A Herd Of Antelopes, A
Hundred Yards Off, Gazed At Us As We Moved Along The Winding Path,
And Timidly Stood Their Ground Until Half Our Line Had Passed, But
Darted Off The Instant They "Got The Wind," Or Caught The Flavour Of
Those Who Had Gone By.
The sport is all up with the hunter who gets
to the windward of the African beast, as it
Cannot stand even the
distant aroma of the human race, so much dreaded by all wild animals.
Is this the fear and the dread of man, which the Almighty said to
Noah was to be upon every beast of the field? A lion may, while
lying in wait for his prey, leap on a human being as he would on any
other animal, save a rhinoceros or an elephant, that happened to
pass; or a lioness, when she has cubs, might attack a man, who,
passing "up the wind of her," had unconsciously, by his scent,
alarmed her for the safety of her whelps; or buffaloes, amid other
animals, might rush at a line of travellers, in apprehension of being
surrounded by them; but neither beast nor snake will, as a general
rule, turn on man except when wounded, or by mistake. If gorillas,
unwounded, advance to do battle with him, and beat their breasts in
defiance, they are an exception to all wild beasts known to us. From
the way an elephant runs at the first glance of man, it is inferred
that this huge brute, though really king of beasts, would run even
from a child.
Our two donkeys caused as much admiration as the three white men.
Great was the astonishment when one of the donkeys began to bray.
The timid jumped more than if a lion had roared beside them. All
were startled, and stared in mute amazement at the harsh-voiced one,
till the last broken note was uttered; then, on being assured that
nothing in particular was meant, they looked at each other, and burst
into a loud laugh at their common surprise. When one donkey
stimulated the other to try his vocal powers, the interest felt by
the startled visitors, must have equalled that of the Londoners, when
they first crowded to see the famous hippopotamus.
We were now, when we crossed the boundary rivulet Nyamatarara, out of
Chicova and amongst sandstone rocks, similar to those which prevail
between Lupata and Kebrabasa. In the latter gorge, as already
mentioned, igneous and syenitic masses have been acted on by some
great fiery convulsion of nature; the strata are thrown into a
huddled heap of confusion. The coal has of course disappeared in
Kebrabasa, but is found again in Chicova. Tette grey sandstone is
common about Sinjere, and wherever it is seen with fossil wood upon
it, coal lies beneath; and here, as at Chicova, some seams crop out
on the banks of the Zambesi. Looking southwards, the country is open
plain and woodland, with detached hills and mountains in the
distance; but the latter are too far off, the natives say, for them
to know their names.
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