This completing the review the feast commenced, which I need not recount, so therefore shall pass it over. The successful issue of this raid upon his enemy had so good an effect upon Metilulu, that he proposed a large slaughter of animals should take place, so as to make a grand feast—which meant every Kaffir was to have as much as he could eat, and, if the reader recollects the account I have already given of their capacity in that line, he will see that the quantity of provisions necessary to be provided would be great indeed.
It must not be thought that the generous fit of Metilulu extended so far as to the slaughtering his own cattle for the occasion; on the contrary, he meant the slaying of a good many head of game. To render this easy a large pit or hopo was dug in the neighbourhood of a frequent resort of the animals we required; from this diverged two strongly made fences, expanding one to the left the other to the right, till the farther extremities were nearly a mile apart.
The above method of entrapping animals has, I am aware, been frequently described before, for it is a custom practised in many parts of Africa; but having been an actor in this one myself, I should like here to recount it to my readers.
Most of the kraal joined the hunters, for many were required, and when we drew near the spot, orders were given to disperse ourselves so as to enclose a large space of bush. This being performed, by shouts and flourishes of our assagais we began to beat up the game, and drive the startled animals who sprang forth before us in the direction of the hopo. Few creatures, as I believe, I have remarked previously, will attack a party of men unless urged on by extreme hunger, thus even those of a more ferocious nature than the eland or gemsbok flew before the shrieking Kaffirs, who appeared like so many fiends broken loose, and never shall I forget the scene that ensued; the fleet eland, the gemsbok, the small graceful duiker bok, the gnoos, the zebras, and even here and there an elephant and a buffalo, all in one pell-mell frighted herd, fled on, in hope of safety, but, in fact, only hurrying to their sure destruction. Occasionally they would attempt to break the fences, but armed Kaffirs placed behind them would drive them back. The mouth of the hopo had been concealed by tree-trunks and branches, so that the creatures never perceived the trap laid, till, owing to the velocity of their speed, there was no drawing back, but with a plunge the first ranks disappeared, and the rest bounded upon the top of them. So when I reached the hopo I found it full of miserable, struggling, howling life, awful to see. Legs, bodies, and heads were in an inextricable mass, the pit being so crammed that the remainder of the animals had used it as a path to pass over and escape again to the cover of the bush.
Then into the heaving mass the hunters began to throw assagai after assagai, killing the uppermost, and leaving the under ones to be suffocated by the blood and weight, which speedily must have taken effect. When all had been rendered harmless, one by one the slaughtered beasts were raised by the aid of poles, and with songs of rejoicing—for, having captured nearly forty head of game, the hopo was considered most successful—we returned to the kraal, where preparations for a grand cooking had been made.
After the feasting had abated and much joila had been drunk, I saw one of the best dances I had yet witnessed in Caffraria—that is, more persons than usual joined in it, for as to figure one dance resembled another, each appearing to go through the performance according to his own taste and with the one idea, to show as much energy and agility as he possibly had in him.
The dancing girls had porcupine quills or hard thorns from the mimosa stuck erect in their woolly hair, and about their waists a leather belt covered in every part with beads, which barely answered the purpose of an apron, while their necks, arms, and legs were literally hidden by ornaments, they having apparently attired themselves in anything fine they possibly could procure—it being a sign of wealth; and there, as in other countries, the saying truly may be used, that pride is never pinched, for though the heavy weight of these beads, bones, shells, etc, must much incommode the dancers’ movements, yet not one of them would think of leaving a single ornament out of their toilette.
The dance commencing, the girls first formed themselves into a circle and began, only accompanied by the sound of their own voices, then, after a while, the warriors starting up, clashing their assagais on their shields—for to create as horrible a hubbub as possible seems the Kaffir’s particular delight—joined in the figure, first whirling round in an outer circle, then closing in and mingling together, never at any time ceasing to keep up the accompaniment of their clashing shields and shrill voices.
As usual their antics grew exceedingly violent, and as the evening was remarkably warm, the perspiration, I might say oil, rolled in greasy drops down the dancers’ faces, causing them some inconvenience, though each of the girls was provided with a long narrow piece of wood or bone, something similar to a blunt knife, with which she scraped the grease from her person wherever she felt it uncomfortable. I thought it was well, too, that the dances took place in the open air, and even then I was very glad to use my seaman’s knowledge, to keep to the windward of the performers.
Zenuta had once been one of the best dancers in the tribe, but, whether my words were taking effect in her heart, she now absolutely refused to join, for which I was not sorry, as I took care to tell her afterwards, and received a proud, happy smile from the poor girl’s eyes, for these dances do not conduce to the morality of the people, who seem to work themselves up to a perfectly mad frenzy, when they recognised no bounds to their desires.