Publisher's Synopsis
"You were astonished when I refused your piece of gold, Nkose. But were you to offer me your waggon loaded up with just such shining gold pieces, even that would not coax this broad spear out of my possession." (Nkose: literally "chief"-a title of civility which the innate courtesy of the Zulu moves him to bestow upon the stranger. In this connection it corresponds to "sir.") "I should be sorry to make the offer, Untuswa, for I fear that, whatever its merit, I should be the owner of a weapon for which I had paid too long a price." But the old Zulu only shook his head, contemptuously, it seemed, and the faint, satirical smile which turned down the corners of his mouth seemed to say, "This poor fool! Does he know what he is talking about?" "Let me look at it again, Untuswa," I said, reaching out for the weapon for which a few minutes before I had ended by offering a golden sovereign-having begun with a few worthless items of truck, such as beads, pocket-knives, etc. It was a splendid assegai of the short-handled, close-quarter type. The blade, double-edged, keen and shining, was three fingers broad and at least twenty inches in length, and was secured in its socket by raw-hide bindings, firm as iron, and most neatly and tastefully plaited. The haft, expanding at the butt into a truncated knob, was of a curious dark wood, something like ebony, almost black, and highly polished."
