Through Veld and Forest Part 8

I delivered this message with all the aloofness and dignity of manner that I could muster, and was gratified to observe that it was not without its effect upon the king's envoys, who accorded me the salute of "'Nkos'!" upon their departure. Then, as soon as they were gone, I unpacked my bales and proceeded to sort out and set aside the gifts which I intended to offer for His Majesty's acceptance. By dint of a little artful questioning I had contrived to gain the information that King Lomalindela was a man of about my own stature and build, and I kept this information in mind when selecting my gifts. I a.s.sumed that, as in the case of King Moshesh, a military uniform would prove the most acceptable gift that I could possibly offer a savage monarch; and upon examining my stock in trade I discovered that I possessed the complete uniform of a sergeant of hussars--tunic, pelisse, trousers and boots combined, shako with red and white horsehair plume complete, and a sabre--which, upon trial, seemed to fit me pretty well, if perhaps just a shade tight. I therefore decided upon this, together with a length of some two and a half feet of bra.s.s chain, the ends of which I united by a split ring, to which I attached one of my small circular shaving mirrors; and to this I added a dozen little bra.s.s boxes full of mixed beads, these last being intended as gifts for the king's favourite wives. Then, putting the whole in a parcel which I entrusted to Piet's care, I mounted Prince, and, accompanied by my trusty Hottentot henchman on foot, set out to traverse the short distance between the wagon and Gwanda.

The arrival of a white man in the Mashona country was evidently a quite unique event, exciting the utmost curiosity in the minds of the inhabitants--indeed, I subsequently learned that such a thing had never happened since the memorable visit of my friend Major Henderson and his partner, Van Raalte, consequently it was only a very few of the older men who had ever beheld a white man before; for as I rode along at a foot-pace, with Piet respectfully walking in my rear, the whole way was lined on either side by thousands of men, women, and children, who had turned out for the express purpose of beholding such an astonis.h.i.+ng spectacle, this, it appeared, being rendered all the more extraordinary by the fact that horses were unknown to the Mashonas, and not one of them, save the half-dozen or so elders above-mentioned, had ever so much as heard of a mounted man! Therefore my slow progress was marked by a continuous volley of "Au's!" uttered with the hand held over the mouth, indicative of the utmost astonishment and awe. The same sort of thing, only in a very much more marked degree, prevailed inside the town, every one of the inhabitants of which appeared to have made a point of turning out to witness my arrival. I rode right up through the main street of the town as far as the great square of which I have spoken as occupying its centre, and there, finding that the entire square was lined with troops in full panoply of war--from which I surmised that my visit was intended to be regarded as a state function--I dismounted, and, still carrying my trusty rifle, turned my horse over to the care of a savage who seemed to be more than half-afraid of the animal. Then, with Piet following close at my heels, I pa.s.sed through a gap which had been hastily made in the line of troops, and found myself in the great square--and in the presence of King Lomalindela.

CHAPTER TEN.

I FIND MYSELF IN AN EXCEEDINGLY AWKWARD DILEMMA.

The king--as to whose ident.i.ty there could be no possible mistake--was seated in the very centre of the great square upon some sort of throne, the precise shape and material of which I could not make out, for it was entirely hidden by an immense and magnificent kaross of lions' skins; and formed up in a semicircle behind and around him were about a hundred warriors, the arms and accoutrements of whom were of so elaborate and splendid a character that I at once judged them--rightly, as it afterward turned out--to be chiefs.

But since the king was seated in the exact centre of the great square, there was still a s.p.a.ce of nearly four hundred and fifty yards separating us when I pa.s.sed through the line of warriors; therefore, for the moment, I could only take in the general effect of the group, and very imposing it was. For, with the exception of some half a dozen elders, every one of those chiefs was in the very prime of life, ringed of course, standing fully six feet in height, each one of them bearing the scars of many battles--as I perceived when I drew near--and evidently men who knew not the meaning of the word fear. And in every respect worthy of them was their king, whom, as I approached, I saw to be a man apparently of about thirty-five to forty years of age, splendidly proportioned, and probably quite as tall as the tallest of his chiefs, although I could only judge his height approximately, since he was sitting down. Unlike his warriors, however, he was naked, save for the usual mucha or ap.r.o.n of monkeys' tails round his loins, and a superb leopard-skin kaross over his shoulders; and he was also unarmed, save for a bangwan or stabbing spear with an enormous blade, which he held carelessly across his knees as I approached. But I did not like the expression of his countenance, or indeed that of any of the Mashona, which seemed to me to be compounded of craftiness, treachery, and ferocious cruelty. Moreover, His Majesty seemed to be in anything but a good humour--perhaps I had kept him waiting rather too long; for as I approached near enough to note the expression upon his features I observed that his brows were contracted into a heavy frown, and there was a certain glitter in his eyes that I by no means liked. However, if he chanced to be striving to daunt me by his scowling looks it was important that he should be made to understand that he had by no means succeeded; therefore, walking slowly and with all the dignity I could a.s.sume, I marched straight up to him, and, looking him fearlessly in the eyes, halted about ten feet from him, and, giving him a military salute, remarked, in the Bantu tongue:

"Greeting, Lomalindela, King and Lord of the Mashona! I, Edward Laurence, one of the mighty English race, salute thee!"

"I see thee, white man of the unp.r.o.nounceable name," answered the king somewhat ungraciously. "Ye desired audience of me, and I have given it you; say now, therefore, why have ye come into my country, and what want ye now that I have permitted you to enter it?"

"Nay, O King," I retorted, "beyond what you have already given me-- namely, permission to hunt in your country--I want little or nothing, except permission to trade with your people. There is gold in Mashonaland, which is a metal that, so far as I have thus seen, ye have little use for; but among my own people it possesses a certain value: therefore have I come hither, bringing with me goods which I am prepared to barter for gold among your people, if they will. But if not, it matters not; I can buy ivory with those goods on my way back to mine own land. Also, I am seeking a young white 'ntombozaan who was stolen from among us some twenty-two moons ago, and carried off into the interior, whither I know not. I think she cannot have been brought so far as this; yet, who knows? Have you heard or seen aught of such an 'ntombozaan, O King?"

"I have not, white man, nor is she in Mashonaland, for otherwise I should have heard of it and seen her," answered Lomalindela. "The few strangers who enter my country are brought to me, and I deal with them as I will. No, she has not been here; therefore that part of your errand is soon disposed of. And as to the other part of it, I will consider the matter at my leisure. Have ye aught else to say to me?"

"Merely to ask Your Majesty's acceptance of certain gifts which I have brought with me. Is it the king's pleasure that I produce them?" I blandly enquired.

An expression of covetousness flashed into the king's eyes as he nodded and replied briefly:

"Yes, you may produce them."

I beckoned to Piet, who, as my supposed body servant, had been permitted to enter the great square with me, and he at once stepped forward with the bundle containing the presents, which he laid at my feet. Then deliberately, and with as much ceremony as I could infuse into so commonplace an act, I unfastened the bundle, extracted the items of uniform one by one, unfolded them, and held them up for inspection. The king regarded each garment attentively and somewhat wonderingly as I held it up, but did not appear to be very profoundly impressed; and I began to fear that my great coup was about to miss fire. When, however, I came to the sword, drew it from its scabbard, flourished the glittering blade round my head, and made several cuts and points at an imaginary enemy, His Majesty sat upright in his chair and began to manifest a little more interest.

"Is that one of the white man's fighting weapons?" he demanded, stretching forth his hand for it.

"It is," answered I, as I handed it to him. And forthwith I proceeded to explain to him how it was used. He examined the weapon with much curiosity, ran his thumb along the edge, remarked that it was not very sharp, and then, to my unutterable dismay, handed it back to me, saying:

"Good! Thou shalt show me how it is used. One of my warriors, armed with spear and s.h.i.+eld, shall fight thee!"

For a second or two I was too dumbfounded to speak. I knew that savages were subject to queer and unexpected turns of thought, but this was a development that I had never foreseen even in my most fantastic imaginings, and I was utterly at a loss as to how I was to deal with such an extraordinary situation. It was not that I was exactly afraid to meet a savage in mortal combat, for I had often done so before; but that was on the field of battle, when my opponents were the enemies of my race, thirsting for the white man's blood, and when my only choice lay between killing and being killed. But to deliberately engage in a cold-blooded duel with a man against whom I had no grudge, and to incur the obligation of killing or being killed merely to gratify the whim of a savage monarch, was quite another matter, and one that, to confess the simple truth, I had no fancy for. Yet how to escape the dilemma I knew not, though it was forcibly borne in upon me that it would never do for me to betray the slightest hesitation, for savage kings are kittle cattle to deal with, and to cross even their lightest mood may often result in a ghastly tragedy. Therefore, more in the hope of gaining time than for any other reason, I said:

"Nay, O King, it were mere waste of good material to slay one of thy warriors in order to show thee how this weapon is used, nor is it necessary; I can make the matter quite clear to thee without killing a man, and will do so in due time. Let me now proceed to display the remainder of my gifts;" and hastily diving into the parcel I produced the length of bra.s.s chain with the shaving mirror attached, held it up for an instant that all might see, and then placed it round my own neck, to show how it was to be worn. And at that moment what seemed to me to be a brilliant inspiration seized me, and I began to talk somewhat hurriedly, in the hope of diverting the king's mind from the idea of the suggested duel.

"This," said I, removing the chain and mirror from my neck and offering it to His Majesty, "is great magic, for it enables a man to see himself.

Behold!" And I held it up so that Lomalindela might see the reflection of his own visage in it. He took it doubtingly and hesitatingly in his hand--for there is nothing a South African savage dreads so much as magic or witchcraft--and a low, awestricken e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.n of "Au!" escaped him at what he beheld.

"And that is not all," I continued. "This magic disk enables its owner to see what is happening behind him. As thus:" and I slightly turned the mirror in his hand as he held it, in such a fas.h.i.+on that he could see the faces of the various chiefs who stood behind him.

"Finally," I proceeded, "it has the power of temporarily blinding an enemy, and so giving its possessor power over him--thus:" and, as I spoke, I turned the mirror in such a fas.h.i.+on that it flashed the rays of the sun right into the eyes of several of the soldiers lining the square, who, despite the awful breach of discipline involved in the action, incontinently raised their s.h.i.+elds as the dazzling reflection struck their eyes.

"Au!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Lomalindela in awestruck tones, as he handled the mirror doubtfully; "it is great and good magic, for it enables a man to see the enemy who comes creeping up behind him, and to blind the enemy who a.s.sails him in front. I thank thee, white man. Thou shalt show me how to use it too."

"Certainly," I replied hastily. "All in good time. And now, lastly, behold! here are boxes of beads for thy favourite wives, wherewith they may adorn themselves."

The king took the bra.s.s boxes, one by one, in his hands, turned them over and looked at them, and then calmly drew from the lobe of his right ear an ivory snuffbox about the same size, and subst.i.tuted therefor one of the other boxes, amid low murmurs of admiration from the chiefs in his rear.

"It is good; and again I thank thee, white man," he remarked, as he placed the remaining bra.s.s boxes in the hands of one of the chiefs, with a low-murmured order, the purport of which I could not catch. "Yes, it is good," he repeated, turning to me. "But what are these things good for?" he enquired, pointing to the little pile of clothes which I had replaced in the bundle.

"Listen, O King, and I will tell thee," I replied. "In the land where the white men live there are kings even as there are in this land; and-- also as in this land--they are men undistinguishable from other men, save by their clothing. Also, as in Mashonaland, the king is a soldier, the chief and general of all his troops; and he is distinguishable from all others by the magnificence of his clothing. Therefore, when I decided to visit Mashonaland, and the matter of suitable presents arose in my mind, I decided that I could not possibly offer anything more suitable and acceptable to the King of Mashona than the garb of a soldier such as a king wears. And, behold, there it is!"

"Au!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Lomalindela, regarding the little heap with new interest. "Is that, then, the garb that the king of the white men wears?"

"Even so," I answered, straining the truth a little. "It is the garb of a soldier, and that is the kind of garb which a white king wears upon state occasions, such as a review of his troops, or upon the occasion of some very great and important ceremonial."

"Good!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed the king. "Thy gift comes most opportunely.

To-morrow is the day of the great annual festival in Mashonaland, when I review all my soldiers, and when the witch doctors smell out those who are my secret enemies. I will wear it then. But thou, white man, must show me how each thing is used, for I have never before seen anything like them."

"a.s.suredly I will," said I. "Shall it be now?" The king considered for a moment, and then answered in the affirmative, at the same time beckoning to a certain chief, an elderly, grey-headed man, and giving him an order; whereupon the chief--whom I a.s.sumed to be deep in his monarch's confidence--left his place in the semicircular cordon behind the throne, and, advancing to where the bundle lay at my feet, lifted it reverentially and bore it away to a large, rectangular hut--which I took to be the itunkulu, or king's house--at the far corner of the square, whither Lomalindela and I forthwith followed him. This hut, which was about fifty feet long by about forty feet broad, and some seven feet high to the eaves of the roof, was built of what is known in Cape Colony as "wattle and daub"; that is to say, the walls had been constructed of interlaced wattle-work plastered over with mud and allowed to dry in the heat of the sun, after which they and the roof had been thickly thatched with palm leaves. This effectually turned the heavy tropical rain to which the country is subject at certain seasons of the year, and was also a pretty effectual protection against the scorching rays of the sun; consequently the interior temperature of such a structure, stifling though it frequently was, was not nearly so great as that of the outer air. In this particular case, too, the doorway, unlike that of the usual Kafir hut, was high enough to permit a full-grown man to enter without stooping; but, like other Kafir huts, this was entirely dest.i.tute of windows, the only light, during the daytime at least, being what entered by the doorway. A minute or two, however, sufficed for the eye to become accustomed to the change of light, and when mine had done so I perceived that the interior of this particular hut was divided by wattle part.i.tions into apparently three apartments, two in the front half and the other--which I surmised to be sacred to the king's emposeni, or harem--occupying the rear half. The apartment which we first entered was probably the king's sitting-room, for it contained nothing but a low divan-like arrangement running all round the walls and covered with rich karosses, while through the doorway leading to the other apartment I caught an indistinct glimpse of what looked like a rough imitation of a couch or bed, also heaped high with karosses.

The king lost no time in coming to the point. He signed to the attendant chief to place the bundle on the divan, then turned to me and said:

"Now, white man, teach me how to array myself in the garb of the white kings."

"Then," said I, taking up the booted trousers, "this is the first garment which Your Majesty must don." And I explained as best I could how he was to clothe himself. The fact that the boots were attached to the trousers made the a.s.sumption of the garment somewhat awkward, but luckily the boots were ample in size, and the monarch managed to get his feet into them without much difficulty. Then I explained how he must tuck the mucha inside, and when this was done, and the garment drawn up round his waist, I pa.s.sed the braces over his shoulders and showed him how to b.u.t.ton them. The trousers were scarlet--just a little off colour with wear, I am afraid--with a broad stripe of yellow braid down the outer seam, and the effect was evidently satisfactory to the king, who walked up and down the room several times admiring himself. Then I took up the tunic, and after I had explained how it was worn the induna and I a.s.sisted His Majesty to get into it, and I b.u.t.toned it down the front.

Next I attached the fur-trimmed pelisse to one shoulder, adjusted the shoulder belt, threw the bra.s.s chain with mirror attached round his neck, placed the plumed shako on his head, girded the sword about his waist, and there he stood, a most grotesque yet withal not unkingly figure, fully attired in the uniform of a hussar.

The effect upon the induna was tremendous; he stood for several seconds gazing open-mouthed upon the awe-inspiring apparition of his king in the new and strange attire, and then, flinging himself p.r.o.ne upon the ground with his hands over his eyes, exclaimed:

"It is too much; mine eyes are not strong enough to gaze upon so much splendour! Bayete! Bayete!! Bayete!!!"

As for the king, his gratification and pride were unbounded: never before, I suppose, had he beheld any man so completely overpowered with admiration as this old induna; and if such was the effect of his appearance upon a man with whom he was, comparatively speaking, familiar, what might he not expect to be the result when he exhibited himself in his kingly attire to his troops? He swelled visibly with gratified vanity--for vanity and fear of witchcraft are the two overmastering emotions of the savage--grinned from ear to ear as he took the mirror in his hand and gazed admiringly at the reflected image of himself crowned with the smart shako and its nodding horsehair plume, and finally turned to me with the question:

"Say now, white man, what think ye? Do I look like a white king?"

"In every respect, Your Majesty," answered I, with several mental reservations.

"Au! it is good; it is very good indeed!" he exclaimed. "Now am I a white king, and when my enemies behold me they shall tremble, and their hearts shall melt within them as the snow upon the mountain tops melts when the glory of the sun s.h.i.+nes upon it. Their courage shall fail and their spirit shall wither at the sight of me, even as the gra.s.s withers and shrivels at the breath of fire. I am the king!"

A silence of a few minutes followed this rhapsody, then he turned to the still prostrate induna, and, kicking him gently in the ribs with his booted foot, exclaimed:

"Rise, Mapela, and behold me! You must grow accustomed to the sight of me in my kingly garb, for now that I have it I shall often delight the eyes of my people by wearing it. Say, now, shall I go forth this instant and make glad the hearts of the soldiers who are gathered in the great square by showing myself to them?"

Mapela revolved this very important question in his mind for nearly a minute; then he raised his head and answered:

"If, O Great, Great One, the words of the humblest of thy servants carry weight with thee I would say, show not thyself in thy glorious garb until to-morrow. There are but a few warriors in the square to-day, so few that they are altogether unworthy of so great an honour as that which thou dost suggest; moreover, they would go away and babble to others of what they had seen, and much of the glory and splendour of thy first appearance in those magnificent garments would be wasted. Wait until to-morrow, O Elephant whose tread causes the earth to tremble with fear, and then--when the whole army is gathered together, and all can see thee at the same moment--thou shalt reveal thyself in all thy magnificent splendour, and--and--words fail me to predict the result."

"Perhaps thou art right, Mapela the Wise One," answered the king, kindly overlooking--or perhaps not noticing--the rather lame and impotent conclusion of the induna's high-flown speech. "Yes; perhaps thou art right," (this rather regretfully). "But there is no reason why I should not at once show myself to my wives; and, by the bones of my royal father, I will! There be those among them who of late have shown a tendency to make light of my words and hold me of small account. I will see what they will say and how they will act when they behold me as I now am!"

And therewith, Lomalindela, autocrat of the Mashona nation, lord of life and death over nearly a million people, stalked across the room with his sword clanking at his heels, drew aside a curtain, and disappeared behind it. There followed a breathless silence for the s.p.a.ce of perhaps half a minute, a silence deep, pregnant, and almost awe-inspiring; and then there floated out from the other side of the kaross curtain a little shriek in an unmistakable feminine tone of voice, a shriek expressive of mingled astonishment, awestruck wonder, and delight, immediately followed by a perfectly deafening clamour of exclamations and laughter from at least fifty women--if their number might be gauged by the volume of sound that they created--amid which might be imperfectly caught, at intervals, the deep tones of Lomalindela's voice, raised apparently in remonstrance, entreaty, and indignation.

Mapela, the Wise One, and I glanced enquiringly at each other, and methought that even in the semi-obscurity of that darkened interior I could detect the ghost of a twinkle of amus.e.m.e.nt in the old induna's eyes; for my own part, I remember that I was grinning from ear to ear as my imagination conjured up a picture of the scene which was enacting behind that curtain. The shouts, exclamations, laughter, and remonstrances increased rather than diminished as the moments sped, and presently Mapela came to me, took me by the arm, and gently led me from the itunkulu, saying as he did so: