Chapter Five.Mafuta, the Basuto Witch Doctor.On the following morning, when I turned out and walked down to the river to bathe, I debouched a little from the direct road in order to take a peep at the dead leopard by daylight, the carcass having been left where it had fallen. As I approached the place I saw that Piet and Jan, my two Hottentots, were already busily engaged upon the task of removing the skin; and I observed that both were looking, as I thought, very much annoyed, and a little apprehensive. I was not long in discovering what was the matter, for as I halted beside them Piet held up first the two front paws and then the two hind paws of the beast, when I instantly saw, to my intense annoyance, that every one of the claws had been removed, and that therefore, as a trophy, the skin was quite useless. Of course I knew that this was a common practice among the Kafirs, the claws of the lion and the leopard being either worn by them as potent amulets, or converted into muti, that is to say, medicine, which is implicitly believed by them to impart the quality of courage to the one who takes it; but I had been foolish enough to think that, having solicited me to destroy their enemy for them, they would have regarded the carcass as sacred from mutilation. They had not done so, however, and that ended the matter, for I knew that it would be quite useless to make a fuss about it: not a soul in the village would ever admit the least knowledge of the theft.While I was taking breakfast, about an hour later, ’Ngaga came up from the village to express the hearty thanks of himself and the rest of the inhabitants for the service which I had rendered them by destroying the leopard; and when we had chatted for half an hour or so, and ’Ngaga had accepted a present of a yard of brass wire, a handful of parti-coloured beads, and a cotton handkerchief gorgeously emblazoned in red, blue, green, and yellow, he said:“’Nkos’, after I left you last night I went to the hut of Mafuta and was permitted to enter. I told the nyanga that you had undertaken to slay the leopard that had been troubling us, and after I had spoken many words concerning the greatness of the boon you would thus confer upon us, I ventured to mention that you were desirous of consulting him in relation to a certain quest which you have undertaken. I think, ’Nkos’, that if you would go now with me to Mafuta’s hut, perhaps taking with you as a gift another handkerchief such as this, the nyanga would be willing to grant your request.”“You think so?” I said. “Then in that case let us go.” And, extracting from the voorkissie a handkerchief distinguished by a particularly startling combination of colours, which I tucked into my belt in such a manner that it could not fail to attract attention, I set out for the village, accompanied by ’Ngaga, who, I understood, proposed to act as a sort of sponsor for me, and to introduce me personally to the great man.The nyanga’s hut was, as is generally the case, built at some little distance—in the present instance about a quarter of a mile—from the village proper, standing quite by itself, close to the stream, and close under the shadow of a great clump of bush. Apart from this circumstance there was nothing to distinguish it from the rest of the huts, it being of the usual beehive shape, constructed of closely interwoven wattles, thickly thatched with reeds and grass, and having an entrance so small that it was necessary to bend double and stoop low in order to pass through it. Also it was windowless, the only illumination of the interior being derived from such light as came through the low door; consequently when one first entered such a hut the contrast between the obscurity of the interior and the glare of the blazing sunlight outside produced an impression of profound darkness, this only passing away as the eye gradually accustomed itself to the gloom, after which one found, somewhat to one’s surprise, that there was light enough to see everything with a very tolerable degree of distinctness.As ’Ngaga preceded me into the hut I heard a low murmur of greeting pass between him and someone else, which told me that the owner was at home; then I followed and stood upright in what was, to my eye, inky blackness.“S’a bon’, ’mlungu (I see you, white man)!” said a deep, resonant voice from the depth of the darkness.“Yebo (yes), Mafuta,” answered I, that being the usual interchange of salutations between the native and the white when the former esteems himself the equal of the latter; and I stood, blinking and striving to penetrate the obscurity. Gradually the darkness melted into a sort of sombre twilight, which by imperceptible degrees grew stronger, and presently I saw that I was in a hut the sole furniture of which consisted of a pallet, raised about a foot from the floor, and covered with rich karosses or skin rugs—one, I observed, being made entirely of leopard-skins. On one end of this pallet was seated a man of perhaps forty years of age, wearing a keshla, or head ring, and a mucha, or apron, made apparently of monkey skins. The man’s shield and sheaf of assagais stood close at hand against the wall of the hut, and a ponderous knobkerrie hung just overhead, slung by a loop of rimpi; but the hut contained nothing to distinguish it from that of any other native, and I confess that my first feeling was one of disappointment, for I had never before been in the hut of a nyanga, and I had been led to believe by those who had that I should see all sorts of strange and weird-looking objects if I ever happened to penetrate to the interior of a Kafir witch doctor’s hut. The owner seemed to read my disappointment in my eyes, for he laughed softly as he waved his hand, indicating the emptiness of the hut.“I do not need the things for which you are looking, ’mlungu,” he said; “my magic is different from that of all other nyangas—and much more potent, as mayhap you shall see for yourself. Be seated,” he continued, waving me toward the other end of the couch; “and as for you, ’Ngaga, having brought the ’mlungu hither, your task is accomplished, and you may depart.”So, while I deposited myself upon the pallet, ’Ngaga bade us both a somewhat ceremonious farewell, and vanished through the opening into the blazing sunlight without.Then Mafuta began to talk to me about my journey and the incidents, such as they were, that had thus far marked it; and I confess that I was astounded at the intimate knowledge of these matters which he displayed. Of course I knew that my “boys” might have, and very possibly had, spoken of them to ’Ngaga and the other Basutos during their gossip round the fire on the previous evening; yet this man, Mafuta, seemed to know more about the details of them than was likely to have transpired during such a conversation, which was probably of an exceedingly desultory and general character. Yet even this was not so surprising as the knowledge he displayed of the twofold object of my journey, which I knew he could not have acquired from my “boys”, because even they were ignorant of it, all that they actually knew being that the journey was ostensibly undertaken for the purpose of collecting ivory. But without questioning me at all upon the subject, the nyanga made it clear to me that he was fully aware of the fact that one great object of my journey was to get gold rather than ivory.“Yet even that,” said he, “is not all that you seek upon this journey; important as it is that you should find the yellow metal which the white man values so greatly, you are even more anxious to find something else: is it not so? And so anxious are you to find it that, although you doubt Mafuta’s power, you have come to him to see if he can help you.”“It is true,” I admitted; “and the fact that you know so much of my most secret desires and intentions inclines me to hope, and almost to believe, that you can help me. Do you think you can?”“It may be, ’mlungu; it may be,” he answered. “The white ’ntombozaan (girl) still lives and is well, for I last night took the trouble to seek for and find her; but where she is I cannot say, for the place is strange to me, I having never seen it with my bodily eyes.”I fairly gasped with amazement, for this was the first time that Nell Lestrange had been mentioned since my arrival in the village, and it was not I who had spoken of her, but a savage to whom even the bare fact of her existence might be supposed to be unknown—unless—unless those who originally carried her off had chanced to pass this way. Yet, even then—“Tell me,” I shouted, seizing the nyanga by the arm, rather roughly, I am afraid, in my excitement, “what do you know of her? How long is it since you saw her? And who are they who carried her off?”“Gahle (gently), white man! gahle!” returned Mafuta, snatching his arm out of my grasp. “I know nothing of the ’ntombi save what I saw last night. But you came hither to procure my help to find her, and such help as I can give shall be yours. As I told you, I know not where she is, for I never saw the place with my bodily eyes, but I will show it to you, so that if ever you come to the place you may know it. Will that satisfy you?”“But,” I objected, “if you are able to show me the place, surely you can tell me the name of it, and in which direction I should travel to reach it?”“Nay, ’mlungu, I cannot do that,” answered Mafuta. “My power is not so great as that. I can but show you the person whom you desire to see; it must rest with you to note that person’s surroundings so carefully that, should you ever arrive at the place, you will recognise it again. Or perhaps by describing it to others you may be able to find someone who has been there and who, recognising it from your description, will be able to tell you its name and where it is.”“Very well, then,” said I; “do what you can to help me, Mafuta, and I will be for ever obliged to you.”“Muchli (good)!” exclaimed Mafuta. “Sit where you are, and do exactly as I bid you.” He rose from his seat, groped among the thatch of the hut for a moment, and presently produced a small, circular object about the size of an ordinary coat button. It was as brightly burnished as the surface of a mirror, and he placed it upright on the floor of the hut in such a position that, while itself in deep shadow, it strongly reflected the light which entered through the doorway right into my eyes, dazzling them to such an extent that, for a few moments, I could scarcely bear to look at it. Presently, however, that feeling passed away, and I was able to gaze upon it without discomfort.“Now,” said Mafuta, “look steadfastly at that, never removing your eyes from it for a moment, and see what happens.” And, thus saying, the man went and squatted himself upon his heels in the centre of the floor, and began to chant, in a low, monotonous voice, certain words the meaning of which I could not comprehend.For a few minutes nothing particular seemed to happen: the disk continued to shine strongly in the midst of the deep shadow, and Mafuta’s low, monotonous song went on. Then, so gradually that I knew not when the change began, I lost consciousness of everything except the gleaming disk and the sound of Mafuta’s voice, from which all semblance of words had passed. Then the disk seemed slowly to fade out of sight, Mafuta’s voice died away to silence, and I found myself seemingly standing upon gently rising ground, with a native village, of such dimensions that it deserved rather the name of a town, about a quarter of a mile distant on my left front. The first thing that I particularly observed about this place, apart from its exceptional size, was that it was built in the shape of a circle, and was entirely fenced in with a strong, high palisade. There was a gate in the fence, nearly opposite me, and a number of people, mostly men, were coming and going through the gateway. They were splendid specimens of the South African savage, but, look as I would, I could discover nothing either in their cast of features or in their trappings by which to identify them.The town was built upon the top of the slope on which I stood, and about a quarter of a mile distant from it I noted a rather remarkable kopje which I thought would surely enable me to recognise the place if ever I should chance to set my bodily eyes upon it. It was perhaps seventy or eighty feet high, and at its summit it measured, as nearly as I could guess, about two hundred yards long. It was hog-backed in shape, and was strewn here and there with great, tumbled masses of dark-coloured rock, among which grew a few straggling bushes. The most remarkable thing about this particular kopje, however, was that, notwithstanding its close proximity to the town, it appeared to be the haunt of innumerable vultures, some forty or fifty of which were perched upon the rocks at that moment. The landscape on which this unknown savage town was set was of the usual South African type, namely, gently undulating, the hills retiring one behind the other into the extreme distance until, toward the west—I got my bearings from the sun, of course—they merged into what might almost be termed mountains, while eastward the land stretched away in a vast plain. The soil was densely covered with long, thick grass, which was already beginning to look bleached and parched here and there for want of rain; and scattered pretty thickly over the country were the usual patches of bush. On my right the land fell away to a spacious flat, a thousand acres or more in extent, upon which vast herds of cattle were grazing, and through which a stream some thirty feet in width gently meandered.As I stood noting all these details, three young girls emerged from the main gate of the town, two of them being dark-brown, while the third was white—Nell Lestrange! I recognised the dear child instantly, although she had altered greatly—as I thought, for the better—since I had seen her last. She was talking and laughing gaily with her companions, I was glad to see, for that indicated that she was well and happy; yet, even as this thought flashed through my mind, she fell silent for a moment and a look of sadness clouded her face. She was bareheaded and barefooted, the garment which she wore being a sort of frock apparently modelled from those which she had worn while at Triannon, and made of a peculiar kind of cloth the nature of which I could not recognise. Instinctively I stretched out my hands toward her and strove to call her name, but no sound passed my lips, and, to my intense disappointment, I found that I could not move. The trio passed me about a hundred yards distant, and I distinctly heard their voices, but could not catch the words they spoke, otherwise I might possibly have recognised the language and thus gained a clue to the locality; and although, just as they were passing before me, Nell looked straight in my direction, and even paused for an instant, she immediately went on again, casting a single glance back over her shoulder and then continuing on her way until she disappeared beyond a clump of bush near the river. And with her disappearance the whole scene vanished and I found myself back in Mafuta’s hut, with the disk still gleaming brightly out of the deep shadow, and Mafuta still squatting on his heels in the centre of the floor.“Well, white man,” he said, as I came to myself, “have you seen aught?”“I have,” said I, “and I feel bound to admit that you are the possessor of most extraordinary powers, Mafuta. Yes, I saw the ’ntombozaan; and, as you said, she seems to be both happy and in the enjoyment of excellent health. But what I now want to know is where she is. Surely there are not so many big kraals scattered about in Kafirland that the one which you have just shown me should be difficult to find?”“What did it look like, ’mlungu?” demanded Mafuta.“What did it look like?” I repeated. “Is not that a quite unnecessary question to ask, Mafuta? You must have seen everything that I saw, otherwise—”“Nay,” interrupted Mafuta, “I saw nothing; nor do I know what you saw, excepting that I willed you to see the ’ntombi. Tell me everything that you beheld, and maybe I can help you to find the place.”Thereupon I proceeded to describe minutely the entire scene as I had beheld it, the big town with its huts, to the number of two thousand or more, symmetrically arranged within its circle of stout, high palings; the kopje close by, with its scattered piles of rock interspersed with straggling clumps of bush, and its vultures; the great plain with its herds of grazing cattle beside the stream—in short, every feature of my vision, as I vividly recalled it. And when I had finished, Mafuta sat for several minutes ruminating deeply. At length, however, he looked up, and, shaking his head, said:“White man, I have never seen the place you describe, otherwise I am sure that I should recognise it. The kopje with its rocks and its aasvogels would alone suffice for its identification. That kopje is doubtless the place where criminals are executed; the presence of the aasvogels seems to indicate that. And the size and general importance of the place lead me to believe that it is where a king sits; but what king I know not. Of one thing, however, I can assure you; it is not Moshesh’s Place.”“Well,” said I, “that at least is something to know, for it is one place the less to trouble about. And that is all the help you can give me?”“That is all the help I can give you,” repeated Mafuta.“But surely it is much, is it not, ’mlungu? You have seen the place with the eyes of your mind, seen it as plainly as if you had beheld it with your bodily eyes; and you will remember what it looks like. You will be able to describe it minutely to others; and as you go upon your way you will have opportunity to speak of it to others, and—yes, it comes to me that eventually you will meet with one who will enable you to find it.”“Thanks, very much,” said I. “That is a most comforting thing to know, and, since you say that such a thing will happen, I quite believe it will, after the exhibition of your powers which you have already given me. Will you accept this as a gift from me?” I added, producing the brilliantly marked handkerchief from my belt and offering it to the nyanga.“My thanks, ’mlungu,” answered the man, taking the handkerchief and depositing it upon the pallet. “And now,” he continued, “I think you will do well to proceed without undue delay to Moshesh’s kraal. ’Ngaga has already dispatched a messenger apprising the king of your presence in his country, and, if you ask permission to pass through and hunt in it, the Great One will doubtless give it, especially as you have rendered his people the service of slaying the leopard that has been preying upon them. But the king is jealous of his own authority, and is apt to resent intrusion into his country without permission first asked; also he is a little distrustful of the white man, whom he suspects of a desire to steal the black man’s land. Therefore present yourself before him as early as may be.”“Thanks, Mafuta, I will do as you say. Farewell, and may all prosperity attend you,” said I, as I took my leave.“Sala guhli (farewell), ’mlungu!” replied the Kafir, following me out and standing by the door of the hut. “I see much trouble and many dangers before thee; but be of good heart, for thou shalt overcome them all.”Two days later I arrived at the king’s kraal.It was near mid-afternoon when I halted the wagon and ordered Jan to outspan at a point about half a mile from the kraal: and I immediately dispatched Piet with a message to the effect that I, Edward Laurence, an Englishman, had arrived at the kraal for the purpose of personally soliciting permission from King Moshesh to hunt in and pass through his country; and that for this purpose, and that I might crave His Majesty’s acceptance of certain presents, I might be granted the favour of an early audience. Then I opened the voorkissie and proceeded to select the presents which I would offer for the savage king’s acceptance.Gaudily coloured handkerchiefs, and, more particularly, brilliantly hued articles of costume have from time immemorial strongly appealed to the taste of the untutored savage, and I had kept this fact prominently in mind when purchasing the goods which I intended to use as presents and for the purposes of barter; therefore, among other things, I had bought several cast-off British uniforms of various descriptions, these being designed especially for presentation to the several savage monarchs with whom I expected to be brought into contact. So now, after due consideration, I drew forth a drum-major’s scarlet tunic, stiff with tarnished gold braid, minus its regimental buttons, shockingly soiled, and otherwise very much the worse for wear; a pair of ditto blue trousers, with gold braid running down the outer seam; a naval lieutenant’s cocked hat, in which I inserted a bunch of cock’s tail feathers; an infantryman’s white leather belt, with bayonet and sheath; and a small round shaving mirror in a metal frame, which had cost me sixpence, if I remember rightly: and made up the whole into a neat bundle, in readiness for the moment when I should be summoned to the royal presence. Then I proceeded to take particular note of the capital of Basutoland.It was a place of considerable importance, consisting of about a thousand huts enclosed, like the place of my vision, in a very strong and high palisade, rendered unclimbable by having the upper extremities of the palings trimmed into long sharp points. It was built upon the summit of a low knoll, was rectangular in plan, and covered an area of about twenty acres of ground; and that was about all that I could discover concerning it in the meantime, since the palisading was much too high to permit of my seeing anything inside it.After an absence of nearly an hour Piet returned with the information that he had been detained at the outer gate of the kraal while my message was conveyed to the king, and that during his detention he had been subjected to a pretty severe cross-examination by an induna or chief, respecting the purpose of my journey, my destination, and so on; that, finally, a message had been returned by the king that when he was ready to see me he would send for me, and meanwhile I was to remain where I was and not attempt to enter the kraal. I confess that I was a trifle disappointed at this reception, which I regarded as distinctly chilly; but Mafuta had afforded me a little insight into the king’s character, and I trusted that a personal interview, coupled with a sight of the resplendent drum-major’s tunic and the rest of the outfit, would, arouse a feeling of greater geniality in the breast of the savage autocrat. So I hung about the wagon for the remainder of that day, waiting for a summons which did not come. Nevertheless, although the king did not condescend to manifest any undue eagerness to see me, I was not exactly left to pine in solitude, for several of the inhabitants of the town came out to gossip with my “boys”, while no less than three indunas suffered their curiosity to overcome their dignity so far as to pay me an informal visit and ask me countless questions—for it must be remembered that, at the time of which I am now writing, it was very unusual for a white man to cross the border of his own territory into the wilds, and one of the men who on that occasion spoke to me had only once before seen such an individual.It was amusing to note the rapid change of manner in these men as they conversed with me. Upon their first approach they began to question me with a certain curt abruptness which I easily interpreted as being intended to convey the idea that their visit was more or less of an official character; but all the while their eyes were wandering hither and thither, taking in every detail of my dress and equipment, as well as the wagon and its contents, and it was not very long before they began to enquire what was the use of this, that, and the other. Of course I answered all their questions as fully as I could, and not only so, but I also exhibited a few of my gewgaws, hinting that certain of them might become their own property before long, although I did not then offer any presents for their acceptance, it being contrary to savage etiquette to do so before the king had been interviewed and propitiated. They were, of course, intensely interested in my guns, and were full of amazement when I bowled over a carrion crow at a distance of six hundred yards with a rifle bullet; and they did not hesitate to hint plainly that nothing could possibly be more acceptable to the king than the gift of one of my fire weapons. I explained, however, that the fire weapon was very powerful and very dangerous magic, subservient only to the white man, and that I dared not allow any of them even to touch one, lest it should turn upon and slay them. But they were quite as profoundly impressed by my exhibition of the powers of the burning-glass, several of which I had taken the precaution to include in my stock; and when they saw me kindle a fire with its assistance they could find no words in which to express adequately their wonder and admiration.It is more than probable that, upon their return to the kraal, they found means to convey to the king’s ear some impression of the wonders which the white man had revealed to them, for I had scarcely finished my breakfast on the following morning when a messenger arrived at the wagon with the intimation that King Moshesh commanded my immediate presence before him.I at once arose and, unarmed, accompanied the messenger, with Piet in close attendance, bearing the parcel containing the presents which I designed to offer for His Majesty’s acceptance. As I approached the open gate in the palisade a number of people, both men and women, were passing in and out, all of whom regarded me curiously. A few of the men saluted me with upraised right hand and the exclamation “’Nkos’!” but for the most part they seemed undecided whether to regard me as a friend or an enemy, and therefore preferred for the moment to maintain an attitude of neutrality. Immediately inside the gate there stood a guard of twenty men, fully armed with shield, assagai, and knobkerrie, under the command of an induna, and here we were stopped, for the induna seemed indisposed to allow Piet to accompany me; but I explained that he was my body servant, and that the bundle which he bore contained presents designed for the king’s acceptance, whereupon we were, somewhat reluctantly, permitted to pass on. Naturally, we were no sooner inside the gate than I began to look about me, and the first thing that struck me was the admirable arrangements which had been made for the defence of the place in case of attack. For while the top of the palisade was, on the outside, about fifteen feet above the surface of the ground, on the inside it had been backed up with earth forming a platform about twelve feet wide and just high enough for a man of average height to see between the sharpened points; while at a height of about four feet above the level of the platform there was a continuous row of slits, about eight inches high by two inches wide, and about nine inches apart, the obvious purpose of which was to afford the occupants of the platform an opportunity to thrust with their spears at a foe attempting to scale the palisade from the outside, without unduly exposing themselves. Approach to the summit of the platform was obtained by a continuous flight of rough steps cut in the earth all along its face, and next the foot of the steps was a road of about twelve feet wide. Then came the outer row of huts, between which and the next row was another road, about eight feet wide. There were four rows of huts running entirely round the enclosure, inside of which again was another palisade, equally as strong and as high as the first. And, as in the case of the first palisade, this also had a single gate, guarded by twenty fully armed men under the command of an induna. We were permitted to pass through this second gate unchallenged, and having done this I found myself in an open square of about five acres in extent, near the far side of which were seven huts, or houses, rather, for they were considerably larger and in every way more important than the ordinary Kafir hut. Six of these—square structures built of “wattle-and-daub” and roofed with thatch, the largest of them measuring about twenty feet by twelve, and about seven feet high to the overhanging eaves—were built in a row, with spaces of about six feet between them; while the seventh, which I rightly conjectured to be the itunkulu, or King’s House, stood about twelve feet in front of the others, and was about the same size as the largest of them.We were now upon what may be termed sacred ground, that is to say, ground reserved for the exclusive use of the king himself and the members of his immediate household; nobody being permitted to enter here except persons belonging to the royal family, those especially invited by the king, the chief witch doctor, and the king’s own bodyguard, consisting of one hundred specially picked men, under the command of an induna who also filled the office of chief adviser, or prime minister, to the king. At the moment of our entrance not a person but ourselves was visible in the square, except the guard at the gate; but a few seconds later twenty soldiers under the command of a very splendid-looking officer emerged from one of the buildings and took up a position on either side of a chair hewn out of a solid block of wood and draped with a magnificent lion-skin kaross, which stood some half a dozen paces in front of the itunkulu.These men were the finest-looking body of savage warriors that I had up till then ever seen, every one of them being quite as tall as, and far more firmly knit than myself; while the chief was a truly magnificent man, standing at least six feet two on his bare feet, with the limbs and frame of a Hercules. They were all dressed in leopard-skin muchas, with bracelets, armlets, garters, and anklets of cows’ tails; all wore keshlas; and each man carried a long shield and three throwing assagais in his left hand, while in his right he held a stabbing assagai with a terrible double-edged blade about six inches wide and eighteen inches long. Their commanding officer was similarly armed; but in addition to the leopard-skin mucha he wore a leopard-skin cloak, a necklace of lions’ teeth and claws, and a headdress made of beads and ostrich feathers. Every man of these twenty-one savage warriors showed upon his person the scars of many wounds, and carried himself with a pride of bearing which forbade him to display the slightest sign of consciousness of our presence.
On the following morning, when I turned out and walked down to the river to bathe, I debouched a little from the direct road in order to take a peep at the dead leopard by daylight, the carcass having been left where it had fallen. As I approached the place I saw that Piet and Jan, my two Hottentots, were already busily engaged upon the task of removing the skin; and I observed that both were looking, as I thought, very much annoyed, and a little apprehensive. I was not long in discovering what was the matter, for as I halted beside them Piet held up first the two front paws and then the two hind paws of the beast, when I instantly saw, to my intense annoyance, that every one of the claws had been removed, and that therefore, as a trophy, the skin was quite useless. Of course I knew that this was a common practice among the Kafirs, the claws of the lion and the leopard being either worn by them as potent amulets, or converted into muti, that is to say, medicine, which is implicitly believed by them to impart the quality of courage to the one who takes it; but I had been foolish enough to think that, having solicited me to destroy their enemy for them, they would have regarded the carcass as sacred from mutilation. They had not done so, however, and that ended the matter, for I knew that it would be quite useless to make a fuss about it: not a soul in the village would ever admit the least knowledge of the theft.
While I was taking breakfast, about an hour later, ’Ngaga came up from the village to express the hearty thanks of himself and the rest of the inhabitants for the service which I had rendered them by destroying the leopard; and when we had chatted for half an hour or so, and ’Ngaga had accepted a present of a yard of brass wire, a handful of parti-coloured beads, and a cotton handkerchief gorgeously emblazoned in red, blue, green, and yellow, he said:
“’Nkos’, after I left you last night I went to the hut of Mafuta and was permitted to enter. I told the nyanga that you had undertaken to slay the leopard that had been troubling us, and after I had spoken many words concerning the greatness of the boon you would thus confer upon us, I ventured to mention that you were desirous of consulting him in relation to a certain quest which you have undertaken. I think, ’Nkos’, that if you would go now with me to Mafuta’s hut, perhaps taking with you as a gift another handkerchief such as this, the nyanga would be willing to grant your request.”
“You think so?” I said. “Then in that case let us go.” And, extracting from the voorkissie a handkerchief distinguished by a particularly startling combination of colours, which I tucked into my belt in such a manner that it could not fail to attract attention, I set out for the village, accompanied by ’Ngaga, who, I understood, proposed to act as a sort of sponsor for me, and to introduce me personally to the great man.
The nyanga’s hut was, as is generally the case, built at some little distance—in the present instance about a quarter of a mile—from the village proper, standing quite by itself, close to the stream, and close under the shadow of a great clump of bush. Apart from this circumstance there was nothing to distinguish it from the rest of the huts, it being of the usual beehive shape, constructed of closely interwoven wattles, thickly thatched with reeds and grass, and having an entrance so small that it was necessary to bend double and stoop low in order to pass through it. Also it was windowless, the only illumination of the interior being derived from such light as came through the low door; consequently when one first entered such a hut the contrast between the obscurity of the interior and the glare of the blazing sunlight outside produced an impression of profound darkness, this only passing away as the eye gradually accustomed itself to the gloom, after which one found, somewhat to one’s surprise, that there was light enough to see everything with a very tolerable degree of distinctness.
As ’Ngaga preceded me into the hut I heard a low murmur of greeting pass between him and someone else, which told me that the owner was at home; then I followed and stood upright in what was, to my eye, inky blackness.
“S’a bon’, ’mlungu (I see you, white man)!” said a deep, resonant voice from the depth of the darkness.
“Yebo (yes), Mafuta,” answered I, that being the usual interchange of salutations between the native and the white when the former esteems himself the equal of the latter; and I stood, blinking and striving to penetrate the obscurity. Gradually the darkness melted into a sort of sombre twilight, which by imperceptible degrees grew stronger, and presently I saw that I was in a hut the sole furniture of which consisted of a pallet, raised about a foot from the floor, and covered with rich karosses or skin rugs—one, I observed, being made entirely of leopard-skins. On one end of this pallet was seated a man of perhaps forty years of age, wearing a keshla, or head ring, and a mucha, or apron, made apparently of monkey skins. The man’s shield and sheaf of assagais stood close at hand against the wall of the hut, and a ponderous knobkerrie hung just overhead, slung by a loop of rimpi; but the hut contained nothing to distinguish it from that of any other native, and I confess that my first feeling was one of disappointment, for I had never before been in the hut of a nyanga, and I had been led to believe by those who had that I should see all sorts of strange and weird-looking objects if I ever happened to penetrate to the interior of a Kafir witch doctor’s hut. The owner seemed to read my disappointment in my eyes, for he laughed softly as he waved his hand, indicating the emptiness of the hut.
“I do not need the things for which you are looking, ’mlungu,” he said; “my magic is different from that of all other nyangas—and much more potent, as mayhap you shall see for yourself. Be seated,” he continued, waving me toward the other end of the couch; “and as for you, ’Ngaga, having brought the ’mlungu hither, your task is accomplished, and you may depart.”
So, while I deposited myself upon the pallet, ’Ngaga bade us both a somewhat ceremonious farewell, and vanished through the opening into the blazing sunlight without.
Then Mafuta began to talk to me about my journey and the incidents, such as they were, that had thus far marked it; and I confess that I was astounded at the intimate knowledge of these matters which he displayed. Of course I knew that my “boys” might have, and very possibly had, spoken of them to ’Ngaga and the other Basutos during their gossip round the fire on the previous evening; yet this man, Mafuta, seemed to know more about the details of them than was likely to have transpired during such a conversation, which was probably of an exceedingly desultory and general character. Yet even this was not so surprising as the knowledge he displayed of the twofold object of my journey, which I knew he could not have acquired from my “boys”, because even they were ignorant of it, all that they actually knew being that the journey was ostensibly undertaken for the purpose of collecting ivory. But without questioning me at all upon the subject, the nyanga made it clear to me that he was fully aware of the fact that one great object of my journey was to get gold rather than ivory.
“Yet even that,” said he, “is not all that you seek upon this journey; important as it is that you should find the yellow metal which the white man values so greatly, you are even more anxious to find something else: is it not so? And so anxious are you to find it that, although you doubt Mafuta’s power, you have come to him to see if he can help you.”
“It is true,” I admitted; “and the fact that you know so much of my most secret desires and intentions inclines me to hope, and almost to believe, that you can help me. Do you think you can?”
“It may be, ’mlungu; it may be,” he answered. “The white ’ntombozaan (girl) still lives and is well, for I last night took the trouble to seek for and find her; but where she is I cannot say, for the place is strange to me, I having never seen it with my bodily eyes.”
I fairly gasped with amazement, for this was the first time that Nell Lestrange had been mentioned since my arrival in the village, and it was not I who had spoken of her, but a savage to whom even the bare fact of her existence might be supposed to be unknown—unless—unless those who originally carried her off had chanced to pass this way. Yet, even then—
“Tell me,” I shouted, seizing the nyanga by the arm, rather roughly, I am afraid, in my excitement, “what do you know of her? How long is it since you saw her? And who are they who carried her off?”
“Gahle (gently), white man! gahle!” returned Mafuta, snatching his arm out of my grasp. “I know nothing of the ’ntombi save what I saw last night. But you came hither to procure my help to find her, and such help as I can give shall be yours. As I told you, I know not where she is, for I never saw the place with my bodily eyes, but I will show it to you, so that if ever you come to the place you may know it. Will that satisfy you?”
“But,” I objected, “if you are able to show me the place, surely you can tell me the name of it, and in which direction I should travel to reach it?”
“Nay, ’mlungu, I cannot do that,” answered Mafuta. “My power is not so great as that. I can but show you the person whom you desire to see; it must rest with you to note that person’s surroundings so carefully that, should you ever arrive at the place, you will recognise it again. Or perhaps by describing it to others you may be able to find someone who has been there and who, recognising it from your description, will be able to tell you its name and where it is.”
“Very well, then,” said I; “do what you can to help me, Mafuta, and I will be for ever obliged to you.”
“Muchli (good)!” exclaimed Mafuta. “Sit where you are, and do exactly as I bid you.” He rose from his seat, groped among the thatch of the hut for a moment, and presently produced a small, circular object about the size of an ordinary coat button. It was as brightly burnished as the surface of a mirror, and he placed it upright on the floor of the hut in such a position that, while itself in deep shadow, it strongly reflected the light which entered through the doorway right into my eyes, dazzling them to such an extent that, for a few moments, I could scarcely bear to look at it. Presently, however, that feeling passed away, and I was able to gaze upon it without discomfort.
“Now,” said Mafuta, “look steadfastly at that, never removing your eyes from it for a moment, and see what happens.” And, thus saying, the man went and squatted himself upon his heels in the centre of the floor, and began to chant, in a low, monotonous voice, certain words the meaning of which I could not comprehend.
For a few minutes nothing particular seemed to happen: the disk continued to shine strongly in the midst of the deep shadow, and Mafuta’s low, monotonous song went on. Then, so gradually that I knew not when the change began, I lost consciousness of everything except the gleaming disk and the sound of Mafuta’s voice, from which all semblance of words had passed. Then the disk seemed slowly to fade out of sight, Mafuta’s voice died away to silence, and I found myself seemingly standing upon gently rising ground, with a native village, of such dimensions that it deserved rather the name of a town, about a quarter of a mile distant on my left front. The first thing that I particularly observed about this place, apart from its exceptional size, was that it was built in the shape of a circle, and was entirely fenced in with a strong, high palisade. There was a gate in the fence, nearly opposite me, and a number of people, mostly men, were coming and going through the gateway. They were splendid specimens of the South African savage, but, look as I would, I could discover nothing either in their cast of features or in their trappings by which to identify them.
The town was built upon the top of the slope on which I stood, and about a quarter of a mile distant from it I noted a rather remarkable kopje which I thought would surely enable me to recognise the place if ever I should chance to set my bodily eyes upon it. It was perhaps seventy or eighty feet high, and at its summit it measured, as nearly as I could guess, about two hundred yards long. It was hog-backed in shape, and was strewn here and there with great, tumbled masses of dark-coloured rock, among which grew a few straggling bushes. The most remarkable thing about this particular kopje, however, was that, notwithstanding its close proximity to the town, it appeared to be the haunt of innumerable vultures, some forty or fifty of which were perched upon the rocks at that moment. The landscape on which this unknown savage town was set was of the usual South African type, namely, gently undulating, the hills retiring one behind the other into the extreme distance until, toward the west—I got my bearings from the sun, of course—they merged into what might almost be termed mountains, while eastward the land stretched away in a vast plain. The soil was densely covered with long, thick grass, which was already beginning to look bleached and parched here and there for want of rain; and scattered pretty thickly over the country were the usual patches of bush. On my right the land fell away to a spacious flat, a thousand acres or more in extent, upon which vast herds of cattle were grazing, and through which a stream some thirty feet in width gently meandered.
As I stood noting all these details, three young girls emerged from the main gate of the town, two of them being dark-brown, while the third was white—Nell Lestrange! I recognised the dear child instantly, although she had altered greatly—as I thought, for the better—since I had seen her last. She was talking and laughing gaily with her companions, I was glad to see, for that indicated that she was well and happy; yet, even as this thought flashed through my mind, she fell silent for a moment and a look of sadness clouded her face. She was bareheaded and barefooted, the garment which she wore being a sort of frock apparently modelled from those which she had worn while at Triannon, and made of a peculiar kind of cloth the nature of which I could not recognise. Instinctively I stretched out my hands toward her and strove to call her name, but no sound passed my lips, and, to my intense disappointment, I found that I could not move. The trio passed me about a hundred yards distant, and I distinctly heard their voices, but could not catch the words they spoke, otherwise I might possibly have recognised the language and thus gained a clue to the locality; and although, just as they were passing before me, Nell looked straight in my direction, and even paused for an instant, she immediately went on again, casting a single glance back over her shoulder and then continuing on her way until she disappeared beyond a clump of bush near the river. And with her disappearance the whole scene vanished and I found myself back in Mafuta’s hut, with the disk still gleaming brightly out of the deep shadow, and Mafuta still squatting on his heels in the centre of the floor.
“Well, white man,” he said, as I came to myself, “have you seen aught?”
“I have,” said I, “and I feel bound to admit that you are the possessor of most extraordinary powers, Mafuta. Yes, I saw the ’ntombozaan; and, as you said, she seems to be both happy and in the enjoyment of excellent health. But what I now want to know is where she is. Surely there are not so many big kraals scattered about in Kafirland that the one which you have just shown me should be difficult to find?”
“What did it look like, ’mlungu?” demanded Mafuta.
“What did it look like?” I repeated. “Is not that a quite unnecessary question to ask, Mafuta? You must have seen everything that I saw, otherwise—”
“Nay,” interrupted Mafuta, “I saw nothing; nor do I know what you saw, excepting that I willed you to see the ’ntombi. Tell me everything that you beheld, and maybe I can help you to find the place.”
Thereupon I proceeded to describe minutely the entire scene as I had beheld it, the big town with its huts, to the number of two thousand or more, symmetrically arranged within its circle of stout, high palings; the kopje close by, with its scattered piles of rock interspersed with straggling clumps of bush, and its vultures; the great plain with its herds of grazing cattle beside the stream—in short, every feature of my vision, as I vividly recalled it. And when I had finished, Mafuta sat for several minutes ruminating deeply. At length, however, he looked up, and, shaking his head, said:
“White man, I have never seen the place you describe, otherwise I am sure that I should recognise it. The kopje with its rocks and its aasvogels would alone suffice for its identification. That kopje is doubtless the place where criminals are executed; the presence of the aasvogels seems to indicate that. And the size and general importance of the place lead me to believe that it is where a king sits; but what king I know not. Of one thing, however, I can assure you; it is not Moshesh’s Place.”
“Well,” said I, “that at least is something to know, for it is one place the less to trouble about. And that is all the help you can give me?”
“That is all the help I can give you,” repeated Mafuta.
“But surely it is much, is it not, ’mlungu? You have seen the place with the eyes of your mind, seen it as plainly as if you had beheld it with your bodily eyes; and you will remember what it looks like. You will be able to describe it minutely to others; and as you go upon your way you will have opportunity to speak of it to others, and—yes, it comes to me that eventually you will meet with one who will enable you to find it.”
“Thanks, very much,” said I. “That is a most comforting thing to know, and, since you say that such a thing will happen, I quite believe it will, after the exhibition of your powers which you have already given me. Will you accept this as a gift from me?” I added, producing the brilliantly marked handkerchief from my belt and offering it to the nyanga.
“My thanks, ’mlungu,” answered the man, taking the handkerchief and depositing it upon the pallet. “And now,” he continued, “I think you will do well to proceed without undue delay to Moshesh’s kraal. ’Ngaga has already dispatched a messenger apprising the king of your presence in his country, and, if you ask permission to pass through and hunt in it, the Great One will doubtless give it, especially as you have rendered his people the service of slaying the leopard that has been preying upon them. But the king is jealous of his own authority, and is apt to resent intrusion into his country without permission first asked; also he is a little distrustful of the white man, whom he suspects of a desire to steal the black man’s land. Therefore present yourself before him as early as may be.”
“Thanks, Mafuta, I will do as you say. Farewell, and may all prosperity attend you,” said I, as I took my leave.
“Sala guhli (farewell), ’mlungu!” replied the Kafir, following me out and standing by the door of the hut. “I see much trouble and many dangers before thee; but be of good heart, for thou shalt overcome them all.”
Two days later I arrived at the king’s kraal.
It was near mid-afternoon when I halted the wagon and ordered Jan to outspan at a point about half a mile from the kraal: and I immediately dispatched Piet with a message to the effect that I, Edward Laurence, an Englishman, had arrived at the kraal for the purpose of personally soliciting permission from King Moshesh to hunt in and pass through his country; and that for this purpose, and that I might crave His Majesty’s acceptance of certain presents, I might be granted the favour of an early audience. Then I opened the voorkissie and proceeded to select the presents which I would offer for the savage king’s acceptance.
Gaudily coloured handkerchiefs, and, more particularly, brilliantly hued articles of costume have from time immemorial strongly appealed to the taste of the untutored savage, and I had kept this fact prominently in mind when purchasing the goods which I intended to use as presents and for the purposes of barter; therefore, among other things, I had bought several cast-off British uniforms of various descriptions, these being designed especially for presentation to the several savage monarchs with whom I expected to be brought into contact. So now, after due consideration, I drew forth a drum-major’s scarlet tunic, stiff with tarnished gold braid, minus its regimental buttons, shockingly soiled, and otherwise very much the worse for wear; a pair of ditto blue trousers, with gold braid running down the outer seam; a naval lieutenant’s cocked hat, in which I inserted a bunch of cock’s tail feathers; an infantryman’s white leather belt, with bayonet and sheath; and a small round shaving mirror in a metal frame, which had cost me sixpence, if I remember rightly: and made up the whole into a neat bundle, in readiness for the moment when I should be summoned to the royal presence. Then I proceeded to take particular note of the capital of Basutoland.
It was a place of considerable importance, consisting of about a thousand huts enclosed, like the place of my vision, in a very strong and high palisade, rendered unclimbable by having the upper extremities of the palings trimmed into long sharp points. It was built upon the summit of a low knoll, was rectangular in plan, and covered an area of about twenty acres of ground; and that was about all that I could discover concerning it in the meantime, since the palisading was much too high to permit of my seeing anything inside it.
After an absence of nearly an hour Piet returned with the information that he had been detained at the outer gate of the kraal while my message was conveyed to the king, and that during his detention he had been subjected to a pretty severe cross-examination by an induna or chief, respecting the purpose of my journey, my destination, and so on; that, finally, a message had been returned by the king that when he was ready to see me he would send for me, and meanwhile I was to remain where I was and not attempt to enter the kraal. I confess that I was a trifle disappointed at this reception, which I regarded as distinctly chilly; but Mafuta had afforded me a little insight into the king’s character, and I trusted that a personal interview, coupled with a sight of the resplendent drum-major’s tunic and the rest of the outfit, would, arouse a feeling of greater geniality in the breast of the savage autocrat. So I hung about the wagon for the remainder of that day, waiting for a summons which did not come. Nevertheless, although the king did not condescend to manifest any undue eagerness to see me, I was not exactly left to pine in solitude, for several of the inhabitants of the town came out to gossip with my “boys”, while no less than three indunas suffered their curiosity to overcome their dignity so far as to pay me an informal visit and ask me countless questions—for it must be remembered that, at the time of which I am now writing, it was very unusual for a white man to cross the border of his own territory into the wilds, and one of the men who on that occasion spoke to me had only once before seen such an individual.
It was amusing to note the rapid change of manner in these men as they conversed with me. Upon their first approach they began to question me with a certain curt abruptness which I easily interpreted as being intended to convey the idea that their visit was more or less of an official character; but all the while their eyes were wandering hither and thither, taking in every detail of my dress and equipment, as well as the wagon and its contents, and it was not very long before they began to enquire what was the use of this, that, and the other. Of course I answered all their questions as fully as I could, and not only so, but I also exhibited a few of my gewgaws, hinting that certain of them might become their own property before long, although I did not then offer any presents for their acceptance, it being contrary to savage etiquette to do so before the king had been interviewed and propitiated. They were, of course, intensely interested in my guns, and were full of amazement when I bowled over a carrion crow at a distance of six hundred yards with a rifle bullet; and they did not hesitate to hint plainly that nothing could possibly be more acceptable to the king than the gift of one of my fire weapons. I explained, however, that the fire weapon was very powerful and very dangerous magic, subservient only to the white man, and that I dared not allow any of them even to touch one, lest it should turn upon and slay them. But they were quite as profoundly impressed by my exhibition of the powers of the burning-glass, several of which I had taken the precaution to include in my stock; and when they saw me kindle a fire with its assistance they could find no words in which to express adequately their wonder and admiration.
It is more than probable that, upon their return to the kraal, they found means to convey to the king’s ear some impression of the wonders which the white man had revealed to them, for I had scarcely finished my breakfast on the following morning when a messenger arrived at the wagon with the intimation that King Moshesh commanded my immediate presence before him.
I at once arose and, unarmed, accompanied the messenger, with Piet in close attendance, bearing the parcel containing the presents which I designed to offer for His Majesty’s acceptance. As I approached the open gate in the palisade a number of people, both men and women, were passing in and out, all of whom regarded me curiously. A few of the men saluted me with upraised right hand and the exclamation “’Nkos’!” but for the most part they seemed undecided whether to regard me as a friend or an enemy, and therefore preferred for the moment to maintain an attitude of neutrality. Immediately inside the gate there stood a guard of twenty men, fully armed with shield, assagai, and knobkerrie, under the command of an induna, and here we were stopped, for the induna seemed indisposed to allow Piet to accompany me; but I explained that he was my body servant, and that the bundle which he bore contained presents designed for the king’s acceptance, whereupon we were, somewhat reluctantly, permitted to pass on. Naturally, we were no sooner inside the gate than I began to look about me, and the first thing that struck me was the admirable arrangements which had been made for the defence of the place in case of attack. For while the top of the palisade was, on the outside, about fifteen feet above the surface of the ground, on the inside it had been backed up with earth forming a platform about twelve feet wide and just high enough for a man of average height to see between the sharpened points; while at a height of about four feet above the level of the platform there was a continuous row of slits, about eight inches high by two inches wide, and about nine inches apart, the obvious purpose of which was to afford the occupants of the platform an opportunity to thrust with their spears at a foe attempting to scale the palisade from the outside, without unduly exposing themselves. Approach to the summit of the platform was obtained by a continuous flight of rough steps cut in the earth all along its face, and next the foot of the steps was a road of about twelve feet wide. Then came the outer row of huts, between which and the next row was another road, about eight feet wide. There were four rows of huts running entirely round the enclosure, inside of which again was another palisade, equally as strong and as high as the first. And, as in the case of the first palisade, this also had a single gate, guarded by twenty fully armed men under the command of an induna. We were permitted to pass through this second gate unchallenged, and having done this I found myself in an open square of about five acres in extent, near the far side of which were seven huts, or houses, rather, for they were considerably larger and in every way more important than the ordinary Kafir hut. Six of these—square structures built of “wattle-and-daub” and roofed with thatch, the largest of them measuring about twenty feet by twelve, and about seven feet high to the overhanging eaves—were built in a row, with spaces of about six feet between them; while the seventh, which I rightly conjectured to be the itunkulu, or King’s House, stood about twelve feet in front of the others, and was about the same size as the largest of them.
We were now upon what may be termed sacred ground, that is to say, ground reserved for the exclusive use of the king himself and the members of his immediate household; nobody being permitted to enter here except persons belonging to the royal family, those especially invited by the king, the chief witch doctor, and the king’s own bodyguard, consisting of one hundred specially picked men, under the command of an induna who also filled the office of chief adviser, or prime minister, to the king. At the moment of our entrance not a person but ourselves was visible in the square, except the guard at the gate; but a few seconds later twenty soldiers under the command of a very splendid-looking officer emerged from one of the buildings and took up a position on either side of a chair hewn out of a solid block of wood and draped with a magnificent lion-skin kaross, which stood some half a dozen paces in front of the itunkulu.
These men were the finest-looking body of savage warriors that I had up till then ever seen, every one of them being quite as tall as, and far more firmly knit than myself; while the chief was a truly magnificent man, standing at least six feet two on his bare feet, with the limbs and frame of a Hercules. They were all dressed in leopard-skin muchas, with bracelets, armlets, garters, and anklets of cows’ tails; all wore keshlas; and each man carried a long shield and three throwing assagais in his left hand, while in his right he held a stabbing assagai with a terrible double-edged blade about six inches wide and eighteen inches long. Their commanding officer was similarly armed; but in addition to the leopard-skin mucha he wore a leopard-skin cloak, a necklace of lions’ teeth and claws, and a headdress made of beads and ostrich feathers. Every man of these twenty-one savage warriors showed upon his person the scars of many wounds, and carried himself with a pride of bearing which forbade him to display the slightest sign of consciousness of our presence.
Chapter Six.Moshesh, the King of the Basutos.A minute later the curtain of reed matting that hung in the doorway of the itunkulu was thrust aside, and a man came forth. He was slightly above medium stature, and a trifle lighter in colour than the average Basuto; he was much more simply attired than the officer of the guard, his clothing consisting simply of a leopard-skin mucha and a lion-skin mantle: but the assured dignity of his carriage and the expression of arrogant pride upon his well-formed features would of themselves have sufficed to tell me that the man was none other than Moshesh, the king of the Basuto nation, even had the guard not given him the royal salute by raising their stabbing assagais aloft in their right hands as they thundered out the word “Bayete!” As for me, I had not the remotest notion of the kind of salutation which His Majesty would expect from me; I therefore contented myself by standing at attention in military fashion and giving him a military salute. The action, which is certainly a very expressive one, seemed to meet with the royal approval, for the king acknowledged it by the slightest possible uplifting of the right hand as he seated himself in his chair and the guard formed up behind him. Then, gazing at me steadfastly for a moment, he said:“S’a bon’, umulungu!” Then, without allowing me time to make the stereotyped reply, he continued: “For what purpose have ye come hither into my country?”“I have business in the far north,” said I; “and to reach my destination it is necessary for me to pass through thy country. Therefore have I come hither to offer presents, and to ask thy permission to pass through thy country and hunt therein.”“Au!” commented the king in a tone of displeasure; “I like it not. If I give thee leave to travel and hunt in Basutoland, others of thy countrymen will claim the same privilege, and it will end in so many coming that there will be no room left for me and my people. Was it not this same apprehension that caused the Tembu, the Pondos, and the Griquas to arise and unite in an attempt to drive the white man into the sea?”“It was,” I said. “But the apprehension was quite unjustified: the English had no thought, no desire, no intention to steal the land of the black man; their own land is amply large enough for all their needs. But the Kafirs would not believe it, therefore they treacherously arose and swept down upon the white man’s land, attacking isolated farms and murdering their inhabitants—my own parents died upon the spears of the Griquas. And what have the black men gained by their treachery? Nothing! And what have they lost? Everything! Thousands of them have perished in the war of retribution which they have provoked; and the end of it all is that, by way of further punishment—and as a warning to others—the white man has seized their land and driven them out of it.”“Au!” ejaculated the king again. “So have I heard. And I tell thee again, white man, that I like it not. If it be as thou sayest, that thine own land is large enough for thy need, why hast thou not remained there? Why comest thou to my country?”“Because,” answered I, “as I have already said, I have business in the far north, and to get there I must needs pass through Basutoland.”“And what is thy business in the far north?” demanded Moshesh. “I have a right to know, since thou sayest that it necessitates a passage through my country.”“I think not,” said I. “Nevertheless I will tell thee, since the matter is no secret. When the southern Kafirs took up their spears to drive the white men into the sea, my father’s farm was one of the last which they attacked. They slew my parents, burnt down the house, and drove off all the cattle, leaving me with only sufficient means to buy a wagon and oxen, and weapons to undertake a hunting expedition. The land itself remains, and is mine, but I have not the wherewithal to put fresh stock upon it; therefore nothing remains for me but to hunt ivory and so procure the means to purchase fresh stock. Also I am hoping to find gold; but most of all am I anxious to find a white ’ntombozaan who was captured and carried off by the Kafirs.”“Ou!” ejaculated the king. “Now I begin to understand. At first I feared that thy business was to spy out the nature of the land in this my country, so that, if it were found suitable, thou and other white men might come in and try to take it from me; but since thou dost indeed merely desire to pass through it, I give thee free leave to do so, the more readily that I learn thou didst help my people by slaying a leopard that was troubling them.”“It is well, O king, and I thank thee,” said I. “And now, in acknowledgment of thy friendliness, I ask thine acceptance of certain presents,” and I beckoned Piet to approach with his parcel, which I forthwith proceeded to open.The trousers were on the top of the parcel, and as I unfolded them and turned them about, showing off their gold braid, I saw the king’s eyes begin to glisten, for finery appeals quite as strongly to the savage as it does to the child. He took the garment in his hands, inspected the gold braid narrowly, and seemed more than half-inclined to insinuate himself into the article there and then; but his dignity rose superior to the strain upon it, heavy as it was, and with a sigh he handed the trousers over to the captain of the guard to hold for him. Then, with a suitable flourish, I displayed the drum-major’s tunic in all its bravery of soiled scarlet and tarnished gold lace; and as I turned it about to exhibit its varied splendours even the iron discipline to which the guards were subjected so far broke down as to elicit from them a low “Wao!” of admiration. As for the king, he did not attempt to conceal his delight, even forgetting himself so far as to direct the induna’s attention to its beauties; and for several minutes he continued to fondle the coat, seeming quite unable to allow so precious a thing to pass out of his own hands. At length, however, I created a diversion by producing the belt and bayonet, withdrawing the latter from its sheath and explaining that it was used as a sort of rapier. This also received its due meed of appreciation, but the royal glances still clung fondly to the tunic; therefore I produced the cocked hat with its plume of feathers, putting it upon my own head for a moment to show how it ought to be worn, and then handing it to the king, who immediately clapped it upon his own pate, and kept it there. And, finally, I produced the shaving mirror, of which the king at first seemed somewhat afraid, pronouncing it “’mkulu ’mtagati” (great or powerful magic); but when I had succeeded in making him thoroughly understand what it was, he was as delighted as a child, sitting in his chair intently studying his own countenance for several minutes, and then bursting into rapturous laughter.When the first acute spasm of delight at seeing his own physiognomy reflected in a mirror had passed, I suggested to the king that if he would like to try on his new garments I should be very pleased to instruct him as to the proper method of getting into them, an offer which he instantly accepted; and he would have donned the clothes there and then, in the presence of his guards, if I had not whisperingly hinted that it would be much more effective to get into them in the privacy of his own house and then reappearen grande tenue. His Majesty immediately recognised the force of this, and thereupon retreated to the interior of the itunkulu, taking me and the clothes with him; and there, in feverish haste, he proceeded to array himself under my direction. By a miracle the garments fitted him almost as though they had been made for him—for he was at this time still a young man, and had not yet begun to put on flesh. The poor man must have felt horribly hot and uncomfortable in his unaccustomed rig, for the perspiration literally streamed from him; but no matter, he was about to appear before the eyes of his faithful subjects—or at least a portion of his bodyguard, who would not fail to talk about the matter to the rest of the people—apparelled in unimaginable splendour, and such a trifle as a little discomfort from excessive heat was as nothing compared with the sensation which he expected to produce.And really, when at length he was completely rigged in tunic and trousers, with the cocked hat on his head, the belt about his waist, and the drawn bayonet in his hand, his appearance, although just a trifle incongruous to my critical eye, was well calculated to produce a profound impression upon his unsophisticated subjects, as was evidenced by the note of admiration which rang unmistakably in the ecstatic shout of “Bayete!” with which his guards greeted him upon his reappearance. He strutted up and down the compound for a few minutes, showing off his fine feathers; called his chief induna to him, and instructed the man in my presence that I was to be permitted to go wherever I pleased in Basutoland, stay in the country as long as I pleased, and kill as much game as I chose; and then, dismissing me rather abruptly, retreated to the interior of the itunkulu, and, as I afterwards learned, sent for his wives, that they might behold him in his unaccustomed bravery.That I had been lucky enough to make an exceedingly favourable impression upon the king was perfectly evident; but by what magic the intelligence should instantaneously become disseminated among the people I know not. Yet so it was; for while upon my approach to the town it had been quite exceptional for a native to salute me, upon my departure from it every man I met punctiliously gave me “’Nkos’!” as I passed him. And in less than an hour after my return to the wagon an induna arrived from the town accompanied by a couple of natives leading a pair of superb Basuto ponies—a stallion and a mare, both unbroken—as a present from the king. And as the Basuto horses are far and away the finest horses in South Africa, and the pair presented to me were exceptionally fine animals of their kind, the gift was an exceedingly valuable one, although, being unbroken, I anticipated plenty of trouble with them before they would be of any use to me. But I may say here that in this anticipation I was very agreeably disappointed, for although they were as wild as deer when first brought to me, I took them in hand forthwith, and by dint of patience and making pets of them I soon had them both so docile that they would come at my call; and within a month I had backed them both. But, after all, valuable as they were for breeding purposes, they were not of very much use to me personally, being scarcely up to my weight. Nevertheless, I frequently rode them for an hour or two, just to keep them in training, and to ease my other horses a little. They were both coal black, and I called them respectively Jack and Jill—not very high—flown names, perhaps, but exceedingly handy.There was a good deal of singing and dancing going on in the town that night, the rumpus being so great that it was well on into the small hours before it subsided sufficiently to allow me to get to sleep; and on the following morning I learned, through my boy Piet, that so great had been the king’s gratification at the result of his interview with me that he had given ten oxen from his own private herd as a feast in celebration of my arrival.Anxious to press forward upon my journey, and anxious also to get away from Moshesh’s kraal while the relations were so exceedingly cordial, I sent a message to the king, early upon the following morning, requesting his permission to depart. But instead of receiving a gracious assent to my request, I was somewhat perturbed to see Moshesh himself, splendidly mounted, and attired in his new rig-out, accompanied by some ten or a dozen indunas and about a thousand of his troops, all mounted, filing out of the gate and heading straight for the wagon—for, to be quite candid, the South African savage is a little uncertain in his moods, and the man who is to-day in high favour may, as likely as not, find himself staked out on an ant-heap to-morrow, to die the awful “death of the ants” in revenge for some unknown and unintended offence. But upon the arrival of the cavalcade I was quickly reassured by the cordial tone of the king’s greeting and the respect with which the indunas saluted me; and presently Moshesh, informing me that he was about to hold a review of his own especial regiment of lifeguards, invited me to accompany him and witness the evolutions. This, of course, was a very exceptional display of royal favour, and although I was anxious to press forward upon my journey there was obviously nothing for it but to accept the king’s invitation with a good grace and every outward sign of gratification. At the same time I could not avoid a suspicion that there must be something behind such a signal mark of favour, and presently I got an inkling of what it was when, as Piet led up my horse, saddled and ready for me to mount, the king said:“I am told, white man, that you possess a wonderful fire weapon with which you can slay at a distance far beyond that to which the strongest of my warriors can hurl an assagai. Is that the truth?”“It is the truth, O King,” said I. “Would you like to see it?”The king intimated that he would, whereupon I directed Piet to bring me my rifle, together with the powder horn—the belt, with pouch containing bullets, wads, and percussion caps, was already buckled round my waist; and upon receiving the weapon I held it up for His Majesty to look at, keeping it, however, in my own hands. But this did not suit Moshesh at all; he must needs handle it himself. Therefore, rather unwillingly, I must confess, I offered the gun to him, first taking care to remove the cap and lower the hammer down on to the nipple, for the piece was loaded, and I was particularly anxious that no accident should happen.Unobtrusively, however, as the deed was done, my action did not escape the sharp eyes of the king, and he turned upon me quickly with the demand:“Why did you do that, white man?”“Because this,” said I, holding up the percussion cap, “is very powerful magic, obedient only to the white man. Without it the fire weapon is as harmless as a stick; with it the fire weapon is deadly, and not to be handled with impunity by anyone but its rightful owner. Therefore, since you wish to see my rifle, and take it into your own hands, I must needs remove the magic, else would it turn upon you and do you a serious hurt, possibly slay you.”“Au!” ejaculated the king, regarding the rifle doubtfully, and not offering to take it into his own hands: “I like it not; take it away, I will not touch it; the thing is more dangerous than a she leopard robbed of her cubs! Yet I would fain see what it can do, therefore bring it with thee, white man; it may be that, as we go, we may meet a leopard, or a lion, or a buck for thee to slay.”“Nay,” said I, “it is not likely that either of the beasts which thou hast named will show in the open in the presence of so many men and horses. Nevertheless I will take the rifle, for even though no beast should show itself I may be able to shoot a bird or two.” So saying, I swung myself into the saddle, and, accepting the king’s invitation to ride beside him, proceeded at a gallop, with the thousand bodyguards thundering along in the rear. And, watching my opportunity, it was not long before I contrived to set my rifle to half-cock and replace the cap on the nipple without attracting the king’s attention.Our way lay along what at the beginning was simply a very shallow depression between two low ridges; but as we proceeded the depression rapidly became deeper and the ridges higher, until, by the time that we had ridden a mile, we were sweeping through a ravine with high, steep, bush-clad slopes rising to right and left of us, these slopes terminating about half a mile farther on in a couple of lofty, perpendicular rocky cliffs, some six hundred feet high, and about three hundred feet apart, forming a sort of natural gateway to a circular basin about three miles in diameter, the floor of which was perfectly level, clothed with long lush grass, still looking quite fresh and green, and with only a few small, widely scattered clumps of bush here and there.“This,” explained the king, as we dashed through the natural gateway at the head of the galloping regiment, “is the exercise ground where I bring my regiments from time to time to exercise them in the tactics of war.”“And a very excellent place it is for such a purpose,” I agreed, as my eye took in the wide area of level, unbroken ground. “There is room enough here in which to fight a battle of quite respectable dimensions. But what are those moving objects yonder?” I interrupted myself eagerly, as my gaze was arrested by a group of some ten or a dozen dark dots moving slowly among the long grass at the opposite extremity of the valley. “Surely they must be buffalo, or I am greatly mistaken.”“You are not mistaken, they are buffalo; and you have a marvellously sharp eye, white man,” returned the king. Then he flung up his hand, and the galloping regiment came to a sudden halt, reining-in their sweating horses so sharply as to throw the animals back upon their haunches. At the same moment we also reined up. Then the king called his indunas round him, instructing one of them to take fifty men, and with them ride round the outside of the basin until they reached the only other exit from the valley, and block it, so that the buffalo might not escape through it; while a second induna was also to take fifty men and block the exit through which we had just passed, thus rendering escape from the valley an impossibility, for, as the king now informed me, the surrounding cliffs were everywhere vertical, so that no animal, save, perhaps, a baboon, could possibly enter or leave the basin except by one or the other of the two natural gateways in the cliff.“Now, white man,” said the king, turning to me with sparkling eyes and pointing toward the buffalo, “there is your opportunity. Kill me two or three of those with your fire weapon, and then you shall see how the Basuto hunt buffalo.”“Very well,” I said; “I will see what I can do. But we shall have to get very much nearer to them than we are at present; for even my fire weapon will not kill at such a distance as that.”“No?” demanded the king. “Then how close must you get before it will kill?”“Oh,” I said, “perhaps one-sixth of the present distance of the buffalo.”The king was evidently disappointed to learn that there was a limit to the range of the rifle, and for the moment seemed inclined to regard it somewhat contemptuously. Without wasting further words upon so very ineffective a weapon, he proceeded to issue his orders to the other indunas, in obedience to which the regiment divided itself into two, one half riding to the left and the other to the right, and stringing themselves out, single file, close in under the shadows of the overhanging cliffs, where they quickly became so inconspicuous as to be practically invisible. Then, accompanied by a body of twenty picked men, who spread themselves out in open order in our rear, the king and I advanced toward the buffalo at a slow walking pace.It fortunately happened that the wind was blowing across the basin directly from the buffalo toward us, consequently it was a long while before the brutes became aware of our presence; indeed, we had arrived within about three-quarters of a mile of them before they betrayed any sign of uneasiness, and even then it was toward the upper end of the valley, and not toward us, that their attention seemed to be directed.“It is Bulangu and his party that they scent,” said the king, referring to the squadron of men whom he had sent round outside the basin to bar the upper exit; and, sure enough, a minute or two later the whole herd swung round and began to move toward us. But the moment that this occurred they of course caught sight of us and at once came to a halt, tossing their heads impatiently, lashing their flanks with their tails, and emitting low, moaning bellows of annoyance. After a short pause, however, accompanied by the display of many indications of rapidly increasing anger, the herd again began to move toward us, first at a walking pace that rapidly merged into a trot, till finally the whole herd broke into a gallop as the induna Bulangu and his party appeared at the far end of the plain.“Now,” said I to the king as the herd rapidly approached within range, “I will show you what the fire weapon is capable of doing. Watch the old bull who is leading the herd and see what happens. And perhaps you had better dismount, for your horse is unused to fire weapons, and when I shoot he may possibly swerve suddenly and throw you.”“Nay,” answered the king, “I will not dismount; for now that you have warned me I shall know what to expect, and shall not be taken unawares.” And he gathered in the slack of his single bridle, tightly gripped the animal between his knees, and sat prepared for whatsoever might happen.The herd, meanwhile, had approached to within about eight hundred yards of us, and were thundering straight in our direction at a somewhat ungainly but nevertheless rapid gallop, with heads down and tails up, giving vent to low, angry bellows as they came. I was riding Prince, upon whom I knew I could absolutely depend; therefore, instead of dismounting, I turned him to the right with a touch of my heel and a slight pressure of the rein, very nearly broadside-on to the approaching herd, and flung the rifle up to my shoulder. It was a rather long shot, and at eight hundred yards even a buffalo, coming head on, presents but a comparatively small target, especially when the grass happens to be breast-high; nevertheless I got the sights to bear dead upon the centre of the bull’s forehead, about halfway between the horns and the eyes, and, watching for the proper moment, pressed the trigger. The flash and report of the piece were immediately followed by sounds of fierce stamping and plunging close at hand, and out of the corner of my eye I saw that the king’s high-mettled stallion was fighting hard to break away and make a bolt for it; then, just as the bull stumbled, recovered himself, and finally turned a complete somersault, I heard the loud thud of the bullet on the thick skull, and knew that my shot had got home.“W-a-a-u!” ejaculated the king, giving vent to a long-drawn expression of amazement; “yena chiele (he is hit)! The fire weapon is indeed ’mkulu ’mtagati (great magic)! The beast fell dead as though smitten by lightning. Can you do that again, white man, or was it merely chance?”“You shall see,” said I, as I rammed a wad down upon a fresh powder charge and slipped a bullet in after it. As I set the trigger to half-cock I saw that the powder was well up in the nipple; therefore, slipping on a cap and setting the trigger to full-cock, I again levelled the piece and bowled over the leading buffalo.“It is enough!” exclaimed the king soberly. “No wonder that you conquered the tribes who rose against you if you were all armed like that! Now, children,” he continued, throwing up his hand as he addressed his little body of immediate followers, “show the white man how the Basuto kills buffalo!”The herd had originally numbered eleven, nine of which were still upon their feet, and, with the vindictive fearlessness which is the chief characteristic of the Cape buffalo, charging straight down upon our party; at a word, therefore, from the induna who was in command of the contingent, nine of the warriors flung away their shields and casting assagais, and, gripping the single bangwan, or stabbing assagai, with which each of them was also armed, drove their heels into their horses’ flanks and dashed forward to meet the bellowing foe. To see those nine men fearlessly charge the rushing herd was a distinctly thrilling sight; for none knew better than they the implacably savage nature of the brutes they were about to contend with, or the deadliness of the peril to which they were so light-heartedly exposing themselves. Yet not one of them manifested the slightest disposition to shirk the encounter: possibly they all knew that to perish upon the horns of a buffalo would be preferable to the punishment that surely awaited them should they disgrace themselves and their king by showing fear in the presence of a white man. But if the riders scorned to exhibit fear, the horses were animated by no such scruples, for when they had approached to within about two hundred feet of the charging buffalo, the low, fierce, grunting bellows, the blazing eyes, and the sharp, threatening horns of the latter seemed to strike such panic into them that suddenly, as though by concerted arrangement, they wheeled sharply round, and, despite their riders’ utmost efforts, bolted ignominiously in all directions.I had by this time succeeded in recharging my rifle, and, slipping on a fresh cap, I raised the piece to my shoulder and held myself ready to shoot upon the instant that I dared do so without the risk of hitting a Basuto, for a tragedy seemed imminent. But Moshesh, who was now with difficulty restraining his own mount from bolting, stopped me.“Wait, white man, and watch!” he enjoined me; and as the words passed his lips I saw the nine warriors throw themselves very cleverly from the backs of their bolting horses, wheel round as upon a pivot, and dash back until they were immediately in the path of the furious buffalo, which seemed now to have marked down as their destined victims the little body of men of whom the king and I formed a part. In the twinkling of an eye each warrior had selected one buffalo in particular as his own especial foe, and had planted himself with uplifted bangwan square in the brute’s path, while the buffalo, promptly accepting the challenge, responded to it with fierce bellows and savage flourishings of the terrible horns. Three breathless seconds later the leading buffalo, with head lowered and slightly turned to allow of a more effective thrust of the sharp, upturned point of its murderous horn, was upon his antagonist, and I caught my breath sharply, fully expecting to see the man impaled, or at least tossed high in the air. But instead I beheld as splendid an exhibition of courage and alertness as I think I have ever witnessed, for the man, firmly standing his ground to the very last fraction of a second, sprang nimbly to one side at the precise moment when, as it seemed, the point of the horn was about to be dashed into his naked body, and then, as the great beast thundered past within reach of his hand, down flashed the formidable, broad-bladed bangwan, with so sure and strong a stroke that the buffalo crashed headlong to the ground dead, with its fierce heart cleft in twain.And in like manner perished seven of its companions, the ninth buffalo wreaking its revenge for the death of the other eight in a peculiarly ghastly manner. Precisely how the tragedy happened none of us knew, for it chanced that our attention was concentrated elsewhere at the moment; but a sharp, shrill scream of mortal agony sounding out on the hot air apprised us that something untoward was happening. Glancing quickly in the direction from which the sound proceeded, I was horrified to see that one unfortunate warrior had somehow failed to avoid a buffalo’s charge, and was now writhing transfixed on one of the horns of the great brute, which the next instant flung the poor fellow high in the air, and then, with a savage bellow, swerved and came thundering straight toward the king and myself, where we sat on our horses close together watching the exciting scene that was being enacted before us. A startled cry from the induna commanding the squad which was at that moment in special charge of the king’s person caused the eleven men who had until now sat quiescent upon their horses to fling themselves hastily to the ground and dash forward to protect their monarch. But there was no time for this; the buffalo was within a dozen yards of us, and I could see that he had singled out Moshesh as the particular object of his attack, attracted, no doubt, by His Majesty’s scarlet tunic. The king might of course have escaped by promptly wheeling his horse and galloping away; but his pride and self-esteem would have suffered a mortal wound had he been driven to flight in the presence of a white man, although there was a certain quality in his hurried glances to right and left that seemed to tell me that he meditated something of the sort, rather than stand his ground and take his chance. Fortunately I had reloaded my rifle a minute or two earlier, and now I saw my opportunity to render the king an important service by sparing him the ignominy of flight: I therefore flung up my piece and pressed the trigger, and the buffalo—an enormous and most formidable brute—stumbled and fell dead literally at our horses’ feet.“That was well done, ’mlungu,” exclaimed the king, with just the faintest suggestion of a feeling of relief in the tones of his voice; “that was marvellously well done! But for thy quickness and sureness of eye and hand I should have been overthrown, and the Basutos might have been obliged to choose another king. ’Mtala,” to the induna, “let them see to yonder clumsy fool who allowed the buffalo to catch him; and if he be not dead let four of thy men make a litter and carry him back to the kraal.”The induna saluted, and, beckoning to four of his men, proceeded in person to examine the unlucky wight who had been gored; but such examination was scarcely necessary, for even from where I sat it was apparent that the unfortunate man’s injuries were of such a dreadful character that survival was impossible, and a few minutes later ’Mtala returned to report that the victim was quite dead.“It is well!” commented the king briefly. “Let the carrion be moved out of the way; and let the regiment form up and be put through its evolutions.” Whereupon, at a word from the induna, a man dismounted, and, uncoiling his hobble rope, slipped the noose round one of the ankles of the corpse, attached the other end to his horse’s girth, and, mounting, galloped off toward the edge of the plateau, dragging the body after him until it was removed to a sufficient distance to be quite out of the way of the manoeuvring troops, when it was abandoned to become a prey to the jackals and vultures!Meanwhile the troops were recalled and formed up in the centre of the plain, where the king critically inspected them, while I, at his invitation, rode beside him. And I feel bound to say that seldom have I seen a finer body of men, either savage or civilised, which, after all, is not to be greatly wondered at, seeing that, as the king’s own special regiment of bodyguards, they were, naturally, the very pick and flower of the entire nation.The inspection occupied about a quarter of an hour, and at its conclusion the regiment as a whole was put through a number of movements, which they executed very creditably. Then they were divided into two equal parts, which were marched to the opposite extremities of the plateau, when they faced about, and, charging down upon each other, engaged in a very realistic sham fight, lasting for the best part of an hour, and resulting in quite a number of casualties, several of the men being unhorsed and sustaining more or less serious injuries; after which the regiment re-formed, and we all returned to the kraal at a gallop, a party being detailed to remain behind and bring in the injured at a more sober pace.I soon found that Moshesh, like all other savages, possessed his full share of vanity, which he was quite unable to conceal; also, it was evident that he was inordinately proud of his regiment, and was not above fishing for compliments upon it: I therefore dutifully did what was manifestly expected of me, and immensely gratified His Majesty by being as complimentary as I possibly could be without unduly straining the truth. But when all was said and done I had a very shrewd suspicion that while Moshesh might perhaps be credited with a genuine desire to show me some honour by inviting me to witness the review of his troops, he was principally animated by a craving for his own glorification, and, incidentally, was glad to seize the occasion as affording him an early opportunity to exhibit himself before his people in all the magnificence of his new “toggery.”
A minute later the curtain of reed matting that hung in the doorway of the itunkulu was thrust aside, and a man came forth. He was slightly above medium stature, and a trifle lighter in colour than the average Basuto; he was much more simply attired than the officer of the guard, his clothing consisting simply of a leopard-skin mucha and a lion-skin mantle: but the assured dignity of his carriage and the expression of arrogant pride upon his well-formed features would of themselves have sufficed to tell me that the man was none other than Moshesh, the king of the Basuto nation, even had the guard not given him the royal salute by raising their stabbing assagais aloft in their right hands as they thundered out the word “Bayete!” As for me, I had not the remotest notion of the kind of salutation which His Majesty would expect from me; I therefore contented myself by standing at attention in military fashion and giving him a military salute. The action, which is certainly a very expressive one, seemed to meet with the royal approval, for the king acknowledged it by the slightest possible uplifting of the right hand as he seated himself in his chair and the guard formed up behind him. Then, gazing at me steadfastly for a moment, he said:
“S’a bon’, umulungu!” Then, without allowing me time to make the stereotyped reply, he continued: “For what purpose have ye come hither into my country?”
“I have business in the far north,” said I; “and to reach my destination it is necessary for me to pass through thy country. Therefore have I come hither to offer presents, and to ask thy permission to pass through thy country and hunt therein.”
“Au!” commented the king in a tone of displeasure; “I like it not. If I give thee leave to travel and hunt in Basutoland, others of thy countrymen will claim the same privilege, and it will end in so many coming that there will be no room left for me and my people. Was it not this same apprehension that caused the Tembu, the Pondos, and the Griquas to arise and unite in an attempt to drive the white man into the sea?”
“It was,” I said. “But the apprehension was quite unjustified: the English had no thought, no desire, no intention to steal the land of the black man; their own land is amply large enough for all their needs. But the Kafirs would not believe it, therefore they treacherously arose and swept down upon the white man’s land, attacking isolated farms and murdering their inhabitants—my own parents died upon the spears of the Griquas. And what have the black men gained by their treachery? Nothing! And what have they lost? Everything! Thousands of them have perished in the war of retribution which they have provoked; and the end of it all is that, by way of further punishment—and as a warning to others—the white man has seized their land and driven them out of it.”
“Au!” ejaculated the king again. “So have I heard. And I tell thee again, white man, that I like it not. If it be as thou sayest, that thine own land is large enough for thy need, why hast thou not remained there? Why comest thou to my country?”
“Because,” answered I, “as I have already said, I have business in the far north, and to get there I must needs pass through Basutoland.”
“And what is thy business in the far north?” demanded Moshesh. “I have a right to know, since thou sayest that it necessitates a passage through my country.”
“I think not,” said I. “Nevertheless I will tell thee, since the matter is no secret. When the southern Kafirs took up their spears to drive the white men into the sea, my father’s farm was one of the last which they attacked. They slew my parents, burnt down the house, and drove off all the cattle, leaving me with only sufficient means to buy a wagon and oxen, and weapons to undertake a hunting expedition. The land itself remains, and is mine, but I have not the wherewithal to put fresh stock upon it; therefore nothing remains for me but to hunt ivory and so procure the means to purchase fresh stock. Also I am hoping to find gold; but most of all am I anxious to find a white ’ntombozaan who was captured and carried off by the Kafirs.”
“Ou!” ejaculated the king. “Now I begin to understand. At first I feared that thy business was to spy out the nature of the land in this my country, so that, if it were found suitable, thou and other white men might come in and try to take it from me; but since thou dost indeed merely desire to pass through it, I give thee free leave to do so, the more readily that I learn thou didst help my people by slaying a leopard that was troubling them.”
“It is well, O king, and I thank thee,” said I. “And now, in acknowledgment of thy friendliness, I ask thine acceptance of certain presents,” and I beckoned Piet to approach with his parcel, which I forthwith proceeded to open.
The trousers were on the top of the parcel, and as I unfolded them and turned them about, showing off their gold braid, I saw the king’s eyes begin to glisten, for finery appeals quite as strongly to the savage as it does to the child. He took the garment in his hands, inspected the gold braid narrowly, and seemed more than half-inclined to insinuate himself into the article there and then; but his dignity rose superior to the strain upon it, heavy as it was, and with a sigh he handed the trousers over to the captain of the guard to hold for him. Then, with a suitable flourish, I displayed the drum-major’s tunic in all its bravery of soiled scarlet and tarnished gold lace; and as I turned it about to exhibit its varied splendours even the iron discipline to which the guards were subjected so far broke down as to elicit from them a low “Wao!” of admiration. As for the king, he did not attempt to conceal his delight, even forgetting himself so far as to direct the induna’s attention to its beauties; and for several minutes he continued to fondle the coat, seeming quite unable to allow so precious a thing to pass out of his own hands. At length, however, I created a diversion by producing the belt and bayonet, withdrawing the latter from its sheath and explaining that it was used as a sort of rapier. This also received its due meed of appreciation, but the royal glances still clung fondly to the tunic; therefore I produced the cocked hat with its plume of feathers, putting it upon my own head for a moment to show how it ought to be worn, and then handing it to the king, who immediately clapped it upon his own pate, and kept it there. And, finally, I produced the shaving mirror, of which the king at first seemed somewhat afraid, pronouncing it “’mkulu ’mtagati” (great or powerful magic); but when I had succeeded in making him thoroughly understand what it was, he was as delighted as a child, sitting in his chair intently studying his own countenance for several minutes, and then bursting into rapturous laughter.
When the first acute spasm of delight at seeing his own physiognomy reflected in a mirror had passed, I suggested to the king that if he would like to try on his new garments I should be very pleased to instruct him as to the proper method of getting into them, an offer which he instantly accepted; and he would have donned the clothes there and then, in the presence of his guards, if I had not whisperingly hinted that it would be much more effective to get into them in the privacy of his own house and then reappearen grande tenue. His Majesty immediately recognised the force of this, and thereupon retreated to the interior of the itunkulu, taking me and the clothes with him; and there, in feverish haste, he proceeded to array himself under my direction. By a miracle the garments fitted him almost as though they had been made for him—for he was at this time still a young man, and had not yet begun to put on flesh. The poor man must have felt horribly hot and uncomfortable in his unaccustomed rig, for the perspiration literally streamed from him; but no matter, he was about to appear before the eyes of his faithful subjects—or at least a portion of his bodyguard, who would not fail to talk about the matter to the rest of the people—apparelled in unimaginable splendour, and such a trifle as a little discomfort from excessive heat was as nothing compared with the sensation which he expected to produce.
And really, when at length he was completely rigged in tunic and trousers, with the cocked hat on his head, the belt about his waist, and the drawn bayonet in his hand, his appearance, although just a trifle incongruous to my critical eye, was well calculated to produce a profound impression upon his unsophisticated subjects, as was evidenced by the note of admiration which rang unmistakably in the ecstatic shout of “Bayete!” with which his guards greeted him upon his reappearance. He strutted up and down the compound for a few minutes, showing off his fine feathers; called his chief induna to him, and instructed the man in my presence that I was to be permitted to go wherever I pleased in Basutoland, stay in the country as long as I pleased, and kill as much game as I chose; and then, dismissing me rather abruptly, retreated to the interior of the itunkulu, and, as I afterwards learned, sent for his wives, that they might behold him in his unaccustomed bravery.
That I had been lucky enough to make an exceedingly favourable impression upon the king was perfectly evident; but by what magic the intelligence should instantaneously become disseminated among the people I know not. Yet so it was; for while upon my approach to the town it had been quite exceptional for a native to salute me, upon my departure from it every man I met punctiliously gave me “’Nkos’!” as I passed him. And in less than an hour after my return to the wagon an induna arrived from the town accompanied by a couple of natives leading a pair of superb Basuto ponies—a stallion and a mare, both unbroken—as a present from the king. And as the Basuto horses are far and away the finest horses in South Africa, and the pair presented to me were exceptionally fine animals of their kind, the gift was an exceedingly valuable one, although, being unbroken, I anticipated plenty of trouble with them before they would be of any use to me. But I may say here that in this anticipation I was very agreeably disappointed, for although they were as wild as deer when first brought to me, I took them in hand forthwith, and by dint of patience and making pets of them I soon had them both so docile that they would come at my call; and within a month I had backed them both. But, after all, valuable as they were for breeding purposes, they were not of very much use to me personally, being scarcely up to my weight. Nevertheless, I frequently rode them for an hour or two, just to keep them in training, and to ease my other horses a little. They were both coal black, and I called them respectively Jack and Jill—not very high—flown names, perhaps, but exceedingly handy.
There was a good deal of singing and dancing going on in the town that night, the rumpus being so great that it was well on into the small hours before it subsided sufficiently to allow me to get to sleep; and on the following morning I learned, through my boy Piet, that so great had been the king’s gratification at the result of his interview with me that he had given ten oxen from his own private herd as a feast in celebration of my arrival.
Anxious to press forward upon my journey, and anxious also to get away from Moshesh’s kraal while the relations were so exceedingly cordial, I sent a message to the king, early upon the following morning, requesting his permission to depart. But instead of receiving a gracious assent to my request, I was somewhat perturbed to see Moshesh himself, splendidly mounted, and attired in his new rig-out, accompanied by some ten or a dozen indunas and about a thousand of his troops, all mounted, filing out of the gate and heading straight for the wagon—for, to be quite candid, the South African savage is a little uncertain in his moods, and the man who is to-day in high favour may, as likely as not, find himself staked out on an ant-heap to-morrow, to die the awful “death of the ants” in revenge for some unknown and unintended offence. But upon the arrival of the cavalcade I was quickly reassured by the cordial tone of the king’s greeting and the respect with which the indunas saluted me; and presently Moshesh, informing me that he was about to hold a review of his own especial regiment of lifeguards, invited me to accompany him and witness the evolutions. This, of course, was a very exceptional display of royal favour, and although I was anxious to press forward upon my journey there was obviously nothing for it but to accept the king’s invitation with a good grace and every outward sign of gratification. At the same time I could not avoid a suspicion that there must be something behind such a signal mark of favour, and presently I got an inkling of what it was when, as Piet led up my horse, saddled and ready for me to mount, the king said:
“I am told, white man, that you possess a wonderful fire weapon with which you can slay at a distance far beyond that to which the strongest of my warriors can hurl an assagai. Is that the truth?”
“It is the truth, O King,” said I. “Would you like to see it?”
The king intimated that he would, whereupon I directed Piet to bring me my rifle, together with the powder horn—the belt, with pouch containing bullets, wads, and percussion caps, was already buckled round my waist; and upon receiving the weapon I held it up for His Majesty to look at, keeping it, however, in my own hands. But this did not suit Moshesh at all; he must needs handle it himself. Therefore, rather unwillingly, I must confess, I offered the gun to him, first taking care to remove the cap and lower the hammer down on to the nipple, for the piece was loaded, and I was particularly anxious that no accident should happen.
Unobtrusively, however, as the deed was done, my action did not escape the sharp eyes of the king, and he turned upon me quickly with the demand:
“Why did you do that, white man?”
“Because this,” said I, holding up the percussion cap, “is very powerful magic, obedient only to the white man. Without it the fire weapon is as harmless as a stick; with it the fire weapon is deadly, and not to be handled with impunity by anyone but its rightful owner. Therefore, since you wish to see my rifle, and take it into your own hands, I must needs remove the magic, else would it turn upon you and do you a serious hurt, possibly slay you.”
“Au!” ejaculated the king, regarding the rifle doubtfully, and not offering to take it into his own hands: “I like it not; take it away, I will not touch it; the thing is more dangerous than a she leopard robbed of her cubs! Yet I would fain see what it can do, therefore bring it with thee, white man; it may be that, as we go, we may meet a leopard, or a lion, or a buck for thee to slay.”
“Nay,” said I, “it is not likely that either of the beasts which thou hast named will show in the open in the presence of so many men and horses. Nevertheless I will take the rifle, for even though no beast should show itself I may be able to shoot a bird or two.” So saying, I swung myself into the saddle, and, accepting the king’s invitation to ride beside him, proceeded at a gallop, with the thousand bodyguards thundering along in the rear. And, watching my opportunity, it was not long before I contrived to set my rifle to half-cock and replace the cap on the nipple without attracting the king’s attention.
Our way lay along what at the beginning was simply a very shallow depression between two low ridges; but as we proceeded the depression rapidly became deeper and the ridges higher, until, by the time that we had ridden a mile, we were sweeping through a ravine with high, steep, bush-clad slopes rising to right and left of us, these slopes terminating about half a mile farther on in a couple of lofty, perpendicular rocky cliffs, some six hundred feet high, and about three hundred feet apart, forming a sort of natural gateway to a circular basin about three miles in diameter, the floor of which was perfectly level, clothed with long lush grass, still looking quite fresh and green, and with only a few small, widely scattered clumps of bush here and there.
“This,” explained the king, as we dashed through the natural gateway at the head of the galloping regiment, “is the exercise ground where I bring my regiments from time to time to exercise them in the tactics of war.”
“And a very excellent place it is for such a purpose,” I agreed, as my eye took in the wide area of level, unbroken ground. “There is room enough here in which to fight a battle of quite respectable dimensions. But what are those moving objects yonder?” I interrupted myself eagerly, as my gaze was arrested by a group of some ten or a dozen dark dots moving slowly among the long grass at the opposite extremity of the valley. “Surely they must be buffalo, or I am greatly mistaken.”
“You are not mistaken, they are buffalo; and you have a marvellously sharp eye, white man,” returned the king. Then he flung up his hand, and the galloping regiment came to a sudden halt, reining-in their sweating horses so sharply as to throw the animals back upon their haunches. At the same moment we also reined up. Then the king called his indunas round him, instructing one of them to take fifty men, and with them ride round the outside of the basin until they reached the only other exit from the valley, and block it, so that the buffalo might not escape through it; while a second induna was also to take fifty men and block the exit through which we had just passed, thus rendering escape from the valley an impossibility, for, as the king now informed me, the surrounding cliffs were everywhere vertical, so that no animal, save, perhaps, a baboon, could possibly enter or leave the basin except by one or the other of the two natural gateways in the cliff.
“Now, white man,” said the king, turning to me with sparkling eyes and pointing toward the buffalo, “there is your opportunity. Kill me two or three of those with your fire weapon, and then you shall see how the Basuto hunt buffalo.”
“Very well,” I said; “I will see what I can do. But we shall have to get very much nearer to them than we are at present; for even my fire weapon will not kill at such a distance as that.”
“No?” demanded the king. “Then how close must you get before it will kill?”
“Oh,” I said, “perhaps one-sixth of the present distance of the buffalo.”
The king was evidently disappointed to learn that there was a limit to the range of the rifle, and for the moment seemed inclined to regard it somewhat contemptuously. Without wasting further words upon so very ineffective a weapon, he proceeded to issue his orders to the other indunas, in obedience to which the regiment divided itself into two, one half riding to the left and the other to the right, and stringing themselves out, single file, close in under the shadows of the overhanging cliffs, where they quickly became so inconspicuous as to be practically invisible. Then, accompanied by a body of twenty picked men, who spread themselves out in open order in our rear, the king and I advanced toward the buffalo at a slow walking pace.
It fortunately happened that the wind was blowing across the basin directly from the buffalo toward us, consequently it was a long while before the brutes became aware of our presence; indeed, we had arrived within about three-quarters of a mile of them before they betrayed any sign of uneasiness, and even then it was toward the upper end of the valley, and not toward us, that their attention seemed to be directed.
“It is Bulangu and his party that they scent,” said the king, referring to the squadron of men whom he had sent round outside the basin to bar the upper exit; and, sure enough, a minute or two later the whole herd swung round and began to move toward us. But the moment that this occurred they of course caught sight of us and at once came to a halt, tossing their heads impatiently, lashing their flanks with their tails, and emitting low, moaning bellows of annoyance. After a short pause, however, accompanied by the display of many indications of rapidly increasing anger, the herd again began to move toward us, first at a walking pace that rapidly merged into a trot, till finally the whole herd broke into a gallop as the induna Bulangu and his party appeared at the far end of the plain.
“Now,” said I to the king as the herd rapidly approached within range, “I will show you what the fire weapon is capable of doing. Watch the old bull who is leading the herd and see what happens. And perhaps you had better dismount, for your horse is unused to fire weapons, and when I shoot he may possibly swerve suddenly and throw you.”
“Nay,” answered the king, “I will not dismount; for now that you have warned me I shall know what to expect, and shall not be taken unawares.” And he gathered in the slack of his single bridle, tightly gripped the animal between his knees, and sat prepared for whatsoever might happen.
The herd, meanwhile, had approached to within about eight hundred yards of us, and were thundering straight in our direction at a somewhat ungainly but nevertheless rapid gallop, with heads down and tails up, giving vent to low, angry bellows as they came. I was riding Prince, upon whom I knew I could absolutely depend; therefore, instead of dismounting, I turned him to the right with a touch of my heel and a slight pressure of the rein, very nearly broadside-on to the approaching herd, and flung the rifle up to my shoulder. It was a rather long shot, and at eight hundred yards even a buffalo, coming head on, presents but a comparatively small target, especially when the grass happens to be breast-high; nevertheless I got the sights to bear dead upon the centre of the bull’s forehead, about halfway between the horns and the eyes, and, watching for the proper moment, pressed the trigger. The flash and report of the piece were immediately followed by sounds of fierce stamping and plunging close at hand, and out of the corner of my eye I saw that the king’s high-mettled stallion was fighting hard to break away and make a bolt for it; then, just as the bull stumbled, recovered himself, and finally turned a complete somersault, I heard the loud thud of the bullet on the thick skull, and knew that my shot had got home.
“W-a-a-u!” ejaculated the king, giving vent to a long-drawn expression of amazement; “yena chiele (he is hit)! The fire weapon is indeed ’mkulu ’mtagati (great magic)! The beast fell dead as though smitten by lightning. Can you do that again, white man, or was it merely chance?”
“You shall see,” said I, as I rammed a wad down upon a fresh powder charge and slipped a bullet in after it. As I set the trigger to half-cock I saw that the powder was well up in the nipple; therefore, slipping on a cap and setting the trigger to full-cock, I again levelled the piece and bowled over the leading buffalo.
“It is enough!” exclaimed the king soberly. “No wonder that you conquered the tribes who rose against you if you were all armed like that! Now, children,” he continued, throwing up his hand as he addressed his little body of immediate followers, “show the white man how the Basuto kills buffalo!”
The herd had originally numbered eleven, nine of which were still upon their feet, and, with the vindictive fearlessness which is the chief characteristic of the Cape buffalo, charging straight down upon our party; at a word, therefore, from the induna who was in command of the contingent, nine of the warriors flung away their shields and casting assagais, and, gripping the single bangwan, or stabbing assagai, with which each of them was also armed, drove their heels into their horses’ flanks and dashed forward to meet the bellowing foe. To see those nine men fearlessly charge the rushing herd was a distinctly thrilling sight; for none knew better than they the implacably savage nature of the brutes they were about to contend with, or the deadliness of the peril to which they were so light-heartedly exposing themselves. Yet not one of them manifested the slightest disposition to shirk the encounter: possibly they all knew that to perish upon the horns of a buffalo would be preferable to the punishment that surely awaited them should they disgrace themselves and their king by showing fear in the presence of a white man. But if the riders scorned to exhibit fear, the horses were animated by no such scruples, for when they had approached to within about two hundred feet of the charging buffalo, the low, fierce, grunting bellows, the blazing eyes, and the sharp, threatening horns of the latter seemed to strike such panic into them that suddenly, as though by concerted arrangement, they wheeled sharply round, and, despite their riders’ utmost efforts, bolted ignominiously in all directions.
I had by this time succeeded in recharging my rifle, and, slipping on a fresh cap, I raised the piece to my shoulder and held myself ready to shoot upon the instant that I dared do so without the risk of hitting a Basuto, for a tragedy seemed imminent. But Moshesh, who was now with difficulty restraining his own mount from bolting, stopped me.
“Wait, white man, and watch!” he enjoined me; and as the words passed his lips I saw the nine warriors throw themselves very cleverly from the backs of their bolting horses, wheel round as upon a pivot, and dash back until they were immediately in the path of the furious buffalo, which seemed now to have marked down as their destined victims the little body of men of whom the king and I formed a part. In the twinkling of an eye each warrior had selected one buffalo in particular as his own especial foe, and had planted himself with uplifted bangwan square in the brute’s path, while the buffalo, promptly accepting the challenge, responded to it with fierce bellows and savage flourishings of the terrible horns. Three breathless seconds later the leading buffalo, with head lowered and slightly turned to allow of a more effective thrust of the sharp, upturned point of its murderous horn, was upon his antagonist, and I caught my breath sharply, fully expecting to see the man impaled, or at least tossed high in the air. But instead I beheld as splendid an exhibition of courage and alertness as I think I have ever witnessed, for the man, firmly standing his ground to the very last fraction of a second, sprang nimbly to one side at the precise moment when, as it seemed, the point of the horn was about to be dashed into his naked body, and then, as the great beast thundered past within reach of his hand, down flashed the formidable, broad-bladed bangwan, with so sure and strong a stroke that the buffalo crashed headlong to the ground dead, with its fierce heart cleft in twain.
And in like manner perished seven of its companions, the ninth buffalo wreaking its revenge for the death of the other eight in a peculiarly ghastly manner. Precisely how the tragedy happened none of us knew, for it chanced that our attention was concentrated elsewhere at the moment; but a sharp, shrill scream of mortal agony sounding out on the hot air apprised us that something untoward was happening. Glancing quickly in the direction from which the sound proceeded, I was horrified to see that one unfortunate warrior had somehow failed to avoid a buffalo’s charge, and was now writhing transfixed on one of the horns of the great brute, which the next instant flung the poor fellow high in the air, and then, with a savage bellow, swerved and came thundering straight toward the king and myself, where we sat on our horses close together watching the exciting scene that was being enacted before us. A startled cry from the induna commanding the squad which was at that moment in special charge of the king’s person caused the eleven men who had until now sat quiescent upon their horses to fling themselves hastily to the ground and dash forward to protect their monarch. But there was no time for this; the buffalo was within a dozen yards of us, and I could see that he had singled out Moshesh as the particular object of his attack, attracted, no doubt, by His Majesty’s scarlet tunic. The king might of course have escaped by promptly wheeling his horse and galloping away; but his pride and self-esteem would have suffered a mortal wound had he been driven to flight in the presence of a white man, although there was a certain quality in his hurried glances to right and left that seemed to tell me that he meditated something of the sort, rather than stand his ground and take his chance. Fortunately I had reloaded my rifle a minute or two earlier, and now I saw my opportunity to render the king an important service by sparing him the ignominy of flight: I therefore flung up my piece and pressed the trigger, and the buffalo—an enormous and most formidable brute—stumbled and fell dead literally at our horses’ feet.
“That was well done, ’mlungu,” exclaimed the king, with just the faintest suggestion of a feeling of relief in the tones of his voice; “that was marvellously well done! But for thy quickness and sureness of eye and hand I should have been overthrown, and the Basutos might have been obliged to choose another king. ’Mtala,” to the induna, “let them see to yonder clumsy fool who allowed the buffalo to catch him; and if he be not dead let four of thy men make a litter and carry him back to the kraal.”
The induna saluted, and, beckoning to four of his men, proceeded in person to examine the unlucky wight who had been gored; but such examination was scarcely necessary, for even from where I sat it was apparent that the unfortunate man’s injuries were of such a dreadful character that survival was impossible, and a few minutes later ’Mtala returned to report that the victim was quite dead.
“It is well!” commented the king briefly. “Let the carrion be moved out of the way; and let the regiment form up and be put through its evolutions.” Whereupon, at a word from the induna, a man dismounted, and, uncoiling his hobble rope, slipped the noose round one of the ankles of the corpse, attached the other end to his horse’s girth, and, mounting, galloped off toward the edge of the plateau, dragging the body after him until it was removed to a sufficient distance to be quite out of the way of the manoeuvring troops, when it was abandoned to become a prey to the jackals and vultures!
Meanwhile the troops were recalled and formed up in the centre of the plain, where the king critically inspected them, while I, at his invitation, rode beside him. And I feel bound to say that seldom have I seen a finer body of men, either savage or civilised, which, after all, is not to be greatly wondered at, seeing that, as the king’s own special regiment of bodyguards, they were, naturally, the very pick and flower of the entire nation.
The inspection occupied about a quarter of an hour, and at its conclusion the regiment as a whole was put through a number of movements, which they executed very creditably. Then they were divided into two equal parts, which were marched to the opposite extremities of the plateau, when they faced about, and, charging down upon each other, engaged in a very realistic sham fight, lasting for the best part of an hour, and resulting in quite a number of casualties, several of the men being unhorsed and sustaining more or less serious injuries; after which the regiment re-formed, and we all returned to the kraal at a gallop, a party being detailed to remain behind and bring in the injured at a more sober pace.
I soon found that Moshesh, like all other savages, possessed his full share of vanity, which he was quite unable to conceal; also, it was evident that he was inordinately proud of his regiment, and was not above fishing for compliments upon it: I therefore dutifully did what was manifestly expected of me, and immensely gratified His Majesty by being as complimentary as I possibly could be without unduly straining the truth. But when all was said and done I had a very shrewd suspicion that while Moshesh might perhaps be credited with a genuine desire to show me some honour by inviting me to witness the review of his troops, he was principally animated by a craving for his own glorification, and, incidentally, was glad to seize the occasion as affording him an early opportunity to exhibit himself before his people in all the magnificence of his new “toggery.”