I seized my pistol and aimed at the
nearest Zulu. As I pulled the trigger he was about to cast his assagy;
but it never left his hand, as I hit him in the chest and he sank in the
water, rose again and floated down the stream. The other Zulus made for
the bush and concealed themselves from view.

I again loaded my discharged barrel, and, taking the oars, pulled as
fast as I could towards the vessel. The report of the pistols had been
heard by the sailors on board, and they were on deck looking out. They
hailed me as soon as I came near: and when I told them that I believed
the captain and the other men had been killed, they were astonished, for
they also seemed to think that the captain, with his pistols, was more
than a match for any number of "niggers."

I told them that the Zulus were not men to be despised, that they were
brave in every sense of the word, and that they were clever in all the
arts of bush warfare, and would most probably try to capture the ship;
so that we must be prepared for them, and must keep a careful watch all
night. Had the wind been suitable, the sailors would have left the
harbour at once, but there was a heavy surf on the bar, and the wind was
blowing in the harbour, so we could not get out.

After I had been some hours on board, I found the sailors talking
together in low tones and looking at me very suspiciously. I had no
idea what this meant, but after a time two of them came to me and told
me they suspected me of being in agreement with the Zulus, and having
led the captain into an ambush. I told them it was not my plan for the
captain to go on shore for water; and if I had been friends with the
Zulus, how was it I had shot them, and killed one of them with a pike?
The sailors replied that they had no proof I had done so, and they would
rather not have me on board. I told them that, if I had not come on
board, they would have gone on shore fearlessly, and would all have been
killed by the Caffres, and their ship taken. This argument produced no
effect on the sailors; who, like all ignorant people, considered that no
amount of reason or facts were as powerful as their own prejudices.
They had somehow conceived the idea that I was in league with the Zulus,
and could not perceive how differently I should have acted had I been
so. They had, however, made up their minds to get rid of me, and to
turn me out of the ship; and though I begged hard to be allowed to stay
and go with t