I did, however, report the murder of Anscombe and Heda, though in such times this caused no excitement, especially as they were not known to the officials concerned with such matters.  Indeed the occurrence never so much as got into the papers, any more than did the deaths of Rodd and Marnham on the borders of Sekukuni’s country.  When people are expecting to be massacred themselves, they do not trouble about the past killing of others far away.  Lastly, I posted Marnham’s will to the Pretoria bank, advising them that they had better keep it safely until some claim arose, and deposited Heda’s jewels and valuables in another branch of the same bank in Maritzburg with a sealed statement as to how they came into my possession.

These things done, I found it necessary to turn myself to the eternal problem of earning my living.  I am a very rich man now as I write these reminiscences here in Yorkshire—­King Solomon’s mines made me that—­but up to the time of my journey to Kukuana Land with my friends, Curtis and Good, although plenty of money passed through my hands on one occasion and another, little of it ever seemed to stick.  In this way or that it was lost or melted; also I was not born one to make the best of his opportunities in the way of acquiring wealth.  Perhaps this was good for me, since if I had gained the cash early I should not have met with the experiences, and during our few transitory years, experience is of more real value than cash.  It may prepare us for other things beyond, whereas the mere possession of a bank balance can prepare us for nothing in a land where gold ceases to be an object of worship as it is here.  Yet wealth is our god, not knowledge or wisdom, a fact which shows that the real essence of Christianity has not yet permeated human morals.  It just runs over their surface, no more, and for every eye that is turned towards the divine Vision, a thousand are fixed night and day upon Mammon’s glittering image.

Now I owned certain wagons and oxen, and just then the demand for these was keen.  So I hired them out to the military authorities for service in the war, and incidentally myself with them.  I drove what I considered a splendid bargain with an officer who wrote as many letters after his name as a Governor-General, but was really something quite humble.  At least I thought it splendid until outside his tent I met a certain transport rider of my acquaintance whom I had always looked upon as a perfect fool, who told me that not half an hour before he had got twenty per cent. more for unsalted oxen and very rickety wagons.  However, it did not matter much in the end as the whole outfit was lost at Isandhlwana, and owing to the lack of some formality which I had overlooked, I never recovered more than a tithe of their value.  I think it was that I neglected to claim within a certain specified time.