Life of Frederick Courtenay Selous, D.S.O., Capt. 25th Royal FusiliersMillais, John Guille
Philosophy
Life of Frederick Courtenay Selous, D.S.O., Capt. 25th Royal Fusiliers
Millais, John Guille
Selous, Frederick Courteney, 1851-1917; World War, 1914-1918 -- Campaigns -- Africa
"I had known Cetawayo formerly, and when he was confined in
Robben Island shortly after the conclusion of the war, I thought
I would go down one day when I was in Cape Town and have a chat
with him. I found him much as I had known him, but more
corpulent and somewhat depressed. After some general
conversation I said:
"'Well, Cetawayo, what do you think of John Dunn now?'
"This I knew was a sore point with the king, for he had treated
John Dunn like a brother and given him wives, slaves and lands
as one of his own head indunas. Dunn had afterwards deserted
him and given all his help and information to Sir Garnet
Wolseley.
"Cetawayo thought deeply for a few moments, and then said, 'One
very cold and stormy night in winter I was seated before a large
fire in my hut when there was a noise without as if someone was
arriving. I asked the cause from my attendants, and they told me
a white man in a miserable state of destitution had just arrived
and claimed my hospitality. I ordered the slaves to bring him
in, and a tall splendidly made man appeared. He was dressed in
rags, for his clothes had been torn to pieces in fighting
through the bush, and he was shivering from fever and ague. I
drew my cloak aside and asked him to sit by the fire, and told
the servants to bring food and clothing. I loved this white man
as a brother and made him one of my head indunas, giving him
lands and wives, the daughters of my chiefs. _Now Shaunele_
(_the sun has gone down_), _and John Dunn is sitting by the fire
but he does not draw his cloak aside._'"
Such is the black man's reasoning, and can we controvert it with
uplifted heads?
After the Zulu war McLeod asked some of the chiefs why they went to war
with us. They replied, "The Right of the Strong. Now you have proved you
are the strongest we will look up to you and follow you." Except for one
trifling insurrection under Denizulu, which was quickly nipped in the
bud, the Zulus have since accepted our suzerainty.
The following example of the intellect and common-sense of the South
African native is given to me by McLeod of McLeod, who was in charge of
the Swazis both in the Zulu war and the subsequent attack on Sekukuni,
the paramount chief of Basutoland.
McLeod called upon Ubandini, the Swazi king, to raise some 8000 levies.
This army was then about to set out for Basutoland, there to join our
forces under Sir Garnet Wolseley. The following conversation took
place:--
McL. "It is agreed that your people may have all the cattle they can
capture, but the English Government insists that on no account are your
men to injure the Basuto women and children."
Ubandini thought deeply for a moment, and then remarked, "Mafu (the
McLeod's native name), do you like rats?"
McL. "No."
U. "In fact you kill them whenever you can."
McL. "Yes."
U. "But surely you spare the females and little rats?"
No answer.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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