6oH SOMK PLAt i:-XA.MI':s 111" TSOLO. 



off their cattle, and these raids are perpetuated in the war sont^> 

 of the Pondomisi. No doubt honours were fairly even, and what 

 the Pondos lost one day they regained some other day. .\fter a 

 raid, however, the Pondomisi used to divide the spoils on crossing" 

 a certain stream, and while busied thus no doubt quarrels arose 

 sometimes, and at others the Pondos came upon them. Xabane. 

 " a (juarrel," was the name htly given to the stream. 



Etycni, nieaning "at the stones," probably signifies some grim 

 tragedy of the kind suggested by the name Xokon.va. but at a 

 later date, I tinderstand. 



Another class of historical event is ])erijetuated in the name 

 Nuinhala. This name has quite an interesting little story of its 

 own. A certain girl was married to Ngubenctika, Chief of the 

 Tembus, and son of I lala, and she was then called Nomhala — i.e.. 

 mother of the Hala tribe. The date may be fixed by the fact that 

 Dalindyelo, the present ( 1916) paramount chief of the Tembtis. 

 was a son of (iangelizwe, grandson of Mtirana, and great grand- 

 son of Ngubencuka by Xomhala. But evil days came upon Nom- 

 hala. She was accused of witchcraft, and in order to escape the 

 consequences ran home tr> her peo]")le at Ntshinnane, in Tsolo 

 District. 



Ngttbencuka sent out a ])arty to chase her and bring her l)ack. 

 and a councillor of the chief was actually sticcessful in stealing 

 her from the hut in which she was sleeping. However, as she 

 was being carried away she cried out, and her friends attem-pted 

 a rescue. In the melee which ensued she \vas killed with nian\- 

 others, and so the place was called Nomhala after her. 



It is interesting to note that Ntshunumc, the original name 

 of the place (which was taken from a sub-tribe of the Tondos, 

 the Matshomani), has been cpiite superseded by Nomhala, and 

 is onl}- perjjettiated b)- the tradition which lingers \'aguel\' in the 

 memory of the old people. 



Another interestinbg name is h.luityawoii. For a considerable 

 time I could get no information abotit this name. It means " at 

 the foot," but 1 could never discover at the foot of what, for it 

 was on top of a plateau, and there were no mountains in the 

 vicinity. At last, one da\- 1 lieard it s])oken of as " Rhtnyai^'cni 

 inkiiku" — "at the foot of the f()\\ 1," and there was the exi)lanation. 

 After the Pondonn'si rebellidn ( I 'mhlonhlo'sHhe ("lOvernment 

 planned to settle ICuropeau farmers along the foot of llie Drakens- 

 berg Mountains, and included in this scheme was the laying-out 

 of a group of farms [u be mentioned later. When the surveyors 

 set to work the\- marked a certain spot with the usual arrow-head. 

 The raw nati\'es, seeing white men at work with theodolite and 

 chains and Hags, wotdd be dL-eply interested, and ibis would be 

 the object of wonder and the subject of conversation for many 

 days through all the countryside. The threefold im])ress of the 

 ordinary surveyor's mark (the arrowhead mark) would at once 

 remind them of the "spoor" left on tlie ground by a fowl, and so 

 they called the place "at the foot of the fowl"! 



