and cook the dinner."

Having laid aside our doubts, we proceeded on the journey comfortably
enough, being well provided with bearers to take the place of those who
had run away. Babemba, accompanied by a single orderly, travelled with
us, and from him we collected much information. It seemed that the
Mazitu were a large people who could muster from five to seven thousand
spears. Their tradition was that they came from the south and were of
the same stock as the Zulus, of whom they had heard vaguely. Indeed,
many of their customs, to say nothing of their language, resembled
those of that country. Their military organisation, however, was not
so thorough, and in other ways they struck me as a lower race. In one
particular, it is true, that of their houses, they were more advanced,
for these, as we saw in the many kraals that we passed, were better
built, with doorways through which one could walk upright, instead of
the Kaffir bee-holes.

We slept in one of these houses on our march, and should have found
it very comfortable had it not been for the innumerable fleas which at
length drove us out into the courtyard. For the rest, these Mazitu much
resembled the Zulus. They had kraals and were breeders of cattle; they
were ruled by headmen under the command of a supreme chief or king; they
believed in witchcraft and offered sacrifice to the spirits of their
ancestors, also in some kind of a vague and mighty god who dominated the
affairs of the world and declared his will through the doctors. Lastly,
they were, and I dare say still are, a race of fighting men who loved
war and raided the neighbouring peoples upon any and every pretext,
killing their men and stealing their women and cattle. They had their
virtues, too, being kindly and hospitable by nature, though cruel enough
to their enemies. Moreover, they detested dealing in slaves and those
who practised it, saying that it was better to kill a man than to
deprive him of his freedom. Also they had a horror of the cannibalism
which is so common in the dark regions of Africa, and for this reason,
more than any other, loathed the Pongo folk who were supposed to be
eaters of men.

On the evening of the second day of our march, during which we had
passed through a beautiful and fertile upland country, very well
watered, and except in the valleys, free from bush, we arrived at Beza.
This town was situated on a wide plain surrounded by low hills and
encircled by a belt of cul