ay see and speak with him," came
the reply.

Not a shade of hesitation did our warriors show as I made known this
request. They advanced up the hill, marching in rank and singing, as
proudly disdainful of the vastly overwhelming numbers in front as though
safe at Ekupumuleni. Even the women and boys, staggering under their
loads of meat, dared not leave us, although their own people were around
them in force and we were but few.

We soon gained the brow of the rise, and spreading out on either hand in
two long lines, their spears glittering in the sinking sun, we beheld
the battle rank of the Bakoni warriors. But we beheld something more.
Beyond the rise whereon we stood, beyond the small river which flowed at
its base on the further side, was a wide rolling plain covered with
cattle, and beyond the cattle lay the countless huts of an immense town.

Our eyes opened wide, and a deep-throated gasp escaped us. What a place
to burn! What countless herds to sweep away! was the thought in each
man's mind.

Behind this town rose a great hill, steep-sided, flat-topped, and belted
by lines of cliffs. There were further hills beyond it, but this one
stood out from all, seeming to stand by itself upon the plain. We
almost forgot the near presence of a great number of enemies. These,
however, now closed in around us.

"Draw near, strangers," said the man who had first hailed us, and who
seemed to be a leader of some kind--"the Chief of the People of the Blue
Cattle sits before you."

I beheld, seated upon a leopard skin, a man just past middle age. He
was a well-built man, tall and sinewy, and more martial-looking than any
of his people. He was seated alone, a few councillors attending him
several paces in the background, and save for a battle-axe, no arms were
near him. He wore ornaments of gold, as we noticed did quite a number
of the people, and the axe itself was profusely inlaid with gold.

"This people," I thought, "if not warlike, is skilful in making weapons.
Good. It shall make weapons for its masters, the conquerors of the
world."

"Greeting, Chief of the Blue Cattle," I said, taking up the title by
which he had been named; and, indeed, looking upon the countless herds
which were scattered over the plain, I noticed that the greater number
were of a bluish-white colour.

He frowned, thinking I accosted him with scant deference, which was
true, for we Amazulu, People of the Heavens, do not bend low be