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Updated: June 13, 2025
Then Sihamba having given the garments to a waiting woman to wash, wrapped her in a soft kaross of fur, and after drinking some milk and eating a little, Suzanne laid herself down upon a mattress made of the husks of mealie cobs, and even as she thanked God Who had brought her safely through so many dangers past, and prayed Him to protect her in those that were to come, and to comfort the heart of her husband in his sickness and affliction, she fell asleep.
Yes, Boss," he said; and, from long usage when out hunting with my father or with me, he took the glass handily and sat down to scan the distant Boer line. "Lot o' Doppie," he said in a low tone, as if talking to himself. "Lot o' horse feeding; lot o' wagon and bullock. Plenty mealie, coffee, sugar." "Yes, Joeboy," I said; "and we want one of those wagons and teams." "Um?
'Yes, he replied in the 'lands taal'; 'but surely you are in a very great hurry. I will pay you well for the food and shelter. 'That's nothing, continued the vrouw in a business-like tone; 'I only want the tablecloth so that I can get the bed made. The Boer is a pious person, who prays to God when he wants rain, and forgets to pray when his mealie crop proves a success.
We are very poor, our best land is gone, we can scarce grow enough food; and we long for the time when once again we can have rich mealie patches, and good grazing land for our oxen and our horses, and are again a strong people, and they afraid of us.
"I am sure you are quite right," I said to him, nervously, "in holding that vegetables are the best diet in a hot climate. At any rate I have made up my mind to try the experiment for a few days," and throwing manners to the winds, I grabbed four of the upper mealie cobs and the top of the pumpkin which I cut off with a knife.
I too ate and was thankful, for with the exception of the mealie cobs I had tasted nothing for nearly four-and-twenty hours. Then she washed her face and hands, and tidied her rags of dress as well as she was able. As she did so by degrees I drew her story from her.
An hour before daylight all were out engaged in grooming their horses, which, having received a hot mash of mealie flour directly they came in on the previous evening, looked better than could have been expected after their hard work on two days out of three. By the time they had finished, the natives had breakfast ready, and they had scarcely eaten this when a trumpet sounded to horse.
Their wagon was already fully loaded, the load consisting of several air-tight cases of ammunition, six barrels of flour, a cask of sugar, a bag of coffee, a chest of tea, a small keg of brandy to be used only in cases of the utmost emergency a case containing pickles, condiments, preserves, salt, and other articles of a similar character, to be regarded as luxuries and used accordingly; their own personal belongings including clothes and firearms, a small tent made of waterproof material for sleeping in, two net hammocks with portable supports, a full set of cooking utensils, four sacks of mealie meal, and, finally, two large boxes of beads of various kinds, a quantity of brass wire, and a case of cheap mechanical and other toys, small mirrors, etcetera which Grosvenor had had the foresight to bring out from England with him, the last three items being destined to be employed in bartering with the natives.
"Close by this hut grew a large baobab tree. A glance at the mealie grounds showed me that the old head man had not exaggerated the mischief done by the elephants to his crops, which were now getting ripe. Nearly half of the entire patch was destroyed. The great brutes had eaten all they could, and the rest they had trampled down.
The ground was strewn with straw, empty tins, fragments of food, bones, cartridge- cases, old bandoliers, and large quantities of unopened tinned food and sacks of mealie flour. Here and there were patches of dried blood, showing where the wounded by our shell had been brought in, and laid down until they could be removed to the hospital under cover of night. On the plateau the scene was similar.
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