hurling their assagies at him. The animal soon became savage
and charged at the young chiefs, and a regular bullfight occurred; but
so active were the Caffres, and so well did they back one another up,
that in a few minutes the bull was so terribly wounded by assagies that
it sank to the ground and died.

Four bulls were killed in the same manner and by different sets of young
chiefs, the circle of warriors all the time singing their war-songs and
dancing and beating their shields. During two days these festivities
were kept up, and then the leading chiefs met in council to decide upon
the plan of operations. I soon began to observe that several of the
chiefs regarded me in a manner different from that in which they had
formerly done. They were not unfriendly, but they were silent; and I
feared that some enemy had been at work who was jealous of my rise and
progress. I was rich for so young a chief, as I now possessed fourteen
cows and several calves; but I did not think I was rich enough to be
accused of witchcraft, and my cows taken from me. I had but to wait a
few days before I learned why this change in manners had taken place.
One evening an old chief sent for me to his kraal for a _kaluma_ (talk),
and on my entering his hut I found two other chiefs there. They offered
me snuff, and _Itchuala_, and then the old chief said:--

"Umkunkinglovu! we know you are brave and can fight well, and we should
have liked you to lead a division of our men; but we have thought that,
as you, although a Caffre at heart, are still white, you might not like
to fight against white men. We don't know about white men; we don't
know who are friends, and who enemies. We, the Umzimvubu, fight against
the Amazulu, though we are both black. Do you white men ever fight one
against the other?"

"Yes," I replied, "when nations like your great tribes disagree they
fight."

"Then are the people at war with the Amakosa of your tribe?"

"Yes, they are."

"Then you would not like to fight against them?"

"No; I should be a rascal to do so."

"We thought it might be so," said the old chief, "so we are going to
leave you in charge of the tribe, to take care of the cows and the young
people, until we return."

"I should like to speak about this war," I said; "may I?"

A nod was the only answer.

"This war," I said, "will probably bring great trouble to the tribe.
You have been misled by the Amakosa; for the white men against whom