THE ISLAND FASTNESS 
279 
gain inspiration, shouted back many curses and threats at Da 
Tapo, who, towards morning, relinquished his post and followed 
on the track of his tribe, who, by his timely intervention, had 
now made good their escape. 
Moremi and his mounted men had meanwhile held the 
main body of the advancing Matabele in check at the lake, 
killing many at the crossings of the river nearer his town, 
until, overwhelmed by numbers, for the Matabele army was 
over twelve thousand strong, they fell back on the tribe, who 
meanwhile had safely crossed with the cattle, women, and 
children on to some large islands in the reeds, with open 
deep water in front of them, by some circuitous route known 
only to themselves, leaving the Matabele in possession of all 
their stores of corn, which they foolishly set fire to and burnt, 
and a few goats and fat-tailed, sheep that were too slow of 
speed to accompany the flight. 
The Matabele followed them up sharply, and when they 
reached the bank opposite the islands on which they could 
hear the cattle lowing, and see the Batowaana, as Moremi’s 
people are called, calmly preparing food for themselves, 'their 
rage knew no bounds. They attempted to swim over to the 
island, but were received with such a withering fire from the 
breechloaders that they were glad to retire, and resume the 
attack at night. 
The Batowaana, enjoying their discomfiture, held up pieces 
of meat they were cooking, telling them to come and fetch it, 
as they surely must be hungry after their long journey, and 
in other ways sought by taunts to precipitate another attack 
while daylight lasted. In the coarsest language the Matabele 
answered, while the ‘dacha’ they smoked, firing their rage 
to the utmost, caused them to direct their remarks princi¬ 
pally to the women, who should have to suffer for their 
discomfiture when those cowards, their husbands, who fought 
like monkeys from behind bushes, had been comfortably 
disposed of. 
Three times the bold Matabele attempted to storm the 
