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^ TRAVELS IN
PTHE TRAWSVAAL AND RHODESIA.
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THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES
GIFT OF
Royal Empire
Socdety Library
1 \p
THE HHODES TRUST
IN NEW SOUTH AFRICA:
TRAVELS IN
THE TRANSVAAL AND RHODESIA.
H. LINCOLN TANGYE,
1 AAi !• I.I , i ; .\ AlAMIij:, \i..\:., :.
WITH TWENTY-SIX ILLUSTRATIONS
LONDON : HORACE COX,
WINDSOR HOUSE, BREAM'S BUILDING S, EC.
LONDON :
PRINTED BY HORACE COX, WINDSOR HOUSE, BREAM's BUILDINGS, E.G.
DT
752)
PREFACE.
From its earliest known days Africa has provided a
field for speculation on the part of the thoughtful,
and for adventure on that of the restless.
In these latter days the lifting of the veil
which has enshrouded the great Continent does
not diminish, but, rather, enhances its interest.
The pressing need of extended fields of action
for our growing population gives a solid reason
for the inborn inquisitiveness which the " Unknown "
stimulates in enterprising mankind.
At a time when South Africa is forcing
itself upon the consideration of the world, my
account of recent travels in the Transvaal and
Zambesia (or Rhodesia) may be of interest to those
readers who rest at home, and of use to those
whose intention it is to dare the fascination which
730561
iv Preface.
Africa possesses for all who have once trod her
soil.
A diflficulty encountered in editing the notes
made eii route has been the sudden changes
and succession of events during the process of
writing, but it will be seen that fresh light is
thrown on the most recent occurrences by many
of the descriptions, and that in South Africa
the inevitable — and necessary — expansion of
" Greater Britain " is being steadily carried
forward.
The illustrations are from photographs taken
by me with a hand camera.
H. LINCOLN TANGYE.
S.AiETHwicK Hall,
Staffordshire.
August, 1 8 96.
CONTENTS
PAGE
Introductory i
PART I.
chapter i.
The Land of Gold and the Way there 22
chapter h.
Across Desert and Veldt ... 50
CHAPTER \\\.
Johannesburg the Golden ... 81
chapter iv.
A Transvaal Coach Journey . .102
CHAPTER V-
NATAL: THE SoUTH AFRICAN GARDEN . 1 23
chapter vi.
Ostracised in Africa. Home with
THE Swallows 147
vi Contents.
PART II.
RAMBLES IN RHODESIA.
chapter i. page
Eendragt Maakt Magt . . . .163
chapter h.
Into the Country of Lobengula . igi
chapter hi.
The Trail of War 226
chapter iv.
GoLDMiNiNG, Ancient and Modern . 256
chapter v.
Sic Transit Gloria Mundi . . . 303
chapter vi.
To Northern Mashonaland . . . 344
chapter vii.
Primitive Art. The Misadventures
OF A Wagon 387
Index
415
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
Camp Life in Mashonaland ... ...On Title-page
The Start for Victoria ... ... ... Frontispiece
The Golden Gate of South Africa, Cape Town Facing 23
A Boer Farm ... ... ... ... ... „ 67
' >- 97
109
124
Facing 143
Descending a Prospector's Shaft
Crossing the Zukerboschrand
Mournful Majuba ...
Black Beauty: A Zulu Girl
The Pleasures of Travelling: Coach stuck in
A Spruit ... ... ... ... ... ... „ 163
Natives Watching an Auction Sale on Bulawayo
Market Square ... ... ... ... ... ,, 208
Government House and Lobengula's Indaba Tree ... 215
Gwelo Township ... ... ... ... ... ... 241
The First Government Office, Gwelo ... ... ... 243
A Mining Camp; Selukwe ... ... ... ... ... 258
Makalangas Trading ... ... ... Facing 270
viii List of Illustrations.
PAGE
Bedroom on thk Umtkbkkwk Rivkr ... ... ... 276
A Kaffir Meal of Caterpillars... ... ... ... 279
Zimbabwe : Western Entrance of the temple Faciuir 308
Zimbabwe: An Entrance to the Kopje Fort ... ... 315
Zimbabwe : Temple as seen from the Kopje Fort Facing 316
Zimbabwe : Allan Wilson's Dog and her ^Iaster's
Resting-place; Grave of the Shangani Heroes ,, 320
Zimbabwe : Main Entrance of the Temple (from
THE Interior ... ... ... ... ... ,, 325
A Makalanga "Stadt" ... ... ... ... „ 345
A Mx\tabele " Voorlooper " ... ... ... ... 353
Prehistoric (or Bushman) Drawings ... Faring 387
Salisbury: "The Bitek Bit"" ... ... ... ... 406
E R R A T A.
The alternate page headings from p. 165 to p. 189 should read
" Eendragt Maakt Magt," instead of " Rambles in Rhodesia.'"
Page 179, line it,, for " Zeeberberg "" read " Zeederberg."
Page 247, line 11. /or " crop '" read "outcrop. "'
IN NEW SOUTH AFRICA;
TRAVELS IN THE
TRANSVAAL AND RHODESIA.
INTRODUCTORY.
What is to be our future policy in South Africa,
and what principles are to guide it, are questions on
which there are many opinions. It may fairly be
suggested that the leading idea — whether it ever be
likely to become an accomplished fact or not —
should be that the whole country south of the Zam-
besi, saving that now occupied by Germany, and
possibly, though less likely, the more important area
on the East coast nominally under the sway of
Portugal, will finally pass under the rule of Great
Britain more or less directly, and with some generally
approved form of independent government.
It is to be borne in mind, as having a vital bearing
on the case, that a very considerable proportion of
B
In New South Africa.
the population of Cape Colony is Dutch in origin and
Pu tsch in symp athy, and that, consequently, their in-
fluence and interest in our future policy must be
regarded when any question affecting the Boer Re-
publics is under consideration. The confidence and
support of this section should therefore be cultivated
and, if possible, gained, by liberal and sympathetic
treatment. To this end the evidences of still
existent national sentiment should be dealt with
generously and lightly until it becomes merged
into the one consolidating desire common to all
colonists who feel a pride and satisfaction in the
growth and individualising of the character of their
country.
That an understanding, or even a thorough com-
bination should take place between the Colonies and
the Boer Republics seems desirable from a com-
mercial, as well as from a political, point of view, for,
as time goes on and numbers increase, the people
inhabiting a restricted interior will become increasingly
dependent on the outside world ; and, as the desire
and necessity for trade increases — as the world's
progress will eventually, though slowly, cause it to
increase — so will the necessity for co-operation,
rather than competition, between these young
countries become forcible and apparent.
Whatever the tie in the first instance, it must.
Introductory.
inevitably, be of the loosest description. There is
too essential a difference between the temperaments
of the two white peoples for any thoroughly intimate
alliance to result, primarily, in anything save instant
and irredeemable failure. In the Transvaal and the
Free State there are men who have established their
country by means of their own unaided exertions,
and who would, naturally, repudiate any scheme
which did not provide that they should have complete
autonomy as a province or state ; in fact, a thorough
scheme of " Home Rule " is the least that it would
be possible, or even reasonable, to expect would
have any chance of permanent, or even partial,
success.
The advantage which will present itself to the Boer
in the future, with considerable force, is that when
his already circumscribed area is fully occupied, as
it will be within measurable time, his surplus
population must find a new outlet, and this is only
possible— apart from a portion of Gazaland, which is
under undesirable Portuguese rule — by emigrating
into British territory, where, in course of time, the
emigrants or their descendants would become British
subjects. At present, Boers are to some extent
debarred from finding fresh fields and pastures new
in the direction of Rhodesia, the only direction,
with a portion of Gazaland, which offers any tempt-
B 2
In New South Africa.
ing inducements ; so that as subjects of the Queen
they would possess a tangible advantage, which
will in due time command their attention.
It is to be deplored that of late years the
Transvaal Government has manifested a tendency
to fall into the error which generally besets young
communities, namely, that of desiring to create new
industries in the country by limiting the introduction
of foreign goods, the imposition of excessive import
duties being the favourite, and, in the end, fatal
means employed. It is the old story over again,
even with the example of Victoria, and the acknow-
ledged and considerable share that a blind policy of
protection has had in causing the recent deplorable
financial and commercial condition of that Colony.
A recent arrangement is that subsidised factories for
the manufacture of two articles of commerce shall be
established, and heavy taxes put on the correspond-
ing imports from abroad, one of which is indispensable
to the chief industry of South Africa, gold-mining,
on the well-being of which, indeed, depends the
future of the Transvaal. The result of the proposal
to put a prohibitive import duty on dynamite — and it
is said that even under present conditions every ton
of ore raised necessitates the expenditure of six-
pence in this explosive — was felt immediately, and,
although in the end the firm action of the Chamber
Introductory.
of Mines resulted in a reduction rather than an
increase of the price of this article, the policy
indicated by the attitude of the Government cannot
fail, if persisted in, to deal a heavy blow at the
country's prosperity.
Not only is this so, but, to a certain extent, the
Transvaal, which is already far more dependent on
the outside world than it used to be, is largely in the
hands of its neighbours, through whose ports its
supplies and its gold exports must pass, and hence
it runs the double danger, in pursuing this policy, of
prejudicing its development, and at the same time
inviting reprisals.
The second point on which a radical difference
exists, and will continue to exist to a greater or less
extent, is the treatment of what is called the " native
question." Without doubt, the difficulty of providing
for the future of the native races, and defining their
relations with the white man, is one of considerable
magnitude ; but the ultimate idea of the British does
not consist necessarily in the dispossession of the
aboriginal owners and their reduction to servitude,
as is the policy of the Boers, the example of Natal
being a living witness to this assertion. A factor
which renders this less important, it may be said in
qualification, is that there are few new districts,
always excepting Swaziland, where the peculiar
In New South Africa.
views of our friends can prove a source of trouble,
under present conditions.
The method of deahng with the native population
in a country where they are nominally in the ascen-
dant, it must be confessed constitutes a delicate
problem ; and the late situation in Mashonaland
presented the difficulties in a marked and perplexing
form. We were then confronted with the facts
that over a large tract of territory, wherein a com-
paratively small num.ber of our countrymen were
present only by the permission of a savage and
absolute monarch — while the country practically,
though perhaps not formally, constituted part and
parcel of our empire— acts were constantly occurring
which our sentiments of humanity made us condemn
and resolve not to permit. A strong and unmanage-
able section of the tyrant's people, ignorant of the
strength and resources at the back of the few
Europeans whom they saw, defied the demand to
discontinue the wholesale murder. While none
could be willing that ignorance should bring down
dire misfortune on the Matabele nation, it was
impossible for this ignorance to be permitted to
result in either the extermination of a peaceable
and industrious people, or the loss of our brave
and enterprising pioneers. War therefore was
inevitable.
Introductory. 7
In the early stages of the crisis there appeared to
be some difference of opinion as to the responsibihty
of the Government, but it were useless for any
government to practically repudiate responsibility in
such a case, in face of the dangers which had arisen,
and the section of the Charter of the British South
Africa Company which provides that any difference
between the Company and a native chief shall be
submitted to the Secretary of State, if required,
throws the responsibility of dealing with such a
matter in the first instance, and mainly, on to the
Government. The British South Africa Company is
doubtless a powerful organisation, directed by
sagacious men ; but the defence of a country,
virtually an integral part of Her Majesty's dominions,
is surely an Imperial duty rather than the mere
private concern of a limited company. It is not
even a Uganda which is involved, but an increasingly
important and inviting country, within easy reach of
Cape Town, which presents the strongest induce-
ments to the investment of capital and the emigration
of colonists. For these reasons it is well that,
though somewhat tardily. Imperial countenance and
aid was to some extent given to the Company in the
settlement of the Matabele troubles ; and, without a
doubt, the lessons we have learned in grappling with
similar difBculties in New Zealand, and on previous
8 In New South Africa.
occasions in Africa, have, with one sad exception,
been taken to heart both by those at home and —
almost unnecessary to say — by those on the spot,
being profitably employed in averting a recurrence
of disasters caused by too late an appreciation of
the danger, or too light an estimation of the foe.
One peculiar source of gratification was the active
and personal help of our loyal and true friend,
Khama, who, in his territory west and south-west of
Matabeleland, as a dusky chief with a white man's
heart, has shown, in his rule over the Bamangwatos,
a brilliant example of wisdom and uprightness to
rulers and people of all nations, be they coloured or
white.
In some previous cases of trouble with natives, an
interesting course of events has occurred indicating
a certain lack of prescience on the part of the Home
Government, and an apparent slowness to perceive
the seriousness of the outlook at the inception of
warlike complications. But too severe a sentence
must be passed on no Government in this respect,
even by those who, being on the spot, think they see
obviously the right and only course before them, and
feel themselves hampered by the restrictions from
England ; it must be remembered that with Imperial
sanction comes Imperial responsibility, and a view
which may be justified by the consideration of the
Introductory. g
local question only, may be completely untenable
when it is regarded from a more comprehensive and
national standpoint. Naturally and properly the
Home Government feels it a duty to exercise some-
what of a restraining influence when the members of
a young State, living constantly amongst possi-
bilities of complications and always feeling the
necessity for ready self-defence, takes up a position
which promises warfare ; but the very state of mind
which this continual attitude of negation on the part
of the Government involves, renders it difficult for it
to quickly grasp the necessity which sometimes
arises for prompt and vigorous action.
The same course of events brings incidentally
into prominence that mixture of pluck, obstinacy,
and contempt for the foe which characterises the
British soldier, and which, though a quality which
has on many an occasion carried him past obstacles
which would have otherwise appeared insurmount-
able, has at times led to appalling disasters.
Let us shortly trace the history of such a typical
course of events. On a casus belli occurring the
first act may possibly end in an overpowering army
destroying or scattering the little force of British
settlers which only would be readily available for
defensive purposes. On one or two events of this
description taking place the Government may, to
lo In New South Africa.
some extent, awake to a sense of its responsibility
and go so far as to despatch a force, proving on
trial to be insufficient or unfitted to grapple effec-
tively with the enemy. This force is promptly sub-
jected to defeat, or gains an equivocal and scarcely
more desirable victory, the usual mistake being made
of under-estimating the value of such foes or of em-
ploying raw forces, unaccustomed to the peculiar
conditions of warfare against a savage people and in
such a country. On this taking place public attention
is drawn more completely to the case, and there
arises a cry that British "prestige" is suffering and
requires, in vindication, that a thorough and decisive
lesson shall be given to the natives. Finally a
sufficient and properly constituted force is sent out,
and administers a crushing lesson to the offenders,
which might have been done at first with half the
expenditure of blood and treasure and with far
greater effect.
It may safely be said that as a native cannot well
appreciate a power of which he has not been made
practically aware, and that as a general rule the only
argument which he recognises as satisfactory and
finally convincing is " brute force," whenever he
becomes actively demonstrative of his contempt for
the power he knows not, or for the justness of its
rule, he should once and for all, firmly yet fairly, be
Introductory. 1 1
made to thoroughly appreciate it by means of an
armed force, suflficiently strong to render an engage-
ment a well assured victory. It is surely wiser and
kinder, to say nothing as to cost, for any mistaken
ideas to be dispelled promptly whenever there are
signs that they will lead to trouble, than to let their
results develop until they become dangerous and
maybe fatal.
The idea held by the humanitarian in England
that such a people as the Matabele can, in the early
days of deliverance from barbarous and despotic
rule, be ruled entirely by loving-kindness or by the
slow method of law as at home, and that summary
and stern dealing with them, even under the most
strained circumstances, is reprehensible, is the idea
of one who sleeps thousands of miles away, undis-
turbed by dreams of assault and murder by fierce^
and naked savages, and who is forgetful of the
fact that cruelty and savagery require in justice
the strong, resolute hand. These men, and the
methods of ruling them, are not to be judged from a
European standpoint ; appeal to right and justice
in their case would be pure futility ; a nation of
butchers, steeped for generations in the blood of
tlieir weaker brethren, their only master is a percep-
tion of moral and physical superiority, and where
this is the case humanitarian principles, instead of
12 In New South Africa.
dictating a milder course, in reality impose the
sternest treatment.
The wisdom of this course has been particularly
demonstrated in Mashonaland, a country whose
reputed richness had been the means of forming
strong attractions to English settlers, and the white
population of which was endangered by the hostile
preparations of the thousands of a war-loving tribe —
a tribe which would, in its pristine state of power,
have remained a standing menace until it had been
taught to realise the superior strength, and to bow
to the principles of humanity and justice of its
white neighbours. Had a weaker policy been
adopted, the position of Europeans would have been
imperilled, not here only, but in many another
budding colony ; the extermination of the industrial
tribe would have been effected ; the opening up of
this vast territory to the uses of civilisation would
have received a serious check, and corresponding
damage would have been done to the cause of
humanity, and to the prospects of South African
trade.
It is now a matter of history that in the late
(English) summer of 1893, after an act of ferocity
more unbearable than usual, when even white men
could not prevent their Mashona servants from being
pursued and assegaied before their very eyes, a force
Introductory. 13
of a few hundred settlers was organised to cope with
Lobengula's thousands. The two contingents of
this httle army, at first advancing separately, were
supported by a force of Boers under Commandant
Raaff, and one composed mainly of members of the
Bechuanaland Border Police, marching from different
directions, the latter being accompanied by Khama
and his following. Although only one engagement
of any great importance fell to the lot of the latter
forces, there is no doubt that the diversion caused
by their approach was of great utility in detaching
a large section of the enemy's troops from the main
and more formidable portion which opposed the
advance of Major Forbes.
Progressing under extraordinary difficulties, and
urged forward by the knowledge of the imminence
of the rainy season, this gallant and compact little
band soon gave evidence of the toughness of its
mettle and the excellence of its composition and
organisation. Composed almost entirely of novices
in the art of war, they were yet strong, seasoned,
and experienced men, and the force was veritably an
ideal one for accomplishing the end in view.
Proving its fitness in the first serious encounter, it
withstood the terrible onslaughts of the flower of
Lobengula's bloody army, the unconquered Imbezu
and Incuba regiments amongst others, knowing full
14 In New South Africa.
well that did these sable warriors once get within
arm's length, extermination by the keen blade of the
assegai infallibly awaited it.
The war, and incidentally the employment of
modern arms, such as Maxim guns, gave great
offence to a section of the British public, which,
with the best of mistaken motives, condemned the
"unequal struggle" and the dispossession of the
"aboriginal inhabitants" — a strange appellation
surely for the sons of Moselekatse's invading mur-
derers. Yet the "unequal struggle" consisted of
an encounter between some seven hundred white
men and a dozen times that number of savages,
against whose numerical superiority the former
could not possibly stand in personal hand-to-hand
encounter.
The war to some extent exemplified a struggle
between the styles of two epochs of warfare, one the
hand-to-hand conflict of the early ages, the other
the long-range fighting of to-day. Had the swarms
of Matabele once attained the ranks of our devoted
band, the issue could not long have remained in
doubt ; and it is to be remembered in connection with
this fact that the path lay at one time through thick
bush, and that every night gave the opportunity for
an overwhelming attack in midnight darkness (this
actually happening at the fierce battle of Shangani),
Introductory. 1 5
when modern arms and Maxims would be enor-
mously handicapped. The " inequality " of the
struggle is not, therefore, apparent.
Of the incidents of the campaign much might be
written, but it will suffice here to place on record the
astonishment of the surviving natives on the bursting
of a shell, guns in profusion being fired in its
direction under the mistaken impression that the
white man was in some way emerging and firing
from the ground ; then, again, the interpretation of
the rockets fired at night as a guide to a belated
skirmishing party, as " the white man talking to his
gods."
The one sad blot on the successful history of the
campaign is the mournful fate of Major Wilson,
Captain Borrow, and their thirty-five men. Brilliant
as are the records of British gallantry, in few
instances, if any, has the heroism of young Captain
Borrow in his attempted rescue of Major Wilson
been equalled, and nowhere can we find a more
inspiring spectacle than that of these devoted
comrades fighting bravely shoulder to shoulder,
facing a certain death, and, though escape to a
portion was possible, disdaining life gained by the
desertion of their fellows.
The war was conducted in a masterly and decisive
manner ; the despotism of Lobengula's bloodthirsty
1 6 In New South Africa. .
legions was broken, and the " dispossessed " Mata-
bele and the hberated Mashonas settled down once
more on their lands to engage in the arts and
occupations of a happy peace.*
This is not the place to discuss the wisdom or
otherwise of the policy pursued by successive
Governments of granting Imperial power to companies
of individuals ; the risks and responsibilities under-
taken are incalculable, and experience has proved
that the powers and privileges granted may be
abused ; it cannot be said, however, that, with the
exception of a few isolated instances on the part of
individuals, the most recent example has done other-
wise than acted fairly, and shown tolerance in the
exercise of its governing powers ; and while — the
company having been established for purposes of
trade — it would be absurd to say that its mission is a
philanthropic one, or that its actions are guided
simply by principles of humanity, it is obxious that
it is to the interest of the British South Africa
Company that trade and fair dealing should go hand
in hand, and all the evidences tend to prove that,
broadly speaking, its affairs are conducted on well
understood and wise principles, which cannot but be
productive of general and lasting benefit. It must
* Broken temporarily by the revolt of 1896.
Introductory. 1 7
be remembered that the pioneers of civilisation in
all parts of the globe, whether it be Franklin or
Nansen in the frozen Arctic, or Park, Livingstone,
or Stanley in unknown Africa, have been engaged in
seeking after undiscovered facts, or in endeavouring
to find new outlets for commerce ; the result has been
the same, civilisation has more or less followed, and
similarly the work of the British South Africa
Company, though primarily undertaken for pecu-
niary purposes, is none the less valuable as aiding in
the advancement of civilising and educational
influences.
If we call to mind the history of the East India
Company, one of brilliant and undying glory, as well
as, at periods, of grinding oppression and inordinate
rapacity, it is well to take cognisance of the fact
that under no circumstances can the latter be
repeated in South Africa without receiving an instant
and well merited chastisement, the knowledge of
which on the part of the company should be a
sufficient guarantee that nothing of this character
should occur. The conditions, too, are essentially
different, for in the days of Clive, India was many
months' travel from England ; it was a ferra
incognita to the greater part of the English people,
to whom came echoes, as almost from another world,
of the great and soul-stirring deeds which heroes were
C
In New South Africa.
accomplishing there. Small wonder, then, that,
under the shelter of the great company's power and
name, and in the obscurity which distance and the
slowness and incompleteness with which news
travelled out of the vast empire of the Moguls, acts
of plunder and oppression occurred, and the
honourable name for justness and honesty of rule
which was the boast of England was bespattered
and soiled. Nought of this kind can well happen
nowadays without immediate discovery; steam, the
telegraph, the overspreading of the world by
European races, the power of the press with its
elaborate intelligence system, have rendered such
events almost impossible ; for nowadays the fierce
light of publicity beats on every quarter of the globe
where Europeans make their way, and public criti-
cism, born of a fuller knowledge, forms a most
valuable guiding and restraining influence.*
* Since the above lines were penned, an armed section of the
forces of the British South Africa Company entered the Transvaal,
advancing from Mafeking on Johannesburg. The promptness
with which this movement became known to the British Govern-
ment, causing steps to be taken to compel their return, is a re-
markable confirmation of the opinion expressed above as to the
impossibility of proceedings distasteful to the Home Government
being successfully carried through, though it must be admitted
that before the Government had time to apply its hand after its
voice had failed, the Boers had settled the matter in their own
fashion.
Introduetory. 19
The British South Africa Company is in a totally
different position from that of the East India Com-
pany; with the single exception of the Matabele war,
its struggles are commercial rather than military.
Its range of operations is limited in a way that did
not apply to the older company, and, instead
of having the vigorous offshoots of our powerful
rivals in Europe to contend with and fight to the
bitter end, and the countless numbers of the
descendant race of a great and ancient civilisation —
nations powerful, warlike, and masters in cunning,
duplicity, and dissimulation — to encounter, they have
simply to deal with comparatively small numbers of
savage tribesmen infinitely lower in the human scale
than the majority of those whom the early founders
of the East India Company had to face and sub-
jugate. Still, once established, the wealth only
waiting to be gathered flowed into the coffers of the
latter company, and its way was easy so far as com-
merce was concerned ; whereas, despite the great
natural resources doubtless existent in Rhodesia, in
their development will lie the greatest problem for
the British South Africa Company to solve. Apart
from this, the latter company has always to reckon
with the possible interference of a Government
which holds an infinitely stronger hand over it than
the East India Company ever felt, and always has
C 2
20 In New South Africa.
to take into consideration as part of the inherent
possibiHties of the future, the assumption by the
Imperial power of the reins of government with
which it has been invested. This factor in the
company's existence must be fully borne in mind
in judging it, for without doubt it undertook a
risky and responsible task, which apparently the
Government itself was not willing to assume ; the
most difficult of the problems and the most arduous
of the work have been negotiated by the company,
and, on the Government stepping in, it would reap
much of the fruit for which the company with its
money and enterprise has sown the seed.
While it is but rational and just that in the making
of treaties or of war the Government should claim
paramount authority, the Chartered Company's plea
for a right of rule, free and independent within
the bounds of reason, should be upheld.
These thoughts have been suggested by several
visits to the " Land of Gold," and are exemplified in
the following notes, which were made on the spot
with a view to refresh the writer's memory in after
years rather than for publication. It might with
some reason be deemed presumption for a mere
visitor to pronounce very definitely on the problems
to be solved in the immediate future, for the fuller
knowledge which such an expression of views should
Introductory. 2 1
imply is only to be gained by a long and intimate
personal acquaintance with the conditions which
obtain at the present moment, coupled with a
thorough familiarity with those of the past ; it is
hoped, however, that, as the result of personal and
unbiassed observation, the notes will not be without
interest at a time when South Africa is attracting
universal attention, and that any authentic descrip-
tion, however slight, illustrative of the character
of the country and the conditions of life there may
be welcome.
H. L. T.
Birmingham.
PART I.
CHAPTER I.
THE LAND OF GOLD AND THE WAY
THERE.
South Africa, varied and chequered though its
history has been, until an almost recent date has
excited comparatively little interest on the part of
the average European, whose knowledge and ideas
of the vast areas now represented by this name
have been somewhat of a rudimentary and fallacious
character. To-day it may be said there are few
parts of the world which so strongly command atten-
tion. What California was in the " fifties," what
Australia yet may claim to be, that is South Africa
at the present moment ; a brilliant fact, with a
hopeful future of almost unlimited possibilities.
Centuries passed over the head of what now mainly
consists of the youngest of England's colonies ; the
turmoil and ceaseless strife, hardly heard of in far
off Europe, too busy in solving her own problems,
proving the travail of at least one nation's birth.
24 In New South Africa.
Unknown, unconsciously, the jumble of varied and
heterogeneous forces acting on a new country, each
produced by as varied causes, has been resolved into
a condition of affairs which even now is obviously
transient and incomplete. True it is that no nation,
however long and firmly rooted, can consider its
present stage one of final and assured condition,
but a point is arrived at in its development sooner
or later, which sets its stamp on its character, and
gives it a right to be considered more or less estab-
lished.
These long years of slow advancement were
tinged, indeed sodden, with the blood which seems
unhappily to be the invariable accompaniment of
the struggles of the ever-increasing white races to
find room for themselves on the face of the earth,
wherever they happen to come into contact with
aboriginal peoples ; yet they witnessed the laying
of a broad though complex and often troublesome
basis, which has rendered the awakening of South
Africa, during this century, an infinitely more speedy
and less difficult task than could otherwise have
come within the bounds of reasonable possibility.
All this time, sleeping unknown save perhaps for
rumours treated as fairy tales by the slow and
unambitious Dutch, there lay a Princess with
golden locks and glittering jewels, bound up and
The Land of Gold and the way there. 25
encompassed by almost impregnable ramparts of
far distance, arid wastes and mountain wildernesses,
guarded, too, by the spears and poisoned arrows of
fierce and relentless savages. But the awakening
was at hand ; obstacles one by one were beaten
down, and the Princess awakened under the vivifying
kiss of advancing civilisation. Thenceforward the
world was astir and the pilgrims to that Princess's
shrine grow numerous and more numerous, as every
year passes. That the pursuit of gold, which metal,
though it may be the root of all evil, has been
certainly made an essential in our economic fabric,
should constitute the greatest force in the develop-
ment of many new countries, is perhaps scarcely to
be wondered at. Not only is the picture presented
to the mind of possible wealth " beyond the dreams
of avarice," but there is a strange fascination in the
mere idea of gold, the ultimate product of labour
(in a restricted sense) being the object directly
searched for, instead of being won through the
tedious media of selling wares, working metal, or
the other multitudinous devices for obtaining it by
devious and indirect ways. That the short cut is
full of pitfalls, that many are lost by the way, and
that it is the few only who reach the ultimate goal,
is too old a story to need repetition here.
Before proceeding further, it will be well to
26 In New South Africa.
glance at the present financial, commercial, and
social state of the country we are about to visit.
To begin with its people ; it is somewhat difficult
to compare the present population of British South
Africa with that of, say, 1874, as so many new
countries have been opened up which were partially
inhabited by Europeans before any census was
taken, or before they became enrolled as part of
the British dominions. It is therefore probably the
only safe course open, for purposes of comparison,
to take into consideration Cape Colony alone, as
we are able to deduct the present ascertained
population of its new provinces from the 1891
totals.*
To take Cape Colony alone then : since 1874 its
white population has increased from 236,783 to
376,812 in 1 891 (the date of the last census), and
this notwithstanding the enormous attraction of the
Rand goldfields and Kimberley.
The present white population of the whole of
British South Africa (Mashonaland and Zululand
excepted), based on the 1891 census, is probably
about 674,775, w^hilst the coloured population
amounts to 2,658,359 more ; this shows a decided
* For these figures the author is indebted to the Argus Annual,
published at Cape Town.
The Land of Gold and the way there. 27
increase of the white element, though by no means
an extraordinary one ; it must be remembered, how-
ever, that so far as the Colony is concerned, it is
not caused by a rush for gold but by a legitimate,
well grounded development of the general resources
of the country.
The revenue of British South Africa has increased
very greatly during the fourteen years 1 881-1894,
and the following figures are of interest. The
Colony with, in 1881, a surplus of ;^25o,o5i, had in
1894 one of ;,/^343,868 ; her revenue in the two years
being respectively ^'3,009,970 and ;^5,32 1,352,
and the corresponding expenditures ;!^2,759,9i9 and
;jf4,977,484. In the meantime her debt had risen
from ^^13,261,709 to ^27,675,178.
Natal, too, shows the same remarkable develop-
ment, her revenues for the years ending June, 1881,
and June, 1895, being ;^5 18,924 and ;^ 1,1 69,780,
but the surplus of ;jf44,988 has dropped to ^^2 1,687,
the expenditures amounting to ;!f473,926 and
;^ 1, 1 48,093. Her debt reaches ^^8,060,354 — a
respectable amount for a country numbering only
about 45,000 white people. In 1891 her deficit
amounted to ;^968,38o, mainly representing expen-
diture on railways and on works under loan funds.
In 1873, when the railways became Government
property, the total length in Cape Colony was only
28 In New South Africa.
about sixty-three miles, and consisted of a railway
from Cape Town to Wellington, whereas in 1894
there were no less than 2,253 n^iles, carrying a total
of 1,003,221 tons of goods, and no less than
5,977,078 passengers in the year. There are
three systems — the Western, the Eastern, and the
Midland ; the first-named extends from Cape Town
through Kimberley, and soon will reach Bulawayo,
with a few minor branches ; the Midland starts from
Port Elizabeth and crosses the Orange River into
the Free State, and the third, the least extensive,
consists of a line connecting East London with
the main line in the Free State, and branching to
several inland towns. There are thus four ports in
the Colony possessing railway communication with
the interior.
The Natal railways have made considerable
progress within the last fourteen years, for at the
beginning of that period only ninety-eight miles
existed, 399 miles now being open, from Durban to
Charlestown on the Transvaal frontier, and a branch
from Ladysmith on the same line to Harrismith, in the
Free State. Now that the extension to Johannes-
burg is completed, the line will become a formidable
rival to the already established Cape lines for the
traffic of the Transvaal, no inconsiderable matter ;
even in 1894 (before the completion) the receipts
The Land of Gold and the way there. 29
overbalanced the outgoings by ;^ 17 1,809, the ton-
nage carried being 336,553, and also 649,136
passengers. These figures represent a considerable
decrease on those of 1891 and 1892.
The present imports and exports of the two
colonies are interesting when compared with those
of the same period of fourteen years before.
Including diamonds, the exports from Cape Colony
in 1 88 1 were ;i^8,396,9o8 in value, as against
;;^ 1 3,696,538 in 1 891, with a decreased diamond
output, the imports for the same years being
£g,22'],iji, falhng to ;^3, 799,261 in 1886, and
rising again to ^^ 11,298,645 in 1894; an increase
of ;^5,299,63o in the exports, and of ;,^2, 07 1,474
in the imports.
In Natal a very different state of matters prevails,
for though the exports have largely increased, they
are very much less in value than the imports. The
former represented the sum of ;^768,o38 in the year
ending June, 1881, and ;^i, 216,430 in 1895, ^"*^
the latter ;^ 1,91 2, 856 against ;;^2,37o,022, a solid
increase of ;^448,392 in the exports and ;^457,i66
in the imports. These figures again show a
decrease from those of 1891.
It is well known that the wine industry is now a
most important one in Cape Colony, and it is worth
recording of a growing and successful trade that in
30 hi New South Africa.
1895 no less than 5,384,129 gallons of wine and
1,725,256 gallons of brandy and other spirits were
produced.
The export of ostrich feathers, too, has assumed
large proportions, though the amount produced is
fifty per cent, more than that of 1884 (realising but
half the amount) ; it is much less than the immense
result of 1886, when feathers for some time previous
had commanded a high price and had encouraged
many to enter the trade, with the result that with
a change in capricious fashion, or through over-
production, their value fell. An illustration of the
fluctuation in prices obtained is given by the fact
that while in 1882, 253,9541b. fetched ;2f 1,093,989, in
1888, 259,9671b. fetched only £^4.'],jg2. The yield
in 1894 amounted to 350,4041b., value £ ^"j 'j ,4.1 4..
Perhaps the greatest staple export is that of wool,
which is produced extensively all over the Colony.
An idea of the expansion of this trade is obtained
on learning that the export doubled between 1877
and 1892, reaching 75,520,7oilbs. ; unfortunately its
value has decreased in inverse ratio, Australia com-
peting heavily, and gaining the market by the
greater care taken in sorting.
The trouble caused by the disease known as
" scab," which was successfully grappled with in
Australia, has, owing to the conservative opposition
The Land of Gold and the way there. 31
of a section of the farmers, caused a diminution in
the yield.
The diamond discoveries have inevitably given a
unique interest to the trade of South Africa ; the
first stone, having been found near the Orange River
by a Bushman boy, yielded ;;^5oo to the two men
who knew sufficient to appreciate its value, and buy
it for a small sum from the Boer into whose hands
it had drifted. Since that discovery the main
centre of the diamond fields drifted from the Banks
of the Vaal River at Barkley West to the diamond
bearing rocks of Kimberley, and the output of
stones in 1870, only ;^ 153,460 in value, became in
1887 no less than ;^4, 25 1,670, and in 1894 fell
again to ;^3, 350,635. It is brought home to us
that wonders have not yet ceased to happen in
these regions, when we read that within a year or two
an enormous diamond, measuring three inches in
height by two in width and one and a quarter
across, was found in the Jagersfontein Mine, and it
is probable that, as it stood, it could claim to be the
largest diamond existing.
The production of copper by the mines of
Namaqualand, south of the mouth of the Orange
River, has at times attained a very considerable
quantity ; the fact of its existence in this locality is
ancient history in " New " Africa, and it has been
32 In New South Africa.
more or less worked for forty years. Taken alto-
gether the rate of production since 1864 shows a
steady increase, putting aside the years during which
the " Copper Ring" conducted its operations, when
the African production increased fully fifty per cent.
It is worthy of notice that while in 1864, 4,323 tons
were worth ;;^io2,6o2, in 1891, 23,691 tons were
worth only £2^4,184..
The coal deposits of Cape Colony form the
southern extremity of an extensive field, ranging
from near Molteno in the colony, through the
west of the Free State, and through inland Natal
to Middleburgh in the Transvaal, and to the borders
of Swaziland. It is but little worked in the colony,
but the fortunate proximity of the goldfields in the
Transvaal has led to much greater development, the
output in 1894 being 679,337 tons, and in Natal
there are several mines worked more or less profit-
ably, the output here being in 1891 over 87,000 tons.
The coal in many districts, it is important to state, is,
in many cases, of poor quality compared with home,
some having a calorific value only about equal to
that of wood. Natal is more fortunate in this
respect, the coal almost rivalling that of Yorkshire.
The most important product of the country,
unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately — depending
on the point of view from which it is looked at —
The Land of Gold and the way there. 33
leaves Cape Colony almost entirely neglected, for,
although gold exists in many districts, it is only at
Knysna that it has been found to exist in anything
like paying quantities, and these, indeed, are
insignificant when compared with the riches dis-
covered far north. It is also said to exist in an
almost unapproachable part of Namaqualand in
apparently paying quantities.
Since the discovery of gold at Lydenburg and
the Murchison range in 1869 and 1870, discoveries
have followed in quick succession, just in time to
save the Transvaal from bankruptcy. Barberton is
yet a goose with golden eggs, though since 1886,
when the Witwatersrand became known to the
world as a gold field of fabulous extent and richness,
interest has declined to some extent. It is
unnecessary to enumerate all the districts where
the precious metal is now found ; suffice it to say
that north, east, and south of this extraordinary
land the deposits extend, and increasingly tempt
adventurers to test their commercial value.
It is almost an impossibility to ascertain with any
exactness what amount of gold has been extracted
from South African soil during the last twenty years,
as much has been exported through Delagoa Bay
and by private individuals ; but the returns of that
passing through Cape Colony and Natal show thai
D
34 ^n New South Africa.
it amounts to no less a sum than ^^25,267,481,
dating from the beginning of 1871 and ending
December, 1894, of which no less than ;^7, 370,058
were contributed during 1894.
At the same time, and this will give some idea
of the immensity of the prospect before the country,
we will look to the portion of the future output already
practically ascertained. This was enormous even
before 1893, ^^^ before half the year was finished,
a discovery was made by boring on the property of
the Simmer and Jack Mine, which opens up a
prospect almost appalling in its magnitude. After
persistent and untiring perseverance, and repeated
disappointments, at the depth, hitherto unparalleled
on the Rand, of 2,343 feet, the main reef was
struck. What this means is well illustrated by the
following figures. It is regarded as proved that here
lies a fresh body of ore, amounting to no less than
458,000,000 tons, worth at one ounce per ton (a
probably fair estimate) the enormous sum of
;;^ 1, 603 ,000, 000. It was calculated at the time that
it would take all the then available stamping re-
sources of the Rand, some 2000 stamps in all, no
less than 187 years to deal with this. Recent trials
of the first body of ore mined from deep levels are
said to have given results which do not bear out the
above calculation.
The Land of Gold and the way there. 35
This result relates only to one portion of the
Rand, about forty miles in length, and even this may
become insignificant in the future, for it is to be
remembered that this is but a small portion of
the enormous gold-producing areas, as yet hardly
scratched, which are dotted over this immense
expanse of country. While such eventualities are
possible, it is hardly to be expected that the less
attractive though valuable mineral riches will be
exhaustively or even seriously drawn upon, so that
the outlook for South Africa is one which is brilliant
indeed.
Day by day come reports of the most encouraging
nature of the gold discoveries in Rhodesia, showing
positively that rich deposits exist over an enormous
area, giving promise of an abundant future.
Though now but about a fortnight's journey from
the old country, that fortnight may sever lives, nor
is it to be wondered at therefore that the same
old scene which repeats itself at every vessel's
departure, occurs once more at Southampton in
December, 189 — , as the noble s.s. Scot leaves the
wharf and Old England. Handkerchiefs and hats
wave in the breeze, and the youth on our left cries
broken farewells to the mother who was lying under
D 2
36 In New South Africa.
the sod when he reached Africa. The scramble of
getting on board, of searching for baggage amongst
the multitudinous and odd collection of every kind
of trunk, portmanteau, or box, piled up on the
gangway, is fatiguing, but when once the huge
white vessel, with her two great cream-coloured
funnels and graceful bows, is moving down
Southampton Water, and W. H. Smith and Son's
newspaper boys are packing their papers ready to
go ashore with the mail boat, for which we wait
some distance farther on, the fresh sea air invigorates
and refreshes the passengers. There stands Netley
Hospital, extending its great wings along the shore,
there lies peacefully the steam yacht from which
Lord and Lady join us. The evening quietness
as we glide down the darkness of the Solent, with
the flashing Hght of the Needles Lighthouse in our
eyes, and the long, sombre, sinister shore stretching
on either side, but half distinguishable, is only
disturbed by the swish of the passing waves, the
occasional harsh orders of the pilot aloft in the
gloom, and the hum of many voices below. This
was the last of Old England, and in its default, after
a tiring day, the narrow bunk in our spacious cabin
possessed an irresistible fascination. Then, perhaps,
to a novice, comes the time of greatest contrast
with life ashore. Instead of space there are four
The Land of Gold and the way there. 37
narrow bunks in one cabin ; instead of motionless
calm there is a never ceasing wave movement ;
instead of dead quietness there is the swirl of the
water only a few inches from the head, and the
regular, penetrating yet subdued, thud, thud of the
engines, to which one becomes so accustomed that
not only is it unnoticed, but sleep is disturbed if, by
the stoppage of the engines, it is absent.
Lord Randolph Churchill complained of the
cuisine of one of the great South African steam-
ships when he took his memorable journey, but on
board ship there is always a class of people who
find the monotony of the voyage too much for
their superabundance of mental energy, and perhaps,
naturally following the lines of Isaac Watts's
inspiration, " Satan finds, &c.," their attention is
turned to discovering faults and defects which need
these voyagers' genius to disclose and denounce.
As a matter of fact, it is the writer's experience
that while some things may not always be perfect,
the food as a rule is excellent. It was notice-
able, however, that the cuisine on board the Scot
possessed but meagre attraction for the majority of
her passengers during the early part of her voyage.
It is needless to enter into details other than that
the sad, hollow cheeked, consumptive individuals
of the Bay of Biscay, sprawling about in deck
38 In New South Africa.
chairs or on saloon sofas, marvellously recovered
their vigour before the balmy atmosphere of Madeira
was reached, and in truth by the time Christmas
had come, their overflowing health and buoyant
energies were painfully apparent.
One cannot help being impressed by the rapidity
with which the temperature changes as we steam
southward at the rate of twenty miles an hour ; the
morning after our embarkment was perceptibly
milder, and, but the second day from England, left
in frost and snow, we were pacing the 200 feet of
promenade decks without the slightest need of
overcoats. A wish that England were only two
days further south may perhaps be forgiven one.
That Madeira should be reached at night is
disappointing, an excursion into a strange town all
asleep and without a moon, offering no very tempting
inducement. As soon as the anchor was dropped,
the vessel was surrounded by phantoms of small
boats tossing about in the black invisible something
we knew to be sea, and manned by lithe figures in
white, active and agitated. Two minutes later,
climbing catlike up out of black space, anywhere
over the vessel's side, came tumbling numbers of
swarthy, lightly - clad Portuguese, who secured
positions on the deck, and then hauled up a most
strange medley of wares after them, the whole being
The Land of Gold and the way there. 39
accompanied by a bustling, yelling, pushing and
crush, better heard of than experienced. Three of
us determined to go ashore despite the darkness
and the hour, so that we missed the agony of the
coaling operations, and the intermittent din of the
donkey engine, during the six hours' stay, and the
possibility — a probability at Lisbon — of being rowed
half way to the ship on the way back, and then
submitted to the pleasing experience of being
informed that you will not reach the ship unless
you " shell out ! "
It was the strangest feeling as we stepped down
the brilliant gangway over the ship's side amongst
these dark, wildly gesticulating gentlemen, and
entered the most foreign-looking craft that can be
imagined, then pushed and crowded our way in the
dark waters, with many a yell and curse on the part
of the boatmen directed against the occupants of
the ghostly shapes continually crossing our path,
showing for an instant that they were boats, then
becoming invisible again, lost in the darkness. Our
ship looked strangely weird as we left her, none of
her shape being distinguishable against the black
sky, and her electric lamps making her seem
simply an agglomeration of irregularly distributed
brilliancies. The town in front of us, from the
water's edge to far up the looming hill behind, was
40 In New South Africa.
a mass of twinkling lights, faintly repeated in the
shimmering uncertainty of the moving water, full,
at our bows and in our wake, of sparkling phos-
phorescence. There being no pier or landing stage,
the prospect of landing from these frail boats
through the surf on to the steep and stony beach
in such thick darkness was sufficiently lively, but
directly we touched the shore in the midst of the
breakers, the boat was seized by well accustomed
hands and dragged somewhat farther up ; the
opportunity comes as a wave recedes, a jump is
made, and the visitor makes his first acquaintance
with this volcanic island at a scrambling run,
ignominiously chased by the wave following rattling
over the loose shingle. Then do we find pande-
monium let loose ; safe and dry on shore we
discover ourselves the centre of a crowd all talking
en haute voix, and each individual doing his
energetic best to persuade us to take his particular
bullock sledge (the peculiar conveyance of Madeira).
Beggars too, galore. Being the first to arrive on
shore, we are in the position of three unhappy
files besieged by a legion of spiders.
Choosing our vehicle, we enter ; it possesses
no wheels, having in their places runners which
slide smoothly enough over the kidney stones set
on edge with which the streets are paved. Our
The Land of Gold and the way there. 41
steeds are bullocks, well adapted for a place
where there is but a single road with the slightest
pretension to being level. The town looks indeed
asleep as we pass along the deserted streets and
take a glimpse into the darkness of the small,
narrow, mysterious - looking alleys, crooked and
winding, which we have neither the time nor the
inclination to penetrate at that hour. On either
side are buildings — southern indeed in character,
picturesquely irregular, all white, some low roofed
and narrow^, others many - angled and reaching
apparently high into the moonless sky ; all with
hardly an exception have windows closed and
strongly shuttered, and massive doors firmly barred,
absurdly creating the impression that revolution or
riot might at any time be possible in this peaceful
island, and should always be guarded against.
Sleeping we found Funchal, sleeping we left it.
On our floating home the innumerable human ants,
black and active, were yet delving and digging the
coal out of the huge lighters which had been towed
brimful alongside ere we had left the ship. Still
they slaved, grimy, goblinlike and shrill-voiced,
one or another occasionally dropping exhausted,
perilously near the seething, rushing water. Below
we found the senior member of our party calmly
sleeping the sleep of the just, while the ship's
42 In New South Africa.
donkey engine made night hideous by its inter-
mittent racket a few feet over his head. The new
moon now shed her insufficient Hght on the scene,
and a strange sight to be seen by its aid was that
of the leaky cockleshells of boats, manned each by
a tiny copper-coloured lad or two in simple coverings
of white cotton. Their white, lithe figures, active
as cats, gleamed against the dark background
in the rays of the electric light ; even in the
darkness they shouted for silver " bits " to be
thrown into the water, and in spite of the strong
tide running, in they jumped, and before the coin
sank six feet deep had recovered it. They swim
like fish ; indeed one man who attempted to cheat
was unceremoniously pitched overboard, this trifling
incident merely causing him to chaff the quarter-
master, as he laughingly climbed into a boat.
At eight o'clock next morning, four hours after
witnessing this scene, we came on deck to find the
ship had long weighed anchor and was even out of
sight of land, the most noticeable feature being an
extraordinary eruption of Madeira chairs.
One of the peculiarities of the Scot is that
regularly on both the outward and homeward trip
she sights all land at night, naturally a source of
much disappointment to passengers. The Peak of
Tenerife, therefore, was only just to be found, as we
The Land of Gold and the way there. 43
passed the Canary Islands the next night, by those
whose eyes were of the sharpest, and Cape Verd,
much farther south, was only to be distinguished
by its two lighthouses, though we passed near and
signalled our name with Roman candles. Cape
Verd is in the French colony of Senegambia ; the
principal commercial town, Dakar, on the peninsula
of Cape Verd, being inhabited by about 1200
negroes and 400 French. The weather is now
becoming thoroughly warm, and to take a glimpse
down the deck is to obtain a lesson in luxury and
laziness. The rays from the broiling sun are
screened from the promenade deck by long stretches
of awning ; forms are extended everywhere on the
Madeira chairs, and the general atmosphere is one
of listless anxiety not to be troubled to think or
talk, much less to move, save to periodically absorb
a cooling drink. There are one or two exceptions,
however, to this state of torpor, who by their
restless energy, undeterred by heat or motion,
pursue their interminable, exasperating walks up
and down the deck, drawing upon themselves the
languid execrations of those who find even the
thought of exercise revolting in such heat, the
sight of it alone constituting in itself an implied
reproach. People now begin to talk of sleeping on
deck at night, though this is discouraged, as it is
44 In, New South Africa.
held that with an offshore wind there is danger of
fever being borne from the low malarial coast line.
Beyond this coast line stretches " Darkest Africa,"
that unsolved problem, with its teeming millions and
all the romance of its dark mysteries. For the
realisation of a great future it possesses enormous
potentialities and wealth, and while its past is
obscure and hazy, it yet contains a record of grand
achievements and of heart-breaking tragedies, the
whole ennobled by the heroism of those who have
spent and lost lives of self-abnegation and privation
in the task of opening this vast continent to the
light of civilisation.
From this coast, and stretching south and east
the length of the Guinea Coast, Ashanti, Dahomey,
Benin, and the Niger Delta, the Cameroons and
many other places, the millions of slaves were
exported whose descendants now form the great
black nation in America. Between 1680 and 1780
over a million were transported by English vessels
alone, while as many as two millions and more were
conveyed by those of other nations. The effect
which civilisation had upon them, one to be regretted
though hardly to be marvelled at as it manifested
itself to them in the shape of slavery, appeared
at one time to indicate that after a prolonged
experience of the methods of civilised government,
The Land of Gold and the way there. 45
but little idea of it was impressed upon them,
collectively speaking, and when the children and
grandchildren of the original slaves were trans-
planted to the old soil, and the two provinces of
Liberia and Maryland formed, their tendency
appeared to be to degenerate into enervated and
demoralised replicas of the barbarians, their ances-
tors. Happily this tendency cannot be said to have
confirmed itself in recent years. The experiment,
from which much was expected, though not fulfilling
the Utopian anticipations of its promoters, can by
no means be said to have proved a failure. We
cross the line, a prosaic proceeding nowadays,
and in 6^ south latitude are level with one of
Africa's greatest rivers, the mighty Congo, pene-
trating the continent to the heart, permitting of
the establishment of a European state at its centre,
and, with the Zambesi, almost forming a great
though interrupted waterway from the west coast
to the east.
To return to our vessel. The fourteen days of the
voyage pass sufficiently quickly, and life on board
ship is too well known in these days for any
description to possess special interest. The ordinary
events occur, the excitement over the first flying
fish seen dies and exists not as we proceed and
see them in thousands, while the huge ungainly
46 In New South Africa.
whale and rolling porpoises in their speed put our
12,000 horse power to shame.
A strange scene is to be witnessed at night, one
of those of peculiar and distinctive character, with
something of the weird in them, which vividly
impress the mind and remain clear recollections
when most else has vanished. The deck quarters
of the third-class passengers are shared by the
seamen and stokers. The quarters are low and
roomy, situated on the main deck, with the first-
class promenade deck overlooking them from
forward, and the second-class from aft, both being
almost level with the enormous awning, sloping
roof-like over it. It is crowded with a motley
assembly of people, who are as varied in their
occupations. We see strange groupings in the dim
yellow light and black shadows — there are exhausted
firemen lying motionless wherever they can get a
trifling draught of air, stretched on the hard hatch
gratings in an abandon of ease and in every con-
ceivable attitude ; they heed not the sailor singing
the latest music hall ditty to an uproariously
approving group of men, women and children, any
more than does the woman seated by the dim but
heavy shape of the steam winch tending her baby ;
so peaceful is she, that seeing her one would not
dream that at her right, left, and all around her,
The Land of Gold and the way there. 47
was a mixed medley of sights, sounds, and of
strange humanity, which to her [apparently is as
non-existent as a phantasy. And all around is the
dim sea, rushing, rising, falling, in dark vague
contrast.
To return to the brilliant light of the saloon deck,
a villainous band, veritably a " scratch " one so far
as the fiddles are concerned, is engaged in a melan-
choly fashion in extracting Terpsichorean exertions
from a variegated crowd of perspiring individuals
in fancy dress. Ally Sloper being, perhaps, the
warmest about the head, and the Highlander the
coolest about the legs, the improvised tartan kilt
occasionally failing its wearer. Then on another
evening there is the mock trial, when the skipper
exerts his oratorical and judicial powers, his favourite
exclamation being " Great Scot ! " the languid lord
for once forsakes his scarf knitting (can this be the
usual mental relaxation of our hereditary legislators ?),
our brilliant advocate proves truth to be a mass of
irreconcilable contradictions, the " usher " is better
described as the " husher," and the jury finally
retires to discuss not the verdict so much as " Moet
and Chandon."
The voyage is drawing to a close as Christmas
approaches ; even yet the sweepstakes on the day's
run continue to excite keen interest, the main
48 In New South Africa.
feature now being the absence of the plunging
American widow, whose reckless behaviour had
attracted general attention. Life quickens slightly
as we near Cape Town, indeed it becomes almost
fast on the occasion of the smoking concert when
the ladies invaded the smoke room, and even the
highest among them demonstrated the equality of
the sexes in the consumption of cigarettes and
cocktails, and then retired late to bed. That
night was weird with unearthly noises, for yells,
anathemas and " langwidge," resounded in muffled
tones from cabin to cabin, destroying the rest of
decent folks. Morning light discovered some pre-
maturely and unconsciously grey with the flour
spread over their pillows ; others indignant, amused,
or silent on the score of finding a prickly reception
accorded their limbs and cheeks by the holly
artfully concealed in bed or pillow. This Sunday
is all bustle and preparation, even " M the
Fool," ceases his insanities and buries himself in
his trunks. At ten or eleven that night the solitary
light of Robben Island, home of lepers, criminals,
and madmen, is seen shedding its unhappy light
over the waters, a dread warning to mariners and
all humanity ; forward of the bridge in the cold
night air stands an expectant crowd vainly
attempting to discover the outline of Table
The Land of Gold and the way there. 49
Mountain, invisible even after the twinkling lights
of Cape Town cease to draw nearer, and the clank,
clank of the iron cable announces our arrival at
the moorings for the night.
CHAPTER II.
ACROSS DESERT AND VELDT.
Awakening early we find ourselves already along-
side the wharf, our first gaze being directed at
crowds of men so veritably black that the coal they
carry into our hold has no visible colouring effect
on the occasionally large patches of epidermis
brought to view. On the other side of the vessel
is that most characteristic pile, Table Mountain,
its long flat top and sheer precipitous cliffs, ever
guarding the peaceful town extended sleeping at
its feet, giving it an air of majestic and rugged
individuality hardly to be dreamed of ; while a
delicate mist hangs over the city, gradually rising
and melting into nothing as the sun increases in
power.
A Malay cab driver, with bronze complexion and
expression of Asiatic guile, takes us rapidly through
the maze of shipping, and for three miles under a
glorious sun we follow the coast line, rounding the
shoulder of Signal Hill, passing scores of white
verandahed villas covered with luxurious creepers
Across Desert and Veldt. 51
and brilliant flowers. Under the Lion's Head, that
dependent of Table Mountain which adds so greatly
to its striking effect, we stay ; and in our temporary
residence, long, low-roofed, and startlingly white
against the brilliant sky, we make our first acquaint-
ance with South Africa and Seapoint. From the
verandah we view a glorious stretch of the Southern
Ocean, its heart beats resounding on the white
and jagged shore in listless and regular monotony.
Separating it from us is a gently sloping garden,
picturesquely intersected with regular rows of green
shrubs, and an occasional sea-green aloe rearing its
long stalk and hairbrush - looking branches ; the
scene glows with vivid colour and light, and
impresses one with a sense of a state which, how-
ever peaceful and calm, is throbbing and pulsating
with all the subdued strength of intense existence.
A train carries us again into Cape Town, where
many a trace of the old Dutch rule remains, that
which causes most grateful remembrance being the
grand oak avenue planted by the first Dutch
Governor, Van Riebeek, about 1653. This was
originally nearly a mile and a half long, and cannot
now be much, if at all, short of a mile. Van Riebeek
could have chosen no surer way of keeping green
his memory in this hot climate.
On both sides of this charming resort are public
E 2
52 In New South Africa.
buildings and private residences ; some from their
look might have been transplanted bodily from
Delft or Leyden, and, fronting the avenue, now lie
surrounded by palms and the varied luxury of
sub-tropical vegetation. Lounging round, or taking
the afternoon walk, are members of apparently
every nationality ; more conspicuous than any are
the Malay women with their olive skins. These
women's great peculiarity lies in their apparent
desire to emulate the effect of the crinoline over
almost the whole of their anatomy ; not satisfied
with this, they attempt also to outvie the rainbow
in the variety, crudeness, and gorgeousness of their
coloured silks or cottons.
The Malay population of Cape Colony (not a
very popular one), numbers about i i,ooo ; they live
mainly in or about Cape Town, and were in the first
instance brought by the Dutch from their East
Indian possessions, taking firm root here, and now
constituting with the " Cape Boy" (descendants of
Dutch and Kaflfir or Hottentot), the bulk of the
labouring classes in those kinds of labour where
great exertion is not called for ; in the markets
they are everywhere, and of the cab drivers, fisher-
men, laundresses, fruit sellers, most are Malay.
Some grow rich, and one sees many famihes taking
their drives in Cape carts with an air of ease
Across Desert and Veldt. 53
and affluence. They profess Mohammedanism, and,
as might be expected of an Eastern people, their
great drawback is their unsanitary habits ; over-
crowding and filth are rampant even among the
best of them, and they are the despair of sanitary
authorities. They get hold of decent houses, as
they pay higher rents, when two or three families
crowd into each, and render their neighbourhood
insupportable for Europeans. During the frightful
small-pox epidemic of 1884, when 3000 persons
died in Cape Town alone, the main mortality was
amongst them, it being impossible to vaccinate
them and to get them to observe the most
elementary precautions. So much for an unsavoury
subject.
The Cape was already a colony in the time of
Cromwell, but it had been discovered and rounded
long before, by Diaz in i486, and Vasco di Gama
in 1497, simply being used by the Portuguese in
after years as a calling station. The first settlers
were a few Dutch farmers sent out by the Dutch
East India Company ; these, with the French
refugees who later joined them, farmed the land
and traded with the natives in the immediate
vicinity of Cape Town. The absurd and restrictive
rule of the Dutch governors interfered greatly
with commerce and cultivation, and, forming the
54 ^n New South Africa.
precedent which has proved throughout such a
characteristic feature in the development of the
new South African nation, they packed up their
impedimenta on an ox-waggon, which also for the
time constituted their home, and went forth into
the wilderness, face to face with every kind of
danger, from lurking, relentless foes, from famine or
drought. There is something grand m the strength
of character and sinew which enabled them to do
this, and it is sad that isolation and the lack of
any civilising restraint should, more particularly in
the Transvaal, have distorted this valuable trait into
a hatred of any kind of government, into a stub-
bornness in their refusal to accept the ameliorating
influences of the civilisation from w^hich they had
for so long been separated, into a capability for
harsh treatment of the natives whom they con-
quered and enslaved, and into content with an exis-
tence almost purely animal in its lack of ambition or
incentive to improvement Such a character is
bound, inevitably, to depreciate as time passes, and
it is said that the Boers are the only example of a
white race which has retrograded in the face of the
savage. Living for generations away from any
government or any civilisation, in daily conflict
with the crafty Hottentots and Kaflfirs, when cruelty
and torture were resorted to on both sides, and
Across Desert and Veldt. 55
each man had to trust to his own right hand only
in ceaseless sanguinary encounters, these men^
skilled in fighting single-handed both savage
man and savage nature, became possessed of a
sturdy independence, as well as of an intolerable
bigotry and self-righteousness which have been
seldom equalled. A strange faith is the keynote of
their character, and one which has dominated their
every act. Believing themselves to be a second
edition of the Israelites, and drawing a parallel
between their own circumstances and those of the
chosen people, they take the Old Testament as
their only guide, and openly assert that they are
God's elect, and that the Hottentots, Bushmen, and
Kaffirs are so many Canaanites, Amalekites, or
Amorites, whom it is their right and duty to dis-
possess and subjugate or destroy ; every bloody
act committed and every tract of land wrested from
the natives, has been said in devout language to be a
duty directly imposed upon them and sanctioned by
the Divine Being, and for every such deed and
incident they will quote a dozen of the more san-
guinary passages in the Old Testament. This, as
may be imagined, has been made the cover for count-
less acts of persecution and enslavement, the moral
effect of which on the victors can readily be
appreciated. At the same time, and we found it in
56 In New South Africa.
several instances during the Transvaal War, the
simple undoubting faith that God was on their
side and would lead them to certain victory was
marvellous and beautiful.
Combined with other causes, hatred and defiance
of authority have ever made the condition of this
people a most difficult problem to deal with in
South Africa. They rebelled against Dutch rule
in 1795, after having spread over a large portion of
what now is Cape Colony, and became recognised
as English subjects in 181 5. The determination of
England to root out slavery, and to punish the
dreadful cruelties practised by the Boers on their
Hottentot slaves, was the first cause of Boer dis-
satisfaction with English rule ; the mere fact that
there existed a government, and also that it made
them pay taxes, no doubt proving distasteful to
these very free children of the wilds. However
this may be, about 1834 the discontent came to
a climax, and under the lead of a man named
Bezuidenhout, whose brother, with several of his
followers, lost his life as a refugee from justice, a
rising ensued which terminated in a wholesale
"trek" on the part of the Boer farmers in three
parties, one of which settled on the tract of land
between the Orange River and the Vaal River,
whilst another crossed the Vaal, founding the
Across Desert and Veldt. 57
Transvaal, and the third proceeded to Natal. A
comment on the morality of the Boers at this
time lies in the fact that there is now settled on a
territory once known as " No Man's Land," and
now as Griqualand, a nation called Griquas or
Baastards, numbering over 120,000 souls, the
descendants of the half-caste progeny of the Boers
and their Hottentot slaves. The pure-blooded
Hottentots are now hardly to be seen, they were
exterminated, or driven with that lowest form of
humanity, the Bushmen, into the remote wilds,
and are almost a race of the past.
To resume the record of our journeyings. Time
presses us, and, to make the most of what remains,
we determine to take the famous drive to Hout's
Bay and round Table Mountain. Our vehicle is
an ordinary landau, but to English eyes it is
extraordinary in the number of horses harnessed to
it, on account of the heavy and long gradients to be
traversed ; though the road is a magnificent one
the whole way, four horses are deemed necessary,
forming quite an imposing turn out We proceed
south and along the coast in the direction of the
Cape of Good Hope, eighteen miles away.
Leaving the rugged mass of the Lion's Head
apparently blocking the way behind us, on our
right are the blue rollers breaking on the gleaming
58 In New South Africa.
white granite boulders, rounded and probably fallen
from the majestic cliffs at whose feet we crawl
along. Two thousand feet sheer, indented, serrated,
and frowning, it might be thought that some giant
hands had built an impregnable iron-bound fortress
whose citadels stand secure amongst the clouds ;
twelve grand abutments face the ocean, and bear
the name of "The Twelve Apostles." Though in
the midst of summer, the breeze is distinctly chilly,
and broken clouds herald the approach of rain,
most unusual at this time of the year ; during this
excursion, however, we are favoured by the rains
holding off, and as we strike inland, or rather
across the neck of a peninsula, we see the sun
brilliantly lighting up the patch of shining white
sand near Hout's Bay.
The flowering shrubs are magnificent, and in
addition, geraniums, queer, awkward, prickly cacti,
with their red or yellow flowers, and blossoms of
many kinds, white, crimson, or blue, are in profusion.
Here and there we note small farmhouses, probably
with Dutch occupants, and strips of land growing
maize and other crops.
Having some time to spend here, we stroll down
to the beach, where, as it is Bank Holiday, many
townspeople have resorted with their families, and
having outspanned the horses from their capacious
Across Desert and Veldt. 59
vehicles, are making what in AustraHa would be
called "billy" tea, and enjoying the scene to the
full. The striking feature of the beaches in this
district is the huge white boulders, and in the scene
now before us they play no unimportant part, for,
with the thick bush, rich in colour, sloping precipi-
tately down to them, they stand in shining contrast
to the purple, rugged hills looming behind them
across the water. Sheltered from the wind, the air
is deliciously warm, so that the calm blue sea and
the tongue of a persuasive companion invite to a
bathe. That discretion is the better part of valour
is quickly proved, however, when the black fins of
sharks are pointed out to us at a little distance from
the line of breakers. Even the presence of these
undesirable fellow bathers did not, however, prevent
some foolhardy persons from entering the water.
Passing the picturesque little police station, we
interview Sergeant Furlong, of the Cape Mounted
Police, clad in his brown semi-military uniform and
helmet. He informs us that the neighbourhood
abounds with the deadly puff-adder, numbers of
which he has killed, exhibiting at the same time
the jacket of one which he had found on the road
the previous day ; it is, perhaps, unnecessary to add
that the skin has since found its way to Europe.
Arrived at the hotel, where lunch was said to be
6o In New South Africa,
awaiting us, we find ourselves amongst a very
hungry Bank Holiday crowd, and by the exercise of
a httle ingenuity, after being warned by the landlady
that we had better not show our noses in the
dining-room before she gives us permission, we take
up a position just outside the door, with half a score
of eager impatient ones behind us. The jokes after
the lapse of fifteen or twenty minutes become of a
more serious description, but, the landlady's temper
having a certain reputation, it is some time before
a bold and daring spirit behind us musters up
courage, passes us, and enters the room. Whether
it be dynamite, the noise of ordinary kitchen missiles,
or merely the tyrant's tongue and boot, we never
shall know, but that young man's exit is made with
a peculiar speed and a rueful countenance, whilst
his companions find in him and his rout the means
of rendering less irksome the dreary waiting. The
main feature of a badly served meal, where a long
arm, a quick eye, and a by no means silent tongue
are much in requisition, is the very smart and nimble
waiting of the black skinned maid — the only person
to attend to about forty guests.
From Hout's Bay we pass to the rear of the
huge cliffs, whose tops are now sharp and clear in
the noonday sun, and which occasionally slope
precipitously down to the road. Here and there
Across Desert and Veldt. 6\
we pass an oak tree, relic of the past Dutch
possession, and with perhaps as changeful a future
before it.
Rising all the time, with Table Mountain to the
left, we reach the crest of the hill and view a
magnificent panorama ; a long stretch of the bluest
of seas, and the strange shapes of grotesque and
dimly clear mountains in the far distance, while
below us winds the road through the thick brush-
wood or the long grass of the slopes and shoulders
of Table Mountain, shaded in places by the white
and soft metallic leaves of the Leucodendron
argenteuin, or silver tree, whose silvery sheen is
the admiration of every visitor. Farther on, beau-
tiful Constantia, with the vineyards, the luscious
strawberries and cream at Newlands Avenue, the
magnificently wooded suburb Wynberg, are posses-
sions of which Cape Town may be proud.
Our train stands in the station ready for its
thousand miles journey ; it is after ten at night, and
the long sleeping cars (for this is the weekly mail
train) are filled with passengers, some returning to
feverish work after a too brief holiday, pleasure
seekers, or " new chums " starting with enthusiasm
and determination to the Land of Ophir. Each car
has a narrow passage running along one side of it,
and each is divided into two sections, off which
62 In New South Africa.
are curtained compartments for four persons. A
folding table runs down the middle, affording scant
room for movement ; and a folding shelf, for it is no
more, can be let down from above each seat, thus
forming the third and fourth beds.
Three nights and two days are to be spent on
the cars, and American recollections had pictured
beds comfortably made with pillows, blankets, and
sheets. We are disagreeably surprised, for to our
consternation we discover that absolutely nothing
is provided for the comfort and convenience of
passengers in this particular. This has since been
remedied.
Still rising, 2700 feet during the night, it becomes
very cold in the mountain air, and the single over-
coat for covering, hand-bag for pillow, and hard,
unyielding shelf, are not the most favourable
conditions for inducing sleep, coupled with the
racket and the vibration of the moving cars. Still,
it appears to trouble none of the weary souls, who
pass through the wild and rugged scenery of the
far-famed Hex River Pass without so much as
even a dream of it, and who wake at five in the
morning to find themselves eternally creeping up, up
the dry and stony gorges. Anxiously and expec-
tantly we scan the scene, drinking in our first
impressions of inland Africa. The colonist would
Across Desert and Veldt. 63
inform you that the country we are passing over
was intensely, monotonously dull, but to the new-
comer, the sight of the rocky gullies, serrated
mountains and steep declivities, with the charac-
teristic fiat-topped kopjes, is novel and full of
engaging possibilities.
It is already hot when the small boy part of the
establishment's personnelle^ in his shirt sleeves and
with a manner distinguished by fresh colonial
brusquerie, lays the cloth on our cramped and
oscillating table, and the black and smiling cook
provides us with an excellent breakfast. As the
day advances, we enter the Great Karroo, or desert
plain, and by this time the sun is beating down on
the brown, parched ground, making the horizon
waveringly uncertain in substance and position. A
small scorched bush covers the ground, looking
dead and dried, yet, strange to say, sheep prefer
this to succulent grass, and can exist on it for days
without water. Occasionally we note a green patch
in the distance, and perhaps a farm dwelling,
indicating a spot where a Boer or other farmer had
sunk a well, and is giving the land the opportunity
of showing what it can do if only it be supplied
with water.
The Karroo is an immense plain at an elevation
of about 2700 feet, and from about 150 to 200
64 In New South Africa.
miles in length ; it has one of the smallest rainfalls
known, and when we were passing through, none
whatever had fallen for months. However, water
is to be found at varying depths in many places,
and a large portion of the area is used for breeding
immense numbers of oxen, sheep, and goats. In
places we see the mimosa bush, with its spiteful-
looking, poisonous thorns, its light green foliage
and brilliant yellow flowers — the only restful colour
in the landscape ; for the absence of grass, and in
its stead the brown-red, rocky earth, trembling in
the heat, is trying in the extreme to the eyes. In
places we run close to the old waggon road, which
the railroad has so completely superseded, and the
ruined houses, unused water-dams, and numberless
bleached bones of oxen show the effect of the
modern mode of progression on what constituted
once a most important source of occupation, and
a lucrative source of income to horse and ox
breeders on the line of route. It was contended
at the time the projected railway was being dis-
cussed that it would open this country up, and that
its proximity to Cape Town and adaptability for
sheep farming would render it a district sought
after wherever water could be found at a reasonable
depth ; the result instead has apparently been to
cripple it, and it would be safe to say that along
Across Desert and Veldt. 65
the line of route the population is now not one-
fourth of what it used to be.
The open platform at the end of the car, though
a dusty position, is a popular one, affording a much
more extended view and often a cooling breeze.
Suddenly our engine slows, whistling continual,
sharp, short notes ; we look ahead, and see, almost
under the wheels of the locomotive, the tail end of
a large herd of cattle, blindly following their leaders
across the line. This is an incident which is often
repeated on account of oxen, sheep, or goats ; at
night they are safely " kraaled " out of the way of
jackals and dingoes, who, with ants and vultures,
have picked clean the bones of many of the
unfortunate animals whose remains we see scattered
over the plains.
Occasionally black scraps of humanity of either
sex pop up out of the bushes or thin grass (for this
gradually begins to make its appearance). These
are the guardians of the herds of cattle, &c., which
are dotted over the rolling veldt ; lonely must be the
lives of these children (for such are the majority),
passing their days alone on the wild vastness of
Africa with cattle or goats, the dingo, meercat, or
anteater for fellows. There, far beyond in the
distance, are the lofty ranges of mountains ever on
our left, and looking, to the speculative " tenderfoot,"
F
66 In New South Africa.
a barrier between the wild unknown and the
civilisation personified in the railroad.
Now and again we stop at a wayside station,
often the only thing six feet above the level of the
plain for miles. Of one in particular we have a
recollection, where we awaited the arrival of the
up train for forty minutes or more. The station-
house constituted apparently the only building in
a vast area ; on three sides the great expanse of
distant veldt was shut from view by nearer undula-
tions, and the long thin line of rails was the only
object which made some change in a scene of
intense monotony ; there stood that little house,
unutterably solitary.
Now was happening the event of the week — the
weekly express mail train, of an average speed of
seventeen miles an hour, stood in the station, full
■of life and news from Cape Town, Old England, and
Europe. Can one not imagine the excitement — the
gathering of neighbouring farmers, their horses
tethered at the rear, the busy importance of the
station-master, and the fuss and bustle ? If you
•expect this to be the case you are sorely mistaken,
for, after the station-master once lounges lazily
out of his door on to the empty platform,
he disappears from our sight, and apparently
leaves the world, or what can be seen of it,
U^iKtiK^
A BOER FARM.
Across Desert and Veldt. 67
to the few travellers who have taken the trouble
to alight. The back of the station-house opens
straight on to the veldt, without garden or dividing
line. In this direction an empty bottle on a stick
naturally proves too much for the stone throwing
propensities of unoccupied youth, and gradually
leads to the discovery that seated at the back is a
young woman with one or two younger men, moonily
oblivious of the burden of fresh life, interest, and
news in the train so near. Close to them is a cart
outspanned. Do these good folk stir ? Not a hair's-
breadth. What is the great throbbing world, outside
and far away, to them ? Why should the weekly
train with its breath of active life and ambition,
its load of enthusiasm and purpose, its sense of
push and progress, move them ? No, they are
African Dutch and unambitious ; they are Boer and
slow of intellect ; they are children of a vast solitude,
and as yet untainted by dreams of a wilder ambition
than of living on their sparsely grass-covered farms
of 6000 acres or so, far separated perhaps from all
humanity, in many instances inhabiting a two-
roomed house, whose floor is a mixture of
cowdung and earth, sleeping in the same room,
male and female, roughly covered, and even
without having so much as a thought of the
formality of undressing, crowded out, perhaps,
F 2
68 In New South Africa.
by a thousand " strangers," crawling and
jumping, — these are the typical Boers, whom the
stranger may find kind and hospitable hosts on
occasion, albeit brusque in manner. Up with the
sun, their interest and occupation lies mainly with
their herds, systematic cultivation of crops claiming
generally only the attention required to supply
them with their daily needs. Of improvements
and progress no trace is to be seen, they are frugal
in the extreme, shortsighted and without initiative ;
they will do the least necessary to earn a living, and
are content, year after year, to produce but just
sufficient to keep themselves and families. At one
place we saw a dead horse rotting, not a hundred
yards from a farm front door. The typical Boer
will look on, indolently smoking, while the Kaffir
servants, who even now are half slaves, do the
drudgery of his work, and are often ill-used for doing
it, for the Boer holds the Kaffir in the light of
an animal, a brute without a soul — the repression by
England of the constant cruelties practised on them
being the great cause of the Boer insurrection.
One day the Boer wakes up, however ; he
becomes energetic, shrewd, and farseeing. His sons
are growing up, they clamour for farms of their
own, and no farm of less than 6000 acres will satisfy
them ; whence is the land to be obtained ? There
Across Desert and Veldt. 69
is none in present Boer possession available. There
are others in the same position ; he receives news
of a " commando," he and his sons take up their
arms, and give the goods which may be requi-
sitioned by the commanding field cornet — their
waggon perhaps may be needed, their oxen, horses
or grain, and none are paid for. Ntabankulu shall
smart, he has let his oxen stray on ground which is
Boer by every process of Boer reasoning, though
never before claimed by them ; Ntabankulu shall be
crushed, and his forfeit shall be one third his
kingdom (and may Boer sons prosper thereon,
and repeat the process from time to time as may
become necessary), may the God of Joshua be
praised, and the Amalekites be blotted out under
His foot, and His chosen people reign in the land.
In personal greed of land, in absolute disregard of
justice, or of the right of possession (save his own),
in cruelties almost unheard of, the Boer stands pre-
eminent when in this mood, yet the simple character
of this untutored being, shrewd and strong, cannot
but command admiration, and that beneath all this
there are sterling and valuable qualities is testified
to by the fact that many who can claim to know
him speak in the highest terms of him.
We leave our Dutch friends to their happy list-
lessness, and our train bears us far away, allowing
yo In New South Africa.
silence to creep once more like a pall over the lonely
dwelling. The whole of this country, from Worcester
to De Aar, has a clear, invigorating, dry atmosphere
of the utmost value to consumptive persons.
The Niewveld range comes to an end beyond
Beaufort West, and further on the railway passes
over an immense plain of very many miles in extent,
and bounded on three sides by lofty though distant
mountain ranges.
The effect of the intensely dry, clear atmosphere
is strange ; half an hour's walk might apparently
span the plain, yet it is twenty miles across ; we
see sixty miles as if five ; ranges look absolutely
close, and details are almost painfully distinct in
the upper portion of the hills. Below, however, and
even dissolving the mountains themselves in places,
is a lovely sheet of pure, silvery water. Trees
surround it, and the purple of the mountains
contrasts in the foreground with the rich fresh
colour of the mimosa bushes and other vegetation,
from which we see suspended the nests of the
weaver bird ; all this, intensified by the realisation
of the immense magnitude of the view, constitutes
a characteristic African scene not easily to be
forgotten.
We move on still, though little changing our
relative position with the mountains ; alas, the cool
Across Desert and Veldt. 71
liquid lake changes its shape and shifts its position,
mountains reappear, trees resolve themselves into
simple veldt, and the mirage passes, leaving one
with an unsatisfied longing.
But a few years back these plains were roamed
over by thousands of gazelles, or bok, of various
kinds. Owing to the unerring rifle of the Boer,
sad to say, they are now comparatively few in
number, and we were to be deemed fortunate that
we saw some solitary specimens a few yards away.
Here and there we are semi-startled by the sudden
rush of a brown meercat, with its smooth coat, long
neck and squirrel-like head, adorned, too, with a
tail, long, bushy, and straight. Above, soaring in
the sky, are immense vultures, or " aasvogels," and
ever-present hawks ; while low, among the stones
and sparse bushes, lurk the deadly puff-adder,
cobra, or whip snake. In places the ground
appears with a rash of huge anthills, many of which
have apparently been excavated, two reasons being
assigned — one, the depredations of the hungry
anteater, and the other, that they have served the
Kaffir labourers on the line as convenient ovens.
Mounting ever, before us lies a ridge, the lowest
part of the now encircling ranges. The ascent is
steep and our engine puffs and labours, crawling
up at a walking pace. We gain the summit ; on
72 In New South Africa.
the plains the faint thin columns of whirlwind-borne
dust appear, lifting their mysterious heads far above
the intervening mountain spurs. The scenery
grows rougher and rockier, cactus and euphorbia
shoot out from dry and barren soil, and veritable
hedges of them defy the white man's touch.
Rounding a sudden corner, one of those strange
and instantaneous changes of interest occur, causing
a quick revulsion of feeling, and contrasting with
the great solitude of the plains just left. Below us
in the evening light, the enclosure reaching to our
embankment in front, and backed and encircled by
precipitous rocks, lies a large and picturesque farm-
house ; it is Dutch in build, and in front is a large
piece of water with great pendulous trees over it.
Here is every evidence of life and prosperity, stock
of the usual kinds fill the yard, and children play
unconscious of the fact that but comparatively few
years ago no homestead stood there, and it was
the haunt of the lion and the leopard, the Hottentot
and the distorted, half animal Bushman ; of these,
all that yet remain are driven into remote and
inaccessible regions by the white man in front and
the warlike Kaffir in the rear.
We have crossed the great Orange River by the
time the morning sunshine w^akes us, and have
entered the first of the Boer Republics, whose late
Across Desert and Veldt. 73
President was intermediary in the settlement of the
Transvaal War. The apparent absence of black
population in these districts is striking, and
subsequent contrast with Natal speaks volumes
on the subject of Boer and English rule compared.
Half-castes are numerous at the large stations,
but the true black man, though doubtless to be
found without difficulty, is rarely seen.
The country is destitute of interest from a scenic
point of view, but here, as far behind us, the farms
are excellent and paying property, and would not
be exchanged on any account by their owners for
those in the proximity of Cape Town. The
conditions of tenure are easy ; there is a ready
market for their cattle and lovely Angora goats,
drovers collecting them ; their wool troubles them
little in the shearing and sorting, which latter is
most indolently done, enabling Australia to score
an easy first in the home markets ; their mealies and
corn grow easily, and their slow temperament suffers
little disturbance if their crops suffer from drought.
The cry of " ostrich farm " causes us to look up.
We find that there is now, along the line and
around a huge piece of land covered with the usual
mimosa, a substantial iron fencing. We look with
eager eyes for our first sight of an African ostrich,
and are disappointed, for not one can be seen.
74 in New South Africa.
Later on, however, we see some way ahead the
gawky, black-bodied, long-legged creatures. Quick
as thought the Kodak is prepared, and as the bird's
form flashes across the "finder" of the instrument
— snap goes the shutter and a picture is obtained,
which unhappily proves but indifferent.
Much money has, as too often happens under
like conditions, been made and lost in this industry
of ostrich farming, and the aid of the incubator
having been called in, a much better result is
obtained than in the early days, when natural incu-
bation was the only means available. When the
young birds leave the shell they are cared for by a
little " tottie," or Hottentot girl, who plays the part
of a mother to them. They form a most absurd
sight, these big, ungainly chickens, especially at
meal times. Unable to feed themselves, they have
to be crammed with boiled mealies, until the tension
of their " breadbaskets " indicates sufficiency — for
such is the gauge used.
At six months old a bird is worth from £\o to
;^I5, and a good adult male bird fetches a very
large sum. He is from seven to nine feet high, and
is black, his tail and wing feathers being white. He
is ferocious, and fleeter than the best of horses ; never-
theless, with all his acuteness of vision and length
of leg, his pate is small, and in some ways he is
Across Desert and Veldt. 75
the biggest idiot going. Put a rail but three feet
high in front of him, and in his greatest rage,
unless he happen to tumble over it, it will prove
an effectual barrier, the idea of utilising his length
of leg by stepping over it never striking him. He
has one virtue, which might be taken to heart by
other bipeds than ostriches — he shares the maternal
cares of the hen bird in a noble way ; punctually
every evening he takes his place on the nestful of
eggs, his coat suiting the darkness, as the brown
dress of the hen suits the russet landscape by day,
and there sits till davlio;ht comes arain. Their
feathers are taken from them bi-annually, the
majority being cut, the few that are plucked being
simply surface ones which the bird scarcely feels.
The horror at the cruelty of plucking these birds
alive is therefore hardly well founded. The feathers
are sent mainly to Cape Town or Port Elizabeth,
there realising prices from ^20 to ;^ioo per pound.
As we proceed we see many of these birds quietly
feeding near the line.
At regular intervals the whole length of the line
there are huts, apparently of turves, wherein live
the gangs of Kaffirs employed in keeping the line
in order, and also the iron houses of the foremen
of the gangs.
Forty miles to our left are the diamond fields of
76 In New South Africa.
Jagersfontein, distinguished from the famous ones
of Kimberley by the stones having somewhat of a
yellow tinge, and of course by the fields being by
no means so extensive. They are worked in con-
nection with De Beers, and quite recently some
remarkable finds have been made.
Bloemfontein is the capital of the State, and is
surely one of the warmest places in Africa ; most
uninteresting at a casual glance, there was but one
spot which had any pretension to picturesqueness.
We leave without regret, and continue our way on
this, the last day of the year, in sweltering heat,
whilst our dear ones at home are experiencing
intense cold.
A new and human interest arises. We begin to
see occasional Kaffirs, droll objects, with gutta-
percha faces and a single blanket just hung round
them, clasped at the chest by one hand, an ebony
thigh occasionally obtruding itself. The veldt now
is purely grass land, indeed one might imagine
oneself on the rolling prairies of America ; the sight
of black cattle spread like minute black dots over
the immensity of green carpet is, for all the world,
like Catlin's pictures of the home of the Red Indian.
Five thousand feet above the level of the sea, the
cactus flowers on their tall strange stalks are here
in full fiower, whereas in Cape Town they had long
Across Desert and Veldt. 77
gone to seed. There are maize and cornfields in
abundance, though the soil looks incapable of
growing aught but cacti, so dry and arid is it.
We pass over numbers of the dry beds of rivers,
whose banks are precipitous and high, yet which
cannot hold the floods caused by the torrential
rains which come about this season of the year.
In the wet season, huge iron bridges are sometimes
washed away, and a peculiar interest attaches to
one of these spots, so far as one of our party is
concerned, on account of this fact, as will become
apparent hereafter. There is, perhaps, in an
exceptional river bed a pool remaining, or even a
sluggish stream crawls disconsolate in a great world
of sandy bottom, and a libel against the Kaffirs
was uttered by a fellow passenger to the effect that
a team of oxen or so with their respective waggons
will pass through it, drinking the filthy muddy water ;
the Kaffir drivers w^ill then bathe themselves, and
end by using the result as a beverage. Water is
stored at regular intervals for the use of travellers
and their bullocks, in huge reservoirs formed by
dams constructed by the Government.
The first native kraal of our trip we saw in the
afternoon, a collection of strange beehive-looking
structures made of branches and rushes, with a low
turf wall to start them with. At the door of one
78 In New South Africa.
ran six of the nakedest, funniest, podgiest, little
nigger boys to be imagined, and not far distant was
to be observed the method of preparing hide for
whip thongs, the hide being twisted round and
round by a lever, whilst a heavy weight hung
suspended by it, the whole depending from a set
of sheer legs.
Our last night in the train was comfortable up
to midnight — the moonlight on the veldt was lovely,
a clear cold atmosphere rendering the moon and
stars extraordinarily bright, so that to read would
be easy. We turned in about ten o'clock, just the
hour when, allowing for the difference in longitude,
all the church bells in England would be bursting
into music, and families would be gathered to begin
the New Year together ; were we not greatly out
of it, lonely strangers in a savage land ?
Sleep had just come to our tired eyelids when
some thoughtful gentry, no doubt imagining to
themselves our intense longing to let in the New
Year in Africa, awoke us and every one else at
midnight by traversing the length of the car with
uproarious and unmelodious voices ; our New Year
was unhappily begun with thoughts of vengeance.
The early morning found us stirring, for during
the night we had crossed the Vaal River, tributary
of the Orange River, into the South African
Across Desert and Veldt. 79
Republic. The Orange River is nearly 1300 miles
in length, and at its junction with the Vaal in the
middle of Griqualand West, it is yet 500 miles from
the Atlantic Ocean, while its source is on the north
western slopes of the wild Drakensburg mountains
north of Natal.
The air feels bitterly cold as we view increasing
signs of the civilisation we are approaching. Quite
a crowd stands on the narrow gangway, embarrassing
to some extent the small boy busy setting break-
fast, and running to and fro from the kitchen car.
Even the most respectable of us in point of age
suffers from a sharp dig in the ribs, accompanied
by the command " Out of the way, sir, please."
From the Transvaal frontier the cars are taken in
charge by a Dutch conductor, and ordinary trains
are dragged by Transvaal locomotives, but, as our
English conductor bitingly informs us, with an
ordinary light train even two foreign locomotives
sometimes fail to move their load, and to harness
any number of them to the train of heavy Pullman
cars would be utterly futile, consequently of necessity
the superior quality of English manufactures is
demonstrated, and the same engine takes us to
our destination.
This part of the railroad, between Vereeniging
at the frontier and Johannesburg, is of compara-
8o In New South Africa.
tively recent construction, and is distinctly bumpy.
Railway charges, too, are enormous ; and it is
cheaper, so far, to off-load goods at Vereeniging,
and convey them the rest of the way by waggon.
Here and there we see half clad blacks and occa-
sional long bullock teams, and the mines with their
battery-houses and pitheads inform us that the time
has come to leave our rolling home.
CHAPTER III.
JOHANNESBURG THE GOLDEN.
'' Are baths still standing at 3^. 6d., as we heard
at Cape Town?" is almost our first enquiry.
The grateful news being received that, though
scarce indeed, some water still exists in the district,
we walk down the broad streets to Mr. Heath's
hotel.
Only nine years ago, one or two Boer farmers
were the only inhabitants of a treeless veldt, which
is now covered by a town of 60,000 to 70,000 in-
habitants, with wide streets, tree-sheltered (though,
by the way, of an atrocious unevenness), tramways
and electric light, parks and woods — whose trees
are already, though but a few years old, imposingly
high — fine buildings in brick and stone, three large
and many smaller hotels, and fine spacious squares.
Off the main streets the buildings are mainly of
corrugated iron, and in the charming suburbs some
of the most cosy verandahed homes can be seen
built of this material.
The Transvaal, as before stated, was first entered
c;
82 In New South Africa.
by a large party of Boers in 1835, the Bechuana
Kaffirs of the district being then hard pressed by
the Zulu army under Moselekatse (Umselegazi),
which afterwards found its way northwards into what
is now known as Matabeleland. The Bechuanas
therefore called in the Boers to their aid. The
Boers, nothing loth, saw in this a Heaven-given
opportunity, and, having aided the Kaffirs to repel
the invader, claimed half the territory in payment.
No doubt the consent of the King had been
obtained to this arrangement, or rather, to put it
more particularly, his mark had been affixed to a
document which he could neither read nor under-
stand, and which might not necessarily be explained
to his sable majesty; nevertheless, the result was the
same and the land passed into the hands of the Boers.
In size the Transvaal is about equal to the total
area of the British Isles, and its population, white
and native, is about 800,000, of which probably
I 70,000 are white.
It is admirably watered, being bounded on the
south by the broad Vaal River and the less import-
ant Buffalo. The Olifants River pierces it to the
centre, while for three hundred miles and more on
its northern and western frontier the great Limpopo
flows, fed by six great arteries on the Transvaal
side alone.
Johannesburg the Golden. 83
Here, as we stand in the garden of a cosy home-
stead at the Jeppestown suburb, we are on the
crest of a ridge which marks a great dividing of
the waters. On the one hand we see, or shortly
shall see after one of the heavy rains there experi-
enced, streamlets which will find their way north
through the sub-tropical, crocodile-haunted course
of the Limpopo to the Indian Ocean, while on the
other hand, they fall into the Vaal, through the
steep, precipitous gorges of the Orange River, and
thirsty wastes, into the Atlantic Ocean on the other
side of Africa.
A cloud of locusts has but just left its mark on
Johannesburg. Thousands are still lying about, the
roof spouting is full of them, and the story of the
attack made by them on the green dress of the
unhappy lady pedestrian is still told to the marines.
To-day is holiday in Johannesburg, being New
Year's day. Indeed, in the colonial fashion the
holiday extends far into the week, and, as a result,
we see none of the busy crowding in the thorough-
fares, and the unremitting roar of the batteries has
ceased. Some excitement there is, however, for
on the ground of many of the large mining com-
panies are compounds where the " boys," as the
Kaffir workers are called, live during their stay at
the mines, sometimes as many as a thousand being
G 2
84 In New South Africa.
employed at a pound per week, food and board, by
the larger companies. Isaac Watts's Satan is
apparently as busy amongst black men as amongst
voyaging whites, for, having nothing better to do,
they patronise the canteens, i.e., get drunk, and the
representatives of one mine, perhaps numbering
hundreds, wage fierce and bloody warfare against
those of another, knobkerries and knives being
employed, and fatalities being common. Again,
the burglar is hard at work dealing with safes in
the most modern and approved fashion, the modus^
operandi being to remove the safe from the oflBce
at night (not necessarily a very difficult operation
in this land of corrugated iron, apart from dodging
watchers and dealing with the heavy weights), say
to an adjacent mining property, and even though
there be houses in the close vicinity, a little dynamite
will be exploded on the top and, hey presto ! all
that remains is to walk away with the proceeds, for,
if one may judge by comments in the newspapers,
there is little to fear from the police. Such an
event occurred during our short stay, and we also
saw evidences of another.
The most remarkable fact about this large town
is, that the whole of the materials used in its
construction, iron, stone, and wood, to say nothing
of the immense and ponderous machinery of the
Johannesburg the Golden. 85
mines, had, up to 1892, to be dragged perhaps
hundreds of miles by ox-waggon over the veldt.
Times have changed to a certain extent. The town
is no longer exposed to the famine it has before now
suffered, owing to the summer heat scorching up the
grass of the veldt, and preventing the teams from
travelling, thus cutting off the town effectually from
all communication with the outside world. It is not
so long since water was sold at a shilling a bucket,
and even now eggs cost sixpence apiece, the fowl
itself not being much more expensive. The railway
to Pretoria was declared open in 1893, and a train
run over the distance of thirty-five miles under the
protest of the authorities, the President keeping them
to their promise to open by the beginning of the year.
It was whispered with bated breath that, seeing that
under the conditions the enforced journey might
prove dangerous. President Paul Kruger should be
invited to share the risk he was responsible for. It
is no light thing to speak of the President in any
spirit of levity, however, for a shopkeeper in
Pretoria of an opposite political party was fined ten
pounds and costs for saying in jest that he was
keeping his rotten eggs in store for " Oom Paul,"
the Presidential election being at the time in
progress. The judges, too, it is said, are somewhat
prone to demonstrate their loyalty to the particular
86 In New South Africa.
President in office, by dealing severely with any
unfortunate who happens to have been indiscreet
in the expression of his opinions.
Oom Paul is a picturesque figurehead, shrewd
and careful to a degree, he receives ;^8ooo a year
salary and ;^3oo for functions ; he has no functions,
and lives on the £300. Conservative to the
utmost, he is the head of the older, more bigoted
and anti-English Boers, though, luckily, much more
far-seeing and reasonable. In diplomacy he has
shown himself the equal of many a trained European
minister, and he holds the gradual rise of English
participation in electoral matters in the greatest
distrust. It must be understood that under the
present laws no Englishman or foreigner can have
a vote in elections except under almost impossible
conditions, and no alien may hold a seat in the
Volksraad. Though taxes are most severe, and the
Uitlander is practically made to pay ninety per cent,
of the revenue, in poll taxes, duties, licences of all
descriptions, often (as in the case of land transfer),
most exacting, the hunter after gold for long found
no time to remedy or to agitate for the removal
of these impositions, and the Boer calmly grunted
satisfaction. Take, for example, land tenure ; it is
held on a lease from the government of ninety-nine
years, a yearly tax being paid on it. Every time
Johannesburg the Golden. 87
it changes hands another tax of 4 per cent, of the
total purchase money is levied, even though it may
do so once a week. The recent attempted revolu-
tion and Dr. Jameson's "raid," whatever its whole
history may be, points to the fact that the conditions
of life had become intolerable, and in the eyes of
many, the rebuffs given to constitutional agitation
were sufficient justification for a resort to force.
A trace of this still existing anti- English feeling
and the fear of the rise of British power (and they
are right, for sooner or later it means absorption),
is shown in the fact that when Kruger was paying
a rare visit to Johannesburg, noticing that the word
" street " on the street nameplates was in English,
he caused the last three letters to be painted out,
and the effect of this all over the town (for the
Boer equivalent had not been substituted), was
most remarkable.
Johannesburg is situated about the middle of the
main reef of gold-bearing rock about forty miles in
length, and several mines are in the town itself.
Many are very rich, and up to the present moment
the surface having, so to speak, only been scratched,
there seems to be an immense future before the
district.
Coal, though generally of an inferior quality, is
to be found in abundance in the Transvaal, and it
In New South Africa.
can be had fairly cheaply, one mine being about
twelve miles away. Other materials, too, exist in
abundance, especially copper ; though but little if
any attention is paid to them.
House rents are excessively high, as is the cost
of labour of all kinds. In the house " boys " (the
term universally employed for male Kaffirs of what-
ever age), are usually engaged to wait and do the
house work. They are often amiable in disposition,
fairly hardworking and trustworthy, even making
excellent nurses. They earn from fifteen shillings
to a pound a week in this service, and sometimes
use their master as a bank. This is occasionally
profitable to the master, for, their one fault being a
liability to suddenly make up their minds that they
are tired of service or of the place, they disappear
one evening, not even taking the trouble to ask
for their money. Some are jolly, good-tempered
fellows, making occasionally the most ludicrous
blunders, such as may here be placed on record.
Being asked by a lady of our acquaintance to
skin a hare, the new " boy" disappeared, and after
a lengthy interval returned and explained that he
could not do it, it was too difficult. On examination
it was found that he had been attempting to pluck
the creature, having taken a pattern from the fowl
he had prepared the day before.
Johannesburg the Golden. 89
On another occasion the new " boy " having been
told to Hght a fire in the drawing-room, saw the
coalscuttle with coals already in it and naturally
concluded that it was the fireplace, and so fulfilled
his mission to his mistress's horror !
It is a thing to be thankful for that the rainy
season in Johannesburg is in the summer, for in
the winter the elevation being great the winds
are at times bitterly piercing. The rain, too, is no
joke, as we, with the fortune which had followed one
of us in Australia, had reason to discover.
As far as the climate is concerned, it is a healthy
one. Care must be taken here, as everywhere
else in Africa, to avoid chills, to be temperate and
regular in eating and drinking, and to preserve an
equable temperament. Nothing causes dysentery
and fever so much as excitement, irregularity, chill,
and drink, and the suddenness with which an
apparently healthy man is cut off is appalling, many
dying in thirty-six hours after having first been
taken ill. The sanitary state of the town, though
even now unsatisfactory, is immensely improved upon
that of the early days ; it was then shocking, with
the result that the mortality among the adventurers,
many of whom lived in all seasons under canvas,
was enormous.
We are one day reminded that we are in a mining
90 In New South Africa.
camp and not in Fleet Street, by hearing that a
reporter on one of the daily journals, who had
spoken slightingly of the acting of the ladies of a
company then performing in the town, had been
called to account by them, and soundly thrashed.
Having an opportunity of witnessing the talent of
a specimen company one evening, our opinion
strongly coincided with that of the reporter. How-
ever, not having the opportunity or temptation
which the luckless journalist doubtless experienced,
of airing our opinions publicly on the matter, we
escaped the consequent castigation, and can but
simply record the incident as typical of the dangers
incurred by the conductors of newspapers on the
Rand.
We pass the Stock Exchange Buildings and
hear the surging murmur within. Things are quiet
in Johannesburg nowadays, so far as speculation is
concerned, compared with the state of madness
and fever of the years prior to 1890, when fortunes
were made by perhaps one lucky stroke, and
thousands of pounds changed hands with as little
thought as if they were coppers. The infection
of gambling appeared to seize every one, and the
Stock Exchange was an irresistible attraction to all
classes. The banks, amongst other businesses,
were considerably inconvenienced by this fact, for
Johannesburg the Golden. gi
no sooner had they sent a clerk to Johannesburg
than he left them to go on 'Change. Business was
mostly transacted in the streets and this custom
remains to this day, the pavements in the heart of
the town being crowded with people busily trans-
acting their affairs. Recklessness characterised
almost everything, and the proper and legitimate
work of developing the mines was hindered, and
their stability in some cases was rendered doubtful
through manipulation with consequent reconstruction
or amalgamation, minor shareholders often coming
off very badly. The crash came, the bubble burst,
and shares held at an inflated value sank to a
merely nominal one, causing wholesale ruin on
'Change, and stockbrokers with nothing to do and
nothing to do it with, to become a drug on the
market. But all through, though by many in
England it was thought to be the ruin of the Rand
goldfields, it spelt but the death, or at least reduction,
of the unhealthy element of paper speculation, the
solid strength of the mines remaining unaffected.
The whole community was benefited by a wholesome
lesson being learned, and the opportunity given for
the mines to become established on a solid and
trustworthy basis. There can be no doubt now that
advantage was taken of this, with the result that
the majority of the mining companies are able now
92 In New South Africa.
to utilise, with growing fullness, the magnificent
resources with which they are endowed, some
paying dividends of a hundred per cent, on their
original capital. On the main reef there are more
than eighty companies, many of which have only
scratched the surface, and many of which again
have not even sounded the bottom of the gold pro-
ducing stratum.
The two prominent financial powers on the Rand
are Barnato and Eckstein, the former a man of
immense energy and power, who, in an incredibly
short time, has contrived to amass an enormous
fortune and to control the largest undertakings.
In the battle of wits that has been going on on the
Rand, where it has always been a case of diamond
cut diamond, and the longest head and the keenest
eye coming out best, Mr. Barnato shares the fore-
most place with the house of Eckstein, which, saviour
or absorber of many a concern during the crisis,
forms a worthy rival to the bold and successful
financier. The offices of these two firms are pro-
bably the finest buildings in Commissioner Street,
the premier thoroughfare of the town.
We visit several of the mines ; the Spes Bona,
Wemmer, Ferreira, and Langlaagte Estate, though
we do not descend the shafts on this occasion, but
content ourselves with inspecting the battery houses,
Johannesburg the Golden. 93
where the scores of stamps thunder continuously,
crushing the hard rock into a fine powder. This
powder is washed down a flat trough over a layer
of mercury which amalgamates the greater part of
the gold and permits the residue to flow away.
These " tailings " are now treated with cyanide of
potassium in large vats, and the resulting liquor is
subsequently subjected to an electric current, or
brought into contact with zinc shavings, the gold
being deposited. It is said that there is a fortune in
the tailings on which an important part of Johannes-
burg is built, the above process only having come
into vogue in later years. The amalgam is collected
monthly and the mercury separated from the gold,,
which is generally cast into bars of sufficient weight
to be difficult of carriage. At the New Primrose
mine the engine-room is quite a picture, and the
manager, Mr. , is naturally proud of it and its
contents, together with the great battery and
cyanide houses. Many of these mines have their
own reservoir, and perhaps water rights in the
"spruit" or stream. At the time of our visit the
drought had lasted so long that there was great
anxiety, failure of the water supply of course
meaning stoppage of the mines.
The drive of five or six miles gave us an excel-
lent idea of the capabilities of the " Cape cart," on
94 ^n New South Africa.
a road which would startle the average Englishman.
A two wheeled vehicle drawn by a pair of horses, it
appears to stand any number of strains, and to
adapt itself to any angle or combination of angles.
The four seats face the front, the roomy, comfort-
able ones in the rear being reached by lifting the
hinged front one. In case of rain or fierce sunshine,
there is a waterproof hood which covers driver and
all, and an apron which fastens up to the neck of
those in front, so that there is ample protection
against " wind and weather." It is well to
remember, w^hen driving under these conditions,
that too close a contiguity to the supports of the
hood is likely, on account of the irregularities of
the road, to result in a "black eye" or a bruised
head, the movements of the cart being occasionally
irregular and unexpected. These carts are a
speciality of South Africa, the best being made at
Kimberley or Capetown. An English vehicle would
not last a month.
Here in Johannesburg is a strange collection of
nationalities and men of various ranks. There are
Chinese, Japanese, Kafirs of many kinds, Hindoos,
French, German, Dutch, and English. One might
see the English knight employed as a clerk, and the
quondam Member of Parliament trying to retrieve
his fortunes. There is the Hindoo woman with a
Johannesburg the Golden. 95
gleaming, peacock-blue print with gorgeous orange
shawl festooned round her, and the Kaffir with an
old, red, military coat, a striped shirt hanging
underneath, a rainbow-coloured umbrella, and not
even an apology for trousers — his arms, too, being
adorned with apparently ornamental fixtures in the
shape of brass rings. These " boys" amuse them-
selves at times by dancing, especially after having
managed to get hold of the vile concoction
representing whisky which, supplied for native con-
sumption, is rapidly ruining fine races, and is
mainly composed of tobacco juice and " blue stone "
(sulphate of copper). The effect of this deadly
mixture on even a native's stomach and head can
be imagined. Their dance is a strange, incompre-
hensible one, especially under the above conditions.
Driving one day around the suburbs, we pass the
large brick hospital, situated on an eminence and
commanding a fine view of Doornfontein (the best
residential part), the distant hilly veldt, and the
Waterworks valley. The last is the fashionable
drive, and accordingly we patronise it. Far down
we view a large clump of trees surrounding a house,
the extensive area of land being fenced in and
grazed by numerous cattle. This is the residence
of a Boer farmer of the old type, who resents the
English intrusion intensely, who has profited lo the
96 In New South Africa.
tune of say ;^200,ooo by the hated intrusion, and
yet has not a civil word to say to any one of the
invaders. It is said that he keeps his money in his
house, the current story attaching as appropriately
to him as to anyone else — of the Boer who would
not bank his money because the manager must
surely have dishonest motives in tempting him to
part with it by offering actually to pay him some-
thing for the use of it, instead of charging for the
trouble of taking it in custody !
On our right we notice a heap of earth a short
distance away, with a low walled enclosure and tent
near. Two or three " boys " are occupied with
the arrangement of some small tree branches. We
stop to discover what they are doing, and to obtain
a distant " photo " of them, when a gentlemanly
man clad in rough and earth-stained clothing, and
with arms and face burnt almost to the same tint,
approaches us, and on learning what we are engaged
upon, invites us to make a nearer inspection. We
descend to discover that he is prospecting for gold,
and has sunk a shaft some eighty feet, then driving
a level two hundred and fifty feet under the hill^
hoping at any moment to strike the reef. The
" boys " are engaged in making a hut ; though,
judging by its size, for two persons it promises very
close quarters. A cup of tea at the camp fire is
Johannesburg the Golden. g-j
welcome, and the opportunity is seized of taking a
picture of the very mixed group. Acceding to the
proposal that we should descend the shaft into the
workings, one at a time, we put a foot into the iron
bucket, grasp the rope with one hand, and guide
ourselves with the remaining limbs against the side
of the shaft, as the men at the wooden windlass
overhead lower us. Half-way down we meet the
up-coming bucket (an ordinary stout-made iron
one), and having been warned at the outset to be
careful lest it catch ours and upset us, kick it
aside as it approaches. When both are landed at
the bottom, we are piloted by the prospector's mate
to the end of the level, two hundred and fifty feet
away, where the air is extremely close, and two
half-naked and shining Kaffirs laboriously attack
the rock in front. It strikes us that, though our
colliers in England are by no means white during
their daily occupation, they are pale in comparison
with these African " brethren."
Arrived safely at the top, the ascent of the second
amateur miner is awaited by the camera, which
profits by the occasion to record the method used.
By this time the builders of the hut have become
tired by their labours, and are seated on the ground
smoking. Their dress is peculiar, they having
divided a suit between them so that one is in
H
98 In New South Africa.
trousers only, the other in shirt and coat. The
operation of smoking is a pecuhar one, and hardly
appeals to European tastes. A cow horn has a
thin tube inserted at right angles to it about half-
way down, at the end of the tube is a bowl fashioned
roughly out of soap stone ; the horn is filled with
water, covering the aperture of the tube, and, in a
sitting posture, the smoker applies his mouth to
the end of the cow horn and takes a deep and long
inspiration. The effect is sometimes startling and
often ludicrous, for, the pipe being then passed on,
the Kaffir resigns himself to coughing, choking and
spluttering, until he is sufficiently recovered to
begin again. One of the "boys" before us — a
very popular one with his master — is a most merry
individual, with a face ever wreathed in contagious
smiles. He evinces his musical tastes by incessantly
blowing a piercing whistle, one of a considerable
collection hanging by a chain round his neck. We
are informed that he makes a great hobby of
collecting these, his neck being the repository, and
would do almost anything to get a new one. He
takes his turn at the pipe, but, apparently too much
engaged in inspecting us, by some means or other
he gets too large a dose of smoke into his lungs,
and, bursting into laughter, he consequently chokes,
gurgles, and coughs, with the tears coursing down
Johannesburg the Golden. 99
his beaming, india-rubber face, making an irresistibly-
laughable subject. It may be added that the
material smoked is not tobacco, but a "weed" of
some other description.
The method of carrying milk is worthy of notice,
a " boy " on horseback has a large leather girdle,
in which are inserted often a dozen or more of wine
bottles filled with milk, reminding one immediately
of John Gilpin.
Here is the Rand Club, intended for the use of
everybody who is anybody on the Rand. It is a
building which would do credit to any town, and
which cost an enormous sum of money in the days
when difficulties of transport made everything so
dear. As we lunch there we find the great luncheon-
room crowded with persons, many most intimately
connected with the history of the Rand, and a
first-class meal is served by deft waiters. These
coolies, seen in numbers in the streets, are not the
only importations from the East, for in the streets
of Johannesburg, as in the streets of Tokio, are
jinrickshaws, though drawn by sturdy, well built
Kaffirs, rather than by Japs.
One thing is made very obvious during our stay,
and that is that Johannesburg is not a remote corner
sa7ts civilisation, sa/is society, sa/is culture, smis
everything that makes life worth living ; on the
H 2
loo In New South Africa.
contrary we found there a charming circle full of
interest and happiness. We also heard the ladies
declare that the shops were almost as good as those
of London. Must we allow something for a new
born patriotic fervour ?
Before leaving the Transvaal let us realise what
it is now and what its resources and prospects are^
as compared, say, with those of our own country a
hundred years ago.
A rich agricultural and pasture country, with
enormous mineral wealth, it possesses two of the
fundamental attributes to an important country.
One railway already reaches its capital from Cape
Town and Port Elizabeth, another connects it with
Natal, and a third places Pretoria in direct commu-
nication with the finest port of all, viz., Delagoa
Bay, the country thus being tapped at nearly every
point. It has a population approaching three quar-
ters of a million, and, though old prejudices are still
strong, and the training of hundreds of years cannot
easily be forgotten, there is an increasing disposition
amongst the Dutch element to progress, aided enor-
mously, of course, by the influx and example of fresh
European blood.
Let us turn to England. In 1800 she had a
population of only 8,000,000, she had mineral
resources practically untouched ; as in the Trans-
Johannesburg the Golden. loi
vaal, her land was rich for crops and cattle, and she
possessed a magnificent sea board, though her
means of internal communication were not what
those of the Transvaal are, and she had not the
advantage of the enormous strides in the resources
of civilisation made during the present century.
Again the Anglo-Saxon energy of character was
her strength, but is it not evident — without going
to an absurd length in comparing the two countries,
for the geographical position is against the Trans-
vaal — that the increase of the European element
may have a spurring and strengthening effect in
Africa, that will one day render it a country of
wealth and importance ?
CHAPTER IV.
A TRANSVAAL COACH JOURNEY.
Unhappily our stay flashes to an end, and at
4 a.m., two of us venture out to find the coach
which is to take us a hundred and fifty miles to the
gates of Natal. Oh, the misery of that unearthly
hour ! We stumble along semi-dazed in the half-
light of a chilly dawn, with grey and silent houses
on either side ; then a vision appears before our
eyes — are we dreaming ? Is this eighteenth century
England, or is the wondrous vehicle with its ten
mules a second-hand Cinderella's coach ? The dull
red painted body, gloriously emblazoned with mean-
dering devices in dirty yellow, hangs freely between
the enormous wheels, on heavy leather straps.
Copious supplies of mud yet adhere to the wheels,
sides, and flapping leathern window blinds, giving us
an earnest as to the probable state of the road, and
a forecast of our later experiences. With a whoop
we start, luckily the only passengers, the accommo-
dation being for twelve inside and six out. At a
rattling pace we soon get clear of the town,
A Transvaal Coach Journey. 103
apparently bumping over everything that came in
the way, still it is not unbearable, and the feeling
of novelty either soon wears off or the cushions grow
unaccountably harder, for after we have gone our
day's journey, the results of being "tender-feet" (to
use the American equivalent of " new chum "), and
not accustomed to this mode of travelling, were
painfully obvious.
After an hour, during which the road steadily
grows rougher (to put it mildly), in order to change
mules we stop at a large corrugated iron stable,
sticking up unceremoniously on the bare veldt, with-
out the most shadowy pretence of apology for its
barefaced ugliness and its domination of the land-
scape. For us departure speedily cures this offence
and, seated above, behind the drivers, we watch it
getting smaller and less abominable, until distance
mercifully covers it. We have two drivers, and
while doubtless most necessary, the arrangement
harmonises excellently with the Boer character, for
the Kaffir does the work, holding the heavy reins
and steering the mulish team, whilst the Boer looks
on and cracks his whip. This, however, it must be
confessed, is no ordinary accomplishment, for with
a bamboo twelve feet long grasped in both hands,
he curls and winds a thin, sinuous, snake-like thong
through the air, long enough to reach the leaders
I04 In New South Africa.
forty feet away, and ends with an ear-splitting crack
precisely in the place where he happens to desire it
to exert its moral persuasiveness.
We breakfast at a little oasis in the wilds, and
relentlessly attack our journey again with fresh
mules. Far away we sometimes see a tree or so,
meaning a Boer's farm, but strange to say, we never
see a native Kraal. Ahead are three minute black
specks, which a little time resolves into individual
Kafhrs, laboriously wending their way back into
servitude at the mines, not having saved enough in
previous seasons to buy wives and live in happy
laziness ever after ; but perhaps having had a high
old time of it for a few months in their native
mountains of Natal. One can quite understand
that some of these gentlemen are not the most
desirable persons to encounter alone or after dark,
and we heard several tales of outrage and murder
done. Still, the safety of South African travelling is
thorough, and her history gives her a magnificent
character as compared with that of the AustraHan
goldfields, where coaches innumerable were " stuck
up " and robbed, whereas in South Africa such
an event is unknown, in spite of the fact that large
quantities of gold are often sent by coach without
a guard. Even European Spain cannot compare
with this, for, during a recent visit to a northern
A Transvaal Coach Journey. 105
port we found that a coach was robbed by highway-
men only fourteen miles distant from the town, one
of considerable importance.
One of the most strange inhabitants of the
Transvaal is a small black bird, the Sakabula, over-
burdened and overwhelmed with an embarrassing
length of tail. Possessing a body not much larger
than that of a sparrow, its poor little flesh is mortified
by the addition of an insane appendage perhaps
fourteen inches long, with which, in rising, it strug-
gles for a time, finally conquering and sweeping
down on the breeze with an erratic, wavy, and
tadpole-like movement. Here and there, too, are
vultures and hawks, whilst their fourfooted comrades
on the earth are prowling leopards and hyenas.
We race into the charming little town of Heidel-
burg — a place of mark in the early part of the
Transvaal War, inasmuch as the flag of the South
African Republic was first hoisted there — and draw
up in the square. But ten miles earlier, at a lonely
city consisting of a corrugated iron stable and a
so-called hotel, we were joined by one of the throe
inhabitants of the place. These inhabitants con-
sisted of the landlady, the barman, and a Zulu
" boy." It was the female section of the population
that joined us. On entering the coach, she did
not hesitate to introduce herself as Mrs. M. I).
io6 In New South Africa.
Dressed in rusty black and possessed of a parch-
ment-like skin, she let loose a flood of most broken
English, addressed indiscriminately to one or the
other of her two fellow-travellers. She was forty,
scraggy, restless-eyed, demonstrative, volatile, active,
and most conversational. Her brows were perpetu-
ally arched up into an expression of comicality, her
mouth travelled sideways occasionally until it nearly
reached her left ear, her hands were unceasingly
waving in all directions to express all that she could
not find time to interject between her sentences,
and the road here being very rough, the greater
part of her oration, wit, sallies, and screaming mirth
was delivered alternately in the air and on the
coach seat. It is needless to say that the drollness
of the continual babble, uninterrupted by the bobbing
about of the lady's body, was irresistible. She
poured out blithefully into our unwilling ears the
account of the death of her husband three months
before from typhoid fever, supplementing the
description with the most gruesome details. Her
deepest family secrets resounded untrammelled in
the rocking coach, and for the next hour she was
engaged in confiding to us many particulars and
incidents ; for instance, how the Heidelburg people
chaffed her in none too delicate a fashion on her
kindly relations with " Thompson " the barman, this
A Transvaal Coach Journey. 107
being repeated in extenso as a great joke no less
than four times ; how Thompson was cheeky and
jealous of other gentlemen who spoke to her (which
she considered he had no right to be), how she
had given him the " sack." Then, again, how her
Zulu " boy " stole things, and how an exciting
incident occurred in which she appeared as a
heroine, firing her revolver (which she regularly
carried) over the heads of some Zulus who stopped
her ; how she had just found some poisonous snakes
in her bedroom and had killed them. But the
cream of all her jokes, she considered, was the
following one, which she related no less than six
times, amidst shrieks of laughter. A night or two
before, one of the coach drivers slept there. In the
late evening she presumed so far upon his kindness
as to give him the baby to put to bed in the inner
bedroom. The room was dark, and after he had
entered, groping his way with the little one in front,
she heard a great fall, and some awful oaths. She
told us she hated swearing and would not permit it
in her house, and so shouted, " What the are
you talking like that for?" The man came out
and began to use her roughly, finally sending her
into the same room to look after the poor infant.
She took three paces in, and crash she fell also,
full swing, into a bath with twelve inches of water
io8 In New South Africa.
in it. The poor baby had gone in too, and was
dripping though not hurt. This trifling incident was
not sufficient to disturb her equanimity, however,
or her readiness of resource, for calHng Thompson
she told him to go into the inner room to fetch her
something. Thompson growhngly comphed, for he
was innocent and knew not — when crash, bang, the
bath receives him too, the ''langwidge" resulting
being almost sufficient to blow the roof off. Poor
Thompson ! It was the last straw ; he had borne
this lady's society for three months, but the bath
proved to be too much for him !
At Heidelburg we hear ominous news as to the
rivers, the recent heavy rains having swollen them
greatly. Usually they are easily forded by coach
and team, but it was jokingly told us that we should
have to swim them. Arrived at the river bank, we
saw a wide and rapid stream, obviously impossible
for the coach to cross ; however, on the opposite
bank reposed another " American " coach in all
the ridiculous majesty of its ornamentation, and the
practical usefulness of its material and construction.
We and the mails were ferried over by a stalwart
young Boer, gruff and uncommunicative, whose
knowledge of English was confined to the use of
the word " shilling," which, with the extended palm,
however, was quite sufficient indication of his
'>M-^ ' i
;k<j-u.\g riii-; ;:ikkki;oschraxd.
A Transvaal Coach Journey. 109
desires. The operation of getting the team over
was interesting ; the two leaders, horses, were
attached by a hne to the ferry and swam across
without difficulty, then the eight mules by dint of a
great amount of exercise, yelling, and whip on the
part of the drivers, were by degrees forced down to^
the water's edge, finally, with immense splashing
and fighting, made to face the swift current, in a
few minutes joining their dripping leaders.
Our next river, commonly known as the " Water-
fall," was a more serious one to encounter. Since
early morning it had risen twenty feet, the current
was very swift, and this time even the team had
to be left behind. The mails were placed in a
small boat, and the suddenness and swiftness with
which it was caught by the rush of the water and
swirled down stream, was watched with feelings of
personal interest by the small knot of passengers
on the bank, now increased in number by a Dutch
family of five. However, nine persons, including
the oarsmen, trusted themselves to the small, frail
craft, and the banks noiselessly rushed past us. By
dint of hard pulling for a few minutes, we swept
into a backwater and pulled up the stream along
the opposite bank. On climbing the bank we
surveyed our new conveyance and team, indeed it
took us a little to realise that it was intended for
no In New South Africa.
such. Instead of horses or hardy mules we saw a
double row of bullocks, ten in all, lazily whipping
the flies off their flanks ; in place of our commodious
coach was a long vehicle, which was completely
covered in, saving the end, and had ledges on
either side for the accommodation of baggage.
The floor was four feet above the ground, and this
proved a necessary provision. However, the distance
to be traversed before we should reach the next
river and a team of mules was but seven or eight
miles, and as our prospects of reaching Stander-
ton, our resting-place for the night, or part of it,
were rather blue, those poor bullocks were made to
put their best feet foremost. By dint of frequent
use of the whip and an energetic application of
the Boer driver's vocabulary, they took us along at
a great speed, calling forth a wonderful exhibition
of skill on the part of the excellent lady in shielding
her infant from the shocks and bumps sustained by
all else. The next river, Bushman's Spruit, after
much hesitation and doubt, it was decided to ford,
and accordingly our bullocks were put to it. When
the leaders had entered they soon had to swim, the
depth of water being fully four feet. Our coach
bumped across the stony bed, the water rising
right up to the floor, and apparently at one moment
threatening to invade the interior. By this time,
A Transvaal Coach Journey. 1 1 1
however, the leading bullocks had regained a footing,
though the nearer ones were swimming, and the
moment of suspense was therefore short.
In the course of the next few miles we found an
intelligent and instructive companion in the Dutch
gentleman who had joined us. Head of the Dutch
School at , he was a man of considerable
culture and wide reading, and here a wide distinction
must be drawn between burghers of recent Dutch
extraction and the Boer pure and simple. Imbued
with profoundest patriotism, yet with feelings of
completest friendship towards England, he formed
an excellent example of the younger, more enlight-
ened portion of the nation, which is, as these words
are written, becoming more and more felt in the
national councils ; and while the rugged strength of
the old voortrekker will doubtless continue to exist
as a valuable backbone in the national character of
the Boers, we may hope and believe that the
softening influences of old world culture and refine-
ment, from which they have been so long cut off,
may become so grafted with this force of character
as to form a vigorous and healthy combination in
the interest of humanity and civilisation.
We sample the Boer tobacco which our com-
panion carried, and of which we had heard much.
In appearance it resembles a very inferior tea, and
112 In New South Africa.
the taste for smoking it is decidedly an acquired
one, yet it is a fact that by far the greatest number
of Enghshmen who have been for some time
resident in South Africa not only smoke it, but ever
after refuse the doctored leaf smoked in England.
It is grown extensively in many districts, but the
best comes from the Magaliesberg range, some
distance west of Johannesburg. This experiment
led to the presentation of an interesting gift, a
connecting link with the making of the nation. It
consisted of a fur tobacco pouch, which had
belonged to the Bezuidenhout who has been before
referred to. The grandson of this man was deter-
mined to act up to the traditions of his family^
and doubtless inherited a sense of wrong and
oppression ; for it was he who, in the market-place
of Pretoria, during an attempted sale of the
belongings of a non-tax-paying farmer, gave the
signal for rebellion, and commenced that bloody
and disastrous war.
The sun sets over the veldt, mysterious in its
dimly-lit immensity, and we are suddenly shocked
to a prosaic awakening to the grim facts of life by
the entrance to Standerton being prefaced by the
worst piece of travelling we had so far encountered.
It seems to us that each wheel alternately passes
over huge boulders and descends into jerky depths ;,
A Transvaal Coach Journey. 113
tossed hither and thither, we narrowly escape forming
one unhappy collection of bruised anatomies on the
floor. One boulder in particular is negociated by
our off hind wheel and is nearly responsible for a
broken leg, indeed our driver comfortingly assures
us that it is a good thing we are in the old style
coach and not in the saloon, or we should have been
•over to a certainty.
Thank goodness, Standerton at last ; a meal and
bed. Can the heavenliness of the latter be realised
by anyone who has not experienced a first coach
journey? The joy of it is damped, be it said, by
the knowledge that we shall have to turn out at 2.30
to continue our way, and by a nameless fear. This
fear is realised by one, for, having undressed and
ventured 'twixt the bedclothes (his companion
resting clothed, with an overcoat as covering, as a
consequence of having travelled before), he awakes
in the dead of night and jumps out of bed in raving
delirium and high fever. Here is a serious
predicament and an anxious responsibility ; we are
in the midst of a journey through an unfamiliar
country, are strictly tied to time, and yet one's
companion is down perhaps with camp fever or
some unknown illness.
Morning arrives, and little consolation with ii. for
the patient is vet in a great fever and weak and
114 ^'^ ^^^ South Africa.
exhausted. However, it is determined to proceed^
and the biting cold of the early morning hours are
employed by one in preventing the half-senseless^
recumbent form of the other from being thrown
about by the remorseless bumping of the cart.
Such devotion were worthy of a more heroic denoue-
ment. By the time the sun has risen high in the
heavens the patient is well, and is fain to
confess that he has been suffering from a severe
attack of what we learn later to be Standerton's
greatest commodity.
We had passed over the broad Vaal, by means
ot a fine bridge on leaving Standerton, and about
eleven see the Majuba Hill, grim monument to a
story of folly, misgovernment, and disaster. We
are now in a valley, hemmed in by hills, the spurs
and shoulders of the great Drakensburg range.
Their sides are burning in many places, and at
their feet graze huge herds of cattle. Here we
see a wagon with out-spanned team grazing
calmly by, while human bipeds, black and white^
make a roof of the wagon and a house between the
wheels. Roads converge from many directions, and
teams grow increasingly numerous as we proceed.
One wagon has sunk up to its axles in the boggy
ground, for it is here a notoriously bad road, and
we wait to see forty-six well-thrashed oxen lend
A Transvaal Coach Journey. 115
their strength and weight to extricating it from its
position.
We arrive at the " Gates of Natal,'' which
announcement seems an absurdity with all the vast
frontier unbounded on either hand ; nevertheless it
is the fact, and we pass the enclosure and the
customs examination without delav, to discover that
but two hours or so will elapse before the train
starts, and the second division of our journey
begin. Since our journey the railway has super-
seded the coach, and it is now unnecessary to
change one's seat between Durban and Johannesburg.
Here is " civilisation " again, though of somewhat
a barbaric kind. Hindoo shops and Hindoo people
are conspicuous, and occasionally a half-clad Kaflfir
lady from the kraals on Majuba's lofty sides strolls
leisurely past. The change from the Transvaal is
instantaneous. One cannot help feeling one is on
Knglish soil, and that freedom and fearlessness of
wrong being done them exist amongst the " indi-
genes " in a way which we never noticed in the
Transvaal.
In our car we mount the very shoulders of Majuba,
and must have crossed the path taken by our
hapless soldiers previous to the battle. Some
hundreds struggled up the steep mountain sides on
that memorable night, unhappily taking no gun
I 2
I i6 In New South Africa.
with them, the difficulties of ascent being too great.
Davhght broke and found them unentrenched, and
their arms stacked in the hollow of the top. The
Boers, only seventy in number, according to one
of our Boer informants, surprised them, taking
advantage of every bit of cover afforded by the
numberless boulders scattered over the hill, and
with the accuracy gained by life-long experience of
the misleading atmospheric effect and by hunting
the swift bok, to say nothing of the use resulting
from constant practice with firearms even in early
childhood, every bullet went home, and our soldiers,
new to the country, were shot down, to use the
gleeful expression of one of the Boer participants
afterwards, "like so many springbok." It is said
that the commanding Boer general on seeing the
British force on the hill, almost gave the order to
evacuate his position, but mustering his men, told
them that God was on their side and that of liberty,
and would surely deliver the enemy into their hands,
calling then for volunteers to attack the position
as a forlorn hope. It is confidently asserted, and
even admitted bv us, that seventy men responded
to this call and made the attack, though they were
later joined by others, and at the end of the fight but
three of them were missing. This seems almost
incredible, but when one comes to think of these
A Transiaal Coach Journey. 1 1
men, accustomed to Zulu warfare and with their
natural advantages, the cover afforded them, the
accuracy of their aim, the unexpectedness of their
attack and the panic our men were thrown into, it is
perhaps not so incredible, especially when one takes
into consideration the unpreparedness of our force.
As many were killed, so the storv goes, bv falling-
over precipices in the mad rush for life as by Boer
bullets, and the fact that the majority of the rifles
afterwards picked up were sighted for four hundred
yards, whereas most of the shooting was done at
two hundred, may account at least partially for the
small loss on the Boer side.
The whole story of this expedition, in which the
terrible reverse of Laing's Nek (which we shortly
afterwards pass) forms part, is one of unmitigated
bunMine: and national disgrace.
The Transvaal, as things are tending now, must
sooner or later assert and consolidate the position
it has taken amongst the countries of the world,
either independently or in conjunction with the
Knglish South African colonies. When this trans-
tormation will effectively come depends largelv on
the extent of the gold deposits, fur so long as these
hold out, so long will be the epoch of the greatest
influence of pAiropean stimulus and consequent
ra|)iclil \- of progress. It these lail within aii appre-
ii8 III New South Africa.
ciable time, of which there is not at the present
the remotest indication, indeed the reverse seems
assured, the stream of push, energy, and capital will
flow elsewhere, the Boers will be left more to develop
their undoubted minor resources on their own
account, and, from the essential character of the
conditions, the process of growth will be slow and
uncertain. Much depends, too, on the moral
character of the growing state. Will the selfish
prejudices of former isolation and ignorance colour
its peaceful relations, and the relics of semi-
barbarism be more apparent in its warfare, or will
noble, broad-minded, and enlightened results be
evolved out of the present confusion of opposing
influences ? Here is a new country with certain
strong, forcible impulses and traits of character.
Can it not in its growth and self-constitution, with
the history and experience of nations before it, show
the world some advancement on the methods of
the old civilisation, bound down and trammelled by
the bondage of ancient custom and inherited ideas ?
The Transvaal has a great and promising infancy,
but it must cast away its swaddling clothes of
savagery.
The war of 1880-81 showed vividly the demorali-
sing effect of these influences. The most sacred
principles of civilised warfare were in several
A Transvaal Coach Journey. 119
instances contemptuously disregarded, and a calcu-
lating and cruel remorselessness exhibited which
would have raised the envy of the most bloodthirstv
native chief. At Bronkhorst Spruit, the place where
the first overt act of war occurred, a small detach-
ment of British troops fell into a cunning ambush,
and as soon as, if not earlier, the parley between
commanding officers and a single Boer had ended,
every stone in front and rear and all around seemed
to belch forth death, the officers being specially
picked out and the first to fall. In a few minutes
one hundred and thirty out of a total of two hundred
and fifty soldiers were slaughtered or wounded by the
unseen enemy, the individuals of whom had actually
gone the length of pacing the distance between
their particular shelter and the intended position of
the victims. Even the ambulance containing the
wounded was subjected to their fire, and after this
simple massacre, horses were refused the two
soldiers who were released on parole to get, for the
succour of the wounded, the medical assistance
some thirty miles away. Then again, the cold
blooded murder of one of the officers taken on this
occasion and afterwards ostensibly ordered to be
released. He was shot in the back by his guards
just as he was endeavouring to cross the river into
the Free State.
I20 In New South Africa.
As a further instance may be cited the utter
inhumanity of forcing the EngHsh prisoners in one
town to line the trenches actually under the fire of
British troops — and many other atrocities perpe-
trated by Boers, who, after the strong representations
of the British Government at the termination of
the war, were put through a form of trial, only to
be acquitted or nominally punished, but gaining at
the same time the plaudits and honour of their fellow
countrymen. All this shows that we were fighting
with men who were Kaffirs at heart, at least so far
as feelings of humanity were concerned, and that
the treachery and cruelty of the pagan black man
had become deeply engrained in them. It is far
from the purpose of these lines to include in these
strictures the enlightened men who are now engaged
in uplifting their countrymen, though it might be
added that without doubt those then at the head
of affairs would stoutly profess their ignorance of
such occurrences, and the authors of them would
find some suitable text of Scripture which would
^Miiplv justify their action ; after all, then, can we
have much to grumble at ?
Considerine^ all these facts, and its consistent
attitude on the native question, it is justifiable to
sav that before the South African Republic can
consider it has a riorht to be deemed an agfent in
A Transvaal Coach Journey. 121
the advancement of civilisation, it will have to seize
every opportunity to demonstrate that it has emerged
from this dark cavern of horror, and to purge itself
of the inexcusable and abominable acts committed,
aye, and even defended, in the sacred name of
patriotism.
That the first opportunity has, in fact, been seized,
is evidenced by the fact that in the recent conflict at
Krugersdorp between a jaded force of the British
South Africa Company under Dr. Jameson and a
number of Boers strongly posted in an almost
impregnable position, considerable humanitv and
kindness was shown to the surrendered and almost
starving troopers, and also that great magnanimity
was, later on, shown by the government in the
treatment of the Johciunesburg "Reformers" who
had rendered themselves liable to heavy punishment.
This is, perhaps, a strong indication that already the
Transvaal Boers desire not only to destroy the bad
impression caused by some events of the late war,
but also to show an example of moderation, even
during the natural heat engendered by a conflict
which was forced on them in a time of peacH' and in
def(M"ice of their country.
The danger to be clearly seen and axoided is that,
in eradicating a strong though undesirable element
in ihr character of an individual or a nation, i^reat
122 In New South Africa.
risk is incurred of destroying its strength and
individuality, in fact, of emasculating it — the tamed
savage is often a miserable caricature of his former
self, for his ideas and restraints have been destroyed,
and he can neither comprehend nor realise those
which are put in their place. Even the Transvaal,
with its far-away traditions of European civilisation,
is in some degree subject to the same risk, and
must provide for it or run great danger of falling.
CHAPTER V.
NATAL: THE SOUTH AFRICAN GARDEN.
Our passengers on the train are an extraordinary
*' mixture." We here come across the imported
coohe element for the first time, as, though their
numbers continually increase, there were compara-
tively few at Johannesburg. The Zulu in Natal
flourishes to such an extent under British rule, has
so few wants and next to nothing to do to live, as
his wives cultivate his food, that he will not stir a
finger to work, and the cost of labour consequently
was at one time very high. The experiment of
bringing coolies from India at a fixed rate and for a
specified time was made, and has proved a great
success in this respect, ihey being employed
almost exclusively as labourers on the line. These
labourers are by no means attractive looking ; thin,
diminutive, sparsely dressed, and filthy, they form
a striking contrast to the dignified Zulu. As we
walk the length of the train, the third-class
carriages are crowded with a wild-looking, chat-
124 ^'^' ^^cw South AJrica.
tt-rino- rabble, which we are not sorry to lose later
on. At Charlestown our eyes are attracted by a
Zulu woman, evidently of some importance ; of an
imposing and dignified air, beautifully (in Zulu eyes)
fat, and with a face and demeanour eminently
business-like and resourceful ; she is worthy of
attention as a typical Natal Zulu of the better class.
Her dress evidently consists of no more than is
usual when in her own people's resorts, though a
blanket loosely thrown over one shoulder and
fastened there, reaching nearly to the knee, forms
some sort of concession to insular prejudices. Her
sleek neck is adorned with an elaborate necklace of
beads, and many bangles on her ankles and wrists,
jingle as she moves.
Our train commences to descend as we traverse
Majuba's shoulders, rounding the mountain and
beginning the journey through lovely Natal ; as we
progress, the descent grows faster and more furious,
sharp curves are dashed round, and distant land-
marks change their bearings with such rapidity as to
prevent any idea of one's direction being held for
two consecutive minutes. The question of speed
mav be due partly to a revulsion of feeling
caused by the immense contrast between the slow,
tedious, and rough coach journev jusi ended and
ihr (MmparcLlivelv smooth road oi iron. The ver\-
Natal: The South African Garden. J25
atmosphere ot the place is instinct with activity — •
one feels one is on British soil, and rejoices in the
stimulus.
The most noticeable feature at this stage is the
presence ot numerous iiative kraals dotted about the
hills, and resembiiui;- .. collection of bee hives. As
MOl'KNKUI. MAJUBA.
we pass near them we observe little black
youngsters, innocent of clothing, gazing wonder-
ingly at the train and sometimes scampering back to
the huts. Large patehes of growing maize are
often in proximilx i^ the huts, and here we see
126 In New South Africa.
many of the women of the household, naked to their
waists, laboriously hoeing and cultivating the
ground.
Here we come face to face with a condition
of things of which we only see the remotest
relic in Europe, i.e., the arrangement whereby the
part of the wife is to do the daily work of bread
winning, whereas that of the husband is to protect
her in so doing, and also, as a soldier of the state, to
fight for its honour and its precedence. The Zulu
in Natal lives an ideal life, save that there is no
fighting for him ; still, this part of Natal is on the
frontier, and is practically Zululand, where he may
think there are always possibilities ; he has easy
possession of land, and numerous wives to till it for
him, to prepare his daily food (mainly maize) and
his queer-tasting drink. He smokes and whiles
away his lazy day, and in the evening perhaps takes
his characteristic bullock hide shield and knobkerry
or assegai to make a semblance of a demonstration
with his brethren.
Nothing helped us so thoroughly to realise the
true nature of our surroundings as an incident of
that evening, when at the side of the line we slowly
passed a band of about twenty naked warriors
making their peculiar hop forward under cover of
their shields, shaking their sticks and rending the
Natal: The South African Garden. 127
air with awe-striking yells, hurling defiance at the
invader. While now quiescent in Zululand, having
tasted bitterly of the power of the white man, we
imagine that deep in those black breasts may be
nursed an unceasing hope that some day a new
Chaka will arrive who will drive his enemy from
his hardly-won country.
The Zulu is a fine race, the finest race in
Africa, south of the equator at least. Thougl
naturally strong and warlike, it was not until a
warrior, in the shape of the son of a minor chief,
arose that they exerted any overwhelming
influence ; but Chaka, being exiled by his father
on account of his prowess and popularity, took a
hint or two from English military methods,
elaborated a scheme of organisation, and, on the
death of bis whilom protector, put it in force with
such strictness, severity and success, that all the
elements of manhood were concentrated into one
engine of destruction. Every able-bodied man, of
course, was a warrior, the ties of home and family
were destroyed and celibacy enforced — failure in
battle meant death to commanders and commanded,
and the slightest hesitation, though in face of
seemingly certain death, meant capital punishment
afterwards. By wholesale executions he rid himself
of opposing parties, and, like many an ancient
128 In New South Africa.
prototype, built up a kingdom on a foundation of
corpses. What would Napoleon have thought after
1815 had he been told that his genius having left
him (as it appeared to have done), in those far-off
latitudes, had entered into the soul of a heathen,
continuing its devilish and devastating progress in
the southern hemisphere as it had done in the
northern ? — for Napoleon's fall and Chaka's rise
almost coincided. For twenty-five years Chaka
ruled with an iron hand and an iron heart ; victory
and bloodshed occurred on a scale unparalleled
even in Africa, and when he met his death, at the
hand of his brother, he died ruler of an enormous
empire, and left behind him a powerful, united
nation instead of an impotent collection of clans.
The impress of that mighty mind remains to this
day, and was evidenced with awful emphasis at
Isandhlwana and in the system and gallantry shown
during the war. The murderer of Chaka was in
turn murdered by his brother Dingaan ; indeed, this
appears to be the favourite, albeit involuntary, mode
of death on the part of Zulu chieftains, for few,
including Cetewayo, who it is believed by many was
poisoned, have escaped the assassin's hand.
Antecedent to Dingaan's reign, who, though not
of Chaka's calibre, was a man of strong and warlike
•character, several branches of the Zulu nation were
Natal : The South African Garden. 1 29
formed by the armies of generals, who, having been
unsuccessful or disobedient, feared to return to the
wrath of their chief and certain death, so prepared to
strike out a kingdom for themselves. One of these
proceeded far north to the shores and districts of
Nyassa and Tanganyika, where, a missionary of the
■district tells us, they now unceasingly raid their
weaker neighbours, committing untold atrocities,
whilst another, on Chaka's death, proceeded through
the Transvaal, whence the early Boers drove them,
to the north of the Limpopo, conquering and
depopulating, w'here it formed the famous Matabele
nation, to be dealt with later on. What with
wholesale private executions and the enormous
bloodshed in war, it will become evident that
polygamy was absolutely essential for the nation's
existence ; but the Spartan rule appears to have
also had a lastmg effect on the morality of the
people. No doubt the Zulu code might appear
strange in some particulars, but, having set up a
•code, it is unswervingly adhered to ; in fact, it is
doubtful whether there exists a nation in the world
so true to its laws ; punishment certainly is strin-
gent and far reaching, but its efHcacy is such that
illegitimacy, for instance, practically never occurs.
The detail and reason of their laws and the intricacy
and strictness of their ceremonials seem to point
K
130 In New South Africa.
to an origin superior to that of any of their neigh-
bours, and in some of their customs there is a
distinct trace of Semitic influence ; it is held by-
many that their origin is northern.
It was Dingaan's soldiers whom the Boers met
with in their first occupation of the Transvaal, it was
he whom they conquered and deprived of Natal and
his throne, the latter country having already been
placed under British protection, only to be driven
out by the British themselves after a desperate
resistance. Here comes the story of gallant Mr.
King, whose son we met, and whose deed has
become an honoured tradition of the colony. Hard
pressed by the foe, at Durban, a handful of British
soldiers were on the point of being vanquished, this
meaning the loss of a promising and beautiful
country to England, and probably a dreadful
captivity or perhaps even death to them. No help
was at hand, the nearest assistance being at Port
Elizabeth, 700 miles away, through the enemy's
lines and over country thirsty and wild, populated by
fierce and hostile natives, by whom scant mercy
would be given the solitary Englishman should he fall
into their hands. Nevertheless, during eight days of
hardship unparalleled, he rode for the lives of his
comrades, two days more being taken up by sick-
ness, reaching Port Elizabeth half dead, but in
JS'atal : The South African Garden. 131
time to save Durban by the despatch of a reheving
force by sea. King's ride is one of the most
exciting of the stormy annals of this young colony
(for it was only in 1841 that we fought there first),
and it now forms the subject of many a Christmas
story and poet's muse.
The history of Natal, so far as the relations
between black and white are concerned, has been a
singularly untroubled one ; the black population
consists mainly of refugees, and also of those who,
having become rich, say, in Zululand, were therefore
the more uncertain of life and property. Under the
British flag, they enjoy complete safety, and, it is
believed, appreciate the fact thoroughly ; many have
become exceedingly prosperous.
Looking back over the history of the last twelve
vears, so far as England's relations with the
Transvaal and Zululand are concerned, one cannot
but be impressed by the singular ineptitude dis-
played in the English policy and government. In
the first place, it is doubtful whether the Boers as a
bodv ever desired annexation by England, and they
certainly proved their dislike of the arbitrary,
tactless, semi-military rule of the English officials.
Secondly, it is quite certain that the result of putting
an immense strain on the friendliness of Cetewayo by
forbidding him to attack the Boers when they were
K 2
132 III New South Africa.
at his mercy, was to bring upon us two bloody wars,
with terrible loss of life and treasure.
To comprehend the situation, it must be under-
stood that Dingaan, having betrayed and massacred
a party of Boer envoys and another party of 700 -
men, women, and children— the Boers shortly after
joined hands with Panda, a jealous and powerful
chieftain, and defeated Dingaan, who promptly left
the scene, probably aided by a dose of poison or a
knife ; the throne went to Panda and a large slice
of territory (as usual) to the Boers.
However, as years went on, this was not enough
for these early colonisers, and Cetewayo, Panda's
son and successor, was continually at odds with
them, on account of their encroachments. Quite
apart from this provocation of the Boers, there was
another strong reason why the presence of aggressive
neighbours should be held by the Zulu nation not
only as a nuisance but also as a fortunate occurrence.
A Zulu man was not considered a warrior, nor was he
allowed to marry, until he had won his spurs, or, in
Zulu terms, "'washed his spear in blood"; conse-
quently, tht' younger portion of the nation had
perhaps the strongest possible incentive to see in
this contiguity a highly desirable and charming
opportunity. Therefore, when the Boers were
disorganised, dispirited, and almost bankrupt, having
Natal: The South African Garden. 133
been signally defeated in attempting to reduce a
plucky chief in the north, Sekukuni b)' name, it was
an immense test of this savage chiefs loyalty to
England to make him plunge his nation into a state
of seething discontent by disbanding the thousands
of troops he had placed all along the Zulu frontier,
ready and fretting to pounce down on their old and
relentless enemies, and so to destroy his opportunity
of paying off old scores effectively by wiping them out
of existence. Only a tyrant could have done this,
and even Cetewayo could not suppress the awakened
spirit of war which had flared up and would only be
satisfied by blood. Unhappily, this fell on the
British instead of on the Boers. Had Cetewayo
been allowed to wreak his own vengeance in the
matter, though no doubt it would have seemed
inhumane at the time, the Zulu war, resulting
through the irritation of disappointment and through
Cetewayo's hand being forced bv the subsequent
contumacy of the Zulu young bloods, would never
have happened, while the Boers would have been
crippled and only too glad of protection instead of
plunging us into the Transvaal war. The Transvaal
at this moment owes its very existence to England
having stepped in at the critical point of its life, yet,
sad to say, as a result of her humanit\- she was
ri'warded by her sons being killed bv those whom
134 ^'^ ^^^ South Africa.
she had saved, and by the hatred and distrust of a
large section of the Boers.
It might be fairly deduced from the above that,
Sekukuni having been thrashed by the British on
behalf of the Dutch farmers when their own attempts
had failed, the threatening power of the Zulus —
anxious to avenge Dingaan — having been dissi-
pated, and, in four years of British government,
the finances of the country having been re-estab-
lished, the chestnuts had been pulled out of the
fire by the British cat, and the Boer baboon saw
no necessity to share them with anyone.
The subsequent capture and exile of Cetewayo,
his return under an impossible arrangement of
government, in which the nation was split up into
thirteen tribal divisions, certainly had its intended
effect of rendering the nation impotent as regards
aggression, but it also resulted in an intolerable state
of anarchy, in the midst of which Cetewayo's son
Dinizulu, with two brothers, were exiled to St.
Helena as rebels.
To return to our wanderings ; here at the stations
we see fresh signs of English life ; instead of apathy
there is interest, and at one, bearing the very
African name Ingogo, we even see ladies in riding-
habits — not that such things are necessarily un-
known, even in the distant parts of the Transvaal,
Natal: The South African Garden. 135
but the sight struck one as pecuharly European after
the recent sight of leaping warriors.
At Ladysmith we find our sleeping car and get a
meal ; half the population seemed to be parading
the platform, ranging from tiny coolie lasses,
picturesque and pretty in their long, strange gowns,
to the representative of England in her muslin frock.
Morning comes and cold it is, for we are yet high
above sea level ; we are passing along a great
height, with a vast area of irregular, rippling, round-
topped hill shoulders, grass covered, and undulating
from unknown depths in the far distance right up to
our feet, separated and intersected by ravines so
steep and sloping that, as we rush round their heads
and along their sides, it seems that, were our train to
be but once lost control of, we might go rolling over,
over, over, for a weary eternity.
Tropical vegetation in tangled masses now
appears, and grows richer and more abundant as we
descend. The lovely banana and tree fern wave
their graceful leaves, and palms and bamboos of
great size tower in the air. Here grow pineapples,
tea, coffee (of a strange flavour), and sugar, to say
nothing of immense quantities of maize. Natal is
■at once the garden of South Africa and its most
healthy and agreeable part ; only on the coast line
and in spots like Pictermaritzburg is the heat
136 In New South Africa.
intense, and if a perfected English climate is to be
got anywhere it is surely in the mountains here. A
single drawback to farming is the occasional yisita-
tion of heayy hailstorms, often yery local, but of
great intensity ; the hailstones are sometimes enor-
mous and descend with immense^ force, even
penetrating corrugated iron roofs.
Up on the Umgeni River, some way from Howick,
are beautiful falls, which in their perpendicular leap
of 250 feet eclipse Niagara ; but these are insignifi-
cant when compared with those of the Tugela, far up
in the fastnesses of the wild Drakensburg mountains,
where the broad waters of a mighty stream are
precipitated in one unbroken sheet, making a
perpendicular fall of no less than 1862 feet.
As the morning sun gets high and we approach
the coast, havinor skirted the lovely town of
Maritzburg, the seat of government, during the
night, the heat increases greatly, and a glimpse of
the landlocked and forest-edged harbour of Durban
gives promise of the luxuries of a swim, though
this takes place in the excellent swimming bath
in the town and not in the ocean home of the
sea-wolf.
For a proper realisation of the desirability of
luxury and laziness one must spend a short time (a
day is sufficient for the purpose) in a town where the
Natal: The South African Garden. 137-
heat is such that the shghtest movement from one's
chair in the shade, or even less, means a bath of
perspiration ; where even the mere sound of a ripple
or splash of water is a welcome factor of the
provision for modifying the temperature, and yet
where every resource exhausted leaves one uncom-
forted and uncooled. Here, in the Royal Hotel,
our apartments, with mosquito-netted beds (for
these terrors are pestiferous), open on to a square
shaded by the luxurious foliage of climbing plants,
and our ears are refreshed by the welcome sound of
cooling fountains.
We walk through the park, with its varied
collection of tropical trees, view the fine architecture
of the Parliament buildings, and occupy ourselves in
studying the varied types of God's noblest work who'
here present themselves in unsophisticated natural-
ness. It is wonderful how quickly these untaught,
though keen-witted creatures measure the meaning
of the harmless looking " Kodak ; " it is their belief
that the spirit of the unfortunate victim of the
photographer's art enters into the picture, leaving
him to die a lingering death. How can one wonder
at such a belief in a people whose faith in the
medicine man and the witch finder even now holds?
As a consequence, the mere adjustment of the
Kodak " often leads to shrieks, minted with the
138 In New South Africa.
laughter of others, and the scattering of ebony
groups.
Durban is proud of its beautiful situation and its
suburbs. A drive round the Berea, as the high
ground to the north of the town is called, shows
them to be simply lovely ; flowering shrubs and
trees are gorgeous, and the bush, reaching to the
roadside, seems impenetrable. It is whispered that
snakes are numerous and huge boa-constrictors not
absolutely unknown. Here and there we pass a
group of Zulu girls, homeward bound to their hilly
homes, and at a wayside inn we often notice coolies,
for it is not forbidden them, as it is the Kafhrs,
under heavy penalties to the vendor, to buy
intoxicants.
The native question, as will have been gathered
from previous pages, is one of real and growing
difficulty to the country. Now that the Kafiirs are
not decimated by war, nor families exterminated by
the jealousies of kings or rivals, the black population
is increasing enormously, evidencing a vitality quite
unknown in the aborigines of other parts of the
world, such as North America and New Zealand.
Even now they outnumber the white population by
43robably ten to one, there being about 400,000 of
them in Natal, all of whom need land for cultivation
and pasture ; indeed, it certainly looks as if " Africa
Natal: The South African Garden. 139
for the Africans " were bidding fair to become an
accomplished fact some day, so far as Natal is
concerned.
Reluctantly we end our visit, and in the early
morning board the tender which bears us out to the
great white " Scot " lying peacefully at anchor on
the blue waters of the bay.
Our passengers differ from those outward bound ;
instead of the invalid travelling to recruit his health,
or the young man starting to seek his fortune, we
see brown and stalwart men, one with a well-used
rifle in his hand, some from far up country with
tales of fresh mines of wealth in the districts of the
Matabele country. Amongst these companions of
our homeward voyage is Captain Borrow, who, alas,
met with a hero's end in Matabeleland.
One of Chaka's chiefs, Moselekatse (Umselegazi)
by name, broke away from the Zulu nation with
his following, marching northward and establishing
himself in the region between the Limpopo and the
Zambesi, and bounded by Portuguese East Africa on
the east. These cut-throats persistently raided the
industrial Mashonas, committing countless atrocities
and slaughtering wholesale. The Mashonas are
expert workers in metal, and the Matabele, not
being versed in the arts of smelting iron and manu-
facturing assegai and spearheads, kept themselves in
140 In New South Africa.
stock of these too necessary articles and of cattle bv
putting their owners beyond the need of them. The
result is that the disposition of the Mashonas has
been somewhat shy and retiring, with a tendency to
dwell on almost inaccessible hilltops. Moselekatse
joining the great majority, his son Lobengula took his
place, and also the precaution of removing nearly all
his relatives to a calmer sphere, so that none could
pretend to a better right to the throne. Lobengula
appears to have been a man capable of learning a
thing or two. He fully comprehended the value of
goldfields and of rifles, his demands for the latter
having been occasionally wholesale and ungratified.
Though circumstances in the end proved too strong
for him, he probably also understood the advantage
of keeping on good terms with the British South
Africa Company, which now rules this enormous
tract of country, and until the end ot 1893 kept
punctiliously to all his engagements, showing some
amount of foresight in doing so, for he probably
recognised what an African King might not
necessarily be expected to recognise, namely, that,
whether he and his impis wanted it or not, the white
man would get his country in the end, however
difificult he might make it for them, and then for
nothing; so he chose the prudential course and piled
up gold, of which he must have had a considerable
Natal: The South African Garden. 141
hoard, as he never spent the considerable sums
accruing through subsidies and concessions. The
British occupation had been one of untold good so
far, as it had to a great extent checked the raids
formerly so common — this by treaty with the fat and
unattractive visaged though dignified potentate ; but
the propensity was too deeply engrained to be
entirely cured, as was seen by the raid on a
Mashona chief in the neighbourhood of \'ictoria bv
an impi (regiment) of Matabele 2000 strong,
resulting in the death of large numbers of the
attacked, whose offence was nominally cattle
stealing. It is probable that Lobengula found
himself much in the same position as that of
Cetewayo before the Zulu war, namely, that his
young bloods grew impatient under restraint, and
forced his hand by menacing his crown ; indeed, it
is a matter of common knowledge that his young
men for some time previously openly defied him,
and caused the serious developments which took
place.
The discovery of gold in the country is probably
due to Mr. H. Hartley — about 1866 — who saw
abundant evidences that his discovery was one made
manv centuries before, in the countless and extensive
ancient workings. The Tati gold mines in Mata-
beleland afterwards started, though now successful.
142 In New South Africa.
failed in their earlier days, probably through lack
of capital and the counter attraction of Kimberley,
which opened up a few years later, and it is during
recent years only that serious work has been
done in prospecting for and developing the un-
doubtedly wealthy and numerous goldfields in other
districts of Rhodesia. It was only in 1890 that a
picked force of seven hundred experienced men, well
officered, was sent by the British South Africa
Company to formally take possession of Mashona-
land, probably to the great disgust of an unruly
section of the Boers, who had been meditating a
wholesale " trek," and were only stopped by the
mandate of Oom Paul.
This was accomplished most successfully and
peacefully, and Fort Tuli, Fort Victoria, Fort
Charter, and Fort Salisbury were formed and a good
road made. Some of our passenger friends having
been members of this force, much was heard of the
incidents of its progress, causing an interest in the
country, which subsequently led to a visit. To prevent
surprise, or, perhaps, rather, to astonish the natives,
an electric search-light w^as brought, which in some
cases rather took them aback. However, this effect
was never anything save temporary, as the Matabele
does not trv to enquire into or account for such a
phenomenon as " catching the daylight and using it
BLACK BEAUTY. A ZULU GIRL.
Natal: The South African Garden. 143
at night," and simply explains what must be to him
the most unheard of thing by a shrug of the
shoulders and the words " mad white man ! "
The country is highly spoken of by all who know it
thoroughly as being, except in certain well-defined
localities, healthy and also possessing good scenery ;
the elevation is great and it is a good pastoral
country. There is yet much game about, though, as
is the case further south in a more aggravated form,
it is quickly becoming rarer. When Mr. Selous
first hunted these regions, fifteen or twenty years
ago, all sorts of game, from lion to quagga, were to
be found in abundance, and lions are yet a
source of annoyance.
Rhodesia, which the provinces of Mashonaland
and Matabeleland constitute, is attainable either
from Kimberley or Pretoria by a long journey by
bullock waggon or coach (the latter an expensive
method), through the Transvaal or Bechuanaland ;
but a route has now been made practicable for other
than foot passengers from Beira, the fever-den on
a sand bank at the mouth of the Pungue river. A
strip of " Fly-belt " about ninety miles wide
separates Beira from Umtali in Manicaland ; across
this fly-belt no animal of traction or dog can pass,
the bite of the dreaded tsetse fly killing them in six
weeks. A railway is now built across this natural
144 ^^'^ ^^'^^ South Africa.
barrier, and a journey, which was at one time only to
be taken on foot, may now be done in comparative
luxury and in greatly lessened time.
The country abounds, in some districts, with old
gold workings, the majority being very shallow
though some attain the depth of seventy to a
hundred feet. It is also remarkable for its extra-
ordinarv problems in the form of prehistoric ruins
of peculiar and distinctive character, and hardlv
to be compared with any other ancient buildings
known.
Speculation, of course, is wide afield as to the
origin of the astonishing and vast ruins to be seen in
various districts, those of Zimbabwe particularly ;
but one point seems clear — they were built bv
foreigners in the country, who visited it and lived
there in the midst of hostile tribes. The Sabi river
would form a natural water route for the strangers,
were their origin Phoenician, as indicated by an
ingot mould unearthed corresponding with an ingot
of tin, undoubtedlv Phoenician, found in Cornwall, or
otherwise; and that this route was used by them is
indicated by the numerous forts built at the same
period, which exist on the river banks. Certain it is
that antiquarians will have to quarrel a long time
before they establish or refute the suggestion that
Mashonaland is that part of Ethiopia known of old
Natal: The South African Garden. 145
as the " Land of Ophir," although we may call it
so now
One of the forces which act against the develop-
ment of Africa is the Portuguese element ; as a rule,
wherever you have the Portuguese you have the
sluggard ; unable to develop or make efficient use
of the territories they occupy, they are the greatest
drags to civilisation wherever they have a footing.
For hundreds of years they held a nominal posses-
sion of parts of the continent north of Zululand,
including Delagoa Bay ; but their authority, until
comparatively lately, practically never extended
beyond a few miles of the coast and a few trading
centres up the rivers, or not much beyond the
sentry lines of their expeditionary forces. Recentlv
they have to some extent asserted themselves by
having, after a prolonged struggle, reduced Gun-
gunhana, a powerful chief in Gazaland, to submission.
The Chartered Company's soldiers, amongst whom
were one or two oi our friends, had two brushes
with them in the early days, which proved rather
serious — for the Portuguese.
Salisbury, the seat of Government, only three
years after its occupation had, during the season, a
population of probablv four hundred whites ; it even
then boasted of some excellent houses, a most
flourishing turf club, with an entrance fee of fifteen
L
146 In New South Africa.
guineas and a prize list of considerable value. The
usual concomitants of society were present, and it
was even whispered that, though the lady inhabitants
were certainly not more than a dozen in number,
society lines were drawn with great severity, even
under such restricted circumstances.
However, of Rhodesia as it is, more anon.
chaptp:r VI.
OSTRACISED IN AFRICA.— HOME WITH
THE SWALLOWS.
W^E regret to hear, shortly after leaving Durban,
where " M. the Fool " shouted farewells to the
" \\ovi\eyM3jd-boimders ,'' as he facetiously termed us,
that our doctor is ill. Little do we dream what that
little item of news portends.
The journey to East London is not of any
particular interest ; fortunately, it is not long, and
we are there on the following morning, lying out at
sea and engaged in taking aboard from lighters
never-ending bales of wool and dried, nasty-looking
hides. There being but little time to spare, none
venture ashore, and the time is passed monotonously,
the continual drone of the officer's voice counting
and taking the marks of the bales and the perspiring
self-importance of the Kaffir labourers becoming
painfully dreary.
Be this as it may, it is preferable to the experience
we are subjected to later, for the " Scot " being the
finest vessel of the Union line, she is a centre of
I. 2
148 In New South Africa.
interest to various people from shore, who, to the
number of about a hundred, come aboard, suffering
from the effects of the rough passage in a small
tender, investigate cabins without the slightest
regard for the privacy of the occupants, overrun and
dominate the entire ship, and in many cases show
their appreciation by leaving their dinners on the
deck. The departure is watched with feelings of
grim and satisfied amusement, for the tender's
bobbing sides are lined with humbled and dishevelled
mortals.
Port Elizabeth gives us a hot and windy welcome,
the fierce wind catching up the finer gravel in the
streets and cutting it into our faces.
We walk down the long main street with easy
consciences and the air of free men for the last
tune, for on the morrow, as we walk up the hill to the
charming Port Elizabeth Club House, our Mashona-
land companion is stopped by a man on horseback,
who exclaims, " Well, so you've just escaped in
time ! " What dread meaning is conveyed in these
words we scarcely dare to enquire, but, on asking
the question, the reply, given in light-hearted
tones, is : " Small pox has broken out on board the
' Scot,' the doctor and sixteen men are down with
it, and she is ordered into strict quarantine." Our
dismay may be appreciated when it is understood
Ostracised in Africa. 149
that clothes, money, and camera are on board, and
the suit of coloured flannels and cap worn by one of
us is hardly sufhcient or suitable for him to take the
voyage back to England in, nor can it be done with
only three pounds in cash to get to Cape Town. A
small, desolate crowd stands on the pier waiting for
the tender to take them back to the isolated and
ostracised vessel ; there flies the hateful yellow flag
at her mast head, like a horrid demon of sickness
hovering over her, and we say good-bye to our
friends, not knowing what experiences are before
them, or before us, for that matter.
The news has spread like wildfire round the town ;
hotels will have none of us ; we are told that the
police were after us, and that we shall be put in the
lazaretto, subjected to untold horrors in the way of
fumigation, and perhaps isolated and quarantined on
land for three weeks. We prowl about Port
Elizabeth for some time, feeling as. if every man's
hand were against us and as if ev^ery soul looked at
us askance. There is really some reason for all this
trepidation, as recollections of 1884 had impressed
everyone with horror, and caused the possible out-
break of another epidemic to be regarded with
intense apprehension ; our names, too, were known,
and we were readily " spotted " as " Scot " passen-
gers.
150 In New South Africa.
It will be easily realised, therefore, that we
unfortunate travellers are in a painful fix ; thoughts
of flying inland to Uitenhage to find a night's
lodging enter our minds, but we come to the
conclusion that the usual Nemesis might overtake
such fugitives from justice.
Succour comes to us at the hands of the hos-
pitable and kind secretary and members of the Port
Elizabeth Club, who, though naturally in some cases
with a little searching of heart, undertake the risk,
and provide us for the night with a bed, surrounded
and impregnated with disinfectants. Our gratitude
for the kindness is great, and our anxiety is, in
proportion, that it shall not be rewarded by results
proving their hospitality to be unwise ; happily, it is
to be recorded, this was not the case.
We find that the unfortunate " Scot " has retired
to the quarantine ground to the north of the
anchorage, with a depressing view of the numerous
skeletons of vessels which have at one time or another
been driven ashore. She has been joined by a
medical man, resident at Port Elizabeth, and a
nurse, and it is understood that she has received
orders from the sanitary authorities to proceed to
Saldanha Bay, a sandy, barren, dead, isolated spot,
some eighty miles north of Cape Town, where
the unhappy passengers may have to spend at
Ostracised in Africa. 151
least three weeks kicking their heels in the hot
sand and possibly living under canvas. We shiver
a thanksgiving that we are out of it, and the shiver
is refreshing.
Our peregrinations in Port Elizabeth lead us to
the gardens, which are pleasant after the dust of the
wide and rather imposing street, near one end of
which is the feather market, a fine hall devoted to
that peculiarly South African product.
Cash and some sort of an outfit having been
obtained, we arrange to go on to Cape Town by rail,
though in doing so we shall have to go right up to
De Aar and Naauwport, which we had passed weeks
before, nearly half way on the road to Johannesburg.
During the first part of our two days' journey there
is little of fresh interest save Uitenhage, a very
pretty place, celebrated on account of its late intelli-
gent and useful baboon. This baboon belonged to a
signalman on the line who had by some means or
other sacrificed his lower extremities to the tender
mercies of a locomotive, and who consequently was
glad of the able and willing services of our cousin
(not once, but a hundred times removed, thank
heaven). In the morning the baboon placed his
trolley on the rails and his master seated himself on
it and was pushed luxuriously along to his signal
station ; when necessary, under his direction, the
152 In New South Africa.
baboon pulled the proper lever over on the approach
of a train, and at night trundled his master home
again. What other kindly and companionable
actions this excellent baboon performed are not
recorded, though doubtless the ordinary habits and
propensities of baboons were turned by his master to
some account in the case of this gifted ape.
After passing lovely, tree-shaded Cradock, we
nearly get an opportunity of having a practical
experience of a Cape thunderstorm. A few hours
before a storm had occurred, sending down a deluge
of waters in the usual partial and concentrated
method, which had swept away a good mile of the
railway ; this delays us a couple of hours or so, and
our train proceeds gingerly over the new-made and
not too stable road. Not far off a dense cloud over
a small area betokens another downpour, a shower
which will make the land swim and fill the deep-
cut, worn gullies to their brims in a few moments.
Through the Karoo is an old experience, and it is
not until Touws River is reached that we begin
to understand what we had missed in taking the first
part of our journey from Cape Town to Johannes-'
burg at night. Having come to an understanding
w^ith the driver, we seat ourselves on the broad bogie
front of the locomotive, our legs dangling con-
tentedly over the " cow-catcher," and a stay in the
Home with the Swallows. 153
middle forming a reassuring support. The sensation
on starting is strange and novel ; with the wind
whistling in our ears and our eyes straight in front,
we see nothing of the cause of the speed we were
travelling at, but merely objects far in front, growing
from small in size increasingly larger, until at last
they shoot past us and out of our ken.
We rush downhill ever and ever, the grade
appearing severe to our unaccustomed eyes ; the
cliffs and mountains close in around us as we near
the Hex River Pass until it seems as hopeless as a
poor madman's problem for us to divine or forecast
how our train will escape from its hemmed-in
position ; time after time an opposing mountain or
deep-cut valley seems to cry " Check ! " as we shoot
suddenly on to it round a corner, only to swerve
sharply aside, ready instantly with a solution of the
puzzle. The dry, strong air of the mountain, the
quick movement and the novelty of the position sets
the blood tingling in our veins and fires us with a
strange elation.
As we pass round a projection we sometimes run
into a nook sheltered from wind, where the still,
baked air and rock-radiated heat scorch our faces,
dry our skins, and from greed of moisture render
it painful and impossible to keep our eyes open.
We are travelling over some broken, rocky declivi-
154 ^^ ^^^ South Africa.
ties, lichen-covered and sparsely bushed, when we
both exclaim instinctively, " What's that ?" A
creature has moved suddenly and silently off the
line and mounted the bank ; there is something
odd and inexplicable about the motion of the being
which makes us both speak involuntarily.
The solution is interesting to casual visitors like
we, for on our right, some eighty feet below, and
scrambling swiftly, easily, and yet with gait most
ungainly, is a troop of baboons of all sizes, some four
score in number. These creatures are often most
mischievous when in proximity to orchards, but
sometimes, in spite of their wariness, fall victims to
the farmer's rifle. If unarmed, it is policy on
meeting these " customers " rather to remove
oneself from their neighbourhood than to excite their
anger, for there are many instances of fatal
encounters with them, their great strength and
agility, their clannish combination against a foe, and
correctness of aim in stone throwing, rendering them
awkward hand to hand antagonists.
Cape Town once more ; we frighten our good
friends at Seapoint by appearing again amongst
them, and even there we feel culprits, as there are
distinct signs of restlessness and desire to be going
■on the part of our fellow visitors, which gives our
excellent hostess some reason for uneasiness. One
Home with the Swallows. 155
morning we awake to find the ill-fated " Scot" lying
like a ghost in Table Bay, still awaiting instructions.
We learn quickly that she is to land her colonial and
sick passengers at Saldanha Bay for a three weeks'
holiday and will then proceed slowly to England.
Happy quarantined ones ! Some are Port Eliza-
beth sight-seers, who had gone aboard at Algoa Bay
as their fellows had gone aboard at East London,
and who by this experience will be cured for the
future of their investigating tendencies so far as
ships are concerned, for it will be only after six
weeks' absence, and perhaps more, that Port Eliza-
beth will see them again.
We await the train from Johannesburg due at
eleven o'clock in the morning, having detained our
ship the " Spartan " for the senior member of our
party. The day and then the night drag along,
however, without sign of the train, news having come
to hand that a "wash away" has occurred on the
far side of Kroonstad, which has carried down a
large iron bridge and wrecked a train, causing the
loss of two precious lives. We are relieved of our
anxiety, however, by hearing that the mail train,
which had followed that which was wrecked, is
safe, and that the only result will be a lengthy
detention and a change of trains. The train is
seventeen hours late, and it is morning before we
156 In New South Africa.
turn in on board our home. The only distraction
during this wait was the burning down of a large
wing of the station.
The ship is crowded from stem to stern with
visitors before we cast off, and as we leave South
Africa, and Table Mountain melts into the distant
clouds, we cannot but feel that there is much to
be expected of and much to be proud of in this vast
and important constituent of our Empire ; and, not
only this, but we realise a feeling of intense satisfac-
tion at having with our own eyes seen and our own
feet trod the soil which bears witness to the strength
and glory of our own English Nation.
One word might be added before farewell to
Africa is said, and that is on the country from the
point of view of intending emigrants ; one thing is
as certain here as it is in every other country,
success depends on fitness and exertion. The
working man who comes here and expects to find
his bread ready buttered never made a more unfortu-
nate mistake in his life. The only men who will get
on are those who CAN work, who WILL work, and
who will put up with the inconveniences, and perhaps
hardships and risks, which they would never have
had to face at home. South Africa is no place for
the incompetent or the sluggard, neither is it for
those who come out, perhaps with capital, but also
Home with the Swallows. 157
with preconceived ideas and with opinions obsti-
nately clung to. In confirmation of this, it may be
added that, though there were many third class
passengers and emigrants on the way out, yet,
equally so were there disappointed men returning
home from a land which they had hoped to find
flowing with the traditional milk and honey, and yet
had found nought but stones ; in some cases blind
eyes and indolence, or in others absolute misfortune,
having prevented them from discovering the gold
which, as a rule, industry and capacity should have
laid bare, if one may use such a parallel.
To sum up, it may be said that while the climate is
often very hot, it is on the average perfectly support-
able ; that wages are high, though the expenses of
living are also much higher than they are at home,
and that there are always great possibilities before
the earnest and intelligent emigrant. Naturallv, it is
always open to overstock a market, which, rapidly
expanding as it is on all hands, still has its limits ;
but the fact remains that the country in the future
must become a vast outlet for the surplus labour and
enterprise of the old country. At the same time, it
should be unremittingly borne in mind, that what has
to some extent occurred in Australia would be
disastrous, namely, that the towns should become
enormous cancers, absorbingf the labour so needed
158 In New South Africa.
to develop the internal resources of the country, and
thereby destroy themselves by starving that on
which they must eventually depend. This is less
likely to occur, however, because the minerals and
sources of wealth already opened up and the great
chances of the future are distributed far and wide.
Little need be said about the homeward voyage ;
many amongst our passengers are strong, self-reliant
men, homeward bound after absence since boyhood,
with tales of riches in far-away Mashonaland, and
documents which will turn to gold stowed in their
travelling bags. Tales of encounters with natives,
hunting episodes, and forecasts moderately expressed
of the glorious future of their adopted country, make
the journey home interesting and put a completing
touch to it.
Running short of coal, we land at Tenerife, having
obtained a grand view of the Peak, and experience
a charming interlude in the voyage. The Canary
Islands are Spanish, and their volcanic origin is
patent and obvious to the most casual observer on
every hand. Santa Cruz, the capital, has no very
peculiar characteristics, save that its inhabitants
appear to subsist mainly by keeping tobacco shops,
though, as almost every alternate place appears to
be one, it is difficult to see how the demand equals
the supply.
Home with the Swallows. 159
Madeira is but twenty-four hours distant, this time
viewed in daylight. We now attain some reahsation
of its beauty. Dotted o\^er the side of its steep
slopes are countless villas, white and distinct in the
light air against the purple mountain tint ; it is yet
winter in England, but three days' quick journey
away, and magnolias, roses, bananas, coffee, and the
sugar cane grow in profusion, linking, apparently,
the hardy vegetation of the north with the luxurious,
heat-loving plants of the tropics.
We obtain horses and ride up the steep, cobble-
paved and narrow streets, to see gorgeous flowers
hanging in irrepressible prodigality over the walls,
and, as we get higher, vineyards on every side.
Arrived at the convent and church of Santa Carmo,
we make a short detour, and obtain a grand view
over the precipitous valley named the Little Curral,
then return to make an exciting descent in that
most original institution of Madeira, the wickerwork
sledge. The vehicle seats two and is provided with
runners ; two men steering and controlling the speed
from behind, we start, smoothly and slowly, gliding
over the slippery cobbles, and propelled by our own
weight only, the motion being easy and delightful.
Ahead, at some distance, the road turns somewhat,
and, as our speed increases, it seems morally certain
that our fate will be to be dashed against the wall of
i6o In New South Africa.
the house opposite, where two or three dark-skinned
Httle ones are enjoying themselves in the dust ; but
see, by some invisible action on the part of our
steersman, as the corner is reached we turn aside,
with an effort, though surely, and continue our
shooting descent. Persons cross the road and are
warned by the shrill cry from behind us, two or three
pack-laden mules, laboriously climbing, press close
to the wall as we whiz past them ; but at last it
seems that, without fail, a large, laden, ox-drawn
vehicle must prove an effectual barrier to our
progress in a narrow portion of the road in front, and
the sensation of whirling down with a resistless force
to a certain, sudden contact with a most unyielding
object possesses a peculiar flavour all of its own.
By some means, unseen to our eyes, too intent on
what is in front, our downward career is made to
slacken, and we stop easily and calmly close to the
obstruction. Passed', we renew our wild progress,
though the straightest line of road now lies behind
us ; corners become more numerous, and, finally,
shortly before the end, one is reached almost
returning on itself, so steep that in turning we tilt up
and slip sidewavs towards the precipitously sloping
hill side ; these men gauge it to an inch, however,
and, with a turn of the foot on one side and a drag
on the other we are twisted round and shortly after
Home with the Swallows. i6i
come to the end of our journey breathless and
laughing, having covered in ten minutes what took
an hour to ascend.
In this charming manner is the journey home
from our South African Colony accomplished, and it
is well to remember that the colony is but one of
several which the energy, enterprise, and adaptability
of the British people — to say nothing of the inborn
instinct which renders the Briton, be he Celt or
Saxon, peculiarly fitted to colonise- — have reclaimed
from barbarism and raised up as a monument of
strength and industry. So long as England shows
herself capable of forming offshoots possessing the
vitality of the United States (for surely we may
claim her as such), Australia, Canada, and South
Africa, so long may we rest assured that the sap
remains fresh, unvitiated, and vigorous in the grand
old tree, and that the day of decay is far away in the
distant, unfathomable future.
May a plea be urged in these pages that a
closer bond of unity between the " Mother of
Nations " and her olive branches, the Colonies,
should be formed by a more universal public interest
in the daily life, circumstances, and conditions of
the peoples who are probably forming the ruling
and dominant nations of the future ; it is to be
remarked as strange that a large, though certainly
M
1 62 In New South Africa.
diminishing proportion of the people of Great
Britain, even in these days of enlightenment, have
the most hazy ideas of our " Empire beyond the
Seas," and have a very vague and incomplete
conception of the fact that practically in every
quarter of the globe there are countries as great or
greater in extent than England, peopled by English-
men, each with its own government, its own
individuality and character, its own ambitions, trials,
and responsibilities, ever bearing onward the banner
of civilisation, and testifying in its expansion and
success to the honour and glory of Old England.
As a first and important step in the desired
direction, the directors of our educational institutions
should specially include the study of the history and
geography of our Colonies in their educational
scheme, matters so far almost entirely neglected ;
so would they lay the basis of a living interest and
sympathy which should be fruitful of great and
lasting results.
\
PART II.
RAMBLES IN RHODESIA.
CHAPTER I.
EENDRAGT MAAKT MAGT.
Pretoria really should not be dull, for during its
short existence it has been the witness of events both
interesting and remarkable.
The scene of the foundation of the Boer govern-
ment in 1855, of the short-lived annexation of the
Transvaal by England in 1877, and of the coura-
geous defence by the British during the Transvaal
war — so vividly depicted by Mr. Rider Haggard — it
is not long since the eyes of the whole civilised
world were concentrated on this peaceful, drowsy
village, with a deep-rooted conviction that on the
words and actions of its chief citizen and President
depended mighty issues. The rising of the Uit-
landers in Johannesburg, combined with the entrance
into the Transvaal of the Chartered Companv's
M a
164 III New South Africa.
forces under Dr. Jameson, was the cause of con-
siderable international feeling, and possibly of
important modifications in the grouping of European
Powers.
Apart from events of such serious character,
which happily are not of everyday occurrence,
during several months of the year the inhabitants
are enabled to witness the playing of what is often
a peculiarly laughable comedy in the Raadzaal, or
Parliament House. The actors therein are a
modern Cromwell and a set of worthy legislators,
the majority of whom hold ideas certainly fitted
more to the time of William of Orange than to
the nineteenth century, and who from that point of
view discuss the problems of modern civilisation
with limited appreciation, and a sage, pragmatic,
assumption of omniscience.
As an instance of the deliberations, which would,
if reported, often render the Transvaal Raad the
laughingstock of the world, may be cited a debate
on the proposed insurance of the Raadzaal building
against fire. One member objected to the precaution
on religious grounds, his reason being that if it were
the Lord's will that the buildings be burnt down it
were impious to interfere or provide against it in
the remotest degree ! Another considered that
insurance was a totally unnecessary annual waste of
Rambles in Rhodesia. 165
money in hand, seeing that plenty was always to be
obtained from the same source which supplied the
funds for the erection of the (really fine) buildings
in the first instance. This source presumably is the
pockets of the Uitlanders (who contribute about
ninety per cent, to the revenue, as compared with
the five per cent, of the Boers), and who have to
pay enormous taxes on even necessary articles.
For instance, the sum of ^4. los. is payable in duty
alone on each and every pig imported into the
country, and as the Transvaal native is uneatable by
persons with any idea of cleanliness, it is scarcely
to be wondered at that there is discontent in
Johannesburg !
Sometimes, when too hard pressed by an enter-
prising legislator, or when he fails to get his way,
the President will, without more ado, turn his back
on the black coated and white tied legislating
farmers, and abruptly leave the Raad, thus ending
the sitting, and the same treatment, or a curt
dismissal, has often been the fate of petitioners
from Johannesburg — no matter of what influence —
naturallv giving them the impression that constitu-
tional means have not much prospect of obtaining
reforms, however pressing the necessity for them
may be.
Rut nuich must be allowed President Krus^er in
1 66 In New South Africa.
extenuation, for his is a most difficult position, and
he has maintained it so far with remarkable success.
On the one hand he has a pushing, restless foreign
community, of whose aims and loyalty he probably
feels by no means sure, and on the other he has a
nation largely composed of men of the narrowest
ideas and experience, who cling tenaciously to
ancient prejudices and modes of thought, and who
would view any concession to the Uitlanders with
unconcealed hostility.
Yet Pretoria, with all these advantages for
amusement and instruction, 7S dull, even for a Dutch
town, and a Dutch town is, as a rule, exceptional in
its dullness. Yet it knows how to be pretty in its
sleepiness, for trees are abundant and the houses
nestle amongst luxuriant foliage. Lying in a basin,
and surrounded by kopje bulwarks, it is one of the
hottest places in the country, and, by Boers, one of
the most easily defended, though if once one of
these kopjes, in the defence of which the Boers are
proved masters, were to fall into the hands of a
hostile force, the town would lie at the mercv of anv
guns which might be brought to bear.
The most characteristic feature of the town is the
great Church Square, on which face the Raadzaal
and a few other buildings, which would be considered
by no means poor even in tlurope. The square is
Rambles in Rhodesia. 167
dusty and uncared for in appearance, and the old
Dutch church is dumped down in the middle in, at
first sight, a very casual fashion. The church itself
appears unkempt and untidy ; it is surrounded by a
broken down wire fence, the supporting posts of
which are rough tree stems ; the fence encloses a
ragged patch of dusty grass under the walls, plenti-
fully bestrewn with rubbish. This is thoroughly
characteristic, and is doubtless partly accounted
for by the fact that the great annual religious
festival — -the Nachtmaal — takes place here, and the
wagons containing the families, brought tediously
from all parts of the country, outspan in the square ;
the gatherings in the church sometimes exceed two
thousand in number.
Pretorians may perhaps be proudest of Church
Street, which is a broad thoroughfare with a few fair
buildings and a number of " coolie " shops ; its
principal attraction exists at its lower end, in the
form of a very fine avenue of Eucalyptus trees of
great height and beauty. The bridge over the small
river at the end of the avenue is ornamented with
well-executed models of lions, and over it, tiny in the
distant perspective, may be seen the old church in
the square, looking down between the two great lines
of trees.
A small but very interesting and well-kept
1 68 In New South Africa.
museum is certainly a credit to the town, and
contains many curiosities pertaining to the country
and its inhabitants.
From Pretoria start the coach Hnes communicating
with the northern Transvaal and Rhodesia, and it is
this fact which has brought me here, for at five in
the morning the coach which is to take me to
Bulawayo rolls up to find a full complement of
passengers awaiting it. The mistake often made in
preparing for such a journey is in taking too much
baggage, and I find that my gun, Gladstone bag,
and camera are likely to prove a considerable source
of expense before I land once more at Johannesburg,
the rate for baggage for the first five hundred and
fifty miles, in excess of the thirty pounds carried free,
being one and sixpence a pound.
My sheepskin " kaross "' 1 smuggle in with me,
knowing that I shall need it instantly on the start-
ing of the coach, for though it is yet early in the
winter, and in shelter the light air is balmy, when
once one is exposed to the searching winds over
the veldt it becomes cold and bitter.
An indication of what travelling means in a land
where the shade of rock or tree is not vouchsafed
to relieve the occupants of the sun-baked coach, is
given now, when the rush to Rhodesia is so great
that seats have to be booked weeks beforehand, and
Rambles in Rhodesia. 169
those unfortunate beings who have been lardy in
booking have to be content with the prospect of
spending five-and-a-half days and nights chnging to
the top of the coach, exposed to the burning heat
by day and to the keen cold of the night winds.
My position is not remarkable for its comfort.
Shut up with twelve others, three on a seat, 1 have
not even elbow-room ; the knees of my 7'LS'-<f-7'/s are
glued against mine, and those of my neighbour
behind uncomfortably assert themselves ; this cer-
tainly has its advantages in some respects, as we are
soon to find out, the mutual support enabling us tO'
combat somewhat the wild vagaries of the coach.
The man who occupies the middle position on the
seat has in one way the best of the situation, for he
has no fear of the coach side suddenly reaching over
and striking his head, as those to right and left of
him have, besides which he is somewhat out ot the
dust ; but on the other hand he has nothing what-
ever to cliiig to that he may preserve his balance
when the coach negotiates ruts and mounds when
going at full speed, and is therefore liable to Ixn^ime
a nuisance to his companions at such times !
Our first objective point is the small town of
Nylstrom, sixteen hours' )ourne\- from Pretoria.
The scenery, having once passed through the chain
of hills surrounding th<- metropolis, wr fmd
I/O In New South Africa.
uninteresting, being of the characteristic southern
Transvaal type — rolhng veldt, relieved occasionally
by scrubby bush. Here and there we pass a Kaffir
kraal, sometimes of considerable size, and often, at
the various " out-spans," the native ladies, in all
their plenitude of attire, collect to inspect the white
curiosities.
Partridges and pheasants are seen in considerable
numbers, and a lovely bird, of the kingfisher species,
and wonderfully coloured, often makes use of the
telegraph wire as a point of vantage from which
to observe us.
Considerinp; what Transvaal roads are, the coach
travels well ; but after sixteen hours, with only a
break or two for meals, I begin to feel decidedly
the effects of the jolting and unceasing effort to be
prepared for and to counteract the sudden move-
ment of the coach.
At Nylstrom we are promised four hours' sleep,
and manage to obtain it, albeit we are five in a
room, awaking before three in the morning to rush
onward under a clear, starlight, but dark night.
How cold it is! Someone grumbles at the
amount of room that my sheepskin takes up, but I
receive the remark in glum silence, understanding
the grumbler's feelings, for his rug is scanty. The
seats are like rocks — cold ones — and the wind chills
Rambles in Rhodesia. 171
my fcice as 1 lean almost upright against the si raj)
which is the sole support to my back. My fellow-
travellers' faces can be seen dimlv through the
darkness and the dust, and the rattle of the coach
is only accompanied by the crack of the whip and
the cries of the drivers, if one may except an
occasional anathema jerked out of some sufferer who
has fallen into an uneasy slumber and has made
practical acquaintance with some projection.
The scenery now becomes somewhat wilder as
we approach the northern part of the country, and
there are more manifestations of native occupation.
Many fields of Kaffir corn (millet) are passed, often
abutting on the road, and sometimes we see a gutta-
percha lady shyly peeping at us from among the
tall stalks, ceasing for a moment in her work of
gathering the corn.
One place of interest we pass is the scene ot the
murder of one of the brave Boer pioneers, who was
caught by the Makatese Kaffirs, flayed alive, tied on
an ant-heap for the benefit of the rapacious ants, and
exposed to the burning sun ; history does not relate
to which stage of the proceedings the poor fellow
survived. The Boers took it out of the Makatese
afterwards, it is currently believed.
At Pietpotgietersrust, which jaw-cracking name is
evolved from that ('<{ the unfortunate Boer pioneer,
1 72 In New South Africa.
we have the usual twenty minutes' respite from the
torture of the coach in order to lunch, and I there
take the opportunity of photographing a group of
black ladies, dressed in sunshine, one of whom is
engaged at her toilet. Her sweet and swarthy
sister, as she gracefully squats on the ground,
arranges the ornamental bunches of her short crop
with a wooden pin, after having shaved round the
forehead and ears, and neatly plaited a very fine
line of grass round the border. I find that though
some curiosity is manifested (though Kafiirs they are
feminine) as to what my proceeding is, they make
no attempt to avoid the camera as many would,
farther south, in the belief that it would bring some
evil to them.
Pietpotgietersrust left behind, we later see in the
distance a fresh scene of the barbarous warfare
which formed an almost daily experience in the
early history of the country. In a cavern on a
mountain to the eastward a large party of Kaffirs
took refucre with their women and children, after
having been hard pressed by the Boers. Declining
to trust themselves to the tender mercies of their
enemies, who were often smarting under the loss of
rt"latives and friends at cruel hands, the Kaffirs
refused to come out, and w^ere finally destroyed by
gunpowder being exploded above them, wrecking
Rambles in Rhodesia. i 73
their false haven of refuge. Only recently, during-
the Malaboch campaign, the scene of which we pass
next day, dynamite was used for the same purpose,
but this time to no effect.
x^s one regards the rather squat Makatese women,
chattering amiably as they bring their baskets of
mealies or rice for sale at the stores where we stop to
change our team of ten mules, one can fairly imagine
their innocent delight had they been born a genera-
tion before and their excellent male relatives were
engaged in the pastime of baiting us as captives !
One charmer asks me in unmistakeable language,
albeit Kafhr, for sixpence, holding out her infant
piccanin's hand. This is such a sweet little filthy-
headed creature, and as 1 hold out a sixpence with
one hand I grab the baby with the other, causing an
instant yell of horror on the part of mamma, and a
delighted chorus of laughter on the part of her com-
rades. She was not so far-seeing as the native lady
who insisted that a friend of mine sliould take the
infant he had bargained for, knowing that she was
sure then of both sixpence and infant !
On a previous occasion I had arrived in Johannes-
burg at a time of intense excitement amongst the
P^nglish population, the Boer government having
seized the occasion of a protracted war with an
unfortunate Kaffir chief named Malaboch i?i ih(^
174 In New South Africa.
Blauwberg mountain now looming ahead of us, to
demonstrate the different Hght in which they held
the English residents relatively to I'itlanders of
other nationalities. In the early years of the
Republic treaties had been made with other nations
in which were embodied clauses providing that the
subjects of the treaties should not be liable to the
process known as " commandeering." Under this
process a person may be called upon to give
personal service in military operations, and, indeed,
hold himself and his possessions entirely at the
service of the Government, without promise of fee
or reward, and with no guarantee as to the length of
time that he may be away. \o compensation is
given him for any loss that he may sustain through
having to leave his farm or business, and considerable
hardship is often entailed, l^nfortunately, when the
conventions between the British and Boer Govern-
ments were being arranged, though the matter of
" commandeering " of British subjects was mentioned,
the idea of expressly stipulating that British subjects
should not be liable to commandeering was dismissed
on an assurance from the responsible Boer offlcial
that there was no chance of such an occurrence being
possible.
All this was, however, forgotten, and several
Englishmen in Johannesburg were (M)mmandeered
Rambles in Rhodesia. \ 75
for service against Malaboch, this meaning the loss
of their situations. Instantly Johannesburg was in
a ferment, and so great was the indignation that
those who were debarred from holding any political
rights in the country should yet be forced to do the
unrecompensed work of the Boers, and so serious
was the outlook that the High Commissioner, then
Sir Henry Loch, journeyed to Pretoria from Cape
Town to bring pressure to bear on " Oom " Paul.
The success of his mission averted a very serious
crisis. It was urged by some at the time that persons
living in a country should ipse facto be subject to be
called upon for its defence, and doubtless, had the
danger appeared from outside, and a less aggravating
course been pursued, there would not have been a
tithe of the difficulty ; but in the present instance the
advantage taken of the omission in the treaty to
discriminate unfavourably against the " verdomder
Engelschman," in making him serve in an internal
native trouble, was sufficient to rouse universal
indignation and condemnation.
How well named the " Blauwberg I " It rises
clear, lofty and blue, with precipitous cliffs, on our
left front, faced on the other hand hv the grand
abutments of the western extremity of the great
Zoutpansberg range. Poor Malaboch now lan-
guishes in Pretoria gaol, and doiibtlrss dreams
1 76 III New South Africa.
wearily ni the days devoted to beer drinking and
Kaffir pleasures in his lovely mountain home. His
offence was that (Boer-like) he did not care to pay
his taxes, the action of the Boers in coercing him
■exemplifying the difference in their eyes between the
rectitude of the Boer who refuses to pay taxes and
the turpitude of the other man who refuses to pay
those due to ///;// / And Malaboch's contention, it
is to be borne in mind, was that in fact he kan/ paid
his taxes, but that the collector had demanded them
twice over. What amount of truth there was in this
it would be unfair to debate publicly without proper
investigation.
One of our passengers was to have been Com-
mandant P , one of the Boer generals, but he
had been detained through sickness. It appears
that there was a rumour that certain of the officers
■of the Boer forces had "annexed" the loot cattle
taken from Malaboch, which were really the property
of the men. and P was on his way to make
enquiries into the matter. He was laid up at a
place called ^^'arm Baths, where many Boer families
repair once a year for the purpose of getting the
benefit of their medicinal properties, and where, as
an irreverent Johannesburg journal once reported,
^' Oom Paul's \vife had gone to take her ainuial
Rambles in Rhodesia. 177
This reference to the excellent partner of one of
the keenest diplomatists of the day is doubtless an
impertinent injustice, but it is quite credible that
what exists in London among the very poor might
well exist among the rank and file of a countr}^ where
not only many are poor, but water is often scarce
and precious. These may argue as did the French-
man, who said: "What dirty people the English
must be to need to wash every day ! "
At one place a young Basuto beauty is engaged
in washing clothes in a pool hard by the roadside ;
the traditions of Eve evidently infiuence her black-
lead coloured descendant, whose tall, lithe form con-
trasts favourably with those of the lighter coloured
Makatese we have been passing. The Basuto tribes
to be found in the Transvaal probably migrated
thither after the last war between the Free State
Boers and Moshesh, Chief of Basutoland, in 1867,
when a great dispersion of many of his people took
place.
We do not sec many men along the road, save
straggling parties on their weary way to the mines
at Johannesburg, and coming, probably, from far up
country.
Careering down a long hill the t:oach rocks badly,
and knocks a hole in the leather covering the
■" boot " in front, damaging a very suspicious-looking
N
In New South AJrica.
box. Some nervous passenger raises the scare of
'' dynamite," and so everything is got out of the
" boot " with as much haste as is consistent with
caution. Tableau ! the contents of the box prove
to be bottles of Worcestershire Sauce ! The anxiety
is not necessarily ill-founded, for instances have
been known of wagons carrying dynamite over
these rough roads vanishing from the face of the
earth, in company with a team of a dozen or fourteen
oxen and their drivers. The disastrous explosion on
the railway at Johannesburg, whereby so many lost
their lives, is also an illustration of the danger which
exists in the transport of explosives even by the
railway.
Pietersburg, which is the northern capital of the
Transvaal, boasts of a quite ambitious hotel, and
might also pride itself on being the second dullest
town of the Transvaal, were it not for the fact that
it is sometimes enlivened by a Kaffir war in its
vicinity, or by an occasional unimportant outbreak of
gold fever.
Many of our passengers here branch off to the
Murchison and Low Country gold fields, and we are
therefore accommodated by a smaller coach, which
rolls up after we have snatched a short three hours'
rest.
We now leave civilisation, for there is no further
Rambles in Rhoaesia. 179
town between here and Bulawayo, and though there
are a number of scattered farms here and there,
after twenty miles are traversed the greater portion
of the country is yet either Government property not
taken up, reserves for loyal (subdued) native chiefs,
or rough country practically in the hands of such
chiefs as Magato was.
From the top of the coach (a position certainly
preferable to the inside during the day time, notwith-
standing the heat and dust), a great rounded granite
excrescence is to be noted in the distance. This
proves to be Witklip (white stone), at the foot of
which is a solitary store, kept by one Zeeberberg,
brother of the mail contractor and coach proprietor.
We are here close to the recent scene of
hostilities, the Blauwberg being not more than
twentv miles away, and, though the operations
conducted by the Boers against Malaboch were very
protracted, and considerable trouble was given, the
lonely store was in no way molested, and so devoid
of anxiety was its owner that he did not even
remove his wife and family from the farm they
occupied a few miles nearer the scene of hostilities.
At the present moment the whole family, store-
keeper, wife, and children are down with fever ; he
apologises for the rough and ready meal he provides
us with on account of this fact, and comforts us by
N 2
i8o In New South Africa.
saying that the man who should provide us with our
next meal, ten hours later, is also down with a very
bad attack, and that therefore our chance of getting
anything more than the breakfast we are attempting
to enjoy, aided by a well-developed hunger, is very
questionable.
During the day a supply of "biltong" which I
had provided myself with keeps me from absolutely
famishing, and I carry a lump in my coat pocket
and cut a chip off it occasionally. This buck
" biltong" is wonderfully nourishing and sustaining ;
it is simply raw antelope meat sun-dried, probably
with a slight coating of salt, and it appears to retain
much of the nutritive element which the raw meat is
said to possess.
By this time I am on the top of the coach, and
have quite an exciting time, for the thorn trees lean
over the road at a height reaching to about my
waist, and I have to duck every few seconds to let
branches of mimosa or " wacht-een-beche " scrape
harmlessly along my back. These thorns are most
formidable weapons, those of the mimosa being stiff
spears sometimes three inches long, and crowded on
to a myriad of stalks; the "wacht-een-beche" is
a small, most artfully shaped hook, from whose
clutches one could well imagine it a matter of the
utmost difficulty to extricate oneself should one
Rambles in Rhodesia. i8i
once become seriously entangled. Some of the
boughs, which as the coach passes them are bent
double by the bulky baggage, swish off when
released with uncomfortable force, and I have to
flatten myself on the seat, none too successfully, to
avoid receiving their attentions. Seated as I am,
with mv back to the mules and with a view
obstructed by a mountain of baggage, the sudden-
ness with which I have to throw myself down adds
an interested feeling of speculation as to the time
and character of the advent of the next collection of
vegetable needles and fish-hooks. A fellow pas-
senger had his hand badly torn by them.
Our road lies straight through a valley which is
dominated on both sides by recalcitrant savages, for
on our right, in the Zoutpansberg, is the " stadt '' of
Magato, who has been so long a thorn in the Boer
side, and against whom the Boers had intended to
move the next season, when the old Kaffir warrior's
death rendered such proceedings unnecessary.
The scenery, as we pass down the huge,
apparently uninhabited valley between big Blauw-
berg and the bold cliffs constituting the extremity of
the Zoutpansberg ranges, is wildly grand. There
are any number of Kaffirs in the mountain strong-
holds, but the valley fulfilled one's idea ot utter
loneliness.
i82 In New South Africa.
1 he vegetation is thick here, consisting mainly of
thorn, mimosa, " wacht-een-beche " (wait a bit), &c.,
and also of a considerable sprinkling of trees bearing
quantities of queer, curling seed-pods, which have
apparently been suffering from severe colic during
their growth, to judge by their distortion.
At one spot I see, gathered quite close to the
road with a sullenly resentful aii, a mob of huge
" aasvogels " (vultures) ; they are in some instances
resting on the ground, but quite a number are
perched on a tree, which seems absolutely hidden by
their loathsome bodies. V\^e approach quite close to
them before they deign to fly lazily away for a few
yards ; too close, in fact, for we early perceive the
nature of their occupation by the wafting on the
breezes of an odour of a strong old kind, proceeding
from a dismantled bullock lying by the side of the
road. This bullock had probably died in its yoke
and had been barely thrust off the road, proving a
nuisance to aftercomers until the aasvogels have
done their useful and necessary work. These birds
are protected by law and consequently have little
fear of human beings.
The rapidity with which they spot a carcase is
marvellous ; the sky may be apparently free of them
at one moment, but on death coming to some un-
fortunate beast of burden a very short time mav
Rambles in Rhodesia. 183
elapse before the air is full of them. I have also
heard it asserted on different occasions that the
ordinary aasvogel will not touch a carcase until the
king vulture has been made aware of its presence
and has eaten his full, but whether this bird is a
■different variety or not I am unaware. Many a time
I have laid down to rest under a tree whose sparse
foliage barely sheltered me from the fierce rays of
noonday, and, opening my eyes, have seen the
aasvogel' s great expanse of wings bearing their
owner tentatively high above my head ! It is a
strange sensation to have it thus obviously impressed
upon one that one is regarded by such creatures as
simply so much meat !
Arriving at Brak Rivier, famished after a day's
abstinence, we are rejoiced to find the store-
keeper out of bed, but looking, poor fellow, a very
ghost from fever, the curse of the country. His
wife and children are also down with it.
We this evening realise what a perfect climate
generally prevails in this land ; the air is balmy and
marvellously clear, dry and fresh, with just a touch
of the keenness which night puts into the wind which
comes over the tops of the purple, looming mountains
around. The sun is engaged in the somewhat
tedious operation of setting, and we in the still more
tedious one of digesting the abnormallv tough buck
184 //i New South Africa.
which ravenous appetites had caused us to devour
uncomplainingly, when we are startled by a sudden
exclamation on the part of a passenger in front, and
see, keeping just ahead of the leading mules, a flock
of wild guinea-fowl, probably fifty or more in
number, running along the road. The grass and
bushes are so thick that apparently they have no
time to stop to look for an exit from the narrow
track, and have recourse to futile running in front.
Their running powers are great, and for fully two
miles and a half these delicious game birds run
before us into the increasing gloom, until finally one
by one they take to their wings, which bear them
over the barrier of thick bush into a secure haven
beyond. These birds are excessively shy and keen-
sighted, as I have reason to know later in my
wanderings. The African pheasant and quail
abound, slinking behind tufts of grass close to the
road as we pass, and manv buck are to be found in
places.
One morning, shortly after sunrise, the most busy
hour of the animal world, we approach very close to
a " vley " (swamp), and actually come within a
stone's throw of a number of Kaflir cranes, looking
quaint w^ith their topknots.
It is remarkable how close one can approach to-
birds or game if one be riding or driving, when any
Rambles in Rhodesia. 185
attempt to alight or to approach them on foot would
be the signal for the game to make off ; I noticed this,
particularly on one occasion on the Vaal river, where
I have driven to within easy range of the herds of
spring-bok, only to see them run like lightning on an
attempt being made to alight and take aim.
At midnight we are informed that we shall stop-
for an hour to rest, and it will be appreciated with
what feelings we hail the information when it is
remembered that after some two hundred and fifty
miles of coaching, with most scanty rest, we have
travelled for twenty-two hours incessantly, with only
two breaks for meals. Every few miles we had
stopped a few minutes to change our team, and this
was a welcome breathing space.
Here there is no hotel, though : no house, no barn,
no pigstye even, only the rough stable full of mules ;
we have simply to lie down on the dusty road, this
being preferable to the tussockv veldt because
softer, more even, and warmer (a fact which is
appreciated by cattle, who may often be found, on a
frosty night, lying on some bare patch of ground
rather than on that which is grass-covered). Here
my sheepskin kaross comes in useful, the sides and
end of which I had placed straps on, so that I can
double it over and make a sleeping-bag of it. 1
consider this preferable to the ordinary method of
i86 In New South Africa.
sewing it permanently into this form, as the latter
renders the kaross more difficult to dry if it gets wet.
I pick as clean a specimen of dusty road as I
can find, spread my macintosh on it, then my kaross,
get inside, head and all, with a bag under my head
for a pillow, and sleep the sleep of the just. Before
two a.m. — less than two hours since we had stopped
— somebody kindly kicks me to awaken me to the
fact that the mules are already inspanned and ready
to start.
Previous to lying down part of our time had been
devoted to consuming a hasty meal of potted meat
and biscuits, and to making tea at the Kaffirs' fire
in the mules' enclosure ; around this fire were half-a-
dozen Kaffirs, some sitting close to it, warming their
hands — weird they looked in the gloom, for the
night was moonless — and some stretched recumbent
on the ground, more or less near. I stumbled over
one once, hardly seeing him in the darkness, and
soon after came within an ace of sitting down on
another, he being the victim of a trick by the
firelight in making him appear like a branch
or log.
We now have a span of mules quite fresh to coach
work; it is intensely dark, the track much worse
than it has been before, and full of holes. Before
nightfall, as it was growing dusk, I had just averted
Rambles in Rhodesia. 187
a capsize by pointing out a sudden rut-hole fully two
feet deep, which we just sheered clear of in time ;
the driver laughingly said that we had escaped a
tumble. Our mules, too, start unpropitiously,
bolting at full speed right off the track, causing
those sudden plunges and stops and uncertainties
which are so distressing to those who are totally un-
aware of their causes and have to trust blindly to
the driver and good luck. Spite of this trouble it
is decided to proceed, instead of waiting for the
moonrise.
We do proceed, with a vengeance, and it may be
imagined what the feelings are of one who had not
before been broken in to the experience, for the
coach jumps and bounds, rolls, sways, and tumbles
about, with the thorny branches suddenly and inter-
mittently crashing against the leathern window
blinds — all in deep darkness. We hold on like grim
death, knowing that a driver had recently been killed
in this vicinity through a capsize, and momentarily
expecting to find ourselves a struggling heap of
bruised humanity. We finally realise that the dawn
has come, and that we have got through quite safely,
but the driver says that good luck alone has done it.
In night coaching much trust is placed by the
driver in his leading mules, for he simply cannot see
ahead for himself, and thouofh the mules will, as a
1 88 In New South Africa.
rule, keep in the track, they of course do not signal'
a mudhole.
It is quite extraordinary how one manages to
sleep, penned up as one is, with no opportunity of
assuming any but a very upright position in one's
seat. A state of semi-conscious somnolence appears
to be attained, during which one gets genuine
refreshment, and to some extent avoids bruises.
The body droops forward and the head down, and
one swings two and fro and sidewavs, with the
motion of the coach. I saw an illustration of the
attendant danger, however, for the heads of my next
door neighbour and his vis-a-vis clashed on one
occasion.
We are now in the extreme north of the Trans-
vaal, and are rapidly approaching the Limpopo, or
Crocodile river, the boundarv of the Transvaal and
Mashonaland. A mile or so south of it we stop to-
breakfast at a miserable den kept by a storekeeper,
the quality of whose food I had been warned against
in good time. The store is situated on a small
eminence and practically in the drv bed of the great
river, therefore becoming almost an island during
the worst of the summer rains. Having descended
greatly from the elevation of the ' high veldt," we
find the heat greatly increased, and this compara-
tivelv low elevation (under 1700 feet), with the-
Rambles in Rhodesia. 189
-enormous bodv of water in the river during the
summer, causes the district to be intensely unhealthy.
Blowing our horn occasionally, as we get a
glimpse of a wagon in front, that it may pull aside
to admit of the unchecked passage of Her Majesty s
mails, we commence our descent into the bed of the
river. The track lies through very broken ground,
past swamps and great granite kopjes, from the top
■of which many baboons watch us, standing some-
times in prominent positions in a characteristic
attitude, viz., on all fours, with tails sharply arched.
The bush here is mainly " mopani " tree, though
it changes considerably later on, nearer the river.
The " mopani "' is a straggling, short tree, which
burns fiercely, and indicates by its presence, as alsc^
•does the " fever-tree," a deadly neighbourhood.
As we draw nearer the river the bush becomes
more luxurious and tall ; it realises more nearly
■one's untravelled dreams of what the vegetation of
tropical Africa should be. One particular species
enforces our admiration : it sprouts from the ground
as one huge bole, but immediately divides into
several large, beautifullv-spreading, branches, curving
regularlv upwards until at the top thev burst into
dark leaf, forming a wonderfully flat and bushy roof.
The great full tent wagons of emigrating families
look positively tiny as they lie under their shelter.
190 In New South Africa.
Here all kinds of life are abundant, every species
of game bird, buck, jackals of many kinds, lions,
leopards, snakes, and an infinite variety of birds,
some beautifully coloured. Here, too, can be found
the little monkey which we so often see carried
captive on passing wagons.
With a whoop we drive at full speed up an
eminence, and find ourselves on the top of the here
lofty bank of the river Limpopo.
At one place there are a few wagons outspanned,
some of the occupants of which are ill with fever,
and a couple of huts indicate a dwelling. Below us
rushes the great river, swirling and eddying in its
muddy course. Palms are abundant, the vegetation
is particularly dense, and the big pods of the
" cream-of-tartar tree " (baobab), which had been
gathered by a party of Englishmen en route, give,
with the whole environment, a truly tropical character
to the scene.
jSt<'^TCl4 f^»f OF fVo
CHAPTER II.
INTO THE COUNTRY OF LOBENGULA.
We are now at the limit of Transvaal territory, at a
spot called Rhodes' Drift ; the river when high, as
it is to some extent now, is crossed by means of a
" pont," the force of the current taking over the
flat-bottomed barge, which is kept from floating
down stream by an attachment to a wire rope
stretched across the river.
The " pont " is guarded by a Kaflir policeman,
rather a good-looking individual, and very jealous of
his dignity, and by a white official, who is shaking
with fever, and is the object of general commiseration.
An approach is cut in the bank to facilitate the
descent to the " pont," and I confess that my first
feeling is one of astonishment that the coach or a
heavily laden wagon could with safety pass down
its frightfully steep sides, let alone pull itself up in
order to safely board the " pont."
The mules are unharnessed, save two, and are
taken over to the other side, I accompanying them
in order to obtain a view of the coach descending.
192 In New South Africa.
As we approach the- Mashonaland side the banks
■are seen to be swarming with partridges and other
game birds, which hardly trouble to move into the
bush as we land.
The Limpopo rises not tar from Krugersdorp, a
few miles from Johannesburg, and takes a very long
and semi-circular course before it develops into the
fine stream which we see here. Below it passes into
Portuguese territory, and becomes a characteristically
tropical river, abounding in all kinds of game and
reptiles. Here, even, are many crocodiles, and it is
comparatively recentlv that the immediate vicinity
was a paradise for the hunter of the biggest species
of game, including elephant and giraffe. We
talk with a young Dutchman who had aided in
catching a young elephant but a few years ago — a
baby of four feet in height, and only lately seven
giraffes were caught, not a great distance away, one
of which caused some excitement on its subsequent
arrival at the London Zoo.
Once more on the coach we have thirty miles to
travel before we reach Tuli. The patch of country
we traverse, bounded by the Shashi river on the
right and the Macloutsie on the left, was the bone of
contention between Lobengula and Khama, and was
known as the " disputed territory." It has since been
handed over to Khama.
Into the Country of Lobengnla. 193
For a long distance the scenery is lovely, granite
kopjes jutting out from a mass of luxuriant foliage,
large bush trees shading and separating the great
boulders. The snakes here are particularly objection-
able, the python and the vicious mamba abounding.
We stop at a police camp, clean and neat, and
obtain a drink of water, the brown-uniformed officer
being apparently glad of a crack with us.
From the top of a hill we see Tuli some four miles
away, apparently down in a valley, and just bevond it
the broad streak of the Shashi river, tributary of the
Limpopo, winding through a vast bed of literally
golden sand, for "colour" — though perhaps not
much more — may be found in many a riverbed.
Tuli is a fever-hole, and looks a God-forsaken
place. It has lost a great part of the importance
which it had at one time, when it was the first
fortified camp formed in the country, and when there
might have been some need of a fort within reach of
the IVansvaal frontier (for Dr. Jameson had, with
()om Paul's assistance, prevented a wholesale
" trek" bv the Boers into the countrv in the early
days) ; now it does not consist of more than a
somewhat important police-station, the other
inhabitants of the place being a magistrate and
clerk, six police, a hotel-keeper, and a few odds and
ends in the way of storekeepers, blacksmiths, etc.
O
194 ^^ ^^^ South Africa.
We find to our disgust that instead of having a
few hours to sleep we shall for some reason have to
travel right on, so we leave the collection of mud
and reed huts, fort and " hotel," and bowl on our wav
across the river, this being the second day of travel-
ling without any stop whatever for sleep. Every
traveller must be prepared to meet and pass through
such trying ordeals.
The river bed appears to be three parts of a mile
across or more, but of this the river at present
occupies but a comparatively small portion. In wet
seasons it becomes as much as three miles broad,
and on the banks, far above the level of the bed, we
see the great palm trees with flood-debris twenty
feet up their stems.
The water is deep, entering the body of the coach,
so that we draw our legs up to avoid getting wet,
and the river bed being very soft causes us to very
nearly stick in the middle. The gallant mules strain
and pull, sw^erving from side to side, and, with the
aid of frightful thrashings, drag us heroically through;
but during some stops in mid-stream our wheels sink
so deep into the sand that it almost appears that we
shall stick there for good.
In the neighbourhood the mahogany tree with
its pretty seeds grows, and a day's march behind is
" Cream-of-Tartar-Fontein," which w^e had passed at
Into the Country of Lohengula. 195
night. This is a small oasis in the desert of bush
<:ountry where a number of scattered baobab trees
rear their great bulk above the pigmies. The fruit
of this contains lumps of cream of tartar surrounding
the seeds, and this is drunk with water as a refresh-
ing beverage and preventive of fever.
The road now becomes very bad, it being a
new^ road made by the coach proprietor, which
shortens the journey to Bulawayo by many miles,
and for passing over which he charges a toll on all
teams using it. The section is about eighty miles
long. We rattle on, nevertheless, though it is
certain that the driver cannot see where he is going,
and sometimes we sustain some painful bumps. The
rains have played havoc with the roads, and especially
of the new-made drifts across the spruits ; it is no
exaggeration to say that the road at many of the
spruits passes down banks, almost, if not quite as
steep as the average raihvav embankment. Usually
there are nearly vertical jumps some two or three
feet in depth to be negotiated, which the coach
"takes" in most sportsmanlike style, its body
leaping forward and downward ; then at the bottom
there will be a mudhole, very deep and narrow, into
which the front wheels fit with a bump and sudden
stop. The harness is then slack on account of the
•coach overtaking the mules, the latter will pull up
O 2
196 In New South Africa.
the slack with a sudden jerk, and only the main
force of their ascent of the opposite bank enables
them to extricate the coach, the effect being to
lift the front part almost bodily as they pull.
The rate at which we go down the bank is simply
prodigious, and the shock as we stop in the mudhole
is often so great that we can hardly prevent our-
selves being thrown off our seats into the fore end of
the coach. One hill in particular we rush down,
which would cause care to be taken if one were
on foot, full of loose stones, hummocks, and ruts,
and like the side of a house in its steepness. This
is done safely, though at night and in complete
darkness. Occasionally the mules are overtaken
on descending into a spruit, and jumbled into a
crowd by the coach behind, on one occasion a poor
brute falling with its head helplessly under water.
In this darkness, travelling along the banks of the
Shashi for some distance, we cross one of its tribu-
taries no fewer than fifteen times, and for the first
time 1 smell the odour of malaria wafted from the
low-lying country by the river, and vile it is.
As we pass a clump of thick and high bush,
fringing the road, full of undergrowth and on the
banks of a stream, I say to my neighbour: "Is
not that just the place where one might expect a
lion to lie?" I have reason to remember this
Into the Country of Lobengula. 197
observation later on, for on my return journey I
learn that a lion had taken an ox out of a travelling
team during my absence, and had been killed by a
gun trap at this very spot.
The sun having risen, I can see that we have been
passing through a beautiful country, and for some
distance this continues ; I can only liken it to a part
of Devonshire, though, of course, without the damp
freshness of the green county.
Then we begin to come across huts of the poor,
'degraded Mashonas, beehive-like, and perched on
rocks high up the steep kopjes that the blackguardly
Matabele might catch and murder them less easily.
The new^er huts, it is worthy of notice, are apparent
at a much less altitude ; indeed, there are many at a
level with the growing crops of corn, speaking
volumes on the subject of the justice of the
Matabele war.
We cross the Umzingrwane River, on the course of
which the trading company of a friend of mine has a
huge property, and where game of every kind is said
to abound, including giraffe and hippopotamus, etc. ;
later we thread our w^ay through a big network of
granite kopjes of a most picturesque character.
The country is excessively rough and broken at this
point.
As it grows dark, we stop for a few minutes at a
198 In New South Africa.
store kept by a little Jew, who is exceedingly atten-
tive, but whose meal is unattractive to us. hungry as
we are.
A few police are resting here, having in charge a
cattle stealer of some notoriety, and we are interested
to hear that it was at this place that a well-known
cattle-lifter escaped some time previously, with, it
was believed, the connivance of one of the officers.
The Transvaal is the goal of such criminals, and the
importance of Tuli as a police station is therefore
manifest. It is to be feared that, at any rate in the
early days of the occupation, many cases of theft or
forcible abduction of cattle belonging to the natives
occurred, unauthorised individuals demanding them
in the name of the government under the pretence
that thev were police. To check this class of
robbery, it was enacted that the purchase of cattle
from natives should be illegal, particularly as large
numbers of Lobengula's herds had in one way or
another disappeared, and the country, which owes
much of its healthiness to the systematic eating
down of the grass, was beginning to suffer. Another
regulation is that travelling herds must be accom-
panied by a permit, stating number and destination,
and a driver is liable to imprisonment if he fail to
account for any cattle in excess of the number
therein mentioned.
Into the Country of Lobengula. 199
Night has once more fallen, the third without any
proper rest, and we begin to be weary, although it is
remarkable how entirely the fatigue seems to dis-
appear when the sun gets up once more. We are
told that the road ahead is far worse than any we
have so far encountered, which is speaking strongly,
yet the driver determines to waste no time waiting
for the moon, although we have plenty of time in
hand.
It is certainly the worst experience of the whole
journey ; we have to cling to the coach the whole
time, and at places it leans over so tremendously
that, with the great weight of baggage on the top, it
is incomprehensible how it fails to completely over-
turn.
It gets darker still, and at one place we stop, the
driver going forward to reconnoitre ; a consultation
between him and the black helper follows, and we
start again. Before we know what is happening, we
find the coach jumping down the bank into fairly
deep water and the mules plunging and splashing.
The road here passes right through a morass, the
passage through which in the absolute darkness is a
matter of some difficulty.
One side or other of the coach suddenly drops into
a hole, causing a dangerous angle to be assumed,
and we are devoutly hoping that we shall attain the
200 In New South Africa.
opposite side safely, when we stop suddenly with a
i^reat crash, the body of the coach rears backwards,
its front high in the air, and we are thrown violently
one on to the other. We realise at once that o/zr
accident has happened.
The cry arises " Get out sharp, she is sinking
deeper I " and with the greatest difficulty we by
degrees disentangle ourselves and find that we are
able, with the exercise of some agility, to jump on
to dry land.
It appears that the driver had got off the track
through the morass in the darkness, and, though by
good luck he had avoided accident through getting
into deep water or mud, he had gone crash into a
bank four feet high, the front wheels mounting lop-
si dedly, but the back ones remaining deeply imbedded
in the mud and bank. We are conscious of con-
siderable self-congratulation that the coach has not
been thrown over into the water, for it would have
been a matter of no small difficulty to have extri-
cated ourselves from the entanglement we had been
thrown into, had we been plunged under water and
had to find our way one at a time through door
or windows which might have been partially blocked I
The body of the coach is almost standing on end,
and we have grave fears that we shall have to do the
rest of the journey on foot. The mails are in an
Into the Country of Lobengula. 201
awkward situation, for, being placed at the back of
the coach, about breast-high from the ground, the
lower portion of them is immersed in the water.
We pity the unfortunate Kaffir whose business it
is to plunge waist-deep into the cold water, bitter as
the wind is, for he remains there a good quarter-of-an-
hour while off-loading and carrying the heavy sacks
ashore.
Inspection shows no very serious damage, though
the " disselboom " (pole) is badly cracked, the
"lynch-pin" (swivel of the forecarriage) bent, and
the brake much damaged.
We all help to dig the coach out, but it is a
matter of some time, and every moment we fear that
on the wheels being released it may capsize. I
lazilv but effectively help the operations by shedding
light on the scene by means of a candle-end which I
had in my bag — the only light available ! The slant
is so great that the various articles of baggage on the
roof are in a state of wonderful disarray, some hang-
ing precariously over the sides by the retaining
cords. On the whole it is a sorry spectacle.
The next stable, towards which we make our way,
stumbling over the rough ground in our attempts to
keep to the track, is some miles away, and we come
to the conclusion that it will be the best course to
repair thither and utilise the period taken in patching
202 In New South Africa.
up the coach in sleeping. I feel but little sorry for
the delay.
We walk onward, and our little band tails out
until I find I am quite alone. The wind has sunk to
nothing, the voices at the coach die away in the
distance behind me, and I realise fully the awful
loneliness of the vast African veldt at night. How
intenselv silent it is I Stopping to look un-
availingly around (for the clouded sky is scarcely
distinguishable from the blackness of the earth), one
feels that one has never known silence or solitude
before, since this is it. What an atom is man in
this mysterious immensity 1
I settle down by a fire, once more to sleep in the
open, having drawn off my boots, for the spruits had
been a source of trouble in the darkness, and it is
not until an hour before sunrise that the coach
overtakes us, patched up as well as possible under
the circumstances.
On entering a little store here, we find it tenanted
by its owner and by two persons, a man and a
woman, engaged in iraiiiping up to Bulawayo. We
do not disturb them.
Only a few months later the revolt of the Matabele
caused these outlying posts to be deserted.
Fortunately we are not much more than thirty
miles away from Bulawayo, for there are very grave
Into the Country of Lobengiila. 20^
doubts as to the ability of the coach to take us on
without accident in its crippled condition, especially
as once again the worst part of the road has yet to
come. At one spot so bad is it, so steep, and so
slanting from side to side, that we have to get out,
fasten a rope to the top rail, and literally hold the
coach on to its upper wheels as it passes down. At
another place still the situation is worse, for the
same thing happens, only with a thirty foot
precipice to fall over, into the bargain.
The Matoppo Hills are well known to us, for they
formed an invaluable defence to Lobengula on
the direct south during the war which so latelv
transformed the country from the exclusive abode
of a powerful savage race into a civilised land,
where there is room and indeed necessity for
black as well as white inhabitants.
The range is approached through a series of
extraordinary boulder kopjes, of the type of which
we have seen so many since- our entrance into
Matabeleland, and the road is so furrowed and rutted
by spruits that even with the South African coach
we have often to alight and walk.
Here and there we see evidences of what had
once been Matabele outpost camps or the houses of
the Mashona whom they had dispossessed and
destroyed — old " gardens," marked bv the original
204 III New South Africa.
bush trees, killed bv the process known in Australia
as " rintJ-barking/' which name sufficiently explains
its meaning.
We do not see Bulawayo until we are within a
mile or so of it, and then we are fairly struck with
astonishment.
On the road we meet parties of almost naked
Maholis, probably on their way to work in repairing
the roads ; these are members of a tribe once
dependent on the Matabele and subservient to them.
Here and ihere, too, we see the ruins of Matabele
kraals, the circular mud foundation walls alone
remaining. No kraals are now allowed within a
certain radius of the town, and in compliance with
this regulation those before our eyes had been burnt
in the early days of the occupation.
One exception is evident, though, and this is a
collection of a few huts surrounded by a hedge of
mimosa thorn, certainlv offensive to the naked Kaffir
intruder.
All at once the town appears before us ; on every
hand are claims pegged off — prospectors' tents are
dotted over the landscape, and we rattle past w^agon
after wagon with cargoes of goods come from
Johannesburg or Mafeking, and many owned by
Bamangwato Kaffirs from Palapye.
We cross the river, which at the moment is but a
Into the Country of Lobengula. 205,
trickling stream, and. tootling our horn bravely, bowl
thankfullv into the city of Bulawayo, which, at twelve
months old only, counted about seventeen hundred
souls. With a general impression of a town
containino^ a larp-e number of brick buildings and
extending over a considerable area, we find it an
extraordinary evidence of what the search for gold
will cause British pluck and enterprise to accomplish.
My journey has been undertaken without com-
panions, and, though this has the advantage that no
one else has to be conferred with respecting
plans and intentions, it has the corresponding dis-
advantage that one is too often thrown entirely into
one's own company at times when the eyes and
opinions of a second person would be most helpful
and interesting. Still, this feeling decreases
strangely as custom habituates one to solitude, and
is most strongly exemplified in the cases of old
hunters whom I ha\e met who are never happy when
hunting in the company of others, and only seem in
their element when trekking far away from their
white brethren with but a small retinue ot Kafifir
attendants.
Our coach-load of passengers was a motley
assembly. One was a Californian miner (whom
another man accused most wrongfully of stealing his
whisky), another an old Mashonalander. as hard
2o6 In New South Africa.
as nails in every wav. another claimed the prefix of
" Honourable," and vet one more was a steady,
self-reliant Bulawayo merchant. Amongst the rest
was a miserable specimen of a Colonial "waster,"
who interlarded every other word with the vilest
oaths, and was promptly sat on by the remaining
passenger, who was probably twenty-two stone in
weight, and while expressing his sympathy with the
poor mules, was the only one who invariablv refused
to alight on coming to a stiff bit of road.
The feature of their conversation was the intense
belief expressed in the brightness of the future of
their adopted country — a conviction on the part of
its pioneers essential to the country's development.
Strangely enough, on alighting from the coach I
do not feel in the least fatigued, though the journey
has been so rough, and for six nights my rest has
not averaged more than, say, two-and-three-quarter
hours.
Bulawayo modern is situated about three miles
from the site of Bulawayo ancient, and is truly a
marvellous place.
It is a fair-sized town, Avith broad, regular streets,
and many excellent brick or iron buildings. In the
five months from March to August, 1894, these
increased in number from three hundred and six to
four hundred and fifty, more than two-thirds being
Into the Country of Lobengula. 207
of brick. Much development has since taken place.
A convenient club-house is a favourite reiideziwus
and there are several hotels. The Charter hotel is
preferred by many, being in the main street, and is
very extensively patronised. The Maxim — the name
of which is a reminiscence of the war — is its most
important rival, being the first built in the town, at a
cost of about five thousand pounds, and only six
months after the entrance of the troops into
Bulawayo.
The rooms generally open on to the street, or on
to a square accessible from the street, and are com-
fortably though plainly appointed. The catering in
the better hotels is very creditable, and the charges,
considering the great cost of supplies, are most
moderate. Beds are charged a guinea a week, and
board ranges from ten to twelve pounds a month,
notwithstanding the fact that, as an example, eggs
vary in price on the market from \^s. 6d. to
\gs. 6d. per dozen; potatoes at times will sell at
^5 a sack, and it is not so long ago that in
Mashonaland a bottle of brandy was deemed worth
the same amount.
Bulawayo is laid out in the modern fashion of
square blocks, with broad and roomy streets. It lies
on the northern slope of the river, and at its highest
point are the fort, the police camp, and the new
2o8 In New South Africa.
hospital built in memory of those true Britons who
fell on the Shangani river. Below comes the first
main street, with blocks of brick buildings, generally
one-storied, consisting mainly of offices of various
companies, often with living rooms attached, and
also of the public offices, such as Court-house,
Mines Office, &c.
Below, again, are two or three other streets, all of
considerable length, with numbers of brick or iron
houses already erected, and many others in progress.
Land has acquired a considerable value, and large
sums have been realised by the Company at various
times by its sale. But re-sale has been the test, and
stands which were bought for small sums from the
Companv have since been declined sale at even
;^I500 to ;jf 2000.
Below the Maxim hotel is the great market-
square, which is a feature in every South African
town. In this square are held daily sales bv
auction, at which market produce, job lots of
goods, and only too often dead mens" outfits, are
disposed of. It is a motlev assemblage, consisting
of a selection of every class of resident, from the
financial man, storekeeper, and prospector down
to " Cape boys" and Kaffirs. The market build-
ings are in the centre, but they fulfil other
purposes as well, as one wing is occupied bv that
NATI\K.S WATCH I Nc; AX AUCTION SAI.K (5N' Bri.A\\A\ () MARKET SOUARK.
Into the Country of Lohengula. 209
lucrative piece of property — in Rhodesia — a billiard
table.
The square is extremely large, and has a con -
siderable disadvantage in being so, inasmuch as it
forms a starting point for many of the dust storms
which afflict Bulawayo in a far worse degree than
even Johannesburg. The prevailing winds sweep
across the square, and have room to attain full
swing in it, raising vast clouds of dust which later
envelop the town. I have watched a whirlwind
travel slowly along in this way, carrying a huge
gyrating column of dust with it, and should the
door of any unfortunate person be open in its track, it
will, without warning, scatter his papers and fill the
atmosphere with a stifling and hot dust, scraps of
paper, and all the abominations of an ox-trodden
thoroughfare.
The opposite side of the river is ordinarily on the
weather side of the square, and it is here that resi-
dential sites are in demand, for this locality is as
pleasantly situated as any in the neighbourhood.
Not only this, but the brewery is handy !
Who could doubt that this is a mining camp ? Men
promenade, lunch and dine in flannel shirts, breeches,
and jack boots ; belts round their waists carry jack
knives and leathern pouches. Slouch hats, too, are
the order of the day. Revolvers are rarely seen, as
P
2IO In New South Africa.
one may see them in many a budding camp in
Western America, and a large proportion of the men
consists of as good specimens of English gentlemen
as may be met with anywhere. Manners are
naturally free and easy, and among the more
'' mixed " portion of the community there is just the
same rowdiness that every new camp is blessed with
— only without the use of the six-shooter.
Several days pass in forming acquaintances, the
names of many of whom were prominent during the
war, and a few of whom knew Bulawayo while
Lobengula yet sat under the great " indaba-tree,"
and his insolent young men could with impunity
insult the white man. What a change from the
most cruel and ignorant of savage rule to a
just and civilising government !
The longer I remain here the more I am astonished
at what has been accomplished in the short time
which has elapsed since the occupation of the
country. The whole land is over-run with pro-
spectors, who in the course of their wanderings are
greatly exposed to danger in case of a rising by the
Matabele.
I make particular inquiries as to the possibility of
such an event occurring, and in the light of subse-
quent events the general feeling of the community is
interesting. There appears to be little fear
Into the Country of Lobengula. 211
expressed that such a thing will happen, though
on inquiry I find that only one-third of the
Matabele that remained after the war were disarmed
entirely, and that therefore in the more remote
districts the native element must vet be considered
as a force. Even at the moment discussion is
renewed as to the fact of the death of Lobengula
from fever and fatigue, far north, and a report is
current that he still lives, but is " lying low." This
is generally discredited by those who have had
experience of the Matabele and their methods,
particularly as Lobengula's wives have dispersed and
the whereabouts of his more important indunas are
known.
This feeling of security is doomed to have a rude
awakening, for on the 26th of March, 1896, came
the news of a rising in the Inseza and Filabusi
districts, adjoining the Gwanda on the north-east,
and of the murder and mutilation of a number
of settlers. Expeditions made under Captains
Spreckley, Selous, Gifford, and Napier confirmed
the sad news, and, while relieving many white
people, only made it the more clear that the
rebellion was a serious one, and that the reports
which had been flying about for some time previously
possessed a better foundation than they had had
credit for.
l^ 2
212 In New South Africa.
The whole country, with the exception of a few
loyal Indunas, followed this example, and the wave
of rebellion, with its cruel murders and outrages,
spread even to the northern and eastern districts
of Mashonaland ; in a few days many more lives
had been sacrificed than were lost during the entire
war of occupation.
There appear to be several facts which might be
cited as supplying a reason for the revolt ; the news
of Dr. Jameson's defeat coupled with the discontent
engendered by the confiscation of the cattle, which,
as the property of the king, had been confiscated
after the war, and, again, the destruction of those
afflicted with the rinderpest, or cattle plague, which
was a well-meant effort to deal practically with
the disease which was decimating the cattle of
Bechuanaland and Matabeleland. Certain it is that
the Matabele chose a time of vear to revolt which
was the very worst for their purposes, for the winter,
or drv season, had well commenced, enabling white
forces to operate without the difficulty, danger, and
privation which summer warfare involves. Again,
the stores of grain were by that time getting low
and field work would be interrupted, involving great
scarcity of grain for the next year, and much conse-
quent distress.
As might be expected, the situation was very
Irdo the Country of Lobengula. 213
firmly grappled with by the inhabitants, and many a
gallant engagement was fought with, fortunately, the
invariable result that victory attended them, though
valuable lives were in some cases lost, sometimes in
heroic self-sacrifice.
Imperial assistance was necessarily given, though
it was long before it could come to hand, but the
presence of Sir Frederick Carrington, who took over
the conduct of the military operations on behalf of
the Imperial government, and that of the founder of
the colony, Mr. Rhodes, gave renewed encourage-
ment to the pioneers, the latter being an earnest of
the intention of the Chartered Company to face its
difficulties and to show that whatever straits its
sons may be put to, Rhodesia can hold its own, this
being the first essential for a self-governing
colony.
The population of Bulawayo during this outbreak
consisted of 1466 men, 328 women, and 460 children
(2254 in all), with about 1800 natives, the remark-
able feature of these figures being the unusually
large proportion of women and children in so young
a mining camp. The population of the outlying
districts it would be difficult to arrive at with
exactitude, but including the districts of Gwanda,
Gwelo, Belingwe, and others, though at the time
many persons would have fled to Bulawayo for
214 In New South Africa.
safety, it would probably not be far off the mark to
estimate it at about a thousand more.
Everywhere are seen prospectors' camps, and
miles of country are pegged out, the pegs usually
being sticks set up on a heap of stones, with a
piece of a whisky case (say) nailed on the top,
indicating the corner of each block of ten claims, a
right angle trench also being cut in the ground.
Neglect to keep these landmarks in proper condi-
tion is punishable by fine.
When it is realised that many of the big syndi-
cates hold as many as seven to eight hundred
claims, that many have done a considerable amount
of development work in the few months that have
been available, that in many places a hundred and
fifty to two hundred boys or more are engaged,
and that labour in many places is at a premium, one
begins to become alive to what this place may
ultimately develop into.
I have naturally been very anxious to visit the
site of the old Bulawayo, and I therefore embrace
an opportunity given me to ride out to the King's
Kraal, some three miles distant from the new
Bulawayo, which is situated on the bank of a small
river.
With a rare instinct the conqueror has built
himself a house where the King's own hut stood,
Into the Country of Lobengula.
21^
so that all recalcitrant or unbelieving Matabele may
know it as a sign that Lobengula is swept away bv
the new power, and that where the old king reigned
now rules the great white chief.
The situation commands a grand view of all the
gyvi
y-; ^'i^- , ■'■- - , ; /.rt^Ht^-^ '-J'-^^tii^MMtMiit
" I III' hiiig IS dt'ad ; lung /iTt" the King."
GOVERNMENT HOUSE AND LOBENGULA'S INDABA TREE.
surrounding: countrv. The ijreat flat liill in the
eastern distance is Thabes Induna ; close to it is a
conical kopje, not manv miles from which the
decisive battle of Bembisi was fought, and whence,
after the hght, the advancing troops witnessed
the explosion of the magazine where Lobengula
2i6 In New South Africa.
had stored his ammunition, on the spot where
I stand.
There is the big " Indaba-tree " under which
Lobengula would sit on ceremonial occasions ; there
are the brick remains of the magazine ; there again
is the great heap of charred bones, remains of
many a feast on ox or antelope flesh. Nor are
the bones confined to this, for a portion of an
elephant's bone is discovered among the debris.
Further is to be seen the grass-overgrown site of
the great dances, now forsaken and only distin-
guished by the evenness and smoothness of the
long grass tops ; then a hundred yards away is a
clump of the few remaining huts which sheltered
the flower of the late king's bodyguard, and of these,
only the circular mud foundation walls, some three
or four feet in height, still stand. The plan of the
kraal was that usual among the Zulu races, the
King's house, said to have been built by an English
sailor, being surrounded by a huge circle of his
warriors' homes, four or five hundred yards in
diameter, those of his wives lying close behind
his own. The little dwelling places are usually but
seven to eight feet in diameter, and the means of
entrance is by a hole in the wall just large enough
for a stout person to squeeze through with some
difficulty. A story was told me of the fear excited
Into the Country of Lobengula. 217
in the early days of Mashonaland on the part of the
women by the entrance of a white man into a kraal,
causing the swarthy bipeds to run shrieking and
scrambhng to their nearest available huts ; unfor-
tunately for some, a very stout dowager stuck fast
in the doorway, effectually blocking the passage of
her shrieking sisters behind her. She was eventually
hauled out of her uncomfortable position, and would
doubtless personally supervise or carry out the
building of her front door in the future.
The roofs are thatched with long grass which
grows in the " vleys," and the floor is of mud,
cowdung, and bullocks' blood.
I crawl into one or two of the burnt-out huts of
Lobengula's queens, and here and there find a relic
of the late occupants. In one hut I find a mass of
melted beads, in another a carved wooden spoon ;
in several places even the ashes of the porridge
which was being cooked at the time Lobengula gave
the order to fly, meet my eye. Clearly the evacuation
must have been a very sudden and unexpected
event, the prestige of the fierce Imbezu regiment
being sufficient to prevent any serious fears being
entertained as to their success at Bembisi, until, like
a thunderbolt the news came that these unconquered
braves had been utterly routed and that the
" mulungu " (white man) was advancing on them.
2i8 In New South Africa.
So the mealie meal was left to burn in the clay or
wooden pots, the wealth of beads was abandoned,
the grindstone (formed of a large stone with a
hollow in it, in which a round stone crushed the
corn) was deserted, and, lastly, the magazine, with its
thousands of cartridges, was fired, scattering its
contents far around, and giving to the invader the
signal that the Matabele power was at length
crushed.
Only a few hundred yards away is the house
where the traders Fairbairn and Usher were, with
rare generosity and with great difficulty, guarded by
Lobengula throughout the hostilities. Here they
were found in perfect safety by the incoming troops.
The Kaflfir spoons are sometimes odd in their
shapes ; many certainly do not fulfil European ideas
as to handiness, having handles cut in a considerable
number of zio;zaors ! The bowls are laboriouslv
carved out of a single block of hard wood.
As will have been gathered, the situation, com-
manding as it does such an extensive view, is very
exposed, and it receives the full heat of the scorching
sun, so that I feel grateful for the liberty which
Bulawayo custom permits in the matter of dress, and
the comparative coolness of a shirt and riding
breeches only.
About fifteen miles north of Bulawayo, on the
Into the Coantrij of Lobengula. 219
Khami river, are some remains of ancient buildings
similar to those so frequently found scattered over
the whole of Mashonaland. I much desire to visit
these, but it would be difficult for me to find the
way to them alone, there being only a track, and it
is only on occasion that others, who know the
situation, can find the leisure to devote the time to
such an excursion.
My slumbers at night are often disturbed by the
scampering of rats over the coarse cotton sheeting
which forms the ceiling of my room, but I am even
with them for the moment, for, by the impression
their weight makes on the sheeting as they cross, I
am able to trace their movements and use an
assegai I have picked up with deadly effect.
One day I take a ride round to the racecourse,
which should in time, with the expenditure of some
money, become a very fair one. To me it appears
that its main disadvantage is that its sides are in
places lined with large boulders, which might make
a fall in their vicinity serious.
I find my horse very fresh, and as it had recently
been raced against my companion's steed on the
same ground, it considers that the present is a good
opportunity for testing its powers once more, and I
consequently get a good gallop along the course.
Thence we proceed to the site of the Queen's
220 In New South Africa.
kraal, on which the hand of the utihtarian has been
placed, for the huts have been levelled to the
earth, and the site is used as a football ground.
The place is admirably adapted for its present use,
being a great fiat circular stretch of grass-covered
ground, until lately encircled by huts, as is yet
plainly visible ; it also has the characteristic appear-
ance of ground which has been habitually trampled
on by many feet. What a change and contrast ;
but a few months ago Lobengula's warriors were
dancing there, now the ground is the scene of
contest between eager football teams.
Here, again, the position is a commanding one ;
there is the ever visible Thabes Induna, where
Lobengula once indulged in a great massacre,
while Bulawayo lies beneath us about three miles
away ; gleaming white in the brilliant sunshine stands
the house of the new king, accentuating the fact
that barbarism has given way to civilisation, and
that Lobengula's " mana," as the Maoris would say,
has descended on Cecil Rhodes.
The great excitement at the period we were in
Bulawayo, was the enrolment of a volunteer, or more
properly speaking, a militia force. It was expected
that a large body would be raised in Bulawayo
itself, and that substantial supplementary ones would
be formed in Salisbury and Gwelo. There had been
Into the Country of Lohengula. 221
a great deal of speculation as to the reason for the
raising of such a force, and the explanation given
was that it was simply in accordance with the under-
taking given to the Government by the Company
to maintain a force equal to dealing with any native
disturbances.
The Company made up its mind to equip the
" Rhodesia Horse " in no niggard spirit, for the outfit
of each man consists of uniform and arms (Lee-
Metford rifle), and a "salted " horse (that is a horse
which has suffered and recovered from the sickness
which is such a scourge in this country, and is,
therefore, unlikely to have a recurrence of it). The
estimated cost is over fifty thousand pounds.
Certainly the step should have a good effect on
the Matabele mind, and in this connection it should
be remembered that probably only one-third of the
conquered race was disarmed after the war, and it
is remotely possible that their services mav be
activelv required on account of a rising.*
But few true Matabele are to be seen in the town,
"* These lines were written months before the need of this was
actually demonstrated, though, unfortunately, at the time when the
possible rising became a fact, a large portion of the members of
the force were in England, whither they had been deported after
taking part in the forcible entry into the Transvaal, which caused
such com])licatifms both in Africa and in l'',uro])e.
22 2 In New South Africa.
and this is perhaps a sign that they have not yet
reaHsed that the white incomers are a force which
they will always have to reckon and deal with. The
sable ladies and gentlemen who unconcernedly stroll
about the town, particularly affecting the slaughter-
houses, are mainly Maholi (half-bred Matabele), and
of a very inferior class. The pure blooded Matabele
has not yet lost all his swagger and self-importance.
It strikes one as unconventional to pass a black
lady, with only a leathern apron round her loins,
striding past one in the middle of the town, a huge
load on her head, and a piccanin sitting astride
the small of her back, then to hear, perhaps, her
grave and respectful salutation, " Sakabona, Ankosi "
(good day, chief). Occasionally one is to be seen
with a trace of European clothing — and, indeed, I
once noted a young girl who had picked up an old
glove and had tied it round her neck. She was
hardly so far advanced as the tinted belle who asked
a storekeeper in Natal for a pair of flesh coloured
gloves and went off in a huff because she was
offered black ones !
The newspapers here are a credit to the town, and
are good samples of what enterprise in journalism
can effect. In the early days of their existence such
a paper as the Bulawayo Chronicle appeared in
" cyclostyle," but it long ago (in the history of
Into the Country of Lobengula. 223
modern Bulawayo this term is comparative) blos-
somed out into a broad and neatly-printed sheet.
Bulawayo is reached from Mafeking (the tem-
porary terminus at this time of the Cape Govern-
ment railway), after about four hundred and fifty
miles coach journey over country which cannot
compare for scenery and interest with the route
from the Transvaal. The road passes through
Khama's country, and his capital, Palapwe (or
Palatswe), forms one of the resting-places en route.
The Mangwato tribe over which he rules, is
prosperous under his government, but those
individuals who have come under my notice appear
to me to be poor specimens of the South African
native. Many attain considerable (for a native)
wealth, and a large proportion of the transport riders
who are passed on the way to Bulawayo, taking up
wagon-loads of supplies, are the actual owners of the
wagons and teams. They are also most expert in
the art of preparing " karosses," or rugs made of the
skins of animals, well " braided," or cured, by
treating with wood ash and rubbing ; the sewing of
these karosses is a marvel of neatness and strength,
and the variety is wonderful.
The Tuli road skirts a district called the Gwanda,
which has been the scene of a large amount of
prospecting and about which report speaks well. It
2 24 ^f^ ^^^^ South Africa.
is reached from a stage called Manzi-nyama, about
eighty miles from camp, where we had picked up
some Bulawayo residents who had been inspecting
some property and who, when we first saw them,
were engaged in an absorbing discussion, suddenly
interrupted by a series of scratches being made in
the thick dust of the road ; this is the universal
method of illustrating such mysterious matters as
the lie of a reef, its dip and situation.
Further there is the Belingwe district, which has
also been the object of much attention on the part of
prospectors and others, and twenty miles or so to
the north-east the Bembisi country gives a rich
promise. A hundred and twenty miles or so north of
Bulawayo bends the Shangani river, where Wilson,
Borrow, and their companions met with their fate ;
this river, as do the companions of its system, rises
to the east of Bulawayo, and, flowing in a north-
westerly direction, finally falls into the Zambesi.
The road north-east to Gwelo and Salisbury pro-
ceeds along the head-waters of the rivers, those to the
left hand flowing as described, and those to the right
finding their way into the branches of the Limpopo.
No one can regard the map of Rhodesia, or travel
through the country, without being impressed bv the
abundance of rivers, which during a great portion
of the year render it a splendidly watered country.
Into the Country of Lobengiila. 225
Just before my departure from Bulawayo I hear a
strange noise and excitement a hundred yards away,
round the corner of a store belonging to an old
Matabeleland trader, greatly respected by the
natives. Running round with my camera, I find a
small regiment of Kaffir girls, probably fifty in
number, marchino- throuo^h the town to the store
four or five abreast, carrying on their heads loads of
a long grass used for thatching huts. In unison with
their pace, and sounding sweet in the distance, they
chant a monotonous song, the phrases of which are
oft repeated, though my ignorance of the language
prevents me from recognising whether there is any
variation in the words. The girls appear to be of
various stages of youth, from the half-developed
maiden to the fully fledged " umfaas," and, as they
drop their bundles, they stand, looking curiously
expectant, as the camera immortalises the scene.
Q
CHAPTER III.
THE TRAIL OF WAR.
A CART and horses takes me forward on my journey
to the Bembisi battle field, but it appears, on the
face of it, most improbable that the horses can
possibly drag themselves over the twenty-five miles
of veldt before them ; speaking roughly, and judging
from these specimens, it might be hazarded that the
way to produce a " salted " horse might be to take
as a basis a broken-down cab horse, starve him for
a week, and then drive him, say, from London to
Dover. If he were so unfortunate as to survive, he
would approximate in appearance and vigour the
poor creatures that are to take me forward. At a
slow and feeble amble we start through the town in
a reluctant, hesitating fashion, and I inspect the
black "boy" from the Colony, whose "baas" had
earnestly begged me to " take care of." This
meant, presumably, that it was incumbent upon me
to prevent other people from kicking him.
The road lies through the low bush of the country,
and about two miles out is seen that most pretty
The Trail of War. 227
and characteristic sight, a couple of long tented
wagons, outspanned. The " bucksails " spread
over the tops of the wagons form an enclosure
between, under which are three or four brawny white
men lying or sitting in abandoned ease as they take
their noonday rest. In front is their fire of inflam-
mable and long-smouldering bush wood, which burns
to a pure white ash, and round it and on it are a
variety of cooking utensils, which a Kaffir is tending.
Rugs and blankets spread out to air in the glorious
sunshine, a sporting gun leant against the wheel, and
a fiddle lying on the wagon mattress, give an idea of
peripatetic domesticity altogether attractive to a
person who has not had too much of it. Hard by
the Kaffir servants squat round another fire, scooping
their mess of meal out of the three-legged iron pot,
and the oxen graze lazily among the bushes.
Armstrong's store passed, and the (Jmguza river
(crocodile haunted) forded, Thabes Induna grows
large on the left, and the conical kopje is seen to be
surmounted by a flag, which has probably been
placed there by a surveyor. Here and there we
pass through some thick bush, and far ahead a long
line of it stretches, thin and dark. The country to
the right is low, and an extensive view of the
undulating country far away is obtainable, studded
with fantastic kopjes. In one place they become
O 2
2 28 In New South Africa.
indistinct on account of a cloud of smoke, which
grows larger and nearer as we proceed. It doubt-
less is the result of an extensive veldt fire, but its
rate of travel is puzzling. Soon a considerable
portion of the horizon is obscured, and winged
objects f^y past us. The air becomes full of myriads
of frying particles, and it is evident that the j^loud
\oi smoke is nothing but a vast flight of locustS;^^
one of the most extensive that has been seen in
these parts. The effect is peculiarly dazzling, for
one becomes aware of three distinct classes of
motion in a million different spots. There is the
motion of the flapping wings, the forward, drifting
flight, and the apparent difference in speed, caused
by the varying distance of the particles from the
observer. Then, varying with the eddies of the
breeze, some portions will surge forward or sideways,
causing a thickening of the mass in spots and con-
sequent rarefaction in others. Many fall to the
ground, but in this case the flight appears to be high
in the air, and will travel far over the Thabes Induna,
which is absolutely blocked from view by the dense
mass of the flying grasshoppers, for such they
resemble. It is said that they are eatable if roasted
and pounded up, but it would take a large propor-
tion of wild honey to make the preparation palatable
to the majority of persons.
The Trail of War. 229
The resting-place for the night is indicated by a
clump of huts on rising ground ahead, which
illustrates how wonderfully far away an object in this
atmosphere may be when it is apparently within
hailing distance. The same illusion obtains again
when two small trees are pointed out as the site of
the Chartered Company's laager at the battle of
Bembisi, only three undulations of the veldt from
the store. But those undulations seem never
ending, and the walk proves to be fully twenty
minutes in duration. On arrival at the scene it is
obvious that no better position could have been
chosen for defensive purposes, as it commands the
country in every direction, the weakest side being
that facing the long line of bush which skirts the
position, a couple of hundred yards to the north. It
was hence that the first attack w^as made by the
flower of Lobengula's army, the young men of the
unconquered Imbezu Regiment. It is said that
despite the reverse at Shangani, and a probable
disinclination to fight further on the part of
Lobengula, the young bloods clamoured that they
should be allowed their fling at the despised
** mulungu," and that they, the unconquered and
full blood Matabele Regiment, might annihilate
the intruders, whose solitary representatives in
earlier days they had been accustomed to treat
230 In New South Africa.
with insolence and contumely when trading at
Bulawayo.
A relic of the fray in the shape of a Maxim
cartridge case is picked up, and the bush approached.
Not far had to be traversed before, lying in the grass,
behind some clumpy bushes, certainly not sixty yards
from the position of the laager, a skeleton is visible,,
lying huddled up just as its late owner had fallen.
On proceeding through the bush, the remains of
many more are found of the misguided youths
who had been so foolish as to boast that they would
wipe out the white man. Some are extended at full
length, while others are tumbled together as though
they had died in a crouching attitude. It is
wonderful how close some had managed to approach
the laager, considering the withering hail of bullets
that the tattered condition of the trees and shrubs
yet bears evidence of. The Matabele simply swarmed
out of this bush in thousands ; the more formidable,,
too, that they were strong in the conviction that
victory could not fail to be theirs. Though the
attack was strongest at this side, others were
severely engaged. Down in a clump of bush to the
north the picket Thompson was surprised and killed
before he had time to mount his horse and escape,,
while his companion only escaped by the skin of his-
teeth by running parallel to the laager rather than
The Trail of War. 231
straight towards it, thus enabhng the Maxim to play
on his pursuers, who were just at his heels.
On the opposite side of the bush the hill descends
rather sharply, and it was here that a calamity
was almost caused by the horses stampeding. The
enemy, noticing this, endeavoured to cut them off,
and nearly succeeded in doing so, with the small
party headed by poor Borrow and Sir John
Willoughby, who had galloped out to recover them.
The Kaffirs aided the rescuers unintentionally, and
defeated their own purpose by firing on the horses,
wounding one or two, which had the effect of turning
them all.
Filled with martial spirit, I descend the slope, and
am startled by a Matabele rising suddenly out of
the ground before me. Possibly with recollections
of the Maxim, he flees before my gun ; but unavail-
ingly, for at eighty yards he tumbles head over
heels at a shot from my twenty-bore shot gun —
an event which raises me many pegs higher in the
estimation of the young Africander who witnesses
the fall of the Matabele— hare.
Up long before daybreak, rest having been taken
in the usual round mud hut, I am in the thick
bush four miles away before sunrise, searching for
duiker buck, which are plentiful here. Arrived on
the fringe of a large space clear of bush, much of
232 In New South Africa.
which has been used by the Kaffirs in the kraal hard
by for growing corn on, and is traversed by a deep
winding donga, we see a tiny fawn-coloured spot five
hundred yards away. Recognition must have been
mutual, for the buck gently canters into the nearest
bush, and subsequent search for him proves unavail-
ing. A snap shot in the bush later on proves
more fortunate ; and the satisfaction of success to
some extent makes up for the trouble of carrying a
heavy buck between us some eight miles back under
an alr»^ady burning sun. \
Apart from this, the long walk has not been
wasted. The country is lovely, resembling — with
due allowance for the difference in the character of
the trees and the sharp clearness of the atmosphere
— a beautiful English park. The early air is fresh
and invigorating to a degree, and that glorious,
vivifying sunshine, the absence of which proves such
a trial on a return to England, renders one full of
spring and life.
A lovely bird is to be seen here in quantities,
similar to one found in parts of the Cape Colony,
namely, the blue jay ; it is of a beautiful heliotrope
colour on the breast, dashed with an occasional
pointed feather of lighter hue ; the wings are
brilliantly coloured, blue predominating. The black
and white crow is very common, and the great eagle
The Trail of War. 233
floats at a high altitude above us, cahn and
wary, until a bullet passing close to him causes
him to realise for once that there exist in this
world things " undreamt of in his philosophy."
Here and there a covey of partridges rises out of
the grass, and a pheasant sneaks behind a bush,
onlv to be disturbed and fall a victim to a taste
for game.
Everywhere are to be seen the spoor and
droppings of buck, though mostly small ones. The
flies exasperate one, and result in forgiveness for the
great black and white spiders which stretch their
huge webs across the path. These are actually a
nuisance sometimes, particularly when stalking
game ; for the supporting cables from which the
rest of the web is slung are wonderfully thick and
strong, and, amber in colour, are sometimes fifteen
or twenty feet in length.
The enemies of the smaller birds are seen in great
variety in the form of many kinds of hawks ; and the
doves, which are so numerous all over Rhodesia,
alternate with lovely little parrakeets in flashing
across our path.
By this time the veldt is nearly dry, for the sun
has evaporated the heavy night dew which con-
veniently takes the place of rain and renders it
possible for vegetation to exist during the long
234 -^'i New South Africa.
period when no rain falls. Would that some such
arrangement could be made in England !
One of the American scouts who proved so
serviceable during the war, did admirable work before
the Bembisi, for, riding in advance of the column,
he ascertained that the bush was crammed with
Kafhrs, who followed him with pertinacity. Had the
original intention of following the old hunters' track
through the bush been carried out, it is probable
that a calamity would have occurred, whereas the
path taken skirting the bush, not only saved them
from attack under the worst conditions, but enabled
them to take up an excellent position when the
attack did come.
The coach which is to take me on to Gwelo is
heralded by a cloud of dust on the horizon, and the
passengers prove to be in a state of considerable
apprehension on account of the rickety condition of
the vehicle. This time it is not a saloon coach, but
a light wagon body fitted with a roof, and with hard
wooden seats placed transversely. This one has
apparently seen considerable service, for both body
and wheels are rickety, one wheel being a source of
particular anxiety to all, the spokes being loose, the
hub split, and the bush worn out. At intervals it is
taken off, delaying us seriously, and every awkward
"drift" across a river, or rough bit of road, makes
The Trail of War. 235
passengers wear a comical look of anxiety, while
preparations are made for a smash or capsize — no
laughing matter when travelling at full speed down a
bank.
Our passengers include one or two characters of
some personal interest, one being the brother of an
eminent novelist, and the other an old hunter who-
has been for years in the country, and who now.,
worn by exposure, is credited with having killed\j
more natives in his time than any other European'
in the country. But this may be romance, though it,
is without doubt true that some few men have 1
treated the Kaflfirs in their employ with tyranny and
cruelty, even when the exasperating and often,
dangerous lapses, insolence or desertion, do not give
a shadow of an excuse for such behaviour. The con-
sequence is, that some enterprises are now suffering
from the character which they have earned in earlier
days in the eyes of the natives, and find difficulty in
obtaining labour. Natives must be treated very
firmly, and receive punishment for delinquencies, but
while they are quick to resent injustice, as a rule
they will bear no malice if their punishment is justly
deserved.
Much of the country passed through is excellent^
and a considerable number of farms have been
" P^.^S^^ ^^^ " '^^ various localities. There is much
236 In New South Africa.
less thorn than in many parts already traversed, and
a good deal of " mahobi-hobi," a wood useful in hut-
building, inasmuch as it is less subject to the ravages
of white ants and " borers " ; the " mopani " tree, so
much seen in malarial districts, is entirely absent.
Occasionally the " Kaffir orange" tree (or " datura")
is seen, destitute of leaves at this time of year, but
yet bearing the large green fruit, the skin of which is
as hard as the skin of an ostrich shell. It is said
that there are two varieties of this fruit, one of which
is poisonous, also that it requires a Kaffir to dis-
criminate between them without experiment, so
much alike are they.
A characteristic of the district beyond the
Shangani is the small number of Kaffirs inhabiting it.
It appears that it was rather too far away from
Bulawayo for continual occupation save by advanced
Matabele outposts such as the Isukamini and
Movein Kraals, and much too near the Matabele
for Mashona tribes to live in safety, the original
inhabitants having been extirpated or driven away.
The Shangani battlefield is graced by a store
which a few months later is the scene of a massacre
by revolted Matabele. This battlefield is situated
in an open space practically surrounded by bush,
and bounded on the north-east by the Shangani river,
the drift over which in summer must be somewhat
The Trail of War. 237
difficult, for we find for a considerable distance the
road passes over deep dongas with thick bush.
The following is an account of the battle by a
friend of mine who was a participant in it ; it
illustrates the mistaken tactics of the Kaffirs in not
attacking while the column was on the march or
hindered from laagering up when in the act of cross-
ing the drift.
" The next day we arrived at Shangani. There
were any amount of kraals here [avioiigst these
■would be yingen, one of the headquarters of tJit
revolt of \Sc)6). Raiding parties were sent out to
burn and destroy and to capture cattle. We crossed
the river and laagered up, taking what we thought
was a first-class position. I was captain of the day
and at night when I posted the pickets I told all the
natives more in fun than anything else that they
must be awfully careful as the Matabele were going
to attack us. The different raidmg patrols came in,
and we had close on or a little over a thousand
head of cattle. B. was out with one party and did
not come in till late, in fact so late that w^e had to
fire rockets, which I dare say in the event saved the
lives of a good many of us. I visited the pickets
about 9.30 and turned in later. We were all
awakened by guns going off all round and the
bullets flying over our heads. I must say the men
238 In New South Africa.
turned out very smartly, and got on to the wagons.
By this time the fun had commenced and such a
noise I never heard before, bugles blowing, Maxims,
Hotchkiss, Gardners and Martinis firing away as
hard as they could. All our pickets got in safely,
but how it was they were not shot I cannot say.
The firing slackened off and it was very certain that
the Matabele, who were all round us, had retired for
a little. I was sent out in the dark with half a troop
to see if the pickets were all right. I was very
nearly cut off, but one of the Maxims saw the
Kaffirs stealing on me and so fired and turned them.
I could not see anyone, it was so dark. It was a
dangerous mission for mounted n>en to be sent out
in the dark where thousands of niggers could have
been concealed behind the bushes, but with my
usual luck I got off safely. At daylight they came
on again, and again we beat them off. H. was sent
out on one way and myself another, to pursue, but
the country was very unfavourable, being nothing
but kopjes, which was simply filled with Matabele,
all armed with Martinis. I got among a deuce of a
lot with about twenty men, and after we had killed
some and lost three of our horses I was forced to
retire, H. having done so some little time before. I
went again, and then they cleared out further back
into the hills. They now retired generally, but only
The Trail of War. 239
for a little time, when they returned once more, only
to be beaten off a third time. This was the last.
" They stood off three or four thousand yards, but
were greatly surprised when a shell from the seven
pounder dropped amongst them, killing some. It
was ve ry funny, for as soon as the shell burst they
all fired at it ; what they thought it was I don't
know. We now patrolled the whole country and as
everything was reported clear we moved laager into
more open country, where there were fewer kopjes
surrounding us.
" We had a few men wounded here, only one fatally,
and one colonial boy killed. I don't know how
many we killed, all I know is, that I went round after
and saw a great many dead. We caught a prisoner,
and he told us the names of all the impis engaged
against us, and the names of a lot of leaders whom
we had killed. We reckoned that five thousand
were there — there must have been a great many to
have surrounded us as they did.
"The start was made by the Matabele falling in
amongst our Mashonas, who were herding the cattle.
They played old gooseberry with these, ripping them
up in the most awful w£iy, men, women (captured by
us) and children ; brains and blood all over the
place. There were also some Matabele lying dead
amono; the Mashonas.
240 In New South Africa.
" Our prisoner told us that the idea with the
Matabele was not to fire a shot, but to rush on the
laager with their assegais ; they were very foolish
not to have done so, as they would have got much
nearer in the dark. He said that as they were
advancing one of the men let his gun off by mistake,
and this started them all off. He also said that
they were ready to attack us early in the night, but
when we fired the rockets they got frightened ; they
said we were talking to God. (These were the
rockets we fired to let B. know the position of the
camp.)"
The Shangani district is a very promising gold-
field, and this is shown to have been known to the
ancient occupiers of the country by the existence of
considerable ruins about twenty miles north, I think
of the name of " Momba,'' which contain indications
of connection with the gold mining which appears to
have been carried on so generally all over the
country.
We get no sleep that night, save what is possible
when leaning one's head forward almost into the lap,
in the jolting, swinging coach ; leaning back is
impossible, there being no back to the wooden seat
— or rather plank — laid across the spring wagon.
The team after the first two or three stages is
composed of trotting oxen, these being less expen-
The Trail of War. 241
sive to keep than mules. The bad condition of the
coach and the shortness of mules (two of ours break
down through overwork after doing a long twenty-
five mile stage) is due to the present mail contract
coming to an end, and the contractor feeling
pretty sure that it will not come to him again, so
things go almost as they please.
.M^
;\VKLO TOWNSHII'
The third day after leaving Bulawayo the " city"
of Gwelo makes its welcome appearance, and the
sight of it is hailed with pleasure, albeit it is mainly
R
242 In New South Africa.
only a collection of mud houses. There are certain
exceptions to the world of mud, though, for a brick
store and a marvellous brick gaol give dignity to the
" city." This brick gaol at present contains a
solitary Kaffir prisoner, who has a comfortable time
of it on the whole, not being obliged to put an
excessive amount of energy into his work ; the black
gaoler has the best of the fun, however, for he has
attained the summit of his ambition — an official
position, in virtue of which he can swagger around
with immense importance, carrying his rifle. He
follows at the heels of the prisoner the whole time,
with an assumption of intense dignity sheltering the
slowness and laziness of his pace.
A wooden building serves the purpose of a post-
office, mining commissioner's office, police-court,
and magistrate's chambers ; the fact that there are
only four rooms to accommodate these services is
likely to result in separate buildings being furnished
for the administration of justice or for the mining
commissioner, though the present room is a palace
compared with the first one enjoyed by the mining
commissioner. This yet stands near by, and is
simply a large, hollow haycock with a door to it !
The camp is situated on ground sloping from the
long kopje, which is a prominent landmark for many
miles, to the Gwelo river, tributary to the Shangani.
The Trail of War.
243
It shelters about fifty individuals, and possesses four
hotels, two bakers, one mineral water manufacturer,
one billiard room (!), eight general stores, and the
necessary doctor. Besides these, there is a floating
population alternating between the goldfields and the
Till-: FIRST GOVKRNMliN'T OFKICK, GWEI.O.
camp, in which latter place a good many engage
themselv^es in keeping drunk.
Business ought to increase steadily in Gwelo, for
it is the natural centre of a number of mining
R 2
244 ^'^ ^^^ South Africa.
districts. At present its most enthusiastic admirer
would not consider it an exciting home.
Its time came in a few months, be it said, for it
was then menaced by the remainder of the crack
regiments of the late Lobengula's army, and several
of its citizens lost their lives at the murderous hands
of the rebel Matabele. The excitement of expedi-
tions against the Insukamini and Movein kraals, with
Mr. Rhodes leading, made Gwelo for the time being
practically the cynosure of the world's eyes.
The central position of Gwelo gives a varied
choice of districts to be visited, the Sebakwe,
Movein, Shangani, and Selukwe being the most
important. The last named appears the most
advisable to visit, as it would enable a short cut to
be made onward to Victoria, though the means of
proceeding past Selukwe are not apparent.
Even the means of travelling to Selukwe are
questionable at the moment. Once a week a
" Scotch cart " and oxen takes the mail over ; but,
as usual, the vehicle is unsafe and rickety, prone to
upset on the bad portions of the road, and possessed
of an iron bottom, which reflects the heat intensely.
Last trip the cart upset three times on the road.
I long for a wagon of my own, that I can be
independent of public conveyances, and do the
journey comfortably. There is nothing to be hired,
The Trail of War. 245
so the only alternative to remaining in Gwelo until
the next mail day is to do the twenty-seven miles on
foot, with Kaffirs to carry the baggage.
Accordingly, "boys" are obtained, and a start is
made at daybreak. I carry my gun, as buck are to
be found in the district, and a large herd of tssessebe
have been seen within a few hours, one appearing
later at various dinner tables. Sable antelope and
wildebeest are also seen occasionally, though it is
necessary to go some distance into the bush before
they are met with. One of the attributes of
such an excursion is a charming uncertainty as
to what one will see, how to choose one's path
when others diverge from it, when the midday
meal shall come, and even where the night's rest
will be taken.
My carriers are glorious in ragged shirts, monkey
skins in front, and Dame Nature's breeches ; it is
noticeable that one wears sandals of leather. They
are all abominably ugly heathen, probably Makalanga, '
but good natured and strong, and ready to laugh on
the slightest provocation.
My native vocabulary is inevitably exceedingly
limited, but the few words picked up already prove
sufficient to convey my meaning with an extensive
use of the language of signs, which Kaffirs are often
quick to grasp, and even make it possible for quite
246 In New South Africa.
extended conversations to take place. The gun on
my shoulder becomes wonderfully heavy as the
hours pass, but I feel quite ashamed of myself
for feeling it so, when I look at the youngest of my
Kaffirs, quite a small boy, carrying my big parcel of
rugs, guncase, and his own cooking pots so easily,
balanced on his head.
Mile after mile we trudore on, I in front, and mv
miniature caravan tailing off in the rear ; I keep
a sharp look out for my longed for buck, which
obstinately declines to show up.
My boys have grown silent by eight o'clock, and
my feet begin to tell me that it would be well to stop
the steady tramp which we have kept up for so long,
especially as the sun is already uncomfortably warm.
I throw myself on to the ground beneath a tree, tell
the boys to make a fire and boil some water in my
iron kettle (worth sixpence at home, but bought for
four and sixpence in Gwelo). How the cup of tea
which follows is enjoyed, no one can tell who has not
tramped ten miles over the African veldt under a
tropical sun.
The cup leaves my lips quickly though, for not far
from my resting place I hear a grotesque imitation
of the words, " Who are yo-o-o-o-o-u," in a tone of
indignant surprise. This is soon followed by another
voice in another direction, this time for all the world
The Trail of War. 247
like a petulant two-year-old suffering from toothache,
saying in drawling accents, " Go a-7£;-(2-«-a-y." I
feel quite surprised at this discouraging reception by
two members of the feathered world, for it proves
to be fowls of the air, that give me notice to quit in
most plainly enunciated terms.
Sometimes we cross great open plains with the
grass up to our shoulders, and at other places thick
bush surrounds us. How greatly one is impressed
with the wild loneliness of this unrestrained forest
nature, especially when one's companions are but a
^ew savagesjyhose life and mental constitution are
so different as to almost place them in another
world to ours.
In places are seen great crops of quartz, or of
unmistakeable iron ore.
The wild effect of the scenery is somewhat dis-
counted at one stage by the appearance of a man on
horseback, gently cantering out of the thick bush
ahead of us ; and, though he disappears almost
directly, the feeling of solitude and loneliness before
felt is disturbed. Signs of occupation and deser-
tion are once more manifest some distance off the
road, where a windlass, indicating a shaft sunk on a
quartz reef, gives evidence of a prospector's work.
No person is visible, though, and the huts near by
are deserted and fallen in.
248 In New South Africa.
I begin to think that the farm I am making my
way to is far indeed, when, down in the valley we
are descending, a large herd of Matabele cattle
appear, slowly wending their way towards us; all are
small animals, save two or three imported ones, and
in sleek and good condition. I learn afterwards that
they are four hundred in number, and as they
lazily stroll up the meadows, their naked herds
behind, they form a perfect adjunct to the lovely
panorama of wooded hills and valleys just opening
up before us.
Tired and hot, we are searching everywhere for
the longed-for farm, when I observe a cattle track
branching off to the right. It is a rather risky
speculation to take this path, for it might lead us
miles out of the way to some feeding ground, and
after going half a mile or so, and getting into a long
deep valley, shut in by wooded hills on every side,
and which apparently faces in a totally different
direction to the road we had left, I begin to think I
have made a mistake, especially as the farm was said
to be near a direct track, which is apparently
being left behind.
We walk steadily onwards down the valley in
single file, and suddenly catch sight of the sun
shining on something light coloured and conical,
wee, and high up on the hill at the end of the valley..
The Trail of War. 249
Even then I am uncertain whether or not it be a
native kraal, and I ask the boys if it be " mulungu
(white man) or mabantu (Kaffir) kaiea (house)."
They express an opinion that it is " lo inkosi kaiea,"
and I feel relieved. Nevertheless, it is a weary
walk even to the foot of the hill, and a considerable
climb before we reach the farm huts at the top, and
feel that we can at least rest awhile before making
our way onward, for we have now covered about
fourteen miles, and the best of the day is yet
unspent.
I look inside one hut, at a Kaffir girl's suggestion,
and therein find the hunter, who has passed so
many years in this country, and who, whether
accompanying Selous or on his own lonely journeys^
has been the hero of many adventures. Hospitably
invited to enter, I am regaled with a delicious cup of
fresh milk and an awful lump of hard salt junk and
heavy damper. What did I care ? — I enjoyed all^
the milk was the best part of it, but the salt junk
and damper might have been king's food, so pressing
was the aching void. Invited to stay the night, I
make the acquaintance of " Charlie," one of Selous'
boys, who had been with him in that awful
experience in the country of the Mashukulumbwe,
across the Zambesi, when the camp was attacked at
night, and all, Selous especially, escaped with bare life.
j2^o In New South Africa.
My friend is a typical wanderer, he has the
reticence and quietness of one long used to solitude
and the wilds, combined with a genial kindhearted-
ness. I feel inclined to speculate on the duration
in his case of the slumber of the nomadic instinct
which is part of the composition of so many of our
nationality, and which increases with its gratification.
A farm in Matabeleland, even, is somewhat of a tie,
and certainly its freedom cannot be compared with
the complete irresponsibility of a long trek away
from the comparative civilisation of the farm or the
nearest camp.
Yet even here it is wild enough, for much game
still is to be found, and, six months ago, a rash lioness
with her cubs visited the vicinity and was shot by
my host in the valley 1 have just traversed, within
five hundred yards of the farm huts. Her skull
adorns the hut. The cubs were killed later and I
am shown a skin which purported to be one of them.
I stroll around the corn lands with him, sampling
the luscious melons as I go, and, later, the question
arises as to where I shall sleep. One hut is used as
a dining room, it has no door and only a low hurdle
to keep the pigs out, these omnivorous animals
being permitted free progress round the huts ; the
fowls, being provided with wings, fare better in this
respect and roost in it, so the wagon is suggested ;
The Trail of War. 251
this I respectfully decline as the before mentioned
slave girl also inhabits it. Finally I lie down in mv
sheepskin rug on the cowdung-smeared floor of my
host's own hut, also inhabited by an odd fowl or two
and a couple of dogs. Certainly, before retiring we
kill a centipede, and also, close by, a two foot long
snake, but I sleep well enough until the fowls arouse
me before daybreak by answering the " cock-a-
■doodle-doos " of their companions outside.
I am glad to be aroused early, so the presence of
these scuffling room-mates is useful, though bad for
the temper.
For the first time I am confronted with mealie-
meal porridge as an article of my diet, and admit
that its chief characteristic lies in its satisfying
qualities. How the Kaffirs can shov-el down the
quantities they do and then want more appears to
me incomprehensible ; truly their capacity is
enormous. Even the delicious fresh milk, which
they dispense with, fails to enable me to effect a
material reduction of the heap on my plate, and I
fail to understand the powe^r of the Kaffir to find
Elysian joys in the continual consumption of pound
after pound of this dense semi-elastic substance.
In the brilliancy of this grand sunshine and
atmosphere I take leave of my hospitable friend,
diving into the low valleys which constitute a portion
252 In New South Africa.
of the lovely scene spread out before the camp. I
had saved a full mile by leaving the road the day
before, for it took a long bend after I left it.
Eight-thirty is late to start, for the sun, even in
winter, is marvellously powerful soon after sunrise, and
now it is correspondingly hard walking. Enclosed
by steep hills the sun's rays seem concentrated and
pour unmercifully down on our heads, to the satisfac-
tion of the hatless Kaflfirs rather than otherwise, for
they appear to revel in heat, however great, and
though their black backs are almost like mirrors with
the perspiration, they walk ahead as fast as I, cheer-
fully laughing and joking.
The scenery is now universally pretty, probably
among the finest in Rhodesia. The trees, how-
ever, are disappointing, being seldom large and not
very shady, though a few varieties attain a consider-
ably greater height than the average. One of the
latter shells off its thin bark in small patches,
for all the world like some of the gum trees of
Australia.
The " Mahobi-hobi " trees have large leaves, but
their foliage, like all the rest does not seem excessively
abundant, certainly not luxuriant. Yet there is such
a crowd of trees, and the grass is so long, that it is
easy to believe that the biggest game might be near,
yet absolutely unperceived.
The Trail of War. 253
Flir-r-r-r go a covey of partridges from under my
feet, and I drop a couple before they have gone far,
much to my boys' dehght. The finding of them is
a very different affair, and it is only after a long
search in the thick grass that a game supper can be
counted upon. A good dog is a treasure in such
country, but they are rare.
Half way to Selukwe we skirt a large '' vley,"'
filled with tall reeds ; these are often very soft and
dangerous, and engulf any adventurous spirit who
may brave them, either in search of game, or for the
purpose of grass cutting. Several Kaffirs have met
their deaths at this particular spot during the last
few months.
As we ascend the heat grows greater, and when
we get on to some open country on the top of the
hill it becomes almost unbearable, and one longs for
a stream whereat to quench the raging thirst
engendered. " Icona amanzi " (no water), say the
Kaffirs, and it is sad fact ! But the whole country is
here extended before our eyes, and even a parched
throat cannot yet abate the enthusiasm which the
lovely scene gives rise to. Even the hills, whereon
lies the camp which has so recently afforded the
night's shelter, seem pettifogging in the distance,
and we can see miles upon miles of wood-covered
stretches and yellow open plains alternately.
254 1^1^ New South Africa.
streaming past island kopjes and melting into blue
distance beyond.
Barring the path, and setting a limit to the broad
expansive veldt we are leaving behind, is a long
range of blue hills, jagged and irregular ; but at one
spot there appears a breach in the otherwise
unbroken breastwork of hills, showinof a sudden,
deep cleft or pass, which I recognise as being
Sebanga Poort, the entrance to the Selukwe gold-
fields.
Ploddincr steadilv onwards toward the loncred-for
head waters of the Umtebekwe river, we reach the
Poort itself, narrow and thick with trees ; not a
breath stirs, and, the granite rocks on the cliffs on
either hand reflect the intense heat of an African
mid-day.
Throwing myself down beneath a tree, anywhere
out of the scorching sun, I despatch one of the boys
for water, and taking advantage of the dry wood
collected by some previous traveller, soon have the
kettle boiling, though the water is very yellow and
thick. Still, the tea hides the alien flavour, and
after a meal of " bully " beef, the heat of the day is
passed half asleep.
Then comes the prettiest and hardest part of the
walk. Nature had at one time, in a spiteful mood,
done her best to wreck this portion of the earth by
The Trail of War. 255
means of rupture and upheaval, and then, relenting,
had clothed it in trees and flowers. Certainly the
changes of mood hav^e proved excellent in the scenic
effects resulting, but at the end of a long walk five
or six miles of rough and tumble travelling need
much compensation.
Finally I find myself in the company of five or
six young Englishmen, and, in spite of the eternal
mud hut, in surroundings of comfort and civilisation.
CHAPTER IV.
GOLD MINING, ANCIENT AND MODERN.
There is virtue, much virtue, in cowdung, as many
a traveller has discovered. The mansion which
shelters me for several nights is built of cowdung
and floored with the same material. This invaluable
commodity has the attribute of forming a useful
alloy with mud, the mixture having a peculiar quality
of impermeability and adhesiveness, combined with
hardness when dry. To keep the floor fresh and
sweet it must be weekly smeared with fresh cow-
dung — -it is both healthy and clean. The Matabele
often add a quantity of bullock's blood, which forms
a hard, black surface capable of taking a good
polish.
My hut is circular, and in its foecal walls are a
hundred saplings, their lower extremities fixed in the
ground. A tree, stripped of its bark, supports in
the centre a roof formed of many other peeled
saplings, less happy than their interned, vertical
comrades in the walls. Less happy, because the
circular cone they form resounds with the busy
Gold Mining, Ancient and Modern. 257
gnawing of the square-headed " borer " beetle, and
they are thereby dogged by a fate which is con-
tinually reducing their substance to a white floury
dust, now lying thick on the objects below.
These many victims, huddling close their
extremities at the apex as if for mutual defence,
are bound together by pliable bark ties or hide
thongs, and support, as clearly seen through the
interstices, a roof-covering of coarse and lengthy
grass. The edifice boasts of a window, one which
the pioneers of Africa and America are well
accustomed to. The woad-stained natives of early
Britain were not far behind these present-day
pioneers in their method of admitting light, for the
window is but twelve inches square, and has a single
pane — of calico.
Lines of a red clay running irregularly over some
of the posts indicate that the white ant is beginning
its ravages, which cause many a solid-looking tree
trunk to crumble into dust as it is touched. This is
the extraordinary provision of nature for aiding the
process of decay in a country where that process is
prevented from being so rapid by the great dryness
of the atmosphere during a great portion of the year.
Inspection will show that many a tree, of which the
trunk is sound and healthy, gives support to a
line of these clay galleries, but further observation
S
2^8
In New South Africa.
will inevitably show a decayed branch, which is
being gradually reduced to a mere shell by the
appetites of these voracious insects.
The door being low, one steps under the thick
grass eaves to enter, and comfort may be found in
A MININ'G CAMP; SELUKWE.
this cowdung house. There are no awkward angles,
and in the fifty feet of circumference there is room
for more furniture than one might think possible.
The bedstead — for I now attain to that luxury — is
made of poles, with lashings of raw hide thongs in
Gold Mining, Ancient and Modern. 259
place of the flat iron strips of Birmingham. The
drawbacks of the arrangements are that without a
mattress the hide lashings are liable to leave a
pattern on one's body on rising, and, unless the
roof be ceiled with calico (a luxury attainable
by the wealthy), one finds the eyes choked with the
dust from the borers above, for these industrious
destroyers apparently never cease work.
One night I open the door (in many cases con-
sisting of a reed mat hung down from the top) and
stroll out before finally turning in. The atmosphere
is clear and balmy, fresh and warm, with no trace of
damp or bitter touch, such as is perceptible in the
loveliest of English nights. All around are the
various huts of the camp, scattered closely irregular
round the sloping clearing, thickly surrounded with
trees. Close below are the great, dark forms of
meditative oxen, heavy and motionless, and a few
yards away a wagon with a smouldering fire near
it ; a group of recumbent Kaflfirs stir uneasily in their
sleep as I slowly pass by.
The whole scene is unreal, for the full moon is
high, and where its light strikes, renders everything
of one even, silvery tone, with much detail, certainly,
in near objects, but dim and flat through lack of
contrast.
Earlier in the evening the happy Kaffirs, round the
S 2
26o In New South Africa.
fires of their encampment on the hillside just over
the narrow valley, have been singing songs — weird
songs — sung by unmistakably savage voices, ringing
across to us through the trees to wend their
echoing way down the many branching valleys, all in
the darkness of the night.
One strange quality the Kaffir voice has above
all other voices, that of carrying long distances ;
miles away on a still night, as one sits by one's
gloom -surrounded camp fire, or plods an uncertain
way with a bullock wagon in the coolness of the
starlight, may be heard short music phrases with
sometimes a dash of Moody and Sankey in their
rhythm, a chorus of three notes being repeated after
each stanza by scores of resonant voices.
Seated on the top of a steep hill, on the side of
which our camp is built, I hear an invisible Kaffir
engaged in chopping wood on a neighbouring hill
which is separated from my position by a sudden
valley some seven or eight hundred feet in depth ;
to join him would entail a walk of a couple of miles,
but as he sings his short stanzas — certainly not
more than a dozen notes in each — his voice is so
clear that were he English I should easily dis-
tinguish his words. This fact may explain in
some degree the astonishing rapidity with which
Kaffir news travels, for on manv an occasion news
Gold Mining, Ancient and Modern. 261
has reached Enghsh ears through native channels,
long before the resources of civiHsation could
bring it.
The scenery in this district is probably some of
the finest in the country ; it is all sudden hills and
deep valleys, so that in the course of a short walk
one may find oneself a thousand feet below the
starting place. But the strangest characteristic of
the country is the air of ancient occupation of this
wild country by mortals who knew some degree of
civilisation, were as enterprising as we — perhaps more
so — and over whom the power of gold, whether
directly or otherwise, was as real and strong as it is
over the people of the nineteenth century.
Scattered all over this district are to be seen lines
of old "workings," with heaps of excavated rock;
in one place these follow the gold-bearing reef for
fully three thousand feet, and in some wonderful way
these mysterious beings, showing considerable skill
in mining, have followed the reef downwards and
onwards from the surface, filling in the space
emptied behind them with the debris as they
progressed, and attaining often to a depth of seventy
to eighty feet, and in one case to over a hundred.
With few exceptions in the whole country, there is no
remaining trace of timbering, and in its absence
(which is problematical) how they would manage to
262 In New South Africa.
prevent the walls on either side of their narrow
trench from collapsing is incomprehensible ; but it is
possible (say some) that they trusted to the firmness
of the rock only, for it appears that in some instances
where moderately loose ground has been come on,
the workings have stopped. It has also been
reported that fragments of skeletons have been found
in one district, the miners probably having been
overwhelmed by collapsing ground. Water also
appears to have been too much for them, for the
workings again come to an end in places where it
appears in any quantity.
On the course of one line of old workings I see a
shaft about six feet square and still thirty feet deep ;
what its original depth was is not yet known, for it is
obviously partly filled up with debris.
In other places great holes or excavations in the
hillside are visible, probably where the outcrop has
occurred ; but perhaps the strangest fact of all is
that, with hardly one trustworthy exception, these
people have left no other trace of themselves than
the ruins and fortifications scattered over the
country. No kind of habitation is to be found on
these mines, their absence being adduced by some
as an argument that the huts were of the native
character — that is, of wood and mud — and that
therefore the miners themselves would be native, and
Gold Milling, Ancient and Modern. 263
not, as has at any rate latterly been thought,
aliens come from other countries.
Traces of the methods employed in working the
reef are occasionally visible, such as remnants of
charcoal, which was used for heating the face of the
reef, preparatory to dashing cold water on to it in
order to crack and splinter the quartz away from the
main body ; and it is probable that, save at the great
centres, such as Zimbabwe, Momba (near the
Shangani), the Khami River (near Bulawayo), those
on the Sabi, &c., &c., the miners' habitations were
similar to the present native ones. The nearest
stone buildings are certainly not far away, but
consist of fortifications on the top of the Gwelo kopje,
twenty-seven miles away.
Again, Mr. Selous points out that iron implements
were found in a drive near Tati, the roof of which
was actually supported by native hewn logs, and
though I know of no iron or other implements having
been found in the Selukwe district, pick marks are
plainly visible. An exception to the general rule
that no timbering remains have been found in an
"ancient" mine within reach of Gwelo, the "Phoenix,''
I believe in the Movein district, where a slanting
reef has been taken out to a considerable depth, the
hanging wall being supported by regular timbering,
which is supplemented by other placed along the
264 In New South Africa.
floor, the object of this being, apparently, to prevent
loose stones from falling on those below. This infor-
mation is gathered from several who have seen and
descended the workings. It appears unlikely that
such timber would endure through thousands of
years, and points to a continuance of the art of
goldmining, after its initiation by an alien race, up
to a comparatively recent date, and this is confirmed
by the existence of two bark and wicker buckets in
first class order, which I have seen in the possession
of a gentleman at Gwelo, who found them at the
bottom of some old workings which might have been
accessible to Mashonas.
The general rarity of tools and implements
cannot easily be accounted for, and even these
buckets, which are fully three feet six high, the body
being made of a roll of bark and the top and bottom
being wickerwork cones, might have been thrown
down the workings by Mashonas in flight from the
Matabele, their original use being to carry grain from
the fields, so that, though from the situation in which
they were found it might naturally be inferred that
they were used for mining purposes, there are
abundant possibilities that their presence in the
workings was a purely fortuitous circumstance.
Or, again, it may corroborate Mr. Selous' theory
that the alien race became merged into the Kaffir
Gold Mining, Ancient and Modern. 265
one, some of the arts of the former descending,
though in a deteriorated form. One find I made
while at Gwelo, consisting of a fragment of pottery
lying in an ancient " drive " some fifty-five yards in
length, which had been recently uncovered, but the
mouth of which had evidently been blocked by falls
of earth for many years. This fragment is almost
identical with the Kafifir pottery of the present day,
in regard to shape and ornamentation.
Of the stone ruins only Zimbabwe can be said to
have been searched or examined in a systematic and
scientific fashion, for the company which has been
granted the exclusive right to search for gold within
them can hardly be expected to devote time and
money to other work than the recovery of the buried
treasure which it has already been achieving with
considerable success. It will, therefore, be hoped by
antiquarians and archaeologists that an organised
and detailed search may be made under the
authority of the Chartered Company, so that, if it
exist at all, some key may be found which will
indubitably lay bare the mystery of the identity of the
early visitors or immigrants, whichever they may be.
That the Barotsi, a section of which tribe was
driven by the Matabele from Mashonaland, may have
been connected with the work is an opinion held by
some, owing to various patterns and designs being
266 In New South Africa.
common to the ancients' work and that of the
Barotsi ; and I have also been informed that there
exists yet a remnant of this tribe a considerable
distance north-east of Victoria, which yet retains, or
has until recent years, the art of cutting and fitting
stones for the purpose of building walls. My
informant tells me that they actually claim that
their ancestors built Zimbabwe at a time when they
once dominated the whole country, but such informa-
tion as this is not much to be trusted, for the reason
that Kafifirs have little legendary lore or idea of history.
This cannot be greatly wondered at considering
their migratory character and the number of times
that the race dominant in the district at a given
period has given way before more powerful invaders.
It is interesting, also, to learn that gold ornaments
of considerable merit in workmanship have recently
been brought by a gentleman from the Zambesi, they
being of native manufacture. The beads, necklaces
and spiral springs which have from time to time been
found in the various ruins of Mashonaland, and these
modern articles may therefore perhaps be regarded
as having a common ethnological ancestry.
To return to the present day. I am shown
instances at seventy or eighty feet deep where a
drive has cut through the reef only to find that it is
filled and packed tight with debris instead of gold-
Gold Mining, Ancient and Modern. 267
bearing quartz ; and this occurs even at a hundred
feet in another place, probably reaching the water
level at the bottom of the valley, thirty feet deeper.
When at the Dunraven mine I am pressed by
some miners to take their photographs ; a fourth
does not appear, he having lately given way to that
far from rare failing termed " going on the bust." I
am shocked to hear a few hours later that he had
been blown to pieces by a late charge of dynamite.
He entered the drive too soon after the shots had
been fired, and one being late he arrived on the
scene just as it exploded. He lies in a little enclo-
sure on the hill by the side of a previous victim to
incaution and disregard of rules.
The names adopted by the Kaffirs (their own being
often quite unpronounceable) cause many a laugh.
They are sometimes christened after the great men
of the land — Rhodes, Jameson, or Willoughby — at
another time one may hear a black savage call
another " Funnyface," the English words seeming
incongruous in the midst of a string of strange
syllables.
This particular " boy," Funnyface, is a character.
On his first arrival at the camp in search of work he
described himself, with much waving of lanky arms
and exercise of loose joints and rolling eyes, as an
experienced miner. Two days after he came to the
268 In New South Africa.
" Baas '' (the rock being very hard where he was put
to work) and unblushingly said that he had told a he
in the first instance, that he had never been in a
mine before and knew nothing of the work. This
might have been enough to send him about his
business had he been anyone else, but his droll face
and manner stood him in good stead. " I like you
well enough," said he, " and don't particularly want
to leave you, so I will take a job on the surface (this
work being much easier and less remunerative), and
work my way up from the lowest position." This
he did, and now receives the highest remuneration
a surface man can get, earning by his cheerful
oddities the goodwill of his masters and companions.
Funnyface will run into Gwelo and back — a full fifty-
four miles — during the day, bringing the mail back,
and think nothing of it. He has an inexhaustible
fund of quaint humour, is quite eccentric, and
is worth his money if only for the reason that he
keeps the other boys in good temper, which means a
good deal in the case of African blacks.
I am often reminded of Drummond's account of
mimicry in nature as described in " Tropical Africa,"
by the sight of various mimetic insects common
here.
Strolling along a beaten track, the path sometimes
seems to be covered with small rolling pebbles,
Gold Mining, Ancient and Modern. 269
hastily scattering in every direction. This is in
reahty a small stone-coloured beetle, which runs
about on the slightest provocation and with
excessive energy. A tree-lizard may look in at one's
hut door, smacking its lips over a recently swallowed
fly ; the tree it affects has a spotted, silvery bark,
and the lizard has a spotted, silvery skin. Looking
at my feet, one day, I see a large specimen of the
" Praying Mantis," vulgarly called the " Kafhr God."
It is much like a wisp of thick grass, with bent
offshoots for legs, and is provided with embryo
wings, which resemble short pieces of the dry
sheath out of which a stem of grass shoots. A
very similar one is found in New Zealand, but the
wings there appear to be more fully developed than
in the African variety. The name " Praying
Mantis " is due to its extraordinary action when
walking or about to walk. The thorax portion is
attached to the long abdomen by a sort of universal
joint, permitting it to turn upwards, downwards, and
sidewards. The first pair of its six legs is placed
quite close to the back of the head, and when
starting to walk, or in a state of mental indecision, to
make sure of its way it lifts its thorax upward and
from side to side, waving its front legs as if it were a
parson blessing a congregation of imaginary manti.
There are many chameleons about, and many
270 In New South Africa.
specimens of the common butterfly who shuts his
wings in order to persuade one that he is a leaf, the
resemblance being striking.
The butterflies generally are truly lovely, and
abound, as also does a large flying beetle, which
makes such an angry buzzing noise that, as he
passes near one on his swift flight, one involuntarily
shrinks if the approach be too near.
The '' Scavenger" beetle is often seen, and some-
times may be found in the act of rolling a spherical
mass of dung into a satisfactory place, where it
may sink it into the ground and lay its eggs in the
warmth-producing mass. It is quite a comical sight
to see this (large) beetle rolling a mass five times
as big as itself, its method being to stand on its
front legs and kick the ball backwards with its hind
ones.
Snakes, both imaginary and real, are often seen,
the python, mamba, and ringkos being the most
common, but as compared with Australia the^^ are
by no means numerous.
One day an intelligent band of Kaffirs came
applying for " sebenza " (work), the ordinary wage
paid being about twenty-five shillings a month, with
three pounds of meal per diem as food. Much fun
was extracted in the process of giving them names.
One being appealed to with great deference by the
Gold Mining, Ancient and Modern. 271
others, it appeared that he was the chief of the
party, and he did all the talking. Name after name
he suggested, as each boy came forward, " Sikis-
pence " being a favourite, but each had already a
counterpart in the mine ; finally all were suited,
one being named " Tick " (his rendering of
" Dick,") and another " Inkomo " (cow). However,
the latter objected to being named after a female
thing, but accepted with a grin of pleasure the name
"Inkabi" (bullock).
I tried my utmost to purchase a prettily worked
snuffbox from one, but he said that he could not
part with it on any account, as his " intomba " (girl,
or sweetheart) had given it to him, and would certainly
demand an explanation when he returned as to what
he had done with her keepsake.
The musical (!) instrument commonly seen could
be easily mistaken at first sight for an amateur bow,
minus arrows. It has one string, pinched by the
" musician " to alter the note, and on the back of
the bow is lashed a calabash, which acts as a very
necessary sounding board. The whole contrivance
is remarkable for its inefficiency for producing
sound, of any character even, let alone music.
Some boys are seldom seen without one in their
hands, the end being lightly placed between the
teeth, so as to convev the sound better to their ears.
272 In New South Africa.
Many tribes are represented in the camp ;
Makalaka, Makalanga, Matabele, Shangaan, and a
few Zambesi boys, the last named being distin-
guished by the absence of their front teeth, which
gives them a somewhat sinister aspect. I noticed
that Funnyface had the same brand, but he
indignantly denied that he was a Zambesi boy ;
saying that he had been caught when very young
by a Zambesi tribe, who had considered that he was
too good looking, and endeavoured to make him
one of themselves so far as outward appearances go.
He was very much ashamed of the trade mark.
The coach I should have taken to proceed on my
way to Victoria fails me for some reason, and I find
it necessary to make up my mind to take the long
tramp across country with a retinue of Kaffirs. This
will save a long and tedious coach journey, but will
mean a further walk of about eighty miles, making
about one hundred and seven from Gwelo. I make
every effort to buy a horse or a donkey ; but, in the
former case, the would-be vendor is " on the bust,"
and is too drunk to negotiate, while no donkeys are
available. This I discover on my way to Sebanga
Poort, where I climb one of the sides of the gap a
couple of hundred feet above the plain. A glorious
view is hence obtained, on one side over the plain
as far as Gwelo, the kopje being just visible in the
Gold Mining, Ancient and Modern. 273
distance ; and in the other direction (for the
upheaval is as clearly and abruptly drawn as a
coast line) the far away Victoria ranges can be
distinguished at a lower elevation, their lofty tops
peeping over the adjacent Selukwe Hills.
The morning of my departure I note a slender,
creeping thing, grey and hairy, crawling up my
doorpost. Closer examination shows it to be com-
posed of twenty large caterpillars, following on each
others' heels and touching each other, as though
they were intensely near sighted and feared that
if they lost absolute touch with each other they
would infallibly get lost. These caterpillars attain
a large size, and are very plentiful ; they form a
great delicacy with the Kaffirs, who squeeze out
their contents and cook the skins, hair and all.
My friend tells me, on my making known to him
my intention to take the bull by the horns and 7i'a//:
to Victoria, that " You will probably get fever, you
will have to sleep out of doors, and your Kaffirs miay
give you trouble, in which case you will find your-
self in a fix, as there is not a white man the whole
eighty miles ; and, besides, you may have difficulty
in finding your way." A happy-go-lucky disposition
prevails, and, mustering my gang of Kaffirs, I set
out.
To describe my small caravan : Johnnie is a
T
2 74 ^f^ ^6W South Africa.
smiling and well built young Shangaan, whom I
make my " head man," with instructions that he is to
" boss up " the four others. These are poor
creatures, undersized and villainous looking, but two
carry my Gladstone bag, weighing over eighty
pounds, slung on a pole between them, another
carries seventy pounds' weight of mealie meal (a
diminishing quantity) on his head, while the last
carries my large handbag and their cooking pots.
Johnnie is laden with my rugs, empty guncase, coat,
and camera, to say nothing of his own dignity, which
is considerable. He is also entrusted with my
person when crossing a river, but the addition to his
own weight of a good eleven stone affects even his
horny sole when walking on the pebbly or rocky
bottom, and causes the operation to be an unpopular
one with him.
I have by this time learnt a few expressions by
Avhich I am able to direct the boys, but as I walk at
the head of the procession, gun in hand, I find it
difficult to prevent them from lagging, particu-
larly the first day.
We commence to descend immediately we start,
and it becomes abundantly evident that we are
leaving the high plateau or ridge which runs north-
east roughly from Bulawayo to Manicaland, forming
a great " divide " or watershed.
Gold Mining, Ancient and Modern. 275
The actual shoulders of the Selukwe Hills left
"behind, a network of spurs has to be threaded
through, the Umtebekwe river winding between them.
A large Kaffir kraal with extensive "lands" marks
the place where I had been advised to pass the first
night, but it is yet light and I determine to push on.
A vast amount of work has been done in surrounding
these "lands" or gardens with a hedge made of
broken down tree branches, placed there to deter
buck and oxen from visiting the patches of mealies,
though it is noticeable in many places that these are
entirely unprotected.
Having crossed the Umtebekwe, which proves to
be fairly full for this time of year, we walk a hundred
yards or so up the hill, and find on a cliff above the
river a small hedge of thorn, semicircular in shape,
with a tree forming a roof over it. This is our
resting place for the first night, and as it is getting
■late and the sun has already set, I send my boys
abroad to collect firewood for the night. This is
quickly done, and my kettle is steaming. The
baggage has been piled round me at one side of the
" scherm," as the enclosure is called, and the Kaffirs
■crowd round the other side of the fire, which is made
between the extremities of the hedge, and is kept in
.all night to scare away wild animals.
My meal is soon finished, and I watch the swarthy
276
In New Soiitli Africa.
Kaffirs preparing their meal at their own fire. They
crouch round it, as close as the flames will permit
them to, warming their hands and chattering
incessantly, sometimes casting a sidelong glance at
the " mulungu." An earthern pot is simmering on
BEDROOM ON THE UMTEBEKWE RIVER.
their fire, into which about three pounds of meal have
been poured with a sufficiency of water to make the
mass nicely viscid. One of the boys stirs this
incessantly with a fresh cut stick until a satisfactory
consistency has been attained, and finally they squat
Gold Mining, Ancient and Modem. 277
round it, arranging with scrupulous care the monkey
skin " mouches " which protect them from the spiky-
grass of the veldt. Each one pulls a piece of the
elastic brown porridge from the pot (which stands
fire admirably), and puts away a quantity which
would satisfy a European during a whole day. Their
capacity is marvellous to behold
So far no game is to be expected, the blasting
having frightened everything away from the district.
At one time plenty was to be found, and a few
months back a tiger raided a goat kraal and played
havoc with its inmates. A pack of wild dogs, some-
what similar to the dingoes of Australia, was almost
completely destroyed, too, by poison and shooting.
The floor of the scherm is dusty, and is also
covered with leaves, in order to make it as soft for
the sleeper as possible ; I lay my macintosh down
and creep into my sheepskin ; the bright moonlight
and brilliant stars serve to render the mountains
mysterious, and the ripple of the river below lulls me
to sleep, the Kaihrs stretching themselves, half
covered, by the fire. A jackal makes its eerie bark
as I am dropping off, and the novelty of the ex-
perience may be my excuse for making sure that my
rifle lies at my hand and my revolver is free.
Before daylight the camp is astir, my " billy " on
the fire, and the boys rolling up my rugs. I must
278 In New South Africa.
make an early start, for the boys have a hundred
excuses for stopping, and I cannot wonder at it,
the weights being heavy to carry over rough ground
and in a broiHng sun. Rising from my rugs I am
annoyed to find that they are covered with a damp'
substance resembhng clay, and, on examination, find
that my macintosh is covered with white ants, who
have been making a meal of it during the night and
remain with their heads firmly fixed in the substance
of it. I feel pleased that they confined their atten-
tions to the macintosh and rugs, leaving me alone,
but I have to spend some time in extracting them.
They are stingless, with fat, dirty-white bodies and
powerful mandibles, by means of which they will eat
anything, from a house to one's boots ! A nest of
white ants is not the best place to sleep on, though
there might be worse !
The boys gather a heap of caterpillars to-day,
the trees swarming with them, and I see them pre-
pared while seated near a large kraal during the mid-
day rest. Taking half-a-dozen by their upper ends
between his finger and thumb, the boy pinches the
other extremity, and passing his fingers down the
body deprives it of its contents, the remainder being
thrown on to a platter formed by a section of bark
cleverly chopped from a neighbouring tree.
There are acres of cultivated lands round the
Gold Mining, Ancient and Modern. 279
kraal near which we stop at mid-day, and large
numbers of women are seen gathering the corn and
carrying it home to the store huts. They are too
frightened to come near, but the men are punctilious
in their salutation, " Morra, baas." Down in the
A KAFFIR MEAL OF CATERPILLARS.
hollow I hear a yell proceeding from infantile lungs,
in a good old English fashion. Infants all over the
world appear to have the same modes of expression !
I begin to see that I shall not be able to realise
the expectation which had been held out to me, that
28o In New South Africa.
I should do the eighty miles in two and a half to
three days, on which basis I had calculated my store
of provisions, for the Kaffirs have to be continually
whipped up, and once or twice I have to show I am
master.
Passing through some bush I see some birds,
rather larger than a woodpigeon, and the boys ask
me to shoot one, which I do, after a little trouble,
greatly to their delight. It appears to be a
combination of a parrot and a pigeon, possessing
brilliant yellow trousers, grass-green back, pigeon-
coloured at the bend of the wings, and with black
and white pinions. I feel too tired to skin it — for
which I am sorry later — -so Johnnie plucks and
cleans it, showing it to be excellently plump, then
throws it on to the embers to singe the small
feathers off, shakes off the ashes, and splits it open
(spreadeagled). I notice that he throws away the
entrails, save the intestines, which he places on the
hot ashes and eats afterwards.
He then turns to me and remarks, " Pelile, baas ''
(ready, sir), so I tell him that he and the others
may have a portion of it, I roasting the other in a
primitive way and finding it tasty. The boys' portion
was well rubbed on both sides with salt (carried by
one of them in a very dirty rag) prior to being
laid on the hot embers, toasted, and eaten.
Gold Mining, Ancient and Modern. 281
In the course of the proceedings a too confiding
rat comes so close to me, and is so tame that I can
stroke it, but I regret to relate that one of the boys
gets within range and kills it, cleaning it and putting
it on the embers. Whether it be so prepared for my
benefit or not I am unable to say, but expectant
glances are cast at me, while I wait with interest
to see if they will eat it, which they do not. This
is rather surprising, as it is a practice of the Kaffirs
to set the veldt ablaze in order to obtain the mice
and small animals which are killed in the process.
The practice is a very troublesome one to those who
graze many cattle on their farms, as it often deprives
them prematurely of feed for their stock. It is
probable that many would prefer a good healthy rat
to a mess of caterpillars !
How difficult it is to give a true representation of
the scene at night in our scherm ; so much depends
on the complete realisation of how absolutely one is
isolated from civilisation, and of the fact that one
is thrown entirely into the companionship of a few
savages ; this is only truly possible to those who have
had such an experience. The absence of a white
companion is often a source of regret, but it carries
its own consolation in that it makes the experience
a. more thorough and novel one.
The Kaffirs within our leafy hedge at night are
282 In New South Africa.
sitting, squatting, or lounging before the fire,,
variously engaged ; one is pounding native tobacco
(Gwai) to make snuff. This is " Dead-eye," as he
had been named before starting — " Dydaio," as he
expanded it into — he having been so unfortunate as
to have had one eye gouged out when fighting,
according to the amiable custom of the Makalanga.
He is a villainously ugly wretch. A favourite snuff-
box is an old Martini- Henry cartridge case, holding
" Gwai " instead of powder, naturally, which
were the more powerful it being difficult to
determine. The snuff is made by pounding the
tobacco on a warm stone as fine as possible, in
conjunction with the burnt ash of the inner bark of
a particular tree. It becomes reduced to a very
fine powder, and a great deal of trouble appears to
be expended on its preparation.
It is impossible to help laughing at the inquiring
way in which these Kaffirs look at me sometimes, if
they think I am not looking. They appear to regard
me as a sort of curiosity, whose actions are incom-
prehensible and generally most reasonless and
absurd. They wonder what extraordinary thing I
shall do next. A wholesome fear of the revolver is-
apparently held, they telling me, with a shake of the
head, that it is " Imushli " (not nice).
They are resting now ; how they smack their lips-
Gold Mining, Ancient and Modern. 283:
over the last of the caterpillars ! I feel quite safe
with these boys, for the Matabele war has made
them think much of the " mulungu," and with some-
what of awe ; not only this, but Johnnie is particularly
anxious that I shall come to no harm — probably
because he feels that he will be held accountable if
I do not reach \'ictoria in safety, and might lose the
chance of engagement at the mines on his return.
When I pluck a Kaffir orange out of curiosity, it
being unripe, Johnnie insists, time after time, that it
is " Imushli, baas, l-co-nd. mushli " — " Icona" being
the expanded negative used for the purpose of
emphasis — and once, when I stumble, his expressions
of anxiety are almost ludicrous. He always walks
close behind me, while the others straggle half a
mile behind sometimes, and takes care of me in
particular. He is a fine specimen of the Kaffir
animal, and carries his load better than any.
The third day out sees another short day's journey,,
for, though the boys are getting more into condition,
they still lag badly, and I have to shout at them
once or twice to make them realise that they can-
not for ever be stopping to snuff or to rest. I
could do twice the distance in a day were the boys
all Shangaans.
In the morning we pass Umtanga's mountain,
which has been looming ahead of us for so long, and
284 In New South Africa.
before night it is blue in the distance behind,
though we seem hours in passing it. The Selukwe
mountains, elevated as they are, can still be traced
far away, and the hills which mark the site of
Victoria are about equally distinct in front of
us, so about half the distance has now been
covered.
Numbers of boys pass us on their way to the
mines, and all are ready with their salutation as we
near them. I buy an assegai from one, it costing
me a shilling, and find it to be covered with blood-
stains. No gory story need be evolved from this,
however, as it is probably the life-blood of a goat or
sheep slaughtered for a feast.
I desire to send a letter to one of my friends at
Selukwe, so I take advantage of the travelling post-
office — that is, I stop one of a party of boys and
give him a " briefie," as it is called in Kaffir pigeon
English (and in Flemish I), and tell him to take it to
the " mukuru inkosi " (tall chief). The boy will
have to search a district of ten or twelve miles in
extent before he finds the addressee, unless he
stumble by chance on the right person. Yet I
have full faith that, though no payment is made or
asked for, it will be delivered safely and in good
time (a faith which is justified by events). The boy
is most respectful, and wraps it up carefully in the
Gold Mining, Ancient and Modern. 285
tail of a very old shirt he carries on his back, the
arms tied around his neck
Two miles before reaching the great Tokwe river
we rest under a baobab tree at the foot of a kopje,
on which is a Mashona village ; this is composed of
queer little mud huts with ragged roofs of grass,
and are stuck oddly on the top of the enormous
boulders which are thrown higgledy-piggeldy about
the crown of the densely tree-covered kopje.
The characteristic of the Mashona village, or
" stadt " as it is styled when in such a situation, as
distinguished from that of the Matabele, is the small
size of its huts and their extreme dirtiness ; they
also are made somewhat in the style of the huts used
by Europeans, but are lower as a rule, and the grass
thatching is done more untidily, the eaves being
very low, and presenting a ragged, untrimmed
appearance.
The vegetation on this kopje is exuberant, and I
photograph it, especially on account of the baobab
trees and the candelabra tree, a euphorbia, so called
on account of its likeness to the many branched
candelabra of the Scriptures. The kopje is an
excellent example, too, of the sudden way in which
these hills rise out of the comparatively flat plain.
The Tokwe has a frightfully rough bed, and even
now has a fair amount of water in it, but 1 manage
286 In New South Africa.
to get over dry-shod by stepping from boulder to
boulder. Then comes the treat of the day, for off
go my boots and socks, and I lave my tired and
aching feet in the limpid water, keeping a sharp eye
open for crocodiles ; I deny myself a swim, having
been told, though whether correctly or not I am not
quite sure, that there is a likelihood of getting fever
through bathing in cold water, especially in the heat.
Certain it is that those who have suffered from fever
appear very often to have a recurrence after washing
in cold water, and many make a practice of using
hot water only, when possible.
" No water ahead," is the cry of m) Kaffirs, and
this is somewhat borne out by a small party of boys
who anxiously inquire if 7i.>e have recently seen water
so, as but about an hour of daylight only is left, we
make our camp on the sloping sides of a huge ant-
hill, protected by its mass and the clump of trees
growing on it from the bitter south-east wind which
blows so regularly during this season. This wind is
too cool to be pleasant, even when the sun is at its
fiercest, for it is so keen that one is obliged to
protect oneself from it in a wav which would be
unnecessary in its absence, and is productive of heat
and discomfort.
Wood is scarce here, and the boys are a long time
in bringing sufficient for the night's consumption,
Gold Mining, Ancient and Modern. 287
this bearing particularly on an event which occurred
■during the night.
There are many signs that game is plentiful in the
■country now being passed through, the spoor of
large buck and fresh droppings showing that no
great time has elapsed since they have crossed my
path.
I sleep well on the ground before the fire, having
rigged an additional rug, tent-wise, over my head
and shoulders, the lower end falling over my body.
A heavy dew falling therefore makes no impression
•on me. I feel, soundly as I sleep, that I do so with
■one eye open, for if one of the Kaffirs stir to make
up the fire, I always wake and look out, to find the
stars laughing down at me.
How it is that Kaffirs do not die of cold at night
is difficult to understand ; one or two have a small
sack each, into which they creep head first, leaving
their legs entirely exposed to the dew and wind,
while others have practically nothing but their
monkey-skin " mouches."
I am rendered wide awake this night by the weird
yell of a hyaena, uttered within a few yards of me.
It is a sound expressive of demoniacal disappoint-
ment and rage, and when I hear later that a traveller
had a portion of his hand taken off while asleep at
night, I feel pleased that I had half wakened to find
288 In New South Africa.
the fire burnt very low through lack of fuel, and had
stirred Johnnie up to replenish it, his movements
having startled the hyaena (or wolf, as it is called
here). The beast seems to have been creeping
right up to our sleeping place with a view to
snatching a meal, for I clearly see his spoor next
morning in the dusty earth within ten paces of
where I had been lying. It is characteristic of this
scavenger that he will not attack a human being
unless he be sound asleep and other conditions be
favourable, and as a rule he will hang around a
wagon, if there be a sick bullock, and wait until it
is lymg helpless on the ground, when he will run in
and take a sharp, clean bite out of it. He will
seldom attack a healthy animal, unless it be bogged.
This sound, so unexpected as it was, had a most
eerie effect, and I confess to not sleeping for some
time after the yells had become less frequent and
faint in the distance.
The next day Dydaio is very sluggish in getting
his load ready, and, when I speak to him, just looks
at me to see how I take it, and hardly stirs. I know
that if I do not show him that I am master I may
have very great trouble with all, and may have
great difficulty in getting to Victoria with my
belongings. The Kaffir has to be treated as one
would treat a fractious horse, kindness, firmness,
Gold Mining, Ancient and Modern. 289
and decision being essential to get good work out of
him. Once let him think that he is master, and he
will prove a tyrant and a danger, so I take my gun
in my hands, half raising it with a smile, and shout
" Chercha, hamba " (Make haste, start), and with a
deprecating smile, Dydaio meekly says, " Lungili,
baas " (All right, sir), and passes on without more
ado. But I notice that I do not need to hurry them
forward in the way I have had to before.
Four miles from our sleeping place I am surprised
to see a herd of cattle, and immediately conclude
that, contrary to every expectation, there must he
white men near, though I had been assured that
there were none between Selukwe and Victoria.
But it proves to be the case, for I see their huts
across the valley, and make my way to them. A few
fat Kaffirs lounge about outside, rather to my
surprise, and on approaching the door of the main
hut, I see two men, both down with severe fever,
one lying speechless on the fioor, resembling a
corpse. Two Africander farmers from the Colony,
they had settled in this distant spot, on the borders
of Matabeleland, and while they had had fair
success, the curse of the country had temporarily
laid them low. Judging from the many trophies,
game is abundant, and a piece of venison is a wel-
come addition to my larder. I can do nothing for
U
290 In New South Africa.
these poor fellows, as they are well stocked with
drugs, and one can move about sufficiently well to
attend somewhat to the other. Promising to report
them in camp, I wend my way onwards, having
declined a glass of the milk, which was obviously
scanty in quantity and necessary for the sufferers.
The Matabele cows give very little milk, and that
is often difficult to get, as they refuse to milk
without the calf, and will go quite dry immediately
it is taken away. A trick is sometimes played on
them by means of a stuffed calf being brought
into requisition, but the sham does not serve for
long. This characteristic is observable in China
as well, but the Chinese cow is more acute, the
stuffed calf trick being there of no avail.
Crossing the Umgesi River, a fairly long stretch of
country brings me to the Shashi, which, even here,
is a fine body of water, with a reputation for
crocodiles, which I am unable to corroborate,
inasmuch as I see none ; I do not waste time,
though, when wading over, the water being about
three feet deep in one place.
This fertile and well-watered country abounds
with game, as I could see in many ways, and the
fever-stricken farmers tell me that both sable and
roan antelope, koodoo and tsessebe are to be found
with but little trouble. I also hear from them that
Gold Mining, Ancient and Modern. 291
lions have been heard recently, and trust to luck
that none will trouble me during the next night or
two when I shall still be sleeping unprotected on
the veldt. It is rather a strange feeling at first
when one realises that there actually is an off
chance of waking up to find one's camp menaced.
That night I write my diary by the camp fire,
the solitary candle I have brought with me having
burnt out ; I am forced to be contented with the
uncertain and flickering light of the fire and the
beautiful starlight. The " Great Bear " Is upside
down on the horizon, bringing me back to the
old days at a Hampshire school, where the great
constellation formed such a feature at night across
the wide playground. Little did I then think that
one day I should be watching it sprawling on Its
back in a manner most undignified for a respec-
table constellation, that I should have for my bed
the hard ground, and for companions a few savages
only recently delivered from a reign of barbarian
terror, while around my camp wild hyaenas and
jackals occasionally betray their presence by a short
yap or a weird yell.
Before crossing the Shashi River, we notice a
large party of boys on their way to the mlnes^
resting beneath a clump of trees a little way from
the road. We, having crossed and made our
U 2
292 In New South Africa.
preparations for the mid-day meal, after an unusually
hot morning, two great swells cross over to us with
pompous mien and evident intention of interviewing
me. They hand me papers, from which I gather
that they are native policemen engaged in escorting
the party of boys to a particular mine in the
Selukwe district. They orate at great length to me,
apparently asking questions, which my excessively
limited knowledge of the language and its variations
quite prevents me from grasping, though I have some
idea that they are asking for sugar. Having no
sugar, I give them each a dose of saccharine, which
produces facial contortions, but to which they
certainly do not object, as a European would have
done. Somewhat pleased, yet unconvinced that I
could not give them what they wanted (for they
endeavour to speak through the medium of my own
Kaffirs), they march solemnly back to their charges.
The odour of the Kaffir is quite unmistakable,
and clings ; it renders the atmosphere particularly
objectionable in the drives of a mine. Amongst
this party are examples of various methods of
dressing the hair in wonderful and ornamental
designs. One shaves longitudinal sections an inch
wide, gently curving round his head, being particular
to leave a strip of hair running over his head from
the centre of his forehead to the nape of his neck.
Gold Mining, Ancient and Modern. 293
On this bar the hair is divided into some eighteen
or twenty sections, the individual hairs of which
are bound tightly together into a httle column about
an inch long, the ends bunching out at the top.
Another, which is certainly not so charming a
device, is one in which the bars go from ear to ear
over the head.
Perhaps the most troublesome to prepare is that
of the man whose head is covered with innumerable
numbers of the tiny bunches which his companion
only indulges in one line of ; and the ugliest fashion
of the lot is a vast number of tiny (though longer)
plaits, thoroughly greased, and hanging well over
the face from a central spot on the top. Many of
those who possess beards (usually short and rather
scanty) carry them in plaits, a piece of grass very
often being woven with the hair to be used finally
for tying the ends to prevent unravelling. My own
beard by this time has become fully half an inch
long through no hot water having been brought to
my door during the last few days, and Johnnie
becomes lost in admiration of it, for he points to it
and remarks, " Mushli, baas." It is recorded that
after one of the battles during the war one of the
wounded Matabele, carried in to die of his wounds
in the British laager, looked up and laughed as he
exclaimed, viewing the beardless faces of many of
294 ^^ ^^^ South Africa.
his conquerors, " Why, the great Imbezu regiment
has been thrashed by a lot of boys.^'
I start from my resting place in the Isifule hills
with the intention of doing a big walk, but it
dwindles down as the day advances, the country
traversed becoming excessively hilly and rough, and
it is occasionally difficult to see the track ; for
though at one time in the early days a man had
made a wagon track over the country, this has long
been disused, and for a great distance is obliterated,
so that we have to trust to a compass and instinct.
My food has now practically come to an end, and
I begin to amuse myself as to what I shall have to
put up with when I am face to face with the
necessity of drawing upon the larders of the kraals.
The grass in places is very long, waving far over
my head as I push my way through it ; in so doing
it is not wonderful that I become a very porcupine
in appearance and in temper, for the spear-pointed
seeds stick by thousands in my clothing, and work
themselves in and out until it becomes almost a matter
of impossibility to extract them. In the meantime
they irritate and scratch one beyond measure, for
while the shaft remains firmly interwoven with the
texture of the material, the sharp point is free to
exercise its peculiar ingenuity on the skin ; the vast
number of the implements of torture is the mentally
Gold Mining, Ancient and Modern. 295
exasperating factor, for no sooner have I, as I fondly
believe, cleared myself of them after a considerable
exercise of patience, than one after another make
themselves evident in the most inaccessible places,
having previously lain quiescent. I begin to realise
how both here and in New Zealand a common cause
of death amongst sheep is a grass seed Which cork-
screws its way through the wool, and, penetrating
the body, causes ulcers and death.
Having got rid of the Isifule hills (we could dimly
see these from the heights of Selukwe, and took
them for the Victoria mountains), we get into a much
broken country, quite a maze of wonderfully ragged
cliffs and kopjes, very picturesque. Then comes a
terribly weary grind up rising ground for fully three
miles, the breeze being kept from us by the sur-
rounding hills. I feel inclined to bless every cloud
that comes across the face of the sun — a very
unusual thing for me to do.
For a long way it is useless for us to stop for
lunch, there being a great scarcity of water, and
when at last we do get it, it looks as if it has been
brought in a filthy milk pail, so thick and muddy is
it. Boiling well and the addition of tea make it
comparatively palatable, but I wonder how people in
England would look if they were asked to drink it !
I had provisioned my boys for four days, and at
296 In New South Africa.
lunch Dydaio informs me that there is " Icona scoff "
(no food), so I say to him for fun, " Lungili, scoff
Victoria" (all right, food at Victoria), but they do
not relish this at all, saying, with a laugh at what
they know to be my joke, " /-cona, baas I ' Petoria '
cachana." (No indeed, sir, Victoria is too far.) In
answer to my question, " Upi tenga scoff?" (where
buy food), they point across the bush, where their
sharp eyes have discovered the signs of Kafhr culti-
vation, and I soon see acres and acres and acres of
ground tilled by the Kaffirs of a neighbouring kraal.*
The ladies in the corn rise to peep at us as we pass,
with undisguised curiosity, and small wonder, for I
wear a pair of blue goggles, an unsightly five days'
beard, a handkerchief flying under mv hat, and a
gun on my shoulder. Passing through so many
Kaffir lands it strikes me that I may be able to get
some eggs, and would take one beaten up with a
little brandy, so I draw a picture of an egg and
detail two of the boys to go and get some ; but
they entirely fail to grasp my meaning or the purport
of the sketch, so I have perforce to imitate the cluck
of a hen, on which they suggest " inkuku " (fowl),
whereupon I pretended to be searching for an egg,
* The resemblance between the Kaffir " Upi " and the Latin
" Ubi " is close and interesting, both meaning " where."
Gold Mining, Ancient and Modern. 297
all to no purpose. I then take once more to my
sketch-book, cracking the egg and sketching a
chicken in the act of breaking out of the shell.
They then burst into a roar of laughter and com-
pletely understand, shouting " Ja, baas, mazai^'
(^§g)- ^ continue to be in a state of uncertainty
whether they may not take me too literally and bring
me " setty " eggs, with the " piccanin inkuku "
inside !
Johnnie returns in half an hour with the news
that he can get no " mazai," they being " pelile "
(finished), so he brings a whole heap of sweet pota-
toes (the " kumuru " of the South Sea Islands) and
monkey nuts, the latter being sometimes known as
ground, or pea-nuts. There is actually some sense
of duty and politeness in the Shangaan soul, for he
puts them all down at my feet, picks out the nicest
and fattest (it is extraordinary what elongated, strag-
gling things sweet potatoes are) and puts them in my
hands ; then, seeing that I do not know the best way
of cooking them, takes my tin " billy " of his own
accord, lights another fire, and squats down to boil
them for me. Some prefer them roasted in the hot
ashes.
One of the boys — a Makalanga — cut his foot
very badly during the day while walking, and came
to me with a most pathetic grimace (no expression
298 In New South Africa.
on his ugly face could be other than a grimace),
asking me to do something for it, for many KaflBrs
seem to have considerable faith in the doctoring
powers of the " Mulungu." I put some healing
ointment on it (with his finger), having made him
wash it well first, and bandaged it with a strip of
lint, sewing it on so successfully that it kept in place
for the rest of the tramp.
We have a glorious sunset this evening, and it
demonstrates the benefit of living an absolutely
outdoor life — in South Africa and in its winter — for
one misses none of Nature's sights. Over the
mountains of Victoria (I fondly believe that they
are at length before my eyes) the clouds are, for a
brief space, blood red, changing to darkness. I
cannot help dreaming, that to me, the white man of
the party, it is telling the story of the first spilling of
blood during the late war, which occurred close to
my halting place, and which resulted finally in the
death of Wilson, Borrow, and many others — and
that it is warning my friends the black men of the
destruction which came to so many of their hostile
brethren and their unhappy, unfortunate king,
Lobengula.
As usual, on waking at daybreak, at the foot of
the great anthill (it is so deliciously easy to " get
up" early when sleeping on the veldt!), I find the
Gold Mining, Ancient and Modern. 299
boys sitting clustered round the fire, warming them-
selves and gossiping. It is a curious fact that it is
impossible to get work out of Kaffirs when it is
cold, as it is before daybreak ; they appear to have
no idea that they can warm themselves by working
hard, but sit round the fire, shivering on one side
and roasting on the other. I again have to content
myself with a dish of sweet potatoes and monkey
nuts, washed down with that ever-to-be-grateful-for
beverage of the East, and find that half a sweet
potato, boiled, is sufficient for a meal, while half a
dozen ought to last one a week.
I yell at the boys to " boss up," and the pro-
cession starts for the last time, as it turns out ; for I
have awakened to a surprise this morning, a few
miles only being walked before the town of Victoria
becomes visible in the clear distance.
We near, on our left, some of those great rounded
and smooth granite kopjes, which are peculiar to
this country, and look as though a great bubble had
formed in the molten rock as it cooled, then had
forced its top portion far above the surface and
solidified. They have a ringing, hollow sound as
they are passed over, but it is improbable that they
are other than solid, the manner in which the
surface flakes off in skins probably accounting for
the hollow sound, and forming an easy means of
300 In New South Africa.
making the stone bricks which were made such use
of by the ancients in forming their great structures.
At a point approaching the road, within a few
hundred yards, for this kopje is a very long one, are
to be seen a large number of the Makalanga huts,
characteristic in their small diameter and low,
shaggy eaves. Close to the top, high on the kopje,
are a considerable number more, dotted anyhow
here and there in a clump, without any attempt at
regularity or arrangement. This is the big kraal,
where the Matabele, at the end of 1893, began the
now famous slaughter, which ended in the first
fighting of the late war, later known as " The
Victoria Incident."
An " impi " of Matabele, many hundred strong,
had come along the route I have taken, or approxi-
mately so, and fell upon these poor creatures, killing
large numbers of men and old women, and taking
the young women and children. They spread over
the whole district for miles, according to my
informants, who were present at the time, hunted
the old chief right up to the church in the very town
of Victoria, slaying the fugitives as they came along.
They visited some of the mines, and slaughtered
prospectors' boys, in some instances killing them
before their masters' faces, and finally returned to
Victoria to demand the fugitives who had fled to the
Gold Mining, Ancient and Modern. 301
white man for protection. The story is old. A
great " indaba " was held, at which their behaviour
was insulting in the extreme, and finally they were
informed that if they did not clear from the district
by the time the sun had travelled a certain distance
— about two hours — they would be driven away.
They calmly slouched off, and were actually
proceeding to devastate another kraal, when they
were overtaken and forced to fiee, leaving a number,
including the most impudent induna of all, dead on
the veldt.
The Makalaka and Makalanga natives were con-
vinced that the white man would be "wiped out,"
but rejoiced at their mistake.
Not two miles further have I walked, with the blue
range still distant in front, believing yet that I should
find the town close to it, and that my walk would
take me some hours yet, when, lo and behold ! I see
the town on a rise three miles away, and rejoice.
Unwittingly I had slept not more than six miles
outside the town, my boys having evidently reckoned
that they had done enough walking the day before,
though had I been aware of my proximity I should
have been able to get in only an hour after sunset.
The moral is that a better knowledge of the language
should have been attained !
Many women and children are to be seen here, on
302 In New South Africa.
their way to their work from the fields, some with
baskets on their heads, others bent on weeding or
ploughing for their next year's crop ; quite close to
the town I notice some women carrying bottles
balanced on their nearly clean shaven heads without
the slightest shake or fear of a capsize or slip.
They often stop at a respectful distance to look at
our little caravan, or shyly turn their heads to regard
us, as if half afraid. They are heathenishly ugly
after they have passed their first youth,
I am greeted when passing the fort by someone
hailing, " So you've come back at last." I reply,
"Yes, I have; but do not remember when I was
here before ! " The resident of Victoria now finds
his mistake out, but I get my directions to the
hostelry which I have been vainly looking for, and
at which I at last find a very welcome resting place.
CHAPTER V.
SIC TRANSIT GLORIA MUNDI.
What an instantaneous change from the solitude of
the veldt to the vivacity of a town, numbering fifty
souls, over which the tide of prosperity has advanced
only to recede again, temporary though the retroces-
sion probably is !
Victoria at this time is very dull, it being
practically empty, as compared with the lively
times before the war broke out, when so many
deserted it for the rising star of Bulawayo. This
was very hard on Victoria, as it was just going
ahead when the war occurred. Neither bootmaker
nor tailor is there In the town, badly as I need their
services ; all have taken wings unto themselves and
flown to the late home of Lobengula.
The Government buildings are of brick, Intensely
plain in design, but the large square inclosure is
walled and loop-holed effectually for defensive
purposes. At either of two opposite corners is a
plain square tower, on which were mounted Maxim
and other quick-firing guns during the war.
304 In New South Africa.
The town has the distinction of lying between two
rivers, in one of which a crocodile has recently been
killed, for these reptiles abound in the Umchegi and
the Umshagashi ; therefore plenty of water is
ordinarily available for the present limited popula-
tion.
For the rest there are a forlorn-looking church, a
couple of hotels, a few stores and houses, and one
substantial and nicely-built residence. The hospital,
too, claims attention, for it is a very respectable and
well-arranged building, and was built entirely with
funds collected in Mashonaland, without any outside
help, I am informed.
The coolie cook at the hotel is a character, for he
formed one of the contingent at the battle of
Bembisi, confessing without shame afterwards that
he spent the whole of the time hidden in the hole of
an antbear.
It is arranged with great kindness that I shall be
conducted to Zimbabwe, making a four days' trip
round the country afterwards, and so, sending some
boys on with our rugs and bag containing provisions,
we leave Victoria at an early hour. The horse I ride,
kindly lent me by the police, and being the only one
available, is the vilest animal I ever bestrode, and
his trot can be trusted to half disjoint the bones
of the strongest ; the pain of his canter, taken as an
Sie Transit Gloria Mundi. 305
alternative, is only to be alleviated in any degree by
a practical disuse of the stirrups and a sole use of
the knees, care being taken to rest as little on the
saddle as possible. He continually stumbles, the
smoother the road the more he does so, and before
eighteen miles have been ridden he is practically
dead beat. This is a salted horse, but not precisely
a favourable specimen.
In a bee line, Zimbabwe is about fifteen miles from
Victoria, but such a detour has to be made that the
path is fully twenty miles long.
We take five hours over the journey, for I have to
walk my poor beast most of the way, and so arrive
only a short time before sundown. The course had
lain firstly over the great plain, which is the
beginning of the high veldt, delighting the eyes of
the pioneers as they ended their anxious tramp up
Providential Pass. On the right lies a huge kopje,
miles away, with the same sudden upheaval and
very steep — this is Mount Victoria, which we see
later on.
The scenery is really beautiful and the day lovely
as we canter along the unlimited expanse, experi-
encing the delicious sensation of absolute freedom
to go everywhere and any distance, without restraint
or inclosure, such as one is bound to feel in our tiny
and much-divided England.
X
3o6 In New South Africa.
At one spot we see a couple of shafts and a
number of deserted caved-in huts, the property of a
great mining company, who are letting the reef lie
for the present in order to develop their Matabeleland
properties.
Close to the Poort, or pass, the level of which is
the same as that of the plain, though the line of
kopjes rises abruptly on either side, we ride up to the
ruins of a late hostelry, most picturesquely situated ;
the long verandah is one mass of grenadillas, or
passion fruit, which in their luxuriance even invade
the falling-in roof. They are covered with fruit,
which is unripe, but as it is already the season for
them, it is probable that the Kafhrs have been there
before us, and have stripped the plants of the ripe
ones.
Not far away we pass an ancient, broken-down
Kaffir, who can hardly even articulate, but who
carries a bow and arrow which no offer of money
(mali) can purchase from him. He says that he
would be defenceless without it, and we tell him
that he need not fear the Matabele now, but it is to
be supposed that he has lived all his life in terror of
these scourges, and cannot accustom himself to the
idea of being without the means of self defence.
We then get well into the thick bush and amongst
the mountains ; the scenery being most charming,
Sic Transit Gloria Mundi. 307
and the colouring of the landscape lovely. As we
cross a stretch of veldt we ride into a swarm of
locusts, and these, rising from the grass as we
approach, fill the air, often dashing with their prickly
legs into our faces. It proves to be most disagree-
able, and the horses dislike it as much as we. Then
the air above and in front becomes thick with a great
cloud of them, and we have to bend our heads to
the storm in riding through to save our faces and
eyes. It seems like a snowstorm with huge flakes
of snow.
The ant hills are numerous in certain places here,
and attain a great size, some being certainly over
thirty feet high, and, so far as I can roughly judge,
full a hundred feet in circumference: On one I
count twenty trees of various sizes growing, the
majority being thirty or forty feet in height, so it will
be seen what large mounds they are.
Zimbabwe Kopje now looms high in the distance,
and forms an outpost of the rough range of hills
behind it, rugged and conspicuous. It seems ages
before we get there, for our horses seem done up,
and a forcible hunger causes us to anticipate our
arrival with eagerness, for our boys should be there
by this time, a footpath over the hills permitting a
short cut to be made by foot passengers.
We ride straight for the Temple, four or five
X 2
3o8 In New South Africa.
hundred yards from the hill, and dismount in front
of the great inclosure, whose walls are in places
nearly thirty feet high and sixteen feet thick.
The country we have latterly passed through has
been excessively broken and rocky, and ever and
anon we see oddly-shaped boulders perched on the
bald, round rocks, sometimes left in a state of balance
similar to that of the Logan Stone in Cornwall. As
we near the kopje and get in amongst the rough
country, the road sometimes passes over sunken
tops of the solidified ebullitions, and we hear the
drum-like ring as the iron shoes of our horses strike
them.
The great temple lies at a distance from the fort
on the almost inaccessible kopje, where nature,
naturally strong, has been vastly strengthened by
artifice. It has apparently been connected with the
fort by manifold walls and minor buildings, almost
undistinguishable by us now on account of the long
grass, which towers above our heads.
As the light is already failing, we content
ourselves with taking a few views of the exterior,
tracing the walls round to the eastern extremity,
where the herring-bone pattern is visible near the
top of the wall, and the wonderful neatness and
regularity of the building is seen at its best.
We trace the path up to a few huts half a mile
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Sie Transit Gloria Mundi. 309
away from the ruins, where the curator has been
living, and surprise him in the act of putting his few
remaining possessions together, for he is at the point
of leaving his charge for good, and has stripped his
huts of almost everything.
The more serious fact becomes patent, however,
that our boys have not turned up, and we are there-
fore bereft of our provisions. We have not eaten
since early morn, and are torn with anguish on
finding that our friend has but a small piece of pork
and a slice or so of bread, which would constitute his
breakfast in due time. With the utmost kindness
he places this at our disposal, and proffers us a
brimming cup of Kaffir beer, no tea or coffee being
within twenty miles of us. I look very dubiously at
this beverage, for it smells precisely like sour pig-
wash, and, on overcoming my hardly astonishing
scruples, I find that its taste corresponds with its
smell ; neither is its appearance inviting, for it is
thickish and of a gruelly colour. To a thirsty soul
even it is — well, better than nothing whatever, and
that is about all ; but I am informed that it is very
palatable if made properly.
My bed is made by the deposit of rugs on the
dirty floor of a doorless hut, and the stars are
visible through the thatching of the roof, while the
mud walls also admit light and air in places, so I am
3IO In New South Africa.
awake al daybreak, and am disgusted to find the
sky full of lowering clouds ; these, rolling purple and
angry among the brighter purple mountains, with
grey masses of granite standing out in bold relief,
make a grand sight, and one which I would willingly
have pictured.
One tiny sandwich each constitutes our breakfast,
for though our boys have arrived they have carelessly
lost one of the little packages, and we afterwards
bargain with an eminent and ugly Kaffir, nicknamed
Adonis, to show us the way up to the hill fort.
Though the kopje which it crowns stands right
before our eyes, the precaution of taking a guide at
this time of year is most necessary, for the long
grass hides the paths entirely ; the length of the
grass is a wonder to English eyes, for in places I
have been on horseback through grass which still
met far over my head.
Up we climb, and after a stiff pull, our guide (who
has left us far behind, having neither too much flesh
nor a superabundance of clothing to hinder him) stops
and points out with a most serious air — indeed,
anxiously — some of the first lines of fortifications ;
this is a wall filling up a space between two great
boulders, which already form a natural rampart.
The view is most extensive ; on the side further
from the Temple, that is, looking north, we look
Sic Transit Gloria Mundi. 311
over a lovely African valley, bounded in the blue
distance by the towering mountains, through which
we had threaded our way when coming. Practically
the whole of this valley has been divided into farm
lands, acquired mainly by " pioneer rights," that is,
by the members of the pioneer expedition receiving
preferential permits to peg out farm lands.
As we ascend, our path winds round the shoulders
of the kopje, and we see many further evidences of
the ancient engineers ; in one place, where a cutting
had been made, I notice the bones of oxen buried
about six inches below the surface, but it is most
probable that these are simply the remains of
Makalanga feasts. We branch off to the right as we
near a Makalanga kraal, which appears to be in great
part dilapidated, and pass through a small plantation
of tobacco.
The boulders here are simply enormous ; prior to
this I have only seen them from a certain distance,
but on close approach they are seen to be really
huge, their smooth, even shape, and fantastic
positions suggesting the agency of water.
Our good guide, with his infantile method of
talking, shows himself as accomplished a specimen
of the genus as any of those who take one in hand in
the galleries or museums of Europe, with the import-
ant exception that he keeps silence when required.
312 In New South Africa.
The nettles are huge and fierce, much more
formidable than their Enghsh cousins ; they do not
bark — they bite. Adonis carefully explains this to
each in turn and in infinite detail, saying, in
anxious tones, as he points apprehensively at the
particular clump of nettles we may be approaching :
" Lo, skellum, lo — maningi skellum ; icona mushli,
baas ; icona hamba lapa ! " which we take as meaning,
" That is a bad thing — a very bad thing; very nasty,
sir; do not go there!" Certainly he has more
reason to fear its stings than we have, for he is
dressed in African fashion. Evidently once bitten
is twice shy in the case of Adonis.
Drawing near to examine them he is at great
pains to dissuade one from approaching them, even
within a yard. Each time they appear within ten
feet of our path he raises an anxiously warning voice,
for they pierce even my thick corduroy breeches, and
each time we come to a spot of interest he carefully
points it out with exuberance of modulated and
doubtless expressive syllables.
We follow our guide through a small opening
between two of the giant boulders, which has
evidently once been guarded by walls (these boulders
are often between forty and fifty feet in height), and
thereby pass to the opposite side of the kopje,
facing the Temple. Here the carefully-built walls
Sic Transit Gloria Miindi. 313
are most extensive, and we are still hemmed in by-
boulders ; we pass over a narrow bridge, an entrance
from the exterior passing beneath us, and Adonis at
this point expresses the utmost concern that we
should not step on a certain loose stone. Then we
pass down an artificial slope through an entrance in
a party wall into a large, deep cavity, bounded on
the outside of the kopje by a great prostrate
boulder some fifty feet long by thirty high. This
would effectually conceal an army from the view of
persons below, while at the back and sides it is
absolutely sheltered by multitudinous walls and the
crowning boulders of the kopje summit towering
above.
The vegetation in these sheltered spots is
luxuriant, and often of a kind not to be seen down
below. There are large numbers of the castor-oil
plant, and of the red flowering Caimahis indica,
or Indian hemp, the latter growing in profusion.
The presence of this plant, said to be originally a
native of Persia, on the top of the kopje, gives rise
to considerable speculation on my part, for I have,
in spite of considerable inquiry, been able to discover
no news as to its presence on other kopjes in the
country. This might be taken as corroborating the
theory that the original immigrants came from the
north, possibly from that portion of the Persian Gulf
314 ^n ^6W South Africa.
which was the home of the Phoenician race.
Certainly the Cannabis indica is common enough on
the coast of Africa at this latitude, and is much used
for smoking by the natives, but it is probably not
indigenous, and may have been brought (for the sake
of its narcotic properties) from the country not
far removed from the north-east of India, which is
believed to be the original home of the widespread
Phallic form of worship, of which there are abundant
traces in the temple, and in the soapstone images
which have been discovered here. Whatever may
be the fact in this theory, it appears probable that it
at least connects the buildings with a race which
had communication with the sea, particularly when
the ruins along the course of the Sabi river are
considered.
Old Adonis is asked what he knows about the
ruins, and in answer to the question says, in his
gentle, softly-harsh voice, that the ruins were built
long ago by strangers who came from the sea, and
who resided here for a long time, building these
great temples and forts, and finally, without any
apparent cause, suddenly disappearing from the
country, never to be seen again ; he added that they
were certainly not white men. This is probably
mere gossip, picked up from visitors in his capacity
as guide ; for, as is common knowledge, among the
Sic Transit Gloria Mundi.
315
Kaffirs history older than two or three generations is
hardly known.
A chmb brings us round to the main entrance of
AN ENTRANCE TO THE KOPJE KOKT, ZIMBABWE.
the fort. The hillside, on to which this entrance
opens, is excessively steep, and I can trace the path
down the steps to the rocky cleft at the foot of the
3i6 In New South Africa.
hill which forms the first approach to the fort on the
temple side. The entrance itself is a marvel. Of
the same character as the main entrance to the
temple, it is simply a narrow passage, say forty feet
long, between two walls fully thirty feet high, all
built in a most beautiful manner of unmortared stone
bricks. The passage is expanded on one side
slightly, say four feet from the entrance, to enable
three men to command it, while only one incomer
can pass at a time.
Passing onwards and upwards — the walls are very
thick here — we turn to the left into what is
apparently an inclosure commanding the path up the
kopje side and the entrance itself ; it is peculiar in
having certain vertical grooves in the wall for which
it is difficult to give an explanation. Hence one
gets a grand view of the temple at our feet, its
inclosure filled with great trees, some of which are
said to be unknown to the neighbourhood.
Between us and the temple is to be seen, small in
the distance below us, the grave which shelters the
remains of poor Allan Wilson, Borrow, and the others
of their ill-fated and gallant party.
Led onward by our careful, though now somewhat
impatient guide, we enter still another inclosure of
the same extraordinary character as that which we
have just left, but in this case the boulders are of a
Sic Transit Gloria Mundi. 317
yet more strange and fantastic description, and
their ill-fits are made up for by human ingenuity.
It is here, I believe, that a (so-called) altar was
found, though I now can see no remnant of it.
It is overlooked by a ledge, reached by a round-
about way through an inclosure which we explore
next, and is crowded with luxuriant foliage, amongst
which the handsome leaves of the castor-oil plant
predominate.
Scrambling out of this roofless dungeon through a
mere rabbit hole, under tons of tumbled boulders, we
commence our descent, for, unhappily, time cannot
be spared to investigate more thoroughly. As we
near the Makalanga kraal we see a man and woman
outside one of the huts scanning us narrowly, but
disappearing as we cross the tobacco patch, so we
approach the hut by the way of their dilapidated
store huts. We find that they have bolted into their
residence, and would have double locked the door
had they been possessed of the means of doing so ;
but a basket hurdle is all they can boast of, and as
we push it aside and crawl into the dark dwelling we
see the figures of a young woman and a grey,
wrinkled, and decrepit old man. This is an old
Makalanga induna, Ikomo by name, who lives up
here alone with his girl wife, and has often owed his
life and safety to the superstitious fears which the
3i8 In New South Africa.
Matabele seem to have had for these strange ruins.
Ikomo's people have Hved on the kopje for many
years, but have lately been obliged to leave to reside
in the valley that no interference with the ruins may
occur, this being no hardship now that the Matabele
are unlikely to trouble them any further. Every
drop of water has to be fetched up from below — no
inconsiderable task — by the young " umfaas," for no
spring has been discovered on the hill.
The old man is sprawling at length before us,
while the "umfaas" sits on a large flat stone. In
the centre of the hut are the remaining embers of
the fire which has cooked their morning porridge,
and some of the entrails of a goat hang suspended
over it. The door is the only window and chimney,
so it is not surprising that the saplings of the roof
are black with smoke. When one's eyes become
used to the darkness a rude couch can be seen at
one side, and hanging down from the roof is a bow,
supple and tight strung, and a strange quiver filled
with rush arrows, the heads of which are beautifully
fashioned out of native iron. The bow the old
gentleman will on no account part with, it being,
as he informs us, his only means of defence. On
examination, the quiver is seen to be the skin of a
small animal some two feet long, adorned with a long
tail. The peculiarity of the quiver lies in the fact
Sic Transit Gloria Mundi. 319
that the animal has been skinned whole, from the
mouth downwards, without a longitudinal cut, the
mouth being used as the entrance for the arrows.
This, after much bargaining and debate, I purchase,
with a few arrows.; some of these are poisoned, and
the old heathen, with his mild, persuasive, and in-
sinuating voice, attempts to cheat me by putting
broken-headed ones into the quiver instead of good
ones.
These Makalangas are expert in working in iron,
and manufacture assegais and arrow heads with
great neatness, smelting the iron from the abundant
ore of the district, and forging them with stone
hammers. The fireclay pipes used in the course of
the smelting operations and the goatskin bellows are
visible behind the roof poles. The hut seems fairly
clean, but the roof is black as ink through the smoke
from the fire.
The young wife, seeing that she has nothing to
fear, takes advantage of the bargaining to escape in
order to attend to the yellow mealie cobs which are
lying exposed to the sun on a low tree near, and we
leave the ancient heathen to his meditations and
regrets that he had not been able to squeeze us
further. He also appeared dissatisfied with the
" parsella " (present), which he begged; but it is
apparently a rule amongst Kaffirs to appear dis-
320 In New South Africa.
satisfied with whatever is given them, in the hope of
getting more.
When we descend from the mountain we resemble
prickly porcupines, for the long grass seeds of
various kinds have penetrated our clothing every-
where, and many have already worked their way into
our underclothing and skin, irritating it excessively.
It takes long and patient search and extraction to
rid ourselves of them, and every little while a fresh
one makes itself evident, and requires a renewal of
the process.
Guided by our swarthy Adonis, we walk forward
to visit the last resting-place of the Shangani
heroes — poor Allan Wilson and Borrow amongst the
others. A large space is inclosed by iron wire
fencing, and within it is a rough earth mound,
encircled by unhewn granite blocks. At the head
of the grave is a single wooden cross, made of a
couple of branches, and a short distance away
stands a packing-case containing the many wreaths
sent in memory of the men who in their end so
worthily upheld the finest traditions of our race.
We reverently place some of these on the grave
and take a photograph, that I may fulfil a promise,
to send a picture to a sorrowing friend. One of the
onlookers has perhaps as much reason as any of us
to mourn — a four-footed one. The old black grey-
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Sic Transit Gloria Mundi. 321
hound, Vixen, who now langaidly awaits us at the
foot of the grave, once owned as master the captain
of the gallant band, now, all unknown to her, lying
beneath her feet — Allan Wilson.
My first entrance into the apparently circular
temple had been the evening before, alone, and
shortly before the sun set. I passed in at what had
evidently been a side entrance, the top part of which
had been considerably broken away. The walls are
very high here, though less so than on the opposite
side, where the better class of dry building is. The
ground is covered with a dense mass of scrubby
vegetation, which made it difficult to distinguish the
details of the inner divisions, and many of those
straggling plants, with large green leaves and a
yellow centred white flower {^Spannannia africana)^
so often seen in English greenhouses, aided in
obscuring the ground, which, to make matters
worse, was excessively rough on account of the
many fallen bricks and half filled in trenches.
The whole inclosure is darkened by the large
trees which are abundant inside, forming a circum-
scribed forest, and providing a dark roof, which
shuts out even the brilliant African sunlight. The
trees, as a rule, in the surrounding country do not
approach in size some of those inside the temple,
and I have heard it said that some of the species
Y
32 2 In New South Africa.
there found are not known in the neighbourhood
at all.
It is difficult to describe the feelings with which
one is assailed on entering this great relic of ancient
days ; the place is so awfully lonely, yet so fully
evident of an intelligent human agency ; so alien to
the savage world by which it is surrounded ; so vast,
yet so shut in from the world ; so complex and
incomprehensible in its design ; so mysterious in its
intention and use ; and, withal, so comparatively
perfect in its preservation, that as the shadows
deepen in the labyrinthine passages and inclosures,
it becomes pervaded by a weird and eerie mystery,
which brings prosaic manhood almost as near the
realisation of the mystic and wonderful as childhood
attains in its unquestioning appreciation of the fairy
tales which to it seem so marvellous and real. In
the darkening twilight this gloomy, silent temple
appeared to me as fully enchanted as the palace of
the Sleeping Beauty — indeed, as an old brown rat
ran over the stones and peered at me, motionless in
my reverie, I felt that for the moment I might
be excused by rational beings for fitting the super-
stition of the Indians to the ancient African
temple and the four-footed inhabitant of these relics
of departed greatness, so the rodent passed on
his way, unharmed, unfrightened even, as the
Sic Transit Gloria Muncli. 323
embodiment of the soul of one of the old-time
builders.
There are various inclosures or sub-divisions
surrounded by the exterior wall, adequately described
by Mr. Bent in his book (whether it be correctly
named or not), "The Ruined Cities of Mashona-
land ; " these inclosures are set out in irregular
positions, with a strange complexity of design, walls
dividing one from another, with narrow doorways
for intercommunication. Following the outer wall
round, an inner wall converges, and is finally
connected with the outer by one at right angles to
the latter. In this is a small opening with rounded
sides, which gives entrance to the innermost
inclosure at a lower level, which contains the great
conical tower, symbolic of the Phallic idea. It is
situated within a few feet of the outer wall, and is
fully thirty feet high, projecting above the wall, even
though it has suffered some damage at the top, and
is obviously incomplete. The perfection and regu-
larity of its building and shape is its great feature,
the slight curve of its tapering outline being beautifu
in itself, and perfectly rendered by its builders. I: is
entirely solid throughout, and the stones, carefully
replaced, show the spot in its base where Mr. Bent
tested and proved this fact. This inclosure is
excessively dark, being shaded both by the nearness
Y 2
324 In New South Africa.
of the great walls and by the luxuriant roof of leaves.
It is approached by at least four entrances, an
important one facing right on the tower and leading
into the most extensive of the sub-divisions. On the
left, as one leaves by this opening, is a raised space,
the purpose of which it is difficult to determine. Mr.
Bent mentions the presence of a concrete floor here,
which it was impossible for me to see owing to the
thick undergrowth, and my lack of time to clear it
away.
The entrance at the opposite end to that at which
I had come in leads to perhaps the most extra-
ordinary feature of the place. Guarded by a narrow
mouth, a passage leads direct from this, perhaps
most sacred inclosure, to the vestibule opposite the
northern entrance of the main building, which would
enable the innermost inclosure to be reached without
exposure of or to the main interior of the building,
and would render any invaders who had attempted
to storm it, and had succeeded in entering the gate
(the groove for which is plainly visible), liable to
speedy death at the hands of defenders on the walls
above as they rushed, one by one, down the very
narrow passage. Somewhat more than three-parts
of the way down is the small and inexplicable hole
through the thick outside wall, and at a point
opposite to this is a third wall on the inner side.
Sic Transit Gloria Miindi. 325
which forms a passage into the largest sub-division,
out of which one can proceed into the tower
inclosure, as before stated. There are thus no
fewer than three walls at this point, separated by
only sufficient room for one person to pass at a
time ; thus he would have to run a terrible gauntlet.
The main gateway itself is commanded by a large
structure, which also protects and narrows the
entrance of the passages to the interior, so that a
hostile party, under ancient conditions of warfare,
would experience a very rough time, even if it
succeeded in breaking through the gate into the
vestibule.
Opposite the main gateway, again, is a large
circular inclosure, from which run party walls to the
exterior wall, dividing the space into sections. It is
easy to see that the stone work at this end of the
temple is of very inferior quality to that at the tower
end, the bricks used being uneven and irregularly
placed.
The dampness of the undergrowth reminds one
that in the rainy season this must be a very wet
place indeed, when once the leafy roof has been
penetrated by the heavy, tropical rain, and the
question naturally arises as to how the builders
protected themselves against rain, for no means of
supporting a roof are visible in the walls, though it
326 In New South Africa.
may legitimately be objected that, so many of the
interior walls being more or less in a state of
collapse, any traces of arrangements for the support
of a roof might well have disappeared. This lends
some colour to the theory that the inhabitants
adapted themselves (as even we English do) to the
practice of the country, and lived in dagher huts
similar to those of the natives ; yet it is hard to
believe that there was no other covering either to
some compartments of the temple or fortress or to
the many remains of buildings in the valley between
them. Certainly, pillars and beams in soapstone
were found by Mr. Bent, but in very small quantity.
The ruins were at one time invaded by prospectors,
who searched them without much, or any, respect
for their preservation, and, for protective purposes,
prospecting was forbidden within a certain radius.
Considerable numbers of gold beads were found,
similar to those which have been unearthed within
recent months in various parts of Matabeleland in
remarkable quantities, and also many beautifully
made coils of gold wire, about the diameter of a lead
pencil, as regular and perfect in workmanship as if
they had been made by machine in Birmingham.
The temple and kopje fort are evidently portions
of one vast settlement, for they are connected by
many walls and buildings, which I found it impossible
Sic Transit Gloria Mundi. 327
to trace with any exactness owing to the rankness of
the grass, it not having been burnt off on account of
its being still early in the season. The temple
appears to have formed one extremity of the settle-
ment and fortifications, for from it extend walls
which go so far as to almost encircle the kopje, but
I was unable, on account of their semi-obliteration
and the grass, to decipher the whole of these, and
got some of my information from my companions,
who were well acquainted with the locality. These
particular ruins have long existed in rumour, but the
intrepid traveller Carl Mauch was the first white
man to view them, this occurring in 1871, and they
remained half forgotten until comparatively recent
years. Similar ruins to those of Zimbabwe exist on
the Sabi river, but they are little known. Those who
have seen them say that they are identical in
outward appearance to those at Zimbabwe, though
they are hardly so large; they are entirely unexplored,
either by natives, who have a holy horror of them, or
by white men, and it is said that the entrances are
blocked up by huge stones. These are by no
means the only ones, however, as buildings similar in
character, and presumably therefore in origin, exist
over a very wide area indeed, ranging from the
course of the Sabi river on the east to far south of
Bulawayo, and again to the north of Manicaland.
328 In New South Africa.
The course of the British South Africa Company
in regard to these unique structures should be plain.
There are those who will find objections to their
being delivered over to the tender mercies of a
mining company, who can hardly be expected to
treat them in a reverential way, and whose opera-
tions must inevitably disarrange and destroy evidences
which might be of value to the antiquarian and
archaeologist. This, however, is what has occurred,
and, if it not already be too late, it would be well to
appoint an official archaeologist, who shall properly
explore the ruins as they become known, and record
all the information obtained in reference to them,
making detailed plans. The ruins should be cleared
of loose and tumbled down rubbish, and such stones
ds are obviously out of position and unnecessary to
a proper conception of the building ; they should
also be freed from the destructive growth of certain
of the trees, particularly those which have become
rooted in the walls, and are gradually, yet surely,
disintegrating them. All ancient ruins should be
forbidden ground to the gold prospector, and such
important ruins as those of Zimbabwe should be
kept in good order, which would not be a matter of
much difficulty.
As I passed out that evening by the great
gate the tom-toms were sounding low, penetrating,
Sic Transit Gloria Mundi. 329
irregular, and clear from the kraals on the rugged
mountain ranges extending on every hand. The
reason for the persistence of the noise, continuous
almost to the point of exasperation, day and night,
was the celebration of the successful gathering in of
the harvest. What a contrast are the sleek, orderly
Sunday School children at home m England, who
gather together in their places of worship to celebrate
the harvest thanksgiving, with the dusky savages,
who yet have a religious instinct in common which
prompts them to express their thanks for benefits
received, in however crude a fashion, to a dimly
realised mystic power.
Emerging from the long grass by the temple when
on my way to the leaky hut which was to be my
shelter, I came suddenly on — and startled— a Kaffir
family proceeding silently and in single file home-
wards. The paterfamilias was stalking proudly in
front, bow and arrows on his shoulder, behind him a
young woman almost ready for sale (I mean
marriage), then, following close in the rear, the
mother, " umfaas," with a great basket of corn
balanced on her head, and two little piccanins,
either with a smaller basket on his and hers, strutting
with independent air in her maternal wake.
Next morning I find my friends engaged in
chaffing a Kaffir witch-doctor or medicine man ; this
330 In New South Africa.
worthy is possessed of a number of carved bones,
short and broad, which he throws into the air as he
squats on the ground, getting his inspiration from
their relative positions as they fall. We test him on
one or two subjects, and on one he is particularly
correct, it affecting one of my companions, and
causing a hearty laugh. There is reason to believe
that the witch-doctor, like others of his craft, only
" divined " that which he knew to be the fact before-
hand.
To test him, I ask how many children I have ; he
tosses up his bones, looks excessively sagacious for
a moment, then holding out his hands with fingers
outspread (a method of counting), says " Maningi,
baas ! " We all, Kaffirs included, have a roar of
laughter at his expense, though I can never be sure
whether he meant it as a statement of present con-
ditions, or, desiring to compliment me, ventured a
prophecy. He is not in the least degree abashed
by our incredulous laughter at what he must recog-
nise to be an error, and, after considerable bargaining,
I manage to purchase the bones, which it is some-
times difficult to obtain from them, it being done
only under considerable pressure in this case.
I am quite surprised to see a Kaffir here and there
carrying a long and apparently crude gun, looking
like an old flintlock in the distance. They have the
Sic Transit Gloria Miindi. 331
art of making a very poor gunpowder, and probably
are able to purchase the foreign made article from
traders in the Portuguese country.
A fine young Kaffir offering a basket of honey-
comb for sale reminds one of the honey-bird, which
is to be found here. This bird will follow a man for
a mile or more, doing everything in its power to
attract his attention and persuade him to follow it,
when it will infallibly lead him to a bees' nest, which
it had previously discovered. This is a strange
instance of a community of interest being recognised
by a member of the lower creation, and not only
recognised, but of its own volition made use of — a
method of communicating with the human fellow-
creature being devised I
The young Kaffir who brings the honey is a fair
example of the Kaffir of the district, and is of quite
a refined cast of countenance, the face being oval,
shaping down to a pointed beard, short and neatly
trimmed. The nose is clean cut, and by no means
so widespread over the countenance as is that of
the ordinary Kaffir, and the lips are thin. What
admixture can this be due to, for it is certainly not a
Kaffir type ?
There are some considerable insect pests in the
country, but they trouble me little. One is a tick,
which is liable to be met with in the long grass,
332 In New South Africa.
and is so determined as to bury its head in the skin,
parting with its abdomen and life rather than be
pulled out. The head remaining in, the skin festers,
and causes an exceedingly painful and sometimes
dangerous sore. One touch of nicotine from a pipe
will cause them to forsake their meal very quickly,
though. Another pest is a fly, which plunges its
ovipositor into the skin before one is aware of its
presence, and lays an egg there, the next event
being that a maggot makes itself felt under the skin.
Perhaps the worst is the " jigger," which makes a
home under the skin, laying a bundle of eggs, which
develop inside a little sac, to break which in the
operation of extracting means to increase the
trouble a thousandfold.
We ride back on the track by which we had come
until within a few miles of Victoria, as a range of
mountains (the Livouri) bars our way. We cut
across the veldt for a few miles, until we reach the
track which will take us to the A — mine.
This mine is situated in a most unhealthy district,
and one which only a few months back was infested
with lions. The kopjes abound with the African
tiger, and baboons inhabit their rock tumbled
summits. All the way we skirt the precipitous
flanks of the Livouri mountains, the other side of
which had been so prominent when viewed from
Sic Transit Gloria Miindi. 333
Zimbabwe ; on our right we file slowly alongside
Mount Victoria, the outpost of the Nyaguzwe
range, so that we are soon shut in entirely by
precipitous hills, and plunge into very thick bush.
I am in my shirt-sleeves, my coat having been
discarded owing to the closeness of the weather,
and it has been spitting with rain ever since it was
given to the Kaflfirs, who took a short cut. We
have eaten nothing save one small sandwich during
the whole of the day, and my horrible horse has
nearly succeeded in rattling the life out of me, so
our anxiety to arrive at our destination before
sundown has the best of excuses. We just succeed
in doing this, and find ourselves in most romantic
scenery, our hut commanding a fine view from a
small eminence close to the spot where the lions
plagued them to so great an extent shortly before
our visit, taking no fewer than twenty-nine oxen
before they were killed. The country is just of the
character where wild animals might be looked for,
being full of dongas, sluits, kopjes and broken
ground, covered with thick bush.
Here I experience the only rain which I meet with
during my sojourn of some months in Rhodesia, and
the rain that fell in the night was of the thorough
character which one finds within these tropical
latitudes, a thoroughness which those who have not
334 ^^ ^^^ South Africa.
stirred out of England will find it hard to appre-
ciate.
The kindness which is so often found by the
travelling stranger gives greater reason for our
regrets that so many of our friends are either down
with or just recovering from fever ; and even high
on the mountain this appears to be little better ;
whether it be that the hollows of the country,
coupled with the thickness of the bush, prevents
the miasma from being blown away, or that the
prevailing wind brings it up from the low country
beyond the Sabi river, it is difficult to say, but it
certainly is a deadly fever hole.
Between us and the Nyaguzwe runs the old
pioneer road, and Providential Pass, so called on
account of its having proved the key to the problem
which faced the pioneer column, of how to pass
safely through the apparently impassable range of
mountains which separated them from the great
Mashonaland plateau. The column had been toiling
up through difficult country from the low lying
regions of Tuli ; Mr. Selous, W'ho was guiding them,
had not been over this ground, and it w^as known to
be no great distance from the Matabeleland frontier,
so that, as it was obviously an awkward place to be
attacked in, it was thought that Lobengula would
perhaps take advantage of his opportunity. Hence,
Sie Transit Gloria Mundi. 335
when Selous and another, riding forward, saw the
plain lands at the other extremity of Mount Victoria,
it was a matter for congratulation that the dangerous
place was passed without a sign of the possible enemy.
Having resumed our journey, we cross the old
road, which is in fine condition here, and ascend the
steep slopes of the mountain, the view expanding,
and becoming more wonderfully lovely the higher
we attain. Range after range of mountains stretch
below us (for our elevated point of vantage is on the
fringe of the great plateau, and looks miles across
the low country), the course of the Tokwe river,
which in its infancy I had crossed on my walk from
Selukwe, winding between them, while the great
Lundi river, into which it flows, lies beneath the blue
heights beyond.
Almost immediately below us are the Tokwe flats,
which were great hunting grounds prior to the occu-
pation of the country, and where even yet antelope
may be shot, as we later see practical evidence of.
The Tokwe is a very large river in the rainy season,
and is renowned for its crocodiles. In the early
days a body of six police was crossing the drift on
horseback, and one poor fellow was seized by the
knee, his leg being nearly torn off by the saurian.
With great difficulty he was brought into Victoria,
and in the absence of surgical instruments his leg
336 In New South Africa.
was amputated by means of an axe and a saw. He
died shortly after.
The situation of the Cotopaxi mine is magnificent.
The mountain had been exceedingly steep, and my
extraordinary steed, w'ho stumbled incessantly when
the road was like a billiard table, never slipped once
during the time I rode him up part of the bad hill
track. The buildings, situated at the portal of a
mountain gorge, look from a height of three hundred
feet between precipitous cliffs over a grand expanse
of plain, dotted with apparently tiny trees. The hill
tops around abound with baboons, and a tiger has
been playing the bear with the domestic animals of
the camp ; one evening during the week a dog went
on to the verandah, and was actually seized when
there by a tiger, all that they heard more of the
poor animal being a yelp, yelp, yelp of pain, getting
fainter in the distance up the mountain. Another
dog, which I examine, is slowly recovering from a
severe wound in the neck from the same cause, he
having escaped by the skin of his teeth.
One cannot help being impressed by the remote,
wild, and almost inaccessible places that prospectors
attain in their wanderings after the riches of the earth.
Here, in this rocky cleft, haunted by the tiger and
baboon, and given up to the life of wild nature, a
tanned and travel-stained white man one day appears,
Sic Transit Gloria Mundi. 337
and breaks for ever Its monotony. His wagon stands
on the plain below, while his oxen graze carelessly
over a mile or so of veldt, tended carefully by a black
herd, who will bring them back safely to the thorn
kraal, which protects them more or less thoroughly
from their arch enemy, the lion, at night. He may
be a hundred miles from the nearest settlement, and
in the midst of a population which may at any
moment rise on him, while his companions are
perhaps a single white man (or none at all) and a
few black servants, more or less trustworthy. Yet he
penetrates the remote fastnesses of savage regions,
his life in his hands, laying bare the gold in its hiding
places, or, only too often, returning to camp with
provisions exhausted, clothing in shreds, worn with
incredible hardships, and with the bitter knowledge
that toil, time, and expenditure have alike been
in vain. How many a prospector leaves his bones
under a little heap of stones, which a companion has
reverently piled over his shallow grave.
When we reach the plain below it does not prove
to be anything like the plain we expected from its
appearance from above — indeed, it is excessively
undulating. We cannot find the track (a narrow
Kaffir foot-path through the long grass) which we had
expected, the grass being so rank ; and after vainly
following a wagon track which leads us into the
Z
338 In New South Africa.
heart of the bush, where the Kaffirs have been
cutting wood for the mines, we decide to take a
"bee-line" across country towards a spot in the
opposite hills, where we believe we should find a
third mine. My companion, as my guide, precedes
me, makes a plunge into the long grass we are
surrounded by, and positively disappears instantly
from sight ; though on horseback, the grass waves
feet above his head, swallowing him up so entirely
that I might be alone. It would hide the biggest
elephant that ever existed, and I begin to speculate
on the character of the game we may possibly meet,
though it certainly would not be elephant.
Luckily we do not go more than a mile before we
strike the path by a piece of good fortune ; like all
Kaffir paths, its sinuosity is remarkable, and as it is,
of course, scarcely visible through the grass, our
progress on horseback is of a mildly exciting
character, particularly when complicated by suddenly
visible holes or fallen trees. This lack of straight-
forwardness on the part of Kaffir paths is attributed
to the fact that Kaffirs have no idea of removing
obstructions from their path, such as a fallen tree or
an inconvenient rock, but walk round it, leaving, in
the case of the tree, the ants to remove it in
course of time, but never reverting to the old path.
Once we are confronted by an insignificant
Sie Transit Gloria Mundi. 339
streamlet, running over a somewhat muddy bed ; to
my momentary surprise my horse refuses to face it,
but after considerable persuasion he makes a dash
forward, plunges in, and sticks in the bog — for such
it proves to be — sinking in until his belly almost
touches the water. A vigorous plunge or two lands
his fore feet into somewhat firmer ground, and I am
soon on the opposite side. This illustrates the
curious instinct that horses have, enabling them
often to distinguish between safe and boggy
ground.
Here I descend the mine, the shaft being a
hundred and twenty feet deep. I put one foot in a
bucket, clinging to the wire rope with one hand,
kicking the other foot against the timbers at each
side to keep in the middle, and first spinning round
like a top. I luckily have oilskins on and thick
boots, for the bottom of that shaft is the wettest
place imaginable. The poor naked Kaffirs engaged
in drilling the holes for sinking the shaft are, of
course, dripping, and covered with mud and candle
grease. There is naturally very little room at the
shaft bottom, and five or six boys are striking the
drills, adding their loud grunts to the noise of their
hammers, so that when I get down to within twenty
feet of their heads I commence to yell and bellow
to warn them of my approach. Roar as I may I
Z 2
340 In New South Africa.
cannot make them hear, and it is not until I am
within three feet of their upward striking sledge
hammers that they become aware that another
stroke will catch me or another second bring my
bucket into violent contact with their heads.
Leaving the merry and hard-working company next
morning, we start on our way home to Victoria, the
ride passing practically without incident, save for
our coming across another flight of locusts of great
size. This is an ordinary occurrence enough,
certainly, but to-day we get the sunlight reflected on
the billion gauzy wings in a most remarkable and
beautiful way. The near, individual effect is lovely
enough, but between two kopjes, a mile away, it
forms a dazzling, flickering brilliancy. They rise in
scores of thousands as we pass, from the ground, the
grass, and the crushed and overburdened trees ; they
dash into our faces, half blind the horses, and make
us dizzy with their flapping myriads.
A mile or so out of the town we see the small
brick structure used as a dynamite magazine. One
day it was found broken into. The Kafhrs had
actually burgled it (finding it unprotected), broken
open some cases, and finally, presumably thinking it
a sheltered place to spend the night in, had lit a fire
in the middle of the magazine (a small enough
building at the best), using the cases as seats. How
Sic Transit Gloria Mundi. 341
they escaped being blown into eternity it is difficult
to say.
Victoria proves to be in a festive mood on my
arrival, for the great racing event of the year is to
come off on the occasion of a public holiday. The
whole country round is represented on the race-
course, and every soul in the town attends as a
matter of duty, save the fever-stricken and the good
Sisters who nurse them. The result is that we
muster sixty-five in all, including the jockeys.
Some of the horseflesh would make the average
frequenter of less remote race meetings stare ; indeed
one horse, inevitably the last in the events dignified
by its presence, might at home have graced a green-
grocer's cart. But among the others are a few very
tidy hacks, who are the subjects of the intensest
interest and speculation. A " totalisator " occupies
one end of the inclosure, competing heavily with
the single bookmaker, who pours unmeasured, though
kindly, contempt on the machine.
No pains have been spared to make the meeting
as great a success as is possible with so limited a
population, the course is wonderfully good, and the
result is a very enjoyable day. The concluding event
is a race for Kaffirs. This has been greatly looked
forward to by those of the town and neighbourhood
and it certainly appears to be popular amongst them,
342 In New South Africa.
judging by the number of starters. Fully a hundred
assemble at the starting place a mile away, all
shapes, ages, and sizes being represented, from the
full-bodied sufferer from adipose tissue to the
skinny piccanin of ten. The different effects of
the distance and pace on them is quickly made
manifest, for the compact body soon stretches out
like a thin line of guttapercha in the distance. The
race is finally won by a fine, well-built fellow, but
the remainder come straggling in, never dreaming of
giving up, albeit the race is won, the tiny piccanin,
who comes in far and away the last, struggling man-
fully until he reaches the goal. The time of the
winner is not taken, unfortunately, for it appeared
fairly good.
A farmer's wife, come in from the country to
witness the races, has lately undergone an
unpleasant experience. A day or two previously,
her husband being absent, a Kaffir in their employ,
on being told by her to carry out some order,
declined to do so, and insulted her. My informant,
an old gentleman, weak from fever, saw by the
expression of the good lady's face that the words
were obnoxious, and tried to sjambok the insolent
fellow, but the blackguard was too quick for him,
and seized an axe lying near, evidently meaning
mischief. But he had a frontiers-woman to deal
Sic Transit Gloria Miindi. 343
with, who was fully capable of rising to such an
emergency, for, seizing a shot gun, lying ready
loaded for the benefit of a troublesome hyaena which
had been rendering night hideous, she brought it to
the " ready," the Kaffir making off at his best speed
as she did so. She took a flying shot at sixty yards,
and caught him fairly, making an excellent pattern
in the right place, and leaving him to invoke the
good services of his laughing compatriots in the
tedious work of extraction.
Victoria, next morning, has relapsed into its usual
quietness, perhaps more than usual, for some have
not been fortunate in the sweepstakes, and others
are suffering from the effects of the unusual excite-
ment and its concomitants.
CHAPTER VI.
TO NORTHERN MASHONALAND.
The peculiarities of oxen as beasts of traction are
fully indulged in on our way northwards from
Victoria to Thaba Insimbe. Being fresh and some-
what badly broken-in to the special work of
coaching, which involves trotting, often through
deep sand, they take matters occasionally into their
own hands, and suddenly bolt at right angles out of
the road on to the veldt ; then, on being turned by
the boy racing up w^hip in hand, belabouring them
unmercifully, rush once more at right angles on to
the opposite side, sometimes crashing into stalwart
bushes or half tilting the coach over by running a
wheel over one of the ant heaps which sometimes
stud the veldt. We have six oxen in our team,
driven only by the whip and by word of command,
which word usually consists of the name of the
particular animal objurgated, and is enunciated with
great emphasis and lung power either by the white
driver in front of the coach or by the Kaflfirs running
alongside. Reins would be useless, and should the
To Northern Mashonaland. 345
leading oxen tend too much to one side, the name
of the ox on the other side is yelled out, and his
companion gets a swishing sting from the long
whip.
The Kaffirs accompany the coach the whole
distance from Victoria to Thaba Insimbe, a journey
of twenty-two hours right off the reel, and alternately
run alongside or stand on the near end of the dissel-
boom (pole), driving, without intermission, for the
whole time. One wears only a ragged shirt, and,
though the night is very cold, he gets into a bath
of perspiration by his extreme exertions in running
and thrashing, and then exchanges with the other
boy, standing still and starving in the cold night
air. How they exist for a month is a marvel.
About fifteen miles out is a Makalanga " stadt,"
which is one of the most remarkable in the country.
Very picturesquely the little huts are perched on the
naked boulders of a kopje, which consists of nothing
but these boulders thrown together disjointedly
above the level of the plain. On some of them three
or four huts are placed, there being barely stepping
room between them or around them ; all are inac-
cessible without the aid of a ladder placed on the
top of some lower boulder. Again, on some stones
only one hut rests, or a wee granary, out of which I
see the squirrels race, frightened at my approach.
346 In New South Africa.
The eaves of some huts absolutely hang over the
rounded edge of the boulders, with thirty or forty
feet of space below them. How often the maternal
Makalanga bosom must be racked with anxiety !
Not having been warned of the impossibility of
getting food en route, I find myself very short of
food during the day, and experience an illustration
of the axiom which travellers by coach in such
countries should take to heart, viz., never to
travel without ample supplies ; for, though time
may be short on a journey, it appears long indeed to
an empty stomach, and the chance exists at certain
times of the year of the coach being stopped on the
river bank by the rivers " coming down," preventing
either forward or backward progression for a long or
short time. Such a cause has been known to keep
the coach at one place for three weeks, resulting in
untold hardships to the passengers.
I sleep that night with my head on the seat of
the wagon and my feet projecting far over the
splashboard. The night proves exceedingly cold,
and the oxen bolt on two or three occasions, once
getting the wagon (for this is what the coach is,
to all intents and purposes) firmly rammed into a
tree, which got well fixed between the wheel and the
body, necessitating a vast amount of noise, consider-
able waste of time, and, on our part, useless temper
To Northern Mashonaland. 347
at the interruption to our much needed but hardly
satisfying sleep.
At one point during the night we outspan near
some huts. We find that these are inhabited by a
lonely trader — quite a young fellow — who kindly
invites us to have a cup of hot tea. The tea proves
to be " pelile," though, as do both sugar and milk,
so black coffee, without these ingredients is
substituted. This man had settled down to trading
at the end of the war, and informs us that he had
forwarded for exhibition in London one of Loben-
gula's revolvers, which he had himself picked up in
the king's hut. His daily life now consists, as does
that of many another, in travelling for perhaps a
couple of months at a time among the kraals for
many miles round, bartering beads, limbo, or salt
for mealies. These he would purchase in small
quantities at a time, collecting it into bulk for sale
to the miners or townspeople. He therefore buys
retail and sells wholesale — somewhat a reversal of
the ordinary conditions of trade. The occupation is
said to be very fairly profitable, but it must need
much compensation for the continual isolation which
is involved.
At Thaba Insimbe (or Iron Mine Hill), the
Victoria branch line connects with the main one
between Bulawayo and Salisbury, and I learn that
348 In New South Africa.
there is a prospect of my having to spend at least a
couple of days in waiting ; indeed, I am assured
that recent coaches have been full to overflowing,
so that I may be forced to remain for the next
week's coach, only to run the same risk over again.
Here there is nothing whatever to recommend a
sojourn, save the game around, which is fairly
abundant. There is but little business during the
week, no natives worth speaking about, no scenery,
no township, and but one or two Englishmen.
The down coach passes us here, and its
passengers report that they heard a lion roaring
during the night, not a great distance from the road.
This was in the Sebaque district, not many miles
away, where there appear to be a fair sprinkling of
them. This adds interest to the explorations of the
country round, by means of which I manage to kill
time during the enforced " detenfe.'' Taking my
gun, I ramble over the country side, enjoying the
fresh, clear air and life-giving sunshine, one morning
exploring the haunts of a lion which had inhabited
an eminence called the " Black Kopje" a few months
before.
I also mount many of the higher kopjes round in
order to get a good view and idea of the lay of the
country. On one occasion I halt and peep over the
top boulders carefully ; the side of the hill is covered
To Northern Mashonaland. 349
with forest, and Is fairly steep ; but below is a great
patch of grassy veldt, bare of trees, and sloping
gradually up from the dry pools. Say a thousand
yards away a half dozen oxen take their ease in the
long grass, so it appears, and though I am doubtful
on the point I forbear to approach. On my
proceeding, one suddenly moves and starts off at an
ungainly run, the others following suit ; this clears
away all doubt as to the identity of the creatures,
for their flapping, white fringed wings, long legs and
black bodies proclaim them instantly to be wild
ostriches. Their wings flap regularly as they run
along at a tremendous pace, but they slow up as
they enter the line of bush, and stalk calmly in.
When I arrive at the spot there are no ostriches to
be seen, as might be expected, but I see plenty of
fresh buck spoor which I dare not follow up, as it is
essential to keep in proximity to the store that no
chance may occur of missing the coach.
That day I lunch off sable antelope, shot by one
of the residents here about six miles away, and in
my hut (through the roof of which the stars shine at
night) are the great curved tusks of a fierce wart-
hog.
From the top of the " Black Kopje " I look out
for the coach which I fondly hope will take me
onwards. Hence it was that the lion would inter-
350 In New South Africa.
rupt the slumbers of the inhabitants of the huts,
three or four hundred yards away, taking his stand
on the smooth black surface of the naked granite.
Of late months discretion has apparently replaced
valour, and his Majesty has removed to less exciting
and perhaps better stocked quarters. More troublous
times are before the tiny centre of civilisation, how-
ever, for its future is to be fire and desolation at the
hands of either revolted Matabele or of the Makalaka
curs, who take advantage of the strife between
their late oppressors and those to whom they owe
deliverance and safety. But of course not much
else can be expected of so degraded a race.
With what interest I watch the coach roll up,
eagerly scanning the interior and searching in vain
for an empty seat ! Not one remains, and the coach,
not being a saloon, boasts of none on the top, pro-
vision being made for the driver on a level with the
floor of the coach. At Gwelo, I am told, two
passengers were refused the doubtful privilege of
lying on the mail bags. This is a cruel enough fate,
even if there be head room, as manv a South African
traveller knows to his cost. Here, to make things
worse, there are hardly eighteen inches between mail
bags and roof, and only a short longitudinal space,
the pile of bags being heaped in a conical form.
This position is taken by two persons, and I, deter-
To Northern Mashonaland. 351
mined to stay no longer kicking my heels to no
purpose, ask nobody's leave and clamber up on to
the top of the coach, essaying to make a bed
amongst the hummocks and excrescences of the
tarpaulin-covered baggage. A chilled steel cannon
ball could not call that resting place a soft one,
though half an inch of dust to some extent ame-
liorates matters.
When we start I find I shall have to hold on for
dear life, as the swaying and jolting of the coach is
so greatly exaggerated at that height, say from
twelve to fourteen feet above the ground. The
hardest of pioneers could not pretend that the situa-
tion, at its best, in any degree approaches passable
comfort, and as occasionally we get a bad jolt over
a big stone, or a succession of them, my whole body
is thrown into the air (albeit I am clinging closely
with both hands and feet to the baggage and the
low rail of the coach), meeting the protuberances of
my resting place again with abominable force.
During the day the fierce sun's rays, attracted
and doubled in intensity by the coach roof, bake me,
but during the night, commencing from the instant
after sunset, I rejoice that I am wearing my warmest
winter clothing, for as the sun goes down the wind
gets up, and that wind is of the bitterest description ;
especially piercing is it to the unhappy drivers and
352 In New South Africa.
the shivering occupant of the roof. Rolled up in my
kaross, everything filthy from the clouds of dust, I
cannot keep warm, and the long twelve hours of the
night seem never ending. I get a dusty corner of
tarpaulin to shelter my face from the cutting wind
(dirt absolutely counts for nothing under such con-
ditions), and try to fit myself to better effect between
the angles of portmanteaux and handbags. Luckily,
in one sense, progress is painfully slow, an average
of but two and a half miles an hour being attained,
on account of the road passing through deep sand.
This tries the oxen to the utmost, but the slow speed
gives me some opportunity of sleeping even under
these unpropitious circumstances. I would wake up
as we give a particularly bad lurch or cannonade
across a drift or gully, always to find myself lying
spreadeagled, with my hands glued on to the handle of
a Gladstone bag or guncase, and my feet tucked
under the rails, literally clinging to them with
my toes.
How welcome is the dawn in such circumstances !
One appreciates warmly the attributes which
probably aided 'in giving the sun-worshippers their
religion, for immediately the sun's disc appears there
comes a glow of warmth through the whole of one's
half-frozen being, and one awakes from the semi-
hibernating condition which the cold engenders.
To Northern Mashonaland.
353
The Sebakwe river has been crossed during the
night, it being impressed on my memory by a
particularly severe series of jolts. For some distance
it traverses a district said to be rich in gold deposits,
which are rapidly being proved. Although we hear
A MATABKLE " VOOKLOOPER."
no lions, as the occupants of the down coach did,
there is no doubt that they are plentiful in the
district, and we see practical evidence of the fact in
the measures taken for defence and protection of the
A A
354 ^^ ^^^ South Africa.
cattle and their herds at the stages where we change
our teams. The thorn hedges comprising the walls
of the cattle kraals are built very substantially,
strong branches being interwoven, and are of excep-
tional height, while the herds themselves secure
their persons from leonine attack by building nests up
a tree inside the kraal, these being only attainable
by means of a slight branch placed against the
trunk. I photograph one, making the herd ascend
into his small and rickety home ; but his nest is not
to be compared with one which I had no opportunity
of picturing, it being quite an elaborate hut, well built
and thatched, some fifteen or twenty feet above
ground. Another house for the herd is simply
formed in the kraal wall, which is of great thickness
at the particular spot, and is strengthened by vertical
poles, the entrance being made exceedingly narrow,
and opening direct into the cattle kraal. To a
European this proximity might appear to have its
disadvantages, but to a Kaflfir, flies, smells, dust and
dirt do not greatly signify.
A hardship on this line is the lack of feeding
accommodation. We only get meals at two places
during two days. One consists of a horrid mess of
tinned sausages, boiled, broken, and lukewarm, with
an insufficiency of bread ; while the other provided
us with some lovely bastard eland, toothsome and
To Northern Mashonaland. 355
delicious, though I am informed that it is the merest
chance that we fall in for so fair a meal.
At other times we take advantage of the outspan
to adjourn to the shelter of the cattle kraal hedge,
making a meal of what provisions we have provided
ourselves with before starting. The dishes are
heterogeneous, for one would provide some raw
beefsteak, if early on the journey, another bread, or
tinned tongue, bully beef, German sausage, tea or
coffee, so between all of us we manage to have a
rough but fairly satisfactory meal. As a rule the
more substantial one would take place at night, and,
perhaps adjourning to the interior of the cattle hut,
should there be one, we would all squat or lie round
the fire with a lump of bread and meat in one hand,
and a japanned metal mug in the other. It sounds
primitive, but it serves its purpose.
The contractor who runs the coaches has let the
line get into a very bad condition, it being the fag
end of the contract, and on several occasions we do
not find our relays of oxen at the stages, and our
poor exhausted brutes have to run a second section,
doing double work along a heavy road sometimes
twenty miles or more.
The second day we have some genuine amuse-
ment. I see a koodoo cross the road some three
hundred yards ahead, and later on, as we are
A A 2
35^ In New South Africa.
outspanned by a river, I see a crocodile on the bank
a short distance from a pool in the stream. He is
apparently about ten feet long, and as I get my
rifle to bear he moves toward the water, whereupon
I take a running shot at him at about a hundred
yards, missing him by a hairsbreadth. I am
troubled by the blue spectacles, which are a comfort
in the glare and dust, and as we run forward, the
shot having seemed to turn him toward the next
pool, I take them off to change them for others, but
before it is possible to assume them, he has run
awkwardly before me, and disappears in the pool
not thirty yards away.
We get to Charter very late at night. This
outlandish place consists of a store, a telegraph
office, and a police camp. It must be a very slow
place to live in, especially if one have to depend on
the store for rations, for it is here that we suffer
from the squashy, lukewarm sausages, though some
excuse must be made in that the coach (though as
usual) is many hours late. They live in my memory
yet !
I ransack the store to find a neckerchief, having
felt the cold so greatly the night before, but the
nearest approach to one to be found is a very
common towel, which serves its purpose suflficiently
well, but is hardly stvlish or soft.
To Northern Mashonaland. 357
That night, or what remains of it, for the oxen
are averse to being inspanned, and cause several
exhibitions of agihty on the part of the drivers by
the adept use of their great horns, is passed in the
same manner as the previous one, though fatigue
and custom enable me to sleep better. What is
more, I manage to protect myself more thoroughly
from the cold wind, which is as keen and bitter as it
was the night before, if not more so, as we cross
the bleak plains known as Charter Flats.
Our oxen seem to be aware that they are being
treated in a manner which is uncustomary and
unkind, for some break away from the line which
they form in order to permit the voorlooper to put
the thongs over their horns before being led to their
places. Then there is a hue and cry, and enormous
exertion on the part of Kaffirs and driver, while
some of those remaining in line begin to move
impatiently away. When caught, the awkward
animal has to be pulled to his place, and sometimes
succeeds in getting away with a frisk and a jump
again. He will then apparently submit, and duck
one of his horns ready for the yoke to be put on his
neck, but just as the driver leans over to do so, the
mild-eyed beast will give a vicious, clever thrust
with his six-foot horns, causing a stampede and
angry yell on the part of his would-be victim. It is
358 In New South Africa.
marvellous with what dexterity and smartness the
sleepy animal can manipulate these enormous
weapons, and a bad-tempered animal (or " skellum ")
will sometimes inflict deadly wounds on the un-
accustomed. Some individuals are seen to have
lost their tails, or at any rate, a portion of them.
This arises from no cruelty, nor from the custom of
accelerating the animal's progress by twisting the
appendage, but from the effects of inoculation
against lungsickness. If carefully done, the tail
being the position chosen for inoculation, the animal
does not lose it, but if the inflammation is permitted
to rise too high this does occur.
We have only sixty-seven miles now between us
and Salisbury, but it is a long sixty-seven miles,
much of it being over the tedious flats, heavy in
sand. It takes us twenty-four hours to cover the
distance, and we therefore do not arrive in Salisbury
until midnight of the third day from Thaba Insimbe.
Then begins the fun to worn-out travellers.
The City of Salisbury has been sapiently divided
into two portions, which were originally separated
from each other by a swamp, it being wickedly
hinted by those who may not have gained in the
transaction that the British South Africa Company,
having run short of cash after the foundation of the
first township (called the " Kopje "), caused a
To Northern Mashonaland. 359
demand for " stands " on the other side, about a
mile away, by building all the public offices and
government buildings there. The consequence of
this is, that now the swamp is drained, Salisbury
appears to have been laid out on the scale, say, of
Johannesburg, and business men on the Kopje side
have to waste precious time in traversing the
uninteresting stretch between there and the " Cause-
way," have they affairs over there. It was felt to
be a considerable grievance at the time, for so much
money had been spent in erecting good buildings on
the Kopje side, where it was naturally expected the
centre of the town would be. It is, however, an
open question whether the town has not on the
whole been developed more quickly by reason of
this step, spite of some obvious inconveniences. In
every direction the swamp has been drained and
houses erected.
The last stage of our journey, like the first from
Bulawayo, has been done with mules instead of oxen,
these having met us at the Hanyani river, and we
consequently make better time. The town is asleep
at the late hour of our arrival, but we do our best to
arouse it by means of the bugle, waking the echoes
of the kopje under which the main street runs.
We (and our baggage) are ignominiously bundled
off the coach, and are given to understand by the
360 In New South Africa
man in charge of the coach office, who appears to
be in an unequable frame of mind, that we can go
on with the coach to the Causeway if we Hke, but
that we certainly shall not have our baggage until
the morning, as he desires that it shall be deposited
in the office. On one gentleman protesting that he
wants his nightclothing and suchlike necessaries,
and placing his small bag in the coach again, highly
unparliamentary language is used, his bag is torn
out of his hands and thrown violently on to the
ground. In my ignorance of the topography of the
town I decide to try to get my small articles, and
walk over to the hotel, so, as the things are taken
of¥ the coach, I succeed, unobserved, in placing
them on one side in the dark. On the man in
charge entering the office with the other articles, I
quietly sneak off down the road and inquire my way
of the single person to be seen. To my consterna-
tion, I am told that it is a long way to go, and
difficult for a stranger to find on a pitch-dark night,
so that the mild and quiet way of dealing with my
irascible friend of the coach office proves to have
its disadvantages. I had no idea that the tw^o
portions of the town were so far separated, and
getting general directions, I plunge down the road
and across the dry swamp. The walk seems long
indeed, and the track crosses veldt, road, and deep
To Northern Mashonaland. 361
ditches, but finally striking the post office, being
guided thither by its light, I arrive at the hotel to
find it closed for the night.
This is somewhat discouraging after such a
journey, and as continued knocking fails to rouse
anyone, I wander round to see for myself if any
rooms are available. A light in a window attracts
me, and knocking at the door, I enter a sleeping
apartment. The occupants are a couple of young
fellows in a distinct state of exaltation, one of whom
most amiably invites me in and makes me drink
some cold coffee. Then, with an exuberance of
loving kindness, almost painful, he leads me round to
a room and knocks. Something quite incomprehen-
sible is shouted out in smothered tones, and then
a feminine voice exclaims loudly, " What do you
come bothering here for? Go away/*' The latter
words with unmistakable emphasis. None the less,
the kindness of my guide soon finds me a very
comfortable resting place, certainly the best I have
experienced in Rhodesia.
Next morning the kindness of an old friend offers
me the benefit of his hospitality, giving one more
evidence of the courtesy and attention met with
everywhere, even at the hands of new and slight
acquaintances, or, indeed, at those of complete
strangers.
362 In New South Africa.
Of the life in Salisbury, with a charming circle of
acquaintances, it is naturally impossible to say
much, though it may be recorded that of a party
of six meeting at lunch at a private house, only one
besides myself failed, a few months later, to put in
an appearance either at Bow Street or before the
death-condemning judge at Pretoria, in connection
with the expedition which one of them led into the
Transvaal.
On one more person is it possible to touch but
lightly — a young lady, whose courage, pluck, and
experience would put to shame many an old hand
at adventure. Two tigers and a full grown lion has
she killed with her own rifle. And her experience of
rough pioneer work dates back to the early days of
the occupation, when the barest necessaries of life
were often wanting. Her husband tells me the
short story of her adventure with the lion, it being
to the effect that some two years previously, when
travelling on the Umtali Road in their wagon, they
had been troubled by lions, who felt a natural
craving for their oxen. Determined to wait for
the invaders, having suffered from their interrup-
tions for a night or so, she took her seat at the back
of the wagon, her husband being in the front, facing
the oxen. The night was very dark, and they
waited for a long time in complete silence. Of a
To Northern Mashonaland. 363
sudden the rifle at the rear of the wag-on woke the
echoes of the night, and the plucky lady's husband
ran round to see her stiffen the intruder with a
second shot, the great brute lying only eight or ten
yards away.
The cooking arrangements would sometimes
make an English housewife smile, for, in our case,
dinner is cooked by the Kaffirs in the open air, that
is, in the back garden, opposite the stables. This
may sound strange, but the results, aided by a
wonderful mixture of Kaffir and English words on
the part of his master, are really very good indeed,
considering the elementary appliances used by
the Makalanga boy rejoicing in the name of
" Ginger." It might puzzle a cook at home to be
told to " Tata lo cheese to lo other kaiea and put lo
sinqua on a sichi, but be sure icona forget lo table
cloth ! " It is wonderful how well the Kaffir mind
grasps this extraordinary jargon as a rule.
One day I meet an old friend last seen in the
Transvaal, now looking a very ghost from fever.
Shortly after his arrival in Salisbury he had gone
down on business to Fontesvilla, the terminus of the
Beira railway at the coastal end, some sixty miles up
the Pungvve river. It has been stated that the death
rate of this settlement is about forty per cent, per
annum from fever, and it is no wonder that my friend
364 In New South Africa.
got a strong dose which for three months laid him
on his back in hospital under the care of the good
Mother Patrick, whose name is a household word for
goodness and charity all over Mashonaland. He
tells me that nobody need be surprised at the
mortality, for the air was full of foul smelling
malaria, and during the night the miasmatic mist
envelopes the whole district, remaining until the
early sun commences its dispersion. Added to
these uncomfortable influences was the stinking,
insanitary state of portions of the settlement. On
the whole, therefore, I am inclined to the conclusion
that Fontesvilla is a place to avoid.
One morning I set out in a sulky, drawn by four
mules, for Lo Magondi, and have been informed
that the district, or at least parts of it, is infested
with lions. I have also received the comforting
assurance that I shall have to sleep on the veldt.
Doubtless one becomes accustomed to the idea that
lions may come about at a time when one is more or
less exposed and at their mercy ; but at first one does
not relish the idea, and I am consequently not alto-
gether sorry that 1 can arrange to pass the night
en route at the camp of a hunter whose huts are
about forty-three miles from Salisbury. On the
other hand, while one person said that I could not
pass a week on the Umvukwe without hearing or
To Northern Mashonaland. 365
seeing lions, there were others who said they had
been half a dozen times through the district and had
never heard the ghost of one, all of which is ex-
plained by the fact that lions are nomads, and may
be in one place one night and twenty miles away the
next, or more.
My sulky, kindly lent me for the occasion, accom-
modates two, the Cape boy who is to drive being the
second person. We start at a terrific pace, and the
first action of the mules is to turn slap round in the
main street and bolt into, or nearly so, a butcher's
shop. This makes an encouraging start, but a little
hard work tames them before long. Our road lies
firstly through open veldt, once having passed a farm
three miles out and its tree-covered kopjes. Then
Mount Hampden heaves in sight and remains so for
an unconscionable length of time. This mountain,
which was the point d' appui of the pioneer force, is
an important landmark, and rises, like Mount X'ictoria,
steeply out of the surrounding plain to a great height.
We outspan at the first river, the Gwibi, a bare,
uncomfortable spot, where had once been some kind
of a hut, but where now are only a few mealie husks
and bare rock. There are a few half-starved trees,
but no wood that we can use as fuel, so we have
unwillingly to waste considerable time in collecting
what scraps can be found within a space of several
2fi6 In New South Africa.
acres. We get our food out, for a nice stock of
provisions has been laid in, including several tins of
what are called "road-rations," consisting of three
quarters of a pound of meat and the same quantity
of different vegetables. The boy opens the tin,
pours its contents into my billy, adds a cupful of
water, sticks it on to the fire, and soon serves it on to
a plate, piping hot. Afterwards, coffee, marmalade
and beautiful bread, tinned fruit, &c., make a most
luxurious roadside feast.
Here and there I see a small buck, and perhaps a
jackal, bounding over the tussocks of grass a
hundred yards away. Later, a great sable antelope
crosses the path, visible but for an instant in a small
opening in the bush five hundred yards away ; this
is the first specimen I have seen of this noble buck.
I get no shot at this game, but bring down a brace
of birds which come in useful in the evening. At
one spot I see something, though quite undiscernible
what, disappearing through the longish grass to
the rear of a tree which is surrounded by a patch of
very tall grass, probably twenty yards across. I run
in to see if I can catch a sight of anything, but only
find a spot where the grass had been crushed down
by a large recumbent animal. When once into the
grass one is of course quite lost to the outside world,
for the tops meet feet above one's head, and not
To Northern Mashonaland. 367
much could naturally be seen beyond one's nose ;
the delicious sensation results of not knowing what
one may be face to face with the next moment !
The senses are all alive at such a time, for any game
might lie within arm's reach and be entirely unseen.
One feature here particularly is the circular clumps
of this long grass, perhaps only eight or ten feet
through, and six or seven in height, affording
excellent hiding places for any wounded animal.
For the first time I drive a four-in-hand. My
coach is a shabby, dust-covered sulky, my sleek and
high spirited cattle are four large mules (which
require the usual amount of thrashing), and my
Hyde Park is a remote portion of the Zambesi
valley. The road is quite indescribable in parts ; I
have never been on a worse, even in Africa. The
sluits are something terrific in their steepness, and
so covered with hummocks that, as we rush down
pell mell we are thrown violently against one another
one instant, and against the framework of the hood
at the opposite side, the next. How the little vehicle
stands it I cannot make out ; I have seen some
"roads" in Australia, but never one to equal this; it
has had very few vehicles over it when once E 's
farm is passed, and the main road to Lo Magondi
proper is left.
It is dark when we arrive at E 's camp, where
368 In New South Africa.
we are to rest for the night, but as the evening had
grown near and we had descended more and more
from the tableland into the valley which ultimately
culminates in the great Zambesi, we had seen the
great barrier of the Umvukwe range looming dark
before us. As we get nearer, we descend still
further, and the break in the range grows more
distinct, though the great conical hills guarding the
entrance to the poort are only dimly distinguishable
against the purple gloom of the mountains.
The camp has been placed on a shoulder of the
mountain, quite within the pass, commanding a view
in both directions, and a rocky track runs up from
the place where we outspan — a hundred feet below.
Near us is a wagon, where I had been advised to
sleep if E were not at the camp, and we could
not get into a hut. The first to greet us is a
magnificent tom cat, who comes running down the
path as we outspan, and purrs a welcome. It seems
that it is the creature's hobby to do this, and that
rarely does a wagon stop without its being visited in
this way.
On mounting to the huts — ^none too easy in the
darkness — the only person whom I can find, save a
couple of Kaflfirs, is a miniature Hottentot with a
wrinkled countenance, wonderfully small hands, a
most oddly cramped, stiff way of holding himself.
To Northern Mashonaland. 369
and a gutteral giggle. Spite of this small personage's
imperfect English, supplemented by my imperfect
Dutch and Kaffir, I get a hut to sleep in, nearly
filled with sacks of meal, strips of fresh biltong, and
various odds and ends.
But there is a bedstead, made of poles fixed in the
ground with a netting of raw hide strips strung over
them, and on this is a thickness of four inches of
long, coarse grass, which makes a fair enough
mattress. Mindful of my experience at a previous
camp, I search long and thoroughly for snakes and
scorpions, happily satisfying myself that they are
absent.
When I sit down to dinner I am besieged by a
horde of starving cats, who ravenously devour what
I give them and cut me dead after dinner as a token
of gratitude — all save Tom, who probably hopes for
more. The dining-room is similar to one I saw at
Selukwe, and owes its charm to the fact that its
pictures are real bits of landscape, there being an
annular aperture running (save in respect to the
posts supporting the top portion of the wall and the
roof) right round the hut, and giving, as I find in the
morning, lovely views on three sides.
I have a letter to the manager of the Ayrshire
mine, but know that I may meet him on the road, so
when I hear, far below in the valley, the " Ah now's "
B B
3 7° In New South Africa.
and other cries of the drivers of a bullock team, I
am not surprised soon to hear English voices speaking
outside the hut. We are soon engaged in listening
to an account of the shooting of a fine sable antelope
that morning by one of the party, the horns of which
were over forty inches in length — a very respectable
size.
Little did I think that I should next hear of the
miraculous escape of this gentleman and a portion of
his party, who, on the revolt of the surrounding
Mashonas, made his way into Salisbury after experi-
encing the most incredible hardships and dangers.
Some of his party were killed, and at our present
resting place he was attacked and fired upon.
As for the swarms of lions to be found round
E 's camp, it hardly seems an exaggeration to
use the term, for within the last three weeks he has
shot two and mortally wounded another, to say
nothing of previous ones.
One met his end in the following fashion : E
woke suddenly one night, hearing a lion grunting
just outside his hut, and found that the impudent
brute was calmly meandering about the camp, in
and out between the huts. As he said, in recount-
ing it afterwards, it was hardly good enough
to pit his eyes against those of a man-eating
cat in almost absolute darknesss, so he took his rifle
To Northern Mashonaland. 371
in hand, resting it on the window ledge, waiting
patiently, while all the time he could hear the lion
exploring the various articles about the camp.
Finally the noises ceased, and he became aware of
an enormous shadow, which silently, suddenly, and
without apparent motion, existed almost within
touch of his gun, where before had been murky
space. The shadow was almost indistinguishable in
the gloom, and the sights of the rifle were invisible,
so, guessing at his aim, he fired. The instant before
the silence of the world around had been intense, even
the wind was not soughing in the trees, and the dogs
had temporarily ceased their ineffective yapping ;
but after that shot all the furies of sound might have
been let loose, and the echoes of the pass resounded
a tremendous expression of the rage and vicious
resentment of a great and savage beast. Later in
the evening of my visit I hear the unmistakable roar
in the far distance along the valley, and can well
imagine that no more violent contrast could be
obtained by the "sensation hunter" than is given
by that instantaneous change from the awe-inspiring
silence of the mountains in darkness to the fierce
and vengeful roar of a lion not ten feet away.
The bullet did not kill, however, but, as was
clearly discernible next morning, broke the shoulder,
and, retiring two or three yards, the enraged " King
B B 2
372 In New South Africa.
of the Beasts " (a sarcastic title when spoken by
Mashonalanders), lay down, groaning and roaring.
He was now quite covered by the darkness, and it
would have been sheer madness to have gone
outside to approach him, so dawn was patiently
waited for. Before sunrise the lion made up his
mind that it would be undesirable for daylight to find
him within such uncommonly disagreeable proximity
to a renowned hunter, and slowly dragged himself
away, with many groans and growls, in the direction
of the farther valley, resting occasionally to give
vent to his wounded feelings in roars. At the break
of dawn his spoor was traced from the pool of blood
a few feet from the hut window, where he had laid
down after his wound, down to the banks of the
river, which straggles across the valley. It was
evident that he had been hard hit, for there was
much blood, and he had rested several times on his
way down. At the river bank a diversion was
effected by a fine lioness springing up, and she was
chased and finally shot within a few hundred yards.
She was probably the mate of the wounded lion,
who was never recovered.
All this happened a few days before my arrival,
and but a fortnight before three boys were sleeping
in a scherm (similar to those I slept in during my
tramp from Selukwe), and were taken by lions, who
To Northern Mashonaland. 373
had either braved the watch fires or jumped the
hedge ; all three boys were killed. Within the last
few days a gentleman about thirty miles away had
lost a horse from the same cause ; and, as is the
custom of these marauders, the camp is still being
menaced by nocturnal visits, which are bound to
result in fresh losses if a bullet does not put an end
to them. It will be seen, therefore, in spite of the
general incredulity expressed about " lion stories,"
that in Mashonaland these pests are by no means
creatures of the imagination.
Safe in a hut, with a real wooden door to it
(though there is no latch, and a kitten might push it
open), there is no need for lions, real or imaginary,
to disturb me, though there is, in the occasional
distant roar, some stimulant for the exercise of
fancy. A couple of hours before sunrise I awake,
fancying I hear a noise outside, and the new moon
having just risen, I can see a shadow on the ground
outside through the twelve-inch space under the
door. At the same instant I feel something heavy
descend on my body, and a set of claws pierce my
flesh. Naturally flinching at the pain, I jump up
quickly. Seizing my rifle I search in the darkness
for my dreaded assailant, finding in the glaring eye
flashing out of the gloom the object of my nocturnal
fears. Shall I aim at that green and angry eye, or
374 ^^ ^^^ South Africa.
shall the bullet pierce that portion of black space
which should represent the heart ? I am holding
hasty communion with my thoughts, when a sudden
motion, and a small black form in the doorway
disillusion me, and with the traditional landlady I
exclaim, " It was the cat ! "
It appears that as a rule tlie opening under the
doorway is blocked up with stones to prevent the
inroads of the cats upon the stores, but that they
had been in the habit of outwitting their master by
using the very small opening above my couch,
hardly to be dignified by the name of window
(hidden as it is by the eaves of the roof), as a
means of attaining their desired end — the long
strips of biltong kept in store. Unaware of my
presence, the cat had jumped from the window on
to my recumbent body, and, startled by my sudden
motion, struck its claws into me on jumping off. I
frighten them away once, but one escaping my
observation, continues operations on the biltong for
the rest of the night, and I do not feel inclined to
interfere again.
Mashona Kaffirs appear to make it a principle
never to be so foolishly weak as to appear satisfied
with their remuneration or a present. Two had
carried my small amount of baggage from the sulky
up to the huts of their master (a service one is
To Northern Mashonaland. 375
accustomed to expect without question, or idea of
fee or reward), but when they come to me afterwards
for a present, and I give them some tobacco and a
few beads from my rather slender store, they
grumble for the rest of the evening. Their
repeated sour looks and grumbles rather disgust me,
for many a man would give them more kicks than
halfpence. On my departure in the morning I wait
for them to take my small bags down after the
driver has told them to do so, but they slouch about,
knowing what is expected of them, but evidently
intending to indicate that they would make a move
when I offer them a satisfactory " parsella." As a
newcomer to the country, I have been in the habit
of dealing far more gently with Kaffirs than is often
the rule, it being said that if one talk gently or
persuasively, the average Kaffir gains the impression
that one does not mean what one says, or is afraid.
On this occasion it really seems as if this is the
case, for having sufficient of a load myself, and not
desiring another tug up the hill, I get somewhat
annoyed at the attempt to bounce me, and
determine to assume a different attitude. With
my rifle in hand, I summon all the latent fierce-
ness of my mild nature, and shout shortly and
sharply, "Tata lo impashli — Hamba, chercha "
(Take the baggage — Go, hurry). The savage, com-
376 In New South Africa.
manding, and imperious tones issuing from a five
foot five atom of white humanity has its due and
proper effect on my black brethren, and with every
expression of respect and reverence they take it all
down at express speed. Mindful of the fact that a
Kaffir on takinor service under a white man considers
that he is only bound to serve him, or those whom
he personally directs him to serve, I magnanimously
forget the sluggishness of a few minutes before, and
present each with some more beads. It is quite
easy to see that they are in reality satisfied, indeed
pleased, but the innate greed of the Kaffir mind
again asserts itself, and they absolutely cannot
prevent themselves from calling my " parsella "
piccanin, and asking for more. Had I endowed
them with the whole of my worldly belongings as a
return for the slightest service, they would still have
grumbled, haggled, and attempted to extract a
further quantity.
The road next day is very rough, having only
recently been cut through the bush, where but a
bridle track before existed. It passes through very
mountainous country, covered with thick bush, with
an occasional fantastic rock-kopje, or group of
enormous anthills, looking like the work of millions
of orenerations of termites.
Fourteen miles onward we cross a river, the
To Northern Mashonaland. 577
Meninie, the drift being excessively bad, and needing
only a small rise of the river to make it indeed
dangerous. We see a Kaffir obtaining water at the
drift, and a couple of hundred yards on suddenlv
come in view of an outspanned wagon.
Evidently it is not on the trek, for many things
lie scattered around, and a scherm has been made
for the Kaffirs.
Under the wagon are the usual Kaffir blankets
forming a sleeping place, made use of by the servants
who are leisurely cooking their master's dinner.
This is the camp of my unwitting host of the
Umvukwe, whom I am expecting to meet, and
before I have finished my lunch he puts in an
appearance.
My new acquaintance proves to be a most agree-
able and entertaining man — an old hunter, too. He
tells me several stories of lion troubles ended by him
in the district, in a quiet, unostentatious way, and
also informs me that though the hyaena is a cowardly
beast, and really nothing to be at all nervous about at
night, yet he may attack a sleeping man if the fire be
low, as proved this year by a traveller well known in
these parts, who lay down without making a fire, and
was wakened by a wolf taking a portion of his hand
away in memory of his imprudence. It seems 7nfra
dig. to lose a portion of one's anatomy to one of
378 In New South Africa.
these sneaking scavengers, who, nevertheless, are
most powerful brutes.
A great skull, with long horns on its nose, is
suspended from a tree close by, and on the wagon
are some leviathan bones ; of these I have heard
whilst in camp, but hardly expected to be so
fortunate as to see. The hunter had been com-
missioned by Mr. Rhodes to shoot a white rhino-
cerous for the purpose of the Cape Town Museum,
the race being already not far from extinct. The
peculiar characteristic of the white rhinocerous is that
it is not white. It differs from the comparatively
common, ordinary, or garden rhinocerous inasmuch
as it feeds on grass instead of on roots, is larger,
and has a blunt, square nose, instead of a pointed
one. Neither is it so fierce as the latter. Inside
the wagon I am shown the great hide, cut into
two or three pieces for convenience in carrying.
The horn, that is the larger one, is over thirty-
five inches long, and it is clearly seen to be
attached to the skull by means of a pad of cartilage
only.
The specimen had been shot a few days' journey
on the other side of my destination. The bullet from
the eight-bore rifle had failed to kill the animal, and
it was only after a three days' journey in pursuit,
and no fewer than six wounds had been inflicted on
To Northern Mashonaland. 379
him, that the tenacious hunter came up with him for
the last time and gave the poor beast his coup de
grace as he lay, weak from the loss of blood, under
a bush. John, the tiny Hottentot at the camp, had
aided in the securing of this mighty prey, bringing
him to his knees with a well directed shot. The
distance travelled had been fully seventy miles, but
it was well worth the trouble, the price to be paid for
the specimen being very considerable.
Twenty-seven miles from our last night's dwelling
we draw up at a cleared spot where three or four
huts are in course of erection, another being
apparently in a finished condition. In this I am
invited to spend the night before inspecting the
Ayrshire mine.
The huts are being mud plastered by sixteen
Mashona women, twelve of whom have piccanins on
their backs as they work, they being slung, spread-
legged, in a cloth on the ample backs of their
mothers. The exuberant anatomy of these ladies is
probably a providential arrangement for the con-
venience of their offspring. Inside the huts are four
ancient crones, who are engaged in spreading the
mud over the; poles and filling up the cracks caused
by the shrinking of the mud already put on and dried.
Another gang carries the mud in small, flat baskets
on their heads (piccanins behind, of course), which
380 In New South Africa,
the remainder prepare in a hole scraped in the ant-
hill close by.
The piccanins wear their heads shaven, all save a
small disc at the top. On this small disc, even, no
hair is visible, as each half dozen or so of the short
hairs are utilised for stringing a row of beads on.
The hair on a Kaffir's head is " tussocky," like the
grass on the veldt, and each tussock of wool is
strung with beads of a variety of colours, and as the
beads entirely hide the hair, it appears as if the
natural covering of the head had been supplanted by
an insignificant and variegated topknot. Some of
the full grown women exhibit the same fashion, and
to a greater extent, so that as the hair is con-
siderablv longer the effect is all the more comical.
I had met several Kaffirs along the road and had
tried to purchase a specimen of an assegai having a
spud at the end of the shaft for turning the earth
over. This is veritably an instance of the sword
being made into a ploughshare, though, unfor-
tunately, the ploughshare can be made into a sword
with equal facility ! The Kaffirs here do not seem
to care to part with their only means of protection
or offence, and I, not caring to force them, conse-
quently failed.
It has been said that parts of the Lo Magondi
district are unpopular with the Kaffirs even yet,
To Northern Mashonaland. 381
possibly owing to recollections of some having at one
time or another been knocked about by miners, some
of whom, in the early days, seemed to be incapable of
getting boys to work without kicking them. There
has doubtless at times been too much of this treat-
ment, but in extenuation it is to be remembered that,
as an instance, unless some white man be at the top
of the shaft to watch them as they are standing pre-
pared to wind the white man up the shaft and out
of danger after he has fired the dynamite fuses
preparatory to blasting, it is ten chances to one that
they will make doubly sure of their own safety from
falling stones by dropping the handle of the wind-
lass when the miner is yet suspended in mid-air,
and running a quarter of a mile away. The effect
of this on the mind of the miner might well be dis-
quieting, and one can quite understand that the few
seconds elapsing before he was blown to shreds
would more probably be utilised in objurgating the
offenders than in considering means whereby they
might be protected from inhuman white men !
This liability to untimely desertion causes my
services to be utilised during my visit, for shots are
about to be fired in one of the shafts. My guide
descends and lights the fuses, then puts his foot in
the bucket and shouts to the Kaffirs to wind up,
which they do so lazily that I have to use my voice
382 In New South Africa.
in earnest. The instant his foot touches the ground
they run off as hard as their legs can carry them,
without staying to unmount the windlass, as they
should have done, in order to preserve the rope from
being cut by the projected portions of rock. How
far the rascals run I cannot tell, but it is far out of
sight, and it is usual for half an hour to be wasted
in gathering them together again.
A quarter of a minute later the reports evidence
the successful firing of the shots, and fragments of
rock are projected far out of the shaft into the air,
despite the three feet depth of water which has
gathered above the charges. I am assured that had
there been no white man to watch them, the Kaffirs
might have let my friend fall to the bottom of the
shaft to be blown to eternity.
There has in the past been great scarcity of
labour here, partly owing to the trouble between
early miners and Kaffirs, and also to another fact.
We are practically out of the limits of the late
Matabele oppression, and the Kaffirs are a very in-
dependent lot, often demanding extortionate wages,
though what they get is fair and ample The women
who were engaged in " daghering " the huts, struck
work when they were paid in " limbo," saying that
they would only be satisfied with money, naming
an amount which many a man in England rears a
To Northern Mashonaland. 383
family on, and in return for a very short day's work.
Some months back, too, the natives murdered a
white poHceman and a hut tax-collector, and this
was sharply avenged.
We are here about seventeen degrees south of the
equator, and within a comparatively short distance
of the great Zambesi — indeed, we may be considered
to be within the limits of the Zambesi valley, for we
have been sharply descending for many miles before
arriving. What is known as " the fly " country is
within touch now, the nearest point being about five
miles away, and it will hence be gathered that
further progress for mules or oxen would be barred,
and my onward journey, had I desired to proceed,
would of necessity have had to be done on foot.
The peculiarity of this mine, one which makes it
unique in Africa, almost so in the world, so far as is
known, is that the precious metal is contained in a
diorite intrusion or dyke, which is ordinarily con-
sidered in gold mines an unmitigated nuisance, as it
interrupts and disturbs the regular reef, and, more-
over, is almost invariably barren. In this case the
exception proves the rule, and also of three known
examples it is far and away the largest, the two
others being situated in America.
I once more experience the sensation of being
lowered down the shaft, a hundred feet deep, by a
384 In New South Africa.
cranky windlass and four Kaffirs, my foot this time
being simply placed in a loop at the end of the rope,
the luxury of a bucket not being provided, nor,
indeed, does it seem necessary to one after a few
experiences. This particular shaft is sunk in the
bottom of the largest single excavation made by the
ancients that I have seen. Judging roughly, it is
probably forty feet in depth and a hundred and
twenty across, and represents an enormous amount
of work and trouble on the part of the early gold
seekers. They are supplanted now by men who use
modern and quicker means, and I hear evidences of
their presence on every hand, for miles around, in
the frequent reports caused by blasting.
The situation of the camp is wild and lovely, but
it is to be feared that there is some amount of fever
about, though this is so common a condition that
the majority of people think comparatively little of
it — until they get a particularly bad dose. On the
ground in front of the camp are excellent evidences
of the richness of the country in game of many
varieties, the horns of many antelope resting against
the hut walls. Pegged out to dry, also, there are the
skins of sable and roan antelope, stretched in the
intensely hot sunshine. How I long for time to
devote myself to nothing but sport ! There appears
to be no doubt that if a traveller desire to obtain
To Northern Mashonalancl. 385
any shooting worthy of the name, he must put every
other consideration aside, and devote his whole time
and energy to it, for any fortune which may befall
him otherwise will be mere luck and chance ; the
solitary koodoo which falls to my rifle being one of
the few large buck which I actually see during my
wanderings. It is a sore trial to anyone who
possesses the sporting instinct to be in the midst of
a country where game is abundant, where he may
even see them in the distance, and where their
tracks often meet his vision, yet to have to feel that
the exhilaration of the long and anxious stalk, the
careful aim, and perhaps the successful shot are not
for him.
Once on my way back 1 see a large object flitting
through the bush, but it is quite indistinguishable,
though within a hundred yards. In all probability it
is a sable, these being fairly numerous in the
district.
Within thirty miles are the wonderful Sinola
caves, so extensive that they are but very little
explored. These I have not time to visit, though a
comparison with the vast caves In America and
the Jenolan caves of New South Wales would have
been instructive.
At the Umvukwe we sleep again, but hear no lions
this time, the clouds prevalent before having cleared,
C C
386 In New South Africa.
rendering it too light for their fancy. A dark, rainy
night is the night that the Hon loves, and it is then
that his awe-inspiring voice may be studied in all
its tones and cadences. I ask John, the wee
Hottentot, how long it was before my arrival that he
had heard the last. Looking stupid for a time and
shuffling his delicate hands, he at last says, " Not
long;" but on being further pressed, he confesses
that he cannot count.
Below the range I stalk some of the large cranes
of the country for the purpose of collection, and
crawl through an extensive dried up vley. The
grass is very long here, and I come upon many
a "form" where the buck, &c., had been lying
down, or their enemy the lion had been crouching,
the grass being crushed fiat. Nothing though there
is to be seen, I am conscious of a strange feeling of
expectancy, for the long grass may hide anything,
and one has the impression that at any moment one
may be confronted with game almost within arm's
length.
CHAPTER VII.
PRIMITIVE ART— THE MISADVENTURES
OE A WAGON.
Salisbury being reached without further event, I
take a long walk out to Six Mile Spruit, on the
Gwelo road, where there are some of the puzzling
drawings upon stone popularly though probably
incorrectly known as " Bushman's drawings." The
bushman of this day appears to have not the
slightest rudimentary idea of drawing, while these
are executed with a fair amount of skill. They are
similar to specimens which exist in the colony, and
at Sinoia, farther north, and so far no trace of their
origin has been discovered. Those at Six Mile
Spruit are drawn on the flat face of a large boulder,
about eight feet high, lodged in a roomy horizontal
cavity in the rocks of a small kopje situated near a
river in somewhat broken country. On it are depicted
the scene of an elephant hunt, where the crafty
hunter (black) is creeping behind the huge animal
to hamstring him, besides representations of sable
C C 2
388 In New South Africa.
antelope, buffalo, a snake, bird, and others, Including
many human figures.
The medium seems to be a pigment of red earth,
but the face of the stone is exposed to the united
destructiveness of sun, rain, wind, and frost, so there
must be some peculiar quality in the pigment to
enable it to resist the wearing influences of perhaps
hundreds of years of exposure. The kopjes, con-
sisting as they do simply of a number of large
boulders jumbled together, are naturally threaded
with extensive crevices, and in one case a large, but
low-roofed, chamber is formed. This peculiarity has
led to the kopjes being utilised as dwellings, and the
situation of the picture stone has caused it doubtless
to be used for keeping a look out from its side of
the kopje. The wall of the cavity in which the
picture stone is lodged, some fourteen feet above
the ground, curves back from the roof to the floor,
so that a considerable space exists behind the stone,
affording concealment, and the walls here are also
decorated, though by no means so thoroughly, nor
with such pains. The top and side of the stone,
where it is accessible, are polished in a way which
suggests the continual rubbing of feet by persons
accustomed to climb and sit there, though this fact
comically reminds one of the similar effect to be
seen in Australia, particularly at the Jenolan Caves
Primitive Art. 389
in New South Wales, where the beautiful polish of
the hard stone is due to the passage of generations
of "rock wallabies" over the rocks. From the
primitive character of the rock dwelling one might
almost judge the artists to have been a' tribe of
artistic and educated monkeys !
At the canteen close by I see the skull of a lion,
which carries a story with it, which was within an
ace of being a tragic one. A young Africander in
the neighbourhood of the Umfuli river, hearing that
a lion had been seen in the vicinity, was all eager-
ness, as many newcomers, possessed of perhaps
more pluck than discretion are, to kill his first lion.
Finding his quarry without much difficulty, he fired
and wounded the beast, breaking its shoulder. This
naturally annoyed it, and, springing like a lightning
flash upon him, it first tore the flesh off his shoulder
and back with one stroke of its great claws, and,
seizing the unfortunate man's face in its jaws,
nearly bit one side of his face off. Strangely
enough (whether overcome for the instant by the
pain or not, it is difficult to say) the great animal
then retired a few paces, which the plucky man,
though so terribly wounded, took advantage of to
insert another cartridge into his rifle and shoot his
antagonist through the heart. Months of hospital
life, from which he had just emerged when I saw
390 In New South Africa.
him, and a shattered constitution were the results of
this adventure, and corroborate the dictum of many
an old hunter, that unless the tyro, who is alone, can
be absolutely dead certain that his shot will kill, or
if he have a companion who cannot be implicitly
trusted, it is better to leave the lion to his own
devices, unless these happen to include an attack on
him ! The skull is the finest I have seen, and has
been sold for the large sum of six pounds ! The
lioness whose skull accompanies it was shot by the
innkeeper, close by, about eight months ago.
It might have been thought that four or five years
of civiHsation such as that of Salisbury would have
deterred lions from approaching the town, but it is
not so long ago that one was killed actually within
its confines ; or, rather, in the immediate outskirts.
A man saw a large animal with its head lowered, but
half hidden by the carcase of an ox, about a
hundred yards away. Thinking it was only a dog or
hyaena, he carelessly approached it, and was angrily
faced by a full-grown lion, when but a few yards off.
His extreme danger was seen by his little son, who,
with rare courage and presence of mind, quickly
brought his father's rifle to bear, and shot the lion
dead on the spot.
During my stay, even, the spoor of a lion is reported
on the banks of a spruit, about two miles away.
The Misadventures of a Wagon. 391
Let me give one impressive illustration of the
uncertainty of travelling, and the impossibility of
making definite plans with any likelihood of their
being carried to a successful conclusion. Desiring
to go to Hartley, and failing to obtain a horse,
partly on account of the proximity of the " fiy," I
hear that a wild Irishman is taking his wagon out
there, and decide to take advantage of the fact. At
the time appointed for starting he is nowhere to be
found, and as I hear that he is bound to call at a
store at the Kopje before actually leaving town, I
settle down there, feeling sure that it is only a matter
of an hour or two. I also come across an old
acquaintance, who has not been in town lately, and
is therefore busily engaged in getting thoroughly
intoxicated.
All day passes, and although the wagon has been
loaded up and taken to the outspan outside the town,
no Pat appears, and I make up my mind to turn in.
Before doing so my inebriate friend is picked up out
of the gutter, and, although a complete stranger, is
put to bed by my host in his own room ; but as we
enter he staggers out and lies under the gum trees,
where we leave him for the night, well covered with
blankets. Pat turns up in a very talkative and
mischievous mood, trying to persuade us with Irish
volubility to put lighted candles round the recumbent
392 In New South Africa.
form, bring out the whisky, and give it a "real good
Irish wake."
The unexpected it is that happens, for it is my
friend, to whom I had been indebted for much
kindness at one stage of my journey, who "wakes "
us by stumbHng into our room, almost sober, at the
unearthly hour of 3 a.m.
At 1 1 a.m. we proceed to the outspan, Pat having
vanished again, and find the wagon about a mile out
of town on the veldt, large as life, though the
previous evening I searched in vain for it in the deep
darkness. Pat of course does not turn up, but we
proceed. I lie lazily on the sacks of mealies during
the first hour, half asleep and untroubled by the
jolting, but three miles out we stop, and after an
Infinity of shouting and whipping we are reluctantly
forced to the conclusion that we have stuck in the
soft ground and cannot move.
The team of oxen is far too small for the weight
we are carrying, and they are also very badly trained,
only pulling by twos and never together. In the
end we have to take the forty-three sacks of meal,
each weighing two hundred pounds, off the wagon
and re-load them when the struggling oxen have
succeeded in pulling the wagon out. By six in the
evening we have started again. There Is no moon,
but we travel gaily for another half mile, only to
The Misadventures of a Wagon. 393
stick again hopelessly. No efforts succeed in ex-
tricating us this time, and we give it up for the
night.
I pass the night sleeping under the wagon, others
in the tent which occupies the rear of the wagon.
In the morning we try once more to persuade our
oxen to extricate us from our unpleasant position,
but it is obviously beyond the strength of the poor
brutes, who strain and jerk under the cruel lash,
bending their heads to the ground with the violence
of their exertions and swaying uselessly from side
to side.
Our driver comes to the conclusion that he must
return in order to get another span of oxen, and
actually meets Pat on the road, the latter having
reluctantly torn himself away from the allurements
of the gay city. But even then we do not see him,
for he returns with his driver, and hour after hour
passes without a sign of our fresh team. We take
our guns and beat up the country for game, but to
no effect ; then we do some good practice at re-
volver shooting, and finally settle down to cook our
dinner. A frying pan enables us to cook a piece of
fresh beefsteak ; a Kaffir pot first serves to bake
some excellent bread in, the pot being covered with
the hot ashes of the wood and cowdung fire, and
then to make a delicious stew, with the luxuries of
394 -^'^ N^^^ South Africa.
fresh vegetables and potatoes, all of which makes it
evident that life on the veldt need not be a// rough-
ness and hardship. How lazily these days pass !
Spite of the fact that now time presses me, I have
attained the happy, and in South Africa to some
extent necessary^ state of mind in which one calmly
abandons oneself to the course of events, thinking
nothing of delay or untoward accidents, caring little
how much time passes over one's head, recognising
no meaning In the word hurry — for hurry spells
failure — and generally cultivating that phlegmatic
temperament which is the characteristic of those
people who have lived longest in the wildness of the
South African continent — the Boers.
We sit round our camp fire that night smoking
the rough tobacco grown in the country (for even
that of the Transvaal is unobtainable in camp at
present), and spinning yarns about experiences in other
parts of the world. Very dark it is, for the moon does
not favour us, and we can see nothing beyond a
yard or two of ground illumined by the dancing
flame of our fire. Sometimes a set of teeth appears
behind one or other of us, but it is only that of the
boy, of whom nothing else is visible! This peculiarity
of the Kaffir always reminds one of the " Cheshire
Cat " of " Alice in Wonderland." The jackals bark
all around us, and we begin to think of turning in
The Misadventures of a Wagon. 395
for the night, when the distant cry of a bullock
driver in the direction of the Poort signals to us that
the oxen are approaching. The wait before they
reach us seems interminable, for, verily, the ox is
slow, and when at last we hear the scuffle of their
feet close by, all we can see is a number of huge
horns almost upon us. The oxen being the colour
of the KafBr, only these are visible.
Still no Pat, so we turn in between the wheels of
the wagon, and next morning he rides calmly up
asking if anyone wants to run into camp to get
their English mail, as they may ride his horse back
and return on foot. Time has been wasted, and I
am reluctantly forced to the conclusion that I had
better avail myself of the offer and return to
Salisbury, as otherwise I shall miss the coach down
country. Driving out later to fetch my baggage
from the wagon, I find it still in the same place, but
actually preparing to start.
As I gather my baggage together we notice a little
party approaching us from the direction of Hartley,
consisting of a dozen Kaffirs carrying somewhat
heavy burdens and a single white man drooping over
the donkey he is riding. It turns out to be a poor
fever-stricken traveller who has come from two or
three days' journey on the other side of Hartley.
He had there shot a rhinocerous, which he is
396 In New South Africa.
bringing into camp, and had contracted a severe
attack of fever, walking thirty miles a day into
Hartley in spite of it. By the time he reaches us it
is evident that he can hardly hold himself on the
donkey he Is riding, and I gladly make room for him
in my sulky.
Intending to return to the Transvaal by way of
Manicaland, Beira, and Durban, I am considerably
disappointed to find that the boats are running
very irregularly owing to changes in the service, and
this entirely precludes me from returning that way.
Hartley is a district around which a very large
amount of prospecting has been done, but great
difficulties have been met with on account of the
presence of the " fly," preventing traction, except
by means of Kaffirs, and also, in places, of the
presence of large quantities of water below a certain
depth. This country was on the borderland of the
Matabele kingdom, and Lobengula even progressed
so far as to erect a battery there, which never was
started, and probably remains there yet if the white
ants and borers have let it alone.
Manicaland is more favourably situated, being
free from flv, and on the direct line from the coast
to Salisbury, so that the advantage of railway com-
munication must soon aid materially in its develop-
ment. The scenery is in great part of a very fine
The Misadventures of a Wagon. 397
description, broken, mountainous, and well wooded,
and in many places water-power should be abundant.
Umtali is the centre, and is situated near the edge
of the Mashonaland plateau, about a hundred and
fifty miles from Salisbury, and midway between the
latter town and Chimoio, the terminus of the Beira
railway. This marks the fringe of the fly belt, that
great bar to progress which modern science has
well-nigh conquered.
I find an extensive sale of goods in progress on
my arrival in camp, and am interested in noting some
of the prices realised. A ramshackly old Cape cart,
costing at most sixty pounds new at Cape Town,
fetches a hundred and sixty here, while a team of
mules is sold at prices varying from forty to fifty
pounds apiece. A most miserable, weedy horse, if
guaranteed " salted," will command anything from
forty to sixty pounds, while one of better class — and
a few really smart ones are to be seen — will certainly
not cost less than a hundred.
There are many chameleons to be found in the
country, and I find a large one on a banana plant in
the garden. He and a smaller one perform the
most wonderful gymnastic feats on a stretched
string, attempting to balance themselves on its top,
which of course is impossible ; consequently they
swing round and round, backwards and forwards.
398 In New South Africa.
with hands and arms outstretched in an insane
fashion. As a rule the chameleon is a most
deliberate animal, and will think a hundred times
before he commits himself to any definite course of
action, and it is therefore remarkable to witness the
extreme celerity with which the smaller one recedes
before the approach of the larger one, moving his
tiny eyes, fixed at the apex of a revolving cone,
wildly in every direction. Unable to retreat farther,
his colour turns from a greenish-yellow to a blue-
black, and he shams dead.
Meeting at the club an eminent divine who has
just arrived from Bulawayo, he tells me that this side
of Charter his conveyance was threatened by a lion
as they were in the act of changing teams one
evening. Walking in a slanting direction across
their path and nearing them, he stood still in the
moonlight thirty or forty yards away, the party at
first thinking him to be a mule ; they soon realised
his identity on his sitting down on his haunches and
calmly inspecting them. A revolver was the solitary
firearm that could be mustered amongst the whole
party, and the report of this, the cracking of whips,
and the vocal efforts of the clerical passengers,
apparently decided the animal to turn aside and
depart.
On the Umtali road also the coach was recently
The Misadventures of a Wagon. 399
" stuck-up " by lions, losing an ox, so that there is
no doubt as to the reality of the nuisance, even
where there is continual traffic. Hearing me express
disappointment that I have not seen one, an old
Mashonalander remarks, " You need not be sorry, if
you hear them round your camp at night you will
pretty soon wish you could consign them to Hades!"
Little did I think that my wish would be gratified
within a week, and that my one, solitary, tame
adventure would have at last occurred !
I take my way onward to Gwelo once more, and
on this journey suffer more from the dust than at
any previous time, for the wind being with us, blows
the clouds of fine powdery sand into the coach, and
for three days we sit in such an atmosphere that we
cannot see the rear of the first span of oxen,
immediately in front of us. Little wonder that our
chests are sore and irritated beyond measure long
before we airive, tired out, at Gwelo.
We find the community here in a state of excite-
ment over the enrolment of a detachment of the
Rhodesia Horse, which, under another name, later,
guarded the little township against the revolted
Matabele, whose kraals (the Insukamini and
Movein) are within a few miles to the west and
north-west. Still, no hint of revolt is in the air as I
wander over the countrv side, gun in hand, adding
400 In New South Africa.
to my ornithological collection, and few natives are
to be seen, save those engaged about the camp as
servants, and in building operations.
A couple of miles away is the long kopje, which
I often make the scene of my wanderings, examin-
inof the remains of ancient fortifications and the
evidences of old time mining, and watching the
many varieties of birds and insects. The small
parrakeet flashes from tree to tree as I stroll up the
steep sides of the kopje, the ground of which, as I
ascend, resembles a vast cart-load of stone bricks
thrown carelessly down. Spider webs here and
there bar my way, their constructors being hexagonal
creatures, three-sixteenths or a quarter of an inch
across, whose frosted colours vary from a bronze to
peacock blue.
A Kaffir is carelessly chopping wood a hundred
and fifty yards below, and my advance is quiet
up to a place where a long heap of stones runs
diagonally across my path about ten paces away.
Here I am put on the gut vzve by a low, short growl,
which, not knowing the ways of hyaenas when
surprised, I put down to one that has been haunting
the camp for three nights past. Thinking that I
may be able to put a charge of shot into it, I walk
forward to gain the top of the heap, which, though
low, is sufficient to hide anything which may be on
The Misadventures of a Wagon. 401
the other side. I am startled by another growl,
so loud and fierce that it cannot be mistaken, and
as I gain the top I see, cantering easily away up the
hill, a full grown, tawny lion, even now not fifty
yards away from me. In an instant he disappears
behind a clump of bushes, once casting a look
behind, and though for two hundred yards I carefully
follow on his spoor, only visible here and there
where he had trodden on soft earth between the
stones, his path leads into some long grass at the
top of the kopje, into which it would have been
madness to venture. Examination shows that at
the time when I first heard his growl I must have
been within twenty paces of him without knowing it.
Some time before my first visit, a Kaffir working
at a shaft on the kopje had been frightened out of his
wits by the discovery that a lion was watching him
from an opposite spur of the hill, a couple of hundred
yards away ; and since my departure the spoor of a
lion has been seen on the tennis ground close to the
town, warning ladies and gentlemen who play a set
before breakfast that they are liable to interruption,
and had better take rifles with their racquets !
I continue my walk along the kopje top,
succeeding in obtaining specimens of the " Go
away " bird and the " Confounded Fool " (not the
exact adjective, it may be said). This bird unmis-
D D
402 In New South Africa.
takably asks " Where ? " in a loud voice — the two
therefore supplying question and answer.
Then descending the precipitous end of the kopje,
I find myself entangled in a maze of thorn, and,
pushing my way through, break into an oval clearing
with two enormous spreading trees, similar to those
seen on the Limpopo, overshading it. The night is
falling, and, with my recent experience fresh in my
mind, I realise forcibly the utter loneliness, and start
on my way home. Passing a pool covered luxuriantly
with water lilies, I remember that it is here that a
crocodile, whose hide I have seen in camp, was shot,
and that others are known to exist ; and as I clear
away from the trees and reach the open veldt, a buck
dashes away into the fast deepening gloom.
It is late before we turn in, a smoking concert
being the attraction, and on repairing to our huts we
find the cattle tethered outside my own in a state of
uneasiness, and straining at their tethers. The
horses, too, are neighing, the whole camp being in a
commotion. The reason is not far to seek, for
listening in the still silence of the perfect night, the
hunting grunts of a party of lions are heard by us
as they march round the camp. After a time they
appear to sheer off, and the animals quieten down,
but in the morning a number of donkeys are found
to have stampeded and four oxen are missing, clearly
The Misadventures of a Wagon. 403
showing that Hons were present during the night.
Further evidence of this is given next day, when an
incomer reports that he has passed a party of three
about ten miles away.
Once again the kopje tempts me, w^hen a small
party is formed to explore some old workings which
have recently been discovered. For a space fully
three hundred yards long and a hundred or so across,
the w^hole surface is covered with excavations, more
or less deep. The spot where the newly opened up
drive was found is pointed out to me, and I approach
it rather incautiously, being hastily restrained by my
guide, who warns me that the ledge above the hole,
in which is the entrance (through which we have to
crawl on our stomachs), is the home of a couple of
" mambas " — the quickest and most deadly snake of
South Africa. Of this there are two or three
varieties, attaining a great length, and I have heard
it said that in speed it almost rivals a horse for a
short distance.
We therefore approach very carefully, and are
relieved to find no snakes at home. We arm
ourselves with sticks, however, inasmuch as they
may have slipped into the mouth of the drive, and
our guide, lying flat on his stomach, works his way
through the opening, which is only just large enough
for him to squeeze through. The descent is steep,
D n 2
404 In New South Africa.
and below a large series of chambers present them-
selves, it being at once apparent that they are due
to human agency on account of the pick marks on
the face of the rocky sides. The roof has In many
places fallen in, and though I crawl full length for
thirty feet or so along a crevice, when the passage
becomes finally blocked after about fifty-five yards
of descent, I can yet perceive space and hear the
sound of multitudes of bats farther ahead, past the
fall of rock which blocks the way. It is evident,
therefore, that mining operations have been very
extensive here, and the works are instructive,
inasmuch as they present a typical sample of a
bond fide drive, which is not very often found in
ancient workings.
I find tokens of occupation of the cave at a distant
date by animals, in the shape of bones, some
being apparently those of a lion and others those of
some large antelope ; the teeth of the latter are
perishing, which would indicate considerable age,
though the cave is intensely dry. In another remote
corner a fragment of pottery is found with a very
crude ornamentation under the lip, otherwise the pot
is similar to those in use among the natives to-day,
and may have been the property of refugees from
the Matabele who had taken advantage of the drive
as a hiding-place, though the extent to which the
The Misadventures of a Wagon. 405
mouth had caved in would make It appear that a
very long time had elapsed.
The inhabitants of the chambers and gallery now
are large numbers of bats and the brown coney (or
rock rabbit), similar to a large guinea pig, whose
forms we occasionally see flitting across the rocks
by the feeble light of our candles. The air is
perfectly fresh, and would lead one to suppose that
there must be some other means of ventilation than
the small hole we have entered by, probably on the
other side of the fall of rock which bars our
progress.
One evening the township is surprised by the
arrival of Dr. Jameson, in whose administrative
abilities Rhodesians had strong belief, and the loss
of whose services in the internal administration of
the country, whatever its cause, they sincerely, and
with good reason, deplore.
Once more we follow the line taken by the
victorious army on their way to Bulawayo, and, as
we lunch at Shangani, have a chat at Eagle Reef
store, and renew acquaintance with the kind-hearted
hosts at the Bembisi, we little dream that the
murderous Matabele would in so short a time wreak
a cowardly vengeance on the lonely storekeepers.
Of Bulawayo little more need be said, but that
little should speak volumes for its future. Even in
4o6
III New South Africa.
the few months which have elapsed since my
departure the town has developed amazingly, many
fine brick buildings having arisen and many additions
made to social, financial, and commercial circles.
The long journey through the Matoppo hills along
SALISBURY : " THE BITER BIT.
the Tuli road to Gwanda is made with Captain
Brand, who, with his small party, later makes the
same road famous by his gallant fight against almost
overwhelming odds of rebel Matabele. Of this war-
like race two fine voung men, with hemispheres of
The Misadventures of a Wagon. 407
gaily coloured feathers coquettishly tilted on one
side of the head, at one place moodily watch the
coach as it passes, and dream, perchance, of the
time which is to come when they shall wash their
spears in the blood of the hated " mulungu."
Pretoria had seen my departure as a clean shaven,
respectable person, decently clad and appointed,
Avhile now, when the coach has deposited me in
the square, and has bowled away to the stables, an
old friend walks across from the hotel, and, looking
me full in the face, asks, without exhibiting a scrap of
personal interest, " Do you know when the Bulawayo
coach will come in ? " Perceiving the look of
non-recognition, I determine to give one more
example to the Uitlander of the churlish dislike of
the Englishman which is ingrained in the Boer
character, and, deliberately turning my back, sullenly
mutter the standard Boer expression, " Verdomder
Engelschman ! " This is quite sufficient to arouse
the ire of any freeborn Briton, and I am about to be
made aware that there are some grievances which
the Uitlander will //of stand at the hand of the
burgher, when I see that the disguise of unkempt
beard, worn and travel stained clothing, and dust-
covered physiognomy has at leni^th been penetrated.
So ends a journey through one of Britain's latest
Colonial conquests — a Colony which, in its infancy,
4o8 In New South Africa.
evidences a strong and healthy existence under cir-
cumstances exceptionally difficult and calculated to
retard progress. Founded with the consent of the
Imperial Government, though regarded by it for
a long period as a territory involving little or no
Imperial responsibility, at least so far as its defence
was concerned, it justified its right to exist, firstly, as
an independently governed Colony by steadily deve-
loping and proving its resources while overcoming
enormous obstacles, and, secondly, as a civilising
agency, by bringing the Kaffir tribes under a just
and civilised rule, and by the destruction of a
bloodthirsty regime, the code of which was murder,
rapine, and enslavement.
Under the system, new to South Africa, of
government by a commercial body, the wave of
civilisation and of modern progress has been carried
past the Transvaal, where it breaks, ultimately, in
some form, to conquer, far into the interior of the
great Continent, making light that which for ages
has been dark, adding to the riches of the world,
and rendering to the mother country a good account
of all that her sons are yet capable of achieving in
opening up new worlds to her commerce, in finding
needed outlets for her ever increasing surplus
population, and in extending the blessings of
western civilisation.
The Misadventures of a Wagon. 409
Many have condemned the acts of a few which
led to international complications caused by the
invasion of the Transvaal, but it should be
remembered that the few, however exalted their
position, and however intimate their connection with
the affairs of the Chartered Company, did not
constitute that Company, and that the actions of
individuals connected with it could not in justice be
laid at the door of the scores of non-resident share-
holders, innocent of complicity or knowledge, and
constituting the bulk of the Company, whose
interests would be prejudiced by any serious
interference with the commercial rights conferred
by the Charter. Though the power that grants,
special and valuable privileges has inherently the
right to withdraw these, before such a step were
taken proper and conclusive evidence would neces-
sarily have to be adduced to show that the invasion
of the Transvaal was an act of the Company
itself, presumably designed for its benefit, and not
one of individuals connected with it, but holding
other and outside interests, whose influential
position might enable them to temporarily utilise a
portion of the Company's organisation. In any
case, the shareholders must accept the result of
an independent and authoritative inquiry.
Speaking of the future of Rhodesia, I may say
4IO III New South Africa.
that its success affects all the three divisions of the
white inhabitants of South Africa — Boers, Africanders
and Englishmen. The first-named have already
gained greatly by the amount of traffic to Rhodesia,
necessitating the employment of vast numbers of
their wagons and creating an extended market for
their oxen and produce, while many whose inheritance
of their fathers' restless spirit has prompted them to
wander have taken advantage of the opening up and
pacification of the country, which places valuable
farm lands at their disposal. Africanders and
Englishmen, for the other part, vie with each other
in developing the country's resources in every
direction, and so far, in Rhodesia, though the Boer
element is the least numerous, all three classes
have worked together peacefully to the mutual
benefit of themselves and the community.
These facts present the strongest possible argu-
ment for the accomplishment of a confederation of
the South African States and Colonies — a dream
long indulged in by the few, and at one period
apparently much nearer attainment than it may be
at the present time. It is a proposition of which
President Kruger, even when the bitterness of recent
conflict was dominant, expressed approval and a
readiness to consider, and its full fruition would do
for South Africa in its degree what the confederation
The Misadventures of a Wagon. 411
of the German States did for Germany. There
exists absolutely no condition which should render
such a consummation impossible, and on the Dutch
side it is safeguarded firstly by the fact that the
farmers of Cape Colony, the vast majority of whom
are of the same original stock as the Transvaal
Boers, live contentedly under their own domestic
rule, yet under the Imperial aegis of Great Britain ;
and again by the world-known freedom in the
conduct of internal affairs which the mother country
permits and fosters in all her offshoots.
To achieve such a desirable issue generous con-
cessions must necessarily be made by and to those
States which are already independent, but all are
concerned in the evolution of a South African
nation, and they must recollect that had the Dutch
founders of New York State desired to keep the
government of a large section of North America in
the hands of a few of the early pioneers and their
direct descendants, to the complete exclusion of all
who came afterwards, America would not have been
America to-day. Is the great Republic any the less
a nation, any the less independent, that the early
days of her rapid growth were spent as a colony of
Great Britain ?
Generosity — necessarily safeguarding all national
nterests — exercised at all times and under all con-
412 In New South Africa.
ditions by the Boers, would beget confidence and
generosity in return ; they would obtain the advan-
tage of seaboard, peace would be assured, and,
remembering always that " Eendragt Maakt Magt,"
a movement on their part in favour of the principle
of confederation would appeal with enormous force
to an overwhelming majority of the inhabitants of
South Africa, thus creating a powerful nation whose
expression of opinion on any question concerning
themselves must needs carry a weight which would
be infinitely greater than any which is possible nowj
and which would involve the guarantee that their
deliberations and conclusions should, in all that
pertains to internal welfare, be respected by the
Imperial Government.
It Is credible that such an event was drawing
within the bounds of probability ; and the education
of the Boers which is going on would lend itself to
this end, but everyone must admit that such events
as the " Raid " must cause bitterness, and tend to
postpone the realisation of the high ideal of con-
federation. At the same time, a recurrence of such
an event is now sufficiently guarded against, and in
itself it presents another strong argument in favour
of unity, for invasion or interference would then be
rendered impossible,
A " United South Africa " is a cry of which the
The Misadventures of a Wagon. 413
last has not yet been heard, and however German
and Hollander may strive against its realisation, or
temporary checks may delay it, the day will surely
come when opposing interests will be reconciled,
ancient feuds be buried, and the bitterness of the
past will be forgotten in a common zeal for the
building up of a " United States of South Africa."
INDEX.
Aasvogels, 182.
Adonis, 310-2-4, 320.
Africanders, 389, 410.
America (caves), 385.
Antelope, 245, 290, 349, 366, 370, 384, 404.
Ant hills, 286, 298, 307.
Ants, white, 257, 278.
Armstrong's Store, 227.
Ashantee, 44.
Assegai and Ploughshare, 380.
Australia, 277, 367, 385-8.
Ayrshire Mine, 369, 379.
Baastards, 57.
Baboons, 15 1-4, 189, 336.
Bamangwatos, 8, 204, 223.
Baobab tree, 190. 285.
Barberton, 33.
Barkley West, 31.
Barnato, 92.
Barotsi tribe, 265.
Basuto tribe, 177.
Bats, 404.
Bechuanaland, 143, 212.
Bechuana tribe, 82.
Beira, 143, 396.
41 6 Index.
Belingwe, 213, 224.
Bembisi, 215, 217, 226-9, 234, 304, 405.
Benin, 44.
Bent, Mr. J. Theodore, 323.
Berea, the, 138.
Bezuidenhout, 56, 112.
Biltong, 180.
Birds, 232, 246, 280, 386, 400-1.
Black Kopje, 348-9.
Blasting, 381-4.
Blauwberg, 174-5-9.
Bloemfontein, 76.
Boer idea of banking, A, 96.
,, monkey and British cat, 134.
,, pioneers, 171.
,, rebellion, 56.
,, schoolmaster, iii.
Boers, 131.
,, and Israelites, 55.
,, and natives, 68, 82.
,, character of, 66, iri, 394.
origin of, 54.
Bogged on horseback, 339.
Boom, The early Johannesburg, 90.
Borer beetle, 257.
Borrow, Captain Henry, 15, 139, 224, 231, 298, 316, 320.
Brak Rivier, 183.
Brand, Captain, 406.
Britain's offshoots, 161.
British South Africa Company, 7, 16, 18, 19, 20, 121, 135
140-2-5, 358, 409.
Bronkhorst Spruit, 119.
Buck, 233, 287, 289.
Buffalo river, 82.
Index. 4 i 7
Bulawayo, 179, 195, 202-4-6-7, 217, 263, 274, 359, 405.
Old, 214.
Bulawayo Chronicle, The, 222.
Buildings, Ancient, 219, 240, 262, 300.
Bully beef, 254.
Burglary by dynamite, 84.
Bushman drawings, 387.
Bushmen, 57, 72.
Cameroons, 44.
Canary Islands, 158.
Candelabra (Euphorbia), 285.
Cannabis Indica, 313.
Cape Boys, 52.
„ carts, 94, 397.
„ Colony, 26-7-9, 32, 52-6, 232.
,, Discovery of, 53.
,, of Good Hope, 57.
,, Town, 48, 154.
„ Verde, 43.
Carrington, Sir F., 213.
Caterpillars. 273, 278.
Cats and biltong, 373.
Cattle on railway, 65.
Centipedes, 251.
Cetewayo, 128, 131, 141.
Chaka, 127.
Chameleons, 397.
Charlestown, 28, 124.
" Charlie," 249.
Charter (Fort), 142, 356, 398.
„ Flats, 357.
Cheshire Cat, the, 394.
Chimoio, 397.
E E
41 8 . Index.
Coaching experiences, 102, 168, 186, 195, 199, 350-4,
360, 399.
Coal, 32.
Commandeering, 174.
Coney, 405.
Confederation, i, 410.
" Confounded Fool," bird, 401.
Congo, 45.
Cooking arrangements, domestic, 363.
Coolies, 115, 123, 138.
Copper, 31, 83.
Cornwall, Phoenicians in, 144.
Cotopaxi mine, 336.
Cowdung, uses of, 256.
Cradock, 152.
Cranes, 184, 386.
Cream of tartar tree, 190.
,, ,, fontein, 194.
Crocodiles, 192, 290, 335, 356.
Dahomey, 44. ,
Dakar, 43.
De Aar, 157.
Dead-eye (Dydaio), 282, 288, 296.
Deep levels, 34.
Delagoa Bay, 33.
Descending shafts, 97, 339, 383.
Devonshire, Scenery like 197.
Diamonds, 31, 75.
Dingaan, 128, 130, 132.
Diorite, goldbearing, 383.
Disputed territory, the, 192.
Doornfontein, 95. , ■
Drakensburg range, 114, 136.
Index. 4 1 9
Drive, ancient, 404.
Dunraven mine, 267.
Durban, 28, 130, 136, 147, 396.
Dust Storms, 209.
Dutch East India Company, 53.
Governor, 51, 53.
Eagle Reef Store, 405.
East India Company, 17, 19.
East London, 147.
Eckstein, 92.
Eggs wanted, 296.
Electric search light, 142.
Elephants. 192.
Emigration, 156.
Fairbairn, trader, 218.
Farms, Rhodesian, 248.
Fever, Malarial, 179, 183, 190. 193, 289, 334, 363, 384, 395.
Fever tree, 189.
Filabusi, 211.
Fly (tsetse), 143, 396.
Fontesvilla, 363.
Forbes, Major, 13.
Frontiers woman, a plucky, 342.
Funchal, 41.
" Funny-face," 267, 272.
Game, 71, 190, 197, 233, 245, 366, 385.
Gazaland, 3, 145.
Germany, i, 413.
Gifford, Captain, 211.
" Ginger," 363.
Giraffe, 192.
"Go Away," bird, 246, 401.
E E 2
420 Index.
Gold, 32.
„ export, 34.
,, mining, 92, 214, 240.
Grass, long, 294, 337-8, 366.
,, seeds, 294, 320.
Griqualand, 57.
Guinea Coast, 44.
,, fowl, 184.
Gungunhana, Chief, 145.
Gwai (tobacco), 282.
Gwanda, 211, 213, 223, 406.
Gwelo, 213, 224, 241, 263, 265, 272, 399.
,, kopje, 400.
Gwibi river, 365.
Hailstones, large, 136.
Hampden, Mount, 365.
Hanyani, river, 359.
Harrismith, 28.
Hartley, 141, 391-5-
Heat, 252, 253.
Heidelburg, 105.
Hex River Pass, 62, 153.
Hindoos {see " Coolies ").
Hippopotamus, 197.
Hollanders, 413.
Horses, salted, 221, 305, 397.
Hottentots, 57, 72, 368, 379.
H out's Bay, 57.
Howick, 136.
Ikomo, induna, 317.
Imbezu regiment, 229.
Imports and exports, 29.
Index. 42 1
Indaba-tree, Lobengula's, 210,216.
Ingogo, 134.
Insect pests, 331.
Inseza district, 211.
Insukamini kraal, 236, 399.
Iron implements, 263-4.
„ ore, 247.
,, smelting and working, 319.
Isifule hills, 294.
Jackals, 277, 366, 394.
Jagersfontein, 31, 76.
Jameson, Dr., 87, 121, 164, 193, 212, 405.
Jenolan caves, 385-8.
Jeppestown, 83.
Jingen, 237.
Johannesburg, 28, 84, 99, 163, 192, 204.
journalism, 90.
milk carriers, 99.
mixed population, 94.
sanitation, 89.
train, 61, 155.
"Johnnie;" Shangaan, 273, 297.
Kaffir beer, 309.
,, Cheshire cat, 394
,, corn, 171.
,, cranes, 184, 386.
,, drivers, 345.
,, fights on mines, 84.
,, footpaths, 337-8.
„ girls, 225.
„ god, 268.
„ greed of, 374.
42 2 Index.
Kaffir hairdressing, 172, 292, 380.
„ harvest thanksgiving, 329.
,, history, 314.
„ huts, 256, 285, 300, 379.
,, increase of population, 138.
,, kraals, 125.
,, lands or gardens, 275, 278, 296.
,, musical instruments, 271.
,, names, 267, 271.
,, Napoleon, a, 128.
,, odour of, 292.
„ orange, 236, 283.
,, piccanins, 380.
,, policemen, 191, 292.
,, porters, 273, 288.
„ pottery, 265, 404.
,, salutation, 279.
servants, 88.
,, smoking, 98.
„ songs, 260.
„ stadt, 345.
,, types, Zimbabwe, 331.
,, voice, carrying power of, 260.
,, wages, 270, 382.
„ whisky, 95.
,, witch doctor, 330.
Kaffirs and blasting, 381.
„ and saccharine, 292.
„ murders by, 383.
,, punishment of, 235.
,, treatment of, 375.
,, trekking to mines, 104, 292.
Karroo, the, 63, 152.
Kaross, 168, 185, 223.
Index. 423
Khama, chief, 8, 13, 192, 223.
Khami river, 219, 263.
Kimberley, 31, 143.
King's (Lobengula) kraal, 214, 216. .
„ ride, 130.
Knysna, 33.
Koodoo, 290, 355, 385.
Kopjes, granite, 192, 197, 227,. 299, 388.
Kroonstadt, 155.
Kruger, Paul, 85, 142, 164-165, 175-176, i93- 4io.
Krugersdorp, 121, 192.
Labour market in Africa, 157.
Lady and the Lion, the, 362.
Ladysmith, 28, 135.
Laing's Nek, 1 17.
Land of Ophir, 145.
Leucodendron Argeriteum, 61.
Liberia, 45.
Limpopo river, 82, 129, 139, 188, 190, 192, 224, 402.
Lions, 196, 250, 333, 348, 352, 362, ,364, 370, 385, 389, 390,
398, 400-2-4.
Lion's Head, 51.
Little Curral, 159.
Livouri mountains, 332.
Lobengula, 13, 15, 192, 198, 210, 215, 218, 298, 334, 347, 396.
Loch, Sir Henry, 175.
Locusts, 83, 228, 307, 340.
Logan stone, Cornwall, 308.
Lo Magondi, 364, 380.
Low country, 178.
Lundi river, 335.
Lung sickness, inoculation against, 358.
Lydenburg, 33.
424 Index.
Macloutsie, 192.
Madeira, 38, 159.
Mafeking, 204, 223.
Magato chief, 179, 181.
Magazine, Lobengula's powder, 215.
Mahobi-hobi tree, 236, 252.
Mahogany tree, 194.
Maholi tribe or serfs, 204, 222.
Majuba Hill, 114, 115, 124.
Makalaka tribes, 272, 301, 350.
Makalanga tribe, 245, 272, 282, 297, 301, 311, 317, 319,
345-
" stadt," 335, 345.
Makatese, 17 1-3-7.
Malaboch, 173-5-6-9.
Malaria, 196 (and see " Fever").
Malay population, 52.
Manicaland, 143, 327, 396.
Mantis, Praying, 268.
Manzinyama, 224.
Market square, Bulawayo, 208.
Maryland, 45.
Mashonaland, 26, 158.
„ discovery of gold in, 141.
Mashona tribe, 139, 197, 239, 379.
Mashukulumbwe tribe, 249.
Matabeleland, 82, 139, 396.
Matabele tribe, 129, 139, 197, 407.
„ war, 229, 237.
„ cattle, 247, 290.
Matoppo hills, 203, 406.
Maxim gun, 14, 15, 230, 231, 238.
Mealie meal, 251, 276.
Middleburg, 32, 87.
Index. 425,
Milk carriers, 99.
Mimosa, 64, 70, 180, 204.
Mirage, 70.
Mimicry, Animal, 268.
Miner blown to pieces, 267.
Mining Commissioner's office, Gwelo, 242.
Molteno, 32.
Momba, 240, 263.
Mopani tree, 189.
Moselekatse, 14, 82, 139.
Moshesh, Chief, 177.
Movein, kraal, 236, 244, 263, 399.
Mrs. M.D., 105.
Mules, four-in-hand, 367.
Murchison goldfields, 32, 178.
Nachtmaal, the, 167.
Namaqualand, 31.
Napier, Capt., 211.
Napoleon, a Kaffir, 128.
Natal, 27, 32, 123, 130.
„ gates of, 115.
Native news, rapidity of, 260.
,, rising, typical method of dealing with, 9.
Nauwport, 157.
Nettles, African, 312.
Newspaper enterprise, 222.
New Zealand, 269, 297.
Niagara, 136.
Niewveld range, 70.
Niger river, 44.
Nyassa, 129.
Nyaguzwe mountains, 333-4.
Nylstrom, 169.
426 Index.
Olifant's river, 82.
Orange Free State, 32.
river, 31, 56, 72, 78, 82.
,, Kaffir, 236, 283.
Ornaments, Gold, 266, 326.
Ostrich, 73, 349.
feathers, 30, 75. ♦
Oxen as beasts of traction, 344.
„ Inspanning of, 357.
Palapye, 204, 233.
Panda, 132.
Parrakeets, 400.
"Pat," 391.
Persia, 313.
Phallic worship, 314, 323.
Pheasant, African, 184.
Phoenicians, 144, 314.
Phoenix Mine, 263.
Pietermaritzburg, 135.
Pietersburg, 178.
Pietpotgietersrust, 17 1-2.
Pioneer force, 142-3.
Pont on Limpopo, 191.
Population, 26.
Port Elizabeth, 149.
Portuguese East Africa, i, 3, 139, 145, 192.
Post office. Travelling, 284.
Pretoria, 85, 163, 407.
Protection, 4.
Prospectors, 210, 214, 247, 336.
Providential Pass, 305, 334.
Provisions, Cost of in Bulawayo, 207.
Pungwe river, 143.
Index. 427
■Quail, 184.
Queen's kraal. Bulavvayo, 220.
Quartz, 247.
Raadzaal, 164.
Raaff, Commandant, 13.
Racecourses, 219, 314.
Railways, 27-28.
Rain, only encounter, 333.
Rats, spearing, 219.
Reformers, Johannesburg, 121.
Rents, house, 88.
Revenues, 27.
Revolt of Mashonas, 350, 376.
Matabele,* 202, 210, 350, 399, 405.
Rhinocerous, common, 378, 395.
,, white, 378.
Rhodes, Hon. C, 213, 220, 378.
,, Drift, 191.
Rhodesia, 35, 142-3, 168, 409.
,, Horse, 221, 399.
Ride on front of locomotive, 152.
Roads, bad, 195, 203.
•" Road-rations," 366.
Roan antelope, 290.
Robben Island, 48.
Rockets in Matabele war. 240.
Rock wallabi(,-s gind stone polish, 389.
,, rabbits, 405.
Sabi river, 144, 263, 327, 334.
Sable antelope, 245, 349, 385.
JSakabula bird, 105.
Salisbury, 142, 145, 358.
428 Index.
Santa Carmo, 159.
„ Cruz, 158.
Scavenger beetle, 270.
Scherm, 275, 372.
"Scot," S.S., 39, 139, 147, 155.
Seapoint, 57, 154.
Sebakvve river, 244, 353.
Sebanga Poort, 254, 272.
Sekukuni, 133.
Selous, F. C, 143, 211, 249, 263-4, 334, 387.
Selukwe, 244, 369, 372.
Hills, 273-5, 284.
Senegambia, 43.
Shaft, ancient, 262.
Shangaans, 272, 283, 297.
Shangani river, 224, 236-7, 240-4, 263, 405.
,, battle, 229, 236.
Sharks, 59.
Shashi rivers, 192-3-6, 290.
Sinoia caves, 385-7.
Six-mile Spruit, 387.
Slaves to America, 44.
Sleeping bag, 185.
Small pox, 53, 48.
Snakes, 59, 193, 251, 270, 403.
Snuff, mode of making, 282.
Soapstone, 326.
Sparmannia Africana, 321.
" Spartan " s.s., 158.
Spiders, 233, 400.
Spreckley, Captain, 211.
Springbok, 185.
Standerton, small game at, 112.
Swaziland, 32.
Index. 429
Sweet potatoes, 297-9.
Table Mountain, 48, 50, 156.
Tanganyika, 129.
Tati, 141, 263.
Tenerife, 158.
Thaba Insimbe, 344-7, 358.
Thabas Induna, 215, 220-7-8.
Tigers, 277. 336, 362.
Timbering, ancient, 263-4.
Tobacco, III, 282, 394.
Tokwe river, 285, 335.
Trading grain, 347.
Tramp across country, 272.
Transvaal, 32, 59, 81-2, 143, 163, 188, 198.
,, annexation of, 131.
,, taxes, 4, 86, 165, 176.
,, population, 83.
,, altitude of, 89.
,, climate, 89.
,, railway communication, 100.
war, 73, 105.
,, tobacco. III.
,, future of, 1 17.
Travelling, safety of S. African, 104.
Tropical vegetation, 135.
produce, 135.
Tssesebe antelope, 245.
Tugela river, 136.
Tuli, 142, 192-3-8, 406.
Twelve Apostles, 58.
Uitenhage, 150-1.
Uitlanders, 163-5, 407.
430 Index.
Umchegi river, 304.
Umfuli river, 389.
Umgenie river, 136.
Umgesi river, 290.
Umgusa river, 227.
Umshagashi river, 304.
Umtali, 143, 362, 397-8.
Umtanga's mountain, 283.
Umtebekwe river, 254, 275.
Umvukwe, 364, 368, 377, 385.
Umzingwani river, 197.
Usher, trader, 218.
Vaal river, 31, 56, 72-8, 82, 114, 185.
Van Riebeek, 51.
Vasco di Gama, 53.
Vegetation, 135, 190, 233.
Veldt, loveliness of, 202.
,, firing of, 281.
" Verdomder Engelschman," 407.
Vereeniging, 79.
Victoria, 142.
,, arrival at, 302.
,, " Incident," 141, 300.
Mount, 305, 365.
Vixen, Allan Wilson's dog, 321.
Wacht-een-beche, 180-2.
Wagon, experience with, 391.
Warm baths, 176.
Warthog, 349.
Water, drinking, 295.
Waterfall, 109.
Waterlilies, 402.
Index. 43 i
"Where?" bird, 401.
" Who are you?" bird, 246.
Wicker sledge, 159.
Wild dogs, 277.
Wildebeest, 245.
Wilson, Major Allan, 15, 224, 298, '316, 320-1.
Wine, 29.
Witklip, 179.
Witwatersrand, 33-4.
Willoughby, Sir John, 231.
Wool, 30.
Worcestershire Sauce, 178.
Workings, ancient, 261-3, 403-
Zambesi, i, 45, 139, 266.
„ boys, 272.
valley, 383.
Zimbabwe, 144, 263-5, 304-7-22.
Zoutpansberg, 175, 181.
Zukerboschrand river, 108.
Zululand, 26.
Zulus, 123, 126.
,, moral code, 129.
,, customs, 132.
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