The White Hecatomb Part 1

The White Hecatomb.

by William Charles Scully.

CHAPTER ONE.

THE WHITE HECATOMB.

"For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind."--_Hosea_ VIII, 7.

"Ehea, Inkosi am. I know by the smell of it that this snuff is of the same kind as that which my grandson brought from you the other day.

Well, I am thankful that before I die I taste in my nose what really _is_ snuff. But to think that I should have had to wait all these years for it;--and now to be unable to see its colour! There, I have kissed your hand, and that is all I can do to show my grat.i.tude.

"That one like you--one who can have as much as he likes of such snuff-- should want to come here and talk to an old woman such as I, is wonderful. You cannot be old, to judge by your voice. Is it not perhaps the young women you want to talk to? But give them none of that snuff,--they are impudent children of no experience, and would not value it. Well, if it be myself that you want to talk to, my tongue is alive although my eyes are dead.

"When was I born, did you say? That I can hardly tell you. I think that none but myself are now living who saw that day. My father's clan dwelt far from here, beyond the Tugela river. He was just a common man of the Amangwane tribe, and he stood close, until the day of his death, to the great fighting chief Matiwane. In the days of my childhood I saw nothing but fighting and wandering about. I do not remember when we first began to wander, but I think my mother was wandering when she bore me. Tshaka had fallen upon us, the Amangwane, and we, in turn, fell upon the Amahlubi, whom we followed, fighting, across the Quathlamba Mountains into a land of wide plains, high mountains, and great rivers.

"When still a little girl I have often sat on a hill with the women and the other children, and looked down upon the fighting. When the villages of the Bathlokua were burnt the sun and the whole sky were hidden by smoke.

"Matiwane was one who loved blood. He drank the gall of every chief that was slain, to make him fierce. When he fled back to the Zulu country, Dingaan filled his mouth with the liver of an ox, and told the captive Hlubis to beat him with sticks on the belly until he died. But that was long afterwards,--after much blood had flowed. Blood, blood;-- the light died in my eyes many years ago, yet whenever I think of the days when I was a child, I seem to see a great redness glowing through the darkness.

"When Tshaka fell upon us for the third time, he drove us back among the steep mountains of the Lesuto, and here we said we would henceforth dwell. After Tshakas 'impi' had departed, Matiwane sent back parties to gather some millet from the ruined fields, for our crops were nearly ripe when we were driven forth. Then our men took to hunting, and we lived on what they killed; but there was much sickness among us, because there was no grain for the children to eat, the little grain we had being kept for seed. When the children cried with hunger they were told to wait until the millet grew, for that then their hunger would be satisfied.

"The spring rains fell early, and on every mountain-ledge we broke the ground and planted the millet. It grew as millet has never grown before or since, in spite of the steepness of the ground, and we used to go and sit among the high thick stalks, and fondle them, and think that in a few weeks more we should be feasting upon the food we loved so much and had been without for such a long time.

"Just as the grain commenced forming, small flights of locusts began to arrive from the westward. We stood around the millet patches with boughs of trees, and drove away the locusts that attempted to alight.

One day we saw a brown cloud arising in the west, and this grew and spread over the mountain-tops until it covered the whole land. Then the cloud descended upon our fields, and we saw that it was a great flight of locusts.

"Men, women, and children then fought as they had never fought in the worst days of battle against the spears of Tshaka, but it was all in vain. Next day the millet-fields were bare, and the men wailed like women.

"Then the men sharpened their spears once more, and we set our faces to the southward. We covered the face of the land like the locusts we were fleeing from, and the tribes fled before us like game before a troop of wild dogs. When we crossed the great river (the Orange) we turned to the eastward, and over-ran the country of the Abatembu, who never stood to fight us on a single occasion. Then we turned to the northward, and wandered on, secure in our great numbers, and driving herds of spoil.

At length we crossed the Umtata river and took possession of the mountain range between that and the Inxu river. Here, we said, we will make a home, and now we will cease from wandering about like wild animals. We had spoiled the Abatembu of grain, so we broke the ground and again sowed millet, of which we gathered a good harvest. We built huts, and we thought that at length we should have rest. I was then a young girl, hardly old enough to marry.

"One day, in the winter-time, we saw great armies coming up against us from several directions, but we were not afraid, for Matiwane had many spears, and his men feared not to die in war. One small body of men clad in bright red garments came towards us, moving together as one man.

When they came close, they stretched themselves out like a snake, and then they seemed to place tubes like black reeds to their mouths, through which they blew white smoke. Then our men began to fall dead, and our hearts were turned to water at this dreadful thing, the like of which we had never before seen. With the smoke came a fearful noise like thunder, and we thought that the children of the sky had come down in wrath to destroy us. Soon we heard a louder thunder, and then b.a.l.l.s of iron fell out of the sky on us, and smashed our men into b.l.o.o.d.y heaps where they stood thickest. The Abatembu and the Amagcaleka now moved up from behind the men in red, and fell upon us with the spear.

"Then took place a great slaughter, and those of us who escaped from it were few. Women and children were sought in their hiding-places and killed with the spear, whilst the old and sick were burned quick in the huts. My father was slain early in the day, and my mother and I fled with some others back towards the Quathlamba Mountains, meaning to reach, if possible, the country of the Lesuto, and place ourselves under Moshesh, the chief of the Basuto.

"We fled up the valley of the Inxu river, driving a few cattle before us. It was in the middle of winter, and at night the cold seemed to burn like fierce fire. We were pursued by the Abatembu, but they could not overtake our cattle, and having no food, were obliged to turn back.

When we reached the mountains the feet of our cattle were so sore that we had to slaughter every beast, and then we went on, carrying the meat.

"No rain had fallen since our flight began, but as we ascended the mountains the cold became more and more fierce. Fuel was scarce, and every morning many lay dead around the fireplaces.

"Just before we reached the top of the mountain range the weather became warmer, and black clouds came rolling up. As night fell the wind became suddenly again cold, and then snow began to fall.

"That night saw the end of all but me. We crowded together in three lots for the sake of warmth,--all our clothing had been thrown away in the flight, so we were quite naked. The women and children crouched in the middle, and the men placed themselves around and held up their s.h.i.+elds to try and keep off the snow. One ring of men sat on the ground and held their s.h.i.+elds straight up, others sloped their s.h.i.+elds outwards, whilst a few held theirs up with outstretched arms, the whole thus taking the shape of a hut.

"We huddled together as close as we could, but the wind carried the snow in between the s.h.i.+elds in fine powder. The chattering of teeth sounded for a little while louder than the wind, and ever and anon cries of 'Moi-ba-bo' [A native exclamation expressive of anguish or distress]

arose. Then the men in the group next to the one in which I was turned their spears against each other in their pain, and those of them who still lived scattered and died among the rocks.

"After a time the men of the outer ring died where they sat, and the last thing I remember is that a s.h.i.+eld sank down on me; then I fell asleep. My legs and my body to the breast were covered by the people lying around me, and I was leaning forward against a man who was quite dead, although there was a little warmth still left in his body. Before I slept I ceased to feel pain, and became quite comfortable.

"I awoke feeling sharp pangs all over me. I could not move, as I was held fast by the bodies among which I was lying, and the s.h.i.+eld above me was pressing downward with a great weight. All was quite dark, and I could hear no sound.

"I struggled hard, and gradually began to loosen myself. Suddenly I felt something slip away from the s.h.i.+eld above me, and then I moved the s.h.i.+eld away easily to one side, and as I did this something seemed to strike me on the eyes, a great light flashed all around me, and then I could see nothing, although I could breathe free air. It was this, the European doctor said, which, years afterwards, caused me to lose my eyesight altogether.

"You can understand what had happened:--The sun was s.h.i.+ning brightly, there was no cloud in the sky, but the whole world was white,--white,-- white;--no one, before or since, ever saw such a whiteness. I had lain so long under the s.h.i.+eld in the darkness, that the sunlight and the snow burnt into my eyes like lightning.

"I rubbed my eyes gently, and gradually I began to see. I was still held fast by the dead people lying around me, but I kept struggling, and gradually I freed myself. Then I first recollected where I was and saw what had happened. I cried aloud and tried to remove the snow from the mound out of which I had dragged myself, but I was too stiff to do much, and I kept getting dizzy and tumbling down on the snow.

"Not far off was a rocky bluff, against which the sun was s.h.i.+ning warmly. I crept to a ledge and sat down on some dry gra.s.s, from which I shook off the snow; soon, then, I began to get warmer. After a while I went back and moved the snow away from one side of the heap. First I reached a s.h.i.+eld, and after some trouble I was able to pull this aside.

Under it I found dead limbs and bodies. I kept removing the snow until I uncovered my mother's face. I touched it, and found it stiff and colder than the snow. Then I cried aloud and went away.

"I then picked up a s.h.i.+eld, the stick of which was protruding from the snow, and went forth to seek for the dwellings of men. As I departed I pa.s.sed another mound of snow, out of which I could see the ends of the s.h.i.+eld-sticks protruding. The snow was beginning to melt, and I could see the limbs of those who had scattered among the rocks, appearing here and there.

"I stumbled along over the snow without seeing anything but a dreadful whiteness, that made the water stream from my eyes. I suffered terribly from pains all over me, especially in my feet, and I wished for death.

Every now and then the wind blew so cold that it seemed to cut me like a spear all over my naked body. I tried at first to keep it off with the s.h.i.+eld, but found that on account of my eyes I was obliged to hold the s.h.i.+eld up over my head so as to prevent the bright sunlight from falling on my face.

"I wandered on and on until the sun began to fall, and then the thought came to me to find a place in one of the valleys to die in,--for I did not want to die on the white, lonely top of the mountain. I had seen no signs of men or cattle, and I had given up all hope. I no longer wished to live. Looking down a long slope I saw that in a deep valley beyond it the snow had disappeared, so I thought to try and get down there, out of the horrible whiteness which froze my body and burnt my eyes like fire, and there lie down and die at once.

"I reached the edge of the valley, which had steep sides, and soon I found a footpath which led down sideways. This I followed to the foot of a steep, narrow cliff, where I sat down and rested. Then I heard a noise as of a stone rolling down the mountain-side, coming from the other side of the flank of the cliff, so I stood up and went quickly forward. Just then I heard another noise, and a large stone hurtled past me, and crashed into a patch of scrub just below. Out of this several hares leaped, and then ran away over the snow in different directions. Then I heard a shout from near the top of the cliff, so I looked up and saw a man bounding down the steep slope.

"The man was young, hardly more than a boy. He was armed with an a.s.segai and several light throwing-clubs, and he carried two dead hares slung over his shoulder. He ran to where I was standing and accosted me, asking who I was and where I had come from. I began to weep, and told him everything I could remember.

"'What,' said he, 'are you one of the "Fetcani," who have been slaying our people? I think I must kill you, because many of my friends have died under the spears of Matiwane.'

[The word "fetcani" means "enemies." It was specially applied to the horde of Matiwane, which was at enmity with all other tribes.]

"At this I told him that I did not mind whether he killed me or not, as I was already dying of cold and hunger. Then he examined me more closely, and after a short time he began to laugh.

"'Come along,' he said, 'I will not kill you to-day. Perhaps you will grow fat and pretty, and I may by and by take you as my wife. I can at any time kill you if I want to.'

"His kraal was not far off. He had come out to hunt hares by rolling rocks down the mountain-side to drive them from the bushes in which they were hiding, and then following their tracks through the snow.

"We reached the kraal, and I was there fed and kindly treated. The name of the young man was Masubana, and the kraal belonged to his father.

Masubana was his father's 'great son.'

"Two years afterwards I married Masubana. He died long ago--shortly before I lost my sight. For many years I was poor and miserable; then my eldest son Ramalebe, who had joined Lebenya's clan, brought me down here to Matatiele to dwell with him. He also is dead, but his children give me enough food, and a blanket now and then.

"Come again, my father, and I will try and think of some more of what happened in the old days. That snuff seems to make me young again. See that you give none of it to foolish people of no experience, who perhaps would not value it at its true worth. Let me once more kiss your hand."

Note.--The foregoing relates to the defeat of the Amangwane horde by Colonel Somerset at Imbulumpini on August 27, 1828, and its subsequent annihilation in the pursuit by the Amagcaleka and Abatembu impis under Hintza and 'Ngub'incuka respectively. Three bodies of fugitives escaped from the field of battle, only to meet a worse fate than that of being killed in the fight. One party, the largest, was driven nearly to the source of the Orange river, and there burnt alive in a valley full of long gra.s.s, in which they had taken refuge. Another made its way to the north-east, and was cut to pieces by the Amabaca under Ncapay, at the base of the Intsiza Mountain, in what is now East Griqualand. The third perished in the manner described in the tale. The horde must have numbered considerably over a hundred thousand souls. It was completely wiped out of existence.

CHAPTER TWO.