as though they had not of their own accord come to place their
necks beneath the paw of the Lion of Zulu. Only the crunch of the jaws
of cattle, only the occasional sneeze of a goat, broke the silence.

In such silence--in such stillness--did the dawn lighten. Then two or
three men began to stir, moving sleepily inside the encampment. We
could wait no longer. The word was given to fall on.

I could not sit still with the _izinduna_ when blows were falling, and
at the head of the right horn of the _impi_ I found myself flying over
the defences, spear in hand. Within, the awakening for those whites was
terrible. Wild shrieks arose with the roar of our appalling war-shout,
as women, with the stamp of death upon their pale countenances, rolled
from the waggons, and with arms tossed on high, screamed for that mercy
we were not there to show. Men were there, too; but these were few, yet
they fought. Shaggy faces confronted me, jets of flame shone redly in
my eyes. My great assegai was shearing around, cleaving the hearts and
bodies of these. _Whau_! that was a moment! And through it all, I
could see lines upon lines of flying bodies, of tufted shields and
gleaming spears come surging over the waggons on the other side. We had
taken the camp.

Not yet, however, was our work complete. Grouping together, those
Amabuna stood and fought. _Au_! they fought! It was worth living,
_Nkose_, to see the fight those men made. With hatchets and knives they
defended themselves; with clubbed guns, too, for they could no longer
reload. Man to man, hand to hand, eye to eye, they fought. But the
breadth of our broad shields met blow or stab, and the whelming weight
of those behind threw upon them such masses of men that they could no
longer lift hand, and were borne to earth. Blood streamed forth
everywhere, and amid the grim death-yells of the Amabuna and the screams
of their women beneath the assegais rose the shrill "_I-ji_!" the fierce
triumph hiss of each victorious warrior as he drove his spear home.

And now the whole inside of that great waggon camp was as a den of
raging lions let loose. The dead lay in heaps, but any movement seen
among such heaps would draw a rush to the place, to stab and stab again.
Children of all ages--boys, girls, infants--were dragged from their
hiding-places and speared. Even the cattle within the enclosure were
ripped and slain. Nothing was spared, young or old, male or female--all
we