CHAPTER SIXTEEN.
Almost immediately after my return to my old kraal, I went to see theEnglish ladies who had been on board the ship. I found that Mrs Aptonwas dead, but the others seemed to have become quite reconciled to theirlot. They were now the mothers of several children, and they told methat they would not now leave the country if they could. What they mostwished for were some clothes in which they might dress likeEnglishwomen. Their knowledge of dress, however, had enabled them toform, out of the skins of antelopes, very ornamental dresses; andalthough some people might have laughed at their attire, yet the Caffresthought their ornaments most becoming. It seemed singular how veryquickly these females had become accustomed to the strange life theywere compelled to lead. They did not work in the gardens as did theCaffre women, but were treated just the same as the wives of thegreatest chiefs. The other Caffre women were not jealous of the Englishfemales, but treated them kindly, and seemed to regard them as strangersdeserving of hospitality. What was most admired was the long hair ofthe English ladies, the Caffre women having only woolly locks.
There was no restriction now placed upon my movements. I had fought formy tribe, and had shown that I was true to the men who had saved mylife; so I was trusted just the same as though I had been born a Caffre.Although I had been so well-treated by my present companions, and thelife I now led was very pleasant, yet the fact of having seen andconversed with Englishmen had caused a feeling of restlessness to takepossession of me; and I was always thinking of where I should be, andwhat I should be doing, if I had succeeded in getting away in the shipfrom Natal Bay. It was now a common thing for me to leave my hut and godown to the hills near the coast, and watch the sea, in order to findout if any ships were near. I knew enough of English habits to becertain that the slaughter of the captain of the vessel would berevenged, though I did not know by what means this would beaccomplished.
It was about a moon and a half, or six weeks, after I had returned tothe Umzimvubu district, that one morning I saw from my look-out stationa large ship sailing, and not very far from the land. I remembered thatthe sailors had told me that when a vessel was going round the Cape tothe east, she always kept about sixty or seventy miles from the land, toavoid the strong current that ran from east to west. When, however, aship was travelling from east to west she kept nearer the coast, so asto get the benefit of the stream in her favour. The vessel I now sawwas going eastwards, and yet was close inland; so I thought it verylikely she was coming to Natal. She was of too large a size to comeover the bar; and I believed she must be a vessel of war. As she camenearer the land I could see guns looking out, as it were, of her ports;and I then knew she was a man-of-war. Before the sun set this ship hadanchored opposite the harbour of Natal, and had furled all her sails. Ireturned to my kraal and kept silence as to what I had seen. I wantedto think during the night what I should do as regards this ship. If Itold the men of the kraal that a ship had come to Natal, they mightobject to my going there, for fear I should tell the tale about theslaughter of my shipmates. Silence therefore was the most prudent plan.Just before sunrise, I, with a large bag of boiled corn and armed withmy pistols and an assagy, started for Natal Bay. The journey was a longone, but I was in such training that I could run and walk very fast, andI believe could manage fifty miles a day, without much fatigue. It wasnear sunset, however, before I reached the high land on the west of thebay: from this high land the ship was seen, and when first viewed I sawtwo boats rowing to the vessel. There was a great deal of surf on thebar, so I felt certain that no boat could have entered the harbour thatday, and that probably the boats I had seen had been to look at the barto see if it were practicable.
I found my old hut on the bluff just as I had left it; so, making a mealof my boiled corn, I lay down and slept well after my long journey.
I was awoke in the morning by the screams of a sea-eagle, and found, onlooking out, that the sun had risen many times its own diameter in thesky. The wind had changed, and was now blowing from the north, and thesurf on the bar was much less than it was on the previous day, andseemed to be decreasing. On looking towards the ship I saw two boatsfull of men pulling towards the harbour; and these, I saw, would, ifproperly managed, be able to cross the bar and enter the harbour.Descending the bluff, I went down to the shore, and, breaking off alarge branch of a tree, waved it over my head, hoping that some oneeither on the ship or in the boats would see me. It was exciting workseeing these boats approach the bar and wait for some time as they sawthe wives break and curl at this spot. After some time the oars flashedin the water. I saw the boats first on the crest of a wave, then lostsight of them, then saw them reappear and glide along in comparativelysmooth water as they passed the dangerous breaking water on the bar.The boats were now so near that I could count the men in the boats, andcould see they were all armed, and were dressed alike, which was not thecase with the crew of the small vessel that had previously visitedNatal. As the boats approached the shore several men stood up in thefront part of the boat, and seemed to be on the look-out for an enemy,as they had guns, which they held ready for firing. I called out thatthere was no one on the shore but me, and saw that surprise was causedby my speaking English, because I was in dress like a Caffre, and myskin had become very brown.
On approaching the rocks on which I stood the boat stopped, and ayoung-looking man at the stern of the leading boat called out--
"Who are you?"
"I am an English boy who was shipwrecked here some years ago."
"What is your name?"
I was about to answer "Umkinglovu," but I remembered that I was calledJulius by my father, so I replied, "My name is Julius."
"Are there any Caffres about here?" inquired the officer, for such Ifound afterwards that he was.
"I do not think there are; but if there should be, I don't think theywould do you any harm."
The officer smiled as he said, "Do me any harm! no, I don't think theyare likely to do that. Are there any white men here?"
"None," I replied. "The few white men who were here have either beenkilled by a war-party of the Zulus, or have escaped in a vessel."
"Then how is it you have escaped?"
"I was with a tribe down the coast, who fought with the Zulus and beatthem off."
"How did you come by those pistols?"
"They belonged to the captain of a small vessel here, who was killed bythe Zulus as he was getting water up the bay."
As I said this the officer spoke in a low tone to a companion who wassitting near him. He then said--
"Put those pistols on the ground, and come into the boat."
I did as he told me, and stepped into the boat, the sailors eyeing mesuspiciously.
"Pull off from the shore," said the officer, and the boat was moved intothe middle of the stream, so that it was safe from an attack by any onenot armed with guns.
"Now sit down here," said the officer, as he pointed to the stern of theboat, "and answer my questions."
I complied with his request, and he then questioned me--as to where thenearest Caffres lived how numerous they were, how they were armed andwhether they were friendly or otherwise to white men.
I gave him all the information I possessed on these points, but I foundit difficult to make him understand how it was that the Zulus wereenemies of the white man, but the Caffres about Natal were friendly. Heseemed to look upon all Caffres as "niggers," and not to distinguish theone tribe from the other.
He then asked me if I could show him where the captain of themerchantman had been killed, and upon my pointing to the place heordered his men to pull up the bay, to the spot. Upon reaching this, Iexplained the whole affair to him, and pointed out where the Zulus hadattempted to stop me. As I continued my account, I found by the looksof these sailors that I rose very much in their estimation.
"Why did you not come away in the ship?" inquired the officer.
I told him of the behaviour of the sailors, and their suspicions o
f me,and that they had put me on shore; that, if I had not been wellacquainted with the habits of the Zulus, I should have been assagied ormade prisoner by these people.
As we pulled down the bay towards the bar, the officer told me heintended taking me on board the ship to see the captain, and to tell himwhat I had seen and known about the slaughter at Natal.
Before we had gone halfway to the ship, I became very sick. There was aheavy sea on for a boat, and I was unaccustomed to the motion, so that Iwas soon suffering from the effects of the waves on the boat.
I, however, scrambled up on to the deck of the ship, and found myself inthe presence of several officers, who looked at me with astonishment.The officer who had brought me in the boat told a tall officer, who, Iafterwards learned, was the captain, what my previous history had been.The captain at once was deeply interested, and inquired all particularsabout the shipwreck, and what had become of those who had escapeddrowning. I told him that I was the only male survivor, that the othershad by a mistake been assagied, as it was supposed they wereslave-catchers. The females, I said, were the wives of Caffres, andwould not wish to leave their adopted country. The captain havinglistened to all I had to tell him, asked me if I should like someclothes, for I was dressed like a Caffre. Upon my intimating that, if Iremained in the country clothes would be useless, but if I were to betaken away I must have some raiment, the captain took me to his cabin,and having sent for some of the midshipmen, I was soon rigged out in asuit of clothes that fitted me tolerably well. From the captain Ilearned that he had come up to Natal to make inquiries relative to themurders that had been committed on the white people, and to punish themurderers. I explained to him that the Caffres who lived near theUmlass and in the neighbourhood, had nothing to do with the slaughter ofthese people; that it was a war-party of the Zulus which had come downthe country for the purpose of killing all white men. He seemed,however, disinclined to believe that the people in the country were nota party to the massacre, till I told him of the fight we had with theZulus, and our battle near the Umlass river.
On that night I slept on board ship, and by the following morning hadquite recovered from my sea-sickness. The captain sent for me veryearly, and asked if I could guide a party to the nearest Caffre kraal,as he wanted to see the people in their natural state. I told him itmight be dangerous, as the Caffres would suppose we had come to attackthem or to make slaves of them. He laughed at the idea of beingattacked; for, as he would take a large party with him, who would bearmed, he considered he would be more than a match for all the Caffresin the country. I told him he did not know what these people were inwar, and how by a surprise they would to a certain extent do away withthe advantages which his firearms gave him. About fifty sailors werearmed, and being led by the captain we landed at the upper part of thebay, and marched on towards the Umlass. The chief in that neighbourhoodwas named Umnini, and was a very fine fellow. I was anxious to let himknow we were a friendly party come to see him, but I could not meet orsee any Caffres by whom to send a message. I felt quite sure that wehad been observed, for Caffres are very watchful. We had passed oversome open ground just beyond the Umslatazane river, and had entered abush-path beyond, when I heard a shrill whistle which I knew meant asignal for attack. I at once shouted in Caffre, "We are friends, cometo see Umnini." The captain looked at me in astonishment and said,"What are you shouting about?" I told him he must halt his men and keepthem quiet, or we might have a thousand men on us in half a minute. Ashe could not see a Caffre, or even hear one, he said, "A thousand men!why there is not one to be seen." I again called out in Caffre andsaid, "I have brought the chief of the big ship to talk to Umnini. Heis friendly and wants to see him." There was silence for a short time,and then a voice from the bush was heard, and inquiry was made as to whya messenger was not sent first to say we were friends.
I replied that the chief of the ship did not know what the law was inthis country.
The captain, who was much surprised at hearing the voice come from thebush when he could see no one, asked me what they were saying. I toldhim that the Caffres suspected that he had come to attack them or tocapture some slaves, and if I had not spoken he would have been attackedin this bush. I inquired of him if I should ask the Caffre chief toadvance and to talk to us, for it would not be prudent for us to go onany farther unless the Caffres allowed us. The captain seemed rathersuspicious of treachery, but having cautioned his men to keep together,said that I had better ask the chief to come to us. I called out again,asking the chief to come; when, from behind every tree and bush, andapparently out of the ground, a Caffre appeared, each armed with his sixassagies and a knob-kerrie, and carrying his shield before him. Ourparty was completely surrounded, and had war been intended we shouldsoon have been assagied. The chief who commanded this party wasUmnini's young brother, whom I knew well. As he quietly advanced to us,he showed no surprise or any sign of fear. His appearance, I saw,impressed the captain, who touched his cap as the chief advanced. Thisyoung chief was called Ingwe, and I told him who the captain was, andthat he had come to pay a visit to Umnini. Ingwe shook hands with thecaptain, and then, speaking a few words to the Caffres informing themthat we were friends, told them to go on to Umnini's kraal and announceour arrival.
Ingwe led the way, and we walked through the bush-paths. The sailorsseemed surprised at the order and discipline of these Caffres, and thedignified manner in which they behaved; but their surprise was greaterwhen we approached the chiefs kraal, and found the men drawn up in twolines, between which we marched till we came near the huts, where Umninimet us. Umnini addressed all his conversation to me, and I translatedit to the captain, and when the captain spoke I had to turn his wordsinto Caffre.
Umnini said he was glad to see the chief of the large ship, and wassorry there had nearly been a mistake made, as the captain came armedand like a war-party; but he was welcome to the kraal, and a young bullwould shortly be killed for a feast for the sailors.
The captain replied that he did not think his coming armed would havebeen mistaken for war, as he had no cause of complaint against Umnini,but wished to see the chief in his kraal; that he did not wish an oxkilled, as his men would not be allowed to eat at that hour.
Umnini then asked the captain and me to come into his kraal, where wesaw several of Umnini's wives and children. The captain sat down in thehut, and we had a long conversation about the Zulus, and their attack onthe white people at the bay; also about the life the Caffres lived,their habits, etc. The captain kept on making notes in a pocket-book ashe received his answers, and seemed much interested in what he heard.He then asked about the white women who had been wrecked with me, andinquired whether it were possible to see them and persuade them toreturn to civilisation in his ship.
I told him I believed they would avoid being seen, and certainly wouldnot leave the country, as they were the mothers of several children, andwere regularly accustomed to the life they now led. We stopped about aslong as it took the sun to go ten times its diameter; and then, biddingthe chief good-bye, we returned to our boats and pulled off to the ship.Umnini had made a present of a gourd snuff-box to the captain, and hadreceived in return a watch-chain, which Umnini hung round his neck.
Several of the officers of the ship were anxious to go on shore to havesome shooting, and asked me where was the best place to go. I told themthat in the bush there were elephants and antelope; that it wasdangerous sport going after elephants, but if they were careful, theymight kill one. Four officers arranged to go with me, in search ofthem, and to start at daybreak. On the open ground near the head of thebay, there were some pools of water just outside the bush, where theelephants were fond of drinking during the night. Upon landing from ourboats, we walked to these ponds, and I told the officers that we mustnot speak above a whisper when we entered the bush, and must walk soquietly that no man could hear the footsteps of the man in front of him.The officers smiled at my cautious instructions, and seemed amused atthe ide
a of being taught by a mere boy. The elephants had visited thepool early in the morning, and had then entered the bush by one of theirwell-worn paths. The traces of the animals were very plain, the printof their large feet being distinctly marked in many places. We had notentered the bush more than the distance of four or five throws of anassagy, when I heard the slight crack of a stick in front of us. Istopped, and stooping down, saw the outline of an elephant loomingamidst some dense underwood. I pointed to this spot and whispered tothe officers, "Elephant."
They stooped and peeped, but could see nothing. I then signalled tothem to go slowly forward, when they would, I hoped, obtain a view ofthe animal. The officers crept on, but not being accustomed to thebush, each man made more noise than would fifty Caffres. They had onlygone on a few steps, when they turned to me and said, "That is not anelephant, it is only some old tree." At the same instant, the elephant,hearing their voices, turned in the bush; and, crashing through theunderwood, was soon far out of sight and beyond a shot. Theastonishment of the officers was very great when they saw their "oldtree" become a nearly full-grown elephant, and heard it crashing throughthe bush, the breaking branches which it carried away in its rushsounding like the report of musketry.
"The youngster was right after all," they exclaimed. "Only fancy, anelephant standing as quietly as that."
They wanted to follow the animal; but I explained to them that theymight as well follow a bird on the wing, as the elephant would probablynot stop until it had gone some four or five miles through the bush, andwould then be on the alert and difficult to approach.
Finding there was no chance of again seeing the elephant, the officersdecided to come out of the bush, and try to get a shot at some buck onthe more open ground.
We had gone some distance from the bush, when, on looking towards theUmganie river, I saw in the distance a large party of Caffres. Iinstantly lay down, and called eagerly to the officers to do the same;for from the glance I had obtained I thought this must be a war-party ofthe Zulus, probably sent down to see what the ship was doing here. Theofficers laughed at my caution, but they concealed themselves, thoughnot as quickly as they ought to have done. I wished now that I had myglasses with me, for the body of Caffres was a long way off. I soonsaw, however, that the party were Zulus; and informed the officers ofthe fact, and that we must run for our lives.
Had I been alone I should not have feared for the result of a race,because we were some considerable distance in advance of the Zulus, andI could run as fast and as far as the best man amongst them; but I hadalready found that the officers were not fit to run far, the long timethey had been on board ship having prevented them from getting intoracing condition. Our boat was fully a mile and a half, as I should nowterm the distance, from where we were concealed, and I knew that a Zuluwould run this distance about as fast again as the officers. I toldthem that their lives now depended on their doing exactly what Idirected them to do; and I added that they ought now to know that I wasbetter acquainted with things in this country than they were, as I coulddistinguish an elephant from a dead tree. They said--
"All right, give your orders."
We crawled along the ground for some distance, till we were concealed bya portion of the bush; we then rose and ran along the edge of the bush,but we did not run very fast, for I was afraid that my companions wouldget out of breath before the real race began. When we had gone somedistance near the bush, I found that, to go in the direction of ourboats, we must now move in the open country. I told my companions of myplan, and said that we could move no faster than the slowest runneramong them. I saw that one of the officers, who was rather stout, wasalready out of breath, and I feared that we should find it hard workreaching our boat before the Zulus were upon us. When we struck offinto the open plain I looked round, and then knew that the Zulus musthave seen us from the first, as they were coming on at a run, which,although not very fast, had yet enabled them to decrease the distancebetween them and us.
"Now do your best," I said, and we commenced our run.
The Zulus uttered a shout, as they now saw us plainly, and several oftheir fastest runners advanced in front of the main body. I now carriedtwo guns of the officers that they might get on the more easily, butfound that our pursuers were gaining rapidly on us.
When we were within a short distance of the boat, about twenty Zuluswere nearly within an assagy's-throw of us. I said to the officers,"Run to the boat: I will stop the Zulus." The officers ran on whilst Istopped, and, dropping one of the guns, aimed with the other at theleading Zulu. The man dodged about as I aimed, but my bullet struckhim, and he fell to the ground; with the second barrel I hit anotherZulu, and then the other men dropped on the ground to concealthemselves. Picking up the gun I had dropped, I darted off to the boat,into which the officers had embarked, and jumped into it, telling themto push off at once. The water for some distance was shallow, andbefore we could get into deep water, about a hundred Zulus dashed in,and were hurling their assagies at us. We fired at these men, whilstthe four sailors in the boat rowed as fast as they could; and as thewater became deeper, we could move faster than the Zulus, and so weresoon beyond the range of their assagies.
The Zulus, on finding they could not reach us, instantly left the waterand concealed themselves in the bush, in order to avoid our bullets.
"Smart work," said one of the officers, who seemed rather to enjoy theexcitement; "I don't think I ever ran so far before." Another officersaid, "I tell you what it is, youngster, you are well up in this kind ofwork."
As we rowed down the bay I heard a voice shouting from one of theislands in the bay, and asking what number of Zulus there were. I toldthe Caffre about five hundred.
I now asked the officers to stop the boat, because near the head of thebay I saw some dust rising, and I suspected that this was caused by someof Umnini's warriors who had been assembled to resist any attack theZulus might make. The rapidity with which these people could arm andassemble was very great. From a distant kraal men would arm and runtowards the point of danger. As they passed the various kraals on theway they would be joined by the warriors from these kraals, and as everyfull-grown man was a warrior, the army soon swelled to a considerablesize. I should have liked to join Umnini's people in what I expectedwould be an attack on the Zulus, but I did not like to take the officerswith me, and they said they would not allow me to leave them; so we keptthe boat in deep water, and beyond where an assagy could be cast on tothe boat. The Zulus, who had followed us down to the water, hadconcealed themselves in the bush as soon as we had secured our retreat;but they now evidently had some knowledge of the approach of Umnini'smen, as they were moving rapidly through the bush, and calling to oneanother. The distance from the head of the bay to where the Zulus hadfollowed us was not very far, and I knew that the rapidity with whichthe Caffres moved would soon enable them to attack the Zulus. Thelatter, however, either thought the numbers of their enemies too great,or else they did not wish to fight, as there was nothing to fight for,no cattle being near enough for the Zulus to carry off, even if theygained the victory; so they retreated rapidly towards the Umganie river,followed by Umninis people.
I knew that, from the summit of some tall trees on the shore of the baynear the bluff, a view could be obtained of the coast even beyond theUmganie; so I suggested to the officers that we pulled down the bay, andascended the high land, so as to obtain a view of what was taking place.We soon reached the shore beneath the bluff, and ascending it foundthat we could see both the Zulus and Umnini's Caffres. The Zulus,finding that they would be overtaken before they could cross the river,had faced about, and, standing shoulder to shoulder, were awaiting theattack of their pursuers. The battle soon commenced, by a shower ofassagies being thrown by the Natal Caffres; then a charge was made, andfor a time we could see nothing but a struggling mass of black warriors.Then the tide of battle evidently turned in favour of Umnini's men; forthe Zulus were flying in the direction of the river, followe
d by theNatal Caffres. In savage warfare, it is in the retreat that the greaternumber of men are killed: the pursuer has the advantage of casting hisassagy at an enemy who can neither dodge nor protect himself by hisshield. The number of Zulus who were slain during this retreat was verygreat--we could see man after man struck down and assagied; and theofficers became quite excited, and exclaimed that these niggers foughtlike tigers. I told them of some of the battles I had been in, againstthe Zulus, and of some of the dodges we had practised. They said theywished they had some two hundred blue-jackets with them, and they wouldhave given a good account of these Zulus. I told them that thecutlasses used by the sailors would be of no use against an assagy; thata Zulu would send his assagy through a man at twenty or thirty yards'distance, and that a man armed with a sword would be unable to doanything with it at that distance. Then, again, when the Zulus rushedin on an enemy, it was possible to shoot down several of them, but thosenot shot would stab with their assagies, before the men armed with gunscould reload.
Having seen the defeat and the slaughter of a large number of the Zulus,the officers decided to pull off to the ship, and report to the captainwhat had occurred. There was luckily very little surf on the bar, andwe pulled over what there was without shipping much water in our boat.On reaching the ship, the officers gave an account to the captain ofwhat had occurred, and were very full of praise for my skill andcoolness in having saved them from the Zulus; for they agreed that, hadthey been left to themselves, they never could have reached the boats,as the Zulus would have surrounded them, and though they might have shotseveral, yet they could not have loaded quickly enough to prevent theirenemy from closing in on them. The officers gave a very good account ofthe fight they had seen between Umnini's Caffres and the Zulus; and ifany doubt had remained in the mind of the captain about these two tribesbeing at enmity with each other, this fight would have placed the matteron the side of certainty.
On the morning following the day on which we had escaped from the Zulus,the captain sent for me to his cabin. On my entrance I found himsitting near a writing-table on which were various papers; he told me tosit down, as he wanted to ask me several questions. He then produced amap of the coast of South Africa, and pointed to Natal Bay, the Umlassriver, and other places; and then asked if I could tell him exactlywhere the ship in which I had been wrecked had gone on shore. Iestimated the distance from the Umzimvubu river, and with a pencilmarked the spot.
I then described to him the country inland, as far as I had been, andpointed out that several small streams were not put down in the map.
After we had talked about these matters, the captain said, "Now tell memore about yourself, who you are, and all that."
I gave the captain a history of my early days in India, and thenexplained to him that I was on my way home to England to be educated bymy uncle, who was reported to be very rich, when our ship was wrecked.When I told him the name of my father, he looked in a large book, andthen asked me my fathers Christian name. At first I could not recallit, but after a little thought I said it was William Mark.
"Your father is alive and is now a colonel," said the captain, "but isno doubt under the impression that you were drowned, as nothing washeard of the ship you were in after she was seen at the Mauritius."
I was delighted to hear this news, and a great longing now came over meto see my father and to again join civilisation. I told the captainwhat my wishes were, but that I had no money and did not know how I wasto get to India, or to England; nor did I know whether my uncle wasalive, and whether I ought now to go to England. I was quite able totake care of myself if alone in the African bush, or on the plains,though enemies of various kinds might be around me; but I felt I shouldbe powerless among white men, whom, from my experience of the sailors inthe former ship, I had found very stupid and suspicious.
The captain told me he would take me to Simon's Town at the Cape, andsee what could be done about communicating with my friends.
It took, in those days, upwards of four months for an answer to a Capeletter to England to be received, and about the same time for a lettersent to India to be answered and received at the Cape. I did notremember my uncle's address in England, so that it would be impossibleto communicate with him; nor did I know in what part of India my fatherwas, but as he was well-known at Delhi, I believed that a letter sentthere would be forwarded to him.
On the following day the captain decided to leave Natal and start forthe Cape. The wind was in our favour, and we sailed westward, ourcourse carrying us about twenty miles from the coast. I remained ondeck watching the old familiar localities and pointing out to thecaptain the various rivers and headlands. Just before dark we wereopposite the rocks where I was wrecked, and the captain took someobservations and marked on his map the exact spot.
During the next two or three days I passed an hour or so each day,giving the captain an account of the wreck, and of what occurredafterwards; he wrote down what I told him, and, having made a sort ofhistory of this, he then read it over to me, asking me if it were allcorrect.
He said, the loss of the ship had caused great excitement in England, heremembered, at the time; but when no news came, and a ship sent from theCape to search could gain no intelligence, it was concluded that she hadgone down in the storm, between the Mauritius and the Cape, and ofcourse it was expected every one had been drowned.
We had a fair wind all the way down to Simon's Bay, and accomplished thevoyage in six days. As soon as we had anchored, the captain went onshore to visit the admiral, and I was left on the ship. In about anhour one of the officers came to me and said a signal had been sent fromthe admiral to say that I was to go on shore to the admiral's house. Aboat was provided, and I was soon pulled on shore.
Although I had led the life of a savage since my shipwreck, and hadgained no experience of what is called polite society, yet the dangersthrough which I had passed had given me self-dependence; and the calm,dignified behaviour of the chiefs, both among the Zulus and theUmzimvubus, had given me an insight into the proper way of conductingmyself. When, then, I was taken by the captain before the admiral I wasnot flurried as some youngsters might have been, but very cool and calm.The admiral examined me critically, and then said--
"You have had some strange adventures up the country."
"Yes, sir," I replied, "I have been some years living entirely among theCaffres."
"Is the account you have given of the shipwreck quite correct?"
"Everything I told the captain is just as it occurred."
"Don't you think the English women who are up there would come away ifthey could?"
"No," I replied, "they told me themselves they would not leave now: theyhave children, and have been well-treated; and they could not come againto civilisation after living during some years as the wives of Caffres."
"Then," said the admiral, "if I sent a ship up there to bring thesewomen away, you don't think they would come?"
"I am certain they would not; and you would not be able to find them.The Caffres would carry them up the country, and conceal them as soon asyour ship was seen to be landing men; and if you attempted to use force,you might be opposed by several thousand warriors; who, though armedwith assagies only, would yet, in the rough bushy country, slaughter twoor three hundred men armed with muskets."
After some further conversation the admiral asked me what I wished todo.
I replied that I had no money, no clothes, except what the captain hadgiven me, and no friends at the Cape; that I should like my father, whowas in India to know of my safety, and should like to receive hisinstructions as to what he wished me to do. I added that, if I stoppedat the Cape, my father would pay any one for my keep as soon as he knewwhere I was.
The admiral shook hands with me, and said I had better return to theship at present; but that he should be glad to see me at lunch in anhour's time, and he would consider what should be done for me.
At the lunch I was fully occupied in answering
questions about thedetails of the shipwreck, and my adventures in the wild country of theUmzimvubu. My description of the slaughter of the captain of themerchant vessel, and his obstinacy in not being cautious enough, seemedrather to amuse some of the officers who were present. Altogether, Iwas much pleased with my treatment by the admiral, and returned in theafternoon to the ship.
On the following morning I found that a Cape Town paper had a fullaccount of the shipwreck, and of my adventures among the Caffres, givingmy name, and stating who I was. I was amused at finding myself sofamous all at once, but did not then anticipate what would be the speedyresult of all this being known at the Cape. What was the result must bereserved for another chapter.