heir aims and ambitions were
limited. To eat abundance of meat, to possess abundance of cattle, to
have four or five wives, was the looked-for happiness of the men.
Anything that required mental exertion they seemed incapable of. They
could with difficulty count beyond ten; they knew nothing about other
countries, or the habits of other nations. They believed the Zulus the
most powerful nation in the whole world, whilst the whites they regarded
as foolish people with wrong ideas.

Reflecting on my condition, I began to consider how I could make my
escape from the Caffres, and rejoin my own people. I knew that if I
could reach England I could make myself known to my relatives, could
communicate with my father, and should have fair prospects even if I
returned to India. This was quite a change in my ideas, from what I
fancied some months previously; but solitude seemed to have given me a
clearer view of things as they really were, and I now thought over every
plan by which it might be possible to reach some English settlement,
make myself known, and thus be enabled to rejoin my relatives.

Several days passed, during which I scarcely spoke to any of the
Caffres. I felt depressed and out of spirits--perhaps a presentiment of
what was coming. I had received no news of the army that had gone to
join with the Amakosa against the British soldiers, and so could not
learn whether or not they had been victorious. Half a moon had passed
since the army left, and the old men began to be anxious for news; still
none came.

It was early morning, the sun not having appeared, that, as I lay rolled
in my jackal-skin kaross in my hut, I heard the voices of men in my
kraal. These voices were low, and subdued. Thinking it was our
warriors who had returned, I jumped up and crawled out of my hut. It
was not yet light enough to see clearly any objects except they were
very near; but before I could rise on my feet, I received a blow on my
head, which stunned me, and knew no more till I came to my senses, when
the sun was nearly overhead. I then saw a sight which astonished me.
Seated in our kraal were more than a hundred Zulu warriors, watching a
fire at which one of our young bulls was being roasted. They were all
in full war-costume, and I saw that many of their assagies were stained
with blood. I tried to rise, but found that my hands and legs were
tied, and that I could not move. The Zulus, seeing I was sensible
again, cal