hide and its contents,
conveying them into the king's hut.

Settling himself in his seat, Mozelkatse looked round the circle, and
all at once poured forth a torrent of words, which were those of welcome
to the white men who had come to see him, ending with a request that
they would settle among and trade with his people. The circle of black
warriors applauded, striking their shields with their spears, and as
their numbers had greatly increased, there not being less than two
hundred and fifty armed men in the enclosure, the applause was noisy
enough. As it died away, Wyzinski rose and stood before the chief, his
clear silvery voice ringing through the enclosure, "Some years since,"
said he, "I was travelling with my brethren far away on the banks of the
Limpopo. I saw much of the various nations around, and by chance met
with intelligent men of the tribe which calls Mozelkatse king."

The savage bent his head in token of acknowledgment of the compliment,
glancing round the circle of his braves proudly.

"I began," continued Wyzinski, "to speak their language, and as I did so
became aware of strange stories as to a spot far away towards the north,
where stone buildings exist. One of these I was told was as large as
Mozelkatse's kraal, having an opening about half its height, through
which they who desire to see the ruins must pass. My Matlokotlopo
brethren told also of strange figures cut in stone, and of curiously
carved birds also in stone. These houses must have once been the
dwellings of the white man, and the legends our fathers have taught tell
us of such white men, who came many thousand years since from the
regions of the rising sun, landing on these shores. To reach these
ruins, to prove that our fathers spoke the truth, is our object, and in
the name of our ancestors we ask thy protection, chief."

Drawing his robes round him, Wyzinski sat down, and for fully a minute
there was a dead silence.

"The broken huts exist," at length replied the king, "though none of us
have ever seen them, and none know what far-away tribe made them. To
reach them my white brethren must pass over the vast plains which lie
between the Limpopo and the Zambesi, which the foot of the white man has
never yet trod. The elephant and the lion abound there. The savage
moohoohoo breed undisturbed, and not less cruel tribes, to whom
Mozelkatse's name carries no terror, inhabit them. Let my white
brethren stay to hunt, and to tr