The White Chief of the Caffres

Careful as we had been to cover our feet with mud, still we must have left some scent; for the elephant came on very slowly, blowing through its trunk and shaking its great ears as it listened for some sound. At last it strode forward and came exactly beneath me, and, aiming at its back just clear of the backbone, I discharged one of my arrows with all my force. Immediately the elephant felt the prick of the arrow it gave a sharp cry and moved rapidly forward. It then stood still, listening, and apparently watching for some enemy, but it could not see us in the tree. After a short time it gave another and different cry, and immediately several other elephants, some large, some very small, shuffled along under the tree. One of these was a very large elephant with great tusks, and as it passed I sent an arrow into its back, which caused it to cry out just as the first had done. We counted about forty elephants in the herd, among which were three very large bull-elephants with large tusks. The herd went through the bush to the watering-place in the marsh, but did not return by the same path that they had followed on going to the marsh. So we did not see them as they came back.

As soon as it was light we descended from the tree, and found ourselves very stiff after sitting so long on the branches. After moving about a little we got all right, and then agreed that we should follow the trail of the two elephants that I had hit with my poisoned arrows.

The first thing to be done was to examine the feet-marks of these two elephants. Now the under part of the foot of an elephant is not smooth, but is marked by several small cracks; consequently when the elephant treads on soft ground, it leaves a kind of plan or map of its foot. The plans of no two elephants’ feet are exactly alike, so that when you have once studied the plan of a particular foot, you can recognise the footprint when you see it in another place. It is just the same with the inside of the thumb and top joint of each person’s finger. The grain of the skin makes a sort of pattern, and it rarely happens that this pattern of each finger is the same; and it still more rarely happens that the fingers of two people are alike. Having examined several good impressions of the two elephants’ feet, we went quickly out of the bush, walked along the edge of the marsh, and then entered the bush again at the place where the elephants had re-entered it. It was easy to follow the elephants along the path they had made as they first entered the bush, for along this they walked one after the other; but when we had gone some distance into the bush, we found that the elephants had separated, some going one way, some another. They had also stopped to feed, and had broken off some very large branches from their favourite trees. We now set to work to follow the footprints of the two elephants that I had struck with the arrows. It was very difficult at first, as the ground was very hard, and covered with dead leaves; so that we could not obtain a good impression of the feet for some time, and we were puzzled at first. At length we found an ant-bear’s hole in the ground, and near this the elephants had trodden on the loose earth, and we then recognised the footprints of the largest elephant that I had hit. We followed this elephant very cautiously, for he had separated himself from the others – a sign, as my companions said, that “Inglovu efar” (the elephant was ill), especially as it was evident he had not eaten, there being no branches broken along his track. After following the track during about a quarter of the day, we came so close to the elephant that we could hear him. Sometimes he would make a low rumbling sound, at others he would blow through his trunk, and then knock his tusks against the stem of a tree. All these acts were indications of his being very uneasy, and I hoped the poisoned arrow had begun to do its work. We sat down in the bush listening to the elephant, and ate some of our corn; for I had determined to follow this elephant for days, if possible, in order to find whether he died or lived. The elephant stood quiet in the bush about as long as it took the sun to move ten times its own diameter in the sky, and then it again moved slowly forward, selecting the densest parts of the bush to move through. About every hundred paces it stopped, and remained quiet for a little time, and then moved slowly on again. All these proceedings delighted my Caffre companions, who declared the elephant was very sick. During the whole of the day we followed this elephant, and when the night came we ascended a tree, and slept a little; but as we could hear a leopard calling in the bush, and several bush-pigs were under the tree, we were mostly on the watch. The night was fine, though there was a heavy dew; and though we felt it very cold we did not like to go down on the ground to light a fire for fear of the leopard. As soon as it was light enough to distinguish the tracks, we again followed our elephant. He had travelled during the night, but had gone very slowly; and we saw some marks on the stem of a large tree that showed the elephant had leaned against this, as though he could scarcely stand.

We had moved through the bush very quietly and slowly, stopping every now and then to listen, and also to look all round us; for if we had come on this elephant very suddenly he might have charged us, and, before we could have escaped, he might have caught us and probably killed one of us. Tembile told me that when an elephant caught a man, he pushed him to the ground with his trunk, and then either knelt on him or thrust his tusks into him, and also would push him down and get him between his front and hind feet, and kick him backwards and forwards till he killed him. So, with this description of the elephant’s proceedings, which I afterwards found was quite correct, we thought it best to be very cautious in our approach to the animal.

The sun had risen its highest in the sky, when we sat down to rest and to listen; for we knew that we were close to the elephant, as the footprints were quite fresh. We talked in whispers and avoided any noise, whilst we were on the alert for any sound that should indicate the whereabouts of the elephant. As we sat quietly thus waiting, Inyoni pointed upwards, and gave a grunt of delight: we looked up and saw a vulture slowly circling in the sky and nearly above us. “Elephant going to die,” said Inyoni; “vulture knows it.” We immediately followed on the elephant’s tracks, and, after advancing about two hundred paces, we heard a noise in front of us, and saw the elephant lying on its side, whilst every now and then it swung its trunk about and struck the bushes, thus making the noise we had heard. The elephant was dying, its vast frame overpowered by the subtle poison of the Bushman’s arrow. We kept at a short distance from the animal and watched it, as it gradually got weaker and weaker, and at length lay motionless. We then went close up to it, and found that it really was dead. It was a monster with great tusks as big round as my thigh, and as it lay on the ground it was far higher than I was as I stood up.

“The other elephant must be dead too,” I said, “for I hit that also with an arrow.”

“Yes,” replied my companions, “and we shall find that too: perhaps vultures will show us where it is, if we watch.”

We now agreed that Tembile should go as quickly as he could to our village, and call all the people to come and cut up the elephant, whilst Inyoni and I kept watch near it. So Tembile started off, whilst we who remained agreed to sleep turn and turn about, as we were both very tired.

I had a good sleep, and then Inyoni lay down whilst I kept watch. I could not keep my eyes from the dead elephant which lay a few paces from us. It looked such an enormous creature, that I could hardly believe its death had been caused by so trifling a wound as that given by the small arrow; but the poison used by the Bushmen is powerful beyond belief, and they kill all animals with their arrows.

As I sat listening for any sounds of the approaching Caffres, I heard a slight crack in the bush, then another and a louder crack; and I knew these noises must be caused by elephants, for the Caffres glide through the bush without making any noise. I awoke Inyoni, and we were soon convinced that the elephants were approaching us. My companion was alarmed, as he seemed to think the elephants were hunting us in order to revenge themselves on us. We crept through the bush to a large tree, and climbed this quickly, getting up so high that no elephant could reach us.

We had reached our place of safety, when we saw the first elephant approaching us: this was a cow, and it was following the track of the bull that was now dead. After this cow came about forty other elephants of various sizes. They came along with a sort of shuffling gait, stopping every now and then to listen and sniff the air, and then to move forward again. When they came to the spot where we had sat down, they smelt the ground, and then raising their trunks sniffed all round. Their attention, however, was soon attracted to the dead elephant, which they approached and touched with their trunks, several of them uttering sharp cries as though they wished to wake him. After a few minutes, however, they seemed to know that he was dead, as they moved away from him and stood looking at him, whilst they flapped their great ears and seemed very uneasy. Suddenly, as though suspicious of danger, the large cow-elephant uttered a shrill trumpet and dashed off through the bush, recklessly smashing the small trees and branches in her course. She was followed by the whole herd, and we could hear them as they forced their way through the underwood, the sounds becoming fainter and less audible until all was again quiet.

We remained in our tree, for we could not tell whether more elephants might not come, and on the ground we were in danger. All was quiet, however, for a long time, until we heard the slightest movement of some leaves; and then we saw Tembile, followed by Inyati and all the men and boys of our village. We whistled to them, and, descending the tree, told them what we had seen. We talked in whispers and then went up to the dead elephant and examined it. The reed portion of my arrow had been broken off, but the barb containing the poison was buried deep in the elephant’s flesh, and thus the poison had circulated rapidly and had caused the monster’s death.

Inyati with his assagy at once cut out this barb and a large portion of the flesh round it, and he then said we might safely eat the remainder of the animal, which would not be affected by the poison.

A scene was then commenced which I shall remember to my last day. About twenty Caffres set to work at the elephant, cutting the flesh off, and piling it in heaps near the animal, by the aid of hatchets; the tusks were cut out of the elephant’s jaws, and were so heavy that one man could only just lift one. It took a comparatively short time to cut the animal to pieces, and to take off all its flesh, which was then divided into portions, the boys being given small weights to carry, whilst the men took larger and heavier weights. We then commenced our march through the bush, and before sunset we reached our village, at which we were received with shouts of rejoicing by the old men and females. Notice had been sent to the next village that another elephant was supposed to be dead, and the men of that village had watched the vultures, and had succeeded in finding the second elephant lying dead in the bush, and had cut this one up in the same manner as we had done with the first elephant I had killed. Elephant’s flesh, although tough and unsavoury, is still eaten greedily by the Caffres. They are so fond of their cattle, and like to see a large herd near their kraals, that they will not kill an animal unless on some special occasion, such as a marriage, or a victory; so that a feast of flesh is a rare treat, and there is not usually any complaint about the toughness or want of flavour of the meat. As it was usual to have a great dance and general feast when any such event as slaying an elephant had occurred, invitations were sent to all the kraals near, to invite the neighbours to partake of the elephant’s flesh.

Before the evening on which the feast was to occur, there had assembled nearly all the Caffres from ten miles round. There were some fine fellows among them, several young men six feet high, and as active as leopards, who could run ten miles without stopping, and who could walk from sunrise till sunset without tiring. They all brought their assagies, and shields, as well as their knob-kerries, and were dressed in their dancing dresses.

News was also brought us about the elephants. There was now no fear of their destroying the gardens, as they had again taken up their residence in the forests about Natal. This was good news to all the Caffres about us, and was celebrated by one of the largest dances I had ever seen. There were more than a thousand men assembled, all in full war-costume, each with a shield, a knob-kerrie, and five assagies. They danced and ate, and danced again and ate again, during the whole night. To me was given the honour and glory of having killed the elephants, and I had to enter the centre of the ring of men, and describe and act the whole scene. I told how we climbed the tree; how I heard the elephants coming; how I sent my arrow first into one then into the other elephant; how these elephants paid no attention to so small a thing as an arrow, fired by me, a boy; but how this arrow was stronger than the elephant, and at last killed him. I went through all the movements of creeping through the bush on the track of the elephant, sitting down to listen, and at length seeing the elephant. I then lay on the ground just as did the elephant, and swung my arm about to imitate the movements of the animal’s trunk, and at length died just as did the elephant.

The shouts and dancing after this performance were of the most exciting description, and lasted for a long time. When, suddenly, a very old chief came into the centre of the circle, and raising his arm to command silence, spoke in a loud clear voice words of which the following is a translation: —

“My people, we have been delivered from the elephants; the elephants that have often destroyed our corn, and brought us to starvation. And how have we been delivered? Not by two hundred warriors armed with assagies, many of whom were killed by the elephants; not by digging holes, and the elephants tumbling into them; but there have been two large elephants killed by our white companion who came out of the sea. He alone thought out of his own head how to kill the elephants, and though very young, has the mind of an experienced chief and the courage of a warrior. We have held a council and have decided that he be from this time forth a chief, and that he be called ‘Umkunkinglovu.’ What say you, men?”

A tremendous shout was given by the assembled crowd at the termination of this speech; and then one of the oldest warriors came into the ring, and placed round my neck a necklace made out of leopards’ claws, whilst all the men called out “Inkosi!” The dancing and feasting were then continued till the first sign of daylight appeared, when we all retired to our kraals to rest.

On the following morning I met the old warrior who had put the necklace on me, and sat down talking to him. He was very anxious to hear where I had come from, and was much interested in the accounts I gave him of India. He was puzzled to know how it was possible that our ships found their way over the sea. There were no paths, he said, and the waves were always altering their shape, so that he could not tell how they got on. I told him that the men found their way by the sun and stars, but this he could not comprehend. After some time I asked him to tell me all he knew about his own people, and where they came from. He thought for some time, and then gave me the following account. Spreading his two hands on the ground he lifted the little finger of his left hand and said, “That me.” He then raised the next finger and said, “That my father.” He then raised the next and said, “That his father;” and so he went on, to the thumb of the left hand, giving father after father. “All these lived here,” he said. Then he raised the thumb of his right hand, and said, “That father lived in Zulu country, and quarrelled with great chief there, and came down here.”

“But how did those other fathers live?” I enquired.

He raised four more fingers, and pointing to the last said, “That father live other side of the sun.”

By this, I have since learned that he meant the other side of the equator, or up near Somali.

“That father and all his people have great fight; too many people there, so they come down slowly, and at last live in Zulu country. Those fathers had strange animals that they used to ride on, and which went as fast as an ostrich, but all these died as they came down country.”

I understood from this that he meant his people formerly owned horses.

“Then,” he continued, “we break up, some stop one place, some another – we come here.”

The old chief thus made out ten fathers, and, taking four generations for a hundred, it made out that, about 250 years previously, the Caffres must have resided not far from Nubia.

Two days after our feast all the Caffre visitors had gone home, and we had settled down again to our usual quiet life.