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Updated: June 25, 2025
Art thou still inclined to think lightly of it; or art thou convinced that it is a good weapon, capable of protecting a man's life in the heat of battle?" "Nay," answered Lomalindela, "it is a good weapon; thou hast proved it to be so at the risk of thy life, and I thank thee for the gift. Ask me now what shall I give thee in return for it? Wilt thou have gold or cattle?
I began to think that I had permitted my passion for harmony and completeness to carry me rather too far when I included the sword with the other items of the uniform which I had selected for presentation to King Lomalindela; and I resolved, there and then, never again to include lethal weapons of any description among my gifts to savages.
Besides, if he were not telling the truth, how could he possibly have come to know the name which had been given me by Lomalindela, the King of the Mashona? for I was perfectly certain that he had had no opportunity to learn it from either of my own "boys."
"Au!" ejaculated Lomalindela in awestruck tones, as he handled the mirror doubtfully; "it is great and good magic, for it enables a man to see the enemy who comes creeping up behind him, and to blind the enemy who assails him in front. I thank thee, white man. Thou shalt show me how to use it too." "Certainly," I replied hastily. "All in good time.
But my request must have touched some hitherto hidden and unsuspected chord in the king's heart, for presently, when the tension had become almost unendurable, Lomalindela raised his head and said, in so gentle a tone of voice that it electrified everybody: "Au, white man, you know not what you ask!
The ground between the two mountains which I took to be a pair of long-extinct volcanoes and the range on our left rose steadily, and therefore somewhat retarded our progress when we continued our trek on the following day; but about two o'clock in the afternoon we reached the summit of the slope and saw before us a valley or basin, roughly circular in shape and some twenty miles in diameter, hemmed in on all sides by hills, some of which were lofty enough to be snow-capped on their summits; and in the very centre of this valley lay Gwanda, the Kraal or Place of Lomalindela, the king of the Mashona nation.
Therefore, when I decided to visit Mashonaland, and the matter of suitable presents arose in my mind, I decided that I could not possibly offer anything more suitable and acceptable to the King of Mashona than the garb of a soldier such as a king wears. And, behold, there it is!" "Au!" ejaculated Lomalindela, regarding the little heap with new interest.
But thank thy snake, O Lomalindela, King of the Mashona, that Chia'gnosi saw the evil and falsehood that lurked in that black heart," pointing to the dead body of Machenga "else would many another of thy friends myself among the number, perchance have died before yon sun sank behind the hills."
I have sworn by the bones of my royal father that if that man was conquered, and survived the fight, I would give him to the ants; and that is an oath which I dare not break, for otherwise great evils would fall upon the house of Lomalindela, King of the Mashona." "Doubtless, O King, what thou sayest is true under ordinary circumstances," I replied.
"I have not, white man, nor is she in Mashonaland, for otherwise I should have heard of it and seen her," answered Lomalindela. "The few strangers who enter my country are brought to me, and I deal with them as I will. No, she has not been here; therefore that part of your errand is soon disposed of. And as to the other part of it, I will consider the matter at my leisure.
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