t last Nala came up and told us that food was made ready, and thankful
enough we were to get it, I can tell you. After we had eaten we held
a consultation. Quite a thousand of Wambe's soldiers were put _hors
de combat_, but at least two thousand remained hidden in the bush and
rocks, and these men, together with those in the outlying kraals, were a
source of possible danger. The question arose, therefore, what was to
be done--were they to be followed or left alone? I waited till everybody
had spoken, some giving one opinion and some another, and then being
appealed to I gave mine. It was to the effect that Nala should take a
leaf out of the great Zulu T'Chaka's book, and incorporate the tribe,
not destroy it. We had a good many women among the prisoners. Let them,
I suggested, be sent to the hiding-places of the soldiers and make
an offer. If the men would come and lay down their arms and declare
allegiance to Nala, they and their town and cattle should be spared.
Wambe's cattle alone would be seized as the prize of war. Moreover,
Wambe having left no children, his wife Maiwa should be declared
chieftainess of the tribe, under Nala. If they did not accept this offer
by the morning of the second day it should be taken as a declaration
that they wished to continue the war. Their town should be burned, their
cattle, which our men were already collecting and driving in in great
numbers, would be taken, and they should be hunted down.

"This advice was at once declared to be wise, and acted on. The women
were despatched, and I saw from their faces that they never expected to
get such terms, and did not think that their mission would be in vain.
Nevertheless, we spent that afternoon in preparations against possible
surprise, and also in collecting all the wounded of both parties into a
hospital, which we extemporized out of some huts, and there attending to
them as best we could.

"That evening Every had the first pipe of tobacco that he had tasted
for six years. Poor fellow, he nearly cried with joy over it. The night
passed without any sign of attack, and on the following morning we began
to see the effect of our message, for women, children, and a few men
came in in little knots, and took possession of their huts. It was of
course rather difficult to prevent our men from looting, and generally
going on as natives, and for the matter of that white men too, are in
the habit of doing after a victory. But one man who after war