Seven Years in South Africa/Volume 2/Chapter 17
CHAPTER XVII.
THROUGH THE COLONY TO THE COAST.
BELLA.
Besides being delayed in Cradock, I was compelled by various circumstances to spend a considerable time in Port Elizabeth, so that altogether my homeward journey was somewhat prolonged.
Shortly after leaving Bultfontein I had to cross the Modder River, the passage being attended with much difficulty. The river-bed is full of deep holes containing numerous fish, and the entire valley is really a channel worn by the rain in the soft soil, the steep slopes on either side being clothed with trees and bushes that are the habitat of countless birds. The prettiest part of the stream is at its junction with the Riet River. As implied by its name (Modder or Mud River) many places on its bank are extremely miry, and so trying are these spots to bullocks, wearied by their long journeys, that not unfrequently they sink down and are unable to rise again.
I just touched at Jacobsdal, which I found much increased since my visit in 1872, and then went on towards the little town of Philippolis. On my way I passed the Riet River hotel. The old iron and canvas erection had been replaced by a substantial stone building, and I was quite astonished when the landlord recollected me, asking me whether I had not been there six years before with Mr. Michaelis and Mr. Rabinowitz.
While staying at Kalke Farm I found a good many oolitic fossils, which increased in number as I went southwards. The bare, monotonous aspect of the country made me aware that the district I was approaching had been suffering from prolonged drought; it might literally be said to be scorched up, not a single green blade of grass was to be seen, and one uniform shade of brown overspread the soil and rocks alike.
Through the courtesy of many of the residents, my stay in Philippolis was extremely pleasant. I made several excursions in company with Dr. Knobel and Dr. Igel, and obtained some additions to my collection. Amongst other things I secured some live birds, and a full-grown springbock doe. Mr. Schultze, a merchant, made me a present of a beautiful quartz druse, which I had noticed in his drawing-room in 1872, but had not then the means of purchasing. The postmaster, Mr. Försterlein, also gave me a very interesting object, a talisman that had been given him by a Basuto doctor in acknowledgment of some service; it was a tablet of black wood about an inch and a half long, half as wide, and about a third of an inch thick, in which was set a piece of rock crystal. Some Basutos to whom Mr. Forsterlein had happened to show it were anxious to buy it, one of them offering two cows in exchange.
After leaving Philippolis, I was for a few days Mr. Schultze’s guest at his farm at Ottersport, where for the first time I had an opportunity of seeing tame ostriches. Now that the feather trade is on the decline, it is less expensive to keep the birds in this way than to hunt them wild; and they are bred in such numbers in South Africa, particularly in Cape Colony and the Free State, that in 1879 there were at least 100,000 of them. Directly it is out of the shell an ostrich chick is worth 5l, a half-grown bird varies from 20l. to 50l., and as much as 150l. has been paid for brooding-hens. Ostriches are generally bred in the localities where sheep and cattle-breeding has proved unremunerative.
The greatest difficulty that the ostrich farmer has to contend with is the parasite plague. From five to twenty-five per cent. of the birds each year die from being infested by tape-worms, which swarm in thousands and eat their way into the body; a great number of them are likewise attacked by palisade worms, occasionally a yard long, that gnaw into the muscles of the heart. Not unfrequently the parasites take possession of the eggs before the shell is formed; and from an English newspaper that I recently received from the Cape I learnt that some ostriches’ eggs had been found quite full of worms.
Having crossed the river at Mr. Ross’s ford, I arrived at Colesberg. Here I had so hospitable a reception, that I did not like to refuse the request made by a number of my friends that I would deliver a lecture. It was the first that I had ever attempted, but the result was so satisfactory that I ventured to plead in this way for the opening up of Central Africa from the south in some of the other towns of the colony.
In company with Mr. Knobel I paid a visit to the Colesberg hill. It is equally interesting to the botanist, the geologist, and the zoologist. The number of mountain-hares, rock-rabbits, birds of prey, starlings, pigeons, snakes, lizards, spiders, and other insects that I saw more than repaid the exertion of the clamber.
Hence my next stage was towards Cradock, not however by the shortest route, because of the parched state of the district, but viâ Middleburg, so as to find better fodder for the bullocks. The first destination on the route was Kuilfontein, Mr. Murray’s farm, where Mr. Knobel told me he had seen some fossilized animal remains in a wall. I obtained permission of the owner to take as much of the wall down as I wanted, and found some fine pieces of the skeletons of saurians embedded in hard sandstone; they belonged principally to the dicynodon and to the lacertan and crocodilian species; besides these I discovered a fossil plant in the grey sandstone overlying the dicynodon strata that are common in the eastern province of the colony. I stayed over a week at the farm, and so pleasant was my entertainment, and so full of interest my fossil investigations that I should have been delighted to avail myself of the hospitable invitation to remain longer, but I knew that in consequence of the drought Mr. Murray was at a great expense in buying food for part of his cattle, and in sending the other part off to a distance where some grass survived, and I would not permit myself to encroach upon his kindness longer than I could help. My host, during the time I was with him, took me for several excursions around Kuilfontein, and I found strata of clay-slate containing small mollusks, as well as traces of huge lizards, probably dicynodons. The only game that I saw was springbocks, bustards, grunters, partridges, wild pigeons, and wild ducks. On the farm itself I secured three of the herons that are nearly tame, and build every year on the pastures beside the springs.
The continuation of the extreme drought made the latter stages of my journey to Cradock very arduous. At Newport Farm I found some pretty fossils, including some impressions of lizards. Here, again, I had a hearty welcome, and was sorry not to be able to accept an invitation to join a party that was being arranged for gazelle-hunting and fishing. The Newport Farm scenery is the best in the Middleburg district, and I look forward to making good use of a photographic apparatus on a future visit.
My intention had originally been to stay only a few days in Cradock to recruit my bullocks, all of which were now very weary, a few of them having succumbed to insufficient food. But, as I have said, I found myself detained by a different cause, and I had to apply myself to my old profession to recover various losses that I had sustained.
I have a most grateful remembrance of the kindness I received from many of the resident families, and their cordiality did much to alleviate the temporary difficulties by which I was harassed.
Before I finally made up my mind to settle for a few months in the town, I remained quartered in my waggon about half a mile further up the opposite bank of the Fish River. I soon had about twenty patients, and had to ride into Cradock several times a day. My horse Mosco did me good service, although on one occasion he very nearly came to grief.
There were two rain-channels that had to be crossed before arriving at the bridge; these were more than three feet deep, and I was told that after a very few hours’ rain they were filled with the water that rushed down from the slopes of the hills, amid a cluster of which the town is situated. After fourteen months’ drought, when I had been in my retreat about six weeks, there came a succession of wet days; the consequence was that both channels were quickly filled with muddy water, in one stream nearly red, in the other nearly yellow. One morning at this time I was summoned to the town, but patients in such numbers had come to consult me at my waggon that I could not set out until the afternoon. The Fish River roared at my side, but I kept on my way, and crossed the first of the little affluents in safety; but on arriving at the second I found a group of nearly thirty people brought to a stand-still on its bank. They were for the most part laundresses, who had gone out in the morning as usual to the sulphurous springs, a mile or two
NARROW ESCAPE NEAR CRADOCK.
further up the river, but on their return had found their progress arrested by the sudden rising of the flood. I was greatly tempted to turn my horse’s head round, and if I could have believed that the case was of trifling importance, I should unhesitatingly have gone back; but the account of the symptoms that the messenger had brought inclined me to suspect that the case was serious, and I felt that I ought to persevere if possible. The torrent seethed in front of me; the red turbid stream was certainly thirty feet wide, and its depth had increased to quite four feet. Not far below was a hollow, some ten feet in depth, and into this the waters plunged in an angry cataract. I relied, however, with all confidence upon my horse, and urged him into the stream. Very few steps had he taken before I felt him tremble, but at a word of encouragement from me he went forwards again. In order to avoid the cataract, I thought it best to guide him a little to the right, but unfortunately the stream proved to be violent beyond all expectation. Mosco stumbled, but happily his head and mine remained above water; by a vigorous effort he recovered himself, and after a fatiguing struggle was nearing the opposite side, when again he missed his footing, and came down upon his knees. I momentarily expected to be rolled into the torrent, but had the presence of mind to give my horse his head; one dash, and he fixed his forefeet into the soft clay of the shore; an instant’s pause, and with a desperate bound he carried me safe to terra firma.
It was during the time of my residence in Cradock that the Zulu war, the most important event that has occurred in South Africa for the last quarter of a century, was going on. For the advancement of civilization that war was a necessity, and it must not be supposed either that it was a mere arbitrary proceeding on the part of Sir Bartle Frere, or that the British Government had no valid reason for taking up arms. It was, I am convinced, the wisest step that Sir Bartle Frere, as a statesman, could have taken; he foresaw the danger that threatened the colony from Zululand; he was perfectly aware of Cetewayo’s warlike preparations; and he knew, moreover, that all the force that had been collected was eager for a conflict with the whites. The colonists in Natal, and the residents in the south-east of the Transvaal, had been perpetually complaining of the encroachments which the Zulus made, whilst for the last ten years numbers of the Zulus themselves had been taking refuge in both these districts from the cruelty and oppression of the king and the indunas.
If the English Government had not taken the initiative, the whole horde of Zulus, bloodthirsty as hounds, would have overrun Natal, and probably 20,000 lives or more would have been sacrificed. Cetewayo had long made up his mind what he would do; his scheme might cost him many lives, but hundreds and thousands of lives were of little account to him considering the numerical strength of his tribe as compared with all others; it sufficed for him to rely on the courage and daring of his warriors, and thus he was encouraged to indulge his one great vision of becoming master of Natal. Had his venture proved successful, the first terrible result of the victory achieved by him would have been a general rising of the adjacent tribes in revolt against the white men.
I know indeed that there are many men both in South Africa and in England who regard the Zulu war as agreat act of injustice, but I can only express my conviction that the opinion they form is founded upon a complete misunderstanding of the character of the natives as a whole, and of the Zulus in particular; I can only believe of them that they have never been in contact with natives, so as to become aware of the bare-faced line of action they pursue; and generally I should presume of them that in the view they take they are blinded by the prejudice that every negro is a poor oppressed creature, ever ill-used, abused, and trampled on.
In England, after my return, I had several opportunities of talking over this matter with various influential people, and found that whenever I expressed my belief that there was a happy future in store for the natives of South Africa, my anticipations were uniformly regarded with extreme surprise. The general impression seemed to be that the black man was becoming extinct as the result of oppression, and that the outbreak of the Zulu war was only an additional proof of this. That there has hitherto been a failure in the relations between white men and coloured in so many places is, I conceive, attributable to the entire misapprehension of the character and position of the native; either he has been treated as a being scarcely endued with human qualities at all, or, by the opposite extreme, he has been encouraged to regard himself as in every respect the equal of his master. To give a negro the rights of civilization, and to entitle him to enjoy its privileges before training him to use them aright, is only like treating a child as though he were a full-grown man, and the result has been to make him presume upon his alleged equality to take up arms against his superiors. Other things that have been very fatal to the establishment of a proper relationship are the introduction of alcoholic liquors, the spread of contagious diseases, and the want of integrity on the part of those commissioned by the government to open traffic with the natives, and who have only too often consulted their own selfish interests without the least regard to the welfare of those with whom they were sent to deal. On this latter point, however, as far as South Africa is concerned, there is not much to be said; the veracity of the reports made by the commissioners can be easily put to the test, and the slightest abuse of power is quickly visited by chastisement. In the previous chapter I have attempted to show that the authorities are now in a fair way of understanding the best mode of dealing with the natives. With respect to the sale of spirits, we find, incredible as we might have imagined it, that it has been prohibited by several native princes, and that some of the colonial governments have, if not forbidden, at least limited the traffic with the independent tribes.
With so warlike a people as the Zulus, a settlement of the question of their relations with the colonists could not possibly be arrived at without an appeal to arms; and it has to be remembered that it was a question as important to South Africa as “the Eastern Question” to many of the European powers. My long residence amongst many of the tribes, and especially my peculiar sphere of work, gave me repeated opportunities of seeing them in different aspects, and of considering their relations not only with each other, but with the English and Dutch colonists, and it was mainly on this account that I ventured to publish my pamphlet and other articles.
I am quite aware that this is hardly the place to enter into any full details concerning the Zulu war, of which the general history is universally known, but I cannot forbear making one or two observations.
The disaster that befell the British force at the commencement of the campaign was, I think, to be attributed first, to the mistake of supposing that the Zulu method of attack would be the same as that of the Kaffirs; secondly, to the circumstance that the numbers of the Zulu warriors had been so much underrated that an insufficient English force was brought into the field against them; not that Sir Bartle Frere was in any way responsible for this, as he had already asked for reinforcements; and thirdly, that there had not been diligence enough exercised in reconnoitring the country. But if the defeat brought its indignity, it was soon obliterated by the victory that ensued, when general, officers, and men, regained their laurels in contending with the most martial of African people upon the most unfavourable of soils. It was the victory of Ulundi, not any achievements of Sir Garnet Wolseley, that was the crowning-point of the campaign, and I cannot but consider that it was premature on the part of the English Government to supersede Sir Bartle Frere, and to recall Lord Chelmsford, before the war was actually at an end. The consequence has been that the treaty made with the Zulus has not been of a character to ensure a permanent peace with the native element in South Africa.
The truth of my convictions seems to me to be borne out by the recent rising of the Basutos against the Cape Government with respect to disarmament. Had peace been concluded with the Zulus in strict accordance with the general feeling that rules in the colonies, the Basutos would never have ventured upon rebellion; but the leniency of the policy pursued by the Government towards the Zulu chiefs was regarded by the other native tribes not in any way as a generous forbearance, but as an indication of weakness.
The object of disarmament, which undoubtedly in some instances has answered very well, is twofold; its first design is to bring about peace in South Africa; its second to secure a permanent satisfactory solution of the entire native question. By purchasing fire-arms of the people and refusing to sell them any, it is thought that tribes warlike by hereditary character, and tribes that have been rendered warlike by the acquisition of guns, may be converted into peaceful husbandmen and cattle-breeders; the process should be gradual, but the main object being once attained, it might then be safe for the Government to issue gun-licences to any individuals who should require them for hunting purposes.
On my way back to Europe I happened to fall in with Lord Chelmsford and his staff; at my first interview with him he thanked me for the candour with which I had expressed my opinions during the war. He was accompanied by Sir Evelyn Wood, whose personal bravery has won for him a high renown in the British army. This distinguished officer was not a little surprised when I showed him some telegrams demonstrating that I had been in direct communication with Natal all throughout the campaign; one of these contained the announcement of his own victory over the Zulus at Kambula.
I can safely say that since my return to Europe my regard for South Africa has in no degree diminished, in spite of the calumnies published in one of the South African newspapers by Westbeech and Anderson, although they, as well as the newspaper itself, applauded all that I said while I was out there. It was gratifying to find that the most influential of the papers had all reviewed my proceedings with strict impartiality. I shall always take a deep interest in the progress of the colony, and cannot do otherwise than entertain a pleasant recollection of the kindness I received from both English and Dutch colonists.
Before the war was over I had earned the means I required for continuing my journey, and accordingly I proceeded towards Port Elizabeth. On reaching Grahamstown I took up my quarters in a house in Bathurst Street, where there was a yard large enough to allow my horse and most of my live-stock to run about. My brief visit was rendered very enjoyable by the courtesy of many of the principal residents. I obtained some interesting natural curiosities, including a live lynx from Dean Willams, and some trilobites from Mr. Glanville, the curator of the museum. I also made several additions to my collection of minerals, and procured a number of exotics from the Botanical Gardens. Of the live birds that I secured, three-fourths died on the day that I went on to Port Elizabeth; an icy rain began to fall, and as we had some miles to travel by road to the nearest[1] station many of my animals, in spite of my care, succumbed to the inclement weather.
MAIN STREET IN PORT ELIZABETH.
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| VOL. II. | FINGO VILLAGE AT PORT ELIZABETH. | Page 469. |
The twenty-one packages that I had sent on to Port Elizabeth a year ago were all in good condition. Those that I had now brought with me raised the number to forty-seven; and two more, subsequently added at Cape Town, made a total of forty-nine to be conveyed to Europe.
My intention was to take all my collection from Port Elizabeth to Cape Town by the Union Steamship Company’s “Arab,” and after staying at Cape Town for a fortnight to proceed homewards in the “German.” Accordingly, after seeing all my baggage carefully stowed on board the little cutter that acted as tender to the “Arab”—that lay at anchor about half a mile out—I went back into the town to pay some farewell visits. My consternation may in a measure be imagined when returning a few hours afterwards, I found all my cases piled up promiscuously on the beach. The rope by which the tender was being towed through the surf had broken, and the vessel had been washed back to the shore, but not until she had begun to fill with water.
The great wonder was that the craft had not been dashed against the wooden landing-stage; I could not be too thankful that the collision had been averted; it would have brought all my labours of the last four years to a deplorable end. I had proposed bringing my good horse Mosco with me, and was much disappointed that circumstances prevented me from including him with my general baggage.
As the “Arab” was bound to leave that day, and it was too late for me to get my property conveyed on board, I consented to go without it, leaving it in charge of Herr von Mosenthal, the newly-appointed Austrian Consul, who most kindly undertook to have it forwarded to Cape Town.
The same cordial reception awaited me at Cape Town as I had found at Port Elizabeth, and I delivered several lectures, one of them before the Philosophical Society, which, a year before, had elected me one of their corresponding members. It was here that I had the honour of an introduction to Sir Bartle Frere and several of the members of his staff; I also made the acquaintance of many of the most distinguished members of both houses of the Cape Parliament, and of the leading scientific men and newspaper editors of theplace. All alike entered warmly into my plans for the exploration of Central South Africa, and for the opening up of the great continent from the south. The very day that I left Cape Town Mr. Brown did me the honour of bringing forward a motion (which, at the desire of the Government, was only withdrawn on account of my departure) that my services should be secured for making an investigation of the district between the Vaal and the Zambesi.
I passed most of my time on the sea-shore, still adding to my collection of fishes and sponges. Algoa Bay supplied me with numbers of cephalopods, mollusks, sea-snails, aphrodites, and algæ; the surrounding neighbourhood with a considerable variety of plants and fossils.
Before finally quitting Cape Town I received a gift of 40l., which was very acceptable, as I had again been compelled to spend part of the money that I had reserved for my passage.
It was on the 5th of August, 1879, that I embarked on board the “German.” After an absence of seven years, I had been drawn homewards by an irresistible desire to see my kindred and friends. Green Point and the summit of Table Mountain faded from my view, and I was again upon the bosom of the ocean that on my outward voyage had so nearly cost me my life, but which now lay calm and placid till I set my foot safely once more on the soil of Europe.
I would not omit to express my obligation to the Directors of the Union Steamship Company, who franked my baggage all the way from Cape Town to Southampton, nor would I fail to acknowledge the kindness of the Hon. Mr. Littleton, the son of Lord Hatherton, who placed 100l. at my disposal, which materially assisted me in forwarding my collection to Vienna.
My ethnological specimens collected from about thirty[2] tribes of South Africa, and those of my natural history collections amounted to more than 30,000; of these a selection of nearly 12,500[3] was made, and by the permission of the Board of Trade was exhibited in the Pavillon des Amateurs in Vienna. The exhibition was open from May to October, 1880.
Of the live animals that I brought with me, I gave the caracal, the two brown eagles, and a secretary-bird to the London Zoological Society, and the rest I took to Austria. I have already mentioned that the Crown Prince Rudolph did me the honour to accept the two royal cranes. My baboon, which was remarkably tame, and a grey South African crane I sent to the town council of Prague for the public park, and I presented the dark-brown vulture, and one of the long-armed Zanzibar monkeys to the Physiocratical Society of that city.
I stayed several weeks in London, and contributed a paper to the Royal Geographical Society. Many kindnesses were shown me by various English families, and I very gratefully acknowledge the assistance I received in the transmission of my large collection to my home.
If my life and health be preserved, I have it in my heart to return as soon as may be to the scene of my researches. In the first place, I am anxious to make a more accurate survey of the places that I have already visited; but more than all, I am longing to extend to Central Africa those investigations for which “seven years in South Africa” have given me so much experience.
- ↑ The railway is now open as far as Grahamstown.
- ↑ These tribes include Bushmen, Hottentots, Fingos, Gaikas, Galekas, Pondos, the southern Zulus, the northern Zulus (Matabele), Basutos, the various Bechuana tribes (Batlapins, Barolongs, Banquaketse, Makhosi, Manupi, Baharutse, Bakhatlas, Bakuenas, Bamangwatos), the northern and southern Makalakas, Mashonas, Manansas, Matongas, Masupias, Marutse-Mabundas, and Mankoë.
- ↑ Besides about 40 skulls, 134 pairs of antlers, and 70 anatomical or pathological curiosities, the exhibition contained 400 bird-skins, a fine group of 57 ostrich feathers, nearly 300 reptiles, 2056 insects (out of 18,000 collected and purchased), 782 mollusks, 933 of the lower orders of marine animals, 3328 dried plants, 1138 fossils, and 720 minerals. The number of small animals would have been larger, but many were spoilt by the bad quality of the spirits of wine. The insects for the most part were pinned out and arranged by Dr. Nickerle, of Prague. Except sixty-four, which were given me, I collected the 3328 plants myself; I also found the 1138 fossils, except about sixty, which were given to me by Dr. Reed in Colesberg, Mr. Murray in Kuilfontein, Mr. Kidger in Cradock, and Mr. Cook in Port Elizabeth. There were 365 sponges from Table and Algoa Bays.