Part 15 (1/2)
The Kaffirs on the hill had again disappeared, and a traveller who passed this way, and could not read the spoor that ritten on the ground, would have fancied that no hu ithin miles of him
There were, however, half-a-dozen whitethe bushes, waiting to slay an enemy
”I expect the Zulus who have huntedthis way,” said Hans
”How
”Upwards of twenty”
”Here they come!” exclaimed the Dutchman ”They are in haste to be slain, for not a man will escape”
The three Kaffirs who had been sent on had soon discovered the Zulus, but pretending not to have seen the for so advantage of the bushes dodged from one to another, till within a hundred yards of the supposed unsuspicious Kaffirs Suddenly the Natal Kaffirs, giving a shout of alarm, ran back towards where their people were concealed, but not with such speed as to ine pursuit would be useless A race then commenced, in which the Natal Kaffirs had more than once to use their utmost speed, on account of the nue of an assagy At length the threewhich their co a shrill whistle, the pursuing Zulus suddenly found themselves face to face with five tih almost of the same race, were now their deadly enehtered like sheep They i after their late run that they stood no chance of escaping by speed fro, deterrasp on their assagies, they ainst the Natal force, a fine exa this, called to his people, ere between hi learnt to trust their Dutchand his companions fired a volley at the Zulus with the usual effect
Three Zulus fell dead, and one rolled on the ground mortally wounded
The Natal Kaffirs instantly started to their feet, and rushed on to their eneility was exhibited, such as is rarely witnessed by white ed thrusts, which were, however, parried by the ox-hide shi+eld, which, held sideways, turned the stab Here and there an assagy was hurled at a foe with deadly ai its approach, either sprang on one side, and thus avoided it, or received it obliquely on his shi+eld, and sent it glancing in another direction Where there was no great difference in the style of weapons used, or in the skill of the combatants, numbers very soon decided the encounter, and in less than twoover the plain with speed, pursued by a host of relentless ene triuies of their enemies
Not one out of the party had escaped, and thus Hans, ould be no party to this slaughter, saw the whole of those who had so nearly terminated his existence cut up to a man at the instant that they were under the belief that they were in such force as to be for Such are the changes which often occur in savage warfare, the strong party becoain outnumbered unexpectedly
”It will not be safe for you to join your people by walking fro to Hans ”There are aan, and you would not be likely to reach Bushman's river You had better return to the bay with us; then we can talk about our best plan of acting, and you can carry the news up to your people”
Hans agreed to this proposal, and joined his new friends on their return journey to the bay, on reaching which he was delighted at the beauty of the country and the fertility of the soil Though the settlers had as yet done little towards cultivating the land, yet it was evident that there were iricultural pursuits, and it was thus considered a place likely eventually to becoreat ihbour Dingaan alone seerants had no doubt that with th they would be able to overco the white men
Hans remained at Natal Bay for a week, and then started on horseback for the head-quarters of his people, which he reached in four days Hans was received like one risen fro the dead, for his loss had been mourned by his friends, and by Katrine, so that his return was never expected, and was ascould be He found the ca informed the leaders of his party ere the views of the few residents at Natal, and having pointed out the necessity for e on the Zulus, heexpedition into the plains under the Draakensberg for the purpose of supplying his people with eland beef It is a common practice of those farame are found to devote a certain portion of their ti, in order to supply themselves with a stock of ; that is, it is cut into strips, rubbed with salt and pepper, and hung in a sunny place, where it gets dry, and can be eaten with no further cooking; or it can be placed in water for a short time, and then boiled Thus provided with a supply of meat, the fanner need not kill his own cattle, but can allow his live stock to increase, and can thus have very shortly a plentiful supply of cows and oxen, so that he has no want ofin nearly a northerly direction, and varying in distance froe of loftyFroh the Natal district, and empty themselves into the Indian Ocean The principal rivers that there take their rise are the Uela, with its tributaries, the Mooi river, the Bushman's, the Klip river, and the Umzimyati or Buffalo river The Quathlamba mountains descend into the plains, in many cases, by a series of terraces, which extend several reat extent These plains being atered and fertile, were, in the days when the first Dutch ea to three and four hundred, would be found herding on these terraces The hartebeest and wildebeest, the wild boar, the quagga, and numberless other animals, could be seen and hunted Thus, as the African farhbourhood was to hilishman in his overtrodden land, but with a love for sport, is compelled to put up with a feeble or artificial i a stabled deer, or even galloping after the hounds who are hunting the boy who pulls the drag, is considered sport This substitute, however, cannot fairly be terh it supplies excitement It is, in fact, not very different from a steeple-chase, but produces utterly different sensations fro the wildest of wild gaazed at as an intruder, and where hunting is a practical reality and necessity as a means of subsistence, upon which the hunter depends, and not as a mere pastime to kill a few hours, or to endeavour to obtain a little excitement Very much has been written by those who have never tasted the real sport of the wilderness, in favour of the artificial production in our own land, or those have advanced their opinions who frolin lands, have found nothing in it to gratify the habit and practice these salish sports Such persons are not coes, and cannot be i been accusto enjoyed all the pleasure of a good day aht the cautious Rover, or the keen-nosed Fan,--who have lived in the front rank during a twenty rass land, enclosed with ox-fences, have at the death been there,--and such will undoubtedly tell us it is good sport, and very exciting But let these sa cautiously the rough and tangled buffalo or elephant track, they first co utterly alone in the forest, dependent not only for success, but safety, upon their own unaided caution and skill How fully, too, they appreciated the scene, when a glancing flash of soround beneath, whilst the light, graceful leopard was recognised as his gorgeous-spotted coat flashed in the sunlight! How thoroughly in haran or cried lowry skimsince seen the intruders into his domain, and now performs antics and acts in a s would practise under similar conditions, that we are not surprised at the opinion of those who trace in to his tailed caricature It is not, however, in the trees, or in the actual living creatures themselves, that all the interest need be concentrated: the very path we tread is a page deeply written The ploughed field, land rarely produces much that is noticed as the hunter rides over them The forest path in the wilderness must, however, be read with care Here, at our feet, is a record whichspot attracts our attention; the leaves are all pressed down, and it is at once seen that some animal has rested there Down on your knees, and look with n of the creature There are one, two, three hairs, all lying together They are fro that he has been lately disturbed There, beyond, is the mark of a heavy animal; a hoof is impressed on the soil, and we see a buffalo has lately trodden the path before us So fresh is the footprint that the buffalo probably disturbed the leopard Now that our large garaceful festoons of wild vine, the e, or the many rare insects that we disturb as we move the bushes
Before us is the spoor, and we follow this, till we hear a slight led brushwood before us, and for a few seconds we stand with half-raised rifle, watching for souide us; but all is still, and with cautiously-raised foot we advance one pace, then a second, and are preparing for a third, when, like a thunderbolt, a nificent buffalo dashes froh he were a h the underwood, and scarcely see to feel the heavy bullet which has struck hiht in an instant A few seconds'
quiet, and then the crack of a heavy branch being broken is heard; then another and another, and the hunter stands half disappointed as these sounds tell hi theirthrough the bush, and carrying all before them This to soland can afford, though there arecan be equal to that which they have seen and daily enjoy in the hunting counties of England _Nous verrons_ Let the old-fish, tell the Norwegian sal is the best sport of the two, and we can but conclude that either his skill or frame is unfitted for the nobler sport, or he has never had the opportunity of seeing more than that of which he is so fond On the plains there is, perhaps, less excite the creatures that are there found; yet to see several herds of wild ani like satin, and through which silver streams wind their way, is to the eye of the ht To the hunter who purposes supplying his larder fro; and thus, as Hans and his co for themist to clear off the valleys beneath them, saw the plains sprinkled with small herds of elands, they rejoiced at their anticipated success, and at once, aht of man, the antelopes of Africa, to which class the eland belongs, will al trot with their heads towards the wind They pursue this course because they are very keen-scented, and as they meet the wind can tell whether any eneauntlet of the hunters, the eland will usually prefer doing so and keeping his head to the wind, rather than run doind The only exception to this rule is when the ani is in any one direction They will then run to this country as to a sanctuary, and can thus escape the hunter; for whilst an eland can descend a steep hill on which are large masses of loose stones at the ed to dis becomes possible Thus it is always one of the objects of a hunter to cut off the retreat of a herd of game from any portion of country in which he knows he could not hunt theht in the plains enabled Hans to fill his waggons with beltong, and he then returned to the head-quarters of his friends, ready to take any part in the expedition which he knew
CHAPTER TWENTY
THE EMIGRANTS COLLECT THEIR FORCES--BATTLE WITH DINGAAN, THE ZULU CHIEF--FORMATION OF THE NATAL SETTLEMENT--THE TREACHERY OF THE ZULU CHIEF--BROTHER AGAINST BROTHER
Having partially recovered frorants endeavoured to obtain sufficient aid from their countrymen who had hitherto failed to join them, to enable them to attack the Zulus and recover their lost cattle Not only was this aid promised, but supplies of food and ammunition were sent from the Cape, so that the winter of 1838 was passed over, though not without considerable suffering and privation
Scarcely had the winter passed, and spring co his ar his spies so as to learn the state of his neighbours, suddenly gave the word, and in August of the same year the Zulu army suddenly rushed into the Natal district, and attacked the erants The farmers, however, were now on the alert They had sent out scouts, and these brought theons were used as fortifications, and every precaution was taken to make as effective a defence as possible The result was that the Zulus failed to obtain an entrance into any one of the lagers, and were beaten off with great loss This victory on the part of the e those who had before been undecided about joining the of December, when a party of above four hundred and fifty uns These were joined by another party fro a formidable force
The leader of this force had formerly been a field-cornet at Graaf Reinet, and was acquainted in a measure with some of the precautions used in military manoeuvres or ht a camp was formed and defences prepared The advance had been thus conducted until the Umslatoos river was reached, when Hans, who had joined this party, and had ridden on before in order to guard against surprise, saw the first portion of the Zulu arave the alar every effort for defence Instead of following the plan of Uys, and entering the enee of position, enabling him to attack where it best suited hi the enemy to attack hi accoht a careful watch was kept, and each map slept with his weapons beside hiht that the enemy showed themselves
It was an important day in the history of this noell-known settlement, this 16th of Deceth took place between the whole of Dingaan's warriors, a to from ten to twelve thousand rant far the difference in the weapons, yet twenty to one were great odds; and should the Zulu warriors succeed in forcing the camp, their nuh they sacrificed thousands in the endeavour