192 Blach Population of Natal, 



and diversified by the natural white, "black, and brown patches 

 of the hide. Ngoza has a plume of scarlet ostrich feathers in 

 his wardrobe, which he prepared on the occasion of the visit 

 of Prince Alfred to the colony, at a cost of thirty pounds. 

 Ngoza is not an hereditary chieftain. He has won his spurs 

 by faithful service to the British Government. He was placed 

 over a heterogeneous assemblage of refugees some years ago, 

 and now lives in a large kraal within sixteen miles of Maritz- 

 burg, and assembles a considerable following under his com- 

 mand whenever any special service is required by the Govern- 

 ment. He appeared before Prince Alfred with four thousand 

 armed men, and entertained him with an exhibition of the 

 native ceremonial dance on a very imposing scale. 



The Kaffir women are certainly of inferior organization to 

 the men. Occasionally young girls of a comely presence are 

 encountered. But as a rule they are far more coarse and 

 repulsive in their aspect than the men, and they always shrivel 

 and wither at a very early age, unless when they take to the 

 scarcely less objectionable proceeding of turning themselves 

 into unwieldy bundles of fat. I incline myself to think that 

 the life of inferiority and drudgery to which the native woman 

 is born acts through successive generations upon her frame, and 

 brings about a real degradation in her physical organization. 

 The Kaffir is fond of his women, but he is fond of them in very 

 much the same fashion that he is fond of the cows, for which 

 he barters them away. The men reserve their thews and their 

 energies for war and for the chase. They take care of the 

 cattle, milk the cows, build the huts, and cut down timber with 

 the axe. But with the exception of these light tasks, which 

 are all honourable and dignified occupations in their eyes, they 

 engage in no kind of labour. The women do all the real 

 work of life. They till the ground, and sow and reap the 

 grain ; prepare the food ; fetch the wood and water ; keep the 

 house in repair ; and carry all the burthens. It is a matter of 

 quite common occurrence in the open country of Natal to meet 

 a young lord of the black creation marching along the path 

 with an erect head and a jaunty step, his ankles encircled with 

 little fringes of white skin, — that look as if they must neces- 

 sarily soon bud with winglets to establish beyond all cavil his 

 kinship to the messenger of the old classic Olympus, — and his 

 hands filled with assegais, while immediately behind him march 

 in single file three or four naked women bearing on their heads 

 the load of his household gods ; rolls of his sleeping mats ; 

 pots filled with beer ; bundles of tobacco, and other prime 

 necessaries that need to be transported in his steps. The 

 young girls in their wild state go even more naked than the 

 men. At festive times they are adorned with necklaces and 



