SOUTHERN AFRICA. 79 



implicitly believed, Umg-artie was presently iiistnlled in the 

 office of chief domestic, and being- thus constantly about the 

 royal person, had every fticility aiforded him for the accom- 

 plishment of his blood}^ mission. Sending* two of his confi- 

 dential friends to secrete themselves in the long- grass by the 

 river side, while the king- was taking- his usual morning- bath, 

 the latter was speared to death on a preconcerted sig-nal, 

 and Cliaka, at the head of the Umtatwas, took possession of 

 the throne. 



The putting- to death all the principal persons of his bro- 

 ther's g'overnment, including- every one that was suspected of 

 being- inimical to his own accession, was the first act that 

 signalized his bloody reig-n. Ting-iswaa dying- shortly after- 

 wards, the young- king- went to war with the Umtatwas— the 

 nation that had so hospitably sheltered and protected him 

 whilst in exile ; and having- destro^^ed the major part of the 

 tribe, the remnant were fain to become his vassals. In a few 

 years Chaka had depopulated the whole of the coast from the 

 Amapoota River to the Ootag-ale — signal success also attend- 

 ing his incursions among- the interior tribes, over which he 

 exercised the most sanguinary persecution — pursuing them 

 with a refinement in fiendish ferocity, too harrowing to be 

 detailed. 



Arriving at the zenith of his pride and ambition, and hav- 

 ing-, for a brief space, sated himself with the blood of his 

 neighbours, the savage despot began to direct his thoughts 

 towards the internal government of his realm — a measure 

 which was rendered more than ever imperative from the 

 circumstance of his extensive victories having placed him at 

 the head of a gigantic and overgroAving nation. His first 

 care was to discipline his rabble forces, which were already 

 elated with achievements, originating- chiefly from the daunt- 

 less and irresistible spirit of their leader. Ever in his own 

 person did Chaka surnamed " the bloody," set an example 



