The luggage can be fetched afterwards." Within less than an hour we were at that wharf off which the _Maria_ lay in what one day will be the splendid port of Durban, though in those times its shipping arrangements were exceedingly primitive.

A strange-looking band we must have been.

I, who was completely dressed, and I trust tidy, marched ahead.

Next came Hans in the filthy wide-awake hat which he usually wore and greasy corduroys and after him the oleaginous Sammy arrayed in European reach-me-downs, a billy-cock and a bright blue tie striped with red, garments that would have looked very smart had it not been for his recent immersion.

After him followed the fierce-looking Mavovo and his squad of hunters, all of whom wore the "ring" or _isicoco_, as the Zulus call it; that is, a circle of polished black wax sewn into their short hair.