MY REPORT TO GENERAL COMMANDING ON STATE OF THE ROAD—OFFEND THE STAFF, BUT RECEIVE PRESENT OF CHARGER FROM GENERAL—SURPRISED AT CLOSE PROXIMITY OF KAFFIRS—OFFER TO TAKE NEARER VIEW—AM SNUBBED IN CONSEQUENCE—ASSIGNED POST OF ADVANCED-GUARD IN GENERAL ATTACK UNDER GENERAL NAPIER—ASCENT OF THE WATER-KLOOF—ORDERED TO DISLODGE KAFFIRS FROM HORSE-SHOE LINE OF BUSH—IN ACTION—HESITATION—SUCCESS—SECOND ATTACK UNDER ARTILLERY-FIRE—THE MINIE RIFLE AGAIN—KAFFIR DEVOTION—THEIR NATURE, AND HOW TO FIGHT THEM—AM THANKED IN GENERAL ORDERS.
I gave a report in writing of my doings on the road, and my estimation of the resources and failings as a military road, that it professed. Amongst other things, I stated the fact of seeing a strong detachment of the 12th Regiment uselessly guarding a fort of no possible influence in the actual state of the war. This brought the staff down upon me; but I was thanked by the General, who, as a token of welcome, presented me with a fine chestnut charger.
The next day I was perfectly astounded at the close proximity of the Kaffirs. There they were in shoals, perfectly unmolested, on the slopes of the Water-kloof, and within twelve miles of thousands of British troops. I had seen on many occasions the daring indifference of the Kabyles of the Atlas Mountains, but that was displayed on chance occasions; but here a badly-armed, undisciplined throng of naked savages braved with impunity, day after day, week after week, the energies of the British empire. I was utterly staggered for a moment by such a display, but was not long in volunteering to make a closer acquaintance with these sable heroes and their strongholds. I, however, received a good snubbing for my pains. At last a grand expedition was planned, under General Napier, to attack this said Water-kloof, and my corps was assigned the post of advanced-guard. The first day we reached Blinkwater Post, where I made the acquaintance of the commander, W——d; he appeared to me one of the right sort, although rather uselessly employed. This is one of the great faults of our service, to place a brilliant, dashing officer to guard an exposed,permanent position, when a good, stolid, ordinary being would have done quite as well, if not better. The art of war is like the game of chess, and I would not give much for the guiding hand that does not know the value and place of each figure on the board.
The next day, after a somewhat tiring ascent, we crowned the heights of the Water-kloof, without firing a shot or seeing many Kaffirs. I was then ordered to attack the Horse-shoe—a half-circular line of bush that fringed the precipitous heights. This was a difficult task, from the formation of the ground and the disheartening reminiscences, it was murmured, which were attached to the spot. Here it was that Colonel Fordyce had been lately killed, and the 74th fearfully handled. The Honourable R. C——, the staff officer who ordered the movement, pointed in a somewhat vague manner to the centre of the half-moon as the place on which I was to begin the attack. This undefined indication left me a considerable margin; so I managed, in the mile of ground I had to cover before coming within range of the Kaffir guns, to oblique so much to the right, that I came very near thatend of the Horse-shoe. As I got within range, my men being in very loose order (this being their first engagement, there was naturally some hesitation and wavering along the line), a shot fired by some good marksman on the enemy’s side, brought my orderly, David M‘Intyre, to the ground with a ball through the chest.
The whole line stopped as if struck by an electric shock. Another shot as effective as the last would, I felt sure, send them to the right-about; so I ran to the front and shouted out, “We shall all be shot if we remain here in the open! To the bush, my lads! to the bush!”
The sense of this order was obvious. We shouted “Hurrah!” as much to drown our own fears as to frighten the enemy; and amidst a rattling fire, more noisy than dangerous, we, for safety’s sake, gallantly charged the foe. The Kaffirs and Hottentots were evidently taken by surprise at this display of gallantry—latterly all the charges had been on their side. The tables were turned, and instead of red-jackets, it was for black-skins to fall back.
Once in the bush, what with cheering and firing, we kept up such a hullabaloo, that theniggers must have thought all the white devils of Christendom were let loose upon them. I, who knew where the row came from, was astonished at the effect upon my own nerves, as the adjoining rocks reverberated the sound of our advance. We literally chased the foe like rabbits through the bush, and came out at the other end of the Horse-shoe, rather disappointed than otherwise in not meeting with more resistance. We then fell back on the main body, having performed our task with a decided dash and very slight loss—two killed and five wounded. As we were quite unmolested by the foe, it was admirable to see the cool, collected manner in which my men retired—in fact, I was not at all astonished when General Napier sent a staff officer to thank us for our gallant and orderly bearing. We now proceeded to breakfast, and had hardly begun, when the same officer came back and told me to advance with my men and endeavour to dislodge the Kaffirs from some rough boulders of rock on the edge of the kloof, some two miles on our left. Now this order was unadvisable for many reasons: from the lie of the ground it had no strategical importance;it neither threatened the enemy’s stronghold, nor in any way interfered with movements we might make to carry it.
My men had had a long march, which, combined with the efforts in clearing out the Horse-shoe, had left us without any physical energy; whilst there were whole battalions who had not fired a shot, and were eager for an opportunity to distinguish themselves.
I, however, kept these reasonings to myself; and giving the men orders to prepare for action, they sprang to their feet with far more alacrity than I had a right to expect.
In going to take up the ground assigned to us as the point of attack, we passed in front of the main body, and the General came up and shook hands with me. This cheering token sent us on in good spirits to within about a thousand yards of the rocks above named. I here sent a small detachment down a slope of ground that led somewhat to our left, to threaten, if possible, the flank and rear of the position in our front.
With the rest of the men I obliqued slightly to the right, with the same object of turning the rear in that direction also.
We had advanced about half-way when the guns of Captain Rowley’s battery opened fire over our heads. This caused considerable uneasiness; the men were not accustomed to the hurling noise rushing over their heads from the rear: some ducked, some stopped, others went on; and the line, which hitherto had been so well kept, assumed a most zigzag, mob-looking appearance.
I have often observed that even veterans waver and become confused under this meteor-discharge overhead. The Kaffirs, however, did not seem to be much frightened by the shot or the shell. They fielded for the cannon-shot as they rebounded from the rocks as though they were cricket-balls. These same balls were much prized as pestles for grinding purposes.
As for the shells, they no sooner burst than, in derision, the Kaffirs picked pieces up and pretended to throw them back at us. But now a rocket that was intended to astonish the Kaffirs came so close over us, that the whole line started and ducked their heads in the most ridiculous fashion. This profound salaam, as we faced the foe, elicited from them a tremendousshout of approval in return. I profited by this humility of ours, and as my fellows had their faces so close to the ground, I ordered them to lie down altogether. “Raise the sighting on the rifles for six hundred yards. Take steady aim. Fire!”
At the first discharge the Kaffirs scuttled from the rocks in flying order, leaving, however, several of their bodies on the ground. So the Minie rifle did in one minute what six guns and rocket-tubes had been attempting for the last quarter of an hour.
In the course of five minutes’ firing not a Kaffir was to be seen; even the wounded who lay on the ground were left quite uncared for; and what was far dearer still to a Kaffir’s heart, blankets andkarosseswere also left behind.
I then cautiously advanced to within a short distance of the rocks. The men lay down once more, to wait for the flanking party to begin on our left; but they had gone too far down, and when at length they began firing, it had no influence on the Kaffirs behind the rocks facing us. It was difficult now to know what to do. The enemy was far too strong for us to carry theposition by a front attack, and my flanking party seemed, by the sound of the firing, to be rather going from than approaching us. At this critical moment the recall sounded far away in the rear, and never sound struck my ear more cheerfully before. We fell back in the most orderly manner; and the Kaffirs, coming out in great numbers from behind the rocks to survey our retreat, received a last volley in return, which quickly sent them to the right-about.
The Minie rifle taught them this day a lesson which they ever after identified with my men, and they never forgot its instructive teaching. We were now sent to take up our quarters near the spot where the attack had commenced in the morning. We were to remain there until further orders. A body of the regular forces was also sent to take up a position about a mile in the rear; while the main body marched back again to headquarters at Fort Beaufort.
I immediately set to work, throwing up a defence against a night attack; and before evening set in—there being an abundance of stone material at hand—I had thrown up a tolerably strong defence. The next day wasthe first at which I assisted at public prayers in the colony. My men and I were perched on the huge boulders of rock that fringe the Water-kloof height, and from the depths below arose, in childlike strains, the glorious morning hymn—
“Awake, my soul, and with the sunThy daily course of duty run.”
“Awake, my soul, and with the sunThy daily course of duty run.”
“Awake, my soul, and with the sunThy daily course of duty run.”
These sable children were awakening their souls to their daily duty of cutting white men’s throats. Something like awe crept over me at this Heaven-beseeching. It was one of those mysterious results of missionary instruction of which I do not profess to know the A B C; it was giving to this would-be slayer the name of fratricide. I got up in a hurry and left the spot. This awakening of Cain made me feel very much as Abel must have felt had he been able to run away. But these poor Hottentots, with a strong predilection for settling disputes with their white brother, after the antediluvian fashion of knocking you upon the head with aknobkerrie, were still much to be pitied, taken as they were from theirboundless homes and pent up in that wooded vale below, singing of their freedom in Christ, like caged mocking-birds imitating the hollow sound of words that convey soul-stirring thoughts to man. I felt more sympathy for them than for those who had brought them to that state.
In the course of a few days I had raised a barricade round my camp strong enough to resist any number of Kaffirs; and having thus secured a good base of operation, began to look about me as to how I could best make use of it for offensive movements. Colonel N——, the officer who commanded the regulars left on the heights, did not at this time interfere in any manner with my proceedings, so I was left perfectly free, and decided that, with the small body of men at my disposal, night attacks were the only reasonable operations to be undertaken with any hope of permanent success. The Kaffir, lithe, supple, and vicious as a snake during the heat of the day, loses much of his treacherous energy at night. Ignorant and superstitious, he would be already half conqueredby further increasing his dread of darkness; while the white man during the refreshing coolness of night was at his best at the Cape; and bugle-sounds allowed him to be governed almost as easily as during the day. I accordingly proceeded cautiously to accustom the men to the work. We now received in camp a copy of a general order thus worded:—
“Headquarters, Fort Beaufort.
“General Napier speaks in the highest terms of the discernment and gallantry displayed by Captain Lakeman, and the bravery and good conduct of his men on this their first engagement with the enemy.
(Signed) “A. J. Cloëte,Quartermaster-General.”
This was very gratifying, and we determined to obtain still further recognitions of services rendered. In the course of a month we had so far created a panic by our night attacks, that the Kaffirs evacuated the whole of the table-land surrounding the Water-kloof, and retired to the valley and rocky recesses below.
ANOTHER COMBINED ATTACK—SMALL RESULTS—CAPTURE OF MUNDELL’S PEAK—THANKED A SECOND TIME IN GENERAL ORDERS—EXAMPLE OF TENACITY OF LIFE—BUILDING FORTS—THE DESCENT INTO THE WATER-KLOOF—REPROACHES—DISREGARDED ADVICE—AN ATTACK AND THE CONSEQUENCES—IN DANGER AND UNABLE TO PROCURE ASSISTANCE—RELIEVED FROM ALL INTERFERENCE BY OTHER COMMANDING OFFICERS—RECEIVE WRITTEN THANKS OF GENERAL COMMANDING—RECEIVE ADDITIONAL COMMAND OF NEW COMPANY OF FINGOES—I ASSERT MY RIGHT OVER PRISONERS—JOHNY FINGO—A SKIRMISH—SAVAGE INDIFFERENCE TO PHYSICAL PAIN—NIGHT FIGHTING—TREACHERY.
Another attack on a still grander scale than the last was now decided on at headquarters; and the Commander-in-chief, General Cathcart, with several thousand troops, guns, &c., were accordingly assembled on the heights overlooking the kloof. It was, however, a somewhat tame affair. We merely marched round the heights, and only attacked a small Kaffir village on the edge of a promontory, called Mundell’s Peak, that advanced like a wedge into themiddle of the above-named kloof and almost divided it in two.
This operation fell to my share, and was, I think, effectually done in fair military style. In the general orders issued relating to the events of the day, it stated:—
“In the attack and carrying of Mundell’s Peak, the gallantry and spirited conduct of Lakeman’s corps and its commander, it is gratifying to the Commander of the Forces to take this opportunity to notice.
(Signed) “A. J. Cloëte,Quartermaster-General.”
During this day I observed a tenacity of life which seemed incredible. A soldier of the Rifle Brigade, in looking over the edge of the kloof, was shot through the head. I was on horseback close to him at the time; I dismounted, propped him up with his pack, picked up the cap which had been knocked off by the shot, and placed it with my handkerchief over his face. The body was shortly afterwards put on a stretcher and taken to Post Reteif, severalmiles off, then commanded by Captain Bruce (King Bruce they called him), a gallant and hospitable soldier. On the evening of the same day I saw the man there, still breathing, with a hole in his head through which you might have passed a ramrod, and he only died towards the next morning.
After this imposing parade of troops, the main force marched back again to Fort Beaufort; but the Commander-in-chief decided that two forts were to be constructed on the heights, about a mile to the rear of where I was stationed. Colonel ——, R. E., was intrusted with the building of the same; and he placed them in such a curious fashion that they could not be defended without firing into one another—that is to say, the enemy, had he wished it, might have quietly encamped between the two and defied either to fire a shot. I pointed out this fact to the gallant colonel; but he assured me he had taken into consideration that the Kaffirs had not sufficient sense to discover this undoubted weakness in his plan.
The heights having thus become free, I next proceeded to feel the way down into the Water-kloofitself. There was no greater difficulty in this than in what I had already done; in short, the Kaffirs had got such a wholesome dread of my corps, that the trouble was to get near them. Before a month had elapsed in this sort of work, I had traversed the kloof from one end to the other; and the few sable gentlemen who still held to this home of theirs had taken refuge on the rocks on the opposite ridge, or what we used to call the Dead Man’s Home, owing to the bones of some of our men remaining unburied there. One morning, in returning from an expedition in the Water-kloof, where I had captured the few remaining cattle left to the enemy, Brigadier-General N——t, who commanded the defenceless forts constructed by Colonel ——, sent for me; and at his request I gave all the information I possessed concerning the Water-kloof, stating, among other matters, what I had done on the previous night. He said he was afraid I was doing more harm than good by this night work; it was an irregular and unmilitary mode of proceeding; that he had thought the matter over, and intended to clear theplace out that day in a really effectual manner.
I warned him that the enemy was driven to desperation, and capable of mad freaks of revenge that would certainly entail serious loss if attacked during the day; and as a proof of their present state, they had that morning followed me almost into camp, and once or twice I felt convinced by their bearing they were half inclined to attack it. Now, if left to themselves for a few days longer, half starved and discouraged, they would probably leave of their own accord that part of the country. The General, however, pooh-poohed my reasoning, and shortly afterwards marched out with all his forces, composed of the 60th Rifles, the 74th, the 91st, a battery of artillery, rocket-tubes, &c.—in fact, a most formidable body of men, and equal, if properly handled, to beat easily the same number of the best troops in Europe. They proceeded towards Mundell’s Peak, and I went to lie down as was my wont after passing a night out.
In the afternoon I was awakened by the sound of big guns and heavy musketry closeat hand. On looking out, I saw, about a mile off, in the open, General N——t engaged with the enemy. I could easily make out that he was somewhat severely pressed, so calling for men to follow me, I made as quickly as I could to the front. I met on the way Captain S——n of the Rifles, with a party of men, axes in hand, falling back to the rear. Captain S——n cried out that I had better look to myself. He himself had been told off to cut a road into the kloof, but they had been driven back, and N——t was beaten. I, however, still went on; and gathering as I went some of the men who were retreating, came up to the line of fire, and faced the pursuing Kaffirs. When I had a sufficient number in hand to give an impetus to the movement, with a rattling cheer we went at the Kaffirs, who at once fell back, and eventually we pursued them almost to Mundell’s Peak. Here our real difficulties began. I had to return to the camp, but there were no supports to fall back upon; for none of the regulars, except those with me, had followed my onward movement. To increase the difficulties, there wereseveral wounded to carry and no stretchers to lay them on. In this dilemma I sent Lieutenant H——d to ask General N——t for the required support. He did not return. I then sent Sergeant Herridge, who, after great delay, owing to the difficulty in finding the General, whom he at length discovered breakfasting, returned with the message that he had no time nor men to spare, and I must return the best way I could. Thank God, we did get back, but had a narrow squeak for it. On the first movement I made to retire, the Kaffirs hurried to our left flank, near the edge of the kloof, to cut us off. I followed in the same direction, and that so closely that I drove the greater part of them over it; and so that effort of theirs became fruitless. While doing this others had run forward on my right flank, which was out in the open; but here also the Minie rifle did its task right well, and beat them back. Thus alternately struggling on both flanks, I got at last to some rocks about a mile from the camp. Here I halted until Lieutenant H——d, whom I now saw approaching with the men (who had, on my sudden departure,been left behind), came and relieved me of all further fears. It was now, on questioning Lieutenant H——d as to his delay—questions which were not very audible, owing to the firing still going on—that he interpreted some words amiss, and the next day, much to my regret, resigned. After some still further delay, owing to the desperate attempts the Kaffirs made to turn our position, we eventually returned safely to camp, bringing all our wounded with us. After this affair I did not conceal my opinion of General N——t’s conduct towards me that day; and D——e, a fine young fellow of the 74th (the “British bull-dog” they called him), thought it incumbent upon himself to ask for an explanation on the part of the regulars. This, R——y of the Artillery—a thorough officer and gentleman, be it said—kindly gave him for me. He appeared satisfied, and thus the matter ended. In the report I made of this affair, I stated matters as they virtually occurred; and a few days after, an order arrived in camp from headquarters, stating that no officer of any rank whatever was to interfere with my movements, but, on the contrary,to give me whatever help I asked for; and Colonel S——t, secretary to the Commander-in-chief, sent me the following, enclosed with a kind letter:—
“Fort Beaufort,Aug.31, 1852.
“Sir,—Having submitted your report of the 29th inst., I am directed to convey to you, by desire of the Commander of the Forces, his Excellency’s satisfaction with the constant activity and military energy you have displayed since you have been engaged in the operations in the vicinity of the Water-kloof.
(Signed) “A. J. Cloëte,Quartermaster-General.”
A native levy of Fingoes was now adjoined to my command. This strengthened my position considerably; but what gave me an absolute power over the native population of the district was an event which occurred concerning some Kaffir prisoners in my camp. It happened thus: While out coursing one day, a short distancefrom my quarters, I saw a considerable stir there going on, and ultimately a string of men went from thence to a by-path on the ridge of the hill, which led down towards Blinkwater Post. It was evidently an escort of prisoners, and I was greatly exercised by the thought of where these came from, knowing that there were none excepting those in my camp, with whom no one had the right to interfere. I sent a man on horseback to inquire into the matter. He came back and reported that they were the very prisoners in question, and that they were being removed by General N——t’s orders to Fort Beaufort. I galloped immediately back, and told the officer in command of the escort that he could not proceed: these prisoners were mine, and had been taken in an engagement in which none but my own men had been employed. They were also necessary to me for the information they could give as to the whereabouts of the rest of the tribe. After a long and painful interview of more than an hour, the prisoners were taken back to my camp, escorted by my own men. The Fingoes in my new levy, after this act of mine, used to call me “Government,”from, I was told, the fact of their always hearing this word spoken of in relation to her Majesty’s proclamations in the colony, which always began with, “Whereas her Majesty’s Government.” But let the fact be as it may, from that day they were implicit followers of mine.
Johnny Fingo, their chief, was a tall, powerful fellow, who spoke Kaffir perfectly well; and passing himself off as such, used to make excursions among the tribes in revolt, and bring me back most useful information. One day, however, as if to punish me for my hardly just and certainly arrogant act in taking back the prisoners as above related, he led me into a painfully false position. He reported having found out, some seven miles on the other side of Post Reteif, the encampment of the Kaffirs that my night attacks had driven out of the Water-kloof. I proceeded with him and a small escort to the place indicated—a deep kloof in the mountains—and certainly saw a large number of fires therein. On returning we fell in with a small outpost of the enemy, consisting of five men, who were crowded together in a rude hut, dividing amongthemselves some womanly apparel, evidently the fruits of plunder. Johnny Fingo, in his haste to shoot these poor devils, whom we had stealthily crept upon (having seen their camp-fire a long way off), forgot to put a cap on his rifle, and as the gun only snapped fire as he pulled the trigger, some three or four feet from the head of one of the disputing marauders, he received in return a lunge from an assegai through his thigh. The rest jumped suddenly up, and an indiscriminatemêléetook place. Poor Dix received a fearful crack on the skull from aknobkerrie(he was never perfectly right afterwards); Johnny Fingo got another stab in the legs, and, what affected him still more, his beautiful “Westley-Richards” double-barrelled rifle, which he had obtained Heaven knows how, was irretrievably damaged. His younger brother, a smart lad, had his windpipe nearly torn out by a Kaffir’s teeth. In short, they fought tooth and nail, like so many wild beasts. It was only after we had been all more or less scarred, that two of the five were taken prisoners, the other three not giving in till killed.
I here had an opportunity of observing theutter indifference to physical pain which the black man exhibits. Johnny, although badly wounded and unable to stand, was bemoaning his broken rifle as it lay across his knees; and while I was bandaging his brother’s horribly-lacerated throat, he repeatedly asked me as to the possibility of getting the indented barrels of his rifle rebent to their original shape.
On our return to the camp I immediately set about the preparations for what I considered would be a rather hazardous undertaking—namely, to drive out the Kaffirs from the kloof in which I had lately seen them.
Anxious also to renew my relations with the regulars, after my latemal entenduconcerning the disposal of prisoners, I proposed a joint expedition, which was eagerly accepted by Colonel H——d of the Rifle Brigade. Four days afterwards we proceeded to the spot in question, and not a Kaffir was to be seen, and even their traces had been carefully obliterated. I never was more mortified in my life; it looked to me as though I had been attempting something even worse than a stupid practical joke. Colonel H——d was, however, excessively considerate inthe matter, and affected to be perfectly satisfied—although but the very faintest marks of the enemy’s passage could be discovered.
The country being now perfectly free for many miles around, I made long patrols to distant parts, coming at times in contact with small parties of the enemy, but too disheartened to make a stand. One night, in returning after a rather longer absence than usual, I found a somewhat large number of Kaffirs assembled in the abandoned village on Mundell’s Peak. I may here mention that, as I always marched the men by night and reposed them by day, many rencontres of this sort occurred—that is to say, that after pursuing the foe for several days, we were often confronted in a manner as surprising to the one as to the other. I placed the men in a straight line from one edge of the peak to the other, ordering them to lie down, and await daylight before opening fire. Stretching myself on the ground, just in front of Sergeant Shelley, I gave, at the break of day, the order to fire; when, directly afterwards, poor Shelley struggled to his feet, and fell back again, groaning fearfully. He was shot through theheels. The ball that effected this came down the line, and evidently from one of our own men—for on either flank there were sudden dips of several hundred feet, which rendered it impossible for a shot from the foe to come from thence.
This cowardly shot, which had been aimed at my own head, the men declared came from Waine. He, however, denied it so stoutly, and no one having seen him actually fire in our direction, I took no overt steps in the matter as to bringing him up for it; but I determined never to take him out again for night service. And on after-thoughts I recollected several unaccountable shots that had passed by me during our nocturnal expeditions; and although I sincerely pitied poor Shelley, I could not help feeling thankful that through the misfortune to him I had got rid of Waine. Shelley eventually recovered sufficiently to go with me to the Crimea, where he died.
The end of Waine was like a judgment upon him, as I shall now attempt to describe. Always left in camp, it was his task to clean the firelocks when the men returned after night expeditions.This he had to do whether any firing took place or not, as the heavy dews rendered the cartridges unreliable for further use if left in the guns. On one occasion a man gave him his firelock to clean, telling him it merely wanted wiping out, as it was unloaded. Waine did this, but could not clear the nipple, and after several attempts he took the weapon back to his owner, telling him of the fact. A cap was then put on, and Waine, holding out his hand, told him to fire, and see for himself. The man pulled the trigger, the gun exploded and blew Waine’s hand to pieces. It appeared that, unwittingly, it had been left loaded. Waine was removed, and shortly afterwards died of lock-jaw.
FORMIDABLE ATTACK ON WATER-KLOOF—THE “BLACKSMITH’S SHOP”—SLIGHTLY WOUNDED OVER THE EYEBROW—DICTATE REPORT TO COLONEL CLOËTE IN PRESENCE OF GENERAL—I AM OMITTED IN GENERAL ORDERS—PROCEED TO GRAHAM’S TOWN TO REQUEST REVISION OF THE ORDER—INTERVIEW WITH GENERAL CATHCART—RECEIVE GENERAL ORDER TO MYSELF—OFFERS OF GRANTS OF LAND FOR THE MEN WHO WISHED TO SETTLE—REMOVE TO BLAKEWAY’S FARM.
News now arrived in camp that the Commander-in-chief, with all the forces at his disposal, consisting of several thousand British soldiers, with native levies and batteries of artillery, was expected in the neighbourhood of the Water-kloof, and to clear out that Kaffir stronghold which had caused the shedding of so much blood, and to some extent had tarnished, if not the fame, at least the prestige, of British arms. On the 11th July I received orders to make the necessary preparations, and on the following night to proceed to the Water-kloof, where Ishould be joined by Colonel Eyre with the 73d. The 73d were called the Cape Greyhounds. By their training they had become the most effective fighting regiment at the Cape, and had never left a wounded or dead man behind in the hands of the foe. As might be expected, Colonel Eyre himself was a most daring, energetic officer; and Colonel H——d and he showed great promise of becoming remarkable commanders. According to the instructions I received, I started that evening to the Water-kloof; and knowing all the winding ins and outs of the place, found myself before daybreak in the centre of the kloof, having been opposed on my way by a few Hottentot deserters. These were readily known by the use they made of the bugle. They took refuge on the top of a solitary mound, which stood somewhat lower down in the valley, towards Mundell’s Peak, and which was called the “Blacksmith’s Shop,” from the fact of its being the place where these same deserters (some of whom had been armourers in the Cape corps) used to repair the enemy’s firelocks. I waited where I was until ten o’clock, and seeing no appearance of ColonelEyre, I determined to clear out the above-named shop, and there await further orders. Firstly, I was induced to do this by the Hottentots, who, seeing my inaction, had crept somewhat disagreeably close, and opened a galling fire; and secondly, by the supposition that if, by some mischance, Colonel Eyre should not appear, I was by my inaction increasing the boldness of the foe, and thereby adding to the difficulties of my retreat should I be compelled to make one. This affair took more time than I had anticipated: the day was hot, the men had eaten no food, the hill a steep one, and the Totties tenacious of their last grasp on what had been for so many months a safe home for them in the midst of a British army.
In charging up the hill, a shot came so close to my head that I confess I ducked most humbly, but was so much ashamed of this act of mine that I pretended very awkwardly to have stumbled. Scrambling hastily up, I received another shot just over the eyebrow, which whirled my helmet off, and left me bare-pated before the cheering Totties. But I, considering that more danger lay in the deadlyrays of the sun than in their uncertain aim, took off my coat, and placed it round my head; and in this Red Riding-hood fashion, amidst the laughter of the men, we charged up the remainder of the hill, and drove the Totties out of the place.
Here we found some provisions, and were sitting down to the meal, when artillery opening down in the valley told us that her Majesty’s army was fighting its way up to where we were quietly breakfasting.
Colonel Eyre now appeared on the heights to our left; Brigadier B——r surveyed us at the same time on our right; Brigadier N——t looked on in our rear; while General Cathcart and his brilliant staff were espying us with their Dollonds in front, perhaps. I should have laughed outright had I not seen such things before during my Algerian campaigns, and at Astley’s.
Hastily finishing our repast, gathering the prisoners together, with a few heads of cattle—not forgetting the anvil, hammer, bellows, tongs, &c., we had found in the above-mentioned shop—I proceeded to the headquartersof the Commander-in-chief and reported progress. I found him toasting a chop on a ramrod. Poor General Cathcart! He was a valiant soldier, but had no more intuitive knowledge of Kaffir warfare than he displayed intuition against the Russians at Inkerman. His was a bold soul in a skeleton’s frame; there was no material vitality in what he did; his efforts were spasmodic and unnatural. I laid down the trophies of my victory, taken from the shop, at the General’s feet, and Colonel Cloëte gravely wrote down from my dictation the details of our proceedings. Prisoners and cattle were handed over to the proper authorities, and my men and I went to our quarters amidst the congratulations of all around—they, no doubt, as puzzled as myself to discover what there was worthy of thanks in our conduct that day.
As proudly, however, as so many Redan heroes, we marched off with our laurels, whatever their real value might be. But ifwewere so modest, General Cathcart was more outspoken; he was determined to unveil to the gaze of the world our blushing honours: a grand general order came out—Falstaff’s menin buckram went down like stupid wooden-headed skittles compared to the ebony-headed niggers I had bowled over that day.
I was perfectly astounded. The General, however, had made one slight mistake in the hurry of the moment; my name had beenleft out, and in its place general officers had been mentioned, getting warm thanks for the able measures they had taken for carrying out the Commander-in-chief’s plan to clear the Water-kloof. Those who had not that day seen a shot fired, or a prisoner taken, nor even had a distant view of the Blacksmith’s Shop, were dragged before the British public as worthy recipients of well-earned thanks. This, I thought, was rather too serious a mistake, so I determined to lay the matter once more before the Commander-in-chief and ask for a revision of his general order.
In furtherance of this, I proceeded to headquarters, at Graham’s Town. On arrival I explained the object of my journey to Colonel S——, who told me it was perfectly right that something should be done, but he hardly knew how to set about it, and referred me to Colonel Cloëte as the proper person to apply to. Iwas, however, of Happy Jack’s opinion, not to appeal to a subordinate when I could get a hearing from the Commander; so, without more ado, I presented myselfin propriâ personâto the General, who was sitting in the adjoining room at the time.
After his inquiries as to the object of my journey, I asked him as quietly as the emotions then striving within me would allow, that my efforts in the late clearing out of the Water-kloof should be mentioned in the same kind manner in which he had stated my previous services—and if he thought it requisite for the public good to publish the names of officers who had not seen a shot fired that day, I hoped he would consider that my name had still juster claims for his acknowledgment. The General rose in a towering passion, exclaiming that if I did not resign immediately he would have me tried by court-martial. I replied that, if he would consent to my stating the real causes for sending in my resignation, I was ready to pen it there and then before him. After a pause he asked me to be seated, and placing himself on a camp-stool, the old soldier began conning the matterover to himself, looking towards me at times more inquiringly than decided as to which of the two had the best of the case. His womanly weakness to please the great men at home had evidently led him to pander a little too much to their acquaintances out here, whilst I, whom he personally liked, had been unduly neglected. The thought was galling; but at last he rose, and said he had not forgotten me, but thought it better to mention my name in a different manner; and was then occupied in sending his despatches home to the Horse Guards, in which he had asked for a military appointment for me in India. “Leave me now,” he added, “and tomorrow you shall have a general order also.”
In fulfilment of this promise, Colonel S—— called upon me the next day, with “Here, Lakeman, is what you asked for—a general order all to yourself—while the rest of us only get mentioned in a lump. I am, however, pleased at the result of your interview with the General. I could not help hearing in the next room that it was rather hot at one time; but all’s well that ends well—give us your hand.” No mention by me could have done kind-hearted,brave Colonel S—— any good, dead or alive; but now that he has laid down his life for his country, he belongs somewhat to all that remain; and I wish to say how much I respected and liked him. Had he not been so much above me in station and favour, I should add still more to my panegyric.
“Headquarters, Graham’s Town,October7, 1852.
“Lakeman’s Volunteer Corps, from their good conduct and the gallantry of their commander, not only in the recent clearing out of the Water-kloof, but also on many previous occasions, will be called for the future the Water-kloof Rangers.
(Signed)A. J. Cloëte,Quartermaster-General.”
Thus ended my only disagreement on military matters of this kind at the Cape. I rather cemented than otherwise my relations with the Commander-in-chief, but became the acknowledged enemy of Colonel Cloëte, the Quartermaster-general, who, I had good reason for believing, had been the originator of the dispute in question.
The ill-will, however, was all on his side; he had taken a great dislike, it seemed, to my method of discussing military and political matters in general; we were especially divided as to the meaning ofcolonial allegiance; and the fact of us being both of Dutch origin did not mend matters in a colony in which the inhabitants had such different objects in view as the Dutch and English settlers had.
I returned next day to the front with an offer I had in my possession from the Commander-in-chief to any of the men who wished to establish themselves on the frontier as military settlers, of a small but comfortable homestead, sufficient cattle and means to begin farming with, and future help should necessity require it, on the condition of their presenting themselves for military service whenever called upon by her Majesty’s Government. I kept this offer by me, never seeing my way perfectly clear to make use of it. The men were not of the right sort to cement goodwill between natives and settlers, but the matter got winded about among them, and much increased the difficulties of my command. On the slightest reproof they wouldflaunt before me their titles as farmers in prospective; and this they carried on to such a ridiculous excess, that I have known them, when under the influence of drink, attempt to turn men out of public-houses under the pretext that they were not fit associates for gentlemen farmers. I had also an order that freed me from any authority, military or civil, in the discharge of the duty of keeping clear of Kaffirs the district around Fort Beaufort; also another giving me the liberty of fixing my headquarters anywhere within ten miles of that place. I accordingly selected Blakeway’s Farm as the most suitable spot for carrying out my instructions, and immediately removed there.
The Commander-in-chief was now ready for his grand expedition into Basutoland. This carrying of the war into distant parts was, as far as I could judge, a most unwise undertaking. The colony, and more particularly its frontier, was in a far too unsettled state to receive an accession of territory with benefit to itself or profit to the land annexed; while the costly expedient of retaining several thousand British troops at the Cape for the sake of punishingBasutos, was like keeping up a large hawking establishment of peregrine falcons to chase some troublesome crows. A few police jackets stuffed with Government proclamations would have done the work equally well.
This untimely craving for excitement beyond the pale of legitimate hereditary succession has always been the bane of young colonies—and also, alas! of rapidly wearing out motherlands. A violent extension of boundaries cannot easily be justified. Violence begets violence; and nothing will rankle so much in the minds of men, from generation to generation, as the idea that they have been unjustly deprived of their forefathers’ land.
KAFFIR CHARACTERISTICS—THE CRUELTIES OF WAR—NO REAL SYMPATHY BETWEEN BLACK AND WHITE—KAFFIR CRUELTIES—NIGHT ATTACK ON A KAFFIR VILLAGE—WOUNDED PRISONER—“DOCTOR” DIX—KAFFIRS BECOME RARE—CAPTURE OF NOZIAH, SANDILLI’S SISTER—SUSPICIOUS DEATH OF HER ATTENDANT—SERGEANT HERRIDGE.
It was during this period, while all elements of warfare at the Cape were dying of exhaustion, that I had time to observe many characteristics of the Kaffir race.
One remarkable trait in their character is their sterling singleness of purpose in whatever they undertake. Whatever task a Kaffir has in hand, he does it thoroughly—no hesitation, no swerving from the object proposed; there is a childlike belief in the possible attainment of whatever they seek, which seems incredible to those who know the folly of the searcher.
Two small pieces of stick joined together bya strip of leather, and blessed by a witch-doctor, would enable him to face death, in any shape, undismayed, secure in the thought that he possesses a talisman which renders him invulnerable.
A Kaffir will chase a whim, a freak, or a fancy as persistently and as eagerly as a schoolboy will chase a butterfly until he sinks from exhaustion.
I have seen a native woman seated on the ground, mirroring herself in a bit of broken glass, and vainly trying to reduce her crisp woolly locks into some faint semblance of an Englishwoman’s flowing hair. Thus she would comb and comb, in the useless effort to make herself as artificial as the life she saw reflected there.
Reaction with them is naturally as intense as the previous excitement. A Kaffir who has been risking his life so recklessly to defend his home, will, when defeated, become wholly heedless of what remains—wife and children, goods and chattels, may perish before he will awake from his prostration and stretch out a finger to save them.
I have seen a native deserter condemned to be hanged, point to the men who were tying the noose on the branch of a tree, and explain by signs that the knot was too long for him to freely swing between the branch and the ground.
I have seen another, wounded in the leg, and unable to walk to the place of execution, when placed on my pony to carry him there, urge on the animal to the spot, and when the knot had been placed round his neck, give the “click” that sent the pony on and left him swinging there.
A Kaffir woman, driven from her hut, refuses to be burdened with her child on the march, and if placed by force in her arms, will drop the little thing on the first favourable occasion on the roadside to die.
Men and women, huddled together as prisoners after an engagement, appear utterly indifferent to one another’s sufferings; the husband will not share his rations with his wife (unless ordered to do so), nor will she share hers with him.
A Kaffir child will ask you for the beads you have promised him for bringing you to thehut in which you are going to shoot his own father.
I have heard and seen many horrible things, but this I must say, that the most atrocious villains, and the most lovable beings on the face of God’s earth, are to be found among the white men. A more kind-hearted soul than Sergeant Shelley could never be conceived; and another man in my corps used to carry about, concealed under his jacket, a broken reaping-hook, to cut the throats of the women and children we had taken prisoners on our night expeditions.
As another proof of what men may become in time of warfare, Dix one morning came to inform me that I could not have my usual bath in the small copper vat in which I had been accustomed to take my matutinal tubbing. Upon further inquiries I found that it had been used for a purpose which I will attempt to describe.
Doctor A—— of the 60th had asked my men to procure him a few native skulls of both sexes. This was a task easily accomplished. One morning they brought back to camp about two dozenheads of various ages. As these were not supposed to be in a presentable state for the doctor’s acceptance, the next night they turned my vat into a caldron for the removal of superfluous flesh. And there these men sat, gravely smoking their pipes during the live-long night, and stirring round and round the heads in that seething boiler, as though they were cooking black-apple dumplings.
One morning two Kaffir boys, that had been found by the men marauding on the outskirts of our camp, were brought to me, and by the offer I made of blankets and beads, were led to promise they would guide us to where the rest of the tribe lay concealed in a deep glen between the stony ridges that ribbed off from the Water-kloof heights. In furtherance of this object I started with a small detachment of forty men under Lieutenant Charlton. The summit of the kloof was wrapped in heavy clouds, and in passing through the hoary woods which fringed the foot of the hill, grave doubts came over me as to whether I was justified (now that the war was ebbing to a close, and had taken a decided turn in our favour) in thus temptingchildren to betray their parents; and as these boys were cautiously feeling their way to the front, like mute slot-hounds picking up an uncertain trail, it appeared to me that we were more like revengeful pursuers hunting down poor fugitive slaves, than man going to meet man and fight out our disputed rights in fair play. God’s will be done! but the task assigned to the white man is often a difficult one.
At one time he appears as a sort of legal hangman in the name of Nature’s undefined laws; at another, simply a murderer; at a third time, as I hardly know which of the two. Nevertheless, one conviction always comes back with a desolating pertinacity amidst all my doubts, and that is—we never can be equals, in peace or in war;oneof the two must give way; and as neither will do so while life lasts, Death can be the only arbitrator to settle the dispute.
Many and many a time have I held out the hand of good-fellowship to the negro, but have never felt him clasp mine with the same heartfelt return. It has either been with a diffident pressure, as though something still concealed remained between us, or with a subtle slipperyclasp, which gave one the idea of a snake wriggling in the hand, seeking when and where to bite.
Thus communing with myself, I followed hesitatingly the heels of the Kaffir children; when they suddenly stopped, and pointing to some faint glimmering lights that appeared, in the murky atmosphere of the valley, to be far off, but in reality were close at hand, asked for the blankets I had promised, for there stood the huts in which their parents slept whom they had brought me to shoot! I halted the men, and ordered them to lie down: and there we lay, stretched out on the ground, within sixty yards of the village, watching the Kaffirs come out to tend their fires, and endeavour to conceal the glare, as though afraid of attracting attention, then cautiously looking round, retire to rest again inside their little branch-covered huts.
While thus lying and watching to our front, some cautious footsteps from the rear were heard approaching, and several Kaffirs, finding out their mistake too late to fall back, threaded their way through our ranks as though the men were but so many logs of wood instead of the deadly foes they knew us to be. The last ofthese stragglers was leading a horse which obliged him to stop, as the brute stood snorting over one of the men—it refused to pass by. At length it made a plunge forward, and its heels coming disagreeably close to the man’s head as it landed on the other side, he rose, with a good hearty oath. The Kaffir, however, proceeded stolidly on his way.
These Kaffirs stopped at the huts and spoke to the people around them, but evidently did not communicate the knowledge of our presence to their friends, for they retired again quietly to rest. My horse, Charlie—a good, sensible animal as ever a man bestrode (it was the charger that General Cathcart had given me)—having winded the horse the Kaffir had lately led through our ranks, threw off the hood his head was usually covered with to prevent his attention being drawn to other cattle while we were lying in wait around villages, and began to neigh. Out swarmed the Kaffirs like bees aroused harshly from their hives. They evidently knew the loud neighing of my entire horse did not proceed from one of their small Kaffir ponies, who, in their turn, were now replying toCharlie. Before a minute had passed, our men had opened fire, and the Kaffirs in return were hurling back to us their assegais. This did not last long. With a loud cheer the huts were charged. Soon all was over; and after pulling out the dead and the wounded, we set fire to the village.
During the fight, a little Kaffir boy, who had been curled up in akaross, had received a bullet in the sole of his foot, which, passing up the leg, had smashed several inches of the bone. As he was being rolled over and over whilst the men were dragging thekarossfrom under him, he explained to me, by signs, his impossibility to rise. He stretched out his little bronzed fingers towards me; and his childish, olive face, lit up by the glare of the fire from the burning hut, looked to me like the illuminated countenance of the infant St John which one often sees in medieval pictures, and I could not help taking up the little fellow in my arms and giving him a hearty kiss. I could not leave him in his helpless condition; yet how were we to get him back to the camp? His leg was quite smashed. The man whomI tipped with a sovereign to carry him, found it dangling about in the most sickening manner, and at last gave up the job. The only chance left was to have an amputation performed. To this the child submitted without a murmur; and Dix, my cook, took the limb off at the knee in a manner that would have astonished a London surgeon. This was not the first “case” on which Dix had tried his “’prentice hand;” for some time past his vocation had been that of head surgeon and barber in general to the corps.
The little patient arrived eventually at the camp all right; and it may perhaps interest my readers to hear that a wooden leg was made for him, on which he used to stump off extraordinary Kaffir reels that might have given a new idea to some of those bonnie Scotchmen who indulge in the Highland fling. But the most profitable feat for the little performer was the following:—In a small stream that flowed some two hundred yards in front of Blakeway’s Farm, the men had made a large pond for bathing, by sinking the bed of the river. Over it a small platform was erected from which one mighttake a plunge. To this spot the little Kaffir was led whenever visitors arrived at the camp (and this often occurred, now that the war was drawing to a close). There, one end of a string being tied to his wooden leg, and the other fastened to a fishing-rod, he popped into the water like a large frog, and went down to the bottom, while up rose his leg like a float. Then began the exciting struggle of landing this queer fish; and when this was achieved, amid roars of laughter, a shower of coppers was sure to make up for his ducking.
The country around Fort Beaufort had now become so free from Kaffirs, that the men would often, after roll-call, of an evening go in twos and threes, without their firelocks, into the town, and return again before next morning’sréveillé, laden with calibashes filled with Cape-smoke. I may mention that this is the name of an intoxicating liquor made from the prickly pear or Cape cactus.
To prevent these irregular proceedings, Sergeant Herridge used to patrol the road with a party of men; and one evening he brought back an old woman, two middle-aged ones,and a young girl, whom he had found in a kloof adjoining the before-mentioned road. The girl was called “Noziah.” We soon found out that she was no less important a personage than the sister of the Kaffir chief Sandilli, who, with “Macomo,” was the greatest opponent to British power at the Cape. The old lady was the principal attendant, the two others the “lady-helps,” of the party. The former was a most communicative personage. After relating the splendour of the young damsel’s origin, and the responsibilities under which she herself laboured, as being the duenna to whose care Sandilli had confided so incomparable a treasure, she asked to be allowed to go on her way, and report progress to her mighty chief. The ancient dame was quite a character, and I felt interested on her behalf; and explained, through Johnny Fingo, that she was at perfect liberty to go where she liked—adding that, during her absence, I would look after the welfare of her charge, and that Sandilli might expect to see his sister return as she had been confided to my care.
The old lady, after expressing, by profoundsalutations, her gratitude to me, was on the point of departing, when Sergeant Herridge remarked that she wore a wonderful necklace of lions’ and leopards’ teeth strung together, and that he would like to have it. On this being explained to the old woman, she stoutly refused to part with it, saying it was a charmed token, an heirloom in her family, and had belonged formerly to a great witch-doctor, of whom she was the lineal descendant. There, for the moment, ended the matter, and shortly afterwards she started on her journey alone. Sergeant Herridge was observed to follow her; and just after she had disappeared behind the brow of the hill that rose over Blakeway’s Farm towards the Water-kloof, a shot was heard, and the sergeant came back with his leather jacket spattered with blood.
The next day the old woman’s body was found; and as the men believed that she had been murdered by Herridge, he was in consequence shunned; for however brutally cruel many of them were, killing without mercy all that came in their way when engaged in fight, young as well as old, even braining little children—yetthis was done against the supposed deadly enemies of their race, and not in cold blood for the sake of plunder.
It must not even be supposed that men could be brought into this savage state of mind without many harrowing causes of anger. I have not related the many proofs we had had of the fiendish ferocity of our foes. We had all seen the victims, or the remains, of their abominable tortures: women disembowelled, and their unborn progeny laid before them; men mutilated, and their amputated members placed in derision to adorn their yet living bodies, their wounds exposed to flies and maggots, and fated to feel death thus crawling loathsomely over them. All this had exasperated the men into frenzy. We all knew what awaited us if we fell into their power. It is true that people at home, who descant quietly on the rights of man, may have some difficulty in realising the feelings of the men.
As this supposed case of murder was not reported to me for several days, and when at last I inspected the place where the deed was said to have been committed, the oldwoman’s body had been so much eaten up by jackals, &c., as to be no longer recognisable as to which sex it belonged, I left the matter alone. Herridge in the meantime stoutly denied to all that he had committed the crime. About a month afterwards he expressed a wish to leave the corps and rejoin the police. Knowing his, to say the least of it, uncomfortable position, I allowed him to do so, giving him letters stating the services he had rendered during the war, to facilitate his readmission into the police force, from whence he had in reality deserted.
This is one instance of the manylacheswhich occurred in my corps, and which, as the authorities took no positive notice of it, I was only too glad to pretend to ignore.
On my return to England in the following spring, I was asked, on passing through Graham’s Town, to go and visit a man then lying in the hospital there, and who had formerly belonged to my corps. I accordingly went, and found the man to be Sergeant Herridge. I was shocked to see the emaciated state to which his powerful frame had been reduced, and the haggard, shifting look of hisonce fearless eye. His right hand and arm had withered to the bone; and as he held it propped up with the other before me, he said, “That did it, sir; the Almighty has blasted it; the old woman is revenged. I knew by the look she gave me when dying that all was not settled between us; but she has never left gnawing at that arm since, and now she is sucking away at my brains. Tell me, sir, will she leave me alone when I am dead?”
Poor Herridge! His deed was a cruel one, and he suffered cruelly for it. Doctor B—— of the 12th, who attended him, remarked that he had never seen a case in which the power of the mind so visibly affected the body. When first brought under his charge, the man merely complained of rheumatism in the arm, and insisted on the fact that it was drying it up; and in the course of two months, during which he was continually staring at it, it had in effect withered to the bone.
NOZIAH AT BLAKEWAY’S FARM—BECOMES A FAVOURITE WITH THE MEN—WISHES TO RECONCILE ME TO HER BROTHER SANDILLI—EXPEDITION SENT OUT TO FIND SANDILLI AND ARRANGE FOR AN INTERVIEW—RETURNS AFTER TWENTY-THREE DAYS’ ABSENCE—I GO WITH NOZIAH TO MEET HER BROTHER—SANDILLI’S WAR-COUNCIL—ANGRY RECEPTION—I OBTAIN A HEARING—SANDILLI’S REPLY—OFFERS TO MEET GENERAL CATHCART AND MAKE AN EXPLANATION TO HIM—DEMORALISING EFFECT OF EXPOSING LIFE IN FIGHTING.
Meanwhile Noziah had made herself very comfortable at Blakeway’s Farm, and had picked up enough Dutch and English words to make her wishes known to me on most subjects. There was a certain charm about the dusky maiden, who possessed all the subtle graces of her tribe. She soon became the presiding deity of our camp. To her all appealed in time of sickness or want; none could refuse a request that came from her lips, and none was more willing than myself to submit to her winning guidance. I thought thereby Iwas acknowledging the influence of a power best calculated to bring all races under British sway. As our intimacy increased, she became possessed of the fixed desire to make me the friend of her brother Sandilli. She was so persistent and persuading in this matter that I finally arranged that a party under the guidance of Johnny Fingo should proceed to that chief’s quarter, and that Noziah should be my delegate on this embassy, to arrange an interview between her brother and me.
This was not exactly in keeping with the etiquette that prevails between belligerents, and I have no doubt that legal authority could easily prove I was in the wrong. But General Cathcart was in Basutoland, and his last words before leaving had been an injunction to keep matters quiet round the Water-kloof in any way I thought most advisable.
This left me a wide margin, which I used in sending the above-named party out in an unknown direction and with a somewhat visionary object in view; for, after all, no one knew where Sandilli was, or the mood in which he might be, if found at all. So, half hesitatingly,I sent them on their way. Dix, who was a passionate admirer of the gentle sex, of all shades and shapes (always excepting his frail better-half at Cape Town), had become a devoted follower of one of Noziah’s attendants, and was to have been leader of the band; his heart, however, failed him at the last moment, and he contented himself with a passionate embrace of this his latest flame, vowing, in high Kaffir-Dutch, that time or distance could never extinguish the fire that burnt in his breast.
Johnny Fingo was thus left in full command. He had heard that Sandilli lay somewhere concealed in the Ama Ponda Mountains, behind Fort Alice. In that direction they accordingly wended their way; and after an absence of three-and-twenty days, Noziah returned with the news that Sandilli was in the Water-kloof, not six miles off, and there awaited my coming.
Her eagerness for our interview seemed so catching, and she had such fears that her brother might decamp once more—she knew not where—that I determined to carry out her wishes immediately. I had unbounded confidencein her loyalty to me; but I had not, by any means, the same reliance on the good faith of her brother, who bore a character for fierceness and treachery by no means reassuring. However, accompanied by her, an attendant, and Dix, I started for the interview, which it was intended should take place in the rocks so often mentioned before as the Blacksmith’s Shop, and which had formed so prominent a feature in General Cathcart’s description of clearing out the Water-kloof.
I left Johnny Fingo in the camp. Something in his demeanour since his return, and in his manner of relating what had happened during the expedition, appeared to me suspicious. He was like a big black snake whose poisoned fangs I knew that I had extracted at one time, but I was not sure as to whether or not they had grown to be dangerous again during his late absence; at all events, I thought him safer at home than with me.
It was late at night when we arrived on the heights above the kloof, so I determined, after stumbling about over rocks and monkey-rope creepers for some time, to encamp where wewere for the night. A most merciful dispensation of Providence it was that we did so; for not ten yards farther on we should have fallen over a perpendicular cliff several hundred feet to the bottom. In fact, we slept on the brink of a rapid slope, not ten yards in length, that led to this fearful death.
The next morning early we arrived near the rocks we were in search of; and halting in a tolerably open space, I sent on Noziah to warn her brother of our arrival. It was rather an anxious moment. I could see by the smoke still wreathing about several still-smouldering fires, that more than one party lay concealed somewhere near those huge black rocks. But whether a volley of musketry or friendly Kaffirs were to issue from them, I felt by the thumping of my heart that the question was being sharply debated within. However, my anxious doubting was soon over; for Noziah came back, accompanied by a tall, limping figure, who gravely held out his hand to me.
I was anxious to be on friendly terms with this man. Noziah’s brother was an interesting being to me. Her courage, handsome person,and devotedness were making rapid strides into my affections; and notwithstanding that Sandilli was far from a desirable-looking acquaintance, I strove by the hearty grasp I gave him to prove how anxious I was to become better acquainted.
We now proceeded to the rocks, Dix bringing up the rear, with orders from me to shoot the first person who committed an act of open treachery. There were here about twenty Kaffirs. We were soon seated on the ground—Sandilli, Noziah, and myself, the centre of a circle which these men formed about us. Dix was stationed outside the circle, gun in hand. The difficulties of entering into good-fellowship with Sandilli now became apparent; for notwithstanding the beseeching looks of Noziah, he remained dumbly staring at me in the rudest manner, and I could see nothing but suppressed rage written on his ugly countenance. The other members of his council—mostly old men, who remained squatted on their hands like savage grizzly bears—looked askance at me with their bloodshot eyes, as though they would like nothing better thanpulling me to pieces. Feeling thus too disagreeably scrutinised, I told Dix to point his gun, as if by accident, somewhere near Sandilli’s head. This movement considerably smoothed down the very distorted features of that dark gentleman. He said something in Kaffir to Noziah, pointing to Dix, and I told the latter to move his firelock a little on one side.
After this mute episode snuff was passed round, and the conversation opened. I explained in Dutch that I had been led to this interview with the hope of stopping further shedding of blood; that the late engagements between my men and the Kaffirs had been more like the slaughtering of cattle than an honest struggle between man and man; they (the Kaffirs) had no ammunition, and very few guns left; it was worse than madness to suppose that a piece of stick, blessed by a witch-doctor, could drive, as they pretended, the English into the sea,—in fact, I argued that it was a duty for Sandilli, and well worthy his great influence, to order his blind followers not to sacrifice themselves any longer to such a senseless enterprise.
Sandilli replied in a curious mingling ofDutch, English, and Kaffir, of which Noziah acted as interpreter, that it was not he who had begun the war: years and years ago his father had to defend his kraal against General Maitland on the Sunday River, many long marches from where we then sat; that from that day to this several wars had occurred between his tribe and the English; but they were always brought on in the defence of their homes. In this manner they had been successively driven from one place to another, until there was nothing left for them but the hills. They were not hillmen, but wanted the pasture-lands in the plains from whence they had been driven, and which were now given to English farmers and cowardly Fingoes. He, for his part, was willing to make peace, because they could not fight against my men, who attacked them by night when they slept. During the day they were not afraid, as they had proved to Sir Harry Smith. He had been told that the Basutos had been beaten by General Cathcart: it was a good thing, because they were fools not to have come to his (Sandilli’s) help when he had nearly driven the English into the sea, where they came from.He added that, if Macomo was willing, they would go together and meet General Cathcart, and explain these matters to him, trusting that something like an equable arrangement might be made for those of his tribe who remained.
I promised to send on this proposal of his to General Cathcart; and it was, moreover, arranged that Noziah should remain in my camp to convey the General’s reply to Sandilli when received. Noziah also made her brother swear, over some piece of stick she held before him, that she should not be sacrificed for remaining with the English (she had often told me that that disagreeable fate awaited her). To this, after many a mysterious sign and token, he agreed, to my immense relief, and the party broke up. I had felt, to say the least of it, exceedingly uneasy during the somewhat lengthy interview. Noziah afterwards told me that one of the party had actually proposed that I should be bound and tortured to death, as a propitiation to their witch-doctors, for the spirits of those who had perished by my night attacks. It was, perhaps, the firelock of Dix, pointed towards Sandilli’s head, thatprevented the carrying out of this Kaffir-like attention.
On returning to camp I found a small party of men who had been all night seeking us. They had caught a Kaffir, belonging probably to Sandilli’s party, seated near the spot where we had slept that night, and around which lay strewn remnants of a newspaper in which Dix had wrapped our late meal. They concluded from these shreds that we had been pitched over the cliff, and that these tokens of civilisation were all that remained of their captain, and, in revenge, they had hanged the poor devil on an adjoining tree.
It was really high time that the war should come to a speedy end. The knowledge that this end was close at hand had sadly relaxed discipline. The stirring events of war had left a craving for excitement not easily satisfied. Life had been so freely exposed, that it was looked upon as of very hazardous value. Men were ready to give or take it on the most trivial pretexts. I have seen a party of my own men firing at one another, at long distances, from behind rocks, merely to find out the range of theirMinie rifles. At other times I have known them throw assegais at one another for the same purpose, and more than once inflict dangerous wounds.