Perils in the Transvaal and Zululand

command. He subjected his soldiers to severe and continualdiscipline. He built large barracks, in which they lived quite bythemselves, not being allowed to marry until they were elderly men. Theleast hesitation in obeying his orders was instantly punished by themost cruel of all deaths, impalement. With this army he attacked andconquered his neighbours in all directions, until he became an object ofuniversal terror."

  "A black Napoleon, in fact," returned Redgy,--"what he wanted to be."

  "He was curiously like him," remarked Baylen, "allowing for thedifferences of race. I have heard that Napoleon never spared anysoldier who showed want of courage in carrying out an order. That wasChaka's policy certainly, though he pursued it after a somewhatdifferent fashion. After one of his campaigns, he would assemble hissoldiers, and cause every regiment to pass before him. As it halted infront of his seat, he would call out, `Bring out the cowards,' and anyman who had not been as forward as the others was straightway draggedout and killed. The shrub, under which he usually sat in this manner toreview his soldiers, was known as the `coward's bush.'"

  "Didn't he overrun Natal, father?" asked Wilhelm Baylen.

  "Yes, and made it a desert for the time. Before his invasion it wasdensely populated, and in a most thriving condition. But the carnagecaused by his troops was so great, that the population was reduced, Ibelieve, to a few hundreds. That was one reason, probably, why he waswilling for the English to settle there."

  "But he was dead before you arrived in Natal, wasn't he?" asked Ernest.

  "Yes. I told you he had been dead some years, and his brother Dingaanwas on the throne. Dingaan, who was quite as bloody, and even moretreacherous than Chaka, caused him to be assassinated while he wassitting in his kraal, and then was made king in his place. But Dingaanwas not his brother's equal in ability or force of character, and helost a great deal of the power which Chaka had acquired."

  "Did you ever come into contact with him, sir?" asked Wilhelm.

  "He never sent his soldiers to attack us, but he was continuallythreatening us with his displeasure, and making demands, which we wereobliged to comply with as well as we could. A Zulu Impi would have beenno joke to encounter. We must have all fled for our lives, and ourhouses would have been burnt and our cattle driven off at the least."

  "How long did he reign?" asked Redgy.

  "About twelve years. In the year 1836 the discontent of the Boers atCape Town grew so great, that they too moved off to Natal--some five orsix thousand of them. That, of course, made a great difference to ourposition. We could only have mustered a few hundreds to oppose Dingaan,if we had gone to war with him. But now it would be a few thousands."

  "And men who knew how to fight the Zulus, too," remarked Walter.

  "Yes. Dingaan found that out in 1837, when a war broke out between himand the Boers. Then the Zulus suffered for the first time a disastrousdefeat. They rushed upon the Boers with their assegays, but the momentthey came within range they were shot down like a flight of birds. Theyhardly got within hurling distance, and the stout leathern doublets ofthe Dutch repelled such assegays as did reach them. Not a single man, Ibelieve, was so much as wounded. But it was an unfortunate victory insome ways. It caused Dingaan, instead of using force, to resort totreachery--treachery which was very nearly being the death of me, thoughin the end things turned out well."

  "Ah, now you are going to tell us the story of how you first gotacquainted with mother," said Wilhelm, laughing.

  "Well, I daresay it will interest Mr Rivers to hear it," said Baylen."But, to be sure, it is a shocking history. It happened forty yearsago, or one couldn't speak so coolly of it.

  "I daresay, Mr Rivers, you have heard of Peter Retieff--any way youhave, Hardy--the man, I mean, who founded Maritzburg. I knew him well.He was a brave, honest, kindly man--kindly even to the natives, which isnot a common feature in a Dutchman's character. There was a treaty withDingaan which obliged us to send back to him all the natives, who hadfled into Natal from his tyranny. There were great numbers that didthis; and all who were so returned were instantly put to death with mostbarbarous cruelty. Peter Retieff would not consent to carry this out,and paid a visit to Dingaan, to try to get him to cede Natal to theDutch as an independent kingdom. He knew the danger of such an attempt;but he was a brave man, and trusted to the justice of his cause. Heinvited several of his neighbours to take part in his mission. Amongothers, my father and myself agreed to go. I was a lad betweenseventeen and eighteen at the time.

  "We were received with unexpected civility, and my father and myselflodged at the house of Emilius Scheren, a Dutch missionary, whom Dingaanallowed to live at his kraal, but over whom he kept a very jealouswatch--regarding him half as a spy on his actions, and half as a hostagefor the good behaviour of his countrymen. He was a widower with onelittle girl, about twelve years old, named Wilhelmine. Mr Scheren toldme some terrible stories of Dingaan's cruelty and rapacity. He hadhimself, he said, long been anxious to escape from the country. But hewas most closely watched, and were he to attempt flight, would mostcertainly be caught and put to death. He would not mind it so much ifit were not for his motherless little girl."

  "`No one would hurt her surely,' my father said.

  "`Dingaan would hurt any one,' Mr Scheren answered. But he was moreafraid of his kindness than his cruelty. He feared that Wilhelmine'sbeauty had attracted Dingaan's notice, and before long he would insiston having her for one of his wives.

  "`Why, she cannot be thirteen years old,' my father observed.

  "`No, she is little more than twelve. But they marry young in thiscountry, and in another year or so she will be thought old enough.'

  "We comforted Mr Scheren as well as we could, promising him Dutchprotection, if Retieff succeeded in his design. The next day we had ourinterview with Dingaan. He was extremely friendly, and complained ofnothing but the theft of his cattle. `If these were restored,' he said,`he would be willing to leave the Dutch settlers in possession of Natal,provided they did not interfere with him. But if they stole his cattle,and would not restore them, it was impossible for him to regard them asfriends.'

  "This sounded reasonable enough, and good Peter Retieff was quite takenin by it. He agreed to recover the cattle, and we all went off withhim, nearly two hundred in number, and soon succeeded in tracing theoxen, and obliging those who had stolen them to give them up. Wereturned in a kind of triumphal procession, driving the cattle beforeus. We were received with the greatest friendliness; all Retieff'sdemands were conceded, and we were invited to a royal feast, to be givenon the following day to the king's Dutch allies."

  "I think I have heard what was the issue of that feast," remarkedGeorge. "But I had thought that all who attended it."--He paused.

  "That all had been murdered, I suppose," supplemented Baylen. "Youheard right: all who attended that horrible feast _were_ murdered. ButI and my father did not go. We were just setting out when Mr Scherenstopped us. He told us that throughout he had suspected treachery wasintended. But half an hour ago one of his converts had warned him thatall the white men would be shot or stabbed. He had returned in allhaste; but it was too late to warn Retieff and his friends, who werealready in the royal kraal. All he could do was to save us. Toconvince us of the truth of his story, he pointed out to us a largeforce of armed Zulus, creeping stealthily up and surrounding the kraal.There was nothing to be done but to escape. We went into his stable,--where most fortunately we had kept our horses, instead of the placeprovided by the king for Retieff's train,--saddling and mounting withall possible expedition. We rode off without a moment's pause, but hadnot cleared the village, when we heard yells and screams which made ourblood run cold."

  "None of Retieff's party escaped, did they?" asked Hardy.

  "Not one, unless you count my father and myself, and we had thenarrowest of narrow escapes. We were seen by an Induna, who was late inattending the feast, and he instantly told Dingaan. He at once senthalf a dozen of his fleetest
men after us. They were on foot, and ourhorses, though cumbered with two riders, at first left them a long waybehind. But the Zulus are wonderfully swift of foot, and their powersof endurance are still more surprising. When we reached the Tugela,they were not a hundred yards behind us. The river was not high, but itwas with the greatest difficulty that our jaded horses could cross it.The Zulus came up before we had reached the bank, and hurled theirweapons at us. One of the assegays struck Mr Scheren, who was sittingbehind my father, and he fell dead into the river. Another grazed myhorse's flank, while a third stuck in the saddle, nailing Wilhelmine'sgown to it. Fortunately for us, Dingaan's order forbade any Zulu topass into Natal,