Fighting & Farming in South Africa

Front matter

AT ALL LIBRARIES. AMONG THE BOERS: NOTES OF & fetg to South Africa in Search of Health. BY JOHN NIXON. One Vol., demy 8vo., Illustrated, and handsomely bound, 10/6. " At a time when this singularly primitive Dutch folk are compelling us, whether we will or not, to pay attention to their affairs, there is no doubt that the book will be read." — Scotsman. REMINGTON & CO., 5, Arundel Street, Strand, AV.C. Of all Booksellers. FIGHTING & FARMING IN SOUTH AFRICA. A Narrative of Personal Experiences in the Colony during the years 1877-8-9. «v FRED. G. BROWNING, LATE OF THE FRONTIER LIGHT HORSE AND 3RD CAPE YEOMANRY. REMINGTON AND CO., e, AnusnEi. Street, Stiiani,, W.C. 1SS0. [All Rights Rtterved.~\ Tn MAJOR.GENERAL lord CHELAISFORD, G.C.B., LATE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF HER MAJESTY'S FORCES IN SOUTH AFRICA WHO, BY REDUCING THE REBELLIOUS TRIBES OF KAFFIRLAND IN 1878, AND BY BREAKING THE MILITARY POWER OF THE ZULU NATION IN 1879, GAVE PROMISE OF PEACE, SECURITY, AND PROSPERITY TO THE COLONIES OF SOUTHERN AFRICA, THIS RECORD IS, BY HIS LORDSHIP'S PERMISSION, RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BV THE AUTHOR. Lrwa, 1880.

Chapter I. Why

I WENT TO SOUTH AFRICA. In the Times of the 3rd of October, 1876, a letter appeared, in which the following straightfonvard piece of advice was given to all whom it might concern — " If you've got any money, put it into ostriches." I hadn't much, but as I was on the look-out for something which might make it more, with the sanction of the authorities at home, I put myself into communication with the writer. He proved to be an ostrich farmer from B the Karoo in Cape Colony who had come to the old country on a three months' holiday, and was prepared to take back with him two or three young men like myself as pupils in the art of ostrich breeding, rearing and plucking. An arrangement was made with this gentle man — whom I shall call Mr A. — by virtue of which I was to reside with him for a year from the 1st of January, 1877, and to rent a certain quantity of his land, on which I might run any birds I chose to purchase.

The following pages contain a plain and simple account of what I saw and did during thenext two and a half years. They have not the smallest pretension to any literary skill ; but of this the reader — if there be one — may be assured, that the record is strictly true and nothing is exaggerated. How I came to leave Mr. A. and give up ostrich farming will appear in its proper place. I may say here, however, that I was singularly unfortunate in the time chosen for my venture. A drought — the special curse of WHY I WENT TO SOUTH AFRICA. South Africa — had existed for upwards of twelve months when I arrived out, and con tinued for twelve months more. Very many farmers were ruined by it, and Mr. A. esti mated his own loss at £5,000. Had I had the luck to go out at the end of the drought, my colonial experiences might have been very different.

Undoubtedly ostrich farming is a most lucrative speculation, but there is a great deal of luck in it. I have knoAvn a young man lose £1,000 in two or three years by no fault of his own. Birds sometimes will not lay, or they will not sit close, or a thunderstorm, near the time of hatching out, will kill the chicks, or a tropical shower will wash away the nest. On the other hand, I have seen money rapidly accumulated by those who had neither greater prudence or industry, but simply a larger share of luck. The finest white feathers or " wild bloods," i e., from wild birds, are worth as much as tAventy shillings apiece in the Colony. These will be ten inches broad and thirty in length. Ostrich feathers are sold by weight. The price, when I was in South Africa, ranged from £30 to £70 per lb., though I have known an exceptionally fine sample fetch £100 per lb.

Next in value to the white are the tipped, or variegated feathers, i.e., black tipped or edged with white. Then follow the drab-coloured. The order of values is as under : — 1. Wild bloods ") All these are 2. Primes > -white feathers of different 3. Seconds ) sizes. 4. Black long. 5. Femina — long drab. These are hen's feathers. 6. Variegated. 7. Black short. 8. Small drabs. 9. Young birds. It might almost seem that a trade depend ing so much on fashion would cease, perhaps suddenly, to be a source of profit ; but against this may be set the fact mentioned in books about ostrich farming, that feathers were carried across the Arabian Desert 3,000 years WHY I WENT TO SOUTH AFRICA. 5 ago, and brought much wealth to many mer chants. When I read this, I thought the fashion would probably last my time at least.

The usual method of selling colonial pro duce is by public auction. Anything, from a horse or cow to a pumpkin, is daily offered by the clerk of the market to the highest bidder; but no goods of foreign importation are permitted to be sold in this way. There is a special auction market for ostrich feathers, which is held at Port Elizabeth, twice a week. The climate of Cape Colony is, upon the whole, not an unpleasant one. There are certainly some days between October and March when the heat is very troublesome, and others, from May to August, when a fire would be agreeable — indeed, we often had fires in the Karoo ; but the general tempera ture is decidedly not to be grumbled at. An Englishman does not feel the heat so much during his first year in the Colony as subse quently, but I believe the same rule holds good in all hot climates.

Drought occurs more or less in every three years, and in every seventh year it may be expected with threefold severity. Hence, agricultural farming in South Africa has something of the gambling element in it : You sow your seed ; if rain falls, the plant comes up, thrives, is harvested ; if there is no rain, your seed is heard of no more. These risks are obviated to a certain extent by irrigation ; indeed, it is lost labour to farm when there is no possibility of letting water on to the land. A very large proportion of the population of the Colony is Dutch. I am not able to speak with any accuracy as to the relative numbers of Dutch and English, but this I know, that the Dutch language is much more general than our own. The natives speak Dutch, and the children, learning from them, speak the same language.

Young men going out from the mother country frequently intermarry with Dutch families. The children of these appear to grow up more Dutch than English, WHY I WENT TO SOUTH AFRICA. 7 Dutchmen are less numerous in towns than in the country, and do not attain to the highest offices in the Colony as readily as the English. In my regiment, the members were pretty equally divided, but all the officers and most of the non-commissioned officers were English. Native born colonists, whether Dutch or English, are called Africanders. It must be understood that the language spoken by the Dutch in South Africa is very different to that which is spoken by their cousins in Holland. A Dutchman from Europe would scarcely be able to converse with an Afri cander, though the latter would more easily understand the language of a burgher from Amsterdam.

Hottentot Dutch, as it is called, is a patois composed of French, English, Ger man and Dutch, and it is difficult to say which predominates. Before closing these remarks, I venture to add a few words on the political situation of affairs as I understood it. No one who went about with his eyes open could doubt that mischief was brewing among the native tribes in 1877-8. The outbreak was but a question of time, and the extent of its area depended on the success of the first assailants. I find in one of my letters home, very early in 1878, I speak of the Zulu war as immi nent, and what a serious calamity the rising would be. I speak also of the Pondos being thoroughly disaffected, and, in a subsequent letter, I write from Ibeka at the end of February — " There is no sign of the war being over, and it is said here it may last for another eighteen months.

The Kaffirs are rising nearly all over the Colony. There is fight ing now within half-a-dozen miles of this place, and you might almost say in King Williamstown and East London."

Chapter II The Voyage Out

I embarked on board Messrs. Donald Currie and Co.'s R.M.S. " Lapland" on Nov. 28th, 1876, at the S.W. India Docks, London, for Port Elizabeth, and soon after taking our mud pilot on board steamed down the Thames. We stopped a few hours at Gravesend to compare compasses, &c, and finally started again about four p.m. I will not describe the journey down, as probably my readers know it better than I do myself. However, we rounded the Foreland about eight o'clock, and then went bowling along down channel in the direction of Dartmouth, where we were to take more passengers and the mails on board. On awaking the next morn ing I found we were passing Beachy Head, and soon after the cliffs of Seaford and then Brighton rose to view. The weather was delightful, and the passengers all agreed upon a fine voyage.

We passed the Isle of Wight before dark, and "turned in" with the hope of arriving at Dartmouth by the next morning. As early as possible (having heard the anchor go during the night) I took a walk on deck to have a look at Dart mouth. As I put my head out of the companion, a very damp gust swept past, and I saw that we were having real Devonshire weather. Rain was coming down fiercely. A boatman standing near remarked that it never did anything else at Dartmouth. Looking up the river, I saw the large hulls of H.M. ships " Britannia " and " Hindo stan," the training ships for young naval officers. Having a brother, then a cadet, onboard, I hailed a boat, and started for the former. On reaching her, I was informed that the cadets were in class, and I should have to wait half-an-hour, upon which I was shown into a very pretty little cabin, where I waited till my brother appeared.

I afterwards went on shore with him, and saw all the lions of Dartmouth (not many, bye-the-by), and re turned on board in the evening. Next morning we weighed anchor and put to sea. Still raining, and a strong south-west wind blowing. Our hopes of a fine voyage were utterly de stroyed, for we no sooner were fairly out to sea than we found out what the wind had been doing for us during the night. The sea was very high, and the wind being ahead, the ship put her nose into every wave, and conse quently she had a wet deck from stem to stern. As evening drew on, the gale rather in creased than abated, and was accompanied by thunder and lightning, which did not go towards raising our spirits, and we went below not very well satisfied with our first day's experiences of the " stormy winds that blow."

Next morning, still the same wind, not the least abated, sea quite as high, and the rain still coming down. This was indeed a miser able day. Only three passengers showed up at the breakfast table— a Scotchman, a Yankee, and myself, and we had to swallow ours as best we could standing up against the side of the ship, as the table could not be "laid." After breakfast we went on deck, and could not stop there ; went down below, and could not stop there; up on deck again, saw a few porpoises playing about the ship, and down below again, and so on all the rest of that day. I am unwilling to prolong even the recol lection of our miseries ; suffice it to say that, after ten and a half days beating against a head-wind in the " Bay," having our hen coops, our after-wheel, several skylights, and one poor seaman washed overboard, we at length arrived at Madeira, just as the authorities had telegi'aphed to know what had become of us.

We had five hours to stop there, as we had to coal and take in provisions, in the shape of fresh meat and vegetables, and so we made up a party and went on shore. We hired horses and galloped about the Grande Corale, and up towards the monastery, and all over the town, and having laden ourselves with fruit and a basket chair or two, we returned on board. We hove anchor about one o'clock, and re sumed our voyage. The sea was beautifully calm, and theN.W. "trades" helped us along at the rate of eleven miles per hour, the best speed we made throughout the whole of the voyage. We went bowling along, with all our sails set, past the Peak of Teneriffe and through the Canaries and Cape de Verde islands, and so on to the line, when our wind died away, and so calm was the sea that, except for a gentle swell, one might have supposed we were on an English lake.

Day after day nothing but the same cloudless sky, and the customary whales, sharks and porpoises that are seen in these latitudes. Christmas Day on board. The day broke very hot and sultry ; the sea was like a sheet of glass. Service in the morning, then dinner, with the traditional plum-pudding and mince-pies, and goose instead of turkey. After dinner we got up some athletic sports, comprising flat races, steeplechases sack races, &c, and in the evening a concert, vocal and instrumental, completed a very en joyable day. December 30th. Many of us on the fore castle head looking out for signs of land, although we knew land was still some miles away. Not till long after dark did we see a light far away ahead, which we were told was the lighthouse on Robben Island. I then turned in, intending to get up in an hour or so.

At two o'clock I was awakened to hear we were then passing the island. It was just getting light, and I could discern a black mass that I was told was land. What is that smoke behind us ? It must be a steamer. Many were the surmises as to what the steamer would turn out to be, and as she came up fast astern, and eventually passed us, we were told she was the Union Com pany's steamer, "Nubian," that had left Southampton exactly a week after us, and now she would get into Cape Town first ! I thought if the old " Lapland " could hear and speak she would have abused her natural clement for its treachery, and finally settled to the bottom. We steamed into Table Bay about four o'clock, and saw that the " Nubian " was there before us ; so we had to wait till the Port Master came on board, to show our papers, &c. However, he came at last, and soon after we moved into dock.

Cape Town did not impress me very much as the capital of Cape Colony. I must say I was disappointed, though there are a few fine buildings in the city. We stayed in Cape Town nearly five days, and then started again for Port Elizabeth, whither I was bound, arriving there about five o'clock in the morn ing, after a forty hours' run. I was told by the boatmen that if I did not go ashore at once I might not be able to get away for two or three days, as it was blowing pretty strong and the bar rising, so I took advantage and disembarked with my baggage, after taking a tender farewell of all my fellow-passengers. Port Elizabeth. — After having had my traps examined and passed by the Customs (bye the-by, they charge you 20s. for every barrel of fowling-piece or rifle, and 10s. for every revolver or pistol, and 10 per cent, on the value of all new goods, in the shape of saddles, tools, &c), I took a walk up Main Street, and was much impressed by the difference in the buildings of this place and Cape Towu.

In Port Elizabeth are some really fine stores ; for instance, those of Messrs. Blaine and Co., the agents for Messrs. Donald Currie; Dunell, Ebden, and Co.; Mackie, Dunn, and others, while the Standard Bank is a fine specimen of colonial architecture. I then went to the station and took the train for Uitenhage, a country town about 20 miles from Port Elizabath. The journey occupied an hour and a half, the line being a steep incline nearly the whole way. Uitenhage. — Very pretty after the barren country round Port Elizabeth, every house embedded in trees, and beautiful streams of water running down the sides of the streets. I went to the house of Mr. A., to whose son I had come out to learn ostrich farming. He had been waiting for me, but as I was a week late he had already gone back to his farm, about 130 miles from Uitenhage. c I passed a month here waiting for a chance to get up, and at last, on the 5th February, started with one of his brothers on horseback for the farm in the Karoo.

The first day we rode about forty miles (rather a good beginning for me, who had not had much experience in that line before) to a Dutch farmer's, and after having fed our horses, we went into the house and sat down to a very substantial supper of goat chops, springbok stew, and coffee, to which we did ample justice. We then smoked and chatted a little with the old " Boer " (he could speak a little English), and turned in. Next morning we were up before daybreak, fed our horses, had a cup of coffee, and started off again. The rule in travelling in the Colony is never to keep your horse under the saddle for more than two hours consecutively ; then to off saddle him and give him a feed of corn, or rather forage (i.e., oats just as they are reaped cut up like chaff) if possible ; if not, turn him out into the veldt for an hour or so to get a nibble, after having taken the precau tion to knee-halter him.

This is done either by passing the reim, or leather thong at tached to the halter, above his knee, making two half hitches, and so bringing his nose to within about nine inches of his knee ; or, by buckling on a strap made for the purpose, and fastening the reim through the ring in the band to the halter the same distance from his nose, as in the other method. This prevents him from straying far, and enables you to catch him the more easily when you want to start. The second night we arrived at another Dutch farmer's, a distance of fifty miles from our resting-place of the night before, and went through the same performances, and off again the next morning early. We decided only to ride on to an English farmer's that day, about thirty miles from where we then were, and pass the night with him, as he was the neighbouring farmer of Mr. A.'s, and a great friend.

We arrived there about two o'clock in the afternoon, and had a stroll about the farm with the two sons of the farmer, a Mr. N — n, who was Field Cornet of the district, which corres ponds to our English Justice of the Peace. The farm is nothing but the barren Karoo, with no water except what is obtained by means of dams, which hold the drainage from the plains after the heavy thunder showers that take place in summer, that is, the months of October and November. It is very fair pasturage for sheep, and it is, or was, the natural home of the wild ostrich, but the birds are now quite extinct in this part. Eighty miles higher up in the interior they are preserved, and one or two pairs are occasionally found on the farms. These are watched by the owners as carefully as if they wrere tame birds, as each pair is a source of income to the sum of £400 a year from the progeny alone, they being infinitely superior to those reared in the domesticated state.

Chapter III. My New Home

— FIRST IMPRESSION. The following morning we pursued our journey, and arrived at the farm, to which I was bound, in about two hours. I was met at the door by my future companion, whom I shall call Charlie, and, having off-saddled and knee-haltered our horses, we went inside to refresh the inner man. The first thing that struck me on entering the house was the want of comfort ; nothing but the bare boards, with a table, an exceedingly dirty table-cloth, and half-a-dozen chairs, with a very seedy piano, and a sofa still more so; bare walls, not even papered, and the wooden ceiling with a large hole in it. I cannot say I was very favourably impressed with my future home. On going outside I saw, looking north and south, one vast plain as far as eye could reach, with here and there a kopje, or rise, covered with thick bush, and a long line of bush towards the mountains on each side.

On the east and west were chains of moun tains, namely, the Groote River Heights and the Great Winterhook Mountains. Facing the house, about 100 yards away, were the sheep and ostrich kraals, or folds. These were built of stones quarried from the farm, of which there is any quantity. The blocks are packed one on the other, about two feet wide, in such a manner as not to require any cement or mortar, but remain quite firm for years. The farmer to whom the place belonged, Mr. A. by name, was away attending a sale of stock, and was not expected home for two or three days. The next morning I began work by inspan ning two mules into a cart tandem fashion, and taking some provisions and other things — FIRST IMPRESSION. 23 to another farm of A.'s, about ten miles, distance. The track led through the mountains, with just enough room for a waggon to pass, and that is all, the road being also fearfully rocky.

This is called a poort, i.e., a road through the mountains, a Dutch expression ; in English, a defile would be nearest the word. The farm extends along the banks of the Groote River, and comprises both the Karoo veldt and, close along the river bank, thick bush, consisting mostly of mimosa thorns. The river in dry seasons becomes quite salt, as, owing to the absence of rain, no water comes down, and the pools that lie low in the bed of the stream, being fed by salt springs, become tainted. I have walked along this same river, during the drought of 1877, for miles without getting wet. The bed is just like a high road, with here and there a pool of water. Tobacco and other trees grow and flourish right in midstream. But, after a heavy rain, the river becomes a raging tor rent, which does not subside for weeks, and during that time the water is quite fresh, though rather muddy.

On my return journey with the mules, in going through the poort, I saw on each side of the track a troop of baboons, about thirty in number, some very large ones amongst them, quietly picking the gum off the mimosa thorns and eating it. They only turned and stared at me, and then went on with their repast, keeping their eye on me, however, until I was well away ; and now and then trying to frighten me, as I thought, by a chorus of howls, which sounded as if a pack of curs were being severely thrashed. This was my first adventure, as it seemed to me then, and I reached home without another. The following day Mr. A. returned. He had purchased 1,200 sheep at the sale, and some ostriches. The stock then on the farm consisted of about 2,500 sheep and goats, FIUST IMPRESSION. 25 young ostriches, four pairs of breeding birds, and a troop of about fifty brood mares, and 16 mules for the waggon.

My first work, the morning after Mr. A.'s arrival, was to go up to the camps, or en closures, that contained the breeding birds in order to pluck two of the hens. I was told that when once we had hold of the bird we were to hang on like grim death, and not to get in front of her, but to keep at her side. There were six of us, and after having armed •ourselves with a bush about six feet long, having a tuft on the end, we ventured into the camp. The object of this bush is to use as a bayonet to check the advance of a bird if he makes a rush at you. It would be of no use attempting to run away. He would catch you before you had gone half-a-dozen yards, and a kick from one of his tremen dously powerful legs would make you measure your length on the ground, if nothing worse. In pointing this bush, you always have to be careful to keep it right at the bird's head ; to put it against his breast would be worse than useless, as it would only irritate him.

Keep it right in his face, he will not attempt to break through, and although he may kick as much as he likes, he will not reach you. The cock bird, when he first saw us, com menced stretching out his neck and moving his wings about in a very restless manner ; then suddenly wheeled round, and came flying down the camp towards us at full speed. " Stand firm there!" was the order, and accordingly we all turned round, holding our bushes at the charge, waiting the attack. I must confess I felt a little scared when I saw this great bird come rushing down with the speed of a racehorse, looking as if he in tended to break right through our line (it was the first time I had ever used the bush, and had not very great faith in its powers). However, when the bird got within about ten yards of us, finding we did not move, he — FIRST IMPRESSION. stopped short, turned round and walked away, still keeping his wings moving about and taking in all our movements.

But it was the hen we wanted, and all the time she was walking up and down the camp as if she had nothing whatever to do with what her lord did. Our party separated, and ap proached her from different points. We got up behind her so as to force her to a certain corner, where there was a palisade forming a small enclosure into which the birds about to be plucked were driven. All the while we were driving the hen along, the cock kept harassing our flanks, and we had to keep a watchful eye on our rear as well as our front. It would be " look out so and so," and you would turn round, bring your bush to the charge, and drive off the male, and then look to see that the hen had not broken through. The hen, as a rule, will not charge, but she will always try and escape by breaking through the line.

However, after several futile attempts to break away, we at length succeeded in driving her into a corner, and making a rush together, held her until the last feather of value was plucked. The following day the ostriches which Mr. A. had bought at the sale arrived, and were pronounced very fine birds. I was to have ten, and my other fellow pupils, B. and C, were to have twenty and five respectively. These were all young birds, three months old, and we were to pay £10 apiece for them. There is no sure way of distinguishing the male from the female much before the bird is twelve months old. The cock is more valu able than the hen, so in choosing them you try to get as many males as possible. Some say you can distinguish the cock by dark stripes which it has on the neck and head, but I have never seen this proved.

We all made choice of our birds, and then came the job of branding them with our initial letters. This is done by making the branding iron FIRST IMPRESSION. hot, and, after securing the bird, pressing the hot iron against the thigh, where a white mark of the letter soon appears. Other ways of marking are by tying labels round the leg or neck, of brass or some other metal, and by painting the back of the neck with bright colours, but this latter is not very lasting. Ostriches from the age of six weeks — - that is to say, from the time they are able to run any distance — up to twelve or fifteen months old, run about the veldt in charge of a herd, and get their own living. They are let out every morning soon after sunrise, and wander away where they like, and are brought, up every evening and put in the kraal for the night.