It was about mid-afternoon of that same day when, as I sat in the shadow
of the wagon tent, pondering upon the possibility of my being able
successfully to approach the king upon the question of a concession to
mine gold in Mashonaland, Piet informed me that certain men, whom 'Mfuni
recognised as messengers from the king, were coming toward the wagon
from Gwanda; and some five minutes later they arrived.
There were six of them, and they were laden with goods which I needed
not their explanation to assure me were presents from the king. One
bore a complete Mashona warrior's panoply, consisting of plumed
headdress, leopard-skin mantle, mucha of leopards' tails, armlets,
anklets, and garters of cows' tails, a necklace consisting of about
forty gold nuggets, bored and strung upon a strip of rimpi, shield, war
club, and an immense bangwan, or stabbing spear. This gift was of
course to be regarded as a logical sequence and appropriate return for
the uniform which I had presented to His Majesty that morning. But
there were other gifts as well, and exceedingly valuable ones, too,
three of the other messengers being bearers each of a most magnificent
kaross, or skin rug, one being made of lions' skins, one of leopards'
skins, and one--the finest of all--of monkeys' skins of some species
unknown to me, the black fur being extraordinarily long, thick, and
glossy. The remaining two men carried, each of them, a leather bag
weighing about sixty pounds, one bag containing coarse gold dust, while
the other was full of small, rough nuggets of gold. These two men were
also the bearers of a message of apology from the king, to the effect
that, since I seemed to have a liking for gold, he regretted that he had
no more to offer me, but that as gold was of no value in the country,
and was not particularly sought after, it was only occasionally that a
stray nugget or a handful of dust was found; and that the contents of
the bags represented the casual findings of many years.
It was somewhat disappointing to learn that here, in Gwanda, where I had
confidently anticipated that gold in practically unlimited quantity
might be had almost for the asking, there should be so little; yet the
situation was not without its compensations, for if the natives attached
so little value to the metal that they would not even take the trouble
to hunt for it, there ought to be all the more for me--if I could but
coax the king into granting me a concession. So I dissembled my
disappointment, handed over the gifts to Piet, with instructions to pack
them away in the rear of the wagon, rewarded the messengers who had
brought them, and dismissed them, happy in the possession of a few mixed
beads.
About half-past ten o'clock that night I was sitting in my wagon,
reading by the light of the all but full moon--for, this being the eve
of the great annual festival, the town was in an uproar, and the volume
of sound emanating from it and from the temporary encampments outside it
rendered sleep impossible--when I became aware of a figure muffled in a
great kaross in such a manner as to render identification impossible.
Apart from this circumstance, however, there was a certain suggestion of
furtiveness in the movements of the figure, a something indicative of a
desire to avoid observation, that attracted my attention from my book
and aroused my curiosity. It seemed to be wandering about aimlessly;
but when I had been watching it for some ten minutes I became convinced
that, erratic as its movements seemed to be, they were not without
method; and that method, I soon saw, was causing the unknown one--a
man--to gravitate slowly but surely toward the wagon. So I waited
patiently, and a quarter of an hour later he accomplished a masterly
movement which brought him within the shadow of the wagon.
"S'a bona muntu," I remarked quietly. "What is the business that brings
you by such a crooked path to my wagon to-night?"
"Au!" ejaculated the mysterious one in some confusion. "Chia'gnosi has
good eyes; nothing escapes him; he sees even the little red ticks that
hide themselves on the blades of the grass. If his ears are as good as
his eyes he will perchance have heard of one named Machenga."
"I have heard of such an one," I answered cautiously.
"What have you heard of him?" demanded the unknown.
"I have heard that Machenga is the name of the king's chief witch
doctor," I replied, with still greater caution. "But who are you, and
why have you come to my wagon at this time of night? Is it to talk to
me of Machenga?"
"Machenga is a very great man," observed my visitor. "Next to the king,
he is the greatest man in all Mashonaland. Also, he is the king's
friend: the friends of the king are his friends; and the enemies of the
king are his enemies."
"Come you to me with a message from Machenga?" I demanded. "If so,
proceed; my ears are open."
"Au!" ejaculated the unknown one. "Chia'gnosi is very wise; he
understands. He understands that when Machenga speaks the king listens;
and those who--like Chia'gnosi--are wise and desire the king's favour,
do well first to secure the favour of Machenga."
"Piet," I called, "come hither and open for me the bale containing the
handkerchiefs and printed calico; also find for me the pliers and the
brass chain."
The articles named were duly produced, and I selected two of the most
brilliant bandanas I could find, added thereto a couple of yards of
calico, printed with a tasteful design in crimson and blue consisting of
an alternation of horseshoes and running horses carrying their heads and
tails very high, cut off a yard of brass chain to which I attached a
shaving mirror as a pendant, filled a brass box with mixed beads, and
arranged the whole in a tasteful little heap on the top of the
voorkissie. Then I turned to my visitor and, pointing to the heap,
said:
"Friend, your words are words of wisdom. You see these gifts? Take
them and place them in the hut of Machenga, saying that I, Chia'gnosi,
send them in token of my goodwill. Say also that I have here many other
gifts, equally precious, and that, if the king continues to regard me
with favour, and grants me a certain request which I think of
preferring, a generous share of these gifts shall find their way to the
hut of Machenga."
For an instant my visitor leaned forward, his gleaming eyes fixed
avariciously upon the little pile of trumpery spread out temptingly upon
the lid of the chest, and, as he did so, the upper folds of his kaross
slipped apart, and I caught a momentary glimpse of a most extraordinary
countenance. It was that of an old man, so old that the head was quite
bald and the wrinkled face entirely devoid of hair; but the deeply
sunken eyes glowed like those of a leopard in the dark, the forehead was
broad and high, the nose thin and crooked like the beak of an eagle, the
mouth a mere straight slit, and the thin lips were drawn back in a sort
of incipient snarl. But it was the expression of the face that
particularly arrested my attention, for never before had I beheld a
human countenance on which unimaginable cruelty and boundless rapacity
were so clearly and strongly written. This was no common, ordinary
individual, I at once told myself: there could be but one man in all
Gwanda with such a countenance as that, and I instantly guessed the
truth, that my visitor was none other than Machenga himself.
For a moment or two the talon-like right hand of the man hovered
greedily over the little display; then it flashed back and was lost in
the folds of the kaross, which were quickly drawn round the head again,
all but concealing it from view. The man stepped back a pace and drew
himself up haughtily, and, with a gesture of contempt, pointed to the
gifts.
"Au!" he exclaimed. "Think ye that Machenga craves such baubles as
those? They are well enough for children and fools, but Machenga
accepts only gifts of real value."
"Such, for instance, as--" I suggested.
"One of the magic fire tubes with which you caused a flying pigeon to
fall dead at the king's feet to-day," answered my visitor.
"Nay," said I, "that may not be. It would be no kindness on my part to
give Machenga a fire tube, for he would not know how to use it--"
"But you could teach him," hastily interposed the stranger.
"Nay," answered I, "not so, for it is a thing of magic; and the magic of
the white man is unlike that of the black man, nor can the black man
learn it. Were Machenga to take one of my fire tubes in his hand, one
of two things would happen. Either the tube would refuse to slay at
all, or it would turn upon Machenga and kill him."
"Au! white man, that is not true, and when you speak lies you talk as a
fool," exclaimed my visitor, displaying much righteous indignation. "I
know, for I have seen the magic fire tubes before. Many moons ago--ay,
before you were born, and before Lomalindela was king--two white men
came into Mashonaland, and only one of them went out again. They, too,
possessed fire tubes, and one of them, an Amaboona (Boer)--the man who
did not go out--once put his fire tube into my hands and showed me how
to use it. The magic lies not in the tube itself, but in the few grains
of black powder that are poured into it and the round lump of metal that
is thrust down on the top of the powder. Au! I know. Though so many
moons have passed I remember quite well. Ay, and I remember many other
things also, things that happened here long before the Mashona arrived
in the land, things that happened when the Monomotapa dwelt here and
great cities of stone and brick covered the face of the country, when
men dug gold out of the rocks and made it into ornaments for the arms,
necks, and ankles of their women--"
"What foolishness is this that thou art talking?" I interrupted
angrily, for it was growing late and I was beginning to feel tired,
while there seemed to be no sign of an intention on the part of my
unwelcome visitor to leave. "Return now to Machenga," I continued,
"describe to him the gifts which I have set aside for him, and say that
if he will send thee for them to-morrow at sunrise they shall be his.
But if he wants them not, it is well: I have no others for him."
"Then thou wilt not give him one of thy fire tubes, with a supply of the
magic powder and enough of the round lumps of metal to kill one
hundred--pigeons?" demanded my visitor.
"I will not," I replied shortly, "and that is my last word."
"Au!" retorted the man. "Very well, white man, I hear thee and I go.
But it may be that to-morrow thou wilt be sorry that thou didst refuse."
And, so saying, he wrapped his kaross still more closely about him and
strode away into the moonlight with the light, springy step of a young
man.
As for me, I was now quite ready for bed, therefore I undressed and
turned in without further delay, expecting to fall asleep on the
instant. Yet I did nothing of the kind, for when I stretched myself out
upon my cartel I found my thoughts dwelling upon my mysterious visitor,
who I felt sure could be none other than Machenga himself, stolen
surreptitiously away from the mysterious rites of the fetish house in
the hope of cajoling a rifle out of me; and I began to wonder whether
the two white men to whom he had referred as having visited Mashonaland
many moons ago--one only of whom went out of the country again--could by
any chance have been my friend Henderson and his Boer partner, Van
Raalte. And I also greatly wondered what the fellow could possibly have
meant by his mysterious talk of a time before the Mashonas came to the
country, when it was inhabited by a people whom he named the Monomotapa,
who built great cities of brick and stone, worked the gold mines, and
made gold ornaments for their women. Pondering thus, I became a little
vexed with myself for my untactful treatment of the man, whom I had
permitted to leave me in a distinctly bad temper, instead of humouring
and conciliating him, as I felt persuaded I might easily have done.
However, I was not altogether without hope that, after a night's
reflection, the fellow might reopen negotiations, when I would do my
best to establish friendly relations with him, if only for the purpose
of learning a little more about the mysterious Monomotapa, the ruins of
one of whose towns I had actually seen and examined. And, so thinking,
I gradually dropped off to sleep; and, as was not very surprising,
dreamed a wonderful dream, wherein I found myself living and moving
among the Monomotapa, who proved to be a very highly civilised race,
possessing a vast amount of knowledge of many things that we moderns
only guessed at in the most vague fashion. And I was plunged deep in
the midst of a most astounding adventure when Piet awoke me with the
intelligence that it was sunrise, and that the regiments in the outlying
cantonments were already astir and preparing to enter Gwanda, to assist
in the celebration of the great annual festival. I enquired whether
there was any sign of our visitor of the previous night, and was told
that there was not, at which information I was sorrier than ever for my
hasty behaviour; for it was now evident that Machenga definitely refused
the gifts that I had set out for his acceptance, and for a savage to
refuse a gift is tantamount to a declaration of enmity, and I could ill
afford to make an enemy of anyone in Mashonaland, still less of so
powerful a personage as Machenga, the chief witch doctor and
confidential adviser of the king.
It was by then too late, however, to mend matters, unless I were
prepared to make an unconditional surrender by sending Machenga the
particular gifts that he coveted; and it is always unwise in the extreme
to surrender to the demands of a savage. I therefore decided to let
matters take their course, but to be prepared as fully as possible for
any untoward contingency. Therefore, as soon as I had bathed and
breakfasted, I directed Piet first to feed and water the horses, then
have them brought back to the wagon, saddle and bridle them, leaving the
girths loose but ready to be drawn tight at any moment, and tie them up
in the shadow of the wagon, so that, if necessary, the entire party
could mount and ride at a moment's notice. Next I had five parcels of
ammunition prepared, each parcel weighing about thirty pounds, and
placed in readiness in the wagon, so that, if occasion should arise, we
could each snatch a parcel and secure it round our waists before
abandoning all our other belongings. Then I had each gun loaded and
placed with the parcels of ammunition, indicating the particular weapon
which each man was to take charge of should it perchance become
necessary for us to make a hurried flight for our lives. And finally, I
loaded my own pet rifle and a brace of pistols, thrust the latter in my
belt, and, carrying the rifle in my hand, mounted Prince and rode off
unaccompanied to be present at the festival, since, according to Mapela,
failure to comply with the king's command would inevitably result in
myself and my following being "eaten up"--otherwise destroyed--by an
impi.
As I swung into the saddle the rear companies of the last regiments of
warriors to enter Gwanda were winding snake-like through the four
entrance gates; therefore, to give them time to reach their appointed
positions in the great square before my arrival, I proceeded at a
foot-pace, with the result that I was the last person to enter the town:
and immediately I had passed in through the south gateway the massive
gates were swung to and barred behind me, while a company of some fifty
warriors drew up across the face of the closed gates, barring all
possibility of exit--to my great inward discomposure. I was careful,
however, not to permit any smallest outward indication of that inward
discomposure to manifest itself, but proceeded onward up the long
street, still riding at a foot-pace, and wearing as complete an air of
nonchalance as I was able to assume under the somewhat disconcerting
circumstances. During my progress through the town I glanced right and
left about me from time to time, but saw not a solitary man in any of
the narrow lanes between the huts--they were evidently all congregated
in the great square in the centre of the town; but here and there I
caught a passing glimpse of a woman or two, or a little group of
children, peering curiously at me from the interior of the huts as I
passed. Finally, I reached the junction of the square with the street
which I was traversing, and, dismounting, turned over my horse to the
care of a lad of about fourteen, directing the umfaan to lead the animal
into the shadow of a certain hut which I indicated, and there carefully
hold him by the bridle until I should return. Then, on foot, I passed
through a narrow gap in a solid phalanx of warriors, and found myself in
the square, with Mapela waiting to conduct me to the place which had
been assigned to me, and from which I was unwillingly to witness the
forthcoming spectacle.
Imposing as had been the scene in the great square on the preceding day,
it was as nothing compared to what I now beheld; for, with the exception
of a small open space about one hundred feet in diameter in the
north-west corner of the square, the vast quadrangle was literally
packed with warriors, all in full war equipment, regiment after regiment
being drawn up in such close order that there was only a narrow space of
less than a yard in width between the ranks. As Mapela conducted me
through the serried ranks I idly wondered what these narrow spaces were
for. I was to learn their purpose all too soon.
"I am glad that thou hast come, Chia'gnosi," murmured my companion in my
ear, as we made our way slowly toward the small open space.
"Nevertheless, I say unto thee, be watchful, and do nothing that may by
any chance anger the Great, Great One, for he is in a black mood
to-day--why, I know not--and when the king frowns it means death! This
is thy place," indicating a stool placed close to the king's empty
throne. "Stand here until the king is seated, for it is not lawful for
any man to sit until he is bidden to do so by the king. Farewell!"
So saying, Mapela saluted and withdrew, making his way toward the
regiment of which he was induna.
And now, left absolutely to myself in that vast space, I became acutely
conscious of the terribly oppressive silence that prevailed,
notwithstanding the fact that, according to my estimate, there must have
been nearly fifty thousand men in the enclosure. But every one of them
stood straight up, staring intently into space immediately in front of
him, moving not so much as a muscle, scarcely daring to breathe--as it
seemed to me--and mute as a figure carved in stone.
For perhaps ten minutes--although it seemed more like half an hour to
me--this dreadful, breathless stillness remained unbroken; then a faint
sound, like that of a sudden breeze sweeping over grass, but which was
in reality an involuntary sigh of relief from suspense emanating from
fifty thousand breasts, stirred the air as the curtain veiling the
entrance to the itunkulu, or king's house, was drawn aside, and the
figure of Lomalindela, fully clad in his hussar uniform, sword included,
appeared. For a brief space he stood there in the doorway, glowering;
then, doubtless in obedience to some signal that I failed to note, the
spear which every warrior held in his right hand was raised aloft, and
the royal salute of "Bayete! Bayete! Bayete!" pealed out like a
thunderclap on the startled air, and all was silent again.
For a moment the king's brow cleared, and the ghost of a smile flitted
across his countenance: I would defy any man living, civilised or
savage, to remain entirely indifferent to such a tremendous outburst of
homage--all the more intense because of the imposing figure which His
Majesty cut in his new rig-out. Then the smile passed, the scowl
returned, and, with a glare that seemed to be concentrated especially on
me, Lomalindela strode majestically forward, and, scarcely deigning to
acknowledge my salute, slowly seated himself in his chair, or throne.
And, as he did so, a company of a hundred picked warriors--His Majesty's
own bodyguard--marched out from behind the itunkulu, and, under an
induna in an especially imposing war dress, ranged themselves in a
semicircle round and immediately behind the king's person.
Then, from somewhere in the rear of where I was sitting, there suddenly
came leaping and bounding into the small open space a most extraordinary
and horrible figure. It was that of a man--the man who had visited me
at my wagon on the previous night, I presently perceived, although I did
not immediately recognise him; for his dark body was painted, back and
front, from head to foot, in white, in such a manner as to represent,
with considerable skill and fidelity, a fleshless skeleton. His head
was decorated with a pair of bullock's horns, firmly secured by means of
straps; round his neck he wore a necklace composed entirely of skeleton
human hands, which had been severed at the wrists; about his waist was a
girdle of animals' teeth and claws, supporting a mucha, or rather a
short petticoat made of dry grass, from beneath the rear portion of
which dangled a bullock's tail; and in his right hand he carried a
formidable bangwan or stabbing spear.
Notwithstanding his great age, this man--who, of course, was Machenga,
the dreaded chief witch doctor--capered and pirouetted with astounding
agility in the centre of the arena for fully five minutes; then he
suddenly dashed forward, and, prostrating himself at Lomalindela's feet,
proceeded to do bonga, or homage, by shouting the various titles of the
king, and exalting His Majesty to the skies as the greatest, most
potent, most wonderful, most glorious monarch in the universe, the only
king, in fact, worthy of serious mention. This sort of thing,
punctuated at intervals by thunderous shouts of acclamation from the
troops, continued until the king, satiated with praise, put a stop to
it, when the man, after a brief interval of silence, rose to his feet
and stood staring intently for a few minutes up into the rich blue
splendour of the cloudless sky.
Then, gliding meanwhile slowly hither and thither in a series of narrow
circles and turns and twists, in a kind of slow waltz step, Machenga
began a song, the burden of which was the glory, majesty, and power of
the king, and the inexpressible wickedness of those who presumptuously
dared to entertain evil thoughts of him. This continued for about
twenty minutes, during which the singer gradually worked himself up into
a state of excitement and exaltation that finally became a perfect
frenzy, under the influence of which his voice rose to a piercing
shriek, while he dashed hither and thither with a display of strength,
agility, and fury that seemed to me incredible. Finally, the man
collapsed and sank to the ground exhausted, and foaming at the mouth;
and at the same instant out from the rear dashed the entire company of
subordinate witch doctors, in number fully one hundred, who, forming up
about their prostrate chief, began to dance madly round him, singing a
weird song of which I could make nothing except an occasional word, here
and there, that conveyed no particular meaning to me.
These men were all decorated and garbed exactly like their chief,
excepting that, instead of a bangwan, each carried a slender white wand,
about twelve feet in length, in his right hand. For a period of about
five minutes these terrible beings whirled and flashed hither and
thither in bewildering confusion; then, with the precision of highly
trained soldiers, they suddenly halted, and I became aware that
Machenga, their chief, was again upon his feet, standing in their midst.
Then, while the cloud of dust raised by their mad gyrations still
hovered in the air, half obscuring the company, the tramp of feet was
heard, and into the small arena marched twenty stalwarts, ten of whom
were armed with enormous bangwans, while the remainder carried heavy,
straight-bladed knives, about two feet long, and some six inches wide at
the hilt, tapering away from there to a sharp point. These twenty--whom
Lomalindela grimly condescended to inform me were the Slayers--halted on
the king's left, just clear of the left wing of His Majesty's bodyguard,
arranging themselves in pairs--a spearman and a knife-bearer
alternately--as they did so. Then Machenga, at a nod from the king,
raised his bangwan, and immediately his satellites began to circle
hither and thither, with a slow, waltz-like movement, similar to that
with which he had begun his own mad dance; and as they moved, gradually
widening their circles until they were strung out all along the face of
the motionless regiments, they hummed a low, weird, wordless song that
was somehow inexpressibly suggestive of vague, nameless horror. As for
Machenga, after watching his assistants for a minute or two, he stalked
slowly toward the king and seated himself at His Majesty's feet, where,
after a time, he seemed to lose all consciousness of outward things, and
to sink into a state of profound and anxious thought. Meanwhile the
general company of the witch doctors had separated into units who were
slowly working their way along the front ranks of the closely packed
regiments, pausing occasionally as though in doubt, and then passing on
again, to the obvious relief of the individuals before whom the ominous
pause had been made. For a little while, possibly five or six minutes,
matters proceeded thus, and nothing happened; then I observed that one
of the witch doctors had halted, with his head thrown up, and was
sniffing the air, like a dog that has scented game. He turned his head
eagerly here and there, as though trying the air, seemed to get the
scent for which he was seeking, and then looked square into the eyes of
a man in the ranks, who visibly quailed beneath his gaze. Then,
sniffing again, the witch doctor suddenly sprang forward, thrust his
face close to that of the man who seemed to have incurred his suspicion,
and, after a momentary pause, as though to make quite sure of what he
suspected, stepped back a pace, and, stretching forth the wand in his
hand, lightly touched the unfortunate warrior on the breast with it.
Instantly the man's comrades to right and left of him seized the unhappy
wight by the arms and led him forward unresisting to within about ten
paces of the king. For a moment the king regarded the supposed culprit
with a cold, frowning stare: then he turned toward where the Slayers
were drawn up and nodded, upon which a pair of them stepped forward and
stationed themselves, the bangwan-bearer in front and the knife-bearer
behind the doomed man, who stood with his hands clenched by his sides,
his comrades having, at the king's nod, taken from him his spear and
shield and laid them at His Majesty's feet. Then, as I saw the right
arms of the executioners raised to strike, I shut my eyes. A moment
later I heard the dull sound of a blow, followed by the thud of a
falling body; and when I opened my eyes the first victim of the
diabolical rite of "smelling out" lay stretched out upon his face, dead,
with skull cloven and a bangwan wound that must have cut his heart in
twain. It was a sickening sight; but there was one redeeming feature
about it, the mode of death was at least merciful, for the Slayers had
done their work so well and so quickly that the unhappy man must have
died instantly, with perhaps scarcely a pang to mark his dissolution.
He was a mere nobody, just a common soldier from the ranks, who had
probably never harboured in his simple heart a single thought disloyal
to the king; but Machenga was cunning enough to realise that a certain
number of such unconsidered and inconspicuous victims must be sacrificed
if he would avoid attracting undue attention to the fact that the
holocaust included all those whose death advantaged him either
pecuniarily or as the gratification of his revenge.