The girls’ attire was little more than the men—when women or married they, on special occasions, wear a petticoat of some material, reaching to the knee, now this was absent—while their rough woolly hair was ornamented with bones, beads, and the spines of the white thorn. As for the children, they were as devoid of clothes as when they were born.
I had scarcely taken all this in, when a young Kaffir, whom I had seen sent away, returned; and no sooner had he delivered his message, than about half-a-dozen of my guards surrounding me, began to move on, the crowd falling back, yet still following and chattering like so many monkeys.
Proceeding nearly half round the kraal, we came to a hut of much larger dimensions than the others, while I observed on the thatch the skulls of several oxen to be fastened. The entrance was so low that I had to pass through on my hands and knees, preceded and followed by my guards. The first thing that struck me on putting my head in, was the exceedingly disgusting odour of the interior, most repulsive to the sensitive organs of the European.
The anxiety respecting my position, however, made me pay little heed to this; but rising to my feet I gazed round with some curiosity.
The interior walls were composed of hardened mud, the roof being supported by pillars, covered, to my surprise, by beads, and from which were hung shields, assagais, and gourds; while bunches of maize, much blackened by soot, were suspended from the roof. Around the sides of the hut were ranged rudely-made baskets, pitchers, and other culinary utensils, and on the floor, flattened to a perfect evenness and polish, were several sleeping-mats, constructed from animals’ skins.
On one of the latter, I was not surprised to see the fat Kaffir who had been present at the dance, and thinking it as well to be polite—even should they not understand the European fashion of being so—I made a most profound obeisance.
The chief having looked fixedly at me, addressed my guards who, I could tell by their manner and actions, were explaining how I had fallen into their hands. This coming to an end, with some dignity and much importance he spoke to me, whereupon, shaking my head, I gave him to understand that his language was unknown to me. Metilulu, for that I afterwards learned was his name, then gave an order to one of the attendants, who, quitting the hut, speedily returned with a young, rather good-looking Kaffir, possessing a figure like the marble statues I had seen in other lands and my own. He was indeed splendid, and I was admiringly examining this fine specimen of humanity, when I was startled by hearing myself addressed in my own tongue, though the pronunciation was queer. I found it was the young Kaffir who thus spoke. He stood between the chief and me, and said—
“The mighty Elephant, the pride of his tribe, says, are you European?”
“I am,” I answered, no little pleased to think that I could explain my position, and perhaps win their commiseration. “I am a shipwrecked sailor, who was cast on your land the evening before last.”
“You are not Boer?—you are not spy?” he continued suspiciously, after repeating my words to the chief.