I
charged the messenger, however, that he should not tell my name, but
should say only that it was "Mouth of Dingaan." Then I and those with
me followed slowly on the path of the man whom I sent forward, for the
way was still far, and I had bidden him return and meet me bearing the
words of the Slaughterer, Holder of the Axe.
All that day till the sun grew low we talked round the base of the
great Ghost Mountain, following the line of the river. We met no one,
but once we came to the ruins of a kraal, and in it lay the broken
bones of many men, and with the bones rusty assegais and the remains
of ox-hide shields, black and white in colour. Now I examined the
shields, and knew from their colour that they had been carried in the
hands of those soldiers who, years ago, were sent out by Chaka to seek
for Umslopogaas, but who had returned no more.
"Now," I said, "it has fared ill with those soldiers of the Black One
who is gone, for I think that these are the shields they bore, and
that their eyes once looked upon the world through the holes in yonder
skulls."
"These are the shields they bore, and those are the skulls they wore,"
answered one. "See, Mopo, son of Makedama, this is no man's work that
has brought them to their death. Men do not break the bones of their
foes in pieces as these bones are broken.
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