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Updated: June 26, 2025
Had he continued to run he would certainly have been overtaken and killed; but, standing perfectly still, he was no doubt taken for a tree stump by the animal. At all events it brushed past him, and Mafuta, doubling on his track, ran to a tree, up which he vaulted like a monkey.
Then the headman stepped forward and said, Mafuta standing by to act as interpreter: "I, Insimbi, headman of the village of M'gama, in the country of the Makolo, bear the greetings of the great King Lobelalatutu to the unknown white men who have crossed the Great Water to visit him, to offer him gifts, and to request his permission to visit the ruins of the great city that are situate near the king's village.
It was nearly noon when I was conducted back to my hut after my futile attempt to cure the king; and it was not until close upon sunset that I got any further news, when one of the guards who had me in charge informed me, as he brought in my supper, that Mafuta had completely cured the king within an hour of the moment when he was first summoned to his Majesty's bedside; that Banda had already risen from his couch; and that, in requital for his service, Mafuta had claimed and been granted the right to dispose of me as he pleased upon the occasion of the forthcoming festival of the Customs!
"Is this the man through whom you have hitherto communicated with my people?" the king demanded, and Mafuta duly translated the question. Dick answered in the affirmative, adding: "Tell him, Mafuta, that we know you to be faithful, and are ready to trust you even with our lives."
These caught the meat thus thrown, and ran with it, each to a separate heap, on which he deposited his piece and left it in perfect security. In order to introduce a little more fair play, however, for the benefit of the weaker brethren, Mafuta dashed in among them with a terrible sjambok, or whip, of rhinoceros hide, which he laid about him with wonderful effect.
Having ensured the safety of the cub, Dick, carrying his own and the spare rifle which he had snatched from Mafuta, hurried back to the point which he had so hurriedly deserted; for the commotion in the heart of the bush clearly evidenced the fact that the remaining members of the troop of lions still clung to cover, and that the beaters and dogs were doing their utmost to dislodge them.
The next moment, in obedience to a sign from the officer, six couples detached themselves from the main body of the soldiery; and in a trice the two young Englishmen and their four dark-skinned followers, Mafuta, Ramoo Samee, Jantje, and 'Nkuku the latter absolutely shivering with fear found themselves prisoners, with their arms tightly bound behind them with stout raw-hide thongs.
On their ninth day out from Mafuta's village they struck the Hanyani River, without meeting with any adventure worthy of record, and following its right bank for a couple of days, bore away in an easterly direction, skirting the northern slope of Mount Inyota, where they struck another small stream flowing to the northward and eastward; and as this was, broadly speaking, the direction in which they wished to travel, and as Mafuta assured them that it discharged into the Zambezi, they decided to follow it, and did so, finding eventually that it united its flow with another stream, which they followed, still without any particular adventure save such as daily occurred while hunting; and three weeks from the day on which Mafuta joined them the travellers found themselves gazing with delight upon the broad bosom of the Zambezi, its waters sparkling in the golden light of the westering sun.
Then, mounting his tired horse, Dick rode off up the pass at a foot-pace, closely followed by the faithful Mafuta, who, dog-tired though he was after many long days of strenuous fighting, chuckled grimly as his young master unfolded his plan of campaign.
And when I had finished, Mafuta sat for several minutes ruminating deeply. At length, however, he looked up, and, shaking his head, said: "White man, I have never seen the place you describe, otherwise I am sure that I should recognise it. The kopje with its rocks and its aasvogels would alone suffice for its identification.
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