en an old chief named Inguana came to my hut
and sat down beside me. After some conversation I asked him why his
people killed the white men who were wrecked. He then told me that some
years ago a ship came to nearly the same place, and about forty men
landed and made friends with the Caffres, and stopped some days. At
length they prevailed on several men and women to go on board the ship
and kept them there; they then came again on shore and gave many men
something to drink which made them insensible. These men they carried
in boats to their ships: some men woke and resisted, and they were shot.
Then the ship went away, and the Caffres never saw their friends again.
So when they saw the men on shore from my ship, they feared them and
thought similar acts would be committed; so, keeping a watch, they
caught them asleep and assagied them. The proceedings of the former
visitors showed they were slave-catchers, and thus their acts caused the
death of the poor sailors who had escaped from shipwreck. Similar
proceedings often happen in various parts of the world; some white men
behave badly to the so-called savages, and then harmless visitors suffer
for the acts of these rascals. From what I had seen of these Umzimvubu
Caffres, I did not believe they would kill white men without a cause, so
I was glad I had been able to hear why they had slaughtered the sailors.
The Caffres themselves thought that the sailors were probably the same
as those who had carried off their relatives, and so determined to
surprise them before they had an opportunity of taking any more
prisoners. When I told them that the men they had killed were harmless
and in distress, they really seemed sorry for their acts.

CHAPTER EIGHT.

One of the Zulu chiefs who had been killed in our battle near Natal had
a headdress of ostrich-feathers. This headdress was considered a great
curiosity, and our principal chiefs divided these feathers amongst them,
and on great occasions wore them in their head-rings. I heard that, on
the plains under the Quathlamba Mountains, ostriches were to be found;
so I was anxious to make an expedition there, in order to try and shoot
or trap these birds, and so procure a large supply of feathers. On
talking this matter over with the chiefs, they told me I must take a
large party with me, as Bushmen were numerous there, and it would be
dangerous to visit that country unless well-armed and in numbers. I,
however, told