etu where I should sleep, and he
replied, "Come, I will show you." As we rose together, I unconsciously
covered Sekeletu's body with mine, and saved him from the blow of the
assassin. I knew nothing of the plot, but remarked that all Mpepe's
men kept hold of their arms, even after we had sat down--a thing quite
unusual in the presence of a chief; and when Sekeletu showed me the hut
in which I was to spend the night, he said to me, "That man wishes
to kill me." I afterward learned that some of Mpepe's attendants had
divulged the secret; and, bearing in mind his father's instructions,
Sekeletu put Mpepe to death that night. It was managed so quietly, that,
although I was sleeping within a few yards of the scene, I knew nothing
of it till the next day. Nokuane went to the fire, at which Mpepe sat,
with a handful of snuff, as if he were about to sit down and regale
himself therewith. Mpepe said to him, "Nsepisa" (cause me to take a
pinch); and, as he held out his hand, Nokuane caught hold of it, while
another man seized the other hand, and, leading him out a mile, speared
him. This is the common mode of executing criminals. They are not
allowed to speak; though on one occasion a man, feeling his wrist held
too tightly, said, "Hold me gently, can't you? you will soon be led out
in the same way yourselves." Mpepe's men fled to the Barotse, and,
it being unadvisable for us to go thither during the commotion which
followed on Mpepe's death, we returned to Linyanti.

The foregoing may be considered as a characteristic specimen of their
mode of dealing with grave political offenses. In common cases there
is a greater show of deliberation. The complainant asks the man against
whom he means to lodge his complaint to come with him to the chief. This
is never refused. When both are in the kotla, the complainant stands
up and states the whole case before the chief and the people usually
assembled there. He stands a few seconds after he has done this, to
recollect if he has forgotten any thing. The witnesses to whom he has
referred then rise up and tell all they themselves have seen or heard,
but not any thing that they have heard from others. The defendant, after
allowing some minutes to elapse so that he may not interrupt any of the
opposite party, slowly rises, folds his cloak around him, and, in the
most quiet, deliberate way he can assume--yawning, blowing his nose,
etc.--begins to explain the affair, denying the charge, or admitti