, and under such circumstances the meanest
of animals will show bravery. But yet we were fighting for something
more--for freedom, for the pride of setting up a new nation.

"On they came, those waves of a living sea, and the earth shook beneath
the rumble of their tread; the air rustled with the hissing of their
plumes. And as they advanced they raised the great battle-song of
Tshaka, its echoes tossing like thunder from cliff to cliff:--

"`Waqeda--qeda izizwe!
Uyauhlasela pi-na?'

"`Thou hast made an end--made an end of the nations.
Whither now wilt thou maraud?'"

"Above was the narrow opening of the pass, and between, for a little
distance, a well-nigh open space. Here we met them hand to hand; here
we held them back, while those behind pressed them onward by sheer force
of weight. Foot by foot we met them, forced slowly back, but ever with
our faces toward them. The ground was wet with blood, alive with
falling, writhing bodies. The heights rang back our screams of rage,
our defiant war-cries, and the clangour of our blows. Foot by foot we
gave way; but they never got above us, never got around us. Thus shone
forth the generalship of our chief in choosing this for our
fighting-ground.

"Above us the pass narrowed to a steep rock-gateway overhung by lofty
slopes. Suddenly, at the signal of a loud, sharp whistle, our men
ceased the fight as though slain, and, turning, sprang into retreat,
pouring through this great natural door. With a roar the king's _impi_
dashed forward in pursuit, then paused in obedience to the mandate of
its leaders, who suspected a snare.

"But only for a moment did it thus halt. The mighty mass of our
would-be destroyers surged up the pass and began to stream through the
narrow defile. On they came, shouting ever the battle-cry; and
then--_Whau, Nkose_! you should have soon what happened! It was as
though the mountains were falling in upon us. For from either side
great masses of rock came crashing down the slopes--enormous blocks of
stone--some splitting into fragments as they bounded and rolled, others
crashing, in their stupendous size, upon the warriors of Tshaka. These
in dismay tried to draw back, but could not, for the weight of those
behind pressed them on; failing in this, they bounded forward, and our
assegais were there to receive them, while all the time the rolling
rocks were crashing down upon their rear, filling up the entire mouth of
the gap. W