Chapter VI

CHAPTER VI.BETTER ACQUAINTANCE.[edit]
The escort under the bushman's command was composed
of 100 men, all Bochjesmen—an industrious, good-tempered
people, capable of enduring great physical fatigue. In
former times, before the arrival of the missionaries, these
Bochjesmen were a lying, inhospitable race, thinking of
nothing but murder and pillage, and ever taking advantage
of an enemy's sleep to massacre him. To a great
extent the missionaries have modified these barbarous
habits, but the natives are still more or less farm-pillagers
and cattle-lifters.
Ten waggons, like the vehicle which Mokoum had taken
to the Morgheda Falls, formed the bulk of the expedition.
Two of these were like moving houses, fitted up as they
were with a certain amount of comfort, and served as an
encampment for the Europeans; so that Colonel Everest
and his companions were followed about by a wooden
habitation with dry flooring, and well tilted with waterproof
cloth, and furnished with beds and toilet furniture
Thus, on arriving at each place of encampment, the tent
was always ready pitched.
Of these waggons, one was
appropriated to Colonel Everest and his countrymen, Sir
John Murray and William Emery: the other was used by
the Russians, Matthew Strux, Nicholas Palander, and
Michael Zorn. Two more, arranged in the same way,
belonged, one to the five Englishmen and the other to the
five Russians who composed the crew of the “Queen and
Czar.”
The hull and machinery of the steamboat, taken to
pieces and laid on one of the waggons, followed the travellers,
in case the Commission might come across some of the
numerous lakes which are found in the interior of the
continent.
The remaining waggons carried the tools, provisions,
baggage, arms, and ammunition, as well as the instruments
required for the proposed triangular survey. The provisions
of the Bochjesmen consisted principally of antelope,
buffalo, or elephant meat, preserved in long strips, being
dried in the sun or by a slow fire: thus economizing the
use of salt, here very scarce. In the place of bread, the
Bochjesmen depended on the earth-nuts of the arachis, the
bulbs of various species of mesembryanthemums, and other
native productions. Animal food would be provided by
the hunters of the party, who, adroitly employing their
bows and lances, would scour the plains and revictual the
caravan.
Six native oxen, long-legged, high-shouldered, and with
great horns, were attached to each waggon with harness
of buffalo hide. Thus the primitive vehicles moved slowly
though surely on their massive wheels, ready alike for
heights or valleys.
For the travellers to ride there were
provided small black or grey Spanish horses, good-tempered,
brave animals, imported from South America,
and much esteemed at the Cape. Among the troops of
quadrupeds were also half-a-dozen tame quaggas, a kind
of ass with plump bodies and slender legs, who make a
noise like the barking of a dog. They were to be used in
the smaller expeditions necessary to the geodetic operations,
and were adapted to carry the instruments where the
waggons could not venture.
The only exception to the
others was the bushman, who rode a splendid zebra with
remarkable grace and dexterity. This animal (the beauty
of whose coat with its brown stripes especially excited the
admiration of the connoisseur Sir John Murray) was
naturally defiant and suspicious, and would not have borne
any other rider than Mokoum, who had broken it in for his
own use.
Some dogs of a half-savage breed, sometimes
wrongly called “hyena-hunters,” ran by the side of the
waggons, their shape and long ears reminding one of the
European brach-hound.
Such was the caravan which was about to bury itself in
the deserts. The oxen advanced calmly under the guidance
of their drivers, ever and again pricking them in the flank
with their “jambox;” and it was strange to see the troop
winding along the hills in marching order.
After leaving
Lattakoo, whither was the expedition going?
Colonel
Everest had said, “Straight on;” and indeed he and
Matthew Strux could not yet follow a fixed course. What
they wanted, before commencing their trigonometrical
operations, was a vast level plain, on which to establish the
base of the first of the triangles, which, like a network, were
to cover for several degrees the southern part of Africa.
The Colonel explained to the bushman what he wanted,
and with the calmness of one to whom scientific language
is familiar, talked to him of triangles, adjacent angles,
bases, meridians, zenith distances, and the like. Mokoum
let him go on for a few moments, then interrupted him
with an impatient movement, saying, “Colonel, I don't
know any thing about your angles, bases, and meridians.
I don't understand even in the least what you are going to
do in the desert: but that is your business. You are
asking for a large level plain; oh well, I can find you
that.”
And at his orders, the caravan, having just ascended the
Lattakoo hills, turned down again towards the south-west.
This took them rather more to the south of the village,
towards the plain watered by the Kuruman, and here the
bushman expected to find a suitable place for the Colonel's
plans.
From that day, he always took the head of the
caravan. Sir John Murray, well mounted, never left him,
and from time to time the report of a gun made his
colleagues aware that he was making acquaintance with
the African game. The Colonel, quite absorbed in contemplating
the difficulties of the expedition, let his horse
carry him on. Matthew Strux, sometimes on horseback,
sometimes in the waggon, according to the nature of the
ground, seldom opened his lips. Nicholas Palander, as bad
a rider as could be, was generally on foot; at other times
he shut himself up in his vehicle, and there lost himself in
the profoundest mathematical abstractions.
Although William Emery and Michael Zorn occupied
separate waggons at night, they were always together
when the caravan was on the march. Every day and
every incident of the journey bound them in a closer
friendship. From one stage to another they rode, talked,
and argued together. Sometimes they fell behind the
train, and sometimes rode on several miles ahead of it,
when the plain extended as far as they could see. They
were free here and lost amidst the wildness of nature.
How they forgot figures and problems, calculations and
observations, and chatted of every thing but science!
They were no longer astronomers contemplating the starry
firmament, but were more like two youths escaped from
school, revelling in the dense forests and boundless plains.
They laughed like ordinary mortals. Both of them had
excellent dispositions, open, amiable, and devoted, forming
a strange contrast to Colonel Everest and Matthew Strux,
who were formal, not to say stiff. These two chiefs were
often the subject of their conversation, and Emery learnt
a good deal about them from his friend.
“Yes,” said Michael Zorn, that day, “I watched them
well on board the `Augusta,' and I profess I think they are
jealous of each other. And if Colonel Everest appears to
be at the head of things, Matthew Strux is not less than his
equal: the Russian Government has clearly established his
position. One chief is as imperious as the other; and besides,
I tell you again, there is the worst of all jealousy
between them, the jealousy of the learned.”
“And that for which there is the least occasion,” answered
Emery, “because in discoveries every thing has its value,
and each one derives equal benefit. But, my dear Zorn, if,
as I believe, your observations are correct, it is unfortunate
for our expedition: in such a work there ought to be a
perfect understanding.”
“No doubt,” replied Zorn, “and I fear that that understanding
does not exist. Think of our confusion, if every
detail, the choice of a base, the method of calculating, the
position of the stations, the verification of the figures, opens
a fresh discussion every time! Unless I am much mistaken
I forbode a vast deal of quibbling when we come to compare
our registers, and the observations we shall have made to
the minutest fraction.”
“You frighten me,” said Emery. “It would be sorrowful
to carry an enterprise of this kind so far, and then to fail for
want of concord. Let us hope that your fears may not be
realized.”
“I hope they may not,” answered the young Russian;
“but I say again, I assisted at certain scientific discussions
on the voyage, which showed me that both Colonel Everest
and his rival are undeniably obstinate, and that at heart
there is a miserable jealousy between them,”
“But these two gentlemen are never apart,” observed
Emery. “You never find one without the other; they are as
inseparable as ourselves.”
“True,” replied Zorn, “they are never apart all day long,
but then they never exchange ten words: they only keep
watch on each other. If one doesn't manage to annihilate
the other, we shall indeed work under deplorable conditions.”
“And for yourself,” asked William, hesitatingly, “which
of the two would you wish—”
“My dear William,” replied Zorn with much frankness,
“I shall loyally accept him as chief who can command
respect as such. This is a question of science, and I have
no prejudice in the matter. Matthew Strux and the Colonel
are both remarkable and worthy men: England and Russia
should profit equally from their labours; therefore it matters
little whether the work is directed by an Englishman
or a Russian. Are you not of my opinion?”
“Quite,” answered Emery; “therefore do not let us be
distracted by absurd prejudices, and let us as far as possible
use our efforts for the common good. Perhaps it will be
possible to ward off the blows of the two adversaries;
and besides there is your fellow countryman, Nicholas
Palander—”
“He!” laughed Zorn, “he will neither see, hear, nor comprehend
any thing! He would make calculations to any
extent; but he is neither Russian, Prussian, English, or
Chinese; he is not even an inhabitant of this sublunary
sphere; he is Nicholas Palander, that's all.”
“I cannot say the same for my countryman. Sir John
Murray,” said Emery. “He is a thorough Englishman,
and a most determined hunter, and he would sooner follow
the traces of an elephant and giraffe than give himself any
trouble about a scientific argument. We must therefore
depend upon ourselves, Zorn, to neutralize the antipathy
between our chiefs. Whatever happens, we must hold
together.”
“Ay, whatever happens,” replied Zorn, holding out his
hand to his friend.
The bushman still continued to guide the caravan down
towards the south-west. At midday, on the 4th of March,
it reached the base of the long wooded hills which extend
from Lattakoo. Mokoum was not mistaken; he had led
the expedition towards the plain, but it was still undulated,
and therefore unfitted for an attempt at triangulation. The
march continued uninterrupted, and Mokoum rode at the
head of the riders and waggons, while Sir John Murray,
Emery, and Zorn pushed on in advance.
Towards the end
of the day, they all arrived at a station occupied by one of
the wandering “boers,” or farmers, who are induced by the
richness of the pasture-land to make temporary abodes in
various parts of the country.
The colonist, a Dutchman, and head of a large family,
received the Colonel and his companions most hospitably,
and would take no remuneration in return. He was one of
those brave, industrious men, whose slender capital, intelligently
employed in the breeding of oxen, cows, and goats,
soon produces a fortune. When the pasturage is exhausted,
the farmer, like a patriarch of old, seeks for new springs
and fertile prairies, pitching his camp afresh where the
conditions seem favourable.
The farmer opportunely told Colonel Everest of a wide
plain, fifteen miles away, which would be found quite flat.
The caravan started next morning at daybreak. The only
incident that broke the monotony of the long morning
march, was Sir John Murray's taking a shot, at a distance
of more than 1000 yards, at a gnu, a curious animal about
five feet high, with the muzzle of an ox, a long white tail,
and pointed horns. It fell with a heavy groan, much to
the astonishment of the bushman, who was surprised at
seeing the animal struck at such a distance. The gnu
generally affords a considerable quantity of excellent meat,
and was accordingly in high esteem among the hunters of
the caravan.
The site indicated by the farmer was reached about
midday. It was a boundless prairie stretching to the
north without the slightest undulation. No better spot for
measuring a base could be imagined, and the bushman,
after a short investigation, returned to Colonel Everest
with the announcement that they had reached the place
they were seeking.