CHAPTER III
UMSLOPOGAAS OF THE AXE
Next morning at the dawn guides arrived from the Town of the Axe,bringing with them a yoke of spare oxen, which showed that its Chief wasreally anxious to see me. So, in due course we inspanned and started,the guides leading us by a rough but practicable road down the steephillside to the saucer-like plain beneath, where I saw many cattlegrazing. Travelling some miles across this plain, we came at last to ariver of no great breadth that encircled a considerable Kaffir townon three sides, the fourth being protected by a little line of koppieswhich were joined together with walls. Also the place was stronglyfortified with fences and in every other way known to the native mind.
With the help of the spare oxen we crossed the river safely at the ford,although it was very full, and on the further side were received by aguard of men, tall, soldierlike fellows, all of them armed with axes asthe messengers had been. They led us up to the cattle enclosure in thecentre of the town, which although it could be used to protect beasts incase of emergency, also served the practical purpose of a public square.
Here some ceremony was in progress, for soldiers stood round the kraalwhile heralds pranced and shouted. At the head of the place in frontof the chief's big hut was a little group of people, among whom a big,gaunt man sat upon a stool clad in a warrior's dress with a great andvery long axe hafted with wire-lashed rhinoceros horn, laid across hisknees.
Our guides led me, with Hans sneaking after me like a dejected andlow-bred dog (for the waggon had stopped outside the gate), across thekraal to where the heralds shouted and the big man sat yawning. At onceI noted that he was a very remarkable person, broad and tall and spareof frame, with long, tough-looking arms and a fierce face which remindedme of that of the late King Dingaan. Also he had a great hole in hishead above the temple where the skull had been driven in by some blow,and keen, royal-looking eyes.
He looked up and seeing me, cried out,
"What! Has a white man come to fight me for the chieftainship of thePeople of the Axe? Well, he is a small one."
"No," I answered quietly, "but Macumazahn, Watcher-by-Night, has cometo visit you in answer to your request, O Umslopogaas; Macumazahn whosename was known in this land before yours was told of, O Umslopogaas."
The Chief heard and rising from his seat, lifted the big axe in salute.
"I greet you, O Macumazahn," he said, "who although you are smallin stature, are very great indeed in fame. Have I not heard how youconquered Bangu, although Saduko slew him, and of how you gave up thesix hundred head of cattle to Tshoza and the men of the Amangwane whofought with you, the cattle that were your own? Have I not heard how youled the Tulwana against the Usutu and stamped flat three of Cetywayo'sregiments in the days of Panda, although, alas! because of an oath ofmine I lifted no steel in that battle, I who will have nothing to dowith those that spring from the blood of Senzangacona--perhaps becauseI smell too strongly of it, Macumazahn. Oh! yes, I have heard these andmany other things concerning you, though until now it has never beenmy fortune to look upon your face, O Watcher-by-Night, and therefore Igreet you well, Bold one, Cunning one, Upright one, Friend of us BlackPeople."
"Thank you," I answered, "but you said something about fighting. Ifthere is to be anything of the sort, let us get it over. If you want tofight, I am quite ready," and I tapped the rifle which I carried.
The grim Chief broke into a laugh and said,
"Listen. By an ancient law any man on this day in each year may fight mefor this Chieftainship, as I fought and conquered him who held it beforeme, and take it from me with my life and the axe, though of late noneseems to like the business. But that law was made before there wereguns, or men like Macumazahn who, it is said, can hit a lizard on a wallat fifty paces. Therefore I tell you that if you wish to fight me with arifle, O Macumazahn, I give in and you may have the chieftainship," andhe laughed again in his fierce fashion.
"I think it is too hot for fighting either with guns or axes, andChieftainships are honey that is full of stinging bees," I answered.
Then I took my seat on a stool that had been brought for me and placedby the side of Umslopogaas, after which the ceremony went on.
The heralds cried out the challenge to all and sundry to come and fightthe Holder of the Axe for the chieftainship of the Axe without theslightest result, since nobody seemed to desire to do anything of thesort. Then, after a pause, Umslopogaas rose, swinging his formidableweapon round his head and declared that by right of conquest he wasChief of the Tribe for the ensuing year, an announcement that everybodyaccepted without surprise.
Again the heralds summoned all and sundry who had grievances, to comeforward and to state them and receive redress.
After a little pause there appeared a very handsome woman with largeeyes, particularly brilliant eyes that rolled as though they were insearch of someone. She was finely dressed and I saw by the ornaments shewore that she held the rank of a chief's wife.
"I, Monazi, have a complaint to make," she said, "as it is the rightof the humblest to do on this day. In succession to Zinita whom Dingaanslew with her children, I am your _Inkosikaas_, your head-wife, OUmslopogaas."
"That I know well enough," said Umslopogaas, "what of it?"
"This, that you neglect me for other women, as you neglected Zinitafor Nada the Beautiful, Nada the witch. I am childless, as are all yourwives because of the curse that this Nada left behind her. I demand thatthis curse should be lifted from me. For your sake I abandoned Loustathe Chief, to whom I was betrothed, and this is the end of it, that I amneglected and childless."
"Am I the Heavens Above that I can cause you to bear children, woman?"asked Umslopogaas angrily. "Would that you had clung to Lousta, myblood-brother and my friend, whom you lament, and left me alone."
"That still may chance, if I am not better treated," answered Monaziwith a flash of her eyes. "Will you dismiss yonder new wife of yours andgive me back my place, and will you lift the curse of Nada off me, orwill you not?"
"As to the first," answered Umslopogaas, "learn, Monazi, that I will notdismiss my new wife, who at least is gentler-tongued and truer-heartedthan you are. As to the second, you ask that which it is not in my powerto give, since children are the gift of Heaven, and barrenness is itsbane. Moreover, you have done ill to bring into this matter the name ofone who is dead, who of all women was the sweetest and most innocent.Lastly, I warn you before the people to cease from your plottings ortraffic with Lousta, lest ill come of them to you, or him, even thoughhe be my blood-brother, or to both."
"Plottings!" cried Monazi in a shrill and furious voice. "DoesUmslopogaas talk of plottings? Well, I have heard that Chaka the Lionleft a son, and that this son has set a trap for the feet of him whosits on Chaka's throne. Perchance that king has heard it also; perchancethe People of the Axe will soon have another Chief."
"Is it thus?" said Umslopogaas quietly. "And if so, will he be namedLousta?"
Then his smouldering wrath broke out and in a kind of roaring voice hewent on,
"What have I done that the wives of my bosom should be my betrayers,those who would give me to death? Zinita betrayed me to Dingaan andin reward was slain, and my children with her. Now would you, Monazi,betray me to Cetywayo--though in truth there is naught to betray? Well,if so, bethink you and let Lousta bethink him of what chanced to Zinita,and of what chances to those who stand before the axe of Umslopogaas.What have I done, I say, that women should thus strive to work me ill?"
"This," answered Monazi with a mocking laugh, "that you have loved oneof them too well. If he would live in peace, he who has wives shouldfavour all alike. Least of anything should he moan continually over onewho is dead, a witch who has left a curse behind her and thus insultedand do wrong to the living. Also he would be wise to attend to thematters of his own tribe and household and to cease from ambitions thatmay bring him to the assegai, and them with him."
"I have heard your counsel, Wife, so now begone!" said Umslopogaas,looking at her
very strangely, and it seemed to me not without fear.
"Have you wives, Macumazahn?" he asked of me in a low voice when she wasout of hearing.
"Only among the spirits," I answered.
"Well for you then; moreover, it is a bond between us, for I too havebut one true wife and she also is among the spirits. But go rest awhile, and later we will talk."
So I went, leaving the Chief to his business, thinking as I walked awayof a certain message with which I was charged for him and of how intothat message came names that I had just heard, namely that of a mancalled Lousta and of a woman called Monazi. Also I thought of the hintswhich in her jealous anger and disappointment at her lack of children,this woman had dropped about a plot against him who sat on the throne ofChaka, which of course must mean King Cetywayo himself.
I came to the guest-hut, which proved to be a very good place and clean;also in it I found plenty of food made ready for me and for my servants.After eating I slept for a time as it is always my fashion to do when Ihave nothing else on hand, since who knows for how long he may be keptawake at night? Indeed, it was not until the sun had begun to sinkthat a messenger came, saying that the Chief desired to see me if I hadrested. So I went to his big hut which stood alone with a strong fenceset round it at a distance, so that none could come within hearing ofwhat was said, even at the door of the hut. I observed also that a manarmed with an axe kept guard at the gateway in this fence round which hewalked from time to time.
The Chief Umslopogaas was seated on a stool by the door of his hut withhis rhinoceros-horn-handled axe which was fastened to his right wristby a thong, leaning against his thigh, and a wolfskin hanging from hisbroad shoulders. Very grim and fierce he looked thus, with the red lightof the sunset playing on him. He greeted me and pointed to another stoolon which I sat myself down. Apparently he had been watching my eyes, forhe said,
"I see that like other creatures which move at night, such as leopardsand hyenas, you take note of all, O Watcher-by-Night, even of thesoldier who guards this place and of where the fence is set and of howits gate is fashioned."
"Had I not done so I should have been dead long ago, O Chief."
"Yes, and because it is not my nature to do so as I should, perchanceI shall soon be dead. It is not enough to be fierce and foremost in thebattle, Macumazahn. He who would sleep safe and of whom, when he dies,folk will say 'He has eaten' (i.e., he has lived out his life), must domore than this. He must guard his tongue and even his thoughts! he mustlisten to the stirring of rats in the thatch and look for snakes inthe grass; he must trust few, and least of all those who sleep upon hisbosom. But those who have the Lion's blood in them or who are prone tocharge like a buffalo, often neglect these matters and therefore in theend they fall into a pit."
"Yes," I answered, "especially those who have the lion's blood in them,whether that lion be man or beast."
This I said because of the rumours I had heard that this Slaughterer wasin truth the son of Chaka. Therefore not knowing whether or no he wereplaying on the word "lion," which was Chaka's title, I wished to drawhim, especially as I saw in his face a great likeness to Chaka's brotherDingaan, whom, it was whispered, this same Umslopogaas had slain. As ithappened I failed, for after a pause he said,
"Why do you come to visit me, Macumazahn, who have never done sobefore?"
"I do not come to visit you, Umslopogaas. That was not my intention. Youbrought me, or rather the flooded rivers and you together brought me,for I was on my way to Natal and could not cross the drifts."
"Yet I think you have a message for me, White Man, for not long ago acertain wandering witch-doctor who came here told me to expect you andthat you had words to say to me."
"Did he, Umslopogaas? Well, it is true that I have a message, though itis one that I did not mean to deliver."
"Yet being here, perchance you will deliver it, Macumazahn, for thosewho have messages and will not speak them, sometimes come to trouble."
"Yes, being here, I will deliver it, seeing that so it seems to befated. Tell me, do you chance to know a certain Small One who isgreat, a certain Old One whose brain is young, a doctor who is calledOpener-of-Roads?"
"I have heard of him, as have my forefathers for generations."
"Indeed, and if it pleases you to tell me, Umslopogaas, what might bethe names of those forefathers of yours, who have heard of this doctorfor generations? They must have been short-lived men and as such Ishould like to know of them."
"That you cannot," replied Umslopogaas shortly, "since they are_hlonipa_ (i.e. not to be spoken) in this land."
"Indeed," I said again. "I thought that rule applied only to the namesof kings, but of course I am but an ignorant white man who may well bemistaken on such matters of your Zulu customs."
"Yes, O Macumazahn, you may be mistaken or--you may not. It mattersnothing. But what of this message of yours?"
"It came at the end of a long story, O Bulalio. But since you seek toknow, these were the words of it, so nearly as I can remember them."
Then sentence by sentence I repeated to him all that Zikali had said tome when he called me back after bidding me farewell, which doubtless hedid because he wished to cut his message more deeply into the tablets ofmy mind.
Umslopogaas listened to every syllable with a curious intentness, andthen asked me to repeat it all again, which I did.
"Lousta! Monazi!" he said slowly. "Well, you heard those names to-day,did you not, White Man? And you heard certain things from the lipsof this Monazi who was angry, that give colour to that talk of theOpener-of-Roads. It seems to me," he added, glancing about him andspeaking in a low voice, "that what I suspected is true and that withoutdoubt I am betrayed."
"I do not understand," I replied indifferently. "All this talk is darkto me, as is the message of the Opener-of-Roads, or rather its meaning.By whom and about what are you betrayed?"
"Let that snake sleep. Do not kick it with your foot. Suffice it you toknow that my head hangs upon this matter; that I am a rat in a forkedstick, and if the stick is pressed on by a heavy hand, then where is therat?"
"Where all rats go, I suppose, that is, unless they are wise rats thatbite the hand which holds the stick before it is pressed down."
"What is the rest of this story of yours, Macumazahn, which was toldbefore the Opener-of-Roads gave you that message? Does it please you torepeat it to me that I may judge of it with my ears?"
"Certainly," I answered, "on one condition, that what the ears hear, theheart shall keep to itself alone."
Umslopogaas stooped and laid his hand upon the broad blade of the weaponbeside him, saying,
"By the Axe I swear it. If I break the oath be the Axe my doom."
Then I told him the tale, as I have set it down already, thinkingto myself that of it he would understand little, being but a wildwarrior-man. As it chanced, however, I was mistaken, for he seemed tounderstand a great deal, perchance because such primitive natures are incloser touch with high and secret things than we imagine; perchance forother reasons with which I became acquainted later.
"It stands thus," he said when I had finished, "or so I think. You,Macumazahn, seek certain women who are dead to learn whether they stilllive, or are really dead, but so far have failed to find them. Stillseeking, you asked the counsel of Zikali, Opener-of-Roads, he who amongother titles is also called 'Home of Spirits.' He answered that he couldnot satisfy your heart because this tree was too tall for him to climb,but that far to the north there lives a certain white witch who haspowers greater than his, being able to fly to the top of any tree, andto this white witch he bade you go. Have I the story right thus far?"
I answered that he had.
"Good! Then Zikali went on to choose you companions for your journey,but two, leaving out the guards or servants. I, Umhlopekazi, calledBulalio the Slaughterer, called the Woodpecker also, was one of these,and that little yellow monkey of a man whom I saw with you to-day,called Hansi, was the other. Then you made a mock of Zikali bydetermining
not to visit me, Umhlopekazi, and not to go north to findthe great white Queen of whom he had told you, but to return to Natal.Is that so?"
I said it was.
"Then the rain fell and the winds blew and the rivers rose in wrath sothat you could not return to Natal, and after all by chance, or by fate,or by the will of Zikali, the wizard of wizards, you drifted here to thekraal of me, Umhlopekazi, and told me this story."
"Just so," I answered.
"Well, White Man, how am I to know that all this is not but a trap formy feet which already seem to feel cords between the toes of both ofthem? What token do you bring, O Watcher-by-Night? How am I to know thatthe Opener-of-Roads really sent me this message which has been deliveredso strangely by one who wished to travel on another path? The wanderingwitch-doctor told me that he who came would bear some sign."
"I can't say," I answered, "at least in words. But," I added afterreflection, "as you ask for a token, perhaps I might be able to show yousomething that would bring proof to your heart, if there were any secretplace----"
Umslopogaas walked to the gateway of the fence and saw that the sentrywas at his post. Then he walked round the hut casting an eye upon itsroof, and muttered to me as he returned.
"Once I was caught thus. There lived a certain wife of mine who set herear to the smoke-hole and so brought about the death of many, and amongthem of herself and of our children. Enter. All is safe. Yet if youtalk, speak low."
So we went into the hut taking the stools with us, and seated ourselvesby the fire that burned there on to which Umslopogaas threw chips ofresinous wood.
"Now," he said.
I opened my shirt and by the clear light of the flame showed him theimage of Zikali which hung about my neck. He stared at it, though touchit he would not. Then he stood up and lifting his great axe, he salutedthe image with the word "_Makosi!_" the salute that is given to greatwizards because they are supposed to be the home of many spirits.
"It is the big Medicine, the Medicine itself," he said, "that which hasbeen known in the land since the time of Senzangacona, the father of theZulu Royal House, and as it is said, before him."
"How can that be?" I asked, "seeing that this image represents Zikali,Opener-of-Roads, as an old man, and Senzangacona died many years ago?"
"I do not know," he answered, "but it is so. Listen. There was a certainMopo, or as some called him, Umbopo, who was Chaka's body-servant and myfoster-father, and he told me that twice this Medicine," and he pointedto the image, "was sent to Chaka, and that each time the Lion obeyed themessage that came with it. A third time it was sent, but he did not obeythe message and then--where was Chaka?"
Here Umslopogaas passed his hand across his mouth, a significant gestureamongst the Zulus.
"Mopo," I said, "yes, I have heard the story of Mopo, also that Chaka'sbody became _his_ servant in the end, since Mopo killed him with thehelp of the princes Dingaan and Umhlangana. Also I have heard that thisMopo still lives, though not in Zululand."
"Does he, Macumazahn?" said Umslopogaas, taking snuff from a spoon andlooking at me keenly over the spoon. "You seem to know a great deal,Macumazahn; too much as some might think."
"Yes," I answered, "perhaps I do know too much, or at any rate more thanI want to know. For instance, O fosterling of Mopo and son of--was thelady named Baleka?--I know a good deal about _you_."
Umslopogaas stared at me and laying his hand upon the great axe, halfrose. Then he sat down again.
"I think that this," and I touched the image of Zikali upon my breast,"would turn even the blade of the axe named Groan-maker," I said andpaused. As nothing happened, I went on, "For instance, again I think Iknow--or have I dreamed it?--that a certain chief, whose mother's nameI believe was Baleka--by the way, was she not one of Chaka's'sisters'?--has been plotting against that son of Panda who sits uponthe throne, and that his plots have been betrayed, so that he is in somedanger of his life."
"Macumazahn," said Umslopogaas hoarsely, "I tell you that did you notwear the Great Medicine on your breast, I would kill you where you sitand bury you beneath the floor of the hut, as one who knows--too much."
"It would be a mistake, Umslopogaas, one of the many that you have made.But as I _do_ wear the Medicine, the question does not arise, does it?"
Again he made no answer and I went on, "And now, what about this journeyto the north? If indeed I must make it, would you wish to accompany me?"
Umslopogaas rose from the stool and crawled out of the hut, apparentlyto make some inspection. Presently he returned and remarked that thenight was clear although there were heavy storm clouds on the horizon,by which I understood him to convey in Zulu metaphor that it was safefor us to talk, but that danger threatened from afar.
"Macumazahn," he said, "we speak under the blanket of theOpener-of-Roads who sits upon your heart, and whose sign you bring tome, as he sent me word that you would, do we not?"
"I suppose so," I answered. "At any rate we speak as man to man, andhitherto the honour of Macumazahn has not been doubted in Zululand. Soif you have anything to say, Chief Bulalio, say it at once, for I amtired and should like to eat and rest."
"Good, Macumazahn. I have this to say. I who am the son of one who wasgreater than he, have plotted to seize the throne of Zululand from himwho sits upon that throne. It is true, for I grew weary of my idlenessas a petty chief. Moreover, I should have succeeded with the help ofZikali, who hates the House of Senzangacona, though me, who am of itsblood, he does not hate, because ever I have striven against that House.But it seems from his message and those words spoken by an angry woman,that I have been betrayed, and that to-night or to-morrow night, orby the next moon, the slayers will be upon me, smiting me before I cansmite, at which I cannot grumble."
"By whom have you been betrayed, Umslopogaas?"
"By that wife of mine, as I think, Macumazahn. Also by Lousta, myblood-brother, over whom she has cast her net and made false to me,so that he hopes to win her whom he has always loved and with her theChieftainship of the Axe. Now what shall I do?--Tell me, you whose eyescan see in the dark."
I thought a moment and answered, "I think that if I were you, I wouldleave this Lousta to sit in my place for a while as Chief of the Peopleof the Axe, and take a journey north, Umslopogaas. Then if trouble comesfrom the Great House where a king sits, it will come to Lousta who canshow that the People of the Axe are innocent and that you are far away."
"That is cunning, Macumazahn. There speaks the Great Medicine. If I gonorth, who can say that I have plotted, and if I leave my betrayer in myplace, who can say that I was a traitor, who have set him where I usedto sit and left the land upon a private matter? And now tell me of thisjourney of yours."
So I told him everything, although until that moment I had not made upmy mind to go upon this journey, I who had come here to his kraalby accident, or so it seemed, and by accident had delivered to him acertain message.
"You wish to consult a white witch-doctoress, Macumazahn, who accordingto Zikali lives far to the north, as to the dead. Now I too, thoughperchance you will not think it of a black man, desire to learn of thedead; yes, of a certain wife of my youth who was sister and friend aswell as wife, whom too I loved better than all the world. Also I desireto learn of a brother of mine whose name I never speak, who ruled thewolves with me and who died at my side on yonder Witch-Mountain, havingmade him a mat of men to lie on in a great and glorious fight. For ofhim as of the woman I think all day and dream all night, and I wouldknow if they still live anywhere and I may look to see them again whenI have died as a warrior should and as I hope to do. Do you understand,Watcher-by-Night?"
I answered that I understood very well, as his case seemed to be like myown.
"It may happen," went on Umslopogaas, "that all this talk of the deadwho are supposed to live after they are dead, is but as the sound ofwind whispering in the reeds at night, that comes from nowhere and goesnowhere and means nothing. But at least ours will be a great journey inwhich we shall find advent
ure and fighting, since it is well known inthe land that wherever Macumazahn goes there is plenty of both. Also itseems well for reasons that have been spoken of between us, as Zikalisays, that I should leave the country of the Zulus for a while, whodesire to die a man's death at the last and not to be trapped like ajackal in a pit. Lastly I think that we shall agree well together thoughmy temper is rough at times, and that neither of us will desert theother in trouble, though of that little yellow dog of yours I am not sosure."
"I answer for him," I replied. "Hans is a true man, cunning also whenonce he is away from drink."
Then we spoke of plans for our journey, and of when and where we shouldmeet to make it, talking till it was late, after which I went to sleepin the guest-hut.