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THE Matap^le Rebellion 1896 WITH THE BELINGWE FIELD FORCE BY MAJOR D. TYRIE LAING LONDON DEAN & SON, -LIMITED 160A, FLEET STREET u u ^ S/Aj %Q,^'^^ CONTENTS Introduction Chapter I. . )» II. 1) III. . » IV. >» V. . >> VI. >i VII. . >> VIII. >) IX. . )) X. >> XL . >» XII. )> XIII. . I'AliK • 7 15 • 30 46 . 68 82 • 97 . 128 • 149 166 . 185 203 CONTENTS Chapter XIV. II X V . II II II II XVI. XVII. XVIII. XIX. XX. XXI. . 211 223 . 238 255 . 268 281 . 300 316 PAGE . 211 223 . 238 255 . 268 281 . 300 316 INTRODUCTION "|\ T Y purpose in writin.o; this book is to iVl tlischciro-e a duty I owe to the officers, non-commissioned officers, and men of the Belin"e, about a mile east of the Belinij^we fort. Lastly, I must pay a tribute to the men who, under orders of Mr. Rhodes, marched from Tuli, under the command of Lieutenant Yoni>e, for the relief of Helin^we. Of this ■I ■^ ■^ INTRODUCTION II party I desire to make particular mention for the following reasons — namely, that, with the exception of about thirty of them, who belonged to Rhodesia, the remainder had come from all parts of South Africa, with the simple, and, I ma^ say, heroic intention of assisting" their distressed fellow-country- men in Rhodesia. Many of them, to my own certain knowledge, had left lucrative businesses and employments. Some of them had abandoned all they had in different parts of the country to throw in their lot with us, not for what they could gain but simply because they wished to give a helping hand to those in much need of it ; and right nobly and willingly did they perform their self- allotted work. Most of them were sports- men, good riflemen, and good horsemen, imbued with a loyalty and patriotic sense of duty which reduced discipline to pleasure and elevated my command to an honour. When the relief of Belingwe was com- pleted and all the different parties fused into one, it formed rvhat might be called a 12 INTRODUCTION truly Imperial force, composed as it was of members from every part of the British Empire — England, Ireland, Scotland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Natal, Cape Colony, and India. All had their representatives, even the Free State and Transvaal furnishing a quota ; and I must not forget to mention that Germany, Sweden, Russia, and Italy had representatives in the force. Of course, amongst such a mixed assem- blage there were a few who did not quite conform to the necessary rules until these had to be forcibly explained. Three very good men, I am sorry to say, had to be discharged on the march. They mistook insubordination for independence. Yet, when there was so much good in the column, the little leaven of dissatisfied spirits had not the slightest effect, and altogether we got along admirably. Their loyalty to the Queen and to the Chartered Company was proved through- out, and although the column has been dis- V INTRODUCTION 13 banded and its deeds are now relegated to the past, I believe that there is one who remembers that there was such a body of men, and to him, the Right Hon. C. J. Rhodes, the Officers, Non - Commissioned Officers, and men of che Belingwe Field Force, I dedicate this work. In doing so I wish to thank them all for conforming to my wishes and orders, and enabling me to be of slight service to the cause of civi- lisation and the expansion of the British Empire. As my personality was to a considerable extent affiliated with all the moves of the Belingwe Field Force and garrison, I trust that, under the circumstances, the perhaps too frequent use of the personal pronoun will be excused. lis- iii ii CHAPTER I Apprisal of rebellion — Meeting in Belingwe Hotel — Appointment of officers— Construction of defences- Disloyalty of native police — Looting of the "Great Belingwe " camp— Narrow escape of miners— Volun- teers to their rescue. THE first intimation we, at Belingwe had of any real danger from a rebellious rising of the natives in Rhodesia was on the morning of the 26th of March, 1896. About 7.30 a.m., whilst at breakfast, Mr. A. J. Wilson and myself were surprised by a visit from Mr. S. N. G. Jackson, the Acting Native Commissioner at Belingwe, who appeared rather excited. After having been asked to take a seat, he explained to us that he had just received, by a native police runner, a letter from Mr. Fynn, Acting Native Commissioner at Inseza, which he handed to me. It was as follows : — 15 i6 THE MATABELE REBELLION .i if '• Sir, — I regret to have to report to you that the whole of the Cunningham family have been brutally murdered, and also Maddocks, manager of the Nelly Reef. Two of his miners got off, severely cut about. These two miners tell us that about thirty natives came up to their camp in a friendly way and sprang upon them with kerries and battleaxes. This happened the night before last, between six and seven. " All the Europeans in this part of the district have concentrated here, as things look very serious as regards the natives. All the natives have cleared out of their kraals, probably fearing that the murders having been committed in their district they will be blamed. "It is hard to say whether this organi- sation has been general throughout the country, which I fear is the case. We have received no commimication from either Buluwayo or Filabusi yet. " I would advise you to see Captain Laing and get all the prospectors to concentrate at IN 3rt to you am family and also illy Reef, verely cut 1 us that iheir camp ipon them happened ind seven, •art of the as things [6 natives. It of their 2 murders strict they lis organi- ghout the We have om either itain Laing centrate at i 1 APPRISAL OF REBELLION 17 the Belin^we Store, until we can c^et further news. We expect some one over this morning from town. " One of the murderers was shot by the police I sent after them. They came across five of them, all with guns, and that these men were Maholes I cannot believe. That the gang were composed of Matabeles — I should rather think they were Matabeles. *' Coach has not arrived yet. " I have the honour to be, " Yours obediently, /'(Signed) H. P. Fvnn, A.N.C." After discussing the situation for a few minutes it was decided to send out informa- tion to all the outlying camps, as soon and as quietly as possible — Jackson sending out his two mounted white police and several native police, and I despatching my engineer, Edwin Vallentine, who happened to be at hand at the moment, on one of the company's best horses, to call in all the miners working for the company, and all others on his route r ■ 18 THE MATAHELE REBELLION to cind from the different camps. His instruc- tions were to ride as hard as possible, see the men at the various camps, tell them to take their bandoliers and rifles, j^o to the different works and order the natives em- ployed to put all provisions and lii^ht stuff into the company's wagons, all the heavy and less damageable material down the shafts, bring the ropes away, inspan the wagons, and get back to headquarters camp as quickly as possible, fetching as many natives as they could with them, but under strict surveillance. I strongly advised Mr. Jackson to disarm his native police at once, but he had great faith in their loyalty and demurred ; and as I was not then quite sure of the position, I did not think it advisable to interfere with one of the Chartered Company's officials — especially when he was doing his very best to assist — although at the time I felt certain that the native police would be on the side of any rebellion in Matabeleland. I, however, came to the conclusion to leave Mr. Jackson to N SIR FREDERICK ERANKLAND »9 IS instriic- sible, see I them to o to the ives em- ii^ht stuff le heavy [own the span the ters camp as many but under to disarm jreat faith as I was I did not )ne of the especially J assist — that the e of any ver, came ckson to carry out his own ideas for the time bein<^, but made up my mintl to watch the police under him very closely. As soon as the messengers were sent off I went up t(-) the camp of Sir I'Vederick Frankland, Assistant Mining" Commissioner of Buluwayo, which was (jnly about a hun- dred yards from my house. Wilson went over to the general store to warn the men there and ir<-'t the ammunition and rilles in readiness. Sir Frederick had only arrived in BelinL>we, from Inseza, two days before the outbreak, accompanied by his assistant, W. C. Beaty-Pownall, and were enga^^ed in inspecting the different mining properties in the Belingwe district for the Chartered Company. They were just about to saddle up and go out for the day when I got to their camp. I could see at once that they had not heard (jf the native rising. I told them what I had heard and had already done. Sir Frederick was very much upset when he learnt of the fate of the Cunninu- ham family. He had been a guest at thc'r 20 THE MA TABELE REBELLION if house only a few days previously, and had been all over the Inseza district, where most of the murders had been committed, and knew nearly all the people there. He and Pownall at once decided to throw in their lot with the Belingwe men, and volunteered their assistance on the spot. The disarming of the native police was then discussed, and Sir Frederick coincided with my opinion. We then rode over to the police camp, unarmed, so as not to cause any suspicion. Mr. Jackson had gone off, leaving Mr. W. R. Wilson, his assistant, in charge. W^e told Mr. Wilson we were in favour of having the native police dis- armed, and he thought it was advisable, but would not do anything in^ the absence of his chief We then decided to leave matters as they were for the time being, and proceeded to the general store, which was about a thousand yards from the police camp. Here we found all my compan\''s employees busy getting their rifles and ammunition readv for the men coming" in MR. MALCOLM McCALHL\r 21 and had ere most ted, and He and in their lunteered jlice was coincided over to s not to had gone assistant, we were oUce dis- idvisat^o, absence to leave e beini;'. e, which le police ompan)''s Hes and )mnig ni from the outlying camps. Sites were then selected on which to erect two small redoubts, to protect the store and cover the defenders. About 1 1 a.m. Mr. Malcolm McCallum, manager for the *' Buluwayo Syndicate," rode up to the store to see me. He said, " I have had notice from the police, and have put my men on their guard, and have come to see you and find out what is to be clone." The situation was explained to him, and he departed at once, to bring in his men and supplies. Shortly after midda\' my company's wagon, with the miners from "The Bob's Luck " and "Wanderers' Rest' and a Mrs. M'tchell, came into camp. Mr. Mitchell, who was in charge of " Bob's Luck," re- ported that he had tried to carry out the instructions sent, and had succeeded in getting most of the mining plant under cover before the natives deserted. This they did at the very first opportunity, dis- appearing in the bush in every direction. 22 THE MATABELR REIiRLIJON \ ' James Low, who was in charge of the "Wanderers' Rest," reported that the natives worked well and i^'ot all the mining'' material down a deep shaft, but when carry ini;' the food stuff to a spot where the wai^on had to pick it up, they waited a favourable opportunity, destroyed most of it, and dis- appeared in the bush. The above reports left no doubt in niy mind as to the serious- ness of our position. It appeared very plain that all the natives had an idea of what was ^'oin^' to happen. Towards evening" Harrv Posselt, W. Lynch, and C. F. W. Nauhaus, farmers, who lived close to the Doro Mountains, about twelve miles away, came into camp and reported that fifty-six of their trek oxen had been looted during- the previous nii^ht. At 8 p.m. a meeting' was held in the Helinowe Hotel, at which there were thirtv- three present. This number was about ten men short of what we had estimated to be in the tlistrict at the time. Five of these we knew were at the " Sabie," twenty-five MEETING AT BELINGWE HOTEL 23 \ of the e natives ■ material yini;- the io()n had ivourable and dis- e reports e serioLis- Lred very 1 idea of sselt. W. fhers, it was explained to the meeting that they had been asked to concentrate solely for the purpose of protecting life and property, and that the camp, as far as they were concerned, was purely a voluntary one. I asked them 24 THE MA TABELE REBELLION to do what they thou^^ht best, under the circumstances, and to co-operate with the volunteers, for the mutual defence of all. They unanimously agreed tcj place them- selves under my command, and elected Sir Frederick Frankland to be their lieutenant and second in command. A portion of the white men were then detailed to superintend the erection of the redoubts by about seventy natives, who had been brought into camp. The natives worked with a will when they were told the white men knew all about the rebellion, and that if any of them attenipted to escape until the works were completed, they would be fired on. They were also informed they would be at liberty to \fp or stay with us as soon as the works were finished. The moon was just about two dnvs from beino- full, and served us beautifully, and it was a stirrini^ sight to see the natives hard at work, under the white guards, who, on this occasion, had a trying duty to perform, namely, to keep a look-out for a possible IV THE REDOUI^TS 25 nder the with the :e of all. ce them- ected Sir lieutenant ere then )n of the who had : natives vere told rebellion, to escape ley would •nied they vlth us as rhe moon )eino' full, it was a hard at 3, on this perform, 1 possible enemy in front and treachery from the enemy employed within. By the time the moon went down, about 3 a.m. the following morn- incf, the redoubts were so far advanced as to offer ofood cover for the defenders. The work was then stopped, the natives marched into the store paddock, and sentries were placed over them. A guard was mounted and sentries put on wherever it was con- sidered the best positions were. The remainder of the white nien laid down close to the earthworks, with their arms handy, and patrols were sent round the cattle kraals at in^^^ervals ; but nothing of any importance happened. Thus, through the timely warn- ing sent from Inseza by Mr. Fynn, most of the men in Belinofwe were banded together and in a position to protect thamselv^es and public property in less than twenty-four hours from the time the warnino- was received. The Acting" Native Commissioner and his assistant slept at their own camp, about a thousand yards from the position we had r^ 26 THE MATABELR REBELLION fortified. When niornino- Cciine they found the native poHce had built a bush scherm between their own quarters and those of their officers. This rather damped Mr. Jackson's belief in their loyalty. He came in and reported the matter, and then he and his assistant joined the other white men in i^arrlson. The police were brought down and placed under cover of one of the forts, about a hundred yards away, but as several of them had faithfully carried the despatches entrusted to them, and had been the means of advising many of the white men, it was very difficult to decide what to do with them. They protested that they were not a party to the rebellion, and that they wanted to be faithful to the white men. They were strictly watched, but allowed to keep their arms. All hands were kept busy during the 27th. putting the finishing touches to the forts and covering their approaches with a strong abattis made of the large h(Jok thorn and other trees. i srOD DART'S CAMP 27 y found scherm hose of ed Mr. le came he and men in t down le forts, but as ied the ad been 2 white e what at they id that te men. wed to no- Towards the eveninijf W. Sheldrake came into camp just as the men were beino- told off to their posts for the nio-ht. He re- ported that Stoddart's camp at the "Great I)('lini>vv(' " mine had been looted bv the rebels, and nineteen trek oxen were missing". He had had to run the gauntlet of the rebels' fire as he was on his way to the fort. Heri^qvist, his comrade, had i^one to look after the missino- cattle. I felt very much annoyed with these men for not taking- the timely advice sent to them, and acting in concert with the others. Had they done so their camp and cattle would have been saved, for they were the hrst men Vallentine saw on his way out. It was pure selfishness that kept them away from the other men, and when it was suggested that a part) should be sent out to try and find Bergqvist. I did not think it was proper that any lives should be risked for him, seeing that he had had the best chances of any at first ; and it was only when a party of volunteers came 28 THE MATABELE REBELLION \ to me on the morning of the 28th and said that they wished to go out and endeavour to find out what had happened to Bergqvist, that I agreed to let them go. I admired the sentiment that prompted the volunteers to go in quest of their comrade. The following men were allowed to depart, namely, W. R. Wilson, H. Posselt, Cor- poral Daniell, Corporal Le Vierge, H. Paulsen, and C. Paulsen. They were mounted on the best horses we had in the camp, and left about 6.30 a.m. They had not gone half an hour before Bergq- vist came into camp and reported that on the evening of the previous day he had followed up the spoor of the missing cattle and come up with them before sundown. They were then being driven to the south- west by a large party of armed natives, who laughed at his vain endeavours to drive his cattle back, evidently enjoying his discomfiture. Although they were all armed, they did not attempt to hurt him, only driving the cattle along a little faster THE PA TROL 29 and jeering at him when he gave up his efforts to recover his oxen. The patrol returned about i p.m., and reported that all the provisions at Stoddart's camp were destroyed and scattered over the veldt. 30 THE MATAHELE REBELLION CHAPTER II i I Contiiuuitiou of dctL-iicc works — Truachcry niid desertion of iKilive police — Settinjf of dynamite mines — Troopers I'osscit and Lynch volunteer to ride to lUiluwayo with despatches — Are lired upon and compelled to return — Meeting in hotel as to ad- visability of shifting camp to Victoria — Departure of Troopers Lyle and Luckhurst to Victoria foi' ammunition and with despatches — Arrival of several men from outlying districts — Muster roll of garrison as on the 3rd of April, x'^vp. THE defence works at the store were still being carried on and improved, and the men told off into two divisions^ No. I division for No. i fort and No. 2 division for No. 2 fort. A <^uard was mounted at sunset, and six sentries posted round the laager. The native police were posted and had charge of the cattle, four hundred of which were kraaled about a hundred yards northwards from the laager. They also had a few sentries posted out- side the white sentries. THE NATIVE SENTRIES 31 This brings us to the evenincr of the 28th. Shortly after sundown two shots were fired by the police sentries. The white sentries at once retired on their forts, according to orders, and the forts were manned. Mr. Jackson and Mr. Wilson went immediately to find out what the native sentries had fired at. The sen- tries said they saw several Kaffirs moving about in front of their posts, and that they hred on them. Shortly afterwards the Native Commissioner and his assistant again went out to the cattle posts, and returned to report that all the native police, with the exception of three, had deserted, taking with them twenty rifies and ten rounds of ammunition per man. Not long after this several signals were heard by the white sentries near the cattle kraal. I then took out a patrol of eight white men, in skirmishing order, and got past the catde kraal without finding any- thing in the shape of a nigger. The inside of the kraal was examined and 32 THE MATAIiELE RE HELLION \\ tw(j natives were found hiding. They said they were hidinj^' from the police, and, on bein<4" identified as herds, were allowed to join the other natives in the compound. I was under the impression that they were placed inside the kraal for the purpose of driving out the oxen when the proper moment came, but as cnir sentrie.:> were too much on the alert, the '^Jine had decided t(j gcj without the cattle hv Li\e time being. The three native police who remained were disarmed, but they could, or would, give no information. Two days afterwards they were allowed to go out to bring in some mules from Posselt's farm, but, needless to say, they never returned. I am quite sure that many people who may read this will think I was wnjng from the beginning in not having the police arrested and disarmed. At the time I felt convinced I was wrong; but what otherwise could any one have done when everything is considered ? First, a native policeman o ■J C/5 o as ■ ,|pi(|l) jnuj-!f,«i(p,i»|i|,« i > STRENGTHENING DEFENCES 33 brought us the warning ; then, after they knew we were on our guard, they took our messages to isolated white men— some of whom were twenty-five miles away from our laager- -and as we had no information from outside, I think it would have been very unfair to have treated them as rebels until they proved themselves such. On the 29th we still went on strengthen- ing our defences, the cattle kraal was moved close up to the laager, an abattis put right round the whole place, and several dynamite mines were set, to be fired by electricity Luckily my company had three strong- electric batteries and any amount of wire and connections, which were of great utility under the circumstances. This evening H. Posselt and W. Lynch, two of the troopers, who knew the coimtry well, volunteered to try and get through, if possible, to Buluwayo ,ith despatches, in order to let the authorities know we were all right in Belingwe, and to bring back all the information they could in regard to the T 34 THE MA TABELE REBELLION rebellion. They left after dark, mounted on tv.o of our best horses, and returned on the morning of the 31st, just as the sun was rismg. They reported that they got as far as the Inseza, which is about fifty miles west of Belingwe, on the road to Buluwayo, and found that place deserted by all white men. A small laager had been formed at Cummlngs' store, which had evidently been attacked. There were several dead bodies of natives lying about, but none of white men. The brick walls of one of the houses bore bullet-marks in many places. About three miles beyond Cummlngs' store they saw the bodies of a Kaffir woman and child, both disembowelled. As they approached the river, at the foot of the western slope of the Inseza hills, they were fired upon from the thick bush by a body of native police, who were evidently stationed to guard the drift. Posselt and Lynch were forced to return. It would have been useless to have gone further, as they would have been MOUNTED PATROLS 35 overpowered. Luckily they got off clear — Posselt only losing his hat. We were all very pleased to see them back, and although they had failed to accomplish their object, we knew it was not their fault. The fact, however, of their not being able to get through made us think more seriously of the position we were in, and very anxious to know what was happening in other parts of the province. Every morning and evening mounted patrols were sent out in different directions to watch the approacnes, and patrols of Cape boys were sent up and down the river-beds every morning before the cattle were let out to graze. On the same morning, the 31st, the mounted patrol caught a native hiding in the bush, about three miles from the fort, and brought him into camp. On being questioned, he said — " I am one of the cattle herds, who ran away with the police from Belingwe. The police ran away because the Maholes had 36 THE MATABELE REBELLION raided Bergqvist's cattle. They went to Um'Nyati's. The police wanted me to go further with them, but I refused, and said I wished to return to my master, the Native Commissioner. At Um'Nyati's I heard that all the white men in Buluwayo were to be killed and also those at Inseza. I heard that the Impi was to kill all in Buluwayo first, and then come down this way and kill all here, and then on to Victoria. I also heard that ten white men had been killed at Inseza and that the others were in laager. I left here with four of us herd- boys and five police. I do not know who is supposed to be heading the rebellion. Um'Nyati's people are at their kraal. They are not armed. I ran away from the police in the f'\ytime." The information got from this bry proved how very serious matters were, and did not tend to make the men in the little garrison of Belingwe feel any more comfortable than they were before the lad arrived. In fact this information had quite the opposite A GENERAL MEETING 37 effect, and it was not long before I heard rumours that several of the more nervous men in laager had been discussing the advisability of moving the camp to Victoria. I called a general meeting in the store, and explained to those present that I con- sidered the position we held a very strong and safe one, and that it was the intention to continue strengthening it every day, and in doing so I would be glad to receive any suggestions from any one that might tend to that end. With regard to the suggestion to move camp to Victoria, I said I was very sorry to think that there was any one present who had so little faith in himself or his comrades as to insult them by insinuating that they were not able to hold the position against anything in the shape of an Impi of savages, and that I was really surprised to learn that any of the men were becoming alarmed ; that it appeared to me quite evident that the man who would advise the desertino- of Belingwe did not know the difficulties that 38 THE MATABELE REBELUON i ' 1^ lay before him on the way to Victoria. I further pointed out that we were strongly fortified, in a good position, with plenty of water and provisions to last at least three or four months. I also stated plainly that if any man, or section of men, thought it best to move, he, or they, were at perfect liberty to do so, but once away from the range of our forts they would have to look after themselves, and that so far as the volunteers and myself were concerned, we would stay where we were, or if we were forced to vacate we would take the road for Buluwayo, because it was much more easy to travel on than the one to Victoria. I also had the pleasure of informing the meeting that two of their number, who knew the different ways to Victoria, had volun- teered to try and get through, and bring about three thousand rounds of amniunition — the only thing we wanted to make our position absolutely secure. The men were invited to speak their NEW AERIVALS 39 minds freely and openly, and after consider- able deliberation all agreed to remain where they were. F. Luckhurst and W. Lyle, the two men who had volunteered to ride to Victoria for ammunition, left after dark on two good horses. Just as the meeting ended, the signalman reported several white men coming in from the north. They were in the thick bush and evidently scouting the store. As soon as they saw white men moving about they came straight up, and we were very glad to welcome John, James, and Archie Cook, Walter Laidlaw, and C. C. Pike, from the " Sabie " district. The native policeman had delivered the message to them safely. They had started for the camp the follow- ing morning, coming slowly, and taking by- paths, in case of being surprised. They were all very tired and glad to get into camp. On the ist of April I had all the dynamite removed from the magazine, close to the 40 THE MATABELE REBELLION Store, and put down a shaft, about one mile away. On the 3rd of April, shortly after day- break, the sentry reported the approach of a white man. This proved to be James Stoddart, who had, on learning the serious- ness of the rebellion in Matabeleland, decided to come in from Victcjria, in Mashonaland, to warn his men in the " Sabie " district. His horse broke down before he had got over the first thirty miles, and he had to walk the remaining fifty, doing the greater part of the distance at night. He was surprised when he reached the " Sabie " camps to find them deserted, but, nothing- daunted, came on with the intention of warning lielingwe, not knowing that we had already been advised. When he came in he was very footsore, hungry, and soaking wet, having lain the greater part of the previous night in the bush, on a small rise, about a mile east of our position, watching for any signs as to whether the store was deserted, or inhabited by natives or whites. .S' rODDA R T'S RE FOR T 41 He was very happy indeed when daylii>ht came and he saw the white sentries on their posts and the place in a state ol defence. After he had partaken of some refreshment he made the followint^ report : — " When I left Fort Victoria there were about one hundred and twenty men, and sixty women and children in laai>er. They had between twenty and thirty horses, and provisions for all, to last about six weeks, and plenty of arms and ammunition. They were still in telegraphic communication with Buluwayo and Salisbury, and had received the followino- inf(3rmation re the rebellion. It was generally supposed that the rising was oeiieral throughout Matabeleland, and that one of Lobeni>ula's sons was at the head of it. The headquarters of the rebels was in the Matopo Mountains. Several small patrols of white men had been sent out from Buluwayo to help in prospectors and others from the outlying districts. The leaders of these patrols were Spreckly, George 42 THE MATABELE REBELLION Grey, Gifford, Napier, and Selous. A large patrol of about four hundred men was being raised to go out and strike a decisive blow at the rebels, if possible, and the Chartered Company had ordered reinforcements from the Cape Colony of five hundred men, and Khama had offered his assistance. So far the telegraph wires had not been tampered with. About forty white men had been murdered so far as could be ascertained at present." To us, in Belingwe, the information brought by Stoddart was most acceptable, because it showed us that, at all events, our comrades in other parts of the country were organising and defending themselves, and preparing to strike a decisive blow. Stoddart's report was read to a full-muster parade at 8.30 a.m., and he received the thanks of the garrison and three hearty cheers for his gallant endeavour to bring the tidings of danger to Belingwe. He was unanimously elected a Lieutenant, and taken on the strength of the garrison. 1% TfJE MUSTER-ROLT. 43 On the same parade the minutes of the first meeting were read to those who were not then present, and they were asked to decide whether or not they would join the garrison as effective members and stay under its protection. All agreed to serve, and forthwith joined the ranks. The following is the muster-roll of the Belingwe garrison as it was on the 3rd of April, 1896 : — I. 2. 3- 4- 5- 6. 7- 8. 9- 10. II. 12. 13- 14. 15- 16. 17' Capt. I). TyrieLaing Sir Frederick Frankland, Bart. I.ieut. James Stoddart Sergt. W. Lynch „ M. McCallum „ A. J. Wilson „ W. R. Wilson „ S. N. Cr. Jackson Corpl. Le Vierge Corpl. Daniel! Trooper E. Vallentine „ J- I^ow W. C. Beaty Fownall „ A. I). Cameron N. Posselt C. Cremer R. Douglas j> )j Nationality. Scotland England New Zealand Cape Colony America Scotland Natal Cape Colony , England , Australia . Scotland . Scotland . England . Scotland . Natal , . Germany .. America 44 THE MATABELE REBELLION Nationality. i8. Trooper (i. G. Descal/ie ... Italy 19. , A. IJ. Inverdale ... Scotland 20. , M. Huband England 21 , P. Levine ... Russia 22 , J. C. Mitchell Cape (Jolony 23 , W.Miller ... Scotland 24 , J. A. McGilvray ... Scot'-i'^d 25 , C. F. W. Nauhaus ... ... Natj 26 , H. Posselt ... Natai 27 , C. H. Paulsen Ameri-"! 28 , H. Paulsen . . . America 29 , F. Luckhurst England 30 , F. H. Snowdon England 31 , S. Roodts ... England 32 , W. K. Warham ... England 33 , W. Sheldrake ... England 34 , J. C. Bushnell Cape ("olony 35 , R. Bergqvist Sweden 36 B. Yorke ... Engl Md 37 , John Cook ... Sec 1 38 , James Cook ... Scoii. .1 39 , Archie Cook Scotland 40 , Walter Laidlaw ... Scotland 41. , C. C. Pike England 42. , W. Lyle Cape Colony 43 Sergt.-Farrier W. J. Clifford ... ... Australia 44. Quartermaster F. J. Pope England An d Mrs. J. C. Mitchell, wife of J. C . Mitchell, who was in charge of " Bob's Luck " mine. To be added to the above, we had ten ten THE MUSTER-ROLL 45 Cape boys, who were armed and did duty with the white men, and very useful we found them. We had also fifteen Zambesi boys, who were used as ciittle and horse guards by day. 46 THE MA TABELE REBELLION CHAPTER III Capture of a native spy — Construction of automatic signal- gun — Setting of additional dynamite mines — Mount- ing guards and setting of night - watch — Arriv; Bulawaye THE NIGHT- WA TCH 51 I -1 consequence of many of their number being down witri fever, caused by hard work during the day and having to sleep in the earthworks at night. After this the men in each fort divided the night-watch amongst them, which gene- rally ran to about two hours for each man per night. Three men at a time were on duty, sitting up on the ramparts of the redoubts, facing in different directions, the only outside sentry being one on the river bank, about twenty yards from No. 2 redoubt. The automatic sentry was always on the alert, and considered it his duty to turn out the guard, if only to a jackal or wolf, should any of the latter, as they often did, atter pt to come through. The defence works had advanced so far now that most of the garrison had thorough confidence in bein^ able to repel any attack the rebels in the district might make on the position. Besides the earthworks and bush fences, twelve dynamite mines had been laid to command positions where an attacking 52 THE MATABELE REBELLION force could get cover to concentrate before charging. These mines were attached by overhead wires to each fort, and operated by an electric battery, used for blasting purposes at the mines. We were the happy possessors of three such batteries, strong enough to explode a mine several miles away, and they were so arranged that one mine or all could be fired with one shock, if considered necessary. It gives me great pleasure to mention that the advent of the Cooks' coming into laager was a great piece of good fortune, for not only were they good shots and all-round men generally, but two of them, John and James, were qualified elec- trical engineers. To them the arrangement and setting of the mines was left, and they worked at them every day until in all they had twenty-seven placed round the laager in every available position. The system they adopted was so simple and complete that any of the men could have fired the mines as ordered without explanation. It was considered advisable to mount r'-' MR. DUNCAN'S DESPATCHES 53 lappy ihey iger Item lete Ithe int jruard every evenln- 68 THE .)/A TAUELE REBEUJON CHAPTER IV An ;il;irni— Caittuie of a si\v — Cmirt-niartial and sentence — Desertion of tliree natives — Attacic by Matabele — Kn- jfa^enient and reeoveiv of cattle — Treachery of natives in camp — Trial and sentence on three — Remaining natives expelled from the camp. ON the evening" of the 9th, shortly after chirk, the nioht-watch had not been set, and most of the men, except the llyini^ sentries and oiiard. were at their evening meal, when he sentry on the river post challenged rapidly, and then alarmed the forts. Captain Frankland and myself hap- pened to be in our mess-room, quite close to the post. We both rushed out to ascertain what was likely to happen. The sentry re- ported that he had seen several Kaffirs crawl- ino- alono-, under cover of the fence of the cattle kraal, and pointed out the position. By this time every man was at his post and all ready. Mr. Jackson, Captain Frankland, CAPTURE OF A srV 69 antl myself went up to the place indicated, with our revolvers ready, but at first could not see an\thiiio\ The bottom of the fence was under shadow and \'ery dark. By mere chance I ha|)pened to observe something;- move close to my foot, and orderetl it to stand up. It proved to be a Kaflir, whom we at once laid hold of. At the same time several others jumped up and ran off. taking;- good care to run between the men in the forts and ourselves, thereby pre\'entinLi' us from usin^- our hrearms, for fear of shooting- each other. They g'ot under cover of the shadow, and the next thing- we heard of them was from the Cape boy sentry. Hans, chal- lengino- and firing-. Immediatelv afterwards the signal-gim on top of the guard-room went off. 'Jliis was caused by the rimaways breaking- through the outer fence and disturb- ing the signal wires. The alarm was com- plete by this time ; even the sick men were in the forts, with their rifles ready for action. The last we heard of the runaways that night was when they got about five hundred 70 THE MATAIiELE REBELLION yards away. They then commenced to sij^nal by whistling", which was answered from several directions, showing- clearly that there were others of the same tribe about. Then all was (iLiiet. The runaways left their arms where thjy were first discovered. The following- morn- ing' the prisoner was tried by court-martial. At first he would not give any evidence either in favour of himself or against his confederates. On being asked if he knew he had forfeited his life, he said, " I know that, and am sorry you caught me. I came from Wedza's, and so did those with me. He was going out to meet some more of his men. Wedza wishes to take away all cattle. Other Kaffirs leave your laager at night with information, and some do it through the day. I have been very unlucky. There are a lot of our people watching Belingwe, to get it when you white men are all dead. There will be quite enough of them to eat up all of you white men." The prisoner was condemned and shot. THREE NATIVES BREAK AWAY 7» Whilst the rncMi were at their mitklay meal three other natives broke away and i^ot off. They were not fired on. The Ca[)e boys tried to run them down, but failed. It was not worth while sendint"' horsemen after them. I would have been very i^lad if they had all gone, for it was impossible to tell whether they were spies or loyal. The mere fact of the natives tryini^ to go off in this manner led us to believe that they knew something of importance was likely to hap- pen soon and they did not wa.it to be with us when it did take place. This made every one more alert than ever, and several shots were fired the following evening by the flying sentries, but most probably at wolves or jackals. The signal-gun also went off on the night of the iith, but I was unable to ascertain the cause. Sunday, the 12th of April, like all our Sundays, was a lazy day — no drills or fatigues to do by either whites or blacks — and was spent by most of us with a book or some other amusement to pass time. Very 72 THE MATABELE REBELLION probably the Sunday's midday meal was a heavier (3ne than those of other days, and I daresay that by 2 p.m. most of the men not on duty were taking a siesta. Sir Frederick Frankland and myself were preparing to do the same at about 2.30 p.m. when the sentry on the look-out alarmed the garrison and reported that the cattle posts were being driven in by a large bod\' of Kaffirs. We at once jumped to the ramparts of the nearest redoubt and saw that the sentry's report was too true. The cattle had been urazino- about a thousand yards to the south of our position, close to some small hills, thickly covered by bush, anci at first sight these hills seemed to be one mass of Kaffirs, all rushing towards the cattle. Sergeant McCallum and Corporal Paulsen at once got out the two emergency horses, which were always kept ready saddled and bridled, aiid rode off to assist the cattle guard. They did very good work on their horses urtil we were able to get the other horses in and saddled up. Luckily they happened to be close by, as we had had A TTACK n V MA TABELR 11 them driven into the l.iajrer every day at noon and let out again at 2 p.m. They were in, saddled up, and mounted in less than five minutes. By this time there was quite a fusilade going ow all round our south and west front, and the bullets were whizzing high over the forts. All the dismounted men, sick included, were in the forts. Leaving Captain l*Vankland in charge, with instructions to keep a sharp look-out to the north and east, and to commence fire at once if any oi ihe enemy showed uj) in those directions, to draw our attention to the laager in case of a general attack, I rode off with nine mounted men to assist the cattle guards. By this time the rebels had succeeded in breaking up the cattle into small herds and stampeded them away to the east and south. When we came up to where Sergeant McCallum and Cor[ioral Paulsen were, they pointed out the direction in which the largest body were driven. This \7ab Hone when we were going at a good hana-gc.uop and under a heavy fire from the surrounding hills at t''!l 74 THE MATABELE REBELLION ¥ the back of the police camp. The line, in skinnishinij^ order, wheeled to the left, and went straiiiht for the rebel fiohtin''" line, those in front breaking" away before a shot was fired at them ; but the horsemen soon got close up and shot a few from their saddles. As the hill at the police camp was passed three men halted, took cover, and returned the fire of the rebels, Vvho at once left their position and retreated rapidly to the north. Lieutenant Stoddart, with two men, did the same, whilst the men in the centre came on with me to an open flat which was immediately in our front. As soon as we cleared the bush we saw several herds of cattle only a hundred yards or so in front of us being driven as hard as they could go, but as they were being driven away from their usual grazing ground they were trying to break back again. When the men with me saw the position they all seemed to yell at once, and this drew the attention of t-ie rebels in front on to us. They evidently had never thought that the RETREAT OF REBELS 75 soon their they riven they white men would attempt to get throiii^h their fighting Hne, and as soon as they saw us coming down on them they became a confused mass, fired off their rifies in every direction, at anything or nothing, and made lor the dense busli, about five hundred yards in front of them, as hard as they could go. Before they got to it we were well in amongst them, a id had a certain amount of sa*'"''- faction before we retired from a heavy fire which was opened on us from the bush already -^lentioned. By this time Lieu- tenant Stoddart, with the men who remained behind to watch the flanks, came up, and '■ r> w more shot.' were fired by ourselves into the bushes. Whilst this was going on I had time to look up and down the valley, and for a mile on each side the rebels could be seen retreatinor as hard as thev could for the bush in front of us. Presentlv the order was oiven from a hill about two hundred yards in advance of us for the rebels to con- centrate. I then thought it advisable to retire, with the cattle we had recaptured. 76 THE M ATA B RLE REIiEUJON as quickly as possible, to the forts, from which we had iKjt heard any firiiii^" wc^rthy of mention. As soon as we commenced to retire the bush and hillsides, which we had just left in our rear, oot quite animated, and a brisk but very harmless riHe fire was sent after us, some of the rebels beinL^' so anxious to o'et in their shots that they were firing from the top of the F(jndoque hill, a (^ood mile away. We succeeded in ^ettlnjr back to the forts with 190 cattle, out of about 380 head, and durino- the nit>ht a lot of milch cows came back to their calves. We lost about one-half of what we had that morning and most of the young cattle were taken by the rebels. When we got back, which we did Vvithout further trouble and no Ic^ss on our side, our comrades had been having a ver\^ anxious and excitable time. I hey had htard and seen most of the firin"', and had a lot of shots over them, but only got in a few in return. They could not open fire while we were in sight, and when we got out of sight CONOR A TULA TIONS 77 rinno" ()■ 'ood they had chances but did not take them, because we might have been in their line of fire. However, they did their duty, and were delighted to see us all come back again. Captain I'^-ankland was on the platform on top of the roof of the store all the time, and had a splendid view of the whole affair until we got behind the hill at the police camp. The natives in our laaoer were most effusive with their congratulations, which were cut short by one of tlie white men reporting that he saw several of them sig- nalling in the direction of the cattle shortly before the attack commenced. He watched to see who they were signalling to, but saw nothint*- but cattle herds, and conclided ai the moment that they were signalling to some of tnem to come home for food. They were all ordered into the compound, and those that had been guilty of signalling pointed out. On being questioned, (Mie said he came from M'Posi's ; another, who had evidently lost his presence of mind, said he ri nill-l 78 THE MATABELE REBELLION came from Godhlwayo, as also did the other two. They admitted that this boy had told the truth — the three of them came from Godhlwayo and knew and were connected with the rebels — Godhlwayo being- the place where the rebellion originated. They were all tried, condemned, and shot. After this every native in the laager, except those that came from the Zambesi, Cape Colony, or Natal, was turned out of it at once. They all went willingly, except one very big Basuto, who said he would rather be killed by us than by the rebels ; he was an utter stranger among them, knew nothing of the rebellion, and was an enemy to their race. He was allowed to stay, and was very faithful all through. The men of the garrison had now some- thing to talk about for the next few days. The monotony that had bored us all was broken up for a time, and we were all rather glad we had got our first big job over, and watched, more keenly than before, for the next. THE ZAMBESI BO YS 79 'g' their was (jine- lays. was : all job f' )re, The rebels at the first onset fought well for the cattle. McCallum and Paulsen shot three (jf them before we came up. One horrid-looking old witch-doctor was at the head of the attacking party. At first he had only a battle-axe and charms, and laughed at the white men, .' >'ing they could not harm him, and that they had no shot that could kill him. He had three bullets before he dropped. After that his followers seemed to lose a lot of their clash and became rather an easy prey for us for a short time. I have little doubt that had we been foolish enough to go on they would have made a new plan and attacked us agam. The Zambesi boys, who were with the cattle, behaved very well, and did their utmost to save them until we came out to their assistance, by heading them off to- wards camp. One of them, through force of habit I suppose, or perhaps to show his zeal, marched into the laager, whilst the tight was at its hottest, with a week-old I.' " 1 1 8o THE MATABELE RE BELLI ON calf on his back. Another one was missini^ after the fight and put clown as dead. Some of the white men went out with his brothers to look for his body where he was last seen, and found it after a lon^- search, in the bottom of a dry water creek, covered up with orass. They had some difficulty in gettin*^ it out. When, how- ever, they did, and it found it was in the hands of friends, the body came to life again, and by the time the camp was reached the supposed dead one was quite lively. One of the rebels, who had his position on the top of the hill close to the police camp, seemed to have charge of a ritle of no ordinary calibre. He directed all his fire over the laager, and at regular inter- vals of about five minutes sent a missile over the heads of its defenders. This practice, after a while, became rather amusing to some, irksome to others, and frightened a few. Corporal Paulsen in- formed me it took three men to work this I at i /V .s missin^L,^ as dead, out with ly where er a l<)n<4 ter creek, lad some len, how- as in the le to life rimp was was quite position le police a ride of d all his lar inter- i missile s. This e rather lers, and ilsen in- ^ork this 1 I A ■li ','ii id : V. I i I WORKING THE GUN 8i l;liii, cind whilst they were in the act of loacliii,^- it the last time he shot one of their number, the other two immediately decampin^i^^ taking- the piece with them. m Vi m 'm & ^.. /} '/a ^^ ' c<^ y^/ /A V w IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 lA^IIIIM IIIH I4S 1112 .u m I.I 2.2 2.0 1.8 Photographic Sciences Corporation 1 1.25 1.4 11.6 •4 6" ► 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 L^. 82 THE MA TABELE REBELLION CHAPTER V Stronj^ patrol goes out — Discoveries on recent batticlicld — Arrival of despatch-bearers from Victoria — An alarm — Despatch-bearers come in contact with large body of Matabele and narrowly escape — Accident to a trooper — Deaths of Trooper Bergqvist and Mrs. Mitchell — Fever in camp — Death of Beaty-Pownall — Lieutenant Stoddart and Trooper Posselt volunteer co ride to Buluwayo with despatches — Arrival of despatches from Mr. Rhodes. i ! 11 nil ON the morning of the 13th, with the strongest mounted patrol we could muster, I went out in hopes of being able to gather some information as to the direc- tion the rebels had taken, or whether they were still about, and also to bring back any stray oxen we might drop across. On the previous afternoon, shortly after the fight, a very severe thunderstorm passed over the district, drenching everything and oblitera- ting all tracks of the rebels and cattle, and making it impossible for us to get any PATROL GOES OUT 83 information as to their movements. The patrol made a big" detour and came round by Stoddart's camp, " The Great Belintrwe," down past " McPhee's camp," home along the " Bob's Luck " road, and across the field where we had the skirmish the previous afternoon. I then understood, for the first time, that the rebels had got a greater fright than we thought. For a mile beyond the point wh'"*'"^ we 'eft off pursuit the veldt bore evidenc of their very hasty retreat. Blankets, great-coats, food, and arms had been dropped, to enable the owners to run with more freedom to the friendly cover of the bush-clad hills. They had been so thoroughly surprised that they did not dare to venture into the open to get back their property, even at night. They even left their dead on the field, a thing I had never known the natives of Matabeleland to do before when there was the least possible chance of getting the bodies away. Among the articles they abandoned were several police great-coats and bandoliers, full of f ' 1 !l ! il w 1 84 T//E MATABRI.R REBKLIJON ammunition, blankets, and provisions. Each man had evidently carried about from 5 lb. to 6 lb. of raw meat and about 5 lb. of mealies. All the dead had a piece of ox- fat tied to their throats. This I afterwards learned was fat taken from oxen killed by the "M'limo" and given to each man, after it had been " Umtigatled " (bewitched), to fender the man impervious to harm from the bullets of the white man. Amonijst the dead left on the field was the before-men- tioned witch-doctor, dressed up in all the pa»*aphernalia necessary for his calling, and a most hideous brute he looked, even in death, which, as a rule, modifies the expres- sion on the face of most natives. During the forenoon of the 14th two of Chebi's boys arrived with a despatch, dated the 8th, from Captain Vizard, Victoria. The following information was obtained from these boys : — " We were given the letter by the white chief at Victoria, and were told to try and get here with it and to find out whether the ARRIVAL OF DESPATCH-BEARERS 85 Each 5 lb. b. of f ox- A^ards id by after d), to from St the ;-men- 11 the and en in xpres- ;wo of dated The from white -y and ler the white men were alive or dead. We have been seven days on the road. We have had to come slowly and carefully, because it is difficult to tell who are friends or foes. Most of the way we travelled at niijht. At Marandella's kraal we were told that the natives of this district were banding together to immediately attack Belingwe. The chiefs Wedza, Buschelli, Mapanzula, Mazezeteze, Impopote, and Senda have risen, and are being led by a band of Matabele from Godhlwayo, who are headed by Maduna, the son of Marqua, Lobengula's sister. These forces are located somewhere between Wedza's and the Bungwe Mountain, and their instructions are to wipe out Belingwe. The attack was to have taken olace some L days ago, during the afternoon. All the cattle which have been stolen from the farmers in this district have been taken to the Matopos, by way of Shamba. A great many of the Matabele women and children are hidden away in the Impatini Mountains. The Impi that is gathering here has instruc- ![ T ; r 86 THE mataiu:lk re belli on i' tions to march on Victoria as soon as they have wiped out Belingwe, and treat that place in like manner before returning. These are the orders of the ' M'llmo,' who lives in the Matopos. We do not know the strength of the attacking force, but Maduna has about three hundred Matabele with him, and his party have been killing white men all over the country by Inseza and Filabusi. Um'Nyati has not left his kraal, but all his men are armed. The only chiefs who are remaining faithful are Chebi's and those between him and Victoria. Indeema has destroyed all the white men's houses, &c., at Selukwe." The boys could give little more informa- tion, and expressed a wish to be allowed to depart as soon as possible. They said they did not consider Belingwe a safe place when an Impi was ready to attack it. They were then informed the place had been attacked two days previously and the rebels beaten off. This information surprised them a little, and they advised us strongly to march THE CATTLE AND HORSES 87 for Victoria before the rebels had time to re-fo.-m and make another attack. They were quite sure we were mad to stay any longer when we had a chance of getting away. A despatch was written and handed to them, and they left at 4.30 p.m. About half an hour after their departure the inlying picquet gave the alarm and reported the rapid approach of several natives and a considerable shouting" from others in the bush behind the police camp. The cattle and horses were at once turned into the laager, the forts manned, and several shots fired close to the approaching natives, two of whom at once showed friendly signs by holding their hands up. The remainder disappeared into the bush. Our horsemen advanced to meet the natives, and found that they were the despatch-bearers, who reported that they came into contact with a large body of Matabele, some of whom had on police great-coats. They were evi- dently examining the ground over which the 88 THE MATABRLE REBELLION m \ skirmish took place. When they noticed the despatch-bearers they gave chase, and pressed them so hard that the boys had to throw away their bkmkets, in one of which the despatches were rolled up. They were rewritten, and the boys left again after dark by another route. The presence of the Matabele increased our anxiety, and every precaution was taken to repel an attack, if necessary, during the night, all the men sleeping at their stations, but nothing occurred. On the 15th a boy came in from Gon- doque with a letter from a Mr. Carruthers to Mr. Lyle, asking him to forward a rifle and ammunition, and asking for information. Gondoque is about seventy miles south of Belingwe. To have given the boy a rifle and ammunition meant trivino- it to the rebels, so he left with a letter only, to Carruthers, telling him to try, if possible, to reach \'^ictoria direct, from where he was, as M'l ipi's natives were friendly. He suc- ceeded In getting to Victoria. BE A T Y-PO WNA LL SI/0 f 89 Nothing" of Jiny con.sc(|uence happened until Sunday, the 19th, at 12.30 p.m., when it "as reported to me that Trooper W. C. Beaty-Pownall had been shot by accident. Trooper Roodts had taken up Serj^eant McCallum's Winchester repeater, and was showing- the action to some comrades, when the rifle went off. The bullet, grazing" the back of Trooper Yorke's left hand, entered the left leg of Beaty-Povv^nall on the inside, and, travelling obliquely down, passed out on the other side. I at once set to and stopped the bleeding, bandaged the leg up in splints, and had Pownall placed inside the airiest room in the laroe store. I then asked if there was any one among the men who knew anything about surgery, but found I was the only one present who had even been taught in that line, and I am very sorry to say that the short course of field surgery that I went through whilst at Gibraltar was not sufficient to enable me to save the life of this brave young man. Had he been shot in action on the previous Sunday, when 90 THE MA TAHELE REBELLION . he did brilliant service, his case would not have been so hard, but to be laid out by an accident was too had. He was a splendid fellow, and a i»-reat favourite in the uarrison. The first thin*^ he did, after being put to bed, was to pray that his unfortunate com- rade who caused the accident should not be punished in any way ; and his wish was adhered to. Next Sunday, the 26th, Trooper Bergqvist died. He had been sufferinain the following mornino- at daybreak with the followincr despatches for the Officer Commanding Eort Victoria, and for Mr. Rhodes : — " Fort Bklinowe, ''May 4, 1896. "Sir, — I have the honour to inform you that your despatch dated 28 th April arrived here this morning. " All the men here are very pleased to know that their services are appreciated by Mr. Rhodes, yourself, and others, and 7 w 98 T//E MA TABELE REBELLION send their sincere thanks for congratu- lations. " Re reinforcements. — Unless it is in- tended by the authorities to take active steps against the enemy in this district, it is not necessary to send reinforcements. I believe that the present garrison is capable of holding this position against 2,000 rebels if they give us the chance. I don't suppose they will ever be in a position to send the above number agamst us. " I enclose a copy of my last despatch to Buluwayo, also a copy of a statement made by a Matabele spy caught by our cattle guard. We had great difficulty in getting any information out of him. At first he pretended to be a fool, and it was only when he found out that he was a prisoner, and to be treated as a spy, that he came to his senses. '• I also enclose a letter for Mr. Rhodes, contents of which please wire to him, as well as the Belingwe despatch and your own letter. w DESPATCH TO MR. RHODES 99 ''Re ammunition.— We are still well sup- plied, but if not inconvenient to you, could do very well with a few thousand rounds of M.-H. and Lee Speed. We are not stron^r enough to send for them. "Very sorry to have to report the death of W. C. Beaty-Pownall. from the effect of bullet wound, on Sunday the 2nd inst. I have the honour to be, &c. "(Signed) D. Tvrie-Laing, " Capt. Commanding Belingwe. "To H. HOITER. "Capt. Commanding Victoria." " Fort r3KLiNGWE, '' May ^, 1896. "C. J. Rhodes, Esq., Gwelo. " Dear Sir, — I have the honour to inform you that your wire dated 21/4/96 got here this morning, with despatch- bearers from Victoria. "The men of the garrison wish me to convey their thanks for your kind recognition of their services, and all trust that you will lOO THE MATAHELE REBELLION 1 1 i give them the chance of reducino- the rebels of this district to proper order, when you have had time to make your arranoements. " I have enclosed a copy of the despatch forwarded to the Administrator at Buluwayo on the evenino- of the 30th ult. Very pro- bably you have already had it wired to you from Buluwayo. You will see by it that I think a j^ood patrol working in this district would help, to a considerable extent, to put down the rebellion. Knowing that men and horses are very scarce I asked for thirty mounted men only. If reinforcements are beino- brouoht from the south I think it would be better to send them to Belinovve, which appears to me to be a more conve- nient base, under the present circumstances, than Victoria, as it is one hundred miles closer to the strongholds of the enemy, it would save the marchini^ of men to Victoria, and the counter - marching- of them to Belingwe, and prove a great saving of time and energy. " The wagon road from Gondoque to i|^ • hi I DESPATCH TO MR. RHODES. loi to I)f |o % •! Belin^we leaves the Victoria road about two miles on the Victoria side of the middle drift road, and was made last year by a road party formed by my company. Mr. Lyle came along it from Gondoque, about a month ago, and reports it in good order. The only difficult part is about twenty miles south of Belingwe Peak, where a very nasty pass, through the granite formations, has to be got through. This pass is about four miles long, but only difficult at one point, which is an elbow about thirty yards long. The pass is not half so difficult as the Mangwe pass, which you will rer icnl^er. The distance from Gondoc^ue tt) Belingwe fort is about sixty-five or seventy miles by the wagon road. The distance from Gondoque to Victoria is about ninety-three miles, from Victoria to Belingwe about ninety miles, making a total of 183 miles. Any party coming from the south to operate in the field would save 1 20 miles by coming- direct to Belingwe. Should it be considered advisable to order a party by the route 102 THE MATABELE REBELLION i suggested I would advise them not to come to Bclingwe fort, but to take up a position on the open Hats to the south of Belingwe Peak, where they woukl be clear of all bush, and have lots of water and grass for their horses and cattle. They would also be in command of the main line of communication between Godhlwayo and M'Patini. If you send in a party, my men, who are thonjughly acquainted with this section of Matabeleland, from here to Gwanda, and all the intervening country to Buluwayo, will be found yery valuable as scouts. " If you don't consider it advisable to send a small force through this way from the south, and can spare a small, well-mounted patrol from either Gwelo or Victoria, I feel certain they will do very good service. " From Gwelo to Belingwe is about ninety miles, and the best road is via Selukwe, and then on to the Belingwe road, from there to Wedza mountain, which is about eighteen miles from here. Most of the Selukwe men hi DESPATCH TO MR. RHODES '03 ar would be able to point out the road, which is comparatively easy. There are no diffi- culties on the road between Victoria and Belinirwe." (By this time the loy^dty of Chebis and his men was assured and the road was safe.) " If you do send a patrol and can spare a small field-orun it would be of great ser- vice. " Any small patrol, of say fifty, coming from Victoria, or Selukwe. could travel li«rht and get provisions here, to serve until other arrangements can be made. It might be advisable to send an officer, junior to myself, in charge, but it is all the same to me. I wish to do what I can for the best, under any circumstances. "If active measures are not intended in this district and I can be of service elsewhere I shall be very glad. Trusting that success is being met with by your patrols everywhere, • " I am, &c., " D. Tvrie-Laing, "O. C. Belingwe.' I04 IHK MATAliELE RE HE J J JON To make doubly sure I decided to send off two despj Itch-riders, o\\ horseback, to meet Mr. Rhodes at Gwelo. Two Cape-boy drivers volunteered to \fo. Harry Pick, a very reliable and intelligent boy, knew the road well, and also several bypaths. He and Sej)teml)er. his comrade, were mounted on two i^ood horses, and left after dusk. They »^()t through in three days, but had a hard struj^'i^le, and were all but ca})tured by the rebels close to Selukwe. Beino- mounted, however, they manai^ed to get away, after shooting seven of the Heetest and mcxst persistent of the rebels. On the same night at 1 1 p.m. Lieu- tenant Stoddart and H. Posselt returned to laager. They reported that they got to the coach stables at Thabas Indima at 8 a.m. on the 2nd inst., where their ad- vance was stopped by a large body of Kaffirs, mostly armed with rifles, who at first attempted to encircle them. That they (Stoddart and Posselt) retreated and attempted to pass through to Buluwayo by FAIL TO RHACH lUfA'VVAYO 105 Selous road, but were hotly pursued, and as the bush all alono- their route was full of Kaffirs they were compelled to turn back on the road to Belino-we. That at Graham's store they saw the remains of a small laaoer, which had apparently held ab(Hit sixt\- men. and there were si^ns of an enoao-ement, empty cartridoe-cases lyino- about. They further repc^rted that they saw no fresh tracks on the road from Buluwayo to Gwelo. That they o„t as far as the west bank of the Inseza on the ZrA inst., and had to hang about there all day and shift their position three times, owing to some Kaffirs getting round them.' That late in the afternoon they noticed smoke signals sent up from the kraal on the northern side of the drift, and after dark a large beacon fire on the Bembesi hill was answered all along the Inseza range. They had to wait until about II p.m. before they got across the Inseza River, and it took them three hours before they got through the line (.f kraals on the \ 1 io6 THE AfATAnELE REBELLION \ I il east bank. They also reported that the kraals were inhabited by women and chil- dren, and that work was bein Carruthers Trooper Noakes M Sou they „ Wray )) Forbes „ O'Reilly J> (loddard „ Hillier M Whi taker „ Van der Walt >> Berry W " The Officer Commanding Fort Belingwe wishes to take this opportunity of thanking Captain Hopper, Lieutenant Caldecott, Dr. Anderson, and the gallant tellows who have accompanied them to the relief of the garrison, for their noble conduct. He wishes them to understand that he tho- roughly understands and appreciates the kind, generous, and brave sentiments which induced them to undertake their perilous journey, and he sincerely trusts and feels certain that their stay here, whether it be a short or a long one, will be made as pleasant for them as circumstances will permit." We were now able to do some patrolling and drilling. The Victoria men had brought first-class horses, most of them salted. Our MR. RHODES' DESPATCH II I morning" patrols went further out, and small scouting parties were always on the prowl, but the natives had evidently left our imme- diate vicinity for the time being, as none of them, or any trace of their recent presence, could be found, within an area of twelve miles. The morning of the i8th brought two despatch-runners, with a most important despatch from Mr. Rhodes. It was as follows : — " Please send several separate runners, each with the following message, to Laing, Belingwe, begins. Please ride down to Tuli to meet column coming in, a portion having instructions to detach themselves from Victoria column and place themselves under you, and to be led in by you to Belingwe, via Gondoque, to act under you as you deem best. Ends." This was an answer to mine of the 4th of May, and proved that Harry and September had got through to Mr. Rhodes, and that we had not relied on him in vain. About 1. 1 m 111 U' 112 T//Jt J/ATA/iE/.Jt RE HELLION two hours after the arrival of the first de- spatch, the first copy came, and the second one reached us towards evening, so that ,the despatch-runners had all done well. PREPARING TO START 113 CHAPTER VII Captain Luing proceeds to meet and take command ol the Tuli column — Entrance to the Mapelabana hills — Scouts come upon KatTns who are insolent — A prisoner is captured — Indaba with M']-*osi's son — Suspicious sounds at M'Posi's kraal. I AT once set about arran^ini;' to <4'o out to meet the Tuli column, picked out fifteen of the best horses, and asked for fifteen volunteers to ride them. They were soon found, of course. Every one wanted to go, except the sick. The Maxim was mounted on a strong- set of springs and fresh harness attached, as we had a rough C(juntry in front of us, and niight have to travel fast. The stnjnger springs enabled us to put on a larger supply of ammunition and provisions than we could have taken on horseback. The Maxim was drawn by lwo smart mules, with two horses as leaders, and everything was ready to .'tart off at sun- ii :i ^1 114 THE MATAIiELl': REBELLION 1 1 1 i till down. Captain Frankland was left in command of the garrison. We left Belingwe at 6 p.m. just as the sun was sinking, and by ten o'clock we were camped for the night close to the foot of the Belingwe Peak, some eighteen miles south of the fort. The latter part of the journey Wci gone over very cautiously, because it was on a small bush-covered hill in this vicinity that we believed the rebel Impi lay. To have gone any further that night would have been rashness. We therefore camped close to the ed