It was on some such occasion as the great Feast of the First Fruits, held annually about the first week in January, that the King himself gave permission to a regiment or a class of girls to marry. This was granted, not to individuals, but to a particular regiment or class _en bloc_. Special directions were also given as to what regiment or regiments any particular class of girls should marry into. Before, however, receiving permission to marry, a regiment required royal approval to conform to the ancient practice of assuming the _isicoco_ or headring. As this ring, made of wax and strips of sedge bound round with cord, was sewn into the hair by means of ox-sinew, it sometimes happened that an aggressive military expedition was arranged to take place beyond the borders of the State "for the purpose of fetching the necessary sinew"--a metonymic expression, where "sinew" stands for "cattle." The head was shaved on the crown and sides when the ring was put on. Owing to this wearing of the headring--once on never removed[72]--the warriors became roughly divided into two great sections, (_a_) the headringed, (_b_) those without the ring. The former were known as the "white" Zulus, the latter as the "black"--the colour of the first being probably derived from the glittering of the highly polished ebony-like rings or the preponderatingly white colour of the shields they carried, whilst that of the latter was from their heads all being jet black from the uniform colour of their hair, or from the amount of black in their shields. In charge of each _kanda_ was an officer as well as others of subordinate rank. Upon these devolved the responsibility of seeing that all within the military district rendered a reasonable amount of service in each year. Owing to a wonderfully efficient system of control, evasions rarely occurred. With the lapse of time, and on account of the perpetually recurring warfare, it followed members of any given regiment became greatly diminished. Thus, although the names of perhaps forty to forty-five regiments could be furnished as having been enrolled since Tshaka became King, all but eighteen to twenty would, at any given period, have been of little real use. This is best appreciated by recalling the fact that "collection" began at eighteen or nineteen, that a regiment was, as a rule, formed after every two years, and that, after a man reaches the age of fifty-five or sixty, he is unfit to undertake the exertion of long and rapid marches on foot. The power to mobilize for war lay with the King, though for some years it became customary for him to seek permission of Mnkabayi (grand-aunt of Cetshwayo), who lived in the north-west of Zululand. For all occurrences of a sudden and local kind, _e.g._ raid, insurrection, or breach of the peace, the resident officer or induna had authority to call out men under his command. Indeed, it was his duty to do so, and one which he dared not neglect.