Seven Years in South Africa/Volume 2/Chapter 16
CHAPTER XVI.
LAST VISIT TO THE DIAMOND FIELDS.
FINGO BOY.
When now for the fourth time I reached the diamond. fields I was perfectly insolvent. It was impossible to conceal from myself the difficulty I should find in re-establishing my medical practice, as an absence of a year and nine months had made me little better than a stranger in the place; and yet it was upon my practice alone that I had to rely for obtaining the means of discharging my obligations. Reluctant as I was to leave my designs unaccomplished, I could not resist the desire that came over me to return home and recruit my broken health. The question of means, however, had to be entertained, and the idea occurred to me that perhaps a public exhibition of my collection of natural and ethnographical curiosities might yield me some profit, which I could apply to the expense of a homeward passage. My friend Herr Werner came to see me as soon as he heard of my arrival, and voluntarily advanced me money enough to make my exhibition scheme feasible.
My next step was to take my waggon off to Bultfontein, as I could live for a time in greater retirement there than in Kimberley. I hired a small house close to my friend, who, although he was no longer rich, showed me every kindness during my illness. My residence was modest enough; it contained only one apartment, consisting of four bare clay walls; the floor was of the same material; but worst of all, the roof was of zinc, which made it insupportably hot in the summer. Such as it was, however, I made it serve as the temporary store of all my collections, and took up my quarters there with Eberwald, who remained in the place, acting as my assistant in preparing medicines for my patients, the number of which increased so rapidly that I could not fail to be cheered and encouraged to look forward to the future with something like equanimity.
In front of what I called my “house,” and not far from it, stood an old erection, now roofless, and there I placed the great lion-cage that Eberwald and I had made, and all round I arranged a number of other cages of many kinds and sizes, containing the rest of the animals and birds that I had brought with me.
Strangers coming to the diamond-fields from the Colony, the Free State, or the Transvaal, rarely failed to come and make an inspection of my pets, nearly all of which were perfectly tame; and some of the visitors afterwards sent me several rare zoological specimens as additions to my stock.
MY HOUSE IN BULTFONTEIN.
So large did my professional practice grow in the course of the following year, that all Eberwald’s time was occupied in dispensing my medicines, so that he had no opportunity of attending to my menagerie; the consequence was that the charge of it had to be entrusted to two negroes, who neglected their duty abominably, and failed to keep the animals either clean or properly fed. I had taken pains to have all the cages made as roomy as possible, but they rotted through exposure to the weather, and some few of the animals escaped and were killed, being probably eaten by the neighbouring blacks; but these were nothing in comparison with the number of those that died from negligence and mismanagement. By the time I left the place, more than two-thirds of the whole had disappeared. Round the cages that contained the smaller birds I planted ivy and several kinds of creepers, beneath which the little prisoners hopped about and twittered, well protected by a bower of natural foliage from the scorching sun.
I have no space in which to enter upon a detailed account of all the habits of the occupants of the various cages. It was a great pleasure to me to observe them for the best part of two years. My surviving lion was especially attached to me, and would always extend his paws to caress me whenever I approached his cage, and it was only out of regard to the nervousness of others that I did not venture occasionally to allow him his hberty. I refused an offer of 100l. for him when he was five months old, but by the time I lost him he had cost me double that sum. I had occasion to go to the Free State for a fortnight’s visit, and during my absence his cage was allowed to remain so dirty, that when I returned the poor beast was suffering from an illness too far advanced to be arrested. Throughout its last days I always went to see it as often as I returned from my rounds, and it never failed to start to its feet with an alacrity that startled any visitor who was standing by, and even when it grew too weak to stand it would drag itself towards the front bars of its den the instant it heard my voice.
Though amongst my pets I had tame jackals that were constantly running away and coming back again, and affectionate little jumping-hares that allowed themselves to be fondled like babies, none of them could ever console me for the loss of “Prince,” my young lion, the pride of my whole collection.
Besides what I have mentioned, my menagerie contained apes and baboons, hedgehogs, reed-rats, a caracal, a mangusta, black and white striped weasels, hyæna-wolves, mountain-hares, ground-squirrels, striped mice, blind mice, pangolins, several steinbocks, duykerbocks, springbocks, and a rock-rabbit; and amongst the birds I may enumerate three brown South African eagles, a crested eagle, two species of kites, red falcons, various kinds of sparrow-hawks, secretary-birds, brown and black vultures (Gyps socialis), two kinds of owls, parrots, black and white crows, grosbeaks and insectivorous song-birds, a hornbill, a pelican, a darter, and several varieties of wild geese and herons.
By the beginning of 1877 I had finished all my arrangements, and opened my exhibition of curiosities in the public hall at Kimberley. It proved financially a failure, and in spite of the co-operation of many kind friends, I found myself out of pocket by the transaction. In order, therefore, to meet my habilities and to forward my project of returning for a time to Europe, I had to fall back upon my medical practice with more assiduity than ever.
Notwithstanding that the value of diamonds was still further depreciated, as a consequence of the prolonged drought the price of corn was much higher, so that the cost of living was largely increased.
It was a great satisfaction to me that I was able to purchase a horse. I was fortunate in buying a good sound animal, that did as much work as the whole three together that I had to keep in 1873.
Largely, however, as my business developed, and beneficial as it was in replenishing my pocket, the perpetual exertion told seriously on my health, and I was obliged to seize an opportunity of taking a holiday when most of my patients seemed unlikely to require any immediate attention. I made up my mind to visit Mr. Wessel at his neighbouring farm in the Free State, where I was received with the most liberal hospitality. While I was staying there I saw a number of those remarkable carvings on rocks done by the Bushmen, which had recently been inspected by Stow the geologist, and by Captain Warren.
Though the Bushman tribe is gradually dying out, they are still to be found in certain parts of Cape Colony, but remaining, even to the present time, as impervious as ever to the influences of civilization. Formerly they occupied the rocky caves in the slopes from the heights, both in the colony and in the Free State. They are probably the oldest inhabitants of South Africa; but now one branch of them seems to have blended with the Bantu families on the north, whilst another has become amalgamated with the Hottentots more to the east. They hunt the game which they spy out from their elevated resorts with the most primitive bows and arrows; but low as is the grade of their intellectual culture, they have the very wonderful art of decorating the rocky walls of their dwellings with representations of quadrupeds, tortoises, lizards, snakes, fights, hunts, and the different heavenly bodies.
As the game became gradually destroyed by the European colonists, the Bushmen began to make raids upon the white men’s cattle, the result of which was to pave the way for their own annihilation. The true Bushman, as distinguished from the many half-breeds, has a passionate love for his rocky home, and whether he enters service by a voluntary contract or under compulsion, he will take the first opportunity of stealing a sheep and making off to his beloved hills. Instances of periods of stipulated service being faithfully fulfilled are very rare.
But as I have already intimated, these people are not altogether of the low grade of humanity that at first sight they appear to be, and a traveller may penetrate far into Central Africa before finding another tribe so skilful in its manipulation of stone, and in the manufacture of vessels out of wood, bone, or ostriches’ eggs; but most remarkable of all is the way in which, by the aid of the rudest tools, they have adorned their primitive homes with carvings that will long survive any productions of their contemporaries, the Bantus and Hottentots.
The drawings that are made inside the caves are chiefly upon sandstone in ochre of various colours. Stow, the geologist, has devoted a good deal of attention to them, and has taken many copies of the designs; and if ever it be my good fortune to recommence my South African researches, I hope to bring away some larger specimens than my want of proper tools enabled me now to obtain.
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| VOL. II. | ROCK INSCRIPTIONS BY BUSHMEN. | Page 438. |
In the course of my sojourn at the farm I collected a large number of insects, birds, bird-skins, and plants, and before leaving my hospitable quarters I was invited by the neighbours to join them in some hunting-excursions. I went out twice, and on each occasion we were accompanied by a party of horse-men, a number of natives on foot, and by a pack of dogs. The object of the chuse was to hunt hyænas and animals that live in holes in the earth, but, for myself, I was desirous of obtaining some live porcupines, jumping-hares, and earth-pigs. The first expedition was made by day. Those of us who were on horseback surrounded a rocky crag, and sent the natives with the dogs to beat up the hill; our success, however, was most indifferent, as we discovered that the hyænas had been alarmed in time to make their escape.
The second excursion was by night over a district composed of grass plains studded with bushes and ant-hills, and bordered, especially on the east, by wooded crags. It was as beautiful a night as I ever remember, the moonlight being perfectly unclouded. I had been out inspecting the carvings for a long time that day, and contemplated taking a still longer ride on the morrow. I therefore left my own horse at home, and was mounted on one that my kind host had lent me, and that was well accustomed to the locality. The dogs, of which every farmer had contributed several to make up the pack, were put upon the scent, and we had hardly been galloping more than five minutes before we heard—them baying at the foot of a hill a little distance to our right. We spurred on our steeds, but gave them their heads, as they could see better than we could the blocks of stone that lay on the ground among the bushwood. We soon came up to the struggling mass in the midst of which was an object that kept glittering as it rolled over and over in the moonlight. It proved to be a porcupine which the dogs were rending to pieces; in spite of the armament of quills with which nature has endowed it, the porcupine has a remarkably fragile skin, so that it is easily torn by any animal that once makes good its hold  | ||
| VOL. II. | CAPTURE OF AN EARTH-PIG. | Page 440. |
Two more porcupines, a jumping-hare, and a South African skunk, all had a similar fate, and then the dogs took a circuitous route back again to the hills, and started an earth-pig (Orycteropus capensis). To escape its pursuers, the creature made an effort to burrow in the earth, and had partially succeeded, when we came up to it. Our men did their very best to secure it, but it rolled them over and over like so many balls, and got clean away.
The earth-pig is undeniably the strongest of all the edentata. Its body is long and round, and it has long powerful nails at the end of its claws, of which the sinews are remarkable for their strength; its fleshy wedge-shaped tail acts as a great support to its body, and though it sometimes uses it as a means of defence, it seems to be of most service when the creature is bounding away in flight. The tail likewise comes into requisition when, squatting on its hind quarters, it digs away at an ant-hill, for it is known to be one of the largest ant-eaters in South Africa. Its skin is tough and bristly, defying the fangs of the jackal, and it has a pair of long ears that are keenly alive to sound. The skin is used in the colony for making certain parts of harness. Other enemies to ants are the short-tailed pangolins, the hyæna-wolf, the mangusta, and the plover.
After our last failure we gave up our chase, and rode slowly home; but my friends were unwilling that I should be disappointed in my wish to carry away with me some of their live birds and animals, and subsequently assisted me in procuring a nice collection, amongst them some weaver-birds, which, however, did not live long.
During one of my rambles about the farm, I caught sight of a cobra, five feet long, in a weaver-bird’s nest. I was fortunate in killing it at my first shot, and found that it had destroyed several old birds and devoured a number of eggs.
The time of this last visit of mine to the diamond-fields was a period of vast importance to South Africa. Events were then taking place which, as far as my judgment goes, could not have otherwise than a wide influence upon the country generally, especially with regard to the solution of the native question; I allude to the conflicts between the colony and the tribes on the east, and those between Griqualand West and the tribes farther still in that direction, all which minor conflicts were the forerunners of a great Zulu war. Another disturbing element was the annexation of the Transvaal by the British Government. My views upon this subject generally were stated in a pamphlet which I put into circulation at the time; and as a great deal of what I then said has actually come to pass, I hope I may be excused if I here refer to that little publication, which was issued not simply at my own option, but by the desire of several influential men in South Africa, to weigh the comparative merits of the several aspects of this subject. “Recent events,” I wrote, “clearly show that in South Africa, as in North America, England has taken greater hold upon the continent than any other colonized nation. Her mode of action has been in many respects the same in either case, but the native element here differs so much from that in America that it was impossible for the same treatment to have a like effect. The European colonists were ruled by two very opposite prejudices; one party, overlooking the fact that the natives had been accustomed time out of mind to their burdens, regarded them as wrongfully oppressed; the other party deeming all negroes as of so inferior a race as to be scarcely human at all. Practical men who by long residence in the country had gained some insight into the native character, and who consequently took a more moderate view of the case, were in so great a minority, both with respect to numbers and position, that they were unable to exercise any influence.”
When I wrote my pamphlet in 1875 I did not know to how great an extent my ideas corresponded with those of many experienced colonists, but ultimately these ideas seemed to gain such ground that they became the basis of public questions.
There are certain tribes of South Africa who in their intellectual development and adult powers of comprehension seem to me to be about equal to children of our own of six years of age; and there are tribes that, according to their varying degrees of culture, possess separate tribal characteristics just in the same way as may be noticed amongst the individual members of a civilized family. One tribe, for instance, will be remarkable for its good-nature, one for its industry, and another for its thievish propensities. No doubt these various traits, as far as they are independent of association, may be accounted for in a great degree by the larger or smaller size of the brain.
The Hottentots, Griquas, and Korannas may perhaps not inaptly be compared to children that allow themselves to be attracted by anything that amuses them, and clutch at whatever takes their fancy. For this reason alone, in spite of anything they may acquire of the mechanical arts of reading and writing, they must be unfit to be admitted as yet to the privileges of a civilized race. It seems to me indispensable that before they can be held entitled to the ordinary rights of citizenship they must be cultivated to receive correct views about labour, capital, and wages, to appreciate better methods of husbandry and architecture, to take more pains about the cleanliness of their persons, and especially to recognize the moral principle that should guide their transactions alike amongst themselves and with the white men.
Hitherto the worst obstacle to civilization has been superstition; nor can I believe that much will be accomplished towards the elevation of the natives until they are brought to understand that the supply of the necessaries of life is not dependent upon the influence of magicians, fetishes, and rain-doctors.
I ventured to point out to the Government that a different future awaited the South African negroes from that of the North American Indians, and that accordingly we ought to protect them from some of the abuses by which the latter were decimated. For one thing, there ought to be restrictions put upon the sale of brandy to the black population in the colony; but more than this, there should be an absolute prohibition of its introduction into any of the adjacent native independencies. The rulers of a few tribes are already rendering considerable assistance in this way by preventing the sale of alcohol in any form upon their territory; and I am glad to testify that in at least a part of Africa the measure has been beneficial both to white men and blacks. Beyond this, I pointed out that it was necessary, alike for the Government and for private individuals, to pay particular attention to the separate characters of the tribes and of the chiefs with whom they were holding intercourse; and I went so far as to point out that the application of several native rulers to be incorporated with the English colonies ought to be entertained with the utmost caution.
The cases of Mankuruane, the Batlapin ruler, of Sechele, the Bakuena king, and still more recently that of the Damara people, and that of Khame, the sovereign of the Bamangwatos, have proved much of what I stated in my pamphlet; and I am now more than ever satisfied that the portrayal I made of the Zulu character was in every respect accurate. Whatever opinion I may once have held, I have long ceased to think that after once quelling the Zulu power it is desirable for Great Britain to extend her colonial possessions in South Africa. I am convinced, on the other hand, that it would work far better for the interests of trade and for the ultimate opening up of the continent, if one or more commissioners, duly authorized, were maintained permanently at the separate independent native courts—arms and ammunition being, of course, excluded as articles of traffic.
There has hitherto been an erroneous impression in Europe that the English are greedy to devour all the land in South Africa on which they can lay their hands; but the opponents and critics of their colonial policy do not seem to understand that in well nigh every case the cession of the territory has been made by voluntary surrender on the part of the native rulers. Before I undertook my third journey I entertained a very sanguine hope that there would be a highway of commerce opened into Central Africa, but my expectation all centred on the idea that this was impossible until the entire district between the Vaal and the Zambesi should be subjected to British rule. I see things now very differently, and am consequently gratified to know that in several instances Great Britain has declined to annex native territories, even although they have been ready to submit to her authority.
Just at the time when my pamphlet was written, several of the native princes were, it was said, on the point of making their spontaneous cession; and it was my desire to warn the Government to act with caution in every transaction of the kind. I said: “Here is Mankuruane, the Batlapin king, with one tribe, and here is Montsua, the Barolong king, with another. They tell us that they want to be numbered among our subjects, but before their request is complied with they should be made to declare whether it is by their own wish or by that of their people that they seek to be reckoned as British subjects; they should be forced to confess whether it was their friendship to the English or their fear and hatred of other white men that prompted them to make the proposal; they should be bound to declare whether it was not simply because they were threatened by some neighbouring chief that they sought English protection; or, again, they should be obliged to disclose the truth as to whether there was a rival chief in the territory whom it was sought to paralyze. Two years after they had been annexed the Damaras acknowledged that they had had no other motive in seeking incorporation under the British sceptre, except this last of getting rid of a rival chief. Further than this, I beg to suggest the necessity, even after the true origin of the proposal has been ascertained, of making strict investigation into the character of the chief and the grade of culture of the tribe, before any treaty of affiliation is concluded.”
As I have already said the war with the colonial Kaffirs broke out during my last stay in the Diamond-fields, and Griqualand West became the scene of a like misfortune. In both wars the right cause had the victory. That the little colony of Griqualand West, with its insignificant number of white men, should have brought the conflict to so speedy and satisfactory a termination with such slight expense and trifling loss of life, was owing to two causes, first, that the governor was an experienced soldier, and secondly, that the Diamond-fields were occupied by a brave and true-hearted population. The history of the province during the last three years gives ample proof of this, and I refer especially to the war which it has had to maintain with the Griquas, Masarwas, and Batlapins, under their chiefs Mora, Donker-Maglas and others. These natives, who have hitherto turned a deaf ear to the beneficial precepts of the white man, being strengthened by the addition of many foul elements, such as fugitive rebels from the colony, and runaway thieves and other criminals from the west, from Kuruman, and from the farther side of the Lange-Bergen, had suddenly fallen upon the neighbouring settlers, and after massacring them, had ransacked their houses. These crimes led to another war. The negro-robbers had taken into account that Griqualand West could receive no assistance from the colony, which was already occupied with the Kaffir war, and they had likewise reckoned that the thousands of natives who were employed in the Diamond-fields would mutiny at the same time, burn down the buildings, annihilate the population, and carry off the booty; whilst they, the originators of the war, would meanwhile be plundering the roadside hotels and stores, as well as laying waste the farms.
I was myself a witness of the position of the whites at that critical time. Fortunately the purifying process that had been going on at the Diamond-fields by the withdrawal of adventurers, had left few but true-hearted men behind, and Major Lanyon, who then represented the government, thoroughly understood the state of affairs. In Colonel Warren, who has since succeeded as governor, he had an associate who never shunned danger, and was always prepared for emergencies. Thus by what seemed almost like supernatural energy, Griqualand West was defended, women and children were saved from destruction, and the Europeans gained for themselves the respect without which it is impossible to live at peace and in harmony with the natives.
Major Lanyon issued an appeal in which he called upon all the residents in the central diggings to combine to protect their new home from destruction; the result of this was that in a few days more than six hundred men had come forward, all capable of bearing arms, and ready to shed their blood for their people. About two hundred of these were volunteers, the rest were young men and diamond-diggers,
COLONEL WARREN.
who expressed a wish to be enrolled in the civilian corps. Horses were purchased without delay, and the men were drilled by day and by night, the military instruction being given by diggers, merchants, or any others who had been themselves trained. The corps was further reinforced by 400 Basutos. Setting out against the foe, they surprised the natives in the midst of one of their marauding forays, and drove them back to the hills. What ensued was a sort of guerilla war. No sooner forced to surrender one of their stone barricades, than seeking another from which they were driven out as quickly, the natives at length had to yield; Colonel Warren had demonstrated that he had all the talents of a general, and the men enlisted from the diggings had proved that they well understood how to do their duty.
So successful had I been in my practice, that I began to indulge the hope that I could start for Europe in December, 1877; but when I came to reckon up the actual cost of conveying my numerous large packages and my cases of live-stock, I found it impossible to carry out my intention so soon. The carriage of all the collection that I had made on my two previous journeys had already been generously defrayed by Herr Naprstek, of Prague, and the same kind friend now again sent me 20l., and the Vienna Geographical Society remitted me 40l., but this would be barely enough to convey a waggon and my animals as far as the coast. Under the circumstances I came to the conclusion that I would postpone my departure for another year, by which time I did not doubt that I should have saved enough to cover all the expenses of my passage, and to leave me a small reserve fund in addition; by carrying out this plan I should also be travelling through the Orange Free State and the east province of Cape Colony, at a season when the best pasturage could be secured for the bullocks.
I took an opportunity of sending on twenty-one of my chests by a transport-waggon that went to Port Elizabeth, where the Austrian Vice-Consul, Herr Allenberg, stored them in his warehouses until my arrival; but it did not suit my purpose to travel by such a conveyance myself, because I wished on my way to stop wherever I pleased to make geological and palæontological observations, which could not be done if I were to be hampered by the proceedings of a driver who was not under my own control.
Matters, however, turned out better for me than I had anticipated. An unexpected and munificent gift of 1000 florins from the Emperor of Austria, 60l. from the Bohemian National Society, 200 florins from the “Svatabor Club,” and a loan of 1000 florins from a kind lady patroness placed me in a position to start as soon as I was disposed, and I proceeded to quit the Diamond-fields six months before the date I had fixed.
A series of mischances that befell me on my way to Port Elizabeth made such unlooked-for inroads upon my resources, that I again found it necessary to stop, and betook myself once more to medical practice at Cradock. The success that attended me was so satisfactory that in August I was enabled to resume my journey. To drive my waggon I hired a man who had formerly been servant to a merchant whom I knew at Kimberley.
My party was now increased by the addition of three children, who were to accompany me to the south. Amongst my numerous patients and acquaintances none had shown me greater attention than my next-door neighbour at Bultfontein, and as an acknowledgment of his good offices, I agreed to take one of his sons with me to look after my birds and other pets, and to be instructed as soon as possible in more important work. I promised that if the boy turned out well, I would try and take him on with me to be educated in Europe. In order that he should not occupy too much of my time, and interrupt me in my studies, a young Bechuana maid-servant was sent to take charge of him. The third of these young people was Philip Schneeman, about thirteen years of age, the son of a Dutchman whose family I had attended professionally for many weeks. Schneeman had already shown his gratitude to me by assisting me at every opportunity he could, and he now entrusted me with his eldest son upon the condition that in return for his services I should make him an educated man. The father was one of those unfortunate characters only too commonly to be met with in the Diamond-fields, who having come out with visions of wealth had met with nothing but trouble and disappointment; he considered he was doing the best for his boy in engaging him to me, but poor Philip, before he reached Cradock, had begun to pine so painfully for his home that I had no alternative but to send him back to his parents, who meanwhile had settled in the Birgensdorf district. The other boy turned out so careless and mischievous that I was only too glad to send him away at the same time.
In concluding the narrative of my stay in the Diamond-fields I cannot help expressing my gratitude for the general courtesy of my patients, and returning my best thanks to many other residents for their kind advice, sympathy, and numerous acts of friendship. I would not omit to acknowledge the favours I received from the editors of various newspapers, and I beg to thank Miss Matilda Proksch, of Leydenburg, for the revision of my articles inserted in the South African English journals.