Zululand was next visited. During the reign of their kings Zulus
controlled their own internal affairs--made their own laws,
apportioned the land, chastised their subjects, conferred with British
officials concerning border line rules--were, in fact, in every sense,
a distinct, unfettered race of people. Zululand was Zululand then. War
after war, with gatling guns and modern fighting implements pitted
against their mediæval arms--the assegai, or spear--naturally made the
tribe submissive and wiped out their border line. So long as they had
a king there was always danger of trouble from Zululand. Dinizulu, the
last ruler, was taken prisoner, and was "boarded" in a Transvaal
penitentiary until a few years ago, when he died. The border line
between Natal and Zululand passed away, and the interests of the Zulus
and the affairs of Zululand are now looked after and administered by
officials of the Province of Natal.
The train, passing through cuts and grades, is half embowered with
flowering trees, growing on the banks. The giant bamboo, in obedience
to a summery wind, was gracefully swaying to and fro; the aloe, with
its flowery top, sixteen feet above the ground, sentinel-like,
contributed its share to the floral ensemble, and, together with an
almost endless tract of soft, light green sugar-cane growing on each
side of the railroad track, offered a mellow landscape found in but
few parts of the world.
A depressing contrast to nature--the Indian coolie scourge--is
witnessed at every stopping place in this part. We were in the sugar
growing section of Natal, and, as mentioned previously, Indian coolies
are employed entirely in this industry. There they were by hundreds,
most of them of objectionable appearance, and a dirty, almost naked,
baby astraddle every woman's hip, the Hindu mother's custom of
carrying her child.
We reached the Tugela River, the border line between Natal and
Zululand, and, thirty miles further, the train stopped at Ginginhlovu,
our destination. Ginginhlovu (elephant, in Zulu) was 93 miles from
where we started, and the train was seven hours running that distance,
running to schedule, too. Indian shanty stores were pleasantly absent,
as none but white traders are allowed to do business in Zululand.
The post cart is the stage coach of South Africa. Strongly built, it
is covered with canvas, has two wide wheels and contains two seats. A
seat will accommodate three persons in a pinch--the maximum capacity
of the coach being five passengers and the driver--but as the latter
usually takes up two-thirds of the front seat to handle the large team
required to draw the coach, the ordinary capacity of the cart is four
passengers, three occupying the rear and one the front seat. A frame
at the back serves for luggage, and small hand baggage may be put
under the seats. Four or six mules comprise a cart team, the charge
being ten cents a mile.
We left the railroad, and our mode of travel into the interior of
Zululand was by cart, wagon--a conveyance drawn by beasts. Five
passengers, the maximum number, squeezed themselves into the cart. The
next trip inland was on the following day, for which we would have to
wait, the station-master had informed us, "unless there was a
transport going to Eshowe." Eventually a transport--a truck 18 feet
long--was found, the driver of which said he thought he had room for
another passenger. The transport, ridged with bags of cornmeal five
feet high, was drawn by four teams of mules.
"Climb on," said the driver to a group of six; "we'll be starting in a
few minutes." Three women, two men and a boy began to scale the
transport up to the top of the load. "Get up," said the driver to the
mules, when a start was made for the interior of Zululand, the
passengers sitting on the top tier of cornmeal bags of the loaded
African transport.
We traveled slowly seventeen miles over a good macadam road. "That's
the home of Dinizulu, the Zulu king," said the boy passenger, as we
passed a frame building close to the road. We reached our destination
just at sundown--Eshowe, the old capital of Zululand, and one of the
prettiest places visited in South Africa.
Shade trees, flowers, comfortable homes built in spacious yards;
small, but substantial, public buildings; a good library, a wooded
glen just away from the town, in which had been built a splendid
cement swimming pool, give an insight into what the old Zulu capital
looks like now. The comfortable appearance of Eshowe has been made by
the European. English and native weekly papers are printed here, and
the quality of the work is good.
A European boy volunteered to show me about town. He had taken me to
the swimming pool, and as we were passing through a timbered portion
of this natural park he suddenly shouted, "Look out!" He then pointed
to a big fly that had just passed between us. "If that fly had struck
you the bitten part would swell up as large as a hen's egg. Often the
effects of the bite will assume the nature of an ulcer," he added. A
great number of flies in South Africa draw blood when they strike a
victim, whether man or beast.
We had 35 miles more to travel before our last stop in Zululand would
be reached. The post cart left at five o'clock in the morning, with
four passengers, and was drawn by four mules. The road was level for
the most part, with high grass growing on each side, broken only by an
occasional giraffe thorn or mimosa tree. The mimosa was in flower, and
so much fragrance was diffused from the thorn tree that one would know
of its existence if it were not in sight a hundred feet away.
"Hello, Graham!" shouted one of the passengers to a white man who
stood in the door of a building at which we had pulled up. We had
reached N'Halini, the first relay, where we breakfasted. "Hello!
everybody," returned Graham, for he proved to be the proprietor of the
eating station. "I haven't any eggs to serve you this morning, but I'm
strong on steak, ham and bacon. Bring out a big piece of steak to
make up for the eggs," he directed one of his Zulu boys.
Graham is a sailor with a wooden leg. He entertained us by telling how
many times he had been caught in the net fastened to the boom of a
sailing ship--a "wind-jammer," as he termed that style of craft--and
how, when encountering the fierce gales that blow in the Straits of
Magellan, he had been blown entirely off his feet, his body being
lifted in mid-air, his legs suggestive of ribbons, while holding to a
deck rail.
"Did you get enough to eat?" he asked, when we had finished. And we
admitted we had. Graham had two pigs eaten by crocodiles the day
before, and he could not restrain himself from bemoaning his luck.
"So long, fellows! I'll have eggs for you when you come back. So
long!" were the parting words of the onetime sailor, as, with an
additional team of mules, we started on our second relay.
"Sit forward, please, while we are going up this seven-mile hill; the
cart is tilting back too much," said the driver. We had five
passengers now, as another one had got on at Graham's place. It's
easier to say Graham's place than it is to try to pronounce the Zulu
name.
On, on we traveled over those beautiful hills of Zululand, the
passengers chatting as we moved along. Grassy hills, 500 feet high,
bare of timber and even shrubbery, with native huts built on the
sides, and small patches of corn growing here and there, proved of
interest. Vultures were flying high up in the air, bevies of guinea
fowl scurried to cover, and the wagtail, a black and white bird of
swallow size, with a tail ten inches long, crossed the roadway from
time to time. We had been told of the beauty of Zululand, and nothing
had been exaggerated.
Grass--long and short--was growing everywhere, enough to feed millions
of cattle, and not a "critter" grazing in sight. The Zulus, before and
for some years after the white man settled in South Africa, were a
wealthy tribe. Hundreds of thousands of cattle, sheep and goats roamed
over and fed off these ever-grassy hills; but tick fever--East Coast
fever, it is as often called--had fattened the vultures and made the
Zulu poor.
We reached the second relay, then the third, but the beauty of
landscape did not diminish. Our next relay will be the end of our
stage journey--Melmoth--52 miles from the railroad.
"The stopping off place" is a term often heard, but when one reaches a
point where there is no railroad and the terminus only of post carts,
it is certainly the stopping off place. Europeans live in remote
places still beyond Melmoth, and their mail is brought to them by
native postmen on foot.
We reached our destination early in the afternoon. Mail for persons
living beyond "the stopping off place," brought with us in the cart,
was to start on its way at three o'clock. As it was a week before
Christmas, the post contained a great number of Christmas presents.
The mail finally being sorted, it was entrusted to the postman's care.
All the letters could be put in a coat pocket, but the presents
strapped to his body made a heavy load.
A Zulu, six feet tall, stood on the porch of the squatty postoffice
building, looking like an off-colored Santa Claus. Having reached for
a stick a foot longer than his height, he stood up straight, waiting
for the word to go.
"All right, Jim," the postmaster ordered in the native tongue. "Ba,
ba," returned the negro in a low voice, bowing and saluting, with one
hand raised to the side of his head. He turned round quickly and
walked alertly in the direction where white people live, to be made
happy by presents sent to them by friends living in distant lands.
Thirty-three miles was the distance the Zulu carried the mail. It was
three o'clock in the afternoon when he left the Melmoth post office,
and was due at the next post station at 9:30 the morning following.
"He'll be there on the minute," the postmaster replied to a question
as to whether the carrier could travel the distance in the time
allotted, considering the heavy load. "He never fails us. Always on
time--in hail, rain or shine," he concluded.
[Illustration: ZULUS "SCOFFING" MEALY MEAL.
ZULULAND, SOUTH AFRICA.]
Zulu huts are round, the framework being of poles bent half circular,
tied with grass rope. The arch poles are supported with bent poles
strung crosswise, these being made secure by grass rope. Roof and
sides are covered with grass and reeds, secured to the framework with
the same kind of rope. The floor is of soil, generally taken from an
ant-hill, and becomes as compact as cement. In the center of the hut,
what may be termed a sort of earthen vessel is built, sometimes 18
inches across, and this is the cooking place--the stove. Zulus build
good huts. No windows are provided, however, and but one low entrance.
The cooking utensils are limited to an iron kettle, with three legs.
This is placed in the "stove." Cornmeal (called mealy meal) is the
chief food, which is boiled in the three-legged kettle, and, when
cooked, the family gathers round it, some sitting on the floor and
others resting on their haunches. Each member is supplied with a
wooden spoon, and with these they eat mealy meal as long as there is
any to be eaten. A ladle to stir the mush, cut out of a calabash, is
generally seen in a Zulu home. The bed is a cotton blanket, spread on
the earthen floor, and a bowed piece of wood, resting on two upright
pieces at each end, about four inches high, serves as a pillow. A soap
box may occasionally be found in a hut, but no chairs. The interior is
generally black with smoke from the "stove," a strong, sooty odor
being noticeable.
The Zulu tribe does not "colonize"--or, rather, assemble in villages,
as each family live by themselves. Huts are numerous, of course, but
one rarely, if ever, finds a settlement--a town. They live in
"kraals." A kraal is a group of huts, numbering from two to ten,
surrounded by a fence, generally composed of thorn brush. The
collection of huts generally indicates the number of wives that that
Zulu has. One hut is always larger than the others, this being
occupied by the first wife. Where cattle are kept together in a small
area inclosed by a fence, it becomes a cattle kraal. Sometimes one
kraal serves as a shelter for both natives and cattle.
Polygamy is common. The method of obtaining a wife is by purchase from
the father. Cattle is the medium of barter, from 10 to 80 cows being
the number asked for each girl. A wife who can be bought for 10 cows
is just the ordinary girl. The daughter of a petty chief would bring
20 cows, and a girl of royal descent could not be purchased for less
than 70 to 100 cows.
When a Zulu wishes to marry he comes to an understanding with the
girl's father concerning the number of cattle that must be paid for
the bride, and he must not forget to include among them another nice
beast, which is slaughtered and eaten at the wedding feast. The
marriage always takes place at the home of the bridegroom. The bride,
with her attendants, arrives the evening before the wedding day. The
extra ox is killed early in the morning.
The bride wears a veil of beads over her face for several hours while
the ceremony is taking place. Certain persons are appointed to
celebrate the marriage. Dancing is indulged in during this period. The
father of the bride steps forward among the merrymakers and bespeaks
the merits of his daughter. An old woman runs backward and forward
among the guests, holding in her hand a small stick, pointing upward,
and cackling like a hen. Dancing is going on all the time, one "group"
of dancers holding the "stage" until exhausted, when another group
will fill the vacated space and inject renewed life into the ceremony.
The bridegroom must show his valor during the pow-wow. He steps into
the arena with two sticks in his hand--stout walking-sticks. A series
of thrusts, feints, dodges, ducking, then a terrible thrust; more
fencing, another awful jab; snorting, sweating, uttering deep grunts
of satisfaction; stamping his feet heavily on the ground to make a
noise, imitating thunder, which denotes powerfulness--he is fighting
an imaginary foe, and when the bride's father and wedding party
signify by applause that he has been victorious--that he has killed
his adversary in mortal combat--he retires, carrying in his bosom the
assurance that he is a Zulu warrior "to the manner born."
From 300 to 400 Zulus attend a wedding, which lasts sometimes several
days. Native beer, made from corn, is brought in large quantities in
hollow calabashes by the guests. Faction fights, often brought about
through uninvited onlookers, but generally from drinking too much
beer, frequently prove an exciting feature of a Zulu wedding.
Under no circumstances can a wife leave her husband. A bargain is a
bargain with the Zulu. On the other hand, if the bride's merits have
been misrepresented, her husband will take her to her father's kraal
and demand the return of the cattle he paid for her. Though the girl
gets the cattle in name, the father really has the cows.
When a husband dies, his wives are not left alone in the world. It is
a Zulu custom that a brother of the deceased look after the widows. It
may seem an imposition on a brother to be saddled with two large
families--his own and his dead brother's--yet, bearing in mind that
the widows, collectively, are mothers of half a dozen to fifteen
daughters, it means that the guardian would fall heir to a nice herd
of cows when the girls reach womanhood. Zulu families, however, are
not large, averaging about five children.
A Zulu's standing with his people is based on the number of wives he
has. One with six to nine helpmates is considered in good
circumstances. In a general sense, the wives get along agreeably when
they number from two to six. The first wife is mistress of those who
come after her. Under the king's ruling, putting to death a favorite
wife by the others occurred from time to time; but in such instances
the wives numbered eight to twelve. Murders of this character have
become of rare occurrence, however, since Zululand has been governed
by the white man.
Wives and children are of little or no expense to a husband. He does
not work after he has become the possessor of several wives, and the
corn is planted, hoed, husked and ground into mealy meal by the wives.
None of them wear shoes, nor hats, nor coats. Cotton blankets, which
cost from 25 to 35 cents, are their chief covering. No money is
required for baby carriages, as, when they are not snugly dished in a
blanket on the mother's back, with the ends tied in front across her
chest, they are seen creeping about the kraalyard. A visit to the
country districts will find native women hoeing or working at
something else with their babes tied to their back. Their husbands are
in their huts, smoking pipes or sleeping. Zulu women look as strong as
the men. Save for their babes, all burdens are borne on their heads.
This mode of bearing weight is often carried to the ridiculous. A
spool of thread, a tomato, a tincup or similar light article may be
seen balanced on a woman's head. But she will carry in the same way,
with as apparent ease, though, a 100-pound bag of cornmeal, a five
gallon tin of water, a big three-legged iron kettle, and other weights
that would tax the strength of a strong man. The Zulu woman's superior
physique is accounted for, to a large degree, by the bearing of
burdens on her head from early childhood.
A Zulu woman "dressed up" is a striking figure. An ocher-colored cone
of hair rises from her head sometimes as high as 10 inches. One
unfamiliar with the native's hair, as seen resting flat on the head,
would never imagine the kinky mop, when straightened, would measure
from 12 to 18 inches, but it will. The natural color of the hair, of
course, is black, and its unnatural color is brought about by the
application of a thin, red-mud solution. Grass stalks, placed inside,
form a frame, which keeps the cone from settling. At the bottom, a
band, generally a strip of hide, keeps the "ornament" firm. A long hat
pin, whittled thin from a large bone of a beast, also plays a part in
keeping the "stove-pipe" properly poised. Her face is broad and rather
masculine, the expression stoical. No head covering is worn, and
weights are borne on women's heads, cone or no cone. Her broad, strong
shoulders are generally bare, and she always stands straight. Strings
are fastened around her neck--sometimes these are hairs from an
elephant's tail--to which are attached square pieces of cloth, with
colored beads fastened on them, resembling dominos. Generally wire
bangles are worn on one arm, these in some instances being so numerous
that they cover the arm from wrist to elbow. Often the skin of a calf
or a sheep or that of a wild beast is wrapped around her chest,
passing under her arms, and fastened at the back. This "waist" extends
in front to about the knees, and sometimes it is ornamented with
beads, pebbles or small seashells. A short skirt of rough cloth
extends to just below the knees, so that her legs from that point are
bare, as precious few native women wear shoes. They have none. Only
married women, or women engaged to be married, appear in the
cone-shaped hair fashion.
Polygamy is conducive to thrift as well as to laziness. Nowadays few
cattle are left to sons by fathers, as tick fever has almost bared the
country of this means of food and barter. So, in order to get a wife,
a Zulu must earn money with which to buy cows. The umfaan will save
half of his wages of $2.50 or $3 a month that he receives as houseboy.
When he has saved enough to buy a cow--they can be had for $15--it is
put to graze close to his father's kraal, and he will save enough
money to buy another cow or two. In the meantime calves are grazing,
and by the time he has reached 21 years of age he generally has enough
cows to buy one wife. Numbers of young men go to the Kimberley and
Transvaal mines, where the wages run from $15 to $30 a month, with
board. Unlike the American negro, the Zulu saves his money. But he
will not work more than six months in the year at most. It is said a
great deal of the Zulu's cash savings is hid in the ground. They are
suspicious of the stability of banks, so keep the money where they can
see it when they wish to.
The native of South Africa is as independent of the white man's aid
to-day as he was a thousand years ago. His wants being so few, and his
food easily obtained, he is not compelled to work for the white man.
He is not ambitious for riches.
When a Zulu's hut is built on government ground the tax per year is
$3.50, which includes all the land he feels disposed to work. He does
not plant all his corn in one field, but has two or three patches
growing not far from the kraal. If his hut is built on private land,
the landowner charges the native from $5 to $10 a year rent. Land for
cultivation, however, is included in the rent of the private
landowner. Some of the public men of South Africa entertain the
belief that if a heavier government tax were imposed on the native it
would force him to work more--smoke him out, as it were. Just think of
the snug income some Europeans who have from 100 to 300 huts on their
undeveloped land are receiving from natives, as they collect from $5
to $10 for each hut. The native still pays the $3.50 government tax
also. While Zulus as a race are honest, few Europeans will do business
with them on a credit basis; they must pay cash for what they buy.
Honesty among Zulu house servants is an admirable trait. One might
place a bushel of $20 gold pieces in the center of a room, be away
from home for months, and on return find the money where it had been
left. This applies more to what is termed a "raw kafir." When they
have been among white people for a year or two their traits of honesty
often slacken. The black man, as a rule, will pick up all the white
man's vices, but few of his virtues.
A violation of the Zulu code of honesty was formerly punishable by
death, and in some cases is still adhered to. The theft of a horse,
cow, sheep, goat, pig or dog brought the death penalty. The moral code
is inflexible. If a girl leaves a kraal to go into service in the
towns and returns not as good as she was when she left the hut, she is
likely to disappear mysteriously. A native guilty of committing a
crime with a Zulu woman may be put to death.
Few deformed or crippled members of this tribe are seen. Under the
kings' ruling an imperfect child at birth was not permitted to live.
Respect for old age is another excellent trait of the Zulu tribe. Were
a mother or father to be living with a son and his wives, the father
is "boss" of the kraal; and were the father to die the mother is the
head of the kraal. The elder of two persons is respected by the
younger. The oldest son has absolute rule over the other children;
but, if the father be a chief, the youngest son succeeds him.
Indian-like, Zulus walk in single file, and the younger always walks
behind the elder. The woman always walks behind the man and carries
his belongings. A Zulu woman is never seen alone--always with a child,
woman, or girl.
Zulus have their own name for Europeans. A man who wore spectacles
would be "four-eyed" in their language; a person with a scar on his
face or hands, would be "scar" in the native language; one having a
deep voice or light voice--that would be his name with the native.
Long hair, short hair, mustache, a smooth face--any mark or
peculiarity--Zulus would know him by words pertaining to these.
Natives are not allowed to own or carry firearms or any weapons used
by Europeans. The same restriction applies to native police. A
knobkerry, a pair of handcuffs and a sjambok (a strip of rhinoceros
hide like a short whip) are the only weapons a native policeman is
supplied with. The policy is a wise one, for, if the blacks knew how
to use firearms, it would mean a constant menace to the whites. Zulus
often carry their assegais with them in their country, and are allowed
to carry sticks at all times, as a dog will attack a black, and the
same dog would not even growl at a white man; besides, deadly snakes
are numerous.
The Zulu system of "telegraphing" news from one part of the country to
another is an interesting accomplishment. Results of battles and
approaching danger are shouted from hilltop to hilltop for hundreds of
miles with surprising speed and accuracy. In crises Zulus seem to rise
out of the ground.
Sugar, salt, kerosene, cotton blankets, tobacco, snuff, lanterns,
Jew's-harps, concertinas, mouth organs, beads, cheap spangles, bright
calicoes, whistles, and numerous other things of a tawdry character
are what Zulus spend their money on. Six cents is the cheapest
purchase he can make, as the three-penny piece is the smallest coin in
circulation. They will haggle and haggle with a trader sometimes for
half an hour over a six-cent purchase, if the trader will listen to
them.
"Bonsella" is a word one will often hear if he has dealings with the
Zulu. "Bonsella" means he wants something that does not belong to him.
With a six-cent purchase he will insist on a "bonsella." A thin slice
of a small bar of soap, a few grains of sugar, a little pinch of
salt, a piece of string will do, if he cannot do better; and should he
fail in getting something from the trader he will ask for a drink of
water.
With similar weapons, and each equally skilled in their use, and even
numbers, one is pretty safe in making the statement that no man can
fight better nor for a longer period than the Zulu. Their military
uniform used to be cow-tails secured to a ring around the neck. The
tails were so thick they presented the appearance of a complete robe
or skin. The Zulu can store enough food away at one meal to last him
for 24 to 36 hours without becoming fatigued. He can run from 50 to 70
miles without stopping. Coupled with these staying qualities, it was
the custom with some of the Zulu kings to kill all soldiers who
returned defeated in battle. That left but two courses open to
him--death or victory.
The Zulu has but a poor and varied quality of religion. Some select
the sun as their guiding light, others a white bird, again hawks will
appeal to him as being worthy to look up to. Unlike the Mohammedan,
his knees are not calloused from kneeling to gods of any sort.
Missionaries claim to have 200,000 followers of the Christian
religion, which is nearly one-quarter of the Zulu population--one
million. People who live in black countries place little credit to the
native for having adopted the European faith. In fact, there is a
prejudice against the mission native. If a man in South Africa were in
need of two "boys," and two mission "boys" and two kraal "boys" had
appeared for work at the same time, he would at once select the kraal
"boys." When a native begins to wear shoes and a European hat, his
usefulness as an employee generally proves of doubtful quantity. When
he embraces the Christian religion he is limited to but one wife. That
does not absolve him, however, from coming forward with the cows for
his bride.
Zululand, and South Africa generally, is well looked after by European
mounted police. The duty of the mounted police is to see that firearms
do not find their way to the native; that whisky is not smuggled over
the border; to learn if discontent exists that might turn into a
revolution. The native police, unmounted, arrests natives for minor
offenses, and tries to find out from his brother violations of the law
that the white man could not know other than through his minion.
"Ba, ba" (father), is a native salute to a European. A bow always
accompanies the words. It is customary to return the native's
recognition, although some Europeans will not go to the trifling
trouble to do so, which is discourteous, to say the least.
Should one be benighted, a European does not think twice as to whether
he will go to a native's hut and sleep on the floor with the family.
In so doing he will be offered every hospitality.
Deadly, poisonous snakes are so numerous in this section that settlers
carry with them a snakebite outfit. This consists of a strong cord, a
syringe containing a poison antidote, and a small lance attached. In
Zululand and Natal a rattle-snake is considered almost harmless. The
puff adder, that coils itself in a pathway and is very sluggish, bites
one by a backward spring. His fangs grow that way. He cannot bite
after one has passed him. Death shortly ensues from the bite of this
reptile if not attended to at once.
A person will die in 20 to 30 minutes after being bitten by a mamba.
There are two kinds of this deadly snake--the green and black--but no
difference in the quality of poison they inject into their victim.
Death from a mamba's bite is said to be an awful one. Sometimes the
bitten person's head will burst and appear as a pumpkin would look
when thrown with force on a stone. This will account for the settlers
carrying the snakebite outfit. The cord is used to wrap around the
member bitten above where the fangs entered, to keep the poison from
getting further into the system; the lance is used to cut out a piece
of flesh where bitten, and the syringe is used to inject the antidote
accurately at the raw part of the member where the fangs stopped. This
precautionary measure must be gone through within a couple of minutes
or one will fall a victim to the mamba's fangs. The snakes grow in
length from three to four feet.
"Wood and iron" houses--corrugated iron mostly--is the style of
European homes seen in Zululand. This also will apply quite generally
to the country districts of South Africa. A half dozen of these, one
story high--a postoffice, three general stores, a court house and a
hotel--are the buildings about which the commercial life of Melmoth
centers. A church building is generally numbered among these groups,
and always a graveyard out of proportion. Many of the hotels of
Zululand are built somewhat on the kraal plan. The dining and sitting
rooms--sometimes one room answers both purposes--are in a one-story
"wood and iron" building. Many of the bedrooms--small houses resting
on posts a foot to eighteen inches from the ground--are located a
short distance from the main building, which they sometimes
half-encircle. Each house, by partitioning, contains several small
bedrooms. The beds with which these rooms are furnished are generally
half-size iron ones, and the light provided is often a candle.
"Keep to the native trail until you come to that clump of wattle
trees," directed the driver of the post cart when ten miles from
Melmoth on my return to Ginginhlovu. A printer who had got tired of
the smell of printers' ink moved to Zululand to make his living in the
dual capacity of farmer and trader. So, with a grip in my hand, I
started over the Zulu trail to the clump of trees in the distance. I
had not gone far when I heard a shout, but could not tell whence it
came. It may be the natives telegraphing the start of an uprising, I
mused. "Halloa!" was again heard, and, looking in another direction, a
wide-brimmed hat was looming over the arch of a grassy hill. It was
the printer. The post cart driver had "set me down," as a Britisher
would say, at the wrong trail.
"The natives wouldn't sell me any chickens when I first came here, so
I wouldn't sell them any goods unless they paid for them with
chickens," was one of the difficulties the printer-trader recounted in
his effort to hew his way in Zululand.
"Sarah," addressing his wife, "come with us this afternoon while we
visit the natives' huts, as you can speak the language better than I,"
obligingly suggested the sturdy trader, who had beaten freight trains
over the United States, sailed before the mast, and had tramped the
desert of West Australia to the gold mines at Coolgardie.
Through the trader's wife we chatted with the Zulu women hoeing corn,
with their pickaninnies on their backs. Later we squeezed through the
small entrances into hut after hut. The lady of the Zulu home
explained how the natives winnowed the mealy meal by blowing the dust
or bran from it with their breath when passing from the hands, to
lodge in a wooden bowl under; how they stirred the meal; explained
their scanty washing outfit, how the wives got along together, and
other interesting features of Zulu life. After spending several
interesting days at the printer-trader's home, it was time to say
good-by; and I left with a keen feeling of indebtedness for the
unstinted hospitality and kindness shown me.
"I've kept my word--I've got the eggs!" remarked Graham when we had
pulled up at his place for luncheon on the return trip.
With pages left unwritten of the Zulu, the strongest, most intelligent
and best built tribe of the Bantu race, we will leave the sailor's
place for Eshowe, take the post cart to Ginginhlovu, and return by
rail to Durban.