With considerable difficulty I dragged this snake out of my hut and pushed it down the sloping side of the bluff, and into the water, where the tide carried it out, and it probably became a feast for shark, which were in great numbers outside the harbour.
A few days passed after my adventure with the python, and nothing extraordinary happened. I had succeeded in capturing two red bush-buck, which supplied me with animal food; but the oysters on the rocks and the fish I secured when the tide was low, in the various pools, afforded me plenty to eat. I should certainly have liked some Indian corn, but I did not dare venture near any of the kraals which were in the neighbourhood, for fear I might not be well-treated by the Caffres, or might be seen by some of the Zulus who, I still believed, were lurking in the neighbourhood.
People who have passed their lives amidst scenes of civilisation are not aware of the patience which so-called savages can practise without doing anything unusual. A Caffre will sit for a whole day and watch for a buck to come to some pool to drink; or he will set a trap every evening for a month, on the chance of capturing some animal; and never gives up after repeated failures, as a white man would do. Knowing these peculiarities, I believed it possible that the Zulus would wait a month even, rather than give up the chance of capturing me.
About a week after my escape from the snake, I woke one morning in consequence of hearing a sea-eagle screaming. Two or three of these eagles used to fish in the bay, and were splendid birds. I always noticed that whenever I appeared on the shore, one of these birds gave a shrill warning sort of scream; so, immediately I heard the bird, I crept out of my hut to look round, in order to see if anything was visible on the shores of the bay. From close beside my hut was a very good look-out station, from whence I had a very good view of the shore, from the Point to the Berea bush and the Umslatazane river. I scanned this shore carefully, and after a time saw a man in a tree, evidently examining the bluff where I was. I looked round to see if any smoke was coming from the embers of my fire, for such a circumstance would at once have exposed my whereabouts. Luckily none was visible; so, keeping watch, I turned my attention to this one man. After a time he descended the tree, and then from out of the bush came more than fifty Caffres. At first I could not discover whether they were Zulus or Natal Caffres. Each of the two tribes were armed alike with assagies and shields, but the esikoko (the ring round the head) was higher with the Zulus than with the Natal Caffres; and by this peculiarity I discovered at last that it was a party of Zulus; and, from their movements. I had no doubt they were in search of me, as they repeatedly stopped and pointed to the bluff. As this party advanced along the shore, to a point opposite that on which was my hut, I thought out what was the best course for me to adopt. The Zulus would have to swim across the channel in order to land near where my hut was situated; and, if I had only been backed with two or three men with guns, I could have defied the whole of this party, and either shot them as they were swimming or when they landed. To adopt this plan single-handed would, I knew, be useless. I might shoot perhaps half a dozen of them, but the others would close in on me and assagy me before I could reload. If they did not do this, they would lie in ambush; and when I moved near them, would assagy me when my back was turned. It would not do, therefore, to stop and fight. Having come to this conclusion, I waited to see the chief of this party order his men into the water, so that they should swim across the channel. I then crept back to my hut to get my gun and ammunition and two assagies. I concealed the other assagies and scattered the embers of my fire, so that the Zulus should not by that know how lately I had been there. I then walked backwards for some distance, and, scrambling down the sea-face of the bluff, reached the shore; and, keeping as much as possible on the rocks, so as to leave no footmarks, I started at a run towards the west. My intention was to make for the Umbilo river, and work up this to the Berea bush. There was an immense amount of cover in the Berea, and elephant-paths in numbers. If I could conceal my trail I might remain in this bush for a long time without being discovered. There were plenty of berries also that were good to eat, and water would not fail me. Once on my trail, I knew the Zulus too well to doubt their searching for me for weeks; but near the Umlass river were Caffres who would soon dispose of these fifty Zulus. But I did not want to be again taken among any tribe of Caffres. My instincts now induced me to wish to rejoin white men. A little savage life for a change is agreeable; too much of it soon tires a man who has once enjoyed civilisation.
I did not fear being overtaken by the Zulus; for they would ascend the steep bluff to my hut very cautiously, and would then be some time before they hit off my trail, so I had a good long start of them. What I did fear, however, was that some outlying party might be concealed along the ridge of the bluff; and from these it would be difficult to escape, as I should probably come on them within assagy-throw before I saw them. In cover, the man who remains still has an immense advantage over another who is moving about. The man who moves cannot do so without making a noise; and, in cover, where the extent of one’s vision is limited, the ears often discover what the eyes cannot perceive. All animals which live in the forest, therefore, possess large ears, which enable them to hear well all that is going on round them. The leopard, bush-cat, etc, remain still and watchful when in the forest and watching for their prey. If they moved about, even their stealthy tread would be audible, and the animal which they wished to capture would be alarmed, and would escape. I knew the danger I incurred in moving through the bush, but there was no help for it.
Chapter Thirteen.
I had made my way along the coast till I was past the Umbilo river, and was crossing some tolerably open ground, when I saw before me a large party of Caffres. I halted to examine them, and instantly saw that they were not Zulus. Although I did not wish to again join any tribe, and perhaps be compelled to remain with them, yet a few friends to back one up, when pursued by an armed party of Zulus, would do one no harm. I at once made up my mind to advance to this party and claim their protection. As I approached them they uttered exclamations of surprise, and one man came forward quickly, and when near enough to be recognised, I saw he was a young chief called Eondema, who had fought with me when I came into this country with the Umzimvubu Caffres against the Zulus. Eondema expressed the greatest surprise at seeing me, and began asking me a multitude of questions. I, however, told him there was no time to talk now, as I was pursued by a party of Zulus, and that we must be prepared either to run, or to stop and fight. On looking at the party with Eondema, I believed them equal in numbers with the Zulus; and as I possessed my gun and plenty of ammunition, I had no fear of our side getting the worse of a battle. Eondema spoke to his men, and they all agreed to fight; and the only thing, therefore, to be done now was to make our plans, so that we should take the Zulus at a disadvantage. The rapidity with which arrangements were made showed that Eondema’s young men were well-trained: the plan was to divide the party into two divisions, each concealing themselves in the bush. I remained with Eondema, and informed him that I intended to shoot the chief of the party as a commencement, and then the most formidable-looking men among the enemy. We had sent two men to the front in order to look out and give us due notice of the approach of the Zulus; for I had no doubt that, however much care I had taken to conceal my spoor, yet these keen-eyed men would soon find my footprints, and follow them up just as truly as would a bloodhound. Our preparations having been made, I was able to talk to Eondema, and to tell him how I happened to be at this place. I described my life among the Zulus and my escape from them; also the manner in which the white men had been killed by the Zulus, and my escape from the water. Then how I had feared to move from the bluff where I had made my hut, lest I should fall into an ambush; and then I told him how I had been awakened by the cry of the sea-eagle, and had seen the Zulus preparing to cross the channel and get to the bluff. I accounted for the Zulus knowing where I was, by a small quantity of smoke from my fire having risen on the evening previously. This had no doubt been seen, and as smoke will not rise without a fire, and as fire cannot usually be kindled except by man, the suspicions of these men had been raised, and so they were determined to examine the bluff and see who was there.
Now a Zulu in a very short time would be able, from the signs near my hut, to read a history of my proceedings. He would see where I had opened the oysters on the rocks, where I had caught fish, where I had left the bones of the buck I had killed; and, in fact, would know what I had done as correctly as though he had seen me each day. The Zulus consequently would know I was alone, and that to capture me was not a difficult task. It was about three miles from my hut to the place where I had met Eondema and his party, and this distance would soon be passed over by the Zulus, even when following a trail; so that at any moment we might see our look-out men signal to us that the enemy was in sight. Although Eondema and I were talking, we yet carried on our conversation in so low a tone that no one could hear us who was three times our length from us.