onward. It was fearsome, it was as a
thing of _tagati_ as I plunged deeper and deeper into the great pass
which wound through the heart of the mountain range. The lofty cliff
walls overhanging my way seemed to stoop, as though to overwhelm me in
the mournful blackness which now brooded from the gloomy
mountain-shadows; for the sun was already beginning to sink.

I had sent back Mgwali and the others, for something moved me to
undertake this expedition alone. I was armed with the great and
splendid spear--the King's Assegai--two or three light casting ones, and
a heavy short-handled knobstick; also I carried the great white shield
which had saved the King's life, for, although, when not on a war
expedition, it is our custom only to carry small ornamental shields,
yet, remembering Lalusini's oft-repeated warning, I never parted with
this one, even when I slept.

The land here was rolling and grassy, dotted with little clusters of
trees and bush, and over the plain herds of game were frisking. Far
off, waving above the tree-tops, I could make out the snake-like necks
of tall giraffes, browsing on the tender shoots; and yet the desire to
kill game seemed to have left me, as I walked on and on, thinking of
Lalusini and the strange things she had presaged as about to befall our
nation--also the great destiny which she had darkly hinted might await
myself.

When I turned to retrace my steps, lo! the sun had set below the rim of
the world. But upon the tall, smooth-faced cliffs, which sheered upward
to the sharp ridge of Inkume, lay an afterglow of surpassing
brilliancy--a strange, weird, boding light, as though they had been
plunged in a sea of blood. Blood-red, too, were the spurs of the great
range. _Hau_! It was wonderful, it was terrifying, it was _tagati_!
Never did I behold anything like it before.

And now, as I gazed in marvel and awe, the redness grew deeper, then
faded; and the great rocks took on a colour as of the livid
blue-blackness of a mighty thunder-cloud. And as the shadows were
thrown out thus clearly, and every line stood forth, while every hollow
receded into gloom, I noticed that the mountains here swept round into
almost a half-circle. In front opened the mouth of the pass through
which I had come, while on the one hand and on the other a deep, gloomy
rift--bush-grown, overhung--ran up far into the heart of the range.
_Hau_! It was as if a cold thing were creeping up my back; for now, as