Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1890-01-23

poured into a tin pannikin, giving to
each stiff draw, and making attempts
to be cheerful as he did so. But his af
fected POPULARITY only seemed to depress
his comrades the more. Certainly it
oppressed me.
Now the light was growing, and we
could see some way into the mist which
still hung densely over the river, and
now-ah there it was From the other
side of the hill, thousand yards or
more from the lager, came faint hum
ming sound. 1t grew and grew till 1t
gathered to chant-the awful war
chant Of the Zulus Soon could catch
the words They were simple enough.
" We shall Stay, we shall slay Is it not so, my
brothersY
Our spears shall blush bloodred. Is il not so,
my brothers2
For we are the stockings Of Chaka; blood is
our milk, my brothers.
Awake, children OF the Umtetwa awake
The vulture wheels, the iackal shifts the air ;
Awake, children OF the Umtetwa-cry aloud
We ringed men;
There is the foe; we shall STAY them. Is it
not So my brothersH
S'gse' Sgssi S'geef
hateful chant, which | often hear to this
very day in my dreams. 1t does not
look particularly imposing on paper,
but n the reader could have heard 1t as
it rolled through the still air from the
throats Of nearly three thousand war
riors, singing all to time, he would have
found it impressive enough.
Now the shields began to appear over
the brow Of the rise. They came by
companies, each company about hun
dred strong. Altogether there were
thirty-one companies. ! counted them.
When all were over they formed them
selves into a triple line, then trotted
down the slope toward us. At a dis
lance Of a hundred and fifty yards, or
just out Of shot of such guns as we had
in those days, they halted and began
singing again:
Yonder is tho kraal Of the white mana little
kraal, my brothers,
We shall eat it up; we shall trample 1t fiat,
my brothers.
Bat where are the white mans cattle-where
are his oxen, my brothers,"
This question seemed to puzzle them
a great deal, for they sang the song
again and again. A last herald came
forward q great man with ivory rings
on his arm and, putting his hands to
his mouth, called to us asking where
our cattle We're.
Hans Botha climbed onto the top of a
wagon and roared out that they might
answer that question themselves.
Then the herald called again, saying
that he saw that the cattle had been
sent away.
Eve shall 60 and find the CATTLE" he
said; ''then We shall come and kill you.
because without cattle you must stop
where you are; but if we wait to kill
you before we get the cattle they may
have trekked too far for US to follow.
But if you try TO run away we shall
easily catch you, white menT
This struck me as a very odd speech,
for the Zulus generally attack an enemy
first and take his cattle afterwards;
still. there was a certain amount of
plausibility about it While was still
wondering WHIT 1t all might mean the
Zulus began to run past us in companies
toward the river Suddenly shout an
A0uAA'lfn AAAAt sAANl nav AOAiAL SAAI pOCA
of the cattle, and the whole Impi of
them started down it at run until they
vanished over rise about a quarter of a
mile away.
We waited for alf an hour or more,
but nothing could we see Of them.
Now. | wonder if the devils have
really gomez said Hans Botha to me.
fIt Is very strauoe "
Il will go and see, said Indaba- zimbi,
'if you viii come with me, Macumszahn.
We can creep 70 the top 0! the ridge and
look over
At first / hesitated. but curiosity
overcame me. was young in those
days aud weary with suspense.
So we started. I had my elephant
gun and ammunition. Indaba-zimbi had
his medicine bag and an assegai. We
crept TO the top Of the rise like sports
men stalking a buck. The slope on the
other side was strewn with rocks,
among which grew bushes and tall
grass.
They must have gone down the
Donga,. | said to Indaba-zimbi. 4
can't see one of them"
As 411lr tA-s s-v.E .or az men