Nearly all our fighting men had left our country, whilst I remained with
the very old men, the young boys and the women. I did not like
remaining inactive in this, way, yet I could not have fought against my
own people. I felt very dull and lonely; so took my gun and wandered in
the bush, following the old elephant-paths, and looking out for a buck
or a leopard. Left to myself, I was accustomed to sit in the bush for
hours, meditating on my past life, and on my probable future. Lately, a
strange longing had come over me to return to civilisation. The novelty
of my wild life had worn off, and the Caffres were not the companions to
me that they had been when I was younger. Their aims and ambitions were
limited. To eat abundance of meat, to possess abundance of cattle, to
have four or five wives, was the looked-for happiness of the men.
Anything that required mental exertion they seemed incapable of. They
could with difficulty count beyond ten; they knew nothing about other
countries, or the habits of other nations. They believed the Zulus the
most powerful nation in the whole world, whilst the whites they regarded
as foolish people with wrong ideas.
Reflecting on my condition, I began to consider how I could make my
escape from the Caffres, and rejoin my own people. I knew that if I
could reach England I could make myself known to my relatives, could
communicate with my father, and should have fair prospects even if I
returned to India. This was quite a change in my ideas, from what I
fancied some months previously; but solitude seemed to have given me a
clearer view of things as they really were, and I now thought over every
plan by which it might be possible to reach some English settlement,
make myself known, and thus be enabled to rejoin my relatives.
Several days passed, during which I scarcely spoke to any of the
Caffres. I felt depressed and out of spirits--perhaps a presentiment of
what was coming. I had received no news of the army that had gone to
join with the Amakosa against the British soldiers, and so could not
learn whether or not they had been victorious. Half a moon had passed
since the army left, and the old men began to be anxious for news; still
none came.
It was early morning, the sun not having appeared, that, as I lay rolled
in my jackal-skin kaross in my hut, I heard the voices of men in my
kraal. These voices were low, and subdued. Thinking it was our
warriors who had returned, I jumped up and crawled out of my hut. It
was not yet light enough to see clearly any objects except they were
very near; but before I could rise on my feet, I received a blow on my
head, which stunned me, and knew no more till I came to my senses, when
the sun was nearly overhead. I then saw a sight which astonished me.
Seated in our kraal were more than a hundred Zulu warriors, watching a
fire at which one of our young bulls was being roasted. They were all
in full war-costume, and I saw that many of their assagies were stained
with blood. I tried to rise, but found that my hands and legs were
tied, and that I could not move. The Zulus, seeing I was sensible
again, called to a chief who was sitting at a distance, and pointed to
me attentively, and then said--
"Who are you?"
"I am an Umlungo who has been kept among these people," I replied, "and
they have made me a chief."
"Where do you come from?"
"I came in a ship which was wrecked on the coast; all the men were
killed except me."
"When do you expect your men to return?"
"I don't know; they have gone to fight with the Amakosa against my
people."
"Why did they not take you?"
"I could not fight against my own tribe." The chief waited for a short
time, looking at me attentively, and then said, "You will return with
us; attempt to escape, and twenty assagies will be in your body." He
then turned away, and walked to his seat outside the circle.
I was struck with the dignity and manner of this chief. He seemed one
born to command, to be self-possessed, calm, and decided. He walked
like a chief, and I could easily understand how it was that the Zulus
were so powerful if they possessed many men like this one. I felt being
tied, as it was very painful. So I spoke to one of the men near me, and
said that, if the chief would unfasten my arms and legs, I would promise
not to attempt to escape; but if I remained tied, I should not be able
to move when they did unbind me. The Zulu carried my message to the
chief, who nodded, and the young Zulu came and unbound me. I rose to my
feet, but felt very sick and giddy from the blow I had received from the
knob-kerrie on my head, and was obliged to sit down again. The chief
then called me, and I went over to where he sat, and he asked me if I
was hurt. I pointed to a lump on my head where I had been hit. He felt
my head, and said, "That is nothing." He then inquired how many guns
had been taken by the warriors who had gone with the Amakosa.
I told him eight; and, thinking it better to deal fairly with him, I
told him that in the thatch of my hut there was my gun.
He immediately sent a man into my hut to search, and shortly my gun was
brought out. The chief examined this carefully--a gun was evidently new
to him--and I explained how it was loaded and fired. He was much
interested in all I said. So, being anxious to gain his favour, I told
him there was something else more wonderful still that I could show him.
He told me to bring whatever it was. So I brought him my
field-glasses, and, adjusting them for a long sight, I placed them in
his hands, and told him to look at some cows about half a mile off. He
raised them to his eyes, and instantly started back with astonishment.
He examined them carefully, and seemed more surprised as he looked again
through them. I then made him look through the glasses the opposite
way, viz., through the large glasses, and to look down at his feet. His
legs then appeared about twenty feet long, and he was more astonished
with this than even with the fact that distant objects were brought
nearer by the aid of the glass. He called several of his men to look
through the glass, and laughed at their surprise.
The chief now told me that I was to return with them to the Zulu
country, when they drove off our cattle. He made no secret of how he
came here. He said that an _impi_, or army, had been sent against some
of the Basutos; that when they were returning they heard that all our
men had gone with the Amakosa to the westward. So they came down to our
country to take some cattle and carry off some of the young girls, and
that on the morrow they intended to start on their return journey. I
found they had killed several of our old men, but as there was no one to
resist them, they had easily gathered together the cattle they required.
On the following morning we started on our journey, and I found that
over a thousand men had come down to our country, whilst the main body
of the army were up to the north-east and numbered several thousand.
With the exception of the women, I was the only prisoner they had taken.
The Zulus rarely take prisoners, they kill their enemy; but, seeing
that I was white, and therefore not a Caffre, they had spared me.
Our march was carefully made. About half a mile in front some dozen
men, who were good runners, kept a look-out, and signalled to us every
now and then to let us know that all was right and no enemy near. We
had about a hundred cows and young bulls with us, which were driven
along in our midst. Not a boy or female of our tribe was visible: they
had all retreated to the bush and concealed themselves. The kraals were
empty and most of them burnt. I felt very sorry for my old companions,
though they had gone to fight against the English. It seemed, however,
like a punishment to them, to be thus attacked at home when there was no
reason why they should go out and fight against those who had never done
them any harm.
Our march was first nearly northwards, till we came near the Quathlamba
Mountains. We then went east, crossed the Umzinyati river and the
Tugela, and entered the Zulu country.
I was surprised at the number of cattle I saw in the Zulu country.
Thousands of beautiful cows were everywhere to be seen; and the grass
was finer and better suited for grazing than down near the Umzimvubu.
Our small army was welcomed with shouts by crowds of Zulus who turned
out to meet us, and who looked on me with great surprise. When they
found I could speak their language as well as they could, their surprise
was greater; and they at first would not believe that I was not an
Albino, or white Caffre, such phenomena being sometimes seen among them.
I was taken to the kraal of the chief who had captured me, and who was
called Inklanzi, the meaning of which is a fish. This name was given
him because he was a very good swimmer, and could stop for a long time
in the water. Inklanzi told me that on the following morning I was to
be taken to the Great Chief, who perhaps might order me to be assagied;
so I must be careful how I behaved.
I slept but little that night, for I feared, from what I had heard, that
the Great Chief of the Zulus, merely for his amusement, might like to
see how I died.
On the following morning I was called by Inklanzi to go with him to the
chief's kraal. It was the largest I had yet seen. There were at least
five hundred huts, the Great Chief's hut being much larger than were the
others.
Round the chief's hut there were always about thirty men on guard, for
every great chief feared being assassinated. It was also the law that,
whenever any chief came to talk to the Great Chief, he was, on
approaching to within an assagy-throw of the Great Kraal, to stop and
shout "Inkosi" three times. If he heard no reply, he was not allowed,
under pain of death, to advance. If he was told to "come," he must
still shout "Inkosi," until he reached the hut. This plan prevented
surprise; for no stranger could even approach the hut without incurring
the penalty of death, unless he shouted to announce his arrival.
Inklanzi, after shouting "Inkosi," was told to come; so he and I went to
the hut of the Great Chief. We waited outside for some time, silently
listening for orders to enter. At length a loud voice from inside said,
"Is the white boy there?"
"Yes," replied Inklanzi. "Bring him in," said the same voice. We
entered the hut, and on seeing the chief I made him a low salaam, the
same as do the Hindoos, and said "Inkosi." The chief looked at me for
some time, and then asked Inklanzi if I spoke Zulu. On Inklanzi
replying "Yes," the chief said, "Where do you come from? Tell me your
history."
I commenced by telling the chief that I came from far away in the
direction that the sun rose, and where men rode upon elephants, and
where houses were so high that, if your brother were on the top of the
house and you were at the bottom, you could not recognise him. I gave
other descriptions of India, to which the chief listened for some time,
and then exclaimed, "Amanga" ("You are lying.")
"It is true, chief," I said.
"Go on," exclaimed the chief.
I then told him of our voyage, of the ship being wrecked, and of the men
being assagied, whilst I and some women were spared.
"Where are the women now?" inquired the chief.
A glance at Inklanzi showed he was in terror, and I guessed the cause.
So I said, "I don't know; I think they are all dead."