The White Hecatomb, and Other Stories

by W. C. Scully

Daylight found the searchers again at work, but the experience of the second day was only a repetition of that of the first. Late in the afternoon Nomayeshè fell exhausted to the ground, and was carried senseless to her dwelling. Then the searchers again wended sadly homewards, feeling that further effort would be vain.

Three

The kraal of ’Ndondo was built in a particularly inaccessible part of the valley of the Umzimhlava, and about seven miles from the dwelling of Zwilibanzi. Here, on the second day after the disappearance of little Nodada, was held a small and select gathering. A fat ox had been slaughtered for the occasion, and the pink foam of beer was visible over the lips of several large earthen pots, some of them nearly three feet high.

’Ndondo was related to the heads of several important kraals in the neighbourhood, to which he had only very recently returned. He had, a few years previously, been “smelt out” upon an accusation of having, by means of black magic, caused the death of one of the wives of his chief. Luckily, however, he had got wind of the matter in time, and accordingly had managed to escape—not alone with his life, but with the bulk of his cattle—to the Cwera country. His alleged confederate had not been so lucky. This unhappy man had been tortured to death, his kraal had been destroyed, and all his property confiscated.

Subsequently, however, ’Ndondo, by means of judicious bribery, had managed to convince the chief of his innocence, and had accordingly been permitted to return, as it were, on probation of good behaviour. He was rich in cattle, and was now celebrated for generosity and hospitality to the “isanuse” and “inyanga” fraternities, members of which were generally to be found at his kraal.

On the present occasion, no less than four witch-doctors—one a most celebrated man, a very Matthew Hopkins among witch-finders—were present, the occasion being an attempt to cure one of ’Ndondo’s daughters of what was really epilepsy, but which was supposed to be an attack of “umdhlemnyana,” or “love frenzy,” believed to have been induced by a young man of the neighbourhood by means of the casting a love spell.

It was about mid-day. Long strips of roasted meat were circulating among the feasters, and the beer, which was of a very heavy brew, was being handed round freely in small pots, each with a cleft-calabash spoon floating in it. Then one of the boys who had been herding cattle on the mountain-side rushed in, breathless, and told a strange tale. He had, so he said, been seeking honey in a steep gorge, the entrance to which was visible from the kraal, when he heard cries, as of a child, issuing from beneath a large flat stone. The gorge was not far off, and thither the feasters wended, some gazing back ruefully at the liquor and the baked meats.

They reached the flat stone; it was evidently part of an old land-slip, and lay as a sort of bridge across the bottom of the gorge. On each side the ground was flush with the top. Below it were piled stones which had been carried over by aeons of floods, and above it boulders, too heavy to admit of their being moved by water over the obstacle, had lodged. Among these were a few crevices, this being probably due to a general shifting of the whole mass under exceptionally violent pressure of water from above.

All the men listened carefully, but at first nothing could be heard. The boy, however, was evidently in earnest over his tale, so they all sat down and waited. Sure enough after a few moments they heard a faint wail issuing from under the stone. Here was a portent which the witch-doctors welcomed as something coming specially within their province, and towards an explanation of which they alone could give a clue.

The most celebrated witch-doctor was asked his opinion. He did not give an opinion; he gave a full and positive explanation of the case. There was, he said, undoubtedly a child under the stone, but it had been placed there by the “imishologu,” or spirits of the earth, and under no circumstances whatever should it be interfered with so long as it was in their august charge. The “imishologu” might, of course, be asked in some appropriate and orthodox manner to deliver the child back to the light of day, but any attempt to violate their domain would certainly be followed by severe punishment.