Kafir Stories Part 13

Now Sololo, having had experience of Vooda's persuasive tongue and knack of casuistry, did not wish to argue the point--knowing, as he did full well, the object of Vooda's visit--and at once made up his mind that he would not see the glib-tongued constable alone.

"Son of my father," he said, "what you have to say, let it be said before these my councilors and friends."

Vooda saw there was no chance of a private discussion, and determined therefore to play his game boldly and in public. The dusk of evening was just setting in, and some women had kindled a bright fire.

"My Chief," he said, "I come with the words of Indabeni, who has chosen me because he knows I am your younger brother" (figurative).

"Indabeni is a great man," said Sololo; "he has eyes all round his head. His words are good to hear--speak them, son of my father."

"Indabeni's heart is heavy, my Chief, because you, the leopard, are placing yourself in the path of the buffalo, which is the Government.

Men have told Indabeni that you refuse to deliver to the Magistrate one who has done wrong."

"The leopard may stand on one side and tear the flank of the buffalo as he pa.s.ses. He may then hide in the caves of the rocks where the buffalo cannot follow," said Sololo, sententiously.

"The buffalo may call the wolves to his aid to drive the leopard from his cave," rejoined Vooda, developing the allegory further; "but why will you not give up the wrong-doer to the magistrate?"

"Why must I give up my friend to be choked with a rope?" said Sololo, excitedly. "He has not slain a white man, but one of my own people.

Government must leave him to be punished according to the law of the native. If one of my tribe slays a white man, I will deliver up the slayer."

"But you know what the Government is, my Chief--it is over all of us.

Even Indabeni himself has to do as it tells him."

"Indabeni is not a Pondo, neither am I Indabeni," said Sololo, appealing, with a look, to the audience.

"Yebo, Yebo, Ewe--E-hea," shouted all the men.

"I did not ask Government for its laws," continued the Chief.

"'U-Sessellodes' [The native attempt at p.r.o.nouncing the name of Mr. Cecil Rhodes, Premier of the Cape Colony.] came here and said in a loud voice that we all belonged to him. We were surprised, and could not think or speak. Besides, who listens to the bleating of a goat when an angry bull bellows? Now we have thought and spoken together, and we can also fight; I will never give up my friend to be choked with a rope."

"E-hea," shouted the audience.

"My Chief," said Vooda, "your words are like milk flowing from a great black cow ten days after she has calved, but there is one thing you have not seen, but which I have seen and trembled at."

"What is this thing that frightens a man who is the father of children?"

"The magic (umtagati) of U-Sessellodes, which he has taught to Indabeni--the terrible magic wherewith he overthrew Lo Bengula and the Matabele."

"We, also, have our magic," said Sololo, glancing at Shasha, the war-doctor.

Shasha came forward in a half-crouching att.i.tude, and approached Vooda, who appeared to be very much impressed. The war-doctor's appearance was startling enough. He was an elderly man of hideous aspect. On his head he wore a high cap of baboon skin. Slung around his neck, waist, elbows, wrists, knees, and ankles were all sorts of extraordinary things--cowrie and tortoise-sh.e.l.ls, teeth and claws of various beasts of prey, strips of skin from all kinds of animals, inflated gall bladders, bones, and pieces of wood. In his hand he carried a bag made by cutting the skin of a wild cat around the neck, and then tearing it off the body as one skins an eel. Out of this he drew a long, living, green snake (inusbwa, the boom-slang), which he hung over his shoulder, where it began to coil about, darting out its forked tongue.

As Shasha advanced quivering towards Vooda in short, abrupt springs, all the things hanging about him clashed and rattled together. He bent down and beat the ground with the palms of his hands and the soles of his feet, making the while a low rumbling in his throat, the apple of which worked up and down. His eyes glared and his nostrils dilated.

The snake hissed, and wound itself round his neck and limbs. The whole audience appeared to be struck with superst.i.tious dread.

Shasha suddenly drew himself straight up, and chanted in a sing-song voice, rattling his charms at every period:

"I am the ruler of the baboons and the master of the owls. I talk to the wild cat in the hush. I call Tikoloshe (a water spirit) out of the river in the night-time and ask him questions. I make sickness do my bidding on men and cattle. I drive it away when I like. I can bring blight to the crops, and stop the milk of cows. I can, by my magic medicines, find out the wicked ones who do these things. I alone can look upon Icanti (a fabulous serpent) and not die. I know the mountain where Impandulu (the Lightning Bird) builds its nest. I can make men invulnerable in battle with my medicines, and I can cause the enemies of my Chief to run like a bush-buck pursued by dogs."

The speech ended, Shasha again bowed down, quivering and contorting, beat the ground with his hands and the soles of his feet and then sprang aside into the darkness.

Sololo looked at Vooda as though he would say, "What do you think of that; is he not a most terribly potent war-doctor?" All the other men looked extremely terrified.

Dead silence reigned for a few moments, and then Vooda spoke:

"O Chief, the magic of your war-doctor is indeed dreadful to behold, but, believe me, the magic of U-Sessellodes and Indabeni is stronger, and I can prove it."

This caused a murmur of incredulity and indignation. The magic paraphernalia of the war-doctor rattled ominously in the gloom.

"U-Sessellodes," continued Vooda, "has found the Lightning Bird sitting upon its nest, and plucked its feathers; he has discovered how to make water burn, and he has robbed the cave of Icanti of its eggs, which he can strew over the land to hatch in the sun, and produce snakes that will kill all who see them. These secrets he has taught to Indabeni, and Indabeni has taught them to me so that I might warn you, and having warned, prove the truth of my words."

At this a loud "ho, ho," accompanied by a rattling noise, was heard from the war-doctor. Sololo laughed sarcastically. Several of the audience did the same. Then Sololo said:

"Are we children, to believe these things?"

"My Chief," said Vooda, impressively, "you are not a child, neither is Indabeni; as you know,--nor is the potent war-doctor, nor are any of these great men (madoda roakulu) that I see around me. For that matter, neither am I a child. I have said that I can prove my words, and I say so again."

"Prove them, then," said Sololo.

"Three things will I do to show the magic of U-Sessellodes, which he has taught to Indabeni--I will show you a feather of the Lightning Bird, I will make water burn like dry wood, and I will produce some of the eggs of Icanti and make them, when touched with fire, hatch into young serpents before your eyes."

There was not a breath of wind. Vooda seized a small firebrand, and stepped a few yards away from the fire. He held the firebrand in his left hand, and put his right into one of the pockets of his tunic.

This pocket contained a quant.i.ty of loose lycopodium powder. He filled his hand with this, waved it over his head several times, and then projected the handful of powder high into the air with a sweeping throw. Then he slowly lifted the firebrand, and as the cloud of powder descended, it ignited with a silent, blinding flash. A loud "Mawo" from the spectators greeted the success of the experiment.

The war-doctor gave a harsh laugh and shouted that there was no magic in the business, and that the Lightning Bird's plumage was still intact so far as Vooda was concerned; he, the war-doctor, knew how the thing was done, and would presently explain. Sololo and the others murmured amongst themselves.

"Now," said Vooda, "I will make water burn with a bright flame like dry wood."

"You have, no doubt, brought the water with you in a bottle," said Shasha, the war-doctor, with a sneer in his voice. He was evidently thinking of paraffin.

"No, O most potent controller of baboons," said Vooda, "I will, on the contrary, ask you to get me some water for the purpose, in a vessel of your own choice."

Shasha went to one of the huts and returned with a small earthen pot full of water, which he placed on the ground near the fire.

Vooda look the lump of pota.s.sium which he had cut into the form of a large conical bullet, from his pocket, and advanced to where the chief was sitting. He beckoned to the war-doctor to approach, and then, said:

"This, O chief, and O discourser-with-the-wild-cat, is a new and wonderful kind of lead which U-Sessellodes has dug out of a hole in the ground far deeper than any other hole that was ever made. You will observe that my knife is sharp, and therefore I cut the lead easily.

You may see how the metal shines when newly cut. Now, if a bullet such as this be shot into a river, the water blazes up and consumes the land."

"Give it to me that I may examine it," said Shasha.

Vooda handed a small paring of the pota.s.sium to the war-doctor, saying;

"Be very careful, O you-whom-the-owls-obey-in-the-dark, because it is dangerous stuff."

Shasha did exactly what Vooda antic.i.p.ated--he looked carefully at the shred of metal, and lifted it to his mouth, meaning to test it with his teeth. When, however, the pota.s.sium touched the saliva, it blazed up, and the unhappy war-doctor spat it out with a fearful yell. His lips and tongue were severely burnt. Sololo and the men, who had seen the flame issuing from Shasha's mouth, were terror-stricken.

Vooda now cut the lump of pota.s.sium into several pieces, and these he dropped into the pot of water. The lumps began to flame brilliantly, dancing on the top of the water and gyrating across and around. All the spectators were horribly frightened, and shrank back, their eyeb.a.l.l.s starting, and their lips wide apart.

"Now," said Vooda, who felt that he had practically won the game, "I will produce the eggs of Icanti, the terrible serpent, and make them hatch out live snakes. Were I to do this without having other greater magic ready wherewith to overcome them, the snakes would kill us all.