are drowned, to
have pulled them under water by the feet

"Ukushwama, the feast of first fruits;--celebrated by the Bacas and
some other Bantu tribes

*Umtagati, magic;--witchcraft

Veldt. unenclosed and uncultivated land. The open country

Veldschoens, home-made boots such as those in general use amongst South
African Boers

Voor-huis, the dining and sitting-room in a Dutch house

*Yebo, yes

*Kafir terms are marked by an asterisk.

Contents

CHAP.

I. THE EUMENIDES IN KAFIRLAND

II. THE FUNDAMENTAL AXIOM

III. KELLSON'S NEMESIS

IV. THE QUEST OF THE COPPER

V. GHAMBA

VI. UKUSHWAMA

VII. UMTAGATI

THE EUMENIDES IN KAFIRLAND.

"Fate leadeth through the garden shews
The trees of Knowledge, Death, and Life;
On this, the wholesome apple grows,--
On that, fair fruit with poison rife.
Yet sometimes apples deadly be.
Whilst poison-fruits may nourish thee."

SHAGBAG'S Advice to Beginners.

I.

THIS is how it all happened. They met at the canteen on Monday morning
at eight o'clock--Jim Gubo, the policeman, and Kalaza, who had just
been released from the convict station where, for five long years, he
had been expiating a particularly cruel assault with violence upon a
woman. 'Ntsoba, the fat Fingo barman, leant lazily over the counter,
but as the regular customers for the morning "nip" had all departed,
and no one else had yet come, he went outside and sat in the sunshine,
smoking his oily pipe with thorough enjoyment. He did not in the least
mind leaving Jim Gubo in the canteen, because Jim and he had long since
come to an understanding, and this with the full approval of the
proprietor. Jim was, so to say, free of the house, and got his daily
number of tots of poisonous "dop" brandy measured out in the thick
glass tumbler, the massive exterior of which was quite out of
proportion to the comparatively limited interior space. These tots
(and an occasional bottle) were Jim's reward for not exercising too
severe a supervision over the canteen, and for always happening to be
round the corner when a row took place. Moreover, the till, besides
being as yet nearly empty, was well out of reach; the counter was high
and broad, and the shelving, sparsely filled with filthy looking black
bottles, was fixed well back, so as to be out of the way of the
whirling kerries which were often in evidence, especially on Saturday
afternoons. The great brown, poisonous looking hogsheads--suggestive
of