登陆注册
15451200000028

第28章 CHAPTER VII CAPTAIN ARCOLL TELLS A TALE(3)

'Well, to make a long story short, Monomotapa disappeared in time, and fresh tribes came down from the north, and pushed right down to Natal and the Cape. That is how the Zulus first appeared. They brought with them the story of Prester John, but by this time it had ceased to be a historical memory, and had become a religious cult. They worshipped a great Power who had been their ancestor, and the favourite Zulu word for him was Umkulunkulu. The belief was perverted into fifty different forms, but this was the central creed - that Umkulunkulu had been the father of the tribe, and was alive as a spirit to watch over them.

'They brought more than a creed with them. Somehow or other, some fetich had descended from Prester John by way of the Mazimba and Angoni and Makaranga. What it is I do not know, but it was always in the hands of the tribe which for the moment held the leadership. The great native wars of the sixteenth century, which you can read about in the Portuguese historians, were not for territory but for leadership, and mainly for the possession of this fetich. Anyhow, we know that the Zulus brought it down with them. They called it Ndhlondhlo, which means the Great Snake, but I don't suppose that it was any kind of snake. The snake was their totem, and they would naturally call their most sacred possession after it.

'Now I will tell you a thing that few know. You have heard of Tchaka. He was a sort of black Napoleon early in the last century, and he made the Zulus the paramount power in South Africa, slaughtering about two million souls to accomplish it.

Well, he had the fetich, whatever it was, and it was believed that he owed his conquests to it. Mosilikatse tried to steal it, and that was why he had to fly to Matabeleland. But with Tchaka it disappeared. Dingaan did not have it, nor Panda, and Cetewayo never got it, though he searched the length and breadth of the country for it. It had gone out of existence, and with it the chance of a Kaffir empire.'

Captain Arcoll got up to light his pipe, and I noticed that his face was grave. He was not telling us this yarn for our amusement.

'So much for Prester John and his charm,' he said. 'Now I have to take up the history at a different point. In spite of risings here and there, and occasional rows, the Kaffirs have been quiet for the better part of half a century. It is no credit to us. They have had plenty of grievances, and we are no nearer understanding them than our fathers were. But they are scattered and divided. We have driven great wedges of white settlement into their territory, and we have taken away their arms. Still, they are six times as many as we are, and they have long memories, and a thoughtful man may wonder how long the peace will last. I have often asked myself that question, and till lately I used to reply, "For ever because they cannot find a leader with the proper authority, and they have no common cause to fight for." But a year or two ago I began to change my mind.

'It is my business to act as chief Intelligence officer among the natives. Well, one day, I came on the tracks of a curious person. He was a Christian minister called Laputa, and he was going among the tribes from Durban to the Zambesi as a roving evangelist. I found that he made an enormous impression, and yet the people I spoke to were chary of saying much about him. Presently I found that he preached more than the gospel. His word was "Africa for the Africans," and his chief point was that the natives had had a great empire in the past, and might have a great empire again. He used to tell the story of Prester John, with all kinds of embroidery of his own. You see, Prester John was a good argument for him, for he had been a Christian as well as a great potentate.

'For years there has been plenty of this talk in South Africa, chiefly among Christian Kaffirs. It is what they call "Ethiopianism," and American negroes are the chief apostles. For myself, I always thought the thing perfectly harmless. I don't care a fig whether the native missions break away from the parent churches in England and call themselves by fancy names. The more freedom they have in their religious life, the less they are likely to think about politics. But I soon found out that Laputa was none of your flabby educated negroes from America, and I began to watch him.

'I first came across him at a revival meeting in London, where he was a great success. He came and spoke to me about my soul, but he gave up when I dropped into Zulu. The next time I met him was on the lower Limpopo, when I had the pleasure of trying to shoot him from a boat.'

Captain Arcoll took his pipe from his mouth and laughed at the recollection.

'I had got on to an I.D.B. gang, and to my amazement found the evangelist among them. But the Reverend John was too much for me. He went overboard in spite of the crocodiles, and managed to swim below water to the reed bed at the side.

However, that was a valuable experience for me, for it gave me a clue.

'I next saw him at a Missionary Conference in Cape Town, and after that at a meeting of the Geographical Society in London, where I had a long talk with him. My reputation does not follow me home, and he thought I was an English publisher with an interest in missions. You see I had no evidence to connect him with I.D.B., and besides I fancied that his real game was something bigger than that; so I just bided my time and watched.

'I did my best to get on to his dossier, but it was no easy job. However, I found out a few things. He had been educated in the States, and well educated too, for the man is a good scholar and a great reader, besides the finest natural orator I have ever heard. There was no doubt that he was of Zulu blood, but I could get no traces of his family. He must come of high stock, for he is a fine figure of a man.

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 那年青春匆匆如此

    那年青春匆匆如此

    期末考试快到了,不写了,暑假再说吧....
  • 曙光

    曙光

    --吸血鬼之都
  • 三生如梦再遇不悔

    三生如梦再遇不悔

    她说:“倾国倾城我只想要倾倒你一人。”他说:“只想拥抱你江山再美美不过你。”有人说,地球是圆的是因为想要让失散的人再次相遇。三生已过,他们还记得彼此嘛?只有默默祈祷,这次相遇,莫要擦肩。首发,请大家支持!!蟹蟹~~~会加油的,有不足之处请大家指出~~
  • 魔祖破世

    魔祖破世

    他本是上古时期的魔祖被遗忘了,辗转轮回流落到了异世界,变成了一只僵尸,本来还自鸣得意的他直到打败了界主,才知道他没有得到道,他心灰意冷之下转世投胎从新开始修炼
  • 许是温阳茶花开

    许是温阳茶花开

    遇见尚温言的那年,盛茶十岁,胆小懦弱,一场斗殴中她自保得彻底。母亲的毒打让她在两年后与他有了第一次对话,人前的他光芒万丈,只会对一个女生很好。而盛茶就像是角落里独自生长的狗尾巴草,那么渺小低埃。是缘是劫,孰是孰非,多年后他们的相遇拉开一段尘封的往事,会让故事中的他们坠入怎样的深渊。本文小虐结局喜,码字属蜗牛,喜欢的可以收藏养肥了再看*^_^*
  • 末道仙寻

    末道仙寻

    太素之前,乃是一片玄静幽清的溟滓鸿蒙。不知过了多少年,鸿蒙深处悄然泛起了隐隐幽芒,这时候元气也随之聚拢。又不知经历了多少年,金光忽生散尽,在浩渺无边的虚空中,此时出现一座铭碑,飘飘荡荡散逸着青红两股微茫,青轻者上浮而为天,赤重者下凝而为地,久而久之聚炁成形,天地因而分开。大道衍生万物,天道复生其理,然而这一世的天道......
  • 带着媳妇去上学

    带着媳妇去上学

    媳妇空虚寂寞冷,那就带她去上学,在媳妇的眼底下沾花惹草,媳妇还爱的不要不要的,怎么做到的。继承千年记忆的花花公子,引领风骚于绝代,游历花间,人,神,魔三界纵横,只因花心不死,他誓要享尽繁华,这有可能吗?这样一个风骚的冒泡的男人一入红尘,便注定就是绝代!
  • 奇风之子

    奇风之子

    故事起源于一个很古老的大陆,主角诞生于一个边陲小镇,面对兽人入侵,父亲早早离开自己。灾难有天降临这个边陲小村,村子毁于一旦,背负着全村人的仇恨,背负着众人的不解,主角踏上自己的征程,周游列国,遇侏儒,助矮人,守精灵,战巨人,闯龙谷,爱恨情仇纠缠一身,风天心能否从这跌拓起伏的命运中摆脱出来?群院大赛,能否夺魁;战士工会大赛,魔法工会大赛,是否技压群雄;佣兵王之争,究竟花落谁家;战诸国群雄,能否找出幕后真凶;与黑暗势力的较量,究竟孰强孰弱;最后凶手面貌揭露,自己究竟能否下手呢?
  • 杠上豪门:前妻的复仇

    杠上豪门:前妻的复仇

    前一世她忍辱退让,却被渣男渣女联手烧死,一朝重生,她只想狠狠教训前世的仇人,站在顶峰俯视众生。抢角?让你有剧本都不敢演!陷害?让你在娱乐园混都混不下去!抹黑?让你自己的粉丝对你粉转黑!有金手指以及强大的靠山,还有什么能够阻止她凤临天下!这一世,她定会展现属于自己的傲世风华!“林萧,你以为你自己是谁啊!”某小演员挑衅道。“影后。”苏晴道。“......”“还是我盛世的总裁夫人!”某男贱兮兮的过来搂着腰,霸道的对着那小演员宣布,转脸却是一副求认可的可怜模样。女强男强,强强联手!看她如何将这一世活的精彩漂亮!
  • 大智如水

    大智如水

    万物玄玄、天地浩浩、朗朗明光、迢迢岁月、大智如山、大智如水、吾命如天、吾命如妖、吾命如刀、吾浪迹天涯、吾以万物为友、阅尽世间万态只为灵光乍现、人生如花开、人命如秋如春如冬如昙花一瞬照见永恒。(此段话诸君看完有感觉么?有,那就一起来。本书追求的是境界是阅读的新体验,我希望读者读本书时如听见天外一口钟在响声声清脆安静,如看见云上一朵花在开瓣瓣艳丽而不凡,如触摸隔世智者之智慧字字珠玑字字真!如手执金锤砸心脏,血脉喷张,不停的爆!爆!爆!爆!爆!爆!爆!)