One of the Zulu chiefs who had been killed in our battle near Natal had
a headdress of ostrich-feathers. This headdress was considered a great
curiosity, and our principal chiefs divided these feathers amongst them,
and on great occasions wore them in their head-rings. I heard that, on
the plains under the Quathlamba Mountains, ostriches were to be found;
so I was anxious to make an expedition there, in order to try and shoot
or trap these birds, and so procure a large supply of feathers. On
talking this matter over with the chiefs, they told me I must take a
large party with me, as Bushmen were numerous there, and it would be
dangerous to visit that country unless well-armed and in numbers. I,
however, told the chiefs that three or four of us armed with guns were a
match for any number of Bushmen. This statement the chiefs did not
deny, but they said that if the Bushmen crept on us at night, they might
hit us with their poisoned arrows, whilst we could not see them. I
answered, however, that sport without some danger was only fitted for
women, and that I had already proved that I could take care of myself.
After a very long talk it was agreed that I, with twenty men whom I
should select, were to journey up country, and try our luck against the
ostriches. I chose the best men with whom I was acquainted, and also my
two young Caffre friends. We carried five guns with us and about twenty
rounds of ammunition each. So that we were a formidable party as
regards strength, though few in number. Our daily journeys must have
been about thirty miles, as we walked from sunrise to sunset, and very
quickly. We had no want of food, for there were plenty of antelope in
this country, and we used to spoor these, to where they had lain down in
the reeds or long grass; we then surrounded the spot where they were
concealed, and closed in on them; when they jumped up to make off, we
either assagied them, or knocked them over with our knob-kerries.
After eight days' walking we came to the plains where we expected to
find ostriches, and I now made use of my glasses to scan the country
round. There was plenty of game in these plains, herds of the _impovu_
(elands) and other animals, and water was also plentiful, as numbers of
small streams flowed from the ravines of the Quathlamba into the plains,
south and south-east of them. So that we considered this country very
suitable for kraals, as there was plenty of grass for cattle and the
soil was well-suited for growing corn.
We worked our way over these plains till we came to the rising ground at
the foot of the mountains, which we ascended, and could then obtain a
good view of the surrounding country.
As we were sitting on the rocks looking in various directions, we heard
a noise above us, and saw a large rock rolling and bounding down towards
us. Instantly we jumped behind rocks and so protected ourselves, and
the rolling rock bounded over our heads. On looking up we saw two
Bushmen standing on some crags about 150 yards from us: it was these men
who had loosened the rock, in order, if possible, to crush some of us.
They shrieked at us, and shook their fists as if defying us; they
thought themselves safe, as they were far more active on the rocks than
Caffres, and could easily keep out of assagy-range; but they little knew
how we were armed, for they had probably never heard the report even of
a gun. Resting my gun against a rock, I took a steady aim at the
Bushman and fired. The man instantly fell, rose again, and waved his
arms, and then dropped dead. His companion instantly bounded off up the
mountains as fast and as active as a klipspringer.
We ran up the rocks to where this Bushman lay, and the Caffres drove
their assagies into him to make sure he was not shamming; he was,
however, quite dead. On looking round we saw a well-worn path leading
to what appeared a solid wall of rock. On approaching the rock we found
a hollow which had been scooped out and formed into a cave, and this was
evidently the Bushmen's home. On entering this cave we were surprised
at the multitude of things inside. There was a lion's skin, and a
necklace formed out of his teeth, two more formed out of his claws;
three leopards' skins; several skins of elands, which were arranged so
as to form a bed. In one corner were about a hundred ostriche's
feathers, whilst nearly a dozen ostriche's eggs filled with water were
round the cave. There was also plenty of dried meat, evidently eland's
flesh, and a number of poisoned arrows. Here then we had come on a
treasure, for the leopard-skins and the necklaces, were much valued
among our tribes. All the animals whose skins had been found in this
cave, must have been killed by the Bushmen with their poisoned arrows,
showing how daring and skilful these men are with their tiny weapons,
for to kill a lion they must have come to within at least forty paces of
him. We secured all these articles, and then called a council of war to
decide whether we should stop in this country in order to kill ostriches
or return with what we had obtained. We at length decided to return;
for we had seen no ostriches, and as they are the most keen-sighted and
fastest of animals, we might wait many days before we even saw one.
Eland, however, were plentiful, and we saw a large herd of them on the
plains; so we divided our party into four divisions--three of these were
to go round on the opposite side of the elands, whilst those of the
fourth party, who had guns, were to lie concealed by some rocks, and the
herd was to be driven up to us. Our plan succeeded well, and the herd
came to within about an assagy's-throw of us before they knew of our
presence; so that we fired each two shots before they got out of range,
killing three elands. This supplied us with plenty of meat; so we had a
great feast, and dried enough flesh to last us on our journey back.
On our return to our kraals we were received like heroes who had won a
great battle. Our feathers were the envy of the whole tribe, so I gave
several to the various chiefs, and it was agreed that a chief might wear
as many as he liked, the head man of a kraal might wear only one, and no
lower man might wear any. We thus made a division in the rank of men,
which is of great importance even with men as uncivilised as were these
Caffres.
Among the men at our kraal there was one called Ebomvu, because his skin
was redder than most Caffres. He was the Rain-maker of the tribe, and
was much feared, because he was considered a wizard. Now the power
which these wizards had was very great. They were believed by most of
the men in the tribe to be able to foretell events, to produce rain in
time of drought, to tell who had bewitched cattle, or men, and made them
ill, and they used this power very often to get rid of any person who
was not agreeable to them. The Rain-maker was a dangerous man, and I
had soon learnt that, unless I was friendly with him, he might proclaim
that I had bewitched somebody, and then probably all the power of my
friends could not save me from being killed.
I saw one case where an old man who had made an enemy of the Rain-maker,
was killed by the people, and as the proceedings then adopted were
similar to those usually practised, I will give a description of what
occurred.
A cow belonging to the head man of a neighbouring kraal died during the
night. There was no doubt in my mind, on looking at the animal, that it
had died from the bite of a snake, probably the _m'namba umculu_, or
great puff-adder. Ebomvu, however, told the owner that the cow had been
bewitched by some enemy who wanted to serve him an ill turn, and that
this enemy he would smell out. In two days after the cow's death Ebomvu
commenced his proceedings. He assembled all the principal men of the
kraal, and also those of the kraals near; and then, entering the cattle
enclosure, went to the spot where the cow had died, and told the men to
dig. Several men set to work digging up the ground, and discovered the
end of a cow's horn, on which was scratched a mark like a cow's head.
Ebomvu seized this and smelt it, shouting, "_Nuka, Nuka_" ("It stinks.")
He then moved slowly out of the kraal, holding the horn in front of him,
and going first in one direction, then in another, until he reached the
huts where the old man lived to whom he was an enemy. Here he went on
the ground and crawled on like a dog, smelling the ground like a hound.
He entered the hut of the old man, and pointing to a corner told the men
to dig there. They turned up the ground, and found a horn just the same
size and shape, as that which they had discovered in the cattle
enclosure, and on this horn were the same marks as those on the horn
first found. This was considered positive evidence that the cow had
died from being bewitched. So a council of all the chiefs was called,
and the case was tried. The evidence of the finding of the two pieces
of horn was given, and on being examined the same marks were seen on
each. So the old man was ordered to pay a fine of five cows to the man
whose cow had died, and five cows to the chief himself. Had it been a
man who had died instead of a cow, the old man himself would have been
killed, and all his cattle taken by the chief.
I was much afraid lest the wizard should accuse me of "tagata," as they
called witchcraft, so I always made friends with him, and gave him
presents, and used to sit and talk with him whenever I could. I gave
him several fine ostrich-feathers, with which he was much pleased, and
he told me I should some day be the great chief of this district.