When Westbeech, accompanied by a servant on horseback and a few Makalakas on foot, set out on his visit to Gubuluwayo, the rest of us proceeded on our way, but only for about three miles. We halted under a morula-tree, staying for the double purpose of purchasing corn and melons, and receiving the goat that Menon had promised us. We soon came upon a great assembly of Makalakas, and at first imagined that some festival was being celebrated. We were not long, however, in being informed that Menon was about to hold an assize, and that Z. was forthwith to be summoned to take his trial. And so it proved; Z. was sent for, and as the cause was to be tried in Sechuana, Jan Mahura was appointed to act as interpreter. The trial was of short duration, and Z. was adjudged guilty. Menon’s sentence was somewhat remarkable; it was to the effect that it did not matter whether the white man had really shot the Makalaka or not; it did not matter whether the gun had or had not gone off accidentally; the white man must make compensation, both to the dead man’s relatives and to himself, the dead man’s master.
Great was Z.’s alarm; his face turned crimson; he trembled with agitation; he began to assert his innocence with such volubility that Jan Mahura in vain tried to keep pace with him. At last, finding that the defendant was only damaging his own case, the interpreter took up the matter independently, and argued with such good effect, that in spite of the outcry of the relations of the deceased, Menon ruled that a fine should be inflicted, consisting of a coloured woollen shirt, a blanket, and seven pocket-handkerchiefs, instead of the musket and ammunition and the lot of woollen goods he had intended to demand. He insisted, moreover, that the shirt should fall to his own lot as arbitrator; and as soon as he received it, he doubled it up and was walking away quite content. But the relations were not to be pacified quite so easily; they flung the blanket and the handkerchiefs down before Z.’s feet, and abusing him vehemently as a murderer, made such an outcry that Menon was obliged to come back. Jan Mahura’s tact again proved adequate to the occasion. He whispered to Z. that he should offer blanket and handkerchiefs all to the chief, and so secure him as an ally. Menon accepted the contribution, sent all the complainants quickly to the right about, and thus put an end to the whole affair.
The Makalakas appear to have very much the same aptitude for pilfering as the Masupias have for conjuring, and I was told of a circumstance which may serve to illustrate their thievish propensities. An ivory-trader purchased a tusk of a party of them and stowed it away in his waggon; another party soon afterwards brought a second tusk, but they asked a price for it so much higher that the trader hesitated; they urged him to have it weighed, and in the middle of the weighing process another lot of Makalakas arrived bringing a third tusk. Meantime, the first tusk was being deftly abstracted from the waggon. The men represented that they were in a great hurry, and induced the trader to buy the two tusks together. Having got their payment, the sellers made their way off quickly into the woods. The trader carried off his new purchase to compare what he had just bought with the tusk he had left in the waggon, and his chagrin may be better imagined than described when he found that the ivory had disappeared, and that after paying for three tusks he was only in possession of two.
As ivory can only be sold by clandestine means, when the natives want to dispose of any of the contraband article they generally come to a traveller in a party, and while some of them carry on the negotiations, the others watch their opportunity for laying their hands upon anything and everything within reach. It may almost be affirmed that nothing is safe except it has been tied or screwed to the panels of the waggon. Their dishonesty, as I have said, is ingrained, so thoroughly has it been instilled into them or forced upon them by the Matabele. During any conversation with them it is advisable to keep them at a distance, and to take care that at least one servant is left on each side of the waggon, and that even he is prohibited from talking with them. When, however, they find themselves baffled, and obliged to retire without securing any plunder, or when any of them has been detected in a theft, they will go back to their people, and declare that it is of no use trying to rob the white man, because he has “a good medicine;” meaning that he possesses a charm which enables him to see what is going on in one place while he is engaged in another.
In addition to their other disgusting qualities all the Makalakas south of the Zambesi, especially those under Matabele rule, are indescribably dirty. With the exception of those who have been in service under white men, I believe the majority of them have not washed for years, and I saw women wearing strings upon strings of beads, several pounds in weight, of which the undermost layers were literally sticking to their skins.
Since their subjugation to the Matabele, their mode of building their huts has very much degenerated, and most of their little villages are not much better than collections of ruins. Some few of them may be said to be fairly industrious; but almost the sole remaining virtue at all conspicuous in this sunken people is their extreme modesty and decorum, which is hardly equalled in any other of the South African tribes.
Above the underwood through which we passed in the afternoon rose a great number of granite hills, varying from twenty to seventy feet in height, and either pyramidal or conical in form. The further we advanced along the bank of the Maytengue, the finer the scenery became. From time to time we passed some more of the morula-trees that I have mentioned; each family in a village is allotted one or more of these, according to the population of the place, for its own special use; they are usually enclosed by a fence placed about three yards away from the stem, the object of which is to save the wild fruit from being devoured by animals as it falls. The pulp of the fruit is made into a beverage which has very much the character of cider, and the kernel, if I am rightly informed, is occasionally pounded and used as meal.
Our road several times brought us quite close to the Maytengue, and the country in the valley was often very charming. On the way I chanced to be a witness of a very affecting meeting between a negro and his aged mother; and various incidents were related to me by Diamond and others that all tended to confirm my belief that many a native has really refined feelings lurking in his breast which are only waiting for civilization to draw forth.
Our afternoon camp was made in the vicinity of several villages, of which the residents told us that a few days previously Menon had received a visit from a troop of Matabele soldiers, who had come to demand boys as recruits for their last-formed regiment. Menon had refused to comply, and it was only too likely, they said, that the refusal would cost him his life, as although the Makalakas are fairly supplied with guns, their villages are so small and scattered, that they are soon overpowered by such a force as the Matabele can bring against them. It was by mere force exercised in this way, and by carrying off the young lads violently from their parents, that in 1837 Moselikatze with a complement of only forty warriors began to found a kingdom which at present has an aggregate of about 20,000 fighting-men.
On the following day our route lay amongst the numerous granite hills, every few hundred yards opening a new and pleasant prospect to our view. At our first halting-place we fell in with a sub-chieftain named Henry, who was an old acquaintance of Westbeech’s, and out of regard to him provided sorghum, maize, and melons for the benefit of Bradshaw, who remained far from well. Henry had his people under very good control, and as long as we were near him we felt pretty secure against any great annoyance; during our halt, however, we were surprised by the sudden appearance of one of those scourges of the district, a Matabele warrior, who came blustering up and shouting, “Hulloa, white men! you have some of Sepopo’s people there. Give them up, or pay for them. If you don’t, one by one I’ll kill them all.” He had his gun in one hand, and in the other he brandished his kiri, which once very nearly touched my face. I was inclined to be angry, but controlled my temper, and warned the swaggering idiot off in a way that made all the Makalakas roar with laughter. Finding that he could make no impression upon me, he went to Bradshaw and Walsh, who merely laid their hands upon their rifles, an action which the fellow pretended that he was to take as a challenge, whereupon he began to storm more furiously than ever; but when they advanced towards him and showed that they were in earnest, he lost no time in beating a retreat, to the unbounded amusement of the lookers-on.