COMMANDO AGAINST THE MATABILI AND MOSELEKATSE, THE CHIEF OF THE
MATABILI.
To men who lived the life of the farmer in Africa, surrounded on all
sides by savage animals, or those creatures which were hunted for the
sake of their flesh, obliged to be watchful at all times on account of
their enemies--the Kaffirs of the old colony and the tribes to the north
of them--their preparations for a campaign were speedily made; and on
the morning following that on which Hans Sterk's party had rejoined his
companions, more than eighty Dutchmen, with as many after riders, all
well-armed and mounted, were ready to start on their expedition against
the Matabili.
The foe against which this party was being led was known to be both
cunning and daring, and so it was considered expedient to place the camp
in a state of defence, lest the enemy, taking advantage of the absence
of the greater number of the fighting men, should select that time for
their attack; for such is the usual proceeding of African chieftains
against their enemies. The waggons were therefore drawn together and
brushwood placed so as to prevent an easy entrance among them, regular
watches were set, so that a surprise would have been difficult, had it
been attempted; and a regular attack when the Boers were prepared would
have ended in a fearful slaughter of the assailants. Matters being thus
satisfactorily arranged at home, the expedition started, amidst great
firing of guns, this being among the Africanders the substitute for
cheering.
A leader having been chosen from among the Boers, the party started full
of hope, and during the first day had travelled nearly forty miles.
Every precaution was taken to avoid being surprised and also to ensure
surprising the enemy, for the Boers were well aware of the advantages to
be gained from surprising such an enemy as the Matabili. Game was
abundant in the country through which the commando passed, and thus it
was not necessary for the men to burden themselves with much weight in
the form of food; water was at this time of the year plentiful, and thus
the two essentials of life, food and water, were to be obtained with
ease. To men who loved adventure as much as did these men, such an
expedition as this was sport; and had any stranger come to the bivouac
at night, seen the jovial, free-from-care manner of the Boers, and heard
their spirit-stirring tales, he would scarcely have imagined that these
men were bound on a matter of life and death, and were shortly to be
engaged with a brave and powerful enemy, who, though badly armed, still
outnumbered them in the ratio of twenty to one. Of all the party, Hans
Sterk alone seemed quiet and thoughtful; but his look of determination
indicated that his thoughts were certainly not pacific; and when the
evening arrived, and the men halted until the moon rose and enabled them
to continue their journey, none were more active or watchful than Hans
Sterk the elephant hunter.
Five days and nights of rapid travelling brought the Boers within a few
hours' journey of the head-quarters of the Matabili, when it was decided
to halt in order to refresh both men and horses, and to endeavour to
gain such information as to the disposition of the fighting men of the
Matabili, as would enable them to attack the enemy at the weakest point.
Whilst the Boers were thus undecided, they were joined by a party of
about a dozen of their countrymen, who had been on an exploring
expedition, and having left their wives and children with some men as
escort, whilst they departed on a few days' journey, returned to find
their waggons destroyed and their relatives murdered. Hastening with
all speed to their companions, they heard of their departure to attack
the Matabili, and immediately started to join them. On their journey
they had come up with and surprised a party of Matabili, whom they at
once attacked, killing all except one man, whom they made prisoner; this
one man being capable, they thought, of being eventually of use.
Moselekatse had made it law, that any man who was either taken prisoner
or who lost his weapons in a battle, and did not bring those of an
enemy, was no more to be seen in his country. Thus the captured
Matabili considered it the better plan to turn traitor, and endeavour to
make himself useful to his captors. He therefore informed them that if
they journeyed up westward of North, they might enter Moselekatse's
country from a position where they were not expected, and where no spies
were on the look out; and thus, if the attack were made at daybreak, a
fearful slaughter must ensue.
Acting on this advice, the Boers started in the required direction, and
were ready to dash upon their foes as soon as the first streaks of
daylight illumined the land. Their attack was entirely unexpected, for
the Matabili who had committed the slaughter on the wandering farmers,
and who had attacked the hunters, had only just returned, and were
rejoicing in their successes and in the trophies they had brought to the
feet of their king. Before, however, the sun had risen more than ten
times its height above the horizon, about 400 of the Matabili warriors
were lying dead on the plains around their huts.
Hans Sterk had not, like many of his companions, been entirely occupied
with slaughtering the enemy, he had been searching in all directions to
find some traces of the prisoners who had been carried off by the
Matabili; but he failed in doing so, until he found a wounded enemy, to
whom he promised life if he would inform him where the white maidens
were hidden. It was with difficulty that the two communicated, for Hans
was but imperfectly acquainted with the half-Kaffir dialect spoken by
the Matabili, and the wounded man understood but a few words of Dutch.
Still, from him Hans learnt that Katrine and her sister were prisoners
at Kapain, where Moselekatse then was; this place being a day's journey
from Mosega, where the battle, or rather slaughter, had just taken
place.
Hans' interests were not the same as those of the other Dutchmen; he was
mainly bent upon recovering Katrine from her barbarous jailor, and
immediately making her his wife; whilst his companions were only anxious
to capture and carry off the large herds of cattle which were grazing
around, and to take with them the waggons lately taken from the
travellers. It was in vain that Hans pointed out to the commander of
the expedition the advantages to be derived from following up with
rapidity the successes already obtained, and to attack the chief of the
Matabili where it was impossible he could escape. Carried away by his
brief success, and uninfluenced by the arguments of one as young as Hans
Sterk, the commander of the expedition refused to advance, and ordered
the immediate retreat of the whole party, with about seven thousand head
of cattle. This plan, having gained the approval of the majority of the
men who formed the commando, was at once put into execution, and the
retreat was commenced; and in a few days the wives, daughters, and
children left at the waggons were rejoiced at the return of the
expedition, with such a valuable capture as many thousand head of
cattle. The news of this success spread among the colonists with
magical effect, and many who had at first hesitated to follow the desert
wanderers, now used the greatest expedition to do so, and thus the ranks
of the wanderers were increased by some hundreds of souls. But one
drawback existed, however, amidst the rejoicings, and that was, that
Hans Sterk, Bernhard, and Victor, had undertaken what was considered a
foolhardy expedition; for they had left the main body on the day after
the battle, and were intent upon trying to effect the escape of two
prisoners from the kraals of Moselekatse himself; such an attempt being
almost reckless, and unlikely to succeed, considering the power and
watchfulness of the enemy against whom they were about to try their
skill. But we will return to Hans and his two companions.