"Hardly had the word left Gungana's lips than I was up and away. No
thought of the witch-doctor was in my mind as I sped over the ground in
that long, even trot which I could keep up for days, and eventually
overtake a horse which had started at the same time. Of cuts and stabs
many were upon me, and I was red and hideous with blood, flowing or
dried. But this mattered less than nothing, and I laughed loud and
joyously as I coursed along to be the first to bear to the King the news
he most loved to hear. Of a truth, the old _isanusi_ I had saved from
death--if, indeed, I had saved him from death--had gone clean out of my
mind. Yet, if I had but known it, that day was to my life what the bent
rods are to the roof of a hut.
"Soon I found myself in the midst of the great dust-cloud we had seen,
and behind it came herds of cattle spreading over the plain, tended by
women and boys of all ages. These were the herds which we had brought
out from Zululand, increased by those we had taken from the tribes on
our way, and which we were carrying with us to the land where we should
be commanded to settle.
"`Make way!' I shouted. `Make way for the "ears of the King"!'
"Then the women shrieked with excitement, and the boys, rushing in among
the cattle with shrill whoops, scattered them out of my way; for the
path of the King's messenger must be straight, and woe to whosoever
shall obstruct it. The bellowing and trampling of the cattle mingled
with the shouts and cries as I dashed straight on. Then I heard a voice
say:--
"`_Yau_! It is Untuswa! Is he not a man? Is he not a warrior indeed,
covered with blood and wounds, and carrying the King's "word"? Look at
him, Sitele!'
"I knew the voice, still I could not refrain from turning my head ever
so slightly as I ran. Close to my path I beheld Nangeza, looking so
tall and fine and straight, standing there with her little sister.
_Whau, Nkose_! I would have gone against those Basutu kraals again
single-handed to have been allowed to _tunga_ with her for a wife.
"Then came another cloud of dust, and the steady tramp of marching feet,
and the hum of deep-toned voices; then a wavy shimmer of spear-points,
like the sunshine on the blue sea. Spread out over the plain in four
dense black columns the regiments marched, and as I, looking neither to
the right nor to the left, sped between these, the confused wonder which
had greeted my first appearance was succeeded by a dead expectant
silence.
"Umzilikazi was riding on horseback near the rear of the army,
surrounded by a group of _indunas_, among whom was my father. A circle
of _izanusi_, clad in cow-tails and entrails and all the hideous
paraphernalia of their order, preceded the King, dancing and waving
green boughs as they chanted his praises, and the swift and sudden
destruction which even then was falling upon his enemies. As I drew
near the doctors scattered out of my path like a lot of frightened
jackals, for even they must give way before him who bears the King's
message. Casting my shield and assegais to the ground where their
circle had been--for no man may approach armed to have speech with the
King--I advanced ten paces nearer, and, halting, raised my right hand
and shouted a sonorous _Bayete_! Then I prostrated myself to the earth.
"`Rise, son of Ntelani,' said the King, as soon as the thunder of the
salute royal, which had been immediately caught up and re-echoed by the
whole army, had ceased. `Rise, and speak thy word.'
"`Those against whom we went forth are removed from the path of the
King!' I cried out in a loud voice. `The smoke of their dwellings is
rising to the heavens yonder. The path of the King is straight!'
"An immense chorus of _bonga_ went up from the army when I had spoken.
All were eager to arrive at the scene of the victory. Then the King
bade me withdraw, which I was not sorry to do, for I was tired and
fasting.
"You may have observed, _Nkose_, that my news was of victory alone; that
no questions were asked as to our losses, who had been killed or who had
not. It is not the custom of us Zulus, on these occasions, to mix up
good and ill news. It was sufficient that the King's enemies were
stamped out. The relatives of the slain could hold ceremonies of
mourning afterwards if they wished, but that was a private undertaking.
Wherefore I only announced to the ears of the nation at large that we
were victorious.
"And then, as we drew near to the scene of our fierce and bloody
conflict, what remained of the _impi_ which had gone out against the
Basutu kraals drew near to hail the King. It had gone out a full
regiment--as we were in those days about fifteen hundred men--but little
more than half were left alive; for, as I have said, the Basutu were
numerous, and had fought bravely. Still, as our warriors advanced in a
column with waving plumes, and beating time with shield and assegai to
the thunder of a mighty war-song, and the marks of the recent battle
upon them, my heart swelled within me as I thought that I had borne a
man's part that day with these.
"`Go forward, Untuswa,' said the King, who had caught sight of me in the
ranks. `Go forward and join the fighters, you who have fought so well
this day. Your place is among them.'
"I thundered out the royal praises, and darted forth to meet those who
were approaching; and falling into my place, we advanced, singing:
"`Hail, King, Father of a new nation!
We, thy children, have smoothed a way before thee.
Thine enemies--where are they?
Their dwellings--where are they?
As the smoke which climbeth to heaven
their might is broken and shattered.
Might? Ha! ha! No might had these;
like blades of the grass when trampled,
Down went their bravest before the might of the Elephant,
Beneath the foot of the Elephant, whose tread shaketh the world.
Hail, King! Father! the chief and the maker of nations!'
"Thus sang the warriors, their voices roaring like the thunder of the
heavens. Then, having prostrated ourselves, we rose, and wheeling up we
fell into rank before the whole army escorting the King, and the march
was continued until we were some distance beyond the smoking ruins of
the Basutu kraals, for we might not halt upon the site of the battle,
lest those who had borne no part in shedding it might be denied by the
blood that had flowed. Here our vast camp was pitched, and by the light
of hundreds of fires we who had fought, having gone through the ceremony
of purification at the hands of the _izanusi_, were paraded before the
King in full war array, and such of us as could establish a claim were
allowed to perform the _Tyay'igama_, or the `calling by name,' dance.
"This custom, you must know, _Nkose_, is one which consists of warriors
who have performed deeds of distinction during the recent battle being
pointed at by their commanders and called forward out of the ranks to
dance before the King, while narrating their claims to notice for
especial valour--who they have killed and how it has been done. They
dance and leap with a quickness and to a height that would astonish you
white people, springing from the earth more than their own height in the
air, clashing their shields with both feet while leaping, and so on--the
while telling of their deeds. It is arranged with the _indunas_ in
command as to who shall be allowed so to claim notice, and Gungana had
readily accorded me a first place.
"Ha! that night! It was a sight to live in a man's memory. By the red
light of a thousand huge fires there was assembled the whole might of a
nation, of a new nation, of a nation of warriors. The King sat in the
midst of his _indunas_, an open space before him. On either side
stretched a monster crescent of armed men, the glint of their spears,
the sheen of their great hide shields, flickering in the wavy glow. Up
the middle of this space our _impi_ advanced, singing a battle-song,
even the war-song of Umzilikazi:
"`Yaingahlabi leyo'nkunzi!
Yai ukufa!'
[That bull did not gore! It was death!--meaning "That bull _did_ gore,"
but in the most deadly manner.]
"Then, halting before the King, we shouted the _Bayete_, and falling
back, left a space for those who were to perform in the dance.
"They came out one by one, each, as he paused to take breath after
recounting his deeds, being greeted by a roar of applause from the
throats of the surrounding warriors. Then my turn came.
"I know not how it was, _Nkose_, unless it were the thoughtless rashness
of youth, which has caused me to do many foolish and fatal things, but
which has also carried me unscathed through their fearful consequences;
but when I found myself thus, with a free hand, I forgot all prudence
and diplomacy.
"Bounding forward in all my bravery of war, in my jackals' tails and
cowhair, with a great plume of cranes' feathers streaming from my head,
rapping my great shield against my knees, I leaped high in the air about
ten times, each time spinning completely round before touching ground
again. The roaring `Ha! ha!' with which the whole multitude greeted
this display completely intoxicated me. I felt as mad, as drunk, as
though I had partaken of the white man's _tywala_. With my eyes blazing
from my head, I cried aloud the whole story of our attack upon the
kraal. Not a word said I of having been Gungana's left hand, of having
carried out the plan which Gungana _sent me to carry out_. No, of this
not a word; instead, I poured forth the whole naked truth--how that
Masipele, the head _induna_, being killed, the _impi_ was on the point
of suffering defeat, when I conceived the idea of braving certain death
by myself entering the kraal, which the rest were unable to enter, and
myself setting it on fire, thus forcing the Basutu into the open and
saving the day. I shouted out the number and description of the enemies
who had fallen by my hand, and went through the exact performance of how
they had met me and how I had slain them; but all the time never a word
about Gungana and his generalship. I told no more, no less than the
truth, with all my boasting; but, _Nkose_, he who does this is
frequently no more and no less than a very great fool--at least, so it
is among ourselves; I know not how it may be among you white people.
"Well, I was carried away by my conceit; partly because, when I leaped
in the air, I could see in the background, above and beyond the
surrounding regiments, the face and form of my love, Nangeza. She was
standing among the women, watching, listening in a perfect ecstasy of
admiration and excitement. This was what nerved me to go through a
_Tyay'igama_ performance such as, surely, could never have been seen
before. I extolled myself and my own deeds as though I were the only
man alone in the whole world. The roaring shouts of the warriors rent
the night in a frenzy of enthusiasm. The King, I could see, looked upon
me approvingly, and I heard him mutter to my father, Ntelani, that he
had bred a right good lion-cub indeed. I was drunk with my success.
Then, when I had told all my story, as I was the last, the King gave
orders for the beef feast to begin and the _Tyay'igama_ dance was at an
end.
"The huge joints were hissing and sputtering upon the fires, giving
forth a most delicious odour to our hungry nostrils, and as we squatted
around waiting until they should be sufficiently cooked, we talked over
the events of the day, and congratulated ourselves on having escaped
from the rule of Tshaka. For to us younger men there was something
intoxicating in this journeying in search of a new land, fighting our
way as we went, stamping out tribe after tribe which lay in our path.
And Umzilikazi, had he not a free and an open hand? He never stinted
his warriors, and after such a battle as that of to-day there was beef
and _tywala_ enough and to spare. Yes, it was good to _konza_ to
Umzilikazi. Moreover, he rarely caused any of his subjects to be
killed; unlike Tshaka, who was wont to keep the slayers pretty busy.
Had but another regiment or two joined us, we might have been strong
enough to overturn the House of Senzangakona, to have slain Tshaka, and
set up Umzilikazi as King in Zululand. Then we need never have started
in search of a new country. On such matters, _Nkose_, did the tongues
of us young men wag when among ourselves.
"After the feast, while I was returning to my place in the camp--for we
had no huts at that time, moving as we were from day to day--someone
came behind me in the darkness, and a man's voice said:
"`You are as great in the _Tyay'igama_ dance as in battle, son of
Ntelani. And I think you are greater with your tongue than in either.'
I knew the voice as that of Gungana, but its tone--ah! I liked not
that.
"`It is as you say, O my father,' I answered. `But I am a child--and
children sometimes talk too much.'
"`That is so, Untuswa,' he said. `And sometimes a dog thinks himself
bigger than his master. The dog runs down and catches the buck, but
tell me, _umfane_, who takes the dog to where he may find the buck?'
"`His master,' I answered. `But the dog is carried away by the chase,
and sometimes linds it difficult to quit the game he has killed.'
"`Until he is _whipped off_, Untuswa. And that has to be done
sometimes. Ha! Go now and rest, for you must be badly in need of it
after all your exertions.'
"Then Gungana left me, and I felt very uneasy. In my foolish egotism I
had omitted any reference to him, had claimed all the credit--which,
though really my due, I was a fool to insist on--and now the dark
meaning of his words, the malice underlying his cold, sneering tones,
left me under no sort of doubt that I had made for myself a most
dangerous enemy. My attempts at apology had been lame in the extreme.
Gungana had seen through them, and they had failed to appease him. And
he was a powerful _induna_, and would certainly succeed to the command
of my regiment. Of a truth, _Nkose_, when I lay down that night, it
seemed that my coveted head-ring and the fulfilment of the King's
promise had faded away into the very furthest mists of the never-to-be.