登陆注册
5696600000006

第6章

"By the time we had finished our much-needed meal the sun was getting up,and after a drink of water and a wash at the pool,we started to try and find Hans,leaving the dead lion to the tender mercies of the hy?nas.Both Mashune and myself were,by constant practice,pretty good hands at tracking,and we had not much difficulty in following the Hottentot's spoor,faint as it was.We had gone on in this way for half-an-hour or so,and were,perhaps,a mile or more from the site of our camping-place,when we discovered the spoor of a solitary bull buffalo mixed up with the spoor of Hans,and were able,from various indications,to make out that he had been tracking the buffalo.At length we reached a little glade in which there grew a stunted old mimosa thorn,with a peculiar and overhanging formation of root,under which a porcupine,or an ant-bear,or some such animal,had hollowed out a wide-lipped hole.About ten or fifteen paces from this thorn-tree there was a thick patch of bush.

"'See,Macumazahn!see!'said Mashune,excitedly,as we drew near the thorn;'the buffalo has charged him.Look,here he stood to fire at him;see how firmly he planted his feet upon the earth;there is the mark of his crooked toe (Hans had one bent toe).Look!here the bull came like a boulder down the hill,his hoofs turning up the earth like a hoe.Hans had hit him:he bled as he came;there are the blood spots.It is all written down there,my father--there upon the earth.'

"'Yes,'I said;'yes;but /where is Hans?/'

"Even as I said it Mashune clutched my arm,and pointed to the stunted thorn just by us.Even now,gentlemen,it makes me feel sick when Ithink of what I saw.

"For fixed in a stout fork of the tree some eight feet from the ground was Hans himself,or rather his dead body,evidently tossed there by the furious buffalo.One leg was twisted round the fork,probably in a dying convulsion.In the side,just beneath the ribs,was a great hole,from which the entrails protruded.But this was not all.The other leg hung down to within five feet of the ground.The skin and most of the flesh were gone from it.For a moment we stood aghast,and gazed at this horrifying sight.Then I understood what had happened.

The buffalo,with that devilish cruelty which distinguishes the animal,had,after his enemy was dead,stood underneath his body,and licked the flesh off the pendant leg with his file-like tongue.I had heard of such a thing before,but had always treated the stories as hunters'yarns;but I had no doubt about it now.Poor Hans'skeleton foot and ankle were an ample proof.

"We stood aghast under the tree,and stared and stared at this awful sight,when suddenly our cogitations were interrupted in a painful manner.The thick bush about fifteen paces off burst asunder with a crashing sound,and uttering a series of ferocious pig-like grunts,the bull buffalo himself came charging out straight at us.Even as he came I saw the blood mark on his side where poor Hans'bullet had struck him,and also,as is often the case with particularly savage buffaloes,that his flanks had recently been terribly torn in an encounter with a lion.

"On he came,his head well up (a buffalo does not generally lower his head till he does so to strike);those great black horns--as I look at them before me,gentlemen,I seem to see them come charging at me as Idid ten years ago,silhouetted against the green bush behind;--on,on!""With a shout Mashune bolted off sideways towards the bush.I had instinctively lifted my eight-bore,which I had in my hand.It would have been useless to fire at the buffalo's head,for the dense horns must have turned the bullet;but as Mashune bolted,the bull slewed a little,with the momentary idea of following him,and as this gave me a ghost of a chance,I let drive my only cartridge at his shoulder.

同类推荐
  • The Friendly Road

    The Friendly Road

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 蕉轩续录

    蕉轩续录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 革除遺事

    革除遺事

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 鄱阳记

    鄱阳记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 大使咒法经

    大使咒法经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 英雄联盟之逆天王者

    英雄联盟之逆天王者

    世界第一中单被中国神秘选手单杀,并送其超鬼……看着多年韩棒子肆虐,心中不服。带着仇恨,带着报复,陈毅为父报仇,重新踏上血染召唤师峡谷的征途之路
  • 把你写进我的生命里

    把你写进我的生命里

    [宠文,男强女强]有人说沈安瑶缠着陆二爷不放陆楚宸说:“乖,是我缠着你不放的。”有人说沈安瑶苛待同父异母的弟弟沈一阳说:“姐姐,不用理他们。”整个h市的女人都疯狂地嫉妒着沈安瑶。
  • 上邠宁刑司徒

    上邠宁刑司徒

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 通天武神

    通天武神

    通天武神,一路通天!落天涯从小流浪在洛水城,一次偶然的机会得到上古血脉传承,逆天修行,踏上一条通天之路!
  • 咕哒子的游戏王之旅

    咕哒子的游戏王之旅

    迦勒底御主咕哒子,在某次前往特异点时,意外穿越至游戏王的世界,从此走上打牌的不归路。“最强的御主一切都是必然的,就连抽卡本身也是由御主创造的!”“我要召唤我518元的他妈西!”“飞哥,屠龙了!”“呆毛,开饭了!”“Stella!”
  • 情迷现代主义

    情迷现代主义

    现代主义是二十年代兴起的新艺术与文学风格,艺术家为反抗19世纪末的陈规旧矩,转而用一种他们认为感情上更真实的方式,来表现真正的感受与想法。李欧梵这本散文集《情迷现代主义》,来自于伍迪·艾伦的《情迷午夜巴黎》,表面上说的是怀旧,其实是以他自己的方式向他心目中的大师或写作者致敬,这份名单中包括托尔斯泰、陀思妥耶夫斯基、马勒、李斯特、也斯、王文兴、北岛、韩素音等。
  • 二少追妻36天:盛世婚宠

    二少追妻36天:盛世婚宠

    爱情,到底是什么?谁也说不清楚,是不顾一切的飞蛾扑火,还是海枯石烂的一往情深?于童梦瑶而言,年少轻狂的爱情是她一直追求的天荒地老,然他的出现却打破了这一切的美好。“你这个该死的流氓,下流。”华灯初上,她甩了他一巴掌,自此,她和他结下了“孽缘”。司徒司宇,司徒家二公子,玩世不恭、桀骜不驯,他不信命运,但命运却让他遇上她。对他而言,童梦瑶的出现是一场意料之外,更是命中注定。于是,这一场爱情追逐賽拉开序幕……【宠文,先虐后甜,男主小气腹黑毒舌,女主美丽高傲,一场邂逅,一眼定情,情定一生。群号:123031463】
  • 世外桃源之深不可测

    世外桃源之深不可测

    主角陆昌红不经意间便到了陶渊明所述的《桃花源记》可发生的事却完全不同,人也不一样……
  • IQ265恋人搜查官

    IQ265恋人搜查官

    被一个长年住在监狱里的腹黑男人缠上是什么体验?被24小时GPS定位、实时监控一举一动是什么体验?可怕的不是身为警察却爱上了犯罪基因99%的天生恶魔,而是沦为IQ高达265的天才黑客的独家玩偶。
  • 元灵大陆之神裔现世

    元灵大陆之神裔现世

    诸神之战万年之后,元灵大陆势力分割不定,以人、兽、魔、龙...一些强大的种族时有争纷。一个被世人唾弃的“元灵废材”的少年,在一次绝望的困境时,找到了一块神奇的灵纹符石,与之融为一体,并被万年之前创造元灵大陆的创世神的使者选中,作为新一届神使,让大陆恢复和平。脱胎换骨的少年接受使命,开始踏入强者的世界,创立了“神裔冒险团”,与一群来自不同种族的伙伴踏上奇幻之旅……