TEN YEARS IN SOUTH AFRICA
ONLY COMPLETE AND AUTHENTIC
HISTORY OF
THE BRITISH GERMAN LEGION
IN
South Africa and the East Indies
From the Memoirs of
WILLIAM WESTPHAL,
SERGEANT OF THE 7TH COMPANY, 5TH REGIMENT OF
INFANTRY, NO. 683, WHO TOOK PART IN ALL
EXPEDITIONS DURING THAT PERIOD
B. S. WASSON & Co.,
PRINTERS
91 & 93 Jefferson St.
Chicago
1892
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
THE PERIOD OF MY EARLY YOUTH
An interesting and instructive narrative illustrating the manner in which boys were brought up and educated in the rural districts of Germany; also customs of trade apprentices and mechanics. The Revolution in 1848. ‘Travels through Germany, Period 1838-1856,…………………………………………………………………………….5
CHAPTER II
THE FORMATION OF THE GERMAN LEGION IN ENGLAND.
The Crimean War. England authorizes General Von Stutterheim to organize an army of 10,000 German Volunteers.—Methods of enlisting Agents.—The Island of Heligoland. Termination of the Crimean War.—Military life in England.—Sham battle near Aldershott.—England determines to use the German Legion to quell disturbances in South Africa.—Closing scenes in England.—Period, 1856 to 1857,……………….21
CHAPTER III.
THE BRITISH POSSESSIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA.
General uprising of the natives in South African provinces.—Disastrous encounters between British forces and natives.—The fine strategy of the missionary.—Retreat of the natives,………………………………………………………………………………..27
CHAPTER IV.
BETWEEN TWO CONTINENTS.
Voyage of the German Legion from Portsmouth to Cape Town.—Incidents at Cape Town.—Voyage from Cape Town to East London,…………………………………38
CHAPTER V.
THE MARCH THROUGH THE INTERIOR OF KAFFRARIA.
The landing at East London.—The Buffalo River encampment. –The march from East London to Fort Murray, and description of the interior.—Suffering from heat and thirst.—Destruction wrought by the retreating Savages,……………………………..49
CHAPTER VI.
FORMATION OF THE GERMAN BRITISH COLONIES.
Camping at Fort Murray. Survey and location of the Military Colonists stations. The erection and occupation of the fifteen military stations. Construction of the station Hanover, detailed. Invasion of German emigrants induced by the British Government. The Amatola mountains unexcelled as hunting grounds. Programs of civilization and prosperity in the new colonies,……………………………………………………….70
CHAPTER VII
THE EAST INDIAN COMPANIES
England has trouble with the natives in East India and invites the African military colonists to join their forces. Organization of the East Indian expedition. March from Berlin to East London. Voyage from East London to Bombay, East India. Ravages of the Yellow fever. Removal of the German Legion to Calcutta. Disastrous end of the East Indian campaign. Return to South Africa. Period, 1860………………………………78
CHAPTER VIII.
AMONG THE BOERS IN SOUTH AFRICA.
Description of domestic life among the Boers. Dependent Kaffirs and Zulus; their customs and mode of living.—Tramp from Port Elizabeth to Graham’s Town; tramp from Graham’s Town to King William’s Town.—Lost in the wilderness.—Arrival at Hanover. Starting of business and factories. England breaks her contract with the colonists, disarming them and withdrawing pay and rations.—The Boers and Doppers reap the benefit of the labors of the Legion,…………………………………………..89
CHAPTER IX.
TRAVELS THROUGH INTERIOR KAFFRARIA
Inducements offered by the British Government to the Boers for settling in Kaffraria.—Good demand for carpenters and masons.—In the building business.—A frontier courtship comes to naught. Building operations extended.—Removal to Riebeck, Victoria,……………………………………………………………………………….99
CHAPTER X.
PEDDLING IN KAFFRARIA.
Trading among the Boers.—Dangers and adventures incident to peddling expedition.—Inhabitants of the South African forests.—Return to Hanover.—Resuming peddling operations,……………………………………………………………………………..110
CHAPTER XI.
FURTHER EXPEDITION THROUGH THE INTERIOR OF KAFFRARIA AND VICTORIA.
Peddling through Kaffraria and Victoria.—Customs of the Boers and their religious zeal.—The town of Riebeck.—Governmental provisions for enforcing law and order.—A battle with a tiger.—Disastrous peddling expedition.—A quiet and happy marriage…131
CHAPTER XII.
MY LAST EXPEDITION INTO VICTORIA.
The too intelligent Barbon.—The last peddling trips. Crossing the snowy mountain divide and attending dangers. A trip that cost 4,000 dollars,--Decision to leave South Africa,.145
CHAPTER XIII
SOME GENERAL INFORMATION OF SOUTH AFRICA.
The salubrious climate. The fertile soil. Difficulties for poor settlers. Geographical description of English Territory and location of savage nations,………………………149
CHAPTER XIV.
DEPARTURE FROM SOUTH AFRICA.
Trip from Riebeck to Port Elizabeth, 1867. Voyage to Cape Town, and from thence to St. Helena. Steamer wrecked at Madeira.—From Madeira to London,……………………157
CHAPTER XV.
AT HOME.
Arrival at Hamburg.—Home again.—Injudicious expenditure of funds. Preparation to settle in America,……………………………………………………………………….161
CHAPTER XVI
THE VOYAGE TO AMERICA
Twelve hours upon a burning vessel.—On board the steamer “Colorado.” Liverpool to New York.—Arrival in Chicago, October, 6th 1868,…………………………………..170
CHAPTER XVII.
CONCLUSION.
A farm hand in Illinois.—A section labor and section foreman on different railways.—Promotion to Roadmaster.—Closing remarks,…………………………………………173
PREFACE
At the time I wandered through the dark continent and the East Indies, I had no intention of ever publishing the events and adventures through which I was then continually passing; at the same time, I was keeping a complete record, in a day-book, of every interesting and important occurrence. This record enables me now, to give the readers of this little volume a perfectly true and correct summary of all incidents related therein. Some time ago I read an historical work treating upon the subject of the colonization of South Africa, during the time of my residence there; I found some of the most important items of that vital period in the history of South Africa quite faulty and distorted, some being entirely omitted; this induced me to make use of my day-book memoranda in preparing this volume, hoping that it might be the means of correcting serious errors in the history of South Africa. At the same time I have endeavored to relate numerous minor, interesting occurrences and adventures which will undoubtedly serve to capture the reader’s attention and approval, and to make the work valuable, not only historically but also from a literary standpoint.
As already stated, in writing this book I have confined myself strictly to truth; there is no dime-novel fiction or romance to be found within it. Not being a man of literary, or otherwise extraordinary education, the readers will, I hope, excuse the simple and quaint language which I have used throughout the work. Hoping that all who may read this, my biography, so closely interwoven with the history of South Africa, will enjoy the same and be benefited by the many morals indicated therein, I most respectfully make my bow.
William WESTPHAL
TEN YEARS IN SOUTH AFRICA.
CHAPTER I.
THE PERIOD OF MY EARLY YOUTH
I was born in 1838, in the little village of Wolkwitz in the kingdom of Prussia. When they made a Christian of me, by baptizing me, they burdened me with the patriotic name, Fred William August Theodore, probably intending that if I should not be able to become king of Prussia I might at least become one of his best generals. At any rate, I was then too young to make any serious objection, and I grew up with my quadruple name, the son of a poor blacksmith, in a little house which my father had rented. By hard and constant work he just managed to keep his family alive, sheltered and clothed, and he was glad and thankful that he could do so. As the earnings of a mechanic in Prussia are very small, it is only by constant work and rigid economy that he can support his family, and wife and children have to assist in a thousand different ways to decrease expenses in the household. When I was a boy eight years old I had to gather up dry wood in the neighboring forest, not only for every day’s use but also for the long winter, as my father could not afford to spend money for wood or coal. When six years old the public school claimed me for one of its inmates, and my work increased accordingly. During the summer months I had to attend school four hours every forenoon, and the balance of the day was taken up by doing chores for my parents so that there was really very little time left for me to play with other children.
I remember well the outbreak of the great revolution in Prussia in the year 1848. I had just reached my tenth year. Thousands of laborers, mechanics, and farmers left their homes to join in the Rebellion, the head leaders promising more than the poor people really ever expected. The time for this revolt was well chosen, for the history of Germany hardly tells of another time when the condition of the poor masses was any worse. In fact, starvation glared them in the face, but still the government insisted that the taxes should be promptly paid, and in many instances the bailiffs had taken possession of the most needed chattels of the people, selling off horses, cows, agricultural implements, and even furniture, to satisfy the greed of the tax collectors. The enraged people armed themselves as well as they could, and I can well remember a body of them marching by, some armed with shot guns, others with swords, long knives, pitchforks, axes, scythes, etc. This Revolution, as is well known, terminated in the subjugation of the people, and the exile of the ring leaders after many had been killed and executed.
When fourteen years old, and through with my schooling, my father desired that I should learn the trade of a tailor and accordingly took me to the city of Demmin, situated about seven English miles from Wolkwitz, where I was turned over to tailor master Schulze as an apprentice for the term of three years, without wages. At the end of the three years my father was to pay Mr. Schulze 40 thaler; two weeks’ trial was agreed upon as being a proper time to make the contract binding. It would be useless trouble for me to attempt to describe all the suffering of these three years apprenticeship. Suffice it to say that the three years passed and I was grown up to a seventeen-year-old, able-bodied tailor, feeling like a man who was just released from a prison. Through all these years of hard privations I had nursed a desire to travel, and at last I was permitted to execute this plan. After a few days of rest at home I packed my few things, said good bye to my parents and friends, and away I went, a free man bent on my own pleasure, on my own responsibility, and, according to the old custom of German mechanics, (that is, after a mechanic has learned his trade,) he must travel at least three years through the country and work at his trade in different towns and cities before he is accepted as master in his profession. But it generally is not work these traveling mechanics want; they want to travel and have fun, and since they have no money they just go to the next house on the wayside and beg something to eat and drink, and also for money, which of course is always liked the best.
I remember well once there were three of us and we had been working through a very fertile country, getting plenty to eat, and eggs, ham and bread besides, which we would sell when we reached a city in the evening—we knocked at the door of a grand looking farm-house and found the farmer himself at home. Of course we always had to ask for something to eat, although we were not in the least hungry. The farmer invited us in and very soon there stood a great wooden bowl full of pea soup upon the table. “Eat that soup,” said he, “and after you get through with the soup I will give you ham and bread for your supper.”
Then he left us alone to attend to his other business. Now we were in a quandary; if we did not eat the soup, then we must acknowledge that we were not hungry, and that would be identical to saying that we were nothing but common beggars, and the consequence would be that the farmer would chase us from his premises with his dogs. I looked through the window, thinking that perhaps there might be a chance to throw the soup ot of doors, but no, there stood the farmer himself, splitting wood, and this thought was of course not executable. There; a look around the room revealed a pair of high rubber boots behind the stove. In the twinkling of an eye the contents of the great bowl were transferred to the boots, and not a moment too soon, for as soon as I had replaced the empty bowl on the table and we were rummaging through it with the wooden spoons, the farmer entered again. He looked pleased when he saw the empty bowl, and said “Now my good men, you must be very hungry; I will give you some ham, eggs and bread and also a little money for a glass of beer.”
We thanked him very much for his kindness, and after receiving the above articles we made haste to put as much space between ourselves and this farmer as possible. Late in the evening we reached a city and pretty soon we made ourselves comfortable in a tavern usually frequented by men of our style. In a few hours there came two more wandering mechanics, like ourselves, into the tavern, who complained loudly of the way they had been abused and their clothes ruined by dogs upon the premises of a farmer, because some other tramps had spoilt his rubber boots by pouring pea soup into them. We of course knew all about it, but were smart enough not to say anything.
Occasionally I would strike a town and ask for work, and I may say that I never had any trouble getting work, nor anybody else, I believe; but the wages were ridiculously small, not over one dollar per week, and on this account young mechanics, like I was then, didn’t really care much whether they worked or not; in fact, they could beg more money together in one day’s travel than if they worked all the week for it, consequently I traveled almost incessantly. Thus I spent my youth until the 1st of March, 1856, when I struck Hamburg, the great free, North German seaport, pretty well disgusted with my fate and tired of running around from town to town, begging for a living.
CHAPTER II.
THE FORMATION OF THE GERMAN LEGION IN ENGLAND.
The year 1855 has gone down into history with a bloody record on account of the war between Russia and England, commonly called the Crimean war. England suffered heavy losses in several bloody battles around Sebastopol, where the Russians had the drop on the Englishmen and came very near routing the British forces. Then the English government, not being able to raise sufficient and able forces in her own provinces, concluded to draft an army of foreigners and authorized the enlistment of the German Legion for England. The Legion was to be formed exclusively of German volunteers, led by German officers, who were to be paid a certain sum per month. Baron Von Stutterheim, an ex-officer of the Prussian army had given the first pointer to the English government and he received permission to raise an army of 10,000 German volunteers.
The headquarters of General Von Stutterheim were on the small island of Heligoland in the North Sea between Hamburg and England. The island belongs to England. The English Government assisted Stutterheim not only with money, but furnished material, also all ships, clothes for the volunteers, provisions, arms and ammunition, in fact, all the requirements for fully equipping an army. Gen. Stutterheim first engaged several hundred agents to enlist young fellows in Prussia for service in the English Army. These agents would reap their best harvests in the German seaports, where they would find thousands of young men who would do almost anything except work. They would go into some beer saloon where they would treat a number of young men and then describe to them the easy and independent life of a soldier in the British Army, and had no trouble at all to persuade them to join the German Legion, particularly after they got their men under the influence of several glasses of beer. They would, however, give them no time to reconsider their decision but would invariably pilot them, under cover of the night, to a row boat in a convenient place; after they got about twenty volunteers into a boat they would silently row northwards into the North Sea, where the small English steamer Heligoland lay for the purpose of taking the volunteers aboard, and convey them to their destination at Heligoland. Thus the work of enlistment was carried on very successfully in Hamburg, Bremen and Cushaven and the German Legion volunteers were brought to Heligoland by the hundreds, each day.
So it happened that on March 7th, 1856, I fell into the toils of one of these enlisting agents and was persuaded to join the German Legion also. Arriving at the island of Heligoland we were escorted to a special barrack for new recruits where we had to pass an examination before a physician to see whether all were able bodied to serve in the army. As a rule there were no rejectments as the agents who were fishing for volunteers were shrewd enough to pick out only able-bodied men. After the examination before the physician we had to take the oath of allegiance to England, and were then given each a soldier’s uniform and comfortable quarters. In fact, there was no reason for complaints and most of us enjoyed it far better than life in Germany, only wishing that it might last so forever.
But the changes came soon enough. After a few weeks of drilling and preliminary service in the use of arms, and as soon as our general, Von Stutterheim, had the fifth and sixth regiment, of 1,000 men each, not any too well organized or disciplined, they were ordered over to England. I afterward learned that General Von Stutterheim received $40 per each German volunteer, while he paid only $20 to each man on taking the oath to support England; thus making a clean fortune of over $120,000 which should have been paid to us. In addition to the six regiments of infantry, he had formed four companies of cavalry and one of artillery, and two rifle corps. The first four regiments had been previously sent to Sebastopol. Our regiment got orders to go aboard ship to go to England also, with the intention of sending us to the Krim also, but upon reaching Shorncliff we were instructed to go into the barracks, as the Russian war had been concluded in the meantime and peace reigned once more in Europe. In due season that portion of the German Legion which had been in active service in Krim returned and joined us at Shorncliff, in England, where they were the heroes of the day; for the Englishmen believed the appearance of the German Legion frightened the Russians into accepting England’s terms of peace. Whether there is any truth in this or not, I do not know. I know very well that they accepted the proffered honors in England calmly and as a matter of fact.
According to our contract with the British government we were to continue at least one year in their service after the conclusion of the war with Russia; so we knew that we would have to remain in England, or in Fort Shorncliff on the North Sea, for at least the remainder of the year. The fort contains beautiful grounds and excellent barracks, and was occupied by a detachment of the regular British Army on our arrival. We had to provide ourselves with temporary quarters, erecting a number of tents inside the fort, but only for a day or two; then came orders to the British soldiers to evacuate Fort Shorncliff. The reason for this order was caused by the overbearing manner of the English soldiers, who considered themselves our superiors. This caused quarrels and fights without end, as we did not want to stand any ridicule from the Englishmen. There were numbers of them, each day, who had to be taken to the hospital on account of wounds received in such brawls. The English soldiers had to march to the barracks at Falk’s Town and we remained at Shorncliff, removing from our tents into the comfortable barracks just evacuated by our English speaking fellow soldiers. But we had to do a good deal of active service, drilling several hours in the forenoon and also in the afternoon, with long marches along the coast. Thus all our time was taken up with hardly a free hour for our own pleasure. We grew tired of this and remonstrated with General Stutterheim to either reduce the hours of active service, or to disband the entire Legion and to bring us back to Germany.
Thus we agitated for a few days, when one fine morning General Stutterheim ordered us to be ready at an hour’s notice to march to the spacious barracks at Aldershott. This was good news, for we had heard a good deal about the Aldershott barracks as being very commodious, and at the same time located in a fair part of England only a short distance from a nice town. All we were afraid of was that the General might change his mind, but he did not and in a few days the whole of the German Legion had removed from Shorncliff to Aldershott and taken possession of the fine barracks there. We did not have much service to perform here, and enjoyed considerable more liberty than we had at Shorncliff. We received our rations and pay regularly, and we often wondered for what purpose the English government might feed, clothe and pay 6,000 soldiers who had not even fired a shot for England.
We did not, however, lose any sleep nor any of our regular meals in idle speculations, but accepted our enforced idleness in good spirits and grew fat by it. The only incident worthy of recounting was the great sham battle which took place near Aldershott in 1857 between 10,000 British regulars and the 6,000 of the German Legion. This sham battle was arranged in honor of some visiting members of continental royalty, a couple of German princes, and the Emperor of Austria. The vicinity of Aldershott was well chosen for the scene of a sham battle; in fact, the topography of the place seemed to have been artificially modified and altered for just such a purpose. The ground was rolling, with occasional clumps of trees; a deep creek with many curves ran through the lowland, while on either side raised a row of pretty steep hills covered with brush and trees.
After parading before the royal visitors, the English column was directed to march in advance and take possession of the hills; it was the job of the German Legion to dislodge them in this sham battle. As soon as they were in position the signal for the attack was given and we marched, formed in battle array, toward the Englishmen. Our pickets soon came upon the English pickets, and the noise of musketry told the onlookers that the engagement had commenced. The Englishmen had calculated that it would be an easy task for them to defeat the German Legion since they had all the advantages; not only superiority in numbers but also in position, and they had already made arrangements to take the whole of the German Legion prisoners. But our General Stutterheim was no slouch in war matters and he knew well enough that he could gain nothing by a straight and forced attach; he therefore resorted to a piece of fine strategy. Just before entering a heavy grove of trees, at the base of one of the hills held by the English Army, he detached about 2,000 infantry with a complement of Cavalry and artillery, with orders to gain the rear of the English Army and ascend the hill from the opposite side, while the main body was to attack in front. He also ordered the cannons of the artillery charged with balls of hemp and paper, and gave orders to use them effectively and at short range.
Our main column then marched slowly into the open valley, purposely delaying, in order to give the flanking column time to gain the rear of the English Army at the summit of the hill. General Stutterheim kept close connections with the flanking column, and after an orderly arrived with the news that they had sufficiently advanced, he ordered us to assault. We discharged a volley from our muskets and then started on the double quick to attack with the bayonet. The Englishmen laughed at us and would punch us with their bayonets as hard as we would them, and of course we could gain nothing thereby. The English artillery would discharge their pieces also but without effect, although making lots of noise. We had attacked only the one row of hills where the main body of the English Army lay; thus the line of battle waged to and fro, but drawing the English soldiers from the summit nearer to the middle of the hill. At this juncture, that part of the English Army which held the hills on the opposite side left their hills and came rushing down to close in upon us and thus take the whole German Legion prisoners.
For a few moments it looked pretty bad for us; but only for a few moments. A few well directed orders from General Stutterheim changed the front of the German Legion, and at this moment our flanking column gained the summit in the rear of the English Army and came down upon the British Army like a thunderbolt, the cavalry charging at them; worse than all, the artillery with their well directed fire caused terrible commotion in the ranks of the enemy, particularly because this assault came altogether unexpected and with terrible force. Our column wheeled around and closed in upon the bewildered ranks of the Englishmen; the burning balls of hemp and of paper, discharged by the cannons of our artillery, would fall in among the English forces where they stood densely packed, and they would scatter in all directions, even throwing away their muskets and ammunition.
It did not take as long as it takes to tell about it before the entire English forces were fleeing for their lives, utterly routed and they did not stop in their flight until they had gained the clearance beyond the creek. Some of them presented a pitiful sight; in their sudden flight they had run into a field covered with thornbushes, and the thorns had not only torn their elegant uniforms but they were also badly scratched, and bloody hands and faces could be seen everywhere. The outcome of this sham battle was a surprise all around. The English officers made a great noise about foul play on our part, but General Stutterheim held his own and we rose in the esteem of the English rural inhabitants after this sham battle, although I rather think this esteem was produced by a wholesome terror of the members of the German Legion. It was talked about for many days how the German Legion of only 6,000 effectively routed an English force of 10,000. I may say we felt pretty proud over it ourselves.
The one year of service in England was drawing to its close and we commenced to get tired of this life of enforced idleness. Small fights between the British and German soldiers would occur daily, and other depredations would be committed by members of our Legion. The general talk was about getting paid off and returning to Germany. General Stutterheim was requested frequently and in very plain terms to do so, but he had already made other arrangements with the English government regarding our future. England had trouble brewing in South Africa where her large interests were threatened by the natives, and the English colonists, as well as the military guards, had been butchered. England needed an army to restore her power in South Africa: the German Legion had cost several millions of dollars in its organization and equipment, but had rendered no service yet adequate to the expense. No they did not feel inclined to disband us, but proposed to General Stutterheim to enlist a portion of the Legion for another term of service in Africa. This worthy gentleman readily consented and made a contract with the British government, pledging the entire German Legion if necessary for service in South Africa on terms which will appear later on. At his recommendation Captain Hoffman, who was well liked by everybody, was sent with a few other men quietly down to the dark continent to look at the country and to return as early as possible and report to the German Legion his views and experience.
In due course of time the exploring party returned and a few days later we were all summoned to attend a general meeting of the entire Legion where Mr. Hoffman would relate all he had learned and observed while in South Africa. Accordingly we all repaired to the place of rendezvous to listen to the discourse. Captain Hoffman had his lesson or sermon well prepared; he pictured the South African lands as a regular paradise where the finest fruits were growing wild, and where the weather was a continual summer. “There is no need for any body to work there.” Said he; “the land is so fertile, and the climate so mild that you can pick your victuals from the trees at any time during the year. Snow and ice are unknown there, and the whole country abounds in game of all kinds, as the waters do of fish. Just think how much labor the farmer here has to perform to make a bare living, while in South Africa you can live like the lords without any work. If you want a good meal, just shoulder your gun and in a few minutes time you can shoot a deer, or go down to the sparkling river and catch the nicest fish in the universe; gather in baskets full of figs, pears, plums, apricots, bananas, etc., in the nearest grove. It would not take more than a few months to raise all the potatoes and corn you want, so what more do you need? Indeed, you should be glad to have such an opportunity and should seize it with both hands. All the English government requires of you is to clear this beautiful land of a handful of negroes, who at present infest these beautiful South African provinces.”
Thus spoke Captain Hoffman, and I can say that the Legion listened breathlessly. He knew just how to talk to us and he easily succeeded in winning the majority of the Legion for the new project. The face of General Stutterheim beamed with delight when he saw the favorable impression Mr. Hoffman’s speech had produced, and he also made a few remarks stating that he too would go along and lend his beloved Legion and countrymen on to victory and prosperity in this new land. He promised us that after we had worsted the negroes, who had no idea about a gun, all of the beautiful land would be our property. He then drew a large document out of his pocket and read aloud that her Majesty, Queen Victoria, had ordered the German Legion to be disbanded at once, but that he was authorized to enroll a new Legion of military colonists for South Africa, selecting the best material of the disbanded legion for such purpose, and that he was empowered to enlist 1,500 men. Those who first made up their minds to join would have the first show. Each man would have to sign his name to the enrollment contract and would then receive, at once, £2. The new recruits would not have to do any more active service in England, and would be free to go and come as they liked. He then proceeded with the enlistment for the South African Legion. Several heavy sacks of new sovereigns were emptied on a large table, and the conscription book was opened. The members of the Legion were then invited to come up, sign the contract and get their two sovereigns apiece. One of the more intelligent soldiers stepped up boldly and asked Captain Hoffman to read the contract aloud so that all might know what they were doing.
“That is a fair and proper request,” said Captain Hoffman, and picking up the book he read as follows: “Every man enlisted under this contract agrees to serve the British government in North Africa, for a term of seven years from the date of enlistment, as a military colonist at any of the different stations which may be allotted to him. At such station each colonist shall receive a lot on which he shall build a house, also five acres of land on the outskirts of the station, and one more of garden land. Each colonist will receive his regular wages and rations for the seven years this contract is binding.”
There were many more details and stipulations that I do not remember, but the foregoing was the important part of the contract. After Captain Hoffman got through reading, the members of the Legion pressed forward to sign the contract and get the £2. Each man, after signing, received a red ribbon to tie around his cap; this was to signify that the bearer was a member of the South African Military Colony, and was to be considered a man of more than ordinary liberty while on English soil. Wherever we went we were looked upon as heroes, and the common citizen would make respectful room for us. Often I heard them say to each other, “Look at the free Africans; how bold and vigorous they are!” Such remarks made us feel proud then, but I believe if I had had the experience then that I have now I would not have taken it for flattery to be called a free negro.
However, our sudden liberty did not give the very best results. The reader may imagine how these soldiers would act after a year of strict service and regulations, then all at once being relieved of all restrictions and even with a good deal of money in their pockets. Well, they nearly turned the town bottom side up, and a good many of the African heroes did not leave their places of revel until the last farthing was gone. But then, what did we care? We were under pay, receiving each week twenty shillings beside our board, and so we tried to have as much fun for our money as we could as long as we were in a civilized country. I went with two of my more intimate friends to London to blow in our spare shillings, and we succeeded so well that we did not have enough left to buy railroad tickets to return to Aldershott. But we had a great time in London; we passed through the great tunnel under the Thames River, which is perhaps today, at least it was then, the greatest curiosity in England. As I said before, we left every shilling in London and had to walk back to our barracks in Aldershott.
But our good times at Aldershott did not last forever. In the course of a few weeks after our enlistment as military colonists for South Africa, we received orders to get ready to march to the depot to be transferred to Portsmouth where we were to embark for the Cape of Good Hope. Several trains were required to move us and our effects to Portsmouth. We had to take quarters on the immense man of war Helena, the same ship which conveyed Napoleon Bonaparte, in 1813, to the island of St. Helena. The ship was now too old for active service on the sea and was used, therefore, for what good could be gotten out of it. In a few days, however, we received our tents and pitched our barracks about one mile from Portsmouth, in a town called Browntown. Then a remarkable order was issued to us, stating that each colonist who had a wife or family abroad might send for them, and that the British government would pass them out with them free; also, such as had sweethearts might do the same, but they would have to get married before going aboard the ship. All others who wished to do so and could succeed in finding mates might go on a wooing tour in and around Portsmouth; they would get married free of charge, and all such married women were to be passed free down to South Africa and the government would defray all expenses.
General Stutterheim said he would allow all just one month to get thus spliced. This proposition, I dare say, created quite a sensation. Just imagine an army of 1,500 young men, most of them about twenty years of age, of a free and easy going mind, to be put face to face with such an offer! Some of them had wives and families living in Germany, while a good many had their sweethearts and were just aching to get spliced in such a cheap and honorable manner. There was considerable letter writing, and the officials were kept busy writing out passes for the applicants. Special provisions were made to get the families of the colonists in the German ports, but those who had nobody to send for in their native country would put on their best clothes, twist their mustaches and take a furlough to decoy some English maidens in the neighborhood. In fact, the authorities had the matter made public and approved of it, so the colonists had but little difficulty to persuade the English servant girls, particularly, to take them for their husbands and emigrate with them to South Africa, “where nobody needed to work.” It was amusing to see them strolling into the barracks, sometimes from ten to twenty couples. There was a large tent pitched in the center of the barracks, occupied by a minister who had been procured by Stutterheim to perform the marriage ceremony and who had to keep a record of the marriages.
A part of the tents had to be vacated by the single men to accommodate the married couples, and everybody seemed to be perfectly happy. Things seemed to run along smoothly, but difficulties arose almost immediately. When the happy couples arose the next morning the new made wives of the colonists gathered together and talked about the prospective emigration to South Africa, and their liege lords, smoking their morning pipes, did the same: but confusion reigned supreme when the temporarily separated couples tried to find their lawfully wedded mates. As it was, the German Legion was not any too well informed in the English language, therefore most of the talking was done with motions and signs. It so happened that the women neither knew the names of their husbands, nor the men the names of their wives, and having been only slightly acquainted previous to their marriage it was almost impossible for them to pick out their partners. Now if there had been any cool headed man among them with good sense he might have the whole difficulty satisfactorily solved by marching the mixed up families to the great tent of the preacher, who could have paired them again as he had done the previous day; but there was no such man at that moment, or if there was he did not interfere. Some of the bolder and stronger men stepped up and took the best looking women for their partners; others would interfere, claiming the same women as their lawful wives, and for a while it looked as though serious trouble would break out. I saw dozens of these women surrounded by the colonists, having one tearing on one of her arms and another man on the other arm. There were angry words and blows between the men, mixed with the screams of the women, who, one by one, as they could free themselves, would flee wildly back to Portsmouth. After the excitement quieted down a little, they all had a good laugh over this occurrence but concluded that they were going to get their wives back, and if necessary to take them by force. Accordingly the married men who had thus lost their wives made an excursion into Portsmouth, intending to induce their runaway mates to return and live with them: but they had no success. The frightened women refused to go, their relatives made objection to their going, and as a few of the colonists tried to force them, the English police had some of them arrested and placed in the lock up. This caused bad blood in the German Legion, and the next day it was secretly concluded that five hundred of us should enter Portsmouth, and if the police should try to arrest anybody we would just give them a sound thrashing.
At night fall and at the appointed time about 500 of the German Legion made their way into Portsmouth, entering through different streets and only small detachments at a time so as to avoid detection of our proposed raid and not to alarm the police. By agreement, however, we all marched to the center of the town where the police had made the arrests the previous day. It did not take long till some of our boys had started a row with some of the citizens, and pretty soon the cries of “police!” “police!” brought about half a dozen of them around. They arrested several of the colonists in the house, but on leaving the place found out that they were prisoners themselves, being surrounded by about fifty armed colonists who shortly told them to march on gently. They were thus escorted outside of the city by the nearest route, and up to a dense grove where they were told to stop under pain of death until released. This same maneuver was executed in about ten different localities in Portsmouth, and in less than an hour the whole city had been deprived of its police force and the colonists ruled supreme in the city; many of the women were taken away by force, kicking and screaming; saloons were taken possession of and ale and brandy were laid up free for all; the saloon keeper who dared to remonstrate was bound and gagged and left a prisoner in his own house.
This reign of terror lasted almost until morning when we returned to camp, most of us in an intoxicated condition. As might easily be surmised, the behavior of the German Legion caused a storm of indignation not only in Portsmouth but also throughout the whole surrounding country. A large petition was sent to the government praying that martial court should investigate, and that every tenth man of the German Legion should be summarily shot. General Stutterheim read us the riot act and we could easily tell by his manner that he was seriously afraid of the consequences. He issued strict orders that no one should leave the camp, and the pickets were instructed to arrest everybody who attempted to either leave or enter the camp without proper passes. In this manner the women who were carried away the night of the riot were virtually kept prisoners in our barracks. This escapade certainly hastened our departure from England, for a day or two later we received orders to make hasty preparations to embark. We had hardly time to get our different effects into anything like order when, at an early hour, a train of cars was brought opposite our camp and then everything had to be loaded on in great haste. The train being loaded pulled down toward the harbor, and another train brought up a number of empty cars which were loaded and taken down to the harbor where three grand men of war were ready to receive the military colonists and their effects for South Africa. As soon as one of them had its intended cargo it was taken out about half a mile from the coast to anchor again. I got aboard the Sultana, an immense three master, together with about four hundred more colonists, some women, horses, and of course a full complement of British mariners to manage the vessel. It took about thirty six hours before the three ships were all loaded and ready to start, but as soon as the last one left her dock at Portsmouth all three set sail and we had good bye to Europe for the second and perhaps the last time. This was October 23rd, 1857.
CHAPTER III.
THE BRITISH POSSESSIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA
About the time the military colonists were embarked at Portsmouth, England, to go to South Africa, England was sorely pressed there by the natives all along the southern coast. Its military forces had long been compelled to a defensive policy and was returning toward the forts on the coast, having suffered terrible losses in their encounters with natives. Many times the exhausted English Army was surprised in the dead of the night by the savages who sneaked up to them, crawling on their hands and feet. They would kill the sleeping Englishmen so noiselessly that in the morning the survivors were horrified to find their comrades stark in death, instantly realizing that their foes had paid them a deadly visit during the night. Their reduced ranks were at last panic stricken and their march back to their forts resembled more a routed flight than a retreat. They did not care about the fate of the settlers left behind them but flew to save their own necks. As might be expected the natives felt highly elated over their victory, and celebrated for some days their success by going through the plunder they had secured in the abandoned forts and camps in the interior. An English missionary, by the name of Dodd, who had been a number of years in South Africa and who was acquainted with several of the chiefs of the Zulus, and spoke their language, met the retreating forces of the British Army as they reached Cape Town on the coast.
The Colonel of the remainder of the English Army related the disaster that had befallen his army, and also stated that he would lay in his fort at Cape Town until the German Legion would arrive from England, when he intended to wipe the whole black race from the face of the earth; not only south of the Kei river but through all Africa. Mr. Dodd expressed doubt as to the success of the proposed military movement and thought that persuasion and sermons would go further with the natives than powder and lead. He had a long consultation with the Colonel, and started the next day on an important mission in the direction of the camp of the savages. The next day he reached their outposts and asked boldly to be brought face to face with their chief. After reaching the tent of this great savage the missionary asked to have all dismissed, as he had a most important message to deliver and nobody must hear it but the great and victorious chief alone.
When alone with him he said that he had just returned from England where they had received tidings of the great battles fought by Matunka, the invincible chief of South Africa, and that the English soldiers were doomed to destruction. The great Matunka evidently was pleased with this prologue, for he grunted and smiled. “But,” continued Mr. Dodd, “England has not yet abandoned her scheme to annex Africa and has even now on the way three great ships full of giant cannibals whom they have hired to clear the country of your noble warriors, nay, to even eat them up like you and your men would eat a roasted buffalo.” A frown had gathered upon the brow of Matunka and his face looked like a threatening thunder cloud. But the undaunted missionary went on unconcernedly and without fear: “I saw these strange men myself, Matunka. They are twelve feet tall and can kill an ox with a single blow of their fist, and moreover they can eat an ox for one meal.” Dodd was watching the effect of his words upon the chief, who was getting somewhat nervous, but otherwise did not show any emotion whatever. “I saw them embarking in three large ships and there were more of them in each ship than you can count spears in your camp. Each carries a fire gun which can kill the biggest African elephant at three hundred paces.” The great Matunka trembled perceptibly but tried to hide his emotion by walking up and down: finally he stopped right in front of the missionary and looking him sharp in the eyes he said “You are a friend of the English soldiers; you want to frighten me at the moment when I have the fate of my foes in my hand. I do not believe your story. Go away.”
Mr. Dodd was just now in a precarious condition; if he had ever flinched while the black chief was thus reading his innermost motives, Matunka would have run his sword through him in spite of former friendship and services rendered him by the white missionary. But Dodd was equal to the emergency. He went down on one knee, and holding up his hands imploringly, exclaimed “Great Chief of the chiefs of all the Kei river country! Don’t for a moment think that I am telling you falsehoods! Has the great Matunka forgotten the time he was lying sick on his couch and the dark shades of death were gathering on his brow, when his medicine men had given up his life in despair, and consternation had taken hold of his entire chiefdom? Who was it that tore you out of the clutches of death when all your most trusted men had given you up? Since that time, Matunka, I formed an attachment for you, a sort of brotherly love, and I have come now to warn you of the approach of an enemy such as you never have encountered before. I have given the warning; now, Matunka, you are at liberty whether to heed it or not.” Matunka stood for a moment motionless; the sharp words of the missionary went home and the lines about his face softened considerably. At length he answered: “Matunka has not forgotten what the white preacher has done to him. It is part of our religion not to forget either good services or bad. Your country’s soldiers have treated us bad; they have sneaked into our country, painted as friends and talking nice, but their deeds were blacker than the skin of my blackest warrior. But our patience has given way and we paid them back as they deserved. They have slaughtered our innocent people by the score; we have killed their soldiers by the hundreds: the black man is now even with the white man and is in the possession of his fields and forests that rightly belong to him. And now you come, a white man, after we have worsted our enemies and broken their force, to tell me a strange story; to induce us to retreat of our own free will and foolishness when the British Army is powerless to even hold their forts at the sea coast if I follow them there. No, Matunka knows an untruth when it stares into his face like the one you just told me. But I have not forgotten your services when you restored life and health to me some time ago and therefore I will not harm you, but I tell you, begone and leave the camp before another sunrise, or I will.”
The loud report of a cannon rang out at this moment and as it reverberated from hill to hill it sounded like the roar of thunder. The sound had hardly died away when another report rang out, and then another. Matunka’s face changed suddenly. Assuming a horrified attitude he was about to speak when one of his trusted warriors came hurrying in and, gasping for breath, managed to gradually inform Matunka that three gigantic ships were just entering the harbor of Cape Town and that the thunder just heard was signaling their arrival. Matunka’s camp was situated near the crest of a wooded ridge running about four miles from the coast; and from the crest of the ridge the harbor of Cape Town could be plainly seen. The chief, without uttering a work, picked up his sword and walked up toward the summit, the missionary following. He soon saw what had happened and pulling a field glass from his pocket scrutinized the three ships just entering the harbor. “Matunka,” said he, “not more than five minutes ago you told me that I was not telling you the truth; if you still doubt my words come and look through this glass at the new arrivals, and I see two more ships headed for us farther out on the ocean.” Matunka seized the glass nervously and gazed through it a long time; then he returned it to the missionary and said: “You are a true white man; you meant well with us poor persecuted people and I am much indebted to thanks to you, the only true white man I ever saw. But, farewell, I must (part?). We will turn our heads again toward the rising sun. We must again leave this beautiful country for a time, at least, but our enemies shall not enjoy the fruits of our labor and suffering. What we cannot move along in our retreat shall be burned and your hungry cannibals will find a desert instead of a paradise.”
He then gave quick orders as to the manner in which to retreat, what effects to take along and what to burn. The missionary, after seeing that the natives were making hasty preparations to abandon their good position, turned back to Cape Town inwardly rejoicing at the success he had met with. The very same night a huge fire burned all night not more than ten miles from Cape Town, started by Matunka’s band; this being the beginning of the retreat of the Kaffirs, the march of whom we could later trace easily by the innumerable conflagrations executed by them, leaving a ruined country behind them.
CHAPTER IV
BETWEEN TWO CONTINENTS
The voyage of the German Legion, or better, the military colonists, passed off without any noticeable event: at least our regiment on the Sultana did not encounter any serious mishaps. It is true more than nine tenths of us suffered more or less from sea sickness for a few days, but after we had been out on the open sea a week we got accustomed to the ocean and it seemed more of a break to us than anything else. The Sultana was a good sailor, and with a brisk northeaster she sped through the Atlantic like a bird. As we approached the equator the wind fell off and of course our progress was proportionately retarded; the heat grew oppressive so that we suffered considerably for about two weeks. The sun standing nearly perpendicular over us no objects would give us shade, and the Captain ordered some sails stretched over the deck so as to afford us some limited shade; the calmness of the air permitted this to be done. But as soon as we left the torrid zone a brisk west wind sprung up and our ship made excellent headway. The spirits of the colonists rose with the rising wind and gaiety reigned supreme from now until we sighted the coast of South Africa.
It was just Christmas eve, 1857, when the Sultana ran into the harbor of Cape Town. One of the ships had arrived ahead of us and another was in sight some leagues farther out in the ocean. The man of war that had arrived ahead of the Sultana saluted us with several cannon shots to which our artillerists vigorously responded. We were very glad at the sight of the welcome land and expressed our hopes that we might be permitted to go ashore at once; but we were disappointed in this particular, for a messenger arrived from Cape Town on a small steam yacht and informed us it was the wish of the Governor that all troops should stay aboard the different ships; the officers were, however, at liberty to go ashore and make provisions for fresh meat, vegetables, bread and fruit for the remainder of the Legion. So we were in some sense of the word prisoners aboard the ships, but there were plenty of novelties to gaze at to keep us from feeling blue or dissatisfied.
The newness of the scene itself had considerable attraction. Here we were, a lot of young fellows hardly any better than tramps when we left our fatherland, engaged as military colonists for England, well paid, well fed, and clothed, with still better promises for the future; here we stood at the very entrance to a strange and unexplored country, a country rich in natural resources and inhabited by some hundreds of negroes (as we thought) with whom we expected to fight and whom we also expected to exterminate. The natives (of course semi-civilized) swarmed on the shore and some of them came in their canoes up to the side of our vessel. These were the first negroes I ever saw and I must confess that I felt slightly embarrassed, but I very soon got used to them. Some of the sailors threw them down a rope and in less time than it takes to tell it there were five or six of them climbing up on it like that many cats. They alighted on deck showing their white teeth smilingly and offered a lot of fruits such as bananas, peaches, figs, etc, for sale.
The price asked for these articles was ridiculously small. As soon as one of them as sold all his fruit he would go down the rope like lightning and inform his friends of the rich harvest he had on top of the great ship; they would then instantly pack up a lot of their fruit and hurry to get their chance to sell. We were thus kept constantly busy by a lot of negroes on deck who wanted us to buy their fruits. This continued until it became such an annoyance that at least one of our men (I think he was an officer of the crew of the Sultana) cut the rope serving as a ladder for the natives; several darkies plunged down in the water, setting up a terrible howl. This act came very near precipitating a serious occurrence. There were about twenty of the natives on deck when this happened and when they saw their way of retreat cut off in this manner they, in their naturally mistrusting nature, supposed it to be an act of treachery and that they were either to be butchered or carried off to America as slaves. They set up a most heart rending howl, ran back and forth, and motioned to their people on the shore who seemed to understand that their friends were in danger aboard the ship. They howled back and got into a number of canoes, coming toward our ship while we stood in utter amazement, not knowing what to do. Just then our captain returned from Cape Town together with the Governor; the latter seemed to understand the trouble at once, and set about to regulate it. He made the excited negroes, who swarmed around his boat, to understand that the strange white soldiers were friends and that they need not fear anything from them. When they came along side the Sultana the captain ordered a rope ladder thrown overboard; no sooner was this done than a regular torrent of negroes rushed down the rope into their canoes and pulled vigorously for the shore. The excitement soon subsided and quiet reigned again aboard our ship.
The captain informed us, through our officers, that the warfaring natives were retreating in a north-easterly direction toward New London, and that the governor had issued orders to take the military colonists to New London to head off the savages, and to reinforce different forts held now by small detachments of English soldiers. This was very unwelcome news for us and excited the more turbulent element of the military colonists. Some of them made up their minds that they would desert during the night. They made an attempt to do so, but it seems the officers had a suspicion of such an attempt and had doubled the number of sentries during the night, and the would be deserters found out, when they sneaked up on deck, that their intention had either been given away by some one of their comrades or else the officer in charge had surmised that such an attempt might be made; at any rate, they found it impossible to leave the ship, and stayed aboard, returning quietly to their cots. The next morning preparations were made for our voyage to New London and were vigorously pushed. Supplies of every description were taken aboard, enough to last in case of an emergency for about a month, although the voyage should not last more than six or seven days if the wind and weather were favorable; the distance from Cape Town to New London being about seven hundred sea miles. We were all tired of eating hardtack and we insisted that a large quantity of fresh bread should be taken along also, and General Stutterheim agreed to do so; I must say to his credit that he kept this promise at least.
Next morning at six o’clock the signal was given for breakfast, and at seven o’clock sharp the sailors commenced to hoist the heavy anchors in preparation for our immediate departure. The air had been calm ever since we arrived in Cape Town harbor, but during the night a brisk north-wester had sprung up and as the sailors unfurled the large sails they received a full broadside of this favorable wind and the Sultana moved slowly and majestically out of Cape Town harbor, cutting an elegant curve passing by the other vessels. The thunder of several cannons rang out on the fresh morning air and we listened for the echo to come back from the hills several miles back of Cape Town, which sounded very queer indeed as there came several well defined echoes at short intervals, each succeeding echo being a little weaker, until finally it died away into an unrecognizable murmur. The other ships were also busy making preparations for the New London voyage, and as we sailed by them we were able to talk to our comrades. Our musicians were called upon to play some encouraging marches, which were greeted with a volley of applause from us as well as from our neighbors on the other vessels which we were just passing. An immense crowd of natives stood on the shore watching us depart, and I believe in my heart that they felt relieved when they saw us leaving Cape Town.
We had a pilot on board to steer us to New London, for the sea coast of Africa, between Cape Town and New London, is very dangerous on account of numerous sand-banks and cliffs. We soon got under headway and ere long the handsome city, with its beautiful harbor dotted with vessels of every description, grew dimmer and dimmer and at last formed just a part of the horizon, crested by the blue green ridges of hills rising immediately back of the city. Everything seemed to indicate a pleasant and quick voyage; the Sultana had every available inch of canvas spread to the wind, and she seemed to shake along the hardly ruffled surface of the ocean.
Gradually the wind changed to the south west and increased in vigor so that the pilot ordered some of the sails taken in. The wind soon blew furiously, and the pilot ordered all sails taken in and had great trouble to steer the ship clear of the shore with its rocks and sandbanks. The sea itself was transformed into a seething and foaming mass of waves in a very short time, causing the Sultana to roll and rock, riding from one huge wave to another. The first thing I knew a wave came over the forecastle, washing over the deck; it was not a very heavy wave but strong enough to knock down everybody on the deck; some indeed had very narrow escapes from getting washed overboard. Then we received orders to retire at once below and all lukes leading up to the deck were closed. The storm increased in fury and we were closed up almost in pitchy darkness for about forty-eight hours; there was hardly any one among us who had been through a real storm on the sea, and as quick as the storm rose, at least nine tenths were taken down with sea sickness. When the storm grew in violence the rolling of the ship was almost unbearable, the women in particular became hysterical, and as the waves broke over the ship in quick succession they howled and moaned and prayed. No one thought of partaking of food; most of us expected that the next minute would be our last, and bemoaned our folly in having entered at all upon such a perilous undertaking.
On the morning of the third day, however, the wind decreased in violence and the heavy clouds which had veiled the sky so effectively for two days and two nights rose, broke, and let the clear blue sky shine through, and pretty soon the sun looked out upon the perturbed ocean. The waves came over the ship only at long intervals and feebler, and about noon the sailors opened the lukes for us so we could go on deck to breathe the fresh air. This was indeed a treat for me; the air below was so laden with vitiated gases that I often felt as though I would perish for want of fresh air. Just as quick as the welcome sound of opening lukes struck my ear I bounded up the steps and was the first to put my foot upon deck again. The glare of the sun on the sparkling deck dazzled me so that I had to shut my eyes for a few seconds. The waves were running very high yet, and I had great difficulty in holding my balance, but the fresh air was so delicious that I thought I would rather take my chances next time to stay on deck and get washed overboard than to live another such miserable forty-eight hours locked up in the cage below.
The sight of the ocean at this juncture was glorious beyond description. I believe I looked for hours at the grand spectacle before me; as far as the eye could reach there was wave following wave, and it seemed all were centering their efforts upon the Sultana, although this of course was nothing but an optical illusion. These waves were by no means of equal dimensions; there were giants of them, like small mountains, with foam capped crests that moved along with great speed; when they collided with smaller waves they would just wipe them out, swallow them up and move on; but when two giants collided there was a tremendous clash, a cloud of spray would rise heaven wards, and the wreck would move on again in all directions split up in a large number of smaller waves. Whenever the Sultana struck a large wave she would mount it, sometimes rising under an angle of 80 degrees, as near as I could guess, and then after reaching the summit would plunge down, down again as though she was going clean down to the bottom. Here I stood and watched, and it occurred to me then right forcibly, how insignificant a creature man is and all he creates; here this ocean, in its perturbed state, seemed to me as though it could swallow up every living creature on the earth and the waves would roll on as before. Again I thought, when I saw how the ship successfully mounted and rode each huge attacking wave, how intelligent a creature man is, and how, by his genius, he surmounts all obstacles, and forces the wild elements to serve him.
The wind had gradually grown less violent and had turned toward the west, striking the course of the waves under a right angle, which quickly decreased their size and speed. The sailors commenced to unfurl the sails and repair some of the damage done during the storm. The course of the Sultana was changed to the north east and after a few hours I could see the coast of Africa again to the north. We gradually drew nearer to the coast and could distinguish the general outline of the shore, which was very picturesque, but we did not come close enough to distinguish objects. I was meditating what fate might befall us in this strange and new land when Colonel Hacke descended from the bridge with a telescope in his hand. “Hello, Westphal, how are you? I supposed you to be about half dead down below with the rest of the gang.”
I saluted, and answered that I was about half suffocated when I came up on deck but I felt perfectly well now. The Colonel smiled, and putting the telescope to his eye gazed long and attentively toward the coast. I ventured to say, “The coast over there looks innocent enough to be a paradise, but I am afraid we will find out more after we have landed.” “Looks innocent enough, did you say? Just look through this glass once, in the direction of yonder peak,” said the Colonel handing me the telescope. I looked in the given direction but could not discover anything unusual. I saw that the ground was covered with heavy grass, and the trees were of a tropical type, large flocks of geese or ducks and birds of wondrously beautiful feathers, but beyond this I could not see anything of note. “Well, what do you see, William?” queried the Colonel. “Nothing unusual, Colonel,” I answered. The Colonel laughed good naturedly and asked, “Don’t you notice any clouds hanging close over the hills and even close to the ground?” I looked again and sure enough I could see a foggy cloud rising behind the trees skirting the coast, and I could also discern the glow of fire. I handed the Colonel his telescope back and said, “Yes, I see the clouds that you are talking about, and more too. The clouds there are smoke and the smoke is produced by fire.” “Well you just hit the nail on the head. It is almost a continuous fire from Cape Town to East London and is the work of the natives; we will have all we care to do over there after we arrive,” and he pointed significantly over to the shore. He left me and descended to the lower deck to look after the men. I gazed intently upon the shore and could now see the glare of the fire, with the naked eye. The smoke hung like a threatening cloud over it, forming a weird background to the otherwise pretty scene. Meantime the Colonel had succeeded in arousing the majority of the colonists and induced them to go on deck to enjoy the pure air, cool breeze, and pretty scenery. I called their attention to the fire on the shore and told them that the Kaffirs had commenced to burn the whole country. They took considerable alarm at this, and this topic kept them busy most of the time when they did not eat or sleep. We all watched the fire on the shore and as soon as night fell we could see the glow of the fire light up the entire northern horizon. I often sat till late at night watching it. Sometimes we could get close enough to the shore to see that the grass was on fire.
On the fifth day after our departure from Cape Town we noticed a pretty harbor before us; we could see a large number of fishing boats and small sailing vessels in here and we thought this must be East London, but the Captain informed us that this was Simmons’ Bay. In a few hours this harbor had passed out of view and the monotonous shore with its fire and cloud of smoke was the only thing we had to gaze at for the rest of that day and night. On the next day, about noon, we observed that we were approaching another harbor, and about noon we were just opposite a pretty town with several church steeples. It was built around a semicircular bay, enclosed by high rocks of mountainous dimensions. The harbor was lined with large and small vessels and even steamers. We all got excited and thought sure that this was East London, the terminus of our voyage, and the Sultana cut a curve as though she was heading in for the harbor; but we were again disappointed. The Captain told us that this was Algoa Bay, and the pretty city was Port Elizabeth. On flew the Sultana before the favorable west wind, and the pretty scene of Algoa Bay was rapidly changed to the same monotonous view as we had gotten accustomed to during the last three days. We were now counting the hours until we should be released from the ship. The Colonel had just told us that it was only one hundred and fifty miles more to East London, and that we should prepare to leave the vessel sometime during the next day. All of the next day was excitement on board the Sultana. About noon, I believe, everybody was ready to leave the ship, but it was not until about nine o’clock in the evening that we ran into the East London harbor, and there we got orders to stay aboard the ship during the night. The steamer which carried General Stutterheim and his regiment had arrived before us. The Sultana lay along side her and cast anchor. We fired a salute of three cannons to which the steamer responded, and our band then rendered a selection of martial music which seemed to give fresh courage to a good many who felt dejected in spirits. We strained our eyes as far as we could to see the city of East London but could not see anything except the bay, the woods in the background, and the sky lit up by the ominous glow of the ever-present fire.
CHAPTER V
THE MARCH THROUGH THE INTERIOR OF KAFFRARIA
The next morning we were all astir at sunrise, and everybody was on deck taking in the new world before us as far as we could do so. Soon the signal for breakfast called us down for the last time. We partook of a hurried breakfast, for all were eager to tread once more upon solid ground. After breakfast the work of disembarking commenced on the Sultana and the steamer. There were six boats on each ship, each holding twenty men, so it did not take very long until all the men and effects were deposited on the shore at the mouth of the Buffalo River. A wreck lay right in the middle of the mouth of the river; one end of the hull was buried in the sand of the river, and the other end reached some eight or ten feet above the water. We could not discover any trace of a town nor even of a settlement or civilization, and it commenced to dawn upon us what the words “military colonists” might mean; but fortunately we were not given time to reflect, and we commenced to put up our tents. General Stutterheim made a speech, telling us that we now stood in the enemies’ territory, and that the time for action had come. Then he painted in glowing words the bright future before us if we only would do our duty, and that the eyes of the world were watching eagerly for what the German Legion would do in South Africa.
Our camp was laid out in the form of a circle; General Stutterheim’s large tent formed the center, with the tents of the officers forming the first ring, and around these the tents of the soldiers formed several outer rings, with six alleys all centering at the General’s tent. In the afternoon the last ship arrived and everything aboard was soon joined to our camp on the Buffalo River. Just as quick as everything was transferred from the ships they hoisted their anchors and were soon under headway again to return to England. Well, I must say that when I saw the ships leaving I felt as though every bridge was torn up behind me, and knew now that there was nothing else to be done except to make the best of the issue. But, as I said before, we did not have any time for reflection, and I believe it was a good thing, too. The officers were busy giving orders and arranging the construction of the camp, and before night fell we were pretty comfortably settled in our tents, ten men to each tent. The married colonists, however, had the privilege of occupying a tent in four couples, with sheet partitions. We had a considerable number of pickets out during the first night, but we were not disturbed excepting by the smell of smoke and the ruddy glare of the fire, which seemed to burn clear around us.
About one-half mile from our camp there was a detachment of two camps of British soldiers who had been sent to East London from Port Elizabeth to occupy some important point near the mouth of the Buffalo River. They had been here two weeks and had put up a primitive bakery and slaughter house to provide us with bread and meat, which was indeed an excellent provision as we had not received much provisions from the ships. There were 1,500 men of us, besides a considerable number of women, and it required a large amount of provisions to sustain such a number. After we were all rested from our voyage General Stutterheim read us the orders he had received from the Governor of Cape Town. They read about as follows:--“After reaching East London rest your troops for about a week, and then proceed in a westerly direction toward Fort Murray, near King William’s Town. There stop for further orders.” We stopped about seven days at East London, recuperating from our long voyage. During this time we became accustomed a little to the country and made numerous excursions in the immediate neighborhood in parties of ten or twelve men, being cautioned, however, by our officers not to go too far, and to keep a sharp lookout for Kaffirs and wild animals. Indeed, the warning was of great service for the woods surrounding East London were alive with reptiles and strange animals such as we had never seen before, and the low marshes were infested with crocodiles who basked in the sun. I may say that a look at these beasts caused us to be more careful than the command of our officers, and we were careful not to go too far. Preparations for our march into the interior were going on steadily. A troop of friendly Kaffirs arrived at East London accompanied by a detachment of British Cavalry. They were sent to East London by order of the Governor of Cape Colony to serve us as scouts and guides on our trip to Fort Murray.
At the end of six days everything was ready for our march, and on the morning of the seventh day, at an early hour, we had breakfast and broke up camp. Our lines began to move slowly in a northerly direction from East London. The column was headed by native scouts and our band; then came a detachment of hussars mounted on pretty poor horses; next a regiment of infantry, followed by a long pack train of wagons drawn by oxen in charge of some natives. These were followed by another regiment of infantry, the rear being brought up by the balance of the mounted colonists. The officers were mixed in all through the train, to keep a sharp lookout over the movement of the column. General Stutterheim rode, mostly, in the rear of the baggage train, although he would occasionally spur ahead and review our lines. We learned from our guides that we need not have any fear about the Kaffirs as they had been frightened away by the missionary, Dodd, and were probably north of the Orange River by this time.
On we marched. The stretch of country just north of East London was covered with luxurious grass and patches of some wonderful tropical trees. We of course selected to march through the grass, as we had found out already that it was impossible to penetrate through the woods without first cutting a road through the dense undergrowth. It was lucky for us that we had natives at the head of our column, as they were used to such kind of marches and cleared the line of our way of thousands of snakes, walking through them, bare-legged, as unconcernedly as though they were walking on flower beds, occasionally killing some of them with switches, when they did not clear away quickly enough. We colonists felt our hair raise on top of our heads when we saw these snakes looking curiously at us from our right and left, as some of them were of immense size. Occasionally one of the men would step on a snake killed by the scouts; this would cause the so afflicted soldier to send forth a lusty yell which would cause general merriment among his comrades.
At about noon we had traversed nearly ten miles as described above. We now had to abandon the grass and enter the region where the Kaffirs had burned the grass clean down to the sod. The marching was a good deal easier now than through the grass, but the surroundings were very melancholy and the heat reflected from the black ground was very great; but we did not mind it for the first day. When evening came we halted at a little creek, and our officers ordered us to prepare a camp for the night. On the opposite side of the creek we could see the smouldering ruins of a Kaffir village, but could not see a living creature near. The wind drove the smoke over to our position and the smell was nauseating. After cooking and eating our supper, caring for our horses, oxen and train, most of the colonists prepared to take their night’s rest. A strong guard of pickets was placed on duty all around the camp. I was selected to serve during the first part of the night. Gradually the camp fires died out, and with them the camp seemed to fall asleep also. I paced back and forth along my beat, which was just opposite the ruins of the village; consequently I received a generous share of the sickening smell originating in the ruins. Occasionally I would meet the adjoining pickets who cursed the smell a good deal.
About midnight the moon rose, and her phantastic light assisted my nervous imagination to form weird images, across the creek, around the deserted village. I was gazing intently in this direction when one of the other pickets came up and said in a subdued voice, “Everything is not all right, Bill.” “What is it?” I asked; “I can’t see anything suspicious, John.” “You don’t, hey? Well, I do, and I bet you this musket against a pipe full of tobacco there is a big gang of them black cutthroats across that creek in yonder clump of trees, watching this camp;” and John pointed significantly across the creek. I looked in the indicated direction and indeed I could see forms—dark, shady forms—but they did not resemble men; they looked more like animals and I suggested they might be monkeys, or deer, or some other animals. But John did not think so; he said it would not be long until the whole camp would be murdered and the German Legion would be wiped out. He was yet lamenting when Colonel Hacke came along. John was not long in informing him of his fears and pointed out to him the dark forms across the creek, which now seemed to be pretty thick. The Colonel carried his field glass with him all the time, so he took it and looked through it and broke out laughing. “Them monkeys over there have quite a picnic; it beats any circus I ever saw. Just look at them. They appeared to be eating, and every little while they would jump up into the air, grab each other around the body, and gesticulate vigorously with hands and feet; but it was too dark to seem them plainly, even through the field glass.
I passed the glass to John, remarking that it looked like a monkey circus. John looked at them through the glass long and attentively; he shook his head when he returned the glass to the Colonel, saying, “Mr. Hacke, them there monkeys appear to be a queer kind of monkeys, anyway. Did you ever hear of monkeys without tails?” This puzzled the Colonel as well as me, for my knowledge of zoology was not such as to warrant my giving an opinion. I look up to the Colonel for an explanation; he, however, had raised the glass to his eye again, and looked once more in the direction of the supposed monkeys. We also looked over, and saw them suddenly start off in the direction of the grove, and were soon out of sight. The Colonel looked quite serious when he returned the glass to its case and said, “Sure enough, John, there were no tails to those monkeys; it might be an unknown species of monkey or else perhaps there may be a small band of Kaffirs around. Well, keep a sharp lookout anyway, and when you are relieved, call the attention of your successors to them.” He looked at his watch and then hurried away, stating that we would be relieved in fifteen minutes. John and I discussed the probability of an attack upon our camp by the savages, and the prospect of waking up with Kaffirs on top of us cutting our throats. We watched the clumps of trees where the suspicious objects had disappeared, but could not see anything moving at all except the smoke of the smouldering ruins of the destroyed village. Presently the relief guard approached, whom we cautioned about the weird figures across the creek and then we retired, sleepy and exhausted from our long day’s march, to our tent where sleep soon brought oblivion after the excitement of the past hours.
Before we resumed our march the next day, Colonel Hacke sent a detachment of his force across the creek to examine the place and its surroundings where we had seen the suspicious looking forms, the night before. I was along with the party and I need not say that I was highly interested in this. We reached the spot quickly, and what we saw there was enough to freeze the blood in our veins. Around the burnt out embers of a huge fire were piled some eight or ten ghastly skulls and piles of bones, some of them with flesh still adhereing to them. Foot prints in the soft marshy ground showed where the demoniacal savages had danced while they held their orgie and feasted on the flesh of their victims! Some pools of blood close by, proved that they had been butchered only recently. While we thus stood, awe-struck, one of the colored scouts stepped up and examined some of the remains with as much concern as a butcher would the meat of butchered steers. Pointing to the charred bones, he said, “Makomos!” and then pointing to the footprints in the soft ground he said, “Basuto Kaffirs. Basuto Kaffirs no like Makomo. Two Basutoes kill one Makomo, cook in fire, and eat him.” This was all the explanation we could get. Looking the surroundings over we could not discover anything more of importance; there we crossed the creek again to join our main army and reported what we had seen to Colonel Hacke, who in turn communicated the news to General Stutterheim.
A council of war was held, and it was decided to deviate from the proposed line of march so as to avoid marching through a rough part of the Snow mountains where we would be exposed to an ambush from the savages of whose presence we had just had such unmistakable proof, although we had no idea in how large a force they might be around. Extra precautions were taken; the guns were all shotted, and every man was cautioned to have his musket in readiness, but nobody was to fire a shot until such order was issued by the officers. General Stutterheim rode clear around the camp before the order was given to proceed. The morning was beautiful and clear; the wind, having changed to west, came from the mountains and blew the smoke with its sickening smell off to our right, eastwardly. We passed several kraals of the Kaffirs but nearly everything was burned up; some huge manure piles were still burning, emitting a terrible smell. There were a good many such kraals as burned for over a year. Soon the wind changed and we were enveloped in the terrible smoke; it sickened a good many of us as it brought considerable heat with it; some of the troops were hardly able to keep up during the march.
As evening drew near we all felt relieved when the foremost scout pointed forward and yelled, “Buffalo River!” Men and animals were half suffocated and although we each carried a bottle of water, we would not drink of it, as it was stale and warm, so we greeted the flowing river with a thundering hurrah! It was decided to camp on the bank of the Buffalo River for the night, and preparations were made accordingly. It is hardly necessary to say that the camp was well guarded by an extra force of pickets, but nothing of any interest was noticed during the night. The large number of oxen that were required to move our tents, cannons, etc., had to be guarded during the night, also, while they were feeding upon the rich grass growing in the Buffalo valley. The hussars had to take care of their own horses as regards feeding, watering and caring for them in general. Some horses were lost on account of eating the fresh grass grown up after the burning of the old grass, but the fresh grass agreed very well with the oxen who grew fat on it. The horses were allowed only two hours to feed upon the old grass and were then tied up to the wagon train. In the evening, at nine o’clock, one cannon shot reminded us that it was time to retire; in the morning, at six o’clock, another cannon shot would wake us up. Then we cooked our breakfast and prepared for another day’s march, starting about half past eight or nine o’clock in the forenoon. Thus we commenced our third days’ march considerably refreshed and with more confidence than on the second day. We passed several Kaffir villages but found everything deserted and destroyed by fire; here we saw numerous kraals where they had even burnt their cattle and sheep, and we did not wonder any more how the abominable smell originated.
Since the first night we had not caught a glimpse of a live Kaffir, but in the afternoon we came face to face with a large village which had only been partially destroyed by fire, and we saw quite a number of natives moving about the front huts. Our column stopped suddenly, and we thought our time had come for battle. General Stutterheim rode up to the front and consulted our head scout. This black worthy merely said, “Makomos don’t fight; one Basuto kills two Makomos.” With this assurance General Stutterheim ordered us to advance upon the village but not to shoot except upon receiving orders to do so. There were perhaps two hundred of these unfortunate Makomos, men, women, and children, and when they saw us approaching, headed for them, they started on a dead run into the interior of the village while the old and feeble savages threw themselves upon the ground in token of their unconditional surrender, probably expecting to be cut into pieces forthwith. When they saw that we did not intend to harm them, they gathered courage and rising to their feet walked toward their huts. Those who ran away at our approach returned when they perceived that we were friendly toward them. They all presented a pitiable appearance, showing that they were nearly starved, and they devoured greedily the spoilt provisions we threw out to them; thus the wily missionary punished the natives far worse than the government could ever have done with its war implements.
On we marched, keeping the Buffalo River constantly in view; all things considered, we made pretty good headway. The valley of the river was almost level; occasionally we would have to clear a roadway through thorn brush, but the ground was mostly either bare or covered with new short grass. Whenever we came into the neighborhood of one of the burnt villages, the odor arising from the smouldering ruins was sickening, and we dreaded to pass by them. For nine days we kept marching, pitching our tents, evenings, upon the bank of the Buffalo River. Nothing of any particular consequences had happened since the first night; our scouts informed us that some time on the next (the tenth) day we would arrive at Fort Murray. This was very welcome news to us all as we were getting pretty well tired out. Upon the morning of the tenth day all were eager to proceed; our usual cannon shot at six o’clock was answered from the fort. The last six miles of march were through a difficult country, our line of march being impeded by numerous ravines and foot hills. At about noon we caught sight of a mountain with several houses and a church built on top. This, according to the explanation of our head scout, was the missionary station, Mound Cook. He further explained that Fort Murray was situated at the base of this mountain. Another hour of difficult and tiresome marching brought us in plain view of the fort, with the Buffalo River between us.
We got orders to go into camp, and it did not take us long to put up our tents. Colonel McLean, who was commanding officer at Fort Murray, came over and exchanged greeting with our General Stutterheim, who, in company with several officers, accepted the invitation of Colonel McLean to dine at his house. In the meantime supplies, in the shape of fresh meat and bread, were brought over to us from the fort. This was an unusual treat for us and formed the main feature of our dinner. We also learned that all the hostile natives had cleared the country, and had crossed the Kei River; this latter information was very welcome news. We could now count with reasonable safety that we would not have to fire a gun in our campaign. Matunka, the chief of the Basuto tribes, who had carried on the successful and destructive fight with the English Army, had retreated speedily from the coast after his interview with the missionary. He had not stopped until he crossed the Kei River, burning everything they could not take along with them in their hurried retreat. Between the Kei and Kumeha Rivers there were two tribes of natives, the Sandilli and Krehli Kaffirs, who were on friendly terms with the Basutos; here the deluded savages settled down with their brethren, anxiously expecting the much feared cannibals following from the South.
Some years after I had occasion to travel through their country as a trader, and will in due time give full explanation of the manner of living of these semi-civilized natives.
CHAPTER VI
FORMATION OF THE GERMAN BRITISH COLONIES
The first week, after the tiresome ten-day march from East London to Fort Murray, was entirely devoted to rest and recuperation; but after that the old buoyancy of body and mind reasserted itself and we became restless and eager for new activity. Upon being questioned, General Stutterheim informed us that the British surveyors were hard at work platting our colony into distinct townships which were to be equally divided among the colonists. We also received our back pay, which amounted to a considerable sum as we had received no wages for sixteen weeks. The colonists had, for a little while, more money in their pockets than they had ever dreamed of. I say for a little while, for it soon passed out of their possession. Our quartermaster, with a natural talent for business, saw his opportunity and started as fast as horses could take him to King William’s Town where he purchased two wagon loads of beer, wine, whisky, tobacco, etc., and opened up a full-fledged saloon in a large tent, where we military colonists found a good opportunity of relieving our well filled pocket-books. It took but a short time until our pretty new sovereigns had passed from our pockets into those of the quartermaster. Such seems to be the natural inclination of the human mind; even if all men should be placed on an equal footing with an equal amount of money, it would require but a short time until some of them would acquire the possessions of the multitude; the property of hundreds forming the fortune of one, leaving the majority destitute.
In the meantime, the work of locating the new stations was being rushed along; the first station ready for occupancy was in the neighborhood of King William’s Town and was called New King William’s Town; this station was occupied by one hundred men of our army, in charge of one captain. The second station was situated about six miles west of King William’s Town, on the little creek, Kreis Kama; this was in a very fertile valley and was allotted to another hundred men, in charge of one captain. This station was named Kreis Kammahook. The surrounding country abounded in good timber and stone, giving the colonists excellent material for the construction of their houses. The third station was laid out upon the bank of the Little Fish River, eight miles from Kreis Kammahook, and was taken possession of by another hundred colonists and one captain who, in honor of his native city, called this station Hamburg. The surrounding country was mountainous and heavily timbered, with only little land adapted for farming.
The three above mentioned stations were west of King William’s Town. The Buffalo River runs in a northerly direction from King William’s Town, along the base of the Amatola Mountains, through a very rough and rocky country. The principal timber along its banks is yellow wood, and these trees often reach a height of over one hundred feet while their branches stretched out and cover sometimes a circular area with twenty feet of a radius. Where the valley of the Buffalo River winds out it forms a broad level expanse of very fertile land, and here the fourth station was located and taken possession of by one hundred colonists, led by a captain; the station was named Brunswick.
Two miles east of King William’s Town, upon the banks of the Yellow Wood River, the fifth station was laid out. It was allotted to a detachment of one hundred colonists, under the leadership of a captain, in a similar manner as described above. This station was named Breitenbach and was situated on the direct road between East London and King William’s Town; the surroundings were well calculated to make this one of the most prosperous stations, as natural advantages seemed to be concentrated here; the Yellow Wood River furnishing an abundant and excellent supply of water and very good fishing. The immediate land surrounding the station was very fertile and well adapted for farming, while the neighboring forests promised an unlimited supply of building material, fuel, and game of all descriptions.
The surveyors, going in a north westerly direction from Breitenbach, laid out another station six miles from the Yellow Wood River, on top of a hill which was situated nearly in the center of the territory to be colonized. Colonel Hacke, with one hundred colonists, was assigned to this important station, which was to be the capital of the colony. This station was named Berlin, in honor of the capital of Prussia, it being the native city of Colonel Hacke. Here the colonists erected, in addition to their own houses, a sort of a court house which at the same time was to serve as a prison for transgressors of our simple laws. On the other side of the river, upon a hillside, another station was platted and taken possession of by a captain with one hundred men, and was named Charlottenburg. This was the seventh station, and only one mile from Berlin. The eighth station was located one mile north-east of Berlin, upon another hill, and was called Potsdam; thus Berlin, Charlottenburg and Potsdam were located within a mile of each other, on the brows of hills, the one forming the site of Berlin being slightly higher than either of the other two. The station Potsdam was also taken possession of by a captain with one hundred men. The ninth station was called Cambridge and was located six miles east from Potsdam and twenty-four miles from King William’s Town; here another detachment of one hundred men, led by a captain, was put to work to build up their station. This left just six hundred more colonists in the barracks at Fort Murray, who had nothing on hand to do but watch their camp and eat and drink.
During the night those who were on picket duty had to be very careful and watchful, as quite a number of our oxen had been driven off during the night, presumably by natives. The guards had been doubled ever since, with instructions to shoot everybody approaching the camp if no satisfactory response was received after a triple challenge. While here one of the married women belonging to our camp was shot and killed one night by a picket; the greatest commotion ensued and in the twinkling of an eye the whole camp was aroused. The unfortunate woman lived long enough to state that she had been shot down in cold blood, without even having been challenged by the sentry; that he had a grudge against her on account of her having repeatedly asked him to pay her a debt of long standing, for services rendered in washing and mending. The fact that the killing had been done right in front of the woman’s tent counted against the soldier, who denied the accusations of the dying woman and claimed that he had given the customary triple challenge, and, receiving no answer, had shot according to his instructions. General Stutterheim conducted the preliminary investigation. The circumstantial evidence—as well as the testimony of other soldiers who swore that the sentry challenged only once and that immediately after that the fatal shot was fired—was so strong that he ordered the culprit put in chains and had him escorted to King William’s Town where he was placed in the custody of the provincial government, was tried, found guilty of murder in the first degree, and sentenced to be hung.
At last we received notice that the balance of the stations had been located. It was with a feeling of relief that we broke up camp to take possession of our permanent stations. Among the one hundred colonists who were assigned to the tenth station, called Hanover, I found several friends who came from the same section of Prussia where I had been raised. I was, of course, glad to have them for my immediate neighbors. When our detachment arrived at Hanover we found a pretty level tract of land admirably adapted for farming, but the only indication of our future metropolis was a few stakes driven by the surveyors to mark the boundaries of town and lots. The Yellow Wood River flowed peacefully by, assuring us a good supply of water, and the forests of the Amatola Mountains, only a few miles distant, a suitable supply of building material and fuel.
Six miles north-east from Hanover, following the course of the Yellow Wood River, in a pretty valley, the eleventh station was located and named Marienthal (Mary’s dale.) This was taken possession of by one hundred colonists, in charge of a captain. The twelfth station was located four miles farther up, right on the bank of the Yellow Wood River, upon a nice and fertile plain. It was allotted to one hundred colonists, led by Captain Wilhelm Von Linsinger, a very able and well-liked officer, who, in honor of his native city in Germany, called the station Wisbaden. I have since learned that he and his son Earnest were killed by the Kaffirs in their war against England, Nov. 19th, 1880. The thirteenth station was located at the point where the road from King William’s Town to Queenstown crosses the Yellow Wood River, and was named Frankfort. This station was also well provided with water and timber. After Frankfort had been taken possession of by one hundred colonists there remained nothing but the two hundred Hussars, commanded by General Stutterheim and Captains Ulsen and Hoffman. They crossed the Amatola mountains and Captain Ulsen settled down with one hundred Hussars upon the fourteenth station, which was named Ulsen. Captain Hoffman took the remaining one hundred Hussars and moved to the fifteenth and last station, naming it Stutterheim, in honor of our illustrious leader. A certain number of these Hussars were reserved for the purpose of carrying the mail between the different new stations, and also between the new colonies and the coast.
I will now endeavor to describe the manner in which our station, Hanover, was built up; the details of which will also describe, near enough, the construction of all the other stations. When we had reached the site of our station the first thing we did was to put up our tents just outside the limits of Hanover; this took us probably a day; then began the distribution of town lots, which were disposed of by drawing numbers, each number representing a certain lot. This was done in order to forestall any claims as to partiality or injustice on the part of the officer who made the allotment. After all the lots were thus satisfactorily disposed of, the construction of the station began in earnest. Our Captain, Carl Von Brandis, showed a great deal of ability in bringing order out of chaos; twenty men in charge of a sergeant were put to work to clear the underbrush and jungle which partly covered the site of our prospective city, by cutting out first a clearing of the main street. Another detachment of twenty men were ordered into the forest to cut trees suitable for building purposes, while another gang of twenty men went to work making a road into the dense woods passable for our wagons.
The remainder of our colony was put to serve in different capacities; some attended to the preparation of meals, some to repairs of tools, while about twenty were engaged in breaking rock and putting in a foundation for our city hall; six men were detailed to watch our tents, two during the daytime and four during the night. Captain Brandis gave me charge of the detachment which was directed to cut the timber for building purposes. We started out accordingly, with axes and a few saws, each being armed with his musket and ample ammunition, and provisions for one day’s work. The timber cutting went on without intermission; we did not have any trouble in finding good, suitable trees of proper dimensions, so that we kept our ox teams and teamsters pretty busy hauling the prepared timber to Hanover, a distance of perhaps three miles. We even found enough leisure to go on hunting expeditions (for which purpose we had really taken our guns with us) and found especially good hunting in the shape of the celebrated African bush bucks, some of which attain an immense height and weight for that class of animals.
The meat of this game resembles that of the deer in northern latitudes, being perhaps a little more tender and fat. It need hardly be stated that we enjoyed such a roast immensely. We would also provide the rest of the colony with game in this manner; when we returned in the evening to camp we generally had from two to three bush-bucks which were greeted with a thundering hurrah by the rest of the boys. Even Captain Von Brandis would grimly smile and call out, “Contraband! Contraband!”
The weather was beautiful and the work of constructing our public building advanced very rapidly. We kept on cutting timber until enough was on the ground for all intended buildings, giving each settler about two good wagon loads. Then to our regret we had to leave the woods to go to work building; we had become really enamored of the forest with its sport, hunting the African deer and playing with the countless varieties of monkeys which seemed to grow upon the trees. The erection of the buildings went on without delay. They were conducted, necessarily, upon a primitive plan, combining cheapness and durability. With the exception of the City Hall and the captain’s residence all houses were built of the same dimensions, 16 ft. by 24 ft., and eight feet in height to the ceiling; the corner posts were hewn square to about 6 inches by 6 inches, while the studdings were hewn parallel to about four inches thick, and set three feet apart; the inside partitions were so arranged as to give three rooms, designed to serve respectively as sitting room, kitchen and bedroom. Especial pains were taken to make a rain-tight roof. Although we had seen very little of rain, yet we had been informed that when it rained, it rained mightily, so we concluded that an ounce of prevention was better than a pound of cure, and constructed the roofs not only water-tight, but I think they must have been bomb proof. There being abundant timber on hand we hewed plated, four inches in thickness, and laid them up tight together; this we covered with a generous amount of very fine wire grass which was regularly laid up in tiers, each tier overlapping the previous one and being held in place by a tough kind of hoop securely nailed to the roof plates. This made an excellent roof.
The English government had supplied us pretty well with necessary tools and supplies such as axes, saws and nails; but there were hundreds of things we yet required in order to make our primitive dwellings inhabitable and comfortable. We made our own doors, tables and chairs, but there were no hinges to hang them, nor locks to fasten them. Windows we needed the worst way, as also dry goods to replenish our dilapidated wardrobes. So we petitioned General Stutterheim that the English government pay us the last installment of wages as agreed upon, and I must say to their credit that this was promptly done. This money was well spent, thanks to the fact that the old thief of a saloonkeeper was not present, and an expedition was sent to Cape Town to buy in the most needed articles. The remaining colonists continued in making improvements; streets were graded, sidewalks constructed, the walls of the houses solidified with a cement-like material which became very hard when exposed to the sun. We also constructed a lime kiln and burnt some excellent lime, using it to mix in with the cement for the walls, and finally whitewashed the whole town.
When the Cape Town expedition returned, laden with supplies we could not manufacture, our joy knew no bounds, and we worked from early morning till night until the last nail was driven and the entire town completed. We had thus constructed one hundred colonists’ houses, the Captain’s residence of about twice the size of the ordinary houses, a City Hall about 16 feet by 48 feet, with 12 foot posts, and a lookout tower twenty feet in height which seemed to us a tremendous accomplishment and a triumph of our architectural skill. The entire time consumed since we reached Hanover was just three months and we made the best record of the fifteen stations, beating even those who had moved to the first stations laid out. Our town made by far the best impression of any of them. They then went to work and whitewashed their houses also in order not to be behind us in the matter of appearances anyway, and the shining buildings made an excellent impression from the distance, contrasting favorably with the dark background of foliage and the bluish outlines of the Snow Mountains. The tents were then relegated to the garret of the City Hall and we moved into our new houses, proudly enjoying the comforts we had prepared with our own hands. After our town was completed but little work remained for us to do, as we were getting rations and wages from the government yet. There was no need for us to till the soil for our sustenance, and we passed the time mostly in dolce far niente, gathering at the open square surrounding the town hall and telling yarns, playing cards or going out hunting and fishing.
We were still suspicious enough to keep several sentries on duty each night; this was about the only active service we had to perform. Right across the Yellow Wood River there was a large village inhabited by a tribe of the Makomo Kaffirs. They were semi-civilized and did trading and other business with us, but they had to be watched very closely as they would steal everything they could lay hands on. English missionaries (not of Mr. Dodd’s style) had been at work among them and they professed to the Christian religion although their ideas about Christianity were rather peculiar. They occupied a splendid tract of land, well watered and very fertile, where they raised their cereals and vegetables, consisting in the main of corn, amasimba, which is a kind of rice, and pumpkins. I said their Christianity was rather peculiar, for they were all addicted to polygamy and even the efforts of the missionaries were unavailable in eradicating it. Their village which was called Billtown, was quite regularly built and was in fact the best laid out and kept town, built by natives, I have seen in South Africa.
The white settlers in British Victoria, when learning of the establishment of our fifteen stations of military colonists were highly elated and pleased with the prospect of permanent peace and security from attacks of hostile nations; they went to work and made up a purse of over $10,000, to be presented to the German Legion in South Africa, and handed it to our General Stutterheim with instructions to distribute it equally among all colonists, thus giving each of us six dollars. When we received the money we were informed, however, that the citizens of British Victoria had raised this sum to assist us in getting settled, and that we were to pay the money back to them in installments during the second and third year, and that the same would be deducted from our regular wages paid us by the government; thus we were kept in the dark, and the money was deducted from our pay, as stated, and found its way into the pockets of our General Stutterheim, who, after the last installment had been collected, disappeared quietly and went back to Germany to enjoy his ill-gotten plunder.
The life in our stations became very monotonous as time passed along; we felt that we would not be able to stand such a life for years to come. Although we did not suffer for any necessities of life, diversion or work (for we might have been busy from morning till night cultivating our gardens if we chose) we felt that there was a vacuum in our daily life which asserted itself more and more as time sped by; we felt just like Adam must have felt after the Creator had placed him in the paradise and before Eve had been made out of one of his ribs—indeed I do not think there was one of the colonists who would not gladly have sacrificed one of his ribs if it might have been converted into a charming woman to make his home comfortable. The English government, however, had not forgotten this subject; it was the intention to build up a mighty colony in South Africa subject to her control, and there had already been expended for this purpose many thousands of good British sovereigns. Just as soon as it was known that our stations were well established, they advertised the fact all through Germany, commenting upon the extraordinary inducements, in glowing terms, and offered to transport bona fide settlers not only free to the South African colonies, but also offered to sustain them there until after the first crop was raised. It is needless to say that hundreds of poor families were quickly ready, and willing to leave their destitute Fatherland and make new homes for themselves under a foreign sky. The English emigration agents were kept busy providing berths for all who were willing to go; a good many were refused on account of age, sickness or bodily disability.
Captain Von Brandis received official notice that several ship loads of German emigrants were on their way to settle in and around our military stations; this seemed to us the best news received for a long time, and wrought a great change in our daily life. Heretofore we were absolutely without any energy or ambition, wishing when we rose in the morning that it might be night, and in the evening we were wishing for morning. But the intelligence that a large number of families was on the way to live with us and settle about us electrified us and spurred us on to new activity. Our imagination carried us forward to the time when these people would arrive, among whom we of course expected pretty women and girls who would thank us to live in our houses and accept our hospitality. We would involuntarily commence to clean up, in and around our houses; the gardens were quickly cleared of weeds and brush and we worked from sunrise till night, turning over the rich soil and planting and sowing vegetables and cereals, our minds in the meantime busy with our prospective guests.
The time which had seemed to us heretofore dragging along, passed too quickly for us now; we even abandoned our customary plays and meetings until our gardens were trimmed up in nice shape. The streets were further improved, and also a public road made between the adjoining stations. I received a letter from home in which I was informed that one of my brothers, with his family, had also left for the New Eldorado, which intelligence of course increased my pleasure in the expectation of meeting him. In due season the first installment of emigrants arrived at last, going into camp on the bank of the river about a mile below Hanover. We all went, or better ran, to welcome them, attired in our best uniforms. We made quite an impression upon the simple-minded country people, who regarded us with undisguised awe and admiration, as might be expected, they considering us an army of heroes who had torn this beautiful land out of the grasp of the savages. The women and girls particularly could hardly take their eyes from us, a fact we enjoyed hugely; many an exchange of hearts took place that very moment, which later, realized in happy and prosperous marriages. After the first greetings and exchanges of courtesies were over we invited our country people to make the station Hanover their home, to which most of them gratefully consented; some, however, having relations at other stations, preferred to go to them.
There was a busy time for a while in Hanover until all were comfortably settled. Our town seemed to have been transformed as by magic into an old country village, and we could hardly take our eyes from our visitors who had thus made such a change in our lives. The next day I received a letter from my brother, posted at East London, saying that he had reached South Africa and wished that I would meet him if possible. My mind was quickly mad up and ere another hour had passed I sat in the saddle and was upon the road heading for East London. Passing through Berlin my attention was arrested by a group of emigrants camping upon the public square, and as I rode up to them I recognized my brother among them; he also gazed at me but gave no indication that he knew me. I dismounted and walking up to him asked if he did not know me any more. Then his face lighted up and he said, “Why, you are not my brother William, are you?” On receiving an affirmative answer, we cordially welcomed each other as brothers would naturally do, after a separation of so many years. He then conducted me to his “house on wheels,” and introduced me to his wife and children. I insisted that they get ready and start at once with me to Hanover, which they gladly and willingly did. Several thousand questions were asked and answered along the road, and by the time the slow going ox team pulled up in front of my mansion, I knew all that had transpired in my native village ever since I left, and my brother had received a pretty good idea of what had happened to me since my departure. They were greatly pleased with my house, garden, the town and country, and could not find words enough to express their gratitude and satisfaction. There were quite a number of families who had come along with my brother from the same village, having no especial friends or relatives at any of the stations, so I had invited them to come along and soon found comfortable quarters for them with other single colonists.
The English government had agreed to provide for the wants of the emigrants for six months; each adult received daily one pound of meat and one pound of bread, children getting one half of these rations. This, with the vegetables we had planted, and which were now ready to be harvested, (and with women to cook them) enabled us to lead a happy and contented life. The emigrants were, however, soon requested to take up their farms and till the soil; they were fortunate in receiving the best land along the river and creeks. The land was surveyed and distributed at a per capita basis; an adult receiving ten acres, and a child five acres; thus a family, consisting of man, wife and ten children, received seventy acres of excellent land, they agreeing to buy it within ten years and to pay the government $5 per acre. Subsequently this contract was not enforced, however, and the settlers received the land free.
With the impetus of the emigration, which kept up unabated, it became necessary that quarters be provided for the temporary accommodations of these new comers, as the old houses were all crowded to their full capacity. Several enterprising colonists went to work and built hotels, which proved to be a good paying business. Some erected store buildings, while others again remembered their old trades, and chased the almighty dollar by repairing or making shoes, clothes, etc. Thus the different stations presented a picture of activity and prosperity, sustained by the steady flow of emigration and a prosperous farming community. Weddings were of daily occurrence, and had to be solemnized by Captain Von Brandis, no minister yet dwelling among us. I often thought, ‘tis a pity there is no minister here; a better field was ever rarely offered to make mankind happy, and gather in fees which, even though small, would have aggregated to a little fortune in a few years. And then to think of the never-ceasing baptisms of children, which, as a matter of course, would bring in another source of income!”
During the period just described an incident took place which will also be of interest to the readers; namely, the execution of three colonists who had been sentenced to be hung at King William’s Town. One of these unfortunates was the soldier who had shot a woman at Fort Murray, an account of which has been given; another was a native of Belgium, who had shot and wounded a native against the express order of his officer; the third culprit was a Frenchman, who had outraged a young Zulu girl and afterwards cruelly murdered her. The evidence to all these cases had been conclusive and they had been condemned to death. The sheriff of King William’s Town, upon whom devolved the execution of the death warrants, advertised through the paper for some one who would do the hanging for him, and offered three hundred dollars for the job. But for a long time he could not find anybody willing to earn this money; even the natives refused when approached. At last one of our Legion, a Prussian from Berlin, consented to do it, and the date for the execution was quickly announced. Large crowds from the different stations went to witness the horrible sight. The gallows were erected in the open street in front of the court house, and soon the three culprits were brought out; they ascended the fatal platform, accompanied by a minister, who continually prayed over them. The hangman, who, in order to divert suspicion had blackened his face and hands to make believe he was a negro, adjusted the ropes to the beam and around the necks of the condemned, who were then asked if they had anything to say before passing into the other world. They admitted their guilt, but had nothing further to communicate; the black caps were then drawn over their faces, the fatal spring was touched, the platform swung from under them, and they had paid the penalty of their crimes. A few contortions of the limbs and then all were still; the six-foot drops had broken the necks of the condemned.
The large number of colonists present had noticed that when the hangman lifted up his arms to fasten the ropes to the beam, the coat sleeves slid down and exposed the white skin on wrist and arm, telling them that he was a white man endeavoring to pass for a negro. This aroused their curiosity and anger. Just as soon as the execution was over they surrounded the hangman and had him wash his face, when they recognized in him a colonist from Berlin. He was fearfully abused and taken before Colonel Hacke who sentenced him, under our military law, to receive fifty lashes with the rod and be further confined thirty days in solitary confinement. This was the worst punishment ever imposed upon any member of the German Legion for transgressing army etiquette. I am wondering today yet how the poor fellow survived, for after the first ten lashes he broke down, unconscious, the blood streaming from his bare back, yet the cruel cane came down until the fifty blows were struck, each blow cutting the skin. Afterward this same man brought an action against Colonel Hacke for damages, but was defeated as the statute proved that our Colonel had a right to inflict the punishment. Later the Governor of Cape Town, recognizing the value of a man who could hang his friends for $300, engaged this professional hangman and made him sheriff of the Cape Town Colony, with a yearly salary of $2,500.
We had now been a year in South Africa and had decided to celebrate the anniversary by a hunt through the Amatola Mountains. Preparations had been going on for quite a while, and about one hundred natives from Billtown had been engaged as scouts and also to round up the game. Captain Von Brandis was to go with us and lead the party; there were also quite a number of emigrants and farmers who, although quite unaccustomed to the country, braced up enough courage to take part in the hunt. At an early hour we left Hanover and met our colored friends just after sunrise at the appointed place in the immediate vicinity of the mountains, where, they informed us, we would find the greatest variety of game. It was understood that all the game we killed upon the clearing of the table land should be ours, and that everything wounded and turned back into the woods should be their property. Then we made haste and ascended the table-land, the Kaffirs remaining below, with their arms and dogs, waiting for our signal to close in on the game.
After we had gained the summit, or rather the plateau of the table-land, several hundred feet above the valley, the signal was given. The noise and roar that then ensued and reverberated through the mountains can better by imagined than described; of course every living thing would retreat from such a terrible racket, and it took but a few minutes, when the first frightened bush bucks reached the table-land where we had taken our position, to use them as targets for our deadly bullets. One rushed straight up to me, then seeing me he stopped suddenly and turned square around, but too late! Taking a hurried but true aim at him, I fired, and saw him break down, killed instantly. Some of the other colonists had also opportunities to try their marksmanship on large and small game, and quite a number of deer and bucks were left dead upon the field. As I looked for ammunition to reload my musket, I found to my horror that I had lost all powder and bullets; there was nothing left for me but to go to my neighbor and borrow from him. In the rush of getting my gun ready for another shot I put in the bullet ahead of the powder and waited anxiously for the next bush buck which pretty soon put in his appearance. Watching a good opportunity I took aim and pulled the trigger; the cap exploded but not the load. I tried the other barrel with the same result, and then I knew what the trouble was, and had to go to work and pull both charges from my musket. Afterwards, however, I got several good shots, killing a deer and another bush buck. When the party of Kaffirs reached the clearing the hunt was over. We gathered our game and found nine large bush bucks, two tigers and numerous smaller animals. The natives had found four bush bucks, six wild boars, and a number of deer, which were to be their share of the hunt. We also insisted that they carry our game to Hanover. I have always considered this hunt the best pleasure I have had while in Hanover.
King William’s Town proved to be a most excellent market for our farm and garden products, and also for the sale of our game; here we could easily trade everything for merchandise or receive the cash, just as we might desire. Many emigrants, after a year’s toil, found themselves in better circumstances than they had ever dreamed of. We colonists, having only a few acres of land for ourselves, could not raise crops on a large scale but had to confine ourselves to the raising of vegetables, such as potatoes, onions, pumpkins, etc., of which we always harvested a good crop. One of us, whose premises were located in the outskirts of Hanover, complained that either wild animals or Kaffirs were stealing his potatoes, and showed a large patch which had been entirely worked over. We concluded that ten of us would watch with him during the night; somewhere about ten o’clock he alarmed us by stating that there were dark figures in his potato field. We all rushed out, our guns ready for instant use, toward the patch of land; the moon was shining but we could not tell whether the figures in the field were men or beasts, and we proceeded with caution.
When within hailing distance we noticed that they were five Kaffirs in the act of digging up potatoes; when we challenged them they threw their assageis (spears) at us, but fortunately did not hit any one. This was entirely too much for us and we fired a volley into them; one of them dropped, and the other four started off toward the river. We picked up the fallen negro and took him to the station-house where we found out that he was mortally wounded, the bullet having entered his back. He gave his name as Audion, but further information we could not get out of him. We did all we could to alleviate his suffering and dispatched a courier for a doctor to King William’s Town, but the Kaffir died before the doctor arrived. Next morning another Kaffir was found dead, with a bullet hole through his body, near the fatal potato field, and another one of them died next day at Billtown in consequence of a wound received in the same field. This occurrence caused much comment and the natives in Billtown filed a complaint against us with the court at King William’s Town. We were also subpoenaed, but the action was dismissed when all the testimony had been heard. Since then we never had any further complaint about thieving Kaffirs.
CHAPTER VII
THE EAST INDIA CAMPAIGN
In the year 1859, while the colonization of the South African provinces went on peacefully and successfully, the English interests were in bad shape in East India, the natives there having risen in open revolt, threatening to annihilate British rule. The English Army available in East India was insufficient to force the different tribes into subjugation, and was beaten in several battles. Thus it was decided to reinforce their army by the German Legion in South Africa. General Stutterheim had posted notices in every station that those who desired to take part in the East Indian campaign report to their respective captains. It was, however, understood that there was no compulsion in this matter. Some special inducements were offered, however, to those who were willing to participate. Each soldier had to enlist until such time as the war closed; during this time he would draw his rations and wages the same as though he belonged to the regular army. At the conclusion of hostilities the soldiers were to have the choice to either return free to South Africa and take up their old homestead, or, if preferred, they might remain in East India where the government would find them a good location, or else they were at liberty to enter the regular British Army as sub-officers.
About one half, seven hundred men in all, decided to take part in the expedition. As the reader has probably already surmised, I belonged to these seven hundred; my brother remonstrated with me for a long time to give up the idea, but to no purpose. I had made up my mind to travel all the world over and would not let this opportunity pass without making use of it. I turned my property over to my brother and made ready for the eastern trip. It required about two weeks until everything was in readiness; during this time we “Indians,” as we were now called, spent most of our time in visiting the different stations and bidding good bye to our fellow colonists, their families and the settlers. Those, who had enlisted for East India were all unmarried young men, as those who had married preferred to stay in their stations and enjoy home life. Soon the order came for departure and we all had to report at Berlin, first, where the troops were reviewed and instructions given. Command was assigned to three officers, who in turn appointed sergeants in charge of detachments of one hundred men each. I was placed in charge of the seventh company and kept charge of them during the entire campaign. We had orders to remain in Berlin until word was received from East London that the ship which had been sent to take us to East India had arrived. This message was, however, shortly received and we broke up camp and took up our march toward East London.
The distance from Berlin to East London, along the circuitous Buffalo River, is about one hundred miles, and as we covered about fifteen miles per day it took us fully six days before we reached the coast. Along this march we crossed, several times, the old trail we had taken at the time we made our memorial trip into the interior over a year ago. At that time we passed through a wilderness just having been evacuated by a lot of blood-thirsty and cruel savages; now we passed through a quiet and peaceful country, inhabited by thrifty settlers. Their primitive log houses gave the assurance of hospitality, while the sight of the different military stations, with their whitewashed houses, showed that northern civilization was creeping in to the interior of this mighty, dark continent, and an occasional modest church steeple proved that Christianity and civilization were advancing side by side. Our line of march lay on the north side of the Buffalo River, where two years ago upon our inward march we had noticed the work of destruction of the savages. No trace could be seen of them, however, and all human habitations we passed were either white settlers, or civilized natives who regarded us as friends. At Fort Murray we crossed over to the south side of the river and followed then, the clear river to our left, its course down to East London, where it rolls its sparkling waters into the blue depths of the ocean.
We reached the coast at East London in the afternoon of the sixth day and found an immense three-master but a short distance from the land, already to take us aboard. It required several hours of hard work before we and our effects were embarked, as everything had to be conveyed to the ship in small boats. At last everything was satisfactorily transferred and we set down to a sailor’s supper, consisting of hardtack and tea, which we enjoyed immensely. After supper we were shown our bunks, which were arranged in hammock fashion, a fact we appreciated very much. It is a curious fact about man, how a variation in his daily surroundings will affect him. The long voyage we made from England to East London caused us, at the end, to wish for the land, and we had a regular horror against ship life; now, after having lived two years upon terra firma, the sight of the vessel with its masts and sails and flying banners, and the deep blue ocean, stretching endless so far as the eye could see, inspired us with a strange desire to be once more upon the silent deep, and to travel upon the wings of the winds to new portions of the globe.
Next morning at sunrise the anchors were drawn, the sails regulated, and the colossal ship turned slowly around; impelled by a brisk north-west wind it was soon under headway. After leaving the bay we took an almost due easterly course, slightly inclined to the north. At sundown we had the coast of Africa in full view yet, although becoming somewhat indistinct on account of the distance. Next morning, when I reached the deck, there was nothing to be seen but the ocean, and the ship, rapidly cutting the slightly ruffled surface of the sea, making excellent headway before the favorable wind. The breeze was cool and delicious, and tempered the heat of the sun in an agreeable manner. Our bill of fare was excellent, much better than we had upon our first voyage; we were well contented, passing the nights sleeping soundly, and the days in various ways, having no trouble in passing away the time. After we had been one week under way we were approaching the equator and the heat became oppressive, aggravated by a change in the wind which had turned almost due north. Still the ship sped on. We kept downstairs during the day, until after the equator had been passed.
We enjoyed many hours during this voyage watching the great number of fishes which were playing around our ship. Another source of pleasure were the sailors, who were great singers and who accompanied their work with songs. Several of our party had brought musical instruments along, an old violin and harmonica, and they would then accompany their song with music; we would all join in making a roar which would occasionally scare the hordes of fishes following the vessel. I once distinctly saw an enormous shark following us for several hours, but the moment our stentorian concert commenced he wheeled around like he was shot and made off in the opposite direction with lightning speed. We passed also the large and monotonous island of Madagascar which we kept in plain view for several days. But after this coast had passed out of sight we did not get any other land to see until we reached East India.
We landed at Bombay February 27th, 1860. This is a beautiful city to look at from a distance, particularly from a vessel which has just completed a voyage of six weeks’ duration. It is regularly built and has hundreds of steeples and domes of a peculiar design. The business language is English, but a man can hear all languages spoken on the streets. A large percentage of the inhabitants are Mohamedans, Hindoos, and Persians, who walk about and transact their business in their picturesque costumes. We marched through the city, up to the English barracks where we got temporary quarters along side of English soldiers who were suffering with the yellow fever, which was very unwelcome and alarming news for us. We also soon found out that the heat was terrible, and that the air was vitiated with foul gases; we further noticed that the greatest uncleanliness prevailed everywhere; that animal and vegetable offal was allowed to remain in the streets, causing instant putrification under the hot tropical sun, filling the air with poisonous gases. Our rations consisted of fresh meat, fresh bread, fruit and rice and we enjoyed the change in our diet very much. Still the first day in Bombay convinced us that the climate could not possibly agree with us, and we at once directed a petition to the Governor to provide a healthier abode for us. Meantime our suffering commenced. During the daytime it was so hot that several of our men were killed by sunstroke while drilling, and we had to discontinue the practice; during the night, although the air cooled down some, being tempered by sea breezes. We found it impossible to sleep in the barracks, being tormented by a blood-thirsty species of bed-bugs, and when we escaped from them into the open air we were received by hundreds of mosquitoes, almost one inch in length; they kept us busy all night, and thus we led a miserable life which soon commenced to tell even on the most vigorous constitution.
The yellow fever soon made its appearance in our ranks, increasing the suffering and misery; many fell easy victims to the dreaded malady. We importuned the Governor of Bombay repeatedly to remove us to some healthier locality, and he did finally make arrangements for our transportation to Calcutta, to which city we were then taken by railway train. It took us two days to reach Calcutta, and after a march of one mile we reached the barracks, which had been prepared for us, in an exhausted condition. But the relief sought we did not receive; the yellow fever having once established itself had taken root and continued to do its deadly work in our ranks, thinning them out in a terrible manner. The city of Calcutta then contained about twenty thousand inhabitants, mostly Hindoos and Englishmen, and was well built and kept pretty clean. We had excellent medical attendance and plenty of good food, but the excessive heat, bed-bugs and mosquitoes conquered us. There was no thought of sending us to the front to do active service in the field. We did not dare to go outside the shelter of the barracks for fear of getting sunstruck.
The yellow fever kept on the increase; no day passed but two or three of our men fell victims to it and had to be buried at once on account of the heat. The mortality was greatest among the men ranging from twenty-one to twenty-five years, although everybody momentarily expected an attack. The effect was demoralizing in the extreme; we now regretted, too late, our foolhardy undertaking in engaging upon this errand, and our sole purpose now was to leave this country as quickly as possible. This, our desire, was communicated to the authorities, but it necessarily took some time before the matter could be disposed of, and every new day added to our misery and sufferings; the death rate went on increasing, and when at last the long waited for permission came to return to South Africa, two hundred men had succumbed to the ravages of the yellow fever and had been buried under the East Indian sod. The rest of us were gloomy and without energy; we had become accustomed to the daily misery and suffering of our fellow soldiers and had become apathetic, knowing our inability to give relief. The news that a ship had been rigged up to take us back to Africa did not seem to affect us greatly, or to give us any new energy. We merely made our preparations for departure in a mechanical way, something like a somnambulist will do when walking in his sleep. I believe yet that this peculiar feeling was a forerunner of the yellow fever, and if we had had to stay another month we all would have perished. When marching to the depot we hardly noticed the stately mansions and stores lining the mains streets of Calcutta, nor the interesting mixture of population, composed as it was of Englishmen, Persians, Hindoos, Jews and Negroes; we had only one impulse, that of getting away from East India.
On November 1st, 1860, after we had suffered for seven months as stated above, the train pulled out from Calcutta, having three hundred of our men aboard, to be transported back to Bombay. Of the seven hundred men who, seven months before, had stepped upon the East Indian shore, full of ambition, life and health, two hundred were now slumbering under the sod, slain by the dreadful yellow fever, while about two hundred more at the last moment gathered courage enough to remain in East India and took service in the regular English Army. But we three hundred could not have been held if they had promised us the whole of the country. After we reached Bombay we were transferred without further delay to the ship which was to take us back to South Africa. After a few hours of time, necessarily consumed in getting our effects and supplies aboard, the heavy anchors were lifted, the sails were hoisted in position, and we were once more beginning the long voyage from the East Indies to South Africa. Our health seemed to improve the instant after we stepped aboard the ship, and as the city of Bombay grew indistinct upon the horizon, a feeling of relief crept over us. The expectation of returning to the healthy clime of South Africa aroused us from our apathetic stupor, and we once more enjoyed the gentle breeze which ruffled the surface of the ocean and impelled our ship on its homeward course.
We left Bombay on the 10th of November, 1860, expecting that with a favorable wind we would be able to reach our stations by Christmas. Everything went along well; we passed the equator (for the third time) about the 1st of December. Without any special incidents, worthy of mention, we reached Port Elizabeth December 29th, 1860. I must say, to the credit of the English sailors, that they treated us well during this long voyage, and that we had an excellent bill of fare, under the conditions. We had entirely gotten rid of the evil effects of our sojourn in East India. On leaving the vessel the kind-hearted captain presented us with a goodly supply of provisions, enough to last us several days, and bade us a hearty good-bye. After being once more on African soil we felt rather lost; many miles from our stations, in a strange town, with no more rations or wages from the government to be expected, was, I must say, a rather discouraging outlook. We held a council of war as to our future course, but there were so many different views that all thought of concerted action was abandoned. The result was that the great Legion was dissolved, some settling down in Port Elizabeth, where they secured employment, and the rest scattering to the four winds of heaven. Some of them returned to their stations on the Yellow Wood River.
CHAPTER VIII
AMONG THE BOERS IN SOUTH AFRICA
Farming is conducted on quite a different basis in Africa than here in the United States. There is but little grain raised there, and consequently but few men can find employment on the farms during harvest time. The bulk of the farming is done by the Boers, emigrants from Holland. Most of their labor consists in raising stock, and just enough cereals for their own consumption. There are Boers here who own from one thousand five hundred to three thousand acres of land, which, with the exception of fifteen or twenty acres, is all devoted to pasturage and stock raising. Some of them conduct their business on a large scale. I know several who owned from ten thousand to twenty thousand sheep, from five thousand to ten thousand goats, from three hundred to five hundred oxen and cows, and from one hundred to two hundred horses. The care of these enormous herds of stock is in the hands of Zulus, who are especially hired for this purpose; some of the Boers often employ, in this manner, thirty families. They are paid in stock once a year, money being an unknown quantity to the average Kaffir in the interior. The stock thus given them for services is equivalent to about fifty dollars. Each of these Kaffirs has from three to four wives, whom he has to buy also, generally paying either one horse, two oxen, or ten sheep or goats to the father of the coveted bride. He also provides a hut for each of his wives and furnishes an equal number of goats, sheep, cows, etc., to each, so that he has as many different houses as he has wives. He then changes about in living with them; one week he stops with wife number one; the second week, with wife number two; the third week, with wife number three, etc.; generally making the week longest with the one treating and feeding him best. It doesn’t cost him much, however, for dresses and millinery, as a piece of woolen blanket wrapped around the body is all the dress goods they wear, the mild climate requiring no further protection. Their dwellings are furnished in a similarly primitive style; doors are made of a curtain consisting of a couple of sheep skins; windows are unknown, as are also tables and chairs. Their beds consist of sheep skins spread upon the bare floor, with occasionally a woolen blanket which, however, is looked upon as a luxury.
The Boers exercise very rigid supervision over these depending Kaffirs, their severity probably being justified by the dishonest qualities of the latter. If a head of stock in their charge dies in the woods, from any cause, the animal is charged against the herder until he produces the carcass, which is then skinned, the Boer taking the skin; after salting, the carcass is placed in a sort of a storehouse, under lock and key, where the provisions are kept for the herders. Each morning, before the stock is taken out of the kraal, the Boer counts, personally, each head and keeps a written record of the same; he also counts them again when they are brought back in the evening. The daily provision of the herder generally consists of a piece of bread and a piece of raw salted meat, which is given to him by the Boer each morning; he generally carries it around with him on a pointed stick until it is devoured, which is generally done without roasting it, although some of them go to the trouble of building a fire.
The Boers shear their sheep twice a year, and after each wool crop they organize an expedition to go to the seaboard to sell the wool, also hides and such of their stock as they deem expedient. Such expeditions to the border cities are no small matter for farmers (or Doppers as they are called in Africa,) who are living in the northern part of the Transvaal, or in the Orange Republic, from six to seven hundred miles away, as a rule depending on ox teams for locomotion. Such a round trip consumes from three to four months each year, and is an extremely hard and dangerous journey. They sell their wool and stock in the seaports and then buy in enough supplies to last them until their next visit. Coffee, sugar, rice, tea, flour and hardware are the main articles they purchase; also such miscellaneous stuff as they may need. Dress goods and small household articles they do not buy, however, as they generally get them from peddlers much cheaper, and trade them in for hides. The ruling language in the interior, among the Boers and Doppers, is Dutch. The Boers are by far the most intelligent and prosperous inhabitants in the Transvaal and Orange Free states. The Doppers, a poorer class of farmers and stock raisers are very hospitable; their apparel is rather peculiar; it consists of very wide pantaloons, and blue woolen jackets with yellow buttons, immense hats, almost as big around as an umbrella, which serve as a protection against sun as well as rain. If a stranger, either on horseback or with a wagon, approaches them, they invariably invite him in to partake of their hospitality; he can stay any reasonable length of time without paying a cent. According to the age of the visitor and that of the addressing party he is either called uncle, nephew, or grand uncle, if an old man, and addressed by a child. A good many of these Doppers own large herds of stock, rivaling those of the Boers.
The main difficulty in this section of Africa is the want of water. In order to overcome this drawback, large reservoirs have been constructed to gather the rain water during the rainy season in immense quantities; each Dopper of any importance has such a reservoir upon his ranch. For this purpose they generally select a narrow valley in between two hills, and build a stone wall between the two mountain sides; this of course prevents the escape of the water and forms a lake of varying depth, according to the height of the wall and the rain fall. Such a reservoir is, however, very expensive, and only the richest of the Doppers can build them, so that the poorer classes have to buy their water from others, for which they pay a heavy tax. These farmers also raise excellent fruit and tobacco, and make fine wine, aside from grain and vegetables for their own use. The tobacco raised is especially good and is a staple in great demand by the natives, who would rather go without food than without their tobacco. The fields of the Doppers are generally located adjoining and upon a lower level than their water reservoirs. They have a system of irrigation, using the water with great care and judgment. In this manner they are able to raise sufficient corn and vegetables to supply their wants and provide for their black help.
The above description of the inhabitants of the Transvaal and Orange states is necessary so that the reader may fully understand what follows.
When the nucleus of the German Legion was broken up, and its members scattered all over at Port Elizabeth, I intended, at first, to return to Hanover and take possession of my homestead again. A friend of mine, who had also a house in Hanover, concluded to go along with me; we started on foot from Port Elizabeth to go to Graham’s Town, which is about one hundred miles from Port Elizabeth. This was a very hard journey, on account of the poor and mountainous road; it took us fully ten days to reach Graham’s Town. From here it was again one hundred miles by the road to King William’s Town, which distance it took us over two weeks to travel. The suffering during this trip I shall never forget; many a time we had no water to drink, and often nothing to eat. The settlers were pretty scarce along our line of march. We had to be very careful not to step on any of the poisonous snakes, of which there were plenty hidden in the luxurious grass. We were also without arms, except our pocket knives, and could therefore hunt no game. Occasionally, however, we were fortunate enough to catch a mess of delicious fish and then we would have a feast. When about half way between Graham’s Town and King William’s Town we lost our bearings, the road being so little used that vegetation had obliterated all tracks. We wandered around one entire day hoping to find the lost trail or at least a human habitation, but in vain; nothing but grass and jungle and woods met our eyes at every turn, and we were about ready to give up in despair.
In our endeavor to regain the lost trail, we had wandered away from the creek which had supplied us with excellent drinking water, and could now find no trace of water; our feet were sore and blistered, and in our half famished condition we at last wandered heedlessly, stumbling along through a forest of heavy timber. I have a dim recollection that at that time the consciousness that if we laid down we certainly would perish, and that our only deliverance was made possible by continuing to walk, forced our exhausted bodies to mechanically continue walking, thus we kept on walking, for how long I cannot recall. The smell of smoke was the first thing to attract my attention; I called to my companion, who also noticed it. Our hopes rose at once; as we expected, we were near a house or some sort of habitation; we gathered all our energy together and pressed forward, though every step caused us pain. We soon perceived a clearing in the woods ahead, and the house of a Dopper near by. After rapping on the door, which was soon opened by a hospitable farmer, we nearly broke down from utter exhaustion. He invited us in and copiously supplied us with the precious fluid of water, and afterwards served us an excellent meal. We must have slept nearly twenty hours, after we had partaken of food, for I noticed the sun was nearly setting when I awoke again, and it was just at sundown that we reached this place the previous night. I shall never forget this benevolent and hospitable Dopper; he could converse a little in German with us, and treated us with the utmost kindness, as did also his wife and children. We wanted to start again the second morning, but as our feet were so sore that it was impossible for us to walk, we accepted the invitation of these kind-hearted people to stay a few days and recuperate.
After a rest of three days we took up our interrupted journey to King William’s Town, well supplied with provisions for several days. The Dopper accompanied us until we struck the right road. From here on we had no further trouble and continued our journey until, at last, we reached King William’s Town. There remained only five miles more, and we would exchange greetings with our friends at Hanover. As soon as we arrived I went at once to my house, in which my brother lived with his family; I was heartily welcomed, and had to do the talking for a few hours, relating my experiences. Next day I called upon Captain Von Brandis who installed me at once as sergeant over my previous company, and I was once more placed upon England’s pay roll, receiving three shillings wages per day, also one pound of meat and one pound of bread. There was no service at all required of us now, but we could not leave the station without special permission. During my absence a good many new emigrants had arrived and settled in and about our station; those colonists who had left their houses and joined in the East Indian campaign had made room for a good many families. I found every house occupied by emigrants living in houses belonging to soldiers who were buried in East India. But such is the inevitable course of life. I was rather surprised at my own brother, who, instead of cultivating the good land on the river which had been allotted to him, had contented himself to till merely the few acres which adjoined my house, just making enough for a bare living from it. I remonstrated with him, and showed him emigrants who had arrived after him, and who had had to take lands on the hill sides with hardly any water, who managed to raise good crops and make a comfortable living. As stated before, it rained but little in South Africa, but vegetation kept alive, receiving its moisture in the shape of a heavy dew which fell regularly every night. This dew fall is so copious that before sunrise it has the appearance of a heavy rain fall, but as the sun rises it disappears rapidly, being in part evaporated by the heat of the sun, but the greater part is absorbed by the plants. The land along the river and creeks was by all odds the best for farming purposes, and splendid crops were raised all along the banks of the flowing water, it being utilized for irrigation.
I could see that my brother had but little inclination to go about plowing and sowing. This aversion to farming was, no doubt, very natural, as he was a blacksmith by trade; so I made the proposition to him that, as there was no blacksmith in Hanover, (the nearest one being in King William’s Town) we start a blacksmithing establishment in Hanover. This plan just suited him, and the next day we commenced to build our shop, which was ready in less than two weeks. We had some trouble and difficulty in getting our forge, anvil and other necessary adjuncts for the operation of a blacksmith shop, but succeeded much better than I had anticipated. There was plenty of business for us, and we worked long hours in order to attend to our many customers. I had never worked in a blacksmith shop before, but necessity is a virtue, and I did some pretty good work. We soon found it necessary to extend our business so as to repair also the wood-work of plows, wagons, etc., and I took charge of this department, my brother looking after the iron-work. In this manner we built up a very prosperous business, my brother taking in more money in one day, sometimes, than he could earn in Germany in a month. I say, my brother did, for he took in all the money, never offering me one cent, although the shop stood on my property, and was erected with my money. Still I did not care so long as I was drawing my salary and rations from the government.
In this manner we worked together for about one year, when we received notice from Captain Von Brandis that the English government had formally disbanded the military colonists of South Africa, and that henceforth we were at liberty to go and do as we liked. Our arms were also taken away from us, and our salaries and rations ceased. This was bad news for us and was really a breach of contract, as at the time of our enlistment it was agreed that we were to receive wages and rations for a period of seven years, of which time only three years had now expired. It was also understood that at the end of the seven years we should retain what arms and ammunition we had left. We remonstrated with our captain on this line, but he was powerless to change an iota of the matter. He informed us that General Stutterheim had advised the English government to take this action, and that he understood the worthy general was receiving a fat pension, for the balance of his life, for the great services rendered to England in the colonization of South Africa. It was really a good thing for General Stutterheim, at this time that he was living on his farm in Germany; for if he had been at the station Stutterheim, the enraged colonists would surely have made short work of him. It was bad enough to steal the $10,000 which had been presented to us, some time ago, but to wantonly go to work and cheat us out of four years, wages, really due us, was more than we could quietly bear; many were the maledictions showered upon him.
All of South Kaffraria, which we had held and colonized during the past three years, was now called British Kaffraria. The land was laid out in farms of one thousand five hundred, and of three thousand acres, and was given away to the Boers and Doppers on condition that they reside upon it and improve it for five years. After five years of possession and satisfactory proof, they were to receive a deed to it from the government. We colonists, who really had done all the hard work in maintaining English superiority and bringing civilization about, had nothing but a house and lot, and five acres of land in our stations, which availed but little; even the emigrants, who came after our stations were built, were much better off than we; they had from sixty to eighty acres to each family, enough to make them a good living, while our little property was practically useless to us. Those who had no trade, or other business at which to make a living, soon left the stations in search of work; some going back to the cities along the coast, while others went into the interior, either to the Transvaal or Orange States.
Kaffraria had been subdivided into two provinces; namely, Victoria and British Kaffraria. These two divisions reach from Cape Town to East London, nine hundred miles from west to east, and from Port Elizabeth to the Orange River, a distance of five hundred miles from south to north, and cover an area of about three hundred thousand square miles. This immense territory is all cut up into farms and ranches, and there is no land left for settlers unless it is purchased from the Boers, who got it free and who now ask big prices for it. The climate is very healthful, there being but little change in the temperature all the year round. It might even now be the happiest and most contented nation on the earth had England, instead of making this land a present to the Boers, opened it up for homesteads for actual agricultural settlers.
CHAPTER IX
TRAVELS THROUGH INTERIOR KAFFRARIA
It was made one of the conditions, under which the Boers were invited to settle in Kaffraria, that they build houses upon the several farms taken up; this made a good demand for men who understood the building trade, as the scarcity of such men in this region compelled the Boers to pay very good wages. I continued for some time working with my brother in the blacksmith and wagon repair shop, but getting no more wages from the government, nor any pay for my labors in the shop, (for my brother continued to pocket all the earnings,) I soon grew tired of it and made up my mind to leave. I might easily have compelled my brother to divide the receipts with me, but I did not care to go into quarrels or litigation with him. Meeting my friend one morning in front of our shop, (the one with whom I had made the memorable tramp from Port Elizabeth to Hanover,) I talked matters over with him; he suggested that if we were bricklayers we might earn excellent wages, in the interior, building houses for the Boers on their new farms. This suggestion struck me just right. I told him that we might easily learn to be as good bricklayers and carpenters as the Boers might want, and expressed my confidence that we should make a trial at any rate. My friend, however, was less sanguine in the matter, and thought that we would make sad failures if we tried, as neither one of us knew anything about making bricks or erecting buildings. I pointed out to him our successful career; how we had built up our stations without any trouble, and that, even though I was a tailor and he a shoemaker, we should try.
My counsel at last prevailed and we prepared for departure. We went via King William’s Town, taking only such tools as were absolutely necessary; these consisted of an axe, a hammer, hand-saw, trowel, level, boards, etc. We started out toward a farm which had been pointed out to us by a Boer, who stated that the owner of it wanted to build a fine two-story house. It was nearly night before we reached the premises, and we at once made known our business as builders. The Boer was glad to get somebody able to erect a good house for him. He invited us in to an excellent supper, of which we were sorely in need. After supper we talked the matter over, we wanted to take the job by the day, at so much per day, but the Boer would not listen to any such proposition. He wanted the whole work done by contract. We then asked him for a plan of his house, which he told us he would have ready for us next morning. He then took us over to a vacant Kaffir hut close by, turning it over to us for our quarters during the construction of the new house. The hut was in pretty fair shape, and we soon made ourselves comfortable. The next morning we were invited to breakfast, after which the Boer produced the plan for the new building, with a verbal specification. He was to furnish all the necessary material, but we were to furnish our own tools and all the labor of erecting and finishing up the house. After a long verbal controversy as to the wages and provisions wanted, we at last reached an agreement.
The site of the building was looked over, the clay examined and found to be suitable for good brick; water was convenient for the making of brick and mortar, and there was plenty of wood for building purposes and fuel. After numerous minor details had been satisfactorily disposed of, we returned to the farmer’s house, where a formal contract was drawn up, in duplicate, and signed by all parties thereto. The Boer then commenced to at once fulfill his part of the contract by bringing over our first week’s supply of provisions, such as rice, sugar, coffee, tea, flour, mutton and beef, also some kitchen furniture which he threw in the bargain, as he laughingly remarked. We commenced work at once, clearing the prospective site of the house and squaring the foundations walls. We then commenced to dig out for them, using the excavated clay for brick material, which was softened with water and formed into bricks; we also constructed an oven of clay to be used in burning the bricks. In this manner we made a good showing for our first day’s work. The Boer was busy, in the meantime, hauling stone for the foundation walls, and lime and sand for the mortar. In this manner our work continued without interruption, and at the end of the first week the foundation walls were just about level with the ground and ready to receive the brick wall.
As yet we had not burnt any bricks, so we concluded to work all day Sunday to form bricks and put them out to dry, so we might burn them Monday. We had about ten thousand laid out to dry on Sunday evening, and expected to burn them the next day; but during the night a heavy shower of rain fell which ruined our entire week’s work, as well as destroyed our clay oven in which there were already ranked several thousand raw bricks, and the fuel necessary to burn them. This was a discouraging occurrence, but Monday was a bright, clear day and we went to work again with a will, forming the brick anew, and rebuilding the destroyed oven. Thus we worked again a whole week, pretty hard, and on Sunday night we had ten thousand bricks all ready to be burnt. We looked out all around the horizon but could not discover even a sign of a cloud. The Boer assured us there was no danger of rain, so we went to bed. During the night there broke loose the worst rain storm I ever heard; of course next morning we found our oven and bricks destroyed again, and another week’s work wiped out. This was very discouraging, to say the least; the Boer was getting peevish, and blamed us for working Sundays, which caused all this trouble, although he himself had worked every Sunday. However, we went to work again Monday, starting anew, rebuilding the oven and forming brick. We also took the precaution to build a kind of roof over our oven as a protection, and after every thousand bricks had been formed they were exposed to the sun, dried, and put in ranks in the oven.
When Saturday came around we had nine thousand bricks in the oven, and about two thousand fresh bricks outside, drying in the sun. The Boer called around and asked if we intended to work Sunday. I told him of our intention to start the fire to burn the bricks Sunday. This he did not like; he then said if we worked Sunday it was sure to rain, and he was being put to trouble and expense without getting anything accomplished. He insisted that we should not start the fire until Monday, and celebrate Sunday. We made no objections; a day of rest was very much needed as we had worked a whole month without intercession. When we quit Saturday night, we had the oven ready to be started, and about four thousand more bricks on the dry dock. Before leaving the work we took the precaution to erect a kind of a roof over these bricks, and also repaired and improved the roof over our brick oven; this was deemed entirely unnecessary by the Boer, as he said it certainly wouldn’t rain if we did not work Sunday. Well, we did not work that Sunday, but during the night, from Sunday to Monday, a thunderstorm passed over this region with such a deluge of rain that we trembled and thought everything would be swept away by the floods. By dawn the next morning the sky was as clear as a bell, and we hurried to our work, expecting to find everything in ruins. We were, however, agreeably surprised to find that the primitive roof over the oven had done good service, and, although damaged some, had suffered little, and the twelve thousand bricks inside had escaped destruction. The very defective roof over the raw bricks had even been sufficient to save most of the four thousand bricks. Of course we were jubilant, and after repairing the oven we started the fire.
The Boer called around pretty early to view the damage. I could not pass this opportunity to comment upon his poor qualifications as a weather prophet; he grumbled, and said something about the necessity of rains for the whole country, but was evidently pleased, after all, that we had saved a week’s crop of bricks. From now on our work progressed favorably and very satisfactorily. The bricks, after being burnt, were very hard and of a pretty red color; they were very regular, and as I undertook the part of the mason I had little trouble in forming a very nice, regular wall with them. It rained, periodically, with the greatest regularity, every Sunday night, but we had our works well protected, having added to the roof over the oven and brick pad. We also had a ditch dug around the oven and the drying space, so as to ward off the surface water. Shortly after New Year, when the walls were up to the windows of the second story, the rains ceased altogether, but we now had enough bricks on hand to complete the whole house. The Boer watched the progress of his house from day to day, and I could see that he was well pleased, although he rarely ever said anything.
At last, I think it was the last day in January, 1863, the whole house was enclosed and under roof; two more weeks and everything was completed, and the house ready for the Boer to move into it. The day we settled up with him he not only paid us every cent as agreed, but made each of us a present of a good horse and insisted that we stay another day with him and rest and enjoy his hospitality, which we did. The next day there came quite a number of neighbors who had been invited to look the new house over. They could not find words enough to express their satisfaction in regard to the structure. Then a regular feast was served in the new house, and we two architects (who really had learned nothing but patching clothes and shoes, were the heroes of the occasion, being looked upon as men of extraordinary accomplishments. We could have made, right there, several contracts for new buildings, but we had made up our minds to go back to Hanover and start farming again. Accordingly we retraced our steps to our station, pretty well fixed, our pockets full of money, and riding on good horses. I made a contract with a Kaffir in Billtown to cultivate my four acres of land, for which I paid him $20. My brother had, in the meantime, built a house for himself in which he was living, so I moved back into my own house. Before I left Hanover, on the house building expedition, I had formed the acquaintance of a pretty girl, a few years younger than myself, and I was under the impression that she had bestowed upon me more than passing attention. While away in the interior, the matter, or rather the girl, was constantly before my mind, and was in no small measure responsible for my return to Hanover. I had come back with the resolution to lay siege to the heart of this sweet maiden, and, if accepted, was ready and willing to settle down with her for better or worse. I did not sit down to compose amorous poems, addressed to my sweetheart, nor did I sneak around nights to get a glimpse of her pretty form as she sat in the rear of her father’s log cabin. Neither did I have courage enough to go and woo the maiden directly, but confined my strategic operations to courting everybody in the family but herself. I would go over and talk for hours to her father and mother, brothers and sisters, sometimes not saying ten words to her; at the same time I had come over with the intention of seeing her and letting her know how deeply I was in love with her and how much I desired to make her my wife.
One day I gathered enough courage to propose to her father, asking him if he thought I would make a suitable husband for Mary. He promised to take the matter under advisement and talk it over with his wife. In a few days this worthy informed me that they thought I should first go to work and show up some means wherewith to support a family. This greatly hurt my pride, and I concluded that I would show them that I was better able than anybody in Hanover to support a family. I left my horses and other property in charge of my prospective father-in-law, giving him the privilege of using them, which suited him exceedingly well and bidding good bye to his family went to hunt up a Boer who wanted to build a new house. He was glad enough to get me for this purpose, for my fame as an excellent builder had spread broadcast through this vicinity. We had the contract drawn up quickly, and I went to work. He had the material mostly ready and on the ground, and I could work to good advantage; in fact, I rushed the work so that I had the entire house completed in six weeks. My pay consisted of fifty sheep and twenty goats, which valuable herd I drove quickly to Hanover and turned it, also, over into the care of my prospective father-in-law, whose good opinion of me seemed to be increasing rapidly.
The news that I had earned fifty sheep and twenty goats, within six weeks, spread like wild fire in Hanover, and caused considerable comment and jealousy; I did not pay any particular attention to it, but went away again to another farmer who wanted a house built, the contract for which was also satisfactorily and duly made. No hitch occurring, while at work, I completed this house, in full conformity with plans and specifications, in just five weeks, and received fifty sheep and twenty five goats, also a sum of money, besides, for it. The Boer grumbled, saying that I had charged him too much, but the contract had been duly signed and he had to live up to his agreement. When I reached Hanover with the newly acquired herd everybody was surprised, and my marvelous success was the general topic of talk of the whole town. I had now two horses, one hundred sheep, and forty-five goats, all earned within three months, and I felt proud of my success. I turned the balance of my herd over to my prospective father-in-law, who took very kindly to me and invited me to build a new house for him also, which proposition I accepted with pleasure, asking only my board while I was creating his house. No more agreeable job could have been offered me, as it gave me an opportunity to see and talk to sweet Mary, whom I considered really my sweetheart. I became more and more attached to her, and she seemed to receive my attentions quite favorably and to enjoy my company. I often caught her looking at me, then she would turn her eyes away blushingly. Still I could not gather sufficient courage to bring matters to a focus, and the new house was completed without my having said a word to her about my love.
Just after I had put the last touches on the house, the Boer, for whom I had built the first house, visited me and wanted me to build a large stable for his goats. I made a contract with him for this work, and he agreed to pay me one hundred dollars in cash, and give me twenty goats. So I went once more into the interior, first having a long talk with Mary’s father, to whom I opened my heart, beseeching him to tell his daughter how well I loved her, and that I would like to get married, upon my return, and settle down. I had my house furnished in grand style, for a town like Hanover; good enough for any family. I turned over all my property to the old man and gave him five dollars, to take care of everything during my absence, and also gave him the privilege of using the horses. This suited the old man and he promised all I asked, calling me his son-in-law. I went with a light heart to earn my twenty goats and one hundred dollars. The stable was soon built, all the material being on the ground, and then I hurried back to Hanover with my herd of goats, and the firm purpose of making a determined charge upon the heart of my pretty Mary. When I reached Hanover again my first visit was, naturally, to Mary’s home. I was received rather coolly by the old man, a fact which I could not understand, and when I asked about Mary he gave me very unsatisfactory answers. He hinted darkly about getting rich dishonestly, and about other things which he and Mary had found out lately, and said that the girl did not want anything to do with me. For a few moments I was perfectly paralyzed and could do nothing but stare at the old man. Finally it all became clear to me; the whole thing had been instigated by my own brother; his jealousy over my success as a builder had caused him to blackmail my character in Hanover, and he had been especially active in doing so to Mary and her family. I was mad for a while, and intended to go to my brother and demand an explanation, and also make him take back his slurs. On the way to his shop, however, I changed my mind, walked back to Mary’s father and told him that I intended to go abroad again, and that I would leave all my stock and other property in his charge, giving him the privilege to shear the sheep and sell the wool, and to use the horses and house. This suited the old man exceedingly well for it meant cash in his pocket, and he became very talkative when I prepared for departure. “Your property is in good hands,” he said. “It is too bad about the girl, that she has no better sense, but I will talk to her again and think she may change her mind yet.” I paid little attention to his talk for I was disgusted with Hanover, and set out as early as possible the next day.
I traveled afoot into the province Victoria, where I had not yet been, and had quite a number of offers to build houses, but I did not feel, just then, like working. I traveled from settlement to settlement until at last I reached Graham’s Town, where I stopped several days. This was then quite a busy, regularly built city. The streets were all paved with “niggerhead,” and were kept in a very clean condition. While sauntering through the streets one morning, looking in at the shop windows, somebody called my name. Turning around I was greeted by an old friend by the name of August Brand, hailing from Strasburg, county of Ukermark, Prussia. I was surprised at seeing him in Graham’s Town, and he explained that he was keeping a store of general merchandise in Reibeck, twenty-eight miles northwest of Graham’s Town. He was there to buy in a supply of goods and intended to return right away. He then questioned me about my plans and prospects, and when I told him that I was rather aimlessly wandering about, he invited me, most cordially, to visit him at Reibeck. I promised that I would call on him in a few days. He departed and I remained in Graham’s Town a few days longer. Getting tired of this idle life I left Graham’s Town and took the road for Riebeck, which village I reached the evening of the second day. I had no trouble in finding my friend Brand, who gave me a hearty welcome. Incidentally he mentioned that he needed a tailor the worst way, as the Boers were continually asking to have their clothes made for them. When I told him that I was a tailor by trade, he smiled and thought I was joking; but when he saw that I was in earnest he asked for an explanation, how it came that I could be tailor, blacksmith, wagon maker and builder all in one, and I had to relate to him all the circumstances leading up to these conditions. Finally, he engaged me as tailor to run the clothing department in his store. I went to work at once, swinging my needle once more, taking measures along the fat bodies of the Boers, and making their clothes. They had to pay enormous prices for their tailor made goods, but there was no competition and if they wanted the article they had to pay for it. Orders were coming in continually and we had to turn quite a number away, as it was impossible for one man to do it all. Mr Brand was well pleased, paid me very good wages, and I was treated like one belonging to the family. Thus I spent two months, working hard, in a comparatively happy frame of mind, rarely thinking of my home in Hanover.
CHAPTER X
PEDDLING IN KAFFRARIA, 1863
Although tailoring must be considered my regular avocation, I could not content myself in the pursuit of this trade any length of time, and after I had passed two months in Riebeck I grew tired of it. When I told Mr. Brand that I had to go back to Hanover to look after my property there, he was surprised and tried to persuade me to remain in my present position. But I was firm in my purpose to quit tailoring, for sitting sewing, day after day, did not suit me. He next proposed that I accompany him upon a peddling trip through Victoria, which proposition I accepted at once. Preparations were then made for this journey, which was to last about two months, this was considered a serious undertaking. Two immense wagons, covered with canvas, and each pulled by twenty-four oxen, formed our means of locomotion. One of the wagons was filled with such goods as were in demand by the Boers in the interior, and the other wagon contained our provisions, beds, etc. It took several days until we were rigged out for our trip. We had four native attendants, along with two drivers and two oxen leaders, the latter being necessary whenever we had to cross water, or pass through a town. Mr. Brand had traveled this route before, and knew all the trails and all the farmers along the route. After traveling some twelve miles the first day we drew up in front of a stately farm-house, where we passed the first night. Mr. Brand was well acquainted with this Boer, who bought nearly $200 worth of goods; a fact which took my breath away, for I knew there was about $100 profit in the transaction, as just the result of one day’s work. But Mr. Brand explained that he had to take his pay in stock and hides, and that he could make no money unless he could get that much profit. In this manner we now went from farm to farm for about two hundred miles, some days stopping at two places, but generally we could see only one Boer in a day.
We had a couple of good shot guns along with us, with plenty of ammunition, and I had lots of fun going off into the woods on short hunting expeditions. I found plenty of game and killed many bush bucks and deer, so that when we drew up at a farm house we had some kind of game to turn into the kitchen to be roasted for our supper. The trees were literally alive with birds of all descriptions, and they were so tame that they would not move at our approach. We did excellent business with these Boers, who depended on peddlers for such supplies as we carried. All knew Mr. Brand, who had made this territory his regular route, and we were cordially invited to stop over night with them. We slept in their houses while our servants made themselves at home with the Kaffirs; our oxen were turned into the kraal, where they enjoyed a night’s rest and feed. For these accommodations nothing was charged, but the goods which the Boer bought were charged at full rates.
About thirty days after we left Riebeck we reached a very large farm, where we disposed of the balance of our stock, and this point was naturally the terminus of our journey. We decided to remain here a few days to give ourselves and outfit some necessary rest. This Boer had a large monkey, called Barbon, who was fully four feet tall, and very tame and intelligent. He was trained to lead the oxen to the wagon whenever the farmer went to hitch up, and he would do lots of other chores; would even drive the oxen and lead them through water. While we were there, a tragic incident happened wherein this Barbon played the leading role. The farmer had a baby, one month old, which was sleeping in its cradle. While its mother was away from the room the child waked up and commenced to cry; the monkey stood near the window, which was open, and like a flash of lightning he jumped into the room, took the baby in his arms, swung himself out of the window, climbed up along the gutter, and sat on top of the roof, holding the baby in his arms. The mother soon returned, found her baby gone, and started a great commotion. Some Kaffirs, however, had already seen the monkey on top of the roof, and rushed in to give the alarm. When we went out we all saw Mr. Barbon, tenderly rocking the baby in his arms, trying to soothe it to sleep. A council of war was held, and the farmer was going to get his gun to shoot the monkey, but this foolhardy proposition was soon abandoned. We concluded that the best thing to do was to go away from the house so as to give Barbon a chance to return the baby to the cradle from whence he had taken it. Such proved to be the right course; for the monkey no sooner saw that we had all departed than he slid down the gutterpipe, put the baby back into the cradle, and then made for the woods. The Boer, whose wrath was aroused by the action of the monkey, gave a certain whistle, which was the customary sign for the Barbon to show up; but he smelt what was in store for him, and did not respond. This served to make the Boer still more exasperated, and he instructed his head Kaffir, when he showed up to hitch up the oxen, to throw a lasso around the monkey’s neck and hitch him to the wagon. This happened very soon, and the Boer administered a terrible beating to the poor monkey; when released he flew for the woods and was seen no more. No more was thought about the matter, and we left the next day to return to Riebeck. Our return trip was naturally very slow as we had to gather and drive along the stock we received at the different farms in payment of goods we received at the different farms in payment of goods sold. The second day we were overtaken by a man on horseback, who hurriedly informed us that the farmer who had punished the Barbon so severely had been bitten by the same monkey, and that but little hope was entertained of his recovery as the bite of this kind of monkey is very poisonous. He was on the way to a neighbor who knew something about treating wounds. We ascertained later that this farmer had died in great agony, similar to that of persons who are bitten by mad dogs.
On our trip out we had managed to travel by day and lay up nights with farmers; we thus had protecting fences against the numerous wild animals prowling around during the night. But on our return trip it was different; although we tried our best to reach the friendly kraals of a Boer at night, we could not manage to do this every night as our progress was greatly impeded by our constantly growing herd of sheep, goats, cattle and horses. We had to lay up many a night in the midst of the African forests; such nights were extremely dangerous on account of the great number of lions and leopards which would follow up our trail, under cover of the woods, during the daytime, not daring to attack our herds in broad daylight. As soon as darkness fell they became bolder and would make an occasional attack, resulting generally in the loss of a sheep or goat. We had to be, therefore, constantly on the alert as soon as it commenced to grow dark, and have our guns ready for instant use. When we had to camp out in the wilderness we generally selected as clear a spot as we could find, and started several huge fires which had to be kept up all night, so of course we could not think of going to sleep. The wild beasts, who have a terror of the glow of fire, would circle around us and keep up their howling music all night. Occasionally a leopard would come in plain view and we would give him a bullet to taste, when he would retire howling. Once I noticed a full grown lion bound into our herd and carry off a sheep; I discharged my gun at him but he was quickly lost in the darkness. Hyenas, wild cats, and foxes were troublesome, and we shot quite a number of them. Several times, when we neglected to keep our fires going, we sustained quite heavy losses in having sheep and goats killed and carried off.
At last we reached Riebeck again, glad that our perilous journey was over. We had been away just three months, and I felt again like taking to the needle and enjoying home comforts. So I went to work again and made clothes for the well to do farmers in our neighborhood, and worked at this quite steadily for about one month, when my old love for outdoor exercise asserted itself again, and kept on punching me until at last I made up my mind to desert the tailor table for good. I stated to Mr. Brand that I had to go back to Hanover, without fail, to look after my effects; at the same time I was thinking of looking the ground over to see whether Mary had, in the meantime, married or not; in case I should find her single yet, I wanted to make another effort to win her. Mr. Brand, however, had taken quite a liking to me and would not let me go again; he informed me that he was getting ready for another trip northward through another section of the Orange state; he wanted me to go along with him and offered to divide the profits with me. After some persuasion on his part I finally consented to accept his offer. Preparations were then made at once and hurried along; in two weeks we were equipped for the journey. I spent fourteen days tailoring, while Mr. Brand took a trip down to Graham’s Town to buy in a new supply of goods and sell the proceeds of our last trip. When everything was ready we left Riebeck early in the morning and headed to the northward, going into a part of the country where neither of us had ever been.
However, this territory proved not to be so good for our business as the one we traversed before. The cause of this must be laid to the frauds perpetrated by a number of Jewish peddlers who had worked through the region some time before we came. These Jews had sold a lot of cheap jewelry to the farmers, representing everything to be genuine, and had thus fleeced the Boers out of their money. They came along, handsomely dressed, in fine spring wagons drawn by horses, making a favorable impression, but the luster of their jewelry faded away and too late the Boers found out that they had been imposed upon. Of course these peddlers took good care not to work the same route a second time, for the enraged Boers would probably have made short work of them. This made the farmers very suspicious of all strangers; we met some who would not even admit us under any circumstances. We managed, however, to make them understand that our concern was responsible business, and as Mr. Brand could talk Dutch fluently he soon reassured them, and the quality of our goods spoke for itself. Many times we spent from two to three days upon one farm, the Boer sending for neighbors who would also buy what they needed; when once the ice was broken we were treated like old friends. Of course we watched our opportunity, and while we asked big prices for our goods they received a much better value for their money, as we did not handle anything but good and serviceable articles.
We traveled thus for about thirty days and reached a small town named Summerset. Here we sold the last of our wares and after a rest of a few days we set out upon our return trip, which resembled greatly the one described above. We stopped at each farm where we had sold goods, and picked out the sheep and goats as agreed; in some places we received wool, in other places hides, but all were computed at the cash value in Graham’s Town. In this manner our herd of sheep and goats grew from day to day, and with it the trouble of moving them along, and also the danger of losing them; no matter how careful we were, the lions, leopards and wild cats would get away with some of them, which of course was a total loss to us. Upon this trip I shot and killed a leopard, which measured five feet and four inches in length, just as he had jumped on to a goat near our camp fire. We skinned him and I had his hide tanned at Graham’s Town. I kept it for many years as a memorial of this trip. I was getting accustomed to camping out surrounded by wild beasts, and the roar of the lions did not scare me any more. When, after a day’s march, we finally halted for the night, I rather enjoyed it; the starting of huge fires, the corralling of our stock, and the preparation of the supper were very interesting. Hardly a day passed but I had something new for supper; either a bush buck, or deer, or antelope would be invariably available for a juicy roast; sometimes we would butcher a sheep or goat for a change. Rice, coffee, sugar and flour we had in our provision wagon, and by the time we had a large pile of glowing coals, everything was in readiness to be cooked quickly, after which we sat down to enjoy our supper, which was always our main meal. We generally roasted enough meat to last for breakfast, next morning, and for a lunch at noon, as we wanted to use as much of the day for our journey as possible. After a hearty supper Brand and I would stretch ourselves out upon some sheepskins, enjoy our pipes and tell yarns; our guns were, however, in easy reach of us as we often had to get up and look after our stock, which always warned us of the stealthy approach of their enemies.
The climate was very delightful, warm and clear during the daytime, but agreeably cool during the night, so that we had trouble in keeping awake and guard over the safety of our stock. However, our losses, occasioned by wild animals, were very small on this trip and we reached Riebeck again without any serious mishap, after an absence of two months. I commenced to like these peddling trips, and concluded to make another journey with Mr. Brand, after which I intended to start the business on my own responsibility. When I told Mr. Brand of my resolution he smiled and invited me to go along to Graham’s Town in order to sell the stock we had just brought home, and buy in a new lot of goods for another peddling expedition. This took me about ten days; on our return to Riebeck we made preparations for another trip among the Boers. This time we changed our policy, however, and instead of taking sheep and goats in payment for our goods, we sold them to the farmers for cash, giving them three months time to pay for them. This arrangement enabled us to make the trip in about half the time it generally consumed; we were highly satisfied, trusting to the honesty of the farmers to pay over the cash when we should call for it at the expiration of the three months.
After our return to Riebeck I made ready for the long contemplated visit to Hanover. Mr. Brand cordially invited me to return if it did not suit me there any better than in Riebeck, and I promised that I would return. I left on Monday morning, early, intending to travel the one hundred and twenty miles from Riebeck to Hanover afoot; a tramp which I, in those days, rather enjoyed. I stopped the first night at a hotel on the north side of the Fish river, and started again early next morning, fording the river in which the water was then only about twelve inches deep. Friday noon I once more reached my old homestead at Hanover. Some acquaintances who met me before I got fairly inside the village informed me that my affable prospective father-in-law had butchered and sold quite a number of my sheep and goats, and that through sheer carelessness on his part some of them had been drowned in the Yellow Wood river. When at last I reached him I demanded a strict account of my property. The old scoundrel had thought that I would never return to claim my own, and was therefore entirely unprepared for my sudden appearance. He stammered out a lot of incoherent and contradictory excuses, which made me disgusted, and I ordered him at once to relinquish all of my property. I ascertained that the old thief had butchered no less than twenty of my sheep. I threatened to have him arrested for stealing; he then commenced to beg for mercy and promised to ask Mary to consent to marry me, but I was then thoroughly disgusted with the whole family, and told him that I did not want her, and that he might build a cage with glass sides and put her out for show.
I left my whole possessions in charge of some honest parties and left again to return to Riebeck. The preceding day heavy rainstorms had deluged the entire country south of the Orange River, and I found numerous runs, which had been entirely dry the previous day, transformed into torrents, in some places entirely obstructing my progress, though but for a short time, as the flood generally subsides as quickly as started. On the evening of the second day I reached the Fish River, now a formidable stream, and I did think at first, of attempting to ford it. While standing on the bank and looking at the turbulent waters, some one on the other bank hallooed over to me, and upon looking up I discovered the innkeeper. “I am very glad that you are still alive! He exclaimed. “I have just read in the paper that you were buried yesterday in Graham’s Town, but that shows how little a man can depend upon the papers!” This was very queer talk to me. I was so astonished that I did not answer right off, and he continued. “The paper also stated that you had left a widow and three children; I was so sorry for them, but am glad now that you are still alive!” “Well, my good man,” I answered, “I have neither wife nor child.” He then asked if I was not August Brand, the store keeper at Riebeck, and then the true state of affairs dawned upon me. Further inquiry informed me that my good and trusty friend, in fact, the best friend I ever had, had been drowned while returning from Graham’s Town to Riebeck as he was fording a small river which had been transformed, by the heavy rains, into a rushing torrent. He was on horseback, and attempted to swim across, but the powerful stream threw him off his horse and he met an untimely death. The body had been recovered and buried in Graham’s Town the day before my arrival. This was very sad news indeed, and I felt that I could not and would not believe it.
Of course I was anxious to go to Riebeck as quickly as possible, but the roaring river in front of me formed an insurmountable obstacle, and I had to content myself until at last the post from Cradock arrived. The driver stopped before entering the river, and I bargained with him to ride across with him. He assented, upon receiving two shillings, but cautioned me to hold on to the horse like grim death, as the river was fifteen feet deep, four hundred feet broad, and the current very swift. The crossing was indeed a dangerous undertaking; it required the exercise of all my faculties and physical strength to withstand the tremendous force of the current, but at last the opposite side was reached in safety. From here I had comparatively clear sailing to Riebeck. I stopped long enough at the inn to eat supper and read the account of the sad end of my friend Brand. I then traveled all night, taking one of the post horses, and reached Riebeck early next morning. The business place of my friend was a scene of grief and desolation. Mrs. Brand and the three children, all dressed in deepest mourning, welcomed me with tears in their eyes, and for a while I could not help but join in their grief. There was never a better husband for a wife, nor a better father to his children, nor a better friend to his friends than August Brand had been; even now, through more than a quarter of a century has passed since his untimely death and burial at Graham’s Town, I feel the loss of his company and friendship keenly. The details attending his death were very meager. He went to Graham’s Town all alone, on horseback, to buy in a small stock of goods for his store. Late in the evening the riderless horse returned to Riebeck, and then the worst was feared. His body was found in the bed of a small creek, wedged in between two stumps; from these circumstances it was conjectured that he lost his balance while on the swimming horse and was carried off by the strong current of the waters. Of course these sad facts could not be undone, and I did not know for a long time what course to pursue, Finally, acting upon the suggestions of neighbors, I concluded to assist in the conduct of the business until such time as other arrangements could be made. Mrs. Brand gladly accepted my offer, as she did not know of anybody who could do as well as I, since I had really been a partner in the business for a long time and knew all the ins and outs of the same.
CHAPTER XI
FURTHER EXPEDITION THROUGH THE INTERIOR OF KAFFRARIA
AND VICTORIA
It was now getting time to collect the money for the goods we had sold on credit on our last trip. I made preparations accordingly, fitting up for an extended trip. I did not take a wagon with me, as I did not know exactly what goods the farmers would need, nor did I even know whether I would be successful in collecting the outstanding bills. After a consultation with Mrs. Brand we decided that I had better go on horseback to collect, and take orders from the different farmers as to what goods they were in need of, then after my return we might fit out a wagon load of goods. This plan seemed to me very good and I started—riding a good horse and with a trusty revolver in my pocket—along the trail over which I had, three months ago, traveled in the company of my late friend, August Brand. The farmers were very sorry when they learned the sad fate of Mr. Brand, who was quite a favorite among the Boers, as he had always treated them square and fair in business transactions. I had no difficulty at all in collecting the money due, many of them having the money ready counted; nor had I any trouble in getting plenty of orders for other goods they needed. These consisted of a large variety of things, but the bulk was woolen and cotton goods and small hardware. All cotton stuffs were very dear on account of the civil war in the United States, from whence most of this staple was exported, a yard of calico costing one shilling in Graham’s Town. After I had settled with the last farmer, I had nearly $5,000 in cash in my pocket. I immediately started for Riebeck, which place I reached in safety, without any adventures to speak of, after an absence of only two weeks.
Mrs. Brand was well pleased with the result of my trip and sent me to Graham’s Town to buy in enough goods to fill the orders I had taken. This took me a few days, and after two more days of preparation in Riebeck I was ready to make another trip into interior Victoria, this time bound for a long, slow trip, having to depend on oxen for locomotion. I took for assistants one trusty Fingo as driver, one Kaffir as ox leader, and also two Hottentots to drive the stock upon our return trip, for the farmers had told me I would have to take sheep and goats in payments for our goods. We left Riebeck on Monday morning and made about twelve miles the first day; here we camped upon the premises of a friendly Boer. Next day we covered about the same distance, reaching a large farm where I intended to do good business. In the morning my Fingo reported that Bolo, our best ox, had died during the night; this was bad news indeed. I had to buy an ox from our host, who charged me fifty dollars, which was the highest price paid for oxen. I expected that he would take it out in trade, when I would have equalized matters, but the Boer smelled a rat and said he didn’t absolutely need anything in his household. I ordered my men to skin the dead ox and gave them the carcass. Such a feast as they made over it! There were about twenty Kaffirs living on the place and they were invited to the grand barbecue. They cooked, roasted, ate, and danced all that day and all through the night; the next morning there was nothing but bones left of the great ox, and even these they were breaking with rocks, so as to suck out the marrow. Next day I continued my eastward journey and from then on did excellent business.
I generally called on two farmers each day, and they took what wares they had ordered. I also carried some contraband goods in the shape of wine, brandy and beer. This was something unusual to the Boers; they liked it very much, especially as they did not have to pay for it. The first question they generally asked me was, if I had something to drink with me, and then I would haul one or two bottles of beer or wine out of my chest and treat the whole family. That is, I treated them, but they had to pay for it all the same, for the price of the drinks was added to the price of the goods they bought. In this manner I sold, many a time, from two to three hundred dollars worth of goods, while without the exhilarating effect of the wine I could not, perhaps, have sold one half of the amount. When we reached a Boer’s in the evening, we just pulled our wagon inside the kraal and unhitched our oxen; this was the signal that we wanted to stop all night, and the Boer would come out, shake hands with me and invite us to stay over night with him; I would then invariably reach into the chest and pour him out a good drink of gin, for every Dutchman loves gin, and he would roll his eyes and smack his lips in the greatest delight. He would then conduct me into his sitting room and give loud orders for the preparation of supper. I would pass the cigars, and we would sit and chat until supper time, when the whole family assembled in the sitting room. Then was my time to work myself into the graces of the female members of the family by taking a bottle of wine from my grip and treating the family all around. After supper the lord and I would have another smoke and chat; just before retiring we would take a walk to see if my wagon was safe, which opportunity I would use to give the Boer another drink of gin, after which we would go to bed, he in the house, and I in my store on wheels, where I always slept. Next morning it was generally easy work to sell my goods.
Everything went along smoothly. Finally I reached Sommerset, the most easterly point in Victoria I had touched in my travels. This is a small village where I found a good opportunity to sell the balance of my goods to store keepers, who paid me in cash for them. Our oxen had been driven pretty hard and showed fatigue, so I decided to stop a few days to give them time to rest and feed upon the excellent grass that grew here, everywhere. Aside from the grass there is a peculiar tree here, the substance of which is very soft all through. It made excellent food for stock, particularly the oxen, who would eat leaves, branches and all parts of the tree; there were also innumerable bushes, called crow brush, which were also well liked by our oxen. They took on considerable flesh while stopping here. Upon the morning of the fourth day I ordered my men to get everything ready to return forthwith, but it was nearly noon before we got away from Sommerset. Darkness overtook us before we reached the next farmer, and we had to make preparations for a camp in the open country; but as we had no herds of sheep and goats to guard, we apprehended little danger or annoyance from the wild beasts, since they rarely attack corralled oxen. We took the precaution, however, to light several immense camp fires. We prepared our supper in the most approved style, as has been described before. Just after we had finished our supper, and as I was smoking my pipe, meditatingly, the sound of an approaching wagon attracted my attention. I was on the alert and had my weapons ready for instant action, as a man in such a situation does not know whether friend or foe is approaching. Soon the party came in sight and by the light of our fires I saw that they were Boers. I was glad to receive some white company; after an exchange of courtesies they explained that they came from the north bank of the Orange River, and had a load of wine, brandy, tobacco, figs, oranges, lemons, dates and grapes which they were taking to Graham’s Town to exchange for dry goods and hardware. I bought some wine and fruit from them which I enjoyed very much. They prepared their supper over our fires and after they had finished we sat around the fire, in as comfortable a manner as we could, smoking our pipes and telling yarns. One of these Boers, perhaps fifty years old, with iron gray hair and whiskers, had quite a talent for relating stories, making everything he commented upon very interesting. My Kaffirs and Hottentots listened breathlessly; every little while I had to admonish them to go and see if our oxen were all right. The old Boer gave me a wink, and then addressed the natives, asking them if they would like to hear “how mankind had been first created?” Of course nothing suited them better than such a discourse, and here follows the substance of the new version of the book of Genesis.
God first created Adam and then Eve; they were white of color, fair of complexion and beautiful of form. God enjoyed the job when done and placed these two masterpieces of his creation in paradise, where they lived in perfect happiness. But the devil came prowling around some day, and seeing this happy pair he turned green with jealousy. Just then God came along and pointed with pride to Adam and Eve. But the devil said he could do a still better job if God would only put life in the structure and God said, “Go ahead.” The devil then went to work and formed a lot of clay into four forms, somewhat resembling men, but equipped them with a long tail, thinking that to be an improvement; the Lord then blew into the forms, and what do you think they were? Nothing but apes! Then the devil got mad. He got one pair and cut their tails off, and built a fire around to burn off the hair that covered their bodies; they looked more like men now but their color had grown blacker yet, and God laughed at the devil, who saw that he would fix them all right yet. In the meantime the other couple had run away into the woods with their long tails and hair, so the devil could practice only on the remaining pair. He drove them to a river for the purpose of washing their hide white; but here he made a miserable failure for nothing could induce these creatures to wash themselves, although he forced their hands and feet into the water. At last, getting very mad, he hit each one a tremendous blow upon the nose, flattening it out, and then let them run for whatever place they wanted to go; they went and followed the Gorillas who had left their footprints as a guide. They stopped at last in Africa where they have since multiplied into millions and millions. Those two were your first parents!” The negroes listened with bated breath, and believed every word of it.
Next morning after breakfast I separated from the Boers, they going south, and I in a westerly direction, keeping on the south side of the Orange River. There are a great many crocodiles in this river, so we had to be careful when we went to water our oxen, for they are very swift in the water. I saw some very large specimens. I also saw several hippopotami, which grow to be very large and heavy. Lions and tigers are also quite numerous and live mostly on game, but of course like a goat or a sheep for change in their diet. My stock grew in numbers as I proceeded from farm to farm, getting oxen, cows, sheep, goats, skins, and wool in payment for the goods sold. I had traveled about five hundred miles in the country, so it was quite an undertaking to gather a large herd of stock and drive it safely such a distance, having but four men to do it with. We had several goats pulled down into the Orange River by crocodiles, while they were drinking. There was no recourse for the ugly crocodiles would devour all, leaving no trace of hide or horns. Altogether I had lost about fifteen head, which was considered a very heavy loss. I was glad when at last I reached Riebeck again. After a few days’ rest I drove my stock to Graham’s Town to sell the wool and hides, and to buy in a fresh supply of goods. I lost considerable money on this trip, as the price of sheep, wool, and hides had fallen since my last trip; I had traded the sheep in for $1 a head, and had to sell them for $3 per head. Figuring in the ox that died and the sheep and goats that were killed on the trip, and my expenses, I found that I had lost about $550. This looked very discouraging, and I decided to stay at home at present, and commenced to fill orders, attend the store and make clothes, which was a very good paying business. I put the four hired natives to work to make bricks, and in the course of three months I had forty thousand bricks ready for use. With these I intended to build a new big store as soon as I returned from my next peddling trip.
It may be of interest here to explain a little in regard to this village of Riebeck. It was situated in a beautiful valley, bounded by very high and wooded hills, with a plentiful supply of pure, cool water, which traversed the valley at different points in small creeks. There were quite a number of houses in Riebeck, but only a few of them were occupied; most of them belonging to Boers who lived a hundred miles away in the country. Riebeck was the place selected as their place of worship; they had built a pretty church here, and had a minister, regularly installed, who held Divine services each Sunday, although but few of the Boers could be present. But all of them managed to come about four times a year, selecting the first Sunday in January, April, July and October. On such occasions Riebeck was a pretty lively town. The Boers would arrive on Saturday and move into their vacant houses, where they would sometimes stay for a week. These were busy days for me as our store was the only one in town and we had an excellent business. I have seen times when from two hundred to three hundred families of Boers stopped in Riebeck. Then, times were very lively indeed; they would attend the Divine services with great zeal, and take great pride in placing a large silver coin in the contribution box every time it was passed. But when the services were over they would come around to my store, where they knew I kept an excellent stock of gin and other drinks, in a kind of a blind pig style, which means without license, not that it was my intention to defraud the government of the few dollars required for a license, but I had tried very hard to get one, and failed on account of the opposition of the pious minister, who objected to a saloon within ten miles of his church. So I simply sold liquors without a license, and I can state that it brought me more money than the store and hotel combined. Many times my stock of wet goods would be consumed long before the thirst of the dry Boers was effectually quenched, and I had to get a new supply during the night from Graham’s Town.
Our government authorities consisted of a detachment of mounted police in charge of a captain; their station was but a mile from Riebeck. It was the duty of this police to watch and see that everything was quite peaceful and orderly; that nobody sold liquors without a license, and to arrest violators of law; they had also to watch and see that none of the savages who were living north of the Orange River would cross to the south side, and if they found them on the wrong side of the river they would be commanded to cross back under penalty of being shot. It is easily understood that the captain of this mounted force was quite an important person in our neighborhood. I had courted and obtained his friendship which, however, had to be carefully and often watered with the best drinks I had in my cellar. The minister knew that I was selling liquors right along, and had notified the captain of the police quite often that I was selling without a license. Each time the captain came down with the whole regiment; they would sample my goods, until they had had enough, and then depart, instructing me to be a little careful for a while so as to make it appear that they had raided my place and brought a criminal action against me. But this, however, never came, and I kept on selling my liquors with impunity, clearing considerable money.
There was another saloon keeper, the hotel keeper on the Fish River, who felt the effects of my success in the saloon business by his reduced revenue. Having learned that I could get no license, and was selling without a license, he made up his mind to trap me, and hired a Fingo to go to me and buy a bottle of gin. Now the captain of the police station had repeatedly cautioned me not to sell any liquor in bottles, but to sell all I could when it was drank on the premises. This Fingo came to me and asked for a bottle of gin; I told him that I did not sell liquor in bottles, but he could have all he wanted to drink. This was not what he wanted however; he desired evidence to convict me of selling liquor without a license. He commenced to lie, telling me that he was to travel a couple of hundred miles, and that he wanted it for this journey. I fell into his trap and sold him the requested bottle of gin, for which he paid five shillings and departed. I looked out after him, for I was a little suspicious, and saw him strike a bee line for the police station, a mile away, and knew then what the fellow was after. In the evening I received a visit from the captain and his men, who ordered something of the best in the house, both in drinks, eatables and cigars. After they had sampled for an hour or so, the captain commenced to thaw out. “You have had a narrow escape again,” said he; “you must follow my instructions better or you will get into trouble yet.” He then drew an empty bottle from his pocket, which I recognized as the one I had sold to the Fingo. When I inquired how he was to dispose of this case, he called it settled, and laughed long and loud, assisted by his men. “That fellow,” he continued, “came up to the station, all out of breath, and asked for me on important business; when I inquired into the nature of it he produced this bottle and told me that he had bought it of William Westphal, who had no license to sell gin. He wanted you prosecuted. I called several of my men, reached them the bottle, gave them a wink, and told them to test the gin; each one took a long swallow and pronounced it pure water; I drank the rest and then shook the Fingo until he trembled like a leaf. I gave him a tremendous blowing up about sneaking around and trumping up villainous charges against respectable citizens, and ordered him to depart at once. The Fingo was crestfallen and retreated, but stopped and asked for the five shillings he had paid for the gin. I grabbed a convenient cane and gave him five juicy lashes, and asked him if that was enough; he did not take time to answer that question, but started off like a race horse.” The narrative was concluded with a roar of laughter. After this I used much greater care, however, for the visits of the captain and his force made great holes in the profits of the business, and I thought many times I would shut down on them as it would be cheaper to pay a periodical fine. But I dreaded to invoke the ill will of the captain, and only decided to give him as few opportunities to visit me as possible. Several times after this, when I saw the dry crowd approaching, I locked up and put a sign on the door; “Away from town, will be back in a few days.”
As I had no kraal nor pasture I had placed my oxen and horses in charge of a Boer, whose farm was very convenient to Riebeck, and who took care of them for a small remuneration. It had now been fully three months since my last trip through the country, and I concluded that it was about time to prepare for another expedition; so I went over to this Boer to see in what condition the oxen were. I was well acquainted with the farmer, and he invited me to stop a couple of days with him, which I did. Next morning as we inspected the kraal, we noticed in one corner of the fence a hole large enough for a man to crawl through. He then informed me that some kind of a wild animal had gotten into his kraal and killed quite a number of sheep. Upon close examination we could track the foot prints of some animal which had entered and departed by way of the break in the fence. We concluded to follow the clue into the near woods, having no weapons with us but heavy clubs. After a few minutes of fruitless hunt I was just going to call to my friend to return, when I heard an ominous growl, and immediately after, my friend called for help. I rushed to his side and beheld him mixed up with a roaring tiger, which was lying on his back and tearing away at my friend with his immense claws. Taking in the situation at a glance, I gave the tiger some tremendous blows with my heavy club, stunning him and thus releasing my friend; after this we soon dispatched him by a rain of heavy blows. My friend, who had lost his boots and all his clothes in the encounter with the tiger, explained that he had come suddenly face to face with the tiger, which had attacked him and that, as luck would have it, when the tiger jumped at him, with his mouth wide open, he ran his club into the brute’s mouth, the shock landing the tiger flat on his back. My friend held on to the club, pressing upon it with all his might, thus pinning the beast to the ground, hoping for assistance before it could do much damage with its claws. The battle would undoubtedly have ended fatally for my friend if I had not come to the rescue. As it was, his clothes had been reduced to shreds and had several bloody scratches in different places. We pulled the dead tiger out of the jungle and thorns; he was a splendidly grown male animal, and we had much satisfaction in having killed him without gun or knife. We concluded that we would load him upon a wagon and take him to Graham’s Town to get the $50 reward for every killed tiger, and to sell the hide. The exhibition of the dead tiger, killed in such a manner, attracted much attention, and we were heroes for some time. The $50 bounty was cheerfully paid to us, and we got $20 for the hide, as it was in excellent shape, entirely without mutilation, and over six feet in length. Many times afterward when I met this man we wondered how we ever escaped and succeeded in killing the brute; there would not be enough money in the world to induce either one of us to ever enter again, voluntarily, into such a battle, with such insufficient weapons.
Several matters delayed my peddling trip till I considered it too late for the season, and I decided to take a contract which was offered me by a rich Boer to build him a two-story brick house in Riebeck. I had forty thousand bricks on hand, which I could use here to good advantage; after the contract was duly drawn up and signed, I went to work upon the construction of this house, using my hired natives to assist me. They had to break the stone for the foundation and haul it to the site of the building. I also had them carry bricks, make mortar, and attend to different odd jobs around; this enabled me to finish the house in six weeks, although the contract gave me ten weeks in which to complete the building. The Boer was surprised when I sent him word his house was done. He was well pleased with it, and paid me the agreed sum in cash, all new gold sovereigns; this was much better than a trip into Victoria, trading goods for stock. I had cleared, over and above all expenses, in building this house, just $500; still my old love for traveling did not let me rest, and after two weeks of work in and around the store I made up my mind to make another peddling trip into Victoria. After a consultation with Mrs. Brand, I went to Graham’s Town and bought in a fresh supply of dry (and some wet) goods, and made my outfit ready for a two months’ trip. I took a route which I had worked before with Mr. Brand, where we had done such excellent business. The first week it looked as if I would succeed, but I soon found out that the Boers were very well, uncommonly well, informed in regard to prices; they would invariably refuse to buy unless the price was marked down, which I really had to do in order to sell at all. Then I had to accept stock for pay, which they would figure in at the highest rate, so that, at best, and barring all accidents, I could make but a very small profit, and, since in all probability I was sure to lose some of the stock, it looked as if I was to lose money upon my present trip. Most all the goods I handled were imported from the United States, and the prices on them had steadily risen on account of the long, prolonged civil war, but the Boers only laughed when I tried to explain to them the reason of the high prices, thinking it to be just a dodge.
When I approached a farm called Quaker’s Hook, which was owned and operated by six brothers, named Kruger, who were very rich, I had made up my mind to stop a few days and then return home, as there was no money to be made on this trip. Quaker’s Hook was one of the best cultivated and most prosperous farms in Victoria. They had not only an excellent and very large stock of horses, cattle, goats and sheep, but produced a great variety of cereals, vegetables, fruits and tobacco. A magnificent vineyard deserves special mention. I was cordially welcomed by the Kruger brothers, and invited to stop with them as long as I liked. The oldest of the Krugers told me that there was a bad and blood-thirsty tiger in their vicinity, which had, but a few days before, killed one of his best horses. Some of his negroes, who had seen him, swore he was as big as an ox. The whole neighborhood was alarmed, momentarily expecting a call from the dreaded visitor. They had rigged up a tiger trap for him and hoped that they might catch him. I was just relating how I had killed a tiger with a club a few weeks before, when a Kaffir came rushing in, all out of breath, and gasped, “The tiger! The tiger! The tiger! In trap!” There was great commotion, then, on the farm; some of the Kaffirs, yelling lustily, rushed into their huts, fearing the dreaded animal might break the trap and tear them to pieces. The Kruger brothers decided at once to shoot the horse killer, and invited me to go along and participate in the sport. As the trap had been set in a secluded spot near the top of a neighboring hill, it took some time and exertion to reach the place. Long before we could see the tiger, his unearthly yells and roar were a sure guide for us. When at last we entered his presence he made a furious attempt to charge on us, pulling the heavy trap, which held one of his fore paws in its iron grip. We had ten Kaffirs along with us, who turned down the hill at the rate of sixty miles per hour, when the tiger made this dash. Two of the Kruger brothers, getting excited, fired their guns at random, but did no damage. The tiger tore, and reared and howled; I took aim and fired at him, hitting him in his imprisoned paw. Another paroxysm of pain and rage ensued, with a terrible effort to free himself from the trap, but in vain, he was doomed. The Kaffirs, seeing that he could do no damage, returned and beat him dead with their long sticks.
There was great rejoicing when the much feared animal lay still and cold in death; his skin was taken off and given to the Kaffirs, who subsequently sold it for twenty-five dollars. Then the Kruger brothers sent word to the neighbors, who called at Quaker’s Hook and complimented the hosts upon their fortunate deliverance, and also partook liberally of the refreshments served upon the occasion; more especially, their good wine. Most of the succeeding night was spent in drinking wine and telling stories of hair breadth escapes from tigers, lions, leopards, elephants, crocodiles, and God knows what other beasts. We undoubtedly spent a very enjoyable night, and next morning I found my hosts in excellent humor to buy my goods. They bought a very large bill, did not dispute my prices, and paid in good, sound gold pieces; a fact which I appreciated very much. Next day I turned to the south and crossed the Snow Mountain on my way to the village of Colesburg, where I sold the balance of my goods, also for cash. I had been here before and had quite a number of acquaintances. After disposing of my stock I commenced the return trip, which necessarily had to be over the same route in order to pick up the stock which I had traded for my goods. I found the return trip pretty hard for my oxen on account of scarcity of grass and water, it being the dry season, but I finally reached Riebeck all right, without any mishap or appreciable loss in my stock, after an absence of sixty-two days. Here I rested for several days and then took my stock and other matter I had traded in, such as wool and hides, to Graham’s Town where I disposed of everything with a fair profit. I also bought quite a lot of goods for our store in Riebeck, as Mrs. Brand had sold nearly everything in my absence. After this I remained about two weeks in Riebeck, looking after the store and taking a rest.
About the last of October, 1864, I received notice from King William’s Town that all colonists would have to come there to get the deeds for their homesteads in the several stations. As I was anxious to make another visit to Hanover to look after my property, I concluded that I would combine the two trips into one. Having now run the business for Mrs. Brand for a little over a year, I thought it time to come to an understanding and make different arrangements, for I had learned to love the widow of my late friend, and was battling with my heart, whether I should propose to her or not. The moment came; I had told her that I wanted to go to Hanover to look after my property, and to go to King William’s Town to get the deed for my homestead. We settled our accounts, she paying me what she owed me. When I reached her my hand to bid her good bye, she looked into my eyes and said, “You will come back, William, won’t you?” This was too much for me; I stammered out: “I will, if you think enough of me to become my wife.” I knew, after the words had left my lips, that I had made a mistake, but it was too late. She said she had never thought of it, and that she could not decide so important a question on the spur of the moment; but she promised she would write to me at Hanover. I left, inwardly happy and contented with the courageous dash I had made. I went first to King William’s Town and received my deed from the English government, then hurried to Hanover, where I bought four more acres of land and built a new house, a store with a room for a saloon, and also stables for my stock.
I did not doubt that the letter I expected from Mrs. Brand would be an acceptance of my offer, and calculated to move to Hanover after our wedding, as I wanted to have a nice comfortable place ready for her. The expected letter came, after awhile, and bore me the glad tidings that she wanted me to return at once to Riebeck to assist her during the impending busy church season of the Boers, and that after that she was willing to become my wife. I had no sooner read the letter than I was already under headway, cutting a bee line (as well as I knew how) for Riebeck, never stopping at the inn on the Fish River, but marching continually. I reached Riebeck the next evening, where I met with a cordial reception from Mrs. Brand. I worked hard until the Boers at last departed for their inland kraals, and then I demanded that our wedding should be celebrated without further delay; to this Mrs. Brand cheerfully consented. Accordingly we sold our store in Riebeck, loaded everything moveable on our wagons, removed to Hanover and took possession of my new house; the next morning I hitched up my best wagon and we rode to King William’s Town where we were made man and wife in due form. This occurred March 7th, 1865. We then returned to Hanover to enjoy our home comforts, and to open up a store and saloon business.
Our reception at Hanover was not very friendly, probably because we wore better clothes and lived better than the balance of the community. The very next morning after our wedding we received a pretty good taste of their jealous animosity. I had no kraal yet for my oxen and they had remained loose during the night. Possibly a few of them had strayed in neighboring pastures, where they were caught the next morning. When I went out to look after them I found them all corralled by the Hanovarians, who were armed with big clubs. They began abusing and threatening me for letting my oxen run at large, and demanded that I pay, at once, $15 for the destruction of a patch of grain, alleged to have been ruined by my innocent enough looking quadrupeds. I tried to reason with them, asking them to show me the damaged field, but this enraged them still more; probably because they knew the damage was not worth speaking of. They attempted to drive my oxen away; then I got mad, and, pulling a heavy revolver from my pocket, threatened the first man, who attempted to take away my oxen, with instant death. The determination with which I spoke, and more perhaps, the wicked looking revolver, acted upon my friends like a shower bath of ice cold water; they left me in possession of the battlefield, muttering dire threats, however, as they departed. I paid no further attention to them but enjoyed my newly married life and added to our home comforts. I would take my wife out, daily, either driving or riding horseback, through the vicinity of Hanover, to visit a few respectable and good friends; this naturally increased the jealousy and envy of the rest of the community, who were hard at work in their fields.
After having thus enjoyed our honeymoon, I turned once more to resume business. I had a small stock of goods left, so I concluded to take a trip into Kaffraria to sell them to the Boers. Business was dull, however, as the farmers generally went to King William’s Town to buy their supplies, so it took me quite an extensive journey to sell my wares, for which I received sheep and hides. I had also the misfortune to stop one night in a kraal where my oxen caught the lung disease, which is a fatal ailment, and in a short time I lost fifteen head and two cows. This was a very serious loss to me, representing over seven hundred and fifty dollars in cash. As one misfortune never travels alone I also lost both of my horses, who died of a mysterious disease. This was pretty hard and I could easily place my loss as at least one thousand dollars. The mean neighbors of course did not hide their glee; in their exultation they told me that God was punishing me, but when I asked them what for, they could not answer. My wife and myself were getting very disgusted with Hanover, where everybody seemed to have entered into a conspiracy to annoy and hurt us, so we made up our minds to leave as soon as we could dispose of our real estate, which I advertised for sale. I soon found a customer who offered me two hundred sheep for house and land; having no better offer in view I closed the bargain. Taking my stock, which now consisted of five hundred sheep, one hundred goats, ten oxen and two horses (which I had subsequently bought to show the neighbors my ability to still afford to take a ride, and at which some of them turned green,) we loaded our effects upon two wagons, shook the dust of Hanover off our feet and departed. We had decided to return to Riebeck where we had many and staunch friends in the Boers. After a toilsome journey of four days we reentered the familiar village. Here, however, considerable change had taken place since our departure, and we found the field which we were about to re-enter pretty well occupied. No less than two new stores had opened since, also a blind pig saloon, which was running in full blast and doing an excellent business. My wife was disheartened by the aspect of things and thought it was hardly worth while to open up another store, as there would not be enough business to sustain them all. But I counted upon the old friendship of the Boers and went to work at once erecting a nice brick store, which I completed in six weeks; when done it was the best looking building in Riebeck. I then took my goats and sheep to Graham’s Town where I sold them for a good price, laid in a good stock of excellent goods, bought six more good oxen, and commenced business over again. I also went to work making clothes (in which trade I yet retained a monopoly) and we were soon doing a flourishing business, our old customers coming back to us to trade.
After we had got pretty thoroughly settled again I intended to make another trip to peddle goods in the interior of Victoria. My wife was satisfied with this, and we concluded to make a trip together to Graham’s Town first, in order to buy a stock of goods for this purpose. Accordingly I hitched up the horse, and the six oxen I had recently bought, and went to Graham’s Town, taking a Kaffir and a Hottentot along with us as attendants. We bought our goods and departed in the afternoon; when darkness fell we laid up in a nice open space where we intended to pass the night. The oxen were unhitched, and I charged the Kaffir to keep with them while they were pasturing. I told him that when supper was ready we would call him, when he was to drive the oxen back and tie them up for the night. He departed with them, promising to do as he was told, and we prepared supper. I was getting uneasy, however, and told the Hottentot to give the signal to the Kaffir to return. We waited a while but could hear nothing of the Kaffir and oxen; the signal was repeated several times without any success. I was then thoroughly alarmed and sent the Hottentot into the forest, to give signals and listen for any noise he might hear. He went as directed and we waited patiently for his return, but neither he, the Kaffir, nor the oxen showed up again. We sat all through the long night around our fire, commenting upon this inexplicable disappearance of our servants and oxen. My wife was especially uneasy about her children, which we had left with our neighbor, a very honest Hottentot, who in the meantime was very active in bringing us deliverance. When we did not reach Riebeck before midnight, as we had promised, this old Hottentot had sense enough to know there was something wrong. Surmising that our oxen had wandered off, he went to work and gathered up our other oxen and brought them to our camp, arriving with them at sundown the next day; of course we were very glad, and appreciated the thoughtfulness of the old native. He assisted us in hitching up, and we reached Riebeck about midnight without further accident. The Kaffir and Hottentot who had deserted me the previous night reached Riebeck the following day, and explained that they had hunted for the oxen all over, as far as Port Elizabeth, but could find not trace of them. I advertised their loss in all the papers, offering $25 reward for each ox returned, but I never heard from them or found the slightest trace of them. Of course someone had taken them. Here was again a total loss of $800; figuring up all the losses I had sustained during this year it amounted to more than $1500. Still I did not lose courage, and began preparing new plans for the future.
CHAPTER XII
MY LAST EXPEDITION INTO VICTORIA
One day, shortly after I had my new store completed, a tramp came along with a fine specimen of a Barbon which he offered to me for sale. I found that he was quite young and very intelligent, so I traded him for a woolen blanket and a bottle of whiskey. I built him a small cell on top of a tall post which stood in front of the store. The monkey seemed to have almost human intelligence, understanding almost everything that I told him. He soon knew that the little elevated house was for his own special use, and made use of it as a convenient place of retreat. I placed a collar around his neck, to which I fastened a chain long enough to enable him to go up and down the pole. He was very deft in releasing himself from the chain; every time he descended he would unfasten it and walk around the house and store, but when I told him to get up into his hut, he would mutter, “Ho, ho,” climb up the pole to his perch, and invariably attach the chain to his collar. We had lots of fun with him, but occasionally the fun would be all on his side, for if we did not watch him very closely he would get into mischief. All monkeys have a born instinct for stealing, and when he sneaked into the store and found nobody present he would go behind the counter, take down rolls of calico or other goods, and pile them up in the greatest disorder, in imitation of me, having watched me often when I was selling goods. If the door to the pantry was not locked he would go in and, if undisturbed, would help himself freely to any eatables for which he had a desire. Taking a load of cakes, sugar, raising, etc., he would sneak out to climb up to his stronghold; here, finding that he could not climb the pole with both hands full of spoil, he would put as much as possible into his mouth, pile the balance around the foot of the pole, and then run up to deposit all he carried in his mouth in his little house, after which he would return for another load, and so continue until all was safely stored away in his stronghold. Then he would fasten the chain to his collar and settle down to enjoy his spoils.
Sometimes I would catch him in his mischievous performances. He was well aware that he had to mind me; if he could manage to reach his pole before I caught hold of him, he would sneak into his cubby hole, fasten the chain to his collar, and then hide himself. When I called, “Jack, come down here,” he would answer, “Ho! Ho!” detach his chain, slide down on the pole, and look at me as though he wanted to ask me, “What is the matter?” I would then scold him and order him to bring the stolen goods back; he seemed to understand perfectly, for he would climb up into his den and drop everything down; when through, he would announce it by saying again, “Ho! Ho!” The rattling of the chain then suggested that all further negotiations had been closed, and that Jack did not propose to come down again. I often let him go that way, as I had to laugh at his cuteness, but sometimes, when he had ruined too much, and I was mad, I would call him down again to punish him. I must say, to the credit of this monkey, that he was very obedient; he invariably came down although he knew what was in store for him, then he would lie down, look at me so imploringly with his cute eyes, and manipulate his lips in such a fashion as though he was praying for forgiveness, that I could hardly ever administer anything but a very easy punishment; after having received this, Jack would run up the pole like a flash, fasten the chain to his collar, and in his exultation halloo so loud that it could be heard all over Riebeck: “Ho! Ho! Ho!” Then everybody knew that Jack had been doing some mean trick and had just been punished for it. The worst thing he ever did occurred on a Sunday morning. My wife and I went to church; the building was crowded by the Boers who were holding their quarterly convention. The minister was preaching his sermon and everybody was listening to the text of the lecturer. We were sitting in our pew, well forward toward the altar. As the sermon advanced I noticed a change in the action of the minister. He looked very hard and reprovingly at me several times; this became rather annoying, for he was just telling us about the fate of the wolves who go around in sheepskins to seduce the innocent, and I became very uncomfortable and restless. The minister seemed to get more and more excited, and finally commenced to hammer on the pulpit. Then something did happen! With stealthy tread, up the aisle walked my monkey, Jack. He jumped on top of the first pew in front of the minister, thumped with both hands upon the pew and exclaimed, at the top of his lungs, “Ho! Ho! Ho!” The hard laboring minister stopped his discourse suddenly, as though paralyzed, but the devout worshipers broke into a roar of laughter, waking up a very fat Boer, to my left, who had slept through the entire sermon, and he announced, “Amen! Amen!” The reaction was bound to come, and came quickly. The minister’s voice soon drowned the dying noises of laughter, and in a thundering voice he ordered: “Throw out the ape; it is a symbol of the devil!” I went at once to execute the order, but Jack seemed to misconstrue the order, or thought perhaps that he ought to retain his position in the front pew, so I had to give him several hard slaps before he understood that his presence was not wanted. Finally I grabbed him by his collar and conducted him out of the church. After this I had to lock him up every Sunday, for he tried to go to church every time he had a chance. The minister might have made his religious zeal a fit subject for a sermon, inviting his flock to follow the example of the Barbon, in this respect.
It is hard telling how much this extraordinary four-hander might have accomplished if he had lived long enough, but unfortunately he met an untimely and sorrowful death by his own hands. It was my custom to shave myself every Saturday afternoon in the front room upstairs, and on such occasions Jack always watched me with the greatest interest. Knowing the irresistible tendency in him to imitate persons, I was always very careful to lock up the razor and other shaving tools when I was through with them. On the day in question, I had just finished shaving when my wife called me down to wait on a customer who was in a hurry. I left everything on the table and rushed down. It was some time before I got through with the Boer in the store, then, remembering that I had left the razor on the table, I rushed up stairs to put it away, but was too late; Jack had cut his own throat. In trying to imitate the shaving operation, he had severed the jugular vein, and expired within a few minutes after I returned. How closely he had made his observations was plainly shown, as he had lathered his face in exactly the same manner as I used to do, but in handling the razor he had made a fatal mistake. We buried his remains in the back yard; all felt sorry for poor Jack, who had so often entertained and amused us in days gone by.
About this time I made up my mind to make another, and last, peddling trip into the interior. I made very elaborate preparations, taking a good wagon load of different goods, including a few cases of bottled beer, ale, wine and brandy, which had done me such good service on previous trips. I also hired my old Fingo, Japhta, and the Kaffir, Benn, and the Hottentot, Mally. This time I did not commence to trade until after I had traveled over one hundred miles inward, so as to get into a country remote from any trading center. This worked pretty well; I found the Boers all willing to trade, but cash money was very scarce, so I had to take stock and produce for my pay. I also traded quite a number of the African sheep, which are quite different from the ordinary kind; they have no wool, but the body is covered with long hair almost as fine as silk. They are also much larger and heavier, weighing, on an average, over two hundred pounds. One peculiarity in the anatomy of this sheep is its long tail, which is equipped with a heavy ball of fat at the extremity, it alone sometimes weighing twenty pounds. This fat has the consistency of butter and is used in lien of butter. These sheep were valued very high, and the farmers charged me seven dollars a piece; but I knew I could sell them at a good price in Graham’s Town, where they were very scarce, so I preferred them to the common stock. Continuing my journey in a northerly direction I entered the great plateau called Spring Bucks’ Flat. Here I found an immense variety of game and wild animals; the ravines and little valleys crossing the plain were literally alive with spring bucks, deer, zebras, buffalos, and also the great ostrich birds; snakes were quite numerous and much larger than those in the south. Grass was very scarce, however, and my oxen had to depend entirely upon the leaves of the crow-bushes that covered the greater part of this African prairie. We could not find enough wood to cook our meals, so we had to use dry buffalo excrement for our fire.
I found that I was approaching a wilderness and desert, and soon turned in a southerly direction until I struck a trail, following which I reached Schwager’s Hook, a little village situated on the northern slope of the Snow Mountains. In order to save a long detour by traveling around the mountain, I decided to follow a very difficult pass over the mountain into Kaffraria. Some of the people living there warned me of the dangerous character of the pass, and advised me to travel around over the eastern slopes, where the road was pretty fair; but I had my mind made up; disregarding their well meant advice, I started upon my troublous journey. Well, I regretted many times before I got across the mountain, that I had not followed the advice of those people. The road winds up to the divide, following the bed of a dry run most of the way, which was obstructed in numerous places by such huge boulders that we frequently had to roll them out of the way. As we were nearing the divide, our progress became more and more difficult and steep; the oxen would slip and fall upon the glassy flint surface of the underlying rock; broken trees, laying crosswise in the narrow road, would block our progress, and had to be cleared away. Thus we met with untold hardships and labors so that when we reached the summit we were pretty well exhausted, men and beasts alike, and I thanked God that we had proceeded so far without even losing a sheep. The descent on the other side, although fraught with considerable danger, was made with less trouble, and took us only one day, while we had been three days in making the ascent. I have often though of this trip; I would not repeat that undertaking, under similar circumstances, for any money.
On the southern slope of the Snow Mountain I found quite a number of prosperous farmers who were glad to see a peddler. I had no trouble at all to sell the remainder of my goods, and got good cold cash for them, too. Of course the few bottles of gin, wine, and ale to which I incidentally treated the Boers (things that some of them had not tasted for years) were the best inducements I offered for the sale of my goods, and permitted me to put an extra advance of about twenty-five percent upon the price of the same. Still they were well pleased, paid their bills without grumbling, and in a few days the last pin was sold. I prepared to return to Riebeck, laying out my return route by way of Colesburg and Summerset, in order to gather in the balance of stock I had traded for my goods. I accomplished this and had remarkably good luck, losing but one sheep, which fell a prey to a crocodile while crossing the Orange River. I reached Riebeck after an absence of six weeks, during which time I had traveled over six hundred miles and had sold three thousand dollars worth of goods. I had several hundreds of dollars in cash, although most of my returns were in stock. Upon my return I learned that a destructive disease had broken out among the horses in Graham’s Town and vicinity, which had in a few weeks’ time killed almost every horse in the place. The price of horses had been advanced in the same proportion. When I drove my stock to Graham’s Town I got a pretty good price, especially for the African sheep. But everybody asked me for horses, of which I had none for sale, so I quickly made up my mind to make another peddling expedition into the interior to trade in a lot of horses. Accordingly I bought in another stock of goods and after about a week’s rest, which was needed badly by my oxen, I started out again, taking my old trusted servants, the two Kaffirs and two Hottentots. I crossed the Kei River and continued in a due northerly direction until I struck the Orange River, where I commenced to trade my goods for horses which ranged in price from eighty to one hundred dollars. I ordered the Hottentots to drive the traded horses, taking all along with me as I went. I had not quite thirty horses together when the news of the scarcity of horses in Graham’s Town spread among the Boers on the Orange River; this induced a great number of them to take their surplus horses down to Graham’s Town where they soon overstocked the market, and the price of horses went down to fifty and sixty dollars. Just as soon as I found this out, and I met two or three outfits each day going to Graham’s Town, I knew that my plan would be a failure, so I at once quit trading in horses. I had already thirty of them on my hands and of course had to keep them. I tried to sell the balance of my goods for cash, but had to take what I could get, money being scarce. I had a very mixed lot of sheep, goats, horses, hides, wool, and soap, which impeded my progress very much and lengthened my trip greatly. I had paid two thousand five hundred and fifty dollars for the horses I had bought, and the balance of the stock and produce represented eight hundred dollars worth of goods.
This trip had taken just three months. I was glad when I finally reached home again; arriving in the evening I turned my stock into the common of Riebeck, an extensive pasture which had been donated by a rich Boer to the church of Riebeck. Early the next morning I was wakened out of a sound sleep by vigorous rapping at the door. When I went to open it I was surprised to see the minister standing there; but he did not give me much time to be surprised, as he sailed right into me like a thunder cloud. “Who has given you permission to use the church ground to pasture your hundred or more head of stock on?” was the greeting I received upon opening the door. I was so surprised that I could not get an answer ready just then, and he continued to thunder: “I will just give you until nine o’clock to get your ‘critters’ out of town; if you fail to do so I will make you pay damages.” My blood was fairly up by this time, but I talked to him without the least excitement. “Mr. Minister, you ask who has given me permission to take my property home? I will answer you that that is none of your business; I do not propose to come to you and ask you how to attend to my own affairs. Furthermore, let me tell you that a man of your pretensions and occupying the position you do might possess more common sense, if not more courtesy, than you do.” This was like pouring oil on a fire. The worthy clergyman turned fairly white with rage; unable to enter into any further parley, he rushed back to the parsonage and ordered several of his Kaffirs to drive my stock into the pawn kraal and guard them there until he had procured a warrant for me, and made me redeem the stock. The natives, knowing the law regulating such matters as these, told the clergyman that I had a perfect right to pasture my stock upon any unfenced pasturage for twenty-four hours, and at the point of my residence for three days even; they of course refused to comply with the minister’s instructions. This, one would suppose, would have sobered him out of his rage; but no, he then commenced to abuse the natives, threatening to have them expelled from Riebeck, as to me, he said he would see that none of his church members bought one cent’s worth of goods in my store, if he could prevent it. But I kept cool, and my stock kept on grazing quietly within the limits of the church common. I kept them there until the legal time expired, when I gathered them in and drove them to Graham’s Town. I always sold my stock in the public market place where everybody went who wanted to buy stock.
I soon found that I had lost considerable money, not only on the horses but also on the sheep. Horses that I had paid $100 for I had to sell for $50, and some of the poorer horses, that had cost me $80, I had to sell for $10. The long journey and poor feed had reduced them in flesh, so they were really very poor looking. The price of sheep had also fallen, so that on summing up my losses I estimated them at fully $1,500 on my last trip, which was the most disastrous trading expedition I had yet undertaken. This was a very heavy blow for me and I was quite discouraged; but I went home, hunted up my tailoring tools and again went to work making clothes, at the same time attending to my store business. This kept me pretty busy and was paying well; but money came in slowly, so I made a short trip into the surrounding country. I sold the remnant of my goods for cash, and at a good profit, clearing $200 in a four weeks’ trip. Encouraged again by my small successes I went to Graham’s Town and laid in a fresh supply for my store, as the quarterly session of the Boers was approaching and I expected to do a good business. At this time the Boers came to Riebeck in great numbers and stayed, as a rule, a week: they were plentifully supplied with money and, notwithstanding the reverend gentleman’s threat, I did a most excellent business, selling over $2,000 worth of goods for hard cash and with a good profit. Selling out almost everything I had in stock, I went again to Graham’s Town to buy new goods. The wholesale merchants here were mostly Jews and were getting rich rapidly. They knew me well and considered me one of their best customers. One of them, of whom I had bought many thousand dollars worth of goods, suggested to me, confidentially, that if I wanted to make any more trips among the Boers to trade, now was my best time; that the price of all goods would be raised, in another month, 20 percent, and that now I could, of course, make a good profit. He talked very convincingly; in an unlucky moment, forgetting that he was a Jew, I was persuaded to invest nearly all I was worth to buy $8,000 worth of goods, mostly cotton and calico goods of the American make. He stated to me that the war in North America had entirely shut off the supply of cotton, when in reality he knew that the war had terminated, and that all cotton goods had dropped 50 per cent in price. I was very thankful to the stealing Israelite, took my $8,000 worth of goods, which really were worth only about $4,000 retailed, and hurried back to Riebeck to prepare for another trip into the Orange Free States. I rushed my preparation, as I was anxious to make good my recent losses. I carefully marked up the prices to conform to the prospective 20 per cent advance, and, taking my trusty companions with me, started out, expecting a very successful trip.
I did not commence to trade until I reached the Orange River, one hundred and fifty miles north from Riebeck; here I halted at a very large farm, where I stopped over night. Next morning, when I commenced to display my goods, the farmer was greatly surprised at the high prices, which I explained to him were caused by the war in North America. While here, there arrived a peddler with a horse and wagon, who offered the same goods I was selling, for nearly 50 per cent less. This I could not understand and I asked him how he could sell so cheap. He informed me that the war in America was over and that the price of cotton goods had dropped way down. Then I knew how I had been cheated by the wily Jew at Graham’s Town, but it was too late. There was no use for me to try to sell my goods for anything near what I had paid for them, for the farmers all knew about the fall in prices, but still kept up the price of their stock. I did the best I could under the circumstances. Every time I thought of the cheating Jew, I cursed him, but it did not alter the circumstances. I found it very slow work to get rid of my large stock of goods; in some places I could not sell at any price. Reaching the neighborhood of Summerset—which is a church village for the Boers, like Riebeck, I learned that they were to have a sort of revival meeting there the next Sunday, so I traveled to this village, rented a small building, took out a license, opened up a store, and stayed here during one week. I sold quite a lot of goods, but way below what they cost me. Still having quite a stock of wares left when the Boers departed, I decided to go to Colesburg; here I succeeded in selling the balance to a merchant, who paid me some cash and gave me two horses and a buggy in trade. Then I sold my wagon and the ten oxen to another merchant in Colesburg, named Edington, who gave me a promissory note for $1,080, payable in four months. I then traveled back to Riebeck, directing my servants to drive the stock home carefully, which they faithfully did, arriving at Riebeck just one week later than I did. I then drove the stock to Graham’s Town, where I sold it for about the same price at which I had traded it. After figuring up my last trip I found that I had lost just $1,000; this settled me for the trade business forever.
After disposing of my stock, I went straight to the Jew I had bought the goods of, with my mind made up to force an explanation. But the shrewd son of Seth was equal to the emergency. “Dat was a pad pishness mit dat war in America shust shtopping when I and you wants to make some money, Mr. Westphal;” was the greeting I received from him. “Mine money is all losht, and I pelieve I must bust in pishness. I pelieve I make a bankcrott,” he continued to whimper. I could see through the old fox, pretty thoroughly, and was glad that I had an opportunity to torture him awhile. I had paid in cash only half of the bill of goods I bought from him, having given him a note for the other half, to be paid after the goods were sold, so I now had the drop on the scoundrel. “Mr. Goldstein,” I said, “I don’t think it is quite as bad with you as you would make me believe; but I just called to tell you that I am busted up, and that I have sold everything, stock, horses, and store, and have not enough to pay for the goods I bought from you last.” “Vot was dot, Mr. Westphal? You was come for to pay dat note for $8,800? I must have that money right off!” cried the Jew, now thoroughly alarmed and nervously fingering the note which I had given him. I then pulled out a statement of the different notes which I had taken in payment for different goods sold to farmers along the Orange river, also the note for $1,080 given me by the merchant in Colesburg for my oxen and wagon; figuring it all up, it made just $2,760. Handing the statement to the now paralyzed Jew, who had always received the hard cash from me, I said, “Now Mr. Goldstein, you know well enough how badly you have cheated me, and, what is more, you knew it at the time you were selling me the goods. I will tell you right now, square and fair, that I really ought not to offer you one cent on that note you hold there. I could beat you in court if you should choose to bring an action against me, for I can prove that you sold me the goods with the purpose of swindling me. But here are collateral sureties amounting to $2,760, which I will turn over to you for the surrender of my note; you know that even that sum is in excess of what you ought to have.” The Jew stood there gasping; all he could do was to stammer, “Mr. Westphal, you ruin me! You bust me! $2,760 for $8,000! Mr. Westphal, it bust Goldstein and Company!” I commenced to be disgusted with him; getting mad, took hold of his collar and shook him until he screamed for help, and begged for the notes. I handed them over to him in exchange for my note, and departed. I afterwards learned that the man, Edington, of Colesburg, to whom I had sold my oxen and wagon, had departed for parts unknown, and that Mr. Goldstein never received a cent for his note, which I was very glad to hear.
My disastrous business ventures during the last year had entirely discouraged me and my wife; we were both getting disgusted with South Africa. After a long consultation we concluded to sell everything and go back to Germany, for a visit, if not to stay.
CHAPTER XIII
SOME GENERAL INFORMATION OF SOUTH AFRICA
There is no country in the wide world that can be anywhere near as healthful in climate, or produce more or better crops than South Africa. Even now, though a quarter of a century has passed since I lived there, I sometimes get homesick, longing once more to breathe that delicious, pure air, freighted with the perfume of millions of tropical flower, drink of the excellent water running in the many creeks and rivers, and delight in the grand sport of hunting a countless variety of game. The most southerly portion of South Africa is the Cape of Good Hope, where England first obtained her foothold upon African soil. Here is where the city of Cape Town was laid out, and from this point the early colonization commenced. Cape Colony, which covers this part of the country, is probably the best portion of South Africa, and has the most salubrious climate on that continent, at the same time being very productive in all kind of fruits, such as apples, pears, plums, cherries, figs, oranges, lemons, dates, quips, and many others, growing wild. The topography of Cape Colony (and of most of the Southern provinces) is hilly, and in places even mountainous; the Snow Mountains form a chain running from east to west; the Table Mountain, in Cape Colony, is a branch of the Snow Mountains. Through the hills and mountains vegetation is scarce, except along the rivers. It consists, to a great extent, of thorny shrubs, the prick of which is very sharp and poisonous, making a bad wound which keeps inflamed for a long time, and is long in healing. Along the rivers, however, and in the lowlands vegetation is abundant and luxurious. Trees and plants of every description can be found, such as oak, birch, cedar, fir, iron-wood, different fruit trees, and the characteristic assagey tree, which, for generations and ages, has formed the raw material for the primitive arms of the savage natives. The wood of this tree is very hard and elastic, and the Kaffirs are very deft in making of it a useful spear, which they throw with great precision and generally with deadly effect. The iron wood tree is so hard that a sharp axe makes but little impression on it; consequently the savages could make no use of it, as their crude axes and knives were insufficient to work it. As stated heretofore, all the useful land was taken up by the Boers, who raise immense herds of stock, on ranches covering square miles, herded by dependent Kaffirs who live a miserable life, in abject poverty, while the Boers are getting richer and richer; the same fate (that of herding sheep or goats, along with the natives, for the same miserable wages,) awaits any emigrant who ventures into the interior without a trade and without money enough to buy land and start farming. The rich Boer does not think any more of a poor white man than he does of one of his Kaffirs, if he can get no better service from him. Considering this and the few large cities where white laborers receive fair pay, South Africa offers small inducements to poor emigrants.
The territory held by England, in 1867, in South Africa consisted of all that portion lying south of the Orange River, and was divided into two provinces; namely, Victoria and British Kaffraria. Cape Town was the capital, it being the seat of the governor. Both provinces form the best part and contain the best land of all South Africa. Numerous rivers cross them in all directions, the most prominent of which are the Buffalo, Little Fish, Big Fish, Kreis Kamma, Kumcha, Yellow Wood, Kei, Boshie, and, largest and longest of all, the Orange River; the latter carries almost as much water as the Mississippi River in America, above its junction with the Missouri, and was so named on account of the immense orange groves, situated upon its banks. The Orange River, which forms the boundary between the English territory and the Orange Free State, runs from east to west, emptying into the Atlantic Ocean. North of the Orange River, on the west coast, lies Port Natal, now belonging to England. It also is a very rich and productive portion of South Africa; the main products consist of stock, wool, hides, corn, rice, tobacco and sugar. The land of the Zulus and the Basutos lies just north of Port Natal, bordering upon the Atlantic, and reaching several hundred miles into the interior. There is a large population, which is now getting somewhat civilized. The people are governed by their own native kings, who are exceedingly bright, especially in matters concerning warfare; they have a formidable army of well-drilled soldiers, well equipped with shot guns. They show great bravery and endurance during war times; that this is a fact, has been proven in the late war which England had with the Zulus and Basutos, in which the victory belonged to the natives in most battles, England being glad, finally, to make peace. It was in one of these battles, which made the Orange and Transvaal Provinces free and independent republics, that Prince Louis Napoleon lost his life. Beyond the Orange Republic, to the north west, is the country inhabited by the Griqua and Namaqua negroes, and due west from them, on the west coast of Africa, is the home of the Hottentots; north westerly from these we find the Fingos and Bushmen, whose possessions border upon the Kalahari desert, where nothing but wild animals roam. I have been through all these different countries, and have traded with all these different nations. At that time, I could converse with them tolerably well in their language, sufficiently so to have them understand me, although a great deal of the communicating had to be done by signs. The Bushmen are, perhaps, the most savage and deceitful, and have cannibalistic inclinations; many a traveler through this region has lost his life at their hands. They are very short of stature, not over four feet in height, with big heads, long arms and hands; their color is a dark gray. I may state that I did not travel through their country very extensively, since I had no special desire to be cut up for one of their cannibalistic dinners. They are yet in an entirely savage state, and as they are quite isolated it may take many years before they become civilized.
CHAPTER XIV
DEPARTURE FROM SOUTH AFRICA
During the month of December, 1867, I was very busy getting everything in readiness to leave. With considerable trouble and loss I disposed of my property and such effects as I could not move. It was the 23rd of December that I took my family to Graham’s Town, where we boarded the stage for Port Elizabeth, which latter town we reached December 24th. Here I bought tickets for passage to London, which, for my wife, four children and myself, cost me three hundred dollars. We boarded the steamer the same day, and the next morning, departed. After a voyage of three days we reached Cape Town, which, with its regularly built streets and pretty buildings made a very good impression. Our steamer laid up here for several days, and we made use of the delay to go ashore and visit beautiful Cape Town. The streets are very wide and well paved; the sidewalks on the main thoroughfares are laid with marble, and through the gutters runs a continual stream of most excellent spring water, having its source in the Table Mountain, which towers directly back of the city, forming a pretty background to the white marble buildings of Cape Town. This is undoubtedly the cleanest city I have ever seen. On New Year’s day, 1868, I was with my family in the garden of the governor, which was literally filled with all kinds of ripe fruit, such as apples, pears, plums, cherries, apricots, oranges, peaches, dates, etc. We ate as much as we pleased, and also packed some away for our long prospective voyage. There was a railroad in operation, twenty miles of double track, between Cape Town and Wineyard, but I did not get an opportunity to ride on it. As our steamer was to resume her voyage on January 2nd, we returned to her on the evening of the 1st. Next morning the anchors were lifted and we were soon under headway, looking back at the beautiful city of Cape Town and the fast receding shore of South Africa, where I had spent the best part of my youth. I must confess that just then there came a feeling over me somewhat resembling home-sickness. The steamer, however, sped on unrelentlessly and the panorama of the shore became more and more indistinct. Soon, nothing could be distinguished on the distant shore; it looked like a light blue ribbon bordering the deep blue expanse of the ocean. The weather was very nice and calm; consequently the sea was perfectly quiet, not a wave stirring except where our steamer plowed its way through. Our accommodations were excellent all around, and we had no reason to complain of anything. As is usual, after land has passed out of sight upon long voyages, the passengers became very neighborly; so we soon formed one large family and passed our time away in all kind of games, story-telling or watching the finny inhabitants of the deep.
In due time, the island of St. Helena was reached. Our steamer stopped to take in a supply of coal, and I made use of the time so consumed to go ashore and look at the tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte. Several of the passengers joined me, and we hired horses in the village to make the slow and laborious ascent up the rocky slope to the top of the table land. The guide, whom we had hired to show us all the celebrated spots upon the island, pointed out to us where the great French emperor had passed his last days, and also conducted us to a statue of Napoleon cut out of solid rock, on the edge of a precipice overlooking hundred of miles of ocean. After having enjoyed the beautiful view from the high plateau we returned to the town, which, by the way, is one of the best equipped marine ports of the English dominion. It was about ten P.M. when our steamer again resumed her voyage northward. The weather continued clear and calm; within the body of the ship no motion was perceptible although we were moving at the rate of about eighteen knots per hour. The next morning we enjoyed the cool morning breeze and watched the sunrise, which is sublime beyond description, upon the ocean. It is amazing how good an appetizer the pure sea air is, when the bell announced breakfast as ready, the passengers were always ready to enjoy it. Thus the days went by in perfect quiet and happiness; we passed the small Ascension Island, which broke the monotony of the voyage for about one hour, then we had again nothing but water and air to gaze at. As we neared the equator the heat became oppressive, and we had to stay down stairs during the day. The equator was passed January 22nd, 1868; this made the fourth time I had passed under it. On our steamer sped, and we again neared the west coast of Africa, so as to distinguish land. The captain explained to us that that was the coast line of Liberia, the native land of most of the negroes who are in the United States. Our steamer kept pretty close up to the shore and we had abundant opportunity to watch the peculiarities of that country. We next passed the coast line of Senegambia and soon reached the point of Cape Verde. The next morning after sunrise we observed, to the east, a great expanse of desert, covered with whitish sand hills having much the appearance of drifted snow. This the captain pointed out to us as the western terminus of the great Desert of Sahara. This too passed out of view. The Canary Islands were the next point of interest; there are seven of them, all ranged close together; the most important of them is the Tenneriff, having a maximum elevation of one thousand feet above the sea level. This is where the beautiful singers, the canary birds, were first discovered. In this tropical climate their foliage is a pretty green, which changes to yellow when reaching colder climates.
On sped the steamer. We enjoyed the ever-changing scenery, but the next day was very foggy, so we could see nothing of the land until in the evening, as the sun broke through, we observed the rocky coast line of Morocco. From here on, the course of the steamer changed to a westerly direction, as we were to lay in at the island of Madeira for the purpose of taking in a fresh supply of coal and water. The weather again became cloudy and foggy, so that we could not watch the approach to Madeira, a small island belonging to Portugal. I shall never forget our arrival at Madeira. The crew of our steamer, officers and captain included, were under the influence of liquor all the preceding afternoon, and we passengers feared for the worst. The heavy fog, the darkness of the evening and the proximity of the rocky coast of Madeira, were enough to make us all tremble at being at the mercy of a drunken crew of sailors, whereas it would require the judgment of clear-headed, expert sailors to steer us into the harbor. We momentarily expected to collide with the rocks of the coast, and to be dashed to pieces and buried in the angry waters. The ship sped on; we only hoped that we might miss the island and stay in deep water until our crew had sobered up, but this hope was soon dispelled and disaster glared in our face. Through the fog immediately ahead of us suddenly appeared the towering black masses of rocks, not more than two hundred feet away. We set up a terrible yell; the man at the wheel had presence of mind enough to turn the ship, which was heading directly for the rocks; it was too late, however, and in less time than it takes to relate it the crash came with terrific force. As the collision occurred I was so near to the black rocks that I could touch them. Then came the rebound, and with it the greatest commotion and confusion I ever witnessed, made worse by the darkness. The passengers ran, wailing like maniacs, from one edge of the railing to the other, while the sailors, whom the terrible shock and the impending peril had instantly sobered, were hurriedly executing the many orders given by their officers. It was found that a large hole had been stove in the hull of the vessel, below the water line, and that the lower part of the vessel was filling with water very fast. As the engines were uninjured, the pumps were speedily brought into action and the intruding water thrown overboard. The ship carpenter made some repairs in the break, checking the flow of the water somewhat. Still the invading waters seemed to get the better of the pumps, and it was lucky for us that the island of Madeira was so close at hand that we reached the harbor safely. Here we stopped three days, during which time the break was repaired, and the steamer declared able to complete its voyage to London. Madeira is a beautiful, semi-tropical island belonging to Portugal, and is well fortified. The climate is very salubrious and the soil very fertile; the most prominent products raised here are wheat, flax, coffee, sugar, wine, cotton and tobacco, all of which are largely exported.
We were soon again under headway, and, with the favorable auguries of a clear sky and favorable breeze, our old confidence in a safe completion of our voyage was partially restored, although the steadily working pumps, throwing streams of water overboard, were not at all reassuring indicators. Still the steamer made excellent headway, and the coast of Madeira soon passed out of view. We calculated that it would, under favorable conditions, require just two weeks to reach London, and we all counted the days when the happy hour would come to leave the vessel. We passed over a peculiar water the next day, which the sailors called the dead water; indeed it looked to be heavier than ordinary sea water; moreover, we could not observe any fish in it, whereas in all other portions of the Atlantic we had seen many of them. After we had passed the peculiar water we again reached the clear sea, but the color of it was a beautiful transparent green, so clear, indeed, that at noon we could sometimes discover the bottom of the sea. We were informed that we were not far from the coast of Portugal but would not go near enough to see the coast. There was plenty of work for us to do during the daytime, for the temporary repairs to our vessel were not sufficient to keep out the pressing water, and the captain ordered all able bodied male passengers at the hand pumps for about eight hours per day. This, of course, made us apprehensive again of impending dangers and disasters, and we waited impatiently for the day when our voyage would come to an end. We reached the coast of Ireland in due season, and greeted the land with a thundering hurrah. Quite a number of the passengers insisted on being left at Queenstown, and the captain acceded. Accordingly our steamer ran in the Queenstown harbor and landed all who were so disposed. I remained on board with my family and the next morning we continued our voyage, calculating that we would reach London in two days. I got a job again on the hand pump, and pumped with a will to keep us above water, thinking that it would last only a couple of days, and that every hour shortened the time. We could now see land on both sides of us, so that we needed to fear nothing serious; in case the water did get the better of the steam and hand pumps, we could run into the shore. The channel was also dotted with vessels of all kinds, mostly fishing vessels. The view along this water highway was especially beautiful after dark, when thousands and thousands of colored lights were displayed from the different vessels. We could now clearly observe the difference in the climate between Africa and England, although warmly dressed, we felt cold and chilly, for it was in February. We reached Europe in the winter time, having left South Africa during the summer season, which commences there about the 21st of December. I managed to keep warm, however, actuating the pump handles, which had to be kept constantly going on account of the water continuing to find its way into our ship. All were very glad when the city of London was finally reached. We lost no time in getting off the steamer, which had served for our home for more than six weeks, and made haste to enjoy a walk once more on terra firma. We were soon comfortably located in one of the hundreds of hotels which line the streets of London, and settled down for a thorough rest, as the long voyage had told on all of us.
I stopped in London two weeks, and had to pay, for room and board for myself and family, (P6?) or $80. This must be considered very reasonable as our accommodations were very good. After the expiration of the two weeks we made preparation to return to Germany. There are numerous steamers making regular trips between London and Hamburg; we took passage on one of them, but had to furnish our own board. The voyage lasted only three days, but we did not think anything of it after the long and dangerous trip from South Africa. The weather was very stormy, however, and we suffered considerably from the cold. We passed the island of Heligoland, where, thirteen years ago, I had enlisted in the English Army. Looking back over the eventful thirteen years just passed made them appear to me as that many months. But such is the general effect of time; events before us appear very slow in formation, while past events seem incredibly fast disappearing in the fast rushing river of time. In due season the harbor of Cuxhaven and Hamburg was reached; we took a hack and drove to a hotel kept by my cousin Fritz Westphal, who was highly pleased when I introduced myself and family. He invited us to stop several days with him, to rest and see the sights of the pretty city of Hamburg. We gladly accepted his invitation, and remained with him three days.
CHAPTER XV
AT HOME
We arrived at Hamburg March 2nd, 1868, and, after a pleasant stay of three days, departed for my native town. My cousin Fritz had already informed me that my father and mother still lived and enjoyed good health, but that I had been mourned as dead and lost, since I had not written home for so many years. It can, therefore, be easily imagined that I was quite anxious to see my parents, and walk over the paths and highways which I had not seen since I left them, as a young man, thirteen years before. As the passenger train quickly sped along the track between Hamburg and Malchien, my thoughts dwelt pleasantly upon the years gone by; I could hardly wait for the moment, when finally the brakeman opened the door of our coupe and announced: “Station Malchien.” This was our destination for the present, and was only two miles from the Prussian frontier. As I had many friends in the city, and as it was only a short distance from my native town, I decided to take up my temporary abode here, pending further developments. I had already been informed that I would be arrested just as soon as I set foot upon Prussian territory, because the action of joining the British German Legion had been officially declared desertion. But Malchien was then a town in the dukedom Mecklenburg, and Prussia had no jurisdiction there, so I went fearlessly to the residence of my cousin, Helmuth Westphal, who also received me with the greatest possible display of hospitality, expressing his joy at my safe return, in unmistakable terms. I had to get a permit from the mayor of the town to remain within the limits of Malchien; this was speedily granted, and everything looked agreeable and rosy. After my family was comfortably settled, I decided to visit my parents; in company with my cousin we took a hack and drove to Wolkwitz, about six English miles from Malchien, in Prussia. Before we arrived at the humble home of my parents, we decided to see whether they would recognize me without an introduction. Accordingly we entered, I noticed that father and mother greeted Helmuth very cordially, but looked upon me as a perfect stranger. I did not take any part in the conversation, but waited for developments. My cousin talked for some time about current topics, and finally asked whether they had had any letters from William, lately. When my name was mentioned, great sadness overspread the features of both my father and mother; father replied that they had received no tidings from me for the past seven years, and that I had, undoubtedly, been killed by the savages in South Africa, or else I would certainly have written. While this discourse took place, my dear old mother broke out in tears; I felt very guilty then for having neglected my parents in this manner. My cousin then pointed to me and said, “This gentleman has just arrived from South Africa, and claims that he knows William very well, and that he is in good health, is doing well and sends you his best respects.” Whereupon my father rose from his chair and, with joy lighting up his wrinkled features, stepped up to me and asked me if that was really the case. My mother’s face beamed at me through the mist of freshly shed tears; her look was so indescribably anxious that I could not restrain myself any longer; I grasped the old man in my arms, and exclaimed: “I am your son William! Why, don’t you recognize me any more?” The scene of reunion can better be imagined than described. The happiness of my parents made me also shed tears of happiness, and here I spent several hours of the purest bliss in my life. When I departed, I promised to call again soon and to bring my family along. The days in Malchien passed rapidly and pleasantly, for the citizens there had very little conception of the world outside of their native town, or even the surrounding country. I had invitations galore to dinners, suppers, etc., to relate my experience through the several countries in which I had traveled, the sights I had seen, and the adventures passed through. They would listen to me in breathless suspense, probably regarding me an extraordinary being, as my experience seemed to them very marvelous. Many nights were thus spent in relating incidents of my life, until I became tired of telling them over and over again.
As the days grew into weeks, the subject of the future came again in the foreground. I had several thousand dollars in my pocket when I reached Malchien, but had been indiscreet enough to loan small and large sums to my friends, especially to my Cousin Helmuth, who had succeeded in bleeding me to the extent of $2,000. I incidentally told my father that I had done so, and he informed me that he was very sorry for it, because Helmuth was head over heels in debt, and would be unable to pay it back, even if he was disposed to do so. Now thoroughly alarmed, I asked my cousin to return the money; but he blandly informed me that he did not have any money, and that I would have to wait until he could raise it. This looked very discouraging, and when I received the same answer from almost everybody who had borrowed my money, the future looked darker and darker to me. I talked the matter over with my wife, explaining the true state of affairs to her. As may be easily expected she felt heart-broken over it, and it took me a long time to console her. In the meantime my brain was actively at work, generating all kinds of plans to again engage in business, but most of the plans were rejected after some consideration. Each time, when such a project vanished like a soap bubble, the new Continent, America, came into my mind; the more I though of it, the stronger grew my desire to leave the fatherland again, and to emigrate to America. At that time America was not as well known in Germany as it is at the present time, and a man who only talked about going to America was looked upon as a person without sense, who would certainly meet death at the hands of the savages after he put foot upon American soil. My wife shared to some extent in this general prejudice, so it took me some time to have her consent at all. I ascertained that it would require $300 to move over with my entire family; as I had only $160 left, we decided that I should go first, leaving my family where they were, and send for them later on. Accordingly I divided the remainder of the money with my wife, and started for Hamburg with $80 in my pocket, there to take passage for the new world, to begin the battle for existence anew.
CHAPTER XVI
THE VOYAGE TO AMERICA
I stopped two days in Hamburg to get ready for the long prospective trip. I procured passage upon an English steamer plying between Hamburg and New York, via Liverpool. The steerage passage cost $55 for an adult. We departed from Hamburg at noon, August 22nd, 1868. Our vessel was no transatlantic steamer, but made trips between Hamburg and Hartlepool, England, conveying passengers and freight between these two points; passengers for America were transferred at Hartlepool. The North Sea was very rough, and the vessel, being of moderate size, rolled pretty badly. Although I had passed through much rougher seas, I felt somewhat apprehensive, as I knew the ship was a wooden structure and quite old. The bulk of the emigrants consisted of over forty Polish Jews with their families, bound for New York; not one of them had ever been on board a ship before, nor ever beheld the ocean, so when land passed out of sight and the green waves of the North Sea commenced to rock the vessel, the fun commenced. As might be naturally expected, sea-sickness attacked each and every one of them; the ensuing scenes were in part too disgusting to relate, but the situation was also full of humorous incidents. I remember one middle-aged Jew, sitting on deck with a piece of stone tightly pressed against the pit of his stomach, battling bravely against an attack of sea-sickness, the approach of which had already spread a deadly pallor over his features. I enquired of him what he was pressing that brick bat against his stomach for; he informed me, confidentially, that that had been recommended to him as the best preventative of sea-sickness. Just then a huge wave lifted the vessel and let her down along a compound curve, with an inclination of about 80 degrees; this settled the battle in favor of the sea-sickness, and I had to jump back about three feet to escape a perfect deluge; the brick bearer then jumped up and flung the ineffective brick overboard. It is a notable fact, that, as a rule, sea-sick people (especially steerage passengers) always seek relief upon their narrow beds, a custom which has just the opposite of the desired effect; if they remained on deck they would soon recover under the influence of pure air and light, but down in the dark and low steerage quarters, with insufficient ventilation, the air soon becomes so vitiated as to cause even healthy people to get sick; here they lie, unable to eat, and moan and groan and pray. If there are from forty to sixty persons in the same condition, quartered in so narrow a space, the effect may be better imagined than described.
I remained on deck all the first day, as I knew we would have to pass by the island of Heligoland, and I wanted, if possible, to take a last look upon the same. The sun was just setting, when the reddish rocks of that island became visible. My thoughts then turned back through the many years, to the time when I enlisted in the British service and made my first trip to Heligoland, anxious, as a young lad of my years would naturally be, to encompass the world. The easy and happy days I spent upon this isle came back to me in the most vivid manner, and as my eyes rested upon the distant ruddy rocks, reddened and brought into bold relief by the setting sun, they seemed to assume the shape of human figures inviting me to their hospitable shores; but the ship kept its course, and the vision soon disappeared, with the increased distance and falling dusk.
There were two German passengers upon the ship, aside from myself, who were residents of Philadelphia, and who had been back to their old German homes, upon a visit. We three had a room together so that we really did not need to associate with the Polish Jews, who kept up their religious turmoil all night. During the night the storm quieted down, and the North Sea presented a comparatively smooth surface the next morning. It is amusing to note how quickly the sea-sick passenger is transformed into a healthy, hungry man as soon as the complicated curves of the vessel assume a straight line. Those terribly sick people of the previous night were now besieging the kitchen, with their tin cans; they could hardly await the stroke of the bell which was to bring them their breakfast. When they did get it, didn’t they eat, though! They fairly poured it down, and clamored for more. I was taking my breakfast quietly, with my two Philadelphia friends, sitting upon my trunk and discussing prospects in the new world, when, looking upon the floor, I noticed to my terror some smoke making its way through a crack; the smell of burning substance told us of imminent danger. The volume of the emerging smoke increased rapidly, and I called the attention of my friends to it. They suggested that it was smoke from the engine room, which was close by, but I did not take this explanation as satisfactory. I hurried up to the captain, whom I informed of my discovery; he looked quite serious and went, forthwith, to investigate. The main portion of the cargo consisted of many bales of rags, stored directly under the steerage quarters; during the storm they had become dislodged, and rolling against the furnaces, had caught fire; it was found that the whole rag cargo was on fire. The captain ordered the pumps to be set to work to pump as much water into the burning space as the ship was able to carry; also to cut off all access of air into this place. These two orders were well and good, but the next order he gave made me shiver. All passengers were to go down stairs, and every door and luke leading to the deck were to be locked and nailed tight. My mind was made up at once; I hastily informed my two friends of what I had heard, and we decided that we would not be “boxed” up in a burning enclosure alive; putting our trusty revolvers in our pockets, we hurried back upon the deck where we found some sailors already busy driving the emigrants down stairs, and nailing up the lukes. Just then we heard the first officer stating to the chief engineer that there yet remained twelve hours’ run before we reached Hartlepool, if the same rate of speed was maintained; he urged the engineer to run as fast as possible, but the latter stated that the engines were doing their best, and that it would be impossible to keep steam up as the boiler room was completely filled with smoke, and the stokers could not work more than about an hour at a time. It was raining pretty hard, and we took shelter under some sails which we arranged in a tent-like fashion. Our situation was desperate. Twelve hour’s ride, yet, from our port, aboard a burning vessel which might at any moment collapse and bury all in a watery grave, was the almost certain possibility staring us in the face. As is usual, in critical situations of this kind, my entire life passed before my mind’s eye with absolute clearness; the days of my early youth; when I first went into the spelling school; when, later, I passed my apprentice years; all my travels and adventures, joys and sorrows, all were reviewed by my mind’s eye, every incident being recollected with the greatest distinctness. I dwelt upon the picture of my loving wife and children, who had braved the hardships and troubles and toils of the frontier life in South Africa, and who were now patiently waiting for me to prepare them a home in the new world. My heart seemed ready to burst, as I looked at the perilous position wherein I found myself, when nothing short of a miracle seemed to be able to save me. Thus I passed several hours, the most desolate hours in my life, looking blandly at the pouring rain and the smoke ascending through the floor of the deck at every crack.
Below us, in the steerage quarters, the incarcerated Jews became desperate, and the cries and howls that reached our ears were terrible and heartrending. But our own desperate condition made us apathetic to everything else; we watched the maneuvers of the captain and sailors as closely as possible, and we soon heard the captain give the order to get the largest and strongest life-boat in readiness and to put in all necessary provisions, so that, if the ship should go to pieces, the crew could make its escape in this boat. No passengers being mentioned at all, we made up our minds to prepare for the worst; the sailors got the boat quickly in position, ready to be boarded at a moment’s notice. Just then the captain passed by our improvised tent; noticing us, he asked in angry tones; “Why don’t you go down into your cabins?” I said, “Captain, we don’t care to be boxed up in a burning vessel.” This answer seemed to irritate him still more, but he invited us in a less harsh manner to go down into his private cabin; this being refused by us, he got mad and, whistling for his men, ordered them to throw us down below and nail the doors shut after us. The critical moment had come; in an instant the captain and advancing sailors were confronted by three vicious looking revolvers leveled at them. I said calmly: “Mr. Captain, if we have to die, we may as well do it right here; but you will not throw us upon your burning rags alive.” Our determined stand staggered them so much that the advancing sailors retraced their steps, and the captain, changing his mind, said we might remain on deck if we kept out of the way of the working sailors, which we promised to do. The ship kept up a good speed, but the rain and fog prevented us from seeing anything but our burning vessel, and the dark gray surface of the sea.
Several hours passed, during which we momentarily expected to be buried in the waters, but the shell kept together, and although the smoke continued to issue from every crack, we gathered confidence that we would yet safely reach Hartlepool Harbor. Meanwhile the poor Polish Jews went through all the agonies of suffocation; their cries and lamentations became so terrible that I could not content myself any longer, so I suggested to my friends that we remonstrate with the captain and demand the release of the emigrants from their smoke-filled quarters, where they were gradually suffocating. The captain told us curtly to mind our own business; that he was master of and responsible for the ship. This did not deter us, however, from our determination to free the unfortunate Jews, so we quietly hunted up a hammer, and watching our opportunity, pulled the nails from one of the trap doors leading to the steerage and invited the emigrants to come up on deck. A black, heavy cloud of smoke issued from the open luke, and then a stream of wretched humanity poured out upon the deck, some of them dazed and crazed with the terrible atmosphere they had been compelled to breathe. The fresh air and the rain soon quieted them down, and they were very voluble in their expressions of gratitude to us for their release. The captain did not dare to interfere, now, nor order them back, for they were desperate. After all were on deck the luke was again closed to exclude air from the burning rags. It was found that quite a number of women and children were already unconscious and had to be carried up on deck where they all soon revived. This proved that it was high time that they were released. We were now approaching Hartlepool Harbor, and were extremely happy when the heavy anchor finally descended, and the landing bridge placed us once more in direct contact with solid land. My two friends and I lost no time in going to the railway station where we took the night train for Liverpool. We learned that the ill-fated steamer upon which we had passed such terrible hours had to be sunk with water, as the entire interior broke out into flames as soon as the lukes were opened. The entire baggage of the Polish Jews was a total loss, and they were detained in Hartlepool a whole week to settle their claims for their destroyed effects.
At Liverpool the emigrant agent informed us that the steamer Colorado was to sail in three days; he procured quarters for us at a hotel, at the expense of the steamship company. I now had an opportunity to look at the sights of this celebrated British trade center, which is indeed marvelous. It is, so to speak, the market center of the world. There were, in the same hotel, several German families waiting for the steamer Colorado. They were bound for Illinois, and as I had no distinct plan outlined yet, I decided to link my fortunes with theirs and also go to Illinois. The steamer, Colorado, left at her appointed hour. She was, at that time, a modern transatlantic steamer, well designed and equipped to carry a large number of passengers. There were four hundred passengers on board when we left, and the turmoil and noise occasioned by them, day and night, was something extraordinary. There were all European nations represented, and the many different languages spoken were enough to confuse the best living linguist. Still, they lived peacefully together; the sight of a German asking a Frenchman for a light for his pipe, or vice versa, was a common occurrence, as it was among representatives of other nations. It occurred to me, then, quite forcibly that the jealousies and animosities shown between neighboring nations, culminating in destructive wars, would certainly not exist if the feeling of the people, rather than the feeling of some hot-headed or ambitious king or emperor, was consulted; if the nation as a nation would decide differences, international questions with their neighboring nations, the barbarous custom of throwing millions of unwilling and innocent people into the terrors of war would be forever a thing of the past.
The Colorado stopped at Queenstown to take on another contingent of passengers, also a further supply of coal; after a stop of four hours, her huge machines commenced to work again, and we bade “good by” to Europe, for good. The voyage from Queenstown to New York passed quietly, without any remarkable incidents; board and accommodations were excellent for those days. The trip was made in ten days, which was then considered a remarkably quick trip. The weather was very fine and the days were spent pleasantly on deck. We reached New York Harbor in the evening of the tenth day, but remained on board the ship until the next morning, when I first set foot upon American soil, entering at Castle Garden, where we had to pass an examination at the hands of the custom officers. Here a general scattering of emigrants took place, but most of them took west bound trains. I bade fare well to my two friends (who departed for Philadelphia) and in company with the families I got acquainted with in Liverpool I took a train for the west. The emigrant cars (nothing but ordinary box cars) were in a horrible condition, not even seats being provided. The women and children, especially, suffered great hardships; then the delays were frequent and long, so it took us from Monday noon till Saturday evening to go from New York to Chicago. When we reached the latter city, we were all thoroughly exhausted, and went to a hotel near the depot, to rest and recuperate from the hardships of the long voyage and journey. They did then know already how to charge for accommodations in Chicago, and we got pretty well stripped during our few days’ stay there, having barely enough left to pay our fare to Harvard, Illinois, to which point we took the train the following Monday, October 6th, 1868.
CHAPTER XVII
CONCLUSION
The rosy hopes which I had entertained, all through the long voyage and journey from Germany to America, of at once jumping into a good paying business, changed very soon to bitter disappointment. Wherever I enquired for work I met with refusals; the end of the first week at Harvard found me with an empty pocket book, as well as an empty stomach, and utterly discouraged. As luck would have it I accosted a farmer, who was just stepping into his wagon, if he needed any help; he looked at me for a moment, and then enquired if I was a farm hand accustomed to hard work; which question I of course answered in the affirmative; his answer, “Get in,” seemed to me the sweetest music I had heard for weeks. I worked for him all winter, getting along nicely and saving every cent for the purpose of bringing my family over also; but this was a mighty slow process, so in the spring I left him and commenced to work upon a section, on the Chicago and Northwestern Railway. No sooner had I entered upon this new vocation than I took a fancy for track work. I learned rapidly all the ins and outs of the profession, and by hard and intelligent work I so pleased the road master that he appointed me, the next year, as section foreman at Roscoe, Ill. This position I held until October, 1880, when I resigned to accept a position at Dillon, Iowa, on the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway, taking charge of a large surfacing gang which was to finish a new road. When the line was turned over to the operating department, I was offered a position as section foreman at Rhodes, Iowa, which I accepted. On account of poor health I resigned, in 1883, and retired to my farm, near Butler Center, Iowa, which farm I had, in the meantime, bought with saved earnings. But farming did not suit me any more than tailoring, and I longed to be back upon the track again. So on the first of April, 1885, I took charge of a section on the Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway at Manchester, Minnesota. October 15th, I left this position to take charge, as general foreman, on the Minnesota and Northwestern (now the Chicago, St. Paul and Kansas City Railway,) of a large extra gang putting in their extensive yards at Dubuque, Iowa. When this job was finished I was offered the permanent position as yard foreman at Dubuque, but did not accept it, as I was intending to return to Manchester to spend Christmas in the circle of my family. At Albert Lea I met Mr. McElroy, general roadmaster of the Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway, who offered me the position of assistant roadmaster, which offer I speedily accepted. I hardly had time to inform my family, before taking charge of my division, (reaching from Gibbon, Minnesota to Watertown, S.D.) on the 24th of December, 1885. My headquarters and residence are at division station, Morton, or, as the post office officials must have it, Birch Cooley, Renville Co., Minnesota. I am still holding this same position, this first day of January, in the year of our Lord 1892, and, so far as my physical and mental qualities are concerned, I consider myself capable of giving satisfactory services for at least fifteen years more, although I am past the first mile-stone in the fifties.
Thus concludes the narrative of this little work. Thanking the observant readers for their attention, I will yet point out some morals which may be deduced from my biography, and which I will especially apply to young men starting out in life. A good sound character, founded upon honest principles, and supported by industry, perseverance, and self-reliance, is the essential qualification of the self-made man; misfortune or business reverses may impede his progress, but can never deter him from resuming the battle for supremacy, and the final outcome will invariably be success. Nor should men, working in low positions, ever cease to aspire to something higher and better. Although having passed though so many reverses from plenty to need, finally, at the advanced age of thirty-five, I started in an untried field of labor as a section hand, but perseverance alone has led me to success and comfortable circumstances, so I believe in the old adage; “God helps those who help themselves.”
THE END