On the following day, a little before noon, loud shouts and men dancing
and calling out the titles of the king of the Caffres announced his
approach. These men were a sort of heralds, who invariably preceded him
on a visit of ceremony. A band of warriors, armed with their assaguays
and shields, next made their appearance, and then Hinza, accompanied by
fifty of his chief councillors: with the exception of their long krosses
of beast-skins thrown over their shoulders, they were all naked, and
each daubed with grease and red ochre. As soon as they arrived in front
of the Mission-house, they sat down in a circle on each side of the
Caffre king, who was treated with marked respect by all, and by the
common people in particular, who assembled on his presence. Every one
who happened to pass by gave what was termed a `salute' of honour to the
king, who did not appear to consider that it required any acknowledgment
on his part.
Our travellers, accompanied by the missionary, advanced unto the circle,
and saluted his majesty. Mr S then explained the object of their
journey, and their wish that a small party of the king's warriors should
accompany them on their expedition. As soon as the speech was ended, a
few pounds of coloured beads, a roll of tobacco, two pounds of snuff,
and some yards of scarlet cloth, were laid before his majesty as a
present. Hinza nodded his head with approval when the articles were
spread before him, and then turned to his councillors, with whom he
whispered some time, and then he replied, "that the strange white men
should pass through his country without fear, that his warriors should
accompany them as far as they wished to go; but," he added, "do the
strangers know that there is disorder in the country beyond?"
Mr S replied that they did, and were anxious to go, and return as soon
as possible, on that account.
Hinza replied, "It is well; if there is danger, my warriors will let
them know--if it is necessary, they will fight for them--if the enemy is
too strong, the white men must return."
Hinza then ordered some of his councillors to take charge of the
presents, and inquired of Mr S how many warriors they wished to have,
and when they wished to go.
The reply was, that fifty warriors would be sufficient, and that they
wished to depart on the following morning. "It is well," replied Hinza
"fifty warriors are enough, for my men eat a great deal--they shall be
ready."
The council then broke up, and the king, having shaken hands with our
travellers, departed with his train: towards the evening an old cow was
sent to them as a present from his majesty. The Hottentots soon cut it
up and devoured it. Everything was now arranged for their immediate
departure.
The next morning, at break of day, the band of Caffre warriors were all
in readiness, each with his shield and three assaguays in his hand.
They were all fine, tall young men, from twenty to thirty years of age.
Alexander desired Mr S to tell them that, if they behaved well and were
faithful, they should every one receive a present when they were
dismissed; a notification which appeared to give general satisfaction.
The oxen had already been yoked, and taking leave of the worthy
missionary, our travellers mounted their horses and resumed their
journey. For the whole day they proceeded along the banks of the Kae
River, which ran its course through alternate glens and hills clothed
with fine timber; and as they were on an eminence, looking down upon the
river, the head Caffre warrior, who had, with the others, hung up his
shield at the side of the waggon, and now walked by our travellers with
his assaguay in his hand, pointed out to them, as the sun was setting
behind a hill, two or three large black masses on the further bank of
the river.
"What are they, and what does he say."
"Sea-cows," replied the interpreter.
"_Hippopotami_! We must have a shot at them, Wilmot," cried the Major.
"To be sure; tell them we will stop and kill one if we can," said Wilmot
to the interpreter.
"We shall want one to feed our army," said Swinton, laughing, "or our
sheep will soon be devoured."
The Caffres were all immediately in motion, running down to the bank of
the river, about a quarter of a mile distant; they swam across, and
there remained waiting till our travellers should give the word.
The animals lay on a muddy bank, at a turn of the river, like so many
swine asleep, some of them out, and some partly in and partly out of the
water. As they were huddled together, they looked more like masses of
black rock than anything else. Two lay considerably apart from the
others, and it was towards these two that the Caffres, who had crossed
the river, crept until they were in the high reeds, but a few yards from
them. Henderson and Wilmot, with some of the Hottentots, descended the
ravine on their side of the river, opposite to where the animals lay,
and as soon as they were on the bank, being then within one hundred
yards of them, they levelled and fired. At the report, all the animals
started up from their beds as if astonished at the noise, which they had
not been accustomed to. Three or four instantly plunged into the deep
water, but the others, apparently half-asleep, stood for a few seconds
as if not knowing what course to take two of them were evidently
wounded, as they rushed into the water; for they did not remain below,
but rose to the surface immediately, as if in great agony. They
appeared anxious to get out of the water altogether, and tried so to do,
but fearing the people on the river's bank, they darted in again. In
the mean time, at the first report of the guns, the two which lay apart
from the others with their heads towards the river, as soon as they rose
on their legs, were pierced with several assaguays by the concealed
Caffres, and plunged into the water with the spears remaining in their
bodies. These also rose, and floundered like the others; and as their
heads appeared above, they were met with the unerring rifle of the Major
and whole volleys from Wilmot and the Hottentots, till, exhausted from
loss of blood, they floated dead upon the surface.
The Caffres waited till the bodies had been borne some hundred yards
down the stream, that they might not be attacked when in the water by
the remainder of the herd, and then swam off; and pushed the bodies on
shore. This was a very seasonable supply of provisions for so large a
band of people; but those who belonged to the caravan were not the only
parties who benefited: all the Caffres of the surrounding hamlets
hastened to the river, and carried off large quantities of the flesh of
the animals; there was, however, more than enough for all, and for the
wolves and hyenas after they had taken what they chose. It was so late
before the animals were cut up, that they decided upon remaining where
they were that night; for now that they had the Caffre warriors with
them, they had no fear as to losing their oxen, the king having stated
that his men should be responsible for them.
Large fires were lighted, and the Caffres and Hottentots, all mingled
together, were busy roasting, boiling, and frying the flesh of the
hippopotamus, and eating it as fast as it was cooked, so that they were
completely gorged before they lay down to sleep; Wilmot had also given
them a ration of tobacco each, which had added considerably to the
delight of the feast.
"It is not bad eating by any means," said the Major, as they were at
supper.
"No; it is something like old veal," replied Swinton. "Now, what is
Omrah about? He is after some mischief, by the way he creeps along."
"A monkey is a fool to that boy," observed the Major, "and he appears to
know how to imitate every animal he has ever heard."
"Did you hear the dance he led some of the Hottentots on Sunday evening,
when we were at the Mission?"
"No; what was that?"
"Bremen told me of it; I thought he would have died with laughing. You
are aware that there is a species of bird here which they call the
honey-bird,--by naturalists, the _Cuculus indicator_; do you not
remember I showed you a specimen which I was preserving?"
"You have showed us so many specimens, that I really forget."
"Well I should have given you at the same time the natural history of
the bird. It is very partial to honey, upon which it lives as much as
it can; but as the bees make their hives in the trunks of old decayed
trees, and the hole they enter by is very small, the bird cannot obtain
it without assistance. Its instinct induces it to call in the aid of
man, which it does by a peculiar note, like cher-cher-cher, by which it
gives notice that it has found out a beehive. The natives of Africa
well know this, and as soon as the bird flies close to them, giving out
this sound, they follow it; the bird leads them on, perching every now
and then, to enable them to keep up with him, until it arrives at the
tree, over which it flutters without making any more noise."
"How very curious!"
"Little Bushman knows this as well as the Hottentots, and hearing that
they were going out in search of honey, he went before them into the
wood, concealing himself, and imitating the note of the bird so exactly
that the Hottentots went on following it for several miles, wondering
how it was that the bird should lead them such a distance, but unwilling
to give up the pursuit. About sunset, he had brought them back to the
very edge of the wood from whence they had started, when he showed
himself about one hundred yards ahead of them, dancing, capering, and
tumbling so like Begum, that they thought it was her before them, and
not him. He gained the caravan again without their knowing who played
them the trick; but he told Swanevelt, who speaks his language, and
Swanevelt told Bremen."
"Capital!" said the Major; "well, he is after some trick now, depend
upon it."
"He has a great talent for drawing," observed Alexander.
"A very great one; I have given him a pencil and occasionally a piece of
paper, and he draws all the birds, so that I can recognise them; but you
must know that all the Bushmen have that talent, and that their caves
are full of the sketches of all sorts of animals, remarkably
characteristic. The organ of imitation is very strongly developed in
the Bushmen, which accounts for their talents as draftsmen, and Omrah's
remarkable imitative powers."
"Do you then believe in phrenology, Swinton?" said Alexander.
"I neither believe nor disbelieve in that and many more modern
discoveries of the same kind I do not think it right to reject them or
to give blind credence. Not a day passes but some discovery excites our
wonder and admiration, and points out to us how little we do know. The
great fault is, that when people have made a discovery to a certain
extent, they build upon it, as if all their premises were correct;
whereas, they have, in fact, only obtained a mere glimmering to light
them to a path which may some future day lead to knowledge. That the
general principles of phrenology are correct may be fairly assumed, from
the examination of the skulls of men and animals, and of different men;
but I give no credence to all the divisions and subdivisions which have,
in my opinion, been most presumptuously marked out by those who profess,
and of course fully believe, the full extent of these supposed
discoveries."
"And mesmerism?" said Alexander.
"I make the same reply; there is something in it, that is certain, but
nothing yet sufficiently known to warrant any specific conclusions to be
drawn."
"There is a great deal of humbug in it," said the Major.
"So there is in all sciences; when truth fails them and they are at
fault, they fill up the hiatus with supposition; which is, as you term
it, humbug."
"Well, I vote that we return to our waggons; everybody appears fast
asleep except us three."
Such was not, however, the case; for they had not been half an hour on
their mattresses, before they were awakened by loud cries of "help,"
which made them seize their guns and jump out of the waggons without
waiting for their clothes.
The Hottentots and Caffres were so full of hippopotamus-flesh, that the
noise did not awake but a small portion of them, and these only turned
round and stared about without getting up, with the exception of Bremen,
who was on his feet and, with his gun in his hand, running in the
direction of the cries. He was followed by our travellers, and they
soon came up with the object of their search, which proved to be no
other than Big Adam, the Hottentot; and as soon as they perceived his
condition, which they could do by the light of the fires still burning,
they all burst out laughing so excessively, that they could not help
him.
That it was the work of little Omrah there was no doubt, for Big Adam
had not forgotten the former trick the boy had played him, and had more
than once, when he caught the boy, given him a good cuffing. Big Adam
was on the ground, dragged away by two of the largest dogs. Omrah had
taken the bones he could find with most flesh upon them belonging to the
hippopotamus, and had tied them with leathern thongs to the great toes
of Big Adam as he lay snoring after his unusual repast. He had then
waited till all were asleep, and had let loose the two largest dogs,
which were always tied with the others under the waggons, and not
over-fed, to make them more watchful.
The dogs had prowled about for food, and had fallen in with these large
bones, which they immediately seized, and were dragging away, that they
might make their repast without interruption; but in attempting to drag
away the bones, they had dragged Big Adam some yards by his great toes,
and the pain and fright--for the Hottentot thought they were hyenas or
wolves--had caused him thus to scream for help. Bremen divided the
thongs with his knife, and the dogs ran off growling with the bones, and
Adam stood again upon his feet, still so much terrified as not to be
able to comprehend the trick which had been played him. Our travellers,
having indulged their mirth, retired once more to their resting-places.
The Major found Omrah and Begum both in their corners of the waggon, the
former pretending to be fast asleep, while the latter was chattering and
swearing at the unusual disturbance.
At daylight the next morning they resumed their journey. Big Adam
walked rather stiff; and looked very sulky. Omrah had perched himself
on a tilt of the baggage-waggon with Begum, and was quite out of the
Hottentot's reach; for Bremen had told the others what had happened, and
there had been a general laugh against Big Adam, who vowed vengeance
against little Omrah. The country was now very beautiful and fertile,
and the Caffre hamlets were to be seen in all directions. Except visits
from the Caffres, who behaved with great decorum when they perceived
that the caravan was escorted by the king's warriors, and who supplied
them nearly every day with a bullock for the use of the people, no
adventure occurred for four days, when they crossed the Bashee or St.
John's River, to which the territories of Hinza extended; but although
the tribes beyond did not acknowledge his authority, they respected the
large force of the caravan, and were much pleased at receiving small
presents of tobacco and snuff.
Milk, in baskets, was constantly brought in by the women; for the
Caffres weave baskets of so close a texture, that they hold any liquid,
and are the only utensil used for that purpose. At the Bashee River,
after they had passed the ford, they remained one day to hunt the
hippopotami, and were successful; only Major Henderson, who was not
content to hunt during the day, but went out at night, had a narrow
escape. He was in one of the paths, and had wounded a female, and was
standing, watching the rising to the surface of the wounded animal, for
it was bright moonlight, when the male, which happened to be feeding on
the bank above, hearing the cry of the female, rushed right down the
path upon the Major. Fortunately for him, the huge carcass of the
animal gave it such an ungovernable degree of velocity, as to prevent it
turning to the right hand or left. It passed within a yard of the
Major, sweeping the bushes and underwood, so as to throw him down as it
passed. The Major got up again, it may be truly said, more frightened
than hurt; but at all events he had had enough of hippopotamus-hunting
for that night, for he recovered his gun, and walked back to the waggon,
thanking Heaven for his providential escape.
The next morning, Swanevelt and Bremen went down the banks of the river,
and discovered the body of the hippopotamus, which they dragged on
shore, and, returning to the waggons, sent the Caffres to cut it; but
before the Caffres belonging to the caravan could arrive there, they
found that the work had been done for them by the natives, and that
nothing was left but the bones of the animal; but this is always
considered fair in the Caffre-land; every one helps himself when an
elephant or other large animal is killed, although he may have had no
hand in its destruction. The number of elephant-paths now showed them
that they were surrounded by these animals, and the Caffres of the
country said that there were large herds close to them.
It was therefore proposed by the Major, that they should have a grand
elephant-hunt, at which all the Caffres of their own party and the
natives of the country should assist. This proposal was joyfully
received by all, especially the natives, who were delighted at such an
opportunity of having the assistance of the white men's guns; and the
next day was appointed for the sport. By the advice of the natives, the
caravan proceeded some miles down to the eastward, to the borders of a
very thick forest, where they stated that the elephants were to be
found.
They arrived at the spot in the afternoon, and every one was busy in
making preparations for the following day. The Hottentots, who had been
used to the sport, told long stories to those who had not, and, among
the rest, Big Adam spoke much of his prowess and dexterity. Uncommonly
large fires were lighted that night, for fear that the elephants should
break into the camp. All night their cries were to be heard in the
forest, and occasionally the breaking of the branches of the trees
proved that they were close to the caravan. Begum, who was particularly
alive to danger, crept to Major Henderson's bed, and would remain there
all night, although he several times tried to drive her away.
Notwithstanding continued alarms, the caravan was, however, unmolested.