With a population of a hundred thousand, Durban is the chief seaport
of South Africa. Located on the Indian Ocean, it is known also as Port
Natal. Among the inhabitants, colored people of varied races comprise
two-thirds of the population. With the native black there is the
Indian, or Hindu, Arabs, Malays and half-castes from islands located
near the East African coast. The phrase "Darkest Africa" is even more
emphasized by the presence of the dark races that are not natives of
the country.
Untidiness and unsanitary conditions invariably prevail where black
races are in the majority, especially so where the percentage is three
to one white person; but a pleasant surprise is met with here in this
respect, as few cities anywhere surpass Durban in cleanliness, whether
composed entirely of white people or a predominating number of blacks.
Almost the whole white population is British.
To the east and south, as one comes through a channel from the sea to
the harbor, a ridge of land known as the Bluff, thickly verdured with
low trees and wild flowers, offers such an inviting setting to a
visitor that one forms a favorable opinion of Durban before he has
stepped off a ship. That foreground is as green in the winter months
as during the summer, for it is summertime in Durban the year round.
After having passed through the channel into the bay, the harbor is
seen landlocked on one side by the city, and on the other side and end
by the evergreen Bluff and more verdure. It is Durban's splendid
harbor, reasonable port dues, up-to-date facilities for coaling ships,
and splendid docks that has gained for her the title of premier
seaport of the South Indian Ocean. Her modern maritime facilities are
the result of energy by the Durban business man more than to natural
advantages, for the entrance channel had to be dug out and the harbor
dredged.
The business houses are built of brick, cement and stone, some of them
being seven stories high. The stores are large, of fine appearance,
with attractive windows. No place of Durban's size can boast of better
buildings or better stores.
One of the largest and best built structures to be found south of the
equator is the Durban Town Hall. This building, of brick and cement,
is a city block in size and three stories in height. The scope of this
hall may be understood when it is mentioned that under its roof is
contained a public museum, an art gallery, public library, theater,
councilors' chambers, besides offices for the city officials. The
building is not only large and imposing, but the architects have
succeeded in giving the structure an artistic finish. The Town Hall of
to-day should meet the requirements of the Durban Corporation
centuries hence, and would be a credit to a city of a million
inhabitants.
A good bathing beach and a well-laid-out and well-appointed park do
not, as a rule, go together, but one finds this dual comfort at this
part of the Indian Ocean. Scattered about the terraced lawn have been
built substantial kiosks and pagodas, with thatched roofs, which lend
to the surroundings a decidedly Oriental air. These have been provided
with comfortable seats, and, with the soft breezes nearly always
coming from the Indian Ocean, enviable restfulness is assured to even
nervous wrecks. Then stone walls, with alcoves built in to add to the
seating capacity of the park, together with flowering vines creeping
up and over and then drooping, form a means of shelter and rest,
adding more attractiveness to the surroundings. Above the beach and
park are splendid hotels, some without doors, and all with wide,
inviting verandas.
Sharks--man-eaters--are so numerous along the Natal coast that the
bathing enclosure is closely studded with iron rods to prevent the
voracious sea beasts from mangling and killing bathers, as would
happen were there no means provided to keep the sharks away from the
holiday-maker.
The Berea is a residential section of Durban, and for landscape and
floral effect is a notable feature. On a range of hills rising several
hundred feet, overlooking the business portion of the city and the
Indian Ocean, many Durbanites live in broad-verandaed homes, shaded
with semi-tropical flowering trees, perpetually blooming plants, vines
growing so luxuriantly that the porches, and often the sides, of the
houses are shut in by a green and floral portière, as it were. Added
to this attractiveness are various species of palms and clusters of
giant and Japanese bamboo. Some of the flowered hedges enclosing these
building plots are so gorgeous in rich color and shape as to make a
Solomon green with envy.
The flambeau tree, indigenous to the Island of Mauritius--"the flower
garden tree," it may be termed--is conspicuous on the Berea, both as
to numbers and floral beauty. This tree, with fern-shaped leaf, does
not grow over twenty-five feet in height, but it is of a spreading
nature, its shade in some instances measuring fifty feet across--twice
its height. It is in flower about a month, from the middle of December
to the middle of January--Junetime south of the equator. The color of
the flower is a bright red, as large and the shape of a sewing
thimble, and grows in clusters of eight and ten in number. When in
bloom, this bright red aerial garden may be seen from a distance of a
mile, so the reader can picture what a gorgeous floral effect is
displayed when hundreds of these handsome trees are in flower at the
same time.
The rosebush seemed to be the only plant of the nature of bush or tree
that overrides lines, climates and seas. It is no doubt the most
cosmopolitan plant that grows, and is to be seen in about the same
beauty and diffuses its fragrance in the same degree in nearly all
parts of the world. All the trees seen growing south of the equator
appeared foreign to those growing in the United States.
The Christ thorn--said to be the same as the one that pierced the brow
of the Savior on Mount Calvary--grows abundantly in Natal. In some
instances the bush is used for hedge fences, and when allowed to grow
to a height of from two to four feet it makes a spiky obstruction, as
the prongs are an inch in length, grow numerous on the stock, little
thicker than a knitting needle, and are almost as sharp as a sewing
needle. The thorn, which is of a creeping nature, like a grapevine, is
more generally used as a border for a flower pot, however. As its name
naturally calls up memories of the deep-stained crime of nearly 2,000
years ago, one scrutinizes it closely. The Christ is a flowering
thorn, and the flower is red, not larger than a wild strawberry's.
These grow in a group from one stem, each cluster numbering from two
to ten flowers--always even--two, four, six, eight and ten--never in
odd numbers.
Some of the trees growing here bud and bloom twice a year. These
interesting changes do not take place in the same way that nature does
her work in the colder climates--by the leaves falling off in the fall
of the year and the buds coming in the spring. With these trees the
old leaf remains until forced off the limb by the new bud. About six
weeks' time is required for nature to change from the old to the new.
During this period new buds bulge from the tips of the limbs, when the
old leaf will fall to the ground. This change is gradually
progressing, until sections of the tree offer a clean, fresh, bright,
green-leafed appearance, while on other parts the dull-green,
dust-soiled leaf offers a striking contrast. Between the months of
February and March and August and September the new leaf replaces the
old.
There is really little timber in South Africa, as the trees grow low
and are of a spreading character. Naturally, the shade cast by them is
much wider than that afforded by high trees. Where brush grows, it is
found to be a dense thicket or jungle, in which monkeys disport
themselves at will, and is often the home of the python also, a
reptile frequently seen along the Natal coast. Shooting monkeys in the
brush is a common amusement.
Outside the city are banana plantations, and sometimes patches of corn
and pumpkins. In order to prevent crops from being partly eaten by
monkeys, laborers are out in the fields at daylight setting traps to
catch the "missing links" or shooting them. The monkeys are very
destructive to crops growing in fields bordered by bushy land. A
monkey's gluttony often renders his cunning of no avail, and for that
trait he becomes an easy prey. Calabashes grow everywhere in South
Africa, and it is by this vegetable the monkey is generally trapped.
The calabash is dug out, or partly so, and cornmeal, calabash seeds
and other monkey edibles are put inside and then made fast. A small
hole, just large enough for a monkey to wriggle his supple fingers in
and contracted paw through, is made in the vegetable. When no one is
about, the monkey makes a start for the calabash trap and is soon
eager to find out what is inside. He then begins working his paw
through the opening, and when he has reached the cornmeal, seeds and
other bait he grabs a handful. It is then that his gluttony proves his
downfall. The opening that admitted his empty paw is too small to
allow his clenched fist to be withdrawn, so he pulls and tugs for
hours to get his paw through the hole, but will not let go of the food
even while being put to death by his captors.
"Are there any automobiles in South Africa?" asked a friend in a
letter. Perhaps others will ask a similar question concerning the
presence of other modern appliances in a far-off part of the world.
One will not meet with elevated railroads, tunnels under wide rivers,
underground railway systems, or buildings from twenty to fifty stories
in height, for the reason that the cities of South Africa are not
large enough to require these modern public utilities; but one will
meet with modern electric light systems, telephone, telegraph and
wireless telegraphy systems, automobiles, motorcycles, motor trucks,
most up-to-date fire-fighting apparatus, modern farm machinery,
typesetting machines, web presses--all the modern machinery and
appliances with which cities of the same size in the North are
equipped will be found in the cities of the far Southland.
White drill clothes are worn by two-thirds of the men of Durban; also
white shoes and a white, light-weight helmet. A suit costs from $2.50
to $6, and a wardrobe contains from three to half a dozen. In addition
to the drill, a majority of mechanics and clerks can vary their
apparel by wearing woolen, flannel and even evening-dress suits. Women
also generally adhere to white clothes and often a helmet similar to
the style worn by men, together with white shoes, white hand-bag, and
white parasol.
The standard of intelligence of the people is high. A majority in the
coast cities are from the United Kingdom. Scotch and English are the
more numerous, the Irish and Welsh being less in evidence. Among a
group of men, the colonials (white persons born in South Africa of
British parents) are nearly always in the minority.
It is only in very small towns in South Africa where a public library
would not be open to all who wished to take advantage of its benefits.
Durban is well supplied with public schools, a technical school open
for both day and night classes; Y. M. C. A., Y. W. C. A. institutions,
splendid library, art gallery, museum; is thickly spired and turreted
with good church buildings; and, for recreation, there is a promenade,
fringed with beautiful palms and shady trees, with seats under them,
for a mile on one side, and the bay on the other; parks and sports
grounds scattered throughout the city; a botanical garden and a
zoological park. All these institutions of education, religion and
recreation are to be found 10,000 miles from America, on the fringe of
"Darkest Africa."
In order that the reader may clearly distinguish between white and
black, a note of the distinctive terms in use here might not be out of
place. A "native" is a kafir or negro; a "colonial" is one born in
South Africa of white parents, generally applied to English-speaking
people; Dutch means a Boer, and Boer means Dutch; the word
"Africander" also means Dutch. But for all whites--Dutch, colonial,
and foreign-born--the word "European" is used to designate the white
from the black. The word "white" is seldom used. Indian coolie, or
Indian, is a native of India, or of Indian parentage. "Colored" means
a person of Malay and white blood. Half-castes are of negro and white
blood. A "boy" means a kafir servant or a laborer. A native servant 40
years of age would be called a "boy."
House servants in South Africa are native boys, and Indian women and
girls are often employed as nurses. Occasionally one sees a native
woman looking after children; but the native boy--the "umfaan," as he
is called in the Zulu language--from 10 to 18 years of age, is the
standby as a house servant in the Province of Natal. The houseboy
wears clothes that denote his occupation, and generally presents a
neat appearance. His wage varies from $2 to $5 a month. Most of the
umfaans make good servants, particularly the Zulu boys. Unlike his
American brother, he is an early riser.
"Umfaan peril--protection for the children"--is the light in which a
great many of the Europeans see their dependency on the umfaan as the
servant. While Indian women and some native women look after the
children, more umfaans will be seen wheeling baby carriages than black
maids. Such a thing as a European servant is almost unheard of in
South Africa. So, how to have the children looked after by other than
black male servants is a burning question in the province. Conventions
are held regularly at the instance of women's children protection
societies, leagues and similar organizations, at which the ablest
minds of the country deal with the "umfaan peril." But no solution has
yet been found to check the degradation that follows in the wake of
such a system of taking care of children. Men and women who have made
a study of the "peril," and who are familiar with customs, are loth to
place all the blame for undesirable conditions on the native,
nevertheless. A large number of native girls are not allowed by their
parents to come to the cities or towns as servants. While they live in
the kraal on the veld no concern is felt for the future of the girls;
but so soon as they leave the native hut to go into service in the
towns their future is in doubt. So, with no native girls to be had as
servants, the umfaan's services for the present are indispensable.
South Africa has proved an Arcadia for a great number of poor girls.
Mill and shop girls of Great Britain who had dreamed of being the wife
of a man dressed in white clothes from feet to head, of living in a
wide verandaed house, trellised all around, with flowering vines
climbing all about the porch, with the picture varied by the hum of
bees or humming birds; with palms, exotics and flowers growing about
the house and yard; with bearing banana plants, mango trees and rows
of luscious pineapples growing in the yard--all encompassed by a
flowering hedge of big, bright hibiscus bush; with a foreground of a
steepled city and a broad blue ocean, and a background of spreading
fern-leafed trees emblazoned with scarlet and lavender-colored
flowers; with an ayah (Indian maid) to be at her beck and call and a
black boy to do the housework and bring her breakfast to her room; to
be drawn from her home to the shopping center of the city and back by
a big and swift Zulu ricksha puller, with long cow horns secured to
each side of his head--that dream has come true to thousands of poor
girls who have married in this section of South Africa.
Most wives from Great Britain, however, prove white elephants to men
living in the colonies. They are eternally going "home," as the
British Isles are termed, and the husband's nose is "kept on the
grindstone" to meet the expense required. The home "holiday" is seldom
less than six months, and is frequently eighteen months, during which
period the husband is maintaining two homes--the one in the colony and
sending money to Great Britain to meet the expense of his family in
that country. On the other hand, the climate of Southern Natal and
Zululand is hard on the white woman. The easy life they live, and
their fascinating surroundings, are not reflected in face or in
physique. It is unusual to see a buxom, rosy-cheeked woman or girl in
Durban. The face is white and features lifeless. The climate in that
part of South Africa seems to not only make them jaded, but
crow's-feet and deeper wrinkles mark the faces of most women at a
period in life when the features should be free of these ageing signs.
The children suffer from the climate to the same degree as the women,
most of them having thin bodies, thin arms, thin blood and spindled
legs. Men also are affected by the climate, but not to the same degree
as women and children. Illustrative of the size of men in Southern
Natal, it may be noted that ready made suits of clothes of size 40 and
over are not kept in stock by merchants, as there is no call for
them; few men attain that girth. It is doubtful also if one could find
a collar of size 17.
The horse of Natal is a hungry-looking beast. This is owing to the
grass generally being of a wiry nature, which the animal cannot
digest, and a better quality, if eaten when dew is on it, proves very
injurious to the system. Smoldering fires are lit in stables in the
evening so that the smoke will keep mosquitoes from the premises.
These insects are said to inject disease germs into any horse they
bite. Large, vicious flies prove another menace to horses. The bite of
these flies often draws blood, and as a result white hairs grow from
the bitten parts. So many of these white hair spots appear on the
bodies of black and bay horses that they often give a beast the
appearance of being an iron-gray color. In certain sections of the
Province of Natal horses cannot live.
Favored with a delightful climate and a good bathing beach, Durban is
a noted winter resort in that part of the world. The weather during
the "season"--from May to October--is like the American Indian summer
save for the absence of Jack Frost. At this time of year people from
Johannesburg and other sections of the high veld come in large numbers
to this point of the coast to spend their vacations. Circuses also pay
their annual visits; hotel-keepers raise prices; rooming house
proprietors double rates; fakirs are numerous; talented tramps--street
singers--are heard in front of hotels, looking for any spare change
that may come from verandas and windows; Zulu ricksha pullers become
ambitious for an extra "holiday" fare--every one tries to get rich off
the visitor, and the air is charged with music, merriment and life at
every turn.
In the way of amusement, moving pictures predominate, although
theatrical people of world reputation frequently tour South Africa.
Concerts in the Town Hall Sunday evenings, held under municipal
auspices, are a popular form of entertainment, these being in charge
of the borough organist, a city official. Military bands in the gala
season entertain the populace morning, afternoon and evening at the
Beach and in parks. Besides these attractions, boating, fishing, horse
racing, military sports tournaments, and the general athletic sports
figure largely in the life of the place.
Dwellings are nearly always at a premium, these renting for from $15
to $35 a month; but few houses are available for the lesser sum. The
standard of living may be gauged by these charges, as people receiving
small salaries could not pay high rentals. The wages of clerks,
salesmen and mechanics range from $65 to $100 a month. In many Durban
homes will be found a piano, a phonograph, good furniture, often a
good collection of horns and skins, pictures--the home of no
workingman of any country could be better furnished than the Durban
breadwinner's.
"Did you attend the funeral yesterday?" was asked of a lady whose
relative had been buried the day before. "Oh, no!" she answered, much
surprised at the question; "only men attend funerals." The absence of
women at subsequent burials proved this to be the custom here. A body
must be put under ground within 24 hours after death. Were a person to
die at 7 o'clock in the morning, the burial would take place during
the day. When information has been given that a person has died, it is
understood that the funeral will take place in a few hours.
One making a visit to the black belts would use good judgment were he
to leave behind the word "woman" when applied to white women. "Woman"
in these countries is used only when speaking of black or colored
persons. "Lady" is always used when referring to a white woman. One
will find a similar distinction in vogue in the negro sections of the
United States.
"Toff" is an English term used to denote a good dresser--a sort of
dandy. As most of the clothes worn by men are tailor-made, a great
many "toffs" may be seen in Durban. The cheapest suit one can have
made costs $22, but from $25 to $40 is the general price.
Natal, unlike the other provinces of South Africa, has always been
English, particularly the coast section, which accounts for few
manufacturers being in evidence from other countries. But among
American products are shoes, sewing machines and illuminating oil.
Some powerful locomotives in use are of American manufacture and are
imported chiefly to pull trains up heavy grades. The cooking stove in
general use here is the kerosene oil sort, most of them of American
make. In recent years, exports from the United States to the
sub-continent (as South Africa is often termed) have increased to the
creditable figures of 35 to 40 per cent.
"Will you please look at the fireless stove?" a saleslady asked, as a
group of women passed a "kitchen" stall in a fair ground on a
provincial fair day. Turning about, there was a dish of baked beans,
seldom seen away from America; an apple pie, an article of food as
scarce in foreign parts as hens' teeth; a roast chicken, soda biscuits
(called scones in British territory) and baked potatoes. The whole
outfit had America stamped on it very strongly. All the women stopped
to witness the fireless stove "demonstration." "Where's the fire?"
asked one of the women. Then the "demonstration" began, both in action
and word. Her auditors looked with staring eyes and open-mouth as the
agent showed them and explained its working.
Comparatively few Americans live in the Province of Natal, as at a
luncheon given by the American Consul's wife to her countrymen "a
table held us all"--thirty being present. Invitations had been sent to
a larger number, but as some of these were missionaries located in
remote places of the country all did not attend. The luncheon was
served on a Fourth of July, and what a pleasant gathering it proved to
be. Some of those present had been away from their native country as
long as forty years. Pleasant chats, speeches, toasts--the season of
good fellowship that prevailed at that Fourth of July gathering, when
we were all 10,000 miles from home, will remain among the longest
cherished memories that those present will carry with them through
life.
Though lighting, water, a telephone system and street railways are
owned by the city, municipal ownership does not augur cheaper prices
in Durban, in spite of the fact that the rates charged the consumer
and patron insure the city not only a fair return on the capital
invested, but generally a snug surplus is shown besides. Street cars
are of double-deck style, but the fare is high. The system of paying
is by "stage"--four cents from stage to stage, and the distance
between "stages" is so arranged that the city receives about three
cents a mile from its patrons. Conductors and motormen are Europeans.
While the street car system gives employment to white men, it is the
only department of the city that does so. The park system and the
street department work is done entirely by Indian coolies, who receive
from $3 to $5 a month. They are the most hungry looking, bony,
spindle-legged lot of creatures one might set eyes on; but it is
largely due to this cheap help that the Durban treasury is in such
good condition.
The Indian coolie is tricky, treacherous, lying, lazy, dirty and
repulsive. He has about his loins a rag just big enough to cover his
nakedness, while the wrapping around his head--his puggaree--is as
large as a bed sheet. In other words, he makes a loin piece out of a
handkerchief, but requires yards of cloth for a head covering.
Sugar growing being the principal industry of southern Natal, the
Indian coolie was imported to work in the sugar-cane fields. Tea also
is grown in the southern part of the province, and Indians are used in
that industry, receiving from $3 to $5 a month and board. As his main
food is rice, board does not cost much; and as he sleeps in any sort
of a shed, the sugar grower is not put to great expense for beds and
bedding. The coolie used to be brought to South Africa under what was
termed the "indenture system," the indentureship periods being from
three to five years, during which he could not leave his employer. It
was a mild form of slavery. At the end of his indentureship he was
generally shipped back to India, but could be re-employed there and
return to Africa. The sugar company paid his transportation either
way. But that expense did not greatly shrink the growers' pocketbooks,
as the coolie was shipped in the hold of a ship, which, when packed
with this class, resembled a great ant-hill. Serving two and three
terms of successive indentureship to the same employer gained for him
his freedom, when he could remain in Natal. From then on he became a
curse. The Dutch came in full control of South Africa on May 30, 1910,
and a month later marked the end of indentured coolies entering the
sub-continent.
As is generally known, Indian girls become mothers at the age of from
12 to 14 years. Added to a resulting abnormal birth rate, compared
with Europeans, polygamy is also a custom of the Indians. Thus will
readily appear the great danger to the white interest where the Indian
gets a foothold.
The Indian patronizes his own people, and for this reason many of the
Arab and Hindu merchants soon become wealthy. They aim to oust the
white man wherever and whenever they can do so. Their standard of
living is so much lower, and their employees work for so much less
than the white merchant must pay European help, that they can
undersell the white in most lines of business. Some of the wealthiest
men in the province are Indian merchants.
Most of the money in use in South Africa is gold--gold sovereigns--and
silver. The gold sovereign is what the Indian is after. His savings
are sent to India in gold. Through the Durban post office was sent not
long since 65,000 gold sovereigns. Bankers and business men appealed
to the government to put a stop to sending this metal out of the
country, and when that method of depleting the gold currency had been
checked, it was sent to India secretly, most of it in packing boxes,
there being a large trade between the two countries.
The Indian having become a running sore on the financial and social
body of Natal, the government has tried to tax the race out of the
country. The legal age of a girl is placed at thirteen years and that
of a boy at sixteen years. The tax on "legal" aged Indians is $15 a
year. So, if an Indian father had three girls over thirteen years of
age, and two sons over sixteen, making seven in the family of legal
age, the head tax would be $105. To impose such an exorbitant tax on
poor, low paid people seems a hardship. No "melting pot" that ever
simmered will assimilate the Indian with the white race, however. They
bring with them filthy habits and weird customs, and live the life of
an Indian in whatever part of the world they may be located.
The destruction of the "gods"--Mohurrum festival--is one of the great
holidays of the Indians in Natal. This is the closing climax of a
Mohammedan ten-day festival. The festival takes place each year, which
shows that Indians do not worship stale gods, as a new one comes into
existence ten days after the drowning of the old gods. The gods on
this occasion were drowned in the Umgeni River, about three miles from
Durban.
The fantastic hearses, in design a strange mixture of mosque and
pagoda, made up of bamboo framework covered with bright colored paper
and lavishly decorated with tinsel and gaudy ornaments, most of them
surmounted by the star and crescent on a dome, emblematic of the
Moslem faith, were followed by Indian women in brightly colored
garments, and grotesquely painted men scantily clad in loin cloths,
weird headpieces, and other trappings, who conveyed the gods to the
river. Above the noise that followed this gay holiday crowd, bent on
the destruction of Indian gods, could be heard the monotonous and
ear-racking din of the tomtom, together with a prehistoric bagpipe
here and there, and these were the only musical instruments in use to
demonstrate the feelings of this motley crowd. The pagodas are called
"taboots," and when these came to a halt--they were drawn by men--the
"tigers," men besmeared with lead, ochre and yellow-colored mud and
grease from head to foot, would give exhibitions of contortions, which
must have been pleasing to the slowly moving gods. At the river where
the gods were to meet their death had gathered a great crowd of
Indians, natives and Europeans to witness the last part played in the
Mohurrum fast and festival. "Taboot" after "taboot" was tipped and
hurled into the stream, after the priests had taken rice and other
grain from it, which they tossed into a small fire burning in an urn.
The shallow river was swarming with youngsters, and no sooner had a
"taboot" reached the water than the boys were at it, and in a short
time it was a shapeless wreck.
On the shore of the Indian Ocean a group of Hindus were observing a
repulsive form of the Buddhist religion. About a dozen in number, they
assembled round a brass urn, six inches across and three deep, in
which burned an oil fire. Half of this number formed what we may call
an orchestra. Two of the instruments were tomtoms and the others
rounded pieces of wood, bored out, as large as a croquet ball, and
with brass bells attached. These were put over the players' hands,
rattling as they moved their wrists, the other members at the same
time chanting a dump. Close to the urn stood a cone-shaped wooden
frame, two feet high and eighteen inches at the base, covered with
flowers. To the rear lay three live hens, with strings tied to their
legs.
The Hindus then started toward the water to the accompaniment of bells
and tomtoms. Leading were three men, the one between, who appeared
nervous, being aided by those on each side. One of the trio had thick,
black hair reaching to the waist, but none wore head covering. When
the three had waded in up to the armpits, the center man was ducked a
number of times. The music then ceased for a short period, after which
all returned to the urn. The Indian who had been immersed turned out
to be a convert to this fanatical sect.
The orchestra resumed the chant, the man with the long hair and the
convert kneeling by the fire, the third one, a priest, standing. The
former began bending his body backward and forward, his head touching
the sand at each movement, also running his fingers through his hair.
The convert followed the actions of the other. Both worked themselves
into a state of weakness, verging on collapse, during which their
hands, at times, came in contact with the flame in the urn, but none
of the members made any effort to turn their hands from the fire,
which, of course were burned. At this stage of the ceremony both men,
their eyes rolling and only the whites showing, lay on the sand,
exhausted. The chant ceased. The priest approached the apparently
lifeless Indians with a phial in his hands. He next placed the open
end of the bottle to the nose of one, then to the other, the Hindus
raising themselves to their knees as the orchestra resumed.
The half-revived convert then put out his tongue, the priest advancing
with what looked like an oyster fork in his hand. The orchestra
stopped--all was silent. He next took hold of the dazed, hand-burnt
disciple's tongue in one hand, and forced the tines of the fork
through that member with the other; then, quickly stepping to the
cone, took two flowers--lavender and yellow in color--and, returning,
put one flower on top of the tongue, the other underneath. No blood
flowed from the penetrated member. The Hindu stood up, apparently in a
trance, his tongue spiked. The priest again alertly stepped back and
returned with a chicken, snapping the hen's head off as if cut with a
scissors. The blood from the headless fowl was sprinkled over the
convert; then another hen was brought, killed likewise, its blood also
being sprayed over the supplicant, when the orchestra played. The
follower next bended to his knees, after which the flower cone was
lifted on his head. He rose; then the group, to the accompaniment of
the "music," walked over sand dunes in the direction of a mosque,
where, it was said, the fork would be withdrawn from the inducted
Asiatic's tongue.
The Zulu ricksha puller is the most striking feature of that
interesting city to a visitor, as he proves an object of much
curiosity and admiration. He is in a class by himself. In stature, he
stands from 5 feet 6 inches to 6 feet 4 inches; in color, darker than
a mulatto, but not black; with bare legs, strong, muscular and fleet
of foot; generally ready to smile, showing his perfect teeth; standing
between two shafts by which he draws the ricksha, watching eagerly for
a fare--this gives but a meager illustration of the Zulu ricksha
puller.
The Zulu reaches the culmination of vanity when he has fixed himself
up to look like, and to imitate the actions of, an ox, horse or mule,
for he has a veneration for these dumb animals. The larger the horns
he can wear, which are secured to a piece of cloth that fits tight to
the head, the better he is pleased. A number of long feathers often
extend from between the horns, and vari-colored grass and thin reeds,
also attached to the same place, fall to and below the waistline.
Added to this head adornment, calabashes, sometimes as large as a
cantaloupe, protrude from the side of his head. His jacket,
sleeveless, which bears designs of plaids and squares, resembling a
checker-board, extends midway between thigh and knee. His pants are a
slit knickerbocker, also extending to halfway between thigh and knee,
but from the hem fall strips of red braid six inches below. The pants
are split to allow his legs freedom when drawing the vehicle.
The ricksha puller is eternally trying to think of something fantastic
and grotesque to wear. One fellow may be seen with his legs and feet
painted blue, representing the sky, with white spots dotted here and
there to represent stars, another with both legs painted white. At
times one leg is painted red and the other white. Also may be seen,
fastened to the puller's horns, the skull of a calf or sheep, or
perhaps of a monkey. Monkey skins, with tails attached, are worn, one
in front and the other on the back. Again, a discarded plug hat may be
hung on one horn and an empty vegetable can on the other while he is
pulling a passenger about the city. Sometimes his head looks like a
small flower garden, as he is seen trundling his ricksha about with
bright red hibiscus and carnations sticking out of his black, woolly
head at the top and from the sides. At night a small light--generally
a candle--attached to the axle of his sulky, may be seen at the sides
of streets and showing from dark alleys or from under a spreading
tree. The puller will jingle the little bell on the shafts of his
ricksha to attract the attention of a passerby. The weird trappings,
with the dim outline of the Zulu, together with his long horns showing
from the darkness, will not inspire confidence in one unfamiliar with
the native puller. In short, he appears fantastically inhuman by day
and grotesquely brutish by night. His physique, however, is an object
of admiration; mentally, he is a child.
The ricksha is a two-wheeled, two-shaft sulky, with rubber tired
wheels, upholstered, and will seat two persons. A hood is attached to
the seating box like that of a carriage. A small bell hangs from one
of the shafts, which the puller sounds to give warning of his coming.
Under, from the center of the axle depends a bar of iron with a small
wheel at the end. This bar prevents passengers from falling out if the
ricksha should tip while going up hill. The service is good and the
fare cheap--from 6 to 50 cents--the different fare stages being
printed on a card. Like every one engaged in similar occupations, the
puller knows a stranger, and succeeds often in getting more than the
just fare from men, but women generally ask for the schedule card.
"Ricksha!" is the only word shouted when a puller is wanted. Regular
stands for them are located in different parts of the city, and if one
feels depressed in spirits and wishes to get out of the "dumps," a
good way to have the "cloud" lifted is to shout "Ricksha!" when within
200 to 300 feet from where fifteen to twenty of the pullers are
chatting and waiting for a fare. Every one of them will spring between
the shafts, like fire horses to harness, and make a dash at full speed
to the person who shouted. The noise and rattle a group of pullers
make in approaching sounds almost like a collision between two railway
trains.
The puller rests the shafts on the ground while his passenger is being
seated. He holds his big, strong, flat foot on the thills, so the
vehicle will not slip while one is getting aboard, until his patron
tells him to go. If one cannot speak the native language, not a word
will be spoken, for rarely does one meet a native who can speak
English. The passenger points his finger in the direction he wishes to
be drawn. The Zulu raises the shafts and, after a few slow, heavy
pulls to get the vehicle started, one is spinning along as fast as a
trolley car travels.
[Illustration: JIM FISH WAS THE SWIFTEST PULLER THAT EVER WORE A BRACE
OF HORNS.
DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA.]
"Jim Fish!" "Jim Fish!" they will call to a passerby, at the same time
ringing the small bell on the shafts, while advancing and acting in a
manner that suggests the person being approached had forgotten to call
a puller. Jim Fish was the swiftest puller that ever wore a brace of
horns. In a three mile race with a trolley car Jim came out ahead,
but, like Pheidippides, the Greek of the dusty past, after whose
run the Marathon has been named, he fell dead when he had crossed the
finish line. By calling out "Jim Fish" the Zulus imagine the name
suggests a fast ride.
The puller appears at his best when traveling down grade. Just at the
head of the decline he jerks the shafts upward--this movement bringing
his back close to the dashboard--when his arms rest akimbo on the
thills. He maintains his full height during this change of position,
which is in accordance with professional ricksha pullers' custom. The
sulky naturally tilting backward--also the occupants--his body is
nearer the axle of his vehicle than when traveling over a level or
inclined surface. Aided by the weight of his passengers, the ricksha
is then almost evenly balanced. Riding on the shafts, he throws to one
side, like a jumping-jack, the big leg bearing the painted design of
the sky or openwork, and his unpainted leg to the other. He also moves
his body from side to side and assumes a labored expression, although
resting while being borne on the shafts. His body movement and stern
appearance are affected, and are, as he believes, in keeping with that
of a racehorse when coming down the home stretch, which he is
imitating. His horns and their adornment, together with the colored
grass streamers, feathers, monkey tails, checkerboard designed jacket,
calabashes, braid, flowers--all his trappings are then set full to the
wind, as the Zulu seems to actually fly through space.
In stormy weather, which means good business for the puller, the hood
is raised, and a piece of canvas that covers the front of the ricksha
is buttoned to the sides, which protects the occupant from rain both
from above and in front. Off the Zulu goes, after he has tucked the
rug under his passenger's feet and has seen to it that the canvas
shelters his fare. The rain may be coming down in torrents, and the
water half knee deep in the streets, with the handicap of the raised
hood and front canvas against him; but patter, patter, patter he will
continue, watching for depressions, in order to sidestep them so that
his passenger will not be jolted, until he has reached the place at
which his fare wishes to alight. He will take one home in any sort of
weather, as his strong legs and body rarely fail him.
The puller will often have nothing on but the jacket, short, split-leg
pants and trappings. He does not go to his living quarters--the
ricksha stable--and get dry clothes, as one might expect him to do,
but trundles his sulky about in the rain looking for another fare. He
pulls a ricksha from two to three years, when consumption generally
claims him as a victim.
Twelve hundred of these stalwart natives were formerly engaged in this
kind of work, but now there are less than a thousand. The extension of
street car lines from time to time accounts for the decrease.
The rickshas are owned by a company, and 60 cents a day is paid by the
puller for its use. All he makes over 60 cents is his own. It is said
he often earns from $2 to $3 a day, but there are also days when his
fares do not exceed the rent charge. Most of the pullers work but four
days a week.
A "curfew" bell rings at 9 o'clock each evening, and the only native
seen about the streets who is immune from arrest after that hour is
the ricksha puller. After "curfew" a native carries a pass or a note
from his employer, either of which will save him from being taken to a
police station. It is very amusing at times to watch a Zulu policeman
question a native as to why he is out late. His only protection is the
note or his pass, which the policeman makes pretense at reading,
though he does not know A from B.
This dusky guardian of the peace is next in interest to the ricksha
puller. His uniform is a jacket, dark blue in color, that reaches just
below the waist band. His pants are of the same material, reaching to
and covering the kneecap, where it is buttoned tight. His legs from
his knees down are bare and shine like polished ebony, for they are
oiled every day. He wears a stingy head piece called a forage cap,
generally made of blue cloth, which covers about one-third of the
head--the side--from the arch of the ear to within two inches of the
crown. This is held in place by a string looping under his chin or
resting between the chin and lower lip. Some caps have a red stripe
across the top, and all have a dent or crease. His weapon is a
knobkerry, a stick an inch round, with a knob on it as large as a
croquet ball. A pair of handcuffs is also included among this Zulu
officer's equipment.
The European policeman of Durban, as many European women of that city,
have an easy job. The native police do any "rough" work required to
subdue black offenders, as Europeans, to whom the white policeman
would give his attention, are as a rule law abiding. The native
carries his superior's raincoat, overcoat, or any burden that the
white officer might need while on duty. A black policeman is not
permitted to arrest a European, no matter how serious the offense
against the law might be. The worst offenders are Indians; but big
thefts, safe-blowing, house breaking, hold-ups, sand-bagging, etc.,
are few, which indicates the respect people have for the law in this
British stronghold. White policemen receive $75 a month, and natives
$15 a month and board. The working time is eight hours a day, with
three shifts.
A large building without an entrance door would appear as something
unusual in Northern cities; and yet one can find such an oddity in the
far Southland. The one in question is built of brick, three stories in
height, and contains a hundred furnished rooms. The entrance is a high
archway, and just inside is an elevator and stairway. It is an English
custom to leave one's shoes outside his room door on going to bed, so
that "boots" can polish them in the morning. In front of each room, on
each side of the aisles, in this hostelry could often be seen from one
to four pairs of shoes, yet every pair would be found in the morning
where they had been placed the night before, although no porter guards
the entrance of the building nor a night watchman the interior.
Meat is about the same price in South Africa as in America. Beef,
mutton, chicken and pork cannot be had for less than 15 to 25 cents a
pound. Irish potatoes are expensive, as most of this standby is
imported. Eggs sell at 35 to 60 cents a dozen. Apples are imported
from Australia and Canada.
Pineapples, oranges and bananas are found on the table of nearly
every household the year round. Then there are, among other varieties
of seasonable fruit, the mango, guava, grenadilla and avacada pear.
The pineapple, when picked ripe, is as soft as our pear. These native
fruits sell at a reasonable figure. A hundred bananas can often be
bought for six cents.
Hotel expenses are reasonable, $2 a day insuring good accommodation.
In boarding houses, good board and lodging can be had at from $30 to
$35 a month. Splendid furnished rooms can be rented at from $10 to $15
a month. Meals in popular priced restaurants cost 30 and 35 cents.
The sun rises from the Indian Ocean here and travels during the day on
an almost straight course, shining on the south side of the street,
the north side being partly shaded. For this reason the principal
business street of Durban is roofed on the south side, as it is
exposed to the sun from morning until sunset. The cold and warm winds
also come from a different direction than those above the equator--the
warm winds from the north and the cold winds from the south. Even the
sun seems to rise in the west and set in the east.
Wages paid mechanics range from $3 to $4 a day of eight hours' work.
Such employment as teamster, hod carrier, street laborer,
'longshoreman, and park worker is all done by Indians and natives. The
native is paid from 25 to 50 cents a day, the latter figure being
considered good wages, while the Indian works for 10 to 15 cents a
day. Hotel work, waiting on tables, kitchen work, and even cooking,
with a few exceptions, is done by blacks, chiefly Indians.
A white man "on his uppers" in Durban, or in any black center, for
that part, is to be pitied. If he be a mechanic, his chances for work
are none too good, and if he be an unskilled worker there is no chance
for him at all, as blacks do all the work of that sort. The United
States and Canada are the only countries--possibly Mexico, too--in
which one can travel on railroad trains without paying fare or being
put into a penitentiary. Walking on a railway track in Europe is a
prison offense. So, taking that as one's cue, a man caught stealing a
ride on a train might be tried for treason. As Durban is 7,000 miles
from England, 4,500 miles from the Argentine, 6,000 miles from
Australia and 5,000 from India, a fellow "broke" in the coast cities
of South Africa is in a sorrowful plight. The cheapest steamship
passage from South African ports to England is $80 to $100.
Labor unions exist in South Africa, and the members take an active
part in politics. Not long since a spirited campaign was on for a seat
in the Senate. One of the foremost business men of that country was a
candidate for the office, and a union labor man, a locomotive engineer
by trade, was the opposing candidate. The lines were tightly drawn
between capital and labor in that senatorial contest. The
"one-man-one-vote" clause has yet to be drafted into the constitution
of the Union of South Africa. Only a citizen paying a certain amount
of tax during the year is allowed to vote. On the other hand, a man
holding much property, and this scattered about the country, can, as
in England, vote in as many districts as his property is located. A
wealthy man may cast half a dozen votes at an election, while the
workingman taxpayer will not, as a rule, have more than one vote. The
capitalist candidate for the Senate in this election had four votes to
cast, while the railroad man had but one. A widely known man from the
Transvaal was imported to Natal to do "heavy work" for the wealthy
candidate, and prominent labor men from the Transvaal and the Cape of
Good Hope Provinces were saying and doing all they could to make votes
for their candidate.
"We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang
separately," a labor campaigner was heard to say at one gathering,
quoting Benjamin Franklin's cynical epigram. "Of the people, by the
people, and for the people," Abraham Lincoln's immortal words, were
also used during the campaign. But the speakers of both parties were
tyros compared to the American brand of spellbinder. Election day
came, and he who had plural votes cast them, and he who had one vote
cast it. The result of an election is made known by a judge announcing
the figures from the balcony of the Town Hall. "Hear, ye! Hear ye!" a
voice was heard to command, the judge addressing the people
assembled. The engineer had 36 more votes than his wealthy competitor,
and was the third labor legislator elected to the South African Upper
House.
Every mechanic has his "boy"--the bricklayer, carpenter, plumber,
electrician, painter--to wait on him. One might be located in the
black belt for years and not see a mechanic carry even a pair of
overalls. A mechanic may be seen any time, when working, asking his
"boy" to hand a tool that would not be two inches beyond his natural
reach. A bricklayer becomes so painfully helpless that he will neither
stoop nor reach for a brick; that is what his "boy" is for. The
carpenter must saw boards, because the native cannot saw straight, but
in every other respect he is just as helpless as the bricklayer.
Clerks even have a "boy" to hand a pen or any other thing they might
need in connection with their work. The only tradesman observed who
did his work without the aid of a "boy" was the printer and linotype
operator. And what applies to printers may be said of editors and
others engaged in the printing trade. They really work in the
old-fashioned way. Were one to take a spade in hand to prepare the
garden for vegetables, merely that act of manual labor would be very
apt to prove a bar to a further continuance of the respect of his
European neighbors, and assuredly so by the natives and Indians.
The white man is always at his minimum energy where the black man is
depended on to do the work. We need not go farther than our Southern
States to learn that lesson.
Vasco da Gama, a Portuguese explorer, discovered the Province of Natal
five years after Columbus set foot on the North American Continent. Da
Gama's first visit to Natal was on Christmas Day in the year 1497. As
Christmas Day is the natal day of the Savior, and as the word natal in
the Spanish and Portuguese languages is used as is the word birth in
the English language, this will explain the origin of the naming of
Natal.
For more than three hundred years that section of South Africa
remained as Da Gama found it before white men made a settlement among
the Zulus. In 1824 a few Englishmen built temporary dwelling places on
the shores of the Indian Ocean, more Englishmen joining them from time
to time, until Durban has become one of the leading seaport cities of
the African continent. The coast section of the Province of Natal is
the only part of South Africa in which the Dutch were not the
pioneers.
A great many humpback whales inhabit the Indian Ocean in the stretch
of sea, nearly a thousand miles long, separating Durban from Capetown.
Of late years whales have been hunted on a large scale, and each
season finds a new whaling company in the field to share in the
profits of this lucrative industry. Eight or ten factories, or
stations, most of these located a few miles from Durban, are now
engaged in utilizing the by-products of the whale.
Harpooning whales, or whaling--to use the general term--is engaged in
at places separated by thousands of nautical miles, and, like other
water industries, has its season. Whales, like wild fowl, migrate at
certain seasons to some particular part of the great water expanse,
and return again the succeeding year. By nature, this cetacean prefers
a cold climate to a warm one. The season for their migration is at a
different period to that of the wild fowl, for the "spouter" leaves
the zone of the hot sun and swims great distances until he reaches
cooler water. Sometimes it is from the North Atlantic to the South
Atlantic or Indian Oceans, and at others from the Indian Ocean
southeasterly to the South Pacific Ocean, the water of which is cooled
by the icebergs of the South Pole section. Whales leaving the North
Atlantic in early summer for the South Atlantic Ocean know it is
cooler south of the equator than north of it.
Americans and Norwegians engaged early in the whaling business in the
North Atlantic Ocean, and up to a few years ago American whaling ships
made frequent visits to the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans in quest
of the oil-producing leviathan. But it is to the Norwegian that credit
must be given for building up the whaling industry in the Indian
Ocean, thereby putting in circulation a large sum of money each season
that, until recent years, had been overlooked.
From 600 to 800 of these monsters of the deep are harpooned and
rendered into oil in the Durban factories in a season--from June to
November, inclusive--the cool season in that part of the world. Thirty
tons is the average weight of whales killed in the Indian Ocean. Those
on exhibition in museums give one some idea of the size of a whale,
yet the cured specimen is a poor substitute for one which had been
"spouting" an hour before.
Whaling boats are little larger than a big tug-boat. The whaler is
equipped with one mast, and twenty feet above the deck a long barrel
is secured to this, in which one of the crew is stationed when hunting
the great monster of the sea. The barrel is called the "crow's nest,"
and from here the "lookout" scans the ocean in every direction for the
"spouting" mammoth. On the bow of the boat a cannon is secured, out of
which a harpoon is shot into the whale. The harpoon looks like a small
boat anchor. The length of the harpoon bar is four feet, and at one
end are four hooks ten inches long. The hooks are attached to the bar
by a spring, and, before being used, are bent down to the bar, and
kept in this position by strong cord. Over the end of the bar fits a
spear-pointed cap a foot long, and in this cap has been placed a
dynamite bomb. Whales are shot within thirty yards of the
boat--sometimes twenty feet. The cannon can be adjusted to any angle.
When the spear-pointed cap enters the whale, the bomb explodes,
snapping in two the cord with which the four hooks were tied to the
bar, when the hooks spring outward--like an open umbrella--inside the
whale.
The vital spot aimed at is the lungs. If the aim proves true, the
large mammal falls a victim to the ugly weapon, and dies instantly. If
the harpoon goes wide, the whale heads for the bottom. A long, strong
rope is secured to one end of the harpoon bar, and the whale is given
liberal latitude for his deluded effort to escape. Soon the rope
slackens, when the whaler knows the "spouter" is coming to the
surface to breathe. In the meantime, another harpoon has been placed
in the cannon, and when the whale appears this one is shot into the
crippled monster, putting an end to his fight for life. It sometimes
occurs, however, that the whale breaks the rope fastened to the eye of
the harpoon, when he escapes, carrying the treacherous weapon in his
ponderous frame.
When dead, the great "catch" is drawn to the side of the boat by the
rope secured to the harpoon. His tail flippers, which are from 10 to
12 feet long, are cut off, to allow of convenient handling of the
cumbersome carcass. A chain is then put around his delimbed tail, the
winches revolve, and, when his tail has been drawn up close to the bow
of the boat, a start is made for the wharf, leaving behind a wake of
red sea, discolored by the blood running out of his mouth and from the
rent in his body where the harpoon entered.
At the wharf, the boat chain is loosened and the harpoon rope cut. A
chain from the shore is next wound round his tail, a signal given the
engineer to start the machinery, and the great cetacean is slowly
drawn up a slipway out of the water. When drawn to the head of the
slipway, the body continues moving on to a wide flat car, the railway
track on which the car rests being sunk to a depth level with the top
of the slipway. One flat car is not long enough to afford room for the
huge wanderer of the deep, and a portion is drawn on to a second car.
An engine backs down, is coupled to the "whale train," and a start
made for the factory. The harpoon remains in the whale until the body
is cut to pieces.
At the factory, the whale is drawn off the car on to the "dissecting"
platform by another chain secured to the tail. Men, with long-handled
knives, then make deep cuts--one in its back and another in the
underpart--from the point of the jaw to the tail, and another deep cut
the full length of the carcass. The spaces between these incisions are
three feet at the underpart and from five to six feet on the back.
This part of the process is called "flencing." At the point of the jaw
a piece of flesh is cut until it is released from the bone, and a
small hole is cut out of the released part. A kafir, bare-headed and
bare-footed, brings a chain, and the hook of it is put through the
hole made in the released end of flesh at the whale's jaw. A signal
being given a man at the winches to start, the piece of released hide
begins to peel from the jaw, then down to the shoulder, and further
still. When the winches stop, a slab of hide 40 to 50 feet long, six
feet wide, and six inches thick--from the point of the jaw to the
whale's tail--is stretched out on the platform inside up. The skin
from the back and sides of the whale peels off almost as smoothly as
does the skin of a banana from that fruit. The skin at the underpart,
however, does not peel so freely, requiring cutting of the flesh by
the flencer in a similar way to that of severing threads when ripping
a seam in a garment. The underpart of the hide is but three inches
thick. These slabs or strips of flesh, of which six or seven are
procured from a whale, is the blubber, and from the blubber comes the
best grade of oil.
Kafirs, with long-handled knives, cut chunks--about 18 inches long and
12 inches wide--from the slabs, which are thrown into a hopper in
which are revolving knives, these cutting the flesh into small pieces,
which drop into elevator buckets, later emptying into boiling tanks
located on a floor above. In these vats the oil is boiled out of the
blubber.
The whalebone, located in the enormous mouth, is yet to be removed.
The flesh to which the bone grows is cut with long, strong knives
around the inside of the jaw. A point of the flesh is released, a
chain hooked to it, the winches again start revolving, and the
whalebone begins peeling off the inside of the mouth as freely as did
the blubber off the back. Half of the whalebone still remains in the
mouth, and this is removed in the same manner as the first half.
A great blood-red hulk is all that now remains of the whale. A chain
is again wound about and secured to the tail of the carcass, the
winches, for the last time, revolve, when the colossal frame is moved
up an incline to a floor above the platform on which it was skinned.
Then kafirs, with axes, begin cutting the hulk to pieces, which are
thrown into rendering vats. Different parts of the body are thrown
into different tanks, as certain portions of the flesh produce a
better grade of oil than other parts. The only portion not boiled is
the bone in the mouth. The blood is the only particle not utilized,
and it would add proportionately to the whale's value were it shed on
shore instead of in the sea. The flesh, after the oil has been boiled
out, is sold to farmers for fertilizing purposes. Thirty to
thirty-five men take part in disposing of a whale at the factory, and
from four to five hours' time is required to get the carcass into the
rendering vats.
From $700 to $800 is the value of a humpback to the manufacturer. The
average quantity of oil rendered is 50 barrels, and a barrel of oil
sells at $12 to $15. Most of the oil from the Durban factories is
shipped to Glasgow, Scotland, the whalebone to Paris, France.
Some whalers say the food of a whale is small fish, while other
authorities give it, owing to the gullet of some species of these
cetaceans being but two and three inches wide, as very small,
nutritious marine organisms, or insects, many not visible to the eye,
called invertebrates. When feeding, the whale takes great mouthfuls of
water, its whalebone serving as a strainer and repository in which the
minute sea denizens lodge. The water is then forced out of the mouth,
the food extricated from the meshes of the whalebone and advanced to
the throat. The mouth is so well protected with this bone, which looks
like a low, dense brush thicket, that nothing can enter the throat
until it has proved palatable.
The whale breathes through two slits, 18 inches long, located on top
of the head. Forty-five minutes is as long as the great mammal can
remain under water without breathing; but when swimming fast it will
be seen spouting at intervals of from five to seven minutes. The
spouting is caused by the slits or air-holes being slightly under the
surface. The tube through which air passes to the lungs is said to be
three inches in diameter.
The color of the back and sides is black and the skin smooth. The
underpart of the body and flippers is white, save for an occasional
black speck and fine black lines--mottled. Flutes, four inches deep,
corrugate the beast's underpart from tail to neck. In these grooves
are to be seen a great many small barnacles, and on the neck and lower
jaw barnacles grow as large as goose eggs.
From $8,000 to $10,000 is the value of a ton of whalebone from a
"right" whale, 800 to 1,000 pounds of this elastic substance coming
from the mouth. The bone grows in the form of strips, from 6 to 10
feet in length, and 6 to 12 inches in width. One end of a strip is
fringed with fine, black hair-fiber, this part of the whale finding
its way to the top of persons' heads, as out of it some "human-hair"
wigs are made. A "right" whale, 10 to 15 feet longer than a humpback
and in value equivalent to eight of the latter, is worth from $5,000
to $7,000, but of the hundreds killed in the Indian Ocean during a
season not more than half a dozen of this specie will be among the
number. The whalebone from the humpback is in little demand, growing
but two feet long, and is of inferior quality. The bone in the mouth
of the "right" whale calf--strips a foot long and tender--is of great
value. These are shredded, the fine, soft fiber being made into
artists' painting brushes.
The cow whale brings forth young each year, but triplets or even twins
are unknown in the cetacean family. A calf first opens its eyes in the
sea and soon finds its way to its mother's side, where, securely
snuggled by a strong fin, it remains from three to six days. When able
to "paddle its own canoe," the baby whale--a born swimmer--keeps close
to its mother's side, either up to the surface to "blow," adding a
tiny whitecap to the bounding main, or to accompany its maternal
guardian to feed in salty pastures of the deep. A whale calf nurses
like a colt. When a nursing cow whale is harpooned, whalers generally
kill the calf also, as it would starve if left without its mother's
nourishment.
At certain times of the year whales move in pairs--male and female.
When a hunter meets a couple the female is first selected for
slaughter; the sex is known by the cow being larger. The male whale
will not desert his dead mate, and thus becomes an easy victim of the
hunter's harpoon. On the other hand, if the male be shot, the female
immediately takes flight.
A whale is 17 feet long when born. At three years of age it has
attained a length of 30 feet, and during the succeeding eight or nine
years reaches its full length--from 45 to 50 feet; so that it requires
ten to twelve years to reach its maximum size. Old whalers are loth to
hazard a statement concerning the natural lifetime of the cetacean.