ng to
stories, and hold a good narrator in high repute; therefore, these two
sat with faces all animation and heads bent eagerly forward. Then,
having taken several copious pinches of snuff, old Untuswa commenced the
tale which follows.

CHAPTER ONE.

THE CHIEF OF THE BLUE CATTLE.

You will remember, _Nkose_, how we of the Royal House of Dingiswayo, of
the tribe of Umtetwa, with the Amandebeli, went out from the land of
Zulu to found a new nation, and how we shut back the overwhelming number
of the spears of Tshaka in the gates of the great Kwahlamba mountains.
So, too, you will remember how, having hailed our leader Umzilikazi as
king we swept ever onward, to the west and to the north, stamping flat
the tribes within our path and laying waste the land, leaving behind us
a desert that the cubs of the Lion of Zulu would find difficult of
crossing. So, too, you will remember, how we built the great Kraal of
Ekupumuleni, and subdued all the tribes round about, and sat in our fair
resting-place, feared as a great and mighty people. For of the races
around, all came in to _konza_ to Umzilikazi, and to pay tribute, and
such as did not--well, it was not long before the trumpeting of the
Elephant sounded in their ears, dwelt they even two or three moons
distant. But there was one tribe or nation which refused thus to
_konza_, and of it I shall speak presently.

As time went by, our new nation grew in numbers and strength--though the
latter might be our weakness in the day of grave trial. For we had
incorporated into our army the youth of such tribes as we had conquered
and whom the king deemed capable of bearing arms. These Amaholi, or
slaves, were really our dogs, and even of this they might have been
proud, for in our veins ran the clear unmixed blood of the "People of
the Heavens;" [Such is the literal meaning of the word "Amazulu"] but
did the spears of Tshaka show upon the skyline there would not be one of
these miserable jackals within a day's march of them by the time they
drew near. Howbeit, although they were too cowardly to fight for us, we
did not fear lest they should turn and fight against us, for the spears
of Tshaka would devour them just as readily as they would ourselves;
nay, more readily, for we Amandebeli were as lions, and dealt back blow
for blow, were the enemy tenfold our own strength.

Time passed by, and as our _impis_ went farther and farther afield,
reports came in of a wonderful lan