Second, we should have been leaving open, country where
there were European families. Again, the appearance of weakening, on our
part, would have driven over the Kaffirs who hesitated, to the side of
those who clamoured to attack us. I made it a rule always, and in all
things, only to take a step after the most careful and mature thought;
but once it had been taken, never to go back upon it. It's a very bad
business when you begin to retreat.'
Nothing happened in the manner Nongkause and the wily Umhlakaza had
foretold, unless the destruction of Kaffir stock and grain. Two blood-red
suns did not flame in the east; neither did the moon, in any of her
humours, light the ancient chiefs along, the now precious cattle with
them. A mist came up of an afternoon, but no day of darkness followed.
Breezes blew, cheering the hot air to freshness; never a hurricane which
should break the lintels of the white man's doors. It was weary to wait
and starve, with a Governor on the flank, plucking all guidance out of an
insurrection.
If the gods of Nongkause had excited a less perfect trust, there might
have been a rush on Cape Colony. As it was, the belief lived long enough
in the Kaffirs to defeat its own purpose. Their suffering grew acute,
nature asserted itself over superstition, and their one cry was 'Give us
to eat.
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