1879-1880
Like all big game hunters Selous always dreamed of a land teaming with
game where other hunters had not been and scared the game away. He saw
by this time that the old hunting-grounds, at least as far as elephants
were concerned, were finished, and that he must find for himself a new
field to exploit if such a place existed. The difficulties, however,
even to such a man as himself, were immense, because the "fly" debarred
him to the east and north, whilst to the west was nothing but a
waterless desert where no elephants could live. If therefore he was to
find the virgin country it must be far to the north where he could not
take his waggons. The country on which he had set his heart was the
Mashukulumbwe, and though no hunters had been there, he heard from
natives that it was full of elephants. In 1877 he had tried to reach it,
but owing to the hostility of the Portuguese and local chiefs beyond the
Zambesi, and the subsequent illness of himself and his friend, he had
been obliged to abandon the venture. Now, however, in 1879, he conceived
a plan to cross the desert to Bamangwato, when he hoped to kill
gemsbuck, which had so far eluded him, and to hunt on the Chobe, which
always held a peculiar attraction for him, then to leave his waggons and
visit the unknown portions of the Barotsi country and strike east to the
Mashukulumbwe. He expected that this journey would extend over two or
three years, so in January he trekked south to Klerksdorp in the
Transvaal, where he laid in stores and ammunition for the long trip.
On April 14th he reached Bamangwato and obtained permission from Khama
to travel through the Kalahari to the Mababe river. This time young
Miller again accompanied him as well as another young colonist of
German extraction named Sell. Khama sent with Selous a grumpy
disagreeable old Kafir named Ai-eetsee-upee (the man who knows nothing)
to look after the waggons. Five other coloured men completed the party.
On May 4th they reached the Botletlie river. "This," says Selous, "is
one of the most abominable spots I have yet visited: one small mud hole
from which a little filthy water was all we could get for ourselves or
the oxen, yet on the map this river looks like a young Mississippi."
On May 8th to the west of the Botletlie, Selous reached an encampment of
bushmen, who told him there were giraffes in the bush close at hand. An
old bull was soon found. "I gave the giraffe four shots," says Selous,
"and then, seeing that he was done for, galloped round him, upon which
he stood reeling under a tree, and I was just pulling my horse in, when
a lion, a lioness, and two half-grown cubs jumped out of the bushes just
in front of me and trotted slowly away. Just at this moment, too, I saw
four stately giraffe cows walk out of the bush in single file about 500
yards ahead. The lion, after trotting a few paces, turned round and
stood, broadside on, looking at me, offering a splendid shot. I was on
the ground in a moment and gave him a bullet just behind the shoulder.
With a growl he galloped away for about 100 yards, and then rolled over
on his side, stone dead. I just rode up to assure myself of the fact,
and then galloped on after the giraffe cows." Two of these he also
killed.
On May 10th he saw the first gemsbuck, "the antelope of all others of
which I longed to shoot a fine specimen," but after wounding one he lost
it. Next day, however, he killed a young cow.
On May 28th they reached the so-called "fountain" of Sode-Garra, where
the bushmen told him that the country to the north was impassable owing
to no rain falling the previous summer. Never having known the untutored
savage to tell the truth Selous imagined that the bushmen were lying,
and so decided to risk it and trek on. The poor oxen then had a terrible
time; they got no water for two days and nights except a little
moisture at one spot. On the fourth day they reached the sand-belts and
pans just south of the Mababe flats, and still there was not a drop of
water. It was here two years previously the famous Boer elephant-hunter
Martinus Swartz and ten members of his family died of fever, only six
individuals surviving out of a party of seventeen.
At these dried-up pans, however, Selous found some comparatively fresh
spoor of buffalo and that meant there must be water at no very great
distance. Accordingly, he abandoned the waggons and accompanied by
bullocks, horses, dogs and Kafirs went north to the great plain known as
the Mababe flat. Here they saw grass fires at a distance of about twelve
miles, but the presence of numerous zebras indicated that there was
water still nearer. Old Jacob, one of his Kafirs, now said there was a
small vley close at hand. "We went to look," writes Selous, "and five
minutes later found a long shallow vley full of water. I could have
hugged the dirty old man with delight. What a sight it was to see the
poor thirsty oxen come trotting down to the pan, as soon as they smelt
the longed-for water, and rush knee-deep into it! What a sudden relief
the sight of that pool of muddy water was, too, and what a weight of
fear and anxiety it lifted from our hearts! Only an hour before it had
seemed that I was doomed to lose all my live stock--nearly everything I
possessed in the world--from thirst; and now the danger was past, and
not a single ox had given in." Next day the oxen were sent back and
brought the waggons to the vley.
On June 4th he encountered three lionesses, at one of which he had a
running shot which knocked her over. Soon a second lioness stood and
turned to bay, and Selous killed her dead with a shot in the head just
as she was on the point of charging. He then returned to the first
wounded animal and gave her a shot through the lungs. Two days later
whilst stalking giraffes he met two full-grown lions lying under a
bush.[22]
"I now turned my attention to the second lion. As, owing to the
grass, I could not see him clearly, I mounted my horse and gave
him a shot from the saddle, as he lay half-facing me, gazing
towards me with anything but a pleasant expression of
countenance. Whether he realized the misfortune which had
befallen his comrade or not I cannot say, but he certainly had
an angry, put-out sort of look. As I fired, a loud roar
announced that the bullet had struck him, and I could see that
he was hard hit. He now sat on his haunches like a dog, holding
his head low, and growling savagely. In this position he exposed
his chest, so hastily pushing in another cartridge, I jumped to
the ground before he could make up his mind what to do, and
firing quickly, struck him in the centre of the breast, just
under the chin. This rolled him over, and riding up, I saw that
he was in his last agonies, so left him, and took a look at the
first I had shot, a magnificent old lion with a fine black mane,
and a skin in beautiful condition, and of a very dark colour all
over. All this, which has taken so long to relate, must have
occupied less than a minute of time, and the lions being both
dead, I again turned my attention to the giraffes."
Two of these, a bull and a cow, he chased and killed.
A few days later Selous' friend, H. C. Collison, arrived in his camp.
Collison, with French, had also trekked north across the thirst-land,
and lost several of their oxen on the way. Moreover, to add to these
disasters, Clarkson, an intimate friend of all three, had been struck by
lightning and killed near Klerksdorp shortly after their departure for
the interior. Speaking of Clarkson, to whom he was much attached, Selous
says: "A better fellow never stepped. Short of stature, but very strong
and active, he was, like most colonists, a capital shot and first-rate
rough-rider, qualities that could hardly fail to make him a successful
hunter. Morally speaking, too, he was upright and honourable in his
dealings with his fellow-men, cool in danger, and as plucky as a
bull-dog. May his spirit find a good hunting-country in the next world!"
A few days later Collison, French and Selous established a permanent
hunting-camp on the Mababe river and went north on foot into the "fly."
Owing to the size of the party they soon separated, French and Miller
going to the Sunta river, whilst Collison, Sell and Selous went on up
the Machabe, but afterwards they met on the Chobe. Miller and Selous
then passed on to Linyanti, where they killed four elephants, many
buffaloes, and several of the small spotted and striped bushbucks
peculiar to the Chobe. Here Selous tried unsuccessfully to kill a
specimen of the sitatunga antelope by hunting in a canoe at dawn amongst
the reed beds, but only saw one female, although he found lying dead a
fine male killed by a rival.
On August 23rd Selous obtained permission to hunt elephants in the angle
of the Chobe and the Zambesi from the Barotsi chief Mamele. After a
visit to the waggons to get stores and ammunition he returned to the
Chobe angle with French and Miller. Close to Mamele's town the party met
four lionesses, one of which Selous shot. Buffaloes at this time were in
immense herds feeding out in the open all day, even amongst the native
cattle, and Selous shot several to provide meat for the Kafirs.
It was not until September 24th that the party found any elephants, and
then Selous and Miller killed a young bull, four large cows and a
heifer. Poor French on this day wounded and lost a cow, and contrary to
advice, followed it into the bush. He was never seen again, and died of
thirst in the bush. For days Miller and Selous tried to find his tracks,
but without avail. The loss of his good friend made a deep impression on
Selous, and for years afterwards he never spoke of French, to whom he
was greatly attached, without showing signs of emotion. To have lost two
of his best friends in one year depressed him greatly, and to this were
added constant attacks of malarial fever which made him very weak.
However, at the time he always hoped that French might have reached some
place of safety on the river and be alive. So Selous continued to hunt
for elephants until one day "Boy," French's gun-bearer, crawled into
camp and gave an account of his master's death. It appeared that after
hunting for days in the bush in the wrong direction poor French
collapsed, and as he was dying wrote on his rifle the words "I cannot go
any further; when I die, peace with all." French's two boys, "Boy" and
"Nangora," then walked all night and struck the river at Linyanti. "For
several nights," says Selous, "I never slept, as the vision of my lost
friend wandering about and dying by inches continually haunted me."
Seriously ill as he was, Selous then went to Linyanti, hoping to recover
the body of his friend and give it decent burial, and Mamele promised to
send all his people out to look for it when the rains came, but it was
never found. Selous himself was so depressed in mind and worn with fever
that he did not care to hunt any longer on the Chobe, so made for his
waggons, which he reached on October 11th, where he found Sell
dangerously ill. Miller, too, was attacked with malaria but soon
recovered.
It was now necessary to wait for the rains, but as they did not come
Selous, tired of shooting wildebeest and zebra on the Mababe flats, once
more returned to the Chobe to look for elephants. He went as far as
Maimi's town, and as the rain was now threatening he retraced his steps.
By the middle of November he again reached the waggons, and the much
desired rains at last fell. The party got to the Botletlie with ease,
but between that river and Bamangwato the oxen again suffered terribly
and were nearly lost owing to thirst. Later, in December, Selous reached
the Diamond Fields, and was there attacked by a low fever which nearly
cost him his life; in fact, nothing but the unremitting attention and
care of his friends, Mrs. Frederick Barber and her daughter, Mrs.
Alexander Baillie, rescued him from death.
Meanwhile, owing to political blunders, South Africa and all its white
and black races were in a ferment, and the Zulu War in full progress.
The usual cause of England's wars with savages was acts of rapine or
insolence on the part of natives living in wild country where the black
or red man predominated in numbers and a small white population was
threatened with danger. No such reason, however, was the cause of the
Zulu war in 1879. Since 1861 the Natal colonists had lived alongside
the Zulus in perfect amity, and the colonists "felt no real alarm
concerning the Zulus until the idea was suggested to them by those in
authority over them."[23]
The real cause, apart from the fact that the Natal farmers were annoyed
that at their side dwelt a great black population they could neither tax
nor force to work for them, was the aggression of the Transvaal Boers in
a small portion of territory owned by Cetawayo, the Zulu king, and lying
on the Transvaal border. There were two disputed boundary lines. The one
between Zululand and the Transvaal to the south of the Pongolo river,
and the other between the Zulus and the Swazis, to the north of and
parallel with the Pongolo river.
The Swazis had always been hereditary enemies of the Zulus, and there
was bitter feeling between the two races. Nevertheless the real cause of
both disputes was the acquisitiveness of the Boers. In the case of the
territory on the second boundary line they professed to have obtained by
cession from the Swazi king in 1855 a strip of land to the north-east of
the Pongolo river, so as to form a barrier between the Swazis and the
Zulus; but the Swazis denied having ever made such a cession. It is
doubtful, however, whether the Swazis had any power to have made such a
contract, even if it had been made, because the territory in question
was occupied until 1846 by two Zulu chiefs, Puttini and Langalibalele.
These chiefs, however, had been driven out of Zululand by Umpande
(Panda), then king of the Zulus.
As time went on efforts were made to induce Cetawayo to allow the
boundary territory to be occupied by the Boers, but the king sagely
replied that as we had suggested that this territory belonged to
Zululand, and he wished it for his own people, he did not see how it
could belong to two parties. A boundary commission was, however,
eventually formed, and asserted that neither party had a claim to the
whole, whilst distinctly stating that no cession of land had been made
by the Zulu king past or present.
Other minor causes of the Zulu war were the raids of Umbilini, a Swazi
chieftain living under Cetawayo's protection, and the forcible capture
in Natal of Zulu brides and girls who had run away to escape
disagreeable marriages.
On December 11th, 1878, the Zulus were presented with an ultimatum, of
which the demand for the disbandment of the Zulu army was the principal
clause. Cetawayo agreed to some of the demands but asked for time to
consult his Indunas as regards demobilization. This was, however,
refused. It would appear that even Cetawayo was anxious to avoid war if
possible, for at his side stood John Dunn, who well knew the power of
England. Lord Chelmsford had, however, completed his preparations for
war, and on January 12th crossed the border into Zululand. Then followed
the disaster of Isandlwana, the splendid defence of Rorke's Drift, the
battle of Ngingindhlovu, in which the Zulus lost heavily, and in July
the great battle of Ulundi, which finally broke the Zulu forces.
Selous always enjoyed meeting people who had taken part in events in the
recent history of South Africa, and one day he met at my house General
Sir Edward Hutton, who told us the following story of the capture of
Cetawayo.
"After the defeat of the Zulus at Ulundi," remarked Sir Edward,
"they scattered in all directions and we sent out small patrols
throughout the country to search for the king. On this occasion
the Zulus behaved in the most magnanimous manner. Although they
could with ease have annihilated the majority of these patrols,
not one was attacked, for they felt that the supreme test had
been passed and their army utterly defeated. I believe that one
day after the battle of Ulundi it would have been safe for an
English lady to have walked across Zululand unmolested, so noble
was the behaviour of the natives. I was attached to a patrol
under Major Marter, K.D.G., and we came up with the king at
Nisaka's kraal in the Ngome Forest.
"Cetawayo was seated in a hut attended by two of his chief
wives. Marter entered the hut with myself and explained to the
king that his presence was required by Sir Garnet Wolseley, and
that he must come at once. Cetawayo promptly refused. Marter
took out his watch and stated that he would give him five
minutes to decide. The black monarch still refused to move. 'I
will now give you five minutes more,' said Marter, 'and then if
you are still obstinate I shall set fire to the hut.'
"The King remained obdurate. Then Marter drew from his pocket a
box of matches, and I still seem to see clearly the expression
on Cetawayo's face as he listened to the scraping of the match
on the box. Cetawayo, who was an immense man, and at the moment
perfectly naked, then rose with great dignity and stalked out of
the hut. Here he threw a large kaross over his shoulder and
stood there looking every inch a king.
"'Where are you taking me?' he observed.
"'That I cannot tell you,' replied Marter.
"'Well, I refuse to go,' came the answer.
"The King was then seized by soldiers and put upon a litter and
thus carried with his wives to a waggon which was awaiting."
Selous was much interested in this story, and then told us the following
interesting tale which I never heard him repeat before or later. It has
always been a puzzle to me how he knew Cetawayo, for after many
enquiries amongst his family and friends I have been unable to learn
when he visited Zululand, for otherwise he could not have known the Zulu
king. Yet the fact remains that he distinctly said on this occasion that
he had met the black monarch in some of his past wanderings.
"I had known Cetawayo formerly, and when he was confined in
Robben Island shortly after the conclusion of the war, I thought
I would go down one day when I was in Cape Town and have a chat
with him. I found him much as I had known him, but more
corpulent and somewhat depressed. After some general
conversation I said:
"'Well, Cetawayo, what do you think of John Dunn now?'
"This I knew was a sore point with the king, for he had treated
John Dunn like a brother and given him wives, slaves and lands
as one of his own head indunas. Dunn had afterwards deserted
him and given all his help and information to Sir Garnet
Wolseley.
"Cetawayo thought deeply for a few moments, and then said, 'One
very cold and stormy night in winter I was seated before a large
fire in my hut when there was a noise without as if someone was
arriving. I asked the cause from my attendants, and they told me
a white man in a miserable state of destitution had just arrived
and claimed my hospitality. I ordered the slaves to bring him
in, and a tall splendidly made man appeared. He was dressed in
rags, for his clothes had been torn to pieces in fighting
through the bush, and he was shivering from fever and ague. I
drew my cloak aside and asked him to sit by the fire, and told
the servants to bring food and clothing. I loved this white man
as a brother and made him one of my head indunas, giving him
lands and wives, the daughters of my chiefs. _Now Shaunele_
(_the sun has gone down_), _and John Dunn is sitting by the fire
but he does not draw his cloak aside._'"
Such is the black man's reasoning, and can we controvert it with
uplifted heads?
After the Zulu war McLeod asked some of the chiefs why they went to war
with us. They replied, "The Right of the Strong. Now you have proved you
are the strongest we will look up to you and follow you." Except for one
trifling insurrection under Denizulu, which was quickly nipped in the
bud, the Zulus have since accepted our suzerainty.
The following example of the intellect and common-sense of the South
African native is given to me by McLeod of McLeod, who was in charge of
the Swazis both in the Zulu war and the subsequent attack on Sekukuni,
the paramount chief of Basutoland.
McLeod called upon Ubandini, the Swazi king, to raise some 8000 levies.
This army was then about to set out for Basutoland, there to join our
forces under Sir Garnet Wolseley. The following conversation took
place:--
McL. "It is agreed that your people may have all the cattle they can
capture, but the English Government insists that on no account are your
men to injure the Basuto women and children."
Ubandini thought deeply for a moment, and then remarked, "Mafu (the
McLeod's native name), do you like rats?"
McL. "No."
U. "In fact you kill them whenever you can."
McL. "Yes."
U. "But surely you spare the females and little rats?"
No answer.
The black man will do much from fear or for utilitarian motives, but to
him as a rule charity simply does not exist. One day in 1874 an old man
came to Sepopo, the paramount chief of the Barotsi, and claimed his
help. Sepopo, who was drinking beer with a white trader, turned to some
of his men and said: "He's a very old man; can he do any work?" Being
answered in the negative he ordered his servants to take the old man
down to the river and hold his head under water. On being informed that
the unfortunate victim was dead he coolly said: "Then give him to the
crocodiles," and then went on chatting quietly and drinking beer with
his white friend. The whole affair was a matter of no importance.
Of the intentions and views of the Zulus and the Boers at this time
Selous writes to his mother, January 25th, 1880, and it is interesting
to notice that at this time his attitude towards the Boers was not so
sympathetic as it eventually became on more intimate knowledge.
"Last year when I went in hunting I thought to have done well,
as I obtained leave to hunt in a country where a few years ago
elephants were very plentiful. But, alas, during the last two
years Moremi's hunters from Lake Ngami have overrun the whole
district and effectively driven away the elephants, so that I
have again made an unsuccessful hunt. I shall now give up
hunting elephants, as it is impossible to make it pay. However,
I must make one more journey into the interior, which I intend
to be my last. If I keep my health it will be a long one, for I
intend to cross the Zambesi again and endeavour to penetrate
through the Mashukulumbwe country to Lake Bangwolo, for which
purpose I have bought twelve donkeys that will carry my traps
and make me independent to a great extent of native carriers.
"During the last four years, though I have led a life of great
hardship and privation, yet I have lost much money and almost
ruined a good constitution; to throw away a little more money
and health after what has already gone, will not much matter,
and the former I may not lose at all, for I may shoot elephants,
indeed, most likely I shall. I intend publishing a book, and
think that a journey into a country where no one has ever been
before would greatly enhance its value. My plans are liable to
modification owing to fever, tsetse flies, and various minor
circumstances.
"The Zulu war is over. You think it was unjustifiable, but it
was not so, for so long as the military power of the Zulus
remained unbroken there could be no peace in South Africa and
the white inhabitants of Natal and the Transvaal would have had
an assegai constantly dangling over their heads. Sir Bartle
Frere knew this, and no doubt manoeuvred so as to bring on a
war, a war which he knew to be inevitable sooner or later. Of
course but little glory has been gained, and one cannot but
admire and pity the Zulus, who made a brave but unavailing
resistance to our men armed with far superior weapons. I think
they are far better off than before, and are not burdened with
the cruel despotism of Cetawayo. It seems that after all there
will be a disturbance with the Transvaal Boers. I hope not, but
of course, if they force it upon themselves, their blood will be
upon their own heads. I do not admire them; mentally they are, I
should think, the most ignorant and stupid of all white races,
and they certainly have not one tenth part of the courage of the
Zulus. Physically they are immensely big as a rule and capital
shots, but there can only be one end for them to an open rupture
with the British authorities, death and confiscation of property
which will leave another legacy of hatred between Dutch and
English inhabitants of this country for many years to come."
Early in 1880 Selous, having completely recovered from his attack of
fever and settled up French's affairs, turned his attention to the
preparations for his big expedition across the Zambesi. Difficulties,
however, arose which foiled all his plans. In the first place the
Matabele were supposed (officially) to be in a disturbed state, so it
was necessary for Selous to go to Pretoria to obtain from Sir Owen
Lanyon, the administrator of the Transvaal, permission to carry a good
supply of ammunition. This, however, Sir Owen blankly refused. The
secretary to the administrator was Mr. Godfrey Lagden (afterwards Sir
Godfrey Lagden, Governor of Basutoland for many years, and a close
friend of Selous). Sir Godfrey thus writes to me:-
"Selous approached me to get the Governor's permit to proceed
with firearms through a forbidden or restricted route to
Matabeleland, then closed owing to political reasons. This route
was dangerous to travel in consequence of the threatening
attitude of Lobengula. I was able to help in a measure--who
could refuse to help so bold and charming a personality?--but
not to the full measure he wanted. He went away saying: 'I want
you some day to come and trek with me, and enjoy as you do the
beautiful big game as well as the small without killing it.
Meanwhile I must away, and as a permit cannot take me over the
Crocodile river, I must swim it in spite of crocodiles and
Matabele.'"
The refusal of a permit to carry sufficient ammunition undoubtedly
caused him to abandon the long journey--that is to say, for the time
being--and in his letters home at this period he is once again depressed
at the financial outlook and the difficulty of making a living. "I hope
to be in England," he says (March, 1880), "by the end of the year. I
shall then go in for writing a book, for which I may get a little money.
I know that people have got good sums for writing bad books on Africa,
full of lies, though I do not know if a true book will sell well. My
book at any rate will command a large sale out here, as I am so well
known, and have a reputation for speaking nothing but the truth."
Before going home he decided to go to Matabeleland and join his friends
Collison, J. S. Jameson, and Dr. Crook in a hunting trip to the Mashuna
country.
Here it is necessary to say a few words concerning Selous' friend, J. S.
Jameson, for in later days he took a prominent part in the page of
African history.
James Sligo Jameson was born at Alloa, N.B., on 17th of August, 1856.
His father, Andrew Jameson, was the son of John Jameson, who founded the
business in Dublin. From his early youth he evinced a great taste for
sport and natural history, with a desire to travel and doing something
big. After schooldays at Dreghorn and the International College,
Isleworth, he began to read for the army, but soon abandoned his
intention, and his father being a rich man he went on his travels in
1877 to Ceylon, Calcutta, Singapore, and Borneo, where he made a good
collection of birds and insects. In 1878 he went to South Africa and
hunted on the borders of the Kalahari in Montsioa's veldt until 1879,
when he returned to Potchefstroom and outfitted for an extensive trip to
Matabeleland and the Zambesi in 1880. Whilst at Potchefstroom he carried
despatches to Sir Garnet Wolseley at Pretoria and then returned,
completed his preparations, and trekked north across the Limpopo to
Matabeleland, where later on he met Selous.
In the spring of 1881 Jameson returned to England with a fine collection
of heads, birds and insects, and the following year, in company with his
brother, J. A. Jameson, he went to the upper waters of the Mussel Shell
river in Montana and hunted successfully bear, sheep, wapiti, mule deer
and antelope. In 1883 he again hunted in the Rockies with his brother on
the North Foot of Stinking Water, then a great game country, and killed
thirty-six mountain sheep, buffalo, bears and wapiti.
In 1884 he travelled in Spain and Algeria, and in 1885 married Ethel,
daughter of Major-General Sir Henry Durand.
It was in January, 1887, that the English public were interested in the
proposed expedition for the relief of Emin Pasha--Gordon's friend--under
the command of H. M. Stanley. The whole idea was one that appealed to
Jameson's chivalrous nature, and as it seemed to offer good
opportunities for collecting specimens of big game, birds and insects in
a part of Africa that was practically unknown, he offered a thousand
pounds to be allowed to accompany the expedition as an officer acting
under Stanley's orders. This offer was at once accepted.
"Why all the ambitions of my lifetime should have been
concentrated at this time, with a seemingly prosperous issue, I
know not; but I assure you that I did not accept the position
without weighing well all there was for and against it. Ever
since childhood I have dreamt of doing some good in this world,
and making a name which was more than an idle one. My life has
been a more or less selfish one, and now springs up this
opportunity of wiping off a little of the long score standing
against me. Do not blame me too much."[24]
After a wearisome journey up the Congo, Stanley decided to make a base
camp at Yambuya on the Aruwimi, and to leave there all the sick and
useless Soudanese and Zanzibari soldiers and porters, extra stores,
etc., and to push on himself to the Ituri forest and Lake Albert with
the main expedition. Two officers had to be left in charge at Yambuya,
and to his great disgust Jameson found that he was one of those selected
for this uncongenial task. Almost from the first the whole outfit
suffered from semi-starvation. The site of the camp was badly chosen,
the natives were more or less hostile, and Jameson and his gallant
friend, Major Barttelot, were often at their wits' ends to feed their
men and keep down the continuous death-rate.
Stanley, it seems, had promised to return in November, and that if he
did not return he had arranged with Tippu-Tib, the Arab chieftain, ivory
and slave-trader, and actual master of the Upper Congo, to permit a
thousand porters to bring on the rearguard and join him at Lake Albert.
At last things became so desperate that Jameson himself went up the
Congo, a twenty-four days' journey, to see Tippu-Tib to try and induce
him to supply the men with which to cross Africa--even offering a bond
for five thousand pounds on his and Major Barttelot's private account if
Stanley's word was not considered sufficient. Tippu-Tib seems to have
behaved well, and accompanied Jameson back to Stanley Falls, from which
he and Barttelot presently started with some four hundred unruly Manyema
savages.
We need not follow poor Jameson's troubles in the ensuing months of June
to August, 1888, when, the move failing, owing to ceaseless thefts,
desertions and small-pox, Jameson at last reached Unaria and Barttelot
returned to Stanley Falls. Barttelot was then murdered, and Jameson
returned to Stanley Falls, where he found it impossible to re-organize
the expedition without monetary help, which at the time he could not
obtain. There being no prospect of doing anything in the way of crossing
Africa, and no word or orders having been received from Stanley, Jameson
then went down the river to Bangala in order to obtain some reply from
the Emin Relief Committee. Tippu-Tib indeed offered himself to go with
Jameson, but demanded L20,000--a sum which at the time it was not
possible for Jameson to guarantee. On this journey Jameson got wet and
caught a chill which soon developed into acute fever. He was a dying man
when his good friend Herbert Ward lifted him from the canoe at Bangala,
and he only lived for a few days.
Jameson was to all who knew him well of a generous and gentle nature,
full of thought for others and a man of high courage.
At the end of May, 1880, Selous reached Bulawayo and met his friends,
and left a few days later for the hunting veldt, where they had fine
sport with all sorts of game except elephants. On July 24th Jameson and
Selous left their waggons on the Umfule river and went in on foot with
thirteen natives into the "fly" country to the north. This was a rough,
hilly country where rhinoceros were numerous in the hills and
hippopotami in the river. The country was quite unknown, but the object
of the hunters was to strike east to the Hanyane and follow it down to
the Portuguese town of Zumbo on the Zambesi. At Lo Magondi's kraal they
decided to abandon the Hanyane route and to follow the Umfule to its
junction with the Umniati.
On July 31st they reached a pool and killed several hippopotami, and the
hunters and natives were soon revelling in meat and fat. The next day
Selous killed a very fine buffalo bull. In a few days they reached the
Umniati and entered the first Banyai village. The party got game almost
every day, and on August 10th Selous killed another fine buffalo bull.
On the Umniati the natives engaged in the practice of enclosing a space
of the river over 200 yards broad and 400 yards in length to confine a
herd of hippopotami so as to starve them to death. In one of these the
travellers saw ten unfortunate animals which had been enclosed for about
three weeks. Occasionally one was speared by the natives when it became
exhausted.
On August 17th Jameson and Selous turned homewards towards their
waggons, and whilst travelling through the bush suddenly came upon two
fine bull elephants. Jameson was in great excitement, as they were the
first he had ever seen. The elephants passed broadside and both hunters
fired, but the beasts made off. After several more shots--Jameson having
got hold of his big rifle--both hunters killed their quarry, then
following the course of the Umzweswe for some distance, where Jameson
got his first lion, and by striking east to the Umfule river, they got
back to their waggons on August 30th.
In a letter to his mother (November 2nd, 1880) Selous says: "I will send
you an account of a lion that came to our camp whilst we were away and
did a bit of mischief, causing the death amongst other things of Mr.
Jameson's servant, a white man named Ruthven." No details of this
unfortunate incident are, however, available.
Jameson and Selous continued hunting until November, and then trekked
out to Bulawayo. In December Selous bade farewell to Lobengula and
reached Bamangwato at the end of the month. Early in 1881 war broke out
in the Transvaal, so Jameson and Selous travelled along the borders of
the Kalahari desert to Griqualand and reached the Diamond Fields. Here
Selous disposed of his waggon, oxen and horses, travelled to Port
Elizabeth, and took ship for England. As soon as he landed he heard that
"the wretched war with the Transvaal--a war that will leave a legacy of
hatred for generations to come to be equally divided between the Dutch
and English colonists in South Africa--had been concluded by a most
humiliating peace, and a more disgraceful page added to the history of
England than any that have yet been written in its annals."
On April 17th, 1877, Sir T. Shepstone, on behalf of H.M. Government,
annexed the Transvaal. It is true that for a long time the management of
the affairs of the Boer Republic had been going from bad to worse. Its
government had no longer powers to enforce laws or to collect taxes.
Nevertheless, many thought our action was unjust as long as their
affairs did not affect us. On one point, however, we had a right, for
the conduct of the Boers to the native tribes had been abominable. One
of the causes alleged for our interference was the desultory war carried
on with great brutality by the Boers against Sekukuni, chief of the
Bapedi. This war was brought on by the encroachment of the Boers on the
Bapedi, just as the Zulu war was brought on by similar causes. The
object of the Boers in their attacks on native races was firstly the
acquisition of territory, and secondly the capture of children to be
brought up as slaves.
When the annexation was announced, the Zulus rejoiced greatly, but their
joy was soon dashed when they found that, far from removing the bitter
trouble of the boundary question, the English had turned against them in
this matter. They were sore at our having espoused the cause of their
enemies, the Boers, whom they had refrained from attacking for many
years, when they could have done so with impunity, without coming into
collision with the English. Even at this time they still believed in us;
but considered that Sir T. Shepstone in undertaking the government of
the Boers, had become a Boer himself.
At first the Boers took the annexation quietly, and sent two commissions
to London, in 1877 and 1878, with a memorial signed by thousands of
Boers stating their rights in the matter, in order to avoid war, but
obtained no satisfaction from the Secretary of State for the Colonies. A
considerable feeling of unrest therefore remained after their return,
and the Boers went into laager near Pretoria, where Sir Bartle Frere met
them on September 10th, 1879. The Boers then complained bitterly of the
annexation and of the manner in which it had been carried out. The
answer given on the 29th of September by Sir Garnet Wolseley was that we
intended to keep the Transvaal.
On the 12th of December there was a meeting of over six thousand Boers
at Wonderfontein, and many resolutions were passed which in the main
proclaimed their continued independence. At the end of 1879, however,
the Home Government established a sort of Executive Council for the
Transvaal which consisted of both Boers and Englishmen. In March, 1880,
the first legislative assembly under Her Majesty's rule was opened at
Pretoria by Colonel Owen Lanyon, and for a short time after this the
Home Government was assured that the agitation amongst the Boers was
dying out, whereas in reality it was only the calm before the storm.
On November 11th some disaffected Boers forcibly stopped an execution
sale for non-payment of taxes. Soon after this the Boers gathered and
refused to pay taxes. This led to collisions, and Sir Owen Lanyon
ordered up troops to Potchefstroom. On December 13th, 1880, the first
shot was fired and England began to reap the fruit of her disastrous
policy. The result of the war of 1881 and the subsequent peace made by
Gladstone immediately after the disaster of Majuba are too well known to
need recapitulation.
As soon as Selous arrived in England he began preparing for the Press an
account of his travels which was published by Richard Bentley & Son in
the same year under the title of "A Hunter's Wanderings in Africa."[25]
As was expected by his friends, but not himself, it achieved an
immediate success and stamped the author at once not only as a great
hunter, naturalist and explorer, but as one who could narrate his
experiences in an entertaining fashion. Since Baldwin's "African Hunting
and Adventure," published in 1863, there had been no first-class book on
South African sport, so Selous' book was welcomed by all men who love
the rifle and the wilderness. If he made a mistake it was in publishing
the lists of game shot by himself between January, 1877, and December,
1880. They amount to such a formidable total that, both at the time and
subsequently reviewers attacked him for what they call "this wholesale
senseless slaughter." Selous was wont to reply to this charge by saying
that the greater part of the meat killed was consumed by his own
followers and hungry natives who would do nothing for him unless he
killed some animal for food.[26] This is very true, but it must be
admitted there was enormous waste on some days when four or five
giraffes or elephants were killed. Selous, however, was no different
from other hunters of all time, and thought that in the case of very
abundant species they would last for ever, or in the case of
others--such as the great game--if he did not shoot them somebody else
would. Nevertheless, he was far more considerate than the majority of
the early hunters, and never shot an animal except for a definite
purpose. Between the years 1860-1870 the destruction of game in South
Africa was very great, but the real disappearance of the large fauna
probably dated from the introduction of the modern breechloading rifle,
roughly about 1875, and the commencement of the sale of hides for
commercial purposes. It will give the reader a better idea of what this
wholesale destruction meant when I state that one dealer in Kroonstad
(Orange River Colony) told me by reference to his books that between the
years 1878-1880 he exported nearly two million skins of springbuck,
blesbok and black wildebeest. He, it is true, was the principal dealer
in hides for that part of the Vaal river district, but there were many
others who also exported very large numbers. It has been abundantly
proved that game of all kinds must disappear at the advent of railways
and modern weapons. In a new country every man carries a rifle and uses
it, whilst history teaches us that nothing has ever been done to save
the game until it is on the verge of extinction. East Africa, alone of
all countries, made adequate Game Laws in time, but how long the game
will last there, near railways, is a doubtful point, for the settlers
have now taken matters into their own hands and are destroying the game
wholesale on the pretext of wanting the grass for the cattle. This is
done indiscriminately by all settlers whether they have cattle or not.
Considering that Big Game shooting parties furnish a good part of the
revenue (over L10,000 annually in shooting licences) of British East
Africa, and that the country, except for coffee, black wattle and hemp,
all of which grow where there is little or no big game, is mostly
unsuitable for ranching, the state of things is deplorable.
There are many who sneer at Big Game shooting, and are opposed to the
slaughter of animals, but if we look upon this sport in a wider sense,
in its magnificent opportunities for training the body and developing
the best qualities in men of the right stamp, and in the matter of
shooting, endurance and the organization of material, we will find that
the balance is on the right side. There is, in fact, no outdoor exercise
to compare with it, whilst the man who delights in slaughtering large
numbers of animals purely for the lust of taking life is extremely
rare.
FOOTNOTES:
[22] "A Hunter's Wanderings," pp. 382-383.
[23] "History of the Zulu War," by Miss Colenso and Col. Durnford.
[24] Letter to Lady Durand, Jan. 22nd, 1887, from "Story of the Rear
Column," p. 31.
[25] Mrs. Jones (Miss A. S. Selous), who did the illustrations for his
first book, writes to me: "I fear I must own to these illustrations, but
at least they were a proof of what my brother was to me--my hero
always--I never could have gone through such an ordeal otherwise, for I
knew nothing about animals. Still I do not regret them, although the
sight of them on the screen was always acutely painful to me! You were
his greatest friend, so you will understand."
[26] Writing in 1892 Selous says: "As I have lately been accused of
slaughtering game for sport, I will take this opportunity of saying that
during this journey (Autumn, 1892), though I walked for days amongst
innumerable herds of wild animals, I only fired away twelve cartridges
from the day I left Salisbury until the date of my return there, and
that, as is my usual practice, I never fired a shot except for the
purpose of supplying myself and my party with meat."