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 reappear _en 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."