264 
Transactions of the Royal Society oj South Africa. 
o tlhakantse batho le Matebele, 
Eare ba lebile ditima-modimo, 
A bo a e-tla a tlhaola Matebele, 
A bola[e]a, a ba latsa mmetha : 
Ka ba ka tlhoma ke re " Kwena ' ? : 
Ka khutla, ka bua se sele, ka re : 
" Tsankole, pholoholo, 
Ea setlhabela-manong, 
Manong a a kwa Mabele-a-podi, 
A re a fhofha, a fhofha, a khubidu, 
A ya thata ea ga Phometsi-a-kwena, 
Ea ga matuduanye wa ga Sechele," 
Matuduanye wa ga rraSebogiso. 
Merachwanyana ea Serowe, 
matlhwana a mo 
Masilo a ntshits 
lebile : 
" Kgama e tla bona kae botshelo 
E kile ea raka Kwena letsibogo : 
Confounded the folk, even the 
Matebele, 
When they beheld the Ditima- 
Modimo (? regiment). 
He came and cut down the Matebele, 
Killed them, laid them in heaps : 
And then, I had said " Kwena " : 
I stopped and spake otherwise : 
" Quick little jumper of a steen- 
bok, 
The beast the vultures stab, 
The vultures of Teats-of-the-goat 
(Mtn.), 
The red vultures, which fly, fly, 
Which eat the power of the Unafraid 
(Prover of Leviathan), 
Of the diver of S. 
The diver of S.'s sire." 
0 ye small tribes of S. (Kgama's 
present stad), 
M. gazed on him with all his eyes : 
" The Hartebeest, how will it live ? 
It crossed the river before the Kwena 
came : 
The further side it is very narrow : 
'Tis hard : 
They will be caught by the knees. 
I am the active one of M., 
The long-footed one of the chief. 
And overtaker of the foe : 
The forward Malope (little bird with 
long tail). 
In the cities of men, 
Among the narrow places and at K. 
(Both in the east of the Bakwena country). 
The people feared the lightning of 
the youths. 
They feared the lightning of the men 
of Mashamatse. 
The beast of Ganwanwe's folk : 
Moseya ole o mfhera, 
0 thata : 
Ba tla tshwarwa ke mfhera-mangole 
Ke Nao-dintlha wa ga Mocwasele, 
Nao-ditelele wa kgosi, 
Mosii mosii wa dira, 
Mokgarametsege Malope (? Molope) 
Metseng ea batho 
Fha gare Mahutagane le Kurwe. 
Batho ba tshabile tladi ea makau, 
Ba tshabile tladi ea boMashamatse,* 
boGanwanwe (Seb.'s 
Pholoholo 
sister). 
E se gadima lwa bo-Motshwane 
Mmatle, 
La Makatapitse a ga Botshabelo.f 
'Tis the lightning of the men of 
Motshwane (son of Mmatle). 
Of the Makatapitse regiment of the 
Stronghold. 
* Elder brother of Baruti, Sebele's cousin. Most of the names are of members of 
the Bakwena royal family. 
f Sechele's stad as a city of refuge for the tribes mentioned in No. 13, note. 
