Africa by Élisée Reclus/Volume 4/Chapter 5
CHAPTER V.
NATAL AND ZULULAND.
HE "Cape" owes its name to Bartholomew Diaz; Natal to the still more illustrious navigator, Vasco de Gama, who first sighted a verdant headland breaking the monotony of this seaboard on Christmas Day ("Natal"), 1497. But more than three centuries elapsed before this station on the ocean highway between Europe and India was permanently occupied. Portuguese skippers visited the coast from time to time to revictual their ships; then the Dutch, who succeeded the Portuguese as masters in the southern waters, attempted on several occasions to secure a footing at Port Natal. But all such essays proved abortive, nor was it till 1824 — that is, nearly three-hundred and thirty years after its discovery — that some twenty English settlers from the Cape established the first centre of European colonisation on the spot where now stands the city of Durban. At that time the surrounding district had been almost depopulated by the ravages of Chaka, the terrible king of the Zulus. The native tribes had either been exterminated or compelled to migrate southwards, and all the land between the sea and the mountains had been transformed to a "howling wilderness." At present the colonial territory, with a superficial area of over 20,000 square miles, has a steadily increasing population, which in 1888 was estimated at nearly half a million.
But Dingaan, king of tho Zulus, who had at first encouraged the new arrivals to take possession of the territory depopulated hy his brother Cliaka, became alarmed at this continually increasing stream of foreign immigration. Under the pretext of a public feast to cqlebrate the cession of some lands to the Boers, he invited them to his kraal and caused them all to be treacherously massacred. Thus began a terrible war, which was carried on by both parties with relentless cruelty. In the first serious engagement on the banks of a southern affluent of tho Tugela, the Boers were routed with a loss of seven hundred men, women, and children. The name of "Weenen, or "Weeping," still marks the spot where this butchery took place. Nevertheless the survivors, entrenched within the enclosure formed by their waggons, and keeping up a deadly fire from this vantage ground, succeeded at last in repulsing the savage hordes surrounding the encampment. Firearms here got the better of the assegai, and the whites soon resumed the offensive. They even crossed the Tugela and invaded Zululand itself. In 1840 they had already gained the upper hand, and having dethroned Dingaan, secured a steadfast ally in his brother and successor, Panda. These events were followed by the establishment of tho free republic of Natalia, a name by which this region is still known to the Boers of Transvaal. To the capital of the new state they gave the name of Pieter Maritzburg, in which are commemorated the two chief pioneers of the great trek : Pieter Retief and Gevrit Maritz. But the government of Cape Colony refused to recognise the new state, and hastened to despatch some troops in order to take possession of the country in the name of Great Britain. This somewhat high-handed measure has given rise to much angry discussion, and the supreme authority has been severely censured by carping tongues for having pursued a career of ambitious conquest under the cloak of humanitarian sentiments. The English, it was said, took possession of " Natalia " professedly through philanthropic motives, in order to protect the Dutch from the Zulus and the Zulus from the Dutch, whereas the latter neither demanded nor needed protection.* But the prior rights of the English settlers at Durban hud to be considered, and it was notorious that wherever they estab- lished themselves in an independent position, the Dutch trekkers were introducing the institution of domestic slavery, which had been abolished by the Imperial Government throughout the South African colonies. In any case, after having successfully resisted the invaders in a first engage • ment, the Boers were compelled to yield to numbers, and gradually withdrew to the upland valleys. Some remained behind, and in course of time became merged in the British population. But most of the Dutch immigrants, enraged at seeing a country wrested from them which they had conquered at the price of so much blood, again set out on their wanderings in quest of a permanent home, and after retracing their steps across the Drakenberg Range, joined their fellow-country- men, who had already reached the Transvaal. At present, except in a few central districts and in the extreme north-west corner of the colony, no trace remains of the Dutch in Natal beyond a few geographical names. English is everywhere • Anthony Trollope, South Africa. the exclusive language of the settlers, of the courts of justice and the schools, and serves as the medium of intercourse with the natives.
The Natives or Natal.
These aborigines have never ceased to be attracted to the colony of Natal, which after the wars of extermination offered so many unoccupied tracts with
plentiful pasturage for their herds. At the first arrival of the English in 1824 they numbered scarcely more than three thousand; by the year 1848 they had increased to no less than a hundred thousand, and since then they have augmented at least fourfold, not only by the natural excess of births over the mortality, but also by constant immigration down to the present time. The estimates, however, NATIVES OF NATAL. 181 for the Kafir population are made in a somewhat summary way, the European method not having yet been introduced amongst the tribes for obtaining accurate returns of births and deaths. Marriages alone are registered, while the huts are numbered for the purposes of local taxation. The aborigines now settled in Natal belong to a great number of distinct tribes. But the line of migration has on the whole followed that of conquest in the direction from north to south ; hence the great bulk of the immigrants who have thus become British subjects naturally belong to the Zulu, or northern branch of the Kafir family. They are still grouped in separate clans, unconnected, however, by any political ties, and the administration has taken the wise precau- tion of breaking them up into an endless number of distinct communities. In 1886 there were reckoned in the whole of Natal no less than a hundred and seventy, three tribal chiefs, and of this number nearly one-half had been directly appointed by the Government without any hereditary title whatsoever. Such chiefs thus gradually become mere local officials responsible for the preservation of peace, while they are themselves under the immediate control of English administrators, who tolerate the observance of the tribal customs so long as these are not of a nature calciJated to cause any manifest injustice and provided they are not at variance with the established principles of natural equity. Thanks to these judicious administrative measures, no war between the black and white elements has red- dened the soil of Natal since the death of the ZiJu chief, Dingaan. Notwith- standing the great personal influence of the famous Anglican Bishop Colenso, the Wesleyan Methodists seem on the whole to have had most success in this field of missionary labour. Of the hundred and sixty Christian stations now existing in Natal as many as fifty-eight have been founded by these Nonconformists. Immigration. — Co©lte Labour. Direct immigration from Europe acquired but little importance before the middle of the century. About this time a group of British farmers, mostly from Yorkshire, settled in the colony of Natal. Some German peasants also arrived and took possession of concessions of land in the neighbourhood of the port. The white popidation was afterwards increased by a nxmiber of Norwegian settlers as well as by some Creoles from l^lauritius and Reunion. But despite the advantages offered by the climate to all except those of a nervous temperament or with a predisposition to apoplexy, the spontaneous annual immigration has never exceeded a few hundred persons ; a counter-movement has even set in from Natal to Australia and New Zealand. This relative neglect of Natal by British colonists has been attributed to a great variety of causes. The system of large landed estates prevails in the colony, the consequence being that the owners do not themselves work or always even reside on their properties. They employed coolies and native hands, so that the whites who give themselves to manual labour become degraded in the eyes of the aborigines. Immigrants are also naturally discouraged by the great and increasing 182 SOUTH AND EAST AFRICA. numerical preponderance of the Zulu-Kafirs. But this decided disparity between the white and coloured elements has alarmed the great English landowners them- selves ; hence societies have been established for the purpose of introducing into the colony European artisans, workmen, and domestic servants, to whom a free passage is offered on the condition of their entering into engagements of greater or less duration. In the period between 1878 and 1884 the emigrant vessels landed as many as 4,526 of these invited guests, or a yearly average of 646 persons, who have certainly contributed gradually to develop a healthy middle class between the great landowners and the natives. The men being more nume- rous than the women, the latter have no difficulty in finding partners in life, so that there are no old maids in Natal as in England. The European population thus also regularly increases by the normal excess of births over deaths. Between the years 1880 and 1884 the increase from this source and direct immigration was at the rate of 2,472 a year, but since then assisted emigration has been stopped. The European population has increased by nearly 50 per cent, since 1859, and in 1888 numbered altogether considerably over forty thousand. To cultivate their extensive domains the English proprietors in Natal have had recourse chiefly to imported labour, Hindu coolies mainly from the Bengal and Madras presidencies. At first they tried to utilise the Kafir element, and in many places are still obliged to fall back occasionally on the aborigines. But there is little love lost on either side, and on the termination of their engagement, usually for one or two years, the Kafirs quit the farms and return to their respective tribes. At times they even contrive to get recalled by their chiefs before the stipulated term of service has expired The Kafir works in any case grudgingly for a master. He has, as a rule, his own hut, his own field of maize, and perhaps a few head of cattle ; hence when asked by Europeans to take service for a salary, he is apt indignantly to decline, and even to turn the tables by asking the white to accept employment under him. Thus the Natal planters are naturally driven to cast about for less independent hirelings. They have tried Hottentots and members of tribes more to the north ; but find the mild Hindu more suitable for th-eir purpose. The colonial Govern- ment advances the funds required to recruit these Asiatics, who are supplied to the various plantations according to the demand. The period of contract is usually for ten years, and in return for his daily labour of from eight to ten hours the coolie receives wages at the rate of about twelve shillings a month, besides his food, lodging, and an outfit. Those who complete the full term of their engage- ment can claim a free passage back to their homes, unless they prefer to offer their services according to the current prices in the labour market. Most of them remain in the colony and marrj- one of their fellow-countrj-women, for the importers of coolies are bound to introduce both sexes, in the proportion of forty women to a hundred men. Some become gardeners or owners of small holdings in the neighbourhood of the towns ; others turn to trade and open shops, usually in the haberdashery or provision Hues, and, thanks to their extreme frugality, have become formidable competitors with the European dealers, who loudly comI RESOURCES OF NATAL. 188 plain of the importation of these troublesome rivals. In 1884 the Hindus settled in Natal already numbered over twenty-seven thousand, and this element is steaflily increasing. Including with the Europeans and Ilindus all other strangers, such as Malays, Chinese, and half-castes, the foreigners of all kinds now represent about one-sixth of the whole population of Natal. Nearly all have special occupations according to their several nationalities. Thus immigrants from St. Helena are generally coachmen and drivers, the Germans farmers or clerks, the Dutch stock-breeders, the Norwegians fishers, and so on. Agricultural and Mineral REsouRrEs. — Communications. The colonial Government still possesses a vast extent of unsold lands suitable either for tillage or grazing. Of a total extent of over 12,000,000 acres, including, however, rocky ground and waste spaces of all sorts, 2,770,000 acres were still undisposed of in 1885, and most of this land was situated in the southern part of the colony near Pondoland. The ground actually cultivated by Europeans docs not exceed 90,000 acres, which is scarcely more than the hundredth part of the domains owned by them. The so-called locations, or reserves, secured absolutely to the Kafirs represent a total area of 2,000,000 acres. The extent of the allot- ments offered for sale or on lease has varied according to the oscillations of the colonial policy. The first Dutch settlers had appropriated to themselves lots of 6,000 acres and upwards, so that about two thousand proprietors would have sufficed to swallow up the whole territory. Since that epoch the average size of the allot- ments has been considerably less, although many have still exceeded 1,000, or even 2,000 and 3,000 acres. But in the neighbourhood of towns there is a general ten- dency towards the creation of small holdings. The staple agricultural product of Natal is the " mealie," or maize. This cereal yields in superabundance all that is required by the Kafirs, the Hindus, and their domestic animals, leaving sufficient fur a considerable export trade. All other European cereals are also cultivated, and every town and hamlet is sur- rounded by a zone of gardens or orchards, which have replaced the old forest vegetation nearly entirely destroyed by the axe or fire. Even the dense mangrove thickets on the coastlands have been almost everywhere consumed, their incor- ruptible wood being highly appreciated for all kinds of joiners' work. Thanks to its sub-tropical climate. Natal also produces plants unknown in the • European temperate zone. But since the year 1872 the extensive coffee planta- tions have suffered so much from the ravages of disease that this industry has been almost abandoned. Attempts have here and there been made to replace it by tea ; but in 1885 the plantations did not exceed 400 acres altogether, yielding lor exportation little over 35,000 lbs. of this article. Attention has also been paid to the cultivation of hemp, Phormium tenax, and other fibrous plants. On the plantations of the seaboard the chief cultivated plant is the sugar-cane, which was introduced in 1851. In 1884 these plantations covered a total extent of 29,000 acres, and produced a crop of 18,771 tons, over a third of which was exported 194 SOUTH AND KVST AFEICA. "ovcr-berg," that is, to tho Boer repubUcs beyonl the mountains. Enough remainod to distil 2,200,000 gallons of rum on these plantations, which are the favourite resort of a harmless species of python that never attacks man, but preys on such noxious vermin as rats and field mice. The breeding of horned cattle, which was the only industry in Natal during the first years of the Boer occupation, has diminished in relative importance since 1855, when a destructive plague swept away 96 per cent, of all the animals attacked. But the herds have been restored by the practice of inoculation, by the introduction of fresh stock, and an improved sanitary system. In 1884 the live stock comprised over 575,000 head of cattle, an enormous proportion, inas- much as it far exceeded the number of inhabitants. There were also over 43,000 horses and 522,000 sheep belonging to colonists and natives. But the Natal pasture-lands are at times visited by millions of sheep belonging to the Boer grazers of tho Orange Free State and Transvaal, who move from place to place with the seasons. In summer they drive their flocks to the upland valleys of the western slopes; in winter they cross the dividing range and descend to the warmer camping-grounds of Natal. The wool yielded by their flocks is also forwarded through the port of the British colony. The stock-breeders have introduced the Angora goat ; but they have paid little attention to ostrich farming, being doubtless deterred by the partial failure of their neighbours in Cape Colony. Natal contains some deposits of copper, gold, and graphite, but not in sufficient abundance to render mining operations remunerative. The chief mineral resources of the country are iron and coal, which occur in the northern districts, especially on both slopes of the Biggarsberg Range. Here the chief centre of population has received the name of Newcastle, as if it were destined one day to rival the great centre of the coalfields in the north of England. The carboniferous district exceeds 1,400 square miles in extent, and some of the seams are over ten feet thick. Including the horizontal strata alone that lie near the surface and that have hitherto been surveyed on the British slope of the Drakenberg, the engineer North has estimated the quantity of good coal here stored up for future use at over two billion tons. Till recently this vast .accumulation of excellent fuel lay almost untouched except by the few native blacksmiths of the district. But since the railway has penetrated from Durban into the Upper Tugela Valley, it is also used for the locomotives. Coal mining cannot fail to become an important local industry with the development of the railway system, and the establishment of sugar refineries, smelting furnaces, and factories in the colony. The Natal railways, all of which belong to the Government, had a total length of over 200 miles in the year 1887. But only one important line had been com- pleted, that running from Port Natal through Pieter Maritzburg north-westwards to its present terminus at Ladysmith, and which is intended ultimately to cross the Drakenberg and ejffect a junction with the railway system of the Dutch republics. These works are at the same time carried out with the utmost economy consistent with safety. The steepest gradients exceed one inch in forty ; the sharpest curves
have a radius of little over 300 feet, and all the engineering operations have been 
The carriage roads, which complete the network of communications in the colony, are also planned with great skill and daring. Many of them skirt the deep ravines and ascend the precipitous flanks of the main range in order to reach
the level of the inland plateaux. Most of the main highways converge on Port Natal, where is centred all the foreign trade of the colony.
Topography of Natal.
The southern district between the Um-Tavuna and Um-Zimkulu rivers is one of the most thinly peopled in Natal, and here the white squatters are still scattered in small and isolated groups amid the surrounding Zulu and Pondo populations. In this district has recently been founded the Norwegian agricultural settlement of Marburg. It lies within six miles of the little port of Shepstone, which is formed by the estuary of the Um-Zimkulu, but which is often almost inaccessible to shipping. Other so-called "ports," carefully avoided, however, by skippers, follow northwards along this exposed seaboard, which runs in nearly a straight line from the Kafirland frontier to the capital. Such are Port Harding at the mouth of the Um-Zumbi, and Port Scott in the Um-Pambynioni estuary. But the only pare of the whole coast which is sufficiently indented to offer a large basin to shipping is the inlet of Port Natal, sighted by Vasco de Gama in the yest 1497. At ea point a ridge of rocks with an average height of 200 feet, then, parallel with tho original coastline and afterwards connected by upheaval with the mainland,
terminates at its northern extremity in a bluff or steep headland completely sheltering from the winds and surf a spacious inlet, which is all that remains of the ancient channel between the ridge and the true shore line. At the entrance of this inlet the action of the waves has gradually developed a spit of sand which has its root on the northern shore, whence it projects in a south-easterly direction towards the bluff. Thus is left to shipping only a narrow passage, the sill of which changes in position and depth with the tides and storms. Formerly the depth varied at low water from six or seven to sixteen feet, and vessels drawing over ten feet seldom ventured to cross the bar. But a breakwater running from the spit of sand towards the north-east has had the result of increasing the scour DURBAN. 187 of the ebb tides, thus lowering the sill by about two feet, while at the same time rendering it more capable of resisting the action of the atmosphere and marine currents. The city built on the shores of Port Natal was founded in the year 1846, in a thicket at that time still frequented by elephants. This place, which received the name of Durban {W Urban) in honour of a governor of the Cape, consists in reality of two distinct towns connected by a railway. These are Port Natal, the marine quarter, with its piers, docks, and stores grouped near the entrance of the inlet, and Durban, the city proper, with its broad streets lined with shady trees, its magnificent sub-tropical gardens, bananas, bamboos, and banians, covering the gentle slope of a hill on the north side of the bay. This wooded hill, which sweeps round to the west, is dotted over with pleasant country seats and villas, whence a fine panoramic view is commanded of the bay vrith its islets and encircling shores. Here reside most of the wealthy merchants, who have their offices in the city. On the west side of the estuary is the little hamlet of Congella, memorable as the spot where the first Boer immigrants formed their camping-ground. Durban, although not the capital, is the largest town in the colony, and is remarkable for the cosmopolitan character of its population, including considerable numbers of Zulu Kafirs, Hindus, Arabs, Chinese, English and other Europeans. The island of Salisbury in the bay is inhabited by over two hundred Hindus, who are almost exclusively engaged in the capture and curing of fish for the market of Durban. Other Hindus occupied with gardening supply the city and neighbour- hood with fruits and vegetables. Durban suffered from the lack of fresh water before the recent construction of an aqueduct, which now brings from a distance of eight miles a superabundant daily supply of no less than 250,000 gallons of good water. Thanks to its port and its railways, which run southwards in the direction of Isipingo and the sugar plantations, northward to the town of Verulam, also lying in a sugar-growing district, and north-westwards to Pieter Maritzburg, Durban has become the great centre of trade for the whole of Natal. It also attracts a large share of the traffic with the Dutch republics, although these states possess alternative outlets for their produce at Port Elizabeth and Cape Town, and are also developing their railway system in the direction of Louren90 Marques, with the view of securing that Portuguese harbour as a convenient seaport on the Indian Ocean. When the Orange Free State and the Transvaal enjoy the advan- tage of this direct route through Portuguese territory there can be no doubt that the trade of Durban will be considerably reduced. At present its exchanges far exceed in value those of all the rest of the colony, although the business of Port Natal has already been somewhat injured since the time of the great speculations caused by the diamond and gold fevers. But notwithstanding these temporary checks its general foreign trade has increased enormously from decade to decade, its average value having risen from a little over £110,000 between 1846 and 1855 to about £2,520,000 between 1876 and 1886. Both for exports and imports Great Britain is by far the best customer of Igg SOUTH AND EAST AFRICA. Natal ; next to the mother country comes Austrah'a, from which it receives con- siderable supplies of farinaceous substances. But, strange to say, notwithstanding its close proximity. Cape Colony maintains less trading relations with Natal than India, the United States, and even Brazil. The local retail business with the Hindus and natives is almost entirely monopolised by the Arab and other Asiatic dealers resident in Durban. On the road from Durban to Pieter Maritzburg the only place laying claim to the title of a town is Pinetoicn, centre of the German population in Natal. A neighbouring missionary station bears the comprehensive name of Neu-Deutschhnd (" New Germany "), and an agricultural establishment has been founded in the vicinity by some Trappist monks, mostly Germans by birth. Pieter Maritzburg, or more briefly Maritzburg, capital of Natal, is pleasantly situated at an altitude of over 2,000 feet above the sea, on a fertile plain which is watered by a southern affluent of the Ura-Geni, and which is completely encircled by gently sloping hills. Maritzburg is one of the most delightful cities in the whole of Africa, and the rich vegetation of its gardens and surrounding wood- lands resembles that of the European temperate zone rather than that of tropical lands. Although less populous than Durban, it has a far more numerous propor- tion of Government officials and employes. Here also is situated the military camp occupied by the principal division of troops stationed in the colony. Holding a central position in the country close to the seat of Government, this little army can easily be moved in the direction of any point where danger may threaten. The agricultural colony of Wilgefontein, established in the neighbourhood of Maritzburg, has turned its attention with great success to the cultivation of spring fruits and vegetables, which here yield excellent returns. On the opposite side of the Zwaartkop Range north of this district flows the Um-Geni, a river famous for its magnificent cascades. One of these, near the little town of Hoirick, tumbles in a single foaming mass over a basalt ledge from a height which has been variously estimated at from 280 to 320 feet. Lower down the stream ramifies into several branches, and here numerous picturesque little falls, separated by intervening reefs and clumps of trees, are disposed in a long line following the rocky bed of the main channel. Lidgettmni, north of Maritzburg, is situated, like the capital and Howick, in the same valley of the Um-Geni. " Dutch" Grcytoxcn, as it is called, lies in the Upper Um-Yoti basin ; but all the other centres of population belong to the region watered by the Tugela, the chief river in Natal. Estcourt and Weenen (" Weeping") follow in succession along the left bank of the Bushman affluent; Cofenso has been founded on the main stream, Ladysmith on its tributary the Klip; Newcastle (4,100 fiet) at the northern extremity of the colony, on a small affluent of the Buffalo, or Upper Tugela. North of Newcastle, at the point where the territory of Natal impinges on the Orange Free State and Transvaal, rises the steep Majuba (Ama-Juba) Hill, memorable for the victory gained by the Boers in 1881 over the British troops entrenched on the summit. On these uplands the crests, peaks, tables, or domes of the mountain ranges rise but little above rolling ADMINISTRATION OF NATAL. 189 surfaces of the elevated inland plateau. Here the villages lie sheltered from the keen winds in the depressions of the grassy soil. Besides Durban and Maritzburg only three other places in Natal — Verulam, Ladysmith, and Newcastle — were of sufficient importance in 1886 to constitute themselves municipal towns. Admi nistration. — Finance. Natal has not yet risen to the dignity of an autonomous colony enjoying self- government, naming its own ministers and providing for its own defence. It is etill a " crown colony," directly dependent on the British Government, although already possessing a certain degree of independence. The Governor of Natal is appointed by the Queen, as is also the Executive Council, which consists of the Chief Justice, the senior officer in command of the troops, the Colonial Secretary, the Treasurer, the Attorney-General, the Secretary for Native Affairs, the Colonial Engineer, and two members nominated by the Governor from among the deputies elected to the Legislative Council. Till recently half the members of the Legisla- tive Council were also nominated by the Crown ; but under the Act which received the royal assent in 1883, this body now consists of thirty members, seven only of whom are appointed by the Crown, and all the others elected by the counties and boroughs, the qualification of electors being the possession of immovable property to the value of £50, or renting such property of the annual value of £10, or residence of three years in the colony with an income of £96 per annum, inclusive of allowances. Nobody is officially excluded from the franchise on the ground of his colour, his origin, or his religion. But the bulk of the aborigines and Asiatics are practically disfranchised by a sweeping clause, to the effect that none shall be inscribed on the list of voters who may belong to any class placed by special legislation under the jurisdiction of special courts or subject to special laws and tribunals. By this arrangement the elections are at present almost entirely controlled by the white vote, and Natal is prevented from reverting to the state of anarchy which prevailed in this region before the introduction of the European system of government. The central authority appoints the judges of the Supreme Court, the resident magistrates, and the " field- comets," who maintain order in the various districts. It also names the administrators and employes, and even selects the greater part of the professors and teachers, the public instruction depending to a great extent on the colonial budget. Durban and Maritzburg have each its high school, whence students holding scholarships may pass on to the English universities. The large towns are provided with primary schools supported by the colonial funds. A large number of private schools, especially those belonging to the missions, also receive Government aid, either in money or land. Edendale, near Maritzburg, is the chief centre of the educational zeal displayed by the "Wesleyan missionaries. The examinations in the various schools are conducted by special examiners. But notwithstanding all this machinery the proportion of native children who learn to 190 SOUTH AND EAST AFEICA. read is very small. On the other hand, not more than two hundred white children, or about one-twentieth of those at an age to receive instruction, are illiterate. The serious question of colonial defence is the reason why Natal still continues under the direct control of the Home Government. The colonists do not feel themselves yet strong enough to defend themselves. They are surrounded by populations whose smoiJdering hostility might easily be rekindled. On the south- west frontier dwell the Pondos, on the west the Basutos, on the north-west the Boers, on the north-east the Zulus ; while within their borders they might have at any moment to face a rising of the natives far outnumbering all the rest of the jwpulation together. In the presence of so many dangers they are fain still to look to the mother country for help. The colony is at present protected by a small British array of over a thousand men, which is divided into three corps, stationed at Maritzburg, Estcourt, and Greytown. These troops serve at the same time as a model for the formation of an effective body of colonial forces, comprising a squadron of two hundred and eighty mounted police and a regiment of volunteers over a thousand strong. In every to^vn companies of rifles have also been formed, which the Government encourages by the distribution of prizes, while, on the other hand, strictly forbidding the sale of arms and ammunition to the natives. Since the year 1856 it has also been made penal to seU or give them alcoholic drinks, under a penalty of fine or imprisonment. Unfortunately this humane law is often violated, especially by the Hindu dealers. The colonial budget, derived chiefly from customs and the native hut tax, usually shows a relatively heavy deficit, which has to be covered by loans. The consequence is that in 1888 the public debt approached £4,000,000. The European colonists themselves pay no direct taxes, while the postal and telegraph services and State railways cost the Government much more than they contribute to the revenue. The annual grant formerly set aside for assisted emigrants has under these circumstances had to be discontinued. On the other hand, the bill for the extension of the railway system to the two neighbouring Dutch republics, and the raising of a loan of £1,500,000 for that purpose, were passed through committee in the Natal legislature in March, 1888. For administrative purposes Natal is divided into eight counties and twelve divisions, which with their white population and chief towns will be found tabu- lated in the Appendix. ZULULAND. On repeated occasions the British and Dutch authorities have concluded treaties with the native chiefs of Zululand, guaranteeing to them the possession of the territory comprised between the Natal frontier, the border range, and the Portu- guese possessions. But, as in other parts of Austral Africa, official conventions were powerless to prevent a chronic state of hostility between the Europeans and the aborigines, manifested either by occasional incursions of armed bands or by simple plunder of land and live stock, but also at times breaking out into open warfare. The Zulu domain was thus inch by inch encroached upon, especially by the Boers descending from the inland plateaux and seizing one camping-ground after another. A "New Republic" was thus constituted, with the obvious intention of soon forming it into a maritime province of Transvaal. But this open violation of their conventions with the suzerain power compelled the interference of Great Britain, which by extending its protectorate over the southern part of Zululand arrested the aggressive advance of the Transvaal Boers, who were instinctively seeking an independent outlet for their trade on the nearest seaboard to their domain.
Owing to this action of the stronger power all the coastlands from the mouth of the Tugela to the river Maputa, which flows to Delagoa Bay, belong henceforth to England. But the upland valleys of the border ranges draining to the Indian Ocean have become an integral part of the South African Republic. The superficial area of the now partitioned land, where predominate the three nations of the Zulus, Swazis, and Tongas, is estimated at 20,000 square miles, with a total population of about two hundred thousand souls. The fragment attached to the Transvaal under the name of the "New Republic" comprises a space of nearly 3,000 square miles, while British Zululand, henceforth placed under the administration of the Governor of Natal, has an area of 8,500 square miles.
The Zulus (Ama-Zulus) are far less numerous in the land where they were till recently masters than in the colony of Natal, where they are kept under strict control, but where they have every opportunity of gaining a livelihood by manual labour. In the territory limited southwards by the Tugela they are at present estimated at scarcely more than a hundred thousand. But the land has been for generations wasted by sanguinary wars of succession, followed by foreign invasions by which whole provinces were depopulated. In 1879 occurred the final struggle in which the Zulus ventured to make a stand against the English. Despite their inferior discipline and defective armaments they were victorious in some engagements, notably at Isandhlwana, a spot lying near the left bank of the Buffalo (Upper Tugela), to the east of its confluence with the Blood River. Here is situated the ford of Rorke's Drift, the possession of which was frequently disputed as one of the most important strategic points in the whole territory. The English after seizing it had occupied the eastern terraces of the Buffalo valley, were surprised by an overwhelming force of Zulus, and one wing of the invading army annihilated. This event was soon after followed by the death of Prince Napoleon, only son of the dethroned and lately deceased Emperor Napoleon IIT., who had volunteered to serve with the British forces, but who was cut off with a small party in the bush. But the first reverses were soon repaired and the Zulu army was completely routed on the banks of the Um-Volosi river, close to the very spot where, according to immemorial tradition, was born the family of Zulu, founder of the nation. After reducing the country, the English divided it amongst thirteen protected chiefs, a foolish arrangement which brought about a series of intertribal wars, followed by hopeless anarchy. Then came the encroachments of the Transvaal Boers, leading to the establishment of the British Protectorate, which has at length brought a period of repose to this distracted land, the 192 SOUTH AND EAST AFRICA.
scene of almost uninterrupted wars and maaeacres since the rise of the Zulu
military power early in the present century.
The Zulus.
The Ama-Zulus, or " People of Zulu," that is of the " Heavenly," do not pre-
sent a physical tj-pe distinct from that of the other Kafir nations in the south-east
corner of the continent. They are in fact not a separate race, but an amalgam
of all the surrounding tribes that were successively " eaten up " when the original
Zulu group began its career of conquest under Chaka, about the beginning of the
century. The communities thus devoured by the " Great Lion " were never com-
pletely exterminated, the women and children being usiially reserved for the
conquering nation, while the young men were enrolled in the victorious army.
The primitive tribes were doomed to disappear all the more rapidly in the multitude
of the conquered that Chaka had forbidden his warriors to marry. The veterans
alone were permitted to take wives, the number being proportioned to that of the
enemy slain by them in battle. To stifle the growth of the human affections that
might have enervated or incapacitated them for their work of ruthless destruction,
Chaka ordered all new-born babes to be slaughtered. In order to set an example,
he himself celebrated no marriages according to the ancient usages, and caused all
his children to be put to death at their birth. As a jealous monarch he looked
upon every son born to him as a possible future rival, and preferred to cut him off
betimes.
This atrocious ruler, drilling the whole nation like a perfect engine of war,
had sacrificed all other interests of the State to the insatiable thirst of conquest.
The capital was nothing but a military camp, while similar camps were distributed
throughout the whole land. In the villages grouped round the kraals of the
warriors, the women and slaves stored provisions for the army, which was fed
exclusively on a meat diet, milk, the food of the peaceful, being interdicted. The
Zulus, formidable especially for their manner of attack, had abandoned the dart,
which is hurled at a distance, retaining only the assegai or hand-spear, with which
to strike at close quarters. Nor were their irregular hordes any longer flung in
disorder against the enemy, but the well-trained troops were so disposed as gradu-
ally to envelope the opposing forces, attacking first on one flank then on another,
and thus step by step driving them in on the central body, by which they were
then overwhelmed. After the victory all attention was turned to the capture of
the cattle, which had been driven to a distance from the battlefield, and it was
characteristic of the thoroughness of the system that the very herds were trained to
sudden retreat in disciplined order.
But such a purely military organisation necessarily tended to involve the whole
nation in ruin. Founded by the sword, the Zulu empire perished by the sword.
After breaking like angry waves against the outspanned waggons encircling the
Boer encampments, the Zulu .bands could no longer hope to exterminate the white
intruders, and so turned in fierce internecine warfare one against the other. And AMATONOAI.AND. 198
now these warlike tribes live only on the proud memory of their past heroic deeds
and conquests, porhups dimly conscious that these very glories, after bringing
about the destruction of their military jjowcr, render the people themselves less
capable than others of turning to peaceful ways, and thus successfully continuing
the struggle for existence. Constituted of so many discordant elements, the Zulu
nation was distinguished from the other brunches of the Kafir race nuiinly by its
warlike institutions and the military ardour engendered by hereditary training.
IJut being the descendants of picked men, they are generally a handsome people,
tall, vigorous, active, of dignified carriage, and skilful at all bodily exercises.
They possess such natural grace that all costumes alike become them.
At the same time they are fully conscious, if not a little proud, of their physical
advantages, which they endeavour to heighten by the elegant fold of their flowing
toga, by adorning ai-ms. legs, and breast with rings and pearls, and decking the
head with plumes and flowers. The married men are fond of disposing the hair
in the form of a coronet, stiffening it with gum and a mixture of clay and ochre.
Of a kindly cheerful disposition, they seem to harbour no rancorous feeling
against their white conquerors ; but on the other hand, they never forget or forgive
a personal wrong.
Formerly the characteristic fetishes were the assegai and warrior's shield.
Travellers of the past generation describe with a sort of awe the military dances
and processions, when the fierce Zulu men of war, adorned with the horns and tails
of oxen, defiled before their king, the while singing the tidings from the battle-
field, the " news of the assegai." But the obligation to dwell in peace under the
threat of still more potent fetishes, the gun and rifle of the white man, will doubt-
less tend to modify their superstitions and soften their tribal usages. Although
still for the most part refractory to the glad tidings of the gospel, they will
gradually cease to recognise the souls of their forefathers in the familiar snakes
gliding abuut amid their dwellings. Like their kinsmen in Natal, the Zulus of
the region bej^ond the Tugela are already exchanging the sword for the plough,
while the hitherto neglect e<l industrial arts have begun to make some progress in
their village communities. The blacksmith's trade, however, was always held in
honour, and the native metallurgists were long acquainted with the process of
making a more durable iron than that imported by the English, while their
jewellers had learnt to work the copper obtained by them from the Portuguese of
Louren^o Marques.
Amatongaland and Swaziland.
North of Zululand proper stretches the narrow domain of the peaceful Amatonga
(Ama-Tonga) nation, whose name recalls their former subjection to the Zulu con-
querors. Being farther removed from the Natal frontier, and dwelling in seclu-
sion along the shores of Lake St. Lucia and the coast lagoons, these agricultural
tribes had hitherto kept more aloof from European influences. They were also
protected from intrusion by the malarious climate of the low-lying coastlands
inhabited by them. Nevertheless the ubiquitous German trader, Liideritz, after
110— A? acquiring the Angra Pequena district for his countrymen, also attempted to occupy the maritime territory encircling the St. Lucia lagoon. But Portugal had long asserted her rights over the whole of this region between the lagoon and Delagoa Fig. 68. — St Lucia lagoon and backwaters.
Bay, and especially over the basin of the Maputa River from its mouth in the bay as far as the Lubombo Hills. It was accordingly announced in March, 1888, that the Queen of Amatongaland had formally recognised the sovereignty of Portugal over the part of her territory comprised within the southern boundaries assigned to Portugal by the MacMahon award.
The Amaswazi (Ama-Swazi) territory lying more inland beyond the Lubombo range is even more seriously menaced than the Amatonga domain, for it forms an intervening zone between the Transvaal plateau and Delagoa Bay, and is also known to abound in mineral wealth. The Boer grazers often penetrate into this district, where they claim certain rights of pasturage, and usually come armed in order to vindicate those pretensions against all comers. On the other hand, the English of Cape Colony and Natal demanded in 1887 the appointment of a British agent to reside with the King of the Swazi people, and to afford military aid against the Boer intruders from the inland plateaux. English missionaries were already stationed in the country so early as 1822; and although they were massacred they were followed by other preachers of the gospel, who founded more permanent stations in Swaziland. SWAZILAND. 195 The Amaswazi people, who are estimutcHl nt ubout eighty thousand soulc, take their name from a local chief, who aeqiiiriKl the political ascendancy in the year ltS4;j. They had previously heen known as the Ba-Kapu/a people, from another chief renowned for his warlike exploits at an earlier periiKl. The distinguishing murk of all the Swazi tribes is an incision in the cartilage of the ear. Their present ruler has become one of ihe wealthiest ]M»rson8 in South Africa since the formation of numerous companies to work the gold-mines in his territory. His share in each speculation has been tixed at an annual sum of not less than £'J00. At present there is scarcely any resident European population in any part of Zululand. The whites are even provisionally forbidden to acquire land or establish pl&ntations in this region, where the oidy settlers are tho missionaries, a few grazers and gold-hunters, Wsides two or throe dealers in the neighbourhood of the coast. Nor are there any European buildings, beyond some military posts at the strategical jM>int8, and a small numbiT of schools and chapels, centres of civiliza- tion round which will doubtless one day spring up regular towns and villages. The natural centre of the country is the district about the confluence of the two Um-Volosi rivers. Here was formerly situated Uiiodirenr/n, the royal kraal, or capital of the Zulu kingdom. This place was succeeded by Ulundi, a town of over a thousand huts disposed in the form of a fortified circular enclosure some miles in circumference, within which the herds were safely i)enned. I'lundi was destroyed in its turn, and nothing now marks the site of this historic jdace except an obscure hamlet. All the other centres of population in Zululand, as well as in Swaziland, are also constructed on the model of a large cattle pen. Although these regions cannot be said to be yet completely pacifie^l, there can be no doubt that both Natal and Zululand are henceforth safe from the danger of any sudden organised rising on the part of the natives. The Zulu military system founded by Chaka was utterly destroyed by the overthrow and removal of Cety- wayo from the scene, while the Zulu nation itself was, so to say, resolved into its original tribal fragments. The chief obstacle to a systematic colonisation of the country having thus disapj)eared, one may well feel astonished that, from the immense stream of Britisli migration, such a small current is annually deflected towards the still sparsely peopled lands of Austral Africa, which are, nevertheless, spacious and fertile enough to afford support to many millions of human beings. Doubtless this phenomenon must to a great extent be attribut^d to the national instinct of the emigrants themselves. When they quit their English homes they naturally desire to settle in another England, resembling their native land as closely as possible in its language, social usages, and ethnical if not ix>litieal cohesion. Hence the preference they show for the United States, Australia, New Zealand over Austral Africa, where they would be thrown into contact with Dutch lioers, Hottentots, Kafirs, black and yellow peoples of every race. Although political rulers of the land, they feel dissatisfied at forming such a small minority of the entire {wpulation.