Kitabı oku: «The White Chief of the Caffres», sayfa 6
There was one subject that I was anxious to speak to these chiefs about, but had always felt some hesitation. Now, however, I determined to inquire from them why they had killed all the sailors and men who had been shipwrecked. For, although these Caffres were warlike people, yet I knew they were just, according to their reasoning, and would not kill men in cold blood, unless with some end in view.
One evening I was sitting in my kraal, grinding down some nails to make points for some arrows, when an old chief named Inguana came to my hut and sat down beside me. After some conversation I asked him why his people killed the white men who were wrecked. He then told me that some years ago a ship came to nearly the same place, and about forty men landed and made friends with the Caffres, and stopped some days. At length they prevailed on several men and women to go on board the ship and kept them there; they then came again on shore and gave many men something to drink which made them insensible. These men they carried in boats to their ships: some men woke and resisted, and they were shot. Then the ship went away, and the Caffres never saw their friends again. So when they saw the men on shore from my ship, they feared them and thought similar acts would be committed; so, keeping a watch, they caught them asleep and assagied them. The proceedings of the former visitors showed they were slave-catchers, and thus their acts caused the death of the poor sailors who had escaped from shipwreck. Similar proceedings often happen in various parts of the world; some white men behave badly to the so-called savages, and then harmless visitors suffer for the acts of these rascals. From what I had seen of these Umzimvubu Caffres, I did not believe they would kill white men without a cause, so I was glad I had been able to hear why they had slaughtered the sailors. The Caffres themselves thought that the sailors were probably the same as those who had carried off their relatives, and so determined to surprise them before they had an opportunity of taking any more prisoners. When I told them that the men they had killed were harmless and in distress, they really seemed sorry for their acts.
Chapter Eight
One of the Zulu chiefs who had been killed in our battle near Natal had a headdress of ostrich-feathers. This headdress was considered a great curiosity, and our principal chiefs divided these feathers amongst them, and on great occasions wore them in their head-rings. I heard that, on the plains under the Quathlamba Mountains, ostriches were to be found; so I was anxious to make an expedition there, in order to try and shoot or trap these birds, and so procure a large supply of feathers. On talking this matter over with the chiefs, they told me I must take a large party with me, as Bushmen were numerous there, and it would be dangerous to visit that country unless well-armed and in numbers. I, however, told the chiefs that three or four of us armed with guns were a match for any number of Bushmen. This statement the chiefs did not deny, but they said that if the Bushmen crept on us at night, they might hit us with their poisoned arrows, whilst we could not see them. I answered, however, that sport without some danger was only fitted for women, and that I had already proved that I could take care of myself.
After a very long talk it was agreed that I, with twenty men whom I should select, were to journey up country, and try our luck against the ostriches. I chose the best men with whom I was acquainted, and also my two young Caffre friends. We carried five guns with us and about twenty rounds of ammunition each. So that we were a formidable party as regards strength, though few in number. Our daily journeys must have been about thirty miles, as we walked from sunrise to sunset, and very quickly. We had no want of food, for there were plenty of antelope in this country, and we used to spoor these, to where they had lain down in the reeds or long grass; we then surrounded the spot where they were concealed, and closed in on them; when they jumped up to make off, we either assagied them, or knocked them over with our knob-kerries.
After eight days’ walking we came to the plains where we expected to find ostriches, and I now made use of my glasses to scan the country round. There was plenty of game in these plains, herds of the impovu (elands) and other animals, and water was also plentiful, as numbers of small streams flowed from the ravines of the Quathlamba into the plains, south and south-east of them. So that we considered this country very suitable for kraals, as there was plenty of grass for cattle and the soil was well-suited for growing corn.
We worked our way over these plains till we came to the rising ground at the foot of the mountains, which we ascended, and could then obtain a good view of the surrounding country.
As we were sitting on the rocks looking in various directions, we heard a noise above us, and saw a large rock rolling and bounding down towards us. Instantly we jumped behind rocks and so protected ourselves, and the rolling rock bounded over our heads. On looking up we saw two Bushmen standing on some crags about 150 yards from us: it was these men who had loosened the rock, in order, if possible, to crush some of us. They shrieked at us, and shook their fists as if defying us; they thought themselves safe, as they were far more active on the rocks than Caffres, and could easily keep out of assagy-range; but they little knew how we were armed, for they had probably never heard the report even of a gun. Resting my gun against a rock, I took a steady aim at the Bushman and fired. The man instantly fell, rose again, and waved his arms, and then dropped dead. His companion instantly bounded off up the mountains as fast and as active as a klipspringer.
We ran up the rocks to where this Bushman lay, and the Caffres drove their assagies into him to make sure he was not shamming; he was, however, quite dead. On looking round we saw a well-worn path leading to what appeared a solid wall of rock. On approaching the rock we found a hollow which had been scooped out and formed into a cave, and this was evidently the Bushmen’s home. On entering this cave we were surprised at the multitude of things inside. There was a lion’s skin, and a necklace formed out of his teeth, two more formed out of his claws; three leopards’ skins; several skins of elands, which were arranged so as to form a bed. In one corner were about a hundred ostriche’s feathers, whilst nearly a dozen ostriche’s eggs filled with water were round the cave. There was also plenty of dried meat, evidently eland’s flesh, and a number of poisoned arrows. Here then we had come on a treasure, for the leopard-skins and the necklaces, were much valued among our tribes. All the animals whose skins had been found in this cave, must have been killed by the Bushmen with their poisoned arrows, showing how daring and skilful these men are with their tiny weapons, for to kill a lion they must have come to within at least forty paces of him. We secured all these articles, and then called a council of war to decide whether we should stop in this country in order to kill ostriches or return with what we had obtained. We at length decided to return; for we had seen no ostriches, and as they are the most keen-sighted and fastest of animals, we might wait many days before we even saw one. Eland, however, were plentiful, and we saw a large herd of them on the plains; so we divided our party into four divisions – three of these were to go round on the opposite side of the elands, whilst those of the fourth party, who had guns, were to lie concealed by some rocks, and the herd was to be driven up to us. Our plan succeeded well, and the herd came to within about an assagy’s-throw of us before they knew of our presence; so that we fired each two shots before they got out of range, killing three elands. This supplied us with plenty of meat; so we had a great feast, and dried enough flesh to last us on our journey back.
On our return to our kraals we were received like heroes who had won a great battle. Our feathers were the envy of the whole tribe, so I gave several to the various chiefs, and it was agreed that a chief might wear as many as he liked, the head man of a kraal might wear only one, and no lower man might wear any. We thus made a division in the rank of men, which is of great importance even with men as uncivilised as were these Caffres.
Among the men at our kraal there was one called Ebomvu, because his skin was redder than most Caffres. He was the Rain-maker of the tribe, and was much feared, because he was considered a wizard. Now the power which these wizards had was very great. They were believed by most of the men in the tribe to be able to foretell events, to produce rain in time of drought, to tell who had bewitched cattle, or men, and made them ill, and they used this power very often to get rid of any person who was not agreeable to them. The Rain-maker was a dangerous man, and I had soon learnt that, unless I was friendly with him, he might proclaim that I had bewitched somebody, and then probably all the power of my friends could not save me from being killed.
I saw one case where an old man who had made an enemy of the Rain-maker, was killed by the people, and as the proceedings then adopted were similar to those usually practised, I will give a description of what occurred.
A cow belonging to the head man of a neighbouring kraal died during the night. There was no doubt in my mind, on looking at the animal, that it had died from the bite of a snake, probably the m’namba umculu, or great puff-adder. Ebomvu, however, told the owner that the cow had been bewitched by some enemy who wanted to serve him an ill turn, and that this enemy he would smell out. In two days after the cow’s death Ebomvu commenced his proceedings. He assembled all the principal men of the kraal, and also those of the kraals near; and then, entering the cattle enclosure, went to the spot where the cow had died, and told the men to dig. Several men set to work digging up the ground, and discovered the end of a cow’s horn, on which was scratched a mark like a cow’s head. Ebomvu seized this and smelt it, shouting, “Nuka, Nuka” (“It stinks.”) He then moved slowly out of the kraal, holding the horn in front of him, and going first in one direction, then in another, until he reached the huts where the old man lived to whom he was an enemy. Here he went on the ground and crawled on like a dog, smelling the ground like a hound. He entered the hut of the old man, and pointing to a corner told the men to dig there. They turned up the ground, and found a horn just the same size and shape, as that which they had discovered in the cattle enclosure, and on this horn were the same marks as those on the horn first found. This was considered positive evidence that the cow had died from being bewitched. So a council of all the chiefs was called, and the case was tried. The evidence of the finding of the two pieces of horn was given, and on being examined the same marks were seen on each. So the old man was ordered to pay a fine of five cows to the man whose cow had died, and five cows to the chief himself. Had it been a man who had died instead of a cow, the old man himself would have been killed, and all his cattle taken by the chief.
I was much afraid lest the wizard should accuse me of “tagata,” as they called witchcraft, so I always made friends with him, and gave him presents, and used to sit and talk with him whenever I could. I gave him several fine ostrich-feathers, with which he was much pleased, and he told me I should some day be the great chief of this district.
Chapter Nine
Shortly after my trip in search of the ostrich-feathers, an event occurred which obliged our people to call a meeting of the whole tribe. There came to our country some Caffres belonging to the tribes which lived west of us, and on the banks of the Kei river. These tribes were the Amakosa, the Amaponda, and others. Beyond them were the white men, consisting of the English, called the Umlungos, and the Amabores, as the Dutch farmers were called by the Caffres.
Between these white people and the Amakosa, there had been a sort of war going on for some months. The Caffres had been unable to resist the temptation of seeing fine fat cattle grazing near them, and but carelessly watched. The young Caffres especially were excited by such sights, because many of these wished to purchase a wife, and as the price demanded for a wife was ten cows, they were unable to buy the girl they were fond of. If, however, they could manage to drive off ten cows from the white men they might purchase a wife at once. Now in India, I remembered, it was just the reverse: there a father had to give a large sum of money to get his daughter married, so that a man who had several daughters was simply ruined in consequence of the money he had to give for his daughters to get husbands. Consequently, in India it became a general practice to kill female children as soon as they were born, as a matter of economy; whereas here, in South Africa, female children were a source of wealth to their fathers.
When the white men found their cattle had been stolen, they formed a party and started on the spoor, and if they caught the Caffres who had stolen them they shot them as if they were hyaenas. Fights consequently took place between the Amakosa and the white men, and several had been killed on both sides. These events led to war being declared against the Amakosa by the English, and this war had just commenced when the visitors came to our country.
All the principal men of our tribe having been assembled, we formed a large circle about four deep on some open ground near my hut. We sat down close together and remained silent whilst the two Amakosa stood in the middle of the ring to address us, which they did in the following manner: —
“Chiefs of the Umzimvubu! – We come as speakers from the Amakosa, to ask you to help us against the white man. We have lived for many generations on the banks of the Kei and in the Amatola Mountains. We once owned the land down to the Great Fish River; the Fingoes were our slaves, the Hottentots were afraid of us. The white man has now come, and on small pretences has taken our land, and made us give them hundreds of cattle. Our young men have been shot down like dogs; but at last we have quivered the assagy in our defence, and in our bush and in our mountains we are strong. We want your aid in two ways: first, to let your young men join us; and, secondly, that you will let us drive our cattle into your country, so that the white man cannot capture them. For this we will pay you cattle, giving you one in every ten. Your men are brave, and can fight as we heard they did against the Amazulu. If we are eaten up, the white man will soon come to your country; so we are a strong fence against them, and you should help to strengthen that fence. I have spoken as our chiefs have told me.”
The two Amakosa then moved from the centre of the circle and sat down among our chiefs. There was a silence of several minutes, during which each of the intending speakers was reflecting on what had been said. That we should receive one in ten of the cattle that we took care of was a tempting offer to many, whilst several of the young men were pleased at the idea of encountering the white man, and showing their bravery. I crept round the circle to where Ebomvu the Rain-maker was sitting, and whispered to him, “What do you think of this?” He replied, “I have not yet obtained the right thought!” I said, “The white men have all guns; they are in thousands; and if we join the Amakosa, they may come and attack us, and then, would the Amakosa help us?” Ebomvu nodded, and took a large pinch of snuff; and then, seeing that no chief came forward, he walked into the centre of the ring, and stretching out his arm addressed the chiefs.
Since that time I have heard among civilised nations many so-called orators, but I can fairly state that I never heard greater eloquence than I did from Ebomvu.
He said: “Men of the Umzimvubu! – Our visitors from the Amakosa have asked us to help them against the white man, who is encroaching on them. They also ask us to take care of their cattle, so that the white man, if he enters the Kloofs of the Amatola, may not carry off their cattle. They tell us that it is to our advantage to join them against the white man; for otherwise the white man will soon push against us. And if we take care of their cattle they will give us one out of ten. Now when anything is done between two tribes it is done because of friendship and brotherhood, or because of trading one with the other. Although we are friendly with the Amakosa, yet they have not treated us like brothers. They have been hard with us in trade: the knives, spearheads, and other things they obtained from the white man, they would not part with to us except for high prices. So we must look at this matter as trade, and I cannot see that we gain much advantage by sending our young men to be shot down by the whites. We should be fighting for the Amakosa; and we are asked to do this because, perhaps, by-and-by, the white man may want to fight with us. So we are asked to do now what would be very bad for us if we had to do it by-and-by. Then we are to protect the Amakosa cattle, and to receive as reward just one in ten. This is not enough: the Amakosa are hard at a bargain, and I think we are required to give much and receive but little.”
Ebomvu then sat down again among the principal men, a murmur of “Di’a vuma nawe” (“I agree with you”) being uttered by the older chiefs, whilst loud cries of “Hi, Hi, musa” were uttered by the younger men.
After a little delay a young chief, who had fought well against the Amazulu, stepped into the centre of the circle, and raising his shield and assagies, said, “Listen to me, men of the Umzimvubu. I am for war. I think we ought not to sit down like boys or women, and let our friends, the Amakosa, fight alone. We are strong and we know how to fight. If we join the Amakosa we shall share in the spoil; we must have our share of the cattle, of the guns captured, and we may also procure some of those animals on which men ride. Shall our tribe be termed a tribe of cowards? I say, let us join the Amakosa, and dip our assagies in the blood of the white man.”
A tremendous shout was given at the termination of this address; and it was evident that, as far as numbers went, there were more in favour of war than there were against it. This was an example of what took place among civilised nations. If the majority of an assembly are emotional rather than intellectual, a man who appeals to the emotions gains more adherents than the speaker who talks sound sense. Consequently, when another young chief spoke in favour of war, it was decided that we should join the Amakosa and fight the white man.
What I was to do I did not know. I felt that, although I had become a regular Caffre in habits and thoughts, yet I was an Englishman; and if I fired and killed a white man, I should be guilty of murder. I thought a great deal about this matter; for though I had nothing to complain of in my present life, yet I longed to see my father again, and to let him know I was not dead. I knew that, lost as was the ship in which I had left Calcutta, there would be no records of her ever found. I alone could tell the tale, for the ladies who had been saved had become the wives of Caffres, and they told me that now they must live and die as they were, and could never again return to civilisation.
I had great doubts whether the life I now led was not the one which most men in cities toiled for all their lives. Boy as I was, yet I had rank, I was a chief; I had cattle, the great wealth in this land; I had a gun and ammunition; I had always plenty to eat; I wanted no clothes, I could wrap myself in an ingubu (blanket or kaross) made of jackals’ skins, which kept me warm in the cold nights; I had no work to do that I didn’t like. There was plenty of game to shoot or trap; and, except during a short rainy season, the climate was as fine as any in the world. What more pleasant life than this could I lead anywhere? In England I should be at a school, having to learn a lot of things in which I took no interest; perhaps, if I did not work properly, I might be caned, I, who was now a chief, and if any man struck me should probably use my assagy against him. There were two sides to the question of returning to civilisation. I had read also that my uncle passed seven or eight hours a day in a dark office in London, in a place crowded round by other houses, so that you could scarcely see the sun, and where there were so many men that you scarcely ever breathed anything but second-hand air. Still, there was the longing always coming over me to see my father, and to tell him that I was happy, and if he did not mind I should prefer remaining where I was. But the war-spirit had broken out, and every one, even to the smallest intombi (girl) was dancing about, singing war-songs. As was the custom with these tribes, a great war-dance was arranged; all the fighting men, in full war-dress, assembled from miles round. We mustered more than five thousand fighting men, besides about three thousand boys able to throw an assagy, and assist at critical moments, when the enemy were broken or too powerful at any particular point.
I shall always remember the war-dance which now took place; it was a sight only to be seen in the wilderness, and where civilisation has made no progress. The men assembled formed a ring three and four deep, and sat quietly on the ground for more than an hour, each with his shield in front of him. At a given signal we all started to our feet, with a shout; then, imitating the movements of an old chief who entered the centre of the ring, we beat the ground, first with one foot, then with the other; then, jumping in the air, came to the ground with both feet at once, making the earth shake as we did so. After we had continued these proceedings for some time, a young bull was brought into the ring and turned loose, three young chiefs entering at the same time. They shouted and beat their shields, so as to alarm the bull, and then closed on him, hurling their assagies at him. The animal soon became savage and charged at the young chiefs, and a regular bullfight occurred; but so active were the Caffres, and so well did they back one another up, that in a few minutes the bull was so terribly wounded by assagies that it sank to the ground and died.
Four bulls were killed in the same manner and by different sets of young chiefs, the circle of warriors all the time singing their war-songs and dancing and beating their shields. During two days these festivities were kept up, and then the leading chiefs met in council to decide upon the plan of operations. I soon began to observe that several of the chiefs regarded me in a manner different from that in which they had formerly done. They were not unfriendly, but they were silent; and I feared that some enemy had been at work who was jealous of my rise and progress. I was rich for so young a chief, as I now possessed fourteen cows and several calves; but I did not think I was rich enough to be accused of witchcraft, and my cows taken from me. I had but to wait a few days before I learned why this change in manners had taken place. One evening an old chief sent for me to his kraal for a kaluma (talk), and on my entering his hut I found two other chiefs there. They offered me snuff, and Itchuala, and then the old chief said: —
“Umkunkinglovu! we know you are brave and can fight well, and we should have liked you to lead a division of our men; but we have thought that, as you, although a Caffre at heart, are still white, you might not like to fight against white men. We don’t know about white men; we don’t know who are friends, and who enemies. We, the Umzimvubu, fight against the Amazulu, though we are both black. Do you white men ever fight one against the other?”
“Yes,” I replied, “when nations like your great tribes disagree they fight.”
“Then are the people at war with the Amakosa of your tribe?”
“Yes, they are.”
“Then you would not like to fight against them?”
“No; I should be a rascal to do so.”
“We thought it might be so,” said the old chief, “so we are going to leave you in charge of the tribe, to take care of the cows and the young people, until we return.”
“I should like to speak about this war,” I said; “may I?”
A nod was the only answer.
“This war,” I said, “will probably bring great trouble to the tribe. You have been misled by the Amakosa; for the white men against whom you are fighting are powerful, and if they require them can bring ten men to your one. You with assagies only cannot defeat them, for they are all armed with guns, and are good shots. They can wear you out; for they can destroy your crops of corn, and capture your cattle, or worry them so that they cannot feed. You have little to gain, and all to lose. Why do you go on this expedition?”
The three chiefs sat silent for a few minutes, and then the elder said, “We believe the Amakosa. Their chiefs say the white men are not numerous, and are very slow – that in spite of their guns, which are not much use in the bush, the assagy has gained the victory; unless we fight the white man, he will march on and will soon want our country, and we shall be wiped out. We are now bound by promise to fight, so it is no use now thinking any more about it. Besides, the Amakosa tell us that the white men employed to fight are not allowed to fight as they like or could, but are bound up with straps and tight clothes, and are made to wear red blankets round their bodies, so as to be easily seen and therefore easily shot. They have to carry a number of things also, which prevent them from running fast, and tires them when they walk. So an Amakosa warrior feels he is better able to fight than a white soldier, who cannot move through the bush, as the thorns hold him by his clothes; so that he cannot shoot, and is easily assagied.”
I endeavoured to convince these chiefs that it was no use fighting against the English; but they listened patiently, and then said that, when I left my friends the whites, I was too young to be able to judge correctly of numbers and strength, and that I should see them return with many guns and plenty of cattle.
