Although living on scanty supplies of food, the men could, on
emergency, travel forty miles in the course of a night and forthwith
engage in battle. The provision-bearers and herds could not, of course,
keep up with the column after the first day, with the result that each
warrior was obliged to carry his own food and equipment. Men frequently
rolled up their shields when marching, as they then became easier
to carry. Those whose feet became sore and swollen were laughed at,
including men who resorted to using sandals of ox-hide.
Let us conclude with a few customs formerly and still observed by
individuals in war-time.
No warrior ever goes off to war without visiting his home, in order
to "take the spirit" along with him, as it is called. The home is the
shrine at which he worships, and where the friendly aid and protection
of departed spirits are sought. When about to leave, two or three
enter the cattle enclosure and, at the upper end thereof, invoke their
ancestral spirits. In the meantime, an old woman has taken her stand
at, though outside, the gate awaiting the men's departure. She holds in
her hand an ordinary hand-broom of grass. With this she flicks the calf
of each warrior as he goes forth, thereby metaphorically warding off
the dangers towards which he is moving, but says nothing. The custom is
general, though not invariably practised.
After the men leave, various customs are observed by the women. The
huts just vacated by the men are carefully swept. A fire is forthwith
kindled in each, so as to make everything there bright and cheery. This
is done to encourage the return of the soldier and avert his remaining
eternally away. With the same object, his mat is carefully shaken and
rolled up, an ear of millet being put inside it. It is then stood
upright at the end of the hut (the usual position in normal times is
horizontal). And in such position it remains until the owner's return.
If he is injured, it is taken down.
Quarrelling of all kinds is studiously refrained from, as such is
supposed to draw the absent ones into danger. Not only women and
girls, but the whole establishment, including little children, observe
the most orderly and quiet behaviour, crying infants being hushed as
speedily as possible.
Wives and mothers mark their faces by rubbing with a specially-prepared
black paste of ashes, earth, etc. The marks are of various designs, the
most general being a semi-circle over each eye, the two meeting at the
top of the nose, or a 1-1/2 inch diameter circle on each cheek. The
tops of their leather skirts, too, are reversed, i.e. the nap thereon
is turned outwards.
Occasionally bitter-apple (_solanum_) berries are rolled slowly
along that side of the hut on which the warrior was in the habit of
sleeping, the berry being aimed to go out by the doorway and so carry
all possibilities of harm along with it.
The same berries, two or three of them, may be threaded on to a cord,
as also a rabbit tail, the whole being tied as a necklace round the
throat to ward off evil.
Other customs, not less quaint, are observed by mothers-in-law.
A sprig of wild asparagus is often stuck in the thatch over the doorway
of a hut to safeguard the home.
The black markings on the face and the wearing of the berries represent
formal suppression of ordinary personal feeling or the deliberate
assumption of an ugly, callous, and unsympathetic disposition.
When husbands or sons are killed, various other customs are conformed
to by women.
Turning to the soldiers themselves, we find that when any of the
enemy are killed in battle, those responsible for the deaths proceed
to rip open the deceased's stomach. This is done as it is feared the
deceased's unreleased spirit will invest the one who slew him and turn
him into a raving lunatic. He must also strip or, at least, partly
strip the corpse of its clothing and wear it himself until, having
cleansed himself in accordance with various formalities, he can resume
his own.
Those who have killed others, eat and live entirely apart from the main
body. This seclusion continues for many days. During this time, they
observe other formalities before being finally washed with drugs and
allowed to associate with their comrades. They are treated with great
respect, the best and fattest portions of meat are served out to them,
and they are entitled to wear the decorations previously referred to.
A coward, on the other hand, is subjected to the greatest indignities.
His meat is handed to him after having been dipped in cold water. This
causes girls to laugh at him. Not infrequently his fiancée will break
off the engagement, on the ground that he has so far unmanned himself
as to have become a woman. Being a woman, he naturally must not look
to another woman to become his wife! To such extent is this carried,
that one hears of cases where girls actually uncover themselves in his
presence by way of shaming him.
* * * * *
And so one could go on describing the inner life of this remarkable
race, but sufficient has been said to enable the reader to understand
those with whom the Natal Government was, in 1906, called on to deal.
The character of their tactics and military habits and customs has
been roughly outlined in the foregoing sketch, which, as everyone who
lives in the country knows, is descriptive not of a system of life gone
by, but of one that was largely revived and practised by those who
took part in the fighting, rebels as well as loyalists. The present is
understood by studying the past, or, as a Zulu would say: _Inyati i
buzwa kwa ba pambili_ (news of the buffalo is sought of those who are
ahead). Thus the chapter which, at first, seemed to deal only with old
bones is found, on examination, to be a picture of the people as they
were at the beginning of the campaign.
NOTE.
THE REBEL ORGANIZATION IN 1906.
_State of affairs among the tribes._--On assuming the government
of Natal, England found many disconnected tribes. This state of
affairs has continued to exist to the present day, with the result
that any attempts of Natives to organize among themselves have been
confined chiefly to the limits of individual tribes. When Zululand was
conquered, the principle of dissevering politically-connected tribes
was followed, first by Sir Garnet Wolseley, later, and to greater
extent, when the magistracies were established.
Although the policy of _divide et impera_ has failed to destroy much
of the natural affinity between tribes, there is no doubt it has also
helped to drive others still further apart. The animosities between
many of them are proverbial. The efforts of any Chief at organization
have, moreover, been checked by a provision in the Code which
prescribes penalties for "summoning an armed assembly of his tribe"
or "classing or causing to be classed, the men of his tribe into
companies or regiments," without the permission of the Supreme Chief.
Notwithstanding this, various Chiefs have, for many years, divided
their men into regiments and companies. In some cases, this has been
done innocently by loyal men, in others by men not so loyal. No harm,
however, arose out of the practice until the Insurrection took place,
and even then the Government gained more, perhaps, from loyal Chiefs
who happened to be semi-organized, _e.g._ Sibindi, Mveli, Sitshitshili
and Mfungelwa, than it suffered from those who were openly disloyal,
_e.g._ Bambata and Sigananda.
The Poll Tax Act was, of course, a powerful agent in breaking down the
long-standing differences referred to, whilst the order to kill off
pigs and white fowls further influenced large numbers to unite and
rebel. It was never possible to determine in any satisfactory way how
many were prepared to join those actually in the field, even though
approximate estimates of the latter could always be arrived at. It
is enough, at this stage, to say that about 150 men struck the first
decisive blow and that, although probably 1,000 adherents were gained
at Nkandhla within the next two or three weeks, further accessions
were determined rather by the successes met with than by a feeling
that the methods adopted were the best available for securing the end
in view. As these successes were insignificant, the rebels that joined
did so in small lots at a time. Had the troops met with two or three
reverses, especially at the beginning, it is probable thousands would
have gone over, only to be followed by thousands of others if the
efforts of these again had proved successful.
_Leaders._--Suitable and experienced leaders were wanting; not that
capable men could not be found, but the most capable were the ones who
best realized the difficulties of the undertaking and the poor chances
of success. There is no doubt that many Chiefs espoused the cause
whilst pretending to be personally loyal, and this when many members
of their tribes had deserted to join the rebels.
_Arms and ammunition._--As there was no law forbidding the keeping of
assegais and shields, it may be assumed nearly every Native in the
Colony was fully armed, though many would not have been in possession
of war shields.
The law was strict in regard to firearms. Natives in general on the
south-west side of the Tugela possessed no more than 200 registered
guns, if so many. In Zululand, there were as many as 5,105 in
1897;[75] by 1904, they had not increased beyond 5,126--all of them
registered. Of the latter, about 90 per cent. were of the old Tower
musket, smooth-bore, and other obsolete types.
Apart from legally held guns, Dinuzulu was in possession of a number
which he had failed to register, some of them obtained at the time
of the Boer War. He also had large quantities of ammunition of
various kinds, obtained at the same time and in other ways. How many
other guns were owned by his late tribe or other tribes associated
therewith, as well as other Zululand and Natal tribes, it is quite
impossible to say.
These facts are given to show what would have been available had the
Insurrection become universal. How far the foregoing arms were used
against the troops it is difficult to judge. The majority of those
that were used were of the Martini-Henry, Snider, Lee-Metford and
Mauser types.
_Food supplies._--But for the premature outbreak at "Trewirgie," the
Rebellion would probably not have begun until after all the crops had
been reaped, _i.e._ about May. To have waited until all the grain
was in would have been but to act in accordance with custom. The
rebels, therefore, were somewhat at a disadvantage in regard to grain
supplies. Although the cattle disease, known as East Coast Fever, had
already invaded Zululand in the north, it had not up to that time made
its way across the Umhlatuze, consequently, abundant meat supplies
(cattle as well as goats) were always obtainable in the vicinity of
Nkandhla. The ways in which supplies were procured whilst fighting was
going on at Nkandhla, will be set forth later.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 70: The main reason for outlining here a system suppressed
in 1879 is that it was at a partial revival thereof that the rebels
perpetually aimed. The character of their organization and warfare
was generally in accordance therewith. Nor, seeing many of them had
been obliged to conform thereto in earlier days, is this any cause for
surprise. A description of the old and famous order becomes, therefore,
the best and most illuminating introduction to their methods in 1906.
It will be remembered that when Tshaka set about conquering the various
tribes of Zululand and Natal, some of the more important broke away
and fled to far-off parts, _e.g._ Rhodesia, Lake Nyasa, Gasaland,
etc. Having regard to the enormous prestige acquired by the Zulus,
a prestige which outshone that of any other tribe in South Africa
south of the Equator, not only did tribes adjoining those which had
arrived find it in their interest to copy the habits and customs of the
dominant race and learn their tongue, but more particularly to adopt
the system by which the prestige had been won. Thus a description of
the system has the added interest of perhaps throwing light on what, in
point of fact, has become practically the basic idea or exemplar of all
Native military organizations in South Africa.
Had a tolerably comprehensive sketch of the system and its connected
customs been available, the present attempt would not have been made.]
[Footnote 71: Dingiswayo, Chief of the Mtetwa tribe (near St. Lucia
Bay, Zululand), is, curiously enough, believed to have had one or
more fundamental features of the system suggested to him, either from
observing the organization of British soldiers, as might have been
done in the Cape Colony at the beginning of the nineteenth century,
or, at least, by obtaining a detailed account thereof from some person
familiar therewith.]
[Footnote 72: At intervals, as the hair grew long, it would be removed,
but only to enable it to be sewn closer to the head.]
[Footnote 73: The badge known as _tshokobezi_, worn especially by
followers of Dinuzulu, is referred to later (p. 198, note).]
[Footnote 74: Separate bivouacs were appointed for fear of regiments
fighting one another.]
[Footnote 75: Nearly all these were obtained prior to the Imperial
Government's assumption of control in Zululand (May, 1887).]
V.
EVENTS AND CONDITIONS ANTECEDENT TO OUTBREAK OF HOSTILITIES.--MURDER
OF HUNT AND ARMSTRONG.
About the year 1895 South Africa was invaded from the north by a plague
of locusts. A succession of several abnormally dry seasons, peculiarly
favourable for hatching the young, resulted in the swarms increasing
to alarming proportions. Immense clouds of them swept over the land
in all directions, sometimes so vast as to render dimmer the light of
the sun. Natal, euphemistically though not untruly styled the Garden
Colony, suffered, if anything, more than other parts, and this owing
to the very abundance of her crops and almost tropical vegetation.
Recurrent devastations of crops lasted until 1903 or 1904 when, through
determined and systematic co-operation among Europeans in the several
colonies, involving heavy outlays of public monies, the pest was
successfully counteracted and stamped out. The Natives of Natal and
Zululand, accustomed as they are to cultivating but small patches of
maize and corn, barely sufficient for their wants even in plenteous
seasons, suffered most. In connection with this "invasion" came a
year of scarcity among them (1896), necessitating distribution by the
Government, for their relief, of large supplies of grain at cost price
and under,--in some cases, free of charge.
In 1897 a new cattle disease, known as rinderpest, began to make its
appearance, and this, whilst the older and well-nigh endemic one,
called lung-sickness, was still afflicting the cattle of white and
black alike. It, too, had gradually come down from the north. More
virulent in form than lung-sickness, it soon spread to all parts of
Natal and Zululand, destroying large percentages of the herds wherever
permitted to enter. Again did the scourge press more heavily on Natives
than on Europeans, especially in Zululand, for the reason that, being
a pastoral people, they were peculiarly dependent in many ways on
cattle. It will, for instance, be recollected that cattle are used as
an essential constituent in every marriage contract. Milk, moreover,
is extensively used for feeding infants and children. The price of
stock advanced 500% and more; even where sufficient money was earned
by hard labour, the necessary _lobola_ cattle could not be purchased.
It, therefore, became difficult for the young men to obtain wives.
That a certain spirit of restlessness and discontent gradually grew up
in them cannot be wondered at. Indeed, it is generally admitted these
misfortunes, coming one on top of the other and closely affecting the
life of the people, were, on the whole, met by them with singular
fortitude and forbearance.
But more was to follow. About the end of the late War, through
importation at Beira, it has been supposed, of fresh blood in the shape
of cattle from Australia to re-stock Rhodesia, a fresh disease--even
more disastrous than rinderpest--also previously unknown in South
Africa, made its appearance among such stock as remained in that part,
and thereafter slowly but surely spread in different directions.
Rinderpest had, like a hurricane, swept through South Africa (leaving
patches here and there unaffected), and eventually spent itself at
the sea at Cape Town. The new disease, known as East Coast Fever, or
Tick Fever, by reason of infection being carried by a species of tick,
common almost to the whole of South Africa, was much more searching and
destructive in its effects. It crept steadily south-ward, affecting
European and Native cattle alike. After causing vast and widespread
losses, it is still unconquered at time of writing, though, especially
since the Union Government assumed control, the possibilities of its
spreading have been greatly reduced.
Entering the Colony on the eastern section of its northern boundary,
it moved from place to place, striking down herds wherever it appeared
with a suddenness that hardly seemed possible from the slowness of its
march. The Natives of Zululand were the first to feel the blow, but the
still more numerous black and white population of Natal, though having
greater time to organize resistance, did not suffer less. A fundamental
characteristic of human nature showed itself in the complacency with
which the disease was viewed whilst at a distance, and alarm and even
panic when it actually invaded the Colony. Every precaution which
science or quackery could suggest was adopted. Thousands of pounds were
spent on a device, only a few weeks later to be displaced by another,
even more expensive. Parliament passed one law after another, whose
aggregate effect scarcely abated the evil, whilst the inconvenience to
Natives through enforcement of regulations amounted, in some instances,
to actual provocation. That they were unable to see eye-to-eye with
the Veterinary Department or other controlling authority in the
restrictions imposed within infected or supposed infected areas was due
not to fictitious, but to genuine, belief. However, it was clear from
the outset that European cattle were no more immune than their own.
If their race suffered, so also did that of the white man. Irritating
though the precautions were, the fact remained that Natives' cattle
were being swept off wholesale, leaving the people in a greatly
impoverished condition.
But there was another matter, and one of long standing, regarded by
them as a still greater affliction. To this we must now turn.
Ever since farms were laid off in Natal for European occupation, rents
had been collected from the Native tenants. There were many reasons,
sentimental as well as arising out of actual necessity, to account for
the presence of Natives on such farms. First, there was the kraal, and
its family (with numerous old local associations) already _in situ_
when the farm was laid off; secondly, the farmer, who had no tenants,
had, by the offer of inducements, obtained them; thirdly, Natives
ejected for some reason from adjoining or other lands, who had come
to apply for permission "to squat." There was variety, again, when the
character of the tenancy is examined. One landlord had, as the basis of
his contract, service in lieu of rent; another required certain service
with a small rent; another, service for which he paid the market wage,
leaving the tenant free for six months of the year, but charged rent;
another wanted nothing but the rent. Without going too deeply into this
exceedingly complex question, it is sufficient to remark that "service
in lieu of rent" was generally demanded by the Dutch farmers, in many
ways fairer and more sympathetic to their tenants than other landlords,
whilst cash was generally required by British farmers. Where rents were
charged, they were felt by many Natives to be burdensome. With a number
of tenants on his farm, a landlord, of course, felt that where one man
could raise the rent, all must be required to do so, otherwise chaos
would result. Rents naturally varied in different parts, some places
being more productive than others. The lowest amount was about £1 per
hut, whilst the highest was as much as £12. The average, however, stood
between £2 and £3. As the sizes of Native establishments varied, or
facilities for cultivation or grazing and disposing of produce or stock
were unequal, so the difficulties of a tenant obtaining the amount of
his rent varied. None of the farmers, Boer or British, intended to
be oppressive. Many of them were remarkably patient and considerate.
The fact, however, remains, that for some time before the Rebellion,
some were oppressive, although unintentionally so. This mercenary
spirit, however, was exhibited not only by the farmers of Natal.
Anyone who takes the trouble to read the official publications will
find it prevailing in other parts of South Africa. It is, indeed, a
characteristic of Western Civilization. Even where Natives themselves
are in possession of farms, they, aping their masters, follow a policy
not less exacting in regard to men of their own colour.
For several years prior to the Rebellion, the high rate of rents was
generally felt as a burden. It was talked about, and talked about
loudly. Every report on Native Affairs showed that such was the
case. On the other hand, one heard not a word in regard to the hut
tax imposed by the Government.[76] The justice of it was approved and
its amount considered reasonable. As a matter of fact, the complaint
that made itself heard, was not against the European farmers, but
against the system which had initiated freehold, leasehold, or any
other tenure, as distinct from the purely communal. Because the Natal
Government did not abolish landlordism, or at least prohibit landlords
from charging tenants more than, say £1 per hut, and ejectment on
failure to pay, Natives considered they had just ground for complaint
against the Government. In their ignorance of the history of freehold,
they looked on the colonists as having initiated, and as being
responsible for, a system that flourished in Europe long before Vasco
da Gama sailed up the coast of South Africa to set eyes on and name the
country occupied by their artless ancestors.
Associated with this question were those of usury and cruelly
extortionate charges by certain members of the legal profession,
notably such as practised in the "country districts." In consequence
of many tenants being unable to meet their obligations, largely
through loss of cattle from disease, they were driven to borrowing
money. For many years past, it had been the practice for them to draw
on their cattle to overcome temporary embarrassment. In the absence
of a law regulating the interest chargeable on loans, a few of the
lenders demanded and received fabulous rates. It would, however, be
unfair to hold the administration responsible for not providing a law,
practically unknown in civilized communities, until necessity therefor
had actually revealed itself. However that may be, the position must
be looked at as it was. Here was a people compelled in the main to
meet their financial obligations, public and private, with no better
means than the earnings of their sons. These sons, aware that their
fathers were depending largely on them, instead of _vice versa_, began
to assume an unusually independent attitude in respect, not only of
their parents, but of everyone else. The parents complained to the
Government and pressed for the application of correctives. What one of
the correctives was will presently appear.[77]
This independence, indeed, was but a symptom characteristic of the
age. Its growth had, for many years, been observable, though, in
former days, not nearly so aggravated as it became in later ones. To
such an extent did it develop by 1906, that contempt for authority,
particularly Native authority, began to manifest itself in numerous
ways, quickened and accentuated by the evil influences of European
towns.