The Vee-Boers: A Tale of Adventure in Southern Africa Read online

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  The Vee-BoersA Tale of Adventure in Southern AfricaBy Captain Mayne ReidPublished by George Routledge and Sons Ltd, LondonThis edition dated 1907

  The Vee-Boers, by Captain Mayne Reid.

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  ________________________________________________________________________THE VEE-BOERS, BY CAPTAIN MAYNE REID.

  CHAPTER ONE.

  ON THE KAROO.

  A vast plain, seemingly bounded but by the horizon; treeless, save wherea solitary _cameel-doorn_ [Note 1] spreads its feathered leaves, or aclump of arborescent aloes, mingled with rigid-stemmed euphorbias,breaks the continuity of its outline. These types of desert vegetationbut proclaim its sterility, which is further evinced by tufts ofwhiteish withered grass, growing thinly between them.

  Over it three waggons are moving; immense vehicles with bodies abovefour yards in length, surrounded by an arching of bamboo canes coveredwith canvas. To each is attached eight pairs of long-horned oxen, witha driver seated on the box, who flourishes a whip, in length like afishing-rod; another on foot alongside, wielding the terrible _jambok_,while at the head of the extended team marches the "foreloper," _reim_in hand, guiding the oxen along the track.

  Half a score horsemen ride here and there upon the flanks, with threeothers in advance; and bringing up the rear is a drove of milch cows--some with calves at the foot--and a flock of _fat-tailed_ sheep, theirtails full fifty pounds in weight, and trailing on the ground.

  The cows and sheep are in charge of ten or a dozen dark-skinnedherdsmen, most of them all but naked; while a like number of largewolfish-looking dogs completes the list of living things visible outsidethe waggons. But, were the end curtains raised, under their tilts wouldbe seen women with children--of both sexes and all ages--in each themembers of a single family, its male head excepted.

  Of the last there are three, corresponding to the number of the waggons,of which they are the respective proprietors--the three men riding inadvance. Their names, Jan Van Dorn, Hans Blom, and Klaas Rynwald. AllDutch names, and Dutch are they who bear them, at least by descent, forthe scene _is_ Southern Africa, and they are _Boers_.

  Not of the ordinary class, though, as may be told by their largeaccompaniment of unattached cattle and sheep--over a hundred of theformer, and three times as many of the latter. These, with other signswell-known to South Africans, proclaim them to be Vee-Boers [Note 2].

  They are far away from any settlement of civilised or white men, thenearest being their own frontier town, Zoutpansberg, in the Transvaal,from which they are distant full three hundred miles northward. Nor arethey in Transvaalian territory, but that of the Tebele, beyond theLimpopo river, and journeying on north.

  Why they are there calls for explanation, and a word will suffice. Theworld has of late heard much of the Transvaal Republic and its bravepeople; how distasteful to them was annexation to the EnglishGovernment; indeed, so repugnant, that many plucked up the rooftreesthey had but lately planted, and were off again, scarce thinking orcaring whither, so long as they got beyond the reach of British rule.

  It is on record--a painful one--that many of those political fugitivespassed through hardships scarce conceivable, and not a few perished bythe way--miserably perished, the victims of fatigue, hunger, and thirst.And it is of just such a party we purpose giving account of, theirjourneyings, adventures, and dangers, by flood and by field.

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  The time was just after the annexation, and our Vee-Boers, as introducedto the reader, were weeks away from their abandoned homes in theTransvaal.

  That they had permission to enter the territory of the Tebele, might betaken for granted, otherwise they would have been on dangerous ground.For its powerful and despotic chief was not the man to allow intrusioninto his dominions, even by peaceful travellers.

  But they had his leave, backed by invitation, not only to pass through,but make permanent home in them, if they wished. Jan Van Dorn, the"_baas_" [Note 3] of the migrating party, an old _jager_, had, in bygonedays, hunted all over the Tebele country, smoked the pipe of peace withMoselekatse himself, and so established a friendship still existing. Inone of his expeditions he had discovered a magnificent grazing country--a very paradise for the Vee-Boer--and it was for this they were nowmaking.

  They were journeying by night, or rather early morning, before daybreak.It was not their habit to lie late; but just then they had more thanone reason for being up betimes and moving. It was in the Torrid Zone,where travelling by day is oft a very torture, especially over a plainsuch as that they were crossing.

  They had entered upon a track of _karoo_ [Note 4], which they knew toextend for more than 100 miles; treeless, shadeless, and without water,save here and there in pools, or natural cisterns, at long distancesapart. Besides, no rain had fallen on it for months, and like as notthe water reservoirs would all be dried up. Not strange, then, theirtravelling by night, as by day; for it was life or death to them to getacross the karoo.

  Luckily they were favoured by moonlight, with stars in a clear,unclouded sky, which insured them against straying from the practicableroute. And as their guide, a Hottentot, by name Smutz knew every inchof it, they had confidence in his piloting.

  So on they moved, noiselessly, save when now and then crack of whip, thesharp snap of a _jambok_ [Note 5], or the ejaculations of the menwielding this formidable instrument of animal torture, disturbed thestillness of the night. More rarely was it broken by the rumble ofwheels, these for the most part being fellies deep in soft, yieldingsand.

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  Note 1. The "cameel-doorn," literally, camel-thorn, is a species ofacacia, whose tender shoots and leaves are the favourite food of thecameleopard, or giraffe. It is a common and characteristic tree in mostdistricts of southern Africa, having pinnate leaves, and, like most ofthe acacia tribe, bright yellow blossoms.

  Note 2. "Vee-boers" are distinguished from other Boers by their specialemployment being the grazing and raising of cattle. To this they devotethemselves exclusively, as the _stockmen_ of Australia, and the_ranchmen_ of Western America. They have no fixed habitation, flittingabout from place to place with their flocks wherever the pasture temptsthem, and making house and home of their huge _trek-waggons_, just asthe "cheap jacks" of England. They have tents also, and sometimes erectrude huts.

  Note 3. "Baas," master. It is synonymous with the "boss" of theSouthern United States, which, no doubt, was carried thither by theslave negroes who had had dealings with the Dutch of South Africa.

  Note 4. The "karoos" of Southern Africa may be compared with ourmoorlands, only more extended in area, and with a different sort ofvegetation. Heaths of many beautiful species are among theircharacteristic plants, as all may know who take a pride in the keepingof hothouses.

  Note 5. The "jambok," or "schambok," is an elastic whip, all stock andno lash, or if you like, _vice versa_. Some six feet long, it tapersfrom a butt of about an inch in diameter to the tiniest tip; and, whenforcibly laid on, will make _weals_ on the skin of a horse, and cut thatof a man clean through. It is a cruel instrument of torture, and, Iregret to say, not exclusively employed to punish animals, as thenatives of South Africa too well know. To threaten a disobedientservant with the jambok--be he Hottentot, Fingo, or Caffre--is to bringhim back to kneeling obeisance. The best jamboks are made ofhippopotamus hide.