Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Updated: June 7, 2025
I had with me four native servants, namely, a driver and voorlooper, or leader, who were natives of Matabeleland, a Hottentot named Hans, who had once been the slave of a Transvaal Boer, and a Zulu hunter, who for five years had accompanied me upon my trips, and whose name was Mashune.
"'Nay, my father; surely the ghosts are there; they come out of the water at night, and sit upon the banks to dry themselves. "Mashune was, I think, one of the bravest men I ever knew in the daytime, but he had a more than civilized dread of the supernatural. "'Must I go myself, thou fool? I said, sternly.
"'See, Macumazahn! see! said Mashune, excitedly, as we drew near the thorn; 'the buffalo has charged him. Look! here the bull came like a boulder down the hill, his hoofs turning up the earth like a hoe. Hans had hit him: he bled as he came; there are the blood spots. It is all written down there, my father there upon the earth. "'Yes, I said; 'yes; but where is Hans?
The eland presently moved on to the water, and a minute or two afterwards there arose a great sound of splashing, followed by the quick fall of galloping hoofs. "'What's that, Mashune? I asked. "'That dam lion; buck smell him, replied the Zulu in English, of which he had a very superficial knowledge.
Half wild with grief and anxiety, followed by Hans and Mashune, I ran at full speed down the slope of the koppie, and across the space of plain below to the spring of water, where my camp had been. I was soon there, only to find that my worst suspicions were confirmed. "The waggon and all its contents, including my spare guns and ammunition, had been destroyed by a grass fire.
Hans and Mashune had also each a Martini rifle and some cartridges, not many. And it was with this equipment that we had to undertake a journey of 300 miles through a desolate and almost uninhabited region. I can assure you that I have rarely been in a worse position, and I have been in some queer ones.
Our ammunition, too, was exhausted; I had only one cartridge left for my eight-bore rifle, and Hans and Mashune, who were armed with Martini Henrys, had three between them. It was about an hour from sundown when we halted and lit a fire for luckily we had still a few matches. It was a charming spot to camp, I remember.
In another quarter of a second I had fallen from the horn, and heard the blow of the spear, followed by the indescribable sound of steel shearing its way through flesh. I had fallen on my back, and, looking up, I saw that the gallant Mashune had driven the assegai a foot or more into the carcass of the buffalo, and was turning to fly. "Alas! it was too late.
"'Nay, Macumazahn, I cannot eat those herbs. "'If thou dost not eat thou wilt starve: eat, Mashune. "He stared at the watercresses doubtfully for a while, and at last seized a handful and crammed them into his mouth, crying out as he did so, 'Oh, why was I born that I should live to feed on green weeds like an ox?
When he had gone two or three steps he caught sight of me, halted, and stood there gazing straight towards us; he was so close that I could see the firelight reflected in his wicked, greenish eyes. "'Shoot, shoot! said Mashune. 'The devil is coming he is going to spring!
Word Of The Day
Others Looking