to set down my words, a desire comes upon me to tell of them and
their deeds before God takes me by the hand and I am borne through the
darkness by the wings of God.

Also there is another reason. The girl, Suzanne Kenzie, my
great-granddaughter, who writes this, alone is left of my blood, since
her father and grandfather, who was our adopted son, and the husband of
our only child, fell in the Zulu war fighting with the English against
Cetywayo. Now many have heard the strange story of Ralph Kenzie, the
English castaway, and of how he was found by our daughter Suzanne. Many
have heard also the still stranger story of how this child of ours,
Suzanne, in her need, was sheltered by savages, and for more than two
years lived with Sihamba, the little witch doctoress and ruler of the
Tribe of the Mountains, till Ralph, her husband, who loved her, sought
her out and rescued her, that by the mercy of the Lord during all this
time had suffered neither harm nor violence. Yes, many have heard of
these things, for in bygone years there was much talk of them as of
events out of nature and marvellous, but few have heard them right.
Therefore before I go, I, who remember and know them all, would set them
down that they may be a record for ever among my descendants and the
descendants of Ralph Kenzie, my foster-son, who, having been brought up
amongst us Boers, was the best and bravest Englishman that ever lived in
Africa.



And now I will tell of the finding of Ralph Kenzie many years ago.


To begin at the beginning, my husband, Jan Botmar, is one of the