H. Rider Haggard

Name: Allan's Wife — Chapter 3
Author: H. Rider Haggard

Summary

“Allan's Wife — Chapter 3”, published in 1889, is a work by H. Rider Haggard. It explores elements such as Indaba-zimbi, elephants and bull.

Quotes from Allan's Wife — Chapter 3 (H. Rider Haggard)

H. Rider Haggard, Allan's Wife — Chapter 3 (1889)

“ I was quite defenceless, for my gun was empty, and my first thought was of escape. I dug my heels into the sides of my horse, but he would not move an inch. The poor animal was paralyzed with terror, and he simply stood still, his fore-legs outstretched, and quivering all over like a leaf.
On rushed the elephant, awful to see; I made one more vain effort to stir the horse. Now the trunk of the great bull swung aloft above my head. A thought flashed through my brain. Quick as light I rolled from the saddle. By the side of the horse lay a fallen tree, as thick through as a man’s body. ”

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Source: Wikisource

H. Rider Haggard, Allan's Wife — Chapter 3 (1889)

“ One glance was enough for me; a great herd of elephants had evidently passed over the tall grass not many hours before. The sight of their spoor rejoiced me exceedingly, for though I had seen wild elephants, at that time I had never shot one. Moreover, the sight of elephant spoor to the African hunter is what “colour in the pan” is to the prospector of gold. It is by the ivory that he lives, and to shoot it or trade it is his chief aim in life. My resolution was soon taken. I would camp the waggons for a while in the forest, and start on horseback after the elephants. ”

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Source: Wikisource

H. Rider Haggard, Allan's Wife — Chapter 3 (1889)

“ They are in full cry; the giraffes hear them and are away, rolling round the koppie like a ship in a heavy sea. No marrow-bones after all. See! the foremost dogs are close on a buck. He has galloped far and is outworn. One springs at his flank and misses him. The buck gives a kind of groan, looks wildly round and sees the waggon. He seems to hesitate a moment, then in his despair rushes up to it, and falls exhausted among the oxen. The dogs pull up some thirty paces away, panting and snarling. Now, boy, the gun—no, not the rifle, the shot-gun loaded with loopers. ”

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Source: Wikisource

H. Rider Haggard, Allan's Wife — Chapter 3 (1889)

“ Yes, yes, it is want of imagination that makes people fools; they won’t believe what they can’t understand. You can’t understand my prophecies any more than the fool at the kraal could understand that I was his master with the lightning. Well, it is time to trek, but if I were you, Macumazahn, I should take one waggon, not two. ”

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Source: Wikisource

H. Rider Haggard, Allan's Wife — Chapter 3 (1889)

“ Bang! bang! there, my friends, two of you will never hunt buck again. No, don’t touch the buck, for he has come to us for shelter, and he shall have it.
Ah, how beautiful is nature before man comes to spoil it!
Such a sight as this have I seen many a hundred times, and I hope to see it again before I die.
The first real adventure that befell me on this particular journey was with elephants, which I will relate because of its curious termination. Just before we crossed the Orange River we came to a stretch of forest-land some twenty miles broad. ”

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Source: Wikisource

H. Rider Haggard, Allan's Wife — Chapter 3 (1889)

“ Even the best natives have little compassion for the sufferings of animals.
Well, the rest was easy. The marsh that would not bear the elephants carried our weight well enough. Before midnight all were dead, for we shot them by moonlight. I would gladly have spared the young ones and some of the cows, but to do so would only have meant leaving them to perish of hunger; it was kinder to kill them at once. The wounded bull I slew with my own hand, and I cannot say that I felt much compunction in so doing. ”

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Source: Wikisource

H. Rider Haggard, Allan's Wife — Chapter 3 (1889)

“ Now and then a monster would make a great effort and drag his mass from its peaty bed, only to stick fast again at the next step. It was a most pitiable sight, though one that gladdened the hearts of my men. ”

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Source: Wikisource

H. Rider Haggard, Allan's Wife — Chapter 3 (1889)

“ The ivory was far too cumbersome for us to carry, so we buried it, having first got rid of our bushmen allies. My boys wanted me to go back to the Cape with it and sell it, but I was too much bent on my journey to do this. The tusks lay buried for five years. Then I came and dug them up; they were but little harmed. Ultimately I sold the ivory for something over twelve hundred pounds—not bad pay for one day’s shooting.
This was how I began my career as an elephant hunter. I have shot many hundreds of them since, but have never again attempted to do so on horseback. ”

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Source: Wikisource

H. Rider Haggard, Allan's Wife — Chapter 3 (1889)

“ I am wiser now; this was the first and last time that I ever attempted to hunt elephants on horseback.
Accordingly we started at dawn, I, Indaba-zimbi, and three men; the rest I left with the waggons. I was on horseback, and so was my driver, a good rider and a skilful shot for a Kaffir, but Indaba-zimbi and the others walked. From dawn till mid-day we followed the trail of the herd, which was as plain as a high road. Then we off-saddled to let the horses rest and feed, and about three o’clock started on again. Another hour or so passed, and still there was no sign of elephants. ”

H. Rider Haggard

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Quotes from Allan's Wife — Chapter 3 (H. Rider Haggard)

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