The Vee-Boers: A Tale of Adventure in Southern Africa Page 5

  CHAPTER FIVE.

  UNDER THE MOWANA.

  Three waggons drawn up under the shade of a gigantic _mowana_ [Note 1]--the waggons of the Vee-Boers after their long, toilsome, and perilousjourney across the _karoo_. They are again out-spanned, but now in_laager_, which tells of an intention to remain there for some littletime. The vehicles are set in such fashion as to enclose a rectangularspace, open at one end; while around them, at some distance off, acircular fence of thorny bushes roughly form a _chevaux-de-frise_, tohinder lions, hyaenas, and other marauders from approaching too near.Seemingly, the ground has been judiciously chosen, with an eye to thethree chief requisites of a camp--grass, wood, and water. It iscontiguous to the bank of a clear, running stream, on each side fringedwith a belt of timber, trees of many different kinds; while landward,far as eye can reach, extends an open _veldt_, [Note 2], grass-covered,and affording plenteous pasturage for their cattle. These are all nowon it; oxen and milch-kine; the horses, too, hoppled neck-and-knee, tokeep them from straying. But just now there is little fear of that, theanimals not yet having recovered from the Karoo journey, and all arebrowsing tranquilly.

  The sheep are not there--not one of them. If looked for, they would befound--or rather their carcases--lying here and there along the line ofyesterday's trek; though, like as not, even the carcases would not bethere, only the skins and bones; the flesh long since devoured byjackals, hyenas, and vultures.

  In addition to wood, water, and grass, the camp-ground enjoys anotherconvenience--in tropical Africa, nearly as essential as any of thethree--shade. The _mowana_, [Note 3], with its wide extending arms, andthickly set foliage, casts shadow over a circle of full fifty yardsdiameter, and underneath it there is room for everybody and everything.

  The hour is ten o'clock in the morning; the travellers having arrivedthere in the afternoon of the preceding day. That they have not beenidle since can be told by the work done. The laager-fence itself musthave cost time and labour in its construction; while inside it are otherevidences of industry. Much of the lading of the waggons is out, and onthe ground, to be re-packed and re-arranged for further transport; whileupon lines, stretched from tree to tree, hang all sorts of _lingerie_ inthe process of drying; proof that the washerwomen of the party had beenup and stirring betimes.

  And this work, with many other kinds, is still in progress; not only thewomen and girls, but the men and boys being actively engaged one way oranother. Some of the older hands are repairing saddles, bridles, andharness-gear; others mend _vel-schoenen_ [Note 4]; and still others lookto the waggon-wheels, whose spokes and fellies, contracted by thedrought, have been for some time threatening to part company. A lappingof wet raw hide, when it dries, will bind, and hold them together, firmas any clasp or screw of iron; this every South African traveller knows,and none better than a Vee-Boer.

  Some of the women are occupied with their needles, which they ply with askill not excelled by the most accomplished Parisian _coturiere_; othersmilk the cows, led inside the laager for this purpose, while yet othersare engaged in preparing the _morgen-maal_ [Note 5]. It is being cookedon a kitchen-range, of quaint, primitive kind, such as may be met withonly in Southern Africa. Hand of man has had nought to do with itsmanufacture, nor has there been any iron employed in it. Instead, it isan earthen structure; part mud, and part a gummy, glutinous substancesecreted by insects, these having been its constructors. For thecooking-stove in question, is neither more nor less than an ant-hill,the home of a hive of _termites_ [Note 6] of which there are severalnear. For some reason or other abandoned by its builders, it has beeneasily transformed to the use now made of it. On the night before, anumber of cavities had been hollowed out around its base, fires kindledtherein, and tires of shelves cut into the sides above them. Now, atten am, the whole mass is at furnace heat, kettles boiling, stewpotssimmering, and frying-pans hissing--in short, a complete _batterie decuisine_ in stridulous activity.

  One unaccustomed to Transvaalian cookery might not greatly relish theviands in preparation; the meat part of them being mostly antelopeflesh, fried in lard rendered from the tails of the fat-tailed sheep.None of it, however, came from those lately poisoned by the tulp, thetravellers having previously laid in a supply, sufficient to last themto the end of their contemplated journey. For the lard in question is astaple commodity among the Dutch colonists of South Africa, kept instock not only in their houses, but carried with them in their waggonswhen on trek. It is often used as a substitute for butter, and howeverdistasteful to the palate of strangers, by the Boers it is regarded offirst _gout_.

  And now the savoury steam, exhaling from the pots and pans, fills theair with a fragrance more agreeable to the nostrils of the travellersthan all the odours of Araby. So appetising is it, that all are madlyimpatient to partake of the _morgen-maal_.

  This they do as soon as culinary operations are ended, coffee being anaccompaniment to the more substantial dishes. After which the white menof the party indulge in a "soupie" of _brandeywyn_ [Note 7] winding upwith a smoke; when all return to the tasks of the day. The childrenalone remain idle at play; some of the most courageous boys climbing upamong the branches of the mowana, for the tempting fruit seen there.But the work of none is now of long continuance, only up till abouttwelve noon. Then it is necessarily suspended on account of the sultryheat, and all congregate under the mowana; the animals seeking shadebeneath other umbrageous trees that stand by the side of their pastureground.

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  Note 1. "Mowana" is the South African synonym for the "baobab"(_Adansonia digitata_).

  Note 2. "Veldt" is a tract of grassy plain or prairie. It is in partsynonymous with our word "field," which we have changed from its ancientform, and partly from its signification.

  Note 3. As all know, the mowana, or baobab, is one of the largest oftrees; specimens being met with having a girth of nearly 100 feet. Itis not proportionately tall, however--nothing like the _sequoias_ ofCalifornia. Its leaves dried and pulverised are used as an antidote tovarious diseases, as diarrhoea, fevers, etc. Its fruit is slightlyacid, but well-flavoured, and is eaten by the natives of tropicalAfrica. The mowana is essentially a tree of the tropics.

  Note 4. "Vel-Schoenen." Literally "skin shoes." They are made ofuntanned hide and sewed with thongs of the same. They are worn by manyBoers, though it is their Hottentot servants who make and mend them.One of these yellow-skinned cobblers will make a pair of Vel-Schoenen inless than a couple of hours.

  Note 5. The "morgen-maal" (morning meal) of the Cape Dutch is a moresubstantial repast than an ordinary English breakfast, being quite asmuch a dinner. The hour for eating it is about eleven am; but there isusually an earlier _dejeuner_ consisting of a cup of coffee, and a sliceof bread, or cake.

  Note 6. The "termites," or white ants as more commonly called, oftenmake their "hills" as large as good-sized hay cocks, to which they beara strong resemblance. It is quite a common thing for _Trek_ or _Vee_Boers to utilise them as above described.

  Note 7. "Brandeywyn." A liquor of the brandy or whisky specialty,distilled from peaches. It is the common tipple in use among the Dutchcolonists of the Cape, and other parts of South Africa.