THROUGH ZAMBESI A. 
849 
“ Calf of the terrible ! ” ( Inkoniama gesilo !) 
“ The Letter Destroyer ! ” ( Usa pula ngwalo l )* 
“ He crossed the great desert! ” ( Wa daluba 
lhalihali!) 
“ The black duck of Umzilagazi!” ( Itata elimniama 
eliga Umzilagazi! 
“ The black calf of Buluwayo ! ” (Itoli elimniama la 
gwa Buluwayo !) 
Such were the paeans sung lustily at the gate. Fair- 
bairn and myself waited a little to listen ; but getting 
tired of the endless shouts we pushed on homewards, 
the vehemence of the sound lessening and dying as we 
proceeded. 
At the time, when I heard the interpretation of the 
sentences, I could not help thinking how barbarously 
delightful was the poetry of this warlike race ! Their 
songs in laudation of their king were disinterested songs 
of praise. Perhaps a new Utopia was here, in which 
love was true and loyalty unselfish. I was particularly 
told that the people would come great distances to sing 
^.the praises of Lo-ben. 
Was there any ulterior motive ? The truly disin¬ 
terested man cannot be found among us whites ; was 
devotion so true an attribute of the blacks, and flattery 
at last sincere ? 
I asked Fairbairn about the matter. 
“ Oh,” was his reply, “ the old man gives them 
uxuala ! ” 
Bah ! that was it. The poetry was gone. Vulgar 
beer ! Not a spark of the divinity of poetry ! Hence¬ 
forth I would not believe in exceptional blacks, but 
would regard them as ordinary mortals, as plain, 
practical men, with common cravings and with modes 
of gratifying them similar to those of the human family 
generally. 
Returning to the “ New Valhalla ” we had a good 
supper on sheep’s head and trotters, which I enjoyed all 
the more seeing that my mind was relieved from all 
* The word ngwalo has reference to a correspondence of Lo-ben and his 
endunas with Sir T. Shepstone respecting Kuruman, the rightful heir. 
