Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 46, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 December 1891 — ZULUS IN SHAM BATTLE. [ARTICLE]

ZULUS IN SHAM BATTLE.

It Looks More Like the KMR Tiling than* n Counterfeit and Is Impressive. A sham fight among the Zulus i» an impressive spectacle. The dusky warriors are fine, muscular fellows, athletic and highly trained. The rank and file, untramrneled by oma- : ments and dress, move about with grace and freedom. The officers,» chiefs and head men wear coronets of ostrich feathers, which rustle freely with every movement of the body; circling their brow are rolls of tiger skin from whidh descends fringes of coarse hair; from the neck and shoulders to the knees their bodies are covered with the tails of monkeys and tigers and stripes of various hides strung together in girdles; their waists are girt about with tufts of lion’s mane and cow hair, says the Detroit Free Press. Forming into line, their variegated shields are so clsse and regular that they appear Interlocked, while above they bristle rows of gleaming assegai heads. The foe is imaginary, aseven among their own tribes they are roused to such a pitch of excitement, that hail they any though only in mimic warfare, they would be so tar carried away by their feelings that at close quarters bloodshed would inevitably result. At the word of command they advance in precise order, first slowly, then at a quick march, then double, and with a Shout <St “Chielal* (imaginary enemies) the battle becomes fast and furious. Brandishing their assegais, stabbing and lunging with strength and dexterity, each stroke accompanied by a tierce grunt of satisfaction, stamping, gesticulating, and gnashing their teeth, they work themselves Into a mad frenzy, in which their features are distorted, and their eyes glare with a tierce lust of blood. Suddenly the command is given to retire, and, as victors shouting triumph, they march from the field. Them appears upon the scene a horde of wild-looking creatures, running and leaping from place to place, screaming demoniacally, and frantically beutlng the earth with thick, heavy dubs. These are the women and they are engaged in the horrible atrocity of killing the wounded. After a sham fight the night is spent in. feasting and revelry.