登陆注册
27059800000012

第12章 AN ELEPHANT HUNT(2)

I know no greater luxury than giraffe marrow,unless it is elephant's heart,and we had that on the morrow.We ate our ****** meal,pausing at times to thank Good for his wonderful shot,by the light of the full moon,and then we began to smoke and yarn,and a curious picture we must have made squatted there round the fire.I,with my short grizzled hair sticking up straight,and Sir Henry with his yellow locks,which were getting rather long,were rather a contrast,especially as I am thin and short and dark,weighing only nine stone and a half,and Sir Henry is tall and broad and fair,and weighs fifteen.But perhaps the most curious-looking of the three,taking all the circumstances of the case into consideration,was Captain John Good,R.N.There he sat upon a leather bag,looking just as though he had come in from a comfortable day's shooting in a civilized country,absolutely clean,tidy,and well-dressed.He had on a shooting-suit of brown tweed,with a hat to match,and neat gaiters.He was,as usual,beautifully shaven,his eyeglass and his false teeth appeared to be in perfect order,and altogether he was the nearest man I ever had to do with in the wilderness.

He even had on a collar,of which he had a supply,made of white gutta-percha.

"You see,they weigh so little,"he said to me,innocently,when I expressed my astonishment at the fact;"I always liked to look like a gentleman."Well,there we all sat yarning away in the beautiful moonlight,and watching the Kaffirs a few yards off sucking their intoxicating "daccha"in a pipe of which the mouthpiece was made of the horn of an eland,till they one by one rolled themselves up in their blankets and went to sleep by the fire,that is,all except Umbopa,who sat a little apart (I noticed he never mixed much with the other hairs),his chin resting on his hand apparently thinking deeply;Presently,from the depths of the bush behind us came a loud "woof!

woof!"

"That's a lion,"said I,and we all started up to listen.Hardly had we done so,when from the pool,about a hundred yards off.came the strident trumpeting of an elephant."Unkungunklovo!Unkungunklovo!"(elephant!

elephant!)whispered the Kaffirs;and a few minutes afterwards we saw a succession of vast shadowy forms moving slowly from the direction of the water towards the bush.Up jumped Good,burning for slaughter,and thinking,perhaps,that it was as easy to kill elephant as he had found it to shoot giraffe,but I caught him by the arm and pulled him down.

"It's no good,"I said,"let them go."

"It seems that we are in a paradise of game.I vote we stop here a day or two,and have a go at them,"said Sir Henry,presently.

I was rather surprised,for hitherto Sir Henry had always been for pushing on as fast as possible,more especially since we had ascertained at Inyati that about two years ago an Englishman of the name of Neville had sold his wagon there,and gone on up country;but I suppose his hunter instincts had got the better of him.

Good jumped at the idea,for he was longing to have a go at those elephants;and so,to speak the truth,did I,for it went against my conscience to let such a herd as that escape without having a pull at them.

"All right,my hearties,"said I."I think we want a little recreation.

And now let's turn in,for we ought to be off by dawn,and then perhaps we may catch them feeding before they move on."The others agreed,and we proceeded to make preparations.Good took off his clothes,shook them,put his eyeglass and his false teeth into his trousers pocket,and,folding them all up neatly,placed them out of the dew under a comer of his mackintosh sheet.Sir Henry and I contented ourselves with rougher arrangements,and were soon curled up in our blankets and dropping off into the dreamless sleep that rewards the traveller.

Going,going,go -What was that?Suddenly from the direction of the water came a sound of violent scuffling,and next instant there broke upon our ears a succession of the most awful roars.There was no mistaking what they came from;only a lion could make such a noise as that.

We all jumped up and looked towards the water,in the direction of which we saw a confused mass,yellow and black in color,staggering and struggling towards us.We seized our rifles,and,slipping on our veldtschoons (shoes made of untanned hide),ran out of the scherm towards it.By this time it had fallen,and was rolling over and over on the ground,and by the time we reached it it struggled no longer,but was quite still.

And this was what it was.On the grass there lay a sable antelope bull -the most beautiful of all the African antelopes -quite dead,and transfixed by its great curved horns was a magnificent black-maned lion,also dead.What had happened,evidently,was this.The sable antelope had come down to drink at the pool,where the lion -no doubt the same we had heard -had been lying in wait.While the antelope was drinking the lion had sprung upon him,but was received upon the sharp,curved horns and transfixed.I once saw the same thing happen before.The lion,unable to free himself,had torn and beaten at the back and neck of the bull,which,maddened with fear and pain,had rushed on till it dropped dead.

As soon as we had sufficiently examined the dead beasts we called the Kaffirs,and between us managed to drag their carcasses up to the scherm.

Then we went in and laid down,to wake no more till dawn.

With the first light we were up and ****** ready for the fray.

We took with us the three eight-bore rifles,a good supply of ammunition,and our large water-bottles filled with weak,cold tea,which I have always found the best stuff to shoot on.After swallowing a little breakfast we stared.Umbopa,Khiva,and Ventv?gel accompanying us.The other Kaffirs we left with instructions to skin the lion and the sable antelope,and cut up the latter.

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 穿越之举世奇公主

    穿越之举世奇公主

    平凡的吃货蚁族李纯熙,家人远离,生活无望,每天以吃为生活乐趣,却不知不觉已经成了200斤的女胖子,男神对之视若无睹,下定决心减肥略见成效,一时兴奋过度导致休克,醒来之时却也穿越到了不知名的王朝,可是镜子中虽不是自己但也是个小胖子,偏偏这个小胖子是个天生蠢呆之人,虽为家中嫡女却任自己的嫡亲妹妹欺凌,下定决心改变命运,先从减肥开始,运用自己的现代智慧进行经商,获得皇上青睐册封第一个民间公主谱写传奇人生,王公贵族对其却之若骛,可心中早有所属。
  • 御魔之体

    御魔之体

    一个只想一辈子种树的小男孩,却因为一次突发事件被卷入了命运的深渊,最终男孩引发了一场世界大战,成为了亚瑟史上最大的恶人。
  • 都市战神传说

    都市战神传说

    他是杀手界杀神,他是邪皇殿之主,他是血组血夜,他是暗夜之神,他是灵戒之主,他是暗夜遗迹的独霸者……七灵之体,到底蕴含着什么,他的计划,究竟为了什么,轩,即平安,战神归来,必定掀起一阵腥风血雨。
  • 虐杀原形之末世危机

    虐杀原形之末世危机

    二零二零年,一颗从天而降的陨石带来了一种生化病毒。末世危机爆发,丧尸无数!异兽遍地!而陨石带来的,还有一个名为———虐杀原形的逆天游戏系统!
  • 穿越做狐妃

    穿越做狐妃

    她,梦想着成为一代舞蹈家,却在万千聚光灯打在身上时摔下舞台,身转千年,受尽沦桑!穿越到白狐身上是她的错吗?她要做一个纯美的白狐是她的错吗?为何,为何,偏要她做这异世中的灵类,她不甘心,她真的不甘心,她定要和天斗一斗,把自己的命运改变!
  • 谁动了我的夫人

    谁动了我的夫人

    蓝沐烟是烟柳城第一富豪之女,传闻她美若天仙,琴棋书画样样精通。因为老爹要给她找个相公,一个不满意她就要逃了~逃了就逃了吧,偏说她要在外把沙漠变绿洲,还要建造自己的王国,这叫人如何是好.....且看鬼灵精怪的富家小姐如何混混江湖!!!!
  • 傲世神妃

    傲世神妃

    当她登位为皇,生杀大权尽在我手之时,一场爱与恨的交织蒙蔽了她的双眼。当与她经历过生死与误会的夫君变成真正的仇人时,她当如何面对?是该逃避,还是该斩草除根?
  • 亡灵戒律

    亡灵戒律

    光明教会非正义,亡灵法师不邪恶。他神秘的姓名到底有何含义?突现的亡灵法师是不是天意?偶遇的朋友,邂逅的红颜,仇恨的出现,这未知的穿越背后到底是怎样的万年阴谋?
  • 绝世风华:狂妃倾天下

    绝世风华:狂妃倾天下

    云菀,天玄门修为最高的继承人,一次意外,她魂穿异世,成了嚣张跋扈,被人下毒而亡的八岁摄政王!只是,谁能告诉她,这个摄政王竟是女扮男装?!对此,云菀表示,即使是男装,她也照样会闪瞎世人的眼!收小弟,提修为,契约至尊兽,夺密宝,保国家,重创天玄门,一个不漏!正事之余,她还抽空谈了场恋爱。暗月森冷情的首席祭司,既然一直没皮没脸的缠着她的话,她只好勉为其难的收下了。
  • 爱上甜丝丝的你

    爱上甜丝丝的你

    你见过一天不吃巧克力就会混身难受睡不着觉的女孩吗?作为周记水产店的最后一个女孩子,她被父母给予肩负着振兴周家欣欣向荣的重任!偏偏只爱香香甜甜的味道的她,遇到了不吃甜食的“梦幻王子”。管他长得比明星还明星,比混血还混血,长得好看就可以随便欺服人吗?她们姐妹在KFC打工容易吗?她姐只不过想用贿赂的方法钓个帅哥男朋友。他却依依不饶地要告发她们。先是害她失去了很有面子的记者工作,又把她当成小跟班来使唤。遇到他简直就是遇到了灾星一个。