A Lady's life and travels in Zululand and the Transvaal during Cetewayo's reign: being the African letters and journals of ... Mrs. Wilkinson

Front matter

A LADY'S LIFE IN ZULULAND LONDON : PRINTED BY SPOTTISWOODH AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE AND PARLIAMENT BTRBKT MRS WILKINSON A LADY'S LIFE AND TRAVELS IN ZULULAND AND THE TRANSVAAL DURING CETEWAYO'S REIGN BEINf; THE AFRICAN LETTERS AND JOURNALS OF THE LATE MRS WILKINSON LONDON J. T. HAYES, 17 HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN TO THE DEAR MEMORY OP A WOMAN OF RARE VIRTUES HIGH-MINDED AND GUILELESS THE SHARER OF EVERY JOY, THE SYMPATHISER IN EVERY SORROW IN JOURNEYINGS OFTEN THE FAITHFUL AND NEVER- FAILING COMPANION IN EVERY RELATION OF DOMESTIC AND PUBLIC LIFB THE BEST FRIEND AND THE WISEST COUNSELLOR THAT THE COMPILER OF THIS MEMOIR EVER HAD OR EVER WILL HAVE ' The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken auiy ; bletied lit the name •/ the Lord ' PEEPACE. The letters composing this Memoir are published -with a view to giving an idea of the kind of life which a lady is called upon to live when she leaves her English home for the purpose of aiding in the extension of Christ's kingdom in such a wild and savage country as Zululand.

There are few persons who can realise what such a life entails, nor can letters written even upon the spot convey any adequate idea of it. The letters here published are, like her who wrote them, so simple and unaffected, and describe the expe riences of Zulu life in a style so unconscious of troubles cheerfully met, and hardships bravely endured, that they must carry the strength of truth with them, and do good wherever they are read. That they may stir others to do and to dare what this brave and unselfish Englishwoman did and dared so willingly for Christ's sake — in journeyings a

Preface

. VIII often, in perils of waters, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the wilderness ; in weariness and painfulness, in watch ings often, in hunger and thirst, in sickness and in loneli ness ; besides those things which came upon her daily, the care of young and tender children — is the sole reason that they are now given to the public. Caerhayes, Coknwall : July 1882. CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE I. Departure from England and Arrival in Africa .... . . 1 II. Tarrying in Natal . . 16 III. The Start for Zululand, and Fibst Impres sions 37 IV. Great Annual Review of the Zulu Army by Panda and Cetywayo 56 V. Cetywayo's way of governing his Country ; an Insight to his ' Reign of Terror ' . 77 VI. Station Life in Zululand . . 99 VII. Exploring the Amaswazi Country 114 VIII. Station Life, and a Start for Amaswazi Land 131 IX.

Sickness, Famine, and the Gathering of the Zulu War Storm 153 X. In the Transvaal, and on the Bombo . . 176 XL Incidents of Native Christians . . . 207 XII. Northward of Zululand ..... 225 XIII. JOURNEYINGS IN THE TRANSVAAL .... 242 XIV. Results of Mission Work as seen through the Zulu War A LADY'S LIFE IN ZULULAND AND THE TRANSVAAL

Chapter I. Departuee Fkom England And Arrival In Africa

On July 6, 1870, Mrs. Wilkinson, the author of these letters, sailed from Falmouth, with the Mission party bound for Zululand, in the ' Good Hope.' On the 13th she wrote these few lines from Madeira : — ' Just one line to tell you of our safe arrival at this most beautiful of islands. Wo anchored here at eleven last night, in the midst of a total eclipse of the moon. The town lies at the bottom of such a splendid mountain, dotted all over with cottages and vineyards. I have been very ill all the time, or I would have written more. We are now going on shore to break. fast. We had two nice services on Sunday, by your time 11 A.M. and 8.45 p.m., ship's time 10.15 a.m. and 7.45 p.m. I cannot write more.' After leaving Madeira she wrote a description of her B DEPARTURE FROM ENGLAND. short stay upon that island.

It shows the keen interest she took in everything, and the keen delight with which she enjoyed every bright day and hour of life. It was always ' carpe diem ' with her. Ever patient and un complaining in the darkest and most troubled days, of which she had in Africa not a few ; ever hopeful that light would come again when the dark days had done their work, and set all things to rights. ' Go, sleep like closing flowers at night, and heaven thy morn will bless,' *vas the atmosphere in which, like the flowers, she lived, and moved, and had her being. She was a very bad sailor, and always felt wretched on board ship. To make matters worse, the ' Good Hope ' was a rolling and most uncomfortable ship, deeply laden, very slow, and ended by her engines breaking down before Capetown was reached. Little was made, however, of the many and prolonged discomforts, as will be seen in the following letter, complaining never ; it was not in her nature to do so. ' " Good Hope."

Sunday, July 24, 1870. ' Lat. 2 ; long. 12. ' You will now be about receiving my scrap from Madeira. I will go back to that time. It is one of the most charming places I ever saw. We went on shore about 7.30 a.m., and on landing found a quaint little covered sledge, drawn by two oxen, waiting, into which we got and went to the English hotel, where we had a most delicious breakfast, with quantities of fruit, which I can MADEIRA. 3 tell you we thoroughly enjoyed after a week of sickness. After breakfast we went to see some gardens. And now, how can I describe them to do them justice ? It was bke wandering through hot-houses, with a beautiful sea breeze blowing all the time ; we could but keep saying to each other, " Paradise must be like this." Home flowers we came upon at each turn, growing under magnificent palms.

To show you what the growth is, there was an English oak sixty-seven years old, and ten feet six inches round the trunk. ' It was terrible leaving this peaceful spot to come back to this horrible old " roller." I have been ill the whole time ; but to-day I feel better, so take advantage and begin a letter to be posted at St. Helena. We cross the line to-morrow. We have been most favoured ; instead of being scorched we have had winds and cloudy skies, and at this moment I can hardly keep my paper quiet. The captain says he never crossed the line in such cool weather; but we are so deep in the water that until to-day we have not had our cabin ports open for a week, so you can imagine the state of atmosphere below. ' We are so pleased with all our party. Only fancy, I find that the person who comes half as my helper, half as worker in the Mission, is Miss R., who came and started the orphanage at Eoxearth, and you can guess how many Foxearth talks we have. ' Saturday, July 30. — We hope to get to St. Helena to morrow night.

It has been a weary time since we left b2 Madeira, and this is a very slow ship ; we ought to have been at St. Helena yesterday. We have seen a good many flying-fish. I had one for lunch ; it was most delicious, something between a whiting and an eel. We ought to arrive at Capetown eleven daj'S after we leave St. Helena, and then we shall have about seven days up to Durban. I think this life on board has been a good preparation for our future life ; everything will seem to be such a comfort on shore. We ought to be so thankful that we have not had one really hot day ; always a cool breeze, though a head wind. ' We horrify those accustomed to it (i.e. the colonists) by not admiring the Southern Cross. It looks to me like a boy's kite. ' The meals on board are as follows : — Coffee or tea 6 A.m., breakfast 9 a.m., lunch 12, dinner 4 p.m., tea 7 p.m. There was a man in irons all yesterday for knocking the engineer into the stokehole.

The sun now sets at 5.45 p.m., and it is quite dark by 6 p.m. We are in lat. 13. I never expected to be ill the whole voyage, which I now see plainly I shall be. I am the only person allowed to have my meals on deck. ' Sunday, July 31. — I must finish this letter to-day, as we hope to arrive at St. Helena at six this evening. We had a nice service this morning, with celebration — the second time on board. Everybody is in spirits at the thought of sighting land. We passed a vessel this morning, the first we have seen for eighteen days.' CAPETOWN. 5 The next letter is from Bishop's Court, Capetown, where the Mission party stayed a few days. The Bishop of Capetown had gone to England with Mrs. Gray to con sult with English doctors upon her state of health. It was their last visit. Mrs. Gray returned to South Africa almost immediately, and lived but a short while after her return.

In their absence the Mission party were hospitably entertained at Bishop's Court by the Miss Grays. ' Bishop's Court, Capetown. Aug. 16, 1870. ' You will hear, before this reaches you, that the Metropolitan has gone to England with his wife, who is very ill. The news met us at St. Helena, and, as you can well imagine, we were astonished. It was most unfortunate our missing him at that place. He left it on the Friday, the day we ought to have arrived there, but did not until the Monday. We had a long, tedious voyage from St. Helena here, being four days longer than we ought to have been, owing to our engines continually breaking down, and having to stop three or four hours at a time, and sometimes six, to repair them. We dropped anchor in Table Bay on Sunday morning at 1.45 a.m. We came on shore at 8 a.m., and went to the hotel for breakfast.

We had not been there half-an-hour before poor E. got a letter asking him to preach in the cathedral at the 11 o'clock service. Was it not too bad to attack a poor sea-sick man in that manner ? We enjoyed the service immensely — such good singing and full cathedral service. It is the only colonial cathedral where a cathedral service is carried out. Directly service was over the Precentor, Canon Ogilvie, brought us out here about nine miles from town. Bishop Gray had ar ranged everything for us, and here we are in a charming old Dutch house, such large lofty rooms, and polished oak floors, a beautiful garden in the middle of a little park, and on one side Table Mountain rising straight above our heads. Beautiful grey granite, with here and there patches of grass, and forests of firs. ' The weather in the early morning before breakfast, when E. and I take a stroll, is like a lovely October morning in England — heavy dew on the grass, and slightly frosty.

We go into the kitchen garden and pick a couple of delicious oranges. After the grove of oranges and lemons you come to peas and cabbages on one side, and a grove of standard apricots and peaches — -which are no\y bare of leaf — on the other. At the bottom a running stream full of water-cresses. ' Yesterday we went for a drive in the morning, and in the afternoon went up the mountain on a fern expedition. The ferns are magnificent; E. is going to send a parcel of them home by one of the officers of the ship. You shall have some from Zululand. The everlastings are not yet out. In the evening, clergy and their wives to meet E. at dinner. The Miss Grays are so nice and kind, doing everything they can to make us comfortable. I cannot realise yet that I am in Africa; I am too comfortable. We are to go on board to-morrow at 3 p.m. We shall be PORT ELIZABETH. 7 about three days getting to Algoa Bay, where we stay three days.

The Bishop of Grahamstown comes down to meet us. What do you think the Metropolitan and the other Bishops want E. to do ? To land at Algoa Bay, and go on a visitation to the Free State and Transvaal country. The Archdeacon here, the Metropolitan's commissary, is very anxious he should go. At breakfast they were dis cussing it very gravely. E. was saying that his own diocese required him first, and that he ought to settle our party down there. So when the Archdeacon said, " It is so much easier to get to the Free State from Grahamstown than from Zululand," I made them all burst out laughing by saying, " Then why does not the Bishop of Grahamstown go himself ? " On Sunday evening we went down to service at Claremont, close to Rondebosch.' From Capetown the Mission party proceeded by sea to Port Elizabeth, where a few pleasant days were spent with a hospitable member of the Church, Mr. Alfred Ebden, and where the Bishop of Grahamstown, now Bishop of Edin burgh, was met, having come a journey of ninety miles for that special purpose.

From here also a letter was written home. ' Port Elizabeth, Algoa Bay. Aug. 23, 1870. ' Here we are another stage on our journey, and I sin cerely hope we shall soon he at the end of the sea part of it. We go on board to-morrow, and I hope on Friday, the 26th, we shall get to Durban. We are staying in the house of a Mr. Ebden, a friend of the Bishop of Grahamstown, who has come down ninety miles to meet us. Have you heard that he has been offered the Bishopric of Edinburgh, and he is going to accept it ? He will be a terrible loss to South Africa, for he commands the respect of all parties. He was the moving spirit at the late synod. I do not know what the Bishop of Capetown will do without him. Everybody is going mad on the subject of diamonds, as they are really turning out something more than a snare and a delusion.

One has been found which surpasses the Kohi-noor in brilliancy, though not in size. Mr. Ebden showed us several last night varying from 50Z. to 300Z. in value. They are found about three feet from the surface of the ground in the bed of an old river. They have been found upon an old mission station, and the missionaries allowed the diggers to work on condition that they should have a seventh. In one week their share was 1,000Z. If E. goes up there, which I think he must do at the end of the year, I tell him that he must dig a little, for he will go through the thick of it. ' As I sit by the window writing, waggons keep passing, with twelve or fourteen oxen drawing them, but I have not yet seen the sort of waggon we shall go in. These are entirely for goods. ' E. preached twice on Sunday. There are three churches here, and the people are thoroughly English ; there is not the mixture of Dutch which you find at the Cape. ' We left Capetown last Wednesday.

It was blowing BISHOP'S COURT, AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD. hard, and in the night it blew quite a gale against us, so that we had only gone about fifty miles the first twenty four hours. I only hope the wind will keep in its present quarter, and we shall soon run up to Durban. ' E. paid his first visit to a Kafir kraal (village) yesterday ; and though one has heard of the Kafir absence of dress, still, he says, he was not prepared for it. The children had literally nothing on, and the men simply a blanket, which sometimes was on and sometimes off. What a lot of letters you will have had from us, and we, poor things, are hungering for one, and I know not when we shall hear ! There are a good many English flowers here : a large bouquet is by me consisting of verbena, mignonette, stock, wallflower. ' After I finished my last letter to you, written from Bishop's Court, we drove to Constantia, the great wine place.

We saw fields of vines ; they look like a quantity of closely-trimmed gooseberry-bushes, not growing at all like hops, but kept quite short. We bought two nine gallon casks of wine to take up with us. It was a most beautiful drive : Table Mountain towering above us on one side ; in the distance the Blue Mountains of Hottentot Holland, the tops covered with snow ; and in front the s^a. We have already found out how clear and light the air is, and we have day after day without a cloud. I hope you are having equally lovely weather, though they say that the quantity of S.E. wind we have had will bring you rain. 'We lunched with the sisters at the Home at Capetown before we went on board ; we also went over the Kafir college at Zonnebloem, and saw our three Zulu boys, Hali, Billy, and Charhe. They are three such nice, in telligent lads, much handsomer than dear old Frank.1 Billy looks almost like an English boy.

I think his father was English. The English college at Rondebosch is very nice ; the head-master a charming man, who keeps the boys well up to all English sports. It will he just the place for T. when he is about eleven years old. One of the masters has just come back from England, having gained the Hebrew scholarship at Oxford. 'What we miss most are the English singing-birds. Now and then we hear a bird piping beautifully, but there is no song. 'Bishop Cotterill's daughter, Mrs. Greenstock, lives next door. She has been living for ten years in as secluded a spot as Kwamagwaza, so that I gain many hints. They were obliged to leave at last, as the neighbourhood was not healthy ; but she says that they were so happy there, and her husband's work was so successful. They are hoping soon to go home for a holiday, and are only here filling a clergyman's place who is at home.

There is now a fortnightly mail to Natal (instead of monthly). It leaves England the 9th and 24th, so you must write as often as possible. It has only been started this year. Did you think of us on the 18th ? We were both so ill, An Ajawa from Lake Nyassa, placed in Mrs. Wilkinson's charge in England by Bishop Tozer of Zanzibar. CROSSING THE BAE AT DURBAN. 11 as the gale was blowing ; but we drank each other's health in porter, which is the only thing that does me good.' The next letter announces the arrival of the Mission party at Durban, after a voyage of nearly two months, instead of twenty-four days in which the run is now made from Plymouth to Natal. Durban, Natal. Aug. 29, 1870. ' Here we are, I am very thankful to say, at the end of our voyage, and most hospitably received by Archdeacon Robinson and his wife, while the rest of our party are at the hotel.

We anchored in the bay yesterday morning (Sunday) at 7 a.m. ; but we were not able to land, the sea ran too high over the bar across which we had to go in cargo-boats. It was most tantalising having to spend another day and night on the ship when we had all come up dressed in full fig to go ashore. However, to-day, about 12, we espied a boat coming to us, for we lay three miles from the landing-place. We were all packed closely down in the cargo-boat with the luggage, and they prepared to batten us down for going over the bar; but we begged and prayed not to be suffocated in that manner, and they did not, and we did not get wet. The country strikes us as being the most inhabited part of Africa we have seen since Capetown itself ; well cultivated, with plenty of houses, and the land rises well from the sea.

Durban itself is very low, being only about one foot above the level of the sea. The coast from Algoa Bay up here is very lovely, though not a house to be seen, unless an occasional Kafir hut might be called one. Such beautiful wooded heights, waterfalls, and rivers running into the sea.' It was found impossible, for several reasons, that the Mission party should go up at once to Zululand. One reason was that house accommodation was not prepared, and the rainy season was commencing, which rendered it necessary that the ladies of the party should at once be properly housed. After a week, therefore, spent in Durban, during which stores were laid in, and waggons started off for Kwamagwaza in Zululand — which was to be, at all events for a time, the headquarters of the newly arrived Mission party — Mrs. Wilkinson went up to Maritz burg, where she became for a time the guest of Dean Green, and, later on, of the Bishop of Maritzburg. * The Deanery, Pieter Maritzburg.

Sept. 8, 1870. ' We landed in Durban last Monday week, the 29th. On Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday we were busy from 10 a.m. fo 5 p.m. shopping. The two young men of the Mission party, Mr. Glover and Mr. Hales, went off upon the last-named day with four waggons. On Saturday we had a quiet day, settling accounts, &c. On Sunday E. preached morning and evening. Monday we had to "return calls." On Tuesday E. started me off in the omnibus at 6.30 a.m. for this place. He was to start at 9 A.m. with the Archdeacon to ride into Zululand. The DURBAN TO MARITZBURG. 13 Archdeacon was going with him as far as the Tugela River, the boundary of the colony, and half-way to Kwa magwaza. There he was to pick up the waggons and meet Mr. Robertson. They were to be there last night, which would be two days from Durban, and they would have two days' more ride before reaching Kwamagwaza.

E. would then just settle the young men, and set them to work, go and visit the king, and ride back here to me. I hope he will return about the 20th. It is fifty-six miles from Durban here. I came half-way on Tuesday. Bishop Macrorie most kindly drove his own nice little carriage to meet me. We all slept at the little, clean inn, and then the next morning started at 7 a.m. and got here about 2 p.m. The scenery between this and Durban is simply magnificent. We were about 3,000 feet high, and sur rounded with hills. Of course the road is rather alarming sometimes to one fresh from Suffolk — the way we rattled down the hills ! but then the horses are accustomed to it. I could not bear Durban ; the place is on a level with the sea, and the air is so hot and heavy. The streets are all sand; it is just like walking across that heavy piece of sand at Yarmouth.

We both agreed that we could not live there. Here the air is so different, so light and easy to breathe, and they tell us that the air is even clearer in Zululand. 'On Sunday we had a heavy thunderstorm with hail, which lay round the church six inches deep, and was there twenty-four hours after. The moon is now full, and so bright that we might read by it. It is a perfect evening, so cool and delicious, but then we are 2,500 feet above the sea. The Kafir school is in the garden. I have just been listening to them singing a hymn in Kafir to the tune, " How sweet the Name of Jesus sounds." ' We were so glad to leave the " Good Hope." I only took one meal down below the whole voyage. I was as bad the last day I spent on board as I was the first. ' Everybody is leaving this place for the diamond fields, which are turning out something very tangible.

I hope the Bishop of Capetown will bring out a Bishop for the Free State, for then E. won't have to go up there. It is now just 2 o'clock here, with you 12 (midday) ; and the thermometer is only 66° in my bedroom, which faces west.' It may be imagined that ' a quiet day, settling accounts ' is necessary after purchasing stores for, and packing them in, four South African waggons for up-country journey. To give some idea of what is required for African travel, here are items furnished to me by the late well-known African traveller, Mr. Baines : — Equipment for one waggon, and party of three white men, and three natives, to the River Zambesi. Waggon ; twenty oxen ; gear ; tent. Provisions. — Three muids Boers' meal ; 100 lbs. flour ; 200 lbs. sugar ; 150 lbs. coffee, roasted and ground ; six quartern chests tea ; 100 lbs. salt ; spices ; vinegar ; pepper ; mustard, &c. EQUIPMENT FOR OX-WAGGON. 15 Medicines. — Four boxes of wine and spirits ; six ounces of quinine ; tartar emetic ; opium ; Livingstone pills ; Dover's powders ; ammonia ; arnica ; lint ; adhesive plaister.

Guns and ammunition. — One or two good rifles ; one or two good shot-guns ; half-a-dozen muskets ; 200 lbs. powder; 10,000 caps ; 400 lbs. lead and shot. Barter goods. — Four hundred pounds of beads ; 50 blankets ; 50 cotton blankets ; 25 pieces of stout calico ; 25 pieces Voerchitz (chintz) ; 200 handkerchiefs ; box of butcher's knives ; tinder boxes ; strike-fire knives; 100 lbs. brass wire. Accessories. — Three saws ; three American axes ; three small ditto ; augers from half to one and a half inch ; chisels ; hammers ; screws ; nails ; bolts and nuts ; sewing needles and twine ; thread ; tape ; palm and sail needles ; buttons; padlocks and two keys; buckets; spades; kettles; frying pans ; knives, forks, and plates ; Kafir cooking pots ; cups and pannikins ; cooking gear of other and all needed sorts.

Chapter II. Erying In Natal

' The Deanery, Maritzburg. Sept. 18, 1870. ' I can hardly realise that I am in Africa. Everything is so English, and it is only when I am rudely awakened by seeing a Kafir in the garb alone that Nature gave him that I am aware of the fact. The scenery is very fine — such hills, and such roads ! I don't think you would like being rattled down a hill, much steeper than the slope down to your river, more than I do. When I drove here with the Bishop of Maritzburg I held on grimly, and did not breathe till we were at the bottom of the hill. ' E. left me at Durban ; he rode to Kwamagwaza with his waggons and two young men. He intended settling them, and then riding back to me here. It is about 140 miles, and it will take him four days. The waggons only travel twenty miles a day. They are drawn by fourteen oxen, and the mattresses are placed on the top of the boxes. ' September 22. — E. arrived here on the 20th, after having ridden 300 miles in the fortnight, and such riding ! ' 1 It will be interesting to remark here that the route lay by the Lower Tugela Drift where now stand Forts Pearson and Tenedos.

Thence along A RIDE INTO ZULULAND. 17 He often had to lead his horse down a precipice where one false step might be fatal. He said that Zululand teemed with game, antelopes, and bustards, crossing the path within easy shot. At one house where he stayed they shot an alligator the night before. There are a great many in the river3 which would soon snap you up if they had the chance. E. knocked up six horses, so you can imagine how he rode. Horses are cheap ; a good one is twenty pounds. ' We go to-day to stay with Bishop Macrorie and his wife. They have kindly asked us to make their house our own until I am well enough to go up country. We had partridges for dinner on September 8, rather larger than English birds, and more of the pheasant flavour. The season ended on the 15th of this month, this being the spring. ' The country in Zululand is very mountainous ; nothing tropical will grow, but all European fruits and vegetables.

The fires on the hills every night are very grand ; they burn all the grass. In about three weeks green grass springs up. We shall have to build a great deal. The changes here are sudden. Tuesday a trying hot wind, and clouds of dust ; yesterday and to-day chilly. Every body that can go is gone to the diamond fields.' The route to Kwamagwaza by the Lower Tugela Drift along the track traversed by Lord Chelmsford to relieve Colonel Pearson, by the rivers Inyoni, Amatikulu, Umsindusi, Inyezani, to Etyowe, which is half way to Kwamagwaza. C has become so intensely interesting during the present war, lying as it does by our forts on the Zulu coast and through Etyowe (not Ekowe, as usually, and wrongly, spelt), that it is thought well to give the journal of the ride referred to in the foregoing letter which Mrs. Wilkin son sent home with it : — Journal of a Ride from Durban to Zululand, and back to Maritzburg. ' Tuesday, September 6, 1870. — Left Durban on horse back with the Archdeacon for Zululand.