Situated on the highest point of the mountain was the
citadel. The spaces between the massive rocks which formed
an impregnable barrier around the town, and whose sides
were so smooth that even a cat could not scale them, were
filled with stout posts interlaced with thorny bushes. I t
appeared to me that it would be impossible to effect an
entrance without the aid of someone inside. All this powerful
fortifying is carried out in order to secure their lives
against the murderous attacks of their dreaded foes. Undisputed
by the owners and tillers of the soil, all property
in the form of corn and cattle must be abandoned to the
caprice of the conquering Matabeli.
Attack is entirely a matter of cunning and stalking, A
Matabeli impi (army) will approach as stealthily, and as invisibly
as snakes, crawling as closely upon the ground, and
concealed by the undergrowth, they watch the movements of
their intended victims, the timid Mashona. Then, when a
favourable opportunity occurs, up they rise like a wild black
cloud of destruction. Hissing and shrieking their fiercest
battle cry, they bound and leap like the “ klipspringer,” *
from rock to rock, dealing with fearful precision the death-
giving blow of the assegai; and ever and anon shouting
with thrilling ecstasy, their terrific cry of triumph, as they
tear out the yet beating hearts of their victims.
After a pursuit of the flying and panic-striken horde, the
ravagers herd in the straying cattle, and then the devastating
cloud moves away, gathering, in its circuitous route, other
nebulae in the shape of slave girls and boys, as well as the
cattle from perhaps hundreds of hitherto quiet and smiling
valleys. They return to their king with news of victory;
dancing as they sing the story of their soul-stirring and
daring deeds, while in feasting they drink the beer made by
* A small but extremely agile antelope living in the rocky kopjies.
the hands of the girls whose parents’ lives and property were
the fruits of the chase, their bones lying bleaching in the
sun amid the weather-worn rocks of the deserted highland
home.
On such occasions the king rewards his generals much in
the same way as is done by the English. He gives them
the currency of the country (cattle), although perhaps blood
does not call for so high a premium in a savage country as
it does in our own land.
The gateway of the barrier seemed to be the only access
to the town. It was composed of trunks of trees laid in a
horizontal position, one above the other, and the whole
“ shored up ” from the back by strong poles.
Karemba soon succeeded in persuading the inhabitants
that we were on a friendly mission, and had come to consult
the “ old man.” Satisfied with this assurance, they, after a
good deal of work, pulled away a sufficient number of the
logs to leave a small opening, through which we crawled
with a little difficulty.
Our appearance caused not a little curiosity among the
crowd of Mashona, great and small, who witnessed our
entrance. Immediately on our left, and half hidden under
the shadow of a huge rock—against which were laid whole
stacks of assegais, battle axes, and clubs—sat the chief
Chibero. His position was close to a large fire, where a
number of his vassals, exceedingly wretched, half-fed looking
creatures, also crowded in their efforts to absorb in their
miserable bodies some share of the scanty heat, for the
morning air was bitterly cold.
I felt, and I am sure I looked, like a mummy. We seated
ourselves, with awful solemnity, upon the ground, looking
and acting all the while as though our mission was of a
most funereal character. I t should be remembered that