Books: Nada the Lily

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When I had done my tale, Umslopogaas told me his: how Galazi had
rescued him from the lioness; how he became one of the Wolf-Brethren;
how he had conquered Jikiza and the sons of Jikiza, and become chief
of the People of the Axe, and taken Zinita to wife, and grown great in
the land.

I asked him how it came about that he still hunted with the wolves as
he had done last night. He answered that now he was great and there
was nothing more to win, and at times a weariness of life came upon
him, and then he must up, and together with Galazi hunt and harry with
the wolves, for thus only could he find rest.

I said that I would show him better game to hunt before all was done,
and asked him further if he loved his wife, Zinita. Umslopogaas
answered that he would love her better if she loved him not so much,
for she was jealous and quick to anger, and that was a sorrow to him.
Then, when he had slept awhile, he led me from the hut, and I and
my people were feasted with the best, and I spoke with Zinita and with
Galazi the Wolf. For the last, I liked him well. This was a good man
to have at one's back in battle; but my heart spoke to me against
Zinita. She was handsome and tall, but with fierce eyes which always
watched Umslopogaas, my fosterling; and I noted that he who was
fearless of all other things yet seemed to fear Zinita. Neither did
she love me, for when she saw how the Slaughterer clung to me, as it
wee, instantly she grew jealous--as already she was jealous of Galazi
--and would have been rid of me if she might. Thus it came about that
my heart spoke against Zinita; nor did it tell me worse things of her
than those which she was to do.

CHATPER XXIV

THE SLAYING OF THE BOERS

On the morrow I led Umslopogaas apart, and spoke to him thus:--

"My son, yesterday, when you did not know me except as the Mouth of
Dingaan, you charged me with a certain message for Dingaan the king,
that, had it been delivered into the ears of the king, had surely
brought death upon you and all your people. The tree that stands by
itself on a plain, Umslopogaas, thinks itself tall and that there is
no shade to equal its shade. Yet are there other and bigger trees. You
are such a solitary tree, Umslopogaas, but the topmost branches of him
whom I serve are thicker than your trunk, and beneath his shadow live
many woodcutters, who go out to lop those that would grow too high.
You are no match for Dingaan, though, dwelling here alone in an empty
land, you have grown great in your own eyes and in the eyes of those
about you. Moreover, Umslopogaas, know this: Dingaan already hates you
because of the words which in bygone years you sent by Masilo the fool
to the Black One who is dead, for he heard those words, and it is his
will to eat you up. He has sent me hither for one reason only, to be
rid of me awhile, and, whatever the words I bring back to him, the end
will be the same--that night shall come when you will find an impi at
your gates."

"Then what need to talk more of the matter, my father?" asked
Umslopogaas. "That will come which must come. Let me wait here for the
impi of Dingaan, and fight till I do."

"Not so, Umslopogaas, my son; there are more ways of killing a man
than by the assegai, and a crooked stick can still be bent straight in
the stream. It is my desire, Umslopogaas, that instead of hate Dingaan
should give you love; instead of death, advancement; and that you
shall grow great in his shadow. Listen! Dingaan is not what Chaka was,
though, like Chaka, he is cruel. This Dingaan is a fool, and it may
well come about that a man can be found who, growing up in his shadow,
in the end shall overshadow him. I might do it--I myself; but I am
old, and, being worn with sorrow, have no longing to rule. But you are
young, Umslopogaas, and there is no man like you in the land.
Moreover, there are other matters of which it is not well to speak,
that shall serve you as a raft whereon to swim to power."

Now Umslopogaas glanced up sharply, for in those days he was
ambitious, and desired to be first among the people. Indeed, having
the blood of Chaka in his veins, how could it be otherwise?

"What is your plan, my father?" he asked. "Say how can this be brought
about?"

"This and thus, Umslopogaas. Among the tribe of the Halakazi in
Swaziland there dwells a maid who is named the Lily. She is a girl of
the most wonderful beauty, and Dingaan is afire with longing to have
her to wife. Now, awhile since Dingaan dispatched an embassy to the
chief of the Halakazi asking the Lily in marriage, and the chief of
the Halakazi sent back insolent words, saying that the Beauty of the
Earth should be given to no Zulu dog as a wife. Then Dingaan was
angry, and he would have gathered his impis and sent them against the
Halakazi to destroy them, and bring him the maid, but I held him back
from it, saying that now was no time to begin a new war; and it is for
this cause that Dingaan hates me, he is so set upon the plucking of
the Swazi Lily. Do you understand now, Umslopogaas?"

"Something," he answered. "But speak clearly."

"Wow, Umslopogaas! Half words are better than whole ones in this land
of ours. Listen, then! This is my plan: that you should fall upon the
Halakazi tribe, destroy it, and bring back the maid as a peace-
offering to Dingaan."

"That is a good plan, my father," he answered. "At the least, maid or
no maid, there will be fighting in it, and cattle to divide when the
fighting is done."

"First conquer, then reckon up the spoils, Umslopogaas."

Now he thought awhile, then said, "Suffer that I summon Galazi the
Wolf, my captain. Do not fear, he is trusty and a man of few words."

Presently Galazi came and sat down before us. Then I put the matter to
him thus: that Umslopogaas would fall upon the Halakazi and bring to
Dingaan the maid he longed for as a peace-offering, but that I wished
to hold him back from the venture because the Halakazi people were
great and strong. I spoke in this sense so that I might have a door to
creep out should Galazi betray the plot; and Umslopogaas read my
purpose, though my craft was needless, for Galazi was a true man.

Galazi the Wolf listened in silence till I had finished, then he
answered quietly, but it seemed to me that a fire shone in his eyes as
he spoke:--

"I am chief by right of the Halakazi, O Mouth of Dingaan, and know
them well. They are a strong people, and can put two full regiments
under arms, whereas Bulalio here can muster but one regiment, and that
a small one. Moreover, they have watchmen out by night and day, and
spies scattered through the land, so that it will be hard to take them
unawares; also their stronghold is a vast cave open to the sky in the
middle, and none have won that stronghold yet, nor could it be found
except by those who know its secret. They are few, yet I am one of
them, for my father showed it to me when I was a lad. Therefore, Mouth
of Dingaan, you will know that this is no easy task which Bulalio
would set himself and us--to conquer the Halakazi. That is the face of
the matter so far as it concerns Bulalio, but for me, O Mouth, it has
another face. Know that, long years ago, I swore to my father as he
lay dying by the poison of a witch of this people that I would not
rest till I had avenged him--ay, till I had stamped out the Halakazi,
and slain their men, and brought their women to the houses of
strangers, and their children to bonds! Year by year and month by
month, and night by night, as I have lain alone upon the Ghost
Mountain yonder, I have wondered how I might bring my oath to pass,
and found no way. Now it seems that there is a way, and I am glad. Yet
this is a great adventure, and perhaps before it is done with the
People of the Axe will be no more." And he ceased and took snuff,
watching our faces over the spoon.

"Galazi the Wolf," said Umslopogaas, "for me also the matter has
another face. You have lost your father at the hands of these Halakazi
dogs, and, though till last night I did not know it, I have lost my
mother by their spears, and with her one whom I loved above all in the
world, my sister Nada, who loved me also. Both are dead and the
Halakazi have killed them. This man, the mouth of Dingaan," and he
pointed to me, Mopo, "this man says that if I can stamp out the
Halakazi and make captive of the Lily maid, I shall win the heart of
Dingaan. Little do I care for Dingaan, I who would go my way alone,
and live while I may live, and die when I must, by the hands of
Dingaan as by those of another--what does it matter? Yet, for this
reason, because of the death of Macropha, my mother, and Nada, the
sister who was dear to me, I will make war upon these Halakazi and
conquer them, or be conquered by them. Perhaps, O Mouth of Dingaan,
you will see me soon at the king's kraal on the Mahlabatine, and with
me the Lily maid and the cattle of the Halakazi; or perhaps you shall
not see me, and then you will know that I am dead, and the Warriors of
the Axe are no more."

So Umslopogaas spoke to me before Galazi the Wolf, but afterwards he
embraced me and bade me farewell, for he had no great hope that we
should meet again. And I also doubted it; for, as Galazi said, the
adventure was great; yet, as I had seen many times, it is the bold
thrower who oftenest wins. So we parted--I to return to Dingaan and
tell him that Bulalio, Chief of the People of the Axe, had gone up
against the Halakazi to win the Lily maid and bring her to him in
atonement; while Umslopogaas remained to make ready his impi for war.

I went swiftly from the Ghost Mountain back to the kraal
Umgugundhlovu, and presented myself before Dingaan, who at first
looked on me coldly. But when I told him my message, and how that the
Chief Bulalio the Slaughterer had taken the war-path to win him the
Lily, his manner changed. He took me by the hand and said that I had
done well, and he had been foolish to doubt me when I lifted up my
voice to persuade him from sending an impi against the Halakazi. Now
he saw that it was my purpose to rake this Halakazi fire with another
hand than his, and to save his hand from the burning, and he thanked
me.

Moreover, he said, that if this Chief of the People of the Axe brought
him the maid his heart desired, not only would he forgive him the
words he had spoken by the mouth of Masilo to the Black One who was
dead, but also all the cattle of the Halakazi should be his, and he
would make him great in the land. I answered that all this was as the
king willed. I had but done my duty by the king and worked so that,
whatever befell, a proud chief should be weakened and a foe should be
attacked at no cost to the king, in such fashion also that perhaps it
might come about that the king would shortly have the Lily at his
side.

Then I sat down to wait what might befall.

Now it is, my father, that the white men come into my story, whom we
named the Amaboona, but you call the Boers. Ou! I think ill of those
Amaboona, though it was I who gave them the victory over Dingaan--I
and Umslopogaas.

Before this time, indeed, a few white men had come to and fro to the
kraals of Chaka and Dingaan, but these came to pray and not to fight.
Now the Boers both fight and pray, also they steal, or used to steal,
which I do not understand, for the prayers of you white men say that
these things should not be done.

Well, when I had been back from the Ghost Mountain something less than
a moon, the Boers came, sixty of them commanded by a captain named
Retief, a big man, and armed with roers--the long guns they had in
those days--or, perhaps they numbered a hundred in all, counting their
servants and after-riders. This was their purpose: to get a grant of
the land in Natal that lies between the Tugela and the Umzimoubu
rivers. But, by my council and that of other indunas, Dingaan,
bargained with the Boers that first they should attack a certain chief
named Sigomyela, who had stolen some of the king's cattle, and who
lived near the Quathlamba Mountains, and bring back those cattle. This
the Boers agreed to, and went to attack the chief, and in a little
while they came back again, having destroyed the people of Sigomyela,
and driving his cattle before them as well as those which had been
stolen from the king.

The face of Dingaan shone when he saw the cattle, and that night he
called us, the council of the Amapakati, together, and asked us as to
the granting of the country. I spoke the first, and said that it
mattered little if he granted it, seeing that the Black One who was
dead had already given it to the English, the People of George, and
the end of the matter would be that the Amaboona and the People of
George would fight for the land. Yet the words of the Black One were
coming to pass, for already it seemed we could hear the sound of the
running of a white folk who should eat up the kingdom.

Now when I had spoken thus the heart of Dingaan grew heavy and his
face dark, for my words stuck in his breast like a barbed spear.
Still, he made no answer, but dismissed the council.

On the morrow the king promised to sign the paper giving the lands
they asked for to the Boers, and all was smooth as water when there is
no wind. Before the paper was signed the king gave a great dance, for
there were many regiments gathered at the kraal, and for three days
this dance went on, but on the third day he dismissed the regiments,
all except one, an impi of lads, who were commanded to stay. Now all
this while I wondered what was in the mind of Dingaan and was afraid
for the Amaboona. But he was secret, and told nothing except to the
captains of the regiment alone--no, not even to one of his council.
Yet I knew that he planned evil, and was half inclined to warn the
Captain Retief, but did not, fearing to make myself foolish. Ah! my
father, if I had spoken, how many would have lived who were soon dead!
But what does it matter? In any case most of them would have been dead
by now.

On the fourth morning, early, Dingaan sent a messenger to the Boers,
bidding them meet him in the cattle kraal, for there he would mark the
paper. So they came, stacking their guns at the gate of the kraal, for
it was death for any man, white or black, to come armed before the
presence of the king. Now, my father, the kraal Umgugundhlovu was
built in a great circle, after the fashion of royal kraals. First came
the high outer fence, then the thousands of huts that ran three parts
round between the great fence and the inner one. Within this inner
fence was the large open space, big enough to hold five regiments, and
at the top of it--opposite the entrance--stood the cattle kraal
itself, that cut off a piece of the open space by another fence bent
like a bow. Behind this again were the Emposeni, the place of the
king's women, the guard-house, the labyrinth, and the Intunkulu, the
house of the king. Dingaan came out on that day and sat on a stool in
front of the cattle kraal, and by him stood a man holding a shield
over his head to keep the sun from him. Also we of the Amapakati, the
council, were there, and ranged round the fence of the space, armed
with short sticks only--not with kerries, my father--was that regiment
of young men which Dingaan had not sent away, the captain of the
regiment being stationed near to the king, on the right.

Presently the Boers came in on foot and walked up to the king in a
body, and Dingaan greeted them kindly and shook hands with Retief,
their captain. Then Retief drew the paper from a leather pouch, which
set out the boundaries of the grant of land, and it was translated to
the king by an interpreter. Dingaan said that it was good, and put his
mark upon it, and Retief and all the Boers were pleased, and smiled
across their faces. Now they would have said farewell, but Dingaan
forbade them, saying that they must not go yet: first they must eat
and see the soldiers dance a little, and he commanded dishes of boiled
flesh which had been made ready and bowls of milk to be brought to
them. The Boers said that they had already eaten; still, they drank
the milk, passing the bowls from hand to hand.

Now the regiment began to dance, singing the Ingomo, that is the war
chant of us Zulus, my father, and the Boers drew back towards the
centre of the space to give the soldiers room to dance in. It was at
this moment that I heard Dingaan give an order to a messenger to run
swiftly to the white Doctor of Prayers, who was staying without the
kraal, telling him not to be afraid, and I wondered what this might
mean; for why should the Prayer Doctor fear a dance such as he had
often seen before? Presently Dingaan rose, and, followed by all,
walked through the press to where the Captain Retief stood, and bade
him good-bye, shaking him by the hand and bidding him hambla gachle,
to go in peace. Then he turned and walked back again towards the
gateway which led to his royal house, and I saw that near this
entrance stood the captain of the regiments, as one stands by who
waits for orders.

Now, of a sudden, my father, Dingaan stopped and cried with a loud
voice, "Bulalani Abatakati!" (slay the wizards), and having cried it,
he covered his face with the corner of his blanket, and passed behind
the fence.

We, the councillors, stood astounded, like men who had become stone;
but before we could speak or act the captain of the regiment had also
cried aloud, "Bulalani Abatakati!" and the signal was caught up from
every side. Then, my father, came a yell and a rush of thousands of
feet, and through the clouds of dust we saw the soldiers hurl
themselves upon the Amaboona, and above the shouting we heard the
sound of falling sticks. The Amaboona drew their knives and fought
bravely, but before a man could count a hundred twice it was done, and
they were being dragged, some few dead, but the most yet living,
towards the gates of the kraal and out on to the Hill of Slaughter,
and there, on the Hill of Slaughter, they were massacred, every one of
them. How? Ah! I will not tell you--they were massacred and piled in a
heap, and that was the end of their story, my father.

Now I and the other councillors turned away and walked silently
towards the house of the king. We found him standing before his great
hut, and, lifting our hands, we saluted him silently, saying no word.
It was Dingaan who spoke, laughing a little as he spoke, like a man
who is uneasy in his mind.

"Ah, my captains," he said, "when the vultures plumed themselves this
morning, and shrieked to the sky for blood, they did not look for such
a feast as I have given them. And you, my captains, you little guessed
how great a king the Heavens have set to rule over you, nor how deep
is the mind of the king that watches ever over his people's welfare.
Now the land is free from the White Wizards of whose footsteps the
Black One croaked as he gave up his life, or soon shall be, for this
is but a beginning. Ho! Messengers!" and he turned to some men who
stood behind him, "away swiftly to the regiments that are gathered
behind the mountains, away to them, bearing the king's words to the
captains. This is the king's word: that the impi shall run to the land
of Natal and slay the Boers there, wiping them out, man, woman, and
child. Away!"

Now the messengers cried out the royal salute of Bayete, and, leaping
forward like spears from the hand of the thrower, were gone at once.
But we, the councillors, the members of the Amapakati, still stood
silent.

Then Dingaan spoke again, addressing me:--

"Is thy heart at rest now, Mopo, son of Makedama? Ever hast thou
bleated in my ear of this white people and of the deeds that they
shall do, and lo! I have blown upon them with my breath and they are
gone. Say, Mopo, are the Amaboona wizards yonder all dead? If any be
left alive, I desire to speak with one of them."

Then I looked Dingaan in the face and spoke.

"They are all dead, and thou, O King, thou also art dead."

"It were well for thee, thou dog," said Dingaan, "that thou shouldst
make thy meaning plain."

"Let the king pardon me," I answered; "this is my meaning. Thou canst
not kill this white men, for they are not of one race, but of many
races, and the sea is their home; they rise out of the black water.
Destroy those that are here, and others shall come to avenge them,
more and more and more! Now thou hast smitten in thy hour; in theirs
they shall smite in turn. Now THEY lie low in blood at thy hand; in a
day to come, O King, THOU shalt lie low in blood at theirs. Madness
has taken hold of thee, O King, that thou hast done this thing, and
the fruit of thy madness shall be thy death. I have spoken, I, who am
the king's servant. Let the will of the king be done."

Then I stood still waiting to be killed, for, my father, in the fury
of my heart at the wickedness which had been worked I could not hold
back my words. Thrice Dingaan looked on me with a terrible face, and
yet there was fear in his face striving with its rage, and I waited
calmly to see which would conquer, the fear or the rage. When at last
he spoke, it was one word, "Go!" not three words, "Take him away." So
I went yet living, and with me the councillors, leaving the king
alone.

I went with a heavy heart, my father, for of all the evil sights that
I have seen it seemed to me that this was the most evil--that the
Amaboona should be slaughtered thus treacherously, and that the impis
should be sent out treacherously to murder those who were left of
them, together with their women and children. Ay, and they slew--six
hundred of them did they slay--yonder in Weenen, the land of weeping.

Say, my father, why does the Umkulunkulu who sits in the Heavens above
allow such things to be done on the earth beneath? I have heard the
preaching of the white men, and they say that they know all about Him
--that His names are Power and Mercy and Love. Why, then, does He
suffer these things to be done--why does He suffer such men as Chaka
and Dingaan to torment the people of the earth, and in the end pay
them but one death for all the thousands that they have given to
others? Because of the wickedness of the peoples, you say; but no, no,
that cannot be, for do not the guiltless go with the guilty--ay, do
not the innocent children perish by the hundred? Perchance there is
another answer, though who am I, my father, that I, in my folly,
should strive to search out the way of the Unsearchable? Perchance it
is but a part of the great plan, a little piece of that pattern of
which I spoke--the pattern on the cup that holds the waters of His
wisdom. Wow! I do not understand, who am but a wild man, nor have I
found more knowledge in the hearts of you tamed white people. You know
many things, but of these you do not know: you cannot tell us what we
were an hour before birth, nor what we shall be an hour after death,
nor why we were born, nor why we die. You can only hope and believe--
that is all, and perhaps, my father, before many days are sped I shall
be wiser than all of you. For I am very aged, the fire of my life
sinks low--it burns in my brain alone; there it is still bright, but
soon that will go out also, and then perhaps I shall understand.

CHAPTER XXV

THE WAR WITH THE HALAKAZI PEOPLE

Now, my father, I must tell of how Umslopogaas the Slaughterer and
Galazi the Wolf fared in their war against the People of the Halakazi.
When I had gone from the shadow of the Ghost Mountain, Umslopogaas
summoned a gathering of all his headmen, and told them it was his
desire that the People of the Axe should no longer be a little people;
that they should grow great and number their cattle by tens of
thousands.

The headmen asked how this might be brought about--would he then make
war on Dingaan the King? Umslopogaas answered no, he would win the
favour of the king thus: and he told them of the Lily maid and of the
Halakazi tribe in Swaziland, and of how he would go up against that
tribe. Now some of the headmen said yea to this and some said nay, and
the talk ran high and lasted till the evening. But when the evening
was come Umslopogaas rose and said that he was chief under the Axe,
and none other, and it was his will that they should go up against the
Halakazi. If there was any man there who would gainsay his will, let
him stand forward and do battle with him, and he who conquered should
order all things. To this there was no answer, for there were few who
cared to face the beak of Groan-Maker, and so it came about that it
was agreed that the People of the Axe should make war upon the
Halakazi, and Umslopogaas sent out messengers to summon every
fighting-man to his side.

But when Zinita, his head wife, came to hear of the matter she was
angry, and upbraided Umslopogaas, and heaped curses on me, Mopo, whom
she knew only as the mouth of Dingaan, because, as she said truly, I
had put this scheme into the mind of the Slaughterer. "What!" she went
on, "do you not live here in peace and plenty, and must you go to make
war on those who have not harmed you; there, perhaps, to perish or to
come to other ill? You say you do this to win a girl for Dingaan and
to find favour in his sight. Has not Dingaan girls more than he can
count? It is more likely that, wearying of us, your wives, you go to
get girls for yourself, Bulalio; and as for finding favour, rest
quiet, so shall you find most favour. If the king sends his impis
against you, then it will be time to fight, O fool with little wit!"

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