It seemed a pitiful thing to me that Labotsibeni, after ruling Swaziland for so many years, should be murdered in this way. I was thinking about her when Tzaneen asked about Lomwazi. [Illustration: A VIEW OF THE KRAAL Awaiting the arrival of the white men for their initiation ceremonies. The latter are returning from their sanctification ordeal in the mountains prior to their induction into the royal impi] [Illustration: PRIESTS BUILDING THE SACRED FIRE On this pyre the body of Queen Labotsibeni was burned after Sebuza seized the throne. This is the Swazi custom and strictly adhered to. It is the Swazi belief that those surrendering power should be done away with in this manner, since if they continued to live they might still retain a certain amount of influence which would be antagonistic and detrimental to the new ruler] "Lomwazi is a prisoner, Nkosikaas," Lochien answered. "He will be killed after he has officially surrendered the throne. These are King Sebuza's orders, and Lomwazi is under guard in Zombode until the coronation celebration is held." That settled the cunning Lomwazi. Clever as he was reputed to be, he had not been able to escape his fate. It later transpired that it was Lomwazi who had sent the false alarm that Lebombo was to be attacked. Evidently he thought that the impis of the enemy would be kept on guard there and that he would be able to increase his army by delaying the attack he knew would be made on Zombode. However, his word reached Tzaneen too late, as the impis were already on the warpath. Lochien next gave us an account of the taking of Zombode. The old queen's opinion concerning the fighting quality of her impis was not far wrong. It seems there had been several hundred single combats, after the custom of the Swazi warriors, and finally a rush upon the kraal. Of course Lochien exaggerated a great deal--no kaffir can tell the exact truth--but there must have been between four and five hundred killed. There were practically no wounded; there never are when Swazis fight. As soon as a warrior wounds his enemy so that he is unable to fight back, he kills him. It developed that there had been an attempt to burn the kraals, but Sebuza stopped it. It was he, also, who intervened to save Lomwazi's life after that good fighter had killed several of Sebuza's own men. Lomwazi was not spared, however, through any mistaken sense of mercy; he was kept to be executed as part of the coronation ceremonies. When I heard this I made up my mind to save him if I could. If there was no other way, I would buy his life. This is often done, and it might be possible in Lomwazi's case.