They brought with them the story of Prester John, but by this time it had ceased to be a historical memory, and had become a religious cult.

They worshipped a great Power who had been their ancestor, and the favourite Zulu word for him was Umkulunkulu.

The belief was perverted into fifty different forms, but this was the central creed--that Umkulunkulu had been the father of the tribe, and was alive as a spirit to watch over them.
'They brought more than a creed with them.

Somehow or other, some fetich had descended from Prester John by way of the Mazimba and Angoni and Makaranga.

What it is I do not know, but it was always in the hands of the tribe which for the moment held the leadership.