“I had noticed that this young man, and one or two others among the headmen, were slightly paler in colour than the rest of the tribe, and I told Mapana so.
“‘Yes,’ she returned. ‘Seleni is descended from the white man from whom I descend, but by a baser branch. My forefathers come directly from the white man who settled among the Umfanzi long ago, and married the chief’s daughter. That white man—Morinza, we call him—became ruler over the tribe, taught us many things, and left the family of chiefs to which I belong. I have sent for you,’—here she inquired my name, which I told her—‘to look upon the things which I have here. They were Morinza’s, and they have always been cherished in my family.’
“Here she took the circlet of coins from her neck and handed it to me. She had also for my inspection the sword I have spoken of, and an old-fashioned book, very handsomely bound in red leather, curiously gilt and stamped. This book she took from a covering of soft hide, in which it was carefully wrapped.
“I was intensely interested, and first examined the gold coins composing the necklet. There were seven in all, four large and three smaller. I recognised at once the head of Charles the First, and made out without difficulty that the coins were twenty-shilling and ten-shilling pieces of that king’s reign. I next took up the sword. The scabbard had once been handsome in leather and metal, but was now worn and battered. The sword itself, a straight, narrowish rapier, was a very beautiful one. It was in excellent condition and finely engraved. On the centre of the blade were these words in old-fashioned lettering:—”
“Rupertus Mauritio Suo Bredae, 1638.”
Latin for: “From Rupert to his Maurice. Before Breda, 1638.”
“Now in the mind of every schoolboy,” (said Cressey, pausing in his narrative) “the names Rupert and Maurice always run together. They were nephews of Charles the First, sons of Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia, and they are well-known in English history. Since I came to Cape Town, I have been to the library, and I find that Prince Maurice served his first or second campaign in 1638 with the Prince of Orange at the siege of Breda. Prince Rupert was there, learning the trade of war at the same time. The meaning of the inscription on that sword—which I have, and will show you presently—is to my mind perfectly clear.
“Well, to get on with my yarn. As I sat in Mapana’s kraal with the sword in my hands, I began to wonder whether I was in a dream. Was it possible that the beautiful brunette before me, chieftain of a tribe of outlandish Kaffirs, came of such stock as this? The idea seemed too wildly improbable. Yet, if her tale and the evidence before me meant anything, it meant that this sword, these gold coins, had once belonged to Maurice of the Rhine. I took the book in my hand and turned over its yellow pages. What I saw there yet more electrified me, and stimulated yet further my imagination. The book was an old French work on hawking, entitled, La Fauconnerie; par Charles d’Esperon; Paris: 1605. On the fly-leaf was written, in an antique yet clear hand:—”
“Mauritio P. D.D. Mater Amantissima, Elizabetha R. 1635.”
Translated, this would run: “To Maurice, Prince, a gift from his most loving mother, Elizabeth, Queen, 1635.”