WAR--OFFENSIVE WEAPONS.
THE KAFFIR MILITARY SPIRIT, HOW GENERATED, AND HOW FOSTERED -- DREAD
OF THE UNKNOWN -- ARTILLERY -- ITS MORAL EFFECT ON THE KAFFIR --
NATIVE NAME FOR CANNON -- ORGANIZATION OF THE ARMY -- WEAPONS USED
BY THE ZULU TRIBES -- PRIMITIVE FORMATION OF THE SPEAR -- MATERIALS
USED FOR SPEAR-HEADS -- ZULU SPEARS, OR “ASSAGAIS” -- THE ZULU AS A
BLACKSMITH -- SHAPE OF THE ASSAGAI HEAD -- THE KAFFIR’S PREFERENCE
FOR SOFT STEEL -- THE KAFFIR KNIFE AND AXE -- RUST-RESISTING PROPERTY
-- THE KAFFIR FORGE AND BELLOWS -- SMELTING IRON -- A KAFFIR CHIEF
ASTONISHED -- LE VAILLANT INSTRUCTING THE NATIVES IN THE USE OF THE
FORGE -- WIRE-DRAWING AND WORKING IN BRASS -- HOW THE KAFFIR CASTS
AND MODELS BRASS -- DIFFICULTIES IN IRON WORKING -- HOW A KAFFIR
OBTAINS FIRE -- TEMPER OF ASSAGAI HEADS -- ASSAGAI SHAFTS -- CURIOUS
METHOD OF FASTENING THE HEAD TO THE SHAFT -- A REMARKABLE SPECIMEN
OF THE ASSAGAI -- HOW THE ASSAGAI IS THROWN -- A KAFFIR CHIEF’S
STRATAGEM, AND A CLASSICAL PARALLEL -- THE TWO KINDS OF ASSAGAI --
THE KNOB-KERRY, AND MODE OF USING IT.
If there is any one trait which distinguishes the true Kaffir race, it
is the innate genius for warfare. The Kaffir lives from his childhood
to his death in an atmosphere of war. Until he is old and wealthy, and
naturally desires to keep his possessions in tranquillity, a time of
peace is to him a time of trouble. He has no opportunity of working
off his superabundant energy; he has plenty of spears which he cannot
use against an enemy, and a shield which he can only employ in the
dance. He has no chance of distinguishing himself, and so gaining both
rank and wealth; and if he be a young bachelor, he cannot hope to be
promoted to the rank of “man,” and allowed to marry, for many a long
year. It is true, that in a time of war he may be killed; but that is
a reflection which does not in the least trouble a Kaffir. For all
he knows, he stands in just as great danger of his life in a time of
peace. He may unintentionally offend the king; he may commit a breach
of discipline which would be overlooked in war time; he may be accused
as a wizard, and tortured to death; he may accumulate a few cows, and
so excite the cupidity of the chief, who will fine him heavily for
something which either he did not do, or which was not of the slightest
importance.
Knowing, therefore, that a violent death is quite as likely to befall
him in peace as in war, and as in peace he has no chance of gratifying
his ambitious feelings, the young Kaffir is all for war. Indeed, had
it not been for the judicious councils of the old men, the English
Government would have had much more trouble with these tribes than
has been the case. Even under Panda’s rule, there have been great
dissensions among the army. All agreed in disliking the rule of the
English in the Natal district, because Natal formed a refuge for
thousands of Kaffirs, most of them belonging to the Zulu tribe, and
having fled from the tyranny of Panda; while others belonged to tribes
against which Panda had made war, and had fled for protection to the
English flag.
The younger warriors, fierce, arrogant, despising the white man because
they do not know him, have repeatedly begged to be allowed to invade
Natal. They urge, in pursuance of their request, that they will conquer
the country, restore to their king all the fugitives who have run
away from him, and inflame their own minds, and those of the young
and ignorant, by glowing descriptions of the rich spoil which would
fall to the conquerors, of the herds of cattle, the tons of beads, the
quantities of fire-arms and ammunition, and, in fact, the unlimited
supply of everything which a Kaffir’s heart can possibly desire. The
older men, however, who have more acquaintance with the white men, and
a tolerably good experience of the fact that when a white man fires his
gun he generally hits his mark, have always dissuaded their younger and
more impetuous comrades from so rash an attempt.
Strangely enough, the argument which has proved most powerful is really
a very weak one. The Kaffir, like other men, is brave enough when he
can comprehend his danger; but he does not at all like to face a peril
which he cannot understand. Like all unknown things, such a peril is
indeed terrible to a Kaffir’s mind, and this unknown peril is summed up
in the word cannon, or “By-and-by”--to use the native term. Why cannon
are so called will presently be mentioned. The Kaffirs have heard that
the dreadful By-and-by eats up everything--trees, houses, stones,
grass; and, as they justly argue, it is very likely to eat up Kaffir
soldiers. Of course, in defending a fort against Kaffirs, cannon,
loaded with grape and canister, would be of terrible efficacy, and they
would be justified in declining to assault any place that was defended
with such dreadful weapons. But they do not seem to be aware that guns
in a fort and guns in the bush are two very different things, and that,
if they could decoy the artillery into the bush, the dreaded weapons
would be of scarcely more use than if they were logs of wood. This
distinction the Kaffir never seems to have drawn, and the wholesome
dread of cannon has done very much to insure tranquillity among the
impetuous and self-confident soldiery of Kaffirland.
The odd name of “By-and-by” became attached to the cannon in the
following manner:--When the natives first saw some pieces of artillery
in the Natal district, they asked what such strange objects could be,
and were answered that they would learn “by-and-by.” Further questions,
added to the firing of a few shots, gave them such a terror of the
“By-and-by,” that they have never liked to match themselves against
such weapons.
The Zulu tribes are remarkable for being the only people in that part
of Africa who have practised war in an European sense of the word.
The other tribes are very good at bush-fighting, and are exceedingly
crafty at taking an enemy unawares, and coming on him before he is
prepared for them. Guerilla warfare is, in fact, their only mode of
waging battle, and, as is necessarily the case in such warfare, more
depends on the exertion of individual combatants than on the scientific
combination of masses. But the Zulu tribe have, since the time of
Tchaka, the great inventor of military tactics, carried on war in a
manner approaching the notions of civilization.
Their men are organized into regiments, each subdivided into companies,
and each commanded by its own chief, or colonel, while the king, as
commanding general, leads his forces to war, disposes them in battle
array, and personally directs their movements. They give an enemy
notice that they are about to march against him, and boldly meet him in
the open field. There is a military etiquette about them which some of
our own people have been slow to understand. They once sent a message
to the English commander that they would “come and breakfast with him.”
He thought it was only a joke, and was very much surprised when the
Kaffirs, true to their promise, came pouring like a torrent over the
hills, leaving him barely time to get his men under arms before the
dark enemies arrived.
As, in Kaffir warfare, much stress is laid upon the weapons, offensive
and defensive, with which the troops are armed, it will be necessary
to give a description of their weapons before we proceed any further.
They are but few and simple, and consist of certain spears, called
“assagais,” short clubs, called “kerries,” and shields made of the
hides of oxen.
Almost every nation has its distinguishing weapons, or, at all events,
one weapon which is held in greater estimation than any other, and
which is never used so skilfully as by itself. The Australian savage
has the boomerang, a weapon which cannot be used rightly except by
an Australian. Many Europeans can throw it so as to make it perform
some trifling evolution in the air, but there are none who can really
use it as an efficient weapon or instrument of hunting. The Dyak has
his sumpitan, and the Macoushie Indian his analogous weapon, the
zarabatana, through which are blown the tiny poisoned arrows, a hundred
of which can be held in the hand, and each one of which has death upon
its point. The Ghoorka has his kookery, the heavy curved knife, with
which he will kill a tiger in fair fight, and boldly attack civilized
soldiers in spite of their more elaborate arms. Then the Sikh has
the strange quoit weapon, or chakra, which skims through the air or
ricochets from the ground, and does frightful execution on the foe. The
Esquimaux have their harpoons, which will serve either for catching
seals or assaulting the enemy. The Polynesians have their terrible
swords and gauntlets armed with the teeth of sharks, each of which cuts
like a lancet, and inflicts a wound which, though not dangerous by
itself, becomes so when multiplied by the score and inflicted on the
most sensitive part of the body.
Some of these weapons are peculiar in shape, and are not used in other
countries, whereas some are modifications of implements of warfare
spread over a great part of the globe, and altered in shape and size
to suit the locality. Of such a nature is the special weapon of the
Kaffirs inhabiting the Natal district, the slight-looking but most
formidable spear or assagai. The spear is one of the simplest of all
weapons, the simplest of all excepting the club. In its primitive state
the spear is nothing but a stick of greater or lesser length, sharpened
at one end. The best example of this primitive spear may be found in
Borneo, where the weapon is made in a few minutes by taking a piece
of bamboo of convenient length, and cutting off one end diagonally.
The next improvement in spear making was to put the pointed end in the
fire for a few moments. This process enabled the spear maker to scrape
the point more easily, while the charred wood was rendered hard, and
capable of resisting damp better than if it had been simply scraped to
a point. Spears of this kind are to be found in almost every primitive
savage tribe.
A further improvement now takes place. The point is armed with some
material harder than wood, which material may be bone, horn, stone,
metal, or other similar substance. Some nations arm the heads of their
spears with sharp flakes of flint or obsidian. Some tip them with the
end of a sharp horn, or even with the claws of a mammal or a bird--the
kangaroo, emu, and cassowary being used for this singular purpose.
In many parts of the earth, the favorite spears are armed with the
teeth of sharks, while others are headed with the tail spine of the
sting-ray, which not only penetrates deeply, but breaks into the wound,
and always causes death. These additions to the spears, together with
others formed of certain marine shells, are necessarily the productions
of tribes that inhabit certain islands in the warmer seas. The last
and greatest improvement that is made in the manufacture of spears is
the abolition of all additions to the head, and making the head itself
of metal. For this purpose iron is generally used, partly because it
takes a sharp edge, and partly because it can be easily forged into
any required shape. The natives of Southern Africa are wonderful
proficients in forging iron, and indeed a decided capability for the
blacksmith’s art seems to be inherent in the natives of Africa, from
north to south and from east to west. None of the tribes can do very
much with the iron, but the little which they require is worked in
perfection. As is the case with all uncivilized beings, the whole
treasures of the art are lavished on their weapons; and so if we wish
to see what an African savage can do with iron, we must look at his
spears, knives, and arrows--the latter indeed being but spears in
miniature.
The heads of the Kaffir’s spears are extremely variable in form, some
being a mere spike, but the generality being blade shaped. Very few
are barbed, and the ordinary shape is that which is seen several times
in the illustration on page 103. Still, wherever the blade is adopted,
it has always one peculiarity of structure, whether it be plain or
barbed. A raised ridge passes along the centre, and the blade is convex
on one side of the ridge, and concave on the other. The reason of
this curious structure seems to be twofold. In the first place, it is
possible that this structure of the blade acts much as the feathers
of an arrow, or the spiral groove on the rifle balls invented by Dr.
Croft, and which can be used in smooth bore barrels. Colonel Lane Fox
finds that if a thread be tied to the point of an assagai, and the
weapon be thrown with great care, so that no revolving force is given
by the thrower, the thread is found spirally twisted round the head
and shaft by the time that the weapon has touched the ground. That
certainly seems to be one reason for the form. Another reason is, that
a blade thus shaped can be sharpened very easily, when it becomes
blunt. Nothing is needed but to take a flint, or even the back of a
common knife, and scrape it along the edge, and, if properly done, a
single such scrape will sharpen the weapon afresh. The head is always
made of soft iron, and so yields easily to the sharpening process. The
reader may remember that the harpoons which we use for whale hunting
are always made of the softest iron; were they made of steel, the first
furious tug of the whale might snap them, while, if they were to become
blunt, they could not be sharpened without much trouble and hard work
at the grindstone.
Setting aside the two questions of rotatory motion and convenience of
sharpening, it is possible that the peculiar structure of the blade
may be owing to the fact that such a structure would produce the
greatest amount of strength with the least amount of material. The
sword bayonet of the Chassepot rifle is made on a similar principle.
Whether the Kaffir is aware of this principle and forges his spear head
in accordance with it, is another point. The reader, better informed
than the Kaffir, may perhaps remember that the identical principle
is carried out in the “corrugated” iron, now in such general use for
buildings, roofs, and similar purposes.
Kaffirs have a great fondness for implements made of soft iron, and
prefer a knife made of that material to the best blade that Sheffield
can produce. They admit that for some purposes the steel blade is
superior to their own, but that for ordinary work nothing can compare
with the soft iron. The steel blade breaks, and is useless, while the
soft iron only bends. Moreover, when they want to scoop out a hollow
in a piece of wood, such as the bowl of a spoon, the inflexible steel
blade would be nearly useless. But a Kaffir simply takes his soft
iron knife, bends it to the requisite curve, and thus can make, at a
moment’s notice, a gouge with any degree of curvature. When he has
finished his work, he puts the blade on a flat stone, and beats it
straight again in a few seconds. The Kaffir knife is not at all like
our own, but is shaped just like the head of an assagai. In using
it, he grasps the handle just as artists represent assassins holding
daggers, and not as we hold knives. He always cuts away from himself,
as is shown on page 73, No. 1; and, clumsy as this mode of using a
knife may appear, Englishmen have often learned to appreciate it, and
to employ it in preference to the ordinary European fashion.
Unfit as would be the tools made by a Kaffir when employed in Europe,
those made in Europe and used in Southern Africa are still less useful.
Being unacquainted with this fact, both travellers and settlers are
apt to spend much money in England upon articles which they afterward
find to be without the least value--articles which an experienced
settler would not take as a gift. As a familiar example of the
difference between the tools required in various countries, the axe
may be mentioned. It is well known that, of all the varieties of this
tool, the American axe is the best, as it has attained its present
superiority by dint of long experience on part of the makers among the
vast forests of their country. Emigrants, therefore, almost invariably
supply themselves with a few American axes, and in most cases they
could not do better. But in Southern Africa this excellent tool is as
useless as would be a razor in chipping stones. The peculiar wood of
the mimosa, a tree which is used so universally in Southern Africa, is
sure to notch the edge of the axe, and in a short time to render it
incapable of doing its work; whereas the South African axe, which would
be a clumsy and slow working tool in America, can cut down the hardest
mimosa without suffering any injury.
There is another reason why a Kaffir prefers his own iron work to that
of European make. His own manufacture has the property of resisting
damp without rusting. If an European knife or steel tool of the finest
quality be left in the open air all night, and by the side of it a
Kaffir’s assagai, the former will be covered with rust, while the
latter is as bright as ever. Such is the case with those assagais which
are brought to England. It is possible that this freedom from rust
may be obtained by a process similar to that which is employed in the
manufacture of geological hammers, namely, that while the metal is hot,
it is plunged into oil, and then hammered. The excellence of the blade
is partially owing to the fact that the fire in which the metal is
smelted, and afterward heated for the forge, is made of charcoal, so as
to convert the iron into a kind of steel. The celebrated “wootz” steel
of India is made by placing the iron in small crucibles together with
little twigs of certain trees, and then submitting the crucible to a
very intense heat.
It is evident that, in order to produce such weapons, the Kaffir
must be a good blacksmith, and it is certain that, when we take into
consideration the kind of work which has to be done, he can hardly be
surpassed in his art. Certainly, if any English blacksmith were given a
quantity of iron ore, and only had the very primitive tools which the
Kaffir blacksmith employs, he would be entirely vanquished by his dusky
brother of the forge.
Among the Kaffirs, a blacksmith is a man of considerable importance,
and is much respected by the tribe. He will not profane the mystery
of his craft by allowing uninitiated eyes to inspect his various
processes, and therefore carries on his operations at some distance
from the kraal. His first care is to prepare the bellows. The form
which he uses prevails over a very large portion of Africa, and is
seen, with some few modifications, even among the many islands of
Polynesia. It consists of two leathern sacks, at the upper end of which
is a handle. To the lower end of each sack is attached the hollow horns
of some animal, that of the cow or the eland being most commonly used;
and when the bags are alternately inflated and compressed, the air
passes out through the two horns. Of course the heat of the fire would
destroy the horns if they were allowed to come in contact with it, and
they are therefore inserted, not into the fire, but into an earthenware
tube, which communicates with the fire. The use of valves is unknown;
but as the two horns do not open into the fire, but into the tube, the
fire is not drawn into the bellows as would otherwise be the case. This
arrangement, however, causes considerable waste of air, so the bellows
blower is obliged to work much harder than would be the case if he
were provided with an instrument that could conduct the blast directly
to its destination. The ancient Egyptians used a bellows of precisely
similar construction, except that they did not work them entirely by
hand. They stood with one foot on each sack, and blew the fire by
alternately pressing on them with the feet, and raising them by means
of a cord fastened to their upper ends.
When the blacksmith is about to set to work, he digs a hole in the
ground, in which the fire is placed, and then sinks the earthenware
tube in a sloping direction, so that the lower end opens at the bottom
of the hole, while the upper end projects above the level of the
ground. The two horns are next inserted into the upper end of the
earthenware tube, and the bellows are then fastened in their places,
so that the sacks are conveniently disposed for the hands of the
operator, who sits between them. A charcoal fire is then laid in the
hole, and is soon brought to a powerful heat by means of the bellows. A
larger stone serves the purpose of an anvil, and a smaller stone does
duty for a hammer. Sometimes the hammer is made of a conical piece of
iron, but in most cases a stone is considered sufficient. The rough
work of hammering the iron into shape is generally done by the chief
blacksmith’s assistants, of whom he has several, all of whom will pound
away at the iron in regular succession. The shaping and finishing the
article is reserved by the smith for himself. The other tools are few
and simple, and consist of punches and rude pincers made of two rods of
iron.
With these instruments the Kaffir smith can cast brass into various
ornaments. Sometimes he pours it into a cylindrical mould, so as to
make a bar from which bracelets and similar ornaments can be hammered,
and sometimes he makes studs and knobs by forming their shapes in clay
moulds.
In the illustration No. 2, on page 97, a native forge is seen in full
operation. The chief smith is at the left of the engraving, seated at
the bellows and blowing the fire, in which is placed an iron rod which
is going to be forged into an assagai head. The manner in which the
horn tubes of the bellows are fastened to the ground--a stick being
laid across each horn, and a heavy stone upon each stick--is well
shown. At the right hand of the smith is a basket containing charcoal,
and another is seen near the assistant. On the opposite side sits the
assistant or apprentice blacksmith, busily hammering with a conical
stone at the spear head which is being forged, and at his side lie one
or two finished heads. Behind them, another smith is hard at work with
a huge stone with which he is crushing the ore. On the right hand of
the illustration is seen the reed fence which is erected in order to
keep off the wind, and in the middle distance is the kraal to which
the smiths belong. The reed fence is supported by being lashed to a
mimosa. Some jars of beer stand within the shadow of the fence for the
occasional refreshment of the blacksmiths.
How the blacksmith contrives to work without burning his right hand
is rather unintelligible. I have handled the conical hammer, and find
that the hand is brought so close to the iron that, when it is heated
to a glowing redness, the effect upon the fingers must be singularly
unpleasant, not to mention the sparks that fly about so liberally
when heated iron is struck. Sometimes, when a native is making small
objects, he takes a tolerably large hammer, reverses it, and drives
the small end deeply into the ground. The face of the hammer is then
uppermost, and answers as an anvil, on which he works with a hammer of
smaller size.
Although the bellows which a Kaffir makes are sufficiently powerful
to enable him to melt brass, and to forge iron into various shapes,
they do not seem to give a sufficiently strong and continuous blast
to enable him to weld iron together. Mr. Moffatt mentions a curious
anecdote, which illustrates this point. He was visiting Moselekatse,
the king of the northern division of the Zulu tribes, and very much
frightened the savage monarch by the sight of the wagon, the wheels of
which seemed to his ignorant mind to be endowed with motion by some
magic power. His greatest wonder was, however, excited by the tire of
the wheel, as he could not comprehend how such a piece of iron could
be made without the junction of the ends being visible. A native who
had accompanied Mr. Moffatt explained to the king how the mystery was
solved. He took the missionary’s right hand in his own, held it up
before the king, and said, “My eyes saw that very hand cut those bars
of iron, take a piece off one end, and then join them as you see now.”
After a careful inspection, the spot where the iron had been welded was
pointed out. The king then wanted to know whether medicine were given
to the iron in order to endow it with such wonderful powers, but was
told that nothing was used except fire, a chisel, and a hammer. Yet
Moselekatse was king of the essentially warlike Zulus, a nation which
possessed plenty of blacksmiths who were well versed in their art, and
could forge the leaf shaped blades of the assagais with such skill
that the best European smiths could not produce weapons more perfectly
suited for the object which they were intended to fulfil.
Le Vaillant narrates an amusing instance of the astonishment caused to
some Kaffir blacksmiths by a rude kind of bellows which he made after
the European fashion. After paying a just tribute of admiration to the
admirable work produced by the dusky blacksmiths in spite of their
extremely rude and imperfect tools, he proceeds to describe the form
of bellows that they used, which is just that which has been already
mentioned.
“I had great difficulty in making them comprehend how much superior
the bellows of our forges in Europe were to their invention; and being
persuaded that the little they might catch of my explanation would
soon escape from their memories, and would consequently be of no real
advantage to them, I resolved to add example to precept, and to operate
myself in their presence.
[Illustration: (1.) BRIDEGROOM ON APPROVAL. (See page 79.)]
[Illustration: (2.) KAFFIR AT HIS FORGE. (See page 96.)]
“Having despatched one of my people to our camp with orders to bring
the bottoms of two boxes, a piece of a summer kaross, a hoop, a few
small nails, a hammer, a saw, and other small tools that I might have
occasion for, as soon as he returned I formed in great haste, and in a
very rude manner, a pair of bellows, which were not more powerful than
those generally used in our kitchens. Two pieces of hoop which I placed
in the inside served to keep the skin always at an equal distance; and
I did not forget to make a hole in the inferior part, to give a readier
admittance to the air--a simple method of which they had no conception,
and for want of which they were obliged to waste a great deal of time
in filling the sheepskin.
“I had no iron pipe, but, as I only meant to make a model, I fixed to
the extremity of mine a toothpick case, after sawing off one of its
ends. I then placed my instrument on the ground near the fire, and,
having fixed a forked stick in the ground, I laid across it a kind
of lever, which was fastened to a bit of packthread proceeding from
the bellows, and to which was fixed a piece of lead weighing seven or
eight pounds. To form a just idea of the surprise of these Kaffirs on
this occasion, one must have seen with what attention they beheld all
my operations; the uncertainty in which they were, and their anxiety
to discover what would be the event. They could not resist their
exclamations when they saw me, by a few easy motions and with one hand,
give their fire the greatest activity by the velocity with which I made
my machine draw in and again force out the air. Putting some pieces of
iron into their fire, I made them red hot in a few minutes, which they
undoubtedly could not have done in half an hour.
“This specimen of my skill raised their astonishment to the highest
pitch. I may venture to say that they were almost convulsed and thrown
into a delirium. They danced and capered round the bellows; each tried
them in turn, and they clapped their hands the better to testify their
joy. They begged me to make them a present of this wonderful machine,
and seemed to await for my answer with impatience, not imagining, as I
judged, that I would readily give up so valuable a piece of furniture.
It would afford me great pleasure to hear, at some future period,
that they have brought them to perfection, and that, above all, they
preserve a remembrance of that stranger who first supplied them with
the most essential instrument in metallurgy.”
As far as can be judged by the present state of the blacksmith’s art in
Kaffirland, the natives have not derived the profit from Le Vaillant’s
instructions which he so ingenuously predicted. In all probability, the
bellows in question would be confiscated by the chief of the tribe, who
would destroy their working powers in endeavoring to make out their
action. Moreover, the Kaffir is eminently conservative in his notions,
and he would rather prefer the old sheepskin, which only required to be
tied at the legs and neck with thongs, to the comparatively elaborate
instrument of the white traveller, which needed the use of wooden
hoops, nails, saw, hammer, and the other tools of the civilized workman.
The Kaffir smiths have long known the art of wire drawing, though
their plates are very rude, the metal comparatively soft, and the
wire in consequence irregularly drawn. Moreover, they cannot make
wire of iron, but are obliged to content themselves with the softer
metals, such as brass and copper. Mr. Moffat, the African missionary,
relates an amusing anecdote of an interview with a native metal
worker. As a missionary ought to do, he had a practical knowledge of
the blacksmith’s art, and so became on friendly terms with his dark
brother of the forge; and after winning his heart by making him a new
wire drawing plate, made of steel, and pierced for wires of twenty
variations in thickness, induced him to exhibit the whole of his mystic
process.
His first proceeding was to prepare four moulds, very simply made by
building a little heap of dry sand, and pushing into it a little stick
about a quarter of an inch in diameter. He then built and lighted a
charcoal fire, such as has already been described, and he next placed
in a kind of rude clay crucible some copper and a little tin. A
vigorous manipulation of the bellows fused the copper and tin together,
and he then took out the crucible with a rude kind of tongs made of
bark, and poured the contents into the holes, thus making a number of
short brass rods about a quarter of an inch in diameter and three or
four inches in length. These rods were next removed from the moulds and
hammered with a stone until they were reduced to half their diameter.
During this operation, the rods were frequently heated in the flame of
burning grass.
Next came the important operation of drawing the rods through the
holes, so as to convert them into wire. The end of a rod was sharpened
and forced through the largest hole, a split stick being used by way
of pincers, and the rod continually greased. By repeating this process
the wire is passed through holes that become regularly smaller in
diameter, until at last it is scarcely thicker than sewing thread. The
wire plate is about half an inch in thickness. The brass thus made is
not equal in color to that in which zinc is used instead of tin, but
as it is capable of taking a high polish, the native cares for nothing
more. The reader may perhaps remember that Mr. Williams, the well-known
missionary, established his reputation among the savages to whom he was
sent by making an extemporized set of bellows out of boxes and boards,
the rats always eating every scrap of leather that was exposed.
The knowledge of forge work which Mr. Moffatt possessed was gained
by him under very adverse circumstances. A broken-down wagon had to
be mended, and there was no alternative but to turn blacksmith and
mend the wagon, or to abandon the expedition. Finding that the chief
drawback to the powers of the forge was the inefficient construction
of the native bellows, he set to work, and contrived to make a pair of
bellows very similar to those of which Le Vaillant gave so glowing a
description. And, if any proof were needed that the French traveller’s
aspirations had not been realized, it may be found in the fact that the
rude bellows made by the English missionary were as much a matter of
astonishment to the natives as those which had been made by Le Vaillant
some sixty years before.
Much of the iron used in Southern Africa seems to be of meteoric
origin, and is found in several localities in a wonderfully pure state,
so that very little labor is needed in order to make it fit for the
forge.
The Kaffir blacksmith never need trouble himself about the means of
obtaining a fire. Should he set up his forge in the vicinity of a
kraal, the simplest plan is to send his assistant for a firebrand from
one of the huts. But, if he should prefer, as is often the case, to
work at some distance from the huts, he can procure fire with perfect
certainty, though not without some labor.
He first procures two sticks, one of them taken from a soft wood tree,
and the other from an acacia, or some other tree that furnishes a hard
wood. Of course both the sticks must be thoroughly dry, a condition
about which there is little difficulty in so hot a climate. His next
care is to shape one end of the hard stick into a point, and to bore a
small hole in the middle of the soft stick. He now squats down, places
the pointed tip of the hard stick in the hole of the soft stick, and,
taking the former between his hands, twirls it backward and forward
with extreme rapidity. As he goes on, the hole becomes enlarged, and
a small quantity of very fine dust falls into it, being rubbed away
by the friction. Presently, the dust is seen to darken in color, then
to become nearly black; and presently a very slight smoke is seen to
rise. The Kaffir now redoubles his efforts; he aids the effect of the
revolving stick by his breath, and in a few more seconds the dust
bursts into a flame. The exertion required in this operation is very
severe, and by the time that the fire manifests itself the producer is
bathed in perspiration.
Usually, two men, at least, take part in fire making, and, by dividing
the labor, very much shorten the process. It is evident that, if the
perpendicular stick be thus worked, the hands must gradually slide
down it until they reach the point. The solitary Kaffir would then be
obliged to stop the stick, shift his hands to the top, and begin again,
thus losing much valuable time. But when two Kaffirs unite in fire
making, one sits opposite the other, and as soon as he sees that his
comrade’s hands have nearly worked themselves down to the bottom of the
stick, he places his own hands on the top, continues the movement, and
relieves his friend. Thus, the movement of the stick is never checked
for a moment, and the operation is consequently hastened. Moreover,
considerable assistance is given by the second Kaffir keeping the dust
properly arranged round the point of the stick, and by taking the part
of the bellows, so as to allow his comrade to expend all his strength
in twirling the stick.
I have now before me one of the soft sticks in which fire has been
made. There is a hole very much resembling in shape and size the
depressions in a solitaire board, except that its sides are black
and deeply charred by the fire, and in places highly polished by
the friction. Some of my readers may perhaps remember that English
blacksmiths are equally independent of lucifer matches, flint and
steel, and other recognized modes of fire raising. They place a small
piece of soft iron on the anvil, together with some charcoal dust, and
hammer it furiously. The result is that enough heat is evolved to light
the charcoal, and so to enable the blacksmith to set to work.
We will now see how the native makes his assagai.
With their simple tools the native smiths contrive to make their spear
heads of such an excellent temper that they take a very sharp edge; so
sharp, indeed, that the assagai is used, not only for cutting up meat
and similar offices, but for shaving the head. Also, it is so pliable,
that a good specimen can be bent nearly double and beaten straight
again, without being heated.
When the Kaffir smith has finished the head of the assagai, it looks
something like the blade of a table knife before it is inserted into
the handle, and has a straight projecting peg, by which it is fastened
into the wooden shaft. This peg, or tang as cutlers call it, is always
notched, so as to make it retain its hold the better.
Now comes the next process. The spear maker has already by him a
number of shafts. These are cut from a tree which is popularly called
“assagai-wood,” and on the average, are nearly live feet in length.
In diameter they are very small, seldom exceeding that of a man’s
little finger at the thick end, while the other end tapers to the
diameter of an ordinary black-lead pencil. The assagai-tree is called
scientifically _Curtisia Jaginea_, and is something like the mahogany.
The shaft of the assagai is seldom, if ever, sufficiently straight to
permit the weapon to be used at once. It is straightened by means of
heating it over the fire, and then scraping, beating, and bending it
until the maker is pleased with the result. Even after the weapon has
been made and in use, the shaft is very apt to warp, and in this case
the Kaffir always rapidly straightens the assagai before he throws it.
In spite of its brittle nature, it will endure a considerable amount
of bending, provided that the curve be not too sharp, and that the
operator does not jerk the shaft as he bends it. Indeed, if it were
not for the elasticity of the shaft, the native would not be able to
produce the peculiar quivering or vibrating movement, to which the
weapon owes so much of its efficiency.
By means of heating the “tang” of the head red hot, a hole is bored
into the thick end of the shaft, and the tang passed into it. Were it
left without further work, the spear would be incomplete, for the head
would fall away from the shaft whenever the point was held downward.
In order to fasten it in its place, the Kaffir always makes use of one
material, namely, raw hide. He cuts a narrow strip of hide, sometimes
retaining the hair, and binds it while still wet upon the spear. As
it dries, the hide contracts, and forms a band nearly as strong as
if made of iron. There is no particular art displayed in tying this
band; we never see in that portion of an assagai the least trace of
the elaborate and elegant patterns used by the New Zealanders in the
manufacture of their weapons. The strip of hide is merely rolled
round the spear and the loose end tucked beneath a fold. Yet the
Kaffir is not without the power of producing such patterns, and will
commonly weave very elaborate and elegant ornaments, from the hair of
the elephant’s tail and similar materials. These ornamental lashings
are, however, always placed on the shaft of the weapon, and are never
employed in fastening the head of the assagai in its place.
In the illustration on page 103 is drawn a group of assagais, in order
to show the chief varieties of this weapon. The whole of them have been
drawn from specimens in my own possession. The word “assagai” is not a
Kaffir term, but, like the popular name of the tribe, like the words
kaross, kraal, &c., has been borrowed from another language. The Zulu
word for the assagai is _um-konto_, a word which has a curious though
accidental resemblance to the Latin _contus_.
The ordinary form or “throwing assagai” is shown at fig. 5. It is used
as a missile, and not as a dagger. In some cases the throwing assagai
is shaped in a more simple manner, the head being nothing but a
sharpened spike of iron, without any pretensions of being formed into
a blade. This weapon is five feet seven inches in total length, and
the blade measures a foot in length from its junction with the shaft.
Sometimes the blade is much longer and wider, as seen at fig. 4, which
represents the ordinary “stabbing assagai.” This weapon can be used as
a missile, but is very seldom employed except as a manual weapon. Its
long, straight blade is much used in the more peaceful vocations of
daily life, and a Kaffir in time of peace seldom uses it for any worse
purpose than slaughtering cattle, and cutting them up afterward. This
is the assagai that is usually employed as a knife, and with which the
ingenious native contrives to shave his head.
At fig. 7 is shown a very remarkable specimen of the barbed assagai.
Intending to produce an extremely elegant weapon, the artificer has
lavished much pains on his work. In the first place, he has forged
a deeply barbed head, a form which is but rarely seen. He has then
fastened it to the shaft in a rather singular way. Instead of cutting
a strip of raw hide and binding it round the weapon, he has taken the
tail of a calf, cut off a piece about four inches in length, drawn
the skin from it so as to form a tube, and slipped this tube over the
spear. As is the case with the hide lashing, the tube contracts as it
dries, and forms a singularly effective mode of attaching the head to
the shaft. The hair has been retained, and, in the maker’s opinion, a
very handsome weapon has been produced.
The assagai, in its original form, is essentially a missile, and is
made expressly for that purpose, although it serves several others.
And, insignificant as it looks when compared with the larger and more
elaborate spears of other nations, there is no spear or lancet that can
surpass it in efficacy.
The Kaffir, when going on a warlike or hunting expedition, or even when
travelling to any distance, takes with him a bundle, or “sheaf,” of
assagais, at least five in number, and sometimes eight or nine. When
he assails an enemy, he rushes forward, springing from side to side in
order to disconcert the aim of his adversary, and hurling spear after
spear with such rapidity that two or three are in the air at once,
each having been thrown from a different direction. There is little
difficulty in avoiding a single spear when thrown from the front; but
when the point of one is close to the heart, and another is coming to
the right side, and the enemy is just hurling another on the left, it
is a matter of no small difficulty to escape one or other of them. If
the assailed individual stands still, he is sure to be hit, for the
Kaffir’s aim is absolute certainty; while if he tries to escape a spear
coming from the left, he will probably be hit by another coming from
the right.
Moreover, the mode in which the weapon is thrown serves to disconcert
the enemy, and bewilder his gaze. Just before he throws the spear, the
Kaffir makes it quiver in a very peculiar manner. He grasps it with
the thumb and forefinger of the right hand, holding it just above the
spot where it balances itself, and with the head pointing up his arm.
The other fingers are laid along the shaft, and are suddenly and firmly
closed, so as to bring the balance spot of the spear against the root
of the hand. This movement causes the spear to vibrate strongly and
is rapidly repeated, until the weapon gives out a peculiar humming or
shivering noise, impossible to be described, and equally impossible
to be forgotten when once heard. It is as menacing a sound as the
whirr of the rattlesnake, and is used by the Kaffirs when they wish
to strike terror into their opponents. When thrown, the assagai does
not lose this vibrating movement, but seems even to vibrate stronger
than before, the head describing a large arc of a circle, of which
the balance point forms the centre. This vibration puzzles the eye of
the adversary, because it is almost impossible to tell the precise
direction which the weapon is taking. Any one can calculate the flight
of a rigid missile, such as a thick spear or arrow, but when the weapon
is vibrating the eye is greatly bewildered.
The whole look of an assagai in the air is very remarkable, and has
never been properly represented. All illustrations have represented it
as quite straight and stiff in its flight, whereas it looks just like
a very slender serpent undulating itself gracefully through the air.
It seems instinct with life, and appears rather to be seeking its own
course than to be a simple weapon thrown by the hand of a man. As it
flies along it continually gives out the peculiar shivering sound which
has been mentioned, and this adds to the delusion of its aspect.
An illustration on page 111 represents a group of Kaffir warriors
engaged in a skirmish. In the present instance they are exhibiting
their prowess in a mock fight, the heads of the assagais being of wood
instead of iron, and blunted, but still hard and sharp enough to give
a very severe blow--_experto crede_. In the background are seen a
number of soldiers standing behind their shields so as to exemplify the
aptness of their title, the Matabele, or Disappearers. In the immediate
foreground is a soldier in the full uniform of his regiment. He has
just hurled one assagai, and, as may be seen by the manner in which
his dress is flying, has leaped to his present position with another
assagai ready in his hand. Two soldiers are plucking out of the ground
the assagais thrown by their antagonists, covering themselves with
their shields while so doing. All these soldiers belong to the same
regiment, as may be seen by the headdress, which constitutes their
distinctive uniform.
The skill displayed by the Kaffirs in the use of this weapon is really
surprising. The rapidity with which the assagais are snatched from the
sheaf, poised, quivered, and hurled is almost incredible. We are told
that the great mastery of the old English archers over the powerful
bows which they used, was not so much owing to the personal strength of
the archer, as to the manner in which he was taught to “lay his body
in his bow,” and thus to manage with ease a weapon that much stronger
men could not draw. In a similar manner, the skill of the Kaffir in
hurling the assagai is attributable not to his bodily strength, but to
the constant habit of using the weapon. As soon as a boy can fairly
walk alone, he plays at spear throwing--throwing with sticks; and as he
grows up, his father makes sham assagais for him, with wooden instead
of iron heads. Two of these mock weapons are shown at fig. 8 in the
illustration on p. 103. They exactly resemble the ordinary assagai,
except that their heads are of wood; and if one of them happened to hit
a man, it would inflict rather an unpleasant wound.
When the Kaffir grasps his assagai, he and the weapon seem to become
one being, the quivering spear seeming instinct with life imparted
to it by its wielder. In hurling it, he assumes intuitively the most
graceful of attitudes, reminding the observer of some of the ancient
statues, and the weapon is thrown with such seeming ease that, as a
sojourner among them told me, “the man looks as if he were made of
oil.” As he hurls the weapon, he presses on his foe, trying to drive
him back, and at the same time to recover the spent missiles.
Sometimes, when he has not space to raise his arm, or when he wants
to take his foe by surprise, he throws the assagai with a kind of
underhand jerk, his arm hanging at full length. An assagai thus
delivered cannot be thrown so far as by the ordinary method, but it
can be propelled with considerable force, and frequently achieves the
object for which it was intended. He never throws the last of the
sheaf, but if he cannot succeed in picking up those that are already
thrown, either by himself or his enemy, he dashes forward, and, as he
closes with the foe, snaps the shaft of the assagai in the middle,
throws away the tip, and uses the remaining portion as a dagger.
[Illustration: SPOONS FOR EATING PORRIDGE. (See page 148.)]
[Illustration: SPOONS FOR EATING PORRIDGE. (See page 148.)]
[Illustration: GROUP OF ASSAGAIS. (See pages 104, 105.)]
The wood of which the shaft is made, though very elastic, is very
brittle, and a novice in the art is sure to break several of his spears
before he learns to throw them properly. Unless they are rightly
cast, as soon as the blade reaches the ground the shaft gives a kind
of “whip” forward, and snaps short just above the blade. One of the
great warrior chiefs made a singular use of this property. Just before
going into action, he made his men cut the shafts of their assagais
nearly across, just beyond the junction of the shaft and the head. The
consequence of this ingenious _ruse_ became evident enough when the
action commenced. If the weapon went true to its mark, it pierced the
body of the foe just as effectually as if nothing had been done to
it; while if it missed, and struck the ground or a shield, the shaft
instantly snapped, and the weapon was thereby rendered useless to the
foe.
Unknowingly, the barbaric chief copied the example that was set by
a Roman general nearly two thousand years ago. When Marius made war
against the Cimbri, his troops carried the short heavy javelin, called
the _pilum_. This weapon had a thick handle, to the end of which the
long blade was attached by two iron rivets, one in front of the other.
Before going to battle, he ordered the soldiers to remove the rivet
farthest from the point, and to supply its place with a slight wooden
peg, just strong enough to hold the head in its proper position as long
as no force was used. When the javelin was hurled, the enemy tried to
receive it on their shields; and if they succeeded in doing so, they
drew out the weapon and flung it back at the foe. But as soon as the
action began, the Cimbri found themselves in a sore strait. No sooner
had they caught the javelin in their shields, than the slight wooden
peg snapped, and allowed the shaft to dangle from the blade. Not only
was the weapon useless, but it became a serious incumbrance. It could
not be pulled out of the shield, as it afforded no grasp, and the heavy
shaft dragged on the ground so as to force the soldier to throw away
his shield, and to fight without it.
A very singular modification of the assagai was made by the terrible
Tchaka, a chief who lived but for war, and was a man of wonderful
intellect, dauntless courage, singular organizing power, and utterly
devoid of compassion. Retaining the assagai, he altered its shape, and
made it a much shorter and heavier weapon, unfit for throwing, and only
to be used in a hand-to-hand encounter. After arming his troops with
this modified weapon, he entirely altered the mode of warfare.
His soldiers were furnished with a very large shield and a single
assagai. When they went into action, they ran in a compact body on the
enemy, and as soon as the first shower of spears fell, they crouched
beneath their shields, allowed the weapons to expend their force, and
then sprang in for a hand-to-hand encounter. Their courage, naturally
great, was excited by promises of reward, and by the certainty that
not to conquer was to die. If a soldier was detected in running away,
he was instantly killed by the chief, and the same punishment awaited
any one who returned from battle without his spear and shield. Owing
to these tactics, he raised the tribe of the Amazulu to be the most
powerful in the country. He absorbed nearly sixty other tribes into his
own, and extended his dominions nearly half across the continent of
Africa.
He at last formed the bold conception of sweeping the whole South
African coast with his armies, and extirpating the white inhabitants.
But, while at the zenith of his power, he was treacherously killed by
two of his brothers, Dingan and Umlangane. The two murderers fought
for the kingdom on the following day, and Dingan ascended the throne
over the bodies of both his brothers. The sanguinary mode of government
which Tchaka had created was not likely to be ameliorated in such
hands, and the name of Dingan was dreaded nearly as much as that of his
brother. His successor and brother, Panda, continued to rule in the
same manner, though without possessing the extraordinary genius of the
mighty founder of his kingdom, and found himself obliged to form an
alliance with the English, instead of venturing to make war upon them.
Tchaka’s invention of the single stabbing assagai answered very well as
long as the Zulus only fought against other tribes of the same country.
But, when they came to encounter the Dutch Boers, it was found that the
stabbing assagai was almost useless against mounted enemies, and they
were obliged to return to the original form of the weapon.
If the reader will refer to the illustration which has already been
mentioned, he will see two specimens of the short stabbing assagai with
the large blade. A fine example of this weapon is seen at fig. 1. The
reader will see that the blade is extremely wide and leaf shaped, and
that the other end, or but of the spear, is decorated with a tuft of
hairs taken from the tail of a cow. Another example is seen at fig. 3.
The maker has bestowed great pains on this particular weapon. Just at
the part where the spear balances, a piece of soft leather is formed
into a sort of handle, and is finished off at either end with a ring
made of the wire-like hair of the elephant’s tail. Several wide rings
of the same material decorate the shaft of the weapon, and all of them
are like the well-known “Turk’s-head” knot of the sailors. Fig. 6 shows
another assagai, which has once had a barbed blade like that at fig.
7, but which has been so repeatedly ground that the original shape is
scarcely perceptible. The spear which is drawn at fig. 13 is one of
the ornamental wooden weapons which a Kaffir will use when etiquette
forbids him to carry a real assagai. This particular spear is cut from
one piece of wood, and is decorated according to Kaffir notions of
beauty, by contrasts of black and white gained by charring the wood.
The ornamental work on the shaft is thus blackened, and so is one
side of the broad wooden blade. The spear shown at fig. 9 is used in
elephant hunting, and will be described in a future chapter.
To a Kaffir the assagai is a necessary of life. He never stirs without
taking a weapon of some kind in his hand, and that weapon is generally
the assagai. With it he kills his game, with it he cuts up the carcass,
with it he strips off the hide, and with it he fashions the dresses
worn by the women as well as the men. The ease and rapidity with
which he performs these acts are really astonishing. When cutting up
slaughtered cattle, he displays as much knowledge of the various cuts
as the most experienced butcher, and certainly no butcher could operate
more rapidly with his knife, saw, and cleaver, than does the Kaffir
with his simple assagai. For every purpose wherein an European uses a
knife, the Kaffir uses his assagai. With it he cuts the shafts for his
weapons, and with its sharp blade he carves the wooden clubs, spoons,
dishes, and pillows, and the various utensils required in his daily
life.
When hurling his assagai, whether at an animal which he is hunting
or at a foe, or even when exhibiting his skill to a spectator, the
Kaffir becomes strongly excited, and seems almost beside himself. The
sweetest sound that can greet a Kaffir’s ears is the sound of his
weapon entering the object at which it was aimed, and in order to enjoy
this strange gratification, he will stab a slain animal over and over
again, forgetful in the excitement of the moment that every needless
stab injures the hide which might be so useful to him. When the chief
summons his army, and the warriors go through their extraordinary
performances in his presence, they never fail to expatiate on the
gratification which they shall derive from hearing their assagais
strike into the bodies of their opponents.
It is rather a curious fact that the true Kaffir never uses the bow
and arrow. Though nearly surrounded by tribes which use this weapon,
and though often suffering in skirmishes from the poisoned arrows
of the Bosjesmans, he rejects the bow in warfare, considering it
to be a weapon inconsistent with the dignity of a warrior. He has
but two weapons, the assagai and the club, and he wields the second
as skilfully as the first. The clubs used by the Kaffir tribes are
extremely variable in size, and rather so in form. Some of them are
more than six feet in length, while some are only fourteen or fifteen
inches. But they all agree in one point, namely, that they are
straight, or, at all events, are intended to be so; and that one end is
terminated by a knob. They are popularly known as “knob-kerries.”
In order to show the extreme difference of size that is found among
them, several specimens are figured in the illustration on page 103.
Three specimens are seen at fig. 10. That on the right hand is used
as a weapon, and is wielded in a very curious manner. Not only can
it be employed as a weapon with which an opponent can be struck, but
it is also used as a missile, sometimes being flung straight at the
antagonist, and sometimes thrown on the ground in such a manner that
its elasticity causes it to rebound and strike the enemy from below
instead of from above. The Australian savages possess clubs of a
similar shape, and also employ the _ricochet_. The other two kerries
are not meant as weapons.
It is contrary to etiquette for a Kaffir to carry an assagai when he
enters the hut of a superior, and he therefore exchanges the weapon for
the innocent kerrie. And it is also contrary to etiquette to use the
real assagai in dances. But, as in their dances the various operations
of warfare and hunting are imitated, it is necessary for the performers
to have something that will take the place of an assagai, and they
accordingly provide themselves with knob-kerries about the same length
as the weapons whose place they supply.
One very common form of the short knob-kerrie is shown at fig. 14. This
weapon is only twenty inches in length, and can be conveniently carried
in the belt. At close quarters it can be used as a club, but it is more
frequently employed as a missile.
The Kaffir is so trained from infancy to hurl his weapons that he
always prefers those which can be thrown. The force and precision with
which the natives will fling these short kerries is really astonishing.
If Europeans were to go after birds, and provide themselves with
knobbed sticks instead of guns, they would bring home but very little
game. Yet a Kaffir takes his knob-kerries as a matter of course, when
he goes after the bustard, the quail, or other birds, and seldom
returns without success.
The general plan is for two men to hunt in concert. They walk some
fifty yards apart, and when they come to any spot which seems a likely
place for game, they rest their kerries on their right shoulders, so
as to lose no time in drawing back the hand when they wish to fling
the weapon. As soon as a bird rises, they simultaneously hurl their
kerries at it, one always aiming a little above the bird, and the other
a little below. If, then, the bird catches sight of the upper club, and
dives down to avoid it, the lower club takes effect, while, if it rises
from the lower kerrie, it falls a victim to the upper. This plan is
wonderfully efficacious, as I have proved by personal experience. One
of my friends and myself determined to try whether we could kill game
in the Kaffir fashion. So we cut some knobbed sticks, and started off
in search of snipe. As soon as a snipe rose, we flung the stick at it,
and naturally missed, as it was quite beyond the range of any missile
propelled by hand. However, marking the spot where it alighted, we
started it afresh, and by repeating this process, we got sufficiently
near to bring it within the compass of our powers, and succeeded in
knocking it down.
Generally the short, thick, heavily knobbed kerrie belongs rather to
the Hottentot and the Bosjesman than to the Zulu, who prefers the
longer weapon, even as a missile. But it is evident that the former
shape of the weapon is the original one, and that the Kaffir, who
derived it from its original inventor, the Hottentot, has gradually
lengthened the shaft and diminished the size of the head.
The material of which the kerrie is made is mostly wood, that of the
acacia being frequently used for this purpose. The long knob-kerries
of the Zulus are generally cut from the tree that is emphatically,
though not euphoniously, named Stink-wood, on account of the unpleasant
odor which it gives out while being worked. As soon as it is dry, this
odor goes off, and not even the most sensitive nostril can be annoyed
by it. The stink-wood is a species of laurel, and its scientific name
is _Laurus bullata_. The most valuable, as well as the most durable
knob-kerries are those which are cut out of rhinoceros horn, and a
native can hardly be induced to part with a fine specimen for any
bribe. In the first place, the very fact of possessing such an article
shows that he must be a mighty hunter, and have slain a rhinoceros; and
in the second place, its great efficacy, and the enormous amount of
labor expended in carving out of the solid horn, endear it so much to
him, that he will not part with it except for something which will tend
to raise him in the eyes of his comrades. In England, a fine specimen
of knob-kerrie, made from the horn of the white rhinoceros, has been
known to fetch even ten pounds.
Thus much for the offensive weapons of the Zulu Kaffir. Toward the
north as well as to the west of the Draakensberg Mountains, a peculiar
battle-axe is used, which is evidently a modification of the barbed
spear which has already been described; but the true Zulu uses no
weapon except the assagai and the kerrie.