METILULU EXPRESSES HIS GRATITUDE--HIS REVENGE--THE LOST FOUND. Scarcely had morning dawned, than Metilulu, surrounded by his counsellors, coming up, warmly thanked me in words full of the sincerest gratitude for having saved the lives of his tribe, as assuredly, but for my warning, they would all have been massacred before the men could have even had time to seize their weapons in defence. The little Chief seemed indeed so vastly pleased that I thought his praises would never cease, and I began to be rather tired of listening, when he suddenly put to me a question, which I had expected he would from the first. This was, "How it happened that I had been so lucky to see the enemy's approach at so late an hour?" Of course, I dared not give the right reason; but, on the contrary, seized the opportunity this occasion offered to improve my position and consequence in Metilulu's eyes by saying,-- "That I had been much concerned respecting the drought, which threatened such great suffering to his people and cattle, particularly after sending the message to him regarding the coming rain. The thought that he would fancy I only intended to deceive him made it impossible for me to sleep; therefore, I had walked outside the huts to note what aspect the moon would possess on rising, feeling sure, if she displayed the slightest mistiness on her disc, that rain could not be far off. It was at the time when so engaged that, happening to glance through an opening in the fence towards the bush, I had become conscious of dark, moving figures in the distance, and, guessing foul play, had immediately given the alarm to the kraal." Metilulu listened very attentively, as did his counsellors, and, when I had finished, asked with much anxiety,-- "Did you see the moon rise? If so, what was its appearance?" "It appeared with a slight halo about it," I rejoined. "We shall have rain, then?" he said interrogatively. To answer this in the affirmative, I had only to look up to the heavens, without any aid from my previous knowledge of the halo, and I told him that I believed rain would fall very shortly, perhaps even before night. He smiled with great satisfaction at this, saying, if it proved true, I should be his rain-maker for the future. Then taking his leave, I saw him proceed direct to the prophet and address that withered, sour specimen of humanity. I learned afterwards, from Tugela, that Metilulu had accused him of wishing to destroy the man who had turned out to be the best friend the tribe had, while he ended by asserting, on the strength of my word alone, that the rain was coming, and very speedily too, though the white man yet lived. The rain-maker, perceiving the champion I had in the Chief, had muttered out something about a mistake; it must have been some one of their own people, whose evil spirit had caused his spells to fail till now. I rather admired that "till now," the conceit was so extremely cool.