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: monkeys and baboons know the difference between one and more
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: than one. But as Yankee explained, their cleverness helped him
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: to catch them. He went alone and came away alone,
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: leaving his trap behind, knowing that they were watching his
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: every movement, but knowing also that their intense curiosity would
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: draw them to it the moment it seemed safe. The
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: trap he used was an old calabash or gourd with
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: a round hole in it about an inch in diameter,
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: and a few pumpkin seeds and meals, and a hard
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: crust of bread just small enough to get into the
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: calabash formed the bet. After fastening the gourd by a
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: cord to a small stump, he left it lying on
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: its side on the ground, where he had been sitting.
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: A few crumbs and seeds were dropped near it, and
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: the rest placed in the gourd, with one or two
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: showing in the mouth. Then he walked off on the
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: side where he would be longest in view, and when
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: well out of sight, sped round in a circuit to
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: a previously selected spot where he could get close up
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: again and watch. The foremost monkey was already on the
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: ground when he got back, and others were hanging from
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: low branches or clinging to the stems, ready to drop
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: or retreat. Then began the grunts and careful, timid approaches,
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: such as one sees in a party of children hunting
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: for the hidden ghost who is expected to appear suddenly
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: and chase them. Next, the chattering, garrulous warnings and protests
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: from the timid ones, the females in the upper branches,
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: the sudden start and scurry of one of the youngsters,
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: and the scare communicated to all, making even the leader
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: jump back a pace. Then his angry grunt and large
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: scolding of the frightened ones, angry because they had given
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: him a fright and loud because he was reassuring himself.
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: After a pause, there began the careful roundabout approach, and
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: the squatting and waiting making pretenses of not being particularly
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: interested while their quick eyes watched everything. Then the deft
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: picking up of one thing instantly dropped again, as one
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: picks up a roasted chestnut and drops it in the
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: same movement in case it should be hot. And finally
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: the greedy scramble and chatter. I have seen all that,
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: but not alas the successful ending when trying to imitate
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: Yankee's methods. Yankee waited until the tugs of the gourd
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: became serious, and then, knowing that the smaller things had
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: been taken out or shaken out and eaten, and that
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: some enterprising monkey had put his arm into the hole
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: and grabbed the crust, he ran out. A monkey rarely
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: lets go any food it has grabbed, and when, as
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: in this case, the hand is jammed in a narrow neck,
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: the letting go cannot easily be done instinctively or inadvertently.
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: The act requires a deliberate effort. So Yankee caught his monkey,
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: and flinging his ragged coat over the captive, sat down
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: to make it safe by pushing the monkey's arm deeper
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: into the gourd, the crust became released and the hand freed.
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: He then gradually shifted the monkey about until he got
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: the head into the shoulders of the loose old coat,
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: and thence into the sleeve, and worked away at this
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: until he had the creature as helpless as a mummy,
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: with the head appearing at the cuff opening and the
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: body jammed in the sleeve like a bulging over stuffed sausage.
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: The monkey struggled, screamed, chattered, made faces, and cried like
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: a child, but Yankee, gripping it between his knees, worked
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: away unmoved. He next took the cord from the calabash
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: and tied one end securely round the monkey's neck to
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: the shrinking horror of that individual, and the other end
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: to a stark bush stick about seven or eight feet long,
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: And then slipped the monkey, cord and stick back through
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: the sleeve and had his captive safe. The cord prevented
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: it from getting away and the stick from getting too
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: close and biting him. When they sat opposite and pulled
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: faces at each other, the family likeness was surprising. The
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: grimacing little imps invariably tempt one to tease or chase them,
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: just to see their antics and methods. And when I
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: rose openly watching them and stepping about for a better view,
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: they abandoned the silent methods and bounded freely from branch
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: to branch for fresh cover, always ducking behind something. If
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: I pointed the gun or a stick or even my
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: arm at them, and getting into peroxysms of rage, and
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: leaning over to slang and cheat me whenever it seemed sade.
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: Jock was full of excitement, thoroughly warmed up and anxious
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: to be at them, running about from place to place
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: to watch them, tacking and turning and jumping for better views,
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: and now and then running up to the trunk and
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: scraping at it. Whenever he did this there was a
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: moment's silence. The idea of playing a trick on them
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: struck me, and I caught Jock up and put him
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: in the fork of a big main branch about six
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: feet from the ground. The effect was magical. The whole
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: of the top of the tree seemed to whip and
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: rustle at once, and in two seconds there was not
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: a monkey left. Then a wave in the top of
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: a small tree some distance off betrayed them and we
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: gave chase a useless, rumping schoolboy chase. They were in
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: the small trees away from the river, and it was
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: easy to see and follow them, and to add to
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: the fun and excitement, I threw stones at the branches
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: behind them. Their excitement and alarm became hysterical, and as
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: we dotted about to head them off, they were several
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: times obliged to scamper a few yards along the ground
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: to avoid me and gain other trees. It was then
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: that Jock enjoyed himself most. He ran at them and
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: made flying leaps and snaps as they sprang up the
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: trees out of reach. It was like a caricature of
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: children in one of their make believe chases. The screams,
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: grimaces and actions were so human that it would have
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: seemed like a tragedy had one of them been hurt.
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: They got away into the big trees once more, to
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: Jock's disappointment, but greatly to my relief, for I was
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: quite pumped from the romp and laughter. The river at
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: this point was broken into several sluices by islands formed
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: of piles of rocks, on which there were a few
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: stunted trees and dense growths of tall reeds, and here
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: and there little spits and fringes of white sand were visible.
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: There was plenty of small game in that part, and
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: it was a great place for crocodiles. As we were
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: then about half a mile below where Mungo had been left,
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: I strolled along the bank on the lookout for a shot,
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: frequently stopping to examine suspicious looking rocks on the sandspits
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: or at the borders of the reed fringes on the
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: little islands. The shooting of crocodiles was an active war.
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: It was enmity and not sport or a desire for
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: trophies that prompted it, and when it did not interfere
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: with other chances, we never missed a practice shot at
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: these fellows. I picked out several rocks so suspicious looking
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: that I would have had a shot at them had
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: there been a clear chance, and twice while I was
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: trying to make them out, they slid silently into the
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: water before there was time to fire. However, further on
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: there came a better chance than any. There was something
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: so peculiar about the look of this rock that I
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: picked a good spot and sat down to watch it,
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: and presently the part nearest me turned slightly, just enough
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: to show me that it was a crocodile, lying on
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: the flat sand, with his nose towards me and his
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: tail hidden in the reeds. It was fifty yards away,
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: and from where I sat there was not much to
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: aim at, as a Martini bullet would glance from almost
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: any part of that polished hard case of it struck
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: at such an angle. I was sitting on the bank
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: above the shelving beach of the river, on which a
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: dense mass of reeds grew, and the waving feathery tops
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: partly obscured the site. I know the bullet hit him
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: somewhere because he bounded with astonishing strength and activity, several
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: feet in the air, and his tail slashed through the
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: reeds like a mighty scythe The huge jaws opened, and
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: he gave a horrible, angry bellow somewhere between a row
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: and a snarl, as he plunged into the river, sending
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: masses of spray and water flying every way. He made
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: straight across, apparently at me, swimming on top of the
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: water at amazing speed and throwing up a wave on
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: either side, and a white swirl of foam from the
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: propelling tail. It was certainly a most surprising and unheard
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: of proceeding. And as he reached my side of the stream,
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: and because hidden from me by the screen of reeds
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: at my feet, I turned and bolted. It may be
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: that he came at me with murderous intent, for it
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: may be that, blinded by rage or pain, he came
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: towards me simply because he happened to be facing that way.
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: But whatever the reason, it was painfully clear that if
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: he meant business, he would be unto me before it
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: was possible to see him in the reeds. That was
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: enough for me. It had never occurred to me that
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: there was going to be any fun in this for
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: the crocodile, but one sense of humor and justice was
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: always being stimulated in the bushfelt With twenty yards of
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: open ground between us, I turned and waited, But no
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: crocodile appeared, nor was there a sound to be heard
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: in the reeds. A few minutes wait, a cautious return,
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: a careful scrutiny, and then resort to sticks and stones,
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: but all to no purpose. There was neither sign nor
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: sound of the crocodile, and not being disposed to go
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: into the reeds to look for something which I did
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: not want but might want me. I returned to Mungo
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: a little wiser, it is true, but not unduly hiddy
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: on that account. Half an hour's jogging along the bank,
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: Having failed to propose anything, I struck away from the river,
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: taking a line through the bush towards camp, and eventually
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: came across a small herd of blue Vildebius. Mungo's pricked
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: ears and raised head warned me, but the grass being high,
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: it was not easy to see enough of them from
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: the ground to place an effective shot, and before a
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: chance offered, they moved off slowly. I walked after them,
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: leading Mungo and trying to get a fair opening on
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: slightly higher ground. Presently, half a dozen blackish things appeared
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: above the tall grass. They were the heads of the bilderbierst,
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: all turned one way and all looking at us with
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: ears wide spread. Only the upper halves of their heads
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: were visible through the thinner tops of the grass, and
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: even an ordinary standing shot was not possible. I had
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: to go to a tree for support in order to
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: tiptoe for the shot, and whilst in the act of
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: raising my rifle, the heads disappeared, but I took chance
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: and fired just below where the last one had shown up.
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: The wilderbiers were out of sight, hidden by grass six
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: feet high, but a branch of the tree beside me
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: served as a horizontal bar, and hoisting myself chin high,
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: I was able to see them again. In front of
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: us there was a dry flay, quite free of bush,
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: some two hundred yards across and four hundred yards long,
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: and the wilderbiers had gone away to the right and
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: were skirting the flay, apparently meaning to get round to
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: the opposite side, avoiding the direct cut across the flay
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: for reasons of their own. It occurred to me there
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: must be a deep donga or perhaps a mud hole
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: in front, which they were avoiding, but that it might
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: be possible for me to it across, or even half
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: way across, in time to have another shot at them
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: the next time they stopped to look back, as they
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: were almost certain to do, so, I ran straight on.
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: One does not have to reason things out like that
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: in actual practice. The conclusion comes instantly, as if by instinct,
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: and no time is lost to drop from the branch,
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: pick up the rifle, and start running were all parts
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: of one movement. Stooping slightly to prevent my bobbing hat
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: from showing up in the grass tops, and holding the
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: rifle obliquely before me as a sort of snow plow
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: to clear the grass from my eyes. I made as
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: good pace as the ground would allow. No doubt, the
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: rifle held in front of me made it difficult to
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: notice anything on the ground, but the concentrated stair across
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: the flame in the direction of the galloping Wildebius was
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: quite as much the cause of what followed. Going fast
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: and stooping low with all my weight through forward, I
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: ran right into a Wildebius cow. My shot had wounded
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: her through the kidneys, completely paralyzing the hind quarters, and
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: she had instantly dropped out of sight in the grass.
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: The only warning I got was a furious snort, and
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: the black looking monster with great, blazing bloodshot eyes rose
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: up on its front legs as I ran into it.
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: To charge into a wounded Wildebius ready to go for you,
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: just when your whole attention is concentrated upon others two
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: hundred yards beyond is nearly as unpleasant as it is unexpected.
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: It becomes a question of what will happen to you,
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: rather than of what you will do. That, at any rate,
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: was my experience. The rifle, if it had hindered me,
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: also helped. Held out at arm's length, it struck the
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: wilderbiers across the forehead, and the collision saved my chest
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: from the horns. There was an angry toss of the
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: big head, and the rifle was twirled out of my
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: hand as one might flip a match away. I do
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: not know exactly what happened. The impression is of a
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: breathless seconds whirl and scramble, and then finding myself standing
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: untouched five yards away, with the half paralyzed vilderbier squatting
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: like a dog and struggling to drag the useless hind
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: quarters along in its furious effort to get a jock,
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: who had already intervened to help me. The rifle lay
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: within the circle of the big hooked horns, and the
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: squatting animal, making a pivot of its hindquarters, slewed round
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: and round, making savage lunges at jock and great heaves
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: at me each time I tried to get the rifle.
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: It often happens the shots touching the kidneys producer paralysis
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: temporarily severe, which passes off to a great extent after
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: some minutes, and leaves the wounded animal well able to charge.
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: It happened to me some years later, while trying to
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: photograph a wounded sable. I tried to hook the gun
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: out with a stick, but the wilderbiers swung round and
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: faced me at once, snapping the sticks and twirling them
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: out of my hands with so prizing ease and quickness.
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: I then tried another game, and by making faint attacks
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: from the other side, at last got the animal. Gradually
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: worked away from my gun, and the next attempt at
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: raking was successful. When the excitement was over and there
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: was a chance of taking stock of the position, I
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: found that Jock had a pretty good gravel rash on
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: one hip and a nasty cut down one leg. He
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: had caught the vilderbiers by the nose the instant I
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: ran into it, and it had wiped the floor with
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: him and flung him aside. I found my bandolier with
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: a broken buckle lying on the grass. One shirt sleeve
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: was ripped open, the back of the right hand cut across.
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: Hands and knees were well grated, and there were lumps
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: and bruises about the legs, for which there was no
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: satisfactory explanation. I must have scrambled out like an unwilling
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: participant in a dog fight. It was a long job skinning,
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: cutting up, and packing the Vildebius, and when we reached
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: the art spanned, the wagons had already started, and we
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: had a long tramp before us to catch them. I
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: drove Mungo before me, keeping him at an easy jog.
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: We had been going for possibly an hour, and it
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: was quite dark except for the stars and the young
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: moon low down on our right. The road was soft,
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: and Mungo's jogging paces sounded like floppy pats. There was
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: no other sound at all, not even a distant rumble
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: from the wagons to cheer us. Mungo must have been
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: sick of it, and one might have thought him jogging
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: in his sleep, but for the occasional pricking of his ears,
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: a trick that always makes me wonder how much more
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: do horses see in the dark than we do. I
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: walked like a machine with rifle on shoulder, and glad
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: to be rid of the broken Bandolier then transferred to
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: Mungo and Jock trotted at my heels. This tired, monotonous
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: progress was disturbed by Mungo. His ears pricked, his head
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: went up, and he stopped, looking hard at a big,
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: low bush on our left. I gave him a tap
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: with a switch, and without an instant hesitation, he dashed
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: off to the right, making a half circle through the
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: felt and coming into the road again fifty yards ahead,
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: and galloped away, leaving a rising column of dust behind him.
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: I stood and faced the bush that Mungo had shied at,
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: and the first thing that occurred to me was that
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: my bandolier and cartridges were with the pony. Then Jock
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: growled low and moved a few steps forward and slightly
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: to the right, also shearing off from that bush. I
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: felt that he was bristling all over, but there was
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: neither time nor light to watch him. I stepped slowly
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: sideways after him, gripping the rifle and looking hard at
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: the bush. Our line was much the same as Mungo's,
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: and would take us some seven or eight paces off
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: the road. More than that was not possible, owing to
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: the barrier of thorns on that side. When we got
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: abreast of the bush. Two large spots of pale light
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: appeared in the middle of it, apparently high from the ground.
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: It is impossible to forget that tense, creepy feeling caused
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: by the dead stillness, the soft light, and the pale,
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: expressionless glow of those eyes, the haunting mystery of eyes,
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: and nothing more. It is not unusual to see eyes
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: in the night, but this was a nervy occasion, and
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: there is no other that comes back with all the
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: vividness and reality of the experience itself as this one does.
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: And I was not the only nervous one. Mungo incontinently bolted,
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: probably what he saw warranted it. Jock as ever, faced it.
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: But when my foot touched his hind leg as we
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: sidled away, he flew round in a convulsive jump. He too,
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: was strung to constant pitch. As we moved on and
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: passed the reflecting angle of the moon, the light of
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: the eyes went out, as suddenly and silently as it
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: had appeared. There was nothing then to show me where
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: the danger lay. But Dropped knew, and I kept a
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: watch on him. He jogged beside me, lagging slightly as
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: if to cover our retreat, always looking back a couple
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: of times, he stopped entirely and stood in the road,
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: facing straight back and growling, and I followed suit. He
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: was in command, he knew there was nothing more. Gradually,
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: jocks subdued, purring, growl died down, and the glances back
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: became fewer. I found Mungo a long way on, brought
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: to a standstill by the slipping of his load, and
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: we caught up to the wagons at the next outspand
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: end of chapter twenty one