"After this the King gave orders that we should break up camp and resume
our march, and, _Nkose_, it was something to see this immense company of
people moving onward thus, day after day, in order to found a new
nation. _Impis_ were thrown out to right and to left, to ensure that no
enemy might take us unawares; for the arm of Tshaka was long, and we
could not say for certain that we were beyond the reach of it even then.
In front, too, was a strong _impi_ despatched, and this I often
accompanied. But we found no enemy, no one to strike, for the terror of
our name had gone ahead of us, and when the tribes in our path saw the
great herds of game fleeing past them, they cried:
"`_Ou_! the tread of the Great Elephant already rumbles on the earth.
The hunting dogs of the Zulu draw near...' And all fled in fear to the
rocks and caves of the mountains. However, we seized what they had
left, and laid waste their kraals and passed on, for we should have
gained nothing by hunting these rats out of their holes.
"These enormous herds of game, too, kept us abundantly in food--eland
and quagga and gnu, every species was there--so that we had little need
to kill our own cattle. Besides, it afforded us much sport, and kept us
active; for not always such harmless and timid game as buck did we seek.
In those days, _Nkose_, we thought no more of slaying a lion with
spears than you white people do of shooting it with a gun; and in
hunting lions the King took an especial delight, and more than once have
I seen Umzilikazi slay with his own spears, and all unaided, the largest
and fiercest of lions. In this sport he would often have me to
accompany him, and, indeed, on one occasion it would have gone hard with
me, in my rashness and anxiety to show my valour under the very eyes of
the Great Great One. For I had been overthrown by the rush of a wounded
and furious lion, and would certainly have been dead had not the King
sprang to the beast's side and stabbed him to the heart with his own
hand. Then he laughed, and again reproached me with my lack of judgment
and due cautiousness. _Au_! but he was a King indeed!
"Nangeza the while was still in her father's hands, for Gungana,
although he desired to possess the girl, was of a close-fisted nature,
and would not offer sufficient _lobola_, saying that the condescension
of an _induna_ of the King in taking a girl whose father was of no
especial rank should more than make up for the deficiency. But this her
father stoutly refused to see; on the contrary, he maintained that a man
of Gungana's rank ought to give more than one who was nobody at all. So
the negotiations hung in the air, to my great satisfaction, although
this might be short-lived, for at any moment either party might yield.
"We had not been together over-much, Nangeza and I, since the day which
had ended so fatally for my brother, Sekweni. In truth, our narrow
escape then had rather frightened us; besides, we looked upon the sad
outcome of it as a bad omen. Meanwhile, my permission to _tunga_ seemed
as far off as ever, and long before it came Nangeza might be out of my
reach. There were plenty of other girls, certainly, but I was young
then, _Nkose_, and a fool, and had not yet found out that one girl is
just as soon tired, of as another. But I have had sixteen wives since
those days, and I have found it out now--_yeh-bo_! I have found it out
now.
"`Carry out my plan; Untuswa,' she said to me once, when we were able to
speak for a few moments. `That is our only chance.'
"`_Whau_! in good truth,' I answered, `a madder scheme never yet was set
forth.'
"She shrugged her splendid shoulders, uttering a disdainful click.
"`If it is only to risk your life, son of Ntelani, do you not risk it
daily in the King's service?'
"This was true. Still, I have ever observed that the man who risks his
life in the ordinary way is prone to shrink and draw back when some
entirely new and untrodden path of death opens out before him. In my
perplexity I bethought me of Masuka.
"The old _isanusi_, who was now high in the King's favour, occupied a
hut by himself; for we were again in a temporary camp. It was said that
he passed all his days making _muti_, for men rarely saw him, and when
he did come abroad, he would creep about in a quiet, retiring way, as
though he were the most harmless and inoffensive of our aged people. Of
him, of course, our own _izanusi_ were fiercely envious, and plotted
darkly his undoing. Yet he enjoyed the King's favour, wherefore none
dare lift hand or tongue against him.
"I found the old man seated outside his hut staring blankly into space.
In front of him was a small bowl containing a black, sticky substance.
"`Greeting, Father of the Fire-Spirit!' I said.
"`I have seen you, son of Ntelani,' he answered.
"`Are you making _muti_, father?' I went on, with a glance at the
stuff.
"He chuckled.
"`_Muti_? Do I need it, Untuswa? Yet if you would see what _muti_ is,
you shall. Enter.'
"For a moment I feared, for we Zulus have a horror and repulsion of all
that relates to charms and wizardry. To be alone with those dreadful
eyes--Ha! I went into that hut a man; I might come out of it a baboon,
a snake. Yet I it was who had said to the King, `I know not fear.'
Then I bent down and crept through the entrance hole, and when I got
inside, lo! there was very little in it at all.
"Old Masuka sat down and took snuff, blinking the while at me with his
black and snaky eyes. Then he said:
"`You Amazulu are brave as lions in the fight, Untuswa, but in all that
pertains to magic you are nowhere. These _izanusi_ of yours are more
ignorant than children.'
"`Their art is nothing beside yours, father. But tell me, you who are
now one of us, do you never long for your own dwellings again, the rocks
and the mountains? Do you not also feel a thirst for revenge upon those
who have slain your kindred and despoiled your possessions?'
"The old man's eyes flashed forth a laugh, and he said:
"`You are young, Untuswa. When you have seen the world grow grey with
age, as I have, it is little enough you will grieve over such things as
loss of kindred and possessions. Ha! you will as likely grieve over the
fall of a tree in the wind, the removal of pebbles by a flooded river.
And now your heart is sore because of the girl Nangeza, upon whose
account you have many times incurred the doom of those who break the
laws of Tshaka.'
"`_Hau_!' I exclaimed hurriedly and in alarm. `Speak low, my father,
speak low! Even the whisper of such a thing cannot but work me harm,
almost as much as though it were really so.'
"`As though it were really so! That is well said, son of Ntelani,' he
replied, with a chuckle.
"I was very much confused, for this old wizard seemed to divine the
deepest secrets of men's hearts. How knew he this thing? He had never
seen me speak with Nangeza, had certainly never witnessed our meetings,
and he talked with nobody. The girls who had surprised us that day had,
I knew, let fall no word.
"`I am sore at heart indeed, father,' I answered.
"`My greatest desire seems impossible of accomplishment. Yet once you
declared I should obtain it.'
"`If you obtain it, son of Ntelani, it will be at the cost of passing
through such unknown terrors as will turn your heart to water, of doing
such deeds of peril and daring as no man surely ever did before. At
this and at no other cost. Are you prepared to earn it at such a
price?'
"`_Hau_! I fear nothing. I am a warrior of the Amazulu,' I answered
boastfully.
"Masuka eyed me strangely.
"`Of _muti_ were we speaking just now, warrior of the Amazulu who knows
not fear,' he said. `Now see. Are you sufficiently devoid of fear to
dare to look into the future?'
"Then, _Nkose_, I felt that I had spoken like a liar and a braggart.
Even the burning of the old magician's spider-like eyes in the
half-gloom of the hut caused me to quail. What would it be when I
should follow him into the dark mysteries as yet unveiled? But it was
not in me to eat up my word.
"`I dare all things, father,' I replied.
"Again he bent upon me that strange look, and, going over to the other
side of the hut, began to uncover something, which looked like an
earthen bowl. Over this he sat for some time, keeping up the while that
strange humming incantation with which he had accompanied the
witch-finding. In the utmost tension of excitement, my eyes well-nigh
starting from my head, I sat and watched him.
"`Draw near, son of Ntelani,' he said at last.
"I approached, and peered cautiously over his shoulder, for he had been
seated with his back towards me. The thing before him was a bowl, even
as I had thought--a large bowl made of baked clay such as we use for
beer. In it was a strange, liquid which shone and shimmered in the
half-darkness of the hut. As I looked into this something moved, and
then I cried out in amazement, for it was as if a man were looking
through the circle of his hands into a strange world beyond. There were
towering cliffs and rugged, stone-strewn slopes, and up these slopes
surged a dense swarm of dark beings like ants. Ha! they were men! Then
it seemed that rolling clouds of dust went up, that the mountain seemed
to crack and split, and all fell into space. My tongue was tied with
wonder and awe. I could utter no word.
"`Look again, son of Ntelani,' said old Masuka. `What dost thou see?'
"`Ha! I see rocks, the black mouth of a pit! Ha! I can see into it;
my sight pierces its depths. It is peopled with living creatures,
shadowy, shapeless, hideous; far, far down I see them. Ha! they mouth,
they gnash their teeth; yet I cannot see their shapes. They seem to
draw me down to them. I am going, sinking, falling. _Au_! I will look
no more! _Umtagati_, release me, or I kill thee!'
"I found I had gripped the old man by the shoulder, and was nearly
crushing the bones in my powerful grasp. My eyes were protruding from
my head, and I was streaming with perspiration over the horror of the
sight. And well indeed may such wizardry turn men's minds. The whole
spell of the old man's magic was upon me, and it seemed as if I were
bound hand and foot.
"`Have you beheld enough, warrior of the Amazulu who knows not fear, who
dares all things?' he said, dropping out the words slowly and as the
cuts of assegais. `Yet behold one thing more.'
"His tone stung me, brought me back to myself. Again I looked. A man
stood among men, and an assegai was descending to his chest. There was
a crowd of faces in the background, but who held the assegai I knew not.
Then I looked at the man.
"`It is my brother, Sekweni!' I cried. `Ha! I will have no more of
this! It is _tagati_ indeed.'
"`Thy brother Sekweni!' laughed the old man in a harsh, rattling
voice--`thy brother Sekweni! Forget not that, Untuswa, forget not that,
when the time comes.' And again he broke into that weird, mirthless
laugh which was enough to curdle a man's blood.
"So strong upon me was the effect of his magic, that on leaving Masuka's
hut I seemed to shrink from the eyes of all whom I met. It seemed that
all must proclaim me aloud as _Umtagati_, and I walked in fear. How I
hated the old Mosutu for the spell he had put upon me! I would have
slain him if I had dared. I would have caused him to be smelt out; but
that I dared still less. Indeed, it is probable that I myself would pay
the penalty, and not he. I had looked into strange and terrifying
mysteries, and was ever consumed by a longing to look once more into
them, and this together with a horror of and repugnance to doing so."