Hunting the Lions | Page 4

my felicity by repeating your well-known set of phrases about the evils of smoking, for I know them all by heart, and I dare say so does Tom."
"Impossible," said Wilkins; "I have not yet been two weeks in his company; he cannot, therefore, have heard a tithe of the irresistible arguments which I bring to bear on that pernicious practice, and which I hope some day to throw into shape and give to the public in the form of a bulky volume."
"Which will end in smoke," interrupted the major.
"In a literal sense, too," added Tom Brown, "for it will be sold as waste-paper and be made up into matches."
"We shall see," retorted Wilkins, cutting carefully round the right nostril of a baboon's head which he had carved on the end of a walking-stick; "meanwhile, major, as you are better acquainted than we are with this outlandish country, and have taken on yourself the leadership of the party, will you condescend to give Tom Brown and me some idea of your intended movements--that is, if smoke and felicity will permit you to do so?"
"With pleasure, my dear fellow," said the major puffing vigorously for a few moments to get his pipe well alight. "It was my intention to make for Big Buffalo's Village, or kraal as they call it here, and, getting the assistance of some of his sable Majesty's subjects, hunt the country in his neighbourhood, but I heard from Hicks this morning, before we left the camp, that a band of traders, at a kraal not far from us, are about to start for the Zulu country, and it struck me that we might as well join forces and advance together, for I prefer a large party to a small one--there is generally more fun to be got out of it."
"Would it be well to tie ourselves to any one?" asked Tom Brown. "I have always found that a small party is more manageable than a large one however, I do but throw out the suggestion in all humility."
"He shall not necessarily be tied to them," replied the major, re-lighting his pipe, which had a bad habit of going out when he talked; "we may keep company as long as we find it agreeable to do so, and part when we please. But what say you to the change of plan? I think it will bring us into a better hunting country."
"Whatever you think best, major, will please me," said Tom, "for I'm ignorant of everything here and place myself entirely under your directions."
"And I am agreeable," added Bob Wilkins.
"You are neither agreeable nor grammatical," said the major.
"Well, if you insist on it, I'm agreed. But do put your pipe out, Tom, and let us resume our march, for we have a long way to go, and much work to do before reaching the camp to-night."
Thus admonished, Tom Brown made an extinguisher of the end of his forefinger, put his short clay pipe in his waistcoat pocket, and, shouldering his rifle, followed his companions into the forest, on the edge of which they had been resting.
The country through which they passed was extremely beautiful, particularly in the eyes of our hero, for whom the magnificence of tropical vegetation never lost its charms. The three sportsmen had that morning left their baggage, in a wagon drawn by oxen, in charge of Hicks the trader, who had agreed to allow them to accompany him on a trading expedition, and to serve them in the capacity of guide and general servant. They had made a detour through the forest with a party of six natives, under the guidance of a Caffre servant named Mafuta, and were well repaid for the time thus spent, by the immense variety of insects and plants which the naturalists found everywhere. But that which delighted them most was the animal life with which the whole region teemed. They saw immense herds of wolves, deer of various kinds, hyenas, elands, buffalo, and many other wild beasts, besides innumerable flocks of water-fowl of all kinds. But they passed these unmolested, having set their hearts that day on securing higher game. As Wilkins said, "nothing short of a lion, an elephant, a rhinoceros, or hippopotamus" would satisfy them and that they had some chance of securing one or more of these formidable brutes was clear, because their voices had been several times heard, and their footprints had been seen everywhere.
About an hour after resuming their walk, the major went off in hot pursuit of an enormous bee, which he saw humming round a bush. About the same time, Wilkins fell behind to examine one of the numerous plants that were constantly distracting his attention, so that our hero was left for a time to hunt alone with the natives. He