Next he shuddered three times convulsively and
exclaimed in a clear voice:
"My Snake has come. It is within me. Now I can hear, now I can see."
Three of the little fires, those immediately in front of him, were
larger than the others. He took up his bundle of vultures' feathers,
selected one with care, held it towards the sky, then passed it
through the flame of the centre one of the three fires, uttering as he
did so, my native name, Macumazana. Withdrawing it from the flame he
examined the charred edges of the feather very carefully, a proceeding
that caused a cold shiver to go down my back, for I knew well that he
was inquiring of his "Spirit" what would be my fate upon this
expedition. How it answered, I cannot tell, for he laid the feather
down and took another, with which he went through the same process.
This time, however, the name he called out was Mwamwazela, which in
its shortened form of Wazela, was the Kaffir appellation that the
natives had given to Stephen Somers. It means a Smile, and no doubt
was selected for him because of his pleasant, smiling countenance.
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