Seven Legs Across the Seas Part 7

A violation of the Zulu code of honesty was formerly punishable by death, and in some cases is still adhered to. The theft of a horse, cow, sheep, goat, pig or dog brought the death penalty. The moral code is inflexible. If a girl leaves a kraal to go into service in the towns and returns not as good as she was when she left the hut, she is likely to disappear mysteriously. A native guilty of committing a crime with a Zulu woman may be put to death.

Few deformed or crippled members of this tribe are seen. Under the kings' ruling an imperfect child at birth was not permitted to live.

Respect for old age is another excellent trait of the Zulu tribe. Were a mother or father to be living with a son and his wives, the father is "boss" of the kraal; and were the father to die the mother is the head of the kraal. The elder of two persons is respected by the younger. The oldest son has absolute rule over the other children; but, if the father be a chief, the youngest son succeeds him.

Indian-like, Zulus walk in single file, and the younger always walks behind the elder. The woman always walks behind the man and carries his belongings. A Zulu woman is never seen alone--always with a child, woman, or girl.

Zulus have their own name for Europeans. A man who wore spectacles would be "four-eyed" in their language; a person with a scar on his face or hands, would be "scar" in the native language; one having a deep voice or light voice--that would be his name with the native.

Long hair, short hair, mustache, a smooth face--any mark or peculiarity--Zulus would know him by words pertaining to these.

Natives are not allowed to own or carry firearms or any weapons used by Europeans. The same restriction applies to native police. A k.n.o.bkerry, a pair of handcuffs and a sjambok (a strip of rhinoceros hide like a short whip) are the only weapons a native policeman is supplied with. The policy is a wise one, for, if the blacks knew how to use firearms, it would mean a constant menace to the whites. Zulus often carry their a.s.segais with them in their country, and are allowed to carry sticks at all times, as a dog will attack a black, and the same dog would not even growl at a white man; besides, deadly snakes are numerous.

The Zulu system of "telegraphing" news from one part of the country to another is an interesting accomplishment. Results of battles and approaching danger are shouted from hilltop to hilltop for hundreds of miles with surprising speed and accuracy. In crises Zulus seem to rise out of the ground.

Sugar, salt, kerosene, cotton blankets, tobacco, snuff, lanterns, Jew's-harps, concertinas, mouth organs, beads, cheap spangles, bright calicoes, whistles, and numerous other things of a tawdry character are what Zulus spend their money on. Six cents is the cheapest purchase he can make, as the three-penny piece is the smallest coin in circulation. They will haggle and haggle with a trader sometimes for half an hour over a six-cent purchase, if the trader will listen to them.

"Bonsella" is a word one will often hear if he has dealings with the Zulu. "Bonsella" means he wants something that does not belong to him.

With a six-cent purchase he will insist on a "bonsella." A thin slice of a small bar of soap, a few grains of sugar, a little pinch of salt, a piece of string will do, if he cannot do better; and should he fail in getting something from the trader he will ask for a drink of water.

With similar weapons, and each equally skilled in their use, and even numbers, one is pretty safe in making the statement that no man can fight better nor for a longer period than the Zulu. Their military uniform used to be cow-tails secured to a ring around the neck. The tails were so thick they presented the appearance of a complete robe or skin. The Zulu can store enough food away at one meal to last him for 24 to 36 hours without becoming fatigued. He can run from 50 to 70 miles without stopping. Coupled with these staying qualities, it was the custom with some of the Zulu kings to kill all soldiers who returned defeated in battle. That left but two courses open to him--death or victory.

The Zulu has but a poor and varied quality of religion. Some select the sun as their guiding light, others a white bird, again hawks will appeal to him as being worthy to look up to. Unlike the Mohammedan, his knees are not calloused from kneeling to G.o.ds of any sort.

Missionaries claim to have 200,000 followers of the Christian religion, which is nearly one-quarter of the Zulu population--one million. People who live in black countries place little credit to the native for having adopted the European faith. In fact, there is a prejudice against the mission native. If a man in South Africa were in need of two "boys," and two mission "boys" and two kraal "boys" had appeared for work at the same time, he would at once select the kraal "boys." When a native begins to wear shoes and a European hat, his usefulness as an employee generally proves of doubtful quant.i.ty. When he embraces the Christian religion he is limited to but one wife. That does not absolve him, however, from coming forward with the cows for his bride.

Zululand, and South Africa generally, is well looked after by European mounted police. The duty of the mounted police is to see that firearms do not find their way to the native; that whisky is not smuggled over the border; to learn if discontent exists that might turn into a revolution. The native police, unmounted, arrests natives for minor offenses, and tries to find out from his brother violations of the law that the white man could not know other than through his minion.

"Ba, ba" (father), is a native salute to a European. A bow always accompanies the words. It is customary to return the native's recognition, although some Europeans will not go to the trifling trouble to do so, which is discourteous, to say the least.

Should one be benighted, a European does not think twice as to whether he will go to a native's hut and sleep on the floor with the family.

In so doing he will be offered every hospitality.

Deadly, poisonous snakes are so numerous in this section that settlers carry with them a snakebite outfit. This consists of a strong cord, a syringe containing a poison antidote, and a small lance attached. In Zululand and Natal a rattle-snake is considered almost harmless. The puff adder, that coils itself in a pathway and is very sluggish, bites one by a backward spring. His fangs grow that way. He cannot bite after one has pa.s.sed him. Death shortly ensues from the bite of this reptile if not attended to at once.

A person will die in 20 to 30 minutes after being bitten by a mamba.

There are two kinds of this deadly snake--the green and black--but no difference in the quality of poison they inject into their victim.

Death from a mamba's bite is said to be an awful one. Sometimes the bitten person's head will burst and appear as a pumpkin would look when thrown with force on a stone. This will account for the settlers carrying the snakebite outfit. The cord is used to wrap around the member bitten above where the fangs entered, to keep the poison from getting further into the system; the lance is used to cut out a piece of flesh where bitten, and the syringe is used to inject the antidote accurately at the raw part of the member where the fangs stopped. This precautionary measure must be gone through within a couple of minutes or one will fall a victim to the mamba's fangs. The snakes grow in length from three to four feet.

"Wood and iron" houses--corrugated iron mostly--is the style of European homes seen in Zululand. This also will apply quite generally to the country districts of South Africa. A half dozen of these, one story high--a postoffice, three general stores, a court house and a hotel--are the buildings about which the commercial life of Melmoth centers. A church building is generally numbered among these groups, and always a graveyard out of proportion. Many of the hotels of Zululand are built somewhat on the kraal plan. The dining and sitting rooms--sometimes one room answers both purposes--are in a one-story "wood and iron" building. Many of the bedrooms--small houses resting on posts a foot to eighteen inches from the ground--are located a short distance from the main building, which they sometimes half-encircle. Each house, by part.i.tioning, contains several small bedrooms. The beds with which these rooms are furnished are generally half-size iron ones, and the light provided is often a candle.

"Keep to the native trail until you come to that clump of wattle trees," directed the driver of the post cart when ten miles from Melmoth on my return to Ginginhlovu. A printer who had got tired of the smell of printers' ink moved to Zululand to make his living in the dual capacity of farmer and trader. So, with a grip in my hand, I started over the Zulu trail to the clump of trees in the distance. I had not gone far when I heard a shout, but could not tell whence it came. It may be the natives telegraphing the start of an uprising, I mused. "Halloa!" was again heard, and, looking in another direction, a wide-brimmed hat was looming over the arch of a gra.s.sy hill. It was the printer. The post cart driver had "set me down," as a Britisher would say, at the wrong trail.

"The natives wouldn't sell me any chickens when I first came here, so I wouldn't sell them any goods unless they paid for them with chickens," was one of the difficulties the printer-trader recounted in his effort to hew his way in Zululand.

"Sarah," addressing his wife, "come with us this afternoon while we visit the natives' huts, as you can speak the language better than I,"

obligingly suggested the st.u.r.dy trader, who had beaten freight trains over the United States, sailed before the mast, and had tramped the desert of West Australia to the gold mines at Coolgardie.

Through the trader's wife we chatted with the Zulu women hoeing corn, with their pickaninnies on their backs. Later we squeezed through the small entrances into hut after hut. The lady of the Zulu home explained how the natives winnowed the mealy meal by blowing the dust or bran from it with their breath when pa.s.sing from the hands, to lodge in a wooden bowl under; how they stirred the meal; explained their scanty washing outfit, how the wives got along together, and other interesting features of Zulu life. After spending several interesting days at the printer-trader's home, it was time to say good-by; and I left with a keen feeling of indebtedness for the unstinted hospitality and kindness shown me.

"I've kept my word--I've got the eggs!" remarked Graham when we had pulled up at his place for luncheon on the return trip.

With pages left unwritten of the Zulu, the strongest, most intelligent and best built tribe of the Bantu race, we will leave the sailor's place for Eshowe, take the post cart to Ginginhlovu, and return by rail to Durban.

CHAPTER IV

My first introduction to South Africa railway travel took place on my initial trip to Johannesburg. The compartment type of corridor carriage, as pa.s.senger coaches are termed, with an aisle at the side, similar to that of Great Britain, is in use. Meter gauge--3 feet 6 inches--is the standard of that country, 14 inches narrower than what is known as "standard gauge"--4 feet 8 inches--in the United States and in some of the European countries. The narrow s.p.a.ces of the compartment (6 by 6 feet) inclined one to wish for a two person seat.

Two out of a filled compartment have direct access to a window--the two pa.s.sengers whose seats are the outside end ones. Most travelers have seats reserved, in some instances a week in advance, their names being written on a card on the outside of the car at the compartment a.s.signed.

Compartments in the railway coaches are heated with what is called foot-warmers--that is, sometimes the compartment will be provided with this device. The foot-warmer is an iron pipe, two feet long, eight inches wide, three inches thick, and filled with hot water. The foot-warmer is all right when there are but two persons in a compartment, or when two foot-warmers are supplied and four persons occupy a compartment, but when six or eight pa.s.sengers occupy a compartment--well, 16 pa.s.sengers' feet cannot get on four feet of piping. That is the only means of heating pa.s.senger coaches in South Africa.

In some respects accommodation is better on South African trains than in the United States and Europe--every pa.s.senger having a place to sleep, for instance. Six persons can sleep in a compartment, but five is generally the maximum number a.s.signed, the extra berth being reserved for hand baggage. Frequently, when travel is light, one has a compartment to himself. The back of the compartment against which one leans while riding is portable, and when pulled out straight is fastened at each end. Above that shelf, or berth, is another. The same applies to the opposite side of the compartment, which, with seats on each side, termed the lower berths, make six in all--three on each side. These berths, or sleeping shelves, are two feet wide and upholstered. Travelers generally carry with them a cushion and blanket, or rug, as it is termed, which is used for sleeping purposes.

The bedding furnished by the railway cost 60 cents. If one is traveling two nights in succession the bedding is rolled up by a steward in the morning and put on the top shelf of the compartment, where it remains during the day, and is taken down the second night for use. Sixty cents for two nights--30 cents a night. Meals on the train are very reasonable. Breakfast and luncheon costs 50 cents and dinner 60 cents. So, paying but 60 cents for a bed, as it were, and not more than 60 cents for a meal, one finds a great reduction in traveling expenses in South Africa compared to what is charged for the same service in the United States. Railroad fare is higher, however, than in America, the second cla.s.s rate being three and four cents a mile, and first-cla.s.s six cents a mile. A hundred pounds of baggage is allowed a pa.s.senger. The schedule is slow compared with that in England and on some roads in America, twenty-five miles an hour being as fast as trains run. Long delays take place at stations, for when a pa.s.senger train stops it often seems as if it had been abandoned.

From Durban to Pietermaritzburg, a distance of 70 miles, an elevation of 3,000 feet is ascended. Some cultivated land is seen from the train, but gra.s.sy, timberless hills, with smoke and flames from prairie fires showing here and there off the railway, is what a stranger notices continuously.

Pietermaritzburg, the capital of Natal, was first settled by the Dutch. The town hall, postoffice, and government buildings are imposing structures. In addition, one finds a small museum, botanical garden and good city parks, an electric railway system and a good railway station. One is surprised when visiting small cities located so far out of the world, as it seems, to find them so up to date.

Locally, the place is called, for short, Maritzburg.

The Voortrekkers' Church is a historical monument to, and a solemn reminder of, the terrible sufferings of the Voortrekkers during the dark days between the ma.s.sacres by the hordes of Dingaan, the Zulu king, of over 600 men, women and children, in February, 1838, and the eventful overthrowing of Zulu power, at Blood River, in December of the same year. The ma.s.sacre of Piet Retief, leader of a colony of Boer emigrants, and some of his band by the native despot at the head kraal, and the slaughter of his followers at Weenen, which immediately followed, is closely identified with the erection of the church.

Retief and some of his followers had been led to believe that Dingaan wished to make friends of them. While in the king's kraal, they were seized and ma.s.sacred. Andries Pretorius, with 450 men, some months later, started on an expedition to avenge the ma.s.sacre. Religious services were held every day during the march of the expedition, and a vow was made by Pretorius' party that, if they came out victorious in battle with the bloodthirsty and perfidious Zulu king, a church to the honor of G.o.d would be erected. Pretorius and his burghers met the Zulu forces at a river then unnamed. Fifteen thousand natives were arrayed against 450 Boers. After several hours' fighting the Zulus fled, leaving behind 5,000 dead and wounded. The river was said to be red with the blood that flowed from wounded natives, and that stream has since been known as Blood River. Dingaan's Day, December 16, one of the national holidays in South Africa, is observed in honor of the bravery of Pretorius and his followers and the avenging of the foul ma.s.sacre of Piet Retief and his band of emigrants. The church promised by Pretorius was built in 1841, three years later.

Maritzburg natives are mostly Basutos, the only tribe in South Africa that white troops have never conquered. Most of Basutoland is situated in the Drakensburg Mountains, some parts of which contain rich land.

They have a king, and are said to be wealthy. Europeans cannot travel in Basutoland without permission from the ruler or some high native officer. A large amount of firearms and munitions of war is said to have been smuggled into their country. The Basuto is feared by all in South Africa, and that will explain why Basutoland is for Basutos only.

Now we travel northward to Ladysmith, pa.s.sing Spion Kop south of the Siege City. Ragged turrets and spires are still to be seen, bearing gaping evidence of the days of suffering, hunger and fear that the brave besieged underwent in the Boer war. Historical Majuba Hill next comes in view, with Mount Prospect opposite. A tunnel has been bored through the land lying between Majuba and Mount Prospect, known as Laing's Nek. We travel over rough territory for a while, then find ourselves on the high veld, having left the Drakensburg mountain range behind. Continuing to Charlestown, on the south bank of the Vaal River, and crossing the river to Voxburg, we pa.s.sed out of Natal and were in the Transvaal.

"When do we scoff?" asked a pa.s.senger, at one stage of the journey.

The term being a strange one, "I don't know" was what a stranger would reply. "Luncheon is ready" announced a train steward just then as he pa.s.sed the compartment. "Let's go and scoff. I'm hungry," said the South African. "Scoff," in South Africa, has the same meaning here as "grub" in the United States.

The River Vaal is the boundary line between the Transvaal Province, Natal Province and the Orange Free State. The meaning of "Transvaal"

is, across the Vaal--trans-Vaal.

On we go over the gra.s.sy veld, or prairie, seeing very little cultivated ground, but cattle are grazing here and there. They are a brand peculiar to South Africa; their horns grow from two to three feet, their legs in keeping with the long horns, but their bodies are narrow and of light weight. The most productive feature of the veld were ant-hills, ranging in size from a water bucket to a hogshead.

Thousands of these, as far as the eye could reach, mar the green landscape as freckles or small-pox mark an unblemished skin.

The railroad from Durban to Johannesburg is the crookedest one might ride over. To save building a small bridge, the track turns for miles before it gets back to a straight line. When the railway was built the contractors were paid by the mile. Were the road constructed on ordinary scientific lines, the distance between the two cities could be reduced fifty miles. Yet, neat, well-built, attractive stations, surrounded with flower beds, were pa.s.sed all the way.

Over the freckled veld we rolled, with Johannesburg in the distance.

The sky was clear, as most always, on the highlands of the Transvaal.

We had traveled to over 6,000 feet above sea level. Objects in the distance became less distinct--a haze seemed to gather. It was the smoke from the gold mines on the great Gold Reef--

"Johannesburg!"--"Johannesburg!" a train guard announced.

A well built business city is the impression made by this great gold center of the world. A long street, with all the business of the city centered in it, one would expect to find on reaching Johannesburg.

That is the style of some of our western mining towns. Instead, here are buildings, five to eight stories in height, of stone, brick, and steel, some of them a city block square in dimension, with arcades leading from one street to another; large plate gla.s.s windows where goods are attractively displayed; elevators and steam heat appliances--all centralized in a s.p.a.ce five squares in extent. This is the retail section of Johannesburg. The great banking and mining companies' buildings--splendid structures, all of modern architecture--are situated half a dozen squares from this center. The financial district is a busy place.