"Wao! ma me! the Bandokolo!" exclaimed the old fellow in great
astonishment. "Know ye aught of the Bandokolo, or where they are to be
found?" he demanded.

"Nay," answered I; "I know nothing of them, save that their country lies
far to the north, and that they have much gold."

"That is true," returned Mapela. "Then, let us start, for delay is
dangerous; and if we linger, the Great, Great One may change his mind
and not suffer thee to go at all. Yonder is the way, up that valley.
Give the word, Chia'gnosi. And, as we go, we can talk together; and if
what I can tell thee should cause thee to change thy mind, we can take
the road back on the other side of the mountains when we have passed
through the valley."

He paused and left me for a moment while the wagon was getting into
motion and the impi was forming up round it; then, when we were fairly
under way, he came to my side again, and remarked:

"Au, Chia'gnosi! thine arrival at Gwanda was well timed; for many are
still alive who, but for thee, would have lain dead in the great square
before the setting of yonder sun. Did not I say that my snake told me
thou wouldst save many lives? And thou hast done so; and mark thou
this, Chia'gnosi, though to-day the king's face be black against thee,
the people know what thou hast done; and henceforth thy name will be
hlonipa among the Mashona." [Hlonipa means "unmentionable". To make a
man's name hlonipa is the highest honour that the Kafirs can render the
bearer; for it indicates that the name is regarded as too sacred, too
highly venerated, to be spoken. Thus I subsequently learned that after
my departure from the country the Mashona never mentioned Chia'gnosi
(Smiter with Lightning), but, when they referred to me, spoke of "Him
who slew with thunderbolts", or in some other more or less roundabout
fashion evaded any direct use of the word lightning.]

"Well," I replied, "to be quite candid with you, Mapela, I believe it is
a very good thing for the Mashona that Machenga is dead; and I am not
sorry that he compelled me to kill him. Also I am glad that the king
has promised to abolish the system of `smelling out', for in the first
place I do not in the least believe in it, and, in the next, it is
perfectly evident that an unscrupulous scoundrel like Machenga would
only be too likely to use it for his own vile purposes. And now let us
talk about something else. Tell me, for instance, what you know about
the Band