CHAPTER XX.STANDING A SIEGE.[edit]
Not without anxiety had the astronomers witnessed the
departure of their young colleagues: they could not tell
what dangers awaited them in that unknown country.
Mokoum tried to reassure them by praising the courage of
the pioneer, and besides, he said, the Makololos were too
much occupied around Mount Scorzef to beat the country
to the north of Lake Ngami. He instinctively felt that
the Colonel and his party were in a more dangerous
position than the two young astronomers.
The sailors and Mokoum kept watch in turns through the
night. But “the reptiles,” as the bushman termed the
Makololos, did not venture another attack. They seemed to
be waiting for reinforcements, in order to invade the
mountain from all sides, and overcome by their numbers
the resistance of the besieged.
The hunter was not mistaken in his conjectures; and
when daylight appeared Colonel Everest perceived a
sensible increase in the number of the natives. Their camp,
carefully arranged round the base of the mountain, shut off
escape on every side except that towards the lake. This
side could not be invested, so that unless unforeseen circumstances
occurred, retreat to the water was always practicable.
But the Europeans had no thought of escaping:
they occupied a post of honour, and were all agreed
that it must not be abandoned. No allusion was ever
made to the war between England and Russia, and both
parties strove together to accomplish their scientific
labour.
The interval of waiting for the signal on Mount Volquiria
was employed in completing the measurement of the
preceding triangle and in finding the exact latitude of
Mount Scorzcf by means of the altitudes of the stars.
Mokoum was called upon to say what would be the
shortest possible space of time that must elapse before
Emery and Zorn could reach Mount Volquiria. He replied
that as the journey was to be performed on foot, and the
country was continually crossed by rivers, he did not think
that they could arrive in less than five days at least. They
therefore adopted a maximum of six days, and portioned
out their supplies to serve for that period. Their reserve
was very limited, consisting only of a few pounds of biscuit,
preserved meat, and pemmican, and had already been diminished
by the portion furnished to the pioneer's little troop.
Colonel Everest and his companions, anxiously anticipating
the sixth day, decided that the daily ration must be reduced
to a third of their previous allowance. The thirteen men
would doubtless suffer much from this small amount of
nourishment, but there was an unflinching determination to
bear up bravely.
“Besides,” said Sir John, “we have room enough to
hunt.”
Mokoum shook his head doubtfully: he thought
that game would be rare on the mountain. However,
his gun need not be idle, and leaving the astronomers
to examine and correct their registers, he set off with Sir
John.
The Makololos were quietly encamped, and apparently
patient in their intention of reducing the besieged by famine.
The two hunters reconnoitred the mountain. The fort
occupied a space of ground measuring not more than a
quarter of a mile in its widest part. The soil was covered
with flints and grass, dotted here and there with low shrubs,
and bright with gladioli. Red heaths, silvery-leaved protese,
and ericæ with wavy fronds, formed the flora of the mountain,
and beneath the angles formed by the projections of
rock sprung up thorny bushes ten feet high, with bunches
of a sweet-smelling white flower. The bushman was ignorant
of its name, but it was doubtless the Arduina bispinosa,
which bears fruit like the barberry.
After an hour's search Sir John had seen no trace of
game. Some little birds with dark wings and red beaks
flew out of the bushes, but at the first shot they disappeared,
no more to return. It was evident that the garrison must
not depend on the products of the chase for sustenance.
“We can fish in the lake,” said Sir John, standing and
contemplating the fine extent of water.
“To fish without net or line,” replied the bushman, “is as
difficult as to lay hands on birds on the wing. But we
will not despair; chance has hitherto favoured us.”
“Chance! nay, not chance, but Providence,” said Sir
John. “That does not forsake us; it has brought us to
the Russians, and will no doubt carry us on to our goal.”
“And will Providence feed us, Sir John?” asked the
bushman.
“No doubt, Mokoum,” said Sir John encouragingly;
and the bushman thought to himself that no blind trust in
Providence should prevent him from using his own best
exertions.
The 25th brought no change in the relative positions of
besiegers and besieged. The Makololos, having brought
in the plundered waggons, remained in their camp. Herds
and flocks were grazing in the pasturages at the foot of the
mountain, and some women and children, who had joined
the tribe, went about and pursued their ordinary occupations.
From time to time, some chief, recognizable by
the richness of the skins which he wore, ascended the slope
of the mountain and tried to examine the approaches to
the summit; but the report of a rifle always took him
speedily back to the plain. The Makololos then raised
their war-cry, brandished their assagais, and all became
quiet.
The following day the natives made a more serious
attempt, and about fifty of them at once scaled three sides
of the mountain. The whole garrison turned out to the
foot of the enclosure, and the European arms caused
considerable ravage among the Makololos. Five or six
were killed, and the rest abandoned their project, but it
was quite evident that if several hundred were to assault
the mountain simultaneously, the besieged would find it
difficult to face them on all sides. Sir John now thought
of the mitrailleuse, which was the principal weapon of the
“Queen and Czar,” and proposed that it should be brought
up to defend the front of the fortress. It was a difficult
task to hoist the machine up the rocks, which in some
parts were almost perpendicular; but the sailors showed
themselves so agile and daring, that in the course of the
day the mitrailleuse was installed in the embrasure of the
embattled enclosure. Thence, its twenty-five muzzles,
arranged in the shape of a fan, would cover the front of
the fort, and the natives would thus early make acquaintance
with the engine of death which in after-years was to
effect such devastation amongst the civilized armies of the
European continent.
The dry air and clear sky had enabled the astronomers
each night to pursue their observations. They had found
the latitude of Mount Scorzef to be 19°{37}, which result
confirmed their opinion that they were less than half a
degree from the northern extremity of their meridian, and
that consequently the next triangle would complete the
series.
The night passed without any fresh alarm. If circumstances
had favoured the pioneer, he and his companions
would reach Mount Volquiria the following day, so that the
astronomers kept unflagging watch through the next night
for the appearance of the light. Strux and the Colonel
had already pointed the telescope to the peak, so that it
was continuously embraced in the field of the object-glass,
otherwise it would have been difficult to discern on a dark
night; as it was, the light would doubtless be perceived
immediately on its appearance.
All day Sir John beat fruitlessly the bushes and long
grass. He could not unearth a single animal that was fit
to eat. The very birds, disturbed from their retreats, had
gone to the underwood on the shore for shelter. Sir John
was extremely vexed, inasmuch as he was not hunting
merely for personal gratification, but to supply the necessities
of the party. Perhaps he himself suffered from
hunger more than his three colleagues, whose attention
was more riveted by their application to science. The
sailors and Mokoum suffered equally with Sir John. One
more day and their scanty reserve would be at an end, and
if the pioneer's expedition were delayed, they would soon
be exposed to a severe extremity of hunger.
The dark, calm night was passed in watching; but the
horizon remained wrapped in shade, and no light appeared
in the object-glass of the telescope. The minimum of time,
however, allowed to the expedition had hardly expired,
and they felt that they were bound to exhibit patience for
a while.
The next day the garrison ate their last morsel of meat
and biscuit; but their courage did not fail, and, though
they should be obliged to feed on what herbs they could
gather, they were resolved to hold out.
The succeeding night passed without any result. More
than once the astronomers believed that they had seen the
light, but it was always proved to be a star in the misty
horizon.
On the 1st of March they were compelled absolutely to
fast. Having been for some time accustomed to meagre
and inadequate nourishment, they passed the first day
without much acute suffering, but on the morrow they
began to experience the pangs of craving. Sir John and
Mokoum, haggard-eyed, and sensitive to the gnawings of
hunger, wandered over the top of the mountain; but no
game whatever was to be seen. They began to think that,
as the Colonel had said, they should literally have to feed
on grass. If they only had the stomachs of ruminants,
thought poor Sir John, as he eyed the abundant pasturage,
they would be able to hold out; but still no game, still not
even a bird! He gazed intently over the lake, in which
the sailors had fished in vain; and it was impossible to get
near the wary aquatic birds that skimmed the tranquil
waters.
At last, worn out with fatigue, Sir John and his companion
lay down on the grass at the foot of a mound of earth some
five or six feet high. Here they fell, not precisely into a
sleep, but into a heavy torpor, which for a while benumbed
their sufferings. How long this drowsiness would have lasted
neither of them could have said; but in about an hour Sir
John was aroused by a disagreeable pricking. He tried to
slumber again, but the pricking continued, and at last
impatiently he opened his eyes.
He was entirely covered, face, hands, and clothes, with
swarms of white ants. He started to his feet, and his sudden
movement aroused the bushman, who was covered in the
same way. But to Sir John's great surprise, the bushman,
instead of shaking off the insects, carried them by handfuls
to his mouth, and devoured them greedily. Sir John's
first sensation was disgust at his voracity.
“Come, eat, do as I do!” said the bushman; “it is the
rice of the Bochjesmen.”
And that was, in truth, the native term for these insects.
The Bochjesmen feed on both the black and white species,
but they consider the white to be of superior quality. The
only drawback is, that they must be swallowed in large
quantities to satisfy any longing for food. The Africans
generally mix them with the gum of the mimosa, thus rendering
them capable of affording a less unsubstantial meal;
but as the mimosa did not grow on Mount Scorzef, the bushman
had to content himself with his rice au naturel.
Sir John, in spite of his repugnance, resolved to imitate
him. The insects poured forth by thousands from their
enormous ant-hill, which was none other than the mound of
earth by which the weary sufferers had reclined. Sir John
took them by handfuls, and carried them to his lips; he did
not dislike the flavour, which was a grateful acid; and
gradually he felt his hunger moderated.
Mokoum did not forget his companions in misfortune.
He ran to the fort, and brought out the garrison. The
sailors were without difficulty induced to attack the singular
food, and although the astronomers hesitated a moment,
yet, encouraged by Sir John's example, and half dead with
inanition, they soon at least assuaged the intenseness of
their hunger by devouring considerable quantities of these
ants.
But an unexpected incident procured for the starving
men a more solid meal. In order to lay in a provision of
the insects, Mokoum resolved to destroy one side of the
enormous ant-hill. It consisted of a central conical mound,
with smaller cones arranged at intervals round its base.
The hunter had already made several blows with his hatchet,
when a singular grunting sound from the centre attracted
his attention: he paused in his work of destruction, and
listened, while his companions watched him in silence. He
struck a few more blows, and the groan was repeated more
audibly than before. The bushman rubbed his hands,
whilst his eyes evidently sparkled. Once more attacking
the ant-hill, he opened a cavity about a foot wide. The
ants were escaping on every side; but of them he took
no heed, leaving the sailors to collect them in sacks.
All at once a strange animal appeared at the mouth
of the hole. It was a quadruped with a long snout,
small mouth, and flexible tongue, which protruded to
a great length; its ears were straight, its legs short, and
its tail long and pointed. Long grey bristles with a
reddish tinge covered its lank body, and its feet were
armed with enormous claws. Mokoum killed it at once
with a sharp blow on the snout. “There is our supper,”
he said. “It has been some time coming, but it will not
taste the worse for that. Now for a fire, and a ramrod for
a spit, and we will feast as we have never feasted in our lives.”
The bushman speedily began to skin the animal, which
was a species of octeropus or ant-eater, very common
in South Africa, and known to the Dutch at the Cape under
the name of “earth-pig.” Swarms of ants are devoured
by this creature, which catches them by means of its long
glutinous tongue.
The meal was soon cooked; perhaps it would have been
better for a few more turns of the spit, but the hungry men
were impatient. The firm, wholesome flesh was declared
to be excellent, although slightly impregnated with the
acid of the ants.
After the repast the Europeans felt re-invigorated, and
animated with more steadfast purpose to persevere; and
in truth there was need of encouragement. All through
the following night no light appeared on Mount Volquiria.