red by the men, I was somewhat alarmed. Inyati,
however, answered Amanzinina well, and said that I had nothing to do
with this "bring near"; that it was made by white men, just as Caffres
made assagies; that it was a thing which white men used everywhere; and
that I, having seen men use it, knew what it was for, and that
witchcraft had nothing to do with it. After a time the chief convinced
all the men except Amanzinina, who would have nothing to do with the
glasses, and would not even look through them.

The astonishment shown by the men when they looked through the glasses
was quite equal to that which had been displayed by Inyati: they thought
it wonderful, and several of them, seeing people at a distance, put
their mouth to the glasses and shouted, believing that this would make
their voices heard. They could not understand why it was, that if they
could see people close, by aid of the glass, they could not also make
them hear. At length, however, these glasses were looked on as a
valuable treasure, and Inyati never went out without them. People came
from great distances to see them, and every one was equally surprised at
their use.

It was now the time when the crops of mealies and other corn were coming
up, and a circumstance now happened which enabled me to judge of the
manner in which these people, among whom I had cast my lot, would fight
against an enemy. From a village about ten miles from us, news was
brought that two bull-buffaloes, very savage and cunning, had taken up
their quarters in some thickly wooded ravines near the corn-ground of
the village. Each night these buffaloes used to come from the bush,
break through the fences, and eat the young corn. This meant a famine
for this kraal, for the people depend on mealies for their food during
the year. Aid was wanted from our kraal and from others in order to
hunt these buffaloes and to kill them. In two days the hunting party
had been assembled, and consisted of about five hundred men, armed with
assagies, for the knob-kerrie was no use against a buffalo. I obtained
permission to join this party, and we had assembled in the evening at
the distant kraal, and were to hunt on the following day.

It was decided that there should be a great dance performed by the
warriors before we attacked the buffaloes. There were two kinds of
dances practised by these Caffres, one before a war was undertaken, the
other before a hunt. The dance was performed b