ose who went with you
lie dead?"

"I acknowledge," I answered, "that I wrote to tell my wife to come to
this place where I had been building houses, as you see, and to bring
with her any of our companions who cared to trek here, or, failing that,
to go alone. This I did because Dingaan had told me, whether in jest or
in earnest I did not know, that he had given orders that my said wife
should be kidnapped, as he desired to make her one of his women, having
thought her beautiful when he saw her. Also what I did was done with the
knowledge and by the wish of the late Governor Retief, as can be shown
by his writing on my letter. I acknowledge also that I escaped when all
my brothers were killed, as did the Hottentot Hans, and if you wish to
know I will tell you how we escaped and why."

The commandant made a further note, then he said:

"Let the witness Hernan Pereira be called and sworn."

This was done and he was ordered to tell his tale.

As may be imagined, it was a long tale, and one that had evidently been
prepared with great care. I will only set down its blackest falsehoods.
He assured the court that he had no enmity against me and had never
attempted to kill me or do me any harm, although it was true that his
heart felt sore because, against her father's will, I had stolen away
the affection of his betrothed, who was now my wife. He said that he had
stopped in Zululand because he knew that I should marry her as soon as
she came of age, and it was too great pain for him to see this done.
He said that while he was there, before the arrival of the commission,
Dingaan and some of his captains had told him that I had again and again
urged him, Dingaan, to kill the Boers because they were traitors to the
sovereign of England, but that he, Dingaan, had refused to do so. He
said that when Retief came up with the commission he tried to warn him
against me, but that Retief would not listen, being infatuated with me
as many others were, and he looked towards the Prinsloos.

Then came the worst of all. He said that while he was engaged in
mending some guns for Dingaan in one of his private huts, he overheard
a conversation between myself and Dingaan which took place outside the
hut, I, of course, not knowing that he was within. The substance of
this conversation was that I again urged Dingaan to kill the Boers and
afterwards to send an impi to massacre their wives and families. Only
I asked him to give me time to get aw