J /^^^ i v^^ r^ !m \vw ^.Wl// ^^^W ^<^^^^ THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA GIFT OF J :ary .iiajidall JU^^GLE, PEAK, X^J) PLAm A Boy's Booh of Adventure. BY GORDON ^TABLES, M.L)., R.N. ^ ^r^- i:;i--J-'.V3eti->v^:' a> vT^ n >• '^^. /ZZ UST 1! A T i: I). SECOND EDITION. LONDOX, PARIS .^ NEW YollK. GIFT -^-^{^ %ni~ TABLE OF CONTENTS. —^ PART I . IX THE ICY NORTH. CHAPTER I. TAG p. Leaving Home 9 1 CHAPTER U. OuTWAUD Bound— A Peep at the Geyseks ... 15 CHAPTER III. Northward Ho !— The Storm Comes on— The Sea of Ice ... 23 CHAPTER IV. Seals Ahead -Mt First Bear— Fairy Islands— Unwelcome Intkudebs ... 27 CHAPTER V. 1 1 The Home of the Polar Bear— Strange Bilds— Fighting the Unicokn— | 1 An Adventure with Brlin 34 CHAPTEP vx. The Inn of Trovolsk— Fox-traps— A Fearful Scz-e ... 43 CHAPTER VII. Snow-skates-Hunting the Elk— A Terrible Tale— Face to Face VVITl "Wolves— A Lonesome Night— In a Bear'.s Den ... 47 CHAPTER VIII. The Land of Exile— A Rural Village-Going to a " Meet "— Mukder || Prevented ... 58 CHAPTER IX. The Bear and the Captain— Lost in the Forest— L<.vk— Attacked by | | Wolves ... 64 CHAPTER X. 1 To Greenland West— Eskimo Indians— Ruckie and Roddik -Homeward || Bound ... 76 iwS54irr vi TABLE OF CONTENTS. PART II. ADVENTUEES IN AFRICA. PAGE CHAPTEE I. Tke Votage Out— St. Helena — Zanzibar — The Arab Chief 91 CHAPTER II. Travelling in the Desert — The Mirage— Obadiah's Tale of Adventure 99 CHAPTER m. Life in the Bush — An Alligator Adventure — Obadiah Gives his Ex- perience OF Crocodiles 118 CHAPTER IV. Denizens op the Wilderness — Adventure with a Python — Lions at Last — Night in the Forest 126 CHAPTEE V. Struggle with a Tiger — Dr. Sulliman, Surgeon — King Kafoo a Merry Monarch — Face to Face with a Man-eating Lion 136 CHAPTER YI. Elephant-shooting — A Narrow Escape— Rhinoceri — An Exciting Chase — Just in Time to Save my Horse 142 CHAPTEE Vn. Mountain Rambles— Ostrich-hunting— The Man-fiend— Tragedy in the Forest— The Magulla Men — The' Battle — The Rescue 147 PART III. WANDERINGS AMONG THE RED MEN. CHAPTER L The Night-watch — A Startling Apparition— Fort Eraser— The Attack — The Battle 159 CHAPTEE II. On the War-path — Down the River— Night in the Forest — The Rescue — The Fate of Minna Dawson 1G9 CHAPTEE III. Paddy's Dari-ng— Life among the Eocky Mountains — The Land of Gold — Home, Sweet Home 181 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. • T-ACE PAOP. Rivals Front ■V" '•''■ Saving the Cav)tain G2 Greenwood Cottage 9 A i'l/oois/iit or Driver G4 yero 11 Ben and the Wolf r.<; Left Behind 12 An Interested Critic 09 The Saucy ri-<2W(.v»i 15 To the Rescue! 70 "Bye-bye, Cap'n " IS Attacked by Wolves 75 The Iceland Village 20 Seal-fishing 70 The Geyser 21 Ruckie and his Family at Homo .. 79 Iceberg 23 Our New Acquaintances 81 Seal 2.5 The Log-house in the Fur Cnuutrj r 82 Cool Courtship 27 Watching for a Seal ... 87 " Come up, if you're a Man " 30 The Arab Chief (p. 95) 90 " Keep the Pot Boiling " 32 'Table Mountain, Cape of Gooc 1 Intruders 33 Hope 93 An Arctic Scene 34 In the Desert 99 Guillemots 37 "Siwah ! Siwah!" 101 Angry Narwhals 39 My Escort 104 Adventure with Bears 41 Apparitions in the River ... lOS Sledge-travelling 43 Denizens of the Forest 111 The Death-struggle 4G Baboon Attacked by a Cobra 112 Snow-skates 47 Dinner-time in Monkey land 11.3 ' Hunting the Elk 50 ■Coasting in a Dhow ... 118 "Confronted by a Row of Wolves' Attacking the Crocodile \1\ (p. 52) 53 Snowball and the Crocodile 1_'4 " Face to Face with the Gigantic A Snap-shot ... 131 Owner" ... 00 A Blinding Snow st..rm in the Wilds Bringing him down Flying ... 1 33 of Siberia 5S A Terrible Moonliglit Adventure .. 137 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. On the March— Vvounded ... .. i3S In the Rapids ... ... . 169 The Man-eater at Bay .. 140 Indian Outposts . 17a Hunting Ehinoceri ... .. 142 The Mandas Village . 174 The Lordly Elephant .. 143 The Torture . 178 '•Stand steady, please" .. 146 Cold Meat . 181 Attacking Ostriches by '' Strategy " 149 The Descent for Water . 182 In at the Death .. 150 Our Cottage in the Mountains . 183 The Struggle with the Man-fiend .. 153 Sketching . 184 An Indian Tillage ... .. 158 Scene in the Rocky Mountains . 185 A Dinner on the Prairie 159 The Land of Gold . 186 Midnight on the Prairie .. 161 An Embryo City . 187 Indian Scouts .. 163 A "Strange Motley Group:' Pio- Council of Braves .. 1G4 neers and Indians ... ■ . . 169 Surprise of Fort Fraser .. 1C7 Miners at "Work .. lei ■•tory well enough, but she /ouc(/ a song. (!)ld-world ballads they were, and more chanted than smig, to queer, ancient, weird-like tunes — ballads that told ..f deeds d.Mie, and maidens wooed and won, in the dim and long-forgotten past. But the stories were my favourites. A vrry old man was my grandfather, with >nowy hair 12 that rested on his shoulders, a pleasant voice, and the kindest of hearts. There was no man to us then like him, for our father had died and left us lonesome when we were quite young. l.KVT BEHIND. Grandfather had been in the army, had travelled all over the world, and seen and suffered very much indeed, so his stories were ever fresh and new. "Oh," I used to think, as I listened with eager ears and 13 widi'iu'd ovcs to tlu' tali's of adwiiturc ho iist-d to relate to lis, "how I wish I wtM\' a man. to be able to write, and ]»ut those stories in a book ! " Only those who have been far t'mni home — who have so- journed and travelK-d anion^' wild animals and wilder men — who liave many times and oft had to trust to their own unaided skill and jud^-ment for life itself — who', many times and oft, have camped bv ni^-ht. under the eloud-curtained vault of heaven, alone, save for the presence of Him who is the wanderer's friend — only those can know the joyous sense of freedom he feels whose home is the wide, wide world. " And I have loved tliee, ocean, and my joy, Of youthful sports, was on thy breast to be Borne, like thy bubbles, onward ; from a boy I wantoned with thy breakers.' No ; I had no breakers with which to wanton as a "boy ; but a river there was, winding wide and peacefully througdi the beautiful valley in which I dwelt; and lofty forests too, forests of dark, waving pine-trees, where, in many a flowery, ferny nook, in many a leafy arbour, my sister and I used to read our favourite authors ; but I alone used to dream dreams of distant lands. A ha]»])y life we used to lead, with uun in hand, or fishings-rod, wanderinn' throim-li the forest, or atluat on the river in our little canoe. Walking one evening in early spring towards the cottage, we were agreeably surprised to see what may b(> called a dense smoke, issuing from the open window of our pet room. AVe knew very well it wasn't the house that was on fire, but the pipes of grandiather and his friend Capt;tin Wilson, to whose visit we had been anxiously looking lorward. 14 "All complete in one week more," the captain was saving as we entered; " as trim and taut a little craft as ever sailed tlie seas. Wh}-," he added, on seeing me, " this is surely not little Lovat ? Bless ni}- stars, he's grown quite a man, and all in one ^^ar too," and he laughed heartily, and wagged his great brown beard till we all laughed too. " Yes," I said, nodding mj head ; " and don't please forget the jDromise you made to take me with you, to see all the fine countries in the world — when I (/rew a man." " But, dear me, though, 3'ou're only " he began. " I'm a man," I cried, interrupting him, firmly but re- spectfully ; " 3'ou said I was, and I mean to go with you." And in one week more, as the captain had said, we were afloat. One short week of bustle and hurry, which served at least to mitigate the sorrows of parting. One short week and the parting was over. INIy grandfather had insisted, much to Nelly's joy, on dropping down the river with us, as far as Southend Pier, and here we bade them adieu. I stood on the quarter-deck of our little vessel like one in a dream. My cheek was wet with ni}' sister's tears ; the words of my grandfather's blessing, as he pressed a Bible into my hands, still rang in my ears, mingled with the shouting of the sailors and the flapping of canvas, as we filled and bore away. But one other voice was there. It was a pitiful, mournful howl, coming from the fast-receding pier. It was poor little Vixen, who was left behind in grief. Then a cold nose was thrust into ni}^ hand, two brown eyes looked lovingly up into mine. "You still have your dog Xero," they seemed to say. And I felt I was not quite alone. THE SAUCY " VI-yUEEN. CHAPTEE II OUTWARD BOUND A PEEP AT THE GEYSERS. The craft in wliieh we sailed deserved all the praise wliieli her master and owner, Captain AVilson, heaped upon her. A large-sized rakish-looking yacht, so constructed that the screw — she could either sail ur steam — could l)c unshi|)ped at will. She was fortitied around the Ixtws with iron, tor the sea of ice, and some rough work was hcforc us. We carried a good su])plv of ])rovisions, plenty of anus and ammunition, and a moderate allowance of coals. our(*l»ji'ct Ixmul;- to take all the sail we could get out of her. and st<'aiii only when oldiii't'd to. Our sailors, every one of them. l(»oked the j)icture of health and hardiness, as did the hrou/.e-eheeked captain. The decks were as white as snow, every roj)e was neatlv coiled in nian-o"-war fashion, tin' one hrass i;un we IG carried forward was as bright as a bed-room candlestick, the oaken capstan glittered like a boatman beetle, and the bin- nacle, with its beautiful compass, would have been orna- mental in a lady's boudoir. " And this," thought I, " is the lovely vessel that is to be my home for many and many a day to come." And I felt at that moment every inch a sailor. We were just then leaving the last of the Shetland Islands on our lee bow. So far, our voyage north had been most prosperous, the sea but slightly ruffled with a top-sail breeze. The broad Atlantic was now opening out before us, when sud- denly, in the most unaccountable Avay, to me at least, the vessel lifted her jibboom right up into the sky, and seemed to point for a moment at last night's moon, which had not yet set, then she just as suddenly lowered it again, and, to my intense disgust, kept on repeating the motion a great many times, oftener than I felt agreeable. I couldn't be going to be sick, sui-ely. I thought I saw Captain Wilson giving me a sly look, and I think he smiled ; then it occurred to me all at once that I had not written up my log that morning, and I went down below and locked myself into my state-room, for the purpose of doing so without being disturbed. It took me a long time to write that log up, for I had not finished next day at twelve, when the captain came to " rouse me out," as he called it. " You've had a midshipman's allowance," he said. " Come on deck, boy, and keep your watch like a man." "Good heavens!" thought I, "can this tumbling waste 17 of watiTs ho tilt* sea ? Can ever wo iiioiiiit over tliat ijfrcat griH'U, loam-civstod billow?" Everytliiuu:— the xcvy sliiji itM'II", lu'i- v'uj;, and the very clotlies the men won' — was ditl'erciit ; and the wind hlow keen and cutting, and all was confusion and iMarinn' and noise, and dismally cold wet s])ray, which \cry soon divnclu'd me to tlu' skin, albeit I crouched in under the weather bulwarks, and clung like a drowning rat to the rigging. I didn't feel the least bit a sailor then, for, high over the din of the tempest (mind you, it was I alone who called it a tempest; the captain said it was only "half a gale I") — well then, high over the half-gale rose the "Ha! ha!" of both skipper and mate, as they beheld my pitiful ap})i'arance. Both were kind-hearted men, nevertheless. "You'll soon get over it, Lovat, lad," said the former. " Stop on deck and walk it out." He alluded to my sickness. "Walk it out, indeed!" I said to m3'self, as I tried to rise from the lee scuppers, after my first bold attempt to " walk it out." " Lean on me," said the mate ; " so ho ! easy does it ! cheerily as you go! You'll soon get your sea-legs." "Xow, mate," said I, swallowing a great gulp of salt water, obligingly thrown me from Father Neptune, " it's all very well to say 'easy does it,' and 'cheerily as you go.' I've twice broken my shins to please you, and once I've been landed half-way over the open hatchway ; so if you have a pair of sea-legs in store that you don't particularly need, in mercy go below and fetch them up." But in a day or two the wind w^'ut down, and gradually I got my sea-legs, and could walk as well as anybody, and 18 all my coui'age came back once more — I cocked my cap the same as the mate did his, ate my meals heartily, and learned to call the men " my lads." It was a pleasure to me after this to walk the snowy decks, to occasionally pause and watch the play of a shoal of dolphins, or the fountain spray of some lone lorn whale, solemnly ploughing- his way to far-off seas. Wild sea-birds used to scream around the ship, as if begging to be fed ; and one day, of all things in the world, what should come on board but an English cock-sparrow ! It had doubtless lost its way, and had flown 19 or lieon Mi^wn from tlic Slictlaiuls. T fed it, and lot it rost ; tluMi. kissiiiLC its littli' hrad. wliis^x-rcd a uu'ssan'c to Nelly and o-raiuU'ather and Vixen, and threw it lii^h in air. Away it tlew to windward, and I never saw it more. So cheerily now the time went on ; every da}' there was something new to see, in the sky or in the ocean, and all the while the Vi-queou for that was our vt'ssel's name, behaved just like a water-witch. One day we passed a great green ship; and it was some- thing quite new to me — the stopping of the vessels, tlie hoisting of signals, and finally the getting out of a whale-boat. Well, if any one except the captain had told me that a boat could live in that sea, I certainly would have doubted his word. "We reached the green ship in safety, nevertheless, and the green ship's captain and my captain sat a long time with their heads together, over a slate ; then they smoked and took rum together, and talked ever so nautically and mysteriously ; all of which I admired with a genuine admiration. Presently it was " Away boat," and " Bye-bye, cap'n," and so over the side again. The mountains of Iceland came in sight at last, rising nigged and pearly against the blue of the morning sk}-. I thought we should have been there by dinner-time ; but noon passed, and gloaming crept over us, and linally night fell, and still no Iceland. I was awakened in the morning by a terrible shouting, and a noise like thunder, while the ship was shaken from stem to stern. It was oidy the letting go of the anchor; and when I went on deck I found we were entirely hemmed in by 20 riiggc'd, barren rocks and lofty mountains ; and I couldn't imagine how we had got up the fiord without flying. Boats were about us too, with hardy, fair-haired men and women, wdio talked in a language I had never before heard. Some could sp^ak English though, and they laughed and smiled, and nodded so pleasantly, that for the life of me I couldn't help laughing too, at which they laughed all the more. These THE ICELAND VILLAGE. queer people sold us fish, dried and fresh, and took in return tobacco and coffee and tea. -^ I wish I had space to tell you of all the curious things I saw and heard in that funny, half-Irish-looking village at the top of the fiord : how kind they all were to me ; how I had to enter more than a dozen huts, and pretend to eat and drink in each ; how fishy everything smelt ; how I met with a terribly wee parson, who gabbled to me in Latin, and v»hom I answered in English ; and how we kept up the conversation 21 m THK GEYSER. for half an liour, witliout either of us knowini,^ what tlio other meant. And I saw tame deer, a tame fox, and tame cider ducks ; and tliey tohl me I might see a wild 22 bear in the mountains ; but I didn't, and was glad accord- ingly. We went on ponies to have a peep at the Geysers, and after a long journey over streams and fields of solidified lava, and past fissures of terrible depth and length, and over a country so lonesome, and barren, and wild, that it struck me with awe, we reached the boiling springs. I drew back in terror. After an awful thundering all about and around us, which shook the ground on which we stood, one vast column of water was hurtled some hundreds of feet into mid-air, while clouds of steam went rolling upwards, and obscured the very sun. After wandering and wandering for hours, we returned to where we had left our luncheon, and were not a little surprised to find them boiling fish and cooking eggs, in water that streamed from the bowels of the earth. Never did I sleep more soundly than I did that night. When I awoke late next morning the little Vi-queen was once more far away at sea. CHAPTER III. NORTHWARD HO ! — THE STORM COMES ON Till', SKA OF ICE. Fainter and fainter i^rew the snowy mountain-peaks of Iceland, till at length iiery Hecla itself seemed but a little cloud-capped rock on the southern horizon. Kinui: AVinter began now with a vengeance to blow upon us witli his icy breath, the thermometer fell below zero, the very waves had an angry look, and as their green tops broke into foam, they sang in the frozen air, as they rushed past us to leeward, with a noise like bullets in the battle-field, while the spray from their crests rattled in hail-showers against the rierijinir and cordaije. Then huge castellated clouds, dark and threatening, began to bank up in the east, the wind increased, and there was every appearance of dirty weather. And it came too, fierce and strong, straining every rib in our gallant bark, and every nerve in our hardy crew. At midnight the noise on deck was fearful ; that it needed the united efforts of all hands to keep the ship in her course I could well conceive. Perhaps during all that dreadful night the most trying moments to me were when, quite overwhelmed with a green 24 sea, the vessel seemed sinking, so motionless was slie, so still was everything around. But ever and anon she would dash the water from her decks again ; and the manly, calm voice of the captain, and the steady "Aye, aye, sir!" of the man at the wheel, reassured me. Towards morning hoth the captain and mate came below, looking: in their oilskins and sou'-westers like two great seals on end, and knowing all danger was over, I went and turned in. Colder grew the weather the farther north Ave went ; some days when the wind blew high, the little Vi-queen seemed as if she had been dipped and re-dipped in alum- water, so completely was she covered and hung in ice. A crowfi-nest was erected beneath the mam-truck. The nest consisted of a large barrel, up to which from the highest rat- line a Jacob's ladder led. A trap-door was in the bottom, and through this you crept, and closed the door after you, and found yourself in a little house straw-lined, and with a seat, and a good telescope wherewith to sweep the horizon all around. It was cold, though, very cold. Once I was up in the nest when it came on to blow, and I coukln't come down. I was exceedingly sick, and whenever this saucy Vi-queen heeled over, I expected nothing less than to be emptied out of the barrel into the sea. I can assure you no " half -gale of wind " caught me there again for a whole fortnight. When I came down the captain and mate only laughed at me. " It was only a little trick of Neptune's," said the skipper. " The deuce take Neptune then," said I. Farther north still. Calm entirely now, with a clear blue sky overhead, and sea like glass beneath. 25 I was down below in the cabin, lyin^- on a sofa li.ilf asleep, when I was aroused from my lotharLi'v by a mrio'is rushiiiu' noise at l)oth sides of the ship, whieh sccnu'd pcrfrctly stationary. Running on deck, I found that we were ploughing our way through an immense field of wet snow, which covered the breast of old ocean for miles upon miles. Shortly after, we fell in with the first iceberg ; not a bit bigger was it than a decent-sized arm-chair ; but in this cold chair, strange to say, sat, or rather lay, a small seal basking in the sun. For the first time in my life I was put in command of a boat, with orders to bring the seal on board. I was not a Ixid shot even then, though I have learned since to handle firearms more warily. One bullet under the seal's ear quieted him effectually, and we were presently nuiking the best of our way l)ack to the ship. Just as we were getting near the Vi-quee?i, somebody — apparently — fired a rifie close to my ear, which commenced ringing so much that I was fain 26 to press it. I brought down my hand covered with blood, and seeing smoke still issuing from the spare barrel of my little rifle, I presently concluded that I had carelessly touched the trigger somehow, and thus came nigh going on board without any brains. I also concluded it would be a warning to me. More fields of slush, during which the sea was waveless as a mill-pond. Then out again among the rollers, and now the pieces began to come thick and fast, and we passed through streams of them : small at first they were, but of the most fantastic shapes imaginable, and thick as sheep on the mountain's brow. Then there would be another field of slush, then a stream of pieces as big as oxen ; then they grew as large as elephants, and remained at that. But there now rose such a din and a row, and such a cannonading of the ship's sides as, I thought, surely had never before been heard. And so on into open water again. A loud hail one morning from the crow's-nest, " The pack away ahead, sir." Every one rushed on deck at once. I don't believe ever there was such cheering, nor such excite- ment since the Greeks first saw the sea. Fast as a monkey I spun up the rat-lines to the crow's-nest. "Is that the sea of ice?" I asked the mate in a very disappointed tone of voice ; for fields of snow- clad ice I could see stretching away to the illimitable horizon, hummocks and hills of ice too, but no sphntered pinnacles of ice towering to the sky, as I had hoped to behold. "This," said the mate, smiling, "is North Greenland. Wait, my lad, till you see Spitzbergen." JUL. t.i>lih iNHIf". CIIAI'TKIJ IV SEALS AHEAD -MY FIRST BEAR FAIRY INTRUDERS. ISLA^■I)^ ■IN WE ECO ME AVe had been about three days in the " Country," as the sea of ice is called, but, although we had seen seals about us in hundreds and millions, they Avere all in the water ; some- times miles of ocean would be covered with their lovely dark heads, in which their beautiful gazelle-like eyes shone like stars. One day, however, there came a shout from the masthead. " Seals ahead on the ice, sir, as thick as bees : five ships ' rove,' in, and their men over the side ! " In a moment all was bustle and excitement on board our little craft. Rifles were got uj) and looked to, cartridges and seal-clubs were served out, ami more sail cla])ped on, then we went below to dinner, and the steward was ordered to give the men an additional allowance of grog. AVhen the Vi-quecn was moored alongside the ]iack, the hands were sent off*, the captain, mate, and I leading. Our object was merely sport, and to assist the English shi})s in the capture of the seals. 28 It was a hard frosty day, with neither breath nor motion in the pack, the bergs of which were all frozen together with "ba^^-ice." The crews of the various ships were arranged skirmishing fashion, riflemen in front, draggers of skins behind. The seals lay well, affording good targets. When one or two were killed on a berg, the rest of the animals disappeared over the side, and down through their "pussy-holes,"* leaving the young ones to the mercy of the hunters, who, I am sorry to say, maddened by the sight of blood, and half drunk with rum, often skinned the innocent creatures alive. The sport, I must confess, was wildly exciting, but when all the seals in the " patch " lay skinned and dead on the snow, when the recalls waved from every ship, and I had time to look about me, I saw a scene which sickened me then, if it would not now. How beautiful in its robes of virgin snow that field of ice had appeared in the morning ! How different now, when the once pui-e and lovely pack was blood-stained everywhere ! On my way back to the Vi-quecn, I picked up a lovely wee baby seal. I never had seen such a sweet little pet in my life : what black and shining eyes, and what a soft warm jacket of yellow fur ! I should have carried it off, had it not opened a tiny mouth, and given vent to ever so plaintive a scream. Up from the pussy-hole scrambled the mother at the summons. I took my rifle and ran, else I should have had to kill her in self-defence. For this piece of gallantry our mate laughed at me. Now I spared * Holes made by the seals througli tlie tliin, or bay-ice. 29 that soul's life, and over since then J luive considered it a sill to kill a seal in hutc wantonness, or for the love of sport. After dinner the orders were " In ice-anchors, and bear away nor'ard and east." One day we were steaming slowly along the edge of the l)ack, for there was no Avind. and the gulls or " malleys " were screaming around as usual, begging for morsels of blubber, when the captain called me on deck. " There is some one yonder," said he, pointing to an enormous bear on the ice, " wdio wants to have a word or two with 3'ou : will you go ? " Certainly I would go. When I regained the di'ck, however, I confess to you, I wouldn't have been a bit dis})leased to have seen no more of Master Bruin. Bruin was there all the same, looking quite unconcerned, and three times the size, so I thought, that lie had any occasion to be. " Keep cool, Lovat, lad," the skip])er sang out as our boat left the ship. " Hit him right in the front of the chest." Now /should have liked to have struck him right astern. The men, I thought, needn't have pulled so unconscionably • piick ; and the faster they pulled the bigger grew that bear. I Thinks I to myself, ''I'll have a quiet shot at him from j the boat. If I wound him he'll be sure to bolt." j " No, you don't," said ]\Iaster Bruin ; " none o' yer gammon. Come up to the ice, if you're a man." I landed. Bruin was now about one hundred yards oil", but seeing only one man, he speedily began to lessen the 30 distance between us, and I knelt to receive him. Seventy 3'ards — fifty yards — twenty yards — ^l^ang ! bang! both barrels — and down rolled Bruin. I felt as plucky as you please now, though somehow my COME UP, IF YOU RE A MAN. heart wouldn't cease beating for twenty minutes, and my mouth felt dry and parched. It was a splendid shot, if it was by chance, and I almost think I deserved the cheer that greeted me on my return. ******* There are some islands which I have visited here and there in the world around which my imagination has woven a mysterious halo of romance, and which must for ever dwell in my memory like islands of dreamland. Those beautiful 31 green isles, for instance, in the sunny Indian Ocean, wlicre, in wee sandy bays and cosy rocky nooks, we used to land to breakfast when sent away in open-boat cruises slaver-liuntiuij^ I — cruises which always appeared to me like long delicious picnics. Unpeopled these little isles, perhaps some of them never trodden by foot of man until we visited them; yet have I not seen fiiys and fairies there? have I not lingered there on many a l)lu('-skit'(l noon— noons silent as moon-lit midnights — on the tree-girt banks of many a little rippling lake, and listened to their music and watched their gand)ols ? The island of Jan Ma^Tn is another of my own, own islands. Sealers and whalers occasiouall}' visit it ; but few else have ever landed on its desolate snow-clad shores. The highest peak of this weird and romantic island towers thousands of feet into the azure sky — one gigantic cone. Here King Winter has his throne. Down in the rocks at his feet the wild sea-birds seek shelter ; in the caverns dwells the great Polar bear; the walrus lies silent and quiet on its frozen plains ; and the lonely narwhal's sullen plunge may often be heard in the inky-black waters* around it. But, saving these, nought of life dwells or is ever seen in the island of Jan Mayen. Nay, stop, for the Norwegians have told me a legend of a strange bright land, heated by volcanic hills and geyser springs, which they say lies in the centre of the island ; and they call it " The Land of Flowers in the Frozen Ocean;" and here, they add, the fairies dwell. Now, ranch to my joy, we paid a visit to this lone isle of the ocean. One day we were doing our best to obtain a * The sea near the ice lias au inkj-'ljlack aii[M>arauco. 32 satisfactory pliotograpli of the wild scenery around us, when fully a dozen great walruses, grim, grizzly, and tusked, crept up out of the sea and came sprawling towards us. Luckil}', we had our rifles at no very great distance, and so were soon able to give a good account of the monsters. Fierce and all as they •• KEEP THE POT BOILIN looked, they did not seem to relish the rain of leaden bullets we treated them to ; and only the dead ones remained to have their likenesses taken, which Avere included in our picture. The fright these unwelcome intruders gave us did not, however, prevent us from enjoying such a bappy, happy time on a field of bay-ice shortly after. Indeed, no schoolboys could have kept it up with greater glee than we did ; and we only gave in at last because hunger compelled us. r AX ARCTIC SCENE. CHAPTEE V. THE HOME or THE POLAR BEAR — STRANGE BIRDS FIGHTING THE UNICORN AN ADVENTURE WITH BRUIN. The home of the great white hear and the arctic fox is the desohite but romantic islands of Spitzhergen. Here they may roam at then- leisure, and for the most part quite unmolested. Terribly grand and wild was the scenery that w^e now found ourselves among — grand even .by day ; but when the starr}' curtain of night fell, wdiat pen can describe it ? Twilight merged slowly into darkness ; behind the rugged snow-clad hills the sky was a lovely sea-green hue, and in it twinkled and laughed the first and brightest stars. And so, long after the sun had gone to shine on other lands, there were stars everywhere — the heavens were spangled with their silvery glory — there were stars in the sea, and stars in the 35 featlh^rv si"io\v, tlint lay so liu'liily on tlio jiiniiaclcd \co. Only in that beaiitilul zone that stivtcluMl across the northern sky ■was their lustre dimmed by the splendour of the aurora, ever tlittin^'. cvov ehanL;-inLi- in crimson rays and ♦^'•reen. No one who has not seen them can imagine the beauty of those northern lights. J^ut were the nights always clear and beautiful ? were the days always calm and bright ? Believe me, reader, no ; there were times when the storm-spii'it was abroad in terrible earnest; when the wind blew, and snow fell, and the country, at other times beautiful, was changed into a region of desolation. How brightly shone the sun, I remember, one morning in the autumn that succeeded the summer on which we sailed. Not a cloud in all the blue sky, not a breath of wind to lift a single flake of snow. And the saucy Vi-qNecn never looked neater or trimmer, as she lay ice-anchored to an immense flat floe or berg. On our left, at some distance, were the iron- bound shores of Spitzbergen, its giant snow-capped mountains towering to the sky. We seemed to lie in an inland sea of deeply dark water, surrounded by snowy cliffs, that were in reality icebergs. I was not displeased, therefore, when the captain, proposed a row. and a long stroll on the ice. He proposed, too, that we should go quite alone, and this to me was an additional pleasure. Before we had been three hours out we had made quite a bag, although it was of a somewhat mixed description. First and foremost we had had the good luck to bring down a very good specimen of the Arctic fox. He was comfortal)ly enjoying a fine large fish for luncheon, when we rounded the corner, and so unceremoniously spoiled his a|^petite. His colour vied with the very snow in whiteness. But what was his colour or beauty compared to that of a lovely snow-bii'd that fell to my gun ? This beautiful creature seemed a perfect emblem of purity. There was grace in his shape, and grace in his motions, as he sailed innocently in the air over our heads. Fancy plumage of dazzling white, soft, thick, and glossy, yet without a single feather of any other colour ; and bill and legs of crimson ; and eyes that, even in death, shone like garnets. I may as well tell you here what became of this particular bird. I designed it then for a present for Nelly. I carefully stuffed and set it up, and smiled to myself as I thought of the raptures my dear sister would give way to on beholding it. Then I gave it into the charge of our steward, who promised to put it safely away for me. And where do you think he put it ? Why, in the biscuit locker ; and when, I next saw it, my beautiful snow-bird was beautiful no longer — bruised, and battered, and filthy, it resembled more than anything else a dirty, disreputable old white clucking hen. So much for my emblem of purity ! "Look yonder, captain," I cried^ "on the edge of that piece of ice ; why, I declare five men are standing all in a row ! " "Five fiddlesticks !" replied the captain, laughing; "those are foolish guillemots ; and they're a^^'f ully good to eat, so I mean to have them all." Well, those tall birds, who stood apparently on their tails, did, I must confess, behave in a most silly manner. As the 37 boat approaclieil, thoy all looked at us, first with one side of the head and then with the other ; then they eoncludctl they whiel went had better go to sleep a^-ain, the captain's ritle, and down went guillemot number one. Now instead oL' the other four fools tlying otl', they merely cocked their silly heads, and gazed for a moment at their late companion, as much as to say, " Oh ! you're a gone coon ; but it doesn't matter," and then went to sleep again. And the remaining three behaved in the same ridiculous way when the second fell ; and, indeed, it was only when the fourth was killed that the last flew lazily off. We evidently bored him, and spoilt his nap. This day a narwhal spied our boat, and much to ni}- delight, made directly towards it. I was rather surprised, therefore, to see the captain seize the oars and make in haste for the shore. "We mustn't fight him in this cockle-shell," he exj)lain hI. "Even if we kill him, all his relations will come to the funeral; and old Xiek will be to pay." So on we went towards the ice, and speedily after us ploughed the unicorn. "He means mischief," cried Captain ^\'il^oll ; "stand l>y to give him fits when he is near enough. 2sow then — lire ! " I gave hun both barrels at once. Then there was a sound 38 as of half -scream, half -snort, a wild rush of the huge brute towards the boat, a crash, which seemed to shiver the dingy to atoms ; and the next thing I remember is lying on the ice with Captain Wilson chafing my brow with snow. I rubbed my eyes and looked around me. The boat was gone. " That has gone to Davy Jones," said the captain quietly. " You missed the scoundrel, and now he is off to fetch liis friends ; and we'll have them all here presentl}^" The captain was right ; fully half a dozen great monsters were soon on the surface, whitening the calm sea with their rude gambols. It was our time for revenge now, and we took it. I'm not sure that we killed many after all, but — we made them feel it. We were luckily on the main pack, and it only remained for us to eat a hasty snack, and make the best of our way to the Vi-queen. Hardly had we finished ere it came on to snow ; great flakes fell fast around us, flakes such as 3'ou never see in this country. The wild scenery was obscured, and as there was every risk of our losing our way and being overtaken by night, it must be confessed our situation w^as far from pleasant. Our main hope la}^ in keeping the water near us; it would make the road longer, to be sure, but any divergence inland might be fatal. With as much speed as possible we began the march, in silence too ; for in times of danger much conversation is out of place. But after we had toiled along for some hours, and there was still no sign of the Vi-queen, my heart began to fail me, and I would fain have lain down and gone to sleep. I think I must have been nodding, for I suddenly found 30 that Captain AVilson had iiiv arm, and was licl])inir nic al(>n:^^ and also that tlic t'allini;- snow liad i-cascd. I hrij^'htcni-d (ip consi(h'ral)ly at this, and looked ahont nir. What a shj^ht I — snch a (•hanL,T I Kvcrythini^ drapcil in the thick white ANGKY NARWHALS. mantle of virgin snow, which had softened and Ijeantilied the icebergs, as only moonlight softens and beautifies the rough- ness of city shapes. There was little time f(»r raptnre. however. Our hhiod was cold, and night was coming on, and the clouds were again hanking n]) to windward ; so snatching- a ni<>utht"ul t«l" nlresh- ment from our flasks, we hurried <»n. Kow, it is Well kiKtwn that a shower «>f I'ain is ajit to make 40 fish iincommonl}' lively. A fresli fall of snow I liave found does the same by the bear. He ma}' have been asleep in his cave before ; but after a fall he will get np, yawn, stretch himself, then saunter forth to see what is to be seen, or gotten to eat. And so it happened we had not journej'ed much farther when we came upon the footprints of two of these gentry. So here was a new danger ; and the worst part of it lay in the fact that the bears were evidently going towards the Vi-queen, like ourselves. We had not gone far, however, ere the footprints left the water-side, and verged off sharp inland. " Now then," said my friend, " here's what we'll do. This divergence shows me that the Vi-queen can't be more than a mile or two off ; for these greasy fellows have gone to have a sniff at her. If we follow them, we'll soon see our ship ; if we continue to follow the water, we may have a night to spend in the pack, and lose the number of our mess." Now, at the very moment that the captain was making these remarks, the mate, from the deck of the ship, had just spied two large bears a-squat on a hummock of ice, evidently admiring the saucy Vi-queen ; and probably wondering if she were good to eat. Thinks the mate to himself, " I'll spoil your entertainment." Then seeing five armed men moving speedily towards them, says Mrs. Bruin to her husband, " Hadn't we better be moving, dear ? " So they both began to retire. " Why, melt my grease ! " said Mrs. Bruin again, " if here ain't other two on 'em, jist a-roundin' the corner, and a shootin'- stick to each." " Move on, old clums}'," cried the husband, " and give 'em a huff." 42 " Fire on tlie bear to the left," said the captain hastily to me ; " I'll make the other dance." And so he did. One shot did the work. As usual, I was less fortunate, and merely grazed and infuriated the bear. Staggered for a moment, he howled like a maddened bull, and rushed onwards to the attack. He seemed to care nothing for my second bullet ; and it would have fared but ill with me then, had not a rifle in the rear turned him round to face his new foes. He now lost his presence of mind, and the day was ours, although it took ten bullets in all to end the brute's career. After all, unlucky though we liad been, we had not done a bad day's work ; and didn't we enjoy our dinner ! and wasn't the sleep s '.veet that followed it ! SLEDGE-TRAVELLING. CHAPTER VI. THE TNX OF TROVOLSK FOX-THAI'S — A FFARFIL SCr.NF. Two months after the incidents related in the hist ehapter the captain, the mate, and myself found ourselves journcN iiiLC in a sledge, through one of the dreariest countries it was ever my luck to be in. AVe had left the little Vi-qiicc/i .safely frozen in, in a bay whicli lies on the northern shores of Siberia. She was left in tlie hands of the crew, who being not far oH' from the rude, though far from inhospitable, village of LaratolV, Could not possibly want for the necessaries of life if they could not find its luxuries. We had left LaratolV after breakfast— a lireakfast >\\A\ as only liuiiters can cat — in the hopes of reacliiiig the hostelry of Trovolsk by night, where we had the assurance of j)leiity of sport for days to come, '{'ravelling here is far from >afe. True, the ])casantry are rough, but they are honest ; and as to 44 footpads, or robbers, tliey would assuredly starve if, indeed, the}' weren't eaten alive by wolves, and it is just these latter gentr}' that are the principal danger of the road. We had seen more than one that day T^dldly careering over the hills, or crouching behind the snow-clad trees in the pine-forests. But they had as yet given us a wide berth. We felt a little uneasy as darkness began to fall, and the clouds, black and threaten- ing, tumbled up-.vards to meet it, foreboding a night of storm and tempest. Splendid, too, as om* team of horses were, thev could not fail being tired with their long journey, and if an accident should happen, then indeed om- chance would be but small. Already, too, we could hear the wolves howling deep in the forest, as if gathering to an expected feast. Is it any wonder then that when, just as gloaming Avas merging into " mu'k," we came suddenly upon the little inn of Trovolsk, we o'ave a true Englishman's "hurrah!" — a "hurrah!" that must have shaken the little shantj' to its foundation. It quite startled the good landlord and his wife, who were busily engaged setting fox-traps, but who welcomed us kindly nevertheless, and bustled about to make us comfortable. A long wooden house with one chimney in the centre, and one door at the end, primitive in the extreme ; but no grand hotel m Paris ever looked half so well in our e^-es as our homely inn did at that moment. Only just in time were we to escape the storm, which now came roaring down from the bleak mountains, bringing snow on its wings, and causing one to shiver at the very thoughts of being abroad on the plains on such a night. The inside of the little inn consisted of but one long 45 chamber, with a log fire on the heartli between. It looked cleaner, however, than we had expected, and the dry warm skins and pillows on the benches aronnd looked most inviting to ns poor tired travellers. Never did supper taste so sweetly, I think, as that wonder- ful soup prepared by the kindly hands of our hostess ; and black though the bread was, the dried salmon formed an excellent relish, washed down with a bowl of steaming punch. Then we all lighted our pipes, and sat till midnight around the roaring fire, singing songs and telling tales ; but ever and anon during a lull in the conversation we could hear that the storm-spirit was abroad, and often, high over the wailing of the wind, we could hear a strange, mournl'ul, discontented howl, that spoke volumes even to me. To bed then, but the strangeness of the situation and its surroundings for a long time banished sleep, and when at last I dozed off, my slumbers were disturbed and unrefreshing. I could bear the fvverish restlessness no longer, so I jumped up, dressed myself, and went out-of-doors. You may be sure that I did hot venture far away, as I well knew the perils to which I was exposed. A few minutes sharp walk in the bleak and snow-clad waste brought me upon a fearful sight. Not far off a pack of hungry wolves were tearing to pieces a gigantic Polar bear. How madly thfV fought and yelled! With what fierceness did the wolves come on I No matter that one after another was rolled dead on the ensanguined snow. (Jn and still on they crowded, and >till tlh-y toiiLrht until the melancholy deatli-liowl of l}niin ended the war, and issued in the feast. 46 This terrible scene thoroughly roused me. I pulled myself too-ether, and set off at a bound for the inn, which I reached in a shorter time than I care to name. I was in bed again in a trice, and almost at once fell into a deep, sound, dreamless sleep. THE DEATH-STRUGGLE. CIIAPTEK VTT. SNOW-SK ATKS II INTl N(; TH K ELK A TKUUIBLE TALK — FACE TO FACE WITH WOLVKS A LONESOMK NICillT IN A bear's den. AVe spent tlu' next day cleaniiiL^ and soeinc^ to our rifles, drying our shot -bags, re-packing our cartridges, ^^^ sharpening our knives, and ^J lastly, though by no means ^ least, stowing away a con- dderable and generousallo \v- ance of provisions, to serve us on our exju'dition against the wolves and the bears. "We also took great interest in the setting ol" tlif fu\-trai)s. Several of these cunning gentry had been ensnared during the night, and very spiteful they looked. They a])i)eared so tierce, indeed, and snarled so savagely, that I th<»ught tht-y were trving to pass themselves off for wolves, and so frightm us. But they took their deaths as a matter of course. When night crej)t down on us again ; wIhh the large oil lamp was lit, and the fire replenished, th.-n dimier was discussed. It was quite a different affair from the hurriedly- 48 preiDared meal of the previous day. The praises we bestowed on the cooking had evidently made Koria, as our host called his better half, do her best to please us. It rather astonished us to find on the table, not only reindeer flesh and different kinds of game, but well-boiled potatoes and rice, and preserved cabbage. We expressed our wonder that any one should choose to dwell in so lonely and dreary a place ; and how an innkeeper could live with so few guests. "Ah, but," said our' vs^orth}^ host, "God put me here; and am I to grumble ? Besides, winter exists not always, though winter is our harvest. We have good rifles and strong hearts; we kill the otter, the sable, the beaver, and the bear; and the skins bring money plenty much, at the far-off market- town of Nishni." l^ishni seemed to possess some ver}^ endearing recollections for the old fellow, for as soon as he pronounced it he smiled, put his pipe in his mouth, took a few Avhiffs, pulled it out and smiled again. Then he shook his head. " Ha ! Nishni is one fine place — very. I buy Koria there." " Bought her ! " we exclaimed in a breath. " Yes, for certain," he replied, somewhat indignantly ; " you fancy I steal her ? Bought her plenty proper from her old rascal of a father. Koria cost me much skin ; but Koria is very beautiful." It did not strike me that Koria was very beautiful ; but she looked very good, and perhaps that is better. The next day was devoted to a long march over the 49 mountains in soarcli of L^Mnic Our liost accompanied ns, briny^ins^f with liini a back-load ul' snow-slioos, which we wore in places when' the snow was liq-ht or soft ; likewise a few pairs of the funniest-lookinu^ skates that ever 1 had seen; but the use of wliicli I had soon to learn. After climbin<]^ to the top of a moderately-sized hill, we found that the other side was a vast inclined ])lain, that led for fully a mile downwards to the verge of a spruce pirn- forest. Here our host gravely put on his skates, and we followed his example. The surface of the snow was crisp and hard. While we were still engaged tying the leathern thongs, away shot our honest host, supporting himself on his pole, and in an almost inconceivably short time, was close to the edge of the forest. " Hurrah ! " cried tlie captain ; " come on, my boys." " Cherrily does it," sung out the mate. " Bravo all ! " I roared, and down we all shot — but not to the foot of the hill by any means, but down on our broad backs, with our heels, and those confoundedly awkward skates, in the air. A pretty sight w^e must have all looked, sprawling there ; for when our host at length came to our rescue, lie said — "Gentlemen, I will take the liberty to laugh ;" and he did, too, and right heartily did we join l.im. ihit we soon learned to be brave snow-skaters ; and many an hour's most exciting enjoyment did we extract from the knowledge thus obtained. At the sunny side of a snowy eminence we sat us down to dine. We could see all the wild country around us for 50 miles : hill and dale, mountaias, forests, and frozen lakes. We had just finished our repast, and were lighting our pipes, 3^.1 HUNTING THE ELK. when, out from one side of a distant wood, and apparently marching straight to a neighhouring torrent, came a small herd of those strange wild deer called the elk. Our host was on his feet in a moment, and silently leading the way towards the remotest end of the forest, for the greatest caution was 51 necessary. Following the shelter of the trees, before lon^r we had turned the corner, and come right out on to the open plain ; and there, nuieh to our joy and satisfaction, were the animals we were in search of, the females standing in a cluster, the buck on the ilank tossing his gigantic antlers in the air, and evidently sniffing danger. He stamped his feet with ansfer when he saw us : and this was a siirnal for a general stampede. I fired right into the centre of the flock, wdiile the others directed their attention to secure the buck, who fell, pierced with bullets in shoulder and quarter. Not dead yet, however, and our host deputed my two friends to the office of spearing him. Some twelve miles to the nor'ard, and east of the little inn of Trovolsk, stood, and may perhaps still stand, a solitary uninhabited hut. The country here is even -wilder than that around the inn. For the distance of ten miles the road leads along through one unbroken forest. You then find yourself confronting what I can only describe as a wilderness, wide, and wild, and flat, stretching away to the distant horizon, and bounded on your right by jagged, inaccessible mountains, that rear their cold heads up into cloudland itself. It is a dismal scene, but the plains are tenanted by the wolf and the fox. Herds of deer often roam across it ; and at the foot of the cliffs the polar bear himself bores his den. For this reason it, of course, had a peculiar charm for us, and we deter- mined to make the hut our head-quarters for a week at least. To me the land of ice and snow has a strange fascination which I am entirelv at a loss to account for, and 1 look 52 back on that week spent in the wild region I have tried to describe as one of the happiest of my existence. Our days were spent in hunting. Returning after our adventures in the evening, it did not take long to revivify the log-wood fire we had banked in the morning, nor to hang our great soup-kettle, filled with a portion of the results of the chase, over it. Then it was " clean guns" and " pack skins " till dinner was ready, one of us being always told off to perform the oflice of cook. We enjoyed our dinner with true traveller's zest, and I can kssure you the evening passed ' quickly and pleasantly away ; and when once the door was secured, v*^hen bodies were wi-apped and heads covered in skins, the wind might rave around our little dwelling, and the wolves might howl, but they never wakened us. One day, a peculiarly bright and beautiful one, I had left our hut early in the morning, intending to return in time for breakfast, and to prepare for our day's sport. Carelessly and, I must admit, incautiously, I had wandered over rocks and snow to a considerable distance from our little home. Our hut lay rather lower than the surface of the great plain, and in order to get a better view, I had climbed up over a sharp-edged cliff, and seated myself on the edge of it. and began to dream of home. Suddenly I was aroused by the sound of soft stealthy footsteps approaching me over the snow, and raising myself on my hands and knees, I found myself confronted by a row of wolves, who stood not twelve feet from me. I gazed for a moment, spell-bound. IIow their red, hungry eyes coxniu.NTKi> Jiv A now ok wolves (p. b2\. 54 glared in my face ! Their hot breath seemed to burn my very cheek. It was my steady gaze, perhaps, that kept them for a time at bay, but as soon as I started to my feet the spell was broken. There was no time to fire. I merely clubbed my rifle and went at the foremost, determined to sell my life dearly. My first blow laid him dead at my feet, my second sent another rollino- over the cliff. But what is one man among a pack of wolves ! They surround you, as they now did me, and in whirling round in order to aim more fairly at my fierce aggressors, I tripped and fell — fell in the very centre of the growling fiends Certain death would now have been my portion, had it not been that a kind eye had been watching my wanderings, and both Captain Wilson and our mate, seeing my danger before I did, hastened to my rescue, and arrived just in the nick of time. Said my captain, as he tenderly bound up my lacerated left arm, " Let this be a lesson to you, my boy ; caution is the first duty of both warrior and hunter." Next morning my arm was swollen and very painful, and I did not require much persuading to keep to my couch, my companions leaving me, and promising to return a full hour sooner on my account. How very slowly the hours crept on ! I thought it surely must be five o'clock when it was barely two, and all sorts of foolish notions and fancies kept crowding through my brain, while the terrible wolf -story our landlord had related assumed proportions in my mind that caused me to shudder. Presently I clropped into sleep, and if my waking thoughts had been troubletl w itli (listivssin<^ fancii^s, my dn^anis wore worse, ten tliousand tinu's. One tlivain at length was so li(>rril)l(' tliat I sprang to niv feet witli a friglitened cry, and found I was in pitcliy darkness. I groped for the match-box, and liastily lit the lamp, and having replenished the fire, looked at my watch, and found the hour-hand pointing to eight. Eight o'clock, and they ought to have returned with daylight full four hours ago ! I started once more to my feet, and seized my rifle. I would go in search of my friends, even at that hour. I flew to the door and opened it. A night of pitchy darkness, of blinding drift and snow, that took my very breath away. Surely no living thing could be abroad in such a storm. I was fain to return and seat myself by the blazing logs, and sat like a stupid thing, gazing on the red embers, and listening to the snow-laden wind roaring angrily around the little hut, shaking it at times to its very foundations. There was no cry of hungry wolves to-night mingling with the wind: they were crouching among the rocks and in ice- caves, sheltering from the tempest. But my friends, how my heart sank when I thought of what their fate must be, and of their mangled bodies lying unburied beneath the drifted snow ! Sorrow sends sleep, and it must have been quite late next morning when I awoke with a feeling of glad surprise at my heart, and found I was not alone. Here were l)oth my friends, alive and well, or, as the captain laughingly cxiJn-ssed it, "hale, hearty, and hungry." Th'-v had travrllcd fartln-r in pursuit of ganir than tliey 56 had any notion of, niglit and tlie storm had come suddenly on them ; but being old hunters, they had crept into the nearest snow-caATrn for shelter. Thinking more of me than them- selves, they lighted their pipes and smoked and talked until morning. The strangest part of their tale is to come : they had FACE TO FACE "WITH THE GIGAXTIC OWXER actually spent the night in the cave of a bear, and just as Captain Wilson was creeping out from under the snow, he found himself face to face with the gigantic owner of the cavern, Avho, having been out all night, was returning to have a nap. 57 "Ho! ho!" Bruin soeined to say, " i^ood nioniini^s I Iiavc^ you now. You'll nuiko me a nice little snack Ix'l'orc I lif down. Won't I enjoy you just ! Ho! ho!" It was a had thing for that bear after all, and a good thing for my friend that he carried his rille slightly in advance of him, as he managed easily enough to fire right down the animal's throat, and so kill him with the shot. A BLINDING SNOW-STORM IN THE "WILDS OF SIBERIA. CHAPTER VIII. THE LAND OF EXILE A RURAL VILLAGE GOING TO A "MEEt"- — MURDER PREVENTED. We now busied ourselves for several days in making prepara- tions for a very long journey indeed, for we were determined to see wliat sport looked like in tlie wilds of Siberia. A larger and more comfortable sledge was put together for our express convenience and comfort, our commissariat was looked to and well replenished, and our rifles cleaned and polished with all the love and care which the true sportsman alone lavishes on his pet weapon. Then came the day of departure, with its exceedingly early breakfast, its bustle and stir in harnessing the horses, its 59 anxiety to make surf that n.»tliinj^^ was left bcliind, aiitl llicii the faivwclls. Tlu> landlord liimsolf — and an oxccllmt wlii|> lie was — intended drivinron in the other she wiped away the fast-falling tears. Crack goes the driver's long whip, for just a moment he pulls the three wild-looking horses quite on their haunches, to show his command over them ; then with a wild shout we start forward, and are soon deep in the bosom of the ])ine- forest. On we sped like the wind, and with nothing worthy of the name of adventure, reached our first hostelry by nightfall. The farther south we went the more solitary grew the country. On the third day the scene was dreary in the ex- treme, a dismal snow-clad waste, Avith here and there a weird- looking lonesome pine-tree, its branches drooping beneath its burden of snow, and here and there a pole pointing out from a wreath of snow to guide us on our w^ay. At last we reached our destination, a curious little village built at the foot of a mountain, and near to the banks of a rocky stream. As our horses rattled through its only street, females ran to the door to stare timidly at us, and little children clung screaming to their skirts. It was eviright fire and a comfortable dinner. We were returning one day from a Imiit ing expedit ion — I UK an the mate and myself — and iiwikiiii; the brst of our way along a rocky pass, in a very lonely and litt Ie-rre(piented portion of the country, when, suddenly, on rounding a corner, 62 we came upon a sight wliicli well-nigh froze the blood in GUI' veins. SAVING THE CAPTAIN. Seated on a little camp-stool, not far from the edge of the cliif, was poor Captain Wilson, calmly sketching, with a half- 63 amused smile on his hauJsomo face; while, .staiidiiii; hchiiid hira, and wdthin a very few feet, was one ol" the vih'st-h)()kiiii^^ miscreants ever I had seen in my life, dressed in greasy ragged skins, his feet encased in tattered boots. His face liad an expression of fiendish, stem determination, while in his hand he brandished aloft a dagger, which, but for our timely arrival, would have ended the mortal career of the skipper of the little Vi-queen. The mate entirely lost his presence of mind, " Shoot ! " was all he could gasp ; and I'm not certain even now that the word was not spoken before, and not after the ring of my ritle awakened every echo in the glen. Ihit the bullet had done its work. The wretch who but a moment before had almost accomplished a dastardly murder now lay dead. The coolest among us was the captain himself. A glance at the dead man's hand, still clutching the knife, showed him at once the danger he had escaped. Then he quietly lighted a cigar. " That lad is little loss," he remarked ; " but he came just as near as a toucher to spoiling one of the best sketches ever I made in my life." ^: " Iv^OORSHIK, ' 01 DllI'VER CHAPTEE IX. THE BEAR AND THE CAPTAIN LOST IN THE ATTACKED BY WOLVES. FOREST LOVE The news of our strange adventure soon got noised abroad tlirougli the little village, the inmates of which crowded rovmd the captain on his return, to congratulate him on his very narrow escape. It was soon discovered that the would-be assassin was no other than Eunolf, once a respectable ki/oorsliik, or driver ; but since, from habits of intemperance, degenerated into a robber, if nothing worse. It so happened that the keej^er of the hotel was the only magistrate in the village ; and altliough this was the first man I had slain, it considerably relieved my feelings when our landlord entered, and begged the honour of shaking hands with me ; likewise the " honour of thanking me for having killed the only scoundrel and thief in the village ; " and so on and so forth. 05 And so s]hm"1 our lilV away in this ])loasant littlo town ; and to the c'ohl and stormy months of s])rin<^ succeeded summer, changing in a wonderful manner the aspect of the scenery. Tn one short week the snows melted and fled ; the streams, formerly almost ice-bound, were converted into roaring torrents ; then buds and leaves began to clothe woodland and lea with a sweetly tender green, brown fern-stalks curled up and unfolded in many a rocky nook, grass sprang up as if by magic, birds came back to fill tlie forests with music — the shrill piping blackbird and thrush, and even the lark of our own drar land. Down in the darkest spruce-thickets you could hear the amorous "croodle"of the wild pigeon; and on the hill-sides, among the heaths, you could even hear the well-known notes of partridge and " gorcock ; " and wherever they ])ossil)Iy eould show a head among moss, or stones, or grass, came peeping out the primroses, in yellow or pink. Only for the wild scenery I could now have fancied I was in my nativr land. But still in the forests and plains dwelt the wolf ; in his rocky den lurked the great bro\\Ti bear ; and, even if the biggest thief in the village had come by an accident, we never tliought it prudent to move far abroad without being armed to the teeth. ^Ir. Gordon, our mate — or Ben, as the ca])tain familiarly called him — was just as brave as he was good-looking : some- times one would have called his bravery mere rashness. In one instance he was reclining drowsily by tlu' foot of a tree, but nursing his rifle lovingly, nevertheless, when a hunL,nT- looking and very ferocious wolf passed him, or rather attempted to pass him, within whispering distance. Now many a brave 66 man would have allowed that wolf to escape. Not so honest Ben : in a moment, as if by instinct, he had seized the beast by the hind leg. Darting forward with a terrible howl, the wolf ■#^-^^^:^ BEN AND THE 'WOLF. actually pulled the mate to his feet. It was his last growl ; for next minute a bullet from Ben's gun found easy passage throuo-h the animal's skull. 07 Once again, curiously onougli, our mate and I liad tlie opportunity of delivering Captain Wilson from pressing danger. You see, the good captain could not help getting out his palette and easel whenever he came upon a scene that in any way suited his fancy, any more than he could help getting into the brownest of brown studies whenever he got the \n-n>\\ in his hand. Dear old l)oy ! I think I see him now, as I saw him that beautiful evening, seated sketching, cigar in mouth, one of the most romantic bits of landscape in Europe. He was just getting in the sky, a lovely golden sunset, when Ben and I came round the corner ; and we could see at a glance that he wasn't alone. He had one most interested spectator of his every movement. A large brown bear was comfortably squatting on a bit of rock at his back, looking coolly over his shoulder. Ben, the mate, seeing the danger his friend was in, instantly levelled his rifle to fire. "Don't fire," I whispered hastily, " cover the brute, and watch his movements for a moment ; " and Ben obeyed, keeping finger on trigger and eye on Bruin. The bear evidently seemed pretty sure of his prey, and therefore made no hurry. He seemed, in fact, all curiosity. " What the dickens is he doing, at all, at all ? " he seemed saying to himself. "Pull my tusks if ever I saw the like of this before ! " Then he lifted his great paw and licked the sole of it, then he had another look, tiien he licked the sole of the other foot, looking altogether so like a clown spitting in his lists bi'fore fighting, that I would have given a good deal to be able to laugh outright. After this last perrornuuice Bruin lound is 68 incumbent to paw the air with one foot, as if trying to mesmerise the unconscious skipper. " The distance is rather m-eat," he seemed to sav, "but how say, jolly it would be now if I could just reach out my paw so, so, and pull him quietly up, and then see what he tasted like. And bother my hide if I ain't feeling a bit peckish." Here Master Bruin squatted, preparing to spring. " I am peckish," he continued, " so here goes." And here went — not the bear, but the crack of honest Ben's rifle. Then that bear said " Oh ! ah ! oh ! " That was the last remark ever he made. He bent his head and died, and the captain looked up and remarked, " Well, I'm blessed ! " And the mate replied, " Well, you're a pretty messmate ! " And so ended that adventure. ******* Fishing in some of the numerous lakes was now added to our other enjoyments, and we always chose one surrounded, as indeed they nearly all were, by beautiful scenery, where, while fishing, we could say, in the words of poet Wilson — " How lonesome ! liow wild ! yet the wildness is rife With the stir of enjoyment — the spirit of life : The glad fish leaps up in the heart of the lake. Whose depths at the sullen plunge sullenly quake ; Elate on the fern-branch the grasshopper sings, And away in the midst of his roundelay springs ; While up on yon hill, in silence remote, The cuckoo unseen is repeating his note." Summer passed and autumn came, and one day, on looking out of our window, lo and behold ! the ground was white with snow, and the flakes were silently falling. 70 That morning Ben seemed somewhat duller than usual. He had lately been in the habit of taking his rifle, and going X x^~^^«^^'f\i off for a short stroll by ''lil^^t^^ -v^, himself, and the caj)tain used to Liugh, and say he was afraid the bay mare with the pretty eyes had something to do w4tli these solitary rambles. 71 Tliis (lay, however, liis absence was unusually prolonged, and when twiliglit began to deepen into niglit, and still there were no signs of him, both the captain and myself began to get really alarmed, and both proposed at the same time to go in search of him. Some Russian soldiers who were guests at the inn kindly proposed to accompany us. The path he generally took led to the adjoining forest, and in this direction we went. Much to our joy, at the very verge of it we found his footsteps in the snow, and by the aid of torchlight, for it was now very dark, we managed to trace them far into the forest. To the very edge of a deep shaft or pit we tracked them — '• We traced tlie footsteps to the brink, But farther there were none." That was a long sad night of trouble and grief to lis all. Even after we had rescued our poor friend, we found that he had sustained injuries that would detain us here for many a day. Perhaps there was no more sincere mourner than poor little Freda; at all events she made a most indefatigable nurse. Night and day she was ever attentive and thoughtful, and it was no doubt owing to her tender care that Ben was enabled, after many weeks, to be up and about again. This accident, however, detained us one other winter in the land of exile. And, betwixt you and me, Ben did not seem to care much. Have you guessed the reason ? Ben had fallen over head and ears in love with his sweet little nurse, Freda. It is funny, no doubt, but it is a fact, for Ben owned to it. And why should he be ashamed of it? There is honour 72 in honest love. And, moreover, love makes a brave good man braver and better. And now I have to relate an adventure which befell our good friend Ben and his prett}^ Freda, the girl of his choice. The village nearest to us was some twenty miles distant in a southerly direction ; it was a village of somewhat greater pretensions than ours, and contained several Russians of wealth, if not nobility. One of these, who usually went by the name of Baron, used frequently in his shooting excursions to drop into our hotel, and from the very first it was noticed that his attentions to Freda were very marked — attentions, too, which the poor girl seemed by no means to relish. Now he was, or pretended to be, very much in love with our Freda, as we always called her, but his advances not being encouraged, he determined to carry her off by force. Once secure in his castle, he could, he thought, defy anything. Well, Ben, as I have already said, grew hale and hearty again, and nothing but the fact that the Vi-qiieen was frozen up for the winter compelled our further stay. However, we easily settled down to our usual pursuits. One day the captain and I got separated from our friend while out shooting, and not finding us, Ben returned alone, probably not sorry to have the chance of spending a quiet hour with his beloved Freda. What was his surprise to find, on his return, that the Avhole villao-e was astu' with excitement, and that She had gone the little landlord's daughter was missinj on an errand to the other end of the village, and had not returned, and the fact that her Eussian suitor had that same morning driven into the village, and was now gone. 73 caused stronq" suspicion that Freda liad hccn a1)du('t('(l bv the baron. lien's rage, the hmdlord tohl me, was terrihU' to witness. His eyes flashed fire. His questions and orders I'cll thick and quick. " How long had she been missed ? Only an hour ? Put the fleetest horses in the lightest sledge. His other rille. Quick, Another driver? No, it would but cucumber him." A moment more and he was on board, and teariuir alonir ' or? the sno\v-covered road as fast as horseflesh could carry him. But the baron's team was also good, and his sledge light, and he had no driver; he little thought he would be so hotly pursued, however, Ben was ten good miles on the road before he even sighted the other sledge, and now the chase became most exciting, but yard after yard was gained, and at last the two teams were within hail, when suddenly poor Ben's off"-horse stumbled and fell. Now was the time for action. Brave Ben was on his feet in an instant, and in one moment more he had fired, and dropped one of the baron's horses dead on the road. And the baron himself might well quake now. " You wretch," cried Ben, pulling the baron from tlie sledge, " I could kill you ; but not one drop ol" your cow^ardly blood shall soil my blade. I would not even strike you in presence of that pure, good girl. I will but shake you — thus — and thus — and thus." He suited the action to the words ; and I doubt very much whether the rascally baron's bones were not quite a,s sore as his feeliuL^^s. So much for what honest love will do. And now happy Ben had but to return to the village with 74 tlie rescued, but still trembling, Freda. Their adventures were not yet over, however. There were nearly fifteen miles of road to be traversed, and night was coming on. The moon, however, round and full, was already high in the heavens, and though they have to depend entirely on her for light, it is so clear, you might see even to read. But what is that cry that sounds faintly, but mournfully, from the far depths of the forest? It is the howl of the hungry wolf. His ear has caught the sound of the horses' feet ; his keen muzzle has scented them. And now it comes nearer; the baying is doubled, multiplied a hundredfold. Look, they come ! they gain ground every minute ! "Take the reins, Freda; speed the horses on. Never fear, my darling ; they shall not touch a hair of your head." Nearer, and more near, Avith yelp and snarl, come the pack, full forty strong. And now you may see their red, lolling tongues, their foam-flaked mouths, and their green, fierce eyes glancing in the moonlight. Ben fii-ed but once ; then seized his hunting-knife. How swiftly sped the terrified horses ; but not so swiftly as to prevent that foremost fiend from jumping half-way into the sledge. Never mind ; he is down, and dead ; and another, and another, that followed his example. But see ! one, more cunning than the rest, has outflanked the steeds. He has seized on one, and impedes his progress ; and the poor horse rears, then falls ; then the cloud of fiends are round them. Bang ! bang ! bang ! bang ! Heaven be praised, assistance has come ! Freda hardly knows what is happening. She can ro dimly descry another sled^'e ; slio liears shouts ; and can see tliat many men are fiij^htini,^ wildly with the wolves. It is a ttMTil)l(> melee ; hut at last all is comparatively quiet, and presently a strouiif manly arm encircles her, loving ATT.\( KEIi IIY "WOLVES. lips touch her cheek, and a voice she knows riq;ht well whispers, " Freda, ni}- darling, we are saved." And so this little fragile tllillL,^ who hehaved so hravely all along, nnist now needs go ofl" into a swoon. Foolish Freda ! SEAL-FISHING, TO GREENLAND WEST- CHAPTEE X. ■ESKIMO INDIANS RUCKIE AND RODDIE — HOMEWARD BOUND. As this is not meant for a love-story, I can devote but little space to tell you of the love of Freda and Ben. Suffice it to say that it was arranged that they should be married ; that they should travel overland to St. Petersburg, and steam thence to England ; that Ben, after having seen his wife safe at home, should re-join us at Christiansand, where we were going to lay in stores ; and that it all fell out precisely as it had been arranged, and quite pleasantly, too ; and that Ben did join us at Christiansand, looking as hale, hearty, and happy as ever. Summer in the northern seas is very pleasant ; and dur voyage to Baffin's Bay left nothing to be desired. A spanking breeze blew nearly all the time ; and during the whole cruise we were only under steam for three daj's. Calm seas when we reached the ice, and hardly a breath of wind ; icebergs in sc(5res, here, there, and everywhere, of all shapes and sizes — some square and Hat, others like giant rocks 77 and noodles, tlioir ci^n^on sides \v;ivo-\v;i^1i»m1, iowcrinij;' fantasti- cally skywards. The sky was l)lu(> ; and the sini lor ever went round it, but never set, being only just a little lowi-r on the liorizon at midnight. Arrived in Greenland, and safely anchored in a little bay, you may be sure it was not long before we went on shore to pay the natives a visit. "Now," said my friend, Ca})tain Wilson, "we must lirst and foremost pay old Ruckie a visit." " And who," I inquired, "may old lluckie be when he's at home?" " Ah ! that's just it," replied the captain; " you seldom do find old Euckie at home, nor his wife either." " I'll lay," said Ben, " he's on the ice now." "Shouldn't wonder," said the captain. And all the while I was burning to know who this old Ivuckie was whom tbey were both so enthusiastic over. Evi- dentl}' tliey had known him before. "And here we are," said Captain Wilson, "at liuckie's bouse; and, by George! they're all at dinner. Euckie, Euckie, halloa, old man : I " Euckie's head was down, for Euckie, having, I suppose, had his own dinner, was feeding the dogs, his youngest son was feeding the puppies, and Eoddie, liis wife, was feeding the rest of the children, with the exc?ption of one, a girl of sixteen, and the best-looking of the family, who, scrandjling up out of an extempore tent, wdiere she liad been lying, and making the boards lly in all directions, was tl.^c first to run to meet us. 78 " Fader ! moder ! " she roared, " come quick, plenty quick! the dear Englishman back again, the kind Englishman come back ! " Then the scene that ensued was indescribable. Ruckie ran to us, and Eoddie ran to us ; dogs ran and puppies ran, and they all ran, and " I shall shake hands directly, soon's I've 'llayed my feelin's," cried Ruckie, and off he went in the daftest dance ever I saw in my life. " Must 'Hay my feelin's," cried Roddie^ and she began to caper next. "Must all 'Hay our feelin's," cried the children, and off they went ; and the dogs barked and skipped round the whole of us : that was how they allayed their feelings. "Well, I'm jiggered!" cried the mate, and the captain and I laughed tiH the tears rolled down our cheeks. Then there was shaking of hands — such a shaking of hands ! — and after that the captain dived into his coat-pocket, and brought out yards of tobacco, and the mate followed his example, and hauled forth strings of beads, and you never saw such a happy family in your life ; so happy were they, indeed, that as soon as Roddie had " 'rrayed herself," as she caHed it, and Ruckie had filled his mouth with tobacco, they were fain to allay their feelings all over again, just as if they never had been allayed at all. Then there were dozens of questions to be asked. "And has you really come back, though?" Ruckie inquired, with great gravity. " Really come back," the captain answered, smiling. " And has you really and truly come back, Ben ? " he asked the mate. 80 " Eeally and truly," said tlie mate. " Directly for true ? " " Directly for true, Euckie," answered Ben. I ought to add that the word " directly " is much used by the Eskimo Indians. Goodness knows how much they mean by it. Then Ruckie inquired tenderly after the Fi-qiieen, after which he showed us all round his house. " Hillo ! " said the captain, " a grand new window/' " The big Spirit," said Euckie, "send the Perseverance ship ashore. She break up plenty quick. Men all go drown directly. The big Spirit is good. The big Spirit furnish my house outside and in, Avindow, chimney, and all. The big Spirit, he say to himself, ' Poor Euckie no have the comforts of this life, wind to blow big guns, directly, directly for true.' " The way wo got inside was by first getting on the roof of Euckie's house, and then going down through a hole. We found the floor plentifully littered with withered ferns and broom, a big lamp hung from the ceiling, and there was plenty of evidence to show that Euckie spoke truly about the unhappy Perseverance. The dress of this queer family consisted of skins, and, with the exception of the difference of their head-gear, when their backs were turned I defy you to have told Euckie from Eoddie, or Eoddie from Euckie. Neither were much over five feet high, their hair was long and black, and the skins of both were a dingy yellow. Now I soon found out that Euckie, curious and all as he looked, was really a very clever fellow, a good sealer, and a most daring whaler, so that his services as harpooner were in SI great request amoiiu: the Kn^-lish " l)liibber-luinters," as tliey are somewhat laet'tiously termed, and whoever secured iiuckie made sure of a prize. OUK NEW ACMlAINTANCES. " "Well," said our captain, that evenini,^ as we were seated in the little cabin of the ]'i-rj//ccn, "what do you think of our new acquaintances, Lovat ? " "The funniest family ever I knew," J replied; "and you evidently have known them before':' " 82 " I did," said the skipper, " and Ben too, we've both been here three times, and once in his lifetime Euckie, honest ^^ .^^^''^^^'' P-¥^^' 5:' i TUE LOa-HODSE iN THE FUB COUNTKY. fellow, left his wife and his home, and journeyed with us away down south to the fur country." " Ah ! " said Ben, smacking his lips at the recollection, " that was indeed a jolly little trip ! " " We lived, Lovat, for six months in winter, in a log-house, in the midst of a forest — lived there from choice, because we 83 •woro in tlio very contro of s]>ort and ndvoiituro, sport far Aviklor than any yon liavo seen as yet. and linckio was all in all to us ; we had, too, an excellent sledi^-e and a team of splendid do2fs, that I don't think an\'thin2^ in this world wonld liavo killed, so when the chase didn't come to us, why. then, we could go to it. And wouldn't it have been a poor look-out for us that nig'lit we lost ourselves in the forest, and had to camp out, if it hadn't been for poor Ruckle? " "Aye," said Ben, taking- up the story, "it was like this, Lovat : the captain there had the misfortune to have a foot frozen ; now these things want looking to at once, or mortifica- tion will be the speedy result. So dovm. the captain sat, at Ruckle's request, and that gentleman commenced operations with snow, and thus a whole hour was spent, darkness came down, and there was nothing for it but to stop there all night. You should have seen the speed and dexterity with which Ruckie set about making the camp. With the last glimmering light he cut do\\Ti so many branches, that we thought he meant building a house, instead of beds and a camp fire.'' "But Ruckie knew what he was about," said Ca]^tain Wilson. " Go on, Ben, my boy, you speak like a book." " I'm not much of a hand at telling a story," said Ben, " Init I assure you, Lovat, it would have done your heart good to see Ruckie at work. lie deputed us to make a round clearing in the snow, abcjut twelve feet in diameter, right doAMi to the mo.ss. At one end of this Ruckie built his fire most artisti- cally. By the time he had done so it was almost pitch-dark, and very gloomy indeed was the prospect before us, for the wind was moaning most mournfully through the trees over- 84 iiead, and the sky was so clouded, that never a star could twinkle tlirougli the snow-laden branches. "But all this was changed whenEuckie lit the lire, and its cheermg beams lighted up the darkness of the forest. And when Euckie built a soft elastic couch for us, of spruce pine branches, and covered it with skins, and then brought out the .supper, and arranged it before the fire, wdiy, we felt as jolly as sand-boys, and sung songs and spun yarns till midnight, and even the dogs partook of the general joy, and lay snugly asleep beside the lire. " And then we turned in, and we, too, were soon snugly asleep, but poor Euckie did ' sentry go ' till morning." Xext morning we paid another visit to the Eskimo village, and the captain photographed the family, and when it was done and completed I really thought they would take leave of their senses with delight, and it became necessary for each and all of them to start off " 'Haying their feelins " on the spot. " Gro on board now," said Captain Wilson, " and tell my sailors to give you plenty to eat, and some beads, and some 'baccy." This was an invitation that could not be refused or resisted ; meanwhile we went off* to have a day's sport, and a most excellent bag we made — one deer falling to Ben's gun, and more white hares and other game than the three natives we had taken with us could carry. Coming, in the course of our peregrinations, to a little bay of open water, surrounded by a bold ice-bound coast, we were much pleased to see the dexterity with which a party of 85 Indians manacled their little skin-covered canoes, or Icajalcs, while they engaged in a hand-to-hand light with some twenty large bladder-nosed seals. By no means an easy gentleman to tackle is this same l)hulder- nosed seal — so called from a large lleshy bag which he carries on the lower part of his face, and which, when angry, he can inflate, and thus render himself almost invulnerable. He will attack either man or boat ; and I have seen one, after taking the sealing-clubs from a whole boat's crew, finish off b}^ seizing a man by the leg, and leaping into the water with him. But the Eskimo Indians spear and club these animals with great adroitness. On our return we passed through another Indian village, and there, very much to our surprise, we met poor Eoddic, in great grief; and, word by word, in her strange broken English, she managed to tell us her story. It seemed that the sailors of the Vi-queen had been most liberally hospitable to Roddie and her husband. They had, first and foremost, given them a stomachic in the shape of a glass of rum ; that finished, they had dined as only an Eskimo Indian can dine. And when they started for home, Eoddie was a proud woman indeed. Not only had she dined well, but the little skin hood upon her shoulders was filled with pork and pea-soup, she had " plenty 'baccy " in her pocket, she wore bright strings of brass buttons about her neck, and her top-knot was bedecked with about half a peacock's tail. Now Euckie went straight home to smoke ; but Eoddic — no ; she must needs marcli o\ ir to the neighboui'ing village, 86 and parade the streets to tantalise the other and less fortunate Indian ladies. But they soon lost all patience ^Yith Eoddy, and fell upon her, and thrashed her severely, drank her hood of soup, ate her pork, and stole buttons, " 'baccy," peacock's feathers, and all, and left poor robbed Eoddie to mourn. I .came upon Euckie and Eoddie next day, on the ice, watchino- for a seal. Euckie himself was standino- bv, ^ith rope and spears, looking very demurely into the water; and Eoddie was on her hands and knees, whistling. It is strange a seal should come when whistled on, but so it is. All curiosity to know Avhat was up, by-and-b}^ a great black head popped up, and two bright gazelle-like eyes gazed wonderingly round. In an instant he was speared, and in a minute or two he la}' dead on the ice. "Ha!" cried Euckie, beating his hands together with satisfaction, " sure I know I catch him for dead, plenty quick, directly for true." Euckie or Eoddie was often our guide in our shooting expeditions. They knew far better than we did where the large game lay; and we benefited much by their know- ledge ; for in less than a month Ave had the fore cabin of the Yi-queen quite filled with valuable skins and ivory. Pleasant and all as wandering in foreign lands ever is to the true sailor, there is an ineffable charm in those simple words " homeward bound " that the rover only knows. And so when, one morning, the little Vi-quecn, looking as saucy as ever, but sadly in need of paint, weighed anchor, steamed slowly out of the bay, and bore up for merry England, there was gladness in eveiy heart, and joy on every face — joy that found vent in smiles aiul jokos hy day, aiul in soiifrs at niij^lit — sonp^s and yarns botli around the cabin stove and l)y the galley lire. ******* ^ly little joke was this : not to let my grandpapa and WATCHING FOR A SIJAL. Xt'lly know of my arrival until I actually put foot on the lawn ; but blaster Nero, the Newfoundland, had also his little joke to carry out, and his effectually spoiled mine ; for we were still a good mile from the dear old cottage, when the dog kicked his heels joyfully in the air. and disappeared like a "bird; and, sure enough, in less than ten nnnutcs he was back again : and not only was grandfather there, and radiant little Nellv, but Vi.xcn the Skvc as well. 88 "Why," said Nelly, " you've positively grown a man." " I really couldn't help it, Nelly, dear," I replied, trying to look demure. " But," Nelly continued, nodding her little head at every word, as if the subject was no joke at all, "you've — positively — grown — a — mouHtdclie'' " It's a very w^ee one, Nelly," I said, kissing her ; " and I 'ni really not responsible for that either." " Oh ! " she cried, lauo^hinq-, and running off to hug the dosf, " and you've grown a wag as well." PART II. ADVENTURES IX AFRICA. THE AKAB CHIEF (jJ. {)li). CHAPTER I. THE VOYAGE OUT ST. HELENA ZANZIBAR — THE ARAB CHIEF. One bright beautiful morning in the autumn of eighteen hundred and ever so much, a handsome rakisli-looking yacht might liave been seen riding at anchor at some distance oii' the old-fashioned but romantic little town of Cowes. Tlicrc was just wind enough to ripple the surface of the water, and just swell enough to lift the vessel's head every few seconds, and let it fiill again ; so that she looked for all the world as if she were pulling impatiently at her anchor, and longing to have it up and be off. Now few who had seen the Vi-quee/i return from the sea of ice, battered, and scraped, and skinned, would have guessed that the craft lying out there, looking so bright and airy in her fresh paint, and freshly-scraped masts, and with every shroud and stay in its projDer place, was the same saucy little vessel. But so it was. In a day or two we had crossed the ch'eaded Bay of Biscay, and were making all sail for Madeii-a, where in due time we arrived, and anchored off the town of Funchal, a quaint old town as seen from the sea, built at the foot of a lofty mountain, covered with green waving woods, from which the white fronts of many a princely mansion jDeep out, and the summit of wdiich is covered with tall pine-trees. Crossing the Ime, we were becalmed, and happy for us then that we could steam. Large smooth tumbling waves, and a most unpleasant motion, a burning hot sun in a blazing blue sky, and never a breath of air. But, thanks to the foresight of my brave captain, even now we were far from comfortless, and lolling on the quarter-deck, under the a^vming, in a grass hammock, with a glass of iced sherbet by your side, and your favourite author in your hand, is not so miserable a situation after all, even in the seas of the tropics. St. Helena was our next place of call. This island, as my reader knows, is " the lonely rock " in the middle of the ocean to which the ambitious Napoleon was banished, and where he died, but the lonely rock happens to be a most beautiful mountainous but fertile island ; the little town of St. James clusters round the sea-beach, and goes straggling up the glen in the most charming way imaginable. On the right-hand side is Ladder Hill, on the summit of which is a fortification, the 0:^ laddor itself which h'ads tlioreto is eiio\i<;li to make a landsman giddv, and if he did have the coiiraj^e to climb it his limbs would ache for a week. Off the Cape of Good Hope the sea rolled houses hi^^h ; the little Yi-queen was a mere shuttlecock in the midst of those J I- GOOD HOPE. mii^^hty tuml)lin<^^ waves, which at ni^ht were liofhted up with hf^htninred myself" almost entirely i up, and .luirdly had I done so when the sun rose, and it was soon broad daylight. " I liad not long lain down ere sleep stole over me, and j all my troubles were buried in oblivion. From the position of i the sun when I awoke, I knew it must be far on in the afternoon. 13ut wdiat had aroused me so suddenly ? Voices. 1 And there, not four hundred paces off, and coming towards me, I could see a party of natives, armed to the teeth ; but it was evident that, even if they were in search of me, they had not struck my trail. They soon went off again in another direction. A whole hour must have gone by, and I was beginning to long for night and supper, when again two more men passed, and in a short time the whole band returned, and with them some twenty or thirty more. " This night I made quite a long forced march, but tow^ards midnight I came suddenly in view of distant glim- mering fires, and could distinctly hear the beating of the tom-toms, and the occasional shrill yell of a dancing native. This told me I could not be far from the sea, and warned me to bear more inland. " Once more the short morning twilight gave warning of the approach of the god of day, and once again, having sought out a convenient spot, I buried myself and weapons in tlie dry warm sand. A portion of this day was sjient 108 as before, in sleep ; and diu'ing the afternoon I saw nothing nor heard anything to alarm me, and when night came I once more set out upon my lonesome journey, and my only adventure after the "shades" had fallen was the having to APPARITIONS IN THE RIVER. cross a river. I have been from boyhood a good swimmer, ]3ut this broad, deep, sullen flowing river tamed all my energies. " I saw more than one apparition in that river, large dark masses that moved about in the sedgy shallows, or plunged into deep pools with a plash and a bellow. "Morning found me once again hidden in the sands, and ere I fell asleep I solemnly thanked God for His good- ness, in kindly guardin o" me so far on my way. A band 10'.) of natives passed very near to nie some time IxTore sunset. They were armed to the teeth, with spears and sliields, and the broad, knife-like sword of the Somalis. With them was a camel, laden with skins and ivory, and tliey appeared to come from the interior, and to be jom-neying coast ways. This made me all the more cautious in my next night's march, but nothing occurred to alarm me until nearly day- break, when I suddenly found myself on the edge of a great jungle or forest. I was hesitating whether or not I should enter, when voices fell on my ear, and this decided me. " On the ver}'- first day of my wanderings in the forest, I had the good fortune to find a pathway, and from the imprints of naked feet in the mud, I knew it was one made by man, and not by beast. Now had I used this pathway with my boots on, my trail would of a certainty have been noticed ; I therefore determined to tlirow away both my shoes and stockings, as useless encumbrances. I did not leave them by the wayside, you may be sui'e, but carefully hid them in the long grass. " From the direction the path seemed to take, I guessed it must eventually lead me to Lamoo. I spent the greater portion of the day in either walking or sleeping in the forest. But even here I was not free from danger. Some- times I came upon swampy, reedy lakes, where elephants would come down to drink in the heat of the day, and which abounded with formidable-looking alligators or croco- diles. "I have said the elephants used to come to these lakes 110 to drink. Their homely, sensible-looking heads and wise little eyes used always to cheer me up. But Mister Crocodile used to lie in wait for these noble animals, and the cautious, intelligent way the elephant approached the water was beautiful to witness. He would step gradually down to the water's edge, lifting his feet slowly, and putting them do^^^l as gingerly, as if he were afraid the earth had some thoughts of opening and swalloA\ang him, and all the while his trunk would be extended, snifhng round, as it were. "If no crocodiles were about, he would quickly di'ink, then dash a few trunkfuls of water all over him, and quickly retire. But if a crocodile were present, the elephant would stop, and give him a long passive stare, wdiich said plainly enough, ' Oh ! you re there, are ye ! You needn't gape with your ugly mouth at me ; I'm not afraid of a beast like you; besides, I ain't particularly thirsty, and I can come ao^ain.' Then off he would Avalk ; but, from the way he would point his trunk at the crocodile as he backed astern, you would have made sure he was saying to him, ' Wouldn't you like a bite off my trunk, eh ? Yah ! ' " Now here is a curious adventm-e I had, where a snake saved my life. One day I had climbed up into a high tree, partly to have a look round, and partly to get a supply of cocoa-nuts. I had just reached the nuts, and was select- ing- the best, when the whole forest resounded to the terrible roar of a wild beast, and, looking down, I spied an enormous tiger, who was apparently studying the anatomy of my spear and shield. Next moment he had sprung away from the tree, and wheeled round, to face a spotted snake, who 112 ance of a tiger had climbed some reeds, and was preparing to do battle with him. I never saw such terror depicted in the counten- before : his eyeballs seemed starting from their sockets, while he sucked in his breath with a cry that resembled a moan. He Avas off like a wild horse, before the snake had time to strike, but not before the biggest cocoa-nut in that tree had con- siderably expedited his movements. " Another day in the forest I wit- nessed the attack of a cobra upon a poor baboon. Per- haps the baboon had trodden upon it; at all events, this was the last tree ever he climbed, for I found him lying, swollen and dead, not far off, on the same evening. The poor monkey's terror was likewise most painful to witness. " They amused me very much, those apes of the African forest. I have one scene like this in my memory now — a band of about a dozen monkeys robbing a mano-o-tree. How BABOON ATTACKED BY A COBRA. 11:5 they cliat- , tered and ] laughed! ' High above all the rest sat two of what might be called middle-aged ! m o n k e y s, squatting there as serious as judges, eating a mang<^ each, only occasionally pausing to scratch their heads with one finfjer, as if idra had suddenly struck them, ;^ and they were sorry they hadn't 114 a bit of paper and a pencil to note it clown. Close under the branch where these two squatted was an old scoundrel who had just brought down a luscious mango, and handed it to his "wife, to be by her passed down to their eldest boy monkey ; but just as she did so, and as the eldest boy monkey was greedily but gratefully receiving it, his Avife's tail struck him as so ridiculously absurd and funny, that, for the life of him, he could not resist the temj^tation of pulling her right up by it, for which he received a clout on the ear. His eldest girl monkey, who was up in the tree not far from him, squalled out at her papa, ' Yah ! yah ! yah ! you let a-go of my mother's tail.' That isn't good grammar, but then in Monkey-land there are no schools. There were two more middle-aged monkeys at the tree-foot, and Avhile one was gazing up, and enjoying the fun, the other stole his mango, and escaped with it into the tree. " While this has been going on, a newly-married lady monkey, stooping down to pick \i]) a mango, turns her back to her husband. " ' Oh ! ' cries that undutiful wretch ; ' I can't stand this,' so with all his force he pitches his mango at her. It takes effect, and goes all to squash ; then these two have a fight, and, in fact, before dinner is over, every one of them indi- vidually has pulled his nearest neighbour's tail, and clouted his ear, and stolen his mango, and called him or her all the blackguard names in their blackguardly little vocabulary. " All but one old monkey. That is Grandfather Grumps, and the reasons why Grandfather Grumps has taken no part in the row are — first, because he is not so young as he was ; and, 115 secondly, because lie has eaten so many niann^-oes that he feels it incumbent upon him to lie on his l^-oad back, and g-roan, and say — " ' WcW. to l)e sure I what an old fool I am ! Suit I oui^ht to have known bi-tter than eat that last man<,a), and to-morrow I'll 1)1' as gouty and stiff as an old toad.' "Just at dessert I put in an a})i)earance, and up the tree they all skimmed and climbed like greased lightning, and began to abuse me terribly, whereupon I opened fire u})on them with the remains of the banquet; but both sides can play at this, and I was soon obliged to retire in hot haste, not, how- ever, without taking with me some of the largest and best of the mangoes that had been indignantly pitched at my head. " One day on climbing a tall cocoa-nut tree to get my food and drink, for I now lived almost wholly on these nuts, I as usual cast my eyes around me, and more especially to the southward and east. Nothing but a dense jungly forest wherever I gazed, sa^'ing the distant blue cloud-capped peaks of some mountains, that lay away to the west of me. No, I could see nothing that gave me hope ; and, with a sigh, I was just preparing to descend, when the distant sound of a heavy gun fell upon my ear. I was all attention now. ( )ii(' big gun, then another, and another in regular rotation up to twL*nty-one. Then they ceased, and after a time commenced again ; nearer now and more distinctly heard, and the same number twenty-one. "I could not then be far oil' Jjanioo, and this was a royal salute, fired from a newly-arrived llritish niau-u'-war to the Sultan, and returned b}' that dignitary. Then I was saved ; 116 I could not be many miles from Lamoo. I did not, you may be sure, care to linger long in the forest that day ; I found the footpath at once, and commenced my march singing, for I Avas, although still in a savage country, not now in an enemy's land. I had not gone very far before I met a band of natives, mostly negroes, with one or two detestable Somalis. But I did not fear them now. They started and stared a little, but returned my ' Yambo ' with a kindly ' Yambo "Sana,'* and I passed on; and in three hours, tired, weary, but cheerful, I reached the town of Lamoo. " Tired and vv^ar}'^, but joyful withal, I at last reached the bazaar by the river-side, and found, lying not far off, H.M.S. JPenguin, and in this vessel I sailed for Zanzibar, and finally to the Cape of Good Hope. "Now, gentlemen, I am once more in Zanzibar, and some- thing that has occurred has determined me to go still farther, and by your kind assistance, and that of my friend SuUiman, I trust we may complete this expedition successfully and well." Here Obadiah produced a bundle of skins. " These skins," he continued, " were brought directly in a dhow from a place called Bareda, on the Somali coast. They were carried to that place on the shoulders of bushmen from the Magulla country. Gentlemen, these skins, which I mj^self bought on the beach, strange to say, are marked Avith the initials of the captain of the Fairy Queen and his little daughter Eva. No hands but his could have carved them. See for 3'ourselves, do you not think they live ? " * " Yambo "= God be with you. " Yambo Saua " — God be with you very much. A free translatiou. 117 The letters were distinct enoug-h, ^I. E. I), and E. D. "They live," he cried, passionately; "live as slaves to some savage king, and l)y my o^vn good rille I mean to set them free if yon will but assist me. Ah ! gentlemen," Obadiali went on, "those last tearful words oL" my sweet Eva, ' Dood-bye, dear Missa Johnson,' still ring in my cars, and I shall not forget them till I hold the dear child again in my arms." He ceased to speak, and the captain rose. " AVliat say you, men ? " he said, quietly ; " here / think we have a capital opportunity of not only seeing a bit of new country, and collecting skins and ivor^', but of doing a good turn. Who'll go ? " The Arab arose, and, with that melo-dramatic action which is never absent from warriors of his race, drew his sword and threw it on the table. " I am with our friend till the last," said the Arab chief. I threw down my revolver as a hint that I was ready. Ben, bluff old Ben, took out a jack-knife — it was the only arm he carried just then, and looked at it once or twice, then thinking, I suppose, that it would cut but a poor figure beside a sword and revolver, he struck the table a ringing blow with his great fist, and " I'll go," said Ben, " like a thousand of bricks." ******* Before a fortnight was over we had made all our pnpara- tions, and were ready to start. CHAPTEE III. LIFE IN THE BUSH AN ALLIGATOR ADVENTURE OBADIAH GIVES HIS EXPERIENCE OF CROCODILES. A BRIGHT, lovely morning, a blue sky, a few clouds lying on the horizon, looking at their upper surface like rocks of quartz, but blending beneath into an indistinct leaden haze, tlie heat tempered by a gentle breeze, and all equipped and ready, we stepped into our boat, and Avere soon on board the dliow that was to take us over to the African shore. Cautiously winding our way past many a green lagoon and pearly coral reef, we were soon out into the open sea, and stretching away towards the distant mainland. The dhow was not to drop us on the coast, and simply leave us there ; w^e had bargained for a good deal more than that. Sailing close to a spanking breeze, we were not many hours in reaching the mouth of the Luffa, a broad, Ill) rolliuir river, boinulod bv rulliiiir hills and frroon-frinefcd to the Avater's edge witli mangrove trees ; but there was still the di'eaded bar to eross, and here the breakers, foam-crested and ciu'liug, were rolling mountains high. Tliere really seemed no place through which we might find a jxissage without being dashed to pieces. But the dhow was well manned and beautifully handled, and after bumping on the sand once or twice, and getting us all well drenched with the green seas that poured on board of ns, we found our- selves in water as calm as a mill-pond. The dhow took us as far up the river as she could with safet}' go, then she landed both ns and our stores, tilled her sails, and bore away once more for Zanzibar. The country* in which we now encamped was wild and primitive in the extreme : it looked as if but newly-formed by the hands of a beneficent God. So silent and still, too, was the scene, it gave you an idea that the multitude of animals with which the river and country everywhere abounded were afraid of each other — that the deer stole silently down at sunset, lest their footsteps might attract the attention of the jungle tii^er or crocodile, and that the verv birds forbore to sinjif, lest their sweet voices should tell of their whereabouts to hawks and eagles. The hatred of the natives to the crocodile knew no bounds. After dinner on the very second night of our encam])ment, we witnessed a great feat of " derring-do " by two of these men that no dozen white men would have attempted, or could have accomplished even had they tried. It was a lovely evening ; the sun was just beginning to 120 dip behind the distant nionntains, and was tinging all the clouds "W'ith gold. The broad, peaceful river reflected its hues, and the deer on the opposite bank seemed dipping their noses into molten gold. On a rock, not far from the edge of the river, a huge alligator lay basking, half asleep. Suddenly, from a patch of forest, appeared two naked, stalwart blacks, each armed with a spearlike harpoon. In silence, but wdth pantomimic motion, they crept stealthily along the shore, until opposite the huge monster, then, just as silently, they took to the water. All our party, saving the Arab, looked on with astonishment, for it must be remembered that, although somewhat sluggish in his movements on dry land, the crocodile is terribly and vengefully swift in his native element. Custom, however, had made those savages reck- less ; and, besides, the}^ wanted the monster's skin. Gradually and cautiously they approach him, nor until they are within twenty yards of him does he give a single sign to indicate that he is aware of their presence, not so much as a wdnk of his glassy eye or the movement of a muscle of his half- open mouth ; then he turns slowly on a pivot, and we tremble for the safety of those daring harpooners. But, as he faces round, the crocodile exposes his throat and part of his chest, and, swift as arrow from bow, the spears leave the hands of the hunters, and sink deep into the animal's flesh. If he had had any previous notion of attacking his foes, it was now abandoned, and all his thoughts seemed bent in consulting his own safety. But it was terrible to see how he writhed and tossed, and lashed the blood-stained waters into foam. The nii'ii n'uve him tlioiii; enoii^'li, and now swam rapidly asliore. Tlie thomj^s were strong, the har])0(jns held well, and half an hour afterwards they had dra<2f<;ed the huge animal, dead, up and on to the opposite bank, and were busy denuding him of his skin. ^•• n ^:' "The 'tarnal crocodile," said Obadiah, seating himself on a log and pulling out his jjipe, " is an ugly beast to look at, and he is just as mean as a skunk and as cunning as a tod,* but he's a downright coward at heart. However, • Tod ^ fux. 122 if he does catcli you, and he is precious nimble at times, he doesn't give you long time to say your prayers ; it's down under water Avitli you at once, and there he quietly holds you till you cease kicking. And he doesn't eat you even then. No, for the crocodile has rather a delicate stomach, and likes his cold meat tender. So he pops you into his larder, which is generally under a ledge of rock, or a hole in the hank, deep down in some treacherous pool, and there you've got to lie until you're as tender as a spring chicken ; and, after that, you go through a ceremony of being devoured, and then, you know, it's all over with you ; you're taken in and done for, and yom* friends are saved the expense of a funeral, and the bother and worry of a coroner's inquest. You see, it is all very simple." "Very simple, indeed ; but, bother my wig, Johnson, if I wouldn't much rather it were you than I." "I spent," said Obadiah, "the summer of 186 — down in fair Florida. I lived in the house of a gentleman farmer, a brawny Scotsman, who had two daughters — charming gii-ls " "Of course," said Ben, winkmg at the captain, "the girls were no attraction." " Not the least," said Obadiah, with sham indifference. " Now these young ladies had an especial pet, namely, Don, a very beautiful Clumber spaniel, with a coat as light as eider-down, but warm and glossy as satin. Probably Don had been shot over in his younger days, and still retained a hankering for the chase. Be that as it may, Don was frequently about in the woods on some little business of his 123 own, ami ovnorally rctnnu'd with his hoaiitifiil white coat sadly soiled with clay and dabbled in Idood. " Whenever Don got lost, as the girls termed it, Tom, whom I called Snowball, because he was as black as ebony, Avas sent to scour the woods in quest of him. A dear, good, faithful felk>w was Snowball, even if he was a shade dark in colour ; and he was also very brave and courageous, and I never found him tell a lie. "And one day Don was lost, as usual; as usual. Snowball was sent in search of him. I happened, fortunately as it turned out, to be in the woods that morning, taking a sna])- shot at anything I saw, and occasionally bringing down a wood-pigeon on the wing with a sixteen bullet. " Getting rather hungry, I was just thinking of return- ing home, when a piercing, fi'ightened scream rang tlu-ough the woods, and made me hasten in the direction in which it came. I had not gone many paces when a scene burst upon my vision that, for the moment, almost froze my blood. There was poor Snowball, with Don in his arms, almost in the jaws of a huge alligator. " Happily, my ritie was loaded, and so I was enabled effectually to stop that infernal creature's wayward tendencies. But the danger to the poor boy had been extreme. It seems that near a swamp Master Don had playfully tracked an opossum, and was sitting at the foot of the tree, intently watchinj' him. This was how Snowball found him, with the alligator creeping cautiously up to make a meal of him. With a yell of fear for his favourite, Snowball had dashed forward and seized the dog from under the monster's very nose." 124 "Very plucky of poor Tom," said Captain Wilson. " I daresay now," said Ben, thoughtfiilly, " that alligator, in his dying moments, must have considered himself rather badly done by." SNOWBALL AND THE CROCODILE. "I shouldn't wonder," said the Yankee. Our tent was simply a canvas awning to keep off the dew, our beds were hammocks of netted grass ; so our accommodation was almost entirely al fresco, but we slept all the more soundly in consequence ; and the sun had risen a full hour before we awoke and hied us to a neighbouring pool to bathe — a pool in l;:.j a rook}' little stroiiin that tlowed int«) the main river. Deep was this pool, and cool and clear as crystal : you could have counted every pebble in the sandy bottom of it ; while all around it was "O'erluuig with wilil woods thickening green," amid the foliage of which perched the sprightly little bright- winged kingtisher. This saucy wee fellow did not seem to mind us a bit — indeed, he said to us distmctly enough, " Go on with your enjoyment, gentlemen — don't mind me; only don't frighten the trouts quite out of their wits, because I want my breakfast." After bathing we went to our breakfast, and found such a "spread," as Ben called it, as we had seldom before eaten in the wilderness, " Sulliman," said Ben, eyeing the viands with sparkling eyes, "you're an out-and-outer, and there can't be two opinions on the subject." #H# U'^^^i^^^.^^^^?^^ CHAPTER IV. DENIZENS OF THE WILDERNESS — ADVENTURE WITH A PYTHON LIONS AT LAST — NIGHT IN THE FOREST. For nearly a week we continued our march westwards, tlirough a country consisting of many a rounded hill and dell, many a green and fertile valley, in which were here and there deep marshy lagoons and broad grassy savannahs. Here deer fed, quenching their thirst and bathing their limbs in the heat of the day in the lagoons ; and here, too, we found a species of gazelle, so very diminutive I scarcely think it could have measured over eighteen inches. It seemed almost a pity to shoot these tiny creatures. One coukl hardly believe they were full grown ; but they had, nevertheless, all the beautiful proportions of their larger brethren of woods and Avilds; and very consequential, too, they looked, the buck of the herd marshalling the does, and appearing quite unconscious of there being anything ridiculous in his coming forward as the champion of the ladies, and offering to fight any one of us, rather than that ill should come to his does. 1:37 It used to be mj custom after the day's march was over, when we had dined and smoked, to take my rille on my arm, and, accompanied by my own servant, the faithlul Pandoo, stroll away over the country for a few miles, and endeavour to make a bag. My bag, however, was generally of a most miscellaneous character. Now, remember, my bag was a sack ; nothing smaller would have suited me. "What the dickens have you got here?" said Captain Wilson, as I di-opped into camp one evening a little before sunset, along with Pandoo, whose naked breast was thickly beaded with sweat. "I do believe you have a crack at anything and everything you come across. Just look here, Ben," he continued, thrusting his hand into the bag and beg-inninof to tell out its contents. " Fii'st and foremost a sucking-pig." "Ah!" said Pandoo, "niassa shoot he fadder too, but I no can fetch. Presently I go catch one oder boy, and go bring de fadder back on a bamboo." " Secondly, two wild dogs' skins ; ditto a fox's ; and here goes a tiny gazelle. And, as sure as I live," continued the captain, " a hare ; and here is a guinea hen — and what a beauty she is I — and one, two, three — live parrots, and a mongoose: can't eat that, can we?" "No; but it's a trophy — the skin, you know," said I. "And here," said the captain, " are quite a variety of small birds." Jkit the next thing the worthy cajitain 1 aul d t'ortli ])ut a stop to his exploring ; and he never afterwards attempted to analjse tlie contents of any bag of mine. 128 " Lord love you, Lovat, lad ! " he cried, " what on earth is this?" and he positively shuddered with horror as he drew from the sack an immense cold black snake. The next moment I got my game-bag pitched at my head. "Ah, but," said Pandoo, " massa shoot plenty big, big rat, all same's one rabbit. I no can fetch he tho' — ha ! " " AVhy, Pandoo?" asked the captain. " 'Cause you know," replied Pandoo, seriously, " they all cover wid flea, from top to bottom — jus' like de debbil." Another evening, " What cheer have you had, Lovat ? " was the captain's quer}^ "Oh," I said, "I've shot such a queer beast. I've just despatched the boys to carry him to the camp. You see," I said, " I at first took him for a large deer, for he was as big as a mule, so I brought him do\\Ti; but when I came to inspect the animal, I was very much mistaken if he wasn't just as like a horse." " A gnu, for a ducat," cried Ben. And so it turned out, and as fine a specimen as ever I have seen since. It was not often that I fired away every cartridge that I had, but one afternoon I had such unusually good luck, that I had to return to the camp, with plenty of powder on my face and fingers doubtless, for I was black and grimy, but never a grain in my pouch. Our path lay at one part of the journey alongside a teak forest ; we had to pass a precipitous sand-bank near here, in the centre, and at the foot of which was a round hole, not imlike a rabbit's burrow. 1x^9 "I'm rather curious to know, ruiulou," said I, "what sort of a specimen may dwell in there." "Come, massa, come," cried Pandoo, exhibiting a terror wliicli was quite foreign to his nature. "P'r'aps," he added, "he is one very curious specimen." As he spoke he started back with terror, for out of that hole was protruded a head with horrid, glassy eyes. Terrible enough they looked, this head and neck, in all conscience. I could see at a glance tliey belonged to a snake ; but my knowledge of the anatomy of snakes was as yet so limited that I could not believe that a head not much broader than your hand, and a neck but little thicker than your wrist, could belong to a serpent of very formidable size. " Are you a coward, Pandoo, you rascal ? " I cried, follow- ing my servant, and catching him by the collar. " No, sar," he replied ; " but dat snake, he catch you, he kill you, plenty much quick. Pie thirty, forty, fifty feet long. Come, come ! he fearful bad man, dat snake." " But let us stand by the hole, and brain the brute with our butts when he pops his ugly head out again," I insisted. "No, no, no!" cried ])oor Pandoo; "I tell you he kill you. He not take long to think of dat." A moment afterwards I was convinced that Pandoo was in the right, for yard after yard of the terrible python came pouring out from the hole ; and when all was out, I should have guessed his extreme length at between tliirty and forty feet. To me this creature was far niorr loath.somc and terrible than any animal 1 had yet seen, and 1 was not at ISO all sorry to see the brute make directly for the forest, instead of coming in the direction where Pandoo and I stood, un- armed and awe-struck. I never after this rashly wasted my cartridges, but always left half a dozen at least, in case of emergency. We were all out together one day, in search of whatever we could di'aw a bead upon. We had penetrated into the dense forest in quest of some beautiful specimens of the antelope. Now, as it tui'ued out, there were more than ourselves had a hungry hankering after those same beautiful specimens, to wit, two enormous lions. It so happened, then, that just as the crack of Ben's rifle resounded through the woods, and a fine antelope leapt through the air and then fell dead, I was perched aloft, in an African oak-tree, cm-iously examining some birds' nests that depended from the branches, like so many soda-water bottles encased in sti'aw. Now, no sooner had Ben fired than, with a roar that made the whole forest tremble, even as the bass notes of a cathedral organ seem to shake the building to its founda- tion, up s]3rang two immense lions, and made off to the right, their eyeballs seeming to start from their heads with rage at our audacious invasion of their territory. They passed so close beneath the tree where I sat that, had I not left my rifle on the ground, one of those forest kings would in all likelihood have fallen by my hand, and I should have had the proud satisfaction of bagging our first lion. It was fated to be otherwise, however, and the honour fell to our Yankee friend, Obadiah. ':$=^i"?^^ A .SNAr-SlIi>T. 132 That evening Obadiah was elected the hero of our party. I should have told you that the Yankee had a curious habit, when out shooting, of separating himself from the rest of the party, and, accompanied by only a single servant, seeking out adventui'es on his own account. Captain Wilson had, on this occasion, seen him bring down the lion. " It was," the captain said, " one of the closest and best shots ever I saw in my life ; and, mind you, Lovat," he said to me, "it is far easier shooting a lion a little way off than when he is close on board of you." "That's so," said Obadiah; " but I really couldn't afford to miss that one. You see, I ^vas having a snuff round among the rocks with Brailee, my worthy bodyguard ; for, between you and me, I fancied Master Tawny was somewhere about, and it wasn't long before I heard his gentle voice. " Well, about five minutes after. Master Tawny showed head and mane over a boulder, fully ten feet high, and not ten yards away, and began to curse and swTar like any Christian, but he prepared to spring all the same. For just a second or two he seemed uncertain which of us to make a meal of, and his green eyes rolled from me to Brailie, and back again from Brailie to me. " Oh, Lor'-a-mussy ! " moaned Brailie, " Lor'-a-mussy ! massa, I tinks I give up de ghost jus' den." " Finally," continued Obadiah, " Tawny 's choice fell on brawny, broad-shouldered Brailie." " You see, genlums," said Brailie, interrupting the Yankees* narrative, " de lion liab nebber taste Avhite man before, he 1 :\:] not sure weddrr lie like u in. Plenty black men he liab eat, dat is how make de choice ob me. Golly! golly! o-,, on massa." "Well, any- how," said Oba- diah, "he made a grand spring. I caught him in the air ; fact is, I brought him down flying, and didn't the bushes crackle under him, just ! " " Oh, golly : didn't tlicv jus' !" remarked lirailie, turning up the whites of his eyes. I think, lia borne 138 backwards to tlie earth, and in such a position, too, that he found it impossible even to draw his dagger. The animal's j-^ .\U KCH — WOUNDED. talons were plunged deep into his shoulder and chest, his tusks were all but in his throat. Obadiah remembered only the hot breath on his cheek, the green eyes glaring into his. Alarmed 139 at the souiul of the riflo, wo were all soon on the spot, where we discovered our friend lyiny^ apparently lifeless, beneath the dead body of the monster. We bore him in and placed him tenderly on his mat, but it was long, long ere he showed signs of returning life. It was weeks, too, ere he could leave camp again, and then he could only resume the journey on the back of a donkey, which we managed to purchase from some friendly natives. To his other accomplishments we found that Sullinian added a smattering of the science of medicine and surgery, and it was owing to his skill that Obadiah at last was able to resume his wild adventures wuth something like the same pleasure as before; but he Avill never forget that terrible moonlight ramble. A ■stranjre-lookinfi: villas^e was Mbeenee, which we one after- noon sighted. It lay in a well-wooded and .fertile valley, entirely surrounded by a high and strong palisade of bamboo- stems. The huts, built of mud and plantain-leaves, were arranged in several rows : one larger house we naturally con- cluded was that of the king. Out in the open some spirited- looking horses were picketed. Smoke curled up from the fires ; cocoa-nut trees towered high over the huts ; and as we gazed we could distinctly hear the shrill cries of the natives, and the beating of tom-toms borne along on the evening breeze. We found the inhabitants far from unfriendly, but in a great state of fear and excitement, for every night for weeks a man-eating lion had paid a visit to the village, and seldom had he retired without a victim. 1'lie kiiiLC came forward to meet us, surrounded by a score of his wives, who were deliirlited with tlie beads and trinkets 140 we gave them. His Majesty was a round-faced, very fat, and very merry little monarch. He was not long ere he accosted Captain Wilson with " Eoom, room, give me room, give me room." "What the dickens does the fellow mean?" asked the captain. THE MAN-EATER AT BAT. " Why, I expect he wants a gkiss of grog," said Ben the hliiff. " Groog, groog, groog," croaked the king, " give me groog, give me groog, give me room, room, room." Well, Avhen the captain gave him a whole bottle of "room" he fairly danced for joy. After we had dinner, he came to squat before our tent, with his bottle, and two wives to fan him Av-itli 141 a orimson Tud, aiul I do not think there was a merrier monarch in all Africa than was Kafoo that nig:ht. He lauL,^lie(l to himself and he nodded to us, and tickled the chins of his favourite wives, and ever and anon threw himself on his back and took another pull at the rum-bottle, but never a word he said all the evening except " groog, groog, groog," and " room, room, room." Next day, accompanied by one of the !Mbeenee braves as guide, we started in pursuit of the dreaded man-eater. It was a long and somewhat fatiguing journey hillwards. By noon we had reached an elevated table-land, and here we began to search for tracks of this cruel king of the forest. Our guide was soon upon the trail, and we had not proceeded far before we came in sight of an immense she-lion, lying on her side like some great dog basking in the noonday sunshine. She had lain down never to rise again, for one well-aimed shot from Ben's rifle sent her off to the happy hunting-grounds. But the crack of the rifle was succeeded by a roar that seemed to shake the mountain to its very foundation, and we wheeled round to find ourselves face to face with the redoubtable man- eating lion himself. Perhaps he had never had so many visitors before, and was hardly in a position to entertain us, and this no doubt vexed him, for he tore up the earth with his fore paws, as you may have seen a cat do, lashed his sides with his great tail, and gave vent to the most terrible howls and imprecations. He seemed to address us thunderingly as follows : " GentleiiK'n, I like you all, I love you all, I could eat you alJ, but your numbers nonplus me, and I don't know which to begin upon first." Crack ! crack 1 bang! Ijanu'I went the rifles, and the lion fell to rise no more. HLMl>,Lr KU1^ CHAPTER VI. ELEPHANT-SHOOTING A NARROW ESCAPE RHINOCERI AN EXCITING CHASE JUST IN TIME TO SAVE MY HORSE. Great was the general joy in the Mbeenee village that night when we returned, bearing not only both the lions' skins, but the man-eater's head itself. There was not a Mbeenee man or woman who did not join in the dance they kept up around us for fully an hour, and then Kafoo the king found it incumbent upon him to get drunk, " right off the reel," as Ben called it. We were heroes now, and the natives would do anything for us. They supplied us with the best of horses to hunt the rhinoceri and the elephants. Whole herds of these latter roamed the plains or wandered in the forests. It was at midday when we managed to get the best aim at the noble animals — about this time they came to 144 the lakes to drink, to wallow, and to batlie. Those who have never seen the elephant in his native wilds can form but little idea of the gigantic proportions some of them, especially the bulls, attain. Nor is attacking them free from danger, whether they be followed on horseback or stalked on foot. One tremendous bull that, trumpeting aloud his wrath, charged madly down upon our party one afternoon, I shall never forget. He Avas met by a brave cool front, however, and finally fell crashing into the water, which he dyed Avith his blood for many yards around. A great many of these animals we managed to bag, the ivory tusks of which afterwards made a good show on the deck of the little Vi-qiieen. Captain AVilson had himself one day a very narrow escape from being trodden to death in the forest, under the feet of a gigantic bull. He had fired, but only to wound and irritate, instead of killins: him. The animal's wTath seemed to know no bounds. Wild as the winds was his rush onward at the heels of the frightened horse. His strength seemed like that of a hurricane ; branches and even stems of trees Avere snapped before him like reeds. Luckily, assistance was not far off, and a bullet from Obadiah's largest gun shivered his knee, and he fell with a crash that shook the ground for many yards around him. The two-horned rhinoceros, you may be sure, did not escape a sliare of our kind attention. These animals abounded in large numbers in the country in which we now found ourselves, and aided by a company of the Avild natives on horseback, we found this species of chase most exciting. The country here was very rough, and rendered riding at 145 times higlily dangerous to us Europeans. Not so to the natives, however. King Kafoo's tribe were wonderfully clever astride of their horses. They seemed to us to be able to accomplish any feat whatever. They thought little of leaping rocky ravines which we Avould not dare to face. They could stop their horses almost instantly while charging at whirlwind speed ; in fact, man and horse seemed but part and parcel of the same animal. A party would penetrate into the centre of the rocky forest, while we waited patiently on a plain not far off, and before long they would emerge again, driving before them perhaps half a dozen of these great bellowing unwieldy brutes, the riders, with their dark hair streaming in the wind, their wild gestures and wilder uncouth cries, looking like demons in the clouds of rolling dust raised by the feet of pursued and pursuer. Out in the open we took up the chase, keeping up a rattling fire on them all the while, until one by one they bit the sod. Sometimes we would spy a few rhinoceri do\vn in an almost inaccessible rocky ravine, when Ave would tie our horses to a neighbouring tree and try to reach them on foot. I was returning one day with two natives from an expedition of the sort, when I found my horse was just about to receive his (iuietuij at tlie h(jrns of a vengeful rhinoceros. The })(>or horse was pawing the air in terror, his eyes seemed parting from their sockets, while his quivering sides were batlied in perspiration; his terrible foe was coming on witli liis head Ijcnt down at the cliarge, slowly, but with malicious certainty. One would have thought that he was addressing his victim as he approached him. 146 " So I've found one of you at last, have I ? " he seemed to be saying ; " a pretty dance the lot of ye have been leadmg us, haven't you? What do you think of yourselves abusing us poor beasts, and killing us in our native highland homes ? Now stand steady, please, I'm going to put a horn in you, a pair of horns, and I'll rip ye up ever so neatly and prettily." Ah ! but that bullet came wonderfully opportunely, and the ripping-up operation was indefinitely postponed, much (as I could easily see) to my poor horse's satisfaction. The hide and horns of these animals are considered very valuable, the former being much used for the manufacture of harness, and more Cbpeciall} for native shields CHAPTER VII. MOUNTAIN RAMBLES OSTUICH-IIUNTING THE MAN-EIENI) TRAGEDY IN THE FOREST THE MAGLLLA MEN THE BATTLE THE RESCUE. Perhaps no scenery in the world can excel tluit of the far mterior of Africa. I would but fail did I attempt to «;ive the reader any adequate description thereof, but mountain and forest, cloud-land and lake, all combine to form cver- changinf^ scener}', that can only be designated as enchanting. The trees, too, and the llowers, as well as the world of animal lift' that every wlici-c abounds, increase the beauty of the land- scape tenfold; as do the herds of stately deer browsing on the green savannahs, the lordly ele])hants, the chattering monkey in the trees, and the noisv ])arrots lluttering from branch to branch in the perfumed orange-groves — ncjisy, but beautiful, for it seemed as if Nature had hardiv known how to paint them in colours brilliant enough to suit this sunny laml. 148 Sometimes we spent days in tlie higlier reaches of the mountains. Up here gorgeous heaths grew, and splendid geraniums basked in the sunshine, and, close to the earth and under their shade, many a modest nameless flower hid its pretty petals. Birds, too, that looked more home-like to us in their garbs of brown and grey, flitted among the bushes, while away aloft floated the eagle or the hawk, intent only upon his prey. We loved these mountain rambles, the cooler breeze that fanned our brows refreshed us, and we always returned to camp in- vigorated and ready to do justice to Sulliman's cheer. Wild adventures in Africa we had more than I can tell 3^ou of, and many a hah-breadth escape, but this much must he said in praise of our Arab chief, we never, as far as I can remember, went to bed hungry. One kind of sport which we enjoyed very much for some da3's on the plains deserves a passing notice — I mean ostrich- hunting. Sometimes we followed them on horseback. No child's play this, I can tell you, scouring over sun-beaten plateaux after these swift-footed bii'ds, but by this time our muscles were as tough as steel, our bodies were well inured to ever}^ hardship, and the ruddiest of health bloomed on every sun-browned face. But we had another plan of securing the much-prized feathers of these wonderful birds. The natives taught us strategy. This is the plan. You clothe yourself in a skin of fur or feathers, aloft from which towers the stuffed neck and head of an ostrich ; of course your own head must be concealed, for even these feathered bipeds know that it is unusual for any animal to mount two heads at once. Thus gotten up as a 150 human ostrich— regardless of expense — you can approach near enough to the unsuspecting birds to get a shot at them, either with bow and arrow or with a revolver, and a terrible roaring and row the poor creatures make, too, if you only wound without killing them dead at once. The most merciful plan then is to club them to death— that is, if you can get near enough. Ostriches are of rather a sociable disposition, and if a party sees you coming stalking over a plain in your feather dress, they will naturally imagine it is a neighbour come to pay them a friendly visit, and perhaps they will come to meet you. " It is rather odd, now, my dear," the old cock ostrich may remark to his wife, " that this friend of ours, if it is a friend, should wear serge inex- pressibles and lace- up boots." "Ah! but, my dear," replies the wife, " serge inex- pressibles and lace- up boots may be the new fashion ; if so, I mean to get IN AT THE DEATH. few pau's for 151 m3-self aiul the cbildren: as for an old cock like 3011, it doesn't much matter." " Well, no," sighs tlie old cock ; " but let us 1,^0 u little nearer and see." And they go a little nearer, all euriosit}', and then a })uff* of smoke and a pistol-buUet solve the riddle. The apes Ave saw were exceedingly^ numerous, and of so many various kinds that it would take a whole volume to describe a tithe of them. Their antics were so ridiculously amusin":, too, that we have often lain still for hours to watch them. But they were not all funnj', there were some we did not care to meet ; one of these, and the most terrible of all, was the gorilla. In a great forest, and near the banks of a black and sullen river, we made our first acquaintance with him, and I assure you we had no burning desire to renew the acquaint- ance. AVe had previously somewhat doubted the tales we had heard of the terrible strength and ferocity of this man-fiend: we do not now. We had been fishing, and had landed about midday for rest and refreshments. It was a green-carpeted spot, unob- structed by undergrowth, and over-canoj)i('d ])y the topinost branches of very tall trees, which quite shut out the sunlight. It was cool in this forest cavern, and after supplying our wants we were reclining somewhat listlessly on the moss, when suddenly, without warning of any kind, an aj)parition 1 >liall never forget dropped down from the trees a])j»arently, and lor a few seconds stood within three ^ards of us. A tall, broad- 15.2 sliouldercd, hair-covered man, of gigantic strength and sinews, and an expression on his half-human face which can only be described as fiendish, diabolical. He retreated foaming with rage and beating his breast with his clenched fist. Xot five minutes after he had disappeared, the echoes of the forest were awakened by yell after yell, and we rushed in through the trees, and were just in time to witness a sj^ectacle which was positively appalling. The gorilla had attacked one of our men, a sturdj- native, his spear he had splintered like matchwood, and he was now tearing the poor fellow to pieces w4th his teeth and talons. Deliver}- was at hand, if delivery meant the death of this man-fiend, but the unhappy native had fallen heavily to the earth, and never rallied more. ******* One day one of our guides, who had been out reconnoitring, returned to the camp with a tale that made tears of jo}' start to the eyes of honest Obadiah, and made us all feel happy and hopeful. We were now not very far from the country of the Magullas, a stern and fierce race, who were said to be continually at war with some tribe or other. It was to these savages that the Somalis had bartered the bodies of jDoor little Eva and her father, the captain of the unfortunate Fairy Queen, and the news the guide had now brought in Mas to the effect that both the captain and his daughter were still living, in a state of slavery to the warrior chief of the Magullas. Speedy action was therefore called for on our part, if we would effect their deliverance. No eas}' task, however, and one, too, that required all the strategy and all the coolness and 154 daring we could bring to bear upon it, for the Magulla land is very hiWj, and as wild as its rude inhabitants ; and what had we to oppose to a whole tribe, in their own mountain fastnesses ? Let me see, we had rifles in plenty, and hands that could use them, we were fifty men now, all told, including the spearmen and excluding the carriers, who, although ex- ceedingly useful in many ways, could hardly be trusted in the van of battle. We had half a dozen good horses besides. So much for our strength, which, backed up by English daring, was after all not so despicable. But fighting Captain Wilson only meant resorting to as a last resource. We would first, if possible, make an offer to treat for, or, as Obadiah called it, " trade for," those we had come to rescue. Our party was now put on a war-footing, every ounce of ammunition was saved for an emergenc}^ and a better system of reconnoitring was adopted, for our enemies — wild beasts before — were now wilder men. We little knew the Magulla men, however ; all our efforts to come to a peaceable settlement with them were in vain, our offers to buy their prisoners and pay for them handsomely were treated with disdain. One of our men, who had been sent to solicit an interview with the king, Avas terribly mutilated and sent back to us, the poor fellow dying half an hour after re- turning to the camp. Sulliman himself had boldly volunteered to visit the Magulla village and fortress, and, indeed, had set out on his expedition, but had been attacked on the way, and only saved by the speed of his own good horse. Thus a whole week was spent. The day after h? attack upon the Arab chief, an armed demonstration was determined upon, and iaithfully followed 155 out. At daybreak the ^Ma^ulla men, in clouds, and annod cap-a-pie, showed tlu'iiiselves on the liei^'lits, not lar troiu tlieir principal village, whicli was well fortilied hy nature, and capable of stout resistance. We divided our little army, which had now been swelled to over a hundred, b}' stragglers from other tribes inimicable to the Magulla, into two portions, one — by far the largest — was put under the command of ]5en, and in the silence of night so stationed that it could attack Magulla town in rear, if the operations were successful in front. Early in the morning then, soon after the sun had l)egun to paint the clouds and mountain-tops. Captain Wilson and fol- lowers rode out and up the mountain-sides, he himself in the van, never drawing rein nor offering to fire a shot until within almost speaking-distance of the savages, who, from their position on the rocks, now treated him to a shower of arrows and spears. Then, and not till then, a few rifles were fired, but, as if he had suddenly lo.st heart. Captain Wilson now hurried his men down hill again. The ruse was successful ; feeling sure that they saw the whole body of tlieir enemies before them, the Magullas came howling after us. This seemed but to increase our speed and confusion, and thus we lured the heedless natives to the plain below. Warm was the reception that there awaited them. If they had never known before how white men could light they learnt the lesson now. But viciously they struggled, nevertlie- less, and many fell and kej)t falling on both sides. Meanwhile, whei-e was lien and his merry men? Not idle by any means. Tlie lir>t few shots wen' all the signal he required. Mounting over rocks and crags, in Inilf an liour he 156 had readied the villag-e, and so sudden and determined was his onshiught, that in a very short time he had captured the town, its defenders had fled, and after putting it in a condition of defence, he had appeared on the hill-top, in the very position which the Magulla men had lately vacated. Thus, taken so unexpectedly in rear, and attacked with redoubled energ}^ in front, the rout of the savages became complete, and they endeavoured to seek safety in speedy head- long flight. Sweet had been the sound of rifles and the ringing white man's cheer to the heart of Eva's father, but sweeter far was it when we returned to the captured town, and he could listen once more to the brave accents of his own language, and feel again the grip of an honest hand. We reached the coast in safety. Three weeks after, the little Vi-quee?i steamed slowly away from Zanzibar, leaving the white town astern, and through among the numerous little coral isles and green lagoons that dot the entrance to the harbour. Away over the bright waters of the Mozambique she steamed, bearing southwards. We made a glorious passage to the Cape, no baffling winds barred our voyage, no stormy seas, it was all azure skies and sunshine and joy now, and the happiest and brightest among us all was pretty blue- eyed Eva Duncan. ^^^-. PART III ■WAJNDERIKGS AMONG THE EED MEN. AX IXDIAX VILLAGE. EE--_ 1 ^^■^■■^n^^k "~" — — ^^r -—.z—r^ 1^ "■ ^ ^_. -■-- - - - ■J^ — ~m\. — ^^^ -""^S^ w^pX\ '^'^m '" "^'-^^b^ ^^'^^^^^^-' J^ K ' ''S^fe^^Si^H m 1 g| A DUNNKK UN TUE i'KAiivii:.. CHAPTER T. THE NIGHT WATCH A STARTLINf; Ari'AKITION FOR'I ERASER THE ATTACK THE BATTEE. Six long years had passed away since onr adventure.^ > in Africa. 1 The scene was once more changed. We were encain ped on the rolling prairie in the land of the red man. ^Fy companions. one of whom was Paddy Shc.'ii. a new hand wlio had joined the hand of wanderers, had all retired to the s lelter of a wigwam, and I was left to watch. It was a lovely night, clear and l)i-inlit almost a s daylight, for yonder in the Orient shone the full moon, si Ivering all the cloudlets, silvering, too, the gauzy haze that 1 av low on the prairie, and heing rellected from the calm wat ers of the IGO stream, tliat glided silently and placidly past our little camp. The horses, tired after their hard day's work, mostly nodded, half asleep, only occasionally starting into pricked-eared at- tention, as the howling of hungry wolves broke the stillness of the night, and anon died away again in the distance. It was drowsy work, this watching all alone at midnight on the prairie ; perhaps I had better have kept walking about, instead of throwing myself on the ground near the smoulder- ing embers of the fire. Presently the cry of the wolves resolved itself into the crowing of sleepless cocks, and I was back in England once more, lying (fa the bed in my grand- father's cottage that had been mine since I was a lad. " Hist ! " I heard the sound, but it only changed my dreams into a new channel. I was out in the African bush now, facing and fighting with a deadly snake. " Hist ! " louder this time, and I started at once to my feet, grasping my rifle, and as wide awake as ever I had been in my life. A pretty sort of sentry I had made ; I bit my lips with shame and anger, for there, with the moonlight streaming full upon him, and revealing his hideous war-paint, stood a haK-naked Indian, armed to the teeth. Startling as the apparition was, a moment's thought convinced me that his intentions could be nought but peaceable, or he would have slain me in my sleep. " Hist ! " he said again ; " moonlight has made my white brother's eyes heavy." "Pray who are you?" I asked, advancing towards him, " and whence come you ? " " Man-a-wee, called by the pale-face Snake-foot," answered 101 the Iiulian. " ^Man-a-wcc is a iVicnd io tlu' wliitf man. He ouines from tli<* srttimi' sun. He l;-cout. and anxious to iret the news. J*a(hlv 162 Sheen and he were e\adently old friends, and greeted each other like brothers. Little did we think, when we left Eng-land to seek for sport and adventure among the Eocky ^Mountains, that in a few months we would be engaged fighting hand-to-hand with the American Indians. Fort Fraser was one of those outh^ing fortifications, built by the United States of America, on the borders of, if not, indeed, in the red man's territory itself. The fort was commanded by Major Dawson, as brave a man as ever lived, and the Avliole garrison consisted only of thirty men. On the open, or prairie, side of the fort was a friendly Indian village, a detachment of Crow Indians, in fact, who lived on the most amicable terms with the people of the fort. The major himself used to ride over once a daj^ at least, to visit these Indians, to ask if they had any complaints, and to see that all their wants were supplied. Often he was accompanied by his little daughter, a lovely girl of some sixteen summers, Avith wondrous hair, dark as the raven's wing, a sweet shy face, pouting wee lips, red as the blossom of the dewy bilberry, and eyes of southern broAATi. And Minna was pet of the fort ; aye, was she both the pet and the pride of not onl}^ the fort, but of the Indian village as well. One evening Minna was missed, and ha^til}' summoning a sergeant to accompany him, the commander gaUoped over to the Indian village. Deserted ! Every creature gone ; not so much as a dog 163 INDIAN SCOUTS. left to bark at the horses' lieels. Silence everywhere ; a silence that sent a chill of dread, and a stranL,n\ unmentionable fear, to the innermost hearts of botli major and scri^eant. The Indians had <'-oiu\ and they had forced poor ]\rinna to accompany them to their fastnesses in the wilderness. There is ])lenty of li_L;'ht, ccr- taiidy, for the moonlight floods wigwam, prairie, l^tream, and forest ; but in vain do they search for their lost darling : it is but an empty mockery to call her name. Fast as their horses could carry them, the commandant and sergeant galloped back to the ibrt. A council of war was speedilv summoned; then orders were given to lill the moat, arms and ammunition were gotten up and served out, and double sentries were ])osted on the ramj)arts. And, ah I well might tlu.y exercise vigilance, for at that very moment two hundred dusky warriors, armed with spear and hatchet, wei-e preparing to surprise the fort. In a shanty formerly belonging to a })ale-face tra|)])er, whose scalj) now dangled in the wind on a p(de in front of the hut of a warrior of the ^landas tribe, live braves, the chicls of their tribes, were ix-iii^- haiMUgued into liery action by ()ny\-»'ye, the wild chieftain of the ('i"()\7 Indians. '■\VaghI" Ik," was saying, with intense disgust, "words are but for squaws. Wcjrds are tlie froth of tlie j)al(!-face. ^ly brothers arc great warriors : their words are blows, their 1G4 tongues are spears, their hiiii^-uage the swift-speeding arrow. The (Ircat Spirit is good: lie will deliver the white man into COUNCIL Vi BKAVlJs. our hands. All our tribes are u]) — up in i'orest, uj) in ])lain, up by the river-side — and they (•(huc tV(»ni the mountain, and they ride over the prairie. What do they come for? My j 105 l)n»tli('rs arc l)ravi' and wlso. We will r.o l(»iiL;Tr di-iiik tliO iiccursVd thv-watcr of the paU'-iaec. WC will di'iiik blond. The \\\'j;\\t wore on. 'I'lic ])riL,dit moon inoiinicd liin-licr and lii:4-li('i- and liii^licr, and then bc^-an slowly to .>ault had commenced in terrible earnest. ^lajor Dawson rusht-d to the rani|)art> and callt'd to his men to stand by the two twelve-poundei-s. Thor wrvit the only guns of any size in the fort, and were loadrd with grajx*. "Yonder they come!" he cried, "thick as jjcts, from the 166 forest. How they crowd to be sure ! They little know what is waiting them. Stead}", my lads. Now fire gun Xo. 1." Such deadly effect did the missiles take, that for a moment the advance of the Indians received a decided check. Xot for long, however : those in the rear pressed onward over their fallen companions. Van and rear were thus for a moment or two huddled together in a heap ; and on this savage crowd the remaining howitzer did fearful execution. Wholly dis- comfited now, they scattered and fled in confusion to the verge of the forest. Xot farther, however, for there they were met by the chief, On3^x-e3'e, himself, mounted on a white horse, and brandishing his spear aloft. "Where are my braves? " he shouted; "has the evil spirit of the pale-faces taken possession of them ? Are my warriors turned squaws ? " Once more the}' rallied around him, and rushed towards the moat and fort ; and so impetuous Avas their onset that but one gun could be fired before they were under the very Avails ; and some Avere SAvimming the ditch itself, under cover of a jDcrfect cloud of arrows. A few grenades Avere throAAii from the loop-holes, AA'hich, hoAvcA'er, burst Avithout seeming to Avork any mischief at all. Onyx-eye himself seemed to possess a charmed life. He hovered in the rear, galloping up and down, shouting his instructions, and encouraging his braA'es by CA^ery Avild Avord and gesture he could command. But CA'ery bullet aimed at him and his horse Avhistled harmlessly past. The slaughter of the Indians AA^as immense .; but still they pressed onward. 167 SURPRISE OF FORT FRASEK. and their dusky forms iiud to be driven i'roni the very loop- holes themselves. The fiyht was now heconiinL,^ drspcratc in 16S the exti-eme. Many of the brave defenders were hors de combat, and some had fallen to rise no more. The commandant had liimself been twice slightly wonnded, and hardly, indeed, was there one man who had escaped a scratch or hurt of some sort ; still on they fought with pike and revolver, as only American or British soldiers can. Hour after hour flew past, and while the defenders grew weak, the assailants seemed to increase in strength and ferocity ; and it was evident to all that the fort was doomed. Meanwhile, the reader may ask where were we English- men? and where was the Sioux scout, Man-a-wee? The answer to these questions is worthy of a chapter to itself. IN Tin: KAl CHAPTi:i{ ir. ON THE WAR-PATH DOWN TIIK UlVl.l; — NKillT IN Till. lOIlKST — TUF, ui:s( ri: — tiik iatk oi minna i)a\vs(»n. Fort Fraskr lay some (listaiicr to the wot and st.utli of our encampmont. Mau-a-wcc, our i;iii(lr, Iiowcmt, made directly for the eastward, and about noon we struck tlie river. Man-a- wce pi united in at once, and swum swiftly to an i>Iand in the centre — a well-wooded island — from whieli lie .speedily returned in a l)ircli-l)aik canoe. ( )ne hv one we crossed oxer, liavin:^ only ]Man-a-\\ee and the lior^es on tin- oj)posite l)aid< ; hut these latter our Ljiiide. with true Indian ailroitness, (juickly swam over two by two. 170 He tlien condescended to divulge liis plan to us. We were to hobble our horses, and leave them with the bulk of our provisions and goods on the island, where they would assuredly be safe, and then proceed in canoes down stream to the fort, which we hoped to reach before midnight. Everything was soon got ready for a start. We stepped on board our frail crafts, and with eager, though somewhat anxious, hearts, commenced paddling down the stream. But man}^ and devious were the windings of that river, through the centre of the dark and gloomy forest. Like true love, too, it did not always run smooth, for, although for the most part calm and placid as a sleeping child, there were places where it rushed and whirled along with maddening speed, and where it required our utmost skill and execution to prevent certain destruction from contact with hidden rock or fallen tree. Then, again, the sm-face of the Avater would become still, and we would glide along as gently as though it were a river in dreamland. The Avhole day was thus spent, and just as the last beams of the sun Avere lighting up the topmost branches of the tallest trees, v/e landed in a little bay to rest, and to eat our evening meal. The woods around us were as silent as death, there was not a leaf stirring, the very trees seemed, like ourselves, listening for the slightest sound or whisper. Now the Crow Indians had been many times and oft upon the war-path, and they left nothing undone to insure, if possible, the successful surprise of the fort, and the horrible massacre of its inhabitants. Onyx-eye was a good strategist, 1 — as well as a (la^ill^• ]7] H ^■^^^1 warrior. Al)<»ut a ^ ^^^^^^H 1 quarter of a mile Ironi Fort Frascr and K^v' ^^H 1 tiirir own ambnsli in "^^B tiK' forest, lie had «Bj^^^ls3a 1 ; })laced at all corners 9 1 of the compass two fl sentries, to keep watch i fl in the forest all night, r S so that one mii,^ht be r >^^^B on the ont-look while 1 ^^Hg i the other rested. 1 \^^ ;^^B " ^Ty white brother^ will rest in peace here until the return i>\' l^M^Bp 1 Man-a-wee." ^^^^HB 1 It must have been HB^^n fully eleven o'clock, ^^^^hH judgini^^ by the height HH^^H of the moon, when ^^^m our friend ]\ran-a-wr.' ^^^^^^B left us (^n his seen 1 ^H^^HH expedition. ■j^^^H' And the two Indian M "^ ^ctBBS sentries who wei- Um^ ^SSSSlff'^^SU placed between us aii of lml^k.•t^v. At last tlic \'<>U'^\ ciidcd, j and the Avholc .scene ol" action lay before ns, reveal" d l)y I the clear and nnobstructed liu-lit of the full moon. ^lany I a dark form lay dead oi- wrilliini;- in |)ain in the oj)cn, I corpses, too, lioated in the moat, the savaj^-es were clindjiiii^ up the green embankment, and attempting to force the loo])- lioles. It appt'arcd to mattci- little that they met with a warm reception, and came rolling down again into the moat; others crowded up to take their places, and it seemed quite evident the beleaguered fort could not make a l(»ng resistance. Great must have been the surprise of the savages to find themselves attacked in the rear, and thus ])Iaced between two fires. Evidently, too, the occupants of the f(.»rt were not slow in finding out that timely assistance had arrived. The sharp notes of the bugle were followed by the white man's cheer. The}' seemed to pull themselves together for a last grand charge. Yelling, writhing, Indians were hurled from the loop-holes in twos and threes, and the chief made haste to call oil" his men. Then the musketry Ix-gan to rattle again, and by-and-]>y tin' big guns awakened every echo in the forest, and all the while we ke])t up our desultory firing, till not a Ii\iiiL;' savage could be seen en-et in the o])ening. Arrived at the Ibrt, we wry,- admitted and wele(.ined by a ringing cheer. "We could not," said Major i)awson, wringing (jur hands, while the tears flowed down his elieeks. "we could not possiblv have h
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