THE LEPERS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2355, 13 April 1899, Page 56

THE LEPERS.

The Wizard's Rock derives its name from the circumstance that in the old days — before the advent of civilised government — it was the place of execution of those hapless creatures who were condemned for the supposed i>raelico of witchcraft. Before th« rule of the European in South Africa, there was among the natives a strong recrudescence from time to time of the lamentable belief that' the land was full of malevolent wizards and wflches, who spent most of their time in weaving deadly spells against man and beast. The consequences frexe terrible ; men and women were pufe to death upon the flimsiest suspicion ; torture of the most horrible kind was freely resorted .to, and the wildest confession wrung from the agonised lips of some was taken as absolute confirmation of the most preposterous apprehensions. . . . The day following the assembling of the lepers nt the Magistracy died splendidly. Since early in the afternoon the poor lepers had been Laboriously ascending the mountain by the different footpaths. Many were hardly able to hobble, but these were assisted by others whose legs Avere not so badly affected. Mangele bore upon his broad back an old man whose feefc had completely crumbled away. Lcaying this poor creature at the .summit, he returned and helped the weaker among the others to ascend. The sun was still some little distance above the horizon when the last of the self-doomed band sank panting at the cdg.e of the cliff. Of the four-ar.d-twenty who had come to the Residency to interview the Magistrate, 20 had assembled at the Rock. The" others, three women and a man, had felt their courage fail them, so had decided to accept their less violent, though dreaded, fate and go to Emjanyana. 'Mp»fu, the oldest of the men, dragged his shapeless frame to a stone, against which he leant, supporting himself by his stick at the same time. He trembled violently,, and -made several attempts ' before he succeeded in speaking. Then his voice camo in a husky quaver. The others turned toward him with an air of expectancy-. "It is," he said, "a long time, since I last stood on this spot. I was then hardly a man ; Hintza was chief. We came here to look upon the killing of Qungubele, who was 'smelt out' for having bewitched his elder brother. I leant my head over the edge of the rock and listened for the thud of his body as it struck the stones far down. I thought the wind had borne it away, but at length it struck me like a club. Many seasons have since passed, but that sound has ever since been in my ears. And now — when my body falls" • A shudder passed through the crouching creatures ; -one or two of the women began to whimper, and a few near the verge d*e\r back with looks of terror. Mangele sprang to his feet.

"What is this?" he cried in an angry voice ; "has ' the sickness ' filled your heart as well as your bones with water, oh, 'Mpofu, my father? Is yours the voice that calls dogs thirsty for death back from the fountain? Was it not your word that made me the leader of this army of dead men who are yet alive, and will you now turn tli em back on the day of battle? Shame on you Listen to me, oh, my brothers, and not to this old man whose heart shrinks because of a sound he heard on a day before we were born. I am young, and death is always more bitter to the young than to the old. My kraal is full of cattle; the dowry has' been paid foi my bride, yet I stand here to-day and am not afraid to die. Listen now to a new word in a strange tongue, but a word which you nevertheless may understand if you will. For a long time I have known that my sickess wa* like your own — the sickness that no doctor can cure. Through the long nights, when others slept, I b.aye sat alone under the stars, and the -voices of the darkness have taught me many things. Now, the greatest and strangest of these things was this : that I loved you who have suffered through your long lives what I am but beginning to suffer, and it ' is out of

that love that I have brought you here today to put an end to your pain. Out of the darkness, came another strange word, a word which has taught me how to die, to die with my eyes open ; but I could not bear to die and leave you helpless in the pain you have endured so long. All this is the wisdom which I have learned from those voices of which the darkness n full." When Mangele ceased speaking his hearers broke out into loud wailing. One of the women crept shrinkinglj to -the verge of the precipice, glanced over the edge, and drew back with a shriek. Then she covered

her face with her blanket and lay upon the ground, grovelling. The others, -who had silently watched her, broke into renewed and terror-stricken wails as she drew back Mangele once more began to speak, a note of thunder in his voice; all at once shrank into silence. " This will Ido for the sake of the love I bear you, and for that ye know not your own minds, nor what is good for you; this will I do because my heart is strong where yours is weak : I will hurl you one by one over the rock and then follow you myself. Look your iasfc upon the sun, oh my brothers and sisters ■whom I love, for you are about to die." At this the wretched creatuies grovelled about • Mangele's feet, beseeching him to spare their lives. . . . ilangele stood with bent head in the middle of the prostrate crowd, and listened to their piteous pleadings. When at length h>i lifted his face, a change had come over it — a wistful, transfiguring gentleness had taken the place of the look of stern indignation it had borne when he last spoke. Silencing the wailing creatures with a gesture, he said: "Peace, peace; your word" .have made me weak. Live then, since you fear to die." Mangele stepped from among the crouching throng, and took his stand on the very verge of the cliff. The sun was just about tj disappear; its last, level beams swept across the world and seemed to search out and reveal every noble curve and graceful line in the ebon limbs and trunk of the splendidly-proportioned man who was about to destroy his beauty to save it from loathsome decay — they lit the noble face and he'id until these took on a sublime look ot leonine anguish, and the sombre eyes seemed to glare a tremendous indictment against Nature and Fate. "Farewell, brothers and sisters who have not been taught how to die. Tell the girl Nosembe that my thoughts were of her as I sped to the sharp rocks." As he spoke the last word Mangele sprang backward over the cliff. Old Mpofu and a woman shut their eyes and bent their heads sideways towards • the verge. A few seconds afterward a heavy thud from below smote on the ears of all. A low groan broke from their lips A sound of approaching footsteps and laboured breathing was heard, and just afterward a tall young woman stepped in • among the huddled throng. It was Nosembe, who, having heard a rumour of the impending ■ tragedy, hastened to join the man she loved and die with him. "Ho, who are here," she said, after her eye had swept around the circle! "how is it then that your leader has not come? But there is his blanket and his stick; speak; where' is Mangele, my lover?" No one dared to answer; all sank their faces to the earth. "Ha!" Nosembe ciied, "I see the truth ye dare not sneak — he is dead, and ye are not ashamed to be alive He waits for me. . .1 take him his unborn child." Then, with a long, shrill call upon her lover's name, Ncsernhe leaped into the abyss.— Extract from i>n article by WILLIAM CHAELES SCULLY, in benbner's Magazine (illustrated) for February.