I dare say that no one will ever read them; still, perhaps they are worthy of record, and who knows?
In days to come they may fall into the hands of others and prove of value.

At any rate, they are true stories of interesting peoples, who, if they should survive in the savage competition of the nations, probably are doomed to undergo great changes.

Therefore I tell of them before they began to change.
Now, although I take it out of its strict chronological order, the first of these histories that I wish to preserve is in the main that of an extremely beautiful woman--with the exception of a certain Nada, called "the Lily," of whom I hope to speak some day, I think the most beautiful that ever lived among the Zulus.

Also she was, I think, the most able, the most wicked, and the most ambitious.

Her attractive name--for it was very attractive as the Zulus said it, especially those of them who were in love with her--was Mameena, daughter of Umbezi.