The Mission

by Frederick Marryat

  CHAPTER XII.

  On the following day, a little before noon, loud shouts and men dancingand calling out the titles of the king of the Caffres announced hisapproach. These men were a sort of heralds, who invariably preceded himon a visit of ceremony. A band of warriors armed with their assaguaysand shields, next made their appearance, and then Hinza, accompanied byfifty of his chief councilors: with the exception of their long krossesof beast-skins thrown over their shoulders, they were all naked, andeach daubed with grease and red ocher. As soon as they arrived in frontof the Mission-house, they sat down in a circle on each side of theCaffre king, who was treated with marked respect by all, and by thecommon people in particular, who assembled on his presence. Every onewho happened to pass by gave what was termed a 'salute' of honor to theking, who did not appear to consider that it required any acknowledgmenton his part.

  Our travelers, accompanied by the missionary, advanced into the circle,and saluted his majesty. Mr. S. then explained the object of theirjourney, and their wish that a small party of the king's warriors shouldaccompany them on their expedition. As soon as the speech was ended, afew pounds of colored beads, a roll of tobacco, two pounds of snuff, andsome yards of scarlet cloth, were laid before his majesty as a present.Hinza nodded his head with approval when the articles were spread beforehim, and then turned to his councilors, with whom he whispered sometime, and then he replied "that the strange white men should passthrough his country without fear, that his warriors should accompanythem as far as they wished to go; but," he added, "do the strangers knowthat there is disorder in the country beyond?"

  Mr. S. replied that they did, and were anxious to go, and return as soonas possible, on that account.

  Hinza replied, "It is well; if there is danger, my warriors will letthem know--if it is necessary, they will fight for them--if the enemy istoo strong, the white men must return."

  Hinza then ordered some of his councilors to take charge of thepresents, and inquired of Mr. S. how many warriors they wished to have,and when they wished to go.

  The reply was, that fifty warriors would be sufficient, and that theywished to depart on the following morning. "It is well," replied Hinza;"fifty warriors are enough, for my men eat a great deal--they shall beready."

  The council then broke up, and the king, having shaken hands with ourtravelers, departed with his train: toward the evening an old cow wassent to them as a present from his majesty. The Hottentots soon cut itup and devoured it. Every thing was now arranged for their immediatedeparture.

  The next morning, at break of day, the band of Caffre warriors were allin readiness, each with his shield and three assaguays in his hand. Theywere all fine, tall young men, from twenty to thirty years of age.Alexander desired Mr. S. to tell them that, if they behaved well andwere faithful, they should every one receive a present when they weredismissed; a notification which appeared to give general satisfaction.The oxen had already been yoked, and taking leave of the worthymissionary, our travelers mounted their horses and resumed theirjourney. For the whole day they proceeded along the banks of the KaeRiver, which ran its course through alternate glens and hills clothedwith fine timber; and as they were on an eminence, looking down upon theriver, the head Caffre warrior, who had, with the others, hung up hisshield at the side of the wagon, and now walked by our travelers withhis assaguay in his hand, pointed out to them, as the sun was settingbehind a hill, two or three large black masses on the further bank ofthe river.

  "What are they, and what does he say?"

  "Sea-cows," replied the interpreter.

  "_Hippopotami_! We must have a shot at them, Wilmot," cried the Major.

  "To be sure; tell them we will stop and kill one if we can," said Wilmotto the interpreter.

  "We shall want one to feed our army," said Swinton laughing, "or oursheep will soon be devoured."

  The Caffres were all immediately in motion, running down to the bank ofthe river, about a quarter of a mile distant; they swam across, andthere remained waiting till our travelers should give the word.

  The animals lay on a muddy bank, at a turn of the river, like so manyswine asleep, some of them out, and some partly in and partly out of thewater. As they were huddled together, they looked more like masses ofblack rock than any thing else. Two lay considerably apart from theothers, and it was toward these two that the Caffres, who had crossedthe river, crept until they were in the high reeds, but a few yards fromthem. Henderson and Wilmot, with some of the Hottentots, descended theravine on their side of the river, opposite to where the animals lay,and as soon as they were on the bank, being then within one hundredyards of them, they leveled and fired. At the report, all the animalsstarted up from their beds as if astonished at the noise, which they hadnot been accustomed to. Three or four instantly plunged into the deepwater, but the others, apparently half asleep, stood for a few seconds,as if not knowing what course to take: two of them were evidentlywounded, as they rushed into the water; for they did not remain below,but rose to the surface immediately, as if in great agony. They appearedanxious to get out of the water altogether, and tried so to do, butfearing the people on the river's bank, they darted in again. In themean time, at the first report of the guns, the two which lay apart fromthe others with their heads toward the river, as soon as they rose ontheir legs, were pierced with several assaguays by the concealedCaffres, and plunged into the water with the spears remaining in theirbodies. These also rose, and floundered like the others; and as theirheads appeared above, they were met with the unerring rifle of the Majorand whole volleys from Wilmot and the Hottentots, till, exhausted fromloss of blood, they floated dead upon the surface.

  The Caffres waited till the bodies had been borne some hundred yardsdown the stream, that they might not be attacked when in the water bythe remainder of the herd, and then swam off, and pushed the bodies onshore. This was a very seasonable supply of provisions for so large aband of people; but those who belonged to the caravan were not the onlyparties who benefited: all the Caffres of the surrounding hamletshastened to the river, and carried off large quantities of the flesh ofthe animals; there was, however, more than enough for all, and for thewolves and hyenas after they had taken what they chose. It was so latebefore the animals were cut up, that they decided upon remaining wherethey were that night; for now that they had the Caffre warriors withthem, they had no fear as to losing their oxen, the king having statedthat his men should be responsible for them.

  Large fires were lighted, and the Caffres and Hottentots, all mingledtogether, were busy roasting, boiling, and frying the flesh of thehippopotamus, and eating it as fast as it was cooked, so that they werecompletely gorged before they lay down to sleep; Wilmot had also giventhem a ration of tobacco each, which had added considerably to thedelight of the feast.

  "It is not bad eating by any means," said the Major, as they were atsupper.

  "No; it is something like old veal," replied Swinton. "Now, what isOmrah about? He is after some mischief, by the way he creeps along."

  "A monkey is a fool to that boy," observed the Major, "and he appears toknow how to imitate every animal he has ever heard."

  "Did you hear the dance he led some of the Hottentots on Sunday evening,when we were at the Mission?"

  "No; what was that?"

  "Bremen told me of it; I thought he would have died with laughing. Youare aware that there is a species of bird here which they call thehoney-bird,--by naturalists, the _Cuculus indicator_; do you notremember I showed you a specimen which I was preserving?"

  "You have showed us so many specimens, that I really forget."

  "Well, I should have given you at the same time the natural history ofthe bird. It is very partial to honey, upon which it lives as much as itcan; but as the bees make their hives in the trunks of old decayedtrees, and the hole they enter by is very small, the bird can not obtainit without assistance. Its instinct induces it to call in the aid ofman, which it does by a peculiar note, like cher-cher-cher, by which itgives notic
e that it has found out a beehive. The natives of Africa wellknow this, and as soon as the bird flies close to them, giving out thissound, they follow it; the bird leads them on, perching every now andthen, to enable them to keep up with it, until it arrives at the tree,over which it flutters without making any more noise."

  "How very curious!"

  "Little Bushman knows this as well as the Hottentots, and hearing thatthey were going out in search of honey he went before them into thewood, concealing himself, and imitating the note of the bird so exactly,that the Hottentots went on following it for several miles, wonderinghow it was that the bird should lead them such a distance, but unwillingto give up the pursuit. About sunset, he had brought them back to thevery edge of the wood from whence they had started, when he showedhimself about one hundred yards ahead of them, dancing, capering, andtumbling so like Begum, that they thought it was her before them, andnot him. He gained the caravan again without their knowing who playedthem the trick; but he told Swanevelt, who speaks his language, andSwanevelt told Bremen."

  "Capital!" said the Major; "well, he is after some trick now, dependupon it."

  "He has a great talent for drawing," observed Alexander.

  "A very great one; I have given him a pencil and occasionally a piece ofpaper, and he draws all the birds, so that I can recognize them; but youmust know that all the Bushmen have that talent, and that their cavesare full of the sketches of all sorts of animals, remarkablycharacteristic. The organ of imitation is very strongly developed in theBushmen, which accounts for their talents as draftsmen, and Omrah'sremarkable imitative powers."

  "Do you then believe in phrenology, Swinton!" said Alexander.

  "I neither believe nor disbelieve in that and many more moderndiscoveries of the same kind; I do not think it right to reject them orto give blind credence. Not a day passes but some discovery excites ourwonder and admiration, and points out to us how little we do know. Thegreat fault is, that when people have made a discovery to a certainextent, they build upon it, as if all their premises were correct;whereas, they have, in fact, only obtained a mere glimmering to lightthem to a path which may some future day lead to knowledge. That thegeneral principles of phrenology are correct maybe fairly assumed, fromthe examination of the skulls of men and animals, and of different men;but I give no credence to all the divisions and subdivisions which have,in my opinion, been most presumptuously marked out by those who profess,and of course fully believe, the full extent of these supposeddiscoveries."

  "And mesmerism?" said Alexander.

  "I make the same reply; there is _something_ in it, that is certain, butnothing yet sufficiently known to warrant any specific conclusion to bedrawn."

  "There is a great deal of humbug in it," said the Major.

  "So there is in all sciences; when truth fails them and they are atfault, they fill up the hiatus with supposition; which is, as you termit, humbug."

  "Well, I vote that we return to our wagons; every body appears fastasleep except us three."

  Such was not, however, the case; for they had not been half an hour ontheir mattresses, before they were awakened by loud cries of "help,"which made them seize the irguns and jump out of the wagons withoutwaiting for their clothes.

  The Hottentots and Caffres were so full of hippopotamus flesh, that thenoise did not awake but a small portion of them, and these only turnedround and stared about without getting up, with the exception of Bremen,who was on his feet and, with his gun in his hand, running in thedirection of the cries. He was followed by our travelers, and they sooncame up with the object of their search, which proved to be no otherthan Big Adam, the Hottentot; and as soon as they perceived hiscondition, which they could do by the light of the fires still burning,they all burst out laughing so excessively that they could not help him.

  That it was the work of little Omrah there was no doubt, for Big Adamhad not forgotten the former trick the boy had played him, and had morethan once, when he caught the boy, given him a good cuffing. Big Adamwas on the ground, dragged away by two of the largest dogs. Omrah hadtaken the bones he could find with most flesh upon them belonging to thehippopotamus, and had tied them with leathern thongs to the great toesof Big Adam as he lay snoring after his unusual repast. He had thenwaited till all were asleep, and had let loose the two largest dogs,which were always tied with the others under the wagons, and notover-fed, to make them more watchful.

  The dogs had prowled about for food, and had fallen in with these largebones, which they immediately seized, and were dragging away, that theymight make their repast without interruption; but in attempting to dragaway the bones, they had dragged Big Adam some yards by his great toes,and the pain and fright--for the Hottentot thought they were hyenas orwolves--had caused him thus to scream for help. Bremen divided thethongs with his knife, and the dogs ran off growling with the bones, andAdam stood again upon his feet, still so much terrified as not to beable to comprehend the trick which had been played him. Our travelers,having indulged their mirth, retired once more to their resting-places.The Major found Omrah and Begum both in their corners of the wagon, theformer pretending to be fast asleep, while the latter was chattering andswearing at the unusual disturbance.

  At daylight next morning they resumed their journey. Big Adam walkedrather stiff, and looked very sulky. Omrah had perched himself on a tiltof the baggage-wagon with Begum, and was quite out of the Hottentot'sreach; for Bremen had told the others what had happened, and there hadbeen a general laugh against Big Adam, who vowed vengeance againstlittle Omrah. The country was now very beautiful and fertile, and theCaffre hamlets were to be seen in all directions. Except visits from theCaffres, who behaved with great decorum when they perceived that thecaravan was escorted by the king's warriors, and who supplied themnearly every day with a bullock for the use of the people, no adventureoccurred for four days, when they crossed the Bashee or St. John'sRiver, to which the territories of Hinza extended; but although thetribes beyond did not acknowledge his authority, they respected thelarge force of the caravan, and were much pleased at receiving smallpresents of tobacco and snuff.

  Milk, in baskets, was constantly brought in by the women; for theCaffres weave baskets of so close a texture, that they hold any liquid,and are the only utensil used for that purpose. At the Bashee River,after they had passed the ford, they remained one day to hunt thehippopotami, and were successful; only Major Henderson, who was notcontent to hunt during the day, but went out at night, had a narrowescape. He was in one of the paths, and had wounded a female, and wasstanding, watching the rising to the surface of the wounded animal, forit was bright moonlight, when the male, which happened to be feeding onthe bank above, hearing the cry of the female, rushed right down thepath upon the Major. Fortunately for him, the huge carcass of the animalgave it such an ungovernable degree of velocity, as to prevent itturning to the right hand or left. It passed within a yard of the Major,sweeping the bushes and underwood, so as to throw him down as it passed.The Major got up again, it may be truly said, more frightened than hurt;but at all events he had had enough of hippopotamus-hunting for thatnight, for he recovered his gun, and walked back to the wagon, thankingHeaven for his providential escape.

  The next morning, Swanevelt and Bremen went down the banks of the river,and discovered the body of the hippopotamus, which they dragged onshore, and, returning to the wagons, sent the Caffres to cut it up; butbefore the Caffres belonging to the caravan could arrive there, theyfound that the work had been done for them by the natives, and thatnothing was left but the bones of the animal; but this is alwaysconsidered fair in the Caffre-land; every one helps himself when anelephant or other large animal is killed, although he may have had nohand in its destruction. The number of elephant-paths now showed themthat they were surrounded by these animals, and the Caffres of thecountry said that there were large herds close to them.

  It was therefore proposed by the Major, that they should have a grandelephant-hunt, at which all the Caffres of their own party and th
enatives of the country should assist. This proposal was joyfullyreceived by all, especially the natives, who were delighted at such anopportunity of having the assistance of the white men's guns; and thenext day was appointed for the sport. By the advice of the natives, thecaravan proceeded some miles down to the eastward, to the borders of avery thick forest, where they stated that the elephants were to befound.

  They arrived at the spot in the afternoon, and every one was busy inmaking preparations for the following day. The Hottentots, who had beenused to the sport, told long stories to those who had not, and, amongthe rest, Big Adam spoke much of his prowess and dexterity. Uncommonlylarge fires were lighted that night, for fear that the elephants shouldbreak into the camp. All night their cries were to be heard in theforest, and occasionally the breaking of the branches of the treesproved that they were close to the caravan. Begum, who was particularlyalive to danger, crept to Major Henderson's bed, and would remain thereall night, although he several times tried to drive her away.Notwithstanding continued alarms, the caravan was, however, unmolested.