ABSTRACT
A council was called; and it was stated that while Umselegazi was pushing his conquests as far as the Zambesi, he was informed of a conspiracy to dethrone him, and appoint Kuruman, his heir by the royal wife, chief in his stead. Into the kotla, or court of assembly, and there performed his first act of sovereignity, by superintending the slaughter of cattle brought as offerings to him. Each tribe contributed a small troop, and from each lot six, ten, or a dozen were selected. The black Were killed first; then the black and white speckled; and, lastly, the Coloured ones. The Mashona villages are usually perched on the most inaccessible peaks and rugged hills, as a refuge from the Matabili. Many of their huts are built on isolated boulders, that can be approached only by a rough pole, serving for a ladder into which to stick the poles which form the walls.
