Through Veld and Forest: An African Story

by Harry Collingwood

Two days later I arrived at the king’s kraal.

It was near mid-afternoon when I halted the wagon and ordered Jan to outspan at a point about half a mile from the kraal: and I immediately dispatched Piet with a message to the effect that I, Edward Laurence, an Englishman, had arrived at the kraal for the purpose of personally soliciting permission from King Moshesh to hunt in and pass through his country; and that for this purpose, and that I might crave His Majesty’s acceptance of certain presents, I might be granted the favour of an early audience. Then I opened the voorkissie and proceeded to select the presents which I would offer for the savage king’s acceptance.

Gaudily coloured handkerchiefs, and, more particularly, brilliantly hued articles of costume have from time immemorial strongly appealed to the taste of the untutored savage, and I had kept this fact prominently in mind when purchasing the goods which I intended to use as presents and for the purposes of barter; therefore, among other things, I had bought several cast-off British uniforms of various descriptions, these being designed especially for presentation to the several savage monarchs with whom I expected to be brought into contact. So now, after due consideration, I drew forth a drum-major’s scarlet tunic, stiff with tarnished gold braid, minus its regimental buttons, shockingly soiled, and otherwise very much the worse for wear; a pair of ditto blue trousers, with gold braid running down the outer seam; a naval lieutenant’s cocked hat, in which I inserted a bunch of cock’s tail feathers; an infantryman’s white leather belt, with bayonet and sheath; and a small round shaving mirror in a metal frame, which had cost me sixpence, if I remember rightly: and made up the whole into a neat bundle, in readiness for the moment when I should be summoned to the royal presence. Then I proceeded to take particular note of the capital of Basutoland.

It was a place of considerable importance, consisting of about a thousand huts enclosed, like the place of my vision, in a very strong and high palisade, rendered unclimbable by having the upper extremities of the palings trimmed into long sharp points. It was built upon the summit of a low knoll, was rectangular in plan, and covered an area of about twenty acres of ground; and that was about all that I could discover concerning it in the meantime, since the palisading was much too high to permit of my seeing anything inside it.

After an absence of nearly an hour Piet returned with the information that he had been detained at the outer gate of the kraal while my message was conveyed to the king, and that during his detention he had been subjected to a pretty severe cross-examination by an induna or chief, respecting the purpose of my journey, my destination, and so on; that, finally, a message had been returned by the king that when he was ready to see me he would send for me, and meanwhile I was to remain where I was and not attempt to enter the kraal. I confess that I was a trifle disappointed at this reception, which I regarded as distinctly chilly; but Mafuta had afforded me a little insight into the king’s character, and I trusted that a personal interview, coupled with a sight of the resplendent drum-major’s tunic and the rest of the outfit, would, arouse a feeling of greater geniality in the breast of the savage autocrat. So I hung about the wagon for the remainder of that day, waiting for a summons which did not come. Nevertheless, although the king did not condescend to manifest any undue eagerness to see me, I was not exactly left to pine in solitude, for several of the inhabitants of the town came out to gossip with my “boys”, while no less than three indunas suffered their curiosity to overcome their dignity so far as to pay me an informal visit and ask me countless questions—for it must be remembered that, at the time of which I am now writing, it was very unusual for a white man to cross the border of his own territory into the wilds, and one of the men who on that occasion spoke to me had only once before seen such an individual.

It was amusing to note the rapid change of manner in these men as they conversed with me. Upon their first approach they began to question me with a certain curt abruptness which I easily interpreted as being intended to convey the idea that their visit was more or less of an official character; but all the while their eyes were wandering hither and thither, taking in every detail of my dress and equipment, as well as the wagon and its contents, and it was not very long before they began to enquire what was the use of this, that, and the other. Of course I answered all their questions as fully as I could, and not only so, but I also exhibited a few of my gewgaws, hinting that certain of them might become their own property before long, although I did not then offer any presents for their acceptance, it being contrary to savage etiquette to do so before the king had been interviewed and propitiated. They were, of course, intensely interested in my guns, and were full of amazement when I bowled over a carrion crow at a distance of six hundred yards with a rifle bullet; and they did not hesitate to hint plainly that nothing could possibly be more acceptable to the king than the gift of one of my fire weapons. I explained, however, that the fire weapon was very powerful and very dangerous magic, subservient only to the white man, and that I dared not allow any of them even to touch one, lest it should turn upon and slay them. But they were quite as profoundly impressed by my exhibition of the powers of the burning-glass, several of which I had taken the precaution to include in my stock; and when they saw me kindle a fire with its assistance they could find no words in which to express adequately their wonder and admiration.

It is more than probable that, upon their return to the kraal, they found means to convey to the king’s ear some impression of the wonders which the white man had revealed to them, for I had scarcely finished my breakfast on the following morning when a messenger arrived at the wagon with the intimation that King Moshesh commanded my immediate presence before him.

I at once arose and, unarmed, accompanied the messenger, with Piet in close attendance, bearing the parcel containing the presents which I designed to offer for His Majesty’s acceptance. As I approached the open gate in the palisade a number of people, both men and women, were passing in and out, all of whom regarded me curiously. A few of the men saluted me with upraised right hand and the exclamation “’Nkos’!” but for the most part they seemed undecided whether to regard me as a friend or an enemy, and therefore preferred for the moment to maintain an attitude of neutrality. Immediately inside the gate there stood a guard of twenty men, fully armed with shield, assagai, and knobkerrie, under the command of an induna, and here we were stopped, for the induna seemed indisposed to allow Piet to accompany me; but I explained that he was my body servant, and that the bundle which he bore contained presents designed for the king’s acceptance, whereupon we were, somewhat reluctantly, permitted to pass on. Naturally, we were no sooner inside the gate than I began to look about me, and the first thing that struck me was the admirable arrangements which had been made for the defence of the place in case of attack. For while the top of the palisade was, on the outside, about fifteen feet above the surface of the ground, on the inside it had been backed up with earth forming a platform about twelve feet wide and just high enough for a man of average height to see between the sharpened points; while at a height of about four feet above the level of the platform there was a continuous row of slits, about eight inches high by two inches wide, and about nine inches apart, the obvious purpose of which was to afford the occupants of the platform an opportunity to thrust with their spears at a foe attempting to scale the palisade from the outside, without unduly exposing themselves. Approach to the summit of the platform was obtained by a continuous flight of rough steps cut in the earth all along its face, and next the foot of the steps was a road of about twelve feet wide. Then came the outer row of huts, between which and the next row was another road, about eight feet wide. There were four rows of huts running entirely round the enclosure, inside of which again was another palisade, equally as strong and as high as the first. And, as in the case of the first palisade, this also had a single gate, guarded by twenty fully armed men under the command of an induna. We were permitted to pass through this second gate unchallenged, and having done this I found myself in an open square of about five acres in extent, near the far side of which were seven huts, or houses, rather, for they were considerably larger and in every way more important than the ordinary Kafir hut. Six of these—square structures built of “wattle-and-daub” and roofed with thatch, the largest of them measuring about twenty feet by twelve, and about seven feet high to the overhanging eaves—were built in a row, with spaces of about six feet between them; while the seventh, which I rightly conjectured to be the itunkulu, or King’s House, stood about twelve feet in front of the others, and was about the same size as the largest of them.

We were now upon what may be termed sacred ground, that is to say, ground reserved for the exclusive use of the king himself and the members of his immediate household; nobody being permitted to enter here except persons belonging to the royal family, those especially invited by the king, the chief witch doctor, and the king’s own bodyguard, consisting of one hundred specially picked men, under the command of an induna who also filled the office of chief adviser, or prime minister, to the king. At the moment of our entrance not a person but ourselves was visible in the square, except the guard at the gate; but a few seconds later twenty soldiers under the command of a very splendid-looking officer emerged from one of the buildings and took up a position on either side of a chair hewn out of a solid block of wood and draped with a magnificent lion-skin kaross, which stood some half a dozen paces in front of the itunkulu.

These men were the finest-looking body of savage warriors that I had up till then ever seen, every one of them being quite as tall as, and far more firmly knit than myself; while the chief was a truly magnificent man, standing at least six feet two on his bare feet, with the limbs and frame of a Hercules. They were all dressed in leopard-skin muchas, with bracelets, armlets, garters, and anklets of cows’ tails; all wore keshlas; and each man carried a long shield and three throwing assagais in his left hand, while in his right he held a stabbing assagai with a terrible double-edged blade about six inches wide and eighteen inches long. Their commanding officer was similarly armed; but in addition to the leopard-skin mucha he wore a leopard-skin cloak, a necklace of lions’ teeth and claws, and a headdress made of beads and ostrich feathers. Every man of these twenty-one savage warriors showed upon his person the scars of many wounds, and carried himself with a pride of bearing which forbade him to display the slightest sign of consciousness of our presence.