"Just at this time there arrived chiefs and headmen, delegates from
distant tribes, desiring to _konza_ [Acknowledge as suzerain] to
Umzilikazi, for the terror of his name and the sound of our arms had
gone forth far and wide. These were received in great state, several of
our regiments' being drawn up under arms, a sight which struck such awe
into the envoys as to make them declare that, now their eyes had beheld
the great King and had looked upon his might, they only desired to lie
in his hand. The King accepted the cattle they had brought, and fixed
the tribute they should from time to time pay in girls and cattle; also
he ordered them to send contingents of youths to Ekupumuleni, that he
might inspect them and see if they were good enough to form into
regiments, or only to be employed in menial labour. All this the chiefs
promised to do, and in truth were they only too glad that they and
theirs should be suffered to live, for they had long feared being swept
off the face of the earth, stamped flat in the path of this warrior
nation moving on towards them.
"But Umzilikazi was a wise and far-seeing ruler. Even as Tshaka had
built up the Zulu power by federating kindred tribes into a whole, so
did our King intend to consolidate a nation. These subject races would
go towards augmenting his sway when their youth should be trained to
arms as ours was. Indeed, I have heard it whispered that he even
dreamed of one day pitting his forces against the mighty Tshaka himself,
and reigning King over the whole Zulu race. So it was his policy to
spare these chiefs and the tribes they represented, and to receive them
as vassals.
"When these terms had been arranged, the King said:
"`It seems to me that some are wanting here, that the places of some who
should be here are empty.'
"The chiefs looked at each other. There was a tribe to the north, they
said, which was not represented. As to it, however, they could say
nothing, for they knew nothing, they declared, trembling in their hearts
lest Umzilikazi should hold them responsible.
"`Attend, then,' he replied. `Lose no time in sending to the chiefs of
this tribe, that they come and talk with me here before the second moon
is full. Failing that, I will send and talk with them.' And his glance
wandered meaningly to the armed regiments. The envoys promised that
this should be done, but that if the tribe failed to send delegates it
would not be their fault. Indeed, that people was a fighting race, and
one with a good conceit of its own power. It might well be that in its
blind ignorance it would refuse to hear the word of the Black Elephant
who trumpeted at Ekupumuleni.
"`Then let them beware of the Elephant's tread,' answered the King
shortly. And then he dismissed the envoys.
"Now, I, standing behind the Great Great One as his shield-bearer, was
listening with large ears, and before the delegates departed I strove to
have speech with them on the matter of that tribe, its numbers and
powers, for it seemed to fit in with my purpose. What if I fled to it,
and by my knowledge of the art of war gained a place and position among
it? But these men, fearing a trap, spoke as with closed lips, and I
learnt little.
"As time went by, certain of those tribes who had sent to _konza_ to
Umzilikazi neglected to fulfil the conditions laid upon them. So the
King's `word' went out to them in the form of an _impi_, which fell upon
them unawares and utterly destroyed them. None were spared save three
of their chiefs and certain of the women who were young and
well-favoured. For the rest, the ashes of their flaming kraals were
soaked in their own blood. The three chiefs were brought to Ekupumuleni
and there put to death by torture in the sight of all the nation, that
all men might know what it meant to break faith with the great King.
"This expedition I did not accompany, for it was composed of very young
regiments and almost untried. But now and again, when I would meet or
pass old Masuka, he would mutter: `Why do you not perform what the King
requires, son of Ntelani? Where is the bravest act ever yet done?' And
he would nod, and leer, and chuckle in such wise that in my anger I
found myself wishing in my heart I had not saved his life.
"There was at this time another _inceku_, a ringed man named
Njalo-njalo, and this man I hated, for he, suspecting something, used to
declare that he would beg the King to give him Nangeza to wife. This he
did in malice, for he, too, was jealous me as having the King's ear, and
what made it worse was that I dared not chastise him, for that would be
to betray myself completely. But I made up my mind that he should
travel the way of Gungana, for the man who would meet with success must
suffer no enemy to rest in his path. So I laid numberless traps for
him, but he was too crafty to walk into any one of them.
"At length I found Nangeza alone, even as before, at work in the
cornfield, and this time she was accompanied by only two young girls who
were almost children; and this made things easier, for she bade them
continue their hoeing while she herself entered the bush to collect
fire-sticks. Ha! then were we together again. The moment was ripe. I
told her of all the preparations I had made for our flight, and for long
had only been awaiting an opportunity. Such an opportunity had come.
There were few if any people about. In a short time it would be dark,
and by travelling all night we should soon reach the mountains, where we
could easily elude pursuit. She listened, but even then I know not
whether she would have consented were it not for an accident.
"Looking out from the cover of our hiding-place, we could see a good
distance. The ground on the other side of the cornfield was a gradual
slope sprinkled with stunted mimosa, and now something moving over this
caught my eye. It was the receding figure of a man, but what seemed
strange was a certain stealthiness in his movements as he flitted from
bush to bush as though anxious to avoid observation. Even at that
distance I recognised Njalo-njalo.
"`_Hau_! we are dead already!' I cried. Not that I felt any real
consternation, but I deemed it an excellent opportunity of obtaining
through her fears that consent to my plan which fear had up till now
withheld. `Do you see that man? It is Njalo-njalo. He has been
watching us, and has gone to bring an armed force upon our heels. But
we shall have a long start, and it will be a swift-travelling _impi_
that will overtake us. Delay not,' I went on, seeing her still
hesitate. `To go back now is death, and worse. Remember the fate of
the three chiefs.'
"That decided her. She called out to the two girls to continue their
work and wait for her--that she had not yet found what she wanted. Then
she returned to me, and said: `I am ready.' Thus we began our flight.
"Carefully keeping concealed--and the country on that side was thickly
wooded--we travelled rapidly for some distance. Then, as the sun was
beginning to sink, we sat down to rest for a moment, and look around.
"We had now reached the top of a long hill of some little height.
Looking back, we could see afar off the corn-patch where Nangeza had
been working, and--we could see more: shields and the glitter of
spear-points. An armed force was moving down the slope upon which I had
descried Njalo-njalo, in the distance looking like a swarm of black
ants. Already were we pursued.
"But we had a good start. As we rose immediately to continue our
flight, I laughed aloud, for I felt as though I could keep on for ever.
Not a man in our nation was there who could overtake me, the King's
chief runner. But what of Nangeza? In her lay the weakness. For her I
feared. Yet I need not have. Her powers were magnificent. I soon
found that she had it in her to travel as fast as I could, and as far.
And then we laughed together, for we would lead the King's messengers of
death a long journey indeed. But fast as we fled, still they pursued
us; and as we sped onward in the darkness, we could ever and again, when
we paused on some high ground to listen, hear the sounds of disturbed
animal life behind us, which told of the passing of man.
"Suddenly a lion roared, so near in front of us that the thunders of his
voice seemed to shake the ground, rolling in echoes among the hills.
Another answered, and then the two mighty beasts kept up such a roaring
chorus as to make a man's heart melt away for fear, situated as I was--
as we were--the jaws of the ravening beasts before us in the darkness,
the spears of the King's _impi_ following on behind. There was just the
chance that the latter would halt until it grew light, but none whatever
that the lions would refrain from springing upon us, having us in the
darkness for an easy prey. So we climbed each into a tree, to be beyond
that peril, any way; and, indeed, hardly had we done so, than we heard
the light tread and deep-toned snuffle of the great beasts ramping
beneath. Then they lifted their voices and roared again, and now others
replied from afar, and it seemed that the whole land was filled with
roaring lions.
"We remained all night in the trees, but with morning, lo! such a mist
lay upon the earth that from where we crouched we could hardly see the
ground beneath, and our hearts sank; for, not seeing our way, we might
walk backward instead of forward, or we might run right upon the spears
of those who pursued us. Yet we were not without some hope that the
latter, doubting not but that we had been devoured by the lions, might
return to the King and report accordingly.
"We were about to descend from our trees, thinking that the mist had
lightened, when a sound fell upon our ears; and it was a sound there was
no mistaking, for it is like nothing else that I know of--I mean the
soft rattle of assegai hafts which a man carries bunched in his hand.
_Hau_! We dared hardly so much as breathe. The sound drew nearer and
nearer, and we could hear the rustling as of men forcing their way
through bushes. Then we gave ourselves up for lost, as they came
immediately beneath, conversing in a low hum.
"`If the lions have eaten them, they will not have eaten their _mutyas_,
nor Untuswa's shield and spears,' a voice was saying. `These, at any
rate, we must find.'
"I recognised the voice as that of Njalo-njalo, and expected instant
discovery. However, they seemed so intent on examining the spoors of
the lions that their eyes were all upon the ground, and it never seemed
to occur to them to look up; though, indeed, had they searched for us on
such a plan in that forest country, their eyes would have been gazing
upward all the time; and at length they passed on, yet little comfort
did we take to ourselves, for in the mist we knew not which way to
travel, whereas, did it lighten, we should be discovered to the
messengers of death.
"We waited a little while longer, and then came down from our trees.
Yet we decided not to follow on the line we had first intended to take,
and which took us into that defile through which the _impi_ had passed
to attack the Baputi, because those who sought us would be certain to
make for that place first, reckoning that I would surely go there, where
the land was already known to me. So we struck off nearly in the
opposite direction to that taken by the pursuers, although this brought
us back too near to Ekupumuleni. However, we saw them no more, and
after three days--for travelling was slow and cautious, and at night we
had to climb trees because of the lions--we got among the mountains.
"And now it seemed as though we had left the abodes of men, and were
setting forth into an unknown land stretching away beyond the confines
of the world; for here were great gloomy valleys and towering
cliff-walls, resounding with the deep bark of the baboon and the scream
of the eagle. But of man there was no sign. At night we would creep
into some crevice or hole in the rocks, but it was seldom we dared make
a fire, lest its light should be seen afar. Sometimes, however, we
would find a deep cleft where the light would be screened by the rock in
front, and then we would rejoice in the warmth while we roasted our game
at the comforting blaze, for the mountain--side abounded in several
species of small buck, which I had no difficulty in obtaining at any
time with assegai or knobstick. But there was other game more fierce,
more formidable. Once, indeed, when we were about to take possession of
such a cave for our night's quarters, we found it already tenanted by a
fierce and growling leopard. We could see the brute's glittering eyes
in the darkness as it retreated to the back of the hole and crouched
there, uttering savage snarls; but that was all we could see of it, so
we were fain to leave it in peace. Now and again, too, we would hear
the roar of a lion hard by, but this was seldom, for there were few
lions among the mountains. They preferred to hunt for their game in the
lower country, where it was larger and better, and, indeed, our armies
were wont to provide them with not a little prey."