The place seemed to please every one. Hans loved its quiet and sylvan7 beauty. It was just such a place as he would choose to ramble8 in, book in hand, and dream away many a pleasant hour. Hendrik liked it much, because he had already observed what he termed “extensive spoor” about the spot: in other words, he had noticed the tracks of many of Africa’s largest wild animals.
Little Trüey was delighted to see so many beautiful flowers. There were bright scarlet9 geraniums, and starlike sweet-scented jessamines, and the gorgeous belladonna lily, with its large blossoms of rose-colour and white; and there were not only plants in flower, but bushes, and even trees, covered with gaudy10 and sweetly-perfumed blossoms. There was the “sugar-bush” (Protea mellifera), the most beautiful of its family, with its large cup-shaped corollas of pink, white, and green; and there, too, was the “silver-tree” (Leucodendron argenteum), whose soft silvery leaves playing in the breeze, looked like a huge mass of silken flowers; and there were the mimosas covered with blossoms of golden yellow that filled the air with their strong and agreeable perfume.
Rare forms of vegetation were around or near at hand: the arborescent aloes, with their tall flower-spikes of coral red, and euphorbias of many shapes; and zamia, with its palm-like fronds11; and the soft-leaved Strelitzia reginae. All these were observed in the neighbourhood of this new-discovered fountain.
But what received little Trüey’s admiration12 more than any other was the beautiful blue waterlily (Nympha caerulea), which is certainly one of the loveliest of Africa’s flowers. Close by the spring, but a little farther in the direction of the plain, was a vley, or pool—in fact, it might have been termed a small lake—and upon the quiet bosom13 of its water the sky-blue corollas lay sleeping in all their gorgeous beauty.
Trüey, leading her little pet in a string, had gone down on the bank to look at them. She thought she could never cease gazing at such pretty things.
“I hope papa will stay here a long time,” she said to her companion, little Jan.
“And I hope so too. Oh! Trüey, what a fine tree yon is! Look! nuts as big as my head, I declare. Bless me, sis! how are we to knock some, of them down?”
And so the children conversed14, both delighted with the new scenes around them.
Although all the young people were inclined to be happy, yet they were checked in their expression of it, by observing that there was a cloud on the brow of their father. He had seated himself under the great tree, but his eyes were upon the ground, as though he were busy with painful reflections. All of them noticed this.
His reflections were, indeed, painful—they could not well have been otherwise. There was but one course left for him—to return to the settlements, and begin life anew. But how to begin it? What could he do? His property all gone, he could only serve some of his richer neighbours; and for one accustomed all his life to independence, this would be hard indeed.
He looked towards his five horses, now eagerly cropping the luxuriant grass that grew under the shadow of the cliffs. When would they be ready to trek15 back again? In three or four days he might start. Fine animals, most of them were—they would carry the wagon lightly enough.
So ran the reflections of the field-cornet. He little thought at the moment that those horses would never draw wagon more, nor any other vehicle. He little thought that those five noble brutes16 were doomed17!
Yet so it was. In less than a week from that time, the jackals and hyenas18 were quarrelling over their bones. Even at that very moment, whilst he watched them browsing19, the poison was entering their veins20, and their death-wounds were being inflicted21. Alas22! alas! another blow awaited Von Bloom.
The field-cornet had noticed, now and again, that the horses seemed uneasy as they fed. At times they started suddenly, whisked their long tails, and rubbed their heads against the bushes.
“Some fly is troubling them,” thought he, and had no more uneasiness about the matter.
It was just that—just a fly that was troubling them. Had Von Bloom known what that fly was, he would have felt a very different concern about his horses. Had he known the nature of that little fly, he would have rushed up with all his boys, caught the horses in the greatest hurry, and led them far away from those dark cliffs. But he knew not the “tsetse” fly.
It still wanted some minutes of sunset, and the horses were permitted to browse23 freely, but Von Bloom observed that they were every moment getting more excited—now striking their hoofs24 upon the turf,—now running a length or two—and at intervals25 snorting angrily. At the distance they were off—a quarter of a mile or so—Von Bloom could see nothing of what was disturbing them; but their odd behaviour at length induced him to walk up to where they were. Hans and Hendrik went along with him. When they arrived near the spot, they were astonished at what they then beheld. Each horse seemed to be encompassed26 by a swarm27 of bees!
They saw, however, they were not bees, but insects somewhat smaller, of a brown colour, resembling gad-flies, and exceedingly active in their flight. Thousands of them hovered28 above each horse, and hundreds could be seen lighting29 upon the heads, necks, bodies, and legs of the animals,—in fact, all over them. They were evidently either biting or stinging them. No wonder the poor brutes were annoyed.
Von Bloom suggested that they should drive the horses farther out into the plain, where these flies did not seem to haunt. He was only concerned about the annoyance30 which the horses received from them. Hendrik also pitied their sufferings; but Hans, alone of all the three, guessed at the truth. He had read of a fatal insect that frequented some districts in the interior of South Africa, and the first sight of these flies aroused his suspicions that it might be they.
He communicated his thoughts to the others, who at once shared his alarm.
“Call Swartboy hither!” said Von Bloom.
The Bushman was called, and soon made his appearance, coming up from the spring. He had for the last hour been engaged in unpacking31 the wagon, and had taken no notice of the horses or the interest they were exciting.
As soon, however, as he got near, and saw the winged swarm whirring around the horses, his small eyes opened to their widest extent, his thick lips fell, and his whole face yielded itself to an expression of amazement32 and alarm.
“What is it, Swart?” inquired his master.
“Mein baas! mein baas! der duyvel um da—dar skellum is da ‘tsetse!’”
“And what if it be the tsetse?”
“Mein baas!—all dead—dead—ebery horse!”
Swartboy then proceeded to explain, with a loud and continuous “clicking,” that the fly which they saw was fatal in its bite, that the horses would surely die—sooner or later, according to the number of stings they had already received; but, from the swarm of insects around them, the Bushman had no doubt they had been badly stung and a single week would see all five of the horses dead.
“Wait, mein baas—morrow show.” And to-morrow did show; for before twelve o’clock on the next day, the horses were swollen33 all over their bodies and about their heads. Their eyes were quite closed up; they refused any longer to eat, but staggered blindly among the luxuriant grass, every now and then expressing the pain they felt by a low melancholy34 whimpering. It was plain to every one they were going to die.
Von Bloom tried bleeding, and various other remedies; but to no purpose. There is no cure for the bite of the tsetse fly!
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1
verdant
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| adj.翠绿的，青翠的，生疏的，不老练的 | |
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2
wayfarers
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| n.旅人，（尤指）徒步旅行者( wayfarer的名词复数 ) | |
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3
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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wagon
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| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
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utterance
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| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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7
sylvan
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| adj.森林的 | |
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8
ramble
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| v.漫步，漫谈，漫游；n.漫步，闲谈，蔓延 | |
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9
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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10
gaudy
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| adj.华而不实的；俗丽的 | |
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11
fronds
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| n.蕨类或棕榈类植物的叶子( frond的名词复数 ) | |
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12
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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13
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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14
conversed
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| v.交谈，谈话( converse的过去式 ) | |
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15
trek
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| vi.作长途艰辛的旅行；n.长途艰苦的旅行 | |
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16
brutes
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| 兽( brute的名词复数 )； 畜生； 残酷无情的人； 兽性 | |
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17
doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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18
hyenas
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| n.鬣狗( hyena的名词复数 ) | |
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19
browsing
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| v.吃草( browse的现在分词 )；随意翻阅；（在商店里）随便看看；（在计算机上）浏览信息 | |
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20
veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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21
inflicted
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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22
alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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23
browse
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| vi.随意翻阅，浏览；(牛、羊等)吃草 | |
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24
hoofs
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| n.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 ) | |
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25
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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26
encompassed
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| v.围绕( encompass的过去式和过去分词 )；包围；包含；包括 | |
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27
swarm
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| n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入 | |
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28
hovered
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| 鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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29
lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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30
annoyance
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| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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31
unpacking
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| n.取出货物，拆包[箱]v.从（包裹等）中取出（所装的东西），打开行李取出( unpack的现在分词 )；拆包；解除…的负担；吐露（心事等） | |
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32
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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33
swollen
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| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
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melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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