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AMONG THE 
f ZULUS AND AMATONGAS. 





PHOTOGRAPHED BY T. ANNAN, GLASGOW; FROM AN ALTO-RELIEVO, 
BY G. E. EWING, SCULPTOR. 



Printed by the Woodbury Permanent Photographic Company, 1.57, Great Port/and Street, London W. 



AMOlsTG THE 

ZULUS AND AMATONGAS: 

WITH SKETCHES OF THE 

NATIVES, THEIR LANGUAGE AND CUSTOMS ; 

AND THE 

COUNTRY, PRODUCTS, CLIMATE, WILD ANIMALS, &c. 

BEING PRINCIPALLY » 

CONTRIBUTIONS TO MAGAZINES AND NEWSPAPERS ; 

BY THE LATE 

DAVID LESLIE. 

EDITED BY THE 

HON. W. H. DRUMMOjSTD, 

\)itlior of " The Large Game and Natural History of South and South-East Africa. 



SECOND EDITION. 



EDINBURGH: EDMONSTON & DOUCxLAS. 

LOXDOX: MACMILLAX & CO. GLASGOW: J. MACLEHOSE. 

1875. 



GLASGOW : 

PRINTED BY WM. GILCHRIST, 

HOWARD STREET. 



i; 1 1> /i3 
-xqL45 

\%15 



INDEX 



Preface — By the Hon. W. H. Drummond, 
Obituary Notices, ..... 
Port Natal, ..... 

A Hunting and Trading Expedition in South Africa 
A Zulu Foray, ..... 

Kaffir "Doctors," .... 

A Trip into the Zulu, and a Visit to King Panda, 
Wild Life in South Africa — . 

I. — Mornmg in South-Eastern Africa, 
II.— A Day in Wild Life, 
III. — ^A Zulu Marriage, 
IV.— A Zulu Story of a Haunted Wood, 
v.— Ool Bombo, .... 

VL— A Night Round the Fire, . 
VII. — A Runaway Match, 
' VII L— A Buffalo Hunt in the Water, 

IX. — A Few Odde and Ends about the Zulus, 

X.— A Kaffir Hunter's Story, . 
XL— Making the Moat of It in "Wild Life, 
Transvaal versus Zulu, .... 
The Native Custom of Hlonipa, 
The Tsetse Fly— ..... 

Remarks on Mr St. Vincent Erskine's Paper, 
Answer to Mr Leslie^s Critique, 
Kaffir Character and Customs, 
The Labour Question, 
Suggestions for Governing the Kaffirs, 
Marriage Customs, 
The Training of Children, . 
The Kaffir Character, 

Kaffir Etiquette, .... 
Kaffir Cosmogony, . . 



vxi 

xiii 

I 

8 

32 

41 

58 
104 
105 
107 
114 
118 
124 
127 I 
133 
138 
141 ' 
150 
155 
102 
167 
182 
184 
186 
188 
189 
191 
193 
197 
199 
203 
207 



M57ir/eG 



VI 



INDEX. 



The Zulu Word for "Life," 

Xatal Scenery — Kaffir Music and a Tiger Hunt. 

A Border Eaid, .... 

African Travel, Travellers, and their Books 

Among the Amatonga, . . . 

Taken by the Portuguese, 

A Zulu Romance, .... 

Letters to the Press — 

Native Labour, .... 

The Gun Trade with the Natives, . 

Defence, .... 

The Kaffir Ptising in Natal, . 

Natal and Ashantee, 

The Native Rising in Natal, 

The New African Gold Discoveries, 

Is Dr Livingstone Dead ? 
The Isle in the Eastern Sea : A Missionary Story 
A Dublin "Boy," .... 

Plimsoll's "Jack," . . . 

Extracts from Hunting Journal— 

Agreement for Imi^ortation of Native Labour, 

Specimen of Savage King- Craft, 

Names and Interpretations of ISIoons, in Kaffir, 

Reflections of the Day, \ . 
Statement or my Claim against the Portuguese 
Government for Illegal Seizure, &c., 



210 
218 
221 
229 
242 
260 
275 

285 
294 
301 
303 
304 
310 
317 
322 

325 
375 
382 

392 
393 
394 
391> 

411 



APPENDIX. 

The Delagoa Bay Arbitration — 

Marshal MacMahon's Award, . . . 417 

Leader in " Daily News " thereon, . 420 

Leader in " Times " .... 425 

Leader in " Morning Post " . . . 430 

Leader in "Herald of Peace," . . . 434 

Leader in "Newcastle Daily Chronicle," (Excerpt) 436 

Sharp Practice with Spain ! — What about Portugal ? 436 



PEEFACE. 



In placing this book before the notice of the public, and, more 
especially, before those who knew the author, the late Mr David 
Leslie, it is necessary I should say a few words in explanation of the 
objects aimed at in its publication ; and in which, it is hoped that 
some measure of success has been attained. 

These are, primarily, to make such a selection from his published 
writings, as shall best recall him, as he lived amongst them, to the 
recollection of his friends ; secondly, to preserve, in a compact form, 
many of his contributions to literature, which might otherwise have 
been lost ; and thirdly, to enable the general public to appreciate, 
from his writings, the life of a man who, in an indirect yet practical 
manner, has influenced the future of South-East Africa more than 
almost any other of his contemporaries. 

The Obituary Notices, to be found in another part of this Volume, 
tell all that is necessary regarding his career ; and, to those who 
knew him, it would be superfluous to say more ; but the general 
public may reasonably expect to know what his qualifications were 
for writing on the subject to which the greater proportion of these 
pages is devoted, i. e., Life in South- East Africa ; and, as I spent 
many of the best years of my life — years to which I now look back 
with pleasure, which would be unmixed, had not Mr Leslie's death 
precluded the possibility of their ever repeating themselves in the 
future — alone with him, among the native tribes, and in the unin- 
habited districts of the interior ; I will endeavour to afford the 
desired information. 

It would indeed be difficult to imagine a man more thoroughly fitted, 
both by nature and education, for the life of a colonist ; or to be a 
pioneer among savage tribes. His abilities and practical knowledge 
were so great, that he left his mark upon every colonial question he 
took up ; as several of the articles in this collection, especially those 
on the much vexed questions of Labour and Polygamy, sufficiently 
show ; while his shrewdness and capacity in business matters were 



Vlll PREFACE. 

such, as to render his success in life assured, had he only been 
permitted to live a few years longer. It will be observed in the 
Obituary Notices, that, after having spent almost his whole life in 
the Colony of Natal, he came home in May, 1873, for the purpose 
of joining his uncle in a business, than which nothing more dissimilar 
to the wild-free-life, he had so long been accustomed to lead, could 
well be imagined; and it says much both for his personal character, 
and the versatility of his talents, that he at once and markedly 
succeeded in the new sphere he had entered upon. His acquain- 
tance with the languages, politics, customs, and feelings of the 
natives of Natal, and of the important semi-independent States lying 
between the British and Portuguese possessions on the East Coast, 
was probably greater than that of any other man ; while the paper 
read before the Natural History Association of Natal, on the native 
custom of ' ' Hlonipa," a,s well as the discussion on the Zulu word 
for *' Life," and the remarks on the names and interpretations of the 
native Months, and, indeed generally throughout his papers, show a 
knowledge of his subject, as well as a power of grasping it, certainly 
unsurpassed, and, in my opinion, unequalled, by that of even those 
who have made it the study of their lives. 

These qualifications, added to a temper which nothing could ruffle, 
to powers of cheerfully undergoing fatigue and hardships of every 
kind, which I have seldom seen approached : (I have seen him, after 
walking and hunting in the blazing sun for fourteen or fifteen hours, 
without having tasted food the whole day, insist upon his men divid- 
ing among themselves, the small basket of boiled maize which the 
villagers had brought for his personal consumption ! ) : and that 
aptitude for turning his hand to the work of the moment, whether 
it was digging his waggon out of some hole, or conducting a delicate 
negotiation with a native potentate, without which no one can hope 
to succeed in "wildlife," enabled him to control with complete 
success the large number of natives who attended him in his expe- 
ditions — a task, the difficulty of which is only known to those who 
have experienced it ; and it may truthfully be said that in him the 
country has lost one who was peculiarly suited for the post of leader 
of any of those great exploring expeditions into the far interior, 
which we may expect to be undertaken, from time to time, until the 
whole of that continent has been thoroughly explored. 



PREFACE. IX 

I cannot pass from my subject, without saying a few words on the 
personal character of a man, who was liked and respected by his 
acquaintances, and loved by all his friends. His honesty, straight- 
forwardness, and industry commanded respect ; while, as a pleasant 
and intelligent companion, he possessed the happy knack of suiting 
himself to any society into which he might be thrown. He was 
equally popular with his fellow- colonists and among the great Chiefs 
of the interior, numbering among his friends the late and present 
Kings of the Zulus ; and, although somewhat cautious in forming a 
friendship, having once made it, he never forgot it ! As a hunter 
among the large game, with which his various expeditions made 
him acquainted, he was brave without rashness, cool and self-reliant 
in the midst of dangers, fertile in resources in emergencies, and 
was physically endowed with such strength as enabled him to bear, 
in favourable comparison to the natives, the tremendous fatigue such 
sport entails. Kind-heartedness and good-nature were his special 
characteristics, and many a poor white hunter or trader, beyond the 
boundaries of the Colony, has cause to remember his name with 
gratitude. Nor can I do less than repeat here, what I have already 
stated in the preface to my book, The Large Grume and Natural 
History of South and South-East Africa, that ' ' to his kindly placing 
at my disposal, during my expeditions, the large number of hunters 
and natives in his service, I owe many of my opportunities for obser- 
vation ; " nay, I must add, that it is chiefly to his skill, attention, 
and kindness in illness, and to his assistance in many of the dangers 
and difficulties incident to travel and hunting among the natives in 
the interior, that I attribute my having ultimately returned alive to 
this country. 

It would be an easy and pleasant task for me to dilate on this 
subject, and to commit to paper some of the many characteristic 
anecdotes which occur to me, as I think over the years we spent 
together ; but enough has perhaps been already said to enable the 
reader to form a just idea of the Author of these pages ; and, before 
passing on to a few short remarks on their contents, I will only add 
that, while to all of us who knew him, his loss is one that can never 
be replaced, we have the comfort of knowing that throughout his 
life, not less than in its closing scenes, he was ready for the great 
change which has now overtaken him ; and that, whatever comfort 



X PREFACE. 

there is to be found in the knowledge of a life well and usefully spent, 
and an end worthy of the life, his bereaved mother, relations, and 
friends have that well-grounded consolation ; for he was, in the best 
sense of the term, a Christian gentleman. 

The original object in the selection and printing of this Volume 
was to preserve to his friends the fugitive papers, "In Memoriam " 
of the Author ; but, at the urgent solicitations of friends, who knew 
the permanent value of these papers, it has been agreed to give them 
to the public in a second edition, which will shortly be issued by 
Messrs Edmonston & Douglas, Edinburgh. It will be observed that 
every article which has been selected for publication has the date of 
its original appearance attached to it. For some of them, this was, 
no doubt, needless ; but in the case of such papers as " Port Natal," 
"Transvaal versus Zulu," and others, circumstances are so altered 
since they were written, that the point would have been lost, had 
the date of their writing not been mentioned. As true pictures of 
Zulu life and modes of expression, nothing could be more perfect 
than "A Zulu Foray," "A Runaway Match," and "A Zulu 
Romance." I leave the reader to judge of their literary merits for 
himself, and I only offer the testimony, which my knowledge of the 
Zulus themselves enables me to give, of their truthfulness. " Wild 
Life " will have its own peculiar charm for those who have exper- 
ienced it, as well as for the general reader ; and each of the 
other papers has been selected as containing something charac- 
teristic of the Author, or of interest to the reader ; but I cannot help 
referring to the Extracts from his Hunting Journal, wherein the 
"Reflections of the day" show the bent of his mind, these being 
written in the wilds of Africa, after an exhausting day's hunting and 
travelling, without the slightest expectation that they would ever 
be seen and criticised by others. His gun and his books were his 
inseparable companions in his expeditions; the one procuring his 
physical sustenance — the other providing his mental pabulum. 

It is unnecessary to say anything here regarding the Delagoa Bay 
Dispute, and Mr Leslie's claim against the Portuguese Government, 
which depended upon the late Arbitration Case. But if, by the 
subject becoming more widely known through these pages, the 
British Government is induced to make an arrangement with the 
Portuguese, by which Delagoa Bay may return to its original owners, 



PREFACE. XI 

and the rampant Slavery of the East Coast be put down, the cause 
will not have altogether failed, for which Mr Leslie fought so well, 
and in which he lost so much, for even his death may, in a great 
measure, be attributed to the fever he caught on that very expedi- 
tion. 

In conclusion, I must express my thanks to Mr Robert M 'Tear, 
of Glasgow (the late Mr Leslie's uncle), for the assistance he has 
afforded me in editing this Volume ; an assistance, indeed, so great 
and valuable — but a labour of love to him — that, although I would 
most willingly have done it all out of respect for my late dear 
friend, my share of the labour has been almost nominal ; and, while 
apologising for any errors which may have been allowed, inad- 
vertently, to creep in, or been passed over, I leave it in the hands 
of the public, satisfied that, under the circumstances, they will be 
generous in their judgment. 

W. H. DRUMMOND. 

London, Oct. Ath, 1875. 



OBITUARY NOTICES OF THE LATE 
MR DAVID LESLIE. 



*' Our obituary to-day announces the death of Mr David Leslie, 
whose career has been such, that it deserves some more extended 
notice. Mr Leslie, who had only attained his 35th year, was born 
at Taymount, Perthshire. His father was accidentally killed by 
being thrown from his gig six months before the deceased was born, 
80 that he was left to push his own way in the world. He went to Natal 
when he Was only eleven years of age, and having become proficient 
in the Zulu language, Was, at the early age^of fourteen, appointed 
interpreter to the courts of law in Natal. Subsequently he became 
one of the principal merchants in Natal, and for several years was a 
member of tho firm of Acutt & Leslie. Through a commercial 
crisis, which occurred there about ten years ago, he was obliged to 
abandon his mercantile connection, and from that time until his 
return to this country, he was engaged trading and hunting in the 
interior of Africa, having been a most ardent Nimrod and accom- 
plished marksman. Mr Leslie was long on intimate terms with the 
native chiefs of Natal. His knowledge of the country, and of the 
habits and customs of the natives was extensive, and he delivered 
frequent lectures on the subject, before the Natural History Society 
of Natal. The local papers published numerous contributions of 
great interest from his pen, and since his return to this country, Mr 
Leslie has written a great deal of instructive matter, regarding 
Africa and its inhabitants, in various newspapers and magazines. 
One of his letters, which appeared in the Times, gave so truthful 
and able a description of the country, that it attracted the attention 
of Sir Bartle Frere, who took occasion to have an interview with 
him during his late brief stay in Glasgow. Whilst on a hunting 
expedition in his schooner, the ' William Shaw,' Mr Leslie and his 
vessel were seized by the Portuguese authorities, in what were con- 
sidered British waters. The question of the exact marine boundary 
between the British and Portuguese was thus raised, and referred to 



XIV OBITUARY NOTICES. 

the arbitrament of the President of the French Republic, who has 
been in no hurry to give his decision. Mr Leslie was consulted by 
the Colonial Office in the matter of adjusting their claim, and his 
individual claim for illegal seizure, against the Portuguese Govern- 
ment was, of course, held in abeyance until that of the British 
Government should be determined. After the seizure, and while 
detained at Lorengo Marques pending negotiations, Mr Leslie was 
attacked by fever, which is believed to have seriously aflfected his 
constitution. On recovering, he started for this country, arriving 
about fourteen months ago, and since his return he has resided with 
his uncle, Mr Robert M'Tear. For some time his health has been 
indifferent ; but, a few weeks ago, he was seized with a severe affec- 
tion of the lungs, to which he succumbed after much suffering. 
Mr Leslie's relations on the maternal side are all in Natal, with the 
exception of Mrs M 'Tear ; but his paternal relatives reside at Blair- 
gowrie. The funeral of the deceased will, we believe, take place on 
Friday, when his remains will be interred in the Necropolis. We 
may add that Mr Leslie, since his arrival in Glasgow, had gained 
the respect of many friends, who will sincerely mourn his loss." — 
Glasgoiv Citizen, 13th May, 1874- 

"Brief as is the time allowed us, we cannot permit the formal 
obituary notice, in another column, to pass, without a word regard- 
ing the late Mr David Leslie. Little more than twelve months 
since he left Natal, his home from boyhood, to enter and eventually 
take over the extensive and flourishing business in Glasgow of his 
uncle, Mr Robert M'Tear. A mail or two ago, news were received 
that he had been seized with inflammation of the lungs, but a later 
telegram, via Brindisi, reported him to have somewhat rallied from 
the attack, and stated that hopes were entertained of -his recovery. 
By the mail just arrived, we learn that he sank on the 11th May, in 
his 35th year. 

"Mr Leslie arrived in the Colony in March, 1850, being then a 
lad of about ten years of age, as one of the large party headed by our 
veteran colonist, Mr John Forbes, his grandfather. For some 
years he was engaged in business in Durban, but the best years of 
his life were spent in hunting and trading among the native tribes to 
the north, and many a graphic tale he had to tell of ' hair-breadth 



OBITUARY NOTICES. XV 

'scapes by flood and field.' His intimate acquaintance with the 
politics, as well as the manners and modes of thought, of the Zulus 
and other northern tribes enabled him, by means of a ready pen, to 
contribute to the Natal Herald more than one able paper, which 
attracted the notice and commendation of the Secretary for Native 
Affairs ; and not the local journals only, but leading newspapers at 
home — notably the Times, during these late troubles — gladly wel- 
comed his contributions. He read at least two interesting and valu- 
able papers, on Hlonipa and other native customs, before the Natural 
History Association in Durban ; and, to this journal, prior to his 
departure for his native country, he contributed an interesting series 
of letters on native politics, and the gun trade. 

" But we must close, however we may shrink from reverting to the 
sudden ending of a life, which appeared to have just opened out a 
new vista of hope and prosperity, to one endowed with many amiable 
qualities, and much beloved. To the widowed mother, whose only 
child he was, and who hoped soon to join him in Scotland, to the 
venerable grand-parents, and to the rest of his bereaved relatives, 
from whom he has thus suddenly been taken in the prime of his 
days, we can only, in common with many attached friends in Natal, 
offer the most heartfelt sympathy." — Natal Colonist, 7th July, 1874" 

"We much regret to hear by this mail of the death of a former 
fellow-townsman, who, though much absent from the colony of late, 
occupied for many years an honourable position here. Mr Leslie 
was noted here for his intelligence, public spirit, and enterprise. 
The rapidity of his rise amongst us, as a commercial man, was entirely 
due to his remarkable sagacity and shrewd sense, and his death will 
be much lamented by many old friends. His bereaved mother and 
her family, will have the warm sympathy of all, in their sad affliction. 
It cannot be doubted that, had he lived, Mr Leslie would have 
made no inconsiderable mark in the world ; and been of great service 
to Africa, to whose interests he was devoted. We have only room in 
this issue to give the following appreciative notice from the Glasgow 
Citizen of 12th May last."( Vide ante). — Natal Mercury, 7th July, 1874. 



XVI EXTRACT FROM PREFACE. 

EXTRACT FROM PREFACE to the Hon. W. H. Drummond's 
Work on "The Large Game and Natural History of 
South and South-East Africa:" — 

" It would be unjust to the memory of my late friend Mr Leslie, 
were I to omit to mention that, to his great knowledge and 
experience, I owe much of whatever may be of value in these pages ; 
and that, to his kindly placing at my disposal, during my expedi- 
tions, the large number of hunters and natives in his service, I owe 
many of my opportunities for observation." 



AMONG THE 

ZULUS AlsTD AMATOIsTGAS. 



POET NATAL. 

(Chambers' Journal, nth June, 1859.) 

A FEW facts concerning the Colony of Port Natal, which has 
lately begun to attract a share of public attention as a new 
field of emigration, may be interesting both to intending 
emigrants and to readers generally. There are three things 
currently believed throughout this country to be detrimental 
to Natal — namely, the heat, the unhealthy climate, and the 
very inadequate supply of labour. 

Now, such remarks, which I have often heard made, only 
show the great want of correct information which exists 
regarding the colony. According to Government statistics, 
the thermometer on the coast during winter averages 72 
degrees, and in summer 80 degrees; further up and above 
the capital (Pietermaritzburg), the climate is very much the 
same as in Britain; at D'Urban, and along the coast, the 
sea breezes cool the atmosphere. 

Hot winds, as in Australia, are seldom felt; so much so, 
that when one does come, people go about very much sur- 
prised, informing one another that it is "actually a hot wind!" 

When warm in Natal, it is always dry; few and far 
between are those close, humid, sultry days, so much felt in 
India, in which men go about as if the exertion of dragging 
one leg after another was too much, and when the only 

B 



2 PORT NATAL. 

comfcg^table position to be in, is up to your ckin in cold 
water; when to eat is a nuisance, and to drink is a necessity. 

The rains in summer are constant; scarcely a day passes 
without a shower, and when it rains there, it does rain — not 
as it is in Britain, an unpleasant drizzle, but "an even down 
pour." So much, however, is the earth parched by winter 
droughts, and so great the evaporation, that no rain, however 
heavy, lies on the surface more than three days; and, of 
course, fever and all diseases arising from decayed vegetable 
matter and stagnant water are unknown. Now, in what is 
called the Amatonga country, about 250 miles from D'Urban, 
the decayed vegetable matter and stagnant swamps are so 
great, that it is death to any European to venture there. 
Miles upon miles of flat country; in fact, one great rich 
swamp, covered with game, is there inhabited by a people 
civilized in comparison with their neighbours, the Zulus; but 
where death or disease is sure to attack any white man who 
enters. Great is the contrast within so short a distance! 
For ]N"atal is a country without one virulent disease peculiar 
to itself, where consumption and scrofula are unknown, 
where health is, in fact, rampant, where the ladies are all in 
despair about getting so stout and so strong, and where 
many have saved their lives from the grasp of those fearful 
diseases so prevalent in the old country. 

The Colony of Natal contains a population of about 
10,000 whites and 225,000 Blacks. Now, with this im- 
mense number, the most credulous cannot believe the 
assertion that labour is scarce; for, allowing one servant to 
every white man, woman, and child, what an immense 
number there remains for future emigrants ! It may be said 
that the greater portion of the 225,000 are women and 
children; but it is they who, at their own homes, labour 
most. The women hoe, plant, and reap, carry water, cook. 



NATIVE LABOUR IN NATAL. 3 

and, in fact, do everything except build the huts, miik the 
cows, and hunt. Where, also, would you get better pickers 
of cotton than Kaffir children? Such is the increasing 
fondness of the Kaffirs for money, and the articles which it 
will procure, that they are fast overcoming the prejudice 
about letting their women and children go out to work. 

It is also plain that, as they begin to feel the advantages 
and security of being under British government, the chances 
of any outbreak are constantly lessening. I have heard 
many people say — " Oh, but your natives are a very bad set 
— are they not? — always warring and plundering;" but they 
have been confounding the Kaffir war in the Cape Colony, 
XI place 700 miles away, with Natal. Every Kaffir in Natal 
knows well that, were the white men gone from the colony, 
the surrounding nations would at once make a clean sweep, 
so envious have they become of their accumulations of cattle 
and other riches; and at the same time the Europeans are 
well aware that, should any of the surrounding nations 
attempt anything against Natal, there are Kaffirs enough in 
the colony, who, combined together under a European leader, 
would "eat them up" altogether, as their own expression is. 
The fact being so, then, and the price of labour so low — 
ranging from 5s. to 10s. per month, according to the style of 
servant, and about 7s. more to feed them — ^there need be no 
fear about want of labour to carry out any kind of agri- 
cultural operations whatever.* 

Having endeavoured to explain away the prejudices con- 

* Experientia docet. This was written in 1859, when hopes were 
high and expectations were sanguine ; but time has told a different 
tale ; and the disinclination of the natives for work, and the induce- 
ments to lazinesss which polygamy offers, have forced the colonists to 
introduce Coolies, at a great expense, to do what the Kaffirs ought 
to do. — Ed. 



4 POET NATAL. 

cerning the climate, and the scarcity of labour in Natal, the 
next thing to be done is to give as fair a description, as my 
limits will permit, of the general outline of the port and 
harbour, the country, and the articles of commerce which it 
produces. 

Upon arriving in the outer anchorage, the emigrant is 
struck by the quiet beauty of the bay — one broad sheet of 
water — stretching up into the country about six miles, with 
one or two islands towards the north-west side; on the left 
a majestic bluff looks down upon poor ocean fretting at its. 
feet; to the right — a low sandy point, partially covered 
with a peculiar creeper, and gradually rising as it recedes, 
dips into the level flat upon which stands the town of 
D'Urban; then rising again abruptly into the range of hills 
called the Berea; stretching up stej^ by step, wall upon wall, 
until it meets the grass-land upon the top, almost as level as 
the sea itself. Between the aforesaid point and the bluff is 
the entrance to the bay, and rather outside of that the bar — 
the much dreaded bar — whereon there is, at high-water and 
spring-tides, generally from 12 to 18 feet of water, and 
which, there is no doubt whatever, might be very much 
improved by the expenditure of a little more money. 

The present bar would not, in Great Britain, be suffered 
to remain six months; and Natal is only waiting until, by 
the introduction of more people and more capital, she is 
enabled to make it a splendid harbour. A prospectus has 
lately been issued for a railway from the landing-place to 
the town, a distance of three miles, and all the shares have 
been taken up within the colony itself As it is a dead- 
level all the way along the beach, it is not expected to cost 
more than £10,000. It is very much wanted, and no doubt 
will pay, as all goods under the present system have to be 
carted up to town at a great expense. 



PRODUCTS OF NATAL. 5 

The agricultural part of the colony is, as it were, in two 
divisions. On the coast line of about 120 miles long by 20 
broad, all tropical products, such as sugar, arrowroot, coffee, 
indigo, cotton, &c., grow with great facility; and not as 
in mere experimental gardening, but in such quantities as 
to assure the people of Natal that they will all, ere long, 
become staple articles of export. 

Last season's crop of sugar was 750 tons; arrowroot forms 
now a great part of the cargoes from Natal; the cultivatior 
of indigo is being vigorously prosecuted by several wealth} 
planters from Java; cotton grows wild throughout the lower 
parts of the colony; the Natal coffee is considered equal to 
that of Mocha — one planter sold his crop for home consump- 
tion at 95 s. per cwt. ; oil-nuts, flax, fibrous plants of every 
description, and, indeed, the difficulty is to say what will mt 
grow in Natal, and grow well too. The cocoa-nut is the only 
exception that I know of. Of course, in speaking of the 
products of a country in a commercial point of view, it is not 
usual to enumerate gooseberries, black currants, and such 
small game, and it must be acknowledged that in these 
Natal shows her weakness. But, as a compensation, she 
produces, in the greatest luxuriance, pine apples, oranges, 
bananas, peaches, and other fruits which here are considered 
luxuries. 

Land, which, eight or ten years ago, was sold for Is. per 
.acre, now fetches 30s. ; and it may be assumed that a good 
sugar farm may, at the present time, be purchased at about 
the latter rate. Oxen — with which all ploughing is done at 
Natal^may be got for £5. Ploughs, carts, &c., ought all 
to be brought from Great Britain, as the emigrant will find 
a considerable difference between Natal and British prices. 
How very different the style of farming there is to what I have 
.seen in travelling through Britain. Here, every inch of land 



6 PORT NATAL. 

is cultivated up to the railway; in Natal, a man in starting- 
takes a look over 400 or 500 acres of land ; sees a piece 
which he thinks will do; away he goes, breali:s it uj), i)loughs 
it over, banks and ditches it round, and there it is. Then 
for another piece, half-a-mile aivay it may be. In fact, there 
is so much rich land that he is difficult to please, and he 
picks and chooses like an epicure. 

Again, that part of the colony which is called, in colonial 
parlance, "up the country" — that is, high table-lands 
sprinkled with forests of yellow-wood, sneeze-wood, and 
other timber indigenous to the colony — is best suited for 
sheep, cattle, and horses. 

Sheep have lately been introduced to a great extent, and 
many Dutch farmers have emigrated from the Orange Eiver 
Free State to Natal, preferring security under British 
government to so-called independence under their own Ee- 
public; and the greatest part of the ahoriginal white in- 
habitants — ^that is, those who have been there ten or twelve 
years — have been giving up cattle and horses; the former of 
which constituted the principal merchandise of the people of 
Natal before they turned their attention to sheep and sugar. 

Natal is the country for the sportsman — from a blue buck 
of nine inches to an elephant of twelve feet high, and, through 
all the intermediate sizes there is game in especial abundance. 
In the vicinity of the settlement it has been rather thinned 
off; but within 100 miles of D-'Urban — the seaport town — 
you may in one hour fill a bag which it would take fourteen 
oxen to draw; and then think of the hairbreadth escapes, 
the running, the dodging, the getting-.up thorny trees, to the 
great detriment of your original and only pair of trousers, 
with a buffalo or a rhinoceros grunting at your heels ! 

I do not wish to give the impression that people in 
Natal are almost as barbarous as the natives, or without the 



AMENITIES OF NATAL. 7 

amusements of society. Such an idea would be extremely- 
erroneous. Let any one look at the Natal papers; let him 
see its advertisements of balls, pic-nics, concerts, botanical 
and agricultural shows, &c., and he will allow that Natal is 
one of the gayest little places in the world. 

The society is equal to that in most towns in this country, 
and superior in many respects; for there you Jiave all its 
amenities, courtesies, and enjoyment, without its conven- 
tionalities. Even the Dutch Boers, who are, generally 
speaking, a heavy, respectable set of people, give their balls 
and parties, and attend them with the greatest zest. Though 
it does seem rather ridiculous to see a sixteen stone fellow 
whirling about in a waltz with a partner as big as himself! 
I have gone to a Dutch party, and on entering the room 
been very much surprised to find a Kaffir, dressed in a white 
shirt, standing in one corner of the room grinding away at a 
barrel-organ, producing polkas and waltzes with as great an 
indifference as if they had been pepper or coffee for domestic 
consumption. But this is an exceptionally ludicrous case. 

Natal, however, is not the place for a large emigration of 
the poorer, classes to be directed to — that is, of agricultural 
labourers and mechanics. The field is, no doubt, extensive, 
and land plenty and fertile; but still a man must have some 
thing to keep him while his crops are growing. 

The number of farmers who can afford to employ white 
men, in the face of native labour being so cheap, is at present 
very small. But every man who goes to Natal with a 
capital of from £100 up to £20,000, it does not matter how 
much, and has anything like energy and determination, is 
almost sure to succeed. 



A HUNTING AND TRADING EXPEDITION 
IN SOUTH AFEICA. 

(GLASGOW HkbaLD, 7th and 14th February, 1859.) 

The following most interesting and graphic description of a 
hunting and trading expedition from Natal into the Zulu 
country is from the pen of a young Perthshire gentleman, 
aged 19, who, about nine or ten years ago, was a pupil in 
the High School of Glasgow. It is a private journal, writ- 
ten for friends in Glasgow, and not intended for publication; 
but we believe it will be equally interesting to the general 
reader, from the capital description it gives of the manner 
in which an important branch of business in Natal is carried 
out: — 

On Monday the 16th of February, I crossed the Tugela, 
the boundary of Natal and Zulu-land. It is not such a large 
river as I thought it would be from the traders' description. 
The water was up to my chin in fording it, and there were 
plenty of alligators strewed about the banks. 

All the way from the Tugela to Emtente's kraal, on this 
side Enginginblovo, it rained, and consequently both I and 
the goods were very wet. We got to Emtente's about half- 
an-hour before dark, and after great difficulty I managed 
to get one hut, with the promise that so many of the Kaffirs 
as could not sleep with me, should sleep among the natives. 
Now I wanted one side of the hut for myself, and when I 
wished to go to sleep I turned out five of them, and had just 
got to sleep when back they came, as they could not get in any- 
where. There we were — nine Kaffirs, nine parcels, and myself 



ACTING AS " MEDICO." 9 

in one small hut, about eight feet in diameter. What with 
heat, dirt, &c., I was almost smothered : my first night 
in Zulu-land ! Next morning we started off without any- 
thing to eat — passed Enginginblovo, one of Cetshwyo's (the 
king's son) principal kraals, with about sixty-five huts in 
it; and about mid-day had to stop at a kraal, both to get 
something to eat and to dry the goods. The owner of the 
kraal happening to have the stomach-ache from eating too 
much beef, I gave him some castor oil. His gratitude was 
so fervent that he gave me two huts, as much food as I 
could eat — that is thick milk, whey, and sweet-milk — and 
killed a small ox for myself and Kaffirs, so that I determined 
on sleeping there, as I was rather comfortable in comparison 
with the night before. I had a slight sort of feverish touch; 
but I made a big fire in the hut till I perspired freely, and 
then took two pills, and next morning felt all right. When 
he was skinning the ox I asked if he would sell me the skin. 
He said " Yes, for a rely" — about 2d. worth. Next morning 
I started, and walked, I should think, about fifteen miles 
from kraal to kraal. Such hills ! I never perspired so much 
in- my life as when toiling up them, and my eyelashes were 
fringed with drops. Some of the Zulus are excellent fellows; 
they bring you food and anything you want, taking any- 
thing you like to give them without a grumble. Others 
again make the most exorbitant demands, and are imperti- 
nent if you don't give it them. 

In the evening I reached a kraal belonging to the brother 
of Gaon an Induna, or Captain of Panda's (the king), and 
there I did my first trade — a beast for two blankets, and 
hard work I had to do it too. I heard that a Moloonga, 
with a boy, had passed the day before. I think it is John 
. Speaking to an old Zulu to-day about the fight at the 



10 HUNTING AND TRADING IN SOUTH AFRICA. 

Tugela,he says: — "Wow! the police, they saved all Umbulazi's 
people that got away ! If it had not been for them we would 
have finished them entirely, and," he said, "the police were 
only a handful. How did they manage it 1 It was only by 
about as much as my finger-nail that tve did not run, instead 
of Umbulazi's people. And it was all through the police,, 
as they (Umbulazi's people) didn't fight at all." The place 
where the fight took place is a succession of round green 
knolls all the way to the Tugela. 

To-day (the 18tli) has been the most fatiguing day we 
have had as yet. We started in the morning from Jubana's 
kraal, and walked about five miles to a kraal where I learned 
that a Kaffir at another kraal, about three miles off, wanted 
to sell a cow. Off I started, taking one Kaffir and his 
bundle with me, telling the others to stop where they were, 
as I would come back, and we would go on and sleep at 
Gaon's kraal. However, when we got to the kraal, I found 
the cow was up on the "gangalla" (highlands), and when I 
got there we could not trade after all; and being near Gaon's, 
and far from where I had left the Kaffirs, I decided upon 
going there. We arrived about eight o'clock at night, 
regularly done up. Gaon himself is a very good fellow ; he 
gave us lots of food and a hut directly I asked for it ; but 
next morning I had great difficulty in getting food for my 
people, Gaon's finger-nails are at least two inches long, and 
some of his people's are nearly as long. They seem to take 
a pride in it. All the natives here are very "hlaugana- 
peely" (wide-awake). They ask two blankets for a cow, 
and some beads on the top of it. My Kaffirs grumbled 
terribly about being left behind. They said they had no 
hut and no "scoff" (food), they were "feely" (dead) entirely. 
If the 18th was the most fatiguing day I have yet had, 



A ZULU SHAM-FIGHT. 11 

the 19th was the most bothersome. I rose in the morning, 
and after getting something to eat for my hungry Kaffirs I 
set to work to buy from the Induna. The first beast he 
brought me was a small one. He began by asking two 
blankets for it. I said No ! He brought up another, and 
wanted seven bunches (about £1 worth of beads) for it. It 
was a good cow, and I offered him 12s. worth. There we 
were, bargaining and bargaining on into the afternoon, till 
I was thoroughly disgusted. I never in my life had such 
a day's talking, and all for nothing. 

I left in the afternoon, and slept at a kraal about 
four miles from Gaon's, on the road to the Norwegian 
Mission House. Trade was very bad: the Kaffirs say 
they never saw anything like it. From Gaon's kraal I saw 
two parties draw up for a fight. The young fellows of one 
kraal and those of another had a row about where their 
separate cattle ought to graze, and they assembled in two- 
parties of about ten each to fight it out. They advanced 
in line till within about ten yards of each other, when one 
of them broke and ran as hard as they could, and were 
pursued by the others, till they in turn were met by two 
Indodu's men, who entirely dispersed them, so that the 
encounter did not come off after all. On the 20th, it 
rained in the morning, and one of the Kaffirs being sick, I 
determined upon staying in the kraal where I was, as I had 
rather good quarters. In the afternoon the Zulus said to 
me, "Why don't you go out and shoot the buffalo — 'Eeso- 
Zotwa' (they only) — there in the 'hlauzen' (bush)?" So I 
took the gun, one Zulu, Jacob, Numbona, and Emjeeba, 
and off I went. 

We had walked about two miles along the road, when the 
Zulus said " Nausia Engapesliea," and there they were, a 



12 HUNTING AND TRADING IN SOUTH AFRICA. 

regular drove. Down we went as quietly as possible; and 
after a good deal of hiding and creeping, we got close upon 
them. They seemed just like black cattle, if it had not 
been for the horns. I had loaded the gun after my own 
principle — viz., 2 J drams fine powder. I sat down and 
took a steady aim at the shoulder of the foremost cow. I 
fired — crack! sounded the ball. I had just time to take 
one look at her on the ground, when down came the whole 
drove right on the toj) of us. I ran, and all the Kafiirs, 
except Jacob. He saw that the buff'aloes had not charged 
us, but were only what he called " banye " (stupid). They 
heard the shot, and just ran. They happened to run past 
us. Jacob "ciba'd" them, and missed. The others did the 
same, and all missed except the Zulu, and his assegai went 
off with them. I ran forward to cut them off at the turn 
of the hill, and just caught sight of them. I fired amongst 
them, and missed. We followed the cow I had wounded, 
and found a bull had gone off with her to help her. She 
lay down and rose up three times, and at last both of them, 
in attempting to go down a place like a precipice, so as to 
cross the " Umklatuse," the cow, with her game leg, fell, and 
rolled over and over down into the river. She picked 
herself up and got across, the bull helping her all the 
time, to another herd on the other side of the river. The 
Kafiirs say they never saw such a place for buffaloes. We 
saw three herds, forty-six in all. On Sunday, I think 
the 21st, I was awoke by the cry of " nansia esinblovo " the 
elephants ! Up I got, seized the gun, and called the Kaffirs; 
and in case the Zulus, who by this time were running from 
all quarters, should give him the first stab, I ran just as I 
was, in my flannel shirt and hat, no shoes or trousers. After 
running for about two miles I found them in a little clump 



A FIGHT ':F0R an ELEPHANT. 13 

of bush, in the course of a burn, a famous place to shoot 
them in. I ran down as they cried " they are coming out;" 
and out they came, rather too far off, however, for shooting 
at. The sight of them just then was quite enough for 
me, so I ran back and gave "Potassa" the gun, and 
told him to shoot them. He started after them, and 
fired at one, and struck it in the belly. Just at the same 
time Dideesa flung his assegai at the other, and hit it 
in the rump, so that, by " hunter's law," they were both 
secured to me if we killed them. The one went down the 
burn, the other up. Potassa went after the one he fired at, 
and gave it the other barrel, only he fired so far off, being 
afraid, that the ball struck its shoulder, but did not seem to 
hurt it a bit. The other Kafiirs were all saying to me, 
" Oh ! Ponda [my Kaffir name], if you had only given me 
the gun that elephant would not have gone so far." And 
just then Potassa fired again, and missed it altogether. 
So, getting rather savage, I ran down and took the gun 
from him; and, as the enormous creature was standing 
amongst some bushes, I crept up till about three yards from 
him. I gave him just one shot : it went right to his brain, 
and finished him. Then began the row. The Zulus said 
they had hit him first, and that Potassa had missed him. 
We managed to convince them, however, that it was ours, 
and got possession of the tail. It had one tooth, and that 
very small. Of course it was Potassa's elephant. One Zulu 
I used rather forcible arguments with. He jamp on the 
carcase, called me some name or other, and said the beast 
was theirs. I also jumped up and knocked him off, heels- 
overhead for his pains. After this elephant, I should 
think I ran, not walked, five miles. The Zulus stopped by 
the elephant, and I and Dideesa started after the other one. 



14 HUNTING AND TRADING IN SOUTH ^iFRICA. 

We saw a lot of people running, and ran too, and found 
another lot of Zulus had turned him, and got him into a 
patch of reeds. I had only four bullets, so I sent Aplain 
back for more, and ran doAvn with Dideesa to where he was. 
I sent him ahead to tell the Zulus that it was our elephant, 
and came myself just as he ran out after a dog, which he 
caught and trampled to pieces. I fired at his head, but my 
breath was gone, and I missed him. I fired again and 
hit him in the ear, but rather too far back on liis neck, and 
just at this moment a Zulu flung his assegai — it struck him 
in the ear and stuck there, notwithstanding all his 
endeavours to pull it out. The assegai was flung over my 
head, and the beast made a dead set at me just as I was 
loading. I had to run as fast as I could, but luckily the 
hill was near; I ran up to it, and when he got to the foot he 
stopped. I fired my other two bullets at him, with I don't 
know what eff'ect: they struck him, but did not seem to 
damage him at the time. Then I had to sit down and wait 
till Aplain came with the bullets. The Zulus were throwing 
stones at him to get him out of the reeds, but he wouldn't 
move; just then, after a great deal of tugging, he managed to 
get the assegai out, and champed it to ]3ieces with his mouth. 
At last the bullets came, and I determined to repeat my 
former manoeuvre, so I told the Zulus to make a tow at the 
other side, while I crept up to him in the reeds. I gave him 
just one shot in the ear, and down he went. The upshot 
was that I had some trophies in the shape of three teeth 
and two tails, but, from running about till afternoon in 
nothing but my shirt and trousers, I was burnt all over with 
the sun, and felt very tender. When I came back to the kraal, 
I found that Gaon had been there to call me to trade in 
the morning, so that I hope to do some good with him. 



AT THE MISSION STATION. 15 

Time will show. I forgot to say that for the elephants I 
loaded four drams of fine powder, and found it not a bit too 
much. On the 22nd that old scoundrel Gaon did me 
completely. I went as he called me, and found him just as 
hard as ever. But I thought, well, I will give him what he 
wants, and then I shall be able to buy the cattle cheaply 
his people may bring, and I knew of about ten being about, 
at different kraals, waiting till I had done buying from the 
" umnennzaua " (headman). So for one cow, worth about 
£2, I gave him 27s. 6d. worth of beads, and for another, 
beads and a blanket to 20s. 6d. However, I found that, 
instead of his people selling, they brought all their cattle 
for him to sell to me, so that I was as badly off as ever, 
and I therefore packed up and came away. 

On the 23rd I reached the Missionary's, and had a 
long talk with him. He says the report here in the 
Zulu about Machian is that he fought two battles with 
the Kaffirs Mr Shepstone sent against them, and beat 
them, and that he was coming over the Buffalo with all 
his cattle to be a subject of Panda's, but that the Zulus 
would not receive him, being afraid of lung sickness, and 
that then the white people got his cattle. The Missionary 
has a very nice place; it is in a valley or amphitheatre 
of about a mile in circumference. There are two white 
people here — one married. It is just above the Choi Bush. 
Mr Schraeder (the Missionary,) says that Cetshwyo's army 
was at least 23,000 or 24,000 men, and Umbulazi's 
(his rival) was not more than one-third. They both passed 
by his place, and he had a good opportunity of judging. He 
says he considers Cetshwyo a much superior sort of man 
to Umbulazi — ^the latter behaved like a fool throughout. 
He says the population of the Zulu country is over 200,000, 



16 HUNTING AND TRADING IN SOUTH AFRICA. 

and out of that there are about 40,000 soldiers. He says 
also that the Zulu country during the late war lost from 
15,000 to 20,000 peoj^le — 5000 in one way or another killed, 
and 10,000 or 15,000 over to Natal; and also about 20,000 
cattle as well. He adds the loss was not so much felt in the 
country, as the people who ought to have been fed by these 
cattle went over to Natal. 

On the 24th, in the morning, I left Mr S.'s. I did so 
enjoy the tea, bed, and breakfast there, I had great difficulty 
in tearing myself away. I descended such a hill — it was like 
going down a ladder, or an angle of 60 degrees, for a mile. 
I got to Maukle Silo's kraal, where I stayed till next 
morning, it was so fearfully hot, about 100" in the shade. 
Nothing worth mentioning occured there, except in the 
morning, before leaving, I managed to buy a beast. On the 
25th, I started again, and called at two or three kraals — no 
trade. At the top of a hill we got to Zonklubo's kraal, 
and had a tremendous thunderstorm in the evening, after 
which it got cooler. Here I noticed a peculiarity amongst 
the Zulus; they did not allow the spoon to stand upright in 
the food, it must lie across the dish. They say that if it is. 
allowed to stand up, the " scoff" will stick in your stomach 
and not digest. In the evening, of course I went to sleep, 
nothing very eventful having happened that day. On the 
26th, I bought some cattle at Zonklubo's, and after that, 
hearing that some Kaffirs wanted blankets, a little way off, I 
took two Kaffirs and their bundles, and set off on a small 
tour. I was unsuccessful, that day; however, I heard that 
there was to be a dance, or marriage, at a kraal a little way 
off next day, and, as the owner promised there would be 
cattle for sale then, I waited that day also at Zonklubo's. 
At night all Zonklubo's Kaffirs gathered to try how they 



A ZULU DANCE BY MOONLIGHT. 17 

could dance — in fact to get their hands, or feet, in for next 
day's work. The way they gathered put me in mind of 
what Mr Schraeder said about Cetshwyo's army. He said 
a quarter of an hour before they passed, there was not a 
vestige of them to be seen, and then, as it were the sudden 
rush of a volcano, they spread over the country. So at 
Zonklubo's, before the dance I had only seen two or three 
men, but when I heard the row outside, and went to look, 
there they were, at least thirty — where they came from I 
don't know. My Kaffirs were dancing with them, but in 
my opinion could'nt come up to them at all ; they wanted 
that disciplined regularity of movement the Zulus had, and 
were altogether much more fantastic, and not so solemn and 
dignified in their gestures. The dance coming off at night, 
under a clouded moon, seemed under the influence of Casta 
Diva to have a sort of dim veil thrown over it, giving it all 
a much greater appearance of uniformity than it actually had, 
— it seemed to me, as it were, in one piece. Well, that went 
on till about ten o'clock, and then all was quiet; it made me 
feel so excited that I too sang (not) "like a lint^e." On the 
27th I got up and walked to a kraal about three miles off, 
to try and buy some cattle, but couldn't, so came back and 
started off. After walking till afternoon, I came in sight of 
a river. I asked if it was the "Umblutuse." "Wow!" said 
Potassa, "that's the Tugela, and there is the Slonquise" 
(Natal). I felt — I don't know how I felt — a sort of yearning 
to cross the river, and put my foot in Natal, if it was only 
for half-an-hour; it revived all the home sickness I had 
felt two or three days before, and of course I was quite 
miserable. We were just opposite the " Entoongambele," a 
thing like a man's head stuck on the end of a high table- 
land. At night, the song "Sweet Home" came into my 

C 



18 HUNTING AND TRADING IN SOUTH AFRICA. 

head, I sang it, and, upon my honour, it nearly made me 
"greet." I thought the Zuhi country was very much 
broken, but the Natal side from here looks quite as much, if 
not more so. On the 28th, being Sunday, I determined 
to stop when I was near Mashoban's. At night I was 
terribly bitten with fleas — they were jumping about on 
the floor, just as they were on the Berea, and, of course, 
I didn't get much sleep. 

All Sunday I lay still, and on the 29th, in the morning, 
Mashoban brought a bull and wanted other skins ; 
after a great deal of bargaining, I managed to get it for 
three of them. After that I started off", and after walking 
all day, I got to Debe Blango's kraal, where I stayed all 
night. I had then, for the first time in the Zulu country, 
great difficulty in keeping the hut clear of girls. They 
flocked in, a dozen at a time, to see the " Moolongo " (white 
man). At last I got to sleep, and in the morning, being the 
30th, I started and walked in by far the hottest day I had 
yet felt; and, having started early in the morning, I had 
not eaten anything, expecting to get something to eat at the 
next kraal; however, in that I was disappointed, and got 
nothing till evening, when I had some porridge, of 
stamped mealies and water; however, it was the nicest 
"pallitch" I ever tasted, by Jove ! During the day I stayed 
at a kraal a few minutes, and there saw a boy about two 
feet high "geaing" (dancing). The men were shouting to 
encourage him, and they shouted " Bob e Ka Foges, Bob e 
Ka Foges" (Bob of Forbes). The natives, in asking the 
name of any person, always ask who was his father, who 
did he belong to. Bob e Kabal Bob e Ka Foges — the 
native style of pronunciation. I asked how it was, and 
they told me Bob had been there, and given him that name. 



"AM I NOT A MAN AND A BROTHER T' 19 

On the 31st, I started for Lolioonga's (a chief), and there 
saw a sort of human creature, whom I don't know how to 
describe. He was about 2 J feet high; no arms, only hands 
out from his shoulders; he managed with them, however, 
very well, eating and snuffing, &c., cleverly. Lohoonga 
himself is a famous fellow; and, to please him, I gave him 
my knife. He was describing to me all the different battles 
he had been in, from the time of Chaka downwards. He 
came out of every one of them scatheless. He showed me 
the place where he had killed Tobolongwan in a quarrel 
they had. Now this Tobolongwan was his brother, and 
upon my asking whether he had buried him, the only answer 
I got was "Magwababa, magwababa, magwababa," — the 
crows, the crows, the crows ! Eatlicr a cool answer. He is 
a great, tall, strong fellow, a great friend of Bob's, according 
to his own account. I stayed there all the 1st of March, 
buying cattle, or trying to do so; but trade was very bad. I 
had a nasty attack of diarrhoea, but cured it by drinking 
whey till I was nearly exploding. On the 2nd, in the 
morning, I bought a beast at Lolioonga's, and in the after- 
noon set out after buffaloes, but could not find any. In the 
heart of the Eukauhla bush we found a lot of honey, and 
had a jolly good blow-out; but it set my diarrhoea agoing 
again, and bothered me. The Eukauhla bush is a most 
extraordinary place. It is not a bush like the Berea, but a 
succession of very steep hills, precipices some of them, and 
in the bottoms and up the sides of some is all large 
timber. The different hills seem to nni up to a point 
as if it had once been one gigantic mountain, and had by 
some eruptive process or other been fluted down the sides. 
Lohoonga's kraal is just at the bottom of the bush. The 
Zulus showed me a place where they had driven seven 



20 HUNTING AND TRADING IN SOUTH AFRICA. 

elephants over a precii)ice, and killed them all. I managed 
to buy one elephant's tusk from Lohoonga. He said it was 
wounded by Tozak (a hunter of Bob's), and one of his people 
had found it after it died. I started from Lohoonga's, and 
had a very long walk, without buying anything. Walking 
along the side of a hill I noticed a peculiarity in the Kaffir 
paths from which you might draw a very good moral for 
every-day life. You may think that all the paths lead to 
one goal, but if you do not take care to keep up you 
insensibly slide away to the bottom, and you have a hard 
pull to get up again, and the chances are that you wet your 
feet at the bottom. We walked along, keeping uj) the 
Ensuse, the finest water I had yet seen in the Zulu, 
except at the Missionary's, until we got considerably above 
Maxondo's, when we turned down towards the Tugela, 
determined to follow it up. 

Next day was Sunday, and I stayed all day at Maxondo's. 
In the morning I started up the river — passing a place where 
we heard sea-cows making a noise — determined, if we found 
trade bad, to stop and have a shot. Looking at Entoongam- 
bele from this side, it looks more like the figure of the Sphinx 
than a man's head. I remained all day at the river, and blazed 
away, but only managed to kill one sea-cow. Such a feast- 
ing as we had ! I returned at night to Emfuleui's, leaving 
the gun with Aplain; he wanted to shoot a buffalo, and 
came back saying he had wounded one. In the morning 
he went after it, and found it dead. I had to use strong 
measures to get the Kaffirs away. At Emfuleui's I bought 
30s. in money for 12s. worth of goods. The Tugela just 
here, with the sea-cows in it, put me very much in m^nd of 
Gordon Cumming's picture, in the Illustrated London News, 
of " The Eiver Limpopo, with a herd of sea-cows eating." 



REFINEMENT OF CRUELTY. 21 

There were the same large trees on the banks, and on the 
river itself just such a sprinkling of rocks. The sea-cow I 
killed had no teeth, which the Kaffirs said was very remark- 
able. Everywhere I go the talk is about the fight at Endonda 
Gosuka, and the Zulus say how well the police fought, and 
what a great coward John Dunn was. They say that when 
the O'Sato (Cetshwyo's Pootie) showed its front above the hill, 
he fired his revolver at them, rode away to the right, and 
saw them coming up; to the left saw the same, and then 
rode away as hard as he could. They all had instructions 
— those with guns to shoot the horse — but they say he 
never gave them the chance. All the people up the Tugela 
were at it. The descriptions some of them gave of it are 
most thrilling. Their language is not complete enough to 
enable them to describe it as they would like; but what 
they cannot do with their mouth, they make up with their 
hands, and you can tell by their gestures what they mean, 
almost as well as if they spoke. One fellow told me that 
there was no " emkuba" (torture) that was not done at the 
fight — the pursuing army played with their victims. Two 
of them would catch hold of a man, and another would 
stand in front and say, "Where shall I put the assegai hiV 
and then put it slowly in and cut him up, while he would 
be "singing out" all the time. Others they cut the arms off 
by the shoulders, and then let them go. "Just a stick," 
the fellow said who told me. 

From Emfuleui's went to Godeed, from there to Banda- 
manas, and from there to Umvoonielwa, and there slept. 
Nothing particular to record, except that I shot a baboon. 
From there we went on to Sofotca, and there we stayed as 
it rained. The last few days have been very destitute of 
adventure. The country all about Sofotca's is "gangalla* 



22 HUNTING AND TRADING IN SOUTH AFRICA. 

(highland), Avith bush simnkled here and there. Plenty 
buffaloes here they tell me, so I shall go and have a shot. I 
have noticed that all the Zulu country that I have yet seen 
has been very stony, so much so that I doubt whether any 
use could be made of it for agricultural pur2:)oses. After I 
passed the Missionary's it was very much more stony than 
before. On Saturday, as usual, it rained. We were still at 
Sofotca's, so I went with several Zulus and Jacob to have a 
shot at the buffaloes. I never saw so many in one place ; 
they were like cattle over the country. We stood on a high 
conical hill, and whichever way we looked we saw game. 
We started to stalk one herd, and on the way started three. 
They were over the hill before I could get a shot. When 
we got to the top of the hill we looked down into a sort of 
ravine, and there saw one bull — and an old one he was too 
— standing looking at us. We — Jacob and I and a Zulu — 
went to one side of the valley, and we sent the Zulus in at 
the other to drive them out. Luckily I had taken my 
station near a tree, too large, however, to climb. Jacob 
was beside me, and the Zulu rather behind. The Zulus 
turned them out. Besides the bull, there were a cow and 
calf lying down. They passed within ten yards of us. I 
fired at the bull — he was last — he fell. I stepped out from 
behind the tree ; he saw me, was up in a moment, and at 
me. I had just time to step behind the tree ; but the poor 
unfortunate Zulu seemed to have lost all presence of mind, 
for he stood till the brute struck him right on the breast 
with his forehead, one horn on one side, and one on the 
other. He dashed almost all the breath out of his body, 
and then passed on and died. I had shot him through the 
lungs. We picked the poor fellow up, with the blood 
running out of his mouth and nose, and carried him home. 



"VAULTING AMBITION DOTH O ERLEAP ITSELF!" 23 

Next day (Sunday) he was better, and I think would do 
well. I had a very narrow escape myself, and was very 
much disgusted, as the Zulus were all on my top for letting 
their brother be made "feely" (dead). The Zulus here 
have a sort of fibrous root which they place on the top of 
their huts, as a charm against lightning. They have some 
peculiar customs : instead of the lover going to see his 
mistress, she comes to him. While here one came from the 
Tugela, a distance of twent}^ miles, to see a young gentle- 
man here. 

From there I started and had a long walk, first to 
Fogoza's, and from there to Makupula's, on the Italia, where 
the Boers and Zulus had a battle. It is on the Ensuse — 
a valley surrounded by steep hills, with rocks on the face, 
as if precipices had been trying to shove themselves through, 
and had only managed it in one or two places. 

While there I had a most peculiar dream — hona-fide. I 
think it must have been suggested to me by a print I saw 
at Jack's of the Christmas tree. I dreamt that we were all 
walking along — the Kafiirs and I — and that in the 2:>ath we 
came to a fig-tree, and that on it there were only two figs, 
but they were such beauties that I determined to secure at 
least one of them. One was at the top of the tree where 
I should have to climb; but though the branches were easy 
to climb, they were so shaken about by the wind that it 
was rather dangerous, as they seemed to be sweeping about 
in all directions, and you were very likely to get swept off. 
The other was near the ground, within reach of your hand; 
but to get to it you had to go through thorns and nettles 
and a great many holes, and as, beside, the one at the top 
looked by far the finest, I determined to try for it. By-the- 
by, I had just noticed that I had ten Kaffirs instead of nine; 



34 HUNTING AND TRADING IN SOUTH AFRICA. 

but I (lid not think much of it at the time, as he (the tenth) 
might be a Zuhi. After a great deal of hard climbing and 
scrapes, and nearly fallings-off, I thought I reached the top 
and plucked the fig, and put it in my mouth; when, lo and 
behold ! it turned to ashes. I descended very much disgusted, 
and was telling the Kaffirs, when the tenth one seemed to 
swell out most marvellously, and thundered out that I had 
chosen the one that looked the fairest; that I had only thought 
it fair because so far out of my reach; that had I chosen the 
one near the ground the thorns would have vanished, the 
holes would have filled up under my feet, and, when reached, 
I would have found it sweet and good; that now, however, 
it was too late — that I must just go on my way hungry. 
I was very much dissatisfied with myself, as may be imagined. 

From Makupula's I started, and reached Machian's. He is 
a famous fellow — a tall, black "Kehla" (top-knotted). I 
drank such a quantity of Kaffir "ionalla" (beer) that, as the 
ladies say, I felt quite giddy. He professed to be a great 
friend of mine, and sold me five head of cattle to prove it. 
Here I saw kraals built of stone. They make good dykes, 
better than I can recollect at home. They also, by some 
means or other, manage to make an exact circle. At Maku- 
pula's they had gone a little out, and were pulling it down 
to make it exact, while I was there. All the country I 
travelled over — bare of a single bush — burn cows' dung as 
fuel. Altogether, however, it was a fine country. I never 
felt better or more jolly than when travelling over it. From 
Machian's I went to a Kaffir called " Bye-and-Bye ;" from 
there to Uhlonte, and from there to Faku's. 

On the road to Faku's, I was told that John had passed 
by the day before on his way back. I don't know how it is, 
I hear of people passing in front of me and past me, and yet 



A SPEAKING ANIMAL 25 

I buy; while the Zulus themselves say they only look at 
them. I buy, I think, pretty well too. I have now 57 
head of cattle, and have been five weeks in the Zulu, and 
hope in another three weeks to turn homeward. 

At Faku's the Zulus were what they called " Fetaing an 
Ecalla," i.e., having a law case. They commenced talking in 
the morning, and carried it on till sunset, and I don't know 
whether they finished it even then. At night, while at Faku's, 
we heard a great noise of men shouting and dogs barking. 
Upon enquiring next day what it was about, I was told that 
they were chasing an " Esedowan." I asked what it was, and, 
to my great astonishment, was told that it was a beast about 
the size of a wolf — rather larger — with a hole in its back 
about the size of a Kaffir basket ; that it only lived upon 
the brains of people, and the way it obtained them was this : 
it would come to the hut-door at night, and say something ; 
for instance, it would tell one of the men that the captain 
wanted him, or ask for something in the hut; and the 
instant he put his head out of the door it would whisk him 
away into the hole in its back, and off to some stone, and 
there dash his brains out ! I endeavoured to convince them 
what nonsense it was ; but Aplain swore it was true, and 
referred me to Makovella, who, he said, had escaped from 
one as it was carrying him off, by clinging to the branch of 
a tree. He also told me to ask the Zulus — which I did at the 
first kraal I came to; when they said one had been killed 
some time before as it was carrying off a boy. It had got 
him in the hole in its back, and was walking him off, when, 
at the gate, it was met by a man, who happened to be 
coming from a distance. He stabbed it, and roused the 
other people, and between them they finished it. After 
this circumstantial evidence, of course it was of no use 



26 HUNTING AND TRADING IN SOUTH AFRICA. 

attempting to convince them what nonsense it was — a beast 
speaking ! I expect it is some goblin story. At night, 
while sleeping, Grout (a Kaffir) slept with me ; something 
came to the cloor of the hut and tried to open it. We 
got up, and, on looking through the door, saw an animal 
which our fears at once magnified into an esedowan. 
Grout got an assegai, and ran it through the door, when a 
great howl convinced us of our mistake. Notwithstanding 
I knew what nonsense it was, I confess I was rather 
frightened. Next morning I started, and had a very hard 
walk to Duabu's, and from there to a kraal on the White 
Umvelose, where I saw a woman with a hole right through 
her nose. A tiger had one night broken into the hut, killed 
two people, and wounded three. She was one of the 
wounded. At Duabu's I saw him thrash one of his people 
with a knob-kerrie, and he very nearly killed him. The 
country about Duabu's is fearfully stony — large masses of 
rock piled together in all sorts of fantastic shapes; as 
Aplain said: " Ponda, don't you see those stones, like a 
kitchen? " He meant they were in the form of a chimney. 
AVolves were about in any quantity. There are a tre- 
mendous quantity of traders in the country; I hear of 
them on all sides of me, and I could not get clear of them, 
whichever way I went. Next day I started, and crossed 
the White Umvelose, and had a very long walk for nothing. 
Not a beast did I buy that day. I saw a man afflicted with 
lockjaw, or something like it, who lived on thick milk and 
porridge, by rubbing it in with his hand. On my road I 
also saw a troop of animals; the Kaffirs called them 
Euhloselis. I could not make out what they. were; they 
were larger than hartebestes — at least I thought so. From 
there I went to Chingwair, near Entabaenkulu (the *' Great 



PANORAMA OF THE ZULU. 27 

Hill "). From there I struck away seawards ; and in the 
afternoon I climbed a hill, and had the most sjilendid view 
I ever witnessed. I sat with my face towards Nodwengo 
(Panda's Palace) : in front of me was the Black Umvelose, 
winding amongst hills and rocks — black with ''hlangi" 
(Mimosa bush) — with a hill the Kaffirs call the "Esehlalo" 
towering above all. To the right was a grazing country, flat, 
and bare of a single tree, with the Black Umvelose, like a 
thread of silver, running through it, Entabaenkulu shutting 
out the view. To the left I saw the sea at a distance of at 
least 70 miles, and the country in that direction was actually 
black with bush everywhere I looked — all flat, except just at 
the sea, where it seemed to rise. The Zulu country must be 
very thinly populated, for the extent ; as, from the hill, I saw 
at least fifty miles on every side, and on the seaward at 
least seventy, and, within my view, I don't think there were 
more than thirty kraals. At the Black Umvelose I saw 
nothing but snakes ; in the morning, climbing a hill, I 
stepped over one in the path, and Jacob, who was behind 
me, tramped on it twice ; it was a little one, and got away. 
About mid-day, while crossing a brook, Umsungulu tramped 
on an Emfesi (water snake); he tramped on it near its head, 
and broke its back : we killed it. In the afternoon, going 
along over the Gangalla, I stej^ped over a Mamba — a black 
one, about a yard long. Umsungulu, who was behind, 
tramped on it ; he sprung away, and alighted just where it 
was going, and tramped on it again. I killed it with a 
stick. In the evening, just as we were crossing the Umve- 
lose, Potassa, who was before me, sung out suddenly — 
" Mei Mame ! " He had tramped on a black Mamba, at 
least ten feet long ; its tail was across the road, and its head 
in a bush. He sprang away, and in doing so took the snake 



28 HUNTING AND TRADING IN SOUTH AFRICA. 

witli liim ; it had twisted its tail round his leg. He looked 
round, and just saw it bringing its head out of the bush 
to bite him ; he flung down his bundle and ran. It alighted 
right on it, and while it was trying to get away, I killed it. 
In the evening, just as we got to the kraal, we heard a 
great noise, and all ran to see, and were just in time to kill 
a Hlangi. All that in one day was pretty fair, I think. 

After leaving Chingwair, I saw Nobeta, the fattest Umum- 
zana I had yet seen in the Zulu country. He would not 
buy, as he said his mother had just died. She had sent for 
the Nyanga (doctor) to find the Tagati (witch). He said his 
mother had started in the morning in good health from a 
kraal, about a mile off, to see him, and that some people 
coming along the road an hour or two after had found her 
dead and rotten! Also, that a man that same morning had 
gone out of the hut to let out the cattle, and a little while 
after some of the people going out had found him within a 
few yards of the kraal, dead and rotten! I don't know what 
to make of it; but I suspect they must have been poisoned. 

At night we slept at an Umumzana's with a most unpro- 
nounceable name, "Cxraw." All Sunday I stayed there, and 
did nothing but get a history of his battles from an old man 
at the kraal. He had been one of Dingaan's army, when 
fighting with Panda, and had gone away with Dingaan to 
Hlatievolo, in the Umserazi. It seems Dingaan sent away 
all his remaining army to carry his goods to where he 
was, intending to start away northward and find another 
country to settle in ; and while they were away the Umserazi 
came on him and killed him, and all that were there. 
The old fellow added that Dingaan just died because he was 
an "Inkosi" (king): he had only one wound, a stab in the 
leg. I noticed a custom the Zulus here have. A man com- 



"BUT IT WAS A GLORIOUS VICTORY!" 29 

ing home kisses all liis wives, a young man his sisters, and 
so on. 

Next day I started and reached the Squebes, a small 
river with a great many alligators in it. It runs through a 
very fine valley belonging to IJmniamana; he is captain of 
the district. In the evening I slept at a kraal, the owner of 
which was covered with scars gained in battles. He had a 
shot in his thigh; it came out at his groin, struck his knee, 
and fell to the ground; he had a scar across his head from 
the butt-end of a gun; these he got from the Boers. His 
shoulder was all scarred from an encounter with a lion. His 
thigh was pierced by a buifalo. His knee was laid open by 
an assegai in the battle between Panda and Dingaan. He 
had a gash down his back, and another through his arm, and 
last of all, he had his arm broken by a shot at Endona 
Gosuku. 

I am still on the Squebes. There is, I think, a fair 
prospect of my goods being finished here. The people 
buy pretty freely. I marched away up the river until I 
came to a large bush the Zulus called the Engome; and 
there, having reduced my stock to four blankets, I turned 
homewards. I sent the Kaffirs back to pick up the cattle, 
and took a turn round myself to finish up my goods. On 
my road I saw at a distance what I thought were two white 
people going naked, but on approaching close I found they 
were white Zulus, the most horrible looking beings I ever 
saw. They were as white as I am, and their bodies were 
covered with red inflamed sores. They had white eyes and 
white hair — one a girl and one a boy. Bege, king of a 
people called the " Amagaons," lived just under the Engome 
before Chaka conquered him — or rather Dingaan — as 
although Chaka began, Dingaan finished him. The Zulus 



30 HUNTING AND TRADING IN SOUTH AFRICA. 

shot him and his people and cattle in the bush, and starved 
the lot. The Zulu country proper is on the N"atal side of 
the Umhlatuse; all the remainder of the now Zulu country 
was occuj)ied by different kings till Chaka conquered them 
all. On returning to Cxraw's I learned that two people had 
been killed at his kraal while I was away. They were 
accused of killing Nobeta's mother. Also, at a kraal a few 
miles off, the Zulus had a fight amongst themselves, and 
fourteen were killed, besides the two at Cxraw's. There 
were eight others killed in different places, and all because 
an old woman died. Nobeta himself must be at least sixty 
years old. At Cxraw's Emjuba fell sick — a sort of fever — 
and one of the cattle broke out of the kraal at night and fell 
over a precipice; and as it was unable to proceed, I had to stop 
five days there. The second day one of the Zulus in the 
bush found a buck just killed by the tiger. He brought it 
to the kraal. I took it back and set the gun for it. I had 
not left half-an-hour before we heard the report, and on 
going back to look we found master tiger stretched out 
before the gun with a bullet through his head. I skinned 
it, and took great pains, intending to send it home. Cxraw 
gave me a small beast for killing it. On the Tuesday we 
started from there — Emjuba still very sick — and crossed the 
Black Umvelose on our way home. We slept at the hut 
where they had killed one of the Tagati's, and learned that 
ten of his relatives had fled a day or two ago for Natal. 
Next day we came to the place where the Euhloseli's were. 
I had only one shot left, which I kept religiously for them. 
I tried to stalk one, and after getting within about one 
hundred yards, had the satisfaction of seeing it whisk up its 
tail and off like the wind. The Zulus tell me that Panda 
now is killing a great many people — so many, that Cetsh-^vyo 



FINANCIAL RESULTS OF THE TEIP. 31 

has remonstrated with him, saying that he will drive all the 
people over to Natal. 

I am now on my way home. This is my eighth Sunday in 
the Zulu. I don't know Avhat sort of trip I have made; I 
^m afraid not a very good one. I have 78 head of cattle 
clear, after paying the Kaffirs, for .£50 worth of goods. They 
are all large cattle — most of them cows. Beckoning the cows 
at £2 each, I have about XI 20 worth over: if I get tliat I 
shall be well satisfied; but I am afraid I have been very "green" 
all throughout. I had bad goods — large beads, and not good 
blankets — and trade was so very bad at the beginning that I 
got frightened, and bought at very high prices; if I had 
gone on to where I had finished my goods, I think I should 
have had 100 head of cattle. To-day I noticed that one of 
the cattle I bought at the Squebes coughed A^ery much. I 
asked the Kaffirs about it, and they said it had coughed in 
that way from the first. They also said that they thought it 
was "Nakau," a sickness that will finish off a herd in no time. 
Altogether they so frightened me that I determined on killing 
it, which I did, and found it was ill with what they called 
" Embela," not "Nakau." I asked the Zulus the symptoms of 
"Nakau," and they told me that a beast with that disease 
just pined away and died, but never coughed. I did pitch 
into the Kaffirs for humbugging me ! I lost my pencil here. 
I am very glad to get back to the store- again. — Yours truly, 
David Leslie. 



A ZULU FORAY. 

(ilACMiLLAN'S MAGAZINE, October, 1861.) 



True, 'tis pity ; pity 'tis, 'tis true. 



" Imagine yourself, my dear Bob, after having toiled for 
an hour up the sunny side of a South African hill, among 
stones and sand, trees and rank undergrowth, holes and 
ant-heaps, with the sun beating on your back until it almost- 
calcines your vertebrae and fries your spinal marrow, not 
a breath of wind to cool the super-heated air, not a sound to- 
disturb the stagnant atmosphere, except the laborious, 
breathing of your Kaffir attendants, and now and then the 
rustle of some snake or lizard hastening to hide itself from 
man, the destroyer — imagine yourself, I say, arrived at the 
summit at last. What a glorious breeze ! What a lovely 
prospect ! How cool, how delicious ! You feel as if all 
nature were re-animated. 

" You look down before you and see a country covered 
with black mimosa trees, appearing even more dark and 
rugged because it lies in the deep shade of the lofty 
mountain on which you stand. Beyond that again the land 
rises on all sides ; the trees are scattered in picturesque 
clumps ; and the same sun which you had felt to be an 
unmitigated torture on the other side, now enhances the 
beauty of the prospect, by enabling you to mark the strik- 
ing difference between the bright and happy-looking country 



AN UNREASONABLE INTERLOCUTOR. 33 

behind, and the dark gloomy valley in front. On the 
right you have hills and valleys, rivers and j^lains, kraals, 
kloofs and trees, until the view is bounded by the Drack- 
ensberg mountains. On the left you have the same 
description of landscape, with the sea in the distance, 
looking bright and ethereal, as if — as if " 

" ' As if ! As if ! ' — So you have got out of your depth 
at last, have you 1 Well, that's one comfort, at any rate. 
I asked you what he said, and hmv he told it, and you bolt 
off into a rambling, ranting description of country, that I 
can neither make head nor tail of. Now, what did he tell 
you?" 

" Well, confound it, I was just coming to that," said I, 
by no means pleased with the interruption ; ^' but, since 
you're in such an unreasonable hurry, I'll give in to your 
whim and tell you, without any more preface. I turned 
to go down the hill, expecting to get some ' mealies ' and 
milk at the next kraal." 

" Did he say that ? " 

" No, of couise he didn't." 

" Oh ! I beg your pardon — go on — " 

" Come now, none of yo2ir nonsense — no sarcasm, or no 
story." 

"As I was saying, I felt as if the slightest sensation 
of dinner would not come amiss, and the smallest donation 
in that way, even although it was only a few mealies, was 
sure to be most thankfully received. So I made for a kraal 
at a little distance off, intending to stay over night there, 
but found, on reaching it, that there was no room, and 
nothing wherewithal to refresh my inner man. This, al- 
though at the moment very provoking, proved in the sequel 
to be a very fortunate circumstance, as it compelled me to 

D 



34 A ZULU FORAY. 

move farther on, and had thus the effect of bringing me 
into contact with an old warrior, who gave me the best 
description I have ever heard of a Zulu foray into the terri- 
tory of a neighbouring potentate. Indeed, I quite despair 
of being able to give it to you with anything like the effect 
of the original delineator. You know too well the extraor- 
dinary descriptive powers of the Kaffirs, their natural 
eloquence and expressive action, to expect that. But, when 
you consider the external circumstances — the mise en sdne, 
so to speak — ^you will at once perceive the impossibility of 
my being able to give you anything but an outline of the 
word-picture. 

" Imagine the scene — a Kaffir kraal, with the the dramatis 
jpersoncB, consisting" of the old warrior, your humble servant, 
and about a dozen of Zulus, congregated round a fire in the 
open air — time, night ; the occasional growl of the tiger, and 
howl of the hyena, speaking through the stillness, and the 
fitful gleams of the fire lighting uj) the dark countenances 
of the savages. Imagine, too, the effect on the wild, im- 
pulsive natures of the native listeners, alternately swayed 
by the different emotions of hoj)e and fear, as the speaker 
unfolded his ' strange eventful history.' You may perhaps 
be disposed to smile, when I tell you that even I, usually so 
cool, was, while I heard and looked, almost as excited as 
they were ; that I felt every reverse of the Zulus almost as 
a personal calamity ; and that when the narrator came to 
the triumphant denouement, my feelings were so acute and 
raised to such a pitch, that I almost started up from the 
ground and shouted for joy, in sympathy with the stalwart 
warriors around me ! It would, of course, be absurd in me 
to hope, for a moment, that my recital at second-hand, and 
under circumstances so comparatively tame, can produce a 



A ZULU "MARK ANTONY." 35 

like impression. No matter ; I shall endeavour to give you 
the story as I heard it, and, making due allowances for the 
want of scenic effect and the imperfections of translation, 
I trust it may still be interesting to you. Thus, then, 
the veteran began : — 

" A great many years ago, just after Dingaan became our 
king, our captain, Umniamana, called his head men toge- 
ther ; and, after we were full of meat and angry with beer, 
he said, ' My father was a great chief, and I am a great 
chief ; are you not all my children, and ought I not to feed 
you and kill oxen, so that all the Zulu may say, Umniamana 
is a king ; every day he kills his cattle, and gives to his 
people — we will go and join him ; he alone in this land is a 
^reat captain — he is a lion ! he is the man that is black ? 

" We admitted it. 

" ' But how can I give you meat, if I have no oxen ? 
How can my young men and girls get milk, if I have no 
cows ? We are at peace ; we are becoming women. Sur- 
rounding nations will say that we are no longer warriors, 
but women : we fight no more, but dig the ground ; our 
assegais have become hoes, our men have no hearts ! Is it 
to be so 1 Shall the Umswazi herd their cattle in our sight, 
and we Zulus not take them ? Say ! Answer me ! are we 
to hide our heads for the strength that is gone, or shall we 
cross the river and show to our enemy that we are Zulus, 
not me7i (cravens) T 

" My ears are old, and many sounds have entered them 
since then; but the shout of mingled rage and defiance, 
that answered our chief's words, still rings in my ears. 
When I think of the great warriors and the wise men that 
were there assembled, and the deeds that they afterwards 
did ; I say, when the thought of these things comes in my 



36 A ZULU FORAY. 

mind — if it were not that the tears of a man are far away — 
I could weep to think that I am the last of them. I have 
lived too long, because I have lived to see the degeneracy 
of my race. 

" The chief's speech had kindled the war spirit in our 
warriors' minds ; and, after all had agreed to take the cattle 
of the Umswazi, the evening passed away in rejoicings, 
caused by the knowledge that the young men Avould have 
the opportunity of proving themselves heroes worthy to be 
subjects of our great king — our lion ! 

" The intended expedition was kept secret from the 
nation, as it was the wish of Umniamana that ours alone 
should be the risk, and ours alone the glory ; and accord- 
ingly, on the appointed day, his own people assembled in 
the valley, and on counting them it was found that we 
numbered only three regiments ; whereupon some of the 
old men wished to get help from Segetwaio, our neighbour- 
ing chief. Umniamand rose ; Umniamand spoke ; and his 
words were like the firebrand applied to dry grass in winter. 
* Were the Umswazi more than one nation, and were not 
we three regiments 1 And who among us was afraid of 
encountering a whole nation with one Zulu regiment ? 
How many men did it take to drive a herd of cattle 1 The 
Umswazi were dogs that should be made to eat the offal of 
the Zulus ! ' He was a great man, our captain ; as he 
wished, so we did ; as he motioned, so we went ; if he 
commanded, then we died ! 

" We marched towards the enemy's country ; we thirsted, 
yet we marched ; we hungered, yet we marched. On and 
on we went, determined to quench our thirst with Umswazi 
water, and satisfy our hunger with Umswazi cattle. 

" I need not tell you how they fled at our aj^proach ; 



THE DREAM OF KING DINGAAN. 37 

how the name of Zuhi caused their hearts to die ; how tlie 
name of Umniamana caused their women to weep ! We 
gathered their cattle Hke stones off the ground ; and the 
smoke of their kraals obscured the land ! 

" Onwards and onwards we went ; oftentimes hearing 
the lowing of their oxen far beneath us ; they had retreated 
to their holes in the earth, like wolves as they were, and 
had taken their cattle with them.* 

" One night we had encamped on a hill, with our spoils 
in the midst, when there came a I'unner from our great 
father, our king, who ever thinks of the welfare of his 
children, and he said, ' Listen to the words of the Lion 
of the Zulus ! — I have heard that some of my people have 
gone to war without my knowledge ; I have heard that a great 
captain of mine has led them ; but I forgive both them and 
him, because I have dreamed a dream, and my great bro- 
ther — he that is dead — appeared to me ; and his words 
were partly good and partly evil. He said, " It is I that 
have kindled the war-flame amongst your warriors on the 
Pongola; it is I that have induced Umniamand to lead 
them ; and now I come to warn you of their danger. The 
Umswazi have found that their number is small, and the 
nation is roused to attack them. Quick, then, send them 
word, or the cattle that would be yours will return to their 
caves ; and the women of the Zulus will hoe mealies in vain, 
for there will be no one to eat them." 

" These were the words of Chaka, my brother ; and mine 
to you are, ' Be watchful, be wary ; sleej) not, till you come 
back — return victorious, or return not at all ! ' 

* There are many caves in the Umswazi country, and among 
them one so large, that the whole nation with their cattle took 
refuge in it during a great raid of the Zulus into their country. 



38 A ZULU FORAY. 

" The message of the king was ended. Those who were 
to watch took their posts, and those who coukl sleep Lay 
down with anxious hearts, wishing the dawn wouki come, 
so that they might go their way. The words of our father 
troubled the chief, and he slept not at all. 

" At the break of day we sprang up, and, behold, it was 
true what the king had dreamed ! Danger was before us 
— danger in ten thousand, thousand shapes ! * The hill on 
which we slept sloj)ed gently down towards a deep brook, 
and on the other side was a large grassy plain, which was 
black with people. The Umswazi were there ; they were 
more in number than the grass — they covered it. 

" I have said before that we were three regiments, each 
about one thousand people ; two of these were boys, but 
the one I belonged to were warriors indeed — Umniamana's 
own regiment. All of us had wounds to show, and all on 
our breasts. The two younger he posted, one at each 
ford of the brook, and his own he kept on the hill as a 
reserve. 

" The enemy crossed the river ; they attacked the young 
men ; they came like a cloud of locusts in summer, and our 
regiments were like to be eaten up by the swarm. Nearer 
and nearer they came, still fighting, still struggling. What 
deeds of valour were done 1 AVith what determination 
they fought ! The Umswazi slipped and fell in their own 
blood, and he who slipped died. Still up the hill they came 
— our brave young men contending every inch of the way — 
and, still as they came, we sat and sharpened our assegais, 
and said not a word ; not a face moved, not a limb faltered. 

* The Zulus have no number to express so many ; but I have 
translated in this way some figurative expression relating to 
an extraordinary quantity. 



THE TURN OF THE BATTLE. 39 

" Then up spoke Umniamana and said, ' My children 1 
you see how this is ; you see our enemy coming nearer and 
nearer ; my young men cannot stop them. You know that, 
in coming here for cattle, we came without the sanction 
of the king. You remember our father's message, " Eeturn 
victorious, or return not at all." But in this attempt I alone 
have led you. I alone induced you to come. Go, there- 
fore, while there is yet time ; cross the hill, and depart ; 
mine alone will be the blame with the king. Go, then, my 
children; escape death; but, as for me, I will stay here!' 
And he folded his arms and sat down. We sprang up 
(the old savage gasped with excitement) — we sprang up as 
one man, we clashed our shields together, we shook our 
assegais in the air, and we shouted from the bottom of our 
hearts, ' Stay, chief, stay ! we will not go ; we will bear 
you company. If we are to die, let us die together ; but 
never shall it be said that a Zulu army turned before Um- 
swazi's while one man remained to show front ! ' 

" And we sat down, calm and black, like the thunder- 
cloud before it bursts. Our chief replied — 

" ' That is well with such warriors. How can we die 1 ' 

" Still the Umswazi came up the hill ; nearer and nearer 
came the mixed throng of warriors, their path black with 
bodies, and red with blood, until they came so close that we 
could distinguish their faces. Then ! then ! upon them 
we went, thundering down the hill 1 The cloud had burst, 
and they saw the lightning flash, which next moment anni- 
hilated them. Friend and foe, foe and friend, in one 
indiscriminate mass of struggling, shrieking fiends we drove 
them before us ; we carried them on our assegais, we 
brained them with the poles of our shields, we walked over 
the brook on their bodies ! A panic had seized them ; 



40 A ZULU FORAY. 

iind the plain, which in the morning was black with living 
people, two days after was white with their bones. 

*' Slowly we returned, glad for our victory, but sorrowing 
for the friends who were slain ; and, leaving the crows to 
bury the dead, we commenced our homeward march with 
the spoil. 

" We crossed the boundary, and everywhere were met 
by the rejoicings of the people. Xo moaning for dead men 
was there ; they had died in their duty ; they had died for 
their king, who liberally gave to his people the cattle we 
had brought, which were so great in number that no ten 
men could stop them at a ford. 

" On arrival at the king's kraal, our father killed cattle 
for us, gave us beer to drink, and gave us permission to 
marry, as we had earned it by our deeds. The day we 
spent in dancing and feasting, and in the evening we fought 
our battles over again, as I have now been doing to you." 

Note. — The Zulu style of speaking is very sententious : they 
bring out their remarks in jerks ; such as, " Our king is great" — 
** Our king is black " — " Terrible to look at " — "Great in war," &c. 



KAFFIR "DOCTORS." 

SOUTH AFRICAN SPIRITUALISM. 

(Glasgow Heralk. May, 1862.) 

A GOOD grievance has become a necessary to an Englishman's 
existence ; and " John Grumlie " may therefore be looked 
upon as a representative man. This phase of character 
shows itself in a thousand ways ; but as this paper is not 
intended to be an essay on that subject, I shall be excused 
from entering into it, further than to refer to one exemj^li- 
fication of it, which, to a certain extent, has been the 
impelling cause of my writing the following paper. We 
have all of us either personally experienced, or heard our 
friends complain, of " the most miserable day in my life, 
which I spent in Wales," or " that horribly wretched day 
in the Highlands," when in a lonely country inn, with a 
howling wind and a pouring rain, without society, and with 
nothing to read but an old Almanac, a " Ready-Reckoner," 
a Times' Supplement a week old, and one of those lively 
and entertaining tracts, which seem always to be dropping 
from the clouds, where and when nobody wants them. 
Well, I admit that this sort of thing must be very wretched 
to any man of a suicidal turn of mind. But in order to 
fully comprehend the idea of utter loneliness, let your 
grumbler transport himself to South Africa, and in a 
waggon, hundreds of miles away from civilisation, with next 
to nothing to read, and none but savages as companions, 
and ten to one but we should hear nothing more of his 



42 KAFFIR DOCTORS. 

petty grievances. In such a position did I find myself in 
the Zuhi country not very long ago. I had, unfortunately, 
mislaid or lost my books, and was reduced to a few numbers 
of " All the Year Round," containing a portion of Bulwer 
Lytton's " Strange Story," and as it was very incomplete, 
having neither beginning nor end, I had a fine opportunity 
opened up to me for exercising my imagination in filling up 
the hiatus, which, I must confess, afforded me considerable 
amusement. I wondered whether Fenwick would, as usual, 
wake up and find it was all a dream, or whether by some 
steady, practical adaptation of electro-biology, animal 
magnetism, or what not, it will be all explained at last ; 
and, giving imagination and conjecture full play, with the 
lielp of the smoke from my pipe, I built quite a beautiful 
" castle in the air," which, like many other " things of 
beauty," ended in smoke 1 

But this, on Mrs Nickleby's " association of ideas " prin- 
ci23le, set me to thinking on some things, bordering on the 
supernatural, which have come under my own observation 
in this land of utter savagedom y'clept " the Zulu ; " and I 
set them down to wile away the weary hours, without, 
however, having the vanity to suppose that, strange and 
unaccountable as my narrative may be, it can, like the 
literary " Icenhae," imperatively draw the reader to its 
perusal. But I would ask him to apply some of Jules 
Fabre's practical philosophy to the solution of the various 
wonders, juggles, or facts of my " strange story." I feel a 
considerable amount of timidity in beginning this narration, 
because I am fully aware of the feeling of incredulity, and 
even contempt, with which such subjects are received by a 
very large body of readers who make broad their literary 
and intellectual phylacteries, pride themselves on their 



AN APOLOGY AND A VINDICATION. 43 

superior intelligence, and laugh to scorn such " old wives' 
fables," as they are pleased to term them. Whatever may 
be thought of it by the reader, I conscientiously declare 
that it is written in sober earnest — no romance ; no mere 
foundation only on fact, with an imaginary superstructure ; 
no attempt to foist " travellers' tales " on a credulous 
public ; but a plain, straightforward declaration of facts 
which occurred within my own knowledge and experience. 

If it wants that easy flow of language which adds so much 
grace to the writings of our popular litterateurs; if it be not 
embellished by gems of learning or deep thought ; if it do 
not sparkle with racy narrative or witty dialogue ; if I can- 
not fill out this short story with philosophical treatises, 
vivid descrijitions, and startling sensational incidents — yet, 
because I shall " a plain, unvarnished tale deliver," and 
shall " tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the 
truth," I confidently ask for it a candid perusal and a gen- 
erous consideration from those who are not afraid of the 
truth, however plainly it may be told, and however strange 
it may seem, even in these days of wonders and surprises ; 
and let my Lord Hamlet's sage diditm be kept in mind, 
" There are stranger things in nature than are dream't of in 
our philosophy ! " 

Amongst the Kaffirs of South Africa there are certain indi- 
viduals known colloquially as " Doctors," but whose powers, 
whether really possessed or merely attributed, vary very 
greatly — from the curing of a cut finger to the concocting 
of a love philter or a deadly poison — and who also pretend 
to the attributes of the j^ythoness, the old Highland spae- 
wife, and all that " clamjamphray " who profess to tell, 
with exact precision, what will happen to-morrow, next day, 
or the day after, and who always make the generally vain 



44 KAPFIR DOCTORS. 

request that the " anxious inquirer " make his arrangements 
accordingly. 

The first time I heard 'anything of the power which these 
Kaffir " Doctors " exercise over the native mind, was when 
one of my Kaffir servants had the sum of ten shilHngs stolen 
from him, while in my service. Of course, as may be ima- 
gined, the hullaballoo was something awful. " Oh ! master, 
I'm dead ; my heart is dead ; my strength is gone ; that 
for which I have expended my life has been taken from 
me ;" and other ejaculations he kept giving vent to contin- 
ually. In plain English, somebody had prigged his month's 
wages. 

In answer to his wailing appeal to me, I told him to go 
down to the Magistrate and have the matter investigated, 
which he did, more to please me, however, than from any 
faith he had in the result, and after being assured that he 
is in no danger, and will have nothing to pay — an important 
consideration with Kaffirs. In two or three hours he 
comes back very disconsolate, accompanied by a Kaffir 
policeman, who has been despatched by his superior officer 
to make the necessary inquiries, and who does so with a 
perfectly careless air and demeanour, as one who considers 
his mission altogether useless, speaking and looking as if he 
thought it "served him right" for not taking better care 
of his money, rather than as an officer deputed to protect 
the lives and property of her Majesty's lieges in the colony 
of Natal from depredations, losses, "hame-sucken" or raid. 
The sufferer himself seems as if devoid of hope, stricken 
helpless and hopeless, by the, to him, great loss : for the 
Kaffirs are a very avaricious lot. 

Then a white policeman comes, a stolid, respectable friend 
of mine; which places the victim in a worse condition, as he 



A KAFFIR POLICEMAN. 45 

is deprived of the "sweet sorrow" of relating and talking- 
over the particulars of his misfortune — whether it was white 
or red money that he had lost; whether it was tied round his- 
neck or his waist ; who he got it from ; hoAV long he had 
possessed it ; and what he intended doing with it. He is 
perfectly impervious to the well-meant but ill-understood or 
appreciated consolations of the " Bobby/' which generally 
run to the effect that it is, or will be, " all right ; " and he- 
is quite sceptical as to any great detective powers in our 
friend, whom he only recognises by having seen him on 
Saturday afternoons at the Volunteer band performance,, 
wearing a tiger skin in front, and beating the big drum. 

After all this, I must beg that your readers consider 
themselves served by an awfully hypochondriacal Kaffir for 
a couple of days — one who might well say with Burns, so. 
keenly does he feel it — 

" Oppressed with grief, oppressed with care, 
A burden more than 1 can bear, 

I sit me down and sigh ! " 

Until at last you get so disgusted with the fellow that you 
feel inclined either to make him a present of the ten shil- 
lings, or give him a jolly good kicking, and send him about 
his business. 

About six o'clock of the morning after the event I called 
out " Csesar ! " Csesar, from the next room, answers 
" Swae 1 " (Sir.) " My bath ready 1 " " All light, Swae !'' 
I then get up, shove on my " continuations," or entre nous, 
perhaps do without them, as the neighbourhood is not by 
any means thickly inhabited, and off I go for my " wallow." 
As I am luxuriating in cold water, it strikes me suddenly 
that something has come over Csesar, for he is actually 



46 KAFFIR DOCTORS. 

chirping like a "black nightingale, with alternate grunts, as 
of a prize pig — which, allow me to inform you, is the very 
perfection of Kaffir melody — and, of course, I immediately 
conclude that he has found his " life's blood," his " heart's 
darling," or in plain words, his ten shillings — that he is 
now, figuratively, killing his fatted calf over his prodigal 
" tin ; " and, if you are a stranger in the land, and still in 
your bath, thereby being prevented from seeing Caesar's opera- 
tions, you may conclude, from an occasional squeal in his 
song, that the custom is the same amongst the natives here 
^s it was in Israel of old, only the animals differ — the 
Kaffir's calf being a j^iff- 

Being amused at the sudden change in Caesar's spirits, I 
ask him, " Caesar, what's the matter 1 " He answers, 
" Nutting, Swae." I ejaculate, " Oh ! " and then the dia- 
logue ends. But, notwithstanding his jjvo forma denial of 
anything having happened to him, I find on after inquiry 
that some friend of his has been kind enough to lend him 
a shilling, and with that amount of currency he is going to 
the " Doctor," from whom he expects to learn, without the 
slightest doubt on his part, what has become of his missing 
treasure. 

Hereupon ensues argument and expostulation, and a few 
observations as to the value of information derived from 
such a source ; but nothing shakes him in his belief that he 
is now in the right road, and will certainly recover his 
money ; and so you let him go. 

In the evening Caesar's voice is again heard in the kitchen, 
and inquiry as to his success immediately follows ; and he 
then recounts to you a long rigmarole of what the " Doctor " 
said to him : — " You come from a house on a hill." " Your 
master is a young man." " You come to inquire about 



DANGEROUS POWER OF THE KAFFIR DOCTORS. 47 

some money of yours which has been stolen," &c., &c., all of 
which, however, may very easily have been known, in the 
ordinary way, to the " Doctor," as the theft has been the 
talk of the hlack neighbourhood ever since its occurrence. 
But the result of it all is that the Kaffir is quite confident 
he will have his money again in a few days. 

I must request your readers to remember that all this talk 
and argument has not been confined to two or three peoj)le, 
but has been the topic of the day, and night too, amongst all 
the Kaffirs within visiting distance. 

Two days after, Caesar brings his recovered treasure to 
show me, in a state of great triumph and jubilation, stating 
that he had found it at his feet on awaking that morning ! 

This shows, in a two-fold manner, the great power over 
the native mind possessed by these " Doctors." Eminently 
pernicious is this power, and eminently dangerous are these 
so-called " Doctors," who claim, and to whom is attributed, 
without question, by the superstitious Kaffirs, the power of 
bringing to light, and home to the criminal, by supernatural 
means, any theft, murder, robbery, &c. And not only this, 
but they also claim to be able to prophesy things to come ; 
to commune with the spirits of departed friends of natives 
applying to them ; and they are constantly telling their 
dupes that the sickness with which they may be afflicted ; 
the non-success they have met with in hunting ; or, in 
short, any ill with which they are, or imagine themselves to 
be afflicted, is caused by the restlessness of their father, 
their mother, or their uncle, who requires an ox to be 
slaughtered ere his or her restless spirit can lie quiet in the 
grave. All this, of course, involves a Doctor's fee. 

By the way, I may mention that the Kaffirs believe that 
after death their spirits turn into a snake, which they call 



48 KAFFIR DOCTORS. 

" Ehlos^/' and that every living man has two of these 
familiar spirits — a good and a bad. When everything they 
undertake goes wrong with them, such as hunting, cattle- 
breeding, &c., they say they know that it is their enemies 
who are annoying them, and that they are only to be 
appeased by sacrificing an animal ; but when everything 
prospers, they ascribe it to their good Ehlos6 being in the 
ascendant. 

Now, can any of your readers . find any analogy in this 
creed, so far as it goes, to any other 1 I fancy there would 
be little difficulty in such an investigation. 

The Kaffir Doctors also profess to be able to tell what 
any person at a distance is doing at the moment of 
inquiry, and also the precise spot where he may be at the 
time ; and really some of their performances in that way 
are positively marvellous, and would put to the blush the 
Davenports and Homes, who have been astonishing the 
enlightened white man for so long. I shall subsequently 
endeavour to show this wonderful power of theirs in two 
cases, selected from many equally astonishing, which I 
might have quoted. But by far the most pernicious attri- 
bute claimed by the Doctors, and universally believed in 
and admitted by the natives, is that of detecting witches 
and witchcraft. This, like Sir Peter Laurie with suicide, 
has been " put dow^n " by the British Government in the 
colony ; but when I inform your readers that under inde- 
pendent chiefs it is in full sway, and that in savage and 
independent tribes, such as the Zulu, no person is ever 
believed to have died a natural death, unless in battle or in 
a row, and not always even then, but must have been " done 
to death " by witchcraft, which these Doctors are employed 
to ferret out; it will easily be perceived w^hat an immense 



DISCOMFORTS OF TRAVELLING IN THE ZULU. 49 

power for evil they exercise. I have seen all this and 
deeply regretted it, as everyone must do vrhen they become 
acquainted with the results. But, nevertheless, I have seen 
so many instances of the occult powers or sagacity of these 
extraordinary men, that I have sometimes half-fancied that 
they had a familiar spirit — a Puck or a Robin Goodfellow 
— ^which kept them aic courant of matters hidden from mortal 
ken, and brought to them intelligence of everything which 
had happened, or was going to happen, within a radius of 
hundreds of miles. And, as an apology for a vindication of 
this weakness of mine, I proceed to give some more serious 
experiences than the first I have submitted to your readers. 

Some years ago I had occasion to travel beyond the 
boundary of the colony of Natal, in a country where the 
Kaffirs' savage nature and the Kaffirs' savage king ruled 
rampant. When, so far from being able to "take mine 
ease in mine inn," I considered myself fortunate if by 
chance I arrived at a kraal (or Kaffir village), where the 
usual concomitants of Kaffir domesticity only allowed you 
to take your uneasy rest in a private house, or rather hut, 
and where even these equivocal havens of rest were so few* 
and far between, and the country so infested with wild 
animals, that I was glad to pay almost any price, and 
submit to almost any amount of inconvenience, for the 
privilege of shelter. 

I had arrived at a kraal just as it was growing dark ; 
and from the top of the hill I noticed that there was an 
unusual commotion — many fires and many people passing to 
and fro. Being rather anxious about my accommodation 
for the night I pressed on, and on arriving at my destina- 
tion was surprised at finding that, instead of the usual 
greetings and boisterous welcome, no one spoke to me or 

E 



50 KAFFIR EOCTORS. 

noticed me in any way. I need not say that I felt annoyed 
at this cool reception, it was so unusual, as at a Zulu kraal 
you are always welcomed with hearty salutations ; but if, 
like the auld Hielan wife, " She disna mak' ony sharge " 
for the hospitality, it is expected, and you generally have 
to "pay for your whistle" in the shape of a handsome present 
at parting. 

At last, on becoming urgent for lodging and something 
to eat, I was told that I could not be attended to or allowed 
sleej)ing room, as a great " Doctress " from Natal, with all 
her suite, was there staying for the night, en route to King 
Panda, by whom she had been summoned to prescribe for 
him in some trifling illness, and to counteract the spells of 
his enemies, to which, of course, he ascribed his illness. 

One part of the duty which she was expected to perform 
rather amused me, although it was related with all imagin- 
able gravity. 

The Zulus in the north-east had been very greatly 
annoyed by lions, which had during that season appeared in 
great numbers, killing the people and the cattle ; and, as I 
stated before, nothing of this kind, or death by sickness, is 
ever allowed to arise from natural causes. It had been told 
the king that certain powerful Doctors amongst the Ama- 
tongas — the tribe bordering on the north-east — had cast 
spells over the lions, and despatched them into Zululand to 
destroy the people and cattle of the king. 

This the Natal Doctress, being of great repute — a black 
" Dr Mary Walker " in fact — was expected to counteract — 
exorcise the bad Ehlose of the Amatongas, remove the spell 
which caused the king's sickness, and send the lions back to 
their original habitat. Both of these objects, I afterwards 
heard, were effected ; although the most probable way of 



PORTRAIT OF A KAFFIR AVITCH-EXORCIST. 51 

4iccounting for it was that, the approach of summer causing 
the game to go inland for ''pastures green/' the lions 
" followed suit " as a matter of course, while the inability 
to eat and drink — in fact, a little wholesome starvation — 
had restored the king's appetite and health. 

I decided at last on appealing to this great lady for a hut 
for the night ; and, knowing that she would be all-powerful, 
I took my measures accordingly. To my surprise, however, 
she needed no bribing, but received me, metaphorically, with 
open arms, and said that " as we were fellow-subjects of 
Queen Victoria, she would procure me the usual hospitality." 

I have never in my life seen such a horrible-looking being 
as this woman w^as. In height she was about the middle 
size, and very fat. From her ankles to the calf of the leg 
was wrapped round with the entrails of a cow, or some animal 
of the kind, filled w^ith fat and blood. Then came the 
usual petticoat, made of hide, secured and embroidered with 
lions' and tigers' teeth, snakes' bones, beads, round bulb- 
looking things, little buck horns, and such-like savage 
bijouterie ; round the loins was one mass of entrails, snake 
skeletons, medicine bags, roots, human and other teeth, 
brass buttons, and wire. The body was tattooed all over, 
and smeared with red and black earth ; round the neck was 
a repetition of the above " ornaments." The hair was long 
and smeared with all sorts of abominations, with a stuffed 
snake round the forehead by way of decoration ; a tiger 
skin hung down her back, with the grinning physog. showing 
over her head, and the head of the snake peering, with a 
startling lifelikeness, out of its mouth. And, "oh! ye gods 
and little fishes," didn't she sm — 1 — ahem ! 

Keeping at a respectful distance — which was necessary 
under the circumstances — I entered into a conversation with 



52 KAFFIR DOCTORS. 

my lady friend, and I confess with sorrow that I was so 
unpoHte, or impohtic rather, as to commence " chaffing " 
her about the powers she claimed. The argument lasted a 
long time, and at last she promised me that I should have 
instances of her power ere long, which would completely 
convince me. She would not condescend on particulars, 
but simply said that I would recognise her hand in the 
matter, as I sJwitJd go out of the country vAthout a com]7anion 
or a hoof of cattle I This I laughed at, saying she might 
bribe or frighten my companions (my Kaffir servants) away, 
and might induce them or others to steal my cattle. But I 
had soon cause to wish that I had never seen or spoken to 
her, as, by a coincidence as strange as it was unpleasant, 
her words came true. 

r give these experiences as instances of the power which 
these Doctors possess over the native mind. No arguments 
will have the slightest effect in counteracting the wildest 
speech or threat; and everything which happens afterwards, 
which is at all out of the common, is at once twisted and 
turned so as to be evidence in favour of the Nyanga's 
(doctor's) power. 

We were very hospitably treated that night — coffee and 
wine were amongst our protectress' stores — and I j^arted 
from her in the morning with a laughing reminder of her 
promise of the night before. The only answer I got was in 
English, "All right!" 

We had scarcely travelled five miles when one of my men 
pointed out a herd of buffalo a little way off the road, and 
it was immediately decided that we should try and kill one. 
Leaving two natives with the cattle, we started. We could 
see two of the animals standing in a capital position, just 
below a clump of thick bush, which afforded us cover to 



KAFFIRS KILLED BY BUFFALO AND ALLIGATOR. ,53 

<}reep round. I told -one of my people to go one way and 
stand by a tree, about three or four feet from the clump, 
but hidden from the buffalo, while I went in the other 
-direction and took the first shot. Thus far all went well. 
I got pretty close, fired, and dropped one. Directly I fired 
the rest of the herd started out of the clump in all direc- 
tions, and one of them charged right out at the man at the 
tree and '' pinned " him before he could look round or 
make the slightest effort to escape. I was terribly shocked 
at this fatal termination to our day's sport ; but never for 
■one moment did the prophecy of the Doctress cross my 
mind. Not so with my Kaffirs, however, for they looked 
particularly queer, although such *' trifles" don't usually 
disturb their equanimity; and while they said nothing to 
me, I could perceive that they discussed the occurrence long 
and seriously among themselves. 

All went well again after that for a couple of days, with 
the exception that the cattle took the hoof sickness, and could 
only travel very slowly, and with long intervals of rest. 

On the third day we had to cross a river famed for alliga- 
tors. The water was a little high, up to our waists, and 
flowing rapidly over slippery stones. The drift, or ford, 
was pretty good, but just below there was a deep pool. In 
crossing, one of the cattle turned down the river drinking, 
when one of the Kaffirs took two or three rapid steps to 
turn it, but, unfortunately, missed his footing, and in a 
second was shouting for help and splashing in the deep pool 
below. He was not more than three yards from us, and I 
was reaching out a stick to him, when suddenly his arms 
were thrown up with a yell, there was a swirl in the water, 
something like a log appeared for a moment, and — the poor 
fellow was gone ! 



54 KAFFIR DOCTORS. 

We remained staring at one another for two or three 
seconds, then ont we went, helter-skelter, as best we could. 
Not a word was spoken by the Kaffirs for several hours ;. 
and when I tried to break through their taciturnity, which 
made me feel rather miseralile, I could elicit no response. 

At last, without any preface, one of them got up and 
said, " Let us go home." " Yes," I said, " that is just 
what I want — let us go." Still, I never thought of the 
Doctress ; but the Kaffirs did, and it appeared that when 
they said, " Let us go home," they meant to go without 
the cattle, and leave me alone ; and they excused themselves 
by saying that it was of no use fighting against the predic- 
tion, and, if they remained, they would only be killed like 
the others, or else die. Threats, arguments, and promises 
were all in vain ; I might kill them if I liked — it was the 
end they expected ; I knew nothing — how indeed could I ? 
— of the powers of their Doctors. What was the use of 
plenty of money to them, wdien, if they accepted it, they 
would die or be killed on the road 1 and so the end of it 
was that they w^ent off in a body, and I was left in a- 
precious quandary. 

Certainly I w^as in a pretty predicament. Drive the 
cattle without assistance I could not, for there were about 
a hundred, footsore and inclined to straggle as they were ; 
and I was compelled to leave them at the first kraal, with a 
promise of liberal payment if they were taken care of until 
I could proceed to Natal and get other Kaffirs. 

And thus it happened that / left the country without a 
companion or a hoof of cattle I 

The coincidence struck me as " passing strange," and it 
annoyed me excessively as I saw at once that nothing would 
now shake the belief of the natives who had been with me^ 



INTERVIEW WITH A KAFFIR DOCTOR. 55 

who would to a certainty inoculate a large circle of their 
friends with the virus. But as all I suffered at that time 
was only a little inconvenience, I did not mind it so much. 

I went into Natal and procured other Kaffirs; but, alas! on 
my return I found that the lung-sickness had broken out at 
the kraal, where I had left my cattle, and all I brought back 
with me was seven head out of a hundred ! Surely "a heavy 
blow and sore discouragement " enough for my unbelief in 
the supernatural powers of the " Nyanga." Certes, I never 
again meddled with Kaffir notions of their Doctors. I 
had got "the redder's lickl" 

Some time afterwards I was obliged to proceed again to 
the Zulu country to meet my Kaffir elephant hunters, the 
time for their return having arrived. They were hunting 
in a very unhealthy country, and I had agreed to wait for 
them on the N.E. border, the nearest point I could go to 
with safety. I reached the appointed rendezvous, but could 
not gain the slightest intelligence about my people, at the 
kraal. 

After waiting some time, and becoming very uneasy about 
them, one of my servants recommended me to go to the 
Doctor, and at last, out of curiosity and pour passer les temps, 
I did go. I stated what I wanted — information about my 
hunters — and I was met by a stern refusal. " I cannot tell 
anything about white men," said he, " and I know nothing 
of their ways." However, after some persuasion and 
promise of liberal payment, impressing upon him the fact 
that it was not white men but Kaffirs I wanted to know 
about, he at last consented, saying " he would open the 
gate of distance, and would travel through it, even although 
his body should lie before me." 

His first proceeding was to ask me the number and names 



56 KAFFIR DOCTORS. 

of my hunters. To this I demurred, telling him that if he 
obtained that information from me he might easily substi- 
tute some news which he may have heard from others, 
instead of " the spiritual telegraphic news " which I ex- 
pected him to get from his " familiar." To this he answered, 
'' I told you I did not understand white men's ways ; but 
if I am to do anything for you it must be done in my 
way — not in yours." On receiving this fillip I felt inclined 
to give it up, as I thought I might receive some rambling 
statement with a considerable dash of truth — it being easy 
for anyone who knew anything of hunting to give a tolerably 
correct idea of their motions. However, I conceded this 
point also, and otherwise satisfied him. 

The Doctor then mad^ eight little fires — that being the 
number of my hunters ; on each he cast some roots, which 
emitted a curious sickly odour and thick smoke ; into each 
he cast a small stone, shouting as he did so, the name to 
which the fire was dedicated ; then he ate some " medicine," 
and fell over in what appeared to be a trance for about ten 
minutes, during all which time his limbs kept moving. 
Then he seemed to wake, went to one of the fires, raked 
the ashes about, looked at the stone attentively, described 
the man faithfully, and said, " This man has died of the 
fever, and your gun is lost." To the next fire as before, 
" This man (correctly described) has killed four elephants,/ 
and then he described the tusks. The next, " This man 
(again describing him) has been killed by an elephant, but 
your gun is coming home ; " and so on through the whole, 
the men being minutely and correctly described ; their 
success or non-success equally so. I was told where the 
survivors were and what they were doing, and that in three 
months they would come out, but as they would not expect 



KAFFIR DIABLERIE. 57 

to find me waiting on them there so long after the time 
appointed, they would not pass that way. I took a par- 
ticular note of all this information at the time, and to my 
utter amazement it turned out correct in every iiarticular ! 

It was scarcely within the bounds of possibility that this 
man could have had ordinary intelligence of the hunters. 
They were scattered about in a country two hundred miles 
away ; and, further than that, he could not have had the 
slightest idea of my intended visit to him, and prepared 
himself for it, as I called upon him within an hour of its 
being suggested to me. 

I could give many more instances of this " power," 
" diablerie," or whatever it may be called, but this last 
related was the most remarkable ; and I must acknowledge 
that I have no theory to urge or explanation to offer re- 
garding it, for I have in vain puzzled my own brains, and 
those of some of the shrewdest men in the colony, for some 
sort of elucidation of the mystery. 

I am afraid I may tire your readers with these crude 
anecdotes ; but if you and they think otherwise, I shall l)e 
happy to send you some other papers on Kaffir matters, 
which will show to those " who stay at home at ease " 
something antipodical to English civilisation, but which Avill 
still, I hope, tend to prove that Kaffirs, like a gentleman 
who shall be nameless, are " not so black as they are 
sometimes painted." 



A TRIP INTO THE ZULU, AND A VISIT TO 
KING PANDA. 

(Glasgow Heuald, February and March, 1868.) 

My trip was from that " brightest jewel in the British 
crown," Natal, in South Africa, into a neighbouring terri- 
tory belonging to the Zulus ; and I took with me a waggon, 
twelve oxen to draw it, six Kaffir servants, and an omnium 
gatherum of goods for the pur^ioses of trade. 

I am inclined to think that a description of my cavalcade 
may not be uninteresting, and therefore subjoin a pen-and- 
ink photograph of it. 

Those who have seen the model of the South African 
waggon in the Exhibition of 1862, or "the genuine article" 
in poor Gordon Cumming's Museum, may recollect the 
shape and make of it ; but unless they have travelled 
in one over such a country as this — for I cannot say 
roads unless on the lucus a non lucendo j^rinciple — they 
can have no conception of its capabilities and wonderful 
adaptability to its purposes. A machine on four wheels, 
about fourteen feet long, loosely, yet strongly, put together, 
the joints and bolts working all ways, so that one wheel 
may be buried in a hole, and the front or hind i:>art of the 
waggon sunk with it, and yet the other wheel will be per- 
fectly straight and upright ! It is well covered with canvas, 
which makes it so far comfortable. To see this "ship 
of the desert" coming sailing over ground full of stones 
and holes, is something wonderful; it twists and wriggles 



IN APPRECIATION OF COLENSO. 5^ 

about in the most incomprehensible, yet safe, manner, 
and jolts frightfully. Nine of the oxen were steady 
old stagers, but three of them were young, undergoing the 
process of " breaking-in," which consists in tying them 
between two old oxen until the yoke is on, then thrashing 
them until they kick and pull, and then thrashing them 
until they are quiet and steady again ! After undergoing 
this ordeal a few times they are generally quite as quiet 
and tractable as Cruiser after his Rarey-fied course of 
treatment. 

Such being the waggon and oxen, we now come to- 
the noble Zulus. They are a very decent lot; but, "oh! 
ye gods ! " must I confess it ? — not one of them ever heard 
of Colenso. When I spoke to them of the benefits 
they have received by being brought by him before 
the notice of the generous Christianising and civilising 
British public — when I pointed out to them the churches 
and schools which are, no doubt, spread over the land by 
his means and with the sums raised by him from generous 
Christian philanthropists for the benefit of his diocese, and 
reminded them of the care and anxiety he has always 
taken in and shown towards them, in order to render them 
cognisant and worthy of the blessing they enjoy in living- 
under a civilised government, and in the care of such a 
bishop ; and which they may have in richer abundance by 
turning from their own ways, which, of course, must h& 
evil, to those of a Christian people, which, of course, must 
be good — upon my word, wonderful as it may appear, they 
are so blind that they positively do not or will not see it ! 

Then, again, wlien determined to add my mite to the- 
Bishop's laudable endeavours for the benefit of his flock, 
I took the trouble to read to them — translating as I went 



€0 A TRIP INTO THP: ZULU. 

Along into the purest Zulu — liis " First Book on the Penta- 
teuch," which I happened to have with me, omitting none 
of the algebraic or mathematical signs, but giving every- 
thing — such is the perverseness or stupidity of this people 
that they didn't seem to be any the better for it ; so, 
€oming to the conclusion that they must be utterly irre- 
claimable — " Anathema Maranatha "—I just did what the 
Bishop does — let them alone! 

But to return. In describing my Kaffirs, I shall begin 
with " Jacob," a very " grave and reverend signior," 
highly impressed with the dignity of his position, middling 
honest, very obliging, rather lazy, and has been in my 
service (off and on) for ten years. 

" Sequata," the leader, a boy very much given to tears, 
dirt, and food — especially food — a new hand. 

" Entabin," the hunter, has been in my service since he 
was a boy — twelve or fourteen years ago — a good shot and 
very handy for looking after the guns, loading cartridges, 
•&C. — cleanly in his person — conceited, but faithful. 

" Jacob," the carrier, came to me at the same time as 
Entabin— can drive and shoot a little, but cannot be consi- 
dered very accomplished in either — "cheeky," and swears by 
his "Boss." 

" Salt," the cook, -wti^gon-maid, laund?*6S5, and house- 
keeper ; has been in my employ many years — a very good 
fellow — cleanly in his habits, and prides himself upon his 
English. Being asked (in Kaffir) w^hat he is looking for 
^amongst the grass, he disdains to answer in his own langu- 
age, or even to use the " Pigeon English " word " Moote," 
but says " Medditsin," and to " Where is it ? " replies, 
'' Heel he is." 

" Sam," another carrier — the butt of the rest ; a good 



61 



fellow enougli, however — spends all his money on clothes, 
and rum, and goes into debt for the same laudable purposes, 
.so that he is, in a manner, compelled to stick by me, being 
afraid to go home to Natal and face his creditors. He does 
very well in Zulu-land, however, where there is neither rum 
to be got nor money to borrow. 

AVith this cavalcade, and the waggon well loaded, I left 
my home, about forty miles on the Natal side of the boun- 
dary, on the 17th October, "Anno Domini" 1866. 

We passed through a very pretty country, partly dotted 
over with clumps of mimosa trees and partly covered with 
denser bush, with here and there cultivation so luxuriant 
as to afford satisfactory evidence of what can be accom- 
plished. We crossed three or four small rivers, and then, 
last of all and most important, the Tugela, the boundary of 
the colony of Natal and Zulu-land. We had to take the 
waggon to pieces and boat it over ; but after a good deal of 
bother and an outlay of two pounds, Zulu-land opened its 
arms to us. Me it received most unmistakeably; for, in 
leaping from the boat, I pitched out head foremost and left a 
cast of my physiognomy in the sand. But, barring this little 
accident, all went well ; and we had the proud consciousness 
that we had now only ourselves to dejiend upon in the 
midst of a savage and warlike people, and yet we feared 
nothing ! We carried no " British ^gis " with us ; bo- 
cause, to tell the honest truth, the Zulus hadn't the slightest 
idea of what it is — yet we felt no timidity. So, after a 
good supper, we determined to go up to the King's, and, as 
it were, " beard the very lion in his den." Of course, w(.' 
knew very well that nobody would annoy us, but then it is 
en regie to indulge in a little " tall talk " on such an 
occasion, as it tickles the ears of the uninitiated. 



62 A TRIP INTO THE ZULU. 

We travelled on -for several days through a very broken 
country, but constantly niountmg. to the first plateau — a 
tract of high level land, running north and south, about 
thirty miles from the sea, finely timbered in some parts, 
and covered with small game — bucks and birds. 

Towards the north end of this level lies Eundi, the head 
kraal of the King's son Cetchwyo, who, although not 
exactly King, reigns nearly absolutely. 

While I was there, word came from the King, granting 
permission to the regiment of which Cetchwyo is Colonel 
to " Toonja," that is, that they were of age to marry, and 
might put upon their heads the ring — the sign of manhood. 
On receiving this gracious message, he sent for all the men 
within a distance of thirty miles to come up in their various 
regiments to his kraal, and have a feast and dance in honour 
of the King's condescension. 

About four in the afternoon he started his runners off, 
like Roderick Dhu with the cross of fire, with instructions 
that all the people were to be there next morning by day- 
light. All those who lived furthest off were up to time, but 
^bout five hundred who lived pretty near at hand, thinking, 
I have no doubt, that they had plenty of time, were about 
half-an-hour late — "Nearest the kirk, furthest frae grace." 
Cetchwyo saw them coming in the distance, and instructed 
about a thousand men to go outside the gate, make a lane 
for them to pass through, and when they were in to close 
the entrance. Up they came, very unsuspiciously, shouting 
and clashing their shields and assegais in honour of the 
Prince ; but directly they got within the gate it was closed, 
and one of the captains coming forward simply said, " Why 
are you late? Beat them!" Immediately all the others 
who were in the kraal fell upon them and did beat them 



ZULU CODE OF PUNISHMENT. 63 

with a vengeance. The poor fellows made no resistance, but 
■only guarded themselves as Avell as they could, and tried in 
«very way to escape. The noise. and clatter of sticks — they 
did not use their assegais — was tremendous, and broken heads 
were going freely. At last they managed to get out, and 
they were chased all over the country — " they scattered like 
a herd of wilde-beeste when a lion makes his sudden appear- 
iince in their midst," as a Zulu described the stampede. 
One fellow was chasing another, who suddenly stopped, 
when one of the assegais which his pursuer carried in his 
left hand accidentally run him through and killed him : but 
that was the only fatal result of this fray. 

While at Cetchwyo's I could not help admiring how 
thoroughly he had made himself acquainted with his people 
from all parts of the country. I should think that in nine 
days, at least two hundred different head-men came on all 
sorts of business, each one of whom he greeted by his name, 
and inquired into their special circumstances ; and they 
left him evidently highly satisfied with his urbanity and 
condescension. 

He has decreed that in futuie no one except witches shall 
be killed in the Zulu country. What have hitherto been 
capital crimes are now punishable with the loss of one or 
both eyes, and for this purpose a knife and fork ham been 
provided — the one to cut the nerves, the other to pick out the eye ! 

Cetchwyo is a stoutly built black Kaffir ; and of him I 
shall have more, to say anon. 

We left the Eundi, and travelled until we came to the 
brink of the Umhlatusi "Hlanzi," a valley of about twenty 
miles in width, between the first and main plateaus of the 
country, covered with mimosa trees, and through which 
winds the river "Umhlatusi." This is a very beautiful 



64 A TRIP INTO THE ZULU. 

district. From the lofty hills on the south side you look 
down on an extensive plain, about six hundred or seven 
hundred feet beneath you. Overlooking it thus, you can 
distinguish all the patches of green grass between the clumps 
of mimosa, here large and there small; and at that lofty 
elevation you are not aware that what looks so short and 
green is a tangled net-work of strong coarse grass as high as. 
your waist. Near the centre rises a conical hill called 
" Mandowee," and on the slopes of that eminence we saw 
some herds of buffalo and koodoo, wiiich added life to, and 
enhanced the beauty of the landscape. 

Directly we out-spanned, I sent one of the Kaffirs with a 
gun to kill a buffalo for our larder. He took two other natives 
with him, and I sat upon the brink of the plateau and watched 
the whole proceeding through a capital binocular. For a 
long time everything was quiet, but suddenly there was a 
rush of buffalo galloping off in every direction, a faint sound 
reached the ear, a slight curl of smoke was seen hovering 
over a clump of bush, and a black spot dotted the ground ! 
In about an hour the Kaffirs came marching up the hill, 
singing the hunter's death-song. This is always sung when 
they have been successful, and goes to a strange wild air. 
I do not know the composer of either the words or the music, 
but it has a very exciting effect — even on myself, who am 
rather a cool customer — ^when sung by a number of people. 
It goes on in this way : — 

" The assegai of England, {i.e., the gun), 
There it is disappearing, (In the bush is meant) 
Do you hear ? 
It explodes ! " 

Some variations, almost untranslatable, and then repeat 
da capo. 



A KAFFIR SHIBBOLETH. 65 

I may here mention that the natives have regular 
^' nyangas " (doctors), whose business it is to compose 
songs, set them to music, and teach them to the people ; 
and I can assure you that some of their effusions are well 
worthy of praise, and create as great a sensation among the 
Kaffirs here as a new opera by Verdi or Gounod would with 
you at home. 

We crossed the plain, and ascended the hills on the 
opposite or north side in one day. We reached the level 
plains on their summit — for recollect they are table moun- 
tains — through a deep gorge, only remarkable, however, for 
the name of a round-topped hill, by which you wind, and 
which guards the head of the pass. To spell it is, I am afraid, 
impossible ; to pronounce it, equally so ; but I will do my 
endeavour to enlighten the reader — " Nxockqwin ! " You 
sound the " N" " first. The " x " is pronounced by press- 
ing the tongue against the roof of the mouth, and letting it 
go suddenly with a click on the " ock " as in dock. You 
manage the " q " by clearing with a loud noise that part 
of your throat just under your right ear at the same time 
as you pronounce the last syllable " win." But, remember, 
you must do all this continuously in one word, and not spit 
out all these sounds as if they were so many distinct ones. 
This suggests to my mind the anecdote of the singing pupil, 
whose master, after keeping him at the scales for five years, 
dismissed him as fit to sing anything. But I know many 
Europeans who are good Kaffir speakers, and have been in 
the colony a dozen years in the constant practice of the 
language, and yet have not, and seemingly never will, 
overcome this Kaffir shibboleth. 

The next day we arrived, without any adventurous inci- 
dent, at one of the King's kraals or country seats, where we 

F 



66 A TRIP INTO THE ZULU. 

were detained four days by rain. We were unquestionably 
(as we should have been in the shadow of the King's palace) 
under the influence of " the raining pours ! " 

It is, for even the most Mark Tapleyish person, slightly 
dreary being detained in one spot by wet weather, especi- 
ally if you are travelling in Zulu-land and in a waggon. 
Doctor Marigold says truly that a waggon in such circum- 
stances does find out the holes in one's temper awfully ! 
You are either obliged to stick to the very limited compass 
of the waggon, or else seek society in the huts of the natives, 
of which experience I assure you that " a little goes a long 
way." Not that one cannot obtain any fun out of it, if 
you know the language well, and choose to indulge in 
telling extraordinary tales of the white man's doing-s to the 
old women and the men, and listening to their decidedly 
original remarks, which, from their naiveU, are often ex- 
tremely amusing. But then you cannot vary the subjects 
much, as, besides your own Munchausenisms, cattle, food, 
and marriages, with any little floating gossip, are the whole 
and sole staple of the conversation of the natives. And 
then, again, it is not pleasant to be cooped up in a round 
hut like a Brobdignagian bee-hive, about ten feet in dia- 
meter, with a fifteen-inch rat-hole of a door, which serves 
for window and chimney besides, as there is no other outlet 
for the smoke ; and consequently your eyes are smarting 
and watering all the time, which makes you feel envious of 
the smoke-proof optics of the Zulus. 

My principal consolations when it rains are my pipe and 
my books. I have one volume especially — a two hundred- 
year-old edition of Titus Livy's History of Eome — which I 
find a famous stand-by in all weathers and at all times. Fre- 
quently, with an empty larder, have I dined sumptuously 



A PLAGUE OF WOLVES. 67 

off the delights of Capua, and assisted digestion by reading 
of the hardships endured by the Faventines and the Sagun- 
tines. There's "a deal of battles" in that history ! 

Again, to lie in your waggon listening to the pattering of 
the rain within a couple of feet of your nose, watching the 
curl of the smoke as it emerges and rises from your meer- 
schaum, and building castles in the air, is decidedly luxurious, 
and a very jolly way of enjoying the dolce far niente. 

At last we were able to start again, and after a week's 
travelling without any remarkable adventures, except some 
narrow escapes from capsizing the waggon, we came within 
a day's journey of the King's kraal, and there we remained 
trading for nearly a fortnight. The head man of the kraal 
was a very decent old fellow, " fat and scant o' breath," 
and " happy as a king." The only plague of his life was 
the wolves. We could hear them at night howling all 
round the kraal, and I frequently had a pop at them to 
frighten them off. The old man told me that they fre- 
quently carried off sheep, goats, and calves out of the very 
house, that some of them were common wolves, but that 
others belonged to "Takati's" (witches); and when I asked 
him how he could tell that, he answered that he had seen 
mealies in their droppings, and where could they get 
mealies except from their masters ? 

I may mention incidentally that this " Trij) " was written 
under difficulties, many of them trifling in themselves, but 
still very annoying, and some of them of a rather formi- 
dable character. There was no room in the waggon to write 
there at night, while in the day-time we were never free 
from pests, in the shape of girls, boys, and young men 
chattering, whistling, laughing, and jumping all about the 
waggon. The natives are just children with the strength 



68 A TRIP INTO THE ZULU. 

and passions of men; they climb everywhere, handling- 
everything, and asking questions on all subjects within their 
ken, or which may be suggested by what they see and hear. 
When you don't answer their interrogations, one will take 
upon himself to give information to the others, and some of 
their ideas about the uses of things are most laughable. 
They themselves know of no other use to which anything 
can be applied than hunting, fighting, making their dresses, 
working with cattle, or cooking food ; it can, therefore, be 
easily understood that the endeavour to apply to those 
purposes all the multitudinous articles which a white man 
carries in his waggon, and which he considers necessaries, 
often elicits the most ludicrous comments and remarks. 
But, withal, the Kaffirs are a happy race, kindly disi)osi- 
tioned, and generous according to their means, but terrible 
thieves nevertheless. Their wants are very few, and are 
supplied without much labour. Their cattle give them 
milk, and their land corn in plenty. Their huts they can 
build, of wattles and thatch, in a day. Such amusements 
as they have, seem to be sufficient for them, and, as usual, 
''the old, old story" — love-making — is a favourite pastime 
with them. They go to sleep with the fowls and rise with 
the lark. Their lives pass away in an unclouded round — 
here and there, perhaps, a shadow comes over them in the 
shape of the displeasure of the King or their Chief, which, 
as the case may be, they may have incurred, unwittingly or 
otherwise ; but it is usually only sufficient to vary the 
monotony a little. It is very seldom, indeed, that their 
head men allow their offences to be punished with death, 
or, what to the Kaffir is even worse than death, the taking 
of his cattle ; and an occasional thrashing with heavy 
sticks they seem to mind no more than we would the- 
tickling of a fly on one's nose. 



"THE camels'- HAIR-TENTS OF KURDISTAN!" 69 

I remember reading some time ago about " The Camels'- 
liair-tents of Kurdistan " — a good-sounding, mouth-filling 
phrase, and one which smacks of the romantic. Hearing 
their habitations called by a name like this, completely 
does away with all the notions one might otherwise have 
of their discomforts. But, sitting one night in a Kaffir hut, 
it just struck me that the compound of sour milk, calves, 
goats, and dirt was exactly like the contents of — I must 
say it again — "The Camels'-hair-tents of Kurdistan;" and 
barring the historical recollections, I might as well be in 
Eastern Siberia as in Southern Africa, there is so little real 
<lifFerence between savage peoples. 

I have said before that it is seldom their offences are 
punished with death, yet it must be borne in mind that 
death is always hovering over them; but, although they 
know this to be the case, they think no more of their end 
by order of their chiefs, or by violence, than most of our- 
selves do of "shuffling off this mortal coil" in the quietude 
of our beds and through natural causes. 

Umcallan, the old head-man I have just mentioned, had 
arrived from the King's a few days before I reached his 
kraal, and he told me an incident which happened there 
which shows the uncertain tenure by which life is held in 
this country. 

A regiment of soldiers were going through some evolu- 
tions before Panda. One of them happened to wear his 
hair a little longer than ordinary, which the King having 
noticed, he flew into a violent rage, and ordered the man 
out, and had him killed immediately. The only comment 
he made on this was "it was perfectly right: what were the 
people for, unless to be killed when the King chose?" It is 
the old story resuscitated, on the other side of the globe, of 



70 A TRIP INTO THE ZULU. 

the Highland clansman, "Come oot Tonald, come oot, man^ 
an' be hangit, an' pleesure the laird ! " — proving that human 
nature is human nature all the world over. 

After a pleasant and profitable stay at Umcallan's, we left, 
and travelled about half-a-day's journey towards the capital 
to one of his Majesty's large military kraals, the "Escepene."^ 

The head man in this kraal is, as Paddy would say, a 
ivoman^ one of Panda's mothers, i.e., one of his father 
" Ensensengakona's " wives ; and a remarkably jolly old 
lady she is. 

Langasana is the biggest woman I ever saw, weighing 
at least twenty-five stone. She never moves out of the hut, 
but lolls away day after day on a mat inside, "keeping the 
corporation up" on Kaffir beer and beef. 

She rules over a large tract of country, and, consequently,, 
has her hands full of cases to decide every day. 

The old woman is governor, but the kraal belongs to the- 
King, and it has, therefore, a " Sgohlo " — like the inner 
apartment of the Sultan's palace — sacred to Langasana her- 
self and about forty girls, " the pecooliar wanity " and 
property of King Panda. It is a great honour to be 
admitted into the Sgohlo, and at night it is jealously 
watched by the Kaffir Janissaries. The girls are allowed 
no social intercourse with the other sex. They grow up- 
separated and apart from every one until the day they are 
bestowed upon those " whom the King delighteth to 
honour." This kind of reward is something akin to the 
King of Siam's white elephant, as, in return for the present 
of a cara sposa, the individual thus honoured is expected, in 
order to show his gratitude, to send to his Majesty a gift of 
about ten times the value of an ordinary wife in the regular- 
market. 



. DISCORD AMONG THE VILLAGE BELLES. 71 

The district all round the capital — a square of about 
twenty miles, in the heart of the country — is called " Mah- 
labati," which ordinarily means " earth," but in this case 
it means earth par excellence, the King's earth ! and all the 
kraals on it belong to the King. 

Each regiment has a large kraal as head-quarters, but 
they are collectively called " Mahlabati." For instance, 
Escepene is the head-quarters of the Escej^e or Nonkenke 
regiment, and in it I counted three hundred and thirty- 
eight huts, eighteen of which are in the Sgohlo. 

The huts are planted in a large circle, which the natives 
seem to have an especial faculty for drawing ; even the 
children, in playing at making kraals in the sand, will draw 
one as correctly as if they had used a compass. A square 
they cannot manage by any means ; even Kaffirs who have 
worked for whites, and understand the use of a line, will 
infallibly go askew. 

In each and &,11 of the kraals there is a posy of girls, and, 
sometimes, as in more civilised regions, the belles of one 
kraal will have a quarrel with those of another, and then 
they meet and fight it out, as happened here at the Escepene 
the other day. 

It appears that some girls who lived close by were carry- 
ing beer to the King's, and were met by three or four of 
those belonging to the Escepene, who asked them how they 
came to cover up the King's beer with nasty rags. It is 
dangerous work jesting with Panda's name, and an accusa- 
tion of this sort might, if not rebutted, become a very 
serious matter ; so by way of confutation they set to work 
and severely beat the jesters ; but on their return they were 
met by the whole force of the Escepene, and had the 
compliment returned with interest. 



72 A TRIP INTO THE ZULU. 

Next day all Dugusa's girls turned out, encamped about 
two hundred yards from the waggon, and sent two heralds 
with a challenge to the Escepene. I was there when the 
challenge came, and the commotion was tremendous. The 
young men were all out hoeing, so the girls got hold of 
their small shields and sticks and out they went. Langasana 
sent a lot of men after them to turn them, which they did, 
and chased them back into the kraal. However, " they 
that will to Cupar maun to Cupar," and so answer the 
challenge they would; and directly the guards were with- 
drawn, out they went again. The old lady, seeing it was 
useless to oppose them longer, said " Let them go ! " and I 
followed to see the fun. 

Both sides were armed alike with sticks, knobkerries, 
and shields, but Dugusa's girls numbered only twenty, while 
Langasana s were double that number. 

The opposing forces met just at the back of the kraal at 
which my waggon was " outspanned," and, without any 
preliminary "feints or dodges," at it they went at once, 
and with a will. 

The noise, clatter of sticks, and shouts were most 
startling. Every minute one or two would roll over with 
a broken head, and, meeting an opponent on the ground 
in the like predicament, would have a pas de deux of 
biting, scratching, and kicking. They kept at it with 
intense energy, vociferation, and gesticulation, for about 
ten minutes, and then the lesser number turned and fled. 
The victors then returned, covered with blood, shouting, 
and boasting of their deeds in the fray, and of their 
"glorious victory!" 

The men, of whom there were a considerable number 
present, looked on very composedly, philosophically re- 



A ZULU VENUS. 73 

marking that " when girls quarrel they will fight, so it's of 
no use attempting to separate them ! " 

The leaders on the Escepene side were three daughters 
of King Panda ; one of them the handsomest girl, whether 
black or white, I have ever seen. Ah 1 siceet Nomanxewa, 
how shall I describe thee 1 A little over the middle size — 
a splendid bust, but not over-developed, as in most Kaffir 
women — a waist like Titania's, limbs like the Venus de 
Milo ; she has escaped, too, the bane of thick lips and a flat 
nose, and rejoices in what, without stretching, may be called 
aquiline features ; head small, and set on a neck like a 
classic column, well-rounded arms, small hands and feet ; in 
manners neither bold nor forward, but an indescribable 
easy gracefulness of motion pervading the whole. A fine 
clever girl to talk to — a little bit of a vixen and a good deal 
of the coquette — but, oh, dear ! what spoils the whole, like 
the garlic in the Olla Fodrida — so awfully odoriferous/ 

And then, again, you may easily imagine how the charm 
would be broken if you were conversing with a pretty, 
clever, ladylike girl, and she were, disdaining even the 
jmpier mouchoir of the Japanese, to blow her nose with her 
fingers, or spit against the wall and rub it dry with this 
Eve's pattern of a handkerchief! Pah ! there's no sentiment 
and no romance where there's no soap! 

We have all heard and read a good deal about the 
soldiers' stocks — much against, but precious little in favour 
of them. One of the most original ideas on the subject 
was advanced by one of my Kaffirs the other day. He was 
describing to Langasana the great power and resources of the 
British ; and amongst other things declared that they could 
cover the country with red-coats ; soldiers who never run 
away — in fact, it was impossible that they could, as they 



74 A TRIP INTO THE ZULU. 

were peesella'd* round the neck with a piece of iron, so that 
they could not " turn and flee I " Could there be any better 
argument against that absurdity than this one given by a 
savage in its favour, as he thought ? The Kaffirs are quick 
enough to discern the true uses of things when they come 
into frequent contact with them, but the soldier's stock is a 
mystery, a puzzle, " a thing which no black fellah can 
make out." 

It is early morning. The day is just breaking, and soon it 
is heralded in with a variety of sounds, some of which defy 
description. A profound stillness prevails ; yet, as it were 
through the silence, is heard the wailing dej^arture of day's 
enemy. And as Aurora gradually presses night back to the 
west, all nature, animate and inanimate, seems breathlessly 
to watch the contest. 

Presently comes morn's auxiliary, the breeze ; and, as if 
assured by it that their friend the day is conqueror, the 
birds strike up their notes of welcome to the dawn, and of 
triumph over their foe, fast receding from its advancing light. 

Then begin the sounds connected with human life. A 
voice is heard, a dog barks, the cattle low ; " shrill chanti- 
cleer proclaims the approach of morn," and with the rays — 
the heralds of day's general the sun — a burst around hails 
another day begun ! 

The day having fairly set in, the first operation is the 
toilet. This scene is unique, and, had I the graphic pencil 

* To ijeesella is to make a hole. They apply it principally to 
burning the hole for the iron in the end of the assegai-shaft ; but it 
also in Kaffir ' ' slang " means to settle or fix a thing as firmly as it 
is possible to do. When they say " such a thing, or so and so, is 
peesdla'd," it amounts to our phrase " I've cooked that goose at 
anyrate." 



MYSTERIES OF THE TOILET. 75 

of a John Leech, I should like to sketch it for you ; but I 
must content myself with doing my best in the uwd-paiiiting 
way. 

It must be borne in mind that we have here in Zulu-land 
a " Eegent " in Cetchwayo ; and as bad habits are very 
recuperative, and are apt to repeat themselves in very 
curious ways, we have here gone back to the manners of 
"the Eegency." AVe make our toilet in public! It is the 
custom of the country; (but pray don't suppose for a single 
moment that I "go the entire animal," for I always keep up 
a decent reserve in the shape of "pants"), and like every- 
thing else amongst the natives is delightful from the absence 
of starch ; and yet there is nothing at all immodest in tho 
custom amongst themselves, because of their entire ignorance 
of anything like obscenity or grossness. In this respect 
"the benighted heathen" in this quarter of the globe, are 
"a caution" to many of your "enlightened" Pharisees. 

The first wonder is the soap. " Where does all that froth 
come from ? " " Doesn't it burn you 1 " says one. " Burn 
him ! " quoth another, " No ! how can it burn him ] " 
" Why, it's boiling," rejoins the first interrogator. Then a 
little pas de ballet round the waggon, and much laughter at 
the ignoramus. " What's that for % what's it made of ] " 
inquires a Zulu belle, to which I answer " That's for clean- 
ing my nails, and it is made of pigs' hair." " But why do 
you cut your nails % Why don't you let them grow like 
that % " pointing to her own fingers with nails an inch-and- 
a-half long, which you must bear in mind is a mark of 
distinction in Zulu-land, as showing that the owner has no 
necessity to soil her hands with labour. I reply that " I 
must work, and if I tried to do it with nails like that I 
should always have them broken or dirty." 



ii) A TRIP INTO THE ZULU. 

Here one of my Kaffirs strikes in. He has seen " how 
are the mighty fallen" in the estimation of the bystanders 
by my inadvertent confession that / must icorh, and he 
hastens to explain that I must not be thought any the less 
of on that account, as all white men, from the highest to 
the lowest, had to work in some way ; and, on being asked 
" why the big men don't do the same as their brethren of 
Zulu — sit still all day, drink beer, eat beef, and hear the 
news 1 " simply answers "It is the way they were ' torn 
out.' "^ 

Then come the most free and easy remarks about my 
personal appearance — the colour of my skin, the cut of my 
phiz, &c. The general summing-up is not flattering to my 
amor projmce, but it is admitted that if I were only black I 
might pass in a crowd ! 

Every stage of my simple toilet is narrowly watched and 
criticised, and when I have given myself "the finishing 
touch " there is a general clapping of hands, dancing and 
shouting, and I am coolly requested to repeat the whole 
operations de novo for the benefit of some who had just 
arrived ! 

At Langasana's I was shown a willow-pattern plate — a 
genuine old Spode — and was asked what was the meaning' 
of all those blue marks upon it. They were particularly 
delighted when, like old Hamlet's ghost, I proceeded to 
unfold the tale (illustrated with ])lates I). It was " the old, 
old story," which they could well understand. The two 

* This is an idiomatical expression, meaning "it has been tlieir 
•custom from the time they were first a people." Their idea is that 
the Zuhis were " torn out" of the reeds — I suppose from the pecu- 
har murmuring-like noise they make when "shaken by the wind;" 
or may it not be some faint tradition of the Deluge ? 



" THE OLD, OLD STORY," A LA CHINOIS. 77 

fond lovers, the hard-hearted father, the broken-hearted girl 
shut up, and the ultimate bolting with the jewels, came 
home to their bosoms as an everyday incident in Zulu-land. 
I had to go over it again and again ; and after I had pointed 
out the young man in the boat, told them that the girl was 
immured in the house, and the obdurate father asleep in the 
arbour, and then shown them the three running figures on 
the bridge, one would get hold of the plate, turn it upside 
down and twirl it round and round, and then gravely expound 
it to the others in the most ridiculous manner. Tired at last 
with their endless questions — descending to even the third 
and fourth generations of the runaways — I got rid of the 
subject by seriously telling the old lady that the plate was 
of such a material that if much handled the colours would 
fade away, and then it would all fall in pieces, which so 
frightened them that not one of them would touch it, and I 
had myself to put the plate back in its place for my pains. 

Having completed my business at Langasana's, we moved 
to the King's, to whom I made a present of three blankets, 
and received from him, as a quid pro quo, an ox to kill for 
food. I would rather have taken it home to Natal with 
me than have eaten it, but the etiquette of the country 
forbade such an economical course. 

Panda is the King de jure, but his son Cetchwayo is de 
facto the ruler. Panda is a fat old fellow of about sixty 
years of age, with peculiar white rings round the pupils of 
his eyes; very kindly, and fond of gossip. He inquired 
about all the doings and wonders of the white man; and, 
after about half-an-hour's talk, gradually dozed off to sleep, 
when I left him to enjoy his siesta. 

The day after I arrived he sent his chamberlain to inquire 
if I liked beer, and, upon my answering that it was very 



78 A TRIP INTO THE ZULU. 

good, he was "graciously pleased" to invite me to a drink- 
ing bout. Kaffir beer is, in substance and taste, something 
like butter-milk, and about as intoxicating as thin gruel 
would be if made with sauterne and water. It is also a 
primary article of food, as most of the great people live 
nearly entirely upon it, with the occasional addition of a 
little beef. 

On my arrival in the Koyal presence, a bowl holding 
about a gallon was set down before me, and I, as in duty 
bound, addressed myself most loyally to the work. About 
a fourth had disappeared when I began to feel " an inward 
satisfaction," and, like the fat boy in Pickwick, as if "I 
was a wisibly fattening under the operation," and con- 
sequently felt disinclined for more extensive experiments 
on my internal capacity; but the King was inexorable. 
^' Drink, white man, drink! you said you liked beer, and 
yet you leave it." I reply, sotta wee, "True, oh King! but 
I have drunk enough, and am unworthy to drink with the 
great King." 

Now, in Zulu-land, if the King were to tell any one to 
eat an ox, the gastronomic feat must be performed. Thus 
my answer was an utter infringement of all Zulu notions of 
etiquette. Being made aware of this, I again "strove 
mightily and prevailed;" and, having thus made amends 
for my gaucherie, I returned to the waggon feeling like a 
boa after swallowing a calf, with the sensation of my skin 
being too small for me; but yet with a mind just so 
"elevated" as to make light of all these discomforts. 

When I saw the King again I explained to him that, 
never having been in his country before, my stomach was 
not adapted for stowing away the large quantities of beer 
which it was so easy for his people to do; but, as I intended 



KING PANDA — ZULU KOO-TOOING. 79 

to remain some time, I should no doubt, by practising 
diligently, train my interior economy to receive the proper 
amount of Kaffir pabulum. And with this assurance I 
hoped he would not press me to drink, but leave me to my 
own exertions, which he might rest assured would be 
unremitting. After pitying my neglected education, he 
promised that I should be left to myself, and benignantly 
hoped that a blessing might attend upon my laudable 
exertions ! 

The old King is wheeled about in a little waggon. He 
never walks, although I am inclined to think he might do 
-so; but I should not like to "lay the odds" on his ability, 
as, from his enormous obesity, it would be rather a difficult 
matter at the best to carry "the Habeas Cwyus Act" into 
operation with him. "It is a lesson to him who would be 
admonished" to see him drawn out into the centre of the 
kraal, the people running in front removing every little bit 
of stick, grass, or stone which might impede the waggon, 
however slightly — no one daring to stand up, but all 
creeping about him on their hands and knees, shouting 
^'Bayete! Bayete!" (or "King of Kings"), "You who are 
black," "Zulu," "Lion," "King of the world," &c., &c.; and 
when he speaks, all stretching forward in the attitude of 
intense attention, their eyes bent on the ground, and at 
every pause crying "Vooma" (we agree), "Yes, Father," 
"You say it," "Hear to him," &c., &c.; and then, when he 
orders them to do anything, they fly like lightning — an 
example which it were well that our civilized white servants 
would follow! If any one displeases him, he says "Beat 
him," or "Take him away" (meaning "kill him"), as the 
ease may be, and instantly fifty ready fellows dart out, only 
too happy to execute his commands. Yet, as I said before, 



80 A TRIP INTO THE ZULU. 

for all this lie lias no regal power in the country. Cetcli- 
wayo is the actual king, although all the outward semblance 
is allowed to his father. The power to kill a few people 
whenever the freak seizes him is simply considered nothing 
— merely a toy given to please him. 

Cetchwayo came here to-day with a large following to 
see his father, and show him the new ring on his head. He 
slept last night at a kraal about three miles off, and about 
ten o'clock this morning we noticed him leave it on his way 
hither. I determined to witness the meeting; so, when 
the King was wheeled out, I went up, paid my respects, 
and took my place, which, by right of accident of colour, 
was alongside his little waggon amongst his chiefs. He 
waited about half-an-hour, and then the whole band, with 
the "child" (the literal translation of his Zulu title) at 
their head, made their appearance at the gate of the kraal, 
about two hundred yards off, and immediately commenced 
shouting "Bayete, Bayete," &c. There were about three 
hundred men, all of his own regiment, with him, and as 
they approached nearer they bent lower and lower, until, 
when within about thirty yards, they were about to go 
down on their hands and knees as usual, when a gracious 
command to the contrary prevented them, and uj) they 
stood for inspection. 

After a dead silence of perhaps five minutes, a voice from 
the waggon said, "Good morning, Cetchwayo," when imme- 
diately every tongue was loosed, and he was greeted with a 
perfect storm of " Bayete " and " Yebo Baba." 

I may mention, parenthetically, that it is the rule when 
you arrive at a kraal to take your seat and say nothing. 
No one will address you for a few minutes, but all the while 
you will be subjected to a most minute inspection. The 



CETCHWAYO. 81 

greater the man the longer the silence. At last the head 
man in presence will bid you "Good morning." He will 
say, '' Ge sa koo bona" (I see you). You will answer "Yebo" 
(yes); or, if an old man, "Yebo baba, ge bona nena" (YeSy 
father, I see you). 

Those with Cetchwayo were the sons of the greatest men 
in the country. Their fathers had shared Panda's good and 
bad fortune; and as the old King called them one by one to 
stand out and show themselves, and recognised the family 
vraisemblance to his old companions, I could see that he was 
very much affected, yet proud at the same time; and proud 
he might well be, for three hundred handsomer specimens of 
humanity it would be difficult to bring together anywhere. 
Each of them would have made a model for a sculptor. 

After the reception ceremonial was over, I went and had 
some conversation with Cetchwayo. He is evidently 
*' native and to the manner born," as a first-rate ruler of the 
Zulus, and they thoroughly understand and appreciate these 
qualities in him. But beyond a fondness for guns, of which 
he knows the power, he seems to have no wish to imj)rove, 
or, in other words, to learn anything from the whites. It 
is, however, pride perhaps which prevents him; his invari- 
able answer to any suggestion of this nature being, "It is 
not our custom — we are Kings of the Zulu" ("Zulu" in 
native parlance means "the heavens"). Any attempt, 
therefore, to improve upon this " heavenly" state, he thinks 
a work of supererogation. He is kind to the whites, both 
from his natural disposition, and because he is acute enough 
to see that any quarrel with them would be ruinous to him. 
In person, he is a good-looking, tall, powerful man, but he 
is developing the characteristic of all Ensensengakona's 
progeny — terrible fatness — especially about the hips and 

G 



82 A TRIP INTO THE ZULU. 

legs; and he lias, in common with all Panda's children, 
small hands and feet — the mark of good birth. He 
remained at the capital but one night, and then he left for 
the headquarters of his own regiment, "Toolwan." 

It is amusing to see the natives doing what they call 
ivoi'h The other day the King wanted some wattles for a 
hut; and immediately, instructions were sent round all the 
kraals in the Mahlabate, to the Amakanda (heads) as they 
are called. The whole of the young men turned out to the 
bush, each cut a wattle (or branch), leaving the leafy head 
upon it, and returned marching up the hill, looking as if 
"Birnam wood had come to Dunsinane." When they 
came into the kraal each man threw down his wattle with 
the air of one who had done some great deed; then they 
had a dance, and each "went his several way," entirely 
satisfied with the great day's ivork which he had done. 

Nodwengo, the capital, lies in the northern end of an 
amphitheatre about eight miles in diameter. The surround- 
ing hills are very beautiful — partly green and partly covered 
with mimosa trees, and broken up here and there into 
precipices. The White Umvelose river runs through the 
centre, and smaller streams intersect the area in all direc- 
tions. The consequence is, that from its situation it is very 
hot in summer, while from the plenteousness of water it is 
very cold in winter. The kraal itself contains, I should 
think, about five hundred huts. I have not counted them, 
but judge by comparison with the Escepene. 

Over the hills to the north is a large Hlanzi called the 
Ewela, from which I have just returned after two days' 
unsuccessful buff'alo shooting. 

The heat — it is the middle of summer — was something 
frightful; it must have been 140° in the sun. Not a 



DELIGHTS OF BUFFALO HUNTING. . 83 

breath of air can penetrate the dense mimosa clumps. The 
country is very broken, and stones are strewn thickly 
amongst the grass, which reaches up to your thighs, render- 
ing walking extremely difficult and exhausting. 

Then at night, after a hard day's work, to come home 
and take "a feed" of roasted beef half-raw, some sour 
milk and mealies, and go to sleep in one of the native huts 
on a hard clay floor, is not, by any means, either luxurious 
or refreshing. 

I should not have spoken of buffalo shooting at all, but 
that my experience of it bears out a free-and-easy description 
which I once heard, viz., — "Buffalo hunting is devilish hard 
work, but then, by Jove, it's glorious fun!" This is true. 
The rising in the morning before the dawn, the walk to the 
ground while you are fresh, the taking your stand upon 
some high point to watch for the game, and the noting, as 
light increases, the gradual unfolding of peak after peak, 
valley after valley — the chiar-osciiro, the light and the shade, 
with here and there a nebulce of mist hiding some spot on 
which you feel assured there must be buffalo — is positively 
delightful. 

You forget for a time the object of your excursion in 
admiring the beauties of the landscape, and the exquisite 
and ever-varying Turneresque atmospheric eflects, until at 
last you are recalled to the work in hand by a sudden cry 
of "Nanzya!" (there they are) from the native at your side, 
who has no artistic or ideal sympathies, but whose whole 
soul has been concentrated on buffalo beef all this time. 

Then comes a consultation as to how the game may be 
best approached, and the direction of the wind has to be 
ascertained and considered. They are travelling towards 
the bush for shade and rest, and the lay of the land has to be 



84 A TRIP INTO THE ZULU. 

noted. When all is settled the start is made, and then comes 
the hard work. The purity of the atmosphere is such that 
distance is almost annihilated, and what seems close at hand 
is, in reality, miles away; therefore you have generally a long- 
and weary tramp before you strike the trail. The word 
is passed, "Steady now, no talking, they are in that bush, 
look out!" and away we go. Eyes roving in all directions, 
foot-falls as if on velvet, and the nostrils of the natives — 
and doubtless my own, too — expanded with excitement. 
Presently we come to the dense part of the bush, where 
they lie during the heat of the day, and creejnng is the 
word — moving like mice as regards noise, like the tortoise 
as regards speed. Suddenly the boy in front of me halts, 
and I creep up to his side; no words are necessary. I 
gently move aside a leafy screen, and there they are. And 
noble fellows they are too ! Some standing, some lying down, 
some snoring away, and one old bull looking out in our direc- 
tion, evidently suspicious, yet not sufficiently so as to induce 
him to alarm his fellows. He is within about ten yards; so, 
as gingerly as possible, I come into something like Hythe 
position, and in a second the woods ring with the report 
which accompanied the bullet as it entered his brain. 
There is a snort and a heavy fall, a rush like thunder 
through the thick tangled bush, and amidst the smoke I 
deliver the second barrel at a glancing black object, and, 
above the reverberation of retiring hoofs, a "Ba — a — a — a'^ 
is heard, which assures us that that shot has also been 
successful. This is all. One minute of intense excitement 
in the day, with your life on the hazard; but it is enough, 
and repays all the toil and risk, as there is not only the 
pride of killing such noble game — accounted the most 
dangerous in South Africa — l3ut there is also the pleasure 



A KAFFIR STORY-TELLER. 85 

of supplying the natives with meat, which they seldom get 
by any other means, and whose ]jenchant for it is in the 
inverse ratio to its scarcity. 

I need scarcely say after this episode that I am fond of 
shooting, and that I consider the sport here worth following; 
but as for those books indited by " mighty Nimrods," I'd as 
lief read a season's game-book in England as their lucubra- 
tions, for, like your "Alpine Club" adventures, if not "toast 
and waterish," there is generally too strong an infusion of 
" bosh and bunkum," and pervading self-glorification. 

I heard a story the other day which, if the power of 
writing fiction were possessed by me, I might have worked 
up into a first-class sensational novel. 

It was at night, while we were all sitting round the fire 
at the waggon. The fitful light was thrown on the narrator, 
who being right opposite to me, I had a full view of his 
gestures and the action of his body, without which, I greatly 
fear, my description will lose half its interest. I fancy that 
not even the Eastern story-tellers can come up to the Kafiir 
in power of pictorial narration; their language is not very 
copious, but, notwithstanding, by the combined eff*ects of 
oratory and expressive pantomine, they can bring circum- 
stances, time, and place most vividly before you. 

When any person is accused of witchcraft, it is generally 
one who has a good stock of cattle, so that his destruction 
may be profitable to the King. If he is found guilty — 
which, by the way, is always a foregone conclusion — " an 
army," small or large, according to the size of his kraal, is 
sent against him. The proceedings are kept a profound 
secret, and the first notice he has of the trouble he has got 
into is the shout of " the avengers" surrounding the kraal. 



86 A TRIP INTO THE ZULU. 

It was a case of this kind wliicli the Kaffir described. It 
appears that some years ago one of Panda's wives was taken 
ill. The " doctor" was sent for, and, having made his 
diagnosis, pronounced that she was bewitched — a convenient 
method, by the way, of covering his ignorance — whereupon 
he was ordered to discover the culprit; and, after a little 
fugleing, he "smelt out" a petty chief who lived high-up on 
the Tugela. It was necessary to be particularly careful in 
dealing with this man, as he lived so near to the border 
that, if he had the slightest inkling of what was intended, 
he could easily slip over into Xatal. Everything, however, 
was well managed, and at night the kraal was surrounded.* 

The kraals, as I have said elsewhere, are built in a circle, 
and where they are anyways near the bush they are encircled 
on the outside with a thorn fence about the height of a man, 
besides the inner fence, which forms the cattle stand; and 
between the two are ranged the huts. 

The 7nodus operandi is first silently to surround the outer 
fence, then open the gate, which is made of branches, enter, 
and surround the huts. When all is complete, they set up 
a shout and call on the unhappy inmates to come forth and 
be killed, which they generally do without any fuss or noise, 
both from their sense of the uselessness of struggling against 
their opponents, and from the fatalism which runs in all 
their natures. They say it is their Ehlose, i.e., fate, and 
"who can prevent it?" But in this case it happened that 
the chief was a powerful, active, daring young fellow, who, 
besides the natural love of life, had another incentive to 

* The practice is, if one of the people is condemned to be executed 
for witchcraft, to kill the whole kraal, even the very dogs and fowls 
do not escape. They then set fire to the huts, and so ends tlie 
dismal tragedy. The cattle, of course, are driven off to the King. 



AN ARTFUL DODGE. 87 

escape in the shape of his intended, who was on a visit to 
him, and in his hut.* 

The people, aroused from sleej) by the yells of the King's 
messengers, knew at once what their fate would be, and 
without any ado submitted to it. But the chief determined 
to make a dash for it, and, at all events, try to save the 
girl. 

Together they rolled up a mat, fastened a shield and some 
assegais on the top as if held by a man, and thrust it 
suddenly out into the midst of those guarding the door. 
Immediately they closed on to it, stabbing and striking it in 
the dark. Before they had discovered their mistake the 
man had got out of the little door — the most difficult part — 
and, placing his back against the outer fence, was able to 
defend himself for a few moments. As the attacking force 
drew off to assail him, the girl got out, and, seizing the 
" dummy," threw it over the outer fence amongst those who 
were guarding round the kraal, where the same scene was 
repeated. Those inside, seeing another suddenly appear, 
and fearing that there might be more, halted, puzzled for a 
moment; then the two, seizing the opportunity, sprang 
clear through or over the fence, and got away, stabbing two 
of their opponents who " stopped the way." Now, the 
escape of any one under such circumstances is supposed to 
show such bravery and acuteness that it is always reckoned 
a condonation of past offences; and the successful is sure to 
arrive at high honour in the Zulu country. They infer that 
he cannot be a witch if he is such a brave man. Therefore 
the chief and his bride might with perfect safety have 
appeared at the King's kraal — if they could have escaped 

* The Kaffirs have no notion that there is any immodesty in the 
two sexes occupying the same hut at night. 



88 A TRIP INTO THE ZULU. 

pursuit — and, once there, would have been respected highly, 
and, in all probability, have his cattle returned to him. 

But this chief's " heart was red," and, having " a large 
liver" (great bravery), he determined first to avenge the 
slaughter of his friends, and then cross over to Natal. No 
one in the Zulu country would molest him except those sent 
by the King for the purpose. 

This party, after completing the destruction of the kraal, 
drove off the cattle to the King's, having first despatched 
six men and an officer on the trail of the fugitives. 

The Kaffir's ideal description of the runaways was in- 
imitable. He employed few words, but the action of his 
body, head, and arms brought vividly before your eyes the 
fugitives — the stumbling over stones and into holes, the 
hard breathing, the wiping away the perspiration, and at 
last the halt, when a tolerably safe distance had been 
reached; the sitting on the ground in despair — nothing said, 
but constant mutual exclamations of grief and anger escap- 
ing from them, the start from the ground to flee " at the 
turning of a leaf," the re-seating themselves, and the gradual 
return to " mitigated grief;" the conversation between them 
as to future prospects and proceedings, and the decision at 
last that the girl should hide and the man return to see the 
results of the fray, and, if possible, avenge the destruction 
which he felt too certain had overtaken his people. 

The parting — " Ah ! my child, take care. Walk as the 
snake goes through the grass. Strike as it does and dis- 
appear. Eemember that though I remain here, the assegai 
that strikes you is my death. But go; you are a man. In 
after days we shall talk over this matter in Natal, and with 
the more pleasure that you will have appeased the Ehlose 
of your friends who are gone." 



A ZULU HERO. 89 

The girl was hid away in a hole in the side of a rocky- 
hill. The man rolled a large stone to the mouth of the 
recess; and, to prevent it from falling away, stayed it round 
with smaller ones. Ah ! too fatal precaution ! 

The remainder of the tragedy is brief but sorrowful. 
After a smart but short walk, the chief saw the pursuing 
party advancing up the side of the hill by a j^ath which at 
the top passed between two high banks. He posted him- 
self under cover of a bush in their front and waited for 
them. 

Expecting nothing less than that he would come of his 
own accord to meet them and deliver himself up, the seven 
men were hurrying carelessly up. As they passed the bush 
the chief sprang out, and with two short sharp stabs 
despatched two men, and had effected his escape before they 
recovered from their surprise. 

It was not long, however, before, with shouts and yells, 
the remainder plunged into the bush after him; and in the 
confusion they, mistaking one another for their intended 
victim, fought amongst themselves, and the result was the 
loss of two more. The other three, when they saw how 
their numbers were reduced, determined to return home and 
give up the pursuit. For this purpose they proceeded up 
the path, but on one of the high banks at the top the vin- 
dictive and. undaunted avenger w^as awaiting them, and, 
hurling a huge boulder from his coign of vantage, dashed 
out the brains of the officer as he came beneath him. Seeing 
his enemies reduced to two, he considered it beneath his 
manhood to use strategy, and he therefore descended to 
engage them hand-to-hand. Ah! rash adventurer — forget- 
ful lover ! Why will he forget the warning of his affianced, 
that the assegai which reached him equally wounded her? 



90 A TRIP INTO THE ZULU. 

Many days 2)assed and went, and at Nodwengo the people 
began to wonder that there was no appearance of the party 
sent in jDursuit of the chief, and another corps was des- 
patched to endeavour to obtain some tidings of them. They 
arrived at the ruins of the kraal, and there took up the 
trail. First they found the skeletons — picked by the wolves 
— of the four who had been slain at and in the bush; then 
those of the three at the top. They marvelled greatly at 
the prowess of the chief, and wondered what had become 
of him. One of them, however, struck his trail, and the 
party following it soon came to the cavity where the girl 
had been hid. In front of it lay the bones of the chief, and, 
directed by the effluvia, they rolled away the stone, and 
there discovered the corpse of the unfortunate girl ! 

Her figurative words had come, in effect, literally true. 
The wounds which her lover had received in the fight had 
just left him strength sufficient to creep to the hiding place 
of his intended, but not enough to remove the stone ; and 
he had fostened it in such a manner that she from the inside 
could not free herself! There they both died — he, most 
likely, quickly, owing to his wounds; but she slowly, 
lingeringly, the agonising death of famine ! 

Who shall paint the heart-rending scene ? — the bleeding 
lover on the outside ; his feeble and ineffectual attempts to 
release her ; the blood welling-out afresh at every abortive 
effort; at last the despairing conversation as the awful 
reality of their hopeless position stares them in the face; 
the agonising cries of the poor girl immured in her living 
tomb as the voice of her lover gradually faded away in 
death ; then the loving aj^peals of the girl meet no response; 
and, at length, the conviction steals over her that no more 
shall she hear the voice of her beloved — no more shall she 



A ZULU TRAGEDY. 91 

see his dear form ; and she Draw the curtain ! Their 

agonies are past ; but while they lasted, ah ! who shall 
paint their bitterness 1 It is a sad, mournful story, which 
has deeply touched even the native heart, callous as it is to 
scenes of rapine and slaughter. 

It is a custom in the Zulu country that every year, just 
as the Indian corn is filled, but yet still milky and soft, the 
people repair to the King at Nodwengo, and there hold " a 
feast of first-fruits," when the King has a grand review of all 
his troops, big and little, old and young, male and female — 
all who are able to go up, like the Jews to the Passover ; 
and, after the King has eaten of the green food, and put his 
army "through their facings," they all disperse again as 
rapidly as they collected together. This they call " Hlala^ 
bkos;" literally, "Playing to the King!" The feast will 
begin in about ten days, and, from all I have heard, and 
what I have seen of the smaller one, I am sure it will be 
worth witnessing and describing. 

The lesser one was celebrated about a fortnight ago, when 
about three thousand men came up to the kraal, caught tht> 
bull, and danced the " Ingoma." 

The natives call the smaller feasts the " Niatella," or the 
"Treader on heels;" and at it every year a bull is turned 
out, which a particular regiment — this year " Tool wan " — is 
ordered to kill. They must not use assegais or sticks, but 
must break its neck or choke it with their bare hands. It 
is then burned, and the strength of the bull is supposed to 
enter into the King, thereby prolonging his health and 
strength. 

The bull — which on this occasion was a fine three-year- 
old — is turned out, and the men throw themselves upon it 



92 A TRIP INTO THE ZULU. 

like ants. It accepted their embraces quietly for a while, 
until finding that something more than a joke was intended, 
it commenced to kick and plunge furiously. Three or four 
got kicked and gored ; but it was of no use, for despite of 
its tremendous exertions, they at last fairly choked it, 
shouldered it off to the kraal, and then burned it. 

Then they danced the "Ingoma." This is the national 
song of the Zulus, and has as great an effect on them as our 
national anthem has on us. It is a very old song, but 
became all of a sudden famous in Chaka's time, who made 
it his war song, and to this African " Lullibullero" conquered 
all of what is now the Zulu-land and Natal as well ; and 
ever since then it has become a sort of combination of the 
''Queen's Anthem" and "Scots wha ha'e" among the people. 

When the soldiers commenced the cantata, in front of the 
King, they had it all to themselves for a few minutes, but 
gradually the patriotic feeling got roused, and all the 
bystanders — old women and children, the chiefs, and the 
Royal attendants, and at last the old King himself — ^joined 
in the loyal chorus, and the air became full of " J6, J6, J6 — 
J«^, Je, Je," accompanied by regular stamps on the ground, 
steadily increasing in intensity until everything rattled 
again. Then leaving off the chorus they struck up — 
speaking of the Zulus — 

' * They cut them to pieces, 
They put them to rights; (ironically) 

By the way, you are not one of them. 
We are braves, that fear the King ; 

By the way, you are not one of ug. 
Je, Je, Je, (stamp) Je, Je, Je," (stamp). 

The words will not seem to express or even suggest much 
to an Englishman, and would not apj^ear at all striking even 



THE ZULU NATIONAL ANTHEM. 95 

if I could convey the idioms ; but to Zulus, accompanied as 
they are with glorious remembrances, they are sufficient 
thoroughly to arouse their savage blood ; and, therefore, 
when the " Ingoma " is sung, an extra number of captains 
are always spread about, as a sort of special constables, as a 
necessary measure of precaution, in order to quell any 
attempt at tumult which may arise. And, I may add, that 
tumults always do arise. A wry word or a crooked look 
sets the whole in a blaze like a spark among powder ; and 
then the captains immediately commence to hammer away 
with heavy sticks or " knob-kerries " till they cry " hold, 
enough ! " The stick is the great disciplinarian and 
" argumentarium " in the Zulu. The young men have a 
saying, "We never can hear, unless we first feel the stick!" 

The whole of the kraals on the Mahlabate are filling fast ; 
the people are trooping in from all directions, each party 
with its household goods and a package of Indian corn for 
their support ; for, although the King will kill a number of 
cattle for them, there will be only a tit-bit for each, so they 
must attend to their own commissariat. 

It is the custom for all the young men in the country to 
spend a few months every year " Konsaing," i.e., paying 
their respects at Court ; but " not to put too fine a point 
upon it," this means in fad that they have to hoe the King's 
corn, and at the same time find tliemselves in 2'^ovant. 
Those who live close at hand are pretty well ofi", but those 
who come from a distance have generally very short 
commons. They, however, can stand starvation wonder- 
fully. They will travel or work for days on nothing but 
an occasional drink of water ; but then, on the other hand, 
when they have the chance they can eat enormously and 
continuously. 



94 A TRIP INTO THE ZULU. 

This is a time when all the Zulus are full of old recollec- 
tions, always speaking and boasting of old deeds and glories; 
consequently, I have the history of the rise and progress of 
Zulu greatness continually dinned into my ears; and, having 
been overdosed with this sort of thing, I have determined 
to dispense a modicum of it to the readers of my " Trip." 
This cannot be grumbled at, however, seeing that I have 
^iven fair warning ; so that, if Zulu history possesses no 
charms, it may be skipped; but as forty-two years of 
" strange eventful history " will only occupy as many lines, 
I think I may anticipate having a few readers among 
^' anxious enquirers " into that most romantic of all 
romances — history. 

About the year 1820 Ensensengakona "died in his bed" 
peaceably. He was, like all his ancestors, merely a petty 
chief of a country extending over the now " Mahlabati," 
the then Imhitat of the Zulus. " Chaka," his son, succeeded 
him, and reigned peaceably enough for two years. 

Then a tribe called the " Endwandwe," who lived at the 
extreme northern end of what is now the Zulu country, 
began to aim at " universal dominion," and, with that end 
in view, under their chief " Zweete "^ — a would-be South 
African Caesar — conquered all the tribes around them up to 
the Zulu. 

Chaka felt uneasy, but did not know how to oppose them, 
his tribe being so small. Just then, however, as the fates 
would have it, a tribe called " Zoongoo," abutting on the 
Zulus, quarrelled amongst themselves "for the throne!" 
One party craved the assistance of the Endwandwe, and 
the other asked the armed intervention of Chaka. This 
was the beginning of Chaka's wars. In the first campaign, 
however, he and his Zoongoo allies were beaten, and driven 



HISTORY OF THE ZULUS. 95 

■down to the Tugela or southern boundary of what is now 
Zulu, w^here they again, being in fighting trim, conquered, 
and drove out the Amaquabe tribe, the remainder of whom 
now consider themselves Zulus. Zweete, not satisfied with 
his former victory, determined to "wipe out" the Zulus, 
iind, having pursued them, was thoroughly beaten, and his 
people " Konza'd " (made their allegiance) to Chaka, who, 
having now tasted blood, and becoming gradually more 
powerful, carried on his wars until he conquered and brought 
under subjection ten tribes which then occupied Zulu, a 
country about two hundred miles square. He then turned 
his attention to the countries around, completely subjugating 
what is now Natal, and even sent out armies as far as the 
Amaponda and Mosilekatse, the latter a thousand miles 
•distant. 

He improved the discipline, and altered the arms of his 
people. Formerly they used to go to battle in one dis- 
orderly crowd; he formed them into companies and 
regiments. It was their custom to carry a bundle of 
assegais, which they used both to throw and to stab with ; 
he took them all away but one large one, so that they were 
less hampered, and were compelled to adopt hand-to-hand 
fighting. 

If any one lost his assegai — he was killed. If any one- 
.showed the least symptom of fear — he was killed. 

The Zulus admire him intensely — as a sort of black 
Napoleon 1 — ^but yet they acknowledge that he was a blood- 
thirsty tyrant. At his mother's death he was with the 
greatest difficulty dissuaded from killing all the mothers in 
the country, saying that now, since he had no mother, 
neither should any one else have one. As it was, he killed 
about seven thousand people at the mourning feast, " so 
that the tears of the survivors should run plentifully." 



96 A TRIP INTO THE ZULU. 

Chaka was killed by his brothers Dingaan aud Umhlan- 
gana — the former of whom killed the latter, and reigned 
alone until the arrival of the Dutch, by whom he was. beaten 
and driven away, when Panda, a younger brother, reigned 
in his stead. 

Panda departed from the custom of his two predecessors 
by marrying, having children, and allowing them to grow 
up ; and to this the Zulus ascribe his milder sway. 

When his children were very young he named the present 
heir-presumptive, Cetchwayo, as his successor; but after- 
wards, about twelve years ago (1855), he changed his mind, 
and appointed another son, Umbulazi, as " Crown Prince." 

This occasioned a civil war, in which the latter was. 
defeated and slain, so that the former is now rehabilitated 
by force of arms, and is the acknowledged future King. But 
in Zulu-land " Amurath an Amurath succeeds," and all the 
other sons of the King are well aware that, on C etch way o's 
succession, he will take the earliest opportunity of killing 
them, and no doubt they will endeavour to " turn the 
tables" on him, if they can. The people are quite well 
aware of all this, and speak of it freely as if it were a mere 
matter of course. They say that he will most likely spare 
those who were bom of the same mother with himself; but 
even they, if they don't behave themselves very circum- 
spectly, need expect no mercy at his hands. 

The King knows it, and, in common with his great chiefs, 
has had his sons taught the use of the gun, so that in future 
troubles the jjeople shall not be slaughtered, and he would 
" let those who make the quarrels be the only men to 
fight ! " but the princes may shoot away at and amongst 
themselves until the one who is fated to be supreme is, like 
"the last rose of summer, left blooming alone." Thus, 
nothing is certain until one stands alone. Cetchwayo^ 



ROYAL IMPEDIMENTA. 97 

however, has by far the best chance, having command of 
the army. The King's other sons stay on, simply saying 
that their time has not yet come, and meanwhile all is 
couleur de rose, and it is very pleasant in Zulu-land. 

We have just returned from a week's dissij^ation at the 
head kraal during the celebration of ''Unikos." It is 
Christmas time, and a description of how I spent it may 
not be unacceptable. 

I was staying at a kraal about five miles from Nodwengo, 
the proprietrix of which is Panda's sister Baleka. The old 
lady is very much afflicted with gout, and consequently 
unable to walk. She asked me to take her down in the 
waggon, and I consented. On the 30th December we took 
everything belonging to myself out of the waggon, and 
received Baleka's household goods, family, and servants. 

First came some girls with mats, wooden pillows, blankets, 
baskets of beer, pots of fat, dresses, beads, spoons, and a 
miscellaneous assortment of greasy, odoriferous articles. 
Then came the old lady herself, and, after a tremendous 
struggle and much groaning, her people managed to hoist 
the twenty-stone of her into the waggon. When she was 
comfortably laid down, two men stationed themselves — one 
at her feet and the other at her head — to render any assist- 
ance she might require. 

After this came two daughters, and a host of slave girls, 
her servants ; then, with the waggon filled with a heap of 
chattering, screaming, laughing black-humanity, we made 
a start, two men going in front to look out for holes and 
stones, and away we went. 

I have said before that African waggons jolt frightfully, 
so, notwithstanding all our care, the ups and downs which 
Baleka had to submit to, rather disordered her nerves and 

H 



98 A TRIP INTO THE ZULU. 

temper, not to mention the gout. At every jolt we had a 
grunt from her ladyship and screams from the girls. 
Twenty times a mile we had to halt to allow her to recover 
breath and arrange herself. All this was comparatively 
tolerable, but a steep hill which we had to descend was 
fated to try her metal to the uttermost. As for the girls, 
they were just the same prettily-frightened, timid dears 
they are all the world over. 

When we came to the hill we had a consultation as to our 
mode of procedure, and decided not to say anything to her 
about the difficulties of the descent. The Latin proverb 
says that it is easy to descend to Avernus, but, as Zulu 
means " heaven," we found the obverse hold good, for it 
was something positively frightful. But as there was no 
possibility of avoiding it — there being no choice of roads, 
and if we attempted to argue the point we should likely 
have to remain all day, and then have to do it after all — 
we at once set off. I sat on the box in front, told her 
that it was a little steep and rough, and suggested that 
she had better hold on to something; then down we 
went ! 

The scene was indescribable. In addition to the steep- 
ness, the road was full of stones ; the oxen could not hold 
the waggon back, so we went jolting over everything, in 
more senses than one, at a rattling rate. Screams and 
broken exclamations; everything and everybody shaken 
down into a heap in the front part of the waggon, and on 
the top of poor old Baleka. But for all that, we could hear 
her voice, broken with jolts, gasping forth entreaties to keep 
quiet, and not to be afraid, it was perfectly safe, and she 
knew all about it ! Did you ever see a lot of eels twisting- 
together about in a box ? Well, just thus looked the con- 



ZULU warriors; fete. 99 

geries of struggling, screaming humanity in the bottom of 
the waggon. 

At hxst we got to the bottom, put everything to rights, 
^nd reached Nodwengo Avithout further adventure — the 
young men at the kraal evidently highly envious of my 
Jmppmess in travelling with such a bevy of Zulu belles. 
When Baleka came to the King he ordered an ox to be 
killed for her, of which I was fortunate enough to get a leg 
as payment of the " freight and passage money," and next 
day I was presented with an entire animal by the King 
himself. 

The whole country-side was full of people, and the noise, 
day and night, was incessant — chattering at night and dan- 
cing during the day. At night the fires on the hill, and the 
figures of the natives passing the light, imparted a weird- 
like character to the scene which would have made a famous 
study for a Gatti or a Van Schendal. 

During the day the troops dancing in full war dress, 
showed one the maximum of native ideas of greatness and 
splendour. It was actually impossible to distinguish one 
chief from another, so covered were they with skins and 
feathers — a kilt of monkey and cat skins round their waist, 
their breast and back covered with white ox tails, on their 
head a sort of cap with lappets of monkey skins, and as 
many ostrich and crane feathers as they could manage to 
stick in. 

Each regiment danced separately, then filed before the 
King for his inspection, so that he could judge which danced 
best, and also have a closer view of their persons. As they 
passed, every man shouted at the top of his voice, and 
with the most fierce and warlike look he could put on, 
expressions of what he would, could, and was ready to do 



100 A Tit IP INTO THE ZULU. 

for the King, sucli as "Here is Tuolwiiii I" " TJicse ai<' 
soldiers!" "Tell us to do sometliing!" "Send us anywhere!" 
"Even the 'Moloon-IvAvana' (a contem])tuous diminutive 
of 'white man') are afraid of Tool wan ! " "Send us to 
Natal!" <^c., &c. The last day all together had a great 
dancing match. All their songs go to the tune of Zulu 
greatness. For instance the burden of two — " The world 
has no people of any account " (except the Zulus, is, of 
course, understood), and "We stopped-up the Amaswazi,"^ 
we forayed the Amaponda, and every nation cries out to us 
when we come in sight, ' Put down your shields, the cattle 
are waiting for you at the kraal I'" 

The whole scene was well worth seeing, but a little 
description goes a long way; there was such a sameness 
about the manoeuvres — it was dancing, eating, and drink- 
ing — drinking, eating, and dancing; nothing more. After 
remaining for a dance or two, and listening to the King's 
speech, which he regularly made to each regiment, I used 
to betake myself to the Sgohlo, to the hut of the head 
" child," amongst the girls, where I would sit me down and 
talk and argue and answer the multitudinous questions they 
put to me. Generally there were only Matonieel and five or 
six of her sisters present, all handsome, well-fed girls, whose 
only occupation is (to use an Irishism) to lie still, drink 
beer, eat beef, and hear the news ; l)ut towards afternoon 
the great chiefs never failed to call and pay their respects, 
so that I had a good view of, and opportunity for making 
acquaintance with, the most famous men in the Zulu country, 
all of whom are interesting to a Natal man. 

* Tliey run to caves -when invaded ; and tJie Zulus on one occasion 
stopped-up a cave in which the Amaswazi liad taken refuge, and the 
hundreds who crowded it were suffocated. 



ZULU IDEAS OF LUXURY. 101 

I have come to the conchision that Queen EKzabeth's 
maids of honour were not at all so badly off with their 
<illowance of beef and beer. I have had some experience of 
late in living on these comestibles; but I do hope that they 
had something else to do than eat the former and drink the 
latter all day long, as Baleka's maids of honour do. Panda's 
princesses, with their ladies in waiting, generally finish the 
day in a happy state of ignorance of, and indifference to, 
^'all those ills which flesh is heir to." Eat, drink, and sleep, 
forms the daily routine and summum honum of their lives. 

After five days' experience of this style of living, we 
returned, I feeling very bilious and out of sorts ; and yet I 
was highly complimented on my personal appearance, 
having, as I said, grown positively fat — a FalstafRan habit 
of body, " with good fat capon lined," being looked upon as 
'' a thing of beauty and a joy for ever" by the natives. But, 
alas! beauty evanishes too quickly, for two hot toilsome 
days in the Hlanzi soon dissipated it, and, as " the too solid 
flesh melted and resolved itself into a dew," I proportionately 
fell in the estimation of my previous admirers. 

Before concluding, a few hints as to what to do, and how 
things are done, in the Zulu, may be found useful for the 
^guidance of any of my readers who may think of taking 
"a vacation ramble" to that interesting, beautiful, and 
healthy quarter of the globe: — 

1st, — Swear by the King and chiefs; just as you might 
•say in England, " Victoria, what I say is true !" or " Glad- 
stone," or "Derby, it is correct!" 

2d, — You must never spit at meals; but you may bloa- 
your nose as much as you like — pocket handkerchiefs are in 
the form of the finger and the tluimb. 



102 A TRIP INTO THE ZULU. 

3(1, — A wife must never speak to her husband's male 
relations, but must hide, or apj^ear to do so, whenever she 
sees them. The husband must not S2:>eak to, look at, or eat 
with his mother-in-law. And neither husband, nor wife 
must utter their relations' names. This is called "Hlonijia."' 

4tli, — If any one complains of a headache, and says it arises- 
from an old wound, they shave the hair from the spot, cut 
into the bone, scrape well for about five minutes, and during 
the operation have water constantly squirted from the 
mouth into the gash. This is a certain cure fen' headache ! 

5 th, — If you sprain your thumb, get some one to pile 
about a couple of inches of sand over your hand, which you 
have resting on the ground ; make a fire over it until the 
thumb is half-roasted, then cut about twenty slits above the 
joint, and — the spmn is cured/ 

I might add numerous other hints, social, political, and 
medicinal, but these will suffice for the present. I may, 
however, on a future occasion devote a joajier to these 
" curios" of South African life and manners. 

Ah, me ! my days in Zulu-land come to an end. " Home- 
ward bound" is now the mot d'm'dre. Notwithstanding the 
pervading roughness, and occasional annoyances and dis- 
comforts, I have thoroughly enjoyed the open air, the free, 
happy life, and the novel and interesting circumstances by 
which I was surrounded. AYlien I reached the Tugela on 
my return, I felt inclined to parody Juliet, and exclaim — 

•' All ! Tugela, Tugela, wherefore art tliou Tugela? 
Why aren't you the other boundary?" 

But then, again, I think of home and the comforts and 
delights of civilised life, for which, eidre iicus, I have still 



HOME AGAIN. 103 

an arriere pemee, and I come to the conclusion that " my 
lines have fallen in pleasant places" after all, seeing that I 
shall have — in a verse from "Cymbeline," altered to suit 
the circumstances — 

" No more to brave the summer's sun, 
Xor yet the furious buffalo's rages ; 
My work in Zulu-land all done, 
Home I go to get my ivages!" 



WILD LIFE IN SOUTH AFRICA. 

(Star, February and March, 1870). 

Ah, Wild life ! — Wild life ! what a charm there is about it. 
I used to wonder, and have often laughed at the rhapsodies 
— as I then thought them — indulged in by Mayne Reid 
regarding his prairie days; but never, never more shall I 
be guilty of such silly incredulity, for have I not had similar 
experience? And while writing this paper exactly the same 
feelings come over me — ^my heart throbs; my blood boils; 
my frame tingles; and I long to be at the old game again. 

I have given it up — I am afraid for ever; but am still 
subject to ever-recurring attacks of the prairie-fever, which, 
doubtless, is the same in its symptoms and effects in South- 
Eastern Africa as in Western America. 

No one who has not lived such a Wild life can know the 
fascination which after-thoughts of it exert. It is not so 
much felt at the time, but when one has at last settled down 
in the midst of civilisation, the mind reverts to the old scenes 
Avitli a vividness, a fondness, and an excitement, which must 
be experienced to be appreciated. 

The glorious freedom of Wild life — free from every fetter 
except what you yourself may choose to wear; free from the 
constantly irritating contacts and annoyances to which you 
are subject in an old country; free to come; free to go; free 
to halt; free — and often necessitated — to experience the 
extremes of hunger and satiety, heat and cold, wet and dry; 
plenty of adventure to season your food; tale-tellers equal 



MORNING IN S.E. AFRICA. 105 

to the Eastern ones to amuse your leisure hours; and the 
study of the habits, customs, and pecuHarities of the wild 
races amongst which you may be thrown — constitute a life 
delightful to experience, and pleasant to look back upon. 

These thoughts — or rhapsodies if you like — came crowding 
upon me, after reading over some sketches in a journal of 
old times — for, although not many years ago, it looks an 
age — and it struck me that a few of them might not be un- 
interesting, even in these days when everybody must relate 
his experiences to everybody else, whether he may travel to 
Aldgate Pump or to Timbuctoo, or whether he may scale 
Primrose Hill or the Matterhorn, or whether he may make 
a voyage in the Eob Eoy or the Great Eastern. 

I have no pretensions to be considered a litterateur^ so 
that my reminiscences of Wild life, while wanting in dash 
and polish, may be pardoned on the ground that they are a 
faithful record of scenes I have mixed in, stories I have 
heard, and of some peculiarities of the natives I have 
observed. It is Zulu-land I write about, and the Sketches 
are taken at random. 

I. — Morning in South-Eastern Africa. 

Nothing, in South-Eastern Africa, can be so charming to 
iriy mind as a fine morning after the first rain of the season. 
For months a dull, dry haze, called by the natives 
*' Lofusseemba," has covered the face of the country, causing 
<^ven the nearest hills to loom as if in the far distance. The 
atmosphere has been dry and close ; your beard frizzles and 
your skin crumples up from the want of moisture. Hunting 
is most unpleasant, from the dust and black ashes — the 
remnants of the grass fires — which you raise at every step. 



106 WILD LIFE — MORNING IN S.E. i^JTJCA. 

The feet of the natives get cut up by constant trampHng on 
the sharp stems of grass, left by the same cause; and 
altogether you feel as if the greatest luxury in life would be 
to "paidle in the burn" the live-long day; but, unfortunately, 
owing to the long drought, there isn't the tiniest pool to 
be seen. 

The rains come at last, and with a vengeance too ! For 
three days you have to endure the stifling atmosphere of a 
native hut — a sort of exaggerated beehive — and as the grass 
of which it is constructed has contracted during the long 
spell of dry weather, you may say you have a covering, but 
no shelter. However, that doesn't matter much — all your 
care is for the guns and ammunition ; as for yourself, you 
won't melt, nor take harm by exposure in this fine climate, 
and it isn't the first time you have slept in the wet. 
Towards morning one of the natives looks out of the door 
and exclaims "Le^Balele" (it shines — it is fair). You also 
rise at last from your damp couch and go out; when 
immediately you forget all the previous discomfort in the 
exquisite charm of the lovely morning. The country lies 
dark, yet distinctly defined, before you; the relief is magical, 
and would have enraptured Turner. No glimmering haze 
to pain the eye — no blur in the landscape — but all the out- 
lines and details clearly mapped out before you. The sheen 
of the river is seen below, its heretofore dry bed now filled 
with a tumultuous flood ; and here and there amongst the 
peaks, and dotting the flat-land, lie white, soft, fleecy nebulae 
of mist. The freshness and balminess of the air is delicious; 
the breeze — the handmaid of the morn — rises so pleasantly, 
dispelling the misty spots and wreaths ; and then Aurora, 
on the wings of the morning, bursts upon us, bathing the 
whole face of tlie country in a flood of light; and all nature. 



INTENSE HEAT IN THE PONGOLO VALLEY. 107 

animate and inanimate, seems to liail the advent of morning 
in a chorus of joy 1 Such a morning is worth seeing, and 
worth writing about, and I only regret that I am so in- 
capable of doing it justice. 

II. — A Day in AYild Life. 

The waggon has been "out-spanned" u2)on a hill over- 
looking miles upon miles of Hlanzi (open bush), dark and 
sombre-looking at this winter time in all parts. Here and 
there are small peaked and table hills, which, however, but 
slightly diversify the landscape. Beyond rise the high bare 
hills of Amaswazi* and the Bombof. Through the middle 
of the flat runs the river Pongolo. The uniformity of colour 
imparts a dull yet grand aspect to the river. You feel, in 
descending to the habitat of the game, as if you could realise 
Dante's famous inscription on the gate of the Inferno. 
Although there may be a cool breeze blowing in the hills you 
have left, directly you reach the flat, and are fairly amongst 
the mimosa trees, it ceases. The sun beats down on your 
head in such a manner — so directly and with such persever- 
ance — that you are half inclined to belicA^e in the ancient 
mythology, and ascribe the infliction to some off'ence un- 
wittingly given to Phoebus. Occasionally the chirrup of a 
bird is heard, but otherwise all is hot, silent, and lonely. 

When, however, you are once fairly in the Hlanzi the sense 
of oppression ceases in the excitement of hunting. Game 
is abundant and sufficiently wild to give zest to success. 

First, most probably, the graceful Pallah will be seen in 
troops, gazing with evident wonder and terror in your 

* Amaswazi, the tribe on the N. and N. W. of Zulu. 
i"See "Bombo," Sketch No. 4. 



108 WILD LIFE — ^A DAY IX WILD LIFE. 

direction. As you draw nearer and nearer a little movement 
will be seen — one or two will change their places, then 
.suddenly the whole herd, without any further preliminary 
motion, will start away, each leaping high as they go, The 
effect is very pretty, for as they leap the red of their backs 
and sides, and the white of their bellies, alternately appear 
and disappear, jjroducing a glittering zoetropic effect on a 
magnificent scale. 

Next your attention is drawn to the other side by a loud 
sneeze, and on looking thither you behold a troop of Gnu 
and Quagga mixed. They, on the other hand, are in constant 
motion — gnu and quagga passing and repassing each other 
Avithout pause. A single gnu will every moment plunge 
out, whisk his tail, give a sneeze, and then back again to 
the ranks ; but the head quagga stops any impudent mani- 
festation of this kind by laying his ears back and biting any 
forward youngster which attempts to pass him. When this 
herd considers you are near enough for any agreeable pur- 
pose, away it goes, kicking and 2:>lunging with such an 
evident " catch me if you can" expression that you feel very 
much inclined to send a bullet among them to give them a 
lesson of respect to the genus homo ; but we are after "metal 
more attractive" and therefore leave them alone. It is very 
interesting to notice the discipline kept uj) in gnu families. 
Any laggard amongst the youngsters is immediately taken 
to task by its mother or by a bull, and well switched with 
their horse-tails to make it keep up. From this circumstance 
the natives say that a gnu's tail is "medicine," and that, 
however tired you may be, if you brush your legs with it the 
.sense of fatigue passes away. Of course, one hair of faith is 
more effectual than all the hairs on the tail in j^roducing 
this result. 



GAME AND THORNS IN THE HLANZI. 1()1> 

A little further on a troop of the noble-looking bull Koodoos 
is seen — the most wary buck I know — with their spiral 
horns and large ears laid back, glancing between the 
mimosas ; when, if you manage to get within range, a bullet 
either arrests the flight of one, or hastens the stampede of 
the whole. 

Again you march on, when with a crash out rushes a noble 
AVild Boar from the thicket in which he has been lying. 
AVith head up and tail on end away he goes at a short, 
quick gallop, and, as he breaks through the long grass and 
thick, tangled underwood, a flock of Guinea-fowl and Phea- 
sants are roused, and, flying hither and thither, the air is 
filled with their discordant notes, and also with a shower of 
sticks which the natives shy at them with some success. To 
this noise and confusion is added the cry of a species of 
Caurie, which attracted by the din, perches on a tree close 
by, and reiterates "go away" as plainly as an angry child 
of four or five years of age would do, and with something 
like the same eff'ect on your nerves. 

Again on the tramp towards the thickest part of the 
Hlanzi — the deepest gloom of this Tartarus — where larger 
trees of the mimosa species prevail — where the creeper, the 
"wait-a-bit" thorn (called by the natives " catch-tiger" and 
"come-and-I'll-kiss-you"), a long-spiked thorny bush (called 
by the natives "the cheeky"), the cactus-thorn of three 
inches long, the nettle, and all sorts of such abominations 
most do abound ; and on entering there, in sternest silence^ 
as regards speech and footfall, the business of the day com- 
mences. 

With a very black, lithe, active native in front, whose 
most prominent features are the whites of his eyes, and 
whose name, " Bah-pa," deserves to be recorded, away we 



110 WILD LIFE — A DAY IN WILD LIFE.' 

go, to be met by a Black Eliinoceros, who, having smelt 
our wind, is coming to see who has ventured to intrude 
into his habitat and disturb his mid-day siesta. He is the 
only wild animal I know who, deliberately and without 
provocation, will set himself to hunt down man on the 
slightest intimation of his presence. He comes! The 
thunder of his gallop and the sounds of his displeasure are 
only too audible. It is stand fast, or up a tree like a squirrel, 
for there is no running away from such an antagonist in such 
a thicket. Fortunately, however, his sight is not very good, 
and a very slight screen suffices to save you; and, as he 
furiously plunges past, a shot through the lungs brings his 
career to a termination; but even his dying scream is indi- 
cative of pain and anger, not of fear. Certainly he deserved 
to live for his pluck, but is bound to die from his vicious 
disposition, for there is no quarter in the battle with such 
as him. The sound of the shot seems to vivify the bush 
around, and crash, crash ! on all sides is heard, caused by the 
hurried flight of the startled game. Never mind ! they leave 
tracks by which we can easily follow and find them through 
the wood. On emerging from the thicket we come across a 
White Eliinoceros, much larger than his sable cousin, but not 
at all vicious. Our sudden apj)earance startles him into a 
trot, which presently breaks into a gallop, especially if he has 
a dog at his heels. His trot and gallop are exactly like 
those of a well-bred horse. He is a heavy animal, but what 
splendid action he shows ! He keeps his head well'up, and 
lifts his feet cleverly from the ground, and goes at a pace 
which few horses can equal. What a sensation a Rhinoceros 
race would create among your Dundrearys and Verisophts 
at^i Epsom! When he has "gone from our gaze" we follow 
buffalo tracks which evidently lead to another thicket, and 



FIGHT BETWEEN A LION AND A BUFFALO. Ill 

on approaching it we hear sounds of wild-animal w^arfare 
— grunting, bellow^ing, and roaring, and roaring, bellow- 
ing, and grunting, as Tennyson would jingle it; but the 
Kaffirs call it " belching." Cautiously Bali-pa whispers 
''Lion, Lion!" and warily we draw near to the scene 
•of the commotion. In a clear space are a Lion and a 
Buffalo cow fighting; and a Buffalo calf lying dead, sufficiently 
•explains the casiis beUl. The lion springs — immediately the 
€ow rushes through the thick bush and wipes him off, turning 
instantly and pounding away at him on the ground; the lion 
wriggles free after tearing the nose and face of the buffalo ; 
^and the same process is repeated, all so quickly and in such 
a whirl of motion, that you can only'see the result and guess 
how it has been effected. The last time the lion is brushed 
off, he evidently gives up the game, as we can hear the 
buffalo tearing after him through the bush. Two or three 
of my fellows creep forward and quickly draw away the 
calf; the cow returns, smells about for a little, and finding 
her lui machree gone, dashes off, more furious than before, 
after the lion again, and we can hear the renewal of the 
conflict, gradually dying away in the distance. 

On, on again; this time towards the river. We have 
rhinoceros and buffalo beef for lunch; ^^but although 
ravenously hungry, we are too thirsty to eat or even to 
talk, and in silence therefore we make our way towards the 
water. On our road we put up a herd of " Peeva" (water- 
buck). One goes down; the remainder dash to the river — 
their haven of refuge — we following close on their heels. 
As we use the last little incline, before coming in sight of 
the Pongolo, the natives, with eyes and fingers on the stretch, 
point to the other side, where a file of Elephants are slowly 
making their way down to the drift or ford, and, forgetting 



112 WILD LIFE — A DAY IN WILD LIFE. 

hunger and thirst, we creep carefully to the edge, and form 
an ambuscade for their reception on crossing. They enter 
the river ; on their way over, one halts for an instant and 
looks back, then goes on again, but he appears to be dragging 
a weight at his leg; and when he comes into the shallows 
on our side, we observe an Alligator holding on to his knee. 
AVithout much ado the elephant drags him out on to the 
bank and utters a peculiar shriek, when immediately anothei- 
turns round, and, seizing the alligator between his trunk and 
his teeth, carries him to a stiff-forked thorny tree, and ther(^ 
deposits him with a smash — hung in chains one may say — 
and before long his bones would be all that remained of the 
A'oracious brute — causing some curious speculations in the 
mind of some future hunter as to how the animal found its 
^vay there. 

During our wandering observations we have allowed the 
elephants to go. Kever mind, we can follow after lunch, or 
even mid-day, as Ave know where they were heading for. 

Then the tramp home — coffee and biscuits, and biscuits 
and beef, round the fire, and consumed w^ith such an appetite I 
The recapitulation by the natives of the whole day's sport,, 
in animated language and appropriate gesture — one story 
leading to another till far on in the night — then the last pipe 
and cup of coffee, and to bed with a healthy frame and a 
clear conscience. 

Such is a day you may spend in Wild life; and ah! tell 
me, if you can, what is there to equal if? 

Or it may be a quieter day, yet full of its own beauty and 
excitement. I wish I had the pencil of a John Leech, who 
delighted so much in, and depicted so well, sporting scenes; 
as a sketch of " waiting for dinner" in wild life would hav(^ 
been a first-rate subject. 



I 



PANORAMIC DISSOLVING VIEW. 113 

It is the day of a great hunt. The whole country-side for 
many miles around has been warned; and, literally, ''a 
thousand men have turned out to hunt the deer with hound 
and horn." It is arranged that those with guns are to take 
their places at the fords of the river, and wait there for the 
game crossing. Early in the morning we start — not because 
it is necessary, seeing that it will be hours before anything 
in the shape of game makes its appearance at the water; but 
when everybody else is off, what is the use of us staying at 
home. In the bustle and stir, breakfast has been forgotten 
— but never mind, we'll enjoy an early dinner all the better 
— so away we saunter in the cool fresh air of the morning. 
We mark the changing hues of the landscape, as here the 
sun makes brilliant a patch of springing green, and there a 
cloud throws a dark shade on what had a moment before 
been bright and beautiful; and, as the breeze springs up, 
the view becomes quite panoramic — here a peak coming 
suddenly into distinct outline, there as suddenly darkening 
as the shadows envelope it — and in that half-hour every 
charm which sun, clouds, wind, atmosphere, hills, flats, 
verdure, trees, and flowers — all of their brightest and best — 
can develope, pass in ever-changing and rapidly-dissolving 
view before your delighted vision ! 

Or, on to the river, through and past game in hundreds, 
and we there take up our post and " wait for dinner." We 
are seated on the high bank of the river, snugly hidden 
behind a bush quietly smoking a pipe, and watching, as only 
hungry hunters can or will watch, for a chance of a shot. 
But let me tell you that by this time the poetical aspects of 
the scene have, so far as we know or care, pretty well 
evanished, and the practical question of dinner is the great 
attraction ; so that it is after having satiated the cravings of 



114 WILD LIFE — A DAY IN WILD LIFE. 

the inner man you think over and thoroughly enjoy the 
scene which has all this time been displayed before you. 
Up and down are the windings of the river, here silent and 
deep, flowing between reedy banks; there, swift and 
tumultuous, tearing over its stony bed; cranes and ducks 
flying and wheeling about ; and on the flat stones and sand 
banks alligators " waiting for their dinners " also. There 
wait, and yet longer wait, till a low " hist " from one of the 
watchful natives sends your eyes from mooning over the 
flowing waters below you, over to the opposite side; and 
there, amongst the mimosas, you see, glancing along, the first 
head of the day. It proves to be a female Koodoo — a sign 
of good luck ! — and graceful and " wide awake " she appears 
as she comes out on the open ; many a look thrown behind 
— many a one before ; her large ears moving quickly from 
side to side ; a step as light as Venus when she danced with 
Adonis ; a halt for a moment, and then a dash to the river, 
there to meet her fate. After that began to be heard the 
shouts of the natives, and thick and fast came the game. 
For half-an-hour the sounds of battle — for battle it is — wake 
the echoes around ; then a silence while we count our 
trophies; and then . . . Ah! then, we take that *'one 
step," and subside to dinner! There is nothing but fire, beef, 
and water ; but I agree with Hawkeye in " The Prairie," 
"there's nothing to beat it if you're healthy and hungry!" 

III. — A Zulu Marriage. 

Among the Zulus marriage is a very elaborate ceremony, 
and etiquette is as strictly observed among them as at those 
fashionable aff'airs enacted at St. George's, Hanover Square. 
I have seen all classes of them married, and the forms and 
ceremonies are in all cases the same, the only diff'erence 



ZULU MARRIAGE PRELIMINARIES. 115 

being, as at home, more 2)eople, more food, and finer dresses, 
according to the rank of the parties. And, as the marriage 
question is occupying an unusual amount of attention at 
home, a description of a marriage ceremony abroad may not 
be uninteresting even to Belgravian mammas. 

First, then, when the prehminaries have been agreed upon 
— i.e., the number of cattle to be given in exchange for the 
bride, being settled — and that young lady's consent having 
been obtained, although, as in some civilised communities, 
that is generally a mere form, an ox is slaughtered, and a 
brewst of beer is prej)ared — the relations of the bride are 
invited to the feast, of which, however, she does not partake. 
The bride's dress is got ready, and it depends upon the 
wealth of her people the quantity of beads and extent of 
coloured worsted and other finery with which she is de- 
corated. She also receives in presents her household 
utensils, such as pots, gourds, spoons, mats, &c., and, if the 
father can afford it, a blanket. When all is ready the party 
sets out ; it consists of the bride, a head man to " Endeesa" 
her (to have her married), young men — the number of whom 
depends upon the rank of the parties — and young girls, 
under the same conditions. They set out, frequently on a 
two or three days' walk — hospitality in a case of this kind 
never being refused, nor ever, as is sometimes the case with 
chance travellers, grudgingly given. When they arrive near 
the bridegroom's Kraal they halt, as it is against all etiquette 
for the bride and party (called Emteemha) to enter the bride- 
groom's home in the daytime.* When all are supposed to 

* "And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom 
Cometh !" (Matt. xxv. 6.) I have been tokl that in old times the 
custom in Zulu was thus : — The bridegroom went to the bride's 
Kraal, and took her away; but now it is reversed — much war having 
altered the position of women, and doubtless led to the change. 



116 WILD LIFE — A ZULU MARRIAGE, 

be asleep tliey enter the Kraal, singing and dancing, no one- 
daring to look out of doors. The huts for their occupation 
are empty, and in them they rest. Early in the morning, 
before any of the others are astir, they all go down to the 
nearest brook, where they remain — washing, dressing, and 
eating the food sent down to them, until about eleven 
o'clock, by which time the bridegroom and his j^arty 
have taken their places beside the spot appointed for 
the dance. When all is ready, the young men of the 
bride's party come singing and dancing up, pass in pro- 
cession twice or thrice round the bridegroom and his- 
party, then tliey halt, and the spokesman begins a long-^ 
story. For instance, he will say, " We are a party of 
Amaswazi, who are travelling through the country, and have 
just called to see how you are — ^you are a good-looking 
fellow;" and away they go. Presently back they come with 
the old man at their head, who says, " The young man you 
saw just now lied — we are an ' Emteemba,' and have come 
from so and so, who has sent his daughter to be married to 
you. She is a very good and clever girl, and her father 
hopes you will treat her well, and give her plenty of food," 
&c., &c., and whatever else he may have been told to say 
by her relations. Then away they go. After a short time 
the whole lot come singing up with the bride hidden in the 
middle, so that no one can see her. They stand fronting 
the bridegroom for a little; then the bride starts a song, 
which they all join in. When that is done they break away 
suddenly, and the bride is discovered standing in the middle,, 
with a fringe of worsted or beads round her brow and 
covering her face. The men then lay aside their shields and 
assegais, and the dancing of the bride's party commences; 
the bridegroom and his party sitting still all the while. 
They have no particular song which they sing on an occasion 



ZULU MARRIAGE FESTIVrnP:S. 117 

of this kind, except one at the end, in which everyone joins, 
«ind which they call " Esehlabello," and in which they all 
clap their hands in correct time to the tun^fe. The words 
generally have no signification, and vary very much. During 
the " Emteemba's" dancing, the bridegroom, and here and 
there a young man of his party " Geea" that is they spring 
out, jump about, and, to show their strength and agility, go 
through a number of antics — a sort of Kaffir " Houlaghan," 
but tameness itself compared with the classic "Eumenides" 
or the Parisian "Carmagnoles;" and another part of the 
ceremony is that two or three old women run up and down 
between the parties, wailing and shouting, and every now 
.and then coming up to the bridegroom and swearing at him, 
calling him all the annoying names they can think of, and 
disking him how it is that such a stupid, ugly fool as he has 
managed to secure such a good-looking girl ! 

When the " Emteemba" has finished dancing, the bride- 
groom and his party begin their part in the dance, and it is 
:a great matter of emulation as to which dances the best. 
The proceedings close towards evening, generally with a fight. 

I omitted to mention that the bride, when the dancing of 
lier party is drawing to a close, creeps up to the wives (if he 
has any) or mother of the bridegroom, and says she has come 
to stay, and hopes they will be good to her, &c., &c., other- 
wise she will go back to the father, mother, and relations 
who were so loath to part with her. They reply that they 
do not know — they are not sure — they will see how she 
behaves herself, and so on. She then makes a simulated 
iittempt to run away, when she is at once laid hold of and 
brought back by one of the bridegroom's female relatives, 
who is watching for the opportunity. 

In the evening, the bride, with her face unveiled, runs 



118 WILD LIFE — A ZULU MARRIAGE. 

about the Kraal with a following of girls crying after her. 
She is supposed to be running back to her old home, and th(- 
girls are supposed to be preventing her ! 

Next day the bridegroom kills an ox, and there is a 
general eating and drinking match. The bride " IIlo7iipa's" 
(hides) from the male sex ; but, in the afternoon, she comes 
out into the cattle kraal with some girls, and commences the 
ceremony of ^' Illambeesa," literally, "washing." The nearest 
relatives of the bridegroom sit down, the bride takes some 
beads and water in a large gourd-spoon, and, coming singing 
up, throws it about the male relative ; she then goes back 
and breaks the assegai which she carries in lier hand. (No 
widow re-marrying breaks the assegai!) She then repeats 
the bead and water ceremony with the female relative, 
striking her at the same time with a stick, as a symbol that 
she takes authority as a wife from that time. No sooner is 
this done than she makes a bolt for the gate of the kraal,, 
which is supposed to be a last attempt to return home, when 
one of the young men cuts off her retreat, and she then gives 
in. There have been cases, however, where the bride got 
out of the gate, which was a terrible disgrace to the young 
man who had been appointed to stop her, to the husband, 
and to all concerned; besides the expense, seeing that the 
whole ceremony had to be gone through again. 

lY. — A Zulu Story of a Haunted Wood. 

"Don't go into that wood." "Why not?" "Oh! be- 
cause," &c., &c., and here came out a whole chapter of native 
superstition, which was altogether new to me, and may not 
be uninteresting to others. 

To give the story literally as I heard it is well nigh im- 
possible, from the difficulty of translating the innumerable 



SOMIITHING LIKP] A KING. 119 

idiomatic phrases in the Zuhi language; but, as near as I can, 
I mil give the narrator's experience, premising that, however 
much the narrative may resemble the ghost stories and fairy 
tales of other lands, it is essentially Zulu. 

"Many years ago a tribe called ' Endwandive' lived here- 
abouts, a numerous and powerful tribe. There was no 
^ Nakau' * then, and all those hills Avhicli you see were 
covered by their cattle. All the chiefs in the country, even 
the Zulu, paid homage to the Endwandive ' Zweeti,' who 
was loved by his people, and respected everywhere his namc^ 
penetrated — and where did it not 1 At last came the bad 
time, when the country went wrong — when all the tribes 
fought against themselves till the rivers ran red, and ev(^n 
the corn took a redder tinge. The end of that was, that 
the Endwandive were scattered, their chief killed, and Chaka 
with his Zulus became king over all. 

" While Zweeti lived he did everything like a king. When 
he wanted to kill any of his wives or girls he always had 
them taken to the same place, the pool below the falls on 
the Umkool. When any of his captives or the common 
people were to be the sacrificial victim, the wood over the 
hill there, was where they had to submit to the will of their 
chief; and his own relations were conducted to the wood 
before us on such occasions ; and he himself was ' flung hi ' 
there after his death, and there he keeps his state now." 
" What do you mean," I interrupted, " by a dead man keep- 
ing his state ; are there people living in the wood V He 
replied, " Of course, Zweeti and all his people ; only they 
are not quite people you know, they are Esemkofu." I asked, 

* "Nakau," a fatal disease amongst cattle, which of late years 
has spread greatly in Zulu. Tt is supposed by many to be caused by 
the Tsetse fly. 



120 WILD LIFE — A HAUNTED WOOD. 

" What are Esemkofu ?" ''An Esemkofu is a person who 
has been dead, and has been raised again by witches, who 
cut off his tongue, and so prevent him from talking and 
telling secrets ; he can only utter a wailing noise — ' Maieh ! 
maieh!' and whenever any one hears that sound, if outside, 
he runs away ; or, if in his hut, he eats medicine. Yes ! very 
few people have been bewitched by the Esemkofu, because 
they don't like their duty, and always give notice with their 
warning cry." " What do you mean," I exclaimed, " by 
talking such nonsense to me? Do you think — " "Wait a 
moment, don't be in a hurry, listen to what I have got to 
say, first; remember you asked me to tell you the story. 
The Esemkofu is a very different thing from a man who has 
been dead, and is sent back by the Mahlose." " Are there, 
then, two kinds of people raised from the dead 1 " " Of 
course, there are people who have died and come back again 
in the proper way. My brother was one, and it was through 
him I went into that wood and saw what I was going to tell 
you about." '' But tell me first about the Mahlose; what or 
who are they, and where are theyl" "They are all the 
people who have died, whose breath has gone out of them. 
I don't know exactly what they are, or Avhere they are, but 
they revisit the kraals that belonged to them, in the form of 
a snake; and whenever we see it, we sacrifice a beast; or, if 
we are sick in the kraal, or unfortunate in hunting, we know 
that our Ehlose (or familiar spirit) is angry, and we sacrifice 
to it, when all comes right again ! My brother died and 
was ' flung away' in the usual manner. We dug a hole and 
sat him up in it, put in his blanket, his dress, his sticks, 
assegais and mat, beside him, covered him up, and left him. 
Next day we saw him walking up to the kraal. Of course 
we knew he had been sent back by the Mahlose, and bade 



A ZULU PURGATORIA. 121 

liim welcome. He told us that he had been in a fine country, 
where the corn and sugar-cane grew thick and tall, and the 
cattle were as fat as fat could be; and that he met a cousin 
of his, who had died a long time before, who told him to go 
back immediately, that instant, ' because,' said he, ' you will 
meet some one else just now if you don't, who will give you 
food, and then you must remain an Ehlose for ever.' ' I 
remembered nothing more,' my brother said, ' till I found 
myself lying on that hill. I looked at my legs and arms, 
said ^'ivoiof" and came home, thinking all the way, ah ! what 
a delightful country I have been in.' " "Then why didn't he 
stay there f I asked. "He couldn't, you know, after the 
Ehlose of one of his relatives had told him to go back." 
"And suppose he had met the Ehlose of a stranger, what 
would have been the consequence?" " Why, of course, just 
what his cousin told him; he would have given him food, he 
w^ould have taken it, and he would then have been obliged 
to remain. And that accounts, you see, for so few coming 
back, for if you think of the number of people who have 
died, and then think how small the chance is that the first 
man you meet should be a relative." "Ah! I see," cried I, 
*' well, go on with your story." 

" My brother w^ent about the kraal, but he seemed con- 
tinually to mourn for the good things he had left; would 
speak to no one, and wandered about as if he did not belong 
to us. At last it began to be whispered that he must be an 
Esemkofu, as he never spoke, but constantly wailed; and 
the question was mooted whether he ought not to be killed. 
I objected to this on the grounds that it was well known to 
])o impossible to kill an Esemkofu, and, therefore, if we put 
my brother to death it would be but a poor satisfaction to 
find that, after all, he was a real man. At last, it was 



122 WILD LIFE — A HAUNTED WOOD. 

agreed that I should take him to that wood — the Emagoodo 
— which was known to be haunted, and, if he fraternised 
with the others, it would set the matter at rest, and wo 
should get rid of him from the kraal. To avoid giving cause 
for suspicion, I told my brother to get axes to cut wood ; 
without saying anything he did so, and away we went — I, 
with fear and trembling ; he seeming to care for nothing. 
I had heard that the wood Avas full of Zweeti's people, 
and that the ' Bayete' ('King of Kings' — the greeting to 
majesty), was often heard mysteriously soughing through 
the trees ; but I was determined to do what I could for my 
brother, and so if there was danger in the attempt, I must 
run the risk at all hazards. 

"We entered the wood. AVJien we had gone about ten 
paces, a sound, as if the wind was rising and moaning 
amongst the trees, began to be heard. Yet it was not 
altogether like wind, but dull and heavy, as if you could 
almost feel it. I looked towards my brother, but he seemed 
unconscious of anything peculiar. I cut a wattle. Immedi- 
ately the sound increased in densitj^ — came nearer us, round 
us, over us, under us, and, I may say, in us ; and amidst it 
I seemed to hear half-broken ejaculations of the human voice. 
I looked towards my brother; he seemed wakening up, more 
life was visible in his face. Cheered by this I cut another 
wattle. No sooner had my axe struck the wood than 
immediately were heard on all sides exclamations of surprise 
and anger; the sound increased in loudness, and a heavy 
pressure seemed to be upon me. I could scarcely breathe, 
and felt as if something was fingering my axe and assegais. 
I looked towards my brother ; he evidently was now ahve 
to his situation ; terror was in his countenance, and he 
looked beseechingly towards me. Convinced now that he 



ANGRY SPIRITS. 12^ 

Avas no Esemkofii, I shouted aloud for joy, and struck one 
more blow at a tree. With the blow there came a rushing, 
irresistible force — like a great river after mighty rains — and 
from the midst we heard the angry exclamation — 'Wow, 
wow! who comes here"? Do they dare us?' Resistance 
was impossible — we never thought of it; something we could 
not see, but almost felt, twitched the axes and assegais out 
of our hands ; there came at us, propelled by some unseen 
but powerful agency, showers of stones and branches of trees ; 
but not one struck us. We were swept out of the wood in 
less time than I take to tell it, and when we reached the 
open country the angry spirits became reconciled, their 
furious attack ended, and eveii the faintest sound wjis 
inaudible. 

"My brother was, of course, rehabilitated in his tribe — the 
ordeal being held to be perfectly complete and satisfactory, 
his humanity being held to be proved to a demonstration. 
But my brother took me severely to task for having been so 
foolhardy as to dare to enter such a place, which I must 
have known was full of Esemkofu. I answered him nothing, 
although I might easily have vindicated myself by telling 
him that thereby I had saved his life; but I wished to avoid 
raising unpleasant feelings in his mind against those who 
were now his friends. Ever after he was his old self again ; 
but both of us have carefully avoided going near Hhe 
haunted wood' again, or indeed speaking of it to each 
other." 

It is scarcely necessary to say that I entered the wood, 
that I cut wattles there, and that I saw or heard nothing of 
all their wonders. But that did not shake his belief in them 
in the slightest degree, and he merely remarked that the 
inhabitants, knowing me for a white man who cared nothing 



124 WILD LIFE — OOL BOMBO. 

for these things, did not trouble themselves about me. The 
legend, I may state, is implicitly believed in by the natives 
to this day. The pity is that belief in such fables is not 
confined to the Zulus ! 

Y. — OOL BOMBO. 

The most remarkable feature of this country is the range 
of mountains kno^^^l as the Bombo — a spur of the Drachens- 
berg, running as nearly as possible due north and south. 

They are not particularly lofty, being at no j^art, I should 
say, more than 1200 feet above the level of the sea. But 
the whole range on the west side rises abruptly out of the 
great plains of the Amatonga country. It is like a huge 
wall running across a plain. On the east side the ridges roll 
from the top, surge upon surge, doAvn to a level with the 
country at its foot. 

The climate is magnificent, always pleasantly hot or 
cool ; even the north-east wind, which blows so hot and dry, 
on the top is soft and refreshing, as, from the quantity of 
timber, there is always a certain amount of moisture per- 
meating the atmosphere, through the action of the sun on 
its leafy storehouse. The natives themselves declare that 
there is never any winter in the Bombo country, and I my- 
self have seen the grass green and succulent in what was the 
middle of the winter season, although there had been no rain 
for several months, and there was nothing unusual or 
peculiar in the weather. Hlatikoolo (the forest) is the largest 
in those parts : its name signifies this — Hlati (bush), Ikoolo 
(large). It spreads over the broken country, constituting 
the top of the Bombo for many miles, and contains splendid 
timber. There is a romance connected with it of a Zulu 



AN OPENING FOR A MISSIONARY. 125 

King and all his army having been destroyed there; and who 
shall say that the Zuhis may not have their legends, as well 
as the Teutons in their Hartz Mountains and Black Forests t 
The people — as if by climatic influence — are a much softer 
race than the Zulus, of whom they are mightily afraid, being 
constantly subjected to "harrying" on the slightest j)retence, 
or on no pretence at all, by their warlike and rather un- 
scrupulous neighbours. 

I believe that, if the Zulus would permit it, the natives (I 
was almost calling them "Bombo-zines 1") would be very glad 
to have a missionary settled amongst them. They fancy it 
would be — and they are quite right — a sort of protection to 
them; and a finer field for missionary enterprise I do not 
know. It is a sort of neutral territory; the people call 
themselves, and are called by the Zulus, Makenkani (nobody's 
people). On the east and north there is the whole Ama- 
tonga nation ; and on the west and north there is the 
Amaswazi — none of whom are so wedded to old habits and 
customs as the Zulu. They have no old glories to look back 
to — nothing to confirm the imjDression upon their minds, as 
with the 'Zulus, that the customs under which they con- 
quered every one around them must be the best possible, 
and that therefore Christianity would be of no advantage to 
them. Another sign of greater civilisation is that the men 
take their share in cultivating the ground, and the women 
are held in much greater respect than with the Zulus and 
Kaffirs generally. 

These people obtain cattle, the riches of the South African, 
from the Zulus, in exchange for the produce of their labour, 
principally tobacco. Famine is unknown among them, 
whereas it is frequent in the Zulu, where only the women 
and girls hoe, the men thinking it infra dig. to do it, except, 



126 WILD LIFE — OOL BOMBO. 

under compulsion, to the King. In short, the Zuhis are th(; 
Spartans of this Greece. War they deliglit in, hardship they 
boast of, and they have reduced the neighbouring tribes to 
the condition of Helots, whose superiority in the peaceful 
arts and the production of food, they point to as only 
deserving of ridicule and contempt. The only blot upon 
the former is their extreme bloodthirstiness; but even for 
that I can scarcely blame them, for it is the custom of the 
country, and they know no better. 

The view is magnificent. For many miles on either side 
stretch plains covered with mimosa trees. On the east the 
river Pongolo is seen winding away northwards, and, in the 
morning sun, it glistens like a silver ribbon, while the mist 
hanging on either side constitutes the fringe. In the far 
distance are seen the low sand-hills on the beach, and 
beyond, to the horizon, the peculiar haze which marks the 
Indian ocean. To the nortli and west, at a distance of 
about thirty miles, begin the lofty broken hills marking the 
conformation of the Zulu and Amaswazi countries; and 
again the Pongolo, coming from the westward, winding its 
way towards the break in the Bombo, through which it 
turns to the north. 

The people also are of kindly disposition — a common form 
•of expression with them being " sneenesaJcakoJco " (friend of 
my grandfather). It is a courteous phrase, without very 
much in it, but sufficient to mark character. 

Another peculiar custom among them is that the ne2:>heio 
always succeeds to the chieftainship. On asking the reason 
why, they give no other answer than that " it is the way of 
the people." Their conversation is about cultivation, trading, 
■&C. — pacific; that of the Zulus of deeds of arms, hardships 
bravely endured, and glory attained — icarlike. The dis- 



A NIGHT ROUND THE FIRE — TOM's STORY. 127 

tinctioii is plain and evident between the conquerors and 
the conquered. These work at their homes — those disdain 
it; and yet get the Zulu into Natal and regularly harnessed, 
i\nd he is worth two of the other. 

VI. — A Night Round the Fire. 

The scene round the fire, which I have before spoken of, 
IS unique. Nowhere else than in " Wild life " could you hear, 
with anything like the same zest, the stories and adventures 
which companionship of the kind bring forth. Fancy six or 
eight young fellows, brimful of life and energy, underneath 
a bush, gipsy fashion, a bright fire, a brilliant starlit sky, a 
gentle, warm, balmy breeze blowing, each one "hungry as a 
hunter," and all about to satisfy their vulgar appetites ; 
fancy that operation comj^leted, and each "blowing a cloud" 
of the Virginian weed, grown in South Africa. Then the 
"jawing" commences; old scenes and recollections are 
brought up and talked over, and adventures of all sorts 
recounted ; and, where there is so much reality in this way, 
it is unnecessary to draw on the imagination, for, besides, 
" truth is stranger than fiction " in " Wild life " in South 
Africa. Thus the night wears away, and when a halt is 
called, we are all surprised when we find it so long past 
bed-time. 

"I say, Dick, how long have you been out?" "About 
seven years." " And you. Bob ?" " Eight." "Ah ! I beat 
you both ; I've been nine years at it. You've been at it as 
long as I have though, Tom." "Who, mel Well, yes, 
something the same, I think. Who'd have thought it, when 
I left England, that I'd have been all these years among 
these blessed niggers." "I propose Tom gives us the history 



128 WILD LIFE — A NIGHT ROUND THE FIRE. 

of his life," cries one, and there is a chorus of " hear, hear,"' 
and cheers, from the others. " Well, boys, I've no objec- 
tion, only I won't begin at the beginning, Tristram Shandy 
fashion ; for, as the Irishman said, although I was present 
when I was born, I can't recollect a circumstance about it, 
and it's of no use bothering you with how I got over my 
teething and " the distemper," so you must be content with 
a start from the time I left old Trinity." " Were you at 
Trinity?" "Yes, of course; I'm telling you so." "What 
yearl" "185 — ." "Well, I was close to you, at Jesus 

College." "By Jove! were you? Do you remember ." 

A chorus of malcontents interposed here, and requested a 
truce to these college reminiscences till the story was finished. 
" All serene ! here goes for an opening. My father, gentle- 
men, who was a clergyman — ." " We could easily tell that 
by the life you lead." " Give that fellow some coffee, Dick, 
for he's never quiet unless he's gourmandising." "Well, 
my governor told me, when I came from college, that I was 
big enough and ugly enough to do something for myself; 
and I elected to see the colonies. I needn't tell you that 
one learns precious little at college which he finds of much 
use to him when he has to fight his way in the world. 
Latin, Greek, and mathematics are excellent things in their 
way, no doubt ; but when you get adrift in the world, and 
bring your college training into the market, ten to one but 
you find some son of a Scotch ploughman or weaver beating 
you out of the field with these very weapons, sharpened 
at some village school, the name of which is not even in 
your geography. The fact is, laying prejudices aside — and 
they are deucedly strong — the Scotch understand what is- 
meant by education far better than we English. Excuse 
me, gentlemen, for this divergence ; but the truth is, I always- 



AMATEUR FARMING. 129 

get funky when I get on this track. Well, as I was saying, 
I fixed on having a look at the colonies, and at last I chose 
Natal. It struck me that, as we were both young, we might 
pull better together. I needn't tell you about the passage 
and landing, and that sort of bosh ; and I suppose you will 
believe me when I inform you that I at last arrived at my 
destination, and no sooner had I landed and it was known 
that I had a little ' tin,' and meant farming, than I had to 
hold a regular levee to meet those who had land for sale. 
It is a curious thing in Natal, but so I was solemnly assured 
by all these most disinterested gentlemen, that all the land 
is good, and all the situations accessible and pretty ; and 
when a fellow has ever so many acres offered to him in free- 
hold at a sovereign or so per acre, and thinks what a grand 
thing it is to be a landed proprietor, he is not quite so 
particular as he ought to be — at least I wasn't." (Omnes — 
"We agree with you, old fellow, we've sailed in the same 
boat.") *' Well, I bought some land — so much, indeed, that 
I barely left myself cash enough to build a house, buy oxen, 
cart, and plough, and had nothing to keep me till the crop 
was gathered. Never mind, I thought, I'll plough and I'll 
2)lant, and live on tick in the meantime. Well, I ploughed 
and I planted, but, my friends, allow me to assure you that — " 
" You never reaped, I suppose." " Just so, you've hit my 
case exactly. It's no use going over a long story, but I got 
into debt, and had to sell off. Then I found that the fine 
land and beautiful situation I had paid so much for would 
not fetch half what I paid for it, unless I could catch some 
fiat like myself and take him in and do for him ; but I was 
too hard-up to wait for that. So away it all went, and after 
paying my debts I was left with a few pounds, which I soon 
spent in that pretty colonial occupation booking about me.' " 

K 



130 WILD LIFE — A NIGHT ROUND THE FIRK. 

*' Did you come into the Zulu then V " No, no ; hold on a 
bit and I'll tell you how at last I got to that refuge for the 
destitute." " No names, if you please, Tom ; for it is the 
most gentlemanly and independent calling going, is hunting 
and trading in Zulu-land, and ' Wild life' there, is always 
j)ure life." " All right, old fellow ; but don't interrupt me, if 
you please. Well, at last I found that I had ' looked about 
me' to very little purpose, and was left without a rap. I 
didn't like to write home and tell them that I had made 
such a mess of it so very soon ; so I asked a few fellows, 1 
had got to know a little, if they could put me up to how and 
where I might get something to do. They could tell me of 
nothing but a baker's ; and, although you may guess it wasn't 
much in my line, I determined to give it a try and do my 
best. I got the berth, with £4 a month and board and lodging. 
I worked away at it for about six months, kneading flour, 
making fires, sweeping the place out, and doing any odd job 
that came to hand. I wasn't very particular, and although it 
might seem scarcely the thing for a swell from old Trinity, 
I did my duty honestly and manfully. I was always writing 
to the governor that I was doing remarkably well, but had 
determined to learn baking, as it was a most useful ac- 
complishment in a new country ! The good old fellow 
believed it all, and I hadn't to ask him for money. However, 
I got tired at last ; it was such devilish hot work, with the 
thermometer up to anything ; and, hearing of a situation at 
a farm, I determined to apply, principally for the purpose of 
seeing if other people were any more successful than I had 
been. I got the place, and spent six months there, digging 
■drains and that sort of rough work, and going into Maritz- 
burg to have the ploughs mended. We used to dig splendid 
drains, then plough over them, and plant crops, which the 



LETTERS OF INTRODUCTION. 131 

locusts consumed. The M.'s gave it up at last as a bad job ; 
4ind, as I had saved a trifle, I bought a few goods and came 
into the Zulu. You know all about me ever since, and there 
is one thing which, if you don't know, I'll tell you — Fve never 
regretted the step I " " Hear, hear ! I vote Tom a testimonial 
in the shape of a cup of coffee." " Bother ! there's none in 
the kettle." " Throw something at that Kaffir and waken 
him up to cook some more." " Ah ! Tom's case was nearly 
mine," says Dick, " only letters of introduction did for me." 
'' How was that ]" "Why, my friends made themselves so busy, 
and got me such a lot when I left, that I found myself in clover 
when I arrived here — at least as long as the money lasted. 
I had so many people who 'took an interest' in me, advised 
me against this and against that; this was doubtful and that 
was not sure; that I hung about idling till the tin went done, 

^and at last found out that my truest friend was old W 

— to whom I had no letters, by-the-bye~ for he gave me tick 
for a lot of goods, and it was thus that I came into the Zulu. 

You know old W surely r' '' What ! he that had the 

bet with B as to ivho tvould dug the most songs .?" "That's 

him." "Which won," asks Bob, "Neither; they kept it 
up for three nights and two days, and then made a drawn 
battle of it." " Oh ! nonsense." " It's a fact, though ; ask 
Max there." " Yes," says Max, " it's quite true ; another 
time too he made a bet with another queer stick as to who 
-shoidd sleep the longest; but when old W. went off he looked 
so death-like that the others got frightened and wakened him 
up, for which he refused to pay the bet." " And quite right 
too." Well, I am not so clear about that, for you see it was 
done for his benefit and by his friends to save his life, as 
they thought." Chorus of " Oh ! " Turning to one of the 
party who is recovering from a touch of fever, and is lying 



132 WILD LIFE — A NIGHT ROUND THE FIRE. 

alongside the fire wraj^jped in a blanket : " How are you 
now, old fellow." "Middling." "I think," says one, "Fred 
ought to turn a little ;pail this round, considering how often ho^ 
has been rej^orted to have 'kicked the bucket!'" "Yes,'" 
says the invalid, " I expect they will have me done for this 
time also ; they seem determined not to believe that I'm 
alive." "No, I'm jolly sure they wont; but what are you 
to do when you return to your friends T " Well, I suppose 
I must tell them that Fve been 'hern' again!" " That's not a 
bad Natal joke, and its evident you're getting better, my fine 
fellow." 

A howl better known than liked is heard. " Hallo, 
there's a wolf, throw him a bone." " Yes, and put some 
arsenic on it first; you have some, haven't you. Max?" 
"All right, there's some in the waggon chest; take care 
though, as it isn't very well tied." '' Look here," says the 
fellow who has mounted the waggon, " Max evidently means 
to poison us instead of the wolf; did you ever see such a 
careless beggar?" and he brings out a crumpled piece of 
paper, and displays it in approved Dr. Marigold style, " Here's 
what the arsenic or strychnine ims in, but now it is mixed 
with the dishes, knives, forks, spoons, biscuits, beef, &c. ; in 
fact, our pantry and store-room are worse than a score of 
Pritchard's." Grand chorus, reprobatory of Max, who takes 
it very coolly, and says he daresays Dick has just spilt it, 
" his fingers being all thumbs," but never to mind, as he 
won't use any of the things till he has cleaned out the chest. 
The wolf, however, has the bone thrown to him, and the 
conversation is just recommencing when " rumble, rumble, 
rumble," is heard above the clatter. " There goes a lion — 
hang him ! do you mind when they cleared out my oxen at 
Puganyoni?" " Ahl and what a go we had at them with 



LIONS IN THE WAY. 133 

the Zulus." " Yes, that was a day." " What was it?" asks 
Bob. " Why, at the kraal the waggon was at, they were 
terribly troubled with lions; one night they broke in and 
killed six people and some goats. After that the niggers 
kept watch, having a fire on each side; notwithstanding 
that, they were daring enough to kill a lot of my oxen, which 
were tied up to the yokes. Next day the Zulus asked me 
to shoot them, to which I cheerfully agreed, especially as I 
was to be paid an ox for each lion shot. We went out, a 
regular army of us, and found the lions on the other side of a 
canal-like river. I fired and wounded one, who instantly 
charged, but the Zulus finished him in the water. It's no 
use going over the whole affair in detail to you fellows, who 
know all about that sort of thing, but we had famous sport." 
"" Didn't you give him another shotV " We had no time; 
those weren't the days of double-barrelled breech-loaders; 
and if you didn't do the business the first shot, you had to 
take your chance of a charge, and sometimes dodge, or cut 
and run." And so the conversation goes on, and thus the 
night wears away. I have been able to give but a faint 
representation of " A Night round the fire" — the fun and 
bye-play I cannot picture; indeed, most of the jokes would 
look very poor upon paper, and I daresay were not very 
bright, but we laughed at them from pure, healthy happi- 
ness of heart, in such a manner as would have delighted the 
big-wigs of Punch, had the jokes been theirs. 

VII. — A Runaway Match. 

There are several "Gretna Greens" for the Zulus. Those 
nearest the Tugela fly to Natal ; those high up also get into 
Natal, across the Buffalo river ; and those near the north, 



134 WILD LIFE— A RUNAWAY MATCH. 

cross the Pongolo to the Bombo and Amaswazi countries. 
In no instance, however, do they fly to the north-east to 
Tonga land, the natives of which they hold in utter contempt, 
and describe as " dirty old women and witches." I may bo 
excused for interpolating an instance of this. The Tongas 
are split up under a great many small chieftains, who all of 
them "put their hands" (pay homage or fealty) to the Zuhi.<^ 
— some paying tribute to one chief and some to another. 
Not long ago a Zulu chief got permission to kill a small 
Tonga chief and his people, who had bewitched one of his- 
own Tongas to death. He sent a small army, but when they 
arrived they found the whole district deserted, the Tongas 
having by some means got information of what was coming, 
and fled. Thus disappointed, the Zulus were returning 
home, w^hen they stayed for a night at another Tonga's 
called Mangaleesa, who paid tribute to Masipula, another 
great Zulu chief. By some means the cry got up that 
Mangaleesa had given information of their coming to the 
other tribe, and during the night the Zulus set to work and 
killed the chief and most of his people. When I heard of 
this I asked if Masipula would not be very angry at having^ 
this source of revenue destroyed. " Yes," I was answered. 
" Would he not fight with Mapeeta ?" " No ! do you think 
the King would allow a dead Tonga to make work between 
two big people of the Zulu % " And that was all his regret ! 
To return to my story, from which I am a " runaway "" 
myself Angry and pursuing fathers, and danger of broken 
limbs from overturning coaches, driven recklessly by drunken 
postboys, were the principal risks incurred in " the good old 
times " by an attempt to get " o'er the borders and awa' wi*^ 
Jock o' Hazeldean," or somebody else, to get Hymen's chain 
rivetted by the blacksmith of " Gretna Green." In these 



A ZULU "GRETNA GREEN." 135 

degenerate times of railways, telegraphs, and reform bills, I 
don't know how they manage these things at home, never 
having ventured on a trial; but here in the Zulu a " Gretna 
Green" journey is attended with hardships and dangers 
sufficient to damp the courage of the most devoted lovers. 
In the first place, if caught, the man is killed to a dead 
certainty ; but even should they escape from their pursuers, 
they both run a good chance of death in a flight to the 
North. 

One night, while lying on one side of the hut, with about 
a dozen Zulus on the other side, who had come to Ott-e-banhla 
— a figurative expression, meaning literally to " heat them- 
selves at the fire" — I being considered to be the fire, dispensing 
light and warmth around ! — all chattering away, my attention 
was attracted by one fellow who had found an acquaintance 
in one of my hunters, and was describing to him how he had 
won his wife. I have inadvertently called them Zulus, but 
they were Bombo people — this one, however, was a Zulu, 
who had fled with his sweetheart and settled there. He 
described it capitally, and, one by one, the others became 
silent and listened to the story, so congenial to their nature. 

Runaway matches, when they do happen in Zulu, come 
Avith a rush. So long as the young man has his girl to 
himself he is content ; but, when a regiment has permission 
to marry, it takes all the supply in the country, of marriage- 
able girls, to meet the demand of the dusky warrior Coelebs' 
in search of wives, and thus the other young fellows are 
deprived of their sweethearts, and have consequently to wait 
till others grow up, unless they adopt active measures to 
overcome the difficulty by " a runaway match." The fol- 
lowing is the little episode : — 

" I had had two sweethearts, and both were taken away 



136 WILD LIFE— A RUNAWAY MATCH. 

by ' Toolwan ' (the name of a regiment) : so when I got tht^ 
third I determined not to lose her. After a good deal of 
persuasion on my part, she agreed to run away with me, 
and there only remained to be arranged the way it was to 
be managed, and whither we were to go. "We spoke of 
Natal, but the great extent of Zulu to be traversed frightened 
us ; consequently, although we had friends there, we agreed 
that it would be better to strike north for the Bombo, the 
distance being so much less, and the country more thinly 
peopled. It was decided that we should meet at a ^rook 
about ten miles from my kraal, and there make a start 
together. I got up in the morning and Avanted to take my 
blanket, but my mother asked me where I was going to. I 
told her that I intended to visit some friends in the opposite 
direction. ' Why then,' she said, ' don't trouble yourself 
with your blanket, or people will say you're afraid of the 
cold, for young Zulus don't carry their blankets about with 
them when they go visiting.' To avoid suspicion I had to 
leave it, but I caught up a bit of girls'-cloth that was in the 
hut, and ran off with it laughing. On the road I had to pass 
some kraals where there were friends of mine, one of whom 
met me at the gate and insisted that I should go in and drink 
beer with him; and, as that is an invitation which no one 
thinks of refusing, I was obliged to go in, although very 
anxious, as you may suppose, to proceed to the place of 
meeting. While in the hut they asked wdiere I was going 
to ; I told them to a kraal where there were friends of mine. 
'Why,' said they, 'this is not the road.' I answered, 'No, 
but I'm carrying this cloth to a girl.' They wanted me to 
stay all night, but I refused, and went away as rapidly as I 
could. I think, however, they knew what I was about, 
they ' chaffed ' me so slyly. 



" PUIRTITH CAULD !" 137 

" I at last arrived at the place of assignation, and found my 
girl, true to her promise, anxiously waiting for me, but very 
much frightened at my long delay. I however soon soothed 
her by explaining the cause of the delay, and then, leaving 
the usual path, we started across the country. 

" Night fell before we arrived at the last kraal ere you enter 
the long stretch of uninhabited country running to the 
Bombo. We were very hungry, I having had nothing that 
day but the drink of beer, and my poor girl nothing what- 
ever; so we determined to try for some food. We dared not 
ask for it, because, as you know, they would have seized th(^ 
girl and taken possession of her, wdiilst they would have 
killed me.* 

" So I hid her, and went to see whether there was a chance 
of stealing any. The kraal, fortunately, was not very well 
fenced, which enabled me to creep quietly in and go uj^on 
my hands and knees, feeling for a pot with some mealies in 
it, as I knew there must be some about at that time. I could 
hear the people talking in the huts as I crawled past, and I 
was in momentary fear that the dogs would discover me, 
but fortunately they did not. At last I found what I was 
in search of, and took them to my girl, Avlien, after having 
satisfied our ravenous appetites, we started again on our 
journey, carrying the remainder with us. You know the 
kraals I speak of. They are situated on a high hill, from 
which you descend to the wooded flats of the Bombo. Well, 
when we had got about half way down, my heart suddenly 
told me not to go further, and I said to the girl, ' Let us go 
back a little and stay till morning.' She replied, *No; let 
us get far away before morning ;' but I refused, and vv^ent 

* Such is tlie law, and it is rigidly carried into practice, as a girl 
is a very valuable "chattel" in the marriage market. 



138 WILD LIFE — A RUNAWAY MATCH. 

back. The influence of my Ehlose was strong that night. 
We had not gone up again but a few steps when a lion com- 
menced roaring within a few yards of where we had stood — 
quite close, as close as that door — and answering him, others- 
at the foot of the hill made up a pretty chorus. ' Wow !' said 
I to the girl, 'get up this tree.' I helped her up ; then took 
post at the bottom with my shield and assegais. It was sl. 
pitch-dark night, and I could hear the lions snuffling and 
growling all round about me, and a more unpleasant night I 
never spent. Morning came at last, when we ate the mealies- 
in sight of the kraal we had stolen them from, and then 
marched off" merrily for the Bombo ; for our hearts were full 
of happiness, because we had escaped not only from the 
Zulus, but also from the lions ; and we felt that our diffi- 
culties and dangers were now near an end. When we arrived 
near our destination, Lamban, the Bombo chief, married us, 
and gave my wife a pick, and an axe, and a hut to live in ; 
and here we are settled as Makekani for the rest of our days.'" 
The last words were given with a half sigh, as if, amid all 
his happiness in the land of his adoption, a feeling of home- 
sickness would steal over him, and induce him to regret that 
even "a Runaway match" should have been the cause of his. 
expatriation from his beloved Zulu-land. 

VIII. — A Buffalo Hunt in the Water. 

There is one red day in my calendar, which will never 
fade from my recollection — a day upon which we started 
with quite a small army of natives with a firm resolution to- 
'* do or die !" For years afterwards the Zulus spoke of it as. 
an era in their hunting life, and I myself often look back 
upon it as a day worth any fifty in a town. 



BUFFALO IN THE RIVER. 13^ 

We were all marching along in single file, " and the 
boldest held his breath for a time," for there was not a word 
spoken; when, suddenly, to our right was heard the thunder-^ 
ing noise and vibration, and was seen the dust raised by the 
stampede of a herd of buffaloes. It was a call to skirmish,, 
and was answered with much greater promptitude than that 
of the bugle. In a moment the Hlangi"* was alive with 
people, running in all directions, some toward the sound, 
some ahead, some behind, and in five minutes' time my 
hunters' guns spoke out, and two fine animals " bit the dust.'" 

In the confusion I got separated from my hunters, having 
followed another herd on my own account, with a tail of about 
twenty Zulus. After walking about two miles we lost the 
track, or rather gave in, as we had passed all the thick 
clumps of bush, in which the natives expected the buffaloes 
to have taken refuge. " It's of no use going further," said 
they, " for they have crossed the Pongolo." This made me 
look towards the river, and there they were, sure enough, 
on the sand in the bed of the stream; but nearly on the 
other side of it. The river is about seventy yards wide, 
\\ ith high reedy banks, principally shallow, but with deep 
pools here and there. At the ford, from constant crossing^ 
of game, the banks were very much broken down ; and, for 
a distance of several hundred yards, this was the only place 
where large game, like buffaloes, could get out. 

I ran down, under shelter of the reeds, and fired at a 
splendid bull which stood nearest the bank on the other 
side; the commotion was instantaneous and tremendous. 
" Ba-a-a-a!" cried the poor animal as he fell; those behind 
pressed forward, those in front wheeled round, thinking the 
fcihot came from the bank nearest them, and at last the whole 
* Country covered, but not very thickly, witli minosa bush. 



140 WILD LIFE — A BUFFALO HUNT IN THE WATER. 

herd of about three hundred plunged into the deep Avater 
below the ford, and tried in vain to ascend the steep banks 
on either side. The natives dashed' across the river further 
down and guarded the other bank, and the noise of my firing 
having brought my hunters to my assistance, there we had 
them fairly dominated in a sort of pond, some parts of which 
were shallow enough to allow them to get a footing. 

We soon fired away all our bullets, and then we took to 
the assegai, and engaged them at close quarters in the water. 
The scene which ensued baffles description — the excitement 
and shouts of the natives, the bellowing and madness of th(^ 
game, the whole pond being in one whirl of constant motion 
— the buffaloes being bad hands at the water. You would 
see one old bull facing defiantly three or four enemies who 
were pegging away at him, up to their shoulders in water, 
wdiile another would gently swim up in the deep water 
behind, and send his spear home to a vital part, then round 
goes the bull and down goes the native ; the bull swims 
about a little, then gets his depth again to have the same 
process repeated, till, being utterly exhausted and mortally 
wounded, he becomes an easy prey to the spoiler. Once, 
when about a dozen of them were swimming up under the 
the reeds, one fellow tried to lean over the bank and stab 
one en passant, but the earth gave way and down he plunge<l 
amongst them head foremost with such a yell ; in a few 
moments he reappeared, much to our amusement, careering 
on buffalo-back down the river, doubtful about holding on, 
but fearing to let go, and roaring as if he were being carried 
off by a water kelpie. Another, drawing cautiously near to 
the reeds, w^as suddenly met vis-a-vis by an old bull, which 
had somehow managed to struggle up the bank, and, as he 
turned to run ignominiously, he received such an impetus 



BUFFALO HUNT — HLONIPA. 141 

from the infuriated animal as sent him clean over into the 
deep water, fortunately none the worse for the plunge, if we 
except the dreadful fright he got. These slight sketches of 
a few of the incidents of the day may helj) the reader to 
imagine something of the extraordinary and exciting scene, 
but it is impossible to paint or describe it. At last, how- 
ever, we stood upon a sandbank, thoroughly exhausted, and, 
because we really couldn't help it, allowed the remainder of 
the herd to go. They struggled up, one here, one there, 
completely blown ; and in a quarter of an hour all was again 
silent on the river, and, except for our trophies, there was 
nothing to indicate that there had so recently been "a buffalo- 
Imnt in the water." 

IX. — A Few Odds and Ends about the Zulus. 

If any of the cattle paid for a wife die during the year, 
they must be replaced. If the wife should die during that 
period, the cattle can be reclaimed ; but that is generally 
arranged by a sister being sent — as expressed in their own 
figurative language — " to raise up the house of her that is 
dead." 

Intimately connected with, and in fact arising out of, 
marriage amongst the Zulus, is the custom of " Hlonipa." 
When a mother in-law meets her son-in-law, she will not 
speak to him — she will hide her head and breasts that 
suckled his wife. If she meets him on the road where she 
cannot turn away, and she have no covering, she will tie a 
piece of grass round her head as a sign that she Hlonipa's. 
All correspondence has to be carried on through third 
parties. A wife will not mention the name of any of her 
husband's male relations ; she will not even say the name of 



142 WILD LIFE — ODDS AND ENDS ABOUT THE ZULUS. 

her husband's father if you ask her ; and any word in which 
the sound of her father-in-law's name occurs, she will alter : 
And so also will a whole tribe alter any word in which the 
name of their dead chief occurs ; for instance, one of the 
King's (Panda) wives will not say "Enzani" (what are 
jou doing ?), but " Enkani," because Panda's father was 
" Enzenzengakona," and they rather injure the sense than 
risk the euphony. One chiefs people will not say "Manzi" 
(water), but " Mata," because their chief's father's name was 
" Manzini." The higher the rank the more strictly is the 
etiquette observed, and in consequence the language is evei* 
altering, as they are continually manufacturing new terms, 
-and puzzling the most learned pundits in the Kaffir 
language. 

Another matter I would touch upon is polygamy. I am 
not quite sure whether it may be considered out of place in 
sketches of this kind ; but as it is a matter of the most vital 
importance to the colony, and as I have had peculiar 
advantages and opportunities for gaining a thorough 
-acquaintance with Kaffir habits and feelings, I am inclined 
to think that I shall be excused for not keeping my light 
hid under a bushel. 

Much has been said and written, especially in the colony, 
•on this subject ; and one portion of the press has, without 
regard to time and place, constantly advocated its abolition. 
It is scarcely necessary to say that I agree with it, in so far 
that jpolygamy is an evil ; but in abolishing a long-rooted 
custom you must take the same care as in transplanting a 
long-rooted tree. Do it roughly and inconsiderately by the 
•strong hand in the one case, and the tree fades and dies; in 
the other the people fight and die. The simile holds good 
still further, for in the one case you seek to remove, for the 



POLYGAMY AND " FORCED MARRIAGES." lio 

purposes of improvement, use, and ornament; in the other 
oase the alteration would improve and render more useful ; 
^nd I fancy that there can be no greater ornament to a 
•country than a savage people civilised and Christianised — 
mark, not vice versa — by those who have come over the sea 
to make it their home. Why, then, in the name of common- 
sense, take a course which would kill the tree and extermi- 
nate the people, and during the process would produce 
incalculable misery to all? Whenever an instance happens 
■of a girl being compelled to marry a man she doesn't like, it 
is blazoned forth with all pomp and circumstance; every 
item of cruelty described in heart-rending language and most 
sensational manner, and the whole wound up by an in- 
dignant protest against, and an imperative demand for, the 
-abolition of polygamy, as if, forsooth, there were nothing of 
the kind ever heard of in civilised England, and that 
" forced marriages" were peculiar to South Africa. There 
is a distinction without a difference in the modus operandi — 
the one people using the stick, pure and simple; the other, 
cruelties more refined and subtle, but none the less cruel for 
all that. The Zulu girl is spoken of by rabid anti-poly- 
gamists as a mere chattel with no will of her own, and liable 
to be sold to the highest bidder. It is the same in Zulu as 
in England — the greatest fortune stands the best chance; 
but amongst the middle classes, if the girl refuses an offer, 
her parents, with few exceptions, do not attempt compulsory 
measures. 

Supposing that an attempt were made to abolish polygamy 
and the purchasing of wives, there would be three distinct 
classes of opponents amongst the natives to be met with and 
disposed of. The young men would say " Yes, abolish the 
practice of payment, and let us take as many wives as we 



144 WILD fiFE — ODDS AND ENDS ABOUT THE ZULUS. 

like; but what would be the use of one wife only '? Sup- 
posing she falls sick, what a pretty fix we would be in, for 
who could do the work"?" The old men would say, "No! 
our wealth consists in our daughters; we paid for other 
men's, why then prevent us from getting cattle for our's] 
Our position in society depends upon the number of our 
wives; why then prevent us from obtaining as many as we 
can pay for'? Is there any harm to you, in plenty of wives for 
US'?" The women would be the bitterest opponents of all; 
they would say, " I will not marry a poor man, who will 
only have one wife. Why should I^ when I can marry so 
and so, who has twenty; besides, one wife makes hunger in 
a kraal." Looking at the question in its whole bearings, 
carefully and candidly, without prejudice one way or the 
other, and being thoroughly acquainted with the symptoms 
and effects of this disease of the body-politic, I prescribe as 
follows : — Tax each wife beyond the first, but not so heavily 
as to raise a spirit of resistance; the proceeds of this tax to 
be applied by Government to establishing good schools 
throughout the country, where the native children would be 
taught trades, as well as letters; and I am satisfied that the 
natives would offer little or no objection to the tax, if the 
purposes to which it was to be applied were explained to 
them. As Paramount Chief, the Governor has a right, by 
native law, to claim what children he requires for his 
servants. Let the Government then, acting on this law, 
which the natives will not object to, exercise a gentle 
despotism, and compel as many children as can be taught to 
be sent to these schools; let them even pay each pupil a 
trifle, which would be well laid out, and have the children 
bound for a term of years. Let civilization be the great 
thing aimed at in their teaching, and let the lesson be 



CIVILIZE THEN EVANGELISE! 145 



sharply and unmistakably taught; thoroughly impress upon 
them how completely inferior they are to us; and, when the 
conceit is well taken out of them — for, while they are proud, 
they are very sharp — then " train them up in the way they 
should go." Avoid by every means "humanity-mongering," 
and that pernicious sentimentalism which teaches and 
preaches that all men are brothers, and on an equality; 
but "Educate, educate, educate!" — not "Agitate, agitate, 
agitate!" — for the gradual abolition of polygamy. Mis- 
sionary work is all very well, and no doubt good fruits 
have been produced occasionally through the efforts of 
judicious missionaries; but it must be obvious that an 
educated native is much more likely to perceive the truths, 
and appreciate the beauties of Christianity, than the un- 
tutored savage; and yet the system goes on, like a useless 
salve, which glozes over without healing the sore, so 
apparently indeed, that "Missionary Kaffirs" have become 
a byword and a reproach, and are considered the greatest 
rascals in the colony ! 

The Kaffirs are very epigrammatic in their speech, which 
arises no doubt from the meagreness of their language. I 
will quote one instance which struck me particularly when I 
heard it. We were coming home after a ten days' walk; 
the last morning we started without anything to eat, and, 
while tramping along, one fellow made the remark that he 
was hungry, and it was a long way to the kraal we were 
bound for; then we had silence for a little, when suddenly 
another turned and spoke — "Bah-pa, yes; travelling is belly." 
"Yes," says the other fellow, "belly!" and no more was 
said; but what more was required *? I couldn't help laugh- 
ing at the quaintness and completeness of the little dialogue; 
but the poor fellows didn't see the fun of it. 

L 



146 WILD LIFE — ODDS AND ENDS ABOUT THE ZULUS. 

The whole Zulu nation, as at present constituted, is 
hroken up into little tribes ; the remnants of those conquered 
by Chaka. Each tribe has its "Esebongo," or name of 
thanks ; for instance, one tribe is called Emtetwa, or scolders ; 
another Niaow, or foot; another Zungu, or weariness; 
and when the chief makes a present of anything to one of 
his people, they will say, ''Yes, father; yes, Zungu;" or 
" Yes, Emtetwa," as the case may be. Each of these tribes 
has its peculiar habits and customs ; for instance, one, 
*' Mat-e-enja" (dog's spittle), will not eat goat-flesh, because 
they always leave a goat on the grave of their dead. When 
any one dies they bury him, and over his grave they spread 
out his mat, blankets, &c., and on the latter they place a 
goat, then go away and leave it. They say the goat never 
deserts the spot, but grazes about, and on the fourth day 
dies. If they eat any part of a goat unawares, they are 
seized with epilepsy and die. Even the young children in 
the kraal, who are too young to know anything of this, 
when a piece of goat-flesh is given to them, will not eat it, 
but carry it in their hands for a little, and then throw it 
away; and, be it remembered, that meat is their greatest 
dainty ! 

The greatest difficulty in writing about native superstitions 
and customs is, that although you may describe the peculiar 
custom or superstition itself, yet you cannot give any satis- 
factory reason for it. If you ask a Kaffir why he does so 
and so, he will answer — " How can I tell 1 It has always 
been done by our forefathers." They have a custom which 
was at one time prevalent in Scotland — viz., piling cairns of 
stones at certain spots as mementos of particular events. I 
remember, on one occasion, travelling along with the waggon, 
when the leader of the oxen picked up a stone, spat upon it, 



SUPERSTITIONS. 147 

and then threw it upon a heap of others ; then the driver got 
down and did the same. A few yards further on there was 
another heap, where the same process was repeated. I in- 
quired why they did it, when I got the answer quoted above. 
I asked if it was not because some witch had been killed 
there 1 The reply was — " Very likely, but we don't know ; 
only, wherever a heap like that is seen, we must add a stone 
to it, otherwise something unpleasant is sure to happen." 
Another peculiar custom is, that when any big man marries 
his daughter off, he always sends one or more handmaids 
with her, according to rank, who are called "Umshanells" 
{broom). The husband may marry them too, if he pleases, 
but the oft spring of this "morganatic marriage" does not 
take the same rank as the others. 

Their superstitions are legion. I desj^air of enumerating 
them. In hunting, if on starting they meet a female of any 
kind, they consider themselves certain of success ; but if it 
should be a male, they are just as certain of having bad luck. 
Certain kinds of animals and birds crossing their path are 
lucky, and others the reverse. When they kill game of any 
kind, they immediately tie a knot on the tail, in order to 
prevent the meat from giving them the stomach ache ! If, 
when hunting, they fire twice or thrice without killing, they 
will turn back, saying their Ehlose, or familiar spirit, is bad 
that day, and therefore it is of no use wasting powder and 
.shot. If they sneeze, they don't say exactly "God bless 
you," but something very like it, such as "Yes, father; may 
my way be clear, and my path smooth," or something of 
that sort. Dreams they are devout believers in, and they 
"vvill curiously turn and twist any event of the day, so as to 
make it coincide with the vision of the night. In one tribe, 
Avhenever a mother leaves her child for a few moments, she 



148 WILD LIFE — ODDS AND ENDS ABOUT THE ZULUS. 

will squeeze a few drops of milk over its head, breast, and 
back ; in another, she will spit on its hands ; in a third, she 
will put a piece of clay on its head — each of which is con- 
sidered by the operator as an effectual charm and protection 
while " The baby was sleeping " in its mother's absence. 

When in battle two men are fighting, their snakea 
(Mahloze) are poetically said to be twisting and biting each 
other overhead. One "softens" and goes down, and the 
man, whose attendant it is, goes down with it. Everything 
is ascribed to Ehlose. If he fails in anything, his Ehlose is- 
bad ; if successful, it is good — a very convenient doctrine, 
which I recommend to Dr. Manning's attention, as in no 
case is blame attached to, or acknowledged by, the man. It 
is this Thing which is the inducing cause of everything. In 
fact, nothing in Zulu is admitted to arise from natural 
causes ; everything is ascribed to witchcraft or the Ehlose. 

Their system of government is peculiar. The king i& 
presumed to be proprietor of everything — people, land, and 
cattle — all being at his disposal for gift, for life, or for 
death; and this is actually the practice, under certain 
recognised rules or laws. No one can be killed but for some 
offence, although, of course, if the King wishes to kill him, 
the offence is usually not difficult to find. The cattle of any 
one killed become the property of the king, but there are 
certain recognised portions which go to his captains, and 
from them again to their people. If the king wishes to 
make war, he is supposed to do so of his own accord, yet the 
consent of his captains is required. He is despotic, but his 
despotism must not tran'sgress known laws; in fact, as it 
has been well said by the Rev. Mr. Shaw in his " Story of 
my Mission," " The chief or king is all powerful to preserve 
things as they are, but not to alter ; as the king governs- 



ORIGIN OF THE ZULUS — THE LOST TRIBES. 149 

the nation, so does each chief his people, and each head man 
his kraal." 

All the tribes in South Eastern Africa seem to have had 
one common origin, and it would be interesting, as far as 
possible, to trace their descent. The data are neither positive 
nor extensive ; but the more I see of their habits and 
customs, the more strongly do I incline to the opinion, that 
they originally, and, comparatively speaking, at no very 
distant period, migrated from the Northernmost parts of 
Africa, and I would even go as far as Asia for their origin. 
The question of the lost ten tribes of Israel is too abstruse 
and dark a one for me to enter into, and besides, it would 
far exceed the limits of these Sketches, to give such a minute 
description of their little ways and peculiarities, which 
would be utterly uninteresting, except for the purpose of 
supporting such an ethnological hypothesis, and I therefore, 
in the meantime, merely suggest the idea, and leave to a 
future and more appropriate occasion the elucidation of it. 

The natives have absolutely no traditions as to religion 
or origin, except the Ehlose, and one confused idea about 
Inkulumkulu, which may be translated "the big one of 
all." The first man, who they say " tore them out of the 
reeds;" Uhlanga, literally "reed," they use for "custom." 
For instance, any peculiarity in a tribe they account for by 
saying it is our "reed" or custom. They never try to arrive 
at the causes of things ; even the names of their kraals or 
their chiefs, or the king's kraals, they can seldom give you 
an interpretation of. They say "it is a name." "But what 
is the meaning of the name 1" "How should we know? it 
is just a name." You ask again " What do you think the 
sun isf "Oh, it is just the sun." "Yes, but what do 
you tkmk it is V " How should we know, the sun is the 



150 WILD LIFE — A KAFFIR HUNTERS STORY. 

sun, and the moon is the moon — they shme." One fellow, 
however, said he heard there was a great fire somewhere 
in the sea, where the sun and the moon rise from; and 
that a spark sprang from the fire, stuck in the sky, grew 
and grew till mid-day, and afterwards faded away, and that 
was the sun ! The moon they thought was a hole in the 
heavens. What the firmament was they could not com- 
prehend. 

X. — A Kaffir Hunter's Story. 

To " Wild life," with all its freedom and enjoyment, there 
is, not unfrequently, a tragic side, caused in many cases by 
quarrels between Kaffir hunters. When a batch of them are 
sent away from their masters with guns and ammunition, 
many a tragic scene is enacted. No cognisance can be taken 
of them by any court of justice, the quarrels and crimes 
usually taking place out of the colony, consequently they 
establish rough courts amongst themselves, and administer 
a sort of Lynch law ; the only two punishments recognised 
by which being a thrashing, and what is called the last 
penalty of the law. No one who is not intimately acquainted 
with the ways and habits of the Kaffir hunter, and who has 
not frequently mixed with and lived among them in *' Wild 
life," can know anything of these incidents ; for when, on 
returning to the colony, inquiry is made about any missing 
man it is the simplest thing in the world to place the blame 
on the broad shoulders of an elephant or a buffalo, and no 
more is said about it. I speak now, be it understood, of an 
earlier period of the history of the colony than the present, 
when the whites were few and far between, and Kaffir lives, 
owing to the feeling induced by recent wars, were thought 



MYSTERIES OF WILD LIFE. 151 

of small consequence ; and besides, as lives of both blacks 
and whites were risked every day in many ways, the loss of 
one was an incident merely, and nothing more. 

Those unused to " Wild life " are very apt to consider 
stories of this kind exaggerated ; and more than probably I 
may get the credit of exaggeration ; but, as such has been 
the fate of even the greatest of those who have gone before 
me, in describing savage countries and "Wild life," I am con- 
tent to take my chance in such goodly company, merely premis- 
ing that what I describe in these Sketches I have either seen 
with my own eyes, or have every reason to believe in their 
truth. 

Many times have I heard the hunters, in talking to one 
another, say that so and so was dead ; and, on being asked 
what he died of, the answer would invariably be " I don't 
know," but said in such a peculiar manner that the questioner 
would immediately respond with an appreciative " Ah !" 
long drawn out. I had noticed this several times, and never 
could manage to get any explanation, until at last I prevailed 
upon one who had been in my service for several years, and 
the result of his confidence was the following story : — 

" There were fifteen of us crossed the Tugela together, and 
Dugusa was our captain. We were bound for the Um- 
suto, the river near Delagoa Bay, where we had heard 
elephants were in plenty, while nearer at hand they were 
scarce and wild, having been so much shot. You must 
know that the Amatongas, the people down there, are a very 
cowardly lot; for, whatever may be the case now, in those 
days they would submit to anything from the hunters, who 
would take their girls for wives, and eat up the food in their 
kraals, and for payment would thrash or shoot them. The 
consequence was that when the hunters came to the kraals 



152 WILD LIFE — A KAFFIR HUNTER's STORY. 

the inmates used to run away, so that at last they could get 
no one to assist them in carrying the ivory out. 

" Our master when we left, seeing this difficulty, gave us 
some beads and knives, and warned us to behave properly 
to the people, pay for what we could with meat, and when 
we failed to kill any animals, to use the goods he had given 
us; and he wound up by saying that he would hold Dugusa 
responsible, and that he would be sure to find out if we did 
anything wrong, as he would be down in the country him- 
self in the winter. 

'^ On the road we began talking about our instructions, 
and all agreed to follow them out, except one fellow, who 
had been down there before. He said he meant to be 
comfortable, and would take some wives when he arrived 
there. Dugusa told him he should do no such thing. ' Who 
will prevent me?' 'I will.' 'Then I'll go off by myself 
and leave you.' ' You shall go without your gun, then.' 
And this was the beginning of ill-feeling between them, 
which was occasionally breaking out all the way to the 
Umsuto. None of us liked the man, and several of us 
warned Dugusa to be cautious, and keep a good watch on 
tlie fellow; but he only laughed, and said, ' Wait till he 
really does something, and then you will see if I don't put 
him to rights.' Poor fellow ! when that something was 
done, it was too late. 

" We reached the Umsuto and built our hut, which was 
no sooner done than it began to rain. The captain of a lot 
of hunters is only captain while they are hunting, or in 
giving directions about the district to shoot in, and how to 
hunt it. After the hunt, and in the kraal, his authority 
depends very much upon the kind of man he is, and the 
amount of deference which the others may be inclined to 



A DEADLY QUARREL. 153 

pay liim. It may be said of him that he has only a voice, 
albeit a potent one, in all matters except hunting; but in 
that, as representing the master, he is all powerful. While 
in our hut, of course, we were all thrown together like cattle 
in a kraal, and with just about as much comfort. It is at 
these times that bad blood is engendered and aggravated, 
which, in the excitement of a hunt, with the deadly materials 
in one's hands, frequently breaks out with tragical results; 
and so was it in this case. The two I have spoken of 
quarrelled and scolded day after day, so much so that we all 
predicted that something serious would be the result. At 
last the weather cleared up, and we were all started off to 
try the bush, which was close by. Our instructions from 
Dugusa were that two were to remain with him, and the 
others were to go right round the bush, dropping two at 
regular intervals, until it was surrounded, and then all were 
to enter simultaneously. Just as the last two were getting 
to their place, we all heard a shot, and immediately the 
trumpeting and crashing of elephants. They broke out in a 
troop, not having been separated, and got away with only a 
flying shot or two sent after them. Dugusa immediately 
came running round, angrily inquiring, 'Who did this V and 
soon found out that it was Umgona, the fellow I have been 
speaking of, when he at once felled him, and the others 
having closed in on him and taken his gun from him, he 
was prevented from doing further mischief. He rose up 
bleeding and muttering vengeance, and walked off to the 
hut, we following close at his heels, expecting to see the 
quarrel renewed when he arrived there. But, no ! he had 
washed his face and seemed very penitent, asking for his 
gun back, and promising to behave better for the future. 
Dugusa gave it to him, saying. ' Ah ! I thought I would 



154 WILD LIFE — A KAFFIR HUNTERS STORY. 

mend him.' But we all had our doubts about it, although 
we said nothing. 

" It came on to rain again, and the river rose very high. 
We were all crowded together in the hut, cold, wet, and 
hungry, and by no means good tempered, when one of us, 
happening to go out, saw a file of elephants making for the 
river, with the evident intention of crossing. He came back 
instantly with the news, and Umgona said he would go and 
watch them. Dugusa agreed, but told him to leave his gun. 
' No,' replied he ; 'no one walks without his stick, so I will 
take it with me, but will be careful not to frighten them.' 
All agreed, warning him to be cautious, which he promised 
to be. After he went away the others began to get their 
guns and ammunition in order, when, just as they were 
preparing to start, they heard a shot. ' Umgona again,* 
cried Dugusa, and rushed out, we following at some little 
distance. We saw Dugusa run up to Umgona in a 
threatening manner; we saw Umgona raise his gun and 
fire ; we saw Dugusa fall, and we heard the bullet whistling 
past us. We arrived in time to prevent Umgona from 
throwing Dugusa into the river, to which he was dragging 
him, not having seen us coming up. Dugusa was dead 1 
What was to be done ? We first tied the murderer, who 
inaintained a dogged silence ; and we counselled with one 
another as to what should be done. Some proposed to take 
him to Natal; others objected, on the reasonable grounds 
that we could not take him through the Zulu country as a 
prisoner, and that, if we once let him go, we should never 
see him again ; others, again, proposed that he should be 
handed over to Dugusa's relations, who were with us, to do 
as they liked with him. This was objected to by some, 
because, they said, it was throwing the duty of his punish- 



A FEARFUL PUNISHMENT. 155 

ment on a few, which they were all bound to execute. At 
last, after a great deal of talk, it was agreed that we should 
do nothing that night, but tie him up and watch him till 
the morning, when we should again deliberate what to do. 

" Next morning, before the sun had risen from its bed in 
the sea, we had resumed the discussion; and, after long and 
anxious deliberation, it was resolved that the culprit should 
be given up to the friends of Dugusa, and that they should 
carry out the sentence of death, to which we unanimously 
condemned him. They therefore took possession of tho 
prisoner, and, after a short consultation amongst themselves, 
they proceeded to carry the sentence into effect in a manner 
which, to us, accustomed to see many a dreadful death, 
seemed the very refinement of cruelty. The living murderer 
was taken and bound to his dead victim, face touching face, 
and hand tied in hand, and then slowly, and in solemn 
silence, the dead and the living, clasped in this horrible 
embrace, were carried to the bank of the river. We heard 
one fearsome cry, and the swollen waters closed over, and 
buried the victims of this double tragedy!" 

XL — Making the Most of it in "Wild Life." 

Among all the benefactors of humanity, I reckon Charles 
Dickens one of the chiefest; and among his many delightful 
characters who really " point a moral and adorn a tale," 
Mark Tapley is one of my special favourites, because over 
and over again, when, in "Wild life" — aye, even in civilised 
life — I have been beset by apparently inextricable dangers 
and difficulties, Mark's philosophy of common sense, self- 
reliance, and good nature has come to the rescue, and carried 
me through it all victoriously. 



156 WILD LIFE — MAKING THE MOST OF IT. 

It is really wonderful how comfortably one can get througli 
the world, and how little is positively necessary for enjoy- 
ment, if a fellow lays his mind to " make the most of it," 
and, like Mark Tapley, resolves to be "jolly under any 
circumstances." In " Wild life" I find unfailing solace, in 
wet weather, in my books and my pipe, and " many a time 
and oft" have I (in my Livy), albeit as hungry as a hawk, 
made a sumptuous repast off the delights of Capua, and the 
hardships of the Saguntines and Tarentines have induced me 
to endure my own miseries with more equanimity. It affords 
great fun, too, to stand up in the waggon and, book in hand, 
gravely spout Shakespeare to the natives. If you keep your 
countenance well, they will take it very seriously, and when 
you have finished they will, like your learned critic at home, 
sagely nod their heads, look wise, and say, " It is good, very 
good, only — is he a missionary?" One line my Kaffirs have 
got hold of, which they seem to enjoy exceedingly, because, 
I suppose, " it feels grand," as poor Artemus Ward said. 
" What's Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba T' They seem to 
have a glimmering of the meaning of it, and they lug it in 
on every opportunity, with studied dramatic effect, especially 
to the Zulus, who generally appreciate it, and say, " Yes, it 
is very nice;" and then my fellows are quite proud at being 
able to display such very superior knowledge. The query 
has frequently suggested itself to my mind on such occasions : 
*' Is there not a good deal of this ignorant pride and show 
otherwheres than in Zulu-land?" I wot there is; and as I 
*' cram" my Kaffirs, so are others " crammed" by the banks 
of the Cam and the Isis, and elsewhere; and with very 
similar results too ! 

Then, when the raining powers are omnipotent, you 
esconce yourself under the awning of your waggon, and pull 



"CASTLES IN THE AIR!" 157 

away at your favourite meerschaum, watching the smoke as 
your imagination shapes it into all manner of eccentricities, 
and commence to " build castles in the air." Now, this sort 
of thing I consider to be decidedly luxurious, and a very 
jolly way of enjoying the dolce far niente ; and I cannot help 
saying commend me to " Castles in the Air," for I look upon 
the privilege of building them as a great, glorious, and free 
institution. For instance, now, while in the position de- 
scribed, I think over these Sketches — something noteworthy 
I have that day seen, and am turning over in my mind how 
it may be best described. From one thing, I am insensibly 
led on to another ; from composing these Sketches to tran- 
scribing them ; from transcribing to posting them ; and to 
their reception by the editor, and there my fancy runs away 
with me entirely. I picture to myself a liberal cheque, 
pleasant thanks and profuse praise ; the fame of a Dickens 
or a Bulwer ; people wondering who wrote that first-rato 
thing " Wild Life," and myself walking through the throng, 
proudly conscious of being " the great unknown ;" and, for 
an hour or two, " Lord bless you," as Tommy Traddles says> 
" I'm just as happy as if I had them !" 

I don't think either that these imaginary building specula- 
tions are in any way hurtful to anybody ; for my part, I 
always find that the waking to reality — and, mind, you must 
wake to it some time or other — spurs me on to try and 
realise the pleasant dream. Therefore, I'll never, without 
protest, hear a word against Chateaux en Espagne; and, if any- 
one will give me such a property in reality — I'll — I'll — why, 
I'll send some one to look after it, and remit me the rents, 
whilst I indulge in "Wild life" in the Zulu, and otherwise, 
as it seemeth good to me. But if I can't be a landed 
proprietor in the country of " pronunciamentas," of active 



158 WILD LIFE — MAKING THE MOST OF IT. 

revolutions and passive debt, of bigoted religionists and ex- 
emplary queens; then, with the " Castles in the Air" which, 
with the help of my pipe, I can build in my waggon, and 
the stern realities of this work-a-day world, I shall learn to 
be content. 

In " Wild life" everything is free and easy, and the absence 
of starch is something perfectly delightful. In your inter- 
course with the natives, only a simulating prude would 
pretend to be shocked; but "to the pure all things are 
13ure !" and, although appearances mdiY he against them, there 
is nothing immodest about the natives, because of their entire 
ignorance of anything like obscenity or grossness. 

I feel impelled to say a word or two en passant about 
Starch. Possibly it may be the effect of the climate, but I 
don't like starch. I dislike it on Dr. Johnson's principle ; I 
can't say I hate it, but I don't like it. I dislike it particularly 
in my clothes ; it seems to give a false position to everything 
it touches, whether it be a man, or a lady's dress. For instance, 
there is Mr. Meff. Istoffyles, yellow's the white of his eye, 
he has a down look, a flat nose. He is known to stick at 
nothing to effect his purpose, lies and swears to it, falsifies 
statements, makes use of his own power and that of thosc^ 
whom he can influence, to oppress any one who may have the 
honesty and courage to expose his dishonest nature. Yet, 
by sheer force of " starch," this man is not only tolerated in 
society, but is even looked up to as a sort of moral Turvey- 
ilrop ! A starched beard and hair, ditto coat, waistcoat, 
continuations, and demeanour, cover present rottenness and 
scurvy antecedents. But, bother starch, and all its votaries, 
for they are " always crossing my path !" 

It is no doubt a perfectly gratuitous assertion on my part 
to say that printing has been of immense benefit to mankind. 



"THE LARGEST CIRCULATION IN THE WORLD!" 159 

Of course it is needless to attempt to prove such a self-evident . 
]>roposition; but I wish, nevertheless, to record my own 
personal gratitude to the inventors, for it is impossible for 
those who travel in a savage country, far away from the 
haunts of men, to prevent this feeling from frequently 
recurring to their minds. I don't speak of books merely, or 
of popular works, but of every, or any printed thing, for in 
"Wild life" the merest trifle is often a God-send, and is 
valued accordingly. 

It is not so very long since that, while travelling far in the 
interior, with absolutely nothing in the shape of a book, or 
-even a missionary magazine to read, I was so fortunate as to 
liave a piece of beef sent to me wrapped in a Daily Telegraph 
newspaper. It was really food for both mind and body, 
and "I speak the words of truth and soberness" when I say 
that I devoured the paper with even more relish than the 
meat which it enclosed, although, sooth to say, my larder 
was reduced to its last extremity at the time. 

"The great pennyworth," had rather too much of the 
amleur de rose in some places, as may naturally be supposed, 
from the purpose to which it had been applied, but was 
rather the better of that than otherwise, because it rendeied 
the task of deciphering more difficult, and thus protracted 
the pleasant occupation ; and as, for this reason, I could not 
>)olt the savoury morsel, I was compelled to " read, learn, 
and inwardly digest " it the more leisurely ; and, looking 
out for a shady nook, I set to work to enjoy the intellectual 
feast, and commenced operations in a systematic manner. 

Starting from " the Telegraph dial," I went straight on 
through the theatre advertisements, enjoying " in my mind's 
■eye" the syren notes of the prima donna, and took a peep 
into the somewhat grotesque mirror which is professed to be 



160 WILD LIFE — MAKING THE MOST OF IT. 

held up to Nature on the stage, and in which it would be 
somewhat difficult to " see oursel's as ithers see us." I dis- 
cussed the editor's politics, and was astonished at his descend- 
ing to such Billingsgate in his abuse of Mr Disraeli, and 
" concluded" that the Asian mystery was past the compre- 
hension of even the clever editor of the Telegra^ph. I then 
proceeded on and on till I ariived at the imprimatur, and 
again and again returned to my feast ; speculating, as I went 
along, over the various advertisements, picking out the estates 
I should like to buy, the furniture with which I should 
plenish "that desirable mansion," and the pictures and vertu 
with which I should decorate it ; the books I should like to. 
read, and the tours I should like to take ; and, in imagination,. 
I seemed to enjoy them all. I wondered at the various 
notices in Chancery, and whether, under another name, there 
might not be a prototype of " Jarndyce v. Jarndyce." The 
law and police courts induced me to philosophise upon the 
comparative advantages and disadvantages of savagedom 
and civilization, and I came to the sage conclusion that "much 
could be said on both sides !" The "wind-bags" of Parlia- 
ment, and the " spouters" at that institution for letting off 
the steam — the public meeting — made me think that if less 
notice, or none at all in many cases, were taken by the paj^ers 
of your bore with the cacoethes loquendi, we would be less 
bothered with them; for it is unquestionable that the vanity 
of knowing that " a chiel's amang them takin' notes, an' feth 
he'll prent them," is the inducing cause of more than a half 
of the speechifying with which this age is afflicted. The 
letter of the Paris correspondent amused me exceedingly, 
with its self-complacent egotism, so pleasant withal ; and the 
ubiquitous Sala too, playing with words and phrases as a 
Japanese juggler does with his magic tojDS and butterflies I 



"WHERE IS SPIKINSl" 161 

Before the day was half over I feared I had exhausted the 
sheet ; but it happened that I noticed a corner turned down, 
and flying at it greedily, my anxiety was rewarded with 
this one line : — 

' ' Where is Spikins ? " 

This rather curt advertisement, which if the proverb holds 
good must be ivitty, afforded me employment for the rest of 
the afternoon. " Methought," as the Spectator used to say, 
that "Where is Spikins" might cover a multitude of feelings; 
and that, under this simple query, what a tragedy, what 
sorrow, what love-lorn plaint might be hid; or it might be 
some comedy or broad farce. However it might be, I 
managed to construct a very nice little romance, a la Wilkie 
Collins, abounding in the most improbable and astounding 
sensational situations, but which, although quite satisfactory 
to myself, I fear would be " laughed at consumedly" by your 
readers; so in the exercise of a wise discretion I shall neither 
trouble them, nor risk my reputation, by giving even an out- 
line of the "Wild life" I led Spikins. Moreover, Dickens is 
the only man I know, who can make a readable story with 
characters having the most ridiculous names. 

I now conclude, trusting that these rough Sketches may 
give some idea of what we see, what we do, and how we 
enjoy ourselves in " Wild life" in South Eastern Africa. 



M 



TRANSVAAL VERSUS ZULU. 

(Leader in Xatal Hekald, Octol»er, 1SG9.) 

In the issue of the Merciinj of the 23rd October appeared a 
communication from their Utrecht correspondent, giving the 
Transvaal version of the present embrogho with the Zulus 
regarding the boundary question. Now, as the Zulus have 
no " Own Correspondents" of any public print, residing 
amongst them, it is but just that their side of the story 
should be laid before the colonists and the mother country, 
as, in consequence of Boer misgovernment, and that inor- 
dinate lust of land by which they are actuated — especially 
when it is in the possession of black races — trouble will, we 
are afraid, ensue on our north-eastern frontier, and we may 
be drawn in, as we w^ere with the Basutos; in fact, we shall 
be compelled to interfere, to prevent the results of the quarrel 
spreading into our own colony. The information we now 
lay before our readers we have taken considerable pains to 
jjrocure, and we think it may be depended upon as correct. 
It has been obtained from those, whose occupations have 
detained them for some considerable time at the head- 
quarters of the Zulu Government, who know the language 
and the ways of the people, and who have often had occasion 
to admire and appreciate the friendly feeling displayed and 
felt towards the British, and to note the utter contempt 
and dislike of everything Boer, which are the characteristics 
of the present generation of Zulus, and of their ruler 
Cetchwayo. 



LAND TENURE IN THE ZULU. 163 

In considering this matter, we should remember that, 
:ulthough Panda is nominally King, yet for many years (to 
a great extent before, but altogether since, the battle of the 
Tugela in 1856) Cetchwayo has been virtually so, and by what 
is considered a legal title in the Zulu. He is the Prime Minis- 
ter of his father, or, perhaps more correctly speaking. Grand 
Vizier. What he says is law, as if the King had said it. 
He is an acknowledged power in Zulu, and, s})eaking apart 
from his legal status, he has such power that, although he 
has, with rare policy and self-command for a savage chief, 
continued to accord to his father all the outward tokens of 
Koyalty, he could at any moment, and in any way he chose, 
remove him and reign in his place. Again, we must considei* 
the conditions of property in land to the Zulu. The land 
belongs to the nation and the King is trustee. No man can 
hold it as his own and dispose of it at his pleasure ; — he may 
squat, but that is all, and is liable to be removed for mis- 
behaviour. The King, properly speaking, cannot allot any 
land without the consent of the tribe in Council, though in 
some small matters he may do so — say to a single family— 
without thinking it necessary to consult his people, and 
without their thinking it worth while to go against him. 
The Zulus have no idea of selling land away from their con- 
trol. When they speak of so-and-so having bought a piec(^ 
of land from the King, they invariably consider that it is 
only the right to live on it during good behaviour, which has 
been sold, and they never say, so-and-so has purchased the 
land, but "a place to build on;" this of course only applies 
to the whites, who are the only buyers. Now, bearing 
this in mind, let us give a little history of the transaction. 
The Utrecht Correspondent of our contemporary says 
that it was a regular purchase and sale, that cattle were 



164 TRANSVAAL l\ ZULU. 

given in payment, and the deed of transfer signed by Panda 
and all his Indunas, that " Koobooloo " (Kebiila) was sent to 
deliver up the land, and that boundaries were pointed out 
and beacons set up. But what was the true state of the 
case'? About 1858 (the date mentioned) the lung-sickness 
was sweeping off the cattle in the Zulu country. Panda sent 
a message to the Boers, saying that he was hungry, his cattle 
were all dead, and he had nothing to eat. This is a common 
thing amongst the natives, and is a token of friendship : a 
return would become necessary, if ever the donor asked for 
anything in the same way, — it is what is called " gupana." 
The Boers, in answer to his message, sent him fifty head of 
cattle and some sheep, saying " here is a mouthful of beef 
for you." (Exata was the word used, which is a piece cut 
off a roasted strip, of sufficient size to put in the mouth). 
These cattle were put with those belonging to one of his 
head kraals (" Um-dumoe.zulu " — the thunder of Heaven, 
and, by implication, of the Zulus), and they very shortly 
after died of the lung-sickness. Not long afterwards there 
comes a message from the Boers — " We also are hungry 
— we are hungry for land — we have no place to live on 
— we are too crowded — allow our people to live on your 
land" (not sell us land), "the Blood Eiver, the U-bivana, 
and the U-pongolo." On the principle of '^ gnpana" the 
King could not refuse, and besides, as the upper districts 
are comparatively thinly populated, he thought there would 
be no harm in allowing them to squat. He accordingly 
sent some Indunas to tell them so — Kebiila very likely 
amongst them, but Si-ry-o (Assegaio) was the head one. 
The Boers immediately said to Si-ry-o, " Show us our 
beacons." Eeply: "I do not understand you." " Show us 
where we are to live." Eeply: "Oh, wherever you like 



DISPUTE ABOUT LAND. 165 

about here." "Make an 'uicwadi'" Eeply: "Xo, that I 
oan't do, I had no instructions from the King." Notwith- 
standing this they took Si-ry-o's hands, forcibly placed a 
stick in them, and made him make a mark! They then 
l^roceeded to drive in stakes for beacons, and marked off 
iibout one-third of the Zulu country as belonging to them ! 
When Cetchwayo heard of this high-handed proceeding, he 
immediately sent a party, who drove the Boers away and 
tore up their beacons — but those few who chose to squat 
peaceably in the Zulu and near the borders, in terms of 
his father's permission, he did not meddle with, and there 
they are to this day. 

Ever since then, the Boers have been demanding this land, 
iind Cetchwayo and the Zulus, as well as Panda, refusing to 
give it, alleging that it was a cheat from beginning to end, 
and that they cannot part with the land on any terms. 
" But," say the Boers, " you have got our cattle ;" and the 
-Zulus answer that they got permission to squat, but not to 
^3rect an independent state within ten miles of the " Mahla- 
UiH," the original nest of the Zulus, sacred to the King and 
his military kraals. '' But here," say the Boers, ^' we have 
i\ paper showing that the King and his Indunas agreed to 
the sale of this land." " We know nothing about your 
papers," reply the Zulus, " nor their contents. We never 
meant to sell the land ; we never said we would do so, and 
we won't do so now," and so the parties separated for the 
time. Still, however, there is this constant irritating mes- 
sage-carrying about the land, and at last the Zulus gather 
together to hold council as to what is to be done. The first 
<;ry is for war, and they hold a council of war and decide 
how it is to be carried on should it break out ; let us hope, 
however, that this may be averted. They then decide that 



166 TRANSVAAL V. ZULU. 

they will first of all make a feir offer to tlie Boers. They 
say, "This affair seems to have been a misunderstanding- 
altogether ; the King thought he was only asking you for a 
bit of beef when he was hungry. You thought you were 
Imying a tract of country. To end this matter we will pay 
you back. You gave the King fifty head of cattle and some 
sheep in 1858 : they all died, but that is not your fault ; they 
might have bred with you. We will therefore give you back 
1,050 head, the odd thousand for their produce, and we trust 
you will accept this and end the matter — if not, we sujipose 
we must fight, and we are quite ready." 

Thus at present stands the affair. The Zulus have re- 
ported the proceedings to our Government regularly (they 
consider themselves tributary, or rather, under our guidance, 
as regards all their foreign relations), and we trust they 
will make sufficiently strong representations, to prevent the 
Transvaal meddling with the Zulus, whose only wish is to 
live on very good terms with us, and to be at peace with all 
white men. 

We shall never be free from trouble of this kind until 
Britain agrees to extend her authority over the whole of 
South Africa. The Boers are no more fit to govern the 
native races than they are — what shall we say 1 well — to 
govern themselves ! 



THE NATIVE CUSTOM OF " HLONIPA." 

Kead by the Author before the Natural History Association of Natal. 
(Reprinted from the JfATAL Mercury.) 

When last in Durban, Mr Sanderson requested me to 
prepare a paper on " Hlonipa," to be read before this Asso- 
ciation. I promised to do so, and have now come before 
you for the purpose of fulfilling my promise, to the best of 
my ability. 

It was a difficult matter for me, being utterly without 
experience in this sort of thing, to judge how to render the 
subject most interesting, and most in accordance with the 
customary style of papers read to an Institution of this kind. 
But I decided that I had better do it in my own way, and 
trust to the interest of the matter itself, and to your leniency 
for any shortcomings there might be in my treatment of it. 

The study of Kaffir habits and customs is a very curious 
one. To my mind, it would take a lifetime of close applica- 
tion to make one thoroughly acquainted with their modes of 
thought, their peculiarities of speech, their untranslateable 
idioms, and their superstitions^the last of which are legion. 
Were I to endeavour even to number them to you, I am 
afraid I should occupy more time than you would be inclined 
to spare me; but in a paper of this kind, though supposed 
to be only on one subject, I may be excused if I merely 
indicate a few of the subjects I refer to. 

There are two diff'erent kinds of superstitions — those con- 
nected with witchcraft, and simple omens, lucky or unlucky. 



168 NATIVE CUSTOM OF HLONIPA. ^ 

The former are the most deeply rooted, because (besides 
being actually afraid of the consequences to themselves of 
witches living amongst them) they have the motive of interest 
to support their belief. The plunder of a dead sorcerer is 
always shared — in different proportions, however — amongst 
his slayers; and no one in the country (conscious of his own 
freedom from witchcraft) ever fancies, until his fate comes 
upon him, that he himself stands a chance of being put to 
death for a witch. They allow, however, that sometimes 
people are "smelt out" who are not witches; but in this case 
they consider that the doctors only act as a necessary engine 
of state, and each one who talks to you is free from any idea 
that he may fall under the envy or displeasure of the King. 
He lives and goes on his way without fear, believing (by the 
way, a thoroughly Kaffir idea) that "whatever is, is right!" 

There are also the omens connected with every occurrence 
in life — hunting; starting on a journey; eating; marrying; 
or even simply moving about the kraal — there is always a 
something, from which the natives infer whether they will 
be successful or not in their journey or their hunt, or whether 
something evil or good is going to happen. In a hunt, 
various birds or animals crossing their path, or even seen, 
are ominous of success or failure. On a journey it is the 
same, but especially as to whether they will be lucky in 
procuring food at their destination; and at kraals, rats, cats, 
dogs, and even things inanimate, are supposed to influence 
their destinies, or at all events to bring about pleasure or 
pain. 

Dreams especially they are devout believers in, and many 
a hunter will leave his work and hasten home — perhaps 150 
miles away — to ascertain whether some bad dream was 
founded in fact or not. If he does not go so far as this, he 



BELIEF IN DREAMS AND SACRIFICES. 169 

will, at all events, sj^end some time and money in a visit to 
the diviner, whose interpretation is always satisfactory for 
the time. 

Again; I have often noticed a good hunter who has been 
unsuccessful for some days appear one morning quite radiant, 
announcing that he is certain to kill that day, as he had 
dreamt it; and — he does so! It is curious, and shows how 
deeply-rooted the belief is, that the fact of having dreamed, 
gives him the confidence necessary to be successful. 

It is also curious to observe how a first-class hunter — a 
brave man and a good shot — will, after having missed, or 
failed to kill, for two or three shots, go on in an unbroken 
course of failure for weeks, until at last he goes to the 
*' doctor," who tells him the cause — nearly always that 
some spiritual relation of his is dissatisfied; whom, having 
appeased by sacrifice, his hunting succeeds as before. Or 
else he goes to some known medicine man, who prescribes 
for his gun, so as to relieve it from the spell which some 
evil-disposed person has cast, or caused to be cast, upon it. 

Everything in nature is under the power of '' isinvanga " — 
rain, storms, sunshine, earthquakes, and all else, which we 
ascribe to natural causes, are brought about or retarded by 
various people to whom this power is ascribed. Every rain 
that comes is spoken of as belonging to somebody, and in a 
drought they say that the owners of the rain are at variance 
amongst themselves : and, of course, if they can find out the 
one who stops the way, they kill him ! 

There are many idiomatical expressions which, literally 
translated into English, sound ridiculous; but one who 
understands their language cannot help admiring how ex- 
pressive the phrase or the word is. For instance, ^^unesisila;' 
you have dirt or are dirty — but it means that you have 



170 NATIVE CUSTOM OF HLONIPA. 

done or said something, or somebody else lias done so,, 
which has bespattered you with metaphorical dirt — in the 
Scriptural sense, has defiled you. It is nearly the same as 
our expression "his hands are not clean," but only it is 
stronger ; as, in saying so, we but refer to some failing of 
the man, but they, when they say so, mean that he is 
radically bad. 

I have spoken, too, of their i:)eculiarities of sj)eech, and 
may mention one or two instances to show what I mean. 
Fat, in English, is fat, whatever it may be on. We say a 
fat man or a fat cow. It would not be correct to say so in 
Kaffir. A fat cow is nonile ; cow fat is amanoni, but only 
whilst it is eatable ; afterwards it becomes amafuta. A man 
is kulujjele if in good condition ; if very fat he is said to be 
zimukili, which latter I take to be a word related to hlonipa^ 
as they will sometimes say of cattle also, that they are 
kukqjele (though they will never use the other word, nomle, 
to a man), and are ashamed to use the same word in 
speaking of their chief (fat is always a sign of position), as 
they do in the case of their ox. 

Again ; speaking in English, we would say young grass, or 
last year's grass ; and, if older than that, it would require a 
sentence to describe it. But, in Kaffir, young grass would 
simply be ihlungu, old grass isikota or umlalane. The first, I 
take it, is derived from the ap23earance of the ground, the 
black ashes seen through the young grass looking like isi- 
hlungu — snake medicine, or medicine to give deadliness to a 
man's hand or weapon ; and, as it purges the cattle, they 
call it ihlungu. 

The second means literally " it is licking," and I fancy is 
derived from the peculiar motion of the cattle when eating 
succulent, well-grown grass. They gather it with their 



DOMESTIC RELATIONS. 171 



tongue and throw their mouths forward as if licking the 



ground. The interpretation of the last I am not quite so 
sure about, but I think it comes from lala, to sleep, and an 
the Kaffirs use it, means that it has missed, or slept over, 
the regular grass-burning. 

The Kaffir language I consider much more copious and 
minute, as well as concise, than our own, in terms relating^ 
to things material — which they can see with their eyes — but 
is not fitted for sustaining a i)hilosophical or metaphysical 
argument, and that naturally so. 

Again ; there are all the customs connected with the con- 
duct of children to parents, and of parents to children; the 
law of inheritance as regards cattle, goods, daughters, and 
wives; the apportioning of his cattle by a man, who has 
children beginning to grow towards manhood, so that each 
hut or wife has its cattle, and which the children of that 
wife look upon as the " cattle of their house," emkorm/s 
iikwaho ; though they, of course, belong to the father. 
The man himself has also cattle, but when he marries he 
perhaps draws upon these apportioned cattle ; and in the 
case of a man of large property, where the one wife's por- 
tion is sufficient, the new one becomes umlohokasi okwabo 
^belongs to that house, she and all her children. In the 
case of a poor man, where he has to take cattle from various 
liouses, the umlohokasi — i.e., the one just lohola'd, or married 
— goes into the house of her from whom he took the first 
cattle. 

Then there are all the customs connected with marriage 
and childbirth, and the ceremonies which are observed; the 
conduct of the bride after marriage; the laws regarding 
buying and selling-, and the putting out of cattle to graze ; 
the proper forms of politeness observed amongst themselves. 



172 NATIVE CUSTOM OF HLONIPA. 

both to strangers and relatives; and much more which I 
dare say might, in proper hands, be interesting, but which I 
refrain from speaking of to-night for three reasons: — 1. 
Because I doubt my o^vn powers to make them so; 2. 
Because they would require a paper of no ordinary length 
to themselves; and, 3. Because I wish to get on to the 
principal thing I intend to speak about to-night, which is 
the custom of Hlonipa. 

The name is derived from the word enhloni (shame), and 
means that they are ashamed, or are too polite, to use the 
names of great people, or such others as they pay respect to, 
in the common speech of every day. 

There are three kinds of Hlonipa — the family, the t7'ibal, 
-and, in the case of the Zulus, the national. The first is 
confined to the women, as far as speech is concerned. They 
will not mention the name of their father-in-law, and they 
hide, or appear to hide, whenever they come in contact with 
their son-in-law. She says it is not right he should see the 
breasts which suckled his wife, and she will not call him by 
his name, but by the title of Umkweniana — equivalent to 
son-in-law; or, more generally, relation by marriage. If 
she meets her son-in-law in the road, where she has nothing 
to cover herself with, and no means of getting it, she will 
break off a piece of grass and tie it round her head, as a sign 
that she ^' Hlonipa' s;" and if a son-in-law comes suddenly 
upon his mothers-in-law, he is expected to give notice that 
he is there so as to enable them to cover themselves up. It 
would be a sign of great want of respect or of politeness 
should he come suddenly into their society when uncovered, 
without giving notice. 

All the females in any way related to the girl's family will 
call her husband Umkweniana, but never by his name ; and 



ROYAL ETIQUETTE. 175 

when he has children grown up they will call him father of 
so-and-so. They think it not respectful to call him by his. 
name, and this is the case also with all young persons to old 
ones. The son-in-law too will not call his mother-in-law by 
her name, but simply mother, and the wife is generally called 
so-and-so of so-and-so, child of her father. 

Also, all those who are in any way related to the husband 
"vvill not drink milk at any kraal connected with the wife, 
and the same of the wife's relations as regards those of the 
husband. 

This custom I think very likely to have been established 
to prevent the relatives, to whom food could not be refused, 
eating up the contents of the calabashes, and so leaving those 
of the kraal without any of the food which they are fondest 
of, and which is their stand-bye in times of hunger. 

The higher the rank of the parties the more strictly is the 
etiquette observed. At the King's kraal it is sometimes, 
difficult to understand his wives, as they Hlonipa even the 
very sound of the name of the King's fathers, his and their 
brothers back for generations. They will not say ivenzani 
(what are you doing?), but wenkani, because the sound 
of the z comes in Enzenzengalcona (Senzangakona) — Panda's 
father. The same with water — amanzi. They call it aman- 
damhi, and the wives of the King's sons, for instance, will 
never call me by my Kaffir name vHjpondo because part of 
the sound is in Panda, but Utshibo, which is Hlonipa for 
horn. This is also the case with Mhldnkulu, the girls whom 
the King has gathered together at his kraals. They are 
only liahle to be the King's wives, but they Hloni/pa even in 
consequence of that liability. 

Speaking of the King's wives and Hlonipa, puts me in 
mind of something I wished to say, arising from a paper read 



174 NATIVE CUSTOM OF HLONIPA. 

before this societ\\ Some time ago, when in the Zuhi 
<30untry, I got a Mercury containing a notice of Mr Wynd- 
ham's address on the game birds of Natah He there enu- 
merated four different kinds of partridges which I knew, but 
said there was a fifth which the Kaffirs called " malwpe^' 
-and which he remembered having shot in the Zulu countr}-. 
I did not know of this variety, and made many and strict 
enquiries about it. At last I found that Ehope is the 
lllonipa for the generic name of " l//'y/&fl^ "-pigeon ; Mahope 
is, of course, the plural; they "Illon'qxi" Somajuba, a 
brother of Panda's. 

So deeply rooted, and so strictly observed, is the custom 
^' Hlonipa" that the worst oath they can address to a woman 
•or girl — it is only applicable to females — is ^^O'mka ninazala," 
which means that she does or will bear children to her 
father-in-law. The woman to whom this is applied imme- 
•diately throws off her blanket, or cloth, and takes no care 
•iibout Hlonipa, because, as she argues, if this is said to me 
oi him of whom I am so afraid, or pay such respect to — i.e., 
IllonijM so strictly — what is the use of my continuing to do 
so. She will tell all her female relations, and they will 
gather together and go to the man's kraal, or if they cannot 
do that, to any kraal, and kill a beast ; the liability and 
wrong lies at the door of him who has sworn at them. This 
ox or cow will be eaten by old women or little children, 
but by none of a marriageable age : — men are always mar- 
riageable, so there is no necessity to except them. It has 
the " insila," which has now gone off the woman who was 
sworn at. If you remember what I said about the phrase 
'• U-nesisila" a few minutes ago, you will see that this is 
^jinother illustration of its meaning. The women take the 
^all and squeeze it over themselves, and then the affair is at 



A TKUTH-TESTER. 175 

ill! end, so far as they are concerned. If the women cannot 
get at any cattle readily, as is often the case in the bush- 
country, they will go into the hut of the offender, or if he 
lives far away and has escaped into anyone's hut, break the 
dishes, throve his clothing away, after pulling it to pieces, 
overthrow his hut, and all this without risk to themselves, 
as the offender has to make good the damage. 

If a husband addresses this name to his wife, or, in fact, 
to anyone, no matter how close the relationship:*, it is always 
cleared away by the sacrifice of a beast. 

On the other hand, if a woman swears by "Afamemla," you 
may always believe her. She says, " so surely as I shall 
not do this thing is what I tell you truth." If she speaks 
falsely the opposite jiarty would then without risk say, " Oh 
then you do this. You are nesisila." And if you say to a 
woman, don't do such a thing, and she persists, then say 
that is, or will be, equivalent to Onyokozalo, and she will 
desist at once. But it is dangerous to play with this, as if 
she is doing what is evidently right, although you may not 
wish her to do it, she will at once say you have sworn at her 
because you have si:)oken so strongly without reason. 

I may here explain that Mamezala, U^iyoho Zdlo, and 
O'mkaninazala, mean the same thing, but only different 
persons. They are /, thou, and they take their mother-in- 
law's place. 

Again ; if a man or a woman in quarrelling with a woman 
turns aside, and looks disgusted, and Tshaka, i.e., spits 
through their teeth (from this came " Tshaka," the Zulu 
king's name), it amounts to the same thing as if they had 
said the words — as this being a sign of the utmost disgust, 
the person doing so is supposed to have reason for what he 
does — I mean that he considers her ninazala. There was a 



176 NATIVE CUSTOM OF HLONIPA. 

case of this the other day which I cannot do better than 
mention, as it ilhistrates the strength of the custom. Some- 
of the girls belonging to one of the King's kraals were 
washing in a river. A stranger woman was there, with 
whom they had high words. In the course of the quarrel 
she turned aside and spat through her teeth. Immediately 
the girls left the water and went to the King's cattle. They 
picked out a fine ox and killed it. Nothing was said,, 
except that the husband of the woman had to make it good, 
whereas in another case the penalty for killing the King's 
cattle would have been death. 

The Tribal Hlonipa is a much simpler affair. It is merely 
that no individual of any of the tribes which now constitute 
Zulu, will use the name of their chief or his progenitors, as 
far as they remember, in the common j^arlance of every day. 
As, for instance, the Zungu tribe say mata for manzi (water), 
and Inhosta for Tshanti (grass), and emUgatdu for umkondo 
(assegai), and inyatugo for enhlela (path), because their present 
chief is Umfan-o inhlela — his father was Ilanzini, his grand- 
father Imkondo, and one before him Tshani; the national 
Illonipa is all the tribes omitting the King's name, as also 
Cetchwayo's, whom they now also Hlonipa. For instance, 
the root of a tree they call nxabo — whereas the true name is 
impando. Also the hill now known as Entahankulu, was 
Empandwene. - Neither do they now use the word Amacebo 
(lies or slander), because of Cetchwayo, but Amahwata, which 
is equivalent in Hlonipa. They do not, however, carry it so 
far as the women, as regards omitting the very slightest 
similarity in sound. 

And now comes the question of whether or not there are 
any rules by which they are guided in Hlonvpa, and how it 
arose in the country. 



"WHATEVER IS, IS RIGHT!" 177 

It is always a very difficult matter to get at the reason 
for, or cause of, a thing, from a Kaffir. They say so-and-so 
is so. And if you ask how it is that it is so, the general 
answer is simply " because !" And if you press them hard, 
they take refuge in saying that "it is the custom of the 
country." If you ask questions, they will agree to anything, 
and in such a manner, that I have often been deceived, 
thinking that I had at last arrived at the truth. Therefore, 
I say that one without a personal knowledge of Kaffir ways 
will really never get at the truth of their habits, laws, and 
customs, as you are obliged, in a manner, to depend greatly 
on your own experience, in putting together what you hear, 
and so arriving at a true result; and, generally, as regards- 
the derivation of words, you have to decide for yourself 
altogether, as the Kaffirs have no idea of, and take no 
interest in, any such thing. A name is a name, and, if you 
ask for an explanation, they tell you that it is a name, and 
that is all they know about it. 

With this preface, then, I now, after many years' know- 
ledge of them, and one or two years' enquiry as to this 
particular custom, say to you that they have no rules to 
guide them in Hlo7ii])a, and I claim that the practice is one 
of great antiquity, as the language, at this present time, 
almost presents the phenomenon of a double one. There is 
scarcely a word in it applicable to a proper name — at least 
as far as I have enquired — which has not its corresponding 
Hloni^pa; and in a case in which it might happen so — I have 
never heard of on& which did — those interested should 
gather together and decide what they were to say. 

As one of Panda's sisters, who is an old woman, and well 
versed in the etiquette, described to me — some might pro- 
pose one name, the others might object, saying that it was 

N 



178 NATIVE CUSTOM OF HLONIPA. 

not a nice one, for no other reason that I can discover, and 
at last they would agree to call him so and so. 

If they could, they would find a word as near as possible 
to the meaning of that which they had laid aside, but not 
even that of necessity. As for example, impise (a wolf), they 
call engaduh, because he is a great traveller — to gadulco 
means to wander — or umdela 'btonga, one who despises 
sleep, because of his nocturnal habits; utshani (grass), they 
call inkota, as being near to the name of a particular age of 
grass, isikota, which I have explained before. Idtsbe, a 
stone, they call egaio, which may be translated "the grinder," 
because they grind their corn on stones. But on the other 
hand they call imhlisio^ the heart, inheddamu. Inhlela, a 
path, inyatugOy inJcomo, a cattle beast. Umai, intshumpa 
and emetshe — manzi (water), mandamU, mahta, macubane. 
In all these latter Hlonipa names, I can discover no connec- 
tion at all with the real ones. And a greater proof, and one 
which to my mind is incontestible, is that all the different 
tribes in Zululand have different Hlonipa terms for the 
same words. Thus mandarabi is the King's kraal hlonipa 
for water, because of the same sound as in manzi being in 
Ensenzangakona, the name of Panda's father. Mahda is the 
Ziangu Hlonipa for water, because of Manzini the father of 
their present chief. There is no difference in dialect in what 
is now Zulu, nor has there been for the last forty years — 
perhaps longer, for what I know. The only difference at all 
is the tefula, the using the Y for the L confined to the 
Xumalu or Endwandwe and the Emzansi or Emtetwa tribes ; 
therefore if they had rules to guide them in Hlonipa the 
different tribes such as Emtetwa, Ubtelesi, Endwandwe, 
Mambati, Zungu, Zulu, &c., &c., &c., having been mixed so 
long under one authority, would all use the same term — 



SEPARATE RULES FOR EACH TRIBE. 179 

whereas they do not do so : and that has caused the 
language to be not only a double one, as I have said, but, 
in the case of multitudes of words, they have three or four 
to express the same meaning, which, by the admixture of 
tribes, are known all over Zululand. Or, say that the living 
under the same authority, and the mixture of tribes, has 
nothing at all to do with it — I mean the fact of there being 
separate rules, for each tribe may be so in spite of that — 
I think it still incredible that so many small tribes, all 
speaking the same language, not differing in dialect like the 
Amaswazi and the Amatonga, and living close together, 
should have different rules for Hlonijpa. 

I will give yet another proof, and that is the Hlonijpa word 
for inJcomo (cattle beast) amongst the Amambati. OnJcomo 
was the chief of that division before their present one 
Diekana. About the time he was killed by the Emtetwa 
chief Dingiswayo, was the time when whites began first to 
be heard of, or rather known. The great thing amongst 
whites is well-known by the natives to be money, and no 
doubt it was so at the time of his death, as cattle are valued 
correspondingly amongst them — are in fact their " mali." 
They now call them invariably by that name — Hlonijpa-ing 
their dead chief Onkomo. 

It is well known that there is a fashion in Hlonijpa, as in 
everything else amongst whites and blacks , and there are 
those who set it. If a certain kind of bead or colour of 
blanket is adopted by the King, or his sons and daughters, 
it is immediately in request all over the country by those 
who are of rank and importance enough to risk the wearing 
them. So it is with Hlonipa — and as an instance I may give 
Cetchwayo. It began amongst his female relations and 
Ikulonkulu girls at his own kraal, and then spread to the 



180 NATIVE CUSTOM OF HLONIPA. 

King's kraals, and so as the natives put it, it began to be 
known all over the country that he was HlonipoJd. One man 
in talking to another would innocently use the word Amaceho-^ 
the other would stop him saying "Don't you know they 
Hlonifa him now ?" "No," the other would rej)ly, "what 
do they say'?" "They say Amahwata." And thus though 
there are other Hloni/pa words for Amacebo (slander), which, 
in the case of another, they would use without scruple, yet, 
as it is the King, they enquire about it, and thus it gradually 
spreads, till all use the same word. 

I don't know whether what I have said proves my argu- 
ment, viz., that Hlonipa is a very ancient custom among 
them ; that it is very strictly observed ; and that they have 
no rules for their guidance, as to the adoption of a word in 
the place of the one ordinarily in use. If it be not so, I 
must beg you to remember another thing I have touched 
upon in this paper, viz., that there is much, which one who- 
is well acquainted with Kaffirs and their ways knows, but 
yet is unable to write about, much which, if I may so put it, 
he knows intuitively, but yet is unable to offer proof of; 
and I would beg of you to believe that I would have stated 
nothing here unless I was tolerably sure, in my own mind^ 
that it was correct. 

I have made this paper as short and as concise as I could,, 
being afraid that, if uninteresting when brief, had I 
lengthened it by an infusion of words, simply for the sake 
of occupying a little more time in its deliver/, I would have- 
rendered it weaker than it is even now. And, for what 
want of interest there is, pray consider that it arises from 
my manner of treatment, not from the matter itself, which 
is by no means uninteresting to a Natal audience. 

I have another reason for making this a short i^aj^er, and 



REASON FOR BREVITY OF ESSAY. 181 

that is because, although I have written all that I know on 
the subject, yet, amongst those who hear me, there will no 
doubt be many who understand the custom, and will wish for 
further information which I may have forgotten, or perhaps 
am unable to give; therefore I have left time, without 
running it too late, to answer any questions I can, and to 
avow my ignorance as to those which I cannot elucidate. 



THE TSETSE FLY. 

[The following is published, as an Appendix to the Essay on "The Tsetse Fly' 
(Glosinia MorsitansJ, by ST. VINCENT W. Erskine, Explorer of the Limpopo 
Hiver, South Eastern Africa, which was read before the Natural History Associa- 
tion of Natal, August 8, 1870.] 

Since writing this essay, I have been favoured with 
further remarks from Mr Leslie, as undernoted : — 

" December 16, 1870. 

" I am not at all satisfied with the commonly-received idea as ta 
the deadliness of the Tsetse Fly, neither am I, as I daresay you have 
seen, satisfied with your explanation of the causes of death to cattle 
in countries infested by the fly. I heard yesterday that Capt. Elton, 
on his journey from the Tati to Delagoa, had four pack-oxen, and 
they have escaped. 

" My theory, that the fly is deadly, but goes in droves, and so 
cattle driven a short distance through bush may escape, by not falling 
in with any of these droves, I thought a good one ; but this long 
journey of Elton's, if truly reported, upsets that. 

"It appears to me — and it is a common Kaffir saying — that the 
fly affects those places most where the zebras are plentiful. I know 
places in the Zulu country where cattle are sure to die if hept there 
any time — say a few days ; but they can be safely driven through, 
even although they eat on the way. I know another place, which 
I knew to be bad, where I lost an ox this time, although they were 
never outspanned and never halted. In the former district, there 
are no zebras ; in the latter, there are plenty. 

* ' Elton, I believe, says he saw the fly settle in hundreds on his 
oxen, and there were no ill effects. I am puzzled what to think of it. 

"It is very easy to upset any other person's explanation of the 
cause of death of cattle in these districts, but it is very difficult to 
construct a theory ; and more so to give a decided opinion that will 
hold water." 



THE BANE AND THE ANTIDOTE TO THE TSETSE. 183 

*' December 20, 1870. 

" Perhaps you are aware that if the Tsetse settles upon your hand, 
although it leaves no mark and you do not feel it at the time, yet it 
will cause a sore, itchy feeling ; and a slight scratch will leave a 
mark. 

"The symptoms of Tsetse are not always the same. Cattle will 
sometimes die, fat, in a few days. At other times they will linger 
for months, getting thinner and thinner, and never appearing to get 
a bellyful, though they eat voraciously to the last — even when they 
cannot get up from weakness, they will eat all round where they 
lie. It may be that the former are badly bitten, or in some way 
have absorbed more of the poison — the latter not so badly. 

" Certain roots which the Kaffirs know — of the nature of febrifuge 
— are very bitter, are good for this disease, whatever it is. So is 
salt. But nothing, that I have heard of, is a certain cure. Some- 
times, however, they recover, especially if they are not subjected to 
wet, cold weather, in their weak state. 

"There is no doubt whatever about what I told you, as to the 
*Unakane,' i.e., Tsetse fly, having spread in the Zulu country, 
driving out cattle from places, where they had thriven from time 
immemorial. 

'* I think I have now told you all I know about the Tsetse. 

" Yours truly, 

"David Leslie." 

Note. — I publish these remarks so that readers at a dis- 
tance may understand the arguments likely to be used in 
combating any theory as to the death of cattle from other 
causes than that of the bite of the Tsetse fly, in spots 
unhealthy for cattle. 

Individually, I have no theory as to the cause of death, 
but suggest the greater probability of it proceeding from 
some exceptional poison in the vegetation or atmosphere 
prevailing in those spots. 



184 THE TSETSE FLY. 

Tlie theory appears to have originated with the original 
Zulus, and is only known amongst their offshoots — the 
Amaswazi, the Mahlamene or Umzeila's people, and the 
Matabele. Dr. Livingstone mentions that neither the 
Portuguese nor other inhabitants of Africa, to the north of 
these tribes, have any such theory as to this extraordinary 
cause of death in cattle, and he appears to have adopted it 
from them. I have reason to believe, from experiments made 
upon dogs, that the disease will yield to the administration 
of quinine and purgatives. 

St. Vincent Erskine. 



Remarks on Mr St. Vincent Erskine's Paper on the 
Tsetse Fly. 

Read by Mr Leslie before the Natural History Association at Durban on 
Monday evening, 8th August, 1870. 

With great courtesy Mr Erskine put me in possession of 
his paper on the above subject, in which I see he combats 
the received idea that the bite of the fly is fatal to the ox, 
the horse, and the dog. 

I, unfortunately, know something of the Tsetse, and 
although I have never studied or examined the subject 
scientifically, yet there are some parts of Mr Erskine's 
paper with which I cannot agree. 

Page 19 : — '* Then comes the other side of the question : But 
"where cattle lived at one time there is now the fly and there are no 
cattle ? because, I will answer, the smiling picture which was made 
out of a dismal wilderness, was suddenly changed, destroyed at one 
fell swoop, by some reckless and blood-thirsty tyrant, the cattle were 
swept away, the men killed, the women taken captive, the huts burn^ 
leaving 'not a wrack behind,' and the wilderness is again restored 



"A RECKLESS AND BLOOD-THIRSTY TYRANT." 185 

to its primitive and undisturbed quiet. The buffalo returns to bis 

liaunts, and the giraffe and again appears upon 

the scene the Tsetse fly !" 

For some years after Panda became King of the Zulus, 
the country, between and about the junction of the black 
.and white Umvolosi, was thickly populated and full of 
cattle. 

There have been no wars whatever in Zulu-land since his 
accession, except the battle of the Tugela. But Mr Erskine's 
" client" has been the " reckless and blood-thirsty tyrant " 
that, gradually creeping up from the northward and east- 
ward, swept away the cattle and " left not a wrack behind." 
And, more than that, during the last three years there has 
been a great prevalence of easterly and northerly winds in 
the Zulu country, and the consequence has been, that where 
no unakane (Zulu name for the Tsetse) was before, i.e., up 
on the grass lands, for ten or twelve miles from the borders 
of the bush country, no cattle can now live. 

Page 26 and 27 : — "At present certain Kaffirs are willing, for a 
moderate consideration, to take their cattle through the fly country, 
and, they state, that they seldom lose any, in consequence of their 
giving them medicine (or muti). This medicine, containing a number 
of Tsetse mashed up. Of course,* the fly has nothing to do with the 

•curative properties of the mutiy which is probably 

Here I might mention that it is said • districts infested by the Tsetse 
can be safely passed through in the night. ' . . . . The natives 
have introduced cattle to spots which were several days distant from 
healthy country " 

* Why, " of course V I am aware that natives do run 
cattle through infected districts. But I also know from 
them that it is a lottery — sometimes they escape, and some- 
times they die — and I account for this, by the fact of the fly 



186 THE TSETSE FLY. 

attaching itself to game in swarms. It is not spread all 
over the country, like the house fly — some on every tree and 
bush — but keeps together in droves. The natives' cattle, 
sometimes, do not come across any of these swarms and 
escape. When they do meet them, they die. 

I do not say that Mr. Erskine is wrong in his conclusions, 
but I should like to hear his ideas on the above few facts. 

David Leslie. 



Answer to Mr Leslie's Critique on Mr Erskine's 
Paper on the Tsetse Fly. 

1. Mr Leslie, from the very precision with which he points 
out the spread of the fly, namely from the northward and 
eastward, would seem to demonstrate most strongly that the 
cause of death is not a fly, which ought to spread itself 
promiscuously in all directions, together with the game to 
which it attaches itself. 

Why should the fly extend only northward and eastward? 
Does the game extend only in this manner? Would not 
this particular spread of unhealthy country, perhaps, be 
more likely to occur from spread of certain vegetation, 
favoured by the special climatic influences mentioned? 
Would not the spread of vegetation, in the slow and circum- 
scribed direction, defined by Mr Leslie, be more probable 
than that of an insect, constantly referred to in works of 
travel, as well as by Mr Leslie in query 2, as migratory ? 

2. Dr. Livingstone expressly states that the limits of the 
Tsetse fly are sometimes sharply defined, and, as I said, the 
Kafiirs being willing, for a moderate consideration, to allow 
their cattle to be bitten by the fly, it is proved that the 



MIGRATORY HABITS OF THE TSETSE FLY. 187 

medicine cures the disease under discussion; any part of it 
being composed of fly, mashed u^, it is shown that fly infests 
the country; therefore, Mr Leslie's statement, that the cattle 
do not come across the fly, is not in " point." Abrupt 
cessation of suitable soil, or " exposure," might explain the 
limit of the vegetation, in the latter; and partial poverty of 
soil, and limited vegetation, in the former. Under favourable 
conditions (perhaps "easterly and northerly winds") the weed 
might be able to propagate to its extraordinary bounds, and 
geological faults, or "thinnings out" of formations, might 
define its ordinary limits. 

Prevalence of particular winds might be the cause of an 
unusual amount of miasma or epidemic. 

St. Vincent W. Erskine. 

September 1st, 1870. 



KAFFIR CHARACTER AND CUSTOMS. 

Read by the Author before the Natural History Association of Natal, 
20th April, 1871. 

Some months ago I had the pleasure of endeavouring to 
interest the members of this Association in a peculiar Kaffir 
custom, which I had reason to believe was not known to 
many. And in writing of that Institution — for such it is — 
I mentioned en passant the laws, habits, and modes of 
thought and speech of the Kaffirs. To-night I will try, as 
best I can, to explain some of these to you; and it is my 
wish, if possible, to combine with this explanation something 
which may be useful to masters and mistresses in their 
treatment of their native servants. 

There can be no doubt about it, that, if you understand a 
man, it is easier to deal with him, and this applies equally 
to your friend or your labourer. It is with the latter class 
I have to-night mostly to deal, though I think it perfectly 
possible to have a friend amongst the natives. There are 
many of them as thorough gentlemen in their way, as we 
are in ours. 

I do not know that I can do better than refer you to my 
former paper on " Hlonipa," and request you, when you hear 
this one, to bear in mind what I have there spoken of. I 
said that I thought it would take a lifetime to make one 
thoroughly acquainted with their modes of thought, their 
peculiarities of speech, their untranslatable idioms, and their 
superstitions, and I also mentioned the customs connected 



THE LABOUR QUESTION. 18^ 

with the conduct of children to parents, and of parents to- 
children — the laws of inheritance as regarded cattle, goods, 
daughters, wives, &c. — ^the proper forms of politeness ob- 
served amongst themselves, both to strangers and relatives 
— ^the rules by which they went in marrying and paying for 
their wives, and much more, that it is impossible to com- 
pass in one pajDer, but as much of which, as I can, I shall 
endeavour to make plain to you as I go on. 

The Labour Question. 

We continually hear the cry of "want of labour;" and 
there is no doubt whatever that this same want has a bale- 
ful influence upon the progress of the Colony. But we must 
remember that these people, amongst whom we live, are 
independent of us; they are our peasantry, not our serfs. 
It is not an absolute necessity that they should work. At 
home this would be hailed as a healthful sign, and wages 
increased accordingly. Here, by some reason or other, it 
is decided that because there are 17,000 whites who require 
labour, and cannot afford to pay more than a certain sum, 
the 250,000 blacks ought nolentes wientes to furnish it ! 

Many people say that it is a shame to see so many 
thousands of able-bodied blacks amongst us so lightly taxed, 
that they can afford to work a very little, and rest a great 
deal, whereas we are fainting for want of the labour which 
they can supply; that after they have bought a wife, they 
can sit down for the rest of their lives, and live on the pro- 
duce of that wife's labour; and their only remedy for this 
anomalous state of things seems to be — double or treble the 
hut tax, and compel them to come out. 

I agree that it is sad to see this state of things, but it 



190 KAFFIR CHARACTER AND CUSTOMS. 

cannot be altered in a day. We must either take their 
children and educate them, so that the next generation shall 
have some idea of the principles regulating labour and 
taxation, and so imbue the natives with new habits and 
knowledge — and this can be done, if gradually and carefully 
done by Government — or we must carry things with a high 
hand, force them into civilization, and be prepared for the 
preliminary war which will infallibly break out. The natives 
might pay something more — grumble and pay — and we 
might for a time be a little easier as to labour. But as the 
cultivation of our land increases, the lack would surely come 
again, because the Kaffir will only work until his own simple 
wants, and his requirements for paying his taxes, are satisfied; 
then go to his kraal as before. To rectify this, we should 
have again to put on more taxation, and the ignorant unin- 
structed savage would look upon us as the horse-leech's 
daughter, whose constant cry was — "Give, give!" It is not 
generally known, but I think I may say, without exagger- 
^ition, that hundreds of heads of families are at this time 
going back into the Zulu country, rather than submit to the 
restraints and taxation now imposed upon them. These 
people are out of our control ; are disaffected towards us, 
and leaven the tribes around with their disaffection; and 
herein lies an increasing danger, which must be carefully 
watched and guarded against, for it is a serious one ; and we 
must be careful not to ignore it and "live in a fools'-paradise" 
by shutting our eyes to it. 

A Kaffir, although fond of money, and perfectly well 
aware of the power and luxuries that money brings him, 
will not sacrifice all his old habits for the sake of the 10s. or 
12s. a month he gets from his master. In time those habits 
and traditions may be cast aside, but that will only result 



SUGGESTIONS FOR GOVERNING THE KAFFIRS. 191 

from education, and from a careful, "steady," honourable 
policy towards them. It must be the dropping water which 
mil wear away this rock. A strong current will only cause 
turbulence, breakers, and danger. 

Suggestions for Governing the Kaffirs. 

It perhaps may be that the discussion of matters touching 
on the Government of the Natives would be out of place in 
jin Institution of this kind ; but everyone who knows any- 
thing of native character and habits, will know how difficult 
it is, in speaking of them at all, to avoid touching on this 
question ; and if I were addressing an audience in another 
country, who were only interested ethnologically, I might 
content myself with an ethnographical paper. But here — 
where everything connected with the races amongst which 
we live concerns us deeply, and nothing more so than the 
proposition as to how we are to do good to them, and receive 
benefit from them, which I take to be the essence of good 
Government, when the educated man is the governing power, 
the savage the governed — I think I may be pardoned if 
this controversy creeps in. In civilized nations it is now 
allowed that the very essence and refinement of governing 
is to interfere as little as possible, or not at all, with the 
liberty of the subject — not even to restrain him from doing 
evil to himself, or to compel him to do himself good, but to 
trust that to his own nature, to his surroundings, or to the 
influence of public opinion. It is only when what he does, 
causes damage or loss to his neighbour, that the law steps in, 
protects the sufi'erer, and punishes the ill-doer. In a 
homogeneous nation benefits are of a necessity reciprocal ; 
injuries equally so. 



192 KAFFIR CHARACTER AND CUSTOMS. 

If a man becomes rich lie has more money to give away^ 
or spend, thus benefitting in a greater degree the objects of 
his charity, or those with whom he deals. If he loses his 
money he has less to spend, and those whom he has aided, 
or those with whom he dealt, feel, in their different propor- 
tions, the injury he has suffered. To go to higher illustra- 
tions. The genius who has created a noble statue, or a 
splendid painting, receives benefit in fame and wealth ; but 
he gives to those who can appreciate his creation, and who- 
give him his money and his celebrity, that "joy for ever" 
which they receive from gazing on a "thing of beauty," — a 
magnificent work of art. An author does this in a still 
higher degree, inasmuch as a painting may be destroyed, a 
statue broken and forgotten : but a moral sentiment, a noble 
thought, has immortal life, and although the work in which 
it occurs is lost, yet it lives in the minds of the people, and 
endures for ever, fructifying and leavening " not for an age- 
but for all time." When a poor" man works for a rich one, 
the benefits are equalised. There can be no difference of 
interests in a nation like Britain, and, therefore what is good 
for one must be good for all, when we escape the snare of 
class legislation. 

Here it is not so ; for with us there is a decided antagon- 
ism. We, the dominant race, are insensibly led to feel that 
the natives ought to be our hewers of wood and drawers of 
water ; and it is in the very nature of those we have to 
govern to believe, that we have no other object in view 
than to get as much as we can out of them, and on their 
part to evade, in every possible way, giving any return for 
the benefits they receive from us. There is no reciprocity 
here, simply because they do not see that what we propose 
for their benefit is really so. Therefore, there must of 



NECESSITY OF KNOWING THE KAFFIR. 193 

necessity be class legislation; and the essence of good 
government in this Colony would be, to do good to the 
natives, and to receive in return an equivalent benefit and 
nO more. 

To understand how to set about this work, then, and to 
give us the right to criticize those who are attempting it, it 
becomes necessary that we should know something of the 
laws, habits, and customs of the people amongst whom we 
dwell — something, in fact, of their character. If I know 
nothing about sugar, for instance, it would be presumptuous 
in me to say So-and-so was a bad buyer ; and if, repeating 
only what I was told, I should first find out whether my 
informant was himself qualified to judge. And if I knew 
nothing about the qualities and requirements of a coff'ee-tree, 
I should not be surprised if I got a bad crop. Therefore, if 
I am equally ignorant of the people who serve me, it would 
be more just to say, not that they are bad servants, but that 
I did not know how to manage them. Again, if I had bad 
land, and could get no other, I should have to be content 
with the crops it gave me ; but if I thoroughly understood 
its capabilities, I should not blame myself or the land, because 
the returns were disappointing, but should try and improve 
it. So with Kaffirs. You must rest content with what you 
can get from them ; but to know what that is, you must 
first know them. When you have acquired that desideratum, 
you may the more easily improve their working powers,, 
their honesty and civility. 

Marriage Customs. 

I will endeavour to-night to impart to you a portion of 
the little I have learned, during my rather intimate and 



194 KAFFIR CHARACTER AND CUSTOMS. 

extensive intercourse with tlieni, about the natives witli 
whom we daily mix, with the hope that it may be of interest 
to you as members of this Association, as masters and 
mistresses of househokls and plantations, and as British 
people who hold in their hands the destinies of the savage 
nations of South Africa. 

I think I may reasonably begin my endeavour to delineate 
their manners, temperament, and customs, at those connected 
with marriage, as it is a good starting point for an exposi- 
tion of Kaffir character. 

It is a mistake to imagine that a girl is sold by her father 
in the same manner, and with the same authority, with 
which he would dispose of a cow. There may be a few 
instances of such things being done, but they are the excep- 
tion, not the rule. Amongst people of high rank it is not 
etiquette for the girl to choose her husband. She will take 
a pride in saying that such as she has no choice; and that 
she is of sufficient position to be compelled to go where the 
chief or the King sends her. Amongst the middle class the 
young men have always their sweethearts, whom they knoAV 
will marry them immediately they are in a position to claim 
the fulfilment of their promise. They are, as a rule, faithful 
to them; and if any other richer suitor send a couple of 
friends, with one or two young heifers, to the father, to 
" Tubula" {I.e., " shoot the daughter"), if she refuses, they 
iire quietly sent back. Perhaps a more literal translation of 
this phrase would be " hit her hard," as the interpretation 
" shoot" has only been applicable since their knowledge of 
iire-arms. The word is here used in a joking sense. The 
heifer is the " arles-penny," which, if accepted, clinches the 
bargain — ergo, he has shot, winged, crippled her, so that she 
can't get away from him. I know of many men, with plenty 



MARRIAGE CUSTOMS. 195 

of cattle, who are obliged to remain bachelors because th(y 
•€an't get a girl to accept them. 

When the parties are agreed, great prej^arations are made. 
Both sides have new dances and songs, and it is a matter of 
•emulation as to which shall excel. The bride has always 
ready a stock of mats, spoons, dishes, &c., which she has 
been preparing; and her father gives her a blanket, and cattle 
according to his rank. But no girl ever goes to her husband 
without one beast, which is ever afterwards looked uj)on as 
the ox of the '^ AmadJilozi;" the loss of wdiich by death 
would be considered a token of desertion by the protecting 
spirits of her father's house; and the slaughter of which, in 
the event of any calamity such as disease or barrenness, is 
an acceptable sacrifice. 

When the eventful day has arrived, the bride and party— 
the higher the rank the more followers — set out for the 
bridegroom's kraal; wdiicli, however, they wall not enter 
until it is night, singing and dancing as they come. Then^ 
are certain huts prepared for them, and " no one looketh 
upon their apj^roach." If the j)air live close together, the 
party of the bride will go straight to the spot appointed for 
the ceremony. If not, it is as I have stated above. Early 
in the morning they go down to some stream, wasli and 
dress, and, about mid-day, come up and begin the dance, the 
bridegroom's party looking on. When both sides have 
finished, which may or may not be the first day, a beast, 
which belongs to the bride's party, is slaughtered by the 
bridegroom. At night the girl goes wandering about the 
kraal, with a following of her own sex, but relations of the 
man's. She is crying for her father's house, where she was 
well treated. Now she is coming into a strange household, 
where she may be ill used, and has the certainty only of 



196 KAFFIR CHARACTER AND CUSTOMS. 

hard work and childbirth. She is supposed to be trying to 
run away, and the girls to be preventing her. 

Next day the husband, his brother, sister, and friends, 
take their seats in the cattle kraal, and the second and last 
part of the ceremony, " tikuhlamhim," takes place. The bride 
conies in with her party of girls, carrying in her hand an 
assegai — which, by the way, she has carried all through. 
One girl bears a pot of water, and a calabash spoon ; another 
some beads. The bride pours some Avater into the spoon, as 
also some beads. Then, coming up, singing and dancing, 
she throws it over her husband. She repeats this with her 
brother and sister-in-law, striking the latter at the same time, 
as a S3anbol that she from that time takes authority over the 
girls in her husband's household. Immediately this is done 
she breaks the staff of the assegai which she has all along 
held in her hand, and makes a run for the gate of the kraal 
as a last effort to get away. If she is not stopped by a 
young man appointed for the puri30se, it is looked upon as a 
great disgrace, and the husband has to pay a beast to get 
her back. " Uhiihlamhisa " means, to give wherewithal to 
wash the hands. I think it is a symbol that on that day 
she has washed away all her old life. The marriage rites 
are then finished. No widow when re-married breaks the 
staff of the assegai. 

The principal idea in a Kaffir wedding seems to be, to show 
the great unwillingness of the girl to be transformed into a 
wife. When an English girl is married, it is incumbent 
upon herself, her bridesmaids, and all her female relatives, 
to shed tears abundantly, as if the great event of their lives 
were one of sorrow and woe ! Just so with the Kaffirs. 
The whole ceremony is based upon this assumption. A 
modest girl will omit nothing, but fight tooth and nail for 



TRAINING OF CHILDREN. 197 

^11 the observances. Hence most of the charges of cruelty 
we were entertained with some time ago ; and which only 
.showed ignorance of the native customs. 

For some time after marriage the wife will not eat sour 
milk. She was paid for with milk-giving cattle, and she 
oould not eat her own purchase price. She would be 
*^7iesisila" — would have dirt, would be defiled. But after a 
time she will go home to her father's, taking the broken 
iissegai with her, and come back with a goat, a sheep, or a 
beast, according to the rank of the parties. This is 
slaughtered, and the " isisila " — the dirt or defiling principle 
— goes off the milk into the dead animal, and henceforth 
the milk may be eaten ! In native metaphorical phrase — 
"she has cleaned her spoon." Each wife in a kraal has her 
separate hut, her independent household. 

The Training of Children. . 

It is part of Kafiir law that, if no children result from the 
union, the wife may be returned, or compensation claimed. 
The latter is often done; the former very seldom. It is 
also the case that if any of the cattle, which have been paid 
for her, die within the year, they must be replaced. This 
custom causes much litigation, as a man may, through pre- 
valence of disease or a bad locality, have to go on paying for 
years. This is also the case in bargains amongst themselves. 
If a man buys a cow from another, or gets one given him 
by his chief, and she dies, the seller or the giver has to 
replace ; but as this is no object to them, it- may be years 
before this is done. 

AVhen a child is born, all in the kraal eat medicine, i.e.^ 
something to protect them from any evil influence. They 



198 KAFFIR CHARACTER AND CUSTOMS. 

do the same on the occasion of a death. The little one is 
for the first two or three days fed upon sour milk. It is not 
until the third day, at soonest, that it receives its natural 
sustenance. Kaffir children's training is a very hard one. 
They roll about in the sun or the rain, they scramble for 
what they get to eat, they sleej) in the huts without covering, 
and the result is that only those .of hardy constitutions sur- 
vive. I never yet, even in a single instance, inquired of an 
old Kaffir woman who had had children, but I found shcv 
had lost one or more of them in this way. 

AYhen they become a little older, say about eight or nine, 
the boys' first duty is to herd the calves ; and the girls to do- 
any little odd jobs about the kraal which their mothers may 
desire — principally fetching water — and you will see a little 
thing tottering along, not much bigger than the pot or dish 
she carries on her head. How well and gracefully these 
Kaffir girls and women carry burdens in that way ! I have 
seen them with a round clay pot, holding about six gallons, 
full of water ; they twist a little grass into a ring of about 
three or four inches in diameter, place that on their heads,, 
on it they place the pot, and away they go, up and down- 
hill, and along broken ground; they will stop and turn, 
but never put a hand to it; and yet they never break or 
spill ! 

This I may safely say is all the training native children 
get. They learn other things, such as — the females, mats, 
dress, pot making, and hoeing ; and the boys hunting and 
cow milking — of themselves. The natives have no idea of 
" training up a child in the way he should go." If a girl or 
a boy refuses to do anything they are told, the j^arents simply 
say that he or she is not old enough yet ; in a few years. 
they will have grown uj), and have more sense ! 



untruthfulness and lazini:ss. 199 

The Kaffir Character. 

The natives have no idea of morahty whatever. A lie is 
useful in daily life; but they admit that it is awkward, if 
found out; if successful, it is considered rather a clever 
thing than otherwise. In trading with them, you may 
make up your mind that all they tell you is untrue, and 
act accordingly. Give no heed to their representations as 
to the age of a cow, or the value of any article. But yet, in 
" a deal," if you adhere to the truth, " it bothers them 
entirely." Your own natives, on the other hand, if they like 
you, will lie for your benefit as strongly as the opposite 
party against you ; and both sides think it all fair trade. 

The natives have been brought up in one fixed idea, viz.^ 
to do as little as they can for anybody. They have been 
used to work for the King and their chiefs without pay, and 
the shirking feeling has been bred in the bone; therefore, 
though we, with our notions of what work ought to be, cry 
out against the laziness of the Kaffirs, and grumble at the 
trouble they are to us, yet I do not really think that it is so 
much their fault as their breeding, which they cannot over- 
come in a day. The dislike to stead}^, constant work, is 
inherent in them. Hoeing from morning till night is 
especially irksome. For a rush of work and then a long 
interval of rest, Kaffirs are good; but for steady manual 
labour, as we understand it, they require constant super- 
vision. But, again, this supervising is a difficult matter. 
It is not easy to get the right quantity of work out of a 
native and yet have him to like you. It is not to be done 
by constant " nagging," nor yet by the solitary system, 
which I have heard has been adopted in the colony; I 
mean posting them out here and there, so that they have 



200 KAFFIR CHARACTER AND CUSTOMS. 

110 opportunity of speaking to one another, and it is 
supposed they must therefore work; but it is only to be 
done by the constant presence of some one who can 
understand their language and their habits, who w^ill 
neither bully nor joke with them, who knows how to put 
in a word of commendation when deserved, and, on the 
other hand, to give them a short, sharp admonition, when 
necessary, with a threat of punishment in case of repetition 
of the offence, which threat must always be carried out. It 
is a difficult matter to say what is the best form of punish- 
ment for a native, but I incline to the old plan, which I 
have heard freely described as " hitting him over the head 
with a hoe ! " If you fine him, he suffers loss, and the 
punishment rankles, and he feels as if he had been injured; 
whereas if you thrash him, after it is over he is no worse, 
but would not like to have to go through it again. If he 
is in the wrong, twenty to one he will not complain. 
Never let a woman lift her hand to a Kaffir; it is a disgrace 
to him; I say nothing of w^hat it is to her. Let her com- 
plain to some male relative or to a Magistrate; but — keep 
her hands off ! 

I have often heard people complain of the disobHging 
nature of the Kaffir. If you ask him to do the simplest 
thing, when he is not in your employ, the answer invariably 
is, " What will you give me V Naturally so, I think. They 
are not our equals, neither do we live amongst them. We 
do not visit at their homes, and do them little kindnesses. 
The only relation, betwixt the generality of whites and 
blacks, is that of employer and employed. The one tries all 
he can to get as much as possible out of the other. There 
is no idea of reciprocity. I hear nothing but " tax as high 
as possible" on the one side, and "ask plenty wage" on 



DISHONESTY OF THE KAFFIRS. 201 

the otlior. We never attempt to teach them in any way. 
What they learn they pick uj) of themselves, and they do 
not often pick up much good. We try to get at their purses 
just now, because we are poor, and they are supposed to be 
comparatively rich ; but we ought to have the manliness to 
say that it is necessity which presses us on to this course. I 
never yet heard that protection to the exile, be he white or 
black, was a thing that he must pay for in Britain, or in a 
British colony. 

It is often said that the Kaffirs are arrant thieves : well, 
perhaps they are so, in a way. That they cannot be trusted 
with anything, I don't admit. If you show a native that 
you distrust him ; if you are constantly on the watch against 
theft; if, on something being mislaid, you don't take the 
trouble to look for it, but, priding yourself on you own care 
and method, at once tax the Kaffir with having stolen it ; if 
you constantly express the opinion that your sugar is 
diminished, your wine lessened in quantity, your meal not 
so much as there was yesterday, and every day ask your 
Kaffir " Who has been at my wine, my sugar, or my meal?" 
why then you had better put everything under lock and key 
<it once, because your native will most certainly steal some 
when he gets a chance. On the other hand, if you can raise 
courage enough to say, " Here, Tom, see this meal, sugar, 
&c., well, mind you look after everything, as I am going 
away," I think, without doubt, your goods and chattels 
would be taken care of. Trust him, and, as a rule, he will 
be faithful; show that you distrust him, and he will give 
cause to justify the feeling. There is one thing, however, 
you may make up your mind to, and that is — there are 
few Kaffirs who will not leave the impress of two fingers 
and a thumb in the sugar-bowl ; for, like others, they have 
a sweet tooth ! 



202 KAFFIR CHARACTER AND CUSTOMS. 

Their moral principles are very low. A theft, a lie, or 
(iven a murder are all very well, providing the first two are 
not found out, and sufficient provocation is given for the last. 
The value they put upon life is so little, that the killing^ 
another is consequently not thought by them such an 
enormous crime as with us. If a man has given sufficient 
provocation, it is his part to see that he does not get killed 
for it. 

The natives are not bound by their law to give up any- 
thing they may have found, which has been lost by some 
one else. Tlie loser should have taken better care of his. 
property, is their moral theory. 

I have heard also of their cruelty. Yes, they are cruel^ 
as we look upon it, but, like the dogs in Watts' hymns, 
"it is their nature to." We ought to try and teach them 
better, instead of vilifying them for what they cannot help 
— or, rather, for what they do not see the wickedness of. 
We might as well censure the alligator, for stowing away 
the man he has drowned, in his larder in the reeds, until 
he becomes properly tender, and then eating him. We 
shudder at the cruelty of the death, but we do not blame- 
the reptile's modus operandi. 

Again, I may refer to the many scenes of confusion and 
I'ecrimination between the Kaffir and his master, which arise- 
from a want of knowledge of the language ; and I cannot 
give a better example of what I mean than the word with 
which a native often prefaces a speech wherein he has ta 
express a difference of opinion. " Amanga " literally means 
"lies;" but, idiomatically, it is the most polite form of 
contradiction. It is equivalent to our " I beg your pardon, 
I must differ from you." How often have I heard a white- 
man say, speaking of some conversation with a native,. 



KAFFIR ETIQUErrE. 20^ 

^' Why, the first word the so-and-so fellow said, was that I 
lied. Didn't I warm him ! He won't do that again." Xo, 
I should think not. You may take it for granted that a 
Kaffir will never be deliberately insolent without cause. If 
you speak to him properly he will answer you so, but if you 
liabitually speak harshly, and in an angry voice, you will 
"raise his corruption," and get insolence in return. People 
speak of Kaffirs being so far below whites, while they act as 
if they considered them of a higher nature; for, if Englishmen 
were spoken to in the way that many masters and whites 
generally speak to natives, it strikes me there would be a 
]>reach of the peace in a very short time ; but then they are 
only " adjedived niggers !" 

Every employer of Kaffir labour ought either to study, or 
have some one about him who has studied the customs, 
feelings, and nature of the natives. He would then know 
what to expect from them, and never be disappointed; 
because, on that knowledge he would base his calcultions, 
and his conduct to them. 

I say that the Kaffirs are — when you know^ them and they 
know you — notwithstanding all their shortcomings, a kindly, 
hospitable race ; and in time, with good management, good 
training, and good treatment, will become good subjects, 
Kood workers, and faithful friends. 



fc> 



Kaffir Etiquette. 

Their forms of politeness are very strictly adhered to, and 
are many. When a stranger arrives at a kraal, he will most 
likely — if in the daytime — find the owner sitting out by the 
gate, and he will hdeka (salute) ; he will say wngane (literally 
" friend"), but it is a respectful salutation. If he is his. 



204 KAFFIR CHARACTER AND CUSTOMS. 

superior he will place his assegais at a little distance, advance, 
and sit down, saying nothing until he is saluted in turn. 
Presently the head man will say — SaJca bona, abbreviation 
of ge sa u gu bona (literally, "I will see you," equivalent to 
our "good morning !"), and all round, one by one, will give 
him the same greeting. He will answer to each one separa- 
tely — Yebo (yes, I agree) ; after that, conversation may go 
on. If the owner is not at the gate, but in his hut, even 
although the visitor did not come to him, yet he will not 
leave without going up to salute him, as it might be said 
that he was sneaking about the kraal. If it is his chief, or 
any other chiefs kraal, he will find the captain or head man 
under the chief, and after saying ^^umgane" to him, will ex- 
press his wish to see the great man, or explain his business. 
The captain then takes him u\), and he " kuleJcas," giving the 
chief his proper title, such as " Zungu" for the head of this 
tribe, or " Ubtelesi" for the head of that one (he is the Zungu 
or the Ubttetesi, just as a Highland chief was the Macnab or 
the Macpherson), accompanied most likely by Baba (father) 
and a portion of his "isibongo," or name of thanks. If he is 
of sufficient consequence, the chief will salute him in return, 
and ask what has brought him there ; if not he will sit out- 
side the hut, nothing being said to him, until he sees an 
opening, when he will begin his business. I should like to 
-explain the ^^ Isibongo," or name of thanks. It is a very 
curious custom. When a Chief or the King gives a man 
anything, or agrees that he shall do something that he wished 
to do, he thanks him. He will go outside, and walk up and 
down for perhaps ten minutes, shouting out all the praise he 
-can think of. This ''Isibongo" is taken from some trait or 
traits in a man's character, from his bravery, his strength, or 
his comeliness. For instance, I can quote a portion of one 



KAFFIR ETIQUETTE — THE OFFICE OF " TASTER." 205- 

— " You who stick a man running." [The word used is 
" hlaba," which means to throw the assegai into anything, in 
contradistinction to " gicaza," holding it in your hand and 
stabbing with it.] This does not sound hke any very high 
praise, but the interpretation of it is that he is very Hberal — 
that a man has not to stand and ask, but that, even as he 
runs past, he will throw him something of his own accord. 
AYhen the native is brought into the presence of the King 
the same ceremony is gone through. He gives him all his 
titles, and sits down outside the hut. It is not etiquette for 
an inferior to stand in the presence of a superior. He must 
squat down. They reverse our idea. They say, " Is he ta 
overshadow the chief?" When he takes his leave of any 
one he has been visiting, he says " a usalehe" or " ealcake" 
literally "please remain and build;" but, inferentially, it 
means " remain healthy and well, extend your kraal, may 
you become great." A curious piece of thanks from a native 
is, when he tells his superior to ^^iimana" literally stand 
still, or stand up, but it means that he hopes he will take 
root and grow, and always be in a position to give him pre- 
sents or protect him as he has done that day. The Kaffir's 
idea is, that those of high rank are the dispensers of bounty 
to those of lower position, for which the latter render them 
service. It is exactly our "work and wages" under another 
name. The chief is only supposed to give, not to pay, yet 
by custom, he is bound to do it. 

It is not etiquette to give you beer, without first tasting it. 
I have heard many whites say, " Bother them, putting their 
dirty mouths into the pot;" but I think it a loyal custom,, 
similar to the office of " taster" in the old feudal times; and 
it is meant to insure you against there being " death in the 
pot." While any one is eating, you must not spit, but you 



20Q KAFFIR CHARACTER AND CUSTOMS. 

may blow your nose as much as you like; and there are no 
handkerchiefs amongst the Zulus ! 

To the King, or to his sons and daughters, the cook will 
never say that the meat, which he had cut up for him to 
roast, is all done. That would be a great breach of etiquette, 
<ind he would be asked " Are the King's cattle, then, all 
done?" He will say, " I am tired," or " I won't roast any 
more." With few exceptions, everything that is unpdite 
iimongst us, is so amongst them. There are gentlemen and 
snobs amongst all nations; and to speak to a well-born, 
<;entlemanly Kaffir, who has reason to respect and like you, 
is really a pleasure. 

There is wit and fun amongst the natives, too, though I 
4im afraid you will have to take my word for that. Being 
on Kaffir subjects, it would take too long to translate, so 
that you should understand. I will mention two instances, 
however. A hunter was boasting of what he had done 
against the buffalo, with his assegai, before he got his gun. 
He spoke of two or three doughty deeds, and at last said, 
*' Go to such-and such a kraal and ask who it was that took 
the buffalo's eye out with his assegai." Of course, the 
answer to that was inferred. One of his hearers who had 
been staring at him, open-mouthed, said, " Was he coming 
at you, then?" " Look at this fellow!" said he, addressing 
the audience; then, turning, said, "Are the buffalo's eyes 
heliind then?" Another: — In the roads we go in the Zulu 
Country, the waggon often sticks fast, and when that happens 
you naturally bully your driver, though very likely it is not 
his fault. The other day my old driver Avas on the Berea, 
and I pointed out to him the sea, on which I was soon to be 
journeying, saying, " That is my road now, Klaas." " Ah !" 
he said, " take care you don't stick fast there too." The 



KAFFIR COSMOGONY. • 207 

joke was, that the ship might get into a hole, and require a 
lot of pulling to get it out, like the waggon. 

There is poetry in their natures. Many expressions of 
theirs have struck me, and I will quote two or three of them 
to prove what I say. A man was boasting to another that 
he never had had a day's illness in his life. " Ah !" said his 
friend, " the spirit of your father has been watching over 
you so far; but, when he turns about, he will beckon you 
to follow!" A girl sings a song, the burden of which is, 
*' You have put a heavy burden upon my shoulders — a 
greater one than I can bear." The burden is envy — envy 
that they should have sweethearts and she should have 
none! The stars they call "the children of the sky, born 
by her to her husband the sun!" Am I not right when I 
.say there is poetry among them^ 

Kaffir Cosmogony. 

There are many other matters of interest in Kaffir 
-character, laws, and customs, but they must, if worth while, 
wait for another day. Meantime I have given you so much 
which is dry and hard of digestion, that I think I had 
better end with something lighter in the shape of a Kaffir 
tradition as to the origin of men and animals, and the habit 
of eating, and how people came to be born and to die. It 
appears that first of all there was one UmveVnqanU, which, 
being interpreted, means "the one who first made his 
appearance." It is said that he came out of the Uhlanga, 
which is literally "reed;" but it is understood as a custom, 
• or the origin, time of origin, or place of origin of all things ; 
as in the case when Inkosi Uhlanga is spoken of, it means 
that he is the representative of a line of kings from the 



208 KAFFIR CHARACTER AND CUSTOMS. 

beginning. This UmveVnqanld, after coming on the scenes 
himself, brought out — whether he made them or not is not 
stated — men, women, animals, corn, and all the fruits of the: 
earth. At first, and for a time, it is related that black 
humanity lived without eating or drinking, without multi- 
plying or dying. Corn and j^umpkins grew and reproduced 
their crops, without tending by man. The people saw them 
growing in large gardens, but did not know that they wert^ 
eatable. Feeling no hunger they never attempted to use- 
them as food. Cattle, sheep, and goats roamed mid, with 
all other beasts of the field ; no man tended, no man paid 
any heed to them. People lived happily, without wants, 
and never died. This innocent and unsophisticated state of 
affairs went on for a long time, but how long is not stated. 
All were happy and without fear of anything. At last,, 
however, to the great consternation and dismay of every 
one, there appeared upon the scene a little baby f This was 
something out of their experience. While ill in her house, 
the mother of the child complained of a curious feeling, a. 
gnawing pain in her stomach which she had not felt before. 
Those around knew not what to do, but at last another 
woman said, " I will give her some of that stuff growing out 
there," meaning corn and pumpkins. This she did with the 
idea that she would kill her, because of this strange thing 
that had happened. She did give her food, and, after a 
while, the sick woman, instead of dying began to grow well, 
and even fat ; then the people first learned that food wa& 
good, and they ate of it. After a while they found, or killed 
(I am not sure which) some beef. This they also found was 
good to eat, and so they set to work, to try and bring the- 
beasts of the field into subjection at their kraals. The 
buffaloes and all wild animals, however, were too many for 



KAFFIR TRADITION OF THE CREATION AND FALL. 209 

tliem, and remain in the bush to this day. Cattle, sheep, 
and goats alone, allowed themselves to be driven and herded. 

I am aware that what I have written is rather confused, 
as far as regards my first having said, that the people never 
die, and then that the woman gave the other food with the 
idea that she would kill her. But I must tell the story as it 
Avas told to me. And, again, I know how greatly it would 
add to the interest of this tradition if I could say the popular 
belief is that it was in consequence of UrmeVnqanJci's anger 
at the child-bearing and food-eating that the following 
messages were sent. But there seems to be great uncertainty 
on this point. The only portion firmly rooted is what I 
liave related, and what follows: — 

AYhen UmveVnqankl had finished his work, and saw that 
it was good, he sent two messages : one by the " Entulo" or 
little stone-lizard often seen — some blue and some flame- 
coloured; and one by the " Unwabo," or chameleon. The 
first message was by the latter, and its purport was that the 
people should not die but live for ever, or, as some say, that 
''they should die, but rise again!" The ^^ Entulo" he sent 
afterwards to tell them that " they should die and never rise 
again!" The chameleon started, but loitered by the way, 
eating a little purple berry (ubhvebesane), and the " Unktlo," 
who came on behind, passed him and delivered his message. 
When the chameleon came with his, the jjeople, not knowing 
liow sore death was, refused to listen to him, saying they 
had accepted the word brought by the " Entulo" And it 
so happened, through the slowness of the chameleon, and 
the alacrity of the lizard, that death came to all men! 
There is a great deal in this Zulu tradition, that is like, 
and yet unlike, our Bible history of the Creation and Fall 
of Man. 

P 



THE ZULU WORD FOR "LIFE." 

(Xatal Colonist, 27tli April, 1875.) 

Our readers will remember an interesting discussion in our 
columns in the year 1871 upon a question of no small im- 
portance to missionaries, and all who take an interest in the 
adequate rendering into Zulu, of a word of no less moment 
than is the word "Life." The discussion was joined in by the 
Bishop of Natal, the Rev. H. Callaway, M.D. (now Bishop 
of St. John's, Kaffraria), the Hon. Mr Shepstone, Secretary 
for Native Affairs, the Rev. Mr Dohne, and others, including 
the late Mr David Leslie, who in his boyhood had acquired 
an intimate knowledge of the native language and habits of 
thought, and was therefore by no means the least competent 
of those who took part in the discussion to throw light upon 
the question at issue. At our request Mr Leslie, then about 
to return to the Zulu and Amatonga Countries, undertook 
to make further enquiries for us, and embodied the results 
in a letter which circumstances have hitherto prevented our 
publishing. It is now proposed by his uncle, Mr R. M'Tear, 
to issue a volume of the more interesting of the Literary 
Remains of our deceased fellow-colonist, and we propose 
therefore now to give to the public the letter in question, 
and to follow it up by one or two other papers prepared for 
us by Mr Leslie shortly before he left Natal. The following 
paper on Uhomi, far removed as it may seem from matters 
of daily concern, will yet be found to contain much that will 
be of interest to philologists, and something, too, to interest 



"UBOMi" — ERRORS OF COLENSO AND OTHERS. 211 

the ordinary reader who has any curiosity as to the habits 
of life and modes of thought of his fellow-men, even of low 
stages of civilization. 

Among the joapers, with which we propose to follow this 
up, will be some further remarks on the custom of uhu 
Hlonipa. 

"Ubomi. 

"UsuTU, July 29, 1871. 

"■ Dear Mr Sanderson, — As you wished, I have made 
many enquiries here into the Tonga idea of ' uboml,' and of 
the word for ' Life.' The Zulu I knew pretty well before, 
but I have gone further into that too, with Zulus I have 
with me. I find that Tonga and Zulu agree. There is not 
much difference in their language except in pronunciation ; 
certainly that is very different indeed, and renders them 
unintelligible for a while to one who only knows Zulu. 

" I have read the letters of the Bishop, Mr Shepstone, Dr 
Callaway, and Mr Dohne, and regret that on some points, 
(speaking of course of the Zulu and Tonga), I must differ 
from them all. I shall not answer the various points they 
raise, as it would take me too long; but simply give you the 
result of my enquiries; tell you what I know, and my reasons 
for coming to the conclusions I do ; and then leave you to 
draw yours. 

" The word ' iilomi' is taken from the verb ' oma' (to 
dry), and means that a thing ' has dryness.' In its peculiar 
signification it is derived and applied as follows :— They 
say of a rich man or a chief that he has ' eaten uboni't,' 
Ijecause he has killed so much meat, that it has dried up 
and got maggots in it, while hanging in the hut, Hr, 
cannot eat it fast enough. Thus it has come (long befor(* 



212 ZULU WORD FOR LIFE. 

Cliaka's time) to signify 'lia|)piness/ as a Kaffir understands 
the meaning of the term ; — ' i:)lenty of meat, beer, and 
wives.' 

"They use it in both ways. Simply for maggoty meat, 
they would say ^Le niama i no hom'i ;' but when speaking of 
a man, they would put it differently (for a reason I will give 
presently) : — ' That man is a king,' ' udlde uhomi,' ' he eats 
maggoty meat' — idiomatically, 'he is happy,' or perhaps 
more strictly, ' he has all the elements of happiness.' 

" I have never heard the j^hrase 'unohomV used in speak- 
ing of a man (though of course it may be so amongst tribes 
with which I am unacquainted), and I think it is not so used, 
in the Zulu or Tonga countries, for the following reasons : 
because the natives tell me it is not so; because I have never 
heard it (you know they have been my constant and only 
companions for nearly five years, and I have always taken a 
great interest in their language and customs) ; and because 
of the derivation of the Avord. AVhen a man has just died 
and anyone asks 'Is he deadl' the answer would very likely 
be ' Oiv, u si omile.' In telling another of a hunt, a native 
would say 'The white man fired and the buff'alo disappeared 
behind a bush — I ran round to see the result; I found it 
long dried up' (na funiana hate i si omile). It is, if I may 
use such a Hibernicism in terms, the superlative of dead, 
but is only used immediately after death, as much as to say 
' there is no chance for him now.' 

" I have never heard, nor can I find on enquiry, that 
' ubomi' has ever taken any other idiomatical meaning than 
' happiness' as explained above, but I do find, and I think 
so myself, that to say of a man — a sick man, for instance, 
who was supposed to be dead — 'unohomi,' would — though 
not good Zulu or Tonga, as sj^oken in their countries — be 



MAGGOTS IN 3IEAT — HAPPINESS ! 213 

nearer akin to confirming his death, than affirming that he 
was aUve. This is the reason I promised, a few lines back, 
to explain why they always say, in speaking of a man, 
' udhle ubomV and not ' unohomV 

"Dr Callaway speaks of the Zulus Hloni^a-ing the mag- 
gots in the meat given them by Chaka, taken from the 
•cattle killed as a ' peculiar sacrifice,* ' Esicmzimu,' as much as 
to say ' the cattle of Umzimu.' Xow ' Umzimu ' is derived 
from ' enzlma" which has another signification than the 
€ommon one of heavij. It means, when applied to a man, 
^'xactly what we express in our phrase ' he carries weight 
^vitli him.' ^'■Umzimu' are nothing more than the Amahlose 
of Chaka, Dingaan or Enzenzengakona, or any of the King's 
<incestors — 'Amahlose, who carry weight with them.' It is, 
perhaps, not generally known that the natives do not con- 
sider the visible part of their chiefs' Amahlose, i.e., the 
snake — the equal of that of common people. The Ehlose 
of Chaka and other dead kings is the Boa-constrictor, or 
the large and deadly black Mamba, whichever the doctors 
decide. That of dead Queens is the tree Iguana. To 
return : — the King eats certain j^ortions of these cattle, but 
the principal portion is cooked, and given to the Amabutu 
(soldiers), who, before receiving it, te ta, i.e., j^etition for 
health and success, with the slow and solemn dirge of the 
'Fmu Oh ' 

"I don't think the Zulus IIloiii])a-ed the maggots in 
Ohaka's meat, but he had so much of it that I daresay some 
got maggoty, and when one said ' izimpetu,' another would 
say 'no, this is ^'uhovii'" — happiness, or, as they would 
explain, if asked for a definition, ' gu hiisa.^ (Busa is used 
for governing, but literally it means to be made happy, as 
*ahomV is the abstract quality of happiness — idiomatically.) 



214 ZULU WORD FOR LIFE. 

This is ii matter of court etiquette, not of Hlonipa. Even 
now in the Zuhi, no man will say of maggoty meat given 
him by a superior in rank, ' enemm^jetu,' but 'ino uhomV At 
all events, I have told you what I have learned. 

"Now for the word 'Life,' and first for the 'physical life 
of men and aniuials.' 

" As to the abstract thing — ^the principle of life implanted 
in us by our Creator — I don't think they have a word which 
expresses it ; therefore translators would have to make one ; 
2)erhaps take a compound one or a phrase. In that case, 
they would, no doubt, take a word or phrase the nearest to it. 
The natives say that every thing alive is only so by reason 
of its heart. ' Zi hamha nge enhlezlo' or ' ahantu ha haiiiba 
nge enhlezlo.' In speaking of a man's lifetime, they say ' nxa 
ffu set hamha' (while he is going j3r alive). If a man is very 
ill, and at last thought to be dead, a doctor will come and 
say ' Qtt, enhlezio ikona ' (no, the heart or life is in him), and 
this without reference to feeling the beatings of the organ. 
Therefore, I think if ' life ' was translated ' enJdezio n gii 
liamUsa 'hantu' (or 'muntu'), it would be peculiarly applicable, 
and very little explanation would be needed to enable the 
natives to understand what was meant. I think it will be 
some time before 'uho7ni' is naturalized, amongst the Zulu 
and Tonga generally, as expressing ' life." 

" The expression which has been quoted — 'God is life' — is 
a much more difficult one to deal with, and leads us into a 
wider range. I have not the slightest pretensions to be a 
theologian, but I take this to be a figurative promise that 
God is life — to men, to those who believe in him, is the 
giver of immortal life — altogether a different thing to the 
other 'life' I have just been writing of To a Kaffir who 
has no idea of life after death, beyond his crude ideas about 



SPIRITUAL AND SENSTAL IDEAS OF HAPPINESS. 215 

the Amalilose, who has no reHgion whatever, the words 
quoted above are an utter blank as to any meaning ; so here 
again we have to find others which will require as little ex- 
planation as possible. It may be said that if ' uhomi' signifies 
haj^piness, what better happiness can we have than immortal 
life? and that, therefore, it is peculiarly fitted to express the 
meaning of the words above. If 'udle' or 'eJiIa' could be 
fitted to it in the translation, it could be done, but 'ubomV 
by itself is only 'worms' — it is by the addition of 'udle' 
or 'ehla,' 'eating tlie worms' — that the idea of happiness is 
attained. Then again, even if that is done, it would only 
express to the Kaffir mind the sensual happiness of good 
living — the very tiling the missionaries wish to prevent. 
And if they went on to explain in what, to Christians, the 
happiness of that better life consists, there would most likely 
be a general scattering of the congregation, utterly ignoring 
that definition of happiness, or eating uhomi. 

" What I have now to say, I say with all respect to the 
men who have devoted their lives to teaching the heathen, 
and with due diffidence, as to my own knowledge of the 
subject, but you have asked me to tell you all I know and 
therefore I do it. 

" When I speak with the Kaffirs on these subjects — (we 
often have arguments) — I say, ' No, you are not quite correct 
when you say that we don't believe in Ehlose. You are like 
a man who is still travelling in Zulu, but has lost the path 
to the kraal he is bound for. We differ with you greatly ; 
inasmuch as we say that there is only one Ehlose, the Creator 
of all things, who was, and is, and ever will be ; whereas 
your Amahlose are only a remembrance of men who have 
been overpowered by death. You look to them for every- 
thing, you say you only hold your life by their permission 



216 ZULU WORD FOR LIFE. 

— if they could not live themselves, what power have they 
gained by dying f It is needless to go further. You will 
understand what I mean when I say, that if 'God is life' 
were translated 'God is the only Ehlose,' a Kaffir would 
very easily be made to understand what was meant. It 
may be said that the natives would say, ' Oh ! then you 
believe in the Amahlose too f Well, perhaps they might; 
still, I think, that would give the apostle (which a mis- 
sionary is supposed to be) a natural oj)portunity of speak- 
ing to them of that which he most desires to speak, — their 
creation, their life, their death, and their hereafter. 

" There is another form the natives use in speaking of a 
man's life or death. One man will ask another from a 
distant part, of the ' ukona' so-and-so? The answer will be 
^ukona' or ' gaseJco' — he is, or he is not — he is alive, or he is 
dead. Therefore, if in using the phrase ' God is life,' it is 
meant that animal life only exists by the j)leasure of God, 
then it might be translated ' a bantu ha Jcona ngo Titxo' 

" Yours very truly, 

" David Leslie." 

" P.S. — I have come across a little piece of etymology, 
which, I think, may interest you. You, no doubt, as well as 
myself, have seen a portion of the country on the other side 
of the Zambezi (I am not sure which), marked as inhabited 
by ' Landines.' The meaning of the word never struck me 
till the other day, when I heard one native address the other 
as ^ IkmdV I have often been told that the 'Landines' 
were Zulus, and ' Ilandi' is a thoroughly Zulu word, and, to 
my mind, affords a curious circumstantial proof, of the migra- 
tion of the southern natives from the north. Ingenious 



HOW ZULU NAMES ARE CREATED. 217 

evidence of this kind is often wrong, but you may take it 
for what it is worth. The verb ' landa' means to follow, or 
to go for anything, e.g., ' UmlandenV — 'follow him.' ' Landa 
enduJcu ami' — ' go and bring my stick.' ' Amalandi' there- 
fore, means 'followers.' The natives, in their southern pro- 
gress, no doubt separated at the Zambezi, some remaining 
behind. The aborigines would ask those that were left, 
'When are you going after your brethren?' The answer 
would be, ' Zi za u ha landa' — ' we will follow them,' and so 
they came to be called 'Amalandi,' the followers! I need 
scarcely say that ' Landines' is only a mispronunciation, and 
consequent mis-spelling of the word ' Ilandi.' 

" Again, curious mistakes are often made regarding the 
names of places. It is well that these should be corrected, 
as otherwise original native names will be corrupted into 
something without sense. For instance, the custom is to 
speak of the Maputa Kiver. Now, the name of the river 
is the ' Usutu,' and that has a meaning. It is taken from 
the word '5w/a,' meaning to be fuU-of-food, and is applied 
because they say 'iisuht 'I minia manzi,' 'The Usutu which 
swallows all the water.' Nozingli's country is the country 
of ^Makidhi,' who was the King who founded the king- 
dom, or as the natives will express it ^tva 'I pemha le lisive.' 
' Pemba' is to 'kindle a fire.' We are accustomed to speak 
of the island of Inyack which has no meaning whatever. 
The true name is ' Unyaka' — ' the year,' but why that name 
has been given to it I don't know." 



NATAL SCENERY— KAFFIR MUSIC AND A 
TIGER HUNT. 

(Extract from a Private Letter to a Gentleman in Glasgow— 
in Glasgow Ukuald). 

How I wish you could be taken up and set down here, at 
this present moment, ])er special haloon, or other Asmodeusian 
conveyance. I am writing at 10 o'clock at night, and my 
ears are assailed by the Kaffirs singing, by all the world like 
a chorus of porkers — the old ones grunting, and the young 
ones squeaking — they would damage your tympanum "in less 
than no time." You look in at the door of their bee-hive- 
looking hut, and you see them hard at work, perspiring at 
the music — some singing the words of the song, the others 
shouting, screaming, whistling, and making other unearthly 
noises — but all done in the most perfect time (indeed, they 
are a lesson, in this respect, to some of your precentors at 
home), and all this seen by the uncertain light of the fire, 
which, fitfully gleaming on their dark and excited faces and 

figures, makes them look like a j^arcel of , and gives you 

a sort of phantasmagoric vidimus of pandemonium ! You 
look out of our back door at the Berea, and you see hills and 
mountains, bush and plain, river and lake; with the know- 
ledge that the one is the hahitat of tigers, wolves, and other 
ferce naturoi, and the other of alligators and hippopotami. 
You' look out of our front door, and you see the town of 
D'Urban, and the magnificent bay of Natal, with the outer 
anchorage in the Indian Ocean — forming the most glorious 
panorama it is possible to imagine. 



ADVENTURE WITH A TIGER. 219 

By the bye, I had almost forgotten to tell you of my 
tiger adventure. One night lately a tiger came to our 
neighbour's, and walked off with a goat, into the bush 
1>ehind our house, but it did not quite finish it that 
night. Mr F. set a gun for it, and next night the tiger 
returned for his supper, ^vdien pop went the gun, and broke 
his shoulder. Both Mr F. and I, hearing the gun go oflP, 
resolved to make "a voyage of discovery" into the bush, 
which is very dense here, to see the effect; and getting two 
Kaffirs and a lantern, and being armed with a double-barrelled 
gun (one barrel only being loaded with buck-shot), away we 
went in Indian file, and frequently on hands and knees; one 
Kaffir leading with the lantern, I next with the gun, Mr F. 
])ehind me, and the other Kaffir briuging up the rear. 
When we got to the spot, the Kaffir in front with the lantern 
suddenly drew back, and cried, " There he is ! There's the 
tiger !" I was blinded with the glare of the lantern and 
(30uld not see distinctly; but Mr F. looking over my shoulder, 
>aid, "I see him — I see him. Give me the gun, and I'll 
shoot him in the head !" I gave him the gun, but, instead 
<»f damaging his os frontis, he hit him on "the head's 
uufqwdes," "and the consekens of the manoeuvre," as old 
Tony Weller says, was that the beast got up with a roai', 
^vhich made the Kaffir in front beat a j)recipitate retreat, in 
doing which he knocked me over, dropped the lantern, and 
tlie light went out. I lost my helmet, Mr F. his cap, and 
the Kaffir the lantern; and having a wholesome dread of 
losing someth'mfj more valuahle than either, we didn't lose a 
moment, I can assure you, in getting out of the bush, and 
the difficulty, at the same time. Fortunately the tiger didn't 
follow us, as I suspect he was stunned with the shot, 
otherwise I am afraid it would have been a rather awkward 



220 NATAL SCENERY AND TIGER HUNT. 

job. Next iiioriiing three of us, with a whole lot of Kaffirs, 
went down to find him, and directly he saw us he bolted. 
I fired at him, but my gun snapped ; he then turned — " his 
soul in arms, and eager for the fray," open-mouthed, and 
roaring terribly. Mr F.'s gun snapped also ; but luckily Mr 
P.'s went off, and just grazed his cheek as he was leaping 
the fence at us. The Kaffirs ran "like winking;" indeed 
we never saw more than two out of the thirty after that. I 
put powder in the nipple of my gun and a fresh cap ; and 
going up, caught sight of the tips of his ears ; directly he 
saw me, he crouched for the spring. I took a sight at the 
top of his head, and, with a steady aim, fired, and shot him 
dead as he was springing over the fence. Although I killed 
him, the skin belongs to Mr F., as hunter's law here is that 
he who gives the animal the first wound, however slight, 
gets him, Avhoever may kill him. 



A BORDER RAID. 

AYhen I was a boy I used to make great friends with our 
watch-dog, "Rover." After reading "The Tales of the 
Borders," "The Lay of the Last Minstrel," or " The Seven 
Champions of Christendom," I would go out, and with him 
rehearse the different " passages of arms." Rover, I think, 
understood the matter quite as well as I did, and enjoyed it 
as much in his own way. The usual proceeding was some- 
what as follows : — After, in fancy, driving the enemy's 
cattle, I would make a stand at the Border, mount my 
horse. Rover, and shout, in the most approved manner, 
opprobrious chivalric language to my pursuers. Armed 
with a pitchfork, I would charge to meet them, and the 
result was a general capsize by the bringing up of Rover's 
tether; then he, erst my horse, now my foe, towsled me 
inost unmercifully. As gallant knight should do, however, 
I regained my feet and drove my enemy to his cas-kennel. 

In those merry days, when everything glittered in the 
light of romance, when the hardships and discomforts, which 
the Knights and Raiders must have endured, were unknown 
or unthought of, how little did I think that I should one 
day, in an opposite quarter of the globe, be engaged in a 
veritable Border Raid. If chronicled by Froissart or Blind 
Harry, and the time removed a few centuries back, I have 
no doubt it would read as well as the usual specimens of this 
kind of romance. But now-a-days, in matters like this, there 
is little of the "Away false traitor !" style of conversation, 



222 A BORDER RAID. 

and more of the "You, be tl d." Thus it is difficult to 

make it wear a romantic aj)pearance. 

As a specimen of " Wild Life," however, of an existence 
where your hands have to guard your head, where you have 
to be your own law-maker and law-enforcer, I hope it may 
be interesting. Fortunately, at home in England this state 
of affairs is unknown; but, on the other hand, fortunately, I 
think, for our youth and enterprise, there are countries where 
Anglo-Saxons may learn the lessons of self-dependence, and 
receive the physical training which fits them for their posi- 
tion, as natives of a country, whose Empire is so extended 
and of such variety. 

I had been hunting with a friend, D , about the Eiver 

Pongolo, which is at the northern end of the Zulu country, 
in Eastern Africa. I had with me about fifty Kaffir hunters, 
and the extent of territory we ranged over was very con- 
siderable. AYe were pretty close to the so-called Transvaal 
Republic (a small Dutch Boer State, which the British have 
allowed to establish itself in the interior), and part of the 
district — say about as large as a good sized English county 
— Avas claimed by a Boer, as having been given him by the 
Swazi King — a tributary to the Zulu power. This man 
was a Pariah amongst his own people, and one who carried 
out 

" The good old rule, the smiple plan, 
That he shall take who has the power. 
And he shall keep who can." 

I had frequently been Avarned by the natives that he would 
give me trouble, either by shooting or robbing my hunters. 
However, as two could play at that game, I was not particularly 
troubled. The way we managed was this : — My friend and 
I pitched our headquarters in some spot tolerably accessible 



A BOER REIVER. 223 

to waggons, and from there the hunters radiated, bringing 
back their hides, horns, and ivory as they had collected 
sufficient, or as their ammunition gave out. We all of us 
lived upon meat and pure water, and took plenty of exercise 
for vegetables. Some of the men would be 30 or 40 miles 
away ; but, as I had possession of the country by mandate 
from the Zulu King, I had no lack of natives to carry the 
spoils any distance. Generally there were four or five 
hundred hanging about for the sake of the meat. 

One evening, after the fatigues of the day, my friend and 
I were lying under the trees, by the fire, listening to the 
songs of the natives, and watching the re-acting of the 
exploits of the day, when two of my hunters made their 
appearance in sorry plight. They were unarmed — " like 
women" — and altogether looked very miserable. After a 
great deal of difficulty we managed to get a coherent story 
out of them, something as follows: — It appeared that they 
had met this famous and dreaded Boer, who had, at first, 
been very kind and chatty with them. They had sat down 
together — they and the Boer, two of his sons and his son-in- 
law. They had fed and smoked together, and, while in the 
full swing of confidence and friendshij), he requested them 
to show him their guns. This they unhesitatingly did, and 
then he immediately ordered them to begone; beating them 
severely when they lingered about. They came away at 
length, informing him that they would go and tell their 
master, and he replied that their master and the King at 
his back — i.e. of the Zulu — might come and — behave our- 
selves in a way we were not likely to do ! 

Now this would never do. I had not only lost my guns, 
but I had been insulted in the persons of my natives. My 
prestige was gone, and I was bound to recover it. Besides 



224 A BORDER RAID. 

this, I must say that a somewhat savage feeling had grown 
up within me. My " corruption" was raised at his message. 
However, for the time I simply told the men that I would 
see about it ; bullied them for being such fools, and turned 
away. 

For days after, there was great surmising amongst the 
natives as to what I would do. I kept very quiet until I 
had reported the affair to the King, who very simply told 
me that, as the Boer had begun it, I had better go and 
" Xova Xova" him, an expression meaning to mix the malt 
with the beer by grasping it with outstretched fingers, time 
after time — a very strong figure of speech ! He recommended 
me at the same time to be careful, so as not to have any 
"shooting around." ''You know," said he, "that white men 
have a stupid prejudice against that sort of thing, and I don't 
want any 'talk' with the British or Transvaal Govern- 
ments." Promising to be as wary as possible, I went my 
way. 

About a fortnight afterwards, behold my friend and I, at 
the head of some thirty good men and true, on our way for 
a Border Eaid. We had a large retinue besides, and our 
proposed expedition made more noise in the country than 
pleased me. I was told that our friend " Koonclana" 
("Conrad" Kafiirised) was on the look-out, with all his clan 
about him, and therefore thought it better to spend a month 
in hunting, about one hundred miles from his location. I 
felt sure the natives would not tell him of my whereabouts, 
as they both hated and feared him; and thus time would 
be allowed for his fears and suspicions to die away. 

After a month's thorough good sport, we started for his 
place. As in all expeditions of that kind in that country, 
the gun was the only provider. And, as is always the case. 



CIRCUMVENTING THE RASCAL. 225 

being particularly hungry, we could shoot no game. On the 
third day we arrived at a Zulu village, within about 20 miles 
of his location ; and then my friend and I got a good feed 
of milk and Indian corn, though my poor fellows had 
nothing. " Never mind," said they, " we shall get j^lenty 
to-morrow. Eat, master; if you are satisfied, we are full!" 
Next day, before sunrise, we were off in light marching 
order. On arriving at Conrad's house, we found that there 
was no way of surprising him. There was no bush about. 
All was open round the house, and I felt sure that, if we 
were seen, the enemy would retreat to the house and stand 
a siege. We did not know how many they were ; and we 
knew that there were more of his people within a short 
distance, so that we had no time to spare. Remembering 
my injunctions, to have no bloodshed, I was in a dilemma, 
but, at last, my hunters came forward, and we circumvented 
the rascal. 

They proposed that we whites, with the most of the men, 
should remain on the hill where we were, and that eight or 
ten of them should lay aside their guns and bandoliers, and, 
appearing as Zulus simply, should go down to him, as a party 
in pursuit of a runaway girl of their own tribe. So said, so 
done, and away went my forlorn hope, trusting principally 
in their own pluck, but also trusting to the effect of the 
surprise. I gave them strict orders to come back if they 
found their scheme impracticable without danger ; in no case 
to lay a finger upon the women and children, and to be 
careful that they did not hurt the men. All this I was most 
anxious about, since, although good and brave men, they 
were but savages after all. I must do them the justice to 
say, however, that in the very heat of triumph — resistance 
there was none — they remembered and obeyed my orders. 

Q 



1>2(J A IJOIIDEII RAID. 

They went down and acted their part to a miracle. The 
Boer was mending a gun just inside his own door. One of 
his sons lounging about ; the others were away. Little by 
little some of my fellows edged in, crying to one another to 
come and see how gims were made, others disposed them- 
selves about the son, and, at a given signal, seized them ; 
while one or two guarded the old woman, who, seizing a 
spade, seemed very much inclined to come to the rescue. 
I had told them to shout for me, if successful. Instead of 
that, they commenced firing off the loaded guns of the Boer's 
which were in the house. . The result of this was, that we 
thought they had been discovered, and pelted down the hill 
as fast as we could, everybody carrying a couple of guns 
each, and expecting to meet the remains of our forces in 
full flight. 

When we arrived, we found the Boer sitting on the ground, 
tied hand and foot, but none the worse; the son held by a 
couple of my men ; and the old woman dodging backwards 
and forwards with her spade. My natives were shouting, 
jumping, and dancing, in the full swing of triumph, and many 
of the people of the country, who were by this time gathered 
about, looking on and enjoying the thing amazingly. 

The next thing w^as to get something to eat, and I must 
plead guilty to having cleared the house of whatever was 
eatable. Starving men have little conscience, but we did 
him little harm in doing so, since we got scarcely anything 
but meat, and of that there was abundance in the country 
round. A jar of stuff was brought to me which I thought 
was Kaffir beer, and, in the hurry, it was not till I had taken 
a good drink, that I discovered it was yeast I Immediately 
afterwards, I found some honey, and, not thinking of 
•consequences, I ate a quantity of that. It is scarcely 



'•SPOILING THE EGYPTIAN !" 227 

necessary to say that I soon felt like the Yankee who took 
the component parts of a seidlitz powder in large quantities, 
and at different times ! 

AVell, when we had finished recruiting famished nature, 
we addressed ourselves to the business of the day, and held 
-a palaver. I found the man as abject now, as he had been 
coarse and brutal before. His wife came with a little child 
in each hand, begging that I would leave her a couple of 
milk cows for their support. The son j^leading guilty, and 
saying that he had warned his father of the consequences, 
when he robbed and beat my natives. Altogether, I believe 
that I should have come away empty handed — had I not 
overheard my natives Avhispering, " Now he has them in his 
power, he's sure to do nothing, and we shall have had all 
this trouble for nothing." 

On this I spoke to the old lady. " My good woman, 1 
don't come here to rob you, but to teach your husband a 
lesson. He must not fancy that he can rule the roast and 
rob with impunity. I have had a great deal of trouble over 
this affair, and my people must be paid." 

I took twenty head of cattle, and one to kill. His guns 
<and ammunition I also took away. It would have been too 
dangeiius to leave them. My fellows had begun the sack of 
the house, but I argued against this with the butt-end of my 
gun, and not even a spoon was taken away. We marched 
back to the Zulu kraals that night, doing a distance of 40 
miles in the day, besides the attack and capture of the Boev. 
We were met by the natives everywhere with great praises 
and rejoicings. The only dissatisfaction being thus often 
expressed — " Why did you not kill the evil doer who sells 
* Tsliefu' (arsenic) to people to kill one another?" 

After eating the cow that night, we again marched. 



228 A BORDER RAID. 

and in three days my friend and I, with two Zuhi boys^ 
reached the waggons; the whole of the natives knocked 
up; their feet having given way. We, however, walked 
it out. At the waggons we lay on our backs for a week 
doing nothing but eating continually. There seemed to be 
a void somewhere to fill up. On the seventh day I turned 

to D , saying, " I think we had better be on the move 

again, I am beginning to feel a little indigestiblefied ! " 

D agreed with me, and so we went on to fresh fields 

and hunting-grounds new. 



AFRICAN TEAVEL, TRAVELLERS, AND THEIR 
BOOKS. 

(SAINT JAMES' Magazine/ February, 1874.) 

In books of travel, esj^ecially in those wliicli contain a great 
admixture of hunting adventures, the tendency is, of neces- 
sity, to glorify the author. It is not that he has that object 
in view, but that he writes of successful exploits, both in 
travel and sport, with much greater pleasure and verve, than 
he does of failure. Such books cannot help being egotistical, 
4ind it is really an excusable fault. 

Everything centres round the traveller and sportsman. It 
is with his eyes we see, it is by his ideas of things we are 
compelled to judge. We enter into his enthusiasm. We 
sympathize with his difficulties and dangers. We starve, 
Ave thirst, we feed and are full, with the hunter. AVe watch 
distant mountains ; we listen round the camp-fire at night 
to stories of distant lands and tribes. We long to visit 
them, equally with the explorer, and we do so in the pages 
•of his book. 

How carefully, then, ought such books to be written ! The 
great fault of most of the kind lies, not in the egotism itself, 
but in the style and prominency of it. The wanderer in 
Africa is the central figure, with most grand accessories. He 
is the one, which stands in relief against a vast but hazy 
background, only visible at all through the rents in the mist, 
caused by his movements. This background is a continent 
teeming with animal life ; a land of rivers, mountain, and 
plain, on a dim but magnificent scale. Elephants, lions, 



1330 AFRICAN TRAVEL, TRAVELLERS, AND THEIR BOOKS. 

I'liinoceri, alligators, and buflfalo, pass in wild panorama, and,, 
at the sound of a gun, disappear into limbo. Savage tribe.s 
perform their war-dances, fight, kill, and are killed. In their 
wild dresses, with strange shouts and gestures, they pass and 
repass. Trees and plants, fruits and flowers, afford shade, 
nourishment, and pleasure to the traveller ; while the climat(r 
and the heavens, by day and by night, fill up a picture, 
which, by a good painter, is superlatively grand. And, in 
readincj a well-written book of travel and adventure, it ia 
only by the impression made upon us by the surroundings 
that the central fio-ure is evolved into view. He has had 
the art to make us forget himself, and thus to evoke at last 
our greater admiration. In such works the egotism is unfelt. 
The writer, in dwelling upon the strength and prowess of 
wild animals, the grandeur and inaccessibility of mountains- 
and rivers, the manners and customs of races unknown to 
Europeans; interests readers of all kinds, and, at last, brings- 
them to think, how staunch and enduring must have been 
the man, who has seen and done all this. Those are the 
successful authors, and deservedly so, who render us grateful 
for description of country which is interesting in itself, and 
Avho do not seem to demand your admiration of their prowess 
in visiting such a region, yet hardly take the trouble to- 
describe it. 

The volumes to which we give the palm as books of 
travel and adventure are those of Sir Samuel Baker and 
Mr Chapman (the latter of whom, alas ! has taken his last 
great journey). There is imparted a charming mixture of 
knowledge and excitement, and in the works of neither are 
they themselves prominently brought forward, otherwise 
than the necessity of the story requires. Notably in the 
volumes of these two travellers, otliers, black as well as white,. 



SELF-LAUDATION, AND DLSPARA(iEMENT OF NATIVES. 231 

have their full meed of praise for their pluck and endurance 
allowed them. One of the daily papers, in July last, had a 
short article upon the "stereotyped" remark of British sports- 
men in India, when the half-armed, or no-armed, native ran 
away from a tiger or other wild animal, and the Englishman, 
with his double breech-loader, stood fast ; that the Hindu 
" was wanting in the stamina necessary for encounters such 
as these !" There is one line wdiicli might be stereotyped for 
insertion in the shooting adventures of most African Nimrods, 
and that is " on looking round" (and remember this is always 
at a most critical moment) " I found the native had bolted 
Avith my second gun." This, of course, renders the escapes 
(which are always accomplished) more wonderful, and the 
l)Oor native gets an undeserved bad character. We have 
travelled and hunted in Southern and Eastern Africa, and 
our experience of natives is very different to this. No doubt, 
if you come a stranger into the country — one whom they 
have never seen before, and may never see again, one in 
Avhom they have no interest, other than the hope of getting 
a little meat, who knows nothing of their habits, or even 
their language — it is but natural to white and black, to allow 
the well-armed stranger and alien to stand the brunt of the 
danger. But if these same men are your own servants, and 
liave been well treated, they are too apt to go to the other 
extreme, and treat you as they w^ould a child. Many times 
we have seen men of the Zulu tribe thrust themselves into 
<langer to save their master. 

Sir Samuel's descriptions of country, of people, and of 
hunting, are all graphic, and most readable. They bring 
before you the scenes which surrounded him, and the dangers 
which he surmounted, without in any way pushing forward 
his own part in them. 



232 AFRICAN TRAVEL, TRAVELLERS, AND THEIR BOOKS. 

Mr Chapman's is a book full of information of a pleasant 
and useful character. That he was a most daring and 
successful hunter there is no doubt (the writer of this knew 
him well), but he preferred giving us what he had learned 
in geography and natural history, fearing that the public 
was satiated with lion stories, and he gave us a charming 
book. 

As records of slaughter -pure and simple, which rouse the 
destructive tendencies of our young men with j^lenty of 
money and little to do, Gordon Gumming and Baldwin take 
the lead. Keej^ers' game-books, with a little embellishment 
as to fur and feather, and notes of the places in which the 
birds or animals were killed, would read as well, only that 
their scenes would be laid in a country which boasts no 
dangerous carnivori or pachydermata. Still we are not 
inclined to condemn this class of book. If it tempts people 
to go out on a crusade against wild animals, whether in 
Africa or India, it leads them to a better life than wasting 
health, time, and money in London. They gain by the 
change, and become men, in the strongest sense of the 
word. 

As an example of the steady, practical traveller who 
wastes no time in sport or romance, who is a thorough 
specimen of the Utilitarian in his travels and their 
results, we have Dr Livingstone. His books put us in mind 
of nothing so much as the business catalogue of an old- 
established, steady-going publisher, which includes a little 
" sensation." There is no going out of his way to cater to 
the public taste. He tells what he has seen and done, and 
if you don't like it, you may, to use a vulgar but expressive 
phrase, " lump it." But certainly there is generally enough, 
and much more than enough, in his books to hold the 



DR LIVINGSTONE'S AND CAPT. GALTON'S BOOKS. 233 

attention of the public closely riveted. AVliat Dr Living- 
stone describes, he describes well; coldly but clearly, as 
matters of business ought to be done. The public seem to 
have the idea, that all other travellers travel for their own 
pleasure, give us very readable books, but are scarcely to be 
■depended on. Here, they seem to say, we have a man who 
is well used to the business; who knows what we sober old 
geographists want, and who will give it us. Egyptian 
Pashas, Equatorial Gorillas, Turkish Hadjis, and Armenian 
Dervishes, may be very interesting, but we prefer our steady 
old friend, who has catered for us so long. 

Captain Galton's is a wonderful book of its kind. The 
amount of research shown in its pages is enormous. Yet 
we must decide that it is only fit, as it mostly purports to 
be, for those who travel for amusement, to whom money is 
no object, and time less. It is utterly impossible for an 
exploring party, which has a wild, uninhabited country to 
go through, to carry such stores and magazines as he recom- 
mends. We are writing, of course, of what is portended in 
this article; that what we say is true, will be seen farther on. 

Besides the books which treat of sporting, solus^ there are 
often very good articles in such papers as The Field and 
Land and JVater. They give much information regarding 
the habits of animals, as well as the modes of killing them. 
Notably some papers on rhinoceri, leopards, and lions, signed 
AY. H. D., " Upindo," &c. 

We have, as we have said, travelled much and long in 
Southern and Eastern Africa, and have always taken an 
interest in the country and the natives. The consequence 
is, we cannot help arriving at the conclusion, that, not- 
withstanding all which our travellers have written, w^e 
have not yet a book of travels such as there ought to be. 



234 AFRICAN TRAVEL, TRAVELLERS, AND THEIR BOOKS. 

How miicli there is to describe in Africa I What a vast 
iiekl for science! What scope for the ethnologist, the 
natural historian, the philologist, the botanist, the geologist, 
and the geographer! Who will, who can, give us all this as 
it ought to be given, to complete our knowledge of this still 
little-known country, of its character and products, and of 
the manners and customs of its people 1 No one man can. 
It is impossible. The scientific societies ought to join in 
despatching an expedition, consisting of properly-qualified 
men, who have a thorough knowledge of these subjects, and 
who are able to compile solid information into a readable 
book. The interest in such a quest would be immense. 
Government ought to contribute. The public would 'do so 
freely; as witness the munificence of Mr Young of Kelly. 
Men who love science for its own sake, are never backward 
in volunteering their services, even though life may be risked 
in carrying out their plans. Large sums of money would, 
no doubt, be required. Years would also pass before the 
survey was completed ; but the result would be a standard 
book for the present, and of reference for all time to come. 
How much benefit w^ould also accrue to the natives from the 
knowledge that we were doing such a work ! The anarchy 
which exists behind and around the Portuguese settlements,, 
could do so no longer. If the attention of the civilized 
world was drawn to it, Portugal must alter or give up. She 
lias not the powder nor, seemingly, the inclination to imjirove 
matters ; but she would be compelled to give place to those 
who have both. 

It is not necessary that Britain alone should carry out 
this exploration. Science is cosmopolitan. Germany, France, 
Italy, and Portugal, would no doubt gladly contrilnite both 
men and mone}^ What there is a paucity of in one nation, 



NECESSITY FOR A WELL-ORGANISED EXPEDITION. 235 

may exist in superabundance in another. Portugal in 
Europe is, and always has been, honourably anxious for 
pre-eminence in all that is good, and of use to mankind. It 
A\'Ould be of great service to her, and to humanity, were; 
her emissaries to see Avhat goes on in her Eastern African 
possessions, in the company of men of other nations, of 
unbiassed judgment and undoubted integrity — men who 
would not be content with official reports, or judge by 
official civility, but look for themselves into the state of tlu^ 
people and tribes around. 

Such an expedition, well organized and well led, could go 
tlirough the length and breadth of Africa, and, with care, 
might experience but few of the usual dangers and hardships. 
It would have the support of money to any amount, wliicli 
is the sinews of travel, as well as of war ; and the more 
<[uietly and unostentatiously it went about its work, the less 
liable it would be to interruption. The peculiar "madness' 
of white men, other than Portuguese, is beginning to be well 
known in Africa ; namely, that many of them simply travel 
for knowledge and not for profit ; and, as a consequence, they 
are cheated, laughed at, and not molested. Thus both sides 
can afford to laugh, as both sides win. We are now, 
liowever, not so certain as to what will be the treatment 
of travellers in Northern Africa. The fact of Sir Samuel 
Haker having first apj)eared as an explore]*, and then 
returned with an army, will sj^read tlirough the countries 
around a fear that all others may be spying out the land for 
the same purpose ; and we doubt very much whether the 
ultimate results of Sir Samuel's expedition will be of so much 
benefit to mankind generally, as to make up for the obstruc- 
tions which we fear will be thrown in the way of sciences 
and missionary enterprise — the true and lasting civilizers. 



236 AFRICAN TRAVEL, TRAVELLERS, AND THEIR BOOKS. 

Speaking of such an expedition as this, naturally leads us 
into the subject of African exploration, as carried out under 
the fostering care of the Eoyal Geographical Society. It is 
•deplorable to see such a fiasco as the great Livingstone relief 
party, under Lieutenants Dawson and Henn; and yet we do 
not altogether blame the young commanders. Who, at 
their age and in their position, would refuse such a chance 
of renown as this leadership offered? Who would have 
«elf-abnegation enough to say, "No, )^ou had better get some 
one more acquainted with this sort of thing. We are afraid 
we have not sufficient experience ; and we know nothing of 
Africa." We are no admirers of Mr Stanley's rather offensive 
•depreciation of others and glorification of himself; but we 
must allow that his strictures on the Eoyal Geographical 
Society are not altogether devoid of truth. One great 
mistake is made, which is this. No exploring party can 
possibly be strong enough for defence, in the event of a 
serious attack ; therefore, none ought to be rich enough to 
excite the cupidity which infallibly leads to such a result. 
An example ought to be taken from Livingstone himself. 
How much he has accomplished with so little means ! It 
may be said that he is sui generis ; but it is not so. Any 
man who throws himself heartily into such work, ought to 
be prepared to go with staff and scrip ; his instruments and 
medicines, the only real necessities ; his knowledge of native 
€haracter, his high resolution, and undaunted heart, standing 
him in place of all else. An expedition which might be 
mistaken for the baggage-guard of an Indian army, which is 
laden with patent rifles, patent saddles, food, tents, and 
pontoons, which is an endeavour to take the comforts, and 
€ven the luxuries of home into Central Africa, is ridiculous. 
It might by this time have been recognized that, whatever 



HOW TO CONDUCT AN EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 237 

amount of luggage, parties of this kind have started with, the 
principal work has been done with very little. A man's 
guns, his medicines, and his instruments, he can get better 
in London ; but for all else, it is Aviser to go with the money, 
and buy what he wants at the place from which he starts. 
It ought not to require demonstration that, at Zanzibar, 
goods necessary for inland travel are more likely to be got 
of the right quality and kind than in Cheapside. It is on 
these grounds that we have expressed such an opinion of 
Captain Galton's book as appears in the foregoing. 

A little knowledge of the seasons, in different parts of the 
world, would also be advisable, so as to avoid sending out 
expeditions to arrive at the beginning of the rains; as was 
the case with that of Lieutenants Dawson and Henn, and 
the true reason, to our mind, for its breaking up. 

AVe know many men who have started on long expeditions 
in Africa, covering distances in wild, unknown, and in- 
liospitable countries, which would bear comparison with 
those of our great travellers who are Fellows of the Eoyal 
Geographical Society, but who think very little of it ; so little, 
in fact, that it is difficult to get them to advert to their exploits. 
We are quite aware that it is a very different matter to 
conduct or take part in a scientific exploration, to simply 
travelling through a country on business with which all the 
natives are acquainted ; but still we adhere to our opinion 
that it is easy to do, if a knowledge of the natives, the 
country, and the difficulties, is possessed by the leader, who 
above all things ought to be somewhat acclimatized. In 
support of this we refer to Captain Frederic Elton's explora- 
tion of the Limpopo. We might well take example by 
military matters. In the conducting of an army there is one 
commander-in. chief, but many subordinate ones. Each has. 
his defined station and his share of duty. 



1>38 AFRICAN TRAVEL, TRAVELLERS, AND THEIR BOOKS. 

If such a combined expedition as we advocate is ever de- 
spatched, it wouhl be well that the leader of it was one who 
is acquainted with African travel, even if he had no scientific 
Attainments. Or if that be thought infra dignitate, make 
him " sailing-master." It is not necessary that a man should 
liave been all over the continent, to enable him to travel in 
any part of it. His experience in one part, will serve him 
well in another, as Avitness Dr Livingstone himself. It is a 
mistake to accept it as a principle, that men who have done 
well in another quarter of the world, must do equally well 
in Africa ; the conditions are so different. Just as correctly 
might Ave say that he who is a good dancer, must be a good 
musician. African travel is of itself and by itself. Were 
there no other proof of this, the mere fact of it all having to 
be done on foot, would be sufficient. 

Let it be borne in mind, that we do not for one moment 
wish to depreciate the work which has been done by men, 
who travel in the interests of science. The hardships they 
endure are no doubt very great, such as would deter any 
but those who were supported by a genuine enthusiasm for, 
<and love of, exploration, or an honourable ambition to 
associate their names with the advance of science and civili- 
zation. They endure hunger and thirst, rain and sun, heat 
and cold; are exposed to dangers from disease, wild animals, 
and savage men. Still, these are but olives to their wine. 
Dr Livingstone has said that, after long association with 
black men, one forgets that they are black, and accepts the 
colour as a matter of course. We know this to be true from 
<^xperience. So it is with the dlsagrSmens of travel. That 
which, when we first encounter or read of it, feels, or sounds, 
insupportable hardship, comes to be taken as a usual occur- 
rence. It is as in some of our every-day amusements in 
England, the danger is good fun, while in the pursuit or 



PORTUGUESE COLONIES A DISGRACE. 239 

-execution ; the brush or the prize is an honour, the prospect 
of which only adds zest to the game itself. If the scientific 
exj)lorer has not this feeling he Avill never succeed. The 
hunter and trader has it in full force. He loves the life, and 
liis success enables him to pursue it. 

Englishmen, above all, ought to he greatly interested in, 
and, as we admit they do, support African travel. The 
Anglo-Saxon race has already struck root in the southern 
parts of the continent : and, if diplomatists do their duty 
with reasonable quickness and decision, no other power will 
gain a footing there, and we shall avoid disputes of the San 
Juan character. AVe have said that no other power will 
gain a footing ; it may be answered, that one other power 
has already done so. Portugal has been there, ere English- 
men had made to themselves a name beyond the boundaries 
of Europe, and its settlements still exist. Truly they do ; 
but they are no credit to the nation. Slavery, debauchery, 
drunkenness, anarchy, war, murder, and robbery stalk in 
the midst, and around, unchecked and unheeded ; nay, rather 
fostered, so as to render it an easy task for the few who are 
there to rule. There is no spring, no life in the Portuguese 
of East Africa. As they traded three hundred years ago, 
so they do now. As they Christianized and civilized three 
hundred years ago, so do they not now. They have inaugu- 
rated no new era of commerce and civilization. Anglo-Saxon 
settlements would do this ; and the Portuguese factories — 
like those of all worn-out and effete nations — would cpiickl}^ 
and surely die out. 

Britain has done much for the putting down of slavery. 
No nation can cjuestion her disinterestedness in this matter. 
So long as she commands the sea she can prevent slaves 
being exported in that way; but all the treaties in the world. 



240 AFRICAN TRAVEL, TRxVVELLERS, AND THEIR BOOKS. 

will not have the effect of doing away with domestic slavery,, 
until public oj^inion is brought to bear on it, and, without 
travellers, how can that be'? We ourselves, while waiting 
on business in the Government office at one of the Portu- 
guese settlements, have read the treaty between " the high, 
contracting Powers;" and, shortly afterwards, have been 
offered boys by the Banians at £5 each. Another time we- 
were witness to a quarrel between a Banian and a German, 
which arose as follows : — A certain Portuguese had left for 
Mozambique, and given his power of attorney to the German 
(first) and to the Banian (second). He had left eight slaves 
whom the German employed, but regularly paid them wages.. 
This was against all precedent, and the Banian threatened 
to complain to the Governor that the slaves Avere being^ 
spoiled, by being taught to look for payment for their work I 
These East African j^eople — white, black, or yellow — ^will 
sign as many treaties as you like, and — keep none of them. 

The Court of Lisbon, no doubt, fancies that all is as it 
should be. It depends upon the representations of its. 
officials, who risk their lives to make as much money as they 
can, in as short a time as possible; and our British Govern- 
ment, which is accustomed to keep its word (in philan- 
thropical matters), takes all for granted. 

The country is no doubt unhealthy, but we consider that 
its deadliness has been much exaggerated, and that it is. 
more especially a consequence of the life Avhich people lead 
there. The habitual residents have no amusements of any 
kind whatever. They seldom or never take to sporting, 
and their time is passed in sedentary employment, varied 
too often by excess, as a relief from monotony. Travellers, 
especially such as are unacquainted with the country, have 
hardships to endure which a little knowledge would avert. 



SELF-ABNEGATION OF THE TRUE EXPLORER. 241 

Tliey come fresh from hurrying, driving Europe, and expect 
that everything is to give way to push and dash, as there. 
It is not so. The African, with no sense of the value of 
time, cannot be hurried; and as regards the traveUing itself 
— through marsh and river, forest and plain — over hills and 
amongst hostile or phlegmatic tribes — the longest way round, 
is generally the shortest in the end. Stanley found it so. 
Let them take time therefore. Look at Livingstone, how 
quietly and comfortably he takes it; no hurry there. He is 
determined to work out his problem thoroughly. Years are 
no object, and truly they are not. If a man, or party of 
men, spent their whole lives in opening up to European gaze, 
with a view to occupation, the lovely and fertile lands of 
xifrica, would any one say their lives had been wasted? 
Surely not. 

We want men for this exploration, who will look beyond 
a gold medal for their reward; who take such an interest in 
their species that they will become apostles of Africa — it 
would be a great name — apostles of science, civilization, and 
religion; who would give us a true and unexaggerated report 
upon this continent, the one portion of the globe which is 
still, to the disgrace of modern philanthropy, allowed, except 
on the sea-coasts, to take its chance as to all which we con- 
sider of value among men. 

The names of men who shall do this work, will live in the 
memories of mankind, surrounded by a brighter halo than 
those of warriors or statesmen; and though they may rest 
at last far from St Paul's or "Westminster Abbey, yet shall 
their deeds be their brightest monument ! 



AMONG THE AMATONGA. 

(Glasgow Herald, I7th April, 1875.) 

In May, the first of the winter months of 1871, I started 
from Natal on a pioneer hunting and trading trip amongst 
the people whose name heads this article. They occupy the 
low, flat country to the east of the Bombo range of hills, 
from the Zulu on the south to the Eiver of Spiritu Sandu 
(English River) on the north (including all the southern 
shores of Delagoa Bay), and to the Indian Ocean on the east. 
It is a territory of about 150 miles long by 80 broad. It 
reaches to a little beyond the 26tli parallel of s^uth latitude, 
iind its northern boundary is the line between their last 
African possessions, now in dispute between Great Britain 
and Portugal. 

There are different tribes of Amatonga (Itonga the person, 
Amatonga the people — a general name for all the tribes 
thereabouts) in this country under different chiefs, but the 
princi^^al, and by far the largest, is that of Mabudtu 
("Mapoota") or Temby. Their king's name is Unozingili, 
and it was to him I was bound. 

We started on the 11th May from the port of Natal in a 
little schooner, with about fifty Portuguese natives, who were 
returning from work, as passengers. These people come 
regularly to earn money on the sugar and coffee plantations, 
and after two or three years' service go back to their homes, 
where they spend, in a very short time, in riotous living and 
debauchery, what they have been so long in gaining. The 
schooner crept up the coast, little by little, anchoring when 
the wind was foul, and creeping on when fair though light, 



FEAR OF NATIVES OF THE SHIP WANDERING. 243 

until, on the second day before arriving at Lorenzo Marques, 
we had a good stiff S. W. breeze, which brought us up abreast 
of the Island of Unyaka (Inyack). But, lo and behold ! 
when the next day dawned, the set of the current had been 
such, that we were out of sight of land, and then such a 
commotion amongst the natives on board ! It was a day of 
fasting, of lugubrious faces, of much whispering and gathering 
in corners. They were to be taken and sold as slaves. The 
way was lost. The high wind of yesterday had obliterated 
the tracks of former vessels, so that the road could not be 
tlistinguished. They would all be starved, and would never 
see their homes any more. The sailors, when appealed to, 
comforted them by saying that food would not fail with so 
many Amatonga on board. That when the head, hands, 
and feet were thrown overboard, Itonga meat would look 
like beef, and taste much nicer ! Water we had in 2)lenty. 
My own natives (four Zulus whom I had taken witli me) 
came, in some trepidation, to consult me about this, but I 
laughed them out of their fears, and they went aw^ay 
satisfied. 

All this day we had been leading westward, and, towards 
(.'vening, high land was seen. This was at length recognised 
as Unyaka, and a general jubilee was the result. AVe 
anchored for the night inside the northern point of the 
island, the captain fearing to cross Delagoa Bay in the 
dark, because of the many shoals and the intricacy of the 
navigation. 

The island of Unyaka (Inyack) is about eight miles long, 
in its greatest length, and about six broad. It has evidently 
at one time been an extension of Cape Colatto on the eastern 
or seaward side of Delagoa Bay, which it encloses and shelters 
for half its length. It is perfectly healthy, summer and 



244 AMONG THE AMATONGA. 

winter. Tlie N.E., E., and S.E. winds blow from the sea„ 
The S.AV., AY., and N. winds come from the land, but they 
seem to cross enough of salt water to take the fever out of 
them. Two ridges run throughout its length, both terminat- 
ing in ^bluffs at their northern ends, and covered with bush; 
between the ridges is a valley where cultivation is principally 
carried on. 

The soil seems to be pure sand — in some parts white, in 
some red — yet it grows good crops of rice, beans of various 
descriptions, yams, maize, Kaffir com, manioc, turmeric, 
eschalots, and pistachio nuts. Pigs and fowls are reared in 
great numbers, and cattle do pretty well. Orchilla weed is 
gathered on it in great quantities. It is separated from Cape 
Colatto, on the mainland, by a channel of about half-a-mile, 
and Elephant Island — a small spot of land on the inside of 
the northern point of its western ridge — forms the good and 
safe harbour of Port-Melville. The inhabitants number about 
eight hundred, and are part of the tribe of Mabudtu, under 
the chief Unozingili. It has been proclaimed a British 
possession, and gazetted as part of Natal in the Gazette of that 
colony, but the right to it is disputed by Portugal, and the 
matter is now, I believe, under arbitration. As a trading 
station it is first-class, and as a point of departure by sea for 
the yearly influx of labourers to Natal from the far interior, 
it would be invaluable to the colony, since the planters are- 
forced to expend large sums on the importation of coolies, 
because the thousands of the Xorthern tribes are deterred 
from coming by land, by the great extent of hostile and law- 
less nations they have to traverse ; and by sea, by the many 
obstacles thrown in their way- by the Portuguese. 

Next day, at half-past eleven A.M., we anchored in English 
Eiver, opposite the Portuguese settlement of Loren9o Mar- 



SEIZED BY THE PORTUGUESE—^ CASUS BELLI. 245 

ques, having crossed tlie bay (about 20 miles) with a good 
north-east breeze. We Avere cleared at the Natal Ciistom- 
Hoiise for the Usutii Eiver (called on the maps Mapoota); 
but we called at Lorenco Marques to land our native pas- 
sengers — who were by this time very hungry — intending then 
to proceed. It is not my purpose, in this present paper, to 
•describe Lorenzo Marques and its inhabitants, so I will 
merely tell what befell us there. After landing the Kaffirs, 
we wished to go whither we were bound, but the Governor 
would not allow us, threatening, in case we did so, to seize 
the ship, on the grounds that the Portuguese claimed all the 
.southern coasts of Delagoa Bay. The consequence was, that 
I had to land in Lorenzo with my goods and pay duty. 
After this was done, the people were kind and polite enough. 

Major S , the Governor, lent me one of the Government 

boats to take myself and my property up the Usutu. I had 
difficulty in procuring one, through the jealousy of the 
Banians, the principal boat-owners and traders to Mabudtu. 
We started one morning at daybreak from Lorenzo 
Marques in a large boat of five or six tons, half-decked, and 
•carrying one immense lateen sail. We had a crew of eight 
men and a padrone ; and capital oarsmen and sailors they 
were. Their oars consist of a long mangrove-pole with a 
flat piece of wood bound to the end, which works in a piece 
of rope tied round the thole-pin. It was a calm when we 
started, and the men had to pull. They generally stand 
up on the thwarts, with their faces to the bow, and as they 
row they sing. I much prefer the Tonga singing to the 
Zulu. The former keep good time, and in their tunes 
tliere is melody; whereas that of the Zulus is a series of 
•slirieks, grunts, and bellowing, great sound, good time, but 
not the slightest approach to harmony. 



246 AMONG THE AMATONGA. 

It was very pleasant tliat bright winter morning as we 
lazily rolled over the placid waves of Delagoa Bay, passing 
along a coast which was new to me. Every point and bluft' 
was of interest. Each had its native tradition; especially a 
wall of rocks on the Teniby shore called by the natives 
'• Joinhbvana" — the little houses — where the breakers had 
excavated caves in the sandstone, approachable at low water, 
but not at high — which long ago had afforded refuge in time 
of war. Towards evening, we entered between the two 
points (Hood and Flamingo), which constitute the mouth of 
the river. It was too dark to see much, but I saw it many 
a time afterwards in the daytime, from its mouth to 35 
miles up, and a noble river it is — I mean for South Africa. 
Flowing through flat country, its course is not interrupted 
by falls and rapids as are the rivers in the hill countries of 
the Zulu and Natal. For the distance that I know it, there 
is w^ater, summer and winter, for vessels drawing five or six 
feet, and so far the influence of the tide is felt. Up to the 
Bombo Mountains, 80 miles from its mouth, there is three 
and a-half feet of water. Its banks are mostly covered with 
mangrove and reeds, though in some places they arc high 
and dry. 

The natives rowed against the tide, which has a rise of 
about eight feet, and about eleven P.M. we put ashore at a 
ferry on the right bank. When I awoke in the morning 
we were lying high— but not dry — on a bed of mud. The 
tide had receded and left us there, and the river was 
covered with a thick mist which smelt of fever in every 
globule of it. There was no way of getting on to firm land, 
except by laying out two or three oars, and sliding along 
them. By that means you reached mud which was not above 
your thighs, through which you could wade to tlic bank. 



STUCK IN THE MUD. 247 

As tlie birthplace of mankind was Asia, so, I believe, the 
birthplace of the mosquito-kind must have been upon the 
Usutu. From there, I believe, as they increased and filled 
the country, they spread over all the world, but none of 
them leave the spot, so long as there is room to fly. 

About eleven A.M. we started again, and passing through 
many herds of hippopotami, and starting many an alligator 
and strange bird, we reached our destination at night. On 
the way we had to land a Portuguese passenger, and did 
so (excuse the Hibernicism) on a tree that hung over the 
water. It is the strongest and toughest wood I have seen 
— a branch, the thickness of two fingers' breadth, easily 
bearing the weight of a man ; and ropes made from its bark 
are stronger than the strongest hemp. The natives call it 
" Ublolo." It grows to no great size, and has a large thick, 
soft, bright green leaf. On this A^oyage, I also made 
acquaintance with another very useful shrub, the " Uqum- 
bukwekwe." It has a small green leaf, with a very dark 
smooth bark. The leaves of it, when bruised, are used as 
soap, and a very good substitute they are, for washing either 
your clothes or your skin. 

Next morning we commenced landing the goods, and as 
Ave did so, though in the middle of the dry season, it came 
on to rain. The bales and cases had to be carried about 
half-a-mile over a swamp to the ferryman's kraal, which was 
situated on the first low ridge running parallel with the 
river, and ere we had finished I was thoroughly drenched. 
That night one of my Zulus comj)lained of his head : it was 
the beginning of the fever. Next day also it rained, and we 
all had to lie up in the kraal, bitten by mosquitoes and stifled 
with smoke. 

I had been told that it was necessary to have rum with 



248 AMONG THE AMATONGA. 

me, both for purposes of trade and for gifts. I took none 
for sale; but I took with me a thirty-five gallon cask and 
a piece of very nice fancy twilled stuff as a present to 
the King; and next day apj^earing fine, we started for his 
kraal, about 20 miles distant, carrying a five-gallon keg as a 
sample. On the way, however, it rained again, and having 
no change of clothes I was constrained to wear the wet 
ones until they dried. Unozingili's head kraal is situated 
in the heart of a thick bush, the living and decayed 
vegetation of which smelt rankly as we passed through it. 
The name of this town is " 'Ncin'amacebo'ezwe," meaning 
"where all lying and false accusations current in the country 
come to an end" — i.e., find their level. It is shortly called 
" 'Ncina." It contains about a hundred huts, and is sur- 
rounded by smaller kraals inhabited by his wives, servants, 
and captains. In one, belonging to one of the last men- 
tioned, I was told to sleep, and in the evening a chamberlain 
came down for the present. He got the keg and the piece 
of cloth, and I told him of the cask, which the king would 
have to send for. That night I heard a tremendous uproar 
in the big kraal, and on inquiry found that they had been 
using my undiluted rum, as if it had been that of the Portu- 
guese, which is first reduced by two-thirds water, and then 
strengthened with cayenne pepper and tobacco juice. An 
old man, who lived where I was staying, was carried in 
about nine p.m. in a frightful state — he was roaring like a 
maniac, and foaming at the mouth. When I saw him I 
thought he would surely die, and was blaming myself for 
having given the King the liquor. I need not have troubled 
myself about the matter. Next morning he was up at day- 
break, none the worse, and telling me that mine was remark- 
ably good rum (or, as they call it, " Isopi"); it made them so 



AMATONGA INTEMPERANCE AND IMMORALITY. 249 

very tipsy in so very short a time ! Eiim and arrack are 
like mother's milk to these people. Even children of six or 
seven years old will drink a tumblerful, raw, without winking. 
I have seen one of the King's sons, a boy of eight, drink a 
bottle at a sitting. This is one of the delightful habits 
taught them by the Portuguese. It is the most profitable 
merchandise they deal in, and to do any trade in Mabudtu 
you must have rum as well as other goods. " All that a 
man hath will he give for his life," but to such an extent is 
the love of drink carried amongst the Amatonga, that they 
will give even that for rum, since they care not though they 
die, if they only die drunk ! 

Morality in the men, virtue in the women, are things 
unknown amongst the Amatonga. The slave girls and 
servants of the King, bear children for the King, and to 
whom they please. The females of the King's kin are not 
allowed to marry, but their fjimilies rank as of the blood 
royal. The price of a wife is £5, or its equivalent in rum or 
goods; and the Tonga men buy children of eleven or twelve 
years old, who grow up with their husbands. A man will 
go away to work in Natal, leaving his wife, or wives, at 
home. On his return they will show him the goods they 
have gained by prostitution in his absence, and be praised 
for their diligence 1 Yet adultery, when '' discovered," is 
l^unished by the "co-respondent" jiaying the price of a wife. 
Disease prevails amongst them to a frightful extent, and, 
having no proper medicines, the result may be fancied. All 
this is another of the delightful customs taught them by the 
Portuguese, since it is only in the tribes with which they 
have contact, that such open debauchery is seen. 

The rule of Portugal in Eastern Africa is a curse to black, 
a shame and disgrace to white humanity. Murder, anarchy, 



250 AMONG THE AMATONGA. 

plunder, and licentiousness are the normal conditions of the- 
nations inhabiting the territory which it claims. The Portu- 
guese have no power to control them. They only exist by 
setting one tribe against another, and in consequence of 
their possessing the only markets where the natives can sell 
their produce and purchase the goods they require. We 
have had great and successful agitation against slavery in 
America, Cuba, and Brazil. Slavery exists amongst the Pooiti- 
f/tiesef Were only half the iniquity, misrule, and effeteness 
of Portugal in Eastern Africa known, not Britain only, but 
the civilised world, would compel her to part with her 
possessions, since she is too weak and too bigoted, to 
improve matters. 

The King has a most Caliban-like way of carrying his- 
immense hands and feet; and with him, as with all his 
people who can get spirits, it is impossible to do any business, 
after mid-day. He has sense enough to know this, however; 
and although he may listen to what you have to say, he will 
return no answer until next morning. The number of his 
wives and slave girls is immense, and they live all about 
him. There are generally about five hundred soldiers in 
his kraal, two of whom are continually marching up and 
down in front of his hut, armed with double-barrelled guns, 
who give every few minutes a ludicrous imitation of the 
Portuguese cry of " Sentinela Alerta." 

There is, in 'Ncina, a dwarf who was a chamberlain to 
the King's grandfather, who died about 1854. He is not 
more than 33 inches high, and is not in any way deformed, 
except, if you may call it a deformity, the fact of his having 
immense ears, such as would be wondered at in a full-grown 
man. He is so old that the people say he is a spirit, was 
not born of woman, but came down from the heavens. I 



AN ANCIENT DWARF; AND AN AUTOCRATIC KING. 251 

myself was told by the Portuguese that they have papers 
in the archives of Lorenco Marques with this man's name 
written as witness ninety years ago 1 He witnessed the 
ceremony of Captain Owen's (mth the present King's grand- 
father's consent) taking possession of the Usutu Eiver and 
the surrounding territory for Great Britain in 1823. I have 
often heard of this treaty from the natives; and it is a 
common saying amongst them that the country belongs to 
the Englishman. The Government is a desj^otism pure and 
simple. The land, the people, their goods and their crops, 
the cattle, goats, and sheep, belong to the King. He can, 
and does on occasion, take what he chooses from them. 
They have to supply him with food for his numerous wives, 
and for the soldiers who may be at headquarters; and the 
latter can, when sent on errands and expeditions, take what 
food they require, even that which is being sent to the 
King; for, he says, they are myself — I am King by reason 
of them. In the Zulu nation the captains and councillors 
can save a man. If they say he shall not be killed, the 
King must give way; though it is not often they do so, since 
they share in the plunder. In Mabudtu the King's word is 
sufficient — the lives of all are in the breath of his mouth. 

He is friendly to Englishmen, hoping by their means to 
escape from under the power of the Zulus, of whom he is in 
daily fear. He has a great contempt for the Portuguese, 
whom he plunders with impunity; and would sweep Loren90 
Marques off the face of the earth, were it not that he would 
then be unable to procure his supply of goods. The only 
method of retaliation which the Portuguese can adopt, when 
plundered, is to stop the trade; and this makes them so 
jealous of the British. claim to the English River boundary, 
since, if they had a settlement there, not only Unozingili's, 



252 AMONG THE AMATONGA. 

but all the tribes around would be independent of them, and 
Loren90 Marques be among the things of the past. Well 
that it was so ! 

The King is a very superstitious man. Every day, and 
all day, some of his councillors are sitting with the diviners, 
who pretend to tell them what is going on in all parts of 
his country, what will happen, and with what dangers he 
is threatened. They divine with shells, stones, and knuckle- 
bones of sheep and goats. These they throw down out of 
their hands on the ground, muttering incantations the while ; 
and from the position they fall in they foretell events, and 
find out secret plots against him. I need not say that most 
of the prophecies and revelations are obscure enough to 
warrant any interpretation. While I was in his country 
his mother died. Immediately the King was begirt with 
^'medicine" and charms, to keep the evil from him. Cattle 
were killed for food on her way, and two of her servants 
sent to attend on her. All the people of the country came 
up to the King, under their different chiefs, to mourn with 
him ; they also had to be charmed and purified, which took 
many days, cattle being sacrificed the while, with solemn 
dancing and ceremonies. Last of all they went to " close 
up her house." The whole country, with the King at the 
head, went to her kraal, sacrificed cattle at the door of her 
hut, then sprinkled it over with the gall, and at last carried 
it away into the bush. After this the people returned to their 
homes, and the King was " a man again !" 

At another time, while I was at 'Ncina, the army was 
there. It appeared that a chief of one of the tribes, under 
the so-called rule of the Portuguese, had sent to the King to 
say, that he was ready for him whenever he chose to come — 
a defiance. Of course he accepted the challenge, and called 



THE ORDEAL OF FIRE. 25 J 

up his people to tell him of the great deeds they would do, 
and to be '^doctored." They killed many cattle, and ate 
many medicines for good luck ; and, last of all, he set to 
work to make them courageous. They came round him in 
their regiments, one after another. One of his chamberlains 
took in his hand a huge lighted torch, with which he went 
round the circle, and, through the flame of it, he blew some 
oily substance out of his mouth into the faces of the men, 
renewing the supply, when exhausted, out of a bottle which 
the King held. It was a most amusing sight. Some of 
them stood the flame well; others drew back in fright; 
others, again, it was plain he had a grudge against, as he 
thrust torch and all under their noses, singeing their beards- 
and their eyebrows, and setting their already well-greased 
hair on fire. When all was over, they were dismissed ta 
their homes, to await his summons for the war. 

I have spoken of his power for life and death, and will 
mention one instance which came under my own observation, 
both as illustrating that power, and as an episode in savage 
life. 

While in Mabudtu, there came to me one day a native 
from Lorenzo Marques, who told me he wished to go under 
my protection through the Zulu to Natal. It happened 
afterwards that thisihan ("Umtabula 'Nhlesio," the splitter 
of hearts ; he was brave in war), although then under the 
Portuguese, had been Unozingili's. He did not tell me this, 
or I would have sent him on at once. He was recognised 
by the people, who immediately reported him to the King. 
On the third evening, I heard that this man had committed 
some crime, and would very likely get into trouble about 
it. After calling him, I asked if it was so. He did not 
<leny it. 



254 AMONG THE AMATONGA. 

I then gave him some blankets, which were wanted by my 
hunters west of the Bombo, and warned him to start early 
in the morning, so that the rising sun should see him many 
miles away. I had no idea of all that was going to happen. 
Just at dawn, I was awakened by some one loudly calling 
my name, and at the same time shouting that w^e were being 
killed ; there was a noise of people running, the door was 
burst o^^en, a man came head over heels over me, and 
crouched between my mat and the hut. Between sleeping 
and waking, such a violent entry and disturbance rather 
startled me, and, for a few moments, I did not recognise the 
man I had sent away the preceding evening. It ai:)peared 
that people from the King had been on the look-out, and had 
met him on a ridge about two miles away. He broke 
through them, however, and reached my hut ; and the men 
were now gathering outside, demanding him with loud shouts 
and threats. I went out and spoke to them. I refused to 
give him up. I offered to ransom him ; but the only rej)ly 
to all was, " Give him to us." They were afraid to attack 
him in the hut, and runners began to come from the King, 
continually asking, " Is he dead yet ? " and requesting me to 
go and see the grave of his wife, who died by reason of this 
fellow. At last, about eleven o'clock, when I saw that they 
would have him, notwithstanding all I could do, and about 
a thousand men had gathered, I washed my hands of th(^ 
whole matter, and told them that, as I had no strength to 
prevent their doing this deed, they must act as they pleased. 
Then I went in, and told him that I was beaten. Poor fellow ! 
he prayed me to save him. I told him that I could not save 
him, but said, "You are a man; take your spear and go." 
If he had burst out I believe he w^ould have got away, as the 
forest was close at hand ; but I had no sooner turned my 



A TRAGEDY AND A TREACHERY. 255 

back than lie stabbed himself, though not to death. Then 
began a scene of butchery. Spears were thrown and shots 
fired at him. He fired straight at me with my own gun, 
which I had left in the hut, so that, by slaying me, he might 
render his own death memorable, by the punishment which 
he hoped would come to the King, for a white man being 
killed in his country. That he made a bad shot is patent 
by this writing. At last, as my natives said, he died like a 
wounded buff'alo in a bush. It was a frightful experience of 
savage life ! 

The trade of Mabudtu is extensive, considering the size of 
the country. The natives work hard in Natal, and although 
'they spend some of their money there in goods, to take home 
with them, yet the surplus is considerable. The goods 
saleable in Unozingili's country, and indeed through all the 
tribes for many hundred miles north, are blue salempore, 
striped salempore, all kinds of fancy prints, derries, ginghams, 
chintz, cotton blankets and sheets, woollen blankets in small 
quantities, common coats and shirts, brass wire, hatchets, 
Kaffir picks, rum, guns, powder, lead, and caps. In all 
these, the Portuguese do a large trade. In return for this, 
they get rice, money, orchilla weed, maize, beans, cattle, 
sea-cow ivory, elephant ivory, hides both of cattle and wild 
animals ; tiger, tiger-cat, and monkey skins, the two latter 
being saleable in Zulu-land for cattle. Rice they do not get 
in any great quantity — that comes principally from the 
northward of Lorenzo Marques — but the Amatonga are such 
born traders and agriculturists (there the men hoe also, not 
the women only), that whatever w^as wanted, and their 
(•ountry would grow — and what would it not"? — they would 
produce in any quantity. The profits the Portuguese get 
are immense, but by such high prices they cramp the trade. 



256 AMONG THE AMATONGA. 

Under the British rule of small profits and quick returns^ 
it would grow and expand, and the country become rich ; 
but, as the Portuguese traded three hundred years ago, so- 
they do now ! 

The people are arrant thieves, as seems the case with aJl 
black races. Stealing is bone of their bone and flesh of the; - 
flesh. It is no crime unless found out, and then the culpi. 
has only to restore what was stolen. Xo punishment follow , 
unless, indeed, the owner of the article administers it with a 
stick; and, when in the wrong, I must do them the justice- 
to say, they submit very quietly. 

They are much more liberal than j^urely pastoral tribes^ 
perhaps because they have more food to give away. lit 
Zulu, unless you are known, you have to pay for everything; 
but in Tonga you are never asked to pay for what you eat, 
though, if you want a store, you must buy it. The dress of 
the men is simply a bunch of skins in front and one behind, 
but some of them continue the habit, they have learned in 
Natal, of wearing clothes. The women, however, are much 
better dressed, having salempore or handkerchief wound 
round their body, from above the breasts to the ankles. It 
is the pride of the men to adorn their wives. Bad as these- 
people are, I think them a much better subject for missionary 
operations than the Zulus, among whom so many preachers 
are placed. The latter have made themselves the first tribe 
in South Africa, and are thoroughly wedded to their tradi- 
tions, and to the customs, under which they have acquired 
so much power and glory. The former are a much more- 
impressionable people — more ready to accept new wages and 
habits — ^more open to teaching, not so conceited and self- 
satisfied, more clever and handy too than the Zulus. It is 
an unsavoury comparison, but I think a true one, that the 



CAPABILITIES OF THE AMATONGA. 257 

Amatonga may be compared to a liquid cesspool which may 
easily be cleared — the Zulus to one of long continuance 
which has petrified. The constituents are the same, but the 

nsistence different. The immorality and debauchery of 
,,oiie one is open, and offensive to the senses, but may soon be 
ufone away with. The same nature exists in the other, 
vuough not so visible, and is as hard as rock. 
' The country of the Amatonga, I have already said, is 
about 150 miles long by 80 broad, and it consists of a 
succession of low rolling ridges, covered in some parts with 
forest, and in others with thorns and scrub. I do not think 
there is a hill in the country, up to the foot of the Bondio 
range on the west, that is 200 feet above the level of the 
sea. The soil is pure sand for about two feet of surfjice, but 
underneath is alluvial deposit. There is no doubt that not 
long ago, geologically speaking, the whole of the flat country 
on the East Coast of Africa, which I believe extends nearly 
to the Red Sea — a strip of from 80 to 150 miles from the 
sea to the high lands — was covered by the ocean. The 
general level of the country is from 20 to 50 feet above high- 
water mark. 

In the forests is good timber, which might be easily made 
use of. It would not be, as in Natal, where the roughness 
of the country, and the want of roads, renders imjDorted 
timber cheaper. In Tonga you might drive waggons any- 
where. Railroads would have only to be laid down. The 
only obstructions are the swamps, and they might be avoided, 
with the exception of one, which is a natural curiosity. 
From the Umkusi River, at the south end of the Tonga to 
the Entshulweni, a huge swamp at the mouth of the Usutu 
— a distance of a hundred miles — there runs a river called 
the Umfusi. It is a running stream, but has neither source 

s 



258 AMONG THE AMATONGA. 

nor embouchure, in the usual sense of the words. It begins 
in a large swamp, flows north, sometimes running w\ater, 
sometimes stagnant marsh, until at last it ends in the 
Entshulweni, which has no visible outlet. 

I know of no country which is better adapted for tropical 
cultivation than the Tonga. Cotton, sugar, rice, indigo, and 
tobacco are, I may say, indigenous. Frost is unknown. The 
seasons are more regular than in hilly countries. The facili- 
ties of transport are great. I liken the country to Demerara, 
but it is better off in the way of labour. The Amatongas are 
not like the Zulus and Negroes, who, when they have enough 
for their immediate wants, go home and are idle. They will 
work on, so as to get rich. The india-nibber vine is abun- 
dant, but it is not tapped in Mabudtu as in the country to 
the north of Loren90. Several kinds of wild-fig are found, 
and there is a pink plum which is delicious, and makes a 
most refreshing drink. The vegetable-ivory palm is abun- 
dant, and is of great use to the jieople. Of its leaves they 
make thread, twine, and ropes; and they weave baskets and 
mats. Of its juice they make wine, which, fresh from the 
tree, is delicious, exhilarating^ yet scarcely intoxicating; but, 
when old, it tastes like rotten eggs and water, will make you 
very tipsy indeed, and will give you the ague into the bar- 
gain. Of the nuts they make snuff'-boxes. They have many 
edible roots and spinaches, and those who live by the lakes 
catch plenty of fish. A great drawback, however, is the 
want of good water. Apart from the Usutu and the Pongolo ; 
which runs north, under the Bombo mountains, through the 
country into the Usutu; there is no running stream that is 
not brackish, and the water of the pools is apt to give you 
dysentery. I suppose, if proper wells were dug, good water 
would be found. The country is inhabited in patches. One 



J 



CLIMATE AND FEVERS. 259 

part will be thickly peopled, then for miles not a kraal. 
They gather and settle where there are springs. 

In most parta, now that the game has been driven away, 
and the Tsetse fly with it, cattle thrive and do well. I see 
nothing to prevent horses and mnles doing the same. 

With British capital, energy, and enterprise, what might 
not the Eastern Coast of Africa become ! AYith British 
justice and good government, what a change would l)e 
wrought in the condition of the tribes ! 

The great bugbear — the great deterrent — is the fever. 
Well, it is not pleasant, but one must remember that the 
many deaths we hear of, are mostly of travellers who arc 
exposed to all kinds of hardship — hunger, thirst, fatigue, 
wet, the burning sun by day, and the dews of heaven hy 
night. They are half-dead before the fever comes. It \\-ould 
be different were the country settled, each man living in his 
own house, with comfort around him. I do not think the 
fever is so very virulent as is said, neither does it break 
one's constitution. I have been very nearly dead with it 
twice, and feel none the worse now — a year after. Temper- 
ance, good food, exercise, and medicine, will ensure you 
against dying by the fever, unless your day has come ; but 
I believe you get it, summer or winter, all the same. 

After seven months' stay in the country, I started from 
the King's kraal on the 21st December, 1871. I had done 
my trade amongst them, and, like most pioneers, had paid 
for my experience. I had no adventures worthy of record, 
except one, which I will tell of in a future paper. On the 
seventh day I reached the Zulu hills; and although I carried 
the fever with me as a souvenir of them, yet I was no longer 
amongst the Amatonga. 



TAKEN BY THE PORTUGUESE. 

(Glasgow Hkrai.p, 24111 April, 1875.) 

When I left Ntatal for my trip among the Amatonga,"^ I 
liad arranged that the schooner " WiUiam Shaw" should come 
up again in September, 1871, Avith guns, j^owder, and Kaffir 
hoes, and to take away what produce I might have ready ta 
send. I wished her to come into the Usutu River (Mai3oota) 
direct, not thinking that the Portuguese would dare to seize 
a British ship in British, or at all events disj^uted, waters,, 
especially after the lesson they had in 1823, when Captain 
Owen, in H.M.S. *' Leven," forcibly released the schooner 
" Orange Grove," of Capetown, Avhich had been seized b}^ 
the authorities of Lorenco Marques when trading in the same 
river, and compelled the Governor to j^ay a debt of £250 
which he had incurred to the supercargo, and thought he had 
got rid of by the seizure of the vessel. I knew also that the 
Usutu was well within the boundary line of the territory, 
belonging to certain chiefs, who ceded it to that officer for 
Great Britain, by treaty, in the same year. Accordingly, on 
the 8th of September, tw^o friends who were in her, came up- 
to me, at the King's, with the information that she had 
arrived in the river. I must tell, however, that, as far back 
as July, I had arranged with Unozingili for people to carry 
the hides of the game killed by my hunters, from the Bombo 
hills to the mouth of the Usutu, a distance of 90 miles, and 
fully expected that all would be done by the time the vessel 

* See " Among the Amatonga." 



BOARDED AND SEIZED BY THE PORTUGUESE. 261 

■came. In the inkr'uii happened the death of his mother, 
iuid everything was thereby put in confusion in the country, 
and all work suspended, wdien only about one-third had been 
carried, and I was then expecting the people with the re- 
mainder. 

I found the ship anchored about six miles up the river, 
and immediately had the cargo landed and carried away, by 
people I had provided for the purpose. We lay in the river 
some six or seven days, with a part of the cargo in, consist- 
ing of hides and ivory, and waiting for that w^iich was to 
■come. AVe amused ourselves trying to shoot ducks, geese, 
4ind hippopotami, and, without that, had plenty of occupa- 
tion in defending ourselves from the assaults of numberless 
mosquitoes, which were almost as bad as the Portuguese. On 
the 1 3th of the month we saw the lateen sails of two large 
boats coming round a bend in the river, and suspected that 
our friends were going to pay us a visit. 

They came up (twelve soldiers, the Government Secretary, 
and the Clerk of the Customs,) and boarded us; and after 
inspecting our papers, informed the skipper that he would 
have to go into Loren90 Marques, about 22 miles to the 
northward, situated just half-a-mile to the north of 26" south. 
To this we duly protested, and handed in a formal protest, 
but were told this must be done to the Governor in person. 

Two or three days passed away before we got a fair wind, 
and during that time, we were on very friendly terms indeed 
with our captors. 

On the Sunday they attempted to tow the vessel down 
with the tide, but it resulted in our running ashore on a 
mudbank, to the great alarm of the Secretary and Clerk, 
since, if she had been wrecked before being condemned by 
their Courts, they would perhaps have had to bear the loss. 



262 TAKEN BY THE PORTUGUESE. 

On the Monday there came a change of wind, and we 
went quietly down the river, across the bay, and up English 
Eiver, till we anchored opposite the fort, and were then left 
with a guard of a corporal and four different coloured 
soldiers on board, to see that we did not run away with her. 
While in the schooner, and coming down to Lorenzo 
Marques, I had many conversations with the Secretary, who 
was most kind and polite (as one of the seamen said, " Too- 

b dy polite altogether"), and who exjiressed a most 

gentlemanly regret at the contretemps; no doubt, however, 
it was all a mistake ; they were very sorry indeed to- 
interfere with British ships, but they were bound by their 
orders from Portugal, and so on ; I should only have to 
explain matters — although I was rather puzzled as to what 
I could explain — and I could go back to the river for the 
remainder of my cargo. But when they got us fairly in 
their power the tune changed. Nothing then could be done 
— shij^ and people must be tried. It was a matter for the 
civil court at Mozambique to decide on appeal; even the 
Governor-General of the Portuguese possessions on the East 
Coast could do nothing. I was anxious about the vessel, as 
she was only chartered, and offered to j^ay duty and the fine 
under protest ; but after they had told me the amount of the 
fine — £111 — and I had asked for a day to consider, but 
really to get the money, I was told that they had found a 
new clause in their law, which precluded them from doing 
anything but trying the ship, and condemning or releasing 
her. But I must mention that, even when at first they 
agreed to take the fine, they refused to allow me to j^rotest 
against the seizure of the schooner, I must jDay and hold 
my tongue. The trial went on for some days in the most 
wearisome manner — many times interrupted by St Some- 



RELEASED BY THE " GOVERNOR GENERAL." 263 

body's day. All the while the sailors and myself were 
hanging about the Custom-House, and I had to provide food 
for all hands. 

While this w^as going on, I again wished to hand in my 
protest; but the answer was that I must wait the result 
of the trial, and, if the ship was condemned, I could at any 
time do so. Afterwards, I took an opportunity of asking 
one of the officials to go with me to the Governor for that 
purpose, and was then told that, as I had not done it within 
twenty-four hours, I could not now do it at all. 

Next day we were turned out of the ship and had to live 
on shore. The sailors were provided with food and a room 
to lie in. I was not allowed to leave, and had to provide 
for myself. I determined to try one day, and marched off 
to the shore; but I w^as stopped. Fortunately, however, 
the Governor-General, who was just then on his round, paid 
Loren9o Marques a visit, and released me after eighteen 
days' detention. Thus it was that I was "taken by the 
Portuguese," and thus, and from previous visits, I came to 
know something about their settlement, the country round 
about, the tribes under their so-called rule, and, generally, 
their little goings-on. 

The seizure of the " William Shaw," and the boundary 
question, are before the Arbitration Commissioners, but the 
result of the whole affair is not yet known. 

I need not speak more of that matter, but it struck me 
that a truthful description of this little-known country, and 
of the eifeteness and misrule of the Portuguese, might do 
good, and be interesting to British readers. So, aJlons! 

Delagoa Bay is a piece of water about 40 miles long from 
north to south, by 20 broad from east to west. For about 
half of its length on the south it is enclosed by Cape Colatto 



264 TAKEN BY THE PORTUGUESE. 

and the Island of Unyaka (Inyack), and in the north-west 
corner lie the Islands of Sefeen, three low-lying banks 
covered with mangrove, between which and the mainland is 
the mouth of the river Umkomati (St George's). The bay 
itself, although so large, is very shallow in most parts, and 
the navigation consequently very difficult. But one comfort 
is, that though you may run on a sandbank you can easily 
get off again. Right in the centre of the bay enters the 
river, called by the Portuguese " Spiritu Sanctu;" by our- 
selves, English Eiver. For some eight or ten miles up it is 
more like a firth than the usual outlet of a South African 
stream — there being no bar at the mouth either of it, or of 
the Umkomati — they flow into a bay, instead of into the open 
sea, and for this distance it runs directly east, so that the 
26th i^arallel divides it in the centre, and is not only a mathe- 
matical line but a natural boundary. The Portuguest^ 
Government, in a late treaty with the Transvaal Republic 
(a small independent Dutch State which the British have 
allowed to establish itself on the north-east corner of Natal), 
settled, between themselves, their southern boundary at 26** 
30"" south. This was evidently done so as to give the former 
the whole of Delagoa Bay — for no other purj)ose and on no 
other groun^. It is simply an arbitrary line drawn through 
the territory of the chief of Mabudtu (Mapoota), the grand- 
son of him who ceded the country to Great Britain. It 
would give them the mouth of the Usutu (Mapoota) and 
about 12 or 15 miles inland from the southern beach of 
Delagoa Bay. Through this belt all imports and exports, 
into or from the remainder of the country, would have to 
pass, and Britain, on her northern boundary, would be denied 
all access from the sea, to her possessions, by a narrow band 
of Portuguese territory. The Transvaal was only too proud 



DISPUTED BOUNDARY. 265 

to have arrived at the dignity of treating with a European 
State at all, to object to anything; and, besides that, it was 
not their business to demur to any boundary in this quarter. 
Britain was entirely ignored in this treaty between these 
two. In the other case — i.e., the line claimed by Britain — 
there is the broad division of the river, and, besides that, 
there is the fact, that the undoubted owner of the country 
fully ceded it to Captain Owen ; and although the Portu- 
guese persist in speaking of the Chief of Mabudtu as their 
subject, on the one side, and of the " Amanundwana," an- 
other tribe on the "Umkomati" (St George's) Elver, on 
the other ; yet both parties are continually plundering their 
so-called masters, and making war upon each other, and scout 
the idea of dependence. 

The Portuguese, I believe, base their claim to this terri- 
tory on a treaty made Avith the Emperor ''Monopotapa" (a 
Prester John kind of character), who they say reigned in the 
sixteenth century; but how that can be I do not know, since 
it is not so many years ago that they paid rent for the very 
ground on which Lorenco Marques stands. There must have 
been some treaty since, of an opposite character, which they 
say nothing about, if the first is anything more than a myth. 

On the south bank of English river the country is most 
beautiful. It is, although perfectly fiat, high and healthy. 
Plenty of good water, and large trees dotted all over it. The 
soil is sandy, but underneath it must be good, as the country 
is very fertile. 

On the northern side, it is also high, but being very 
.swampy, it is decidedly unhealthy. Round about Loren90 
Marques, for 20 miles, there are very few inhabitants; 
the constant wars, which the Portuguese are unable to 
suppress, having depopulat(Ml the country. Further north. 



266 TAKEN BY THE PORTUGUESE. 

from tlie latitude of St George's River 20 miles from 
its embouchure, to away beyond that of Sofala, there is a 
teeming population, willing, nay anxious, to come to work 
in Natal, but who are prevented by the distance and the 
danger, consequent upon frequent disturbances amongst 
themselves, and the enmity which they have engendered. 

The great advantages which all this northern coast has, 
are its river navigation, splendid soil, abundance of fuel, and 
cheap labour ; yet all are useless for want of a good Govern- 
ment. Indeed, worse than useless, because these good 
things not only lie neglected by whites, but even the natives 
are not allowed to enjoy them in that peace and quietness 
which the power of Britain or Germany would give. 

The Portuguese have no care for improving the condition 
of the natives, either temporally or spiritually. If they 
became wealthy, they would be "powerful. If they were 
instructed, they would no longer remain dependent upon 
Lorenzo Marques for their supplies, nor submit to be guided 
or influenced by the advice or the bribes of a people in many 
essential ways no better, and, in some respects, worse than 
themselves. It is a curious physiological study, wdiy the 
character of a native of Portugal, high or low, changes so 
completely when he comes to Eastern Africa. I have 
generally understood that, in Europe, they are an honourable 
people, generous and hospitable, straightforward and truthful. 
Perhaps it is the weakness of their miserable settlements, 
surrounded by many, if not hostile, yet contemptuous 
natives, which so alters their nature. They are obliged to 
truckle and bribe, submit to insult and exactions, and are 
laughed at and plundered, whenever they step outside their 
walls ; so perhaps, after all, they are deserving of pity as 
well as censure. 



ADVANTAGES OF THE DISPUTED TERRITORY. 267 

The whole country, in dispute between Britain and 
Portugal, is one immense alluvial fiat, where there is every 
facility for communication, either by water or on land. It 
is the same up the coast, as far as I know it. We must also 
remember that up the, banks of English River is the nearest 
and best routes to the interior of the Transvaal — a district 
capable of producing everything required by man, and rich 
in minerals — gold amongst them. The new fields of 
Marabastadt, where there is a British company at w^ork, 
are about a hundred miles from its mouth, and are actually 
in independent native territory, although the Transvaal has 
a better and more convenient mode of annexing, than many 
other States; they simply make a map, and when adventurers 
come before the British public for railways in that little 
known country, the length of the line necessary and the 
difficulties, diminish wonderfully. No doubt a railway would 
be the making of the territory, and open up a trade which 
would j)ay both trader and carrier, but let those who enter 
into the affair ascertain all about it. The present idea seems 
to be — let the company only commence, the line will then 
be finished somehow. 

Regarding the tribes considered by the Portuguese to be 
under their authority, and the latter's misrule and effeteness. 
generally, I will only tell one story. It is one which did 
actually happen, and is susceptible of plenty of proof. This, 
I think, Avill show the state of things much more strongly 
tlian any declamatory writing on my part, and as I am 
merely stating matters of fact, I shall be free from any 
suspicion of malice or exaggeration. 

I have already spoken of the natives from the northward 
constantly wishing to come to work in Natal on the sugar 
and coffee plantations. A few do so. This is also true of 



268 TAKEN. BY THE PORTUGUESE. 

some tribes of the Basuto nation who H^^e to the westward 
of Lorenzo Marques, but a long way in the interior. 

In the beginning of 1871, sixty of these people left Katal 
together on their journey home. They belonged to the tribe 
of Umjantji, in the N.E. corner of what the Boers consider 
Transvaal territory. They had each their pack of goods — 
blankets, calicoes, &c. — and each had money. Their most 
direct road would have been through Zulu and then through 
Amaswazi-land; but the latter and their own tribe, although 
the one nominally in Boer territory, and the other tributary, 
had been at war. So they chose to go along the coast, till 
they reached the latitude of their own country, and then 
struck inland. They passed through Zulu and Mabudtu in 
safety, the chief of the latter tribe even giving them convoy 
to the banks of English Eiver, to prevent them being 
maltreated or plundered by his people ; and they crossed to 
the Portuguese side. 

In July, 1871, I had been down to the Island of Inyack, 
and on my return landed at the usual passage of the Usutu. 
It was dark. When I came up to the ferryman's kraal, I 
saw some miserable-looking wretches seated round a fire, on 
which there was a pot with some maize in it. There were 
ten of them, and they, on inquiry, told me that they were the 
survivors of the sixty men who had passed, in good health 
and high spirits, two months before. Poor fellows ! I wish 
some of our diplomatists had seen them as they then were. 
Emaciated, and covered Avitli wounds, many of them burnt 
in the inside of the thighs, and on the breast, by sitting till 
they fell asleep over the fire in the cold nights, hungry and 
broken. It would have stirred the bile of even a member of 
the Peace Society. I learnt afterwards that about ten more 
had escaped in different directions. Forty were killed, and 



DANGERS OF THE MIDDLE PASSAGE. 269 

this was the liow and the Avherefore. On crossmg Enghsh 
Kiver they came amongst the peopk^ of a Httle tribe called 
"Madtolo," the head kraal of the chief of which is within eight 
miles of Loren90 Marques gates. This tribe, 1 daresay, could 
muster about four hundred men (they liaA^e since been nearly 
exterminated by Unozingili, the chief of Mabudtu), and are 
considered by the Portuguese, as peculiarly their own. The 
Basutos encamped under a tree outside the kraals, and some 
of them went that afternoon into the settlement to buy guns^ 
and returned to sleep. Just before daylight in the morning, 
all the fighting men of "Madtolo" came down upon them, 
killed forty men, wounded the others, and plundered them 
of everything they possessed. The only reason given for 
this was that some of the plunderers' relatives had lost their 
lives some years ago in Umjantji's country. It was not 
pretended that these men were the murderers, or even that 
they knew anything about it. There is no doubt that the 
prospect of plunder was the real reason for the massacre. 
The consequence of all this was, that the remnant of these 
poor fellows were now trying to find their way back to 
Natal, destitute of everything ; subsisting on charity, and, 
from weakness and wounds, most likely to die on the way. 
Fortunately, however, I fell in with them, fed and cured and 
sent them out to Natal. What became of the others who 
escaped I never heard. The Portuguese did nothing ; too 
weak to punish, too indifferent to help the survivors. I 
heard afterwards that the Governor of Lorenzo Marques 
had sent to the Chief of Madtolo demanding the property of 
these people. He returned him three pounds sterling (X3) 
in derision, with a message to the effect that, if he did not 
like to take that, he could leave it alone. So much for the 
])Ower of Portugal in her possessions in Eastern Africa 1 



270 TAKEN BY THE PORTUGUESE. 

The comment of the Chief of Mabudtii, Unozmgili, who 
■considers himself an " EngHshman," both by reason of his 
grandfather's treaty, and because he, being a vassal of the 
Zuhi, knows that they are tributary to us, was that lie had 
been a fool. If he had thought the plunder was to go to 
Madtolo he would have had it himself. After this, what 
chance will the next batch of labourers have, who return 
through his territories, I should like to know ? 

This continual anarchy does harm to Natal and to the 
natives, directly and indirectly — to the former by preventing 
the influx of a regular supply of labour; to the latter because 
they not only lose their lives and their property, but because 
they lose the chance or the amount of civilisation they would 
gain in Natal, and which they would carry back ^Yit\l them 
to their distant homes. Need I harp longer upon this topic ? 
Surely not. When I can speak of so foul a murder having 
happened within cannon-shot of a Portuguese settlement, 
considered by them the capital of a territory, I have surely 
said enough to prove that in those days, when good govern- 
ment is felt to be a necessity as well as a duty, Portugal 
must either alter or give up. Her colonial possessions are 
a disgrace to any civilised community. In the nineteenth 
century, she is debasing instead of raising mankind, and 
wilfully too, so as to make-believe keep her power in the 
ascendant. Until Sir Bartle Frere's recommendation of the 
appointment of consuls in the Portuguese ports on this coast 
is carried out, there will be no security for British natives, 
or knowledge in Europe of one-half the slavery and anarchy 
which exist in the so-called civilised colonies. 

The harbour of Lorenzo Marques is in the open mouth 
of the river, where it is about a mile across. There is very 
good holding-ground and plenty of water. It blows occa- 



I 

PUBLICITY OBJKCTPn) TO BY THE PORTUGUESE. 271 



sionally hard from the S.W., but there is no danger. On 
landing you may, if the tide is high, get close to the land ; 
but if it is low water you have to be carried on a Kaffir's 
back for perhaps a hundred yards. Ashore, you must be 
•careful of your feet, as the worship of "Cloacina" is carried 
into practice on the beach. All goods have to be landed in 
the same manner, at great risk and trouble. For all the 
•centuries the Portuguese have been there, they have made 
no improvements, and a quay might be run out at very little 
expense. Splendid, straight mangrove poles are abundant 
•close around the settlement — but no I change is abhorrent to 
them, except for the worse. The idea seems to be that, in 
tlie event of improvement, a knowledge of their proceedings 
would be disseminated, and they would be obliged to alter, so 
they keep themselves to themselves. In this idea the Court of 
Lisbon seems to concur, as they have lately refused to grant 
a subsidy to the Union Steamship Company, which is running 
steamers up the eastern coast, calling at the different ports. 
They refuse, although it would be a good thing for them- 
selves, commercially S2)eaking, setting aside the philanthropic 
motive which alone actuates Great Britain. I have known 
the various settlements to be six months without any com- 
munication with each other, or with headquarters at Mozam- 
bique, before the Union Company had established this branch 
of their line. 

The settlement of Lorenco Marques is situated on the 
north bank, about two miles from Point Reuben — the 
northern point at the mouth of the river. It is built on a 
sandbank, which has a swamp between it and the mainland, 
und is about 500 yards long by 200 yards broad. There 
■could not have been a more unhealthy spot selected, since 
whatever benefit it gets by the sea breez