As we sat there, we _izinduna_, watching the place of slaughter where
those evil-doers had found death, we heard the volume of a mighty
war-song approaching. Those within Nkunkundhlovu hushed their own
singing and gazed outward. A great _impi_ drew near, marching in
columns like unto broad black snakes gliding over the ground. Yet, not
all black, but spotted; for the white and red of shields, the streaming
of cowhair tufts, the rustling of feather capes, showed forth above the
blackness of marching bodies. The wavy glint of spear-points in the sun
was as a sea of light--the tramp of feet as the dark and terrible array
swung onward--the thunder of the war song! _Hau_! I could feel all the
blood tingling within me, and my eyes were aglow as I gazed. Here was a
force, indeed. That which had been led against us by Mhlangana might
equal it, but could hardly surpass it.
On they came--and as this vast mass of warriors poured in by the lower
gate of Nkunkundhlovu they raised the war song of Dingane:
"Us'eziteni,
Asiyikuza sababona."
Soon the great open space within was crowded. Rank upon rank the
warriors squatted there, crouching behind their shields, their eyes
glaring like those of lions as they awaited the word which should let
them loose upon their prey. When the roar of the "_Bayete_," which
greeted the King's appearance, had sunk into silence, Dingane addressed
them:
"Lion cubs of Zulu, you are here in your might, for yonder lies prey
worthy of your fangs. Yonder is an enemy who has swarmed down upon our
land like the deadly locust pest--an enemy who comes with soft words,
but never fails to devour that people who is fool enough to believe
those words.
"There is not room for two nations in the land of Zulu. Two bulls
cannot rule in one kraal. Yonder is another bull who would bellow
loudest in the Zulu fold. The horns of that bull are cut off, but there
is enough of him left to attract by his roarings other bulls like unto
himself. Go now, therefore, and slay that bull. Make an end of him
utterly."
As the King paused, with a wave of the hand in the direction of the
distant camp of the Amabuna, the warriors made, as though they would
have sprung to their feet; but the King's hand restrained them, and they
sank back. Dingane went on:
"When we destroy a locust swarm which is devouring our lands, we do not
destroy the flying insects only. The young which appear after them,
too, we stamp flat. So shall it be with this locust swarm. Stamp it
flat. Make an end of it utterly. Let none escape. Go, my children!"
As one man that dense mass of warriors rose to its feet. As from one
man the "_Bayete_" thundered forth from every throat; and the winnowing
of shields and quivering rattle of spear-hafts was as a great gale
sweeping through a forest. They poured forth from the gates, those
terrible ones, broadening out upon the plain beyond, in a great stream
of rushing men--of lions, of leopards, hungry for blood; and we
_izinduna_, who followed more leisurely, could see in the distance the
white _Umfundisi_ standing at the door of his house, looking upon our
movements.
"_Whau_!" growled Tambusa, scowling towards the white man. "Such as
that should long since have travelled the way of the spear. It is such
evil crows whose croak brings our enemies upon us."
"Yet that is not ill-doing," I said, "for without enemies how should
these lion-cubs find meat for their teeth?"
"There is that without these swarms of white carrion," replied Tambusa,
and his voice was as the snarling of a beast. "_Whau_! It is all
alike. It licks the feet of the King when it thinks to get land from
him. When it has got it, the Great Great One should be its dog, even as
yonder crow dared to croak not many days since. My heart has been heavy
ever since that he was not sent to take the place of those upon the
stakes."
On they sped, those messengers of death, on through the burning glare of
mid-day; on through the black gloom of night; on ever, over rugged
height, through tangled valley and rushing river, pausing but little to
take rest.
After many days we saw signs that we were near the camp of the Amabuna.
We rested then, and pushed on cautiously during the night, until within
striking distance. Then we paused. Little sleep was ours that night.
In silence they lay, that black army of terrible ones, with eyes
strained upon the first streak of dawn that should reveal to them their
prey.
It came at last, that dawn. No sound from the camp of those whites told
that any were awake and watching. They slept as though safe in their
own land, as though they had not of their own accord come to place their
necks beneath the paw of the Lion of Zulu. Only the crunch of the jaws
of cattle, only the occasional sneeze of a goat, broke the silence.
In such silence--in such stillness--did the dawn lighten. Then two or
three men began to stir, moving sleepily inside the encampment. We
could wait no longer. The word was given to fall on.
I could not sit still with the _izinduna_ when blows were falling, and
at the head of the right horn of the _impi_ I found myself flying over
the defences, spear in hand. Within, the awakening for those whites was
terrible. Wild shrieks arose with the roar of our appalling war-shout,
as women, with the stamp of death upon their pale countenances, rolled
from the waggons, and with arms tossed on high, screamed for that mercy
we were not there to show. Men were there, too; but these were few, yet
they fought. Shaggy faces confronted me, jets of flame shone redly in
my eyes. My great assegai was shearing around, cleaving the hearts and
bodies of these. _Whau_! that was a moment! And through it all, I
could see lines upon lines of flying bodies, of tufted shields and
gleaming spears come surging over the waggons on the other side. We had
taken the camp.
Not yet, however, was our work complete. Grouping together, those
Amabuna stood and fought. _Au_! they fought! It was worth living,
_Nkose_, to see the fight those men made. With hatchets and knives they
defended themselves; with clubbed guns, too, for they could no longer
reload. Man to man, hand to hand, eye to eye, they fought. But the
breadth of our broad shields met blow or stab, and the whelming weight
of those behind threw upon them such masses of men that they could no
longer lift hand, and were borne to earth. Blood streamed forth
everywhere, and amid the grim death-yells of the Amabuna and the screams
of their women beneath the assegais rose the shrill "_I-ji_!" the fierce
triumph hiss of each victorious warrior as he drove his spear home.
And now the whole inside of that great waggon camp was as a den of
raging lions let loose. The dead lay in heaps, but any movement seen
among such heaps would draw a rush to the place, to stab and stab again.
Children of all ages--boys, girls, infants--were dragged from their
hiding-places and speared. Even the cattle within the enclosure were
ripped and slain. Nothing was spared, young or old, male or female--all
were slain; for it was not our custom to spare; and in this matter the
King's word had been explicit: "Make an end of them utterly." And this
we had done.
Now that all were slain we began to see what plunder the camp contained,
that it might be collected for the King. And there was much of it--for
besides all manner of provisions and stores, there were things of iron
and of glass, knives and axes, and all manner of useful things; but,
best of all, there were the long guns of the Amabuna, and powder and
ball. So much of all this was there that it took time to remove it all,
and arrange it in such wise that it could be borne back to
Nkunkundhlovu, and even then we had to leave some of it.
"Make an end of them utterly." Such had been the word of Dingane, and
looking at that waggon camp when we left it, I think, _Nkose_, you would
have said we had obeyed the word of the Great Great One to the full. By
hundreds the slain lay there, heaps and heaps of dead bodies whom the
assegai had kissed again and again. In darker heaps, too, lay our own
dead; but of this we thought not much, for even these whites, dreaded
alike by all nations who had met them, had not been able to stand before
the power of Zulu. They had been swept away, as all black nations had
been before them; swallowed up, and the wave of our might had rolled
over them. And as we moved from the place a fierce new song of triumph
thundered forth from the ranks of our host.
There were some who would have burned the waggons and such stuff as
could not be taken away, but this we _izinduna_ would not permit, lest
the smoke, seen from afar, should convey warning to other camps of the
Amabuna. For our work was not yet done.
Word was now passed that the _impi_ should form up, and indeed not much
telling was needed, for their appetite for blood, only whetted with what
had already been shed, the warriors could hardly be kept in hand, so
eager were they to reach those other camps. But it would have served no
good purpose that they should tire themselves by marching at a run.
Yet, short of this, our advance was a rapid one.
Even then, however, rapid as it was, we were not to fall upon those
other camps, as we had expected, all unprepared. Whether it was that
some had escaped from the first camp, or that the noise of the shouting
and the firing had reached their ears, we found these Amabuna with their
waggons drawn up so as to form a wall, the spaces between the wheels
even being filled in with bags and boxes, and as we drew near they were
still busy driving in their cattle and horses, for some of their herds
had sighted us from afar. Yet even then they were obliged to leave much
of their cattle outside.
But to this we gave no heed, for we counted all these as ours already,
and such as were scattered about the land we could collect at our
leisure. With a roar and a rush our _impi_ went at the waggon forts,
spreading out in "horns" so as to enwrap the whole in a wall of living
leaping men.
But the long guns from within began to spit forth destruction and death.
Pouring into the dense masses of the charging warriors the storm of
lead wrought terrible havoc. Those behind, eager to get in among the
enemy, bore onward the front ranks, and for these there was no turning
back. The air trembled with roars of anguish and of fury, as the lead
ploughed through body and limb; and in the death-throes the warriors in
the foremost ranks would make one more effort to hurl themselves upon
the grim foe who lined the waggons, so resolute, so cool, and yet so
prompt to strike hard when opportunity offered.
Sudden as our onslaught had been, huge our force, so grimly determined
was the resistance of those Amabuna, fighting for their lives and for
their cattle and women, that they actually beat back one side of the
attack. Now we, _izinduna_, as the Zulu custom had then become, were
taking no active part in the battle, but from our station on a
neighbouring rise were directing the movement of our people, by signal
or by runner. But seeing one side of the _impi_ falling into confusion
we could sit still no longer. Tambusa's eyes were like those of a
hungry lion, and for long my broad assegai--Umzilikazi's gift--had
seemed to burn within my grasp. We sprang to our feet.
"Now, Untuswa!" cried Silwane, "you and I will fight side by side, even
as once we fought against each other."
Down we rushed. We were here--there--everywhere. Under the influence
of our presence, the encouragement of our voices, the wavering side of
the _impi_ rallied, and hurled itself--a solid black wave--upon the
waggon barricade once more. _Hau_! I seemed to see nothing clearly
then. All was red about me. Our warriors, baring their teeth, howled
like beasts, making furious leaps in their attempts to reach these
determined and terrible enemies; but ever to be met by those fierce,
shaggy countenances, smoke-blackened, whence gleamed forth eyes fell
with hate and purpose; and the flashes of the guns would singe and
blind, so near were they, as they were thrust forward and discharged
where the crowd was thickest and most threatening. Even their women
fought. We could see them behind, loading the guns as fast as the
Amabuna could fire almost. Great broad-faced hags would reach over the
waggons and hack at our warriors with axes and choppers, or hurl pans of
boiling water over their naked bodies when they approached too near.
More hot, more fierce, their fire hissed through our ranks. The Amabuna
had loaded their guns with many bullets at a time, and these, tearing
through our serried ranks at close quarters, cut down our men like corn.
Again and again they fell back, only to rush forward once more. But
every such onward rush was made with less and less of heart. They could
not face those terrific storms of lead, and we, _izinduna_, seeing that
the day was lost, made haste to draw off our warriors before these,
panic-stricken, should break and flee. And what a loss had been ours!
The waggon forts seemed ringed in with the heaps of our dead. And those
who lived! Bleeding, panting, begrimed; shields hacked and slit, broken
spears, wounds gaping redly--such was our aspect. Many with shattered
limbs, where the bullets of the Amabuna had met them, dragged themselves
forward and begged of their brethren the death of the spear, which was
granted them. Our repulse was complete.
Yet there remained the cattle, and all outside the waggon forts we
speedily collected; for the Amabuna, valiant as they were when under
that shelter, were too wise to leave it and come forth to meet us in the
open. But although it was a very large and fine herd of beasts which we
swept before us on our return to Nkunkundhlovu, our minds were uneasy.
Those Amabuna had held their own against us, and were left alive.
Presently they would bring others. For every one we could kill, five
would grow in his place, as, indeed, we were soon to see.