intombis

Updated: August 19, 2026

In front of them, exciting them to new exertions, with word and gesture, undulate in a graceful dance of their own the "intombis," the young beauties of the tribe, with green branches in their hands, and all their store of savage finery glittering on their shapely limbs. Some of these maidens are really handsome, and round them again dance the children, armed with mimic spears and shields.

Henry Rider Haggard - Cetywayo and his White Neighbours: Remarks on Recent Events in Zululand, Natal, and the Transvaal