Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1892-07-14


Masilo may be told through all the
land"
Now my tale is not of the reign OF
| Chaka, but Of the lives of handful Of
people who lived in those days, and Of
whom and Umslopogaas alone are left
alive-if indeed Umslopogaas, the son
of Chaka, is still living ON the earth.
Therefore in few words | will pass
over all that came about after the fall
of Chaka and till was sent down by
Dingaan, the king, to summon him to
surrender to the king who was called
the Slaughterer and who ruled the Peo-
pie of tho AK. All! would that | had
known for certain that this was none
other than Umslopogaas, for then had
Dingaan gone the way that Chaka
went and which Umhlangana followed,
and Umslopogaas had ruled the people
of tho Zulus as their king But, alas!
my wisdom failed me. paid no heed
to the voice of my heart which told me
that this was Umslopogaas who sent
the message to Chaka threatening venge-
ance for one Mopo, and l knew moth
ing till too late; surely, thought, the
man spoke Of some other Mopo. For
thus, my father, does destiny make
fools of us men.
This came about, my father Matters
were made straight in the land after the
death of Chaka. At first people said
that Masilo, the stranger, had stabbed
| the king; then it was known that MopO,
the wise man, the doctor and body serv-
ant of the king, had slain the king,
and that the two great bulls his broth
crs Umhlangana and Dingaan, children
Of SenzangaCoua, had also lifted spears
against him. But he was dead and earth
aud heaven had not come together. So
what did it matter? Moreover the two
new kings promised to deal gently with
the people and tighten the heavy yoke
Of Chaka, and men i'll bad case are
always ready to hope for a better. So
it came about that the only enemies the
princes found We're each other and
| Engwade, the son Of Unandi, Chakas
half brother. But |, Mopo, who was
low the first man in the land after tie
kings, ceasing TO be Il doctor and becom-
ing Il general, went up against Engwade
with the regiment of the Bees and the
regiment OF the Slaycrs and smote him
in his kraals. 1t was a hard fight, but
in the end | destroyed him and all his
people Engwade killed eight men with
his own hand before slew him. Then
| came back to the kraal with the few
that We're left alive Of the regiments.
After That the two kings quarreled
more and more, and | weighed them
/ both in my balance, for | would know
| which was the most favorable to me.
| In the end found that both feared me,
! but that Umhlangana would certainly
put me to death if he gained the upper
| hand, whereas this was not yet i'll the
mind Of Dingaan. So | pressed down
! the balance Of Umhlangana and raised
that of Dingaan, sending the fears Of
Umhlangana to sleep till | could cause
! his hut to be surrounded. Then
Umhlangana followed upon the road of
Challa his brother, the road Of the as
scg:i, and Dingaan ruled alone for
| iwililc Such are the things that befall
princes Of this earth, my father.
1t was fourteen days after the passing
away of the Prince Umhlangana that
| the great army came back in sorry
/ plight from the marshes of the Lin
/ popo, Tor nan or them were IeIt dead or
fever ana the might OF the foe, and the
rest were starving. III was well Tor
them VINO yet hFe1 mat Chaka was no
more else they hao joined their oreth-
rem who We're dead on the way, since
never before for many years had Zulu
mp returned unVlctorlous ana without
a single mead OF cattte. Thus 1t came
about That they We're glad enough to
welcome a king who spared their lives,
ana thencetor'h, till his fate found him,
Dlngaan rclgned unquesiioned.
Now bingham was prince OF the
blood Of Chaka indeed; for, like Chaka,
/ he was great IN presence anu cruel at
hcart' but he had not the might and the
mlnd OF Chaka. Moreover, he was
| was not. Also, lie loved women much