It was a bright fresh morning in April, that--I embarked at Gravesend in
the full-rigged ship _Condor_, bound to the Cape and Calcutta. The most
unpleasant and dangerous portion of the voyage in those days was from
Gravesend through the Downs, and along the Channel. Sailing ships only
then made these long voyages, and they were sometimes detained during
many weeks in the Downs waiting for a fair wind. Then, when sailing in
the Channel, they often had to beat against a contrary wind the whole
way. In my case we were fortunate in having a fair wind nearly the
whole way from the Downs, until we had entered the Bay of Biscay. Fine
weather continued until we were within a few degrees of the Equator,
when the usual calms stopped us, and we lay broiling on the calm sea
during ten days.
I caught two rather large sharks, and had a narrow escape from one as I
was bathing from a boat near the ship. We reached Table Bay in
sixty-two days after leaving Gravesend, which period was considered by
no means bad time for a sailing vessel. Having cleared my baggage from
the ship and Custom House, I put up at an hotel at the corner of the
parade in Cape Town, and sent word to my friend, Mr Rossmar, to say I
had arrived.
Early on the following morning. Mr Rossmar came to see me, and was at
once full of complaints on account of my not having immediately gone to
his house, and made it my home. The few years that I had been in
England had taught me much as regards the rules of so-called society.
In England there was formality and etiquette which did not exist in the
Colonies, particularly at the Cape. Friendship in England and at the
Cape conveyed entirely different meanings. At the latter, a friend's
house was almost like your own: you did not think it necessary to wait
for a special invitation to go to dinner and take a bed, but if you rode
over in the afternoon it was considered unfriendly if you did not stop
till the next morning. I had forgotten these conditions, and so had
first stopped at an hotel. By noon, however, I had reached Mr
Rossmar's house, and was received as though I had been a long-lost
brother.
I was surprised, when I saw the Miss Rossmars, to find that they were
more pretty than any girls I had seen in London. They had, too, the
great charm of being natural and unaffected, and to be less occupied in
seeking admiration than English young ladies. In spite of what I had
gone through in the Zulu country, I was in reality merely a boy when I
formerly stayed at Wynberg. Now I was a man; and the experience I had
gained in society in London had made me capable of judging of the
relative merits of that great paradox,--a young lady.
A certain portion of the day was occupied in making arrangements for my
voyage to Natal. I found that a small vessel would sail from Table Bay
in a month's time, and I had made arrangements with the owners to use
this vessel almost as if she were my own. I had brought from England
quantities of beads of various colours, looking glasses, blankets, and
some hundreds of assagy blades that I had caused to be made at
Birmingham. All these things were, I knew, highly esteemed by the
Caffres, and would purchase nearly everything they possessed. I was not
so busy with my preparations but that I had plenty of time to pass with
the Miss Rossmars. We rode nearly every day, had climbing expeditions
up the Table Mountain, musical afternoons at home when the weather was
not suitable for going out, and in fact enjoyed ourselves as people in
the Colonies alone seem to do.
The natural results followed. I became much attached to Nina Rossmar,
but as this is not a love story, but merely an account of my adventures
in the wild country of south-eastern Africa, I will not weary my readers
with the old, old tale, but will merely state that I wrote to my father
and uncle, asking their consent to my marriage with Nina. These letters
I wrote before I started for Natal, as I hoped the answers would be
awaiting me on my return.
The month passed very rapidly, and I embarked at Table Bay in the little
brigantine which was to convey me to Natal. I have sailed since that
time on many seas, but the roughest I ever experienced is off the Cape.
Well was this Cape termed the Cape of Storms, for there seemed a storm
always on hand, and no sooner had the wind been blowing hard in one
direction and then stopped, than a gale sprung up from the opposite
point of the compass. Many times, as the huge waves came rolling
towards us and seemed to be about to break over us, I thought nothing
could save us from being sent to the bottom, or turned over; but the
little vessel, which drew only eight feet of water, was like a duck on
the ocean, and though she bounded like a thing of life as the monstrous
waves approached and moved under her, she was very dry, scarcely any
seas washing over her. We were, however, thirty days on our voyage from
Table Bay to the Bluff at Natal, and we had to anchor on our first
arrival, as the wind was off shore. I scanned the well-known coast as
we lay at our anchorage, and recalled the strange scenes through which I
had passed. There were the high-wooded bluff on the west entrance to
the harbour, the low sandy hillocks to the east, where I had run the
gauntlet of the Zulus, the dense wood of the Berea bush, and the islands
in the bay where I had outwitted the Zulus, when I was in the boat. Now
that I was again in the vicinity of these scenes of my early days, I
felt in doubt as to whether I was not more a Caffre than an Englishman.
I found myself actually thinking in Caffre, and speaking sentences in
that language to myself.
I noted that there were several houses near the entrance of the harbour
and up the bay which did not exist when I left Natal. These, I
afterwards found, were the houses of some Dutchmen who had settled
there.
The wind having changed the day after our arrival, we entered the bay,
having crossed the bar in safety.
It seemed strange, after my experiences of civilised life, to come to a
place where there was not an hotel, or any house where one could put up.
I had, however, made my plans from my knowledge of the country, and had
provided myself with waterproof sheeting that I could turn into a small
tent, and so was independent of a house. The Dutch Boer, when he
travels, makes his waggon his house, and is thus as independent as an
English gipsy. I took the first opportunity of landing, and making the
acquaintance of the few Dutchmen who resided at Natal. My knowledge of
the Dutch language, which I had acquired at Cape Town, was now of great
use. I thought it prudent not to let the Dutchmen know of my
experiences in the country, but to be quite independent of them in my
future proceedings. I made arrangements for the hire of a pony during
my stay in the country, and also two oxen, which had been trained to
carry packages and were termed pack-oxen by the Boers. I believed that
I had so altered that none of my old Caffre comrades would recognise me,
and I intended to travel among them--at least at first--without letting
them know who I was.
One of the Boers asked me to stay at his house, but I preferred
remaining on the ship until I made my start up the country.
The first visit I paid was to the kraal of Umnini, near the Umlass
river. I took one of the Caffre servants of the Boer with me; this
Caffre could speak Dutch, and I wanted to conceal my knowledge of Caffre
for some time, so I spoke to him in Dutch, and asked him to speak in
Caffre to the Caffres.
On arriving at the kraal of Umnini, I was interested as to whether I
should be recognised by these men. During the interval that had elapsed
since I was last at the kraal of Umnini, I had increased in height, and
had developed whiskers; the change in my appearance, therefore, was
considerable, and I considered it unlikely that I should be remembered.
The Caffre with me told the people of the kraal that I was one of the
Boers, he knowing no better, and that I had come to trade, and wished
for leopards' skins and elephants' tusks.
Several of the men who were present I remembered: these men had been
with me often, but although they looked at me very hard they none of
them seemed to remember me. Having ascertained from my Caffre that I
could not speak their language, they made their remarks on me very
freely. These remarks were complimentary. They said I did not look
like a Boer, but must be a young chief. "He has the head of a chief,"
said one man, and the others agreed with him. They also decided that I
must be strong and a good runner. These and other similar remarks I
listened to with much amusement, but without giving the slightest sign
that I understood what they were saying. After a time Umnini came to
me, and, after looking at me for some time, said, "It is the young White
Chief of the Umzimvubu." The men who had been speaking about me smiled
at this remark, and said to Umnini, "No, chief, it is not him, it is a
young Boer." Umnini looked at me very attentively, but I gave no sign
either of recognising him, or understanding what he said.
Speaking in Dutch to my Caffre, I told him to ask the chief if he had
any ostrich-feathers, or elephants' tusks, as I wished to buy them.
He replied that he had a few tusks, and wanted to know what I would give
for them.
Having brought with me some beads as specimens and a few blades of
assagies, I showed him these, but he said that what he wanted was guns.
The talking continued for some time, and I at length asked that I might
see the tusks. Umnini said I could go with him into his kraal where the
tusks were kept. We alone entered his hut, and he then pointed to six
fine tusks, but believing that I could not understand what he said, he
made signs that they belonged to three elephants.
Having carried my joke far enough, I looked at Umnini and said in
Caffre:--
"Chief, you alone were correct and you alone knew me. I _am_ the White
Chief of the Umzimvubus, and I have come back to see you again, and to
bring you some things you will like. I am going also to see my own
tribe to the west."
Umnini scarcely seemed surprised, as I told him who I was, but said he
had been certain about it when he saw me.
Our conversation, which had not been heard outside of the hut, had been
carried on in a low tone; so no one besides Umnini knew who I was. I
told him I did not wish to be known at present, and asked him to keep my
secret. He agreed to this, and when we crept out of the hut he did his
acting splendidly, and spoke to my Caffre, asking him to enquire of me
what I thought of the tusks.
I replied in Dutch, saying I would buy them. Then bidding good-bye to
the people, I returned to the ship.
Two days afterwards I started with two Caffres and a Hottentot for my
old residence near the Umzimvubu. The pony I rode was a good shooting
pony, and on the first day I shot two coran and a red bush-buck, which
supplied the party with plenty of food. On the second day I reached my
old kraal, and was again anxious to see if I should be recognised. I
was not long in doubt. Inyoni, my old boy-companion, had now grown into
a fine young man, and was standing near the entrance to the kraal,
watching me and my companions as we advanced. When close to him he
looked at me for an instant, and then shouted, "Inkosi" (chief), and
seized my hand. His shout had brought out all the people who were in
the kraal, each of whom recognised me. Those whom I had left as boys,
and little girls, were now young men and women, and all were delighted
to see me. The Hottentot and Caffres, who had accompanied me from
Natal, looked on with astonishment, and when they heard me speaking
Caffre as well as they themselves spoke, they seemed to think it was
witchcraft.
I had a busy time of it answering all the questions that were put to me
by my old friends, who were anxious to know what I had been doing, where
I had been, and whether I intended to again live with them. When I told
them how I had passed day after day in a room, in the midst of a large
city (London), and had rarely seen the sun, and had shot no buck, had
not even seen a wild elephant, and had enjoyed no sport, they were
astonished how it was I had gone through all this, when I could have
come back at any time, and enjoyed the free, happy, exciting life of a
chief with them.
The arguments used by my old friends have often been considered since
that time by me, and the problem is a curious one, whether civilisation,
with all its advantages, has not so many drawbacks as to render the
wild, free, healthy life of so-called savages preferable.
At the date about which I write, there was no sport in the world finer
than could be obtained in that part of Africa. Such sport as
fox-hunting in England, deer-stalking in Scotland, pheasant, partridge,
or grouse shooting, was as inferior to the sport in Africa as catching
minnows is to salmon-fishing in a fine Canadian river. When a man has
once followed the track of the giant elephant, through the mazes of an
African bush, has come close to his formidable game, has fired at him,
and heard the terrific sound of his angry trumpet, as he charges through
the bush, he feels that he has enjoyed a class of sport superior to all
other. Even stealthily approaching and slaying the formidable buffalo,
in his forest stronghold, is a sport to be remembered all one's life.
To attempt to compare such sport as standing at the corner of a cover,
and knocking over pheasants as they fly over you, with the sport
formerly obtainable in the forests or on the plains of Africa is
ridiculous.
"Why do you not come back to us, and enjoy life?" said Tembile;--"you,
who could follow the tracks of a buck without a mistake, who could
assagy a running buck, and hit with your knob-kerrie a bird on the wing.
Here you could have plenty of cows, plenty of corn, several wives, and,
as you are a chief, you could do all you wanted. What can there be in
your country to compare with what we have here?"
As I listened to Tembile, and reflected on what he said, and then
thought of the life I had led in my uncle's office, I really began to
think that civilisation was a mistake. What prince or duke in England
could go out from his house, and within a few miles get a shot at a wild
elephant or buffalo, or walk through as magnificent a forest as that
near our kraal, and shoot antelope, or rare and beautiful birds? The
freedom, too, of the life here was one of its greatest charms. Although
the advantages of civilisation are great, yet the price we pay for these
is enormous. Should I return to England and become a sort of slave to
society, or should I remain in Africa? was really a question which I
thought over frequently. The attraction at Wynberg, however, turned the
scale.
Soon after my arrival at my old kraal, I had made inquiries about the
white women who had been my fellow-passengers from India, but I found
there was a disinclination on the part of the Caffres to give me any
information about them. I afterwards spoke to Tembile about them,
because I knew I could trust him to tell me the truth. He said that the
Caffres were afraid, now that I had been so long among white men, that I
might endeavour to take away the white women; so they had been
concealed, and I was not to know where they lived.
I assured Tembile that I had no intentions of that sort, and I believed
it would be better for the white women, to now remain with their
husbands and children, than for them to return with me.
Having made various inquiries, I heard that there were more than a dozen
elephants' tusks in the kraal near, some of them very heavy, but the
Caffres had no wish to dispose of their ostrich-feathers. These
feathers they used as head-dresses when great dances took place, and
were very proud of them. I told the Caffres that I wanted as many tusks
as I could procure, and, as I had now some very strong guns, I should
like to find elephants and shoot them.
I had been five days at the kraal of my old friends, when news was
brought that the elephants, according to their annual custom were coming
westward, and were only a day's journey from our kraal.
I therefore assembled all the men whom I had formerly taught to use a
gun, and told them that I wished their help in shooting some of the
largest elephants. I explained to them that an elephant might be hit by
many bullets and yet would not be killed, unless he were struck by the
bullet behind the shoulder, or in the chest. I then said that I could
give them powder and could make bullets for them, so that they need not
expend the store of those which they had carefully preserved in case
they were attacked again by the Zulus. The Caffres expressed their
willingness to join me in my shooting expedition, but reminded me that
there was as much danger in attacking elephants as there was in a fight
with the Zulus. I admitted that there was danger, but that, if we were
careful, we need none of us get hurt.
I had brought with me from England two large-bored double-barrelled
guns, which I knew would be well-suited for shooting elephants or other
large game, and I had practised with these guns at Cape Town, and could
make nearly certain of hitting a mark the size of a man's head at eighty
yards nearly every time I fired. I felt, therefore, great confidence in
my weapons, and I intended to take Tembile with me when I hunted, and to
make him carry my second gun, by which means I could obtain four shots
at any one elephant.
News was brought us two or three times a day by Caffres, as to where the
elephants were feeding and what they were doing; so, all our plans being
arranged, I started with Tembile and four other Caffres for that part of
the bush where it was thought we should find the elephants.
The bush in this part of Africa consisted of large trees, about ten or
twenty paces apart. Between these there was dense matted underwood, so
thick and tangled that a man could not force his way through it. From
the trees creepers of large size hung in festoons, like large ropes.
Some of these had projecting from them thorns an inch or more in length,
and sharp as a needle. The dense underwood rose to a height of three
men, so that it was in many places impossible to see round you a greater
distance than you could reach with an assagy. The only means of moving
through the bush in these dense parts was by following the paths made by
the elephants. When a herd of these animals had been for any length of
time in the bush, they made so many paths that it was easy to move about
in the bush; but the growth of the vegetation was so rapid, that a few
weeks after the elephants had left the bush it had again overgrown the
old paths, and was once more impenetrable.
Elephants usually left the thick bush during the night or very early in
the morning; they would then roam about in the open country, and drink
at some stream or pond. When possible, they would roll in the wet mud,
like pigs; then, as day broke, they would re-enter the bush, seek the
densest parts, and there remain quiet during the heat of the day.
I had decided that the best chance of success with the elephants would
be to follow them into the bush, come upon them during the middle of the
day, and get our shots at them as they stood half sleeping in the bush.
The Caffres, I knew, could walk so quietly in the bush, that, if we were
careful about the direction of the wind, we might approach the herd
without their being aware that an enemy was near them.
A day's journey brought our party to the country where the elephants had
now taken up their residence. The Caffres near were most anxious about
their crops, for they expected the elephants would come some night and
eat up, or trample down their corn. We found that the elephants had not
drank during the previous day; so we felt sure they would drink during
the coming night. Some large ponds near the edge of the bush was the
place where it was expected they would satisfy their thirst, so we sent
some Caffre boys to keep watch near these ponds, and to let us know the
news as soon as possible.
The sun had not risen on the following morning when our spies came into
the kraal, and told us that the elephants were now drinking and rolling
at these ponds; that there were nearly a hundred of them; and, among
these, three enormous bull-elephants, with tusks nearly as long as an
assagy.
This news was very gratifying. So, after we had eaten our breakfasts
and taken some corn with us, we started for the bush. We examined the
footprints and marks made by the animals, and could easily distinguish
those made by the three large bulls. To follow these tracks into the
forest was easy. The bush-path was clear and well trodden; so we moved
on silently, but not too quickly.
When we were some distance in the bush, we heard the trumpet of an
elephant; and I came to the conclusion that we were now within half a
mile of our formidable game. Having sat down and talked in whispers for
some time, we then slowly advanced, peeping through the bush whenever
any opening gave us a chance of doing so.
I was leading, and was followed by Tembile, who carried my second gun;
then the other men came after, each stepping on the same spot, so that
we incurred but slight risk of treading on any dried stick, for to crack
a stick in the bush would have given the elephants warning of our
approach. Suddenly Tembile touched my shoulder, and, on my looking
round, he pointed to my right, and then stood motionless. On looking in
the direction at which Tembile was pointing, I saw an enormous elephant
standing motionless and broadside to me, and not ten paces distant.
Signalling to two of the Caffres to approach, I pointed to the
elephant's shoulder, and, raising my gun, fired my two barrels in quick
succession. Each of the Caffres fired a shot, then we turned and rushed
down the path up which we had advanced. For an instant there was no
sound except the echoes of our guns. Then the most tremendous screams
and trumpetings were given by some fifty elephants, and we heard the
branches of the trees snapping like a succession of rifle-shots.
We could not tell at first in which direction the elephants were moving,
the noise of the broken branches coming from all around us. After a
time, however, we learned from the sounds that the herd was moving away
from us. Having reloaded my gun, we advanced with great caution to the
spot from which we had fired. The elephant was not there, but his
tracks were quite distinct. He had rushed forward through the bush, and
had carried everything before him--trees being carried away as though
they were mere sticks.
A few paces from where he had stood we found blood in abundance, and
from the appearance of this blood the Caffres assured me the monster
must soon die. It was dangerous work following this wounded elephant,
because he would be more savage now than at any time; so we had to
advance with great caution. We had not gone far, however, before we saw
him leaning against a tree, swinging his trunk about, and swaying his
huge body. The Caffres told me not to fire, as he must soon fall, and
to fire would disturb the remainder of the herd. We waited only a short
time, when the elephant slipped down and remained quiet. Tembile
cautiously approached it and signalled to us that it was dead. We had
no fear of the game being carried off, so we left it in the bush and
again followed the remainder of the herd.
When elephants have been alarmed they rush away through the bush for
about a mile, then stop and become very cautious; to approach them
requires the greatest care, as they are then on the watch, and, their
scent and hearing being both very acute, the approach of a man is soon
discovered.
The traces of the elephants were easily followed, and we knew when we
were close to them by the rumbling noise we heard. A large elephant was
soon seen, standing flapping his large ears, and with his trunk raised
so as to scent the air; but our approach had been so cautious that the
animal had not discovered us, and he received eight bullets behind the
shoulder before he had time to move. He did not charge as we expected,
but ran only a few yards and then dropped. Two large-tusked elephants
were thus killed, but we wanted two more; for we had seen by the
footprints that there were two other large bulls in this herd.
During the whole of this and the following day we followed the herd, and
killed five large elephants, all with magnificent tusks. Such sport I
was aware I should never again enjoy, and so I made the most of it.
After four days the whole of this ivory was conveyed to Natal Bay, and I
had bid my old friends good-bye. I hardly liked parting with them, and
held out hopes that I would again return to their country; I feared,
however, that I should not be able to do so, for when once settled in
England it would be difficult for me to leave.
On my return to Natal, I found the Dutchman who was there had collected
several large tusks, and also many hundred ostrich-feathers, so that I
had a large stock to carry back to Cape Town. My voyage to Cape Town
was rapid, a fair wind all the way; and in seven days after leaving
Natal, I was once more at Wynberg, and at the house of my friends. I
found letters there both from my father and uncle, in both of which
consent was given to my marriage with Miss Rossmar.
After a month's residence at Cape Town we were married, and started for
England. Fair winds and fine weather favoured us, and in sixty days
after leaving Cape Town we reached England.
My life now became one of comparative monotony. I worked with my uncle,
and after a time succeeded him in his business. Money was plentiful: my
wife possessed a good fortune, and my uncle at his death left me all his
property, which was considerable.
I owned a house in London and also one in the country; in the vicinity
of the latter there is what is called in England good sport--partridges,
pheasants, hares, and rabbits being numerous. But such sport was to me
dull and uninteresting; I was always remembering my sport in Africa, and
had a longing for again roaming through an African forest in search of
large game; but civilisation had advanced in South Africa, and I heard
that where I had followed the tracks of elephants, sugar plantations and
corn-fields now existed, and that even the Caffres had lost their
simplicity, and were now in that disagreeable condition of being
half-civilised.
My father had retired from the Indian service, and had taken a pretty
house in the country near me, but was often complaining of the climate
and habits of England. To him India was the most charming country in
the world, and the servants in India were the very best. Still he
managed to enjoy himself and passed much of his time with me, listening
to my account of the incidents that had happened to me in Africa.
I had missed in my early youth the training usually given to gentlemen's
sons: I knew but little Greek or Latin; of history I was ignorant; of
mathematics I had but a superficial knowledge. Yet my early training
had been of a very practical kind, and was of benefit to me in
after-life. I had learned to rough it in my youth, and to do everything
for myself. Although I kept many servants, yet I was not dependent on
these, as most people are in civilised countries. I could, if required,
light my own fire and cook my own meals, and I should have felt it no
hardship to do either.
Although I fully appreciated the advantage of a large and well-furnished
house, yet I could have been quite happy in a hut no bigger than a
Caffre kraal. And I had learned the great secret, that if we curtail
our wants, we arrive at the same result, as though we increased our
income. My wants were few, and these I had ample means of supplying.
Instead of working on at my late uncle's business till I became too old
to enjoy freedom, I gave up the business whilst I was still
comparatively young, and devoted my attention to various subjects in
which I was interested; so that, although my early education had been
very different from that of most boys, it had been of a thoroughly
practical kind. I had learned self-dependence and could help myself,
and envied no man. I watched with interest the changes that took place
in South Africa, and my only regret was, in seeing how affairs were
managed out there by those who seemed utterly ignorant of everything
connected with the country and the people. I sometimes offered
suggestions when it appealed that catastrophes must occur if matters
went on as they were going. My opinions were ignored, and the disasters
occurred, but such results are not unusual. My career as a White Chief
of the Caffres was not without its charms to me, both during its
existence and now as a reminiscence; and I trust it may have afforded
amusement to my young readers.