The White Chief of the Caffres

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

  Three days only had elapsed since my escape from the Zulus, and thefight between them and the men of Eondema, and I had been living withthe young chief, and considering what I should do in order to rejoin myown people, when, at daybreak on the fourth day, a great noise washeard, and before we had time to do more than wonder what this was, awar-party of the Zulus was upon us. From facts which we afterwardslearnt, we knew that the few Zulus who escaped from the men of Eondemahad met a war-party of the Zulus not many miles east of the Umganieriver, and had told the chief of this party that I was among the UmlassCaffres. This chief concluded that if he could capture me, and take meback to the Zulu king, he would be well rewarded. He also knew thatthere were cattle in plenty belonging to these people, and so, by asurprise, he hoped to capture me, and also carry off some cattle.

  Their plans had been well arranged, for they had kept to the bush untilwithin a short distance of our kraal. They had then rushed on it, andwere upon us before we could prepare for them. Eondema and I were inthe same hut, and we both made for the doorway, to get out and see whatthe noise was caused by. Eondema had scarcely moved a foot out of hishut before he was knocked on the head with a knob-kerrie, and instantlykilled. Fearing the same fate, I did not follow him; but, seizing mygun, fired a shot among the Zulus who were round the doorway. In aninstant they retreated, but I heard the call for "_umlilo_" ("fire"),and I knew they were going to burn the hut down. Now a hut set on firefrom the outside would burn inwards, and roast any one who remained inthe hut; but if the fire were applied to one part of the inside, itwould, if properly kept down, burn outwards and make a hole throughwhich a man might escape. There was no time to lose. So I blew up theembers of the fire, and lighted the grass on the inside of the hutopposite the doorway, and by help of some milk which was in thecalabashes in the hut I prevented the fire from rushing all over thehut. In the meantime, the Zulus had set fire to the hut near thedoorway, and I could hear the crackling of the flames above me. As soonas the smoke was very thick I threw the milk on the fire I had lighted,and pushing against this part, found I had made an opening large enoughto creep through. I wished much to take my gun with me, but this I knewwas impossible; and, besides, it would have been useless as a means ofpreservation, for although I might have shot one or two Zulus, yet Ishould have been assagied immediately after. My only chance of escapewas that of getting out of the hut without being seen, and being able tomove in the smoke without being recognised.

  Having forced my way through the opening in the hut, I lay down outsidefor an instant to look round; and, hearing all the Zulus near the dooron the opposite side of the hut to that from which I had made my escape,I rose and walked slowly away, still keeping in the thick smoke causedby the fire of the hut.

  Now people not accustomed to hunting game such as antelope, leopards,and other like creatures, would probably have started off and run, assoon as they got clear of the hut. I knew better than to do so stupid athing. If I had run, I should at once have attracted attention, andbeen followed, and my race for life would have commenced immediately.By moving slowly I was not noticed, and thus had gone more than ahundred yards from the hut before a Zulu, who was running towards thekraal which was burning, passed close to me, and seeing me, stopped;and, recognising me, hurled an assagy at me. The practice I had gainedwith Inyoni and Tembile stood me in good stead on this occasion, or Ishould have been speared. I dodged the assagy, which stuck in theground near me, within reach of my arm, and seizing it threw it at myenemy. He was not as quick in escaping as I had been, and my assagystruck him in the chest and the blade passed through his body. I closedwith him at once, and with one of his own knob-kerries struck him on thehead, and I believe killed him. I did this so that he might not tellany other Zulus that he had seen me. Possessing myself of his shield,assagies, and knob-kerrie, I started off at a run towards the bush; forit was there I hoped to conceal myself, and possibly escape the keeneyes of the Zulus; for although they might follow my spoor as correctlyas a dog will follow a buck, I still hoped I might defeat all theircunning.

  The attention of all the Zulus was taken up with the kraal from which Ihad escaped; for they expected me to rush out as soon as I found thatthe smoke and fire would destroy me. That I should escape from the backpart of the hut had not been thought of.

  The distance from the kraal to the Berea bush was about a mile, and thisdistance I passed over at a rapid walk, and succeeded in entering thebush without being recognised by any of the enemy. The Berea bush wasat this time visited annually by one or two herds of elephants whichcame down from near the Zulu country. They stayed in the bush duringseveral months, and made paths through the thick jungle, along which aman could walk easily. The bush was nearly impenetrable except alongthese elephant tracks; so I thought I might easily conceal myself inthis bush for two or three days, unless my footprints were seen, when Ishould certainly be tracked and probably caught or assagied. Havingentered the bush without having been recognised, I made my way along anelephant-path, where the tracks of the elephants were quite fresh. Iknew that in this bush there must be a herd of these animals, and ifthey would only walk along the same path that I had travelled they wouldrub out the print of my footprints, and I should be safe. I walked oninto the densest part of the bush; and then, finding a large tree, Iclimbed into it; so that, if the elephants scented me and became savageand hunted me, I should be safe in this tree.

  I knew I might have to remain in the bush during two or three days, andthat I might remain all that time without food; but I had beenaccustomed to this trial, and people who in civilised countries taketheir three meals a day are not aware how long a man in health can lastwithout food, especially if he is in the open air and can obtain water.

  From the tree into which I had climbed I could see the sea beyond thebay, so that if a ship came off the harbour I could see it, but how toreach it would be the difficulty.

  I had been but a short time in the tree when I heard a noise as ofbranches being shaken. At first I imagined that the elephants weremoving through the bush, and consequently shaking the trees; but I soonsaw in the topmost branches a number of small grey monkeys, which wereleaping from branch to branch, and peeping at me whenever they couldobtain a glance. They seemed to consider me an invader of theirproperty, and to be angry in consequence, as they came within a fewyards of me and screamed loudly. Now I did not fear the monkeys, asthey were small, and having an assagy, I could easily have defendedmyself; but I knew that if any Zulus were in the bush they would at oncesuspect that the monkeys were making this noise because some strangecreature was in the bush, and they would come to see what it was; andso, though they might not be able to trace me by my footprints, yet theywould be attracted to my concealment in consequence of the noise made bythe monkeys. Breaking off some branches, I threw these at the creatureswhen they came near me; but they did not seem frightened, and screamedand jumped about more than before. Suddenly, however, their attentionseemed to be attracted by something else, as they left the trees aroundme and became greatly excited as they watched something on the ground.I feared that perhaps the Zulus had followed my footprints, and hadtraced me to where I then was; but I soon heard a noise which Irecognised as that made by an elephant, and it was this creature towhich the monkeys were giving so much attention. The elephant I soonsaw as he moved slowly through the bush; he was a large bull-elephant,and was alone, no others being near him. When this is the case anelephant becomes very savage, as he has usually been driven out of theherd by a combination of younger bull-elephants. He then wanders aboutin the bush, and is ready to attack anything that he comes across. Iwas rather pleased to know that such an elephant was in this bush; for Iknew the Zulus had a great dread of a solitary bull-elephant even in theopen country, whilst in the bush he was still more to be feared. Itwould therefore be probable that, if (as they soon would) they knew ofthe presence of the elephant, they would not like to traverse the bushin search o
f me. As long as I was up a tree as high and as strong asthat in which I now was I was safe from an elephant.

  During two days I remained in the bush, passing the night in a tree, andby day gathering fruit and drinking water. People in civilisation eatand drink either at stated hours or when hungry and thirsty. I had longbeen accustomed to do both when I could. If not thirsty, and I came ona stream of good water, I drank, because by so doing I prevented myselffrom becoming thirsty; so that probably I might have managed to pass amonth in this bush, without suffering from want of food or water. Ihad, however, found a tall tree from which I could see a great part ofthe flat and marsh of Natal, as also the bay and sea beyond; and on theafternoon of the second day I saw two sights which rejoiced me. Thefirst was a large party of Zulus moving from near the bay towards theUmganie river: these men were driving some cattle before them, and wereapparently leaving the country. The other sight was a ship which wassailing up the coast, and was evidently making for the anchorageopposite the harbour. Having taken up a safe position in this tree, Ipassed the night quietly, and when the first light of day enabled me tosee distant objects, I perceived that the ship which I had seen sailingwas now at anchor, with no sails set. Immediately I saw this Idescended from the tree, and worked my way out of the bush; and,exposing myself as little as possible in the open country, made my wayacross the marsh and through the bush to the beach. I there procured alarge branch of a tree, and waved it so as to attract the attention ofany one looking out from the ship.

  I incurred some risk in doing this; for if any outlying party of theZulus were near they would have seen me and I could not easily haveescaped. But I was obliged to show myself on the beach, so as toattract attention, or I feared the ship might leave without sending aboat on shore. I watched with considerable anxiety for some sign of aboat from the ship, but it must have been several hours before I saw asail set on the vessel, and she began to move. I now noticed that thetide was high, and that there was but little surf on the bar, so that itwas possible the vessel, which was small, might intend coming into thebay. My doubts were soon set at rest, for she headed towards the bluff,and came slowly on, and after being washed by one or two breakers as shewas on the bar, she came into smooth water, and glided into the harbourand cast anchor.

  I did not wait for a boat, but jumped into the water and swam to theship, from which a rope was thrown me and I climbed on board. Thesailors and captain looked at me with much surprise, and I now found anunexpected difficulty, viz., to speak English readily. I, howevermanaged to improve as I went on, and told the captain what had happenedat Natal; and how the white men had been massacred by the Zulus, exceptthose who had escaped in the ship. The captain had heard nothing ofwhat had happened here, as he had come from the Mauritius, and the shipthat had sailed out of the harbour had gone down the coast to Cape Town,and the communication then between various places was not as rapid as itis now. This ship required fresh meat, and the difficulty was how toprocure it. All the cattle had been swept off by the Zulus, except thatwhich had been concealed by my friends across the Umlass river; andthere would be difficulty in communicating with these men, as it was notcertain some strong force of the Zulus might not be in the bushconcealed.

  The captain of the ship was very kind to me, and fitted me with a suitof sailor's clothes, and assured me he would take me down to Cape Town,from whence I could obtain a passage to England. He told me thatnothing had ever been heard of the _Madagascar_, the ship in which I hadsailed from India, and which had been wrecked; but it was supposed shemust have gone down in the gale which had visited the Isle of Franceabout that time. When I told him there were white women prisoners amongthe Caffres, or at least their wives, he said that he would go into thecountry with his men, and bring these women away. I told him that suchan attempt would cost him his life and would be useless, because thewhite women were now contented with their lot, and probably would notleave; and the Caffres were not likely to allow their wives to becarried off by half a dozen men whom they could assagy withoutdifficulty. The captain, however, like many ignorant Englishmen,underrated the power of the Caffres, and asserted that a dozen armedEnglishmen, especially sailors, would be more than a match for athousand niggers. I told him he did not know how skilful and cunningthese natives were, and that if the country were bushy, an equal numberof Caffres, though armed with assagies only, would be more than a matchfor him and his sailors. The captain merely laughed at me, and said hewould like to try them.