THE VALLEY OF BONES
The week that followed my interview with Cetewayo was indeed a
miserable time for me. For myself, as I have said, I had no fear, for
the king’s orders were strictly obeyed. Moreover, the tale of what had
happened to the brute who wished to hunt me down in the cattle-kraal
had travelled far and wide and none sought to share his fate. My hut
was inviolate and well supplied with necessary food, as was my mare,
and I could wander where I liked and talk with whom I would. I could
even ride to exercise the horse, though this I did very sparingly and
only in the immediate neighbourhood of the town for fear of exciting
suspicion or meeting Zulus whom the king’s word had not reached. Indeed
on these occasions I was always accompanied by a guard of swift-footed
and armed soldiers sent “to protect me,” or more probably to kill me if
I did anything that seemed suspicious.
In the course of my rambles I met sundry natives whom I had known in
the old days, some of them a long while ago. They all seemed glad to
see me and were quite ready to talk of past times, but of the present
they would say little or nothing, except that they were certain there
would be war. Of Anscombe and Heda I could hear nothing, and indeed did
not dare to make any direct inquiries concerning them, but several
reliable men assured me that the last missionaries and traders having
departed, there was not a white man, woman or child left in Zululand
except myself. It was “all black” they said, referring to the colour of
their people, as it had been before the time of Chaka. So I was forced
to eat out my heart with anxiety in silence, hoping and praying that
Zikali had played an honest part and sent them away safely.
Why should he not have done so, seeing that it was my presence he had
desired, not theirs? They were only taken, or rather snared, because
they were with me and could not be separated, or so I believed at the
time.
One ray of comfort I did get. About the fifth day after my interview I
saw Goza, who told me that the king’s messengers were back from the
Black Kloof and had brought “a word” for me from Zikali himself. The
word was—
“Bid Goza say to Macumazahn that I was sorry not to see him to say
good-bye, because that morning I slept heavily. Bid him say that I am
glad he has seen the king, since for this purpose I sought his presence
in Zululand. Bid him say that he is to fear nothing, and that if his
heart is heavy about others whom he loves, he should make it light
again, since the Spirits have them in their keeping as they have him,
and never were they or he more safe than they are to-day.”
Now I looked at Goza and asked if I could see this messenger. He
replied, No, as he had already been despatched upon another errand.
Then I asked him if the messenger had said anything else. He answered,
Yes, one thing that he had forgotten, namely that the writing about
blankets should now be in Natal. Then suddenly he changed the subject
and asked me if I would like to accompany him to the Valley of Bones
where he was ordered to inspect the huts which were being built for
Zikali and his people. Of course I said I should, hoping, quite without
result, that I might get something more out of him on the road.
Now this town of Cetewayo’s stands, or rather stood, for it has long
been burnt, on the slope of the hills to the north-east of the plains
of Ulundi. Above it these hills grow steeper, and deep in the recesses
of one of them is the Valley of Bones. There is nothing particularly
imposing about the place; no towering cliffs or pillars of piled
granite, as at the Black Kloof. It is just a vale cut out by water,
bordered by steep slopes on either side, and a still steeper slope
strown with large rocks at its end. Dotted here and there on these
slopes grew tall aloes that from a little distance looked like
scattered men, whereof the lower leaves were shrivelled and blackened
by veld fires. Also there were a few euphorbias, grey, naked-looking
things that end in points like fingers on a hand, and among them some
sparse thorn trees, struggling to live in an inhospitable soil.
The place has one peculiarity. Jutting into it from the hillside is a
ridge or spur, sixty or seventy yards in length by perhaps twenty
broad, that ends in a flat point of rock which stands about forty feet
above the level of the rest of the little valley. On this ridge also
grew tall aloes until near its extremity the soil ceased, or had been
washed away from the water-worn core of rock.
It was, and no doubt still is, a desolate-looking spot, at any rate for
most of the day when owing to the shadow of the surrounding hills, it
receives but little sun. Everything about it, especially when I was
there in a time of rain, seemed dank and miserable, although the flat
floor of the kloof was clothed with a growth of tall, coarse grass, and
weeds that bore an evil-smelling flower. Perhaps some sense of
appropriateness had caused the Zulu kings to choose this lonesome,
deathly-looking gorge as one of their execution grounds. At any rate
many had been slain here, for skulls and the larger human bones, some
of them black with age, lay all about among the grass, as they had been
scattered by hyenas and jackals. They were particularly thick beneath
and around the table-like rock that I have mentioned.
Goza told me that this was because the King’s Slayers made a custom of
dragging the victim along the projecting tongue to the edge of this
rock and hurling him, either dead or living, to the ground beneath; or,
in the case of witches; driving them over after they had been blinded.
Such was the spot that Zikali had selected to abide in during his visit
to Ulundi. Certainly where privacy was an object it was well chosen,
for, as Cetewayo had said and as Goza emphasized to me, it had the
repute of being the most thoroughly haunted place in all Zululand, with
the sole exception, perhaps, of the ridge opposite to Dingaan’s old
kraal where once I shot the vultures for my life and those of my
companions.[1] Even in the daytime people gave it a wide berth, and at
night nothing would induce them to approach it, at any rate alone.
[1] See the book called _Marie,_ by H. Rider Haggard.
Here to one side of and near the root of the tongue of land of which I
have spoken, the huts that Zikali had demanded for himself and his
company were being rapidly built, close to a spring of water, by a
large body of men who laboured as though they wished to be done with
their task. Also about half way up the donga, for really it was nothing
more, at a distance of perhaps five and twenty paces from its flat
point whence the condemned were hurled, a circular space of ground had
been cleared and levelled which was large enough to accommodate fifty
or sixty men. On this space, Goza told me, the King and the Council
were to sit when they came to seek light from Zikali.
In my heart I reflected that the light they were likely to get from him
would be such as may be supposed to be thrown by hell fire. For be it
remembered I knew what these people never seemed to understand, that
Zikali was the most bitter of their enemies. To begin with, he was of
Undwandwe blood, one of the people whom the great king Chaka had
destroyed. Then this same Chaka had robbed him of his wives and
murdered his children, in revenge for which he had plotted the slaying
of Chaka, as he did that of his brothers, Umhlangana and Dingaan, the
latter of whom he involved in a quarrel with the Boers. Subsequently he
brought about the war between the princes Cetewayo and Umbelazi, in
which I played a part.
Now I was certain that he intended to bring about another war between
the English and the Zulus, knowing well that in the end the latter
would be destroyed, and with them the royal House of Senzangacona which
he had sworn to level with the dust. Had he not told me as much years
ago, and was he one to go back upon his word? Had he not used Mameena
with her beauty and ambitions as his tool, and when she was of no
further service to him, given her to death, as he had used scores of
others and in due season given them to death? Was I not myself perhaps
one of those tools destined to be thrown into the pit of doom when my
turn came, though in what way I could help his plots was more than I
could see, since he knew well that I should do my best to oppose him?
Oh! I had half a mind to go to Cetewayo and tell him all I knew about
Zikali, even if it involved the breaking of confidences.
But stay! Even if I were believed, this far-seeing wizard held hostages
for my good behaviour, and if I betrayed him what would happen to those
hostages? He sent me messages saying that they were safe, suggesting
that they had escaped to Natal. How was I to know that these were true?
I was utterly bewildered; I could not guess why I had been beguiled
into Zululand, and I dared not step either this way or that for fear
lest I should fall into some pit dug by his cunning hands and, what was
worse, drag down others with me.
Moreover, was this man quite human, or perhaps an emissary of Satan
upon earth who had knowledge denied to other men and a certain mastery
over the Powers of Ill? Again I could not say. His term of life seemed
to be extraordinarily prolonged, though none knew how old exactly he
might be. Also he had a wonderful knowledge of what was passing in the
minds of others, and by his arts, as I had experienced only the other
day, could summon up apparitions or illusions before their eyes.
Further, he was aware of events which had happened at a distance and
could send or read dreams, since otherwise how did Nombé know what I
had dreamt at Marnham’s house? Lastly he could foretell the future, as
once he had done in my own case, prophecying that I should be injured
by a buffalo with a split horn.
Yet all of this might be nothing more than a mixture of keen
observation, clever spying, trickery and mesmerism. I could not say
which it was, nor can I with certainty to this hour.
Such were the thoughts that passed through my mind as I walked back
from the Vale of Bones by the side of the big-paunched Goza, whom I
caught eyeing me from time to time as a curious crow eyes any object
that has attracted his attention.
“Goza,” I said at last, “do the Zulus really mean to fight the
English?”
He turned and pointed to a spot where the hills ran down into the great
plain. Here two regiments were manoeuvring. One of these held the
slopes of the hill and the other was attacking them from the plain, so
fiercely that at a distance their onslaught looked like that of actual
warfare.
“That looks like fighting, does it not, Macumazahn?” he replied.
“Yes, Goza, yet it may be but play.”
“Quite so, Macumazahn. It may be fighting or it may be but play. Am I a
prophet that I should be able to say which it is? Of that there is but
one man in Zululand who knows the truth. It is he for whom the new huts
are being built up yonder.”
“You think he really knows, Goza?”
“No, Macumazahn, I do not think, I am sure. He is the greatest of all
wizards, as he was when my father held on to his mother’s apron. He
pulls the strings and the Great-ones of the country dance. If he wishes
war, there will be war. If he wishes peace, there will be peace.”
“And which does he wish, Goza?”
“I thought perhaps you could tell me that, Macumazahn, who, he says,
are such an old friend of his; also why he chooses to sojourn in a dark
hole among the dead instead of in the sunshine among the living, here
at Ulundi.”
“Well, I cannot, Goza, since the Opener of Roads does not open his
heart to me but keeps his secrets to himself. For the rest, those who
talk with the dead may prefer to dwell among the dead.”
“Now as always you speak truth, Macumazahn,” said Goza, looking at me
in a way which suggested to me that he believed I spoke anything but
the truth.
Indeed I am convinced he thought that I was in the council of Zikali
and acquainted with his plans. Also I am sure he knew that I had not
come to Zululand alone, the incident of the blankets, which I had
promised to him a bribe to keep silence, showed it, and suspected that
my companions were parties to some plot together with myself. And yet
at the time I could not be quite sure, and therefore dared not ask
anything concerning them lest thus I should reveal their existence and
bring them to death.
As a matter of fact I need not have been anxious on this point, since
if Goza, who I may state, was a kind of secret service officer as well
as a head messenger, knew, as I think probable, he had been commanded
by Zikali to hold his tongue under penalty of a curse. Perhaps the same
was true of the soldiers who had come with him to take me to Ulundi.
The hint of Zikali was as powerful as the word of the king, since they,
like thousands of others, believed that whereas Cetewayo could kill
them, Zikali, like Satan, could blast their spirits as well as their
bodies. But how was I to guess all these things at that time?
During the next two days nothing happened, though I heard that there
had been one if not two meetings of the Council at the King’s House
during which the position of affairs was discussed. Cetewayo I did not
see, although twice he sent messengers to me bringing gifts of food,
who were charged to inquire whether I was well and happy and if any had
offered me hurt or insult. To these I answered that I was well and
unmolested but not happy, who grew lonesome, being but a solitary white
man among so many thousands of the Zulus.
On the third morning, that of the day of the full moon, Goza came and
informed me that Zikali had arrived at the Valley of Bones before dawn.
I asked him how he, who was so old and feeble, had walked so far. He
answered that he had not walked, or so he understood, but had been
carried in a litter, or rather in two litters, one for himself and one
for his “spirit.” This staggered me even where Zikali was concerned,
and I inquired what on earth Goza meant.
“Macumazahn, how can I tell you who only know what I myself am told?”
he exclaimed. “Such is the report that the Opener of Roads has made
himself by messengers to the king. None have seen him, for he journeys
only in the night. Moreover, when Zikali passes all men are blind and
even women’s tongues grow dumb. Perchance by ‘his spirit’ he means his
medicine or the witch-doctoress, Nombé, whom folks say he created,
since none have seen her father or her mother, or heard who begat her;
or perchance his snake is hid behind the mats of the second litter, if
in truth there was one.”
“It may be so,” I said, feeling that it was useless to pursue the
matter. “Now, Goza, I would see Zikali and at once.”
“That cannot be, Macumazahn, since he has given out that he will see no
one, who rests after his journey, and the king has issued orders that
any who attempt to approach the Valley of Bones shall die, even if they
be of the royal blood. Yes, if so much as a dog dares to draw near that
place, it must die. The soldiers who ring it round have killed one
already, so strict are the orders, also a boy who went towards it
searching for a calf, which I think a bad omen.”
“Then I will send a message to him,” I persisted.
“Do so,” mocked Goza. “Look, yonder sails a vulture. Ask it to take
your message, for nothing else will. Be not foolish, Macumazahn, but
have patience, for to-night you shall see the Opener of Roads when he
attends the Council of the king in the Valley of Bones. This is the
order of the king—that at the rising of the moon I lead you thither, so
that you may be present at the Council in case he wishes to ask you any
questions about the White People or to give you any message to the
Government in Natal. Therefore at sunset I will come for you. Till
then, farewell. I have business that cannot wait.”
“Can I see the king?” I cried.
“Not so, Macumazahn. All to-day he makes sacrifice to the spirits of
his ancestors and must not be approached,” Goza called back as he
departed.
Availing myself of the permission of the king to go where I would, a
little later in the day I walked out of the town towards the Valley of
Bones in order to ascertain for myself whether what Goza had told me
was true. So it proved, for about three hundred yards from the mouth of
the valley, which at that distance looked like a black hole in the
hills, I found soldiers stationed about ten paces apart in a great
circle which ran right up the hillside and vanished over the crest.
Strolling up to one of these, whose face I thought I knew, I asked him
if he would let me pass to see my friend, the Opener of Roads.
The man, who was something of a humourist replied—
“Certainly if you wish, Macumazahn. That is to say, I will let your
spirit pass, but to do this, if you come one step nearer I must first
make a hole in you with my spear out of which it can fly.”
I thanked him for his information and gave him some snuff, which he
took gratefully, being bored by his long vigil. Then I asked him how
many people the great witch-doctor had with him. He said he did not
know, but he had seen a number of tall men come to the mouth of the
donga to fetch food that had been placed there. Again I inquired if he
had seen any women, whereon he replied none, Zikali being, he
understood, too old to trouble himself about the other sex. Just then
an officer, making his rounds, came up and looked at me so sternly that
I thought it well to retreat. Evidently there was no chance of getting
through that line.
On my way back I walked as near the fence of the King’s House as I
dared, and saw witch-doctors passing in and out in their hideous
official panoply. This told me that here also Goza had spoken the
truth—the king was performing magical ceremonies, which meant that it
would be impossible to approach him. In every direction I met with
failure. The Fates were against me; it lay over me like a spell. Indeed
I grew superstitious and began to think that Zikali had bewitched me,
as he was said to have the power to do. Well, perhaps he had, for the
mere fact of finding myself opposed by this persistent wall of
difficulties and silence convinced me that there was something behind
it to be learned.
I went back very dejected to my hut and talked to my mare which
whinnied and rubbed its nose against me, for although it was well fed
and looked after, the poor beast seemed as lonely as I was myself. No
wonder, since like myself it was separated from all its kind and weary
of inaction. After this I ate and smoked and finally dozed, no more,
for whenever I tried to go to sleep I thought that I heard Zikali
laughing at me, as mayhap he was doing yonder in his hut.
At length that wearisome day drew towards its end. The sun began to
sink, a huge red ball of fire, now and again veiled by clouds, for the
sky was stormy. Its fierce rays, striking upon other clouds, peopled
the enormous heavens with fantastic shapes of light which were thickest
over the hills wherein was the Valley of Bones. To my strained mind
these clouds looked like battling armies, figures of flame warring
against figures of darkness. The darkness won; no, the light broke out
again and conquered it. And see, there above them both squatted a
strange black presence crowned with fire. It might have been that of
Zikali magnified ten thousand times, and hark! it laughed with the low
reverberating voice of distant thunder.
Suddenly I felt that I was no longer alone and looking round, saw Goza
at my side.
“What do you see up there, Macumazahn, that you stare so hard?” he
asked, pointing at the sky with his stick.
“Impis fighting,” I answered briefly.
“Then you must be a ‘heaven-doctor,’ Macumazahn, for I only see black
and red clouds. Well, it is time to go to learn whether or no the impis
will fight, for Zikali awaits us and the Council has started already.
By the way, the king says that you will do well to put your pistol in
your pocket in case any should seek to harm you in the dark.”
“It is there. But, Goza, I pray you to protect me, since in the dark
bullets fly wide, and if I began to shoot, one might hit you, Goza.”
He smiled, making no answer, but I noticed that during the rest of that
night he was careful to keep behind me as much as possible.
Our way led us through the town where everybody seemed to be standing
about doing nothing and speaking very little. There was a curious air
of expectancy upon their faces. They knew that the crisis was at hand,
that their nation’s fate hung upon the scales, and they watched my
every look and movement as though in them they expected to read an
omen. I too watched them out of the corners of my eyes, wondering
whether I should escape from their savage company alive. If once the
blood lust broke out among them, it seemed to me that I should have
about as much chance as a chopped fox among a pack of hungry hounds.
Once out of the town we saw no one until we came to the circle of
guards which I have already mentioned, who stood there like an endless
line of black statues. In answer to their challenge Goza gave some
complicated password in which my name occurred, whereon they opened out
and let us through. Then we marched on to the mouth of the kloof. The
place was very dark, for now the sun was down in the west and the moon
in the east was cut off from us by the hills and would not be visible
here for half an hour or more. Presently I saw a spot of light. It was
a small fire burning near the tongue of rock which I have described.
At a distance, in front of the fire on the patch of prepared ground,
squatted a number of men, between twenty and thirty of them, in a
semicircle. They were wrapped up in karosses and blankets, and in their
centre sat a large figure on a chair of wood.
“The King and the Great Council,” whispered Goza.
One of them looked round and saw us. At some sign from the king he
rose, and against the fire I saw that he was the Prime Minister,
Umnyamana. He came to me and, with a nod of recognition, conducted me
some paces to the right where a euphorbia tree grew among the rank
herbage. Here I found a stool placed ready on which I sat down, Goza,
who of course was not of the Council, squatting at my side in the
grass.
Now I found that I was so situated that I could not well be seen from
the fire, or even from the rock above it, while I, by moving my head a
little, could see both quite clearly. After this as the last reflection
from the sunk sun faded, the darkness increased until nothing remained
visible except the fire and the massive outline of the rock behind. The
silence was complete, for none of the Council spoke. They were so still
that they might have been dead, so still that a beetle suddenly booming
past me made me start as though it had been a bullet. The general
impression was almost mesmeric. I felt as though I were going to sleep
and yet my mind remained painfully awake, so that I was able to think
things out.
I understood clearly that the body of men to my left had come together
to decide whether there should be peace or war; that there were
divisions of opinion among them; that the king was ready to follow the
party which should prove itself the strongest, but that the real voice
of decision would speak from behind that fire. It was the case of the
Delphic Oracle over again with a priest instead of a priestess, and
what a priest!
It was evident to me also that Zikali, who knew human nature, and
especially savage human nature, had arranged all this with a view to
scenic and indeed supernatural effect. Moreover, he had done it very
well, since I knew myself that in this place and hour words and
occurrences would affect me deeply at which I should have laughed in
the sunlight and open plain. Already the Zulus were affected, for I
could hear the teeth of some of them chattering, and Goza began to
shiver at my side. He muttered that it was cold, and lied for the donga
was extremely hot and stuffy.
At length the silver radiance of the moon spread itself on the high
curtain of the dark. Then the edge of her orb appeared above the hill
and an arrow of white light fell into the little valley. It struck upon
and about the jutting rock, revealing a misshapen, white-headed figure
squatted between its base and the fire, the figure of Zikali.