The Induna's Wife

by Bertram Mitford

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

  THE HEAD OF THE SNAKE.

  No great time went by before those Amabuna returned, having sent wordthat they were bringing the cattle and horses taken from Sikonyela.There were about three-score and ten, and with them, their slaves--yellow men--to attend them and their horses.

  Dingane had received them in but little state before. Now, however, hereceived them in a great deal. He was attended by all his _izinduna_and war captains, with the shield-bearer, and the praisers shoutingaloud his names with all the power of their mighty voices; and as theAmabuna rode into Nkunkundhlovu by the lower gate and paced, two by two,up to the centre of the great space, two regiments, in full war array,began a grand dance on either side of them, singing a new song in honourof our guests:

  "The mouth of the white man is open; It shall be filled--it shall be filled. Wide, wide, is it open; Full, full, very full shall it be filled.

  "Lo! they come, the friends of the Amanita; Full, full, shall their mouths be filled. The lion of Zulu is as the sun in the heavens; In his warmth--in his warmth shall his new brothers grow great."

  This and much more did the warriors sing, _Nkose_, all referring to thehunger for land of these invading whites. They little knew in whatmanner their mouths were destined to be filled.

  "Now we have the head of the snake at last," growled Tambusa to us in anundertone, during the thunder and din of the singing. "Soon shall histail, too, cease its writhings."

  Signing the dance and song to cease, the King ordered the cattle takenfrom Sikonyela to be brought up. The herd was driven past, outside thefence of the kraal. It was not much of a herd, but Dingane was as fullof delight over its recovery as though it represented the wealth of awhole nation. Now, he said, he felt sure of the friendship and goodfaith of these his new brothers; but we, watching, thought: "Can thesepeople be such fools as to think we shall give them half our country inexchange for a few miserable beasts like this?"

  Then, while talking about the cattle, Dingane asked the Amabuna to showhim how they took cattle from other people in war. This they were veryready to do, and the King having sent the herd some little distance awayover the plain, the Amabuna sprang upon their hones and galloped to theplace. They dismounted and fired their guns--loaded with powder only--leaping into the saddle again and reloading as they rode; then returningand firing again upon our people, who had been told off to take part inthis mimic war. Finally, while some kept on firing, others got betweenthe cattle and our men, and, with shouts and yells, swept the beastsforward. On they came at full gallop, then letting the herd rush wildlyby, these three-score and ten Amabuna, as they came before the King,drew up their horses suddenly and in line, and fired their guns in theair in royal salute.

  It was well and cleverly done, _Nkose_, and Dingane was delighted withit, and so, indeed, were we--looking at it as a spectacle. But morethan ever were we agreed that men who could make war in that fashionwere not the people to welcome as neighbours in a country as large asour own, and with nothing but a river between us and them. Oh, no!

  For two whole days the Amabuna remained in their camp outside, and mostof the time was spent in talking over the question of the large piece ofour country they expected to swallow up. They were well entertained--for many oxen were slaughtered--and the King ordered abundance of beefand beer to be supplied to them--and, indeed, everything they shouldwant. But during this time our spies and runners had reported thattheir main camp, where the bulk of their people, with their cattle andwomen, were left, was peaceful and unsuspicious, and that the men werespread out over the country far and wide, hunting and looking at theland--_our_ land--which they hoped should soon be theirs.

  On the third night, when all men slept, the King took secret counsel ofhis principal _izinduna_, and among them was I; for by reason of havingmet these people in battle, whereas as yet the Amazulu had not, myopinions carried weight.

  "Now I think the time has come to stamp out this locust swarm," saidDingane.

  "We have here the head of the snake," said Tambusa.

  "That shall be crushed to-morrow," said the King.

  "But the writhings of its tail will shake the earth, bringing anothersnake from over the mountains," put in Umhlela, thinking of the waggoncamp and all the Amabuna left there.

  "What sayest thou, Untuswa?" said the King, turning to me.

  "This, Great Great One. To destroy a locust swarm and to spare the eggsis of no great use. And the `eggs' of this locust swarm are yonder."

  "Ha! Thou art no fool, Untuswa," said the King, knowing that I meantthe women and children of the invaders.

  "This is my counsel, Great Great One. When the forerunners of thislocust swarm sleep for ever tomorrow, let those be sent who shall stampflat the remainder, sparing none."

  All murmured in deep assent, and I continued:

  "Let the camp of these plunderers be destroyed as quickly and assilently as possible. Then let strong bodies of warriors waylay thereturn of those outside. Such, suspecting nothing, will walk into thesnare, so shall we be rid of the whole swarm. Thus, on like occasion,acted he whom I formerly served, and our success was thorough."

  "Thou hast the mind of a leader of men Untuswa," said the King, greatlypleased. "Thou thyself shalt go to-morrow, and see thine own planscarried out."

  I thanked the King, and when we had talked a little longer over ourplans we left the presence and went to our huts to sleep, our heartsbeating with fierce anticipation over the thought of what the morrow wasto bring.

  Soon after daybreak Dingane sent word to the Amabuna, who were ourvisitors, that the time had come to speak decisively about the land,that he had talked the matter over in council with the _izinduna_ of thenation, and now he wanted them all to come into Nkunkundhlovu that allmight hear his word and carry it back to their people, who awaited itand them.

  Accordingly it was not long before the whole company of the Amabuna,with their slaves and attendants rode up to the gate. But there theywere met by some who told them they must leave their horses and gunswithout the gate. This they liked not at all, objecting that on everyother occasion of their visit they had been allowed to enter armed andmounted.

  That was true, but on those occasions there were war dances, and thewhite men themselves had delighted their Amazulu brethren with a mounteddisplay. But this was entirely a peace _indaba_. No warriors were inNkunkundhlovu, and it was dead against Zulu custom for strangers to comebefore the King armed on such an occasion. In fact the King would behighly offended, and would almost certainly refuse to receive them atall.

  Less and less did the Amabuna like this proposal. They mutteredhurriedly among themselves; then it was just as we knew it would be.They dismounted, stacked their guns outside, and giving their horses totheir attendants to hold, entered the kraal.

  "_Whau_! The head of the snake is now under the shadow of the stonethat shall crush it," quoth fierce Tambusa, as we watched the approachof the unarmed Amabuna.

  They saluted the King gravely, and sat down; but many of them lookeddispleased and troubled, and well they might, for what is more helplessthan an unarmed man! This time the King, with the _izinduna_, wasseated near the centre of the open space, not at the upper end, asusual.

  They spoke about the land. They were glad the King was to give them hisword that morning, for the hearts of their countrymen would be glad too,when they should carry back that word.

  Now great bowls of _tywala_ were brought, and as the white men drank,the King talked to them. He rejoiced that that great stretch of countryshould be used by his friends and brothers, the Amabuna. There were afew useless cowardly tribes still in that country, people whom he hadspared, but who were thieves; and these he hoped his new friends wouldprevent from annoying him.

  While Dingane was thus talking, people had been coming into the openspace by twos and threes, and now there was quite a number of men withinthe circle. These bearing no arms, but a stick only, roused nosuspic
ion in the minds of the Amabuna, not even when they formed intotwo lines, or half circles, and began to dance; singing the while thesong they had sung to welcome these people on their first arrival.

  "The mouth of the white man is open; It shall be filled--it shall be filled. Lo! they come, the friends of the Amazulu; Full, very full, shall their mouths be filled."

  Swaying backward and forward, the two half circles danced, now joiningat the lower end, so as to form a wall of bodies between those in thecentre and the outer gate, now parting again, and leaving the ends open.And, the while, more and more by degrees swelled the number, and thesong rose and fell, not loud, but in long-drawn measured note. Thewhile the King was speaking:

  "Fare-ye-well, my brothers," he said. "Perchance I shall visit ye inthis new land, when ye come to dwell in it. Depart now in peace to yourcountrymen, and tell them how good are the hearts of the Amazulu towardsyou, how good the heart of their King. Fare-ye-well! _Hambani-gahle_."["Go ye in peace."]

  Dingane had risen while he was speaking, and now, with these words, heturned to depart. The Amabuna, too, had risen.

  "The white man's mouth opens very wide; It shall be filled--it shall be filled."

  So howled the singers; and lo! a mass of warriors swept in between theKing and these strangers; we, the _izinduna_, being outside the circle.With alarm now in their faces, the Amabuna turned quickly towards thegate whereby they had entered. But on that side, too, the circle wascomplete. Then they knew that their time had come. They were walled inby a dense array of stalwart warriors.

  Now began such a struggle as never could have been seen. Our people hadsticks, but were otherwise unarmed, for they might not kill within theprecincts of the King's kraal. The Amabuna, too, were unarmed, for itwas to this end they had been obliged to leave their guns outside thegate. But many of them were large and powerful men, and all fought withthe courage of desperate men. They struck out with their fists, andwith their feet; they tore out eyes; some were able to draw knives, andwith these they slashed and thrust, making the blood fly in spouts._Whau_! That was a struggle--that was a sight. _Whau_! Hither andthither it swayed--that heaving, striving mass--the shouts and curses ofthe desperate Amabuna rising hoarse amid the din and scuffle of feet,the gasping and the yells, as those of our warriors who were on theoutside of the struggle encouraged those within it by yell and whistle._Whau_! How they howled and leapt, how they swung to and fro, how theyeven rolled on the ground--great heaps of men piled high upon eachother, but all kicking, all struggling. But it could not last, for whatcould three-score and ten men, all unarmed, however valorous, do againsta thousand, or, indeed, several thousand? They were borne down andoverpowered at last--some were bound with thongs--but all were draggedout from Nkunkundhlovu to the place where those were killed whom theKing adjudged to die, and there beaten to death with sticks, as theusual manner was.

  "_Hau_! The head of the snake is now crushed!" cried Tambusa."_Hambani-gahle, abatagati_!" ["Go in peace, doer of dark deeds."]

  Then the hissing and the roars of the savage slayers ceased, and thewhole mass of our people trooped back from the place of slaughter,howling, in derision, the song they had made for the Amabuna.

  "The mouth of the white man is open very wide; It _has_ been filled--it _has_ been filled."

  Thus they died, those Amabuna--nor did one of them escape; for eventheir servants, whom they had left outside to hold their horses, wereall seized at the same time, and taken to the place of doom. As Tambusahad declared, the head of the snake was crushed at last.

  It is said by you white people, _Nkose_, that Dingane acted a cruel andtreacherous part in thus causing the leaders of the Amabuna to be slain.That may be, when seen with a white man's eyes. But seen with ours thething is different. These Amabuna had come to take a large portion ofthe Zulu country from the Zulu people, and, had they done so, how longwould it have been before they had taken the whole? They made a show ofasking the land from the King, but had Dingane refused to listen tothem, would they have gone back the way they came? Is that the mannerof the Amabuna, I would ask you, _Nkose_? Again, if their hearts weregood, and free from deceit, why did they not send messengers toNkunkundhlovu before they entered the land as they did, to obtain theanswer of the King and the Zulu people? But instead of doing this, theycame over Kwahlamba in great numbers, with their horses and their guns,their waggons and their oxen, their cattle and their women, falling uponthe land like a vast swarm of devouring locusts. Whether they obtainedleave or not, they had come to stay, and that we did not wish; andfurther, by thus entering the Zulu country in armed force without theKing's permission! they had deserved death.

  It is true that these people who had been slain were the King's guests,but then we have a custom under which one great chief must not go to thekraal of another great chief of equal rank. The great chief of theAmabuna claimed to be the equal of the House of Senzangakona. He didnot approach the King as a subject, but as an equal; and by our customDingane was justified in causing him and his followers to be slain, forhe had placed himself within the power of the King, and that as anequal. _Whau, Nkose_! You white people and ourselves see thingsdifferently, and I suppose it will always be so. Dingane and the Zulupeople did not choose these invaders to seize their land, so they usedwhat they thought was the quickest and easiest way of preventing themfrom doing so.