The White Chief of the Caffres Part 5

After a little delay a young chief, who had fought well against the Amazulu, stepped into the centre of the circle, and raising his s.h.i.+eld and a.s.sagies, said, "Listen to me, men of the Umzimvubu. I am for war.

I think we ought not to sit down like boys or women, and let our friends, the Amakosa, fight alone. We are strong and we know how to fight. If we join the Amakosa we shall share in the spoil; we must have our share of the cattle, of the guns captured, and we may also procure some of those animals on which men ride. Shall our tribe be termed a tribe of cowards? I say, let us join the Amakosa, and dip our a.s.sagies in the blood of the white man."

A tremendous shout was given at the termination of this address; and it was evident that, as far as numbers went, there were more in favour of war than there were against it. This was an example of what took place among civilised nations. If the majority of an a.s.sembly are emotional rather than intellectual, a man who appeals to the emotions gains more adherents than the speaker who talks sound sense. Consequently, when another young chief spoke in favour of war, it was decided that we should join the Amakosa and fight the white man.

What I was to do I did not know. I felt that, although I had become a regular Caffre in habits and thoughts, yet I was an Englishman; and if I fired and killed a white man, I should be guilty of murder. I thought a great deal about this matter; for though I had nothing to complain of in my present life, yet I longed to see my father again, and to let him know I was not dead. I knew that, lost as was the s.h.i.+p in which I had left Calcutta, there would be no records of her ever found. I alone could tell the tale, for the ladies who had been saved had become the wives of Caffres, and they told me that now they must live and die as they were, and could never again return to civilisation.

I had great doubts whether the life I now led was not _the_ one which most men in cities toiled for all their lives. Boy as I was, yet I had rank, I was a chief; I had cattle, the great wealth in this land; I had a gun and ammunition; I had always plenty to eat; I wanted no clothes, I could wrap myself in an _ingubu_ (blanket or kaross) made of jackals'

skins, which kept me warm in the cold nights; I had no work to do that I didn't like. There was plenty of game to shoot or trap; and, except during a short rainy season, the climate was as fine as any in the world. What more pleasant life than this could I lead anywhere? In England I should be at a school, having to learn a lot of things in which I took no interest; perhaps, if I did not work properly, I might be caned, I, who was now a chief, and if any man struck me should probably use my a.s.sagy against him. There were two sides to the question of returning to civilisation. I had read also that my uncle pa.s.sed seven or eight hours a day in a dark office in London, in a place crowded round by other houses, so that you could scarcely see the sun, and where there were so many men that you scarcely ever breathed anything but second-hand air. Still, there was the longing always coming over me to see my father, and to tell him that I was happy, and if he did not mind I should prefer remaining where I was. But the war-spirit had broken out, and every one, even to the smallest _intombi_ (girl) was dancing about, singing war-songs. As was the custom with these tribes, a great war-dance was arranged; all the fighting men, in full war-dress, a.s.sembled from miles round. We mustered more than five thousand fighting men, besides about three thousand boys able to throw an a.s.sagy, and a.s.sist at critical moments, when the enemy were broken or too powerful at any particular point.

I shall always remember the war-dance which now took place; it was a sight only to be seen in the wilderness, and where civilisation has made no progress. The men a.s.sembled formed a ring three and four deep, and sat quietly on the ground for more than an hour, each with his s.h.i.+eld in front of him. At a given signal we all started to our feet, with a shout; then, imitating the movements of an old chief who entered the centre of the ring, we beat the ground, first with one foot, then with the other; then, jumping in the air, came to the ground with both feet at once, making the earth shake as we did so. After we had continued these proceedings for some time, a young bull was brought into the ring and turned loose, three young chiefs entering at the same time. They shouted and beat their s.h.i.+elds, so as to alarm the bull, and then closed on him, hurling their a.s.sagies at him. The animal soon became savage and charged at the young chiefs, and a regular bullfight occurred; but so active were the Caffres, and so well did they back one another up, that in a few minutes the bull was so terribly wounded by a.s.sagies that it sank to the ground and died.

Four bulls were killed in the same manner and by different sets of young chiefs, the circle of warriors all the time singing their war-songs and dancing and beating their s.h.i.+elds. During two days these festivities were kept up, and then the leading chiefs met in council to decide upon the plan of operations. I soon began to observe that several of the chiefs regarded me in a manner different from that in which they had formerly done. They were not unfriendly, but they were silent; and I feared that some enemy had been at work who was jealous of my rise and progress. I was rich for so young a chief, as I now possessed fourteen cows and several calves; but I did not think I was rich enough to be accused of witchcraft, and my cows taken from me. I had but to wait a few days before I learned why this change in manners had taken place.

One evening an old chief sent for me to his kraal for a _kaluma_ (talk), and on my entering his hut I found two other chiefs there. They offered me snuff, and _Itchuala_, and then the old chief said:--

"Umkunkinglovu! we know you are brave and can fight well, and we should have liked you to lead a division of our men; but we have thought that, as you, although a Caffre at heart, are still white, you might not like to fight against white men. We don't know about white men; we don't know who are friends, and who enemies. We, the Umzimvubu, fight against the Amazulu, though we are both black. Do you white men ever fight one against the other?"

"Yes," I replied, "when nations like your great tribes disagree they fight."

"Then are the people at war with the Amakosa of your tribe?"

"Yes, they are."

"Then you would not like to fight against them?"

"No; I should be a rascal to do so."

"We thought it might be so," said the old chief, "so we are going to leave you in charge of the tribe, to take care of the cows and the young people, until we return."

"I should like to speak about this war," I said; "may I?"

A nod was the only answer.

"This war," I said, "will probably bring great trouble to the tribe.

You have been misled by the Amakosa; for the white men against whom you are fighting are powerful, and if they require them can bring ten men to your one. You with a.s.sagies only cannot defeat them, for they are all armed with guns, and are good shots. They can wear you out; for they can destroy your crops of corn, and capture your cattle, or worry them so that they cannot feed. You have little to gain, and all to lose.

Why do you go on this expedition?"

The three chiefs sat silent for a few minutes, and then the elder said, "We believe the Amakosa. Their chiefs say the white men are not numerous, and are very slow--that in spite of their guns, which are not much use in the bush, the a.s.sagy has gained the victory; unless we fight the white man, he will march on and will soon want our country, and we shall be wiped out. We are now bound by promise to fight, so it is no use now thinking any more about it. Besides, the Amakosa tell us that the white men employed to fight are not allowed to fight as they like or could, but are bound up with straps and tight clothes, and are made to wear red blankets round their bodies, so as to be easily seen and therefore easily shot. They have to carry a number of things also, which prevent them from running fast, and tires them when they walk. So an Amakosa warrior feels he is better able to fight than a white soldier, who cannot move through the bush, as the thorns hold him by his clothes; so that he cannot shoot, and is easily a.s.sagied."

I endeavoured to convince these chiefs that it was no use fighting against the English; but they listened patiently, and then said that, when I left my friends the whites, I was too young to be able to judge correctly of numbers and strength, and that I should see them return with many guns and plenty of cattle.

CHAPTER TEN.

Nearly all our fighting men had left our country, whilst I remained with the very old men, the young boys and the women. I did not like remaining inactive in this, way, yet I could not have fought against my own people. I felt very dull and lonely; so took my gun and wandered in the bush, following the old elephant-paths, and looking out for a buck or a leopard. Left to myself, I was accustomed to sit in the bush for hours, meditating on my past life, and on my probable future. Lately, a strange longing had come over me to return to civilisation. The novelty of my wild life had worn off, and the Caffres were not the companions to me that they had been when I was younger. Their aims and ambitions were limited. To eat abundance of meat, to possess abundance of cattle, to have four or five wives, was the looked-for happiness of the men.

Anything that required mental exertion they seemed incapable of. They could with difficulty count beyond ten; they knew nothing about other countries, or the habits of other nations. They believed the Zulus the most powerful nation in the whole world, whilst the whites they regarded as foolish people with wrong ideas.

Reflecting on my condition, I began to consider how I could make my escape from the Caffres, and rejoin my own people. I knew that if I could reach England I could make myself known to my relatives, could communicate with my father, and should have fair prospects even if I returned to India. This was quite a change in my ideas, from what I fancied some months previously; but solitude seemed to have given me a clearer view of things as they really were, and I now thought over every plan by which it might be possible to reach some English settlement, make myself known, and thus be enabled to rejoin my relatives.

Several days pa.s.sed, during which I scarcely spoke to any of the Caffres. I felt depressed and out of spirits--perhaps a presentiment of what was coming. I had received no news of the army that had gone to join with the Amakosa against the British soldiers, and so could not learn whether or not they had been victorious. Half a moon had pa.s.sed since the army left, and the old men began to be anxious for news; still none came.

It was early morning, the sun not having appeared, that, as I lay rolled in my jackal-skin kaross in my hut, I heard the voices of men in my kraal. These voices were low, and subdued. Thinking it was our warriors who had returned, I jumped up and crawled out of my hut. It was not yet light enough to see clearly any objects except they were very near; but before I could rise on my feet, I received a blow on my head, which stunned me, and knew no more till I came to my senses, when the sun was nearly overhead. I then saw a sight which astonished me.

Seated in our kraal were more than a hundred Zulu warriors, watching a fire at which one of our young bulls was being roasted. They were all in full war-costume, and I saw that many of their a.s.sagies were stained with blood. I tried to rise, but found that my hands and legs were tied, and that I could not move. The Zulus, seeing I was sensible again, called to a chief who was sitting at a distance, and pointed to me attentively, and then said--

"Who are you?"

"I am an Umlungo who has been kept among these people," I replied, "and they have made me a chief."

"Where do you come from?"

"I came in a s.h.i.+p which was wrecked on the coast; all the men were killed except me."

"When do you expect your men to return?"

"I don't know; they have gone to fight with the Amakosa against my people."

"Why did they not take you?"

"I could not fight against my own tribe." The chief waited for a short time, looking at me attentively, and then said, "You will return with us; attempt to escape, and twenty a.s.sagies will be in your body." He then turned away, and walked to his seat outside the circle.

I was struck with the dignity and manner of this chief. He seemed one born to command, to be self-possessed, calm, and decided. He walked like a chief, and I could easily understand how it was that the Zulus were so powerful if they possessed many men like this one. I felt being tied, as it was very painful. So I spoke to one of the men near me, and said that, if the chief would unfasten my arms and legs, I would promise not to attempt to escape; but if I remained tied, I should not be able to move when they did unbind me. The Zulu carried my message to the chief, who nodded, and the young Zulu came and unbound me. I rose to my feet, but felt very sick and giddy from the blow I had received from the k.n.o.b-kerrie on my head, and was obliged to sit down again. The chief then called me, and I went over to where he sat, and he asked me if I was hurt. I pointed to a lump on my head where I had been hit. He felt my head, and said, "That is nothing." He then inquired how many guns had been taken by the warriors who had gone with the Amakosa.

I told him eight; and, thinking it better to deal fairly with him, I told him that in the thatch of my hut there was my gun.

He immediately sent a man into my hut to search, and shortly my gun was brought out. The chief examined this carefully--a gun was evidently new to him--and I explained how it was loaded and fired. He was much interested in all I said. So, being anxious to gain his favour, I told him there was something else more wonderful still that I could show him.

He told me to bring whatever it was. So I brought him my field-gla.s.ses, and, adjusting them for a long sight, I placed them in his hands, and told him to look at some cows about half a mile off. He raised them to his eyes, and instantly started back with astonishment.

He examined them carefully, and seemed more surprised as he looked again through them. I then made him look through the gla.s.ses the opposite way, viz., through the large gla.s.ses, and to look down at his feet. His legs then appeared about twenty feet long, and he was more astonished with this than even with the fact that distant objects were brought nearer by the aid of the gla.s.s. He called several of his men to look through the gla.s.s, and laughed at their surprise.

The chief now told me that I was to return with them to the Zulu country, when they drove off our cattle. He made no secret of how he came here. He said that an _impi_, or army, had been sent against some of the Basutos; that when they were returning they heard that all our men had gone with the Amakosa to the westward. So they came down to our country to take some cattle and carry off some of the young girls, and that on the morrow they intended to start on their return journey. I found they had killed several of our old men, but as there was no one to resist them, they had easily gathered together the cattle they required.

On the following morning we started on our journey, and I found that over a thousand men had come down to our country, whilst the main body of the army were up to the north-east and numbered several thousand.

With the exception of the women, I was the only prisoner they had taken.

The Zulus rarely take prisoners, they kill their enemy; but, seeing that I was white, and therefore not a Caffre, they had spared me.

Our march was carefully made. About half a mile in front some dozen men, who were good runners, kept a look-out, and signalled to us every now and then to let us know that all was right and no enemy near. We had about a hundred cows and young bulls with us, which were driven along in our midst. Not a boy or female of our tribe was visible: they had all retreated to the bush and concealed themselves. The kraals were empty and most of them burnt. I felt very sorry for my old companions, though they had gone to fight against the English. It seemed, however, like a punishment to them, to be thus attacked at home when there was no reason why they should go out and fight against those who had never done them any harm.

Our march was first nearly northwards, till we came near the Quathlamba Mountains. We then went east, crossed the Umzinyati river and the Tugela, and entered the Zulu country.

I was surprised at the number of cattle I saw in the Zulu country.

Thousands of beautiful cows were everywhere to be seen; and the gra.s.s was finer and better suited for grazing than down near the Umzimvubu.

Our small army was welcomed with shouts by crowds of Zulus who turned out to meet us, and who looked on me with great surprise. When they found I could speak their language as well as they could, their surprise was greater; and they at first would not believe that I was not an Albino, or white Caffre, such phenomena being sometimes seen among them.

I was taken to the kraal of the chief who had captured me, and who was called Inklanzi, the meaning of which is a fish. This name was given him because he was a very good swimmer, and could stop for a long time in the water. Inklanzi told me that on the following morning I was to be taken to the Great Chief, who perhaps might order me to be a.s.sagied; so I must be careful how I behaved.

I slept but little that night, for I feared, from what I had heard, that the Great Chief of the Zulus, merely for his amus.e.m.e.nt, might like to see how I died.

On the following morning I was called by Inklanzi to go with him to the chief's kraal. It was the largest I had yet seen. There were at least five hundred huts, the Great Chief's hut being much larger than were the others.

Round the chief's hut there were always about thirty men on guard, for every great chief feared being a.s.sa.s.sinated. It was also the law that, whenever any chief came to talk to the Great Chief, he was, on approaching to within an a.s.sagy-throw of the Great Kraal, to stop and shout "Inkosi" three times. If he heard no reply, he was not allowed, under pain of death, to advance. If he was told to "come," he must still shout "Inkosi," until he reached the hut. This plan prevented surprise; for no stranger could even approach the hut without incurring the penalty of death, unless he shouted to announce his arrival.