Zitu ordered an extra large fire to be made. Not far from the dead snake the hunters roasted the deer, pleased over their good luck in finding such a magnificent supper with so little effort. They gorged themselves with food as if they had not eaten for days, and even Nomusa could not resist the delicious smells of the roasting deer meat.
Sentinels were now appointed to watch over them while they slept, and a large crackling fire was kept burning to ward off any wild animals and to warm the hunters when the night grew cold. Nomusa did not enjoy having to sleep on this plain, especially as the dead snake was near enough to attract jackals or hyenas to their neighborhood.
She stared into the leaping flames, determined not to fall asleep. She would be a self-appointed sentinel tonight. Two would not be too many. But the warmth of the fire and her overburdened stomach conquered her determination to stay awake. Nomusa slept peacefully until sunrise the next morning.
FOURTEEN: Elephant Country
“Today we are in elephant country.” Zitu’s words were loud enough for everyone to hear, though he spoke to Nomusa, who was walking by his side. “I expect we shall see elephant tracks before sunset.”
“You were right then, my father,” Nomusa said admiringly, “when you first told me the elephants were five sleeps away.”
“I have been here before—many times,” the chief replied. “Usually elephants stay in about the same places. It was not any special wisdom on my part that I should know this.”
Nomusa was proud that her father, though an important Zulu chief, never pretended to know more than he actually did. She had heard of chiefs who claimed to have mysterious sources of knowledge and power, who were haughty and imperious with their people. Sometimes they were cruel, too. But not Zitu. He was simple and just. Although as chief he was entitled to a larger share of whatever came to them, he never took more than an ordinary Zulu.
Nomusa and her father were passing a grove of trees when she called: “See, over there! How strange those trees are! Why do they have no bark on them?”