The words of this song are:—
“The Orange River: It is far away: It flows: The Orange River: I see the mountains of the Zulus.”
What follows is the last of the Hlubi series:—
Its words are:—
“Ho, ho!—We call to the chief. He is as great as the ocean.”
Within a few years of the flight of the Hlubis, the Baca tribe was driven from its home, on and about the present site of Maritzburg, Natal. The reigning chief was Madikanè. Around his memory hangs an accretion of many legends. There is some ground for thinking that Madikanè’s mother was an European, possibly a waif from one or other of the vessels which are known to have been wrecked on the east coast of Southern Africa toward the end of the last century. The words of one of the songs composed in his honour run somewhat as follows:—
“’Mngcanganè (one of Madikanè’s names) is an animal,—
Ho!—What shall we do with him?
There is no chief who can conquer a white chief,—
Hi!—What shall we do with him?”
These words clearly indicate the peculiarity of Madikanè’s appearance, as well as that he was light of colour. The air to which these words are sung does not merit reproduction.