CHAPTER V
THE END OF THE LAAGER
I gasped with wonder and rage. What did that scoundrel Indaba-zimbimean? Why had I been drawn out of the laager and seized, and why, beingseized, was I not instantly killed? They called me the "White Spirit."Could it be that they were keeping me to make me into medicine? I hadheard of such things being done by Zulus and kindred tribes, and myblood ran cold at the thought. What an end! To be pounded up, mademedicine of, and eaten!
However, I had little time for further reflection, for now the wholeImpi was pouring back from the donga and river-banks where it had hiddenwhile their ruse was carried out, and once more formed up on the sideof the slope. I was taken to the crest of the slope and placed in thecentre of the reserve line in the especial charge of a huge Zulu namedBombyane, the same man who had come forward as a herald. This bruteseemed to regard me with an affectionate curiosity. Now and again hepoked me in the ribs with the handle of his assegai, as though to assurehimself that I was solid, and several times he asked me to be so goodas to prophesy how many Zulus would be killed before the "Amaboona," asthey called the Boers, were "eaten up."
At first I took no notice of him beyond scowling, but presently, goadedinto anger, I prophesied that he would be dead in an hour!
He only laughed aloud. "Oh! White Spirit," he said, "is it so? Well,I've walked a long way from Zululand, and shall be glad of a rest."
And he got it shortly, as will be seen.
Now the Zulus began to sing again--
"We have caught the White Spirit, my brother! my brother! Iron-Tongue whispered of him, he smelt him out, my brother. Now the Maboona are ours--they are already dead, my brother."
So that treacherous villain Indaba-zimbi had betrayed me. Suddenly thechief of the Impi, a grey-haired man named Sususa, held up his assegai,and instantly there was silence. Then he spoke to some indunas who stoodnear him. Instantly they ran to the right and left down the firstline, saying a word to the captain of each company as they passedhim. Presently they were at the respective ends of the line, andsimultaneously held up their spears. As they did so, with an awfulroar of "Bulala Amaboona"--"Slay the Boers," the entire line, numberingnearly a thousand men, bounded forward like a buck startled from itsform, and rushed down upon the little laager. It was a splendid sightto see them, their assegais glittering in the sunlight as they rose andfell above their black shields, their war-plumes bending back upon thewind, and their fierce faces set intently on the foe, while the solidearth shook beneath the thunder of their rushing feet. I thought of mypoor friends the Dutchmen, and trembled. What chance had they against somany?
Now the Zulus, running in the shape of a bow so as to wrap the laagerround on three sides, were within seventy yards, and now from everywaggon broke tongues of fire. Over rolled a number of the Umtetwa,but the rest cared little. Forward they sped straight to the laager,striving to force a way in. But the Boers plied them with volley aftervolley, and, packed as the Zulus were, the elephant guns loaded withslugs and small shot did frightful execution. Only one man even got onto a waggon, and as he did so I saw a Boer woman strike him on the headwith an axe. He fell down, and slowly, amid howls of derision from thetwo lines on the hill-side, the Zulus drew back.
"Let us go, father!" shouted the soldiers on the slope, among whom Iwas, to their chief, who had come up. "You have sent out the littlegirls to fight, and they are frightened. Let us show them the way."
"No, no!" the chief Sususa answered, laughing. "Wait a minute and thelittle girls will grow to women, and women are good enough to fightagainst Boers!"
The attacking Zulus heard the mockery of their fellows, and rushedforward again with a roar. But the Boers in the laager had found time toload, and they met with a warm reception. Reserving their fire till theZulus were packed like sheep in a kraal, they loosed into them with theroers, and the warriors fell in little heaps. But I saw that the bloodof the Umtetwas was up; they did not mean to be beaten back this time,and the end was near. See! six men had leapt on to a waggon, slain theman behind it, and sprung into the laager. They were killed there, butothers followed, and then I turned my head. But I could not shut my earsto the cries of rage and death, and the terrible _S'gee! S'gee!_ of thesavages as they did their work of murder. Once only I looked up and sawpoor Hans Botha standing on a waggon smiting down men with the butt ofhis rifle. The assegais shot up towards him like tongues of steel, andwhen I looked again he was gone.
I turned sick with fear and rage. But alas! what could I do? They wereall dead now, and probably my own turn was coming, only my death withnot be so swift.
The fight was ended, and the two lines on the slope broke their order,and moved down to the laager. Presently we were there, and a dreadfulsight it was. Many of the attacking Zulus were dead--quite fifty Ishould say, and at least a hundred and fifty were wounded, some of themmortally. The chief Sususa gave an order, the dead men were picked upand piled in a heap, while those who were slightly hurt walked off tofind some one to tie up their wounds. But the more serious cases metwith a different treatment. The chief or one of his indunas consideredeach case, and if it was in any way bad, the man was taken up and throwninto the river which ran near. None of them offered any objection,though one poor fellow swam to shore again. He did not stop there long,however, for they pushed him back and drowned him by force.
The strangest case of all was that of the chief's own brother. He hadbeen captain of the line, and his ankle was smashed by a bullet. Sususacame up to him, and, having examined the wound, rated him soundly forfailing in the first onslaught.
The poor fellow made the excuse that it was not his fault, as the Boershad hit him in the first rush. His brother admitted the truth of this,and talked to him amicably.
"Well," he said at length, offering him a pinch of snuff, "you cannotwalk again."
"No, chief," said the wounded man, looking at his ankle.
"And to-morrow we must walk far," went on Sususa.
"Yes, chief."
"Say, then, will you sit here on the veldt, or----" and he noddedtowards the river.
The man dropped his head on his breast for a minute as though inthought. Presently he lifted it and looked Sususa straight in the face.
"My ankle pains me, my brother," he said; "I think I will go back toZululand, for there is the only kraal I wish to see again, even if Icreep about it like a snake."[*]
[*] The Zulus believe that after death their spirits enter into the bodies of large green snakes, which glide about the kraals. To kill these snakes is sacrilege.
"It is well, my brother," said the chief. "Rest softly," and havingshaken hands with him, he gave an order to one of the indunas, andturned away.
Then men came, and, supporting the wounded man, led him down to thebanks of the stream. Here, at his request, they tied a heavy stoneround his neck, and then threw him into a deep pool. I saw the whole sadscene, and the victim never even winced. It was impossible not to admirethe extraordinary courage of the man, or to avoid being struck withthe cold-blooded cruelty of his brother the chief. And yet the act wasnecessary from his point of view. The man must either die swiftly, orbe left to perish of starvation, for no Zulu force will encumber itselfwith wounded men. Years of merciless warfare had so hardened thesepeople that they looked on death as nothing, and were, to do themjustice, as willing to meet it themselves as to inflict it on others.When this very Impi had been sent out by the Zulu King Dingaan, itconsisted of some nine thousand men. Now it numbered less than three;all the rest were dead. They, too, would probably soon be dead. What didit matter? They lived by war to die in blood. It was their natural end."Kill till you are killed." That is the motto of the Zulu soldier. Ithas the merit of simplicity.
Meanwhile the warriors were looting the waggons, including my own,having first thrown all the dead Boers into a heap. I looked at theheap; all of them were there, including the two stout fraus, poorthings. But I missed one body, that of Hans Botha's daughter, littleTota.
A wild hope came into my heart that she might have escaped; butno, it was not possible. I could only pray that she was already at rest.
Just then the great Zulu, Bombyane, who had left my side to indulge inthe congenial occupation of looting, came out of a waggon crying thathe had got the "little white one." I looked; he was carrying the childTota, gripping her frock in one of his huge black hands. He stalkedup to where we were, and held the child before the chief. "Is it dead,father?" he said, with a laugh.
Now, as I could well see, the child was not dead, but had been hiddenaway, and fainted with fear.
The chief glanced at it carelessly, and said--
"Find out with your kerrie."
Acting on this hint the black devil held up the child, and was about tokill it with his knobstick. This was more than I could bear. I sprang athim and struck him with all my force in the face, little caring if I wasspeared or not. He dropped Tota on the ground.
"Ou!" he said, putting his hand to his nose, "the White Spirit has ahard fist. Come, Spirit, I will fight you for the child."
The soldiers cheered and laughed. "Yes! yes!" they said, "let Bombyanefight the White Spirit for the child. Let them fight with assegais."
For a moment I hesitated. What chance had I against this black giant?But I had promised poor Hans to save the child if I could, and what didit matter? As well die now as later. However, I had wit enough left tomake a favour of it, and intimated to the chief through Indaba-zimbithat I was quite willing to condescend to kill Bombyane, on conditionthat if I did so the child's life should be given to me. Indaba-zimbiinterpreted my words, but I noticed that he would not look on me ashe spoke, but covered his face with his hands and spoke of me as "theghost" or the "son of the spirit." For some reason that I have neverquite understood, the chief consented to the duel. I fancy it wasbecause he believed me to be more than mortal, and was anxious to seethe last of Bombyane.
"Let them fight," he said. "Give them assegais and no shields; the childshall be to him who conquers."
"Yes! yes!" cried the soldiers. "Let them fight. Don't be afraid,Bombyane; if he is a spirit, he's a very small one."
"I never was frightened of man or beast, and I am not going to run awayfrom a White Ghost," answered the redoubtable Bombyane, as he examinedthe blade of his great bangwan or stabbing assegai.
Then they made a ring round us, gave me a similar assegai, and set ussome ten paces apart. I kept my face as calm as I could, and tried toshow no signs of fear, though in my heart I was terribly afraid. Humanlyspeaking, my doom was on me. The giant warrior before me had used theassegai from a child--I had no experience of the weapon. Moreover,though I was quick and active, he must have been at least twice asstrong as I am. However, there was no help for it, so, setting my teeth,I grasped the great spear, breathed a prayer, and waited.
The giant stood awhile looking at me, and, as he stood, Indaba-zimbiwalked across the ring behind me, muttering as he passed, "Keep cool,Macumazahn, and wait for him. I will make it all right."
As I had not the slightest intention of commencing the fray, I thoughtthis good advice, though how Indaba-zimbi could "make it all right" Ifailed to see.
Heavens! how long that half-minute seemed! It happened many years ago,but the whole scene rises up before my eyes as I write. There behind uswas the blood-stained laager, and near it lay the piles of dead; roundus was rank upon rank of plumed savages, standing in silence to waitthe issue of the duel, and in the centre stood the grey-haired chief andgeneral, Sususa, in all his war finery, a cloak of leopard skin upon hisshoulders. At his feet lay the senseless form of little Tota, to myleft squatted Indaba-zimbi, nodding his white lock and mutteringsomething--probably spells; while in front was my giant antagonist, hisspear aloft and his plumes wavering in the gentle wind. Then over all,over grassy slope, river, and koppie, over the waggons of the laager,the piles of dead, the dense masses of the living, the swooningchild, over all shone the bright impartial sun, looking down like theindifferent eye of Heaven upon the loveliness of nature and the crueltyof man. Down by the river grew thorn-trees, and from them floatedthe sweet scent of the mimosa flower, and came the sound of cooingturtle-doves. I never smell the one or hear the other without the sceneflashing into my mind again, complete in its every detail.
Suddenly, without a sound, Bombyane shook his assegai and rushedstraight at me. I saw his huge form come; like a man in a dream, I sawthe broad spear flash on high; now he was on me! Then, prompted to it bysome providential impulse--or had the spells of Indaba-zimbi anything todo with the matter?--I dropped to my knee, and quick as light stretchedout my spear. He drove at me: the blade passed over my head. I felta weight on my assegai; it was wrenched from my hand; his great limbsknocked against me. I glanced round. Bombyane was staggering along withhead thrown back and outstretched arms from which his spear had fallen.His spear had fallen, but the blade of mine stood out between hisshoulders--I had transfixed him. He stopped, swung slowly round asthough to look at me: then with a sigh the giant sank down--_dead_.
For a moment there was silence; then a great cry rose--a cry of"Bombyane is dead. The White Spirit has slain Bombyane. Kill the wizard,kill the ghost who has slain Bombyane by witchcraft."
Instantly I was surrounded by fierce faces, and spears flashed before myeyes. I folded my arms and stood calmly waiting the end. In a momentit would have come, for the warriors were mad at seeing their championoverthrown thus easily. But presently through the tumult I heard thehigh, cracked voice of Indaba-zimbi.
"Stand back, you fools!" it cried; "can a spirit then be killed?"
"Spear him! spear him!" they roared in fury. "Let us see if he is aspirit. How did a spirit slay Bombyane with an assegai? Spear him,rain-maker, and we shall see."
"Stand back," cried Indaba-zimbi again, "and I will show you if hecan be killed. I will kill him myself, and call him back to life againbefore your eyes."
"Macumazahn, trust me," he whispered in my ear in the Sisutu tongue,which the Zulus did not understand. "Trust me; kneel on the grass beforeme, and when I strike at you with the spear, roll over like one dead;then, when you hear my voice again, get up. Trust me--it is your onlyhope."
Having no choice I nodded my head in assent, though I had not thefaintest idea of what he was about to do. The tumult lessened somewhat,and once more the warriors drew back.
"Great White Spirit--Spirit of victory," said Indaba-zimbi, addressingme aloud, and covering his eyes with his hand, "hear me and forgive me.These children are blind with folly, and think thee mortal because thouhast dealt death upon a mortal who dared to stand against thee. Deign tokneel down before me and let me pierce thy heart with this spear, thenwhen I call upon thee, arise unhurt."
I knelt down, not because I wished to, but because I must. I had notovermuch faith in Indaba-zimbi, and thought it probable that he wasin truth about to make an end of me. But really I was so worn out withfears, and the horrors of the night and day had so shaken my nerves,that I did not greatly care what befell me. When I had been kneelingthus for about half a minute Indaba-zimbi spoke.
"People of the Umtetwa, children of T'Chaka," he said, "draw back alittle way, lest an evil fall on you, for now the air is thick withghosts."
They drew back a space, leaving us in a circle about twelve yards indiameter.
"Look on him who kneels before you," went on Indaba-zimbi, "andlisten to my words, to the words of the witch-finder, the words of therain-maker, Indaba-zimbi, whose fame is known to you. He seems to be ayoung man, does he not? I tell you, children of the Umtetwa, he is noman. He is the Spirit who gives victory to the white men, he it is whogave them assegais that thunder and taught them how to slay. Why werethe Impis of Dingaan rolled back at the Blood River? Because _he_was there. Why did the Amaboona slay the people of Mosilikatze by thethousand? Because _he_ was there. And so I say to you that, had I notdrawn him from the laager by my magic but three hours ago, you wouldhave been conquered--yes, you would have been blown away like the dustbefore the wind;
you would have been burnt up like the dry grass inthe winter when the fire is awake among it. Ay, because he had but beenthere many of your bravest were slain in overcoming a few--a pinchof men who could be counted on the fingers. But because I loved you,because your chief Sususa is my half-brother--for had we not onefather?--I came to you, I warned you. Then you prayed me and I drew theSpirit forth. But you were not satisfied when the victory was yours,when the Spirit, of all you had taken asked but one little thing--awhite child to take away and sacrifice to himself, to make the medicineof his magic of----"
Here I could hardly restrain myself from interrupting, but thoughtbetter of it.
"You said him nay; you said, 'Let him fight with our bravest man, lethim fight with Bombyane the giant for the child.' And he deigned to slayBombyane as you have seen, and now you say, 'Slay him; he is no spirit.'Now I will show you if he is a spirit, for I will slay him beforeyour eyes, and call him to life again. But you have brought this uponyourselves. Had you believed, had you offered no insult to the Spirit,he would have stayed with you, and you should have become unconquerable.Now he will arise and leave you, and woe be on you if you try to stayhim.
"Now all men," he went on, "look for a space upon this assegai that Ihold up," and he lifted the bangwan of the deceased Bombyane high abovehis head so that all the multitude could see it. Every eye was fixedupon the broad bright spear. For a while he held it still, then he movedit round and round in a circle, muttering as he did so, and still theirgaze followed it. For my part, I watched his movements with the greatestanxiety. That assegai had already been nearer my person than I found atall pleasant, and I had no desire to make a further acquaintance withit. Nor, indeed, was I sure that Indaba-zimbi was not really going tokill me. I could not understand his proceedings at all, and at the bestI did not relish playing the _corpus vile_ to his magical experiments.
"_Look! look! look!_" he screamed.
Then suddenly the great spear flashed down towards my breast. I feltnothing, but, to my sight, it seemed as though it had passed through me.
"See!" roared the Zulus. "Indaba-zimbi has speared him; the red assegaistands out behind his back."
"Roll over, Macumazahn," Indaba-zimbi hissed in my ear, "roll over andpretend to die--quick! quick!"
I lost no time in following these strange instructions, but fallingon to my side, threw my arms wide, kicked my legs about, and died asartistically as I could. Presently I gave a stage shiver and lay still.
"See!" said the Zulus, "he is dead, the Spirit is dead. Look at theblood upon the assegai!"
"Stand back! stand back!" cried Indaba-zimbi, "or the ghost will hauntyou. Yes, he is dead, and now I will call him back to life again. Look!"and putting down his hand, he plucked the spear from wherever it wasfixed, and held it aloft. "The spear is red, is it not? Watch, men,watch! _it grows white!_"
"Yes, it grows white," they said. "Ou! it grows white."
"It grows white because the blood returns to whence it came," saidIndaba-zimbi. "Now, great Spirit, hear me. Thou art dead, the breath hasgone out of thy mouth. Yet hear me and arise. Awake, White Spirit, awakeand show thy power. Awake! arise unhurt!"
I began to respond cheerfully to this imposing invocation.
"Not so fast, Macumazahn," whispered Indaba-zimbi.
I took the hint, and first held up my arm, then lifted my head and letit fall again.
"He lives! by the head of T'Chaka he lives!" roared the soldiers,stricken with mortal fear.
Then slowly and with the greatest dignity I gradually arose, stretchedmy arms, yawned like one awaking from heavy sleep, turned and lookedupon them unconcernedly. While I did so, I noticed that old Indaba-zimbiwas almost fainting from exhaustion. Beads of perspiration stood uponhis brow, his limbs trembled, and his breast heaved.
As for the Zulus, they waited for no more. With a howl of terror thewhole regiment turned and fled across the rise, so that presently wewere left alone with the dead, and the swooning child.
"How on earth did you do that, Indaba-zimbi?" I asked in amaze.
"Do not ask me, Macumazahn," he gasped. "You white men are very clever,but you don't quite know everything. There are men in the world who canmake people believe they see things which they do not see. Let us begoing while we may, for when those Umtetwas have got over their fright,they will come back to loot the waggons, and then perhaps _they_ willbegin asking questions that I can't answer."
And here I may as well state that I never got any further information onthis matter from old Indaba-zimbi. But I have my theory, and here it isfor whatever it may be worth. I believe that Indaba-zimbi _mesmerized_the whole crowd of onlookers, myself included, making them believe thatthey saw the assegai in my heart, and the blood upon the blade. Thereader may smile and say, "Impossible;" but I would ask him howthe Indian jugglers do their tricks unless it is by mesmerism. Thespectators _seem_ to see the boy go under the basket and there piercedwith daggers, they _seem_ to see women in a trance supported in mid-airupon the point of a single sword. In themselves these things are notpossible, they violate the laws of nature, as those laws are known tous, and therefore must surely be illusion. And so through the glamourthrown upon them by Indaba-zimbi's will, that Zulu Impi seemed to see metransfixed with an assegai which never touched me. At least, that is mytheory; if any one has a better, let him adopt it. The explanation liesbetween illusion and magic of a most imposing character, and I prefer toaccept the first alternative.