cases."

A murmur went up from the three listeners. They all bent eagerly
forward. Shiminya, who knew his dupes, was in no hurry. He continued
to shake his bowl of abomination and mutter; then he went on:

"The last time you heard the Great Voice, what did it say? Were not the
words thereof as mine are now--I, its child? _Whau_! I fear there were
some who heard that voice and laughed, Izinduna--who heard that voice
and did not believe."

At this juncture there came a subdued wail, inexpressibly doleful, from
one of the huts. It was answered by a snarl from another. Two of the
three chiefs, listening, felt perturbed, the countenance of Zazwe alone
preserving its hard, sceptical expression; though, to tell the truth,
even he--so rooted is the innate superstition of savages--did not feel
entirely at ease in his surroundings.

"There is, further, a good milch cow for the Umlimo," spake Madula, "and
for his child a heifer."

"It is well. There will soon be no more," repeated the wizard.

"And three fat-tailed sheep, and for Umlimo a young bull," said Samvu.

"That, too, is good," was the cold acknowledgment of Shiminya, "for
there will soon be no more."

Now, cattle constitute the very life of all the South African tribes,
wherefore the three chiefs felt their hearts sink as they realised the
gist of this doleful prophecy. The rinderpest had not as yet made its
appearance in their midst, but was very soon destined to do so, and the
sorcerers of the nation, having gained secret information that the
terrible scourge was, in the ordinary course of things, bound to be upon
them soon from further north, used their knowledge as a most powerful
lever towards promoting the uprising they were straining every nerve to
bring about. In this they found willing aid from many of the chiefs,
who saw their power and influence waning day by day; themselves forced
to be the subservient vassals of a few--from their point of view--
upstart and arrogant whites.

"Why, then, should Makiwa [Matabele term for the white man] wish to
bewitch all the cattle?" said Madula, who at present was in the
vacillating stage, though the high-handed action we have recorded, on
the part of the native police, had gone far towards settling him in the
wrong direction. "They will suffer equally with ourselves."

"_Our_ cattle are our life. _Their_ life is in other things,"
pronounced Shiminya, who never looked at his interlocutors when he
spok