My vakeel
held a broken ramrod in his hand: this suspicious witness was covered
with blood. It appeared that while I was asleep, Richarn and one of my
men named Mahommed had taken their guns, and without orders had rambled
through the country in search of a village, with the intention of
procuring porters, if possible, to carry us to Foweera.
They had arrived at a nest of small villages, and had succeeded in
engaging four men; these Richarn left in charge of Mahommed while he
proceeded alone to a neighbouring village. Shortly after his departure
Mahommed heard the report of a gun in that direction about half a mile
distant, and leaving his charge, he ran towards the spot. On arrival, he
found the village deserted, and on searching the neighbourhood, and
vainly calling Richarn, he came upon a large pool of blood opposite
several huts; lying upon the blood was the broken ramrod of Richarn's
gun. After searching without success, he had returned with the
melancholy report of this disaster. I was very fond of Richarn; he had
followed me faithfully for years, and with fewer faults than most of his
race, he had exhibited many sterling qualities. I waited for two days in
this spot, searching for him in all directions. On one occasion my men
saw a number of men and women howling in a village not far from the
place where the accident had happened; on the approach of my people they
fled into the jungles: thus, there was no doubt that Richarn must have
shot a man before he had been killed, as the natives were mourning for
the dead.
I was much distressed at this calamity; my faithful Richarn was dead,
and the double-barrelled Purdey that he carried was lost; this belonged
to my friend Oswell, of South African and Lake Ngami celebrity; it was a
much-prized weapon, with which he had hunted for five years all the
heavy game of Africa with such untiring zeal that much of the wood of
the stock was eaten away by the "wait a bit" thorns in his passage on
horseback at full speed through the jungles. He had very kindly lent me
this old companion of his sports, and I had entrusted it to Richarn as
my most careful man: both man and gun were now lost.
Having vainly searched for two days, and my men having seen several
village dogs with their mouths and feet covered with blood, we came to
the conclusion that his body had been dragged into the grass jungle by
the natives, and there, concealed, it had been discovered and devoured
by the dogs.
No porters had arrived from Kamrasi, neither had any reply been sent to
the message I had forwarded by Eddrees; - the evening arrived, and,
much dispirited at the loss of my old servant, I lay down on my angarep
for the night.
