"Then Twala,his own brother,born of the same woman and in the same hour,ran to him,and,taking him by the hair,stabbed him through the heart with his knife.And the people,being fickle,and ever ready to worship the rising sun,clapped their hands and cried,`Twala is king!Now we know that Twala is king!'""And what became of his wife and her son Ignosi?Did Twala kill them too?""Nay,my lord.When she saw that her lord was dead she seized the child with a cry,and ran away.Two days afterwards she came to a kraal very hungry,and none would give her milk or food,now that her lord the king was dead,for all men hate the unfortunate.But at nightfall a little child,a girl,crept out and brought her to eat,and she blessed the child,and went on towards the mountains with her boy before the sun rose again,where she must have perished,for none have seen her since,nor the child Ignosi.""Then if this child Ignosi had lived,he would be the true king of the Kukuana people?""That is so,my lord;the sacred snake is round his middle.If he lives he is the king;but alas!he is long dead.""See,my lord,"and he pointed to a vast collection of huts surrounded with a fence,which was in its turn surrounded by a great ditch,that lay on the plain beneath us."That is the kraal where the wife of Imotu was last seen with the child Ignosi.It is there that we shall sleep to-night,if,indeed,"he added,doubtfully,"my lords sleep at all upon this earth.""When we are among the Kukuanas,my good friend Infadoos,we do as the Kukuanas do,"I said,majestically,and I turned round suddenly to address Good,who was tramping along sullenly behind,his mind fully occupied with unsatisfactory attempts to.keep his flannel shirt from flapping up in the evening breeze,and to my astonishment butted into Umbopa,who was walking along immediately behind me,and had very evidently been listening with the greatest interest to my conversation with Infadoos.The expression on his face was most curious,and gave the idea of a man who was struggling with partial success to bring something long ago forgotten back into his mind.
All this while we had been pressing on at a good rate down towards the undulating plain beneath.The mountains we had crossed now loomed high above us,and Sheba's breasts were modestly veiled in diaphanous wreaths of mist.
As we went on the country grew more and more lovely.The vegetation was luxuriant without being tropical;the sun was bright and warm,but not burning,and a gracious breeze blew softly along the odorous slopes of the mountains.And,indeed,this new land was little less.than an earthly paradise;in beauty,in natural wealth,and in climate I have never seen its like.The Transvaal is a fine country,but it is nothing to Kukuanaland.
So soon as we started,Infadoos had despatched a runner on to warn the people of the kraal,which,by the way,was in his military command,of our arrival.This man had departed at an extraordinary speed,which Infadoos had informed me he would keep up all the way,as running was an exercise much practised among his people.
The result of this message now became apparent.When we got within two miles of the kraal,we could see that company after company of men was issuing from its gates and marching towards us.
Sir Henry laid his hand upon my arm,and remarked that it looked as though we were going to meet with a warm reception.Something in his tone attracted Infadoos's attention.
"Let not my lords be afraid,"he said,hastily,"for in my breast there dwells no guile.This regiment is one under my command,and comes out by my orders to greet you."I nodded easily,though I was not quite easy in my mind.
About half a mile from the gates of the kraal was a long stretch of rising ground sloping gently upward from the road,and on this the companies formed.It was a splendid sight to see them,each company about three hundred strong,charging swiftly up the slope,with flashing spears and waving plumes,and taking their appointed place.By the time we came to the slope twelve such companies,or in all three thousand six hundred men,had passed out and taken up their positions along the road.
Presently we came to the first company,and were able to gaze in astonishment on the most magnificent set of men I have ever seen.They were all men of mature age,mostly veterans of about forty,and not one of them was under six feet in height,while many were six feet three or four.They wore upon their heads heavy black plumes of Sacaboola feathers,like those which adorned our guides.Round their waists and also beneath the right knee were bound circlets of white ox-tails,and in their left hands were round shields about twenty inches across.These shields were very curious.The framework consisted of an iron plate beaten out thin,over which was stretched milk-white ox-hide.The weapons that each man bore were ******,but most effective,consisting of a short and very heavy two-edged spear with a wooden shaft,the blade being about six inches across at the widest part.These spears were not used for throwing,but,like the Zulu "bangwan,"or stabbing assegai,were for close quarters only,when the wound inflicted by them was terrible.In addition to these bangwans each man also carried three large and heavy knives,each knife weighing about two pounds.One knife was fixed in the oxtail girdle,and the other two at the back of the round shield.These knives,which are called "tollas"by the Kukuanas,take the place of the throwing assegai of the Zulus.AKukuana warrior can throw them with great accuracy at a distance of fifty yards,and it is their custom on charging to hurl a volley of them at the enemy as they come to close quarters.