It was our custom, _Nkose_, when a man was smelt out as _umtagati_, that
his whole family and kraal should be eaten up too; but Umzilikazi, who
loved not killing for its own sake, except in war, forbore to observe
this custom in its entirety. He spared the relatives of those who had
been named, allowing their wives and children to live, only exacting a
fine of cattle from each house. But the case of Ncwelo he regarded as
the worst of the lot; for Ncwelo occupied a position of trust at an
important outpost; and this position he had turned to account by
hatching treason; wherefore, immediately upon his being named, a party
of armed men was sent out to put every one of his house to the assegai--
even to his very dogs--and to sweep off all his cattle into the royal
herds. The same fate fell upon the house of Notalwa; but, as regarded
the others, the Great Great One was of opinion that sufficient example
had been made.
Now, although it meant death to whisper a word as to what had become of
those five principal evildoers who had been named, yet my chief wife,
Nangeza, would give me no rest on the subject; for herein was a mystery,
and, being a woman, she must needs have a finger in it; so, thinking I
would tell her, she tried all sorts of devices, such as creeping up to
listen whenever I talked with another _induna_. At last, losing
patience, I smote her; for, although we Amazulu do not beat our wives
overmuch, as you white people say, yet there are times when hard wood is
the only means of staying a woman's tongue. Besides, Nangeza was
becoming altogether too troublesome, and already the young warriors
would laugh among themselves, and put their hands to their mouths and
say, "_Hau_! Untuswa is mighty in battle; a fighter who strikes hard.
But--a chief? _Hau_! A woman is chief over him." Now, I thought
things had gone far enough in this direction, wherefore I smote Nangeza.
She snarled like a she-leopard first struck by the spear.
"Good, Untuswa! Thou hast struck her through whom thou art made great.
Thou shalt weep for it in blood one day."
I felt minded to kill her, and make an end of it all. But I refrained,
and went to the huts of my other wives, instead, and made merry with
them. "Now," I thought, "I will take ten, twenty, wives. So will
Nangeza, perchance, find her match among all these."
The day of the new moon drew on, and all the fighting men of the nation
were called up to Ekupumuleni, all, save such as were out in small
parties spying for the Amabuna, and this especially to the south and
westward. For several nights there was war-dancing, and all the
regiments were doctored for battle; yet, against whom they were to be
sent few among them knew, and those who did know told not. Finally came
in two swift runners, one a little after the other. The Amabuna were
drawing near, with many wagons and horses and guns, drawing near to take
over our nation, to proclaim the traitor, Tyuyumane, King.
The night was rendered hideous with the howlings of the _izanusi_ making
_muti_, because of the new moon, and in the morning we started from
Ekupumuleni, strong to the strength of nearly our whole army. No
war-songs were allowed to be sung, and all shouting and noise was
forbidden. In silence we meant to steal upon and enclose this
formidable enemy, who was as the on-sweeping locust-swarm--resistless,
numberless, devouring.
Half a day's march beyond Ncwelo's kraal, our runners came in to say
that the advance guard of the Amabuna was at hand--ten horsemen, armed
with long guns, and with them nearly as many servants of a yellow
colour, also mounted and armed. Then the King, who accompanied the
_impi_, called me aside, and together we ascended a bush-crowned hill,
whence we could see for a distance around.
For a great way the country was grown with bush about as high as a man's
head, with here and there groves of forest trees. Now, from where we
lay we could see at a long distance off the wagons of the Amabuna
creeping onward, drawn by their long lines of oxen, and behind them
herds of cattle, feeding as they travelled. But between all this and
ourselves horsemen were riding--men similar to the two whom we had seen
at that meeting of traitors by Ncwelo's Pool. They were advancing in a
double line, little knowing whither--advancing carelessly, to greet the
new King, Tyuyumane--to enslave, as they thought, a conquered nation.
Umzilikazi's eyes glowed like those of a lion whose fangs are already in
the throat of the giraffe.
"See there, Untuswa!" he whispered. "Now the game begins. Ha! ha!"
The Amabuna had arrived immediately beneath us, chattering carelessly in
their ugly and head-cleaving tongue, which sounds to us as the croaking
of many crows, and smoking _gwai_ in their wooden pipes. But we could
see what they could not--the low-lying, crouching shapes of hundreds of
dark forms, writhing, crawling like serpents, among the long grass and
thick bush around. Just then, however, the horses began to sniff
uneasily, and throw forward their ears, as though they knew that an
enemy lurked close at hand. The horsemen soon saw this, and halted; but
at that moment there advanced towards them a man--one of ourselves. It
was Notalwa.
Now, upon what followed, the King and I looked with eagerness; for
Notalwa, being only a witch-doctor, and no warrior, the Great Great One
had judged him the best-fitted to play this part, which was to detain
the Amabuna in converse while our _impi_ surrounded and stole in upon
them the more completely--promising him, in the event of failure, the
most terrible death by torture ever yet devised; and this evil-doer,
being a coward and no warrior, had caught eagerly at a chance of saving
his own forfeited life. So now he greeted the Amabuna, saying that
Tyuyumane and the other traitors were behind him, and would be up in a
very short time, for that now the deed was done, and the sun might soon
blacken his face for a dead King.
But while he was yet speaking, one of the servants of the Amabuna caught
sight of the gleam of a spotted shield in the bushes, and cried aloud
his discovery. And then, further concealment being useless, our
warriors rose in masses, and poured forward upon the Amabuna, still in
complete silence, for all shouting had been strictly forbidden, lest it
should travel to the ears of those with the wagons and the herds, who,
being warned, might escape.
When they saw how entirely they were hemmed in, the thought of the
Amabuna was no longer to dismount, but to fight their way through. They
discharged their long guns into the thick of our on-rushing warriors,
many of whom fell; and then, using them as clubs, strove to hew their
way through the ranks of our shields.
But their horses were utterly terrified, and plunging and squealing,
were almost beyond control. The leader of the Amabuna, whom I
recognised as one of the two who had taken part in the _indaba_ at the
pool, was a mighty man in battle. He swept his clubbed gun, hither and
thither, and men seemed to fall before him like grass before an
advancing fire. But, as fast as they swept down our warriors, others
would rise in their places. A line of spear-points barred the way at
every turn, and soon the horses, disembowelled, hamstrung, were of no
further use, as they sank down, uttering wild screams of agony and
terror; and their riders, thus dismounted, were struck by countless
spears the moment they touched the ground. _Hau, Nkose_! In far less
time than I have taken to say these words those Amabuna and their
servants were all dead men. Even their horses were cut to pieces; for
when we "see red," we Amazulu spare no living thing.
All, did I say? _Hau_! I should have said all, save one; for the
leader of those, our enemies, who was a strong, fearless man, a fine
fighter, had somehow or other succeeded in breaking through our lines.
He was mounted on a powerful horse, which was wounded: we could see
that. We could see also that the man was wounded, for he swayed in his
saddle as he rode, and seemed to keep his seat only with great
difficulty. But, wounded though it was, the horse was going swift as
the wind. Although the most fleet-footed of our warriors were streaming
in pursuit, he was leaving them farther and farther behind.
"Hurry now, Untuswa," said the King. "Push on thine own men, and send
word to Kalipe, to form up the whole body of the army. Run not, so as
not to arrive breathless, yet march as rapidly as possible, and strike
yon evil-doers while yet surprise is in their midst. Strike them hard,
and spare none; for these Amabuna are as a devastating plague of locusts
in whatsoever land they appear. Go!"
I saluted hurriedly and already was speeding down the hillside. The
warriors had formed into rank, awaiting the commands of the Great Great
ONE. Quickly making known the word to Kalipe, we started, eager to pour
forth the blood of this accursed people, before whom other nations go
down, like trees before the storm, never to rise again.
We were not long in coming upon the wagons of the strangers--not far
behind the man who had escaped--for, as we drew near, we could see them
bringing their wagons together, so as to form a square enclosure. But
most of their cattle were still outside. We could see them, too, as
they moved hither and thither--large men most of them, with hairy faces,
and clad in the tanned skins of animals; indeed, their wide leather
breeches made a swishing sound as they walked. We could make out their
women, too, helping to fortify the camp, as hard as the fighting men;
and many a grunt and smothered burst of laughter went up from our young
warriors at the sight of those, for their women looked even as sacks,
and yet more devoid of shape, and their faces, looking out from great
bonnets were ugly. Yet they worked hard, pushing at the wheels of the
wagons, and talking in their harsh and unpleasing tongue.
Now we consulted hurriedly together, Kalipe and I, and sent forward a
strong body of the fleetest-footed of our warriors, that they should
drive off the cattle. These dashed forward with wild yelling, and soon
we saw them in among the herdsmen, spearing right and left. The
Amabuna, behind the wagons opened fire upon them; but, beyond killing a
good many of their own cattle, the fire was harmless, for our people
were sheltered behind the beasts as they swept them away.
Meanwhile we had been forming up, in shape like a half-moon; and, as the
bellowing, plunging mass of horns and hides and lashing tails and
eyeballs wildly rolling, receded in clouds of dust, we were already
close upon the fortified camp of the Amabuna. The wagons seemed to
spout forth flashes of fire, the dust jetted up beneath our feet where
the bullets struck. Our men, too, began to fall; for as we drew nearer
we were in the most deadly range, and the long guns of the Amabuna shot
both strong and true.
Now we raised the war shout, and our moon-shaped formation extended its
horns until the wagon-fort was completely encircled with our men. We
rush forward! _Hau_! it is as the breaking of the sea upon the shore as
we pour over the wagons. But those within shoot into our faces. The
foremost of our ranks drop back. That blaze of fire, the tearing of the
shot, daunts them.
"Turn not!" I cry. "Who will be named coward! On, on! the eye of the
Black Elephant watches his children. Which of them shall it behold
flee?"
Flourishing aloft my shield, I leap over the tongue of a wagon. Others
pour after me. Ha! we are within the enclosure. Then a gun is pointed
full at my chest, and, as the flash spurts forth, I see through it the
countenance of the evil Ibuna, who spoke ill and roughly of the King.
But though I see the flash, the bullet passes over my head unhurt, yet
it hums into the thick of those behind, and there is more than one yell
of death. Now I spring upon this great Ibuna, but before I can strike
him my assegai--the King's Assegai--is dashed from my hand by a clubbed
gun. It has been done by one of their women--a great, ugly, toad-like
witch, with grey hair. But immediately half a dozen spears enter her
body, and she falls yelling. At the same time, under cover of my
shield, I seize the great _umkonto_ again, and close with the leader,
hand to hand. He has a knife--no time has he to load--and we are at too
close quarters for the long gun to be clubbed again. He aims now a
furious kick at me. Ha! is it thus that such vermin fight? Then I leap
upon him, and with one mighty stroke my great assegai lays him open from
the throat downwards.
"_Hau_! dog of the Amabuna," I cried, as he fell, "dost care now that
the smoke of thine ugly carcase should reach the nostrils of the King?"
Now was a terrible medley of Amabuna and children of the Great Great
ONE. The air was black and heavy with smoke, and the jarring crash of
weapons, and the thunder of the shock, as our _impi_ came, thick and
fast, pouring over the wagons on all sides, and a forest of tufted
shields was dancing in the moke, and blades tossed redly on high,
reeking with the stream of life. And against the vaporous gloom could
be seen the outlined faces of our warriors, the children of blood, as,
with teeth bared, they threw their heads back and howled like hyenas
because they could not get enough to slay, could not get at it quick
enough. And the Amabuna fought--yes, they fought--and when it came to
the last their women fought more fiercely than the men; yet all were
brave. But what could they do against us, against our might? Driven
hither and thither, broken up into handfuls, they stood back to back,
men and women alike, sick with wounds and the flow of their own blood,
that ran in streams; yet they struck and struck. Ha! our spears were
blunted that day, and reddened indeed, and our pealing yells of rage and
victory rent the skies again and again!
All were slain. We spared none. Their women also we killed, for not
even among the younger did we see any who were fit to spare and take
before the King, so evil-featured and unwashen and shapeless were these.
The children, too, were slain, having their brains dashed out against
the wagon-wheel, or flung into the air to be caught upon the spears of
the warriors as they descended again.
The battle was over now, for none were left to fight. Our warriors,
like wild beasts who had tasted blood, were rolling their eyes hither
and thither in search of more life to destroy. But there was none.
Then something seemed to move in one of the wagons. There was a wild
howl, and a rush. My brother Mgwali was first. Plunging his hand
beneath some sacking, he drew out the body of a little child.
It was a girl-child, and as Mgwali plucked it from its place of shelter,
and held it aloft by the back of its clothing, I could see that it was
yet unhurt. But it was terribly frightened. Its great blue eyes were
starting from its head, and its long hair, like shining threads of
sunlight, streamed down over the dark shoulder and arm of Mgwali,
dabbling in the blood which yet lay undried upon him.
"_Hau_! Throw it up, Mgwali!" cried those who stood by, gripping their
assegais ready to receive its little body on the blades. But before
this could happen I leaped to the spot.
"Hold!" I roared, extending my stick. "Hold!"
The young men snarled, like hungry dogs reft of a bone. But they dared
say no word, knowing that he who disputed my orders in the field of
battle tasted death that moment. Still Mgwali held the child aloft,
gazing at me in wonder. But at a further glance from me he set it down.
"See!" I said. "This is not a child of the Amabuna. It has the look
of a child of a race of kings!"
The little thing sat on the ground, staring at the ring of grim faces
and bloody weapons, trembling, and too frightened even to cry. And
there was a look about it which moved me to spare its life. Its eyes
were blue as the heavens above, and its soft skin and pink cheeks, and
red, flower-like mouth marked it off as quite a different race to the
leather-skinned herd we had just slain. So I began to speak it fair and
soft, and found that it understood a few of my words, and, lo! it crept
over to me, and began to hide behind my shield, hoping to shut out the
fierce faces of the warriors who stood looking on, uttering many a
deep-throated gasp of amazement. And well they might, _Nkose_; for here
was I, the fiercest fighter of all that blood-stained _impi_--I, who had
slain with my own hand as many of the foe as any other could boast of--
and yet here was this little thing, with the eyes of heaven, and hair
like a stream of sunlight, shrinking up against me for protection and
shelter, as though I were her father. In truth, it was strange.
Not now, however, was the time for indulging in any further softness of
this kind; so, placing the little one in the care of Mgwali, and making
it known that whoever should attempt to harm her should pay the penalty
with his life, I went to muster the warriors, who were busy plundering
the wagons. Great stores of _gwai_ were there, and sacks of corn and
flour, and all manner of things which were good. Such, however, were
spoil for the Great Great One, to whom, of course, we had despatched
runners immediately, announcing our victory.
Now we mustered our ranks to return in triumph to the King. _Whau_! we
had lost many. In heaps our slain lay around--for the long guns of the
Amabuna shot quickly and true. And there, in the midst of their
wagon-fort, lay the ripped corpses of the Amabuna; and already the
vultures were gathering in clouds overhead. Then as we marched, black
and terrible, to the place where the Great Great One awaited, with the
thunder of one loud and mighty voice, the warriors sang--
"_Ningepinde nimhlab 'Umzilikazi,
Leyo 'Nkunzi mnyama,
Leyo 'Bubese mninimandhla!
Ca-bo! Ca-bo_!"
"Not again shall you stab Umzilikazi,
That Black Bull,
That Mighty Lion!
Oh, no! Oh, no!"