CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.
THE DIVIDING OF THE NATION.
The time had been well chosen for the return of the Bapongqolo to theheart of the nation, for now the Amabuna were advancing upon us, andwith them Nongalaza at the head of a strong army, made up of the rebeltraitors whom he had induced to desert their true king. The killing ofTambusa while on a message of peace had infuriated Dingane. He orderedNkunkundhlovu to be burnt, vowing to rebuild it no more until he haddriven the rebels and their white friends from the land, and exacted afearful vengeance for the slaughter of his faithful induna. So the_izanusi_ were called up, and we were doctored for battle, and Lalusini,or Mahlula, as she was known here, together with her band of girlsdecked out in their richest dresses, stood forth and heartened thewarriors by their songs of battle and victory; even as she had onceheartened us to defeating, under the shadow of my white shield, thesevery warriors with whom I now fought, and a section of whom I was nowleading. Yes, these hundreds of men, the Bapongqolo, were worth much toDingane now.
The day had come at last, and the nation was divided. And now, with theone great struggle for the very life of the nation at our gates, Dinganeshowed himself, as he never had so shown himself before, as a noble andworthy warrior-king of a mighty warrior people.
It was the morning of the battle, that great struggle which should mean,to him and his, all or nothing. Ha! he was great, he was majestic, thatwarrior King, as he came forth to address his children--to hearten usfor what lay before us. Not that we needed burning words ofencouragement, for of all that dense array crouching there behind theirshields, not one at that moment but longed for the gleam of the spearsof Nongalaza to come into view.
Then the King stood forth arrayed in full war dress, his great formtowering to the height of the waving ostrich plumes which rose above hishead-ring--his head thrown back in royal pride as his eyes swept proudlyover the dense ranks of those who adhered to him--and his words rolledlike thunder upon the still air:
"My children, the day is upon us at last when the might of the People ofthe Heavens is to be put upon its sorest trial; the day which is todecide whether the name of Zulu is to blaze forth again in all itsbrightness, to strike terror once more upon the world, or to become aforgotten thing. For a space it has been hidden, but only that it mightblaze forth again the more brightly. Yonder there come against usenemies. There are those who came among us with false words--callingthemselves a holy people--and striving, with fair words, to wrest fromus the lands which, bit by bit, we have added to the greatness of ournation--a people which knows not how to keep faith--a people which, inits greed, knows not how to observe its own agreements--a nation whichslays ambassadors bearing a peace message. But worse. With thatpeople, who comes? Who but they who would divide the nation--who, to dothis, have not scrupled to place their neck beneath the foot of thisother race--of these Amabuna, the scum and refuse of all white peoples--they of our own blood--they who have grown great under the shadow of theHouse of Senzangakona. These indeed are worse than dogs, for even a dogwill not bite the hand that fattens him. Ha! and with them is one ofthe House of Senzangakona--yet not, for it cannot be that a real boughof that great and royal tree can have joined with the refuse of all thewhite races, to turn and destroy his father's house. Some bastard mustit be--changed at birth--some low, base bastard, foisted by fraud uponthe House of Senzangakona. And he, he who would, by the favour of theAmabuna, call himself King, where is he? Not among those who comeagainst us. He is not even a leader of men. See him skulk behind theguns of the Amabuna while my dog, Nongalaza, leads his army for him.His army! _Hau_! a pack of cur dogs whom the lion-cubs of Zulu shalldisperse howling, for how shall so base and traitorous a band ofrunaways face and stand against the might of these?"
And as Dingane waved his hand over the assembled army a sound went uplike the sullen roar of a sea-wave that curls and breaks. The King wenton:
"My children! this is a time, not for talking, but for doing. I, yourfather, am here with you--I, your leader. Let the lion-cubs of Zulufall on bravely under the eye of the lion. Lo! those who direct you aremen to follow. Where is Umhlela? where is Silwane? where Nomapela andUntuswa?" And with each name a storm of applause rolled from thewarriors. "Where they are, there follow. Lo! I see the enemy. Lo!there are they who come against us. In perfect order, rank upon rank,go now to meet them. Fall on and strike--and strike hard. Strike untilnot one of them is left. Go, my children! Go, lion-cubs of Zulu!"
Away in the distance a dust-cloud was advancing, and through it thesheen and flash of spears. With a great roar the whole army sprang toits feet and saluted the King, who stood, with head thrown back andoutstretched arm, pointing with his spear towards the approaching host;and as the regiments formed up in columns and began their march, movingout over the plain like huge black serpents, the war-song of Dinganerolled forth like thunder upon the still and brooding air:
"Us'eziteni! Asiyikuza sababona."
["Thou art in among the enemy. _We_ shall never get a right of him."]
Louder and louder it swelled, uttered in fierce, jerky roars, as theroars of ravening beasts who can no longer be restrained from theirprey. Then the red mist was before all eyes. The host of Nongalaza wassinging, too; but for that we had no ears, only eyes for the body of ourfoe. Our warriors now swung forward at a run, the ranks steadied andkept in line by the warning word of an induna, or a sub-captain.Otherwise none spoke.
Now they are before us. Their appearance is even as that of ourselves.They have the same shields, the same broad spears, the same discipline.But their courage? Ha! We have that--we, the chosen, we, the faithful.Now we are among them; there is the slap of shield meeting shield, thetramp of struggling feet, the soft tearing of spear ripping flesh. Ha!The red blood is flowing; warriors go down by hundreds--beaten toearth--ripped as they lie--as many of ours as of theirs. The savage,gargling groan of the dying, as they strive to drag themselves upward,and, spear in hand, die fighting still--the death-hiss of theirslayers--the "_I-ji_!" that thrilling whistle that shakes the air--thelaboured panting of those who strive--the shiver and clash of hard woodand the crunch of bone, as the heavy knob-sticks meet other hard wood,or perchance a skull--these are the sounds that turn the air itselfverily warring. But neither side gives way--neither side yields afoot's breadth--or, if so, it is but for a moment, to charge again inrenewed fury.
Again and again this happens. No advantage can either side gain. Bothstrive with equal fury; both trained in valour and discipline under thesame training. _Whau_! there will be none left to tell of this battle,so surely shall we make an end of each other.
Now I, with the Bapongqolo, being in command of the left "horn" of ourarmy, am striving to surround that of the enemy, though his numbers arealmost as great as our own, and in this I am partially succeeding. Butwhat is the other "horn" doing? By this time we have gained someslightly rising ground, and now I can see. Ha! Can it be? Those onthat side are fighting against us--fighting against their own brethren--fighting against their King. _They have gone over to the side ofNongalaza_.
But, so far from disheartening our people, this traitorous defectionacts differently. Umhlela, watching and partly directing the battlefrom a little distance off, gives the word, and himself at the head ofthe force he has been holding in reserve, charges furiously upon thesetraitors, rolling them back upon the thick of Nongalaza's force, andthrowing the latter into confusion. Umhlela is a small man and old, butnever was there a braver one. He is in the hottest of the battle, andthey whom he leads follow like lions. The tossing of shields, and thetramp and pushing of striving feet, shakes both earth and air. Ha!Umhlela is down. A wounded warrior, supposed to be dead, has sprung tohis feet, and with last stroke has cleft the brave induna through theheart. But the rallying cry on the dying lips: "On, children of Zulu!The Lion watches you," thrills our people with renewed strength. Now wegain. The rebels are giving way. Now is the time. We press themharde
r and harder. Not hundreds now, but thousands lie slain, orwrithing in death-throes. They are beginning to withdraw. The day isours.
Is it? Ha! What is that shout, gathering in volume as it rolls alongbehind the rebel army--heartening those in front to face us morefiercely.
"They come, the Amabuna! The Amabuna are at hand!"
We who hear it can see Nongalaza riding on horseback along his rank--heand other of Mpande's indunas--and with shout and gesture they pointbehind them, then wave their men on. And in the distance can be heardthe rattle of the discharge of guns.
"They come, the Amabuna!"
That cry loses us the day. The younger regiments waver, fall intoconfusion, and flee. The men of the Imbele-bele--a splendid ringedregiment--stand their ground. So, too, do the Bapongqolo. Then we havework to do. One glance behind us, and we can see the land covered withfleeing fugitives; but the spot whence the King watched the battle isempty. We have saved the King.
Well, we are doomed. Thick and fast our warriors fall, being hugelyoutnumbered, and it wants but the coming of the Amabuna to make an endof us completely.
Now Nongalaza came riding along in my direction, where I, at the head ofthe Bapongqolo, stood at bay, and waved on his army, crying aloud thatthey should make an end of us, at all events. So seeing the rebelhost--which now was stronger than we--sweeping up to surround us, I gavethe word to retreat, and not too soon either, for we had to fight ourway through the closing "horns." But the land on that side was broken,and seamed with dongas; and Nongalaza's people, tumbling over each otherin their hurry and confusion, were less quick than we. Yet many wereslain in that rout, and ere night fell the land seemed alive withpursuers and pursued. But I set my face in the direction of the Ngomeforests, where my outlawry had been spent. There, I knew, were holesand retreats wherein not all the men of Nongalaza twice over wouldsucceed in finding me.
And, as night fell, the dull red glow of burning kraals lit up the land,and from afar you could hear the exultant war-song--the song of victory.Yet not altogether, for the song of Mpande was the song of bondage too,in that he, a prince of the House of Senzangakona, had purchased hiskingship dear; for he had purchased it at the price of doing _konza_ tothe Amabuna, in order to be allowed to hold it--in order to sit in theseat of Tshaka the Mighty, and of the warrior-king Dingane, who,however, might even yet be heard of again.
The slaughter on either side that day was immense, _Nkose_. Yet not bymight or by bravery did Nongalaza win that victory. Oh, no! He won itby a trick. Had he not cried that the Amabuna were at hand, we shouldnot have given way. But up till then we had gained no great advantage,and the approach of these people, who could gallop into our very midstand discharge their guns without harm to themselves, took all heart outof our warriors, already hard pressed by the forces of Nongalaza, nearlyequal as these were to our own. So we fled, and lost the day. Yet weneed not have, for the Amabuna were not really coming. But a goodgeneral will despise no method of snatching a victory, and Nongalaza wasright.
The Induna's Wife Page 23