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Distributed Computer
and Communication Networks
22nd International Conference, DCCN 2019
Moscow, Russia, September 23–27, 2019
Revised Selected Papers
Lecture Notes in Computer Science 11965
Founding Editors
Gerhard Goos
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany
Juris Hartmanis
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
Konstantin E. Samouylov •
Distributed Computer
and Communication Networks
22nd International Conference, DCCN 2019
Moscow, Russia, September 23–27, 2019
Revised Selected Papers
123
Editors
Vladimir M. Vishnevskiy Konstantin E. Samouylov
V.A. Trapeznikov Institute of Control Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia
Sciences of Russian Academy of Sciences Moscow, Russia
Moscow, Russia
Dmitry V. Kozyrev
V.A. Trapeznikov Institute of Control
Sciences of Russian Academy of Sciences
Moscow, Russia
Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia
Moscow, Russia
This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Preface
This volume contains a collection of revised selected full-text papers presented at the
22nd International Conference on Distributed Computer and Communication Networks
(DCCN 2019), held in Moscow, Russia, September 23–27, 2019.
DCCN 2019 is an IEEE (Region 8 + Russia Section) technically cosponsored
international conference. It is a continuation of traditional international conferences
of the DCCN series, which took place in Sofia, Bulgaria (1995, 2005, 2006, 2008,
2009, 2014); Tel Aviv, Israel (1996, 1997, 1999, 2001); and Moscow, Russia (1998,
2000, 2003, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018) in the last 22 years. The
main idea of the conference is to provide a platform and forum for researchers and
developers from academia and industry from various countries working in the area
of theory and applications of distributed computer and communication networks,
mathematical modeling, methods of control, and optimization of distributed systems,
by offering them a unique opportunity to share their views as well as discuss the
perspective developments and pursue collaboration in this area. The content of this
volume is related to the following subjects:
1. Communication networks algorithms and protocols
2. Wireless and mobile networks
3. Computer and telecommunication networks control and management
4. Performance analysis, QoS/QoE evaluation, and network efficiency
5. Analytical modeling and simulation of communication systems
6. Evolution of wireless networks toward 5G
7. Centimeter- and millimeter-wave radio technologies
8. Internet of Things and Fog Computing
9. Probabilistic and statistical models in information systems
10. Queuing theory and reliability theory applications
11. High-altitude telecommunications platforms
The DCCN 2019 conference gathered 174 submissions from authors from 26 dif-
ferent countries. From these, 132 high quality papers in English were accepted and
presented during the conference. The current volume contains 46 extended papers
which were recommended by session chairs and selected by the Program Committee
for the Springer post-proceedings.
All the papers selected for the post-proceedings volume are given in the form
presented by the authors. These papers are of interest to everyone working in the field
of computer and communication networks.
vi Preface
We thank all the authors for their interest in DCCN, the members of the Program
Committee for their contributions, and the reviewers for their peer-reviewing efforts.
DCCN 2019 was jointly organized by the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), the
V.A. Trapeznikov Institute of Control Sciences of RAS (ICS RAS), the Peoples’
Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University), the National Research Tomsk
State University, and the Institute of Information and Communication Technologies of
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (IICT BAS).
Organizing Committee
V. M. Vishnevskiy (Chair) ICS RAS, Russia
K. E. Samouylov RUDN University, Russia
(Vice Chair)
D. V. Kozyrev RUDN University and ICS RAS, Russia
A. A. Larionov ICS RAS, Russia
S. N. Kupriyakhina ICS RAS, Russia
S. P. Moiseeva Tomsk State University, Russia
T. Atanasova IIICT BAS, Bulgaria
I. A. Gudkova RUDN University, Russia
Organization ix
Support
Information support is provided by the IEEE (Region 8 + Russia Section) and the
Russian Academy of Sciences. The conference has been organized with the support
of the “RUDN University Program 5-100.”
Contents
Optimal Control by the Queue with Rate and Quality of Service Depending
on the Amount of Harvested Energy as a Model of the Node of Wireless
Sensor Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Alexander Dudin, Chesoong Kim, and Sergey Dudin
A Multistage Queueing Model with Priority for Customers Become Fit . . . . . 223
Dhanya Babu, V. C. Joshua, and A. Krishnamoorthy
Queue with Retrial Group for Modeling Best Effort Traffic with Minimum
Bit Rate Guarantee Transmission Under Network Slicing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 432
Ekaterina Markova, Yves Adou, Daria Ivanova, Anastasia Golskaia,
and Konstantin Samouylov
Minimizing the IoT System Delay with the Edge Gateways . . . . . . . . . . . . . 495
Van Dai Pham, Trung Hoang, Ruslan Kirichek, Maria Makolkina,
and Andrey Koucheryavy
The Bans in Finite Probability Spaces and the Problem of Small Samples . . . 578
Alexander Grusho, Nick Grusho, and Elena Timonina
1 Introduction
5G NR systems bring a set of new unique challenges to systems designers includ-
ing much higher propagation losses compared to microwave communications,
blockage of propagation paths by small dynamic objects in the channel, the
need for efficient electronic beamstreering mechanisms, etc. In real-life outdoor
The publication has been prepared with the support of the “RUDN University Pro-
gram 5-100” (D.Yu. Ostrikova, visualization). The reported study was partially funded
by RFBR, projects Nos. 18-07-00576 (Yu.V. Gaidamaka, methodology and project
administration) and 18-37-00380 (V.A. Beschastnyi, numerical analysis).
c Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019
V. M. Vishnevskiy et al. (Eds.): DCCN 2019, LNCS 11965, pp. 3–14, 2019.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36614-8_1
4 V. Naumov et al.
2 System Model
We consider the scenario with 5G NR Base Station (BS) deployment serving
point-to-point (unicast) sessions, see Fig. 1. Each BS has a circularly-shaped
coverage area of radius RC estimated using the mmWave propagation model,
the set of MCS [8], and network topology. Users are assumed to be randomly
distributed according to Poisson Point Process (PPP) with parameter ρ. So
the intensity of user requests for service is a Poisson process with parameter
λ = Λρπ(dE 2
LoS ) , where Λ is the parameter of exponentially distributed intervals
between two consecutive requests from a single UE and ρ is the density of users.
To process a user request BS allocates radio frequency resource of the size that
is generally a random variable and determined by the UE location. In accordance
with [9], the mmWave path loss LdB for UEs in LoS and nLoS conditions is given
by:
5G NR System Performance Analysis Using Limited Resource Loss Systems 5
NR BS
O
UE with LoS
I UE without LoS
−1
RI Blocker
−1
nLoS area
Trajectory
32.4 + 21 log(x) + 20 log fc , non-blocked,
LdB (x) =
47.4 + 21 log(x) + 20 log fc , blocked,
where fc is operational frequency measured in MHz, and x is the distance
between BS and UE. From these equations we derive maximum distances dE nLoS
and dELoS at which a UE can establish a session in LoS and nLoS states respec-
tively by setting value of LdB threshold as the worst possible Signal-to-Noise
Ratio (SNR) given by modulation and coding scheme (MCS) for mmWave prop-
agation model [3,10], as shown in (1) and (2):
⎛ ⎞ γ1
PT · 10
10GT +GR
dE
LoS =
⎝ √ ⎠ , (1)
10
10NO W +S · 102log10 fc +3,24
⎛ ⎞ γ1
PT · 10
10GT +GR
dE
nLoS =
⎝ √ ⎠ , (2)
10
10NO W +S · 102log10 fc +4,74
coverage to the inner zone of adjacent BS, where sessions can be maintained
regardless of LoS conditions.
6 V. Naumov et al.
handed over to an adjacent NR BS and do not require resource from the origin
BS until the end of blockage.
Table 1 describes the mapping between CQIs and spectral efficiency for 3GPP
NR systems. This approach follows [6], where authors compute mean demand
for the model without multiconnectivity feature.
In the outer zone when the LoS to UE is blocked, channel quality decreases
to such an extent that it is no longer worth or possible to maintain connection
between UE and current BS, and the session is handed over to the adjacent
BS. As UE is always served at BS with better channel quality, after handover it
will demand greater amount of resource than it was previously allocated by the
origin BS. On re-establishment of LoS towards origin BS, the session is handed
over back with the former demand. However, at this moment it may appear that
origin BS does not have available resource to resume session, in this case it is
lost.
3 Analytical Model
3.1 Queuing System Formalization
⎧ ⎫
⎨
n
n ⎬
X (R) = (k1 , ..., kn )|kj ≥ 0, j = 1, ..., n, kj ≤ N, kj rj ≤ R . (3)
⎩ ⎭
j=1 j=1
n
We denote μi0 = − j=1 μij as service termination rate at i-phase, and
μi = −μii - departure rates from i phase. Then, the system of equilibrium
equations (SEE) for the process X(t) can be presented in the form (4) where
I(S) is the indicator function of statement S, r = (r1 , ..., rn ) and µ = (μ1 , ..., μn )
are column vectors, ei is row vector of zeros with figure one at the i-th position.
5G NR System Performance Analysis Using Limited Resource Loss Systems 9
n
λI (ku < N ) I(kr + ri ≤ R)ai + kµ p(k)
i=1
n
n
=λ I(ki > 0)p(k − ei )ai + I(ku < N ) p(k + ei )(ki + 1)μi0
i=1 i=1
n
n
(4)
+I(ku < N ) I(kr + rj > R)p(k + ei )(ki + 1)μij
i=1 j=1
j=i
n
n
+ I(kj > 0)I(kr + rj ≤ R)p(k + ei − ej )(ki + 1)μij , k ∈ X (R).
i=1 j=1
j=i
1. Set C := 0;
2. Calculate new values of p using (5);
3. Normalize p(k): p(k) = C1 p(k), k ∈ X (R).
1
p(k) = n
λI (ku < N ) I(kr + ri ≤ R)ai + kµ
i=1
n
n
× λ I(ki > 0)p(k − ei )ai + I(ku < N ) p(k + ei )(ki + 1)μi0
i=1 i=1
n
n (5)
+I(ku < N ) I(kr + rj > R)p(k + ei )(ki + 1)μij
i=1 j=1
j=i
n
n
+ I(kj > 0)I(kr + rj ≤ R)p(k + ei − ej )(ki + 1)μij , k ∈ X (R).
i=1 j=1
j=i
10 V. Naumov et al.
4 Numerical Results
In this Section we concentrate on session drop probabilities (6) and mean NR
BS resource utilization (7) for a fixed and variable ISD.
B = ab, b = (b1 , ..., bn ), bi = p (k) + p (k). (6)
k∈X (R): j∈{1,...,n}\i,k∈X (R):
kr+ri >R kr−rj +ri >R
U= kr · p(k). (7)
k∈X
For the considered scenario the transition matrix has the form (8) and vector
RI2 RI2
a = ( (RI +R O ) 2 , 0, 1 − (R +R )2 , 0) which represents initial phase probability
I O
distribution. Vector a has four components, where a1 and a3 are equal to the ratio
of inner and outer zone areas to the coverage area respectively, while a2 = a4 = 0
5G NR System Performance Analysis Using Limited Resource Loss Systems 11
⎛ ⎞
−(θLoS
I
+ μ) I
θLoS 0 0
⎜ θI −(θnLoS
I
+ μ) 0 0 ⎟
M=⎜
⎝
nLoS ⎟.
⎠ (8)
0 0 −(θLoS + μ)
O O
θLoS
0 0 O
θnLoS −(θnLoS + μ)
O
Figure 3 illustrates the session drop probabilities for two defined zones and
the cumulative drop probabilities as a function of density of users ρ. Drop prob-
ability in inner zone is significantly lower as the mean demand of I-session is less
compared to the outer zone.
0.03
Inner
Outer
0.025 Overall
Session drop probability
0.02
0.015
0.01
0.005
0
0.05 0.06 0.07 0.08 0.09 0.1 0.11 0.12 0.13 0.14 0.15
Density of users, units/m 2
Figure 4 presents the utilization fraction for the two defined zones and the
aggregate utilization fraction for LoS and nLoS sessions as a function of density
of users ρ. It should be noted that when there is a lack for resources with the load
increase, the nLoS session in inner zone suffer most due to their huge demands
giving the resource away for sessions with lower demands.
Optimization of ISD is one of the most challenging problems for mmWawe
systems [6]. By increasing the density of BSs, i.e. shortening the ISD, it is possible
12 V. Naumov et al.
80
UTILO
UTILLoSI
70
UTILnLoSI
UTIL
60
Utilization fraction
50
40
30
20
10
0
0.05 0.06 0.07 0.08 0.09 0.1 0.11 0.12 0.13 0.14 0.15
Density of users, units/m 2
to lower the drop probabilities and improve the quality of experience. However, it
requires massive number of expensive equipment to be installed and may not be
commercially effective. To address this problem, our modeling approach allows
for analyzing session drop probabilities and resource utilization fraction as a
function of ISD, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6.
0.01
Session drop probability
0.0001
ISD = 400m
1x10-6
ISD = 600m
ISD = 800m
ISD = 1000m
1x10-8
ISD = 1200m
1x10-10
1x10-12
0.01 0.011 0.012 0.013 0.014 0.015 0.016 0.017 0.018 0.019 0.02
Density of users, units/m 2
100
ISD = 400m ISD = 800m ISD = 1200m
90 ISD = 600m ISD = 1000m
80
70
Utilization fraction
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
0.01 0.011 0.012 0.013 0.014 0.015 0.016 0.017 0.018 0.019 0.02
Density of users, units/m 2
Both figures show that quality of service and NR BS load is severely under-
mined in case ISD is greater than 800m. When ISD approaches 1000m, the
BS covers the number of users that it is not capable to provide with sufficient
resources, resulting in session drop probability higher than 10− 5. Thus, knowing
the average expected density of users in a specified area, it is possible to predict
the cost-effective deployment scheme of NR BSs that will allow to fulfill user
and system needs.
5 Conclusion
References
1. IEEE Standard: 802.11ad-2012: Enhancements for very high throughput in the 60
GHz band. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/6392842/
2. 3GPP: 5G; study on channel model for frequencies from 0.5 to 100 GHz (Release
14), 3GPP TR 38.901, May 2017
3. 3GPP: NR: physical channels and modulation (Release 15), 3GPP TR 38.211,
December 2017
4. 3GPP: NR: multi-connectivity; Overall description (Release 15), 3GPP TS 37.34
V15.2.0, June 2018
5. Drago, M., Azzino, T., Polese, M., Stefanović, Č., Zorzi, M.: Reliable video stream-
ing over mmWave with multi connectivity and network coding. In: International
Conference on Computing, Networking and Communications (ICNC), pp. 508–512
(2018)
6. Kovalchukov, R., et al.: Improved session continuity in 5G NR with joint use of
multi-connectivity and guard bandwidth. In: 2018 IEEE Global Communications
Conference (GLOBECOM), pp. 1–7 (2018)
7. Basharin, G., Gaidamaka, Y., Samouylov, K.: Mathematical theory of teletraffic
and its application to the analysis of multiservice communication of next generation
networks. Autom. Control Comput. Sci. 47, 62–69 (2013)
8. Petrov, V., et al.: Dynamic multi-connectivity performance in ultra-dense urban
mmWave deployments. IEEE J. Sel. Areas Commun. 35(9), 2038–2055 (2017)
9. Naumov, V., Samouylov, K., Yarkina, N., Sopin, E., Andreev, S., Samuylov, A.:
LTE performance analysis using queuing systems with finite resources and random
requirements. In: 7th International Congress on Ultra Modern Telecommunications
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10. Polese, M., Zorzi, M.: Impact of channel models on the end-to-end performance
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On the Performance of LoRaWAN
in Smart City: End-Device Design
and Communication Coverage
“Get in There, You Measly Cur Dog,” Said Pa, Kicking the
Big Lion at Every Jump.
Pa was attaching a long rubber hose to the gas bag, and as he got it
fastened and reeled about fifty feet of the hose down in the hole, Mr.
Hagenbach said, “Say, old man, I don’t want to kick on any of your
new inventions, but what are you going to do now?” and Pa said, as
he turned a faucet in the gas bag and let the gas into the hose,
“Didn’t you ever drown gophers out of a hole by pouring water in,
until the gophers came to the top strangling, and you put them in a
shot bag and let them chew your fingers? Well, I am going to drown
out big gophers with gas, and in about fifteen minutes after we have
had lunch, you will see the dammest procession of sneezing lions
come up out of that hole that ever were in captivity, and I want all of
you brave ducks to hold the bags over the hole, and when you get a
lion in a bag tie the bag and roll the beast over the rock, see?”
Well, they got the gunny sacks ready, and after we had our lunch
and the gas was filling the hole good and plenty, there was a lot of
sneezing and roaring down the hole, and Pa said the medicine was
working all right, and pretty soon Pa turned off the gas and
unscrewed the hose, and loosened the ropes on the air ship so she
sailed off across the veldt for a block or so, and then the trouble
began.
First a big she lion came up with a mess of cubs, and they held the
bag all right, but she went right through it like a bullet through
cheese, and then there was an explosion away down in the bowels
of the earth, from the toe nails of some unmanicured lion striking fire
on a flint stone, and fire began to pour out of the hole, and about
nine singed lions of all sizes came up out of the hole scared to
death, and the smell of burned hair was awful.
The lions began to cuff the men and they stampeded down the
rocks, leaving Pa and two or three of us alone. Pa and I seized a
couple of the baby lions and started to run for camp, and the lions
took after us and chased us awhile, until Pa got out of wind, when
we climbed trees with the cubs, and the lions rolled in the grass to
put out the fire, and then they took to the jungle, and Pa said when
Roosevelt got to Africa and shot a few singed lions, he would think it
was a new kind of beast.
We got back to camp with the two cubs, and called the roll to see
who was missing, and we found the natives had packed up and
moved away, claiming that the old man was a devil who had
produced a burning mountain, and the whole country would be
devastated.
We sent all our animals to the coast to be shipped to Berlin and
moved our camp up to the jungle, about fifty miles, where there is a
new tribe of natives, and where it is said the country is inhabited with
gorillas.
Pa says he is going to move a cage into the gorilla country, and call
the gorillas around him, learn their language, get their confidence,
and eventually reform them and bring them to realize that they are
endowed with certain inalienable rights, and teach them white man’s
customs, and Pa will do it or die trying, but I don’t like the idea, as it
seems dangerous to Pa. Say, those gorillas are bigger than John L.
Sullivan, and they hug like bears. Gee, but I want to see gorillas
hanging by their tails on trees, and Pa says I may go with him.
CHAPTER XVI.
The Boy’s Pa Shows Bravery in the Jungles in Africa—Four Gorillas
Chase Pa—The Boy and His Pa Don’t Sleep Much at Night—The Boy
Discovers a Marsh Full of Wild Buffaloes.
Pa said he had them in the cage several times and let them out, and
when we got ready to go to camp all he had to do was to let the
phonograph play “Supper is now ready in the dining car,” and they
would come in and he would slip out and lock the door and we could
haul the cage to camp.
All He Had to Do Was to Play “Supper is Now Ready in the
Dining Car” on the Phonograph.
Well, you ought to have seen my old gentleman call the whole bunch
of gorillas into the cage and feed them and see them act like a lot of
boys in camp, reaching for potatoes and bacon and wiping their lips
on their hairy arms, but none of them asked for napkins or finger
bowls. When the food was all gone they began to kick like boarders
at a second-class boarding house, and then Pa slipped out of the
door and locked it, and we came down out of the trees and
surrounded the cage, and Pa acted as barker and told us the names
he had given to the gorillas.
Pa brought the phonograph out of the cage and set it going and the
gorillas began to dance. Mr. Hagenbach was so pleased that he
fairly hugged Pa, and we got ready to haul the cage to camp.
Pa always makes some mistake before he has a proposition well in
hand, and he did this time, of course. As we were about to start the
gorilla Rastus, who had become Pa’s chum, looked at Pa so pitiful
that Pa said he guessed he would let Rastus out and he and Rastus
would walk along ahead and get the brush out of the road, so he
opened the door of the cage and beckoned to Rastus, and the big
gorilla came out with his oldest boy, and Pa and the two of them took
hold of hands and started on ahead, and we started to haul the
wagon by drag ropes, when the worst possible thing happened.
Rastus reached in Pa’s pistol pocket, where Pa had just put a large
plug of tobacco after he had bit off a piece, and Rastus thought
because Pa ate the tobacco he could, so he bit off about half of the
plug and ate it and gave his half-grown boy the rest of it, and that
was eaten by the boy. Pa tried to take it away from them, but it was
too late, and they were both mad at Pa for trying to beat them out of
their dessert.
It was not long before Rastus turned pale around the mouth, but his
face was so covered with hair that you couldn’t tell exactly how sick
he was; though, when he put both hands on his stomach, gave a yell
and turned some somersaults, we knew he was a pretty sick gorilla,
and his boy rolled over and clawed his stomach and had a fit.
Rastus had the most pained and revengeful look on his face I ever
saw, and he looked at Pa as though he was to blame.
Pa had one of the men get the medicine chest, and Pa fixed two
seidlitz in a tin cup, but before he could put in the water Rastus had
swallowed the powder from the white and blue paper and reached
for a wash basin of water, and before Pa could prevent Rastus from
drinking it on top of those powders, he had swallowed every drop of
the water, and the commotion inside of him must have been awful,
for he frothed at the mouth and the bubbles came out of his nose,
and he rolled over and yelled like a man with gout, and he seemed to
swell up, and Pa looked on as though he had a case on his hands
that he couldn’t diagnose, while Rastus’ boy just laid on the ground
and rolled his eyes as though he were saying his “Now I lay me,” and
Mr. Hagenbach said to Pa he guessed he had broke up the show,
and Pa said, “Never you mind, I will pull them both through all right.”
Finally the siedlitz powder fiz had all got out of Rastus’ system and
he seemed to be thinking deeply for a moment, and then he got off
his haunches and looked steadily into Pa’s eyes for a minute, and
then he took Pa by one hand and his boy with the other and started
right off through the jungle, Pa pulling back and yelling to us to
rescue him from the gorilla kidnapers, but Rastus walked fast and
before he had got ought of sight he had picked his sick boy up and
carried him under his arm and both were groaning, and he held on to
Pa’s hand and went so fast that Pa’s feet only hit the high places.
The gorillas in the cage looked at them disappear and tried to get out
of the cage to go along, but they couldn’t get out.
Finally Mr. Hagenbach said me, “Hennery, I guess your Pa has got
what is coming to him this time. Rastus will probably drag your Pa up
a tree and eat him when his appetite comes back, but we can’t help
him, so we better haul the cage and the gorillas that have not had
any tobacco to camp, and in a day or two we will all come out here
and find your father’s bones and bury them.”
And then we all went to camp, and the poor gorillas just remained
listlessly in the cage, mourning as though they knew Rastus and his
boy were dead. We fed them everything we could spare, but they
would not eat, and by watching them we found there was a case of
jealousy in the cage, as two male gorillas seemed to be stuck on a
young female, and they were scrapping all the time.
Gee, but we needed Pa worse than ever to settle the gorilla dispute,
but we all felt that Pa was not of this earth any more, and the camp
took on an air of mournfulness, and they all wanted to adopt me,
’cause I was alone in the world. There was not much sleep in camp
that night, and the next day we were going out with guns to find Pa’s
remains and shoot Rastus, but a little after daylight we heard the
night watchman say to the cook, who was building a fire, “Look
who’s here, and what do you know about that,” and he called the
whole camp up, and we looked out across the veldt and there came
Pa astradle of a Zebra, with Rastus’ boy up behind him and Rastus
thoroughly subdued, leading the Zebra with a hay rope Pa had
twisted out of grass.
The whole camp came to attention and Pa scratched a match on
Rastus’ hair and lighted a cigarette, and when he got near enough
he said: “Slept in the crotch of a tree all night. Gave Rastus and his
boy a drink of whiskey out of my flask and cured them of the tobacco
sickness, had some mangoes for breakfast, sent Rastus to catch a
Zebra, and here we are ready for coffee and pancakes.”
Pa got off his zebra, opened the door of the cage and pointed to it,
and Rastus and his boy got in, and Pa kicked Rastus right where the
hair was worn off sitting down, and Rastus looked at Pa as though
that was all right and he deserved it. Then Pa closed the door,
washed his hands and sat down to breakfast, and when Mr.
Hagenbach said, “Old man, you have got Barnum and Forepaugh
skinned a mile,” Pa said, “O that is nothing; I have located a marsh
full of wild Buffaloes, and we will go out there and get a drove of
them in a few days.
“They are the ugliest and fightingest animals in the world, but I will
halter break some of them and ride them without any saddle.” Mr.
Hagenbach said he believed it, and Pa said, “Hennery, one spell I
thought you would be an orphan, but whiskey saved you. When they
got a big drink of whiskey they began to laugh, and then fell on my
neck and cried, just like a white man when he is too drunk to fight.
Well, I am going to take a nap,” and Pa laid down on a bale of hay
and slept all day, and the crowd talked about what a hero he was.
CHAPTER XVII.
The Boy’s Experience With an African Buffalo—The Boy’s Pa Shoots
Roman Candles to Scare the Buffaloes—The Boy’s Pa Tames the
Wild Animals.
When Pa told us that he had located a place where we could get all
the wild African buffalo that we wanted, I thought of the pictures I
had seen of the killing of buffaloes in America, where all the buffalo
hunter had to do was to ride a horse after a herd of the animals, that
couldn’t run faster than a yoke of oxen, pick out a big bull and ride
alongside of him and fire bullets into his vital parts at about ten feet
range, until his liver was filled full of holes and he had the nose
bleed, and when he fell down from loss of blood, dismount and skin
him for a lap robe. The American buffalo would always run away and
the hunter could kill him if he had cartridges enough, and never be in
any more danger than a farmer milking a cow.
I thought we would have about the same kind of experience with
African buffalo, only we intended to lasso them and bring them to
camp alive for the show business, but instead of the African buffalo
running away from you, he runs at you on sight and tries to gouge
out your inside works with his horns, and paws you with his hoofs,
and when he gets you down he kneels down on you and runs horns
all through your system and rolls over on your body like a setter dog
rolling on an old dead fish.
The African buffalo certainly has a grouch, as though he had
indigestion from eating cactus thorns, and when he sees a man his
eyes blaze with fire and he gets as crazy as an anarchist and seems
to combine in his make-up the habits of the hyena, the tiger, the
man-eating shark and the Texas rattlesnake.
I wouldn’t want such an animal for a pet, but Pa said the way to get
buffaloes was to go after them and never let up until you had them
under your control. So we started out under Pa’s lead to capture
African buffalo, and while the returns are not all in of the dead and
wounded, we know that our expedition is pretty near used up.
These African buffaloes live in a marsh, where the grass and cane
grows high above them, and the only way you can tell where they
are is to watch the birds flying around and alighting on the backs of
the animals to eat wood ticks and gnats. The marsh is so thick with
weeds that a man cannot go into it, so we planned to start the airship
on the windward side of the marsh, after lining up the whole force of
helpers, negroes and white men, and building a corral of timber on
the lee side of the marsh. Pa and the cowboy and I went in the
airship, with those honk-honk horns they have on automobiles, and
those megaphones that are used at football games, and Pa had a
bunch of Roman candles to scare the buffaloes.
When the fence was done, which fifty men had worked on for a
week, it run in the shape of a triangle or a fish net, with a big corral at
the middle. Mr. Hagenbach sent up a rocket to notify Pa that he was
ready to have him scare the buffaloes out of the marsh, down the
fence into the corral.
Pa had the gas bag all full, a mile across the marsh, tied to a tree
with a slip noose, so when we all got set he could pull a string and
untie the slip noose.
Well, everything worked bully, and when Pa tied her loose we went
up into the air about fifty feet, and Pa steered the thing up and down
the marsh like a pointer dog ranging a field for chickens.
It was the greatest sight I ever witnessed, seeing more than two
hundred buffalo heads raise up out of the tall grass and watch the
airship, looking as savage as lions eating raw meat.
First they never moved at all, but we began to blow the honk horns,
and then we yelled through the megaphones to “get out of there, you
sawed off short horns,” and then they began to move away from the
airship across the marsh, and we followed until they began to get
into a herd, nearly on the other side of the marsh, but they only
walked fast, splashing through the mud.
When we got almost across the marsh Pa said now was the time to
fire the Roman candles, so we each lit our candle, and the fire and
smoke and the fire balls fairly scorched the hair of the buffaloes in
the rear of the herd, and in a jiffy the whole herd stampeded out of
the marsh right toward the fence, bellowing in African language,
scared half to death, the first instance on record that an African
buffalo was afraid of anything on earth.
We followed them until they got to the fence, but only about one
hundred got into the corral, the others going around the fence and
chasing the keepers into the jungle and hooking the negroes in the
pants, and some of the negroes are running yet, and will, no doubt,
come out at Cairo, Egypt.
Some of Those Negroes Are Running Yet, and Will No
Doubt Come Out at Cairo, Egypt.
Mr. Hagenbach and the white men got up in trees and watched Pa
and the airship, and when we got where the fence narrowed up at
the corral Pa let the airship come down to the ground and anchored
it to a stump and yelled for the boss of the expedition and the men to
come down out of the trees and help capture some of the best
specimens; so they came down and tore out the wings of the fence
and placed them across so we had the buffaloes in a pen, and then
Mr. Hagenbach, who had been getting a little jealous of Pa, came up
to him and shook his hand and told him he was a wonder in the
capturing of wild animals, and Pa said don’t mention it, and Pa took
the makings and made himself a cigarette and smoked up, and Mr.
Hagenbach asked Pa how we were going to get the buffaloes out of
the corral, ’cause they were fighting each other in the far end of the
pen, and Pa said you just wait, and he sent for the cages, enough to
hold about ten of the buffaloes, and we let the gas out of the airship
and went into camp right there, and Pa bossed things for about two
days, until the buffaloes got good and hungry, and then we backed
the cages up to an opening in the fence and put hay in the far end of
the cages, and the herd began to take notice.
We wanted the big bulls and some cows, and nature helped us on
the bulls, ’cause they fought the weaker ones away from the cages,
and walked right up the incline into the cages, and Pa went in and
locked the doors, and when we got the cages full of bulls and started
to haul the cages to camp by the aid of some of the negroes who
had returned alive, by jingo, the cows followed the cages with the
bulls in, and you couldn’t drive them away.
We loaded the gas bag on to a sort of stone boat, and Pa rigged up
a couple of ox yokes and in some way hypnotized a few cow
buffaloes so he could drive them, and they hauled the stone boat
with the airship to camp, and we got there almost as soon as the
cages did, and Pa was smoking as contented as though he was
walking on Broadway, and with an ox gad he would larrup the oxen
and say, “Haw Buck,” like a farmer driving oxen to plow a field.
Pa got his wild oxen so tame before we got to camp that they would
eat hay out of his hand, and when we rounded up in our permanent
camp and looked over our stock and killed some of the buffaloes that
had followed the cages, for meat for the negroes, and lit some sky
rockets and fired them at the balance of the herd to drive them away
from camp, the negroes, who had always had a horror of meeting
wild buffaloes, thought Pa was a superior being to be able to tame a
whole herd of the most savage animals, and they got down on their
knees and placed their faces in the dust in front of Pa and
worshipped him, and they wouldn’t get up off the ground until Pa had
gone around and put his feet on the necks of all the negroes in token
that he acknowledged himself to be their king and protector, and the
wives of the negroes all threw their arms around Pa and hugged him
until he got tired, and he said he had rather fight buffaloes than be
hugged by half naked negro women that hadn’t had a bath since
Stanley discovered them, but Pa appreciated the honor, and Mr.
Hagenbach said Pa was the greatest man in the world.
The next day we shipped the buffaloes to the coast and had them
sent to Berlin, and when we got the mail from headquarters there
was an order for a lot more tigers, so I suppose we will be tigering as
soon as the open season is on.
The idea is that we must get all the animals we can this year, for it is
rumored that Roosevelt is coming to Africa next year to shoot big
game, and all of us feel that wild animals will be scarce after he has
devastated Africa.
We got short of Salt Pork, and some time ago Pa salted down some
sides of rhinoceros, and yesterday was the day to open the barrel.
Pa showed the cooks how to fry rhinoceros pork, and I tell you it
made you hungry to smell rhinoceros frying, and with boiled potatoes
and ostrich eggs and milk gravy, made from elephant milk, we lived
high, but the next day an epidemic broke out, and they laid it to Pa’s
rhinoceros pork dinner, but Pa says any man who eats eight or nine
fried ostrich eggs is liable to indigestion.
Gee, but this is a great country to enjoy an outing in.