The Young Colonists: A Story of the Zulu and Boer Wars Read online

Thefields were well cultivated and the vegetation thick and luxuriant, butas they ascended the character of the country changed. Vast stretchesof rolling grass everywhere met the eye. This was now beautifullygreen, for it was winter. In the summer and autumn the grass becomesdry and burnt up; fire is then applied to it, and the whole countryassumes a black mantle. But the first shower of rain brings up theyoung grass and in a very short time the country is covered with freshverdure.

  Mr Humphreys told his wife that, before fixing on the farm, he hadridden into the Transvaal, and found that land could be purchased thereeven more cheaply than in Natal; but that he had much conversation withEnglish settlers on the frontier, and these had for the most partstrongly advised him to settle inside the Natal frontier.

  "It may be that all will be right," one had told him, "but the Boershave not yet recovered from their scare from Secoceni."

  "Who is Secoceni, father?" Dick asked. "The books we have say nothingabout him."

  "No," Mr Humphreys said; "they were all published a few years since,and none of them treat much of the affairs of the Transvaal, which, asan independent state, had comparatively little interest to Englishsettlers. There are in the Transvaal, which is of immense extent, avery large number of natives, enormously outnumbering the Boers. In thesouthern districts, where the Boers are strongest, they cruellyill-treat the natives, making slaves of them, and thinking no more ofshooting one of them down than they would of shooting a dog. In theoutlying provinces they live almost on sufferance of the natives, and,were these to unite their forces and rise, they could annihilate theDutch. Secoceni is a powerful chief, who lives with his tribe in anatural stronghold; he has always held himself as independent of theDutch. As his men used to make raids upon the Boers' cattle, the latterattacked him, and in alliance with Swazis, another powerful tribe,endeavoured to carry his fortress; they were, however, badly beaten; itbeing only by the gallantry of their native allies that the Boercontingent was saved from destruction. Secoceni then took theoffensive. A perfect panic seized the Boers; they refused to obey theorders of their government, and to turn out to resist the invaders. Thetreasury was empty, for their government had never been enabled topersuade them to pay taxes. They applied for aid to Natal, but finallytheir plight was so bad that they were glad to accept the offer whichMr Shepstone made them, of annexation to England, by which they securedour protection and were safe from annihilation. Secoceni was not theonly enemy who threatened them. They had a still more formidable foe inthe Zulus on the eastern frontier. These are a very warlike people, andit was known that their king meditated the conquest of the Transvaal.But, glad enough as the Boers were at the moment to accept theprotection of England, now that the danger is over a great many of themwould like to kick down the bridge which has helped them over thestream. They make no secret of their dislike to Englishmen, andalthough they are glad enough to sell their land at prices immensely inadvance of the former value, for indeed land was previously almostunsaleable in the Transvaal, they are on bad terms with them. One of myinformants describes them as a sullen, sulky people, and predicts thatsooner or later we shall have trouble with them; so I thought it betteraltogether to pay a little higher for my land, and to be within theboundaries of this colony."

  On arriving at the farm Mrs Humphreys was glad to find that the house,though rough, was substantial. It was built of stone. The walls wereof great thickness, as the stones were laid without mortar, with which,however, it was faced inside and out. One large room occupied thegreater portion of the ground floor; beside this was a smallsitting-room. Upstairs were four bedrooms. For the time the small roomdownstairs was turned into a bedroom, which Mr and Mrs Humphreysoccupied. The four bedrooms upstairs just held the rest of the party.The out-houses consisted only of a large barn and a rough stable.

  Mr Humphreys at once rode over to Newcastle, and obtained the servicesof a mason and six Kaffirs, and proceeded to add a wing to thefarmhouse. This was for the use of Johnson and his wife, and Harrison.The whole party were, however, to take their meals together in the greatkitchen. A hut was also built for the Kaffirs, and another large stablewas erected.

  A few days after his arrival Mr Humphreys went across the border intothe Transvaal, taking Harrison and two of the Kaffirs with him, andreturned a fortnight later with a herd of 400 cattle, which he hadpurchased. He also bought three yoke of oxen, broken to the plough.Hitherto the farm had been purely a pastoral one, but Mr Humphreys atonce began to break up some land for wheat and Indian corn. The Kaffirswere set to work to fence and dig up a plot round the house forvegetables, and to dig holes near it, over a space of some acres, forthe reception of 3000 young fruit-trees--apples, pears, peaches, andplums,--which he had bought at Pieter-Maritzburg, and which were to comeup in two months' time. He also bought six riding-horses.

  In a few weeks the farm assumed quite a different appearance. A gang ofKaffirs, ten strong, had been hired to hurry on the work of preparingthe orchard and erecting a fence round it. Wood was, Mr Humphreysfound, extremely scarce and dear, the country being absolutely bare oftrees, and wood for fuel was only obtained in kloofs or deep hollows,and had to be fetched long distances.

  "I suppose," Mrs Humphreys said to her husband one evening, "you meanto make cattle-raising your principal point?"

  "No," he said; "every one raises cattle, and the Dutch can do it cheaperthan we can; they have immense tracts of land, and their Kaffir labourcosts them next to nothing. I do not say that we could not live and toa certain extent thrive on cattle, but I think that there is somethingmuch better to be done. Wood is an awful price here, and all that isused has to be brought up from the coast. I think therefore of plantingtrees. The climate is magnificent, and their growth will be rapid.They will of course require fencing to keep out the cattle, but I shalldo that, as I am doing the orchard, with wire fencing and lightiron-uprights. Labour is plentiful, and there are large nurseries nearPieter-Maritzburg, where I can procure any number of young trees; so Imean to plant 200 acres a year--in ten years the whole farm will beplanted, and the loppings for poles and firewood will in a very shorttime after planting begin to pay well. In fifteen years the first 200acres will be fit to fell, and the property will be worth a very largesum of money. Of course we can sell out before that if we like. But atthe present price of wood up here, or even should it fall to a quarterof its present price, the value of the 2000 acres of wood will in twentyyears be extremely large."

  The boys were delighted with their new life. Mr Humphreys had, beforeleaving England, bought for Dick a Winchester repeating-rifle. Thesearms are very light, and Dick was able to carry his without difficulty;and very shortly after their arrival his father had a mark erected at adistance from the house, at which he could practise with safety. Gamewas abundant all over the country. Herds of deer and antelope ofvarious kinds often swept past in sight of the farmhouse, and wingedgame also abounded.

  Mr Humphreys had at home been considered a first-rate shot atpartridges, and had for four or five years belonged to the Castletonvolunteers, and had carried off many prizes for rifle-shooting. He wasnow able, by going out for a few hours once or twice a week, to keep thelarder well supplied, and the little flock of fifty sheep, which he hadbought for home-consumption, was but seldom drawn upon. The Kaffirswere fed upon mealies, as they call Indian corn, of which Mr Humphreyshad no difficulty in purchasing sufficient for his wants from theneighbouring farmers.

  His next neighbours were two brothers, Scotchmen, named Fraser, wholived at a distance of four miles. They rode over the day after thetravellers' arrival, and offered their services in any way. MrHumphreys, however, was well supplied with stores of all kinds, and histwo white labourers, being both handy men, were able to do all that wasrequired about the house.

  The Frasers proved pleasant neighbours, and often rode over and spentSunday with the Humphreys, and the boys sometimes went over and spentthe day with them.

  A Kaffir lad, son of one of the men e
ngaged upon the farm, was hired byMr Humphreys as a special attendant for Dick. On these vast undulatingplains, where there are no trees to serve as a landmark, it isexceedingly difficult for a stranger to find his way. Dick was told byhis father that, whether riding or walking, he was always to take theKaffir boy with him; and except when he was indulging in a gallop thelad was easily able to keep up with him. He had been born a hunter, andsoon taught Dick how to stalk the timid deer, and, as the lad improvedin his shooting, he was ere long enabled to keep the larder supplied--aduty which Mr Humphreys gladly handed over to him, as every minute ofhis own time was occupied by his work on the farm.

  Of an evening after supper, which was partaken of at the conclusion ofwork, the men retired to their own wing and Mrs Humphreys and the twogirls sat down to their sewing by the fire; for upon the uplands theevenings are quite cold enough to find a fire