The declaration made, all the vassal chiefs with their dependants are summoned to assemble. Everyone must implicitly obey this mandate, and follow his leader; whoever does not, is in danger of having his whole property confiscated. As soon as the army is collected at the habitation of the king, a number of deer are killed, that the warriors may be strengthened for the fight by eating abundantly of their flesh; at the same time they dance, and deliver themselves up entirely to rejoicing. The king presents the most distinguished and the most valiant among the Caffres with plumes of feathers from the wings of a sort of crane, and these they wear upon their heads as marks of honour. These plumes are regarded as official badges, and those wearing them are looked on as officers; and it is expected that every man so distinguished will not only manœuvre his company, but, spear or club in hand, head it and do battle with the leading warrior on the opposing side. If a leader shirks his duty, he is condemned by the Caffre law to an ignominious death. Among the followers, too, whoever forsakes his leader is slain as soon as captured.
When the army moves, it takes with it as many deer as are deemed necessary for its support; and when the stronghold is approached, the “tail-bearers” are once more sent forward to give a last notice of the intended attack, repeating the motives which have given occasion to the war. If the enemy declares that at present he is not quite prepared,—that he has not yet collected his fighting men; or that it would be much more convenient if the other party would wait till the blacksmiths had made a few more assagies and sharpened the old ones,—the attacking party is content to squat down and kill and eat their bullocks and smoke their pipes till the enemy notifies his readiness to begin. A wide open place, without bushes and without rocks, is chosen as the field of battle, to avoid all possibility of an ambush, which is considered as wholly degrading.
The two armies, raising a loud war cry, approach in two lines till they are within seventy or eighty paces of each other. They now begin throwing their assagies, at the same time endeavouring to turn aside those of the enemy. The king or commander-in-chief, whoever he may be, remains always in the centre of the line, and takes an active part in the fight. Some of the inferior commanders remain near him, the rest remaining at the heads of their divisions. By degrees the two bands approach nearer and nearer to each other, till at length they come hand to hand, when the spears are thrown aside, reliance being placed on the clubs to decide the fortunes of the day.
Should night surprise the combatants, hostilities are suspended, the chiefs of either party meeting and endeavouring to bring about a treaty of peace; but should this be found impracticable, the fight commences again in the morning. If one of the armies takes to flight, the commander alone is blamed: everything depends on his personal bravery; and his falling back is the signal for the whole body to do the same. A flying enemy is immediately pursued; and above all things the conquerors seek to possess themselves of their women and children and cattle. If the vanquished party agrees to submit, his submission is immediately accepted, on condition that he acknowledges his conqueror from that time forward as his sovereign, and solemnly promises obedience to him. When this is done, the captured women and children are sent back, as well as part of the cattle taken, it being a household maxim among these people that “we must not let even our enemies die with hunger.”
In these Caffre fights, however, the loss of life is never very considerable; the assagie is the principal weapon, and with it the Caffre is a not very certain marksman. To see the dancing and yelling, and the air thick with spears, one would suspect the bloodiest carnage; but it will often happen that after a few hours’ battle, in which say two thousand are engaged, it is a great chance if more than about twenty on each side are slain and about double that number wounded.
Caffre warfare, too, is merciful, as well from deliberation as from ignorance; and one falling unarmed into the hands of the enemy is seldom or never put to death; the women and children equally have nothing to fear for their lives. For this reason, women are sometimes employed as ambassadors, when there is danger that matters have been pushed too far, and that a male negotiator may be put to death before he has time to explain his errand.
“The Basutos and the Caffres,” says Mr. Cassalis, “are passionately fond of a kind of war-dance, at which the women are only present to aid by their songs and cries. A circle is formed by some hundreds of robust men, having the head adorned with tufts and plumes, and a panther’s skin thrown over the left shoulder. The signal is given, the war-song commences, and the mass moves simultaneously as if it were but one man. Every arm is in motion; every head turns at once; the feet of all strike the ground in time with such force that the vibration is felt for more than two hundred yards. Every muscle is in movement; every feature distorted; the most gentle countenance assumes a ferocious and savage expression. The more violent the contortions, the more beautiful the dance is considered. This lasts for hours; the song continues as loud and the frantic gestures lose none of their vigour. A strange sound is heard during the short intervals when the voices are silent in accordance with the measure; it is the panting of the dancers, their breath escaping with violence, and sounding afar off like an unearthly death rattle. This obstinate prolongation of so fatiguing an exercise arises from the challenges made to each other by the young men, which are even sent from one village to another. The question is, Who can keep up the longest? The gain of an ox depends upon a few more leaps. Dancers have been seen to fall down dead upon the spot; others receive injuries which are difficult to cure. There is another war-dance which is less fatiguing. In this they form themselves in a straight line, and then run forward singing as if they were about to attack an enemy. When they have reached a certain distance, they halt, some men leave the ranks, fence from right to left, and then return to their comrades, who receive them with great acclamations. As soon as the line is again unbroken they return in the same manner to their starting point.
Besides war dances the savages of this region have war songs, of which the two following will serve as samples:—
“Goloane is going to fight;
He departs with Letsie.