CHAPTER EIGHT.
One of the Zulu chiefs who had been killed in our battle near Natal hada headdress of ostrich-feathers. This headdress was considered a greatcuriosity, and our principal chiefs divided these feathers amongst them,and on great occasions wore them in their head-rings. I heard that, onthe plains under the Quathlamba Mountains, ostriches were to be found;so I was anxious to make an expedition there, in order to try and shootor trap these birds, and so procure a large supply of feathers. Ontalking this matter over with the chiefs, they told me I must take alarge party with me, as Bushmen were numerous there, and it would bedangerous to visit that country unless well-armed and in numbers. I,however, told the chiefs that three or four of us armed with guns were amatch for any number of Bushmen. This statement the chiefs did notdeny, but they said that if the Bushmen crept on us at night, they mighthit us with their poisoned arrows, whilst we could not see them. Ianswered, however, that sport without some danger was only fitted forwomen, and that I had already proved that I could take care of myself.
After a very long talk it was agreed that I, with twenty men whom Ishould select, were to journey up country, and try our luck against theostriches. I chose the best men with whom I was acquainted, and also mytwo young Caffre friends. We carried five guns with us and about twentyrounds of ammunition each. So that we were a formidable party asregards strength, though few in number. Our daily journeys must havebeen about thirty miles, as we walked from sunrise to sunset, and veryquickly. We had no want of food, for there were plenty of antelope inthis country, and we used to spoor these, to where they had lain down inthe reeds or long grass; we then surrounded the spot where they wereconcealed, and closed in on them; when they jumped up to make off, weeither assagied them, or knocked them over with our knob-kerries.
After eight days' walking we came to the plains where we expected tofind ostriches, and I now made use of my glasses to scan the countryround. There was plenty of game in these plains, herds of the _impovu_(elands) and other animals, and water was also plentiful, as numbers ofsmall streams flowed from the ravines of the Quathlamba into the plains,south and south-east of them. So that we considered this country verysuitable for kraals, as there was plenty of grass for cattle and thesoil was well-suited for growing corn.
We worked our way over these plains till we came to the rising ground atthe foot of the mountains, which we ascended, and could then obtain agood view of the surrounding country.
As we were sitting on the rocks looking in various directions, we hearda noise above us, and saw a large rock rolling and bounding down towardsus. Instantly we jumped behind rocks and so protected ourselves, andthe rolling rock bounded over our heads. On looking up we saw twoBushmen standing on some crags about 150 yards from us: it was these menwho had loosened the rock, in order, if possible, to crush some of us.They shrieked at us, and shook their fists as if defying us; theythought themselves safe, as they were far more active on the rocks thanCaffres, and could easily keep out of assagy-range; but they little knewhow we were armed, for they had probably never heard the report even ofa gun. Resting my gun against a rock, I took a steady aim at theBushman and fired. The man instantly fell, rose again, and waved hisarms, and then dropped dead. His companion instantly bounded off up themountains as fast and as active as a klipspringer.
We ran up the rocks to where this Bushman lay, and the Caffres drovetheir assagies into him to make sure he was not shamming; he was,however, quite dead. On looking round we saw a well-worn path leadingto what appeared a solid wall of rock. On approaching the rock we founda hollow which had been scooped out and formed into a cave, and this wasevidently the Bushmen's home. On entering this cave we were surprisedat the multitude of things inside. There was a lion's skin, and anecklace formed out of his teeth, two more formed out of his claws;three leopards' skins; several skins of elands, which were arranged soas to form a bed. In one corner were about a hundred ostriche'sfeathers, whilst nearly a dozen ostriche's eggs filled with water wereround the cave. There was also plenty of dried meat, evidently eland'sflesh, and a number of poisoned arrows. Here then we had come on atreasure, for the leopard-skins and the necklaces, were much valuedamong our tribes. All the animals whose skins had been found in thiscave, must have been killed by the Bushmen with their poisoned arrows,showing how daring and skilful these men are with their tiny weapons,for to kill a lion they must have come to within at least forty paces ofhim. We secured all these articles, and then called a council of war todecide whether we should stop in this country in order to kill ostrichesor return with what we had obtained. We at length decided to return;for we had seen no ostriches, and as they are the most keen-sighted andfastest of animals, we might wait many days before we even saw one.Eland, however, were plentiful, and we saw a large herd of them on theplains; so we divided our party into four divisions--three of these wereto go round on the opposite side of the elands, whilst those of thefourth party, who had guns, were to lie concealed by some rocks, and theherd was to be driven up to us. Our plan succeeded well, and the herdcame to within about an assagy's-throw of us before they knew of ourpresence; so that we fired each two shots before they got out of range,killing three elands. This supplied us with plenty of meat; so we had agreat feast, and dried enough flesh to last us on our journey back.
On our return to our kraals we were received like heroes who had won agreat battle. Our feathers were the envy of the whole tribe, so I gaveseveral to the various chiefs, and it was agreed that a chief might wearas many as he liked, the head man of a kraal might wear only one, and nolower man might wear any. We thus made a division in the rank of men,which is of great importance even with men as uncivilised as were theseCaffres.
Among the men at our kraal there was one called Ebomvu, because his skinwas redder than most Caffres. He was the Rain-maker of the tribe, andwas much feared, because he was considered a wizard. Now the powerwhich these wizards had was very great. They were believed by most ofthe men in the tribe to be able to foretell events, to produce rain intime of drought, to tell who had bewitched cattle, or men, and made themill, and they used this power very often to get rid of any person whowas not agreeable to them. The Rain-maker was a dangerous man, and Ihad soon learnt that, unless I was friendly with him, he might proclaimthat I had bewitched somebody, and then probably all the power of myfriends could not save me from being killed.
I saw one case where an old man who had made an enemy of the Rain-maker,was killed by the people, and as the proceedings then adopted weresimilar to those usually practised, I will give a description of whatoccurred.
A cow belonging to the head man of a neighbouring kraal died during thenight. There was no doubt in my mind, on looking at the animal, that ithad died from the bite of a snake, probably the _m'namba umculu_, orgreat puff-adder. Ebomvu, however, told the owner that the cow had beenbewitched by some enemy who wanted to serve him an ill turn, and thatthis enemy he would smell out. In two days after the cow's death Ebomvucommenced his proceedings. He assembled all the principal men of thekraal, and also those of the kraals near; and then, entering the cattleenclosure, went to the spot where the cow had died, and told the men todig. Several men set to work digging up the ground, and discovered theend of a cow's horn, on which was scratched a mark like a cow's head.Ebomvu seized this and smelt it, shouting, "_Nuka, Nuka_" ("It stinks.")He then moved slowly out of the kraal, holding the horn in front of him,and going first in one direction, then in another, until he reached thehuts where the old man lived to whom he was an enemy. Here he went onthe ground and crawled on like a dog, smelling the ground like a hound.He entered the hut of the old man, and pointing to a corner told the mento dig there. They turned up the ground, and found a horn just the samesize and shape, as that which they had discovered in the cattleenclosure, and on this horn were the same marks as those on the hornfirst found. This was considered positive evidence that the cow haddied from being bewitched. So a council of all the chiefs was called,and the
case was tried. The evidence of the finding of the two piecesof horn was given, and on being examined the same marks were seen oneach. So the old man was ordered to pay a fine of five cows to the manwhose cow had died, and five cows to the chief himself. Had it been aman who had died instead of a cow, the old man himself would have beenkilled, and all his cattle taken by the chief.
I was much afraid lest the wizard should accuse me of "tagata," as theycalled witchcraft, so I always made friends with him, and gave himpresents, and used to sit and talk with him whenever I could. I gavehim several fine ostrich-feathers, with which he was much pleased, andhe told me I should some day be the great chief of this district.