Canvas Under the Sky by Robin Binckes

Author:Robin Binckes
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781928211129
Publisher: 30 Degrees South Publishers
Published: 2013-08-03T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Four days after the funeral a meeting was held where we elected Hendrik Potgieter as our kommandant and leader and Sarel Cilliers as his deputy.

For the next few days Jan and I passed the time hunting game, which was there in great abundance, and talking to Potgieter about future plans. He had hinted that he might include the two of us in a small group which he would personally lead northeast to the sea. He also wanted to search for his cousins, the van Rensburgs, whose party had left with Trichardt the previous year. Jan and I took every opportunity to try and convince Potgieter that we should be included, although he was not the kind of man who was easily persuaded. We had to hope that he would himself decide it would be best to include us. In the end, God would advise him as to the right thing to do: Potgieter believed implicitly in divine guidance.

Early one morning, a week after the funeral, Jan and I set off to hunt lions that had killed three cattle the night before. We tracked the spoor of a pride for some miles until the trail ran cold at a small stream. We climbed off our horses and concealed ourselves behind some bushes. While we studied the terrain for signs of lion, a herd of some forty Cape buffalo emerged from the scrub about fifty yards downstream and across the river from us. Jan started to ready his Sanna for a shot but the buffalo became agitated and began to move farther downstream, tossing their heads and swishing their tails. I guessed they had picked up our scent as the wind was blowing in their direction.

Jan nudged me in the ribs. “Look,” he said, pointing.

Five lions were stalking the buffalo through the long grass on the riverbank. They were thirty yards away when the buffalo started to move away, firstly at a walk, then at a brisk trot. The lions broke cover and the buffalo panicked, running wildly in different directions. A lioness singled out a buffalo calf. Totally focused, she ignored the larger animals as she bounded past. Within a few strides she leaped onto her prey, her claws gouging its sides. The whites of the calf’s rolling eyes showed its terror. The rest of the pride joined the attack. The young buffalo crashed to the ground, surrounded, before slipping down the riverbank and splashing into the water. Standing in the shallows, the lions savaged the animal, with throaty roars and grunts until their coats were seeped with blood.

“He’s had it,” Jan whispered.

I nodded. We were totally engrossed in the scene until my gaze was drawn by a movement in the water, a few yards away. Two giant crocodiles were silently approaching the battle scene. The jaws of one crocodile emerged from the muddy waters. Mouth agape, it raced the last few yards, reared out of the water and grabbed the kicking, twitching back legs of the young buffalo. With a shake of its scaly head the crocodile started to pull the prey into the water.

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