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^"■'''-/^V,
FORTY YEARS
AMONG THE ZULUS
BY
REV. JOSIAH TVLER
MISSIONARY OF THE A. B. C. F. M.
BOSTON AND CHICAGO
(Srangrcgational ^unlia8=^cf)0Dl ani publishing Socictg
J
f7r
Copyright, 1891, by
Congregational Sunday -School and Publishing Society.
TO THE MEMORY OF
^^Y BELOVED >?VIEE,
WHO FOR
THIRTY-EIGHT YEARS LABORED UNWEARIKDLY
FOR THE EVANGELIZATION OF
THE ZULUS,
AND WAS THEN CALLED TO HIGHER SERVICE.
283113
NOTE.
Reluctantly obliged by ill health to relin-
quish mission work in Africa, it has been
suggested that I publish some account of the
beginning and growth of the evangelization
of the Zulus. Thanks are due to the editors
of The New York Observer and other papers
for permission to make use of articles which
have occasionally appeared from my pen while
in Natal. If what I have written shall lead
any one to consecrate himself to the work of
the Master in South Africa, I shall be fully
repaid. j. t.
INTRODUCTION.
It is good to observe a people through the
eyes of one who has long lived among them
and for them. The unselfish soul is the best
observer. He sees truthfully who sees the
good, that he may enlarge it ; the evil, that
he may cure it. For a study of races, the
devotion of love is the light of wisdom. For
this reason the observations and reflections of
this book will have a just and permanent value.
The " heroes of the Dark Continent " are
not all named in the records of explorations
and discoveries. The worth and courage of
the missionary, who, by his fidelity in preaching
and living the gospel, discovers the man in
the savage, are less conspicuous but no less
real. England may trace many streams of her
power to the fountains that were opened by
the teachers and preachers of Jesus when her
ancestors were pagans. If another England —
a ''Greater Britain" — appear in South Africa,
with commerce, education, a well-organized
society, and the beneficent forces of religion,
1
Introduction.
it will be created by the same truth and
personal consecration. Missionary Tyler will
not live to see the society of his hope, but
when it comes and its history shall be written,
the " Forty Years among the Zulus " will be
named as among the seeds without which there
could have been no harvest.
It is said that nearly one fourth of the native
inhabitants of Africa are of the Bantu race,
of which the Zulu is doubtless the most
interesting tribe. This book makes evident
that they are not only numerous, but have a
capacity for great things. In their courage
and respect for property rights is found the
promise of a new nation. If Paul plant and
Apollos water, God will give the increase.
This book describes the people as they are:
their vulgarities, superstitions, their somewhat
offensive but vigorous naturalness, and proves
what may be done with them by the power of
the gospel. What we call civilization is now
entering Africa. The Christian religion must
go with it, or its selfish and depraving ac-
companiments — impurity, intemperance — will
make the light of knowledge darker than the
native ignorance.
There is a fascination in reading the chap-
ters describing Zulu life as they foUow one
Introduction.
after another, because it is always interesting
to read of human nature, and more than
interesting to read a book in which an earnest
soul describes the consistent devotion of all his
working years. Mr. Tyler is the son of Bennet
Tyler, d.d., of wide fame as a teacher and
theologian. Inheriting much of his father's
power, alluring opportunities of usefulness here
were presented to him. But he was possessed
of the spirit of a missionary and could be no-
thing else with a whole heart. There were no
unconsecrated reserves in his nature. He was
fitted for his work by a singularly active mind,
a tender and yearning spirit, humor, common
sense, and a heart loyal to Christ. He still
calls the natives his people ; and in his enforced
absence, though with children and friends,
really lives among the Zulus. "I see them
every Sunday," he says, "and find myself in
imagination preaching to them in their own
language the wonderful truths of God's love."
C. M. L^iMSON, D.D.
St. Johnsbury, Vt.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I. PAOB
LEAVING HOME.
Choice of the South African Mission. — Marriage
and Ordination. — Leaving Home. — Stop at
Cape Town. — Kev. Dr. Philip. — Sight of Natal.
— Reception by Rev. Daniel Lindley. — Ride in
an Ox-wagon 17
CHAPTER U.
STUDY OF THE LANGUAGE.
Rev. Newton Adams, m.d., and wife. — Study of
the Language. — Mistakes in Speaking Zulu . . 29
CHAPTER in.
OUR MISSION STATION.
Going to my Station. — Mr. Lindley accompanies
me. — Incidents in Mr. Lindley's Life. — View of
Esidumblni. — Taking Possession. — Mrs. Lindley 35
CHAPTER IV.
LIFE IN A KRAAL.
Life in a Zulu Kraal. — How the Huts are made. —
A Zulu Pantry. — Owner of the Kraal refuses
to have a Door in his Hut. — Appeal to Ances-
tral Custom. — Winning the Contidence of the
People 41
CHAPTER V.
HOUSE BUILDING.
In a Dilemma. — Rev. Aldin Grout. —His attempt
to Teach a King his Letters. — An American
Mail. — Mrs. Tyler's Feelings in view of the
Work 48
U
12 " ' ' Contents.
CHAPTER VI. PAGE
ZULU DRESS.
Zulu Wardrobe. — Shaving the Head. — Head Ring.
— Headdress of the Women and Young Men. —
Fondness for Oiuaments 57
CHAPTER VII.
DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED.
Reply to the Question, "Who made you'?'" — The
Great Spirit. — Ignorance. — Selfishness. — Need
of Patience. — My "Better Half." — Zulu Con-
sciences 63
CHAPTER VHI.
TOILING AND WAITING.
Mrs. Tyler's Retrospect. — Hulumene. — Dambusa. —
Muscular Christianity. — Gravity Upset ... 68
CHAPTER IX.
WILD ANIMALS.
Buffaloes. — Umfulawe's Narrow Escape. — An
Englishman's Adventure. — Lions. — Leopards.
— Wild Dogs.— Baboons 73
CHAPTER X.
CROCODILES AND SNAKES.
Butler's Narrow Escape. — A Dutchman's Adven-
ture. — Pythons. — Venomous Serpents. — Puff
Adders.— The " Iinamba." — Zulu Carrying a
Serpent on his Head. — Snakes good Rat-
catchers.— Effect of Tobacco on Serpents.—
Remedies for Snake-bites 83
CHAPTER XI.
SPIRIT WORSHIP.
Doctors of Divination. — " Smellers Out."^Zulu
Prayers. — Sacrifices
Contents. 13
CHAPTER XII. PAGE
ZULU SUPERSTITIONS. 104
CHAPTER XIII.
POLYGAMY AND OTHER EVIL PRACTICES.
Chattelizing of Women. — Beer Drinking. — Smoking
Wild Hemp 117
CHAPTER XIV.
ENCOURAGEMENTS.
Church Organized. — Prodigals Returning. — Dam-
busa again. — Experience of Young Converts. —
Christianity must Precede Civilization .... 125
CHAPTER XV.
THE SABBATH AT ESIDUMBINI. 134
CHAPTER XVI.
VISIT TO THE UNITED STATES. — NEW WORK.
Trial of leaving Children on returning to Africa. —
Location at Umsunduzi. — Visiting an Out-
station. — Mrs. Tyler's Observations 140
CHAPTER XVII.
EXPERIENCES AT UMSUNDUZI. 149
CHAPTER XVIII.
ZULU CHURCHES.
Disciplinable Offenses in Zulu Churches. — Mission
Rules. — Legislation of a Native Church. —
Polygamous Converts. — One in a Dilemma . . l.'S
CHAPTER XIX.
ZULU CHRISTIANS.
Their Courage. — Faith. — Happy Deaths .... 163
14 Contents.
CHAPTER XX. PAGE
ZULU PREACHERS.
Revs. James Dube and Ira Adams. — Umsingapansi.
— Cases of Lapse. — Specimens of Zulu Ad-
dresses 171
CHAPTER XXI.
ZULU CUSTOMS AND LAWS.
Origin of the Name "Kaffir."' — Similarity of Zulu
and Jewish Customs. — Number of Zulus in
Natal in 1843 and in 1889. — Regard for their
Chiefs. — Independence. — Zulu Lad's Escape
from Cannibals 181
CHAPTER XXII.
ZULU CHARACTERISTICS.
Physical Strength of the Zulus. — Politeness. —
Love of Fun. — Skill in Debate. — Ingenuity. —
Teachableness 188
CHAPTER XXIII.
ZULU WEDDINGS AND FUNERALS.
Cetywayo's Marrying his Fifteenth Wife. — Zulu
Girls " Pojjping the Question." — Publicly
Choosing a Husband. — Funeral Ceremonies . . 199
CHAPTER XXIV.
ZULU KINGS AND WARS.
Chaka, Dingaan, Umpande, Cetywayo. — Zulu War
in 1869 and 1870. — Quarrel between Cetywayo
and Usibepu. — Death of the Former. — Undiiii-
zulu. — Rebellion and Sentence 212
CHAPTER XXV.
ZULU FOLKLORE. 229
Contents. 16
CHAPTER XXVI. page
DECEASED AMERICAN MISSIONARIES.
Revs. Champion, Bryant, Marsh, McKinney and
wife, Ireland, Abraham and wife, Wilder, Stone,
Lloyd and wife, Robbins and wife, Dohne,
■ Pinkerton, Butler, Mrs. Tyler 236
CHAPITER XXVII.
NATIVE EDUCATION.
Seminary at Adams. — " Jubilee Hall." — The Theo-
logical School. — ''Inanda Seminary." —" Um-
zumbe Home." — Kraal Schools. — Government
Aid. — Books in the Zulu Language 253
CHAPTER XXVIII.
THE MISSIONARY OUTLOOK.
Semi-Centennial. — Past and Present Laborers. —
Condition of the Field. — E. C. A. M. — Other
iSocieties. — Boer Farm Mission. — Trappists. —
Missionary Outlook. — Need of Help .... 260
CHAPTER XXIX.
FACTS CONCERNING NATAL.
When Discovered. —Early History. — Elysium in
South Africa. — Climate. — Cost of Living. —
Cattle and Sheep Farming. — Pests. — Ticks and
White Ants 269
CHAPTER XXX.
PHYSICAL FEATURES AND POLITICAL AFFAIRS.
Natal. — Durban. — Maritzburg. — Granite Caves. —
Geological Features. — Coal Beds. — Flora
Waterfalls. — Escape of a Dutchman. — Political
Affairs. — Imports and Exports. — Railways. —
Native Question 283
APPENDIX.
Later Missions. — The Zulu Language. — The Exiled
Chiefs 295
FORTY YEARS AMONG THE ZULUS.
CHAPTER I.
LEAVING HOME.
"TTTHEN a boy I loved to sing "From
VV Afric's sunny fountains," and to read
of Ledyard, Mungo Park, and other intrepid
African explorers ; but little did I then imag-
ine that I should make the Dark Continent
my home — be permitted to see the "king of
beasts" walking about in his glory, the graceful
antelope bounding from cliff to cliff, inhale the
odor of its sweet flowers, bathe in its rivers,
eat its luscious fruits, admire its scenery, and
labor twoscore years for the evangelization of
its inhabitants. But it has been even so.
What led me to select South Africa as my
mission field may be briefly stated. While a
member of the Theological Institute at East
Windsor Hill, Conn., I belonged to a mission-
ary society, the members of which agreed to
examine carefully the claims of foreign mis-
sions, confer with each other, and ask the Lord
to direct them as to their future fields of labor.
Of our number, Benton went to Syria, May-
nard to Salonica, and Rood, Wilder, and I to
South Africa. The letters of Mr. Rood from
18 Forty Years Among the Zulus,
the Zulu Mission, describing the language and
character of the natives and urging the need
of help, led me to conclude that I might be
useful there, and on applying to the Prudential
Committee of the American Board of Commis-
sioners for Foreign Missions, I expressed a
preference for that field. If I had received the
reply, "You are needed elsewhere," I should
have acquiesced. The hand of the Lord was
upon me for good, and his guidance was clear
in the selection of one who was to accompany
me and share my solitude among the heathen.
At my brother's parsonage, at Windham, Conn.,
I met a young lady whose home was in North-
ampton, Mass. If the consent of her parents
could be obtained, she promised to go with me.
Tremblingl}^, but hopefully, I went to ask. In
considering the subject, they had decided to
give their consent provided they liked the
young man, and on condition that he did not go
to Africa. After a pleasant interview and just
as I was leaving, the mother inquired, ''Mr.
Tyler, to what part of the world do you pro-
pose going ? " " To Africa," I replied. After
a pause both said, " We have forgotten our
conditions, but the Lord reigns. It is evidently
his will that our daughter should go to Africa."
Those good people never regretted the choice I
had made of the Zulu Mission.
Some months intervened between graduation
and the time of sailing, and instead of studying
medicine, as I should have done, I supplied a
pulpit in central Massachusetts and received
Leaving Home. 19
a unanimous call to settle as pastor. Thank
God, I did not waver in my determination to
preach the gospel to the heathen ! Rather sud-
denly the summons came from Boston, " Get
ready at once ; a ship is going to India which
will stop at Cape Town." Hurrying to North-
ampton, I was married on the morning of Feb-
ruary 27, 1849, to Miss Susan W. Clark. After
the wedding breakfast, and singing
'' Blest be the tie that binds,"
followed by a prayer, — only a part of which
was heard, on account of sobs and sighs, too
funeral-like altogether, — we started for East
Windsor Hill, Conn., where I was to be
ordained the next day.
Previous to the marriage I was asked to call
on the family physician, who had known my
intended wife from her childhood and was not
at all pleased with the idea of her going to a
heathen land. Rather abruptly Dr. T
inquired: "Are you the young man who is
going to take that delicate girl to Africa?"
" Yes," I replied. " Well," said he, " mark my
word : she will not live a year. Here is a box
of medicines I present to you. Keep her alive
as long as you can, but before the year is out I
shall expect to hear of her death." Not very
comforting, truly ; but I consoled myself with
the thought that not all physicians are infallible,
and down in my Jieart of hearts I cherished the
hope that I might some time in the future
present that " delicate girl " to the doctor none
20 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
the worse for her African experience. Twenty-
three years later we revisited Northampton with
our six children, all healthy, white Africans ;
but the doctor himself had passed away.
The ordination service was rather more
solemn than is usual now on such occasions.
It was difficult to make people believe that
there was a single bright spot in Africa.
The prevalent feeling was that we were going
to our graves. What made the ordination, in
my case, peculiarly pathetic was the fact that
those who took part in it were near relatives.
My brother-in-law preached the sermon, my
father gave the charge, and my own brother
the right hand of fellowship. Their addresses
were published in a pamphlet form, and often,
while engaged in mission work, I derived
strength from their heartfelt utterances.
My own relatives, as well as those of my
wife, placed no obstacles in the way of our
going. The language of their hearts and lips
was, " Go, and the Lord be with you." Some
years after, my honored father remarked at a
meeting of the American Board, of which he
was a corporate member : " I have six children,
and they all are a comfort to me; but none of
them is so great a comfort as that son who
is your raissionar>' among the Zulus in South
Africa. He is a beloved son and his wife is
a beloved daughter ; but if God will give them
health to continue their labors I do not wish
to see them again until I shall meet them in
heaven."
Leaving Home. 21
Ordination over, we liurried to Boston to
sail in the ship Concordia, bound to India
by way of Cape of Good Hope. Our fellow-
passengers, Rev. Hyman A. Wilder and Rev.
Andrew Abraham, with their wives, were
designated like ourselves to the Zulu Mission.
We were fortunate in having a large ship, com-
fortable accommodations, and an agreeable
captain. Vessels bound to South Africa in
those days were scarce. They could hardly be
found in sufficient numbers to take emigrants
to the gold fields of California. The cargo to
be landed at Cape Town consisted of flour and
the first load of ice ever shipped to that port.
The Dutch farmers residing there had not
learned to appreciate such a luxury, and it
proved an unprofitable speculation. Having
received our instructions in due form in Park
Street Church, we awaited the time of our
departure, but lo ! the cargo was not in the
hold, the precise day could not be fixed, rela-
tives could not wait to see us off, and we our-
selves, becoming tired of Boston, revisited our
homes, having to go through another edition of
Baxter's Last Words. When we did sail at
last, after a fervent prayer in the ship's cabin,
there were two persons on whom our eyes
were fixed, a dear brother and sister who
lingered on the wharf to catch the last sight
of those whom they never expected to see
again in this world. Straining my eyes as
long as possible, I was suddenly surprised by
a rap on the shoulders, with an interrogatory
22 Forty Years Among the Zulus,
from Wilder, my classmate and missionary
brother: — "Tyler, are you not glad you are
out of the dusty streets of Boston ? " As Bun-
ker Hill Monument grew smaller in the dis-
tance, we began to prepare for seasickness,
and it was not long before we could each of
us say as did Henry Ward Beecher, when he
described that malady, " I felt — I felt — I felt
— with a great deal of feeling." My wife was
a terrible sufferer, growing weaker and weaker,
until the captain alarmed me by saying, " If
you don't do something for Mrs. Tyler, we shall
have to bury her in the ocean." A powerful
tonic set her right, and the voyage, though a
long one, was on the whole pleasant.
At Cape Town we met with the kindest
of friends. A letter of introduction from Dr.
Carruthers, of Portland, Maine, to his old
friend and brother Scotchman, Dr. Philip,
superintendent of the London Missionary
Society in South Africa, was a passport for
Mrs. Tyler and myself, to a residence at the
"mission house." Said Dr. Philip, " The bed-
room you will occupy is that in which Dr.
Vanderkemp, Robert Moffat, Livingstone, and
other distinguished missionaries have slept."
Though the doctor was aged and feeble, he
had lost none of his Scottish wit and humor.
He was a stanch Puritan, and sympathized
heartily with the " old school " theology of
New England.
Three weeks of delightful intercourse with
the Christian people of Cape Town passed
Leaving Home, 23
swiftly by, and then it was announced that
the schooner Gem was ready to sail to Natal.
In it we embarked, but alas, what a misnomer !
A more untidy and uncomfortable craft I never
saw. The voyage up the coast was long and
stormy ; the captain a drunkard, and incapable
half of the time. I doubt whether gladder
emotions sprang up in the heart of Vasco da
Gama when he sighted Tierra Del Natalis
on Christmas day than did in ours when we
heard it said, " There is the bluff overhanging
the harbor of Natal." Jubilant were we in the
prospect of setting our feet on dry land, but
our ardor was soon cooled by the words of the
mate : " Don't be impatient ; there is a bar to
cross, and going over it is no joke." The
sandbar, which choked the entrance of the har-
bor at that time, was truly formidable. There
were only eight feet of water at high tide; the
waves beat furiously over it, and accidents
frequently occurred. Captain Homes, from
America, crossing with his vessel a short time
before our arrival, had the misfortune to see
his own brother washed overboard, and before
help could be rendered become the prey of
a shark. We were told that the safest way for
us was to go below and be shut up in the cabin,
or we might share the same fate. Mr. Abra-
ham and the ladies did so, but Mr. Wilder and
myself chose to cling to the rigging. The
Gem thumped several times on the bar, and
was for a short time in danger of stranding, but
no harm befell us, and in an hour we cast
24 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
anchor in the most beautifully sheltered, land-
locked harbor on the southeastern coast of
Africa.
A boat immediately set off from the shore,
and in it we were glad to see a gentleman who,
we were told, was the Rev. Daniel Lindley.
This pioneer missionary had sent to America a
call for help, saying, " Come to our assistance.
We will receive you as kindly as we know how.
In us, if it be possible, you shall find the
brothers and sisters you may leave behind."
The warm welcome he gave us, " to the joys
and toils of the African vineyard," made a
deep impression on our hearts. I recall a
rather brusque reply to a question I put to
him, pointing to a party of Zulu men, semi-
nude, and armed with clubs and spears, "Is it
safe to dwell among this people ? " " Brother
Tyler," was the answer, "you are safer here
than in the streets of Boston." It was difficult
then to realize the truth of that observation,
but subsequent experience proved that the
good brother was right, and that life and prop-
erty are more secure in a state of pure barbar-
ism than in a state of godless civilization.
Our wives, I remember, were fearfully
shocked by the sight of the savage-looking
natives, and doubtless sympathized with the
pioneer missionary ladies to the Sandwich
Islands, who, when they saw the islanders for
the first time, shut themselves up in their
cabins, saying, "We cannot live among such
people."
Leaving Home. 26
Durban, the .seaport town of Natal, named
after Sir Benjamin D'Urban, late governor at
the Cape, was then a plain of sand. Only a
few European families made their homes there,
residing in wattle and daub houses; that is,
dwellings made of twigs woven in and out
of the posts and plastered with mud. No
hotel existed, and but two or three stores, in
which articles were sold at exorbitant prices.
Just above the town was a large bush or jun-
gle, called the " Berea " by Captain Allen
Gardner, a philanthropic Englishman who once
endeavored to establish a school there. When
we first saw it, there were neither European
nor Zulu dwellings; but elephants, lions, leop-
ards, and other wild animals made it their
habitat. G. C. Cato, Esq., American consul,
banker, merchant, and general adviser, some-
what rough in speech and manner, but kind-
hearted and helpful, treated us most hospitably.
But we did not remain in Durban longer
than was necessary to store our possessions in
a warehouse, and were then ready for the
wagon which came to take us to the mission
station, located on a pretty river called Aman-
zimtote (Sweet Water). We were to take our
first ride in a South African wagon, and I must
describe that institution. It is a huge vehi-
cle, on four immense wheels without springs,
the body ten feet long, with a tent made of
poles bent over, the ends of which are inserted
in staples on the sides. Grass mats, painted
canvas, and over all another piece of canvas
26 Forty Years Among the Zulus,
unpainted, constitute the covering. This is
tied to the sides of the wagon, and at night the
ends are let down and fastened to the wheels.
Inside is what is called in Natal, a kartell
simply a bed frame, made of four poles laced
with strings of cow hide. On this is placed
the mattress, for the wagon is the bedroom
as well as the coach and parlor of the African
missionary and traveler. Six or seven yoke
of oxen, or a span, are considered necessary
to draw this vehicle. Newcomers are disposed
to pronounce it a cumbersome affair and
behind the age ; but they generally modify
their opinion after a few months of travel over
the rough roads of the country. The ox yoke
is peculiar, being a pole about five feet long,
three inches in diameter, and having four
mortises to receive the keys, which take the
place of bows in civilized countries. Each has
a knob on the top to keep it from dropping
through the mortise, and two notches on the
outer edge, into one of which a strap is fas-
tened, coming under the neck to keep the oxen
in the yoke. This strap is made of buffalo
hide with a loop at each end to fit it to the key.
American farmers would laugh at this make-
shift affair, but should they try it a while they
would adopt it, if they had much to do with
African bullocks.
Each wagon has a driver and " forelooper,"
or person to lead the oxen. The whip is of
sea-cow's hide, the size of a man's finger, four
or five yards long, to the end of which is
Leaving Home. 27
attached a piece of buck's skin. The whip-
stock is the upper part of a bamboo cane, fif-
teen feet long. A dextrous driver soon im-
presses each ox in the span with a sense of
its responsibility, besides making the "welkin
ring" with a crack which on a still day is
often mistaken in the distance for that of a
rifle. A more exciting spectacle I have rarely
seen than that of three spans united, forty-
eight oxen in all, pulling a loaded wagon out
of a bog, or up a steep hill, the drivers shout-
ing and cracking their whips most furiously.
Mr. and Mrs. Wilder were to accompany us
to Amanzimtote, on their way to the Ifumi sta-
tion, and we prepared to take our first ride in
Africa. "Start early," said Mr. Cato, "for
you may have to ride in the dark." At six
in the morning we said good-by to Durban,
and launched out into what to us were un-
known wilds. Neither the driver nor leader
understood a word of English, and as we did
not know Zulu we obtained no information
from our sable attendants. After a trek, or
journey of ten miles, we " outspanned," that is,
unyoked, the oxen, to let them feed, and also
to refresh ourselves. In the wagon chest we
found all that was requisite : a kettle, matches,
dishes, knives, forks, bread, butter, tea, coffee,
sugar, etc. Mrs. Adams knew what we needed
and had kindly provided for us. This was the
first picnic we enjoyed in South Africa, an
antepast of many similar ones in the future.
At three p.m. we started, but were soon obliged
28 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
to halt. The oxen, unable to pull the heavy-
wagon up a sandy hill, were turned out to
graze. The sun beginning to sink behind the
horizon, I remember debating with brother
Wilder as to which one of us should keep
watch at night, with a loaded rifle, to defend
the party from wild beasts. Our hearts were
soon gladdened by the unexpected arrival of a
new span of fresh and strong bullocks, sent
by Dr. Adams to our relief. A new driver also
came, who could speak a little English. " Are
you the new missionaries? How do you like
our country?" etc. The wagon was set in
motion and at nine o'clock a light was pointed
out to us as that of Dr. Adams' house. The
welcome we received more than paid us for all
our fatigue.
CHAPTER 11.
STUDY OF THE LANGUAGE.
AN own brother and sister could not have
made our stay at Amanzimtote more
pleasant than did Dr. Adams and his wife.
Unremitting in their kindness to us in all
things, they helped us especially to get a good
start in the acquisition of the Zulu dialect.
They were model missionaries. Of the pioneer
band which left America in 1834, they had
clung to the Zulu field in the midst of great
discouragements. More indefatigable laborers
in the mission field I have never known.
They wrote but little for The Missionary
Herald, and on that account Christians in this
country knew little of them and their work.
The doctor's knowledge of medicine and uni-
form readiness to help the bodies of the
natives won for him easy access to their
hearts. He gained their confidence and affec-
tion. From a distance of forty or fifty miles
they came to him for consultation and help.
Improving every opportunity to sow the good
seed, he saw that they carried it with them
to their homes, and in after years the fruits
appeared. That the natives trusted him to
a remarkable degree is evident from the fact
that on one occasion, when they were inclined
29
30 Forty Years Among the Zulus,
to rebel against the English government, their
cliiefs were sent to talk with the doctor and
obtain his advice before taking up arms.
Listening patiently to all their complaints, he
questioned them as to what would be the
result of the rebellion ; suggested the loss of
life and property that would follow, and
02:)ened their eyes to some aspects of the case
which they had not considered. Putting their
hands to their mouths in Zulu fashion, when
new light breaks in upon their minds, they
acknowledged the wisdom of their teacher and
went home resolved to keep quiet. I am glad
to say that Sir Theophilus Shepstone, secretary
for native affairs in Natal, took notice of this
act, and thanked Dr. Adams most heartily for
saving the colony from war.
Dr. Adams labored eleven years before he
saw any fruit. The first individual to come
out of heathenism — indeed the first Zulu
convert — was Umbulazi, a woman who had
fled from her kraal to the mission station in
a state of starvation. She often said to Mrs.
Adams, " God raised me from the dust of the
earth. When I first came to you, I was eating
herbs and grass, because I could get nothing
else. I cared for nobody and nobody cared
for me ; but the Lord told me to go to the
missionary and he would help me.''
The image of that mother rises before me.
A poor woman, depressed by cruel treatment
and disowned by her nearest friends, had heard
this missionary preach the gospel of love, and
Study of the Language, 31
thinking that the bearer of such a message
must be merciful to her, an outcast, threw
herself down at his door, whei-e he found her,
with her little son on her back, waiting for
admittance. Her whole appearance and man-
ners were repulsive, but the longing for sym-
pathy and love which her words indicated was
fully met by those faithful workers for Christ.
They had prayed and labored that even one
soul might be given them, and what joy they
must have felt when after much instruction
the light of the gospel seemed to dawn on her
dark mind. Then she stood forth alone, a
professed believer in that new faith, which was
her comfort and support for nearly thirty
years, until death reunited her to those sainted
ones who had guided her to heaven. The last
time I saw her in her feebleness and blindness,
she took my hand and said, ''I am ready to
go home to my father and mother," meaning
the missionary and his wife. " The Lord has
been good to me. He has permitted me to see
great things." Is it not interesting to remem-
ber that the light of the gospel first shone in
a woman's heart among the Zulus ?
The next convert was a woman with whom
Umbulazi was accustomed to pray in a cluster
of bushes near the station. Still another
woman, who was trying to become a witch
doctress, came to the station, and was soon
" clothed and in her right mind." Mrs. Adams
remarked in regard to her, '' The last time I
saw that woman, I said to myself, ' You are
32 Forty Years Amoiig the Zulus.
a hopeless case, surely.' " At the time of our
visit at Amanzimtote, there was considerable
religious interest, and the hearts of those faith-
ful workers were greatly encouraged. At a
communion season which we attended seven
persons were received into church fellowship.
The sermon that day was on the text, " Fear not,
little flock," etc. As it was in Zulu I could
not understand it ; but the deep attention given,
and tears that occasionally trickled down the
cheeks of the auditors, showed that it made
a deep impression.
Dr. Adams died in 1851, of overwork, at
the age of forty-five, and was buried at the
station which now bears his name. Mrs.
Adams remained in the field five years after
the death of her husband, and then, on account
of failing health, returned to this country.
She always looked back on her life in Africa
with joy, and on the morning of her last day
on earth spoke of her love for the missionary
band there and for the Zulu people. She
died in Cleveland, Ohio. Both Dr. and Mrs.
Adams laid a broad and deep foundation for
the future. Who can doubt that their reward
in heaven is great ?
We should have been glad to remain with
those good missionaries a 3^ear at least, to
become imbued with their spirit, and so accus-
tomed to their modus operandi in mission work
that we could reflect it in after life. But the
custom in those days was to send newcomers,
as soon as possible, to their stations, so we
Study of the Laiiguage. 33
addressed ourselves, with all our might, to the
mastery of the language. No grammar or
dictionary had been published. Only a few
words had been collected to aid in the forma-
tion of sentences. The regularity and flexi-
bility of the dialect struck us at first with sur-
prise and pleasure, and the more we studied it,
the more we admired it. It is, like the Italian,
abounding in vowels, and is both pleasing to
the ear and easy to speak. There is great
poverty of words expressing moral thoughts,
but this is not surprising when we consider the
absence of such thoughts in the native mind.
Mr. Grout doubts " if the German, Greek,
or any other language can exceed the Zulu in
the scope and liberty it gives for the formation
of derivative words."
The names of persons in Zulu are derived
from circumstances connected with their birth.
For instance, if a small snake happens to be
seen or killed when a boy is born he is called
Unyokana, " a little snake.' If honey is plenti-
ful at such a time, the child is named Unyosi,
the name of that luxury. Should the infant
be a large one he receives the appellation Un-
gagumuntu, "as large as a man." If there
happens to be a fire at his birth, the babe is
named Unonililo, " with fire."
The time required to learn the language so
as to be understood by the natives depends
on the facility one has for the acquisition of
foreign tongues. Missionaries in Natal have
been known to preach in Zulu six months after
34 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
their arrival. A year or more is required
before one can catch what the natives say,
they speak so rapidly. Zulus are remarkably
patient, and do not laugh at mistakes made by
young missionaries unless they are calculated
to provoke their risibilities beyond control.
One who, perhaps, began to preach too early
had confounded the word lalani, meaning "go
to sleep," with lalelani^ signifying " give at-
tention." He began his sermon one Sunday
with the former, '•'-Lalani^ nonhe (Go to sleep, all
of you)." Another missionary, in giving direc-
tions to a native lad in reference to knocking
to pieces some hard sods in the field, used the
word for wizards, ahatagati instead of amaga-
hati (sods), saying, '^ Hamba u tyaye ahatagati
(Go and knock the wizards in pieces)." The
boy thought a difficult task was assigned him.
The wife of a missionary, wishing to have a
young man kill two ducks, had not noticed
that the word for men differed from that for
ducks in one letter: Amadoda (men), amadada
(ducks). She said to him, '-'•Hamha hulala ama-
doda amabili (Go and kill two men)." The
young man looking up with a smile asked,
"Which men shall I kill?"
J
^^ mm^
i
!
1
^PPy*"'^
Kev. Daniel Lindley.
CHAPTER III.
OUR MISSION STATION.
I HAVE described the ox-wagon, a large
affair, Init none too large for the mission-
ary's needs. Nor are the oxen required to
draw it (twelve or fourteen in number) too
many for the rough roads, steep liills, and sandy
beds of the rivers. In addition to furniture,
dishes, food, and clothing, it was necessary to
take tools for house building. I was fortunate
in having for a companion and adviser the good
brother who gave us such a warm reception
when we landed. Mr. Lindley had said, '' I
will see you settled in your new home ; " and
his experience and tact were of incalculable
help. Esidumbini lay fifty miles north of
Dur})an, and tliat was my nearest market and
post oftice. We were three days on tlie jour-
ney, but the trip was enlivened by the narra-
tive Mr. Lindley gave of incidents connected
with liis early life and African experiences,
which I will briefly record. When the Ameri-
can Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mis-
sions decided to establish a mission in South
Africa, among the six heroic young men who
responded to the call was the son of Rev.
Jacob Lindley, D.D., an eminent Presbyterian
minister. That son was Daniel, and at the
36 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
time he was pastor of a church in North Caro-
lina. His people, some of them slaveholders,
were ardently attached to him, and when they
received the tidings that he had decided to go
to Africa, it is hard to say which predominated,
astonishment or indignation. I asked him how
he succeeded in getting away. He replied, "I
preached four sermons on the kingdom of God,
and one on the Great Commission, and if ever
I preached from my heart T did then. My
people saw that the call was from God, and
gave me up, saying, 'It is His will that you
should go.'" p T 1 • .
It is to be regretted that no careful history
has been published of Mr. Lindley's labors,
trials, narrow escapes, disappointments at first,
but afterwards encouragements. Had he com-
mitted to paper his experiences, as he occasion-
ally gave them in public and private, they
would have been quite as interesting and
romantic as those of Rev. Robert Moffat.
Of this lamented brother, considered as a
preacher or platform speaker, I am not in dan-
ger of speaking too highly. Many in the
United States who heard him have said that
no foreign missionary surpassed him. Owing
to a keen knowledge of human nature, he
seemed to know just what to say to interest an
audience, and was always adequate to the occa-
sion As a hint of the kind of missionary
addresses best adapted to interest and edify
public audiences, he related an incident which
came under his own observation. Seated in
Our Mission Station. 87
the vestry of a church in Connecticut, previous
to entering the pulpit, the pastor asked him
upon what he was about to speak. Mr. Lind-
le)'' replied that he always aimed in his mission-
ary addresses to tell the audience about the
people among whom he labored, their customs,
worship, etc., and the nature of his work among
them. Said Dr. : "I am glad to hear you
say this, for a few months ago we had here a
missionary from India who occupied a full hour
in trying to show my people how they might
save money for the heathen. One of my dea-
cons, a shrewd merchant, came to me and said:
'We Yankees do not need to be told how to
save money, but how to use it.* "
When it was decided that Mr. Lindley return
to America to spend the evening of his days,
there was great mourning on the part of his
friends, black and white. At the farewell
meeting, one of the native preachers, in a most
pathetic address, said : " We have met to bury
our father and mother. Our missionary knows
all, from the governor to the poorest man, and
he is called by all ' father.' His wife has taught
our wives, and by precept upon precept and an
unwavering example of goodness and faithful-
ness, has done her work for Christ." A collec-
tion was then taken up of one hundred dollars,
which was sent to America, to be held in trust
to ''bury their father and mother, when they
should die." A clergyman in New York City
spoke truly when he said, "Such demonstra-
tions from such a source are infinitely more
38 Forty Years Among the Zulus,
honorable to humanity and America, as nobly
represented by her missionary, than all the
victories that British soldiers have won in Asia
or Africa since Warren Hastings became master
of India."
Our ride to Esidumbini in an ox-wagon was
to me, a newcomer, full of interest. Occasion-
ally a large iyihlanf/ii (reed buck) of a gray,
ashy color, with its beautiful horns measuring
fifteen inches or more from tip to tip, would
jump out of the long grass, run a distance of
fifty yards, then stop, turn around and look at
us. Mr. Lindley was not slow to seize his rifle,
and the poor buck paid the penalty of having
gazed too long at the disturbers of his quiet.
So numerous were antelopes of various kinds
and sizes, that there was no necessity to go out
of our way for them. Stopping at a Dutch-
man's farm the last day of our ride, he sur-
prised me by giving away all the venison we
had in the wagon. When I asked him what
we shoukl eat, he replied, "I will shoot another
buck to-morrow morning." He was as good as
his word. About sunrise, as I was boilinor the
kettle for our coffee, I heard the report of a
rifle, and then a voice saying, '• Send the
natives for a buck I have killed." It was a
fine animal, weighing about one hundred
pounds.
On a beautiful afternoon we came in sight of
my future home. The air was clear, and, as
we reached the end of a long table-land, a deep
and wide valley, filled with undulating hills
Our 3Iission Station. 39
and winding streams with an occasionnl water-
fall, suddenly opened on our view. On one
side was a dense thicket sloping toward a
river six miles distant, where elephants, lions,
buffaloes, leopards, hyenas, and other wild
beasts held undisputed sway. In the kloofs, or
ravines, were trees of considerable size, but the
hills abounded with the low, prickly mimosa,
amid which we discerned clusters of native huts.
How to descend into this valley from the
table-land, with no wagon path, was a puzzling
question. Ledges of rock occasioned great risk
of upsetting the wagon. As a native boy led
the oxen by the strap attached to their horns,
we helped to keep them from going too fast by
throwing stones at their heads shouting, " Ah,
now ! Ah, now ! " and as the sun was sinking
l)ehind the horizon we outspanned by the side
of a beautiful stream.
Before making preparations for supper, Mr.
Lindley said to me, " Brother Tyler, this valley
is to be your home. Let us take possession of
it in the name of King Immanuel." We knelt
on the ground by the side of the wagon, and
a prayer ascended to heaven from the lips of
that good missionary which I shall never forget.
It was that his young, inexperienced brother
might at all times "have an untiring patience
and an unwavering faith," qualities which I
found essential in my subsequent career. After
a day or two of advice and assistance, Mr.
Lindley returned home, and I was thrown upon
my own resources.
40 Forty Years Among the Zulus,
It is impossible to write of Mr. Lindley, and
not mention his mfe, one of the most devoted
missionary Ladies who ever set foot on African
soih Belonging to the pioneer band, Mrs.
Lindley suffered great privations and hard-
ships, but throughout all she labored inces-
santly and always cheerfully and with bright
hopes for the future. Notwithstanding her
large family and the cares which devolved
upon her, she found time to teach the natives
as well as her own children.
She would be most accurately represented
with a baby on her lap, pointing out the letters
to a Zulu kneeling beside her, or explaining to a
company of native women a portion of the Bible.
Her labors were not in vain. A number of
native preachers, two of whom were ordained,
received their first religious impressions from
her earnest appeals. She died in New York
City, November 22, 1877. Mr. Lindley died in
Morristown, N. J., September 22, 1888, at the
age of eighty.
At the funeral service at the Fourth Avenue
Presbyterian Church in New York, the follow-
ing remark was made : '' The world stoops to
honor the memories and achievements of men
who have won great successes in war, politics,
and business by merely selfish methods and for
selfish objects. Some day or other it mil place,
far above all these heroes of an hour, the men
who have emulated the spirit and equaled the
achievements of the founders of the Christian
Church,"
^
rik^a
A Zulu Kkaal.
\
CHAPTER IV.
LIFE IN A KRAAL.
rj^HE place for building selected, and the
-L trees cut and brought out of the kloofs
on native shoulders, I found it necessary to
use the wagon in hauling the timber, so my
bedroom and parlor had to be given up. My
wife was at a mission station twenty miles
away. Where should I lodge ? In a kraal
surely, if I could obtain permission of its
owner.
A kraal throughout South Africa is simply
a collection of huts arranged about a circular
fence of thorns which encloses the cattle fold.
This fence is eight or ten feet high, with a
stronger and larger one outside the huts, wall-
ing in the whole. The number of huts corre-
sponds to the number of wives belonging to
the owner or headman. There are, however,
in various parts of South Africa, military
kraals with two hundred liuts or more, in
which are quartered the king's soldiers, young
and middle-aged men, ready to enter the field
at a moment's call. The huts are made of
long wattles or poles, the ends of which are
fastened in the ground, the tops being bent
over and lashed together with the " monkey
rope," a vine well suited for the purpose. A
42 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
strong basket-like roof is thus constructed,
which is supported by horizontal poles resting
on two or more upright posts. The covering,
of long grass, is kept from being blown away
by small rods sharpened at each end, bent bow-
like, and fastened to the network underneath.
On the top of the hut skulls and horns of
oxen are frequently placed, probably designed
as ornaments. To a newcomer approaching
a kraal, the huts bear a strikmg resemblance
to large haycocks. They are impervious to
rain, and are made so strong that no wild
animal, except an elephant, has been known
to destroy them. Their location is ordinarily
on a hillside, to prevent the rain from settling
near them or entering the pits in the cattle
fold in Avhich their grain is kept. Indian corn,
with other cereals, and beans are thus stored
away from the weevils and white ants. These
pits are about six feet deep and as large as
a hogshead, but shaped more like a jar, wdth
a covering of flat stones and earth. The en-
trance to a Zulu hut is about two feet high in
the middle and three feet wide at the base.
The inhabitants go in and out on their hands
and knees. The door is of pliant sticks woven
together and made to correspond in size to the
opening. In royal kraals there is generally one
hut surpassing all others in the beauty and skill
with which it is constructed. The principal
pole or wattle spanning the entire arch is called
'•^intingo jenkosikazi (the wattle of the queen)."
The rainbow has the same designation.
Life in a Kraal. 43
The interior of a well-kept Zulu habitation
is not so repulsive as one might suppose who
has never inspected it. First, the floor pre-
sents the appearance of polished ebony, having
been made of a glutinous kind of earth which
lias passed through the mouths of innumerable
white ants. This is pounded liard, rubbed
with smooth stones, and then smeared with
fresli cow dung. Some Zulu women take pride
in having their floors shine so that you can
almost see your face reflected in them as in a
mirror. The fireplace is a saucer-like excavation
in the center of the floor, with a rim around it
six inches high to keep the firebrands and ashes
from scattering. Around this the iidiabitants
sit or lounge, chatting, singing, scolding, snuff-
ing, smoking, or dozing. At night grass mats
are spread over the floor, on which they sleep
with their feet towards the fire in cold weather.
Their pillows are small wooden stools, about
five inches high, on which they rest their necks,
not their heads. To foreigners this not oidy
"appears uncomfortable, but too suggestive of
a guillotine to be agreea])le ; but the Zulus are
too proud of their elaborate headdress to l)ring
it into contact witli the ground.
Calabashes for sour milk, earthen pots (home-
made) for water or beer, or for cooking pur-
pUSBS,' constitute the chief utensils of a Zulu
pantry.
The natives are very fond of meat of various
kinds : beef, mutton, venison. Pork is also
eaten j and lard for anointing their bodies is
44 Forty Years Among the Zulus,
a great luxury. They dislike eggs and have
an abhorrence for fish. They cultivate Indian
corn, pumpkins, amadwnbi, a species of caladi-
um, the root of which is eaten ; and, since
introduced by the whites, beans and sweet
potatoes are favorite vegetables. Indian corn
is their staple breadstuff, but it is usually
eaten boiled like mush. Stewed pumpkin is
also mixed with Indian meal. Thickened sour
milk is to them a luxury. Missionaries and
other foreigners, after they have become accus-
tomed to it, also greatly like it. In hot
weather it is the nearest approach to ice cream
of anything obtainable in Africa. New milk
is turned into a calabash and left to sour, fresh
milk being added daily, and when it is properly
soured a plug at the bottom of the calabash is
removed, the whey escapes, and the milk is
poured into an earthen dish. It is about the
consistency of "bonny-clabber." Boiled corn,
ground on stones and mixed with sour milk,
is food of which the Zulus never tire.
Another article of food, or drink rather, is
beer brewed from musty Indian corn. Well-
to-do natives make this in large quantities,
hence it is not unusual to see in a hut a huge
earthen pot that will hold twenty or thirty
gallons. The mill for grinding corn and other
articles is a large stone, two or three feet in
length, in which an indentation has been made,
together with a small one, oval-shaped and
double the size of a man's fist. The material
ground, or mashed, falls upon a small grass
Life in a Kraal. 45
mat placed by the side of the stone. Every
luit has in it one of these primitive but useful
mills.
At night other occupants than human beings
find lodging in a Zulu house. These are goats
and calves, tied to a stake in a small enclosure
fenced off for their accommodation, besides,
occasionall}', rats and cockroaches too numerous
to mention.
In one of these huts I spent the first six
weeks of my missionary life. The kraal num-
bered six dwellings, and the owner, for a rea-
sonable compensation, placed the best one at
my disposal. A screen of blankets hid me
from the eyes of my sable companions when
the time came for retiring. I was careful to
see that the entrance was closed at night to
keep out all members of the serpent family.
Not fancying the process of creeping in and
out on all fours day after day, I requested of
the proprietor of the harem the privilege of
inserting an upright door of civilized construc-
tion, telling him that when I left I would
leave it for his accommodation. His reply
was, '' My fathers went in on their hands and
knees, and I shall continue to do so, and, more-
over, while you are among the Zulus you must
do as the Zulus do."
An appeal to ancestral custom was the argu-
ment the natives invariably used to rebut all
reasons why they should abandon their absurd
practices as well as their superstitious worship.
Pointing one day to the cattle fold in which
46 Forty Years Among the Zil{us.
manure lay four or five feet deep, and also a
huge pile of ashes outside the kraal, I asked :
" Why don't you use these valuable ferti-
lizers ? " The only answer I received was : " It
is not our custom." ^
In the hut the smoke, having no chimney
through which to escape, ' was my greatest
annoyance. At the end of six weeks I did
not regret exchanging this smoky abode for a
larger one, with the improvements of a door
and window, and a pfirtition dividing the bed-
room from the sitting room. A kitchen was
built outside, in which was placed an Ameri-
can stove. Then I thought it time to send for
my wife, and on her arrival everything assumed
a changed appearance. I have always been
glad that I had this opportunity of living for
a time in immediate contact with the natives.
I caught their intonations and mastered the
" clicks " of the language. At times it was
difficult to repress feelings of disgust at the
sight of unblushing impurity, and the sound
of dancing, yelling, grumbling, and quarreling,
but a voice within me said : " The incarnate
and spotless Saviour saw what was far more
revolting to him than anything I behold ; " and
I found the people possessed some interesting
traits of character despite their environment.
The Zulus, like other African tribes, are nat-
urally proud, independent, and suspicious of
the white man's curiosity ; but there is a way
1 1 afterwanl ascertained that superstitious fears had something
to do with this.
Life in a Kraal. 47
to unlock the door of their hearts. Occasion-
ally creeping into one of their huts, and watch-
ing the careworn housewife busy at her daily
tasks, I dropped a kind word which generally
met with a smile or some token of apprecia-
tion. Nothing pleased the parents more than
my attempts to amuse the children, as they
rolled about on the floor, innocent of clothing,
their eyes sparkling with humor, and their teeth
shining like polished ivor}^ When I could
assist them in secular- nxatters 1 did so. B}^
attendiiig to their bodily wants I was enabled
to reach their hearts. I had daily evidence of
the wisdom of the remark of St. Francis
Xavier : '' The smallest acts of friendship, an
obliging word and civil look, are no despicable
part of the missionary's armor." The confi-
dence of tlie people was won. They looked
upon me as their friend, although they were
wedded to their superstitions. At first com-
passion was awakened in view of their degra-
dation, then love, and a longing for their sal-
vation. Love begat love. When Mrs. Tyler
became acquainted witli them she experienced
the same emotions. It was not long before
the natives said, ''See how she loves us!"
CHAPTER V.
HOUSE BUILDING.
THE site for 1113' house was on a hill com-
manding a fine view of the mountains in
Zululand to the north, an immense plateau or
table-land to the west, and to the east the
Indian Ocean, visible through a ravine, the bed
of the Umhlali River. The scenery was so
varied and picturesque we never tired of it.
The atmosphere was exceedingly clear and
exhilarating. Esidumbini seemed a perfect
sanitarium, and we rejoiced in having found so
healthy and beautiful a place of residence.
But as to the building of a house, we did not
fancy living longer than was necessary in a hut
with so few accommodations. In my boyhood
I had often seen house builders at work, but
never took notes with a view to doing anything
of the kind in after life. However, I knew
enough to use the line, lay out the ground, see
that holes were dug at proper distances for
posts, and that they were firmly erected, after
their lower ends were charred to prevent their
being eaten immediately by white ants, and
also that the beams were pinned to the posts ;
but how to make rafters I knew not. I wrote
my dilemma to a good brother missionary.
Rev. Aldin Grout, living twenty-five miles dis-
House Building, 49
tant, and he came at once to my aid. Reaching
us at three p.m., he rested a while, and then
went out to inspect my operations. I can still
see the smile on his countenance as he beheld
my long face and heard me dilate on my trou-
bles. Throwing oif his coat, workman fashion,
he began to show me in a thoroughly practical
manner what was to be done. Selecting a few
poles he told me to take them to a certain spot,
drive down a peg, arrange a couple in the form
of a triangle, bore the holes, pin the poles
together, and saw off the ends properly, mak-
ing me do the work that I might not forget in
future. In less than two hours all the rafters
were put together, and before Mr. Grout left
the next morning a good part of the roof was
up. Easy enough, I thought, if you only know
how.
Mr. Grout was one of the pioneer mission-
aries who sailed from Boston in 1834. ^ He
' A gentleman, now nearly eighty years old, who was residing in
Cape Town at the time the six pioneer missionaries of the Ameri-
can Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions landed there,
thus speaks of a meeting in connection with the Sabbath-school,
held in the Tnion Chapel . —
" A man who had something to do in making arrangements for
the meeting had placed on the communion table a plate of btecuits
and a decanter of wine. One of the missionaries, being called on
to address the meeting, gave such a speech that he aslonisheil us
all. He began by expressing his amazement at finding one present
who was the instigator to all evil. He detailed the crimes of whit^h
men are guilty, and attributed them all to this one who was in our
midst. Then he turned upon us present for allowing such an one
to enter the house of God, that no one had raised his voi<'-e, or pre-
vented his entrance, and when lie had excited us to the utmost by
his condemnation of this miscreant, he pointed to tlie wine."
That missionary was Rev. Ahlin Grout, now living in Springfield,
Mass., at the advanced age of nearly ninety.
Soon after the above incident, Mr. Grout, with some clergymen
50 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
landed in Natal early in 1835, with Dr. Adams
and Rev. George Champion. Hopefully and
zealously Mr. Grout began missionary work in
Zululand, then under Dingaan, a cruel despot.
The difficulties under which he labored and
the perils b}' which he was surrounded were
sufficient to intimidate the most courageous.
He attempted to teach Dingaan to read.
The proud king said to Mr. Grout, " Why
have you come to me ? "
" To teach and preach the gospel to you,"
Mr. Grout replied.
Said his sable majesty, "Do you then pre-
sume to think that you can teach me anything
that I do not already know? "
It was explained to him that he must first
learn the letters of the alphabet.
'' Can I now learn to read ? " he inquired.
Mr. Grout told him that he would come
again on the morrow and give him a lesson.
''But can so great a thing be put off till
to-morrow? Let me have them all now,"
responded the chief.
Mr. Grout then printed the whole twenty-
four letters, and began, as he said, " to educate
a king in a day."
Soon, on repeating the letters he had learned,
in Cape Town, was invited to dine at the house of Rev. Dr. Philip,
superintendent of the Loudon Missionary Society in South Africa,
and the good doctor, seeing the missionary's eyes directed to the
decanter of wine in its usual place on the table, called his servant
to remove it, and that was the last time it was placed on that table.
It required some degree of moral courage in those days to set one's
•• face hke a flint " against the drinking usages of society, and I
love to recall what the missionary, then a young man, so heroically
did.
House Building. 51
the king was at a loss, and said, " I have
forgotten that one."
" Well, it is D."
Soon the king had forgotten another, and
another, and became confused and forgot all.
In his vexation he threw down the paper, say-
ing, " There, I told you I could not learn. No,
I do not want you ; you may go home."
On another occasion, while Mr. Grout was
showing Dingaan his medicines, a small pair
of tweezers was observed, and the king asked,
'^ What is that for ? " Mr. Grout replied, "To
extract splinters or small ticks from the body."
The response came, " I will take that for my
own use." Soon after he appropriated a bottle
of smelling salts, and Mr. Grout began to
think that he had better keep his things out of
sight if he wished to preserve them.
Asking one day for medicine, as he had a
severe cold on his chest, a mustard poultice
was recommended. The king had it applied
first to one of his peo})le that he might watch
its effects before he tried it himself.
Mr. Grout's love for the Zulu Mission was
tested in the early days of its history. On
account of war between the Zulus and Dutch
farmers and the discouraging prospects, the
American Board recalled Mr. Grout and his
colaborers, Lindley and Adams; but before
the summons from Boston reached them, the
darkest days had passed. They could not
brook the idea of retreating from the field.
Their hearts were buoyed up with a faith kin-
52 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
dred to that which inspired the " apostle to the
Karens," eighteen years previously, who, when
asked, "What prospect of ultimate success is
there ? " replied, " As much as that there is an
almighty and faithful God."
Dr. Adams said, " I will support myself by
my profession." Mr. Lindley, no less coura-
geous, observed, " And I will obtain a living by
teaching the children of the Dutch Boers."
Mr. Grout deckired that he would " go home
and plead for the continuance of the mission."
To quote his own words ; " With hearts well-
nigh broken, myself and wife took passage, and
in 1844 were safely landed in Cape Town.
For nearly ten years we had been in search of
a place where we could stop long enough to
preach the gospel and witness its fruits, and
now, without any intimation that we had done
any material good, we were called away. We
had hardly landed in Cape Town before friends
began to inquire, ' Why have you left your
work? You must go back. If funds are all
you want, they shall be forthcoming.' "
Sir Peregrine Maitland, then governor at the
Cape, gave Mr. Grout an appointment as gov-
ernment missionary, saying, " It is a pity men
should leave a place and p)eople just as they
have learned enough of the language to enable
them to be useful," and adding, " I think more
of missionaries than of soldiers to kcBp savages
quiet."
A purse of <£170 was contributed by the
good people of Cape Town for immediate
House Building. 53
necessities, and in June, 1844, Mr. Grout
returned to Natal.
He was remarkably adapted to mission work
in South Africa, and his efforts were attended
with success, though he labored more than ten
years before seeing his first convert. Failing
health rendered it necessary that he should
come to America to spend the evening of his
days, but he has often regretted that he did
not conclude to remain in Africa and die
among his own people. When he left this
country in 1834 he was accused by some of
''going on a wild-goose chase ; " but he used to
say, " I have caught my goose."
His first wife died in the earl}^ history of the
mission, leaving one daughter, Mrs. Ireland,
now in the Natal field. With his second wife
he has lately celebrated his golden wedding.
May his last days be radiant with the divine
presence !
I must say that my new house, when com-
pleted and occupied, seemed to me like a
palace. The months flew by rapidly and pleas-
antly, each finding us better able to communi-
cate with the people. We had Indian corn,
amadumbi, and occasionally meat brought to us
for sale by the natives. Fowls we could obtain
cheaply, and in abundance. With my rifle I
frequently shot antelopes that were quietly
feeding near by.
One privation, keenly felt during the first
few years, was the absence of news, except at
long intervals. The nearest post office was fifty
54 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
miles distant, and, native young men being
needed for work of various kinds, weeks some-
times passed before we could send one for our
letters. Natal could not then boast of a news-
paper. Tidings reached us one day that filled
our hearts with joy. An American vessel had
arrived, bringing not only a mail from home,
but other things " too numerous to mention,"
as our Durban agent wrote. Immediately were
dispatched two able-bodied Zulus, with the
promise that if they would return before bed-
time the following Saturday (it was then
Wednesday) each would receive a shilling
extra. They took two large bags, each holding
as much as a flour barrel, in which to bring the
newly-arrived articles. Saturday night came ;
it was dark and rainy, and the prospect of see-
ing our carriers grew fainter and fainter. Ten
o'clock came, and just as we concluded to
retire a rap was heard on our door. There
were the two Zulu men with immense burdens
on their heads, their bodies covered with per-
spiration. To terrify wild animals and ward
off witches, they said they had sung and
shouted all the way after sundown. The huge
bags were placed on the dining room floor;
something tempting to the appetites of the
messengers given them, and we began to
inspect this first arrival of things from the
dear ones at home.
Opening the bags I poured out their contents.
The Eclectic, Harper's Monthly, The Mission-
ary Herald, and other publications were laid one
House Building. 55
side ; boxes of maple sugar, little bags of wal-
nuts and butternuts, parcels of clothing, an
album, bedquilt, daguerreotypes, etc., gladdened
our eyes and hearts. Then we sat down to
read some of the welcome letters out of a big
bundle before us. When twelve o'clock came
we laid all aside to be reinspected on Monday
morning.
Mrs. Tyler, writing about that time to a
friend in this country, observed, " You ask if
we never ' cast one longing, lingering look
behind,' and if it does not make us sad to think
of you all. Perhaps you will hardly think me
sincere if I tell you ' No.' I don't know that
I have ever felt, since the time I stepped from
the plank which connected our ship with land,
that I have had a desire to live in America. I
do not mean that I love my native land any
the less, or that I should not love to visit it
again ; but I would rather live at Esidumbini
and labor for the good of the many souls that
are famishing for the lack of knowledge, and
here too would I die. I feel that it is my home
and I love it. I love my friends so dearly that
it seems unnatural not to see them occasionally ;
but I knew it would be hard before I came
here, and tried to make up my mind to leave
them all at home and be content to write to
them, and hope to receive many letters from
them. The more I become acquainted and
interested in our people, the more I shall learn
to give up all other objects of thought which
would tend to make me unhappy."
56 Forty Years Among the Zuha.
Then referring to her husband, she said :
"We try to help each other in all sorts of
ways. When Mr. Tyler is putting on a door-
latch, and turns it upside down and wonders
why it does not work, I run and help him ; and
when I make similar mistakes, or need a little
bookshelf or something of that sort, he is
always ready to help me. So we conclude, like
other young married people, that we were made
for each other."
A Heathen Zulu Young Man.
CHAPTER VI.
ZULU DRESS.
THE clothing of the Zulus in their normal
state is too scanty to require much de-
scription. Mark Twain's observation in regard
to the Sandwich Islanders is not inapplicable to
this people : " They wear — they wear — they
wear a smile, and some of them a hat and a
pair of spectacles." The dress worn by the
men consists of a girdle of ox hide from which
is suspended in front a bunch of the tails of
monkeys, wild cats, or other animals, and at
the back a small apron of ox hide or the skin
of some wild beast.
The garment of a woman is a skirt of pliable
tanned leather, lubricated with fat. The bridal
skirt is trimmed with beads of divers colors
and a rich profusion of brass buttons. This is
a present from the bridegroom, with which the
young damsel is as much pleased as are her
civilized sisters in other lands with their jewels,
laces, and orange blossoms. Belts and semi-
belts are worn by young men and women, the
more beads ornamenting them the better.
Zulu men are dressmakers as well as tailors,
making all the garments of the women as well
as their own.
Washing day is not one to be dreaded among
58 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
this people. Should a garment require cleans-
ing, it is taken to the river and rubbed with
the fibrous root of an alkaline plant which
takes the place of soap.
The native headdress occupies considerable
attention. Married men shave all the upper
part of the head except the crown, on which
they leave a little wool in a circular shape
about four inches in diameter. To this is sewn
a gutta-percha-like ring, made of gum and char-
coal. With the growth of the wool the ring
rises sometimes to the height of six inches.
Into this ring they thrust long snuff spoons,
porcupine quills, needles, and other articles of
utility. This ring is a badge of manhood and
respectability. Violence done to it is quickly
and bitterly resented. Men have chosen to
die rather than be deprived of it. Under the
old Zulu kings no man was allowed to wear
the ring till he had distinguished himself in
battle.
While Rev. Robert Moffat was on a visit to
Mosilekatzi, king of the Matabele Zulus, a man
was brought before the chief to receive his
sentence for a crime, the penalty of which was
death. Mr. Moffat earnestly interceded for his
life. The story from the missionary's own pen
is too interesting to be omitted : —
" The prisoner, though on his knees, had
something dignified in his mien. Not a muscle
of his countenance moved, but a bright black
eye indicated a feeling of intense interest,
which the swerving balance between life and
Zulu Dress. 59
death only could produce. The case required
little investigation ; the charges were clearly
substantiated, and the culprit pleaded guilty.
But, alas ! he knew that it was at a bar where
none ever heard the heart-reviving sound of
pardon, even for offenses small compared with
his!
"A pause ensued, during which the silence
of death pervaded the assembly. At length the
monarch spoke, and, addressing the prisoner,
said : ' You are a dead man ; but I shall do
to-day what I n^ver did before. I spare your
life for the sake of my friend and father. I know
that his heart weeps at the shedding of blood ;
for his sake I spare your life ; but you must
be degraded for life ; you must no more asso-
ciate with the nobles of the land, nor enter the
towns of the princes of the people, nor even
again mingle in the dance of the mighty. Go
to the poor of the field and let your compan-
ions be the inhabitants of the desert.'
"The sentence passed, the hardened man
was expected to bow in grateful admiration.
But, no ! Holding his hand clasped on his
bosom, he replied : ' O king, afflict not my
heart ! I have incited thy displeasure. Let me
be slain like the warrior. I cannot live witli
the poor.' Raising his hand to the ring he
wore on his head, he continued : ' How can I
live among the dogs of the king, and disgrace
this badge of honor which I have won among
the spears and shields of the mighty ? Let me
die, O Pe Zulu I'
60 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
"His request was granted, and his hands
were tied erect over his head. Now my exer-
tions to save his life were vain. He disdained
the boon on the conditions offered, preferring
to die with the honors he had won at the point
of the spear. He was led forth, a man walk-
ing on each side. My eyes followed him until
he reached the top of a high precipice, over
which he was precipitated into the deep part of
the river beneath, where the crocodiles, accus-
tomed to such meals, were yawning to devour
him ere he could reach the bottom."
Shaving the head is not confined to Zulu
men. Married women do the same, leaving,,
however, a topknot for which they have a
great regard. A mixture of red ochre and
grease makes this topknot an agreeable orna-
ment in their estimation. A few of them,
however, do not shave at all, but rub their
wool with red pigment, making it look more
like a mop than anything else. Witch doc-
tresses fasten to such a headdress the bladders
of birds or of wildcats, blown out, and thus
appear hideous in the extreme.
Young men not married allow their hair to
grow, dressing it in a variety of fantastic
shapes. Now it looks like a sugar loaf, now
like two little hills with valleys between. The
more rancid butter, or mutton tallow, or cocoa-
nut oil they can get to rub on their heads the
better. Odoriferous substances are freely used,
especially before going into company, and per-
fumes are now bought largely from English
Zulu Dress, 61
merchants. Places of worship need ample
ventilation, particularly when filled with Zulus
freshly lubricated. Missionaries not only re-
quire grace, but strong olfactory nerves, and
they often sigh for a different kind of anointing.
_ Zulus of both sexes and of all ages are
exceedingly fond of ornaments. Necklaces,
made of beads of various colors, are common.
Brass rings, some of them we should think
too cumbersome to be agreeable, are worn on
the arms and legs. The head is decked with
feathers, from those of the common fowl to
the ostrich and the most beautiful birds of
the forest. A j^oung man is sometimes seen
with a pair of deer's horns attached to his
forehead, while about his neck are strung
leopard's teeth, pieces of crocodile skin, bits
of wood, claws of birds, and small bags of
medicine. "Spirit" or "witch" doctors com-
monly wear long leopard skins dangling about
their feet. Infants have holes bored in their
ears which are enlarged as they grow older,
and made the receptacle for ivory knobs or
reed snuffboxes. Flowers are often seen on
the head, one of which, the "love-making
posy," is said to foster the tender passion.
Young men generally wear this when paying
attention to the ladies. On the arms and
bosoms of wonien raised^ scars are often"
noticeable. These were made in infancy, and
in the gashes cut in the skin were inserted
charcoal and ashes from the bones of serpents.
The operation must be painful, but when orna-
62 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
mentation is considered, bodily suffering is
not regarded. An ornament of which young
wives are very fond is a piece of buck's skin
tied across the chest and falling down to the
knees ; the more brass buttons sewed to it the
better. On marriage or other hilarious occa-
sions, both sexes deck themselves with all the
finery obtainable.
CHAPTER VII.
DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED.
"TXT^HEN we began our work at Esidumbini,
V V no sign of civilization was visible.
Profound ignorance prevailed in regard to
religious truth. I asked a young man, " Who
made you?" His reply was, '''• Unkulunkulu
(Great-Great)." "Where did Unkulunkulu
come from?" " He sprang from a reed on the
river's brink." " Where was that river ? " "I
cannot tell. Some believe it is in Natal, others
in Zululand." " Who made the reed from which
Unkulunkulu sprang?" "I do not know.
Our fathers did not inform us." This was the
extent of their theological knowledge. A
pamphlet has lately been published in Natal
by Dean Green, of the English Church, on the
proper name for God in the Zulu language.
The conclusion to which he arrives, after a
most rigid examination, is that Unkulunkulu,
literally '^ Great-Great," is the best word for
God. A large majority of missionaries, both
in Natal and Zululand, coincide with his views,
and doubtless that will soon come into common
use. Uixo, a word of Hottentot origin, has
been used quite extensively for many years
past. There are Zulus in Natal who believe in
64 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
an '-'•Itongo^^ a great Spirit from whom all
things proceeded.
Great simplicity was required in our teach-
ing. The theme that invariably excited in-
terest was the love of Jesus and his agony on
the cross. None other awakened an equal
amount of thought and feeling. Had we used
denunciatory language, or tried to drive them
to a reception of Christianity, we should have
defeated our object. Kind, gentle, unwearied
persuasion and a firm reliance on divine help
are the true weapons of a missionary's warfare.
There were occasional gleams of native
shrewdness. A lad of seventeen years, look-
ing at me one Sabbath day with twinkling eyes
and a countenance full of animation, put the
following question : '' Do you say, teacher, that
the great King has all power in heaven and on
earth?" "Yes," I replied. "Well then, why
did n't he take a knob-kerrie and, as the ser-
pent was creeping into the garden, give him a
rap on the head and thus save the human
family from all its woe ? "
For a long time it was impossible to persuade
the fathers at Esidumbini to allow their
daughters to reside in our family, altliough we
offered good compensation. They said, " You
will spoil our girls. If taught your notions
and customs they will make us trouble and
refuse to marry old men who may have eight
or ten wives."
They reasoned correctly, for our teaching
did have that effect. The young men in our
Difficulties Encountered. 65
service could not be induced to put on clothing
of European make, not even a shirt, though it
might be given to them, lest they should en-
counter ridicule and be accused of adopting
the " new religion." This led one of our
missionary brethren to make the quaint but
truthful remark : " A shirt is the anxious seat
among the Zulus ;" for as soon as a young man
was seen putting on this first article of civili-
zation and Christianity, he was known to be
anxious about his spiritual interests.
Worldly considerations alone brought the
natives to our Sabbath services. If a man
wished to make a good bargain with us on
Monday, he was sure to be at church on
Sunday.
When a father was asked to send his boys
to the station to be taught, the reply was,
" What will you pay me ? " One who had been
quite a regular attendant on the sanctuary for
three years came to me one day, and said, " I
am coming to meeting no longer ; I get nothing
for it."
I thought, one Sabbath morning, after preach-
ing five yeais and witnessing no conversions,
that my words had at last sunk into the heart
of one man. His countenance was full of life,
and his eyes were not taken from me during the
sermon. I had been preaching on the storm of
divine displeasure that will overtake all unbe-
lievers. He came to me at the close of the
service, and said : " Teacher, I thank you for
your discourse to-day. I am so glad a storm is
66 Forty Years Among the Zulus,
coming, for my garden is all parched up with
drought."
The prophet Ezekiel (33 : 31) describes accu-
rately my congregation at that time : " And
they come unto thee as the people cometh, and
they sit before thee as my people, and they
hear thy words, but do them not: for with
their mouth they show much love, but their
heart goeth after their gain."
Dark indeed were the prospects ; but Mrs.
Tyler, whom no obstacles could dishearten,
comforted me with the words : " The darkest
hour is just before dawn." She used to remind
me of a passage in Hebrews, which my good
father desired I should never forget : " For ye
have need of patience, that, having done the
will of God, ye may receive the promise."
I shall speak without reserve of my wife,
now in the ''better land," for if I have been
useful in any degree in the mission field, I
attribute it largely to her unwearied help and
wise counsels. Though of a delicate organiza-
tion, she was to me at all times a tower of
strength, inspiring me with hope in the darkest
hours, uncomplaining in time of trial, willing
to wear herself out that others might be bene-
fited. Not only was she necessary to the hap-
piness of her husband, but to the elevation of
the Zulus as well. She preached a part of the
gospel I could not preach, reaching the hearts
of poor Zulu women as no man could have
done.
The joys vouchsafed to missionaries more
than counterbalance their sorrows. I am sure
Difficulties Encountered. 67
that we were never happier in our lives. At
all times the bow of God's promise overarched
us, and our helirts were buoyed up by the
assurance that we were remembered in the
prayers of dear relatives and friends in our
native land. The promise : " Lo, I am with
you," was verified to us, and as we could say,
" Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee,"
those words, " Manifold more in this present
time, and in the world to come life ever-
lasting,** came to us in all their sweetness.
One thing I could not fail to perceive in the
early days of our missionary life was that the
consciences of the people were on our side.
However absorbed in their worldly schemes,
however corrupt their inclinations, however
closely wedded to their debasing customs, their
consciences were responsive to our teaching
and testified that the Word we preached was
truth. We had abundant evidence that con-
science among a heathen people is a great aux-
iliary to the missionary. I once asked several
old men how they felt before the arrival of
white men in Zululand, when doing right ^ or
wrong. Their reply was, " Something within us
approved when we did the former, and con-
demned when we did the latter." A good
commentary this, I thought, on the words of
the apostle Paul : " These, having no law, are
a law unto themselves ; in that they show the
work of the law written in their Jiearts, their
conscience bearing witness therewith, and their
thoughts one with another accusing or else
excusing" (R. V.).
CHAPTER VIII.
TOILING AND WAITING.
OUR chapel, holding about a hundred, was
filled every pleasant Sabbath. There was
no direct opposition except from a cunning
"spirit doctor," who, fearing his craft was in
danger, warned the people against having any-
thing to do with us lest the spirits should be-
come angry.
A change was going on silent but sure. The
hearts of the natives were being unlocked by
sympathy and love. Our arguments against
their evil ways were met with a manliness that
commanded respect. Though baffled in dis-
putation, they retired from the field with great
politeness and grace. We did not see it at the
time, but the divine Spirit was working by our
side. " Esidumbini for Christ " was our motto,
and the Master approved it. He was fertilizing
what had been sown in tears.
We used to think at times that friends at
home might doubt the expediency of supporting
missionaries, year after year, in such an un-
promising field.
Mrs. Tyler, in reviewing those early days,
once wrote in regard to them : —
"I remember the despair which crept over
me when I made my first entrance into a
Toiling and Waiting, 69
heathen kraal. Everything was so dark and
repulsive, it did not seem possible that the
pure, genial light of the gospel could find a
place there. But it would not do to give way
to doubt or despair with the divine promises in
our hands. We gathered courage from the
bright faces and pleasant smiles Avith which
all greeted us as their first white visitors. To
the extent of our ability we answered their
questions and interested ourselves in their
children, showing them that we were their
true friends.
" But when we tried to explain why w^e had
left our native land and come to live with
them as messengers of Jesus Christ, silence
was the result. Such was the beginning. But
when we secured some of the children to work
for us, though they knew nothing of our inten-
tions we spent much time in teaching them to
repeat passages of Scripture, hoping that tliese
would remain in their hearts, even if they went
back to their kraals, and that the Holy Spirit
would make use of this instrumentality for
their conversion. As soon, however, as some
of the parents found that their children were
becoming interested in learning they hastened
to remove them. This was the disheartening
part of our first work, and little understood by
expectant Christians and churches."
Subsequently some of the fathers, polygam-
ists, convinced that the religion we taught was
true, remarked to me, as did an old Brahman to
Dr. Henry M. Scudder, missionary in India,
70 Forty Years Among the Zulus,
and in almost the identical words : " It is only
a question of time, sir. Let us alone. Our
children are yours ; they will certainly become
Christians."
At last our hopes were raised by one of the
young men in our employ, Dambusa by name.
He came to me, saying, '• I believe in Christ
and wish to serve him." He had an amiable
disposition and was attached to us, but was
easily influenced and soon found there was
much to contend against. Unfortunately he
was engaged to a girl who had no sympathy
with him in his desire to embrace Christianity.
To make things harder the parents of both
were determined to keep their children in hea-
thenism. A house which Dambusa began to
build on the station was torn to pieces by
indignant relatives. They swore by the spirits
of the Zulu kings that none of their number
should abandon the worship of their forefath-
ers. The time for the marriage came, the cat-
tle had been paid for, beer brewed, new songs
for the dance learned, and Dambusa, almost
persuaded, with a sad countenance bade us
good-by and joined his heathen friends ; but
the " incorruptible seed " had been sown in his
heart. We shall have more to say of him.
Our heathen congregations were quite or-
derly. Only once was there an attempt at
disturbance. A young man who had, perhaps,
imbibed too freely of native beer decided one
Sabbath morning to break up our service. I
saw in his countenance that mischief was brew-
Toiling and Waiting. 71
ing; but he kept quiet till I had commenced
the long prayer, when he began to laugh
aloud and talk to others. Immediately I
stopped praying, and taking him by the nape
of the neck walked him to the door of the
church and gave him a vigorous push which
sent him sprawling out on the ground. I then
returned and resumed my prayer. Occasion-
ally we had lively episodes. The cries of little
babies on their mothers' backs sometimes almost
drowned my voice, but I never asked mothers
to leave the church on that account. One
Sunday a man walked into church carrying a
beaver hat, of which he was very proud ; the
gift of some European. It was his only article
of civilized dress. He seated himself, the hat
by his side, and had listened attentively to the
introductory exercises, when a hen took occa-
sion to walk in, fly up, and lay an Qgg on one
of the boards overhead. The Q^g rolled one
side and fell directly into his beloved hat.
Zulus have a great repugnance to eggs. They
will not touch one unless obliged. The man's
indescribable disgust as he rose, took up his hat
at arm's length, and walked out of the chapel,
completely upset the gravity of the audience.
He did not return to service that day.
At the Umtwalume station, Saturday even-
ing, a young man, having decided to abandon
heathenism, called on Mr. Wilder, the mission-
ary, and asked for a shirt. He said, " I want
a long one that will cover my knees." The
sewing machine was brought into use, and in a
72 Forty Years Among the Zulus,
short time the man had the satisfaction of put-
ting on his first article of civilized clothing.
On Sabbath morning he did not take his seat
with the unclad heathen in the back part of
the chapel, but in front of the pulpit. The
bench he occupied had no back, and to make
the most of his new garment lie raised his feet
and pulled his shirt over his knees. He re-
mained in this attitude until, a lit of drowsi-
ness coming over him, he began to sway to and
fro, unconsciously attracting general attention.
The people, however, retained their gravity
until he rolled over like a ball on the floor.
Then the risibles of missionary as well as
natives became uncontrollable.
CHAPTER IX.
WILD ANIJVIALS.
BETWEEN Esidumbini and Mapumulo, the
station of Rev. Andrew Abraham, lay an
immense jungle, in which elephants, buffaloes,
leopards, hyenas, and other wild animals lived
in comparative securit5^ Only a few hunters
had ventured to go into it. Occasional^ ele-
phants came out into the open country, but
being harassed by Zulus, some of whom had
firearms, they were glad to get back to their
retreat. Buffaloes, more bold, emerged in
droves and grazed within sight of my house.
They differ from American buffaloes, or l)isons,
having a hairless skin, and are more like huge
swine. Their horns are generally curved. I
once came upon a drove unexpectedly which
ran away pellmell, breaking down young trees
and everything that impeded their progress.
Hunting them is dangerous sport. Baldwin, a
great African hunter, used to fear this kind of
game more than any other. A narration of his
narrow escapes once made my blood run cold.
I had numerous opportunities to try my skill
and courage in shooting these animals, but
concluded that prudence was the better part
of valor. I coulfl not refuse, however, lending
my gun to a native hunter, that he might sup-
74 Forty Years Among the Zulus,
ply himself and friends with food; but a sad
accident put a stop to this.
The one I refer to was Umbulawe, who had
lived with the Dutch and engaged in many a
hunt ; but one day a cunning bull buffalo was
too much for him. He had fired once and
was reloading, when suddenly the bull rushed
out of the thicket, knocked him over with his
horns, trod upon him, and with his rasp-like
tongue tore off a part of his scalp. The poor
man held in his breath, pretending to be dead
and keeping as still as a mouse, until the savage
beast, concluding that life was extinct, walked
away. He did not go, however, until he had
trampled upon and broken the stock of the
gun into half a dozen pieces.
Umbulawe picked himself up as well as he
could and soon a party of his friends, who had
heard the report of the gun, met him and car-
ried him home. A few hours after his wife
came to me with a^ sad countenance bringing
the broken parts of the gun, and said, " Umbu-
lawe is dead." It turned out, however, that
the hunter had yet a little life remaining in
him and that he was anxious to see me. Tak-
ing some sticking-plaster and a few medicines,
I mounted my horse, and in twenty minutes
rode into his kraal. He was spitting blood
and in great pain, and had, I feared, sustained
severe internal injuries. Having doctored him
according to the best of my ability and given
him some advice, I was about to depart when
he said, " I want you to make haste and get
Wild Animals. 75...
that gun mended. I must go and shoot that
buffalo; he is my enemy." In spite of his
injuries Umbulawe recovered in a few weeks.
An Englishman, hunting buffaloes in one of
the forests of Zululand, was chased by one,
caught on the horns by the strong hunting-
belt he had around his waist, and thrown into
the branches of a friendly tree to which he
gladly clung. The buffalo ran about, appar-
ently in a quandary as to where his game had
gone. After ten minutes or more the beast
departed, and the tired hunter only regretted
that he had not with him his gun that he
might give him a farewell charge.
Lions, in considerable numbers, lived on the
table-lands, about our station, but rarely came
into the Esidumbini valley. One ventured to
visit our premises in the night, passing by the
front door and walking up to a house occupied
by some Zulu lads in my employ. Their door
being ajar and one of the boys not asleep, the
" fire coming from the lion's nostrils," as he ex-
pressed it, so scared him that he roused his
companions and they climbed upon the rafters,
where they remained till nearly morning. The
lion then went past the cattle fold, greatly
terrifying the oxen and cows. I noticed tliat
the oxen had made a ring, the cows being
inside, that they might protect the weaker sex
with their large sharp horns. In the open
veldts, or plains of South Africa, I have
been told that wild animals have a wholesome
fear of attacking such a laager, or fortifica-
76 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
tion ; but it should be remembered that ox
horns in South Africa are generally long and
large, differing greatly from those in Great
Britain or America. It is not uncommon to
see a pair five and even six feet from tip to
tip and correspondingly large. One poor ox
was so unfortunate as to have a pair nine feet
long. An attempt was made to take it to
England, but it died on the voyage.
During the first years of my missionary life
lions prowling about my station did not dis-
turb us or the natives, if let alone. The
country abounded with antelopes, and on these
they grew fat. So long as they did not en-
danger our lives we thought it best to have
as little to do with them as possible.
Riding home one day from a meeting of
our mission, accompanied by a native lad who
was also mounted, we passed within gunshot
of the largest male lion I ever saw ; but he did
not offer to touch us. Shaking his mane and
wagging his long tail he walked leisurely away,
much to my relief, for I had no more formida-
ble weapon of defense than a jackknife. Natives
afterwards told me that he had been in that
locality several weeks. A missionary brother
was coming to visit us about that time, and I
wrote to him, saying, "There is a lion in the
way." The good brother was rather incred-
ulous, but took the precaution to ride on horse-
back ahead of his wagon and, true enough,
found the huge beast in the spot I had
described. He was wise enough not to shoot,
Wild Animals. 77
though he had a loaded rifle on his shoulder,
knowing that a wounded lion is a most danger-
ous character.
One of those brutes inflicted on me a great
loss one night, and I was glad that a bullet
from an Eno^lishman's rifle soon after termi-
nated his existence. I had sent to a table-land,
a few miles from my house, two pole oxen
which had been recently inoculated to prevent
their dying from lung sickness and were, there-
fore, in low condition. Both were killed by a
lion of enormous strength, judging from his
tracks and the fact that with his teeth lie
bi-oke the bone of one of the oxen's legs. He
could not have been hungry, for he ate only a
small part of one. Those oxen cost me nearly
one hundred dollars. A fine horse strayed
away from my station one afternoon and was
never found, having probably been eaten by a
lion. I was not sorry when the country was
rid of lions.
When traveling in the Orange Free State,
which was noted as a lion country, I learned
the morJua operandi adopted by Dutch farmers
in hunting lions. Half a dozen or more coura-
geous boers ride on horseback as far as they dare
towards a lion, some of them fire with their
long elephant guns from their horses and then
retire immediately, glancing backward, perhaps,
to see if they have wounded or killed. If un-
successful in the first charge, they return and
make another. The difficulty is to induce their
horses to venture within shooting distance, so
78 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
great is their dread of the " king of beasts." A
Dutchman, on whose word I could rely, told
me he had shot nine lions and met with only
one accident, which was from the fall of his
horse when returning from a hunt.
A Natal colonist, William Leathern, while
traveling through the Transvaal, some years
ago, was obliged to spend the night in the
veldt. He was riding one horse and leading
another. After kindling a fire he tied the two
horses, tail to tail, allowing them to feed near
by. A shower descended, putting out the lire,
and he was in deep darkness. Suddenly he
heard one of his horses utter a terrible cry,
and he perceived within a few feet of himself
an enormous lion. He fired at him with his
pistol, but in a moment the savage beast Avas
upon him inflicting on his right arm a shocking
wound. As his horses were both killed, Mr.
Leathern was obliged to walk thirty miles
before he could reach a physician and have his
arm attended to.
An Englishman, by the name of Brown, while
hunting in the Orange Free State, shot a lion-
ess, the ball penetrating the skull ; but before
the wounded animal died she sprang upon the
hunter and killed him. Their dead bodies were
found side by side.
Readers of the life and travels of Dr. Living-
stone will doubtless recall the narrow escape of
that great explorer. He had fired the contents
of both barrels of his gun into a lion, and was
in the act of reloading when the beast sprang
Wild Animals, 79
upon him, catching him by the shoulder and
shaking him as a cat does a rat. The doctor,
in describing his sensations at the time, said:
"The shock caused a sort of dreamhiess in
which there was no sense of pain nor feeling
of terror, though quite conscious of all that
was happening. It was what patients, partially
under the influence of chloroform, describe who
see the operation but feel not the knife. The
shake annihilated fear and allowed no sense of
horror in looking around at the beast. This
peculiar state is probably produced in all ani-
mals killed by the carnivora. And if so, it is a
merciful provision of our benevolent Creator
for lessening the pain of death." When the
remains of the distinguished explorer were
taken to England one of the marks by which
they were identified was that caused by the
teeth of the lion on his shoulder bone.
Another animal that used to make us visits
on dark nights was the leopard. I once found
myself a little too near one to be agreeable.
Hearing the cries of a fowl that roosted on a
tree in front of our dwelling, I rushed out,
armed with only a broomstick, to see what was
the matter. Suddenly I found myself only a
yard or two from a large spotted leopard Inisily
eating the fowl. But the greatest terror must
have seized him at my ghostlike appearance;
for, leaping over a high pomegranate fence, he
made off as fast as possible. Leopards often
came for sheep and goats which on cold and
rainy nights had not been driven to the kraals ;
80 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
and in such cases I poisoned them for the
natives with strychnine, always receiving the
skins for my trouble.
Other wild animals to which it was necessary
to give a wide berth were wild dogs. They
usually go in troops, and if hungry, like Sibe-
rian wolves, attack human beings. Should an
ox or cow, on account of lameness or disease,
be unable to reach the cattle fold before dark,
those animals were almost sure to find it. Dr.
Adams, riding one night in an unfrequented
part of the colony to visit a patient, was
chased by a troop of these creatures. At last
he turned and rode towards them, cracking his
horsewhip furiously and succeeded thus in
intimidating them.
Troops of baboons lived on a large table-land
lying between Esidumbini and Umsunduzi, a
station occupied by Rev. L. Grout, and as I
often rode over to see that brother I almost
invariably came in contact with them; but we
got to understand each other so well that I had
no fear and they seemed to be of the same
mind. Occasionally, for amusement, I wouhl
try to show them how brave I could be and
ride on my horse to within a few yards of
them. - An old baboon, the father and appar-
ently ruler of the colony, would mount on an
ant-heap, four or five feet high, and carefully
watch my proceedings. If he suspected mis-
chief, — saw anything in my hands that looked
like firearms, — he would make a signal to all
the mothers and little baboons to flee to their
Wild Animals. 81
homes on a precipice near by. But if not, he
kept quiet, and we exchanged grimaces and
remarks also ; I addressing him now in English
and now in Zulu, and he me in his baboon
dialect. Not for the world would I liave pro-
voked an attack from him, for I would have
stood no chance unless well armed. A large,
valuable dog ventured one day to assail one of
these fellows and was torn almost to pieces.
Natives frequently came to me to borrow my
gun, saying that baboons were robbing their
gardens. At early dawn, befoie the people had
come out of their huts, a foraging party of
these animals would make a raid into a garden,
pluck the ears of corn nearly ripe, place them
under their arms, steal a pumpkin or two and
run away to their hiding-place among the rocks.
Emin Holub, in his " Seven Years in South
Africa," tells us that on the highlands he was
once pelted by a herd of baboons perched
among the trees. He said he had to shoot an
old male that began to pick up some stones to
throw at him. Members of the same family,
living on the lowlands, have not attained to
such a degree of intelligence as to defend them-
selves in that fashion. Certainly they are far
removed from those North African specimens,
of which Emin Pasha told Mr. Stanley, "that
understand the art of fire-making and carry
torches at night when they visit the planta-
tions of tlie Mswa to steal fruit." The Pasha
said he had seen this with his own eyes. If
blind or nearly so, as he is represented to be,
82 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
his vision of baboon fire-makers must have
been extremely dim.
Naturalists, I believe, class these creatures
under the family of " pig-faced baboons ; " but
their countenances seemed too human to de-
serve . such an appellation. I never had the
heart to shoot one, lest his dying struggles
should appear to me in my midnight dreams.
At the present time very few wild animals
are found in Natal. Occasionally a leopard is
killed, but elephants, lions, and wild dogs have
disappeared.
CHAPTER X.
CKOCODILES AND SNAKES.
AN object of terror to the early mission-
_ aries in Natal, when the briclgeless and
boatless rivers were swollen, was the crocodile
family. I say crocodile, for no alligators are
found in South Africa. Travelers generally
forded rivers on horseback or in ox-wagons.
The loud crack of the whip and shouting of
the driver intimidated these reptiles and kept
them at safe distance ; but a person on foot or
on horseback was liable to be seized.
Mr. J. A. Butler, a printer, connected with
the American Mission, once had a marvel-
ous escape. He was swimming his liorse over
a turbid stream, when the animal became
frightened and he discovered that a huge
crocodile had hold of him. The scaly brute,
leaving the horse, seized the rider, dragged
him from his saddle and would have made
him his prey had not Mr. Butler clung to
the horse's mane. When he reached the bank
of the river, he caught hold of some reeds
and held on to them until a party of Zulus,
who had witnessed the exciting scene, rushed
to his relief. Even then the brute would not
relax his hold, till the natives had beaten him
on the head with clubs and pried open his
84 Forty Years Among the Zulus,
jaws. They then helped Mr. Butler out,
bound up his wounds, and accompanied him
to the nearest mission station, six miles dis-
tant. The poor man recovered, but was a
sufferer from the wounds he received the rest
of his life.
Escapes from a crocodile, after he has fairly
seized one, are rare, but sometimes occur. It
is reported that an Englishman while bathing
was drawn by one into deep water ; but having
been told that crocodiles are sensitive about
their eyes, he thrust his fists into them, and
the reptile not fancying this treatment let go
his hold. The man, though badly lacerated,
lived many years.
A laughable story is told by George Cato,
Esq., American Consul at Port Natal, of Pot-
geiter Dorse, a Dutchman. Dorse, while hunt-
ing, decided to have a bath in the Umhlali
River. Leaving his clothing on the river's bank,
together with his gun and hunting-knife, he
engaged peacefully in his ablutions ; but
when he had finished he did not find the
clothes where he had left them. Crocodile
tracks explained the matter and soon he
obtained sight of the thief on a sand bank
a few yards away. Taking good aim he gave
him a fatal shot in the brain. Then with his
knife he opened the brute, secured his clothes,
none the worse apparently for the mangling
they had received, put them on and went
home.
William Baldwin, in his book on " African
Crocodiles and Snakes. 85
Hunting," tells us of shooting several geese
which disappeared as soon as they were shot,
being drawn under water by some unseen crea-
ture. Determined to secure at least one, he
waded into the pond and caught hold of it by
the legs just as it was sinking, a crocodile hav-
ing taken the first hold. He observes : " In an
instant the goose came in halves, the legs and
back falling to my share, Mr. Alligator getting
the best half and two or three violent blows
on the nose into the bargain." He adds, "I
lost not an instant in getting ashore again
and did not think much at the time of what
a foolish thing it was to do and wliat a narrow
escape I had had."
Dr. Livingstone speaks of the Barotzi trii)e,
living on the Zambezi, as incliiu-d to pray to
these reptiles and to eat them too ; but the
Zulus manifest no disposition to do either.
They use various parts of the body, however,
for medicinal puri)oses. If one of the Bamaii-
gwato pet)ple has the misfortune to ])e bitten
by a crocodile, he is expelled from liis tribe.
Dr. Livingstone said that he met with a man
in exile who refused to tell him the cause, but
some of his native attendants informed liim,
and the scars visible on his tliigh attested the
truth of their assertion.
South Africa is emphatically a land of
snakes. They are so common, and tlie stories
told of them are so exaggerated, that strangers
coming to the colony are in terror of them for
mouths. An Englishman, who had landtd in
86 Forty Years Among the Zulus,
Natal a week or two before, stopped one night
at my house. Upon retiring he searched his
room carefully for the possible snake he might
find lurking in some corner. Seeing what he
supposed to be a deadly serpent he rushed
out and insisted that I should call some one
to assist me in killing the creature. Four
native boys armed with knob-kerries and canes,
and eager for the fray, went into the room ;
but after long searching found only the cover
of a pail which had been pushed into the
corner.
Serpents very rarely attack a human being,
except in self-defense. There is much truth
in the following statement taken from a Natal
paper : —
" Nearly all the wounds inflicted by venomous
snakes upon men are the result of the want of
a frank understanding between the parties.
The gentleman inadvertently sets his foot on
the reptile's tail, and the reptile, under the im-
pression that the insult was premeditated, re-
sents the action ; or the gentleman has a
friend who wishes for a green snake to put in
a bottle and endeavors to induce some slippery
individual of the race to the bottling condition,
while the snake, knowing nothing of the honor
of the embalmment for which he is marked out,
does his best to give his assaihxnt 'pause,' in
order that he may take himself out of the
way during the cessation of the strife."
Many of the harmless snakes in South
Africa so resemble the poisonous ones that
Crocodiles and Snakes. 87
it is often (litlicult to tlistinguish tluiii. It
would liiirdly 1)0 safe for a person in Natal to
iniitato the author of Pilgrim's Progress, of
whom it is said in his memoir that, ''One day
an adder erossed his path and after stun-
ning it with his stick, he opened its mouth
and with his fingers plucked out its fangs,"
by which act he says, '' Had not God been
merciful to me, 1 might by my des{>eratcness
have brought myself to my end." English
adders cannot be handled with im]»uiiity, much
less African.
The largest ser[)ent in South Africa is the
python, or Natal rock snake. No true boa
constrictors are found in Africa, their habitat
being South America, India, the Moluccas,
Cuba, and Australia. Du Chaillu speaks of
a python in E(piatorial Africa meiusuring
over thirty-three feet in length. In the
southern part of the continent 1 never heard
(jf one more than twenty-three feet, and the
longest I ever saw was twenty-one feet. If
attacked, a python will wind itself about a
human being and crush him to death ; but for
food it usually prefers small mammalia, such
iis conies, rabbits, etc.
Mr. Thomas Haines, a traveler and artist
in South Africa, relates an incident he received
from a Dutch boer. '' Oni; of these j)ythons
finding a native asleep began t() swallow him,
but commencing at the wrong end, and taking
only one foot into his mouth, was unable to
draw him farther than the fork, and then.
88 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
endeavoring to eject the limb, was prevented
by his crooked fangs sticking in the flesh.
The native awakening screamed lustily, but
no help came, and his leg remained a whole
day and night in the snake's throat before help
arrived to set him free."
A sportsman in Natal once found a python
asleep and disturbed its slumber by a charge
of buckshot. After repeated contortions tbe
creature straightened itself out and appeared
to be dead. Wishing to save its skin, tlio
sportsman offered his native servant a reward
if he would carry it to his home. As he was
reluctant to do so, on the ground that the ser-
pent was only "pretending to be dead," the
master took it up and carried it a little wa}^
himself. The native then mustered courage
to shoulder the reptile, but soon shouted to
his master, " Nkosi ngi size (Master, help me) ! "
The python had put his teeth into the native's
thigh and was lashing its tail violently in vari-
ous directions for a stump or stone to which to
fasten itself. Had not the sportsman rushed to
his help, the poor Zulu might have had an
uncomfortable, if not fatal, squeeze.
The largest python I ever saw was brought
to me by a party of Zulus who had found it
attempting to swallow an antelope. Tlie horns
were too spreading to be disposed of, and the
serpent was robbed of its meal by the natives,
who immediately feasted upon the venison, and
brought the snake to me. The creature meas-
ured eighteen feet, and was the longest I ever
Crocodiles ami JSnuke)<. 89
skinned. So great is the vitality of the python
that 1 once saw one wriggHng its tail several
hours after it had been killed.
In his ''Curiosities of Natural History,"
Frank Buckland relates that tw(j pythons, one
nine and the other eight feet in length, were
kept in a box in the Zoological Gardens
in London. One morning the keeper found
the shorter serpent missing, and on examina-
tion noticed that the longer one was greatly
distended, having swallowed his companion.
As the Zulus believe that the spirits of their
ancestors take up their abode in serpents they
never eat them, as do some tribes in Central
Africa.
The puff adder is a much-dreaded snake,
owing to its habit of lying in frcM^uented [)atlis
and its resemblance to pieces of decayed wood.
In Cape Colony they are often seen as large as
a man's arm, and a bite from an adder is diili-
cult to cure. One day a little son of Mr.
Lindley came ujtoii a large adder, and, though a
boy only six years (tld, he took of! his shoe and
killed it; then seizing it by the tail he dragged
it home.
A cry dreade<l ])y natives and white peo-
ple alike is that of ''Imatnlm! L/iatitha f
especially if the word emyama (black) is added.
The imambas are slender snakes of a vivid
green or black color, the latter being by far the
more dangerous and dreaded seri)ent. If one
enters a Zulu hut, the greatest consternation
prevails, and no native will try to kill one
90 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
unless he is well armed. Calling early one
morning on a sugar planter, whom I found at
his mill, Ave were suddenl}^ surprised by the
appearance of a servant, highly excited, saying,
" The mistress needs you ; there is a snake in
her bedroom ! " We hastened to the house
and saw a huge imamba, wliich had just been
killed by an Indian coolie. It had crawled
into the bedroom and concealed itself in a
manilla hat, near the head of the bed. When
the good housewife went to make the bed she
saw his serpentship coiled up in the hat, but
had sufficient presence of mind to keep quiet
until her servant could inflict a fatal blow.
The planter told me that he had felt something
creeping over his body in the night, but was
too sleepy to ascertain the cause. Had he been
bitten, instant death would have ensued.
The green imamba, though not so dangerous,
is more common. A missionary sent a native
into the garden for a bunch of bananas. The
boy did his errand, bringing the bananas to the
house on his head. As he put down the
bunch, an imamba slowly uncoiled itself from
the fruit. The native, it was said, turned
almost white on seeing the danger to which he
had been exposed.
A story is told of a gentleman in India, who
was so disturbed by a noise under the floor of
his room that he cut a hole through and baited
a hook with a toad. Seeing the line move he
pulled it up and found he had a poisonous
snake.
Crocodilei< and Snakes. 91
Once I was exceedingly annoyed by tlie
noise made by some rats over my liead. Sud-
denly all became quiet and I supposed a cat
had found its way above the ceiling. I ascer-
tained soon after that instead of a cat it was
a snake.
That snakes are famous rat-catchers I had
evidence another time. My stable, after hav-
ing been overrun with rats, was all at once
entirely free from them. A few days after-
wards my son was standing in the stable and
saw an imamba, ten feet long, coiled about a
beam a few yards above his head. A shot
ended his existence, and two days later the
mate was also disjjosed of.
It is not unusual to see these creatures mov-
ing along the branches of trees in scarcli of
weaver birds' nests, and I liave frequently seen
one put its long slender neck into the hanging
nest to enjoy its feast of young birds. Tlie
parent birds in the meantime utter most
pathetic cries, but are helpless l)efore their
enemy.
One of the pioneer missionaries showed
great courage and nerve-force one Sabbath.
During the sermon a green imamba moved
along and coiled itself on a beam just above
the preacher's head. The sermon was finished
and prayer and benediction pronounced before
the order to kill the snake was given.
Another missionary, hearing a rustling in his
room one night after retiring, found an imamba
moving about and killed it. Very soon he was
92 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
again disturbed and found the mate to the first
snake.
Zulus do not swish the air with rods, or rub
the soles of their feet with garlic, to keep
snakes at a distance as do the natives of West-
ern Africa, but they sometimes use tobacco for
this purpose. Serpents will not enter a hut
which has a strong odor of the " filthy weed."
Should one show more vitality than is agree-
able after receiving fatal wounds, a Zulu will
sometimes pry open its jaw and insert a little
snuff, and its contortions cease almost instantly.
The chief remedy I have found successful
for snakebites is ammonia ; though some use
ipecacuanha. Fresh milk, if given immedi-
ately after a bite, is said to be a good antidote,
but I never tried it. The natives use the root
of the yellow daphne. It is said that toads
bitten are seen hopping to the umuti ivenhlang-
wana, the herb used as an antidote for the bite
of a serpent, called inhlangivana. It is mar-
velous that so few people are fatally bitten,
considering how numerous serpents are. I
have never heard of a missionary having lost
his life in this way.
CHAPTER XI.
sriiUT woi:siiiP.
IT is often said that '' Zulus are snake
worshipers." Th.is is not strictly trui*.
Amatoni/o (ancestral spirits) are the objects of
their worship. When the body dies, tlie
umoya (soul, or spirit) is supposecl to take up
its abode in a snake, or to assume the form of
this reptile. An intelligent Zulu, not a Chris-
tian, thus explains the belief of his countrymen
on this subject : —
" We believe that there are good and evil
spirits ; the good ones watching over us for
good, and the evil ones ready to do us harm.
Some spirits, the good ones, those of our
families, who are interested in our welfare,
are allowed to assume tlie form <»f a certain
snake, and by th;it means not only form a
link between us and tlie world of s[)irits, but
in the guise of a snake they are permitted
thus to watch over us. We believe in the
spirit the snake represents."
The soul of a king or any distinguished
person is represented by the imamba, a fierce
and venomous serpent, surpassed only by the
python in size and length. Common people
assume the form of harmless and (juiet ser-
pents. To kill an itongo (spirit), or rather its
83
94 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
serpent representative, is a crime to be atoned
for immediately, lest some dire calamity result.
An ox or cow must be slaughtered ; blood
must be shed. " Without shedding of blood
there is no remission." Immediately after
death the graves of Zulu men (not of women,
except in the case of a queen) are fenced
about, covered with thorns, and closely watched
for weeks, sometimes for months, lest a witch
or poisoner disturb the remains. Should the
watcher happen to see a snake among the
thorns, he would remark to his friends, " I
saw the spirit of our father to-day basking
in the sun on the top of his grave." Were
he kind and gentle when alive, he would
probably add : " We need not fear, he will
still treat us in the same way he did when
alive."
Dr. Henry M. Callaway, in conversation
with the natives, obtained the following infor-
mation : —
When sickness invades a kraal, the oldest
son praises the spirit of his father or grand-
father, giving him the names he has gained
by valor in battle. He sometimes chides as
well as praises, especially if the sickness seems
likely to terminate fatally, saying, " If we
should all die in consequence of the affliction
you are sending upon us, your worshipers
will come to an end ; therefore, for your own
sake as well as ours, do not destroy us."
When a family moves to another part of
the country and does not see in the new place
Spirit Worship. 95
the snake representing the paternal spirit, they
conclude that it has remained beliind and
return to sacritice an ox, giving tlianks and
singing the same songs the father sang wlicn
alive. Tliis they maintain is to extiti! pity,
so that he may say : " Truly, my cliihhvn
are lonely because they do not see me." If
a widow left with small children neglects them,
the spirit of the departed husband is likely to
appear to her in a dream, saying, *' Why have
you left my children? Go back to them. If
you do not, I will kill you." The command
is generally heeded.
Zulu ancestral spirits are not free from
jealousy. When an animal is sacrificed b}' tlie
headman of a kraal to appease the si)irits and
avert death, he will go outside the cattle en-
closure and pray as follows: "All hail, spirits
of (jur tribe I Is it pr()i)er, instead of asking
for food, that you should come to us at all
times in the form of sickness ? No, it is proper
if you demand food that I should not refuse
it. There, then," })oinlin<,^ to the slaughtered
animal, ''is your food. All ye spirits of our
tribe, summon one another! I am uoi going to
say, So-and-so, there is your food, for you are
jealous. I give you what you ask. Let the
man get well."
Were there certain imperfections on the body
of a man while living; had he for instance but
one eye or did he go lame, the serpent repre-
sentative is sure to resemble liim.
Zulus sometimes connect shadows with spir-
96 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
its. They say, "The shadow that is cast by
the body will ultimately become the itongo, or
spirit, when the body dies." A missionary,
wishing to get at the meaning of the above,
inquired, " Is the shadow which my body casts
when I am walking my spirit?" The reply
was, " No ; it is not your itongo (guardian spirit
watching over you), but it will be the itongo
for your children when you are dead." Long
shadows, they say, shorten as men approach
the end of life. At death the observation is,
" The shadow hath departed." A short shadow,
however, remains with the dead body and is
buried with it. The long shadow becomes an
itongo.
Vows to sacrifice to the spirits are frequently
made by Zulus. If a child is ill and the
diviner has not been consulted, the father
addresses the spirits thus : " If it is you, people
of our house, who are doing this, I make a
vow : behold, there is such and such a bullock !
Let the child get well, that you may eat; " or,
if he does not possess a bullock, the father
cries, " If you wish for food, why do you not
cure my child, that I may go and get you a
bullock and kill it for you that you may eat?
How shall I know it is you if the child does
not get well?" 1
Enough has been said to show that ancestral
spirits are the objects of Zulu worship, and
the same may be said of native tribes generally
in South Africa. Their influence not only
1 See Callaway, on " Ancestor Worship."
Spirit Worship. 97
over individuals, hut over ;ill mundane affairs,
is, fH the estimation of tlie lu'athen, incalculably
great. The nature of that iiiHucncc depends
on their disposition, for they can be benevolent
or malevolent — guardian angels sweet and
kind, or cruel and destructive. They can
make crops productive or blast them ; can
cause health and prosperity, or send disease
and death. Before going to war it has been
a Zulu custom, from time immemorial, to send
individuals into the enemy's country to steal
a child, who is offered as a sacrifice to the
spirits to obtain their favor and insure victory.
If successful, the blood of oxen and goats
flows freely from their altars, and their thanks-
givings are profuse.
In reference to the locality of the departed
spirits, the natives universally say, *Mt is panxi
(regions under the earth)." The manner in
which they obtained a knowledge of Hades is
given to us in one of their traditions. A hun-
ter chased a deer into a deep iiole made by an
ant-bear, and following it he descended deeper
and deeper till he came to the abodi? of his
ancestors. On his return he reported an abun-
dance of cattle, all white, and food in suflicient
quantity. Indeed, the subterraneans were in
good circumstances. The numl>er of those
who place any faith in this tradition is few.
Deeply conscious of a future state, most of
them have fearful forebodings of what may
befall them in that state. A Zulu man once
said to me as he was about to die, ** I am
Forty Years Among the Zulus.
sinking into a dark deep pit. I am afraid," He
expressed the feeling of benighted Africans
generally. Their religion, if spirit worship
can be called religion, affords no comfort
in a dying hour. For many years I watched
carefully the workings of the native mind in
times of trouble. It is then they apply to the
spirits for aid. Healthy and strong, with food
in abundance, and that of the most nutritious
kind, naturally vivacious and cheerful in tem-
perament, reveling in the excitement of the
hunt, the dance, beer party, or carousal over
the slaughtered ox, they are as happy as bar-
barians can be. Unrestrained in body or mind
they enjoy life in their salubrious climate to
a great degree. Smiles are generally seen on
their faces, and it is doubtful whether a more
social people can anywhere be found ; but
when visited by affliction their deepest pas-
sions are excited. In case of death the head-
man of the kraal looks up and around him and
says, " This is mysterious. We shall all die
if something is not done." In many cases the
disease is unknown or it baffles the skill
of physicians, which is not strange, for Zulu
" medicine men," in attempting to save life, as
frequently destroy it by cramming down a
multitude of drugs without stopping to watch
the effect of one. The afflicted man fixes
his suspicion on some individual with whom he
has been at variance, but having no clew which
would satisfy the minds of others he calls the
people together. The attendance is usually
Spirit Worship. 99
large, for the neighbors fear lest their absence
be construed into an indication of guilt. With
grave countenances they seat themselves in
a circle on the ground, and after the usual salu-
tation and passing round the snuffbox, tlie
troubled individual begins his speech : " Men,
friends ! to-day you see me in grief. You all
know I am a man of peace. T have wronged
no one. I have eaten my own food and
attended to my own business ; but an enemy
is plotting my ruin. My brother has been
suddenly taken away. A wizard is destroying
us. Tell me what I must do." The replies
are guarded, but all unite in the opinion tliat
no time should be lost or expense begrudged
in applying to a diviner and through him to
the spirit world, that the foul deed may be
traced to its source.
The character and functions of Zulu divin-
ers, or spirit doctors, may be briefly described.
Various names are given to them. One is
izinyanya zokuhula (doctors of smiting), l)e-
cause great use is made of canes in smiting
the ground by those who consult them. An-
other is izanuai (smellei-s out), or discover-
ers of criminals and those possessed with
witchcraft, believed to be in communication
with the amatongo.
The diviners' work powerfully on tlie super-
stitions of their countrymen. Tliat thuy may
become thoroughly acquainted with tlieir art,
they endure a great amount of self-sacrifice.
For instance, they leave their homes, isolate
100 Forty Years Among the Zulus,
themselves from their fellows, live and sleep in
solitary places, fraternize with wild animals,
endure hunger and cold and talk to the moon
until they become almost, if not quite, lunatic.
Their clothing is hideous, consisting of skins
of crocodiles and pythons, with the teeth of
wild cats and fetiches of various kinds about
their necks, the bladders of birds and wild
beasts on their heads, and a long leopard's skin
dangling about their loins.
They formerly possessed unlimited power
over their deluded countrymen. One visited
an American mission station in Natal and
warned those who had nominally embraced
Christianity that if they remained longer
under the influence of the white teacher the}^
would all die. Terrified and weak in the faith
many left at once, some never to return.
Having observed closely the izanusi while
in the process of calling up the spirits, shout-
ing "-Yizwaf yizwa! (Hear! hear!)" while the
seated consulters beat the ground with their
canes, and having listened to the ambiguous
oracles delivered to the ignorant and credulous,
I have not wondered that the people are
deceived.
These crafty izanusi do not go into Hades
for nothing. A large fat ox is generally the
reward and often a goat besides. If not satis-
fied, they say to the people, " Give me some-
thing to wipe my eyes with," which means that
they are unable to see clearly, that they have
not been properly compensated.
.*. .'•» :. :
Sjnrii -m^hip^. '• •»' :\ i •; : itn
It Ls a matter of thanksgiving that in vari-
ous parts of South Africa the "smelling out"
of individuals (pronouncing them witches) is
prohibited and a great amount of bloodslied
prevented through the intervention of Britisli
authority. May the time soon come when it
will cease entirely !
It is said that Chaka, who ruled in Zuluhiiid
at the beginning of this century, once had the
courage to charge all the izanusi in his king-
dom with being humbugs. During the night
he sprinkled blood about the royal kraal and
called the doctors to investigate the cause.
One smelt out this person, another that. Only
one guessed rightly, saying, "I smell out tlic
heavens" (meaning the king). Ills life was
spared ; all the rest were killed.
Protracted and patient instruction will be
needed ere native Christians are wholly eman-
cipated from the idea that the ancestral spirits
are able to avert evil and that the izanusi have
dealings with them. I liad occasion to disci-
jiline two church meml)ers of several yeai-s'
standing for uniting secretly with their heathen
friends in Sacrificing an ox to the spirit of their
father; the "doctor" having told them they
would die if they refused. Remove tlie deej)^
seated sui)erstitious regard Zulus have for their
departed relatives and their faith in tluiir
doctors of divination, and the keystone in the
arch of their religion will be gone.
From what has been said, it is evident that
"spirit doctors" discharge a sacerdotal func-
102 ' Forty Years Ar.iong the Zulus.
tion, offering up sacrifices for whicli their mer-
cenary spirit leads them to demand good pay.
In j)ropitiatory sacrifices they usually have a
part. It is exceedingly touching to observe
the reverential attitude and listen to the appar-
ently sincere and fervent supplications of the
aged men when engaged in their sacrifices.
S. O. Samuelson, Esq., thus speaks of them : —
" Beautiful and seemingly heartfelt prayers
are offered up to the spirits when., the animal
is killed, thanking them for all the mercies,
attention, protection, and care of the past, and
invoking a continuance of the same. The
weakness, helplessness, and worthlessness of
humanity are acknowledged and an entire
dependence on the spirits and their good offices
confessed. The prayer offered up occupies
some time, both before and after the animal is
killed, and is very interesting to those who
understand the native language. . . . When
the headman of a kraal performs the sacrifi-
cial rite he first selects an animal, and then,
with the male members of the kraal, goes into
the cattle enclosure into which tlie victim for
sacrifice has been previously brought. He
then engages in a long earnest prayer to the
spirits, holding the assegai specially reserved
for such occasions in his hand. The prayer
sets forth the weakness, dependence, and pov-
erty of the human race, and supplicates guid-
ance, strength, health, plenty, and security
from those who were in their time human and
acquainted with grief, but now are in a better
Spirit Worship. 108
position and who alone can give necessary
relief. After the prayer he hands the assi'gai
to one of his attendants to stai) tlic ox. A
short prayer follows, asking tin; spirits to
accept favorably the sae-ritice. The blood Mow-
ing from tlu' wound is received into vessels
ready for the purpose, each hut bringing its
own special vessel, while there is one for the
whole kraal. It is usimI [\w next day for a
special dish, of whicii the natives arc very fond,
called ububemie^ consisting of small pitrtions of
meat, fat, and entrails minttMJ up and boiled in
the blood. A portion of the caul is set lire to
and taken from hut to hut in a burning state
as a pleasant incense to the spirits, the head-
man at the same time uttering a prayer for
peace and prosperity to the inmates. The gall
bladder is cut out and its contents sprinkled on
the children and on himself, with a prayer to
the spirits that the young may enjoy health
and prosperity and that he may live to witness
it. The meat is roasted or boiled within the
cattle fold by the men. No females are allowed
to go within the enclosure, but meat is sent to
them where they are sitting near their huts."
CHAPTER XII.
SUPERSTITIONS OF THE ZULUS.
ZULU superstitions are legion. For a tur-
key buzzard to light on a hut, for a cony
to run into a kraal, for a toad to jump into a
fireplace, is ominous of evil. The bleating of a
sheep while being slaughtered is a bad omen.
If a cow push off with her horns the lid of a
dish that holds Indian corn or other grain, it is
a sign that some calamity will happen.
No one dares to drink sour milk during a
thunderstorm, and no woman ventures to w^ork
in the garden the day after a hailstorm. A
fowl must never be carried through a field
when the corn is tasseling out, lest the crop be
blighted. Should a garden be in an unhealthy
state, fish skin, the Salter the better, is burned
and the ashes scattered over the ground to
cure diseases which are supposed to hinder
vegetation.
Various ceremonies are performed on infants,
and fathers are not allowed to see their own
babies until their little heads have been smoked
and they have undergone other absurd pro-
cesses. If twins are born, one is immediately
destroyed lest the father die. They justify
this habit, saying it is better for the mother and
for the remaining child ; but this superstition
104
Superstltiotis of the Zulus. lu'
is the true reason. The Zuhis have great faitli
in certain medicines and often wear charms or
fetiches to ward off diseases and protect them
from enemies. One is (»ften seen biting off a
bit of root from a piece suspended about his
neck to soften the heart of a person with
whom he wishes to make a bargain. Before
going into battle Zulu warriors drink certain
medicines to make their enemies faint-hearttKl.
To make dogs serviceable in hunting they aro
fed on the beaks and claws of birds. To ren-
der a man brave and successful on a hunting
excursion he must have leopard's wliiskers
pounded fine mixed with his food.
The metlicine men carry about the wlicre-
withal to make people love or hate, as suits
their purpose. If a young man finds his love
for a cerUiin damsel unreturned, or suspectiJ
that she prefers another, the doctor can give a
medicine to make her hate the latter and love
tlie former.
A heathen mother once administered a pow-
erful emetic to her son, who professed Christi-
anity, to make him cast up liis new religion.
One cold rainy day I was called to examine
the corpse of a native which had Ijcen f(»und
several miles from my home. The men who
discovered it feared they might be accused of
murder unless some white man saw the body.
Mounting my horse, I rode to the spot and
finding no marks of violence I had a grave
dug, and called upon some of the twenty or
more men present to deposit the dead njan in
106 Forty Years Among the Zulus,
his last resting place. Not one of them would
budge an inch. I took a small bag of medi-
cines or charms from the pocket of his vest
(his only article of clothing) and poured them
out on my hand. The greatest consternation
was depicted on the faces of the natives. They
looked on me very much, I imagine, as did the
barbarous Melitans upon Paul when he shook
off the " venomous beast " from his hand. I
had to pull and roll the dead body into the
grave with my own hands and offer a prayer,
before they would even cover it with earth.
After the ride and exposure in the rain I had a
violent chill and I dosed myself vigorously,
remarking to my wife that it would never do
for me to be sick or die just then, as the
natives would believe it to be the effect of the
dead man's medicines. I was told afterwards
that no reward, however great, would have
induced one of them to touch that body. «
One of the first missionaries to the Zulus
was accustomed to take his overcoat to the
place of religious service whenever there was
a probability of rain. A drought having come,
he was importuned by no means to leave
behind his " rain-producing garment."
In speaking to children and showing Zulu
curios, I am sometimes asked about idols wor-
shiped by the natives. The Zulus are not
image-worshipers. If a Zulu hunter fails to kill
for several shots, he will take his gun to a spirit
doctor, who after examination usually informs
him that his deceased grandfather is angry with
Superstitions of the Zulus. 107
him. All ox must be slaughtered before the
hunting can go on ; the gall of the animal is
scattered over the bodies of those engaged in
the sacrifice and a part of the beef is set
aside for the use of the spirit. The messenger
of the spirits it is said will come and take it ;
but it is invariably swallowed by the natives.
The most fearful superstitions are tliosc
connected with witchcraft. A Zulu's imaL^nna-
tion peoples all Southern Africa witli wizaiils,
persons of the most dangerous character who
are supposed to wander about and depo.'-it
poison in the path or before the kraals of
those who are victimized. I once p(»isoned
a hyena which had been stealing my fowls
and buried the carcass. Two men came to
me in great excitement, begging me to exhume
the hyena and let the vultures consume it, lest
wizards should take the liver and poison the
whole country. I offered them spades to dig
it up themselves, but this they were unwilling
to do.
Zulus are great believers in dreams. Under
their guidance they perform the most alwurd
ceremonies and do the strangest things. If
one who is on a hunting excursion, far from
home, should happen to dream that a relative
has died, he must abandon the hunt at once and
go and see if it be true. If not, he considers
it necessary to consult a spirit doit(»r, who
must be paid for his services. Should the
information he receives fntiii the spirit world
through the doctor confirm his dream, tiien
108 Forty Years Among the Zulus,
an ox must be slaughtered as a sacrificial
offering.
A man dreams that an attempt has been
made to take his life by one whom he always
regarded as his true friend. On awaking he
says: "This is strange; a man who never
stoops to meanness wishes to destroy me. I
cannot understand it, but it must be true, for
' dreams never lie.' " Although the suspected
friend protests his innocence, he immediately
cuts his acquaintance.
If one dreams of being attacked by a buffalo,
or some other wild animal, the dreamer in-
quires, "What have I done that the spirits
send a wild beast to kill me?"
If in time of war the dream is of an enemy
coming to murder men, women, and children,
so terrified are the people that the kraal must
be removed at once to a place of safety.
The next dream may be of a serpent coming
and saying, "Do you know that when you
killed a serpent the other day you knocked
in the head of your grandfather who came to
visit you?" A fat ox must be slaughtered
to appease the offended spirit.
Curious to relate, a Zulu's dream of a
wedding or dance is ominous of evil, whereas
one of a sick or dead person is a good sign.
It will be long, I fear, before even Christian
Zulus are wholly emancipated from the power
of superstitious dreams. Listen to one whose
reason and piety were struggling against the
absurd notions of his people : —
Superstitions of the Zulus. 109
" Of what use will it be if when I pray I am
made to arise from my knees by beasts which
devour me, when forsooth they are not real?
for I cannot get that for which I awake early
to pray unto the Lord, being prevented by the
beasts which I see. When I was kneeling,
there came a snake to do as on other days.
I said. No I To-day let me feci by my body
that it has already seized me. Then there
came a man running to stab mc at once. I
conquered him. I went home, having asi'ciided
a rock of safety, saying. Oh, forsooth, I liave
been hindered by fantasies ! " ^
Lightning fills the native mind with great
fear. It is not uncommon to see on the huts
half a dozen or more sticks that have been
medicated by " lightning doctors " that no
harm may occur. These ''doctors" are sup-
posed to possess the power of sending the elec-
tric current wherever they choose. Hence the
people stand in awe of them. The Zulus \)e-
lieve in a "bird of heaven," which they say
comes down during a thunderstorm and is
found in localities which have been struck by
lightning. The "doctors" watch for the ajn
pearance of this bird, kill it, and u.se its fat
to anoint the lightning-sticks on the huts and
enalile them to act on the heavens without
harm to themselves.
Earthquakes are unspcakal)ly awful phenom-
ena to the Zulus. One occurred in Natal, in
1850, shortly after I went to my station. The
> Callaway'ii Dreaiiiii uf liic /ulutt.
110 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
men, savants of the tribe, assembled from far
and near to discuss the cause. Some said it
was the English firing off big cannon, fifty miles
away. Others, and the larger part, attributed
it to the rolling over in his grave of Chaka, an
old Zulu king. As they could not agree, the
decision was left to the missionary. One morn-
ing I perceived in front of my door twenty
or more men, delegates sent to inquire about
the earthquake. I gave them a brief geological
lecture and dismissed them, but I never heard
whether they were satisfied.
When an army is about to invade the enemy's
country a peculiar custom is observed to ascer-
tain whether victory or defeat will follow. It
is that of churning medicines. Two kinds are
chosen, one representing their king, the other
the enemy. These medicines are placed in
separate dishes, and if the one representing the
enemy froths up suddenly, whilst that repre-
senting the king does not, they regard it as a
sign that the enemy will prove too strong for
them and the army is not allowed to go out to
battle.
Sneezing is regarded by the Zulus as an
indication of good health, and immediately
after this operation they ejaculate thanks to
the spirits of their ancestors. The exclama-
tion often is: "Spirits of our people, grant
me long life!" The time spent in sneezing
is considered lucky, for then the spirits are
more benevolent than at other times. Zulu
diviners, it is said, are apt to sneeze freely
Superstitions of tlie ZtUiut. 1 1 L
wht'ii ill the process of (livination and it is
consideivd a sign that the spirit^s are jirescnt.
When cattle stray away from a Zuhi kraal
and are h>st, a hawk called isipninnntjumamjati^
about the size of a crow, is consulted. If it
points its head in a certain direction, searchers
are immediately sent towards that i)oint secure
in the belief that they will find the lost animals.
8. C Samuclson, Kscj., luis recorded a large
number of Zulu superstitions, among wiiich
arc the following: —
"Till of late, and perhaps now in some
localities, it has been regarded as sorcery to
carry manure into a garden, for if he wlio does
it should have a larger crop than his neighl>oi"s
suspicions might arise that would lead to his
death. Thus they are prevented from fertiliz-
ing the soil, and the poor women are constantly
oblige*! to find new places for planting.
'* There are certain mountains which are
objects of sj>ecial regard, at which natives dare
not point with the extended finger, but witli
the fist or thumb, lest thunder and liail storms
result.
**No one dares to kill a turkey buzzard, lest
the arm with which it was done be paralyzed.
*' A person aHlicted with mumps must go to
an .mt-lK-ar's hole and shout, 'O'-j^// ///</.' uzaijiija!
(The mumps! the mumps!).' If he returns
home without looking back, the disease will
leave him.
•• If an otter shouhl l>e killed in the day-
time, it must not be removed until a certain
112 Forty Years Among the Zulus,
amount of manoeuvering is accomplished for
fear of a deluge, the otter being a water
animal.
" Women, when sowing grain, carry with
them the leaves and roots of the isidwa (yellow
lily), as it is supposed to improve the nutritive
qualities of the grain to be produced.
" When a girl reaches a marriageable age, a
cow must be slaughtered for her. If not, she
will be a barren wife.
" The hair and skin of a hyena, burned, is a
powerful remedy for kidney diseases among
cattle.
''The crossing of a threshold by a peculiar
serpent with a horny spine portends a serious
calamity. This serpent is supposed to recover,
although its back is broken many times. The
spmts restore it. Some hold that the inhlon-
hlo, a species of the imamba family, a very
dangerous serpent, cannot possibly be killed.
" According to Zulu belief, any object, a stick
or chip or certain spots in the highway, may be
so doctored as to cause death when touched
by an individual.
" A fabulous animal named utokoto is said
to exist, which has a special fondness for the
flesh of human females.
''Monkeys' tails, according to Zulu belief,
originated as follows: — A party of women
who were digging in a garden gave chase to
a troop of those animals and beat them on
their backs with their heavy hoes. Imme-
diately the long tails appeared.
Suju'r.stltiiniti of f/w Zulus. \\:\
"A class (.)f spiiits culled imikovu is an ohjci t
i)f ^reat terror. riiey are said to be speechless
and wandering about in forests. Death is the
result of contact with them.
'' Natives believe tliat anyone charged with
an offense has the power, by eating a certain
root, of causing the assenil)ly of men trying
him to wander in their minds s«) tiiat they
cannot arrive at a decision."
A kind of divination called umlin;/o is met
with among the Zulus. "A native doctor
may pour water into a calabasli full »>f small
holes, and by this means, observing the direc-
tion in which it spouts, he can divine the
direction from whence the disease has come
upon his patient. Kings have made use of
umlingo to divine the probability of success
in their undertakings. This was done in
several ways. One was to sprinkle hot water
on some of the soldiers about to connnence
their march, and if they were not scalded so
that blisters were formed tlien tlie enemy
would succeed."
Uniahope is a clind)ing plant witli red roots,
bits of wiiich are worn alwmt the necks
by natives for charms. I'he root is chewed
by Zulus for a few minutes when going U)
battle and then they spit it out in tin* di-
rection of the enemy. It is l)elievcd that tlie
enemy will in consequence commit some fool-
ish act which will lead to destruction.
To quote further from Mr. Sanniekson : —
"The custom of * rendering the army invul-
114 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
nerable,' as it is called, preparatory to its com-
mencing hostile operations against an enemy,
takes place in the chief kraal and all the
men have to attend. The sacrificial beast is
selected by the doctor in charge of the pro-
ceedings. The animal is at once caught and
thrown down by force. The skin is removed
from one shoulder, and it is cut out before
the animal is killed. The flesh of the shoulder
is cut into long strips, roasted on the coals of
a fire prepared for the purpose, into which
certain kinds of bitter herbs and roots are
thrown by the doctor. The flesh is roasted
and made to pass through the smoke arising
from this fire. The meat is then ready to be
eaten ; each man bites off a mouthful of a strip
and passes it on to the next man. When the
meat is consumed, the doctor sprinkles the
men with water into which has been put some
pulverized charcoal of the flesh and medicines
I have named. All this while the poor victim
has been left to writhe in agony. It is now
killed and the flesh consumed. It is publicly
eaten by all the men present. All the bones
are burned. No females may have any of the
flesh of an animal killed for this ceremony.
" The medicine used by the natives in purifi-
cation after killing any one is called icima
mlilo (fire-quencher) and it is composed of
a variety of ingredients answering very much
to this prescription : —
Tooth of fox and weasel's bone,
Eye of cat and skull of cat,
Superstitions of the Zulus. llo
And the hooked win^ of bat;
Miuidmke root and murderer's jrore,
Henbane, hemlock, hellebore.
Lithium, storax, bdellium, borax,
Ink of cuttlefish and feather
Of screech owl smoke together.
"A bath is also lu'cessary after the inLHlicine
is taken. A native must always go through
tlie i»roeess of purification after killing any
one, and in case of lioniicide or murder it
would l>e a most important bit of evidence
against any one could it be i)roved tliat lie
had been using the icima mlilo and bad taken
a bath soon after such a deed was committed.
"There is a class of people, known by the
natives as izinsiveI<ihoi/a^ who are believed
to haunt isolated and unoccupied parts of the
country where thick mists and fogs are prev-
alent. They are said to be ahatakati (mis-
creants and evil doers of the worst cla.ss) who
waylay unwary travelers and murder them for
the sake of obtaining certain portions of their
bodies, such as the heart, which are made use
of for medicines and charms. It is Inilieved
tliat many native doctors are in league with
these men and give them a good price for
such portions of the liuinan body as they con-
sider most valuable. Natives have a great
dread of the izinswelaboya, and they dare
not travel tlirough districts said to be infested
by them after dark or alone. There is good
reiuson, I am afraid, for such a fear, because
natives have often disappeared mysteriously
116 Forty Years Among the Zulus,
and have never been heard of again, whilst
some have been found murdered and mutilated
in a most cruel manner. Persons murdered
by the izinswelaboya are almost invariably
found with the tip of the tongue, the eyelids,
portions of the ears, and the points of the
fingers and toes cut off, in addition to other
mutilations. The tip of the tongue is cut off
that no tongue can give information of the
deed, the eyelids that none may see it, the
ears that none may hear it."
CHAPTER XIII.
POLYGAMY AND OTHKK EVIL I'I:A(TI('P:S.
POLYGAMY presents a gigantic obstaclf
to the elevation of the Zulus. It has
been well called their " idol and their curse."
The chattolizing of women is its twin sister.
All that a Zulu man hatli will he give for
wives, and the number he possesses is limited
only by the number of cows he has with which
to buy them. Wives and cattle are his pro|)-
erty and a Zulu is not considered of much
importance unless enriched with a larL^i* num-
ber of the foiiucr. '* A man's wives make the
house great " is a common Zulu saying. With
only one wife a man is considered poor. " If I
have but one wife, who will cook for me wlu'ii
she is ill?" is a (jucstion often asked by the
wife-loving Zulu when arguing in support of
liis darling custom. In Natal for some years
the market price for a strong, healthy girl (»f
fifteen years ranged from lifteen to twenty
cows, but of late ten have been considered the
standard price. As the colonial law now
stands, no Zulu father can collect in court of
justice more than tluit number for his daugh-
ter. Hereditary chiefs and constables, how-
ever, are exceptions. They can claim as many
iis fifteen or even thirty cattle. I regret to say
n7
118 Forty Years Among the Zulus,
this law is sanctioned by the imperial govern-
ment of Great Britain. Since it went into
operation young men find it much easier than
formerly to purchase partners for life. Avari-
cious old men with a plurality of wives and
numerous children cannot now monopolize the
wife market, continually increasing their own
stock and raising the price of girls. Bartering
women for cattle, as now practiced in Natal
and other parts of South Africa, is not an
ancestral custom of the Zulus. Fifty years
ago the bridegroom presented the bride's father
with three or four cows to ratify the marriage
contract, and he received from the bride's rela-
tives an equivalent in cattle or something else.
Now in Natal the whole transaction previous
to the celebration of the nuptials is mercenary.
The natives universally admit that under
British rule it has become a bona fide sale.
Fathers call their daughters their " bank," their
"stock in trade." The husband says substan-
tially, as did Fetruchio, —
*' I will be master of what is my own.
She is my goods, my chattel; she is my house,
My household stuff, my field, my barn,
My horse, my ox, my ass, my anything. "
None but those who have witnessed the
working of polygamy in South Africa can ade-
quately conceive the degradation and misery it
involves and the strong counteracting influence
it presents to philanthropic labor. Both mind
and heart are brutalized by it. Should the
wife be sick and unable to perform her daily
Polyfjamy and other Evil PractieeB. 119
tiisk slie is liable to hem* from licr liushaiid the
(jiiestion: ''Why do you not work and get
back the cattle I have paid for you?" If
childless, she can be returned to her home as
an '' unprofitable thing." If not fully paid for,
her children can be taken as a mortgage till
the number of cattle agreed upon is received.
The Zulus are so attached to this abominable
custom that nothing would so arouse their
opposition to English autliority as legislation
which would aim at its extirpation. Not only
is it idolized by the men, but, strange though it
may appear, the poor degraded women who are
the cliief sufferers argue in favor of it. Rarely
do wives object to a husband's adding to tlie
number of helpmeets, for they say, '' Now are
our burdens lightened." They seemingly ig-
nore the fact that jeah)usies, biikerings, and
quarrels are sure to arise among a plurality of
uncongenial spirits in a Zulu harem.
In intellect the women are inferior to the
men, but this is doubtless attributable to the
drudgery imposed upon them. To feelings of
self-respect and sensitiveness under wrongs,
characteristic of their more liighly-favored sis-
ter's in Christian lands, they are strangers. As
a rule they patiently submit to their lot, unless
tortured beyond endurance by despotic hus-
bands ; but their life at the l)est is a hard
one. The Zulu heathen wife sits in a hut of
haystack architecture of (jne room — her parlor,
kitchen, and bedroom — without window, and
the door to wliich is two feet high ; a portion
120 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
of this space is fenced off for goats and calves.
She prepares her husband's meal of boiled corn,
ground and mixed with sour milk. He eats
alone, giving what is left to the hungry children,
or more hungry dogs. She must provide for
herself. Fear and distrust reign there. She
brings to him beer brewed from musty Indian
corn, but must sip first to show that there is " no
death in the pot ; " while her lord and master
lounges, snuffs, smokes, hunts, guzzles beer, or
gads from kraal to kraal, discussing a recent case
of witchcraft, or gorges himself with beef like
a boa constrictor, she, with a child on her back
and a heavy hoe on her shoulders, goes to the
fields, digs the hard soil all day long or pulls
the rank weeds from the garden, returning
home at night with a bundle of firewood on
her head. Not only must she serve as cart, ox,
and plow, but she is expected to provide for
her aged parents. Other wives come to the
kraal and the strife that ensues makes her con-
dition worse. If of a mild disposition, she tries
to make the best of her lot, resigning herself
meekly to her daily task. If not, she is sure
to "kick against the pricks," harassing herself
to no purpose. The eyes of the vigilant
mother-in-law are upon her and every omission
of duty is reported to her husband. No high
and ennobling aspirations have a place in her
soul. Her environment is one of sensuality
and debasement. Death comes to her early
and it is emphatically " a leap into the dark."
Oh, the miseries of heathen Zulu women !
Folyyamy and otJier Evil Practices. 121
The question is sometimes addressed to mis-
sionaries from South Africa: *' Are not tlie
natives, as you find tliem in their free, unre-
strained, normal condition, happy?" Yes, at
times in a certain sense they are happy, and
occasionally tliere gleams a ray of joy wliich, if
developed by Christianity, would gladden their
whole social life, hut it is a great misnomer to
call heathen joys happiness.
Inordinate beer drinking is another hindrance
to the evangelization of the Zulus. Indian
corn and a species of grain called amabele,
after remaining in a damp place till they begin
to sprout, are mashed, boiled, and then laid
aside in a large dish. Yeast, obtained from
an indigenous plant not unlike the ice plant,
is added. When sufficiently fermented it is
strained through conical bags made of rushes,
into closely-woven biiskets or earthen dishes.
The cup for serving and drinking is made of a
small gourd. The Zulus look upon their beer
as food as well as drink, and often live entirely
upon it. In every kraal if grain is abundant,
beer is correspondingly so. From time imme-
morial it has been the national iHiverai^c.
Where a number of kraals are located near
each other, beer makers, who always are women,
take turns in providing for parties of forty or
fifty men, whose time is chiefly occupied in
going about searching for that nine «^mi nan of
comfort. In winter, when women are compar-
atively free from hard t(»il, both sexes assemble
almost daily for drinkini; and dancing. Thougli
122 Forty Years Among the Zulus,
they do not become so thoroughly intoxicated
as those who freely imbibe rum, gin, and brandy,
the beer confuses their brains, rendering them
foolish and often quarrelsome. A fight with
knob-kerries, resulting in broken heads, is not
an uncommon termination of a beer carousal.
The obscenities and evil practices which accom-
pany these orgies are so vile and harmful that
from the first missionaries have felt it wise to
make stringent rules for church members in
regard to attending them. It was a severe
trial to many to abandon a custom to which
the mass of their countrymen were ardently
attached, but the majority stood firm, agreeing
with their instructors that spiritual loss would
result if they yielded an iota. The more they
were taught in respect to perils arising from
social evils the stronger was their desire not
only to eschew beer parties, but also feasts at
which meat was sacrificed to the ancestral
spirits. As a rule they acknowledged the pro-
priety of the rules laid down by the mission
churches, making it a disciplinable offense to
attend such gatherings. The good effects of
such rules appeared in the impetus given to
the temperance cause, and after a temperance
reformation in many cases there followed reviv-
als of religion.
Another filthy and baneful Zulu practice is
smoking wild hemp. This weed, easily culti-
vated in South Africa, abounding particularly
in old deserted kraal spots, has a narcotic
and even intoxicating effect, similar to that of
Polygamy and other Evil Practices. 123
Indian hemp. Sometimes it is smoked in com-
bination with tobacco, but frequently alone.
The pipe used is peculiar, bein<^ the horn of
an ox or large antelope with a hole about six
inches from the largest end. Into this hole a
reed is inseited, varying from five to eight
inches in length, and where the junction is
formed gum is used to render it water tight.
At the upper end of the reed is attached a
small soapstone bowl, in which is placed the
hemp together with a live coal. The horn
having been previously filled with water the
smoker places his mouth at the top, inhaling
with all his might the smoke that passes
through the water. Having inhaled as much
as he can, he closes his mouth, and with a small
reed squirts the saliva upon the tloor of the hut,
making figures of cattle and various objects.
In every kraal is found a pipe of the above
description. Women do not smoke, but fre-
quently small boys obtain access to the pipe.
Gregariuus by nature, Zulus love to assemble
for a grand smoke, and as the pipe is passed
from one to another it is not uncommon for
the smoker who lias taken too nuuh to fall on
the floor full length in a state of unconscious-
ness. If death does not occur, his nervous
system is fearfully prostrated. So injurious is
tliis practice to body and soul that the most
reliable native Christians coincide with their
spiritual guides in the propriety of a church
law prohibiting it on penalty of expulsion.
As obstacle after obstacle to the elevation of
124 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
the Zulus rose before us, mountain-like year
after year, and we saw how inadequate were
all our efforts to remove them, we were led to
look away from ourselves, distrusting our own
wisdom and strength, and to rely on him who
has said: "Be still and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the heathen." We
realized in some degree the meaning of those
words: "Not by might, nor by power, but by
my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts."
CHAPTER XIV.
ENCOURA(JEMENTS.
LIGHT began to dissipate heathen darkness.
God by visible tokens strengthened our
faith. That was a joyful day in our missionary
calendar on which five young men came to me
and said, " We have decided to become Chris-
tians. No longer will we worship spirits or go
to beer drinks. We will not become polyga-
mists, but will live according to God's word."
More joyful still was the day when a church
was organized, and we sat down for the first
lime with a little band of Zulu Christians to
commemorate the death of our Lonl. A nucle-
us liaving been formed of those on the Lord's
side, some who had ridiculed our wc^rk were
heard to exclaim, '' We now see the power of
the great King."
I was cheered concerning Dambusa, the man
mentioned as lacking courage to follow the
dictates of his conscience, and who a[)peared
to be irrecoverably lost. After he had spent
twelve years in a heathen kraal, in (juest of a
haj)piness which he could not find, I perceived
in his countenance a restlessness that l)etok-
ened a mind ill at ease. Occasionally ho
attended church, always taking a back seat,
listening attentively t(j the preaching, and then
126 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
retiring alone with a downcast eye. It was
evident that the Holy Spirit was working in
his heart. Visiting him frequently, sometimes
calling him out of a noisy assembly of beer
drinkers (and he never disregarded the call),
taking him to some secluded place, I pressed
upon him the claims of the gospel. The tears
that trickled down his cheeks, with an occa-
sional assent to my remarks, indicated deep
emotion.
Dambusa had been the subject of many
fervent prayers. His case had been mentioned
to Christians in this country, and their peti-
tions for his conversion were answered,
though some who offered them had gone to
their long home. One Sabbath, at the close of
services, which had been unusually solemn, I
requested him to accompany me to a cluster
of trees near my house and spend a little
time in religious conversation. He readily con-
sented. In reply to the question, "How much
longer are you going to resist the Spirit of
God, and fight against your own conscience?"
to my inexpressible joy, he said, " No longer ;
the controversy is ended." The penitent man
poured out his soul in earnest supplication for
divine help.
We trembled for him, knowing well the
temptations that surrounded him. He had be-
come entangled in the meshes of polygamy, and
we were anxious to see how he would get out
of them. Two or three days after, he came to
us with a face radiant with joy, saying, " The
Encouragemerits. 127
way is clear. I am a fn'o man/' How lie
obtained his freedom, he explained. To his
second married wife, for whom he had })aid
fifteen head of cattle, he said, " I have decided
to become a Christian and live on the mission
station. Will you follow my example ? " Iler
indignant rei)ly was, ''No, not for the world,
and you arc a great fool ! " '' What will yon
do?" asked the husband, "for I am in earnest.'
*'Go home to my father's kraal and live there,"
answered the wife. To his first married wife
he put the same question, and licr reply was,
" Yes, I will go with you. I have no objection
to becoming a Christian." In a few weeks a
neatly-built cottage appeared in front of my
dwelling, into which Dambusa moved with his
wife and five children. The sacrifice he made
in abandoning heathenism ma}- be seen from
the fact that in giving up the second wife he
also gave up her child, and the fifteen cows he
had paid for her. The father of the woman
not long after sold her again for ten or twelve
cows, so that she was property in his hands,
yielding a good investment.
I rejoice to say in regard to Dambusa that
he gave great satisfaction in after years, prov-
ing a valuable helper in the work of the Lord.
His regard for my wife, who taught him to read
and first led him to think on religious subjects,
and whom he always called " mother," was
peculiarly deep and tender. He w;us her right-
hand man in all efforts to build up the station.
Another man, who had pn^fes-sed to be a
128 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
Christian, but had drifted into polygamy, came
to me saying that his conscience would not
allow him to live in such a state. After
putting away his second wife he was received
into our communion. Both he and Dambusa
were emphatic in their testimony that it is
impossible for a man to serve God properly
who has more than one wife.
When examining candidates for church mem-
bership the motives which influenced them in
coming to the mission station, as they narrated
them, were most interesting. I said to a young
man who had decided to make a profession of
his faith : " What first led you to come to
us ? " He surprised me by the inquiry : " Did
you not call me, and have I not come ? Have
you forgotten that a long time ago you called
one morning at a kraal, and asked a man to
send his son to procure some milk for you,
and that while he was milking you talked with
him about the Saviour ? " I replied, " I re-
member it perfectly." " Well," said he, " I am
that boy. You called me, and haven't I
come?" Joy and gratitude welled up in my
heart as I realized more forcibly than ever the
fulfillment of the promise, "Cast thy bread
upon the waters," and I welcomed this lamb
into the fold of the Good Shepherd. It was
not long before heathen fathers brought their
daughters to work for us, desiring payment
for them. Mrs. Tyler, not having physical
strength to visit the kraals, devoted her time
chiefly to the training of Zulu girls who were
Encounvjevients. 129
under her eye from day to day. It taxed her
patience exceedingly, but witli God's help slie
was successful. Years after, when those whom
she trained had children of tlieir own, (hey
brought them to their white '' mother," beg-
ging her to give them the same training they
had received, and saying, '' We want no pay.
No one can look after them like you." Feeble
health prevented her from complying with
many of those requests, but their appreciation
of what had been done for them wius a source
of comfort and an illustration of the value
of missiouary training.
Those who attempt to Christianize barbari-
ans discarding evangelistic methods, commit
a sad mistake. It is strange that there should
be any doubt on this subject after so many
futile experiments. Take for instance the
case of the retined, cultured, and philanthropic
Bishop Colenso, who began mission work in
Natal apparently under the most favorable
circumstances. A large school was established,
the industrial arts taught, and various l^ranches
of learning, but after a short time nuiny
of the pupils, though regarded as Chri.s-
tians, relapsed into heatlienism. One of them,
William, '' the intelligent Zulu," the bishop's
interpreter and principal preaeher, laid aside
all his civilized clothing, married four wives,
and is now living in a knuil to all appearance
a besotted heathen. While conversing with
him a few months before I left South Africa
and reminding him of his accountability to
130 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
God, he replied, with a derisive laugh, " I was
taught otherwise."
I think the bishop before his death saw and
sadly felt that, unless truly converted, the
natives will not as a rule remain long even
in a state of civilization, and yet how often
the cry is echoed and reechoed, " Civilize the
Africans first, then Christianize them."
Sir Alvan Southworth, in an address before
the American Geographical Society, remarked :
"I have roughly computed that the Christian
world has spent on missionary labor in Africa,
since the era of telegraphs and railroads began,
an amount sufficient to have built a railroad
along the line of the equator. Let us be
practical with the negro, for in his aborigi-
nal state you cannot spiritualize him." He
rejoiced that the Viceroy of Egypt was think-
ing of sending such missionaries as the rail-
road and steamboat into Central Africa. From
the above, and similiar statements meeting us
from all points, what are we to infer? Evi-
dently that many who have devoted their lives
to the elevation of Africa are regarded as on
the wrong track, for their modus operandi is to
preach the gospel first. But, says one, "would
you preach in Africa to those dull, besotted
people as you would in a civilized land ? " I
reply, Yes, substantially The son of Ham is
yet to be found, whether Zulu or Hottentot,
who cannot perceive moral distinctions — in
other words, who has not a conscience, and
who cannot be benefited by the simple narra-
Encouragements. 131
tion of the " old, old story." If he thinks —
and is there a human being incapable of think-
ing ? — his thoughts can be directed to his
Maker, his duty, and his destiny. It has been
said, '' As there is no philosopher too wise,
so there is no child too simple, to take in God
through Christ as the moral life-power in liis
nature." We may apply this to the lowest,
most bestial tribe in heathendom. The gospel
meets the deepest needs of their souls. God's
spirit works through that gospel and those who
proclaim it, and a change is effected without
which all civilizing agencies are vain. Far be
it from me to ignore the importance of civiliza-
tion. It should go hand in hand with Chris-
tianity. We cannot dispense with it in elevat-
ing the degraded, but the place to which it
belongs is secondary and subordinate.
In Frazer's Magazine appears a story in
which a South African chief is reported to
have visited England, and to have become to
all appearance civilized, if not Christianized.
"One day, while discoursing to a delighted
audience on the importance of diffusing the
blessings of civilization and the gospel, the
paper collar he wore on his neck irritated him.
Attempting to adjust it the buttonhole l)r()ke
and he burst out with the exclamation : ' Away
with this spurious civilization ! ' and suiting his
action to his words he tore oft' his clothing,
and stood before his audience untrammeled by
civilized adornments."
I have no means of testing the truth of this
182 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
story, but it is in perfect harmony with cases
which have come under my observation. The
latest and most striking instance of the kind
I will mention : —
About twenty-five years ago a Zulu lad,
named Palma, came to me for instruction. He
was uncommonly bright and inquisitive, and
I had strong hopes that he would become a
useful man. Tempted by some boys who ran
away from their homes, he went to Durban,
the seaport town of Natal, in search of work.
Soon after I heard that he had gone aboard a
ship bound for London, and for nearly twenty
years nothing was heard from him. One day
a young man with a foreign look, dressed in a
sailor's suit, with a tarpaulin on his shoulder,
came to my door and inquired, " Is the clergy-
man at home ? " To my surprise it was the
veritable Palma, who had returned from his
wanderings. We questioned him eagerly as
he related his adventures. Using the English
language (for he had almost forgotten his own)
he told us of his travels in Europe, Asia, and
America. " How could you afford to see so
much of the world ? " He replied : " I have
hands, and am not afraid to work." He told
us of a visit he made to Dean Stanley, who
asked him, " Why did you leave Africa ? " His
reply was, " To better my condition, sir."
As he left us for his heathen home, I cau-
tioned him against the temptations which
would assail him in his father's kraal, and he
laughingly replied, " No danger." Now comes
Encouragements. 133
the sad i>art of this story. A few weeks after
lie rearlied homo he doffed all his civilized
clotliing, and put on the skins of wild animals
like his heathen relatives. He chose a wife
from among the heathen, and is now livini^
a])parently with no desire for civilizing intlu-
ences. Ills heart was not changed, alaa I and
he is a heathen still. Does not this story teach
US that civilization alone is inadequat<j to ele-
vate barbariauii ?
CHAPTER XV.
THE SABBATH AT ESn)UM:BINI.
OOME idea of the change effected by the
'^ gospel may be formed by the description
of a Sabbath at Esidumbini, a few years after
the natives began to emerge from barbarism.
A long loud ringing of one of Meneely's sweet-
toned bells announces the return of the Sabbath.
And as the sun lifts its head above the table-land
in front of our dwelling, there may be seen
groups of Christian Zulus wending their way
to the chapel for the Sunday morning prayer
meeting. The missionary's heart rejoices on
seeing a goodly number assembled, for the
pulse of piety on the station is determined by
the interest manifested in this exercise. Wip-
ing off the heavy dew from their bare feet
they quietly seat themselves, and soon the
voice of praise is heard. A sweet sound this
from mouths which a short time ago were
filled with obscene and senseless heathen songs.
Now it is a pleasure to hear in good time, with
modulated voice, and a considerable degree
of taste, such tunes as Olivet, Bethany, Homer,
Ariel, etc., and in words too which are full
of the sweet truths of the gospel.
But listen ! One of their number is leading
134
Tlie Sahhath at EHtdutnlnni. 135
in prayer. That low, earnest voice is unmis-
takable. It proceeds from a young man wlio
has hitely given up all for Christ. The teacher
steps to tlie veranda of his study and listms
to tliose fervent breatliings. As he confesses
the black sins of years and tlianks God for
mercies, especially the gift of a Saviour and
Ids precious gospel, and im[)lores blessings on
his '* beloved teacher,'' the heart of the latter
bounds with gratitude and he is nerved for
the coming duties of the day.
The voice of exhortation is now heard.
What says that middle-aged disciple, the
teacher's right-liand man and liis deacon, so
long as he holds the oilice well? ''Brothers,
we are happy to-day. Our fathers died in
darkness, they worshiped spirits which they
believed at death enter into snakes ; but we
have the Bible. Brothers, what are our feelings
to-day in resj)ect to (Jod's loving kindness to
us, and our duty to him? Are we doing all
in our power to make known the truth to our
l>enighted countrymen ?"
Well spoken, good fellow ! I think you
are sincere. You certainly did not come to
the mission station for the sake of filthy lucre.
Had you remained in your profession as a
''medicine man," you might ere this have built
for yourself a large kraal, married four or
five wives, and enjoyed the world as much as
any of your heathen friends ; but God's
Spirit reached your heart and turned the
whole current of your life, and now, like
136 Forty Years Among the Zulus,
Andrew, you have found your brother Simon
and brought him to Jesus.
Another voice rather plaintively breaks on
the ear. Converted Zulus obey the injunction,
" Confess your faults to one another."
" Friends, I have done wrong. I have often
heard those words of Scripture, ' Abstain from
all appearance of evil ; ' but when I heard the
singing and dancing in yonder kraal the other
day, I forgot and joined the company of spec-
tators. The teacher called me and explained
the eighth chapter of 1 Corinthians, and I saw
as I never did before that I was sinning against
the brethren and wounding their weak con-
sciences. I have resolved never to do this again.
Pray for me." The missionary, ex animo : Good,
there is hope for you and for the rest. The
cause of God is looking up. Conscience is
not asleep. God grant his aid to-day that I
may speak words of encouragement to these
tempted but resisting souls !
The meeting closes, and one after another
thoughtfully but cheerfully retires to his home.
At ten o'clock the bell announces the time for
Sabbath-school. How attractive the appear-
ance of that well-clad family, consisting of
father, mother, and four daughters ! They
have walked a distance of eight miles, as they
are accustomed to do every pleasant Sabbath,
that they may receive religious instruction.
There is a father bringing in his arms a little
child ! How unlike other Zulu men in that !
The mother is delicate and inadequate to the
The SalilnUh at Etfidumbini. 137
task, but he has learned from the gospel that
he should not only love his wife, but help bear
her burdens. The natives take their seats
and bow the head in silent prayer. The sul)-
ject fur the morning's sermon is the choice of
Ruth, '* Whither thou goest, I will go/' etc., to
which all heathen as well as Christians give
good attention. Near the close when the
question is asked, " Who among you hiis
decided to serve God?" the missionary sees in
many faces the nspunse, '* I have decided." At
three P.M. the bell calls the natives to a '* re-
memljcring exercise ;" that is, to give account
of what they recollect of the morning's dis-
course. Between them all the main thoughts,
especially the 8t<^)rie8, are reheai-sed and then
application is made of the truth to the heart
and conscience. This service over, some stop
to ask questions or to sing. A part of Sabbath
evening the missionary has to himself, in which
a sermon in English is read, then the natives
of the household gather for evening prayers,
and at nine o'clock all retire, none more joyful
than those who can sing, '* One more day's
work for Jesus."
Among our children Sunday was also a day
to be remembered. A friend asked my eldest
daughter, not long ago, " Were Sundays made
pleasant to you and your brothers and sisters
when you were young and living among the
Zulus '/ " Her reply w;is as follows : —
" Yes. In the first place we always had a
treat of some sort for our Sunday dinner.
138 Forty Years Among the Zulus,
Nothing to make work in any way, but some-
thing we especially fancied and did not have
on other days. At one time, mother had a
recipe for an English bun, which she baked on
Saturday for Sunday. And if we ever got
leave to make sugar taffy, it was Saturday
afternoon, and the candy was laid by for Sun-
day. Sabbath morning special books were
brought out and lessons assigned to the older
ones, while the little children had certain Sun-
day toys, not used on other days, which thus
had a sort of freshness and pleasant associa-
tions. The morning service in Zulu was level
to the understanding of the natives and not
above that of intelligent children. We all
helped in the singing, and learned to play for
it after we had a melodeon. I was made a
teacher of small children at seven years of age,
and I had occupation for Sunday morning
deciding what and how I should teach. In
the afternoon we gathered round our parents,
and after our lessons and little talks they
showed us pictures, daguerreotypes of the
friends in America, told us where the}^ lived,
and stories about them. We always walked in
the garden before tea, and each was allowed to
pick a bunch of flowers. Sometimes mother
brought out her scrapbooks and read pieces to
us, or picture books she had made, of which
she was very choice, not letting us handle them
ourselves. If the weather were cool, we gath-
ered in the kitchen, and the Zulu boys and
girls shared in the treat. After tea we sang
The Sabbath at Undumbini. 139
with tlicin ; then father trotted the Httle ones
on his knee, and we all went tu bed early ; and
after mother had tueked ns np we had tlie
whispered confidences and earnest prayers that
mean so much.'
CHAPTER XVI.
VISIT TO THE UNITED STATES. — NEW WORK.
TWENTY-TWO happy years rolled by,
happier I think than they would have
been even if I had accepted a call in 1849 from
a church in Massachusetts, to become its pas-
tor. Not a single Sabbath was I prevented by
ill health from preaching. Only once was a
doctor, thirty miles away, called to my house,
and before his arrival the sick one was con-
valescent. The shield of the Almighty pro-
tected us from all harm. Twice the alarm was
sounded, filling the station people with terror,
^'' I}npi i ngeiie ! (The enemy has come !) " but no
enemy appeared. One day as I was cutting up
a pig which had been killed, a letter came from
the colonial office in Maritzburg, the capital of
Natal, saying, " We apprehend a Zulu invasion.
Flee at once to a place of safety." I said to
Mrs. Tyler, who did not believe there was dan-
ger, " Shall we flee ? " " Not till we have made
the sausages," was her reply. The alarm was
caused by a party of Zulus hunting wild pigs
on the borders of the colony, and the report
spread that a raid was contemplated. Had an
invasion occurred, it would have been impossible
for us to escape without two days' warning, as
we were fifty miles from the nearest fortifi-
140
VtBit to the United StaUs, 141
cation, to which we sliould h;ive Inicn obli^'ed
t(i rru in an ox-wagnii. Hiding in the bush
would h;ive been (»ur wisest course. There
was an oUl cave a short distance from my
house, once occupied by a lion, and into that
we shouM have gone, taking food and blankets.
Zulus, when on raids, do not, as a rule, spend
time in "scouring the bush." What they want
is cattle, and all the girls tlu-y can seize. The
latter, (»n their return home, are distributed
among them f<»r wives.
Having charge of a printing press, from
wliich there issued the first Zulu New TesUi-
ment, two hymn l)ouks, an ecclesiastical history,
and a variety of tracts, in addition t<» the
^^Ikwezi (Morning Star)," a monthly pa|)er
in the native language, of which 1 was the
etlitor for eight years, together witli preaching
and itinerating among the knuiLs, overseeing
the station, etc., the time was fully and pleas-
antly occupied.
While at Esiduml)iiii tlie Lord gav»' us six
children, whom we earn«stly desire<l to see
settled wliere they could be pmpcrly educated.
This, together with a longing to meet again
dear relatives, led us to ask permissi«jn to visit
our native land. To part even for a se;ison
witli our little cliurch of thirty memln-rs and
a body of adherents to the station, for wln)m
we had formed a strong attachment, was a
sore trial; but a native minister Wiis apiniinted
to take the oversight, and we broke away from
them, promising t<» return in good time if life
142 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
were spared. The two years spent in this
country were intensely interesting. Visiting
the churches, forming new acquaintances, the
enjoyment of social, intellectual, and religious
privileges, were sweet and strengthening; but
all the while a feeling would come uppermost
that we were needed among the Zulus and
must go back as soon as practicable. Then
came the great trial of our lives, with which,
for depth and grievousness, none we had ex-
perienced in Africa can be compared — a trial
which foreign missionaries who are parents,
about to return to their fields, alone can under-
stand — the parting with dear children. The
two youngest we decided to take back with us.
All we could do was to commit those left behind
to the care of our covenant-keeping God.
On our return to Natal we did not renew our
labors at Esidumbini. The native helper left
in charge had done so well that the mission
concluded to carry out a policy recommended
by the Board of settling native pastors over
churches established by white missionaries, thus
allowing the latter to go to " regions be-
yond," or places where they were more needed.
Our native friends and spiritual children de-
murred at this, calling loudly for their "father
and mother " ; but it seemed best to conform to
the above policy. We were, however, located
at Umsunduzi, a station only fifteen miles
away, and were appointed superintendents of
the old one. Our new home, though not so
elevated and healthy as Esidumbini, was in
VisU to the UniUd StaUs, 143
a beautiful part of the colony, twenty miles
from the sea, of which it commanded a fine
view. Undulating hills covered the greater
part of the year with green grass and flowers,
valleys and stieams and numerous clustei-s of
trees, presented a landsca{)e never wearisome
to the eye. Established by Kev. Lewis Grout
in 1847, the grounds were carefully laid out
and subseijuently improved by Kev. William
Mellen, making it exceedingly picturesque.
As at all our mission stations fruit and vegeta-
ble gardens were a necessity, and we had
oranges, lemons, guavas, mangoes, peaches,
loquats, and pineapples. A large banana gar-
den provided liuge clusters of this (b-licious
fruit the year round. An avenue lined by tall
china trees led from the house to the ehapel.
At the foot of the hill on which the mission
house stands is a natural fernery, in which UiU
trees shoot up as if trying to get beyond the
ferns that twine alxjut them. A wide held is
this for biologists and botanists, so full is
it of animal and vegetable life. Near the
chapel is a triangular piece of ground reserved
as " God's acre " with its cedar, arbor vit«,
and oleander trees, sacred to many friends.
In connection with Mr. Mellen and his fam-
ily we labored till they went to America, in
1875. While together we could do more itin-
erating, visiting out-stations, etc. Natives will-
ingly jissembled under shady trees, or in some
sheltered place, unless they had, previous to our
arrival, gone to beer parties. '* Kraal preach-
144 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
ing," as we used to call this method of labor,
appeared at first like "beating the air," but
later experience led us to conclude that it is
an important part of our work. It was " cast-
ing bread upon the waters," which was " found
after many days."
Abraham, an interesting young man, trained
by Mr. Mellen to evangelistic labor, asked me
one Sabbath to accompany him to an out-station
eight miles distant. Forty minutes' ride on
horseback brought us to the end of a table-
land, from which the outlook was uncommonly
fine. Below us lay an immense basin filled
with rivulets, and hills on which were perched
numerous kraals, while near them flocks of
goats and cattle were grazing. Far away to
the north lay the mountains of Zululand. On
the south loomed up the tabular-shaped Inanda
mountain and the rugged Isangwana (Little
Gate), so called from an opening on the top
of a cliff. The scenery was magnificent, but
alas, how devoid of anything indicating moral
beauty ! Like ancient Galilee, it was the " re-
gion and shadow of death." It was a relief to
view in the distance one spot in which light
had sprung up, Itafamasi, the station of Rev.
Benjamin Hawes (a native pastor), was dis-
tinguishable six miles away by a cluster of
whitewashed cottages, the abodes of Christian
Zulus, and some china trees planted b}^ Rev.
Samuel Marsh, who founded the station. It
was, and is now, an oasis in that moral desert.
Descending half a mile with difficulty on
Visit to the United States. 145
account of rocks in the path, an hour's ride
through ravines brought us to the spot where
Abraliam was accustomed to meet his country-
men. But to our surprise no audience ap-
pearetl. Herder boys explained to us the
reason. The chief of the country had invited
his leading men to a beer drink, and they,
preferring it to the gospel, liad accepted. The
Zulus not coming to us, we concluded to go to
them, and to their evident astonishment rode
into the chiefs kraal and crept into the largest
hut just as the assembly were preparing for
their favorite potation. The audience that
confronted us was grotesque in the extreme.
Thirty or forty men of various ages, seated in
as small a compass as possible, destitute of
civilized clothing, their arms folded and their
chins almost resting upon their knees, occupied
every part of the hut except that devoted to
calabashes and pots of beer, and gazed on me
with curiosity. Probably they had never met
a white missionary under such circumstances.
I thought I could detect on the countenances
of a few cliagrin that I should make use of
such an occiision for preaching, but the major-
ity were apparently ready to listen and were
respectful. Zulu politeness — a natural trait —
did not forsake them, thougli a few were impa-
tient. The ''old, old story" was not devoid of
freshness and adaptation, though told in a Zulu
hut under seemingly adverse circumstances.
Had we been a few minutes later, drinkincr
would liave commenced, and it would have
146 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
been difficult to get their attention^ Both
Abraham and myself ::poke particularly of
the sin of Sabbath desecration, and the chief
replied : " We have done wrong ! We will have
no more beer parties on the day of the great
King."
Mrs. Tyler, in writing to a friend in this
country, about that time, observed; " We have
little touches of encouragement almost every
day which enable us to hold on our way with
hope. This afternoon, just as I had seated my-
self to write to you, two heathen women came
to get medicine for their children. I was glad
to have an opportunity to sow a little seed in
their hearts. We had a good talk about the
present and the future life, and about God as
our Father. One of them said, ' It is dreadful
to think about God and to know that he is
watching us all the time ! ' The other said she
would not be sorry to die if she could see her
father and be with him again. Just then my
good washerwoman came with the clothes, and
sat by us explaining in her own simple lan-
guage what I wanted them to know. She told
them that she liked to think of God as her
Father, and added her testimony in regard to
the happiness of those who are his loving and
obedient children. She earnestly begged them
to become the followers of Christ. The women
left with subdued faces, and I hope their hearts
were somewhat impressed."
Soon after she again wrote : " This morning
one of my old women, who is a great comfort
Visit to the United States, 147
to me on account of the simplicity and earnest-
ness of her faith, came for a dress to give to
her little daughter that she might appear well
at a wedding about to take place. At ten
o'clock a small procession of girls came march-
ing up the path leading to the chapel, escort-
ing the bride. The bridegroom, who with his
friends had been waiting some time under the
shade of the trees, followed on. The ceremony
over, and while the married couple were sign-
ing the marriage register, the father of the
bride said he had a word of caution to give :
'■You must keep your promises. It is getting
to be the custom to separate after a time, and
that is worse than the heathen do, for they
understand that once married there is to be no
divorce ! ' The father previously had married
all his daughters to heathen men, but he was
glad to have this one united to a civilized man,
though he was anxious lest she should abuse
her liberty. The mother mourned over her
daughters in heathenism, and this one had
been of little comfort to her ; but in our fare-
well talk I found that the bride was more ten-
der than usual and disposed to do right. She
wished to sign the temperance pledge before
she went to her new home. After plenty of
lemonade and a feast on bananas, all marched
away, singing, to the tune of ' John Brown's
body,'-
* Beer is our enemy I
Let us leave off drinking ! ' etc."
In another letter she said : " Last Sunday
148 Forty Years Among the Zulus,
afternoon in the service our native preacher
conducted, he spoke on the subject of genuine
conversions, and alluded particularly to Silas
Nembula, with whom he attended school at
Adams : ' The brightest scholar, the one to
whom we all resorted for help in translating
into English, in arithmetic or anything we
required — but he was a boy like ourselves.
When he gave himself to Christ we did not
need to ask if he were a true Christian ; he
was so humble no one doubted it. All knew
that he had learned of the Master that beauti-
ful Christian humility which he maintained till
his death.' "
Silas was the grandchild of Monasi, the first
convert to Christianity among the Zulus.
CHAPTER XVII.
EXPERIENCES AT UMSUNDTJZI.
IT took us some time to become acquainted
with the kraals occupying the mission re-
serve of about six thousand acres at Umsunduzi,
but after that everything went smoothly. The
heathen were friendly and our Sabbath congre-
gations large and attentive. To show that an
African missionary's life is not a monotonous
one, I give the experience of one day.
At sunrise a rap on our front door announced
the arrival of the postman, who was to take
our letters to Verulam, the nearest European
village, a distance of fifteen miles. Rising
hurriedly I tied up the postal matter, put it in
a bag made of wagon canvas, gave the carrier
sixpence with which to purchase his dinner,
and a caution not to waste his time and mine
snuffing by the way. While at breakfast word
came that Jack, the horse I was intending to
ride while visiting the people, had a swollen leg.
A bottle of " imbrocation " was given to the
horse-boy, with directions how to use it, and I
returned to my morning meal. During family
prayers in English, natives were assembling in
the yard in front of the house, each on impor-
tant business. One mother took down from a
leather shawl tied pouch-like on her back a
149
150 Forty Years Among the Zulus,
child of six months who had caused her sleep-
less nights. A dose of castor oil with two of
santonine, and explanations how to administer
the latter, and the woman left with a lighter
heart. Another said that her baby had crept
into the fire during the night and was badly
burned. A little Turner's cerate, with a cloth
for bandage, etc., and this sad mother departed.
The next patient was a tall, athletic man, who
did not appear ill in the least. But he insisted
that bile was killing him, and nothing would
satisfy him but a big dose of jalap and calomel.
While carefully measuring the latter, he said,
" Put in more ; black people need twice as
much as you whites." This man attended to,
another appeared with a long face and a piteous
story. He had incurred a debt, and inquired if
I could not lend him twenty-five dollars for a
few months. Without stopping to give a lec-
ture on the importance of keeping free from
debt, but saying, "You know well that we
missionaries are not money-lenders," I dis-
missed this last of my morning callers.
Mounting my horse I proceeded to a kraal
about a mile from my house. The headman I
found seated outside the door of one of the
huts chatting earnestly with some of his neigh-
bors. After a polite salutation, for Zulu men
usually observe their rules of etiquette, I was
invited to sit by his side on a wooden stool,
which is also used as a pillow. The matter
under discussion was of deep interest. It
seemed that a certain woman had been seriously
Experiences at Umsunduzi. 151
ill, but her illness was of a peculiar nature.
She was possessed with evil spirits, and all
efforts on the part of her friends to exorcise
these spirits had been unsuccessful. "But,"
said I, " this must be stopped. I cannot allow
her to live on the mission reserve if she prac-
tices arts of divination, which she is evidently
wishing to do." " Alas ! teacher, we know it,"
said they, " but how to stop it we cannot tell.
It is beyond our power." Promising to see the
woman myself and use my influence to change
her designs, and invoking the aid of almighty
God in turning from darkness to light not only
this unfortunate individual but all the victims
of superstition, I went to another kraal.
This had but two huts in it, and its owner
was a young man, the possessor of two wives.
There was an appearance of poverty about the
place. The cattle fold held no cows. I asked
the usual question, " Are you well ? " " No ; I
am not well;" and his next sentence explained
the cause. " We have famine here." " Where
are your cattle ? " " Gone to pay for my second
wife," was the response. " Ah, I see the cause
of your trouble. But you have only yourself
to blame. You have been told many times that
polygamy is not a custom pleasing to our
Master, the Lord Jesus Christ; and you knew
better than to part with all your cows to gratify
your vile passions." "Oh, this is the custom
of black people ! We cannot abandon it," was
his reply.
After a few words of admonition and en-
152 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
treaty I rode to another Zulu dwelling — an
upright house neatly thatched and white-
washed. Outside, the grounds were tidy and
the inside was no less so. Seated in an Amer-
ican chair, I had a pleasant chat with the occu-
pants. I had come into quite a different atmos-
phere — into a Christian home. Various plans
were discussed for bringing the heathen people
about us to feel their need of the gospel and
to send their children to the station school.
Prayer was offered, in which all joined with
reverence. Then I returned home.
Dinner over, there were a dozen or more
little matters to be attended to, letters to write,
native boys to have work given them, and then
came the weekly temperance meeting conducted
by my native assistant. All were urged most
earnestly to refrain from all kinds of evil, drink-
ing beer especially. Then a discussion ensued
which was not ended till sundown, and one
young man had signed the pledge. Before tea
several attendants at meeting requested an
interview, and then we sat down to our evening
meal. Soon the postman arrived, and for a
short time we were in a state of e:5tcitement
hoping to see some American letters and hear
of our dear ones over the sea. We were,
however, disappointed. The bell for evening
prayers was rung, after which four boys and
three girls were instructed, and then came a
time of quiet and freedom before retiring.
About the same time Mrs. Tyler recorded as
follows a day of her experience : —
Experiences at Umsunduzi. 153
" Awakened by tlie sound of horse's hoofs
on the hard walk in front of the house, I found
it was the traveler who had spent the Sabbath
with us, starting for home. Breakfast on
hasty pudding as usual, with syrup, as our
milk did not reach us in time. When the
school-teacher came, he told me what some of
the people had said at the prayer meeting on
the preceding day. One of the church mem-
bers had broken his pledge and drunk beer at
different places, for which he was very sorry,
and wanted all to pray for him that he might
try again.
" Another said he saw more and more that it
was better to have nothing to do with beer in
their houses, and, although he had not signed
the pledge, nor taken the ' blue ribbon,' he
had taken none for a long time. Moreover,
when invited by his married son to go to his
house and partake of a feast where there was
beer, he had declined, saying that 'the pres-
ence of beer would spoil all tliat was rational.'
"The school bell rang, the native girls
hastened to their studies, and I was left alone
for quiet reading, as I hoped. The Gospel of
John is now our stud}^ in Sunday-school, and
we naturally turn to it for private reading, so
as to gather up and have ready all we can
for our classes. Last Sunday one of the men
remarked that he had read Mary's words to the
servants in the second chapter, fifth verse :
'Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it'; but
it never occurred to him how it could be
154 Forty Years Among the Zulus,
applied to us. ' So it is,' he added, ' we are
all the time finding something new in the
Bible.' While I was reading, there was a knock,
and an old church member with his wife came
for a little talk. In the midst of our conver-
sation a fine-looking heathen man appeared,
in search of medicine for his child, who had
rolled into the hot ashes at night and burned
the whole side of one leg. He joined so in-
telligently in our conversation, I was led to
inquire where he learned so much. He said
he had lived with several missionaries, giving
their names, and knew all about the Bible and
our religion. When I asked if it were not
worthy of reception, he replied, ' Yes ; it is
good and right; but when I saw how many
promised to be Christians and then broke their
promises, I said it was worse than not to make
any. So I am trj^ing to be good without prom-
ises.' This is the excuse of many who have
been taught in our mission stations, as we
know it is in Christian lands. Individual
responsibility seems to have little meaning to
these people. It is not uncommon to hear them
say, ' We are content to die and go where
our fathers are.'
" The next call was from a young man who
came to borrow money of my cook, to pay his
subscription to the home mission fund. After
much talk between them, and a promise that it
should be returned in two months, he took the
money and departed. I felt bound to give him
a short lecture on industry, as I had noticed
Experiences at Umsunduzi. 155
him the week previous going about among his
friends to visit and talk, instead of working to
earn the money he needed.
" The afternoon came, and the bell rang for
the usual prayer meeting. Soon there appeared
my good old washerwoman asking for the
money she had earned and left with me, in
order that she might put it into the treasury
of the 'Home Missionary Society.' Every year
she pays her subscription of 11.25. This
year wages are low, and the people find it
difficult to get clothing and other requisites ;
so we are not surprised to find their contribu-
tions less than usual. After the meeting in
which the claims of home missions were
discussed and subscriptions received, I found
among the names of contributors one who had
put down a goat. I asked him how he would
carry it to the meeting which was at hand.
He smiled, saying he had engaged a friend
to sell it for him, so that he might carry the
money. He did not reflect he might have
done this a month ago, and thus be sure of
the money in time, but waited until the last
moment before saying anything about it. This
is characteristic of the Zulus. One of our old
missionaries has truly said : ' We do not need to
preach to the Zulus on the text. Take no thought
for the morrow. They obey that literally.'
" Tea over, the native boys belonging to
our household came in to read, and we had
a pleasant talk on the chapter that was read,
till eight o'clock, when I dismissed them and
166 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
called in our two little kitchen girls, to look
after their clothing. One of them was full of
smiles when she found that I had a nice dress
that would fit her, and gave me a hearty
'Thank you.' I suppose she never had but
one dress before at a time, and when that was
washed was obliged to wrap herself in a shawl
or old garment of her mother's. The girls
retired happy, and I had an hour for sewing
and thinking in perfect quiet. My mind wan-
dered back to our first days in Africa and along
down to the present time. Days of joy and
sadness, of happiness and trial, of success and
disappointment, loomed up before me ; and I
saw so much of the kindness and goodness of
our heavenly Father to us that at the close
I could almost forget everything else ; and I
hastened to retire that nothing might come be-
tween me and the sweet peace that seemed
to come so directly from above."
The mission has not seen fit to locate a
white missionary at Umsunduzi since ill health
obliged me to resign my charge of the station.
But the people are fortunate in having as
acting pastor a native whose name is a peculiar
one — Bontyise, which is the Zulu for beans.
Zulus, like the Jews, are in the habit of naming
their children after some circumstance con-
nected with their birth ; and that vegetable was
introduced into the locality of his birth at the
time he was born. Bontyise was given to me
by his father, who was dying of consumption
in a heathen kraal. I said to him, *' That
Experiences at Umsunduzi. 157
little boy will soon be without a father. Give
him to me, and I will be a father to him."
The wives, of whom there were six, all heard
him give his assent, and after his father's de-
cease the lad came to me. I had him educated
at Adams, under the Rev. William Ireland, and
on my return to Natal, after my first visit to
the United States, Bontyise came to me that
he might study, preparatory to preaching the
gospel. While pursuing his studies, he taught
the daily school at Umsunduzi, and on my
leaving South Africa assumed the charge of
the station. The last letter I received from
him manifests his feelings, which I doubt not
are genuine : —
Mi/ dear Father , — I regret to learn that you do
not feel able to return to us. I hoped to see you
again in the flesh; but if, in the course of divine
providence, I never shall, and if I should be called
to die first, then I will ask my heavenly Father to
allow me to sit at one of the windows of heaven
and keep on the lookout for you; and when you
come, I will say to him : " There is my beloved
teacher " ; and there will be no more any sea to sepa-
rate us. We shall be forever with the Lord.
CHAPTER XVIIL
ZULU CHURCHES.
IN the first days of our mission Zulu
marriages were not legal in the eyes of
the Natal authorities unless cattle were paid ;
but this has been remedied, and mainly through
the intervention of missionaries. At present
if the father or brother of the girl to be
married states to the English magistrate,
before witnesses, that he will not call for
cattle, it is recorded, and the marriage is legal.
Another step in advance has been taken. If
a man is married according to Christian rites,
and takes another wife, he is liable to be pun-
ished for bigamy. To such a degree does the
custom of ukulohola feed the avarice of the
father and foster indolence on the part of
the brothers, to say nothing of its degrading
effect on the home life, that missionaries of
various bodies in Natal have considered it
wise to make it a church disciplinable offense,
the Americans takino^ the lead.
In 1879, after careful discussion with native
pastors and lay helpers, a set of regulations
for the churches under our supervision was
adopted. They ruled out polygamy, barter
in women, beer-drinking parties, all intoxi-
cating drinks, and the smoking of wild hemp.
158
Zulu Churches. 159
Frequent cases of discipline — especially for
barter in women — occurred; but natives on
whose judgment we could rely often assured
us that the rules were none too strict. It was
gratifying to see that some church members
legislated concerning these customs without
suggestion from their white teachers.
A church organized with fifteen members
under Nqumba, a native pastor at Imputyane,
near Adams, has the following laws, made and
adopted by themselves : —
I. No polygamist shall be allowed to become a
member of this church.
ir. He who sells his daughter or sister treats her
like a horse or cow, and caunot be received into this
church.
III. The man who has lost his wife is not allowed
to live with another woman unless they are married,
and a widow is not allowed to live with a man unless
they are married.
IV. No young man or woman shall be allowed to
marry according to heathen customs.
V. No member of this church shall be permitted
to attend a wedding if beer is drunk there, although
he may have been invited to it.
VI. No member of this church shall be permitted
to drink the '^ white man's grog," or native beer, nor
touch it with bis lips.
VII. No beer shall be made on this station, and all
who come here from other stations must conform to
this rule.
VIII. No member of this church is allowed to
smoke wild hemp or tobacco. They take away reason,
knowledge, and good character.
IX. No member of this church is allowed to go
where there is slaughtering for the departed spirits.
Those who have fellowship with those who do so
160 Forty Years among the Zulus.
slaughter countenance this superstition and are not
worthy of church fellowship.
Polygamous converts would occasionally
apply for admission into the church, and in
cases where there seemed to be religious sin-
cerity and earnestness it was hard to shut the
door against them. A striking case occurred at
Umsunduzi. A man of considerable intelli-
gence and reputed good character came to me
with his two wives, each of whom had four
children, and asked permission to build on the
mission reserve, saying, " I have heard of the
Christian religion, and I wish to know more
about it." No more eager listener to the
Word ever came within sound of my voice,
and the conversations we had with him re-
vealed very clearly that he was determined to
find out the truth. He set about learning to
read, and within ten months could read in
the New Testament. In respect to the domes-
tic entanglement into which he had entered
before he came to the station and previous to
his knowledge of Christianity, I instructed and
advised him to the best of my ability. He
professed to see, and I believe did see, that
polygamy is an evil and not in accordance with
the teachings of the gospel, but how to get out
of it was the question. He said to me with
deep emotion, " I have decided to serve God,
and wish to obey him in all things." I told
him to look upward and pray fervently for
the guidance of the Holy Spirit, assuring him
that, if he did so, he would receive divine direc-
Zulu Churches. 161
tion. He promised to do this. Soon after he
rehearsed to me tlie difficulties under which he
labored. He said to his second wife, " Will
you leave me? You see the fix I am in.
God's Word does not sanction polygamy. As
I am now I cannot connect myself with the
people of God." She replied, "You are my
husband. I cannot love another man. I also
want to be a Christian. Besides, there are the
children. Who will look after their best inter-
ests as well as their father ? No ; I cannot
leave you. Where thou goest I will go ; " etc.
A similar response came from his first married
wife. It is no wonder that both chose to stick
to him, for he is the most amiable Zulu husband
I ever knew.
Baffled in this attempt to extricate himself,
he concluded to let the matter alone for a
while, but to do his duty as a Christian. All
his children were placed under instruction, the
eldest son being sent to Lovedale College in
Kaffraria, where he stayed seven years and
shone brilliantly as a scholar ; another son
became a teacher at Adams, and several of
the daughters completed a course of education
at Lindley. The father has grown in Bible
knowledge and stability of Christian character.
Both of the wives have also manifested a
desire to join the church. The question arises.
What are we to do with such cases? Some
might say, as was said to me more times than
one, " Admit them into the church ; you have
no right to refuse." It is easy to give advice,
162 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
but, viewing the matter in all its lights, I am
convinced it is not proper to receive polyga-
mous converts to church fellowship. I agree
with what Rev. John Paton, that most heroic
missionary of modern times, has said of the
natives at Aniwa (an island of the New Hebri-
des) when placed in similar circumstances : —
" How could we have led natives to see the
difference betwixt admitting a man to the
church who had two wives and not permitting
a member of the church to take two wives
after his admission ? Their moral sense is
blunted enough without knocking their head^
against a conundrum in ethics. In our church
membership w^e have to draw the lines as
sharply as God's Word will allow, betwixt
what is heathen and what is Christian, instead
of minimizing the difference."
CHAPTER XIX.
ZULU CHRISTIANS.
TO abandon heathenism and live a consist-
ent Christian life requires, on the part
of Zulus, considerable moral courage. Their
piety is sometimes severely tested. We had
at Umsunduzi a woman whose husband was
for years a son of Belial, persecuting his wife
fearfully whenever she manifested a desire to
serve God. Her trouble began while we were
at Esidumbini, to which station she once fled,
hoping that we should be able to protect her.
So long as she remained in our house, Ave could
do so, for a white man's house in Natal is his
castle, into which no native dares enter witli-
out permission ; but the cunning husband, who
was on tlie watch, caught her one day outside,
seized her by the arm, and dragged her away.
We had advised her to bear meekly the treat-
ment she received and to pray earnestly that
God would soften her husband's heart. Faku
— for that was his name — after a while ceased
annoying her, and even allowed her to attend
church. She saw that her prayers were being
answered. Great was her joy when she per-
ceived a willingness on his part to move his
residence to the mission station that the chil-
dren might attend the daily school. She had
164 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
been in the habit of gathering them together
for family prayer, and when he was present
she saw that he was interested. She ventured
to ask him to pray. At first he declined, but
afterwards would occasionally take her place,
and she noticed a gradual softening in his
speech and behavior. This led her to pray
more fervently. One Friday afternoon at the
usual prayer meeting when opportunity was
given for any one to speak, Faku rose and in
a very humble way told his experience : how
he knew he had been sinning against light,
that his heart had been bound by Satan, and
that it seemed as if he never could free him-
self from his grasp. But now he trusted he
had found help in Christ and that he should
never stray from him. He said he had sold all
his older daughters for cattle, but not a cow
was to be seen in his cattle fold. Like other
earthly treasures, the}^ were all swept awa}^,
and he wanted to feel that in Christ he had
found a treasure he should never lose. He
had been cruel to his wife ; but she had always
been good to him and unwearied in her efforts
to lead him in the right way. All who heard
him felt that he was saved in answer to Jier
prayers. Her face wore a look of glad sur-
prise. No one spoke for a few minutes, when
she, in a quiet tone, observed: "We see how
God loves us ; we do not know how to love
him as -we ought." Then she knelt and
thanked God for his unspeakable love. One
of the native church members of long stand-
Zulu Christians. 165
ing, who heard her pray, said he never saw
such humility. It made him feel that he was
far below her in Christian attainment. Amid
all the troubles that good woman ex])erienced,
her hope and comfort were in prayer. She
expected God to answer her petitions, although
she might have to wait many days before the
answer came.
Instances occurred in which men living in
their native kraals were impressed by the
truth and commenced a new life without
going to the station and living in houses
built in European style, as the majority of
converts were in the habit of doing. A tall
man, clad in the ordinary attire of the skins
of wild animals, was seen in our chapel one
Sabbath, with a countenance indicative of deep
interest. Unlike most of the men he took his
seat in the Sabbath-school. Mrs. Tyler, who
was always on the lookout for opportunities
to deepen any impression the truth may have
made, found that he was under conviction of
sin and anxious to know the way of salvation.
It was not long before he became a decided
Christian, and then he endeavored to biing his
wife and two children to the sanctuary. Fre-
quent interviews with him convinced me that
he was a humble and sincere believer. But
he lived only a few months after his conver-
sion. Word reaching me that he was ill, I
went to him at once, taking such medicines as
I thought he required. I found him seated
on the ground outside of his hut apparently
166 Forty Years Among the Zulus,
in great pain. Thanking me for the medicine,
he remarked, to my surprise, "I shall be no
better ; the Lord is calling me to himself." He
then spoke of his gratitude for all I had done
for him, particularly for my instruction, and
said, " I ask 3^ou to be a father to m}^ two
children, who will soon have no earthly father
to look after them. ... I am not afraid to die.
I shall soon be with Jesus, and I expect to
meet you in the heavenly world." After a
little conversation and prayer I told him that I
hoped the medicine would relieve him, for I did
not consider his illness of so serious a nature.
Before leaving, I noticed a freshly dug hole
about three yards from the place where the
sick man was seated, and wondered what it
was for, but made no remarks. The next day
tidings came that he died at early dawn ; and
before I could reach the kraal his two little
ones, a girl of twelve years and a boy of ten,
had dragged the body to that freshly dug hole
which I had noticed the preceding day, and
there the}' buried it. The mother, ill at the
time, was so weakened by the shock that she
could render the children no assistance. The
latter, when asked why they did not apply
to their neighbors for help in burying their
father, replied that the native custom was to
pay a cow and calf and a goat for '' the wasli-
ing of the hands," which they were too poor
to give.
I took the boy to my home and placed him
in school, leaving the girl with the mother.
Zulu Christians. 167
When I went after her a few months later, a
heathen relative had claimed her as his prop-
erty and refused to give her up. Illustrations
of the power of the gospel to sustain and
comfort in a dying hour I have seen among
the Zulu people, but none where the environ-
ment was one of such deep poverty as in the
case just described.
Another kraal man was awakened from his
heathen slumber on a Sabbath day. He was
rich in cattle and Avas contemplating the pur-
chase of a second wife. The state of his
lungs prevented his coming to the station for
instruction, so I visited him frequently, holding
religious services in his hut. For several
weeks he was under conviction, and when he
indulged a hope of pardon his joy and peace
were indescribable. All his heathen neighbors
marked the change. As he desired to join the
company of Christ's followers and make a
public confession of his faith, I went to his
kraal one Sabbath afternoon, taking with me
one of my daughters and twenty members of
the Umsunduzi church. About the same num-
ber of heathen men and women joined us,
filling the hut to overflowing. After a brief
service, followed by baptism and the Lord's
Supper, I gave the sick man an opportunity to
make a few remarks. He took a passage of
Scripture he had heard me comment upon :
" I am the way, the truth, and the life." I will
translate literally his words on the first part
of that passage : —
168 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
" My friends, you see that I am soon to die,
but I have no fear. Jesus is my Saviour, and
he will support me. He is the way. There
is no other way. I have tried the ways of
the world in search of peace and happiness,
but all in vain till I found the Lord Jesus.
My last words to you, my friends, are, ' Make
the Saviour your friend.' He will not only
pardon your sins, but will comfort you when
you are about to leave the world, as he is now
comforting me."
An unusual solemnity was apparent on the
countenances of his heathen relatives, as one
after the other they crept out of the hut and
went quietly to their homes. The man died
soon after in the triumplis of faith.
A Christian Zulu father, in writing about
the death of his son, whose name was Ukani,
said : " You would like to hear some of his
last words. He said to me : ' Do you know
that death has overcome me? Please call all
the children of our house.' They came. He
looked upon them and wept. He remarked:
'I do not cry because of fear of death, but
because you have not become Christians.' He
talked to them a short time on religious sub-
jects, and then said : * I do not know whether
the morning will find me here.' He wanted
me to read to him from Bunyan's Pilgrim's
Progress — a book of which he was very fond
— and the fourteenth and fifteenth chapters
of John's Gospel. He rejoiced very much
when prayer was offered. Wlien T asked him
Zulu Christians, 169
what I should pray for, he replied: 'That I
may be strengthened in the Lord.' Once he
prayed that the Lord would come and take
him out of the world, and said : ' Father, the
Lord does not hear me.' I trembled, and said:
' Why not ? ' He replied : ' Because death does
not come.' He then added : ' I do not com-
plain. It is the Lord's will that I endure the
pain. His will be done.'
" I cannot write all the ' little crumbs ' of his
talk. On Thursday he said to his mother : ' I
see a little of the place to which I am going.
I see a beautiful city, and this side of it a river,
The city has many people in it, and it is very
nice.' On Friday he said to me : ' Father, do
not sleep to-night, for I feel that death has
taken fast hold of me.' At four o'clock he
called for liis mother, but before she arrived he
leaned his head back and died. His face was
as if he were sleeping."
A Christian Zulu woman died at the Umvoti
station in the enjoyment of perfect peace. One
who was an eyewitness reported her as saying,
'' I know that I am dying, but why should
I fear to go home ? I love my Saviour. I
love my God. I have no fear. All is so
bright." Her last words were : " Jesus, my
Saviour ! "
A married man by the name of Kalo, on the
same station, when about to expire, said to his
weeping friends : " I so greatly rejoice to go to
Jesus in heaven ! I feel I am in the right way.
Love him, all of you ! Wife, cling to your
170 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
faith; teach the children; keep them as Chris-
tians should be. Let us all meet in heaven ! "
It would be easy to present more illustrations
of the power of Christianity to comfort the
soul in a dying hour, which have come under
my observation during the period of my mis-
sionary labor among the Zulus. The above
must suffice. The gospel, and that alone, can
impart peace to the converted African when
crossing the "dark river," as it does to Chris-
tians of other countries and other climes.
CHAPTER XX.
ZULU PREACHEKS.
IT was a prediction of President Edwards
that "the Ethiopian might in time be-
come very knowing in divine things." There
are no instances in which educated Zulus have
attained to distinction in divine knowledge,
but that some have so studied the Bible and
had their hearts so permeated by the Holy
Spirit that they have been truly eloquent,
I can testify from personal observation. For
direct, earnest appeal to the conscience I have
never seen them surpassed. They do not
always adhere to their texts ; but they have
this sterling characteristic, which cannot be
said of all ministers at the present day in
their preaching: as the late Robert Moffat
has told us of the Bechuana preachers, "they
are careful never to go out from between
Genesis and Revelation."
No attempt to frighten a Zulu preacher has
as yet been successful. A Trappist monk said
to one, " You must stop preaching." The na-
tive, who was holding- a padlock in his hand
at the time, replied, " If you should fasten my
mouth with this lock, aud go away with the
key, I would not cease to proclaim the gospel."
Seven Zulu ministers have received ordina-
172 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
tion at the hands of American missionaries.
The majority have done well. Three have
gone to their reward.
Rev. James Dube was pastor of the church
at Lindley, the station named after its beloved
founder. When a youth like other Zulu lads,
Dube was assailed b}- temptations, but in his
case there was special danger, for he was the
son of a chief, and a large and influential
tribe looked to him as their future ruler. The
emoluments of Zulu chieftainship are great
and exceedingly fascinating in the eyes of the
natives. Dube knew well that if he remained
in heathenism he would inherit, not only power,
but wealth, consisting of cattle, by which he
could purchase as many wives as he desired.
In the providence of God he was brought
under the influence of Mr. and Mrs. Lindley,
who were quick to see the danger to which
he was exposed, and the good of which he
might be instrumental if he became a Chris-
tian. B}^ wisdom and kindness they won him
to the mission station and urged on his atten-
tion the claims of the gospel. To their joy
his heart responded favorably. He agreed to
abandon spirit worship and to give up all
thought of becoming a polygamist. His teach-
ers prayed most earnestly with him and for
him, nor did they pray in vain. For some
time Dube was under deep conviction. He
experienced thoroughly what divines in New
England, near the beginning of the century,
called "law work." When he decided to serve
Rp:v. Ja.mes Dube.
Zulu Preachers. 173
God, it was no lialfway decision. A more com-
plete transformation of character among the
Zulus I never knew. He encountered oppo-
sition, and at that period of our mission's
history it was bitter and determined. Satan
tried all his arts to persuade him to return to
his heathen kraal and the vile customs of his
people. All the " glories " of heathenism were
set before him, but in vain. His thirst for
knowledge, especially that of the Bible, was
intense, and it was a real joy to guide his in-
quiring mind in the study of the Holy Scrip-
tures. For a year or more he studied under
Rev. David Rood. He then taught school, but
before Mr. Lindley left Natal the last time,
Dube was unanimously invited to the pastorate
of the cliurch of which he was a member. The
ordination scene was one I shall never forget.
The charge to the pastor was given by Mr.
Lindley, Dube's spiritual father; and with tears
rolling down his cheeks the venerable mission-
ary remarked : " This is the gladdest day of
my life. I never anticipated beholding such
a sight as this."
From the time Mr. Dube assumed the over-
sight of tlie Lindley church till liis death he
labored with zeal and fidelity. That love of
money was not one of his besetting sins is evi-
dent from the fact that for years he did not
take a farthing for his services, saying, " My
people are poor, and I can support myself."
Mrs. Edwards, who has charge of the High
School for Girls at Lindley, could always rely
174 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
on his help when needed. His love for all
Christian missionaries, especially those to whom
under God he attributed his conversion, was
marked and constant. In common with his
friends, who said that if their " father and
mother" (Mi-, and Mrs. Lindley) must leave
them to die and be buried in another land, the
expense of their burial should come upon their
children, he contributed liberally towards the
fund of one hundred dollars which was sent to
America to be held in trust for that object.
As a preacher he was earnest and persuasive.
His imposing personal appearance was in his
favor. Over six feet in height, with a body
symmetricall}" proportioned, a penetrating eye,
and a voice easily heard in the largest church,
he always made a deep impression on his
hearers.
I once heard an English missionary from
Kaffraria observe, while dilating on the elo-
quence of a native preacher, " For that man's
talent in pulpit oratory I would willingly give
my right arm." I never arrived at that pitch
of enthusiasm while listening to Zulu ministers,
but I often wished that the Lord would enable
me to proclaim the truth as eloquently as did
James Dube.
The death of this interesting man was sud-
den. One of his last utterances was, "Christ
to me is precious." When it was announced
to the people of his tribe that he was dead,
their grief was profound and protracted. Week
after week natives were seen wending their
Zulu Preachers, 175
way, some of them from a long distance, to the
crrave to shed tears of sorrow and condole with
the bereaved family. All the members of our
mission felt that we had sustained an irrepara-
ble loss.
Another Zulu pastor, also deceased, was Rev.
Tra Adams, named thus after a brother of his
teacher, Rev. Newton Adams. His mother,
Umbulazi, was the first convert to Christianity
among the Zulus. Living in the family of the
missionary for ten years or more, Ira had an
opportunity to acquire the English language,
which he spoke with ease and fluency. For a
time he engaged in the sugar enterprise and
became in part owner of a mill. To an olhcer
of the Natal government who congratulated
him once on his success, he said, " Yes ; it is all
the result of missionary instruction." While
employed in secular pursuits he preached
among the kraals every Sabbath. Elected to
the pastorate of the church at Adams, he
labored a few years, but ill health obliged him
to move to another part of the colony, where he
died deeply regretted.
The third Zulu pastor, also deceased, was
Rev. Umsingapansi, a man of sterling v/orth,
who was converted through the instrumentality
of Rev. James Bryant. Preaching, or, as he
expressed it, " taking up the cause of God that
lay on the ground," during the temporary
absence of Rev. William Ireland, Mr. Bryant's
successor, he continued his ministrations till
called unanimously to the oversight of the
176 Fo7'ty Years Among the Zulus.
Ifumi church. His death, after six years of
faithful labor, was a sore bereavement. Two
of the four surviving pastors have not proved
a comfort and joy to those who inducted them
into the sacred office. One, engaged in trading,
became involved in debt, left his people, and
took up his abode in the Zulu country. An-
other, for immorality and apparent untruth-
fulness, was suspended from the ministry, but
is now living a Christian life.
These defections have led missionaries to be
cautious in ordaining Zulu preachers. Though
they can talk eloquently and pray as if in-
spired from above, they do not all possess
that moral backbone which is desirable. These
cases of lapse, as can be easily imagined, fur-
nished material for skepticism in regard to the
results of missions. " See," said some, *' how
badly that native preacher has turned out ! "
Missionaries, of course, had to come in for a
share of blame. One black sheep attracted
more attention than fifty good ones. They
seemed to ignore the fact that in civilized lands
cases often occur in which persons who have
stood high in church and society have com-
mitted flagrant offenses, while no one thought
of blaming the clergymen whose ministry they
attended.
A few specimens of addresses on different
occasions will show the character of the native
preaching.
In 1873, when Mr. and Mrs. Lindley were
about to leave South Africa, after thirty-eight
Zulu Preachers, 177
years of faithful labor, there was a gathering
of Zulu converts, at which one of them spoke
as follows : —
" Brothers and sisters, we can but weep, for
to-day we are but orphans. Our father and
mother are now dead to us. Our hearts are
all too full of grief for many words. Who
will wipe away our tears now? Who will toil
for us as patiently and bear with us in love as
they did? . . . Their leaving is caused only
by the sickness of our mother. She can work
for us no longer ; she has worked too hard.
Others will be kind to them and take care of
them, but they will not find any children to
love them better than we do. . . .
"Let us review the past a little; it will do
us good. Turn to the old deserted home under
the Inanda Mountain. There is no spot to us
on earth like that. There we were boys, when
our father came with his wagon and com-
menced building his house. There we saw
one and then another believing and building
on the station. There we were taught and
felt our hearts growing warm with love to God
and to his Son. A few weeks ago I rode past
that loved and Ijeautiful place. My heart was
full of old memories. I saw the bush where
we Avent and made our first prayer. We
hardly knew what made us pray. We were
naked, ignorant herder boys. I said, 'Who is
this now riding on a good horse, with a saddle
and bridle? He is well dressed, so that this
Qold wind is not felt. Verily, it is the same
178 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
herder boy ! What a contrast ! And where is
he going? To see his children, who are in two
large boarding schools, one at Amanzimtote,
the other here at Inanda.' Did we in those
days, when we knew not how to hold a book, —
knew not which side was up or which was
down, — think it would be all like this to-day?
No ; really, no. Goodness and mercy have fol-
lowed us. See how we have increased ' Look
into our houses ; see what comforts ! Our cup
is running over. . . .
" We must now put on the armor and work
more earnestly, for we have to take up our
father's work. May his mantle fall on us ! and
may we salt our work as he salted his by a
blameless example ! . . .
" We have come to hear our father's last
words, and to bury him. So we will send the
money over the sea, that others may not bury
him. This is the only way that we can show
that we are his children. Let us henceforth
live in peace and love as children in one family
should do. It will then prove that our father
and mother did not spend their lives in useless
work. Above all, let us earnestly pray that
we may have this gathering together once more,
but not on earth. We want it to be in heaven.
There our tears will all be wiped away."
Another, while discoursing on the Bible,
said : —
" Wise men have made a telescope by which
they can see other suns and other moons and
other stars — many more than we can see with
Zulu Preachers. 179
our eyes. But the greatest telescope is the
Book made by God. It brings God's character
to our view. We can see his holiness and
benevolence. It brings Christ to our view.
We hear his words ; he walks and talks with us.
It is a wonderful telescope because it draws us
to him and binds us to him forever. It shows
us the way to heaven ; we see its beauty and
brightness and joy. We see also those great,
strong believers — old Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob, who had faith to believe what we call
improbabilities."
Said another, making use of imagery familiar
to his hearers : —
"The gospel is a great wagon laden with
salvation. Christ told his disciples that it is
to be carried to all nations. Believers are
Christ's oxen — the load is to go and be distrib-
uted among all the inhabitants of the world.
If the oxen are lazy, God will take them out
and put others in, those that will draw. Who
of us are drawing the gospel wagon ? If we
are not, we shall find ourselves left out, and
others will be put in our place. Turn not
away because the wagon is heavy. Pull, and
strength will be given to you."
Still another : —
" What would you think if you should come
into a house and see a man lying on his mat,
looking ill, and you should ask, ' What is the
matter?' and he replied, 'Nothing at all'?
You say, 'Tell me, that I may help you.
Where is your pain?' 'I tell you, I am quite
180 Forty Tears Among the Zulus.
well,' replies the man. You beg him to allow
you to send for the doctor, but he refuses.
Just so it is with sinners. You see that they
are ill, and wish them to send for the Great
Physician, but they do not see it. What shall
we think of them ? "
CHAPTER XXI.
ZULU CUSTO.MS AND LAWS.
ry^HE various tribes in South Africa are
-L popularly called Kaffirs. Arab traders,
who were Mohammedans, gave them this name,
which signifies infidels^ or those who would not
embrace their faith. The term " Zulu Kaffirs "
is often used to distinguish the Amazulu from
other tribes, or what has been called the Bantu
race. This word Bantu, as Mr. Stanley re-
marks, is unphilosophical and perfectly mean-
ingless, as it signifies merely men, or people.
The Zulus, being a distinct nation, should go
by the name of Zulus, and by no other.
Their ethnology does not furnish data suffi-
cient to allow us to speak with certainty as
to their origin. That they differ from the
Demarara and other tribes in Southwestern
Africa, and from the Hottentots near the Cape
of Good Hope, we have abundant proof. With
the latter there is not the least natural affinity,
although a few Hottentot clicks appear in the
Zulu as well as in some other South African
languages.
A tribe of cannibals called Amazitu, living
on Lake Tanganyika, from the description
given by explorers, appear to be pure Zulus.
Their dialect is the same that is spoken in
181
182 Forty Years Amoyig the Zulus,
Zululand. Mr. Stanley's " In Darkest Africa "
speaks of being " in the presence of twin
brothers of Zululand, tall, warlike creatures
with Caucasian heads and faces," in a district
called Uhha, but he does not tell us what
language they speak. ^ li\ the vocabularies of
Schweinfurth, Cameron, and other travelers,
unmistakable Zulu words appear, which tend
to show that the maritime Zulus in the south,
and other tribes at the north, may have had
a common origin, but where their primeval
home was we cannot tell. Some of their
customs are quite Jewish ; as, for instance, the
practice of circumcision, and, till a late date,
rejection of swine's flesh ; the fear to step on
a newly -made grave lest they contract a
disease of the feet; the custom of widows
marrying the brothers of their former hus-
bands ; the naming of children after some
circumstance connected with their birth ; their
sacrifical offerings ; the observance of the feast
of firstfruits ; the purchase of wives ; the cere-
mony of attaching to a cock the diseases of
1 In a recent interview between Rev. George Wilder, missionary
to tlie Zulus, and Mr. Stanley, the latter related that he had in his
party a Zulu woman from Natal who was able to converse with the
Wahuma, a tribe living near the Mountains of the Moon. They
said: "This woman is one of our people; where did she come
from?" Not only in language, but in customs, those people re-
semble the Zulus. The Abangoni, living on Lake Nyasa, are also
Zulus. The Zulu dialect is the court language of Manica country,
under the chief Ungungunhama, son of Umzila. This is the aurifer-
ous region which has been under dispute between the Portuguese
and the British South Africa Company. The Matabele are, it is well
known, pure Zulus. There is an evident kinship between tribes
living all the way along from Natal to Albert Nyanza, so that one
unilerstanding thoroughly the Zulu tongue has a key by which to
unlock the various dialects spoken in Eastern Afi-ica.
Zulu Customs and Laws. 183
the people, and sending it by a fit person into
the wilderness, like the Jewish scapegoat;
the punishment of the slayer of a king with
death ; the cursing of an enemy before going
to war; the custom in the kraals of having
water poured on their hands after a meal by
servants ; the eating with a spoon from one
dish ; the sprinkling of the doorway of a hut
with medicinal water to keep away disease ;
the piling up of memorial stones, etc.
They have also traditions of events that
happened in the earliest days of which we
have record, and Zulu Cliristians often exclaim,
" We understand the Old Testament better
than the New ; it describes so perfectly our
home life ! "
There are some who locate the Ophir ^ of the
Bible in Southeastern Africa, maintaining that
certain ruins discovered by Mauch, the Ger-
man traveler, in latitude 20°, not far from Port
Sofahi, are the veritable '' Solomon's mines."
But thus far no satisfactory proof has been
adduced that they are anything more than the
ruins of old Portuguese forts.
The number of aboriginal Zulus in Natal is
> An English archocologist has lately gone to Mashoualand for tiic
purpose of removing the f/('6r/.s that has accumulated lor centuries
over those ancientruinsat Zimhabye, and in case he lintls Pha-nician
inscriptions he may solve tiie (luestion, " Are Kider flaggard's
Solomon's Mines anything more than a myth? " The Portuguese,
whenasked," Who built those forts? " invariably reply," Solomon's
<liggers." A Norwegian missionary wIjo has lately visited that
region observes, " I have good reason to believe that this whole
coast land called Sofala is the old Ophir, called in the Septuagint
Sophira and Sophara, which seems to derive its origin from the
Bantu Is-ophira, or weakened through the African pronunciation
(of r as /), Isofala or Sofala."
184 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
now estimated at four hundred and fifty-six
thousand,^ most of them being refugees from
Zululand, where they were in danger of be-
ing accused of witchcraft and put to death.
Under the wing of British power they feel
secure and haj)py and increase rapidly. They
are divided into clans, each being amenable to
colonial authority. Tribal feuds and jealousies,
sometimes resulting in "faction fights," which
have to be put down by the strong hand of law,
have proved for half a century, and are still, a
safeguard against combination in opposition to
the English.
Under purely native law the land belongs to
the sovereign. He is monarch of all he sur-
veys. His will is supreme. He can " eat up,"
that is, take away, a man's property and his life
if he choose. Careful to see that none of his
people becomes wealthy, he helps himself freely
to their flocks. There are some laws, however,
made by the national council of leading men,
to which even he, it is said, is subject. It is
his business to see that they are executed.
The eldest son of his first wife is considered
the rightful heir to the throne. The Zulus
cherish and manifest a deep respect for those
who have royal blood in their veins. A re-
markable instance of heroic devotion to an
hereditary chief is said to have occurred in
Natal some years ago, which is thus told : —
"A case of succession to the chieftainship of
1 This estimate is based on the total number of huts in the colony.
The last census gives the white population at 44,415,
Ziilu Customs and Laws. 185
one of the tribes was decided before the local
magistrate, and the hearing of the case was
attended b}' numerous adherents of the rival
claimants. After the decision, as the chiefs
were returning homeward, the beaten party
was suddenly overtaken by a grass fire, where-
by thirteen of their number were destroyed.
The young claimant to the chieftainship would
have shared their fate had not one of his fol-
lowers made him lie down on the ground, and
covering him with his own body as a protection
against the flames, he deliberately allowed him-
self to be burned to death, thus sacrificing his
own life to save that of one whom he believed
to be his legitimate chieftain."
Though the natives are poor in comparison
with Europeans, and are obliged to work for
the wherewithal to supply their wants, a feeling
of independence is an inherited trait. To per-
suade them to bind themselves for a year or
longer to a white man is somewhat difficult.
The reason is, when harvest comes, singing,
dancing, marriage feasts, and other joyful
events take place at their kraals, and they must
be there to participate in them. Just when the
crop of sugar cane needs cutting and carting
to the mill, Zulu lads often say to the planter,
** Our presence is required at home." Zulu
lads, however, in considerable numbers, attacli
themselves to their employers and make reliable
servants.
That the traffic in tea, sugar, and other com-
nioditicv; in which Europeans are engaged may
186 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
not suffer, coolies are imported from India at
an expense of £28 per head, the importer
paying <£20 and the colonial government the
balance. After five years of service the}' can
return home passage free, or remain, which
many prefer to do. Bet^Yeen thirty thousand
and forty thousand are now in the colon}'. As
a rule they are thrifty and industrious, and
monopolize the trade of market gardening. I
regret to say that there is no law prohibiting
them from purchasing ardent spirits, and intem-
perance is their principal vice. They are
sometimes detected in selling rum secretly to
the natives in their kraals.
Arabs from Zanzibar and Bombay are also
finding South Africa a fine field for enterprise,
and there is scarcely a town or village in
which their stores are not seen. Indeed the
retail trade in native goods is almost wholly in
their hands, to the chagrin and grief of Euro-
pean merchants. Both Arabs and Indians are
regarded by many as a curse, but how to get
rid of them is a question. Thus there will be
an Asiatic as well as African problem to be
settled some day in that part of the world.
The Zulus were once reduced to starvation
and cannibalism in consequence of the raids
of Chaka's army through the country. An
incident is related of a lad who was taken
prisoner but escaped in a clever manner. The
cannibals, seeing a saucer-shaped earthen vessel,
told the lad to carry it, remarking, " That will
make a lid for the pot in which you are to be
Zulu Customs and Laws. 187
boiled." Coming to a lake full of sea cows,
the boy, concluding that the companionship
of those animals was preferable to that of
cannibals, made a rush into the water amid a
shower of spears, none of which touched him,
dove and swam till he came to some reeds,
among which he concealed himself, thus elud-
ing search. He was near enough, however, to
hear one of them say, " He was the fattest of
the lot.'' That Zulu is now living and is about
ninety years of age.
CHAPTER XXII.
ZULU CHARACTERISTICS.
TN bodily strength Zulus surpass the Indian
and average European. The heavy bur-
dens they carry often attract attention. An
Englishman, seeing a woman about to raise to
her head a load which he felt sure he could
not lift, said, "You don't think you can carry
that, do you? " She replied, "Were I a man I
could not, but I am a woman.' I have watched
gangs of fifty or more young men carrying on
their backs huge sacks of acacia bark, weighing
not far from two hundred pounds, and rolling
them into the hold of a steamship, aj^parently
not suffering in the least from the effort.
For swiftness in running, as well as power
of endurance, they are remarkable. For years
men were employed by the Natal government
to transport ponderous mail bags from the sea-
port to the colonial capital, a distance of fifty
miles. Leaving at sundown, they might be
seen the next morning on the steps of the
post office, bright and happy, and ready, after a
few hours' rest, to return Avith the same speed.
They travel with bare feet, and their soles,
being thickened by constant use over rough
roads, possess emphatically a pecuniary advan-
tage over leather.
Zulu Characteristics. 189
In good health, the result of simple food and
moderate exercise, the natives are proof against
a multitude of ills incident to a state of civili-
zation. It is said that two girls were once taken
from a heap of dead bodies after a bloody
battle, one having twenty, the other nineteen
spear wounds, and both recovered. I once
had a boy in my employ, through whose body
a spear had been thrust, and though not as
strong as many, he performed a considerable
amount of labor. Several times I was called
to take out pieces of skull that had been
broken by knob-kerries in a quarrelsome beer
drink, and the wounded places liealed after a
short time. Rarely did we see cases of deform-
ity, contracted chests, weak spines, or bent
shoulders.
In contrasting Zulus with American negroes
I perceive a marked difference. The former,
as a race, are taller and more muscular, with
loftier foreheads, higher cheekbones, and a
pleasanter expression of countenance. Their
lips are not so thick, nor are their noses so
flat. In color some of tliem l)ear a striking
resemblance, but among the Zulus, Arabic fea-
tures, not seen in other dark-skinned African
races, are occasionally distinguishable.
At their homes the men are neat and tidy, in
their way, bathing frequently, washing their
hands after every meal and before milking.
They invariably rinse their teeth after eating,
which accounts for their clean, ivory-like ap-
pearance. Having good appetites, they often
190 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
gorge themselves like pythons. Barrow, an
African traveler, tells us of an ox being eaten
by ten Zulus, "all but the hind legs, in three
days."
This is a mild statement. In several in-
stances when I knew an ox had been killed in the
morning, I have tried to get a piece of beef in
the afternoon, and have been horrified to learn
that a small party of natives had eaten all but
the head and hoofs. A pioneer missionary to
Zululand once wrote that five or six of his
servants began to eat a good-sized pig at even-
ing, and before they slept the largest part of it
was devoured.
The mode of cooking is simple. A long
piece of meat is fastened to a sharp-pointed
stick, placed uj^ton the fire, and when sufficiently
roasted one takes his knife, cuts off a large
mouthful, and passes it on to his neighbor, and
he to another. This operation is repeated till
all are served. They eat some parts of an ox
raw, seizing them as soon as it is killed.
In their intercourse with one another the
Zulus have a well-defined code of politeness.
On meeting, their salutation is " Sa ku honum
ugani(I see you)." The question then follows,
"•^Uhlezi kalile na (Are you well)?^' then the
snuffbox, the token of friendship as well as sine
qua non of comfort, is passed round. No Zulu is
allowed to go out of a hut back first. In igno-
rance of this, I once crept out of a chief's
dwelling in that way. He immediately called
me back, saying, " Were you not a white man
Zulu Characteristics. 191
who knows no better manners, I would fine you
for this breach of etiquette."
They have a curious custom called ukuhlon-
ipa (shame). In accordance with it, the wife
never calls her husband by his proper name,
but, if he has a son, always the father of that son.
A wife carefully avoids uttering any word occur-
ring in the names of the principal members of
her husband's family. For instance, if she has
a brother-in-law named Unkomo, she will not
use the word inkomo^ meaning a cow, but some
other. Formerly a native would not use a word
simihir to the name of a king, for fear of losing
his life. For example, irnpande means the root
of a tree. This is so much like Umpande, the
name of the late Zulu sovereign, that no one
ventured to use it. The newly married hus-
band is careful to avoid lookino- at his mother-
in-law, and should she be coming toward him
he always takes another path or conceals himself
in a cluster of bushes. No Zulu is permitted
to marry a blood relation. Like the Jews, a
man is expected to take the widow of a de-
ceased brother ; but to marry a cousin is to
them most reprehensible.
Confidence placed in Zulu servants is seldom
betrayed. Thieving is not one of their charac-
teristics. Small bodies of men are employed
yearly in transporting bags of gold and silver
from the magistrate's tent, where the hut tax
has been collected, twenty miles or more from a
European village, and I have never heard that
a shilling has been stolen. For the first thirty
192 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
years of my residence among them I never
considered it necessary to fasten a door or win-
dow, for fear of burglars or thieves. Missing
an axe, while building my house in 1850, I sus-
pected a native who was working with me, but
in taking up the floor of my dining room two
years after I found the missing article. The
absence of pilfering among the Zulus I attribute
to the rigid laws of the country from which
they came, for in Zululand theft has from time
immemorial been punishable with death. When
Dingaan was on the throne. Rev. Aldin Grout
took into his country a load of household goods,
and wishing to leave them there while he re-
turned to Natal for another load, he said to the
headman of a kraal : " Please see, while I am
gone, that none of my things are stolen."
'' Stolen ! " said the man. " Where did you
come from, that you make such a request ? We
have law here.''^ A Zulu was once asked by a
trader whether a parcel of beads could be
deposited with safety in a certain unprotected
place, and received this answer : " If a man
steals in Zululand, he eats no more corn."
Travelers who by mistake left articles in a
kraal generally found Zulus running after
them to deliver them up.
I regret to say that a change has taken place
in this respect. With the influx of foreigners
intemperance has increased, with its attendant
evils, and property is not so safe as formerly.
Thanks however to the stringent proliibitory
laws in Natal, the sad spectacle is not witnessed
Zulu Characteristics. 193
of natives lying about in a state of intoxica-
tion, as is said to be the case in Cape Town and
Kimberly. But grave fears are entertained that
the young Natal Zulus, who go to the gold
fields in the Transvaal, will return to their
homes demoralized by rum-drinking habits.
A love of fun is a prominent Zulu character-
istic. They frequently crack jokes of a practi-
cal natui'©. Some raw natives from Zululand
were about to visit their relatives, who were
working for a sugar planter in the colony. The
latter, desiring a little fun, met the newcomers
a short distance from the planter's house, and
said to them, '• Our master is a great king. You
must approach him on your hands and knees,
just as you do Umpande, and salute him with
high-sounding titles." They carried out the
program faithfully, to the great amusement of
the white man as well as to that of the joke
players.
A Zulu lad, once seeing a woman with a
pumpkin on her head, came up suddenly and
inquired, apparently in great terror, " What 's
that on your head ?" Thinking it might be a
snake, she let the pumpkin fall, whereupon the
roguish boy picked it up and ran away.^
I once " April fooled " a good-natured wagon
driver as we were on a journey. A few hours
afterwards he asked mc how we should cross a
river which we were approaching. " By the
bridge^ of course," I replied. " But," said he,
"have you not heard that the bridge was car-
iWood's Uncivilized Eaces.
194 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
ried away in a late flood ? " " No," I replied
in an anxious tone. "Nor have I," said he,
his eyes twinkling with fun.
A more gregarious and social people it is
difficult to find. The young men dislike to eat
alone. Rather than do so they prefer to half
starve themselves. When out at service, and
the economical mistress has measured out just
enough Indian meal for their own mush, if a
friend steps in at the time of eating, a spoon is
immediately handed to him, and the mush dis-
appears frequently before they have made " a
good square meal."
A few natives raise tobacco in their kraals,
but the majority refuse to do so, saying, " We
would cultivate it if our neighbors did, but
they are too lazy. It is therefore of no use for
us to plant it, because they would cor e and
finish it at once." This disinclines them to
make efforts for the supply of their own wants.
Industry and forethought are not Zulu traits,
at least not of the men. A Zulu may be often
heard saying to the Indian coolies, thin, hag-
gard, hard-working people, " Why do you toil
so ? You are worse than white men. Look at
me. See how easily I take life. I only work
till I have bought a wife, and then she works
for me ! "
Some have said, " Zulus have no gratitude."
It is a great mistake. Many instances might
be related in which a thankful spirit has been
manifested, and gifts bestowed for favors re-
ceived. Sympathy for neighbors in trouble,
Zulu Characteristics. 195
especially the sick or bereaved, is a marked
characteristic. Work, however important, is
at once suspended that they may help their
afflicted friends. Tears that roll down their
cheeks as they stand around the grave of a
beloved missionary belie the statement that
the "natives have no feeling." Their affections
are tender, and it is pleasant to see how the
men fondle and nurse young children. It is
only the war passion that excites them beyond
all control. It has been remarked that ''after
living a long time with Europeans they become
sour and morose." I have not seen that effect
produced. On the contrary, servants of long
standing have appeared to me remarkably
cheerful.
In debate, of which they are very fond, they
often show remarkable skill. In arguing a case
they will split hairs equal to a Philadelphia
lawyer. It is interesting to listen to their
arguments, which roll out with amazing volu-
bility and ease. They generally assemble under
a large tree, forming a semicircle, the chief or
judge sitting in front. While one is speaking,
others observe silence, awaiting their turn with
patience. They commence slowly and deliber-
ately, but as they warm with the subject they
rise from the ground, snap their fingeis, raise
the voice to the highest pitch, and become fear-
fully excited. All join in the discussion, and
from the babel of voices a stranger would think
that a fight was inevitable. After the case has
been settled, the decision is generally accepted
196 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
by both parties as final, the loser, not vindic-
tive, quietly going to his home ; and if he meet
his rival the next day, stopping to snuff and
chat with him as if nothing unpleasant had
occurred.
An amusing example is thus related, in
Wood's Uncivilized Races, of a cross-examina-
tion at a Zulu trial : —
" Some natives had been detected in eating
an ox, and the owner brought them before a
council, demanding punishment. Their defense
was that they had not killed the animal, but
found it dying from a wound inflicted by
another ox, and so had considered it fair spoil.
When the defense had been completed an old
Zulu began to examine the various speakers,
and as usual commenced with a question appar-
ently wide of the subject.
" ' Does an ox tail grow up, down, or side-
ways ? '
" ' Downward.'
" ' Do its horns grow up, down, or sideways? '
"'Up.'
" ' If an ox gores another, does he not lower
his head and gore upward ? '
"'Yes.'
" ' Could he not gore downward ? '
"'No.'
" The wily interrogator then forced the un-
willing witness to examine the wound, which
he asserted to have been made by the horn of
another ox, and to admit that the slain beast
had been stabbed, not gored."
Zulu Char act eristics. 197
That low cunning and deceit are often prac-
ticed among them as among other uncivilized
races, we have painful evidence; but, as one
truthfully observes, "The wonder is not that
these evils and perversions exist, but that, in
the absence for ages of all revealed truth and
all proper religious instruction, there should
still remain so much of mental integrit}^ so
much ability to discern truth and justice, and
withal so much regard for these principles in
their daily intercourse with one another."
Before the advent of Europeans with the
arts of civilization considerable ingenuity was
displa3'ed in manufacturing spears, hoes, or
picks from iron mined out of their own soil.
Their forges and anvils were of the crudest
description, but they managed to do their work
creditably. They also made rings from an
amalgam of copper and iron. Their dishes for
cooking, carrying water or beer, baskets, and
beer-strainers, milkpails, wooden pillows, spoons,
etc., show considerable skill. In making skins
soft and pliable they are quite equal to furriers
in civilized lands. In the medical art some of
them are skilled in healing certain diseases by
the use of roots and herbs which abound in the
country.
They have an ingenious process for making a
fire. A dry reed is taken about six inches long,
a notch cut near the middle, in which is rotated
between the palms of the hands a small hard
stick. One is reminded of a carpenter's drill.
Soon the hot ashes appear, from which a flame
is secured.
198 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
Zulu lads acquire the industrial arts with
facility. In blacksmithing, shoemaking, wagon-
making, and printing, they can compete with
white men if properly trained. 1 had a native
printer who composed with rapidity, and printed
a newspaper in the Zulu language. He was
also a bookbinder. In learning to read, the
children are quite as apt as the whites. In
vocal music, some of them are quite proficient.
In mental and physical ability they do not seem
to be inferior to the Anglo-Saxon race. As
civilizing agencies have enlightened other tribes,
the same agencies, if faithfully applied, will raise
the Zulus, also, to a like state of advancement.
CHAPTER XXIII.
ZULU WEDDINGS AND FUNERALS.
THE natives look forward to a marriage
occasion with joy, for it is a time to
revel in dancing and feasting. If in high life,
the greater the glee, the greater the quantity of
beef to be consumed, the larger the potations of
beer. A king's wedding generally lasts six or
seven days. Being present at the marriage of
Cetywayo, the late Zulu chief, when he took to
himself his fifteenth wife, the excitement I
witnessed was almost beyond bounds. Specta-
tors, quite a thousand in number, sat on the
ground (for there were no seats), looking at
the five hundred or more men and women en-
gaged in their tumultuous dance, and appeared
to be thoroughly fascinated. After fifteen min-
utes I should have left, had I not made an
engagement to meet his sable majesty at the
close of the ceremony. On this occasion the
bride, for some reason or other, was seated by
herself, but the fourteen wives Avere together,
directly in. front of a brother missionary and
myself. The*.pbesity of these African queens
attracted our attention. We estimated that
each would weigh at least two hundred pounds.
Such an amount of avoirdupois in human flesh,
possessed by one man, I never before witnessed.
200 Forty Years Among the Zulus,
I was told that they did little or no work, ate
an enormous quantity of beef, and drank as
much beer as they could. As the hot sun
began to beat down on my head, I lifted up my
umbrella for shade, when one of the king's
wives requested the use of it for a short time.
I complied, but when I politely called for it,
she refused to give it up. Now was my time
to give an African queen a lecture on polite-
ness, which was not without effect, for the
umbrella was soon returned.
Cetywayo, the leader in the dance, was
dressed like the majority of the men, with skins
of wild animals about his loins, and the only
way I could distinguish him from others was
by a long feather stuck to the gutta-percha-like
ring on his head. That feather is used only by
royalty on marriage occasions. The dance, if
such it can be called, was one of the noisiest
demonstrations conceivable, consisting simply
in stamping the ground forcibly, swinging the
hands up and down, chanting a vaiiety of tunes,
shouting and screaming, howling and yelling,
the perspiration dropping like rain from the
half-nude bodies.
When at the greatest pitch of excitement,
I remarked to my companion, " If these Zulus
ever come into collision with British authority,
and display the same enthusiasm in war as they
do on this festive occasion, they will prove no
despicable foe." In the " Zulu war," some years
after, they fought like tigers.
Now that Zulu girls under English protec-
Zulu Weddiny^ and Funerals. 201
tion are not obliged to marry, nolens volens^ they
enjoy a privilege Avliich some in more civilized
countries might regard as advantageous, that of
" popping the question," or selecting husbands
from among the old or young men, according to
their fancy. Every year with them is " leap
year." They sometimes choose those who are
not inclined to reciprocate their affection, but,
nothing daunted, they persevere until they
succeed. In Wood's Uncivilized Races we
read of a Zulu girl who fell ardently in love
with a young chief as he was displaying his
agility in a dance. " He did not know her, and
was rather surprised when she presented herself
at his kraal and avowed the state of her affec-
tions. He, however, did not return them, and
as the girl refused to leave, he was obliged to
send for her brother, who removed her by force.
She soon made her way back again, and this
time was severely beaten for her pertinacity.
The stripes had no effect on her, and in less
than a week she again presented herself. Find-
ing that his sister was so determined, the
brother suggested that the too fascinating chief
liad better marry the girl and so end the dis-
pute, and the result was tliat at last she gained
her point, the needful cows were paid and the
marriage took place."
Zulu courtship often goes on for some time
without the knowledge of the parents. The
girls are not in a hurry to be married, knowing
well that the happiest period of their life is
that of theii' youth. Many of them, however,
202 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
are mere flirts. When fifteen or sixteen years
old, their fathers, hankering for cattle, begin to
chide, saying, " Is it not time you were mar-
ried? This flirtation must come to an end."
Finding that her father and brothers are seek-
ing some one to recommend to her as a husband,
she suddenly disappears, having hied away to
her lover's kraal. In case the parents have no
objection to the family, and they are sure that
within a reasonable time the required cattle for
payment will be forthcoming, they do not inter-
fere, knowing that initiatory steps for the mar-
riage will follow. In a day or two there appear
at the home of the future bride a part}^ of men
driving two or three cows. They have come to
negotiate for the proposed union. The usual
friendly custom of taking snuff is gone through
with, the bargain is ratified, the cows left as
first instalment, and the visitors go home ap-
parently satisfied. What follows I give in the
language of one who is more intimately ac-
quainted with native customs than myself : —
" Both parties have new songs and dances to
learn, and it is a matter of emulation which
shall excel. The bride has by her a stock of
mats, spoons, dishes, etc., which she has col-
lected, with which to begin housekeeping. Her
father's gift is a blanket, and cattle according
to his rank. But no girl ever goes to her hus-
band without an ox, which is ever looked upon
afterward as the ox of the amahlozi (ancestral
spirits), the loss of w^iich by death would be
considered a token of desertion by the protect-
Zulu Weddings and Funerals. 203
ing spirits of her father's house, and the slaugh-
ter of which, in the event of any cahimity
(such as disease or barrenness), is an accepta-
ble sacrifice.
"When the eventful day has arrived, the
bride and party (the higher the rank the more
the followers) set out for the bridegroom's
kraal, which, however, they will not enter until
night, singing and dancing as they go. Early
in the morning they go to the nearest stream,
wash and dress, and about noon come up and
begin the dance, the bridegroom's party looking
on. When both sides have finished, which may
or may not be on the first day, a cow is slaugh-
tered by the bridegroom and given to the bride's
party.
'■^ At night the girl wanders about the kraal,
followed by her own sex, relatives of the bride-
groom. She is 'crying for her father's house,'
where she was well treated. Now she has come
to a strange liousehold where she may be ill
used, and where she has only the certainty of
hard work. She is supposed to be trying to
run away, and the girls to be preventing her.
Next day the bridegroom, his brother, sisters,
and friends take their seat in the cattle fold,
and the second and last part of the ceremony,
called ukuhlambisa^ takes place. (Ukuhlambisa
means to give wherewithal to wash the hands.
Perhaps it is a symbol that on that day she has
washed away all her old life.) The bride comes
in with her party of girls, carrying in her hand
a spear, which, by the way, she has carried all
204 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
the time. One girl bears a dish of water and
a calabash, and another some beads. Then com-
ing up, singing and dancing, the bride throws
the water over her husband. She also sprinkles
her brother and sister in law, striking the latter
as a symbol that from that time she assumes
authority over the girls in her husband's house-
hold. After this is done she breaks the staff
of the spear, and makes a run for the gate of
the kraal, as a last effort to get away. If she
is not stopped by a young man appointed for
the purpose, it is a great disgrace, and the hus-
band has to pay a cow to get her back. The
marriage rites are then finished. No widow,
remarried, breaks the staff of the spear.
" For some time after marriage the wife will
not drink any sour milk. She was purchased
with milk-giving cattle, and cannot eat her own
purchase price. But after a w^hile she takes the
broken spear to her old liome and returns with
a goat, or sheep, or cow, which is slaughtered,
the defiling principle going out of the milk into
the dead animal. Henceforth she may drink
the milk. In Zulu language she has ' cleansed
her spoon.' "
Marriage customs vary somewhat, but the
above is a fair description of the average.
Traveling once on horseback through a thickly
populated part of Natal, I came unexpectedly
on a procession of natives, in front of whom a
large ox was being driven, and was told that it
was the winding up of a wedding ceremony.
Having dismounted and turned my horse out
Zulu Weddings and Funerals. 205
to graze, I watched the proceedings. When
the procession reached the gate of the bride-
groom's kraal, the bride was closely veiled by
her female attendants, nor was the veil removed
till she had taken her place in the ring for the
final dance. A hundred or more natives en-
gaged in it with all the energy of which they
were capable, their bodies covered with perspi-
ration, but I could not see the bridegroom any-
where. On inquiring as to his whereabouts, I
received the reply, "Wait a few minutes and
you will see." It turned out that he was seated
near myself among the spectators, and appar-
ently as unconcerned as any of them. After a
little, the bride left the ring, dancing and sing-
ing like the rest, but evidently in search of
somebody or something. Suddenly she ap-
peared and placed her hand heavily on her
lover's head. This the Zulus call ukuketa^ or
choosing a husband. It was a signal that she
had selected him in this public manner as her
partner for life. The favored individual imme-
diately jumped up, and went into his own hut
in the kraal to prepare for his part in the dance.
When he again appeared he looked like a new
being covered with the skins of various animals,
beads and brass ornaments in great profusion.
Taking his place in the ring, he danced as
enthusiastically as the rest.
What attracted my attention particularly
was an occurrence that usually takes place at
the close of every wedding. The father of the
bride took a shield, and, standing in front of
206 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
the dancers, who for the time kept quiet, made
a speech in which he praised in no qualified
terms his daughter, dilated on all he had done
for her, said the number of cows he had re-
ceived was too small, hoped she would meet
with good treatment, prove a fruitful vine, etc.
Occasionally he emphasized his words by jump-
ing up and kicking his shield with violence.
Then the father of the bridegroom appeared
on the scene, also bearing a shield, lauding his
son to the skies, complaining that he had paid
too many cattle, that the girl was homely in
appearance, not strong enough to do much
work, emphasizing his remarks in the same
manner as the bride's father had done. This,
it is said, is done that the bride may not be
unduly elated. The crowd then dispersed, sing-
ing and shouting vociferously. The wife, for
some weeks after marriage, unless it is the
planting season, does no work. When she
does take up her daily duties she finds often
by sad experience that the happiest dajs of her
life were those when she was a girl at home.
I have described the marriage of uncivilized
Zulus. When tiiey abandon heathenism and
live on mission stations they are married ac-
cording to Christian rites. It was feared by
some that a colonial law lately enacted, making
natives married in a Christian manner liable to
punishment if they took other wives, would
lessen the number of Christian marriages, but
I am told it is not the case.
So large are the assemblies which gather on
Zulu Weddings and Funerals. 207
marriage occasions that it is impossible for
them to find sitting or standing room in our
places of worship. I remember once going to
an out-station to marry a couple, and finding
several hundred heathen people who had come
to witness the ceremony. It was performed in
the open air, and it was rather difficult to keep
the crowd quiet during its performance. Pre-
vious to the marriage a procession was formed
at the house of the bridegroom by the clad
Zulus, to escort the happy pair to the place
where they were to be united, and as they
appeared in sight on the brow of an adjacent
hill several young people shouted, " Behold, the
bridegroom cometh ; let us go forth to meet
him ! " quite in imitation of the old custom in
the land of the Bible.
After the marriage ceremony was performed,
a hymn was sung, and the procession, headed
b}^ the bride and bridegroom, started for their
future home, with flags fl3'ing, the beat of a
drum, and the occasional discharge of a mus-
ket. Had I wished, it would have been im-
possible to restrain the hilarity and noisy
demonstrations of the multitude, and for two
liours they beat the ground with their canes
and clapped their hands and shouted till tlieir
hmgs were hoarse. The louder the noise, tlie
happier they seemed to be. I saw nothing,
however, reprehensible in their conversation
and conduct.
Singing matches are common at Zulu Chris-
tian weddings. The chief object seems to be
208 Forty Years Among the Zulus,
to ascertain which party will sing the longest,
and they often continue till midnight.
Funeral ceremonies among the Zulus are few.
On the death of an aged person there is no
demonstration of grief. They say he or she
has "gone home." But the reverse is the
case if the deceased is a young man or a
man in the prime of life. Then the people in
the vicinity repair to the house of mourning,
and for days and nights naught is heard but
the doleful wail carrying sadness to many
hearts. Often at midnight we have been
roused from slumber by loud cries and wailing
nearly a mile from our dwelling. One reason
why all the heathen neighbors are in the habit
of visiting the bereaved kraal to condole with
its inmates is a fear of being suspected, and
even charged with having in some way caused
the calamity in case they do not attend. The
dead are generally buried in a sitting posture,
and into the grave are thrown blankets, mats,
spoons, the ornaments worn and tools used by
the individual when alive. When the grave is
nearly covered, a large number of stones is
thrown in, and then a mound two or three feet
high is made. Zulus, as a general rule, have
very little regard for the sepulchers of their
countrymen, except those of kings. It has
been the custom in Zululand, and probably is
now, in some parts of South Africa not reached
by civilization and Christianity, when a king
dies, to bury with him some of his servants,
cupbearers, milkmen, etc., that the saying may
Zulu Weddings and Funerals. 209
be fulfilled, " The king must not go to the
place of the dead alone." The unfortunate
individuals selected were generally strangled,
and their bodies placed at the bottom of the
grave, the royal corpse being laid upon them.
It is reported that some have entered the grave
alive, and died with perfect submission. One
would think that those suspecting their prob-
able fate would try to escape, but I have been
told that this is not the case. A kind of fatal-
ism takes possession of them, which is charac-
teristic of the Zulus. They say, " It was pre-
destinated we should die in this manner," or
they may imagine they will be happier in the
other world if they accompany their sovereign.
The English have put a stop to the cruel cus-
tom, and, in one case, Christian teaching also
had a similar effect. Rev. J. Allsopp, a mis-
sionary of my acquaintance, visited the son
of a chief who had died, and ten or twelve
individuals would have been slain, had it not
been for the missionary's intercession. His
account of it is as follows : —
" The young chief said, ' My father is dead.
Who will guide and tell me what I shall do ? '
We stood for a little, when, in grief he asked,
'Will you go and see my father?' I said,
'• Yes.' I was taken to the hut, in which the
chief was sitting, not lying, dead, with his
blanket thrown over him. I removed the
covering, looked upon his face, and left the hut.
I went back and found the young chief still
standing. He put out his hand again, and I
210 Forty Years Among the Zulus,
took it as before. Then I said : ' Now is the
day of your power, What will you do ? Shall
the Dews go from this place to-day to all
throughout South Africa and across the sea, to
those Christians who send you your mission-
aries, and to the Queen of England, that you
have used your power to-day in taking life and
shedding blood ? Shall it be said that you
have stained your hands, and that they are red
with the blood of your subjects? Or shall the
word go forth that you are a man of mercy ;
that you have heard the gospel ; that you
know something of what you ought to do?
Give me your word.' He looked me steadily
in the face, and said, ' Umfundisi (Missionary),
not a man shall die.' I took him again by the
hand, and said, ' Farewell. I believe 3^ou. The
chief has spoken : not a man shall die.'
" I returned home, and learned only a few
hours afterward that, in the assembly of two
or three hundred who were already grouped
behind the cattle kraal, some nine or ten were
pointed out to be slain in" a few minutes, but
they were not slain. The chief sent for the
men, and said, " You know that the old council-
ors and the witch doctors would have you die ;
but I say. Go and live upon such a hill ; there
you will be safe, and nobody shall harm you."
And so it was. The gospel has its effect ; and
when it teaches men to value life as they never
valued it before, and when it teaches the hea-
then to value their wives and children as they
never valued them before, it is doing something.
Zulu Weddings and Funerals. 211
These are some of the effects which are mani-
fest to our eyes who are laboring amongst the
heathen. Who will not rejoice in such saving
power ?
On closing the grave of a king an immense
heap of stones is placed upon it, and the na-
tional dirge, used only at royal funerals, is
chanted, while at the same time all the men
present strike their shields with knob-kerries
most vehemently. The grave is closely watched
for weeks, sometimes months, to prevent wiz-
ards from stealing the body, which is supposed
to work charms and even miracles.
In the case of the decease of a common per-
son the most shameful haste is sometimes exer-
cised in the burial. A woman of my acquaint-
ance was taken to the place of interment late
one night, and was so lightly covered that, to
the astonishment of her son, who went early
the next morning to complete the burial, she
said to him as she sat up in the grave, " How
do you do, my child?"
When aid is rendered to strangers in perform-
ing the last rites, pay is alwa^^s demanded. A
cow and a calf, with a goat for the "washing
of the hands," has l^een tlie standard fee from
time immemorial. Before the light of the gos-
pel began to shine among them it was common
to drag old people who appeared to be near
their end to some secluded place, and there let
them die alone, their corpses becoming tlie prey
of wild beasts and vultures. The dead bodies
of criminals shared the same fate.
CHAPTER XXIV.
ZULU KINGS AND WARS.
CHAKA, the most renowned of Zulu kings,
not improperly called the " Bonaparte of
South Africa," began to reign about the begin-
ning of this century. His name awakens deep
emotions in the native mind. As it is little
more than fifty years since his death, there are
natives living who knew him personally, and
they are never tired of rehearsing his mighty
deeds. I have often heard them repeat with
genuine delight a song which his warriors were
accustomed to sing to his praise : —
Thou hast finished the natious.
Where Avilt thou go to battle now?
Hey ! where wilt thou go to battle now ?
Unlike other South African chiefs, he was in
the habit of fighting in person at the head of
his braves, and it is said he never fled before a
foe or lost a battle. His name is regarded by the
Zulus as sacred, and is never mentioned except
to give solemnity to an oath or to nerA^e the
warrior for battle. At the time of his death he
had a standing arm}" of thirty-six regiments.
"In working out the scheme of his ambition he
introduced some remarkable reforms into the art
of barbarian warfare. Each regiment was dis-
tinguished from others by the color and pattern
212
Ztdu Kings and Wars. 213
of their shields. His men were traight to wield
the short assegai and shield in close personal
combat, instead of putting their trust, as of old,
in the long javelin hurled from afar; and the
warrior who returned from the fight without
assegai and shield in his hand, or who bore the
mark of a wound on his back, did so to the for-
feit of his life. His warriors were forbidden to
marry, as domestic ties were thought to soften
and enervate. But after a certain period of
service old regiments were superannuated as
veterans and furnished with wives, and new
levies raised to take their places in the ranks." ^
During the reign of Chaka, which lasted only
nineteen years, he extended' his conquests far
and wide, and swept away no less than three
hundred tribes, slaying all who would not sub-
mit to his authority.
His nature was cruel. He stabbed his own
mother to the heart, and then called on the
nation to mourn her death. At an assembly
of his leading men he was once speaking
of a tribe he was about to attack, and he laid
a wager that their dead bodies would fill a
certain ravine. The tribe was slain ; but the
king's wager was lost, for the ravine was not
filled.
When in the zenith of his power, he allowed
a few Englishmen to settle at Port Natal, com-
missioning two of their number to go to Eng-
land with the following message to George IV :
'' If you will look after your interests in Eng-
1 See Dr. Robert Mann's book on •' Colony of Natal."
214 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
land, I will look after mine in Africa, and will
take care that no enemies are left. We will
be the sovereigns of the world."
Captain Allen Gardiner, a philanthropic gen-
tleman, who went to South Africa during
Chaka's reign, received the king's permission
to live at the Port, on condition that he would
send back to Zululand all refugees from that
country. The captain agreed, and soon a party
of men were sent bound to Chaka wdth the
request that he would spare their lives. They
were shut up in a hut and left to die of star-
vation. It is a curious coincidence that the
good, but indiscreet captain was starved to
death in Terra del Fuego, where he had gone
to evangelize the Patagonians.
The soldiers who fought under Chaka were
the fathers and grandfathers of those who
resisted so valiantly an army of British troops,
sweeping away an entire regiment on that sad
morning of January 22, 1879, at Isandhlwana.
English officers, who had witnessed battles in
other lands, often remarked that they never saw
courage displayed equal to that of the Zulus.
Like most African chiefs, Chaka fell at the
liands of assassins. Three of his own brothers
rushed into his kraal one day, and seeing him
unprotected stabbed him with assegais, and
are said to have drunk on the spot the gall of
the chief they had conspired to assassinate.
Chaka, as he was about to expire, is reported
to have uttered these prophetic words, " You
kill me ; but the white race, a race you do not
Zulu Kings and Wars. 215
know, shall occupy tliis land." His prophecy is
fullSlled. Not a stone's throw from his grave,
where were once heard the songs of blood-
thirsty barbarians, stands a church in which
English Christians worship.
On the death of Chaka, Dingaan, his brother
and one of the conspirators, ascended the
throne. He was more wily and cruel, even more
like Nero, than his predecessor. Captain Gar-
diner, who visited him in 1835, saw him amus-
ing himself by torturing one of his men-
servants. Commanding him to hold out his arm,
he seized his hand, and with his burning glass,
the gift of a white man, he burnt a hole into
his skin. The poor servant writhed with pain,
but dared not utter a word lest something
worse should befall him. One of his titles —
a fit one — was " Hyena-man." It is said he
would never acknowledge that he had any chil-
dren. An infant was once brought to him with
the hope that its life might be spared. Captain
Gardiner remarked : " He instantly seized his
own child by the heels and with one blow de-
prived it of that life whicli, with such a father,
it could have been no privilege to enjoy. This
horrid deed was only surpassed by the imme-
diate murder of the agonized mother, whose
eyes closed with tlie vivid impression of the
scene she had beheld."
The Dutch farmers in South Africa will
never cease to execrate the name of that
tyrant, when they recall his treatment of their
fathers. In 1830, seventy strong, athletic
216 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
Boers, well armed and mounted, visited Din-
gaan, for the purpose of making a treaty with
him, and obtaining a part of his country.
Some of them, to obtain his favor, had pre-
viously, at his request, attacked a distant na-
tive tribe, obnoxious to him, stripped them of
their cattle and presented them to him. The
party was received with apparent cordiality,
their request complied witli, and a large slice
of Zululand ceded to them. Elated with suc-
cess, they were about to return to their fami-
lies in Natal, when a polite invitation came to
them from his sable majesty to tarry a little,
take a friendly drink of beer, and witness a
war dance, which he was arranging for their
amusement. This request was coupled with
another, that they should leave their guns and
ammunition outside of his kraal, that the people
might not be afraid. Alas ! the unsuspecting
Boers had not calculated on the treachery of
their host. They repaired to the place desig-
nated, and, while gazing on the weird scene of
thonsands of savages engaged in the dance,
Dingaan suddenly arose, waved his hand, and
said, "Kill the wizards." The order was
executed, and in less than fifteen minutes every
farmer was beaten to death with knob-kerries
and canes. I have conversed with natives who
took part in that massacre, and they said the
Boers fought desperately with their hunting-
knives, the only weapons they had, and quite
as many Zulus perished as Dutch. The corpses
of the latter were dragged out to a Zulu gol-
Zulu Kings and Wars. 217
gotha, where they became a prey for wild
beasts and birds.
Without naiTating in detail what followed,
suffice it to say, the friends of the murdered
Boers wreaked fearful vengeance on Dingaan ;
defeated his army and, at last, placed Umpande,
his brother, on the Zulu throne. Dingaan, when
in the zenith of his power, had desired to slay
Umpande, thinking that he might become a
rival, but, through the intervention of a friend,
spared him, remarking, however, " You wish
me to spare a dog which will one day bite
me." Driven out of Zululand by the Dutch,
Dingaan sought protection among the Ama-
swazi people, to whom he had shown no com-
passion, and it is not strange that they quickly
terminated his existence. Thus there was ful-
filled a Zulu proverb, " The swimmer in the
end gets carried away with the stream."
Umpande was not inclined to war, and for
thirty years kept on good terms with both
Dutch and English. That there were times
when his young braves desired to invade Natal,
enrich themselves with cattle, and sweep away
the few white people residing there, and that
they could easily have done it, is evident. But
Umpande, supported by his old men, always
refused to gratify them. Once, when they
manifested considerable anger because not
allowed to attack the English, an old councilor,
Ulukwasi, by name, made the following elo-
quent speech : —
" I am old and am almost inclined to feel
218 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
that Id speaking to you young warriors on the
present subject, I demean myself, for you are
but children in many ways. I fought under
Chaka with my single assegai, and let my com-
panions in arms say whether my assegai ever
came back bright as I took it from home, or if
I ever turned from the foe. I have stood under
Dingaan's rule, with bullets from the guns of
the Dutch passing around me like bees, and the
wounds I show bear witness for me. You speak
of battles to come : I deal with those already
fought, into which we went a host and returned
few in numbers. You ask to be led against the
English? Why? Are they enemies? You can-
not fight with friends, so they must be enemies.
I will tell you in what their hostility consists.
You were cold, and they gave you blankets.
You wanted ornaments, and they brought you
beads and other things, for which, in fair trade,
you gave your cattle. Did they steal those cat-
tle, that you want to plunder them ? Tell me
of one instance in which an Englishman has
stolen a Zulu beast, and T will join you in 3'our
raid ; but, if you cannot, then tell me when you
start, and I, together with my family, will cross
over to the English." ^
This speech is said to have saved Natal, but
it cost the speaker his life. It was not long
before he died, probably from poison.
The successor of Umpande was Cetywayo,
one of his youngest sons. The old king desired
that Umbulazi, his oldest son, should have the
1 " Zululand and the Zulus," by Fred B. Finney.
Zulu Kings and Wars. 219
supremacy, and did not hesitate to express his
wish to the nation ; but Cetywayo, a canning
fellow and burning with ambition, succeeded in
winning over to his side the majority of the
people. The father saw no other way than to
allow the sons to settle the question of sov-
ereignty by force of arms. Evidently Umbu-
lazi had some misgivings in regard to the issue
of the contest, for he selected a place for the
engagement only five miles from the Tugela
River, which divides Zululand from Natal,
hoping, in case of defeat, his adherents might
escape into that colony.
The fight was one of the most sanguinary
that ever occurred among the Zulus. Umbulazi
was defeated, and is supposed to have been
slain, as he was never afterwards seen. Multi-
tudes ran to the river with the intention of
crossing, but were speared on the way, mothers
with babes on their backs as well as the men.
Many were drowned, as the river was swollen
at the time. Cetywayo was "master of the
situation," and the whole Zulu nation ac-
knowledged him as supreme chief.
Although the Zulus are a nation of warriors,
and unsurpassed for courage in battle, yet when
not on the " warpath," they are as orderly and
peaceful a tribe as can anywhere be found.
For the past fift}^ years those residing in Natal
have been loyal subjects, only one case of re-
bellion having occurred and that very quickly
ended.
In the government of the natives. Natal has
220 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
been exceedingly fortunate in having, for thirty
years or more, Sir Theophilus Shepstone as sec-
retary for native affairs, a gentleman whom all,
black and white, could love and trust. That
peace has been preserved for so long a time is
owing largely to his able and wise management.
His father was a missionary in Kaffraria.
When young, he attached himself to the staff
of Benjamin D' Urban, an English officer, and
was engaged in the Kaffir war of 1835. Ten
years later he came to Natal and began that
career of usefulness, the noble record of which
will fill a prominent place in colonial history.
He has always been ready to aid Christian mis-
sionaries by counsel and otherwise. The Natal
Zulus felt that in " Somseu," as they called
their white king, they had a kind and judicious
" father."
" Could the Zulu war of 1878-79 have been
avoided ? " is a question often asked, to which
various replies have been given. My own opin-
ion at the time was, and it has not changed,
that Natal was in imminent danger, and that if
the English had not taken measures to curb the
war passion in Zululand a raid would have
taken place, the results of which would have
been fearful in the extreme.
Cety wayo, though he may have been disposed,
personally, to live in peace with his white neigh-
bors, could not control his young braves. They
were determined, as they said, " to go somewhere
and wash their spears in blood." Moreover
tliey had come into possession of firearms, and
Zulu Kings and Wars, 221
were anxious to try them. Not permitted to
attack native tribes on their border, they began
to think and proudly talk of invading Natal.
Travelers, traders, and missionaries saw, from the
impudence displayed, that mischief was brewing.
The Zulus were really under obligations to
the English. Soon after Cetywayo began his
career, he was crowned by them " king of Zulu-
land, and ally to England." Intestine strife
had been averted by the wise intervention of
Sir Theophilus Shepstone, Natal's representa-
tive. At the time of his coronation, Cetywayo
willingly, and it was supposed sincerely, made
certain promises, on the fulfillment of which, he
was told, the safety of himself and country
depended. Those were that he must stop the
indiscriminate shedding of blood ; that no
Zulu should be condemned to death without a
trial, and that for minor offenses loss of prop-
erty should be substituted in place of death.
Everything was carefully exphiined to him.
Would that he had been wise! Soon after,
when called to account for disregarding the
agreement, he said, with an air of defiance, to
the messenger from the Natal government:
" Why do the white people start at nothing ? I
have not yet begun to kill. It is the custom of
our nation, and I shall not depart from it. Have
I not asked the English to allow me to wash my
spears since the death of my father ? and the}^
have kept playing with me all this time, treating
me like a child. Go back and tell tlie Englisli
that I shall act on my own account, and that if
222 Forty Years Among the Zulus,
they wish me to agree to their laws I shall leave
and become a wanderer ; but it will be seen
that I shall not go without having acted.'"
At another time, he sent this message to the
colonial governor: "I shall do as I like. I am
king in my own country. Take care of your
own affairs, and I will take care of mine."
In the ultimatum sent to him by the Natal
authorities, at the advice of Sir Bartle Frere,
previous to the commencement of hostilities, he
was called upon to make suitable reparation for
raids made by his people into the Natal terri-
tory ; also, to disband his army, as well as to
conform to the requirements previously imposed.
He was also told that a British agent must be
allowed to reside in his country ; that every
man when he comes to man's estate should be
free to marry ; that missionaries and their con-
verts, who had left the country through fear,
must be allowed to return and reoccupy their
stations, etc. Setting at naught the advice of old
missionaries, for whom his father had cherished
respect, he listened to the proud boastings of
his youthful warriors, who said, "We are not
afraid of those few insignificant white men ;
we can easily drive them into the sea ! " and
suffered the thirty days' ultimatum to expire.
Thereupon the British troops crossed the border
and proclaimed martial law.
What wiser, better course could have been
pursued? That Natal was in peril no clear-
headed man can deny. The colonists were near
the crater of a volcano liable at any time to an
Zulu Kings and Wars. 223
eruption. Cetywayo could not control his war-
riors. Fearing the result of their rashness, he
remonstrated with them, but they tauntingly
replied, " You are a coward ; you are not the
son of Chaka."
The mayor of the colonial capital, in a let-
ter to the " Aborigines Protection Society," in
England, fairly stated the matter when he said :
" The real point to be met and settled is this :
Is her majesty's authority, as representing
peace and civilization, or Cetywayo's authority,
as representing bloodshed and barbarism, to be
paramount in South Africa? That is the real
question, but instead of calmly discussing it, a
side issue has been raised by the opponents of
Sir Bartle Frere, and that is this : Could he,
with safety to her majesty's dominions, have
waited before sending the ultimatum to Cety-
wayo until he had submitted it for the consider-
ation of her majesty's government at home?
This, I admit, is a question fairly open to
debate. But the question of insisting on the
fulfillment of the ultimatum itself, to the letter,
if the lives and property of her majesty's
subjects and of her allies in South Africa were
to be secured, is not a matter of debate merely,
but a necessity that had to be faced. The side
issue raised is merely important as a question
of official subordination."
Without particularizing, I will add that the
most competent judges in South Africa decided
at the time, and we believe the impartial ver-
dict of history will sustain their decision, that
224 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
the Natal authorities were justified in the
course they adopted, and moreover that Sir
Bartle Frere, " that noble old man, and cer-
tainly the most talented high commissioner
South Africa has ever seen," showed his wis-
dom by bringing the case to issue at once, as
he did by advising the governor of Natal to
send the ultimatum to Cetywayo. That hav-
ing been contemned, war was inevitable.
At the commencement of hostilities one of
the greatest military blunders occurred of which
we have any account in English warfare. Lord
Chelmsford, the general, was especially warned
by those who were well acquainted with the
Zulu modes of warfare, to avoid being taken
by surprise. Said George Cato, American con-
sul in Natal, an old colonist : " My lord, when
you get into Zululand, keep your army to-
gether, and be ready at a moment's warning
to go into laager " ; that is, draw the wagons
into the form of a square and chain them
together, pulling horses, oxen, etc., safely inside.
Mr. J. J. Mys, a Dutchman with a lifelong
experience of Zulu warfare, also said to the
general, a few days before the army crossed the
border : " Be on your guard. I have knowledge
of the deceit and treachery of the Zulu nation.
The Zulus are more dangerous than you think.
I lost my father and my brother through them,
because we held them too cheaply. Trek ^ into
Zululand with two laagers close to each other."
It is said the general smiled, and observed that
he thought it would not be necessary.
1 A common word for '• journey," or " go."
Zulu Kin<jH and Wars. 225
Confident of an easy victory, the British
soldiers, with a hirge body of colonial volun-
teers and native allies, entered the country and
pitched their camp at the foot of a high moun-
tain called Isaiidhlwana. The day following,
instead of sending out scouts in all directions,
and Avaiting till he could be sure that there
were no signs of the enemy, the general, with a
part of his army, went off twelve or fifteen
miles to reconnoiter. Just then there arrived
on the field from twenty to thirty thousand of
Cetywayo's best soldiers to meet the invaders.
Instead of "going into laager," as the Dutch
would have done under like circumstances, the
English hastily began the fight, regardless, it is
said, of orders the general had left, but which un-
fortunately he was not present to see executed.
They soon found that the Zulus were a foe not
to be despised. Rushing upon them with a
fearful yell, fearless of cannon, Gatling gun,
and showers of Ijullets which laid low at least
three thousand of their number, they demolished
the English camp in less than an hour's time.
A regiment of " redcoats " standing in a solid
body fired away all their cartridges and then,
as they tried to defend themselves Avith their
bayonets, were speared, not one escapiwj. The
rest, flying in different directions, were pur-
sued and many of them slain while attempting
to reach the Natal Colony. The general,
returning at dark to the place where he had
left his camp, found all gone, tents, horses, oxen,
mules, beds, provisions, guns, money, all that
226 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
the Zulus thought would be of any use. The
dead soldiers were stripped of their clothing,
and the wounded, according to native custom,
put to death. The feelings of Lord Chelms-
ford, as he stood or sat by the dead bodies of
his soldiers during that long, dark night of
January 22, 1879, can he better imagined than
described. Report said that for six months
not a smile was seen on his countenance.
As the camp was rifled of everything, and a
new commissariat would be needed, a return to
Natal was decided upon the next morning. A
body of Zulus had crossed the Buffalo River
into the colony and attacked a small fort at
" Rorke's Drift," where a mere handful of
Englishmen defended themselves against the
enemy, although some Zulus came near enough
to catch hold of the rifles, between the biscuit-
boxes and bags of grain, with which the forti-
fication was made. Returning to their own
country they passed within gunshot of Lord
Chelmsford's troops, who never offered to harm
them, and were only too glad to find them-
selves in a place of safety.
The terror that seized the people in Natal,
after the massacre at Isandhlwana, was so
great that many of them sought protection in
the towns or fortified places. The belief was
general that the Zulus, elated witli their suc-
cess, would overrun the colony. England be-
came alarmed, and sent out a large number of
troops and the subjugation of Zululand was
prosecuted in a more cautious manner.
Zulu Kings and Wars, 227
As a result of the Zulu war, Cetywayo was
taken prisoner, sent to Cape Town, his country
divided, and over each division was placed a
petty chief. The king, after a visit to England
and an audience with her majesty the Queen,
was permitted to return and resume authority
over a portion of his former people. But soon
a contention arose between rival chiefs. One
of them, Usibepu, visited Cetywayo, after his
return, and was apparently disposed to live in
peace, but was snubbed by the son of Umpan-
de, in a manner not likely to be forgotten.
The " Usutu," as Cetywayo's party were called,
said to him, " You are only a dog," and soon
began to make raids into his territory. This
roused the ire of Usibepu, who resolved to
crush his insolent rival, though he should die
in the attempt. With nearly a thousand picked
warriors and aided by some European filibus-
ters, who joined him in hopes of reward, he
marched all one night and came suddenly at
daybreak on Ondine, Cetywayo's kraal, put-
ting all its inhabitants to an ignominious flight.
It was not a battle, but a slaughter of fugitives.
Abraham, a Christian native, member of the
Umsunduzi church, who was visiting Ondine
at that time, took the chief's rifle, and defended
himself and the king as long as the cartridges
lasted, and he was then shot himself. Cety-
wayo, after receiving a spear wound, escaped
into the Inkanhla forest, from which he was
rescued shortly after by a party of English
troops. He soon died, probably a natural
228 Forty Years Among the Zulus,
death, though his own people say from poison
administered by his enemies.
His son Undinizulu, a lad of twenty years,
swore that he would avenge his father's death,
and in direct opposition to the English author-
ities, now in possession of Zululand, renewed
the quarrel between the Usutu, his own party,
and that of Usibepu. The result was that he
was made a prisoner, tried before an English
judge, and sentenced to banishment at St.
Helena for ten years. There, the unfortunate
prince, like the great Napoleon, will have
opportunity to reflect on that turn of the
wheel of fortune which deprived him of his
chieftainship and terminated the Zulu dynasty.
A "Zulu Defense Committee" has been
formed in England,^ chiefly through the elo-
quent and importunate pleading of Miss Harri-
ette E. Colenso, daughter of the late bishop of
that name. She, it is said, has " expended more
than <£3,000" in defending the exiled chiefs,
but, as yet, little has been accomplished
except bringing the matter before the English
public. The repatriation of the Zulu chiefs, it
is thought by the imperial authorities, would
disturb the present peaceful state of Zululand.
If the exiles behave well, and the political
condition of their country admits of their
return with safety, T have no doubt it will be
effected at an early date.
1 See Appendix.
CHAPTER XXV.
ZULU FOLKLORE.
ZULU native lore is quite limited, all we
have being taken from the lips of the
people. They had an abundance of legends^
many of which, together with their religious
beliefs, have been collected and published in
two volumes by Rev. Henry Callaway, M.D., a
missionary bishop of the Church of England. ^
In this department he labored with unwearied
zeal and perseverance, and we are indebted to
him for having saved much which might other-
wise have been lost.
Dr. Callaway said the belief was irresistibly
fixed in his mind that the Zulu tales point out
very clearly that the Zulus are a degenerated
people ; that they are not now in the condition,
intellectually or physically, in which they were
during the " legend-producing period " of their
existence, but have sunk from a higher state.
Like the discovered relics of giant buildings in
Asia and America, they appear to speak of a
mightier and better past which, it may be, is
lost forever. " What we have preserved," he
says, "contains evidence of intellectual powers
not to be despised, while we have, scattered
everywhere throughout the tales, those evi-
dences of tender feelings, gentleness, and love,
1 Callaway's Nursery Tales.
229
230 Forty Years Among the Zulus,
which should teach us that in dealing with
savages we are dealing with savage men^ who
only need culture to have developed in them
the finest traits of our human nature."
Elizabeth Cookson, in her "Introduction to
the Legends of Manx Land," has truthfully
observed : " Popular tales, songs, and super-
stitions are not altogether profitless ; like the
fingers of a clock, they point to the time of
day. Turns and modes of thought, that else
had set in darkness, are by them preserved and
reflected, even as objects sunk below the hori-
zon are occasion ali}^ brought again into view by
atmospheric reflection. Fables are facts in so
far as they mirror the minds of our less scien-
tific ancestors."
In citing a few specimens of Zulu light
literature, I begin with a faMe, the moral of
which is: "If you want anything done well, do
it yourself."
Long ago a certain king sent for all the
animals to go to a certain place and receive
their tails. On the day the tails were to be
distributed, the coney, not being disposed to
take the journey in consequence of a little
rain, said to the monkey, " When you get your
tail, will you ask for mine also, and bring it to
me ? " The monkey agreed, but on his way
home managed to join the coney's tail to his
own, saying, "If he is too lazy to go for what
he needs, he must go without. I shall not
encourage his idleness." So the monkey has a
long tail, but the coney scarcely any.
Zulu Folklore. 231
When Zulus ask others to do for them what
they ought to do for themselves, they often
humorously reply, '' Have you forgotten the
coney that lost its tail?"
Other races have fables accounting for the
tailless condition of animals, such as that of
the bear, in the Norse tales, fishing, at the
instigation of the fox, with his tail through
a hole in the ice till it was frozen, and losing it
when he attempted to escape ; but the fable of
the coney has much more significance.
Another fable is that of The Hyena and the
Moon, which is not unlike iEsop's fable of The
Dog and the Shadow.
It happened on a time that a h3^ena found a
bone and, taking it up, carried it in his mouth.
The moon began to shine with a beautiful
light on a river near by, and when the hyena
saw the moon in the water he threw down the
bone and plunged into the water to catch it,
thinking it to be beef. But he caught nothing.
Another h3'ena came and took the bone. The
first hyena v/as much ridiculed for his fruitless
plunge into the water and the loss of his bone.
So the Zulus often laugh at each other when
unsuccessful in their vain enterprises, saying,
" You are like the hyena that threw away the
bone and caught nothing."
Jack the Giant Killer, or rather a compound
of that hero and Tom Thumb, is found in
Zulu tales in tlie person of Uthlakanyana, who
speaks before he is born, cheats every one, even
his own mother, and shows himself "the best
232 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
man in the village " when he is only a babe.
Says his father, " He 's best man who first gets
hold of this leg of beef that I throw into the
kraal." So all the rest crowded to the entrance,
and pushed so that none could get it. But
Uthlakanyana crept in underneath at the far
end, and got the beef without any trouble.
Later on he is captured by cannibals, and he
treats them just as trolls and giants are served
in Norse and Celtic tales. They go out one
day while he is fattening, leaving no one with
him but the old mother. " Just untie me,"
says he, "and let us play at boiling one
another." She agrees. " Begin with me ; but
mind you take me out soon, for it 's only play."
The water is only lukewarm, and the canni-
bal's mother keeps her word, so he gets out
unhurt, and builds up a roaring fire, telling the
silly woman it will be all the more fun if the
water 's dancing about. So he pops her in
and holds down the lid. "Let me out!" she
screams. " It 's burning me dreadfully ; it 's
only fun, you know." " No ; you can't be
done, or j^ou would not be able to make that
noise ; " so he boils her till she says no more.
Then he puts on her clothes, and lies down in
the old woman's corner. When the children
come in they begin to eat. " This looks just
like mother's hand," says one. " No," says
another; "how can that be? There's mother
on the bed." But Uthlakanyana thinks it best
to be off ; so, disguising his voice, he bids them
leave the doorway clear and hobbles out. Just
Zulu Folklore. 233
as he rushes off they fish up their mother's
head, and start in pursuit. He is brought up
by a wide river ; so he turns himself into a
weeding-stick. The cannibals trace his foot-
steps to the brink. " Yes," says one, " he
must have got across just here," flinging over
the stick to emphasize his words. Safe on the
other bank, Uthlakanyana resumes his shape,
and thanks them for putting him across. " We
thought you were a weeding-stick," replied the
discomfited cannibals. But Uthlakanyana is
now very hungry : so, meeting a hare, he says,
*"' Stop, master, I 've got such a pretty story to
tell you." " I 'm sure I don't want to hear it,"
says puss. " Ah, but if you were to hear the
beginning of it, you 'd not be able to help
listening." "Yes, I should, though," persists
the hare. " Do you know it 's all about those
horrid cannibals ; they had me cooped up, but
1 managed to boil their — " And as the hare,
in spite of himself, is stopping to listen, our
hero gets hold of him, eats him, and makes a
flute of one of his leg-bones.
The Zulus have another legend of Uthla-
kanyana. He lived with a cannibal, with whom
he had a quarrel, and resolving to make away
with him, he hit on the following exi)edient.
He said one day: " Uncle, let us Iniild a house;
then we shall live comfortably and eat our
cattle." The cannibal replied, " You are right,
child of my sister: let us build a house, for we
shall get wet." When the time came to thatch
the hut, Uthlakanyana said to the cannibal,
234 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
" You go on the top, and I will go inside and
pull the thatching needle for you." The canni-
bal did so. His hair being very long, Uthla-
kanyana contrives to knot it into the thatch,
fastening it so that the poor cannibal could not
extricate himself, and there he died, leaving
Uthlakanyana to eat in peace.
The Zulus have their riddles, of which the
following are specimens : ^
1. " Guess a man who does not lie down ; even
when it is morning, he is standing, not having
lain down."
Anstver. "A pillar, for it does not lie down.
If the pillar lies down, the house niciy fall. Do
you not see that the pillar is a man, since it
upholds so great a house as this ? But it does
not fall.''
2. " Guess ye a man who does not move,
although the wind blows furiously; he just
stands erect. The wind throws down trees and
houses, and much injury is done, but he is just
as if the sky were perfectly calm, and does not
move in the least."
Answer. ''The ear. Who ever saw the ear
of a man move, or being moved by tlie wind?
We see trees and grass and houses move, but
not the ear. The man truly moves ; if he is
carried away by the wind, the ear is not car-
ried away, or, if he falls, it still stands erect, or,
if he runs away, it remains the same."
3. " Guess ye some men who are walking,
being ten in number. If there is one over the
1 Callaway's Nursery Tales.
Zulu Folklore. 235
ten, these ten men do not go. They say, 'We
cannot go, for here is a prodigy.' These men
wonder exceedingly; they are slow in settling
the dispute, saying, ' How is it that our number
is over ten ? ' They have no love for the one
over the ten."
Answer. ''The fingers. Their proper number
is only ten. They are matched, going in pairs.
Therefore if there is a supernumerary finger,
they are no longer fit to go together in pairs
or to count with ; their counting is bad; there
is no agreement, but only difference. This is
what we mean when we say they are slow in
settling the dispute ; that is, if it could be done
without pain — the supernumerary finger could
be taken off with a word, and thus truly it would
be said, ' Away with you ! You are not fit for
this place.' "
The preceding, chiefly taken from Dr. Calla-
way's " Nursery Tales, Traditions, and Histories
of the Zulus," are sufficient, I trust, to show
that the people have a traditional lore which
throws light on their history and character.
CHAPTER XXVI.
DECEASED MISSIONARIES OF THE
A. B. C. F. M.
IN the first part of this volume sketches
were given of three of that heroic band of
missionaries, twelve in number, who left this
country for South Africa, December 3, 1834.
At Cape Town, Messrs. Venable, Lindley, and
Dr. Wilson, with their wives, separated from
the others and undertook the j)erilous enter-
prise of establishing a mission among the
Matabele Zulus, who lived far inland. War
between the Dutch and natives soon put an
end to their work, and, after burying one of
their number, Mrs. Wilson, they joined the
mission in ZuluLand. The prospects being
dark. Dr. Wilson and Mr. Venable and wife
returned home. Rev. George Champion, a
colaborer of Mr. Grout and Dr. Adams, held
on till his wife's health obliged him to leave.
He was expecting to return, but the Lord
determined otherwise. At the early age of
thirty-one he died at Santa Cruz, one of the
Danish West India Islands, December 17, 1841.
All who knew him recall his sweet disposi-
tion, scholarly ability, and liberality. Having
inherited property, he went to Africa and
labored there at his own expense, showing
236
Deceased Missionaries. 237
throughout an earnest missionary spirit. The
savor of his self-denial and consecration has not
been lost.
There comes fresh before m}^ memory the
form of a dear brother, who was the first
American missionary to be buried in South
African soil, the Rev. James Bryant. He
joined the mission in 1846, but died of pul-
monary consumption in 1850. One well
observed in regard to him, " He was a man
whose life in Africa, though short, emphatic-
ally answered life's great end." He possessed
in an uncommon degree those qualities that
make a faultless missionary. Mr. Bryant's
early history is peculiar. His parents, too poor
to support all the members of their large
family, committed James to the care of a
pious colored man named Cato, who resided
in Goffstown, N. H. Cato and his wife took
the lonely lad to their humble dwelling, and
to their hearts. Mrs. Cato, in giving her
reminiscences of young Bryant, said, '' Oh,
he was like a minister. If any of the boys
used bad language in his presence, or con-
ducted improperly, he Avas sure to reprove
them." After his conversion he was assisted
by some friends to prepare for college. Grad-
uating from Amherst, '^ a good scholar and ripe
Christian," he went to Andover Theological
Seminary. For a time he was settled in
Littleton, Mass. ; but when the call for
men to go to Africa reached him he at once
responded. Probably his love for the black
238 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
race, and a desire to pay the debt of gratitude
he owed, led him to choose the African field.
He quickly mastered the language ; translated
parts of the Bible, and composed some beauti-
ful hymns. All his works, even to his neat
and clear chirography, had a finished look.
His brief period of service yielded richer
results than are given to many, for before his
death he had the joy of seeing a church
gathered through his instrumentality. His
mind was clear to the last. Mr. Lindley, at
whose house he expired, expressed the feelings
of his brethren and sisters when he said : " We
loved him exceedingly, and had it been possi-
ble for others to bear the pain of his sickness,
we should all have wished to endure a part.
At our next meeting when he shall be spoken
of, we shall weep together, as good brothers of
the same family weep together for the loss of
the best brother they had. And why not?
He never spoke to us or thought of us other-
wise than in love."
In Rev. Samuel Marsh we all felt that we
had a genial, loving, and helpful friend.
Located at Itafamasi, he labored for six years,
and not without encouragement. Tlien he
was stricken with disease. Though his suffer-
ings were intense, he never lost his faith in
God or uttered a word of complaint. After a
paroxysm of pain, he once asked : " Why do I
linger here ? " And when told it seemed to be
God's will that he should glorify him by suffer-
ing, he remarked, " Oh, yes, it is all right.
Deceased Missionaries. 239
Heavenly Father, thy will be done." Allusion
having been made to his wife and child, he
said, " I have no concern for them ; the Lord
can take better care of them than I can."
Once, I remember, he clasped his hands and
prayed most earnestly that God would make
him grateful for the kind friends who were
caring for him in his sickness and that he
might be patient and submissive under all his
sufferings. He delighted to have me read him
a book on " Consolation," by Dr. J. W. Alex-
ander. As he approached the dark valley his
faith grew stronger and stronger. Then I
asked him what was his trust, and he imme-
diately responded, ^^ The finished luork of Christ.'"
His end was calm and peaceful. Without a
struggle his soul passed into the arms of his
Saviour. The " Good Pilot," as he called the
Lord Jesus just before his departure, conducted
him safely into the harbor.
His remains lie at the station he founded, and
on the hill where he loved to call together the
heathen and tell the stor}^ of redeeming love.
Mr, Lindley, who saw more of him than most
of his brethren, observed : " During all the
time he was in health, and in sickness, he
never said, or did, or left undone a single thing
which tended even in the least degree to
weaken the conviction deep in the minds of all
who knew him that he was eminently a man of
God. In his family he ever appeared as a beau-
tiful model of a husband and father. ... He
was true and faithful and loving and generous
240 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
in all the relations and duties of life. It was
with an emphasis that we called him 'brother,'
so much was he loved by us all."
One whose influence will long be felt among
the Zulus was Rev. Silas McKinny, who went
to Natal in 1847. Readily mastering the lan-
guage, he saw much good accomplished at his
station, Amahlongwa, but liealth failed and he
came lionie. He preached in various places in
this country with acceptance, and died at Au-
burn, N. Y., April 21, 1888. It was well said of
him, " He was a tender, loving parent, a faith-
ful Christian, and a devoted and self-forgetful
minister of the gospel."
Two years before he left Natal, his wife,
Fanny Nelson McKinny, " slept in Jesus," and
was buried in the little cemetery at Adams.
Although of a timid, shrinking disposition, her
calm, good judgment and earnest faithfulness
as a Christian wife and mother endeared her
to all who knew her. It may be said of her,
" She hath done what she could."
Another beloved missionary. Rev. William
Ireland, born in England, but educated in this
country, died in Boston, Mass., October 12, 1888,
after forty years of service.
Leaving his wife in Africa, he came home to
rest, visit his children, and then resume his
labors. But the Lord said, " Come up higher."
He spent the first thirteen years of his useful
mission life at Ifumi. He was then requested
to take charge of the training institution at
Adams, a work for w^hich he had exceptional
Deceased Missionaries. 241
qualifications. Through his instrumentality
that school gradually rose to great importance.
Mr. Ireland was for many years treasurer of the
Zulu Mission, and was so correct and so good a
penman that his books will compare favorably
with those of the best mercantile establishments.
He was methodical, conscientious, kind, and
sympathetic, an affectionate husband and father,
gentlemanly in his manners, a safe counselor,
and, above all, spiritually minded and earnestly
devoted to mission work. He was married
twice : first, to Jane Wilson, of New Ipswich,
Mass., who died at Ifumi, January 25, 1862.
His second wife was Oriana Grout, daughter of
Rev. Aldin Grout, the missionary. She still re-
mains in the field.
The reader will remember that when Mr.
Wilder and myself, with our wives, sailed for
Natal, we were accompanied by Rev. and Mrs.
Andrew Abraham. They were located in a
distant part of Natal among wild heathen, and
there they remained till death. Mr. Abraham
was not unworthy of the name, " Father of the
faithful." His faith never wavered, though he
toiled long without seeing results. When a
brighter day dawned, and he beheld the hea-
then emerging from barbarism, and building
houses in European style, his faith rose wonder-
fully. He said to me one day, as we were
riding over the mission reserve, " Brother Tyler,
I expect to see most of these hills covered with
the abodes of Christian natives." He was per-
mitted to see a goodly number of them thus
242 Forty Years Among the Zulus,
covered. Nothing seemed to discourage him.
One day he was cementing a cistern, and came
out just in time to see his house enveloped in
flames. Ten minutes later, his chapel also
was consumed. Although minus hat, boots,
and coat, he did not despair, but began immedi-
ately to build anew, nor did he stop till he had
a more substantial dwelling. His death in the
night of September 13, 1878, was very sudden,
and probably due to heart disease, as he ap-
peared in usual health the day previous. He
was considered our best translator, and to
him the mission had committed the work of
preparing the Old Testament for the press.
The grief of not only his associates, but of all
the natives who knew him, was profound when
told of his death. A chief remarked, "Our
teacher was a good man and did good to all."
Mrs. Abraham lived but a short time after
her husband's decease. The shock she received
may have hastened her own departure. That
she was his true helper in mission work the
native women at Mapumulo as well as all who
knew her can testify.
A more genial and humorous companion, a
missionary with a more practical turn of mind
than Rev. H. A. Wilder is rarely found in a
foreign field; as one said of him, he had a
"many-sided capacity." He was so absorbed
in plans to advance the natives in civilization,
as well as Christianity, he probably overworked
himself. In taking a long journey to select a
site for a nev/ station, he had a severe attack
Deceased Missionaries, 243
of illness, from which he never fully recovered.
He died in Hartford, Conn., September 7, 1877.
His son, Rev. George Wilder, occupies the sta-
tion made vacant by the death of his father.
Mrs. Wilder is now in this country.
Rev. Seth B. Stone began his work at the
Ifafa station in 1850. Faithful as a preacher,
busily employed in translating parts of the
Bible, composing hymns, teaching and dis-
charging other missionary duties, he continued
in the field till the ill health of his wife neces-
sitated his return to America. His heart was
in Africa, and to the last his prayers were for
the good of the Zulus. His death occurred in
New York City, January 27, 1877. His widow
is still living.
Joining the mission in 1862, Rev. Charles H.
Lloyd entered on his work with a spirit of
earnest consecration. Battling with disease, he
was ever patient and showed true Christian
submission. He lived only two years, dying
at the Umvoti Mission station, in 1865. Mr.
Grout wrote of him : " When the shortness of
his missionary life was referred to, he said, '• Yes,
I would have had it otherwise : but I have not
a doubt tliat God called me here, and I am
glad I came. If God cuts my life thus short,
I can only say, Thy will be done.' " At his
request, he was buried near a large tree in
front of the native church, that the people
might be reminded of one who had it in his
heart to preach to them tlie gospel.
Mr. Lloyd was an accomplished gentleman.
244 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
a fine musician, with a large share of practical
common sense, was quick to read character and
anxious to know the best methods of doing-
good. Had he lived, he would doubtless have
proved an efficient and successful missionary.
His death-bed testimony of the power of reli-
gion to sustain and comfort the soul will never
be forgotten by the natives on the Umvoti
station.
Mrs. Catharine C. Lloyd, daughter of the
distinguished physician. Dr. Willard Parker, of
New York City, remained in Natal after the
death of her husband, working with enthusiasm
and success, until 1870. She then married Dr.
Newton Lindley, son of the missionary. Rev.
Daniel Lindley, and returned soon after to this
country. She died in New York, July 23,
1879.
We cannot speak too highly of this self-
denying and laborious missionary. Thoroughly
educated, in possession of all that wealth could
furnish, she left her refined home and labored
earnestly and untiringly for the degraded
Zulus. Great was her joy when she was per-
mitted to see a large number of them emanci-
pated from ignorance and superstition through
her efforts. While in the field, she wrote let-
ters home which awakened deep interest, and
which were collected in a volume entitled
"The Seeds and the Sheaves," published by
Randolph & Co.
Rev. Elijah Robbins began mission work in
1851 at Umzumbe, where he remained thir-
Deceased Missionaries. 245
teen years. He then established a theological
school at Adams, the success of which is in a
great measure the fruit of his zeal and perse-
verance. Native preachers, now in various
parts of tlie field, are ready to testify to the
diligence and thoroughness of their teacher.
He died July 1, 1889, joining his wife m the
'' better land." Mrs. Robbins had died only a
few months previously. Testimonies of the
worth of Mrs. Addie Bissell Robbins are im-
pressive and tender. One is from the pen of
Rev. Charles Kilbon, who knew her well : " A
precious wife and mother has gone from the
home which she lighted by her smile and ani-
mated and inspired by her buoyant and ener-
getic nature. A beloved companion in work
has been taken from our mission circle. A
vigorous worker for the good of this people
has forever ceased from her labors. How she
used, with her light and agile form, in days of
health, to flit from house to house over the
station, leaving words of instruction, of warn-
ing, of comfort, as needed ! She has gone to a
higher sphere of activity, where she will never
tire."
Mrs. Holbrook, of Mapumulo, wrote : *' She
was a rare woman, beloved by natives and
whites alike. An enthusiastic missionary, a
consecrated Christian, devoted to her family,
her people, and her God."
Rev. David Rood, who died in Covert, Mich.,
April 8, 1891, entered the field in 1847, together
with Rev. Samuel Marsh.
246 Forty Years Among the Zulus,
After forty years of faithful service he came
to this country to rest, but did not wholly aban-
don the hope of a return to Africa till a short
time before his death. He wrote to me repeat-
edly, saying, " My heart is there." Rev. Lewis
Grout, one of his early associates, truthfully
says of him : '^ He was gentle, quiet, modest,
winning in his ways, yet strong, courageous,
earnest, confident in his work, assured that it
was God who would make it to prosper and
prevail."
As I remarked in the first part of this vol-
ume, it was through Mr. Rood's instrumentality
that I was led to choose Natal as my field of
labor. Soon after reaching that colony, my
wife and I paid Mr. and Mrs. Rood a visit.
Their station was far removed from the abodes
of white men, and their surroundings were what
most people would call gloomy in the extreme.
But those devoted' missionaries seemed to be
in the enjoyment of genuine happiness. Their
hearty and sincere welcome to a participation
in their joys nerved us for our future labors.
Our lamented brother early acquired a knowl-
edge of the Zulu dialect, and was able to preach
in it far more easily than he could in English.
He threw his whole soul into the work and
thoroughly enjoyed it. He occupied various
important posts, but his greatest work was at
the Umvoti station. While chairman of the
mission, he manifested wisdom, decision, and a
tender regard for the feelings of his brethren.
In translating the Scriptures and preparing ele-
Deceased Missionaries. 247
mentary books for our schools, he was thorough
and skillful ; but he excelled as a preacher and
spiritual adviser. His last conversation was
about Jesus Christ, the " Rock " on which he
had built his faith and hope, and his last words
were, " I am going home." When unable to
speak, a pleasant smile on his countenance was
a response to a brother's inquiry. He died as
he had lived, a true Christian man, one who
had no occasion for fears or sighs or regrets.
He left the wife of his youth and sharer of his
toils, and his two children, with the sweet con-
sciousness that heaven was his home. He has
joined the sainted Adams, Lindley, Bryant,
Marsh, and other fellow-toilers in the African
vineyard, and Zulus also, saved through his
instrumentality. I think of him as beckoning
to the old soldiers who fought by his side for
King Immanuel on Afric's dark coast to join
him in the better land, where they can recount
battles fought and victories won.
Rev. Jacob L. Dohne, a German, who was for
several years connected with the mission, died
in 1879. He was a fine linguist, and prepared
an elaborate dictionary of the Zulu language
containing over 10,000 words. Of this work a
competent judge remarked: '-It is not only the
first dictionary of a South African tongue that
can claim any approximation to completeness,
but is also a living monument to the author's
industry, careful observation, and unfaltering
perseverance."
The mother of Rev. Mvron Winslow Pinker-
248 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
ton died when her son was three years old, but
when she gave him the above name, she said,
" I hope he will be a missionary." While in
college Mr. Pinkerton said that the wish of his
mother, which had been made known to him as
soon as he could comprehend it, would often
come to his mind. Later, when the time came
for him to choose his field, he observed, " Per-
haps there will be men who would wish to go
to Turkey and Japan, while few will go to
Africa."
The station he occupied at first was Umtwa-
lume, in compan}- with Mr. Wilder ; but in 1875
he moved to a place called Induduma, more
than a hundred miles from any of his brethren.
There he toiled until the inquiry arose, " Who
will explore Umzila's country with reference
to sending men there?"
Well do I remember his appearance and
his words when his brethren said to him, " It
is our unanimous opinion that you are the
man." "You place," he observed, "a solemn
and fearful responsibility on me ; but if it is
God's will, I will not shrink from it." He took
his wife and children to America, because, as
he remarked, of the possibility of his being
removed by death, while away.
I might particularize with regard to the hope-
fulness and courage with which he met obsta-
cle after obstacle in his attempts to start on
that long and perilous journey. In the inscru-
table pro\ddence of God, he was smitten with
malarial fever and died while on the way,
Mrs. Susan W. Tyler.
Deceased Missionaries. 249
November 10, 1880. He was buried under a
large, moss-covered tree, on the banks of the
GabuLa River, a native Christian reading the
funeral service.
A nobler, more enthusiastic and self-reliant
missionary than Mr. Pinkerton it would be
difficult to find. Why he was so suddenly cut
down in the strength of manhood and midst
of usefulness we cannot tell. The Lord will
doubtless reveal to us the reason in another
world.
Mrs. Pinkerton now resides in Chicago, 111.
Mr. John A. Batler, whose narrow escape
from a crocodile has already been mentioned,
responded to a call for a missionary printer, and
went to Natal in 1850. His health was so
weakened by the terrible ordeal through whicli
he had passed that he was forced soon to return
to America. Though never again robust, his
life was greatly prolonged by the unwearied
care of his wife. He died August 27, 1889,
leaving a widow and two children.
Of her who was the companion of my joys
and sorrows, the light of my dwelling, the de-
voted wife, mother, and missionary, I must leave
others to speak. A brother with whom we had
been associated from the first, one who soon fol-
lowed her to the heavenly world, Mr. Ireland,
wrote as follows : " Becoming a Christian in early
life, Mrs. Tyler gave herself to missionary work
\Y\i\\ all her heart and soul, and during all these
years has impressed those who had the privi-
lege of knowing her, as one who possessed an
250 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
unusually faultless character, and whose life
was filled with Christian consecration. Her
interest in the Zulus was ever finding ways to
manifest itself in their behalf, especially in her
judicious advice to them w^hen in trouble.
Hence we are not surprised that large numbers
of them, both Christians and heathen, learned
implicitly to trust and love her, oftentimes bet-
ter than their own kindred. ... As long as she
was able to converse, her room was the center of
peacefulness, brightness, and joy, and she begged
to have no sorrow or gloom felt, or tears shed,
as she was simply ' going home.' Her earnest
words of appeal to the natives who entered her
sick room, or, when too weak to speak, her
bright smile and peaceful face, were powerful
influences for good. At the funeral service it
was truthfully said, ' The grave has not closed
in Natal over one who led a purer, gentler, and
more useful life.' " Mrs. Pixley, a missionary,
wrote as follows : —
" A large company of both Christian and
heathen natives gathered at the burial, coming
from a distance in the surrounding region, and
from her old Esidumbini station. It was pa-
thetic to see one old heathen man, the day after
the funeral, come weeping that he had not
received word in time for him to take a last
look at his dear teacher's face, and mourn with
others at her burial. . . . During the last weeks
of her illness, she had such a sweet assurance
because of her perfect trust in Christ, that
peace, perfect peace, was her motto. She loved
Deceased Missionaries, 251
to talk of Christ and his nearness, and spoke
much of Bible study. Her room was cheery,
briglit, and the center of joy and peace. While
we mourn the loss of such a friend and fellow-
worker, we rejoice in her bright example, pray-
ing that her mantle may fall upon us with a
double portion of the spirit which characterized
her, and that the seed sown by her, in prayer
and labor for the people, may grow into an
abundant harvest. ... In her long missionary
life she was permitted to see many spiritual
children, and many, we doubt not, were waiting
for her at the gate of the City, as she en-
tered in."
A friend in this country wrote of her : —
" Those who knew Mrs. Tyler could not fail
to recognize her as one who had so trained her-
self that all Christian dispositions, a tranquil
nature, a loving spirit, meekness, gentleness,
disinterestedness, had become so habitual as to
be unconscious to herself. And yet, with this
measure of quiet grace, she was eminent in
active labors. She 'labored much in the Lord.'
" It has been said, ' The best work given to any
missionary is the ordering of a Christian home
in a heathen land.' This, in connection with
her work for the heathen, Mrs. Tyler perfectly
fulfilled. The home over which she presided
so brightly and usefully was characterized by
the grace and cheer and restfulness of the home
which Jesus loved at Bethany.
" She spent her life in cultivating the ideal
and practical side of character among the Zulus,
252 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
heathen and Christian, showing by her own ex-
ample the value of a life that blends spiritual
truth and care-taking, home-making duties in
one rounded whole."
On the seventeenth of November, 1887, she
fell asleep and awakened to be " forever with
the Lord."
CHAPTER XXVII.
NATIVE EDUCATION.
NATIVE education is receiving more
attention than ever, not only from
American, but other societies. Our hope for
the future regeneration of Africa lies in the
young. Consequently, training institutions for
youth of both sexes, at central points, are
deemed a necessit}'. They are not designed to
take the place of primary schools, but to
advance pupils to a higher stage.
Of these institutions, the Amanzimtote
Seminary at Adams is at present the only
training school for Zulu lads connected with
the American mission. This was commenced
in 1805, by Rev. William Ireland. The
medium of instruction is the English language,
which pupils must understand to a certain
degree before entrance. Connected with the
seminary is an industrial department, in which
are taught carpentering, blacksmithing, shoe-
making, and printing. The great object in
view is to give practical training. Its
religious character is of a high order, the
teachers aiming first of all at moral regener-
ation, without which their training may prove a
curse instead of a blessing. Stress is laid upon
Bible study, and the importance of overcoming
253
254 Forty Years Among the Zulus,
hereditary prejudices and superstitions. Its
record thus far is a noble one. Most of its
graduates are useful members of society, some
of them being teachers and preachers.
Jubilee Hall was opened in December, 1885,
at the semi-centennial anniversary of the mission.
It is a large, commodious structure, accommo-
dating about one hundred pupils, aud costing
f 15,000, a part of which was contributed by
American friends and the remainder by Natal
colonists. Beautifully^ located on a grassy hill
sloping towards the river Amanzimtote (^siveet
water'), it commands a fine view of the Indian
Ocean, eight miles distant. Here the students
find a true home.
Those interested in this institution hope
much for its future. If funds are forthcoming,
a medical department is to be opened at
Adams, and the boys will receive such instruc-
tion as will overcome much of their supersti-
tious fear of disease. In every department
there is opportunity for enlargement, and to no
more worthy object can assistance be rendered.
The theological school was commenced in
1869 by Rev. Elijah Robbins. From time to
time men have gone forth to be missionaries to
their own people. We trust many more will
avail themselves of the faithful teaching and
preparation for service which is given them
by Rev. Charles Kilbon, who has charge of
that department.
The Inanda Seminary for girls is not only
a school, but a home. From sixty to seventy
Native Education. 255
bright girls, varying in age from twelve
to sixteen, most of them born of Christian
parents, are here taught the elements of a
good education. The success of the school is
owing in a great measure to the wise judg-
ment and unwearied efforts of Mrs. Edwards,
who began it in 18G9.
The course of study pursued embraces bibli-
cal histor}^ harmony of the Gospels, reading,
translation and dictation in Zulu and English,
writing, arithmetic, geography, history, physi-
ology, and English composition. Special atten-
tion is paid to needlework in its various
branches, as well as domestic employment and
gardening. The fee for board and tuition is
twenty-five dollars per annum for each pupil.
So anxious are girls to attend this school that
they frequently run away frohi their kraals, pur-
sued by their fathers or brothers, whose chief
desire is to secure the cattle for which they may
be sold when of a marriageable age. After a
palaver of half an hour or so, if they find the
girl is determined to stop, they leave her and
go home. The girls cultivate twenty acres of
land and endeavor to make the school self-sup-
porting. This end has not yet been wholly
accomplished. Friends in America have kindly
assumed the responsibility of supporting some
whose parents are too poor, or unwilling to
furnish the means.
The girls are taught singing and render diffi-
cult music by note correctly and sweetly, tak-
ing the soprano and alto with ease in anthems.
256 Forty Years Among the Zulus,
duets, etc. Their new building, Edwards Hall,
erected by gifts from mission circles in this
country, amounting to $5,000, is all that can
be desired for convenience and utility. In
describing an examination at Inanda, a few
years ago, Mrs. Tyler wrote : —
" As I sat on the platform facing forty girls,
two at each desk, I wondered what would be
the future of them all, and I am thankful that
my faith, which has been many times weakened
by disapi^ointments, did not fail to predict a
happy life for them. They have stepped a
long way out of heathenism, and, in their reci-
tations and conversation, appear to me to know
better than ever what the ' Light ' means, and
what an infinite blessing has come to them
through Christian teaching. It is a great gain
to secure them for several years, so that their
habits may become fixed and their minds have
elevating influences which they do not find at
their homes. I counted ten whose mothers had
lived with me when they were children."
Umzumbe Home is another school for girls,
but, unlike Inanda Seminary, the majority of
scholars come from heathen kraals, without
previous preparation. Of the Christian in-
fluence exerted and faithful instruction given,
too much cannot be said. Graduates of this
school, after four years' study (many of them
having become Christians), exert a most salu-
tary influence in their heathen homes. The
good they may do cannot be estimated. The
enlarged accommodations provide for sixty
^ "^ .#•#!'
Native Education. 257
ofirls, but there is room for substantial aid in
various departments, which would be money
well invested. The course of study pursued
is similar to that of Inanda, out-of-door employ-
ment included.
In addition to those already referred to, and
the daily schools at each station, there are
the kraal schools, so called on account of
their being within the native villages, and at
some distance from the mission stations. For-
merly native chiefs refused to have their
children educated. A change has come over
them. They now say, " We are too old to learn,
but our children are not; send us teachers."
In some cases they are willing to assist in
erecting a schoolhouse, and to assume the re-
sponsibility, in part, of paying the teacher.
An instance has lately occurred of a chief's
making a law that all the children of his tribe
shall be taught, the fathers to be fined ten
shillings each if they refuse to send their off-
spring to the school, and a child one shilling
if absent purposely. It is pleasant to see a
well-made and convenient building with doors
and windows, provided with benches, slates,
blackboards, and other essentials, by the side
of a kraal in a locality far away from any
missionary. The children, it is true, learn
under difficulties. Girls Avhose business it is
to take care of babies bring them in leather
sacks, slung on their shoulders. Herd boys
drive their flocks of goats and cattle to a hill
opposite the school, where they can watch
258 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
them and study at the same time. The
teachers are usually graduates of the semi-
naries, some of whom conduct services on the
Sabbath. When fairly started with twenty-
five pupils, a little aid is afforded by the Natal
government. All these schools are under the
supervision of missionaries, and the truth made
known in them has frequently been blessed to
the conversion of souls.
The efforts of all missionary bodies for the
education of the Natal Zulus have invariably
met with sympathy from the English authori-
ties. Officials have declared that mission work
in isolated parts of the colony has helped ma-
terially in the government of the natives. Not
only in many instances are mission reserves laid
out of tlie native locations, each one including
six thousand or more acres, but grants from an
educational fund are made to station schools.
Doubtless one reason why the government has
indorsed the labors of missionaries is the fac!
that as much as possible they have abstained
from entering the arena of politics, rigidly ad-
hering to their own appropriate work. Mr.
Robert Plant, inspector of native education, a
man eminently adapted for his post, has pro-
posed to the Educational Council a scheme
which seems wise and feasible. It provides for
the establishment of small industrial schools in
the more thickly populated parts of the native
locations, each to supply the needs of two hun-
dred and fifty children with one European and
five native teachers. The expenditure for this
^..1
•■ vA^^)'
^/^.n':^:uihm±.!h^
Pupils op the Inanda Seminary.
Native Education. 269
enterprise he estinitates at X 8,000, and regular
instruction will be provided for six tliousand
children.
It is evident that European merchants in
Natal are the gainers as educational and Chris-
tian work progresses among the natives. Rev.
James Dalzell, m.d., a scholarly and able Scotch
missionaiy, who reported at a late missionary
conference that he had seen, in two years, his
native adherents multiplied a hnndredfold, com-
puted that while a native kraal required only
X2 worth of imported goods, each mission na-
tive required X20. Reckoning the Zulu church
members in the colony at four thousand, their
commercial requirements aggregate £80,000 per
annum. So much in a pecuniary point of view
are the Natal colonists indebted to Christian
missions.
The publications of the American Mission in
the Zulu language, from the beginning to the
present time, are : the Bible entire, dictionaries,
grammars, histories (one ecclesiastical), hymn
books, arithmetics, geographies, primers, cate-
chisms, a monthly newspaper, — The Morning
Star, — and a variety of tracts. Other societies
have published books for their schools and sta-
tions, but none to such an extent as the Amer-
ican. The Zulu Bible, printed by the Amer-
ican Bible Society, answers not only for
missionaries of the American Board of Com-
missioners for Foreign Missions, but for Nor-
wegian, German, and Swedish societies, as well
as the London Missionary Society among the
Matabele Zulus.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
THE MISSIONARY OUTLOOK.
IN 1885 was celebrated the " Jubilee," or
semi-centennial anniversary of the Amer-
ican Zulu Mission. With one exception, the
pioneers had gone to their reward. There
were, however, some veteran laborers to mingle
with their younger brethren in the festivities of
the occasion. Jubilee Hall was then opened
by the governor of the colony, who, together
with leading colonists, expressed hearty sj^m-
pathy and interest. Rev. William Ireland read
a history of the mission's five decades, show-
ing a steady advance from the beginning.
Statistics from the mission at the close of
1889 show that there were sixteen churches,
with a membership of eleven hundred and
fifty-five ; under Sabbath-school instruction,
fourteen hundred and eighty ; missionaries,
thirty-eight; native helpers, including teachers
and preachers, one hundred and sixty-seven ;
money contributed for church work, education,
and charitable purposes, during the year, over
one thousand dollars.
The East Central African Mission, a branch
of the one in Natal, was commenced by Rev.
W. Wilcox and wife in 1883. Its prospects
for a time were very encouraging. Messrs.
260
The Missionary Outlook. 261
Richards, Ousley, Bates, and their wives went
to that field ; the languages were mastered,
parts of the Bible printed, and everything
went on prosperously. But Mr. Wilcox left
the work and Messrs. Richards and Bates, on
account of fever, were obliged to leave. The
latter has joined the Natid Mission. Mr. Rich-
ards came to the United States and retired
from the service of the Board. Mr. Ousley
followed him, owing to serious illness, but hopes
to return shortly. This brother was a slave,
born on the plantation of Mr. Joseph Davis,
brother of Jefferson Davis, president of the
Confederate States. He was freed at the
time the slaves were emancipated by order of
President Lincoln. After studying at Fisk
University and Oberlin, he received appoint-
ment to the East Central African Mission,
whither he went with his wife, who is also a
graduate of Fisk University. These are the
first colored missionaries sent by the American
Board of Commissioners for Foreio-n Missions to
Southern Africa. Mr. Ousley believes that the
colored men from our southern states can
endure the malarial climate of Africa better
than white men. Neither he nor his wife has
suffered from fever as much in Africa as they
did in this country. Miss Jones, a colored
lady who went out to assist the Ousleys, does
not complain of the climate. If it is true that
our colored brethren and sisters can labor in
those malarial districts without succumbing as
do white missionaries, how important that they
262 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
be sent there ! Few more inviting fields are
to be found in the Dark Continent than this.
The force in the field at the present writing
is represented by Rev. John B. Bennet and wife
and Miss Jones; Rev. Mr. Bunker and wife are,
however, designated to it, and sailed in Feb-
ruary, 1890. Rev. Mr. Wilcox and wife also
returned in the same month.
In the foregoing pages, the work of the
American Zulu Mission has been chiefly con-
sidered. Let no one think that I am dis-
posed to underrate the labors of other evangel-
ical bodies. Noble men and women of various
sections of the Christian Church are toiling
faithfully for the good of the natives, and, so
far as I have observed, most harmoniously.
There is no clashing out there. If there is any
rivalry, it is that of brave soldiers, ambitious
to advance the glory of their heavenly King.
One should visit a foreign mission field to see
illustrated the remark Dr. Livingstone once
made : " All classes of Christians find that
sectarian rancor soon dies out when they are
working together among and for the real
heathen."
The Dutch in Natal have what is called a
Boer Farm Mission, of an interesting charac-
ter. One of the results of a late revival of
religion among the farmers was an earnest
desire to Christianize the natives living on
their farms, and it is pleasant to behold school-
houses, places of worship, and other proofs of
evangelistic enterprise in a field hitherto neg-
lected.
The Missionary Outlook. 263
English Wesleyan Metliodists, and Scotch
Presbyterians of the Free Church, confine
their hxbors principally to Natal, while the
Germans (Berlin and Hanoverian), Norwe-
gians, Swedes, and missionaries of the Church
of England have stations in Cape Colony and
in Zululand. Since the latter country has
come under British jurisdiction, happier results
from missionary efforts may be expected than
while it was under the reign of despotism.
Until quite recently, non-Protestant societies
have not made any strenuous effort to convert
the Zulus. There is, however, now in the field
an order of Benedictine monks, called Trappists,
who are manifesting extraordinary zeal. Their
chief monastery, Marianhill, is a few miles
from the seaport. The abbot, Francis Pfaner,
a German, who superintends the establishment,
is a gentleman of great shrewdness and intelli-
gence. When I visited the place he took me
about, and willingly explained his plans and
metViods of labor. Evidently, in his opinion,
civilization is the primary step to be taken
in elevating the heathen. There were on the
ground one hundred and seventy monks and
one hundred and twenty nuns ; more were ex-
pected. Three hundred native boys and girls
were under instruction, chiefly industrial.
Twenty thousand acres of land have been
purchased, a large part of which is under
cultivation. All the workshops were full of
activity, but I noticed that the men did not
utter a word. Perpetual silence, it appears, is
264 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
imposed on all monks under the Benedictine
rule. To an Englishman who asked the abbot
the reason for this, the reply was : " There are
reasons spiritual and secular. Silence is spirit-
ually beneficial. It is secularly beneficial, inas-
much as there is no quarreling when there is no
talking, and there is much more work done."
Zulu lads, however, chatted and laughed ad libi-
tum. They would not have been Zulus otherwise.
Various industries engage the Trappists,
among which is bee culture. Newspapers in
Polish, German, English, and Zulu are published
at the monastery. Pains are taken to extend
their influence among the natives. A brass band
consisting of thirty sandaled monks marches
occasionally through the streets of the nearest
town, playing as they go, and are followed by
Zulus clothed in dark fustian with polished
helmets on their heads.
To what this extraordinary Trappist move-
ment will grow, it is impossible to predict.
I trust it will appear from what has been
said that the outlook, so far at least as the
American Zulu Mission is concerned, is calcu-
lated to cheer, rather than to depress. News
from the field clearly indicates an advance
all alone the line. Societies of Christian
Endeavor are springing up ; the cause of tem-
perance is gaining ground ; schools are well
attended; Sabbath audiences are growing
larger ; " spirit doctors " are losing their hold
of the native mind ; the axe of the gospel is laid
at the root of polygamy and attendant evils;
The Missionary Outlook. 265
Christianity, liand in hand with civilization, is
movinof on. Is the time far distant when those
qualities of valor, obedience, and endurance
which the Zulus displayed when in a state of
barbarism v/ill be conspicuous in promoting
the Redeemer's glory? Has not God in his
providence sent his servants to Natal, spared
their lives, enabled them to master the native
language, translate the Bible and other books,
and put in operation the machinery of means,
preparatory to carrying the blessings of Chris-
tianity into Africa's dark interior ? What base
of operations could have been selected more
suitable for this object? What strategic point
could we have laid hold of on the southeast-
ern coast better than this ? Recruits from our
mission schools will doubtless go as mission-
aries to the Matabele and other Zulu-speaking
tribes. The way was opened last year when
Umcitwa and Yona, a man and his wife from
the Umzumbe station, joined the mission to the
Matabele tribe. On their journey, Umcitwa
took a severe cold which resulted in his death
soon after reaching his destination. Who can
tell, however, what results may follow his
example ?
Though I have spoken hopefully respecting
the Zulu Mission and its importance with ref-
erence to the future regeneration of Africa,
I am compelled to add, with sorrow, that there
are influences at work that will undo much
that has been done, and hinder progress, unless
God in his mercy interposes. The streams of
266 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
intemperance and vice flowing into Natal
imperil not only the spiritual, but the physi-
cal existence of the natives. A large body of
Christ's servants are needed at once to counter-
act those influences. The Zulus are in a
transition state. Much will be lost by delay.
The remark lately made by Mr. Stanley in
reference to the importance of reinforcing
Christian missions in Central, will apply equally
to South, Africa : " If we want to hold our
ground, we must not send little parties of
workers, as heretofore, but must pour in men
by the scores and even by the fifties."
Death and illness have sadly depleted the
number of missionaries. The few left in the
field, overburdened, ask with a pathos that
should reach the hearts of God's people at
home, —
''Do they come, do they come?
We are feeble and worn,
And we are passing like shadows away.
But the harvest is white. Lo, yonder the dawn I
For laborers, for laborers, we pray ! "
To those who may inquire, " Are the results
of your work among the Zulus commensurate
with the toil and money expended?" I reply:
If judged by worldly standards, they may not
appear so; but truly no serious-minded man
will gauge them by figures alone. No tabular
view can adequately represent what has been
done. Of this we are sure : it is God's work,
and it cannot be a failure. One has truthfully
said : " God's true missionary goes where He
JosiAii, Teacher in the Boys' High School at Adams.
Tlie Missionary Outlook. 267
sends him, and he succeeds, though all he may
do is to plow up the hard ground and gather
out the stones to leave a fair held for the sower.
And in God's eyes many a man who, by the
armful or wagonload, brings sheaves to the gar-
ner is only reaping from others' sowing."
If we could point to a single Zulu who has
been savingly converted, that alone would
prove that our labors have not been in vain.
But, thank God! we can adduce instances not a
few of self-denial, humility, holy living, resigna-
tion to the divine will, heroic faith, and joy in
the near prospect of death. I think I am safe
in saying that, as a rule, converted Zulus are
quite as consistent in their daily life as average
church members in Christian lands. It is un-
reasonable to suppose that, with the few advan-
tages they possess, they should rise speedily to
the standard of intelligent piety attained in
more highly favored countries.
What Rev. John McKenzie, formerly of the
London Missionary Society, has said in regard
to Bechuana Christians applies to Zulus : '' It
is not to be expected that a loquacious,
news-telling people, unaccustomed to solitude
and to consecutive thought or study, should,
on their conversion to Christianity, become at
once remarkable for their elevated spirituality
and for delighting in protracted seasons of
prayer, meditation, and communion with God."
Before closing this chapter, let me ask my
readers, especially those who are young, strong,
and qualified to engage in mission work, Do
268 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
you really believe that the gospel is the grand
instrument devised by God for the elevation of
the degraded ? And has the command, " Go,
teach all nations," lost any of its force since it
Avas given by the Master ? Have jo\x individu-
allv and seriously inquired, with a desire to
ascertain God's will, " Is it m}- duty to carry
the gospel to the heathen ? '' Should you do so,
would the cause of God in this land suffer from
your absence? On the other hand, would not
an impetus be given to it, thus illustrating that
heavenly law, " There is that scattereth, and
yet increaseth " ? Go and tell the benighted
the story of Jesus and his love, and even they
will exclaim in the language of inspiration,
" How beautiful are the feet of them that . . .
bring glad tidings of good things ! " Go, and
if successful in your work, you will hear from
the lips of converted heathen what you cannot
hear if you remain in your native land : " For
our sakes you left home and kindred. You
were the only almoners of God's bounty to us.
You found us naked ; you have clothed us.
Ignorant, you have taught us. We delighted
in war ; 3^ou have taught us the principles of
peace. We were in the depths of degradation;
you have raised us to sit together in heavenly
Ijlaces in Christ Jesus. We will never cease to
thank God for sending you to tell us of the
great salvation." That will pay for all your
toil and sacrifices.
CHAPTER XXIX.
FACTS CONCERNING NATAL.
NATAL lies in the same latitude south as
New Orleans north; is eight hundred
miles Irom the Cape of Good Hope, and
seventy-tive hundred miles from England.
Mail steamers from London reach it in about
twenty-live days, stopping at the Cape, Port
Elizabeth, and East London. It has an area of
twenty-one thousand two hundred and fifty
miles, and a seaboard of one hundred and eighty.
Vasco da Gama, a Portuguese navigator, sight-
ed it on Christmas day, five years after Colum-
bus discovered America, and it received its name.
Terra JVatalis, in honor of that day.
The first attempt to colonize it was made in
1823 by a party of Englishmen with Lieuten-
ant Farwell at its head. Chaka, the Zulu king
at that time, ceded to them what now comprises
the colony. Soon after, the same Zulu potentate
made Captain Allen Gardiner, an Englishman,
a grant of the same territory, evidently not re-
garding the previous cession as bona fide. The
country was once thickly populated, but that
despot so devastated it by his armies that only
here and there could be found a few stragglers,
and they were in a state of starvation.
270 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
The first Christian missionaries to Natal
were those of the American Board, who landed
in 1835. Wars between the natives and Dutch
farmers, immigrants from the Cape Colony, and
afterwards between the English and Dutch,
kept the country in a state of insecurity till
1843, when it was proclaimed a British posses-
sion. Soon after, a governor was appointed,
and an executive council established. Quiet
having been restored, natives, fleeing from
tyranny and witchcraft in Zululand, entered
in large numbers.
The first object saluting the newcomer to
Natal is the lighthouse, a massive, costly struc-
ture, situated on a high bluff, visible from a
long distance. The coast, lined with thick
gnarled bushes, twenty feet or more in height,
interspersed with euphorbia, Kaffir boom, and
palm trees, presents a pretty appearance. The
rivers emptying into the ocean are indicated
by the surf as it dashes over the sandbanks at
their mouths. Of these, twenty- three in num-
ber, only one is navigable, the Umzimkulu,
and that but a short distance. Until latel3%
entrance to the Natal harbor has been choked
by sand, and this has proved a serious obsta-
cle to colonial prosperity. At a great expense
breakwaters have been constructed, so that
ships drawing sixteen feet of water can now
enter with safety. Experts in engineering pre-
dict that a still greater depth of water will be
secured. The harbor, once entered, is all that
can be desired — sheltered, commodious, and
Facts Concerning Natal, 271
sufficiently deep. The customhouse and ware-
houses along the docks, where ships load and
unload, remind one of English and American
ports. The contrast between 1849 and 1891 is
simply marvelous.
Telegraphic communication is established,
not only throughout Natal, but with the Trans-
vaal, Orange Free State, and various ports along
the eastern coast. A submarine cable between
Zanzibar and Aden brings the colony into com-
munication with Great Britain. Mail steam-
ers run constantly, the price of first-class pas-
sage being not far from two hundred dollars ;
second-class, one hundred and fifty. There are
lines of boats carrying cargo and a limited
number of passengers, having excellent accom-
modations, which make the passage in a longer
time and at reduced rates.
Natal has been called by its admirers an
" Elysium in South Africa " ; and not without
reason. Probably England has no brighter
gem among her colonies. For beauty of scen-
ery and salubrity of climate she is deservedly
distinguished. Perhaps allowance should be
made for the writer, who for twenty-three j^ears
of his Natal life was not ill a single week, but
it is doubtful whether on- the globe there is a
spot where the atmosphere is clearer and the
sky brighter than duiing the winter months,
from May to October. The evenings are then
generally free from clouds, and the stars shine
with extraordinary brilliancy. In 1858 it was
reported that during the six months of winter
272 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
there were ninety-seven starlit evenings. An
English scientist remarked : '' The stars seem
half as large and half as bright again as they
ever do in England, and shine with a steady
effulgence." In regard to the moon he added :
" In the latitudes of this colony the moon
occasionally comes within four times its own
breadth of the zenith as it crosses the meridian.
At such times the moonshine is often of such
intense brilliancy that strong black shadows
are cast by it, and the smallest objects can be
distinctly seen by its aid."
During the winter there is very little rain;
sometimes for two or three months none at all.
The thermometer ranges, during that time,
from 40° to 60°. Snow falls occasionally in the
upper districts, but never on the coast, and
rarely is the frost severe enough within fifteen
miles of the sea to injure bananas or sweet
potato vines. The average temperature for the
three hottest and three coldest months, taken
from accurate observation is as follows : —
December, January, and February. Highest, 97°
5'; mean, 72° 2'; lowest, 53° 3'.
June, July, and August. Highest 83° 4'; mean,
.56° 7'; lowest, 31° 9'.
The colony rises in terraces above the level
of the Indian Ocean till it reaches the Drak-
ensberg or " Dragon's Mountains," a high range
which has sometimes been called the " Appe-
nines of South Africa." This range divides
Natal from the Transvaal and Orange Free
State. Some of the peaks are nearly eight
FactH Conceminy Natal. 273
thousand feet high, and during the winter
months are frequently capped with snow. In
summer the heat is as intense as during the
dog days of July and August in New England,
but the frequent thunderstorms are invariably
followed by cool days and nights. In regard
to these storms, Dr. Robert Mann observed:
'' They must be seen before a notion of their
character can be realized. Sometimes the end
of a great storm cloud looms from the horizon
with a splendid glow or brush of light bursting
from behind it at each discharge, and throwing
the black masses forward in strong relief. At
other times the foldino-s of the troubled and
o
twisted clouds are rendered conspicuous b}-
colored lines and sheets of fire, which exceed
in complication and variety of device the most
ingenious display of pyrotechny. As many as
fifty-six distinct lightning flashes in every min-
ute may sometimes be counted, rising in this
way from one spot of the horizon ; and the
exhibition may be seen continuing on the same
scale for one or two hours at a time."
Tornadoes seldom occur. The only one I
remember was in 1850, which stripped tlie
native huts of their grass covering and tore
up trees by the roots, but soon spent itself
without causing loss of life. Natalians have
a way of guarding against sunstroke which
Americans might imitate ; they wear cork hel-
mets, well ventilated and covered with white.
The vital statistics of the colony show a
record of mortality said to be low, compared
274 Forty Yearn Among the Zulus.
with other countries. Persons troubled with
pulmonary complaints often derive substantial
aid, if the}^ reach South Africa before the dis-
ease has become too deeply seated. Those
who have adopted Natal as their home are gen-
erally contented with their lot. At first some
of them had to " rough it," but persistent
industry rewarded many with the luxuries as
well as the comforts of life. I recall what was
designated as the " pumpkin and mealie (corn)
dispensation" of 1850. A number of immi-
grants, shipwrecked as they were crossing the
Natal sandbar, were for a time reduced to
straits, obliged to subsist on Indian corn and
pumpkins ; but they endured their trials brave-
ly and cheerfully, and now, being well off, can
remind their children, when they are disposed
to complain, of what their parents had to con-
tend with in those early colonial days. One
competent to speak from experience has
observed : —
" Natal is not a country in which to realize
a fortune. By steady work a man beginning
with even a small capital may rapidly acquire
a competence and a comfortable home. From
a social point of view Natal is altogether
delightful. A man who does not crave mil-
lions, but happiness, may assuredly tind the
latter."
In 1889, on account of the rapidly develop-
ing gold fields and rush to South Africa, the
demand for skilled labor was great. Artisans,
niasons, carpenters, miners then obtained high
Facts Concerning Natal. 275
wages. The times have changed somewhat,
but physicians, printers, lawyers, clerks, and
bookkeepers are now well renuineriited.
The cost of living, though greater than it
was formerly, is not beyond the means of the
majority. Good beef, mutton, and bacon can
be had at twelve and one-half cents per pound.
Fish, at the seaport, is cheap and abundant.
Fowls are twenty-five cents apiece. Oysters
can be had by knocking them off the rocks at
low tide ; they are small, but of good flavor.
Game is sometimes obtainable in the market,
and vegetables of various kinds are abundant.
Fruit is plentiful and cheap. Bananas, pine-
apples, mangoes, oranges, mandarins, limes,
peaches, lemons, guavas, pawpaws, avocado
pears, custard-apples, and loquats are culti-
vated with great success. There are native
fruits such as the Cape gooseberry, granadilla
(fruit of the passion-vine), and itungulu, an
acid plum which is much used for preserves.
Apples and quinces thrive on higher land,
towards the north of the colony. The staple
production is Indian corn, of which two crops
can be raised during the year with a little
painstaking. This is the principal native food.
The Zulus, however, raise sweet potatoes and
beans to a large extent. Wheat and other ce-
reals do better inland, but not so well as in
Australia; hence the importation of flour from
that country.
Of the various colonial enterprises, that of
sugar culture stands at the head, the planta-
276 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
tions extending the whole length of the coun-
try. Mills are in operation and sugar of the
best quality is manufactured. The Natal
Central Sugar Company's manufactory at
Mount Edgecomb is the largest, having one
hundred Indian coolies employed at the mill,
besides nine hundred other laborers, natives
and coolies, on the farm connected with the
establishment.
Professor Maury predicted that Natal would
prove a good locality for the cultivation of
cotton, but his prediction has not been realized.
Every attempt to raise it has proved a failure.
Coffee for a time seemed to succeed, but tea
is now taking its place, the soil in many local-
ities being especially adapted for this plant.
The largest tea estate at Kearsney has over two
hundred acres under cultivation. The yield in
1887 was not far from eighty thousand pounds.
A competent judge says : —
" No enterprise promises such a fair return
upon capital invested, no occupation is sur-
rounded with greater attractions. It is at once
cleanly and interesting, and offers scope to the
inventive and mechanical energies of those
engaged therein."
The chief industry in the upland districts is
that of cattle and sheep farming. On the
coast, animals are severely bitten by ticks
which come from the grass. The tetse fly is
not found in Natal, but it is no uncommon thing
to see a cow or horse covered with ticks, which,
when filled with blood, are the size of a large
Facts Concerning N'atal. 277
pea. The ears of the poor animals are much
affected. All that can be done is to rub on tar
and grease or carbolic acid and oil. One spe-
cies of tick adheres so firmly to the skin that
it has to be removed by the application of
sharp scissors. There is a smaller kind of tick,
not larger than the head of a pin, which human
beings have to encounter. It burrows in the
flesh, producing sensations anything but agree-
able. " Natal sores," which require ointments
for healing and sometimes poultices, are the
result of the bite, especially with persons not
acclimated. When these little, almost invis-
ible, insects get between the fingers, but partic-
ularly the toes, the irritation for a time is
almost unbearable. Clerg3^men, when preach-
ing, if thus disturbed, are sometimes obliged to
curtail their sermons !
Pleuro-pneumonia, or lung sickness, which
has swept away thousands, yea, hundreds of
thousands of cattle, is continually breaking out
in South Africa, inflicting serious loss upon the
farmers. As there are few fences, it is next to
impossible to keep diseased cattle in quaran-
tine as in this country, and thus '' stamp out "
the disease. The method adopted to save
enough oxen for necessary work, and cows for
milk, is to inoculate them. Some resort to
drenching the healthy cattle ; that is, pouring
down their throats two or three quarts of
water in which is some of the virus of a dis-
eased lung. This is to prevent contagion.
I>ut the majority of farmers prefer to make an
278 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
incision in the lower part of the animal's tail
and place there a seton with a few drops of
the virus. If it " takes " violently, the tail
swells and becomes a mass of putrefaction, and
is then chopped off, and if it rises again the
process is repeated. The unfortunate brutes
suffer greatly in warm weather for want of
something with which to brush off the flies.
Zulu cows are not noted for giving milk.
It takes as many as six of the average kind to
give as much as one good American cow. And
they have this peculiarity, that they will not
let the milker have an}^ until the calves have
first been fed. Tiie milkman has to dispute
with the calf as to who shall have the largest
portion. And in case the calf dies, its mother
refuses to give down her milk altogether. We
have tried to teach African cows better man-
ners, but all in vain. The horns of both oxen
and cows are large and wide-spreading, very
unlike those in New England.
There is another species of African pest,
which, though it does not, like the tick, attack
persons and animals, makes raids on food, cloth-
ing, books, and furniture. I refer to the ants.
The ant kingdom is an exceedingly interesting
one, an excellent description of which can be
found in Professor Drummond's Tropical
Africa. These ants, especially annoying to
housewives, are of a brownish color ; they
build their nests in the walls or under floors,
and forage in every direction, making the pan-
try their favorite resort. Black ants often
Facts Concerning Natal. ■ 279
build their nest in a tree, and woe be to the
man who climbs it ! Baldwin, the hunter, tells
us of his ascending a tree overhanging a river,
in order to shoot a sea cow, and says : " But
the ants fell upon me so vigorously and in
such countless numbers, Inting so severely, that
flesh and blood could not possibly hold out
another second, and I was forced to descend.
An old sea cow is indebted to the black ants
for her life."
The termites or white ants are the most
destructive, though, properly speaking, they
are not ants at all — " holding an intermediate
position between the orthopterous and hyme-
nopterous families." They work out of sight,
incessantly and indefatigably, forming galleries
of hardened clay which ramify in various
directions from the cell or nest of their kincr
and queen. They have a partiality for the
floors of dwelling houses, coming up through
them into boxes or trunks, not lined with tin,
converting their contents, however valuable,
into a state of pulp. They often give human
beings an unwelcome invitation to descend to
a level with themselves. Walking one day in
the parlor of a brother missionary, the floor
suddenly gave way, and J sank three or four
feet. On examination, I found that the ants
had consumed, not only the sleepers, but the
boards, rendering them too thin to support my
weight. They often attack books, eating the
margin as far as the print, at which they stop.
" In many parts of Africa," Professor Drum-
280 Forty Tears Among the Zulus.
mond remarks, " I believe if a man lay down
to sleep with wooden leg, it would be a heap of
sawdust in the morning." Dr. Livingstone
wrote of them: "At some of their operations
they beat time in a curious manner. Hundreds
of them are engaged in building a large tube,
and they wish to beat it smooth. At a signal,
they all give three or four energetic beats on
the plaster in unison. It produces a sound
like the dropping of rain off a bush when
touched." The doctor regarded them as a
blessing to South Africa, as agents employed
in forming a fertile soil.^
It is interesting to observe the swarming pro-
cess ; so thick are they, and so white their
wings, they have not inaptly been compared to
" snowflakes floating about in the air." Cats,
dogs, and fowls devour them eagerly. The
natives also gather and roast them for eating,
regarding them as a luxury. Dr. Livingstone
once gave a chief a bottle of preserved apricots,
and asked if he had ever tasted anything nicer ;
his reply was : " Yes : white ants ! "
In some localities ant heaps rise to the height
of seven or eight feet. Traveling one winter
in the Orange Free State, where there was no
firewood, I was in a quandary as to how I should
get the wherewithal to boil my kettle. It oc-
curred to me that I might utilize an ant heap
near my wagon. Taking a spade, I cut off the
apex of the conical mound, made a fireplace at
the base, punched a hole from top to bottom for
1 Livingstone's Researclies in South Africjv.
Facts Concerning Natal. 281
a flue, kindled a fire with some newspapers, and
soon had a fine stove though of a novel charac-
ter. On the top I placed the kettle, which soon
boiled, after which the natives who accompa-
nied me cooked their food.
The termites, not fancying the heat, ran in
every direction. When bedtime came, all the
natives had to do was to spread their mats on
the ground by the side of a beautiful fire, which
lasted till morning, thus sleeping with unusual
comfort. As is their custom when any ingen-
ious device is resorted to by white people,
baffling their own skill, they broke out next
morning with the expression: ^^Yek' ahelungu^
ha Jilulwa 'kufa kodwa (O white men, nothing
conquers you but death) ! "
I am not aware that any contrivance for the
extermination or extinction of the white ants
has proved successful. Tar, arsenic, strych-
nine, corrosive sublimate, and kerosene have
been tried, but in vain. The best remedy for the
time being I found was hot ashes. Taking up
the planks of a floor which the ants had begun
to devour, and removing their champings, I
sprinkled ashes freely about, which, clogging
their mandibles, caused them to leave in dis-
gust ; but only to renew operations in another
place.
The greatest curiosity connected with the
termites is the queen, which attains the size
and length of a man's finger, and resembles a
mass of white jelly. Professor Drummond says :
" She is two or three inches in length ; in shape
282 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
like a sausage, and white like a bolster." Her
palace, or nest, is near the center of the heap,
varying in size, but ordinarily just large enough
to accommodate her majesty and the king, who
is the size of an ordinary ant. No mason's
trowel could make the sides of her abode
smoother or neater than is done by the workers
in the ant colony. In her cell she must remain,
for the place of egress and ingress is only large
enough to accommodate the common ant, and
when she has laid a countless number of eggs
she must die. It has been said that when she
dies, or is removed, — like bees when their queen
is destroyed, — the ants remove to another
place ; but I have been unable to verify this.
The great enemy of the termites is the ant-
bear, an animal as large as a ^ood-sized wolf,
with a long nose, but a much longer tongue.
It burrows into an ant heap, and puts out its
tongue, upon which the insects creep uncon-
scious of danger. When well covered, the
tongue is drawn in, and the process is repeated
until the hunger of the animal is appeased.
Ant-bear holes are so common in South Africa
that horseback riders have to use great caution
lest they fall into them.
CHAPTER XXX.
PHYSICAL FEATURES AND POLITICAL AFFAIRS.
DURBAN is the seaport town of Natal,
and has a population, including natives
and Asiatics, of nearly 30,000. Its large and
substantial buildings, especially the town hall,
which cost about £50,000, would be an ornament
to any English or American city. Its surround-
ings are exceedingly picturesque. On the
"Berea," an elevation in the suburbs, reached
by tram cars, are numerous and tasteful cot-
tages which command a fine view of the light-
house and outer anchorage. Its botanical
garden, well stocked with flowers, plants, and
trees, exotic and indigenous, and under the
supervision of a scientific curator, is a favorite
place of resort. The streets are wide, hard,
and kept scrupulously clean. Water is at pres-
ent brought from a small stream a short dis-
tance from the town, but a scheme is projected
for conveying a larger supply from a river ten
miles away at an expense' of £30,000. The
matter of defense is not overlooked. A bat-
tery, to be furnished with guns of the latest
model, commanding the entrance to the bay,
is in process of construction.
As Durban is one of the principal gateways
to the Transvaal, the El Dorado in South Africa,
284 Forty Years Among the Zulus,
it has before it the brightest prospects, and bids
fair to become a second Melbourne or San Fran-
cisco. There seems no reason why it should
not be a coaling station for steamers from Amer-
ica to China by way of the Cape of Good Hope,
as well as from England to Australia.
In point of religious and literary privileges
the town is highly favored, having large and
commodious churches, able ministers, a public
library, reading room, and two daily news-
papers. The Natal Mercury, an old and
popular paper, has for its chief editor a
gentleman of great ability. Sir John Robinson,
who has lately received the honor of knight-
hood. His love and labors for the good of his
adopted country prove him to be a Natalian of
the right stamp. With untiring patience he
has " dinned into the colonial ears for the last
quarter of a century " their need of responsible
government. May he live to see this boon
secured! A keen observer has justly re-
marked, " The three-cornered South African
problem is no longer Blacks, Boers, and Brit-
ish, but Republicanism, Responsible Colonial-
ism, and Crown Colonialism. Until Natal
strikes for freedom and gains a voice in the
direction of its own affairs, it will be behind
in the great northern race."
The Natalians have voted, with a small
majority however, to ask the home government
for tlie privilege of ruling themselves. But
the question has not yet been decided. Evi-
dently expecting it, the progressive party, with
Physical Features. 285
Sir John Robinson at their head, have drafted
a new responsible constitution for the colony
and presented it to the Legislative Council.
Among the things recommended, I am glad to
see that an annual grant of £20,000 has been
devoted to " raise the natives in the scale of
civilization."
Maritzburg, the colonial capital, fifty miles
from Durban, with which it is connected by
rail, has been called the loveliest of South
African towns. I think it deserves that a[)pel-
lation. Its streets are lined with tall Austra-
lian gums, which answer the twofold purpose
of shade and lightning conductors. Good
drinking water is brought in aqueducts from
a fountain in the suburbs. Fort Napier, on
an elevation just outside, commands the city
and surroundings. Prominent among build-
ings are the legislative hall, hospital, and the
residence of the governor. In the center is
an immense square for market purposes, at
the end of which is a neat granite monu-
ment commemorative of colonists who fell in
the Zulu war. Opposite the legislative hall
stands a fine statue of Queen Victoria, also
a bust of Sir Bartle Frere, a statesman whose
memory is cherished with profound respect by
all Natalians. The scenery about the capital
is exceedingly beautiful, and on the road lead-
ing to the coast the traveler, if he has been
in Switzerland, is often reminded of that coun-
try. Lofty cliffs and huge rocks give variety
to the view. In some parts of the colony are
286 Forty Years Among the Zulus,
seen immense slabs of granite on hillsides,
apparently just ready to launch into deep
ravines below, the earth having been washed
away from underneath. One, near Esidumbini,
measures one hundred feet in length, ninety
in width, and thirty in thickness. A cave
underneath served as a hiding place for Zulus
in the time of Chaka.
No thorough geological survey of Natal has
been made as yet. A few years ago, there
appeared in The Natal Journal the following
brief, but good, description : —
" The country is composed of granite, gneiss,
trap, sandstone, and shale. Of sandstone there
are two kinds, the old coarse species, which
forms the summits of the Table Mountains, and
a much finer grained sort which is associated
with carboniferous strata containing impressions
of vegetable remains imbedded in the layers.
The trap is of different ages. The shale is
sometimes gray and sometimes red, and is fis-
sured and laminated. Enormous masses of trap
rock are scattered over the face of the country.
The bed of every water course is encumbered
with them. The granite hills inland are gener-
ally broad, low, and smoothly rounded protru-
sions. Tliese are square, tabular elevations,
molded entirely of trap, and may be at once
distinguished by the eye from the true sand-
stone-slabbed Table Mountains, notwithstanding
their general resemblance. There is abundant
evidence that during past centuries volcanic
eruptions have had much to do in mingling to-
Physical Features. 287
gether in a most confused manner various kinds
of rocks in every part of the colony."
A few gold mines are worked both in Natal
and Zululand, but none have as yet proved as
rich as those in the Transvaal. But beds of
good coal are extensive in the upper districts,
and are destined greatly to enrich the colony.
Steamers plying between Durban and London
are using it instead of English coal, and South
America is applying to the colonial government
for a monthly supply.
The flora of Natal presents much that is
attractive and beautiful and well worth atten-
tion. During the rainy season the country is
brilliant with flowers, and even when the rains
liave ceased many more quiet but interesting
plants may be found. Perhaps no orders are
more fully represented than the Leguminosce
and Compositce. Examples of the former are
the Kaffir boom, with its showy scarlet blos-
soms and bright red seeds with the black spot
around the hilum, used by natives and white
children alike for necklaces. Throughout the
colony can be found the acacias. An Austra-
lian species has been introduced and is exten-
sively cultivated for the bark, which is sent to
England for tanning purposes.
Among the Compositce, those which are bet-
ter known than the others are the everlasting's
or immortelles, the pink and yellow being very
common, while the silvery- white variety, with
the delicate pink tinge around tlie disk, is found
in the upper districts. One species of nym-
288 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
phcea, the blue water lily, is quite numerous.
The arum, erroneously called calla in America,
is found in almost every marshy place.
The beautiful blue and white agapanthus,
the graceful littonia, and sandei'sonia, and
the aloes are among the members of the lily
family. Many of the so-called lilies in Natal
belong to the order amar ullidacece ; as, for
example, the "Natal lily," with its pink-
veined perianth, and the "fire lih'," Avhose
showy scarlet bells contrast vividly witli the
blackness of the hills after the annual burning
of the grass.
A few epiphytic, and numerous terrestrial,
orchids are found in Natal. Some are showy
and conspicuous, while others are dull and
hardly distinguishable fi'om the grass. Among
the cycads, the stangeria is a beautiful form,
with its long, frond-like leaves and central cone.
Grasses and sedges abound, and the lover of
ferns would have no lack of material for inves-
tigation.
Palms and wild bananas and the ungainl}^
euphorbias are conspicuous among the larger
plants.
The trees used for cabinetwork are yellow-
wood Qpodocarpus) ; sneezewood (^pteroxylon
utile) ; stinkwood {oreodapline hidlata)^ so called
for its odor, which, however, is useful, in that
worms do not attack it ; black ironwood (olea
laurifolia)^ a hard, solid wood which takes a
fine polish ; and many others of which more
use could be made than has been y^t attempted.
Physical Features. 289
Waterfalls in Natal are common and beauti-
ful. From numerous fountains in the hillsides
there issue streams which roll down till they
unite with rivers winding their way to the
Indian Ocean. A perpendicular fall of three
hundred and sixty feet on the Umgeni River is
one of surpassing beauty. A Dutch farmer, in
attempting to cross the ford about a hundred
yards above, in an ox-wagon, had a most nar-
row escape. His " forelooper " (ox leader), a
Zulu lad of sixteen years, could not swim, and
was told by his master to get into the wagon.
The Dutchman knew his oxen well — had often
seen them swim through swollen streams, and
believed he could trust them in this instance.
Alas ! he had not calculated on the rapidity of
the current. The oxen could not reach the
opposite landing, and to his horror he found
that bullocks, wagon, and all were approaching
the rapids. The native, losing his presence of
mind, plunged into the river and was soon taken
over the fall. The Dutchman, made of different
stuff, concluded that so long as there was life
there was hope, and made a desperate attempt
to save himself. He cracked his long whip
most energetically, calling on each ox by name
to do his best. The brave fellows, inspired
doubtless by the frantic cries of their driver,
swam for dear life. The two leaders got a foot-
hold on the bank, and just as the wagon swung
about, within a few feet of the abyss, the faithful
beasts drew it out and up to a place of safety.
The political affairs of Natal are administered
290 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
by a governor, appointed by the crown, aided
by an executive and legislative council, com-
. posed of thirty members, who retain their seat
for four years. The administration of justice is
conducted by a supreme court, by courts of
magistrates in various counties, also by circuit
courts held when required. A special judge is
appointed for cases among the natives, who are
allowed the privilege of appeal to a higher
court. Should the matter in dispute be of the
value of five hundred pounds, an appeal can be
made to the privy council in England.
Natives, on certain conditions, may come out
from under native law and be governed precisely
as white men. Few, however, seem disposed to
avail themselves of this privilege. Doubtless
the reason is that under purely English law they
would not be allowed to exchange cattle for
women and practice polygamy. Those who con-
form to English customs and dwell in furnished
houses of European construction are exempt
from the annual hut tax. The great mass pre-
fer to live, as did their fathers, in Zulu style.
As respects ecclesiastical affairs in Natal,
the largest denomination is that of Wesleyan
Methodists, but Presbyterians, Congregation-
alists, Episcopalians (Church of England), and
Roman Catholics are well represented. There
are two Baptist churches and one Jewish syn-
agogue.
Colonial education is under the direction of
a council, composed of ten members, with two
superintendents, one for the European, the
Umzixi'ati Waterfall, Inanda, Xatal.
Physical Features. 291
other for the native, schools. There are several
collegiate institutions which compare favorably
with those in other countries.
Natal's exports are sugar, wool, hides, horns,
tallow, arrowroot, ginger, cayenne pepper, tea,
ivory (from the interior), and the bark of an
acacia tree, useful for tanning purposes.
Imports are chiefl}^ timber, furniture, agri-
cultural implements, leather manufactures, car-
riages of various descriptions, clothing, grocer-
ies, ironmongery, machinery, ardent spirits, etc.
The revenue is derived principally from the
customs charges, auction dues, duty on firearms,
sale of stamps, gunpowder, crown lands, tax-
ation of Europeans and natives, transfer dues,
excise, post offices, licenses, etc.
The native hut tax amounts in the aggre-
gate to .£75,000 per annum, and the custom
dues on blankets and beads, purchased to a
large extent by natives, reach the sum of X15,-
000. The following comparative statement of
the value of imports and exports and customs
receipts for the years 1888 and 1889 shows
the rate of progress : —
IMPORTS. 1889. 1888.
Value of imports . . . £4,527,015 £2,890,468
Customs revenue . . . 369,689 3 1 290,084 8 1
EXPORTS.
Colonial £957,132 £941,562
Non-Colonial '699,186 '476,309
Total exports . . . £1,656.318 £1,417,871
These figures include rough
gold to the value of £584,933 £391,043
292 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
According to a late estimate, the combined
trade of the colony for 1889 was not far short
of six millions sterling.
Railways are being pushed with rapidity
both to the Transvaal and Orange Free State.
The Grand Trunk Line has reached Charles-
ton, on the border of the Transvaal, only one
hundred and thirty miles from Johannesburg,
the greatest "mushroom city" in Africa. This
railway is said to be " unequaled in English
colonies for profit." It increased the past year
to such an extent that, according to a pub-
lished estimate, after paying all expenses, a
sum of one hundred thousand pounds would
accrue to the general revenue of the colony.
Various industries now occupy the attention
of Natalians, besides the cultivation of tea and
sugar cane. Some are engaged in ostrich
farming, a few in raising ground nuts (pea-
nuts) for the oil. One farmer obtained three
hundred bushels from a single acre.
Sericulture is attracting attention, the govern-
ment affording a little aid. Queens and eggs
are imported from Italy. The mulberry grows
finely, and there appears no reason why this
industry should not prove a success. The most
lucrative business in the upper districts is sheep
farming. It is said that a man with a mod-
erate capital invested in land and sheep is
pretty sure to obtain a good return.
With the influx of the Anglo-Saxon race
into South Africa, the native question is one of
deep interest. Zulus in the service of Euro-
Physical Features. 293
peans are generally obedient and peaceful, but
the influence of their hereditary chiefs is great.
Should any real or supposed wrong lead those
chiefs to combine against the whites, the result
would be war and bloodshed. Let us hope and
pray for better things. Instead of believing
that they are "doomed like the redskins to
fade away before the fiercer energy and tougher
fiber and the higher mental power of their pale
brethren," as Hepworth Dixon predicted would
be the case with the blacks in our southern
states, we cherish the belief that they will im-
prove under the just and benign authority of
England, and, living peacefully alongside of
the superior race, will rise gradually but surely
to a high standard of Christianity and civiliza-
tion. If in the course of divine providence
this occurs, it will be, as Froude the historian
observed, the "solution of a problem worth
more than all the diamonds of Kimberly."
APPENDIX.
LATER MISSIONS.
From latest statistics, the Gordon Memorial Mission
in Natal (Scotch), in charge of Rev. James Dalzell,
M.D., and his wife, is in a prosperous condition.
This mission was founded in 1868 by the Countess
of Aberdeen, to commemorate the purpose of her
son, the late Honorable James H. H. Gordon, to devote
his life to mission work in South Africa, a purpose
not executed owing to his early death. A farm was
purchased in the upper part of Natal, which is
thickly populated by natives, and Dr. Dalzeli, with
his zealous wife, is here laboring most successfully.
Church members in full standing, April, 1890, were
113. Number of pupils in the schools connected with
the station, 322.
Two sisters of Mrs. Dalzell, the Misses Lorimer,
have a Zulu Girls' Home, to which their services are
given gratuitously. The late Dr. Somerville, " the
world's evangelist," in his visit to South Africa
visited this station and spoke of it in the highest
terras.
At Impolweni the Free Church of Scotland has an
interesting mission in charge of He v. James Scott,
with a church membership of 163, and two schools,
with 122 pupils. There are tive branch stations con-
nected with Impolweni. Also at Maritzburg there is
a flourishing native church under the superintendence
of Rev. Mr. Bruce.
The Hanoverian (German) Society has, according
to latest reports, in Natal and Zululand : —
Missionaries, white, 25
Native helpers, 50
Stations, 22
Church members, 1,782
295
296 Forty Tears Amonij the Zulus.
Church of the Province of South Africa (English
Episcopal) : —
Ordained laborers, white, 6
Ordained laborers, native, 3
Lay laborers, white, 4
Lay laborers, native, 18
Lady assistants, white, 3
Stations, 12
Baptized Zulus, 1,644
Its chief centers of labor are Durban and Mar-
itzburg.
The superintendent of native missions in Natal,
Rev. A. Ikin, d.d. (Church of England), reports: —
Native converts, 475
Stations for Sunday services, 16
Night schools, 8
Day schools, 5
White evangelists, 3
Native evangelists, 23
The Swedish (Lutheran) Church has three mis-
sionaries laboring in Natal and Zululand, and not
without success.
THE ZULU LANGUAGE.
One peculiarity of the Znhi language is the clicks
derived from intercourse with the Hottentots. They
are what are called dental, palatal, and lateral,
owing to the Aanner in which they are spoken.
The dental is made by compressing the tip of the
tongue between the teeth and hastily drawing it
back. The letter c is used to denote it. The palatal
is a cracking sound which the tongue makes in the
roof of the mouth, and is represented by the letter
q. The lateral is a sound like clucking to a horse,
caused by the tongue and double teeth united. The
letter x represents it. Dr. Lepsius in his Standard
Alphabet suggested characters for these clicks, but
missionaries in Zululand are not inclined to adopt
them. The letters used for them are always in
italics.
Apperidix. 297
There is another sound in the language , happily
occurring only in a few words, pronounced as a
guttural from the bottom of the throat. It is not
a click, but, according to a philologist, ^' a peculiar,
hard, rough sound that seems to be made by con-
tracting the throat and giving the breath a forcible
expulsion, at the same time modifying the sound
with a tremulous motion of the epiglottis." Only
Zulus, and whites born among them, can express it.
Each class of nouns has a prefix which undergoes
a change in forming the plural from the singular.
In one class the prefix is um, which in the plural
is changed into abd ; for instance, iimuntu (person),
abantii (persons). Another class has the prefix in,
which in the plural is changed to izin; for example,
inkomo (cow), izinkomo (cows). In still another
class, ill is changed to ama, as ilizwi (word),
amazu'i (words). The possessive is formed in a
singular manner. Each class of nouns having its
preform ative letter, that letter is used in forming
this case, w standing for nouns beginning with u
in the singular, and b for the plural. Thus ami
(of me) umfana (boy), becomes in the possessive
umfana icami (my boy) ; plural aba, abafana bami
(my boys). In another class, in being the prefix in
ihe singular, y is used, making yami, in the plural,
zami; ihn^, inkomo yami (my cow), izin koino zami
(my cows). In forming the possessive his or her,
the basis is a (of) and ke (him). For example, in
the class commencing with vni, we have umfana
wake (his boy), plural abafana bake (his boys).
With in for prefix, y is used, as inkomo yake (his
cow), plural, izinkomo zake (his cows). For the
possessive their, the ground form is abo: for ex-
ample, abantwana babo (their children), izinkomo
zabo (their cows).
Great simplicity is apparent in the construction of
verbs. Take, for example, the verb love, ukntanda,
uku being the sign of the infinitive, and tanda the
298 Forty Years Avwiuj the Zulus.
root. JSfgi is the pronoun of the first person, and
ya the auxiliary. JSTgi ya tanda (I love) ; second
person, u ya tanda (thou lovest) ; third person, u
ya tanda (he loves) ; plural, si ya tanda (we love) ;
ni ya tanda (ye love); ha ya tanda (they love).
Imperfect tense, nga tanda (I was loving) ; wa
* tanda (thou wast loving) ; ica ianda (he was lov-
ing). Perfect tense, ngi tandile (I have loved); u
tandile (thou hast loved) ; etc. Pluperfect, hengi
tandile (I had loved) ; u be tandile (thou hadst
loved) ; etc. Future, ngi ya kit tanda (I will love) ;
u ya ku tanda (thou wilt love) ; etc. The impera-
tive is the root, tanda.
Rev. Lewis Grout, for fifteen years a missionary
in Natal, author of a Zulu grammar and a booli
entitled " Zululand," justly remarks in regard to the
verbs: ''One root will often give us a large stem
with a good number of branches and no small
amount of fruit. Thus from the verb bona, see,
we have bonisa, cause to see; botiisisa, show, show
clearly; bonela, see for; bonelela, see for each other;
bonisana, cause each other to see, show each other;
bonakala, appear, be visible; bonakalisa, make vis-
ible; uniboneli, a spectator; umbonelo, a spectacle;
umbonisi, an overseer; umboniso, a show; isibono,
a sight, curiosity; isihoniso, a vision; isibonakalo,
an appearance; isibonakaliso , a revelation; and all
this without going into the passive voice ; as bonwa,
be seen; bonisica, caused to be seen; bonisiswa,
cause to be clearly seen; et cetera ^
THE EXILED CHIEFS.
Mr. Melmotii Osborn, c.m.g., British commissioner
and chief magistrate in Zululand, attributes the late
political revolution, which rendered the expatriation
of the Zulu chiefs necessary, to the intrigues of
Dutch farmers who had settled in the country.
'' The Boers," he says, '' assisted the Usutus to
expel Usibepu, causing frightful bloodshed, and then
Appendix. 290
quarreled wi^h their allies in regard to the division
of the laud. The Boers, in truth, ran all over the
country and respected no man's rights. They poi-
soned the minds of the Zulus against us by inciting
them to rebellion. What they said was simply this:
* We [the Boers] made Mpande king over you. IIo
ruled you as an independent sovereign and lived and
reigned to a good old age. Now the British have
taken your country and deposed your king. This
would not have happened had you stuck to us,' e(c.
The Boers indeed proclaimed Dinizulu king on the
death of Cetywayo, and intrigued with Ndabuko
(Dinizulu's uncle and Cetywayo's full brother) to
oust the British from Zululand. Lucas Meyer and
his colleagues even went so far as to perform the
scriptural ceremony of anointing Dinizulu, and they
encouraged him to ride about on a white horse, *and
to flout British authority in every way possible. I
should remark that pensions had been granted to
the principal chiefs to compensate them for the loss
of any advantages attaching to their position. These
were refused by Dinizulu and his uncle, Ndabuko,
who was the principal and most dangerous oflender.
In consequence of the dispute between the Boers and
Ndabuko over the division of the land, Sir Arthur
Havelock, as special commissioner, made an agreement
with the Boer representatives, dated October 22, 18.s6,
by which a. certain line was drawn and the Boers were
to be kept within the territory known as the New
Republic. The Boers, however, did not respect the
line of demarcation, and I, who was doing my best
to preserve order and prevent injustice to the Zulus,
proclaimed the country to be under British protection.
Afterwards it was annexed to the British crown, and
magistrates were appointed to administer justice and
secure good order. The Zulus — the vast majority
of them — were anxious to become British subjects;
it was only the royal household and a small section
of the people inflamed by the Boers, and those
300 Forty Years Among the Zulus.
Zulus that were included in the New Republic, who
attempted to resist. The Boers said to ihe Zulus:
' Look at us ; the British came and took our country,
but we beat them and drove them out. Why don't
you do the same?' Dinizulu asserted his supposed
rig-ht to rule as an independent king. He even put
people to death, and seized the cattle of others. The
magistrates and officers of the government were
ignored; communications were made direct to the
special commissioner, Sir Arthur Havelock; and
Dinizulu posed as an independent ruler, of whom
the Queen was but the equal and no more. The
country was in a very serious state, and I foresaw
that worse trouble was impending. There was only
one possible remedy. I consider it would be a
disastrous mistake to allow the exiled chiefs to go
baq^ to Zululand. From the moment of their de-
parture the country has been peaceful; but if they
were permitted to return there would only be a
repetition of what occurred after Cetywa>o's res-
toration. There was fearful bloodshed, and misery
to women and children, immediately after that event.
Zululand is now as quiet and prosperous as any
country on earth, and does not cost the British
taxpayer a single penny for its internal adminis-
tration. British rule is accepted by all the Zulus,
as is evidenced by the hundreds of cases which they
bring before the resident magistrates every mouth."
i
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NOV
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