of which was bound together
with little thongs--as a walking stick. This man (the elder) had the
appearance of great age. His form was bent, and the little hair which
he still retained was quite white. His battered head-ring, being
attached only by one side, shook as if it would fall off on account of
the motion caused by his walking. He appeared to be nearly blind. At
the entrance to the Royal Kraal he had been ordered, according to
established rule, to give up his spear, but he resisted so
energetically that they allowed him to retain it--and, after all, it
could hardly be called a weapon. He carried a small skin wallet slung
to his waist.

The younger man looked old with the oldness that comes not of time but
of suffering. His very flesh seemed to have disappeared, and his eyes
had sunk deep into his head.

Kondwana, and Senzanga had travailed heavily since we left them on the
night after the slaughter, in the elephant-pit on the northern bank of
the Limpopo. After resting in the pit for a short time, the three
survivors crept out and tried to cross the river. Kondwana and Senzanga
succeeded after grievous pains, but the other man, who was desperately
wounded, was swept away in one of the swirls and drowned.

For months that seemed to them like long-drawn years, Kondwana and his
companion crept slowly southward, subsisting on whatever they could
pick up in the way of food. Gum, exuding from the acacias, wild fruits,
birds' eggs, young, nestling birds and honey, formed their principal
fare. "Incinci," the honey-bird, was their best friend and purveyor,
and often led them to where the bees had stored their treasure in
hollow trees, and holes in the donga-banks.

The wild beasts of the desert gazed at them without dread. Great
troops of elephants went trumpeting past, taking no more notice of them
than of the monkeys in the trees. Lions, hyaenas, and jackals came up
and sniffed at them where they lay at night, and then passed on seeking
daintier food.

They reached the land of the Amaswazi, and superstitious dread caused
them to be assisted with food and shelter. They came to their own
country and wandered on, unrecognised by those who had known them well
less than nine months previously. And now they crouched to the ground
at Tshaka's feet.

When they, with difficulty, arose after the obeisance, a change seemed
to have come over Kondwana's face. The presence of the King, and the
sound of his voice seemed to