Owen Rowe O'Neil

“ My impi backed me up, and it began to look as though some one would be badly hurt when Oom Tuys dashed out of the house and scattered us.
"Mzaan Bakoor, you little devil!" he shouted, catching me by the ears. "Why do you make so much fight? Why do you tell such lies? 'Black Hand Tom' will only eat the dust of these Johannesburg horses. They are race horses!"
Now this was sacrilege. To hear my uncle, the great "White King of Swaziland," say such a thing gave me such a shock that I forgot to kick his shins for tweaking my ears. ”

“ Lomwazi was stunned by the change in his fortunes, but a second later gripped the hand and followed Tuys as he retreated into the group behind the mound on which Sebuza stood.
Next the warriors formed into impis and, led by their indunas in all their savage trappings, began marching past the young king. Each impi would halt in front of him and give the royal salute, thus acknowledging him as their ruler. It seemed to me that there was an endless procession of these savages, all of them fully costumed and armed for battle. ”

“ The savage king slipped a clip into his Mauser, the metallic click intensified by the silence. He raised the rifle, sighting down first one line of warriors and then the other. The next instant a shot rang out and a plumed Swazi pitched forward and lay writhing in the sunlight. As Buno threw another cartridge into place, two warriors stepped out and stabbed the fallen warrior.
Four more shots rang out, and at each a plumed head came down, with shield and assegai crashing as they struck the ground. Each warrior was stabbed as he lay, the killers quietly stepping back into the ranks. ”

“ Sebuza objected. "These brave men are loyal to me and came here to see me crowned. They are willing to die for me, and I dare not send them home to their kraals to say that I, the son of Buno, am afraid to take my throne. Labotsibeni has few warriors, and I have heard that these will desert her if there is a war. We could seize the throne with little killing. Only Lomwazi, perhaps, need be killed!" ”

“ As we forced our way to the royal hut, Sebuza came marching in surrounded by his young indunas, all of whom were officers in his impis. The prince pushed by us into his mother's hut and a second later Lochien came out and beckoned us to enter.
As soon as she saw us, Queen Tzaneen motioned us to her side.
"It is war now," she said decisively. "There is no other way! Our indunas have been murdered and my warriors cannot be restrained. You white men did everything you could to keep peace, but Labotsibeni makes war against us and we cannot help ourselves. It is war!" ”

“ I was at a loss what to say to Tzaneen. She had the air of having conferred the highest possible honor on us, but I sat there speechless, wondering how to avoid becoming a Boer-Swazi. It was good old reliable Tuys who saved the situation, but ruined us.
"Nkosikaas, you have done Mzaan Bakoor and his men the greatest honor," he said, "and they will gladly become indunas of your impi. They will go to their homes proud to say that they are your indunas!" ”

“ After taking her drink, Labotsibeni wiped her lips on a leaf—one of a pile she had at her side—and then spoke:
"Oom Tuys comes to pay the tribute," she observed, "but my son and he have other plans they will carry out. You are close to the great white man. What are these plans?"
I then realized what she was after. Of course I knew nothing about what new deviltry Buno and Tuys were hatching, but I realized that it would not do for me to appear to be on the outside. I would lose prestige.
"Oom Tuys and the king plan great things for the people of Swaziland," I solemnly assured her. ”

“ When they drew closer we could discern Lomwazi in their midst. He was not bound, but carried no arms and wore no ornaments. All the men guarding him were indunas. They marched their prisoner in front of Sebuza, and we came nearer so that we might hear.
"Lomwazi, brother of Buno and traitor to his son," Sebuza began. "You have lost in the war you started against me and now your life is mine. Labotsibeni is dead and I have sent for you to surrender the throne to me so that the people of Swaziland may know who is king. Do you give up the throne?" ”

“ Then came Tuys's turn. He had been thinking rapidly [70] and I had a faint hope that he would find some way out.
"O King, it is not fitting that your warriors should die by my rifle," he said hurriedly. "You are king and their lives are yours; I am but your guest and it is not right that brave men should be killed by one who loves only peace. Let us shoot at other targets. Let us kill cattle so that there may be a feast to-night."
Buno's face darkened. His bloodshot eyes flashed and for a second I thought he would strike Tuys.
"The king commands! Buno, king of the Swazis, commands!" ”

“ He will find that I am a bad witch-doctor and will know that it is not good to refuse an order!"
Then Tuys delivered his ultimatum, and it was the arrangement by which peace was preserved in Swaziland for nearly a score of years. It was a striking scene. Each of the queens sat in front of her bodyguard, while behind Tuys stood the keen-eyed Boer leaders. Except for their plumes and colored trappings, the armies of the two queens almost blended into the barren brown veldt. Over all was the crystal-clear sky of South Africa, with the bright sun throwing clean-cut shadows. ”

“ Tzaneen answered me, and her words met the hearty approval of all the others.
"We do not need the government to avenge our dead," she said, holding her head erect with pride. "Our dead are our own and their blood cries to us for revenge!"
That seemed to settle it. They asked us to take part in the war, but we flatly refused. We told them that it was not a "white man's war" and that we would have nothing to do with it. Then Sebuza, with his customary impudence, asked me to lend him my rifle. I refused, and he grew quite huffy about it.
"You gave my father, King Buno, a rifle," he retorted. ”

“ It was the remains of Queen Labotsibeni, the most extraordinary native ruler South Africa ever knew.
L'Tunga was waiting at the pyre and directed the witch-doctors how to place the body on its summit. When this was done, he stepped back and moved to the nearby fire, where he picked up a flaming brand in each hand. These he raised above his head with wide sweep and held them steady for a moment. Then swiftly he brought the torches down and the warriors gave the royal salute—the last tribute to the murdered queen! ”

“ Tzaneen started the ball rolling.
"My noble son," she said, turning to the prince, "these are the white men who were the friends of your father, the great King Buno. The big one with a beard is Oom Tuys, whom Buno called 'The White King of Swaziland' and whom your father made the guide and guardian of our people when he died. The other, he of the shaven face, is Mzaan Bakoor, who makes wonderful magic with little black boxes on thin legs. The white men are our friends and come to Lebombo to assist in your coronation." ”

“ Tuys and several of the indunas sprang to his aid, and in a moment they had him on his feet. His legs seemed perfectly stiff.
"Let go! Let go!" he cried. "I am a man and will meet death face to face!"
They took their hands off him, and he stood swaying back and forth, his mouth working as he tried to speak. The light from the smoke-hole struck him on the head and deepened the lines of his face, throwing heavy shadows under the eyes and chin. These shadows intensified the cruelty of his face, and I felt a cold shudder. Buno dying was even more terrible than Buno killing! ”

“ Oom Tuys, however, spoke quickly to me in Dutch.
"Remind them that this is only a demonstration, Owen, and that there must be no killing," he said.
I turned to the others again.
"Nkosikaas, you must instruct your indunas that this is to be only a peaceful demonstration," I told the queen. "You must tell them that the warrior who makes an attempt to kill will be executed. There must be no mistake about this. Prince Sebuza must also tell his indunas this, and they must understand fully that this is not war—it is only make-believe." ”

“ Makets insisted that we attack Zombode; he thought we could rush the village and take it. I could see that he was carrying out instructions that Umzulek had given him when he sent him to Lebombo. His advice was given in a torrent of words that I had difficulty in stopping. He had the attack all planned.
"Attack with fire!" he almost yelled, for he was much excited and in deadly earnest. "First the impis of Tzaneen, Sebuza, and Umzulek will attack those on guard. After them will come the others, carrying fire. While we fight, the torch-bearers will break through and burn the kraals!" ”

“ I was quick to learn my lessons, chiefly because success meant speedy escape to the wild pastimes of the little savages who were my companions. Practically all our [30] sports had to do with war and the hunt, so that I grew up to regard death as only an incident in the life of a warrior and not an event to be feared or worried about.
However, on my first visit to Buno, then king of Swaziland, I saw death in a form that shocked me by its needless brutality and utter wastefulness. ”

“ This is really the most delightful valley in Swaziland. It is well watered, and thousands of the natives have their kraals there. Swaziland is a broken country, alternating between veldt of from two to five, and even six thousand feet, and there are small rivers everywhere, flowing from west to east. Each of these rivers has cut out its own valley, but the Valley of Heaven is the most fertile and beautiful of all. Trees, sometimes in clumps but more often singly, are found along the banks of the rivers and each kraal is practically surrounded by big and little ones. ”

“ I began. "Now the queen will not see me and you will not tell me the truth when I want to know about the coronation. Other indunas have told me that you and the queen have plotted to prevent Sebuza becoming king—"
"Nkoos, that is not so!" Lomwazi returned hotly, interrupting me. "We wish Sebuza to become king and will do nothing to prevent it. It is the government that does not wish him to become king; it is the government, and not my mother, Labotsibeni!" ”

“ I chummed with a Canadian who represented an American agricultural firm in South Africa, and we soon became weary of religion at all meals.
"There's a place for everything in this world," he said one morning after breakfast, "but I'll be damned if I want to combine kippered herrings with my soul's salvation!"
It was not long before both of us were in the bad graces of the missionaries, who did not hesitate to murmur that "it was no wonder that the savages did not heed the call of Christ when the white men of their country were so irreligious!" ”

“ Labotsibeni had not lost her sight this first time I saw her, and she looked me over for a full minute before speaking. Then she motioned to me to be seated and addressed me:
"Nkoos, little white induna," she said, "you come to Pungwane (the native name for Swaziland) as the friend of our great white leader. Oom Tuys is the trusted friend of my son, the king, and you shall be trusted likewise. Our friend always brings presents; thus do we know that his heart is true to us!"
I accepted the hint and produced the quart bottle of gin I had brought for her. ”

“ When we arrived at Buno's kraal we found him walking excitedly up and down, the rifle in his hands. Standing near him were a score or more of his indunas, and we were struck at once by their look of apprehension. Lined up on either side of the wide roadway leading to the royal kraal were thousands of warriors. More than a dozen impis were in line, every man in his full war costume. Their knob-kerries were held at the ready, their shields across their bodies, and each had shifted his assegai to the position used in battle. ”

“ I was holding Tuys's rifle and he came over to where I was standing. I was so sick with it all that I hardly heard him when he spoke to me hurriedly in Dutch.
"We must go through with it," he whispered. "Kill as few as you can. Shoot them in the head and they'll die quickly!"
A second later Tuys raised his rifle. Each shot that hit meant death; there was no need of stabbing when he shot. Buno taunted him at each shot, and in spite of being the best shot in the Transvaal Tuys was able to miss as many as possible without arousing the suspicions of the bloody king. ”

“ She is the best liked woman in Swaziland without a doubt, and this is strange, since it is seldom that these savage women display any affection for one another.
We asked her how soon Sebuza would be made king. Her face darkened at the question and I could see that it touched a sore spot.
"Until my son, Sebuza, returns from the mountains this matter is in the hands of Queen Labotsibeni, whom the government recognizes as regent," she answered. "But when the prince is a man and is ready for the throne, perhaps there will be a change!" ”

“ When Tuys and I got back to our camp we immediately held a council of war. Our position was dangerous. If Labotsibeni's men attacked Lebombo, we might have to fight for our lives. We were known as friends of Tzaneen and Sebuza, and our taking part in the "demonstration" of the day before had shown all Swaziland that we were not friendly to Labotsibeni and Lomwazi. Realizing that we might have to fight and not caring to take advantage of the slim protection of the kraals, we built up the sides of the great wagon so that it became more like a fort than anything else. ”