how rapidly the Zulus
move, and how fond they are of surprises, we never were certain that a
party of these men might not be concealed somewhere and might suddenly
attack us. Had the commanders on the English side, during the late Zulu
war, been as well acquainted with the habits of these men as we were,
such disasters as befell us would have been guarded against or avoided;
but it seems as though men were selected for that war because they knew
nothing either of the Zulus, their country, or language, but because
they had crammed successfully at the Staff College.

When we arrived at the first kraal in our own country and among our own
tribe, I was welcomed with shouts and congratulations by the men, and
with pleasant smiles by the females; and certainly for a time I felt
very glad that I had not sailed in the ship from Natal Bay, but was
again among my friends who knew me, and where my past acts had caused me
to be respected and admired. There are few things--as I have found in
after-life--so painful as being among strangers, where the past of which
we may be proud is unknown, and unthought of, and where we occupy the
same position as though in our previous career we had acted like fools
or rogues.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN.

Almost immediately after my return to my old kraal, I went to see the
English ladies who had been on board the ship. I found that Mrs Apton
was dead, but the others seemed to have become quite reconciled to their
lot. They were now the mothers of several children, and they told me
that they would not now leave the country if they could. What they most
wished for were some clothes in which they might dress like
Englishwomen. Their knowledge of dress, however, had enabled them to
form, out of the skins of antelopes, very ornamental dresses; and
although some people might have laughed at their attire, yet the Caffres
thought their ornaments most becoming. It seemed singular how very
quickly these females had become accustomed to the strange life they
were compelled to lead. They did not work in the gardens as did the
Caffre women, but were treated just the same as the wives of the
greatest chiefs. The other Caffre women were not jealous of the English
females, but treated them kindly, and seemed to regard them as strangers
deserving of hospitality. What was most admired was the long hair of
the English ladies, the Caffre women having only woolly locks.

There was no restriction now placed u