The White Chief of the Caffres

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

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

Inklanzi, after shouting “Inkosi,” was told to come; so he and I went to the hut of the Great Chief. We waited outside for some time, silently listening for orders to enter. At length a loud voice from inside said, “Is the white boy there?”

“Yes,” replied Inklanzi. “Bring him in,” said the same voice. We entered the hut, and on seeing the chief I made him a low salaam, the same as do the Hindoos, and said “Inkosi.” The chief looked at me for some time, and then asked Inklanzi if I spoke Zulu. On Inklanzi replying “Yes,” the chief said, “Where do you come from? Tell me your history.”

I commenced by telling the chief that I came from far away in the direction that the sun rose, and where men rode upon elephants, and where houses were so high that, if your brother were on the top of the house and you were at the bottom, you could not recognise him. I gave other descriptions of India, to which the chief listened for some time, and then exclaimed, “Amanga” (“You are lying.”)

“It is true, chief,” I said.

“Go on,” exclaimed the chief.

I then told him of our voyage, of the ship being wrecked, and of the men being assagied, whilst I and some women were spared.

“Where are the women now?” inquired the chief.

A glance at Inklanzi showed he was in terror, and I guessed the cause. So I said, “I don’t know; I think they are all dead.”

Turning to Inklanzi the chief said, “Why did you not bring those women?”

Inklanzi replied, “We searched everywhere, chief, and we only heard they had all died.”

“If those women are alive, you shall be knob-kerried for not bringing them.”

“Did you fight against my men near the Umlass?” inquired the chief.

“Yes,” I replied.

“Can you throw an assagy?”

“Yes, and I can run.”

I was proud of my running, for among the Umzimvubu there was no man could beat me for a short distance.

The chief shouted for one of his guard, who approached crawling on his hands and knees.

“Bring Cachema,” said the chief.

The man jumped up, and rushed off to obey his orders. In a few minutes, the Zulu called Cachema rushed up within an assagy’s-throw of the chief. He then stopped and shouted “Inkosi” three times.

“Come here,” said the chief to Cachema. “You must run with this white boy and show him how to run.”

I looked well at Cachema, and had never seen a finer specimen of a young man. He was tall – six feet at least; his legs were large compared to his body, but muscular and well-shaped; his skin shone like satin; and, as he moved, there was an ease and grace just as we see in a leopard. I feared I should stand no chance with this man; but I was in excellent condition, and I saw that he failed in one respect, viz., that he was flat-footed, whilst I was very high in the instep, and had therefore more spring than he had.

The chief said, “You two run to that tree, touch it, and run back here again. I will give a cow to whoever wins.” Cachema looked at me with surprise. He seemed to consider it absurd for me to attempt running with him, as I was smaller and younger. We took each other’s hands, and when the chief said “Hamba” (“Go”) we started.

The tree was about two hundred yards away, and the ground over which we ran was hard and firm. I got the best of the start, and managed to keep just ahead of Cachema till we reached the tree. I knew from experience that most Caffres could run a mile at the same pace as they could run a few hundred yards, their wind was so good, and they never tired. So I did not run at full speed to the tree; but, after touching it, I came back as fast as I could run. I expected every instant to find Cachema rush past me. I dared not look round to see where he was, but continued at my best pace, and rushed past the chief several yards ahead of my opponent.

I then returned; and, making a salaam in Indian fashion, said “Inkosi.”

“Come here,” said the chief. I approached him, when he felt my legs, looked at my feet, and took a general survey of me. He then said, “You have spoken the truth: you can run.” Calling Cachema he said, “Why did you let this white boy beat you?”

Cachema replied, “He is a springbok, and runs like one.”

The chief laughed, and said, “The white boy will now be my head-runner. You, Cachema, must be called ‘gathly,’” which meant something like “slowly.”

I was at once provided with some crane’s feathers, a large black-and-white shield, six assagies, and made one of the body-guard of the Great Chief of the Zulus.

My life was now not as free or as pleasant as it had been among the Umzimvubu Caffres. Here I was a sort of servant of the chief: before this I was a chief myself. Sometimes I was days together with nothing to do: at others I was sent long journeys to take messages from the Great Chief to some of his principal men. I soon saw that these journeys would give me an opportunity of escaping when I wished. But the Zulu chief never seemed to think I should care to get away from him; for his special body-guard were envied by all the young Zulus, because they had plenty to eat, plenty to drink, and were able to order nearly every other Zulu to do things.

A few days after I had been installed as runner, a great review was held of the army that had gone against the Basutos. This army consisted of about 5,000 men. They were armed with assagies and knob-kerries: there was not a gun among them, and as yet they had not learnt the power of guns; although, when they attacked us near the Umlass, they had been defeated because we possessed some guns. Their assagies and their numbers caused the Zulus to be usually successful in all their wars. The review was held on some hills about a mile from the chiefs kraal. He rode a trained ox to the scene; and I, with about thirty other men, attended as his guard.

There were five regiments to be reviewed. Each regiment had shields differently marked, and each of the assagies belonging to the regiment had also a mark on it, so that, if lost, it would be known to whom it belonged.

These Zulus were well-trained. They advanced at a run, wheeled, reversed, dashed forward, all fell to the ground as a shower of assagies was supposed to be hurled at them, sprang again to their feet and charged. It was a lively scene, and one that brought out the quickness of the Zulus to perfection. The men were then all formed in a large circle, and two young Zulus entered this circle from opposite sides. Each had his shield and assagies. They approached each other cautiously and slowly, watching every movement of the other. When within about forty yards, one man sent an assagy at his opponent. The spear flew true to its mark; but the Zulu aimed at jumped on one side, avoiding the sharp blade of the spear, and, running forward, cast an assagy at his opponent. This was avoided with equal skill, whilst the lookers-on shouted with excitement. The two men drew closer and closer to each other; and, as they did so, they found it more difficult to avoid each other’s assagies. Both became more and more excited, and at last they closed and grappled with one another, when the chief called to them to stop. They were then brought to him and given a large calibash of Itchuala (beer) to drink, and were told they had done well. Several of these encounters took place, only one man being struck in the leg by an assagy. A great dance completed the review, and we returned to the kraal of the chief.

The only furniture in the huts of the Zulus was a wooden pillow or seat. All the men preferred sitting or lounging on the ground, and I afterwards found that sitting in a chair was really tiring till you were accustomed to it. In the East men always lounged on cushions or low seats, instead of sitting upright on chairs. Finding, however, some strong canes growing near the rivers, I gathered a number of these and made a chair for the chief, with which he was much pleased, although he would sit on it only on rare occasions.

Chapter Eleven

Several moons had passed since I was brought to the Zulu country, and my life had been monotonous. I had been sent with messages twice to the Tugela river to a chief there, who was suspected of not being too obedient to the Great Chief. He was a fine young chief called Cloko, and was a great sportsman. On the last occasion that I visited him he was preparing for a hunt against the hippopotami, which were in a lake near his kraal. The water in this lake could be let out by digging away a sand bank, which had been accomplished when I reached the kraal. The Zulus had provided themselves with heavy, barbed spears, to which some thick wood was attached. A rope made of grass was fastened to the iron, so that if two spears stuck in the hippopotamus he could be held by several men pulling in opposite directions.

The Zulus call this animal imvubu, and several were known to be in the lake. Some logs were fastened together to make a raft, and two Zulus took their stand on this with their spears ready for use. As the water in the lake drained away the imvubu were seen among some reeds near the shore. They were carefully approached by the men with the spears, and when quite close the spears were hurled at the largest animal visible. The hippopotamus rushed at the raft open-mouthed, but another spear was hurled at him which made him turn and try to escape; but fifty Zulus now held on to the rope, and his progress was stopped. The struggle was now very exciting. Several Zulus closed with the animal and drove their assagies into him, even through his thick hide, which in many places was nearly two inches thick. The fight was sometimes on the shore, sometimes in the water; for the animal was so powerful that even fifty men could scarcely stop him when he rushed away. At last, bleeding from a hundred wounds, the monster was dragged on shore, and was soon skinned and cut up. The hippopotamus is the fattest animal in Africa, three fingers thick of fat covering his flesh. He is very good eating, tasting something between pork and beef. I carried away a large piece with me as a present to the Great Chief, who was fond of this food.

I saw several hunting scenes whilst I stopped at this kraal, which I will relate now, though they occurred at intervals. One was the destruction of two bull-buffaloes which had taken up their residence in a ravine near some corn-gardens, where they did considerable damage. This coming to the ears of the Great Chief, he ordered one of his regiments to go out and kill them. I obtained leave to see the inyatï, as they call the buffalo, killed, and a grand sight it was.

In a dense ravine, where the trees and bushes grew very thick, the buffalo lay concealed. The first work, therefore, was to drive them out of this stronghold. It was dangerous work, because in this thick bush the Zulus could not spring away from the charge of a buffalo as they could in the open country; and the animals, knowing their strength in such cover, would not readily be driven out of it.

A hundred Zulus were sent into the bush to drive the buffaloes to the far end, where, it was thought, they would leave the cover in order to gallop across a small open piece of ground towards a forest beyond. On this open ground the attack was to be made, and in the following manner. The main body of the Zulus were lying down three deep, and in two lines, in the direction of the sides of the ravine. They were partially concealed by the long grass which covered this ground. As soon as the buffaloes left the ravine, it was expected they would gallop between these two lines. Then the Zulus at each end of the line wheeled inwards, and the buffaloes were inclosed in a circle of warriors. About one hundred men were scattered beyond these two lines, in order to stop the buffaloes if they broke through the circle.

It was with great difficulty that the animals were driven through the ravine. They clung to the cover very tenaciously, and several times charged at the men who were driving them; but these men, beating their shields, and getting behind trees, escaped from any damage. At last the buffaloes came to the edge of the bush, sniffed the air suspiciously, and then dashed forward across the open.

The crouching Zulus rose to their feet, wheeled round in front and rear of the animals, and hurled their assagies at them. In an instant the buffaloes looked like porcupines, each quill being represented by an assagy. Lowering their heads, they charged the body of men, one animal going forward, the other attempting to regain the ravine. The courage of the Zulus was now shown. The men in rear of the buffaloes rushed forward; two or three held the tail, others clung to the hind legs, and in an instant with their sharp assagies hamstrung the animals, when they were soon despatched with assagies. This was not accomplished without damage. Two Zulus were killed, and several were so knocked about that they could not stand. – Stout poles were cut, and the carcases of the buffaloes were carried in triumph to the chiefs kraal.

In order to keep his warriors fit for warlike expeditions, the Great Chief sought every occasion of sending parties into various districts, when he heard there was anything to be done, especially connected with danger.

Soon after the buffaloes had been killed, news was brought to the chief to the effect that near the Pongola river there was a very large lion, which was very fierce. When the Great Chief heard this he smiled and ordered Inyovu, one of his chiefs, to come to his kraal. On Inyovu coming the Great Chief said:

“Inyovu, near the Pongola there is a very large lion. I want the mane of that lion to wear over my shoulders, and his teeth I require for a necklace. Take your regiment and bring me the lion’s skin and teeth. Hamba.” (“Go.”)

I asked the Great Chief if I might go with Inyovu and see the lion killed. He consented, on condition that I did not go into too much danger. He said several men were sure to be killed, but I must not be one of them.

It was a ten days’ march from the chiefs kraal to the Pongola river, near which the lion was said to live. We carried with us bags of mealies, but there were several buck on the way which we managed to kill with our assagies and knob-kerries. The plan we adopted was, to send look-out men in front, and when they saw any antelope these were watched until they lay down in the long grass or among the bushes. The Zulus then surrounded the buck, and gradually closed in on it, forming at last a close mass of men; knob-kerries and spears then settled the question, and a feast was the immediate result. There were very few Caffres in this country, and only a few wandering Bushmen, who fled at our appearance; but there were elands, koodoo, buffalo, rhinoceros, zebras, hartebeest, and several other animals. Elephants also were plentiful. We heard from the few Caffres who lived here that the lion could be heard to roar nearly every night, and that he lived in a rocky ravine near a small stream that ran into the Pongola. He was said to be very fond of zebras, and to live almost entirely on them; so that where the zebras lived, there the lion was sure to be.

I asked Inyovu how he intended to kill the lion. He replied, “First find out where he lies down by day, then surround him and assagy him. It will cost perhaps forty men,” said the chief; “but we must obey the chief, and take the skin and teeth to him.”

“Suppose you fail?” I inquired.