the news brought by the scouts was very serious. the continued fire in the rear showed that the enemy were making a serious attack in that quarter. but mr harvey feared that his fighting force there must be weakened greatly, to enable him to attack so formidable a position as that which the enemy occupied in front. before arriving at any decision as to his best course, he halted the caravan, and went forward himself, with the two natives, to inspect the position which they had discovered.
when he reached the turn in the defile he crawled forward among the boulders until he reached a spot where he could obtain a clear view of the barrier; it was to the full as formidable as it had been described by the scouts. it would have needed an active man to scale the rocks without any opposition from above, while on the top a dense body of natives were clustered, numbering at least fifty, and probably a considerable portion of their force was concealed from view.
mr harvey sent back one of the natives to tell dick to come on and join him; after which he was to go back and bid jumbo come up, as mr harvey had great confidence in the hunter’s shrewdness.
dick presently arrived, and was much impressed with the formidable nature of the obstacle.
“we might creep forward,” he said, “among the stones and soon drive those fellows off the edge, but they would only lie down behind, and could easily destroy us, as we climbed one by one to the top. each one, as he got up, would be riddled with assegais. what are you thinking of doing, sir?”
“i don’t know what is best, dick. i quite agree with you, it is a tremendous position to storm, but on the other hand it would be almost as bad to retreat.”
ten minutes later jumbo arrived at a run; without a word he threw himself down by the side of mr harvey, and for two or three minutes gazed silently at the obstacle ahead; then, to mr harvey’s surprise, he turned over on to his back, and lay there with his eyes open.
“what on earth are you doing, jumbo?”
“look there, sir,” the native said, pointing to a glistening spot, the size of a crown-piece, on his stomach.
“well, what of that?” mr harvey said; “that’s a drop of rain—there’s another fallen on my hat. what do you think of that place ahead?”
“me no think nothing about him, sir; that place, sir, no consequence one way or the other. you hear him, sir?”
as he spoke a louder crash of thunder burst overhead. mr harvey looked up now. that portion of the sky which could be seen was inky black. great drops of rain were falling with a pattering sound on the rock.
“storm come, sir; very bad storm. i see him coming, and say to massa tom, ‘two or tree hour fight over; now you see someting like a mountain-storm. in tree hours water come down twenty feet deep.’”
“you are right, jumbo. it is lucky the storm has begun so early; if we had got far into the defile we should have been caught. now, all we have got to do is to wait. go back, dick, and send up every man with fire-arms; we must at once engage those fellows in front and occupy their attention. if they once perceive their danger they will make a desperate rush down here, and it will go hard with us then. when you have sent the fighting-men up, see that the teamsters move all the waggons to the highest piece of ground you can find in the valley. let them arrange the waggons there as closely as they will pack, and keep the animals well round them. a flood will destroy our enemy, but i am not sure that it may not destroy us too. now hurry away, and tell the fighting-men to run up as quick as they can. when you have seen everything in readiness, join tom, and warn him to be ready to fall back to the waggons as soon as the flood comes.”
dick ran down the ravine. it was not until he issued from it that he was aware how tremendously the rain was pouring down. in the defile he had been conscious only of a slight mist, with an occasional drop of heavy rain, for very few of the rain-drops which entered the gap far above descended to the bottom, almost all striking against the sides. in the comparatively open valley, however, the rain was coming down in a perfect cataract. dick at once sent all the fighting-men to the front, and three minutes later the report of musketry told that they were engaged with the enemy.
dick now set to work with ten of the natives to select the spot on which to place the waggons. the bottom of the valley was very flat, and the sand between the boulders showed that when the water was high the whole was covered. he, however, found a spot on the left-hand side, about midway between the two defiles, which was some feet higher than the rest. the hill-side behind at this point rose somewhat less abruptly than elsewhere, and it was probable that the rise in the bottom was formed by a slip which had taken place at some past period. here the waggons were arranged side by side in two rows, the wheels of the three inner waggons close against the slope above them. the cattle were gathered closely round.
dick then joined tom, whom he found in high spirits, the hunters having already told him that the flood would very soon come to their relief. the party was hotly engaged. about thirty or forty yards intervened between them and their enemy, who, crouching behind rocks, were shooting their arrows high into the air, so that they came down almost perpendicularly upon the defenders. one of these had been killed and three severely wounded by the missiles; while they themselves could only get an occasional shot at a limb exposed beyond the shelter of the boulders.
not having received orders to stay by tom, dick retraced his steps up the valley to the party above. from the cliffs at the side of the valley waterfalls were leaping down, and a stream of water was already beginning to flow down its centre. the bed of the defile was perfectly dry, the stones being scarcely wetted by the fine mist from above. dick found mr harvey and the natives engaged in keeping up a hot fire at the top of the obstacle, lying at a distance of forty or fifty yards from it among the rocks. one or two dead natives were stretched on the top of the rock; the rest were not to be seen, but the arrows whistled fast over his head, showing that they were lying down just behind it.
“the rain is tremendous outside,” dick said, as he joined mr harvey. “you can have no idea what it is here. the water is pouring so fast into the valley that a stream is forming there already, and will soon be running two or three feet deep down the lower pass. i wonder it has not begun to make its way down from above.”
“it has begun, dick; look at those little threads of water between the stones. when it comes, it will come with a rush; that is always the way with these gorges. jumbo is listening; it will come with a roar like thunder. he has just told me i had better send most of the men back at once, keeping only four or five to continue firing to the last moment. you see the enemy, who are there on a sort of platform, will not notice the water that is making its way down. see how fast it rises; it is ankle-deep already—and, i tell you, we shall have to run when the time comes.”
all the natives, with the exception of jumbo and two other men, were sent back.
“i don’t see anything to fire at,” dick said.
“no,” mr harvey agreed; “it is a pure waste of ammunition, except that it occupies their attention. they can hardly be conscious yet how tremendously it is raining. if they were they would not remain where they are, but would make a rush upon us, however great the risk.”
“listen!” jumbo exclaimed suddenly.
they listened and were conscious of a dull, heavy, roaring sound. jumbo leapt to his feet.
“come!” he said; “run for your lives.”
they started up and took to their heels. a terrible yell was heard behind them, and, glancing over his shoulder, as he turned the corner, dick saw the natives climbing down from their defence, and even leaping from the top in their terror. fast as dick was running, the roar behind rose louder and louder.
“quick, dick,” mr harvey shouted, “or you will be too late.”
dick hurried to the utmost, but the stream was already rising rapidly, and was running knee-deep between the stones. stumbling and slipping, and cutting himself against the rocks, dick struggled on. the mighty roar was now close behind him, and seemed to him like that of a heavy train at full speed. he reached the mouth of the ravine; the water was already up to his waist. mr harvey and jumbo dashed in, seized him by the arms, and dragged him out.
“run!” they said.
they were not fifty yards from the mouth, when dick, looking round, saw a mighty wall of water, fifteen feet high, leap from it, pouring as from huge sluice-gates into the valley. he did not stop running until he joined the rest gathered by the waggons.
tom and his party were already there, for the rising water had soon warned their assailants of the danger, and the fire had suddenly ceased. already the greater part of the valley was covered with water, down the centre of which a foaming torrent was flowing. here and there could be seen numerous dark objects, which, he knew, were the bodies of the indians who had defended the upper defile, caught before they could reach its mouth by the wall of water from above. they had instantly been dashed lifeless against the rocks and boulders, and not one could be seen to make towards the comparatively still waters on either side of the centre stream.
driven back again by the narrow entrance to the lower defile the water in the valley rose rapidly, as with an ever-increasing violence it poured in from above. there it was rushing out in a solid, dark-brown cataract, which dick judged to be fully forty feet in height. in a quarter of an hour from its first outburst the water had already reached the feet of those standing upon the little knoll of ground in the valley. the oxen lowing and stamping with terror pressed more and more closely together. the young ostriches were placed in one of the waggons, for although their height would have left their heads well above water, they would probably have succumbed to the effects of a prolonged submersion of their bodies.
“if it goes on like this for another quarter of an hour,” mr harvey said, “the oxen will be washed away, if not the waggons. thank god, i think we can all manage to climb up the slope. jumbo, tell the men each to load themselves with five or six days’ provisions. let half a dozen take boxes of ammunition, and as many bales of the best cloth. let the rest take as many bundles of the best ostrich feathers as they can carry. let them lay them all on the slope, twenty or thirty yards up, wherever they can find place for them, and then come down again, and make as many trips with the best goods as they can.”
all hands worked hard; inch by inch the water rose; mr harvey, assisted by the boys and teamsters, fastened ropes together, and with these surrounded the closely-packed throng of cattle. the water was now more than waist-deep, and was still rising; soon the cattle on the outside were lifted off their feet. there was no current here, and they floated with their heads on the backs of those in front of them; higher and higher the water rose, till the whole of the cattle were afloat. at first a few struggled, but soon they subsided into quiet, and the whole mass floated together, with only their heads above water.
on every available ledge on the hillside were placed bundles and bales of all kinds, and here the whites and natives stood, watching the progress of the flood. the thunder-shower had ceased soon after the water first burst through the gorge, but mr harvey knew that some hours must elapse before the flood would begin to abate.
“i don’t see why the water should not run off as fast as it comes in,” dick said.
“it all depends, dick, upon the question whether in the lower defile there is any place narrower than the mouth, through which the water is rushing from above. according to appearances this is so; for, could the water escape faster than it comes in, the lake here would cease to rise. i think now the water has reached a level, where the outflow nearly equals the inflow. i have been watching the wheels of the waggons, and for the last ten minutes i do not think it has risen above an inch or two.”
“i will get down and watch,” dick said, and he scrambled down to the water’s edge.
two minutes later he shouted up,—
“it has not risen at all since i came here!” the teamsters had taken their station on the outside waggons, and continued to talk and shout to the oxen, exhorting these to be patient and quiet, as if the animals were capable of understanding every word they said.
for three hours there was no change in the situation. then all thought that there was a slight decrease in the height of the torrent of water pouring from the defile, and half an hour later a slight but distinct subsidence in the level of the water could be perceived. in another hour it had fallen a foot, and after that the fall was rapid and steady. the deep roar caused by the rushing torrent and the rumbling of the huge boulders and rocks swept along in the narrow defile, gradually subsided, and soon the bullocks were again standing on their feet.
the natives set to work to wash away the thick sediment which the flood had left on the floor of the waggons, and before nightfall the goods were all repacked. but few signs of the recent flood now remained in the valley. a stream still rushed through the centre. trunks and branches of trees lay here and there, as the water had left them, and the bodies of some twenty or thirty natives were lying amongst the rocks. in some places shallow pools remained; in others were sheets of glistening mud.
“we shall have no more trouble with the natives,” mr harvey said; “the fighting-men of that tribe must have been nearly annihilated.”
“do you think that those below were caught, as well as those above?”
“certainly,” mr harvey answered; “the water went down with the speed of a race-horse; they had only a few minutes’ start, and would have been overtaken before they could have even gained the lower bed of the gorge. we can journey on peacefully now. we have been fortunate indeed; we have only lost one man, and the three who were hit with stones are all likely to do well. we have not lost a single bullock, nor a bale of goods.”
“we shall have hard work to get the waggons up that place where the natives made the stand tomorrow.”
“it is quite likely,” mr harvey said, “that the obstacle there no longer exists. a flood like that of to-day would carry away anything. look at those great blocks, some of which must weigh more than a hundred tons. likely enough some of them have formed part of that great pile. i have already sent tony and blacking up the defile to see how the flood has left it, and in an hour they will be back to report.”
the hunters on returning brought the good news that the great block had been removed, and so far as they had explored no other of any importance had been found. they said indeed that the defile was now more open than either of the two gorges they had already passed through.
this was very satisfactory, for all had had enough of lifting and heaving rocks. their hands were all cut and wounded, and every limb ached with the strains which they had undergone.
the next morning at daybreak the caravan started. the hunters’ report of the state of the roads was fairly borne out, and although some difficulties were met with it was unnecessary to unyoke the oxen, although of course many boulders had to be cleared away to allow them to pass. on emerging at the upper end of the defile they found they were in a valley which opened out to a great width, and rose in gradual slopes at its head to the crest of the hills. as the only egress at the lower end was by the defile, it was clear that the whole rainfall must make its way by this exit, which fully accounted for the tremendous torrent they had witnessed.
two days’ travelling brought them to the foot of the slopes on the other side of the range of hills, and they were soon engaged in carrying on a considerable trade with the natives there.
for another three months they travelled slowly through the country, by the end of which time they had disposed of all their goods, and the waggons were filled to the tilts with skins and bales of ostrich feathers.
they now turned their faces to the south. after journeying for a fortnight they perceived one day, far across the country, the white tilts of another caravan. the three whites at once started at full gallop, eager to hear news of what had taken place in the colony during their absence. as they neared the caravan two white men rode out to meet them; both were known to mr harvey, and hearty greetings were exchanged.
the new-comers were halting for the day, and mr harvey and the boys were soon seated in tents, with three bottles of beer in front of them, a luxury which they heartily enjoyed, having been many months without tasting it.
“and now what is the news in the colony?” mr harvey asked, after having replied to their questions as to the state of trade, and the route which they had followed, as the new-comers would of course take another line, so as not to pass over the same ground.
“things don’t look well,” they answered; “the boers are growing so insolent that there is no getting on with them. several english have been shot down in various places, without the smallest cause. they openly declare their intention of recovering their independence. the english stores are for the most part tabooed, and things altogether look very threatening. there is a mere handful of british troops in the transvaal, and only a regiment or so in natal. those wretched duffers at home hurried every soldier out of the country the instant the fighting was over, and if the boers really mean business we shall have no end of trouble. you see, we have crushed their two enemies, the zulus and secoceni, and now that we have done the work for them they want to get rid of us.”
“i thought we should have trouble with them,” mr harvey said; “they are an obstinate, pig-headed race; they never would pay taxes to their own government; they would not even turn out and fight when secoceni threatened to overrun the country; and now, as likely as not, they will fight desperately for the independence they were glad enough to relinquish in the hour of danger. what you tell me is a nuisance. i had originally intended to go down through kimberley to port elizabeth; but i changed my mind and decided to go back again through the transvaal, and i have come so far to the east that i do not like to change my plans again. however, i don’t suppose we shall be interfered with. they can’t very well quarrel with us, if we won’t quarrel with them.”
“perhaps not,” the trader said; “but i tell you i have found it precious difficult to keep my temper several times. the insolence and swagger of those fellows is amazing.”
the two caravans halted near each other for the day, and a pleasant evening was spent. the next morning each resumed its way.
no further adventure was met with until the limpopo was reached; this was crossed on rafts. the natives who had accompanied them were now paid off, receiving a handsome present each, in addition to the sum agreed upon, and the caravan proceeded on its way.
at the first dutch village at which they arrived, a week after leaving the limpopo, they had evidence of a change of demeanour in the boers. as they passed through the streets a group of five or six men were standing at the door of a store; one of them in a loud and insolent voice made a remark to the others, that before long they would not have any of these english dogs going through their country—a remark which was received with boisterous approval by the others. mr harvey’s face flushed, and he was on the point of reining in his horse, and riding up to chastise the insolent boer, but the thought of the distance of country yet before him checked him. it was clearly the intention of the man to force a quarrel, and in this the english were sure to get the disadvantage finally. he therefore rode quietly on with the insolent laughter of the dutchmen ringing in his ears. the lads were equally indignant, and it was only the example of mr harvey which had restrained them.
“things have come to a pretty pass,” mr harvey said, as he dismounted, “that englishmen should be openly insulted in this way. however, i suppose it will not do to resent it, for these scoundrels would clearly be only too glad of an excuse to shoot us down; but if this sort of thing is going on at every village we pass through, we shall have hard work in keeping our tempers until we are fairly out of the transvaal. i pity our countrymen who have bought land or setup stores in this country. i was never fond of the boers, though i am willing to allow that they are a splendid set of men, and that they are magnificent riders and good shots. i question if we shall ever retain them against their will. of course if we had a government which worked with energy and decision it would be a different matter altogether. there are a considerable number of english and scotch settlers already here, and the natives would rise against the dutch to a man if called upon to do so; and if a couple of dozen of their ringleaders were promptly seized and shot, there would be an end to the whole matter. but i know what it will be: the natives will not be encouraged or even allowed to rise, our soldiers, who can hardly hit a haystack at a hundred yards, will be shot down at a distance by the boers, and, likely enough, we shall meet with a serious disaster, and then the english government will get frightened and make any terms these fellows demand.”
