The Cape and the Kaffirs: A Diary of Five Years' Residence in Kaffirland

Every precaution was taken to ensure a safe passage through this defile, and a slow match was so placed in the ammunition-waggon that, had the Kaffirs poured suddenly upon the party in such numbers as to render it impossible to save all the waggons, the ammunition was to be left in their hands as an instrument of destruction. Happily, the party met with no obstruction; but all the day long we were listening in expectation of the explosion in the Ecca. Meanwhile, farms still blazed around us, the hills were obscured by smoke, and, as night approached, fresh rumours arose of “Kaffirs close to the town.” About ten o’clock, we were again warned of danger; our first notice was the blast of the bugle sounding the “alarm” close to our windows. Fatigued with the watching and excitement of the previous night, we had retired early to rest. We were up in an instant. Lucifers were at a premium that night, I am sure: great was the smell of brimstone—fit atmosphere for the expected foe. Still, we had become too much accustomed to the cry of “Kaffirs!” to feel great alarm; and, to say truth, there was something in being within stone walls, and under a roof on which the brand could take no effect.

Hark!—the gun booms from the battery above. What a volume of sound rolls through the heavy air! Another blast from the bugle, taken up and echoed back by others! Another sound of cannon from a piece of artillery, within three hundred yards of us! How the windows rattle!—how the roof shivers! We are all up and astir—the children laugh, and cry, and look bewildered—and the monkey hides whatever is most wanted—and the doors fly open, and there are—not Kaffirs—only terrified women and children seeking refuge.

I was in some alarm, from the dread of muskets going off in the hands of the people unaccustomed to the use of them; but had less fear of Kaffirs than on the previous night, as we had no cattle in the Drostdy Square, and it is for that booty alone that they will risk life recklessly; so some of us went up stairs, and sat between the windows, and the servants placed mattresses against the shutters below.

Then there was a gathering together of all the fighting men that could be collected, and a sorry show they made in the way of numbers. A heavy fire was kept up along the hills, and still the farms and bush blazed on; but no Kaffirs entered the town, so we retired a little after midnight, the younger members of the party deeply regretting that we had been alarmed for nothing. No Kaffirs! What a pity after such a commotion! In such stirring times, the young, though naturally kind-hearted, have little thought for the ruined settler, the miserable widow, the motherless parents, the devastated land.

Some cattle had been fought for, and captured by the Fingoes on the Bathurst road, about two miles from Graham’s Town. Hence the alarm!

The murder of Mr Norden, which I have before alluded to, was the next event of painful importance, and the inhabitants of the town maintained a vigilant and defensive position until the arrival of Colonel Somerset’s division, on the 29th. Colonel Somerset’s presence, with his serviceable band, inspired the settlers of Lower Albany with confidence, and he remained scarcely two days for rest and refreshment of men and horses, ere he again started for the bush. He had made such arrangements at Beaufort as had enabled him to move without waggons, those heavy incumbrances to troops in South Africa, and wisely diverging from the Ecca pass, had completely eluded the Kaffirs. He again prepared to start, equally unencumbered, to clear the eastern side of the heathen marauders. Immense mischief had been already dome, but there were yet many settlers whose lives and property awaited succour, and Colonel Somerset led his division to a point where they could work at once, and with the best effect. The force consisted of 150 of the Cape Corps, a detachment of the 7th Dragoon Guards, parties of the Cradock and Albany Burghers, under their respective commandants, and two light field-pieces, under Captain Browne and Lieutenant Gregory, R.A., making altogether a force off 800 men. The Cape Corps cheered heartily as they defiled through Graham’s Town, taking the road to Woest’s Hill, it being intended to occupy the old position of Major Frazer, Cape Regiment, at Lombard’s post, so celebrated in Kaffir warfare, and by which great part of the eastern division of the colony might be protected.

Volumes might be filled were I to detail half the miseries to which the colonists had been subjected during the operations of the troops in Kaffirland. None but those who have experienced it, can have an idea of the nature of the foe to which they were exposed.

The Kaffir, at the first onset, is perhaps less ferocious than cunning, and more intent on serving his own interests by theft than on taking life from the mere spirit of cruelty; but once roused, he is like the wild beast after the taste of blood, and loses all the best attributes of humanity. The movement of a body of these savages through the land may be likened to a “rushing and a mighty wind.” On, on they sweep! like a blast; filling the air with a strange whirr—reminding me, on a grand scale, of a flight of locusts. An officer of rank, during the Kaffir war of 1835, was riding with a body of troops across the country, when suddenly his attention was arrested by a cloud of dust; then a dark silent mass appeared, and, lo! a multitude of beings, more resembling demons than men, rushed past. There were no noises, no sound of footsteps, nothing but the shiver of the assegais, which gleamed as they dashed onwards. The party of soldiery was too small to render an advance prudent, and though it is not improbable the Kaffirs observed the detachment of troops, from which they were distant scarcely half a mile, they did not stop on their way. They were bent on some purpose, and would not turn aside from it.

The same officer described to me a scene which had struck him particularly when, on an expedition far up the country, many years ago. His regiment was bivouacked along the ridge of a chain of hills during the night. At dawn, he rose to reconnoitre, and, looking below, beheld, as he imagined, an immense herd of cattle. As the sun advanced, lighting up the valley, a solitary figure stepped out from the supposed herd, and springing on an ant-heap, waved an assegai, and probably spoke, though nothing could be heard. Each shield of bullock’s hide then gave up its armed warrior, who had been sleeping beneath its shelter; the wild chant of the Fingoes filled the valley with strange harmony; and, in a few minutes a phalanx was formed, in readiness for the approach of the troops, to whom these Fingoes were attached as allies. They have well repaid the white man’s good will.

Although the Fingoes were the slaves of the Kaffirs till Sir Benjamin D’Urban, the good, the true, the generous, and the brave, released them from their bondage; and, although the Kaffirs to this day denominate them their “dogs,” the Fingoes are in many respects their superiors; and during this war we had ample opportunity of judging of their patience, bravery, and fidelity. The mode of warfare of these two tribes, for they cannot be considered distinct nations, is in some respects different. The Kaffir goes forth to battle besmeared with red clay, simply arrayed with his kaross, armed with his musket and assegai, and accoutred with his pouch and sack, for ammunition, plunder, and provisions.

The appearance of a body of Fingoes, if less terrific, is more imposing. Their heads are ornamented with jackals’ tails, ostrich plumes, beads, wolves’ teeth, etc. Across their shoulders is flung a skin, and around their waist is girt a kilt of monkeys’ tails. The chief, as among the Kaffirs, wears a tiger-skin kaross, and their rain-makers, who are at once wizards, doctors, and councillors, are most fearfully grotesque in their costume.

The Fingoes also bear enormous shields, which they use with great dexterity, for defence and excitement, sometimes beating time on them as on a drum; they are also much more ready to meet an enemy on an open plain than the Kaffirs. The latter on seeing an enemy, raise a hideous yell of defiance, and utter the most frightful sounds in imitation of lions, tigers, jackals, wolves, snakes, etc, by way of intimidating their assailants, before the attack commences. A Kaffir meditating a death-blow with his assegai is a terrific object. Now, he advances, his eyes starting from their sockets, his brilliant teeth glittering between his huge lips, which emit these horrible imitations, his head thrown back, his whole body writhing and trembling in the excitement of his anxiety to take a steady aim, his arm upraised, and his spear poised. The very sight of him is sufficient to inspire the bravest with dread, for such encounters cannot be considered as fair fights between man and man. The Kaffirs, too, have all the cunning of the wild beast, and we may be thankful in having the Fingoes as our allies in tiny contest with them; for, while they are sufficiently civilised and instructed to co-operate with our troops, they are of infinite use in herding cattle and defending passes. They will lie down on the watch for hours, and imitate the cries of animals to attract the attention of the Kaffirs, who find themselves encountered by creatures of their own mould, instead of the wolf, or the jackal, they expected. Sometimes, on the other hand, the Kaffirs will encircle the Fingoes, and dance round them yelling frightfully; now roaring like a lion, now hissing like a serpent; but it is seldom that the Kaffirs conquer the Fingoes, unless the latter are inferior in numbers.

I prefer citing Colonel Somerset’s despatch to the Civil Commissioner of Albany, to giving any account of my own of the sufferings of the colonists at this period. My own detail could only be gathered from hearsay evidence, and in this I might be misled. The dispatch no one can dispute; it is as follows—

McLuckie’s Farm, Kariega Kiaa, 4th May, 1846.

“Sir,

“Having moved with the troops under my orders to this part of Albany on the 1st instant, in order to afford protection to the inhabitants against the Kaffir tribes, and knowing your anxiety, as well as that of the public, for their welfare, I feel it necessary to acquaint you that I arrived here about 7 o’clock, p.m., on the 1st, having observed on my route that the whole of the Kowie Bush was thickly infested with Kaffirs. I moved a patrol early in the morning of the 2nd to Mr Dell’s farm on the Kasonga, where I found several families collected in a great state of anxiety, the Kaffirs having carried off their cattle, amounting to about 2,000 head, and the people being exhausted with fatigue and watching. Learning that the people at Theopolis were in great distress for ammunition, I communicated with that station from Mr Dell’s. In a short time the minister, Mr Taylor, came over to me, saying that his station had been attacked several nights successively, and his people were entirely without ammunition, and quite exhausted, and that unless I could assist him that night, they had no hope, and that there were five hundred persons who must fall a sacrifice to the Kaffirs, who had stated they would attack them again that night. I detached a Serjeant and twelve men of the Cape Mounted Rifles with Mr Taylor, and supplied him with a hundred rounds of ammunition as an immediate help. I also left at Mr Dell’s a party of twelve Burghers, as a reinforcement for the night. Having thus afforded some relief to these suffering people, I returned home, and at nightfall I sent another detachment of twenty men, Cape Mounted Rifles, under Ensign Harvey, with a further supply of ammunition, and thus secured these people for the night.

“At daybreak the next morning, I was fortunate enough to fall in with a large body of Kaffirs, who appeared to have established themselves in the Kowie Bush. I attacked them with the troops, and punished them severely, which I hope will keep them quiet for a day or two. I then proceeded to Theopolis, and, having communicated with that station, I arranged with the missionaries to bring them all here this day, and hope to forward their families to Graham’s Town at an early hour to-morrow morning, together with some other families who are here in a state of destitution, the whole of their houses, property, and all they possessed, having been set on fire by the Kaffirs as soon as they saw the troops advancing. These latter people I beg to recommend to the Government to be put on rations, and have some lodging allotted to them.

“The troops under my command having been detached by the Lieutenant-Governor for the protection of this part of the Colony, have been, under Providence, the means of saving the valuable lives of many helpless families. Had they arrived forty-eight hours later, all must have fallen a sacrifice to these ruthless savages, who were only waiting to complete the work of destruction by murdering the females and children,16 to establish themselves in their houses. Having been defeated in this by the opportune arrival of the troops, they set fire to the buildings and hay-stacks, and all their property. From Mr McLuckie’s 1,800 head of cattle have been carried off, from Mr Dell’s about 2,000, from Theopolis 1,400, besides the total destruction of almost all their hay-crops.

“It now only remains for me to express my admiration of the gallant stand that has been made by the inhabitants here for the protection of their families. Although surrounded by hundreds of the savage enemy, they have stood forward like men; and, although seeing their homesteads in flames, and all at the mercy of these barbarians, have never flinched, but have, even with cheerful countenances, supported their characters as men and Britons in defence of all most dear to them; and, if they had not done so, the assistance the troops have been able to afford would have come too late. I am also indebted to Messrs Fuller and Ferreira, of Graham’s Town, for their assistance in patrolling and in escorting the missionaries and their families. There is yet much to be done; several families on the right bank of the Kowie yet require protection, hundreds of Kaffirs being in the Kowie Bush for a distance of twenty miles; but I cannot hold out any immediate hope that I can cross over into the Bathurst district, either to afford protection, or to intercept the cattle that the Kaffirs are driving into Kaffirland. Probably, the Lieutenant-Governor will see fit to detach the cavalry from Fort Peddie to that district.

“I request that you will communicate the contents of this dispatch to His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor, as I am so pressed for time that I cannot forward one to him to-day.

“I have, etc,

“H. Somerset, Colonel,

“Commanding Field-Forces.

“To the Civil Commander of Albany,

“Graham’s Town.”

From McLuckie’s, Colonel Somerset proceeded, with a force of about sixty men, on the morning of the 5th of May, to the mouth of the Kowie, to render assistance to Mr Cock, an individual to whom the commercial interests of the Colony are much indebted for his success in opening the mouth of that river. Here, a large drove of cattle were discovered in the hands of the enemy as the detachment approached, and only one hundred and twenty head could be recaptured, as the Kaffirs took shelter in the bush, with but slight loss to themselves. On reaching the dwelling-house overlooking the river, it was ascertained that from four to five hundred Kaffirs, mostly armed with firelocks, had rushed upon the cattle as they were going to water, drove off the guard, and captured the herd. The little garrison kept up a spirited fire on the enemy, a small cannon on the building being well served, and doing good execution.

The following morning, another engagement took place near McLuckie’s, the troops following the Kaffirs into a Kloof where they had taken shelter. Here the enemy made a desperate stand, as they will do when driven to fight for their lives, and it was not until a field-piece was brought to play upon the position, that they were completely routed. The Kaffirs dragged off many of their dead and wounded, it being invariably their object to conceal the loss they sustain, but it is supposed that nearly fifty were killed; while on our side four men were wounded, three dangerously. In this encounter, some of these savages concealed themselves in wolf-holes, firing from their hiding-places.

Colonel Somerset’s next care was to secure all the oat-hay he could, amounting to 500,000 lbs. In the meantime, two large bodies of the enemy were in the immediate front of the troops, whose ammunition was running short. This, however, was speedily and safely conveyed to them.

It must not be forgotten, that where the troops could not render assistance to the farmers, the latter in many instances defended their homesteads with a gallantry equal to those mentioned by Colonel Somerset. Frequently, a mere handful of white men followed the enemy into the most frightful kloofs and passes, rescuing the cattle and cutting off the retreat of the savages across the drifts, or through the tangled bush, while their homes, containing their terrified families, were left to the protection of two or three individuals, the women assisting them in loading muskets, some bearing a brace of pistols at their sides, ready to use them if necessary, and mere boys playing their part right well, through the loop-holes, on any stray Kaffirs approaching the cattle-kraals.

Meanwhile the outposts, commanding the drifts leading from the colony into Kaffirland, were so weakly manned, from the want of a sufficient military force on the frontier17, that the Kaffirs passed beyond the range of the guns, but clearly in sight, driving flocks of sheep and cattle in thousands before them. At Block Drift, they brought their plunder to a sunny slope, and shouted in derision their usual cry of “Izapa!” “Come on!” They exchanged shots with the fort, and drove off a number of “slaughter cattle.” Had Major Campbell (of the 91st) permitted a sufficient number of men to leave the defences for the purpose of re-capturing the animals, there would have been a grand rush from the reserve of the enemy, who were concealed in the neighbouring kloofs and villages.

Almost all the outposts were similarly assailed, and all were well defended by the military. A general order was issued, in which Lieutenants Cole, Dixon, Metcalf, and Mill, and Ensign Thom, 91st Regiment, and Lieutenant Bourchier, R.E., were commended for the able stand they had made against the enemy.

His Excellency Sir Peregrine Maitland again took up his quarters at Graham’s Town, on the 9th of May. One of his first arrangements was to appoint Major Armstrong, Cape Mounted Rifles, to the command of the district to Bathurst, with a view to protect the colonists there, and enable them to recommence the cultivation of that beautiful and fertile locality. Major Armstrong is an officer of long standing and great experience in the Colony, and fully worthy of the trust reposed in him. The inhabitants of Bathurst, whose only place of refuge was the church, hailed the arrival of Major Armstrong and his force with great joy and satisfaction.

Fort Peddie, a large military station under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Lindsay, 91st Regiment, had in the meantime become the scene of Kaffir warfare. The I’Slambie tribes in its neighbourhood had professed to remain neutral, until they found the Gaikas were enriching themselves with the plunder of the Colony. These very I’Slambie and Congo tribes received the thanks of Government with praises and presents of money only two years before, in consideration of their peaceful dispositions towards us. The Gaikas may be considered a more worthy foe than these treacherous wretches paid and petted by us. The Gaikas have ever professed an utter abhorrence of the white man; and, although Sandilla, their chief, has occasionally been coaxed or frightened into sending to our authorities persuasive, humble, and pathetic messages, he has frequently retracted them, or followed them up by some daring acts of violence or aggression.

Colonel Lindsay having received various threats from the I’Slambie Chiefs, that they were coming with their warriors to attack his post, kept a look-out for the approach of the enemy. Several of these chiefs had, on the faith of their promises of neutrality, been received by the English at Fort Peddie with cordiality, especially Páto and Nonnebe, the latter a female descendant of General Campbell, who with his family was wrecked in the last century off the east coast of Africa, in the “Grosvenor” East Indiaman. Nonnebe’s mother was the daughter of Miss Campbell, one of the General’s unhappy daughters, who had been seized and retained by a Kaffir chief as his “great wife.”

On the 1st of May, the war-cry of the enemy sounded in the direction of the Beka Missionary Station, while the 7th Dragoon Guards were mustering on the green at Fort Peddie. From the jaded state of the horses, owing to a hurried march the day before, some delay took place in the movement of the troops, but the force under Sir Harry Darell, which had been stationed at Peddie for some time, was saddled up, and a gun, under Lieutenant Hill, R.A., was ordered to proceed immediately. Soon after, the rest of the 7th, under Lieut.-Col. Richardson, and a party of the Cape Corps under Captain Donovan, started to meet the enemy, fifty of the 91st preceding them. The Kaffirs, on their approach, burnt the mission buildings and retired into the bush, where they were safe from any present attack, nor would they leave it, though a feint hurried movement in retiring was made.

In less than a month afterwards, the same ruse was practised by Major Yarborough, 91st Regiment, when in command of a small body of infantry and a troop of dragoons, and with success. In this rencontre, a Kaffir Chief was severely wounded. As he fell, his people surrounded him, and, raising him up to bear him from the field, uttered the most dismal howls and lamentations.

The cries of the women for the loss of their relations are mournful in the extreme, and at night the wailings of these unhappy heathens fill the air with a melancholy sound, while not far from them, the victorious warriors chant their wild war-song, and dance their savage dance in demoniac glee around the blazing watch-fires.

On Friday, the 8th of May, Colonel Richardson, who was ordered to Bathurst, viâ Trumpeter’s Post, to co-operate with Colonel Somerset in the protection of Lower Albany, had a rencontre with the enemy on his march through Trumpeter’s Drift, one of those frightful passes formed by nature for the lurking-place of the savage, or the wild beast. I know the spot well: no place could be more favourable for the murderous operations of the Kaffirs, or less suited to the movements of British cavalry. On reaching the spot where the missionary, Schula, was murdered the year before, Colonel Richardson found Captain Schonswar, 7th, who had the charge of the advance guard of waggons, engaged with the enemy, the waggons being drawn up. The difficulty of proceeding down a steep declivity commanded by a dense kloof, and so bushy that the waggons could only pass in single file, was represented to Colonel Richardson. His reply was, that he was “ordered to Trumpeter’s”, and he immediately directed the waggons to advance; but, from the incessant fire kept up by the enemy from the bush on each side of the defile, and finding his men falling rapidly, he ordered them to dismount, each man of the centre file taking charge of three horses, whilst the rest were extended in skirmishing order. Thus, one-third of the force was rendered inefficient by the necessary arrangement for guarding the horses. “In this manner, they had to fight their way through the bush, for the distance of about six miles, down to the river, and up the hill on the other side, the whole time exposed to the fire of the enemy, who were generally concealed in the bush. In some places, they attempted to stop the passage of the troops by rushing into the road in front, when the dragoons were forced to clear their way through them. Thirty-seven dead bodies of Kaffirs were counted by the officers as they passed along the road. The Kaffirs approached within five yards to fire, and dropped down in the bush the moment they had discharged their guns.”

One made a dash at Mr Butler, 7th, and the latter, without having time to raise his rifle to his shoulder, shot the savage dead when close upon him.

The troops were hotly engaged in this way from nine till twelve o’clock; the object was the capture of the ammunition-waggon, and the enemy shouted aloud they would have it either at that drift or the next. In this affair several of the dragoons were wounded—two severely—and one artilleryman.