Chapter Four.

Chapter Four.There was a great change in the behaviour—of the Caffres towards me now that I had been made an Inkosana. Before this dignity had been conferred on me, there was a kind of watch kept on me; but now every Caffre, man, woman, and child, seemed to regard me as one of themselves. I was now always givenamasito drink instead ofubisi, the former being considered suitable for men, the latter for women and children. Finding myself a person of greater importance, I one day asked Inyati if I might go and see my white friends. He hesitated for some time, and at length said: “To-morrow at sunrise you may go. Inyoni will show you the way; you will reach their kraal when the sun goes down. Stay one day, then return.”I told Inyati I would do as he told me, and on the following morning I started with Inyoni on the journey. I had never asked what had become of the men and sailors who had been saved from the wreck. At firstI did not askbecause I did not know a word of Caffre, but afterwards I did not do so because I saw that the Caffres seemed disinclined to make any answers to my questions. Now, however, I was alone with Inyoni, he told me all the details of the massacre. He told me how we had been watched for two days, and it was found that the men had firearms; so they were all killed. On my inquiring why they were killed, Inyoni told me that many moons ago some white men had come on the coast, and had landed and had carried off some men and women from a kraal; that when the Caffres had assembled to get back their friends, the white men had fired their guns at them and had killed several Caffres, and then escaped in their boats. So that the chiefs had agreed that, if ever white people came again on the coast, they were to be watched, surprised, and the men assagied. From what I afterwards learned, I believe the men who thus visited the coast were slave-hunters.We passed several kraals on our journey, at most of which the people came out and spoke to us, and every one who saw my necklace at once addressed me as “Inkosana.” At least a dozen times Inyoni gave an account of my leopard-trap, and how we had killed this leopard, and I found myself looked at with envy by the boys and admiration by the girls, whilst both were very friendly, and usually walked with me for some distance on the journey.The sun was several times its own diameter above the horizon when we reached a kraal in which, so Inyoni told me, one white woman was living. I entered this kraal, and Inyoni telling the head man that the chief had allowed me to come to visit the white woman, I was shown a hut and told I might go in. On entering this hut I saw Constance, who at once caught me in her arms and kissed me, expressing great delight at seeing me, as she feared I had been killed. I soon told her all that had happened to me, and that I was well-treated and not very unhappy. She listened to all I had to say, and told me she was very glad to hear so good an account, but that she was utterly miserable and wished she were dead. I tried to cheer her by giving her hopes of a better future, but she assured me it was impossible that we should ever see our friends again, and that if she did not marry one of the chief’s sons they intended to kill her. We sat talking the greater part of the night, and the next morning went for a walk, the Caffres appearing to take no notice of us, though I could see one or two boys go on the hill-tops and sit down, evidently to watch us. We sat down under the shade of some euphorbia trees and talked over our prospects. Constance could tell me nothing of Mrs Apton or her daughter; they had been taken away to some distant kraal, and for a long time I heard nothing of them. I passed the whole of my time with Constance, and promised to come and see her again; then, bidding her good-bye, I started at daybreak on my return to my own kraal.Although I was living among a race of black people who would be deemed savages, and who had slaughtered my companions who had been shipwrecked on the coast, still I felt a sort of home-feeling on rejoining my kraal and on meeting Inyati again after only three days’ absence. Now that I knew about the male passengers and sailors having been assagied, I talked to several of the young Caffres about it; and their remarks were so sensible, and seemed to me so reasonable, that I must here repeat them.They said that only twice had white men come on their coast. The first men who came made signs of friendship, and were well received. They stayed two days on shore, and then enticed several young men and maidens to go with them to the shore, where they captured them and carried them to their ship. Resistance was of course offered by the men, and several were shot, also two females were shot. On hearing of this treachery, all the chiefs along the coast met in council, and agreed that, if any more white men came to the coast, the people were to retreat, and a watch was to be set on the white men, and they were to be surprised and assagied before they could shoot anybody. Seeing our shipwrecked men on the coast, the Caffres concluded that we had come on an expedition similar to that of the former visitors, and so they had attacked us. They admitted that when they found there were women among the party they hesitated, but having received the chief’s orders to attack us, they had no choice but to obey. “Now,” they said, “we must keep you always, for if you went back among white people, you would tell them we had killed your companions, and then an army of white men would come and attack us.”There was no doubt it was by a mistake that my fellow-voyagers had been killed, but when I heard the Caffres’ explanation I could not think them very wrong. We, in fact, had suffered for the sins of some slave-hunters, who might or might not have been English.I explained to the Caffres how we had been shipwrecked and had escaped on rafts, and how they would have received presents had they been kind to us, and had they forwarded us to the nearest English or Dutch town. They admitted that such might have been the case, but now, having killed the white men, they said they must keep the thing quiet. I told them, that even now, if they forwarded me and the three ladies to the Cape Colony, they would be rewarded; but they shook their heads and said, “When you go among your own people you could not help telling them we had assagied your people, then an army come here and kill us. No, we keep quiet.” It was useless my assuring them that I would not tell any of my people that the men had been assagied. The Caffres smiled and replied, “You don’t know yourself. Now you believe you not tell, but when with your own people you could not help telling. Don’t think of going away—that never be. You will by-and-by be Caffre Chief here.”All these conversations were of course carried on in the Caffre language, and I have endeavoured to give as nearly as possible the meaning in English of the various words. In consequence of hearing nothing but Caffre spoken, and also having to express all my meaning in the same language, I could now speak it as well as the Caffres themselves, and so was able to learn all the views that the Caffres had on various matters. In thinking over in after-life these days of my early experiences, I have come to the conclusion that these people were a strange mixture of common sense, very acute perceptions, and also very childish in many things. As regards what we term science they were of course completely ignorant, so much so, that, child as I was, I knew more than they did. For example, a great argument had been going on in our village once during several evenings. I had heard in my hut some of the words, and distinguished the wordinyangaused very often, this word being used to signify the moon, and also a month. A Caffre counts his age as so many moons. Thus a Caffre boy who was one hundred and twenty moons old would be nearly twelve years of age, and if he lived to be nine hundred and thirty moons old, he would be about seventy years. I have since wondered whether this was the way that the people in the East formerly counted their ages, and were therefore said to live to nine hundred years of age. For if, as it has been suggested by some modern explainers, this great age was given to the ancients in order that they might people the world, it seems that they sadly neglected their duty. For Methuselah lived one hundred and eighty-seven years before he devoted himself to this duty, and Lamech lived also one hundred and eighty-two years before he had a son. A Caffre who was one hundred and eighty-two moons old would be about fourteen years old, and as these people come to maturity very quickly he would be quite a young man.After several long arguments the men at length appealed to me, and the question was this:—“Is it the same moon that comes each month, gradually grows larger, and then gets small again? or is it a fresh moon that is born each month, gets full-grown, and then dies?”I told them it was the same moon, and they then asked me for proof, which I was quite unable to give; and so, although my statement was considered of some value, yet it did not convince the opponents of the theory about a different moon. They argued the subject during several evenings, and at the end of the discussion the result was not very dissimilar to that which occurs among a certain type of scientific men: each party remained of the same opinion with which he commenced the inquiry. From what I could learn, I found that those who asserted that it was a fresh moon born every month, had the best of the argument, and seemed to be most reasonable. There was, however, a peculiarity about these arguments which I always thought of in after years when I could compare them with the discussions and arguments in the civilised world on various questions. The Caffres always seemed to desire truth, and to argue for the purpose of eliciting it. They would admit the soundness of an opponent’s reasons, and sometimes allow that these could not be answered. They never indicated that their object was to prove themselves right and their opponents wrong, no matter what was the result.Inyati, talking to me afterwards about the moon, said, “Your white people believe it always the same moon.”“Yes,” I replied, “they know it is the same.” Inyati said, “I have often found that what is true cannot be made by words to appear to be as true as something else that is false. Talking is no good.”Finding that Inyati now talked to me on many occasions, I took the opportunity of asking him one day what had become of the things that they had taken from the men; for I knew there were some guns and other things which might be of use. He told me that most of them were buried in a hole near a kraal some miles away; and that the people were afraid of these things, thinking that they might blow up and kill them. I told Inyati there was one thing I knew of amongst these which would be of great use if we could find it, and I could show him what to do with it. I described this to him, and he then told me that this and a few other things were at his kraal, and he would show them to me. That evening he took me to his kraal, and lifting up a wicker door, he showed me several articles in a hole below. I there saw what I wanted, and took from the hole a pair of opera-glasses in a leather case. I then went with Inyati to a little hill near, and seeing about two miles off some Caffres, I asked him who they were.He said they were too far off to recognise.I then adjusted the glasses for my focus and told him the names of the Caffres, whom I knew, and then handing him the glasses showed him how to use them.I never saw greater astonishment than that of Inyati when he looked through the glasses and perceived distant objects as plainly as though they were near. He never seemed tired of looking, first at distant then at nearer objects. He asked me what I called them, and I said in English, “opera-glasses.” He shook his head at this, and then said in Caffre, “I shall call them ‘bring near.’” He went back to his kraal and seemed deep in thought, and every now and then looked at the glasses, which he preserved with the greatest care.On the following morning he assembled all the men, and had a council. He told them that I had shown him the use of a thing that was like “tagata” (witchcraft); and that this thing, though quite harmless, was wonderful. He said that people and things at a distance were instantly brought close to you, and you could almost touch them with your hand. At first the older men seemed inclined to disbelieve, but Inyati said, “What I tell you, that I can show.” There was one old man who had the reputation of being a rain-maker, and was called Amanzinina, who would not believe what Inyati told him. This old man had always disliked me, and was one of those who had expressed the wish that I should be assagied. He said that I might practise witchcraft, and that this thing which made people come near was and could be only due to witchcraft; as it was impossible to be anything else. He suggested that the glasses should be burned, and that if I were burned too it would be all the better for the tribe.Inyati answered him; but a great many of the men who were afraid of Amanzinina, agreed with him as to burning the glasses, though they said that I might be spared. At first I felt disposed to laugh at the nonsense spoken by this old man, but when I found how important his remarks were considered by the men, I was somewhat alarmed. Inyati, however, answered Amanzinina well, and said that I had nothing to do with this “bring near”; that it was made by white men, just as Caffres made assagies; that it was a thing which white men used everywhere; and that I, having seen men use it, knew what it was for, and that witchcraft had nothing to do with it. After a time the chief convinced all the men except Amanzinina, who would have nothing to do with the glasses, and would not even look through them.The astonishment shown by the men when they looked through the glasses was quite equal to that which had been displayed by Inyati: they thought it wonderful, and several of them, seeing people at a distance, put their mouth to the glasses and shouted, believing that this would make their voices heard. They could not understand why it was, that if they could see people close, by aid of the glass, they could not also make them hear. At length, however, these glasses were looked on as a valuable treasure, and Inyati never went out without them. People came from great distances to see them, and every one was equally surprised at their use.It was now the time when the crops of mealies and other corn were coming up, and a circumstance now happened which enabled me to judge of the manner in which these people, among whom I had cast my lot, would fight against an enemy. From a village about ten miles from us, news was brought that two bull-buffaloes, very savage and cunning, had taken up their quarters in some thickly wooded ravines near the corn-ground of the village. Each night these buffaloes used to come from the bush, break through the fences, and eat the young corn. This meant a famine for this kraal, for the people depend on mealies for their food during the year. Aid was wanted from our kraal and from others in order to hunt these buffaloes and to kill them. In two days the hunting party had been assembled, and consisted of about five hundred men, armed with assagies, for the knob-kerrie was no use against a buffalo. I obtained permission to join this party, and we had assembled in the evening at the distant kraal, and were to hunt on the following day.It was decided that there should be a great dance performed by the warriors before we attacked the buffaloes. There were two kinds of dances practised by these Caffres, one before a war was undertaken, the other before a hunt. The dance was performed by the men, who formed in a circle, and stood three deep. The dance consisted merely of stamping on the ground, first with one foot then with the other, keeping time to a song. The effect of about five hundred heavy feet striking the ground at the same instant was grand, and the shouts of the men became louder and louder, as their excitement increased. In the centre of the ring one or two men would occasionally dash about, quivering their assagies, and pretending to throw them; then, almost falling on the ground, they would suddenly spring in the air, dart from side to side, and rush forward making movements of stabbing an enemy. The proceedings of these men were carefully watched, for they were known as the quickest movers and fastest runners in the tribe, and their skill in dodging an assagy was such that no man ever had a chance of hitting them in the games they played with blunted assagies. The dance lasted about two hours, and we then lay down to sleep, some in the huts and others on the ground.At daybreak we all got up, and having employed a short time in sharpening our assagies, we assembled in groups to receive our orders.The buffaloes were known to be concealed in a dense ravine about two miles from the kraal. There were two parts of this ravine whence the animals could escape, and it was decided that they should be driven towards that end nearest the kraal. About one hundred men were told off to go round the top of this ravine and to enter at the far end, so as to drive the buffaloes before them. About twenty boys were placed round the top of the ravine, whose duty it was to watch the buffaloes and to give notice where they were in the bush. I was told to go with these boys, but I begged Inyati to let me go with him and to join the party who were to attack the animals when they were driven out into the open country. With a smile Inyati consented, and asked me if my assagies were sharp. I showed them to him, and having felt them he nodded his approval, and then assembling his men we marched off to our station.When we had reached the top of the ravine, we were placed in a semicircle and then concealed ourselves. A party of about a hundred men then took up their position near the top of the ravine, and their duty was to run between the buffaloes and the ravine immediately they broke cover, so as to cut off their retreat, and thus to prevent them from breaking back, and dashing through the beaters. Everything was done in silence; a wave of the arm by Inyati was sufficient for an order, his hand held upright halted the whole party. Since then I have seen English soldiers at drill, but I never saw better discipline than I saw among these Caffres. When we were all placed in the positions allotted to us, a shrill whistle was the signal that all was ready, and the men at the far end of the bush advanced, beating the bushes and making a noise so as to frighten the buffaloes, and make them retreat from the ravine in the required direction. The boys on the top of the ravine soon saw the animals moving through the bush, and signalled to us, imitating their movements. It was amusing to see how well these boys acted. Two of them pretended to be buffaloes, and when the buffaloes moved on they moved; when the buffaloes stopped and listened, the boys stopped and imitated every movement, twisting round and round, just as these animals do when alarmed.Nearer and nearer came the buffaloes, but there was not a movement among the men who were waiting for them. When the animals came near the edge of the bush they seemed to become suspicious, and we could hear them sniffing the air and snorting, though they did not move for some time. The boys did just as they saw the buffaloes do, and we thus knew all about them. Suddenly we saw the boys rush forward in our direction, and almost at the same time the buffaloes charged out of the bush. Inyati whistled shrilly, and in an instant a hundred men dashed in between the buffaloes and the ravine, and cut off their retreat, whilst the other men who had hitherto lain down sprang to their feet, in front of the animals. No time was given to the buffaloes: the men closed all round and assagies were hurled at the animals, and in a few seconds they were covered with assagies, just as a porcupine is with quills. The buffalo, however, is a powerful animal and dies hard; so, although badly wounded, they turned, one towards the ravine, and charged at the men there, the other came towards where I was. The buffalo that went towards the ravine was met by a shower of assagies, but he dashed straight on, and knocked over three or four men, and escaped into the ravine. The other, putting its head down, came at me, I suppose, because my white skin attracted his attention. The Caffres jumped right and left as he came close, and left me standing alone. The men called to me to jump, but I waited till the buffalo was within a few yards of me; I then held my heavy assagy by the wooden end, and sprang on one side so quickly that the buffalo missed me; when swinging my assagy round, I struck the animal on the hind leg just above the hock, and hamstrung it, so that it could only move on three legs. Before it could turn and charge again, the Caffres had closed round it, and had stabbed it in so many places that it slowly sank to the ground, giving a loud moan as it did so.I was greatly excited at this scene, and hurled my assagy at the animal, burying it deep in its side; and then danced about and shouted with delight as I saw it fall, the Caffres being equally pleased. From down the ravine we now heard shouts from the men, who announced that the other buffalo was down and dead. Two of the men whom the buffalo had knocked down were much hurt, but they were helped home, and in a week were quite well again; for these people recover very quickly from even most dangerous wounds.The buffaloes were quickly skinned and cut up, the meat being carried to the kraal, where fires were lighted in every hut, and the flesh roasted, and boiled in large earthen pots. The whole of the afternoon and evening was passed in feasting, whilst songs with choruses were sung. I was frequently mentioned as the young white chief, for my performance was thought highly of, the fact of hamstringing the buffalo having greatly contributed to the success of the affair, and my quickness in escaping from the buffalo’s charge being also a performance much appreciated by the Caffres.The opera-glasses which Inyati had brought with him caused the usual astonishment when shown to the people at this kraal, and a chief there offered to buy them for five cows, but Inyati was not willing to sell them, as he said there was nothing like them in the country.We returned home the next day, and I once more resumed the usual daily routine at our kraal.

There was a great change in the behaviour—of the Caffres towards me now that I had been made an Inkosana. Before this dignity had been conferred on me, there was a kind of watch kept on me; but now every Caffre, man, woman, and child, seemed to regard me as one of themselves. I was now always givenamasito drink instead ofubisi, the former being considered suitable for men, the latter for women and children. Finding myself a person of greater importance, I one day asked Inyati if I might go and see my white friends. He hesitated for some time, and at length said: “To-morrow at sunrise you may go. Inyoni will show you the way; you will reach their kraal when the sun goes down. Stay one day, then return.”

I told Inyati I would do as he told me, and on the following morning I started with Inyoni on the journey. I had never asked what had become of the men and sailors who had been saved from the wreck. At firstI did not askbecause I did not know a word of Caffre, but afterwards I did not do so because I saw that the Caffres seemed disinclined to make any answers to my questions. Now, however, I was alone with Inyoni, he told me all the details of the massacre. He told me how we had been watched for two days, and it was found that the men had firearms; so they were all killed. On my inquiring why they were killed, Inyoni told me that many moons ago some white men had come on the coast, and had landed and had carried off some men and women from a kraal; that when the Caffres had assembled to get back their friends, the white men had fired their guns at them and had killed several Caffres, and then escaped in their boats. So that the chiefs had agreed that, if ever white people came again on the coast, they were to be watched, surprised, and the men assagied. From what I afterwards learned, I believe the men who thus visited the coast were slave-hunters.

We passed several kraals on our journey, at most of which the people came out and spoke to us, and every one who saw my necklace at once addressed me as “Inkosana.” At least a dozen times Inyoni gave an account of my leopard-trap, and how we had killed this leopard, and I found myself looked at with envy by the boys and admiration by the girls, whilst both were very friendly, and usually walked with me for some distance on the journey.

The sun was several times its own diameter above the horizon when we reached a kraal in which, so Inyoni told me, one white woman was living. I entered this kraal, and Inyoni telling the head man that the chief had allowed me to come to visit the white woman, I was shown a hut and told I might go in. On entering this hut I saw Constance, who at once caught me in her arms and kissed me, expressing great delight at seeing me, as she feared I had been killed. I soon told her all that had happened to me, and that I was well-treated and not very unhappy. She listened to all I had to say, and told me she was very glad to hear so good an account, but that she was utterly miserable and wished she were dead. I tried to cheer her by giving her hopes of a better future, but she assured me it was impossible that we should ever see our friends again, and that if she did not marry one of the chief’s sons they intended to kill her. We sat talking the greater part of the night, and the next morning went for a walk, the Caffres appearing to take no notice of us, though I could see one or two boys go on the hill-tops and sit down, evidently to watch us. We sat down under the shade of some euphorbia trees and talked over our prospects. Constance could tell me nothing of Mrs Apton or her daughter; they had been taken away to some distant kraal, and for a long time I heard nothing of them. I passed the whole of my time with Constance, and promised to come and see her again; then, bidding her good-bye, I started at daybreak on my return to my own kraal.

Although I was living among a race of black people who would be deemed savages, and who had slaughtered my companions who had been shipwrecked on the coast, still I felt a sort of home-feeling on rejoining my kraal and on meeting Inyati again after only three days’ absence. Now that I knew about the male passengers and sailors having been assagied, I talked to several of the young Caffres about it; and their remarks were so sensible, and seemed to me so reasonable, that I must here repeat them.

They said that only twice had white men come on their coast. The first men who came made signs of friendship, and were well received. They stayed two days on shore, and then enticed several young men and maidens to go with them to the shore, where they captured them and carried them to their ship. Resistance was of course offered by the men, and several were shot, also two females were shot. On hearing of this treachery, all the chiefs along the coast met in council, and agreed that, if any more white men came to the coast, the people were to retreat, and a watch was to be set on the white men, and they were to be surprised and assagied before they could shoot anybody. Seeing our shipwrecked men on the coast, the Caffres concluded that we had come on an expedition similar to that of the former visitors, and so they had attacked us. They admitted that when they found there were women among the party they hesitated, but having received the chief’s orders to attack us, they had no choice but to obey. “Now,” they said, “we must keep you always, for if you went back among white people, you would tell them we had killed your companions, and then an army of white men would come and attack us.”

There was no doubt it was by a mistake that my fellow-voyagers had been killed, but when I heard the Caffres’ explanation I could not think them very wrong. We, in fact, had suffered for the sins of some slave-hunters, who might or might not have been English.

I explained to the Caffres how we had been shipwrecked and had escaped on rafts, and how they would have received presents had they been kind to us, and had they forwarded us to the nearest English or Dutch town. They admitted that such might have been the case, but now, having killed the white men, they said they must keep the thing quiet. I told them, that even now, if they forwarded me and the three ladies to the Cape Colony, they would be rewarded; but they shook their heads and said, “When you go among your own people you could not help telling them we had assagied your people, then an army come here and kill us. No, we keep quiet.” It was useless my assuring them that I would not tell any of my people that the men had been assagied. The Caffres smiled and replied, “You don’t know yourself. Now you believe you not tell, but when with your own people you could not help telling. Don’t think of going away—that never be. You will by-and-by be Caffre Chief here.”

All these conversations were of course carried on in the Caffre language, and I have endeavoured to give as nearly as possible the meaning in English of the various words. In consequence of hearing nothing but Caffre spoken, and also having to express all my meaning in the same language, I could now speak it as well as the Caffres themselves, and so was able to learn all the views that the Caffres had on various matters. In thinking over in after-life these days of my early experiences, I have come to the conclusion that these people were a strange mixture of common sense, very acute perceptions, and also very childish in many things. As regards what we term science they were of course completely ignorant, so much so, that, child as I was, I knew more than they did. For example, a great argument had been going on in our village once during several evenings. I had heard in my hut some of the words, and distinguished the wordinyangaused very often, this word being used to signify the moon, and also a month. A Caffre counts his age as so many moons. Thus a Caffre boy who was one hundred and twenty moons old would be nearly twelve years of age, and if he lived to be nine hundred and thirty moons old, he would be about seventy years. I have since wondered whether this was the way that the people in the East formerly counted their ages, and were therefore said to live to nine hundred years of age. For if, as it has been suggested by some modern explainers, this great age was given to the ancients in order that they might people the world, it seems that they sadly neglected their duty. For Methuselah lived one hundred and eighty-seven years before he devoted himself to this duty, and Lamech lived also one hundred and eighty-two years before he had a son. A Caffre who was one hundred and eighty-two moons old would be about fourteen years old, and as these people come to maturity very quickly he would be quite a young man.

After several long arguments the men at length appealed to me, and the question was this:—“Is it the same moon that comes each month, gradually grows larger, and then gets small again? or is it a fresh moon that is born each month, gets full-grown, and then dies?”

I told them it was the same moon, and they then asked me for proof, which I was quite unable to give; and so, although my statement was considered of some value, yet it did not convince the opponents of the theory about a different moon. They argued the subject during several evenings, and at the end of the discussion the result was not very dissimilar to that which occurs among a certain type of scientific men: each party remained of the same opinion with which he commenced the inquiry. From what I could learn, I found that those who asserted that it was a fresh moon born every month, had the best of the argument, and seemed to be most reasonable. There was, however, a peculiarity about these arguments which I always thought of in after years when I could compare them with the discussions and arguments in the civilised world on various questions. The Caffres always seemed to desire truth, and to argue for the purpose of eliciting it. They would admit the soundness of an opponent’s reasons, and sometimes allow that these could not be answered. They never indicated that their object was to prove themselves right and their opponents wrong, no matter what was the result.

Inyati, talking to me afterwards about the moon, said, “Your white people believe it always the same moon.”

“Yes,” I replied, “they know it is the same.” Inyati said, “I have often found that what is true cannot be made by words to appear to be as true as something else that is false. Talking is no good.”

Finding that Inyati now talked to me on many occasions, I took the opportunity of asking him one day what had become of the things that they had taken from the men; for I knew there were some guns and other things which might be of use. He told me that most of them were buried in a hole near a kraal some miles away; and that the people were afraid of these things, thinking that they might blow up and kill them. I told Inyati there was one thing I knew of amongst these which would be of great use if we could find it, and I could show him what to do with it. I described this to him, and he then told me that this and a few other things were at his kraal, and he would show them to me. That evening he took me to his kraal, and lifting up a wicker door, he showed me several articles in a hole below. I there saw what I wanted, and took from the hole a pair of opera-glasses in a leather case. I then went with Inyati to a little hill near, and seeing about two miles off some Caffres, I asked him who they were.

He said they were too far off to recognise.

I then adjusted the glasses for my focus and told him the names of the Caffres, whom I knew, and then handing him the glasses showed him how to use them.

I never saw greater astonishment than that of Inyati when he looked through the glasses and perceived distant objects as plainly as though they were near. He never seemed tired of looking, first at distant then at nearer objects. He asked me what I called them, and I said in English, “opera-glasses.” He shook his head at this, and then said in Caffre, “I shall call them ‘bring near.’” He went back to his kraal and seemed deep in thought, and every now and then looked at the glasses, which he preserved with the greatest care.

On the following morning he assembled all the men, and had a council. He told them that I had shown him the use of a thing that was like “tagata” (witchcraft); and that this thing, though quite harmless, was wonderful. He said that people and things at a distance were instantly brought close to you, and you could almost touch them with your hand. At first the older men seemed inclined to disbelieve, but Inyati said, “What I tell you, that I can show.” There was one old man who had the reputation of being a rain-maker, and was called Amanzinina, who would not believe what Inyati told him. This old man had always disliked me, and was one of those who had expressed the wish that I should be assagied. He said that I might practise witchcraft, and that this thing which made people come near was and could be only due to witchcraft; as it was impossible to be anything else. He suggested that the glasses should be burned, and that if I were burned too it would be all the better for the tribe.

Inyati answered him; but a great many of the men who were afraid of Amanzinina, agreed with him as to burning the glasses, though they said that I might be spared. At first I felt disposed to laugh at the nonsense spoken by this old man, but when I found how important his remarks were considered by the men, I was somewhat alarmed. Inyati, however, answered Amanzinina well, and said that I had nothing to do with this “bring near”; that it was made by white men, just as Caffres made assagies; that it was a thing which white men used everywhere; and that I, having seen men use it, knew what it was for, and that witchcraft had nothing to do with it. After a time the chief convinced all the men except Amanzinina, who would have nothing to do with the glasses, and would not even look through them.

The astonishment shown by the men when they looked through the glasses was quite equal to that which had been displayed by Inyati: they thought it wonderful, and several of them, seeing people at a distance, put their mouth to the glasses and shouted, believing that this would make their voices heard. They could not understand why it was, that if they could see people close, by aid of the glass, they could not also make them hear. At length, however, these glasses were looked on as a valuable treasure, and Inyati never went out without them. People came from great distances to see them, and every one was equally surprised at their use.

It was now the time when the crops of mealies and other corn were coming up, and a circumstance now happened which enabled me to judge of the manner in which these people, among whom I had cast my lot, would fight against an enemy. From a village about ten miles from us, news was brought that two bull-buffaloes, very savage and cunning, had taken up their quarters in some thickly wooded ravines near the corn-ground of the village. Each night these buffaloes used to come from the bush, break through the fences, and eat the young corn. This meant a famine for this kraal, for the people depend on mealies for their food during the year. Aid was wanted from our kraal and from others in order to hunt these buffaloes and to kill them. In two days the hunting party had been assembled, and consisted of about five hundred men, armed with assagies, for the knob-kerrie was no use against a buffalo. I obtained permission to join this party, and we had assembled in the evening at the distant kraal, and were to hunt on the following day.

It was decided that there should be a great dance performed by the warriors before we attacked the buffaloes. There were two kinds of dances practised by these Caffres, one before a war was undertaken, the other before a hunt. The dance was performed by the men, who formed in a circle, and stood three deep. The dance consisted merely of stamping on the ground, first with one foot then with the other, keeping time to a song. The effect of about five hundred heavy feet striking the ground at the same instant was grand, and the shouts of the men became louder and louder, as their excitement increased. In the centre of the ring one or two men would occasionally dash about, quivering their assagies, and pretending to throw them; then, almost falling on the ground, they would suddenly spring in the air, dart from side to side, and rush forward making movements of stabbing an enemy. The proceedings of these men were carefully watched, for they were known as the quickest movers and fastest runners in the tribe, and their skill in dodging an assagy was such that no man ever had a chance of hitting them in the games they played with blunted assagies. The dance lasted about two hours, and we then lay down to sleep, some in the huts and others on the ground.

At daybreak we all got up, and having employed a short time in sharpening our assagies, we assembled in groups to receive our orders.

The buffaloes were known to be concealed in a dense ravine about two miles from the kraal. There were two parts of this ravine whence the animals could escape, and it was decided that they should be driven towards that end nearest the kraal. About one hundred men were told off to go round the top of this ravine and to enter at the far end, so as to drive the buffaloes before them. About twenty boys were placed round the top of the ravine, whose duty it was to watch the buffaloes and to give notice where they were in the bush. I was told to go with these boys, but I begged Inyati to let me go with him and to join the party who were to attack the animals when they were driven out into the open country. With a smile Inyati consented, and asked me if my assagies were sharp. I showed them to him, and having felt them he nodded his approval, and then assembling his men we marched off to our station.

When we had reached the top of the ravine, we were placed in a semicircle and then concealed ourselves. A party of about a hundred men then took up their position near the top of the ravine, and their duty was to run between the buffaloes and the ravine immediately they broke cover, so as to cut off their retreat, and thus to prevent them from breaking back, and dashing through the beaters. Everything was done in silence; a wave of the arm by Inyati was sufficient for an order, his hand held upright halted the whole party. Since then I have seen English soldiers at drill, but I never saw better discipline than I saw among these Caffres. When we were all placed in the positions allotted to us, a shrill whistle was the signal that all was ready, and the men at the far end of the bush advanced, beating the bushes and making a noise so as to frighten the buffaloes, and make them retreat from the ravine in the required direction. The boys on the top of the ravine soon saw the animals moving through the bush, and signalled to us, imitating their movements. It was amusing to see how well these boys acted. Two of them pretended to be buffaloes, and when the buffaloes moved on they moved; when the buffaloes stopped and listened, the boys stopped and imitated every movement, twisting round and round, just as these animals do when alarmed.

Nearer and nearer came the buffaloes, but there was not a movement among the men who were waiting for them. When the animals came near the edge of the bush they seemed to become suspicious, and we could hear them sniffing the air and snorting, though they did not move for some time. The boys did just as they saw the buffaloes do, and we thus knew all about them. Suddenly we saw the boys rush forward in our direction, and almost at the same time the buffaloes charged out of the bush. Inyati whistled shrilly, and in an instant a hundred men dashed in between the buffaloes and the ravine, and cut off their retreat, whilst the other men who had hitherto lain down sprang to their feet, in front of the animals. No time was given to the buffaloes: the men closed all round and assagies were hurled at the animals, and in a few seconds they were covered with assagies, just as a porcupine is with quills. The buffalo, however, is a powerful animal and dies hard; so, although badly wounded, they turned, one towards the ravine, and charged at the men there, the other came towards where I was. The buffalo that went towards the ravine was met by a shower of assagies, but he dashed straight on, and knocked over three or four men, and escaped into the ravine. The other, putting its head down, came at me, I suppose, because my white skin attracted his attention. The Caffres jumped right and left as he came close, and left me standing alone. The men called to me to jump, but I waited till the buffalo was within a few yards of me; I then held my heavy assagy by the wooden end, and sprang on one side so quickly that the buffalo missed me; when swinging my assagy round, I struck the animal on the hind leg just above the hock, and hamstrung it, so that it could only move on three legs. Before it could turn and charge again, the Caffres had closed round it, and had stabbed it in so many places that it slowly sank to the ground, giving a loud moan as it did so.

I was greatly excited at this scene, and hurled my assagy at the animal, burying it deep in its side; and then danced about and shouted with delight as I saw it fall, the Caffres being equally pleased. From down the ravine we now heard shouts from the men, who announced that the other buffalo was down and dead. Two of the men whom the buffalo had knocked down were much hurt, but they were helped home, and in a week were quite well again; for these people recover very quickly from even most dangerous wounds.

The buffaloes were quickly skinned and cut up, the meat being carried to the kraal, where fires were lighted in every hut, and the flesh roasted, and boiled in large earthen pots. The whole of the afternoon and evening was passed in feasting, whilst songs with choruses were sung. I was frequently mentioned as the young white chief, for my performance was thought highly of, the fact of hamstringing the buffalo having greatly contributed to the success of the affair, and my quickness in escaping from the buffalo’s charge being also a performance much appreciated by the Caffres.

The opera-glasses which Inyati had brought with him caused the usual astonishment when shown to the people at this kraal, and a chief there offered to buy them for five cows, but Inyati was not willing to sell them, as he said there was nothing like them in the country.

We returned home the next day, and I once more resumed the usual daily routine at our kraal.

Chapter Five.It was nearly twelve moons after our fight with the buffaloes, that some strange Caffres came down to our village, and had several long conversations with Inyati. I soon heard what these talks were about, and I ascertained the following facts:—Considerably to the north of our village, and about five days’ journey from us, there were some high mountains called the Quathlamba Mountains; these mountains broke in spurs, and spread out like fingers of a hand till they came down to the plains. On these plains some of the tribe of our people had kraals and cattle. Within the past two moons some Bushmen had come down to the ravines and rocky precipices near these kraals, and had stolen the cattle. It was impossible to catch these Bushmen, as they could scamper up the rocks like baboons, and when they reached a position safe from the range of an assagy, they would sit and chatter at the Caffres who had followed them, hurl great stones down at them, and if near enough would discharge poisoned arrows, which were so deadly that if one hit a man he was sure to die. These Bushmen were so feared, and their attacks had become so daring, that the Caffres had come down the country to try and procure aid to drive these people away. The difficulty of punishing them was great, and Inyati pointed out that, if the Bushmen were so quick and active as to scamper up the rocks like baboons, he did not see what was to be done. These conversations used to take place in the evenings, and I listened to all that was said, and began to think of some plan by which to outwit the Bushmen. Suddenly I thought of something which I was surprised had, never occurred to me before. So on the following morning I told Inyati that, if he could help me, I thought we could drive off these Bushmen. He called me into his hut, and I then carried on with him the following conversation. I said:—“When the white men were assagied some of them had long iron instruments that we call ‘guns:’ where are they?”“Hidden.”“I know how to use them, and if you could get me two of these I would go with you and our people, and kill some of these Bushmen.”Inyati said, “Do you know how to use these things? Because once we did have a gun, and it went all to pieces, and killed the man who held it.”“He put in too much powder.”“Perhaps, but we have feared to do anything with such things since.”When in India I had often seen my father clean and load his guns, and I knew all about them. I knew too that the captain had a double-barrelled rifle, which had reached the shore on the raft. If I could procure this and some ammunition, I knew I should astonish the Bushmen if they gave me a chance. I explained to Inyati that if I could get one particular gun, I would be able to kill the Bushmen.Inyati said very little, but on the next evening he brought me the rifle and a large bag of ammunition. The rifle was rusty and dirty, so I set to work to clean it; the women being all afraid to come near the weapon, whilst the men were at first very cautious. Inyati now had faith in me, and sat down beside me whilst I explained to him the use of the weapon and how to pull the trigger. The powder was in a large flask, and was quite dry, as were also the caps; and I found forty bullets in the bag, so I had plenty of ammunition. I told Inyati that this gun would kill a man at a distance more than ten times as far as he could throw an assagy. He shook his head at this; but I asked him if I had not told him truth about the glasses, and he would find I was true about this gun.I was very anxious to go against the Bushmen, for now that I had seen the buffaloes killed, I was like a tiger that had tasted human blood, and felt a longing for such exciting scenes as those I was likely to experience, if I went against the Bushmen.Inyati sat thinking for a long time without speaking, and at length said, “We will go.” He then walked to his hut, and shortly afterwards sent messengers to call his people together, informing them that on the morrow we would start for the Quathlamba Mountains.About fifty men assembled at our kraal at daybreak on the following morning, each man armed with five assagies, and a knob-kerrie, and provided with a shield made of ox-hide. The shields might be useful against a Bushman’s arrows or against an assagy, but were useless against a bullet. We each carried a bag of Indian corn, and several boys who accompanied us also carried bags of corn. I afterwards found out that if Inyati succeeded in driving off the Bushmen, he was to receive a reward of cattle from the people he had assisted, and they were to be bound to help him in any expedition that he undertook against his enemies.Our journey was over a beautiful country well watered with little streams, and with plenty of fine trees. We found that a buck, called by the Caffres “Umseke” (the riet-bok), was plentiful here, and we surrounded and assagied two or three of these every day, and so had plenty of meat during our journey. On the fifth day we reached the nearest kraal of the tribe who were being plundered by the Bushmen. These kraals were situated on an open plain near some wooded ravines, the mountains being about five miles from them. The people received us with shouts, and gave usamasiand plenty of corn, and we then held a council of war.From the information given at this council, I learned all about the Bushmen. There was a perpendicular rock about a hundred times the height of a man, on the top of which the Bushmen would assemble and defy the Caffres; to ascend this rock there was a narrow ravine, like a cut in the mountains that only one man at a time could ascend. The Bushmen guarded this, and had large stones ready to drop on the men who came up, and their poisoned arrows to discharge from their bows, so that it was impossible to attack them there with any chance of success.The Caffres saw no means by which they could kill the Bushmen, as the rock could not be climbed, and was too high for an assagy to be thrown to the top from the plains below. I, however, thought this just the place that would be suitable for my plan; so, after the council, I told Inyati I had heard all that had been said, and everything was just as I wanted it to be. The only thing I feared was, that the Bushmen might come down from their rock and attack me in the plain; but if I had a hundred Caffres with me they would not do this.As is usual with Caffre expeditions, we started before daybreak, guided by a Caffre who knew the way; and by the time the sun had risen and the mist had cleared from off the plains, we were within sight of the Bushmen’s rock. Inyati here took out his glasses, and after looking at the rock for some time, informed us that there were ten or more Bushmen on the top of the rock looking at us. We advanced quickly till within about four throws of an assagy from them; at which distance we were told, their arrows could not reach us. The Caffres then called to the Bushmen, and asked why they killed the cattle. The Bushmen danced and yelled, and fired two or three arrows at us, all of which fell short of us by many paces. Seeing a large ant-hill a little nearer the rock, I moved up to it; and, resting my rifle on the top, aimed at the group of Bushmen on the hill. Having taken a good aim I pulled the trigger, and when the smoke of my rifle cleared away I saw a Bushman tumbling down the rock, whilst another was lying on the ground kicking, evidently badly wounded. The other Bushmen were so astonished that they gathered round the man who was on the ground, and looked at him, thus giving me another good shot. I fired again, and another man fell down the rock quite dead. The remainder of the Bushmen did not wait for anything more, but retreated at full speed, climbing up the rocks like baboons, and evidently frightened. We waited some time and then the Caffres rushed on to the two men who had fallen and stabbed them with their assagies. They were, however, quite dead, but Caffres like to make sure there is no shamming. The bows and arrows of these men were taken, and also some lion’s teeth and claws that they wore; for these little Bushmen will kill lions with their poisoned arrows, and also elephants.The Caffres then all came round me and looked at my rifle with evident signs of admiration. The distance at which I had killed the Bushmen was to them a subject of profound astonishment, and also to see that the bullet had gone completely through the men.Our return to the village was a triumphant march, the men dancing, singing, and brandishing their assagies. Inyati walked beside me carrying the rifle, and asking me questions about the gun; how often it could be fired, how far off it would kill, and how it was made. I was the great hero of the day, child as I was, and these men now looked up to me as to a chief. Our reception at the village was most enthusiastic; men, women and children danced round us, shouting and singing. Unless one had been persecuted as had these people, it would be difficult to realise the importance of such an event as killing two of their enemies. The people at this kraal assured us that the Bushmen would now desert the country. They were very superstitious, and wherever a Bushman died or was killed, that place was at once deserted, as it was considered unlucky; so they felt certain that the Bushmen would now leave that part of the country. Some of the Caffres who had been out with me described to the people at the village how I had fired, and how the Bushmen tumbled down the rock. They were capital actors, and imitated the Bushmen very well. A young ox was killed for a feast, and we had a great supper, many songs, and a large dance; and on the following day returned towards our kraal, which we reached in seven days—a longer time than we occupied on our journey from the kraal, because now we drove with us ten cows, the reward given to Inyati for his assistance.

It was nearly twelve moons after our fight with the buffaloes, that some strange Caffres came down to our village, and had several long conversations with Inyati. I soon heard what these talks were about, and I ascertained the following facts:—

Considerably to the north of our village, and about five days’ journey from us, there were some high mountains called the Quathlamba Mountains; these mountains broke in spurs, and spread out like fingers of a hand till they came down to the plains. On these plains some of the tribe of our people had kraals and cattle. Within the past two moons some Bushmen had come down to the ravines and rocky precipices near these kraals, and had stolen the cattle. It was impossible to catch these Bushmen, as they could scamper up the rocks like baboons, and when they reached a position safe from the range of an assagy, they would sit and chatter at the Caffres who had followed them, hurl great stones down at them, and if near enough would discharge poisoned arrows, which were so deadly that if one hit a man he was sure to die. These Bushmen were so feared, and their attacks had become so daring, that the Caffres had come down the country to try and procure aid to drive these people away. The difficulty of punishing them was great, and Inyati pointed out that, if the Bushmen were so quick and active as to scamper up the rocks like baboons, he did not see what was to be done. These conversations used to take place in the evenings, and I listened to all that was said, and began to think of some plan by which to outwit the Bushmen. Suddenly I thought of something which I was surprised had, never occurred to me before. So on the following morning I told Inyati that, if he could help me, I thought we could drive off these Bushmen. He called me into his hut, and I then carried on with him the following conversation. I said:—

“When the white men were assagied some of them had long iron instruments that we call ‘guns:’ where are they?”

“Hidden.”

“I know how to use them, and if you could get me two of these I would go with you and our people, and kill some of these Bushmen.”

Inyati said, “Do you know how to use these things? Because once we did have a gun, and it went all to pieces, and killed the man who held it.”

“He put in too much powder.”

“Perhaps, but we have feared to do anything with such things since.”

When in India I had often seen my father clean and load his guns, and I knew all about them. I knew too that the captain had a double-barrelled rifle, which had reached the shore on the raft. If I could procure this and some ammunition, I knew I should astonish the Bushmen if they gave me a chance. I explained to Inyati that if I could get one particular gun, I would be able to kill the Bushmen.

Inyati said very little, but on the next evening he brought me the rifle and a large bag of ammunition. The rifle was rusty and dirty, so I set to work to clean it; the women being all afraid to come near the weapon, whilst the men were at first very cautious. Inyati now had faith in me, and sat down beside me whilst I explained to him the use of the weapon and how to pull the trigger. The powder was in a large flask, and was quite dry, as were also the caps; and I found forty bullets in the bag, so I had plenty of ammunition. I told Inyati that this gun would kill a man at a distance more than ten times as far as he could throw an assagy. He shook his head at this; but I asked him if I had not told him truth about the glasses, and he would find I was true about this gun.

I was very anxious to go against the Bushmen, for now that I had seen the buffaloes killed, I was like a tiger that had tasted human blood, and felt a longing for such exciting scenes as those I was likely to experience, if I went against the Bushmen.

Inyati sat thinking for a long time without speaking, and at length said, “We will go.” He then walked to his hut, and shortly afterwards sent messengers to call his people together, informing them that on the morrow we would start for the Quathlamba Mountains.

About fifty men assembled at our kraal at daybreak on the following morning, each man armed with five assagies, and a knob-kerrie, and provided with a shield made of ox-hide. The shields might be useful against a Bushman’s arrows or against an assagy, but were useless against a bullet. We each carried a bag of Indian corn, and several boys who accompanied us also carried bags of corn. I afterwards found out that if Inyati succeeded in driving off the Bushmen, he was to receive a reward of cattle from the people he had assisted, and they were to be bound to help him in any expedition that he undertook against his enemies.

Our journey was over a beautiful country well watered with little streams, and with plenty of fine trees. We found that a buck, called by the Caffres “Umseke” (the riet-bok), was plentiful here, and we surrounded and assagied two or three of these every day, and so had plenty of meat during our journey. On the fifth day we reached the nearest kraal of the tribe who were being plundered by the Bushmen. These kraals were situated on an open plain near some wooded ravines, the mountains being about five miles from them. The people received us with shouts, and gave usamasiand plenty of corn, and we then held a council of war.

From the information given at this council, I learned all about the Bushmen. There was a perpendicular rock about a hundred times the height of a man, on the top of which the Bushmen would assemble and defy the Caffres; to ascend this rock there was a narrow ravine, like a cut in the mountains that only one man at a time could ascend. The Bushmen guarded this, and had large stones ready to drop on the men who came up, and their poisoned arrows to discharge from their bows, so that it was impossible to attack them there with any chance of success.

The Caffres saw no means by which they could kill the Bushmen, as the rock could not be climbed, and was too high for an assagy to be thrown to the top from the plains below. I, however, thought this just the place that would be suitable for my plan; so, after the council, I told Inyati I had heard all that had been said, and everything was just as I wanted it to be. The only thing I feared was, that the Bushmen might come down from their rock and attack me in the plain; but if I had a hundred Caffres with me they would not do this.

As is usual with Caffre expeditions, we started before daybreak, guided by a Caffre who knew the way; and by the time the sun had risen and the mist had cleared from off the plains, we were within sight of the Bushmen’s rock. Inyati here took out his glasses, and after looking at the rock for some time, informed us that there were ten or more Bushmen on the top of the rock looking at us. We advanced quickly till within about four throws of an assagy from them; at which distance we were told, their arrows could not reach us. The Caffres then called to the Bushmen, and asked why they killed the cattle. The Bushmen danced and yelled, and fired two or three arrows at us, all of which fell short of us by many paces. Seeing a large ant-hill a little nearer the rock, I moved up to it; and, resting my rifle on the top, aimed at the group of Bushmen on the hill. Having taken a good aim I pulled the trigger, and when the smoke of my rifle cleared away I saw a Bushman tumbling down the rock, whilst another was lying on the ground kicking, evidently badly wounded. The other Bushmen were so astonished that they gathered round the man who was on the ground, and looked at him, thus giving me another good shot. I fired again, and another man fell down the rock quite dead. The remainder of the Bushmen did not wait for anything more, but retreated at full speed, climbing up the rocks like baboons, and evidently frightened. We waited some time and then the Caffres rushed on to the two men who had fallen and stabbed them with their assagies. They were, however, quite dead, but Caffres like to make sure there is no shamming. The bows and arrows of these men were taken, and also some lion’s teeth and claws that they wore; for these little Bushmen will kill lions with their poisoned arrows, and also elephants.

The Caffres then all came round me and looked at my rifle with evident signs of admiration. The distance at which I had killed the Bushmen was to them a subject of profound astonishment, and also to see that the bullet had gone completely through the men.

Our return to the village was a triumphant march, the men dancing, singing, and brandishing their assagies. Inyati walked beside me carrying the rifle, and asking me questions about the gun; how often it could be fired, how far off it would kill, and how it was made. I was the great hero of the day, child as I was, and these men now looked up to me as to a chief. Our reception at the village was most enthusiastic; men, women and children danced round us, shouting and singing. Unless one had been persecuted as had these people, it would be difficult to realise the importance of such an event as killing two of their enemies. The people at this kraal assured us that the Bushmen would now desert the country. They were very superstitious, and wherever a Bushman died or was killed, that place was at once deserted, as it was considered unlucky; so they felt certain that the Bushmen would now leave that part of the country. Some of the Caffres who had been out with me described to the people at the village how I had fired, and how the Bushmen tumbled down the rock. They were capital actors, and imitated the Bushmen very well. A young ox was killed for a feast, and we had a great supper, many songs, and a large dance; and on the following day returned towards our kraal, which we reached in seven days—a longer time than we occupied on our journey from the kraal, because now we drove with us ten cows, the reward given to Inyati for his assistance.

Chapter Six.A few days after our return from the expedition against the Bushmen, Inyati called me one morning to his hut, in which were two of his counsellors. He then told me that I was raised to the rank of a counsellor, and that he intended to give me three of the cows that he had received from the Caffres, for freeing them of the Bushmen. He said that Caffres, as young as I was, were never made counsellors or had the privileges of men; but the two things I had done, viz., trapping the leopard and shooting the Bushmen, were so extraordinary that the tribe had agreed that I was to be made a chief. The rank which a chief holds among these people is of more importance than any civilised men could understand. The rank gave me command and authority over all men who were not chiefs. I could order them about, make them do work for me, whilst I need do nothing. I thanked Inyati for what he had done, and said I hoped to again show him what my rifle would do, in case there was any occasion for it, and that I believed I could kill an elephant or a lion with it, as easily as I had killed the Bushmen. He replied that “we should see.”On leaving Inyati I took my assagies and walked out to the hill where my late companions Inyoni and Tembile were watching the cattle, and sat down with them, telling them of my having been made a counsellor and chief. These boys were quite excited at the news and very pleased, and we sat talking some time, till we noticed that the cattle were alarmed by something and seemed uneasy. We ran up to them, and then saw quite a small calf on the ground, and something shiny all round it. In an instant I saw it was an immense snake, as thick as my body. Seizing an assagy, I drove it into the snake’s head, and then, withdrawing it, stabbed it again in the body. The snake uncoiled itself, and came at me; but Inyoni, coming behind it, threw an assagy at it and pinned it to the ground, whilst Tembile drove another spear into it. Seeing my chance, I went close to the monster and stabbed it in the head two or three times, and thus killed it. As soon as we saw it was dead we cut some sticks, sharpened the ends of these, and pegged the snake straight on the ground. It was then longer than the three of us, and was a giant among snakes. The Caffre boys told me there were several such snakes about, and that they would kill and swallow a calf. They knew no other name for it than “Inyoka m’culu” (“the big snake.”) They said these snakes ate only about twice each moon, and after eating slept for many days, and were sometimes then killed by wild pigs and leopards. They said that, many months ago, a Caffre boy was sleeping near here, and whilst asleep one of these snakes came to him, coiled round him and killed him. Before the snake could swallow him, some men came to the place and killed the snake, but the boy had been dead some minutes before they arrived. They described how this snake attacked anything. It first crawled slowly along the ground till near its prey, or waited in long grass, or in bushes, till some animal or bird came near. When close to the animal it wished to capture, the snake lunged rapidly at it, seized it with its teeth and dragged it to the ground, at the same time coiling round the animal and compressing it in its folds. Even a riet-bok could be thus killed by the snake. The reptile then slowly gorges its prey, and remains torpid many days.Although this large snake was a terrible creature to look at, it was not as dangerous as several other snakes that were common near our village. The most dangerous of these was the puff-adder, which the Caffres called “m’namba.” This snake I have seen about four feet long, and as thick as a stout arm. It is a sluggish, dull animal, very brilliantly coloured, its body being speckled yellow and black, which makes it look like dead leaves, so that you might tread on it without seeing it, unless you were always on the look-out. This snake has a practice of throwing itself backward and striking with its poisonous fangs anything that is following it. To be bitten by them’nambais certain death, no case ever having occurred of a man or any cattle having been bitten and having lived after it. Our old rain-maker had some little bits of wood that he calledmutt, some of which, he said, would prevent a man from dying when he had been bitten by a snake; but I never heard of a cure by this means. Some of his medicine was, however, wonderful in its effects, as I once experienced. I was very ill and had a bad fever; so old Amanzi came to me and gave me a small pill of wood, which I bit and ate. In a few minutes I broke out in a perspiration, and then went to sleep, and slept for nearly the whole of the sun’s course round the earth (a whole day), and when I woke I was quite well. Caffres are very seldom ill: they eat so little meat, are so much out of doors, and take so much exercise, that they rarely suffer from bad health. The climate also is very healthy, so that the people were strong and robust.It was about two moons after our expedition against the Bushmen, that I was out one morning with Tembile and Inyoni, on some hills near, in search of riet-bok, when we saw two strange Caffres coming towards us. These Caffres, we knew by the “esikoko” (the ring on the top of their heads), came from the east, near the bay of Natal. Having given them the usual salutation, we said, “Chela pela s’indaba” (“tell us the news”), when they told us that a large herd of elephants was coming down the country, and had done much damage to the corn-gardens of the Caffres on the way, breaking down the fences, eating and treading down the corn. They said there were two bull-elephants, very savage, in the herd, who ran after any man they saw or scented; and that three Caffres, near the Umlass river, had been killed by these elephants.A herd of elephants visiting a country where the inhabitants are as defenceless as were these Caffres, is a serious matter. Assagies were little or no use against elephants; and if a regular attack was organised against them, in the same manner as we had attacked the buffaloes, we should probably have ten or twenty men killed, and after all not kill the elephant. The corn-gardens, on which we depended for our store of food, might be destroyed; and then there might be, if not starvation, at least great scarcity of grain. So that to prevent the elephants from coming our way was considered most important. There was a great council held the evening after the news was brought; and it was decided that we should send some men towards the east, to find out when the elephants came near us; and on their approach we were to light fires in their track and make noises, so as to try and make them travel in another direction. To turn them back would not have been a proceeding pleasant to the Caffres east of us, but yet we should have liked it, as it would rid us of the animals.There was nothing talked about during the next week besides the elephants, and I learned much about these animals and their habits from the Caffres. These elephants, I was told, came down the country each year: they did so when the umbrella acacia had its young branches and shoots; for on this tree and several others the elephants fed. In its wild state the elephant lives almost entirely on the branches of trees. These it breaks off with its trunk, eats the smaller branches, and grinds the larger to pieces so as to extract the juice from them. It is at night that the elephant usually travels and feeds: by day, especially if it be very hot, he remains quiet in the bush—so quiet, that you might be within fifty yards of a herd of elephants and not know they were there. If, however, a man disturbs the herd when they are thus at rest, the animals will very likely charge at him, and hunt him through the bush just as a pack of hounds will hunt a fox. At this time of year the elephant bulls, cows, and calves, all keep together; but later on the bulls separate and sometimes travel alone. When thus alone, the bulls are very savage; and if two bulls meet in the bush a terrible battle ensues. The Caffres consider that a bull-elephant is a match for 100 Caffres, and even then the animal may get the best of the fight.I was much interested in these accounts of the elephants, and began to think how I could manage to kill an elephant; for it was my ambition to do so.The Caffre name for an elephant isinglovu, and the wordsinglovuandama inglovuwere frequently heard during the next few days; for the expected arrival of the elephants was a most serious incident in the daily life of these people; and forty moons ago the elephants had suddenly travelled into this country and had destroyed all the crops of the Caffres near this village. It was all done in one night, and on the morning the people discovered that their yearly crop of corn had vanished. The season was too far advanced to sow again; consequently they were compelled to buy corn and to purchase it with cattle. So that their loss had been very severe.Taking the first opportunity of speaking to Inyati, I inquired what he intended to do in order to protect his fields and gardens. He replied that the only thing to do was to light fires round the gardens, and to assemble and shout. I inquired why he did not dig a great ditch round his gardens; but he replied that it would take too long, and that the elephants could manage to cross almost any ditch that could be dug.He also told me that sometimes pits had been dug for elephants; and some years ago an elephant fell into one of these pits, and had been helped out by other elephants; so that it was no use attempting anything against them, as they were as clever as men. That night I thought over every plan by which I could kill an elephant, and at length an idea occurred to me; but I kept my thoughts to myself, as I intended to try by myself if I could not kill one of these enormous animals. Great preparations were made by the Caffres for the arrival of the elephants, quantities of dead wood were gathered in heaps in readiness for large fires to be made when the animals approached our gardens. Several pits were also dug and covered with a hurdle, on the top of which earth was thrown and grass carefully laid. These pits were placed in the old paths of the elephants, because it was known that these animals always followed in their old tracks whenever they revisited a country, and though these tracks were overgrown, or obliterated, yet the instinct, or knowledge of locality of the elephants was so great, that they would travel miles through the bush, and then come out into the open at exactly the same place at which they had come out of the bush some thirty or forty moons previously.The Caffres told me that the elephants did not understand any man getting up into a tree; that if they were chased by an elephant they climbed a tree, and, although this tree was not big enough to place them beyond reach of an elephant, yet the animal never seemed to think of pulling the man out of it, or of pulling down the tree. This information was of great value to me in carrying out a plan that I was forming in my head.It was about half a moon’s time after we first heard that elephants were coming our way, that we discovered their traces within five miles of our village. There was a marsh about five miles from us, formed by the overflow of one of the rivers, and in this marsh the elephants had rolled in the mud, and had then returned to the bush. In this bush there were several large trees, hung over by creeping plants and very easily climbed. Having followed the track of the elephants into the bush for a short distance, I noticed a tree that was covered with mud about the stem, and as high as I could reach with my assagy. This was caused by the elephants rubbing themselves against the tree after they had rolled in the mud.Although the elephant is a thick-skinned animal yet he is much worried in hot weather by flies and mosquitoes. So, to escape in some measure from these pests, he rolls in the mud, and this mud sticking to his hide, forms a coating over him, which defends him to some extent from the mosquitoes. When he passes a thick tree he leans against this and rubs himself, and thus rids himself of a portion of the mud, and spreads it more evenly over his body.Having selected a tree, I thought at first that I would tell Inyati what I intended doing, and would ask him to accompany me when I carried out my plans. On second thoughts, however, it occurred to me that if I were successful and Inyati were with me, I should do everything, but he would get the honour, because he was a man, I only a boy. So I asked Inyoni and Tembile if they would accompany me in an attempt to kill an elephant.They replied that to go near these elephants was very dangerous, and that perhaps I did not know how very likely I was to be killed, so that they hardly liked to go for fear I was trying to do too much. I said they might trust me, as I had thought a great deal about what was to be done, and that by my plan there would be very little danger.From information I had gained from the Caffres, I learned that the elephants usually drank every other night, and that unless disturbed they would drink at the same pools of water. I hoped, therefore, that if I climbed the large tree that I before mentioned, I might during the night or early morning, find the elephants under this tree, when I should have a chance of trying my plan upon them.My plan was as follows:—The Bushmen that I had shot were armed with a bow and two kinds of poisoned arrows. One kind were made of reeds with a bone end, and were used for shooting small game; the other arrows were stronger, and had a barbed iron end, covered with poison. The barbed end fitted into a stout reed out of which it could be easily pulled. The reason for this arrangement was, that if the arrow struck any large animal such as a lion or a buffalo, the lion would scratch at the arrow and pull it out, and the buffalo in rushing through the bush might do the same. If, however, the reed end of the arrow were pulled, or rubbed off from the animal, the barb containing the poison would remain in its body, and so enable this poison to enter the circulation of the animal, and eventually to cause its death.If I climbed a tree, and the elephants came underneath it, I could fire an arrow into the back of any one I selected, and by this means I hoped to kill one, if not more elephants. I explained all this to Inyoni and Tembile, and they agreed with me that it was a very good plan and likely to succeed. So having obtained the arrows and a bow, we three started for the tree when the sun was two hands’-breadth above the horizon, and was going down. Before we entered the bush we walked in the wettest parts of the marsh, so that our feet and legs might be covered with mud, when we should not leave any scent from our tracks; for the elephant is very keen-scented, and would avoid any place where the scent of a man was strong. These elephants, however, were not much afraid of man, because in this part of the country guns were not used against them, and they were accustomed to see men run away from them. So that the elephants had it all their own way.We climbed the tree without difficulty, and having broken off the branches that intercepted my view, I seated myself on a stout branch, high enough to be beyond the reach of an elephant’s trunk. Inyoni and Tembile were close beside me, and held the case containing the poisoned arrows. It was nearly full moon, but clouds occasionally made it rather dark in the bush, though not so dark as to prevent me from seeing anything beneath me.The night came on, and the moon had gone over about half its course, when we heard a branch broken at some distance from us; and shortly after, the bushes made a rustling noise as though a gust of wind had shaken them; and then I saw something white and shining, and around this white object loomed a black mass. I almost immediately recognised the white object as the tusks of an enormous elephant, and the animal itself was the black mass. I took one of my arrows from Tembile, and fitted it to the bow, and waited for this elephant to come close to me. I was acquainted with the elephant in India, and was not surprised to find how quietly it walked in the bush: its steps made no noise, and the only sound audible was the slight rustling of the leaves as the animal moved along through the bush, and an occasional blow through its trunk as it sniffed the air around.Careful as we had been to cover our feet with mud, still we must have left some scent; for the elephant came on very slowly, blowing through its trunk and shaking its great ears as it listened for some sound. At last it strode forward and came exactly beneath me, and, aiming at its back just clear of the backbone, I discharged one of my arrows with all my force. Immediately the elephant felt the prick of the arrow it gave a sharp cry and moved rapidly forward. It then stood still, listening, and apparently watching for some enemy, but it could not see us in the tree. After a short time it gave another and different cry, and immediately several other elephants, some large, some very small, shuffled along under the tree. One of these was a very large elephant with great tusks, and as it passed I sent an arrow into its back, which caused it to cry out just as the first had done. We counted about forty elephants in the herd, among which were three very large bull-elephants with large tusks. The herd went through the bush to the watering-place in the marsh, but did not return by the same path that they had followed on going to the marsh. So we did not see them as they came back.As soon as it was light we descended from the tree, and found ourselves very stiff after sitting so long on the branches. After moving about a little we got all right, and then agreed that we should follow the trail of the two elephants that I had hit with my poisoned arrows.The first thing to be done was to examine the feet-marks of these two elephants. Now the under part of the foot of an elephant is not smooth, but is marked by several small cracks; consequently when the elephant treads on soft ground, it leaves a kind of plan or map of its foot. The plans of no two elephants’ feet are exactly alike, so that when you have once studied the plan of a particular foot, you can recognise the footprint when you see it in another place. It is just the same with the inside of the thumb and top joint of each person’s finger. The grain of the skin makes a sort of pattern, and it rarely happens that this pattern of each finger is the same; and it still more rarely happens that the fingers of two people are alike. Having examined several good impressions of the two elephants’ feet, we went quickly out of the bush, walked along the edge of the marsh, and then entered the bush again at the place where the elephants had re-entered it. It was easy to follow the elephants along the path they had made as they first entered the bush, for along this they walked one after the other; but when we had gone some distance into the bush, we found that the elephants had separated, some going one way, some another. They had also stopped to feed, and had broken off some very large branches from their favourite trees. We now set to work to follow the footprints of the two elephants that I had struck with the arrows. It was very difficult at first, as the ground was very hard, and covered with dead leaves; so that we could not obtain a good impression of the feet for some time, and we were puzzled at first. At length we found an ant-bear’s hole in the ground, and near this the elephants had trodden on the loose earth, and we then recognised the footprints of the largest elephant that I had hit. We followed this elephant very cautiously, for he had separated himself from the others—a sign, as my companions said, that “Inglovu efar” (the elephant was ill), especially as it was evident he had not eaten, there being no branches broken along his track. After following the track during about a quarter of the day, we came so close to the elephant that we could hear him. Sometimes he would make a low rumbling sound, at others he would blow through his trunk, and then knock his tusks against the stem of a tree. All these acts were indications of his being very uneasy, and I hoped the poisoned arrow had begun to do its work. We sat down in the bush listening to the elephant, and ate some of our corn; for I had determined to follow this elephant for days, if possible, in order to find whether he died or lived. The elephant stood quiet in the bush about as long as it took the sun to move ten times its own diameter in the sky, and then it again moved slowly forward, selecting the densest parts of the bush to move through. About every hundred paces it stopped, and remained quiet for a little time, and then moved slowly on again. All these proceedings delighted my Caffre companions, who declared the elephant was very sick. During the whole of the day we followed this elephant, and when the night came we ascended a tree, and slept a little; but as we could hear a leopard calling in the bush, and several bush-pigs were under the tree, we were mostly on the watch. The night was fine, though there was a heavy dew; and though we felt it very cold we did not like to go down on the ground to light a fire for fear of the leopard. As soon as it was light enough to distinguish the tracks, we again followed our elephant. He had travelled during the night, but had gone very slowly; and we saw some marks on the stem of a large tree that showed the elephant had leaned against this, as though he could scarcely stand.We had moved through the bush very quietly and slowly, stopping every now and then to listen, and also to look all round us; for if we had come on this elephant very suddenly he might have charged us, and, before we could have escaped, he might have caught us and probably killed one of us. Tembile told me that when an elephant caught a man, he pushed him to the ground with his trunk, and then either knelt on him or thrust his tusks into him, and also would push him down and get him between his front and hind feet, and kick him backwards and forwards till he killed him. So, with this description of the elephant’s proceedings, which I afterwards found was quite correct, we thought it best to be very cautious in our approach to the animal.The sun had risen its highest in the sky, when we sat down to rest and to listen; for we knew that we were close to the elephant, as the footprints were quite fresh. We talked in whispers and avoided any noise, whilst we were on the alert for any sound that should indicate the whereabouts of the elephant. As we sat quietly thus waiting, Inyoni pointed upwards, and gave a grunt of delight: we looked up and saw a vulture slowly circling in the sky and nearly above us. “Elephant going to die,” said Inyoni; “vulture knows it.” We immediately followed on the elephant’s tracks, and, after advancing about two hundred paces, we heard a noise in front of us, and saw the elephant lying on its side, whilst every now and then it swung its trunk about and struck the bushes, thus making the noise we had heard. The elephant was dying, its vast frame overpowered by the subtle poison of the Bushman’s arrow. We kept at a short distance from the animal and watched it, as it gradually got weaker and weaker, and at length lay motionless. We then went close up to it, and found that it really was dead. It was a monster with great tusks as big round as my thigh, and as it lay on the ground it was far higher than I was as I stood up.“The other elephant must be dead too,” I said, “for I hit that also with an arrow.”“Yes,” replied my companions, “and we shall find that too: perhaps vultures will show us where it is, if we watch.”We now agreed that Tembile should go as quickly as he could to our village, and call all the people to come and cut up the elephant, whilst Inyoni and I kept watch near it. So Tembile started off, whilst we who remained agreed to sleep turn and turn about, as we were both very tired.I had a good sleep, and then Inyoni lay down whilst I kept watch. I could not keep my eyes from the dead elephant which lay a few paces from us. It looked such an enormous creature, that I could hardly believe its death had been caused by so trifling a wound as that given by the small arrow; but the poison used by the Bushmen is powerful beyond belief, and they kill all animals with their arrows.As I sat listening for any sounds of the approaching Caffres, I heard a slight crack in the bush, then another and a louder crack; and I knew these noises must be caused by elephants, for the Caffres glide through the bush without making any noise. I awoke Inyoni, and we were soon convinced that the elephants were approaching us. My companion was alarmed, as he seemed to think the elephants were hunting us in order to revenge themselves on us. We crept through the bush to a large tree, and climbed this quickly, getting up so high that no elephant could reach us.We had reached our place of safety, when we saw the first elephant approaching us: this was a cow, and it was following the track of the bull that was now dead. After this cow came about forty other elephants of various sizes. They came along with a sort of shuffling gait, stopping every now and then to listen and sniff the air, and then to move forward again. When they came to the spot where we had sat down, they smelt the ground, and then raising their trunks sniffed all round. Their attention, however, was soon attracted to the dead elephant, which they approached and touched with their trunks, several of them uttering sharp cries as though they wished to wake him. After a few minutes, however, they seemed to know that he was dead, as they moved away from him and stood looking at him, whilst they flapped their great ears and seemed very uneasy. Suddenly, as though suspicious of danger, the large cow-elephant uttered a shrill trumpet and dashed off through the bush, recklessly smashing the small trees and branches in her course. She was followed by the whole herd, and we could hear them as they forced their way through the underwood, the sounds becoming fainter and less audible until all was again quiet.We remained in our tree, for we could not tell whether more elephants might not come, and on the ground we were in danger. All was quiet, however, for a long time, until we heard the slightest movement of some leaves; and then we saw Tembile, followed by Inyati and all the men and boys of our village. We whistled to them, and, descending the tree, told them what we had seen. We talked in whispers and then went up to the dead elephant and examined it. The reed portion of my arrow had been broken off, but the barb containing the poison was buried deep in the elephant’s flesh, and thus the poison had circulated rapidly and had caused the monster’s death.Inyati with his assagy at once cut out this barb and a large portion of the flesh round it, and he then said we might safely eat the remainder of the animal, which would not be affected by the poison.A scene was then commenced which I shall remember to my last day. About twenty Caffres set to work at the elephant, cutting the flesh off, and piling it in heaps near the animal, by the aid of hatchets; the tusks were cut out of the elephant’s jaws, and were so heavy that one man could only just lift one. It took a comparatively short time to cut the animal to pieces, and to take off all its flesh, which was then divided into portions, the boys being given small weights to carry, whilst the men took larger and heavier weights. We then commenced our march through the bush, and before sunset we reached our village, at which we were received with shouts of rejoicing by the old men and females. Notice had been sent to the next village that another elephant was supposed to be dead, and the men of that village had watched the vultures, and had succeeded in finding the second elephant lying dead in the bush, and had cut this one up in the same manner as we had done with the first elephant I had killed. Elephant’s flesh, although tough and unsavoury, is still eaten greedily by the Caffres. They are so fond of their cattle, and like to see a large herd near their kraals, that they will not kill an animal unless on some special occasion, such as a marriage, or a victory; so that a feast of flesh is a rare treat, and there is not usually any complaint about the toughness or want of flavour of the meat. As it was usual to have a great dance and general feast when any such event as slaying an elephant had occurred, invitations were sent to all the kraals near, to invite the neighbours to partake of the elephant’s flesh.Before the evening on which the feast was to occur, there had assembled nearly all the Caffres from ten miles round. There were some fine fellows among them, several young men six feet high, and as active as leopards, who could run ten miles without stopping, and who could walk from sunrise till sunset without tiring. They all brought their assagies, and shields, as well as their knob-kerries, and were dressed in their dancing dresses.News was also brought us about the elephants. There was now no fear of their destroying the gardens, as they had again taken up their residence in the forests about Natal. This was good news to all the Caffres about us, and was celebrated by one of the largest dances I had ever seen. There were more than a thousand men assembled, all in full war-costume, each with a shield, a knob-kerrie, and five assagies. They danced and ate, and danced again and ate again, during the whole night. To me was given the honour and glory of having killed the elephants, and I had to enter the centre of the ring of men, and describe and act the whole scene. I told how we climbed the tree; how I heard the elephants coming; how I sent my arrow first into one then into the other elephant; how these elephants paid no attention to so small a thing as an arrow, fired by me, a boy; but how this arrow was stronger than the elephant, and at last killed him. I went through all the movements of creeping through the bush on the track of the elephant, sitting down to listen, and at length seeing the elephant. I then lay on the ground just as did the elephant, and swung my arm about to imitate the movements of the animal’s trunk, and at length died just as did the elephant.The shouts and dancing after this performance were of the most exciting description, and lasted for a long time. When, suddenly, a very old chief came into the centre of the circle, and raising his arm to command silence, spoke in a loud clear voice words of which the following is a translation:—“My people, we have been delivered from the elephants; the elephants that have often destroyed our corn, and brought us to starvation. And how have we been delivered? Not by two hundred warriors armed with assagies, many of whom were killed by the elephants; not by digging holes, and the elephants tumbling into them; but there have been two large elephants killed by our white companion who came out of the sea. He alone thought out of his own head how to kill the elephants, and though very young, has the mind of an experienced chief and the courage of a warrior. We have held a council and have decided that he be from this time forth a chief, and that he be called ‘Umkunkinglovu.’ What say you, men?”A tremendous shout was given by the assembled crowd at the termination of this speech; and then one of the oldest warriors came into the ring, and placed round my neck a necklace made out of leopards’ claws, whilst all the men called out “Inkosi!” The dancing and feasting were then continued till the first sign of daylight appeared, when we all retired to our kraals to rest.On the following morning I met the old warrior who had put the necklace on me, and sat down talking to him. He was very anxious to hear where I had come from, and was much interested in the accounts I gave him of India. He was puzzled to know how it was possible that our ships found their way over the sea. There were no paths, he said, and the waves were always altering their shape, so that he could not tell how they got on. I told him that the men found their way by the sun and stars, but this he could not comprehend. After some time I asked him to tell me all he knew about his own people, and where they came from. He thought for some time, and then gave me the following account. Spreading his two hands on the ground he lifted the little finger of his left hand and said, “That me.” He then raised the next finger and said, “That my father.” He then raised the next and said, “That his father;” and so he went on, to the thumb of the left hand, giving father after father. “All these lived here,” he said. Then he raised the thumb of his right hand, and said, “That father lived in Zulu country, and quarrelled with great chief there, and came down here.”“But how did those other fathers live?” I enquired.He raised four more fingers, and pointing to the last said, “That father live other side of the sun.”By this, I have since learned that he meant the other side of the equator, or up near Somali.“That father and all his people have great fight; too many people there, so they come down slowly, and at last live in Zulu country. Those fathers had strange animals that they used to ride on, and which went as fast as an ostrich, but all these died as they came down country.”I understood from this that he meant his people formerly owned horses.“Then,” he continued, “we break up, some stop one place, some another—we come here.”The old chief thus made out ten fathers, and, taking four generations for a hundred, it made out that, about 250 years previously, the Caffres must have resided not far from Nubia.Two days after our feast all the Caffre visitors had gone home, and we had settled down again to our usual quiet life.

A few days after our return from the expedition against the Bushmen, Inyati called me one morning to his hut, in which were two of his counsellors. He then told me that I was raised to the rank of a counsellor, and that he intended to give me three of the cows that he had received from the Caffres, for freeing them of the Bushmen. He said that Caffres, as young as I was, were never made counsellors or had the privileges of men; but the two things I had done, viz., trapping the leopard and shooting the Bushmen, were so extraordinary that the tribe had agreed that I was to be made a chief. The rank which a chief holds among these people is of more importance than any civilised men could understand. The rank gave me command and authority over all men who were not chiefs. I could order them about, make them do work for me, whilst I need do nothing. I thanked Inyati for what he had done, and said I hoped to again show him what my rifle would do, in case there was any occasion for it, and that I believed I could kill an elephant or a lion with it, as easily as I had killed the Bushmen. He replied that “we should see.”

On leaving Inyati I took my assagies and walked out to the hill where my late companions Inyoni and Tembile were watching the cattle, and sat down with them, telling them of my having been made a counsellor and chief. These boys were quite excited at the news and very pleased, and we sat talking some time, till we noticed that the cattle were alarmed by something and seemed uneasy. We ran up to them, and then saw quite a small calf on the ground, and something shiny all round it. In an instant I saw it was an immense snake, as thick as my body. Seizing an assagy, I drove it into the snake’s head, and then, withdrawing it, stabbed it again in the body. The snake uncoiled itself, and came at me; but Inyoni, coming behind it, threw an assagy at it and pinned it to the ground, whilst Tembile drove another spear into it. Seeing my chance, I went close to the monster and stabbed it in the head two or three times, and thus killed it. As soon as we saw it was dead we cut some sticks, sharpened the ends of these, and pegged the snake straight on the ground. It was then longer than the three of us, and was a giant among snakes. The Caffre boys told me there were several such snakes about, and that they would kill and swallow a calf. They knew no other name for it than “Inyoka m’culu” (“the big snake.”) They said these snakes ate only about twice each moon, and after eating slept for many days, and were sometimes then killed by wild pigs and leopards. They said that, many months ago, a Caffre boy was sleeping near here, and whilst asleep one of these snakes came to him, coiled round him and killed him. Before the snake could swallow him, some men came to the place and killed the snake, but the boy had been dead some minutes before they arrived. They described how this snake attacked anything. It first crawled slowly along the ground till near its prey, or waited in long grass, or in bushes, till some animal or bird came near. When close to the animal it wished to capture, the snake lunged rapidly at it, seized it with its teeth and dragged it to the ground, at the same time coiling round the animal and compressing it in its folds. Even a riet-bok could be thus killed by the snake. The reptile then slowly gorges its prey, and remains torpid many days.

Although this large snake was a terrible creature to look at, it was not as dangerous as several other snakes that were common near our village. The most dangerous of these was the puff-adder, which the Caffres called “m’namba.” This snake I have seen about four feet long, and as thick as a stout arm. It is a sluggish, dull animal, very brilliantly coloured, its body being speckled yellow and black, which makes it look like dead leaves, so that you might tread on it without seeing it, unless you were always on the look-out. This snake has a practice of throwing itself backward and striking with its poisonous fangs anything that is following it. To be bitten by them’nambais certain death, no case ever having occurred of a man or any cattle having been bitten and having lived after it. Our old rain-maker had some little bits of wood that he calledmutt, some of which, he said, would prevent a man from dying when he had been bitten by a snake; but I never heard of a cure by this means. Some of his medicine was, however, wonderful in its effects, as I once experienced. I was very ill and had a bad fever; so old Amanzi came to me and gave me a small pill of wood, which I bit and ate. In a few minutes I broke out in a perspiration, and then went to sleep, and slept for nearly the whole of the sun’s course round the earth (a whole day), and when I woke I was quite well. Caffres are very seldom ill: they eat so little meat, are so much out of doors, and take so much exercise, that they rarely suffer from bad health. The climate also is very healthy, so that the people were strong and robust.

It was about two moons after our expedition against the Bushmen, that I was out one morning with Tembile and Inyoni, on some hills near, in search of riet-bok, when we saw two strange Caffres coming towards us. These Caffres, we knew by the “esikoko” (the ring on the top of their heads), came from the east, near the bay of Natal. Having given them the usual salutation, we said, “Chela pela s’indaba” (“tell us the news”), when they told us that a large herd of elephants was coming down the country, and had done much damage to the corn-gardens of the Caffres on the way, breaking down the fences, eating and treading down the corn. They said there were two bull-elephants, very savage, in the herd, who ran after any man they saw or scented; and that three Caffres, near the Umlass river, had been killed by these elephants.

A herd of elephants visiting a country where the inhabitants are as defenceless as were these Caffres, is a serious matter. Assagies were little or no use against elephants; and if a regular attack was organised against them, in the same manner as we had attacked the buffaloes, we should probably have ten or twenty men killed, and after all not kill the elephant. The corn-gardens, on which we depended for our store of food, might be destroyed; and then there might be, if not starvation, at least great scarcity of grain. So that to prevent the elephants from coming our way was considered most important. There was a great council held the evening after the news was brought; and it was decided that we should send some men towards the east, to find out when the elephants came near us; and on their approach we were to light fires in their track and make noises, so as to try and make them travel in another direction. To turn them back would not have been a proceeding pleasant to the Caffres east of us, but yet we should have liked it, as it would rid us of the animals.

There was nothing talked about during the next week besides the elephants, and I learned much about these animals and their habits from the Caffres. These elephants, I was told, came down the country each year: they did so when the umbrella acacia had its young branches and shoots; for on this tree and several others the elephants fed. In its wild state the elephant lives almost entirely on the branches of trees. These it breaks off with its trunk, eats the smaller branches, and grinds the larger to pieces so as to extract the juice from them. It is at night that the elephant usually travels and feeds: by day, especially if it be very hot, he remains quiet in the bush—so quiet, that you might be within fifty yards of a herd of elephants and not know they were there. If, however, a man disturbs the herd when they are thus at rest, the animals will very likely charge at him, and hunt him through the bush just as a pack of hounds will hunt a fox. At this time of year the elephant bulls, cows, and calves, all keep together; but later on the bulls separate and sometimes travel alone. When thus alone, the bulls are very savage; and if two bulls meet in the bush a terrible battle ensues. The Caffres consider that a bull-elephant is a match for 100 Caffres, and even then the animal may get the best of the fight.

I was much interested in these accounts of the elephants, and began to think how I could manage to kill an elephant; for it was my ambition to do so.

The Caffre name for an elephant isinglovu, and the wordsinglovuandama inglovuwere frequently heard during the next few days; for the expected arrival of the elephants was a most serious incident in the daily life of these people; and forty moons ago the elephants had suddenly travelled into this country and had destroyed all the crops of the Caffres near this village. It was all done in one night, and on the morning the people discovered that their yearly crop of corn had vanished. The season was too far advanced to sow again; consequently they were compelled to buy corn and to purchase it with cattle. So that their loss had been very severe.

Taking the first opportunity of speaking to Inyati, I inquired what he intended to do in order to protect his fields and gardens. He replied that the only thing to do was to light fires round the gardens, and to assemble and shout. I inquired why he did not dig a great ditch round his gardens; but he replied that it would take too long, and that the elephants could manage to cross almost any ditch that could be dug.

He also told me that sometimes pits had been dug for elephants; and some years ago an elephant fell into one of these pits, and had been helped out by other elephants; so that it was no use attempting anything against them, as they were as clever as men. That night I thought over every plan by which I could kill an elephant, and at length an idea occurred to me; but I kept my thoughts to myself, as I intended to try by myself if I could not kill one of these enormous animals. Great preparations were made by the Caffres for the arrival of the elephants, quantities of dead wood were gathered in heaps in readiness for large fires to be made when the animals approached our gardens. Several pits were also dug and covered with a hurdle, on the top of which earth was thrown and grass carefully laid. These pits were placed in the old paths of the elephants, because it was known that these animals always followed in their old tracks whenever they revisited a country, and though these tracks were overgrown, or obliterated, yet the instinct, or knowledge of locality of the elephants was so great, that they would travel miles through the bush, and then come out into the open at exactly the same place at which they had come out of the bush some thirty or forty moons previously.

The Caffres told me that the elephants did not understand any man getting up into a tree; that if they were chased by an elephant they climbed a tree, and, although this tree was not big enough to place them beyond reach of an elephant, yet the animal never seemed to think of pulling the man out of it, or of pulling down the tree. This information was of great value to me in carrying out a plan that I was forming in my head.

It was about half a moon’s time after we first heard that elephants were coming our way, that we discovered their traces within five miles of our village. There was a marsh about five miles from us, formed by the overflow of one of the rivers, and in this marsh the elephants had rolled in the mud, and had then returned to the bush. In this bush there were several large trees, hung over by creeping plants and very easily climbed. Having followed the track of the elephants into the bush for a short distance, I noticed a tree that was covered with mud about the stem, and as high as I could reach with my assagy. This was caused by the elephants rubbing themselves against the tree after they had rolled in the mud.

Although the elephant is a thick-skinned animal yet he is much worried in hot weather by flies and mosquitoes. So, to escape in some measure from these pests, he rolls in the mud, and this mud sticking to his hide, forms a coating over him, which defends him to some extent from the mosquitoes. When he passes a thick tree he leans against this and rubs himself, and thus rids himself of a portion of the mud, and spreads it more evenly over his body.

Having selected a tree, I thought at first that I would tell Inyati what I intended doing, and would ask him to accompany me when I carried out my plans. On second thoughts, however, it occurred to me that if I were successful and Inyati were with me, I should do everything, but he would get the honour, because he was a man, I only a boy. So I asked Inyoni and Tembile if they would accompany me in an attempt to kill an elephant.

They replied that to go near these elephants was very dangerous, and that perhaps I did not know how very likely I was to be killed, so that they hardly liked to go for fear I was trying to do too much. I said they might trust me, as I had thought a great deal about what was to be done, and that by my plan there would be very little danger.

From information I had gained from the Caffres, I learned that the elephants usually drank every other night, and that unless disturbed they would drink at the same pools of water. I hoped, therefore, that if I climbed the large tree that I before mentioned, I might during the night or early morning, find the elephants under this tree, when I should have a chance of trying my plan upon them.

My plan was as follows:—The Bushmen that I had shot were armed with a bow and two kinds of poisoned arrows. One kind were made of reeds with a bone end, and were used for shooting small game; the other arrows were stronger, and had a barbed iron end, covered with poison. The barbed end fitted into a stout reed out of which it could be easily pulled. The reason for this arrangement was, that if the arrow struck any large animal such as a lion or a buffalo, the lion would scratch at the arrow and pull it out, and the buffalo in rushing through the bush might do the same. If, however, the reed end of the arrow were pulled, or rubbed off from the animal, the barb containing the poison would remain in its body, and so enable this poison to enter the circulation of the animal, and eventually to cause its death.

If I climbed a tree, and the elephants came underneath it, I could fire an arrow into the back of any one I selected, and by this means I hoped to kill one, if not more elephants. I explained all this to Inyoni and Tembile, and they agreed with me that it was a very good plan and likely to succeed. So having obtained the arrows and a bow, we three started for the tree when the sun was two hands’-breadth above the horizon, and was going down. Before we entered the bush we walked in the wettest parts of the marsh, so that our feet and legs might be covered with mud, when we should not leave any scent from our tracks; for the elephant is very keen-scented, and would avoid any place where the scent of a man was strong. These elephants, however, were not much afraid of man, because in this part of the country guns were not used against them, and they were accustomed to see men run away from them. So that the elephants had it all their own way.

We climbed the tree without difficulty, and having broken off the branches that intercepted my view, I seated myself on a stout branch, high enough to be beyond the reach of an elephant’s trunk. Inyoni and Tembile were close beside me, and held the case containing the poisoned arrows. It was nearly full moon, but clouds occasionally made it rather dark in the bush, though not so dark as to prevent me from seeing anything beneath me.

The night came on, and the moon had gone over about half its course, when we heard a branch broken at some distance from us; and shortly after, the bushes made a rustling noise as though a gust of wind had shaken them; and then I saw something white and shining, and around this white object loomed a black mass. I almost immediately recognised the white object as the tusks of an enormous elephant, and the animal itself was the black mass. I took one of my arrows from Tembile, and fitted it to the bow, and waited for this elephant to come close to me. I was acquainted with the elephant in India, and was not surprised to find how quietly it walked in the bush: its steps made no noise, and the only sound audible was the slight rustling of the leaves as the animal moved along through the bush, and an occasional blow through its trunk as it sniffed the air around.

Careful as we had been to cover our feet with mud, still we must have left some scent; for the elephant came on very slowly, blowing through its trunk and shaking its great ears as it listened for some sound. At last it strode forward and came exactly beneath me, and, aiming at its back just clear of the backbone, I discharged one of my arrows with all my force. Immediately the elephant felt the prick of the arrow it gave a sharp cry and moved rapidly forward. It then stood still, listening, and apparently watching for some enemy, but it could not see us in the tree. After a short time it gave another and different cry, and immediately several other elephants, some large, some very small, shuffled along under the tree. One of these was a very large elephant with great tusks, and as it passed I sent an arrow into its back, which caused it to cry out just as the first had done. We counted about forty elephants in the herd, among which were three very large bull-elephants with large tusks. The herd went through the bush to the watering-place in the marsh, but did not return by the same path that they had followed on going to the marsh. So we did not see them as they came back.

As soon as it was light we descended from the tree, and found ourselves very stiff after sitting so long on the branches. After moving about a little we got all right, and then agreed that we should follow the trail of the two elephants that I had hit with my poisoned arrows.

The first thing to be done was to examine the feet-marks of these two elephants. Now the under part of the foot of an elephant is not smooth, but is marked by several small cracks; consequently when the elephant treads on soft ground, it leaves a kind of plan or map of its foot. The plans of no two elephants’ feet are exactly alike, so that when you have once studied the plan of a particular foot, you can recognise the footprint when you see it in another place. It is just the same with the inside of the thumb and top joint of each person’s finger. The grain of the skin makes a sort of pattern, and it rarely happens that this pattern of each finger is the same; and it still more rarely happens that the fingers of two people are alike. Having examined several good impressions of the two elephants’ feet, we went quickly out of the bush, walked along the edge of the marsh, and then entered the bush again at the place where the elephants had re-entered it. It was easy to follow the elephants along the path they had made as they first entered the bush, for along this they walked one after the other; but when we had gone some distance into the bush, we found that the elephants had separated, some going one way, some another. They had also stopped to feed, and had broken off some very large branches from their favourite trees. We now set to work to follow the footprints of the two elephants that I had struck with the arrows. It was very difficult at first, as the ground was very hard, and covered with dead leaves; so that we could not obtain a good impression of the feet for some time, and we were puzzled at first. At length we found an ant-bear’s hole in the ground, and near this the elephants had trodden on the loose earth, and we then recognised the footprints of the largest elephant that I had hit. We followed this elephant very cautiously, for he had separated himself from the others—a sign, as my companions said, that “Inglovu efar” (the elephant was ill), especially as it was evident he had not eaten, there being no branches broken along his track. After following the track during about a quarter of the day, we came so close to the elephant that we could hear him. Sometimes he would make a low rumbling sound, at others he would blow through his trunk, and then knock his tusks against the stem of a tree. All these acts were indications of his being very uneasy, and I hoped the poisoned arrow had begun to do its work. We sat down in the bush listening to the elephant, and ate some of our corn; for I had determined to follow this elephant for days, if possible, in order to find whether he died or lived. The elephant stood quiet in the bush about as long as it took the sun to move ten times its own diameter in the sky, and then it again moved slowly forward, selecting the densest parts of the bush to move through. About every hundred paces it stopped, and remained quiet for a little time, and then moved slowly on again. All these proceedings delighted my Caffre companions, who declared the elephant was very sick. During the whole of the day we followed this elephant, and when the night came we ascended a tree, and slept a little; but as we could hear a leopard calling in the bush, and several bush-pigs were under the tree, we were mostly on the watch. The night was fine, though there was a heavy dew; and though we felt it very cold we did not like to go down on the ground to light a fire for fear of the leopard. As soon as it was light enough to distinguish the tracks, we again followed our elephant. He had travelled during the night, but had gone very slowly; and we saw some marks on the stem of a large tree that showed the elephant had leaned against this, as though he could scarcely stand.

We had moved through the bush very quietly and slowly, stopping every now and then to listen, and also to look all round us; for if we had come on this elephant very suddenly he might have charged us, and, before we could have escaped, he might have caught us and probably killed one of us. Tembile told me that when an elephant caught a man, he pushed him to the ground with his trunk, and then either knelt on him or thrust his tusks into him, and also would push him down and get him between his front and hind feet, and kick him backwards and forwards till he killed him. So, with this description of the elephant’s proceedings, which I afterwards found was quite correct, we thought it best to be very cautious in our approach to the animal.

The sun had risen its highest in the sky, when we sat down to rest and to listen; for we knew that we were close to the elephant, as the footprints were quite fresh. We talked in whispers and avoided any noise, whilst we were on the alert for any sound that should indicate the whereabouts of the elephant. As we sat quietly thus waiting, Inyoni pointed upwards, and gave a grunt of delight: we looked up and saw a vulture slowly circling in the sky and nearly above us. “Elephant going to die,” said Inyoni; “vulture knows it.” We immediately followed on the elephant’s tracks, and, after advancing about two hundred paces, we heard a noise in front of us, and saw the elephant lying on its side, whilst every now and then it swung its trunk about and struck the bushes, thus making the noise we had heard. The elephant was dying, its vast frame overpowered by the subtle poison of the Bushman’s arrow. We kept at a short distance from the animal and watched it, as it gradually got weaker and weaker, and at length lay motionless. We then went close up to it, and found that it really was dead. It was a monster with great tusks as big round as my thigh, and as it lay on the ground it was far higher than I was as I stood up.

“The other elephant must be dead too,” I said, “for I hit that also with an arrow.”

“Yes,” replied my companions, “and we shall find that too: perhaps vultures will show us where it is, if we watch.”

We now agreed that Tembile should go as quickly as he could to our village, and call all the people to come and cut up the elephant, whilst Inyoni and I kept watch near it. So Tembile started off, whilst we who remained agreed to sleep turn and turn about, as we were both very tired.

I had a good sleep, and then Inyoni lay down whilst I kept watch. I could not keep my eyes from the dead elephant which lay a few paces from us. It looked such an enormous creature, that I could hardly believe its death had been caused by so trifling a wound as that given by the small arrow; but the poison used by the Bushmen is powerful beyond belief, and they kill all animals with their arrows.

As I sat listening for any sounds of the approaching Caffres, I heard a slight crack in the bush, then another and a louder crack; and I knew these noises must be caused by elephants, for the Caffres glide through the bush without making any noise. I awoke Inyoni, and we were soon convinced that the elephants were approaching us. My companion was alarmed, as he seemed to think the elephants were hunting us in order to revenge themselves on us. We crept through the bush to a large tree, and climbed this quickly, getting up so high that no elephant could reach us.

We had reached our place of safety, when we saw the first elephant approaching us: this was a cow, and it was following the track of the bull that was now dead. After this cow came about forty other elephants of various sizes. They came along with a sort of shuffling gait, stopping every now and then to listen and sniff the air, and then to move forward again. When they came to the spot where we had sat down, they smelt the ground, and then raising their trunks sniffed all round. Their attention, however, was soon attracted to the dead elephant, which they approached and touched with their trunks, several of them uttering sharp cries as though they wished to wake him. After a few minutes, however, they seemed to know that he was dead, as they moved away from him and stood looking at him, whilst they flapped their great ears and seemed very uneasy. Suddenly, as though suspicious of danger, the large cow-elephant uttered a shrill trumpet and dashed off through the bush, recklessly smashing the small trees and branches in her course. She was followed by the whole herd, and we could hear them as they forced their way through the underwood, the sounds becoming fainter and less audible until all was again quiet.

We remained in our tree, for we could not tell whether more elephants might not come, and on the ground we were in danger. All was quiet, however, for a long time, until we heard the slightest movement of some leaves; and then we saw Tembile, followed by Inyati and all the men and boys of our village. We whistled to them, and, descending the tree, told them what we had seen. We talked in whispers and then went up to the dead elephant and examined it. The reed portion of my arrow had been broken off, but the barb containing the poison was buried deep in the elephant’s flesh, and thus the poison had circulated rapidly and had caused the monster’s death.

Inyati with his assagy at once cut out this barb and a large portion of the flesh round it, and he then said we might safely eat the remainder of the animal, which would not be affected by the poison.

A scene was then commenced which I shall remember to my last day. About twenty Caffres set to work at the elephant, cutting the flesh off, and piling it in heaps near the animal, by the aid of hatchets; the tusks were cut out of the elephant’s jaws, and were so heavy that one man could only just lift one. It took a comparatively short time to cut the animal to pieces, and to take off all its flesh, which was then divided into portions, the boys being given small weights to carry, whilst the men took larger and heavier weights. We then commenced our march through the bush, and before sunset we reached our village, at which we were received with shouts of rejoicing by the old men and females. Notice had been sent to the next village that another elephant was supposed to be dead, and the men of that village had watched the vultures, and had succeeded in finding the second elephant lying dead in the bush, and had cut this one up in the same manner as we had done with the first elephant I had killed. Elephant’s flesh, although tough and unsavoury, is still eaten greedily by the Caffres. They are so fond of their cattle, and like to see a large herd near their kraals, that they will not kill an animal unless on some special occasion, such as a marriage, or a victory; so that a feast of flesh is a rare treat, and there is not usually any complaint about the toughness or want of flavour of the meat. As it was usual to have a great dance and general feast when any such event as slaying an elephant had occurred, invitations were sent to all the kraals near, to invite the neighbours to partake of the elephant’s flesh.

Before the evening on which the feast was to occur, there had assembled nearly all the Caffres from ten miles round. There were some fine fellows among them, several young men six feet high, and as active as leopards, who could run ten miles without stopping, and who could walk from sunrise till sunset without tiring. They all brought their assagies, and shields, as well as their knob-kerries, and were dressed in their dancing dresses.

News was also brought us about the elephants. There was now no fear of their destroying the gardens, as they had again taken up their residence in the forests about Natal. This was good news to all the Caffres about us, and was celebrated by one of the largest dances I had ever seen. There were more than a thousand men assembled, all in full war-costume, each with a shield, a knob-kerrie, and five assagies. They danced and ate, and danced again and ate again, during the whole night. To me was given the honour and glory of having killed the elephants, and I had to enter the centre of the ring of men, and describe and act the whole scene. I told how we climbed the tree; how I heard the elephants coming; how I sent my arrow first into one then into the other elephant; how these elephants paid no attention to so small a thing as an arrow, fired by me, a boy; but how this arrow was stronger than the elephant, and at last killed him. I went through all the movements of creeping through the bush on the track of the elephant, sitting down to listen, and at length seeing the elephant. I then lay on the ground just as did the elephant, and swung my arm about to imitate the movements of the animal’s trunk, and at length died just as did the elephant.

The shouts and dancing after this performance were of the most exciting description, and lasted for a long time. When, suddenly, a very old chief came into the centre of the circle, and raising his arm to command silence, spoke in a loud clear voice words of which the following is a translation:—

“My people, we have been delivered from the elephants; the elephants that have often destroyed our corn, and brought us to starvation. And how have we been delivered? Not by two hundred warriors armed with assagies, many of whom were killed by the elephants; not by digging holes, and the elephants tumbling into them; but there have been two large elephants killed by our white companion who came out of the sea. He alone thought out of his own head how to kill the elephants, and though very young, has the mind of an experienced chief and the courage of a warrior. We have held a council and have decided that he be from this time forth a chief, and that he be called ‘Umkunkinglovu.’ What say you, men?”

A tremendous shout was given by the assembled crowd at the termination of this speech; and then one of the oldest warriors came into the ring, and placed round my neck a necklace made out of leopards’ claws, whilst all the men called out “Inkosi!” The dancing and feasting were then continued till the first sign of daylight appeared, when we all retired to our kraals to rest.

On the following morning I met the old warrior who had put the necklace on me, and sat down talking to him. He was very anxious to hear where I had come from, and was much interested in the accounts I gave him of India. He was puzzled to know how it was possible that our ships found their way over the sea. There were no paths, he said, and the waves were always altering their shape, so that he could not tell how they got on. I told him that the men found their way by the sun and stars, but this he could not comprehend. After some time I asked him to tell me all he knew about his own people, and where they came from. He thought for some time, and then gave me the following account. Spreading his two hands on the ground he lifted the little finger of his left hand and said, “That me.” He then raised the next finger and said, “That my father.” He then raised the next and said, “That his father;” and so he went on, to the thumb of the left hand, giving father after father. “All these lived here,” he said. Then he raised the thumb of his right hand, and said, “That father lived in Zulu country, and quarrelled with great chief there, and came down here.”

“But how did those other fathers live?” I enquired.

He raised four more fingers, and pointing to the last said, “That father live other side of the sun.”

By this, I have since learned that he meant the other side of the equator, or up near Somali.

“That father and all his people have great fight; too many people there, so they come down slowly, and at last live in Zulu country. Those fathers had strange animals that they used to ride on, and which went as fast as an ostrich, but all these died as they came down country.”

I understood from this that he meant his people formerly owned horses.

“Then,” he continued, “we break up, some stop one place, some another—we come here.”

The old chief thus made out ten fathers, and, taking four generations for a hundred, it made out that, about 250 years previously, the Caffres must have resided not far from Nubia.

Two days after our feast all the Caffre visitors had gone home, and we had settled down again to our usual quiet life.

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