The voyage to the Cape passed without any incident whatever. The
weather was fine the whole distance. Without even a single storm to
break the monotony they touched at Capetown and Port Elizabeth, and at
last arrived at Durban. The journey had not been too long for the boys;
everything was so perfectly new to them that they were never tired of
watching the sea and looking for porpoises and the shoals of fish, over
which hovered thousands of birds.
Once or twice they saw a whale spout, while flying-fish were matters of
hourly occurrence. They had prodigious appetites, and greatly enjoyed
the food, which was altogether different to that to which they had been
accustomed. They had stopped at Madeira and St Vincent, where great
stocks of delicious fruit had been taken on board. Altogether they were
quite sorry when they arrived at the end of the voyage.
The landing was effected in large boats, as the _Dunster Castle_ drew
too much water to cross the bar at the mouth of the harbour.
They stopped only one day at Durban, where Mr Humphreys hired a waggon
to take the party to Pieter-Maritzburg, the capital. He was not
encumbered with baggage, as he had decided to buy everything he wanted
in the colony.
"You may pay dearer," he said, "no doubt; but then you get just what you
want. If I were to take out implements, they might not be suited to the
requirements of the country. As for clothes, they would of course be
pretty much the same everywhere; still, it is better to take out only a
year's requirements and to buy as we want, instead of lumbering over the
country with a quantity of heavy baggage."
The party were greatly amused at their first experience of a Cape
waggon; it was of very large size, massively built, and covered with a
great tilt; and it was drawn by sixteen oxen, spanned two by two. This
was an altogether unnecessary number for the weight which had to be
carried, but the waggon had come down loaded from the interior, and Mr
Humphreys therefore paid no more than he would have done for a waggon
with a small number of oxen. They took two days to accomplish the
journey, the women sleeping at night in the waggon, and Mr Humphreys
and his sons in blankets on the ground.
The driver, who was an Englishman, had been many years in the colony,
and from him, upon the road, Mr Humphreys gained much valuable
information about the country. The driver was assisted by two Kaffirs,
one of whom walked ahead of the leading cattle, the other alongside,
shouting and prodding them.
The boys were astonished at the power and accuracy with which the driver
whirled his whip; this had a short handle and a lash of twenty yards
long, and with it he was able to hit any animal of the team with
absolute certainty, and indeed to make the thong alight on any part of
their bodies at which he aimed.
On their arrival at Pieter-Maritzburg Mr Humphreys hired a house, and
here he placed his party while he set to work to make inquiries after a
suitable location. He soon heard of several places which seemed
suitable, and having bought a horse started for Newcastle, a small town
situated close to the frontier-line between the Transvaal and Natal.
He was away for three weeks, and on his return informed his wife that he
had purchased a farm of 2000 acres, with a substantial farmhouse, at a
distance of ten miles from Newcastle, for the sum of 1500 pounds.
The farmhouse was already roughly furnished, but Mr Humphreys purchased
a number of other articles, which would make it comfortable and
home-like. He laid in a great stock of groceries, and then hiring a
waggon, similar to that in which they had before travelled, started with
his party for the farm, having also hired four Kaffirs to assist there.
Travelling by easy stages, it took them twelve days to get to Newcastle.
The country was undulating and the road rose steadily the whole
distance.
Near Pieter-Maritzburg the population was comparatively thick. The
fields were well cultivated and the vegetation thick and luxuriant, but
as they ascended the character of the country changed. Vast stretches
of rolling grass everywhere met the eye. This was now beautifully
green, for it was winter. In the summer and autumn the grass becomes
dry and burnt up; fire is then applied to it, and the whole country
assumes a black mantle. But the first shower of rain brings up the
young grass and in a very short time the country is covered with fresh
verdure.
Mr Humphreys told his wife that, before fixing on the farm, he had
ridden into the Transvaal, and found that land could be purchased there
even more cheaply than in Natal; but that he had much conversation with
English settlers on the frontier, and these had for the most part
strongly advised him to settle inside the Natal frontier.
"It may be that all will be right," one had told him, "but the Boers
have not yet recovered from their scare from Secoceni."
"Who is Secoceni, father?" Dick asked. "The books we have say nothing
about him."
"No," Mr Humphreys said; "they were all published a few years since,
and none of them treat much of the affairs of the Transvaal, which, as
an independent state, had comparatively little interest to English
settlers. There are in the Transvaal, which is of immense extent, a
very large number of natives, enormously outnumbering the Boers. In the
southern districts, where the Boers are strongest, they cruelly
ill-treat the natives, making slaves of them, and thinking no more of
shooting one of them down than they would of shooting a dog. In the
outlying provinces they live almost on sufferance of the natives, and,
were these to unite their forces and rise, they could annihilate the
Dutch. Secoceni is a powerful chief, who lives with his tribe in a
natural stronghold; he has always held himself as independent of the
Dutch. As his men used to make raids upon the Boers' cattle, the latter
attacked him, and in alliance with Swazis, another powerful tribe,
endeavoured to carry his fortress; they were, however, badly beaten; it
being only by the gallantry of their native allies that the Boer
contingent was saved from destruction. Secoceni then took the
offensive. A perfect panic seized the Boers; they refused to obey the
orders of their government, and to turn out to resist the invaders. The
treasury was empty, for their government had never been enabled to
persuade them to pay taxes. They applied for aid to Natal, but finally
their plight was so bad that they were glad to accept the offer which
Mr Shepstone made them, of annexation to England, by which they secured
our protection and were safe from annihilation. Secoceni was not the
only enemy who threatened them. They had a still more formidable foe in
the Zulus on the eastern frontier. These are a very warlike people, and
it was known that their king meditated the conquest of the Transvaal.
But, glad enough as the Boers were at the moment to accept the
protection of England, now that the danger is over a great many of them
would like to kick down the bridge which has helped them over the
stream. They make no secret of their dislike to Englishmen, and
although they are glad enough to sell their land at prices immensely in
advance of the former value, for indeed land was previously almost
unsaleable in the Transvaal, they are on bad terms with them. One of my
informants describes them as a sullen, sulky people, and predicts that
sooner or later we shall have trouble with them; so I thought it better
altogether to pay a little higher for my land, and to be within the
boundaries of this colony."
On arriving at the farm Mrs Humphreys was glad to find that the house,
though rough, was substantial. It was built of stone. The walls were
of great thickness, as the stones were laid without mortar, with which,
however, it was faced inside and out. One large room occupied the
greater portion of the ground floor; beside this was a small
sitting-room. Upstairs were four bedrooms. For the time the small room
downstairs was turned into a bedroom, which Mr and Mrs Humphreys
occupied. The four bedrooms upstairs just held the rest of the party.
The out-houses consisted only of a large barn and a rough stable.
Mr Humphreys at once rode over to Newcastle, and obtained the services
of a mason and six Kaffirs, and proceeded to add a wing to the
farmhouse. This was for the use of Johnson and his wife, and Harrison.
The whole party were, however, to take their meals together in the great
kitchen. A hut was also built for the Kaffirs, and another large stable
was erected.
A few days after his arrival Mr Humphreys went across the border into
the Transvaal, taking Harrison and two of the Kaffirs with him, and
returned a fortnight later with a herd of 400 cattle, which he had
purchased. He also bought three yoke of oxen, broken to the plough.
Hitherto the farm had been purely a pastoral one, but Mr Humphreys at
once began to break up some land for wheat and Indian corn. The Kaffirs
were set to work to fence and dig up a plot round the house for
vegetables, and to dig holes near it, over a space of some acres, for
the reception of 3000 young fruit-trees--apples, pears, peaches, and
plums,--which he had bought at Pieter-Maritzburg, and which were to come
up in two months' time. He also bought six riding-horses.
In a few weeks the farm assumed quite a different appearance. A gang of
Kaffirs, ten strong, had been hired to hurry on the work of preparing
the orchard and erecting a fence round it. Wood was, Mr Humphreys
found, extremely scarce and dear, the country being absolutely bare of
trees, and wood for fuel was only obtained in kloofs or deep hollows,
and had to be fetched long distances.
"I suppose," Mrs Humphreys said to her husband one evening, "you mean
to make cattle-raising your principal point?"
"No," he said; "every one raises cattle, and the Dutch can do it cheaper
than we can; they have immense tracts of land, and their Kaffir labour
costs them next to nothing. I do not say that we could not live and to
a certain extent thrive on cattle, but I think that there is something
much better to be done. Wood is an awful price here, and all that is
used has to be brought up from the coast. I think therefore of planting
trees. The climate is magnificent, and their growth will be rapid.
They will of course require fencing to keep out the cattle, but I shall
do that, as I am doing the orchard, with wire fencing and light
iron-uprights. Labour is plentiful, and there are large nurseries near
Pieter-Maritzburg, where I can procure any number of young trees; so I
mean to plant 200 acres a year--in ten years the whole farm will be
planted, and the loppings for poles and firewood will in a very short
time after planting begin to pay well. In fifteen years the first 200
acres will be fit to fell, and the property will be worth a very large
sum of money. Of course we can sell out before that if we like. But at
the present price of wood up here, or even should it fall to a quarter
of its present price, the value of the 2000 acres of wood will in twenty
years be extremely large."
The boys were delighted with their new life. Mr Humphreys had, before
leaving England, bought for Dick a Winchester repeating-rifle. These
arms are very light, and Dick was able to carry his without difficulty;
and very shortly after their arrival his father had a mark erected at a
distance from the house, at which he could practise with safety. Game
was abundant all over the country. Herds of deer and antelope of
various kinds often swept past in sight of the farmhouse, and winged
game also abounded.
Mr Humphreys had at home been considered a first-rate shot at
partridges, and had for four or five years belonged to the Castleton
volunteers, and had carried off many prizes for rifle-shooting. He was
now able, by going out for a few hours once or twice a week, to keep the
larder well supplied, and the little flock of fifty sheep, which he had
bought for home-consumption, was but seldom drawn upon. The Kaffirs
were fed upon mealies, as they call Indian corn, of which Mr Humphreys
had no difficulty in purchasing sufficient for his wants from the
neighbouring farmers.
His next neighbours were two brothers, Scotchmen, named Fraser, who
lived at a distance of four miles. They rode over the day after the
travellers' arrival, and offered their services in any way. Mr
Humphreys, however, was well supplied with stores of all kinds, and his
two white labourers, being both handy men, were able to do all that was
required about the house.
The Frasers proved pleasant neighbours, and often rode over and spent
Sunday with the Humphreys, and the boys sometimes went over and spent
the day with them.
A Kaffir lad, son of one of the men engaged upon the farm, was hired by
Mr Humphreys as a special attendant for Dick. On these vast undulating
plains, where there are no trees to serve as a landmark, it is
exceedingly difficult for a stranger to find his way. Dick was told by
his father that, whether riding or walking, he was always to take the
Kaffir boy with him; and except when he was indulging in a gallop the
lad was easily able to keep up with him. He had been born a hunter, and
soon taught Dick how to stalk the timid deer, and, as the lad improved
in his shooting, he was ere long enabled to keep the larder supplied--a
duty which Mr Humphreys gladly handed over to him, as every minute of
his own time was occupied by his work on the farm.
Of an evening after supper, which was partaken of at the conclusion of
work, the men retired to their own wing and Mrs Humphreys and the two
girls sat down to their sewing by the fire; for upon the uplands the
evenings are quite cold enough to find a fire a comfort in winter. Then
the boys would take out their lesson-books and work steadily for three
hours. Under the changed conditions of their life, Mr Humphreys felt
that Dick might, if he chose, well discontinue his study of the
classics, and his work therefore consisted in the reading of history,
travels, and books of scientific knowledge.
"Next to being a learned man," his father said to him, "the best and
most useful thing is to be a thoroughly well-informed man on all general
subjects."
John, however, continued his studies as before; his life of outdoor
exercise strengthened and improved him, and he no longer wished to be
always sitting with a book in his hand--still, he had a natural love of
study, which his father encouraged, deeming it possible that as he grew
up he might be unwilling to embrace the life of a colonist, in which
case he determined to send him home to finish his education in England,
and afterwards to start him in any profession he might select.
Finding that the cost of carriage up the country was very high, and as
he would yearly require many waggon-loads of young trees and fencing Mr
Humphreys determined to do his own teaming; he therefore bought two of
the large country-waggons and set a Kaffir to work to break in some
young steers to the yoke.
Six months after their arrival in the colony they had for the first time
visitors to stay at the farm--Mr Jackson, his wife, his son Tom, and
two daughters coming out to settle near them. This was a great delight
to the boys, and fortunately Mr Jackson was able to buy a farm of 500
acres adjoining that of his friend; the house, however, was but a cabin,
and while a fresh one was being erected the family remained guests of
the Humphreys. Mr Jackson had, at his friend's advice, brought with
him from England a labourer with his wife and family, who at once took
up their residence in the hut on the farm.
To Dick the coming of the Jacksons was a source of special pleasure.
Tom was just his own age, and the two boys had become inseparable
friends at home after their adventure in the snow, upon which occasion
Tom, as he freely owned, had owed his life to Dick's energy and
promptness of suggestion. Dick was fond of his brother, but three years
make a great difference at this period of life, and, as their tastes
were wholly dissimilar, John had never been a companion for him. Since
their arrival in South Africa they had got on very well together; still,
they had not the same ideas or subjects of thought, and it was an
immense delight to Dick to have his old friend and companion with him.
It must not be supposed that Dick's time was occupied solely in
amusement; from early morning until dinner-time he worked steadily.
Sometimes he assisted to erect the hurdles and strain the wires of the
fencing; at others he aided in the planting of the fruit-trees; then he
would be with the Kaffirs who were breaking in the oxen for the waggons.
At all times he took off his coat and worked with the rest, for, as his
father said--
"If a farmer is to be able properly to look after men at work, he must
be able to do the work himself."
While Dick was at work with the men, John, who was too young to be of
any use, remained indoors at his books, and, although of an afternoon he
would stroll out, he seldom went far from the house. The other boys
generally went for long rides when work was done. One day they sighted
a herd of steinbock. Leaving their horses with the Kaffir lad in a
hollow, they crept round so as to get the deer between them and the
wind, and managed to reach unobserved a brow within a hundred yards of
the herd. Dick had by this time become a good shot, and the buck at
which he aimed fell dead in its tracks. Tom was not much of a shot, but
he had fired into the thick of the deer and gave a shout of delight at
seeing one of them fall. The rest of the herd dashed off at full speed.
Tom ran, shouting, forward, but to his mortification the stag that he
had hit rose again to its feet and went off at a trot in the direction
taken by the others; a minute later the Kaffir boy was seen running
towards them at his full speed, leading the horses.
The two boys on his arrival leapt into their saddles and started in
pursuit of the wounded stag, which was still in sight, thinking at first
they could easily ride it down. But the animal seemed rather to gain
than to lose strength, and, although they had considerably lessened the
start he had obtained of them, he still kept steadily on. Active and
wiry as their horses were, they could not overtake it, and the boys had
at last the mortification of seeing that the stag was now gaining upon
them, and they presently drew rein, and their panting horses came to a
standstill.
"What a horrid sell!" Tom Jackson exclaimed angrily. "I can't
understand his going like that after I fairly brought him down."
"I expect," Dick said, "that your bullet can only have grazed his skull;
it stunned him for the moment, but after he had once come to himself he
went on as briskly as usual. If he had been hard hit we should
certainly have ridden him down."
"Well, I suppose," Tom said more good-humouredly, "there is nothing for
it but to ride back."
"But which is our road?" Dick said in some dismay. "I am sure I have
no idea, and now that the sun is gone in there is nothing to steer by."
While they had been riding, the day had changed; the sky, which had for
weeks been bright and fine, was now overcast with heavy clouds.
"We are in for a storm, I think," Dick went on, "and it is coming on
fast. I have not an idea which way to go, and I think our best plan
will be to halt. Joel will track us, and the farther we go the longer
he will be in overtaking us. There is the first drop! The best thing
to do, Tom, will be to take off our saddles and tether our horses, and
then to wait. This storm is a nuisance; in the first place we shall be
drenched, in the second it will wash out our tracks, and the darkness
will come so quickly that I am afraid Joel will not be able to trace us.
You see we do not know whether we have been riding straight or not; the
stag may have been running in a circle for anything we know, and as we
have been riding for something like two hours, we may be within five
miles of home or we may be five and twenty."
Scarcely had the boys got the saddles off and tethered their horses when
the rain came down in a sheet, accompanied by the most tremendous
thunder and the most vivid lightning Tom had ever seen.
"This is awful, Dick," he said.
"Yes," Dick agreed; "thunderstorms here are frightful. Houses are often
struck; but, lying down here in the open, there is not much fear."
For hours the storm continued unabated; the rain came down in a perfect
deluge. The boys had put their saddles together and had covered these
with the horse-cloths so as to form a sort of tent, but they were
nevertheless soaked to the skin, and, to add to their discomfiture, the
horses had been so frightened by the blinding glare of the lightning
that they tugged at the ropes until, as the wet penetrated the ground,
the pegs became loosened, and they scoured away into the darkness.
After continuing for five hours the rain suddenly ceased.
"What are we to do in the morning, Dick?"
"If it is fine it will be easy enough; we shall put our saddles on our
heads and walk eastward. I have got a little pocket-compass which
father gave me in case I should at any time get lost, so we shall have
no difficulty in keeping our way, and sooner or later we must strike the
road running north to Newcastle."
They did not, however, wait till morning; so wet and chilled were they,
that they agreed they would rather walk than lie still. Accordingly
they put the saddles on their heads as soon as the rain ceased and the
stars shone out, struck a light and looked at their compass, fixed on a
star to steer by, and then set out on their journey.
Fortunately, after two hours' walking, they struck the road at a point
some ten miles from the farm, and were home soon after daybreak, just as
their fathers were about to set out with a body of Kaffirs in search of
them. Joel had returned late at night, having turned his face homeward
when it became too dark to follow the track; the horses had both come in
during the night.