Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Richard Prairie and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net [Illustration: HAND WRITTEN DEDICATION] [Illustration: SWAZI MOTHER CARRYING HER BABE Like most of the South African natives, the Swazis carry all burdens on their heads, the women invariably being the beasts of burden. Babies are the only things the women ever carry on their backs, this being because they keep their children with them while doing the housework. The splendid stature and erect carriage of Swazi women is directly due to carrying all weights on their heads] ADVENTURES IN SWAZILAND THE STORY OF A SOUTH AFRICAN BOER BY OWEN ROWE O'NEIL WITH MANY ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS [Illustration: Publisher's Mark] NEW YORK THE CENTURY CO. 1921 Copyright, 1921, by THE CENTURY CO. Printed in U. S. A. TO MY FATHER COUNSELOR, FARMER, AND WARRIOR THIS HUMBLE RECORD IS DEDICATED CONTENTS CHAPTER I PAGE HOW THE O'NEILS CAME TO THE TRANSVAAL--BOERS WITH IRISH NAMES--OOM PAUL'S REFUSAL TO BUY DELAGOA BAY--THE BOERS BREAK FOR FREEDOM--THEIR BLOODY BATTLES WITH THE SAVAGE TRIBES--THE GREAT TREK--DINGAANZULU'S TREACHERY--THE DINGAAN DAY CELEBRATION 3 CHAPTER II RIETVLEI, THE "VALLEY OF REEDS"--THE O'NEIL HOMESTEAD--PIONEER HARDSHIPS--THE WAR AGAINST MALEUW, "THE LION"--"SLIM GERT" O'NEIL BREAKS THE POWER OF THE MAKATEESE KING--JAFTA, KING OF THE MAPORS--MY TROUSERS NEARLY COST ME AN EYE--OUR TOY FACTORY AND MIMIC BATTLES--OOM TUYS GROBLER TELLS OF SWAZILAND AND KING BUNO, "THE TERRIBLE" 12 CHAPTER III MY DESIRE TO VISIT KING BUNO--HOW I WON THE TRIP ON A BET--A BOER RACE MEET--"BLACK HAND TOM," THE HOPE OF RIETVLEI--KLAAS'S RIDE TO SAVE HIS SKIN--FATHER GIVES PERMISSION FOR MY VISIT--BELFAST CELEBRATES THE BOER VICTORY 31 CHAPTER IV I LEAVE FOR MY FIRST VISIT TO SWAZILAND--MOTHER WARNS ME ABOUT OOM TUYS--WHY THE BOERS PAID TRIBUTE TO KING BUNO--QUEEN LABOTSIBENI, THE BRAINS OF SWAZILAND--BUNO'S VISIT TO OOM PAUL KRUGER--OUR RECEPTION IN SWAZILAND--EZULWENI, THE "VALLEY OF HEAVEN"--BUNO'S RIFLE--SIBIJAAN AND I EXPLORE BY NIGHT 44 CHAPTER V SHEBA'S BREASTS AND THE PLACE OF EXECUTION--ZOMBODE AND THE ROYAL KRAAL OF QUEEN LABOTSIBENI--COMMON AND ROYAL GROUND--WE REACH KING BUNO'S KRAAL AT LEBOMBO--GIN FOR THE KING--BUNO, THE REGAL SAVAGE--I PRESENT A RIFLE TO THE KING--LOMWAZI TAKES ME TO LABOTSIBENI--THE OLD QUEEN IS WORRIED OVER TUYS' ACTIVITIES--THE SHOOTING-MATCH WITH THE KING--TUYS AND I MANAGE TO MISS A FEW HUMAN TARGETS 57 CHAPTER VI