Company Of Spears

here were reinforcements. ‘Ay, sor,’ said one of them, belatedly knuckling his forehead and standing to attention. ‘T’other side of the farm. Xhosa were thieving again last night, sor. Drove off a hundred head and more.’

Hervey decided that this was now as much military business as civil. ‘Stand easy, Corporal. What is Brown doing about it?’

The man turned to him, looking relieved to be in receipt of orders again. ‘Sor! Him and his men are trying to catch loose horses, and then he says he’s going to ride to Blaufontein to get up a posse of burghers, sor – Dutchmen.’

Hervey looked at the landdrost.

‘He’s within his rights, though I would wish he didn’t take the Dutch. They’re a good deal more savage, and that’s the last thing we need.’

‘I think the Xhosa’ve taken one of the boys with them as well, sor,’ said the corporal, looking now to the landdrost. ‘At least I hope they’ve taken him, and not just stuck a spear in him.’

‘One of the Hottentots?’

‘No, sor, one of the white boys.’

‘Oh God,’ groaned the landdrost. ‘That gives us little option but to chase them hard. What do you think, Captain Fairbrother?’

Fairbrother and the landdrost had got on well together the previous night. They had met before, when Fairbrother had come with his company of Royal Africans in the late troubles. The landdrost was evidently more disposed to take his advice than he would have been the Graham’s Town lieutenant’s. ‘I am of the opinion that if the Xhosa are chased by Dutch burghers they’ll fight as if it’s one band of brigands against another. If they’re pursued by redcoats – they’re not stupid – they’ll know it’s a matter of government.’

‘And?’ asked Hervey.

‘I doubt the boy would survive a fight between brigands. If they see that government is after them then they’ll be forced to think. As I said, they’re not stupid. And in Xhosa law, the tribe as a whole is responsible for any felony.’

‘Sor?’

‘Carry on, Corporal,’ said Hervey.

‘Sor! We heard yesterday the Xhosa’ve been raiding north of here as well, in the Dutch lands. I think the burghers’ll be turning out anyway, if they haven’t already.’

The landdrost’s brow furrowed. ‘That changes things. If there’s a general irruption of Xhosa, as it seems there may be, then I think, Colonel Hervey, we must send word back to Graham’s-town for troops to come forward. And to Port Elizabeth too.’

Hervey nodded. ‘By what means does Fort Willshire communicate with Graham’s-town? Will they not have detected the trouble? I should very much hope so.’

‘And should I. They communicate by messenger via Trompetter’s Drift. We’ll know if they’ve detected anything when we get there.’

Hervey looked thoughtful. ‘I think, Landdrost, you had better go yourself, had you not?’

The landdrost was uncertain. ‘I can scarcely leave you to wander the frontier, Colonel Hervey. I thought I would accompany you to Fort Willshire.’

‘Indeed, of course,’ conceded Hervey at once, ‘but the situation has changed markedly, as you yourself have said. Your influence at Graham’s-town will be – if I may say it – of considerably more profit than chaperoning me here. It’s not as I would have wished, but there’s opportunity now for a meeting with the Xhosa, and I would observe them closely. Indeed, it is a quite exceptional opportunity.’

The landdrost looked troubled. ‘Colonel, with respect, you cannot treat with the Xhosa as did Lord Charles Somerset, believing them to be honourable men.’

Hervey smiled a little. ‘I have no intention of doing so, not until they are capable of proving it beyond question – which I don’t imagine for one minute they will be able to do. No, I think we may bring them to a fight of sorts, and then see how they acquit themselves.’

‘You will deliberately bring on a fight, Colonel Hervey?’

Hervey smiled again, but wryly. ‘I should rather they gave back the boy and the cattle without a fight, but in the circumstances I hardly expect they will. I shall be most careful in it, I assure you!’

The spoor of a hundred or more head of cattle was not difficult to follow. In any case, Fairbrother was certain the Xhosa must drive them due east to begin with, for they could not afford to go near the post at Trompetter’s Drift. At this time of year, he explained, the river would be full but not swollen, and there were several deep fords downstream of the drift. There were two other rivers the Xhosa must cross before getting to relative haven the other side of the Keiskama, he said, pointing them out on his own much-embellished map. The Baka River was the greater obstacle – greater even than the Keiskama, though not as extensive – and he reckoned the Xhosa would want to make its banks by nightfall to be able to ford it at dawn; or perhaps even to attempt a crossing after dark since the moon was so full. It was about twenty miles, easily within a day’s march for the Xhosa, even driving a hundred head of cattle. However, although the first river after the Fish, the Gwalana, was not much of an obstacle, it might slow them down more than they were prepared to accept: tired, thirsty cattle could become unmanageable when suddenly presented with water. In which case, Fairbrother argued, the Xhosa would be more likely to head north-east after crossing the Fish, skirting the muddy source of the Gwalana, and then continuing north-east to the Keiskama. So, if instead of tracking them across the Fish they rode fast for Trompetter’s Drift, changed horses, and then made for the head of the Gwalana, they would intercept the Xhosa rather than merely trying to catch them up.

They rode hard on this prediction, reaching Trompetter’s Drift in the middle of the afternoon. Here they changed horses, and Hervey, concerned lest the Xhosa were taking the different course, ordered the post serjeant to send men to patrol the far bank of the Gwalana. They then rode on without rest, reaching the muddy head of the Gwalana an hour and a half later.

‘I think we must remain mounted at all times,’ said Fairbrother as they approached the darker scrub about the headwater. ‘The Xhosa would fancy themselves superior in any fight, but they know they can’t out-run a horse.’

Hervey saw no reason to dispute it. He was, in fact, surprised by the thickness of the bushveld here, and the thorns and tangled grass. The country had been getting trappier by the mile since they crossed the Fish, but here it was so trappy they were obliged to follow animal trails – and much to Hervey’s unease, for he imagined a charging elephant or rhinoceros would deal horribly with half a dozen men and horses in single file. Moreover, the country was ideal for ambush; he was grateful for the saddle’s extra height.

‘I’m beginning to wonder if the notion of mounted rifles is a sound one,’ he said, as if turning the idea over in his mind as he spoke.

‘As long as they’re trained to fire from the saddle as well as on foot, they should serve,’ replied Fairbrother measuredly. ‘The country’s not universally close, as we saw. And the Xhosa throw their spears, they don’t thrust them home – not unless their situation’s desperate. I should say that the rifle is the very best way to hold them off.’

Hervey searched the cover intently, though since it was too dense to reveal even the crouching leopard, he felt his chances of detecting a black spearman were next to nothing. By what sign did the Xhosa reveal themselves? Was it by the spear itself, the sickening thud of its point in flesh? If they were to confront the reiving party it would be well that they ambushed them, for the Xhosa’s scouting skills would surely be at least the equal of their own.

‘Well, we have half a dozen carbines. It will have to do. Assuming they drive the cattle through that open stretch yonder’ (he nodded to the scattered scrub they had just ridden through) ‘if we show a surprise front I don’t imagine there’ll be much throwing or stabbing. And they can hardly run back since they must think they’re pursued as well. We shall call on them to lay down their spears and then interrogate them about the boy. One of them – the leader, if we can find him – we’ll take to Graham’s-town to be dealt with judicially. I would think he’d be willing to talk to us about what the Xhosa are up to in exchange for his neck, would you not? The rest can leave without their