So the soldiers went,
doubting nothing.
Then Umgona gave it out that in obedience to the command of the king he
was about to start for Ulundi, taking with him his daughter Nanea to
be delivered over into the _Sigodhla_, and also those fifteen head
of cattle that had been _lobola'd_ by Nahoon in consideration of his
forthcoming marriage, whereof he had been fined by Cetywayo. Under
pretence that they required a change of veldt, the rest of his cattle
he sent away in charge of a Basuto herd who knew nothing of their plans,
telling him to keep them by the Crocodile Drift, as there the grass was
good and sweet.
All preparations being completed, on the third day the party started,
heading straight for Ulundi. After they had travelled some miles,
however, they left the road and turning sharp to the right, passed
unobserved of any through a great stretch of uninhabited bush. Their
path now lay not far from the Pool of Doom, which, indeed, was close to
Umgona's kraal, and the forest that was called Home of the Dead, but out
of sight of these.
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