CHAPTER SEVEN.
I must now pass over three years of my residence amongst the Caffres;for although I had several adventures with wild animals, and my careerwas full of interest, yet the events that occurred were very similar tothose which I have already related. The free, independent life I led,the perpetual outdoor exercise, and the fine climate, had so agreed withme that I had grown to be quite a young man. I was strong for my age,tall, and very active. There were only two Caffres in the country whocould run faster than I could; and although I could not throw an assagyas far as some of the Caffres, yet my aim was good, and several times Ihad hit a running buck with one of my assagies, when the animal wasforty yards from me.
It was at this date that news reached us which caused the greatestalarm. The Zulu country was about three days' journey from us, that is,about 140 miles. The chief who ruled over the Zulus was named Chaka.He was a man never satisfied unless he was at war with some other tribe;and as he had trained a very large army to fight skilfully, he alwaysgained a victory over those he attacked, and consequently was able toappropriate the cattle of the tribes he had conquered. Of all thechiefs in South Africa none were as powerful, and as much feared asChaka. For he would not always wait for a cause before he attacked atribe. It was provocation enough for him if another nation were rich incattle. He considered that no one ought to be rich but he. So he wouldassemble his army, often without letting them know what he intended themto do. Then he would march off, and suddenly attack and destroy a tribewho had no suspicion that anything was intended against them.
The Caffres who lived near Natal Bay, and the Umlass river, were alwayson the alert. For they feared Chaka, and suspected that he would attackthem some day.
Our tribe near the Umzimvubu were on very friendly terms with theCaffres near the Umlass, and it was agreed that if Chaka attacked themwe should help them, and send as many fighting men as possible to aidthem. We knew that if the Caffres near the Umlass were eaten up, itwould only be a matter of time before our turn would come. If weallowed Chaka to attack each tribe separately his victory would be easy,but if we joined we should give him some trouble. The probability ofChaka coming down to attack us was a subject often discussed in ourkraals, and also the best plan of defence. We knew that we should beoutnumbered, and that therefore it would not do to meet his warriors inthe open country. We must endeavour, by skill and stratagem, to make upwhat we wanted in numbers. With this end in view our men were alwayspractising throwing the assagy, and the knob-kerrie, and also constantlyrunning long distances, so as to be in good training. It was fortunatethat these precautions had been taken, or our own tribe would have beendestroyed.
One day the news was brought us that Chaka was assembling his army, andit was believed that he intended attacking the Caffres near Natal. Thenews was shouted from hill to hill, and spread rapidly over the country.A council was called, and on the same day that the news had arrived,about five thousand men had assembled near our kraal, each armed withassagies, knob-kerries and shield.
There was a great deal of talking amongst the chiefs, and the plan to beadopted for defence was long and eloquently discussed. It was decidedthat our little army was to travel at once to near the Umlass river, andjoin with the people there. The coast near the sea was densely wooded,and in many places was hilly, whilst several rivers twisted aboutamongst wide reedy banks; and amidst such country we should have abetter chance with the Zulus, than we should have in the open country.
Before we started on our journey, I spoke to Inyati, and asked him tolet me have twenty men whom I should select, and also that all the gunsshould be given over to me and my men. I had managed to get possessionof a small barrel of gunpowder that had been saved from the wreck, andalso some lead. This lead I melted and dropped into water, so as toform small pieces of lead like slugs. I made up nearly a hundred roundsof cartridges, with the aid of small skins cut from buck and other smallanimals; and with these precautions, I fancied I could do a great dealwhen it came to a fight. Among those I selected for my little companywere Inyoni and Tembile, who I knew would follow me anywhere; in factall the men I selected had full confidence in me, for never before hadany boy (as I really was) done as much as I had.
Our march was commenced on the second day after our council, and wepresented a formidable appearance. There were about five thousand men,all fine-looking, active fellows, full of confidence, and, in spite ofthe formidable reputation of Chaka's warriors, ready to meet them inbattle.
It occupied two days to reach the Umlass river, where we were met bysome hundred chiefs, councillors, and head men from the villages near.
The plan that had been adopted for our march was to send on in advance anumber of women and boys, each carrying a large basket full of mealies.These were deposited at the end of our first day's march. The women andboys then collected as much corn as they could procure from the villagesnear them, and went on another day's march, so we had plenty to eat onthe journey.
The chiefs at the Umlass were very glad to see us, and were quiteastonished when they beheld me. They asked all sorts of questions aboutme, and treated me with the greatest respect. I knew quite well how tobehave with the dignity of a chief, and I soon impressed the visitorswith my importance. They had heard of the power of my guns, and seemedterribly afraid of them, and looked at them with great awe. I told themthat I could easily kill a man at the distance of three throws of anassagy, a statement that Inyati corroborated.
We heard from these chiefs that Chaka might come down upon us any day,and that he would try to surprise us; but that men were on the look-outbeyond the Umganie, and runners were placed at various points to conveythe news and signal when the enemy came in sight. The army of theseUmlass Caffres was concealed in the bush along the coast, and amountedto nearly 8,000 men; whilst the cattle had been driven westward, andconcealed in places from which it would be most difficult to drive them.
Our army was placed on a hill west of the Umlass river, which riveropens into a wide bay near the mouth; and to attack us on this hillwould entail great loss on the enemy.
We lay down to rest after our march, and slept; for it was a practiceamong these Caffres to sleep as much as possible before any great work,as they seemed to think that men could lay in a stock of sleep whichwould be of use to them two or three days afterwards. I am inclined tobelieve that this idea was correct, and that by sleeping a great dealduring three or four days, we can go the next three or four days withscarcely any sleep.
The third day after our arrival at the Umlass, runners came from theeast bringing the intelligence that the Zulu army, as numerous as aflight of locusts, had crossed the Tugela, and were spreading down thecountry. Quick as were the movements of this army, the Caffres in thecountry were equally rapid in their movements, and more than 3,000 menjoined us, and several thousand cattle were driven across the Umlassriver, and secreted in the bushy country to the west of it.
Umnini, a chief who lived near the head of Natal Bay, had the chiefcommand of the whole army, whilst Inyati had command of the men who camefrom the Umzimvubu district. There had been several consultationsbetween Umnini, Inyati, and other chiefs, as to the best method ofdefending the country, and a plan was arranged which was well thoughtout and carefully planned.
The course which it was thought the Zulus would follow, was on the opencountry about five miles from the coast; they must, however, passthrough a portion of the bush near the Umbilo river at the head of NatalBay, and it was here that our attack was to be made. Our plan was, toallow a certain portion of the army to pass through the bush; then todash in, and separate this portion from the main body; keep the mainbody at bay whilst our men attacked those who had passed into the openbeyond the bush.
During the various walks I had taken about the country, I had discovereda place that I at once selected as one suitable for my small party oftwenty, in case we had to make a stand. It was a solid piece of groundlike a rocky island in the middle of a large vle
i or marsh. The marshconsisted of water and soft mud, so deep that a man would sink nearly tohis shoulders in the mud. The island was surrounded by this mud fornearly 100 yards, and so was beyond the cast of an assagy. To secure apathway to this island, I employed my men in cutting branches of treesand placing these in a line from the firm ground across the marsh to theisland. It required a great many branches; but we worked hard, and atlength made a foundation on which we could get to the island withoutsinking above our ankles. We had intelligence of the movements of theZulu army, and knew just where they were each hour of the day; but ourown army kept so carefully concealed, that not a man could be seen.
The Zulus evidently thought they were not likely to meet muchopposition, and did not take the precaution of sending forward smallparties to examine the ground in front, and feel for their enemies; sowe hoped to surprise them.
All our arrangements were made to attack the Zulus when they had crossedthe Umbilo river, which they did shortly after daybreak. They marchedon, singing war-songs, and beating their shields, and entered the bushcountry; and when about 2,000 were out in the open beyond, about athousand of our warriors rushed on the line, cut it in two; and half theparty facing about, prevented those who had passed from retreating,whilst those who had been stopped found themselves unable to advance.With a shout that could be heard for miles, 5,000 of our warriors rushedout from their concealment and closed with the Zulus in the open. Inspite of their discipline and training, the Zulus, thus overmatched,were soon broken and their slain covered the ground. The loss on ourside in this encounter was small, though several men were wounded. Inthe meantime the fight in the bush-path was severe: not more than fouror five men could stand abreast, so the numbers on the side of the Zuluswere no great advantage. Our object was to prevent those behind fromhelping the party we had cut off in front. In a battle it is impossiblefor one person to describe what takes place in all parts of the field,so I will now confine my description to what occurred to my own party.
I believed that the Zulus were not acquainted with the fact that we hadany firearms with us; and, consequently, that they would be muchsurprised when they heard the report of our guns, and saw the effect ofour shot. I believed that, instead of beginning to fire at the earlypart of the battle, it would produce more effect if I waited until somecritical period, and when, perhaps, our own side might require somespecial assistance. I had not very long to wait for such an event, as alarge party of the Zulus had worked their way through the bush, and hadformed up so as to attack our forces in rear, and at the time when theywere broken and scattered after their victory over the two thousandZulus. Seeing this party assembled, I called on my men to follow me,and ran down to within about two assagies'-cast from them. They awaitedmy coming, looking surprised to see so small a party attempt so daring aproceeding as to approach so close to them. Suddenly giving the word tomy men, we turned and ran towards our island in the marsh, as though wewere afraid. The result was just what I expected--the Zulus came fullspeed after us. All my men were splendid runners, so we reached ourcauseway and were on the island before a single Zulu had arrived at theedge of the marsh. The Zulus were not aware how soft and deep the mudwas, nor did they know that the narrow causeway we had made was the onlymeans of reaching the island; consequently several hundreds rushed intothe vlei and were completely pounded, unable to advance or retreat. Oneof their leading chiefs, however, had seen where we had run across thevlei; so, assembling his men, he came over the causeway at a run,followed by some two hundred men. I allowed him to come almost withinan assagy-throw's distance, and then, aiming carefully with my gun, Ishot him dead. Four or five other shots were fired by the men with me,and as many men fell dead. The result was that a panic seized thesemen, and they retreated; but our own people had now formed up, and werecharging on the Zulus, and a terrible slaughter ensued. The men in thevlei were knocked on the head with stones or knob-kerries, and a seconddisaster befell the Zulu army. In the meantime, the Umlass Caffres, ledby Umnini, had driven back a large force of Zulus, which had attemptedto work round outside the bush and to outflank us. These menretreating, as also the few who had escaped from the first attack, ledto a general rush among the Zulu army, who were not certain but whatthey might be attacked by a much larger force than their own. They knewthey had been surprised, and they saw that our plans had been wellarranged. This, together with the fact that our people possessedfirearms, spread such alarm that they could not be made to attemptanother attack. Our people followed up the retreat as far as theUmganie river, killing a large number more of the Zulus--and our victorywas complete.
That night we had a great dance and a great feast, amidst which songswere sung descriptive of our various deeds during the day. We hadplaced our spies at different commanding positions, so as to give earlyintelligence in case the Zulu army recovered itself and again attackedus; but they did not attempt to do so, for they had captured severalcattle up the country, which they drove into Zululand and claimed avictory over us. We heard that our tribe was the only one that had everbeen able to stand against the Zulu army.
We had not gained our victory without loss, for the part of the Zuluarmy that we had cut off, although outnumbered, yet fought well, andkilled more than two hundred of our men, whilst five or six hundred werewounded. The rapidity with which the wounded recovered was marvellous--a result due, I suppose, to their having lived almost entirely onvegetables and milk, and always being out in the open air.
Although there was much rejoicing on our return, there were alsolaments, because some of our bravest young men had been killed, andtheir relatives showed just as much regret at their loss as do theEnglish when they lose a friend.
The scenes through which I had passed during my residence among theseCaffres, had produced upon me the same effects as though I had livedthree or four times as long. Although I was at an age when English boysare engrossed with tops, hoops, and marbles, and look upon a performanceat football or cricket as something to make a boy famous, yet I hadtrapped a leopard, had killed an elephant and had now been engaged in adesperate fight and had aided to win the victory. These stern realitieshad aged me, and I felt confidence now both in myself and in the weaponsI could use: I sat in the circle with the warriors, and had, after thebattle, spoken before the assembled people. With the Intombis (younggirls) I was a great favourite, and as some of these were very pretty, Iliked to sit talking with them.
The life I now led was such as any boy might envy. I cannot imagine anyof the pastimes, amusements, or excitements of civilisation that cancompare with that which can be obtained in a life of nature. In thefirst place the climate was very good, never very cold and never veryhot. Rains occurred in the autumn, but they were soon over and my kraalkept me dry. I had now several cows which supplied me with milk,_ubisi_, sweet fresh milk, and _amasi_, sour milk (like junket), which Ipreferred. What are now called mealies (Indian corn) were alsoplentiful, so that there was no want of food. These mealies we used tobury in large holes near our kraals. The holes were dug about ten feetdeep, and about six feet in diameter. A fire was then lighted at thebottom, and from time to time we plastered the sides with mud, and thendried this with more fire, and so made a hard and dry hole; we buriedthe mealies in this and then arched the top of the hole by means ofhurdles and turf, so that the water when it rained ran off the sort ofroof: our mealies then kept dry and could be dug out when required. Bymeans of various traps and snares that I set, I had caught several buckin the bush, and also some guinea-fowl. I clipped the wings of theguinea-fowl and kept them in an enclosure I had made of reeds, and nowthey had become quite tame, and I always had plenty of guinea-fowls'eggs. Quail, too, used to come to this country in thousands during theautumn, and these we used to knock over with our knob-kerries. I hadgot quite accustomed to the absence of clothing; in fact, even now, Ioften feel uncomfortable and in a kind of prison when I have clothes on.I had killed several monkeys, out of the skins of which I had mademyself tails to
wear round my waist, and also round my neck. When thesun was very hot I carried some large banana leaves, which protected myhead from the sun, and served as a parasol. Now, considering that I hadno want of food, had nothing to do which I did not like, could go outhunting whenever I chose, was not bothered as boys are in civilisedlands, I ought to have been very happy. I was happy; but I could notget over the feeling that I was away from my people, that my father mustthink I was dead, and my uncle, who intended being so kind to me, mustalso have given me up as lost. The ship in which I had embarked atCalcutta would be put down as one among the many "not since heard of."I saw no chance, however, of ever again rejoining my relations; and,though I thought frequently of every possible chance of doing so, Icould see no likely means of success. These Caffres had spared my lifeand taken me among them as one of themselves. They had behaved well andkindly to me, had rewarded me fairly for what I had done, and gave methe rank of a chief. If I eventually rose to be the paramount chief inthis country I should be a king in a way: I should have the power oflife and death over my subjects, and I thought I might be able to teachthem many things which they now were ignorant of. When, however, Ithought of their laws and customs I found it difficult to imagine what Ishould teach them to make them better than they were. I knew verylittle about religion, and did not feel equal to trying to teach it,because the chiefs were always reasoning about things that were toldthem, and did not understand believing things on faith.
There was one subject that I was anxious to speak to these chiefs about,but had always felt some hesitation. Now, however, I determined toinquire from them why they had killed all the sailors and men who hadbeen shipwrecked. For, although these Caffres were warlike people, yetI knew they were just, according to their reasoning, and would not killmen in cold blood, unless with some end in view.
One evening I was sitting in my kraal, grinding down some nails to makepoints for some arrows, when an old chief named Inguana came to my hutand sat down beside me. After some conversation I asked him why hispeople killed the white men who were wrecked. He then told me that someyears ago a ship came to nearly the same place, and about forty menlanded and made friends with the Caffres, and stopped some days. Atlength they prevailed on several men and women to go on board the shipand kept them there; they then came again on shore and gave many mensomething to drink which made them insensible. These men they carriedin boats to their ships: some men woke and resisted, and they were shot.Then the ship went away, and the Caffres never saw their friends again.So when they saw the men on shore from my ship, they feared them andthought similar acts would be committed; so, keeping a watch, theycaught them asleep and assagied them. The proceedings of the formervisitors showed they were slave-catchers, and thus their acts caused thedeath of the poor sailors who had escaped from shipwreck. Similarproceedings often happen in various parts of the world; some white menbehave badly to the so-called savages, and then harmless visitors sufferfor the acts of these rascals. From what I had seen of these UmzimvubuCaffres, I did not believe they would kill white men without a cause, soI was glad I had been able to hear why they had slaughtered the sailors.The Caffres themselves thought that the sailors were probably the sameas those who had carried off their relatives, and so determined tosurprise them before they had an opportunity of taking any moreprisoners. When I told them that the men they had killed were harmlessand in distress, they really seemed sorry for their acts.