5th October.—We have been going steadily on over open, undulating country, with a range of blue hills beyond a wooded plain on our left, and rolling downs of yellow veldt on our right. All the anxiety of conducting a column, which I have felt of late, is now off my mind, since water is to be found in every river bed; but our horses and mules are very tired and worn–out, the grass is all parched and practically useless as food, and yet there is no other to give them; the sun is powerful, and by eight o’clock the heat of the day is already beginning, the thermometer going up to 98 and 100 in the shade at midday. All the country through which we are now passing has surrendered, and it is quite a new sensation to see natives walking across the veldt and not to go for them, to see fresh spoor and not to let your heart jump with joy.
To–day we struck the Belingwe–Buluwayo road, and, following along it, we are passing through the Insiza Hills. This is a range of stony, thinly–bushed hills, where gold–reef claims are pegged out in every direction. Our night outspan is on the top of a hill among the burnt ruins of Stevenson’s Store; it does make one feel a little badly disposed towards our black brothers when one sees a comfortable home like this wantonly destroyed, its little household nicknacks scattered, broken, and burnt about the veldt. It was near one such ruined homestead as this that I found a poor little white chap of three years old, with his head battered, as these savages are fond of doing. After burying him, I kept one of his little shoes as a keepsake.
6th October.—We are once again in a country where an enemy is possible, which I much prefer to a half–and–half country, because here all ranks are apt to become slack in the precautionary duties of the line of march and camp. It is curious how new–comers fail to appreciate the necessity of precautions until they have been bitten or nearly bitten, and this they do in spite of all the teachings of history, such as Isandhlwana, the Prince Imperial, Bronker’s Spruit, and a half a hundred narrow shaves that have never become public. They look casually round the wide, bare horizon—not a soul in sight; ergo, they argue, not a soul is there. They do not know how a nigger hides; even the best troop of scouts in Matabeleland have been taken in in this way. An onlooker on a neighbouring hill, from which he commanded a bird’s–eye view of the scene, saw this body of scouts approaching a rise, and on the other side of the rise there was similarly a body of the enemy coming up towards the scouts, each party unseen by the other. The natives were first to see their enemy; they dropped like one man in their tracks, and lay low in the thick grass. The scouts came on over the rise without having seen them, and rode right past them, within fifty yards. So soon as they had been lost to sight over the next ridge, the natives rose to their feet and went on their way rejoicing. I myself once marked down a Matabele in a patch of grass; I walked through it, and had passed within a foot or two of him before I saw his heel, Achilles–like, left outside the tunnel which he had wriggled for himself in the grass.
New–comers take time to learn the value of spoor. Show them fresh spoor, and they will scarcely believe that it is that of the enemy, who should be somewhere in sight if he were not hiding, and, seeing nothing to be alarmed at themselves, they are apt to mistake discretion for funk, and foolhardiness for pluck; they think that precautions, to say the least, are derogatory; to see them saunter into danger, is as it were to watch a child playing on the edge of a cliff. It is that same foolhardiness that stands in the way of many men becoming good scouts; there are plenty who are ready, if asked, to go and look into hell’s mouth; but what one wants is a man who will not only go there, but who can see his way to getting back again to tell you what he saw. And to do this successfully he must be wary, and must notice all signs, however small, and be able to read their meaning.
A small incident which occurred to me the other day will give an example. I was out with a boy reconnoitring a hill occupied by enemy. In order to get a better view of it, we had to cross a difficult river, which lay between high, steep banks, and consisted of a chain of deep–water reaches and rocks, with only one practicable “drift,” or crossing. It was not a very safe proceeding to commit ourselves to one single line of retreat, but in this case there was no alternative.
So we crossed over, but kept, if possible, a more than usually bright look–out for enemy, while moving as far as we could under concealment of the bush ourselves. As we went, we took special note of guiding marks, such as would serve to direct us back to our crossing–place should we be obliged to make for it in a hurry. (This use of guiding marks, such as peculiar trees, noticeable rocks, etc., is too often neglected, and yet may often be invaluable).
We went on for about a quarter of a mile beyond the drift, and then, leaving the horses with the boy, I climbed up a koppie and got a view of the place.
So far, we had seen no niggers about, but presently, glancing back towards the drift, I saw three buck suddenly appear, coming as hard as they could away from the bush near the river and towards us. Presently they stopped, and, without noticing us, wheeled up and faced the way they had come, staring hard with pricked ears. For a moment or two they stood, and then, springing round, they dashed past us evidently fully alarmed. We did not wait to see what had startled them, but, clambering down the rocks, I mounted my horse, and we shoved back for the drift as fast as we were able, keeping our eyes “skinned” the while.
We got to the bank all right, and, looking into the gully that formed the river bed, were relieved to find it all clear; but, on looking back, we could now see a number of black heads and shoulders of niggers bobbing along among the rocks and bush, evidently hastening down to occupy the drift and to cut us off. Luckily, by acting on the hint given by the buck, we were before them, and were not long in getting across to the open ground on the other bank of the river.