REIT FONTEIN--STANDING CAMP--MARCH TO SOMERSET--ACTION ON KROMME
HEIGHTS--RETURN TO FORT BEAUFORT.
Having been thus served with notice to quit, we stayed but two days
longer, and then struck tents and marched across the dreary charred
plain for nine miles; our clothes, hands, and faces soon becoming as
grim as the blackened ground, from which clouds of impalpable ashes
rose at every step.
We halted at a deserted farm house called Reit Fontein, having had
several shots by the way, at duykerbok and koran,[13] a species of
bustard, highly and deservedly esteemed; its flesh, when roasted, is
very like that of the wild turkey of North America.
The encampment was formed near the house, a short distance from a
garden, containing a spring, by the side of which grew a large clump
of bamboo-looking reeds, upwards of twenty feet in height; whence the
name of the place. The neighbourhood abounded with duyker, bosch,
and steinbok, small varieties of the antelope tribe, found singly or
in pairs, in the more open bush; as also paauw,[14] another of the
bustards, about the size of a pheasant, with black head and breast, and
finely mottled wings and back; and parties of us went out almost daily
after them, Baird generally making the best bag.
On the 6th I started with Bruce and 200 men for Somerset, seventy
miles distant, to convoy ammunition, and bring back cattle for our
commissariat. The halt for the first night was on the Koonap, in which
we had a most refreshing bathe. The Fingoes, lower down, swimming and
splashing about like porpoises; the instant they came out of the river
they were as dry as ever, the water running off their shiny skins as
from a duck's back. On the second day we entered a vast level sandy
plain, unbroken except by immense ant hills, thousands of which dotted
its surface as far as the eye could reach, fresh ones constantly coming
in sight as we advanced. A deserted farm-house, one or two of which we
passed each day, at long intervals, served as our hotel at night. We
established ourselves in the empty echoing rooms, lighting fires in the
grates, collecting the scattered chairs and tables, and spreading our
plaids on the cartel bedsteads.
Our march next morning was still over immense plains, stretching to
the horizon. We came on more farm-houses, abandoned like the rest, in
consequence of the outrages of the enemy, and looking the pictures of
ruin and desolation; doors and windows broken, dried carcases of sheep
and oxen scattered about the front, with rusted implements of husbandry
and broken furniture; and gardens overgrown with rank waving grass.
The first herd of springbok was here seen bounding away from us; and,
though hopelessly out of shot, greatly excited our sporting ardour.
Late in the afternoon we came once more to inhabited dwellings; where,
however, we were not equally at home as in the untenanted ruins of
the previous night. We drew up our waggons at the door of a Dutch
Boer's house, in a deep hollow, where was also a little camp of Mounted
Levies, for whom we had brought a supply of ammunition. As neither the
Boer nor any of his family spoke a word of English, and we were in the
like predicament as to Dutch, and German was useless, our greeting was
in dumb show, and we bowed to each other and shook hands in solemn
silence. Several Dutch families who had fled from their farms, were
living here in their waggons, which were drawn up together for mutual
protection, close to the house, their flocks and herds grazing in
common. This lively place was called Klip-Fontein.
One of our Fingoes was caught at dusk by the sentry stealing
biscuit from the ration waggon, and was soundly flogged by his own
comrades--for being found out!
After an early cup of coffee from the Dutchman, who, with that
exception, was uncivil and surly, we wound our way up the steep
path, and again pursued the track across the sandy plain. The sun
rose magnificently behind a distant range of blue mountains. Lots of
partridges were flushed at every few yards, and afforded excellent
sport for about two hours, when we came suddenly to the edge of the
table-land, from which we looked down on a beautiful scene, the more
novel and refreshing by contrast with our late march. Instead of the
parched and arid plains we had been traversing for three days, a fine
valley lay at our feet, thickly wooded, stretching north and south,
and bounded by a range of grassy mountains, rising out of forest, and
crowned with grey cliffs. Countless acres of prickly-pear, contrasting
with the dark bush, spread across the valley, and strips of bright
red earth appearing between, gave to the whole an indescribable
warmth and sunniness. We descended for about a mile; the cry of the
wild pintado resounding on all sides; then passed through a perfect
grove of prickly-pear, eight or ten feet high, and having crossed the
Baviaans River at the Roed-Waal drift, so called from the perpendicular
red banks of the stream, rested under the shadow of the cactus for
breakfast, the sun shining fiercely. Whilst the servants were boiling
the kettle, we enjoyed a bathe in the cool rocky river overhung with
trees, the clear water tumbling and foaming over huge boulders, taking
one's thoughts back to Tweed-side and the bonnie salmon streams of old
Scotland.
Several farm-houses, fired by the Kaffirs, were smoking at a distance,
in the peaceful looking valley; and further down we found the road
strewn with grain, thickly trampled, and stained with blood; while
from under a cairn of loosely piled stones, close by among the bushes,
peeped the head and shoulders of a corpse. An old man, a ruined
settler, whose house had been destroyed by the enemy, had been trekking
this way the day before with his sons, and his last waggon-load of
grain, when they were waylaid by the Kaffirs, who cruelly murdered two
of the defenceless party. Such outrages on the heart-broken settlers
were almost of daily occurrence; often exasperating them to savage
fury, but more frequently reducing them to helpless despair.
After five and twenty miles' march, we halted at a drift on the Little
Fish River, about a mile from Somerset, which is a pretty cluster of
white houses, gardens, and orange trees, at the foot of a beautiful
green mountain. This was our resting place for two days while waiting
the arrival of the oxen, hourly expected, on their way from the
Orange River district, and which we were to escort back for the use
of the troops. In the neighbourhood is a large and celebrated orange
grove, which we visited. It lies at the entrance of a deep ravine in
the mountain, and as we rode up, the sun shone on thousands of ripe
oranges, lemons, citrons, shaddocks, and _natches_, a very small and
peculiar flavoured kind of orange. The trees, which were of great size,
bent under the weight of fruit, and down the long avenues the branches
almost met overhead. Fingoe boys, armed with guns, were protecting the
fruit from monkeys, as lads at home watch the corn-fields.
At the _Tronk_, which we visited with the Civil Commissioner, we saw
about twenty or thirty Kaffir prisoners. It was Sunday, and they were
all assembled in a large room, heavily chained, dressed merely in a
blanket, and listening, with becoming attention, to a Fingoe preaching
in their own language the full, flowing, and sonorous tones of which,
with the singular clicks occurring in every other word, sounded both
melodious and striking. A Kaffir boy was handed over to us as a
prisoner, to be taken down to General Somerset, for sentence. He had
been taken a few days before, by a Commando, which had fallen in with,
and attacked a band of marauders, of which he was the only one who
escaped. Though not more than sixteen years of age, he carried a gun
and a bundle of assegais. He had been spared by the Commandant, at
the request of his _after-rider_, who begged the boy's life from the
hard-hearted Boer, as a reward for his own long and faithful services.
He was a handsome quiet lad, and when reassured, through the kindness
of our men, who gave him a pipe and tobacco, with plenty of food and a
seat at the fire, he seemed quite happy. His name was _Uyanina_, and
he told us, through our interpreter, that his father and two brothers
had been killed in the Amatolas; and, in a quiet tone, said that he
hoped we would not kill him, as he wanted to go back to his mother. He
was told that his life was safe, but that as he could bear arms, we
could not let him loose again until after the war; with which assurance
he appeared perfectly satisfied, and lay contentedly smoking the
strongest tobacco all day long. In due time the cattle arrived, driven
by a party of strange, ragged, wild-looking Gonahs, and one thousand
sheep and seven hundred oxen were bleating and bellowing around us.
The Contractor (having provided himself with a few rounds of dry
sheep's dung, as markers) counted them over to our commissariat agent,
depositing one of the pellets in his right hand as each hundredth ox
rushed through the two trees between which they were all driven singly.
As we returned the cattle suffered severely from want of pasturage;
not a blade of grass was to be seen, and our horses, which had nothing
to eat but the leaves of trees and shrubs during the day, when tied
up at night devoured sticks, wood, dry dung, or anything chewable.
On the plain we had the good fortune to fall in with several herd of
springbok; their beautiful appearance and graceful agility delighted
us, as they leaped into the air, clearing twenty feet at a bound. A
party of Dutch Boers _jagging_ them and firing above, drove a herd in
our direction, giving us some splendid shots. I kept the head of one,
and amused myself in the evening by the camp fire, at Klip-Fontein,
by preparing it as a specimen. The tongue, liver, and heart, made an
excellent fry, though the flesh is generally dry and tasteless, and
requires all the cook's art to render it at all equal to tolerable
venison.
More herds were seen the following day, and we galloped after them,
over the level plain, for miles, without a check, cutting them off at
angles, and getting long shots every now and then. A brilliant full
moon illuminated our bivouac, and the Fingoes got up their customary
dance, which they always celebrate at the change; though no longer new
to us, it had lost none of its wild interest. A hundred and fifty fine
brawny fellows, throwing off their blankets, joined in the strange
chorus, dancing and leaping, and brandishing their gleaming assegais in
the bright moonlight.
The afternoon following found us in camp again after an absence of
eight days.
Patrols and escorts went out daily in every direction, and "light
drill," morning and evening, occupied those who remained behind.
To make our quarters a little more comfortable, we set to work and
built high circular hedges or kraals of green boughs round our fires,
the narrow entrance facing the tent door. After levelling the enclosed
space, we furnished them with camp tables and stools, for the tents,
what with the sun and the flies, were unbearable during the day, and
were used only for sleeping in. The swarms of common house-flies that
collected in our tents were really wonderful, the canvas was literally
black with them, as well as every dish and can, the moment they were
placed on the table; as soon as the sun rose, one was awakened by a
cloud of them settling on one's face, fighting in one's ears, and
buzzing in one's hair; making the most amiable men give way to harsh
language. At last we were obliged to blow them up, once or twice a day,
either by surrounding a tempting heap of ration sugar with a train of
powder, or by hoisting a charge to the top of the tent, on a board
stuck on the point of a claymore, though this plan had the disadvantage
of sometimes setting the canvas on fire, and invariably covering the
performer with a shower of singed flies.
We were frequently visited by whirlwinds, which caused a little variety
in the camp; a cloud of sand would come eddying along, tear up a
kraal, sending the bushes flying in every direction, whisk the men's
caps off their heads, whirl loose papers, shirts, and other articles
high into the air, level two or three tents, and sail away in an
opposite direction, leaving its course through the camp distinctly
marked by the track it had cleared.
Towards the end of the month it fell to my lot to escort a large train
of commissariat waggons to Graham's Town, fifty miles off. On the
Koonap hill, we passed the dead horses of the post-riders, shot there
on the 23rd of July, and saw the marks of the bullets scored along the
rocks. When in the middle of the Ecca valley we spied a large body of
red coats, who, as we neared each other, proved to be a party of the
91st, among whom were some old friends. Soon after parting with them,
a number of Kaffirs showed themselves on the hills just above us,
watching our movements.
Further down the valley a bosch-buck and a wild boar fell to my
rifle; the latter was a splendid fellow, with an enormous head; he
must have been at least five feet and a half in length, and two feet
and a half high, and had besides his two immense tusks, a singular
bony protuberance on each cheek. The Fingoes cut him up in a very few
minutes, and resumed their march, each with a joint or lump of meat
over his shoulder, spitted on his gun. This valley is said to be a
favourite resort of the boar, on account of the immense quantities of
the _strelitzia regina_, on the roots of which it feeds; we observed
many newly grubbed up; the bush glowed with its handsome red flowers.
On outspanning to feed the oxen, a body of Kaffirs showed themselves,
and hovered round the cattle with a pretty evident intention of making
a sweep of them; but perceiving we were on the alert, thought better
of it, and took themselves off.
The waggon drivers, who are the most insolent and disagreeable men in
the world to have anything to do with, having refused to obey the order
"to inspan," the Fingoes were sent to bring in their oxen, and two
of the most refractory drivers being dismissed on the spot, from the
Government service, the rest inspanned at once, and by the afternoon we
entered Graham's Town.
Here we were detained three days, when we set out on our return with
a six pounder gun-carriage and limber, and a large train of waggons
laden with biscuit, rice, coffee, salt, tobacco, and all sorts of
supplies for the troops on the Frontier. Another of the English drivers
proving refractory and grossly insolent, was hand-cuffed with a rheim,
and marched a prisoner between a couple of Fingoes, passing the next
three nights in the cells at the military posts on the road, a piece
of martial law which had a most salutary effect on the rest of these
independent gentlemen.
On our last day's march, just as evening was drawing in, we came upon
the fresh spoor of a body of Kaffirs, not ten minutes old, the print
of the bare feet being quite sharp in the fine dust. Its direction
was across the track towards a patch of bush commanding the road. The
waggons closed quickly up, the men examined their locks, flank patrols
of Fingoes were thrown out in advance, and all were on the _qui vive_;
but the enemy, who delight only in surprises, did not show, and the
camp at Reit Fontein was reached without adventure. Once more patrols
were our occupation by day, and _forelaying parties_, or ambuscades, by
night; marauding rebels were constantly fallen in with, and killed, and
cattle and horses recaptured.
General Somerset, with a detachment of the 74th and Cape Corps which
had accompanied him into the district of Albany, was at this time
actively engaged in following up the enemy in the direction of Riebeck,
Hell-Poort, and the Zuurberg hills, and on the 30th of August attacked
a considerable body of them on New-year River, where they had taken up
a strong position in a very difficult and rugged kloof, dislodging and
dispersing them with great loss, besides recapturing 160 head of stolen
cattle and some horses.
Two days after this affair the 2nd Queen's regiment, just arrived in
the country, under Lieut.-Col. Burns, had a sharp brush with Botman's
and Seyolo's people in the Fish River bush, with several casualties on
both sides.
The Kaffirs in our neighbourhood having become, during the General's
absence in Albany, unusually bold and troublesome, stealing cattle,
murdering and destroying on every side, Lieut.-Col. Fordyce, 74th
Highlanders, then commanding the field force in the General's absence,
determined to check their daring conduct by attacking them at once with
his whole available force in their expected position on the Western
Kroome range. We marched from our camp a little before sunset on the
evening of September 7th, so as to reach the top of the hill under
which we were encamped, just at dark, and thereby prevent our movement
being observed by the enemy's scouts. After marching about seven miles
in the dark across a level plain, myriads of fire-flies flitting along
the ground, we halted at the ruins of a farm, on the Klu-Klu River,
belonging to a Mr. Gilbert, whose narrow and extraordinary escape a few
months before from the hands of the Kaffirs deserves mention. He was
riding with two others from Graham's Town to Fort Hare, when they were
waylaid; his companions escaped, but his own horse being shot he crept
into the bush, successfully evading the search of the Kaffirs, who
passed and re-passed his place of concealment, and at last sat down to
smoke within a few yards of his hiding-place, their dogs all the while
snuffing about. When at length they moved away, he took off his boots
to prevent the snapping of rotten sticks betraying him, and listening
at every painful step, worked his way through the thorny bush, and with
his feet dreadfully lacerated eventually reached Fort Hare, where he
had been given up as dead.
The ruined house was reconnoitred, and we were told to lie down and
take what rest we could till midnight, to be ready to turn out at a
moment's notice. The horses were picketed to the broken fence of a
grass-grown pleasure-garden, and the men lay down by companies in the
farm-yard, with their arms piled in front of each rank. As fires were
forbidden, we groped about in the dark among the fallen ruins, and made
the best resting-places we could on the heaps of broken slates and
brick-ends covering the floors of the blackened chambers, to which the
starry sky served as roof. At midnight we were joined by Lieut.-Col.
Sutton and a party of Cape Corps and mounted Levies from Fort Beaufort,
making up our force to 550 infantry and 103 mounted men.
At two in the morning we marched out of the melancholy desolate place
across the open for about seven miles, toward the position supposed
to be occupied by the enemy, and reached it just at daybreak, when we
discovered that the Kaffirs had abandoned it, and that the large fires
reported in this direction had only been burning grass. After a short
halt, while this reconnaissance was being made, and during which we
felt the cold most intensely, the whole column was counter-marched, and
proceeded in an easterly direction along the foot of the mountain range
for about three hours, when a halt was made for breakfast at Blakeways,
a deserted farm, beautifully situated in a warm sheltered glen,
finely wooded, through which the Wolf River wound its way. Numbers of
boschbok, disturbed by our approach, were seen scudding across the
open flat. While at breakfast an alarm was given that a large body of
Kaffirs was descending the hill in our direction; but they proved to
be a part of the Fort Beaufort Fingoe Levy taking a short cut to join
us. The long dry grass among which we were halted caught fire, and
burned so rapidly as to threaten to surround the column, roaring and
crackling on every side; and we had to decamp in a hurry to avoid being
blown up or shot by the fire reaching the men's ammunition or muskets.
Here it was ascertained that the greater part of the enemy were in the
Waterkloof, Blinkwater, and Fuller's Hoek, and therefore, as it was out
of the question to attempt openly attacking those strongholds with our
inadequate force, Lieut.-Col. Fordyce determined on gaining the top
of the Kroome Heights at this boundary of the range, and, bivouacking
there till dark, make a descent by night, on whichever point might
prove advisable.
At once, therefore, we began to ascend the steep face of the mountain,
the heat of the sun most intense, not a breath of air stirring, and
after two hours' stiff climbing, reached the edge of a forest spreading
up the higher ranges. Its shade was most refreshing. From this point
we were obliged to proceed in single file, as the steep and difficult
path became so narrow; leading along a sharp crest like the ridge of
a roof, on each side of which was a wooded precipice, the base of
which was lost to sight in the deep ravines beneath. On reaching the
summit of the mountain a fine view lay spread before us, the tops of
the forest trees below looking like small bushes. Through an opening
in the mountain tops we caught a peep of the distant sunny plain, with
the white houses of Fort Beaufort and the winding Kat River. Our own
position was a lofty table-land, clothed with grass and surrounded by
bush, the edges of the forest running up from the valleys below. On
one side was the Waterkloof, on the other the head of the Fuller's
Hoek, from which we were separated by a broad belt of forest stretching
right across the mountain-top. A single path led through it, difficult
and narrow; and its entrance was guarded by a number of Kaffirs, who
appeared to be waiting our advance. But this was not our intention, for
at mid-day we were halted in a little hollow, through which ran a small
stream; and here our march was to be suspended till dark.
The guards were mounted on two commanding ridges, the sentries posted,
and the men lay down to rest, or lighted fires and prepared to cook
their rations, to which they had added the flesh of two Kaffir oxen
just captured; the cavalry horses were knee-haltered and turned out to
graze close round,--and all was repose.
We had with us, through a misunderstanding, our Band-master, Hartung,
who had left Fort Beaufort with Lieut.-Col. Sutton's party under the
impression that it was proceeding to the camp at Reit Fontein, which
he was anxious to visit. On finding how different its destination,
he repeatedly expressed his annoyance, and his apprehension of an
engagement. We had not long been here when a party of officers who
had gone up with their glasses to the top of one of the ridges, came
quickly down and ordered the men to get under arms at once, as the
Kaffirs were approaching in hundreds, running full speed from every
quarter. Instantly all was activity; the men sprang up from their rest,
horses were driven in, accoutrements hurried on, the untasted contents
of soup-kettles emptied on the grass, and pack-horses loaded with
incredible dispatch.
In the meantime, being Officer-on-duty, I doubled out with the advance
guard, speedily extending, in skirmishing order, along the ridge,
above which the enemy were advancing, and with whom the next moment
we were exchanging shots at very short range. They were almost hidden
by the long grass in which they crouched to fire, and their numbers
being overwhelming, the reply we made to their fire was but a temporary
check, so that we were soon being gradually forced back, when Captain
Duff came rapidly up with a company of the 74th, and reinforced our
line of skirmishers; the whole fixed bayonets, charged the enemy's line
with the Highland shout, and drove them back into the bush.
The column, which had got under arms with the greatest celerity during
this skirmish, now came up, and the Colonel formed the whole infantry
in extended order, with the right on the head of the Wolf's-back Pass,
and the left "thrown back," the 74th being placed on either flank,
with the irregular infantry in the centre; Lieut.-Col. Sutton, with
the cavalry, remaining for the present in the rear as a support. The
enemy, who had again advanced on the open plain during this movement,
now came on in hundreds, running and yelling out their war-cry till
within range, when an uninterrupted fire rattled along the lines on
both sides, though, as we were well covered behind the ridge, we had no
casualties beyond Colonel Fordyce's charger being shot under him.
An immensely big Kaffir was noticed rushing down the opposite ridge,
which was not more than 800 yards distant, and running at full speed
across our line of fire; unmindful of a shower of balls that fell
around him, and at his very feet, he kept straight on towards our right
as though he bore a charmed life, shouting, and encouraging the others
to follow, as he headed them in an attempt to gain the Pass, and turn
our right flank by moving along the edge of the forest. But in this
they were foiled by Colonel Fordyce, who immediately ordered the line
"to take ground to the right," while the mounted force, galloping to
the front, gave them a volley from their carbines that told among them
severely. For half an hour we maintained a sharp skirmish with only a
loss of three killed and as many wounded, when the enemy retired on the
forest, leaving us in undisputed possession of the ground. As so much
ammunition had been expended it was useless now to wait for night and
make our intended descent; the cavalry, therefore, was dispatched to
the head of another pass, to hold it till our arrival. Macomo himself,
at the same moment, conspicuously mounted on a white horse, led about
300 mounted Kaffirs to secure the same point, in which object, however,
they were defeated. As soon as we began descending the Pass, the enemy
again rushed in from all points, lining the forest through which it led.
The road being exceedingly steep, narrow and rugged, the cavalry in
front marched down at a foot's pace, the infantry following, and the
Fingoe Levies bringing up the rear. The enemy concealed in the thick
bush opened fire upon us the moment we entered the pass, wounding one
of our men. We returned their fire whenever the smoke showed us where
they lay, and thus continued our descent, with a desultory fire on both
sides, till about half way down, when they showed in still greater
force, filling the bush on both sides of us. The Fingoes in the rear
now evinced their fears so strongly as to encourage a party of Kaffirs,
armed with assegais, to rush in among them. This completed their panic,
and firing right and left, at random, they hurried headlong down the
narrow path _en masse_ upon our rear with such force as to knock down
and trample on many of our men, while by crushing through the ranks
they hindered the others from loading. Emboldened by this, the main
body rushed from their cover, hurled a discharge of their lighter
throwing assegais, and then (with the heavier kind, used for stabbing),
threw themselves upon us. Our steady fellows had little to depend on
but their bayonets, to the use of which they had fortunately long been
regularly trained, and now used most effectually. The underwood swarmed
with Kaffirs, they were perched in the trees, firing upon us from
above, and rushed from the bush below in hundreds, yelling in the most
diabolical and ferocious manner, hissing through their white teeth;
their bloody faces, brawny limbs, and enormous size, giving them a most
formidable appearance.
The narrow road was crowded with a mass of troops, Levies and Kaffirs,
the ringing yells of the latter heard above the din of the firing.
Some wrestling with the men for their firelocks, were blown almost in
pieces, and many were felled and brained by the butt-ends of clubbed
muskets. Our gallant fellows fought most bravely; one man, with an
assegai deeply buried between his shoulders, singled out its owner, and
shot him through the head with the weapon nearly protruding through
his chest; a grenadier killed four Kaffirs with his own hand. The huge
fellow already mentioned appeared suddenly among us, and seizing a
soldier in his powerful grasp, hurled him to the ground; but the man
jumping to his feet in a moment, buried his bayonet in the fellow's
back, and he fell dead on his face. Three Kaffirs had caught one of
our men by the blanket folded on his back, and were dragging him into
the bush, when the straps slipping over his shoulders, released him,
and he threw himself, unarmed, on the nearest, and wrestled with him
for his assegai, both rolling over and over, scuffling on the ground,
the well-greased body of the Kaffir giving him the advantage over
the dressed and belted soldier, whose death wound was, however, amply
avenged. The ground was soon thickly strewn with the black corpses of
the enemy; a score lay in the path, and here and there the lifeless
form of a dead or dying Highlander, eight of whom fell, while as many
more were wounded. Fighting our way through hundreds of the infuriated
savages, we effected the descent of the pass; by the time we had
reached the foot the enemy's fire had almost ceased.
On gaining the open ground, we extended and moved leisurely along the
plain, the Kaffirs contenting themselves with remaining at the edge
of the bush on the rise of the hill, a dense red mass of some two
thousand men; a few scattered parties dodging from tree to tree, fired
long shots, which fell far short, and to which we made no return, our
ammunition being nearly expended.
Our total casualties, were fifteen men and four horses killed, and
fourteen men wounded. Many of the men's arms and accoutrements were
shattered and perforated by balls. Lieutenant Corrigan was so stunned
by a bullet which passed through his forage cap, as to be partially
unconscious for some time. Hartung was reported missing, and great
fears were expressed for his safety; yet, as he had not been seen to
fall, it was hoped he might have taken to the bush, and escaped. The
unfortunate chance which brought him out against his will, and his
evident foreboding the whole morning, added to the general feeling of
anxiety about him.
We marched slowly across the plain towards the deserted farm we had
left in the morning; for now that the excitement was over, we felt the
full fatigue of such uninterrupted exertion, and dragged our limbs
heavily along; the groans of the wounded and the shadows of evening
increasing the gloom of the dreary scene. It had been quite dark for
some time when we reached the welcome ruin. A mounted express was
despatched for more ammunition, and a waggon to convey the wounded to
the camp. Having disposed of them as comfortably as it was possible in
the mean time, and lighted fires, we threw ourselves once more on the
slates and brickbats, after having been on foot for seventeen hours.
During the night the waggon arrived; and at three o'clock we were
roused from our rough but reluctantly-quitted beds, and shivering with
the cold, which at this hour is most intense, moved off towards Reit
Fontein, more asleep than awake, and in about two hours and a half
arrived in camp, nearly done up.
Further inquiries among the men about poor Hartung confirmed our worst
fears. He had been seen by several endeavouring to lead his horse,
and was repeatedly advised to leave it, but refused, as it had been a
borrowed one. A bugler stated, that soon afterwards he had seen him
wounded by an assegai and then seized by half a dozen Kaffirs, who
dragged him into the bush. His fate was not difficult to conjecture,
and proved afterwards to have been more horribly cruel than our worst
suspicions had suggested. It was elicited from some Kaffir women,
taken prisoners shortly afterwards by Lieut.-Col. Eyre's column, that
the unfortunate man had been brutally tortured for three days, cut
with assegais, and daily deprived of a joint from each toe and finger,
till death terminated his dreadful sufferings. Their accounts were
but too truly confirmed by subsequent evidence taken before the Civil
Commissioner of Beaufort, from another prisoner, Numkani, a Kaffir girl
of N'pai, who detailed the tragic particulars as follows:
"I was living with the sister of my father, in the Kat River country
before the war. When the war broke out, I went with her to Waterkloof;
she had three sons, who went there to fight; they were all alive when
I came away from Waterkloof, about three moons since. Before that, I
heard of a white man having been taken prisoner on the mountains of
the Kroome; I heard that he was killed by the Hottentots. I also heard
that he was taken to Macomo, and that Macomo sent for one of his sons,
Kona, a _headman_ named Queque, and some Hottentots. Macomo ordered
the man to be killed. He was taken away and stripped, and Queque took
his clothes. I saw him wear them after; the coat was dark, I cannot
say what colour. I heard say that the men cut his arms and legs. He
was two days in that state; the flesh was not quite cut off, but was
left hanging to his body. They then cut * * * and gave him his own
flesh to eat. They killed him at last by shooting him. I did not see
this, but I heard the men often talk about it. I heard that the white
man spoke, and said they must not kill him; and that he was begging
for his life. I heard that the women danced round him, and were merry;
they were Kaffir women. They also beat him with keeries. I heard the
men and women singing a war-song when dancing round the white man. He
had his hands tied behind him by one of Macomo's sons, named Kona,
and the Hottentots; he was lying in the sun all day, and placed in
a hut for safety at night. I was out gathering gum the day that the
Hottentots first cut the man with a knife; he was tied with a long
rheim, and the end was fastened to a tree. This I heard: when they cut
his arms and legs, he bled much; he was lying on his side; he screamed
when he was cut. They took off a joint of every finger every day while
he was alive, and after the flesh of his arms and legs had been cut. I
left Waterkloof a long time since, and came to Fort Beaufort. I left
Waterkloof because I was starving."
The mark [symbol] of Numkani.
J. STRINGFELLOW, _Res. Mag._
Such were the fetish-like cruelties perpetrated by these savages; nor
can one wonder at their barbarity when they are hardly less brutal
towards those of their own race and kindred. When a chief or great man
of a tribe is seized with sickness, the 'witch-doctor,' with forms
and incantations, dooms some poor wretch to death, on pretence of his
having bewitched the ailing man; his flocks and herds are forfeited to
the chief, and his children left beggars and fatherless.
One instance may suffice to give an idea of their savage ferocity, and
spare the repetition of outrages on the poor settlers, or those unhappy
enough to fall into their hands.
"The same Kona, some years before, having fallen sick, a 'witch doctor'
was, according to custom, consulted, to ascertain the individual
under whose evil influence he was suffering; and, as usual, a man
of property was selected, and condemned to forfeit his life for his
alleged crime. To prevent his being told of his fate by his friends,
a party of men left Macomo's kraal early in the morning to secure the
recovery of the sick young chief by murdering one of his father's
subjects. The day selected for the sacrifice appeared to have been a
sort of gala day with the unconscious victim; he was in his kraal,
had just slaughtered one of his cattle, and was merrily contemplating
the convivialities of the day before him, over which he was about to
preside. The arrival of a party of men from the 'great place' gave him
no other concern than as to what part of the animal he should offer
them as his guests. In a moment, however, the ruthless party seized
him in his kraal; when he found himself secured with a rheim around
his neck, he calmly said, 'It is my misfortune to be caught unarmed,
or it should not be thus.' He was then ordered to produce the matter
with which he had bewitched the son of his chief; he replied, 'I have
no bewitching matter; but destroy me quickly if my chief has consented
to my death.' His executioners said they must torture him until he
produced it, to which he answered, 'Save yourselves the trouble, for
torture as you will I cannot produce what I have not.' He was then
held down on the ground, and several men proceeded to pierce his body
all over with long Kaffir needles. The miserable victim bore this with
extraordinary resolution; his tormentors tiring, and complaining of
the pain it gave their hands, and of the needles or skewers bending.
During this time a fire had been kindled, in which large flat stones
were placed to heat; the man was then directed to rise, they pointed
out to him the fire, telling him it was for his further torture, unless
he produced the bewitching matter. He answered, 'I told you the truth
when I said, save yourselves the trouble; as for the hot stones, I can
bear them, for I am innocent; I would pray to be strangled at once,
but that you would say I fear your torture.' Here his wife, who had
also been seized, was stripped perfectly naked, and cruelly beaten
and illtreated before his eyes. The victim was then led to the fire,
where he was thrown on his back, stretched out with his arms and legs
tied to strong pegs driven into the ground, and the stones, now red
hot, were taken out of the fire and placed on his naked body--on the
groin, stomach, and chest, supported by others on each side of him,
also heated and pressed against his body. It is impossible to describe
the awful effect of this barbarous process, the stones slipping off the
scorched and broiling flesh, and being only kept in their places by the
sticks of the fiendish executioners. Through all this the heroic fellow
still remained perfectly sensible, and when asked if he wished to be
released to discover his hidden charm said, 'Release me.' They did
so, fully expecting they had vanquished his resolution, when, to the
astonishment of all, he stood up a ghastly spectacle, broiled alive!
his smoking flesh hanging in pieces from his body! and composedly asked
his tormentors, 'What do you wish me to do now?' They repeated their
demand, but he resolutely asserted his innocence, and begged them to
put him out of his misery; and as they were now getting tired of their
labour, they made a running noose on the rheim around his neck, jerked
him to the ground, and savagely dragged him about on the sharp stones;
then, placing their feet on the back of his neck, they drew the noose
tight, and strangled him. His mangled corpse was taken into his own
hut, which was set on fire and burnt to ashes. His sufferings commenced
at ten A.M., and ended only at sunset!" These are the people whom an
Exeter Hall spouter compares to "the ancient Scots fighting for their
homes and hearths."
Two days after our return to camp, information arrived of a severe and
disastrous affair in the Fish River bush the day following the Kroome
action. It had occurred between a patrol, under Colonel Mackinnon, and
the allied Rebels and Kaffirs in that district, one of their strongest
and most dangerous retreats. A party of our forces, having got
separated in the thick bush, was cut off, one officer (Captain Oldham)
and thirty-one rank and file being killed, and twenty-three wounded in
the 2nd Queen's, with one officer killed and one wounded in the Levies,
besides several men. The enemy, who by the way used fierce dogs to pull
down the troops, had suffered considerably, and the following day were
attacked and routed by Lieut.-Col. Eyre with heavy loss, after a sharp
engagement, in which two of his officers, Lieutenant Walters and Ensign
Thursby, were wounded.
On the 12th, General Somerset, who had broken up and dispersed the
enemy in the Albany district, and recovered a number of cattle,
returned to his head-quarter camp with our two companies and the Cape
Corps, which had been with him, bringing also a detachment of the 12th
regiment, just arrived from the Mauritius.
The effects of the hardships, privations, and constant exposure to
the extremes of heat and cold, began to tell among our ranks; many of
the men went into hospital with diarrhoea, dysentery, and pulmonary
complaints; and among others Major Fordyce was obliged to return home
on sick leave, his health completely broken up.
During this period constant skirmishes were taking place with the enemy
throughout the frontier districts, and almost daily depredations and
murders were perpetrated by them on the colonists; the disaffection
among the Hottentots increasing rather than otherwise, and the rest of
the farmers leaving the frontier with what little remained to them of
their herds and property. This state of things, coupled with the report
of a wounded rebel prisoner, who stated that the Kaffirs were preparing
to attack Graham's Town as soon as they had got together 5,000 men,
which force was nearly completed, induced the inhabitants of that place
to organize themselves in armed bodies for their own protection; places
of rendezvous in different parts of the town being selected from their
convenience and capability of defence. The churches and chapels were
appointed as refuges for the women and children in case of attack,
and the signals were to be the firing of a gun and the ringing of the
bells. For the further security of the district, Lieut.-Col. Eyre was
stationed in the neighbourhood with a strong force.
To return to our own position in the camp at Reit Fontein, we were
during this time resting inactive for want of reinforcements to
enable us to attack the enemy in his strongholds. Our routine of camp
life, relieved only by sketching and shooting round the immediate
neighbourhood, was almost unbroken by any incident, though once or
twice we had a little variety in the shape of expected night attacks,
ending however in smoke, the guards "turning out" as well as orderly
officers at the sound of firing about midnight, which proved on each
occasion to have been at the expense of a stray horse or two, doubtless
impressing the Kaffirs with a great idea of our vigilance. Some of the
mistakes that occasionally occurred were rather amusing, at least to
those not personally concerned. A horse of Patton's having broke loose
one night, and wandered outside the camp to enjoy a little fresh grass
to himself, incautiously advanced straight toward a sentry, by whom he
was twice challenged, and not answering was shot through the chest;
when the Corporal-of-the-guard visited his post the sentry reported
it, and pointed out the direction of the disabled Kaffir, with a quiet
remark that "he'd been graning awfu." On another occasion an old
soldier, rather deaf, was posted, on a pitch dark and windy night, at
an angle of the camp, on the other face of which was an artilleryman.
The two had quietly paced their respective beats for some time, wrapped
up as usual in their blankets, when old Tait, for some unaccountable
reason or other, took it into his head to challenge his fellow sentry,
and not hearing any answer concluded at once that he must be a Kaffir,
brought him down by a shot in the arm, and running in, held his bayonet
steadily at the poor fellow's throat, declaring "he'd rin him through
if he offered to budge." Spite of the man's representations, which were
all lost on Tait's deaf ear, he kept him down till the Corporal came
round, to the 'relief' of both.
A reinforcement of 120 Fingoe Levies arrived from Algoa Bay, and the
remainder of the 12th regiment was said to be _en route_ for Beaufort
to join our division, which was to move on that place. The rumour was
confirmed sooner than we had anticipated, for on the following day "the
route" arrived, and was hailed with delight by all, after having been
more than two months in this place.
The tents were struck; the dry withered kraals that had encircled our
fires were piled over them and set in a blaze as farewell bonfires, and
we marched for Fort Beaufort, the cavalry and artillery making a detour
by the Klu-Klu to reconnoitre the Kroome. After a hot and dusty march,
as we were entering Beaufort our band, which had been stationed here
since we last passed through, came out to meet us; its strains sounded
strangely full and rich to our ears after the constant skirling of the
Pipes, and the effect on the men was most inspiriting as it played us
through the long street and square to the plain on the other side of
the town, where we encamped with the 12th regiment on the banks of the
Kat River.
The Cape Mounted Rifles had their head-quarters here; and after making
the best toilet our weather-stained uniform would admit of, we rode
over to their mess-house, and once more sat down to the refinement
of a civilized table and decent cookery. After our rough camp life,
the change from tin cans and clasp knives, on the bare ground, to
such luxuries as table cloth, chairs, plate, and glass, was quite
perplexing; savoury dishes in place of leathery beef, and sparkling
champagne instead of draughts of muddy stagnant water; the merry party,
and warm and cordial greetings of old friends whom we somehow felt
surprised to find alive, were enjoyed with a zest and heartiness which
compensated for many a hard day in the field.
All things, however, have their drawbacks, and we found that the plain
was peculiarly fitted for "light drill," of which we had a full benefit
during our short _rest_. Two days after our arrival, a horrible murder
was committed on the Provost-Sergeant, by a man of the European Levy.
He had followed his victim out of the camp at night, and murdered him
in cold blood a few hundred yards off, then quietly re-entering the
lines at another point, joined his comrades at their fire. At the
court-martial, held two days afterwards, the wretch was condemned to
death, but his sentence was afterwards commuted to transportation for
life.
Though our patrols were out each day as usual, they now seldom fell in
with any of the enemy, whose withdrawal from their former outposts, and
reported gathering in the Waterkloof, led us to suspect some intended
movement in that quarter. Some Kaffir women captured by the Fingo
Levies one morning, on being examined by the General's interpreter,
admitted their loss on the day of the Kroome action, September 8th, to
have been upwards of 150 killed, besides many wounded.
The weather how became daily warmer; we paraded every morning at six
o'clock; and after a couple of hours' light-drill on the plain were
right glad to remove the sand and perspiration by a bathe in the shady
river. On Sundays divine service was performed at nine o'clock in camp,
the men drawn up in hollow square facing inwards, the "Meenister" in
the centre, with the big drum as a pulpit. Even at that early hour the
heat was often so great that several men fainted during the service.
The surface of the plain danced in a wavy indistinct outline, and the
distorted bushes quivered in the hot air; yet the Fingoes, bare-headed
and without covering, basked in the broiling sun, smoking their large
wooden pipes in evident enjoyment.
Though capital bush-rangers, and fair fighting men when well backed
up by regular troops, these fellows gave us endless trouble from the
difficulty of impressing on them the necessity of some sort of order
and discipline. It was impossible to keep them in camp anywhere within
six or seven miles of a town, and of Beaufort more especially; they
were always in the Fingo quarters of the town, and out of the way when
required, so that in case of a sudden call for their services, the
Sergeants had to gallop off to the different kraals to hunt them up,
turning them out with great shouting, and blowing of cow-horns.
The Fingo Levies were universally fine athletic well made men, and
those of the Algoa Bay Levy especially so; more perfect models it is
impossible to imagine. This superiority arises doubtless from their
simple diet, and free and hardy life in the open air, though it is
said that they, as well as the Kaffirs, always destroy blind, deaf and
dumb, sickly, or deformed children at their birth, or as soon as their
imperfection becomes manifest. Whether this be true or not, certain it
is that no such are ever seen among them.
In town the young men get themselves up in the most extraordinary
style, with smart earrings in their ears, and school-boys' caps stuck
on the top of their heads, with red and blue velvet tassels; and you
daily see them at the stores, laying out their pay in second-hand
European clothes,--blue coats with brass buttons, tight fitting
surtouts, and fashionable pantaloons; an accompanying party of friends
assisting and advising with the greatest gravity. Some showed a strong
military turn, stitching broad red stripes down their trowsers, or
with an old Cape Corps jacket, swaggering about with a rusty sword
and spurs. But in the field, this attire is laid aside, and the same
fellows pass you on the line of march, at the double, with a "Hi
Charlie,"--their dirty blanket, and raw beef tied on their backs, and
no other clothing than a checked cotton shirt.
[Illustration: FINGO LEVIES.]
FOOTNOTES:
[13] Eupodotis Kori.
[14] Otis afra.