About midday
`` My father , '' said Mavovo to me afterwards , `` it would have been better to let that snake burn to death , for then you would have killed his poison . I am something of a doctor myself , and I tell you there is nothing our brotherhood hates so much as being laughed at . You have made a fool of him before all his people and he will not forget it , Macumazana . '' About midday we made a start for Beza Town where King Bausi lived , which we understood we ought to reach on the following evening . For some hours the regiment marched in front , or rather round us , but as we complained to Babemba of the noise and dust , with a confidence that was quite touching , he sent it on ahead . First , however , he asked us to pass our word `` by our mothers , '' which was the most sacred of oaths among many African peoples , that we would not attempt to escape . I confess that I hesitated before giving an answer , not being entirely enamoured of the Mazitu and of our prospects among them , especially as I had discovered through Jerry that the discomfited Imbozwi had departed from the soldiers on some business of his own .