The White Chief of the Caffres

Chapter Twelve

A day passed without any signs of the Zulus, but at daybreak on the second day a Caffre runner came shouting that the Zulus were crossing the Umganie river. We made a rush for the boats, and were soon all on board the schooner, where we waited, each with a gun, to see what the Zulus would do. The army moved rapidly and swept down on the settlement, and burnt the huts, but they did not find a living human being. Seeing the ship, they came down to the beech, and shouted to us to come on shore. I knew they had no guns; so, ascending the rigging, I called to the leading chief, and said: “Tell the Zulu dog that he is not cunning enough. He sent me to the Pongola, so that he might murder the white men without my knowing what he was going to do; but I came before you to tell them. You may now go back again.”

A yell arose from the Zulus when they heard this and recognised me, and a hundred men dashed in the water and swam towards the ship. We allowed these to come close and then fired at them, killing or wounding several; the remainder then swam back to the shore and concealed themselves in the wood. I knew the Zulus too well to believe they would give up at once trying to kill the white men, and so I told my companions. We therefore kept watch all day and all night, and it was lucky we did so; for, just before daybreak on the following day, the Zulus again entered the water and swam silently to the ship. The sailors, however, had now made a very useful weapon: they had procured some large, heavy stones, which they had sown up in canvas and fastened to long ropes. These they threw on the Zulus, and stunned or sunk them. They could haul the stones up again and throw them again. Except by the cable there was no means by which the Zulus could climb into the ship, so we could kill them just as we liked.

Finding they could do nothing against people in a ship, the Zulus withdrew; and we thought that, as we did not see anything of them for three days, they must have left Natal.

I felt quite certain that the chiefs would not give up trying to kill the white men, for if they returned to the Great Zulu Chief without being successful, some of them would be assagied to a certainty. At the end of the three days the white men were desirous of going on shore, to see what remained of their goods. I tried to persuade them not to venture, but they replied that three days had now passed and not a Zulu had been seen; so it was not likely that any were near Natal. But this was the very reason why I thought it likely that they were waiting for a chance. I told the white men so; but they only laughed at me and said, “These niggers are off home now.” Thinking that I might be of use in keeping a better look-out than the white men, I went on shore with those who landed. Six of them got in a boat, and pulled up the bay, and landed near where their huts had stood. The remaining men stayed on board the schooner. There was not a Zulu to be seen anywhere, and we walked to the remains of the huts, which we found entirely destroyed.

At a short distance from these huts was some thick bush through which was a narrow path. This path led to some open ground where the cattle belonging to the settlers used to graze. The white men were anxious to see whether the Zulus had destroyed or carried off their cattle, and so entered this path through the wood. Knowing the usual practises of the Zulus, I thought this a very dangerous proceeding; but my caution only made the white men say, “Don’t be afraid, we ain’t.”

Just before we entered the bush, I saw on the sand several footprints of men, quite fresh. These footprints had been made after the last dew had fallen, so I knew it was not very long since the men who had made them must have passed over the ground. I called to the white men in front of me to stop, as I had seen fresh footprints of Zulus; but they replied that I couldn’t tell when these had been made, and as I was afraid I fancied these dangers.

Scarcely had they spoken when there was a rustling noise in the bushes, and in an instant about fifty Zulus sprang on to the path, surrounded the white men, and assagied them instantly. Seeing this, I dived into the bush, and during the noise crept through the bush and made my escape towards the shore. I hoped to reach the boat that had brought us from the ship; but, on coming within sight of it, I saw it was in possession of the Zulus. So my retreat by that means was cut off. The distance from where I was to the nearest part of the shore to the ship was nearly two miles, and there was dense bush nearly the whole way. To attempt to work my way through this bush would have been a most dangerous proceeding, for it is impossible to move in the bush without making a noise; and the Zulus were certain to have placed men on watch in this bush, so that an assagy stab would be the first thing that would acquaint me of the presence of a Zulu. Soon after I had joined the white men, they had given me clothes to wear, so the Zulus would distinguish me now at a great distance. To lie concealed in the bush was, I knew, of but little use; for they would follow my trail and surround me just as they were accustomed to surround a lion. As soon as I had seen that the boat was in possession of the Zulus, I had concealed myself in the bush to consider what to do; and I decided to work my way up the coast about a mile, and then take to the beach and try to reach the ship that way. Just as I had made up my mind to do this, I saw a large party of Zulus marching from where they had killed the white men towards the boat; and I noticed that they had put on the clothes of the men they had killed, and at a distance might have been mistaken for white men.

I lay still till all these men had passed, and watched their proceedings. They sat down near the boat, and seemed to be having a talk about something of importance. I tried to think what I should propose had I been at the meeting, and the Zulus my friends; and, knowing the Zulu tactics, I believed I could tell what they said almost as well as if I heard them. My idea was that they would wait till it was dark, and then get into the boat and pull to the ship; and, by the aid of the clothes they wore, pretend to be white men, and get on board the ship. If the men on board were not on their guard, this plan would very likely succeed; and, knowing how careless and unsuspicious the white men were, I believed the chances were in favour of the Zulus succeeding in their attempt.

From none of the Zulus having followed me, I believed it possible that they had not seen me before I rushed into the bush, when my companions were attacked; but I knew the habits of the Zulus too well to be certain about this. They had often told me that the best means to come within assagy-range of a buck was to walk slowly round him, gradually narrowing the circle, but never looking at him, and pretending that something in the distance attracted your attention; then, when near enough, rush forward towards the buck and throw the assagy.

If the Zulus had seen me, they must know I was concealed somewhere; and the best method of capturing or assagying me was to set several men to watch the country, and to remain perfectly concealed and quiet. This plan they had already adopted for three days, and had succeeded in trapping half of the white men. My best chance, therefore, was to remain quiet until it was dark and then to attempt to reach the ship before the Zulus could do so.

It required great patience to lie for several hours in the bush, not daring to move; for, if I even frightened away a bird that had settled near me, the suspicions of the Zulus would be raised, and the bush in which I was concealed probably surrounded. The day passed very slowly; and, after a short time, not a Zulu was to be seen. I knew that this meant that they were all on watch in the bush; and I thought how easily ignorant white men, who knew nothing about spooring, or who never watched other indications, would be surprised and killed by these so-called savages. I knew that a large body of Zulus were in the bush near where the boat lay, because two or three vultures kept circling over the place. I also saw other vultures circling over the bush where the white men had been killed, and I was very much afraid that they might circle over me. If they did, I was lost. The sun seemed to move very slowly this day, but at last it touched the hills near the Umlass river, and soon after it became dark. I at once left the bush, and moved cautiously towards a marsh near the coast. It was by my ears I must now save myself, and perhaps by my legs. I moved through the long reeds of the marsh, and entered the bush beyond. In the darkness it was impossible to move silently in the bush; but I stopped occasionally to listen; and, hearing nothing, again advanced. I passed through the bush and came on the open beach, about a mile to the east of the entrance to the bay. I stopped again to listen, but could not hear any noise which indicated the presence of the Zulus; and, it was so dark, that I could see but a short way ahead or round me. Still advancing slowly and silently, I moved along the beach towards the point where the schooner was at anchor, when I saw before me a group of Zulus standing together talking in a very low tone. They saw me as soon as I saw them: and, calling to me, asked who I was. I replied in Zulu, “Don’t make a noise; I have news for you presently.” I then turned to the right, where there were several sand-hills between the beach and the bush – amidst which I should be lost to sight. The dense bush beyond also prevented the outline of my figure being seen against the sky; and I thus hoped to pass the Zulus and get a start of them. They, however, suspected something, and turned after me. Seeing that the only chance of escape was a run, I moved quickly among the sand-hills; and then jumping on to the hard beach, which was better suited for running, I dashed off at speed. I had no fear of any single Zulu catching me in a straight race, for I had beaten their best runner. What I dreaded was that another party might be on the beach in front of me, when I should be stopped by them. The noise I made in running would be sure to put a party on the alert; besides which the Zulus in rear who were chasing me now began shouting; a proceeding I knew they would not adopt unless they hoped to make known to some other parties that they were in pursuit of an enemy. The distance from where I began running to where the ship was, about three-quarters of a mile, I could run at speed, and now that I was running for my life there was no lack of energy. I found I was leaving the Zulus behind, and was now well beyond the reach of an assagy. I still kept on, however, and reached the beach some two hundred yards before the leading Zulu. I jumped into the water, and swam rapidly towards the schooner; but a new danger here threatened me. The night was very dark, and no one on shore could have seen me had it not been for the phosphorescence of the water. As I swam I left a trail of light behind me – like a rocket – and the Zulus, seeing this, threw their assagies at me; but, luckily, none struck me, or I probably should never have been able to relate my early history. I was soon beyond range of the spears, and then called to the men in the ship to lower a rope for me to climb on board. I was heard, and a rope with a bowling-knot at the end was lowered. In this knot I placed my feet, and was soon on board, when I told the white settlers and sailors what had taken place on shore. I also told them that I suspected the Zulus would try to get on board in the disguise of the men they had assagied, and that we must be prepared for them. Having given this information, I obtained some dry clothes and some food; and being now listened to with more attention, I made all arrangements for receiving the Zulus when they made their attempt to come on board as I felt sure they would. A careful watch was kept by two men, whilst the others were ready to jump up at the slightest noise. We had five double-barrelled guns on board, and several boat-hooks, which would serve as excellent weapons to keep off boarders. I believed the Zulus would try to surprise us, and to get on board under pretence of being white men, for they could not come in great numbers in the boat, so I had no fear of being overpowered.

The sailors proposed that, as soon as the wind was suitable, we should hoist sail and escape from the bay – certainly the most prudent thing to do; but there was a surf on the bar at present, due to the south-east wind that had been blowing for some days. And this surf rendered it dangerous to attempt to get out of the bay.

The greater part of the night passed, and not a sign of the Zulus was visible; but a short time before day break, and whilst it was still dark, one of the look-out men came below and called us all to come on deck, as there was a noise as of oars being used in a boat. We had made our plans, so as not to indicate we were on guard when the boat came alongside. So we all crouched under the bulwarks and thus concealed ourselves. The stream of light in the water made by the boat was soon visible, and very quickly it came along; the Zulus knew nothing about rowing, but they managed the oars very well, and brought the boat close to the schooner. They were dressed in white men’s clothes, but had their assagies and shields in the boat ready for use. I could not help admiring the daring of these men, and their obedience to the orders of their chief. They had killed several white men, and might have returned with their clothes as proofs of their success; but their orders were to kill all the white men, and they were now endeavouring to carry out these orders. But for our own safety we must kill them, and if possible obtain possession of the boat. When the Zulus were alongside, one man climbed on the shoulders of another, and thus reached to the bulwark, and in an instant was on board. As he came on the deck he was struck down, and the alarm at once spread. Instead of attempting to escape in the boat, the other Zulus tried to get on board by the same means; and each man was knocked down before he could use his assagies. As yet not a shot had been fired, but now, as one man only remained in the boat, he pushed off and would have escaped with the boat if we had allowed it, so one of the settlers fired and shot him. The boat was now drifting away, so I jumped over board, and swam towards it, and climbed in. On entering the boat I found that both the oars had fallen overboard, and I could not therefore row the boat; and as the tide was running out very rapidly I was being carried towards the bar. Now, inside the bar sharks were rarely if ever seen; but on the bar they were numerous, and I knew the boat would be upset when it reached the breakers on the bar, and I should have no chance, as the shark would soon pull me down. I therefore thought I must give up the idea of saving the boat; and must jump into the water and try to reach the schooner; but I saw in the water several streaks of light, which showed me that other Zulus had entered the water with the intention of assisting their friends, and several of these were between me and the ship. To have attempted to reach the ship, therefore, would have been a dangerous proceeding, as I should have been caught by several of the Zulus, and either drowned by them, or taken prisoner, and assagied. I struck out therefore for the opposite shore, where the Bluff of Natal, a high piece of land, stands, and soon reached the shore, where I concealed myself in the bush; and, being much fatigued with the exertions of the day, lay down and soon fell asleep.

I hoped when daylight came to swim back to the schooner, or signal to them to send me a boat; so I felt no anxiety about the morrow.

I awoke on the following morning from the heat of the sun, which was shining on me, and for a few seconds I was in doubt where I was and what had happened. I was stiff and uncomfortable from having laid down in my wet clothes, which were scarcely yet dry, in consequence of the heavy dew that had fallen; but I got up and worked my way carefully out of the bush to where I thought I should see the schooner. On reaching the shore I looked and looked again; no schooner was visible where she had been, I then noticed that the wind was blowing from the west – the favourable wind for a vessel to leave the harbour. I ran round the Bluff to the side next the sea, and there saw the schooner with all sails set, about five miles off. I then knew I was deserted by the white men, who probably thought I had been drowned, so that I was now the only white man remaining on this coast.

During the various adventures through which I had passed since the shipwreck years ago, I had never despaired or felt really unhappy: there was always some excitement going on, and my mind was occupied in planning various things either for sporting or other purposes. Now, however, a feeling came over me that I had never experienced before. Had I been better acquainted with the human body and its requirements, I should have at once attributed this effect to its proper cause. During the whole of the previous day I had eaten nothing, and had gone through much hard work and excitement. The depression that I suffered was more due to absence of food than to the causes by which I was surrounded, for when I had eaten I saw everything in a more hopeful light. Still I was in a bad way; for I possessed no weapon except a sailor’s knife, I had no food and did not know where to procure any, and I was probably surrounded by enemies.

I wandered down the rocks on the shore and gazed at the distant ship. I knew it was useless to signal, she was so far distant; yet I took off my jacket and waved it, till my arm was too tired even to lift above my shoulder. Then I sat down to think.

As I looked down I saw fixed on the rocks at my feet a shell which I at once recognised as an oyster, such as we used to procure at Bombay. With my knife I opened this, and ate this African shell-fish. On searching on the rocks I found hundreds of oysters, and was enabled to make a hearty meal. Trickling down the side of the bluff was also a little stream of fresh water. By gathering some large leaves of a plant like the banana, I allowed the water to accumulate in these, and my thirst was quenched. Growing on the shore also were some trees, bearing a fruit I well knew, and called by my old friends of the Umzimvubu the Martingula. It was very good to eat, and in size was similar to a plum, with a peculiar flavour. I also saw several bees, so I hoped to procure some honey, and there was consequently no fear of starving.

I thought it prudent not to show myself on the shore of the bay, for fear some Zulus might yet remain; though I anticipated that, as soon as they had seen that the schooner had sailed they would return to their own country with their proofs of victory.

I considered for some time whether I should try to work my way down the coast, so as to reach the Umzimvubu and my old friends; but a strange longing had come over me to once more be among white people, and I thought that the Bay of Natal would be a much more likely place from which to find a ship than down by the Umzimvubu district. So I decided to keep myself concealed on the bluff, at least for some time; for I need not want for food, as there were oysters in abundance on the rocks, and when the tide went down there were several pools of water left on the rocks, in which were fish of various sizes: these I caught with a forked stick, and so managed to live on fish diet. I was not long, however, before I adopted a Caffre expedient for obtaining meat. In the bush were numbers of red bush-buck, and also duikers: to trap these I bent down the stem of a young tree, so as to form a spring, and by means of withes and the bark of a shrub, which was as strong as rope, I made a noose in the path frequented by these buck. Scarcely an evening passed but I caught a buck, and so had plenty of meat. I sadly wanted some salt, however; but I soon thought of a plan for securing this. There were several small hollows in the rocks above high-water mark, these I filled with sea-water, and, as they were exposed to the sun, the water soon evaporated, and a deposit of salt remained. With this salt I rubbed the strips of buck-meat I had cut with my knife; and, hanging these in the sun, made a provision for the future. I was obliged to hang them at the end of thin branches at a distance from the ground, for I found that leopards frequented this place, and although they might not attack me, yet they would at once carry off and devour my meat.

I wanted some weapon very badly: I had cut a stout stick to make a knob-kerrie, but such a weapon would be harmless against a leopard. I should have felt more comfortable if I had possessed two or three assagies, for there is a feeling of power when one grasps a weapon which we know how to use. I believed it possible that I might find some assagies, if I crossed the bay and searched along the shore where so many of the Zulus had been killed or wounded. I waited till it was nearly dark one evening, and then swam across the channel that separated the bluff from the wooded shore opposite. I landed on this shore, and, keeping close to the bush, examined all the likely places for an assagy to be found, and at length found three very good ones. I could see no fresh traces of men’s footprints, and concluded that all the Zulus had left Natal.

I therefore ventured further inland, and visited the locality where the white men had been ambushed by the Zulus. I found the remains of their bodies: hyaenas and vultures having feasted on them, but little remained except their bones. Almost hidden by the long grass, I saw the stock of a gun; and found this to be a double-barrelled gun, with a flask of powder and a bag of bullets close beside it. Such a treasure I had not expected, and I now felt that I was secure against any average enemy. In order to get across the channel with my powder dry, I collected a quantity of wood and fastened this together by withes and bark, so as to make a raft on which to keep my powder and gun above the water. This raft I pushed before me whilst I swam, and thus succeeded in getting over the water with my valuable cargo in safety.

I now felt well prepared to pass a long time in my solitary locality; so I set to work to cut down some small trees, and make a sort of Caffre hut. This I deemed necessary for my safety by night, or when I slept; for if a leopard or a rock-snake found me asleep, the first might carry me off before I could use my gun, and the snake might encircle me in his folds, and crush me before I could use even a knife. It occupied me two days to complete my hut, which was then waterproof and quite safe from the attacks of any animals – at least so I imagined.

In the present day, when a box of lucifer matches enables every person to instantly procure a fire, it is not easy to realise the difficulty that is experienced by those unprovided by any such artificial aids. To procure a fire I was obliged to adopt the usual Caffre method of using two dry sticks. One of soft wood was placed on the ground, the other of hard wood was held in the hands and worked round, whilst it was pressed into a hole in the soft wood. After several minutes of this work a few sparks would be produced, which were placed in a wisp of dry grass, and swung round at arms-length. By this means a small flame was produced and a fire kindled. It was then my particular care to preserve this fire, and never let it die out. To do so was no easy matter, for I was obliged to have a large stock of dry wood collected, and to so heap this up, and protect it from the wind, that it would smoulder for hours. If there came rain, it was even more difficult to keep the fire permanently burning; and, after rain, to reproduce fire was extremely laborious. This, then, was one great source of anxiety to me, for I dare not let any smoke rise in the air, for this would let any enemy know that man was on the bluff; for, clever and cunning as all animals in a wild state become, even the monkey or baboon does not know how to create a fire, or how to keep this fire blazing when they do find one which man has lighted, I have now to relate one of the greatest escapes I ever experienced, though many which I have already described may appear to have been marvellous.

A week had passed since I had procured the gun and some assagies from the place where the Zulus had ambushed the white men, and I had seen no signs of a human being; but I knew too well the enemy by whom I had been captured, not to be aware, that if he intended to recapture me, he would lie concealed for many days, watching for a chance of surprising me. My intention was to support life until a ship came to Natal, for I concluded that when the schooner which had escaped, reached Table Bay, and informed the authorities there that the Zulus had overrun Natal, some steps would be taken to obtain at least information as to what had since occurred. Thus I lived in daily hopes of seeing a sail, and once more joining with white men.