I must now, with the reader's permission, pass over a period of nearly
six months; for to relate minutely my mode of life during that time
would be but an useless recapitulation, interspersed by koodoo and
fan-elephant hunting, which would become monotonous.
In respect to Metilulu's _protegee_, Zenuta, unpleasantly for me, Tugela
had prophesied correctly. She speedily brought me again to the chief's
remembrance, and this time he spoke to me in _propria persona_, and
desired me to accept her.
Making my reply as respectful as I possibly could, I immediately
answered, as I had to Tugela, that my religion forbade me taking another
wife, as I had one living already in England, and that were I to do so,
I should, in my own eyes and those of my countrymen, commit a great
crime. The reason of my refusal seemed to create unbounded surprise to
Metilulu, who gave utterance to many Kaffir ejaculations. Then he said
gravely--
"If you have but one wife, how can she do all the work? It is
impossible! She must herself object to such an arrangement; she would
want other wives to help her."
Let me here remark that such is the case in Caffraria, where a wife will
often urge her husband to take more wives, so that her own labour may be
lessened; and this is no wonder, when we consider that the most arduous
and incessant toil falls to the woman's lot, while their lords and
masters idle their time away in sitting and smoking in their hut when
they are not milking their cows or hunting.
In reply to Metilulu, I informed him that women did not work in my
country as they did in his. There the men performed most of the
out-door labour, while the women attended to the home duties.
The chief smiled derisively as he rejoined that my England must be a
very strange country. He then was anxious to know who ground the corn
and tilled the fields--whether the men or the women.
"The men cultivate the ground," I replied, "while the corn is made into
flour by machinery."
The last word seemed beyond his comprehension, so I tried to explain my
meaning, aiding the description by tracing a windmill with my finger on
the ground; but I fear when I ended that he had but a poor idea of the
mechanism after all.
"But if the men work, who hunts?" he asked, adding, with a
laugh--"perhaps the women."
"No," I said, "England had never possessed the wild animals Africa had,
and those which were native to the soil--such as wild cats, wolves, and
foxes--had mostly been exterminated, while the forests had been turned
into waving corn-fields; therefore there were no hunters as those he
referred to."
Of course I did not mention our fox-hunters, for he would have thought
little of Englishmen's bravery had he heard that some dozen gentlemen,
with the aid of a pack of hounds, pursued one poor little fox. As it
was, my last statement seemed to him to put the climax to European
ignorance and stupidity, for I saw he addressed anything but
complimentary remarks respecting our nation to the warriors about him.
Then, returning to the subject of marriage, which I had hoped he had
forgotten, he continued, with a twinkle in his eyes, as if by the next
question he was going to prove me entirely--whether, as men only had one
wife in my country, some, no doubt, never married at all.
I stated that was the case, for some by choice remained single all their
lives.
It was the same in his land sometimes, he laughed, when men were so ugly
that no girl would have them; then they had to remain "boys" all their
lives, without wives or children.
At this I assured him it did not always rest in looks, as, however plain
he might be, a man could generally find a wife; but he might be a
bachelor from inclination.
"Then," he demanded quickly, with a gusto at evidently having at last
entrapped me, "how could the single men get their work done if they had
not a wife?"
I explained at once how in England servants could be hired at a moderate
rate, who would do all the work required.
This puzzled him immensely, for in his mind the duties of servant and
wife appeared synonymous, and, with all my explanation, he could hardly
recognise the difference. So, after a good deal of palaver, he finally
asked, I fancy owing to a suggestion of Tugela's, whether, as I could
not accept Zenuta for a wife, I would receive her for a servant.
This I agreed to do, as I had previously determined; for at times I had
found it awkward to prepare my own meals, and did not care to join the
"boys," whose cooking I relished as little as I did the odour of their
well-oiled bodies when enclosed in the stifling atmosphere of their
general hut. So Zenuta--a true type of the Kaffir girl, a perfect form,
and a plain face--agreeing to the arrangement, I became possessed of a
servant, who speedily and with alacrity saw to all my wants.
Poor thing, she seemed absolutely devoted to me, and would have crushed
corn or rolled tobacco all day long if I had permitted her. This
crushing corn and rolling tobacco are both most arduous processes. The
former is done between two stones--the under large and shelving, so as
to allow the boiled maize or corn ears to be pushed off when finished;
the upper is a much smaller and round stone, which the worker holds in
her hands, and pounds or presses with all her strength. The tobacco
rolling is rolling the leaves of the plant between the hand and thigh or
calf of the leg--a work that soon renders the skin remarkably tender
till it has become hardened by use.
I say Zenuta would have gladly done all this, had I required it, but, on
the contrary, I strove to render her life as easy as possible, and, very
much to her surprise, I always took care when I had a good meal that she
should have one too; for the custom among her people was generally to
leave the refuse to the hardworking woman. Perhaps it would have been
wiser had I done differently, for all this behaviour but served to
increase her affection, which, at times, I confess, grew rather
troublesome; till, I tried, by the power I had over her, to direct her
thoughts into a different channel, with, I flattered myself, some
success. As well as I could, owing to my imperfect knowledge of the
language, I endeavoured to instruct her and make her comprehend the
forms and pure belief of the Christian religion, and by this means
proved to her that we might always be very dear friends, but that I
could never take her for my wife. Poor Zenuta! She looked very sad at
first, but when I said I would always try to make her happy, and she
might remain with me as she was doing then, as long as she pleased, she
brightened up, and a short while after, breaking a slight pause,
besought me to tell her about my English wife and my own land.
I did so, and very frequently afterwards our conversation turned upon
these two topics; till one day, as if carried away by my description,
she threw herself at my feet and begged me, if I should ever go back, to
take her with me.
This question put a sudden idea into my head. Might it not be likely
that, through this girl, I might ascertain how far the white settlements
were off? Therefore, giving an evasive reply to the entreaty, I at once
began to interrogate her upon the subject, but soon found my hopes
chimeras; she knew little more than I had already learned from Tugela
and Metilulu. White traders had passed through the kraal, but beyond
that she knew nothing, save repeating as had the others, that white
people were a long way off. Consequently I had to console myself at the
ill-success my efforts had met with in the best way I could. It will be
seen from this that my stay in Caffraria for the six months had not been
so comfortable as to prevent my trying to return home. On the contrary,
that one thought occupied me constantly, and I certainly should have
endeavoured to have escaped long before, could I have obtained the least
information respecting the direction I ought to take; but, as it was, I
felt I might only brave the dangers of the bush to eventually fall into
worse hands than those I was already in, from whom up to this time I had
received nothing but kindness.
Therefore, till a more favourable opportunity offered, I wisely resolved
to make myself as comfortable as I could where I was. By attention and
perseverance I had by this time become no longer a drone in the hive,
but an useful member of society. I could throw the assagai so well that
I need never be without a dinner of meat when I desired it; and by the
same means I speedily procured both skins and teeth, which, as I had no
wish to deck myself out in them as did my savage companions, I exchanged
for two or three cows, and they supplied my servant and me with enough
amasi for more than our wants. By doing as little work as I could on
Sundays, I had been able to remember and keep that day holy--a
proceeding which had finally attracted the Kaffirs' notice, and on
explaining to them why I did this, I found that they possessed some
vague idea of a Creator, but that it was deprived of all truth by the
heap of ignorant superstitions which surrounded it. It, however, put
the thought into my head, to try in a small way to act the missionary to
them, and I soon found they would listen attentively enough when I
brought the subject forward before a select few, with the liberty of
argument--a Kaffir's passion--granted to both sides, but that when I
made an attempt to assemble them together to address them, preacher
fashion, I signally failed. Yet the few seeds I did manage to cast upon
the unpromising soil, I prayed by God's grace might take root and bear
fruit hereafter, and at least slightly prepare the ground for those
brave self-sacrificing men, noble specimens of whom now exist, who make
it their work to bring light into darkness.
I had of course during my long sojourn learned much of the habits of the
Kaffir tribes, and one peculiarity struck me as very surprising. I
found it out in the following manner.
An expedition, I forget now for what reason, no doubt to collect shells
for ornament, had been made by a party of "boys" to the sea-coast. I
asked permission to accompany them, for I naturally thought it possible
that I might sight a passing ship and perhaps make my presence known.
For this purpose, on arriving at the shore, I took my place on a rock,
and fastening a hook I had made to some thin but strong fibre, I told
the "boys" I would wait there till they returned. Having taken for my
bait a portion of the flesh of a hyrax I had knocked over with my
knob-kerrie as I came along, I threw in my line only to appear occupied,
for I never dreamed of getting a bite; but scarcely had I cast my eyes
over the broad expanse of waters, which to my sorrow was not even broken
by a sea bird's wing, than I felt a tug at my line, and with some
difficulty landed a fish of a tolerable size, but the name of which I
did not know. My first success whetted my appetite for more, and
thinking how pleased the Kaffirs would be at the rare dinner I was
procuring for them, I again threw in my line, and continued to do so,
till, by the time the "boys" returned, I had a pretty considerable heap
of the finny tribe by my side, which, with no little pride, I showed to
my companions, but, what was my astonishment to find that they regarded
them with the greatest disgust, as an Englishman might some loathsome
animal; while I never saw the same feeling more strongly depicted on any
face as on theirs, when I, not to be baulked of my treat, kindled a
fire, and grilling some as well as I could on the glowing embers,
subsequently made a very good meal.
On enquiring afterwards of Zenuta the reason for this peculiar aversion,
she told me she believed it was owing to some superstition--order, she
called it--originating many years previously from the prophets, for
there were other things they would not eat, unless pressed by _extreme_
hunger, besides fish, such, for instance, as eggs, ducks, and bustards.
Having finished my meal, I threw all the remainder of the fish back
again into the sea, as I felt, being their guest, I had no right to take
anything to the kraal which was regarded with such repugnance; and as
they had got all they required, we started off homewards, but had not
got half-way through the bush when we were suddenly set upon by a
buffalo, which is the most terrible foe a Kaffir can encounter, for he
does not wait to be attacked, as is the nature of most animals, but
begins the fray himself, dashing forward at headlong speed through the
bush at its enemy. Fortunately for us, we all managed to climb into
trees out of his reach, though one of the party narrowly escaped being
trampled and rended to death by the furious brute, but the assagais of
the rest happily turned him from his prey, who the next instant was far
above his reach, and joining with us in taking revenge upon his
would-have-been murderer.
It took some time to kill the brute, whose large beautiful eyes glared
like balls of fire in its huge head under the shaggy mane; but we
succeeded at last, and, descending, soon stripped off the hide, then
leaving the carcase for the hyenas and jackals, as the Kaffirs do not
care for the flesh when they can get anything else, it being very hard,
we continued our road to the kraal, bearing our unexpected trophy with
us.
Now having just touched upon the landmarks of my history during the six
months, I will take up the thread of the story in the next chapter, and
in a few succeeding ones will show how I at last came across my old
friends, and finally started for the white settlements.