Presently they came, and sitting down upon little
stools, of which there were several about the hut,
for the Kukuanas do not in general squat upon their
haunches like the Zulus, they helped us to get through
our dinner. The old gentleman was most affable
and polite, but it struck me that the young one regarded
us with doubt. Together with the rest of the
party, he had been overawed by our white appearance
and by our magic properties; but it seemed to me that,
on discovering that we ate, drank, and slept like
other mortals, his awe was beginning to wear off,
and to be replaced by a sullen suspicion—which
made me feel rather uncomfortable.
In the course of our meal Sir Henry suggested to me
that it might be well to try to discover if our hosts
knew anything of his brother’s fate, or if they
had ever seen or heard of him; but, on the whole, I
thought that it would be wiser to say nothing of the
matter at this time. It was difficult to explain
a relative lost from “the Stars.”
After supper we produced our pipes and lit them; a
proceeding which filled Infadoos and Scragga with
astonishment. The Kukuanas were evidently unacquainted
with the divine delights of tobacco-smoke. The
herb is grown among them extensively; but, like the
Zulus, they use it for snuff only, and quite failed
to identify it in its new form.
Presently I asked Infadoos when we were to proceed
on our journey, and was delighted to learn that preparations
had been made for us to leave on the following morning,
messengers having already departed to inform Twala
the king of our coming.
It appeared that Twala was at his principal place,
known as Loo, making ready for the great annual feast
which was to be held in the first week of June.
At this gathering all the regiments, with the exception
of certain detachments left behind for garrison purposes,
are brought up and paraded before the king; and the
great annual witch-hunt, of which more by-and-by,
is held.
We were to start at dawn; and Infadoos, who was to
accompany us, expected that we should reach Loo on
the night of the second day, unless we were detained
by accident or by swollen rivers.
When they had given us this information our visitors
bade us good-night; and, having arranged to watch
turn and turn about, three of us flung ourselves down
and slept the sweet sleep of the weary, whilst the
fourth sat up on the look-out for possible treachery.
TWALA THE KING
It will not be necessary for me to detail at length
the incidents of our journey to Loo. It took
two full days’ travelling along Solomon’s
Great Road, which pursued its even course right into
the heart of Kukuanaland. Suffice it to say that
as we went the country seemed to grow richer and richer,
and the kraals, with their wide surrounding belts
of cultivation, more and more numerous. They were
all built upon the same principles as the first camp
