Swallow: A Tale of the Great Trek

  When they reached the tableland Sihamba spoke words so bitter to hercouncillors and captains that some of them stopped their ears that theymight hear no more, while others answered that they could do nothingagainst men who walked upon the boiling waters.

  "Now, indeed, you can do nothing against them," Sihamba cried, "forThirst will fight for them, and he is the best of friends. Because ofyour cowardice we must perish, everyone of us, and for my part I shouldbe glad of it were it not that you have given the Lady Swallow to deathalso."

  Then she buried her face in the ground and would say no more, even whenthey told her that the Zulus had been beaten back by the rocks that wererolled down upon them.

  For some days the little spring gave enough water for the thousands ofpeople who were crowded upon the mountain top, though there was noneto spare for the cattle. But on the third night the poor beasts beingmaddened by thirst, broke out of the kraal and rushing to the spring,so trampled it with their hoofs that its waters were sealed up, and onlyvery little could be obtained even by digging, for here the rock camenear to the surface of the soil, and it would seem as though the courseof the spring was turned or choked beneath it.

  Then all those upon that mountain began to suffer the horrors of thirst.Soon the cattle were altogether mad and rushing to and fro in herds,bellowing furiously and goring everyone they met, or trampling them tothe earth. Now the Umpondwana strove to be rid of them by driving themdown the gorge, but the Zulus, guessing the trouble that the presenceof these beasts was bringing upon the besieged would not suffer them topass. Next they attempted to force them over the edge of the precipice,but when they were driven to it the oxen turned and charged throughthem, killing several men. After this they contented themselves withstabbing the most dangerous of the animals, and leaving the rest to rushto and fro as they would, for they did not care to kill them all lesttheir carcasses should breed a pestilence.

  The sixth day came, and, oh! the great kraal of the Umpondwana was butas a hell wherein lost souls wandered in torment, for the sun beat downupon it fiercely and everywhere roamed or lay men, women and childrenovercome with the torture of thirst; indeed, of the last, some werealready dead, especially those who were at the breast, for theirmothers' milk was dry. Here three men had dragged an old wife from herhut, and were beating her to make her reveal the store of water whichshe was believed to have hidden; there others were cutting the throatof an ox that they might drink its blood, and yonder a little girlwas turning stones to lick the damp side of them with her poor parchedtongue.

  In the midst of these scenes which passed outside her hut, sat Sihambabrooding. As chieftainess she still had about a pint of water storedin a jar, but though she had made Suzanne drink, herself she drank butlittle, for she would not consent to suffer less than those about her.

  Now Sihamba's eyes fell upon the child who was licking stones, and herheart was wrung with pity. Going into the hut she fetched most of thewater in a gourd, and calling to the child, who staggered towards her,for she could scarcely walk, she gave it to her, bidding her drinkslowly.

  In a moment it was gone, every drop of it, and, behold! the dim eyesbrightened, and the shrunken limbs seemed to grow round again, while theyoung voice, no longer high and cracked, praised and blessed her name.Sihamba motioned the child away, then she went into the hut to weep,only weep she could not, since her eyes were too dry for tears.

  "Three more days," she thought to herself, "and they will all bedead unless rain should fall. Yes, the cowards, and those whom theircowardice has betrayed will all be dead together."

  As she thought thus, Suzanne entered the hut, and there was tidings inher eyes.

  "What is it, sister," asked Sihamba, "and whence do you come?"

  "I come from the high seat upon the edge of the cliff," she answered,"where I have sat all day, for I can no longer bear these sights, and Ihave this to tell, that the Zulus are marching across the plain, but nottowards Zululand, since they head for the Quathlamba Mountains."