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Page 14
Frequently during our journey we outspanned just outside the Kafir
kraals, and often entered into them; one of my companions speaking the
native, as well as the Dutch languages very fluently. We were always
received by both Boers, and Kafirs, very kindly. Sometimes we were
accompanied by a large number of Kafirs for days. I remember once,
counting as many as forty Kafirs sitting round our camp fire, clothed
and unclothed, and in every variety of costume, from the old British
Artillery tunic to the equally ancient pea coat, the bright-coloured
blue morning jacket, and the cloak of Jackall skins. On this occasion
they remained all night with us, keeping up the fire and indulging in
endless and cheerful talk among themselves. When I wrapped myself in my
kaross and turned into the wagon at night I left them talking. When I
awoke in the early morning I found them talking still.
The country I saw in the Northern part of the Transvaal is very
different, and far more picturesque than it is in the South-West or
South-East, which have a close resemblance to one another, in their
bare, barren, treeless, and dreary character. I saw some parts which
were really beautiful. One day we drove for several miles through quite
lovely scenery. In passing along the road I was forcibly reminded of the
road between Braemar and Mar Lodge, in Aberdeenshire, which it strongly
resembles. The road runs on the side of the hill, sloping down to the
rivulet at the bottom, exactly like the river Dee, and the Rooiburg, or
red tinted, Mountain, exactly resembles the heather on the Scottish
hills. It is altogether a charming spot, and a perfect picture of fine
scenery. There is a large quantity of excellent and valuable timber in
this district, as well as abundant evidence of mineral-bearing quartz. I
believe that, some day, other Johannesburgs are destined to rise in the
Northern part of the Transvaal, rivalling, or perhaps even eclipsing,
the treasures already discovered in the Randt.
At the spot I have described, which is called Hartebeestepoort, not far
from the banks of the Zand River, where there is a good quantity of
excellent and valuable timber, there was quite a romantic scene one
night. We were discussing, as usual, our evening meal round our camp
fire. It was starlight, but otherwise we were in total darkness. In
addition to ourselves, there were nine Kafirs, making a party of a dozen
altogether. It was an intensely interesting and remarkable scene to me,
to find myself surrounded by these wild fellows in perfectly friendly
fashion, in the midst of the vast veldt, the silence and stillness only
broken every now and then by the cry of the jackals howling in the
distance. On leaving here we travelled north towards Grouthoek, which
is situated in the midst of the Rhynoster range of mountains, being
drawn by oxen, our horses following us, in order to give them rest, and
so keep them fresher.
I was disappointed at the small quantity of game we found on our
journey. We occasionally shot a springbok, and I thus had an opportunity
of making myself acquainted with the delicious flavour of the South
African venison. But the days of the enormous herds which once abounded
in these regions are gone. They have been either exterminated by the
Boers, or been driven far northward, into the interior of Africa,
together with the lions and elephants, over whose former habitation I
was travelling. There are still a good many koodoos, and hartebeestes in
this neighbourhood, but I was not fortunate enough to come across them.
Our commissariat was occasionally supplemented by a delicious bird,
about the size of a pheasant, called the kooran, as well as by a few
pheasants, partridges, and guinea fowls.
One afternoon we were exposed to a thrilling adventure, which, but for
the merciful interposition of Providence, might have terminated in a
most disastrous way. Suddenly, as we were driving along the road,
through a dense wood, we discovered to the right of us the light of an
immense bush fire. It was careering wildly along, fiercely burning, and
sweeping everything before it. We saw it was coming swiftly towards the
road we were travelling. We pulled up the horses, and taking out lucifer
matches, jumped off the wagon, and tried to set alight to the grass,
which was about five or six feet high, and very dry, close by us, in
order to secure a clear open space around us. But it was too late. The
fierce fire, to the height of several feet, was rushing and crashing
through the wood furiously towards us. Another moment, and we should
have been within its terrible grasp, and wagon, horses, and ourselves
infallibly burnt. It was in truth an awful crisis. We jumped back into
the wagon and pushed frantically forward. Showers of sparks were already
in the road. But, fortunately, the fire, which for a full half mile was
burning behind us, was only a short distance in front of us, and, thank
God, we happily escaped.
One of the great advantages I have derived from my tour is, that I have
had many opportunities of communicating personally with so many men of
different races, and all classes--British, Dutch, and natives.
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