Also he said that soon there will be fighting, which is why I smiled, who grow weary of peace.

We came out to fight, did we not ?" "Certainly not," I answered.

"We came out to make a quiet journey in strange lands, which is what I mean to do." "Ah! well, Macumazahn, in strange lands one meets strange men with whom one does not always agree, and then _Inkosikaas_ begins to talk," and he whirled the great axe round his head, making the air whistle as it was forced through the gouge at its back.
I could get no more out of him, so having extracted a promise from him that nothing should happen to Thomaso who, I pointed out, was probably quite unjustly accused, I went away.
Still, the whole incident left a disagreeable impression on my mind, and I began to wish that we were safe across the Zambesi without more trouble.

But we could not start at once because two of the Zulus were still not well enough to travel and there were many preparations to be made about the loads, and so forth, since the waggon must be left behind.

Also, and this was another complication--Hans had a sore upon his foot, resulting from the prick of a poisonous thorn, and it was desirable that this should be quite healed before we marched.
So it came about that I was really glad when Captain Robertson suggested that we should go down to a certain swamp formed, I gathered, by some small tributary of the Zambesi to take part in a kind of hippopotamus battue.