Kaffa

“ In that map the whole of the rivers, even to the south of Enarea and Kaffa, the Gojob, (as the Doctor writes it,) the Omo, the Kibbee or Gibe, the Dedhasa, and Baro, are all made, though rising beyond, that is, to the south of Gingiro and to the south and south-east of Kaffa and Woreta, (Woreta is placed to the south of Kaffa,) to run north-westward into the Abay. ”

“ To the south-west, in the Sheka or Siaka country, the natives collect gold-dust from the sands of the rivers. The sovereigns of Kaffa maintain a ceremonious etiquette nearly as rigorous as that of the kings of Yangaro. According to Soleillet, who has recently penetrated into this country, the ministers and grandees of the kingdom cannot speak to their master unless covered with fetters like slaves, although they are separated from the royal presence by a curtain. To shun recognition the king himself goes out shabbily clothed and mounted on a miserable horse ”

“ Phasis is a city of Mingrelia, subject to prince Bendian, whose dominions extend only about three days journey in length. The country is very mountainous, and full of forests. The inhabitants are so fierce and savage, that they might be accounted wild beasts. Their principal drink is beer; they have some corn and wine, but in very small quantities; boiled millet being their ordinary food, which is a very poor kind of nourishment. They sometimes procure wine and salted fish from Trebisond, and import salt from Kaffa, without which they could not exist. ”

“ On one side likewise Mingrelia is encompassed by the river Phasis, which falls into the Black Sea. The sovereign of this country is called Bendian, or Dadian, and is in possession of two fortified towns near the sea, one of which is called Vathi, or Badias, and the name of the other is Savastopol [6] . Besides these he has several other castles and fortified rocks. The whole country is stony and barren, and millet is the only kind of grain that it produces. They get their salt from Kaffa. They manufacture some dark coarse stuffs, and are a gross and barbarous people. ”

“ May 26.—Chief Kama, the only Christian Kaffir chief—I believe the only Christian Kaffir—is passing through Peddie, with his family, baggage, followers, and fifteen hundred head of cattle. His life is not safe in the neighbourhood of his brothers, Páto and Cobus Congo. He is bound for the Bechuana country, on the other side the Orange River; but, until spring commences, he will make a halt near Beaufort, and act under the protection of our nominal and drunken ally, Macomo, uncle of Sandilla, and a chief of the Gaika tribe. ”

“ Before us, advancing down the hills, was Umhala, mounted, and surrounded by his followers, also mounted, in number about two hundred. As soon, apparently, as they had obtained a full and fair view of us, enabling them to estimate pretty accurately our number, they dismounted. Away went their horses, none being saddled, nor, apparently, bridled, to enjoy the sweets of the fresh grass. Then the Kaffir chief and his people formed themselves into a phalanx, certainly of most warlike appearance; each man bearing his war allowance of seven assegais, and carrying a musket in his right hand. ”

“ The Christian Kaffir, Kama, who had served us well during this war, against the Tambookies, remonstrated when called upon to fight against the Gaikas. He was willing, he said, to defend the white man’s property and rights, and this he did with the remnant of his tribe, but he begged the Government would not insist on his attacking his own people in their haunts. Kama and his little band have not eaten the bread of idleness during the war; cattle have been rescued by them, positions defended, and safe escort to travellers afforded. ”

“ The Kaffir has neither generosity nor gratitude, which are invariably the attributes of a brave nature; he will not meet his adversary openly, unless he has the advantage immensely in numbers, as in Captain Sandes’s case. When there are some thousands, to one helpless or unarmed man, they will annihilate him without mercy. The Kaffir has no genuine pride, for he will submit to any personal degradation to obtain his ends; in short, he is an ignoble foe, and we gain no more credit, or profit, in fighting such an enemy than if we were endeavouring to circumvent an army of baboons. ”

“ The Kaffir whose property they had become by right of the first wound—though the chief being present I found they were to be presented to him—was a great hunter, as could be seen by the leopard tails which formed his aprons and the teeth of wild beasts of which his necklaces and bracelets were composed; for in Caffraria, if a man wants to dress in these much-prized ornaments, he cannot purchase them, but must first slay their natural possessors. So proud is the hunter of these trophies of his prowess, that he will rarely part with them save to his chief or the exacting witch-doctor. ”

“ The Third Kaffir War.—On the eastern border further trouble arose with the Kaffirs, towards whom the policy of the Cape government was marked by much vacillation. On the 11th of December 1834 a chief of high rank was killed while resisting a commando party. This set the whole of the Kaffir tribes in a blaze. A force of 10,000 fighting men, led by Macomo, a brother of the chief who was killed, swept across the frontier, pillaged and burned the homesteads and murdered all who dared to resist. ”

“ Alas! within the last twelve months how many have ‘died and made no sign,’ who, with hearts crushed under the weight of sorrow and anxiety, and toil-worn and dispirited, have sat down at last, awaiting their release from present misery, in dull, absolute despair! ‘Ha!’ exclaimed the Kaffir scouts one day from the hills, ‘ha! ha! Umlunghi, we will put the cold hand upon you!’ Truly, they have kept their word, in more ways than one. ”

“ The view hence of the Caiffa bay reminds us of the prophetic blessing pronounced by the patriarch Jacob. “Zebulon shall dwell at the haven of the sea, and he shall be for a haven of ships.” I am convinced that this Hebrew root פוח (English haven and the German hafen) is perpetuated not only in those words but in the modern appellation, Caiffa, or as it may be more properly written Hhaifa. The Arabic letter ح is the real equivalent for ח in Hebrew; by grammatical permutation the letter ו rightly becomes ي in Arabic, and this we have
Hhaifa which Europeans turn into Caiffa. ”

“ There's some kind of a holy place which every Kaffir from Algoa Bay to the Zambesi and away beyond knows about. When I've been hunting in the bush-veld I've often met strings of Kaffirs from hundreds of miles distant, and they've all been going or coming from Blaauwildebeestefontein. It's like Mecca to the Mohammedans, a place they go to on pilgrimage. I've heard of an old man up there who is believed to be two hundred years old. Anyway, there's some sort of great witch or wizard living in the mountains.'
Aitken smoked in silence for a time ”

“ We have dealt too mercifully with the treacherous and cruel foe; cruel he is by nature; witness his brutality even among those of his own colour, nay, his own blood. Some say he is not cowardly; it is certain he meets death at the last moment calmly, and he has a peculiar pride in bearing pain and annoyance at all times with apparent indifference. A Kaffir will not raise his hand to remove a fly from his face ”

“ It is by these means that the Kaffirs have been enabled for years to collect it, and it is still to be feared that there are many men among the “pale faces,” wicked enough to traffic, not only in the articles named above, but in arms and ammunition. Magazines have long been stored with the latter; and as the traveller passes through a village of Kaffir huts, he little imagines that two or three of these rude edifices, standing side by side, were unceasingly and jealously watched by as many idle-looking savages, whose listless air well conceals the importance of their real occupation. ”

“ On the 23rd, men and horses began to fail in strength, for want of provision; and, tired and famished, the troops had to fight their way, as the enemy fired from every ambuscade along the line of march; horses and cattle dropping fast. After sunset, they were again beset by savages, whose fires were visible from the bivouac. Lying in a circle round the cattle, little rest could be obtained; the Kaffirs shouted and yelled as usual, saying they now had the Umlunghi “in a calabash.” As this insolence continued, it was supposed the Gaikas had come down from the Amatolas to help Páto’s people ”

“ The Cape Corps cheered heartily as they defiled through Graham’s Town, taking the road to Woest’s Hill, it being intended to occupy the old position of Major Frazer, Cape Regiment, at Lombard’s post, so celebrated in Kaffir warfare, and by which great part of the eastern division of the colony might be protected.
Volumes might be filled were I to detail half the miseries to which the colonists had been subjected during the operations of the troops in Kaffirland. None but those who have experienced it, can have an idea of the nature of the foe to which they were exposed. ”

“ The Kaffirs did not fire upon us. They were amazed and could not understand how such a handful of men dared venture amongst them. We saw Kaffirs and fires all around us, but we rode on till we were so close to the waggons that we could hear them speak. We repeated the same words we had used at the first koppie, viz.: 'that we did not wish to kill any one, only to see the king and take him with us to treat with our induna at Bulawayo.'
We got no answer; but we noticed that the Kaffirs closed their ranks behind us, in order to cut off our retreat. ”

“ How often had we paced the verandah, anxiously watching the lurid sky, red with the fires of devastation, and listening to the continued and heavy volleys of musketry between the herds and savages on the hills above us! We never permitted ourselves to think of an attack on the town; and, as the Kaffirs seldom risk their lives or spend their powder without a chance of plunder in return, we considered our lives safe, since the cattle could be swept away from the outskirts without venturing into the town. ”

“ The influence of the unseen world is ever acting upon the Kaffir. Far nearer to him than Qamata or the spirits of his ancestors is a whole host of water sprites and hobgoblins, who meet him turn which way he will. There is no beautiful fairyland for him, for all these fanciful beings who haunt the mountains, the plains, and the rivers, are either actively [22] malevolent, or mischievous and addicted to playing pranks. To protect himself from them he carries on his person charms in numbers, only to find himself still exposed to their attacks. ”

“ The mode of warfare of these two tribes, for they cannot be considered distinct nations, is in some respects different. The Kaffir goes forth to battle besmeared with red clay, simply arrayed with his kaross, armed with his musket and assegai, and accoutred with his pouch and sack, for ammunition, plunder, and provisions.
The appearance of a body of Fingoes, if less terrific, is more imposing. Their heads are ornamented with jackals’ tails, ostrich plumes, beads, wolves’ teeth, etc. Across their shoulders is flung a skin, and around their waist is girt a kilt of monkeys’ tails. ”

“ Part 1, Chapter IV. The Kaffirs and the Aborigines.
Though the publications on the Cape colony are already so numerous, and they all more or less profess to describe the native inhabitants, it is certain that we yet know very little of their real character; more especially of the character of the Kaffirs. These are often painted as an aboriginal race, “a pastoral and gentle people.” They are neither the one nor the other. They are intruders on the lands that they occupy; their habits are the most savage imaginable ”

“ We had gone but a few hundred yards, our eyes hardly yet accustomed to the gloom, when a dark figure crossed the road a little in front, and disappeared in the bush. To have fired would only have been to betray ourselves; so we held on our course, keeping a sharp look out. When half way down we came suddenly on a Kaffir fire in the bush on our left, not more than five or six yards from the path; round it lay several black fellows, rolled in their red blankets and karosses, sleeping soundly, after watching probably the greater part of the night. ”

“ The Kaffirs are, undoubtedly, one of the finest races of savages in existence, and of a physical type very different from, and superior to all other South African races. Their customs and institutions also are, in many cases, so peculiar and remarkable, exhibiting strong traces of similarity to the wandering tribes of Arabia, that they have naturally led to the supposition of a distinct origin, and there is certainly much to confirm the belief that they are descendants of Ishmaelite tribes, who have wandered down the east coast by the Red Sea. ”

“ Like the lion, the tiger, the panther, and all the roaming tenants of the bush, the mountain, or the kloof, the Kaffir has become identified with the country to which he now belongs; and, though here and there one or two may be brought to understand the meaning of good principle, as a body, the Kaffirs will fulfil the destiny of their great progenitor, Ishmael, of whom it has been decreed by God, that his descendants shall “have their hands against every man, and every man’s hand against them.” ”

“ The Kaffir, at the first onset, is perhaps less ferocious than cunning, and more intent on serving his own interests by theft than on taking life from the mere spirit of cruelty; but once roused, he is like the wild beast after the taste of blood, and loses all the best attributes of humanity. ”