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Updated: June 25, 2025
She looked at him indifferently and asked: "By what name shall I name you, O Slayer of a King? Will you be called Mopo or Umbopa, who have borne them both?" Now Dingaan stared, and the shrouded form before her started as though in surprise. "Why do you seek to mock me?" she went on.
After that he promised to look after them as though they were his father's spirit. He was a very superstitious old Kafir and a great villain. Having thus disposed of our superfluous gear we arranged the kit we five Sir Henry, Good, myself, Umbopa, and the Hottentot Ventvögel were to take with us on our journey.
We are now in a dreadful plight, and I fear that unless we get food this will be our last day's journey. But little brandy left. Good, Sir Henry, and Umbopa bear up wonderfully, but Ventvögel is in a very bad way. Like most Hottentots, he cannot stand cold. Pangs of hunger not so bad, but have a sort of numb feeling about the stomach. Others say the same.
Umbopa was standing with them, apparently plunged in one of the fits of abstraction which were common to him, and caught my words. "Yes, Macumazahn," he put in, in Zulu, "the diamonds are surely there, and you shall have them, since you white men are so fond of toys and money." "How dost thou know that, Umbopa?" I asked sharply, for I did not like his mysterious ways. He laughed.
If anything befalls him his blood will be required at my hands." "Yes, that is certainly so," put in the young man with great emphasis. "Ye may perhaps doubt our power to avenge," I went on, heedless of this by-play. "Stay, I will show you. Umbopa rose to the occasion, and with something as nearly resembling a grin as I have ever seen on his dignified face he handed me the gun.
"I hope so," I answered, and turned to go back to the camp, when I saw that we were not alone. Behind us, also gazing earnestly towards the far-off mountains, stood the great Kafir Umbopa. The Zulu spoke when he saw that I had observed him, addressing Sir Henry, to whom he had attached himself. "Is it to that land that thou wouldst journey, Incubu?"
Off we all scrambled towards him as fast as our wearied limbs would carry us, hoping that he had found water. "What is it, Umbopa, son of a fool?" I shouted in Zulu. "It is food and water, Macumazahn," and again he waved the green thing. Then I saw what he had found. It was a melon. We had hit upon a patch of wild melons, thousands of them, and dead ripe. "Melons!"
There were also present about a score of chiefs, amongst whom I recognised most of our friends of the night before. Twala greeted us with much apparent cordiality, though I saw him fix his one eye viciously on Umbopa. "Welcome, white men from the Stars," he said; "this is another sight from that which your eyes gazed on by the light of last night's moon, but it is not so good a sight.
But when he was dead at the hands of his brothers Dingaan and Umhlangana and of Umbopa, Umbopa who also had a score to settle with him, and his body was cast out of the kraal like that of an evil-doer, why I, who because I was a dwarf was not sent with the men against Sotshangana, went and sat on it at night and laughed thus," and he broke into one of his hideous peals of merriment.
"How knowest thou that Ignosi is dead?" said a voice behind us. We looked round astonished to see who spoke. It was Umbopa. "What meanest thou, boy?" asked Infadoos; "who told thee to speak?" "Listen, Infadoos," was the answer, "and I will tell thee a story. Years ago the king Imotu was killed in this country and his wife fled with the boy Ignosi. Is it not so?" "It is so."
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