Umzilagazi’s name. For instance, for the word amanzi
(water) they would substitute the word miaha, for angazi
(I do not know) they would say angani.”*
“ What is the law with reference to twins,” I inquired.
“ Do not the Bechuana and Basuto kill them ? ”
“ Yes,” was the reply, “ the Bechuana do, but we let them
liye; it makes no difference with us. With the Bechuana,
when the lower teeth of any child; appear first it is all right
—a good sign; but when the upper front teeth appear first
it is bad, and they kill them.”f
“ What do you think becomes of you after you die ? ” was
my next question.
“ The Zulus belieye,” replied the king, “ that they turn
into some wild animal.”
From the way he spoke, I could infer that Lo-ben did
not himself belieye th is ; at any rate, it did not seem to
trouble his mind.
“ What do you think of the missionaries and their belief?”
I asked.
“ I suppose it is right,” said Lo-ben, “ because they say
so ; but then they are paid for’ saying so.”
At this juncture a man came in, and bending before the
king reported that sixty more cattle had died of lung sickness,
a plague that is very prevalent throughout South
Africa. I heard that oyer fifteen hundred head of cattle
were reported dead to the king in one week. The man’s
announcement had the effect of checking our conversation.
I imagined, however that Lo-ben had little sympathy with
missionary efforts. One of the missionaries had told him of
* This, however, I found to be an ordinary rule in savage etiquette—a
rule, but not a law.
t The reason of this is, that they think if the child grows up, bad luck
and calamity will attend the kraal; all will lose their lives, the man
alone surviving.
a heaven abounding with milk and honey. This was a
mistake. Such an ideal is hardly compatible with the
blood-thirsty appetite of this tribe of warriors, who are not
allowed to touch milk after coming to man’s estate.*
On resuming our conversation, I asked the king what the
war-cry was. He was, perhaps naturally, reluctant to state
that of his particular tribe, but told me that every tribe had
a cry peculiar to itself. Mr. Stewart then asked him about
the name “ Amandabeli.”
“Amandabeli,” said Lo-bengula, “ is an Abusuto word,
the proper name for my people is Zulu.”
This ended our interview with the king. I bade him
good-bye, and he said: “ When you come back to my
country I will send boys to meet you.” We parted as the
best of friends^ his farewell words being :
“ Go pleasantly, and come back quickly, son of the sea! ”
On our return, Fairbairn, Stewart, old Johnny and myself
had a parting dinner together at the “ Hew Valhalla.”
The king, generally speaking, had a very fair notion
of Britons, distinguishing them readily from the Boers,
whom he invariably holds in great contempt. One day
Fairbairn had puzzled Lo-ben very greatly by predicting
an eclipse of the sun. He took care to be with the king
when the phenomena occurred, which was witnessed with
unbounded astonishment, the monarch having scorned to
entertain the idea that a prophecy of this description could
be realised, except as a purely accidental verification of the
word of the white witch.
Often, however, he would say, “ You white men are very
artful, but you cannot cure the fever.”
* It is stated that the Matabeli warriors are fed on raw meat, but this
is inaccurate. There is a certain ceremony gone through at the great
dance at which they cut pieces of raw flesh from the living ox.
F 2