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Updated: June 22, 2025
Swartboy objected at first; but Jan urged that he had felt cold in the wagon, and that was partly why he had come down to the fire. All this was sheer cunning in the little imp. But Swartboy could not refuse him anything, and at length consented. He could see no harm in it, as there were no signs of rain.
On the contrary, the hours of night are spent in ranging about, on journeys to the distant watering-places, and in feeding; though in remote and quiet districts they also feed by day so that it is probable that most of their nocturnal activity is the result of their dread of their watchful enemy, man. Swartboy communicated these facts, as the hunters all together followed upon the spoor.
"What is it, papa?" inquired little Truey, who was near him; "what were you speaking about, dear papa?" And then all the others gathered around him, noticing his excited manner, and pleased at seeing him look so happy. "What is it, papa?" asked all together, while Swartboy and Totty stood eager as the rest to hear the answer.
It was to Hendrik they were indebted not only for this pet, but for a dinner of delicate venison, which they had that day eaten, and which all of them, except Swartboy, preferred to elephant beef. Hendrik had procured the venison by a shot from his rifle, and in the following manner. About mid-day he went out having fancied that upon a large grassy meadow near the camp he saw some animal.
The earth which came out of this hole Swartboy placed in the form of a loose embankment around the edge. By his direction the boys had already collected upon the spot a large quantity of dried branches and logs. These Swartboy now built over the hole, into a pyramid of ten feet high, and then set the pile on fire.
But what now astonished Swartboy was, that instead of one answer to his call, he fancied he heard two, simultaneously uttered! It proved to be no fancy, for before he could repeat the decoy the bird again gave out its note of defiance, and was answered by a similar call from another quarter!
You may be curious to know how he accomplished this. You would have dug a hole with a spade, and necessarily as wide as the spade itself. But Swartboy had no spade, and would not have used it if there had been one since it would have made the holes too large for his purpose. Swartboy sunk his holes by "crowing" which process he performed by means of a small pointed stick.
Their first salutation was a statement of their surprise that any travellers could have succeeded in reaching their secluded habitation. Swartboy replied to this by a request to be conducted to the nearest place where water could be obtained, of course to the stream, pools, or wells that supplied the kraal. The answer was astounding.
That was a secret known only by Swartboy, and in the execution of it the Bushman played first fiddle, with the important air of a chef de cuisine. He proceeded as follows: He first dug a hole in the ground, about two feet deep, and a little more in diameter just large enough to admit one of the feet, which was nearly two feet diameter at the base.
He seemed to have no suspicion of any danger; but placed himself at once alongside the trunk of the acacia in the very position and on the side Swartboy had said he would take. From his spoor the Bushman knew he had been in the habit of so standing. His head was turned from the hunters, but not so much as to prevent them from seeing a pair of splendid tusks, six feet long at the least.
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