a are hard at a bargain, and I think we are required to give
much and receive but little."

Ebomvu then sat down again among the principal men, a murmur of "_Di'a
vuma nawe_" ("I agree with you") being uttered by the older chiefs,
whilst loud cries of "_Hi, Hi, musa_" were uttered by the younger men.

After a little delay a young chief, who had fought well against the
Amazulu, stepped into the centre of the circle, and raising his shield
and assagies, said, "Listen to me, men of the Umzimvubu. I am for war.
I think we ought not to sit down like boys or women, and let our
friends, the Amakosa, fight alone. We are strong and we know how to
fight. If we join the Amakosa we shall share in the spoil; we must have
our share of the cattle, of the guns captured, and we may also procure
some of those animals on which men ride. Shall our tribe be termed a
tribe of cowards? I say, let us join the Amakosa, and dip our assagies
in the blood of the white man."

A tremendous shout was given at the termination of this address; and it
was evident that, as far as numbers went, there were more in favour of
war than there were against it. This was an example of what took place
among civilised nations. If the majority of an assembly are emotional
rather than intellectual, a man who appeals to the emotions gains more
adherents than the speaker who talks sound sense. Consequently, when
another young chief spoke in favour of war, it was decided that we
should join the Amakosa and fight the white man.

What I was to do I did not know. I felt that, although I had become a
regular Caffre in habits and thoughts, yet I was an Englishman; and if I
fired and killed a white man, I should be guilty of murder. I thought a
great deal about this matter; for though I had nothing to complain of in
my present life, yet I longed to see my father again, and to let him
know I was not dead. I knew that, lost as was the ship in which I had
left Calcutta, there would be no records of her ever found. I alone
could tell the tale, for the ladies who had been saved had become the
wives of Caffres, and they told me that now they must live and die as
they were, and could never again return to civilisation.

I had great doubts whether the life I now led was not _the_ one which
most men in cities toiled for all their lives. Boy as I was, yet I had
rank, I was a chief; I had cattle, the great wealth in this land; I had
a gun and ammunition; I had always pl