ands, but
twenty years back scarce a white man had ever seen it! We had followed
the Orange from its mouth in a leisurely, dawdling manner, spending a
few days, or perhaps a week, at those few spots where we found
Hottentots or Bushmen. The elder brother seemed to comprehend these
wild men by intuition, and the extraordinary 'click' language which I
had long since despaired of ever learning seemed to him the simplest
thing on earth. Day after day he conversed with them more and more,
until his mastery of both tongues was complete. The natives looked up
to him as a sort of god, and if he had allowed it would have worshipped
him. Hour after hour he would sit conversing with them and questioning
them, taking copious notes all the time and gathering from their
folklore, legends, traditions, and beliefs; and every day, as he became
more engrossed, his brother and I saw less of him. John and I had
plenty of sport, for the country teemed with game in those days; but
after a time, as Hector grew more and more engrossed in the natives,
until he rarely spoke to us, John became anxious, and at last spoke to
me. 'Look here, Jason,' he said one day when we were miles from camp
after klipbok for the pot, 'I don't like the way Hector's going at all!
He scarcely ever speaks now, and he's so queer when he does talk. He
wanders in his sleep a lot, and last night he kept on all night talking
the most abject nonsense about proving to the world that Darwin was
right in his theory of evolution. It's some yarn these infernal Bushmen
have told him, I suppose. I wish something would crop up to divert his
thoughts in another direction.'

"Well, something happened only too soon. One day, in passing through a
narrow ravine, we came suddenly at close quarters with a troop of the
biggest baboons I have ever seen. They looked and grunted a few times
to each other, and made off in a leisurely manner, evidently in no
fear. They were the first we had seen, and Hector was all excitement.
He spoke rapidly to the two Bushmen who were with us, and then shouted
some clicking, unintelligible gibberish after the retreating animals.
At the call the whole troop halted, and their hoarse barks came back in
reply. Again Hector shouted, and once again the baboons voiced a
grunting mocking answer that John and I looked at each other in
amazement! 'Look at Klaas!' he whispered.

"Klaas was a Hottentot who had been with the missionaries at Bethany,
and spoke English.