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16
Soon nfter the British took over
British East Africa, a large number
of English farmers emigrated to
the new colony and took home
steads. Among this number was a
family consisting of father, mother,
a boy Fritz, of eighteen, and a
second son of fourteen. They set
tled on a beautiful strip of veld at
the west side of the Mwa Hills.
Naturally the first duty of a set-
tier is to build a suitable farmhouse,
and as the owner of the new farm
was a carpenter by trade, tin's task
was made much easier than it is to
most homesteaders. Labor, with
the exception of the unskilled and
slow natives, was expensive and
hard to get, ar.d as tl'e family was
limited in me ms, every member
helped in building the house.
But let Fritz tell the story as he
"told it to me : “It was Saturday
afternoon, and we had all been
working hard that week.
Father and mother mixed the
mud mortar and laid the stones for
the foundation of the house, while
my brother and I, with the stone-
boat with a span of oxen, hauled
the stones from a cliff a half mile
away.
“\Ve had made four trips thift
day. And \iere well tired out, for
it was no easy task prying up the
heavy stones and roiling them down
to where the boat stood at the edge
of the veld.
The sun had been beating down
upon us as only a tropical sun can
shine, and persperation soaked our
clothes and caught the rising dust
and dirt, so that when the after
noon was over we were too tired
and grimy boys. We had been trv-
ing hard to take out another load
of stones before dark, but 1 soon
saw it would be impossible*
“As my brother, who was not
very strong, appeared somewhat
overcome by the heat and the hard
work, I told him that he might re
turn to the tent—our temporary
home,—and l would put the half
load on the stoneboat and follow.
“By the time I had finished load
ing the boat Jim had disappeared,
and I started for the oxen, grazing
on the veld several hundred yards
away. I yoked .them up to the boat
just as the sun went down behind
the hills, and with a crack of the
bull-whip, started them toward
home. They needed no guiding
when once headed toward the kraal,
and as their normal gait was not
much more than a mile an hour, I
seated myself on the stones and
out in the time gazing at the
scenery.
“About half-way between the
quarry and tlie house was a mass of
rocks and boulders on the hillside,
many of them the size of a house.
These crags were the home of a
little band of killspringers that I
had discovered soon after our
arrival in the country, and we had
decided to protect them as much
as possible, for it. was a pleasure to
watch them scampering around
about the rocks. For want of some
thing better to do. I began to scan
the crags in hope of seeing some of
tire tiny antelopes at play. And,
sure enough, there they were, eight
of them, some feeding quietly in
the grass-plots among the rocks,
others standing like statues on top
of boulders gazing at me.
“Suddenly two of them took to
their feet and bounded up the rocks
with remarkable agility, and the
rest quickly followed. When well
in the cliff they stopped on points
of advantage and looked down on
something a little to the right.
“I knew that the)* had not taken
fright at me, for many times they
had allowed ‘lie oxen to pass with
in a hundred yards without paving
the slightest attention to the team,
so I began to search for the cause
of their alarm.
“1 was not long in discovering
it, for suddenly a lioness appeared
among the rocks, then another and
another, until in all four lionesses
and one fine, shaggy, black-maned
lion bad come into view, all slowlv
sauntering out of the rocks for an
evening’s hunt. Their actions
showed plainly that they had seen
the bollocks, tor eveiy few seconds
one or another of them would stop
and gaze at us, while the oxen,
innocent of any danger, plodding
on ward.
To hurry them was almost certain
to produce an attack, especially if
the lions were in the least hungry,
so I simply let the animals jog
along at their leisure. As soon as
thlions got out of tlie rocks they
followed along parallel with me,
but a little behind and about three
hundred yards distance. Although
they seemed in no big hurry, they
were slowly overtaking the team.
“The wind was blowing rrom
them towards me, but the lions’
scent had been carried behind the
oxen, so that they did not catch it.
Suddenly, however, one of the
lionesses crouched low, and began
to creep towards the team in true
cat-like fashion, and an instant
later a second one followed her
example, i then realised that they
meant trouble, but I had no tinje to
reflect, for at that moment one of
the oxen stopped short, threw up
his head and sniffed the air; then
getting the scent, they both broke
into an avvkurd swinging shuffle
for the kraal.
“Over the rough uneven ground
we lore bumpety-bump. I clung to
the stones to keep Loin being
thrown off, and tightly gripped the
big bull-whip, my only defense.
There was no use in trying to guide
or control the oxen ; in fact, 1 had
no idea of doing so, even if l
could, for under circumstances
they could not get back to tlie
kraal any loo soon to soon to suit
me, even if they did run away. All
that 1 could do was to cling to the
stone-bout and await the lions’
attack.
‘‘It was a short race. Those who
have seen a lion capture its prey
know too well what little chance
there would be for a runaway team
of oxen hitched to a loaded stone-
bout.
“The foremost lioness charged
from right angles, and when with
in fiticen lect of the boat sprang
into the air, and landed squarely
UAVE YOU * t ITTI.F FUTURE < IT57FV *'* K01WF’WF.l!„
YOU SHOUtJ-.).
