AustLit

'An exciting adventure story set in South Africa in the mid-nineteenth century at the time of the discovery of diamonds... Why are the white invaders 'gathering like ants in a rainstorm' seeking little white stones 'that cannot be eaten and cannot have children?' Mpande, King of the Zulus, sends tribesman Mapitha and two companions to the Kimberley diamond diggings to find out. After three years, many adventures and clashes with the invaders, particularly Fritz Koekemoer, the original discoverer of the diamond field, Mapitha returns alone to the Zulu heartland. There he finds the new King Cetshwayo, in conflict with Sir Theophilus Shepstone, self-styled 'White Father of the Zulu people' conspiring to take over the independent Zulu nation with the help of the British army.' (Publication summary)