The White Chief of the Caffres

by Alfred W. Drayson

It required great patience to lie for several hours in the bush, not daring to move; for, if I even frightened away a bird that had settled near me, the suspicions of the Zulus would be raised, and the bush in which I was concealed probably surrounded. The day passed very slowly; and, after a short time, not a Zulu was to be seen. I knew that this meant that they were all on watch in the bush; and I thought how easily ignorant white men, who knew nothing about spooring, or who never watched other indications, would be surprised and killed by these so-called savages. I knew that a large body of Zulus were in the bush near where the boat lay, because two or three vultures kept circling over the place. I also saw other vultures circling over the bush where the white men had been killed, and I was very much afraid that they might circle over me. If they did, I was lost. The sun seemed to move very slowly this day, but at last it touched the hills near the Umlass river, and soon after it became dark. I at once left the bush, and moved cautiously towards a marsh near the coast. It was by my ears I must now save myself, and perhaps by my legs. I moved through the long reeds of the marsh, and entered the bush beyond. In the darkness it was impossible to move silently in the bush; but I stopped occasionally to listen; and, hearing nothing, again advanced. I passed through the bush and came on the open beach, about a mile to the east of the entrance to the bay. I stopped again to listen, but could not hear any noise which indicated the presence of the Zulus; and, it was so dark, that I could see but a short way ahead or round me. Still advancing slowly and silently, I moved along the beach towards the point where the schooner was at anchor, when I saw before me a group of Zulus standing together talking in a very low tone. They saw me as soon as I saw them: and, calling to me, asked who I was. I replied in Zulu, “Don’t make a noise; I have news for you presently.” I then turned to the right, where there were several sand-hills between the beach and the bush—amidst which I should be lost to sight. The dense bush beyond also prevented the outline of my figure being seen against the sky; and I thus hoped to pass the Zulus and get a start of them. They, however, suspected something, and turned after me. Seeing that the only chance of escape was a run, I moved quickly among the sand-hills; and then jumping on to the hard beach, which was better suited for running, I dashed off at speed. I had no fear of any single Zulu catching me in a straight race, for I had beaten their best runner. What I dreaded was that another party might be on the beach in front of me, when I should be stopped by them. The noise I made in running would be sure to put a party on the alert; besides which the Zulus in rear who were chasing me now began shouting; a proceeding I knew they would not adopt unless they hoped to make known to some other parties that they were in pursuit of an enemy. The distance from where I began running to where the ship was, about three-quarters of a mile, I could run at speed, and now that I was running for my life there was no lack of energy. I found I was leaving the Zulus behind, and was now well beyond the reach of an assagy. I still kept on, however, and reached the beach some two hundred yards before the leading Zulu. I jumped into the water, and swam rapidly towards the schooner; but a new danger here threatened me. The night was very dark, and no one on shore could have seen me had it not been for the phosphorescence of the water. As I swam I left a trail of light behind me—like a rocket—and the Zulus, seeing this, threw their assagies at me; but, luckily, none struck me, or I probably should never have been able to relate my early history. I was soon beyond range of the spears, and then called to the men in the ship to lower a rope for me to climb on board. I was heard, and a rope with a bowling-knot at the end was lowered. In this knot I placed my feet, and was soon on board, when I told the white settlers and sailors what had taken place on shore. I also told them that I suspected the Zulus would try to get on board in the disguise of the men they had assagied, and that we must be prepared for them. Having given this information, I obtained some dry clothes and some food; and being now listened to with more attention, I made all arrangements for receiving the Zulus when they made their attempt to come on board as I felt sure they would. A careful watch was kept by two men, whilst the others were ready to jump up at the slightest noise. We had five double-barrelled guns on board, and several boat-hooks, which would serve as excellent weapons to keep off boarders. I believed the Zulus would try to surprise us, and to get on board under pretence of being white men, for they could not come in great numbers in the boat, so I had no fear of being overpowered.

The sailors proposed that, as soon as the wind was suitable, we should hoist sail and escape from the bay—certainly the most prudent thing to do; but there was a surf on the bar at present, due to the south-east wind that had been blowing for some days. And this surf rendered it dangerous to attempt to get out of the bay.

The greater part of the night passed, and not a sign of the Zulus was visible; but a short time before day break, and whilst it was still dark, one of the look-out men came below and called us all to come on deck, as there was a noise as of oars being used in a boat. We had made our plans, so as not to indicate we were on guard when the boat came alongside. So we all crouched under the bulwarks and thus concealed ourselves. The stream of light in the water made by the boat was soon visible, and very quickly it came along; the Zulus knew nothing about rowing, but they managed the oars very well, and brought the boat close to the schooner. They were dressed in white men’s clothes, but had their assagies and shields in the boat ready for use. I could not help admiring the daring of these men, and their obedience to the orders of their chief. They had killed several white men, and might have returned with their clothes as proofs of their success; but their orders were to kill all the white men, and they were now endeavouring to carry out these orders. But for our own safety we must kill them, and if possible obtain possession of the boat. When the Zulus were alongside, one man climbed on the shoulders of another, and thus reached to the bulwark, and in an instant was on board. As he came on the deck he was struck down, and the alarm at once spread. Instead of attempting to escape in the boat, the other Zulus tried to get on board by the same means; and each man was knocked down before he could use his assagies. As yet not a shot had been fired, but now, as one man only remained in the boat, he pushed off and would have escaped with the boat if we had allowed it, so one of the settlers fired and shot him. The boat was now drifting away, so I jumped over board, and swam towards it, and climbed in. On entering the boat I found that both the oars had fallen overboard, and I could not therefore row the boat; and as the tide was running out very rapidly I was being carried towards the bar. Now, inside the bar sharks were rarely if ever seen; but on the bar they were numerous, and I knew the boat would be upset when it reached the breakers on the bar, and I should have no chance, as the shark would soon pull me down. I therefore thought I must give up the idea of saving the boat; and must jump into the water and try to reach the schooner; but I saw in the water several streaks of light, which showed me that other Zulus had entered the water with the intention of assisting their friends, and several of these were between me and the ship. To have attempted to reach the ship, therefore, would have been a dangerous proceeding, as I should have been caught by several of the Zulus, and either drowned by them, or taken prisoner, and assagied. I struck out therefore for the opposite shore, where the Bluff of Natal, a high piece of land, stands, and soon reached the shore, where I concealed myself in the bush; and, being much fatigued with the exertions of the day, lay down and soon fell asleep.

I hoped when daylight came to swim back to the schooner, or signal to them to send me a boat; so I felt no anxiety about the morrow.

I awoke on the following morning from the heat of the sun, which was shining on me, and for a few seconds I was in doubt where I was and what had happened. I was stiff and uncomfortable from having laid down in my wet clothes, which were scarcely yet dry, in consequence of the heavy dew that had fallen; but I got up and worked my way carefully out of the bush to where I thought I should see the schooner. On reaching the shore I looked and looked again; no schooner was visible where she had been, I then noticed that the wind was blowing from the west—the favourable wind for a vessel to leave the harbour. I ran round the Bluff to the side next the sea, and there saw the schooner with all sails set, about five miles off. I then knew I was deserted by the white men, who probably thought I had been drowned, so that I was now the only white man remaining on this coast.

During the various adventures through which I had passed since the shipwreck years ago, I had never despaired or felt really unhappy: there was always some excitement going on, and my mind was occupied in planning various things either for sporting or other purposes. Now, however, a feeling came over me that I had never experienced before. Had I been better acquainted with the human body and its requirements, I should have at once attributed this effect to its proper cause. During the whole of the previous day I had eaten nothing, and had gone through much hard work and excitement. The depression that I suffered was more due to absence of food than to the causes by which I was surrounded, for when I had eaten I saw everything in a more hopeful light. Still I was in a bad way; for I possessed no weapon except a sailor’s knife, I had no food and did not know where to procure any, and I was probably surrounded by enemies.

I wandered down the rocks on the shore and gazed at the distant ship. I knew it was useless to signal, she was so far distant; yet I took off my jacket and waved it, till my arm was too tired even to lift above my shoulder. Then I sat down to think.

As I looked down I saw fixed on the rocks at my feet a shell which I at once recognised as an oyster, such as we used to procure at Bombay. With my knife I opened this, and ate this African shell-fish. On searching on the rocks I found hundreds of oysters, and was enabled to make a hearty meal. Trickling down the side of the bluff was also a little stream of fresh water. By gathering some large leaves of a plant like the banana, I allowed the water to accumulate in these, and my thirst was quenched. Growing on the shore also were some trees, bearing a fruit I well knew, and called by my old friends of the Umzimvubu the Martingula. It was very good to eat, and in size was similar to a plum, with a peculiar flavour. I also saw several bees, so I hoped to procure some honey, and there was consequently no fear of starving.

I thought it prudent not to show myself on the shore of the bay, for fear some Zulus might yet remain; though I anticipated that, as soon as they had seen that the schooner had sailed they would return to their own country with their proofs of victory.