20 THE AMAZl'LU NATION.
The Zulus, under Chaka, became a verj- powerful nation ; tliey subjugated all the Bechuana tribes who surrounded
theiii, and carried their devastations over n great portion of South Africa; the dread of them was so universa]
they were styled Li/akani, or those who hew down, Ijy the adjacent people, who describe their attacks as the rushing
of lions upon them. There is not a more powerful Kafir nation known than that of the Amaznlu, and they are
the only one who possess a moiuii'chy, the most absolute and despotic, perhaps, to be met with in any part of
the globe.
Amongst the Amazulu, the boys tend the cattle, of which they have immense herds, and to obtain which they
are constantly going to war. with surrounding tribes. The men go to battle, and every male subject uf the king,
p forty, is enrolled as a soldier; on leaving the service, after the age of about forty, the
unnfactuiing weapons, pickaxes, spoons, and wooden jars for holding milk, and they
corps, never to be called out but in cases of necessity. The women make pottery,
•ork, and attend to the domestic duties of the "kraal."* The troops are divided into
from the age of fourteen to
men employ themselves in i
constitute a species of veterai
do all the field and garden -
distinct regiments, di.stinguished by the colour of their ox-hide shields; they are dispersed throughout the country and
kept in military towns apart from the rest of the people, who dwell in smaller kraals, aud are employed in tendii\g
the herds of cattle, cultivating their extensive gardens of maize and millet, and preparing beer and snuft' foi- the king.
The regiments consist of from eight hundred to one thousand men each ; a certain number of cattle are allotted to
them by the king, but these tliey dare not touch without his orders. The despot does with them as he pleases ; when
they ai'e absent, and even when they are present, he sacrifices whom he will to his ambition. On retui'ning from an
expecUtion his soldiers are rewarded, if successful, by a share of the spoil; if, on the other hand, they have fled before
their enemies—if they have returned without their assagais and shield, they must lay their account to certain death when
they present themselves before their sovereign. From this reason numbers never do return to their homes, but take
refuge in the countries aromid as the only means of saving their lives.+
Tlie military force of the nation is composed of twenty-she regiments, each commanded by an In dim a, or captain, a
lieutenant, and two suh-lieutei
othei- kraals, are of a circula
the great military towns in s
despot in every sense of the
These regiments live in the military kraals, c
and surrounded by high palisades. The king
but he does not lead his soldiers to battle
ird, yet he has two great chamberlains, or Indmias,
garrison towns, which, like all the
sually passes a few weeks at each of
in pei-son. Although the king is a
dio are pretty aptly styled " the two
mbjects, and frequently admitted into
wolves of tlie king." These two officers, though the highest in rank amongst his
the contidence of the king on mattei-s of importance, never move in the seraglio but
to the ground, in the presence of Umpanda,
I never have seen anything appear more truly savage than thi
when arrayed for battle; covered with the skins and hair of beasts,
their heads adorned with the ]}lumes of the crane and the ostrich,
the bi-istling points of their well-sharj)ened assagais. The neighbouri
In tlie morning they drink a kind of beer, made by fermenting r
which intoxicates them ; and in the evening they eat i)lentifully of beef,
renders them robust, ferocious, and capable, I am told, of continuing witli
constitutes the most important part of their military training, and
excel, they being the flower of the army, consisting only of picked
must inevitably perish; aud in attack, the black shields, who are
placed in the van, having white chiefs following near them, who hav
military expeditions they sleep naked; they live on pillage and on o;
are other oxen which thev take to
lave instructions
oxeu driven with th
guides to the captured cattle on their i-t
their knees, aud with their eyes
ie Zulu soldiers, of athletic frame and warlike mien,
md the streaming tails of leopards aud other animals,
.nd their huge buckler of hide, above which protrude
g tribes say, "they are not men, but eaters of men,"
iUet, called oulchmlln, and said to be strengthening,
•ithout any vegetable food whatever. This diet
it food as long as the vultures. The war-dance
I this those regiments \vlio carry the white shields
len. If once disarmed by the enemy in battle they
liers and least experienced, are always
slay all fugitives without mercy. In
provision by the way. There
md, if need be, to themselves.
the A
) instinctively do they return to their old pastui
liai origin,
iiiicl is divided from
ic hundred tlioii9ai><i
• Krual sipiiKcs a Kalir town or villiige, nn enclosure i it is a word of
i- Tbe Brili^^l. colony of X.ital, »Inch lioi to tlic south of tl.c Zulu coi
these Zulu refuge«! una their fuuiilics; it U esUtnated tlii.t there are nt Iw
the British power. They hare proved of grcut service to Ihc colonisls an
pUntations. as they are willing to «ork for a very low rate of wages, and t
hired as low us four shilliags per tnonth, and a boy irill bind hiniielf for
own part, I iiimgiue the settlement in Nalnl of these refugees from King Panda's territory is r
of protection to the colony, sliouid it he attacked by neighbuuring Kafir», or by the Aniiiitulu tin
01. locations granted thcin by Government; and were they to be eupmrod again by their form,
themselves, their wives, and their little ones, These refugees have alw the benefit of Christian •
stations a.nongst the Nniul KciHrs, besides schools for teaching them to read nud write. Thoy
will only act towards them in a consistent manner, regarding them as fclloM-creature», I have lil
can expcet to sec in our colonies—the ahoriginsi race flourishing and happy.
t by the Tiigala River, is Ihiekly peopled by
pf tiioiu now dwelling under the protcctlun of
diy milk and Indian c
lise of n eow at the
not only advantageous
iloyed >
Nalal they 1 bo
I of t For n
0 tho settlers, but also a mean«
c now living in peace and |.lonly
1 wonhl bs the only prospect for
> less Ihnn five Americiui inissiun
re an interesting people, and if tlie
Î doubt but that wo '.h.ill see in Nat. what •
•tl-lK AMAZULU NATION.
All the white shields are married, and when they g<
nuptial couch, a simple mat of. rushes, aud also the wot
with which he ate his food,
affectiou; as long as they ca
do so, she views it as an ill
unless an imperial order is o
prejudicial to the profession
mt to war their wives hang up i
n stool which has been her hu
is when she gete up in the morning that the Zulu woi
little shadow upon the wall she imagines her husband is f
:n, and gives way to evil forebodings. The black shields
, as remuneration for some important service in battle, fa
of :
pre
When the soldiei-s lea
5 held out to them that one of these will be given
Everything amongst the Zulus is
md that his people should be a nati
•s no account of men; human life
from the slaughter-houses of a great city. Inhere i:
it to-day; to-morrow I may hi
lal feast of 111
acquit themselves valiantly,
despot wishes to be a god,
The Zulu monarch mak
tide of life is poured out ai
To a promise he replies with the proverb, " Gi
I n the month of January the Zulus hold luually the
)oii the walls of the hut the
land's pillow, and the spoon
an looks at these ol)jects of
.fe; but should they cease to
re never permitted to marry,
aily ties being considered as
run before them naked, and
; for war, youug virgins r
a reward on their return,
acrificed to the demon of
of slaves and worshippers,
trifling in his esteem; at the tyrant'
no "to-mi
kUled."
fii-st-fruiti
should they in all respects
id this because their
nod the crimst
•" for the unhappy Zul
dance of the green cor
On this festival the people flock to the capital from all parts of the mt r y ;
god comes out of his harem at the moment of sunrise; the people cry o
and at the same moment they fall prostrate before him, shouting " ByaU
above the orb of day, spits at it three or four times by way of derisiot
his harem,
the crowd gather round the seraglio ; the
" Ga ha a e»<e ,'—Let him be magnified!"
This human idol then magnifies himself
id then goes in again to
One of his favourite wives, on one
joy. The monster took the child by
IS the custom of Chaka, the late king, to deny that he had any heii-s,
presented to him a son, doubtless too confident iu the transports of hei
nd with one blow dashed its brains out upon the stones; the mother, at the same
I t A
the feet,
with an assagai, and died whilst gazing on her murdered child. The Zulus, like all the
superstitious; they have magicians, both meu and women, who pretend they possess power t^
or promote disease; they are also the wicked denouncers of imaghiary crimes; the chiefs 1
they wish to make away with some obnoxious person: for instance,
brother, and he does not like to sacrifice him without some plausible pretext, he gets him denoi
witch-doctor, and immediately an assagai is bui'ied in his heart; or. more frecineutly, stones - -
a peculiar refinement of cruelty, the accused is compelled to sit upon them, and they
the wretched victim is burned to a ciud
it, was thrust through
Kafir tribes, are very
or bless, and to cure
to them when
imbrage at his elder
. has taker
need as a traitor by the
heated red-hot, and, by
renewed from time to time, till
witches and wizard-doctors may generally be known by their filthy and
lid around their necks are suspended
itch-doctors make a small puncture
re by an enemy, which is the cause
wild appearance; the gall-bladders of animals are attached to their thick matted haii
charms, and frequently coils of entrails stufl^ed with fat. To cure sore eyes, the
above the eyebrow, from whence they pretend to extract a pinch of snuff, placed
of the disease.
i pinioned to the ground with forked stakes.
In order to extort confession from the bewitchers (rmiiagali), they
with the head resting on an ant-hill, whilst the whole body is strewn over ^
surrounding trees ; water is poured upon them to make the insecU bite sharply
torture the body swells to a size that appears scarcely huma)
doctors passes through the town, sprinkling the door and ent
of water, which is boruc by an attendant following him, C
Chaka, who endeavoured to abolish it; it is still performed
secrecy is observed during the ceremony; but tliere are danci
as on all festive occasions, becomc sadly inebriated.
the debr
after being released from
On feai' of infection from any disease, one
; of every hut with greeu boughs dipped
icisiou was practised by the Zulus up tc
a vite amonsst most of the Kafir tribes
5 and libations of millet-beer It the kraal, where the people,
The crimes punishable with death amongst the Zulus are sorcery, adultery, murdei
d, especiaUy, speaking evil of
the king. This last offence is always found out, the despot having spies everywhere, who report to him
triflin-"remarks of his soldiers and subjects,* Criminals are generally executed at the capital; they hi
its from the
this horrible
3f the witchu
a calabash
the time of
the most
eir necks
c strangled, impaled, or beaten to death with knobbed sticks Qirrid). This people appear to h,
ing of the immortality of the soul, from the fact of their offering propitiatory
s was the case with Dingaan, when he sle'
twisted, or they at
some faint glimmei
of the departed, i
to death.
Tlie common
tlie chin. A Zuh
out from the kraal
rifices to
spot where his brother Chak:
node of disposing of the dead is to bury them in
will not approach a corpse if he can possibly
circula • holes, -with th.
frequently the dead bodi.
put
ipwards towards
dragged
• Tills system of es/ñomigc is S'
journey to tiie capital was known t
universal
the king I
extinct, and cast aside to be devoured by beasts of prey.
1 the Zulu country, throughout King Panda's
iniself long before my arrival there.
1 death c