VII
THE ATTACK
"Just where we halted ran a little stream of water. I looked at it,
and an idea struck me: probably there would be no water on the koppie.
I suggested this to our captain, and, acting on the hint, he directed
all the men to drink what they could, and also to fill the seven or
eight cooking pots which we carried with us with water. Then came the
crucial moment. How were we to get possession of the koppie? When the
captain asked me, I said that I thought that we had better march up
and take it, and this accordingly we went on to do. When we came to
the narrow gateway we were, as I expected stopped by two soldiers who
stood on guard there and asked our business. The captain answered that
we had changed our minds, and would follow on to Wambe's kraal. The
soldiers said no, we must now wait.
"To this we replied by pushing them to one side and marching in single
file through the gateway, which was not distant more than a hundred
yards from the koppie. While we were getting through, the men we had
pushed away ran towards the town calling for assistance, a call that
was promptly responded to, for in another minute we saw scores of
armed men running hard in our direction. So we ran too, for the
koppie. As soon as they understood what we were after, which they did
not at first, owing to the dimness of the light, they did their best
to get there before us. But we had the start of them, and with the
exception of one unfortunate man who stumbled and fell, we were well
on to the koppie before they arrived. This man they captured, and when
fighting began on the following morning, and he refused to give any
information, they killed him. Luckily they had no time to torture him,
or they would certainly have done so, for these Matuku people are very
fond of torturing their enemies.
"When we reached the koppie, the base of which covers about half an
acre of ground, the soldiers who had been trying to cut us off halted,
for they knew the strength of the position. This gave us a few minutes
before the light had quite vanished to reconnoitre the place. We found
that it was unoccupied, fortified with a regular labyrinth of stone
walls, and contained three large caves and some smaller ones. The next
business was to post the soldiers to such advantage as time would
allow. My own men I was careful to place quite at the top. They were
perfectly useless from terror, and I feared that they might try to
escape and give information of our plans to Wambe. So I watched them
like the apple of my eye, telling them that should they dare to stir
they would be shot.
"Then it grew quite dark, and presently out of the darkness I heard a
voice--it was that of the leader of the soldiers who had escorted us--
calling us to come down. We replied that it was too dark to move, we
should hit our feet against the stones. He insisted upon our
descending, and we flatly refused, saying that if any attempt was made
to dislodge us we would fire. After that, as they had no real
intention of attacking us in the dark, the men withdrew, but we saw
from the fires which were lit around that they were keeping a strict
watch upon our position.
"That night was a wearing one, for we never quite knew how the
situation was going to develop. Fortunately we had some cooked food
with us, so we did not starve. It was lucky, however, that we drunk
our fill before coming up, for, as I had anticipated, there was not a
drop of water on the koppie.
"At length the night wore away, and with the first tinge of light I
began to go my rounds, and stumbling along the stony paths, to make
things as ready as I could for the attack, which I felt sure would be
delivered before we were two hours older. The men were cramped and
cold, and consequently low-spirited, but I exhorted them to the best
of my ability, bidding them remember the race from which they sprang,
and not to show the white feather before a crowd of Matuku dogs. At
length it began to grow light, and presently I saw long columns of men
advancing towards the koppie. They halted under cover at a distance of
about a hundred and fifty yards, and just as the dawn broke a herald
came forward and called to us. Our captain stood up upon a rock and
answered him.
"'These are the words of Wambe,' the herald said. 'Come forth from the
koppie, and give over the evil-doers, and go in peace, or stay in the
koppie and be slain.'
"'It is too early to come out as yet,' answered our man in fine
diplomatic style. 'When the sun sucks up the mist then we will come
out. Our limbs are stiff with cold.'
"'Come forth even now,' said the herald.
"'Not if I know it, my boy,' said I to myself; but the captain replied
that he would come out when he thought proper, and not before.
"'Then make ready to die,' said the herald, for all the world like the
villain of a transpontine piece, and majestically stalked back to the
soldiers.
"I made my final arrangements, and looked anxiously at the mountain
crest a couple of miles or so away, from which the mist was now
beginning to lift, but no column of smoke could I see. I whistled, for
if the attacking force had been delayed or made any mistake, our
position was likely to grow rather warm. We had barely enough water to
wet the mouths of the men, and when once it was finished we could not
hold the place for long in that burning heat.
"At length, just as the sun rose in glory over the heights behind us,
the Matuku soldiers, of whom about fifteen hundred were now assembled,
set up a queer whistling noise, which ended in a chant. Then some
shots were fired, for the Matuku had a few guns, but without effect,
though one bullet passed just by a man's head.
"'Now they are going to begin,' I thought to myself, and I was not far
wrong, for in another minute the body of men divided into three
companies, each about five hundred strong, and, heralded by a running
fire, charged at us on three sides. Our men were now all well under
cover, and the fire did us no harm. I mounted on a rock so as to
command a view of as much of the koppie and plain as possible, and
yelled to our men to reserve their fire till I gave the word, and then
to shoot low and load as quickly as possible. I knew that, like all
natives, they were sure to be execrable shots, and that they were
armed with weapons made out of old gas-pipes, so the only chance of
doing execution was to let the enemy get right on to us.
"On they came with a rush; they were within eighty yards now, and as
they drew near the point of attack, I observed that they closed their
ranks, which was so much the better for us.
"'Shall we not fire, my father?' sung out the captain.
"'No, confound you!' I answered.
"'Sixty yards--fifty--forty--thirty. Fire, you scoundrels!' I yelled,
setting the example by letting off both barrels of my elephant gun
into the thickest part of the company opposite to me.
"Instantly the place rang out with the discharge of two hundred and
odd guns, while the air was torn by the passage of every sort of
missile, from iron pot legs down to slugs and pebbles coated with
lead. The result was very prompt. The Matukus were so near that we
could not miss them, and at thirty yards a lead-coated stone out of a
gas-pipe is as effective as a Martini rifle, or more so. Over rolled
the attacking soldiers by the dozen, while the survivors, fairly
frightened, took to their heels. We plied them with shot till they
were out of range--I made it very warm for them with the elephant gun,
by the way--and then we loaded up in quite a cheerful frame of mind,
for we had not lost a man, whereas I could count more than fifty dead
and wounded Matukus. The only thing that damped my ardour was that,
stare as I would, I could see no column of smoke upon the mountain
crest.
"Half an hour elapsed before any further steps were taken against us.
Then the attacking force adopted different tactics. Seeing that it was
very risky to try to rush us in dense masses, they opened out into
skirmishing order and ran across the open space in lots of five and
six. As it happened, right at the foot of the koppie the ground broke
away a little in such fashion that it was almost impossible for us to
search it effectually with our fire. On the hither side of this dip
Wambe's soldiers were now congregating in considerable numbers. Of
course we did them as much damage as we could while they were running
across, but this sort of work requires good shots, and that was just
what we had not got. Another thing was, that so many of our men would
insist upon letting off the things they called guns at every little
knot of the enemy that ran across. Thus, the first few lots were
indeed practically swept away, but after that, as it took a long while
to load the gas-pipes and old flint muskets, those who followed got
across in comparative safety. For my own part, I fired away with the
elephant gun and repeating carbine till they grew almost too hot to
hold, but my individual efforts could do nothing to stop such a rush,
or perceptibly to lessen the number of our enemies.
"At length there were at least a thousand men crowded into the dip of
ground within a few yards of us, whence those of them who had guns
kept up a continued fusillade upon the koppie. They killed two of my
bearers in this way, and wounded a third, for being at the top of the
koppie these men were most exposed to the fire from the dip at its
base. Seeing that the situation was growing most serious, at length,
by the dint of threats and entreaties, I persuaded the majority of our
people to cease firing useless shots, to reload, and prepare for the
rush. Scarcely had I done so when the enemy came for us with a roar. I
am bound to say that I should never have believed that Matukus had it
in them to make such a determined charge. A large party rushed round
the base of the koppie, and attacked us in flank, while the others
swarmed wherever they could get a foothold, so that we were taken on
every side.
"'/Fire!/' I cried, and we did with terrible effect. Many of their men
fell, but though we checked we could not stop them. They closed up and
rushed the first fortification, killing a good number of its
defenders. It was almost all cold steel work now, for we had no time
to reload, and that suited the Butiana habits of fighting well enough,
for the stabbing assegai is a weapon which they understand. Those of
our people who escaped from the first line of walls took refuge in the
second, where I stood myself, encouraging them, and there the fight
raged fiercely. Occasionally parties of the enemy would force a
passage, only to perish on the hither side beneath the Butiana spears.
But still they kept it up, and I saw that, fight as we would, we were
doomed. We were altogether outnumbered, and to make matters worse,
fresh bodies of soldiers were pouring across the plain to the
assistance of our assailants. So I made up my mind to direct a retreat
into the caves, and there expire in a manner as heroic as
circumstances would allow; and while mentally lamenting my hard fate
and reflecting on my sins I fought away like a fiend. It was then, I
remember, that I shot my friend the captain of our escort of the
previous day. He had caught sight of me, and making a vicious dig at
my stomach with a spear (which I successfully dodged), shouted out, or
rather began to shout out, one of his unpleasant allusions to the
'Thing that----' He never got as far as 'bites,' because I shot him
after 'that.'
"Well, the game was about up. Already I saw one man throw down his
spear in token of surrender--which act of cowardice cost him his life,
by the way--when suddenly a shout arose.
"'Look at the mountain,' they cried; 'there is an impi on the mountain
side.'
"I glanced up, and there sure enough, about half-way down the
mountain, nearing the first fortification, the long-plumed double line
of Nala's warriors was rushing down to battle, the bright light of the
morning glancing on their spears. Afterwards we discovered that the
reason of their delay was that they had been stopped by a river in
flood, and could not reach the mountain crest by dawn. When they did
reach it, however, they saw instantly that the fight was already going
on, was 'in flower,' as they put it, and so advanced at once without
waiting to light signal-fires.
"Meanwhile they had been observed from the town, and parties of
soldiers were charging up the steep side of the hill, to occupy the
schanses, and the second line of fortifications behind them. The first
line they did not now attempt to reach or defend; Nala pressed them
too close. But they got to the schanses or pits protected with stone
walls, and constructed to hold from a dozen to twenty men, and soon
began to open fire from them, and from isolated rocks. I turned my
eyes to the gates of the town, which were placed to the north and
south. Already they were crowded with hundreds of fugitive women and
children flying to the rocks and caves for shelter from the foe.
"As for ourselves, the appearance of Nala's impi produced a wonderful
change for the better in our position. The soldiers attacking us
turned, realizing that the town was being assailed from the rear, and
clambering down the koppie streamed off to protect their homes against
this new enemy. In five minutes there was not a man left except those
who would move no more, or were too sorely wounded to escape. I felt
inclined to ejaculate '/Saved!/' like the gentleman in the play, but
did not because the occasion was too serious. What I did do was to
muster all the men and reckon up our losses. They amounted to fifty-
one killed and wounded, sixteen men having been killed outright. Then
I sent men with the cooking-pots to the stream of water, and we drank.
This done I set my bearers, being the most useless part of the
community, from a fighting point of view, to the task of attending the
injured, and turned to watch the fray.
"By this time Nala's impi had climbed the first line of fortifications
without opposition, and was advancing in a long line upon the schanses
or pits which were scattered about between it and the second line,
singing a war chant as it came. Presently puffs of smoke began to
start from the schanses, and with my glasses I could see several of
our men falling over. Then as they came opposite a schanse that
portion of the long line of warriors would thicken up and charge it
with a wild rush. I could see them leap on to the walls and vanish
into the depths beneath, some of their number falling backward on each
occasion, shot or stabbed to death.
"Next would come another act in the tragedy. Out from the hither side
of the schanse would pour such of its defenders as were left alive,
perhaps three or four and perhaps a dozen, running for dear life, with
the war dogs on their tracks. One by one they would be caught, then up
flashed the great spear and down fell the pursued--dead. I saw ten of
our men leap into one large schanse, but though I watched for some
time nobody came out. Afterwards we inspected the place and found
these men all dead, together with twenty-three Matukus. Neither side
would give in, and they had fought it out to the bitter end.
"At last they neared the second line of fortifications, behind which
the whole remaining Matuku force, numbering some two thousand men, was
rapidly assembling. One little pause to get their breath, and Nala's
men came at it with a rush and a long wild shout of '/Bulala Matuku/'
(kill the Matuku) that went right through me, thrilling every nerve.
Then came an answering shout, and the sounds of heavy firing, and
presently I saw our men retreating, somewhat fewer in numbers than
they had advanced. Their welcome had been a warm one for the Matuku
fight splendidly behind walls. This decided me that it was necessary
to create a diversion; if we did not do so it seemed very probable
that we should be worsted after all. I called to the captain of our
little force, and rapidly put the position before him.
"Seeing the urgency of the occasion, he agreed with me that we must
risk it, and in two minutes more, with the exception of my own men,
whom I left to guard the wounded, we were trotting across the open
space and through the deserted town towards the spot where the
struggle was taking place, some seven hundred yards away. In six or
eight minutes we reached a group of huts--it was a head man's kraal,
that was situated about a hundred and twenty yards behind the
fortified wall, and took possession of it unobserved. The enemy was
too much engaged with the foe in front of him to notice us, and
besides, the broken ground rose in a hog-back shape between. There we
waited a minute or two and recovered our breath, while I gave my
directions. So soon as we heard the Butiana impi begin to charge
again, we were to run out in a line to the brow of the hogback and
pour our fire into the mass of defenders behind the wall. Then the
guns were to be thrown down and we must charge with the assegai. We
had no shields, but that could not be helped; there would be no time
to reload the guns, and it was absolutely necessary that the enemy
should be disconcerted at the moment when the main attack was
delivered.
"The men, who were as plucky a set of fellows as ever I saw, and whose
blood was now thoroughly up, consented to this scheme, though I could
see that they thought it rather a large order, as indeed I did myself.
But I knew that if the impi was driven back a second time the game
would be played, and for me at any rate it would be a case of the
'Thing that bites,' and this sure and certain knowledge filled my
breast with valour.
"We had not long to wait. Presently we heard the Butiana war-song
swelling loud and long; they had commenced their attack. I made a
sign, and the hundred and fifty men, headed by myself, poured out of
the kraal, and getting into a rough line ran up the fifty or sixty
yards of slope that intervened between ourselves and the crest of the
hog-backed ridge. In thirty seconds we were there, and immediately
beyond us was the main body of the Matuku host waiting the onslaught
of the enemy with guns and spears. Even now they did not see us, so
intent were they upon the coming attack. I signed to my men to take
careful aim, and suddenly called out to them to fire, which they did
with a will, dropping thirty or forty Matukus.
"'/Charge!/' I shouted, again throwing down my smoking rifle and
drawing my revolver, an example which they followed, snatching up
their spears from the ground where they had placed them while they
fired. The men set up a savage whoop, and we started. I saw the Matuku
soldiers wheel around in hundreds, utterly taken aback at this new
development of the situation. And looking over them, before we had
gone twenty yards I saw something else. For of a sudden, as though
they had risen from the earth, there appeared above the wall hundreds
of great spears, followed by hundreds of savage faces shadowed with
drooping plumes. With a yell they sprang upon the wall shaking their
broad shields, and with a yell they bounded from it straight into our
astonished foes.
"/Crash!/ we were in them now, and fighting like demons. /Crash!/ from
the other side. Nala's impi was at its work, and still the spears and
plumes appeared for a moment against the brown background of the
mountain, and then sprang down and rushed like a storm upon the foe.
The great mob of men turned this way and turned that way, astonished,
bewildered, overborne by doubt and terror.
"Meanwhile the slayers stayed not their hands, and on every side
spears flashed, and the fierce shout of triumph went up to heaven.
There too on the wall stood Maiwa, a white garment streaming from her
shoulders, an assegai in her hand, her breast heaving, her eyes
flashing. Above all the din of battle I could catch the tones of her
clear voice as she urged the soldiers on to victory. But victory was
not yet. Wambe's soldiers gathered themselves together, and bore our
men back by the sheer weight of numbers. They began to give, then once
more they rallied, and the fight hung doubtfully.
"'Slay, you war-whelps,' cried Maiwa from the wall. 'Are you afraid,
you women, you chicken-hearted women! Strike home, or die like dogs!
What--you give way! Follow me, children of Nala.' And with one long
cry she leapt from the wall as leaps a stricken antelope, and holding
the spear poised rushed right into the thickest of the fray. The
warriors saw her, and raised such a shout that it echoed like thunder
against the mountains. They massed together, and following the flutter
of her white robe crashed into the dense heart of the foe. Down went
the Matuku before them like trees before a whirlwind. Nothing could
stand in the face of such a rush as that. It was as the rush of a
torrent bursting its banks. All along their line swept the wild
desperate charge; and there, straight in the forefront of the battle,
still waved the white robe of Maiwa.
"Then they broke, and, stricken with utter panic, Wambe's soldiers
streamed away a scattered crowd of fugitives, while after them
thundered the footfall of the victors.
"The fight was over, we had won the day; and for my part I sat down
upon a stone and wiped my forehead, thanking Providence that I had
lived to see the end of it. Twenty minutes later Nala's warriors began
to return panting. 'Wambe's soldiers had taken to the bush and the
caves,' they said, 'where they had not thought it safe to follow
them,' adding significantly, that many had stopped on the way.
"I was utterly dazed, and now that the fight was over my energy seemed
to have left me, and I did not pay much attention, till presently I
was aroused by somebody calling me by my name. I looked up, and saw
that it was the chief Nala himself, who was bleeding from a flesh
wound in his arm. By his side stood Maiwa panting, but unhurt, and
wearing on her face a proud and terrifying air.
"'They are gone, Macumazahn,' said the chief; 'there is little to fear
from them, their heart is broken. But where is Wambe the chief?--and
where is the white man thou camest to save?'
"'I know not,' I answered.
"Close to where we stood lay a Matuku, a young man who had been shot
through the fleshy part of the calf. It was a trifling wound, but it
prevented him from running away.
"'Say, thou dog,' said Nala, stalking up to him and shaking his red
spear in his face, 'say, where is Wambe? Speak, or I slay thee. Was he
with the soldiers?'
"'Nay, lord, I know not,' groaned the terrified man, 'he fought not
with us; Wambe has no stomach for fighting. Perchance he is in his
kraal yonder, or in the cave behind the kraal,' and he pointed to a
small enclosure on the hillside, about four hundred yards to the right
of where we were.
"'Let us go and see,' said Nala, summoning his soldiers.
