"Haggard, H Rider- Hunter Quatermain's Story" - читать интересную книгу автора (Haggard H. Rider)

at a place called Gatgarra, not a great way from the Chobe River. I
had with me four native servants, namely, a driver and voorlooper, or
leader, who were natives of Matabeleland, a Hottentot named Hans, who
had once been the slave of a Transvaal Boer, and a Zulu hunter, who
for five years had accompanied me upon my trips, and whose name was
Mashune. Now near Gatgarra I found a fine piece of healthy, park-like
country, where the grass was very good, considering the time of year;
and here I made a little camp or head-quarter settlement, from whence
I went expeditions on all sides in search of game, especially
elephant. My luck, however, was bad; I got but little ivory. I was
therefore very glad when some natives brought me news that a large
herd of elephants were feeding in a valley about thirty miles away. At
first I thought of trekking down to the valley, waggon and all, but
gave up the idea on hearing that it was infested with the deadly
'tsetse' fly, which is certain death to all animals, except men,
donkeys, and wild game. So I reluctantly determined to leave the
waggon in the charge of the Matabele leader and driver, and to start
on a trip into the thorn country, accompanied only by the Hottentot
Hans, and Mashune.

"Accordingly on the following morning we started, and on the evening
of the next day reached the spot where the elephants were reported to
be. But here again we were met by ill luck. That the elephants had
been there was evident enough, for their spoor was plentiful, and so
were other traces of their presence in the shape of mimosa trees torn
out of the ground, and placed topsy-turvy on their flat crowns, in
order to enable the great beasts to feed on their sweet roots; but the
elephants themselves were conspicuous by their absence. They had
elected to move on. This being so, there was only one thing to do, and
that was to move after them, which we did, and a pretty hunt they led
us. For a fortnight or more we dodged about after those elephants,
coming up with them on two occasions, and a splendid herd they were--
only, however, to lose them again. At length we came up with them a
third time, and I managed to shoot one bull, and then they started off
again, where it was useless to try and follow them. After this I gave
it up in disgust, and we made the best of our way back to the camp,
not in the sweetest of tempers, carrying the tusks of the elephant I
had shot.



"It was on the afternoon of the fifth day of our tramp that we reached
the little koppie overlooking the spot where the waggon stood, and I
confess that I climbed it with a pleasurable sense of home-coming, for
his waggon is the hunter's home, as much as his house is that of the
civilized person. I reached the top of the koppie, and looked in the
direction where the friendly white tent of the waggon should be, but
there was no waggon, only a black burnt plain stretching away as far
as the eye could reach. I rubbed my eyes, looked again, and made out
on the spot of the camp, not my waggon, but some charred beams of