THE LIBRARY 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 LOS ANGELES 
 
THE HISTORY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 BATTLES AO ADYEETUKES 
 
 OF 
 
 (Lire §riM; t tlje§0rrs ; m\h \\t gnlm, &r. t 
 
 IN 
 
 SOUTHERN AFRICA 
 
 From the time of Pharaoh Necho, to 1880. 
 
 
 COPIOUS 
 
 CHBOITOLOf 
 
 
 VOL. 
 
 II. \ 
 
 
 BT 
 
 
 
 CAMPBELL 
 
 ERAITCIS MOODIE. 
 
 " Oh blood and thunder ! and oh blood and icounds ! 
 TJiese ore but vulgar oaths, as you may deem, 
 Too gentle reader! and most shocking sounds; 
 And so they are — yet thus is Glory's dreain^ 
 Unriddled."— Byron, 
 
 COLOURED MAP AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 CAPE TOWN: 
 MURRAY & ST. LEGER, 
 Parliamentary Printers and Government Bookbinders 
 
 1888. 
 
 Alt right* reserved. 
 
766 
 
 v. 2 
 
 The History of the Battles and Adventures of the British, 
 the Boers, and the Zulus, &c, in Southern Africa. 
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS, LETTERS, AND OTHER AUTHORITIES. ON 
 
 D. C Moodie, Esq. — " Buckingham Palace, London, Septem- 
 ber 29, 1882. — Sir, — I am commanded by the Queen to thank 
 you for the Volume on South Africa which you have had the 
 kindness to present to Her Majesty. — I have the honour, &c, 
 (Sig.) Henry Ponsonby." 
 
 The late Sir Bartle Frere to D. C. F. Moodie. — " It is very 
 gratifying to see anyone who really understands South Atrican 
 matters making the truth about them clear, for the ignorance on 
 all such subjects is deplorable, and people utter opinions on 
 matters of which they do not even know the facts." 
 
 South Austral an Advertiser, Adelaide. — "Mr. Moodie's Avork 
 is a goodly volume. Mr. Moodie's experience in the past has 
 enabled him to intersperse his narrative of events with many 
 curious observations on the customs of the Zulus and other 
 tribes, which are alike original and valuable. An important 
 feature in the work is a chronological table of the principal 
 events connected with South Africa since the discovery of the 
 Cape of Good Hope in 1486, w dch will prove most useful to 
 Students. The illustrations are numerous, some of them being 
 decidedly effective, and the coloured map of South Africa at the 
 beginning of the book in really an excellent one.'"' 
 
 The Lantern, Adelaide. — " A really valuable history. Ex- 
 citing incidents and numerous anecdotes are pourtrayed with a 
 vivid eye. The work redounds to the credit of its author. We 
 cannot close our review of this book without adverting to the 
 large amount of industry and research Mr. Moodie has brought 
 to bear upon it. Every Institute and Public School in the 
 ^Colonies ought to find a place for it." 
 
 BY D. C. F. MOODIE. 
 
 THE FIRST EDITION OF VOL. I IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
iv 
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 Sir Theophilus Shepstone, K.C.M.G., to D. C. F. Moodie 
 Esq. — " 1 think your book a meritorious publication. It whs 
 most useful as a ? eference. It shows great industry, and does 
 your powers of research and skilful adaptation great credit." 
 
 Chief John Dunn. Zululand. — " To D. C. F. Moodie Efq. — 
 Dear Moodie, many thanks for your Zulu Book, Avhich I got by 
 la-t mail, much to my surprise and pleasure, as I had lost sight 
 of you ever since our being boys together in Natal. Your book 
 is very accurate, and gives a very good version of what really 
 did take place in Zululand, &c." 
 
 The Federal Aust'alian, Melbourne. — " Mr. Moodie's volume 
 on South Africa is one of the most- creditable contributions to 
 general literature that has ever been issued from the Australian 
 Press. No person will find the work dull. Many readers will 
 devoi r it with eagerness. On the whole, the auther deserves 
 high commendation for his industry and literary ability, and we 
 hope his book will attain a wide circulation." 
 
 Natal Mercury. — " A very attractive and most readable 
 volume. Of all the books written upon the Zulu War, it alone 
 pessesses the distinction of having been prepared by one whose 
 acquaint euance with his theme is % matter of life-long intimacy, 
 fortified by exceptional facilities of access to historical records. 
 Mr. Moodie follows the history of Cetywayo with absorbing 
 fidelity." 
 
 Tinvs of Natal. — "A book which commanded a large circu- 
 lation in Australia. Its merits entitle it to a place on the shelves 
 of every local library. Mr. Moodie's book is a thrilling narrative 
 of adventure, all the more interesting because it is a record of 
 fuCtS. 
 
 Ncnal Mercantile Advertiser. — " Deeds of blood, and the 
 horrors of war, do not occupy all the pages of this very interesting 
 book, but historical accounts, anecdotes, and reflections, will 
 render it a valuable, if not indispensable, assistance to anyone 
 who, in the future, attempts to deal with the history of South 
 Africa. 
 
 Cape Times, January, 30, 1888. — An advertisement in another 
 column states that the "Battle and Adventure" parts of this 
 rather ambitious work is now being carried through the printing 
 department of this office. We have already given a synopsis of 
 the contents of the two volumes some months ago, and now draw 
 attention to the advertisement, as the numerous subscribers to 
 the work will be interested to know that the volumes will soon, 
 see the light of the day (and the heat of criticism). It is ap- 
 
OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 V 
 
 parent that the author's intention is to present history in a 
 striking and inviting form, in fact to base solid history on 
 exciting adventure and thrilling incidents, which are all the 
 more interesting because perfectly true. It is thought that thus 
 presenting substantial instruction in such a taking form will be 
 acceptable to the youth of these colonies as well as to the " older 
 boys." In the various opinions of the press quoted, we notice 
 that amid the general eulogy the fact is frequently emphasised 
 that those " Battles will be a standard work of reliable refer- 
 ence, and others lay stress upon the assertion that they will be 
 "most useful to students." We notice that an Eastern Province 
 contemporary also views these works from the standpoint above 
 indicated. It says : — The Battles, &c, when produced, will be 
 large, handsome, and valuable works of reliable reference, and 
 teeming with thrilling narrative and wild adventure, based upon 
 solid history. The advertisement sets forth that they will 
 contain illustrations, coloured map, and a copious chronology, a 
 new feature which will be of special value to the student, and it 
 quotes parts of a letter from Sir Theophilus Sheostone, K.C.M.GL, 
 to the author, saying. " I think your book a meritorious 
 publication. It will be most useful as a reference. It shows 
 great industry, and does your powers of research and skilful 
 adaptation great credit." The Australian press also alludes to 
 the first volume as being the most creditable contribution to 
 their literature that had then (1880) appeared, saying also 
 -that the book " is most useful to students.'* 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2013 
 
 http://archive.org/details/historyofbattles02mood 
 
PREFACE TO SECOND YOLEME. 
 
 Tins Volume will -bring to a conclusion a labour for 
 which I have been collecting material for ten long years. 
 
 I have mentioned before that the first volume of these 
 historical "Battles" was produced in Australia in 1879, 
 but since my return to Cape Town so many valuable 
 sources of information have kindly been thrown open to 
 me by members of the present highly popular Cape 
 Ministry, and other officials like Mr. Theal and the 
 Custodian of the " Records," Mr. Leibbrandt, and I have 
 been so fortunate as to receive much other important 
 assistance from the library of Mr. Fairbridge, as well as 
 from those of other gentlemen like Sir Thomas Upington, 
 Sir Thomas Seanlen, Mr. George Chase, and many other 
 kind friends, too numerous to mention, as the auctioneers 
 have it. 
 
 This assistance has much extended the scope of these 
 works, which, it will be seen from the first volume, go much 
 further back into the remote and misty Past than any 
 other History on South Africa, and unearth subject matter 
 round which oblivion had long folded her dank and dark 
 wings, showing, as they do, the hidden springs which set 
 the works of the early Portuguese Princes in motion 
 many, many years before Diaz or Da G-ania were thought 
 of, when these philanthropic magnates planned the 
 extension of the Crusade movement, and long years 
 afterwards sent down Diaz along the West Coast of Africa, 
 and planted their cross on an island in Algoa Bay, as well 
 as one near Angra Pequena that Capt. Owen of the Leven 
 speaks of as having seen mutilated by some scarilegious 
 vandals. 
 
 I had intended to bring the works down to a later date, 
 but this was impossible, unless I rejected amass of valuable 
 and most interesting old documents that imperatively de- 
 manded attention in their proper sequence of date, and this, 
 in the interest of my subscribers and the general public, I 
 
viii 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 -could not do, especially as this ancient matter is, now-a- 
 days, very hard to get at, and daily sinking and vanishing 
 like drops of rain in the earth. 
 
 However, I have brought them down to about 1880, and 
 what has transpired of battles, &c, since then can hardly 
 be deemed History, as the events are still freshly around 
 us in books, pamphlets, serials, newspapers, &c, &c, 
 History, cheese-like, must needs be old — and the racier the 
 better. 
 
 If it is not so to all of my good readers, it is to me a 
 source of comforting satisfaction to feel and know that I 
 have fortunately become possessed of all the material 
 which for years I have regarded as necessary to my 
 present literary structure. 
 
 I should have liked, however, to have had more room in 
 the appendices in which to devote attention to the Ethno- 
 logical and Philological subjects in which this country is 
 so rich. Like the musty papers above alluded to, 
 races around us are daily sinking away into the Earth 
 like c'rops of rain, while we stand by and don't raise a 
 finger to arrest the fleeting and invaluable knowledge. 
 Dr. Bleek and my father did their best as regards 
 the Bushmen, especially the former, as the works that 
 they have left behind them testify, but neither of them 
 had learnt the native languages as a child, and without 
 this acquisition, from my knowledge of the native 
 languages, which I picked up when a child, I know 
 that no certain information can be obtained. The crafty 
 savage, in reply to the earnest and benevolent philologist, 
 says, not what is the truth, but what he thinks is wanted 
 of him to say. He argues to himself, barbarian like, 
 " If I only manage to please him, I shall certainly achieve 
 the requisite distention as regards roast beef and roast 
 potatoes. : ' I know him. The matter reminds one of what 
 the Yankee wit said "The Horse is a noble animal — he 
 knows his own stable. ! " En passant. Mr. J. C. Silber- 
 bauer is at present engaged in collecting information 
 concerning the Bushmen. 
 
 It will be noticed that everything connected with these 
 works is entirely a Cape production, with the exception of 
 the pictures being copied and printed in London. 
 
 The chronological table at the end will, I trust, be 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 ix 
 
 found to be an important feature. It has cost me much 
 time and trouble, and I have compiled it from the very 
 best available authorities. Hall has not been referred to 
 at all, as good authorities, who have tested him, tell me he 
 is unreliable. I am aware that, as far as extension goes 
 it is not by any means exhaustive or complete, but it is 
 accurate, and I hope to live to make it complete as far as 
 regards remarkable " Footprints on the sands of Time." 
 
 No one, is, of course, infallible, and if any error has 
 escaped detection, I should take it as a kindness if it was 
 pointed out to me. 
 
 I now, respectfully, take my leave, and trust myself to 
 the tender mercies of mv subscribers and other friends, 
 -as well as to the humanity of the general public and the 
 ■critics. May they have partaken of a comforting tiffin 
 when they take in hand the mighty pen, is the prayer of 
 
 Your very humble Servant, 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 KAFIR WARS. 
 
 PAGKS. 
 
 Battle of Berea 1 — J 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 BRITISH KAFFRARIA THE " WAR OF THE AXE " 
 
 BATTEES WITH THE AMAXOSA KAFIRS. 
 
 A Challenge to Battle — Horrible Tortures — Capt. 
 Bambrie Shot — His body — A most memorable day 
 — A.I1 the "Wagons Captured — Kafirs concentrat- 
 ing — Death in the bush — Strong drink ... ... 6 — 17 
 
 CHAPTER IIL 
 
 THE AFFAIS ON THE KOWIE BUSH. 
 
 Koared like a bull — " Waght Baas !" — " Zuur gaat 
 
 aan I" 18 — 21 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE PASSAGE OF THE FISH RIVER. 
 
 Hot Fighting — Warm work ... ... ... ... 22—24 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE BATTEE OF THE GUANGA. 
 
 "Umbohlo"— Major Walpole wounded— "Mar- 
 wouw ! " — A Pretty Charge— Deadly slaughter— 
 " Targho ! " — The "prisoner — " Marwouw ! : ' ... 25—34 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 MURDER OF FIVE OFFICERS AT THE SOHOTA 
 MOUNTAIN. 
 
 Pounce upon their prey— Burial of Ofticers— Escapes 
 
 by Chance 35 37- 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE AFFAIR OF THE GOOLAH HEIGHTS. 
 
 Entrapped by Kafirs — An Extra >rdinary Scene — pages 
 "Push the Wagons Through!" — Amongst the 
 Dead and Dying— Firing thro' the Chink ... 38 — 43 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE BEEKA MOUTH. 
 
 On the Spoor — " Charge!" — Shot with Partridge 
 
 Shot— The silver Tea-pot 44—48 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE BOOM AH PASS. 
 
 Mr. Brownlee, Regent — Masses of Kafirs Collecting 
 — " The Troops Entered the Pass " — Bisset 
 Wounded — "I have got it!" — " Fraser, Don't 
 Leave Me!" — Twenty-three Soldiers Killed — 
 Extraordinary Wounds — Hot Work — Hard 
 Fighting — Charles Bailie — Horrible Spectacle — 
 Capt. Mansergh — Desertion — The Turkey — 
 Shocking ! — Sir Harry cut his way thro'— 
 Short Commons 49 — 67 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 The wreck of the Birkenhead 68 — 70 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 BASUTO BATTLES. 
 
 Cannibalism — Morosi and Major Donovan — Battle 
 of Mekuatling — Xatal to the Rescue — Oathcart 
 and Moshesh— The Battle of Berea 71—85 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 BOER AND BASUTO BATTLES. 
 
 Weber Engages Xehemiah — Ghastly Relics — Boshof 
 appeals for Help — Mo.-hesh at Home — Basutos 
 Raiding Xatal under Ramelana, alias, Lesaoana. — 
 Ramelana and Xatal — Molapo Gives In — Patrol 
 in the Malutis — Basutoland British —Boers and 
 Secheli— Basutoland 1865 — Barbarous Massacres 
 —Mr. fiotes Stabbed 86—108 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 xiil 
 
 CHAPTER XHI. 
 
 BASUTO WAR — 1865. 
 
 Skulking Burghers — Storming Thaba Bosigo — pages- 
 Gallant YVepener Killed — Runaway Boers and 
 Baralongs -Scouring the Draagsberg — Makwai's 
 Mountain 1867 — Tandjesberg 1868 — Ammunition 
 Stopped — The Kieme Captured — Caves and 
 Cannibals 109— 120 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 BATTLE BETWEEN CETTWAYO AND UMBUEAZI IN 1856. 
 
 Battling Brothers — Rev. Tonneson's Account — John 
 Dunn's Account -Battle on the Tugela — Alli- 
 gators — A Rush for Eife— Usutu ! 121 — 132 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE AFFAIR OF MATTANA. 
 
 Strategy — Shepstone Stabbed — The late Dr. Colenso 
 
 — " Inya Leyo ! ? ' Matyana ... ... ... 133 — 138- 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 STRIFE AMONGST BOERS IN THE TRANSVAAL. 
 
 The Boer — A Farce — A Xight Alarm — Knocked him 
 
 over . 13^—143- 
 
 CIIAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE LAKGALIBALELE REBELLION. 
 
 Bushman's Pass Affair — Durnford's despatch — A 
 
 Wondrous Region— The Altitude of Solitude ... 144 — 149 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE GCALEKA AND GAIKA REBELLION OF 1877. 
 
 Ophir— Gold — Kafir War of 1877-8 — Gcaleka and 
 
 Fingoes ... 150 — 154- 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE KAFIR WAR OF 1877-8. 
 
 The Late Sir Bartle Frere — Mr. Brownlee's letter ... 155 — 158 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 THE BATTLE OF" GLAD AN A. 
 
 Mr. G. B. Chalmers' Account ... ... 159—162: 
 
xiv CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 THE BATTLE OF IBEKA. PAGES. 
 
 The Macleans at it 163—166 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 Kreli's Kraal Affair 167 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 BATTLE OF LUSISI. 
 
 The Bros. Goss 168—169 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 BATTLE OF UMZINTZANI. 
 
 Charge of the Gcalekas — Major Moore — Retreat of 
 
 the Gcalekas 170—176 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 BATTLE OF QUINTANA. 
 
 What became of the cattle ? — Quintana* — Prepare 
 
 for Attack — Hard at it 177—182 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 THE MOROSI AFFAIR, 1879. 
 
 Morosi's Mountain — Yeomanry repulsed — Forces fall 
 
 back on Ibeka 183—189 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 CAPTURE OF MOROSl's MOUNTAIN. 
 
 Colonel Bayly — Exciting Work— No Fuzes — The 
 Mortar a Success — A Strange Spectacle — On Top 
 — Morosi killed 190—200 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 After the Capture ... , 201 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 Capture of Morosi's Mountain 202 — 204 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 Death of Morosi — The Assault on the Mountain ... 205—207 
 
 * Properly " Centani " pronounced with the dental click. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 XV 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 THE QRIQUALAND WEST AND NORTHERN BORDER FIGHTS. 
 
 Sir Thomas Upington — Northern Border Fights — pages. 
 Makoloque's Affair — Capt. McTaggart's Des- 
 patch — "William Chr stian — " The Islands " — W. 
 
 A. Maclean 206—218 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 THE EIGHTS IN GRIQUALAND WEST, &C. 
 
 Colonel Lanyon — Capt. Tom Maxwell — Death of Sub- 
 Lieu r . Paterson — Mankoroane Helps — Paarde 
 Kloof Affair — Makolocjue : s Mountain — Causes of 
 Outbreak 219—232 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 THE TRANSVAAL. 
 
 The Dutch Boer — Yoortrekkers— " Trek ! " — Sand 
 River Convention— G. P. Moodie — A prize — A 
 LostPiize 233—240 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE TRANSVAAL. 
 
 Yoortrekkers Journal — White Kafirs — Natal — Boom 
 Plaats — Jealousy between Boers — " Grout Wet " 
 Secheli — Boers Arm Hunters — Teppe's Account — 
 Mahura and Gasibone — Gideon Steyn — Snyman 
 and Kruger — Bluebacks — The Keate Award — 
 New Coinage — British Annexation — Delagoa Bay 
 Railway— McCorkindale— Deadlock ... ... 241 — 281 
 
 CHAPTER XXXY. 
 
 THE ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF THE ZULU POWER. 
 
 -Dingiswayo — Tshaka— Hunger Killed 
 the Country— Cetewayo's Character 282 — -291 
 
 CHAPTER XXXYI. 
 
 THE ZULUS AND NATAL. 
 
 Sir Theophilus Shepstone's Account ... ... ... 292 — 299 
 
 CHAPTER XXXYIL 
 
 JOURNAL OF THE TREK BOERS TO MOSSAMEDES (COMPILED BY 
 
 w t . w. Jordan Y 
 Plenty Game— The Thirstland Boers — Miraculous 
 Escape — Fever— A Bolt— Poisoned Birds — A 
 Fight — Caught by a Crocodile — Painful Scenes — 
 Cattle Recovered — Deaths from Fever — Deplora- 
 able Condition — Relief— Back ! Back ! — Laws 
 in the Desert — Desert Waters — Killing ... 300 — 332 
 
XVI 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 SUFFERINGS OF THE WANDERING BOERS. PAGES 
 
 The Thirstland Boers — Fearful suffering ... ... 333— -336- 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 ADVENTURES OF THE TREK BOEREN TERRIBLE TALE OF DEATH 
 
 AND SUFFERING. 
 
 The Thirstland Boers — Mad Oxen — Murdered by 
 
 Bushmen — Return to Transvaal ... ... ... 337 — 344- 
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 Continuation of adventures of the desert trek boers. 
 Hum pat a — Mossamedes— Albertse and Van der 
 
 Merwe— The Delegates 345 — 353 
 
 CHAPTER XLL 
 
 THE THIRSTLAND BOERS FROM DAMARALAND TO THE n'hEMIIA 
 
 COUNTRY. 
 
 Jordan's Diary — Swarming with Vultures — Heavy 
 Dragging— Majesty and Pudding — Sleeping in 
 Trees — The King's Spies — The Xoble Lion — 
 Deep Jungle — Nambinga — Impenetrable Forests 
 —The Lion 354—376 
 
 CHAPTER XLII. 
 
 CONCLUSION OF THE ADVENTURES OF THE DESERT TREK BOERS- 
 
 A Fight 376—377 
 
 CHAPTER XLIII. 
 
 EARLY NATIVE RACES OF NATAL AND ZULULAND. 
 
 Early Zulu History — European not Human — Dingis- 
 wayo— Reforms of Tshaka — Fynn's Papers — 
 Sotshangana — Awful Scenes — The Fengus — 
 Natal— Tshaka's Kraal — His Dress — Numeration 
 
 Tshaka Stabbed — Tshaka Doctor. d — Dress of 
 
 Regiments 378—406 
 
 CHAPTER XLIV. 
 
 TSHAKA FYNN 1 824. 
 
 Against Sikonyana— Fynn's Papers— Killed by Frosf 
 
 Ornaments of heroes 407 — 412 
 
 CHAPTER XLV. 
 Death of Tshaka's Mother— Fynn— Fynn's Papers- 
 Tears Shed 413—416 
 
CONTENTS. XVli 
 
 CHAPTERS XLYI. 
 
 DEATH OF MR. KING, &C. — FYNN. PAGES. 
 
 Treachery— Tshaka Killed— Miserable Plight ... 417—422 
 CHAPTER XLYII. 
 
 DEATH OP TSHAKA AND OF MR. FAREWELL. 
 
 Fynn's Papers ... 423—424 
 
 CHAPTER XLVHL 
 Death of John Cane — Fynn ... ... ... ... 425 
 
 CHAPTER XLIX. 
 
 fynn's evidence. 
 Xatal Bluff Kafirs 425—429 
 
 CHAPTER L. 
 
 NATHANIAL ISAACS UPON TSHAKA. 
 
 Isaacs on the War Path — Isaacs Wounded — Spitting 
 
 Fire 430—436 
 
 CHAPTER LI. 
 
 john dunn's notes. 
 Swapping 437—439 
 
 CHAPTER LIT. 
 john dunn's notes. 
 Umpande — Acquaintance with Cetywayo 440 — 444 
 
 CHAPTER Lni. 
 
 JOHN DUNN'S NOTES. 
 
 Hunting Adventures — The Snider Rifle — Adventure 
 
 with- a Lion — Wonderful E>cape ... ... ... 445 — 454 
 
 CHAPTER LIV. 
 
 JOHN DUNN'S NOTES. 
 
 Starting a tribe — L T ngoza's presumption ... ... 455 — 460 
 
 CHAPTER LV. 
 
 JOHN DUNN'S NOTES. 
 
 A Grand Hunt— Perplexity 461—466 
 
 CHAPTER LYL 
 
 JOHN DJBNN'S NOTES. 
 
 Proclaiming a King ... ... ... ... 467 — 47 1 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER LV1T: 
 john dunn's notes. 
 Fire— AmaXonga Labour 
 
 . CHAPTER LVIII. 
 
 JOHN DUNN'S NOTES. 
 
 Amatonga Agent— Masipula 
 
 CHAPTER LIX. 
 
 JOHN DUNN'S NOTES. 
 
 Washing trie Spears 
 
 CHAPTER LX. 
 
 JOHN DUNN'S NOTES. 
 
 Mournful Scenes— Saving a Colonel ... 
 
 CHAPTER LXI. 
 
 JOHN DUNN'S NOTES. 
 
 Matters getting Serious— War Measures tti 
 CHAPTER LXII. 
 
 JOHN DUNN'S NOTES. 
 
 John Dunn's Notes ... , tl !ls 
 
 CHAPTER LXIII. 
 
 JOHN DUNN'S NOTES. 
 
 Moving a .Tribe-^False Alarm 
 
 CHAPTER LXIV. 
 
 JOHN DUNN'S NOTES. 
 
 Lord Chelmsford — Victory ! ... 
 
 CHAPTER LXV. 
 
 JOHN DUNN'S NOTES 
 
 John Dunn's Notes " 
 
 PAGES. 
 
 ... 472 — 475 
 
 ... . 476—480 
 
 ... 481—484 
 
 ... 485—489 
 
 ... 490—493 
 
 494 
 
 .. 495-500 
 
 ... 501—506 
 
 ,.. 507—508 
 
 CHAPTER LXVI. 
 
 JOHN DUNN S NOTES. 
 
 General and the Co\fr 509—512 
 
 CHAPTER LXVII. 
 
 JOHN DUNN'S NOTES. 
 
 Natal Tone — Opinion of, Generals ... 513 — 517 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 XIX 
 
 APPENDICES. 
 
 PAGES. 
 
 A — General Chronology pertaining to Soujh Africa 518 — 546 
 
 B — Olla Podrida — Forbes on Gordon 547 — 549 
 
 C — Sir Gordon Sprigg — Donald Moodie's Cape 
 
 " Record " 550 — 554 
 
 D — South African Rhymes — Kaatje Kekkelbek ... 554 — 557 
 E — The Sekukuni Stronghold — Attack on Umzoet — 
 Grand Storming of Sekukuni's Mountain — 
 
 Further Particulars ... ... ... ... 557 — 56-5 
 
 F — Griqualand West Fights 563—564 
 
 G — Jan Companie's Affairs at the Cape — List of 
 Huguenot Immigrants — List of Notable Dutch 
 
 Cape Burghers ... 565 — 568 
 
 H — Volksliederen — Sannie Beyers — Klaas Gezwint 
 en zijn Paert — Daantje Gouws — Alie Brand — 
 
 Jan Jurgens — Die Boer zijn Zaterdag Aand ... 569 — 583 
 I — "Prngle and Moodie " — "History of South 
 Africa " — Barend M. Woest — Death of an Old 
 Voortrekker — A Veteran — Mr. Brownlee — 
 Hottentot Names of Riyers — Gallant Sunnon — 
 
 Amaxosa Names of Riyers ... ... ... 583 — 592 
 
 J — Boomplaats — A Reminiscence — Ancient Natal 
 
 Tribe Battle of Kongella — In Memory of 
 
 Soldiers Killed there, May 1843 — Free State 
 
 Boers Killed 592—598 
 
 List of Authorities 599— 600 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTEATKWS, YOL. II. 
 
 1. The late Right Hon. Sir B irtle Frere {Frontispiece) 
 
 2. The Conference at Block Drift, Kafirland — to face page 7~ 
 
 3. Troops crossing the Great Fish River, 1835 23 
 
 4. Battle of Gwanga 25 
 
 5. Attack of the Kafirs on troops — Col. Fordyce, 1851 ... 49 
 
 6. South African Army, 1851 61 
 
 7. The Capture of Fort Armstrong, 1851 67 
 
 8. The late Colonel YV~. E. Durnford, R.E 147 
 
 9. President S. J. Paul Kruger 232 
 
 10. Boers method of Fighting ... ... ... ... 244 
 
 11. Cetywayo 291 
 
 12. Chief John Dunn 437 
 
 13. Zulu method of advancing to the attack ... 501 
 
 14. Lieut. -General Lord Chelmsford ... ... ... 503 
 
 15. Trek Boer Route through desert (see Map at end). 
 
 P.S. — I would here beg to draw attention to a few errata 
 which, I trust, will be kindly pardoned. Since the list of pictures 
 in the first Vol. has. been ruu through the press, I have had the 
 opportunity to insert some more illustrations in the said volume, 
 the names of which cannot, of course, appear in that list. 
 
 2. In the picture of the battle of Gingiuhlovu the affair appears 
 as " Umgungunhlovu," Dingana's old chief kraal, whereas the 
 former name is correct. Umbulazi's title or "izibongo" was 
 'Xhlovu e ne hdlonti" videlicet " the Elephant with the crest," 
 and near this battle field Cetywayo conquered or " swallowed 
 up" this Elephant, and Gingiuhlovu therefore means " Swallow 
 the Elephant." 
 
 3. The date " 1861" appears on the plate that faces page 67 + 
 It should Le " 1851." 
 
 4. The battle of Gwanga is wrongly dated " 1864." It 
 occurred in the 1846-8 war. 
 
THE HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE BATTLES AND ADVENTURES 
 
 OF 
 
 THE BRITISH, THE BOERS, 
 
 AND 
 
 THE ZULUS, fee, Iff SOUTHERN AFRICA. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 KAFIR AVARS. 
 
 Although, for the sake of brevity, only the Zulus are 
 alluded to in our title page, yet there are other Kafir tribes 
 which played most important parts in several periods 
 embraced in this little history. The Basuto tribe under 
 their chief, Moshesh, immediately beyond the western 
 boundary of Natal, and the Amaxosa Kafirs of British 
 Kaffraria had many engagements with our troops ; espe- 
 cially the latter, and they will be touched upon further on, 
 but at present, following the diary of Sergeant Major 
 Williams, we propose giving a sketch of an engagement of 
 the British with the Basutos, which appears in fuller 
 details elsewhere. 
 
 About the month of July, 1852, the Regimental 
 Sergeant-Major having been appointed to a commission,, 
 owing to the death of Lieut. Pelachois, on our way to 
 Fort Armstrong, the Sergeant-Major of the 2nd Division of 
 the corps was called upon to take his place, and your humble 
 servant was appointed Sergt. -Major of the 2nd Division, 
 which removed me to Kaffraria, where I was but a short 
 time when a fresh break-out took place with Moshesh's 
 tribe. The war being nearly ended in Kaffraria, all that 
 could be spared from the 1st and 2nd Divisions were 
 ordered by General Cathcart, who had been sent out to 
 
 B 
 
2 
 
 BATTLE OF BEREA. 
 
 relieve Sir Harry Smith, to march forthwith up the country 
 to meet the new enemy. After a tedious march of about 
 two hundred miles we reached our destination, a spot then 
 British territory, opposite Berea, in Basutoland, just 
 below latitude 29°, and exactly longitude 28°, near where 
 the Battle of Berea was so shortly to be fought. On our 
 arrival the General formed a camp on what was then 
 English soil, and in what is now -the Orange River Free 
 State, and sent to the Chief Moshesh in order to try and 
 settle matters amicably. A meeting took place the follow- 
 ing day, when it was thought that everything was settled, 
 but it proved otherwise, and the chief not sending in either 
 the prisoners or the cattle promised on the stipulated day, 
 the General ordered a number of troops, mounted and dis- 
 mounted, to be in readiness the following morning to 
 march in the supposed direction of the enemy ; but, seeing 
 nothing of him, they crossed the river Avhich divided them 
 from his territory. Col. Hare of the 73rd Regiment, in 
 command, ordered a squadron of the 12th Lancers, and a 
 troop of the Cape Mounted Riflemen, under the command 
 of the Major of the 12th Lancers, to reconnoitre round the 
 hills. They had not been long away when they observed 
 the enemy in great force crossing the plains, evidently 
 driving their cattle into the mountains, and the women and 
 children carrying the food, baggage, &c, &c, towards the 
 interior of their country. In the meantime the native 
 commander sent another force of Kafirs to where it was 
 expected we would cross over into their territory, and 
 suddenly our mounted men found themselves surrounded 
 by an overwhelming force of natives, with whom they 
 fought desparately until their ammunition was expended. 
 Finding it useless to compete with them any longer, as they 
 were becoming too numerous, the Major gave the order to 
 retire. The enemy, both mounted and dismounted, having 
 the advantage of knowing the country, emerged from all 
 sides, and pursued them so closely that they were compelled 
 to make out of their way by jumping over rocks and places 
 unfitted for horsemen ; more particularly the Lancers, who 
 were too heavy for their horses, and owing to which they 
 lost twenty-nine of their number. One Sergeant of the 
 Cape Corps, having been thrown from his horse, fell into 
 their hands. Many men and horses were also severely 
 
BATTLE OF BEREA. 
 
 3 
 
 •wounded, and many men had their horses shot from under 
 them, or disabled in jumping over the rocks. Thus hotly 
 pursued — two men on a horse — they retreated until they 
 got to the river, about a quarter of a mile from the camp, 
 from which they were observed by the officer in command. 
 He at once sent a strong body of infantry to the river 
 under cover, who as soon as the enemy came near enough, 
 and after our men had crossed the river, jumped up from 
 their hiding places, and poured such a rattling volley into 
 them as to cause them to break, scatter, and retire pell 
 niell, being pursued by fresh troops who had come up to 
 the support. The Major of the Lancers had a narrow 
 escape of falling into their hands — surrounded by seven of 
 the enemy, he shot some with his revolver, and then drew 
 his sword, but two of the Cape corps seeing his desperate 
 position galloped up to his rescue, and aided him in polish- 
 ing off the remainder ; and so all of the seven Kafirs bit 
 the dust. A horse, belonging to an officer of the Cape 
 Mounted Eifles, after nobly bearing his rider, severely 
 wounded as he was, safely into camp, dropped down dead. 
 Col. Hare having communicated with General Cathcart, at 
 the head of the infantry, with two field pieces, marched to 
 oppose the enemy, who showed themselves in great force 
 upon the hills. On approaching them, and finding that 
 they were endeavouring to surround him, he formed up his 
 Troops, and waited till they approached sufficiently near to 
 open fire on them with the big guns ; which by no means 
 dismayed his opponents, who still advanced before him 
 in overwhelming masses. General Cathcart, on receiving 
 this intelligence, ordered the Avhole of the troops he could 
 spare from the camp to march to Col. Hare's assistance, 
 Avith instructions to join him the following day ; while he, 
 at the head of one hundred and fifty of the cavalry, pro- 
 ceeded to join the fighting division. On his way about 
 four hundred of the enemy shewed themselves on the hills. 
 He at once formed up his men, and prepared to attack 
 them ; but as he was about to charge he found that instead 
 of hundreds he had to deal with thousands. He was then 
 obliged to retire, and take a different route to join Col. 
 Hare's division, which he reached in the fore part of the 
 evening, just in time to witness a severe contest between 
 him and the enemv, who had kept concealed in the bush, 
 b2 
 
4 
 
 BATTLE OF BEREA. 
 
 awaiting the force that he had met on the road. On the 
 arrival of the General and the Colonel, the enemy emerged 
 from the bush, not like a disorganized mob of natives, but 
 like French disciplined troops. Three successive times 
 that evening they furiously charged the division, and were 
 repulsed ; the last time was between seven and eight 
 o'clock at night, when the troops were ordered to lie down 
 under cover of an eminence, and commanded not to pull a 
 trigger till the enemy came within a hundred yards. The 
 big guns were loaded with grape and canister, and on their 
 close approach volley after volley was sent in among them, 
 which threw them into such utter confusion and slaughtered 
 such numbers of them, that they fled helter-skelter to the 
 bush, and were never seen afterwards. The following 
 morning the bodies were found in great numbers, although 
 many had been carried into the bush, traces of which were 
 to be seen by the blood on the way. Our casualties were 
 few considering — the dead were buried, and the wounded 
 carried on stretchers till we overtook the rest of the troops 
 when they were placed in the wagons for the sick. A flag 
 of truce having been sent to General Cathcart with a re- 
 quest for the cessation of hostilities, and with a promise to 
 send in the aggressors and the cattle demanded, the troops 
 returned to their former encampment. The following day 
 agreeable to promise, the chief leaders of the war and the 
 cattle were sent in, accompanied by Moshesh and his 
 followers. Moshesh stated that he was sorry for what had 
 happened to the troops, as the steps taken were against 
 his wishes, but that he and his people had got a lesson they 
 would never forget. The prisoners and the cattle* having 
 been handed over, Moshesh departed on amicable terms 
 with the General. That day the cattle were sent on in 
 front to Bloemfontein, with a strong escort of mounted men 
 to guard them on the road. On their arrival they were 
 handed over to the Commdt. of the Garrison, who dis- 
 tributed them amongst the different settlers, who had had 
 their cattle stolen by Moshesh's Kafirs. Some were 
 
 # The Sergeant- Major is in error as the f acts shew thai; General 
 Cathcart was glad enough to get away and abandon the rest of the 
 cattle, after receiving the letter of Moshesh which b?s been 
 described as s masier stroke of diplomacy. 
 
BATTLE OF BEBEA. 5 
 
 disposed of to realise prize-money for the troops, which, 
 however, was never seen or heard of since by the soldiers ; 
 similar to that realised in the two Kafir wars for the cattle 
 taken from the enemy in Kaffraria. Twelve and sixpence 
 per man was all that was credited in the accounts of the 
 men of Her Majesty's Dragoon G-nards." 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 BRITISH KAFFRARIA THE AVAR OF THE AXE BATTLES 
 
 WITH THE AMAXOSA KAFFIRS. 
 
 With savages Avars do not arise from political causes,, 
 but chiefly from the wish of the young men to distinguish 
 themselves and become warriors. Up to the age of 
 sixteen the boys remain boys. The rite of circumcision is 
 performed on all the young men at the age of sixteen, 
 who are made men, or " amadodas." Although they 
 then become nominally men, they only become warriors 
 after a war or some other act by which they have 
 distinguished themselves — hence after a few years there 
 are so many young men that their counsels outweigh the 
 counsels of the old men, and they declare for war. Once 
 in this condition there is no difficulty in finding a pretext,, 
 and the war of which I am now writing (says General. 
 Bisset) was called the ' War of the Axe ' from the trivial 
 circumstance that gave rise to it. 
 
 Fort Beaufort and the town of that name were then 
 situated on the very borders of Kaffirland. Two Kaffirs,, 
 men of some importance among the tribes, stole an axe 
 from a shopkeeper in the town of Beaufort ; they were 
 caught in the very act and secured. 
 
 Criminals at the Cape are tried at the Circuit Courts 
 about every six months ; but the circuit judges do not go 
 to all the small towns, and the prisoners from Fort 
 Beaufort had therefore to be sent to trial at Graham's 
 Town, a distance of over fifty miles, and the main roads 
 from the two places ran almost parallel with the Kafir 
 border. 
 
 The prisoners were sent from Fort Beaufort in charge 
 of constables, and when they had got about twelve miles 
 on the road they were attacked by a body of Kafirs from 
 across the border, and although the constables made a fight 
 for it, they were overcome, and the prisoners were rescued 
 by the Kafirs. It so happened that the two Kafirs, whom 
 they were most desirous to release, were handcuffed to two 
 
THE WAR OF THE AXE. 
 
 other prisoners, who were British subjects ; and as time 
 was precious, in order to escape with their countrymen, they 
 murdered the two men to whom they were attached, and 
 cut off their arms at the elbow joints in order to free the 
 Kafir prisoners. Hence the War of the Axe. 
 
 The Government demanded that the prisoners should 
 be restored and the murderers surrendered ; but the demand 
 was treated with contempt. The young men wanted war 
 and war they would have. 
 
 First a ' palaver ' took place at Block Drift Mission 
 Station, afterwards Fort Hare, where the then Lieutenant- 
 Governor and senior military officer on the frontier met the 
 Gaika chiefs, with a large retinue of their people. The 
 Lieutenant-Governor luckily had a small body of troops with 
 him, who were drawn up m line while the negotiations 
 were going on, in the presence of the three Gaika Com- 
 missioners. The Kafirs were in number as ten to one ; and 
 as they were drawn up facing the troops in a great mass, 
 they repeatedly opened out, extending their front, so as to 
 outflank the European troops ; and this was only prevented 
 by judiciously extending the rear-rank men right and left. 
 This manoeuvre probably saved the small force from being 
 surrounded and attacked, as it was afterwards ascertained 
 that the Kafirs had fully intended to attempt this treachery. 
 
 The meeting, however, broke up without collision, and 
 the troops returned to Victoria Post, a new military position 
 which had recently been established east of the actual 
 colonial border, on what was formerly called the neutral 
 territory, between the Kat and Kieskama Rivers. 
 
 After some considerable delay, the troops were ordered 
 to take the field and enter Kafirland, with a view to bring 
 the refractory chiefs to order. 
 
 Two columns of troops left Victoria, one under Colonel,, 
 subsequently General Sir H. Somerset, and the other under 
 Colonel Richardson, 7th Dragoon Guards. Very little 
 except ordinary skirmishing took place for the first two or 
 three days. On the third day a combined camp was formed 
 on the Debe Flats, just under the Taba n 'Doda Mountain. 
 4 Taba n 'Doda " means "Mountain of the Men."' This 
 was the same locality where Sir Benjamin D'Urban formed 
 his camp in the war of 1835 ; and I remember going 
 to look at the very spot where Sir Benjamin's tent 
 
8 
 
 THE KAFIR AVAR OF 1846-8. 
 
 stood when he was very near being assassinated by a Kafir 
 who, favoured by darkness, had crept through the sentries 
 into camp, and had penetrated into the Commander-in- 
 Chief's tent, and was in the very act of stabbing him, 
 when he was shot by the sentry over the tent. 
 
 On the fourth day the camp broke up, and the two 
 columns, forming one division, entered the Amatola Moun- 
 tains, in the direction of Burn's Hill, a missionary station, 
 also the residence of the august paramount chief, Saudilli. 
 I was sent on Avith an advance guard, or reconnoitering 
 party, to take possession of the chief's kraal. The mission 
 station was in the most deplorable state. The missionaries 
 had fled, the furniture was smashed to pieces, and the 
 Bibles and books scattered to the winds, but up to this 
 time the houses had not been burnt. Sandilli's kraal was 
 also deserted, but at the door of his hut 1 found his emblem 
 of royalty, viz., two lions' tails dried, on sticks stuck into 
 the ground on each side of the door of the hut ; inside the 
 hut I found a musket and some gourds of sour milk. 
 
 The troops soon followed, and a combined camp was 
 again formed at the mission station. During the day 
 Major Sutton also joined the force with a " commando " of 
 Hottentots from the Kat River settlement, and formed a 
 separate camp on a peninsula across the Keiskama River. 
 
 At daylight the next morning the troops took the field 
 in three columns. The right or infantry column under 
 Major Campbell, 91st Regiment, entered the Amatola 
 Mountains at the gorge of the Amatola Basin, with Mount 
 MacDonald on the right and the Seveu Kloof Mountain on 
 the left. The centre column consisted entirely of horse- 
 men ; the Cape Mounted Rifles under Major Armstrong 
 and the Kat Kiver burghers under Major Sutton. This 
 column, after crossing the Kieskama River, climbed up one 
 of the ridges of the Seven Kloof Mountain to its summit. 
 The third column under Generals Somerset and Richard- 
 son, consisting of the 7th Dragoon Guards and Cape 
 Mounted Rifles, continued on under the Seven Kloof 
 Mountain in the direction of the Chumie Hoek. 
 
 I was with the centre column, and as we reached the 
 summit of the Seven Kloof Mountain we could hear the 
 infantry in action in the Amatola Basin on our right ; but 
 immediately on our right front a large body of the enemy 
 
A CHALLENGE TO BATTLE. 
 
 9 
 
 were drawn up in the shape of a crescent, with a dense 
 forest immediately in the rear ; and to make the position 
 more difficult there was a tangled mass of bramble, bush, 
 and swamp between us and them. 
 
 The Kaffirs having challenged us to battle a consulta- 
 tion took place between Majors Armstrong and Sutton, who 
 decided that Ave could not in their then position attack them. 
 I (proceeds the General) was only a subaltern in those 
 days, but I remember we were very much disgusted at the 
 -disappointment : and, to make things worse, as the column 
 was marching right in front, the Major wished to counter- 
 march it in the face of the enemy to make the men front 
 towards the Kaffirs when halted. My friend Johnny Arm- 
 strong (Lieutenant then) commanded one squadron and I 
 another, and we both remonstrated against this move, but 
 halted and fronted to our right. This brought us at once 
 face to face with the enemy, although inverted by threes. 
 We were both reprimanded for this afterwards, but I am 
 quite sure it was the only thing to do. Had the counter- 
 march been continued it would have appeared to the enemy 
 like a retreat, and an immediate attack from them would 
 have followed while the men were in confusion, for the Kat 
 River volunteers knew very little of any drill. As it was, 
 our front and advance dispersed the enemy at once, in so 
 far that they moved back into the bush. But we had 
 scarcely moved on in the direction to join General Somerset 
 when the Kaffirs attacked our rear, and we had to make a. 
 •sort of skirmishing fight until we cleared the ridge of the 
 mountain and got somewhat into the open. All this time 
 there was very heavy firing going on with the infantry 
 column on our right. As we moved down a hill on to a 
 low ridge dividing the Amatola Basin from the Chumie 
 Hoek, at the base of the Hog's Back Mountain, the in- 
 fantry column made its appearance coming up the face of a 
 steep hill out of the valley of the Amatola. They had been 
 attacked immediately after entering the gorge of the 
 Amatola Basin, and had some desperate fighting all the 
 way to where we saw them still in action, and were very 
 much pressed by the enemy. There were no means of 
 carrying the wounded, and most of them fell into the 
 enemies' hands." (" God forgive," says Sergt. Williams in 
 his diary, "any poor soul that fell into the hands of the 
 
10 
 
 HORRIBLE TORTURES. 
 
 Kaffirs — the many tortures they were put to is almost too- 
 dreadful to relate. Some would be tied to the wheel of a 
 captured wagon, stripped of every thing, a slow fire placed 
 under them, and whilst in that horrible agony they would 
 be prodded in all parts of the body with assegais, the latter 
 being generally left to the women to practice on while the 
 men were plundering the wagons and unyoking the bullocks, 
 which they would drive away. Other poor fellows were 
 crucified on the ground and stripped, and the women sur- 
 rounding them would run at them in turn and prod and 
 gash them with assegais until they were perfectly riddled. 
 Moreover, they would cut their finger ends off, their toes r 
 scoop their eyes out, cut their ears off, their nose, their 
 tongue, and other parts of the body, and cram them down 
 their throats.") 
 
 " Between us and the infantry was a steep rocky ledge, 
 so that it was quite impossible for the cavalry to go to their 
 support. The infantry, however, fought their way towards 
 us where the ground became comparatively open. Several 
 men fell between the ledge, and where we were drawn up 
 ready to charge should the enemy come into the open ; and 
 as the Kaffirs showed in some force there we charged down 
 on them, dismounted on the brink of it, and drove them 
 back on foot. Two men were shot in this charge — Booy 
 Daries and Witbooy Klein, one at my side and the other 
 next Lieut. Carey, and some few men and horses were 
 wounded. We very soon drove the enemy back, and held 
 the rocky ledge until we were recalled, after having been 
 reinforced by Capt. O'Reily's troop. Our holding the 
 ledge enabled the infantry to carry back the wounded who 
 fell after they passed over it. 
 
 By this time General Somerset had come from the 
 direction of the Chumie Hoek to our support, with the two 
 field guns which accompanied this column from the camp 
 at Burns' Hill. These were soon got into position, and 
 the enemy was shelled out of the bush and rocks in a very 
 short time. 
 
 Here again, as in all Kafir wars, the Kafirs had such, 
 powers of dispersion that they soon disappeared except on 
 the distant hills. The troops were ordered to re-form, the 
 wounded men were placed upon the gun limbers, and the 
 whole of the troops then marched down the slope to the? 
 
CAPT. BAMBRIC SHOT. 
 
 il 
 
 Chnmie H jek. At the foot of the hill we were joined by 
 Capt. Donovan, Cape Mounted Rifles ; Capt. Pipon, who 
 had been detached by General Somerset up the sources of 
 the Chuinic River, where they had captured about 2,000 
 head of cattle and a number of goats and other animals. 
 
 Major Gibson, 7th Dragoon Guards, and the remainder 
 of the troops had been left in charge of the camp at Barns' 
 Hill, and as it was now late in the afternoon, and it was 
 quite impossible to guard these cattle back over the bushy 
 country to Burns' Hill, General Somerset decided to form. 
 a camp for the night in the open plain just under the high 
 point of the Seven Kloof Mountain between the sources of 
 the Yellow Wood stream. Before so doing he dispatched 
 a party under Lieut. Stokes to communicate with the camp 
 ft t Burns' Hill, directing Major Gibson to march, guarding 
 he camp the next day, and join us at the Chumie. This 
 iparty had to fight its way the whole distance to Burns'' 
 Hill, losing two men and several horses wounded. 
 
 The camp at Burns' Hill had also been attacked during 
 the day, and a number of the draught and slaughter cattle 
 captured by the enemy, and a squadron of cavalry was sent 
 out under a fine old Waterloo officer, Capt. Bambric, 7th 
 Dragoon Guards, to endeavour to retake the cattle. This 
 party, which consisted of the 7th Dragoon Guards and 
 Cape Mounted Rifles, the latter under Lieut. Boyes,. 
 followed the Kafirs into the bush when they were attacked 
 in such force that they had to retire, not, however, before 
 the gallant old Captain had fallen a victim. The Kafirs 
 stripped his body and held it up in triumph : and although 
 several attempts were made by the troops they could not 
 recover the remains." 
 
 The Sergeant, before quoted, in alluding to this attack 
 on the^camp at Burns' Hill, says — " Capt. Bambric of the 
 troop 7th Dragoon Guards left behind, who commanded 
 my troop, had ordered a stripped saddle inspection, also 
 one of the men's kits. Capt, O'Reily of the Cape Mounted 
 Rifles with good judgment and prudence kept his horses 
 saddled up, and the men in readiness for any emergency.. 
 The former officer was in command of the whole, and his 
 men nac I their saddles and their necessaries all laid out on 
 their horse blankets, and were most of them down at the 
 river ^ashing and bathing. Myself and another man were 
 
12 
 
 CAPT. BAMBRIC S BODY. 
 
 sent out upon an adjacent bill on piquet duty to ride in 
 and give the alarm should we see any of the enemy 
 approach. About 4 p.m. we observed a number of the 
 enemy coming towards the camp, from the direction in 
 which the engagement took place in the forenoon. Before 
 we could gallop in they had taken possession of a number 
 of the cattle belonging to the camp wagons. Then 
 followed an uproar — Captain Bambric roaring out to his 
 men to saddle up, the trumpets and bugles sounding in all 
 directions, the man to stand to their arms ! Those of the 
 men who were down at the river washing whipped up their 
 articles of clothing and rushed in, half naked, to the camp, 
 uttering many blessings for their Captain, particularly 
 when they saw Capt. O'Reily with his men, two field 
 pieces, and a company of infantry moving off to intercept 
 the enemy with the cattle, which were soon afterwards 
 abandoned by the enemy, who made for the bush. One 
 half of the force on the arrival of our men, who came up by 
 twos and threes as they got saddled, were headed by Capt. 
 Bambric, and marched up to the bush which they strove to 
 make their way through to get at the enemy. The attempt 
 was a most ridiculous one, Capt. Bambric having been 
 induced by a son of Barrack-Master Boves, who accom- 
 panied him as a supposed guide, to follow him through the 
 bush, which enterprise was speedily checked, he, Capt. 
 Bambric, receiving a shot through the heart, fell into the 
 hands of the enemy. The remainder of the force made 
 their exit as speedily as possible out of the bush, some 
 without caps and swords, scabbards torn off in the rush 
 ■ through the bush, and at length with torn faces and clothes 
 regained the other division under Capt. O'Reily. Capt. 
 Bambric's horse joined us shortly after covered with 
 blood. The whole division was then taken by Capt. 
 O'Reily to try and recover the body, which proved 
 a failure. The troops were beaten back from the 
 dense bush as fast as they made their approach, 
 although the iwo field pieces were kept playing hotly on 
 the enemy with shell and rockets. They stood their 
 ground, and showed us the Captain's body which they 
 held up in their hands at arm's length, and displayed in 
 (triumph from the eminence on which they stood " 
 
 I must now (says the General) return to the camp at 
 
A MOST MEMORABLE DAY. 
 
 13 
 
 the Cbumie Hoek. I bad the formation of this camp, 
 which formed a square of 120 yards each way, the men 
 lying on their arms and facing outwards, the horses being 
 linked in rear, and the cattle and goats in the centre. 
 
 Sentries had to be posted between the horses and the 
 cattle, and videttes at a short distance outside the square.. 
 The camp was twice attacked on one side during the night, 
 and after the videttes ran in, that side only returned the 
 fire of the enemy, although in the dark of night, the other 
 faces of the square merely standing to their arms. This 
 showed great steadiness on the part of the soldiers. 
 
 The next day was a most memorable one in the annals 
 of Cape warfare. As the camp began to move from 
 Burns' Hill, with its long train of bullock-wagons, over 
 one hundred and twenty in number, besides Royal Artil- 
 lery guns, limbers, and ammunition wagons, thousands 
 upon thousands of the enemy were seen pouring down 
 from the mountains in all directions. The road, a mere 
 wagon track, ran for the first few miles along the bank of 
 the Keiskama River ; the river then, turning suddenly to 
 the right, ran round a peninsula of high ground, upon which 
 Fort Cox was afterwards rebuilt. At the base of this 
 peninsula, which the road crossed before descending to 
 cross the Keiskama River, the wagon road ascended a 
 stony, precipitous, and bushy space of about half a mile.. 
 The Kaffirs were all massing towards this point for an 
 attack. The front wagons, which consisted chiefly of. 
 those belonging to General Somerset's column, were so 
 well protected by the advance guard that they passed, 
 safely over this difficult point, and descended towards the 
 Keiskama ford. The Kaffirs, however, made such a 
 vigorous attack on the centre of the long line of wagons 
 that they drove the escort defending them back on the 
 main body of the troops in the rear, thus capturing the 
 wagons in the narrow part of the road. The Kaffirs 
 immediately cut the oxen loose from the yokes, thereby 
 entirely blocking up the road, so that no other wagons in. 
 the rear could pass. During all this time all the available 
 troops from General Somerset's camp were sent to the 
 assistance of Major Gibson — Major Sutton, with the Kat 
 River people, and Captain Scott, with one hundred and. 
 twenty of the 91st Regt. ; but the Kaffirs came down from 
 
14 
 
 ALL THE WAGONS CAPTURED. 
 
 the mountains in such overwhelming numbers that Major 
 ■Gibson was obliged to abandon the whole of the wagons 
 (fifty-two in number) belonging to Colonel Richardson's 
 column. The baggage wagons of the 7th Dragoon 
 Guards contained all the valuable mess plate, &c, 
 belonging to the officers, besides their kits of some £900 
 -or £1,000 in value. Some officers had two or three guns 
 in their wagons by the best makers — Purdy, Rigby, 
 AVilkinson, Moore, Westley Richards, &c, &c. These 
 superior arms unfortunately fell into the hands of the 
 * enemy. Major Gibson had to make a detour to the left 
 along a bushy slope with guns, limbers, and ammunition 
 wagons, and with these had to fight his way across the 
 Keiskama River, and up the long bushy valley under the 
 Seven Kloof Mountain. 
 
 I had been sent forward by General Somerset to hold 
 the ford of the Keiskama River, and to defend the rear of 
 the first division wagons directly I was replaced at the 
 ford by the advance of Major Gibson's force. I came up 
 to the rear of the wagons whilst being fiercely attacked ; 
 and as Lieut. Cochrane (91st Foot) was at that moment 
 wounded, the command devolved upon me. There was 
 very hard fighting for some distance, but at last we 
 • cleared the bush country and gained the open. We 
 reached the camp without further fightiug. During this 
 day my charger was shot under me, my gun was shattered 
 to pieces in my hands, and several men were killed and 
 wounded. General Somerset's orderly was shot, and the 
 general's charger, which he was leading, fell into the 
 hands of the enemy. 
 
 During all this time Major Gibson was fighting his 
 way over the same ground, with the Royal Artillery guns, 
 limbers, and ammunition wagons which he had saved from 
 falling into the hands of the Kaffirs. As night was closing 
 in Major Gibson's column made its appearance in the open, 
 :about three miles from our camp. As they were leaving 
 the bush country the enemy made a general rush on the 
 rear, but the guns opening almost in the dark upon them, 
 they were repulsed, not, however, without two or three 
 wounded men falling into their hands, as also a Royal 
 Artillery limber wagon, with gun ammunition. This was 
 •on account of the bullocks knocking up and being unable 
 
KAFIRS CONCENTRATING, 
 
 15 
 
 i;o proceed. Major Gibson then marched on and joined 
 -our camp. Early in the morning of this day Lieut. Boyes, 
 with ten men, had been sent from Burns 1 Hill Camp with 
 a despatch reporting the occurrence of the day before and 
 the loss of Captain Bambric, and his small escort had to 
 cut their way through large bodies of the enemy. Five of 
 his men were killed or wounded. 
 
 The camp was several times attacked during the 
 night, but the enemy were beaten off without much loss on 
 either side. Orders were also given for the camp and 
 troops to move the next day to the mission station at Block 
 Drift. As daylight broke the whole of the mountain range 
 above the camp was seen to be densely crowded with the 
 enemy, and masses of mounted men were formed on the 
 lower grounds of the Chumie Range. Before the troops 
 moved off I was sent back with my squadron of Cape 
 Mounted Rifles to endeavour to recover the ammunition 
 wagon abandoned the evening before. As I marched 
 towards the bush country large bodies of Kafirs moved 
 down the mountain, but did not come into the open. As I 
 -approached the ammunition wagon, a most horrible and 
 appallingly ghastly sight met our view. One of the 
 wounded men who had fallen into the enemy's hands the 
 night before had been lashed to the limber of the Avagon 
 :and roasted alive. A most ghastly grin was on the poor 
 man's face ; his wrists and legs were lacerated with the 
 thongs, and his belly ripped open so that the bowels 
 protruded. 
 
 A portion of the camp had already moved off before I 
 returned, and I was told off wuth my squadron to form a 
 rear guard. A.: the leading wagons moved from the camp, 
 the two great masses of the enemy poured down from the 
 mountains, and extended along the whole line of route ; 
 :and as the wagons approached the bushy country towards 
 Block Drift, the whole line was simultaneously attacked in 
 front, centre, and rear ; but the guns being brought into 
 action the enemy were driven back with considerable loss. 
 Colonel Richardson commanded the centre and rear of the 
 wagons, and the 7th Dragoon Guards had several times to 
 charge the enemy. 
 
 Just as I was moving from the camp ground with the 
 rear guard, I saw a splendid fellow of my regiment, 
 
16 
 
 DEATH IX THE BUSH. 
 
 Corporal Telemachus, and one man, come galloping in 
 from the direction of the affair of the day before. They 
 turned out to be all that were left of an escort which had 
 started from Victoria Post to follow the troops with 
 Despatches from His Excellency Sir P. Maitland, the 
 'Governor aud Commander-in-Chief, who had arrived on 
 the frontier from Cape Town. The corporal had been 
 despatched with six men, and followed the 1 spoor ' of the 
 troops first to Debe Flats ; then pushing his way towards 
 Burns' Hill, he was met at a ' neck ' dividing the 
 Amabeles from the Taba n 'Doda by a body of Kafirs. 
 These he charged, but lost two of his men. He then 
 pushed his way on, and seeing the line of wagons taken by 
 the enemy the day before, for a moment thought it was the 
 camp on the move, but found the wagons in possession of 
 the enemy, who were still burning them. He was then 
 headed at the Kieskama River, where he lost two more of 
 his men, and he reached the camp at the Chumie with only 
 one man, both their horses being wounded, one through 
 the saddle flap into the side, and the other in the thigh. I 
 sent the despatches on to the head of the column by post 
 orderlies, and mounted the corporal on a spare trooper. 
 
 A few minutes after this despatch party had left 
 Victoria Post, Captain Sandes, of my regiment, with his 
 mounted seryant and a pack-horse, also started with the 
 intention of overtaking the little party and accompanying 
 it to join the troops in the field. He did not, however, 
 overtake Corporal Telemachus, and nothing more was then 
 heard of Captain Sandes and his orderly. They must have 
 fallen an easy prey to the Kafirs. Some time afterwards 
 it was known that they were killed before they got to the 
 Debe Flats. 
 
 As the column approached Block Drift. General 
 Somerset moved on with the advance and took possession 
 of the fort on the Chumie River, moved two of the Royal 
 Artillery guns over the water, and taking up a good 
 position, brought them into action on the masses of Kafirs 
 who were still endeavouring to break the line of moving 
 wao-ons. About two miles from Block Drift there is a 
 conical bush hill, which the Kafirs held in great force. 
 As the wagon track passed at its base, and thence on to 
 the Chumie Ford through a thicket of mimosa and other 
 
STRONG DRINK. 
 
 17 
 
 bush, there was a good deal of close fighting all along this 
 space ; and the rear was so hardly pressed that the guns 
 had repeatedly to be brought into action, and the Kafirs 
 driven back by canister and shell. Two men of the 91st 
 were shot close to the road while defending the wagons, 
 and the Kafirs were so daring that they rushed in and 
 were stripping the bodies, when they were shot down and 
 fell over the dead. 
 
 There was great delay owing to the banks of the river 
 being very steep and slippery, and each wagon stuck fast 
 in turn, and had to be assisted out by soldiers. During all 
 this time the fighting in the rear continued. Lieut. Butler 
 (7th Dragoon' Gkiards), with his men, dismounted, holding 
 the banks of the river below the Drift ; while Lieut.. 
 Ougan, with the 91st Foot, held it above. 
 
 The ammunition of the rear guard becoming expended, 
 volunteers were called for from the cavalry, when both the 
 7th Dragoon G-uards and Cape ^Mounted Eiflemen stepped 
 to the front, and proceeded on foot to replace the rear 
 guard. 
 
 One wagon had to be abandoned between the conical 
 hill and the ford, owing to the oxen being shot. This 
 happened to be the hospital store wagon, and the Kafirs at 
 once fell to plundering it, and not a few of them died on 
 the spot from drinking bottles of poison. One Kafir was 
 shot with a quantity of blister ointment in and about his 
 mouth, their notion being that English medicine makes 
 you strong. 
 
 To make a long story short, I may conclude by saying 
 that the wagons were at last got over, the Kafirs beaten 
 back, and a camp formed at Block Drift, taking advantage 
 of the missionary buildings. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE AFFAIR IN THE KOWIE BUSH. 
 
 The troops, after the first three days' fighting near Burns' 
 Hill and the Amatolas, marched to Block Drift (after- 
 wards Fort Hare) ; and the Kafirs, having passed into the 
 colony, were committing great ravages and depredations 
 in Lower Albany — so much so that the greater part of the 
 troops had to march back via Graham's Town and follow 
 up the enemy into Lower Albany. A large body of Kafirs 
 were seen just as the day was breaking, making from the 
 direction of Oliphant's Hoek towards the Kowie Bush, 
 not knowing that a column of troops had followed them 
 into Albany. The Kafirs were pursued, and had taken 
 •cover in a wooded ravine joining the Kowie Bush, and 
 were holding their own against a few men when we 
 arrived. These men had cut off the enemy's escape into 
 the forest by occupying a narrow part of the ravine below 
 where the Kafirs were. The patrol consisted of a couple 
 of squadrons of Cape Mounted Riflemen and a troop of the 
 7th Dragoon Guards under Capt. Hogge, and a couple of 
 guns had also been brought from the camp. Half the 
 patrol were dismounted and sent into the bush, while the 
 party from the camp held the ground below, thus prevent- 
 ing the escape of the Kafirs. Savages, when penned in, 
 will fight with great determination, and we found it so on 
 this occasion. They <; pre-occupied " the ground, and had 
 selected their positions to great advantage. For instance, 
 they held the bed of the river, with protecting hanks in 
 bends of it, that formed natural " parapets." We had to 
 advance through thick bush, exposing the whole of our 
 bodies, while only their heads would be above the banks ; 
 and, moreover, there was a tangled mass of " waghten 
 betjee," or "wait a bit" thorn, through which it was 
 .almost impossible to make our way, and while so doing we 
 were under heavy fire. Several men had been knocked 
 over, and I was hesitating whether we ought not to retire, 
 its it was quite impossible to get at the 'Kafirs. Other 
 
ROARED LIKE A BULL. 
 
 19 
 
 men had been wounded on the right, and two were shot 
 right and left of me. one a half slave sort of fellow, who 
 roared like a bull when hit. We were so cdose to the 
 Kaffirs who held the river banks, that the coarse-grained 
 powder from the muzzles of their guns burnt my hands in 
 •several places. It was at this time that I suggested to 
 old Joe Salis whether we had not better retire ; but the 
 fine old fellow, a true soldier to the back-bone, said, in his 
 own drawling way, " Xo, Bisset, we can't retire ; we must 
 stay here and die." Now this was rather severe on me, 
 for I was Joe's senior officer and commanding the troop. 
 At this particular time the wounded men were sent to the 
 rear, and the General who was with the supports, sounded 
 the recall. " Xoo, Bisset," said old Joe, " we can retire 
 with honor :" and I can assure you we were not sorry to 
 do it. But the party extending across the narrow part 
 of the Kloof was first reinforced and left in their position 
 to prevent the Kaffirs from getting into the large forest. 
 
 When we got back to the dear old General, who was 
 always most considerate about his men, he exclaimed — 
 Oh, this will never do, to have my men killed in the 
 bush in this way — we must leave them alone." But 
 Armstrong and I both implored him not to do so, as in 
 that case the Kaffirs would book it as a victory to them, 
 and would give them more courage in their attacks on the 
 colony. After a deal of persuasion the General said — 
 " If you must go at them again you must take vol- 
 unteers :" but when both our squadrons immediately 
 stepped to the front he said, " Oh, this will never do — tell 
 off from the right and left of squadrons, and the centres of 
 threes stand fast." Thus we got two-thirds of the men, 
 and the remaining third, or centres of threes, were left to 
 hold the horses. 
 
 We proceeded to where the Kloof was held by the 
 party posted to prevent the enemy's retreat, and extending 
 so as to take up the whole breadth of the bush on the 
 banks of the ravine, we advanced up it. A great many of 
 the Kaffirs must have been panic struck, and were hiding 
 in great antbear holes and caves. Those near the surface, 
 or at the entrance of the caves or holes, could make no 
 resistance ; and I am sorry to say the men were so 
 •embittered against the enemy from the sight of their 
 c 2 
 
46 
 
 " WAGHT BAAS ! " 
 
 wounded companions that they showed no mercy, and a 
 promiscuous fire was poured into these places, which 
 killed the Kafirs who were fighting as well as those who 
 were unable from their position to fire outwards. No less 
 than eight dead Kaffirs were taken out of one of these 
 holes. 
 
 I was leading my men up the bed of the river, most of 
 it dry, but here and there we came upon pools of water. 
 As we came to one of those the thin or wooden ends of a 
 bundle of assegais floated up to the surface of the water r 
 thus we knew that a Kaffir or Kaffirs must be there, and, as 
 we supposed, under the water ; so we remained some short 
 time for him to come up to breathe ; but no, there was no 
 appearance. A yellow Hottentot next to me, named 
 Groenwald, went to the edge of the pool to where there 
 was the smallest possible tuft of grass, and stooping down,, 
 he divided it Avith its hand, and there appeared the nostrils 
 of a great Kaffir, not another part visible. He gave the 
 spot a poke with the ramrod of his gun, and up jumped a 
 great big greased Kaffir, the water running off him as it 
 would off a duck's back. Kaffirs never give or take 
 quarter, and this one immediately seized his assegais, and 
 was in the act of throwing one, when he was shot down,, 
 although I tried to prevent it. We then advanced, and 
 about fifty yards ahead we came to a perfect stack of skin 
 robes, blankets, and black sticks, which they always carry 
 to beat and drive cattle with. There was a pile some four 
 or five feet high of these things, and we all knew that 
 when they throw these articles aside they mean to fight.. 
 It was just at the spot Joe Salis and I had been trying to 
 get at, near the bank of the river, and where the channel 
 gave a bend in the shape of a reaping hook or sickle. I 
 was leading, and about to step across the bed of the 
 river at the very bend, when a little Hottentot of my 
 troop named Hendrik Dragonder caught hold of me 
 by the pouch belt and pulled me back, saying, " Waght 
 Baas," or " Wait, Master." At the same time he 
 picked up one of the black sticks, and putting his 
 forage cap on the end of it he held it across the 
 bend of the river at the exact spot where 7 was going to 
 step. Instantly twenty bullets riddled the cap and splin- 
 the stick to pieces. The " tottie" then said, " jSouw Znur,, 
 
4fc 
 
 - 
 
 "ZCUK GAAT A AX ! " 21 
 
 gaat aan ;" " Xov, Master, go on." We rushed across 
 and found about fifty Kafirs standing in water up to their 
 knees, just round the bend formed by the wash of the 
 rivulet, nearly the whole of whom were shot before they 
 could reload, the remainder escaping into the bush. This 
 was the same position they had held before the recall, but 
 from the direction in which we were then approaching, they 
 were entirely protected by the high bank of the river, for 
 nearly all the rivers or water washes have a high bank on 
 one side and a flat or slope on the other. 
 
 As we continued to advance a curious thing happened. 
 Some of the Kafirs had got into the tops of trees to hide 
 themselves. One great fellow had got so far into the 
 branches of a Kafir plum tree, which is very brittle wood, 
 that as we were passing under the tree, the branch broke, 
 and the black warrior fell some forty or fifty feet, and did 
 not require any further killing. By this time we were 
 near the head of the ravine. Two guns had been brought 
 up from the camp, and a troop of the 7th Dragoon Guards 
 under my old friend Capt. Hogge, and several charges oi 
 grape and canister had been fired iuto the bush and caused 
 a great panic. Capt. Hogge's troop and these guns were 
 on the opposite side of the Kloof to that of the General and 
 the Cape Mounted Eiflemen. The residue of the Kafirs, or 
 those who had not found secret cover, made a rush out of 
 the bush just at the spot where tbe troop of the 7th 
 Dragoon Guards was ; and although the troop charged 
 ■only three Kafirs were killed before they got into the next 
 ravine adjoining the Cowie Bush. This was the end of 
 the day's work, and the troops returned to camp at 
 McC lucky 's Farm. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE PASSAGE OF THE FISH RIVER. 
 
 During the early part of the Kafir war of 1846-7, Fort 
 Peddie was besieged by the enemy, and it became neces- 
 sary to send a column of troops with a coiitov of supplies 
 to its relief. This force consisted of Cape Mounted 
 Riflemen, under General Somerset ; 7th Dragoon Guards, 
 under Colonel Richardson ; and detachments of infantry, 
 native levies, Fingoes, &c. They marched from Graham's 
 Town, and halted the first night at Commety's Drift, on 
 the Fish River. 
 
 From Commety's Drift to Breakfast Vley the road 
 wound up the bush-covered heights of the Fish River. 
 The troops marched early, and were allowed te proceed for 
 some distance unmolested. There was a large convoy of 
 wagons, which extended for some miles along this narrow 
 road in the bush, and as the head of the column commenced 
 to ascend the steep hill towards the first " open " in the 
 direction of Breakfast Vley, the advance guard was attacked 
 by a strong party of Kafirs, who held a ledge of rock in 
 the bush on the right of the advance. It was in such a 
 position that they could not be outflanked or dislodged 
 from it. Lieut, Armstrong (says the General) dashed 
 forward to support the advance guard, with a troop of the 
 Cape Mounted Rifles, followed by Major Gibson, with a 
 squadron of the 7th Dragoon Guards. Each party in 
 succession had to fight its way through the rocky position 
 held by the Kafirs. I was as near losing my life on this 
 occasion as I ever was. After joining the advance guard, 
 we were advancing, when a volley was fired by some 
 Kafirs holding a second rocky ledge to the right, which 
 knocked over several men and horses. I was carrying my 
 double-barrelled gun at the advance, or rather with the 
 butt of it on my left thigh, when a ball grazed my fore- 
 head and struck the right-hand barrel of my gun entirely 
 denting in the metal. I felt the shock in my hand, and 
 looking down I saw my left thumb bleeding profusely.. 
 
HOT FIGHTING. 
 
 23 
 
 Many of the Kafir bullets were made of zinc, or pewter, 
 stripped from the farmers' houses, and were of so hard a 
 nature that when they struck anything they would break 
 and fly in all directions. It thus happened that my hand 
 became lacerated from the ball. 
 
 These Kafirs became so daring that they were rushing 
 in upon us, and one was in the act of seizing my horse's- 
 bridle when I shot him. Luckily I pulled the trigger of 
 the left barrel, for at that time I did not know that the 
 right barrel had been flattened by the ball which had 
 splintered and wounded my hand. As it was, I shot the 
 Kafir ; but had I fired the right barrel the gun must have 
 burst, as the ball could not have passed the flattened part. 
 We, however, had to push on, as it was important to gain 
 the top of the hill, where there was a small open space, and 
 to hold it until relieved by the next advance. 
 
 Major Gibson was also warmly engaged at the same 
 spot, and his first charger was shot dead under him. After 
 we once gained the top of the hill the enemy deserted their 
 stronghold, in order to take possession of other ground in 
 the bush as we advanced. 
 
 From the top of the hill there was about three miles of 
 thick bush to pass through, with only a narrow wagon 
 track cut through it. The Kafirs held this bush in con- 
 siderable strength, but the column of cavalry forced their 
 way through it on to the open ground beyond, the wagons- 
 being guarded by the infantry. As they entered this- 
 bush there was a general attack upon them along the 
 whole line. 
 
 The fight became hottest in the middle of the bush. The 
 cavalry having formed up upon the "open" beyond, detach- 
 ments were sent back on foot to support the infantry. Both 
 Armstrong and I had volunteered, and went back in this- 
 manner, accompanied by Captain Walpole, R.E., who 
 obtained on this day the name of tne "British Lion." 
 
 We reached the leading wagons at a moment when there 
 was a complete block. Several of the oxen in the leading 
 teams had been shot, and, until they could be cut loose from 
 their yoke gear and pulled by main force out of the road, 
 no other wagons could pass. It was during this affair that 
 Walpole's peculiar bravery became conspicuous. During 
 all this time we were under fire from the Kafirs in the 
 
24 
 
 WARM WORK. 
 
 thick bush, without being able to see any of the black 
 devils themselves. You had to take the oxen by the horns 
 and tail, and so pull them by main strength out of the road. 
 
 Walpole was short-sighted, and carried a double-barrelled 
 pistol. The Kafirs would creep up and fire from the edge 
 of the bush ; Walpole would make a dash at the spot 
 where the smoke was visible, stoop down, open the bush, 
 and look for the Kafir. Probably at that moment another 
 shot would be fired at him from the other side of the road, 
 when he would bound over there, just as a lion bounds to 
 where the ball strikes, and the same search would take 
 place until another shot would be fired at him and the same 
 thing repeated. Nothing reminded me more of a lion or a 
 bulldog than this brave folly ; for directly the Kafir fired 
 he would rush back into the thicket — and you might as well 
 look for a needle in a bundle of hay as for a Kafir in a forest. 
 
 It took several hours before we couldsuccessfully fight the 
 whole of the wagons through this three miles of bush, and 
 there was not a span of oxen that had not two or threeof the 
 team killed, but very few of the troops were shot. It was quite 
 dark before we got all the wagons up and the camp formed 
 for the night. The latter duty devolved on me as staff officer. 
 
 In Kafir wars a good deal depends upon the judgment of 
 taking up ground for a night camp, because you are sure 
 to be attacked and fired into before daylight. So it hap- 
 pened on this occasion. We formed on the slope of a hill 
 leaving the horizon of the slope a little beyond the line of 
 sentries, so that they could see the enemy approach over 
 it without being seen. On the other side of the lower 
 end of the camp piquets were posted in such positions as 
 entirely to command the camp. Only two or three men 
 were wounded during this night attack. The next day's 
 march was through comparativaly open country, and the 
 troops reached Fort Peddie without any more fighting, 
 and so relieved that outpost, which had been surrounded 
 by the enemy, and had had its supplies cut off for some time. 
 
 (It must be borne in mind that the foregoing description 
 of fighting alludes solely to the Amaxosa Kafirs of British 
 Kaffraria, for, as is elsewhere pointed out, the Zulu mode 
 of fighting is entirely different, as the latter generally 
 fight in the open, and carry any desired position with a 
 rush.) 
 
CHAPTER Y. 
 
 THE BATTLE OF THE GUAXGA. 
 
 .At the beginning of all wars at the Cape of Good Hope 
 the Kafirs generally have it all their own way. from the 
 fact that neither the Government nor the colonists are pre- 
 pared for the outbreak ; hence the enemy overrun, devas- 
 tate, burn the homesteads, and carry off the flocks and 
 herds throughout the frontier districts before sufficient 
 force can be organised to stem the savage torrent. Such 
 was the case (says G-eneral Bisset) just previous to the 
 battle I am about to describe. 
 
 Several of the outposts had also been besieged by the 
 ■enemy, aud convoys of provisions sent to replenish them 
 had been attacked, the escorts driven back, and in one case 
 a large convoy of wagons had been captured by the Kafirs. 
 In consequence of this state of things a strong column of 
 troops, under the command of the gallant General Somerset, 
 forced the passage of the Fish River Bush and relieved 
 the outpost (Fort Peddie), which had up to that time been 
 •surrounded by the enemy, and cut off from all communica- 
 tion with the rest of the colony. 
 
 At the same time two of the most powerful and warlike 
 chieftains, Umhala and Seyolo, had massed their warriors 
 on the Keiskama River, and a discussion arose between 
 these two chiefs, to the following effect : — Seyolo, the 
 most daring chief, at a council of war proposed that as 
 they, the Kafirs, had so far beaten the white man in all 
 encounters, their combined force should march the next 
 day and attack an outpost situated on the Fish River — 
 Trumpeter's Post — take the place by storm, possess them- 
 selves of the magazine, and thus obtain a supply of 
 ammunition. Umhala, the more wary old chief, replied, 
 
 Yes, Seyolo, your advice is good, Dut we cannot cross 
 the open country between the Keiskamma and the Fish 
 River Bush in the day time — we should go by night." 
 Whereupon Seyolo exclaimed, " We have beaten the 
 Englishman at all points and taken his cattle, we only 
 
26 
 
 " UMBOZHLO." 
 
 require this ammunition to drive him into the sea. ,v 
 Again the old chief replied, " Seyolo, do you know my 
 war name ? " " Yes," said the more impetuous Seyolo, 
 " you are called Umbozhlo." " And do you know what that 
 implies," asked Umhala. " Yes," replied Seyolo, " it 
 means ' wild cat.' " " It is well you know it," answered 
 Umhala ; " we have just received intelligence that white 
 troops are near us, and the 6 wild cat ' does not roam by 
 day — he prowls by night." On this further words passed 
 between the Kafir Chiefs, and the word " coward " was 
 used, but the elder chief terminated the dialogue by saying 
 that he would not take umbrage at the epithet used by the 
 more impetuous warrior. He, " the wild cat,' would cross 
 the open country that night in the dark, and wait for the 
 brave man who might cross the open in the day time under 
 the sun. 
 
 It thus happened that Umhala and his warriors crossed 
 the open country between the Kieskama and the Fish River 
 Bush during the night, about the same time that a column 
 of troops under General Somerset was moving from Fort 
 Peddie up the belt of open country dividing the two rivers 
 in search of the enemy. 
 
 As daylight broke we, for I was with the column, came 
 upon the track or spoor of this body of Kafirs at right angles 
 with our own march, who must have passed over the open 
 just before us. The traco showed a broad space of about 
 twenty yards wide, with grass trodden down and the dew 
 dispersed from it. The General at once followed up this 
 " spoor," and as the sun rose we came suddenly upon a 
 large mass of the enemy, who had fires lit, and were at 
 their morning repast of dried flesh and parched Indian 
 corn. 
 
 We were on a slope looking down on them at about 600 
 yards distance, the Kafirs being in an open, surrounded 
 by bush., with the Fish River jungle immediately in their 
 rear. 
 
 Our forces consisted of two six pounders, two twelve 
 pounder howitzers, and a rocket tube ; two squadrons of 
 the 7th Dragoon Guards, two squardrons of the Cape 
 Mounted Rifles, and detachments of infantry of the line, 
 levies, Fingoes, &c, The cavalry and guns were in 
 advance, and while the infantry were coming up the cavalry 
 
MAJOR WALPOLE "WOUNDED. 
 
 27 
 
 wheeled outwards, to allow the guns to come to the front 
 and come into action. Unfortunately it was the beginning' 
 of artillery practice. The shot and shell had been in store 
 since the previous Kafir war of 1835 (some twelve years 
 back), and the fuses were all wrong. The first discharge 
 of shell burst at the cannon's mouth, and the rocket explo- 
 ded in the tube, while the round shot did little or no 
 damage. The second discharge was equally ineffective, as- 
 the shells burst far beyond the then fast dispersing mass 
 of Kafirs. 
 
 By this time the infantry, having come up, were sent to 
 the attack, and the cavalry was detached to the flanks to 
 intercept or aitack. The Kafirs fought desperately at first 
 but as in all Kafir wars or bush fighting, when the savages 
 find the tide of fortune going against them, they disperse 
 in a manner which no other troops in the world possess.. 
 They disappear like needles in the straw. Detached knotty 
 however, held their rocky fastnesses or in gullies protected 
 by bush and natural banks, until they v ere eventually 
 routed. 
 
 I myself was a staff officer, and had been carrying orders- 
 to the detachments engaged. On one occasion, after the 
 enemy had been driven into the bush beyond our reach and 
 were firing long shots at us ( in two senses of the word), I 
 was watching the result, when all at once I heard a wab- 
 bling, whizzing sound approaching me : and looking to my 
 front I saw a blue line in the air falling at an angle of 
 about sixty degrees direct for my head. I had only just 
 time to bob on one side. A long piece of lead grazed my 
 cheek and struck Major Walpole, K.E., who was standing 
 immediately behind my horse. It sounded like a thud as 
 it struck him on the thigh, tore out a piece of cloth about 
 two inches long by one broad, and fell to the ground, but 
 did not enter the leg. The pain for the moment must have 
 been excruciating, for it made the Major jump about on one 
 leg and grind his teeth. 
 
 The Kaffirs firing these long shots were in almost in- 
 accessible places, but a fine old soldier of my regiment 
 (Colonel Donovan) rushed at one spot with only three or 
 four men, and got amongst a lot of them before they could 
 reload, for they used powder horns in those days, and long 
 junks of lead or the legs of iron pots, and thus took a long 
 
28 
 
 " makwow ! " 
 
 time to load. On this occasion this brave athletic officer 
 killed three warriors with his own sword, one of them being 
 the chief Zeto. Some others were killed, and the 
 remainder put to flight. 
 
 By this time it was nearly 12 o'clock, and the desultory 
 fighting nearly over ; for natives have, in this way, the 
 power of terminating a fight whenever it is going against 
 them, merely by dispersing in the bush. The enemy had, 
 however, been beaten at all points, and the General sounded 
 the recall, directing me at the same time to go back into 
 the open in the direction of the Guanga River and take up 
 ground for the troops to encamp upon, or rather to " form " 
 upon and get a meal, as they had been under arms since 
 three o'clock in the morning, offering me his spare horse, 
 my own being a little done up from galloping from one 
 detachment to another. This horse was a vicious chestnut 
 brute, which the General rarely mounted himself, and I 
 mention this because I shall have to allude to the horse 
 .again. 
 
 My old friend and companion through life, who was also 
 on the staff (General J. Armstrong) said he would accom- 
 pany me, and when we started the fresh horse commenced 
 "bucking" as only a Cape horse can buck ; but by good 
 luck I sat him, and to take it out of the beast we raced up 
 a long slope ; but when we got to the top the brute had 
 got the bit between his teeth, and no power on earth could 
 hold him. He passed over the brow of the hill like a 
 rocket, and was gone headlong down the opposite slope 
 leading to the bank of the Guanga River., which I knew 
 to be about twelve feet deep. To avoid this by dint of 
 pulling I circled to the right round a rising contour of 
 ground, and my atonishment may be imagined with I 
 found myself running parallel with another large column of 
 Kafirs entirely in the open, about a mile in length and 
 twenty or thirty yards deep. 
 
 These Kaffirs were equally astonished, for I heard the 
 exclamations of " Ogh !" " Marwow !" — meaning *• a 
 wonder !" "an apparition !" I no longer held my coursing 
 steed, but by dint of the off rein and near spur I managed 
 to run a circle and pulled up at the very head of the column 
 •of troops, led by the gallant old General, to whom I re- 
 ported what I had seen. He exclaimed " Hurrah !" and 
 
A PRETTY CHARGE ' 
 
 29 
 
 drawing his sword directed the cavalry, led by the 7th 
 Dragoon Guards, the Royal Artillery next, and the Cape 
 Mounted Rifles, which were in column of route, to form 
 troops and squadrons ; the infantry Avere following in loose 
 order, or rather as they became formed after coming out of 
 the bush. 
 
 The cavalry and guns advanced, as indicated, at the trot 
 until we passed over the brow before mentioned, when we 
 came in full view of the column of Kafirs under Seyolo, 
 the " brave man." who would march over the open country 
 in the day time. 
 
 It was a grand sight, and the General gave the word 
 to the 7th Dragoon Guards, who were in advance of the 
 guns, to open out and allow the guns to trot through the 
 space, come into action, and fire two rounds : the 7th 
 Dragoon Guards forming line on each flank of the guns 
 and charging : the Cape Mounted Eifles forming line in 
 extended order and charging in succession to the 7th 
 Dragoon Guards. 
 
 The shot and shell did good execution, and the charge 
 was the prettiest thing I have ever seen in real fighting. . 
 You might have placed a long table cloth over each troop r 
 they kept in such compact order ; and the Cape Mounted 
 Rifles went through the broken mass of Kaffirs in one long- 
 line. But by this time the enemy had turned, broken, and 
 fled back over the open country in the direction of the 
 Keiskama River. I could not resist the charge, and 
 passed through to the front, but could not hold my 
 runaway horse, aed therefore could not use my sword. - 
 The cavalry wheeled and came back, recharging the 
 enemy, and when I did pull up I halted, and dismouted a 
 bugler of my regiment, taking his horse and giving him 
 mine ; and after this we plunged pell-mell into the routed, 
 column of Kaffirs. 
 
 It was strange how few Kaffirs were killed in this 
 charge. Though there was a clean sweep through them 
 the width of each troop, and you saw them tumbling head 
 over heels like ninepins, they nearly all got up again, and. 
 but few men were found the next day that were killed by 
 sabre cuts. 
 
 The gallant major of the Royal Engineers, who was hit 
 in the early part of the day by a spent ball, also went 
 
30 
 
 DEADLY SLAUGHTER. 
 
 through with the charge, and a Kaffir seized his bridle and 
 stabbed him with an assegai, the blade entering at the 
 upper lip, passing down the chin and throat, and entering 
 at the collar-bone. The savage was trying to jag it into 
 his heart when he was killed ; and strange to say, this 
 wound healed in a few weeks, while the one in the thigh 
 took months. The blow of the first wound was so severe 
 that it turned black, blue, and then green ; and a mass of 
 flesh the size of a small basin fell out, which had to be 
 replaced by new material. 
 
 After the charge I returned my sword and unstrapped 
 my double-barrelled gun, and for some six or seven miles 
 the troops were mixed up with the running Kafirs, and a 
 deadly slaughter ensued. I do not wish to boast — it is 
 with much modesty and humiliation that I mention it now 
 — but I fired away thirty rounds of ammunition that day, 
 and did not fire at a Kafir that was above twenty yards' 
 distance from me. I have the satisfaction, however, to 
 say that I was the only person who took a prisoner ; I 
 took three of them, one being a great chief, who turned 
 out to be of much importance in a political point of view. 
 
 In this melee or stream you had to look as much behind 
 you as before, from being so mixed up with the enemy for 
 miles. Seven extra notches were cut on the stock of 
 my gun after that day, and I fired at no Kaffir that 
 was not in the act of firing at me or throwing an 
 assegai. 
 
 One fellow who had fired at and missed me, and at 
 whom I had also fired two barrels, stood not ten yards 
 from me to reload ; and I was doing the same on 
 horseback, loading both barrels against his one, but 
 watching for the time when he would prime, for I saw 
 that he had a flint-lock musket. The Kaffir, however, 
 was ready first, before I had capped, but he omitted to 
 prime. My friend Armstrong, who was on my right, also 
 with his discharged gun, exclaimed, " For God's sake make 
 haste, or he will be ready first," when the fellow put up 
 his gun and snapped it in my face. I did not give him 
 a second chance, for if it had been fine powder the pan 
 would have filled, and I should not have been here to tell 
 the tale, 
 
 The next man 1 rode up to had a musket, and as I 
 
" TAKGHO ! " 
 
 31 
 
 pulled up to shoot him he sat down, put his guu across his 
 knees, and his fingers in his ears, exclaiming, " Fingoe, 
 Fingoe !" I therefore jumped from my horse, took the 
 gun from him. broke it in two. and handed the man over a 
 prisoner to a soldier of the 7th Dragoon Guards. 
 
 The Fingoes were serfs or servants of the Kaffirs, and 
 were coerced to join the enemy, although the main body of 
 their tribes were our allies. 
 
 Passing on I came up to Lieut. Boyce just in time ; he 
 was carrying a single barrelled gun of mine, and had fired 
 at a Kaffir but missed him. The Kaffir ran up and seized 
 the bridle rein of his horse, and was in the act of stabbing; 
 him with an assegai when I prevented it. 
 
 Further on there was a Herculean Kaffir with a bundle 
 of assegais, who, as I turned on him, threw himself on his 
 knees, held up his hands and said " Targho " (mercy.) I 
 could not shoot him, but he is the first and only Kaffir I 
 ever knew that asked for mercy. I handed him over a 
 prisoner to Sergt. Crawford of my own regiment, and 
 passed on with the stream. 
 
 After a while I came up with a chief, recognisable by 
 his tiger skin kaross (robe) : he had only assegais, of 
 which they carry seven. He drew one and hurled it at 
 me, and in return I missed him with both barrels ; 
 running a little way he turned and threw another assegai, 
 which I parried with my bridlearm, but it neverthe- 
 less passed through my jacket and underclothes, and 
 gave me a severe cut in the arm. I again missed him, 
 and he turned and ran. 
 
 At this time the " recall " was sounding, but I was loth 
 to let a chief escape : and without reloading I charged 
 him. Xow my horse was a high actioned old brute (a 
 band horse), and his knees struck the chief between the 
 shoulders, bringing him down on to his hands and knees 
 with great force. Before he could rise I was off my horse, 
 and had seized him by the bundle of assegais. Unfortu- 
 nately I got hold of them in the middle, and he held them 
 by one of his hands on the outside of each of mine, thereby 
 Laving the leverage. My horse was standing panting by 
 my side, my eriin was unloaded and upon the ground, and 
 other Kaffirs were passing me in all directions. The chief 
 was bleeding from the hands and knees, but kept up the 
 
32 
 
 THE PRISONER. 
 
 struggle for life. At this moment Armstrong came to my 
 assistance, and threatened to blow the chief's brain's out,, 
 whereupon he relinquished his hold and fell back in a faint. 
 
 I was very anxious to take this great chief back a 
 prisoner myself, so I called a Cape Mounted Rifle soldier 
 near me and directed him to go to the Gluanga River, close 
 by, and bring me his forage cap full of water, intending to 
 bring the old warrior to therewith. Now, there was a 
 reach of Avater at this spot, known as the Sea Cow Hole,, 
 or pool where hippopotami used to hide ; yet the man 
 came back and said to me, " Master, I cannot bring back 
 the water ; it is all blood." This was from the number of 
 wounded Kafirs who had jumped into this water to hide 
 themselves, there being little or no cover in the open. 
 However, by this time the chief had recovered from the 
 faint, and I had got my horse's " reim " round his neck to 
 lead him back a prisoner. 
 
 On my way back, however, I was very near losing my 
 prize. The Commander of the Forces had allowed a " free 
 troop " to join the army. It was composed of farmers and 
 other who had been burned out by the Kafirs, They 
 equipped themselves and received no pay, but were allowed 
 to retain all the cattle, &c, which they captured. They 
 were under little or no discipline, and were very bitter 
 against the Kafirs. 
 
 The captain of this troop, seeing a prisoner in my 
 hands, galloped up, and was in the act of shooting him, 
 when I saved his life only by taking my oath that I would 
 blow his (the captain's) brains out if he fired. 
 
 In extenuation, however, I must say that this man had 
 much provocation ; his stock had all been carried off, his 
 homestead burned down, and his wife and children all 
 murdered in cold blood by the Kafirs. 
 
 On my return to where the troops were mustering on 
 Somerset Mount, the General was pleased to see one of the 
 chiefs a prisoner, and when I reported having made two 
 other prisoners, they were called for, but " like spirits from 
 the vasty deep," they did not come. I did not know the 
 7th Dragoon soldier, and no man would confess to having 
 received over a prisoner. Sorgeant Crawford (Cape 
 Mounted Rifles), whom I knew, however, came to the front 
 and stated that as he was returning with the second 
 
" MARWOW !" 
 
 33 
 
 prisoner two other Kafirs jumped out of a bush where they 
 were hiding and tried to secure the prisoner, on which he 
 shot him and one other Kafir. 
 
 The General sent me at once upon express duty, to 
 carry a despatch with the account of the battle to the 
 Governor, Sir P. Maitland, then at Graham's Town, sixty 
 miles off, which place I reached at midnight, and was back 
 in camp at nine o'clock the next morning. 
 
 During that night it transpired how the other prisoner 
 had been disposed of. Round the camp fires the battle was 
 being fought over again, when the man confessed he was 
 not going to take a black blackguard to the rear while 
 there was so much going on at the front. Alas ! what is- 
 man not capable of when his blood is up. 
 
 The chief turned out to be of much political importance 
 in this way : It was the frontier Kafirs, under the great 
 chief Saudilli — that is, Kafirland proper — who had made 
 war on the colony. Krilli, the paramount chief of all 
 Kafirland, lived with the tribes beyond the Kei River, and 
 he was knowu to be so far implicated that he had received 
 the cattle of the chiefs who were at open war, and also the 
 plunder from the colony ; but it was not known that he had 
 actually taken a part in the war or entered British territory. 
 
 The prisoner chief, however, convicted him, for he was- 
 at once recognised by Mr. Hoole, the Kafir interpreter, as 
 one of Krilli's chief counsellors, and was that day in 
 command of a large contingent of tne paramount chief's 
 warriors. 
 
 Lieut. Boyce was sent out the next day, and counted 
 two hundred and seventy dead warriors on the field of 
 battle ; but very many must have hid themselves and died 
 who were not counted : and the number of wounded men 
 must have been great, for I myself saw many running 
 covered in blood, and some with bullet holes plugged up 
 with grass. It was reported that more than 600 were killed . 
 
 Seyolo himself was badly wounded, and did not recever 
 for manv months, the Wild Cat only exclaiming 
 " Marwow ! " 
 
 This was the only time the British troops ever caught 
 the Kafirs really in the open ; and it will doubtless be 
 long before the Kafirs give us another such opportunity of 
 attacking them as was afforded at the Battle of Guanga. 
 
 D 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 MURDER OF FIVE OFFICERS AT THE SOHOTA MOUNTAIN. 
 
 While baited for a few days and in camp on the Koomgha 
 near the Kei River in the war of 1846, six British officers 
 left the camp without making it known to those who would 
 have prevented their going, and proceeded to the Sohota 
 Mountain, which overlooked the Kei River. This moun- 
 tain is about four miles from the camp, is table-topped, and 
 •detached from the main ridge of land by a very narrow 
 neck. 
 
 These officers started about nine o'clock in the morning, 
 with their guns, no doubt considering that of themselves 
 they were a sufficient escort. One of them, Lieut. Little- 
 hales, 7 3rd Regt., fell ill soon after leaving camp and re- 
 turned, and it was from him we learned later where these 
 officers had gone, with the intention of viewing the beauti- 
 ful scenery of the Kei River. 
 
 They were not missed from camp until evening, and 
 when darkness closed in and the circumstances were 
 reported, all hope of their ever returning was abandoned. 
 
 I was at the time (continues General Bisset") a staff 
 officer, and the only one acquainted Avith that part of the 
 country. Happily I never forget a road I have been once 
 over, and if I ride over a country once and do not re-visit 
 it for ten years I remember every hole and inequalityof the 
 ground as if it were but the day before, and the scene 
 comes vividly to my mind as I approach the spot, even im 
 the dark. 
 
 It happened on this occasion that my local knowledge 
 was called into requisition ; but, alas ! it was not in the 
 power of anyone to save the lives of the five wanderers. 
 Their absence was reported to the General commanding, 
 Sir George Berkeley, and at nine o'clock of night he 
 ordered a column of troops to march out in search of them, 
 but that night owing to the intense darkness the search 
 was unsuccessful. 
 
 The next morning the General again accompanied the 
 
POUNCE UPON THEIR PREY. 
 
 35 
 
 troops, aud as staff officer I led them to the exact spot 
 where we had been the night before. We reached the end 
 of the first plateau or ridge as daylight broke, and on the 
 tops of the trees in our immediate neighbourhood were seen 
 the great carrion vultures of South Africa waiting only 
 until the sun rose to pounce down upon their prey. I 
 knew at once what we had to expect, and led the column 
 down the steep narrow defile to the narrow ridge where, 
 not a hundred yards from where I had stopped the night 
 before, we found the trunks of the five dead officers. I 
 say the trunks, for their heads had been cut off and carried 
 away to have diabolical processes of witchcraft and other 
 •■" devilry " perpetrated upon them. 
 
 It is quite evident that these officers had been watched 
 by the enemy the day before, and allowed to pass through 
 this defile and ascend the table-topped mountain beyond it. 
 The Kafirs . must then have closed in on the neck, and 
 -attacked the officers upon the plateau above, for the foot- 
 prints of their horses showed that they had made a rush 
 to get down from the mountain, and had been compelled 
 to descend at a very steep part. Unfortunately they were 
 waylaid on the neck, and a struggle must have ensued 
 there. The five bodies were quite near each other and all 
 had received more or less Avounds except the doctor's, 
 which did not appear to have received a single wound. 
 His body was on a flat stone surface, quite naked, minus 
 the head ; and the quantity of blood which had flowed from 
 him was equal to that of a bullock. It was a horrible 
 sight. 
 
 The bodies were sent back to camp in charge of an 
 escort, and the troops proceeded on to attack the Kafirs, 
 who had assembled in large numbers on the peninsula 
 towards the Kei River, with a ford across the river in their 
 rear, through which they could retire when beaten and 
 escape to the hills on the other side. The General and a 
 small body-guard climbed to the top of the Sohota Moun- 
 tain, from which he had a good view of the operations. 
 The ground was most intricate and bushy, and the Kafirs 
 at first made a very determined stand. Troops were sent 
 .-along on each side of the hill, and there was a good deal 
 of bush fighting ; but the enemy made the most deter- 
 mined resistance on a long bushy spit of ground in the far 
 d2 
 
36 
 
 BURIAL OF OFFICERS. 
 
 bend of the river, and some reinforcements bad to be sent 
 on in support of the native troops who were in advance. . 
 It was not until the ford itself was " covered " from the 
 top of a precipice immediately below it that the Kafirs 
 gave way. You could see them carrying their wounded 
 through the river, but they left a good many dead warriors 
 on the field, while we had only three killed and about ten 
 wounded. As usual the enemy were enabled to escape 
 when they found the fight going against them, and there 
 was nothing more then to be done, so the troops returned 
 to camp. 
 
 The next day the five officers were buried at the 
 Koomgha Camp, the officer commanding reading the im- 
 pressive burial service over them. The funeral was 
 attended by all the officers in camp, the 73rd Regiment 
 being the chief mourners. 
 
 As a tribute to the memory of Major Baker I must 
 mention that there was not a dry eye amongt the men of 
 his company, he was so beloA 7 ed by them. I have seen 
 him on the line of march dismount and give his horse to 
 tired men to ride upon ; nor would he ever alloAv his own 
 tent to be pitched until he had seen his men under shelter ; 
 and he would then go and secure a hole of water and make 
 a small reservoir of it for the men — generally a scarce 
 article in camp from the number of draft oxen that would 
 go in and muddy the pool. 
 
 The bodies of these officers were afterwards disinterred 
 and removed to King William's Town, under the authority 
 of the Bishop. They are now buried in the Church of that 
 Station, to which Lady Elizabeth Baker contributed a 
 large sum of money. 
 
 After the war a gold watch which belonged to the 
 doctor was recovered from the Kafirs by Mr. John 
 Crouch, and sent home to his family. An assegai,, 
 evidently thrown at the doctor, had struck his double-case 
 hunting watch in the centre, for it had penetrated through 
 both cases and into the works — which had stopped at that 
 moment — showing that they were attacked at two o'clock 
 in the day. 
 
 The five officers whose terrible fate I have been relating 
 were Major Baker, Lieut. Faunt, Ensign Burnup, Surgeon 
 Campbell, 73rd Regt., Asst. -Surgeon Lock, 7th Dragoon 
 
ESCAPE BY CHANCE. 
 
 87 
 
 Guards, and the officer who turned back after starting was 
 
 .Lieut. Littlehales, a cousin of Major Baker. 
 
 These five officers fell not far from the spot where three 
 other gallant officers were killed in the same war, about a 
 year previously, viz., Lieut. Chetwynd, Captain Gribson, 
 Rifle Brigade, and Assst. -Surgeon Howell. These officers 
 were cut off from their men on a similar table-topped 
 mountain. They were buried on the heights on the east 
 bank of the Kei River inside a Kafir hut. The hut was 
 then set on fire and burnt, to hide the grave from the 
 Kafirs, who were thus prevented from either disinterring 
 or mutilating the bodies. 
 
 It is remarkable that an officer also escaped on this 
 
 -occasion by chance. Capt. Cartwright, Rifle Brigade, had 
 been detailed for this duty. On the patrol parading to 
 start he felt ill, and Lieut. Chetwynd, who was also a 
 cousin of Cartwright's, took his place and fell. 
 
 Poor Cartwright was afterwards killed at the battle of 
 Inkermann. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE AFFAIR OF THE GOO LAH HEIGHTS. 
 
 In May, 1847 (says tbe gallant veteran Bisset), while- 
 Deputy Assistant Quartermaster-General at tbe head- 
 quarters camp at the Goolah Heights in British Kaffraria, . 
 I had occasion to go up the " Buffalo line" to examine the 
 Quartermaster-General's stores at tbe other camps. Sir 
 George Berkeley, in chief command on the frontier, was at 
 this time at Fort Peddie. Sir H. Somerset was in command 
 of the camp on the Goolah Heights, and Sir George Bullen 
 in command of another camp at King William's Town ; : 
 with two intermediate posts of communication between, 
 viz., one at Need's camp and the otber at Mount Coke. 
 
 General Somerset had gone to head quarters to consult 
 with the commander of ihe forces, and Colonel Armstrong 
 was in temporary command of General Somerset's fcrce. 
 
 The evening before I was starting for King William's 
 Town we received intelligence that Need's camp required 
 provisions ; and as I was taking up a small escort with me 
 up the " line," two mule wagons were detailed to accom- 
 pany me, with a supply of biscuit for that post. The 
 escort consisted of one sergeant (Crawford) and ten of the 
 Cape Mounted Rifles, the two wagons being in charge of 
 John Crouch. He was sometimes a conductor of wagons, 
 and sometimes guide. Another celebrated character 
 volunteered to accompany us — no less a person than Walter 
 Currie, afterwards the well-known Sir Walter. 
 
 We started early one morning, and had proceeded 
 about eight mileh along the Goolah ridge, the road winding 
 between clumps of forest trees or round the head of ravines 
 leading down from the ridge to the low lands on each side 
 of us. We were riding leisurely along, with an advance 
 and rear guard, knowing that near this spot a strong party 
 
 of Dutch — part of the field force called a " Commando" 
 
 had been attacked by an ambush of Kaffirs only a few 
 days before, when three of tbe party were killed, viz., two 
 Pexters and a Ferriera. It was a most discreditable 
 
ENTRAPPED BY KAFIRS. 
 
 39 1 
 
 affair. Commandant Mnller had eighty men under his 
 command, and was proceeding to form a camp of com- 
 munication between Need's Camp and Mount Coke. They 
 must have been marching without advance guard or 
 flankers (side videttes), when they were suddenly fired 
 upon from bush and rocks. The three men whom I have 
 alluded to immediately jumped from their horses to make- 
 a standing fight of it, but strange to say, the remainder- 
 rode away, and these three men were surrounded by the 
 Kaffirs before they con Id remount. They, howes er, made 
 the best fight they could, and retired on foot towards the 
 camp they had left, until they were overpowered and killed. 
 It is not known what number of Kaffirs fell, as savages 
 carry off their unstiffened dead and wounded. I say 
 unstiff'ened dead, because the Kaffirs will not touch a really 
 dead body — that is to say, one that has become rigid. So 
 long as the body is warm and the limbs supple they have 
 no dread, but when the body is once cold they will not 
 touch it. For this reason the sick are often carried out of 
 their huts long before they are dead, and left to die in 
 their last resting place. 
 
 I have somewhat diverged from my story. But to 
 proceed. As we approached this spot, ever afterwards 
 known as Muller's Bush, Currie advised us all to look to 
 our guns, and see that the caps and priming were 
 dry ; for we all, officers and men, carried double-barrelled 
 guns in those days. My caps were the only suspicious 
 ones. The gun had been loaded for some days, and the 
 caps very soon corrode from the dew at night. My friend 
 Currie actually scraped the caps off my gun with his knife,, 
 pressed a little fine powder into the nipples, and recapped 
 the gun. We had proceeded about a mile after this, and 
 had entered into a long narrow glade, with high forests on 
 each side of us, varying from fifty to eighty yards from 
 the wagon track, this open being interpersed with thorn 
 trees (mimosa) and rocks. This narrow ridge extended 
 for about another mile, and it was quite impossible to see a 
 single yard into the thick bush on each side. The Kafirs 
 very wisely allowed us to pass some distance into this- 
 narrow glade, when suddenly a strong party of them ex- 
 tended across the open behind us, and at the same time 
 commenced to fire along the edge of the forest on botli 
 
40 
 
 AN EXTRAORDINARY SCENE. 
 
 sides. There was no alternative but to draw the two 
 wagons up, dismount our party, get under cover of rocks 
 smd bush, and so endeavour to beat off the enemy. During 
 all this time naked black fellows were seen running along 
 "the edge of the bush and our front, towards the identical 
 spot where Muller had been attacked ; and it was amusing 
 to hear their jeering cries, snch as, " You must look at the 
 sun, for it is the last time you will see it." " You are like 
 a mouse in a calabash ; you have got into it, but you 
 cannot get out." By this time we had pretty well beaten 
 off the Kafirs in our rear, except those holding the ground, 
 like us, from behind rocks ; and I had ordered the men to 
 mount, that we might push on. One horse was hit while 
 the trooper was mounting, and, swerving, threw the rider, 
 upon which there was a great shout of exultation. John 
 •Crouch's horse also became restive, and Currie had to hold 
 him while " old John," who was lame, mounted. During 
 this time we were all more or less exposed ; but knowing 
 the narrow defile we should have to pass through, I ordered 
 the wagons to advance. Just before we came to the spot 
 where I knew the hot part of the attack would be made 
 the road slightly diverged to the right, and the view from 
 the rocks already occupied by the Kafirs was hidden by 
 some large mimosa tiees. At this spot, and before turning 
 the corner, I halted the wagons, leaving Sergeant Crawford 
 and five men with them. The Kafirs were holding the 
 ground on the right of the road in considerable force. 
 Immediately opposite to where they were the ground rose 
 to a sort of hillock, dotted over with rocks, and the road 
 ran between this hillock and the rocks held by them, which 
 also adjoined the high forest wood, falling in one continued 
 •extent towards the Buffalo River. Currie, John Crouch, 
 and myself, with the other live men, diverged from the 
 road to the left, and so got out of view from the cover of 
 the hillock. We at once dismounted, handed our horses to 
 one man, and ran up the mound, each taking advantage of 
 a. rock for cover. An extraordinary scene at once met our 
 ■eyes. There were about eighty black fellows, with guns, 
 sill " lying on " or taking aim over the rocks, their guns 
 pointing to the road just where it came into view from 
 behind the thorn trees. They never dreamed that we were 
 exactly opposite, under cover of rocks, and within forty 
 
PUSH THE WAGONS THROUGH !" 
 
 41 
 
 yards of them ; and it was not until we had discharged our 
 one barrel at them, knocking over several, that they were 
 aware of our manoeuvre. Their astonishment was so great 
 that they turned their guns to the right, and almost with- 
 out taking aim, fired a volley at us. At this moment I 
 shouted to Sergeant Crawford to push the wagons through, 
 which had to pass slightly in a hollow between the Kafirs 
 • and ourselves ; but as very few of the enemy's guns were 
 held in reserve or reloaded in time to fire them, the men 
 escaped unhurt, and only three or four of the mules were 
 wounded. After passing through the narrow pass the 
 wagons turned off the road to our side, and also got pro- 
 tected by higher ground. It is well that this precaution 
 had been taken, for had we kept the road and come in view 
 round the thoin trees, very few of us would have been left 
 alive to tell the tale. About eighty guns were bearing 
 upon the spot at eighty yards' distance ; but as it turned 
 out it was the most absurd thing I ever saw. The leaders 
 
 . and drivers of these mule wagons were Malays, from Cape 
 Town, with large umbrella-shaped straw hats on. They 
 usually sit on the box in front of the wagon, oue man 
 holding the reins and guiding the six or eight mules, and 
 the other, with a long whip fastened to the taper end of a 
 long bamboo, whipping them on. But on this occasion 
 
 . both of them were on the ground and running alongside 
 the wagon, one opposite its front and the other opposite its 
 hind wheel ; nothing but the monster hats to be seen above 
 the ground, looking more like monkeys or moving 
 mushrooms than anything else. It is astonishing how they 
 contrived to drive and guide the mules in this position. 
 
 Unfortunately this did not end our dilemma. The 
 Kafirs were strong and confident : we were weak and with 
 but little ammunition — thirty rounds per man — and each 
 force held their position, firing shot for shot from behind 
 these rocks. Need's Camp was within sight, but about 
 three miles distant. The post consisted of a company of 
 the Rifle Brigade and a despatch party of twenty Cape 
 Mounted Rifles. They could see us in action with the 
 enemy, but their horses were generally turned out to graze, 
 
 ~and it took some time before they could be called in and 
 saddled. We heard the "assembly" sound, and then 
 
 ""horses in" and "boot and saddle," but in our situation it 
 
1'2 
 
 AMONGST THE DEAD AND DYING. 
 
 seemed an age before they were ready to come to our 
 assistance ; and it reminded one of Sister Ann in the 
 nursery tale of Bluebeard. All this time we were firing 
 shot for shot, and our ammunition was all but expended. 
 Some Kafirs had got into the forest trees, and were potting 
 at us from above. Their position gave us this advantage — 
 that they could also see the preparation making at Need's 
 Camp for reinforcing us. All at once Ave heard a great 
 commotion and calling out to one another amongst the 
 Kafirs, and I heard repeated the name of " Tandanna," 
 which I took down in my pocket-book. Thinking it was 
 preparatory to a rush upon us, we all held both our barrels 
 loaded and in reserve ; but it was with quite a different 
 motive. The Kafirs in the trees could see much better 
 than we could, and they did see the Cape Mounted Rifles 
 racing along the road from Need's camp at the top of their 
 speed. Soon we saw them approach, although in no order 
 save the fastest horses to the front ; and then Currie y 
 Crouch, and I rose, with our party, charging on foot across 
 the space dividing our rocks from those held by the Kafirs. 
 The whole space was only about fifty yards, with the road 
 in a slight hollow between us, and the rest of it was covered 
 with long grass, stones, holes, and other impediments. We 
 rushed across this space like mad, and down went Currie. 
 Only a feAv shots were then being fired at us, but the idea 
 passed through my mind that he was killed ; but almost 
 before the thought he was alongside me again, and we just 
 got up to the tail of the Kafirs as they were rushing in the 
 opposite direction from us. We found ourselves amongst 
 the dead and dying, or rather amongst the dead, for nearly 
 every Kafir Ave had hit Avas struck in the eye or through 
 the head, the head and shoulders alone being exposed from 
 behind the rocks Avhilst taking aim at us. Seven great 
 Kafirs lay dead at our feet ; two others were just alive.. 
 We followed the mass of the retreating enemy some 
 distance into the bush. There was a good deal of blood 
 from Avounded men being carried to the rear, and we could 
 hear the retreating enemy breaking through the bushes 
 like a herd of buffaloes. 
 
 We then returned to examine our respective positions. 
 I had taken cover behind a not A-ery large rock, with a 
 second rock on top of it, with, a Avedge-shaped chink 
 
FIRING THROUGH THE CHINK. 
 
 43 
 
 horizontally between the two. It was through this chink 
 that I was enabled to take deliberate aim ; but mine being 
 a smooth-bore gun, I gave the palm of those killed to my 
 friend Carrie, who was one of the best rifle shots of the day. 
 Strange to say, I had placed my forage cap, with a silver- 
 bound peak, on another stone, about a yard to my right, 
 aud this took off the fire from me. Full five and twenty 
 shots hit this stone, and the fine splinters from the rock 
 often struck me on the hands and face, but not one of the 
 bullets hit the cap. This rock is still seen by passers by, 
 almost covered with lead in star-shaped forms from the 
 flattened balls. General Sir H. Somerset happened to- 
 arrive on the ground soon after the action, and he sent on 
 my report of the affair to the General commanding, and I 
 received in reply the thanks of the Commander of the 
 Forces. A strong patrol was despatched in pursuit of the 
 euemy, and although they did not overtake the Kafirs,, 
 they found quantities of blood where the wounded had. 
 stopped to rest. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 THE BEEKA MOUTH. 
 
 During the war of 1846-7 such a drought prevailed 
 throughout the frontier districts of the Cape of Good 
 Hope and in Kaffir] and, where operations were being 
 carried on against the Kaffirs, that the Governor and 
 Commander-in-Chief, Sir P. Maitland, was compelled to 
 fall hack with the troops and form a camp on the coast at 
 Waterloo Bay, near the month of the Fish River. This 
 was done in order to establish a landing place on the coast 
 for supplies instead of having them carried overland from 
 Port Elizabeth, a distance of about 150 miles, to form a 
 base for renewed operations, and also to save the few 
 remaining draft oxen with the army, as it was almost the 
 only portion of the colony where there was still any 
 herbage or grass left. 
 
 " Where the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered 
 together," and so it is with the Kaffirs. For the sake of 
 plunder they follow all large camps and live by stealing 
 and capturing stray and ill guarded cattle. The draught 
 and slaughter cattle had to pasture some distance from the 
 camp to obtain food, but cattle guards and pickets were 
 invariably posted. 
 
 One day an alarm arose in camp that the cattle guard 
 had been attacked by the enemy, several of the herdsmen 
 killed and a large number of draught oxen carried off by 
 the enemy. 
 
 In consequence of the scarcity of forage the horses of 
 both the Cape Mounted Rifles and 7th Dragoon Guards 
 were in the day time knee-haltered and turned out to 
 graze ; but His Excellency invariably kept a small body 
 escort of cavalry ready saddled in camp. On the alarm or 
 the report of the attack reaching camp, and while a patrol 
 was being formed to follow up the enemy, Sir P. Maitland 
 .and his personal staff, consisting of Col. Cloete, Deputy 
 Quarter Master General, myself (says Bisset) and one or 
 .two others, at once mounted, and with the body-guard of 
 
OX THE SPOOR. 
 
 45" 
 
 about twelve men (Cape Mounted Rifles and 7th Dragoon 
 Guards) followed up the Kaffir?. I knew the country 
 well, and was aware that the Kaffirs must either pas- 
 inland with the cattle for some distance before they could 
 cross the several rivers that enter the sea between the 
 Fish and Keiskama Rivers, or else they must at once turn 
 down to the coast and cross the rivers on the beach at 
 their mouths, where there is a bar and generally shallow 
 water. I therefore led the Governor and escort at a 
 gallop to the mouth of the first river, the Dart, and there, 
 sure enough, the Kaffirs had crossed ; and the spoor or 
 trace showed plainly along the beach to the next river, the 
 Wolf River, a distanee of about six miles, the cattle had. 
 evidently been driven along here at a great pace. The 
 tide being in, the sands were heavy, and the horses 
 became somewhat "blown" before we reached the Wolf 
 River. The Kaffirs must have been in the same plight,, 
 for after crossing its mouth they turned inland with the 
 cattle, passing through a bush of about half a mile in 
 extent. This bush extended all along the coast, between 
 the open downs or grass country, and the sand hills and 
 open beach. After passing through this bush the Kaffirs 
 continued eastward along the downs, but skirting the 
 bush, and although the country was undulating, it was 
 more easy to drive the cattle over from. being open. 
 
 The escort horses with the Governor being rather blown, 
 I staited ahead with a single orderly through the bush 
 path, and came upon the trace of the cattle in the direction 
 of the Beeka River. After gallopping about three miles, 
 and rising a brow in some undulating ground, I came 
 suddenly in sight of the Kaffirs with the cattle, about 200 
 yards ahead of me. They appeared to have no know- 
 ledge of the pursuit, and were driving the cattle at a 
 sort of hand trot. I immediately drew back over the 
 brow without the enemy having seen me. and from 
 my recollections of a vidette's duty commenced circling 
 to the right, directing my orderly to follow me in the 
 circle. By this time the Governor and the escort made 
 their appearance through the bush path : and Cloete, 
 seeing me, exclaimed, " Look, look I there is a Kaffir 
 chasing Bisset." But the old General said, " No, Cloete,. 
 he is circling to the right ; the enemy is in front," and at. 
 
46 
 
 4 CHARGE !" 
 
 ■once came tearing down to me. I reported what had 
 happened, and added that if we galloped hard we should 
 overtake the enemy before they rounded the mouth of the 
 next or Beeka River. This river is the largest of all the 
 rivers between the Fish and Keiskama ; and moreover 
 from where the Kaffirs would strike the bank of it, at the 
 ■commencement of the bush, there is a long stretch of narrow 
 beach between the water, which is deep, and the sand hills, 
 which are covered with thick bush. This narrow beach 
 varies from fifty to twenty yards in width, and is about a 
 mile in length before reaching the mouth of the river, 
 where alone the water is fordable. 
 
 I was very well mounted on an old favorite horse called 
 Rattler, and rode forward with about half of the fastest of 
 the escort horses. We were about 100 yards ahead of the 
 Governor and the rest of the party ; and as we dropped 
 down the bank of the river on to the narrow beach, where 
 the direction turned suddenly to the right, we saw the 
 Kaffirs, about fifty in number, two or three hundred yards 
 ahead driving the cattle as fast as they could along the deep 
 sands. I called the six or eight men together, and stand- 
 ing in my stirrups 'I said in a low voice to the men 
 " Charge !" and we raced ufttil we came within fifty yards 
 of the Kaffirs and the cattle. Up to this time thev had never 
 once looked back, being apparently quite unaware of our 
 near approach ; and the sand was so deep and soft that 
 there was not the least noise from the horses' hoofs. I saw 
 that most of the Kaffirs were armed with gnus, the re- ' 
 mainder with assegais, and I felt that we should be amongst 
 them at a disadvantage, because half the effect of a charge 
 is eaused by a panic to the other side. I therefore again 
 rose in my stirrups and shouted a great shout, and with that 
 we were upon them. Our horses were perfectly pumped ; 
 .and as I pulled up suddenly to shoot a Kaffir v>-ho was 
 taking aim at me, two of the seven troopers pulled up so sud- 
 denly in the deep sand that they flew over their horses' 
 heads like shuttlecocks. Each of these men shot a Kaffir 
 before they rose from their sitting position. My opponent 
 •could not stand the two barrels which were staring him in 
 the face ; missed me, and as he turned got the contents 
 •of one barrel, which tumbled him over. Three other fellows 
 were shot before they got up the sand hills and into the 
 bush. 
 
SHOT WITH PARTRIDGE SHOT. 
 
 47 
 
 The firing made the cattle " spurt " to the front along 
 -the narrow beach, and I and two men had to gallop through 
 the water (up to the horses' girths) to get in front of them ; 
 and here we found a nearly equal number of Kaffirs, who 
 were running, as is their custom, in front of the cattle. 
 These warriors were chiefly armed with assegais, which thev 
 began to hurl at us. One great fellow drew a second spear, 
 and as he raised his arm to throw it at me I let fly my 
 second barrel, putting the contents into his left breast, and 
 he immediately subsided. This firing checked the cattle, 
 and we turned and drove them back. As the rest of the 
 Kaffirs escaped into the bush I noticed that the Kaffir whom 
 I last shot was carrying one of their knapsacks over his 
 shoulder, which bulged out and appeared to contain some- 
 thing unusual. I therefore jumped down from my horse and 
 slipped this sack or bag from off his neck and placed it over 
 mv own shoulder. The poor fellow was still breathing, for 
 both these men were shot with partridge shot. I had lent 
 my gun the day before to Major Burnaby, R.A.. to shoot 
 partridges near the camp, and had quite forgotten to reload 
 with ball in the hurry of leaving the camp. 
 
 The Governor dropped down the bank of the river on to 
 the level beach just in time t* see the charge, and was 
 highly pleased at the success of the pursuit : and with the 
 additional aid we soon got the cattle back into the open 
 ■country. 
 
 I urged on His Excellency that we should not delay 
 hi getting them past the bush path at the Wolf River, that 
 our party was very small, and that I had seen over fifty 
 Kaffirs with guns, besides those with assegais ; and that 
 seeing our small numbers they would be sure to head us at 
 the bush path. 
 
 Dear old Sir Peregrine said — " Oh no, Bisset, vou have 
 taught them such a lesson that they will not venture to 
 ■come near our camp again." 
 
 The words were scarcely out of my mouth when we 
 heard "Ping, ping, ping, ping .""and saw the dust flying 
 up all about us, and the white smoke at the edge of the 
 bush not one hundred yards from where we were standing. 
 The General said. " You are right, Bisset : and I should not 
 like to be shot by a Kaffir from behind a bush after going 
 through Waterloo." Putting spurs to our horses we 
 
48 
 
 THE SILVER TEA POT. 
 
 hurried the cattle along as fast as Ave could. Before we 
 reached the narrow bush path at the next river we were 
 met by a strong force of cavalry, which had " called the 
 horses in," saddled, and followed as fast as they could ; 
 and before long we also met a strong party of infantry 
 from the camp. 
 
 As we had now more leisure, I began to examine my 
 knapsack — this means the skin of a buck, skinned whole, 
 and open only at the hind legs. The skins are dressed' 
 and made as soft as a glove, and are very convenient for 
 carrying anything. Mine on this occasion contained, to • 
 my surprise, several pieces of real English plate, in the 
 shape of an old fashioned silver tea pot, a snuffer tray, two 
 silver forks, a table spoon and two tea spoons, besides the 
 usual tinder box, tobacco and pipe, and some other trifling 
 articles. There Avas no mark or crest on the silver, and 
 although I advertised for the owner no person has ever 
 claimed the articles. 
 
 The Kaffirs were no doubt on a return foray from the 
 colony, where they had probably murdered a whole family 
 at some homestead, and plundered the house before 
 burning it. In many instances not a soul was left out of 
 whole families that were fallen upon in isolated positions. . 
 However, this party paid dearly for their foray. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE BOOMAH PASS. 
 
 In December, 1850, the Kaffir war broke out that lasted 
 until 1853. British Kaffraria had been held in military 
 occupation from the termination of the previous war 
 (1848). The military head-quarters were established at 
 King William's Town, and several minor posts were 
 occupied in different parts of the country to keep the 
 Kaffirs in subjection. 
 
 The Kaffir chiefs, however, formed a combination to- 
 throw off the white man's supervision of their country, 
 and committed several overt acts with the intention of 
 bringing on a war. Cattle were stolen from the colony,, 
 and although traced into Kaffirland, and to the marauders' 
 kraals, the chiefs refused either to give up the beasts or to 
 surrender the thieves. Wagons were also stopped upon 
 the high roads and plundered, and in some instances the 
 leaders and drivers killed. 
 
 General (then Colonel) Mackinnon commanded in 
 Kaffraria, and was also Chief Civil Governor of the 
 Province. This officer's rule in Kaffraria had been most 
 temperate and just towards the Kaffirs, and his word was 
 like the laws of the Medes and Persians. Sir Harry 
 Smith was at the time Governor and Commander-in-Chief 
 in the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope. 
 
 The rebellious and warlike indications of the Kaffirs- 
 were reported to him at Cape Town. He was, however,, 
 at first incredulous of their intentions, and in reply to a 
 petition from the frontier farmers quoted the non-existence 
 of certain indications which always precede Kaffir wars. 
 He was, therefore, much surprised afterwards to find that 
 the very circumstances on the absence of which he relied 
 were actually at' that moment taking place on the frontier, 
 Sandilli the paramount chief of all Kaffirland proper, 
 was at the nead of the war party ; and seeing that war was- 
 inevitable, Colonel Mackinnon, ordered a column of troops, 
 to march from King William's Town to Fort Cox, where a 
 
 E 
 
-50 MR. BROWNLEE REGENT. 
 
 •camp was formed. Each of the two great chiefs of Kaffraria 
 had a resident Commissioner residing at their great kraal ; 
 thus Mr. Charles Brownlee (latterly, 1879, Secretary for 
 Native Affairs for the Cape Colony) resided with Sandilli 
 at Burn's Hill, near Fort Cox ; whilst Colonel Maclean 
 (afterwards Lieutenant-Governor of Natal) was Umhala's, 
 " residing at Fort Murray. Sandilli's tribes were called the 
 •Gaikas by the Colonists, but Amangqika by the Kafirs. 
 
 When the troops were collected at Fort Cox a demand 
 was made on Sandilli, through Mr. Brownlee, for restitu- 
 tion of the property stolen from the colony, and compensa- 
 tion for the murder of British subjects. These demands, 
 however, were treated with contempt by all the native 
 chiefs. At about this stage of affairs the Governor, Sir 
 Harry Smith, arrived on the frontier from Cape Town, and 
 at once proceeded to the head-quarters of the troops at 
 Fort Cox. Several days' negotiations followed with the 
 Gaika chiefs and head men of the tribes ; but Sandilli 
 remained contumacious, and the Governor came to the 
 decision to depose him from his royal chieftainship, and to 
 appoint Mr. Brownlee Regent to the Gaika tribes. 
 
 It may not, perhaps, be right for me to criticise these 
 measures (says the General), but Sir Harry made a great 
 mistake in this decision, and Mr. Brownlee, who was his 
 adviser, ought to have known better. He was the son of 
 a missionary, and had grown up amongst the Kaffirs. He 
 should therefore have been aware that the feeling of loyalty 
 to their hereditary chiefs aud the clanship of the Kaffirs are- 
 quite as strong as those of the Scottish Highlanders to their 
 chieftains. However, the error once committed, troops 
 were ordered to march into the Amatolo Mountains, with 
 a view to capture or take Sandilli prisoner. It was the old 
 story of putting salt on a bird's tail, and the same results 
 were about to take place. One column of troops was 
 despatched from King William's Town to the sources of the 
 Kaboosie River, east of the Amatolo Mountains, with the 
 object of intercepting the chief should he endeavour to 
 escape over the Kei. This column consisted of cavalry 
 (Cape Mounted Rifles) and infantry, under the command 
 of Colonel Eyre, 73rd Regiment. 
 
 Another column, consisting of Cape Mounted Rifles, 
 firmed Kaffir police, and infantry detachments from several 
 
MASSES OF KAFIRS COLLECTING. 
 
 51 
 
 regiments — in all about seven hundred men — under the 
 command of Colonel Mackinnon, marched from the camp 
 •at Fort Cox direct into the Amatolo Mountains, in the 
 direction of the Keiskama Hoek, with the view of taking 
 Sandilli prisoner. 
 
 My nominal appointment in British Kaffraria (says 
 the narrator) up to the time of the breaking out of the 
 war was that of Major of Brigade, but from the moment 
 the troops took the field I became Chief Staff Officer, and 
 the whole of the duties of the Adjutant-General's and 
 Quartermaster-G-eneral's departments devolved upon me. 
 
 The column under Colonel Mackinnon marched from 
 the camp at Fort Cox at daylight on the morning of 
 December 2<±, 1850, and after passing Burn's Hill Mission 
 Station wound up the valley of the Keiskama, and crossing 
 that river three times, halted for breakfast on its right 
 bank near the junction of the Wolf River. The whole 
 distance was mostly through dense bush, with no roads 
 •except cattle tracts or footpaths made by the natives, and 
 with rugged mountains and dense forests all around us. 
 
 While we were halted in a comparatively open space 
 for breakfast I saw large masses of Kafirs collecting on 
 all the hills, while only one solitary Kafir came into camp, 
 nominally to offer a basket of milk for sale, but in reality 
 to " spy out the land " and take note of our strength, &c. 
 As chief staff officer with this column, and fiom having 
 been in, or rather through, the two previous Kafir wars of 
 1835 — 1846-7, and from knowing the "nature of the 
 beast," I pointed these hostile indications to my chief, 
 I also told him that a little further on we would have to 
 defile through the Boomah Pass, a most formidable posi- 
 tion, where the troops could only pass in single or Indian 
 file, and that the path was intersected by great rocks 
 .and boulders that had fallen from the precipice over- 
 hanging the footpath. Colonel Mackinnon, I fear was 
 imbued with the idea that the Kafirs did not intend to 
 fight. After a short halt, the troops fell in, and continued 
 the march in the direction of the Keiskama Hoek in the 
 following order — the Kaffir police in front, then the Cape 
 Mounted Rifles, followed by the infantry of the line, 
 eonsisting of detachments of the 6th, 45th, and 73rd 
 Regiments. There were also pack-horses with spare 
 e2 
 
52 
 
 " THE TROOPS ENTERED THE TASS." 
 
 ammunition, medical panniers, etc., etc., and a rear guard.. 
 Soon after leaving the halting ground, the column had to- 
 cross the Wolf River, with a very bad ford of slippery 
 rocks, which caused several breaks in the column, and 
 about two miles from the river the troops entered the 
 narrow defile. It may, perhaps, be well that I should 
 endeavor to describe the ground. A little on the left was 
 a high precipice, something in the shape of a crescent, its 
 two horns falling away to a ledge. The far end one 
 abutted on the Keiskama River, which ran on the right- 
 hand side of the track, and conformed to the shape of the 
 precipice, leaving a narrow belt of forest wood between 
 the rocky mountain and the river. The road or track 
 wound through this forest of large trees, rocks fallen from 
 the perpendicular cliffs, and tangled underwood. There 
 were boulders as big as castles, and yen had to serpentine 
 and make your way through these as best you could. On 
 the opposite side of the river there was a peninsula-shaped 
 spit or tongue of land sloping down its banks, with conical 
 shaped hills at the far end of the tongue. This slope was 
 covered with bush and large olive tiees, as was also the 
 rocky mountain on the left, and in fact the whole of the 
 country around the pass itself. 
 
 The troops entered the pass in the order before indi- 
 cated, and the Kafir Police and the Cape Mounted Rifles 
 passed through unmolested. Colonel Mackinnon and 
 myself were at the head of the cavalry, and I pointed out 
 the difficulty of the pass if it had been held by the Kafirs, 
 as we should have had to dislodge them from each suc- 
 cessive rock. Up to this time no Kafirs had been seen in 
 the immediate neighbourhood, although all the tops of the 
 hills and mountains were crowded when we commenced to 
 enter the defile. Each trooper had to dismount and lead 
 his horse in the narrow parts of the pass, thus dangerously 
 lengthening out the columns for some miles. 
 
 After passing over the far horn or ledge of the 
 precipice the footpath crossed a ravine, and then passed up 
 a bushy slope to the left, and on to a small open plateau. 
 The Kafir police had halted in this open plateau, and a 
 portion of the Cape Mounted Rifles had also reached it, 
 but the rear of the mounted men had scarcely left the pass 
 itself when all at once first one shot, and then a 
 
BISSET WOUNDED. 
 
 53 
 
 ■ continuous discharge of musketry, rang form the centre of 
 the pass. 
 
 Colonel Mackinnon was at first loth to believe that the 
 Kafirs had attacked the infantry, but was soon convinced 
 of the fact, and I at once volunteered to go back and take 
 command of the infantry column. I was impelled to do 
 this from knowing by experience more of Kafir warfare 
 than any person present, and Colonel Mackiimon instantly 
 sanctioned and directed me to do so. 
 
 I called to my mounted orderly and made my way back 
 through the bush by the narrow path, with difficulty 
 getting past the mounted men I met on the road. As 
 soon, however, as I got through the ravine, there were no 
 more cavalry, and I passed on with my single orderly to 
 the ledge down which I had to scramble before entering 
 the pass. As I reached the ledge, my orderly exclaimed 
 to me from behind, " Myn Got, myn heer, moet niet en 
 gaan !" (Do not go in). And I must admit that at this 
 moment I felt my life was in the greatest jeopardy, for I 
 saw thousands of Kafirs running 1 down the tongue of land 
 on the opposite side of the river to head the troops. But 
 I felt that my honour was at stake ; that having been sent, 
 it was my duty to enter, even though feeling that I must 
 be shot. 
 
 I remember pressing my forage cap down on to my 
 head, setting my teeth together, bringing my double- 
 barrelled gun to the advance, and pushing my horse down 
 the defile. At this moment three or four of the ammu- 
 nition horses dashed past me at full speed, bleeding from 
 wounds, and with the pack-saddles turned and under their 
 bellies. They nearly knocked us over, but we pushed on ; 
 : and as I approached the head of the infantry column we 
 had to run a regular gauntlet of shot from the Kafirs in 
 ambush and behind rocks, waiting for the " red soldiers." 
 Before I quite got to the infantry I saw the heads of five 
 Kafirs behind a rock with their guns pointing at me. 1 
 gave the horse the spur and dashed on, and at that moment 
 received a gun-shot wound low down on the outside of the 
 left thigh, the ball passing upwards and out below the 
 right hip. I felt the shock as if struck by a sledge 
 hammer, and my horse even staggered with the blow, but 
 it gave me time to fire at the Kafirs, who were now 
 
54 
 
 " I HAVE GOT IT !" 
 
 exposing themselves. Unfortunately my first shot struck: 
 the top of the rock, whence I saw the splinters fly in all 
 directions, but the second one told in the breast of a petty 
 chief. Strange impulsive utterances cannot be restrained 
 under great excitement. As I was shot the Kafir ex- 
 claimed, in his own native language, " I have hit him,"' 
 and I could not resist replying, " I have got it." But to 
 proceed. After I had fired my horse plunged forward,, 
 and I very soon met the infantry, who were pushing their 
 way through the rugged path as best they could. The 
 first thing that pulled me up was seeing a friend of mine, 
 Dr. Stewart, Cape Mounted Rifles, leaning against a rock, 
 the blood pouring from his chest, from the loss of which 
 he was very faint. The Kafirs were keeping up a perpetual 
 fire on the troops, which was returned in the most gallant 
 style, but not a sable enemy could be seen in the dense 
 wood from which they fired. At this moment a second 
 ball struck Dr. Stewart in the head, and his brains were 
 spattered all over my face and jacket. 
 
 To make a standing fight in the position in which the 
 troops then were was impossible ; the footpath wound 
 round the great rocks and forest trees in such a manner 
 that you could not tell whether it was friend or foe that 
 was firing, and there was, therefore, no alternatives, but to . 
 press forward and get the men out of the bush. It must 
 also be remembered that the column, being in Indian file, 
 extended for a great length along the pass. 
 
 The head of the column soon fought its way over the 
 advanced horn of the cliff, and made a stand, driving back 
 a large mass of the enemy, who had come round the base 
 of a wooded hill where the ravine entered the Keiskaina 
 River. This portion of the column then forced their way 
 up the wooded slope and gained the open, where the Kafir 
 Police and Cape Mounted Rifles were formed up ; but the 
 centre of the broken line of infantry was. attacked with 
 such impetuosity that they had to diverge from the regular 
 track after passing over what 1 call the horn, and were 
 forced through the bush on to the open some distance to 
 our left rear. 
 
 I managed to sit my horse until I reached the cavalry,, 
 but as I approached a knot of dismounted brother officers*, 
 I felt so faint that I should have fallen from my horse if I 
 
u FRASER, DON'T LEAVE ME !" 
 
 DO- 
 
 had not been caught by one or two of them. The blood 
 had been continually pouring from my wounds, and I 
 should have bled to death before a doctor arrived if it had 
 not been for Carey, who had a tourniquet round his body,, 
 which he at once took off and applied to my thigh, and so 
 partially stopped the bleeding. Dr. Fraser, one of the 
 finest officers in the service, who was the second medical 
 officer, soon arrived on the spot : but the excitement and 
 anguish of mind had been too much for him, and as he- 
 kneeled down to examine my wounds he fainted. Grand, 
 fine fellow ! It was not from the sight of my wounds that 
 he did this, but from the knowledge that he had to leave 
 the dead and dying in the pass to the merciless tortures 
 and mutilations of the savage enemy. I always carried a 
 flask of cold tea with me in the field, which I managed to 
 take off, and offered it to Fraser. The cool beverage soon 
 recovered him, and his first exclamation was, "Oh, my 
 God, I was obliged to leave Stewart/' Xow I must here 
 record to the honour of Dr. Fraser that he is one of the 
 most conscientious and bravest men in the service, and in 
 the hurry-scurry of the attack in the bush he would not 
 leave his horse with the medical panniers ; and he was 
 lugging this brute along in the rear when a ball killed the 
 horse and he fell. Fraser had then to hurry on, and it 
 was while paszing the dead and dying that were being 
 mutilated by the enemy that the doctor heard a voice 
 exclaim, " For God's sake, Fraser, don't leave me." Had 
 he hesitated for one moment his throat also would have 
 been cut, and he was obliged to pass on in order to over- 
 take the rear of the column. In his imagination he 
 thought that it was Dr. Stewart who had appealed to him, 
 and this made the agony of the moment still more painful. 
 On this point, however, I was enabled to relieve his mind, 
 for in pointing to my jacket, I asked him what the spots 
 were ; and on his seeing that it was human brains, I told 
 him that they came from Stewart's head. ^Nevertheless, 
 he could not overcome the agonising thought of having 
 been obliged to leave the wounded men. 
 
 This has taken me some time to tell, but all this time 
 Dr. Fraser was dressing my wounds, that is to say, he was 
 plugging up theholes and adjusting the tourniquet. Before 
 he had finished, however, a man ran up to say that Captain 
 
56 
 
 TWENTY-THREE SOLDIERS KILLED. 
 
 ■Catty was badly wounded and dying, so I told the doctor 
 to go at once ; but he soon returned, saying he could not 
 help Catty, and, from indications, he thought nothing 
 could save him. Three balls appeared to have entered his 
 right side and passed into the intestines. 
 
 While the troops were halted on the open, a very large 
 body of Kafirs were massed on the top and sides of a 
 -conical hill immediately on our right ; and I pointed out to 
 Colonel Mackinnon, who was standing close to me, that 
 unless he sent out some men they would outflank us. The 
 Colonel replied that he had already done so, and had ex- 
 pended the Kafir Police on our right flank. 
 
 This circumstance saved us from a heavy fire from the 
 enemy, as from their commanding height they could easily 
 liave fired upon us ; but the Kafir Police being on the 
 right, had they done so, the balls must have whizzed over 
 their heads to reach us. This would have been a breach 
 of faith to them, for it was afterwards known that arrange- 
 ments had been made that the Kafir Police should go over 
 in a body to the enemy on the first engagement. Overtures 
 had also been made to the Cape Mounted Rifles to join the 
 Kafirs. Hence it was that the Kafir Police and Cape 
 Mounted Rifles were permitted to pass through the Boomah 
 ■defile without being attacked ; and that it is also the 
 reason why the enemy did not dare to fire over the heads 
 •of the police, as it would look as if they were firing at 
 them. The Kafir Police did not go over at this moment, 
 ^because Sir Harry Smith prevented their wives from 
 leaving the police barracks at Fort Cox, as they had 
 •endeavoured to do, and this was duly reported to the men. 
 
 Twenty-three soldiers were killed in the pass, or fell 
 into the enemy's hands and were tortured to death. 
 Several soldiers were seen to be seized by the Kafirs as 
 they discharged their muskets, and were pulled into the 
 thick bush and killed. None of these poor fellows' bodies 
 were ever recovered. Twenty-three others were wounded, 
 but, luckily for them, were able to keep up with the 
 fighting men. 
 
 We had now to push on for two or three miles through 
 •a comparatively open country to the Keiskama Hoek, 
 where we formed a camp for the night. I say camp ; but 
 as there was nothing but soldiers without tents, it was a 
 
E X T R A O R D I X A R Y W OUXDS. 
 
 queer sort of camp. What we did was to form a square, 
 with the soldiers lying down with their muskets facing 
 outwards. The doctor then attended to the wounded. Mv 
 mode of conveyance from where I was lifted from my 
 torse to the camp was far from a pleasant one. It was in 
 this wise : a man got me by each arm, with his elbow well 
 into my armpits ; my face was towards the ground, every 
 now and then scratching over mimosa bush, brambles, and 
 long grass ; whilst a third man was between my legs, 
 well up into the fork, with one of my thighs tucked under 
 - each of his arms. I don't wish my worst enemy to be in 
 the same position. 
 
 Dr. Fraser was most kind and attentive to the wounded ; 
 and I was plugged and bandaged up in a most comfortable 
 manner. Captain Catty's were the most extraordinary 
 wounds. All the fire from the enemy came from the right 
 side of the defile ; hence I was shot in the left thigh 
 • advancing to the infantry, while Catty had received to all 
 appearance three balls on the right side. Strange to say, 
 not one ball had actually passed into his body ; one ball 
 struck the small rib and came out again within an inch or 
 two of where it entered ; the second ball also struck a rib, 
 : and from there ran up under the skin and lodged where 
 it was cut out, high up on the chest ; and Catty, who 
 the doctor at first thought could not live, was well in a 
 few weeks, while I was for two years on crutches. 
 
 There was a missionary station at the Keiskama Hoek, 
 under the Eev. Mr. Xevin : and it was at first proposed to 
 leave the wounded men at the station, as it was known the 
 troops would have to fight their way back to Fort Cox 
 next day. Fortunately for us, that arrangement was not 
 •carried out, for the station itself was attacked a few days 
 afterwards, and the church and the mission buildings burnt 
 to the ground. The missionaries and their wives were, 
 indeed, allowed to march out : but whilst making across 
 the Amatolos for the Chumie Mission Station, carrying 
 Mrs. Nevin, who was an invalid, a separate party of Kafirs 
 fell upon them en route, ill-treated them, and stripped them 
 all naked before letting them pass on. In fact. Mr. Xevin's 
 life was only saved by the heroism of a high-caste native 
 woman — afterwards our servant — who threw herself be- 
 tween the assegai and her teacher, and from being the 
 
58 
 
 HOT WORK. 
 
 sister of Sandilli's chief councillor her entreaties were- 
 listened to. This woman was also the sister of Togo Sogo, 
 the Kafir who was educated at Glasgow, became a 
 missionary, and married a white lady, the daughter of an 
 elder of the Scotch Church. 
 
 The day I was wounded was my birthday ; the one 
 following was Christmas day, 1850, and was rather a 
 memorable one. After a consultation, it was decided that 
 the troops could not march back to Fort Cox by the route 
 they had come ; and Colonel Mackinnon was still most 
 anxious to avoid a general war. The only other route was 
 a considerable circuit, but it was a comparatively open 
 one. Christmas day at the Cape is usually the hottest of 
 the whole year. The troops fell in at daylight, and the 
 route was declared to be over the low range of the Quilli 
 Quilli Mountain, through the valley of the same name,, 
 over the " neck " at Bailie's Grave, and through the Debe 
 Neck to Fort White. 
 
 As the troops broke into column Ave saw large masses 
 of Kafirs collecting on all the mountains ; not yet knowing 
 which way our route would lie. Orders were given on no 
 account to fire on the Kafirs unless attacked. After 
 crossing the Keiskama River and passing up a rather 
 bushy valley, the troops had to climb the face of a very 
 steep mountain, with bush approaching on each side as 
 you reached the top. The heat this day was something 
 wonderful ; and as the men reached the top of the glade 
 and mountain they threw themselves down perfectly 
 exhausted. The men had taken the field with their knap- 
 sacks ; these the young soldiers tore from their shoulders 
 and threw away. While they were still somewhat in con- 
 fusion a volley was opened by the Kafirs all along the 
 bush, where they must have been lying in ambush. The 
 cavalry were still climbing up the steep hill, but the in- 
 fantry fell in and opened fire on the enemy. Our position,, 
 however, was so unfavourable that an advance was ordered. 
 At the top of the mountain the glade continued four or five 
 hundred yards, with bush on each side very close up, and 
 large sheJving rocks on the left, known afterwards as the 
 Marine Rocks. The troops had to push their way through 
 this glade under a heavy fire from the bush and rocks the 
 whole time. It is, therefore, not to be wondered at that 
 
HARP FIGHTING 
 
 59 
 
 there was a little haste and confusion. The four men who 
 were carrying me in a blanket dropped me in the grass and 
 ran on with the stream. I knew perfectly well that the 
 moment the rear passed a Kafir would run out of the bush 
 and cut mj throat. I therefore tried to pull myself along" 
 on my back in the grass with my hands, but I made very 
 little progress. The cavalry were now passing at the trot. 
 Several horses were shot in the melee, and a sergeant 
 named Extein was running on foot, when all at once he 
 fell over me in the grass. Looking round, he rose and said, 
 "Ach, myn Got, is dat zuer ?" I replied, "Yes, Extein ; 
 don't leave me." Catching hold of the reins of four 
 successive troopers as they were passing, he ordered the 
 men to dismount, let the horses run loose, and said, "Carry 
 on the master." In this way I had my life saved on the 
 second day. 
 
 The troops soon got through this narrow defile, and. 
 then attacked the Kafirs in turn ; but the natives very 
 soon knew they had lost the advantage, and consequently 
 disappeared. The column, however, became encumbered 
 with more wounded • and the men were so utterly exhausted 
 with the great heat and thirst, and from biting off the ends 
 of the cartridges (for we still in those days carried the old 
 "Brown Bess"), that Colonel Mackinnon marched on to 
 the Quilli Quill i River in the open valley. Here he in- 
 tended to halt and give the troops their breakfast ; but the 
 Kafirs collected in such masses of cavalry and infantry 
 that the troops could not light fires, and could only halt 
 under arms. After this halt the troops had to march up a 
 long winding valley and over a neck of land between 
 wooded ravines towards Bailie's Grave. The rear was 
 very much pressed by larged bodies of the enemy, and the 
 Cape Mounted Rifles had to charge several times to keep 
 them in check. Napier, Carey, Boyes, Whitmore (who 
 commanded the rear guard) Stuart, Worthy, and others 
 distinguished themselves greatly on this occasion. 
 
 As we approached the bushy neck alluded to, the Kafirs, 
 gaining confidence, were pressing the rear very hard, 
 and the wounded, who were being carried, all fell 
 more to the rear than they should have done. I noticed 
 that some of the young soldiers were getting unsteady, and. 
 I remember raising myself in the blanket, putting up my 
 
-■60 
 
 CHARLES BAILIE. 
 
 arm, covered with blood, and saying to the men, " By God, 
 soldiers ! if yon don't fall in and be steady, the Kafirs will 
 rush in and stab yon like sheep." It must be borne in 
 mind that these men were chiefly young soldiers ; they had 
 but recently arrived in the colony, and most of them had 
 never been under fire before. They only required guidance, 
 for they immediately fell into order, showed a steady front, 
 and the Kafirs were checked at once. Mackinnon, who 
 was coming to the rear, must have seen what happened, for 
 he rode up to me and said, " Well done, Bisset." 
 
 General Mackinnon is one of the coolest men under 
 fire that I have ever known. I have seen him advance on 
 horseback with an attacking party against the enemy, 
 posted in strong positions, smoking his cigar in the coolest 
 manner while the bullets were falling about like hail. 
 
 We then moved down a long slope, and crossed the 
 stream at the real Bailie's Grave. I say the real because I 
 buried the remains of this brave man at this spot in the 
 Kafir War of 1836. He fell there with twenty-eight men, 
 fighting bravely, and not one escaped to tell the tale. It 
 was not until some time afterwards that we found the 
 remains and buried them in two graves. 
 
 This Charles Bailie was a fine fellow. On the occasion 
 of his death he had been pursuing a large body of Kafirs 
 who had passed out of the Umdezene Bush. He followed 
 them into the Amatolo Mountains as far as the Keiskama 
 Hoek. The enemy, seeing the smallness of the party, 
 • decoyed him thus far, and then fell upon him, and he had 
 to retire fighting by the very route we had come. He had 
 lost two of his men, but when he arrived at the stream 
 where he was killed he was met and surrounded by a fresh 
 party of Kafirs, and overpowered in the long grass, not a 
 single man escaping. His men fought most bravely as 
 long as their ammunition lasted, and a large number of 
 Kafirs were killed. 
 
 For months no tidings could be obtained as to what 
 had befallen the party, but at last, it becoming known that 
 the chief Makomo had got possession of Bailie's Bible 
 (which he always carried about with him), he was bribed 
 for a consideration to part with it ; and on the fly-leaf was 
 found written a statement that he was then surrounded and 
 ,his ammunition failing. 
 
HORRIBLE SPECTACLE 
 
 611 
 
 We searched and found the remains in a decomposed 
 state, Bailie's being recognisable only from the long hair- 
 and black whiskers that had fallen on each side of the 
 skeleton. 
 
 From the stream at Bailie's grave the road or path 
 led by the base of a mountain called Taba'n Doda, or Men's 
 Mountain. It was literally so on this day, for the mountain 
 was covered with a black mass of warriors, who pressed the 
 troops so much that the column had to diverge to the left, 
 more into the open, and proceed over the Kometyes Flat 
 before reaching Debe Neck. The four men who were 
 carrying me over this rough ground halted to rest, and for 
 the sake of shelter from the bullets, I was deposited in one 
 of these kometyes, or basins in the ground ; and one of the 
 men took off his wooden canteen to drink from. No doubt 
 I was in a high state of fever and verging on delirium, for 
 I can only just remember that as he was leaning over me 
 and drinking he let the canteen fall, and it struck me on 
 the nose, breaking the bridge. I felt the stunning blow, 
 but that is all, and I heard his comrades abuse him for his 
 carelessness, and the poor fellow reply that he could not 
 help it. 
 
 After continuing about three miles over this rough 
 country, we came to the Debe Neck, where there was a 
 good deal of fighting to beat off the Kaffirs. At the Neck 
 itself a most horrible spectacle met our eyes. The day 
 before — that is, the day we were attacked in the pass — two 
 soldiers who were escorting a provision wagon from King 
 William's Town to Fort White were attacked and killed ; 
 and a report having reached Fort White to this effect, the 
 officer commanding sent out a party to bring in the bodies. 
 This party was also attacked at the Neck and every man 
 killed, and we had to pass over the bodies of nineteen men, 
 which were most brutally mutilated ; their heads severed 
 from their bodies and carried away to exhibit to the different 
 tribes as an indication that the white man Avas destroyed, 
 and for the witch doctors to work their spells upon. This 
 is done by the doctors, or devils, passing a stick, with a 
 cross stick at the end, in the shape of a wisp, into the brain- 
 hole at the back of the skull, and then turning it sharply 
 between the palms of the hands until the brain is mashed 
 up and frothed over. The she "devil" would withdraw 
 
62 
 
 CAPTAIN MANSERGH. 
 
 her diabolical charm stick, and sprinkle the brains in all 
 directions, making her incantations all the time, to turn 
 the soldiers' bullets into water, and to make her own 
 people invisible to the foe. 
 
 After beating the Kafirs off at the Debe Neck there was 
 no more fighting that day, and we reached Fort White, 
 where the troops halted for the remainder of the day. 
 Knowing, however, that Sir Harry Smith, the Com- 
 mander-in-Chief, was in the meantime shut up in Fort 
 Cox, Colonel Mackinnon was most anxious to rejoin him. 
 After therefore making arrangements to strengthen Fort 
 White, he made a night march, and so took the Kafirs 
 unawares, and reached Fort Cox without much more 
 fighting. The badly wounded and Dr. Fraser were left at 
 Fort White, and Capt. Mansergh, of the 6th Regiment, 
 left in command, with 120 men ; Capt. Vialls and the 
 4oth detachment, previously holding the post, proceeding 
 on with the column to rejoin their head-quarters at Fort 
 Cox. On the same day that we arrived at Fort White the 
 post had been attacked by a large body of Kafirs ; and 
 although they were beaten off, they managed to capture 
 the whole of the slaughter cattle, so that the post was left 
 with a very small supply of provisions. 
 
 It was well that so energetic an officer as Captain 
 Mansergh was left at Fort White. He was one of the 
 best war officers I have ever known, and his soldierlike 
 qualities soon afterwards saved the fort from being taken 
 by the enemy. 
 
 The wounded were accommodated in wattle and daub 
 huts, but every available man was set to work to build or 
 erect an earthen parapet, breast high, between each hut, 
 and to construct a couple of flanking bastions at corres- 
 ponding angles of the square. This precaution was not 
 taken too soon. On the second day the post was attacked 
 by an innumerable horde of savages, led forward in three 
 great columns, Sandilli and his chief councillors directing 
 the whole movement, but themselves remaining out of 
 gunshot. He was riding Colonel Mackinnon's cream- 
 colored charger, captured a few days before. 
 
 It was nothing but Mansergh's cool bravery that saved 
 the post from being taken. There was not one man to 
 each opening between the huts ; but a small " handful " of 
 
DESERTIOX. 
 
 68 
 
 men was placed in each of the two bastions, with orders 
 not to fire on the advancing columns until they got the 
 word from Mansergh himself, who was stationed in the 
 lower bastion. 
 
 The detachment of Cape Mounted Eifles, under the 
 command of Lieut. Smyth, was drawn up to defend the 
 lower intermediate angle of the post, at the corner just 
 outside their own huts. It was a critical moment, for the 
 columns of Kafirs were approaching, led on by their 
 chiefs ; wheu all at once the sergeant and two men ran 
 out from the ranks, holding up their arms, and made 
 directly for the head of the nearest column of Kafirs and 
 joined the enemy, i am sorry to say the officer lost his 
 opportunity of shooting them on the spot, but at this 
 critical moment it became necessary to disarm the re- 
 mainder of the detachment, about twelve in number, who 
 were made prisoners and huddled into my hut. Those 
 that I knew personally aud could rely on had their arms 
 restored, and joined the line soldiers in the bastions ; but 
 the other cowardly rascals fell to praying aloud, saying 
 that " the last day had come." 
 
 As an addition to our difficulties, on the same night that 
 Colonel Mackinnon's column reached Fort Cox, the whole 
 •of the Kafir Police, several hundreds in number, went over 
 to their countrymen, with their arms and ammunition ; and 
 -one of the columns attacking Fort White Avas partly 
 formed of these men. The three deserters from the Cape 
 Mounted Rifles were at once taken up to Sandilli and 
 placed upon his staff. 
 
 During the two days' respite the settlers of the post had 
 all taken refuge within the fort, and their houses had been 
 pulled down, with the exception of the brick gables, so 
 that there was very little cover. The Kafirs could not 
 resist firing as they advanced, but Mansergh allowed the 
 columns to approacn to within thirty yards, when we heard 
 his stentorian voice give the order, " Men, steady ; except 
 the reserves, fire !" And then such a volley was poured 
 into the heads of the savage columns that they fell into 
 utter confusion. Three chiefs and twenty-two men were 
 shot down. During the confusion caused by trying to 
 carry off their chiefs, the reserves put in their volley, and 
 there was then such a continuous fire kept up from the 
 
64 
 
 THE TURKEY. 
 
 handful of men that the Kafirs turned and fled. It was 
 then that the British cheer rang from each throat. The 
 Kafirs took cover in all the gullies, cranks and crannies 
 behind the gables of the houses and the banks of the river, 
 and kept up a desultory fire upon the post for about three 
 hours, but they came no more to the attack, and finally 
 drew off to the high grounds in the neighbourhood. By 
 this time the whole of Kafirland was in arms against us, 
 and Sir Harry Smith was shut up at Fort Cox for more 
 than ten days, without any communication whatever with 
 the colony, or any of the military posts. We were 
 threatened every night and attacked nearly every day, but 
 not again in a formidable manner. We were first upon 
 half, and then upon quarter rations, but even upon this 
 scale the provisions at the post could not last long. There 
 were no medical comforts, and I was kept alive in the 
 most extraordinary manner. 
 
 Amongst those who fled into the post there was a dear, 
 kind lady named Mrs. James. Like all ladies when in a 
 fright, they snatch up the first thing that comes in their 
 way ; it may be a bonnet, a ball dress, or a turkey. 
 Luckily for me, it was in this case the last, and that turkey, 
 under God's good providence, kept me alive. It was not 
 like the goose with the golden egg, for it was a turkey 
 producing the daily nourishment of life. Nothing but this 
 sustaining egg could have pulled me through. The sup- 
 puration from my wound was so great that without 
 sustaining food I must have died. My pulse was 130 ; I 
 was in a high state of fever, and delirious for days ; and 
 next to the turkey I am indebted to my kind friend, Dr. 
 Fraser, for my life. His attentions were unremitting ; by 
 night or day he never left my side. On the fourteenth 
 day secondary haemorrhage took place at night. I was 
 lying, under the influence of morphia, in a sort of trance ; 
 Fraser was lying in the hut near me. My eyes were fixed, . 
 yet I had my senses. 
 
 Fraser heard what he thought a sort of rattle in my 
 throat and started up. I appeared more to feel than see 
 all this. He rushed to my bed, felt my pulse, and looked 
 scared ; ran to his little kit, and brought back a small 
 round looking-glass, and held it to my mouth, dropped it, 
 and rushed for a little vial, from which he poured drops 
 down my throat, and I soon became more conscious. 
 
SHOCKING ! 
 
 65 
 
 He then threw open my blanket, and found me 
 saturated in blood. He told me afterwards that I was in 
 too weak a state for him to cut down and re-tie the artery, 
 and that he was obliged to keep me suspended between 
 life and death until coagulation had stopped the bleeding.. 
 The course of the bullet had cut the sciatic nerve in two. 
 During this period my leg became doubled up, and as I 
 could not be moved, it became fixed in that contracted 
 position. Ultimately I had to be sent home by a medical 
 board to have an operation performed. 
 
 We were shut up at Fort White for about six weeks.. 
 Occasionally we received the smallest of small despatches 
 from Sir Harry Smith, urging us to hold out until he could 
 raise the siege and release us. These despatches were 
 brought by naked renegade Kaffir messengers. They were 
 rolled up about the size of a quill, for these messengers 
 were repeatedly waylaid, caught, and searched ; but they 
 were always clever enough to evade questions as to their 
 destination and to preserve their despatches. The Equibeka 
 Mission Station was not very far from Fort White. The' 
 missionary at tnat time was under a sort of cloud, and he 
 had gone to the head missionary station at the Chumie Hoek, 
 where there was a conclave of missionaries sitting in judg- 
 ment upon their brother. Men from England had been sent 
 out as members of this missionary court-martial, and while 
 this was going on the Equibeka Station itself was burnt 
 and plundered bt the very people they were trying to 
 civilize. 
 
 The ladies of the establishment were so far protected 
 that they were allowed to leave the station with the clothes 
 they had upon their backs. They were making their way on 
 foot to join their friends at the Chumie, when unfortunately 
 they were met en route by other Kaffirs, who maltreated 
 them and took every stitch of clothing from their persons. 
 This happened near Fort White ; and we were shocked 
 one morning, just after daylight, to see two white ladies 
 approaching the post without a rag to cover them. There 
 was no help but to confine the soldiers to their huts until 
 my good friend, Mrs. James, had gone out to meet the- 
 poor creatures with some clothes. 
 
 We felt deeply for these ladies. One of them was a 
 most charming person, the beautiful and highly educated 
 
 F 
 
66 
 
 SIR HARRY CUTS HIS WAY THROUGH. 
 
 daughter of one of the oldest and most respected mission- 
 aries of Kafirland, and had not long been married. 
 
 From day to day the post was surrounded by the enemy, 
 and we were told each night that the attack would be 
 renewed next day ; but they must have had enough of 
 coming to close quarters, for they never repeated the 
 •experiment. 
 
 We could, however, hear desperate fighting going on at 
 and in the neighbourhood of Fort Hare. Sir Henry 
 Somerset, whose head-quarters was there, endeavoured to 
 communicate with Sir Harry Smith, the Governor and 
 Commander-in-Chief, at Fort Cox, where His Excellency 
 was still shut up. A strong column marched under Major 
 Yarborough, of the 91st Regt., who had also a field gun 
 wdth him ; but the party was attacked in such force by the 
 Kafirs, after getting nearly half way, that they had to 
 retire fighting the whole distance back to Fort Hare. The 
 gun got entangled in one of the fords, and had to be 
 abandoned, and two officers and twenty-two men were 
 killed fighting hand to hand with the enemy. 
 
 A large number were also wounded, and the retreat 
 was performed with much difficulty. Charles Somerset, 
 •of the Cape Mounted Rifles, distinguished himself in this 
 affair, as he also did afterwards at the storming of Fort 
 Armstrong, an abandoned military post taken possession 
 of by the rebel Hottentots of the Kat River settlement, 
 and by the Kafirs. 
 
 During this time the military villages in the Chumie 
 Hoek were also attacked, and nearly all the men killed, 
 :and many of the women and children. 
 
 About ten days after the affair of the Boomah Pass, 
 Sir Harry Smith, with a strong party of Cape Mounted 
 Rifles, cut his way through from Fort Cox to Fort White, 
 where, after a short halt, he proceeded on to King 
 William's Town, the established head-quarters of British 
 Kaffraria. On arrival at Fort White my friend and old 
 <companion-in-arms, Johnny Armstrong, was desirous of 
 carrying me on a litter to King William's Town, and pro- 
 posed to construct such a thing as could be carried by four 
 horsemen ; but on mentioning it to Sir Harry Smith he 
 very wisely forbade it, and it is fortunate for me that he 
 •did so. The whole force was hotly attacked at the Debe 
 
SHORT COMMONS. 
 
 67 
 
 Neck, and had no diverge from the road and pass over this 
 wonderful Kometje Flat at a great pace, so that any litter 
 might have been dropped, or I must have been jolted out 
 of it, for no two horsemen could by any chance have been 
 on the same level at the same time. 
 
 The troops had to contrive all sorts of means to exist. 
 The regular ration consisted of a quarter of a pound of salt 
 meat, with four ounces of biscuit. Luckily there was a 
 fair supply of barley and oats, and what with barley water 
 and some vegetables, they managed to hold out until we 
 were relieved by a column of troops arriving with supply 
 wagons from King William's Town six or seven weeks 
 after the commencement of the war. This could only be 
 done after the arrival of troops and levies from Cape 
 Town, which landed at East London, in Kaffraria. How- 
 ever, we were all greatly rejoiced. The post was supplied 
 with food and also strengthened, and I was carried back in 
 one of the empty wagons to King William's Town. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE WRECK OF THE BIRKENHEAD, ON THE 26TH 01 
 FEBRUARY, 1852. 
 
 This event was of National, as well of Colonial interest. 
 The above vessel was conveying detachments from several 
 of our regiments to the seat of war, under Lieut-Col. 
 Alexander Seton, of the 74tli Highlanders, who had 
 succeeded the late Colonel Fordyce, when she suddenly 
 struck upon a rock near Point Danger, a little way to the 
 east of the Cape Hangklip. The shock was so tremendous 
 that the iron plates of the ship's bottom gave way ; the 
 cabin was quickly filled with water, and it was evident 
 that in a few minutes more the vessel would be engulphed 
 among the breakers. It was as yet only two o'clock in 
 the morning, with no light but that of the stars ; but in an 
 instant the deck was crowded with the alarmed passengers,, 
 and while death was imminent only two of the ship's boats 
 were available for service. To rush into them at the risk 
 of swamping them would have been the impulse of the 
 selfish ; to fling themselves into the sea, in the hope of 
 reaching the shore, but only to sink each other by their 
 overcrowding, or perish in the breakers and by the sharks 
 that were on the alert, would have been the headlong 
 attempt even of the bravest. But nothing of the kind in 
 either way was done, and never was the power of miltary 
 discipline, or the worth of fearless, unflinching courage, or 
 the moral grandeur of self-sacrificing devotedness more 
 conspicuously displayed than in this moment of terrible 
 trial. At the word of Colonel Seton the soldiers drew up 
 upon the reeling and loosening deck as if they had been on 
 parade ; they obeyed his orders as calmly as if they had 
 been executing the usual movements of the drill. The 
 brave, humane heart of the Colonel was directed to 
 the safety of those who could least help themselves, and 
 whose fate would otherwise have been certain — to the 
 
WRECK OF THE " BIRKEXHEAD." 
 
 69 
 
 women, the children, and sick on board ; and they were 
 -carefully conveyed into the boats, which in the first 
 instance were given up for their especial service ; and by 
 this arrangement all the helpless were saved, without a 
 single exception. 
 
 And now only the strong and vigorous began to look to 
 their own safety, after they had so nobly discharged their 
 duty to others ; and while several of them- betook them- 
 selves to swimming, or committed themselves to pieces 
 of floating timber, the vessel parted amidships and went 
 down with the greater part of the officers and soldiers, 
 with whom self-preservation had been only the latest 
 subject of anxiety. In this fatal catastrophe 357 officers 
 and soldiers and sixty seamen perished, while nearly 200 
 lives were saved, and this too in a crisis where, but for 
 these arrangements, and the fidelity with which they were 
 executed, nearly all might have been lost. These soldiers 
 also, be it observed, were not veterans, but for the most 
 part young recruits who had never been under fire : and 
 yet they calmly stood in a breach more dismaying than 
 that of Badajoz or St. Sebastian, and saw the boats, their 
 last hope of safety, depart from them without a murmur. 
 But what shall we say of the controlling might of that 
 noble leader who directed their movements, and whom 
 even to the death they were proud to obey ? It was his 
 last as well as his first field of action, if such it might be 
 termed ; but the event which bereaved the service of such 
 an officer showed how much it had lost, and what a name 
 he might have achieved for himself in the annals of 
 modern warfare. The catastrophe of the Birkenhead was 
 a unique specimen of heroism, in which the coolest 
 courage and intrepid daring were combined with the 
 purest humanity and disinterestedness, and as such it 
 roused the emulation of our soldiers, and was the parent of 
 similar achievements in the subsequent campaigns of the 
 Crimea and India. A mural tablet, erected by G-overnment 
 •at Chelsea Hospital, records the event and the names of 
 ;the sufferers. 
 
 Right on our flank the crimson sun went down, 
 
 The deep sea rolled in dark repose, 
 When, like the wild shriek from some captured town, 
 A cry of women rose. 
 
70 
 
 WRECK OF THE " BIRKENHEAD." 
 
 The stout ship Birke?ihead lay hard and fast, 
 Caught, without hope, upon a hidden rock ; 
 Her timbers thrilled as nerves, when through them passed 
 The spirit of that shock. 
 
 And ever, like base cowards who leave their ranks 
 
 In danger's hour, before the rush of steel, 
 Drifted away, disorderly, the planks, 
 From underneath her keel 
 
 Confusion spread ; for, though the coast seemed near, 
 
 Sharks hovered thick along that white sea-brink, 
 The boats could not hold ? — not all — and it was clear 
 She was about to sink. 
 
 u Out with those boats, and let us haste away," 
 
 Cried one, " ere yet yon sea the bark devours " 
 The man thus clamouring was, I scarce need say, 
 No officer of ours. 
 
 We knew our duty better than to care 
 
 For such loose babblers, and made no reply ; 
 Till our good colonel gave the word, and there 
 Formed us in line — to die. 
 
 There rose no murmur from the ranks, no thought 
 
 By shameful strength unhonoured life to seek ; 
 Our post to quit we were not trained, nor taught 
 To trample down the weak. 
 
 So we made women with their childreu go. 
 
 The oars ply back again, and yet again ; 
 Whilst, inch by inch, the drowning ship sank low 
 Still under steadfast men. 
 
 What followed why recall ? The brave who died,. 
 
 Died without flinching in the bloody surf. 
 They sleep as well beneath that purple tide, 
 As others under turf. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 BASUTO BATTLES (FR03I THE BASUTOLAXD RECORDS.) 
 
 In 1833 the French Missionaries Thomas Arbousset?- 
 S. Casalis and C. G-osselin first penetrated into the country 
 of the Basutos. The Amahlubi (the tribe of Langalibalele,. 
 son of Umtu'mkulu) then claimed Moshesh as chief. 
 
 At the close of 1833 the Chief Moroko, C. Baatje, Jan 
 Kaptein (to whom succeeded Gert Taaibosch) and Barend 
 Barends (successor Peter Davies) emigrated from Boodchap 
 and Platberg on the Yaal River and directed their steps 
 towards the country of the Basutos. They were accompanied 
 by their teachers, the Revds. J. Archbell, Thos. Jenkins, 
 J. Edwards, J. Allison and Thos. Sephton. 
 
 In 1836 Sikonyela, a Mantate or Makatese Chief, attacked 
 a kraal of Moshesh, but the latter returned good for evil. 
 
 In 1831 Moshesh made over to Archbell and Edwards a 
 strip of land near the Caledon River. The deed I see was 
 witnessed by three Boers — Jacob Yan Wyk, Han de Yriez 
 and G-ert de Yriez — -showing that the emigrant Boers were 
 then beginning to encroach upon Moshesh, which move- 
 ment resulted in the subsequent Basuto Wars. In 1831 
 Matebeles were killing Bastards, and Missionaries complain- 
 ing to Colesberg Civil Commissioner about Boers forcibly 
 carrying off Bushmen (children) from kraals on their stations. 
 
 September, 1837, Morosi visits Governor at Graham's 
 Town, introduced by Moshesh. 
 
 November, 1839. Moshesh complains to Government that 
 Boers shot Bastards delivered to them by his sons, thus 
 involving him with Bastards. 
 
 April, 1811. Deserter from the 72nd Highlanders built 
 house &c, for Moshesh — allowed by authorities at request 
 of Moshesh to stay, and he subsequently received his 
 discharge. 
 
 September, 1811. Mr. Shepstone, TTesleyan Minister, 
 issues notice from Kamastone that no purchase of Kama's 
 land (given him by Moshesh) can be valid. 
 
 In 1820 the Zulu chief Mat i wan a (this is related by 
 
72 
 
 CANNIBALISM. 
 
 Moshesb, May 1845) dreading the ambition of Chaka, 
 threw off his allegiance to him and directed his steps to 
 onr conntiy with large forces. He met on the way the 
 "tribe of Fingos and drove them before him. This latter in 
 its flight fell upon the Makatese (Batlokaas) and dislodged 
 them. The Makatese, in their turn, attacked us most 
 fiercely. Those three strange nations arrived almost 
 simultaneously in our country, and then followed a 
 series of bloody wars, and horrible massacres, which 
 it would be too long to narrate to you. Suffice it to say 
 that the misery produced by the invaders was such as to 
 create cannabalism in onr country. I left my birth- 
 place and settled on the top of Thaba Bosigo, where I now 
 am. The Griqua Bergenaars now attacked me, and for the 
 first time we saw horses and firearms. 
 
 Sir Harry Smith writing from the Great Tugela river to 
 Earl Grey in February, 1848, says, regarding the Emi- 
 grant Boers, " Modern History, as far as I am awaie, 
 presents no parallel of thousands of a nation exiling 
 themselves from the precincts even of the capital with 
 their families, their herds and their flocks, and their 
 property of every description, abandoning at once the 
 interests of the land of their nationality and that of their 
 forefathers, and planting themselves on a doubtful tenure 
 in a country possessed by barbarians. The latter at first 
 readily received them, taking cattle in exchange for land, 
 and letting it to them on nominal rather than actual leases. 
 The occupants became subsequently overbearing, and 
 .spread themselves out without permission, and hence arose 
 the contentions which ended in a species of warfare in 
 which the British Government in 1845 deemed it essen- 
 tial and just by force of arms to interfere." 
 
 Regarding the battle of Boomplaats, Sir Harry writes, 
 Sept. 2, 1848, to Moshesh from Bloemfontein, " I arrived 
 here this day with H.M.'s Troops for the purpose of 
 suppressing the rebels (Boers) under that vile man 
 Pretorins. They opposed my force at Boomplaats in a 
 ^ery strong position from which I drove them. They 
 Lave left 49 dead on the field of battle, and their wounded 
 is very great. Twelve of their men Avere killed by one 
 cannon shot. They have lost many small arms and horses 
 and they are dispersed." 
 
MOROSI AND 3IAJ0R DOXOVAX. 
 
 73 
 
 Molitsane in Basutoland having killed. Fingoes and 
 taken their cattle, Major 'Warden determined to attack him, 
 and therefore on the 20th Sept., 1850, sent Capt. Bates 
 (in command of troops at Bloemfontein ). Capt. Bates, 
 with the Cape Corps, headed by Capt. Braniley, here 
 made a pretty charge, which being immediately followed 
 np by six rounds from the guns, created sad dismay 
 among the enemy, and in a few minutes it was seen 
 scampering in all directions. By midday 3,468 head of 
 cattle were captured and fifteen Korannas and Batanng 
 were killed and a good many wounded. 
 
 In January, 1851, the Civil Commissioner of Smithfield 
 District directed Charles Smith Halse, JP, to go with some 
 burghers and remove some Tambookies further from the 
 "border, as it was suspected that they were giving aid to the 
 Cape Colony G-aikas, &c, at war with H M*s troops. 
 During an attempted parley Tambookies opened fire, which 
 was returned by burghers and 12 of the enemy killed — 800 
 head of cattle were taken from them. Frederick vYol- 
 Tnarans was shot dead by enemy and Weeber wounded. 
 
 In a subsequent engagement with Tambookies near 
 Morosi's Kraal, nine Englishmen were killed, the Boers, 
 aiding them, falling back in the face of a superior enemy. 
 A few Boers, however, stood, and the party in advance 
 under Mr. Cole, the Magistrate of Burghersdorp, managed 
 to keep the Kafirs at bay until the main body came up. 
 
 In April, Major Donovan was attacked by Morosi's 
 people, assisted by Loperi's. Mohali's, and Moshesh's son's 
 people, but were routed and followed some 15 miles, losing 
 200 men, after however killing six Fingoes and wounding 
 five more before the troops turned out to their assistance. 
 
 From Platberg on the 25th June, 1851, Major Warden 
 sent Moshesh a formal and final demand for 6.000 head of 
 good cattle and 300 horses for his having aided the old 
 Colony Kafirs against the troops, attacked Moroko, the 
 Baralong Chief, our ahy, and robbed Mr. Shepstone, the 
 Boers, and the Fingoes. 
 
 On the -1th July, 1851, Major Donovan of the Cape 
 Corps reports to Lieut-Col Cloete that the" Basutos attacked 
 Sikonyela, who was crossing the country under an escort ; 
 the Major then chased the enemy into a mountain which 
 Jais force, covered by a gun, ascended and drove the enemy 
 
74 
 
 BATTLE OF MEKUATLING. 
 
 before them, capturing an immense number of cattle. Un- 
 fortunately a body of Baralongs who remained on the 
 mountain were surrounded by a large body of Basutos and 
 138 of them killed. Many more would have fallen if the 
 Boer aid had not made a gallant stand. A 6-pounder gun 
 well horsed and supported by a detachment of the Cape 
 Corps under Ensign Somerset, and a party of Boers under 
 Mr. A. Erwe, were hard pressed by the enemy for many 
 hours and escaped with difficulty. The Basutos having 
 joined the Bataung and Korannas, under GertLynx. Major 
 Warden put down his enemies at 10,000 men. 
 
 The memorial of the French Missionaries of Paris 
 vSociety to the British authorities gives a very good 
 account of what may be called the battle of Mekuatling as' 
 it was fought near that place. It says : 
 
 On the 30th June, 1851, at daybreak, a considerable 
 force composed of Barolongs under the chief Moroko ; of 
 Korannas acknowledging Gert Taaiboscb as headman ; of 
 various other native allies ; a body of Boers, also of Cape 
 Mounted Rifles ; and a company of English soldiers with 
 two pieces of artillery, made a simultaneous attack on 
 the Bataung under the chief Molitsane and of the 
 Baramokheli subjects of Moshesh near the station of 
 Mekuatling. The Baramokheli were at first worsted, and 
 all their cattle fell into the hands of the Barolongs and the 
 Korannas. But very soon after a large body of warriors,, 
 headed by the eldest son of Moshesh (Letsie) made their 
 appearance, retook the cattle, and cut in pieces a body of 
 Barolongs and Korannas who offered resistance. This 
 part of the battle was fought on an extensive flat-topped 
 mountain which is edged with perpendicular rocks. The 
 Basutos, after having thus killed a great number of their 
 opponents on the flat above, drove the rest to near the 
 brink of the precipice. There a desperate struggle took 
 place, and the assegai, the battle axe, and the gun, making 
 incessant execution among the Barolongs and Korannas,. 
 who fought bravely. Those of them who did not fall by 
 those weapons were hurled down on the awful crags below I 
 At the same moment the British Artillery, supported by 
 Cape Mounted Rifles and a large body of natives, was 
 repulsed by Molitsane and driven back towards the camp 
 of Major YV arden in great confusion. The following 
 
NATAL TO THE RESCUE. 
 
 morning the British Resident began his retreat towards 
 Thaba Nchu. A respectable Englishman residing on the 
 station undertook the painful task of visiting the battle 
 field to see if there were any wounded to whom he could 
 render assistance. He counted on the spot where the 
 Basntos had fought 147 corpses belonging to their 
 opponents. Some parts of the precipices, beneath which 
 dead bodies lay scattered, he could not inspect. Besides 
 these, several Barolongs were killed on the part of the 
 field where Molitsane and his Bataung fought. The loss of 
 the resisting party was comparatively trifling, amounting 
 at most to sixteen killed. 
 
 In glancing over the records of Basutoland I find that 
 on the 3rd of August, 1851, the then Secretary to Govern- 
 ment, Donald Moodie (father of the present writer) wrote 
 to the British Resident in Basutoland in answer to an 
 appeal for help in the war against the Basuto and Bataung 
 tribes, that the Xatal Government had decided to send two 
 companies of the 45th Regt., one officer and twelve Cape- 
 Mounted Rifles, and from 400 to 500 natives (under Mr. 
 Ringler Thompson) to join H. M. Forces engaged in the 
 then " Sovereignty." 
 
 Many interesting scraps are to be come across in the 
 records mentioned. They contain inter alia a lengthy 
 statement of the Chief Molitsane. He says that in about 
 the year 1822-23 political commotion took place among 
 the Zulus then also in Xatal, and that, owing to the cruelty 
 of Tshaka, Umzilikazi was obliged to fly. In doing so he 
 passed the Draagsberg Mountain, devastating all before him.. 
 Other Zulu chiefs, such as Matiwana (or Pakalita as the 
 Basuto called him) followed his example, and for sustenance, 
 power, &c, fell upon the neighbouring people. The first 
 to suffer from the invasion was Sikouyela's tribe, which 
 was then living on the Eland's River, near Harrismith. 
 This people drove before them the Bamonageng, Basuto 
 and other tribes, so that the whole land was in a state of 
 confusion and desolation. It was at this time (1823) that 
 the friend and ally of Molitsane, Sebetuana, who after- 
 wards took up his residence at Lake Xgami, was also 
 subverting the interior of the continent. It was the dread- 
 ful Umziligazi who forced Sebetuane to go towards the 
 Lake, and at the same time Molitsane to retreat to the 
 
76 
 
 CAT H CART AND MOSHESH. 
 
 Vaal River, from whence be made several successful 
 incursions against Umziligazi, who sent bis frightful 
 legions against the Bataung and made fearful and awful 
 havoc among them. 
 
 Here appear also some interesting notes compiled by 
 request of Sir George Cathcart, and Assistant Com- 
 mandant-General Green, on the Orange River Sovereignty. 
 'He says that about twenty-five years ago (1827), 
 Matiwana, a powerful chief who claimed all the Win burg 
 District, attacked the Chief Sikonyela, who had a kraal 
 near the site of Harrismith, and drove him southwards. Ih 
 flying from Matiwana, Sikonyela fell upon theBasuto Chief 
 Moshesh, whom he forced across the Caledon River where 
 the latter remained, fixing his kraal upon a very strong 
 hill, now called Thaba Bosigo. This hill then belonged 
 to a Fingo Chief called None, whom Moshesh butchered 
 at a beer thinking party to which he had invited him. 
 
 In November, 1852, Sir George Cathcart — the Lieut. - 
 General the Hon. G. Cathcart — finding that Moshesh was 
 not amenable to reason as to the settlement of several 
 tribal questions, determined to move against him. Col. 
 A. J. Cloete, then Quarter-Master-General, furnishes a 
 "memorandum of movement" from head-quarters at 
 Graham's Town. 
 
 1. Force of two guns, 500 Cavalry, and 2,000 Infantry 
 will assemble at Burghersdorp, on the 20th inst. 
 (November), for the purpose of marching into the Orange 
 River Territory. 
 
 2. This force will be composed of a column under 
 Lieut. -Col. Eyre, 73rd Regiment, to consist of a Rocket 
 Detachment, two squadrons 12th Lancers, 2nd Regiment, 
 43rd Regiment, 73rd Regiment, Detachment Cape Mounted 
 Rifles, a caoutchouc pontoon with detachment of Sappers 
 and Miners. This column to march to Fort Hare on the 
 11th inst. A column under Lieut. -Col. McDuff, 74th 
 Regiment, to consist of two guns Royal Artillery, 74th 
 Highlanders. Detachment Cape Mounted Rifles, to march 
 from Fort Beaufort on the 11th inst. A Cavalry detach- 
 ment Cape Mounted Rifles, 100 to march from Graham's 
 Town on the 16th inst., via Cradock. 
 
 Head-quarters from Graham's Town on 16th inst., via 
 Fort Beaufort, with 100 Cavalry and 500 Infantry. 
 
THE BATTLE OF BERE.A. 
 
 71 
 
 The Commandant- General to have his magazines formed 
 and to provide the necessary transport according to scale 
 established by His Excellency for troops moving in light 
 marching order. 
 
 Other officers mentioned in connection with this force 
 are Major Pinckney (73rd), Lieut. Siborne, R.E., Lieut. 
 Stanton, R.E., and Lieut. -Col. Napier in charge of 
 Cavalry. 
 
 From Plat berg, on the 14th December, 1852, Cathcart 
 writes finally to Moshesh saying that the Basutos are a 
 nation of thieves, and for all their lawlessness they must 
 pay 10,000 head of cattle in ten days* time. He must pay 
 to Sikonye.a what he had stolen from him, and Carolus 
 Baatje and his people must return to Platberg, and the 
 boundaries fixed by Sir Harry Smith must be respected, 
 
 According to the official report of the proceedings — signed 
 by Col. Cloete — on the 19th of December, 1852, not near 
 the full amount of cattle demanded appearing, His 
 Excellency directed Col. Eyre to move with the cavalry 
 brigade, two horsed guns, and one brigade of Infantry, and 
 encamped at the Upper Caledon wagon drift leading to 
 Molitsane's country. 
 
 The following morning (20th) this force, accompanied 
 bv His Excellency in person, marched at daylight in three 
 columns. Col. Cloete in his report to Cathcart says : — 
 " Of the three columns that marched on the 20th inst. from 
 the riving camp at the Caledon River to chastise the 
 Basuto Chief Moshesh I have the honour to report the 
 operations of that which was placed under Your Excel- 
 lency's more immediate personal observation. 
 
 "This force consisted of a detachment of the 12th 
 Lancers under Lieut G-ough, a demi-battery 12-pounder 
 howitzers under Capt. Robinson, R.A., two companies 
 43rd Regiment under Major Phillips, and a detachment of 
 Cape Mounted Rifles under Ensign Rorke. Its object by 
 moving under the western and southern base of the Berea 
 Mountain, the summit of which Col. Eyre's column were 
 to sweep, whilst Col. Napier with the Cavalry would act 
 round its northern and. eastern faces, to prevent the escape 
 of cattle from the mountain, and to form a junction with 
 the two columns on the Thaba Bosigo plains. 
 
 " The determination of the Basutos to defend their vast 
 
s 
 
 THE BATTLE OF BEREA. 
 
 droves of cattle on the Berea Mountain was early indicated 
 by their firing upon Capt. Tylden and myself when 
 approaching the craggy cliffs in which they had posted 
 themselves. 
 
 " On rounding the southern angle of the Berea armed bodies 
 of mounted Basutos were observed formed in patches closely 
 observing our movements, and approaching one of them, 
 advancing in person to give them an opportunity of a 
 parley, was answered by a shot, upon which the Cavalry 
 was ordered to extend and advance, and the enemy 
 retired amongst the rocky ground under the mountain. A 
 couple of rounds of shrapnel having with admirable effect 
 been fired into them they fled and dispersed towards 
 Thaba Bos i go. 
 
 The infantry, which had been strengthened by a company 
 of the 43rd Regt. from Col. Eyre's force, under Capt. the 
 Hon. Percy Herbert, were now brought up and the column 
 advanced, crossed the deep mountain stream, Riet Spruit, 
 and were posted on a commanding knoll at the junction of 
 this stream and the Little Caledon River, on the Thaba Bosigo 
 plains, covering the approaches by which Col. Eyre's and 
 Napier's columns were to join. 
 
 Whilst in this position the enemy were collecting in 
 fresh patches of horsemen in all directions ; those approach- 
 ing within distance were driven back. On the clearing 
 away of a thunderstorm and rain the enemy suddenly 
 displayed his whole force. Masses of horsemen were 
 observed to move from the Thaba Bosigo post to turn our 
 right, whilst large bodies of them extended beyond our 
 front. These movements were conducted with the utmost 
 order and regularity. 
 
 Lieut.-Col. Eyre's division at this time — five p.m — in 
 possession of about 1,500 head of cattle Avhich it was 
 necessary to secure, for which purpose some kraals in a 
 commanding position were ordered to be occupied. The 
 enemy, who had mustered not less than 6,000 horsemen, 
 made every effort to assail the troops moving into their 
 bivouac, repeating their attacks both upon our front and 
 rear, but were repulsed in every attempt by the gallantry 
 and steadiness of the troops. Nothing could exceed the 
 soldier-like bearing of the three companies of the 43rd 
 Regt., the cavalry detachment, and the valuable service 
 rendered by the demi-battery under Capt. Robinson, who 
 
THE BATTLE OF BEEEA. 
 
 79 
 
 by a round of canister silenced the enemy's fire which had 
 been kept up until 8 p.m., when the enemy retired and 
 disappeared from the field, having suffered severely. 
 
 The casualties of the portion of the force whose opera- 
 tions I have reported upon this occasion are : Wounded 
 Capt. Wellesley, D.A.A.G-., Lieut, the Hon. H. Annesley, 
 43rd Regt.. five privates, four severely and one private 
 of the 43rd slightly. 
 
 Eeport of Lieut. Col. G-eo. Napier, Commanding 
 Cavalry Brigade, to Col. Cloete, C.B.K.H., Quarter- 
 blaster General, written from the Caledon River camp on 
 the 21st Dec. 1852 :— 
 
 1 have the honour to report to you that in obedience to 
 instructions received from His Excellency the Comman- 
 der of the Forces, I crossed the Caledon River yesterday 
 .at daylight with the force as per margin (233 rank and 
 file). I proceeded along the Valley on the Xorth-East side 
 of the Berea Mountain for the purpose of intercepting any 
 cattle driving in that direction. About 8 o'clock, perceiv- 
 ing a large drove going np a steep cattle path to the top 
 of the mountain, I sent Capt. Munro with a troop of the 
 12th Lancers in pursuit, whilst I followed in support with 
 the remainder of the forces, giving Capt Munro strict 
 orders not to fire unless his party was first fired upon. 
 
 On reaching the top of the mountain I found it covered 
 with large droves of cattle, and at once commenced securing 
 them, sending Major Tottenham of the 12th Lancers to 
 the left, and Major Somerset, with part of the C.M.R., 
 to the right. Having collected a great number of cattle I 
 commenced driving down the same cattle path I had come 
 up, Major Tottenham, with a troop of Lancers and some 
 C.M.R., as a rear guard. 
 
 The enemy up to this time had made little or no 
 resistance, but when the cattle were about half way down 
 the mountain a body of at least 700 mounted men suddenly 
 attacked the rear guard who were forced to retire in order 
 to save themselves from being cut off. I at once sounded 
 the assembly, and collecting as many Lancers and C.M.R. 
 as I could, formed up in support of the rear guard, and 
 kept the enemy to check until they had time to form again, 
 which they did as soon as they got clear of the rocky 
 ground. The enemy then tried to outflank me on both 
 
80 
 
 THE BATTLE OF BEREA. 
 
 sides, but the steady front presented by the troops pre- 
 vented them doing so, and as soon as the Lancers charged 
 on the open ground, they at once fled up the mountain and 
 left us in possession of the cattle. 
 
 As I came near the drift of the Caledon I sent word to 
 Capt. Bruce, 74th Highlanders (who had charge of the 
 camp) to send over a company of the 74th to protect the 
 cattle whilst they were crossing. A large body of 
 mounted Kafirs came from behind some rocks on his right, 
 intending to cut off the rear of the cattle, but at once 
 retired on perceiving the 74th, who advanced under Capt. 
 Bruce in skirmishing order and opened fire upon them Avith 
 their Minie muskets with very good effect. 
 
 The conduct of the troops throughout was admirable, 
 and had it not been for the cool and steady behaviour of 
 the officers and men t-he enemy must have succeeded in 
 recapturing the greater part of the cattle. 
 
 Owing to the overpowering force of the enemy and the 
 rugged nature of the ground my casualties have been very 
 severe. 
 
 A great number of the enemy were killed and 4,000 
 head of cattle and fifty-five horses, besides a great many 
 sheep and goats, were captured. 
 
 Report of Lieut. -Col. Wm. Eyre, 73rd Regt., Comman- 
 ding Division, to Col. Cloete, C.B., and K.H. Q.M. General, 
 written from camp, Platberg, 23rd December, 1852 : — 
 
 I have the honour to report for the information of His 
 Excellency the Commander of the Forces that I marched 
 at daylight on the 20th inst. from the standing camp on 
 the Caledon with the force as per margin (499 rank and 
 file), and proceeded to carry out my instructions, which had 
 for their general object the capture of cattle and to join 
 the column under the personal direction of His Excellency 
 on the plains of Thaba Bosigo. 
 
 Having reached the foot of the Berea Mountain I 
 observed the Basutos drawn up in considerable force, some 
 mounted, others on foot, behind the rocks and stones that 
 crowned the summit, evidently prepared to dispute my 
 passage. A herd of cattle was apparently presented to 
 view as if to entice us on, while by their war shout and 
 gestures they evidently defied us. The ground they 
 occupied was mountainous and rocky and most difficult of 
 
THE BATTLE OF BEREA. 
 
 81 
 
 access. On the right I detached the light company of the 
 73rd under Lieut., Gawler with directions to climb if 
 possible the krantz which commanded the position of the 
 enemy on that side and bringing his right shoulders- 
 forward to turn the left flank of the enemy. 
 
 To support this movement I directed Lieut, the Hon. 
 L. Curzon to advance with his company of the Rifle 
 Brigade and to ascend the mountain a little on the left of 
 
 o 
 
 the light company of the j 3rd. These two young and 
 promising officeis led their companies in the most spirited 
 manner up ground all but inaccessible, though opposed 
 and immediately fired upon by the enemy above. Covering 
 themselves as they advanced they reached the summit with 
 little loss, and drove the enemy before them in good style- 
 Simultaneously with these movements I moved up with 
 the remainder of my force along the regular but rugged 
 path which seemed to lead into the centre of the enemy's 
 position. The enemy fired and attempted to oppose our 
 progress, until we reached the crest of the heights, when 
 they instantly dispersed and fled in all directions. I 
 immediately pursued them with the few mounted men 
 under Lieut. Goodrich of the J.M.R., and we succeeded in 
 capturing at least 30,000 head of cattle, with many horses- 
 having saddles on. 
 
 The enemy sustained some loss on this occasion, 38 were 
 killed by the Light Company of the 73rd and the Company 
 of the Rifle Brigade alone, and several were found dead in 
 other parts of. the field, and so completely defeated did the 
 enemy appear that some were taken prisoners and made to 
 drive back their own cattle. We found it, however, quite 
 impossible, with so few mounted men to drive on such 
 large numbers, and in the effort to do so many thousands- 
 were driven by the few Fingoes attached to my division 
 down the opposite side of the mountain to that which ray 
 instructions required me to take. I was, therefore, obliged 
 to abandon them, and content myself with some 1,500, 
 which were all we could manage to drive. 
 
 While thus engaged about one o'clock p.m., a number of 
 mounted men from 200 to 300, some with white caps on 
 their heads and bearing lances, which caused us to mistake 
 them for His Excellency's escort, suddenly appeared on 
 our front. Before the mistake could be discovered two or 
 
■82 
 
 THE BATTLE OF BEREA. 
 
 three of our party fell into the hands of the enemy, and I 
 deeply regret to state that Capt. Faunce, 73rd Regt., 
 D.A.Q.M.G. an officer who has frequently distinguished 
 himself during this war, was of that number. 
 
 The enemy's force now rapidly increased until we were 
 opposed to at least 700 or 800 mounted men, who drew up 
 in line in admirable order and attempted several times to 
 attack our front and left flank. As it was necessary to 
 present a front in order to protect our cattle and baggage, 
 I formed three companies in skirmishing order — two in front 
 and one thrown back on our left, keeping one in close 
 order in support. The enemy charged up to us several 
 times within 200 or 300 yards, but daunted by the coolness 
 and steadiness of the men lying down to receive them 
 dared not approach nearer. 
 
 As my instructions required me to proceed to Thaba 
 T&osigo I directed the cattle, under charge of a company, to 
 t>e driven down a path on my right, intending to follow 
 with the remainder of my force, but no sooner was this 
 movement discerned by the enemy than he cheered and 
 again charged us, on which Ave halted and reformed in 
 skirmishing order and again repelled him. Capt. the Hon. 
 G-. Devereux at the same time made some good shots with 
 the rockets, and the result was the total disappearance of 
 the enemy, and we proceeded to descend from the heights 
 without further opposition. 
 
 On reaching the plain below I joined the column which 
 accompanied His Excellency, and I therefore need not 
 report further the proceedings of the day, except the 
 movements on the right flank which occurred beyond the 
 reach of His Excellency's observation, and previously to 
 our taking up ground for the night. The enemy appeared 
 at this time, as His Excellency is aware, in great force, 
 showing remarkable boldness and attempting to surround 
 us on all sides. Their numbers I should estimate from 6,000 
 to 7,000 mounted men. While attacking our front a 
 number of them stole up the krantz on our right, and took 
 possession of the kraal w r hich we finally occupied for the 
 night, from whence they kept up a brisk fire, while another 
 party galloped round and succeeded in getting behind 
 some rocks at the base of the mountain from 200 to 300 
 yards in our rear. 
 
THE BATTLE OF BEREA. 
 
 ^8 
 
 As it was necessary to drive thern from these positions 
 1 directed Major Pincknev to move up one Company of 
 the 73rd in extended order with another in support, and 
 attack the enemy on our right flank. Capt. Bewes at the 
 head of the Grenadiers effectually performed this service, 
 and our right flank was thus secured. Lieut. Crawler with 
 the light company charged the enemy in the rear, and 
 drove them from the position they had temporarily 
 occupied. Meanwhile the Eifle Brigade held in skirmish- 
 ing order the crest of the krantz in our front. Having 1 
 driven off the enemy on our right and secured a good 
 position on that side, I despatched two companies to our 
 left to reinforce the companies of the -ford Light Infantry, 
 which under Major Phillips were warmly engaged while 
 escorting the guns up to the pesition occupied by our 
 right, the enemy at the same time continuing to fire upon 
 as until long after dark. 
 
 " Our position was, as His Excellency is aware, most 
 critical, but the coolness and steadiness of the men, though 
 opposed to such an overwhelming superiority of numbers — 
 at the close too of a long and most arduous day. during 
 which we had not been able to halt once for refreshment, 
 was all that a soldier need desire. The loss of the 
 enemy — though impossible to estimate — -I am convinced 
 was considerable. Several were taken prisoners and 
 released." 
 
 Letter from the Chief Jloshesh to His Excellency the 
 High Commissioner written from Tkaba Bosigo, 
 midnight. 20th December, 1852. 
 
 " This day you have fought against my people and taken 
 much cattle. As the object for which you have come is 
 to have a compensation for Boers, I beg you will be 
 satisfied with what you have taken. I entreat peace from 
 you. You have shown your power, you have chastised — 
 let it be enough I pray you, and let me be no longer 
 considered an enemy to the Queen. I will try all I can to 
 keep my people in order in the future/' 
 
 Having given the military accounts of the Battle of the 
 Berea, I conclude the account of the engagement by giving 
 5i condensed account bv a high authority. " Hardly had 
 g2 
 
84 
 
 THE BATTLE OF BEREA, 
 
 the cattle turned to be driven down the hill towards the 
 drift, when a force of about 700 Basutos and Bataung 
 horsemen under Molapo and the sons of Molitsane, which 
 had hitherto been unobserved, made a sudden charge upon 
 the scattered troops. All would have been lost but for the 
 coolness and bravery of Col. Napier, who collected a little 
 band about him and tried to keep the enemy at bay until 
 the stragglers could rally or escape. The cattle were 
 rushing down the mountain, and Lancers and Riflemen 
 were following them. One small party mistook a ravine 
 behind the Mission Station for the path by which they had 
 ascended and found themselves surrounded by enemies 
 when they reached the bottom. 
 
 The little band under the gallant Colonel kept the main 
 Basuto force at a respectful distance, but detached parties 
 of light horsemen pursued the retreating troops. Twenty- 
 seven Lancers and Riflemen were cut off. Several were 
 killed close to the Mission Station. Fortunately intelli- 
 gence of the disaster was conveyed in time to the camp, 
 and a company of the 74th Highlanders were sent to Col. 
 Napier's assistance, which enabled him to fall back without 
 further loss. He reached the camp with a herd of four 
 thousand head of horned cattle, besides a few horses and 
 some sheep and goats. Only four Basutos fell in this 
 engagement, though when he prepared his report the 
 Colonel was under the impression that a large number 
 had been killed. Eleven Basutos were killed afterwards 
 in charge upon the brigade Avhich Col. Eyre had got 
 together." Mr. Theal, the official and efficient compiler 
 of the records, states that shortly afterwards General 
 Cathcart's little band was in a terrible dilemma, surrounded 
 as they were by dense hordes, well armed with guns and 
 vomited, and having little ponies. They charged over and 
 over again, Nehemiah at the head of them — his horse was 
 shot under him. So vastly outnumbered was the devoted 
 band that only biavery and discipline prevented Isandhlwane 
 being anticipated by a generation. 
 
 After a fearful thunderstorm the Basutos came down in 
 denser masses than ever, and though Col. Eyre's column 
 affected a junction with those under the General, there 
 were some more casualties ; two officers were shot, one of 
 whom was a nephew of the Duke of Wellington, and six 
 
THE BATTLE OF BEREA. 
 
 85 
 
 privates wounded, making the whole day's losses thirty- 
 seven killed and fifteen wounded. The total Basuto loss 
 in warriors was twenty killed and the same number 
 wounded. But this was not all, for several of their women 
 were killed and wounded by the troops in the early part of 
 the day. Whether they were mistaken for men, or whether 
 they were shot down indiscriminately by the soldiers when 
 not under their officers' eyes will never be known. 
 General Cathcart believed the last supposition to be the 
 ■correct one, and expressed his deep regret on account of it. 
 Capt. Faunce, who I have said was made prisoner earlier, 
 •was murdered in revenge by relatives of some of the 
 women killed, and his body afterwards mutilated. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 BOER AND BASUTO BATTLES. 
 
 I now go on to the 1858 war between the Boers and the> 
 Basutos. The cause of the outbreak was again a land 
 squabble and theft of stock by the Basutos, especially by 
 Lebenya and Poshuli, and Jan Letele, but Moshesh (as- 
 regards the latter) pointed out that, as Letele had joined 
 the Free State, he had no power to take cattle from himi 
 and restore them. 
 
 Active hostilities commenced at Beersheba Mission: 
 Station on the 23rd of March, 1858. This station had been 
 founded in 1836 by the Rev. Mr. Rolland, who had 
 gathered together a mixed body of natives, with whom he 
 still resided as pastor. Many of these acknowledged the 
 authority of Moshesh. It was considered necessary, before 
 the Free State force entered the Lesuto proper, to guard 
 against the danger of leaving a body of the enemy in their 
 rear, and therefore Mr. Saner, Landdrost of Smithfield, was- 
 directed, with the burghers of his district, to disarm the 
 natives there, and drive out such as would not submit. 
 
 Early the next morning the Free State forces, hearing 
 that a body of the enemy were coming from Elandsberg,, 
 waylaid them at the Caledon Drift, and the first skirmish 
 of this war took place, in which about twenty natives were 
 killed. 
 
 Mr. Sauer having called upon the men of the station to- 
 surrender their arms, one of the chiefs, a Morolong named 
 Mooi, complied. Sufficient time having been allowed 
 and the other residents of the place having declined to 
 give up their weapons, fire was opened upon them, 
 and about thirty were killed, and two wounded on the 
 burgher side. 
 
 The plan of campaign adopted by the Free State 
 Government was to send two commandos into the Lesuto, 
 G ne from the north and the other from the south, to meet 
 before Thaba Bosigo, and endeavour to carry that stronghold! 
 by storm. By this means it was hoped that the attention. 
 
WEBER ENGAGES XEHEMIAH. 
 
 87 
 
 of the Basutos would be taken up with the defence of their 
 villages and cattle, and that the field of operations might 
 be limited to their country. 
 
 But in Moshesh the Free State had to deal with one- 
 whose early manhood had been passed in war, and who 
 bad risen to power by means of military ability, displayed 
 chiefly as a strategist. He had forgotten nothing since 
 the days of Matiwane and Mpangazita, but had learnt 
 much. He sent his cattle into distant and almost inacces- 
 sible mountain ravines, and then gave orders to his captains 
 to fight at every point of advantage, but, when close 
 pressed, to fall back and draw the Boer Commandos after 
 them. 
 
 Commandant General Hendrik Weber, with the burghers 
 of the southern portion of the State, and Jan Letele's 
 people, marched first to Vechtkop, the head-quarters of 
 Poshuli. On the 28th of March, Xehemiah and Poshuli 
 were met with there, and, after an engagement, retr< ated, 
 leaving the villages of the latter to their fate. On the 
 following day they were fired, and the commando then 
 proceeded northwards. On the 3rd of April, it was at 
 " The Hell " where in an ambush it lost sixteen men 
 killed and wounded, but had the satisfaction of killing* 
 nearly four times as many Basutos, as well as one renegade 
 European, and of capturing a few hundred cattle. From 
 " The Hell " the commando marched against Letsie, but, 
 on consideration, fell back to Jammerberg Drift. 
 
 The column formed of the northern burghers of the 
 Free State was in two divisions, under Commandants F.. 
 Senekal and W. J. Pretorius. On the 25th of March,. 
 Moperi and Molitsane were defeated at Koranneberg by 
 Pretorius. On the 12th, 13th, and 1 4th of April, at 
 Cathcart's Drift, this column had a series of engagements 
 with the warriors of Molapo, Moperi and Molitsane, who 
 surrounded and threatened to annihilate it with their over- 
 whelming numbers. But by this time it was known that 
 the gunpowder manufactured by the Basuto was incapable 
 of carrying a ball further than a couple of hundred yards 
 or so, so that the difference in number was more than com- 
 pensated. The column forced its way out of the dense 
 ring of warriors, but not before it had lost seventeen men 
 killed and wounded. 
 
38 
 
 GHASTLY RELICS. 
 
 On the 25th of April, 1858, the two columns formed a 
 junction. Three days later Mr. F. Senekal was elected 
 Commandant-General in place of Mr. H. Weber, and an 
 attack was made upon Letsie, who was posted with about 
 4,000 warriors on the heights close to his village, the 
 Mission Station of Morija. After some skirmishing Letsie 
 gave way and retired to Thaba Bosigo. The commando 
 then took possession of his village, when the burghers 
 were horrified by finding portions of the corpses of some of 
 their friends who had fallen at " The Hell." The Basuto 
 sorcerers had brought these ghastly relics there for the 
 purpose of using them as charms, and had concealed them 
 from other eyes — particularly from those of women — in a 
 laboratory of their own, which was discovered when the 
 Commando entered. Exasperated by this sight, the 
 burghers condemned the village to the same fate as that to 
 which they had devoted the kraals of the robber Poshuli, 
 and spared only the Church and the property of the 
 Missionary Maeder. 
 
 There was a deal of discussion about the Boers destroy- 
 ing the property of the Rev. Mr. Arbousset at Morija. 
 But the Volksraad subsequently voted £100 to the Paris 
 Mission Society to make good the damages. From the 
 fact of the rev. gentleman having fled, many Boers 
 believed that he was fighting upon the Basuto side. The 
 property of those who remained was not touched. 
 
 From Morija the Free State forces marched to Thaba 
 Bosigo where they arrived on the 6th May. A body of 
 Basuto encountered at the foot of the mountain made a 
 •show of resistance, but after skirmishing for four hours, 
 took to flight. At last the burghers had before their eyes 
 the object of their expedition, and they recognised at once 
 the hopelessness of securing it. The frowning precipices 
 of the great citadel, hundreds of feet in height, were 
 beyond the power of man to scale, and the few steep path- 
 ways to its summit were fortified in the strongest manner, 
 and defended by a garrison amply provided Avith munitions 
 of war. 
 
 This mountain has been often stormed, but never taken. 
 The terrible, and hitherto unconquered, legions of Umzili- 
 gazi, also stormed it, but warriors shields, plumes, and 
 assegais, were bundled hopelessly down under avalanches of 
 
BOSHOF APPEALS FOE HELP. 
 
 s9 
 
 rocks. After their defeat, Moshesh, in derision, sent them 
 food to eat. 
 
 During the fortnight preceding the arrival of the 
 burgher forces before the mountain, various rumours had 
 reached the camp that the Basuto had invaded the Free 
 State and were spreading devastation far and wide. What 
 was at first doubtful was by-and-by confirmed. It was 
 "known that on the 14th April, while the northern column 
 was fighting at Cathcart's Drift with one great swarm of 
 natives, a body of Basuto light horsemen had spread over 
 the District of Winburg, and swept off all the stock in its 
 track, and had left nothing behind but smouldering ruins. 
 It was known too that this was only the first of a series of 
 raids in that direction. And now came intelligence that 
 on the 26th of April the district of Caledon River had 
 "been pillaged and laid waste in a similar manner. With 
 such tidings in their ears and with an impregnable strong- 
 hold before their eyes, there came but one thought to the 
 burghers, that of returning to their families. A council of 
 war was speedily held, and a resolution to break up the 
 commando was adopted. Without an hour's delay it was 
 acted upon, and every man set off for his home as quickly 
 .-as he could. 
 
 President J. X. Boshof appealed for help to the sister 
 republic beyond the Yaal, and had ascertained that the 
 union of the two states must precede the granting of 
 assistance, and the Governor of the Cape had proclaimed 
 
 ra strict neutrality. Under these circumstances Mr. Boshof 
 also sought the aid of Sir George Grey, but before that 
 gentleman's offer of mediation reached him, he was obliged 
 to make overtures with Moshesh for a suspension of 
 hostilities. The latter replied haughtily and unsatis- 
 factorily. Eventually on the loth of October, 1858, 
 Moshesh affixed his seal and mark to the treaty drawn up 
 
 "by Sir George Grey, though with evident reluctance, and, 
 as it turned out, with no intention of adhering to it. 
 
 We now go on to December, 1861, and give a short account 
 of "Moshesh at Home" on his mountain, from the pen of 
 a correspondent of the Friend of the Free State. 
 
 "At eleven o'clock, accompanied by the missionaries, 
 we climbed the famous mountain residence of the paramount 
 
 Chief of the Basutos. We accomplished this feat in forty- 
 
90 
 
 MOSHESH AT HOME. 
 
 two minutes, admiring the while the military tactics of" 
 Moshesh in choosing such a place for defence. On arriving 
 on the mountain we were met by Tsekelo Moshesh, who 
 ushered us into the house of Moshesh — a large thatched 
 building about 70 feet long, containing a sitting and 
 several bed-rooms, furnished with four-posters, tables, 
 chairs, &c. We remained seated for about an hour, during 
 which there was a running to and fro of his servants with 
 several suits of uniforms and mufti, taking one out and 
 bringing the same back again. At last we received 
 a message from the king that he was coming, but a quarter 
 of an hour elapsed after this intimation before he came, 
 when his arrival was announced by some salutation in 
 Sesuto which I did not catch. 
 
 " Then Moshesh, a hale hearty man, some 63 years old, 
 clad in a General's rich uniform, over which he had a blue 
 cloth military cloak, with a military helmet on his head, 
 and accompanied by his councillors, Geoige and Tsekelo 
 Moshesh, and two ambassadors from Pande, and two from 
 Sekwati, entered the apartment, and a general introduction 
 by George between us, the strangers of the party, and the 
 chief took place, and then we again seated ourselves. The 
 next operation was laying the cloth and bringing in a 
 handsome China tea service and several condiments. After 
 partaking this meal, Mr. Howell presented his gift, a hand- 
 some railway wrapper made of light blue pilot cloth very 
 heavy and hairy, lined with bright scarlet cloth, and 
 braided. Moshesh was highly delighted with this present 
 and put it on his shoulder a ia Poncho. Mr. Van Brock- 
 huizen then, in the name of Professor Hofmeyr of Cape 
 Town, presented the King with a handsome pocket-knife, 
 which he admired very much. Mr. Van Brockhuizen then 
 gave his present — a richly ornamented pipe. At this 
 Moshesh looked in a very peculiar manner, and one of his 
 sons began to laugh so heartily that we all caught the 
 infection and laughed too, without knowing why ; but at 
 last the murder came out. Moshesh hated smoking and 
 had a great aversion to a pipe, especially since his maga- 
 zine had nearly blown up in consequence of the carelessness 
 of a smoker, and had issued a counterblast against smoking 
 on Thaba Bosigo. The chief, however, took the will for 
 the deed, and put away the pipe among the numerous 
 
BASUTOS RAIDING NATAL. 
 
 91 
 
 presents presented to him from time to time. Mr. Martin,, 
 the partner of Mr. Ferreira at Natal, then presented the 
 chief with a handsome silver mounted Malacca whip, 
 which the old Chief immediately began to crack to the 
 evident discomfort of his sable attendants." 
 
 On the 20th of June, 1860, some Basutos under Poshuli 
 and some Bushmen proteges of his, atttacked a Boer 
 homestead and killed a boy, besides severely wounding a 
 couple of women. 
 
 After the last mentioned date — June 1860 — there were 
 no 4i Battles and Adventures " (as regards the people men- 
 tioned) to speak of until May 1865, when on the 9th of that 
 month we find President Brand of the Free State writing 
 to the High Commissioner at Cape Town regarding a land 
 squabble with Lesaoana (alias Ramelana ) who would in- 
 sist in occupying Witsi's Hoek, and saying that as the 
 Basutos had again trespassed over the line and were be- 
 coming most insolent, he meant to start that day in order 
 to chastise them, and he thought Moshesh would help his 
 vassal. 
 
 In June, 1865, we find President J. H. Brand sending an 
 ultimatum to Moshesh after some Free State Burghers had- 
 been imprisoned and illtreated by the latter, and shortlv 
 afterwards he proclaims war against the Basutos. 
 
 On the 19th June, 1865, Mr. Burnet, Civil Commissioner 
 of Aliwal North, writes to the High Commissioner to say 
 that, as usual, a wholesale system of thieving was 
 determined on by Poshuli and Morosi, and that the Boers 
 and Basutos had come into collision, as a patrol partv of 
 fifty Boers had suddenly met a strong body of Basutos, 
 whom they engaged, when luckily another party of their 
 forces numbering fifty came to their aid, when the Basutos 
 retired leaving several men killed. 
 
 On the 27th of June the Governor of the Cape proclaims 
 strict neutrality, and on'the 29th of June Mr. Theophilus 
 Shepstone (now Sir) directs (from Maritzburg Natal) the 
 Magistrate of Weenen — in Natal — to proceed to Molapo 
 regarding a Basuto inroad into that Colony. 
 
 Mr. John Austen, Superintendent of the Wittebergen 
 Native Beserve, in writing to Mr. Burnet speaks of the 
 great fight between Boers and Basutos, near Thothlowane r 
 His native informant says that the whole flower of the 
 
92 
 
 RAMELANA AND NATAL. 
 
 Basnto army were engaged, and headed by Molitsane, 
 Paulus Moperi, Malapo, Masupha, Lerothodi, son of Letsie, 
 and Ntsane, who had charge of the household army. In 
 all, he says, seven chieftains, with an army beyond count. 
 The native is said to have given a most graphic account of 
 the several onslaughts, and the cool courage displayed by 
 the Boers, and the final defeat and flight of the host of 
 Basutos, frightened into a state of panic — he said they 
 couldn't face the Boers. Poshuli is said to have lost 
 twenty men — Melane thirty killed and many wounded, and 
 all chiefs suffered in proportion. Mr. Austen concludes by 
 saying that up to that time the Boers had been successful 
 at every point, and that if they continued to display the 
 same courage there would be no fear of success. 
 
 On the 1st July, 1865, General Sir Percy Douglas 
 writes from Maritzburg — Natal — to the High Commis- 
 sioner informing him of an inroad of Basutos, down the 
 Draagsberg into Natal, and that Capt. Lucas, the magis- 
 trate of the Klip River country, in following the spoor of 
 cattle carried off, was fired upon. He says about 2,000 
 Basutos, well mounted and armed with guns, descended 
 into the Klip River district, and carried off stock to the 
 value of many thousands of pounds, killed one farmer, and 
 mortally wounded two or three others, and that one white 
 woman was missing, and that in six days' time 120 
 volunteers, and 280 troops and two guns would assemble 
 in Lady smith. 
 
 The present writer was among these volunteers. The 
 latter body and the troops, however, only went as far as 
 Estcourt (then Bushman's River) as Molapo, the head chief 
 of the erring Lesaoana (the leader of the raiders) had 
 promised every reparation. 
 
 The Friend of the Free State newspaper tells us, on the 
 9th of March, 1866, that the Boers and Basutos were hard 
 at it again, (as elsewhere detailed) with varying success, 
 but the Boers appeared again to have had the best 
 of it. The issue of the paper mentioned tells us that 
 Commandant Fick penetrated the Draagsberg with 600 
 men, captured 2,700 head of cattle, 3,600 sheep, and 250 
 horses — 100 of the enemy slain in the different engage- 
 ments, Molapo sued for peace, and paid 150 head of 
 cattle for an armistice. The death of Senekal, who was 
 
MOLAPO GIVES IX. 
 
 93 
 
 a brave man, arid Commandant General in the last war, is 
 here greatly regretted. He was shot down in front of a 
 eave by an unseen enemy. Twenty-seven dead Kafirs 
 were counted after Fick's last engagement. 
 
 On the 18th March, 1866, a correspondent of the 
 Friend of the Free State mentions the Kafirs as having 
 had enough of it, as the powerful chief Molapo sent 47 fat 
 oxen in consideration of an armistice. 
 
 The same paper on the 20th of April, 1866, announces 
 (as it thinks) the termination of the war, and the fact of 
 the Basutos having sent in a fine of 3,000 head of cattle, 
 astonishing the Boers by their punctuality. The massacre 
 of seven express bearers is also mentioned, viz : 3 Boers, 
 
 2 Bastards and 2 Baralongs. Their bodies were found 
 
 shockingly mutilated, near the Caledon by a party of men 
 from WessePs camp who buried the unfortunates. 
 
 But yet the war, or desultory fighting, lingered on for 
 many months, the Boers being determined to root out the 
 "faithless " Basutos, and with this end in view they shot 
 them down whenever practicable, and pursued a system of 
 destroying their crops, so that the Basutos would be 
 deprived of the means of fighting. In October, 1867, a 
 Bev. Mr. Jousse, writing from Thaba Bosigo to Mr. 
 Burnet, the Civil Commissioner at Aliwal North, says ■ 
 " Last week the Boers made a raid a few hours (ride) 
 distant from here, and succeeded in taking some cattle. 
 They arrived in a village before sunrise, and when the 
 people, thus .surrounded, came out of their huts, they were 
 killed as dogs indistinctly (indiscrimately ?) men, women, and 
 children. The number of women and children killed is- 
 greater than that of men." The reverend gentleman 
 afterwards enumerates the victims, giving place and date. 
 
 A report from Commandant J. G. E. Kolbe to Com- 
 mandant Botha, dated Platberg, 2nd Xov., 1867, gives 
 an account of the capture of some caverns and strong- 
 holds at Mariendall. One Boer was killed and two 
 were severely wounded. As far as was known 11 of the 
 enemy were killed. 120 women and children were taken 
 out of the caverns and were put across the Caledon. 20 
 wagon loads of corn were taken. 
 
 A report from Commandant J. C. Botha to the Presi- 
 dent of the Free State, dated Platberg, 7th of Nov., 1867, 
 
PATROL IN THE MALUTIS. 
 
 gives an account of the driving of the enemy from one 
 of bis towns in that neighbourhood, in which 300 muids of 
 corn were found, and taken possession of. One Mosuto 
 was killed. In a subsequent skirmish with the enemy, 
 who occupied a strongly fortified position in a mountain 
 the commandant himself and one burgher were slightly 
 wounded. 
 
 A report from Commandant Pansegrouw to the Presi- 
 dent, dated Kornet Spruit, Dec. 8th, 1867 gives an account 
 of a patrol into the Double Mountains (the Malutis) from 
 the evening of the 3rd to the evening of the 7th. The 
 enemy was driven back wherever met with, 26 were killed, 
 and 13 horses, 81 head of horned cattle, and 180 sheep 
 and goats were taken. On the side of the commando only 
 one coloured servant and one Fingo were wounded. 
 
 Then follows a long correspondence between Sir Philip 
 Wodehouse, the High Commissioner and Mr. Brand, the 
 President of the Free State, in which the former urges 
 upon the latter a suspension of hostilities, as owing to the 
 system of the Boers, which destroyed the crops of the 
 Basutos, these wretched beings were driven, in some cases, 
 io cannibalism, and many poured across into the Cape 
 Colony and Natal in a state of utter destitution. At 
 length Sir P. Wodehouse seems to have lost patience, and 
 accordingly on the 10th of March, 1868, he addressed a 
 kind of ultimatum to Mr. Brand which he concludes in 
 these words " I cannot regard such a policy, if persevered 
 in, as anything less than an indication of an unfriendly 
 feeling towards the British Government, quite sufficient to 
 absolve me from all observance of the terms of the Con- 
 vention of 23rd of February, 1854. 
 
 "When I first became aware of the apparent disregard 
 of my overtures, I directed that no ammunition should be 
 permitted to be removed from our ports to the Free State 
 without my authority. I have not since heard of any 
 application, and conclude that none has been made. And 
 I have now to intimate that I will peremptorily prohibit 
 all issues, and will take such further steps as 1 may con- 
 sider conducive to the good government of the country. 
 At the same time I make this announcement with the 
 utmost regret." 
 
 Finally, on the 12th day of March, 1868, the High 
 
BASUTOLAXD BRITISH. 
 
 9.5 
 
 Commissioner, Sir Philip Edmund Wodehouse, issued from 
 Cape Town a proclamation stating that from the above 
 date it was Her Majesty's pleasure that the Basutos should 
 be British subjects, and Basutoland British territory. 
 And so ends this interesting matter pertaining to my sub- 
 ject and condensed from Mr. Theal's excellent compilation 
 as it appears in Vol. III. cf the official " Records of Basuto- 
 land." 
 
 I add a few more additional particulars of engagements 
 in Secheli's Country and in Basutoland. 
 
 One affair that occurred in August, 1852, excited very 
 much attention. It was the case of Secheli, a native chief 
 residing in the direction of the Great Lake, who had been 
 attacked by the Boers, beaten, and it was affirmed, his 
 children taken for slaves. I shall, however, in fairness to 
 the Boers, place their official report before the reader, 
 which shall speak for itself. 
 
 THE TRANSVAAL BOERS AND SECHELI. 
 (From the Zuid-Oost Afrikaan.) 
 
 " OFFICIAL B.EPOB.T OF THE ACTING COAQIAXDAXT- 
 
 GEXEEAL, p. e. scholtz, esq. 
 
 Marico, August 20th, 1852. 
 
 " This day the Commando sent by A. W. Pistorius, Esq., 
 assembled. 
 
 " I departed without delay, according to my instructions, 
 to the rebellious Kafir tribes, who had constantly dis- 
 turbed the country by thefts and threatenings. On the 
 23rd I sent from Maboiza an adjutant to the sub-captain of 
 Cokkie, and the people left behind of Moselele, to offer 
 and, if possible, to encourage them to peace ; but received 
 no answer from them. I proceeded on ; and the following 
 day they again had peace offered to them, but they were 
 intrenched in caverns and jungle. I, however, ventured to 
 send a couple of field-cornets with some men to within 
 about one hundred yards of them, for the purpose of 
 .speaking to them ; but they persisted in refusing. The 
 patrol then endeavoured to take some of them prisoners, 
 but they resisted : upon which I ordered a few shots to 
 be fired at them. Towards evening the above-named sub- 
 
96 
 
 BOERS AND SECHELI. 
 
 captain came out, and I made peace with him, and also 
 restored to him all prisoners of war, on condition that he 
 should forthwith return to his abode. On the 25th I went 
 forward, and captured three of Secheli's scouts. During 
 the march up to the 27th, I was informed that Secheli was 
 making every preparation to fight, having assembled five 
 captains of surrounding tribes about him. Upon these 
 reports I determined to approach his residence as close as 
 I could venture. 
 
 "I issued an order to the Commando, that no goods 
 belonging to the missionaries should be touched, in accor- 
 dance with the Laager Instructions ; of which two men had 
 made themselves guilty, who were tried by court-martial on 
 the 27th and convicted, and sentenced to receive thirty 
 lashes, or to be deprived of all burgher privileges of the 
 Commando. They preferred the latter. 
 
 " The 28th, I pushed out to Secheli's town-water, about 
 a quarter of an hour's walk from the town. To reach it, I 
 had to march past the town, and to proceed through a 
 narrow passage. I prepared every thing for self-defence, 
 as every position was occupied by the enemy, who levelled, 
 their guns at and threatened us, but did not fire a shot, 
 so that I gained my objecc Avithout opposition ; and as the 
 day was far advanced, and it was also the last day of the 
 week, I resolved, with the concurrence of the council of 
 war, to abstain from every thing that could give rise to 
 displeasure, not even to allow any one, except the 
 commandants, to speak to Secheli's Kafirs, lest any mis- 
 understanding should take place, and that we might observe 
 the Lord's day. 
 
 " I at once sent to Secheli the following message : — 
 Friend Secheli, — As an upright friend, I would 
 advise you not to allow yourself to be misled by Moselele,. 
 who has fled to you because he has done wrong. Rather 
 give him back to me, that he may answer for his offence. 
 I am also prepared to enter into the best arrangements 
 with you. Come over to me, and we shall arrange every 
 thing for the best, even were it this evening. 
 
 Your friend, 
 "P. E. Scholtz, Act. Com. Gen, 
 
SECHELI AXD BOERS. 
 
 97 
 
 " Secheli replied : — 
 
 " Wait till Monday. I .shall not deliver np Moselele : 
 he is my child. If I am to deliver him up, I shall ha^e to 
 rip up my belly ; but I challenge you on Monday to show 
 which is the strongest man. I am, like yourself, provided 
 with arms and ammunition, and have more fighting people 
 than you. I should not have allowed yon thus to come in, 
 and would assuredly have fired upon you : but I have 
 looked into the book, upon which I reserved my fire. I am 
 myself provided with cannon. Keep yourself quiet to- 
 morrow, and do not quarrel for water till Monday ; then 
 we shall see who is the strongest man. You are already 
 in my pot ; I shall only have to put the lid on it on 
 Monday. 
 
 " (Signed) Secheli." 
 
 " Sunday, 29th. — We humble ourselves before the Most 
 High, who delivers both the weak and strong, and jointly 
 beseeched Him to be merciful to us. After Divine Service, 
 Secheli sent two men to me to ask for some sugar, which 
 I looked upon as a bravado. He also sent word to me to 
 send two men to him on Monday, and that I should take 
 care that the oxen did not depasture on the poisonous 
 grass, for that he now looked upon them as his own. I 
 brieflv replied, that such a hero should rather use chillies 
 instead of sugar. 
 
 "Monday, 30th. — I sent two men to Secheli to ascer- 
 tain his meaning, and once more to offer peace to him. He 
 replied, that he required no peace ; that he now challenged 
 me to fight ; and, if I had not sufficient ammunition, he 
 would lend me some. I again sent to tell him, that he 
 should call to mind how he had ever to submit to the 
 tyranny of Umziligazi whom we had dispersed; that he, 
 Secheli, was then poor and small, and, having now grown 
 rich by the burghers, he should not become too arrogant by 
 harbouring robbers and disturbers of the peace ; that he 
 should not harden his heart, as it might be productive of 
 mournful results to him ; that he would perhaps again 
 become as little as he had been. His reply was, ' I want 
 to fight.' I advanced with three hundred men close to his 
 battery, and again sent messengers to prevail upon him to 
 accept peace ; and to inform him that, should he not wish 
 
 H 
 
98 
 
 SECHEL1 AND BOERS. 
 
 to conclude peace, he was to set aside his women and 
 children, or rather to come out with his warriors, that we 
 then might fight man to man, as I would otherwise be 
 compelled to fight with cannon, and this might endanger 
 the women and children. All this I did to dispose him to 
 peace. But he replied, — ' You have nothing to do with 
 my women and children ; they are mine ; and I want to 
 fight to-day, and experience which of us is the strongest.' 
 Upon which, under a shower of balls, I advanced upon 
 the battery, confiding my fate into the hands of the Lord. 
 I stormed the intrenchments and caverns, under a severe 
 fire which 1 encountered from three sides ; took possession, 
 set fire to, and stormed one side of the town, where one of 
 my gallant burghers, named Jan de Clerk, was killed ; 
 and, in storming a rocky ridge, the gallant Mr. G-. Wol- 
 marans, Fs., and a Bastard were killed alongside of each 
 other. After six hours' hard fighting, I had possession of 
 two rocky ridges and all the enemy's intrenchments, with 
 a large number of guns and prisoners. A good number of 
 them had been killed. My loss was three killed and six 
 wounded. I was compelled to retire, my men being knocked 
 up, and night having closed upon us. The enemy had still 
 possession of one rocky ridge. We again assembled to 
 thank the Lord, and to offer Him our evening sacrifice. 
 
 " The following day I sent one hundred and fifty men out 
 to reconnoitre, and to ascertain- whether the enemy was 
 disposed for peace ; upon which I found that they had 
 evacuated their stronghold, and fled in various directions. 
 I sent patrols after them, who found troops of them here 
 and there, who fought in skirmishing order. But my party 
 returned the following day with guns and cattle captured 
 from the enemy, but without having sustained any casualty. 
 
 "On the 1st of September I dispatched Commandant 
 P. Schutte with a patrol to Secbeli's old town ; but he 
 found it evacuated, and the missionary residence broken 
 open by the Kafirs. The commandant found, however, 
 two percussion rifles ; and the Kafir prisoners declared 
 that Livingstone's house, which was still locked, contained 
 ammunition, and that shortly before he had exchanged 
 thirteen guns with Secheli, which I had also learnt two 
 weeks previously, the missionaries Inglis and Edwards 
 having related it to the burghers A. Bytel and J. 
 
SE JHELI AXD BOERS. 
 
 99 
 
 Snyman ; and that Livingstone's house had been broken 
 open by Sech-.di to get powder and lead. I therefore 
 resolved to open the house that was still locked, in which 
 we found several half-finished guns, and a gunmaker's 
 shop with abundance of tools. We here found more guns 
 and tools than Bibles, so that the place had more the 
 -appearance of a gunmaker's shop than a mission-staticn, 
 .and more of a smuggling-shop than a school-place. This 
 day young Smit, one of the wounded, died. We this day 
 found two waggons hidden under a rock. On the 3rd I 
 resolved to return, to refresh my cattle not far from the 
 
 • encampment. Having again encamped, I sent to all the 
 tribes who had shown themselves our enemies, to offer 
 peace to them, that those of them who accepted of it 
 might return to their town or residence. I also sent to 
 the disturber Monsua at Malopo, and appointed a place 
 where I would meet him, because his subjects were 
 continually plundering, and he was aware that they had 
 
 • committed serious depredations. 
 
 " The force returned with a booty of three thousand 
 head of cattle and a number of sheep, eleven horses, 
 forty-eight guns, two waggons, and other articles, found 
 in Secheli's retreat ; likewise smith's and gunmaker's tools 
 found in the house of the missionary. 
 
 " Amongst the above cattle, many were recognised by 
 their lawful owners as having been stolen from them by 
 the Kafirs. I gave them back their property, which 
 materially reduced the troop. 
 
 " The rest of the cattle, after defraying the expenses, I 
 divided among the Commando in equal portions, except 
 that I allowed something more to the wounded. 
 
 " The above expedition having, according to instruc- 
 tions, taken the field to ascertain what had become of the 
 cattle that had been continually stolen, we found, on our 
 advance, a part amongst the remaining herds of Moselele, 
 who, along with the other vagabonds, was protected by 
 Secheli. At Secheli's was the greatest smuggling-shop to 
 be found in the whole settlement. He constantly deals in 
 ammunition and guns, which he again exchanges with the 
 other tribes ; and an uncivilized nation, having fire-arms in 
 hand, believe themselves to be invincible, and perpetrate 
 the most heinous acts. 
 h2 
 
]00 
 
 SECHELI AND BOERS, 
 
 " This also was even Secheli's notion ; who, though 
 warned and exhorted to peace, deemed himself invinci- 
 ble, and not only desired to take our lives, but also all our- 
 waggons and cattle. 
 
 "(Signed) P. E. Scholtz, Act. Com.-Gen. 
 " Approved. 
 
 "(Signed) A. W. J. Pretorius, Cow. -Gen. 
 
 " The above report revised and approved. 
 "By order of the Volksraad, 
 
 " ( Signed) C# Potgieter, President" 
 
 Having thus allowed the Boers to give their own 
 version of their doings, I shall quote a letter from the 
 ' 'Cape Town Mail," which will throw some fresh light on: 
 some of the worst parts of the case, and which it is only 
 fair to place by the side of the report itself. 
 
 " SECHELI AND THE BOERS. 
 
 (Cape Town Mail, March 12th, 1853.) 
 
 "An article having appeared recently in the ' Zuid 
 Afrikaan,' the purport of which seemed to be an attempt 
 to excuse or justify the Transvaal Boers in their late 
 attack on Secheli, the chief of the Baquaines, permit me 
 to make a few remarks concerning the fallacies thereof.. 
 The Boers, says the writer, feeling that Secheli was 
 getting too formidable in arms, resolved to deprive him of 
 them. He omits wholly to mention that the Boers, 
 previous to their being acknowledged as no longer rebels, 
 sent to Secheli several threatening letters, to the effect 
 that he must always inform them of the arrival of English 
 travellers in his country, otherwise they would inflict 
 immediate punishment on him. Those threats were 
 unheeded by him, as he was righteously unwilling to 
 betray the trust reposed in him by the English. Pre- 
 torius, at the time that these letters were sent to Secheli, 
 was himself an outlaw, with a price set upon his head ; of 
 which circumstance Secheli was aware, and therefore he 
 considered Pretorius to be usurping rights and forming 
 laws for his own advantage, without the knowledge of the 
 British Government. Feeling perfectly confident of his 
 
SEC'HELI AND BOERS. 
 
 101 
 
 innocence as to any charge of a criminal or aggressive 
 nature that Pretorius might feel disposed to prefer against 
 him, Secheli nobly determined to brave the consequences 
 that might ensue from his refusing to comply with his 
 unjust demand. In the year 1850 a party of English 
 gentlemen, while endeavouring to pass through the 
 country occupied by the Boers, were intercepted by them, 
 grossly insulted, and obliged to return to the Sovereignty. 
 On this account, Euglish travellers to the interior were 
 under the necessity of proceeding through the country of 
 the chief Secheli, where they felt perfectly secure from 
 future interruptions. 
 
 " But let us now revert to the main point, namely, 
 the recent attack upon the chief Secheli. A Com- 
 mando, consisting of four hundred Boers and six hun- 
 dred subjugated Kafirs, of the Bakonni tribe, occupying 
 the country to the eastward of the Moriga, with nineteen 
 wagons, arrived at the territory of Moselili, a chief occupy- 
 ing the country adjacent to the Boers. The chief, with 
 the able-bodied men, had fled on hearing of the approach 
 of the Boers ; considerable numbers of old men and women 
 remaining at the kraal, in the hope of obtaining peace from 
 the Boers by peaceable remonstrance. This hope was 
 delusive. Firing was immediately commenced on the part 
 of the Boers, which killed and wounded a great number of 
 men and women. The Boers then proceeded towards the 
 residence of the chief Secheli, a distance of about fifty 
 miles from the former chief, and arrived there on the 
 27th of August, 1852. Exorbitant demands were 
 made by the Boers, requiring Secheli to deliver up 
 guns, children, oxen, sheep, goats and cows. The chief 
 refused to comply, saying, ' I might as well be a dead man, 
 and my tribe destroyed. 1 The Boers resolved to attack 
 the kraal immediately, which they did on the 29th inst. 
 They opened a heavy fire, and the people of Secheli, of 
 course, returned it ; and this murderous and unequal 
 contest continued until night-fall, when those injured and 
 unoffending people were compelled to retreat. The Boers 
 possessed themselves of about twelve hundred head of 
 cattle, about a thousand children, and two hundred women ; 
 also seizing all the property left by the English travellers 
 in the charge of the chief, to the value of £1,200, which 
 
102 
 
 SECHELI AND BOERS. 
 
 he bad kept most carefully and honourably during the 
 owners' absence. A party of these Boers then proceeded, 
 to the mission-house at Rolesberg, — where the Rev. Dr. 
 Livingstone had long resided, but from which he was now 
 absent, distant about twelve miles, — and, having rifled it of 
 everything that appeared useful in their estimation, 
 destroyed his library and valuable medicine chest, carrying 
 away also doors, window-sashes, &c. We must not omit 
 here to mention that the Boers brought with them large 
 quantities of brandy, to support their courage in the tight, 
 and many were in a state of intoxication during the 
 contest. 
 
 " Having thus collected as much booty as was within 
 their reach, they then proceeded to the residence of 
 Sentulie, a neighbouring chief ; and, on their way, fell in 
 with detached parties of Maselili's tribe, who were 
 endeavouring to make their escape Avith their wives, 
 children and cattle. These wretched people they shot 
 down in the most cold-blooded manner, — they offering no 
 resistance whatever, but, on the contrary, wishing to 
 surrender. Here the Boers also enriched themselves with 
 numbers of cattle, women, and children. Sentulie, having 
 sent as many of his women and children as he could to the 
 mountains for safety, awaited the arrival of the Boers, 
 who immediately opened a heavy fire. His men then also 
 fled to the mountains, on gaining which they returned', 
 the fire of the Boers, who then retreated. Here alone, it 
 appears, they did not succeed in obtaining any cattle or 
 captives ; and they then returned to the Transvaal,, 
 where a division of their ill-gotten booty took place. 
 
 "We have evidence from Boers themselves, as well as 
 from Englishmen. 1. That many of these unfortunate 
 captives were exposed for sale, and some have even been 
 seen in the Sovereignty attending their masters, not 
 knowing that upon British ground no one can be a slave. 
 2. That slavery to a great extent is carried on by the 
 Transvaal Boers, there is no doubt ; and it only requires 
 investigation to be proved. 3. The main and real objects 
 of these attacks appear to have been expressly for the 
 purpose of obtaining native blacks for enslavement, and of 
 enriching themselves with cattle. 4. Hence they show 
 great unwillingness to permit the entrance of any English. 
 
SECHELI AND BOERS 
 
 103 
 
 travellers, who could report on, and expose, their un 
 righteous conduct. 
 
 " It has been asserted or insinuated by the writer of the 
 article in the 1 Zuid Afrikaan,' that Secheli has been in the 
 habit of selling slaves to the Portuguese of Delagoa Bay. 
 This is an utter falsehood, and is in fact impossible : no 
 Portuguese have ever visited Secheli's country. This 
 unfounded assertion only exposes the ignorance of the 
 writer in question, relative to the situations of the 
 countries inhabited respectively by the Portuguese and the 
 Baquaines, of whom Secheli is the chief. This letter has 
 been written in the presence and with the sanction of two 
 gentlemen, who have travelled for the past three years 
 into the interior of Africa, who can vouch for its strict 
 truth. I myself have also passed through Secheli's 
 country several times, and once subsequent to the attack 
 by the Boers, when I became acquainted with the facts I 
 here relate. ' 
 
 " We know for certain that Secheli is now on his way 
 to Cape Town, preparatory to visiting England, and is 
 prepared to confute any charges that interested parties 
 may feel disposed to bring against him. 
 
 " I have, &c, 
 
 " Veritas." 
 
 According to the last paragraph in the preceding 
 quotation, Secheli was expected at Cape Town, and he has 
 since arrived there ; yet, for some reasons not known to us, 
 he proceeded no farther, but returned, and, on his way, 
 passed through G-raaff-Reinet. Concerning his visit we 
 find the following notice in the " G-raaff-Reinet Herald. " 
 But I am not certain whether this was on his way to the 
 Cape, or on his return. 
 
 " The chief Secheli, accompanied by Messrs. Edwards 
 and Green, arrived here on Saturday afternoon last. We 
 understand that £119 have been collected in Bloemfontein, 
 and £10 in Colesberg, towards the expenses of the chief's 
 journey to England. 
 
 " This object does not appear to find much favour in 
 G-raaff-Reinet ; and his account of the light with the 
 Boers, and assertions of their having made slaves of his 
 people, are received with much coolness and suspicion. 
 
104 
 
 BASUTOLAND 1865. 
 
 He states that thirty-five Boers were killed in the attack 
 on his kraal, and fifteen wounded ; while he had eighty- 
 nine of his people killed, a thousand children and two 
 hundred women taken prisoners by the Boers, and carried 
 off into slavery. The natives are described as very 
 friendly to the English, but as having a wholesome horror 
 of the Boers, who make plundering forays on them for the 
 sake of obtaining cattle and slaves. The hostility of the 
 Republic to English travellers is said to arise from a wish 
 to conceal their treatment of the natives from the eyes of 
 the world, as weljj as from a desire to monopolize the trade 
 with the interior. 
 
 " The sooner Mr. Pretorius gets his printing-press the 
 better, as these stories, going about uncontradicted or 
 unexplained, will excite a deep feeling of dislike against 
 the Transvaal Republic, and may possibly tend con- 
 siderably to increase the difficulties of its position." 
 
 So much for Secheli and the Boers. And now to change 
 the scene to Basutoland. 
 
 Before daylight on the morning on the 20th of June, 
 1865, some two thousand warriors under Poshuli and 
 Morosi crossed the Caledon near its junction with Wilge- 
 boom Spruit, and commenced to ravage the district before 
 them. From the farm adjoining the commonage of Smith- 
 field they laid waste a broad belt of country for a distance 
 of thirty miles towards Bloemfontein. The inhabitants, 
 warned just in time to save their lives, fled without being 
 able to remove anything. The invaders burned the houses, 
 broke whatever implements they could not set fire to, 
 and drove off more than one hundred thousand sheep, be- 
 sides great droves of horned cattle and horses. In an hour 
 the richest men in the district of Caledon River were 
 reduced to destitution. 
 
 In this raid thirteen white men lost their lives. A 
 patrol consisting of fifteen burghers was surrounded, when 
 twelve of them were killed. The other three succeeded in 
 cutting their way out. A young colonist named Hugo 
 Stegmann was surprised and murdered in another part of 
 the district. 
 
 But the events of the day showed that in a fair field the 
 burghers were able to hold their own against ten times 
 their number of Basutos. A patrol consisting of thirty-five 
 
BARBAROUS MASSACRES 
 
 105 
 
 men was surrounded on an open plain, where for hours the 
 raiders hovered round them without daring to come to elo.se 
 quarters, and at nightfall the little band retired with only 
 one man slightly wounded. The invading force was 
 divided into three or four parties, the foremost of which 
 was turned back by a body of eighty farmers. These 
 burghers were joined during the night by a few others, and 
 on the 21st, the Basutos, who were then retreating with 
 their booty, were followed up, and were so nearly overtaken 
 that they abandoned between three and four thousand 
 sheep on the left bank of the Caledon. 
 
 This raid was followed by similar incursions into the 
 districts of Bloemfontein, Winburg, and Harrismith. The 
 villages were not attacked, but the farms were laid waste, 
 until there was a belt of country covered with ruins and 
 stamped with desolation from the Lesuto border to a line 
 £bout fifteen miles beyond the village of Winburg. 
 
 To these raids several massacres of a peculiarly barbarous 
 nature succeeded. Most of the half-breeds who had 
 formerly lived at Platberg, and who had acknow- 
 ledge Carolus Baatje as their head, had been residing 
 for some years by permission of the Free State 
 Government at Rietspruit, about twenty-five or thirty 
 miles from Bloemfontein. On the morning of the 27th 
 of June 'a large party of Basutos carrying a white flag 
 appeared at the village, and saluted the half-breeds with 
 friendly greetings. Moshesh's son Masupha, who was in 
 command, said that they had nothing to fear, for he was at 
 war with no one but Boers. An ox was killed for the 
 entertainment of the visitors, and the Basuto and half- 
 breeds sat down together to partake of food, all the time 
 conversing as friends. When the meal was over, Masupha 
 gave a signal, on which his followers fell without warning 
 upon the wretched half-breeds and murdered fifty-four 
 men and boys, not sparing even male infants at the breast. 
 Of the residents of the village only eight men escaped. 
 Of these, seven were at the time away on a hunting 
 expedition, and one, who was a short distance off when the 
 massacre took place, managed to hide himself in an 
 ant-eater's den. The murderers compelled the grown-up 
 girls to get into a waggon, which they took away with 
 them, together with such other property of their victims 
 
106 
 
 BASUTOLAND 1865. 
 
 as they fancied, leaving sixty-seven women and little girls 
 behind. 
 
 On the same day that the massacre of the half-breeds 
 took place, an equally atrocious deed was performed in 
 another quarter. A party of Boers with five transport 
 waggons laden with goods belonging to Messrs. Wm. 
 Mnnro & Co., of Durban, Natal, and destined for Pretoria 
 in the South African Republic, Avhere the firm of Munro 
 had a branch establishment, had halted to rest their cattle 
 on the Drakensberg, a few yards on the Free State side of 
 the Natal boundary. The party consisted of Pieter 
 Pretorius, who was a near relative of the President of the 
 South African Republic, his sons Jan, Albertus, and 
 Jacobus, Andries Smit, Jan Pretorius's wife and two- 
 children, six native men servants, a little native servant 
 boy, and an Indian coolie. The oxen were being 
 inspanned when a large body of armed Basutos, under 
 Ramanela, made their appearance. The Boers caught up 
 their guns, but the Basutos called them to come and talk as 
 friends. The Boers then went towards them and ex- 
 plained that they were not citizens of the Free State nor 
 combatants, and that the goods on their waggons belonged 
 to Englishmen. The explanation appeared to be 
 satisfactory, and in the supposition that they were safe the 
 Boers laid down their guns, when instantly the Basutos 
 fell upon them and murdered the five white men, the coolie,, 
 and three of the native servants. The other native servants,, 
 being Batlapin, were spared. 
 
 The murderers then left a guard with the waggons, and 
 went down into Natal. In the afternoon they returned 
 with droves of cattle, and went on homewards, taking the 
 waggons with them. On the way the waggon in which 
 the 'widow and children were confined broke down, and 
 was abandoned after the Basutos had removed the goods 
 and loaded their pack oxen with whatever they thought 
 most valuable. During the night the three Batlapin men 
 made their escape, and conveyed intelligence of the 
 massacre to Harrismith, when a party was immediately 
 sent out to search for the other survivors. In the mean- 
 time the widow, with her two children and the little 
 native boy, having left the waggon as soon as the 
 Basutos were out of sight, had lost her way, and it was not 
 
3IK. BOTES STABBED. 
 
 107 
 
 until the morning of the 29th that she reached the village,, 
 after wandering about for thirty-six hours. 
 
 On the following da) r a large party of Basntos carrying 
 a white flag approached the homestead of a wealthy farmer 
 named Jan Botes. Including two native servants, there 
 were only seven individuals capable of bearing arms at the 
 place. Deceived by the white flag, old Mr. Botes per- 
 mitted the Basutos to come close up and dismount, when 
 they fired a volley which wounded a German schoolmaster,, 
 named Schwim, and killed one of his servants. Old Mr. 
 Botes they stabbed to death with an assagai. The 
 remaining four had by this time seized their guns, and 
 Botes' eldest son shot a Mosuto, but was immediately 
 afterwards killed himself. The other three apparently 
 frightened the assassins, for they pretended to ride away.. 
 As soon as they were out of sight, the survivors mounted 
 their best horses and rode towards the nearest laager. The 
 Basutos followed, and easily overtook Schwim and the 
 women. These they compelled to return. The women 
 lifted Schwim from his horse, and his wife sat down by 
 him. The Basutos taunted them for a while, then they 
 made a target of the wretched man ; after firing several 
 shots at him finally stabbed him with assegais. After this 
 they destroyed everything on the place. When they left, 
 the women set out again for the nearest laager, and after 
 walking all night reached it in the morning. 
 
 On the 27th of June, at the very time that Kamanela's- 
 marauding band was lifting cattle in the Colony of Natal, 
 Sir Philip Wodehouse issued in Cape Town a proclamation 
 of neutrality in which all British subjects, European and 
 native, were warned against assisting either belligerent.. 
 It was, however, beyond his power to prevent aid from 
 reaching both the Free State and the Lesuto. 
 
 When intelligence of the sufferings of their kindred 
 reached the Colony, many a stalwart farmer shouldered his 
 rifle and rode off to the Free State camps. The Batlokua 
 refugees in the Herschel District could not be restrained. 
 Lehana, son of Sikonyela, came up from Griqualand East 
 with a baud of followers, was joined by the Herschel party,, 
 and crossed the Orange to help the burghers against his 
 hereditary foe. Many of the Fingoes of Herschel, calling 
 to mind ancient feuds and probably thinking of plunder,. 
 
108 
 
 BASUTO WAR 186.5. 
 
 made their way to the nearest laager and tendered their 
 services. Adam Kok, who was supposed to be under 
 Colonial influence though he was nor under Colonial 
 jurisdiction, joyfully seized the opportunity of retaliating 
 upon the Basuto for the robberies of Poshuli and Nehemiah, 
 and brought a band of Griquas to fight certainly for their 
 own hand, bnt on the Free State side. These auxiliaries 
 all combined amounted at one time during the war to as 
 many as eight hundred men. On the other hand Moshesh 
 received equal assistance from his friends. The bravest 
 warriors that fought for him were the strangers from 
 below the mountains who hastened to the Lesuto with a 
 view of sharing the spoil. Among these was a clan of the 
 Tembns nmder a chief named Tyali, the same people to 
 whom a portion of Emigrant Tembuland was assigned 
 a little later by Sir Philip Wodehouse. 
 
 Very different from a declaration of neutrality Avas a 
 proclamation issued on the 26th of June by Mr. Marthinus 
 Wessel Preforms, then President of the South African 
 Republic. In the warmest language of sympathy he 
 invited all who could to go to the assistance of the Free 
 State. "Rise brothers, rise fellow citizens, give help 
 where danger threatens. Delay not, or you may be for 
 ever too late. God will bless you for doing good to your 
 brethren. Forward ! As soon as possible 1 will myself 
 follow you." Bnt the Northern Republic was itself 
 menaced at that very time by powerful enemies, and though 
 most men agreed with the President that if Moshesh could 
 be compelled to observe his engagements the neighbouring 
 tribes would not attempt to disturb the peace, it was not 
 possible just then for much assistance to be sent from that 
 • quarter. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 BASUTO AVAR . 1865. 
 
 Account of the attempt to storm Thaba Bosigo and the- 
 death of Commandant Wepener on the loth of August, 
 I860. 
 
 At sunrise the whole force, amounting to2, 100 men, was 
 mustered — those without horses and those whose horses 
 were bad, to the number of about 600, were ordered to 
 remain in camp under the command of Commandant De 
 Villiers, whilst the remaining 1,500, with five guns, 500 
 Baraloug and iOO Fingoes, were to move on to Thaba 
 Bosigo. Two hundred Fingoes of the Smithfield division 
 were detached round the southern point of Coegoolu to 
 protect the camp from the enemy's approach from that 
 quarter, whilst the Barolongs under the command of 
 Webster, with the Bloemfontein Fingoes added, moved 
 off to our left to take lip position on a grass kop opposite 
 the mission Station of Thaba Bosigo and to keep the enemy 
 in check while the remainder of our forces were to advance 
 direct on to Thaba Bosigo with General Fick. 
 
 After the Fingoes and Baraloug had moved off to take 
 up their different positions, volunteers were called for to 
 storm the mountain, the Krygsraad having decided on this 
 step the previous evening, offering to every volunteer the 
 pick of farms in the conquered territory. About 550 men 
 offered, whose names were at once taken down. As 1,200 
 men were required for this service the remainder were to 
 be made up from the commando by order. 
 
 The settlement of this question took up a deal of 
 time, so that it was nine o'clock before we reached 
 the ground opposite the Southern point of Thaba Bosigo, 
 the heights of which were to be stormed, under cover of 
 the guns, by a footpath leading from Job's house. Here 
 another halt took place. The Volunteers were called to 
 the front, but in consequence of the men not being able to 
 decide about petty leaders, — the whole being by order 
 under Commandant Wepener — a great deal of time was 
 again lost. 
 
110 
 
 BASUT GLAND 1865. 
 
 At last all seemed pretty well agreed, when another 
 hitch took place with thirty men of Commandant Wessels. 
 In this there was so much talk and want of decision that the 
 General gave up the idea of storming the mountain this time. 
 He therefore at once issued an order to Commandant 
 Wepener to furnish 350 men, and from the other divisions 
 under Commandants Wessels, Joubert, Bester, Malan, 
 Roos, and De Villiers, 650, so as to complete the number 
 to 1,000 men, the whole under orders of Wepener to move 
 on to the Mission Station with the Whitworth and 
 Armstrong guns and from thence to make a circuit of 
 Thaba Bosigo, returning by the south point to where we 
 were standing. 
 
 Wepener with this force at once moved off, and soon 
 came on to the ground already occupied by the Barolong, 
 where they remained upwards of an hour inactive. The 
 General on seeing this presumed from the inactivity that 
 the guns could not be got through a deep ravine in their 
 front, and called a few officers together for the purpose of 
 deciding on what was best to be done, as to return to the 
 camp under the circumstance would tend to increase the 
 audacity of the enemy and give him false ideas of his 
 prowess. 
 
 As Ave were still opposite the point that was intended to 
 be stormed by the volunteers on the morning, and as on 
 •closer examination the storming seemed feasible, an order 
 was at once drawn up and given to the General's A.D.C. to 
 • carry to Wepener with oral instructions to the A.D.C. to 
 bring Wepener back to a certain position half-way between 
 where he stood and where we were, and from that point 
 Wepener and Wessels, with 600 men, were to storm 
 .Jod's house, then take possession of the large rocks 
 just behind, from which the ascent of the mountain Avould 
 be easy, and under cover of large rocks to within a short 
 distance of the top — 400 men under Commandant Bester 
 and Mr. Senekal to take possession of two large ravines, 
 one on the right and the other on the left of the approaches, 
 •and to cover Wepener and Wessels in their 'advance. 
 
 The A.D.C. arrived and gave his instructions .to Wepener, 
 but this Commandant having reconnoitred the path above 
 the Mission Station, thought the ascent easy, and that the 
 rstorming ought to take place there. He requested the Aide 
 
SKULKING BURGHERS. 
 
 Ill 
 
 to await his communication with the General, and at once 
 sent off his Adjutant stating his ideas. Shortly after 
 Wepener himself rode and met the General, who at once 
 acceded to his request and immediately ordered all the 
 -guns on to the new position, except Commandant Finlay, 
 with one gun, who remained accompanied by Commandant 
 H. Smit, and a few of Eoos's, Malan's, and other men of 
 -the original position. 
 
 On the return of Wepener, he having received the 
 General's sanction, the A.D.C. was called to read the 
 general orders to the Commandants and Field-cornets 
 whom he had assembled. As the features of the approach 
 were exactly the same, the orders were read and they were 
 prepared to carry them out. A few minutes later the 
 General appeared on the field with the Artillery, and at 
 once commenced a severe fire of shot and shell on the face 
 and summit of the hill, dislodging the enemy from several 
 strong positions. 
 
 On this the whole force was ordered to advance, viz. 
 Wepener and Wessels with 600, many of whom, however, 
 were already missing, having left the field under various 
 pretexts, others skulking and could not be found, so that 
 Wepener complained the storming force was diminished by 
 at least 100 men of the Smithfield division. Bester and 
 Senekal also moved on to the position of the gullies with 
 400 men, whilst on the left Webster with the Baralong 
 moved off to the position of the Mission house now 
 ■occupied by the enemy. 
 
 Bester soon gained possession of the gullies under pro- 
 tection of which he moved up. Wepener and Wessels 
 made a rush to a small ledge at the foot of the mountain, 
 under protection of which they dismounted, and prepared 
 for the storming. In the meantime we could see Webster 
 -and L. Papenfus about two hundred yards in front of the 
 Baralong under Tsepenare, and the Fingoes cheering them 
 on and endeavouring to get them to face the Mission 
 Station, from which a smart fire wa: now being poured 
 by the enemy. In a few minutes this was successfully 
 accomplished, but no sooner had they possession than a 
 large party of the enemy poured down the gorge through 
 which flows the Klein Caledon, and in rear of Webster. 
 The latter at once turned and repulsed them in this 
 
112 
 
 STORMING THABA BOSIGO. 
 
 quarter, when on arriving at the Mission Station, a 
 second time, another body of the enemy made a charge on 
 them, which was at once repulsed with heavy loss. 
 
 During all this the men with Wepener and Wessels 
 were creeping up, protected by Bester and a heavy fire 
 from the guns, the enemy in the meantime keeping up a 
 smart and warm fire on the advancing Boers. Another 
 hour passed, the stormers making apparently but little 
 progress whilst the artillery practice was really beautiful, 
 throwing shot and shell every now and then into the 
 barricades. When the shell took effect on the barricades, 
 the Basutos would make a rush to another from which 
 they would again have to be dislodged by the cannon. As 
 for our stormers, the position was so difficult that it was 
 as much as the men could do to crawl up from one shelter 
 to another. 
 
 At last, after more tban an hour's progress, our 
 people succeeded in reaching the first perpendicular rock t 
 about thirty feet high, through which ran a fissure (in 
 shape of one of those basaltie dykes common in the 
 Albert district), but so steep that our men had almost to 
 be shoved up on the summit of this rock and the top of 
 the dyke. The enemy had thrown up formidable stone 
 breast-works from which they knocked over several of our 
 men as they advanced. 
 
 Up to this time Commandant Wessels was slightly in 
 advance of Wepener, with all together about 120 men, the 
 remainder having become invisible, or remained behind 
 out of reach of shot under shelter. Wepener perceiving 
 the mountain was not to be carried by the small force then 
 with him, sent down to the General for reinforcements. 
 Shortly before this, Fick send his A.D.C. with orders to 
 Commandants Finlay and Smit to open fire on the front 
 we intended stoiming in the morning, and that 200 men 
 should take Job's house, and then advance among the big 
 stones to threaten the footpath leaning out at the back, so 
 that our men, seeing a diversion in their favour, would 
 move up more readily. This was, however, a failure, for 
 although Finlay served his gun well, and drove the enemy 
 from their position, Smit's men, upon having a few shots 
 into them, turned tail and fled back to the gun. 
 
 To return to Wepener and his demand for reinforce- 
 
GALLANT WEPENER KILLED. 
 
 113 
 
 nients. Immediately on receipt of the request, the 
 General sent his A.D.C. to Smit with an order for 100 
 men to move up to support Wepener. Smit at once 
 ordered his men to mount and proceed. But not one 
 would get up from the ground where they were seated. 
 Upon this the Adjutant-General went to him with the 
 same order, the General, in the meantime, vainly tryiug to 
 find out were the other 400 men were who ought to have 
 been with Wepener and Wessels, also Bester's, Joubert's, 
 Malan's, Roos' and De Villiers' men, who were ordered to 
 protect the advance in the gulleys, but whose duties in that 
 particular having ceased, ought to have moved up amongst 
 the big stones at the heads of the gullies and assisted 
 their comrades. None of these men were to be found by 
 the General, but after the affair was over it was dis- 
 covered many had gone to the mission house, and had 
 sheltered themselves beneath its walls to the number of 
 about 300, and Bester had remained in his position, trying* 
 from long range to render assistance. The Adjutant - 
 General failed also to obtain help from Smit, so that the 
 General himself went. He must also have failed, as he 
 returned about half an hour afterwards with about 100 of 
 the Smithfield Fingoes. 
 
 In the meantime Wepener had been killed, shot dead 
 with several others near him, and many wounded with 
 shot and large stones rolled on them. 
 
 Immediately on the General's return with assistance, 
 although he did not know of Wepener's death, he at once 
 galloped through to the foot of the mountain to drive on 
 the laggards and make them move up with the Fingoes, 
 who had in the meantime arrived and dismounted under 
 the protected ridge at the foot of the hill. The General 
 and staff had no sooner shown themselves than they were 
 received with a smart peppering from the summit of the 
 hill, but the Fingoes being formed, and many of the Boers 
 being called on by name by the General to accompany 
 them, a start was made. They proceeded about three 
 parts of the way up, when tremendous yells and screams 
 were heard from the Kafirs, with a rushing noise like a. 
 thousand horsemen in full charge. Our unfortunate but 
 gallant stormers were seen coming at a frightful pace 
 -down the mountain, dislodging the stones in a hurry, and 
 i 
 
114 
 
 RUNAWAY BOEKS AND BAROLONGS. 
 
 falling over each other in their wild and frantic haste — whilst 
 all who got wounded and fell, though not many — in that 
 rush, were left to their fate. Commandant Wessels who 
 had got wounded about twenty minutes previously, and 
 was slowly coming down, with difficulty escaped. 
 
 The retreat from the top is unaccountable, as at the 
 time the enemy were actually retiring gradually to the top, 
 and our men were in actual possession of some of their 
 barricades, chaffing the Basutos, asking them to show 
 themselves, young Mr. Sephton, who speaks Lesuto like 
 a. native, being the principal. Owen was there, and states 
 that they were obliged to shoot the guns of the enemy to 
 pieces as they projected over the rocks to fire at random, 
 and often they could almost seize the guns of the enemy. 
 They were in this position, patiently waiting the arrival 
 of reinforcements, when their attention was attracted by 
 the men retreating below them. The only cause assigned 
 for this affair is that when the men half down the moun- 
 tain saw Wessels returning wounded, they became alarmed 
 and caused the panic. 
 
 The artillery at once opened a smart fire and kept the 
 enemy in check, but still many of them came down and 
 took possession of the rocks and gullies as our men ran 
 away. The Baralongs and the Boers at the Mission house 
 ran long before it was necessary. In fact they might 
 have remained in possession altogether. The Baralongs 
 did not distinguish themselves at all. Mr. Webster, 
 assisted by Mr. L. Papenfus, tried repeatedly to get them 
 to move forward and support the stormers on the left, but in 
 vain. Webster then tried the Boers, but without success. 
 
 Immediately on the panic being seen by the General, he 
 ordered a smart fire to be kept by the guns on all Kafirs 
 who showed themselves. This order was accordingly 
 •carried out, and the fire was so well directed, that the 
 enemy could not show themselves in force until all our 
 men were down, although a few skirmishers were thrown 
 forward by them into the gulleys and rocks, opening fire 
 on our men as they retreated. Seeing the attack was for 
 the day repulsed, our wounded and dead were collected, 
 packed in wagons and started for camp. At the same 
 time the guns limbered up, and the whole force moved off 
 the ground towards camp, the enemy occasionally giving a 
 
SCOURING THE DRAAGSBERG-. 
 
 115 
 
 shot amongst the thickest of us with a gun carrying eight 
 to the pound, and being steel pointed. Of these they fired 
 -several during the day, and although the distance from 
 which the gun was fired mast have been 1,200 yards, in 
 every case the shot was well aimed and nearly took effect. 
 Thus ended the second attack and repulse of Thaba 
 Bosigo. 
 
 (The list of killed in the attack contains nine names 
 beside that of Commandant Louw Wepener.) 
 
 On the 23rd of February, 1866, the combined com- 
 mandos of Fick and De Villiers, consisting of the Win- 
 burg, Harri smith, and Cronstadt burghers, 546 in number, 
 with sixty one natives as scouts, left their camp near 
 Leribe with the intention of scouring the Drakensberg. 
 They spent that night on the bank of the Orange River, 
 where there was no fuel to be had, without other shelter 
 than their blankets, though- heavy rain was falling with 
 occasional showers of hail. 
 
 On the 24th they penetrated further into the mountains, 
 the rain still continuing with a cold north-west wind. On 
 the 25th, 26th, and 27th they scoured the mountains which 
 rose in an endless succession of peaks and tables around 
 them. They were over nine thousand feet above the level 
 of the sea, and though the summer was not yet past and 
 the heat on the plains from which they had come up was 
 unpleasantly great, they were suffering severely from cold. 
 A heavy mist filled the ravines, and at night rain fell ia 
 drizzling showers. Some of the burghers had never felt 
 such chilling air before, and as their clothing and blankets 
 were all wet and there was no fuel, they were undergoing 
 •great discomfort. 
 
 The 28th was a clear warm day. That uight they 
 spent on the very crown of the Drakensberg, where on one 
 side the rich grasslands of Xatal lay at a vast depth 
 beneath them, and on the other side they could look down 
 on a sea of cloud and mist covering the rugged belt of 
 desolation which they had just passed through. They 
 were above the rain and hail from which they had suffered 
 so much, and on the mountain top they passed the night in 
 excellent spirits, though they were weary and the air was 
 <cold. 
 
 At four in the morning of the 1st of March the burghers 
 i 2 
 
116 
 
 MAKAVAIS MOUNTAIN 1*67. 
 
 left their elevated sleeping place, and before noon they 
 were again in the belt of rain and hail. On the 2nd, while 
 passing through a gorge*under Thabo Patsoa, their advance- 
 guard was attacked by about two thousand Basutos, whose 
 chief object was to recover the droves of cattle which Avere 
 being driven on behind. The Basutos, however, were 
 speedily put to flight. In the afternoon the burghers 
 reached the camp which they had left eight days before, 
 without having lost one of their number or having one 
 wounded. They brought in 184 horses, 2,722 head of 
 horned cattle, and 3,500 sheep ; and they had counted 
 thirty bodies of Basuto whom they had killed. 
 
 On the 25th of September, 1867, however, Makwai's 
 Mountain, one of the great natural fortresses of the 
 country, was taken by Chief Commandant Pansegrouw's 
 division. A camp had been formed in its neighbourhood,, 
 from which during the night of the 24th three parties set 
 out. The first of these parties consisted of sixty 
 European volunteers and 100 Fingoes under Commandant 
 Ward. It marched to the east end of the mountain. The 
 second, consisting of 200 burghers under Commandant 
 Jooste, marched to the north side. And the third, 200 
 burghers under the Chief Commandant himself, marched 
 to the south side 
 
 Under the darkness of night Ward's party crept un- 
 molested up the steep slope, and at daybreak found itself 
 on an extensive tableland with enormous masses of broken 
 rock forming the background. The garrison was taken by 
 surprise, the first intimation of the attack which they 
 received being a volley of bullets. Some cattle were 
 discovered here, and the Fingoes at once commenced, 
 driving them down. This gave the Basutos an 
 opportunity to rally, and they came on in such force that 
 the volunteers were obliged to fall back, and, after a brief 
 stand, to retire from the mountain. 
 
 While the attention of the Basutos was directed to this 
 quarter Commandant Jooste's men were scaling the 
 northern side. Happily they reached without accident the 
 summit of what may be termed the pedestal, but before 
 them were great rocks fortified with numerous seances. 
 These they took by storm, one after another. While so 
 engaged, they were strengthened by one hundred men 
 
TAXDJESBERG 1868. 
 
 from the Chief Commandant's party, who had crept up in 
 the opposite direction. Upon seeing these the Basutos lost 
 ;all heart and fled, leaving the Free State forces in full 
 possession of the mountain. Large stores of wheat and 
 millet, besides 350 horned cattle, over 5,000 sheep, and 
 sixty-eight horses fell into the hands of the conquerors. 
 A.t least sixty-seven Basutos were killed. This stronghold 
 was not taken without a considerable number of the 
 captors being wounded, but only one life was lost. 
 
 The mountain of Tandjesberg was taken by storm by Chief 
 Commandant Pansegrouw. On the 28th of January 1868. 
 
 This stronghold was attacked in the same manner as 
 Makwai's mountain. Commandant Van tier Merwe with 
 the Fauresmith burghers was sent to make a feint at the 
 north-eastern point while Commandant Jooste with a 
 strong detachment crept up the south-western extremity. 
 _An hour before daybreak Van der Merwe, under a heavy 
 fire of cannon, pretended to storm the mountain, his 
 burghers keeping up a continual discharge of rifles, but 
 not exposing themselves unnecessarily. The ruse 
 succeeded. Poshuli's men were drawn towards the 
 threatened point, and, Jooste seized the opportunity to 
 climb up to the top of the great mound. The rocks there 
 were full of seances, the first of which was in possession of 
 the burghers before the enemy was aware of what was 
 taking place. 
 
 Even then the position of Poshuli's men would have 
 been impregnable if they had not lost heart. In some 
 places the burghers had to scale steep rocks to attack the 
 seances, but in their enthusiasm they surmounted every 
 obstacle, and early in the morning they were in full posses- 
 sion of the stronghold, from which the Basuto had fled in 
 .a panic. Though only six burghers were wounded, the 
 conquerors counted one hundred and twenty-six dead 
 bodies of their enemies. How many more of the Basuto 
 were killed and how many were wounded cannot be stated 
 with accuracy, but the number of the latter was very con- 
 siderable. The movable spoil consisted of 106 horses. 
 140 head of horned cattle, 1,070 sheep, and a very large 
 quantity of grain. 
 
 Among those who fell at Tandjesberg was the com- 
 :mander of the garrison, Mosbesh's brother Poshuli, the 
 
118 
 
 AMMUNITION STOPPFD. 
 
 most renowned robber captain in South Africa. He was 
 wounded in the leg, and was endeavouring to get away 
 with the assistance of one of his sons and two or three of 
 his councillors, when he found himself exposed to a fire of 
 musketry from the front. To lighten himself he unbuckled 
 his ammunition pouch and gave it with his rifle to his son.. 
 The party then tried to escape into a gorge leading down 
 the mountain, but they had only proceeded a few yards 
 when a ball entered between Poshnli's shoulders audi 
 passed through his chest, killing him instantly. His son 
 and councillors managed to conceal the body in a cave 
 until nightfall, when they carried it away for burial, m the 
 engagement one of the inferior half brothers of Moshesh 
 also fell, and two of Poshnli's sons were wounded. 
 
 The loss of Tandjesberg was considered by the Basutos 
 the severest blow they had received since the formation of 
 the tribe by Moshesh. From its fall the cry of the old, 
 chief to the High Commissioner was earnest and unceasing, 
 to come quickly or it would be too late. The burghers 
 were in a corresponding degree inspirited. The young 
 corn was now so far grown that it could be easily destroyed, 
 and they Avere doing their utmost to cut it down. Their- 
 hope was strong that with a little further exertion 
 Moshesh's power would certainly be broken, and the tribe 
 which had so long menaced their very existence be scattered 
 in fragments too weak to be dangerous. 
 
 Sir Philip Wodehouse, on finding that President Brand's 
 Government did not cease hostilities, issued directions that 
 no ammunition should be permitted to be removed from any 
 of the Colonial ports to the Free State Avithout his 
 authority. But while acting in this decided manner, his 
 language to the President was more friendly and con- 
 ciliatory than it had ever been before. He pointed out 
 that " if a fair understanding could be arrived at, the 
 British authorities would he bound to maintain a due con- 
 trol over their own subjects, and the people of the Free 
 State would thus be left to enjoy in peace, and without 
 any extraordinary effort on their part, the lands they had 
 hitherto held on such unprofitable terms." He was 
 seeking, he said, the welfare cf the Free State quite as 
 much as that of the Basutos. He could not forget that its 
 people were all but a few years before, as many of them. 
 
THE KIEME CAPTURED. 
 
 119 
 
 still were, British subjects ; that they were the near kins- 
 men of the people of the Cape Colony ; and that any mis- 
 fortunes that befell them must to a great extent be shared 
 by the colonists. He therefore still allowed himself to 
 hope that he might gain the assent of the Free State 
 Government to his proposals, and that by consenting to 
 suspend hostilities with a view to negotiation, that Govern- 
 ment would prevent further unnecessary sacrifice of human 
 life. 
 
 On the 22ud February another great success was 
 achieved by Chief Commandant Pansegrouw's brigade. 
 Before daylight that morning the same tactics that had 
 been successful at Makwai's mountain and Tandjesberg 
 were employed against the Kieme, the stronghold of 
 Letsie. Pansegrouw himself with one hundred burghers 
 made the feint on this occasion. Letsie was at the time on 
 a visit to Thaba Bosigo, and Lerothodi, his eldest son, was 
 in command of the garrison. The Basutos collected to 
 resist the supposed attack, when Commandant Jooste with 
 four hundred and eighty burghers and eighty European 
 volunteers scaled the mountain in another direction. Most 
 of the seances were taken, but several of the strongest 
 were left unattacked, as they were so situated that to 
 storm them would have cost a great loss of life, without 
 any advantage. The Basutos in them were practically shut 
 up, and in course of time must either have made their 
 escape or surrendered. One burgher was wounded, and 
 some 30 Basutos were killed. The spoil taken consisted of 
 720 horses, 7,636 head of horned cattle, 14,400 sheep, one 
 cannon, and a quantity of grain. 
 
 For some time now the Basutos had only been kept 
 together by the encouragement given by Sir Philip Wode- 
 house, who was anxious to prevent them from crowding 
 into the Colony in a state of destitution. When intelli- 
 gence of the capture of the Kieme reached Cape Town, the 
 High Commissioner recognized that if the tribe was to be 
 preserved intact no time must be lost in placing it under 
 British protection. Accordingly Sir Walter Carrie, 
 Commandant of the Frontier Armed and Mounted Police, 
 was directed to mass as many of his men as possible on 
 the border, and as soon as that could be done a proclama- 
 tion was issued by Sir Philip Wodehouse, which notified 
 that the British Government had taken over Basutoland. 
 
120 
 
 CAVES AND CANNIBALS. 
 
 The Proclamation by which the Basutos became British 
 subjects and their country British territory was dated on 
 the 12th of March, 1868, and was published on the follow- 
 ing day. It was received by the majority of Europeans in 
 South Africa with great disfavour, for there was almost 
 universal sympathy with the Free State. Many even 
 regarded the interference of the High Commissioner as a 
 wrong, which sooner or later would surely be followed by 
 retribution. There could be no permanent peace, it was 
 asserted, until the Basuto tribe was reduced to submission. 
 If ever there was a war in which all the justice lay on one 
 side, it was certainly this one. The little Free State, 
 whose total white population was only thirty-seven 
 thousand souls, had nearly succeeded in doing that which 
 Great Britain herself had failed to accomplish, and just 
 when victory was certain its fruits were snatched away 
 by the hand that ought to have been most friendly. 
 Language such as this was not confined to Dutch speaking 
 people : many colonists of English descent expressed 
 themselves with equal feeling on the subject. 
 
 On the other hand a small section of the community, 
 confined almost exclusively to men engaged in commerce, 
 maintained that this act of Sir Philip Wodehouse was 
 necessary in the general interests of the country and was 
 by no means an unfriendly one towards the Free State. 
 It was pointed out that Thaba Bosigo was not yet taken, 
 and it was argued that the Basuto tribe, even if conquered, 
 could not be kept in control by its exhausted opponent. 
 
 When Sir P. Wodehouse interposed the Basuto tribe 
 seemed ready to break up into a hundred fragments. There 
 was a great deal of sickness among the people, owing to 
 want of food and shelter by the clans that had been most 
 exposed. It was believed that some of them had resorted 
 again to cannibalism, but Europeans could not then 
 ascertain whether this was correct or not. Four fnonths 
 later the rumour was, hoAvever, proved to be true. In July 
 Mr. J. H. Bowker was shown a cave, of which he wrote 
 to the High Commissioner, that the floor and the open 
 space in front were so covered with human bones, chiefly 
 of young people, that he could have loaded a wagon with 
 them in a short time ; all of the skulls were broken ; and 
 though some of the bones were apparently many years old, 
 others had been cooked quite recently. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 BATTLE BETWEEN CETYWAYO AND HIS BROTHER, EMBULAZI, 
 OX THE BANKS OF THE TUGELA RIVER, IN 1856. 
 
 Haying given the particulars of the 1850-1-2-3 Ain- 
 :axosa War in British Kaffraria, we now enter upon a new 
 phase of our subject. 
 
 It has before been explained that Kafirs (I use the 
 generic term) usually take the field about January or. 
 February, as the maize and millet crops upon which, with 
 the occasional addition of meat, they principally depend, 
 are then ripe. The nights are also at this season of the 
 year short and warm, and the days long and genial. At 
 -this time also nature with lavish hands strews over the 
 verdant fields many kinds of wild edible fruits well known 
 to the Kafirs. The maize and millet crops being, 
 therefore, stored, the cattle and women being sent away to 
 the caves and inaccessible mountain fastnesses, and three 
 or four of the mildest months of the year before him (as, 
 being within the tropics, no rain worth speaking of falls in 
 the winter), the Kafir warrior, after long preparation, and 
 having acquired a lusty, boisterous, and hilarious state of 
 health from the abundant and bountiful vegetation and 
 from the cattle which thrive so well therefrom, enters 
 upon his campaign under the most favourable circum- 
 stances. Accordingly, about this time Cetywayo, the 
 eldest son of Um Pande's chief wife, having become ¥ 
 jealous or fearful of the increasing power of his brother 
 Umbulazi (who was favoured by the old king), sent out 
 five or six regiments against him during midsummer in 
 the latter end of 1856. The two armies met near or upon 
 the old battle ground near the northern bank of the Great 
 Tugela River, and after a terrific and bloody conflict, the 
 forces of Umbulazi were utterly routed. A band of 
 European an- 1 coloured hunters who had taken active part 
 on the side of the latter had much difficulty in beating a 
 Tetreat, having to retire whilst loading and firing as fast as 
 sthey could, and so managed to keep off the Zulus, who, 
 
122 
 
 BATTLING BROTHERS. 
 
 not having guns in those days, were in considerable fear 
 of the great elephant guns of the hunters. One European 
 hunter was chased into a small clump of bushes and 
 brought to bay, but after shooting three or four of his 
 leading pursuers the latter halted, no one of them liking 
 to be the first to enter the bush, thinking that death would 
 be certain. The ammunition of the hunter was now 
 entirely exhausted, but by ringing the iron ramrod into the 
 empty barrel he induced the Zulus into the belief that he 
 had again loaded, and after a while his pursuers were 
 recalled by messenger, and the fortunate hunter instantly 
 availed himself of his chance, and plunging into the 
 swollen Tugela swam to the opposite shore. Some three 
 thousand of Umbulazi's Zulus (men, women, and children) 
 were assegaied on land or driven helter-skelter into the 
 brimming river and drowned ; Cetywayo's warriors in the 
 meantime laughing exultingly, with fiendish glee, when 
 with their cruel and keen assegais they pinned the babe on 
 the mother's back to her quivering form. From the 
 mouth of the Tugela to Port Natal, some forty miles, the 
 beach was as thickly strewn with black corpses as when 
 some marine convulsion lines the shore with dead mac- 
 kerel. Umbulazi was killed in the action, and it is said 
 Cetywayo had him skinned alive, and then crucified upon 
 an opened nest of bulldog ants. 
 
 In order to make sure doubly sure. I strengthen myself 
 with another account afforded by an eye-witness, who 
 says : — " In the year 1856 it was rumoured in Natal that 
 another of Pande's sons, Umbulazi, was also forming a 
 faction in the tribe (Zulu), and as this was believed to be 
 regarded with some satisfaction by the king, Cetywayo was 
 resolved to prevent by the strong hand all chance of success- 
 ful rivalry with himself. In consequence of some threaten- 
 ing manifestations of this purpose, Umbulazi withdrew, 
 with his own particular adherents, to the Tugela. But 
 this movement on his part only gave point to the suspicions 
 of his brother, as it seemed to him to indicate that 
 Umbulazi was expecting support, or at least countenance, 
 from the Government in Natal, which was well known to 
 be the firm friend of the old chief. At a critical moment 
 one of the principal advisers of Urn Pande declared his 
 adhesion to the pretensions of Cetywayo, and took over a 
 
RE YD. ToXXESOx's ACCOUNT. 
 
 123 
 
 large party of the king's most 'trusty followers with hirn. 
 tJetywayo therefore followed his brother with an over- 
 whelming armed force.'" ]\Ir. Tonneson, who was at the 
 time attached to the Norwegian Mission Station m Zulu- 
 laud, and who is the witness alluded to, has given a most 
 graphic description of the sudden arrival of Cetywayo's 
 force in the neighbourhood of this place, as it pursued 
 Umbulazi : — All at once scouts appeared suddenly on the 
 hill-tops around, as if they had risen out of the ground by 
 magic, in the late evening, looking like small dark specks 
 against the bright sunset sky. These scouts at one moment 
 were concealed behind the large war shield advanced 
 before them as a screen ; then they assumed the aspect of 
 big spiders from the protrusion of their arms and legs ; and 
 then more and more appeared upon the hills, and upon the 
 higher ledges, all moving rapidly, but with utmost silence, 
 in one direction. After a brief time, a dense black mass 
 poured forth from a valley about a mile and a-half away, 
 and advanced into the plain between the Rivers Umhlatu- 
 zane and Umatikulu. This was one of the three divisions 
 into which Cetywayo's army was distributed, the whole 
 force having assumed the designation and the war cry of 
 " Usutu," in contradistinction to Umbulazi's party, which 
 was known amongst them as the "Usixosa." On the -' 
 following day Cetywayo himself came forward into the 
 plain with another division of his men, and the two divisions 
 then encamped for a couple of days, until they had satisfied 
 themselves that Umbulazi was not hidden in the dense 
 forest around, with a view of getting into their rear when 
 they advanced beyond. From what Mr. Tonneson gleaned 
 from the adherents of both sides, his impression was that 
 Urn Pande had in reality no very strong predilection to u 
 either party, and that the idea that he favoured Umbulazi 
 arose chiefly from the representations made for their own 
 purposes by that chieftain's people as they come along, and 
 with a view to increase his adherents. Cetywayo obviously 
 suspected that the " Usixosa " were favored by the English, 
 and not altogether unreasonably, as it afterwards appeared 
 that some white men from beyond the border did fight on 
 their side. It is however, a notable and very remarkable 
 fact that the white missionaries were in no way molested 
 during the passage of Cetywayo's force. Of the three 
 
124 
 
 JOHN DUNN S ACCOUNT. 
 
 divisions, one was commanded by Cetywayo himself, a 
 second was led by a chief named Uzemala, and the third 
 by a young Dutchman named Christian Greening 
 (Greening ?). On the third day the " Usutu " all passed 
 on towards the Tngela, and they ultimately found 
 Umbulazi upon an eminence near the Tngela River. The 
 main body of the army attacked him there with some 
 vehemence, and while he was meeting this attack by xhe 
 help of some white men with firearms, who were with him, 
 the two wings pushed forwards on each side to surround 
 him, and cut off his retreat upon the river. As soon as the 
 attacked party became aware of this movement they fled 
 precipitately, and fell by hundreds beneath the assegais of 
 their pursuers. It also happened unfortunately that the 
 river was in full flood at the time, and that in consequence 
 a great number more were drowned in attempting to cross 
 the stream. Umbulazi and five other sons of Um Pande 
 f were slain in this battle, which was fought on the banks of 
 the Tugela on December 2nd, 1856, and which was known 
 to the Kafirs as the battle of Endonda Kusuka. This is 
 the same spot where John Cane lost his life in fighting 
 against the Zulus in the time of Dingaan, and is 
 near where Fort Pearson is now erected. Um Pande 
 was greatly aggrieved at the occurrence and at the 
 death of his sons ; but Mr. Tonneson says that he was 
 quite sure he would have been equally concerned if victory 
 had inclined the other way, and Cetywayo and his brother 
 Uhamu, who sided with him, had fallen. The strife was 
 I one which Um Pande deplored bitterly on every ground, 
 but which he was entirely powerless to prevent. It was 
 reported at the time that Cetywayo intended to pursue 
 Umbulazi over the frontiers of the colony if he had 
 succeeded in passing the river. 
 
 The following is John Dunn's account of this battle : — 
 In November 1856, Capt. Walmesley gave me permission 
 to take a short trip up the Tugela River with my hunters 
 in search of elephants. On reaching Zululand we found 
 the people in a very unsettled state, as it was reported that 
 two of Umpande's sons, Cetywayo and Umbulazi, were 
 preparing to have a fight. My hunters did not like the 
 idea of going on. I, however, persuaded them to do so ; 
 and so we went higher up the Tugela, where we were 
 
JOHX DUXx's ACCOUNT. 
 
 125 
 
 fortuuate enough to bag three elephants and several 
 buffaloes. I then decided to return, as the people were all 
 up in arms, and did not sleep at their kraals, as was their 
 custom when fighting was expected. A few days after my 
 return, as an influx of refugees was expected, I was 
 ordered, with the Border Police, to the Tugela Drift (ford) r 
 and whilst there Umbulazi, with two of his brothers, came 
 over to beg for some assistance, which the Government, of 
 course, would not give. I, however, got permission from 
 Capt. Walmsley to volunteer, with any of the Xativev' 
 Police who might like to go with me. So in one day I 
 raised a small force and went across the Tugela River and r 
 took up my quarters with Umbulazi's army, which 
 numbered about 7,000. The second day after my arrival 
 in camp, the Usutu, as Cetywayo's army was called, came 
 in sight during the afternoon. As I was scanning the hills 
 with my telescope, I was first to see the enemy. On 
 seeing the great odds against us — the Usutu being about 
 20,000 strong — I advised Umbulazi to send all the women, 
 children, and cattle across the Tugela. This he un- 
 fortunately refused to do, and one of his brothers,. 
 Mantantasheya, jeered and said if I was afraid I might go 
 home, as they were quite strong enough to cope with the 
 Usutu. This made my blood boil, as it was not from any 
 fear that I had given the advice, but with the view of 
 getting the women and cattle out of our way. I also 
 advised that we should go and meet the enemy. This,, 
 though it was now late in the afternoon, was agreed to,, 
 and our army was summoned and on the move in a short 
 time. On seeing us advance Cetywayo's army came to a 
 halt. We then went to within six or seven hundred yards 
 of the advance scouts, and I fired a couple of shots at 
 them, which made them retreat, and, it being now nearly 
 sunset, we also retreated. I must not forget to state 
 that Walmsley's last words to me as I landed on the 
 Zulu side of the Tugela river — he having accompanied me 
 in the boat — were, " Make peace if you can, Dunn, but if 
 you cannot succeed, fight like devils, and give a good 
 account of yourselves." This I promised to do. 
 
 On the morning of the 2nd of December, 1856, broke that 
 memorable day. It was a raw, cold, drizzling morning when 
 the call to arms was sounded. On our army being assembled.. 
 
126 
 
 john dunn's account. 
 
 I asked Umbulazi if our scouts knew anything of 
 the movements of the enemy. The answer Avas that lie 
 did not know. Just then a puff of wind blew his ostrich 
 plume off. This I took to be a bad omen, and so did the 
 warriors, for there was a murmur amongst them. I now 
 had a strong suspicion that an attempt would be made by 
 the enemy to cut us off from the Tugela. I therefore 
 immediately called upon my men to follow me, and rode off 
 towards the river. This was the last I saw of Umbulazi. 
 What I suspected turned out to be true ; and as luck 
 would have it, 1 rode straight for the head of the right 
 wing of the Usutu that was trying to cut us off. I rode 
 to within about 400 yards, and called out to them to wait 
 for us if they were not cowards, and then galloped back 
 and hastened my small force of about 250, with shields 
 and assegais, and about forty more men with muskets of 
 every queer variety. Seeing a man on horseback caused a 
 feeling of uneasiness amongst the Usutu, a horse being 
 at that time an object of terror to many of them, and for 
 a time the Usutu remained rooted to the spot on which 
 they stood and where I had left them. As soon as I got 
 my men up — although there must have been ten to one 
 opposed to us — I went straight at them, seeing that that 
 was the only chance of getting out of the now fast-closing 
 circle. Seeing such a small force daring to attack such 
 odds caused a panic amongst the Usutu, as they felt sure 
 that I must be backed up by a very much larger force, and 
 after very little righting we drove them before us for about 
 half a mile, killing many. I then re-called my men, and 
 although my intentions had been to have only cut my way 
 through, and make for Natal, I now felt confident from 
 the success we had, and being excited, I made up my mind 
 to see the end of it. This was lucky for many of our side, 
 as we had eventually to keep in check the whole of the 
 Usutu army, consequently giving many who would have 
 lagged and got killed a chance of escaping. On the main 
 road I overtook the jeerer, Mantatasheya, completely 
 knocked up. He begged me to put him on my horse, but 
 as his weight was about three times that of mine, and as 
 my horse had done good work, I did not see it, and so left 
 him. The French philosopher says that there is always a 
 pleasurable feeling in our breasts when we behold the 
 
JOHN DUXX's ACCOUNT. 
 
 127 
 
 misfortunes of others ; be that true or not, generally 
 speaking, in my particular case I might be pardoned if I 
 experienced a momentary feeling of triumphal satisfaction 
 at his idea of leaving me ail the fighting to do after the 
 jeering way he had spoken when I advised the retreat of 
 the women and cattle. He had taken no part whatever in 
 the fight. 
 
 I tried hard to rally our men — as the Usutu, after the 
 dressing vre had given them, did not press us. but kept 
 following at a respectful distance, merely killing stragglers 
 — but without the slightest avail. The position was not 
 pleasant, the Tugela river being in high flood, and I saw 
 that we must adopt one of two alternatives, i.e., stand and 
 try to beat them off, or get downward from this point. 
 We began to overtake and get mixed up with the women, 
 the children, and the infirm of our party, and in this con- 
 fused condition Ave went on to the banks of the Tugela. I 
 again tried to rally our men, but without effect. A panic 
 had seized all, and the scene was a sight never to be for- 
 gotten. There were several traders, with their wagons, 
 encamped on the banks of the river. They were, of course, 
 obliged to abandon their wagons, and each man to look 
 after himself. The faith among the Zulus in the power of 
 a white man in those days was beyond conception. (I put 
 these words in italics because at the beginning of the Zulu 
 ^Yar of 1879 the same faith or fear existed until 
 dissipated by the blundering vacillation of Lord 
 Chelmsford.) As soon as I got to the river I 
 was at once rushed at by men, women, and children 
 begging me to save them. Several poor mothers held out 
 their babes to me offering them to me as my property if I 
 would only save them. And now the Usutu were fairly 
 amongst us, stabbing right and left without mercy, and 
 regardless of sex, and as I saw that my only chance was 
 to try and swim for it, I urged my horse into the water, 
 but was no sooner in than I was besieged from all sides by 
 men clinging to me, so that my horse was. so to say, com- 
 pletely rooted to the spot. I now jumped off, stripped 
 myself, all but hat and shirt, and taking nothing but my 
 gun which I held aloft, and swam with one hand. Yes, I 
 handed over my horse to a Hottentot and swam for dear 
 life. The ferry boat now crossed towards me after 
 
128 
 
 JOHN DUNNS ACCOUNT. 
 
 dodging through a drowning mass of bodies in a wild and 1 
 higgledy-piggledy confusion of heads, arms, and legs,., 
 whilst the yelling was something awful. I can assure my 
 readers that I was deeply thankful when I managed to 
 climb up on the boat. The ferryman himself was so much 
 excited that he hardly knew what he was doing, and one 
 of my poor fellows who reached the boat with me, and 
 who was hanging on, he struck over the head, and the 
 man sank to rise no more. The scene was horrible. The 
 Usutu were, with terrible earnestness, hard at work with 
 the deadly assegai, in some cases pinning babies to their 
 mothers' quivering forms. Having now lost my gun, I 
 tried hard to get hold of another, as I could not stand by 
 inactive and look at this slaughter ; but although there 
 were several traders there with their guns in their hands 
 they would not lend me one for fear that the Usutu might 
 succeed in crossing and then revenge themselves. Of my 
 small party very few managed to get across, nearly all of 
 them being stabbed or drowned in the river. My horse 
 got across all right, and as soon as I could manage to 
 borrow a pair of trousers 1 jumped on him bare back — 
 without my boots — and galloped off, for I knew that the 
 report of the fight would cause a panic in Natal. I had 
 got half way to the Nonoti — at which place I resided 
 with Capt. Walmsley — when I met that gentleman, the 
 present Sir Theo. Shepstone, Mr. Williams, the late 
 Magistrate of Umhlali, and Mr. Jackson, the present 
 Magistrate of the Umlazi Division of Durban County.. 
 These gentlemen were on their way to the Tugela, as it 
 had been reported to them that heavy firing had been 
 heard, but they were not aware of the cause of it. When 
 I got home I found that owing to an alarming report that 
 the Usuto were crossing the river, my Kafirs had started 
 for Natal. I sent after them, however, and the 
 messengers overtook them a few miles on their road to 
 Durban. 
 
 Cetywayo on this occasion came down to the banks of 
 the Tugela. Six of his brothers, including Uinbulazi, 
 were killed on our side. Cetywayo, in his retreat, swept 
 off all the traders' cattle, amountiug to about 1,000. 
 After a while, when everything was quiet again, the 
 Natal Government sent in Mr. H. F. Fynn (the father of 
 
BATTLE OX THE TUG-ELA. 
 
 129 
 
 the present Magistrate of Unisinga) to claim these cattle, 
 but, owing to some mismanagement, he retnrned without 
 them. 
 
 The following is another account of this battle by the 
 Utrecht correspondent of a Xatal paper. 
 
 In the meantime, before Umbulazi's return from the 
 Border Agent's, his army had advanced close to Nongu- 
 lazi's kraal, and camped on the ridge near the sources of 
 the Inyoni River, about three miles south of my house. 
 It was here that Dunn and his party joined Umbnlazi's- 
 army, as did the Boer party, consisting of 
 Andries Gous (the leader) and two sons of Paul Duprez 
 and two brothers, John Struvdom, Thomas Morris, and 
 old Camkin, with about forty Hottentot and Kafir hunters 
 armed with elephant guns. Hearing that Dunn was in 
 Umbulazi's camp, Messrs. Moore, Jackson, and myself 
 walked over to see Dunn and asked him if he had been 
 sent by orders of the border agent, or if the Xatal Govern- 
 ment intended to interpose by mediation or otherwise. 
 Dunn replied that he had been sent there by orders of Capt- 
 tain Walmsley to await further instructions, which were 
 hourly expected in reply to the Border Agent's despatches ' 
 to the Government, which had been sent to Pietermaritzburg 
 by special messengers. When asked what action he 
 should take in the event of a collision between the two 
 armies before his instructions arrived, he said that decidedly 
 in that case he should defend Umbulazi. Upon this ri&k 
 of white interference, we did not consider it safe to depend 
 on .the expectation of being regarded as neutral, and deter- 
 mined to remove our families and as much property as 
 possible to Xatal, and while we were loading up the 
 advanced guard of Cetywayo's army appeared in sight 
 above the house, and one of his spies rushed up to me for ' 
 protection, declaring that he was not a spy. I then tested 
 him with Umbulazi's countersign : — " Who was the causfe 
 of this disturbance " but he did not know the answer, ^ 
 which ought to have been : " Masipula," and loathing t& 
 see the fellow killed before my eyes, I conducted him 
 through the house and garden on to the bushy banks of 
 the River, where he succeeded in escaping. Passing 
 through the Boer encampment, I saw Gous strutting about 
 bombastically, dressed in a hunting shirt and flourishing a 
 
 K 
 
130 
 
 ALLIGATORS. 
 
 rusty sword, boasting of the feats he had done in Kafir 
 wars, and of the wonders he intended to accomplish when 
 Cetywayo attacked Umbulazi. On our arrival at the 
 Drift we found the Tugela very Mgh, with indications of a 
 further rise. At the Drift, waiting to cross, were Messrs. 
 Surtees, Delmaine, Paxton, Lonsdale, Grant, (Grant & 
 Fradd), Hnrrison and Barber. My party consisted of Mr. 
 Jackson and family, and Mr. Moore, self and family, and 
 we lost no time in getting the families across the ferry, 
 where they found shelter in a Kafir hut belonging to the 
 ferryman, John Hill ; during that day and the three 
 succeeding ones, several attempts were made to 
 cross the cattle, some 2,000, but a heavy south wind 
 blowing over a surface of water 800 yards broad 
 caused frothy wavelets which the cattle would 
 not face, and they were carried away by the torrent a 
 couple of miles lower down the stream to land again on the 
 Zulu side, invariably with the loss of two or three by 
 alligators. Messengers crossed daily from Dunn to the 
 Border Agent, but they brought always the one story that 
 there would be no fighting until the full moon, then in the 
 first quarter. Umbulazi had moved his army nearer the 
 Tugela, on a ridge of hills leading from the northern spur 
 of the Dondakusuka mountain to the Tugela River, and 
 Cetywayo's army was encamped in the valley of the 
 Umsundusi, and on the thorn-bushed kopjes at the head of 
 the valley. On the eventful 3rd of December, at fn T e a.m., 
 a messenger of Dunn's crossing for another supply of 
 coffee and sugar for his master, told the old story about 
 the fight depending on the phases of the moon, and the 
 river that morning showing favourable signs of subsiding, 
 and becoming passable in a couple of days more, we 
 congratulated ourselves upon the probabilities of getting 
 out of an unpleasant predicament without loss or risk. 
 Mr. William Grant crossed from Natal to collect his cattle 
 and the chief Nongalazi's cattle, which were grazing 
 together about four miles from the river, for the whole of 
 the country in the rear of Umbulazi's army between the 
 Inyoni and Tugela to the sea coast appeared as one large 
 encampment formed by the families of Umbulazi's army, 
 who had quitted their homes in the interior to follow the 
 fortunes of their friends ; but at ten a.m., while wo were in 
 
•A KTJSH FOR LIFE ! 
 
 131 
 
 the quiet enjoyment of a club breakfast on the bank of the 
 river, we were startled by the appearance of John Dunn 
 on horseback and Dick Pearce holding on to the horse's 
 -tail, coming down the road over the stony kopje at a rapid 
 rate. Everyone was on his feet in a moment, anxious to 
 get the news, everyone singing out, Well, John, what is 
 the news ? What has brought you here so soon ? " And 
 when Dunn could draw breath be said there had been a 
 battle, and the cowardly Boers sold him. for they only 
 -fired, one volley at the Zulus attacking their position, and 
 then fled, and Umbulazi's troops seeing this became panic- 
 stricken and fled in disorder, and that he had to ride hard 
 to save his own life. With this John Dunn and his 
 brother-in-law, Dick Pearce, rode off to the boat which 
 was crossing to receive him. Meanwhile, with the traders 
 'it was all hurry-skurry to inspan and remove the wagons 
 from the Zulu territory on to a sand bank about 100 yards 
 distant. While this was being done there was a rush of 
 fugitives down towards the wagons, and our first idea was 
 to prevent, if possible, a rush towards us : accordingly 
 presenting our guns at them we told them to take to the 
 river higher up. This checked them for a few minutes 
 until they came on in such masses that it became a crush, 
 and sent a mob of affrighted beings on the top of us, and 
 in a short space the sand bank was paved with castaway 
 •shields, assegais, calabashes, and every sort of utensil 
 necessary and unnecessary to the savage menage. I had 
 barely got the last oxen outspanned when the pursuing 
 victors began to appear over the crest of the kopje. It 
 was now necessary for the traders to look out for their 
 own safety, so after some altercation with the ferry- 
 man, who at first refused to take anyone but Dunn, 
 his horse, and Dick Pearce, he consented to take 
 Messrs. Harrison and Delmaine ; Lonsdale took to the 
 river with his swimming belt, Baxton supported himself 
 with shield, sticks and calabashes collected on the sand- 
 bank, and Moore and Barber started off towards the boat 
 but were too late. I took to the river, depending on beino- 
 a good swimmer, but after getting a hundred yards from the 
 shore my trousers became loose and fettered' my legs, and 
 so I was compelled to return to the sandbank quite ex- 
 hausted ; whilst in the water a bullet struck within three 
 k2 
 
132 
 
 USUTU ! 
 
 inches of my bead, and another went through the rim of 
 Lonsdale's hat, who was about a yard ahead of me while 
 swimming. I saw Dunn standing in the boat with his 
 revolver rifle over his shoulder, and his horse being towed 
 over astern of the boat, therefore, he could not have lost 
 anything. When I reached the sandbank Cetywayo's 
 troops were in possession, slaughtering everything that 
 they came to without regard to sex or age. Some of 
 Umbulazi's fugitives had thrown off their party-badges of 
 white ox-skin head-bands and were assegaing their own 
 comrades. Cetywayo's Zulus were plundering the wagons, 
 led on by the Kafir Peter, Jacob, a Hottentot, and Puspus. a 
 Malabar man. I had got rid of my trousers in the river, and 
 as I stood half-naked on the sand, most of the old warriors 
 as they passed greeted me kindly, while most of the young 
 men would pass me with a savage frown ; one impudent 
 brute come up towards me yelling " Usutn, Usutu," 
 holding his assegai aloft. This made me desperate, and 
 scarcely caring what I did I struck out with my right fist, 
 and he staggered back a pace or two, whereupon an old 
 man rushed in between us and ordered the bully away. A 
 second one also threatened to stab me, but when I stared 
 him sternly in the face and asked what he meant, he also 
 walked on. About this time I was joined by Moore and 
 Barber, who were returned and strengthened by Messrs.. 
 David and Alex. Forbes to assist the ferryman, who was 
 fully employed in protecting the boat, which was in danger 
 of bemg swamped by the Kafirs swimming in the river by 
 thousands. Cetywayo's Kafirs had also taken to the 
 water, swimming with one hand and stabbing their un- 
 armed foes with the other. Moore, Barber, and myself 
 were the last over, and I had to remain in the bed of the 
 river until some clothes were brought to me by the ferry- 
 man. Mr. William Grant had to run nearly four miles 
 towards the mouth of the river, hotly pursued, and then to 
 swim at a part where the river was nearly a mile wide and 
 infested with alligators. The whole scene from Dunn's 
 arrival to the Zulus leaving the river did not last above an 
 hour, but the terrible excitement and anxiety of that hour 
 was enough for a life time. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE AFFAIR OF MATTANA. 
 
 In sequence of date the next matter of moment we come 
 to is that of Matyana, the son of Mondisa, formerly, I 
 believe, a refugee from the Zulu country, and chief of a 
 tribe of natives, also refugees, all of whom had been 
 located some one hundred miles immediately north of 
 Pietermaritzburg, in the division of Klip River, on which 
 is situated the town of Ladysmith. In the first instance 
 Matyana had killed his uncle Vela, and the two sons of 
 the latter. As Matyana, being a British subject, had 
 acted unlawfully in doing this without the authority of the 
 Governor of Xatal as supreme chief in Kafir law, he was 
 fined 500 head of cattle and cautioned. In 1858 (I take 
 the date from Mr. J. W. Shepstone's — who is now Acting 
 Secretary for Xative Affairs — letter to Bishop Colenso, 
 dated July 20, 1874) a man belonging to Matyana's tribe, 
 by name Xtwetwe, became ill, and reference was had to 
 the witch doctor, who " smelt out " one Sigatiya as the 
 man who had wrought the sickness of Xtwetwe. I may 
 here say that next to the evil of the tribal system, is the 
 iniquity of witchcraft, as it is known by many that very 
 often chief and witch are in league against a common 
 enemy, who being so smelt out, is killed, and his cattle 
 shared by the pair of conspirators. Any way, Sigatiya 
 was so brutally bound and beaten that, when Matyana got 
 alarmed and sent for him, he died on the road. Matyana 
 was thereupon required to answer for his death. He 
 refused to appear, and surrounded himself with 
 armed retainers. The writer of these lines, 
 through others, was then sent with a small following 
 (udwendwe) to call upon Langalibalele, the chief 
 of the Amahlubi tribe, to arm his men, and march to the 
 assistance of the Government, in order to bring Matyana 
 to his senses. A force was accordingly despatched, and it 
 -consisted of a few regulars, some volunteers (mounted) 
 under Mr. Philip Allen, formerly Treasurer of Xatal, and 
 
134 
 
 STRATEGY. 
 
 some hundreds of Langalibalele's men. Maty ana fled } 
 into Zululand, but Mr. J. W. Shepstone sent for him,, 
 intimating that he would be no longer his friend if he 
 disobeyed his order. Matyana accordingly came with some 
 five score of men, all armed. This was resented by Mr. 
 Shepstone, as according to Kaffir etiquette it is an insult to 
 appear armed in front of a chief. Matyana and his men, 
 accordingly inarched off to their kraals, and returned 
 shortly afterwards, leaving, however, their war shields and 
 assegais piled about a mile off the scene of the interview. 
 Mr. Shepstone was prepared to receive him, and having 
 been impressed by the Governor with the necessity of 
 resorting to all possible measures for the avoidance of 
 bloodshed, he came to the conclusion to secure the person 
 of Matyana by strategy. He accordingly placed a body 
 of mounted police behind a small ridge, with orders to 
 gallop round and secure the weapons of Matyana's men as 
 soon as they saw the men seated at the scene of the interview. 
 In the meantime he had also told two of his most trustworthy 
 indunas (Nozityina was one ; I forget the other) that as 
 soon as he (Mr. Shepstone) heard the galloping of the 
 police he would say to a boy, " Go and get me a drink of 
 water," and they were then to seize Matyana, The spot 
 where the meeting took place was just in front of a small 
 kraal near the Ilenge Mountain, and John Shepstone was 
 seated on a leopard-skin rug, some score or so of yards in 
 front of it, having a pistol in each pocket, while Mrs. 
 Shepstone, who had accompanied him, had insisted upon 
 placing a loaded double-barrelled fowling piece under the 
 leopard-skin. Accordingly, as soon as the stampede of the 
 police was heard, John Shepstone quietly requested a boy 
 who had been placed behind him to get him a drink of 
 water. The instant, however, that Nozityina made a slight 
 movement toAvards Matyana, that wary and agile chief 
 leapt clean over some six rows of men deep behind him, . 
 knocking over Deke in his spring. The Kaffir chief's men 
 then dodged about him and otherwise covered his escape, 
 and then surged forward to where Mr. Shepstone was 
 standing, shouting out defiant cries as they came, such as 
 "Ubaminza" (swallow them up). It was stated by several 
 witnesses that Shepstone at once shouted out that there was- 
 to be no fighting, but Matyana's men suddenly drew out 
 
SHEPSTONE STABBED. 
 
 135 
 
 some common assegais with short snafts (insinqindi) which 
 they had hastily made for the occasion and concealed under 
 their travelling; shields and elsewhere, and one of 
 Langalibalele's men, seeing one of the opposite side poising 
 an assegai to hurl at Shepstone, stabbed him. The fight 
 then became general. Three shots were fired — two by Mr. 
 Shepstone out of the pistols over the heads of Matyana's 
 men when they became defiant, and one by a bastard son 
 of Makasi, which struck Deke in the knee — so said 
 Xcamana in his evidence. Mr. Shepstone then took up his 
 gun, and mounting his horse, started off in pursuit of 
 Matyana, separating any combatants that he met with. 
 After going some distance he drew rein and looked around. 
 Suddenly he saw five or six of Matyana's boys running 
 along, and as he was looking at them, and jnst as they ran 
 crouching, as he heard one of them say " Xantzi Inkosi " 
 (There's the chief), he felt the sharp twinge of an assegai 
 stab in his side, which would have killed him had it not 
 been for his bullet-pouch — he immediately turned round 
 :and saw his would-be executioner standing by his side, and 
 just as quickly covered him with his gun ; but bearing in 
 mind his orders as to bloodshed, and thinking that if he 
 shot the Kaffir his example would start the killing again, 
 he put the hammers at half-cock, and told the Kaffir to 
 throw down his weapons. (These I afterwards saw in Mr. 
 Shepstone's possession.) Before he could secure him, 
 however, the fellow suddenly rolled heels over head 
 backwards down a small precipice, only to fall into the 
 hands of the men of Balele (the short for Langalibalele"), 
 one of whom caved in his skull with a knobkerrie " 
 (Boer-Dutch for a heavy-headed bludgeon carried by many 
 Kaffirs). This daring man's name was *' Mudemude." 
 And this is the truth, the whole truth, &c.,^©£-fehre Matyana 
 affair. I may be out in one or two trifling details ; but 
 speaking the Zulu language fluently myself, and conse- 
 quently understanding it thoroughly, I heard the different 
 accounts from fifty different witnesses, fresh at the very 
 time, and the above is the faithful digest or average of all 
 the narratives. It may be, and will be, said significantly, 
 and with what Byron calls all " the dammed mendacity of 
 hints," that the Mrs. Shepstone alluded to was the sister of 
 the writer, and Mr. Shepstone consequently his brother-in- 
 
136 
 
 THE LATE DR. COLENSO. 
 
 law ; but that cannot affect the issue, for "facts are facts, 
 you can't deny." 
 
 And apropos of what might be said, I have by me a very 
 unfair and garbled account of the above affair, contained in 
 a bulky pamphlet, entitled " Langalibalele and the 
 Amahlubi Tribe," issued by Dr. Colenso, the legal Bishop 
 of Natal, in 1874. His Lordship is very severe on Mr. 
 Shepstone, and by implication disbelieves anything that he 
 or any other competent authority says, while he implicitly 
 credits and warmly welcomes any assertions made by 
 Maty ana and Co., quite forgetting that his innocent 
 credulity is being played upon by crafty Kafirs, who con- 
 sider the art of deceiving successfully the highest talent. 
 It is only when it is unsuccessful that deceit becomes a sin 
 in the eyes of a Kafir.* 
 
 Speaking from a social, arithmetical, and missionary 
 point of view, Dr. Colenso is a great success. His social 
 and hospitable qualities I have had the privilege of testing. 
 His arithmetic speaks for itself, and as a missionary it was 
 passing sweet and pleasant to see him sitting in the 
 morning sun at Bishopstowe blowing soap bubbles out of a 
 long clay pipe alternately with a lot of plump little Kafir 
 children, jubilantly and hilariously grouped about the 
 knees of the benevolent and happy hierarch, but with 
 regard to his position as a bishop and a politician, -or a 
 self -asserted medium, it is impossible to congratulate him, 
 because as a parson (putting aside all the anathema and 
 excommunication which, with all the fervour of rancorous 
 religious ferocity, the rival battalions of the church 
 ** militant " dart at each other from out their spiritual 
 engines), he is not generally appreciated, because common- 
 sense people say that he is simply enjoying the emoluments 
 •of an office the doctrines of which he does not profess, and 
 as a politician he has earned, not without a strong soupgon 
 of reason, the unenviable appellation of a blundering and 
 meddlesome priest — Ne sutor ultra crepidam. 
 
 As an instance of the manner in which the native 
 witnesses sported with the easy credulity of Di. Colenso, J 
 
 * This was written in Australia early in 1879, when Dr. Colenso 
 -was alive, and appeared in the 1st vol. of these wcrke. Now 
 however, owing to access to ancient information here, at Ihe Cape 
 the volumes have changed places. 
 
" IX J A LEYO ! " 
 
 137 
 
 may mention that the latter gravely repeats the remark of 
 Xcamana, who (the Bishop says) said Mr. Shepstone first 
 gave him (Xcamana) the gun, and told him to shoot 
 Matyana with it, " but he refused, saying he did not know 
 how to fire." Xow I knew this Xcamana well, and it was 
 a standing joke with Balele's warriors, when they returned 
 home from the Matyana affair, about Xcamana and the 
 antedeluvian flint-lock blunderbuss that he carried through 
 the " campaign," and which, upon no consideration, could 
 he induce to explode. Once, however, it did go oft while 
 he was aiming for the duration of about half-an-hour at 
 some of Matyana's Kafirs (who had no guns) on a hill some 
 few hundred yards off. This event was the signal for a 
 roar of laughter from both friends and foes. It was not 
 ascertained whether Xcamana's gun was loaded with a 
 fragment of a rock, a hollow bullet, or the leg of a pot, but 
 its course could be plainly seen, for it drew a thin line of 
 smoke after it, and made withal a hummino;, wobbling; 
 sound, if a sound can wobble, but any way it was gratify- 
 ing to the sense of humour of the enemy, and sidesplitting, 
 and they were certainly heard to call out " Inja leyo " 
 (That's a dog — i.e., a bullet of no account) ; but it becomes 
 a matter of merriment to others also when we see the 
 Bishop gravely placing on record the authority of such an 
 old muff as Mr. Xcamana, and there is something ludicrous 
 in the idea of Mr. Shepstoue trusting an eventful shot (if a 
 :shot at all) to a man like Xcamana, when he himself could, 
 to my certain knowledge, place a bullet where he liked in 
 the sleek hide of a running antelope. 
 
 About thirty of Matyana's men were killed, besides ten 
 others who were stabbed in resisting the capture of the 
 -cattle. Mrs. Shepstone had a very narrow escape of her 
 •life on this occasion. She was tending one of Matyana's 
 ;men who had been wounded, when, on looking round for a 
 moment for some lint or something of the sort, the ungrate- 
 ful invalid was detected by a Kafir, in guard over Mrs. 
 Shepstone, in the very act of stabbing her with an assegai 
 .he had silently reached. He is dead now. 
 
 I should not have dwelt so long on this subject had not 
 Dr. Coleuso, with his usual fervid flow of rhetorical sophis- 
 try, raked up the ashes of sixteen years from the date of his 
 pamphlet, and shed them upon aQ innocent head. There is 
 
138 
 
 MATYANA. 
 
 no doubt whatever that Mr. Shepstone acted for the best in 
 the affair of Matyana. Like a good soldier he obeyed his 
 orders, which, as we have seen before, were to avoid blood- 
 shed, and any unprejudiced person will say that, under the 
 circumstances, he adopted the best means to secure his 
 object. Matyana, like every other traitor to the British 
 Government, found a ready asylum with Cetywayo. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 IXTERXECIXE STRIFE AMOXGST THE DUTCH BOERS OF 
 THE TRAXSVAAL. 
 
 This will be a short chapter, as, although I was in the 
 Transvaal while part of the commotion above alluded to 
 was going on, I have forgotten most of the facts and the 
 cause of the disturbance, beyond remembering that it was 
 in reference to religious difference between two parties. I 
 have not seen the works of any writer who has touched, 
 upon this matter, probably because it was not deemed suffi- 
 ciently important to call for special mention. The civil 
 strife referred to occurred (if my memory fails me not) 
 during the year 1864, and I remember that the names of 
 two rival ministers were much bandied about, and the 
 opposing forces of Boers were commanded, the one by P-iul 
 Kruger, the " Dopper Prince," and the other by Com- 
 mandant Schoemau, of Pretoria. Mr. Kruger and his 
 " doppers " were sticklers for the old-fashioned belief. 
 
 It has been seen that the " Boers," as they are called,, 
 left the British colony of the Cape in disgust with what 
 they considered to be the mismanagement of the British 
 Government in native matters, and, after long wanderings,, 
 settled north of the Vaal River, and founded the South 
 African Republic. They have their faults, and they have- 
 also their good qualities, but the type is unchanging. As- 
 he was in 1806 in the Cape Colony, so is the Boer in 1888 
 in the republics of the interior. He is uncultivated and 
 unprogressive, but he possesses qualities which even in 
 England would not be regarded as without value. He is 
 domestic, but not gregarious. When he settles, he pro- 
 cures from 6,000 to 20,000 acres of undulating grass plaim. 
 He takes possession in his wagon, with his wife and 
 children, his scanty furniture, his family Bible (which is 
 all his literature), and his sheep and cattle. He selects a. 
 spring of water as the site of his home, ten miles t perhaps, 
 from his nearest neighbour. His house consists of a 
 
140 
 
 THE BOEK. 
 
 central bull, with a kitchen behind it, or very often in front 
 of bis front door. Three or four bedrooms open out of the 
 ball, all on one floor. He builds kraals for bis cattle, he 
 fences in a garden, which he carefully irrigates, and so 
 rapid is the growth in that soil and climate that in four or 
 five years It will be stocked with oranges, lemons, citrons, 
 peaches, apricots, figs, apples, pears, and grape-vines. He 
 encloses fifty or a hundred acres, which be ploughs and 
 sows with wheat or Indian corn. His herds and flocks 
 multiply with little effort. Thus he lives in rude abundance. 
 His boys grow np and marry, his daughters find husbands, 
 and when the land is good they remain at his side. For 
 each new family a house is built a gunshot or so from the 
 first, and a few more acres are brought under the plough. 
 A second generation is born. The old people become the 
 patriarchs of the family hamlet, the youngei gather round 
 them at the evening meal, which is preceded by a long 
 solemn grace, as the day's work is commenced in the 
 morning by a psalm. The authority of age is absolute. 
 The old lady sits in a chair in the hall, extending her 
 hand to a guest, but never rising to receive him. The 
 young generation, trained to obedience, fetch and carry at 
 her command. The estate produces almost everything 
 that the family consumes. There is no haste to get rich, 
 and there is not the least desire of change. The Boer has 
 few wants but those which he himself can supply, and he 
 asks nothing but to be let alone. As the old philosopher 
 said, " He is rich in the fewness of his wants." The 
 obedience which he expects from his children he expects 
 equally from his servants. Though differing sometimes 
 from bis neighbour in belief, he is a strict Calvinist. The 
 stream of time which has carried most of us so far and fast 
 has left him anchored on the old ground. The only 
 knowledge which he values is contained in his Bible. His 
 notions of things in heaven and things on earth are very 
 much what would have been found in Scotland in the days 
 of the Covenant. He is constitutionally a republican, yet 
 of liberty in the modern sense he has no idea. He con- 
 siders work the first duty of man, and habits of work the 
 only fitting education. Xative questions, and all other 
 questions, he regards from this point of view. Without 
 
A FARCE. 
 
 Ul 
 
 tenderness, without enthusiasm, and with the narrowest 
 intellectual horizon, he has a stubborn practicability well 
 suited for the work which he has chosen as the pioneer of 
 African civilisation. 
 
 And so, coming to the question of religion, it is one of 
 his strongest feelings. Many of the Boers, or their 
 ancestors, as I have endeavoured to show, ieft Europe 
 shortly after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and 
 first settled as Huguenots in the Cape in 1688. A number 
 of the French refugees settled in a place until this day 
 called " Fransche Hoek " by the Boers (i.e., French Corner ). 
 Here they settled and named their places after the Gallic 
 home whence they came — La Parais, Lamotte, Rhone, 
 Languedoc, La Rochelle, Xormandie, and the like. The 
 mountain scenery around is very magnificent. 
 
 But I have wandered from the subject in hand. On 
 arriving in Pretoria, then, on my way from Zoutpansberg, 
 the extreme northern limit of civilization of any sort, 
 whence 1 had brought ivory and ostrich feathers, I learned. 
 ,hat two bands of Boers were opposed to each other in 
 martial array. There had been some cases of smallpox in 
 the vicinity or Schoemansdal, a village in the Zoutpansberg 
 range, and the Boer Laager-Commandant, hearing that I 
 was coming into Pretoria, sent out to warn me against 
 entering the village. Not having been anywhere near the 
 spot where the smallpox raged, and being short of clothes 
 and the bare necessaries of life, after my lengthened stay 
 in the remote interior, I nevertheless decided upon entering 
 Pretoria and explaining matters. I found about eight 
 hundred men in the place, armed with firearms of all sorts, 
 from the old-fashioned flint-lock to the Westley Richards 
 and Whitworth rifle. I was a good deal hustled about at 
 first by some of the officiously-martial young louts ; but 
 when I told them where I came from, and that some 
 accidental sores on my hands were smallpox marks, a 
 broad road was opened for me, and I at once sought out 
 the Procureur-Generaal of the place, a Mr. Krogh, who 
 had been a solicitor in Maritzburg, and satisfactorily 
 explained matters to him. 
 
 However, the whole thing was a perfect farce. The 
 two parties were like the fox and the child, afraid of each 
 other, and retired in opposite directions, firing a few shots 
 
142 
 
 A NIGHT ALARM, 
 
 at very long ranges.* A night alarm was sounded while I 
 was in the village, and there was a great uproar. One 
 hero had, in dressing himself, put on one shoe, and in his 
 fright, abstraction, and hurry was vainly endeavouring to 
 put on a loaf of bread on the other foot ; and the bon 
 vivants of the village used to amuse themselves by creeping 
 up at night to the sleepy Boer sentries and abstracting 
 their guns lying or standing beside them. But the 
 greatest farce was the endeavour of one party to intimidate 
 the other party, which was in sight, by " sporting " their 
 only cannon and firing it off. A large quantity of powder 
 was put into the venerable weapon, and failing an iron 
 ball, a leaden one was resorted to ; but the ball, when 
 made, wouldn't fit, and so it was battered down to an 
 elongated form and then rammed home. A reckless 
 mortal was found who applied fire to the touch-hole, and 
 liis heroism was rewarded by being blown in a dilapidated 
 state some hundred yards, the honeycombed old thing 
 bursting into a thousand fragments, one of which we 
 found behind the church ; it weighed about fifty pounds, 
 and had been blown some 150 yards. The gunner 
 resigned, and the artillery corps were disbanded. 
 
 Several respectable merchants of the village who had 
 offended Paul Kruger's party by favouring Mr. Schoe- 
 man were heavily fined and placed in the stocks ; but 
 their friends were allowed to bring them luxuries in the 
 way of edibles, and a cheerful supply of gin and fiddles, 
 a,nd the night was sometimes spent in a general carouse of 
 authorities and prisoners. One gentleman who had a 
 small foot, used, as soon as the Laager-Commandant's 
 back was turned, to quietly draw the only foot that was 
 •confined in the stocks out of his Wellington boot, and caper 
 around until next inspection time. While Paul Kruger's 
 force was lying in Pretoria, one of his sentries challenged 
 
 horseman named Du Toit, who was cantering past the 
 a mp with some communication to the rival Schoeman . 
 
 * Apropos ( f this, a very good story was told me by an educated 
 " old Colony " Boer. The combatants, mostly related by family 
 iies, had been firing at each other over a hill extending for about 
 three miles between them. On one outpost man meeting another 
 from the opposite side, he said " Allamaskas ! Kerel ! If you fire 
 <so recklessly, you will be hitting one of us ! " 
 
KNOCKED HIM OVER. 
 
 143 
 
 Du Toit not stopping, the old corn-straw mushroom hat 
 and broad-breeched Dopper deliberately squatted, and 
 bringing his huge flintlock, loaded with slugs, to bear upon 
 Du Toit, knocked both him and his horse over. The 
 horse died, but Du Toit, though wounded, lived. Sir 
 Bartle Frere has, however, altered all this, and truly it 
 was a farce. There was, generally speaking, no available 
 force of any kind to carry out the orders of the executive 
 or to compel the payment of taxes. Life was conse- 
 quently unsafe, and the Treasury was empty, and then 
 Cetywayo set Sekukuni on to them, and the result was, as 
 we all know, the annexation of that rich and magnificent 
 tract of land known as the Transvaal. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 the langalibalele rebellion, including the affair, 
 of the bushman's pass in 1873. 
 
 For many years natives living- in Natal had possessed a 
 great desire to obtain firearms. This desire at last became 
 a passion — especially so with the tribe of Langalibalele, 
 This name is compounded of three Zulu words, i.e., Langa 
 (the sun) ; li balele (it is killing, or hot.) 
 
 When I last visited Langalibalele at his large kraal, 
 Pangweni, he was a fine, dignified-looking savage pos- 
 sessed of a natural nobility of demeanour, and that nil 
 admirari spirit and insoucian'ce common alike to potentates 
 and Zulu chieftains.* 
 
 He was formerly a chief and rain doctor in Zululand 
 under the late king Urn Pande, father of the present 
 tyrant. In 1848 he had to fly for his life as a refugee 
 into Natal. In 1849 he and his tribe, numbering 7,000 
 souls, were placed by the Natal Government along the 
 base of the great Drakensberg range of mountains, which 
 in that neighbourhood are some 10,000 feet high, and which 
 form a precipitous and mighty barrier to the north-western 
 portion of the colony of Natal ; from August to September 
 these mountains are snow-capped. Many people, by the way, 
 while speaking of Africa, have great ideas of an incandescent 
 furnace, quite overlooking degrees of latitude and altitude. 
 The tribe were placed beween the Giant's Castle (9,600 
 feet high) and a river knoAvn as the Little Tugela, in order 
 to close and guard the mountain passes against the inroads 
 of the Bushmen or Bosjesmans. The tribe being thus 
 comfortably seated on the exceedingly fertile slopes of the 
 spurs of the Drakensberg, increased abundantly in flocks 
 and herds, and lived generally, as I have heard many 
 members of the tribe say, in delightful contrast to their 
 
 * Fifteen years afterwards, in 1883, when I went to pee him at 
 Oude Mulen, on the Cape Flats, he was considerably de!apidated. 
 
LAXGALIBALELE. 
 
 145 
 
 abode at Bekczulu where they were reduced to eating 
 lizards and berries ; but being once settled in aSTatal, they 
 had nothing to do but keep out a few Bushmen and get 
 fat and rich, as they did, in cows, horses, and other 
 property. The law in Xatal which related to firearms 
 was, and is, very strict, and the various magistrates had 
 strict orders to require natives and others to bring in 
 firearms, of which possession had been obtained, at once,, 
 for registration. Meanwhile the diamond fields furore, 
 arose in Griqualand West (then disputed territory) where 
 no gun laws existed. The neighbouring Kafir chiefs soon 
 found this out, and sent their men to respond to the outcry 
 for labourers at the fields, strictly ordering them at the 
 same time to work for nothing but guns. Many young 
 men from Langalibalele's tribe (the Amahlubi) went to the 
 fields and obtained guns which they brought into the 
 colony of Xatal. The magistrate of the county of 
 Weenen heard of this, and sent his police to bring in the 
 young men with the guns, but they eluded pursuit and. 
 fled. Langalibalele was then appealed to, but with no 
 result. He said (a common but shallow excuse with a 
 Kafir) he could not find the boys, and if he did they 
 wouldn't listen to him. In this case one would naturally 
 be inclined to know what good hew as as a chief. Any way, 
 the chief was frequently sent for in the Governor's name, 
 but he prevaricated, and eventually refused to appear. In 
 the meantime this chief, strong in guns and horses,, 
 prepared to cross the Drakensberg, as he fancied his cause 
 would be taken up by the Basutos (British subjects) over 
 the mountain, to whom he had already sent saying that he 
 was about to resist the Natal Government ; and so, when 
 the Governor's messenger came to him, he allowed him to 
 be grossly insulted and prodded with assegais, and on his 
 dismissal the chief and his tribe sent the women and grain, 
 &c, to the caves in the mountains, as they did in old 
 Scriptural times ; and, saddling up, left the colony 
 with some five hundred armed men, and a large herd 
 of cattle. This act alone was rebellion according: 
 to the law he lived under, viz., native law, with the 
 Governor at its head as supreme chief. A force 
 was then sent against the rebel, the Governor, Sir 
 B. C. C. Pine, taking the field himself ; but owing to the 
 
146 
 
 bushman's tass affair. 
 
 excessively mountainous nature of the country, a concerted 
 plan failed, and a force of volunteers under Colonel 
 Durnford (since killed at the battle of Isandhlwane) having 
 gone round over the terrible hills, the Colonel twice 
 fainting in the ascent, took possession of a spot called 
 the Bushman's Pass, and, half famished as they were, 
 suddenly found themselves confronted (and unsupported 
 too) at the top of the pass, by the rebellious and excited 
 natives, strong among their native crags and ferocious in 
 the charge of their much-beloved herds. The following is 
 Colonel Durnford's memorandum on the subject : — 
 
 " Camp, near Holme's Farm, under the Drakensberg, 
 November 30, 1873 
 
 Having reached the Bushman's Pass at 6'30 a.m., on 
 the 4th November, with one officer, one sergeant, and 
 thirty-three rank and file of the Carbineers, and a few 
 Basutos, I at once formed them across the mouth of the 
 pass, the natives in charge of cattle already in the moun- 
 tain flying in every direction. Possibly there may have 
 been one hundred at the outside, about half of whom were 
 armed with shooting weapons. Having posted my party, 
 I went with my interpreter to reassure the natives. Calling 
 for the chief man, I told him to assemble his people, and 
 say that Government required their Chief, Langalibalele, to 
 answer certain charges ; that his people who submitted to 
 Government should be safe, with their wives, children, and 
 cattle ; that all loyal people should go to Estcourt, where 
 Mr. Shepstone, Minister for Native Affairs, was, and make 
 submission, and they should be safe. My interpreter was 
 recognised as one of Mr. Shepstone's attendants, and the 
 Induna thanked me in the name of the people, saying they 
 would all go down and tell my words to the tribe, who 
 were not aware of the good intentions of Government and 
 were afraid. 
 
 I told them to take their cattle and go down. The 
 Chief said they would, but begged me to leave them, as he 
 could not answer for the young men, who were excited, 
 and might injure me. I left him exerting himself, so far 
 as I could judge, in carrying out my wishes. 
 
 Seeing that the natives were getting behind stones 
 commanding the mouth of the pass, I turned their position 
 
durxfobd's despatch. 
 
 147 
 
 hj sending my small party of Basutos on the one side, I 
 taking half of the Carbineers to the other — the other half 
 guarding the mouth of the pass. All were then in such 
 position, that had a shot been fired, I could have swept the 
 natives down the pass. Their gestures were menacing, but 
 no open act of hostility was committed. 
 
 About this time I was informed that many men were 
 coming up the pass, and, on reaching the spot, found it was 
 the case. ■ On ordering them back, they obeyed sullenly. 
 Matters now looked serious, and I was informed by the 
 senior officer of volunteers present that the Carbineers, 
 many of whom were young men, could not be depended 
 upon. They said they were surrounded, and would be 
 massacred. I have reason to believe that this panic was 
 created by their drill instructor, an old soldier of the late 
 Cape Corps, up to whom they naturally looked. Upon 
 this, as the only chance of safety, and in hopes of saving 
 men's lives, although perfectly aware that it was a fatal 
 line of policy, I drew in my outlying party, and gave the 
 order to retire. There was nothing else to be done. I 
 had no support. As I was about to retire by alternate 
 divisions, the first shot was fired by the natives, followed 
 by two or three, when, seized with panic, the Carbineers 
 fled, followed by the Basutos. 
 
 My interpreter and three Volunteers were killed. 
 There were probably two hundred natives present at the 
 time the first shot was fired. The firing was never heavy, 
 -and their ammunition soon became exhausted. The orders 
 I received were " not to fire the first shot." I obeyed. 
 
 (Signed) A. W. Dubxfobd, 
 
 " Major Royal Engineers." 
 
 After these things Langalibalele escaped into Basuto- 
 lcOid with seven thousand head of cattle, and he and his 
 head induna, Mabuhle, who boasted to him that he had 
 .shot the first white man, were arrested by Mr. Griffith, the 
 representative of the Cape Government in Basutoland, 
 with the assistance of Molapo (or Umlambo, as some 
 Natal Kafirs called him.) Mabuhle unfortunately, being 
 small in the hands, slipped them through the handcuffs 
 with which he was secured and escaped into Zululand, 
 Tvhere he is now the bosom friend of Cetywayo. Langa- 
 l2 
 
148 
 
 A WONDROUS REGION. 
 
 libalele himself, after being sentenced by a combined court 
 in Maritzburg to transportation for life in Robben Island, 
 had his sentence commuted to detention on the Cape Flats 
 under police surveillance. He is there now. 
 
 In concluding this subject I cannot help giving a parting 
 sketch of the wondrous region where the unlucky 
 Carbineers wandered ; lost at times in the drizzling mist, 
 and so famished that they ate raw an ox belonging to the 
 Kafirs, and which they shot at the top of the pass. From 
 my knowledge of the Kafir, I can say that if anything 
 would enrage him this kind of thing would. In using the 
 words " wondrous region," J allude to the wild and high 
 mountains which are part of the great Drakensberg range, 
 and in the vicinity of the Bushman's Pass. 
 
 Aye, a grandly sublime and beautiful sight it was to look 
 upon — those multitudinous, and, if the expression might 
 be forged, tumultuous upheavals of huge peaks, freshly 
 cast from the hands of the Titans. There, far, far below, 
 lay the picturesque and Yosemite Valley-looking lands of 
 Natal, and here towered the grassy giants to an abrupt 
 elevation of some five thousand feet, while attaining the 
 height of ten thousand feet above the level of the sea,, 
 till they canopied their lofty heads in a highly rarified and 
 azure mid-air. And, lo ! beyond, upon the opposite side, 
 .over a vast gulf, a broadly-extended, fathomless, and 
 fearful precipice, falling thousands and thousands of feet 
 in sheer descent, with its craggy breast ribanded with the 
 long horsetail waterfalls of infant streams, which, deriving 
 their existence from this awful nursery, glide, leap, and 
 tumble away westward, to give their increasing streams to 
 the mighty Gariep, or Great Orange River, which, after 
 receiving the contributions of thousands of other streams, 
 both from the north and south, divides the great upper 
 deserts from southern civilization, and cleaving in twain 
 the lower portion of the great African continent, eventually 
 pours its broad waters into the blue expanse of the South 
 Atlantic Ocean. 
 
 I have stood upon those mighty mountains, and seen the 
 golden gleaming of the blaze of sunrise gilding their hoary 
 heads, as I have seen the setting sun. 
 
 " Not, as in northern climes, obscurely bright, 
 But one unclouded blaze of living light." 
 
THE ALTITUDE OF SOLITUDE. 
 
 149 
 
 Tose-tinting the rugged scene, and casting great gaunt 
 shadows from mount to mount. 
 
 Ir is truly a weird-like spot. Near where our country- 
 men were shot the bones of the horses killed still lie 
 bleaching in the cold air. An awe-sticken impression 
 pervades the mind, and a feeling of vague dread obtains iu 
 this altitude of solitude, where Nature's stern grandeur 
 hushes all living creation. Not a sound is heard ; but 
 mysterious silence reigns unbroken, save perchance the 
 faintly heard shriek of the high-soaring condor, which 
 seems to be the only representative of animal life in this 
 part, while the country a few miles lower down teems with 
 every charming variety of wild animal existence. This 
 condor is truly a regal bird, the magnitude and might of 
 which, as is said somewhere, compared with others of the 
 feathered kind, is in something like the proportion of their 
 huge domiciles to earth's ordinary elevations. Above all 
 other life these birds prefer to dwell, inhaling an air too 
 highly rarified to be endured except by creatures adapted 
 thereto. From such immense elevations as those above 
 attempted to be described, they soar, still more sublimely, 
 upwards into the dark blue heavens, until their great bulk 
 diminishes to a scarcely perceptible speck, or is altogether 
 lost to the aching sight of the observer. In these pure 
 fields of ether, unvisited even by the thunder-cloud — regions 
 which may be regarded as its own exclusive domain — the 
 condor delights to sail, and with piercing and all-pervading 
 eye surveys the surface of the earth, towards which he 
 never stoops his wing unless at the call of hunger. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE GrCALEKA AND GAIKA REBELLION OF 1877. 
 
 We will now proceed to what may be properly styled the 
 sixth Amaxosa war, or as it is generally termed, Kafir war, 
 nothing important in the way of warfare having transpired 
 in the meantime. It may here be explained that much 
 misconception exists as to the terms Kafirs, Zulus, &c, and 
 once for all, we will perhaps be allowed to lay down that 
 " Kafir " is the generic appellation, and all the other names 
 of the different tribes specific. Kafir, Kaffir, or Caffre is, it 
 is well known, an Arabian term, and means " infidel." All 
 the Kafirs from the Zambesi downwards, in speaking of the 
 black races of Southern Africa generally, use the term 
 " Amakafula," or " Kafirs," in common with many white 
 men, although some of them do not relish the appellation. 
 For instance, Zulus would not like being called "Ma- 
 Kafula," but "Abaka-Zulu," as the Natal Kafirs would 
 prefer being called " Abantu aba sese-Silungwini," or "the 
 people of the white man's land." The study of the Zulus, 
 their manners, customs, &c, would afford a rich field for 
 the student of races, for as the term Kafir is of Arabian 
 origin, so are the features of many of the Zulus strictly 
 Arabian, and many of their laws regarding heritage, 
 hygienic measures, municipal regulations, &c, &c, strangely 
 resemble the Levitical code of laws in the Pentateuch, 
 The Zulu proper has no characteristic of the negro in 
 feature, i.e., receding forehead, blubber lips, and flat nose ; 
 but where his breed has not mixed with the many tribes 
 incorporated by Tshaka, the Zulu has the high forehead, 
 the compressed lip, and the aquiline nose of the Arabian, 
 or the Phoenician, which facts would argue that the Zulus 
 had gradually worked their way down the eastern coast of 
 Africa ; and history first mentions them being a small tribe 
 in the neighbourhood of Delagoa Bay. Another interesting 
 hypothesis would be that the ancestors of this peculiar 
 race were landed on the eastern coast of Africa by ships 
 from the Levant, as from the remains of a work by Diodorus 
 
OPHT-- 
 
 151 
 
 Siculus, rescued from the ashes oi The Alexandrian library, 
 and indeed from the works of several authors of the 
 Augustan age, it appears that several fleets of ship^ were 
 fitted out, which rounded the Cape of G-ood Hope, and 
 after being absent a long time, returned with " gold, 
 feathers, and ivory." As Socrates, the wisest of the wise 
 said, " All that we know for certain is that nothing can be 
 known," and who will presume to laugh Professor Peter- 
 mann's theory to scorn, which theory pointed to the great- 
 probability of the ancient Ophir being situated some fifty 
 or sixty miles due west from the coast of Africa, near 
 Sofala ? The Professor found distinct ruins, huge cornice 
 stones, tessellated pavements, &c, some miles westward of 
 Sofala ; and it is known for certain that some years ago, 
 all along the same line of longitude, or perhaps deeper in, 
 the Kafirs, unable to get a market for their ivory, used it 
 for making pens to put the calves in, and marched about 
 the country with great gold rings or bracelets round their 
 arms. The well-known Tati goldfields, south again, throw 
 up thick crops of quartz richly studded with gold, which is 
 only without value inasmuch as five or six hundred miles 
 of mountainous country has to be traversed in order to 
 get to it ; rendering it nearly impossible to carry thither 
 ponderous machinery, such as quartz crushers, &c. In 
 about 186i, when I was travelling in the remote interior 
 silent. 
 
 '''' As the midnight sentinel, slain upon the hill," 
 
 save to the monotonous shriek of the bald-headed eagle, or 
 the distant neigh of the zebra, I met a Kafir with a heavy 
 gold ring round his arm. He said he was taking it to a 
 chief to whom his <mief paid tribute, and of course he would 
 not sell it. I spoke his dialect (Amadebele, resembling the 
 Zulu) fluently, and had a long and interesting talk with 
 him. He said the gold had been got from a large cave 
 some two hundred miles north of where we were then. 
 He said there were very ancient marks, figures, and 
 drawings in the peculiar clay inside the cave. This clay or 
 stone cuts like soap when freshly dug or hewn, but 
 becomes like adamant when exposed to the air. Kafirs, 
 like ancient Greeks, are very correct in their traditions, 
 both fathers and mothers taking a delight in often repeat- 
 
152 
 
 GOLD. 
 
 ing them to the young children, in whose impressionable 
 minds they become indelibly fixed. In fact, the youths 
 are induced to learn them by heart, much as the G-reeks 
 did Hesiod and Homer. My informant, a very intelligent, 
 stalwart young fellow, said that " the father of the father's 
 father," and so on, had handed down the tradition that the 
 cave in question had been excavated by coloured people 
 who came in ships (big things on the Avater, as he said). 
 This cave, as a matter of fact, is well known to exist at 
 present, and gold must abound, as many tribes pay tribute 
 to the Portuguese in gold rings. He said also that the 
 Kafir smith (literally blacksmith) who had made this 
 rough specimen of a ring had hollowed out the ground 
 from under an overhanging iron stone, chiselled a little 
 channel, put the gold into a little reservoir at the higher 
 end, and having thickly covered it with the pot clay alluded 
 to, made the stone red hot by fire underneath, when the 
 gold melting, ran into a rough mud mould of the shape 
 wanted, and was then allowed to cool. He took all the 
 presents I gave him, and as I did not like to lose sight of 
 him, consented to my accompanying him to where he was 
 going, and said he would take me to the cave on our 
 return from Avhere his message took him. I had my 
 doubts about him, as I was aware that any Kafir who 
 showed a white man the spot where gold was to be found 
 was immediately knocked on the head by his chief ; and 
 my doubts w r ere realised, for on awaking next morning I 
 found that he had vanished, presents and all. 
 
 It is interesting to remember that Livingstone often 
 mentioned his ardent desire to visit a great cave, or caves, 
 said by the Kafirs and Arabs, to contain alluvial gold. 
 He had made up his mind to 'go to the cave after he had 
 determined the course of the river which he thought to be 
 the Nile, but which, afterwards turned out to be the 
 Congo. But death, as we know, unfortunately intervened. 
 
 I may perhaps be pardoned for rather a long digression, 
 but it might be urged that the Amaxosa Kafirs have un- 
 doubtedly signs of the Negro, and not the Arabian type of 
 features ; and to this I would answer that while, as before- 
 said, the Zulus first appeared on the east coast, imme- 
 diately below the Arabian, Portuguese, Turkish, and other 
 Oriental settlements, the Amaxosas appear to have filtered 
 
KAFIR WAR, 1877 8. 
 
 153 
 
 through from the north-west, where, without an exception, 
 all the tribes, from the borders of the Kalahari Desert 
 down to Basutoland, have the features peculiar to the 
 Xegro race. 
 
 The Gcalekas, of whom the Xgqikas are a more latterly 
 developed branch, were at one time a great nation 
 compared to what they are now. All that portion of land 
 lying between the mouth of the Great Fish River and the 
 Bashee River, on the south-eastern coast of Africa, aud 
 running inland for about fifty or sixty miles, extending 
 nearly from the 32 ° to the 34 w of latitude, belonged 
 formerly to the Gcaleka tribe. Although I am unable to 
 agree with Mr. Trollope (who during his short visit to 
 South Africa could not be expected to be perfect in 
 details) that the Amaxosas Avere, amongst Kafirs, the 
 greatest people of all ; yet the Amaxosas, as the latter 
 gentleman truly says, derive their name from Xosa, a chief 
 eleven chiefs back from Kreli, the " Ama " being merely a 
 plural prefix. From Kreli' s tribe sprung Xgqika (pro- 
 nounced with a palatal click reperesented by the letter 
 "q" simultaneously with the letter "g"), or " Gaika," as 
 the colonists pronounce it. This man was the father of 
 Sandili, who has figured prominently in the annals of 
 Amaxosa warfare. The causes of the sixth war of the 
 above people with the whites in 1877 may be briefly 
 stated as follows. There have been lately, and are at 
 present, in British Kaffraria tribes of natives' called 
 Amafengn, or Fingoos, originally chased by Tshaka from 
 jSatal, and these natives have for years past been under 
 British protection. They were formerly in the time of 
 Hintza, the father of Kreli, simply slaves, or " dogs," as 
 their name implies. After one of the Kafir wars in 1835, 
 they were taken from among the Gcalekas by British 
 authority, relieved from the condition of slavery, and 
 settled on locations which were given to them. They 
 were first placed near the coast between the Great Fish 
 River and the Keiskama ; but many were subsequently 
 moved up to a district which they still occupy across the 
 Kei, and close to their old masters, the Gcalekas, but on 
 land which was under British government, aud which 
 "became part of British Kaffraria. Here they have been as 
 good as their old masters, and as being special recipients 
 
154 
 
 GCALEKAS AND F1XG0ES. 
 
 of British favour, perhaps something better. They have 
 been a money- making people, possessing oxen and wagons,, 
 and going much ahead of other Kafirs in the way of 
 trade. And as they grew in prosperity, so probably 
 they grew in pride. They were still Fingoes, but not a 
 Fingo was any longer a Gcaleka's dog, as he was formerly. 
 This state of things was not by any means agreeable to the 
 Grcalekas. This, too, must have been the more intolerable 
 as the area given up to the Fingoes in this locality com- 
 prised about two thousand square miles, while that left to 
 the Gcalekas was not more than one thousand six hundred. 
 The Gcalekas living on this curtailed territory were about 
 66,600 souls, whereas only 50,000 Fingoes drew their 
 easier bread from the larger region. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE KAFIR WAR OF 1877-8. 
 
 As to the inception of this war I must beg to refer to a 
 passage of history of which the following gives the 
 details : — 
 
 The Hon. C. Brownlee has been engaged in a triangular 
 duel, arising out of the Pondo question, with Mr. Rose-- 
 Innes, of King William's Town, and with the Rev. Mr. 
 Chalmers. Xo man is better entitled to claim to be heard 
 in any disputed passage of the history of Native Adminis- 
 tration in this country than Mr. Brownlee, nor is there any 
 man whose word is more weighted with confessed honesty 
 of purpose and integrity. From the last in the Chalmers 
 series we take the following extracts as doing justice to 
 the memory of one who even since his death has suffered 
 detraction as though the war of 1877 was of his seeking. 
 Mr. Brownlee writes : — 
 
 I have done with myself. But this is not all. Mr. 
 Chalmers has gone out of his way to attack Sir Bartle 
 Frere, and has " flaunted in our faces " some isolated 
 expressions of a great ami good man to show that though 
 he was a Christian, and a member of the Aborigines 
 Protection Society, and could write an able essay on 
 missions, he was nevertheless a murderer, for if Mr. 
 Chalmers' version of the Gcaleka war is correct, it amounts 
 simply to that. li But what was it which actually took 
 place ? " In 1877 some Gcalekas had gone into Fingoland 
 to a " beer-drink." When the beer was finished, the 
 Gcalekas wanted more, and struck a Fingo because they 
 could not obtain what they wanted. A fight ensued, the- 
 Gcalekas got the worst. On the following morning they 
 returned in force, artacked three Fingo villages and swept 
 off: the cattle. Xow this was not a quarrel between two j 
 rival tribes, as Mr. Chalmers puts it, but a direct violation 
 of British territory. A demand was made upon Kreli for 
 the immediate restoration of the cattle, with an intimation 
 that on no consideration could the Gcalekas be permitted 
 
156 
 
 THE LATE SIR BARTLE FRERE. 
 
 to cross the border and avenge their own quarrels on 
 British subjects. If the Gcalekas had any complaints 
 against the Fingoes, they would be listened to and 
 redressed. Mr. James Ayllff and Colonel Eustace were 
 appointed to inquire into the matter. Their sittings were 
 constantly broken up by war-cries caused by the 
 appearance of armed Gcalekas on the border ; but Kreli 
 did not give up the cattle. Matters began to look 
 serious. I advised that the 88th Regiment, then in Cape 
 Town, should be sent to the frontier and encamp at East 
 London in order that Kreli should see that we were deter- 
 mined to enforce our demand. Sir Bartle Frere, who was 
 then on his way overland to the frontier, countermanded 
 the order for the embarkation of the 88th Regiment, say- 
 ing that this might be construed by Kreli as an intention 
 to attack him, and might lead him into hostilities. I came 
 to meet Sir Bartle Frere at King William's Town, he 
 there asked me my advice, and I said I had none other to 
 give than what I had given in Cape Town, and said I 
 feared war was inevitable. He replied, " Do not talk of 
 war, sir ; I have been sent to this country in the interests 
 of peace, and I am determined to maintain peace." 
 Deputation after deputation waited on the Governor in 
 King William's Town. Alarm had taken possession of 
 the country, men saw and understood the signs of the 
 times, expressed their fears to Sir Bartle. He was deter- 
 mined there would be no war, he would not make war for 
 a drunken brawl. When all other means failed, he deter- 
 mined to go to Gcalekaland and see Kreli, and settle the 
 matter without resort to arms. He went, and Kreli 
 refused to see him, though he offered to meet Kreli in his 
 own country. Kreli had already put the war-paint on his 
 forehead, and wanted none of Sir Bartle Frere ; all that he 
 wanted was the expulsion of the Fingoes from the land 
 from which he himself had been expelled twenty years 
 before. Sir Bartle had to return as he went ; still the 
 hope to avert war had not abandoned him, and a message 
 was sent to Kreli informing him that any further aggression 
 on British territory would be repelled by force. How the 
 first collision after Sir Bartle's departure took place, Mr. 
 Chalmers may know as well as I do, for his brother, the 
 present magistrate of Komgha, was the main figure in that 
 
mk, browxlee's letter. 
 
 157 
 
 transaction ; bnt his report is, that in patrolling along the 
 Fingo border he was attacked by an overwhelming force of 
 Grcalekas, who charged our people, killing Lieut. Van 
 Hopeman, of the F.A.M.P., and scattering Mr. Chalmers* 
 force like chaff before the wind. This rude awakening 
 came upon Sir Bartle Frere a few days after his return to 
 King William's Town. I feared the Gaikas would follow 
 suit. One of their headmen had had a collision with a 
 Fingo headman in the rugged country at Kei and Thomas 
 River junction. Major Grant was sent to adjust the 
 matter, and he performed the service. The Gaikas then 
 held a tribal meeting, and decided that they would not join 
 the war. Still I saw signs of evil. Sir Bartle did not 
 share in my views, and Mr. W. B. Chalmers, the present 
 Magistrate at King William's Town, was therefore sent on 
 a mission to the Gaikas. He was among them several 
 days, and made a report which was reassuring to Sir 
 Bartle Frere. But I did not share in his satisfaction. 
 Mr. Tainton was then sent to endeavour to arrange some 
 matters of theft with a number of native squatters in the 
 East London district. Matlers had advanced a stage since 
 the missions of Major Grant and Mr. Chalmers, but Sir 
 Bartle had only one object before him, and that was peace. 
 He could not see war, and did not prepare to meet it, he 
 was buoyed up by the justice and righteousness of his 
 endeavours, and saw nothing but success as their result. 
 Again a sad awakening came. Richard Tainton, his 
 brother John, and Field-cornet Brown were treacherously 
 murdered while peacefully endeavouring to carry out the 
 law with British subjects. A few hours after the 
 melancholy tidings reached us ' our boys ' were equipped 
 and mounted and on their way to punish the murderers, 
 but they had lost no time in escaping across the Kei after 
 accomplishing their hellish deed. Now comes what Mr. 
 Chalmers designates a most pitiful appeal to the loyalty of 
 the Colony to come to the rescue of His Excellency and 
 help him to crush Kreli. Mr. Chalmers was wrong in 
 saying the appeal was pitiful. It was a manly call to 
 arms in a righteous cause, and nobly was it responded to. 
 Men came from East and West, there was no tardy 
 laggard, and before long the Minister for War had to cry,. 
 4 Hold, enough,' and to many offers of service his rej^ly 
 
158 
 
 MR. BROWNLEE'S LETTER. 
 
 Avas, * I will call you when required.' * Our boys !' yes, 
 we equipped them, and with willing though sad hearts, 
 for we felt that many would not return. We sent them to 
 avenge our best blood, treacherously shed, and no craven 
 boys were they, but the flower and the pride of our land, 
 and nobly did they face danger and death whenever the 
 opportunity arose. Kreli was crushed and Sandilli Avas 
 shot down, though Sir Bartle Frere had moved heaven and 
 earth to save them both. ' The British army never 
 came : ' there was no need, the little British army Ave had 
 in the country was quite enough, and they Avell maintained 
 the reputation of their name. Apologising for the great 
 length of this letter, I conclude, as Mr. Chalmers has 
 done, by a text : — ' Thou shalt not bear false witness 
 against thy neighbour.' " 
 
 To come to the particulars of this Avar I must refer to 
 the account of a gentleman who modestly writes as a 
 " C. M. R.," and Avho Avas an eye-witness, as well as a 
 combatant in the various engagements of this Avar. The 
 book was published in 1881 by Bendy of London. 
 Beginning with the Guadana affair he says — Avhat will be 
 found in the ensuing pages. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 THE BATTLE OF GUADANA. 
 
 A. camp being formed, earthworks thrown np, and all due 
 preparations made for what we knew must inevitably 
 take place. 
 
 These works occupied us until the 24th, when Xos. 
 •3, 6, aud 7 troops were ordered, with a detachment of 
 Artillery and one gun, to be ready for patrol. 
 
 On the 25th part of Xo. 5 troop, consisting of 1 officer 
 :and forty men, arrived. They were also ordered out ; 
 but as they had just come off a march, the proposed patrol 
 was postponed for one day. On the 26th. at nine o'clock 
 in the morning, the above troops left for Idutywa. Little 
 did we think when we saw our comrades march out of 
 Ibeka cheering and in the best of spirits, that some of them 
 would bite the dust before sunset. As they were on the 
 point of starting, our new Commandant, Mr. Charles 
 Griffiths, arrived. Our old Commandant's health had 
 failed, and he was superseded by Mr. C. Griffiths. We 
 knew nothing about Mr. Griffiths, and he knew less about 
 us. He was an old police officer, but he had been during 
 many years the British resident in Basutoland. for which 
 he was much more fitted than for his new appointment. 
 He was never liked in the force,* though he was a good 
 •deal better than some of those who succeeded him. 
 
 As the day wore on, we both saw and heard firing 
 & few miles off. There Avere only the Artillery and a 
 few of the men left in camp with two guns. The whole 
 force there comprised forty-three men. Xatives (Fingoes) 
 came in with the most alarming reports, one declaring all 
 the police had been slaughtered, another that only a few 
 were left alive, but all agreeing that our men were utterly 
 and irretrievably beaten. We were kept under arms all 
 night, lying down by the guns. If the Kaffirs had only 
 then advanced in numbers, as they did six days later, they 
 
 * The f jrce sometimes doe* not like a strict disciplinarian as the 
 •worth.. Command mt no doubt v*as. 
 
160 
 
 THE BATTLE OF GUADANA. 
 
 would have taken gnus, slaughter-cattle,* ammunition, and 
 everything else ; but luckily they did not, or the writer 
 would probably have not been alive to tell his tale. 1 was 
 not in this fight, which took place about two miles from a 
 hill called in Kaffir Guadana, and by the English Mount 
 Woodhonse. The following is the official report of In- 
 spector Chalmers, the commanding officer of the force 
 engaged : 
 
 "To the Commandant " Lusisi Camp, 
 
 F.A.M. Police. " October 28, 1877. 
 
 " Sir, — "In accordance with your instructions, I have 
 the honour to report that, on the 26th nltmo., while re- 
 turning to Idutywa reserve, from the Ibeka camp, 1 was 
 apprised of the fact that the Gcalekas had attacked the 
 Fingoes on the Government reserve near the Guadana. 
 On receiving this information I continued my march along 
 the main road, and when about two miles from the 
 Umpnluse, opposite the Guadana, I observed the Gcalekas 
 had crossed in numbers and attacked the Fingoes, and that 
 an engagement was taking place between the two tribes. In 
 obedience to orders received in the event of a battle, I 
 proceeded to the scene of action in support of the Fingoes. 
 Before taking any prominent part I sent back to the 
 Umpuluse to acquaint Mr. Ayliff, who was there in 
 command of a large Fingoe contingent, that the Gcaleka 
 army had crossed into British territory. On the arrival of 
 this gentleman with about 1,000 Fingoes, I halted the gun 
 and the men under my command ; Mr. Ayliff with his 
 Fingoes marching to the top of the Guadana Hill. In order 
 to avoid surprise I sent Sub-Inspector Hamilton to Mr. 
 Ayliff to receive a report of the j:>osition of the Gcalekas. 
 This officer returned with a request from Mr. Ayliff that 
 I should march on with the gun and men, which I did. On 
 arrival there I found the Gcaleka army in three divisions at 
 the foot of the hill. On our appearance the enemy made a 
 move towards us ; I immediately gave the order to the 
 officer in command of the artillery (Sub-Inspector Cochrane) 
 to open fire with the 7 -pounder, which he did. 
 
 * All cattle intended for the 'butcher are called in the Colony 
 " slaughter-cattle." 
 
MR. G. B CHALMERS S ACCOUNT. 
 
 161 
 
 " After the tenth round the gun became disabled, and on 
 being reported to me I gave the order, ' The gun will 
 retire under Mr. Cochrane and the escort.' This was 
 immediately carried out, and the gun, under Sub-Inspector 
 Cochrane and A. Maclean, with twenty-five men as gun 
 escort, retired accordingly. Before entering into action my 
 men were extended in skirmishing order, on the brow of 
 the hill, the horses having been left out of sight, in hand,, 
 and in charge of the usual number of men. The Fingoes,. 
 under Mr. Ayliff, were placed on the left flank, between 
 the gun and the Guadana forest, so as to command the 
 bush. My men were placed on the right of the gun. 
 When the Gcalekas came within rifle range I ordered th'e> 
 police to commence firing, and continuous independent 
 firing was kept up for nearly two hours, which 
 checked the enemy until the gun retired. When the 
 Fingoes saw this they made a general retreat, running in 
 among our horses and causing great confusion. 
 
 *• Finding that we were deserted by the Fingoes, and 
 that by remaining on the ground ary longer the lives of 
 the whole European police would be sacrificed, I ordered 
 the men to retire. The confusion by the Fingoes rushing 
 about in all directions caused several of our horses to break 
 loose, and through this unfortunate circumstance one officer 
 and six men fell victims to the enemy. The remainder of 
 the men retired in order, and the gun was taken safely to 
 the Iduytwa. The firing from the seven-pounder was most 
 effective, and so was also that of the Sniders. The 
 estimated loss on the Gcaleka side was at least 2O0 besides 
 wounded. I may say that the Fingoes, when asked why 
 they retreated so soon, replied that they had been watch- 
 ing the gun, and when they saw it move they thought it 
 was time to leave the battle-field. I cannot attach any 
 blame to our men in the engagement ; they stood their 
 ground until the very last, fired steadily ; and were it not 
 for the gun breaking down, I have no hesitation in assert- 
 ing that the result would have been different. Finding the 
 gun and men were safe, I proceeded to the Ibeka camp in 
 company with Inspector J. Maclean and Sub-Inspector 
 Hamilton, where I personally reported the engagement to 
 you, and returned to the Idutywa reserve on the morning 
 of the 27th September. 
 M 
 
162 
 
 THE BATTLE OF GUADANA. 
 
 " The Gcaleka army must have numbered about 5,000. 
 Our force consisted of 180 men and about 1,500 Fingoes. 
 
 I have, &c, 
 
 G. B. Chalmers. 
 " Inspector commanding No. 3 troop, F. A. M. P." 
 
 Such was the battle of Guadana. It was fought under 
 adverse circumstances, and in a nasty bit of country. The 
 Fingoes fought badly, as they always do if they are not 
 commanded by white leaders. They never stood, but 
 retreated, firing, from the very first. Mr. Chalmers' 
 account is substantially correct. I heard the same version 
 from some men engaged, as well as from the Fingoes. 
 The men who were killed, with the exception of Mr. Van 
 Hohenan, lost their lives through Fingoes taking their 
 horses ; but there is no doubt that the last part of the 
 fight was a desperate flight from the Gcaleka troops, what- 
 ever any one may say to the contrary. I don't say the 
 police ran away, because they retired in good order until 
 the Fingoes rushed in amongst them ; but after that it was 
 a decided flight. Mr. Van Hohenan behaved bravely ; he 
 tried to take a man named Evans, Avho had been badly 
 wounded, on his horse, and both he and Evans were shot 
 down in their attempt to get away. 
 
 Some few days after, when, with a strong party, we went 
 out to recover the bodies, we found all our poor comrades 
 in a dreadful state. Evans had seventeen assegai wounds 
 in him ; one man was scalped ; Van Hohenan had his feet 
 cut off ; and all had their stomachs ripped open ; all were 
 stripped of their clothes. Not one of the party that saw 
 this fearful sight but swore a fearful vengeance if ever we 
 got hold of any of the niggers. 
 
 In the quiet of an English home I can look back with 
 sorrow to the sights I have seen during my four years in 
 South Africa ; but I can hardly be expected to regret the 
 part 1 took with my comrades in avenging the deaths of 
 our friends at the battle of Guadana. 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 THE BATTLE OF IBEKA. 
 
 At daylight we had received information of great im 
 portance from spies and scouts. The former told us that 
 Kreli in person intended to attack Ibeka, the latter that 
 the enemy were forming into columns of squares, that 
 •being their favourite mode of advance. 
 
 About eight o'clock we saw them on a hill, immediately 
 south of us, in their usual formation, as intimated. Their 
 numbers were estimated to be between 7,000 and 8,000. 
 They halted about a mile and a half from us. Of this 
 we took advantage to have breakfast, and to make a few 
 ■more preparations for defence. The horses, which had 
 been kept grazing close to what I shall now call the fort, 
 were at once brought in, saddled, bridled, and tied up to a 
 picket rope stretched between the trees in the garden. 
 Shells and case-shot were brought out and placed in 
 proximity to the guns ; ammunition boxes were opened 
 and placed all round the walls, and men told off to keep up 
 .the supplies. Barrels of water had been filled, and these 
 were now set in convenient positions all round the in- 
 closure. 
 
 When this was all done we went to our places, lighted 
 our pipes, and waited the events which were to come. 
 Most of us took our coats off to be freer for what I think 
 we all felt would be a hard struggle. From one of three 
 .prisoners we captured after the fight we learnt that Kreli 
 was there in person, though he did not approach the 
 front. His son Sigow commanded. Kreli's orders were 
 to " destroy all the Fingoes, and on your way drive those 
 •troublesome policemen away. I don't like the sight of 
 their tents ; it disturbs me. You can breakfast at Ibeka, 
 have dinner at Butterworth, and you will be then well on 
 jour way for the Komgha and the Colony, where you will 
 be joined by your friends," meaning the Gaikas. His 
 vorders were excellent, no doubt ; but they did not exactly 
 come off according to his expectation. A good many of 
 m 2 
 
164 
 
 THE BATTLE OF IBEKA. 
 
 his men slept round about Iheka that night. They slept 
 the sleep of death. 
 
 About half-past nine o'clock the enemy were reinforced 
 by 2,000 mounted men, who, after a brief halt, commenced 
 creeping up to the stony ridge I have mentioned, and 
 which is indicated on the extreme right ' in the map. 
 The reader is to consider this ridge as our left, and the 
 sloping ground on the south as our front. The whole of 
 Kreli's army then commenced an. advance. We lost sight 
 of the columns for a time in the intervening hollows, the 
 mounted men stealing up under cover of the rid^e to our 
 left. At this time the whole of Kreli's forces were no 
 more than about 1 ,700 yards distant. 
 
 The enemy, on approaching within about 1,200 yards, 
 threw out skirmishers, who began firing as they neared 
 the boundary. This move was resisted by some 500 
 Fingoes under Veldtman, who despatched them to meet 
 the enemy. On our extreme right Allan Maclean, with 
 the remainder of the Fingoes, supported them, the police 
 being thrown out in skirmishing order round the immediate 
 front and left. When the mounted men of the enemy 
 appeared over the ridge we fired at them with two shells ;. 
 both, however, went over their heads. Two rocket tubes 
 were then brought into action, and did great execution, 
 frightening the horses, and causing many of them to bolt. 
 We then commenced to fire our three 7-pounders, and the 
 action became general along the whole line. Shell after 
 shell was plumped right into the middle of the square 
 columns, causing great slaughter. When the columns 
 were broken after a little hard firing, the enemy extended 
 themselves in skirmishing order, and again and again 
 charged right up to us within fifty yards of the guns. 
 Our lire, however, was too much for them, and they 
 frequently had to retire to take rest ; still at intervals 
 coming on again and again, but with no better success. 
 
 Their mounted men were thus thoroughly broken up 
 and dispersed by the rockets and shells. 
 
 At last, after several plucky charges, they collected 
 together about five o'clock for a final effort. On and 
 on they came, one scrambling, yelling mass, but only 
 to be mowed down by our shell and rockets. Right 
 up to the guns they came, and we poured shell, case,. 
 
THE MACLEANS AT IT. 
 
 165 
 
 rockets, and snider bullets into them with determined 
 precision and effect, till at last they wavered. Down 
 swept the Fingoes, with Allan Maclean leading them, and 
 some fifty men of the police, led by his brother, Inspector 
 John Maclean, cheering as they charged the enemy, and 
 pouring in a heavy fire. As this section of our force 
 advanced the Gcalekas turned and fled, leaving their guns, 
 blankets, and everything behind them, as they ran for dear 
 life, hotly pursued by the very men they had reckoned on 
 easily beating. 
 
 The 7-pounders continued firing until the enemy was 
 out of range. Till then we had no time to look about us. 
 The fight had lasted from ten in the morning till five in 
 the afternoon, and. it was rapidly getting dark. Wonderful 
 *to relate, we had not one man klled, and only four or five 
 wounded, and these wounds all were scratches. The 
 Fingoes lost about forty men killed and eleven wounded. 
 
 The killed always predominate in native warfare. As 
 the natives never spare the wounded, it is quite a chance 
 if any such get away. How our men escaped is a marvel. 
 Barnett's house was literally peppered with shot. The 
 secret is, the enemy must, as all Kaffirs do, in their flurry 
 have fired too high. Several horses were hit inside the 
 fort. As the evening advanced, three Gcaleka prisoners 
 were brought in, who told us that the whole army had 
 suffered severely. We heard afterwards that more than a 
 thousand were killed and wounded. These were nearly 
 :all removed bv their friends during; the night, in accordance 
 with their custom. Some months afterwards we came 
 across the place where they had buried their dead. 
 
 A heavy rain came on in the evening after the battle, 
 .and we could light no fires. So we had no coffee, food, or 
 anything else, and the younger hands were beginning to 
 feel knocked up, while the older ones were not much better. 
 
 We continued under arms all night, with our heads and 
 the muzzles of our guns pointing over the wall. A 
 miserable night it was, raining hard, and bitterly cold. 
 
 At daylight the rain cleared off, and we saw that the 
 Gcalekas had contrived to return very nearly to the positions 
 they had taken on the previous day. We observed them 
 .creeping up again to the ridge, evidently with the intention, 
 if possible, of turning our left flank. The Fingoes were 
 
166 
 
 THE BATTLE OF IBEKA. 
 
 at once ordered out and despatched up to the ridge. A? 
 the Galekas came within range of us they opened fire and 
 retired. We also opened fire upon them with our three 
 7-pounders, at a range of 2,400 yards, causing the enemy 
 considerable astonishment ; nevertheless, they continued to 
 come on. For some time we fired, and they never got very 
 close to us. 
 
 About ten o'clock in the morning a heavy fog came on,, 
 and continued till noon, when it cleared off, and left a 
 bright day. When we looked, to our astonishment not a 
 Gcaleka was to be seen near us. But we soon discovered 
 the enemy at a distance of ten miles away, the fires of their 
 camps showing where their armies had halted. 
 
 This was their first and last attack on Ibeka. The 
 Grcalekas talk about it to this day, and have been unable to 
 explain to themselves how such execution should have 
 been dealt out from shell and rocket. They had never 
 heard of or seen big guns before, and they were simply 
 dumbfounded by the effect of a shell, and its possibility of 
 bursting amongst them at 1,000 yards with such deadly 
 effect. Had they known the strength which numbers 
 confer they could have walked over us. They fought well, 
 and pluckily, I must say. The way they repeatedly charged 
 I shall never forget. They came with a determined 
 rush, and if numbers only could have availed, they would-, 
 have proved irresistible. 
 
 We now felt sure the Gcalekas would not again attack. 
 Ibeka, and they never did. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 KRELFS KRAAL AFFAIR. 
 
 It was just getting daylight, and there was every 
 appearance of a fine day for the pretty stiff work we had 
 in hand. 
 
 A few shots were soon heard, and the bugle sounded the 
 advance. The guns were driven up the remainder of the 
 hill at a gallop, uulimbered and came into action, firing 
 shrapnel shell at the kraals and huts. The volunteers, 
 police, and Fingoes dismounted, and commenced indepen- 
 dent firing about 200 yards off. The Gcalekas were com- 
 pletely taken by surprise ; they only fired a few shots, and 
 then turned and fled for the outlet, which I have already 
 described, along the course of the river. The entire force, 
 except the gun escorts and the troop of the police held in 
 reserve, pursued them for three or four miles, the big guns 
 continually fHng as opportunity offered. When the 
 G-calekas reached the flat I have before indicated, they turned 
 and made a stand for about ten minutes, but as our men were 
 gradually getting round them, and at the same time kept 
 up a heavy firing on them, they were unable to hold the 
 position they had taken, and speedily fled for the bush. 
 The " retire " was now sounded, and the force was 
 gradually brought back to the place where the guns were 
 standing and had remained since morning. Why the guns 
 were not used in the pursuit I am unable to say. They 
 were well horsed, and the gunners were well trained, the 
 road was flat, and they would have been of the greatest 
 use in clearing the niggers from the various bushes. The 
 escort and police troop being kept in reserve, prevented 
 these men from being utilized to advantage, as unquestion- 
 ably they might have been. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 BATTLE OF LUSISI. 
 
 The next morning, soon after daylight, the outlying 
 pickets came in, reporting that the enemy was approaching. 
 We were all turned ont and were placed in extended order round 
 the camp. Two troops of police, with three troops of 
 volunteers, were ordered out, dismounted, to take the 
 direction of the bush I have before mentioned as being 
 close to the camp. This detachment formed the front. 
 On our extreme right about five hundred Kafirs were seen 
 coming down towards us, and shortly afterwards firing 
 began. The enemy nearly surrounded the camp. For 
 some time heavy firing was kept up on both sides. We 
 were unable to use the big guns, the Fingoes being in the 
 bush trying to drive the Gcalekas out. 
 
 After firing with our small arms for about a couple of 
 hours, the Gcalekas, from some unexplained reason, suddenly 
 ceased firing and ran, the Fingoes, volunteers, and police 
 pursuing a short distance ; but the rain coming down very 
 hard, and making a very thick mist, these detachments 
 were recalled. After they returned news was brought to 
 the camp that some of the enemy had taken shelter in a 
 cave, and that they were supposed to be chiefs. Two of 
 the Fingoe leaders, brothers named G-oss, went with a 
 party of their men to get the Gcalekas out. The place 
 they were in was close by a small stream, the course of 
 which, turning at right angles towards the cave, made a 
 sort of passage with high walls towards it. To reach the 
 cave where these Gcalekas were concealed we had to go 
 right up the stream, and then the mouth of the cave was 
 visible, about as high as a man's head. 
 
 From the roof of the cave to the ground above there was 
 not more than about two feet. The Fingoes went in first, 
 and as they reached the part of the stream which was in 
 view of the cave, were all shot dead. William Goss then 
 went in with three more Fingoes and these as they came 
 in sight were also shot dead. Poor Goss was shot right 
 
THE BROTHERS GOSS. 
 
 169 
 
 through the heart. Two more Fingoes and Michael Gross 
 then went in ; the Fingoes were shot as soon as they 
 appeared, and Michael Goss was wounded in the arm. He 
 went forward a few yards calling for some more men. 
 Two more came into this passage of death, when Michael 
 Goss and one of the two men who had joined him were 
 ■shot dead ; the other ran outside again. 
 
 Allan Maclean and his Fingoes had now arrived on the 
 spot, and he tried to get in with two of his men. One was 
 shot, and he himself had a narrow escape, a bullet going 
 through his sleeve and grazing his arm. They wisely 
 retreated, and as only three, or at most four, men could 
 get into the place at once, he resolved to try other measures. 
 They first commenced to fire volleys from a hill 
 about a hundred and fifty yards off, which commanded the 
 
 • entrance of the cave, but this only drove the enemy further 
 back into it. 
 
 A Fingoe now climbed up on the bank, right above the 
 cave, armed with an assegai. A stick was then cut and a 
 hat put on it. Now, as only one man could come out of 
 the cave at a time, to fire, they felt pretty sure of getting 
 one, so they put the stick with the hat on it, round the 
 
 • corner. A party of men were in readiness to rush into 
 the cave directly the shot had been fired from it. A nigger 
 came out of the cave to fire at the hat, and was immediatelv 
 stabbed right through the neck by the Fingoe above, and 
 in the confusion that followed, the party rushed in and 
 killed the remainder of the men inside. There were seven 
 in all, Gcalekas. On our side we lost eleven Fingoes, and 
 the brothers Goss, who, poor fellows, both left widows and 
 large families, We buried them the next morning, with 
 military honours, and thus in the middle of Kaffir-land they 
 found their graves. Both were frontier farmers, living- 
 right upon the further border by the Umtata River, 
 thoroughly good, honest fellows, universally liked and re- 
 spected by all who knew them. This was the last fight, 
 such as it was, we had with the Gcalekas for some time. 
 They scattered themselves all over the country, and we 
 had long and tedious patrols driving them through the 
 ^territory. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 BATTLE OF UMZINTZANI. 
 
 A battle was now fought about twelve miles from 
 Ibeka, in which our men so narrowly escaped being beaten 
 that the country was completely roused. Public meetings 
 were again held everywhere, vigilance committees were 
 formed, and all the frontier towns were prepared for 
 defence. Farmers and their families were " treking " into 
 laager. Everywhere there were protests of the strongest 
 character against the way in which the Cape Government 
 was acting. At a large public meeting held at Kei-road, 
 the loyal inhabitants threatened to take the law into their 
 own hands, and shoot every nigger found on their farms.. 
 As they were all being ruined day by day, and losing their 
 stock by theft, their complaints were not without good 
 foundation. How the Ministiy at the Cape were, in 
 consequence of their mismanagement, dismissed by the 
 Governor is now a matter of history, and I will at once 
 relate the details of the battle to which I have just alluded. 
 
 On the road leading towards the mouth of the River 
 Kei from Ibeka there was a place called Holland's Shop,, 
 a large trading-station ; but at this time the whole station 
 had been burned to the ground. A party of volunteers,, 
 consisting of infantry from Port Elizabeth, with one gun 
 of the Graham's Town Artillery, together with No. 9 
 Troop, F. A. M. Police, left Ibeka on one of our customary 
 patrols. This small force was under the command of 
 Captain Bay ley, who had recently been the adjutant of 
 the 9th Regiment of Foot, and who afterwards became our 
 colonel, when the F. A. M. P. were converted into the; 
 C. M. R. Our division had marched on with the police 
 troop, forming an advance guard, when we suddenly 
 came upon the Gcalekas in force. Inspector Bourne- 
 sent back at once a messenger to Captain Bayley, who 
 brought his party forward at a double, and the whole of 
 our force then took up a position on a small hill just 
 abreast of the ruins of Holland's Shop. 
 
CHARGE OF THE GCALEKAS 
 
 171 
 
 This occurred about three o'clock in the afternoon of 
 the 2nd of December. 
 
 Whilst the infantry and artillery were getting into 
 position, the police were engaged in doing a little desul- 
 tory skirmishing. 
 
 The Gcalekas were in great force, rapidly increasing 
 in numbers on a ridge about half-a-mile off. 
 
 Exactly opposite this ridge runs a small river called the 
 'Nabaxa. Along the banks of this, about half-a-mile 
 nearer the sea, was a deep kloof or valley, out of which 
 they could be seen coming up in great numbers. * 
 
 The police now advanced, and at something "like 250 
 yards from the enemy commenced firing. The Graham's 
 Town gun. which was well horsed, drove down to the 
 assistance of the police, unlimbered, came into action, and- 
 peppered the niggers right merrily. 
 
 In the meanwhile the Cape artillery and the infantry 
 were not idle. The artillery sent shell after shell into the 
 bush, and the infantry fired at the er emy as the shells 
 drove them out of their cover. They were thus forced 
 out of their kloof, but effected a junction with their friends 
 on the ridge. At this point part of them divided, and. 
 under cover of the ridge started off to outflank us. 
 
 A party of police were despatched to stop this manoeuvre, 
 and then the rest of the movers charged right down the hill 
 from the ridge, on to the gun and remnant of police that 
 were left with it. There were not more than twenty police,, 
 and about eleven or twelve of the artillery. The G-calekas 
 who charged us numbered between 400 and 500. When 
 they reached within 150 yards, the order was given 
 us to retire ; the police mounted and retired except 
 three men, whose horses had broken loose. Two of them 
 reached the gun in safety, but the third, Welleslev. was 
 unfortunately shot in the hip, and was almost immediately 
 assegaied. Though on his knees he fought hard, and. 
 killed four Kafirs before they finally despatched him. 
 
 Several of the enemy were shot by the police and 
 artillery, as they clustered round the poor fellow, stabbing 
 him to death. 
 
 * The Narrator omits to mention that a Man-of -War lying off this- 
 part of the coast, also shelled the Kafirs. 
 
172 
 
 THE BATTLE OF UMZINTZANI. 
 
 Lieutenant Wells, who was in command of the 
 Graham's Town gun, waited until the natives were 
 within fifty or sixty yards of his piece, and then fired a 
 <jase shot into the midst of them. In the eonfus'on that 
 ensued the gun was limbered up, and retired at a gallop, 
 with the two policemen, up a steep hill and rejoined the 
 rest of our party. 
 
 The enemy did not immediately come on again ; but 
 about five o'clock, or two hours before sunset, they again 
 collected and charged the camp. 
 
 The two guns now poured several rounds of case shot 
 into them as they advanced, which they did too within a 
 hundred and fifty yards, where they were able to take 
 shelter behind some stones and ant-heaps, and from this 
 position one man of the Port Elizabeth volunteers was 
 shot dead. This was almost the only casualty that 
 occurred up to this time. 
 
 It was now sunset, but with the moon well up it 
 continued tolerably light. The enemy even r now and 
 again advanced en masse, and poured a volley or two into 
 the camp, wounding some of our side. They made a final 
 charge about nine o'clock, coming close up to the guns, 
 howling and firing independently ; but finding our return 
 fire too warm for them, they retired again into the kloof, 
 and were seen no more that night. 
 
 Some Fingoes joined the camp during the same night, 
 and the next morning went out as usual to kill the 
 wounded men Avho were left. 
 
 The loss to the enemy was between seventy and eighty 
 killed, and we heard afterwards that from 150 to 200 
 wounded were removed during the night, as is their 
 custom. The loss on our side was two killed, with four 
 police and three volunteers wounded. 
 
 The wounded were sent in during the day to Ibeka, and 
 a permanent camp was formed about 300 yards from the 
 scene of the battle. 
 
 Large reinforcements of police were now sent out from 
 Ibeka, and frequent patrols went from this place, now 
 called Umzintzani from the name of a small river which 
 flows close by. These patrols were constantly coming 
 across small bodies of the enemy, who fled, after firing a 
 few shots, at our approach. 
 
MAJOR MOORE. 
 
 173 
 
 While we are camped and waiting the orders to march, 
 let me turn to notice some events which were happening 
 on the other side of the Kei. 
 
 Kiva, let me first remark, one of the most noted of the 
 Gcaleka warriors, had broken through into the Colony,, 
 burning every store and farm-house on his way, and had 
 joined the Gaikas, who were now in open rebellion. The 
 communication from the Kei road and Ivomgha was 
 blocked, and a policeman was shot whilst carrying 
 despatches between these two places. A body of forty 
 police, under charge of an officer carrying the Government 
 despatches, was attacked and forced to retreat. At length 
 Major Moore, with a detachment of the 88th and some 
 twenty of the police, whilst escorting the mails, had a 
 severe fight with the Galekas. The engagement lasted. 
 over two hours. We lost in it three men killed and several 
 wounded, and a cart-load of ammunition, and narrowly 
 escaped defeat, through the whole of his own force bolting.. 
 The Major managed, however, to lay the fault on the 
 police, who were invariably made the scape-goats if any 
 failure occurred. The V. C. was given to him for some 
 act of gallantry in this remarkable action, and eventually 
 he was made commandant of our force. His report of 
 the action and the account given by a sergeant of the 
 police engaged, who carried a man off the field on his own 
 horse, differed very much. According to the statement 
 of the police, the soldiers ran first, and the police followed. 
 them. 
 
 I am afraid we did not appreciate Major Moore as highly 
 as he estimated himself. He was slightly wounded in the 
 wrist. The enemy in this fight were led by McKinnon,. 
 who had escaped when the disarmament of his tribe was 
 attempted.* 
 
 I will now return to our camp in the Transkei. The 
 
 * This "Mckintion" is now located with his tribe near, or on the 
 town lands of Port Elizabeth. While in Port Elizabeth a few- 
 months aj^o, I visited him at hi* Location. He said it was all up 
 with his tribe and they w.-re broken up and po <veriess to do future 
 harn , Shor ty after I saw hirr, a series of t-erious fights took place 
 between his n»en, and ?ome Fingoe?, &?., in which several men, on> 
 pach side, were wounded. The P. E. authorities had much 
 difficulty in qr.elling these riote. 
 
174 
 
 UMZINTZANI. 
 
 day following Christmas Day we proceeded on our march. 
 We were greatly extended, . and on this occasion were 
 divided into two columns. One column was placed under 
 the command of Captain Upcher, and the other, or head- 
 
 • quarters column, under Colonel Glyn. 
 
 We marched over exactly the same ground as 
 before, encountering the same difficulties of transport, and 
 several times meeting the enemy, who made at no time any 
 but a very weak and brief defence, and then fled. We 
 captured immense herds of cattle. On one occasion about 
 1,200 women fell into our hands, and were sent into Ibeka. 
 These poor things were in the most awful state of destitu- 
 tion from long hunger. They had been for some time 
 living on the bark of trees, and such roots as they could 
 . grub up. 
 
 We returned ourselves to Ibeka on the 10th of January, 
 1878, having for the third time completely cleared Gcaleka- 
 Jaud. 
 
 During this patrol we had done on an average thirty 
 miles a day, and had been well fed and looked after, and 
 what we certainly appreciated, well employed. The hard 
 work that fell to our lot we did not mind. Great, we 
 found, was the contrast between the Imperial and Colonial 
 . authorities ; for with the latter we had an overwhelming 
 measure of work, but no food ; while with the former the 
 balance was well adjusted. 
 
 We were not allowed to rest quietly for any length of 
 time. Two days after our return on this occasion the 
 troops were all again ordered out. Our destination was a 
 place about seven miles from Ibeka, called Leslie's mission 
 . station. We were sent in consequence of the Gcalekas, who 
 had not long before crossed into Gaika-land, having re- 
 crossed the Kei. They were* reported to be assembling in 
 large numbers close to the river and near its mouth. 
 
 From the camp at Leslie's mission an advanced camp 
 was formed, at a place called N'amaxa, under the command 
 of Major Owen of the 88th. Both at Leslie's mission and 
 N'amaxa a mixed forced was stationed, as it was uncertain 
 which place the Gcalekas would attack, the advanced camp 
 at N'amaxa. 
 
 At this station we had a company of the 24th, another 
 
 • of the 88th, with fifty men of the Naval Brigade, two 
 
RETREAT OF GCALEKAS. 
 
 175 
 
 -troops of police, and two 7-poiiDder guns, with detach- 
 ments of the police artillery. 
 
 I have reason to think the enemy chose to attack this 
 camp because of the excellent cover they could reach if 
 defeated. The surrounding country was undulating, but 
 on the river-side it presented a series of deep kloofs, afford- 
 ing capital shelter. 
 
 Immediately on the right was a long ridge, known as the 
 Tala ridge, and on this the enemy were collecting and then 
 ■disappearing into the kloof below us on our front. 
 
 About three o'clock the rocket battery commenced 
 firing into the bush in front of us, as apparently by 
 this time a large body of G-calekas had collected. The 
 enemy were quickly driven out of the bush, and began to 
 form on each of our flanks. They then broke into 
 skirmishing order and charged. On all sides they were 
 met by a heavy and determined fire which arrested their 
 progress. After standing still a while in this position, 
 they were literally mown down by two guns of the Eoyal 
 Artillery which had just arrived, and were now brought 
 into action. The fire was so hot that the whole Grcaleka 
 army was soon in full retreat to the bush. 
 
 The enemy was immediately pursued by the mounted 
 men till dark ; at sundown the recall was sounded, and 
 we had time to get some rest. 
 
 Sixty bodies of the enemy were found close to the camp, 
 that is to say, within a hundred yards. Down the kloof 
 on the left we counted forty-six more bodies, and several 
 more were seen lying about in different directions, which 
 we had not time to count. We estimated the loss of the 
 enemy at 150 killed and 200 wounded. Our loss was 
 •confined to three men severely wounded, privates belonging 
 to the 88th. One of these, poor fellow, was shot right 
 through the jaw, the bullet going in one side of his face 
 .and passing out on the other, but he recovered. Three 
 Gcaleka chiefs were killed in this action. 
 
CHAPTER XXY. 
 
 BATTLE OF QUINTAN A. 
 
 While these events were happening in the Transkei y 
 three gentlemen — R. G. Tainton, John Tainton, and W. 
 Brown — had been murdered by the Gaikas at a place called 
 Berlin, about twelve miles from King William's Town. 
 
 These three gentlemen had been sent on a mission by 
 the Cape Government, with no other escort but a few 
 black policemen, who, upon the Kafirs attacking, one and 
 all fled. The murderers were eventually taken and hanged. 
 
 The whole of the Gaikas, at this time under Sandilli, 
 had risen in open rebellion. Several of the tribes of 
 emigrant Tambookies in Tembnland were also on the point 
 of rebellion. Various commands were out under Colonial 
 officers, and generally war was raging along the whole 
 frontier. 
 
 At Impetu a company of the 24th, under Japtain 
 Wardell, had been cnt off from all communication and 
 supplies, and it took a mixed force of close upon 700 men, 
 with three 7-pounders under Colonel Lambert, to relieve 
 their post. 
 
 Very nearly all the farmers round about Komgha, with 
 their families, had taken refuge in laager at this station, 
 where they suffered severely from exposure and privation.. 
 They were, however, after a brief interval, safely brought 
 away from their perilous position. 
 
 The farmers through these events were of course 
 heavy losers ; all their houses had been burnt to the 
 ground, and they had lost great quantities of stock. 
 Those who had been relieved at Impetu were all 
 placed in a fresh laager at Komgha, and there they 
 were obliged to remain till the end of the war, when 
 they returned to the wrecks of their former flourishing 
 houses— all more or less ruined through the fault of a 
 Government which would not listen to the representations 
 of the frontier farmers who had so justly expressed their 
 alarm. 
 
"WHAT BECAME OF THE CATTLE ? 
 
 177 
 
 In the Transkei preparations were now being made for an ■ 
 attack on the Chichaba valley, where the Kafirs, since their 
 defeat at 'Namaxa, had now collected in large numbers. 
 
 This beautiful valley, which is about thirteen miles 
 long, and begins at a point opposite the ending of the Tala 
 ridge, runs parallel with the river Kei, and towards its 
 mouth. The valley abounded in very dense bushes, so 
 thick in some places as to make it impossible for any one 
 to move many yards in any direction. The only paths 
 down to it — for roads there are none — are very rugged and 
 precipitous. At this place we were to make our next 
 attack. For this purpose two columns were formed on the 
 Komgha side under the command of Colonel Lambert and 
 Major Moore, and on the Transkei side a column under the 
 orders of Colonel Glyn. The force on the Komgha side 
 embodied about 250 white men, soldiers and police, with 
 about 1,200 Fingoes. On the Transkei side, on which I 
 was, the forces consisted, soldiers and police together, of 
 about 360 white men, with 250 Fingoes under Allan 
 Maclean and Veldtman. 
 
 After two or three reconnaisances to find out the exact 
 whereabouts of the enemy, all three columns advanced, 
 about the middle of January. The Transkei column 
 proceeding along the Tala ridge, and the columns on the 
 Komgha side marching through Impetu. The Kafirs 
 made little or no resistance, and after a week's desultory 
 fighting and skirmishing, were completely driven out of 
 the valley. 
 
 Between five and six thousand head of cattle and sheep 
 were captured on the Komgha side by Colonel Lambert's 
 column, after being driven out of the bush by Maclean's 
 Fingoes. The guns and rockets did great service, and no 
 doubt largely contributed to the success of the expedition. 
 
 Let me here make one or two remarks about captured 
 cattle, which proved a source of great grumbling and 
 discontent among the police. During the Gcaleka and 
 Gaika wars, not less than 15,000 head of cattle and at 
 least 20,000 sheep had been captured in various fights, in 
 which the police had taken an active part. In most cases, in 
 fact, the capture was due to this force alone. What became 
 of these cattle no one was permitted to know. All were sent 
 to Ibeka, and there herded and looked after by a party of 
 N 
 
178 
 
 QUJNTANA. 
 
 Tuigoes and white men, told off for this express purpose. 
 Taking the value of the cattle at £3 per head, the whole 
 number captured would represent a sum of about £45,000. 
 If the sheep be computed at the low price of four shillings 
 a piece, making £4,000, we have a grand total of about 
 £49,000, and certainly this would be a low estimate ; but 
 I have put it low purposely, to allow for thefts, and deaths 
 from various causes. Now the entire force of police 
 employed in the warfare which I have detailed amounted 
 to about 600 men, and they were fairly entitled to a third 
 of the whole amount of £49,000. A third of this sum 
 would be £16,333, which divided equally amongst the 600 
 men, should have given each of us about £27. The 
 reader may be inquisitive enough to ask how much the 
 Frontier Armed and Mounted Police actually received ? 
 At the end of nine months, when the whole country had 
 been quiet for some time, and we were settled in our new 
 stations in the Transkei, the magnificent sum of £1 8s. 4d. 
 was handed to each of us, as his share of prize money. 
 As a mounted force we had been mainly instrumental in 
 capturing and driving these cattle and sheep, and this was 
 our reward. Can it be wondered that great discontent 
 prevailed ? The authorities must have known that some 
 persons had made a grand thing out of this. As the sum 
 only of £800 was in all paid to the police, the revelation 
 would be interesting into whose pockets went the 
 remainder, say £15,533. 
 
 A famine had now come upon the Kafirs. Hundreds of 
 them were daily giving themselves up, and surrendering 
 their arms to obtain food and get fat ; and having accom- 
 plished these aims, they immediately rejoined their friends. 
 No precautions were taken to detain them ; no work was 
 laid on them. They came in, said they were sorry, were 
 forgiven, and allowed to follow their own devices. The 
 major part uf them, when refreshed and fatted up, rejoined 
 the various chiefs to whom they belonged. This was 
 afterwards demonstrated by numbers of the killed being 
 found with " passes " on them from magistrates and other 
 people authorized to give them. 
 
 A pass is a certificate that the native bearing this 
 document is loyal, and is permitted to pass from one part 
 •of the Colony to the other. 
 
PREPARE FOR ATTACK. 
 
 179 
 
 Towards the end of January the Gaikas and Gcalekas, 
 under Kiva, Sigow, and McKinuon, were again gathering 
 in the valley of the Kei, at the foot of the Tala ridge. 
 
 From information brought in by spies and others, 
 it was known that they contemplated an attack upon 
 some place or other, but the exact place could not then be 
 indicated with any certainty. But as they were all getting 
 very short of ammunition, it was supposed they would 
 attack Ibeka, or Quintana, twenty-two miles distant from 
 Ibeka. At both these places large quantities of ammuni- 
 tion and stores had been collected, the obtaining of which 
 by the enemy would have been a grand stroke of good 
 fortune for them, and a very serious loss to us. The 
 ammunition and provisions accumulated at these places 
 represented the entire stores available in the Transkei. 
 
 A strong detachment of police and two 7-pounders were 
 sent on to Leslie's mission station, which lies about half- 
 way between Ibeka and Quintana. This detachment was 
 under the command of Captain Robinson, and was intended 
 us a reserve, so that whichever of the two places the Kafirs 
 .attacked, he could quickly move to its assistance. 
 
 At Ibeka two troops of police, with some companies of 
 the 24th Regiment, and a party of Pulleine's Rangers, 
 were stationed, with twenty-five men of Carrington's Light 
 Horse. This force was strengthened with a 7-pounder of 
 the Police Artillery, and a detachment of Royal Artillery 
 with two "^-pounders, and of the Naval Brigade with two 
 Armstrong guns. 
 
 The ground round Ibeka had been at various times 
 strongly entrenched, and there was no fear of the Kafirs 
 successfully attacking this place. At Quintana a deep 
 trench had been dug round the crown of a hill with out- 
 lying rifle-pits and shelter trenches. The trench round the 
 hill was about 400 yards long, and 300 yards broad. 
 Inside this the tents were pitched, with the stores and 
 ammunition piled in the centre. 
 
 The force stationed at Quintana consisted of three com- 
 panies of the 24th, fifty men of Carrington's Light Horse, 
 twenty-five men of Xaval Brigade, with a 24-poimder 
 rocket tube, one troop of police of sixty men, 9-pounder 
 Police Artillery and eleven men, gun detachment ; one 
 7-pounder Cape Town Artillery and nine men, gun detach- 
 
180 
 
 QUINT ANA. 
 
 ment, with 200 Fingoes under Allan Maclean. Captain* 
 Upcher of the 24th was in command of the entire force. 
 
 We were not left long in suspense. Scouts from the 
 enemy were seen on the surrounding hills about Quintana r 
 and at last, through our spies. It was ascertained beyond 
 doubt that the Kafirs intended to attack this point. 
 
 Another police troop was despatched from Ibeka to 
 Leslie's mission station, together with a company of 
 .Pulleine's Rangers. 
 
 I will now describe the place the Kaffirs were about to 
 attack. The camp stood on a hill, three sides of which 
 sloped down to the north-west and south, the fourth, or 
 east side, was flat, the read from Ibeka leading into it. On 
 the north side was a hill and a deep gully about half a mile 
 off, and in the bottom of this again was a small stream.. 
 To the left and in a south-westerly direction was a level 
 ground of about a mile in length, and then another hill,, 
 dotted about Avith thorn trees common to the country. In 
 front or to the west was more level ground, interspersed 
 with trees and shrubs ; the ground generally was rugged 
 and uneven, affording excellent cover for the enemy. 
 
 At daylight on the 7th of February, 1878, many of the 
 enemy's scouts were again seen on the hills in front of us ; 
 the camp was called, all the tents struck, and the force 
 stationed as follows ; the 9-pounder was placed at the 
 N.-W. corner of the trench, the 7-pounder at the S.-W.,. 
 with the 24-pounder rocket tube in the middle ; Carring- 
 ton's Horse on the right front ; Fingoes on the left front :. 
 the 24th lined the trench immediately fronting the enemy, 
 and the police were stationed on the east side, in case of 
 the enemy trying to outflank us. 
 
 A heavy, drenching rain now came on, and speedily 
 wetted every one through. About six o'clock in the 
 morning the Light Horse, under Captain Carrington, with 
 a few police and a company of the 24th, were sent out to 
 try and draw the enemy on ; this they did most success- 
 fully. On the Kaffirs came, some in columns and some 
 skirmishing ; the Light Horse and party retired into the 
 camp as directed, where the remainder of our men had been, 
 kept out of sight in the trenches. The Kaffirs, evidently 
 supposing that the party they had seen skirmishing was- 
 the entire force, advanced at a rapid pace across the veldt y 
 
HAED AT IT. 
 
 181 
 
 charging directly for our camp. We computed the number 
 to be about 4,000. 
 
 When the enemy had reached within 500 yards our men 
 quietly put their heads up out of the trenches, and com- 
 menced a heavy fire at the astonished Kaffirs, the big guns 
 and the rocket tube at the same time opening fire. They 
 -stood this for about twenty minutes. They had tolerably 
 good shelter, and a heavy mist was coming on, sometimes 
 completely obscuring them from us ; but after the expira- 
 tion of about half-an-hour the fog fortunately lifted, and 
 we discovered that they had crept within 150 yards of the 
 trenches. A few rounds of case-shot, and some volleys 
 from the Martini-Henrys, and they turned and fled, the 
 Fingoes and Carrington's Horse after them, Carrington lead- 
 ing the way with a revolver and a stick, about 200 yards 
 ahead of every one else ; these weapons he evidently con- 
 sidered good enough for chasing; niggers with. 
 
 The police were also ordered to proceed with the rest ; 
 but owing to the obtuseness of their commanding officer, 
 did not get away until too late to be of use. Captain 
 Robinson's column came up when the enemy were in full 
 retreat, and joined the pursuit. The nine-pounder also 
 followed the flying enemy, getting some good shots at 
 them. Round the camp the dead and dying were lying, 
 the latter being speedily finished off by the Fingoes, after 
 the custom of native warfare in Africa. 
 
 The casualties on our side amounted to three Fingoes 
 killed, four wounded, two of Carrington's Horse wounded 
 .and their horses shot, and one policeman wounded. The 
 loss to the enemy was about 300. For some days after 
 this battle we had heavv burving fatigues. 
 
 This was the conclusion of the Gcaleka and Gaika wars. 
 These tribes never attempted to attack any place again, or 
 showed in the open in any large number. Very consider- 
 able parties of them took to the Amatola Bush, and in that 
 place and the Water Kloof gave the Imperial forces" much 
 trouble in subduing them. . . 
 
 Shortly after this battle all the Imperial forces were 
 withdrawn from the Transkei and the police were kept on 
 ■a succession of patrols all over Gealekaland, the entire force 
 being distributed throughout Kreli's country. 
 
 The G-calekas were this time thoroughly broken up, and 
 
182 
 
 QUINT ANA. 
 
 after Laving been driven three times out of their country^, 
 became totally disorganized and distributed amongst other 
 tribes, principally uniting with the Pondoes snd Pondomise,. 
 
 A thousand pounds sterling was offered for Kreli, dead 
 or alive ; but he was never captured, though he had several 
 narrow escapes. 
 
 The Government subsequently withdrew the reward,, 
 and this once powerful chief became a wanderer from tribe 
 to tribe, till he surrendered himself as already stated.* 
 
 * In one cf the engagements at Quintana Piivate Seavars, a 
 fine stalw art man (88 b) anxious to distinguish himself, bounded 
 forward amongst the skirmisher?, in order to get a erod shot at the 
 foe. He received a ball in the mouth, which went out m der the eye •;■ 
 the Kafirs ran forward to assegai him, but Major Owen pistolled 
 Several of them, and with the aid of Private Prendajist, conveyed 
 the wounded man to a place of safety. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 THE MOKOSI AFFAIR, 1879. 
 
 In the south-west corner of Basutoland dwelt a Basuto 
 chieftain named Morosi. His tribes are called Baphutis. 
 He had several sons, one of whom was named Dodo. 
 Morosi's strip of country had been given him by Moshesh, 
 the chief of the Basutos, some years previously, in return 
 for services rendered during several wars with neighbour- 
 ing tribes, and more particularly during the comparatively 
 recent war with the Orange Free State. 
 
 Old Morosi had been a famous general in days gone by. 
 He had commanded an army which had been mainly 
 instrumental in defeating Sir George Cathcart, when he 
 attacked the Basutos in 1852. Here he was reaping the 
 reward of his service, living on this strip of land, when he 
 was brought into trouble through his sons — trouble which 
 terminated in the death of himself and the greater part of 
 his tribe, and the scattering of all who were left. At the 
 beginning of the year, in common with the Basutos, of 
 whom he and his people formed a part, he was under the 
 protection of the Capj Government. The resident magis- 
 trate with Morosi, a Mr. Austin, * lived at a place called 
 Silver Spruit. One of Mr. Austin's duties was to collect 
 hut-tax from these people at various times. He had no 
 white force nearer than Palmietfontein, twenty-five miles- 
 distant, where a troop of C.M.R. were stationed. About a 
 dozen black policemen were at his disposal at his residence. 
 
 For a long time Dodo had been stirring up the Baphutis 
 to refuse to pay these hut-taxes, which, when the country 
 had been taken over by the Government, these natives^ 
 through their chiefs, had agreed to pay. 
 
 This disagreement, which had been going on for some 
 time, at last culminated in a flat refusal to pay any sum to 
 the collector. Mr. Austin had no alternative but to sum- 
 mon the offenders, and having duly warned them, he 
 committed them to prison until the tax was paid. 
 
 * SiLca killed duriug the Eanuto war. 
 
184 
 
 MOROSI. 
 
 Dodo, who was present when the committal of these men 
 took place, threatened Mr. Austin with personal violence, 
 and declared he would release the prisoners. An attempt 
 was made to arrest him, but without success. He was the 
 son of a great chief, and I have no doubt the black police- 
 men felt compunction in doing their duty as they ought to 
 have done, more particularly being Baphutis themselves. 
 Mr. Austin duly reported this state of things to the Cape 
 Government, and requested that some force might be sent 
 to support his authority. Fifty men of the C.M.R. were 
 accordingly moved up to a place called Stork Spruit ; but 
 whilst on the march, before they had time to arrive, Dodo 
 and a strong party of Baphutis broke open the gaol and 
 released the prisoners. Mr. Austin pluckily stuck to his 
 post, sent to Morosi to deliver up Dodo and the remainder 
 of the ring-leaders, and at last went personally to Morosi, 
 and represented to him to what consequences a refusal to 
 do this would certainly lead. Either Morosi could not or 
 would not make them surrender ; but, any way, he did not 
 exert himself in the matter, or render any information or 
 help to the Government. 
 
 Mr. Austin, whose life was in considerable danger, 
 retired to Stork Spruit, and the Baphutis immediately 
 wrecked the residency and buildings. 
 
 No. 4 troop were marched into Morosi's country and had 
 a brush with the rebels, losing three men and killing a few 
 of the natives. 
 
 Morosi first of all took possession of a mountain close to 
 Stork Spruit, and here for several days defied all attempts 
 to dispossess him or disperse his people. The whole of the 
 Baphutis probably numbered no more than 1,500 men, with 
 the usual quantity of women and children. The Cape 
 Government still wanted to give him a chance, and ottered 
 to let him go back to his own country with his people, 
 if he would deliver up Dodo and the remainder of the 
 men who had broken into the gaol. Morosi requested to 
 be allowed a week for consideration ; during the inter\al 
 he gradually removed the whole of his tribe, with their 
 cattle and horses, t^ another mountain, some twenty miles 
 distant, from which he never came down alive. So 
 artfully was this done, that no one knew anything about it 
 until the time arrived for his answer, when it was 
 
MOBOSl'S MOUNTAIN. 
 
 185 
 
 ••■discovered that only a few women remained behind. 
 These, of course, knew nothing, or if they did, would tell 
 nothing. They were released a few hours afterwards, and 
 probably rejoined their friends, rejoicing at their easy 
 •escape. The Cape Government were now involved in 
 what promised to be a very nice little war. The country 
 was extremely difficult of access. There were literally 
 no roads, grass was scarce, and the mountain on which 
 Morosi had taken refuge was known to be in a very 
 strong natural position, which had been strengthened by 
 well-built fortifications. For the last ten years Morosi 
 had made the fortification of this place his hobby. He 
 had been crazy on the subject of having a fortified 
 mountain. He had spent his energy, and ten good years 
 of life, on this work, and certainly he had succeeded in 
 making the place almost impregnable. He had plenty of 
 .ammunition, food, and cattle on the top of the mountain, 
 vrith several houses and huts, and he was well able to 
 resist a long siege, and he knew it as well as anv one. I will 
 here briefly describe this mountain, which was to cost much 
 to the Colony in life and money before it was finally taken. 
 
 Morosi's mountain stands at an elbow of the Orange 
 River. On three sides it is perfectly perpendicular. The 
 fourth side is a slope of about a mile, and subtending an 
 angle of about thirty degrees. This slope was protected 
 with a series of schanzes or walls, about eight to twelve 
 feet high, loopholed for rifles and guns, and very strongly 
 built. Artillery against the walls was utterly useless ; the 
 : shell might knock a stone or two away, but nothing 
 approaching a gap would be produced. About nine of 
 these walls were placed at different intervals up this slope. 
 The walls were built right across, and if you got over one, 
 it was only to be stopped by another just in front of you, 
 and so on right up to the top. The top of this mountain 
 was about a mile long and about half a mile broad, and 
 was also completely schanzed in every direction. Cross 
 schanzes were built in between those running across, so 
 that wherever you went, or wherever you tried to get over 
 •one of these walls, you were met by cross-firing in three or 
 four directions. 
 
 Such is a very rongh-and-ready description of a 
 place which somehow or other we had to take. I 
 
186 
 
 MOROSI 
 
 have described it as it was after we had captured 3 
 it. Before it was taken, it was certain death to go within 
 500 yards of the first schanze. The Baphutis are splendid 
 shots, and they kept all their fortifications constantly 
 manned. About 1200 yards from the first schanze, and 
 running at right angles to it, towards the east, was a 
 narrow neck of stone terminating in a small hill, which was 
 called by us the Saddle ; the whole length of this neck and 
 hill was about 700 yards. On the north side of this the 
 Orange River turned sharp round past the larger mountain, 
 and flowed towards the IS.-E., being joined some few hun- 
 dred yards farther away by a tributary stream named the 
 Quithing. On the Quithing side was a large fissure in the 
 perpendicular rock, called afterwards Bourne's Crack. 
 There were in this crack huge natural steps, about twenty 
 or thirty feet apart, surmounted at the top by a large over- 
 hanging rock. 
 
 Across the fissure I have described at the top was a 
 distance of about six feet, and from the summit of the over- 
 hanging rock to what I may call the first step was about 
 twenty feet. From the top to the bottom of this precipice 
 was a distance of about seventy feet. 
 
 It is necessary to trouble the reader with these minute 
 details, for it was up this last place the mountain was 
 eventually taken. When Morosi had first placed himself 
 in this stronghold, three troops of the C.M.R. had been 
 sent up, and an attempt was made to surround the 
 mountain, and as far as possible prevent any communi- 
 cation between Morosi and the outside world. These 
 three troops of C.M.R. mustered no more than 250 men, 
 and were utterly inadequate to cover the ground which 
 had to be secured to effectually prevent any communi- 
 cation. The Cape Government had just formed three 
 Colonial Regiments of a force entitled Yeomanry. The 
 enrolment of this corps had been the subject of much 
 adverse criticism, and the Premier, to show what they 
 were made of, called the greater part of them out, and 
 ordered them up to Morosi's Mountain. He belauded 
 these men to the skies on their departure from their 
 various head-quarters, making some very unjust and 
 disparaging remarks about the C.M.R., which corps at the 
 time in question, under the new formation and discipline^ 
 
YEOMANRY REPULSED. 
 
 had only been in existence a little over six months. The 
 Yeomanry were to take this mountain out of band, and for 
 all the good the C.M.'R. were they might just as well be- 
 away. The Premier had not, however, the same opinion 
 of the Artillery, for he ordered up the whole troop with 
 three guns, purchased a 12-pounder Whitworth, a steel 
 rifled gun, from the Orange Free State, with plenty of 
 ammunition for it, and did not call out any of the 
 first Yolunteer Artillery. 
 
 The organized attack took place in May, when the 
 whole force, under one of the colonels of these redoubtable 
 yeomanry regiments, assaulted the mountain, and were 
 thoroughly beaten off by the JBaphutis, losing over twenty 
 men killed and wounded in the attack. The attacking 
 party never got within 100 yards of the first schanze ; and 
 the loss to the enemy afterwards turned out to be nil. 
 The yeomanry individually were good men, but they were 
 not organized, and were much worse in point of discipline 
 than the old F. A. M; Police in its worst days. they 
 were also, with few exceptions, badly led. 
 
 The next attack was to take place in July, the troops 
 in the meantime being reinforced by burghers, a contingent 
 of Hottentots, and another troop of C.M.R. The day 
 before the attack a sergeant of Artillery* and seven men 
 volunteered to creep up at night and throw in shell with 
 lighted fuzes over the schanzes to drive the enemy's 
 sharpshooters out, and enable the storming-party to get 
 over the schanzes. They were to creep up at night, and 
 then lie under the schanzes until the storming party was 
 ready to advance. They all succeeded in getting up 
 safely, and lay down right underneath the wall, waiting 
 for daylight. The attack this time was to be made under 
 the direction of the gallant Griffiths, our late commandant, 
 and now Commandant- G-eneral, and he made as great a 
 mess of this as he had of our movements in the Grcaleka 
 war. He was ably assisted in this mess-making by the 
 greater part of the yeomanry and burghers. f 
 
 * Sergeaat Scott. 
 
 f I do not know what the worthy Co'. Griffiths and my Cape 
 Volunteer friends will have to say to this account. But io was the 
 only detailed one, I could command. It i-> valuable also, being as it- 
 is, by an eye witness as well as a combat&m. 
 
188 
 
 MOROSI. 
 
 The C.M.R. were to a(h T auce, and the burghers and 
 yeomanry to support them ; in the meantime, the schanzes 
 Avere to be cleared by the shell party lying underneath. 
 The advance was sounded, Sergeant Scott and his party 
 threw two shells over the schanze, the third burst in his 
 hand, shattering it and severely wounding him and three 
 others of the party. The C.M.R. charged and got 
 possession of the first schanze, shooting a few of the 
 enemy ; but with the exception of a few of the yeomanry 
 and burghers, who gallantly supported them, the rest of 
 these boasted corps could not be induced to advance up 
 the hill. One of the colonels I saw in a hole under a 
 stone shouting to his men to go on, but not venturing his 
 own valuable person out of cover. This was the same 
 gentleman who had, some two years before, accused the 
 police of running away at Gruadana. I hope if he ever 
 reads these pages he will be pleased with the notice I 
 have taken of him. 
 
 The grand result of this ill-judged and mismanaged 
 attack was our most ignominious defeat. 
 
 We lost heavily in killed and wounded. Captain 
 Surmon of the C.M.R. was shot through the lungs, aud 
 about thirty-four were killed and wounded on our side, 
 with an insignificant loss to the enemy. Such was the 
 result of the day's proceedings. 
 
 Sergeant Scott had his hand amputated. I am glad to 
 say he has since been promoted and received the V. C. ; 
 but he was for a long time dangerously ill from his 
 wounds. 
 
 Winter was now coming on ; it was bitterly cold, with 
 hard frosts at night. The Baphntis, finding they had 
 beaten us off, used to make frequent sorties against the 
 ■camp ; but our camp was too well guarded for them to 
 surprise us. One of the yeomanry camps, however, at the 
 junction of the Quithing and Orange Rivers, was surprised 
 one night, and seventeen men killed on the spot. After 
 this episode we had no more surprises in the camp. 
 
 A party of our men went up one night to reconnoitre 
 the schanzes, were surprised, and one of them wounded 
 and taken prisoner. The next morning his head appeared 
 on a pole shown over the schanze on the top of the 
 mountain ; his body was flung over a few hours after- 
 wards, which we recovered and buried. Let us hope, poor 
 
FOKCES FALL BACK OX IBEKA. 
 
 189' 
 
 fellow, his tortures were but brief ; but we remembered 
 this against the Baphutis when we afterwards took the 
 mountain. 
 
 Our horses were now daily dying, and the whole force 
 getting sick. It was with great difficulty that provisions- 
 had been supplied us ; but up to this date the commissariat 
 arrangements had been good. The supply of forage foi 
 the horses now failed, and there being little or no grass,, 
 the poor beasts, between hunger and cold, rapidly died off. 
 The authorities at last determined to wait till the weather 
 was a little warmer, and also *o try and starve the enemy 
 out by surrounding the mountain. They of course did not 
 know of the stores of food on the top. and the means by 
 which the enemy were almost daily supplied, and which, 
 was not found out until after the mountain was captured. 
 
 The best part of the force now assembled was. ordered 
 away, leaving just sufficient to surround the mountain.. 
 These consisted of an equal number of C.M.E.., yeomanry,, 
 and burghers, with a few native levies, principally 
 Fingoes. The Artillery were ordered to Ibeka to refit,, 
 leaving two guns and detachments, with an officer in 
 charge. The remainder of us marched to Ibeka on foot in 
 twenty-three days, heartily glad of a rest and change,, 
 which, however, was not to be of long duration. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 CAPTURE OF MOROSl'S MOUNTAIN. 
 
 The beginning of October again found ns on the way to 
 Morosi's mountain. Since our return to Ibeka the guns 
 and carriages had been refitted, and all had been 
 provided with fresh horses and equipments. 
 
 Onr road lay through Fingoland, and until we arrived 
 at Queen's Town, was of a most uninteresting description. 
 Seven days after leaving Ibeka we reached Queen's Town, 
 a pretty and prospering town on the north border of 
 Fingoland, in the district bearing the same name. 
 Queen's Town was originally built in the form of a 
 hexagon ; but houses have been erected all round the first 
 buildings, and it has now the same appearance as any 
 other town. A railway runs from King William's Town, 
 and there are several good hotels. Queen's Town is 
 perhaps the most English town in the Colony. The 
 inhabitants have a thorough love and respect for the 
 mother country and its institutions. The railway is being 
 extended to Aliwal and the Diamond Fields, and there is 
 no doubt that in a few years Queen's Town will become a 
 much more nourishing place than it even now is. We 
 stopped here one day, and then proceeded on our route, 
 passing through a flat country totally devoid of interest, 
 perfectly innocent of all tiees, and with water only at 
 intervals of from seven to ten miles. 
 
 In due time we reached Palmietfontein, a station of the 
 C. M. R. This station is built, like many others, in the 
 form of a square, with houses and stables. Nearly the 
 whole troop of C.M.R. were absent, only a few being left 
 to look after the station. 
 
 Palmietfontein is distant thirty-five miles from Morosi's 
 mountain, and is close to the Orange River. After a day's 
 rest we again marched on, passing between high hills and 
 mountains and fording several small streams, reaching 
 Stork Spruit at night, which consists of a few houses and 
 flour mills. At daylight we reached Silver Spruit, the 
 
COLONEL BAYLY. 
 
 191 
 
 residence of Mr. Austin, the magistrate. The place is 
 pretty, lying at the foot of a mountain. The house and 
 adjacent buildings were entirely wrecked, as I have 
 mentioned, and the scene looked very desolate. After 
 stopping here for four hours, we again proceeded on our 
 weary way till we reached a place called Thomas's Shop, 
 •so named after a store kept by a man of that name. A 
 strong detachment of C.M.R. was stationed here. 
 
 At this station was the hospital for the force in the field 
 at Morosi's mountain. It was fortified with a high stone 
 wall running all round. The buildings were large and 
 commodious, and an experienced medical man and his wife 
 were in charge. Thomas's Shop is about fifteen miles 
 distant from Morosi's mountain, the road to which place 
 had been entirely made since the commencement of hostili- 
 ties. It is a tolerably good one, cut out of the side of the 
 hills, but difficult and dangerous to drive in consequence of 
 the sharp turns. In some places there are precipices of 
 500 feet, over which you would fall sheer into the Orange 
 River should you unluckily get off the road. We did not 
 meet with any mishaps, though we travelled at night, and 
 early at daylight we reached our destination. 
 
 The mountain looked blacker than ever, the schanzes 
 were increased both in height and number ; in fact, the 
 more we looked at it the less we liked it. We found here 
 .about 300 C.M.E., with some yeomanry and burghers ; 
 our detachment brought the entire force of the C.M.R. up 
 to 350 men, with four guns. 
 
 The next day Colonel Bayly arrived to take command, 
 and a few days afterwards the yeomanry, volunteers, 
 burghers, and native levies left for their homes. 
 
 This withdrawal of the troops took place on the repre- 
 sentation of Colonel Bayley, who declared he would take 
 the mountain with his own regiment, if the Cape Govern- 
 ment would let him have the direction of affairs and his 
 -own men, unimpeded by others. In this the Government 
 wisely acquiesced, and happily he got rid of the irregulars. 
 
 We cheered them out of camp as they went away. 
 We felt sorry they were not permitted to participate in the 
 approaching attack, for the men themselves had stuck to 
 their work bravely, and it was not their individual fault 
 that their efforts had been so completely unsuccessful. 
 
192 
 
 EXCITING "WORK. 
 
 After their departure the C.M.R. were formed into one 
 camp on the west side of the mountain, that is, the side 
 facing the slope. A strong stone wall was built round the 
 camp, and immediately below the camp, in a small valley,, 
 where the horses were kept. We had plenty of food both for 
 ourselves and horses, the commissariat arrangements being 
 now most excellent. The gnus were placed in position 
 about 1,000 yards from the first schanze, and were daily 
 used whenever a native ventured to show his head. A 
 picket was kept up day and night on the saddle, at a place 
 about 300 yards from the schanze, and a lively fusillade 
 used to go on day and night between the besiegers and the 
 besieged, without mnch damage being done on either side.. 
 We let the enemy know we were alive to do their designs,, 
 and we thus prevented them from descending the mountain 
 to attack the camp. 
 
 This picket was changed every twelve hours, and we 
 found it to be most exciting Avork. The relieving party 
 had to pass within 350 and -100 yards of the first schanze 
 to reach the Saddle. The enemy were continually on the 
 look-out for us, and peppered away as the men passed,, 
 which of course they did at a run. The whole camp used 
 to turn out to watch the relief , and we used to unmercifully 
 chaff our comrades who were about to be shot at. The 
 men g )t so used to this daily one-sided shooting match,, 
 that they took it quite as a matter of course. Our chaff 
 evidently acted as an antidote to the enemy's guns, for not 
 one was on any of these occasions wounded, though the escapes 
 were narrow as well as numerous. 
 
 We tried all manner of devices to induce the enemy to 
 attack the camp ; but old Morosi was far too cunning to- 
 let his men venture into the open. He knew his vantage- 
 ground, and he stuck to it. 
 
 We next tried shelling the mountain with the big guns r 
 but without any visible effect. At night time we used to 
 send up a star shell, which illuminated the whole moun- 
 tain for half a minute or so. We did this to enable us to 
 get aim with the guns during the duration of the light,, 
 and then we fired several rounds in succession. But all 
 this was simply wasting ammunition ; and so the Colonel 
 appeared to think, for it was soon discontinued. 
 
 All we now did was to reconnoitre at night in small 
 
XO FUZES, 
 
 193 
 
 parties to find a place suitable for an escalade. It was 
 no secret that this was the plan the Colonel and officers 
 had determined to adopt ; but the day and time appointed 
 were kept a profound secret. A mortar had been sent for 
 from King William's Town ; and scaling-ladders were, we 
 knew, in course of construction at Aliwal. 
 
 At last the mortar arrived with ammunition and equip- 
 ments. As this mortar helped to a very considerable 
 extent in the taking of the mountain, I will give an account 
 of the difficulties we had to contend with, to make it 
 serviceable and of any use at all. To begin with, it was 
 a service five and a half inch brass mortar, throwing a, 
 sixteen pound shell, bursting in the ordinary manner. The 
 mortar was of a very old pattern, and had, 1 believe, done 
 service at Cape Town, outside the Museum with its brother 
 for many years past. It bore the inscription of " George 
 Eex, 1802 " on the outside ; this will give the reader some 
 idea of the antiquity and value of this remarkable piece of 
 ordnance sent up to us by our old friends, the Cape Town 
 authorities. The fuzes which accompanied it had been in 
 store for years, and we thought it advisable to try a few 
 before using them. They were twenty-second fuzes. We tried 
 three, and I will detail the interesting results we obtained. 
 Bear in mind they were supposed to burn twenty seconds : 
 Xo. 1 burnt four seconds, then went off with a shoot • 
 No. 2 would not be persuaded to burn at all ; Xo. 3 burnt 
 five seconds, and then blew out the whole of the composi- 
 tion. We sat down and calmly, or otherwise, con- 
 signed the Colonial ordnance to sundry unmentionable 
 places. 
 
 The result of using these fuzes would probably have 
 been the injury or destruction of the entire mortar squad. 
 
 We were in a fix. A mortar, plenty of shell and 
 powder, but no fuzes. After some consideration and more 
 experiments, we finally, with infinite trouble, transformed 
 a quantity of 7-pounder E. M. L. fuzes into mortar fuzes,, 
 and these we used with perfect success, 
 
 A day or so was spent in putting iron bands round the 
 " bed" or carriage of the mortar, and one afternoon we 
 carried this novel piece of ordnance to within 600 yards of 
 the first schanzes, and commenced a few experimental 
 shots. With these shots we managed to blow a small gap 
 o 
 
194 
 
 MOROSI S MOUNTAIN. 
 
 in one of the schanzes, when the natives opened such a 
 heavy fire on ns that we were obliged to leave the mortar 
 and take shelter behind some stones, until the guns cleared 
 the schanzes, when we retired with the mortar into camp. 
 
 I had had some experience with mortars, so this 
 was given into my charge, and I was told to pick a 
 squad of six men to work it, which I soon did. Of 
 course I was careful to select well-trained artillerymen 
 from my own troop. 
 
 We had to fire this mortar from a distance of 600 yards 
 from the centre schanze of the mountain, and it soon 
 became apparent that, if we did not wish to lose some of 
 our number, a bastion or some protection must be built for 
 the men who were working the mortar. Volunteers were 
 •called for, to build. There was no difficulty ; forty 
 men at once came forward, and each picking up a big stone 
 .at about 800 yards, ran with it to the point determined on 
 for the bastion and deposited it. A sufficient quantity of 
 material being thus collected, we advanced to build. Here 
 the cunning and skill of Morosi significantly displayed 
 itself. Whilst we had been collecting the stones not a 
 shot had been fired by his side, as we were scattered ; but 
 directly we were, so to speak, massed, the natives com- 
 menced firing at us, volley upon volley. We cheered and 
 piled up the stones, as hard and as quickly as Ave could, 
 knowing full well the higher we got Avith the Avail the 
 more cover we should enjoy. We were without arms of 
 any description, and within 500 yards of the first schanze, 
 when I suppose it suddenly occurred to them for what 
 purpose Ave were building. Their firing suddenly ceased, 
 .and numbers of the enemy appeared on the schanzes, as if 
 they intended charging. 
 
 But Colonel Bayley had anticipated this, and had 
 pointed the big guns ready for them ; with these he soon 
 drove them back. In the interval we had built a bastion 
 twenty feet long, in the form of a semicircle, eight feet 
 high ; and to the right of it, about tAvelve yards distant, 
 the walls of a three-sided house to serve as a powder 
 magazine. We covered this at the top Avith hides, and 
 over the wall of the bastion a number of hides we hung to 
 prevent the concussion of the mortar knocking the stones 
 down. 
 
THE MORTAR A SUCCESS 
 
 195 
 
 At dark that night we brought the mortar up into 
 -position, and at daylight astonished the enemy by throw- 
 ing shell all over the mountain, making several small 
 breaches in the schanzes In fact, to our great joy, and 
 not a little to our surprise, the mortar was a grand success. 
 
 For the information of any reader who does not know 
 the difference between the results produced by a projectile 
 fired from a rifled gun, and those of a smooth-bored mortar 
 .a few remarks may not be amiss. The initiated must 
 pardon me making what to them will be a digression. 
 
 A rifled projectile makes a low trajectory, and conse- 
 quently loses very little power in traversing the distance it 
 has to go. The shell or shot can only take effect on the 
 side of a schanze facing the direction from which the 
 projectile has been fired. 
 
 Now, with the mortar the trajectory is high, and the 
 object is to lire the shell so that it will rise a sufficient 
 height and distance only in the air, that by its semi- 
 circular course it may be carried over and inside the 
 schanzes. The distinction is illustrated well by a cricket 
 ball, which in one case may be thrown against a wall, 
 while on the other it may be " lobbed " over it. 
 
 Now, our desire was to throw the shells immediately 
 over the schanzes, when they would roll down the hill to 
 the men inside, and burst amongst them ■ and in doing this 
 we made very good practice, which proved most successful. 
 
 My mortar squad lived with me in this bastion day and 
 night for five days, and fired at intervals, whenever any 
 of the natives showed themselves. At night we posted 
 a sufficient guard at the bastion in case of attack. But no 
 assault on the bastion was attempted. At night careful 
 survevs had been made of the mountain, and we all knew 
 that we were on the eve of an attack. 
 
 The Sunday before the final assault the Bishop of 
 Bloemfontein and two clergymen arrived, and held services 
 in the camp. They were all three Englishmen, and were 
 much appreciated. They went round the camp conversing 
 with the men, and we all thought too much praise could 
 not be given to these gentlemen, thus voluntarily leaving 
 their comfortable homes to come and rough it with us for 
 several days as they did, actuated only by the best and 
 kindest of motives — for our encouragemont and spiritual 
 2 
 
196 
 
 MOROSI S MOUNTAIN. 
 
 welfare. Two days before the attack the Bishop and his 
 chaplain left ; but the third clergyman, a Mr. Russell r 
 remained, and went up the mountain with the storming- 
 party to see if he could be of any assistance to the 
 wounded. These kind of men do credit to their country" 
 and their cloth, and it is a pity there are not more of the 
 same sort in South Africa. 
 
 The scaling-ladders now arrived from Aliwal ; they 
 were all too weak, and some too short, while many of them 
 broke with four men on them. They were in thirty feet 
 lengths, well designed, but badly made and put together. 
 We remedied the want of strength by tying two ladders 
 together and strapping them with iron bands. 
 
 The day before the attack we amused ourselves with 
 some athletic sports, and in the evening the orders were 
 issued for a general attack the next evening. A reward of 
 £200 was ottered for Morosi, alive or dead ; the same 
 sum for Dodo ; and £25 for the first man on the mountain, 
 with promotion, whether officer or man. 
 
 It was characteristic of Colonel Bayley that his order 
 began " Morosi's mountain will be taken to-night by the 
 C.M.R.," &c. Then followed the list of rewards and the 
 disposition of the various troops. 
 
 The attack was to take place at the dip of the moon,, 
 which was near midnight, about half-past twelve. Parties 
 of six natives were told off to carry the scaling-ladders, of 
 which there were twenty. The men were to dress as they 
 liked, and to arm themselves in any way they fancied ; 
 but all, without exception, were to carry their carbines and 
 revolvers. These orders, with a few more details respect- 
 ing the time the mortar and big guns were to begin 
 and cease firing, constituted the instructions under which 
 we were to proceed to attack this redoubtable stronghold.- 
 
 For four days and nights previous to the attack the 
 mortar had been constantly fired, at intervals of ten 
 minutes at night time and varied intervals in the day, 
 generally leaving off for about four hours to enable the 
 mortar sqimd to obtain a little rest. 7\ie mortar was 
 worked by the same squad all through this time, and we 
 were beginning to be thoroughly knocked up. The guns 
 were to fire at intervals during the day preceding the 
 attack, and both guns and mortar were to cease firing at 
 
A STRANGE SPECTACLE. 
 
 197 
 
 twelve at night. The attempt to get on the mountain was 
 to be made by scaling-ladders np the fissure called Bourne's 
 Crack, which I have described, and the krantz immediately 
 surrounding it. Then officers were told off to lead the 
 storming-parties at these several points. During the day 
 previous to the attack twenty-five men of a force called 
 the TToodhouse Border-guard, under Lieutenant Alulen- 
 beck, and fifty Fingoes under Captain Hook, the magis- 
 trate at Hersckel, and Allan Maclean, arrived. The whole 
 force to attack the mountain numbered between 350 and 
 tlOO white men, and about 100 natives. 
 
 As the day wore on the guns and mortar continued to 
 fire at intervals, as ordered, and our men were lying about 
 on the ground in all directions. 
 
 The camp presented a strange spectacle : some laughing 
 .and talking, others playing cards, others writing letters, 
 but underlying all this apparent indifference to the future, 
 =an acute observer could note that much of the merriment 
 was forced, and that nearly all were anxious as to the 
 •result of the game to be played that night. 
 
 The force which was prepared to attack this evening 
 was less than half in number to that which had 
 -previously tried and twice been beaten back, with 
 heavy loss each time. Xo wonder there were many 
 anxious faces, thinking probably more than they had ever 
 yet thought in their lives. 
 
 At sunset the picket on the Saddle were relieved by 
 Lieutenant Mulenbeck and his men. Their orders were to 
 hold the Saddle, and try to get into the schanzes as soon 
 as the attack began — a bold and perilous undertaking. At 
 11 p.m. all the tents in camp were struck, and the men 
 fell in noiselessly and in silence ; and with a hearty " good 
 luck " from the artillery men at the guns, they started on 
 their way to the foot of the mountain, some 1500 yards 
 distant. 
 
 Whilst this storming-party was marching to the point 
 -of attack, a strong breastwork was built on one corner of 
 the camp, constructed with casks and bags of mealies. 
 This was a precaution in case of a repulse, to afford a 
 place of shelter to which the men might retreat. An 
 .additional reason for this arose out of a report by some 
 Fingoes, that a party of about 200 Tambookies, who had 
 
198 
 
 MOROSl's MOUNTAIN. 
 
 come in during the evening, were going to attack the camp* 
 directly the storming detachment left it. 
 
 Though these Tambookies were nominally friendly to- 
 the Cape Government, and had professedly come in to 
 assist; yet, as their home is on the borders of Basutoland,. 
 it wrl highly probable that, in the event of the storming- 
 party meeting with a repulse, they would act as reported.. 
 Had they so done, they would have met with a very 
 agreeable reception. 
 
 The signal to the storming-party to proceed was to be 
 the firing of three rockets in quick succession. The 
 storming-parties were then to go forward as arranged ; and 
 these Tambookies were ordered to ascend a gully to the 
 left of the slope and facing the camp, when the guns and 
 mortars had ceased firing, and the mortar detachment was 
 to join the storming-party. From this part of the arrange- 
 ment there was obliged to be a deviation, for the bed of 
 the mortar had been getting shaky all day, and at 10.30 
 that night finally collapsed, rendering the mortar useless.. 
 It had done, however, good service, and had fired 367 
 rounds of shell on the mountain during the four days and 
 nights it had been kept at work. 
 
 The rockets went up, and the storming-party placed 
 their ladders and commenced climbing up. Lieutenant 
 Springer of No. 3 troop planted his ladder to the right of 
 Bourne's Crack, and with his men climbed up. When 
 near the top a native put his head over the krantz and 
 said to him in Dutch, u Don't come up here, or I'll shoot 
 you." " Shoot away," said Springer ; and the native,, 
 looking over, exposed too much of his body, and was shot 
 by Springer himself, the bullet from the native grazing the 
 lieutenant's shoulder and ffoiiig through his shirt. 
 
 These shots aroused the whole mountain ; but our men 
 were now fast getting up the ladders, and as it happened, 
 the enemy were all in the schanzes, expecting we should, 
 attack the same way as hitherto. There were only thirty 
 of the enemy on this side, and they were speedily shot 
 down. Five minutes after the ladders had been planted 
 200 men were on the mountain, and helping the remainder 
 up. Mulenbeck, in the meantime, from the Saddle had 
 fought his way up with his men, and had reached the 
 fourth schanze, after shooting down the enemy in the 
 
ON TOP. 
 
 199 
 
 previous schanzes, through which and over which we had 
 come. 
 
 The Fingoes had also reached the top of the gully,, 
 headed by Allan Maclean. 
 
 The Tambookies had refused to go on, and Captain 
 Hook had marched them back, and they were disarmed hy 
 the artillery and made prisoners. 
 
 Let me now return to the storming-party. A few 
 minutes after the first 200 hundred men were up, the 
 remainder had all been pulled up somehow or other. 
 Nearly all the ladders had broken, owing to the excitement 
 of the men who had crowded on them. 
 
 • Nearly all the enemy had by this time come over from 
 the schanzes and the opposite side of the mountain to 
 resist the storming-party. Forming in line, and cheering 
 heartily, the C. M. R. charged across the flat top of the 
 mountain, driving the enemy in front of them. For a few 
 brief minutes it was hand to hand, and then the natives 
 were cut down and shot where they stood, those that 
 escaped only to be driven over the perpendicular sides of 
 the mountain and smashed to pieces in their fall. The 
 C. M. R. were now divided into three parties, and com- 
 menced scouring out all the nooks and crannies for Morosi 
 and Dodo. 
 
 Small parties of Baphutis were found hidden in various 
 caves, and were immediately brought out and shot ; and at 
 last, after several attempts to get inside a cave where 
 Morosi was found to be, he was shot, but Dodo could 
 nowhere be discovered. 
 
 At five o'clock a.m., just as the sun was rising, the 
 Union Jack was hoisted on the top of the highest point of 
 the mountain, and in half-an-hour afterwards Morosi's 
 head was placed on a staff in the centre of our camp, a 
 ghastly warning to all rebels. 
 
 Morosi, the old chief, was shot by a private in the 
 C.M.R. named Whitehead, who had a narrow escape, the 
 bullet Morosi fired at him going straight through the peak 
 and crown of his cap. Whitehead did not know he had 
 shot Morosi, and when the body was brought down by one 
 of the Woodhouse Border Guard, he of course received the 
 reward, which was rather hard on Whitehead. 
 
 Our loss in this action was two men severely wounded y 
 
200 
 
 MOROSI KILLED. 
 
 one Fingoe killed by an accidental shot from one of his 
 own party, and one wounded. 
 
 The enemy lost heavily ; four old women, Morosi's wives, 
 two children, and one paralyzed man constituted the pri- 
 soners taken, all the rest were either killed or had escaped. 
 
 The prisoners assured us there were 500 men on the 
 day before the attack, but that at this time there were not 
 more than 300. Morosi and his sons, except Dodo, were 
 killed, and about 200 of his men. Dodo and about 120 
 men escaped by throwing themselves into the Orange 
 river. How many were killed in that desperate leap it is 
 impossible to say. 
 
 The Tambookies who had refused to join in the attack 
 were stripped, flogged, and driven out of camp. This was 
 the last we saw of them. 
 
 Such was the capture of Morosi's mountain, taken by a 
 surprise, well conceived and as well executed, reflecting 
 great credit on Colonel Bayley, who did not, however, stop to 
 thank us, but hurried off the field to the Colony to receive 
 the acknowledgments of the Government and Colony at 
 large. 
 
 Morosi in this mountain had for nine months successfully 
 defied all effort to compel him to evacuate his position, 
 costing the Government many good lives and a great deal 
 of money. No wonder the Government made much of 
 Colonel Bayley. He was our colonel, and we had to be 
 .satisfied with this, for it was all the thanks the force ever 
 received. Civil words cost nothing, and the Government 
 might have taken the trouble to thank the men of the 
 C.M.R. for the victory. It was by their pluck, and by them 
 alone, that Morosi's Mountain was taken ; for as a matter 
 of fact, Colonel Bayley and the adjutant were never on the 
 mountain at all, either in the attack or subsequently. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 AFTER THE CAPTURE OF MOROSl'S MOUNTAIN 
 PROMOTIONS. 
 
 The scene on the top of Morosi's mountain after 
 it was taken is almost impossible to describe. In every 
 direction dead men, women and children lying where 
 they had been shot. Nearly all the women and children 
 had been killed by pieces of the mortar shells. The 
 prisoners told us that the mortar and guns drove them 
 mad ; go where they would, they could not get out of the 
 way of these bits of iron flying about in every direction. 
 
 On the top of the mountain was a square house, strongly 
 built of stone, and containing six or seven tons of s;un- 
 powder. Catrle, dead and dying, were lying about, 
 together with immense quantities of bones. There were 
 many springs of good water, and abundance of corn ; and 
 with the quantity of food collected there, the enemy could 
 without doubt, have held out for a long time, 
 
 After a day's rest we all set to work to demolish the 
 schanzes, and clear up the mountain for occupation. A 
 troop of C3I.R. was kept continually on the top, and 
 relieved every twenty-four hours. The powder magazine 
 was blown up, and the dead cleared off the top. In a 
 week's time the flat presented quite a decent and respect- 
 able appearance. 
 
 Fourteen days after the date of the capture the whole 
 of the Artillery were ordered to go to Ibeka. Two troops 
 of C.M.R. accompanied us as far as Queenstown, and at 
 3-hat point we separated for our different stations. 
 
CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 CAPTURE OF MOROSl'S MOUNTAIN. 
 
 The following was published by the Cape Times : — 
 Colonel Bayly reports : — 
 
 I assaulted the mountain on the 20th hist, from five 
 different positions, all parties leaving camp for their 
 respective positions at the dip of the moon. The moun- 
 tain was ours at a quarter past four o'clock a.m. 
 
 The following are the casualties : Thomas Schwasch 
 and Earnest Seorfield, Nos. 1 and 9 troops, C.M.R.,. 
 dangerously wounded, two Fingoes killed and two 
 wounded ; were the only casualties. About seventy of 
 the enemy killed, a great number made their escape, but 
 we still have a number cooped up in a cave. Morosi at 
 present not turned up. Setuka, Muntza, Matsapolo, and 
 Massipi among the killed. There were about 200 of 
 the enemy on the mountain. 
 
 From a later report by Colonel Bayly we learn : — 
 Morosi turned up ; was shot through the neck at the 
 first assault, and managed to creep into a cave, where he 
 was found about three hours after dead. The whole affair 
 is over ; it only requires a few natives, assisted by a small 
 party of Europeans, to patrol the country. 
 
 I leave to-day for James Town, accompanied by Captain 
 Giles. 
 
 The following is from the Empire Telegraphic Associa- 
 tion, and dated Aliwal North, November 22nd, 1879 : — 
 
 Morosi's mountain was shelled continuously for three 
 days and nights before the assault. On Wednesday night, 
 about 12 o'clock, the forces were placed into position right 
 round the mountain, and at about 3 a.m. the ladders were 
 placed against that part of the krantz which overlooks the 
 Quithing camp. Lieut. Springer, of No. 3 Company 
 C.M.R., was the first man to reach the top of the krantz,. 
 for which he got his Captaincy on the spot. Once on the 
 top, the men fixed bayonets, and charged in a line right 
 across the mountain, carrying all before them. For about 
 
MOROSI. 
 
 203 
 
 ten minutes some severe bayonet work went on both 
 inside and on the top of the different schanzes, and then 
 all was over. Morosi was found dead inside of a small 
 cave on the inside of the mountain with a bullet wound in 
 the neck. Our loss was Private Ernest Corfield, of No. 9 
 troop, and Thomas Schwazch, of 2so. 1 troop, C.M.R., 
 dangerously wounded. One Fingoe was killed, and two 
 were wounded. Xo food or water was found on the 
 mountain.* About seventy of the enemy were killed, a lot 
 more of the enemy fled down all sides of the hill when 
 they saw all was over. Captain Bourne of the C.M.R.,. 
 who was in charge of the storming-party, is to be gazetted 
 for a brevet Mayorship. Every man of importance, except 
 Dodo, is now supposed to be dead. 
 
 The Queenstown Representative publishes an interesting 
 report of the capture of Morosi's Mountain, from which 
 we make the following extract : — 
 
 The men were served out with long Sniders and 
 bayonets and 70 rounds of ball cartridge each, and at 
 midnight they assembled in rear of their respective camps. . 
 Just as the moon dipped over the hill the order was given 
 to advance. Owing to the difficult nature of the ground, 
 traversed and the desertion of the ladder-bearers the 
 attacking parties did not reach their ground until 1.30 a.m.. 
 No notice was taken of the approach of the men by the 
 rebels until Bourne's party placed their ladder against the 
 rock. Stones and boulders were rolled down, and much to- 
 the disgust of C.M.R., a dead cow was hurled in their 
 midst. Finding this spot too well defended the ladder 
 was shifted and placed in another position a little further 
 away. Lieut. Springer then mounted, and as he ascended . 
 a Baphuti above pointed a gun at him. Springer engaged 
 him in conversation in Dutch, and they had a friendly 
 dispute who should have first shot. After gaining the 
 top of the ladder fifteen feet of sloping rock had to be 
 ascended, and directly Springer showed above the ladder 
 the Baphuti fired, the bullet taking off the undress cap.. 
 Springer then coolly held his rifle in one hand and shot his 
 
 * The contrnry was the fact, as the preceding account by a 
 C.M.R. shows that p'enty of food and water was found on top of: 
 the mountain. 
 
204 
 
 MOROSl. 
 
 antagonist, who tumbled down amongst the attacking 
 party. The gallant fellow then sprang on top and was 
 quickly followed by Lieuts. C. Goldsworthy and Winslow, 
 who assisted others up. When some dozen men had 
 effected a landing a cheer was raised and a rush made to a 
 small "schanze," which they held to cover the ascent of 
 the remainder of the party. This was about 3 o'clock, 
 and still dark. The men now poured up so rapidly that 
 they had to be checked, as Captain Montagu's men, 
 directly the cheer was raised, abandoned their point and 
 swarmed up the ladders. The Fingoes, under Maclean, 
 simultaneously pushed up at the Spring, and effected a 
 junction with the C.M.R. Forming into line with fixed 
 bayonets, the C.M.R. charged the Baphutis, who retired 
 on to the " Comb," a very rugged position, and here tried 
 to make a stand. The firing now became hot, volley after 
 volley being exchanged. It took but a few minutes to 
 dislodge the enemy, who then rushed over the crest into 
 the schanzes on the slope of the mountain, our men hotly 
 pursuing. The Baphutis kept up a lively fire, and owing 
 to the slow movement of the Fingoes and their careless 
 firing, our men were obliged to seek cover to avoid the 
 Fingo fire. Capt. Muhlenbeck's men, who had been 
 impatiently awaiting the order to advance, now charged 
 the front schanzes, led by their captain, sword in hand. 
 Clambering over the walls they fought their way up, and 
 did excellent service. The Baphutis made a desperate 
 stand, being shot or bayonetted where they stood ; but 
 just as day was breaking the shouts of our men proclaimed 
 that the mountain was theirs. After this there were little 
 indiscriminate fights at different points, one schanze being 
 held for a long time. On the top of the mountain — which 
 is very rugged and lined with schanzes on all sides — there 
 were four square and two round huts, but the principal 
 places of residence seemed to have been in caves and 
 openings in rocks. A never-failing spring of pure water 
 was also discovered, and, in fact, there was abundance of 
 water all over the mountain. Hundreds of carcases of 
 cattle were seen which had evidently died of starvation. 
 All the dead and captured rebels were in good condition, 
 and ajDparently well fed. Forty-one dead bodies were 
 counted on the mountain." 
 
CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 DEATH OF MOIROSI. THE ASSAULT UPON THE MOUXTA1X. 
 
 From the Cape Times, November 2cth. 
 
 The clever way in which the mountain was fortified is 
 proved by the long time in which Moirosi has kept the 
 besieging force at bay. There have been several attempts 
 to take the mountain by storm during daylight, but in vain, 
 and many valuable lives were lost. The Premier of the 
 Cape Colony during the tour now drawing to a close, 
 visited the mountain, and under a flag of truce, Moirosi 
 came half-way down the mountain side and discussed- 
 with the Colonial Secretary the conditions of his surrender, 
 but he refused an unconditional surrender, and after a three 
 hours' palaver retired behind his fortifications. The siege 
 was renewed, and Colonel Bayly was placed in command 
 of the investing forces. After shelling the mountain 
 continuously for three days and nights, on Wednesday 
 night, the 19th instant, the assault was made. At the dip 
 of the moon our forces were moved up, and the assault 
 was made from five different positions, during the dark 
 hours of the night. The storming party consisted of the 
 following : — Allan Maclean, with 200 Fingoes, were at 
 the rear ; Captain Bourne, and 170 riflemen, at the side ; 
 Captain Montagu at Commandant's Cave with 175 men ; 
 Captain Hook at the gully with 200 Fingoes and Tam- 
 bookies ; Lieutenant Mulenbeck, with the Wodehouse 
 Border Guard, and forty Fingoes at the Lip. The 
 attacking parties left camp at midnight. A landing 
 was first effected by Bournes' troop, afterwards followed 
 by Maclean at the Spring and Montagu at Bourne's 
 Crack. The enemy were not taken by surprise, but 
 kept up a brisk fire and rolled down stones on 
 the besiegers. Our native allies seem to have 
 been panic-stricken, although it is asserted in some- 
 quarters that they acted treacherously. They were carry- 
 ing the scaling ladders, but dropped them at the sound of 
 
206 
 
 MOROSI. 
 
 the first shot. The riflemen, however, picked up the 
 ladders, and one, twenty-five feet in length, being placed 
 against a sloping rock, the first man to mount was 
 Lieutenant Springer of the C.M.R., at whom the Baphutis 
 fired point blank. He had a narrow escape, one bullet 
 passing through his hat and striking the rock close 
 to him. He was quickly joined by other riflemen, 
 and they held the position until the others came up. Once 
 on the top, the men fixed bayonets, and charged in a line 
 right across the mountain, carrying all before them. For 
 about ten minutes some severe bayonet work went on both 
 inside and on the top of the different schanzes, and then 
 all was over. Moirosi, who had some five hundred men 
 with him when he threatened Mr. Austen, appears to have 
 only had two hundred with him at the time of this assault. 
 There are said to have been many dead, and the stench of 
 the bodies is reported to have been very offensive. A 
 number of Baphutes escaped, but the whole affair is over, 
 
 . and it only requires a few natives, assisted by a small 
 party of Europeans, to patrol the country. Moirosi was 
 shot in the first assault ; a bullet struck him in the neck, 
 and after the assault h^ was found dead in a cave into 
 which he crawled. Doda, the son of Moirosi, is said to be 
 the only man of importance on the mountain who was not 
 killed. Tetuka, Mosipali, Molsape, and Muntza are 
 amongst the dead. Our casualities were Thomas Schwach 
 
 .and Earnest - Scorfield, ISos. 1 and 9 troops, C.M.R., 
 dangerously wounded, two Fingoes killed and two wounded. 
 For the gallant way in which Lieutenant Springer mounted 
 the scaling ladder he has been gazetted captain, and 
 Captain Bourne is to be made brevet-major. Our telegram 
 from King William's Town shows the reception which 
 Colonel Bayly is to receive there, and congratulatory 
 messages have been sent from various distant municipali- 
 ties to the Government, on the complete success of this 
 
 -dashing assault. 
 
 In concluding this subject I would fain do justice to the 
 memory of the Macleans (old friends of the writer's) by 
 inserting the following : — 
 
 " I trust," says " Atlas " in the World, " that when the 
 honours are distributed for this Zulu business, the many 
 anen belonging to the colonial service who have done well 
 
MOROSI. 
 
 207 
 
 -will not be forgotten. There are several who have shown 
 -themselves first-class soldiers. The Brothers Maclean, 
 for example, sons of that colonial servant, Colonel Maclean, 
 who was one of the best Governors Natal ever had. 
 There are four of them ; and they have been in the thick 
 •of the fighting for the last year or two. They are. full of 
 pluck and go ; but Allan Maclean, of the Cape Mounted 
 Rifles, is especially well known as a dashing young 
 soldier. In the Gcaleka war he was the means of saving 
 -a gun and a body of our troops at the Kei by his prompt 
 flank attack on the Kafirs at the head of a lot of mounted 
 Fingoes. He positively loves fighting, and is often to be 
 :seen in the hottest of the fray with a pipe in his mouth. 
 In one affair, while thus quietly smoking and doing his 
 work, seven troopers and an officer of the Cape Mounted 
 Rifles were killed ; and at the end of it all Allan Maclean 
 took up a trooper behind him, whose horse had been killed, 
 -and saved his life. Allan Maclean has earned the Victoria 
 Cross over and over again, and yet I believe this is the 
 first time his name has been mentioned in an English 
 paper. His eldest brother, Jack Maclean, commands a 
 troop in the same corps ; Alexander is a lieutenant ; and 
 the youngest, Ronald, was at the relief of Ekowe, where 
 he did well in command of the native horse." " Atlas " 
 does no more than justice to the subjects of his notice ; in 
 fact, as regards Alexander, or " Lexie " as he is popularly 
 known, he does less than justice. " Lexie " rendered 
 invaluable service during the Gaika war at the head of a 
 corps of colonial Fingoes, and he is now excelling the 
 exploits of all his brothers by the success and activity of 
 his movements on the northern border. We are glad to 
 learn that the G-overnnient has no intention of including any 
 of the Macleans in the list of officers forced into retirement. 
 It is understood that " Lexie " will have command of the 
 force which it is intended to raise specially for the defence 
 of the northern border, and a better selection it would be 
 difficult to make. 
 
 Poor " Lexie " died not long ago from the effects of 
 ■constant exposure culminating in fever, as shown further 
 •on. 
 
CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 THE GRIQUALAND WEST AND NORTHERN BORDER FIGHTS,. 
 
 The public interest in the above affairs was diverted by the 
 contemporaneous and grave events transpiring in Zululand. 
 
 As to the cause of these scrimmages — some of them hot 
 enough too — the Koranna, or Hottentot, Captain Pienaar, 
 alias Gamka, and the Ngqika, and general Kafir vagabond 
 Captain Donker Malgas, urged several untenable pretexts, 
 but the fact of the matter was that at the time of the 
 Ngqika successes against the Cape Colonists, in 1878, 
 Kreli was in touch with Cetywayo, Sekukuni, and 
 Umqikela of Pondoland, and the general native mind was 
 unsettled and excited by the two first mentioned arch 
 plotters, and both Sir Theophilus Shepstone and Mr. 
 Charles Brownlee were aware of this plotting. 
 
 Owing to the comparatively uneventful affairs of this 
 expensive and protracted war, and the fact of the Zulu 
 agitation eclipsing the interest in it, condensed newspaper 
 accounts of the various events in it are not so readily 
 obtainable as those of other fights about the same time,, 
 so that the only course left me is to make a detached and 
 running comment on the few data I have gleaned from 
 the Imperial Blue Books kindly lent to me. 
 
 On the 18th of June, 1878, I find that a fight took place 
 in the Langeberg, and on the 20th another of some 
 moment, in which Major Nesbitt was wounded. 
 
 On July 20th, 1878, Klass Lucas succeeded in getting 
 into the Islands, and the Korannas followed suit on 
 the 21st. 
 
 Mr. Upington (now Sir Thomas) says in his report to 
 the Colonial Secretary in Cape Town, in July, 1879, that 
 had the Korannas been pursued in July or even August,, 
 when the river was low the protracted warfare that 
 ensued would have been obviated. 
 
 The Cape Artillery reached the Orange River in 
 October, 1878 ; Colonel Bayly arrived to take charge (for 
 a short time, as it turned out) on the 20th Sept., 1878. 
 
SIR THOS. UPIXGTOX. 
 
 209 
 
 When Major Nesbitt resumed command, he had a fight 
 at Olivenhouts Drift with Malgas and G-amka, who had 
 been driven out of the Langebergen after their defeat there 
 in October, 1878. 
 
 In March, 1879, Mr. Upington arrived atKenhardt, the 
 base of operations, and a very distant base at that. 
 
 Mr. Upington did not seem to think that things were- 
 going on fast enough, and did not hesitate to tell the 
 gentleman in charge — Mr. Jackson — his mind on the sub- 
 ject. Then ensued a wordy warfare, and despatches flew 
 like butterflies. By the correspondence in the Imperial 
 Blue Book, it appears that Mr. Upington acted with his 
 wonted courtesy and dignity, while it seemed that his 
 opponent said heated things which were not proved. 
 However, Mr. Jackson sent in his resignation, and Mr. 
 Upington, who, like his countrymen, seemed to be " blue 
 moulded for want of a batin," placed Capt. McTaggart in 
 command, and went at it with his usual " go." 
 
 Capt. McTaggart took over the command on the 5th of 
 April, 1879, and soon cleared Lucas Poffadder, Malgas 
 and Co. towards Afrikaner's land. The Bastard Wt 
 Christiaan acted in concert with him. 
 
 Up to the 18th October, 1878, Gamka, by his own — 
 written — confession, had lost fifty -five men. 
 
 From June to December, 1878, 742 men (colonial) were 
 employed at what I shall call the " Islands' Fights " on 
 the Great. Orange River. The largest number at any" 
 certain date was 450. 
 
 On the 30th October, 1878, Field Commandant J. A. 
 Yan Niekerk and force surrounded a lot of Bushmen and 
 shot forty-six, some women and children included. 
 There was, of course, a great row about this. But 
 practical, and also merciful men, say that this is sometimes 
 unavoidable, as it is hard to distinguish in the bush, and 
 the smoke, and the hurry &c, of actual fighting, the 
 difference between the sexes, as, in dress, &c, they look 
 much the same, especially when half hidden in the thick 
 bush. There is no time for accurate examination when 
 poisoned arrows are whistling about one's ears. 
 
 On the 17th March, 1879, Southey's Rangers, (and 
 Capt. McTaggart) reached Kenhardt, and, as I have said., 
 the latter took command from the oth of April, 
 p 
 
210 
 
 NORTHERN BORDER FIGHTS. 
 
 On the 8th and 9th of this month there was some hot 
 work in the Islands, but the black rabble was again driven 
 along towards the sea. 
 
 On the 10th April, 1879, there was also warm work, the 
 " rag tag and bobtail " of Orange River being led on by 
 Donker Malgas, Klaas Lucas and Mr. Pufladder. Roy 
 Tys, the factotum of Gamka, was shot dead at Melkstroom. 
 
 Capt. McTaggart often mentioned my late friend W. A. 
 Maclean — familiarly, and favourably known as "Lexie." 
 When Ramalana, the Basuto chief, as I have shown, 
 murdered the Pretorius family in the Drakensberg, and 
 then made a raid on Natal, the Natal volunteers turned out, 
 and this Maclean, his brother " Jack" and the writer 
 showed up amongst many others, and shared the same tent. 
 "Lexie, I say, is often honourably mentioned by 
 McTaggart. In one of these wretched scrimmages, chasing 
 the blacks from island to island with frantic exertion and 
 great difficulty, poor Lexie was wounded. He recovered 
 for a time, but exposure and fever carried him off 
 eventually. 
 
 On the 12th of April, 1879, I find that McTaggart was 
 employed in driving the enemy along again. 
 
 On the 27th and 28th of the above month vigorous 
 attack was made on the principal Island of Klaas Lucas. 
 It was here that Maclean was wounded. 
 
 On the 29th McTaggart and Maclean (Commanding 
 Zulus) attack the enemy on the Islands, under Donker 
 Malgas. On this date is reported the death of Lieut. 
 Xohn. 
 
 And on May 30th, 1879, Maclean had a vigorous and 
 successful engagement with the enemy again, under 
 Malgas. 
 
 To revert to 1878, the following particulars are given in 
 the Diamond Fields Advertise!* of the fight between the 
 Griqualand West Volunteers and the enemy along the 
 border : — 
 
 News was received in town yesterday morning that on 
 the 10th of October (1878), the combined forces, number- 
 ing about 700 men, were in a kloof in the Langebergen. 
 Colonel Warren says that the enemy — numbering about 
 1,00C — were, according to information received, in a valley 
 -some fifteen miles off. It was decided that a forward 
 
makoloque's affair. 
 
 211 
 
 movement should be made at once, and the following 
 morning the rebels were brought face to face with the 
 "Volunteers. The despatch announcing the fight was 
 • evidently written hurriedly, and before the end had 
 arrived, but it is perfectly certain that one of the most 
 persistent and largest engagements in South Africa ever 
 known has been fought." The battle lasted the whole of 
 Friday (October 11th, 1878). It was continued over the 
 12th, and even then victory had not been achieved. Under 
 •such circumstances it is impossible to say, at present, 
 what the casualties on the side of the enemy were, but on 
 our side we have to mourn the loss of trooper Jubber of 
 -the A troop shot dead, and J. Edwards of the Carrington 
 Horse, who died soon after being wounded. Troopers 
 Niekerk and Woods are wounded. It is most unusual 
 here for battles to extend over so long a period as in this 
 " instance, and either the natives are determined to fight to the 
 bitter end, declining to retreat, or else they are hemmed in. 
 In either case, desperation must best characterise their 
 movements, because peace would immediately follow a 
 surrender. Should this fight not prove decisive, Colonel 
 Warren will have a difficult task before him. Already 
 the prolonged drought is telling on the cattle, and the 
 horses are rapidly falling off. As far as men are con- 
 cerned, the Government have made ample provision, and 
 independently of what the columns carry with them, there 
 .are laden wagons of provisions within easy reach. But if 
 our own conjectures regarding the last engagement are 
 ■ correct, the back of the rebellion is broken, and not much 
 more remains to be done, except by patrolling parties. 
 
 Skimming over the recorded events of October, 1878, I 
 see that Xesbitt had a fight with 250 blacks near the 
 Olivenhout Mission Station, and, as usual, drove them into 
 the thick bush. 
 
 Archibald Forbes is nowhere, compared with the war 
 correspondent of the Victoria West Messenger. In 
 the following terms he describes a serious engagement 
 accompauied by signal heroism. He says (writing from 
 Koegas), "On the loth of October a report came 
 
 * It will be remembered that, at this date the Battle of 
 Jsandhlwane had not occurred. 
 p2 
 
212 
 
 NORTHERN BORDER EIGHTS. 
 
 of fresh traces of Kafirs and cattle at Blaauw- 
 bosch, and immediately a patrol of thirty men 
 under command of Commandant jS". Smit, Captain 
 Pienaar, and acting Captain J. A. van Niekerk went out 
 in search. After a very fatiguing ride of about ten hours 
 over a most rugged country, we came across one Kafir ( ! ) 
 driving thirteen head of cattle, which were taken, and the 
 Kafir, after a most obstinate resistance, was killed." 
 Eureka ! Fancy all this " living tide of valour on the foe." 
 The enumeration by the correspondent of the grand titles 
 of the officers commanding this redoutable and ferocious 
 force, is delicious. Where is Leonidas, and Mr. Horatio 
 Codes after this ? 
 
 The above tomfoolery was, however, on the part of one 
 of these heroes amply atoned. A Koegas correspondent of 
 the paper above alluded to — probably the same smart war 
 bulletin pounder — says " In an engagement with some 
 Bushmen, a burgher named Jan Loots (rather good name 
 for border work) received a poisoned arrow through the 
 thigh. After the man was carried out of danger, it was 
 seen that the poison was beginning to work. Thereupon 
 Acting Captain J. A. van Niekerk, jr, having given him a 
 dose of brandy with Eau de luce, knelt down, -and 
 pressing his lips closely on the wound, sucked it again and 
 again, till all the poisonous blood was extracted. The 
 effects on Captain van Niekerk were almost instantaneous,, 
 and whilst nearly fainting, it was necessary to give him 
 the same medicine that was given to the wounded man.. 
 This undontedly saved Mr. Loots' life, and it is refreshing 
 to see that amongst the so-often abused Afrikanders, men 
 are found, able to do things over which perhaps their 
 abusers would think twice." 
 
 On the 12th Nov., 1878, the Cape Times announces the 
 close of the Griqualand West War, whilst the " Island " 
 fighting lingered on for some months longer, until quelled. 
 
 The last but one act (the shooting of Malgas and 
 capture of the others) of this difficult war, is described in 
 the following despatch from Capt. McTaggart to the 
 Col. Secretary at Cape Town. 
 
 This war, it will be seen, in spite of the vigour and 
 determination of Mr. Upington, who as a member of the 
 Government took on himself the arduous duties of 
 
CAPT. MCTAGGART'S DESPATCH. 
 
 213 
 
 directing operations too slowly moving, lingered on, it will 
 he seen, about twelve months, and cost the Cape Colony 
 .-about a quarter of a million in money. Any way, the 
 rebellion was most effectually quashed, as all the rebels 
 were either captured or shot. Capt. McTaggart says : — 
 
 Kakamas, 26th June, 1879. 
 
 Sir, — I have the honour to report for the information of 
 the Government that I left this camp on the 20th inst. 
 with one gun and 200 rank and file, for Jacobus 
 Africander's country to act in a combined movement with 
 Capt. Green of the Lilly Fontein Rangers, and William 
 Christian of the Bondelswartz, as pre-arranged. Green's 
 forces consisted of one officer and 25 men Southey's 
 rangers, and 200 Bondelswartz. 
 
 The attack on the stronghold was to take place on the 
 morning of the 22nd. 
 
 Although my notice from J. H. Scott, Esq., the Special 
 Commissioner, who was in company with Capt. Green, was 
 short, I succeeded by forced marches in being at the place 
 .appointed on the day fixed, a distance of eighty miles from 
 my camp. 
 
 All my movements were watched by spies from Jacobus 
 .Africander and Pofadder, whose spoors I followed, and 
 which led me to their strongholds. 
 
 Captain Green, — from information he received from W. 
 Christian that Pofadder was in the Bondelswartz camp, on 
 the night of the 21st instant, and that his " werf " was not 
 far from where he (Capt. Green) was then encamped — left 
 with all his available mounted men, at a very early hour in 
 the morning of the 22nd, and succeeded in surrounding the 
 camp of Afrikander and Pofadder, he coming up from the 
 west side, and my forces coming up from the east through 
 the mountains. 
 
 The enemy finding themselves between two forces, 
 surrendered at once to Capt. Green without firing a shot, 
 Jacobus Africander having surrendered himself to W. 
 Christian the previous day. 
 
 We took 110 male prisoners of Africander's people, 200 
 women and children, sixty-nine stand of arms, 361 head of 
 -cattle, 200 small stock, twenty horses, five wagons, and 
 .one cart. Pofadder's people : taken thirty-six male 
 
214 
 
 WILLIAM CHRISTIAN. 
 
 prisoners, seventy-eight women and children, sixty-one- 
 head of cattle, twelve horses, and thirty-nine stand of 
 arms. Very little ammunition was found amongst them. 
 Pofadder escaped with several of his followers. 
 
 I bivouacked close to the Werf of Africander, and ten 
 miles distant from Green's camp. 
 
 From an express received from the Special Commis- 
 sioner, the same evening, requesting me to join his camp 
 as soon as practicable, I did so on the following morning,, 
 and shortly after arrival, held a council of war with 
 reference to Jacob Africander, on account of William 
 Christian not being willing to give np that chief. 
 
 The matter was soon settled by my insisting that the 
 prisoners should he handed over to me by sundown, to be^ 
 dealt with by our Government, which was accordingly 
 done with very great reluctance. 
 
 The firearms of Pofadder we agreed to set fire to and 
 destroy. 
 
 From instructions received from Cape Town, while in 
 the Field, and at Africander's country, I handed over the- 
 command of the forces to Capt. Maclean, with instructions 
 to follow up the enemy as far as Bloemfontein and Zwaart 
 Modder, where Klaas Lucas and Pofadder are supposed to- 
 have fled to, the Special Commissioner and myself return- 
 ing to head-quarter camp, with the prisoner J. Africander 
 under escort, whom I intend to bring on to Cape Town. 
 
 Immediately on my arrival in camp, I despatched, 
 fifteen days rations to Capt. Maclean, for the forces under 
 his command, to enable .him to follow up and pursue 
 Klaas Lucas, Pofadder, Donker Malgas, and Titus. 
 
 1 hope to reach Cape Town about the loth or 16th. 
 July. 
 
 I have, &c, 
 
 (Signed) H. E. McTaggaet, 
 
 Commandant N. B. Forces. 
 
 The William Christian above alluded to is the man. 
 whose small stipend was recently disallowed by the Cape 
 Parliament. Whether it is wise thus to reward faithful* 
 services is for the House " in its wisdom " to consider. 
 What will the Bondelswartz say ? 
 
 The popular and witty member of Government who* 
 
" THE ISLANDS." 
 
 21.5 
 
 directed these northern border affairs tells a good story of 
 a contemplative Boer burgher who was on active service. In 
 one of the fights on the Islands, a very hot one, where the 
 gun had, with herculean efforts, to be dragged through the 
 bush, and the strong streams, breast high, with a rattling 
 fire in the teeth of the attackers — in one of these fights, I 
 say, the narrator was lying by the side of this burgher,, 
 while the firing was hot, and the wounded being carried in, 
 when his Dutch friend, after long and due deliberation, 
 heaved a great sigh and said " Ja ; Allamagtig ! maar 
 oorlog is tog gevaarlijk !" This was the conclusion he had 
 arrived at after protracted meditation. A free translation 
 of his sapient remark being " By the Powers ! but warfare 
 is dangerous !" 
 
 In one of the deep aud very rapid streams running 
 amongst the numerous thicket-woven Islands, Mr. 
 Upington was swept off his legs and hurled heels over head 
 down stream, Mr. Maclean, however, at once pluckily 
 plunged in, and after considerable difficulty, succeeded in 
 saving the life of the indefatigable Director of Affairs. 
 
 The fate of my poor friend Maclean must be described 
 by the following letter of Mr. John H. Scott to the 
 Secretary for Xative Affairs : — 
 
 Special Commissioner's Office. 
 
 Kimberley, May 13th, 1880. 
 
 Sir, — I have the honour to report for the information of 
 Government that Inspector W. A Maclean died at 
 Kakamas on Tuesday, the ith inst. The Surgeon in 
 charge reports that death was the result of an attack of 
 the malarial fever common to the neighbourhood of the 
 Orange River, complicated with congestion of the lungs,, 
 and considers the fatal termination of the disease to a great 
 extent attributable to the enfeeblement of an originally 
 iron constitution by the severe fatigues and exposure 
 undergone on this border by the late Inspector Maclean. 
 
 On Captain Maclean's return from the patrol into the 
 desert (on which Donker Malgas was shot) it was very 
 evident that his system had been subjected to a very severe 
 strain, and seeing a great deal of him at that time, I was 
 apprehensive that his health would break down. Captain 
 Maclean had bargained that if he succeeded in capturing 
 
216 
 
 W. A. MACLEAN. 
 
 Klaas Lucas, he was to be allowed to convey that Chief 
 to Cape Town. He accordingly left this place on the 21st 
 of October, 1879, and I hoped that the change and rest 
 would re-establish his health. 
 
 In December, 1879, I met Capt. Maclean at Victoria 
 West, on his way back to the Border, aud found him very 
 seriously ill. 1 found that his medical attendant had com- 
 municated with the Government on the subject of his 
 illness, and that Government had authorised Capt. Maclean 
 to take such leave of abseuce as should be necessary for 
 recruiting his health. This he had almost decided to do, 
 but feeling somewhat better at the last moment, he made 
 up his mind to proceed to Kenhardt, fearing that it might 
 be thought he had left his post for insufficient cause. 
 
 In February last the Orange River came down very 
 suddenly, and overflowing its banks for a great distance, 
 threatened to sweep off the Government boats, and to 
 destroy the camp stores. 
 
 Capt. Maclean exerted himself very much to get the 
 camp moved to higher ground, and spent most of the night 
 on the water, securing the boats and warps. Owing to his 
 exertions very little damage was sustained, but since that 
 time he himself had been very unwell, suffering from 
 debility and inflammation, and abscess of the ear. 
 
 On the 28th April he showed symptoms of fever, which 
 rapidly developed itself, carrying him off in seven days. 
 
 I cannot conclude this report without referring to the 
 services rendered by the late Capt. Maclean on this 
 Border. Of his services in the Gaika and Gcaleka war it is 
 for others to speak. 
 
 Captain Maclean arrived at Kenhardt in the end of 
 March, 1879, a very few days before the forces marched to 
 attack the Orange River Islands. He immediately took 
 command of a Zulu levy raised at Kimberley for service here. 
 
 Arrived at the new Drift at the Orange River, it was 
 found that the appliances available for putting a force of 
 some 700 men, with some thirty or more wagons, across a 
 swollen river nearly half a mile wide, were miserably 
 inadequate. But Capt. Maclean at once volunteered his 
 services, and bringing to bear the skill acquired in some years 
 spent at sea, managed to ferry across the whole force and 
 its impediments. 
 
W. A. MACLEAN. 
 
 217 
 
 This was only accomplished by the severest exertion on 
 Ihis part. Xight and day, for a week, he laboured at the 
 steering oar, and it was very greatly attributable to his 
 skill, courage and energy, that the crossing was accom- 
 plished without disaster. 
 
 The work on the Islands was of the most trying charac- 
 ter. " The Islands " is really a tract of forest jungle some 
 fifty miles long, and from two to six wide, intersected by 
 innumerable streams, almost all unfordable, and many of 
 them as swift as mill races. Not a man in the force knew 
 anything accurately about these streams, nor how any 
 particular island had to be reached. 
 
 The enemy had to be groped for, streams waded or swum, 
 and that in the face of entrenchments held by the enemy, 
 and our force was unprovided with light boats, lines, or 
 any other appliances for such work. 
 
 The Korannas had retired to these fastnesses, scouting 
 the idea that any white' force could reach them. Our 
 forces, however, taught them different, and that they were 
 able to do so was very much owing to Capt. Maclean. 
 He got his men across streams that seemed uncrossable, 
 and by his cool contempt for danger inspired his men with 
 courage, until at last the enemy, finding the cattle captured 
 and their strongest position seized, fled for the desert. 
 
 At one of the attacks on the Islands, Capt. Maclean 
 was struck by a partially spent bullet, and very seriously 
 hurt. The surgeon in charge at one time thought fatally so. 
 
 When the force was moving off again to seek the enemy 
 Capt. Maclean, had himself, when hardly able to stand, 
 lifted upon his horse, refusing to be left behind in in- 
 activity. 
 
 In June, 1879, he took command of all the forces on 
 the Border. Though he considered he had a grievance 
 against the Government, which in his opinion would have 
 justified him in refusing to serve them longer, he put that 
 matter on one side, saj ing " that would be time enough to 
 go into when the work was done." He at once organised 
 flying patrols, and fell first upon Pofadder and his clan, 
 coming upon them at day-dawn so suddenly that they 
 surrendered without firing a shot, and subsequently followed 
 up Donker Malgas and Klass Lucas right into the desert, 
 taking his men, in the depth of winter, with just what 
 
218 
 
 W. A. MACLEAN. 
 
 they could cany on their saddles, marching them thirty-six 
 hours with only such water as they could carry with them,, 
 and entirely breaking up the last organised remnant of the 
 enemy, brought back his force without losing a man or 
 horse, thus bringing to a close a tear which, but for his 
 dash and energy, might have still been dragging on. 
 
 Capt. Maclean was eminently a fighting man, cour- 
 ageous and true-heaited, attaching his men and comrades 
 to him, even more careful of them than of himself, and by 
 his influence and example, inspiring all but abject cowards 
 with courage and indurance. 
 
 For the special kind of work to which he was suited 
 (and that sort of work became sometimes the most needful 
 to get done) he had few equals. 
 
 I have, &c, 
 
 Sgd. John H. Scott, 
 
 Special Magistrate, 
 Northern Border, 
 
 Many years ago I was in the Civil Service in Natal 
 with Lexie Maclean. He was then Secretary to the 
 Chief Justice, and got a few months' leave of absence in 
 order to visit his relations in England. His salary was 
 limited, but not so his prompt resources. Lexie had 
 insisted, in his youth, on going to sea, and to sea he went 
 accordingly. Just before he sailed for England (with the 
 leave so obtained) I saw him at D'Urban, in Natal, and- 
 hardly knew him. The spruce Secretary now appeared in: 
 sea-going oilskins, sou'wester, and space-pervading top- 
 boots, a huge blanket on his back, and a tin pannikin in 
 his hand. He had shipped for England as an A.B. before 
 the mast. I don't know if he returned in the same 
 manner, but by his pluck he had saved his passage money,, 
 and people said he had done a sensible thing. His widow 
 is now at King William's Town, with, it is naturally to be 
 hoped, a comfortable pension. Allan Maclean 1 never had 
 the pleasure of knowing. Jack, (as I have said) and I were 
 comrades in arms in the Ramelana affair. Another brother, 
 Ronald, I lately met at East London. Colonel Maclean, the 
 father of the above mentioned, was too well known in the 
 
CAPT. MACLEAN. 
 
 219 
 
 colony to need comment. He married Miss Kate O'Reilly,, 
 and the respected couple were very old friends of my 
 parents — peace be to their ashes. 
 
 Such was the close of the attacks on the "Islands" 
 or " The Border War." Truly a most difficult war to 
 wage. At an absurd distance from its base ; its scene^ 
 dense jungle amid violent streams, and the enemy, good 
 shots, swift in movement, and possessed of a marvellous 
 power of dispersing at a moment's notice. 
 
 The indomitable Capt. W. A. Maclean followed the 
 rebels some 80 miles into the desert — shot Donker Malgas,. 
 and captured Klaas Lucas and Pofadder. The former died. 
 on Robben Island, the latter at this date (24th March,. 
 1888) is still on the said Robben Island. 
 
CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 THE FIGHTS IN GRIQU ALAND WEST, &C, 
 
 As the disturbances in Griqualand West and East, 
 Sikukuni's affairs, and Tembuland, all occurred about the 
 same time, I shall take the engagements as I find them 
 noticed in the Blue Books for 1878-9 as I come across 
 them. 
 
 In April, 1878, Sir Bartle Frere reports to Sir H. M. 
 Hicks-Beach the rising of the Griquas in Griqualand 
 East — and it afterwards appeared — many Pondos. Sir 
 Bartle had acted upon the information of Capt. Blyth, 
 Chief Magistrate of Griqualand East, sent on the 12th of 
 April. 
 
 Sir Henry Bulwer immediately sent up 219 officers and 
 men of the 3rd Buffs from Maritzburg in Natal, and fifty 
 Mounted Police, whilst Mr. Donald Strachan, the Asst. 
 Magistrate at the Umzimkulu River, moved up in support 
 with 300 natives. The Griquas had made prisoners of 
 Mr. Harold Acutt and his (European) boy, and looted the 
 store of the former. The Griquas bound them and drove 
 them before them with their cattle, but protected them 
 from the Pondos who wanted to kill them. On the 
 prisoners explaining that they belonged to Natal and not to 
 the Cape, with which place the Griquas had a difference 
 regarding land, they were released. 
 
 On the 17th of April, 1878, Capt. Spalding writes 
 from King William's Town for the information of the 
 Governor that " Details of Blyth's action have not yet 
 arrived. But to judge from telegrams, his success has been 
 complete, the rebel Chief Adam Muis having been slain." 
 
 On the 16th of April, 1878. Sir Theophilus Shepstone, 
 the Administrator of the Transvaal, reports to SirM. Hicks- 
 Beach that Sekukuni was getting troublesome. He had 
 become infatuated in consequence of his late successful 
 resistance to the Boers, and of the nattering manner in 
 which Cetywayo had treated him. " No provocation," says 
 Sir Theophilus, " whatever has been offered by this Govern- 
 
COLONEL LAXYOX. 
 
 221 
 
 ment to hini, and I cannot account for his conduct on the- 
 supposition only that he has been led to adopt it by an 
 exaggerated estimate of his own strength, and by 
 encouragement from Cetywayo, who desired to embarrass 
 H. M's. Government in the Transvaal. " 
 
 On the 5th of April, 1878, Capt. Van Deventer, by order 
 of Capt. Clark, the Commissioner for Lydenburg, attacked 
 Sekukuni's sister Legolwana at her stronghold kraal 
 Masselaroon. After sweeping off some hundreds of cattle, 
 and counting twenty-seven dead bodies of the enemy, it 
 was deemed advisable to withdraw, as the force was not 
 strong enough to attack the enemy in his rifle pits. Lieut. 
 Lloyd was twice wounded, and another volunteer was 
 struck. Four Zulu police and six native contingent were 
 killed on our side. 
 
 On the 12th of May, 1878, Colonel Lanyon reports an 
 engagement with insurgent Griquas and Kafirs in the 
 division of Hay in Griqnaland West. 
 
 The cause of this war was the same as that urged in 
 Griqnaland East, the land question. Some people said 
 Kreli and Cetywayo had a hand in it. It was pointed out 
 that Sekukuni was paying his war indemnity to Sir Theo.. 
 Shepstone all right, until Cetywayo's messengers reached 
 him, when he refused to pay up. 
 
 On the 3rd of May, 1878, Col. Lanyon marched against 
 Donker Malgas near a place euphoniously called Blaamer- 
 boschfontein, with Mr. McKenna and Mr. Eoper. The 
 party of the latter was suddenly fired upon, and " several 
 killed " said some Boers who were flying away, and who the 
 Colonel was unable to rally. The latter says : " I then went 
 on and met Mr. Roper accompanied by the rest, save Walton 
 and Essendwine, the former of whom had been killed and 
 the latter wounded." 
 
 It appears that Mr. Roper had met and spoken to a 
 native whom he knew, called Rooi Tys (the factotum of 
 Jan Pienaar, alias Gamka). This man informed him that 
 they were friendly, and offered to show him where Donker 
 Malgas was. After pointing out the road to hiin v 
 he went to a small hill close by, and immediately a heavy 
 fire was opened upon the patrol from all sides. By this 
 act of treachery Walton was shot through the thigh, and 
 fell to the ground ; the rest plnckily remained under a 
 
222 
 
 FIGHTS IN GRIQU ALAND WEST. 
 
 heavy fire trying to save him. His companions were Mr. 
 Roper, Sergt. McPherson, Tucker, Okeden, and Williams, 
 a burgher. Tucker had caught a horse for the wounded 
 man, but it was soon struck and broke away. As they 
 were now about to be surrounded by the enemy they had 
 to retire, the Sergt. putting Williams on his horse, up 
 behind him. The end of poor Walton may be imagined. 
 The fighting went on for two hours, Inspector Percy 
 being severely wounded in the groin — the loss of the rebels 
 was ten. As the light was failing the Colonel returned 
 to camp. 
 
 Donker Malgas and Co. were Amaxona and Tembu 
 refugees, commonly called Praamberg Kafirs, whose head 
 quarters are at Scheitfontein. These refugees fled from 
 Kafirland about 1828, before the invading Fetcani of the 
 Amangwana tribe under Matiwane who had fled from 
 Tshaka, as we have shown. So that we had actually saved 
 these fellows when about to be exterminated by the terrible 
 Mangwana warrior. 
 
 On the 24th of May, 1878, Col. Lanyon reports from 
 Griqua Town an engagement which took place about three 
 miles from there, called Jackals Vley, where the rebels had 
 murdered Mr. Louw, the clerk to Mr. van Druten, the 
 ownei of a store there. The Colonel says : — Immediately 
 in front of the position some natives were lying in a hole 
 with some bushes round it, from which they were firing. 
 To storm it would have entailed loss of life, so Lieutenant 
 Doveton then mounted with five of his men, and pluckily 
 galloped past the place, firing into it with revolvers, and at 
 the same time we rushed in on foot from the other side, and 
 took the place without any casualty. In this place Ave 
 found the bodies of five men, two of whom were ringleaders 
 of the rebels, i.e., Moses Moos, a Griqua, and Piet Jonas, a 
 Kaal Kafir. Only one man was living — the doctor took 
 off his arm — but he died in the night. 
 
 Capt. McKenna now crept round the wall of the cattle 
 kraal with the Diamond contingent, and some of the other 
 corps, and gallantly took the kraal by storm. Twenty-five 
 dead Korannas, Griquas, Bushmen, Kaal Kafirs, and one 
 Bechuana were found. All the bodies clothed from Van 
 Druten's store. 
 
 On the 12th June, 1878, Capt. Spalding reports the 
 
CAPTAIN TOM MAXWELL. 
 
 223 
 
 discovery of the body of Sandilli, who was shot on the 
 29th of May, with Dukwana. The body was properly 
 identified by Mr. Wright the Magistrate of the Gaika tribe, 
 at the instigation of our jovial, gallant, and popular fellow- 
 citizen the Honourable Col. Schermbrncker. The post 
 mortem showing that he was shot " a little above the right 
 loin, through the seventh and eight ribs, the bullet fractur- 
 ing the ribs extensively — the wound being evidently caused 
 by a Snider bullet." 
 
 Ou the 10th June, 1878, Col. Warren sent Col. Lanyon 
 an account of an engagement that took place at " Withnis " 
 Kloof the day before. He had seventy-five of the Diamond 
 Field Horse and thirteen Hope Town burghers with him. 
 He sent Capt. Rolleston with twenty Diamond Field Horse 
 and thirteen burghers on the lower side of the range, and 
 he himself with the head-quarters of the said Horse, 
 followed the spoor of the enemy and cattle. 
 
 The Colonel took the rebels by surprise on the rear just 
 as Capt. Rolleston's party was engaged with them — the 
 Kafirs trying hard to remove their cattle. A hard fight 
 ensued among the krantzes and kloofs, and the combined 
 force completely routed the enemy and silenced their fire. 
 Thirty-one miscellaneous miscreants were killed, and 
 counted. 
 
 The enemy fought with extreme tenacity at close 
 quarters, from fifteen to twenty yards, and some a1 rifle 
 length, but their fire was very bad. About 1,000 cattle of 
 all sorts were taken. The enemy were composed of 
 " Colony Kafirs (Gaikas and Tambookies from Victoria 
 West), Kaal Kafirs, (Gaikas), Korannas and Bushmen. 
 Over a 100 in all." 
 
 On June 14th, 1878, Col. Lanyon reports to Sir Bartle 
 Frere a fight that Inspector Nesbitt had on May the 30th 
 with the enemy, who attacked his camp with about 800 
 men. After an engagement of an hour and a half they 
 were driven back. Owing to the shelter trenches round 
 the camp. Nesbitt had no casualties. He speaks in high 
 terms of the way in which Capt. Maxwell (Thos.), Lieut. 
 Parkins, and the men of the Artillery (Maxwell had 
 brought Artillery from King William's Town) performed 
 their duty under a heavy fire. The place was a very 
 : strong one owing to walls, &c, being built. In storming 
 
224 
 
 DEATH OF SUB-LIEUT. PATERSON. 
 
 one of these places Corporal Woodward of the Frontier 
 Police was unfortunately killed — two other men wounded,, 
 and five horses shot.. 
 
 On July 7th, 1878, Col. Lanyon reports that Mr. Ford,, 
 with a column of about 90 strong, met the enemy about 
 10 miles over the border ensconced in a small kopje, which 
 was at once stormed and carried, but with considerable 
 loss. Lieut. Patersoii, Sergt. Rawstorne, Corporal H. 
 Davis, Troopers Campbell and Williams were killed, and 
 five wounded out of the 30 men of the column who were 
 engaged in action. 
 
 On the 4th of July, 1878, Commandant Ford reports to 
 the Acting Colonial Secretary the engagement above 
 alluded to by Col. Warren and which took place on the 
 2nd inst. Mr. Ford says the kopje was a strong little 
 one, and the fight was very hot. Early in the afternoon 
 he received a bullet in his leg, and therefore directed Capt. 
 D'Arcy, assisted by Lieut. Bradshaw and Sub-Lieut. 
 Patersoii, to lead the storming party. 
 
 Sub-Lieut. Patersoii was killed whilst storming and 
 cheering on his men. After he fell, he was carried out by 
 Capt. D'Arcy under a heavy fire, Lieut. Paterson (Barkly 
 Rangers) Sergeant Slade, and Trooper Dunne, Clifton, 
 Cray, and Fraser of the Diamond Fields Horse, and Mr. 
 S. Edwards, covering them, as well as other wounded who 
 were being taken out. Other men who deserve special 
 mention are Sergeant R. H. Brooks, Trooper A. C.- 
 Williams, and Corporal Gr. Ford, the former two of the 
 Diamond Fields Horse, and the latter, Barkly Rangers. 
 
 On the 30th of July, 1878, Colonel Lanyon, from 
 Kuruman, reports the most "important engagement of this 
 war." The place had been considered for generations the 
 stronghold of the Batlapin nation — it is named Litako or 
 Takoon. Up to the time of this fight it had never been 
 interfered with on account of its great strength. Over 
 fifty years ago, says Lanyon, the fortifications had been 
 raised by Mativo, the then paramount Chief, who then 
 held undisturbed jurisdiction over the Batlapin nation.. 
 The Griqua and Bechuana nation were then allied to 
 resist the fierce inroads of the Mantatees, who were then 
 in immense numbers migrating southwards to secure land.. 
 Takoon was fortified to resist this inroad. 
 
MANKO ROANE HELPS. 
 
 225 
 
 Some ilea may be formed of the great strength of the 
 above place from the following statement. The range of 
 hills is about two miles long, and it is covered throughout 
 with a network of walls. The town is situated about half a 
 mile from the western end of the ridge (where the river 
 runs) in a neck, and from it three kopjes on the ridge. In the 
 first of these — about 150 feet above the river, there were 
 245 compartments, some round, some square, and others of 
 all shapes, all being connected with each other. In the 
 second kopje there were 88 compartments, and in the 
 third, 175, making in all 508. The enemy obstinately 
 defended these places, and fought to the last. Even after 
 they were driven out of the place, they continued the fight 
 and fired upon the colonial forces from every available 
 spot. The force left Takoou on the 27th of July, 1878. 
 
 On the 2nd September, 1878, I may parenthetically 
 remark (as a landmark in history) that G-eneral Thesiger 
 reported to the High Commisssiouer that he had in H.M.'s 
 name taken possession of the left bank of the St. John's 
 River, and installed the Rev. Mr. Oxland as Resident in 
 Pondoland. The right bank was taken possession of 
 about a week later. 
 
 On the 24th August, 1878, Col. Lanyon reports a fight 
 at Oomaperi against the enemy who were sheltering the 
 murderers of Burness. The Colonel says five of the 
 Colonial forces were killed at Takoon or Taku, alias 
 Litako. 
 
 About the 10th August (Kafirs are not particular about 
 dates) Mankoroane met Col. Lanyon at Matlabani town, 
 and said that, acting in his (Lanyon's) aid, he had attacked 
 Botlasitze's people in the valley of the Hart, had defeated 
 them, and killed fifteen of the Kaal Kafirs, amongst whom 
 were several of the murderers of Thompson, a trader. 
 
 On the 30th August, 1878, Colonel Lanyon forwards to 
 Sir Bartle Frere copies of the numerous addresses presented 
 to him and to the field force of Griqualand West on their 
 return to Kimberley. The addresses are couched in terms 
 of the warmest approval of the heroic actions of the 
 Diamond Fields Horse, the Barkly Rangers and the rest 
 of the force. Sir Bartle Frere in sending copies of the 
 addresses to Sir Hicks-Beach dwells on the voluntary 
 sacrifice endured by these patriotic men — he says that "the 
 Q 
 
226 
 
 FIGHTS TN GRTQTT ALAND WEST. 
 
 duties performed by these forces have been of a very 
 arduous nature, and the determination they have shown of 
 remaining in the field, notwithstanding the sacrifice which 
 was in many cases entailed by their so doing, is most 
 •creditable." 
 
 Col. Warren also points out the difference between fight- 
 ing these dead shots of Griquas, &c, to the old colony 
 Kafirs, where only about twenty per cent, are armed, 
 whereas every Griqua, &c, carries a gun, and a gun of the 
 best manufacture. As the Colonel says, " these natives are 
 accustomed to fire with calmness in their hunts with wild 
 beasts, and stick to their scantzes until they are killed — 
 and won't be taken prisoners." 
 
 Col. Warren concludes' by saying : — Although I was 
 with my regiment longer actively in the field in the most 
 serious conflicts which took place in the Colony, I cannot 
 consider the fighting or danger there to be in any way 
 comparable with that which had taken place in Griqualand 
 West. In the latter war it was more like fighting 
 experienced and desperate white troops." He says also : 
 — I cannot help thinking that a time will come when the 
 attacking party may suffer considerable losses from the 
 firing of these people. 
 
 The following account of a fight at Paarde Kloof in the 
 Langebergen is rather out of date owing to Sir Bartle 
 Frere (as he explains to Sir Hicks-Beach) overlooking the 
 matter. 
 
 On June 28th, 1878, Col. Warren, writing from " Pot- 
 gieter's Farm" says that on the 18th of the above month 
 he had a sharp engagement with the miscellaneous 
 miscreants. 
 
 While we were effecting our movements, says he, the 
 enemy commenced a hot cross fire upon us from the hill 
 sides, and from scanzes erected across the valley at 
 distances from 600 to 800 yards. Capt. Maxwell was the 
 first to advance from the right. 
 
 1 now sent Sergt.-Major Ling with his twenty-six 
 Zulus to extend our line up the hill to the right of Lieut. 
 Tyson, in order to dislodge the enemies' sharpshooters. In 
 advancing, our lme was about three quarters of a mile 
 in length. 
 
 The Colonel goes on to say : — After an interchange 
 
PAARDE KLOOF AFFAIR. 
 
 227 
 
 of heavy firing, I found it necessary to direct Lieut. 
 Parkin to drop a shell into the scanze in front of us, from 
 whence some excellent shooting was made by the enemy — 
 -among whom, we ascertained afterwards, was Sam Fortuin, 
 .a crack shot amongst the Griquas. The second shell 
 burst on the scanze, and very much reduced the fire there- 
 from. I then ordered two shells to be thrown on the dyke 
 at the foot of the right hand hill, and here again this 
 second shell exploded precisely on the spot indicated, and 
 considerably reduced the fire of the enemy from this point. 
 
 A message now arrived from Capt. Ward, stating that 
 Rademan's Kloof was defended by about 100 armed Kafirs, 
 .and requiring reinforcements. I sent up ten men of the 
 Star Brigade and Light Infantry, and also sent a party of 
 eight men directly up the left hand hill. These latter, 
 though they gallantly stood their ground, were unable to 
 advance more than a short way up the hill on account of 
 the heavy fire from the Kafirs lining the sides. 
 
 We continued to be hotly engaged with the enemy, 
 advancing very slowly, when another message arrived 
 from Capt. Ward, requiring Lieut. Parkin and his gun to 
 secure his advance in Rademan's Kloof. I sent on the 
 gun with an escort, but finding after a time that there was 
 little hope of the left hand hill being taken by Eademan's 
 Kloof, on account of the position of the enemy there, I 
 decided to take the scanzes — at its foot — in front of us, by 
 a rush. I therefore desired Lieut. Doveton with about 
 fifteen men of Star Brigade and Diamond Field Horse, to 
 mount and gallop up near the position, and then to dis- 
 mount and rush up to the scanzes, and proceeded with 
 them myself. On getting into them, we found that the 
 enemy had retired before us, and that we had now effected 
 a lodgment in their line. 
 
 We were here almost in line with the enemy both above 
 us on the hill, and below us in the valley ; we had there- 
 fore to keep a sharp look out that we were not surprised 
 from above, while we poured in a cross fire upon those 
 below, at from 400 to 1,000 yards. The enemy could not 
 stand this fire in addition to the direct fire from Capt. 
 Rolleston, Capt. Alexander and Lieut. Tyson's troops in 
 the valley, and, though disputing their ground step by 
 step, began reluctantly to retire. I now sent messages 
 Q2 
 
228 
 
 FIGHTS IN GRTQU ALAND WEST. 
 
 to the A. C. and D. troops, and to the Zulus to advance* 
 quickly, and also to Capt. Ward to take the hill above us> 
 if possible. 
 
 The Zulus at this time were working well on the right 
 hand hill, driving the enemy back step by step. The 
 whole line now Advanced and closed in on the enemy, who 
 persistently clung to their scanzes and sluits, but who 
 evidently could fire more accurately at long ranges than 
 when under the excitement of the near approach of our 
 men. In many cases they did not leave their cover until 
 our troops had arrived within thirty to sixty yards of 
 them ; they then doubled on and took new positions. 
 
 I continued to keep up an enfilading fire upon the 
 retiring enemy until our line had taken their positions, one 
 by one, and were up with us, and then, finding the hill 
 side above us still occupied by the enemy, I took up one 
 party to dislodge them. These heights are cut by a slight 
 valley, and we were obliged to ascend by the ridge to the 
 east. Having driven the enemy over the crest of* the hill 
 they opened a hot fire on us from the other side of this 
 valley, and I found it necessary to call up the reserve, who 
 Avere with the artillery, to assist in dislodging them.- 
 While these men were ascending, clouds of dust appeared 
 along the road in the distance, to the north, and having 
 heard that an army under Gamka was expected to come 
 to the assistance of the enemy, I sent directions to Lieut.. 
 Heintz, with the wagons, to prepare to resist an attack. 
 
 The party that made the dust was your Excellency's r 
 and you kindly allowed me to continue in direction of the 
 day's proceedings. 
 
 I now returned to the front and found our line rapid iy 
 advancing, the enemy having taken to flight all along the 
 line on the storming of the hills. 
 
 Capt. Kolleston had taken the water that I had deter- 
 mined on seizing, as, failing that, we should have been 
 many hours without it, and our troops were now proceed- 
 ing up the kloof. 
 
 Thirty-five wagons were found about the water which 
 the enemy had left. They had, in most cases, taken out 
 the linch pins, but had no time to remove the contents. 
 The kloof was full of cattle and gcats, and as it was 
 apparent the enemy were trying to drive tlx m over the- 
 
PAAEDE KLOOF. 
 
 229 
 
 nountains, Lieut. Parkin, M'hose gun was brought up to 
 -lie water, was ordered to fire two shells at about 1,500 
 yards, over our heads into the kloof to check the enemy in 
 their retreat. As soon as this was done our advance was 
 continued, and the enemy driven up the kloof. I had now 
 -an addition to our strength, Lieut. Heintz and the baggage 
 guard. 
 
 About 500 yards above the water, the kloof separated 
 into two narrow gullies. Lieut. Bach took that to the 
 left, and Lieut. Tyson that to the right, and fought the 
 rebels till sundown, dislodging them from the summit of 
 the ranges, from whence they were firing upon us. By 
 sunset they were all driven over the summit, many of their 
 sharpshooters being killed. 
 
 Having heard that Capt. Ward was not strong enough 
 to take Rademan's Kloof, I sent word to Capt. Bellew to 
 take a reinforcement to him over the hills, and by sunset 
 he, Capt. Ward, was enabled to take the water of that 
 kloof also, where about 10 wagons were found. In this 
 •operation Lieut. Barret of the Star Brigade and Orpen's 
 burghers rendered great assistance. 
 
 Having completely scoured Paarde Kloof, I left a strong 
 piquet of forty men to hold the water during the night, 
 and brought the remainder of the column into camp at the 
 wagons. 
 
 The results of the day were, thirty-five of the enemy 
 'killed, 100 women taken prisoners, 2,000 head of cattle, 
 2,000 goats and sheep, and 200 horses captured. 
 
 I recommend Capt. Rolleston to be Major, and Lieut. 
 Parkin, Captain. 
 
 On the 28th of September, 1870, Capt. Back reports to 
 •Capt. Rolleston an engagement with the enemy on the 27th 
 inst., he says : — I have the honour to report for your 
 information that on the morning of the 27th September, 
 •.at 4.30 a.m., the camp at Moosfontein was attacked by 
 .about 400 of the rebels headed by G-amka and Windsvaai. 
 The attack was made from three different points. The 
 • enemv managed to get into a sluit about 150 yards distant 
 from the camp, south. They opened a very brisk fire 
 upon the camp, but, fortunately their shooting being high. 
 1 myself being awake at the time, got the troop under arms 
 in a very short time, and then made a charge at the sluit, 
 
230 
 
 FIGHTS IN GRIQUALAND WEST. 
 
 completely routing the enemy, killing three while in 
 pursuit, but, unfortunately being a very bad light, could 
 not see them, unless lying down, to fire a shot. After 
 being out for about an hour one of the men came to me 
 and asked me if I did not hear the enemy talking on the 
 left. Turning round, I saw against the horizon a troop of 
 about 300 on a small Kopje about 800 yards off. I then 
 thought it advisable to withdraw the men from pursuing 
 the enemy, so lined the sluitto the northwest of the camp, 
 thinking that the enemy would make a determined stand, 
 being in force. 
 
 Completed the full complement of ammunition to the 
 men, leaving me without a single round in the camp, so 
 accordingly had to be very cautious. After following 
 the enemy for about four miles on foot, shooting nine or 
 thereabouts, returned to camp. Gave orders to have the 
 horses saddled to go in pursuit, when just before starting 
 Lieut. Williams arrived with the army service corps, and 
 eight burghers, twenty-two all told. Pursued the enemy 
 as far as Droogfontein. They stopped and commenced to 
 built scanzes, and opened fire on our approach, at 100 
 yards, but did no harm. We fired find killed several — the 
 enemy were on all sides, but I could not follow up, as my 
 total strength was only fifty-five. 
 
 The enemy had built their scanzes between thick patches 
 of bush, it being impossible to see a scanze before coming 
 right upon it. Here all the damage was done, Corporal 
 Thornton being killed, and Troopers Cowley, Rogers,. 
 Slatter, and a burgher wounded. Finding that one scanze 
 only was occupied, gave the order to charge, which was 
 done, eight of the enemy being killed in this small place. 
 The number of enemy killed was thirty-two (bodies 
 counted) besides a number of blood spoors found in several 
 parts, and in other scanzes. I myself estimate the loss of 
 the enemy at fifty killed and wounded. After all was 
 over, sent for the mule wagon for the dead and wounded, 
 which were soon dis] atched. 
 
 On the loth of October, 1878, Capt. Stanley Lowe 
 reports an engagement with the rebels the day before in a 
 kloof of Makoloque's Mountain. lie says : — In a branch 
 kloof to the left Ave engaged the enemy, killing five of their 
 number. Continuing the advance we were again' fired at 
 
makoloque's mountain. 
 
 231 
 
 from a branch kloof on the right, when Trooper Niekerk, 
 Diamond Field Horse, was severely wounded by men con- 
 cealed in caves. In covering the woundel man and 
 endeavouring to get a sight of enemy in the caves, I regret 
 to state one man, Trooper Jubber was killed, and Trooper 
 Wood slightly wounded. The Zulus and a company of 
 light infantry having continued their advance over the side 
 of the hill, there engaged the enemy. Capt. Back, with a 
 troop of the Diamond Field Horse, went to their assistance. 
 He also engaged the enemy, killing fifteen of them, and 
 capturing a number of women and children, and two men 
 prisoners, and returned down the kloof. We had to keep 
 up a fire on the enemy in the caves to enable us to remove 
 the killed and wounded, when several of the enemy were 
 shot. We started for camp, destroying seven wagons not 
 worth removing, bringing in the cattle and prisoners. 
 
 On the 16th of October, Colonel Warren says that he- 
 removed his forces to G-obatsie, and having, with great 
 trouble, dragged a field piece on top of a high range, some 
 1,000 feet in height, engaged the rebels on the 11th. He 
 puts down the enemy killed at thirty-six — having captured 
 twenty-one wagons and about 600 head of cattle, besides a 
 number of male and female prisoners. He says the enemy 
 seemed very much puzzled and disheartened by finding the 
 Colonial forces in the midst of their strongholds, and so 
 made less pertinacious fighting, firing and flying at the 
 same time. They had expected the Colonel to approach 
 from the West and had fortified extensively accordingly. 
 But the colonial forces attacked from the East, otherwise- 
 their loss would have been heavy. 
 
 On the 21st of October, 1878, Colonel Warren, con- 
 tinuing his report of the 16th says : — I have called the 
 action of the 11th inst.. Gamgagiana ; of the 12th 
 Mokoloque ; and of lith inst. Gobatsie Heights. 
 
 On the 13th of Xovember, 1878, Colonel Lanyon, having 
 beaten and dispersed the rebels everywhere (Malgas, 
 Windwaai, and Gamka — fugitives in hiding) issued his 
 Proclamation of Amnesty. 
 
 A venerable colonial authority, indubitably the best on 
 this special subject, Mr. Francis H. Orpen, says, in his 
 notes to Parliament regarding the causes of this outbreak : 
 ' The first overt acts of rebellion near Prieska wjre cam- 
 
232 
 
 CAUSES OF OUTBREAK. 
 
 mitted by Colonial Kafirs, Tambookies and Gaikas from 
 the district of Carnarvon, and were probably traceable to 
 the influence of messengers among them from the tribes of 
 the eastern Cape Frontier, who in the hope of creating a 
 diversion, disseminated false reports of native successes 
 against the Colonial forces. 
 
 " Thus our war at its commencement was merely a branch 
 of the Colonial Kafir war, and the history and politics of 
 Griqualand, with its land questions and native relations, 
 has had nothing to do with the commencement of hostilities. 
 
 "It is true that, even at the commencement, the Kafirs 
 were joined by those of their own nation, not very many in 
 number, then resident in Griqnaland ; but these men had 
 always been looked upon as aliens by the Griquas, and 
 their conduct is attributable merely to tribal sympathy. 
 
 " At the commencement, also, the Praamberg, Scheit 
 Fontein, or, collectively, Carnarvon Kafirs, were also 
 joined by a horde of those Springbok, Kat, Veldtsckoen- 
 drager, Bitterbosch, Hartebeest, and other Korannas, who 
 had fought with Sir Walter Currie in 1867-8, and who, 
 being by nature and descent free-booters, cordially joined 
 in any enterprise promising plunder ; but as these people 
 have, time out of mind, roamed as predatory hordes along 
 both banks of the Orange River below the western limit of 
 Griqualand, and have often been at war with the Griquas, 
 and always at enmity, their conduct is also not the result 
 of any action of the British Government of the Province." 
 
 Note. — Owing to the voracious printers being at my 
 heels, I shall be obliged to leave other contemporaneous 
 matter, such as the Sekukuni affair, &c, for insertion in 
 the Appendix, and, in the meantime, proceed with prepared 
 copy. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 THE TRANSVAAL.* 
 
 "The preceding chapter on the G-riquas, &c. brings us down, 
 it will be perceived, to 1878, and so to the subject of the 
 Transvaal, which magnificent tract of land, remarkable for 
 its salubrity, richness, and fertility, became a British 
 possession on the 12th of April in the year 1877. Confining 
 myself as much as possible to matter involved in the title 
 of this book, and having in former chapters brought the 
 history of the Dutch Boers down to about the time of their 
 leaving Xatal, after the British occupation thereof, I will 
 now proceed with slight sketches of their history, having 
 reference, however, to the Transvaal. 
 
 Before thus taking up the thread of the narrative it 
 would doubtless be interesting to notice a record of the 
 death in Zululand, in 1838, of Mr. Uys and his son, near 
 : relatives of the gallant old Piet Uys, who. joining Colonel 
 Wood's column near Utrecht, was assegaied by the Zulus 
 whilst conducting a retreat of his men down the Zlobane 
 Mountain. In the year alluded to, an army of Boers marched 
 against Dingaan, headed by Uys, Maritz, and Potgieter, 
 but were defeated with great loss. Mr. Noble thus tells 
 the story : — "Uys and his son, a youth of about fourteen 
 years of age, had as yet escaped unhurt ; but whilst the 
 former stopped his horse to sharpen the flint of his gun, 
 the enemy approached and threw an assegai at him, which 
 wounded him mortally in the loins. He, however, pulled 
 out the weapon, and even took up another man behind him, 
 but he soon fainted with loss of blood. Recovering again,, 
 he was held on his horse for some distance by a man on 
 each side of him. At last he declared that he felt his end 
 approaching, and desired to be laid upon the ground. He 
 then said to his son and to the other men about him, 
 
 Here I must die ; you cannot get me any further, and 
 
 =* This account first appeared in the 1st Yob cf these works, and 
 was written in Australia, early ia 1879. 
 
234 
 
 THE DUTCH BOER. 
 
 there is no use to try it. Save yourselves, but fight like 
 brave fellows to the last, and hold God before your eyes."' 
 Upon this they left him, but not before they saw that to 
 remain longer on the spot would be certain death. After 
 galloping; for a hundred yards, the younger Uys, on 
 looking back, saw the enemy closing in numbers upon his 
 clying father, and at the same time he saw him lifting his 
 head. This was too much for the feelings of the lad ;. 
 he turned round his horse, and alone, rushing upon the 
 enemy, shot three Zulus, and was killed. 
 
 In 1843 Natal was proclaimed British territory. Some 
 Boers remained in Natal, but many others at once started 
 north, saying they would go on, conquer the heathen, and 
 possess the land — quoting the divine commands in the 
 Pentateuch. The modern western man may smile at his 
 self-righteousness and perfect faith, and deem the Boer a 
 narrow fanatic ; but the Boer was not a modern western- 
 He had been formed and fashioned in a mould of its own 
 pattern, and criticism should consider the mould as well 
 as the image. It should be remembered that the Trek- 
 Boer of 1833-8 was the descendant of Dutch Calvinists 
 and Huguenots of the seventeenth century, brought up in 
 the wilderness of South Africa, in the midst of savage 
 conditions and barbarous tribes ; separated from European 
 influences by an ocean which no steamers traversed, over 
 which letters, newspapers, or books never passed, shut up 
 almost entirely by themselves, and governed in former 
 days by their Batavian masters in the most despotic man- 
 ner. Circumstances of this nature, acting upon that 
 original stock, could not possibly have produced a progeny 
 remarkable for largeness of view, wide sympathies, 
 philosophic universalism, tender benevolence, and subtle 
 self-questioning. The life of the Boer had narrowed and 
 hardened him, as winter freezes and as tropical suns scorch.. 
 His circumstances tended to encourage within him a con- 
 centrating individualism. His religion made him one of 
 the elect. He was the Lord's, and the Lord was his Lord 
 in whom the heathen had no part. Character has in his 
 case, as in all cases, to be accounted for before it is 
 censured or ridiculed. If Pretorius, when he led his 
 commando in wrath against Dingaan, sang psalms instead 
 of national anthems, and prayed instead of huzzaed, it is 
 
TOOK TREKKERS, 
 
 235 
 
 enough to say that it was not from affectation, but from 
 inherited habit. At all events, the six hundred marched 
 only between matins and evensong, and when they came 
 nigh to the enemy they vowed a vow to the Most High, 
 " that should the Lord be pleased to grant them the- 
 victory they would raise a house to the memory of His 
 great name, wherever it should please Him, and note the 
 day in a book to make it known to their latest posterity. " 
 The victory was theirs, and the Dutch Reformed Church 
 at this day standing in Pietermaritzbnrg is the fulfilment 
 of the vow. 
 
 The Transvaal was first taken possession of by the Boers 
 in 1835, who (or their ancestors), fleeing, as we have 
 seen, from the continent from religions persecution after the 
 revocation of the Edict of Nantes, had at first settled at 
 the Cape, but, amongst other reasons getting disgusted, 
 as stated, with the emancipation of their slaves under 
 British rule, and maddened by the depreciation of the 
 paper currency of the time, and by the frequent and 
 disastrous raids of bands of warlike Kafirs, from whom the 
 Government afforded them no protection, sought out 
 pastures new, and like Lot and Abraham, gathered their 
 flocks and their herds, and their household gods, fought 
 their way through lions and savages, and many of them 
 settled down on the grassy, diamondiferous, and sunny 
 slopes of the Likwa or Vaal River. Necessarily, the life 
 of these " Voor-trekkers " was rough. It was hard work 
 for men, women, and children. Every day did not bring 
 its daily bread ; water was now and then not to be had ; 
 and the lions roared the camp or laager awake every 
 morning. It is said that the Boers slew two hundred lions 
 between the Orange and Vaal Rivers in this trek. The 
 culture of the grape and the production of wine, taught to 
 the Dutch at the Cape by the French refugees, is to this 
 day carried on in the districts ab3ut Pretoria, where the 
 grape thrives wonderfully, and has, I believe, no insect 
 enemy. 
 
 Many French names are still among the Boers, such as 
 Labuschagne, Du Plessis, Joubert, Du Free, Villiers, and 
 Silliers, &c, &c. 
 
 Many Boer families, after the British occupation of 
 Natal, remained, as I have before said, in Natal, but the 
 
236 
 
 " trek"! 
 
 great majority struck their tents, yoked their fine oxen to 
 the "trektouw," hung their pots and water kegs to the 
 wagon-sides, placed wife and child within, cracked their 
 long whips, turned their backs upon Natal as they had 
 done upon the Cape, and again manfully struck out for 
 the wilderness. (Alas, when we again followed them up 
 in 1877 they again repeated the above process, and tried 
 to penetrate to the region about the Great Lake, but 
 owing to severe suffering from drought they had to 
 abandon their wagons, household goods, and even their 
 -cattle, to predatory tribes, and endeavour to find their way 
 back to the confines of comparative civilization. The 
 majority roamed about for a while in the Transvaal, and 
 finally made it their home. They were not alone ; other 
 bands had preceded them. Potgieter and his company had 
 ■already marked out a township, now known as Mooi River 
 Dorp, or Potchefstroom, from Potgieter and the first 
 magistrate, Vander Chef ; " Stroom," i.e , " Stream." At 
 last a resting-place had been found. The land from the 
 Vaal to the Limpopo was in possession of no dangerous 
 native tribes, and, over wide regions, was without 
 inhabitants but the lion, the antelope, the zebra, the 
 rhinoceros, and the elephant, and the British Government 
 had never claimed an inch of it. So up went the flag once 
 more, and again cannon and roer belched forth their hoarse 
 salutes. A Government was formed upon the republican 
 principle ; the laws of the old Dutch Colony of the Cape 
 were revived ; the natives were placed in what was 
 considered their " proper place " of subjection, disability, 
 •and servitude. Huge areas were selected for farms. 
 Beacons were set up far and wide. Pleasant spots by the 
 side of streams and near the eyes of fountains were 
 chosen for homesteads ; the flocks and herds were driven 
 out by day on rich pastures and folded at night in safe 
 kraals. The oxen were at last loosened from the yoke 
 -and bent their galled necks to the grazing. The peach, 
 the fig, and the vine were planted in sheltered nooks ; the 
 furrow was let into the gardens where the mealie and 
 pumpkin grew. The farmer sharpened the flint of his gun 
 for a ;lay's sport ; the women sat, as they loved to do, in 
 the chair in the best room's best place ; the children 
 played in the sun without dread of Zulu war-whoop, and 
 
SAND RIVER CONVENTION. 
 
 237 
 
 the psalms of David were snug, not as battle cries, but as 
 thanksgivings and the pnrrings of fireside content. And 
 yet, even then, the inevitable hand overtook them. One day 
 a proclamation from Governor ^sapier reached Potchef- 
 stroom, declaring that the emigrant farmers were not 
 released from allegiance to the British Crown, and that 
 as British subjects they were under law, especially for 
 offences against the natives, as long as they were south of 
 the 25th degree of south latitude. This induced some to 
 go north towards the Limpopo and east towards the 
 Drakensberg. But there was no further interference of 
 importance from Cape Town with the emigrants over the 
 Yaal, and on the 17th January, 1852, the British Com- 
 missioners in the Free State signed the Convention of 
 Sand River, by which the Transvaal was virtually 
 declared to be an independent State, by the subsequent 
 approval of Sir George Cathcart, Governor of the Cape. 
 
 This convention relieved the Boers of all doubts. 
 After nearly twenty years of marching and counter- 
 marching, privation, war, and suspicion, they had not only 
 found a country, but an acknowledged right to dwell in it 
 and to govern themselves. At that time it was very 
 likelv supposed by them that they had at last escaped the 
 hand which had so frequently overtaken them. It was 
 not anticipated that, twenty-five years afterwards, the 
 British power would be once more extended over them, 
 and their land taken from river to river. But to put it 
 shortly, the Boers broke two of the clauses of the Sand 
 Biver Convention, which set forth that no slavery was to 
 be carried on, and that there should be no interference 
 with the surrounding tribes ; the result of which was the 
 self -preserving exercise of British power being carried to 
 the extreme length of annexation. 
 
 After the signing of the Convention, the Boers, however, 
 broke up into as many little republics as there were vil- 
 lages. Andreas Pretorius, on his death-bed, had exhorted 
 them to cause strife and ambition to cease, and to cherish 
 love and union ; and on his death on the 23rd July, 1853, 
 his son, Martinus Wessels Pretorius, was appointed first 
 President of the Transvaal. In 1871 he resigned, and Mr. 
 Burgers, a Dutch colonist of note, born at the Cape and 
 educated in Holland, reigned in his stead. He set his 
 
2.38 
 
 G. P. MOODIE 
 
 mind upon a railway, which should open out the heart of 
 his country and its secret hoard of mineral wealth to the 
 near port of Delagoa Bay. In this enterprise he was 
 warmly aided by Mr. G. P. Moodie, a member of his 
 Government, and a surveyor, and a brother of the present 
 writer. Mr. Burners, having made a large concession of 
 land to the Portugese, who hold Delagoa Bay and the 
 adjacent strip of territory, Mr. Moodie working in concert 
 with him, went to Lisbon and Amsterdam to carry out 
 necessary arrangements ; but the first British Government 
 after the annexation broke their promises as to respecting 
 treaties made under the Dutch Government, and wishing, 
 perhaps naturally, that the projected railway should run to 
 the borders of the British colony of Natal, instead of to the 
 foreign port of Delagoa, caused the project to fall to the 
 ground. Delagoa Bay was offered to a British Cabinet, 
 under Gladstone I believe, for a monetary consideration by 
 the Portugese Government, and it is certainly a thousand 
 pities that the offer was not taken advantage of. How- 
 ever, a difficulty afterwards arose between England and 
 Portugal as to the possession of the place, and the matter 
 was referred to the arbitration of Marshal McMahon, and 
 as usual John Bull was cast and had to pay the piper and 
 all hands. As hopelessly bad as is the port of Natal, is 
 the harbour of Delagoa unparalleled in every way — deep, 
 roomy, and wind-locked, and a magnificent outlet for the 
 countless treasures of the splendid region of the Transvaal. 
 Mr. Moodie undertook the perilous task of finding out and 
 surveying a route for a railway through the unhealthy and 
 broad strip of country lying between the Transvaal and 
 the bay spoken of, and which is infested with lions, savage 
 tribes, &c. He was successful in finding a healthy route 
 all along a line of gentle hills, which gradually sloped to 
 the seaboard. He walked the distance on foot, with an 
 escort of ten Kafirs, making scientific observations by the 
 way. The Royal Geographical Society in London made 
 him a member for his trouble. The "grout wet," or 
 " fundamental law " of the Boers, which sanctioned wars 
 of extermination with natives, was the deathblow of Mr. 
 Burgers, and the cause of the extinction of the indepen- 
 dence of the Boers. The latter forced him into the 
 Sekukuni War, but the natives were not to be beaten down. 
 
A PRIZE. 
 
 239 
 
 The Treasury was empty : Government feil into hopeless 
 disrepute ; faith with the foreign creditor could not be 
 kept : and whilst this was the case the Zulus and other 
 tribes began to show signs of a terrible excitement, which 
 threatened to extend itself sympathetically throughout the 
 great mass of South African natives. Is it to be wondered 
 -at, then, that at this moment the hand of the paramount 
 power should once more make itself felt ? 
 
 On the 12th of April, 1^77, the territory up to that time 
 known as "The South African Transvaal Eepublic " 
 became a British possession by the act of Special Com- 
 missioner Sir Theophilus Shepstone. 
 
 It is impossible to avoid looking forward to the effect 
 which the annexation of this fine tract will have upon the 
 Government and people of England." Will the immense 
 wealth of the prize dropped into the mouth of old England 
 ■be appreciated ? Will the people of England be ready to 
 open their purse-strings and take military possession of 
 the country in such a manner that it can be held against all 
 comers, black or white? Will the capitalists of England 
 be ready to see in this wonderfully rich country one of the 
 grandest fields that ever was presented to man for the in- 
 vestment of capital ? And will they be ready to let flow 
 into the Transvaal at least a portion of the incalculable 
 wealth now pent up at home, idle, useless, and uninvested. 
 
 Capital and immigration are the only two great require- 
 ments there now. By a judicious investment of capital in 
 opening up the country with roads, and by settling it with 
 immigrants, it will soon be found out that the acquisition 
 of the Transvaal is the richest prize that has ever yet 
 fallen to the lot of our mother country. The mineral 
 wealth is inexhaustible. For an extent of over 100 miles 
 good coal crops up on the road side, on the banks of rivers 
 
 everywhere in fact — and it is the customary fuel of the 
 
 inhabitants. Seams of coal thirty feet in thickness exist, 
 and wagons are backed into it and filled with first-class coal 
 with the same ease that a wagon might be filled with rock 
 from an ordinary mountain. This coal the Boer delivers 
 even at considerable distances at about 15s. a ton, and. iron 
 
 * As bet' <re remarked, this was written in 1&79, and appeared in 
 the first Edition of the 1st Yol. of these work?, in Australia 
 
240 
 
 A LOST PRIZE. 
 
 ore of singularly rich quality lies side by side with this- 
 great coal field as though to invite the capitalist to come 
 and utilise both. Lead, gold, cobalt, and sundry other 
 minerals exist in prolific abundance. The soil is inferior to 
 none in the world — not even the vast western plains of 
 America — the fertility of which is beyond all description.. 
 
 The climate permits the potato and pine apple, the 
 turnip and the banana, the apple and the orange, all to 
 flourish side by side. 
 
 In recording the events and pointing out the causes- 
 which have terminated in annexation, it has been necessary 
 to give prominence to the public faults and errors of the 
 Boers. Let it however be acknowledged that they are of 
 noble stock ; and those qualities of character in which they 
 differ from the English temper are not necessarily to their 
 disadvantage. Some passages of their history are heroic • 
 many of their leaders were rich in manhood ; their faults 
 are to be traced back to a time when they were considered 
 to be either virtues or stern necessities. They never had 
 the guidance or restraint from a watchful Imperial power ;. 
 while long before the British set foot on South Africa they 
 (the Boers) had to struggle unaided with savage hordes 
 and rude conditions, their life and character receiving- 
 form from the rough mould. All this should be perceived,, 
 and should beget respec '. as well as forbearance. It must 
 also be recognised by the British power that, in this day,, 
 over two hundred years since the first settlement, there are 
 other natives in South Africa besides the blacks, and that in 
 order to secure successful colonization the special aptitudes 
 and characteristics of all classes must be liberally con- 
 sidered. 
 
 While closing these sheets we notice the following- 
 home telegram of June 12, 1879 : — " The latest advices 
 from Cape Town up to May 24. state that, in order to meet 
 the demands of the Boers, a temporary Constitution has 
 been granted to the Transvaal, with which concession the 
 leading Boers express themselves satisfied."'" 5 
 
 * This " temporary constitution was promised by the late Sir 
 Bartle Frere, and when the Gladstone Government ensued it did not 
 fulfil this promise, Sir Bartle frequently warned the home Govern- 
 ment that danger would ensue. His words were not heeded. The= 
 result is known. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH 01" THE TRAXSVAAL. 
 
 The exodus of the Boers from the Cape Colony, their 
 occupation of the present Orange Free State, their conquest 
 of Natal and the Transvaal, and establishment of the 
 former South African Republic, their hardships and 
 warfare with the powerful native races under Dingaan and 
 Mosilikatze, their struggles for freedom and independence, 
 but utter failure in self-government, form a chapter of 
 peculiar interest in the annals of modern history, and, as 
 Mr. Fronde remarked, deserved a clearer record than has- 
 as yet been given. " The character of one of their 
 leaders, Pieter Retief, who was murdered by Dingaau, ,r 
 Mr. Fronde speaks of as " really grand and epic." " The 
 establishment of the Dutch in these countries," Mr. Fronde 
 says, " was not at its outset at the cost of the 
 natives, from whom they had previously obtained 
 territories by purchase or grant. The natives broke 
 faith with them, stole their cattle, set upon their 
 camps, and murdered their womm and little ones. 
 The immigrants, though enormously outnumbered^ 
 defended themselves with extraordinary courage. They 
 maintained their position, punished the savages for their 
 treachery, and compelled them to respect their treaties. 
 Their conduct received scanty justice from British opinion. 
 Powerful races uever come in contact with barbarous races- 
 without events occurring which must be both regretted 
 and condemned. These Dutch farmers were no exception 
 to the universal rule ; but if their conduct is compared 
 with that of ourselves or any other people under similar 
 trials, they will not be found to have deserved exceptional 
 censure." 
 
 It is assumed that about the year 1820, the first Boer- 
 crossed the Orange River in search of "fresh fields and 
 pastures new," but it appears that they were mere squatters, 
 and that they returned to the Cape Colony at certain 
 seasons of the year to attend to their extensive farms. 
 
 R 
 
212 
 
 TRANSVAAL HISTORY. 
 
 But their number increased every year, and they began to 
 settle in the territory north of the Orange River in strong 
 parties, until, in August, 1836, a general exodus took place 
 under Hendrik Potgieter, which was soon followed by a 
 numerous trek under Gert Maritz, Karl Landman, and 
 others, from Graaff-Reinet, Albany, and Uitenhage. The 
 principal reasons for this desertion of their farms and 
 homesteads in the Cape Colony, the land of their birth, are 
 stated to be the " unrestrained vagrancy of the natives, 
 pecuniary losses sustained by the slave emancipation, 
 wholesale plunder by Kafirs and Hottentots, desolating 
 and ruining the frontier divisions, and the unjustifiable 
 odium cast upon the inhabitants by interested persons, 
 whose testimony was believed in England to the exclusion 
 of all evidence in their favour.* Cloetef also gave the 
 following reasons for the migration of the Boers, viz : — 
 
 1. The Hottentot question. 
 
 2. The Slave question ; and 
 
 3. The Kafir question ; which he explained at great 
 length in his lectures. 
 
 In the early days, the present Orange Free State was 
 not inhabited by any definite race, but was only periodi- 
 cally occupied by marauding bands of Kafirs, Bushmen, or 
 Corannas, who infested these regions, with a view of 
 securing pastures for their flock*, or escaping destruction 
 at the hands of some stronger and inimical race. Not 
 satisfied with the vast territory the Boers occupied, and 
 following the impulse of their nomadic nature, which 
 Providence has given to these people, they commenced 
 gradually to spread over the whole of South Eastern 
 Africa, from the banks of the Orange River to the 
 Limpopo, and even to the unhealthy swamps on the East 
 Coast, while a numerous party under the leadership of 
 Jacobus Uys, Gert Maritz, Hendrik Potgieter, and the 
 celebrated Piet Retief, crossed the Drakensberg and 
 descended into Natal by a central pass, discovered by 
 Retief. They found their way to the Bay, and were 
 
 * Wilmot'B Hibtoiy of the Cape Colony, pp. 342-3. 
 
 f " Three Lectures on the Emigration of thp Datch Farmers 
 frcm the Cape Colonv," by Henry Cloete, Chief Jmtice of Natal. 
 Pietermaii zburg, 1852. 
 
voor trekkek's journal. 
 
 243 
 
 welcomed there by a small party of English settlers under 
 Capt. Gardiner. Natal was then in possession of Dingaan, 
 who killed his brother Chaka and succeeded him as Chief 
 of the Zulus in 1828. As we have stated, Retief was dele- 
 gated by his party to proceed to the head-kraal of Dingaan 
 at Umgnngiinhlovu, for the purpose of negotiating with him 
 for a cession of territory in Natal, and he succeeded in 
 obtaining a large tract of country, embracing the greatest 
 part of the present Colony of Natal, by a formal cession, 
 dated 4th Feb., 1838, drawn up and prepared by the 
 Eev. F. Owen, an English missionary resident at the 
 head-kraal. But before he could carry out this treaty, 
 Retief and his party, consisting of some seventy white men 
 and thirty coloured servants, were invited by the perfidious 
 chief to take a parting cup at his kraal. They left 
 their arms outside the enclosure, and were suddenly.' at a 
 sign from the treacherous chief, set upon by an overwhelming 
 number of Zulus, and butchered to a man. The bodies of 
 these unfortunate men were then drawn out of the kraal to 
 .a neighbouring hill, and left there to be devoured by birds 
 of prev ! Not satisfied with this, and intending to follow 
 up success, Dingaan sent an army across the Tugela to 
 attack the settlers in the Northern districts of Natal. 
 They succeeded in surprising a laager formed by the Dutch 
 in the neighbourhood of the present township of Weenen, 
 and killed "two hundred innocent children, ninety-five 
 women, and thirty-three men."* Othe^ parties near the 
 Blaauwkrantz River were killed at the same time. After 
 being reinforced by their friends from beyond the Drakens- 
 ■ berg, the Boers found themselves strong enough in 
 December, 1838, to cross the Tugela, and to attack the 
 forces of Dingaan near the Umslatoos. After a severe 
 engagement, they defeated the natives, some 12,000 to 
 15,000 strong, killed more than 3,000 of the enemy, burnt 
 the head-kraal of Dingaan, and carried 6,000 head of cattle 
 away with them. Dingaan fled and concealed himself in 
 the bush. Panda, Dingaan's younger brother, was then 
 living iu Xatal. He male overtures to the Boers, and 
 form 3d alliance with them against his brother. This led 
 
 * " Tae Journal of a Voor T.ekker," 0. J/. Mig tzine S ^ptember, 
 1876. 
 
 r2 
 
244 
 
 TRANSVAAL HISTORY. 
 
 to a combined expedition, in which 400 Boers, under 
 Pretorius, and 4,000 of Par da's men, took part. Dingaan 
 was again attacked and defeated by this force, and soon 
 after fell beneath the assegais of a hostile tribe, while 
 seeking concealment near Delagoa Bay.* Panda was 
 proclaimed King by the Boers, and as compensation for 
 the war expenses caused by the former commandos... 
 amounting to more than £9,000, which could not be 
 obtained from Dingaan or demanded from his successor, 
 Andries Pretorius annexed a great portion of Zululand 
 from the Tugela to the Black Umfolozi, including the sea- 
 coast and St. Lucia Bay, by Proclamation dated 14th 
 February, 1840.f 
 
 Some years before matters came to this crisis, another 
 party of Boers under Potgieter had crossed the Yaal 
 River and taken possession of the fertile regions north 
 of this river, then inhabited by the Kafir chief (Jmziligazi, 
 He had been an under-captain of Tshaka, and one of 
 bis bravest and most cunning warriors ; but he roused 
 the anger of his chief, as he was in the habit of 
 keeping for himself the best part of the spoil taken in war. 
 When Tshaka came out with an impi to punish him, he fled 
 with his followers into the regions beyond the Drakeus- 
 berg, where the first Boers found him in possession. 
 Mosilikatse found the country thickly inhabited by Betchu- 
 anos, Basutos, Balaka, Bapedi, Makatees, and other tribes... 
 who proved no match for the warlike Zulus. The men 
 were killed in battle, the kraals burned, the women and 
 children murdered, and the flocks captured. After clearing 
 the southern portion of the country of his enemies, he 
 settled down at Mosiga, in the present district of Marico,. 
 On the 2nd September, 1836, he perpetrated the cruel 
 massacre of a small party of men, women, and children,, 
 under -the leadership of Taljaard, but the Boers attacked 
 him in force and defeated him at Mosiga, under the com- 
 mand of Gert Maritz, in the commencement of the year 
 1837. The Boers remained now for some time in free and 
 undisturbed possession of the territory, and began to settle 
 
 * " The Colony of Natal," by Dr. R. J. Mann. 1859. 
 
 f " De Hollandsche Afrikanen en hunno Republiek in Zuid> 
 Ai'rika," door Jacob Stuart. Amsterdam, 1854. 
 
"WHITE KAFIRS. 
 
 24:5 
 
 along the slopes of the Magalies Range, while Umziligazi 
 crossed the Limpopo and took possession of the present 
 Matabele country. He died sixteen years ago, and was 
 succeeded in 1870 by Lo-Bengula, the present Paramount 
 Chief of the Matabele. 
 
 During the year 1834 some twenty-seven families, under 
 van Rensburg and Carl Trichard, tried to reach the Portu- 
 guese possessions on the coast, for the purpose of opening 
 commercial communications. Without any knowledge of 
 the country, or the character of the native tribes by which 
 those parts were inhabited, they entered the unknown 
 regions, and commenced their perilous journey, from which 
 few were destined to return. They passed along the 
 Olifants River, and crossed the Drakensberg with great 
 difficulty. Here the two parties separated. Rensburg's 
 proceeded in a north-easterly direction towards Sofala, 
 while Trichard's went south-east to Delagoa Bay. It is 
 supposed that the Rensburgs bad several engagements with 
 the natives, but they were ultimately surrounded and killed 
 by the chief Manikos.* Trichard's party reached Delagoa 
 Bay after great difficulties and hardships. All the oxen 
 were killed by the tsetse, and Trichard himself and most of 
 his party died from fever. The small remnant who 
 managed to reach Delagoa Bay were kindly received by 
 -tbe Portuguese Governor, and sent on to Xatal.t 
 
 After the defeat and death of Dingaan, the Boers began 
 to settle in different localities in Natal. They appointed 
 Andries Pretorius as their head commandant, established 
 .-a Republic and a Legislative body, laid out the township 
 of Pietermaritzburg, and lived in comparative peace and 
 :happiness with the surrounding tribes. Having conquered 
 
 * In September, 1867, four white human beings (man, wife, and 
 two children), were delivered up by Letonga, the late Amaswazi 
 chief, to the Landdrost of Lydenburg. The adults were reported 
 to have lived since their second jear among the native tribes, and 
 were believed to be the only survivors cf the Rensburg party of 
 1835. They were almost naked, and spoke only the Kafir language. 
 Arrangements were immediately made to supply them with clothing 
 .and food, and to provide the necessary tuition at the expense of 
 the State. 
 
 f Beitrage zur Kenntniss Sud Afrika's, by A. Merensky. Berlin, 
 1875. 
 
TRANSVAAL HISTORY. 
 
 the territory from the natives, they considered it their own,, 
 but this fond dream was doomed to be dispelled very soon. 
 Dr. Mann tells ns that the policy of the British Govern- 
 ment seems to have been very undecided at this time with 
 reference to Natal. He says " immediately after the first 
 victory of the Dutch emigrants over Dingaan, at the close 
 of the year 1838, a small detachment of British troops was 
 landed at the Bay, under the command of Major Charteris. 
 This detachment was sent to Natal by Sir George Napier,, 
 who had just succeeded Sir Benjamin D'Urban in the 
 Government of the Cape, to prevent the emigrants from 
 the Cape Colony who were held to be still British subjects,, 
 from acquiring independent territory from the natives. By 
 the judicious management of Captain Jervis, who remained 
 in command of this detachment, the Dutch emigrants Avere 
 soon brought to feel its presence a benefit rather than an 
 injury, and cordial relations were established between 
 the British soldiers and the settlers. In the following 
 year the British troops were withdrawn from Durban, 
 in consequence of the disinclination of the Home 
 Government of that time to take any decided steps 
 for the retention of the territory under its own 
 rule. On leaving, Captain Jervis addressed a letter 
 to the Dutch Landdrost at the Bay, expressing the most 
 friendly feeling towards the yonng community, and the 
 best wishes for its ultimate prosperity and success. The 
 Dutch settlers, considering the departure of Captain Jervis 
 in the light of an abandonment of all claims to the territory 
 on the part of the British Government, immediately hoisted 
 the colours of what they thenceforth called the Republic of 
 Natalia."* 
 
 But, when the British authorities were informed of the 
 proceedings of the Boers in Natal, they refused to acknow- 
 ledge their independence, and informed them that they still 
 claimed their obedience and fealty, although the military 
 force had been withdrawn. The Dutch maintained the 
 position which they had assumed, and the upshot was that 
 two hundred soldiers and two field-pieces, under the com- 
 mand of Captain Smith, arrived in the Bay on the 6th 
 
 * This slight repletion is necessary to a coherent tc ooub of th 
 Transvaal. 
 
NATAL. 
 
 24T 
 
 establish himself in an entrenched camp at the Congella,, 
 close to the Boer position under the command of Pretorius. 
 When the Dutch seized about sixty oxen belonging to the 
 troops, and refused to disperse, Captain Smith, with his- 
 small band, resolved to attack them in their camp. On the 
 night of the 23rd May, 1842, he left his encampment, and 
 came along the shores of the inner Bay, with one hundred 
 men and two guns, but after a severe conflict he was 
 repulsed by the Dutch, with the loss of several men and 
 both the guns. Some days afterwards the Dutch seized 
 the " Point " and two small vessels lying in the inner Bay. 
 Cut off from the sea, and surrounded by the Boers* 
 Captain Smith, with his small force, was now completely 
 blockaded within his camp ; but he managed to send a 
 messenger to the Cape Colony, in the person of R. King, 
 who accomplished a journey of six hundred miles, through a 
 wild country, inhabited by natives, in eight days. Sixteen 
 days after this the Mazeppa, one of the vessels seized 
 by the Dutch, managed to slip her cable, and made her 
 way out to sea under the fire of the Boers at the Point,, 
 to seek for British cruisers near Delagoa Bay.* 
 
 On the 24th June the schooner Cojich, from Algoa Bay, 
 and on the following day the flag-ship Southampton? 
 arrived with reinforcements from the Cape, which were landed 
 on the 26th June, under the command of Lieut-Colouel 
 Cloete ; a junction was effected with Captain Smith, and 
 the Dutch retired towards Maritzburg. On the 5th 
 July the Boers submitted, and an amnesty was granted. 
 The greater portion of the troops were re-embarked, and 
 Captain Smith remained in undisputed possession of 
 the Port. 
 
 In May. 1843, Mr. Henry Cloete, brother of the Lieut. - 
 Colonel, was sent to Xatal by the British Government to 
 come to terms with the Boers, and after long negotiations 
 he succeeded in making an agreement, by which the Dutch 
 recognised the Colony of Xatal as a British dependency, 
 on the 8th August, 1843. The majority of the Boers were, 
 however, dissatisfied with this agreement, and would not 
 submit to British rule. They abandoned their farms, 
 crossed the Drakensberg, and joined their countrymen 
 
 * Dr. Mann's l< Natal." 
 
248 
 
 TRANSVAAL HISTORY. 
 
 May, 1842, and the Boers, receiving the forces with 
 demonstrations of intended hostility, Captain Smith had to 
 "beyond the Vaal. But, before doing so, they determined 
 to make one moie and final effort to obtain their freedom 
 by negotiations with the Government of the Cape Colony. 
 Andries Pretorins was elected to proceed to Graham's Town, 
 w r here the Governor, Sir H. Pottinger, resided at the time. 
 He started on his mission, travelling overland, chiefly on 
 horseback, for roads scarcely then existed through what is 
 now the Orange Free State, and upon ai rival at Graham's 
 Town, after a very fatiguing journey of some 800 miles, at 
 once opened up communications with the Governor, and 
 •solicited an interview. But His Excellency refused to 
 receive him, or hold any communication with him upon the 
 •subject about which he had undertaken so long a journey. 
 This was a bitter disappointment, and Pretorius returned 
 to Natal, more determined than ever, if possible, to secure 
 the desired object." On his return to Natal, with the 
 tidings of the failure of his mission, the people at once 
 prepared to trek. A small party, under Spies and others, 
 settled in the upland districts, between the Tugela and the 
 Buffalo Rivers, and advanced an independent claim, on the 
 strength of a cession from Panda, but ultimately they all 
 crossed the Buffalo and took possession of the present dis- 
 trict of Utrecht. 
 
 While these events were taking place in Natal, a number 
 of settlers had abandoned the Cape Colony and followed 
 their countrymen across the Orange River. They formed 
 themselves into a community, after the model of the old 
 Dutch Government of the Cape Colony, and lived in peace 
 and harmony for a number of years, having but one desire, 
 to remain free and independent. But to this the Cape 
 Government would not agree, and matters were brought to 
 a crisis when a dispute arose between the Griquas, inhabit- 
 ing a narrow strip of country along the right bank of the 
 Orange River, and the emigrants, in which the British 
 Government interfered by assisting the Griquas with troops. 
 This led to the battle of Zwaart Koppies, on the 30th 
 April, 1845, in which the Boers lost a number of wagons, 
 guns, some thousands of cattle and sheep, and had three 
 
 * " Thp Bar. tie r-f B >omplaatS, and what led to n ! '— C. M. 
 Magazine October, 1871. 
 
BOO^f PLAATS 
 
 249 
 
 rnen killed. The principal leader of the emigrants in 
 this affair was a certain Jan Kock, who fled with his 
 followers across the Vaal, and took up his residence on a 
 farm between the Yaal River and Potehefstroom. To 
 prevent a repetition of such collisions, Major Warden was 
 appointed British Resident at Bloemfontein, and a small 
 force was given him to support his authority. But on 
 account of a certain Treaty, entered into between the 
 British Government and Adam Kok, the chief of the 
 Griquas, which affected the land titles of the Boers, great 
 dissatisfaction and discontent prevailed among the Dutch. 
 Andries Pretorius used every endeavour to procure an 
 amelioration of the terms, bat without success. After Sir 
 Harry Smith's Proclamation of Her Majesty's Sovereignty 
 over the territory, in February, 18-48, discontent broke out 
 into hostilities. Pretorius called a commando, and 
 marched on Bloemfontein. The British authorities were 
 driven across the Orange River ; but Sir Harry Smith 
 came up in person with a strong force, which met the 
 Boer commando at Boomplaats, and defeated it after a 
 short but sharp encounter, whereby British authority 
 became once more established in the Orange River 
 Sovereignty.* In this engagement, which took place on 
 the 29th August, 1848, twenty-five men (including one 
 officer, Capt. Murray) belonging to the 45th and 91st 
 Regiments, were killed, and the same number wounded, 
 while the loss of the Boers has never been ascertained. 
 After reinstating Major Warden in his office at Bloem- 
 fontein, Sir H. Smith proceeded to Winburg, where the 
 Boers were supposed to make another stand ; but they had 
 no intention of doing so, and after a stay of three or four 
 days the Governor returned to the Colony. Among other 
 proclamations there was one issued at the time, in which 
 rewards of various amounts, from £2,000 downwards, were 
 offered for the apprehension of Andries Pretorius, Andrian 
 • Stander,t Jan Kock, and other prominent leaders. But 
 these were all safely across the Vaal, and busy forming a 
 new Republic. 
 
 Owing to continual difficulties with the Basutos under 
 
 * Orange Free Sta e Almanack for 1876 — p. 19. 
 •f Now Member of the Legislative Assembly. 
 
250 
 
 TRANSVAAL HISTORY. 
 
 Moshesh, and the cost of keeping np a military force, the 
 British Government resolved to abandon the Sovereignty, 
 on the recommendation of Sir George Clark, and the act 
 was carried out on the 23rd February, 1854. From that 
 time np to the present day the Orange Free State has 
 maintained its independence. 
 
 We will now return to our friends beyond the Vaal y 
 and give an outline of the development of the young 
 Republic, and the further troubles and difficulties which 
 beset the path of the hardy pioneers. 
 
 We have mentioned already that whilst the Boers were 
 fighting their way in Natal, and gradually took possession 
 of the whole of that Colony, under the leadership of Andries 
 Pretorius, Potgieter had crossed the Vaal River an A found 
 Umziligazi in possession of the Transvaal. In 1839, 
 Potgieter established the village of Potchefstroom, called 
 partly after him, partly after Van der Chef, and partly 
 after the beautiful river on the banks of which the 
 village was laid out, with that eye for the practical 
 which distinguished the Dutch pioneers, when select- 
 ing a site for their homesteads. But in 1844, Potgieter 
 left Potchefstroom, and trekking to the north, founded 
 the village of Origstad. This place appeared to be 
 unhealthy, and was abandoned again in 1847, when some 
 of the inhabitants, under Potgieter, went further north to 
 Zoutpansberg, while another party settled more to the 
 south, and established the village of Lydenburg, which for 
 many years was the capital of a separate Republic, until it 
 was united with the general Republic, together with. 
 Utrecht,- in April, 1860.t 
 
 After the defeat of Mosilikatze, affairs went on swim- 
 mingly for some years. The whole territory, up to the 
 Limpopo, was open to the Boers, and was gradually 
 occupied by new-comers from the Cape Colony and Orange 
 
 # Utrecht was a'so a separate district, independent of Lvdenburg 
 and the other Republic, until it joined L/denburg by Treaty on 
 May 8th, 1-58. 
 
 f In 1869 Mr. G. P. Moodie fixed, on a map issued by him in 
 London, the true longitude of Lydenberg. Herr Mauch had 
 previously determined it, but subsequently, in a letter to Professor 
 Petermann, he acknowledged that he was a degree oat in his calcu- 
 lation. 
 
JEALOUSY BETWEEN BOERS 
 
 2-51 
 
 Territory. The country was well watered, and admirably 
 adapted for the growth of all kinds of cereals, and the 
 cultivation of coffee and sugar cane, while the plains and 
 uplands afforded sp'endid pasturage for cattle and all kinds 
 of stock. The cultivation of their fertile soil, stock-breed-' 
 ing, and the proceeds of their hunting trips into the interioiy 
 from which they returned heavily laden with ivory and 
 valuable skins, made the Boers rich, and as they were free' 
 from British rule, their happiness ought to have been 
 complete from their point of view. But all these advantages 
 did not render them happy, for peace and unity did not 
 prevail amongst them. Jealousy and party feeling existed 
 between the two principal leaders, Potgieter and Pretorius, 
 and that spirit of disaffection and disobedience germinated, 
 which caused the ultimate ruin and untimely end of the young" 
 Republic. Stuart* says that the Cape G-overnment was 
 partly the cause of the commencement of this evil, for 
 Potgieter was indirectly acknowledged as the chief of the 
 emigrants, and left to do what he liked with the natives, 
 while Pretorius, with his best officers, were considered 
 rebels by the same Government. By Proclamations of 
 July and September, 1 848. awards were promised, as we 
 have mentioned already, for the apprehension of Andries 
 Pretorius, X. Jacobs, A. Spies, L. Pretorius, F. Bezuiden- 
 hoiit, Adriaan Standers, and other men who had taken part 
 in the battle of Boomplaats, while Potgieter was quietly 
 living on his farm near Lydenburg. The latter claimed to 
 have been the first who took possession of the territory 
 north of the Vaal — he had conquered the country from 
 south to north, and Pretorius came on his ground. 
 Pretorius, on the other hand, had conquered the mighty 
 Dingaan, made Panda King and subject, fought the English 
 in Natal at Boomplaats, and would not submit to British rule. 
 He reproached Potgieter with acknowledging England's 
 sovereignty over their country, while Potgieter blamed 
 Pretorius for having lost the battles against the English.- 
 Potgieter was anxious to open communication with Delagoa 
 Bay, while Pretorius had no faith in the undertaking on. 
 account of Trichard's misfortunes. 
 
 # " HollaRsclie Africanen, &c," door Jacob Stuart. Amster^ 
 dam, 1854. 
 
252 
 
 TRANSVAAL HISTORY. 
 
 The first Volksraad, which was properly established, and 
 held its sitting at Kruger's Post, in 1848, endeavoured to 
 smooth over the difficulty existing in the animosity 
 between Potgieter and Pretorius by appointing four Com- 
 mandants-General, namely Pretorius, Potgieter, Joubert, 
 and Ensel, but the two rivals were dissatisfied with this 
 act, and would not submit to the laws made by the 
 Volksraad, nor would agree to take the oath prescribed by 
 the Secretary of the Volksraad.* 
 
 Matters went on until January, 1852, when Pretorius 
 succeeded in closing the memorable Treaty at Sand River, 
 in which the independence of the Republic was acknow- 
 ledged by the British Crown. The emigrants were 
 •declared free to manage their own affairs, and to govern 
 themselves according to their own laws, without inter- 
 ference on the part of the British Government, and no 
 encroachments were to be made by the said Government 
 -on the territory beyond the Yaal. This river was defined 
 as the southern boundary up to its source, and all alliances 
 with the coloured races north of the Yaal were disclaimed. 
 It was also agreed that no slavery should be permitted or 
 practised in the Transvaal Territory, and other arrange- 
 ments specified, which are unnecessary to mention here. 
 This convention, brought before the Volksraad in March, 
 1852, at Rustenburg, was the cause of a new quarrel 
 between Potgieter and Pretorius. Potgieter's party 
 charged Pretorius with having overstepped the limits of 
 ■his instruction, that the conventions might be the cause of 
 new wars, that Pretorius was too ambitious, and wanted to 
 rule over them, but finally a reconciliation took place, and 
 they parted the best of friends. They both recognised the 
 Volksraad as the highest authority, and were sworn in 
 
 * This gentleman, H. T. Buhrman, was a Hollander, who arrived 
 about the middle of 1848 at Delagoa Bay, by a Dutch ship, with a 
 cargo of goods specially intended for the trade with the Boers. 
 Potgieter went to Delagoa Bay to fetch the goods, lost hundreds of 
 oxen and many of his men from fever, while he was greatly dis» 
 appointed in the quality and price of the goods. The gentleman 
 referred to returned with Potgieter to Zoutspansberg, and when the 
 ^Volksraad was established he was appointed Secretary, as he was 
 a good penman. He afterwards married into a Boer family, and 
 took prominent part in the political agitations of the young 
 ^common wealth. 
 
253 
 
 before that body. But in the beginning of the following- 
 year Potgieter died, and on 23rd July. 1353. Andries 
 Preterms died also. On his death-bed the latter urged 
 upon those who stood around him to cause strife and 
 ambition to cease, and to live henceforth in peace and. 
 unity — a lesson which they did not take to heart, as will 
 be seen by the sequel of our story. 
 
 Free from British intervention, the young Republic 
 commenced a new era of self-government and legislative 
 enactments. Some of the latter were of a most 
 curious kind : such as the prohibition that no English- 
 man or German should be allowed to possess 
 landed property : an act forbidding the discovery 
 and working of minerals at a fine of Eds. 500 : a law that 
 nobody was allowed to declare himself insolvent : and the 
 obligation to accept office as an official at the age of 
 twenty-five years.* 
 
 In September, 1853, the title of the Republic which it 
 had hitherto enjoyed, namely, that of the HoUandsche 
 Afrikaansche Republiek, was altered into the " South 
 African Republic.*' The eldest son of Andries Pretorius. 
 Marthinus Wessels. was chosen to fill his father's place,, 
 and in July. 1855, he was elected first President of the 
 South African Republic. The village of Pretoria, the 
 present seat of Government, was laid out and called after 
 him. and in 1858 the Grortdicet or Fundamental Law, and 
 the Coat of Arms of the State, were sanctioned by the 
 Volksraad in Rustenburg. 
 
 One of the most characteristic stipulations in this 
 remarkable Code of Laws. Avhich to a great extent is the 
 law of the country up to this very day, a feature "racy of 
 the soil,'" is, that " the people will admit of no equality of 
 persons of colour with white inhabitants, neither in State 
 nor Church." and this law was strictly carried out. The 
 deep-rooted feeling of abhorrence and aversion to be 
 brought in contact, on a footing of equality, with natives of" 
 all colours and shades, the Boers inherited from their 
 
 * Even as late as May, 1866, a Government Xotice appeared in 
 the Staats Courant, signed by tke Acting: President; and the 
 Government Secretary, prohibiting: the marriage of a certain fair- 
 widow with anybody else bat a Portuguese gentleman who had 
 filed a protest against her marriage. 
 
254 
 
 TRANSVAAL HISTORY. 
 
 forefathers, who passed through all the honors of the 
 Kafir wars in the Cape Colony, and their battles with 
 Dingaan and Umziligazi did not tend to soften their 
 feelings towards the black races. Their aversion to the 
 missionaries, who inculcate ideas of equality into the 
 native mind, arose from the same canse, although ready 
 admission was granted to all missionaries, particularly 
 those sent ont by the German Societies. If we carefully 
 view the history of these pioneers, and their low standard 
 of education, we cannot judge so severely the distinction 
 made by them between White and Black in their code of 
 laws, but at the same time it is not surprising that the 
 pursuance of such a principle should ultimately bring the 
 emigrants into collision with the British Government, who 
 have made the suppression of slavery and advancement of 
 the native races their special study. That many atro- 
 cities were perpetrated by the Boers, of which they ought 
 to be, and are, no doubt, ashamed, is true ; but in some 
 cases we are inclined to believe that these acts were com- 
 mitted either in self-defence, or in retaliation for atrocities 
 committed by the natives, such as the murder of the 
 Potgieter family. 
 
 At the close of 1854, Hermanus Potgieter, with his 
 family and a party of emigrants, consisting of several 
 families, who were on a hunting expedition, were bar- 
 barously murdered by a tribe under the chief Mapela. 
 When the reports reached Potchefstroom a commando was 
 formed by Pretorius, and proceeded to Makapanspoort to 
 punish the savages. It is said that Potgieter was pinned 
 to the ground, while his savage foes actually skinned him 
 alive. A letter written by Pretorius says : — " With my 
 own eyes I saw Avhat had been told me by letter. The 
 bodies were mostly females. One body, that of a tall man, 
 was sadly mutilated ; all the fingers, from the tops to the 
 palms of the hand, were cut open, the head was cut off, 
 and the body thrown into the water. Evidently every 
 possible means of torture was practised upon the victims. 
 At one of the kraals was found melted human fat in 
 which the hands had been baked on spits. In addition to 
 this we recovered some other tokens of unbridled cruelty, 
 which decency prevents me from naming. Whether the 
 people were subjected to these barbarities before or after 
 
SECHELI. 
 
 255 
 
 death I cannot say. This abominable spectacle, which 
 filled my soul with disgust, induced me to adopt the firm 
 resolution to chastise the barbarians though I should 
 sacrifice mv life in the act." 
 
 That slavery existed in the Transvaal, and was practised 
 under the disguise of the "Apprentice Law," passed in 1856, 
 cannot be denied says Jeppe. The Government issued strict 
 laws on slavery in conformity with the Sand Eiver Treaty, 
 and some Boers were severely punished under the stipula- 
 tions of this law, but the Government was too weak to 
 enforce compliance, and many transgressions were com- 
 mitted which perhaps never came to the knowledge of the 
 authorities. The children of the natives killed on the 
 ■ commando were "-booked " for a number of years, until 
 they had reached a certain age, but they were seldom 
 released when they reached that period. In some cases it 
 .may be that they became so accustomed to their masters 
 that they preferred to stay with them rather than look for 
 . a new master, but there is no doubt that they received 
 little or no wages besides their food and scanty clothing. 
 
 In his memorial addressed to Sir John Pakington, dated 
 12th December, 1852, the great explorer, the late Dr. 
 Livingstone, animadverts in the following terms on the 
 conduct of the Boers on the occasion of a commando sent 
 to Secheli in August, 1852 : — 
 
 " Frequent attempts were made by the Transvaal Boers 
 • to induce the chief Secheli to prevent the English from 
 passing him in their way north ; and, because he refused 
 to comply with this policy, a commando was sent against 
 him by Mr. Pretorius, which, on the 30th September last, 
 . attacked and destroyed his town, killed sixty of his 
 people, and carried off upwards of 200 women and children. 
 I can declare most positively that, except in the matter of 
 refusing to throw obstacles in the way of English traders, 
 Secheli never offended the Boers by either word or deed. 
 They wished to divert the trade into their own hauds. 
 They also plundered my house of property which would 
 cost in England at least £335. They smashed all the 
 bottles containing medicines, and tore all the books of my 
 library, scattering the leaves to the winds ; and, besides 
 -my personal property, they carried off or destroyed a large 
 amount of property belonging to English gentlemer 
 
256 
 
 TRANSVAAL HISTORY. 
 
 and traders. Of the women and children captured,, 
 many of the former will escape, bnt the latter are reduced to 
 a state of hopeless slavery. They are sold and bought as- 
 slaves ; and I have myself seen and conversed with such 
 taken from other tribes, and living as slaves in the houses - 
 of the Boers. One of Secheli's children is amongst the 
 number captured, and the Boer who owns him can, if 
 necessary, be pointed out." 
 
 Mr. Chesson says that Livingstone received " no redress, 
 Governor Cathcart being of opinion that the losses and 
 inconveniences he had sustained did not amount to more 
 than the ordinary occurrences incidental to a state of 
 war." 
 
 The Boers, on their part, aver that the commando to 
 Secheli was caused by continual depredations and stock- 
 lifting committed by a chief named Mossilele, on the 
 border, who was encouraged and protected by Secheli, 
 and that the commando was resolved upon when the 
 thieves fled to Secheli's and the latter refused to deln^er 
 them up, in terms not calculated for repetition to ears 
 polite. In defence of their conduct in relation to 
 Livingstone's property, the official report of Acting- 
 Commanding General Scholtz, published in the Natal and 
 Z. 0. Afrikaan, of 30th April, 1853, states that some of 
 the natives taken prisoner declared that Livingstone's 
 house contained ammunition, and that only a short time 
 ago he had sold thirteen guns to Secheli. When his house 
 was opened, the Boers found several guns half finished, 
 and a complete gunsmith's shop, with all the requisite 
 tools. The report says they found more guns than Bibles,, 
 and the place looked more like the shop of a gunsmith 
 than the residence of a missionary. 
 
 Let us now for a moment turn to the emigrants who 
 settled in the far north of the Transvaal, in the district of 
 Zoutpansberg, where a village had been laid out on the 
 southern slopes of Zoutpansberg, which was called. 
 Schoemansdal, after Commandant-General S. Schoemau r 
 who became the leader of the settlers in those regions- 
 after the death of Potgieter. The whole district was then 
 
 * "The Dal ch Boers, and Slavery in the Transvaal," by P. W- 
 Chesson. London, 1869. 
 
BOERS AR3I HUNTERS. 
 
 257 
 
 in a flourishing slate. Besides their agricultural pursuits 
 and stock-farming, the Boers carried on a lucrative trade 
 in ivory, skins, leather, and ostrich feathers with the 
 southern districts and Xatal. The larger game, such as 
 elephants, giraffes, sea-cows, &c, was abundant in the 
 territory between the Limpopo and the Zambesi, but on 
 account of the tsetse the Boers had to go on foot,, 
 accompanied by a number of Kafirs carrying guns and 
 provisions. Some of the Boers went as far as the Zambesi 
 and the neighbourhood of Sofala, from where they had to 
 carry the ivory and other products of their hunting expe- 
 dition all the way to Zoutpansberg. By-and-by, when they 
 got tired of going themselves, the Boers sent the Kafirs 
 alone, providing them with guns, ammunition, and food. 
 In course of time, the natives became accustomed to use 
 firearms, and refused to give up the guns on their return 
 from the hunting field, which was the first cause of the 
 subsequent war between the white inhabitants and the 
 natives of Zoutpansberg. 
 
 A traveller,* who visited the district a few years ago,, 
 gives vent to his feelings in the following terms : — - 
 
 " Suppose we stand upon the heights of Zoutpansberg^ 
 in the north-eastern corner of the Transvaal, and turn our 
 face to the south, what is the country before us ? It is as 
 fair and grand as any realm which basks beneath the sun I 
 It possesses everything : all the rich stores of Xature are 
 unfolded in its lap. It has a climate, compared with which 
 no portion of the earth can boast a better. It has plains 
 and mountains, forests and rivers, minerals of every sort, 
 and a flora and fauna which equal, if they do not surpass, 
 those of any other country. It is the Fatherland of the 
 Afrikander, and he should be proud of it. 
 
 "But what is the country immediately around us, say 
 within a radius of 500 miles from where we now stand 
 upon the topmost peak of Zoutpansberg ? It is the border- 
 land between emigrant Boers and Kafirs. It is a land 
 literally flowing with milk and honey — rich in every sense 
 of the word but in that one important sense — a population 
 either industrious or civilised. 
 
 "Its mountains teem with ores of all the precious 
 
 * " The Far North." — Cape Monthly Magazine, October, 1875. 
 
 S 
 
258 
 
 TRANSVAAL. 
 
 metals, its forests abound in magnificent timber, its plains 
 and uplands are covered with splendid pasturage, all the 
 crops grown by its rude inhabitants show the wonderful 
 fertility of the soil, cotton grows wild, sugar cane and the 
 coffee shrub exhibit the utmost luxuriance, the vine 
 flourishes, and wheat yields returns from the virgin soil 
 which are exceeded in no part of the world." 
 
 In August, 1855, an embassy was sent by the Portuguese 
 Governor of Inhambane to the settlement of the Boers at 
 Zoutpansberg, for the purpose of negotiating a treaty of 
 peace and commerce. The leader of this expedition, Rita 
 Montanha, a Roman Catholic clergyman, describes the 
 village as follows : — * 
 
 " Zoutpansberg, or Salt Mountain, is so called from the 
 quantity of salt that is found on it. Many rivulets descend 
 from it. The population is industrious, and everyone 
 labours with his or her own hands. The females perform 
 all the domestic work, and are also seamstresses and 
 tailors. They make all the clothes for the males. The 
 men are carpenters, masons, shoemakers, tanners, black- 
 smiths, saddlers, and some of them servants. The streets 
 of the town are at right angles, and are of a good breadth. 
 They are kept clean, and have rills of water running in 
 them. There is a neat church, with considerable accommo- 
 dation ; it is covered with straw. The Sabbath is strictly 
 and religiously observed. The population consume flesh and 
 bread, and coffee is taken at all hours of the day. The 
 number of dwellings is 278, accommodating a population 
 of about 1,800 souls, of which 300 or more are fit 
 to bear arms, and liable to serve in defence of the 
 country, from 17 to 20 years of age. They consume 
 nearly 25,000 lbs of gunpowder, 40,000 lbs. lead, 4,000 to 
 5,000 lbs. of coffee, and 10,000 lbs. sugar. Little tea is 
 used. They export 200,000 lbs. of ivory. They pro- 
 duce and export wheat, barley, rye, French beans, broad 
 beans, maize, manna, &c. ; also spirits, honey, dried fruits, 
 tanned skins, dry salt, rhinoceros horns, sea-cow teeth, ox 
 and buffalo horns, boards and planks, butter, cheese, 
 
 * "Journey from Inhambane lo ZoEtpanebergr by J. de Santa 
 Rita Moi- tenha," by James Macqnpen, F.RG.S. — Journal of the 
 Jioyal Geographical Society, Vol. XXXII., 1862. 
 
jeppe's account. 
 
 259 
 
 orchilla weed, garden parsley, sawed timber, &c, Thev 
 iave peach trees, figs, apples of all kinds, limes, oranges, 
 walnuts, almonds, quinces, chestnuts, apricots, bananas, 
 grapes, and palm trees. Thev have one Judge (Schoeman), 
 w ith a salary of only £100 per annum, and some income 
 from fees !" 
 
 But the Boers did not deserve to be in possession of 
 such an El Dorado. Instead of enjoying the gifts which 
 Providence had bestowed upon them, aud living in peace 
 and plenty, some of them carried on an abominable system of 
 trading in children, obtained from friendly Kafir tribes,- 
 whom they attacked and plundered for the purpose of 
 obtaining black ivory, and enriching themselves with 
 cattle. The report of a Commissian of Inquiry, made to 
 the Volksraad in 1867, sets forth that these illegal raids 
 were set on foot by some of the Field-cornets, on their 
 own authority, or under the orders of Superintendent 
 Albasini, under some pretext or other. Even the Land- 
 drost of Schoemansdal (Yercuil) was accused of encourag- 
 ing and aiding these illegal acts. It was proved that some 
 Kafir chiefs, Magor and Tabana, were treacherously 
 murdered, their tribes destroyed by a Commando of 
 Knobknoses, under the control of Albasini, their kraals 
 laid waste, and women and children carried off ; and 
 Tabana was said to be a friendly chief who annually paid 
 his taxes to the Government. Some of the officials had 
 been heavily fined for these illegal raids, but the sentences 
 of the Court could not be executed on account of the 
 divisions among the people and the weakness of the 
 Government to enforce compliance with its orders. At 
 last there was a general rise among the natives, and the 
 Commando sent to Zoutpansberg, under the command of 
 Commandant-General Paul Kruger, had been obliged, for 
 want of ammunition, to abandon the village of Schoemans- 
 dal, and abandon for a time the northern part of the 
 district. As soon as the Commando had left, the Kafirs 
 came down from the mountains, destroyed the village, and 
 took possession of such articles as the people had been 
 obliged to leave behind. The inhabitants retired to the 
 southern portion of the district, and another Commando 
 had to be sent to Makapanspoort to check the advance of 
 the natives. This Commando made an attempt to storm 
 s2 
 
260 
 
 TRANSVAAL. 
 
 Mapela's mountain, but failed, and bad to retreat, but a- 
 number of women and cbildren came again into the posses- 
 sion of the Boers, and were divided as apprentices among 
 the people taking part in the Commando. 
 
 During these years negotiations were carried on for a 
 union between the Orange Free State and the Republic, 
 which led to open hostilities between the two Republics- 
 It appears that Preforms claimed the whole of the Free 
 State territory as part of the Republic established beyond 
 the Yaal, and that he would not acknowledge its indepen- 
 dence as a separate Republic since the British Government 
 had withdrawn from the country. At all events he pro- 
 ceeded to Bloemfontein in August, 1856, and appeared 
 before the Free State Volksraad on September 5th, 1856, 
 claiming certain documents written to his father by the 
 Governor of the Cape Colony during the time of the 
 Sovereignty, the repayment of certain monies expended by 
 his father for the purchase of ammunition before the battle 
 of Boomplaats, and finally declaring that he came as son 
 of Andries Pretorius to take possession of the country.* 
 
 In reply to this he received notice to leave Bloemfontein 
 within 24 hours on the penalty of being placed in prison- 
 He did so, and returned to the Transvaal, but in May, 
 1857, he invaded the Free State with a Commando, with 
 the intention of marching on Bloemfontein and taking- 
 forcible possession of the country. But Boshoff, who was 
 then President of the Free State, collected eight hundred, 
 men, and met Pretorius at Rhenoster River ; and as none 
 of the two armies would take upon itself the responsibility 
 of firing the first shot they resolved to make peace. The 
 Transvaal army retired to Vaal River, accompanied by the 
 Free State army, and a treaty of peace was finally agreed 
 upon and concluded on an island in the middle of the river 
 on June 1st, 1857. 
 
 In this treaty the independence of the two Republics 
 was mutually recognised, and agreed upon, and the attempt 
 of President Pretorius to claim the Orange River territory 
 declared " laakbaar " (censurable). This treaty, framed by 
 a committee chcsen from both sides, was ratified and 
 
 * " Geechiedems van den Orange Vrystaat, door H. J. Hoofstede^ 
 jun. ; Gravenhage, 1876. 
 
MAHURA AND GASIBONE. 
 
 261 
 
 approved by the two Presidents and Executive Councils on 
 ^the spot, and both armies went home rejoicing. 
 
 But the negotiations for a union of the two States were 
 again renewed in September, 1857, when a Transvaal 
 •Commission was sent to Winburg, which returned without 
 coming to any definite terms, although Pretorius received a 
 memorial, signed by more than 500 people from the Free 
 State, asking him to become the Protector of their country. 
 It is stated by some authority that the British Government 
 did not look with a favourable eye on the probability of 
 such a union, and opposed the same. We only know from 
 the official records that Sir George Grey, who visited 
 Bloemfontein in September, 1858, refused to interfere in 
 the matter, being, as he maintained, a contingency in which 
 rthe British Government had no concern. 
 
 In the early part of 1858, the Republic sent, at the 
 urgent request of the Free State Government, a Commando 
 across the Vaal River, to join the Free State in its war 
 against the Basutos, which terminated in the Preliminary 
 Treaty of Peace, signed at Thaba Bosigo, in June, 1 858, 
 .and the final Treaty of Aliwal North, in September 1858, 
 effected through the intervention of Sir George Grey. 
 In April, 1858, a Commando under Commandant-General 
 Schoemau, was sent to Mapela, the murderer of the 
 Potgieters, and in July another Commando was sent 
 against Mahura and Gasibone, when Gasibone was 
 killed, and his head sent to Mahura as a warning. The 
 latter sued for peace, and a treaty was concluded on the 
 19th August, 1858, by which, for some time at least, 
 peace was restored on the south-western border. During 
 the latter part of this year Secheli paid a friendly visit to 
 President Pretorius, at Potchefstroom, and applied for land 
 nearer to the Republic, on account of the frequent 
 droughts prevailing in his territory. Mahura also sent a 
 deputation, asking for the settlement of boundaries, and 
 signifying his wish to open friendly relations. 
 
 In November, 1852, the Treaty for Union with Lyden- 
 burg was agreed upon by a Commission, at Rustenburg, 
 ; aud during the Volksraad sitting at Pretoria, in April, 
 1860, this Convention was finally ratified. By this treaty 
 .the local laws and regulations enacted by the former 
 .Republic of Lydenburg were recognised, and some are still 
 
262 
 
 TRANSVAAL. 
 
 in force, to the detriment of the other inhabitants of the 
 State. Several attempts were made in later years to set 
 aside this treaty, but without success. But without being 
 formally cancelled, most of the provisions of the treaty 
 have elapsed in course of time, being set aside by later 
 laws enacted by the general Republic. 
 
 When the Raad assembled at Pretoria, in January,. 
 1860, President Preterms asked leave of absence for six 
 months, which was granted him, J. H. Grobler,. 
 member of the Executive Council, being elected Acting- 
 President during his absence. Pretorius proceeded to the 
 Free State, and, when the Raad met again in April, a 
 letter was received from him, informing the Acting- 
 President that he (Pretorius) had taken the oath as 
 President of the Free State. This step of President 
 Pretorius caused a great deal of dissatisfaction among his 
 followers, and gave rise to dissatisfaction and strife, 
 which terminated in bloodshed. The resignation of 
 President Pretorius was not accepted by the Volksraad in 
 April, but he was suspended, and summoned to appear in 
 the next September sitting, to render an account of his 
 office during his reign. He complied with this request, 
 and obtained his release in September, 1860. The seat of 
 Government, which had hitherto been at Porchefstroom, 
 was removed to Pretoria in May, and the Government was 
 carried on by Acting-President Grobler until the end of 
 the year, when he resigned, and Commandant-General 
 Schoeman, member of the Executive, took the reins of 
 Government as Acting-President, W. C. Janse van Reus- 
 burg, another member of the Executive, taking his place 
 as Commandant-General. Pretorius's party, which was 
 dissatisfied with the Volksraad for accepting his resign- 
 ation, would not acknowledge Schoeman. There was 
 another party who would not hear of any of the two, and 
 wanted an election to be opened for a new President. To 
 settle all disputes Schoeman called a meeting, to be held- 
 in Pretoria, in January, 1861 ; but as some of the 
 contending parties Were not present, another meeting was 
 convened in Potchefstroom in April. This meeting 
 declared the action of the last Volksraad, with reference to- 
 Pretorias, illegal. The sentences of a High Court, held at 
 Pretoria in February, were also condemned, and parties*- 
 
GIDEON STETX. 
 
 referred to a new Court to be established. Schoeman then 
 called a new meeting, to be held in Pretoria, in November, 
 1861, when all the grievances were to be rectified. At 
 this meeting it was resolved to establish a new Volksraad, 
 to which none were eligible who had taken part in the dis- 
 turbances. 
 
 But, before going on further, we must mention an 
 incident that happened at Potchefstroom and caused great 
 sensation. In February, 1862, Grideon Steyn, an agent and 
 attorney, living at Potchefstroom, who had made himself 
 obnoxious to the authorities by reporting the existence of 
 slavery to Sir P. Wodehouse, was fired upon while going 
 home one night. He was only slightly wounded, but, 
 reaching his dwelling, he found the door closed and sealed 
 by order of Landdrost Steyn. In the excitement of the 
 moment he pushed open the door and remained in his 
 house during the night. G. P. Blanch, a friend of Steyn, 
 was also ill-treated by a black servant of Landdrost Steyn,. 
 and when the boy received no punishment from the Field- 
 cornet to whom Blanch had complained, Blanch charged 
 the Field-cornet with neglect of duty, and lodged a 
 complaint against him with the State Attorney, Advocate 
 Proes. On the following day, Steyn and Blanch were 
 summoned to appear before the Landdrost, and, when they 
 refused to comply, a warrant was issued for their 
 apprehension, "dead or alive." The Field-cornet was sent 
 to execute the warrant, and the " Commandant of 
 Artillery " received orders to assist him. But the two 
 " delinquents " had blockaded themselves in a small room 
 of a house belonging to Jules Franck, and refused to 
 surrender, threatening to shoot every man Avho came near 
 them. The Field-cornet and his men retired, and shortly 
 after returned with a small " Commando " of twenty men 
 and a cannon, which was loaded and placed in position to 
 fire at the door. But Franck would not allow his house 
 to be fired at, and the life of his wife and children placed 
 in jeopardy ; and, when the men would not desist. Franck 
 rushed out of the house with a small bottle in his hand, 
 and told the men that they would all be killed as soon as 
 he opened the bottle, threatening to do so if they did not 
 retire at once, ichich they did after mature censideration. 
 
 The following day Steyn and Blanch resolved, on the 
 
264 
 
 TRANSVAAL. 
 
 advice of friends, to surrender. They were both put in 
 prison and placed in the stocks, but Blanch managed to 
 effect his escape. He went to Cape Town to represent his 
 case to Sir P. Wodehouse, who declined to interfere. 
 Steyn was condemned to pay a fine of Eds. ,500, and was 
 banished from the country for seven years. He was escorted 
 to the Cape Colony, and delivered to the first magistrate 
 on the border ; but he soon afterwards returned and 
 followed his profession unmolested. In March, 1866, he 
 wrote again to the Free State paper regarding the practice 
 •of slavery, which correspondence Mr. Chesson has made 
 use of in his pamphlet quoted above. 
 
 We will now take up the thread of our story. The 
 new Volksraad assembled at Pretoria on the 2nd April, 
 1861, and declared Schoeman guilty of having "wilfully 
 neglected his duty. 1 ' He was suspended, and W. C. Janse 
 van Rensburg appointed in his place as Acting President, 
 while T. Snyman was chosen Commandant-General. 
 When Schoeman was officially informed of his dismissal he 
 refused to receive the notice and to hand over his office, 
 which latter had to be opened by force. The next session 
 of the Raad was appointed for October 13, 1862, and a 
 High Court was to sit in August, but the members of the 
 Legislature had hardly reached their homes when Schoe- 
 man, supported by a party in the town of Pretoria, turned 
 Rensburg out of office, closed the doors, and gave him 
 notice to quit the town. He also prevented the High 
 Court from taking session, and assumed the title of Acting 
 President and Commandant-General. Rensburg called on 
 his Commandant-General for protection, but when Snyman 
 told him that the people would not come up, Rensburg was 
 ■obliged to leave the seat of Government and retire to his 
 farm in the neighbourhood of Rustenberg. However, in 
 September, 1862, a Court-Martial was called together, the 
 Government Office was opened, and given back to Rens- 
 burg. Then Schoeman refused to give up the flag which 
 be had taken from the Government Office, and a cannon 
 belonging to the Government. When summoned to appear 
 before the Court-Martial he fled to Potchefstroom, where, 
 with the assistance of Landdrost Steyn, one of his 
 supporters, he got up a Commando. Being informed of 
 this, Snyman jnoclaimed Martial Law, and moved with his 
 
SNYMAN AND KRUGER. 
 
 265 
 
 -men to Potchefstroom, where he was reinforced by another 
 •Commando, under Paul Kruger. A laager was formed 
 ■outside the town, and fortifications thrown up, behind 
 which the artillery was placed in position to bombard the 
 town, which was defended by Schoeman and Steyn's men. 
 The bombardment commenced on the 6th October, and 
 lasted for three days, but as the guns were about a 
 thousand yards from the place, and were of very small 
 calibre, no damage whatever was done to the town." On 
 the morning of the 9th October, Schoeman made a sortie, 
 and brought out his cannon with the intention of firing on 
 the laager of the besiegers, but Paul Kruger and Snyman 
 attacked him in gallant style, and took the gun. One man 
 was killed, nine wounded, and all those taken prisoners 
 that could not manage to escape on horseback. The same 
 night Schoeman, Steyn, and all the other chief rebels, 
 (including President Pretorius, who happened to be in 
 town, having arrived from Bloemfontein during the siege) 
 fled across the Yaal River, and on the following morning- 
 Snyman and Kruger entered and took possession of the 
 town. Through the intervention of President Pretorius, 
 who returned from the Yaal River, an agreement was 
 • entered into between the contending parties according ta 
 which a High Court, for the adjudication of the questions 
 in dispute, should be held at Pretoria on January 12, 1863. 
 -On this occasion some of the rebels were condemned and 
 fined, but as Schoemau, Steyn, and other ringleaders did 
 not put in an appearance, they were declared vogelvry, and 
 their property confiscated. 
 
 In April, 1863, Van Rensburg was elected President by 
 a majority of votes, but a new election was resolved upon, 
 :as the number of votes obtained M~as not considered suffi- 
 cient. In October, 1863, he again obtained the majority, 
 and was sworn in by the Volksraad, Paul Kruger being 
 elected Commandant-General at the same time. But 
 Schoeman would not acknowledge Rensburg, and was 
 .supported in his opposition by the Landdrosts of Potchef- 
 stroom (Steyn) and Wakkerstroom TBadenhorst). He 
 issued a manifesto (Aug. 17, 1863), addressed to the 
 
 * It is said that children were playing about the streets with the 
 cannon balls, which, for want of proper material, were made of 
 .pieces of lead knocked into a round shape with a ha-nmer. 
 
266 
 
 TRANSVAAL: 
 
 Executive Council and Court-Martial, demanding a with- 
 drawal of the Proclamation by which he and others were 
 outlawed, and the establishment of an impartial High 
 Court, before which he declared his willingness to appear.. 
 Martial Law was again proclaimed, and Paul Kruger, who 
 happened to be in Pretoria, on the road to Wakkerstroom, 
 for the purpose of meeting the Free State Boundary Com- 
 mission, was ordered to proceed to Potchefstroom to subdue 
 the rebellion. But Schoeman's party had been strengthened 
 by a Commando from Marico, under Jan Viljoen, winch 
 was further increased by a strong party from Wakker- 
 stroom, under Badenhorst. Paul Kruger went out to meet 
 the men from Wakkerstroom, but lost 140 of his men, who 
 were surrounded and taken prisoners. Kruger saw that 
 the rebels were too strong, and retired with his people to 
 Eustenburg, where he collected his forces and took up a 
 strong position on the Crocodile River. He was followed 
 by the secessionists, who, flushed with their former success, 
 and misjudging Kruger's strength, attacked him on the 4th 
 January, 1864. The rebels were beaten back and com- 
 pletely routed, with the loss of eight killed and a large 
 number of wounded. A treaty of peace was then agreed 
 upon, and concluded on the 14th January, 1864. Accord- 
 ing to the stipulations of this treaty, an impartial High 
 Court, to be formed by judges from the Free State and 
 Natal, Avas to be established, and a new election for Presi- 
 dent to be opened forthwith ; the Government was 
 acknowledged by the rebels, and all confiscations of 
 property suspended for the time being. 
 
 Pretorius resigned as President of the Free State, and 
 was again elected and sworn in as President by the Volks- 
 raad in May, 1864. Peace was restored to the country 
 and has bpen maintained ever since, but it is no wonder 
 that the expense of the continual Kafir wars and the 
 quarrels among themselves exhausted the meagre exchequer 
 of the Government, which was not replenished by the 
 disaffected burghers, who were only too glad to have some 
 pretext for not paying their taxes. To provide for the 
 payment of immediate debts connected with the purchase 
 of ammunition, and for the payment of the salaries of the 
 badlv-paid officials, cheques or orders called Mandaten 
 were issued by the Government, until, in September 1857,. 
 
BLUE BACKS, 
 
 267 
 
 the question was mooted at the Volksraad session in 
 Potchefstroom to issue Government Xotes, but it was not 
 before June, I860, that the measure was really carried out. 
 The first issue of paper money, printed on bine foolscap,, 
 had a very primitive appearance, and consisted of Rds. 5 
 and Eds!! 10 notes to the amount of Eds. 140,000 
 (£10,500), payable eighteen months after date in hard 
 cash, with six per cent, interest. The notes were 
 declared a legal tender, except for old 'debts. It is- 
 hardly necessary to say that they were not paid on 
 maturity, but another batch of £12,000 (in £1, 5s., and 2s.. 
 6d. notes) were ordered to be issued in April, 1866, which 
 were payable in five years, without interest. These not 
 being found sufficient, a third issue of £20,000 was 
 authorised by the Volksraad in May, 1867, to replace the 
 Man date n (£9,510 16s.) still in circulation, and to pay 
 arrear salaries to officials and other debts. A Finance 
 Commission was appointed in December, 1867, for the 
 supervision of the Treasury and issue of notes, when it 
 was found that the country was still deeply involved in 
 debt, and that more notes had been issued by the Govern- 
 ment than were authorised by the Volksraad. However, 
 to cut the matter short, another issue to the amount of 
 £45,000 in Bluebacks, payable in ten years, was authorised 
 in March, 1868, and another and final issue of new notes, 
 made in England, was authorised in June, 1870, when it 
 was found that there was still an amount of £73,826 in. 
 circulation. 
 
 That this paper money was worthless, as there was no- 
 prospect that it would ever be paid out in coin, need hardly 
 be said. The officials suffered most, as they had to receive 
 their salaries in this paper currency, which could only be 
 disposed of at a discount of from fifty to seventy -five per 
 cent., while the merchants raised the prices of their goods, 
 and the workmen the price of their labour, in proportion to 
 the value of the paper received by them. Disaffection and 
 discontent prevailed all over the land, for the Government, 
 who could not raise a revenue without continually increas- 
 ing the debt of the country and ruining its credit, could 
 look for neither submission nor respect. 
 
 In October, 1864, an agreement was made with a certain 
 A. M'Corkindale for the purchase of two hundred farms in. 
 
263 
 
 TRANSVAAL. 
 
 the name of a company to be formed in England. A 
 Bank Charter was -also granted to this embryo company, 
 which promised a loan of £20,000, and agreements were 
 made for the delivery of ammunition ; but the company 
 was never born, and, as the Yolksraad considered that the 
 principal conditions of the agreement had not been fulfilled, 
 the title deeds issued were cancelled by the Legislature in 
 1868.* 
 
 In consequence of five Transvaal Boers coming from 
 Natal and passing through the Free State being murdered 
 by Basutos in June, 1865, in the neighbourhood of 
 Harrismith, another Commando was sent against the 
 Basutos, who were again at war with the Orange Free 
 State. This Commando was attacked at Xaauwpoort in 
 September, 1865, and lost several men, but entered Basuto- 
 land, joined the Free State Commando and returned with 
 a large number of cattle taken from the natives. A treaty 
 of peace was subsequently concluded, in September, 1867. 
 
 The year 1867 was a memorable one in the history of 
 South Africa. In October, the first diamond was dis- 
 ■ covered, and in December of that year Carl Mauch, the 
 intrepid German explorer and naturalist, returned with 
 Mr. H. Hartley, the well-known elephant hunter, from the 
 interior, reporting the discovery of extensive gold fields in 
 the neighbourhood of the Tatin, which soon brought a 
 number of diggers from Australia, and caused a rush from 
 the Cape Colony and Natal. It was also the cause of 
 bringing out a number of travellers and savants, such as 
 Baines, Mohr, Fiibner, Sir John Swinbourne, Dr. Cohen, &c. 
 
 In April, 1868, President Pretorius issued the famous 
 Proclamation defining the boundaries of the Republic, 
 which included part of Delagoa Bay in the east and Lake 
 Ngami in the north. Viscount Duprat, the Portuguese 
 Consul-General at Cape Town, at once protested against 
 this annexation of Portuguese territory, which he main- 
 tained belonged to Portugal since 1546, and Sir P. 
 Wodebouse, Governor of the Cape Colony, also signified 
 his disapproval, in a letter addressed to President Pretorius. 
 
 * A compromise was afterwards entered into between the 
 Government and the Executors in the Estate of the late McCorkin- 
 dale by which the Estate kept the farms and paid a compensation 
 of £13,000. 
 
THE KEATE AWARD. 
 
 269- 
 
 This proclamation led to the first treaty" concluded with 
 Portugal in July, 1869, and to the arbitration between 
 England and Portugal concerning the southern portion of 
 Delagoa Bay and the Island of Inyack, which was decided- 
 in favour of Portugal by Marshal MacMahon, in July 
 1875. AYhen President Pretorius' term of office expired 
 he was again elected by majority of votes, and was sworn 
 in again on the 19th May, 1869. 
 
 In February, 1870, the award of Governor Keate, con- 
 cerning the tedious Free State Boundary Question between 
 the two Eepublics, was received, which decided in favour 
 of the Transvaal. The discovery and increase of the 
 Diamond Fields began now to engage the attention of the 
 whole world, and soon assumed special importance for the 
 two Eepublics, owing to the discovery of diamonds on 
 both sides of the Yaal River, near Pniel, a Mission Station 
 of the Berlin Society. On the 17th May, 1870, the 
 President of the Orange Free State issued a Proclamation 
 in wmich he laid claim to the so-called Campbell Grounds, . 
 north of the Yaal River, which the Republic had considered 
 part of its dominion from the commencement of its exist- 
 ence. President Pretorius went to meet President Brand, . 
 at Xooitgedacht, in August, 1870, and an explanation 
 took place between the two chiefs, which ended in the 
 withdrawal of all claims to the territory between the Yaal 
 and Hart Rivers on the part of the Free State. Pretorius 
 then issued a Proclamation, dated 10th September, 1870, in 
 which he declared the above-mentioned territory part of the 
 Transvaal, and gave certain concessions to the diggers who 
 were busy on the northern banks of the river. On account 
 of some clauses contained in this Proclamation, it was not 
 approved by the Executive, and was afterwards repudiated 
 by the Yolksraad in December. The mining monopoly, 
 granted by the Government to Messrs. Munich, Posno, and 
 Webb, in the Bloemhof district, suffered the same fate. 
 
 General Hay, then Acting Governor of the Cape 
 Colony, protested against the claim set up by the 
 Republics, and met President Pretorius at Klipdrift. An 
 
 * A second Treaty was concluded in 1870, between a Portuguese 
 Deputation, nrder the presidency of the Governor of Quilimane > 
 but it was objected to by the Yolksraad, and repudiated by the 
 Portuguese Government. 
 
270 
 
 TRANSVAAL. 
 
 agreement was entered into to refer the matter to arbitra- 
 tion of Governor Keate, which terminated in the Award 
 of 25th November, 1 8 T 1 . Onr limited space does not 
 allow us to go more fully into the controversy that ensued 
 upon the repudiation of the Keate Award, which led 
 to the voluminous correspondence between Sir H. 
 Barkly and President Burgers.* Suffice it to say 
 that the Republic averred that the Award could not 
 be maintained in " honour, law and equity," on 
 the following grounds : — 1st. Want of authority on the 
 part of President Pretorius. 2nd. Want of precision in the 
 Deed of Submission. 3rd. Partiality on the part of one of 
 the arbitrators (Mr. Campbell), and of the umpire, 
 (Governor Keate). 4th. Want of parties to the Deed of 
 Submission ; and oth. Want of finality in the Award." 
 But this award brought about a great change in the 
 Government of the Republic. President Pretorius was 
 obliged to resign in November, 1871 ; Erasmus took his 
 place as Acting President ; a new election was opened, and 
 the Rev. T. F. Burgers, a clergyman of the Dutch 
 Reformed Church, in the Cape Colony, was elected by 
 majority of votes. Mr. Burgers belonged to the Liberal 
 Church party, and had gained a great name by a 
 successful lawsuit against the Cape Synod. He was a 
 man of great talents, a man of progress, and an eloquent 
 speaker, but he was too much of an enthusiast, and totally 
 deficient in practical knowledge of men and things. He 
 did not succeed in gaining the confidence of the Boers, 
 and made himself particularly obnoxious to the orthodox 
 party of the community by the law prohibiting religious 
 instruction in school. Hundreds of Boers sold their farms 
 and trekked into the wilderness rather than to submit to 
 his rule.f He concluded a loan with the C. C. Bank for 
 
 * One letter of President Burgers to Sir H. Barkly, of August, 
 1874, formed a volume of 116 pages in print. 
 
 t They intended to go to Damaraland, on the West Coast, but 
 very few reached their destination. They were attacked by the 
 natives, and had to form a laager to defend themselves ; their 
 cattle were taken away by the natives or lost in the bash, and 
 gickness considerably diminished bheir number. A few have 
 returned by sea to Cape Town, but the remnant have formed a 
 settlement on the Cunene River. 
 
XEW COINAGE. 271 
 
 the redemption of the paper currency — a contingency % 
 nobody would have believed possible six months 
 previously ; but the country derived no benefit from this 
 otherwise praiseworthy act, for, at the end of his term of 
 office, the exchequer was empty, the country deeply 
 involved in debt, and its credit worse than it was at the 
 commencement of his rule. He introduced a new 
 educational system, based on the best and most approved 
 European principles, but it could not be carried out for 
 want of funds, and for want of pupils sufficiently advanced 
 -to attend the higher classes. He went to Europe to 
 contract a loan of £300,000 for the railway to Deiagoa 
 Bay, and stated on his return thai he had succeeded in 
 obtaining the money, but it was afterwards found out that 
 he obtained only a small portion of the amount at a great 
 sacrifice of public money, in the shape of commissions, &c. 
 He designed a new coat of arms and flag, and insisted on 
 its acceptance although the people were opposed to the 
 innovation, and the Volksraad refused it. He had some 
 gold coins struck with his own likeness, but they cost more 
 than their value, and instead of creating a new coinage for 
 the country, they were only destined to adorn watch chains 
 and to be looked upon as a curiosity. His idea of a 
 United South Africa under the Republican Flag, with a 
 Dutch-speaking population, was grand — " even epic," as 
 Mr. Froude would say — but it could not be carried out, as 
 the majority of the population would object to such a 
 scheme. 
 
 In December, 1870, a concession was granted to Messrs. 
 Eevert and Moodie, * for the construction of a road to 
 Deiagoa Bay. In August, 1871, Button discovered gold 
 near Marabastad, which led to a concession being granted to 
 .a company In January, 1873. During the same month Mr. 
 Moodie obtained another concession for the construction 
 of a railway to Deiagoa Bay, based on the former contract 
 granted to him and Levert. About this time, the first gold 
 Avas discovered near Lydenburg, and in May, 1873, the 
 ward Ohrigstad, in the Lydenburg district, was proclaimed 
 a payable gold field. Diggers flocked to the new El Dorado 
 
 * Mr. George Pigofc Moodie, now of Wes^brcok near Rondebosch, 
 €ape Town. 
 
272 
 
 TRANSVAAL. 
 
 from all parts of the world, and several camps were 
 formed, of which Pilgrim' s Rest, Mac Mac, and others, are 
 still worked to some extent. 
 
 During President Burgers' absence in Europe, in 1875, 
 for the purpose of the Railway Loan, Sekukuni, the 
 principal chief of the Bapedi, who inhabited a mountainous 
 tract of country to the south of the Olifant's River, became 
 rebellious. He refused to pay taxes, and molested the 
 farmers in his neighbourhood. Cattle-lifting and acts of 
 violence were committed. When President Burgers 
 returned from Europe, in April, 1876, Sekukuni received a 
 message from him to restrain the subordinate chiefs and 
 return the cattle stolen ; he replied that he would do so,, 
 but at the same time he laid claim to the greatest part of 
 the Lydenburg and Pretoria districts. The Volksraad, 
 then in session, resolved to declare Avar, and a large 
 Commando was called out. After the taking of Mathebi's 
 Kop, the Gibraltar of South Africa, as it was termed by 
 President Burgers, the Commando moved on to Sekukuni's 
 head kraal, situated between ranges of steep and rugged 
 mountains, difficult of access or assault. The attack was- 
 made on the 1st August, 1876, but totally failed on account 
 of the cowardice of some of the Boers, who refused to 
 advance. The result was that the Commando had to 
 retreat, the Volksraad was summoned, and, as a temporary 
 measure, the prosecution of the war was entrusted to 
 volunteers. A Treaty of Peace was soon afterwards con- 
 cluded, according to which Sekukuni agreed to pay 2,000 
 head of cattle, and acknowledge the supremacy of the 
 Republic ; but soon afterwards Sekukuni repudiated the 
 Treaty, and the cattle were never delivered. 
 
 While these matters were going on Sir Theophilus 
 Shepstone had been sent out from England as a Special 
 Commissioner from Her Majesty the Queen. He was 
 deputed to confer with the Transvaal Government in 
 regard to the Sekukuni rebellion and native affairs in 
 general, which it was considered might unfavourably affect 
 the peace of the neighbouring British colonies and the 
 whole of this part of South Africa. 
 
 Sir Theophilus Shepstone arrived in Pretoria on the 
 22nd of January, and was well received by the towns- 
 people. He received memorials and petitions for annex- 
 
BRITISH AXXEXATIOX. 
 
 273 
 
 at ion or interference from all parts of the country, and the 
 President was compelled to call up the Yolksraad in 
 extraordinary session in February, 1877, when the 
 alternative was put before the members : a radical reform 
 of the whole Constitution, legislative, executive, and 
 judicial ; that the burghers must loyally, promptly, and 
 vigorously act up to their legal obligations, and support 
 the Government of their own choosing ; or else accept 
 Confederation with the South African States and Colonies 
 under the British flag.* 
 
 The Raad agreed very reluctantly to a reform of the 
 Constitution rather than to lose its so-called independence. 
 A new Constitution was sanctioned, arrear taxes were to 
 be paid summarily, on penalty of execution ; and a 
 Ministry was formed. But it was too late. President 
 Burgers himself stated in the Yolksraad that " he did not 
 believe that a new Constitution would save them, for as 
 little as the old Constitution had brought them to ruin, so 
 little would a new Constitution bring them salvation." On 
 the 8th of ]\larch the Raad broke up, and the members 
 went home from a session which was destined to be the 
 last one of the many that had been held during the 
 twenty-five years of the Republic's existence. 
 
 On the 12th of April, 1877, Sir Theophilus Shepstone 
 annexed the territory, and the Boers were once more 
 compelled to submit to British rule. Mr. Burgers retired 
 under protest, and returned to the Cape Colony to enjoy 
 for the remainder of his life the pension granted him by 
 the British Government. The Annexation Proclamation 
 refers to the abandonment to the natives of the Northern 
 territory, which was followed by a similar process in the 
 South under yet more dangerous circumstances. It states 
 that the Government was powerless to vindicate its 
 assumed rights, or to resist the declension that was 
 threatening its existence ; that all confidence in its 
 stability once felt by surrounding and distant European 
 communities had been withdrawn ; that commerce was 
 Avell-nigh destroyed, and that the country was in a state of 
 bankruptcy ; that the white inhabitants were divided into 
 factions ; that the Government had fallen into helpless 
 
 * Xoble's South Afiica, Past and Present, 1877. 
 
 T 
 
:274 
 
 DELAGOA BAY RAILWAY. 
 
 paralysis from causes it bad been and was unable to 
 •control or counteract ; and the prospect of tbe election of a 
 new President was looked forward to by all parti 
 most likely to result in civil war, with its atten 1 * 9 ' 1 ^ 
 .anarcby and bloodshed. Mr. Jeppe, whose accou.u oi the 
 Transvaal I avail myself of, says — in 1880 :• • In 
 closing this short sketch of the origin, rise, and fa i 
 of the Republic, Ave must say that a great deal of dis- 
 satisfaction still prevails among the Boers at the manner 
 in which the government of the country had slipped out 
 of their hands, and at the ill-success which had attended 
 their deputations to Europe. The wish for independence 
 .and self-government, encouraged and supported by de- 
 signing agitators, is, however, gradually subsiding. The 
 taxes are paid better than they were under the old 
 'Government, as will be seen by out financial statistics, 
 published elsewhere. The Sekukuni rebellion has been 
 quelled, the Natives are made to pay taxes, labour is more 
 plentiful, and now that all former obstacles are removed, 
 the Transvaal enters upon a career of prosperity it has 
 never before known, and which it never could have 
 attained under the old regime. As part of the future 
 South African Confederation, it must prosper and flourish. 
 Great postal facilities have been instituted, and the 
 telegraph connects us with the outer world. The railway 
 from Deiagoa Bay will soon be commenced, and its 
 completion is only a question of time. With peace and 
 security on our borders, a strong, liberal, and enlightened 
 Government and Legislature to guide and rule this infant 
 State, confidence will at once be originated, and enterprise 
 will launch its capital, where so large and varied a field 
 •offers itself for yielding highly remunerative returns, either 
 in mining operations for the precious metals, with which 
 this country abounds, or in agricultural or stock-breeding 
 pursuits, for which this highly -favoured country is so 
 ■eminently suitable. 
 
 THE DELAGOA BAY RAILWAY. 
 
 From the earliest time when the first Boers trekked into 
 the Transvaal they fostered the wish and desire to establish 
 •communications with Deiagoa Bay, in order to be able to 
 
RAILWAY AFFAIRS. 
 
 275 
 
 import goods at cheaper rates than could be obtained 
 through the seaports of Natal and the Cape Colony, and to 
 establish an outlet for those products of the country which 
 distance prohibited them from bringing to the colonial 
 markets. The idea of thus becoming independent of the 
 British Colonies, and free from the control which British 
 officials exercised in reference to the importation of 
 gunpowder and ammunition, has no doubt also greatly 
 influenced the Boers in their endeavours to open com- 
 munication and establish trading relations with the 
 Portuguese, who always showed friendly feeling towards 
 them, and who did all they possibly could to encourage a 
 desire which promised to become very advantageous to 
 .themselves in course of time. 
 
 In the Historical Sketch I have shown how, in 1834, 
 -some families under the leadership of van Reusburg and 
 Carl Triechard tried to reach the Portuguese possessions 
 on the East Coast, and how miserably they failed. With 
 the exception of two children, who, I have related, were 
 found in the Amazwasi country and delivered up to the 
 .authorities In Lydenburg, in 1867, Rens burg's party 
 rappear to have been all killed by the natives, whilst only a 
 few of Triechard's managed to reach Delagoa Bay. But 
 they were not discouraged by these failures, and several 
 trading expeditions were made in later years, although 
 great losses were sustained owing to the cattle being 
 killed by the tsetse. 
 
 During the year 1840 the Dutch ship De Brazilie lauded 
 .at Durban, and as Natal was then in possession of the 
 Boers, the supercargo of this vessel — J. A. Smellekamp — 
 was received with great rejoicings by them, as he repre- 
 sented himself specially sent out by the King of Holland to 
 promise them protection against the British Government. 
 He concluded a treaty with the Yolksraad, at Pietermaritz- 
 burg, which he signed in the name of his King, and 
 promised soon to return with troops, ammunition, ministers, 
 -schoolmasters, &c, but when he returned in May, 1843, 
 with one minister and several schoolmasters, and, I need 
 hardly add, without troops and ammunition, Durban was in 
 possession of the British Government ; and Captain Smith, 
 in command of the garrison, informed Mr. Smellekamp that 
 bis instructions prohibited the landing from any ships of 
 t 2 
 
276 
 
 DELAGOA BAY RAILWAY. 
 
 passengers without the permission of the English Govern- 
 ment or the Governor of the Cape Colony. The Brazilie 
 then took sail and landed her passengers at Lourenco 
 Marques, as also a small consignment of Bibles, school 
 books, and stationery, sent as a present by some people 
 in Holland. During the time that the Brazilie took a trip 
 to Java, Mr. Smellekamp, Avho remained at Lourenco 
 Marques, placed himself in communication with Potgieter, 
 who then lived at Lydenburg. A conference took place 
 between Potgieter, as Chairman of a deputation sent from 
 the Republic, and the Governor of Delagoa Bay, which 
 resulted in a treaty of commerce being concluded on 
 August 14th, 1855. About the same time an embassy was 
 sent by the Portuguese Government from Inhambane to 
 Zoutpansberg, for the purpose of negotiating a treaty of 
 peace and commerce with Schoeman, who was then the 
 chief of a separate party of Boers at Zoutpansberg. Smelle- 
 kamp returned to Holland, and in the early part of 1848 
 he arrived again at Lourenco Marques, as supercargo of 
 the Dutch ship De Animo. loaded with merchandise for 
 the u Dutch Africanders." On hearing of the arrival of 
 the ship, Potgieter came to Delagoa Bay with a strong 
 party of Boers, but they lost nearly all their cattle, and 
 many men died of fever. The Dutch goods were not satis- 
 factory, the prices too high, and the quality much below 
 that of the goods brought up by the traders of Natal.* 
 Stuart says that as the merchants in Holland lost between 
 85 and 86 per cent, of the capital invested, and as the Boers 
 were losers to a still greater extent, it was mutually 
 agreed upon that this should be the last attempt to 
 establish direct commercial relations with Holland. 
 Another ship, the Vasco de Gama, left Holland in 
 December, 1850, but it appears that she only landed a fresh 
 supply of schoolmasters at Delagoa Bay, of which some 
 are still in the country. 
 
 From this time the trade with the Boers seems to have 
 passed into the hands of the Portuguese, and was kept up 
 principally by Portuguese merchants at Mozambique, who 
 shipped their merchandize to Delagoa Bay, and received 
 
 * De Hollandiche Africanen, en hunre Rerubliek in Zuid Africa., 
 by J. Stuart, Amsterdam, 1854. 
 
MCCORKINDALE. 
 
 ^produce in return. A Xatal firm, Messrs. Kotze and 
 Bresler, also established itself at Lourenco Marques in 
 August, 1855, for the special purpose of trading with the 
 Boers. A Portuguese Consul was appointed at Zoutpans 
 berg, and Portuguese traders kept up a lively trade with 
 the Boers settled at Lydenburg and Zoutpansberg. In 
 1859 the Portuguese Government, noticing the growth and 
 progress of the Republic, opened correspondence with 
 regard to a treaty, which was, however, not concluded 
 before July, 1869. In Sept., 1860, one of the principal 
 Delagoa merchants submitted a scheme for running trac- 
 tion engines from Delagoa Bay to Zoutpansberg ; but a 
 new impetus was given to the idea of opening up Delagoa 
 Bay when Alexander McCorkindale visited the Transvaal 
 in 1864, and purchased a large tract of country bordering 
 on the Amaswazi country. As the Maputa River, running 
 into the Southern portion of Delagoa Bay, is navigable for 
 some eighty miles, McCorkindale proposed to convey 
 merchandise in flat-bottomed boats from the Bay to the 
 Lebombo mountains, where a depot was to be established, 
 and from where goods were to be conveyed inland by 
 bullock-wagon without danger of the tsetse fly. 
 
 In April, 1868, President Pretorius issued a proclamation 
 in which the Maputa River, with one mile of river boundary 
 on each side, from its junction with the Pongola up to its 
 embouchure into the Southern portion of Delagoa Bay, 
 were declared Transvaal territory. The Portuguese 
 Government protested at once, and so did the Governor of 
 the Cape Colony, which led to the arbitration between 
 England and Portugal terminating in the award of Marshal 
 McMahon, given in 1875, declaring the Southern portion 
 of the Bay, including the Maputa River up to the Lebombo, 
 as belonging to Portugal. 
 
 When McCorkindale's navigation and harbour scheme 
 failed, concessions were applied for and granted to various 
 -persons for constructing roads suitable for running traction 
 engines between the Portuguese boundary to some point 
 on the High Veldt. In 1873 the Government expended 
 an amount of nearly £1.000 for the construction of a 
 wagon road from the Gold Fields to Delagoa Bay. a 
 distance of 173 miles, of which the Portuguese Govern- 
 ment engaged to do their portion from the Bay to the 
 
278 
 
 DELAGOA BAY RAILWAY. 
 
 Lebombo, a distance of forty-six and a half mites ; but it 
 was afterwards found that the road was a mere track that 
 could only be traced where cut through the bush. In 1875 
 a concession was granted to Mr. Nellmapius, Portuguese 
 V ice-Consul at the Gold Fields, for the establishment of a 
 Transport Company for the conveyance of goods by native 
 carriers between the Gold Fields and the Bay, and the 
 Government granted eight farms of 3,000 morgen each for 
 the establishment of trading stations at distances of fifteen 
 miles apart ; but when the Kafir War broke out, and some 
 white men who lived on these stations were killed by 
 natives, the conveyance of goods had to cease, and the 
 Company was dissolved. But previous to this, in June,.. 
 1870, an application was made by Messrs. Forssman and 
 Munnich for making a road suitable for traction engines, 
 followed in February, 1871, by a similar concession being 
 granted to Messrs. Moodie and Levert, which was altered 
 in August, 1872, into the first railway concession gi anted 
 to Mr. Moodie alone. This concession Mr. Moodie ceded- 
 to A. Guzman, who intended to form a company in 
 England, and who obtained transfer of the concession 
 which Moodie had obtained from the Portuguese Govern- 
 ment for the Portuguese portion of the line ; but Avhen 
 Guzman failed to carry out the concession, Moodie 
 obtained a new concession for a railway from Delagoa Bay 
 to Pretoria, in January, 1873, together with a grant of 
 850 farms of 6,000 acres each, in case the Company should 
 be floated. But Moodie also failed to raise the money and 
 commenced work within the time stipulated in his agree- 
 ment with the Transvaal Government. President Burgers 
 then proposed to the Volksraad to grant no more con- 
 cessions to Companies or private persons, but to raise a 
 loan of half-a-million in Europe to enable the Government 
 to construct a narrow-gauge line from Loureneo Marques 
 to the Drakensberg. This amount was subsequently 
 reduced to £300,000, and in 1875 President Burgers 
 proceeded to Europe for the purpose of obtaining the loan. 
 For the payment of the interest due on this loan to be 
 raised, a railway tax of £1 10s. was enacted by the Volksraadi 
 in June, 1876, on all quit-rent farms, and all persons not 
 being owners of a quit-rent farm, which tax has been 
 levied up to date. After having failed to raise the loan hit 
 
RAILWAY. 
 
 279 
 
 England, the President proceeded to Portugal, where he 
 arranged a treaty of commerce, in which it was stipulated 
 that should the revenue of the railway not be sufficient to 
 cover the expenses of harbour works, &c, the import duty 
 should be 3 per cent., but might, if necessary, be raised to- 
 6 per cent. It was further agreed upon that the King of 
 Portugal should grant a subsidy equivalent to half the cost 
 of the works, the land required for the construction of the 
 railway, free import during fifteen years of all the 
 fixed and rolling stock necessary for construction, pre- 
 ference for the construction of the branches to be under- 
 taken afterwards, and the exclusive exploiture of that 
 railway and electric telegraph during the ninety-nine 
 years, whilst the Transvaal Government undertook to 
 carry the railway to a centre of production and con- 
 sumption, granted the requisite land, and a guarantee of 
 5 per cent, on the borrowed capital, or, if necessary, a 
 subsidy equal to that given by the Portuguese Govern- 
 ment. President Burgers then proceeded to Holland, and 
 although he failed to borrow the £300,000 required, and only 
 obtained an amount of £79,136, he entered into contracts 
 with the Societe Anonyme des Ateliers de la Dyle, in 
 Belgium, for the supply of railway material to the value of 
 £63,200. Of this about the half was shipped to Delagoa 
 Bay, while the other half remained stored in different 
 harbours in Holland and Belgium, until taken over by the 
 British Government in 1879. As the Portuguese Govern- 
 ment could not grant a concession to the Transvaal 
 Government, a contract was entered into in 1876 between 
 the Portuguese Government and Mr. Moodie by which the 
 Government conceded to him the right of constructing and 
 exploring the Portuguese portion of the railway from 
 Delagoa Bay to the Lebombo. Moodie was to form a 
 Company within six months io carry out the concession, 
 the works were to be commenced within a year, and to be 
 completed within three years from the date of contract, on 
 the penalty of a rescission of the agreement. This 
 concession was again taken over by the Transvaal Gov- 
 ernment, on payment to Moodie of an honorarium of 
 £3,000, and €2,000 for his expenses incurred, and 
 transferred to the " Lebombo Railway Company (Limi- 
 ted)," constituted in Pretoria. The nominal capital of this 
 
280 
 
 DELAGOA BAY RAILWAY. 
 
 Company was £110,000, divided into 4,400 shares of £25 
 each, of which 3,300 were taken by the Transvaal 
 Government, 24 by certain private individuals, leaving 
 1,076 shares unappropriated. The 24 individuals took one 
 share each, on which they are reputed to have paid 50s. 
 each.* In November, 1876, President Burgers entered 
 into a provisional contract with the representatives of the 
 Cockerill Company at Seraing, in Belgium, by which the 
 Portuguese concession ceded to the Lebombo Company 
 was transferred to this Company, which undertook to carry 
 on the line as far as Klipstapel, a distance of about 210 
 miles from Lourenco Marques, of which about 40 miles 
 were on Portuguese territory. According to Mr. Hall's 
 flying survey, made in 1875 by order of the Transvaal 
 Government, the line was to skirt the northern and 
 afterwards the southern banks of the Umbolosi River, and 
 was to ascend the Drakensberg to the north-east of New 
 Scotland to an altitude of 3,620 feet above sea level, the 
 steepest gradients being 1 in 45 and 1 in 50. f The cost 
 was estimated at £423,704 for the 108 miles from Delagoa 
 Bay to the first terminus, at the 2 feet 6 inch gauge ; and 
 £531,740 for 106 miles at the 3 feet 6 inch gauge. This 
 would amount to £3,923 and £5,016 per mile respectively. 
 
 The before-mentioned provisional agreement with the 
 Cockerill Company contained the reservation that it had 
 to be confirmed both by the Volksraad of the Republic 
 and the Company in Belgium. The first was attained on 
 the 8th March, 1877, when the Volksraad approved of the 
 above-mentioned agreement in principle, and directed " the 
 Government," in conjunction with the Directors of the 
 Lebombo Company, to enter into a final contract with the 
 Cockerill Company as should be most conducive to the 
 interests of the Republic ; but as the Cockerill Company have 
 not confirmed the preliminary agreement, and as no final 
 agreement has been entered into since March, 1877, it 
 must be taken for granted that this important agreement 
 fell to the ground. 
 
 In the meantime the Lebombo Railway Company came 
 
 * Bine Book 0.— 2,144, 1878. 
 
 t Mr. Farrell sa) sin his repert, referred to hereafter, that the 
 steepest gradients adopted by Mr. Hall were 1 in 30. 
 
DEADLOCK. 
 
 281 
 
 to a deadlock for want of funds ; the company owed 
 .about £5,598, and there was no money to pay for the 
 freight of the railway material sent out to Delagoa Bay. 
 The bills passed by the Government on Holland were 
 returned dishonoured, and the credit of the Government 
 was so low that it was only with the greatest difficulty 
 that a loan of £400 could be obtained from a Boer by the 
 mortgage of a saltpan near Pretoria. In this extremity 
 the Company resolved to sell or mortgage part of the railway 
 material stored at Delagoa Bay, but succeeded in obtaining 
 the promise of £2,000 only. The Portuguese Government 
 was then applied to for an advance on subsidy, and 
 promised to furnish £6,000 ; but in the meantime the 
 Transvaal was annexed by the British Government, and 
 the new Government gave notice to the Lebombo Com- 
 pany " That all payments of salaries and other current 
 expenses, except such as are absolutely necessary for the 
 safe custody of the material at Delagoa Bay, must now, as 
 far as the payment of them by this Government is 
 concerned, cease, pending the decision of the Right Hon. 
 the Secretary of State for the Colonies.* " The Company 
 was hereupon dissolved, and nothing appears to have been 
 done until May, 1879, when the new Government issued 
 instructions to Mr. Farrell, the railway engineer, for a new 
 survey of the line. At the same time (30th May, 1879), a 
 treaty was agreed upon at Lisbon, between Mr. Morier, the 
 British Ambassador at Lisbon, and the Portuguese 
 Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senhor Ioao de Andrade Corvo. 
 I here close this matter, as the subsequent proceedings in 
 connection with this railway are known to the public 
 through the press. 
 
 * Report of Directors of the Libombo Railway Company, 2nd 
 July, 1877. 
 
CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 THE ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF THE ZULU POWER. 
 
 At the commencement of the present century close upon ar 
 million Kafirs were living happily and peacefully in the 
 fair and fertile Colony of Natal. Very old men belonging 
 to these people expressively say, "The sun that saw the 
 tribes fight never set until their quarrel was ended." But 
 about the year 1812 all this wars changed. In, or close 
 upon, that year a predatory chieftain with an organised 
 scheme of spoliation and conquest, came down from the 
 Xorth and burst down upon the land, and within a few 
 short years the aboriginal tribes (the names of which will 
 be found in the appendix) of the district were swept from 
 their homes, and the smiling garden, which had so recently 
 been teeming with happy and prosperous life, became a 
 desert and a depopulated wilderness. This state of things - 
 was brought about by Tshaka. 
 
 Tshaka, the Attila of South Africa, was, as we have 
 seen, the founder of the Zulu power. Before his reign and 
 career, the Zulus, as a tribe, were almost entirely unknown. - 
 They were virtually overshadowed and eclipsed by the- 
 more important clans which were immediately around them, 
 and the most considerable of these was the tribe of the 
 Umtetwas, which was under the chieftainship of Jobe. 
 These Umtetwas dwelt in what is now the heart of Zulu- 
 land, and some few miles north of the Tugela River, and 
 the old chief of the tribe had two sons, who were named 
 Tana and Godongwana, of whom the elder. Tana, had been 
 recognized as the proper successor to his father's place.. 
 Jobe, however, seemed to be in no hurry to get out of the 
 way, and the young men, becoming impatient at the delay,, 
 are said to have entered into some scheme of conspiracy to- 
 hasten his removal. The plot reached the old chief's ears r . 
 and he gave secret orders that both the young men should 
 be summarily placed beyond the sphere of temptation. 
 The hut in which the two brothers were sleeping was 
 accordingly surrounded by an armed band in the dead of- 
 
GODOXGWAXA. 
 
 28£ 
 
 night, and a sudden onset was made upon it, and nearly 
 all whom it contained, the elder brother Tana amongst 
 them, were killed. The younger, Godougwana, however,, 
 who was an active and powerful man, made a sudden rush 
 through his assailants and leapt the outer fence. But he- 
 did not escape quite scatheless. He was struck by a 
 barbed assegai as he disappeared into the darkness, and 
 carried away the weapon with him in his back. 
 
 A sister of the wounded man, aware of what had 
 occurred in the night, managed secretly to discover the 
 place of his retreat in the bush, extracted the spear from 
 his wound, ministered to his immediate needs, and then 
 gave him her own kaross (skin rug), and sent him 
 privately some young men to attend upon him. At first 
 Godongwana lingered among the neighbouring tribes, but 
 they were all too much under Jobe's influence to be safe 
 places of sojourn for him ■ and so at last he went further 
 away and disappeared ; and for some years nothing more 
 was heard of him. 
 
 In the fulness of time, however, old Jobe died, a 
 younger brother of Godongwana of another house (or hut) 
 assumed the government of the tribe, and events moved 
 on quietly for some time, until all at once strange rumours 
 began to circulate amongst the people, to the effect that 
 Godougwana was still alive, and would return to claim his 
 inheritance ; and at last it was said that he was actually 
 on his way for this purpose, and that he was coming with 
 might and mysterious power, for no one could say whether 
 he was a man or an animal. Then it was reported that he 
 who was coming was certainly a man, but marvellous to 
 say, he was seated upon an "Injomani." This did not 
 make the explanation very clear, as no one in the tribe 
 knew what an " Injomani " was. What " Injomani " 
 meant no one could tell, as a horse was as much an object 
 of curiosity to the natives of these parts in those days as a- 
 live Unicorn would be to us. 
 
 To give you some idea of the notion these people had of 
 a horse, I will relate an incident which occurred 20 years 
 after the time of which I am now speaking. One of the 
 tribes now in this colony had met an expeditionary forco 
 from the Cape frontier to the South of the St. John's 
 River. Part of that force was mounted. During the 
 
284 
 
 ORIGIN OF ZULU POWER. 
 
 engagement that followed one of the horsemen got 
 separated from his horse, and it ran wildly away. The 
 Chief immediately gave orders for every exertion to be 
 made to destroy it. Pie thought that letting the animal 
 loose was one of the modes of warfare used by the enemy ; 
 that it tore men to pieces with its teeth, and stung them to 
 death Avith its tail. It seemed to them so active an animal 
 that the sooner it was despatched the better. The poor 
 innocent victim of this calumny was of course easily 
 despatched amidst triumphant yells from the valiant 
 warriors. 
 
 At length, however, both Grodongwana and the In- 
 jomani appeared to clear up the mystery, and the 
 Injomani turned out to be a white horse which the young 
 chieftain had procured from some of the tribes in the far 
 West, near to the frontiers of the civilized settlements at 
 the Cape. When he put in his claim to the chieftainship 
 his younger brother offered a futile resistance, and lost his 
 life for his pains. The new chief proved his identity and 
 his right by the scar which he carried on his back. The 
 Umtetwas said that his " wound was his witness." 
 Between the scar and the horse his claim was very 
 speedily established, and he became the acknowledged 
 chief of the Umtetwas in old Jobe's place. But in honour 
 of his strange adventures his name was changed. He 
 ceased to be " Grodongwana " and he became " Dingis- 
 wayo," which meant " Wanderer," and as " Dingiswayo " 
 he reigned. 
 
 It appears that after he had got well off from the tribes 
 in the old neighbourhood, Grodongwana had at last made his 
 way to the Cape Colony in the far west, and had lived 
 there in some fashion or other amongst white men, and 
 learnt very much concerning their habits and doings. He 
 had certainly procured his horse from this source. But 
 whether or not he had come by it honestly was never 
 known. In common with his skill in horsemanship, he 
 had, however, acquired some other attainments, which he 
 was able to turn to good account. He had seen the power 
 of organisation and discipline, and had especially marked 
 how the white men banded their soldiers into companies 
 and regiments, under duly appointed officers. As soon, 
 therefore, as he was firmly settled in the chieftainship of 
 
DIXGISWAYO. 
 
 285 
 
 his tribe, be set to work to organise his own people upon a 
 similar plan. He formed all the young men into regi- 
 ments, and appointed officers m due subordination to each 
 other, and he very soon had an army at his command ex- 
 ceedingly more powerful than any force that had ever 
 been seen before among the neighbouring tribes. It was 
 but natural that he should then find himself tempted to put 
 to proof this new organisation, and when he did so he 
 found that none of the surrounding chiefs could stand 
 against him for an instant. He accordingly reduced many 
 of them to subservience to his own authority. But it is 
 universally admitted that he was neither cruel nor 
 avaricious. He fought to conquer and to show his own 
 superior ability and power, bat he cared nothing about 
 capturing the cattle, and he forbade the destruction of 
 women and children. His great idea was to feed his own 
 army on the grain stores of the vanquished, and to occupy 
 the territory of an antagonist until his corn was ex- 
 hausted. On this account his opponents generally 
 tendered their submission as soon as they were beaten, and 
 reoccupied their country as the acknowledged vassals of 
 the conqueror the instant his forces were withdrawn* 
 Dingiswavo never destroyed or permanently dispersed any 
 tribe he had attacked. 
 
 At the time that Dingiswavo was thus occupied in 
 introducing his new system of military organisation an el- 
 aggressive war, it so chanced, however, that one of the 
 small adjacent tribes that he had conquered was ruled over 
 by a chief named Senzangakona, who had an illegitimate 
 son called Tshaka. This young man was of a turbulent 
 and ambitious spirit, and made himself so obnoxious to 
 some influential members of his father's family that at last 
 he and his mother had to flee for their lives. Tshaka took 
 refuge with Dingiswavo, enlisted in one of his crack 
 regiments, and took part in several of his military expedi- 
 tions. The gallant conduct of the young recruit in some 
 of these won for him a great reputation as a soldier. The 
 fact was that he had accidentally been placed in a position 
 which was congenial to his tastes and to his genius, for he 
 was a man of remarkable ability and power. He studied 
 the policy and the proceedings of Dingiswavo with an 
 attentive eye, and he soon convinced himself that he had 
 
'286 
 
 ORIGIN OF ZULU POWER. 
 
 discovered the one weak point in the new strategy. He 
 saw clearly that Dingiswayo's generosity and forbearance 
 was a dangerous mistake, because it left the conquered 
 chiefs in a position to combine together at some future time 
 against their conqueror. In his own mind he was satisfied 
 that the only safe way to carry out such a scheme of 
 aggression as Dingiswayo had entered upon was to inflict 
 such an injury upon the conquered as left them no power 
 to rise again, and he resolved that whenever he had the 
 chance he would carry out the great system of Dingiswayo 
 to its full and legitimate conclusion. 
 
 Tshaka had not long to wait for his opportunity. By 
 the time that he had served in the army of Dingiswayo 
 sufficiently long to become familiar with the system of its 
 chief, and to make his own observations upon its defects, his 
 father Senzangakona died ; and Dingiswayo, conceiving 
 that his brave subordinate would be a more serviceable 
 tributary and ally than the legitimate sons of the deceased 
 chief, induced the tribe to accept Tshaka at his hands as 
 their head. In this way the young Tshaka succeeded to 
 the chieftainship of the weak, tributary, and insignificant 
 tribe of the Zulus. 
 
 Tshaka continued faithful to his old master, and fought 
 in alliance with him in several campaigns. But he was 
 altogether right in the opinions he had formed of the 
 danger of the position. Some of the neighbouring chiefs, 
 who had been victims of Dingiswayo's raids, had at length 
 taken a lesson out of his book, and having prepared their 
 plans, combined against him. Dingiswayo was finally 
 caught in advance of the main body of his army with only 
 a small party of followers, and was taken prisoner and 
 slain by a chief he had twice taken prisoner and generously 
 spared. Tshaka was with the main army on this occasion, 
 and led the combined tribes of the Umtetwas and Zulus so 
 skilfully out of the fight that he was forthwith accepted by 
 both as their common chief. This was the first step made 
 by the Zulu tribe towards an enlargement of its influence 
 .and power. It was the result of a combined movement by 
 these two chiefs that drove the powerful tribe in its retreat 
 to enter the present division of Newcastle about 1812 as 
 .already mentioned. And thus was caused the first shock 
 felt by the doomed but unsuspecting inhabitants of NataL 
 
TSHAKA. 
 
 287 
 
 Tshaka had thus a clear path open to his ambition. He 
 -was now free to adopt his own plan of operations, and to 
 : act upon his own ideas without let or hindrance. He at 
 once set himself to the work of establishing the Zulu 
 supremacy, and attacked tribe after tribe of his neighbours, 
 •absorbing all the young men as he did so into his own 
 following, and destroying the old men and old women and 
 children. In the pursuance of this object he introduced 
 several innovations iuto the art of native South African 
 warfare, which were very remarkable indications of his 
 genius and originality. He distributed his young warriors 
 into regiments, which were distinguished from each other 
 by the colour aud pattern of their ox-hide shields : and he 
 trained them to the discipline of serried and solid advance, 
 and of attack at close quarters with the short stabbing 
 assegai. Above all things he instituted an invariable law, 
 that any young soldier who returned from the fight without 
 shield and assegai, or with the disgraceful stamp of a 
 wound upon his back, should pay the forfeit of his life. 
 The young soldiers were now for the first time forbidden 
 to take wives, in order that they might not be enervated 
 by domestic influences, and distracted from their military 
 duties by domestic ties and habits. But after a certain 
 period of service old regiments were superannuated as 
 veterans, and rewarded with wives, and new levies were 
 raised to take their place in the van of the tribal armament. 
 Whenever an expedition was sent out on active service its 
 destination was kept secret from the warriors themselves 
 until they were far on their way. The immediate attack 
 was always made by a sudden onset of a compact phalanx, 
 supported on either hand by advanced horns or troops of 
 : skirmishers. 
 
 With such a system of carefully planned organization, 
 wielded by a large measure of ability and sustained by a 
 ruthless purpose and will, and with only divided and 
 scattered tribes that fought as an undisciplined rabble in 
 the regions which were to be overrun, it is by no means 
 
 ; surprising that the name of Tshaka (or Chaka as it is 
 erroneously spelt) soon became a terror and a power. 
 Wherever there were cattle to be seized or young men to 
 be amalgamated, the ruthless hosts of the Zulu despot 
 
 .appeared, until every tribe between St. John's River in 
 
288 
 
 TSHAKA SWEEPS NATAL. 
 
 the South, and Delagoa Bay in thp north, a distance of 
 full 500 miles, had either been " eaten up " and dispersed 
 or reduced into subjection ; and this was how it had come 
 to pass that when Lieut. Farewell and Mr. Fynn formed 
 their first settlement in Natal the region was an unpeopled 
 wilderness. The earliest burst of the tempest fell upon 
 Natal about the year 1812. At that time great crowds of the 
 Northern tribes, who had borne the first brunt of the Zulu 
 aggression, entered tho Natal district from the North, 
 retreating before the advance of the invaders ; and as they 
 passed through Natal gave the tribes a foretaste of what 
 was so quickly to follow by the robbery and spoliation 
 that they were compelled to practice in their own first 
 struggle for existence. Wave after wave of desolation 
 from that time traversed the land, as tribe after tribe of the 
 vanquished and retiring hosts passed through, sweeping all 
 before them as they hastened to place as wide a space as 
 possible between themselves and their terrific assailant ; 
 so that when the actual hordes of Tshaka himself arrived 
 there was little left for them to do. It is hardly possible 
 to realise the demoralising and destructive influence that 
 was thus brought into play. The mere instinct of pre- 
 servation, stimulated by terror, turned friends into foes, 
 lifted every man's hand against his neighbour, and caused 
 acts of treachery and atrocity of the most dreadful 
 character. When Tshaka had cleared away or subjugated 
 all the scattered tribes on the northern side of the Tngela, 
 his armies advanced into the already desolated district on 
 the Natal side of that river, and pursued their work of 
 destruction and conquest there. True to his own keener 
 insight into the necessities of his position, the Zulu conqueror 
 at this time ordained that neither man, woman, or child 
 should be spared. Every hut was to be burned. All food 
 that could not be consumed by his own warriors was to be 
 destroyed. Some of the weaker of the Natal tribes made 
 a ready submission, and were received into Zululand as 
 vassals and recruits (Amangkenkane) ; but this only made 
 the position of those who attempted to hold out more 
 desperate and dreadful, because the knowledge these 
 recruits had of persons and places enabled them to give the 
 most valuable and efficient information to the armies of the 
 exterminating despot. When the Zulus had at length 
 
HUNGER KILLED THE COUNTRY. 
 
 289 
 
 passed through Natal and advanced through Amapondo 
 Land to the south, the last wave of the fugitives, who 
 were retreating before them, overflowed into the Cape 
 Territory heyond the Kei River, and were there seized by 
 the Gcalekas, to whom they became a sort of slave pro- 
 perty under.tbe name of Amafengu or Fingoes. {Apropos 
 — One of the tribes of British Kaffraria was named the 
 Ama Gawler after Colonel Gawler, a commissioner placed 
 over them after subjection, and brother of Mr. Henry 
 Crawler, of the Government service in Adelaide, South 
 Australia ). ]Mr., now (1879) Sir Theophilus, Shepstone, 
 (whose valuable writings of the early history of the 
 Zulus, I here thankfully make use of) states that he 
 was himself with Sir Benjamin D' Urban, the Gover- 
 nor of the Cape Colony, when, at the end of the Kafir 
 war of 1836, these Fingoe slaves were emancipated 
 by the Governor himself at the head of a division of the 
 British army. 
 
 Within ten years of the first burst into Natal of the 
 tribes retreating before the advance of the Zulus the deso- 
 lation of the country was complete. A few Thousands of 
 miserable wretches were still scattered about the colony, 
 making the most desperate efforts to cling to their old 
 homes ; but their cattle and their grain stores were gone, 
 and they dared not to cultivate the ground, because to have 
 given such a sign of their presence would have been to have 
 brought down the hand of the destroyer upon their last 
 hopes. They lived concealed in the bushy kloofs and glens, 
 and had literally nothing else to subsist upon but the wild 
 roots which they could dig out of the ground. The whole 
 country at last was rilled with the dead, which were left 
 by the emaciated and spiritless survivors to be consumed 
 by the hyaenas. Some miserable men, in the extremity of 
 despair, actually crawled towards the Tugela that they 
 might be " picked up " by the dreaded soldiers of Tshaka. 
 At the present day the old Kafirs, who tell the tale of this 
 period of desolation, expressively say — " The assegai killed 
 people, but hunger killed the country." 
 
 In the year 1824, when the Julia brought its freight 
 of English adventurers to commence their role in the land 
 where this terrific tragedy had so recently been performed, 
 Tshaka was in the zenith of his power, and the Zulus had 
 u 
 
290 
 
 ORIGIN OF THE ZULUS 
 
 become a formidable tribe, made up in the main of the pith 
 and sinew of the tribes that had been broken up by its 
 raids. They held at that time as the centre of their 
 dominion a vast stretch of territory on each bank of the 
 Tugela, but they claimed, and virtually possessed, the land 
 from Delagoa Bay to the St. John's River. -Their chief 
 military station was near the White Umfolosi River, which 
 runs down to the sea at St. Lucia Bay. But there was also 
 a large and important military kraal, serving as an ad- 
 vanced post, between the Umhlali and Tongati Rivers, in 
 what is now Natal, and it was at this advanced post of 
 Tshaka's that the negotiations of the English settlers for 
 permission to settle and trade were principally carried on. 
 After some prolonged preliminaries, in which presents to 
 the chief played an important part, this permission was at 
 last secured, and three distinct stations were occupied. 
 
 In the first part of this work I have already stated how 
 these stations became the nucleus round which the 
 •scattered tribes rallied, and which, after Dingaan had 
 murdered Tshaka, were led on by John Cane, etc., to fight 
 the former, with the result before stated. And I have also 
 endeavoured to make clear how at last Tshaka's full 
 brother and Dingaan's half-brother Urn Pande, joined his 
 forces with those of the Boers, which action ended in the 
 defeat and death of Dingaan, and the installation of Um 
 Pande as king, under the patronage of the Boers, com- 
 manded by Andreas Pretorius. As soon as the news of 
 the death of Dingaan was satisfactorily authenticated, 
 Andreas Pretorius assembled his forces on the banks of the 
 Umfolosi River, and there on the 14th of February, 1840, 
 proclaimed Um Pande paramount chief of the Zulus, Tvith 
 the important reservation, however, for himself and his 
 friends, of the sovereignty over the land from the Black 
 Umfolosi and St. Lucia Bay to the St. John's River. 
 They also charged Um Pande, for the little service 
 rendered, a small fee of 36,000 head of cattle, which was 
 immediately paid. 
 
 The Zulu despotism and power were thus broken within 
 six years of the first descent of the Dutch Boers into Natal, 
 and, in the main, was unquestionably so broken by the 
 courage, gallantry, and hardiness of this very remarkable 
 body of men. Whatever may be the future of Natal, there 
 
1 
 
 4 
 
CETYWAYO S CHARACTER. 
 
 29J 
 
 must ever remain one clear page in its early history, for 
 the record of the memorable occurrences of Sunday, 
 December 16th, 1838, when Andreas Pretorius and Carl 
 Landman, with 460 Dutch emigrant farmers, encountered 
 in their own stronghold the 12,000 savages of Dingaan, 
 w r ho were the finished outcome of the military system of 
 Tshaka, clothed in all the prestige of long continued 
 triumph and success, and, neverthelsss, gallantly scattered 
 them to the winds with the strength of their own right 
 arms. 
 
 So much for the origin and growth of the Zulu power 
 until the death of Um Pande, whc, after a long and peace- 
 ful reign, bequeathed his power to Cetywayo,. the present 
 ruler. 
 
 Before entering on the Zulu War, and the causes which 
 led to it, it may be as well to give a slight sketch of the 
 character of Cetywayo. The impression which he made 
 on the mind of Sir Theophilus Shepstone in August, 1873,. 
 was that he was immeasurably superior to any other native 
 chief he had ever come into communication with. He had 
 a dignified bearing, and was unquestionably possessed of 
 considerable ability and much force of character. He was 
 entirely frank and straightforward in all his personal 
 communications. At one part of the interview with him 
 some of the old men were fencing subtly with an import- 
 ant point ; he stopped them with the exclamation, " Silence, 
 all of you. Yon are like the wind which says nothing 
 when it speaks. Don't you see what my father means ? 
 He means so and so," putting down before them clearly 
 and openly the exact point. He is naturally proud of the 
 military traditions of his family, and especially so of the 
 policy and deeds of his uncle Tshaka. His great difficulty 
 has hitherto been that he has of necessity had to preserve 
 the belief of his people that he is a worthy descendant of 
 Tshaka, at the very time that he has been shaping his 
 course so as to justify the new condition of affairs. This is 
 probably the true explanation of much of his shiftiness 
 ■and reserve, and of his beaiing in all that related to Natal. 
 
 u2 
 
CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 THE ZULUS AND NATAL. 
 
 In the forcgoii g account of the origin of the Zulu power 
 the r< n iu ks of Sir r I beophilus Sfcepstone, as well as those 
 of other early writers, have been condensed. It will,, 
 however, add to the value of this record, and be, 
 further, interesting, to give the words of the same writer 
 delivered as explained below. 
 
 The following valuable paper entitled " The Znlns " 
 was read a few years ago at a meeting of the Royal 
 Colonial Institute in London. It is the production of Sir 
 Theophilns Shepstone, (as he now is) than whom, with 
 the exception perhaps of The Hon. J. W. vShepstone,. 
 his brother, Mr. John Dunn, and Mr. Brownlee, there is 
 not a better living authority on Zulu matters : — * 
 
 The last eighty years of the history of the Colony of 
 Natal shows more wonderful changes than w r e could well 
 imagine, if we tried to invent a probable, or even a possi- 
 ble story for our own amusement. 
 
 The ups and downs in the fortunes, not of individuals 
 only, but of whole communities and populations, and the 
 revolution in the social, as well as in the political condi- 
 tion, which each change caused, are so wonderfully strange, 
 as well as complete, that it would be difficult to find a 
 country which could furnish a true story of itself so full 
 of vicissitudes as Natal. 
 
 Ten, or at most twenty years more, will deprive us of 
 the testimony of nearly all the few remaining eye 
 witnesses of the earlier of those exciting scenes which 
 thus revolutionized the country. The particulars of the 
 short sketch 1 propose to give you have been gathered 
 from those eye-witnesses, and I believe them to be almost 
 as correct as, in the nature of the case, it is now possible 
 to make them. 
 
 * TLe Hon. J. W. Sher. stone's first wife was a sister of the 
 present writer. 
 
SIR THEOPHILUS SHEPSTOXE's ACCOUNT. 
 
 293 
 
 It is necessary that I should first describe, as shortly as 
 possible, the different phases of condition through which 
 the inhabitants of this country have passed since 1812, 
 for it was about that year that the great disturbances of 
 their ancient comfortable mode of life commenced. 
 
 I shall endeavour to trace the causes which led to that 
 disturbance, and its consequences, and in doing this I 
 shall be obliged to take a glance at what is now called 
 Zululand, for it was there, towards the close of the last 
 century, that domestic events in a chief's family gave the 
 first small impulse to the movement, and it is one of the 
 most curious points in our wild story that this impulse 
 was to receive its strength and direction from such 
 ■ civilization as then existed in this Cape Colony, before it 
 could so rudely influence, as it afterwards did, the destiny, 
 not of Natal only, but of the whole of South Eastern 
 Africa. 
 
 Up to about the year 1812, then, and for how many 
 centuries before we cannot now tell, this country was 
 thickly populated by numerous tribes, under independent 
 ehiefs. These tribes lived so close together that tribal 
 •change of residence was difficult, if not impossible. They 
 intermarried with each other — possessed flocks and herds 
 — lived in ease and plenty themselves, and at peace with 
 their neighbours ; until this luxury occasionally culmin- 
 ated in a periodical quarrel (as is the natural tendency, the 
 natives say, in all that grows fat") and this quarrel was 
 settled by a periodical fight, but then those fights were by 
 no means such serious matters as they afterwards became. 
 In those days armies never slept in the open, i.e., away 
 from their homes. The day was fixed beforehand, the 
 men of the rival tribes met in battle on that day, and the 
 result of the single encounter decided the quarrel. The 
 few old men still living, who lived then, delight to tell 
 how that in these good old times, they did not fight to 
 shed blood, or burn houses, or capture cattle, or destroy 
 each other, but to settle a quarrel, and see who was the 
 strongest ; how the women looked on while the men 
 fought ; that prisoners taken in battle were not killed, but 
 kept till ransomed ; and especially how that mam r a young 
 warrior, when the day's strife was over, would hand his 
 .shield and assegai to a companion to take home for him 
 
294 THE ZULUS AND NATAL 
 
 that he might accompany his late foes, to renew his vows 
 to some daughter of the rival tribe. 
 
 But although the relations of these people with each 
 other, as tribes, were so simple, and the opposite of 
 aggressive, there was always imminent danger of one 
 ground of quarrel arising, which aroused every feeling of 
 animosity, occasionally split up tribes, and caused more 
 bloodshed, and the exhibition of more ferocity, in one 
 year than all their punctilious tribal battles did, perhaps, 
 in ten. I mean quarrels between relations for succession 
 to the chieftainship, in which sections of the tribe took 
 opposite sides. This is certainly not changed in our 
 experience of human nature, exhibited either in clans or 
 families, but from the account of these quarrels, they seem 
 to have been kept up with such preserving malevolence as 
 to suggest an explanation as to what we ourselves 
 experienced in our contact witn these people, i.e., that- 
 strong" attachment to individuals and families Avhich make 
 tbem earnest partisans, and that wonderful respect for, and 
 devotion to, any person of whose duly constituted 
 authority they are sufficiently convinced, which makes 
 them obedient subjects. 
 
 We see, then, with the exception of family quarrels,, 
 these people were unwarlike and harmless, and lived in 
 happiness and contentment with each other. Then, as now,, 
 the seasons favoured the high lands one year and the low 
 lands the next, and interchange of commodities for wood 
 went on, as it still continues to do, between the inhabi- 
 tants of the two different classes of the country, and 
 friendly relations between tribes was the rule. 
 
 Such was the general condition of perhaps a million 
 souls in what is now the Colony of Natal, up to the year 
 1812, when the first, or quiet phase of their history closes,. 
 Time will not permit of my entering into the detail of their 
 social condition, such as their belief in witchcraft and its 
 effects, and other matters, which, although sufficiently 
 interesting, are not necessary in so short a sketch as this 
 of their general history. 
 
 In this year — 1812 — these people saw the first fruits of 
 a single seed of knowledge, sown in the mind of a lonely 
 fugitive, perhaps twenty years before ; although sown to- 
 the westward of the Great Fish River in the Cape Colony 
 
SIR THEOPHILUS SHEPSTOXE's ACCOUNT. 295 
 
 it germinated to the north of the Tugela. And the fruit 
 of this first lesson in civilization was sad enough, for it 
 inaugurated the second or turbulent phase of their history.. 
 It inspired one among the many tribes in that region 
 (north of the Tugela) which were then living in almost 
 the same circumstances and conditions as those in this- 
 country, with a military spirit, and caused it to introduce a 
 military organization. 
 
 This change soon developed itself still further, and 
 became aggressive, so that tho neighbouring tribes were 
 compelled to adopt the new system also. But for some 
 time wars, although more frequent, were carried on under 
 more or less observance of the old rules. Tribes were not 
 at first destroyed, although conquered. It was not until 
 these new mode of warfare was directed by ti e sanguinary 
 genius of Tshaka that extermination, as far as possible,, 
 followed every conquest. So great was the terror caused 
 by this policy that tribe after tribe gave way before 
 him, and forced themselves through their Aveaker neigh- 
 bours, whose feeble resistance they easily overcame. 
 Several powerful tribes were driven in this way to force 
 their retreat through what is now Natal. In vain did the 
 inhabitants combine to resist ; although numerous enough, 
 they were undisciplined, and unused to earnest fighting, so* 
 they were easily defeated, and some of them carried to the 
 South by the tribes they had attempted to oppose. 
 
 I have mentioned the year 1812 as the date when the 
 second, or turbulent phase, of their history commenced,, 
 because it was about that year that the first of these large 
 tribes entered this country on their retreat from Zululand 
 through the present division of Newcastle, whose inhabi- 
 tants were not only defeated, but plundered and scattered,, 
 and became in turn aggressors upon their weaker neigh- 
 bours. 
 
 This was the first actual experience they had of the 
 great coming change. 
 
 But it was not by fugitive tribes only that such effects 
 were caused — Tshaka himself had to finish what they had 
 merely begun. And after clearing away and subjugating 
 the population north of the Great Tugela, he sent his 
 armies periodically to this side to ravage a country whose 
 inhabitants were already sufficiently demoralized and 
 
596 
 
 THE ZULUS AND XATAL. 
 
 spiritless, but who nevertheless possessed an abundance of 
 the means of subsistence. 
 
 Tshaka's orders were to spare neither man, woman, or 
 child, to burn all houses and destroy all food, and faith- 
 fully enough did his men execute those orders. The 
 object was, of course, to render existence impossible 
 within the reach of his arms, except under his rule. He 
 aimed at universal sovereignty. And it was only during 
 the last years of his life that he expressed his willingness 
 to share the world with the white man. 
 
 Several tribes offered themselves to Tshaka as vassals, 
 and were accepted. Year by year did the despot's armies 
 extend the sphere of their operations, until at length they 
 reached the tribes which had retreated through Natal, and 
 established themselves to the south. These were either 
 destroyed, or for the most part incorporated by Tshaka, or 
 driven upon the Kafirs on the frontier of the Cape Colony. 
 
 It is a strange coincidence that a recent Acting Lieut. - 
 Governor. General Bisset, and I were both present when 
 Sir Benjamin D'Urban, the Governor of the Cape, at the 
 head of a division of the British army, emancipated the 
 Fingoes (i.e., the Natal Kafirs driven southward) from 
 their slavery, in the Kafir war 1835-36 ; and that, in the 
 course of our respective duties we have both had much 
 to do with the measure. 
 
 But to return to the population of Natal. Those who 
 still remained in the country — and there were many 
 thousands who did so remain — were by this time reduced 
 to a condition absolutely hopeless and wretched. Naturally 
 the means of subsistence furnished by their cattle, and 
 other smaller domestic animals had failed first ; for they 
 were eagerly sought after by Tshaka's soldiers. Their 
 stores of grain held out longer, but in time they were ex- 
 hausted also, and as hopeless a*s the cattle, for their 
 granaries could not be replenished by cultivation, because 
 cultivation attracted attention, and had therefore to be 
 abandoned. 
 
 The position of the tribes of Natal Avas indeed deplorable. 
 Their dogs had been too weak to capture any game, and 
 lean and hungry as they were, had been eaten by their 
 masters, and so they had to live on roots. 
 
 No wonder then that the country was filled with the 
 
SIR THEOPHILUS SHEPSTONE's ACCOUNT. 
 
 297 
 
 dead, and that, a? the natives express it, t; the assegai 
 killed people, but hunger killed the country." Xo wonder 
 that these victims were left nnburied by their emaciated 
 friends, to feed wild animals, and still less that these 
 animals became as much an object of dread as Tshaka's 
 warriors. Many poor wretches who could, crawled towards 
 the Tiigela to be picked up, as they termed it, by Tshaka's 
 haughty vassals. There they could at least get food, 
 whatever the Government might be. Others refused to 
 leave their country, and preferred meeting the death that 
 seemed to stare them in the face to submitting to those 
 who had caused them so much misery, and whom they had 
 such small cause to trust. 
 
 It seems impossible that in a cup so brim full of sorrow, 
 space could be found for one additional drop. But it was 
 possible, and that drop was the bitterest of all. 
 
 In terror of wild beasts ; in still greater terror of 
 Tshaka's ruthless soldiers and vassals, maddened by hunger 
 and altogether demoralised by the circumstances which 
 surrounded him, a man conceived the horrible idea of 
 feeding on his fellowman, and at once put it into practice. 
 Starving wretches in misery equal to his own rallied round 
 him. and a band of cannibals was soon formed, to be in- 
 creased by two or three in other parts of the country. 
 
 These cannibal bands hunted for human bemgs as men 
 hunted for game. Driven first by necessity, they acquired 
 a taste for this revolting practice, and continued it long 
 after the necessity ceased. 
 
 The Natal cannibals had become so formidable that it 
 was not until about the arrival of the first Dutch 
 Emigrants in Xatal that the last of them was dislodged 
 from the Biggarsberg, and driven over the Drakensberg 
 Mountains by Dingaan. 
 
 I have heard many a stirring story of escape from the 
 cannibals from the lips of those who were captured, and 
 who had themselves listened to discussions as to whether 
 they would eat tender or tough when they were killed. I 
 have myself conversed with several ni3n who escaped after 
 having been captured by these " man-eaters,'' and after 
 having been told off to furnish the next feast for their 
 ■captors, and with one — a chief still living in this Colony — 
 who was compelled to carry the vessel in which he was 
 
298 
 
 THE ZULUS AND NATAL. 
 
 told he would himself be cooked. The scene of his escape- 
 is not five miles from the spot on which this paper is 
 written (Pietermaritzburg), and at present forms part of 
 the episcopal property held by the Bishop of Natal. 
 
 To such a state of things, then, was Natal reduced in- 
 the course of less than ten years after the first fugitive 
 tribe entered the division of Newcastle, and it continued,, 
 with little amelioration, until Tshaka's policy had absorbed r 
 with few exceptions, the whole of the survivors, and the 
 Zulus actually occupied one-third of what we now know- 
 as Natal. 
 
 All the troubles which followed, and which I have very 
 imperfectly described, were caused by Tshaka alone. His- 
 genius overbore all opposition, and he died within the 
 territory which now constitutes the Colony of Natal, on 
 the 23 rd of September, 1828, undisputed Sovereign of all 
 South Eastern Africa, from the St. John's River on the 
 south to King George's River on the north ; including a 
 large portion of what now forms the Orange Free State 
 and the Transvaal Republic, as well as the tribe and' 
 territory of his old master and patron, Dingiswayo. 
 
 This brings us to times to ascertain the history of which 
 we have more or less of documentary evidence to refer to y . 
 I shall not, therefore, trespass upon them. 1 have selected 
 the period embraced in this sketch because it is of necessity 
 less known than that upon which books have been 
 published, and because the tale of its occurrences, however- 
 imperfectly I have told it, may teach us valuable lessons.. 
 
 I wish, in conclusion, to present a kind of analysis of" 
 this history ; and you must be good enough to bear in 
 mind that it relates to a period scarcely extending back 
 sixty years from this date. It shows three phases, repre- 
 senting three conditions as opposite, each to the other two, 
 in most respects as it is possible for any nation to be. 
 
 In the first, we have simple, primitive, unalloyed 
 barbarism, unmitigated, as icell as untainted by any trace 
 of civilization, under this condition, which probably had 
 lasted for centuries, the people enjoyed peace, prosperity,, 
 and plenty. 
 
 In the second we have the same barbarism, the same 
 people and the same country, but we have also, added to- 
 these, a dash of civilization, a stray, but not incorrect,. 
 
SIR THEOPHILUS SHEPSTOXE's ACCOUNT. 
 
 299 
 
 notion of one of its practices, which poisoned all enjoy- 
 ment, cut off all that sustains life, turned thousands of" 
 square miles into, literally, howling wildernesses, shed 
 rivers of blood, annihilated whole communities, turned the 
 members of others into cannibals, and caused miseries and 
 sufferings, the full extent of which can now never be^ 
 known, and which, if even known, could not be told. 
 
 In the third, we see civilization no longer represented 
 by a mere notion or idea, but in its living bodily form 
 protecting and ameliorating the condition and remnants of 
 this wreck. Where, a few years ago, so dreadful a storm 
 of human passion and violence raged, we now see a British 
 Colony, with its quiet farms, its lepresentative institutions,- 
 its Christianity, its electric telegraphs, and its little rail- 
 roads ; and we see also its inhabitants occasionally discuss- 
 ing the most advanced topics of the most enlightened 
 civilization of the age. 
 
 When we realise the idea that these three great changes- 
 have all taken place in the country we live in during the 
 short compass of less than a man's life- time we shall 
 understand and wonder at the fearful rapidity with which 
 revolutions sometimes overwhelm a people ; and we shall 
 wonder still more when we contemplate the apparently 
 trivial events from which such monstrous consequences 
 have sprung, events which, if calculated according to the 
 ordinary doctrine of chances, would have stood at a hundred 
 to one against occurring at all. But trivial as they were in 
 themselves, they have already influenced the destiny of 
 thousands, and have, in my opinion, contributed in no small: 
 degree to the planting uf civilization in Xatal for some- 
 wise and beneficent purpose, which I sincerelv hope mat- 
 be faithfully fulfilled. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 JOURNAL OF THE TREK BOERS TO MOSSAMEDES. 
 (COMPILED BY W. W. JORDAN.) 
 
 The writer of these pages was engaged on a trading 
 and hunting expedition in the Ovampo Country in the 
 year 1879, and while there came across the Trek Boers, 
 whose adventures are here related. He remained in their 
 company some time, and had every opportunity of testing 
 the correctness of the following story of their travels, 
 which he gathered from information given by the members 
 of the party themselves, and partly from his own personal 
 knowledge. 
 
 No attempt has been made to do more than offer a 
 simple narrative of events as they occurred. The manu- 
 script was forwarded to Cape Town in the early part of 
 1880, when it was hoped the publication would assist 
 those who were generously exerting themselves to forward 
 relief to the sufferers. Unfortunately it was sent on to 
 Europe, and, when returned to the Colony, it was too late 
 to serve the immediate purpose for which it was drawn up. 
 But as so many have expressed a wish that the history of 
 this expedition should be preserved, the writer now 
 submits his notes to the public, reminding readers that 
 they were written down on the spot, and have not been 
 altered since. He believes they possess one recommend- 
 ation, and that is, they form a true and faithful record of 
 events they profess to relate. 
 
 In the beginning of the year 1874 a number of farmers 
 in the Transvaal Republic determined to put into exe- 
 cution a plan which for some considerable time they had 
 been discussing. They believed that by travelling further 
 into the interior in a north-westerly direction they would 
 find a country better suited to their wants, and one in 
 which they would be able to make a permanent settlement. 
 After due consideration, it was resolved to trek. 
 
 About the 27th of May, 1874, a move was made by 
 Messrs. Alberts, Ochuisen, senior, and Ochuisen, junior, 
 
PLENTY GAME. 
 
 ■with their families, trekking away as far as the district of 
 E listen burg. 
 
 On the 6th February, 1875, they were joined by six 
 other families. On the 2nd and 3rd of April, the party- 
 proceeded to a place called Beerkraal, where their number 
 was again increased by the addition of four families. 
 
 From this place they forwarded a request to their 
 minister, the Rev. Mr. Du Plessis, inviting him to visit 
 them for the purpose of holding service and administering 
 the rite of confirmation, which request he at once 
 complied with, and held service for two consecutive days 
 in that month. 
 
 On the 14th they proceeded on their journey, and 
 reached Witfontein, at which place they found no water,, 
 and were compelled to travel on to Holfontein, where they 
 found water indeed, but very little of it, there being barely 
 sufficient for their personal use and that of their horses. 
 
 They remained at this place for a short time, and then 
 made a trek for 12 hours, outspanning in the veldt. 
 Their cattle were now suffering very much from thirst, . 
 having had no water for 48 hours. 
 
 They proceeded from this spot to the Limpopo River, 
 were they remained some time. While there Mr. Ochui- 
 sen lost two valuable salted horses, which were killed by 
 lions. The farmers occupied their time by hunting game, 
 which they found in vast abundance, especially the 
 sea cow, buffalo, rhinoceros, aud giraffe. The region 
 abounded in lions, tigers, wolves, jackals, &c, and to keep 
 these from attacking their cattle they had to erect strong 
 kraals, and keep good night watches. 
 
 On the 28th of April they continued their journey, 
 travelling along the banks of the Limpopo, the scenery of 
 which they desciibe as very beautiful. On the 6th of 
 May they despatched a deputation to Bamangwato to visit 
 the chief of that place, and to obtain his permission to 
 pass through his country. The deputation consisted of 
 Messrs. G-. R. Alberts, P. GL van der Merwe, and J. van 
 Niekerk. Their mission was successful, the chief not 
 only consenting to their passing through his country, but 
 promising his protection while doing so. This promise he 
 faithfully fulfilled. 
 
 On the loth of May (1875) they left the Limpopo- 
 
.302 
 
 THE THIKSTLAND BOERS 
 
 River, and after travelling for three days, arrived at a 
 small well of water, but again found only sufficient for 
 themselves and horses. 
 
 They proceeded to Bamangwato, at which place they 
 
 -presented the chief with two heifers, one bull, and several 
 merino sheep. The chief granted them permission to 
 remain for one or two months to recruit themselves and 
 their cattle. Here one of the party left with four wagons, 
 
 -and returned to the Transvaal. The remainder then 
 proceeded on their journey, and in one day's march 
 reached a place named Matotse. Tney were now on the 
 borders of the Kalihari Desert. 
 
 4t the end of May five of the party started from the 
 
 .camp, and travelled three days, during which time they 
 found no water, until they arrived at a place called 
 Inteavan, where they obtained a sufficient supply for 
 themselves and horses. They sent their cattle to Klick- 
 
 . ama to drink, and there they were joined by the rest of 
 the company. Five of the wagons started for a place 
 named Meer, a station on the banks of the Okovango 
 River, taking with them the whole of their loose cattle, 
 numbering 1,400. These travelled on for three days, 
 suffering much for want of water. At the end of the third 
 day the cattle smelt the water and broke loose, rushing 
 towards the river in a frantic state. Many stuck fast in 
 the mud and thus perished. Others, by very great 
 
 . exertions, were recovered. 
 
 The Bechuanas had kraals all along the river, and 
 slaughtered fifteen head of cattle which had strayed ; the 
 rest, after several days search, were recovered. All the 
 members of the expedition met at this spot; the last six 
 wagons arriving on the 6th of June (1875). 
 
 On the 20th of that month the travellers proceeded on 
 their journey and reached Lake N'Gami. Here they set 
 apart to Almighty God a day of thanksgiving for having 
 preserved them through so many dangers in safety and 
 with such a comparatively small loss of property. 
 
 Up to this time they had appointed no Commandant, 
 
 ; although Mr. Gr. Alberts acted in that capacity. 
 
 A demand was now made on the Bechuana Chief 
 Moreymi for payment for the oxen his people had stolen. 
 With this demand he at first refused to comply, but, after 
 
MIRACULOUS ESCAPE. 
 
 303 
 
 mmch talking, he agreed to return the same number, viz., 
 fifteen. 
 
 The party now trekked along the banks of the 
 Okovango River, aud, while outspanned, were visited by 
 one of Moreymi's under captains, who endeavoured to pick 
 a quarrel with them, going so far as to kick out their fires, 
 and carry away the wood they had collected. The Boers 
 
 -exercised a considerable amount of forbearance, seeing 
 clearly that the object was to embroil them in some way 
 with the natives, so that the Chief Moreymi might have 
 
 .an excuse for fining them. 
 
 While at the same place, some of the party went out 
 for a hunt and shot an eland. By the time that this was 
 •cut up and packed on their horses it was quite dark, and 
 
 ..a strange thing happened. One of the horses, after being 
 packed, strayed away, and Avas not found until the follow- 
 ing morning, when he was discovered tied to a tree with 
 his load of meat untouched, but by whom tied no one could 
 itell. The whole of the district is swarming with wild 
 
 .animals of all descriptions, and that particular spot 
 covered with pitfalls for trapping wild animals of the 
 larger growth. His escape was a little short of miraculous ! 
 
 They received several letters from the Chief Moreymi 
 forbidding them to trek further into his country, and 
 orderiug them to turn back while they were friends. He 
 
 :-also desired them to send a deputation to meet him, for 
 the purpose of coming to some understanding. Mr. G. 
 Alberts visited the Chief in compliance with his message, 
 
 .and explained matters in a manner satisfactory to both 
 parties. 
 
 Before arriving at Moreymi's station they had to travel 
 through a part of the country infested by the tsetse fly. 
 Here they lost several oxen and three valuable horses. 
 
 On the 28th of September (1875) the first six wagons 
 left the Okovango River, and in due time reached a place 
 named Ghanse, which place had been taken possession of 
 by a Mr. Van Zyl, by authority of the Chief Moreymi. 
 This spot is situated on the main road from Damaraland 
 to the lake N'Gami. Mr. Van Zyl asserts his right to a 
 monopoly of the whole of his hunting grounds in the 
 ■ district, and has turned many white people back who were 
 • £>n their way to these grounds. At one time he went s» 
 
804 
 
 THE TH1RSTLAND BOERS. 
 
 far as to turn some of the Boers away. The writer of 
 these notes were present at the time. As this is the only 
 place where water is to be obtained for a trek of three days 
 and nights on either side, much inconvenience and loss 
 is occasioned by the continuance of this state of affairs. 
 
 On the 30th September the remainder of the party 
 reached Ghanse, without any mishap, with the exception of 
 an accident to a son of Mr. Gert van de Meyer, who, while 
 travelling by night, seated on the front box, fell asleep,, 
 and fell under the wheels, which passed over his body,, 
 bruising him very much but without breaking any bones. 
 
 On the 6th January, 1876, they left Ghanse, en route 
 for Kietfontein, where they arrived safely without any 
 losses, but having suffered much from want of water. From 
 this place they sent a commission to Gobabis, to visit the 
 Chief Andries Lambert, for the purpose of ascertaining 
 from him to whom Kietfontein belonged, as they were 
 desirous of remaining there some time. Andries Lambert 
 informed them that the Hottentots were the rightful owners 
 of Kietfontein, and he gave them permission to remain 
 there for some time to rest themselves and cattle, of which 
 permission they gladly availed themselves. 
 
 While at Kietfontein several parties were sent out to 
 explore the eountry to the North, in the direction of the- 
 Okovaugo River. The reports brought back Avere very 
 unfavourable, the country being found to be without water 
 and also very unhealthy. 
 
 After some time they again visited Gobabis with a 
 request that the Hottentots would consent to their 
 remaining at Kietfontein for a longer period than was at 
 first intended. This request Avas granted, and they 
 remained there until 1878. 
 
 On the 28th July, 1877, they received a letter from Mr. 
 Kreling, the Commandant of the second party of Trek- 
 Boers, whose adventures will presently be told, asking 
 them to send all the cattle they could spare to enable his 
 party to get on, as they were in the middle of the thirst 
 veldt, enduring great privations and hardships. This 
 application Avas at once lesponded to, and 183 head of 
 cattle were sent to them. They Avere met at a place called 
 Sibbiton's Drift. The joy with which this relief was 
 received exceeded all bounds. It was easy to see that a 
 
FEVER. 
 
 305 
 
 great weight had been lifted from the hearts of all. With 
 this assistance the wagons of the laager were brought on to- 
 Lake 2s'Gami. The cattle borrowed from the party in 
 advance were then sent back to Eietfontein, where they 
 arrived on the 4th October, together with ten families of 
 the main body, who now joined those who were encamped 
 at that spot. 
 
 From this place letters were sent on to the main laager to> 
 inform them of the expedition made to the Okovango River,, 
 giving them all particulars and soliciting them to abandon 
 all their plans of trekking along that river. 
 
 In December a party again started for the Okovango 
 River, to visit the company under Kreling. Unfortunately 
 they did not meet them, but were informed by Bushmen 
 of their whereabouts. They returned to Rietfontein and 
 reported this to Mr. G. Alberts. 
 
 They now made preparations for leaving Rietfontein en 
 route for the Okovango. Fortune favoured them, as they 
 found plenty of rain-water in a veldt usually parched and 
 dry. After travelling several days they arrived at Debra,, 
 a fountain some distance from the river. At this place they 
 met a party belonging to Kreling's company. They found 
 these unfortunate people in a wretched state, the majority 
 of them ill with fever, with their cattle lying dead in heaps 
 all around them, having died from the effects of eating 
 poisonous herbs. Every assistance was rendered to them 
 with a view of relieving their sufferings. These unfor- 
 tunate people were without any kind of provisions, and had 
 preserved life by eating the carcases of the dead oxen and 
 such wild roots as they could find. Instead of coffee they 
 used the root of the tree called Witghaat Boom, which, 
 when prepared, wonderfully resembles that article in 
 flavour. 
 
 While lying at Debra, Mr. Alberts received a letter from 
 Mr. Kreling requesting him to visit him, as he was desirous 
 of amalgamating the two parties into one. Mr. Alberte 
 complied with his request, but for some time they could 
 not come to any satisfactory arrangement. However, in 
 February, 1878, the difficulties being overcome, the parties 
 amalgamated, and bound themselves to assist each other,, 
 as very many of their number were by this time nearly 
 destitute, 
 x 
 
306 
 
 THE THIRSTLANI) BOERS. 
 
 In July, while lying at Leeuw Pan, a meeting Mas con- 
 vened for the purpose of electing a new leader, and Mr. G. 
 Botha was appointed. 
 
 Eighteen families here decided to return to the Transvaal, 
 and left the laager for Rietfontein. 
 
 On the 14th a party left to explore the Okovango River 
 to see if it would be advisable co settle in that vicinity. 
 During their absence the main body of the laager shifted 
 up the river to procure better grazing veldt. Mr. Charles 
 Thomas, a Damaraland trader, who was with the laager, 
 remained behind, as he had made arrangements with the 
 native chiefs to allow him to hunt in their country, and 
 had paid the chief two valuable guns and one ox for allowing 
 him the privilege of doing so. On the evening of the 19th inst., 
 Mr. Thomas sent a wagon loaded with goods across the 
 river, unloaded the same, and left three men in charge, he 
 himself returning with the empty wagon. On the follow- 
 ing morning, in company with five farmers, he began to 
 cross the river, but as the party neared the opposite bank, 
 Mr. Thomas, leading on horseback, was fired at by the 
 natives and received a shot in his thigh, the ball passing 
 through the thigh and killing his horse on the spot. Mr. 
 Thomas took to the water and endeavoured to make his 
 escape by swimming back to his wagon, which was about 
 the centre of the river, but the natives plunged in ami 
 killed him with their assegais. The men on the wagon 
 were unable to render him tiny assistance as they were 
 without their guns. These five men then returned to their 
 own side of the river, from which they observed three 
 white men making signs to them. They at once saddled 
 their horses, and rode to their assistance. On reaching 
 them they noticed a large body of natives approaching 
 fully armed, and with the evident intention of killing the 
 three stragglers, but before they could accomplish their 
 object the rescuing party opened fire, killing seven of their 
 number. Mr. R. Lewis, who was in the vicinity, arrived 
 a few days after, and Mr. Kreling proposed sending a 
 patrol of Boers across the river to avenge the death of 
 Mr. Thomas. This was done with success. Five more 
 of the natives fell, but the majority fled, abandoning their 
 kraals, in which were found 100 muids of corn, which 
 proved a great boon to the farmers, many of them at that 
 
A BOLT. 
 
 307 
 
 time being reduced to a state bordering on starvation. 
 Two days after this messengers were sent to a party who 
 bad left to explore the river to inform them of the death 
 •of Mr. Thomas, and to warn them to be on their guard. 
 The messengers, however, returned without meeting the 
 explorers, and with the loss of one horse. 
 
 Mr. Gk Alberts and his son, and Mr. G. van der Merwe, 
 went up the river to obtain the permission of a chief 
 named Bambacantu to travel through his country. While 
 at the kraal of this chief they were seized and threatened 
 with death, unless they agreed to pay the chief a salted 
 horse and a breechloading gun as ransom. It was only by 
 a stratagem that they escaped. They induced the chief to 
 send ten of his men with them to pick out a horse which 
 was at some distance from the kraal. When the Boers 
 reached the place where they had off-saddled, they made a 
 fire and filled a small kettle with water, leading the natives 
 to suppose that they were about to make coffee. In the 
 meantime one of the party caught and quietly saddled the 
 horses, and at a given signal the whole party mounted 
 as one man and galloped away. 
 
 The exploring party had now returned, and reported 
 that they had found a safe and excellent route. A move 
 was at once made from this spot. They travelled along 
 the banks of the Okovango River, and proceeded for 
 several days without anything particular taking place. 
 After proceeding for some distance, the Commandant and 
 Field-cornet left the wagons and went on to an Ovambo 
 kraal, from which place a Damara named Snook had sent 
 a message, stating that he wished to see them, for the 
 purpose of pointing out to them a route by which they 
 would avoid encroaching on the Damaras' territory. 
 
 After the meeting had taken place, the rest of the party 
 came up to this kraal. 
 
 Here the ex-Commandant Kreling left for the purpose 
 of hunting. He took with him four families, and promised 
 to rejoin the main body, but this he has not done up to 
 the present time.* 
 
 The emigrants now continued their course along the 
 river, following the route given by Snook, until they. 
 
 x2 
 
 * January, 1883. 
 
308 
 
 THE THIKSTLAND BOEKS. 
 
 arrived at a place where the roads branched off to Damara- 
 land. The rains having fallen at this point the rivers were 
 very much flooded, and they were compelled to remain 
 there for some time. During this compulsory detention 
 nineteen of their cattle were stolen, but fourteen were 
 eventually recovered. 
 
 The natives at this place showed fight, but did not 
 attempt to cross the river. They were therefore allowed 
 to amuse themselves to their hearts' content without inter- 
 ruption, as they were only wasting powder, and doing 
 no harm. The party now trekked to a place named 
 Wolvelaagter, where they were compelled to divide 
 into two parties, owing to the scarcity of water ^ 
 While lying at this place some Damaras brought a 
 message that their chief Snook had been killed, and 
 his goods taken by the Ovambos. At this time the 
 laager was near the river, but the farmers did not wish 
 to mix themselves up in any native quarrels, so they con- 
 tinued their trek to a place called Klein Boongo. Here 
 they met G. A. and C. Erikson, E. Sabatta, Emil Tretow r . 
 and Axel Wedberg, to whom they communicated the news 
 of the murder of Snook. A party of the laager then left, 
 in company with the abovenamed gentlemen, with the 
 object of recovering the wagons belonging to Snoo.k, in 
 which they were successful. The Ovambos fired upon 
 them, but without effect. A few shots were fired in return,, 
 with what result is unknown. 
 
 From Boongo exploring parties were sent out in all 
 directions in search of water, but did not succeed in finding 
 any. They Avere compelled, therefore, to remain at this 
 spot until January, 1879, depending entirely upon rain 
 water. On the 8th January they again proceeded on their 
 journey. They weie now beset with many serious diffi- 
 culties. The people suffered greatly from thirst, having 
 trekked six days without water, and their stock of food 
 had been exhausted long before. At last they arrived at 
 a place called Witwater, and here fever broke out among 
 them, lasting from January to March, during which time 
 eight deaths took place. A great many recovered, but 
 their sufferings were very great, as they were the whole of 
 this time without medicine. A party went on from Wit- 
 water to Amutunie, from which place they sent back ox em 
 
POISOXED BIRDS 
 
 309 
 
 to help those who were behind, viz., thirteen families, 
 thence they proceeded on to some salt pans. 
 
 Here exploring parties were sent out, under the guidance 
 of Mr. G. Alberts. They first explored the country north- 
 west of Ovamboland, but after two and a half days' ride 
 were compelled to return, having found no water. They 
 then took a south-west course and pushed on until they 
 reached the sea, exploring the whole of the Koako Veldt. 
 They reported that part of the country as being totally 
 unsuitable for traffic, that it was mountainous and stony, 
 badly supplied with water, and the little there was being 
 more or less impregnated with poisonous matter, whether 
 from natural or artificial means could not be ascertained. 
 The discovery was made one day upon returning from 
 opening a new pit. The party noticed some birds drinking 
 at the pits they had at first cleaned oat. To their 
 surprise, almost immediately after some of the birds had 
 drank, they simply fluttered their wings and dropped 
 down dead.* 
 
 On the 10th of May this exploring party rejoined the 
 laager. 
 
 They reported that they had thoroughly explored the 
 Veldt known as the Koako Veldt, but found it a country 
 wholly unfitted for agricultural purposes, or stock-raising. 
 At Six Fountains they found plenty of water, but the 
 land was not at all fertile, in fact not suitable for farming. 
 •On returniug they had found a small tract of land, west of 
 Ovamboland, within a few days of the Cunene River, 
 where they could make a halt for a short time to rest 
 themselves and their cattle, pending the discovery of a 
 suitable place for final settlement. 
 
 On the 18th May the laager made a move, dividing into 
 five parties, on the understanding that they should re-unite 
 .at the resting place described by the exploring party. 
 Their object for so dividing was that in the country 
 through which they had to travel there was a scarcity of 
 water, which is found only in wells and pits at long 
 intervals. They were now trekking through the Damaras' 
 country, and were charged by them an exorbitant price for 
 
 * Not very long after, Mr. A. W. Erikson lost nineteen horses at 
 the same spot — poisoned by drinking the water of this well. 
 
310 
 
 THE THIRSTLAND BOERS. 
 
 water for their cattle, whenever it was to be obtained. 
 This continued through the whole of their journey, they 
 having to pay at many places an ewe sheep and half the 
 game they had shot on the road. 
 
 On the 24th June the entire expedition proceeded and 
 reached the resting place without a mishap, and at the 
 present are lying there.* 
 
 On 8th July, 1879, a company of Boers started from 
 this place en route for che Cunene River, with the view of 
 exploring the country on its northern banks. They made 
 but slow progress, having to cut roads through the bush,, 
 and did not reach the river until the first of August. On 
 arriving at the south-east bank they heard of a large kraal 
 of Ovambo, and sent Messrs. G. van der Merwe, G. 
 Alberts, and J. Redelinghauseu to visit the chief, and 
 explain to him their intention of crossing the River. The 
 chief informed them that Portuguese were living on 
 the northern banks. He agreed to give them guides 
 to conduct them thither. They then formed their wagon 
 into a laager, and chose eleven men to cross the river, with 
 Mr. P. J. Botha as spokesman. This party on arriving at 
 the opposite bank, after proceeding some distance, came to 
 a large kraal, the captain of which informed them that they 
 could proceed no further until he had obtained the consent 
 of a greater chief than himself, who lived with the 
 Portuguese. He promised to send on messengers to 
 obtain this permission, and by the same messengers Mr. 
 Botha addressed a letter to the Portuguese, to inform them 
 of their intentions. In the meantime they were invited by 
 the captain to off-saddle and remain at his kraal until such 
 time as an answer could be received. They consented, 
 and the captain gave them two men to point out the place 
 .at which he advised them to off-saddle. On arriving at 
 the spot, they found themselves on a piece of land nearly 
 surrounded by a tributary of the Cunene River, there being 
 in fact only one narrow outlet. This aroused their 
 suspicions, anjd they kept watch by turns the whole of the 
 night. As nothing happened, they relaxed somewhat in 
 their vigilance ; but at an early hour some of the party 
 went out to gather wil#l fruit, which abounds there^ 
 
 * J.i uarj, 1880. 
 
A FIGHT. 
 
 311 
 
 While up in a tree gathering the fruit, this party noticed 
 several large bodies of natives, fully armed, approaching 
 from all directions. They quickly descended to put their 
 companions on the alert, but, upon arriving, found that the 
 natives had seized all their saddles, &c, and were firing 
 upon the rest. The farmers now found themselves- 
 surrounded on three sides by water and the fourth blocked 
 by armed natives. Their position at the time was anything 
 but pleasant. The river swarmed with crocodiles and 
 hippopotami, rendering escape by that source very 
 dangerous, if not impossible, while the natives far out- 
 numbered them and were armed. They now placed them- 
 selves strictly upon the defensive, firing, only upon those 
 who approached too near, as their supply of ammunition 
 was very limited. While this was going on some of their 
 party managed to catch the horses, which had fortunately 
 strayed down to the water. Mounting upon these bare- 
 backed, they resolved to cut their way through the enemy. 
 Charging furiously, and suddenly and rapidly firing at the 
 same time, they so astonished the natives that they opened 
 up and gave way for them to dash through, thus enabling 
 them to reach a place of safety. On halting they missed 
 Mr. P. J. Botha, whose horse it appears, after proceeding 
 a short distance made a dead stop, and commenced bucking 
 and rearing, — Mr. Botha had taken up behind him the son 
 of the captain, who had been sent as a guide. After con- 
 siderable difficulty he dismounted, as his horse would not 
 take to the water ; he then swam across holding the bridle,, 
 the native holding fast to the tail of the horse. When 
 about half way across the unfortunate native was seized by 
 a crocodile, and carried away ; Mr. Botha, however, suc- 
 ceeded in reaching the opposite bank, though thoroughly 
 exhausted. 
 
 The party who had managed to force their way through 
 the natives, in the manner just related, on reaching their 
 wagons, which had been left ou the south side of the river,, 
 reported the death of Mr. P. J.Botha, under the impression 
 that he had been killed. With a view of avenging his 
 death, a commando was at once formed, and proceeded to 
 the place where the first party had been attacked. They 
 there gave battle to the natives, killing twenty-five of them, 
 burning their kraals and a great quantity of corn, and 
 
312 
 
 THE TH1RSTLAND BOERS. 
 
 •giving them a lesson they are not likely to forget for some 
 time to come. 
 
 While in that locality they were visited by five Portu- 
 guese, with whom they were not able to have much conver- 
 sation owing to the difficulty of understanding each other. 
 The Portuguese invited them to their station, where they 
 were received with their usual hospitality, and, upon leav- 
 ing, the farmers were presented with a barrel of wine, a 
 barrel of brandy, a cask of white sugar, and various sweet- 
 meats. The Portuguese accompanied them a short 
 distance, taking them to the Chief of the people who had 
 been engaged in the attack, and told him that he would 
 bave to pay the .farmers 140 head of cattle as compensation, 
 as the Portuguese had heard that it was the intention of 
 bis people to drive these men into the river, knowing they 
 would be certain to meet their deaths from crocodiles or 
 hippopotami, and then they would appropriate their horses, 
 saddles, &c, &c. The Chief admitted this, and agreed to 
 pay one hundred head of cattle, but these the farmers w r ould 
 not receive, as it was less than the amount awarded, and 
 gave him time to consider the matter. They then re- 
 ■crossed the river and joined their friends. Their astonish- 
 ment was great at finding on their arrival that Mr. Botha 
 had returned, having escaped as before described. They 
 then left the river and proceeded to rejoin the main laager, 
 which they reached on the 25th September. 
 
 The names of the party who made the expedition to the 
 north bank of the Cunene River are as follows : — Mr. 
 P. J. Botha, E. Jordaan, J. du Plessis, P. du Plessis, J. 
 Xabuschagnia, G. van der Merwe, F. C. P van der Merwe, 
 O. Alberts, A. Alberts, L. du Plessis, J. Grobler. 
 
 On the 17th October a message was received at the 
 laager, from the native Captain on the north side of the 
 Cunene River, informing the Commandant that he and his 
 people were in fault, and that he agreed to pay 120 head 
 of cattle. To this the farmers replied that the white 
 man's word is his bond, that a decision once given must 
 be upheld, that they would not take less than 140 head as 
 originally demanded, and that until that number was paid 
 they could not be friends. 
 
 When the writer left the Boers it was still their inten- 
 tion to remain at this resting place until May. At this 
 
CAUGHT BY A CROCODILE. 
 
 313 
 
 time they were enjoying pretty good health, and the 
 comforts of the poorer ones were studied by those better 
 off. In fact all seemed to go on like a piece of machinery, 
 :and notwithstanding all the trials they had gone through 
 they did not seem to regret having left the Transvaal 
 as they were under the belief that they, like their fore- 
 fathers, were destined to be the pioneers of Africa. 
 
 A circumstance took place while this party was at the 
 river which is worthy of mention. A Mrs. Bouwer and 
 four Boer girls went to bathe, and while in the water one 
 of the girls called out " Help me ! help me ! a crocodile 
 has got me," at the same time disappearing under the 
 water. She was a splendid swimmer and rose to the 
 surface again, when her companions rushed in, and caught 
 her by the hair of the head and one hand. After a great 
 struggle, they succeeded in drawing her out, together 
 with a young crocodile fastened to her thigh, which 
 released its hold when on land and got back to the water, 
 there being no one near at hand to kill it. The wound on 
 the leg was very severe, and when the writer last saw the 
 young girl it was still far from being well. 
 
 This journal must now be taken back to the 29th April, 
 1875, upon which day the second party of Boers started 
 from the Transvaal. They proceeded for some distance 
 with six wagons, when they were joined by eight more, 
 .and also on the loth May by thirty-three wagons ; 25th 
 May by seven ; 5th June by eight ; 15th June by eight ; 
 20th June by ten ; in July by thirty-six ; and in August 
 by twelve ; making a total of 128 wagons and 1,958 trek 
 oxen, with as near as we can estimate 480 human beings. 
 They were now upon the banks of the Limpopo Eiver, on 
 reaching which the advance party sent a commission to 
 the chief Khama to gain his permission to trek through 
 his country. To this he consented, but upon the arrival 
 •of the last party at the river the chief withdrew his con- 
 ; sent, sending them a letter to that effect. The Boers, 
 however, held him to his promise, and determined to 
 ■continue their journey. 
 
 A large body of people being now assembled, the party 
 .saw the necessity of choosing a commandant and making 
 trek laws and regulations. Mr. Kreling was elected as 
 Commandant, and Mr. Low du Plessis as Field-cornet. 
 
214 
 
 THE Till RSTL AND BOERS. 
 
 They remained at the river nearly two years, and were 
 casually visited by the Rev. Messrs. Du Piessis and Leon 
 Cachet, during which visit baptismal and confirmation 
 services were held. 
 
 During this period they sustained great losses ; both 
 young and old dying of fever. Numbers of their horses 
 and cattle were killed by lions, and many of the cattle 
 were stolen by the natives, but for the latter they received 
 compensation from the captain, Sitscheli. 
 
 Preparations were now made for trekking to join the 
 first party that had left the Transvaal, whose adventures 
 we have just narrated. But upon asking the chief Khama 
 at Bamangwato for guides, he replied : " The first time 
 you sent to me I gave my consent for you to travel through 
 the thirst veldt, but upon considering the matter I have 
 thought better of it, and would strongly advise you not to 
 do so, for you are sure to die in the attempt, and I do not 
 wish to be held responsible for so many deaths as will 
 undoubtedly take place.' 1 They continued their journey, 
 however, sustaining losses the whole of the time. 
 
 The Laager now became dissatisfied with their Com- 
 mandant for special reasons, and called for a re-election, 
 when Mr. Du Piessis was elected head and Mr. Erasmus 
 as Field-cornet. 
 
 They now trekked along the Limpopo, following a 
 northerly course, eventually arriving at Motlotse. While 
 here they received notice from Khama that they were not 
 to travel through his country. The Rev. Hebbes also paid 
 them a visit, and endeavoured to persuade them to abandon 
 the idea of trekking through the thirst veldt. But it was 
 considered absolutely necessary to travel on, owing to the 
 general sickness prevailing, and it was decided to make a 
 move at once. They then divided themselves into three 
 parties, and trekked to a place called Motlatse, where they 
 re-united. From this place they decided to send forward' 
 all their loose cattle, horses, sheep, goats, &c, &c, number- 
 ing as follows : 7,536 oxen and cows, 483 horses, 1,034 
 sheep and bucks, thirty-two donkeys, 213 dogs, 486 fowls,, 
 ducks and geese. After having started off the aforesaid 
 loose stock, they again divided themselves into three parties,, 
 arranging that they should travel to the first watering 
 place, named Inkavan, allowing an interval of three days 
 
PAJNFUL SCENES 
 
 31.5 
 
 to elapse between eacb party. On the arrival of the first 
 of this party at Inkavan, they found to their dismay that 
 there was no water. Up to that time the loose cattle, &c, 
 &c, had been three days and three nights without watei, 
 and were beyond all control, rushing about the veldt in a 
 frantic state. The bellowing of the cattle, and the various • 
 noises made by the domestic animals, is said to have been 
 simply indescribable. The trek oxen now got mixed with 
 the loose cattle, and with great difficulty were caught. . 
 The loose cattle, however, made off in search of water, and 
 strayed in every direction. They succeeded in recovering 
 only 326 of them at this place, but eventually they got 600 
 more which had fallen into the hands of Europeans. The 
 remainder have not been heard of up to the present day. 
 
 They then commenced to clean out the pits to see if they 
 could obtain water, as their casks were all nearly empty. 
 They succeeded in obtaining a small quantity, enough to 
 give their people four tablespoonsful each. The trek oxen 
 during this time had to be kept tied fast. Through some 
 misunderstanding, the whole of the remainder of the ex- 
 pedition joined them at this place, in endeavouring to reach 
 which they had suffered great hardships. They had- 
 thrown away a quantity of goods, furniture, and even 
 provisions, to lighten their wagons, as the roads were very 
 heavy and sandy, and their cattle knocked up, the veld 
 being devoid of all vegetation. 
 
 After a few hours' rest they inspanned and continued 
 their journey, trekking for three days and three nights 
 without water. During this time the people were com- 
 pelled to drink the blood of any stray animal they could 
 catch and slaughter, also the water contained in the 
 stomach, and even this disgusting supply had to be served 
 out by tablespoonsful. Xo pen can describe the horrors 
 and painful scenes that took place during this trek. At 
 one wagon you would see a family, who had by chance 
 caught a stray sheep or buck which they had slaughtered, . 
 eagerly drinking the warm blood ; while others were 
 fighting for the possession of the paunch, for the sake of 
 the water contained therein. The noises made by the 
 various animals in their agony of thirst had a most 
 unearthly sound, the memories of which will never be 
 forgotten by those who heard them. The unfortunate men 
 
316 
 
 THE THIRSTLAXD BOERS. 
 
 could do nothing to relieve these fearful sufferings, but, 
 through the whole of these trying scenes, the courage of 
 the Africander never failed them ; they still persevered, 
 and determined to overcome all obstacles. The majority, 
 with patient endurance, proceeded on to Klackani on foot, 
 taking every kind of utensil that would hold water, leaving 
 wives aud children to follow in their wagons, etc. On 
 arriving at that place they found drink-water, and filling 
 all their utensils, at once started back to their families, by 
 whom they were received with the greatest joy. After 
 quenching their thirst the entire Laager offered up a 
 thanksgiving prayer to the Almighty for the great blessing 
 of this precious article. By the exercise of great patience 
 and perseverance the wagons eventually reached Klackani, 
 not, however, without leaving many of their cattle behind 
 them, several of which died in the yoke. At this place 
 they filled their water casks, and got sufficient for two 
 spans of oxen, which two spans were sent with wagons to 
 Meer, loaded with various utensils to bring back water ; 
 the loose cattle also went with them. When they reached 
 ]VIeer, the cattle, with the exception of the two spans, had 
 .been seven and a-half days and nights without water, and 
 no less than one hundred and fifty died on the road between 
 the abovenamed places. A number of the women and 
 children left the wagons and started on foot in search of 
 water. In the darkness they mistook a pan (at 
 that time reduced to mud) for water. The poor 
 creatures made a rush for it, falling into the slimy 
 matter, taking it by hands-full, putting it into their 
 mouths, and endeavouring thus to quench the agony of 
 their thirst. While at this place the missionary of 
 Bamangwato, the Rev. Hebbes, who was on a visit to 
 Meer, sent them two wagons loaded with water, thereby 
 rendering them a very great service, the distance between 
 the two places being two and a half days and nights, and 
 that without a drop of water. 
 
 While one of their party, a Mr. Du Plessis, was out in 
 search of water, having taken with him a spade and a tin 
 bucket, and, after an unsuccessful search, was retracing 
 bis steps, he was confronted by a lion, which he kept at 
 Ibay throughout the whole night by making a continuous 
 noise with his spade and tin bucket. When daylight 
 
CATTLE RECOVERED. 
 
 317 
 
 approached the lion took bis departure, much to Mr. Du 
 Plessis' relief. 
 
 The people who had gone on with the loose cattle rested 
 at Meer for fifteen days, and then returned back to their 
 wagons, taking with them 256 head of cattle, which they 
 had picked out of the 326 recovered by them, as stated a 
 few pages back. 
 
 After struggling for two and a half months, they 
 managed to bring all their wagons through tbe thirst veldt,, 
 with the exception of eight, which they were compelled to 
 leave behind, and these, so far as they know, are there to 
 this day. During the whole of this time their cattle only 
 drank water once in seven days and nights. 
 
 While at Klackani they heard that a lot of their stray 
 cattle were at Bamangwato, and sent ten of their party to 
 fetch them. Upon arriving there they received 600 head, 
 and heard that 400 more were in the hands of two 
 foreigners living in the Transvaal. They at once wrote 
 to the Field-cornet at Marico, W« H. Benkes, informing 
 him of the fact. That gentleman interested himself in the 
 matter and restored them. 
 
 The emigrants now made an attempt to recover the 
 goods, &c, which they had left in the thirst veldt, but 
 found the greater part of them missing ; no doubt these bad- 
 been taken by the natives. All that was left was brought 
 out, and the party proceeded to rejoin their main body. 
 
 In the early part of August, preparations were made to 
 leave Meer, and the first party made a start for Kurrigas 
 Draai, at which place they arrived without any mishap. 
 Here they remained until the whole expedition bad joined 
 them, acting up to a system adopted of sending back cattle 
 to assist such of their party as were in need. They then 
 proceeded on to Sibbiton's Drift, trekking in the same 
 order. At this place a census of the laager was taken,, 
 and it was found that thirty-seven had died from fever anci 
 thirst. 
 
 From this place they sent letters to the first party, who 
 were then lying at Rietfontein (the party of which Mr.. 
 G-. Alberts was the headman), asking t^em to assist by 
 sending them trek oxen. This request was at once- 
 responded to, and 183 head of cattle were sent, which 
 proved of great service, enabling them to proceed on their 
 
3 IS 
 
 THE THIRSTLAND BOERS. 
 
 journey. They moved on to a spot well known on account 
 of a large tree, with a hollow trunk, which is made use of 
 by the traders and hunters as a post office, and is known 
 by the name of the " letter-tree." At this place they were 
 compelled to leave two wagons, having no cattle to take 
 them along. The people, however, were accomodated in 
 other wagons, and the journey continued along the banks 
 of the Okavango River, towards the north. After fifteen 
 days' travelling they arrived at an Ovambo kraal, Avhich is 
 under a chief named Maketto. At this kraal they found 
 the tsetse fly abounding, and were compelled to continue 
 on their journey through the fly district for two nights and 
 one day, in doing which they lost several head of cattle, 
 forty goats and sheep, and three horses. One of the 
 latter was killed on the last night of their trek by a lion. 
 
 Upon arriving at a piece of open ground they rested for 
 a few days, at the expiration of which they again started, 
 travelling along the banks of the river towards N'Gami. 
 Upon their arrival there the Chief Moreymi visited the 
 laager and asked the commandant to give him one of the 
 young farmer girls for a Avife. As may be supposed he 
 received a very sharp reply to his request, and was given 
 distinctly to understand that white people do not inter- 
 marry Avith Kafirs. The commandant then asked his 
 permission to trek along the river, to which he replied that 
 there Avas no road along the river but Avhat was infested 
 with the tsetse fly. The commandant then said he would 
 explore the river, and judge for himself. The laager was 
 put into motion, and they journeyed for two days, when 
 they again halted. Here Mr. Low du Plessis left the main 
 body of the laager, with thirteen wagons, en route for 
 Rietfontein, Avhich he reached after eleA'en days' trekking, 
 being fortunate enough to obtain plenty of rain water on 
 the road. 
 
 On the 9th October the remainder of the party moved 
 on to a place named Muispan, Avhere symptoms of fever 
 began to be observed among the people, and several died. 
 The suiwiA r ors, trekking from this place, proceeded on for 
 three days. They then made a halt, and, Avhile there, 
 received a letter from the chief Moreymi, in reply to a 
 demand for payment of thirty head of cattle as recompense 
 for oxen and horses lott Avhen passing through his country 
 
DEATHS FROM FEVER. 
 
 319 
 
 owing to their having fallen into game pits, &c. With 
 this demand he refused to comply, and with reference to a 
 threat conveyed in the same letter, that in the event of his 
 refusing they would help themselves from one of his posts, 
 which was close at hand, he replied that he was quite 
 prepared to protect his own property, and that if they 
 wished to tight he was ready. In reply to this the com- 
 mandant informed him that he also was prepared, but 
 advised the Chief not to undertake the commencement of a 
 war, as they had not come into his country to shed blood. 
 
 After this Moreymi, the Chief, sent them a white ox as 
 :token of friendship, requesting that it might be slaughtered 
 .and the flesh distributed among the laager, so that each 
 might get a small piece, adding that for the future they 
 might travel in any direction they thought proper, without 
 molestation on his part, or that of his people. The ox 
 was, however, not received by the commandant, which 
 turned out to be fortunate, as on the following morning it 
 was found dead, with every indication of having been 
 poisoned. 
 
 At this place five more of the party died. Exploring 
 parties were now sent out, and on their return reported 
 having found a large pan of water, to which the entire 
 laager trekked. On reaching the pan they found it to be 
 rainwater, and not likely to last them more than three or 
 four days. 
 
 On the fourth day they trekked towards the river ; but 
 while on their way rain had fallen ; and acting upon a 
 report brought in by some of their party that the pan they 
 had just left had now an abundance of water, they retraced 
 their steps, and remained there for eight days. 
 
 The laager now divided into two parties, the one making 
 for the river and the other for the desert, the latter depend- 
 ing upon rainwater. After travelling for a few days they 
 arrived at a place called Haakdoorn, and there remained 
 some time. From this place they sent back four of their 
 number to see how the party who had trekked towards the. 
 river were getting on, but only one reached there, the 
 horses of the other three having. died from the sting of the 
 ■ tsetse fly. 
 
 From Haakdoorn they made a trek for three days, and 
 . arrived at a. large vley called by them Grootvley. While 
 
320 
 
 THE THLRSTLAND BOERS. 
 
 there one of tbeir party (Hans Harvertier) died through- 
 eating poisoned apples. The messenger above mentioned, 
 who had succeeded in reaching the other division, now 
 returned, bringing with him the whole of the party who 
 had trekked towards the river. They again divided into 
 two parties, thirty families starting once more for the 
 river, and the remainder for a large pan of water, which 
 thev named NeV Year's Vley, which place was reached 
 after three days' travelling. Leaving this place after 
 another three days' trek, they arrived at Kalkpan, which 
 was full of water. Exploring parties were sent out, who, 
 on returning, reported having found water at a place called 
 Rooiboklaagte, to which the whole laager trekked, arriving 
 there after five days' travelling. At the expiration of fif- 
 teen days a party of fourteen wagons detached themselves 
 and proceeded towards the river, the main laager trekking 
 towards a place called Buffelsfontein. During the whole 
 of this time they suffered very much from fever and hunger, . 
 the men being unable to hunt owing to illness, and the- 
 people, therefore, being compelled to subsist on roots and 
 wild herbs. 
 
 It was now deemed necessary to ascertain how the party 
 of thirty families, who had left the main body first, were 
 o-etting "on. Upon coming up to them, it was found that 
 thev had suffered great hardships, and twenty of their 
 families decided to rejoin the main body, ten remaining at 
 the river. They had lost all their cattle by the tsetse fly. 
 
 On the 10th February, main body trekked from Buffels- 
 fontein, and after five days reach " Vogel Pan," so named 
 on account of its variety of waterfowls. Thence they pro- 
 ceeded to " Cream of Tartar Pan," from which place a 
 prospecting party was sent out, who, on returning, reported 
 having found a place named " Debra," where M. Gr. 
 Alberts and his party were staying, all suffering greatly 
 from the effects of fever. They now journeyed for three 
 days, and reached a place called " Sandfontein," and 
 remained there eighteen days, during which time five of 
 their party died of fever, and a great number of their cattle 
 from the tsetse fly. They then proceeded to " Debra," a 
 march of three days, and there found Mr. G. Alberts and. 
 his party whom they joined. During their stay at that 
 place nineteen more of their people died from fever. 
 
DEPLORABLE CONDITION. 
 
 321 
 
 We now turn to the party who detached themselves from 
 the main body with fourteen wagons, at " G-root Vley.' r 
 This party, after three days' travelling, arrived at a place 
 called " Grootfontein," where they remained one month. 
 Here a young man, named Wm. Prins, while out hunting, 
 was cruelly murdered by Bushmen. This murder was 
 discovered in the following way : — The mare ridden by the 
 unfortunate young man was followed by her foal, which 
 returned the next day to the laager alone. Suspicion was- 
 aroused, and the spoor was taken up and followed, when 
 the body of the murdered young man was found, stripped 
 of all clothing, and pierced with assegai wounds. 
 Death must have been instantaneous. The mare was also 
 found dead, pierced with assegai wounds. 
 
 This party had now lost all their cattle from some 
 disease totally unknown to them, and were consequently 
 unable to continue their journey. They sent messengers 
 to the Laager at Debra, asking for assistance, which was 
 promptly rendered, and their wagons brought on to that 
 place. 
 
 While lying at Debra, a message was received from the 
 party with the ten wagons at the river, reporting that all 
 were very ill of fever. Cattle were sent to them at once 
 to bring them out ; they were found in a most deplorable 
 condition, such as no pen can describe. One and all of 
 them were reduced by fever. Some of their native servants 
 were dead, and the remainder laid up. As no one was able 
 to hunt, these poor people were reduced to a state of 
 starvation, many entire families tasting food only once 
 every third day, and then only getting roots brought to 
 them by natives, which had to be eaten raw, as no one had 
 strength to kindle a fire. From the different wagons, the 
 moanings and cries of men, women, and children could be 
 heard calling out for assistance, which no one was able to 
 render. Then again were heard the shouts and ravings of 
 unfortunate men or women, who in their delirium had got 
 out of their wagons and had strayed into the wocds, there 
 to die, as no one was able to assist them to get 
 back. At another spot were men and women, who, for 
 the time, had got slightly better of the fever, and who 
 were trying to cut pieces of flesh from the carcases of 
 oxen that had died, and were endeavouring to cook the 
 
 T ' 
 
322 
 
 THE THIRSTLAND BOERS. 
 
 flesh for their children, the little ones ravenously devouring 
 the food, and parents and children trying to satisfy the 
 cravings of hunger for a short time before being released 
 by death. 
 
 As soon as possible their wagons were insjanned, and 
 t rekked along the banks of the Okovango Eiver until they 
 r eached an Ovambo kraal, owned by a chief named Endara, 
 who behaved very handsomely, giving them plenty of food, 
 and furnishing them with guides to take them on to 
 Elephants Pan. It was at this Pan that Messrs. Van Zyl, 
 jun., P. J. Botha, and Lourens, killed 103 elephants in one 
 day. 
 
 They remained there for some time, suffering greatly 
 from fever, forty-three of them having died. The names 
 of the deceased were C. Labuschagne, wife and four 
 ■children ; J. Labuschagne, wife and two children ; Gert 
 du Prins, wife and one child ; P. de Prins, wife and three 
 children : P. de Bruin, wife and three children ; J. von 
 Voere, and two children ; L. Knotze, and three children ; 
 P. J. van Rensenberg, wife and three children ; G. 
 Koekermoer, and four children ; P. von Voere, and two 
 children. These unfortunate people were buried in their 
 clothes by the natives — their surviving friends, twenty-two 
 in number, being too weak to perform the last offices to the 
 dead. Two of the natives then left in search of some 
 hunters, who might perchance be in the vicinity, and 
 fortunately met Mr. Lourens and his son, who immediately 
 went to their assistance. On their way they met Mr. 
 Harry Boyn, who joined them in their good work, the latter 
 particularly supplying many articles to the sick that they 
 were greatly in need of. Mr. Lourens then sent out people 
 in search of the main laager, to inform them of what had 
 happened. They met Adrian Kruger, one of the hunters 
 of the laager, whom they informed of the calamities that 
 had taken place. He at once started with his wagons for 
 the spot, and brought the whole party out to the main 
 laager, lying at Debra. Oxen were then sent to bring 
 their wagons in, and an effort was made to make the graves 
 of the deceased as neat as possible. 
 
 All the members of the Expedition were now together. 
 As the writer left the Trek Boers at this place, he does 
 not consider it necessary to continue his notes to a later 
 
RELIEF. 
 
 323 
 
 period. Accounts of what happened subsequently will be 
 found in the columns of the Cape newspapers. It U 
 sufficient to say here, that when the inhabitants of Cape 
 Town heard of the terrible hardships which these un- 
 fortunate people had gone through, and were made 
 acquainted with the perilous position in which they were 
 then placed, relief expeditions were immediately organised, 
 towards which the colonists liberally contributed. The 
 expedition, under Mr. Haybittle, succeeded in bringing 
 relief to the sufferers, for which they were very grateful, 
 and which no doubt saved many from death. When the 
 writer left, the majority were reduced to the bare clothing 
 in which they stood, and he was informed, upon visiting 
 them afterwards, that when the party returned who had 
 gone to Walwich Bay to bring up the food and comforts 
 forwarded from Cape Town, they found that all left in the 
 laager were down with fever, some nine or ten had died 
 during their absence, and but for the seasonable supply 
 from Cape Town nearly the whole would probably have 
 perished. In September, 1880, this party consisted of 
 fiftv-seven families, numbering 270 souls, with fifty 
 servants who had accompanied them from the Transvaal, 
 and sixty-one wagons drawn by 8-iO oxen, they had 2,160 
 head of cattle, 120 horses, and 3,000 sheep and goats, and 
 with these started for Huilla in the Portuguese territory, 
 where they are now settled. The Portuguese have granted 
 them farms, permitting the Boers to appoint their own 
 officials and make their own regulations, subject always, 
 however, to the authority of the Portuguese Government. 
 
 The following documents and notes alluded to in the 
 foregoing pages may prove interesting to the reader : — 
 
 No. 1.] 
 
 August 4, 1875, Lake X'Gami. 
 
 To the Trekboers. 
 
 This letter is to inform you of a message of the Captain 
 Moreymi, to learn the particulars of your coming into my 
 country to hunt, with your own permission and strength. 
 I now give you notice to quit my country by the same 
 route you entered it, and if you insist upon coming into 
 my country j then come and see me first, as it is necessarv 
 y2 
 
324 
 
 THE THIRSTLAND BOERS. 
 
 for people to gain my permission, so if your intentions are- 
 peaceable then come and see me, or go back while we are 
 friends. 
 
 (Signed) Capt. Moreymi, 
 
 Lake N' Garni. 
 
 No. 2.] 
 
 August 17, 1875. 
 
 To the Trekboers. 
 
 Dear Friends, — I send you this letter to inform you 
 that I am in receipt of your message. I am glad to learn 
 by it that your intentions are peaceable, I do not wish to 
 expose or compel you to travel in the fly country, but will 
 see that your wagons get a good standing place. I would 
 then wish three of your party to visit me, so that we can 
 speak to one another, for in days gone by many hunters 
 have come into my countiy, and now there seems to be a 
 rupture in my country, so come to me and I will speak to* 
 you as friends. 
 
 (Signed) Moreymi, in Peace, 
 
 " Lake N'Gami." 
 
 No. 1. — Reply.] 
 
 The Laager, 18th August, 1875. 
 
 To Captain Moreymi. 
 
 Your letters have been received by our laager. I beg to* 
 inform you that our presence in your country is peaceable 
 all we wish for is for you to give us permission to trek 
 through it. We wish to travel westwards towards the 
 sea, in search of land whereon to settle, but do not wish im 
 any way to encroach or trespass on your land or country. 
 
 (Signed) G. Albert, 
 
 Foreman of the Laager, 
 
 " Gibion," 9th January, 1876. 
 
 To the Trekboers. 
 
 Dear Boers, — I have heard that your intentions are 
 warlike, and that you wish to take this country by war,. 
 If this is true then I say nothing, but if not true then I 
 say to you go back, for I do not wish to have you in this* 
 
BACK ! BACK ! 
 
 325 
 
 ^country, Nor do I wish to have anything to say or do 
 with you, so I tell you freely that if your intentions are 
 friendly, then turn back, as I do not wish to see you in my 
 .country. I tell you once, I tell you twice, I tell you three 
 times, turn back. 
 
 I am, 
 
 (Signed) Klein Kidoo Witboy. 
 
 No. 3.] 
 
 " Gobabis," 31st Dec, 1876. 
 To the Farmers now lying at Rietfontein. 
 
 Yes I have heard that you are now trekking in search 
 ■of land to settle on, either to buy or borrow, and three of 
 jour party were at " G-obabis " on Captain Adrian 
 .Lambert's Station just before my arrival, to ask his per- 
 mission to allow you the right of going further into the 
 ..country, but this he refused, and he was perfectly right in 
 doing so. So now this letter is written in the names of 
 .all the Captains of Damaraland, and the Under Captains 
 and people, and in the names of all Hottentots in Namaqua- 
 land and their people. Well, you Boers, what land do you 
 search for ? here is no land that we can sell, lend, or give 
 you ; our land we require for ourselves ; so immediately 
 upon receipt of this letter, make up your minds to go 
 back once, in haste once, in haste twice, in haste three 
 times, back, back back, you go to your own country, 
 away from Reitfontein, — that is not your place, who gave 
 you the right to live there ? and if you will not listen to 
 this letter, and it goes bad with you, you will have your- 
 selves to blame and not us. 
 
 (Signed) Andreas Lambert and Saul Shepherd, 
 Captain of Barmen, Damaraland. 
 
 Damaraland, Okahandja, 
 
 9th April, 1877. 
 
 'To the Trekboers. 
 
 From time to time I hear reports that your people are 
 coming to take my country, most of you being farmers of 
 
326 
 
 THE THIRSTLAND BOERS. 
 
 the Transvaal, and that your people keep coming from the 
 Transvaal along the " N'Impopo " River, with the inten- 
 tion of taking part of my country from me. I am the 
 Paramount Chief of the whole of the country called 
 Damara'and, with the sanction of my under captains and 
 advisers, I protest against the actions of your people, so I 
 Avish now to inform yon that I have given my country 
 over to a man of my own choosing, and have asked the 
 Government of the Cape Colony to send me a magistrate*, 
 so as to give my country over to that Government. 
 
 (Signed) Kamaherero, 
 
 Chief of Damar a iand, 
 Witnesses : his ^ mark. 
 
 H, Hegner, 
 B. B. Bjorkland. 
 
 No. 4.] 
 
 Lake " N'Gami," May 16th, 1877. 
 
 To the Trekboers. 
 
 I received your message from Roberts, and I do not 
 know what is the meaning of it. You accuse me of 
 turning some of your people back from here ; this I have 
 certainly done, but I do not know what you have to do with 
 it, if I like to turn people back, considering it is my own 
 country. In your message to me by Roberts, you threaten 
 me with war if I dare to turn your people back. Now if 
 you wish to fight with me I'm your Moses, ready I am - T 
 the reason I turned the men back was because they wanted 
 to buy ground, from me, and I did not wish to sell. Now if 
 you do not wish to make any disturbance in the country 
 I advise you to inspan your wagons, and go back to where 
 you came from. 
 
 (Signed) Moreymi, Chief Bechuana Tribe, 
 
 Lake " N'Gami." 
 
 LAWS AND REGULATIONS OF THE TREK ROERS. 
 
 Article 1. — That the laws and regulations remain in 
 force as long as we are trekking, or until sueh time as w& 
 come to a permanent stand, and each person or person* 
 shall be compelled to abide by the same, and the right 
 
LAWS IX THE DESERT. 
 
 327 
 
 shall be reserved of adding to or amending these laws and 
 regulations. 
 
 Article 2. — There shall not be more than one comman- 
 dant over us at a time, neither shall there be more than 
 one field-cornet and landdrost, and all officials shall be 
 elected by vote. Any person using bribery or other unjust 
 means to obtain votes shall be liable to a penalty of from 
 five to ten pounds sterling. 
 
 Article 3. — Attached to the landdrost there shall be two 
 jurymen, before whom all civil and criminal cases shall be 
 tried, and any decision arrived at not being satisfactory the 
 case shall be referred to the commandant. 
 
 Article 4. — All cases tried before the landdrost to be 
 sent in writing to the commandant. 
 
 Article 5. — It will be necessary, before any marriage 
 takes place, to inform the landdrost so that he may publish 
 the banns for three consecutive Sundays. 
 
 Article 6. — In case of death it shall be necessary for the 
 field-cornet to inform the landdrost within a period of 
 fifteen days whether the deceased left a will or not. In 
 the case of an entire family dying, the landdrost shall 
 investigate the case, with the consent of the commandant 
 and field-cornet. In the case of an intestate estate the 
 matter shall be referred to two disinterested parties, and 
 their effects valued. Any will or testament found shall be 
 carried out as specified. 
 
 Article 7. — The commandant is responsible for maintain- 
 ing order and quietness in the camp. 
 
 Article 8. — No official shall be allowed to resign without 
 giving good cause for doing so, and any official absenting 
 himself during the trial of any case shall be liable to a fine 
 as follows : — Landdrost or jurymen, 37s. 6d. to £30 ; 
 commandant, 15s. to £22 10s. ; field-cornet, 7s. 6d. to £21 
 12s. 6d. 
 
 Article 9. — The field-cornet will receive his orders from 
 the commandant, and be responsible that no hunting, firing 
 of guns, or breaking of the Sabbath day, takes place. 
 
 Article 10. — Each person will be expected to respect the 
 field-cornet, and no person shall be allowed to strike or 
 injure another. Anyone found so doing will be liable to a 
 fine of £2 os. sterling. 
 
 Article 1 1. — All murderers shall be hanged. 
 
,328 
 
 THE THIRSTLAND BOERS. 
 
 Article 12. — Any person found guilty of slander, of 
 speaking evil of the women belonging to the laager, or 
 injuring their characters in any way, shall be liable to a 
 fine of from 75s. to £7. 
 
 Article 13. — Any person found guilty of perjury shall 
 be liable to a penalty to be fixed by the Landdrost, accord* 
 ing to the enormity of the case. 
 
 Article 14. — Any person caught stealing or in possession 
 of anything not his own property shall be punished 
 accordingly. 
 
 Article 15. — No person shall be allowed to shoot game 
 and waste it, and any person found doing so shall be 
 punished accordingly. 
 
 Article 16. — Each member of the laager shall respect 
 the officials, and each official shall pay respect to their 
 superiors in office, and in case of any dispute arising 
 between them, three of the people shall be elected to 
 enquire into the case. All officials shall report themselves 
 to the commandant once every four months. 
 
 Article 17. — Ail civil or criminal cases shall be reported 
 to the field-cornet, and then to the commandant, and the 
 field-cornet shall not have power to inflict a fine for any 
 sum exceeding 37s. 6d., and all fines when paid to be 
 placed in the Public Treasury. The field-cornet shall be 
 allowed to charge one shilling per hour for his services. 
 
 Article 18. — For all marriages the sum of £1 shall be 
 paid to the landdrost, to be divided as follows, 15s. for the 
 landdrost, 2s. each for the witnesses, and Is. for the clerk. 
 
 Article 19. — No person shall be allowed to enter into 
 any arrangement with any native without the sanction of 
 the commandant, and any person infringing this rule will 
 be liable to a fine of £50 to £100 sterling. 
 
 Article 20. — All sales of property shall be held under 
 the administration of the landdrost, and for every £7 10s. 
 value sold os. shall be charged, to be paid into the Public 
 Treasury. 
 
 Article 21. — In case of anyone being accused of' murder, 
 an investigation shall be made, and after the expiration of 
 four weeks a special court shall be convened, before which 
 the accused shall be tried ; any person found guilty of 
 manslaughter shall be ] unished in accordance with the 
 nature of the case. 
 
DESERT WATERS 
 
 329 
 
 Article 22. — ISTo monthly or hired servants shall be 
 allowed to quit their employers without due notice. 
 
 Article 23. — Four persous shall be chosen from the 
 ^people to assist the commandant in any case of necessity. 
 
 XOTES. 
 
 Amutunie. — This is a splendid fountain, lying on the out- 
 skirts of the Damara Reserve, and is a resort for elephant 
 and ostrich hunters. Some hunters left at this place by 
 Mr. H. Hart, trading for Messrs. A. W. Eriksson & Co., 
 ^vvere captured by a party of Ovambos on the 10th July, 
 1879 ; for some days these people had brought them corn 
 beer, and appeared to be friendly, but on the morning of the 
 loth, while the hunters were drinking their early coffee, 
 the Ovambo attacked them with their knobkerries, stunning 
 them and then tying them fast. They took possession of 
 their horses (five in number), guns, &c, &c, in fact 
 everything they possessed, and took them on to Olukonda, 
 the residence of Kambonde, paramount king of the 
 Ovambo tribes. The under chief Himene reported that he 
 •had captured three Boers. The King at once gave orders 
 -to kill them, which was done. 
 
 Upon Messrs. W. W. Jordan and H. Hart reaching 
 Olukonda, together with Messrs. B. B. Bjorklund, Skog- 
 lund, Reignonen, and Rautenan, Finnish Missionaries, they 
 were told that the people had been killed, under the 
 impression that they were Boers, and the chief told him 
 that they would not allow any Boers to travel in his 
 country, as his people were afraid of them. The horses 
 .and guns were eventually returned. 
 
 Elephant's Pan. — This is a large pan which is filled with 
 water during the rainy season ; it is situated in the centre 
 •of the hunting ground. In 1877, a party of hunters, con- 
 sisting of Messrs. P. van Zyl and sons, Lourens and son, 
 Botha, and a few others, while hunting in that vicinity 
 •discovered this pan almost dry, and reduced to thick mud, 
 into which they succeeded in driving a large troop of 
 •elephants, where they stuck fast, and the entire lot were 
 killed, numbering 103. Such a wholesale slaughter was 
 jiever before witnessed by any African hunter. 
 
 G-root Vley. — At this place Mr. Stephanus du Plessis, 
 
330 
 
 THE THIRSTLAND BOERS. 
 
 an old man, died through the effects of eating poisoned" 
 fruit. 
 
 Vogel Pan. — This is very large, much resembling a 
 small lake. While lying there the Boers had fine sport,, 
 shooting quantities of large game and of water-fowl, such as 
 wild geese, muscovys, water-hen and herons of various 
 kinds. This pan is a few days' trek from the Okovango 
 River. 
 
 Sibbitans Drift. — At this place Mr. Kreling was 
 re-elected as foreman, and held office until the amalgama- 
 tion of the laager took place. 
 
 Kalahari. — While in this locality a heifer, belonging to 
 Mr. Van de Merwe, lived for twenty-one days without 
 water, and is at the present time doing well. 
 
 Okovango River. — Here Mr. C. C. Thomas met with his 
 untimely death. It has been stated in some reports that he 
 was killed by some bastard Portuguese traders, but such was 
 not the case, he was murdered by the natives, which is 
 confirmed by the trek Boers who were on the spot. 
 
 Snook, Dainara name Kariengembo. — This man was a 
 servant in the employ of Europeans some years ago, when 
 hunting in this country. Since which time he has been in. 
 constant intercourse with white men, notwithstanding 
 which, when in the veldt, he conducted himself like a 
 bloodthirsty savage. In 1877, while Mrs. G-reen, widow 
 of the late Mr. F. Green, was in the hunting veldt, this 
 man committed the most horrible cruelties in her presence 
 on a Colonial man, named Frans April, and a Bushman. 
 Snook with twenty of his followers attacked the latter 
 with knobkerries, and stunned him, then took sjamboks 
 and thrashed him until his body was one raw mass of 
 flesh, then kindled a large fire and burnt him still living. 
 The life of the former was saved by the heroic conduct of 
 Mis. Green, who rushed towards the scene, and threw a 
 covering over him, not, however, until he had one eye 
 knocked out, and received numerous other bruises. Such 
 cruelties are now inflicted daily by the Beast Damaras,. 
 while in the hunting veldt upon the Bushmen and Berg 
 Damaras. In 1878, while Snook was in an Ovambo Kraal 
 with twenty of his followers, he threatened to assegai the 
 captain, and would have done so had he not been pre- 
 vented. It is not to be wondered at that the perpetrator of 
 
KILLING. 
 
 331 
 
 many cruelties should have met his death in the manner 
 described in the Journal. Upon Katjearene, captain of 
 the Omaruiu tribe, hearing of his death, he immediately 
 caused forty innocent Ovambos who were living at that 
 place to be killed. These unfortunate people belonged to 
 quite a different tribe to those who had killed Snook, and. 
 spoke quite a different language. The massacre took 
 place so quietly that the Europeans living upon the place 
 knew nothing about it until it was all over. 
 
 Cunene River. — The Boers struck this river about the 
 Cataracts, some seventy miles from its mouth. They 
 describe it as a beautiful river, the sound of the Falls 
 being so great that it is almost impossible to hear anyone 
 speaking within a distance of 500 yards of them. 
 Hippopotami and crocodiles abound in it. They killed, 
 about forty of the former, which they cured and made into 
 splendid bacon and hams, which proved a great boon to 
 them. 
 
 Letters. — Only a portion of those received appear in 
 the notes to this Journal, the remainder being in possession 
 of Mr. Kreling, who has not been seen since he left the 
 laager as before stated. 
 
 Names : — Throughout this journal the names of places 
 have been given as they were known to the Boers, who in 
 most instances named them after some local peculiarity. A 
 few of the native names are appended. It may here be 
 mentioned, as to the spelling of the farmers' names, that 
 though differing from the spelling in the Colony, the form- 
 has been followed which is adopted by themselves. 
 
 Origs-Pits. — -This is a place within three days of the 
 
 * It may bo interesting to the philologist to know that in this 
 region, as indeed northwards throughout Africa, the proper names 
 are, in many cabes, o»uched in language exactly sirailiar to the 
 Zulu — for instance " a Wolf is here called " Ouabongu" which, in 
 Zulu, would mean " a Roarer" as "Omitengo" i.e. " White Water" 
 would, in Zuiu, be " JLmat'nja" i.e. " dog's gpittle." Allowing for 
 errori in spelling. 
 
 DUTCH 
 
 Bambacantu 
 Wolve-laagter 
 Wit- Water* 
 
 means 
 
 Bammagandu. 
 Omaranba Ombongu 
 Omitenjo. 
 
 DAMAEA. 
 
332 
 
 THE THIRST LAND BOERS. 
 
 Cunene River, a spot mentioned in the Journal as a place 
 Avbere the birds died after drinking water, and where Messrs. 
 A. W. Eriksson & Go's hunters, who were there in 
 September, 1879, lost seventeen horses in three days ; also 
 Mr. W. W. Jordan's party, and many of the Boers were 
 great sufferers. 
 
 Kobabis. — This is a place occupied by Hottentots, and 
 situated on the main road between Damaraland and Lake 
 N' Garni. It is well supplied with water from a large 
 fountain constantly running. The traders travelling in 
 that direction are compelled to water their cattle there, 
 and never escape without being plundered by gangs of 
 these people, who carry on a systematic robbery, using 
 threats and violent language to attain their object, particu- 
 larly when there are only one or two white men with the 
 wagons at a time. Many of these robberies have been 
 made public ; the last that occurred in 1879 — when Mr. 
 G-eo. Robb, proceeding to the Lake on a trading trip for 
 Messrs. A. W. Eriksson & Co., was plundered of goods to 
 the value of about £500 — and although these repeated 
 crimes are well known to the representative of the Colonial 
 Government in this country, nothing has been done to 
 root out or exterminate this nest of outlaws, for they are 
 nothing else. 
 
 Rietfontein. — This is the place where the first party of 
 Trek Boers remained two years. It is a fine place, having 
 two large open waters on it, and is reported by the Boers 
 ^as being convertible into two splendid farms, but not 
 more. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 SUFFERINGS OF THE WANDERING BOERS. 
 
 {Cape Times, Sept., 18 79. J 
 
 Ox Thursday last the sufferings of the hapless migratory 
 Boers who four years ago quitted the Transvaal in order- 
 to seek a new Canaan somewhere towards the West Coast 
 of this Continent were brought to the notice of the House 
 of Assembly. The story told was simply harrowing in its 
 delineation of human endurance, so harrowing that it must 
 have been surprising to most persons that the distress of 
 these unfortunate wanderers had net previously been urged 
 upon the attention of the Government. Now, however,, 
 that their case has been advocated, the Government will 
 probably see their way not merely to co-operate with 
 private effort, but to take the lead, and to show how effort 
 should be directed. The following appeal for help was 
 circulated yesterday in the House of Assembly : — 
 
 In 1875 about 300 Burghers, discontented with the then 
 existing regime, and perhaps also impelled by the spirit of 
 emigration, left the Transvaal with their families in search 
 of new pastures. Travelling towards the west through the 
 Kalahari they suffered great privations, and died in scores 
 of fever, thirst, and want of provisions. In their wander- 
 ings they were broken up into several sections. Small 
 parties are still at Lake X'gami and elsewhere in the 
 interior, but the main body has reached the borders of 
 Damara and Ovampoland, close to the Atlantic coast. 
 Quite recently they were visited by a trader, who tells us 
 that only seventy men and 300 women and children — the 
 latter mostly widows and orphans — are still alive, whilst 
 hundreds, mostly children and men, have succumbed.. 
 Government officials and traders in those parts agree in 
 setting forth their condition as most pitiable and calling for 
 immediate help. The . men maintain a precarious existence 
 by hunting, and the suffering and privations they have 
 endured are plainly visible from their emaciated frames and. 
 
334 
 
 THE THIRSTLAND BOERS. 
 
 their scanty and tattered clothing. In April last one of 
 them wrote from Ovampoland : — 
 
 ear Parents, — I must inform you that we are in great 
 distress ; if the Lord does not help, we must perish 
 altogether. We are here in an unhealthy climate. Fever 
 is raging amongst us, and a great part has died. We stand 
 here in the " Thirstland " by some wells. Our cattle and 
 sheep are almost all dead. Some have still a span of oxen, 
 but the greater part cannot go a single pace further, and 
 we see no way of escape. The worst of all is the sore 
 famine. From the Crocodile River we were in continual 
 thirst up to this day ; but I hope that our God will save 
 us from this wilderness of hunger, care, and sorrow. 
 
 An elephant-hunter, totally unconnected with these 
 unfortunate people, wri ing to a mercantile firm in Cape 
 Town, gives the following harrowing description of their 
 sufferings. 
 
 The matter I refer to is the troubles and hardships which 
 have befallen the Boers, who trekked from the Transvaal 
 Republic some years since, resulting in great indigence and 
 privation to most, if not all of them, and to a very large 
 number in a bitter death. I had no conception of the hard- 
 ships they have and are still undergoing until a few days 
 since, when four wagons arrived here from their laager 
 containing five families of these poor people. A hunter, 
 
 Mr. , and a trader, Mr. , who had been in the 
 
 country where the Boers are now living, likewise arrived 
 here at the same time. They have related some of the 
 trials and woes of these poor wanderers, although not a 
 fraction of the hardships which they have undergone, 
 which would be an impossibility, and a more bitter and 
 heartrending story it has never been my lot to listen to. 
 
 As we are all aware, many of the trek Boers were well- 
 to-do people, and it is hard, indeed, to see them now poor 
 and sick, standing and dying, in trouble and distress, with- 
 out wishing to hold out a helping hand and to invite every 
 feeling man to contribute his mite to the relief of the poor 
 sufferers. 
 
 In the first place, since leaving the Crocodile River, their 
 cattle have been dying of sickness andthrist and getting lost, 
 and since their arrival in this country, not a few of them 
 have lost every living thing they possessed through eating' 
 
FEARFUL SUFFERING. 
 
 335 
 
 of a poisonous bush which grows in that country. Many 
 liave not as much as a dog or a fowl left, and the few who 
 have managed to save a little have still lost so many that 
 they are forced to abandon a large number of wagons. As 
 many as five respectable families have been forced to travel 
 in one wagon, and many more are totally unable to move 
 in any direction. Food they have none, and numbers have 
 died of starvation. Fever has also made its ravages, and 
 to crown the woe and distress, many children, driven by 
 hunger to eat earth, have died almost immediately. 
 
 Others have taken to eating berries, and many have 
 T)een poisoned through eating of fruits and berries of which 
 rthey knew not the qualities. 
 
 I have heard of instances in which putrid carcases of 
 dead cattle have been eaten by people already weak and 
 emaciated through sickness and hunger, and have caused 
 fearful suffering. Altogether 160 men, women, and 
 children have fallen victims and succumbed to such hard- 
 ships, and a more bitter and heartrending state of affairs 
 it would be impossible to imagine. In one instance a 
 person comes across eight or ten wagons, occupied by 
 perhaps one or two women and a few children, with not a 
 man left and not an ox, cow, horse, or other living animal 
 to live from, looking starvation and death in the face, and 
 praying for a speedy release. Again, you approach a 
 number of wagons, and find a few sick men, women, and 
 ■ children, scarce able to crawl about, with nothing to eat, 
 no medicine, and no one to pay them any attention, await- 
 ing the inevitable result with what fortitude Heaven may 
 grant them, and striving to hope for some change for the 
 better. 
 
 Here a child is being carried to its grave, there an old 
 man lies dying ; here five or six of all sorts are given up 
 as past all hope, there a mother, or perchance, father, 
 listening and watching the death throes of an only remain- 
 ing child, here a few raving for food, there another 
 frightening away the bird's of prey from some putrid 
 •carcase, that he may regale himself on what a wolf would 
 pass in disdain. All this makes up such a picture of 
 horror as, may God grant, we shall seldom have to witness, 
 and still less seldom to be in the midst of. 
 
 Every trader and hunter has done his individual best to 
 relieve such distress, but it is but like a drop in the ocean, 
 
336 
 
 THE TH1RSTLAND BOERS. 
 
 when one compares the means of remedy with the^ 
 complaint. 
 
 Under these circumstances these undersigned have been 
 constituted into a committtee to bring the needs of the 
 poverty-stricken and famishing " Trekboeren " to the notice 
 of the public. It is proposed to send relief from Cape 
 Town, either via Walwich Bay or Port Rock, a small inlet 
 some 200 miles north of Walwich Bay. Probably a 
 coasting vessel will have to be chartered and freighted 
 with provisions and clothing. If a landing can be effected 
 at Port Bock, communication with the Trekboeren would 
 be easy. 
 
 7 he committee of the Paarl have already collected a sum 
 of £430, but this will be insufficient to carry the above 
 proposal into effect. £1,300 or £1,400, at least, is wanted. 
 
 The undersigned therefore confidently appeal to your 
 sympathy and beneficence for relieving the distress of our 
 unfortunate countrymen. They trust that those who so 
 readily succoured the widows of the brave soldiers of 
 Isandula and even Chinese when they were dying of 
 hunger, will cheerfully open hearts and hands for the relief 
 of widows and orphans of their own countrymen who are 
 in peril of death. The circular is signed by Messrs. P. 
 Marais, M.L.C., W. P. de Villiers, V.D.M., M.L.A., L. H. 
 Goldschmidt, M.L.A., F. ' Rutherfoord, J. G. Steytler^ 
 D. P. Krynauw, J. I. de Villiers, D.A. son, J. H. Hof- 
 meyr, jun., M.L.A. 
 
 Under the circumstances here set forth, the plain duty 
 of Government is to charter a steamer at once with food 
 and other necessary supplies for these poor people, a small 
 exploring party being organised to land on the coast at 
 Port Rock or elsewhere and find the Boer encampment.. 
 It is a matter of no importance whether these people owu 
 the flag of England or the flag of the Fiji Islands. The 
 question has nothing to do with flags. There are men of 
 European race starving within reach of our relief, and 
 while that condition obtains we may well afford to 
 dispense Avith politics. The emigrant Boers have, we 
 understand, the greatest antipathy to British authority. 
 So let it be. We trust that they may find our charity 
 more acceptable than our politics. If a small steamer is 
 to be procured she should be chartered, provisioned,, 
 manned, and dispatched without a day's delay. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 CONTINUATION OF THE ADVENTURES OF THE TREK- 
 BOEKEN. 
 
 (From the Cape Times.) 
 
 A TERRIBLE TALE OF DEATH A5D SUFFERING. 
 
 (By J. J. Debrits, one of the Trekboers.) 
 
 On board of the Louis Alfred, 
 
 Table Bar, 12th January, 1880, 
 
 Mr. Editor, — With pleasure do I comply with jour 
 request to give an account of our trek out of the Transvaal 
 through Africa to the West Coast. It only grieves 
 me that I cannot write well, though I rely on your kind- 
 ness to improve my language and spelling. 
 
 As regards the causes that led to the step taken by me 
 in joining the trek, they are shortly these, so far, at least, 
 as they concern myself : When in 1876 the Transvaal 
 burghers were commandeered to fight Secocoeui, I found 
 myself amongst the commandeered. On my farm nothing had 
 as yet been put in the ground. And as no one could be got 
 to go as my substitute, there was nothing for me but to go 
 on the commando. My wagons and cattle had also to be 
 given up for the use of the commando. In my absence 
 my wife had to plough in order to obtain sufficient food 
 for the year. I returned from the commanlo, having lost 
 several of my cattle on the way. I went to the field- 
 cornet of Mooi River, in whose district I lived, with the 
 view of obtaining compensation, but I was informed that 
 nothing could be done in the matter. Cnder the old law 
 compensation could be obtained for damage to what had 
 been lent, but there was nothing mentioned about this in 
 the new commando law. It appeared that wagons and 
 oxen were commandeered at the owners' risk. I was so- 
 struck with the unrighteousness of this^mode of proceed- 
 ing that I felt myself impelled, with tall my belongings 
 z 
 
348 
 
 THE THIRSTLAXD BOERS. 
 
 to join the trek for which a party of Boers were already 
 prepared, and with them I then threw in my lot. 
 
 It was on the 2nd March, 1877, that we left the Transvaal. 
 Our party consisted of fiOO souls, large and small, with at 
 least 100 wagons, under the commandantship of Lawrens 
 du Plessis. Arrived at Crocodile River we remained there 
 for a fortnight. Our troubles commenced here. A large 
 proportion of our people were affected by fever, and of 
 which about seventy-five died. Just when we were about 
 to start, the missionaries of Bamangwato arrived at the 
 laager to tell us the Kafir Chief January had closed the 
 road and had said that the Boers had come to take his 
 land. We were thus placed on our guard, and had already 
 arranged to attack the Kafirs in case they came in our 
 way and attempted to turn back the laager. We neverthe- 
 less proceeded without any further difficulty. After that 
 we reached Klogie. Here Commandant du Plessis assembled 
 everyone and asked them the question : What shall we do 
 now ? Shall we all go forward together, or shall we divide 
 the laager into sections and then go on ? Then our party 
 answered, we shall call cousin Jan Grey ling and ask him. 
 The commandant sent for him, but Greyling sent his 
 answer that he was not the commandant. Everyone 
 nevertheless persisted that he was to come forward, and 
 at last Greyling appeared. The commandant then asked 
 him : What shall we do to make the best arrangement, 
 because, cousin Jan, you went over the country with the 
 commission, and so you must know it best ; because you 
 know that we stand on the verge of a dry land, and here 
 are also many souls ; say what you think of the matter ? 
 Cousin Jan Greyling' s answer was : Every man must put 
 
 his shoulder to it and keep up " (or some similar expression, 
 meaning that everyone was to look after himself) : 
 Those who love me will follow me and not thirst. 
 Whereupon Greyling trekked forward with forty-five 
 wagons. The remainder, under Du Plessis, followed him 
 the next day. We had now arrived in the first dry land, 
 and it took us ten days to trek through it. The seventh 
 •day we arrived at a large " pan," named as pronounced 
 " Enkawaan," and about 600 yards broad. It was the 
 place where Greyling said there was water. We certainly 
 got water out of a pit, but it was so little that it had to be 
 
31 AD OXEX. 
 
 339 
 
 doled out all round in caps, and a cup a day could only be 
 allowed. We suffered here greatly. It was a wilderness 
 — nothing but bushes and heavy sand. We sought all 
 round for water. So when, for instance, we came to a 
 small " pan " in which nothing was found but thick mud, 
 the people undressed themselves, put the mud in their 
 shirts, and sucked out the water in this way. To that 
 must be added that in this same small " pan " 80 dead 
 cattle were laying. It was at Enkawaau that we had 
 lost all our horses and cattle, and the condition of the 
 poor brutes was something pitiable. They were so affected 
 by thirst, they all ran hard away from the place to what 
 seemed to them to be water, but which was no water, and 
 in the race some of them fell dead. They leapt over the 
 fires that were being made, also lookirg at it as water, and 
 licked the tires of the wheels. Those sitting by the fires 
 had to fly before these animals, the oxen chased them away 
 from the wagons, and one had to do one's best to get out 
 of the way. The mortality amongst the cattle was so 
 great that they lay in heaps under the trees, where they 
 had been placed for shelter from the heat. Under a tree 
 one could count from eighteen to twenty-eight dead. 
 
 Through the loss of all our cattle we had to leave all 
 our wagons behind at Enkawaan, with their loads, just as 
 they had been loaded, and had to proceed on foot, without 
 a mouthful of food, three days thereafter after arriving at 
 Klakani. On the way we met some of our cattle that had run 
 away from Enkawaan, and we had to cut some of their throats 
 and to squeeze out the contents of the stomach to keep the 
 children alive, whilst the men and women had to drink the 
 blood. We had some brandy with us, and some of the 
 women that drank of it nearly died. We had a little 
 vinegar, but when we drank of it we thought we should 
 die from a stomach on fire. The vinegar burnt sometimes 
 sc badly that those suffering would make a hole under a 
 tree and then lav with their stomachs on the cold earth to 
 lessen the thirst. 
 
 At Klakani we were only through the first dry land, 
 after a ten days' trek frnm Klozie, and we actually got 
 water. Our loss in lives now amounted to about 100. 
 
 From Klakani we went to Meers River, J. Greyling 
 having become our commandant. The above river runs in 
 z 2 
 
340 
 
 THE THIRSTLAND BOERS. 
 
 a north-westerly direction into Lake N'Gami. It had 
 been the arrangement that all should come together at 
 this river, and that spans of oxen should be made up to bring 
 the wagons out of the dry land to Meers River. Having 
 arrived at this river, Commandant Greyling assembled 
 everyone to see how many head of cattle we still had.. 
 Besides the strayed cattle that had been found, we had 
 obtained some by bartering with the Kafirs along the 
 Meers River. In answer to the question of the comman- 
 dant we could only hear of one saying he had but five 
 oxen left, of another that he had but retained eight, &c. 
 When the commandant had ascertained all this, he said to 
 those who had still one or two oxen left, that they were to- 
 give them to those who had none. So we struggled and 
 were at last able to bring in from Enkawaan about forty 
 of the wagons. At Klakani only my wagon remained 
 behind. It was at Meers River that a chief named 
 Maremmi would not allow us to proceed further. Later 
 on he sent us a white ox, as a sign of peace, but 
 Greyling, thinking that perhaps the animal was poisonous,, 
 refused to accept it ; and the chief also refused to take 
 it back, so the ox remained three days where it had 
 been brought to, and then it died, and all the vultures 
 and jackals that eat of the carcase also died. The 
 animal was poisonous, and the suspicions of the comman- 
 dant were well grounded. The matter was left thus., 
 and we could proceed on our way unhindered. Proceeding 
 up along the river we came to a place where the river 
 turned off. Here we remained to look for game, but had 
 very little success. We buried two of our number that died: 
 of fever. It was terrible to watch their sufferings. The 
 nose rotted away, and the mouth down to the throat. 
 
 After that we went to Plattedrift, and there we again 
 delayed. I can assure you that we suffered much here 
 from hunger and illness. The native captain sent us word 
 that we were to trek. The commandant sent back an 
 answer that he was not to be in such a hurry, as the people 
 were very ill, but as soon as they were better we should 
 leave. The illness attacked us still more, and we had to 
 delay longer. T,hree days after that we had received the 
 message from the " captain," he sent us another. He in- 
 formed the commandant that if we did not leave within 
 
MURDERED BY BUSHMEN. 
 
 341 
 
 four days, that he (the captain) would let his people drive 
 xis away. The commandant answered that if the captain 
 meant it he could come with all his people to drive us away. 
 The captain sent thereupon a Kafir to the laager to ask 
 the commandant who had sent him this message ? The 
 •commandant anwered, the captain. The Kafir said then : 
 Xo, it is not so. Then there was again quietness with the 
 Kafirs. We buried four of our number here, and later on 
 four children and two adults. Travelling on, we came to 
 a great plain, when the water was scarce. Here we again 
 buried a man. The whole day we had to trek without 
 water. It was also thirst land. We were delighted to 
 get water again at a turn in Meers River. Here we ex- 
 changed our big oxen for young ones, getting two young 
 ones for a big one. In this way we could get away better. 
 We had to pluck and grind here berries to boil them in 
 water for the children. In the thirst land we went out 
 hunting, but there was very little game to be found. We 
 shot two elephants, so we had a little meat. The elephants 
 that were shot were far from the laager, so we could not 
 carry all the meat away. There were many Bushmen, 
 they murdered a young man ; they had shot him with bow 
 and arrow, stabbed him with assegais, and then partly cut 
 liim up. The young man's horse came galloping to the 
 laager, whereupon the people immediately went out to look 
 for him. They were overtaken by night and had to sleep 
 in the veld, as they could not follow the spoor of the horse. 
 The Bushmen shot upon the people, but the latter put their 
 fires out so that the Bushmen could not see them. The 
 blacks thereupon fled, as they were afraid that the Boers 
 would surround them. The Boers followed them the next 
 day, and recovered the body of the young man. The 
 Bushmen nevertheless escaped. They had taken away the 
 gun of the murdered man. 
 
 From Plattedrift the laager came to an old Bastard, who 
 -asked us how we fared, and on our telling him, he did what 
 lie could for us. We were delighted to meet some one 
 who could understand us. He brought us to a Kafir 
 -captain, when, through exchange, we got five muids of 
 Kafir corn. At this place we buried seven persons who 
 jhad died from fever and poisoning. The poison came from 
 
342 
 
 THE THIRSTLAND BOERS. 
 
 a certain kind of fruit, very pretty and very tempting to 
 look at. Some ate of it, driven to do so by hunger, and a& 
 it afterwards turned out, with fatal consequences. It was 
 only discovered to be poisonous after the dogs had eaten of 
 it and died. 
 
 We then arrived at Lake 'iSgami, where we remained 
 five days. Here much illness prevailed, owing to the great 
 extent of country covered by reeds all along the banks of 
 the lake. These reeds were decaying, making it difficult 
 to reach the water, and owing to this decay, caused a 
 poisonous exhalation. Those affected by it got worse until 
 we reached Makobus River (where we afterwards halted) r 
 where they died. 
 
 The Makobus River, otherwise called the Cheshongo, is 
 a branch of the Okavango River. Here we remained some 
 time by a Bechuana kraal, and lost a lot of cattle. We 
 thought of finding game here, but it had been driven off by 
 the natives. It was here that a party under G-ert du 
 Plessis left us. 
 
 We left this for a " pan " situated in the hills. Here 
 we delayed because we could not proceed owing to our 
 people being so ill. The oxen got some sort of disease 
 with which we were not acquainted. The heart of the 
 animal got yellow with thick layers of flesh round it ; the 
 heart, the liver, and the other internal parts of the body 
 were full of yellow water, and the liver in addition was 
 swollen. We had to eat the flesh of these diseased 
 animals in order to keep alive, as we could obtain no game. 
 With this meat we had to eat " krimmetart," a fruit 
 resembling a cocoanut, but sour, and full of small pips. 
 Even this fruit was scarce. We then went to the Buffels- 
 pan, where we shot buffaloes and a quantity of lions. The 
 lions had caught two of our horses. 
 
 Proceeding we came afterwards to a reedvley, where we 
 found but little water, and that bad. We were pitiably 
 situated here ; we had not even a mouthful of food. We 
 had to cook the roots of reeds to eat, and also for the same 
 purpose Ave knocked down the best parts of the bark of the 
 thorn trees. A large party of Boers then left to go hunt- 
 ing. They remained away for three weeks, and shot two- 
 camels, two gemsbucks, and two buffaloes. 
 
RETURN TO TRANSVAAL. 
 
 343 
 
 We then went further. A number of our people were 
 ill. Children of nine years had to act as leaders, whilst 
 the mothers drove. We went further up " Makobus River. \ 
 AVe tried to catch fish, but there was nothing to he caught. 
 Along here we lost lots of people. In one grave alone 
 Avere nine persons, and in half-a-day from there fourteen 
 more, old and young. The wives who had lost their husbands 
 had to drive the wagons themselves. Some of these people 
 got worms on their bodies. You can imagine they had been 
 long bed-ridden as it were, and the sore places were filled 
 with worms. I can't describe everything. . . . You 
 see thus how we were situated, to leave all our goods and 
 thus to go out. It was pitiful to behold, and then the 
 Bushmen came and destroyed the things that were on the 
 ground ; coffee and sugar, mixing them with sand. After 
 that we reached " Okavango," and, as you already know, 
 here several families to the number of thirty, amongst 
 them also Commandant Greyling, turned back in order to 
 return to the Transvaal. The last that I heard of this 
 party was that they had just trekked from the neighbour- 
 hood of Grhanzi. At the Okavango, Botha was nomi- 
 nated in the room of G-reyling, and the expedition there- 
 upon trekked through Waterberg ; they were prohibited by 
 the Ovampos from going through their land, towards their 
 temporary location. 
 
 By this same Okavaugo I (with my family) turned off 
 to Mr. Charles Thomas, who took me into his employ as 
 driver. I came to him in a very sickly condition, having 
 for months back been suffering from fever. Through the 
 kind attentions of the above-named gentleman I recovered, 
 and I can safely say that the preservation of my life is due 
 to him. It is the same Mr. Thomas that was murdered by 
 the Ovampos. I was present. I drove his wagon. Mr. 
 Thomas was riding a little ahead ; coming down to the 
 river the natives shot upon and killed him. I went with 
 deceased's brother, Mr. L. Thomas, to Omaruru. I was 
 well received and cared for by Mr. Erickson and Mr. 
 Raven, and the kindness received from them will cause me 
 as long as I live to remember them with feelings of the 
 deepest gratitude. And also from Omaruru Mr. Erickson 
 did much for us with his wagons. It was very pleasant to 
 
344 
 
 THE THIRSTLAXD BOERS. 
 
 me to see that there were friends in Cape Town looking 
 after us, and for which we cannot be sufficiently grateful. 
 I never thought again to reach the colony. Through the 
 mercy of God I have come so far. We have had a 
 pleasant voyage to Table Bay, and the captain and crew of 
 the Louis Alfred have shown us many kindnesses, for 
 which we are very thankful. 
 
CHAPTER XL. 
 
 •CONTINUATION 01 THE ADVENTURES OF THE TEEK- 
 BOEREX. 
 
 J now beg to present an olla podrida of excerpts from 
 various papers relating to this stirring episode of Boer 
 .History. 
 
 A gentleman writing from Damaraland (Nov. 11, 1880) : 
 — " It may be interesting to those who so benevolently 
 -subscribed towards the Trek Boer Relief Fund to know 
 that the Boers have now permanently settled in that 
 beautiful tract of country known as Huilla, situate within 
 ;six days of Mossamedes, west coast of Africa. Farms of 
 3,000 morgen have been granted to each family by the 
 Portuguese Government. Huilla has a perfectly European 
 -climate, perpetual streams of water, rich and fertile soil, 
 and abundance of fruit. — Argus. 
 
 The Natal Mercury of November 21st, 1881, says : We 
 -extract the following particulars from the Royal 
 Geographical Society's Monthly Record for October, 1881, 
 ^to hand by the last mail : — 
 
 Towards the end of last year the trek Boers in Damara- 
 land, to whose position we referred in May, 1880, crossed 
 the river Cunene, and applied for a grant of land to the 
 Portuguese Governor of Mossamedes. The party, some 
 300 in all, arrived at Huilla on December 20th, and about 
 a week afterwards the Governor, Senhor Sebastiao Xunez 
 da Matta, signed an engagement with their leader, Mr. F. 
 .J. Botha, assigning them ?,500 acres of the uncultivated 
 lands of Humpata (about S lat. 15°) to the east of the 
 Serra de Cheria, and between it and the Serra da Munda. 
 The colony of Boers settled there is named Sao Januario, 
 after the Portugur-se Minister of the Colonies, the Visconde 
 Sao Januario. When the colony is considered to be satis- 
 factorily established, each family will receive an extensive 
 allotment of ground in the neighbourhood. An arrange- 
 ment appears to have been entered into, whereby the 
 .Boers will be allowed the free exercise of their religion, 
 
345 
 
 THE THIRSTLAND BOERS. 
 
 while at the .same time they undertake to submit to 
 Portuguese law. In order that protection may be near at 
 hand to this colony, which promises to be of so much 
 importance for the future development of agriculture in 
 this region, the fort of Huilla is to be rebuilt as soon as 
 possible. An irrigation canal was commenced in January 
 last and completed by February 20th. It is between three 
 and four miles long, some 5 ft. broad, and 3^ ft. deep, and 
 is filled from the Rio Neve and Rio Canhanda, which are 
 connected through the Cacolovar with the Cunene. 
 
 The Volksstem of March, 1882, says : — From a private 
 •source in Cape Town we learn that news from the Trek- 
 boers has been received up to October last. A Mr. Bent, 
 an Englishman, had just been to these Boers. These 
 people have now firmly established themselves on Portu- 
 guese territory (Humpata), having built houses and 
 cultivated lands ; also constructed a canal of between three 
 and four miles from a certain river, and this piece of work 
 is such as to have astonished the Portuguese themselves, 
 bringing the water in front of and past the Boers' dwell- 
 ings. The Boers were, however, complaining of want of 
 pasturage for their cattle, owing to the natives close by 
 setting fire to it. The encampment has been twice 
 attacked by the natives, but each time repulsed, and 
 the latter seemed now to have quietly submitted to 
 the *' white dogs," as they styled the Boers. There 
 were complaints of stock-lifting against these natives, 
 which complaints have been made to the Portuguese 
 Governor, but he had taken no notice of them yet, except- 
 ing in two cases, where the culprits were made to give 
 compensation to the farmers. Mr. Bent told these Boers 
 all the news and the result of the Transvaal war, and they 
 w r ere agreeably surprised. For four and twenty hours 
 they had thanksgiving services. There are upwards of 
 400 men, women and children. Each man has about £40 
 in cash, and amounts altogether to £7,000. Statistics of 
 cattle, &c, are also given, but these I don't remember now. 
 Then a road is also being constructed towards the sea 
 coast, costing £20,000. When Mr. Bent was there, it 
 was reported that a party of 1,000 Bastards were coming 
 up to settle with the Boers. 
 
 The Times of Natal of April 18th, 1884, says : — William, 
 
HUMP AT A. 
 
 347 
 
 Chapman writes to the Cape Times from Humpata, 
 District of Mossamedes, Sonth-West Coast, Africa : — As 
 the attention of people in South Africa has already been 
 attracted to the Colony now in course of formation in this 
 part of Africa, and as various accounts of the country have 
 been given, many of which were misrepresentations, I have 
 thought it advisable to place before the public a brief 
 description of what St. Januario or Humpata really is 
 and if it should interest intending emigrants, I shall be 
 most happy to answer all inquiries made by letter to me. 
 Humpata lies about eighty miles to the east of the port of 
 Alossamedes, but the journey to that place is made with 
 ox-wagon in six or seven days by the wagon-road, which 
 has lately been completed. For agricultural purposes the 
 country is highly adapted, being watered by innumerable 
 streams, and the soil very good. All kinds of fruits and 
 vegetables thrive well. Oxen and cows which were 
 brought here by the Boers were subject to several diseases 
 during the first year of their arrival here, but at present 
 the prospects are much better, as the Boers generally 
 admit. Goats and sheep do not thrive so well here, but 
 there are places only two days' journey by ox-wagon from 
 this, admirably suited for those animals. Merino sheep 
 answer well here, and in the course of time no doubt sheep- 
 shearing will become one of the principal industries of this 
 colony. Horses, as well as oxen and cows, are subject to 
 a disease here called scurvy or brandziekte. This has 
 affected horses more than the other animals, but a cure has 
 very lately been discovered in the shape of carbolic acid in 
 the proportion of three tablespoonsful to a bottle of water, 
 rubbed over the animal, which has saved all the oxen and 
 cows upon which it has been used, but unfortunately the 
 knowledge of the discovery came too late to the Boers, as 
 their horses were already dead. Those horses upon which 
 the acid has been tried have been saved. In the stables,, 
 horses, &c, are not affected. At present very few oxen y , 
 &c, are subject to the disease, and it appears that it only 
 prevails in certain parts of the district. The natives of 
 the country have thousands. But it must be uuderstood 
 that there is a large tract of country, extending far to the 
 north of this, elevated, and very healthy, where these- 
 diseases among cattle do not prevail, and which is also- 
 
348 
 
 THE THTRSTLAXD BOERS. 
 
 adapted to agricultural pursuits. The climate of Humpata 
 is most salubrious, being temperate, and the seasons very 
 much alike. Land is offered gratis by the Portuguese 
 Government to immigrants from the Cape Colony and 
 elsewhere, and pasturage is free. The Government is 
 anxious that the country shall be colonised, and is doing 
 all in its power towards its development. Some of the 
 Trek-Boers intend leaving this country, but the greater 
 number are in favour of remaining here, the prospects being 
 better now, and the advantages many 
 
 Times of Natal of April 29th, 1884, further says :— Dr. 
 Brill, the Free State Secretary of the Trek Boer Relief 
 Fund, has received an answer to his communication 
 addressed to the Rev. P. Postma, Secretary of the Central 
 Committee at Pretoria, in which the latter gentleman 
 thankfully accepts, on behalf of his committee, the condi- 
 tions imposed by resolution of the Bloemfontein committee.. 
 The Rev. P. Postma advises Dr. Brill that the Pretoria 
 committee intend sending a minister of the Dutch Reformed 
 -Church to Mossamedes to endeavour to arrange for the 
 unanimous consent of the Trek Boers to their again enter- 
 ing some civilised part of South Africa. If the Trek 
 Boers do not come back in a body the funds raised in 
 Bloemfontein will not, it is said, be used. 
 
 Times of Natal of July 14th, 1885, continues : — A 
 • correspondent writes to the Volksstem : — After all the 
 "scramble " for new lands in Africa by the great European 
 Powers, guided by such experienced men as Stanley and 
 jSachtigal, the travellers, and Missionary Mackenzie, a new 
 .habitable and fertile country seems to have been discovered 
 within the last few months. The discoverers are the Trek 
 Boers. Finding Humpata not exactly suited to their 
 wants, these hardy adventurers and practical people sent 
 .an exploring party to examine an upland region lying in 
 .the north-eastward. On their return to their compatriots 
 they reported very favourably of a very large tract of 
 country, comprising the elevated district in which the 
 Cunene and Okovango Rivers take their rise. This new 
 land is described as being very healthy for Europeans, 
 having an altitude of from 5,000 to 9,000 feet above sea- 
 level ; that it is well watered, well grassed, well adapted 
 ior general agricultural and pastoral purposes, in fact 
 
MX)SSA.MEDES, 
 
 349 
 
 eminently suitable to the requirements of the Boers.- 
 Moreover, they think so highly of this, their new discovery,, 
 that they intend sending delegates to the Transvaal, with 
 the object of inducing more of their fellow-countrymen to 
 emigrate and join them ; and while all will rejoice in the 
 good luck of these bold adventurers, perhaps it may not be 
 amiss to place before the Transvaal public some account, . 
 compiled from reliable sources, of this new territory. The 
 most recent information is given by Monteiro. 
 
 The same paper of October 24th, 1884, also says : — As 
 the result of the mission of the Eev. Mr. Pelser to the 
 Trek Boers at Humpata, we are informed that they desire 
 to go back to the Transvaal, notwithstanding what has- 
 been said to the contrary. The country they occupy is 
 healthy, but beyond it are the regions where the fever is- 
 prevalent ; and even where the Trek Boers reside, many 
 are suffering from fever. The soil is not fit for tilling 
 without being well manured, the cattle die off, and 
 Mossamedes iis considered (the road leading to which is 
 very difficult) the market for their produce. Many of 
 them intend to return to the Transvaal in November next, 
 overland, as they have not funds enough to pay for the sea 
 voyage. — P. E. Telegraph. 
 
 And last by the Times of Natal, March 17th, 1886, goes 
 on : — We have been requested by a number of our Dutch 
 subscribers to publish the following : — Among the passen- 
 gers who arrived at the Cape by the N^oi^hatn Castle were 
 Mr. G-ert Albertse and Mr. Van der Merwe, who have come 
 as delegates to the country from the Boer settlement 
 behind Mossamedes. These gentlemen called at tie Cape 
 Times office the other day for the purpose of explaining 
 the object of their mission, and stated as follows : — 
 
 " In 1874 we left the Transvaal, and travelled by way 
 of Lake 'Ngami, and from there across the Kalahari 
 Desert. From Lake Xgami we went to Rietfontein, and- 
 from that place we went in a northerly direction, taking 
 the course of the River Okovango, having rested at 
 Rietfontein from July to December. During the whole 
 time we moved on in short stages. We next struck in a 
 westerly direction, and shaped our course between Ondonga 
 and Omariru, that is to say between Damaraland and 
 Ovampoland, reaching Kaoko on the 3rd July, 1878.- 
 
THE THIRSTLAND BOERS. 
 
 Here we remained for sixteen months, and from thence 
 struck to the Cnnene River, and following one of the 
 tributaries of that river, finally settled in the back country 
 behind Mossamedes. The country between Rustenburg 
 and Lake 'Ngami is a sandy and very thirsty country, but 
 we got water so long as we travelled along the banks of 
 the Crocodile River. From the Crocodile River to Khama's 
 place is about two-and-a-half days' journey. There is 
 very little water, but it is a very grassy country, with 
 occasional dense vegetation. From Khama's place to 
 Lake 'Ngami is five days' ride on horseback. We found a 
 water fountain at Leklotsi, and water can always be found 
 there during a good rainy season, but in times of drought 
 there is, of course, a very small supply. The next stage 
 is a three-and-a-half days' journey by bullock wagon to 
 Inkovan, and from thence to Klakan, a journey of three 
 days and three nights, water being obtained in a series of 
 small fountains. Two-and-a-half days' constant travelling 
 from the last place brought us to Lake 'Ngami, the south 
 end of which disappears into a reedy bank, and below that 
 there is simply a desert. From Khama's town to Lake 
 '2s garni is a waterless country, but very rich in pasturage. 
 From Lake 'Ngami we struck due west, and for fourteen 
 days we trekked along the side of the river, during which 
 time, we, of course, had a plentiful supply of water. At 
 Kobis, Grhanse, and Rietfontein we obtained a water 
 supply by means of wells, which had probablybeen sunk by 
 Bushmen. Some of the wells had been closed, but we 
 opened them again. At Rietfontein we sank wells, which 
 gave us a good supply of water. The country between 
 this place and Lake 'Ngami is very rich in arrass, and, in 
 fact, a better country could not be desired, there being all 
 kinds of good grass for cattle. From Lake 'Ngami to 
 Rietfontein is twenty-two days' travelling. Our party 
 consisted of nine married men, with their wives and 
 families, there being about thirty children. The reason 
 we left Rietfontein was that we were surrounded by Kafirs, 
 who were very jealous of having the water supply in that 
 part of the country interfered with, and so they drove us 
 .away. From Rietfontein to the Okovango is twenty-two 
 days' journey but we travelled very slowly. There is 
 abundance of game in that country, but nothing like what 
 
G. ALBERT SE AND TAX DEE MEKWE. 
 
 351 
 
 ~we remember having seen in the Orange Free State in the 
 early days. For the purpose of a daily food supply, 
 however, we had all that we required of all kinds of buck. 
 We saw elephants, tigers and any number of large lions, 
 and a Tariety of bucks of all kinds. Sportsmen going 
 there would have a good selection. In December, 1879, 
 we struck westward from Okovango, and passed through 
 -the country now known as Upingtonia. Here we passed 
 through a great pan of white vegetable growth, such as 
 the weed which in the dry season is seen at the bottom of 
 vieys, and which we skirted for 5\ days. It is a singular 
 countrv, and we had seen nothing like it before. Comins" 
 to it in the distance it had the appearance of a great lake. 
 Skirting the southern rim of this pan the country is bushy, 
 and there is very good grass indeed. We are of opinion 
 that the small circles shown in the map of Upingtonia 
 issued by the Cape Times, along the rim of the pan, are 
 pools of water, which are plentiful all along there. The 
 water, however, is brac&ish. Below the pan there are 
 small fountains of water to be found amongst the rocks. 
 The country is a fever country, and our party was badly 
 attacked by fever in coming through that region. We 
 here buried the wife of Gert Albertse and the wife of 
 Marthinus van der Merwe. From this pan to Kaoko is 
 ten days* travelling, and here we rested for sixteen months, 
 and named the place Rustplaats. Between this place and 
 the Kaoko Mountains there is any quantity of bush, good 
 grass, rocks and water, but it is a very feverish region. 
 At Rustplaats we buried Marthinus van der Merwe and 
 others of the party. In all sixteen of the party died there, 
 of whom seven were men. From Rustplaats to the 
 Cunene River is eight days' travelling. The river is as 
 broad as the Taal River, and deeper. It is only fordable 
 in the months between August and October. There are 
 I)ut few drifts, and in the winter months the river would 
 be twenty or thirty feet deep. We don't know whether it 
 would be possible to go up from the mouth in boats, but 
 from where we struck the river to above it boats could go 
 a great distance. From the Cunene River we proceeded to 
 ""Tuilla, or, as we now call it, Humpata, which is a nine 
 days' journey, and is where we are now settled. We lost 
 Jheavily in stock at first, but we have got a good lot now, 
 
352 
 
 THE THIRSTLAND BOERS. 
 
 and the Kafirs in the neighbourhood have very large herds.. 
 This place is two days' journey on horseback from the- 
 Mossamedes, bnt in consequence of tua mountainous- 
 country we have to trek by wagon, wnich takes seven 
 days, we having to skirt the base of the mountain. There- 
 are numerous coffee plantations in the neighbourhood owned* 
 by the Portuguese. We are living on a plateau 700- 
 feet high, but the Portuguese are farming between the 
 plateau and the sea, and the plantations are on a very 
 unhealthy country. We only go down to the Mossamedes 
 between the months of May and January, because of the- 
 unhealthiness of the other part of the year. The fever is- 
 so bad that it is quite risky to attempt to make the journey 
 at any other time. We don't know how many Portuguese 
 there are there, but there is a large number. When we were at 
 the Kaoko Mountains we sent to the Portuguese Governor' 
 to be allowed this ground, stipulating first, that we should 
 be uninterruptedly allowed to exercise our religion :. 
 secondly, that we should be allowed to manage our own 
 domestic government, that is to say, to frame our own rules- 
 for the settlement ; thirdly, that Ave should have the land 
 as freehold property ; and fourthly, that we should have- 
 made known to us the extent of ground that would be 
 placed at our disposal. These were the principal points 
 upon which Ave entered into negotiations Avith the Portu- 
 guese Government. The Governor agreed to these con- 
 ditions, and told us to go and look about the country and 
 select a piece of land that would suit us, and we selected 
 this piece. We now rent the ground for ten years without 
 paying anything for it, but after ten years a reasonable 
 charge will be made for the rent of the land utilised. At 
 the present time, however, we pay nothing. When we 
 selected the ground and marked off the beacons we got a 
 stamped paper which entitled us to it. If the settlement 
 should move we should be permitted to take the same 
 extent of land anywhere else Ave may select inland. We 
 have now been six years on the ground, and we have- 
 \-egetable gardens, flocks and herds, and fruit trees which 
 are bearing well. We cannot say Avhether all the people 
 are satisfied, but we are ourselA 7 es. We have hoav just 
 come from the Mossamedes, via Madeira, having taken the 
 Portuguese mail-boat to there. We had a letter from the^ 
 
THE DELEGATES, 
 
 353 
 
 Portuguese Governor at Mossamedes to the Portuguese 
 Governor at Madeira, at which latter place we were 
 kindly received and all sorts of good wishes expressed for 
 our future. We are leaving to-day for the Paarl, and Avill 
 go by rail to Steynsburg and from there to Burghersdorp,. 
 and then to the Transvaal. We hope to get back about 
 next May. We had received letters from the Free 
 State, the Transvaal, &c, asking for information about the 
 country, the nearest route and safest way of getting there, 
 and as a good description could not be given by letter, it 
 was decided to send us as delegates to explain to the 
 people of the Orange Free State and the Transvaal what 
 this country is like. Our expenses are paid by subscription^ 
 We cannot say whether many people will go back with us 
 or not, but we shall tell them the truth about the country, 
 and let them decide for themselves. If a number of Boers 
 do decide upon joining us we will send some of our people 
 to meet them and to show tneni the way through Damara- 
 land, so that they may not have the hardships we had. 
 But we shall not entice anyone to come. We shall give 
 them all the information we can and all the assistance we 
 can. Our committee sent two delegates to explain the 
 country, so that if one of us should happen to make a 
 mistake in what he is saying the other will correct him, it 
 being our desire to tell nothing but the truth. The people 
 who have settled at what is now called Upingtonia were 
 originally with us, but left. There are thirty families, and 
 the last time we heard of them was in July last year. 
 
 1 A 
 
CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 THE (THIRST LAND) TREK BOERS JUNE, 1881. FROM 
 
 DAM ARAL AND TO THE NHEMBA COUNTRY. 
 
 (Extract from the Diary of W. W. Jordan.) 
 
 Our party, consisting of thirteen Europeans, fifty-eight 
 native servants, thirteen wagons, fifty-eight horses, etc., 
 etc., left Omoruru, the principal trading station of Damara- 
 land, on the morning of the — June, 1881, and after trek- 
 king ten miles arrived at Epako, signifying in Herero 
 language " Open Water." 
 
 This name was given this place years ago, and the 
 traveller visiting Epako now finds no water except by dig- 
 ging wells in the bed of the river in the vicinity. After 
 watering our cattle we proceeded on for three miles, out- 
 spanned and camped for the night. 
 
 At six o'clock next morning we inspanned, trekked 
 seventeen miles and arrived at Otjiwa, so named by the 
 Hereros on account of a number of granite rocks from ten 
 to twenty-five feet high. From here we trekked fourteen 
 miles and arrived at Otjiwapa where we found great 
 difficulty in procuring water for our cattle. However, 
 after cleaning out the wells and patiently waiting for the 
 water to percolate, we succeeded in getting sufficient for all 
 our requirements. 
 
 We inspanned at four p.m., travelled seven miles and 
 camped for the night ; inspanned at five o'clock the follow- 
 ing morning, travelled eight miles and arrived at Ongombo. 
 This part of the country is very picturesque, but sparsely 
 populated and very scarce of water. In the bed of the 
 river there are several wells varying in depth twenty-five 
 to forty feet. From one of the latter depth we watered 
 our cattle. These wells are constructed with stages 
 resembling a pyramid. We found it necessary to employ 
 «ight men to pass the water from one to the other in order 
 to water our cattle. 
 
 We left this place at 4 - 30 p.m., trekked for eighteen 
 
Jordan's diary. 
 
 355 
 
 5iours and arriTed at Pallah Fountain. The distance from 
 Ongombo to this place is forty-nine miles. About nineteen 
 years ago Pallah Fountain was the resort of a number of 
 hunters ; it was a fine large fountain, at which great 
 numbers of ostriches and game of all descriptions slaked 
 their thirst : now the fountain has altogether disappeared, 
 and one sees about a dozen wells from six to ten feet deep 
 with water sufficient to enable the Herero Damaras to 
 water several thousand head of cattle daily. 
 
 At 2 p.m. we inspanned, trekked eight miles and arrived 
 .at Ojio. Twelve years ago elephants were to be found at 
 this place in large quantities. The schanzes of the 
 hunters are still to be seen, but at present the koodoo is 
 the only antelope to be found here, and these are very rare. 
 
 At 5 p.m. we inspanned, trekked ten miles, outspanned 
 .and camped for the night. Xext morning at five o'clock 
 we inspanned, trekked thirteen miles, and arrived at 
 Amiap or Oljimongonde, the former being the Namaqua 
 name and the latter the Herero Darnara for this place. 
 Water is to be had here by digging wells or pits among 
 the limestone reefs, a short distance from the outspan place. 
 
 At -i p.m. we inspanned, trekked ten miles, outspanned 
 anl c imped for the night. Inspanned at seven o'clock 
 next morning, trekked seven and a half miles and arrived 
 at Otjiwhalendo, a Berg Darnara kraal, well supplied with 
 water from large fountains. About fifty-six Berg Darnara 
 families occupy this place ; they subsist chiefly upon roots 
 and berries. Remained here one day to rest our cattle. 
 
 At 1 p.m. the following day we inspanned, trekked all 
 the afternoon and the whole night, passing through 
 Ombeka (an open water) and arrived at Okoquayo. The 
 distance from Otjiwhalendo to this place is thirty-five 
 miles. Here there is a large vley of water, but having no 
 outlet it becomes stagnant, and has a very unpleasant smell 
 and taste ; but the traveller is compelled to use it, none 
 other being procurable. 
 
 Left Okoquayo at 1.30 p.m., trekked for three and a 
 half hours, outspanned, rested the cattle one and a half 
 hours, inspanned, trekked for three and a half hours, 
 outspanned, rested for three hours, inspanned at 1 p.m. and 
 arrived at Okarkahama at 6.30, having travelled thirty and 
 a half miles. Remained here two days 1 
 1a2 
 
356 
 
 THE THIKSTLAND BOEES. 
 
 At this place there are thirteen wells, about twelve feet 
 deep, from which a good supply of water can be obtained. 
 During the years 1878 and 1879 twenty -eight ostriches 
 were killed here. Eland, giraffe, springbok and wilde- 
 beeste offer themselves to the sportsman, also wolves and 
 lions. Mr. L., while hunting here, had an adventure with a 
 lion. Mr. L.'s party had taken with them into the veld a 
 number of milch goats, which were kept at night in an en- 
 closure made of thorn bushes. One night, while the hunters 
 were asleep, a lion came into the camp and carried off one 
 of the goats. Next morning the spoor of the lion was 
 discovered. Five hunters saddled their horses and fol- 
 lowed the spoor, and tracked it towards some bashes about 
 three miles distant from the camp. While riding among 
 the bushes the lion suddenly sprang on to the back of one 
 of the horses. The surprised hunter endeavoured to knock 
 it off with the butt-end of his rifle, at the same time 
 shouting at the top of his voice to his companions to come 
 to his assistance, which they did, and succeeded in killing 
 the lion before it had time to do further damage than badly 
 wound the horse. It proved to be a fine old black-maned 
 male lion. 
 
 While sitting around our camp fire at night the fol- 
 lowing adventures with badgers, i.e., " ratel," were re- 
 lated : — One of the party while out hunting came across a 
 badger, which he shot, the ball passing through its body. 
 On coming up to the animal he gave it a kick, when it 
 suddenly charged him ; and so taken aback was our friend 
 that he dropped his rifle and skedaddled. The badger 
 gave chase to within a few yards of the wagon, when it 
 was attacked by the dogs, and, after a good fight, was 
 killed. Upon another occasion two of the boys went in 
 search of honey, and came across a hive of bees in an 
 anteater's, i.e., " aard vark's,*' hole, and proceeded to creep 
 into it to take the honey. Now it seems, from the boy's 
 account, that a badger had been there before him, and r 
 after having a good feed, had retired some distance and 
 gone to sleep. The boy, who had crept into the hole, 
 nUouted to his companion, and the noise must have 
 awakened the badger, who came towards the hole, and, 
 seeing the boy's legs moving about, began to attack them. 
 The unfortunate boy, unable to defend himself, was 
 
SWARMING AVITH VULTURES, 
 
 357 
 
 fearfully bitten, and, had not his mate fortunately come to 
 his assistance, he would probably have been killed. 
 
 Left Okarkahama at 1.30 p.m. ; made four treks, and 
 arrived at Xarongo, having travelled thirty-two miles. 
 Here there are two wells, from which a good supply of 
 water is obtainable, also good grazing for cattle. Lions, 
 -giraffes, elands and wildebeestes are to be found. 
 
 From this place we proceeded on to Ovathea, distant 
 -from Xarongo twenty -eight miles. We have now entered 
 a most picturesque and interesting country, with a com- 
 plete change of vegetation and scenery. The Maparni 
 tree (so named by the trek Boers), a tree from which they 
 extract a kind of wax, which they manufacture into 
 .candles, grows here in abundance, attains the height of 
 -twenty to forty feet, and affords a pleasant shade to the 
 traveller. The grass, growing to the height of three feet, 
 with its rich golden colour, resembles enormous corn fields 
 just before harvest. Springbok, gemsbok, bastard gems- 
 bok and zebras are plentiful ; also bustards and pheasants. 
 Our party had a clay's sport here, and killed a number of 
 all three kinds of the abovenamed animals. After the first 
 t"our antelopes had been killed the sky became, as it were, 
 literally speaking, swarming Avith vultures, and the birds 
 devoured at least two-thirds of the game killed. At 
 Ovathea there are a number of small springs, the water of 
 which runs the same course, and forms a large vley, 
 around which grow tall reeds. On this water are to be 
 found three kinds of duck, also geese and muscovies. We 
 left this place en route for Equambi, situate thirty-three 
 -miles north of Ovathea, which we reached after thirteen 
 ^hours' 1 trekking. 
 
 Equambi is an Ovambo kraal, the chief of which is 
 named Xaumbo, a man much feared and dreaded by his 
 people. He is a perfect tyrant, putting his subjects to 
 death for the most trifling offence. Upon arriving at his 
 Israal he sent one of his head men to point out a place 
 where the wagons were to be outspanned. This man 
 directed us towards a large sycamore tree, a place we 
 gladly accepted, as it afforded us a fine shady encampment. 
 We had scarcely finished outspanning when another 
 messenger arrived from the King with the information that 
 His Majesty requested us to shift from underneath that 
 
358 
 
 THE TH1RSTLAND BOERS. 
 
 tree, as that identical tree was the mother of his deceased! 
 uncle Nauma, the late King. We removed our wagons to* 
 another point. 
 
 The people of this tribe are called Ovaquambis, are 
 warlike, and greatly feared by the other Ovambo tribes on 
 account of their bravery. Their principal weapon is the 
 oow and arrow, but a great number of guns are to be seen, 
 amongst them, principally of Portuguese manufacture, with 
 flint locks. Around the King's kraal, and as far as th 
 eye can see, are enormous corn fields, which seem likely to 
 yield prolific crops. This season the diet of the tribe is- 
 principally porridge made of pounded corn. Two kinds of 
 beer are made and largely consumed, one from corn and the 
 other from wild fruit ; the former is very palatable and 
 non-intoxicating unless mixed with honey-beer, the latter 
 has the flavour of cider with the strength of spirits of wine r 
 and during the fruit season drunken bouts are the order of 
 the day. This tribe is also very rich in cattle. 
 
 At about 1,000 yards from the King's kraal stands the 
 ruins of a Church and Mission-house concerning which 
 the following story is told by the natives : — About ten 
 years ago a Finnish Missionary established himself on this 
 station by consent of the late King Nauma, and was 
 assisted by the king to build a Church and dwelling-house.- 
 The King had a son who was in the course of time con- 
 verted and baptized ; his father was in the habit of" 
 questioning him as to what tha Missionary taught him. 
 He told his father that the white man taught him many 
 things, one of which was that after death he would rise 
 again. The King questioned the Missionary on this sub- 
 ject, and was informed that what his son told him was 
 perfectly true. The following year the son died and was 
 uuried. The King waited for three days, and seeing his 
 son did not rise again sent for the Missionary to know the 
 reason why. The Missionary explained that his son 
 would rise again in the next world, at which the King became- 
 enraged, told the Missionary if that was all the benefit 
 he and his people were to have by a holy man being 
 among them he would do without one, and insisted on the 
 Missionary leaving his station there and then. 
 
 The features of the country are purely tropical, the tall 
 and stately palm trees with their clusters of fruit (known; 
 
HEAVY DRAGGING. 
 
 359 
 
 as vegetable ivory) are to be seen as far as the eve can 
 reach, and the nature of the country being one continuous 
 flat affords a splendid view, especially at sunrise and 
 sunset. 
 
 We left Equambi at 1 p.m., trekked for three hours^ 
 outspauned and camped for the night at a place called 
 Onithea, one of the loveliest spots seen since leaving 
 Damaraland. Our bivouac is on the banks of an Omur- 
 amba ; on both its banks grow gigantic sycamores, seventy 
 to eighty feet high, entwined with creepers, forming 
 natural summer houses. Grass, water and wood (the 
 traveller's greatest boon) are in abundance. We remained 
 there two days, amusing ourselves by shooting duck, 
 pheasants and Guinea fowls, which are very plentiful. 
 
 We proceeded on our journey, travelling through a most 
 picturesque tract of country, crossing several beautiful 
 large meadows surrounded by dense forests of Mopani tree. 
 In the rainy season these meadows are flooded by waters 
 supposed to come from the Cunene River, and then 
 resemble small lakes. After trekkiug for four hours we 
 arrived on the banks of a large Omuramba which, at first 
 sight, appeared to be a river. Here we outspanned, rested 
 our cattle and made preparations for taking our wagons 
 across. This we accomplished by yoking two spans of 
 oxen to each wagon, the ground being so boggy that the 
 wheels of the wagons were completely underground. 
 However, by patience and perseverance, we succeeded in 
 getting the wagons across, and proceeded on travelling 
 along the banks of the Omuramba until we arrived at 
 Enjino pits, twenty-nine miles from Equambi, at which 
 place we camped for the night. Enjino pits are a number 
 of wells with a good supply of water in proximity and a 
 deserted kraal. These wells are held in great dread by the 
 natives, who consider it most unlucky to live near them or 
 drink of the water they contain. We are now in a tract of 
 country where the footprint of the ostrich is numerous ; 
 our hunters have gone hunting, having divided themselves 
 into three parties. Number one and two returned to camp,, 
 succeeded in killing seven ostriches, several giraffes, 
 hartebeestes and springbok. Number three party re- 
 turned to our bivouac in a state of great excitement. It 
 appears that while in the veld they came across a body of 
 
360 THE THTRSTLANI) BOERS. 
 
 Ovambas, numbering about 150, who greeted them and 
 evinced their friendship by begging tobacco (a usuqd and 
 ■common form of showing friendship adopted by most 
 natives). The hunters dismounted and rested their rifles 
 against an old stump of a tree, took out a stick of tobacco 
 from their pouch, and while in the act of cutting some to 
 give to the natives were seized and held fast by a number of 
 natives, whilst the others bolted with the rifles and 
 cartridge belts. Such was tbe story these crestfallen 
 hunters returned to camp with. Ten mounted men started 
 in pursuit. They followed the track until 9 p.m., but 
 darkness overtaking them they returned to camp. 
 
 The following morning we inspanned at 8.15 and 
 trekked three and a half hours, outspanning at a large vley 
 near to which grow some magnificient baobab trees from 
 sixty to eighty feet in height, and forty to ninety feet in 
 circumference. Inspanned at 1.30 p.m. and proceeded on. 
 Aft^r half an hours' trek we arrived at the outlying kraals 
 of the Ombandja tribe, among which we travelled for two 
 and a half hours, extensive corn fields on either side of us ; 
 it seemed as if we were passing through one vast 
 plantation. We outspanned amongst these kraals and 
 bivouacked for the night. At 7.30 next morning we 
 inspanned, made one hour's trek and arrived at Ombandja, 
 having travelled thirty miles from Enjino pits. The King 
 of the Ombandja tribe is named Ekari ; he is a fine tall 
 native and seems well disposed towards Europeans. His 
 kraal is enclosed by a strong fence made of poles planted 
 five feet deep and twelve feet high. On visiting the King 
 we were escorted by one of the headmen along the avenue 
 of thorn trees extending about five hundred yards, at the 
 end of which are the King's cattle corrals made of stout 
 poles ten feet high. Further on were the King's slaves ; 
 in the centre of the enclosure were His Majesty's 
 dwellings erected in the shape of a Malay hat standing on 
 poles three feet high. In order to arrive at these we had 
 to pass through narrow passages only admitting one person 
 to pass at a time ; the various windings of these passages 
 formed a perfect labyrinth, and so strong are the forti- 
 fications of this kraal that against small arms it would be 
 impregnable. 
 
 We found His Majesty seated on a low stool carved out 
 
MAJESTY AND PUDDING-. 
 
 361 
 
 of a solid piece of wood. Around him sat his chief men 
 and principal wivesj the latter sixteen in number. They 
 greeted us by clapping their hands. Xear the King stood 
 thirteen earthenware jars, each containing about three 
 gallons of corn beer. This, His Majesty informed us 
 through our interpreter, was for our consumption. Wooden 
 mugs, holding about two pints, were filled, handed to the 
 King to taste, and passed on to us. I fear His Majesty 
 thought we did not appreciate his hospitality, as. according 
 to his notions, we did not do justice to the beer. Mr. E. 
 made the King a present of a horse, with which he 
 seemed very pleased. After greeting, we returned to our 
 camp. 
 
 The following day being Sunday we, as usual, had a 
 large plum-pludding at dinner. Just as we were about to 
 dine, Ekari, with eighty followers, paid us a visit. We 
 invited His Majesty to dinner. When partaking of the 
 plum duff, Ekari remarked that it was excellent " otje- 
 <;era," i.e., porridge. His Majesty seemed very indignant 
 at the thought that a people in close proximity to his 
 should have been guilty of robbing white men. and offered 
 Mr. E. a commando of his people to assist in recovering 
 the stolen articles ; which offer was very wisely declined. 
 This robbery, committed by these natives, will give an 
 idea of natives in general. Here we have Mr. E. taking 
 every precaution and sparing no expense to enlighten the 
 chiefs of the various tribes (amongst which we were likely 
 to pass) of our good feeling and friendship towards them, 
 presenting them with valuable presents, such as horses, 
 •etc., etc., yet these very chiefs order their people to rob, 
 plunder, and even kill, white men when found in the veld. 
 The only reason given by the chiefs for such orders are 
 that they take these men for Boers. Yes, Boers ; a people 
 endowed with the patience of Job ; taking insult and 
 injury time after time from the most despicable of natives ; 
 yet these are the people the Ovambo chiefs order their 
 subjects to murder, simply because these Boers are 
 pioneers opening up new hunting velds in parts of South 
 Africa where few Europeans have traversed, and where 
 the natives take the white man to be either the lord of 
 creation or Old Nick himself. 
 
 Ekari invited Mr. E. and myself to visit his kraal, upon 
 
362 
 
 THE TH1RSTLAND BOERS. 
 
 which occasion he presented ns to his wives. They were- 
 evidently got np for the occasion, being well greased and 
 covered from head to foot with red ochre, their hair* 
 dressed so as to form large epaulettes on each shoulder, 
 a broad belt of various kinds of beads, extending from 
 under the arm-pit down to the knee, bracelets made of 
 brass and copper wire from the wrist to the elbows, and 
 enormous copper rings round each ankle. Their appear- 
 ance was most grotesque. 
 
 The King seemed very proud of these beauties, and was 
 very attentive to them, handing them draughts of beer, to 
 which they did justice, each one drinking at least six pints. 
 His Majesty accompanied us towards his garden, or rather 
 plantation. We were surprised to see the regularity with 
 which it had been laid out, beino; divided into angles and 
 triangles, with footpaths leading to all points. His Majesty 
 guided us towards a large tree, on arriving at which he 
 desired us to be seated (on the ground), when he told us 
 the following particulars : — 
 
 Nambinga, late chief of this place, and my uncle, was 
 always against the white man, and never wished to see 
 them come near him or his station. I, at that time, was 
 Crown Prince, and had come across one or two white men,, 
 and had seen that they were clever and powerful, and that 
 the tribes among whom these white men stayed became 
 strong, and possessed guns, which the white men made for 
 them. Nambinga became ill, and I saw my time had come, 
 so I collected the people together and killed him, as 1 
 wished white men to come to my people, and now my wish 
 is gratified ; a number of white men have visited my kraal 
 and tasted my beer, and Karieyapa, of whom I have heard 
 so much, is their captain. 
 
 Our next visit to the King's kraal was to witness a 
 dance. We arrived at eight p.m. Dancing had begun,, 
 and the lads and lasses seemed to be thoroughly enjoying 
 themselves. The men formed half circles some distance 
 from the women. One at the time would leap forward, 
 spring into the air, cut a few capers, and return to his* 
 
 * The women of all the Ovambo tribes entwine the soft fibre of 
 the baobab with their hair or wool, and make it any Ungtn they 
 please. 
 
SLEEPING IN TREES 
 
 363 
 
 place, the women going through the same performances. - 
 The musical instrument used was a novelty. It was made 
 of the hide of an ox, dressed with the hair on, and cut into 
 the shape of a star fish. A man took hold of each point,, 
 and, going through the same process made use of for carpet 
 shaking, produced a sound resembling that made by the 
 beating of several native drums, to which the women kept 
 time by clapping their hands. 
 
 Leaving Ombandja, we travelled through a thick forest,, 
 the whole of our party going ahead of the wagons with axes 
 and spades roadmaking. After three hours' trek we came 
 to a large meadow, in which was a fine vley of water.. 
 Here we outspanned and camped for the night. Several of 
 our unsalted horses died here. 
 
 At 8 a.m. the following morning we proceeded on, 
 cutting our road as before stated. We passed through 
 several fine meadows in which were large vleys of water 
 full of fish, i.e., bagre, ducks, geese, muscovies and water 
 hens. Lions abound in this part of the country, and the- 
 natives are in such dread of these animals that they never 
 sleep on the ground but erect stages among the branches of 
 the high trees which they use as beds. After trekking for 
 three hours we outspanned, drawing our wagons into laager,, 
 as we intend having; a few days' hunting. 
 
 While here our hunters killed thirty-five ostriches and. 
 kept our larder well supplied with the flesh of gemsbok,. 
 wildebeeste, hardebeest, giraffe, eland and zebras. Grame 
 here is very plentiful and might be killed in great numbers,, 
 but according to our hunting regulations the hunters are 
 only permitted to shoot sufficient for daily requirements. 
 
 We shifted our camp, trekking for two and a half hours 
 through a beautiful large forest of magnificent timber.. 
 The tall and stately trees, varying in height eighty to one 
 hundred and twenty feet, give to this place an almost 
 sacred appearance, and offer to the traveller a view of 
 Xature's grand and prolific works. We arranged our 
 camp, remaining here a few days hunting, during which 
 time eighteen ostriches and a number of antelopes were 
 killed. 
 
 From this place four of the party left the camp en route 
 for Humbe, a Portuguese station on the northern banks of 
 the Cunene River. Our mission was to inform the 
 
364 
 
 THE TH1RSTL AND BOERS. 
 
 Portuguese residing there of our approaching the river and 
 our object, so that they might inform the natives of our 
 intentions and prepare them for the sight of such a number 
 of people, horses and wagons. After an hour and a half's 
 ride we entered a large Omuramba and saw five ostriches 
 quietly feeding about one thousand yards ahead of us. 
 One of the party gave chase though much against the 
 wishes of the others, but as laughing is contagious so is 
 hunting. Not many minutes elapsed before the whole 
 party were in full gallop after the birds. We had got to 
 within two hundred yards of them when the saddle-girths 
 of the foremost rider broke, and by a very graceful though 
 ludicrous movement he turned head over heels and came 
 down with a smash on to terra Jirma. His performance 
 seemed to bewilder the birds, as they suddenly changed 
 their course and made direct for the horses, passing within 
 a few yards of them ; with the birds in this position it was 
 impossible for us to fire for fear of shooting one another's 
 horses. The birds ran at full speed towards the jungle, 
 before entering which, however, we succeeded in killing 
 two. Owing to this hunt we had to abandon our mission 
 and return to camp, on the way to which we killed two 
 fine giraffes. 
 
 On the following day we inspanned at 6*20 a.m., trekked 
 for four and a half hours through a thick jungle, cutting 
 our road as we went along. We rested ourselves and 
 •cattle for two hours, inspanned again, and proceeded on, 
 passing through a tract of country never before traversed 
 by Europeans. After three hours trekking we arrived at 
 the Cunene River, just opposite Humbe, the distance 
 travelled from Ombandja being thirty-seven miles. We 
 fixed our camp on a high bluff near to the river, which we 
 called Fort Hope. From here we had a splendid view of 
 the country all around us. The bluff being seventy feet 
 above the bed of the river, answers as a kind of tower. 
 On looking down one sees numbers of crocodiles basking 
 in the sun, making splendid targets for the amateur hunter 
 to practise on. On looking to the north-west one has a 
 fine view of the river. The trees on its banks are of a 
 most lordly and magnificent description, those around our 
 camp are chiefly baobabs, of which there are some fine 
 specimens. The breadth of the river in several places is 
 
THE KING'S SPIES, 
 
 365 
 
 not more than two hundred yards, and the water is very 
 deep. On other parts the breath is from twelve to fifteen 
 yards, and the water from three to ten feet deep. During 
 the rainy season the water rises considerably, as deposits 
 of debris are to be seen among the branches of the trees 
 growing on the river banks. While camped at Fort Hope 
 prospecting parties were out daily who reported having- 
 come across the spoor of buffaloes, rhinoceros, hippopota- 
 mus, eland, koodoo, gnu, gemsbok, pallah, wild boar and 
 lions. Our object was to cross the Cunene and explore 
 the country on its northern banks, feeling certain that we 
 would be rewarded in finding a virgin hunting veld. For 
 three successive hunting days we used every means to 
 induce the natives of Humbe to come across the river, but 
 without success- Every day numbers of them were to be 
 seen in the trees like great baboons ; they kept close watch 
 on us, and were evidently spies sent by their King to report 
 our movements. Our patience having become exhausted 
 we made arrangements for crossing the river on horseback.. 
 Collecting ten of our party, Ave mounted our horses and- 
 swam them across the river and proceeded on to within 
 two hundred yards of the King's kraal, when we came 
 in sight of at least four thousand natives, fully armed with 
 bow, arrow and spears, numbers of them having flint-lock 
 guns. In front of the natives stood six Portuguese, armed 
 to the teeth Avith Snider rifles, revolvers and bowie knives. 
 The sight of this large mass of natives was grand, yet 
 puzzling. 2>ot knowing whether their intentions were 
 peaceable or hostile, Ave deemed it prudent to act with 
 caution, and after a brief consultation decided that three of 
 the party should advance while the others took charge of 
 the horses, prepared for any emergency. Arriving at the 
 King's kraal we found his Majesty, whose name is Sahongo 
 (Xahongo), seated on a high wooden stool, caiwed out of 
 the solid. He was in a very excited state, scarcely able 
 to speak. On his right side sat his chief men, on his left 
 his wiA'es, seven in number. We subsequently learned 
 that the cause of the excitement of the King and his 
 people Avas that we were taken for the Boers, who had. 
 come to demand payment for damage done to their property 
 by this tribe of natives some months ago. Explaining to 
 the chief our plans and object in A~isiting him, he became- 
 
.366 
 
 THE THIRSTLAXD BOERS. 
 
 more composed, offered us guides to show us the waters 
 and the resort of elephants and ostriches. 
 
 Sahongo's tribe, numbering about thirty thousand, are a 
 tall race of people, but most wretched looking. This I 
 attribute to the great quantity of spirits (Aquadente) they 
 consume. Aquadente is the principal article which the 
 Portuguese trade among these people ; and I have seen 
 the native women give it to their children to drink, and 
 these youngsters swallowed it like water. Sahongo him- 
 self has the appearance of a walking skeleton. The 
 habits, dress and language of his people closely resemble 
 the Herero Damaras. 
 
 The Portuguese living among this tribe are poor speci- 
 mens of humanity. They are completely subject to and at 
 the mercy of the natives, and are plundered and wronged 
 in all manner of ways. For this treatment I opine they 
 have themselves to blame. They cohabit with the native 
 women, and carry on a most demoralizing retail liquor 
 trade, lose the prestige of a white man, and are considered 
 by the natives as one of themselves. 
 
 Arriving at a native kraal one day we heard from our 
 servants that there were two white men on the werft. 
 Being anxious to know who they were, we enquired of the 
 chief and expressed a wish to see them. The chief denied 
 that there were white men at or in his kraal, and said our 
 boys had been misinformed. The boys made further 
 enquiries, came to us. and confirmed their former statement. 
 This aroused our suspicion, and we searched the kraal. 
 We came to one of the huts before the entrance of which 
 several large flat stones were placed. On removing these 
 out came two European Portuguese traders. The chief 
 came up laughing, and said, " I did not intend any harm to 
 these men, but, hearing that you were coming here, I shut 
 them up, as I did not wish them to see you for fear they 
 should tell you the high prices they charge for their goods." 
 
 For four days we had exploring parties out on the north 
 ;side of the Cunene. These men returned with unfavour- 
 able reports. They could not penetrate the eountry owing 
 to the density of the jungle, consisting of those thorn 
 trees with that most applicable name, " Wait a little," or 
 Wacht ee?i beetje. They killed several ostriches, and came 
 .across numbers of koodoo, pallah, rhinoceros and buffalo. 
 
THE NOBLE LIOX. 
 
 367 
 
 From here five of our party returned to Damaraland, 
 Taking with thera six wagons, ten horses, etc. etc. : the 
 remainder of us proceeded on, trekking along the banks of 
 The Cunene, having hard times of it road-making. We 
 Travelled for five hours and outspanned ; set to with a will 
 and made a strong corral for our oxen, as lions abound all 
 along the river. 
 
 Three of our party, who had ridden ahead to choose a 
 course for us to travel on the morrow, lost their way. 
 Xot arriving at our bivouac at sunset, we, according to 
 rule, fired several shots with our large heavy rifles to 
 guide them to camp. At eight p.m. two of the party 
 returned ; twenty minutes after, the third one arrived. It 
 seems the last one of the three who returned to camp rode 
 away from his companions in search of the road, and was 
 Tiding quickly along when all at once his horse turned 
 suddenly round and stopped. His rider applied both whip 
 and spur, but without the slightest effect : the horse 
 would not move. His rider was about to dismount when, 
 to his horror, he saw a lion stalking him, and just prepar- 
 ing to spring. Finding himself in this critical position, 
 he, with great presence of mind, took a steady aim and 
 fired from his horse, the bullet striking the lion fairly in 
 the chest. On receiving the shot it made for the jungle, 
 and the hunter for the camp. At daybreak next morning 
 we collected all tbe dogs and started on foot to hunt the 
 wounded lion. We soon found its track, which we 
 followed for fifteen minutes, when we spotted the animal. 
 The dogs charged, and t wo of them were soon sent flying 
 in the air. Catching sight of us the lion bounded forward, 
 .and, when within twenty yards of us, he received no less 
 than six bullets, and dropped dead. While we were 
 amusing ourselves with the lion our wagons had been 
 inspanned, and were slowly wending their way along the 
 Cunene bank. On coming up with them we were told by 
 the drivers that on passing along they had seen a number 
 •of hippopotami. Three of the party caught and saddled 
 their horses and rode ahead. We proceeded along for 
 three and a half hours, when we came up with the horse- 
 men, who told us they had shot two hippopotami. We 
 outspanned, and going towards the river had the satisfac- 
 tion of seeing two of these fine animals floating on the 
 
368 
 
 THE TH1RSTLAXD BOERS. 
 
 water. Preparations were made for getting them out. A 
 raft was soon constructed by lashing together our water- 
 casks and ropes lashed to the feet of the huge animals ; 
 two spans of oxen, ready yoked, brought to the edge of 
 the river and hooked on, the word " trek " shouted, and 
 the whip applied, and out came these two fine animals, 
 which were drawn to the outspan and dissected, to the 
 great delight of all our native servants and followers, who 
 now saw the substance before them on which they would 
 be able to gorge themselves with fat to their heart's 
 content. Early next morning we inspanned, trekking 
 along the banks of the river ; all hands employed as usual 
 cutting down trees and making roads. Many of our party 
 had become such excellent hands at using the axe and 
 felling trees that I have often heard them express their 
 wishes that the Right Hon. Mr. Gladstone might be 
 present so that they might try their skill in felling trees 
 against his. Hippopotami are very numerous in the rivpr, 
 and hundreds of them might be shot if our party felt dis- 
 posed to go in for wholesale slaughter and waste, but our 
 excellent hunting laws and rules are a check against all 
 wilful waste. The river swarms with crocodiles, and woe 
 betide the unfortunate dog who goes towards its waters to 
 'slake its thirst ; of a certainty it never returns to camp 
 again. After five and a half hours' trek we outspanned 
 and camped for the night. 
 
 At six o'clock next morning we inspanned and con- 
 tinued along the bank of the river, setting to work like 
 daily labourers determined to earn our daily meat. After 
 trekking for three hours we arrived opposite Ecamba and 
 outspanned ; we had travelled fifty-seven miles from 
 Humbe. Several of our party crossed the river by 
 swimming the horses through and visiting Ecamba. The 
 chief of this place is named Komballa, and seemed very 
 friendly disposed towards us. His tribe seemed to be a 
 small one, but a fine tall race of people who live well, 
 judging by appearances. In front of the chief's kraal 
 there is a large lagoon, one thousand yards long ; this 
 lagoon is fed by the waters of the Cunene when it over- 
 flows during the rainy season. The lagoon is swarmed 
 with hippopotamuses. We killed several by special 
 request of Komballa, and there was great rejoicing among 
 
DEEP JUNGLE. 
 
 369 
 
 his people when they saw these animals floating on the 
 water, about two and a half hours after they had been 
 shot. We remained here for two days, inspanning on the 
 third morning at seven o'clock. We trekked along the 
 rivers, working hard as usual and making but very little 
 headway, the jungle becoming more difficult to clear 
 owing to a kind of tough creeper so closely entwined as- 
 to make it impossible for man to pass through it. We 
 made a halt and sent out prospecting parties, who returned, 
 after twelve hours' absence and reported it impossible to 
 continue along the bank of the Cunene, as a few miles to 
 the north of us there were no end of rivulets and ravines 
 over which it would be impossible to take the wagons. 
 We then decided to trek towards the east. At six next 
 morning we inspanned, and taking an easterly course we 
 travelled through a dense forest, all hands engaged cutting 
 down trees and clearing road. After a few hours' trek we 
 came into a large meadow in which were several vleys of 
 water on which were great numbers of birds, flamingo,, 
 herons, ibis, muscovies, geese, duck, &c, &c. Here we 
 outspanned. 
 
 At 2 - 30 we inspanned and continued on our course,, 
 trekked four hours and encamped for the night. Next 
 morning at early dawn Ave inspanned and proceeded on 
 cutting: our way, bound for the east. After trekking for 
 five hours we arrived at an open water and outspanned, 
 here we saw the footprint of a large number of 
 elephants. They had evidently slaked their thirst at thi& 
 water the night prior to our arrival at it. Preparations 
 were made for hunting them. At 1 p.m. the hunters left 
 the camp, and after following the track for three hours 
 came in sight of the elephants and gave chase, but so 
 dense was the jungle that it was impossible to follow them. 
 The hunters returned to camp at sunset, having the 
 appearance of a ragged lot of beggars, some minus their 
 shirts and hats, not one with a whole skin. 
 
 At 8 o'clock next morning we inspanned and proceeded 
 onwards, still continuing to the east ; w r e trekked for four 
 hours through brake and jungle and then outspanned. 
 Koodoo and wild boar very plentiful in this veld. In- 
 spanned at 3 p.m., trekked until seven and camped for the 
 night. Some native hunters belonging to the Ecamba tribe,. 
 
 1 B 
 
370 
 
 THE THIRSTLAND BOERS. 
 
 came to our camp. They informed us that we were near 
 the Evare tribe, but declined to act as guides to conduct us to 
 that place. Early next morning five of our party started on 
 horseback ahead of the wagons. After riding about five 
 miles we came across five natives, who, upon seeing us, 
 took to their heels. We gave chase and captured one, got 
 our interpreter to explain to him that we were on our way 
 to visit his chief ; we proceeded on, taking the captured 
 native with us. On arriving among the first kraals of the 
 Evare people the natives bleAv their war whistles or tubes, 
 and shouted their war cry. In less time than I can write 
 it the alarm spread from kraal to kraal, and the commotion 
 that then took place is beyond description. Men, women 
 and children in the greatest state of panic, women with 
 children on their backs and in their arms running for their 
 very lives, and shouting at the top of their voices. The 
 young girls with the cooking utensils on their heads and 
 their garden picks in their hands, the men and boys 
 collecting the cattle together and driving them at full 
 speed towards the King's kraal, caused a scene which to 
 us seemed most ludicrous, not knowing at that time what 
 had caused such a panic. We subsequently learned it was 
 the sight of our horses, the first these natives had ever 
 seen. On arriving near the King's kraal we halted, sent 
 the captured native to the King to explain who Ave were 
 and our object in visiting his kraal. After patiently 
 waiting an hour the messenger returned, informing us that 
 the King would see one of us. We moved our horses to a 
 more favourable position so as to be close at hand in case 
 of treachery, and our party advanced and greeted the 
 chief. Some minutes after the chief expressed a wish to 
 see all of us, but not the horses. He kept his eye fixed 
 on these animals, which were standing some distance off, 
 and watched them most intensely. I suppose he fancied 
 them far greater curiosities than we were and therefore 
 gave them more attention. 
 
 The Evare tribe is a very large one, divided into three 
 sections, two of which are governed by women. These 
 female chiefs are sisters of the paramouut chief or king, 
 whose name is Nambinga, a very old man, who prides 
 himself with being the greatest rain-maker in the whole 
 Ovambo country. After a few hours our wagons arrived, 
 
NA3IBIXGA. 
 
 371 
 
 which caused nearly as much surprise and wonder among 
 -the natives as did our horses. We fixed our camp under 
 the shade of some magnificent sycamore trees, and 
 -calculated the distance traA'elled from Ecamba to this 
 place, which proved to be fifty-seven miles. The people 
 of Evare closely resemble those of Ombandja. Their 
 habits, dress and arms are similar. They are an agricul- 
 tural people ; producing great quantities of corn, maize, 
 beans and pumpkins. They also possess great numbers of 
 cattle and goats. They are capital brewers, and make 
 excellent beer. 
 
 At ten o'clock the next day Nambinga and about four 
 hundred of his people visited our camp. Preceding the 
 King were thirteen young girls, each having a large 
 earthenware pot of corn beer, which the chief presented to 
 us. He was very inquisitive, making enquiries about 
 everything he saw. Our Martini-Henry rifles seemed 
 greatly to puzzle him. Seeing one of our party cutting a 
 log of wood with a saw, he watched him very closely until 
 he had cut it in two, when he rose from his seat and 
 proposed returning to his kraal. We explained to him 
 that there was no harm either in the saw or the wood, and 
 requested him to be reseated. One of our party, an 
 ornithologist, had with him a book with pointings of the 
 different birds of South Africa. The sight of these birds 
 greatly interested the chief, who recognised many of them, 
 and pointed out those to be found about his kraals. 
 jSainbinga expressing a wish to see some shooting done 
 with the Martini-Henry rifle, several of our party took 
 their guns, selected a large baobab tree about three 
 hundred yards distant as a target, and began to fire in 
 quick succession, until each had shot away ten cartridges. 
 One of the party, seated on the wagon-box, had been 
 watching the effects of the shots through a pair of 
 binoculars. On this man the chief steadily fixed his gaze 
 until the party had ceased firing, when he sent a number of 
 his people to inspect the tree, and see whether the bullets 
 had penetrated. They returned and told the chief the tree 
 was full of holes. Nambinga rose and said : " Before I 
 saw these white men I considered myself a great rain 
 doctor and a very powerful man, but now I see there are 
 men who know more than I do. I must ask vou, white 
 1b2 
 
372 
 
 THE THIRSTLANP BOERS. 
 
 men, to give me two things, and teach me one. I want 
 yon to give me that (pointing to a saw), so that I can 
 part one piece of wood into two, and leave the ends 
 smooth ; and then I want you to give me that (pointing to 
 the binoculars), so that when my people go to war I may 
 look into it, when every bullet will hit the enemy ; and I 
 want you to to teach me how to flatten birds, so that I can 
 carry them about with me, for they are pretty to look at. ,r 
 We did not feel disposed to part with any of our seeming 
 greatness, so, after making the chief several valuable 
 presents, we made prepaiations for trekking. We in- 
 spanned and struck away to the north, bound for unknown 
 regions. After travelling for five hours in a very sandy 
 soil, most trying to the strength of our oxen, we arrived on 
 the bank of a small river, where we bivouacked. This~ 
 river is supposed to run into the Cnnene, but I opine such 
 is not the case. I rather think, from the nature of the 
 country, that its many tributaries run into the Omurambas,. 
 and in the rainy season flood the Ovambo country. Next 
 morning at dawn we crossed the river, and proceeded on y 
 keeping to the north, passing through forests of tall and 
 stately yellow-wood trees then into open large meadows with 
 numbers of Omurambas, and having the appearance of 
 small rivers, twenty-five yards wide and deep, on the 
 banks of which were to be seen, quietly grazing or 
 reposing, numbers of antelopes, seemingly very tame. We 
 trekked for five hours and outspanned. At two p.m. we 
 proceeded on, passing through a most fertile and in- 
 teresting country ; cotton growing wild and plentiful. We- 
 found several different kinds of fruit, which proved to be 
 very palatable and good to eat ; butterflies of almost every 
 hue and colour, and of various sizes, flying about and 
 setting in clusters, giving the grass a variegated appear- 
 ance. This tract of country is truly interesting, and the 
 traveller appreciating Nature's works and bounties would 
 be well rewarded by visiting it. We trekked for four- 
 hours and camped. 
 
 ^Next morning at daybreak Ave proceeded on, going due 
 north, passing through a hilly country with several moun- 
 tains, which, upon inspection, proved to be rich in iron 
 ore. We trekked for three hours, came into a large 
 
IMPENETRABLE FORESTS. 
 
 373 
 
 meadow with several open waters in it. where we out- 
 spanned. Elephants are here in prodigious numbers, but 
 it is impossible to hunt them owing to the large virgin 
 forests into which they escape and into which man cannot 
 follow them. These forests are to the elephant what the 
 Kalahari Desert is to the ostrich, and until man discovers 
 means wherewith to penetrate both forest and desert, there 
 need he no fears entertained as to the extermination of 
 ^either elephant or ostrich. We remained hunting about 
 here for several days and succeeded in killing five elephants. 
 As we went north we travelled through forests of heavy 
 timber which took us two hours to pass through, then 
 ^entered into large open glades on which were quietly graz- 
 ing numerous large antelopes who seemed to be quite 
 indifferent as to our approach. Lions are very numerous 
 Ihere and can be seen in twos, threes, fours and upwards - 
 •On catching sight of us they generally make for the woods. 
 We continued travelling to the north for three days, pass- 
 ing through open glades surrounded by large forests. 
 Finding that the country did not become more open as we 
 went north, we decided on going no further with the 
 wagons ; selecting a suitable place we bivouacked. We 
 rare now in the Xhemba country, have the Okavanga 
 River about fifty miles on one side of us, and the Cunene 
 .about sixty miles on the other. The country does not 
 appear to be populated, as during the two mouths we 
 remained here we thoroughly prospected it and saw no 
 rsigns of habitation. It may be truly said to be a virgin 
 hunting veld. Antelopes of almost every description 
 belonging to South-West Africa are to be found in it, but 
 the obstacles in the way of elephant hunting are so many 
 rand of such a nature that parties making elephanting their 
 profession and visiting the Xhemba country under the 
 ♦expectation of procuring lots of ivory will be certain to 
 meet with disappointment. During the two months we 
 were here we succeeded in killing thirteen elephants, and 
 had the misfortune to loose seventeen unsalted horses. 
 -Symptons of fever beginning to show among our party, 
 we broke up camp and made tracks for Daraaraland. 
 Following our old route we reached Omaiuru in Decem- 
 ber, 18 , 
 
374 
 
 THE THIRSTLAND BOERS. 
 
 ADVENTURES WITH LIONS. 
 
 At the bivouac one dark night about nine o'clock, while 
 the boys were seated around a blazing fire, two yards dis- 
 tant from the wagons, a lion suddenly sprang among them,, 
 seized one and carried him off. Owing to the darkness 
 it was impossible to render the unfortunate fellow any 
 assistance. Early next morning spoor was taken, and the 
 lion tracked to his lair, where it was killed. It proved to 
 be a male lion of great size — a regular man-eater — as may 
 be gathered from the fact of its having passed quietly 
 through the troop of oxen in order to seize the man, of 
 whom every portion, except three fingers and one foot,, 
 was devoured. 
 
 One night, between ten and eleven o'clock, after all 
 hands had gone to sleep, we were awakened by the cries 
 of the boys and the barking of the dogs. On getting out 
 of the wagons the encampment was in a state of confusion. 
 A lion had carried off one of the boys. Search was made r 
 and a little Berg Damara boy, between ten and twelve 
 years of age, was discovered lying in an enclosure, about 
 fifteen feet from the fire, apparently dead, with two large 
 open wounds in his head, from one of which the brain was- 
 clearly visible. He was taken to the wagons and attended 
 to, and, I am happy to say, recovered. It seems the lion 
 stalked quietly through the oxen, which were lying down,, 
 and made for the fire, which was burning brightly, around! 
 which the boys were sleeping, made a spring, and seized 
 the little boy with such force as to send him flying through 
 the air into the enclosure. The shriek of the lad awoke 
 his companions and the dogs, and the noise made by these 
 no doubt caused the lion to make off. 
 
 Some days after this a single horseman rode out and 
 had not got very far from the wagons when he spied three 
 lions. Singling out a large male he gave chase, and when 
 within seventy yards dismounted and fired. Immediately 
 the lion received the bullet it faced about and charged, the 
 hunter fired- another, shot- and missed ; he then endeavoured 
 to mount his horse, but the affrighted animal would not 
 allow him to do so. The hunter held firmly on to the 
 bridle and with great presence of mind managed to turn 
 
THE LIOX. 
 
 375 
 
 the horse so as to screen himself from the lion. The lion 
 sprang on to the horse, the horse sprang forward and fell 
 on to the hunter, and man, horse and lion were scrambling 
 together. The hunter managed to extricate himself and 
 regain his feet, when, to his disma) r , he found the breech 
 of his rifle filled with sand, making it impossible for him 
 to reload ; he took to his heels, ran a short distance, 
 cleared his gun, and with great courage returned towards 
 the lion and shot it through the head, killing it instan- 
 taneously. 
 
CHAPTER XLII. 
 
 conclusion of the adventures of the trek boers 
 of 1874-75. 
 
 I have unfortunately mislaid an account of a warm brush 
 between these Trek Boers ind the fierce natives living 
 along the Cunene River, but I recollect the circumstances 
 well. The writer of the account (which somewhat 
 resembles one given further back) — the leader of this 
 particular party, one Botha — relates that he took a band 
 of Boers and some Boer boys and a few Hottentots to 
 search for a fresh habitation, as the cattle were dying from 
 some unknown disease. After riding about until the 
 horses were tired, they off-saddled in a green and pleasant 
 spot close to the river, which was overshadowed by 
 enormous trees, and, after partaking of some refreshment, 
 started off down the river on foot. They proceeded some 
 mile or so, when coming to a place that was fordable, they 
 crossed over, and ascended the stream again in order to 
 go towards a likely looking spot, when suddenly they 
 heard rapid firing going on, and shouts, and shrieks and 
 yells as if all the fiends of Pandemonium had been let slip. 
 They all then ran towards the river, opposite where they 
 bad off-saddled, and on reaching an eminence beheld an 
 exciting scene. A large body of furious savages, after 
 stealing up and capturing the horses, had rushed on to the 
 boys and Hottentot "after riders," who had thrown 
 themselves in a group back to back and were firing into 
 the saA T ages as fast as they could. Delay was out. of the 
 question, although the river was broad and deep and 
 infested with numerous alligators and hippopotami. In 
 they plurged (at least all who could swim) carrying their 
 rifles and ammunition over their heads with one arm, whilst 
 they impelled themselves with the other. On touching 
 the ground with the water about waist high, they fired a 
 volley into a lot of Kafirs who had gathered on the river 
 bank to stab them whilst landing. The enemy, un- 
 accustomed to the thunder of the rifles, fell back at once, 
 
A FIGHT. 
 
 377 
 
 leaving a dozen or so of their comrades hoj^s de combat. 
 The Boers now effected a junction with their sons and 
 followers, and with their combined strength succeeded by 
 dint of hard fighting in driving off the savages, losing, 
 however, two or three men in the scrimmage, as well as 
 .several horses, stabbed and made off with. 
 
CHAPTER XLIII. 
 
 OCCURRENCES AMONGST THE NATIVE RACES OF ZULULANT> 
 AND NATAL. 
 
 HISTORY OF GODOXGWANA ALIAS DINGISWAYO, AND (iN 
 FART) OF TSHAKA. 
 
 It is now most necessary that I should revert to the 
 ancient affairs of Zululand and Natal, as the Government 
 of the latter place has issued "The Annals of Natal" 
 compiled l>y an excellent authority. Mr. John Bird. The 
 first two parts of this work have just now (April, 1888) 
 reached Cape Town, and I am indebted to the courtesy of 
 Mr. IVederick York St. Leger, the able Editor of che 
 Cape Times, for the use of them. The contents of the 
 following highly valuable papers left by Mr. Henry 
 Francis Fynn, senr., are very much essential to my title. 
 
 Mr. Fynn arrived at Cape Town in 1818, and proceeded 
 to the Eastern Frontier. Returning to the Cape, in 1822, 
 he went as supercargo in a merchant vessel to Delagoa 
 Bay, and travelled some distance inland. He then, at 
 the instance of mercantile men at the Cape, who were 
 desirous of trading with the natives under Tshaka, came to 
 Natal, 1824, with several other Europeans. He spent 
 some time in exploring the country as far south-west as 
 the Umtata, withdrawing for a time from all companion- 
 ship with Europeans in order to learn the language of the 
 natives. Nine months were passed in this seclusion, after 
 which he remained in Natal, in frequent intercourse with 
 Tshaka and his successor. In 1834 he went back to the 
 Cape Colony, and was one of the headquarter interpreters 
 during the Kafir war of that period. He was then sent to 
 secure friendly relations with the Amapondos, and after- 
 wards served under Colonel (Sir Harry) Smith. He filled 
 for some time the office of Assistant Civil Commissioner 
 and Diplomatic Agent with the Tambuki Kafirs, and was 
 ultimately for several years an Assistant Magistrate, and 
 Resident Magistrate, Natal. 
 
EARLY ZULU HISTORY. 
 
 379 
 
 The following is the essence of his important literary 
 legacy to posterity : — 
 
 In the year 182-i, on my arrival at Port Natal, Tshaka 
 was the Chief of the Zulu Country. From his statements,, 
 corroborated from other sources, I received the information, 
 in reference to events which appear to refer to (about) the 
 year 1750. It may be necessary to remark that a custom 
 prevails among the tribes which enables the year in which 
 any remarkable event occurred to be traced with some 
 probability of correctness. An annual feast is observed,, 
 when the chief eats of the first fruits of the season, prior 
 to which ceremony not even a fallen grain may lie eaten- 
 under penalty of death.* 
 
 The country between Delagoa Bay and the Tugela had 
 for many years been a scene of commotion. At the time 
 here referred to it was occupied by various tribes, the two 
 most important being the Amangwane and the Umtetwa ; 
 the latter having Ujobe for its chief. The first account 
 given of this chief in any way connected with subsequent 
 occurrences is that, before he had selected from among his 
 wives the one who was to be the mother of his suc- 
 cessor, he had several sons, of whom it is only ne- 
 cessary to mention two, Godongwana and Mawewe, 
 whose mothers were of different tribes. The friends- 
 of Mawewe, with the view of establishing him as the 
 successor to his father, circulated a rumour that Godong- 
 wana intended to assassinate Ujobe. The chief, believing 
 the rumour, ordered a party to destroy Godongwana and 
 his adherents. In the attack made on Godongwana's 
 kraal, he escaped to a neighbouiing forest, though severely 
 wounded in the side. He was seen, hidden under a fallen 
 tree, by two of the foremost of his pursuers. These,, 
 however, were anxious to save his life. They shouted to 
 the others in the rear that Godongwana had made good his 
 escape, and these returned to the chief, reporting to him 
 that his son must certainly die of his wound. Godong- 
 wana, however, lived ; his wound was healed, but he 
 sought safety, flying from country to country, while his- 
 
 * It is plain that this paper was written in the year 1839 — 
 possibly early in the year — since the destruction of Ca.ne and his- 
 party is spoken of as recent. — J. B. 
 
.380 
 
 ME. H. F. FYNN S PAPERS. 
 
 father sent presents to the chiefs who harboured him to 
 induce them to put him to death. After repeated escapes 
 from the hands of his executioners, he fled to a tribe under 
 Pangane. . . . Being employed to milk the cattle of 
 the family whom he served, Godongwana attracted the 
 notice of the chief, who took him into his own service, and 
 suspecting that he was the son of Ujobe, assured him of 
 future protection. After having resided for some time 
 with that chief, Godongwana went out with the tribe, 
 which had been mustered for the destruction of a lion that 
 had made some havoc among their cattle. He asked to be 
 .allowed to engage single-handed with the animal, and leave 
 having been given, as well as the promise of a reward if 
 he should succeed, he killed the creature (which proved to 
 be a lioness) in presence of the tribe, and brought away 
 two of her cubs, for which he received a large present of 
 cattle, and was made chief over a portion of the tribe. 
 Shortly after it was reported that Ujobe was dead, and 
 that Mawewe had succeeded him. 
 
 While this was no more than a doubtful rumour, the 
 attention of the various tribes was excited by the appear- 
 ance of a " malungu," or white man, said to be coming 
 from the west. This strange phenomenon was represented 
 by those who had seen it as having a human aspect : his 
 garment, though so small as to be held in the grasp of his 
 hand, when slipped over his head covered his whole body ; 
 on his feet there were no toes ; his heels were so long as to 
 penetrate the ground ; he was mounted on an animal of 
 great speed, and carried a pole in his hand, which spit fire 
 and thunder, and killed all the wild animals he looked at ; 
 he was represented as the chief of the diviners, from whom 
 they all derived their powers. At his presence the natives 
 fled, after killing an ox to be consumed by him ; and, 
 whenever he entered a kraal, beads and brass were left 
 behind, and found by the natives on their return. Pangane, 
 more daring than his neighbours, awaited his arrival. 
 During his stay with that chief, the white man performed 
 a surgical operation on Pangane's knee, which had for 
 .some years been affected in some painful way. The 
 European of whom this description is given was probably 
 Dr. Cowen, who travelled from Cape Town in a N.E. 
 direction in the vear 17 — This traveller endeavoured for 
 
EUROPE AX NOT HUMAN. 
 
 381 
 
 some time, in vain, to procure guides to direct him to the 
 sea-coast, then distant nearly 300 miles ; and at length 
 accompanied Godongwana, who, with his followers, pro- 
 ceeded to his country with the object of dethroning 
 Mawewe, and establishing himself in his stead. Arriving 
 in the neighbourhood of the coast, the stranger proceeded 
 towards the sea, and entered a tract under the rule of 
 Pakatwayo, who had him seized and put to death. A 
 belief prevailed among the tribes on the coast that white 
 men were not human beings, but a production of the sea,, 
 which they traversed in large shells, coming near the shores 
 in stormy weather, their food being the tusks of elephants,, 
 which they would take from the beach if laid there for 
 them, and placing beads in their room, which they obtained 
 from the bottom of the sea. Godongwana's arrival in the 
 neighbourhood was reported to Mawewe, with exaggerated 
 accounts of his power, of his riding on an animal and 
 having the weapon of thunder, both of which were said to 
 have been brought by him fram some distant country - 
 Mawewe, to learn the truth, sent oue of his councillors to 
 see where Godongwana was and observe his strength.. 
 The councillor sent on this errand proceeded direct to 
 Godongwana, who, probably assuming a claim to the 
 magic powers' which rumour conferred on him, gained over 
 this emissary, and concerted his schemes of future action 
 with him. The councillor, returning to Mawewe, advised 
 that a force should be sent against him. This was done,, 
 and the command was given to the councillor, who, as he- 
 approached Godongwana, placed foremost the men whom 
 he believed to be attached to Mawewe. These, beginning 
 the fii.ht, were attacked in their rear by the chief and his- 
 followers. In the midst of the confusion thus occasioned, 
 Godongwana rushed amongst them amidst the acclamations 
 of his friends, which in a moment became general. Mawewe, 
 hearing of these proceedings, fled to the Knobe Kafirs, and 
 this was the cause of several subsequent wars between 
 Godongwana and Pakatwayo, who harboured Mawewe ; 
 but Pakatwayo was ultimately compelled to give him up 
 to Godongwana, who had him put to death. 
 
 Godongwana commenced his career about 1780. His 
 first act was to forbid the name of Godongwana being any 
 longer applied to him, substituting for it that of Dingiz- 
 
;382 
 
 mr. h. if. fynn's papers. 
 
 wayo, which implies " One in distress," in allusion to his 
 having been an outcast. Dingizwayo appears to have 
 possessed much natural ability, and this was increased by 
 his experiences in travelling through the neighbouring 
 countries. His superior intellect would have given him an 
 advantage over his neighbours, but the surprising strides 
 he made in improving the form of government, in Avar, and 
 in the encouragement of ingenuity, led to the supposition 
 that he must have derived knoivledge from some other 
 source than intercourse with native tribes ; and there is a 
 probability that during the time he was with Dr. Cowen 
 he acquired much information from him, and that on this 
 were founded his plans for the future. 
 
 In the first year of his chieftainship, he opened a trade 
 wiih Delagoa Bay, by sending 100 oxen and a quantity of 
 elephants' tusks to exchange for beads and blankets. 
 Prior to this a small supply of these articles had been 
 brought to that country from Delagoa Bay by the natives. 
 The trade thus opened by Dingizwayo was afterwards 
 carried on, on an extensive scale, though the Portuguese 
 never in person entered his country. The encouragement 
 held out to ingenuity brought numbers around him, liberal 
 rewards being given to any of his followers who devised 
 things new or ornamental. Milkdishes, pillows, ladles of 
 cane or wood, and snuff-spoons, were produced. (Many 
 curious specimens of excessively neat workmanship are 
 still made in the Zulu country.) A kross (karosse) manu- 
 factory was also established, a hundred men having been 
 generally employed in that work. From the presents 
 received from Delagoa Bay he selected some for imitation ; 
 and a handsome reward was offered for the production of a 
 chair and table. The former was accomplished : it was 
 cut from a solid block of wood, and was by no means dis- 
 graced by the presence of its model of European workman- 
 ship. The chiefs of the Zulus still have chairs made for 
 their use by their own subjects. An umbrella could not 
 be imitated, but the idea of its use was supplied, and a 
 shield was substituted for it, and continues to be used by 
 the Zulu chiefs. It is held over them by their servants, 
 and is more suitable and characteristic than an umbrella 
 could be, which must be held by the person using it. The 
 wars which Dingizwayo began with his neighbours were 
 
DIXGIZWAYO. 
 
 383 
 
 mot at first on a great scale. But they were successful, 
 and spurred him on to more important movements. He 
 .assumed a despotic power hitherto unknown ; he divided 
 his followers into regiments, distinguishing each by name 
 and by the colour of their shields. He introduced war- 
 dresses of a most imposing appearance to be worn by his 
 chief men and warriors, as if he wished to claim for them 
 rather the respect of their enemies that to terrify them by 
 that appearance of fury which would be supposed to be 
 the vice of the savage. He declared war on all the neigh- 
 bouring tribes, assigning as his reason that he wished to 
 do away with the incessant quarrels that occurred amongst 
 the tribes, because no supreme head was over them to say 
 -who was right or who was wrong ; a state of things that 
 -could not have heeu the design of Umvela. the first of the 
 human race. Dingizwayo's proceedings sufficiently testify 
 that these were really the views that actuated him. The 
 first tribe he conquered were the Amakwadini. He 
 directed their cattle to be brought to his place of residence 
 .and there to be assorted. The oxen were distributed 
 among his warriors, but he restored the cows to the 
 defeated tribe, from whom he exacted submission to his 
 authority. On this principle he continued his conquests. 
 The most important of the conquered tribes were the 
 Kwabis, Amalanga, Amakwadini, Amazulu, Amatyaleni, 
 Telayizi, Kuyivane, Amatembu, Amaswazi, and the 
 Amakose. The only chief he had not subdued was Zuedi, 
 •chief of the Endwandwe. 
 
 Before proceeding further with the acts of Dingizwayo, 
 it becomes necessary to take some notice of the Zulu tribe 
 under Senzagakona, one of those subdued by Dingizwayo. 
 At that time the tribe numbered only 2,000 men. Before 
 the date of Dingizwayo's conquests, the custom of circum- 
 cision had beeh general among all Kafir natives : but he 
 ordered the rite to be deferred until he should have brought 
 under his dominion all within his reach. Owing to this 
 circumstance, circumcision fell into disuse among all the 
 Eastern tribes, and the omission of the ceremony extended 
 to all who acknowledged his authority. Among these was 
 Senzagakona : the rite was postponed in his case. But 
 by long usage it was unlawful that, though a chief might 
 .•set aside a number of women for a seraglio, he should until 
 
384 
 
 MR. H. T. PYNN'S PAPERS. 
 
 after circumcision have any intercourse with them for the 
 propagation of his race. Among the females thus set 
 apart by Senzagakona was Nandi, of whose death an 
 account is separately annexed. She was of the Amola 
 tribe. She became enceinte. Senzagakona, not sus- 
 pecting the truth, attributed the change in figure to disease, 
 known by the name of Tsheka. But, in the course of 
 time, the true cause could no longer be concealed. A 
 son was born, and, owing to the circumstance just men- 
 tioned, with the difference of a single letter in the word,, 
 was called Tshaka. Nandi displaying a very ferocious 
 temper, was driven away, and returned to her country 
 amongst the Amola tribe. She afterwards married a com- 
 moner, and had a son named Engwade. Dingizwayo then 
 took Tshaka under his protection, saying that, as he had 
 himself been driven from his father, and had become an 
 outcast wherever he went, Tshaka should be under his' 
 special care. During Dingiswayo's wars, Tshaka was at 
 an early age conspicuous for his bravery, and gained the 
 name of Sigiti. At the death of his father, Senzagakona^ 
 Tshaka solicited Dingiswayo to establish him in the Zulu 
 chieftainship. This Dingizwayo refused, stating that the 
 Zulu tribe were under his authority, and that Umfogazi, the 
 heir apparent, had a prior right. Tshaka, rinding this to- 
 be the only obstacle, employed his brother Engwade to 
 assassinate Umfogazi. This having been done, he sought 
 some assistance : and then, dressed in his war attire, and 
 accompanied by many of Dingizwayo's followers, he 
 entered his father's kraal chanting a song composed by 
 himself, in which he set forth his warlike views. The 
 experience he had gained during his attendance on Dingiz- 
 wayo, and his own ambitious views, could not find scope 
 for action so long as his protector was aiive. Tshaka took 
 the earliest opportunity of ridding himself of such an 
 obstacle. Dingizwayo having gone out to attack the chief 
 Zuedi, Tshaka accompanied him, commanding one division 
 of the force, and knowing the spot where Dingizwayo 
 would post himself to observe the battle, secretly com- 
 municated this knowledge to the enemy, who sent a force 
 and took him prisoner. He was kept bound for three 
 days, and then put to death. The Umtetwas, their chief 
 being a prisoner, were defeated. Some joined the ranks 
 
REFORMS OF TSHAKA. 
 
 385 
 
 of the victors, while the remainder returned to their 
 country, acknowledging as their chief Mondesa, Dingiz- 
 wayo's brother. The various tribes who had been con- 
 quered and formed part of the Umtetwa tribe, refused to 
 acknowledge Mondesa, and took the opportunity of claim- 
 ing their independence. 
 
 To give an adequate idea of Tshaka's proceedings, from 
 the death of Dingizwayo to the time when he (Tshaka,) 
 was assassinated by his brother, Dingaan, would require 
 an extensive work, while the object of what is here re- 
 corded regarding him is chiefly to give an insight into 
 the revolutions the various tribes have undergone, and the 
 rise and progress of the Zulu nation, to elucidate which it 
 has been necesary to give a more minute account respect- 
 ing Dingizwayo and the tribes antecedent to the time of 
 their being under the dominion of Tshaka. Hence the 
 little mentioned regarding Tshaka can give but an in- 
 different idea of the character of that chief. The death of 
 Dingizwayo leaving him without control, he found a 
 pretext for attacking Mondesa while the tribe was still in 
 confusion from the loss of its chieftain, and were in fear of 
 retaliation from the tribes which, having been conquered 
 by Dingizwayo, were now left at liberty. This fear, a& 
 well as the inducements held out by Tshaka. led them to 
 unite under his authority. With this additional strength 
 he meditated greater conquests, and fought over again 
 Diiwizwavo's battles : but now thev were attended with 
 greater slaughter. He disapproved of the custom of 
 throwing the assagai. To substitute a different mode of 
 attack, Tshaka assembled two divisions of his followers, 
 who were ordered to supply themselves with a reed (javelin) 
 each from the river-bank, that he might be convinced of 
 the effect which only one weapon would produce when 
 used at close quarters. The two divisions thus weaponed 
 were ordered to oppose each other, the one throwing the 
 weapon, the other rushing on and stabbing their opponents- 
 The result of this collison was momentary, and met witn 
 Tshaka's entire satisfaction, few having escaped being 
 wounded, and several severely. Tshaka then ordered six 
 oxen to be slaughtered in his presence ; and collecting the 
 assegais of his followers, with the exception of one left to 
 1 C 
 
386 
 
 FYXX'S PAPERS. 
 
 each, he ordered the shafts to he broken and used in cooking 
 the meat, of which the prime parts were given, hot, to 
 those who had been conspicuous for courage ; the inferior 
 parts after being soaked in cold water, were given to those 
 who had been seen to shrink in the combat. Thus origin- 
 ated the use of the single spear by the Eastern tribes. 
 
 Tshaka having, after much opposition, overcome the 
 neighbouring tribes, in order to prevent a repetition of 
 revolt, put to death the chiefs and principal families of the 
 conquered, selecting, however, the younger men, whom he 
 attached to his regiments, forming together a body of 
 o0,000 effective followers : these he governed with 
 despotic severity. Having, with the exception of Matu- 
 wana, who fled to the North-East, brought under his 
 dominion all chiefs and tribes between Delagoa Bay and 
 Umzimvubu, he determined to continue his wars so long 
 as any body of people could be found to stand in opposi- 
 tion to his force. To fight or die was his maxim, and 
 certain was the death of any man or body of men who 
 retreated before the enemy. The countries to the K. E., 
 as also the coast westward, were separately invaded. 
 Those who attempted to withstand him were over- 
 powered by numbers, ultimately exterminated, neither 
 sex nor age being spared. Many were burned to 
 death, their huts being fired at night, Avhile the bar- 
 barous cruelties he practised struck terror into many 
 w r ho had never seen his force and fled at his name. 
 The recital of his cruelties, though horrid, is necessary, for 
 the omission might leave him entitled to be regarded only 
 as a savage. One instance is related by his followers and 
 participators in the deed as having occurred in the com- 
 mencement of a battle with Zuedi. Some aged women 
 having been taken in the outskirts of their country were 
 seized and brought into Tshaka's presence. After eliciting 
 from them the information he required, he ordered them to 
 be bound with straw and matting, which being set on fire, 
 the tortured victims were driven towards the enemy amidst 
 the acclamations of Tshaka and of the furious demons 
 .attending him. Whilst those opposed to him were sub- 
 jected to such cruelties, his own followers were not exempt. 
 The" instances are numerous in which, though not a 
 
SOTSHAXGAXA. 
 
 387 
 
 semblance of crime was imputed to them, he has had men 
 seized, and their eyes taken out of their sockets : and then 
 they were allowed to move about and be ridiculed by who 
 met them. It is needless to dwell on the enormity of his 
 cruelty. It required some off-set to gloss over this, his 
 predominant feature. He seemed to possess qualities that 
 might do so, and these, though only assumed, were 
 sufficient for the ends he had in view. When the feelings 
 of his heart were appealed to, he was by no means 
 -deficient in kind expression ; and tears appeared to be 
 always ready at his commaud. Excessive liberality 
 gained for him that ascendency for which he was esteemed 
 above ail before him. His despotism made the lives and 
 property of all his followers exclusively his own. Hence 
 his treasury though exhausted by liberal gifts, required but 
 the death of two or three wealthy owners of cattle to 
 replenish it. The success that had always attended him 
 in his numerous wars, and his own pretentions to 
 superiority, led his followers to believe that he was more 
 than human, and in this light he was ever adored by his 
 .subjects. He succeeded in overrunning the whole country 
 from Delagoa Bay to the St. John's River ; and if death 
 bad not put a stop to his ambitious career, or had he not 
 been deterred by the probability of a collision with the 
 Cape colonists, he would assuredly ere this have ex- 
 terminated every tribe of Kafirs up to the Colonial border. 
 The numbers whose death he occasioned have been left to 
 conjecture, but exceed a million. Of the tribes yet extant 
 who escaped subjugation by Dingizwayo, the first was 
 
 that of the Chief , who occupied the tract from 
 
 Sr. Lucia to Delagoa Bay. He fled beyond that port 
 inland, and his is now the only tribe east of Delagoa 
 speaking the Zulu language. At the death of this chief 
 he was succeeded by his son Sotshangana, who was three 
 times attacked by Tshaka. On the last occasion Tshaka's 
 army, before making their intended attack, was surprised 
 in the night by Sotshangana and his followers, who were 
 led to make this movement by a deserter, one of Tshaka's 
 chiefs. Little is known of Sotshangana or his people, 
 though they cannot be much less numerous than Tshaka's 
 adherents. The next tribe of importance in point of 
 lc2 
 
388 
 
 etnn's papeks. 
 
 numbers is that under the chief Umsiligazi, misnamed by 
 the colonists Matsilikatzi : an error arising from the 
 adoption by the tribe of the name of their head, and so 
 calling themselves Amasiligazi. Tshaka had no sooner 
 commenced his wars after the death of Dingizwayo than 
 the country was invaded by Zuedi. Tshaka, knowing his 
 inability to meet the invader, retreated with his adherents,, 
 having first destroyed every kind of grain and cooking 
 utensil in the tract he was leaving. When his spies 
 returned Avith information that the invading force had 
 totally consumed their supply of provision, he turned upon 
 his adversaries, who in their famished state fled before 
 him. Three of Zuedi's petty chiefs were left behind, two 
 of Avhom, Beju and Umlotsha, joined Tshaka, by whom 
 they were afterwards put to death. The third, Um- 
 siligazi, with 300 followers, became a freebooter. He 
 began his aggressions by setting fire to the huts of petty 
 tribes by night. His men, scattered abroad for the 
 purpose, gained advantages without difficulty, receiving 
 into their ranks such as escaped the flames. The tribe of 
 Umsiligazi rose into notice, but was never considered 
 important until the year 1830, when he was attacked by 
 Dingaan. The extensive increase of the adherents of 
 Umsiligazi was caused by the accession to their number of 
 the refugees driven out by Tshaka, especially when Zuedi 
 was defeated in 1826. 
 
 The mode of government to which the Eastern tribes 
 Lave been accustomed has been despotic, though it was 
 not till after the chieftainship of Tshaka that it can be 
 said to have attained a very arbitrary character. The 
 advantages resulting from that mode of government, and 
 the success of the new mode of warfare, induced the 
 natives to imitate the example of Dingizwayo and 
 Tshaka ; but the different degrees of power assumed by 
 the rulers admit of a softer designation than despotism ;. 
 for such tyranny as Tshaka's could not be adopted by 
 them with any probability of success, for their retainers 
 would certainly in such case have attached themselves to 
 Tshaka, whose continued fortune offered a strong in- 
 ducement. By his tyranny and barbarous acts, 
 Tshaka secured the most abject submission to his will 
 
AAVFUL SCENES. 
 
 389 
 
 and restrained his subjects from the most trivial 
 offences. If we keep out of sight Tshaka's barbarities, the 
 Zulus were a superior people, distinguished for good order 
 and discipline. The region devastated by the marauding 
 chiefs exceeds the Cape Colony in extent. It is 
 for the greater part quite void of inhabitants. 
 Many of the inhabitants who escaped from the 
 spear were left to perish by starvation. Their cattle 
 having been taken and their grain destroyed, thousands 
 were for years left to linger on the slender sustenance of 
 roots — some even of a poisonous kind. One species could 
 not be safely eaten until it had been boiled repeatedly for 
 twenty-four hours ; and, if the cravings of starvation led 
 to a disregard of caution, they knew the fate that awaited. 
 Insanity was the invariable consequence. In this state 
 they cast themselves down from mountain-cliffs, or became 
 helplessly the prey of wolves or tigers. In my first 
 journey from Xatal to the Umtata, in 1824, I witnessed 
 very awful scenes. Six thousand unhappy beings, having 
 scarcely a human appearance, were scattered over this 
 country, feeding on every description of animal, and driven 
 by their hungry craving in many instances to devour their 
 fellows. The excessive liberality of Tshaka in his gifts of 
 cattle to the European party enabled them to do much in 
 alleviating the distress which they witnessed around them ; 
 the first attempts, however, in affording relief were attended 
 with obstacles. The safety of the party would be 
 endangered by Tshaka's displeasure ; and, moreover, as 
 Europeans had never before been seen in the country, the 
 motives of their offer of help were misconstrued by these 
 victims of misery, who fled from them as from destruction. 
 The treatment experienced by the first of the natives who 
 accepted relief soon brought the remainder to Port Xatal 
 — above 4,000 of both sexes were saved in this way — and 
 Tshaka, hitherto implacable in their regard, became 
 softened, and, feeling a deep interest in forwarding the 
 views of the Europeans, he encouraged rather than dis- 
 ■countenanced the protection afforded to the distressed, and 
 he spared the lives of those of his subjects who, having 
 been sentenced to death, had made their escape and fled to 
 Port Xatal. Their arrival among the Europeans being 
 
390 
 
 fynn's papers. 
 
 reported to Tshaka, be replied : " They have gone to my 
 friends and not to my enemies : take care of them as of 
 your own." To these circumstances it is due that a body 
 of natives under the control of the European party was- 
 collected at the Port. The fate of the natives became 
 identified with our own, and could scarcely be separated!. 
 While their recent destruction in the attack on the Zulu 
 nation is much to be deplored, they have proved themselves 
 deserving of the protection that had been afforded them by 
 dying in the cause of their protectors, and in the same 
 field. Their general good conduct has led to the belief 
 that, under an established government, the natives would', 
 prove to be good subjects and exemplary soldiers. 
 
 This body of people was small in proportion to the 
 numbers who had fled from the country in fear of Tshaka,, 
 and took refuge among the western tribes of Kaft'raria,. 
 From these they received the name of Amafengu, from the 
 word " Fenguza," which is expressive of want. The first 
 of these refugees expressed their need of sustenance by 
 saying " Fengnza," "We want." Hence all who followed 
 them at different periods, though belonging to various 
 classes, were called Amafengu. The position of these 
 people in their state of servitude under their Kafir masters 
 was one of restlessness. Being generally industrious, they 
 aimed at the acquisition of cattle. Once in possession of 
 such property, they evinced a disposition to be free from 
 bondage. A custom prevails in all Kafir races in regard: 
 to cattle acquired by a dependant. They are considered 
 to be his property only so long as he remains in his sub- 
 ordinate condition, or by permission of his master builds a 
 separate kraal, in which case he is still looked on as an 
 adherent : but if he join another chief or withdraws from, 
 the authority of his master, his property is subject ro 
 seizure. In their anxiety to be no longer menial servants,, 
 the Fengus have taken every opportunity to escape with 
 their property. The first that occurred was when an 
 attack Avas made by Ncapayi on the Tambookies. Some 
 of the Fengus joined Ncapayi, and the Tambookies, in a 
 spirit of revenge, persecuted those who had joined the 
 ranks of the invaders, and had remained with their masters.- 
 The rumours as to the conduct of the Fengus who had 
 
THE FENGUS. 
 
 391 
 
 escaped reaching the other tribes, the persecution became 
 general. The next instance occurred in 1834, in the last 
 Kafir war, when they embraced the opportunity, and 
 became British subjects. In the confusion caused by the 
 war, some had lost their cattle, while others had brought 
 away those of their late masters, with which they had no 
 sooner escaped than they extensively increased their stock 
 by plundering the cattle taken by the Colonial forces from 
 the Kafir tribes. The Fengus, like the natives at Port 
 Natal, belonged to fragments of every tribe defeated by 
 Tshaka : those at Natal, however, had advantages that 
 materially influenced their character — for they lived in a 
 rich and extensive country, and being supplied with cattle 
 and grain, had no inducement to roam. Under the govern- 
 ment of their own chiefs and laws, they had always been 
 under sufficient restraint, and were an orderly people. 
 The Fengus, on the contrary, have for years been without 
 any settled abode, divided from their chiefs, having 
 nothing but the name of Fengus to connect them with 
 their fellows, and roving from place to place. They have 
 fallen materially in character, and bear little resemblance 
 to those of their countrymen who have not been exposed 
 to the hardships endured by the Fengus. 
 
 The Kafir tribes may be considered to be almost 
 exclusively a pastoral people, and wholly so as regards 
 the tribes near the Cape Colony, since the quantity of 
 grain produced among any portion of them will barely 
 suffice for their consumption for three months in the year. 
 The Amapondas, before their defeat by Tshaka, in 1824, 
 were a pastoral people. Having then lost much of their 
 stock, they became agricultural and pastoral. The Natal 
 refugees also became agriculturists, loss of cattle having 
 in most cases been the only stimulus to tillage. To this 
 rule the Zulus are an exception, being at once agricultural 
 and pastoral. * . ». » 
 
 During the life of Diugizwayo, thefts of cattle by the 
 natives from one another were not unfrequent. Under 
 Tshaka no penalty less than death was inflicted for the 
 offence, and this at once put a stop to that description of 
 plunder. During the twelve years of my residence in the 
 Zulu country, not a single instance occurred of cattle 
 stealing. 
 
392 
 
 fynn's papers. 
 
 From a fragmentary paper written by Mr. Fynn, probably 
 in reply to some one asking for information respecting 
 Natal, after he bad quitted it for the Eastern frontier 
 of the Cape Colony (1834), and before the advent of 
 the Boers (1838). 
 
 # * # * # * 
 
 It does not appear that any attempts were made by the 
 Portuguese to settle Port Natal. The first factory appears 
 to have been commenced by the Dutch, who were ulti- 
 mately compelled to abandon their settlement, owing to 
 
 the disturbed state of the neighbouring tribes 
 
 The Dutch claimed a right to the country, under a pur- 
 chase made by them from the native chief Inyangesa. 
 It appears, however, that his tribe occupied only 
 five miles of coast : the neighbouring country, or rather 
 that within the first and last points of Natal, being 
 inhabited by various tribes, probably not less than twenty- 
 five, independent of and incessantly at war with each 
 other, and by one of which Inyangesa and his tribe were 
 destroyed. This territory at a later period was occupied 
 by a tribe who fled from their native soil in fear of Tshaka, 
 but ultimately shared the fate of other native races in the 
 general desolation of the entire country when it was 
 depopulated by that sanguinary chief, only forty of the in- 
 habitants escaping. These ultimately found protection 
 with the party of English who arrived there in the 
 Julia. From the the time the Dutch left Natal till the 
 arrival of the Salisbury there is no tradition amongst 
 the natives that any vessel put into Port Natal. 
 
 The brig Salisbury* (Mr. King) was chartered by 
 several merchants at Cape Town, and sent on a trading 
 voyage to St. Lucia, the object of which having failed, 
 they entered Port Natal, in the hope of opening up a 
 communication with Tshaka. This attempt also failed, 
 and they returned to the Cape. 
 
 Mr. Farewell then chartered two vessels, with the per- 
 mission of Lord Charles Somerset." and with about forty 
 persons left Cape Town for Port Natal. The sloop 
 Julia, under my guidance, arrived there six weeks 
 before the Ann, on board of which Mr. Farewell took 
 
 # The Governor (f the Cape. 
 
NATAL. 
 
 393 
 
 liis passage, that vessel having been delayed in Table Bay. 
 In the interim I had established an intercourse with 
 Tshaka, who evinced a great desiie that the English 
 should take up their residence at Port Xatal. The 
 Julia took a number of the party back to the Cape, 
 and returned to Port Xatal, sailing thence with others of 
 the party. She is supposed to have foundered. By the 
 loss of this vessel, communication with the Cape was cut 
 off from the few remaining settlers. Owing to this cir- 
 cumstance the small party were under the necessity of 
 being very circumspect in their conduct and dealings with 
 the Zulu chief, in order to conciliate his friendship, for his 
 despotism has never been surpassed, as far as we are 
 informed by history. Fortunately, his capricious disposi- 
 tion inclined him to show kindness to us : and during his 
 reign we received continued marks of it from him. 
 
 The country which may be considered as connected 
 with the Port of Xatal extends about fifty miles east and 
 two hundred miles west of that port. That vast extent 
 may be considered as connected with the port, for two 
 reasons : first the common devastation under which the 
 whole tract has suffered, and still remains suffering, being 
 totally depopulated, with the exception of the European 
 settlement at the port, and the unfortunate beings who 
 have collected under its protection : and secondly, its soil, 
 climate, productions, and aspect, which differ essentially 
 from those of the surrounding countries : so widely, indeed, 
 that it would appear as if Nature itself had set boundaries 
 to that district. 
 
 This unhappy region was depopulated by Tshaka 
 -and the other marauding tribes who fled from his 
 terrible outrages : and it was in this uninhabited state 
 when, on our arrival, we found only a few stragglers 
 who had escaped indiscriminate massacre. These were 
 in the extreme of want and misery, barely subsisting 
 on a scanty supply of roots, often poisonous, and the 
 cause of many deaths. They were not long in collecting 
 round the English settlement, and by the protection and 
 humane assistance afforded them by the whole party their 
 lives were saved. The kindness shown by the English 
 excited the greatest astonishment in the Zulus. Being the 
 first Europeans they had seen, they were supposed by the 
 
394 
 
 FYNN S PAPERS. 
 
 natives to be of the Ignite species, in the form only of man f 
 and whose language was as unintelligible as the chatter- 
 of baboons. Tshaka alone, being a man of intelligence and 
 discernment, had formed a more favourable opinion of the 
 party : the Zulus generally remained in ignorance of who- 
 and what they really were, until I became sufficiently 
 acquainted with their language to instruct them. It 
 appears they had formed their opinion of Europeans from 
 the circumstance that, vessels having been wrecked on the 
 coast, such of the crew as escaped drowning were murdered 
 by the natives in the belief that they were sea-animals, not 
 having any country, and that each vessel contained a 
 separate family, who lived on salt-water and the ivory 
 which they found on shore. The treatment experienced 
 by the starving natives induced many Zulus, who escaped 
 the hand of the executioner, to fly to Port Natal for pro- 
 tection, and there they were allowed by Tshaka to remain 
 
 ' unmolested. Since the death of the chief, Dingaan, bis 
 successor, looks with a more jealous eye on the European s- 
 under whose care the distressed people are, and whose 
 strength is daily increased both by the addition of persons- 
 coming from the Cape Colony, and of natives who desert 
 to join them. He is held in some check by the dread of 
 
 ■ fire-arms, of the effect of which very exaggerated accounts- 
 have been circulated by those who escaped from the defeat 
 inflicted by the frontier colonists on Matewana's tribe in 
 1828. The number now under the management of the 
 Europeans at Port Natal amounts to nearly 6,000 souls r 
 who would all be massacred if the Europeans were to- 
 
 withdraw from the Port. 
 
 * # >x= * « 
 
 The frontier tribes — that is those between the Kieskama 
 and the Umzimvubu — occupy a country extending about 
 300 miles along the coast. The whole of Kaflraria, ex- 
 tending from the Colonial frontier to Delagoa Bay, must 
 have been originally occupied by one people, as is evident,, 
 from their language, manners, and customs, which are very 
 similar, and differ only in a provincial degree. As far back 
 as can be traced by tradition, their government was 
 patriarchal : and although wars have always been frequent, 
 they never were of that destructive kind practised during 
 the last sixty, and especially the last twenty, years under 
 
TSHAKA'S KRAA.L. 
 
 395 
 
 Dingizwayo and Tsbaka. The desolation caused by these 
 two chieftains has left the country unoccupied except by 
 the Zulus, who occupy an extent 200 miles in length aud- 
 150 in breadth. It is calculated that the scattered tribes 
 may haye had a population originally numbering a million,, 
 of whom only a few thousands have escaped the destruction 
 of the two last-mentioned reigns. 
 
 # * * * # 
 
 1824.] VISIT TO TSHAKA. [fYNN.] 
 
 (Mr. Farewell and Mr. Fynn.) 
 
 TSHAKA WOUNDED BY AN ASSASSIN. 
 
 On arriving within a mile of the king's residence, we 
 were directed to wait under a large tree till the arrival of 
 the messengers who were to call Mr. Farewell and myself 
 and the rest of our party. 
 
 The kraal was nearly two miles in circumference. At 
 the time of our entering the gates, the kraal was surrounded 
 by about 12,000 men in their war attire. We were then 
 desired to gallop round the kraal several times, and, re- 
 turning, bring the remainder of our party. When we came 
 again, we were directed to gallop four times more round 
 the kraal — then to stand at a distance of twenty yards 
 from a tree at the head of the kraal. Umbekwana, who 
 had accompanied us, made a long speech to the king, who 
 was so surrounded by his chiefs that we could not 
 distinguish him. One of the chiefs spoke in reply to 
 Umbekwana, to whom he stood opposite. His speech 
 concluded, he brought out on elephant's tusk as a present 
 to Mr. Farewell. Umbekwana again spoke, urging us 
 frequently to exclaim " Yebo " — meaning " Yes " — but 
 what we were assenting to we did not know, Tshaka 
 then sprang up from among the chiefs, striking the shield of 
 the chief on either side of him. The whole body then ran 
 to the lower end of the kraal, leaving us alone, with the 
 exception of one man who had been in the crowd. This 
 man proved to be a native of the Cape frontier, who had 
 been taken prisoner in a war between the colonists and. 
 Kafirs and sent to Robben Island. Capt, Owen, of the- 
 J.eve?i, had taken him as an interpreter to attend- 
 
396 
 
 fynn's papers. 
 
 him during his survey of the Eastern coast. After- 
 wards the interpreter had been given over to Mr. 
 Farewell on his voyage to St. Lucia Bay. There 
 he ran off, and sought protection with Tshaka, 
 who gave him the name of Hlamba-amanzi, denoting one 
 who had crossed the water. Among the colonists he had 
 been known by the name of Jacob Snmbiti. He spoke good 
 Dutch. But to return to the subject of our visit. 
 
 The whole country, so far as our sight could reach, was 
 covered with numbers of people and droves of cattle. The 
 king came up to us and told us not to be afraid of his 
 people, who were coming onwards. The cattle had been 
 assorted according to their colour, each drove being thus 
 distinguished from others near it. A distinction had also 
 been made from the shape of the horns. These had been 
 twisted by some art or skill into various forms, and to 
 some additional horns bad been attached — as many as four, 
 six, or even eight — part of which were erect, part having 
 loosely down. There were instances of cattle on which 
 strips of skin, cut from the hide, but not detached from it, 
 were hanging loosely from the bodies of the oxen. After 
 exhibiting their cattle for two hours, they drew together 
 in a circle, and sang and danced to the war-whoop. Then 
 the people returned to the cattle, again exhibiting them as 
 before, and at intervals dancing and singing. The women 
 now entered the kraal, each having a long thin stick in 
 the right hand, and moving it in time to the song. They 
 had not been dancing many minutes when they had to 
 make way for the ladies of the seraglio, besides about 150, 
 •distinguished by the appellation of "sisters." These 
 danced in parties of eight, each party wearing different 
 coloured beads, which were crossed from the shoulders to 
 the knees. Each wore a head-dress of black feathers, and 
 four brass collars fitting close to the neck. The king 
 joining in the dance was accompanied by the men. Thi 
 dance lasted half an hour. The king then made a long 
 speech, which was made intelligible to us by his inter- 
 preter, Hlamba-amanzi. He desired to know from us if 
 ever Ave had seen such order in any other state, assured us 
 that he was the greatest king in existence, that his people 
 were as numerous as the stars, and his cattle innumerable. 
 The people now dispersed, and he directed a chief to lead 
 
tshaka's dress. 
 
 397 
 
 us to a kraal, where we could pitch our tents. He sent us 
 an ox, a sheep, a basket of corn, and a pot of beer (about 
 three gallons). At 7 o'clock, we sent up four rockets and. 
 fired off eight guns. He sent people to look at these, but,, 
 from fear, did not show himself out of his hut. On the 
 following morning we were requested to mount our horses 
 and ride to the king's kraal. On our arrival we found him 
 sitting under a tree, in the act of decorating himself. He 
 Avas surrounded by about 200 people, a servant standing at 
 his side, and holding a shield over him to keep the glare of 
 the sun from him. Round his forehead he wore a turban 
 of otter-skin, with a feather of a crane erect in front, full 
 two feet long. Earrings of dried sugar-cane, carved ronnd 
 the edge, with white ends, and an inch in diameter, were 
 let into the lobes of the ears, which had been cut to admit 
 them. From shoulder to shoulder he wore bunches, three 
 inches in length, of the skins of monkeys and genets,, 
 twisted like the tails of these animals, and hanging half 
 down the body. Round the ring on the head (of which a 
 separate description will be given) were a dozen bunches 
 of the red feathers of the loorie, tastefully tied to 
 thorns which were stuck into the hair. Round his arms 
 were white ox-tails, cut down the middle so as to allow 
 the hairs to hang about the arm, to the number of four for 
 each. Round the waist a petticoat, resembling the High- 
 land plaid, made of skins of monkeys and genets, and 
 twisted as before described, having small tassels round the 
 top, the petticoat reaching to the knees, below which were 
 white ox-tails to fit round the legs, so as to hang to the 
 ankles. He had a white shield with a single black spot r 
 and an assegai. While he was thus dressing himself, the 
 natives proceeded, as on the day before, to show dioves of 
 cattle, which were still flocking in, and repeatedly varying 
 the scene by dancing and singing. Meanwhile it became 
 known tons that Tshaka had ordered that a man standing 
 near us should be put to death, for what crime we could 
 not learn : but we soon found it to be one of the common 
 occurrences in the course of the day. 
 
 Mr. Farewell then offered him the present he had 
 brought for him, which the king accepted with much satis- 
 faction. Dancing and singing were then continued till 
 4 o'clock, when we withdrew to our tent. At seven, a 
 
398 
 
 FYNN S PAPERS. 
 
 •messenger came to call me to attend the king. We found 
 him sitting in the palace, which before we had not entered. 
 He was sitting seven yards away from his hnt, with a fire 
 before him. He asked me if I had any medicine, as he 
 had heard that I had cured several invalids on my first 
 trip to Umbekwana's. He spoke of having rheumatism. 
 His whole conversation was on medicine. I remained 
 Talking with him until 10 o'clock, and on returning I pro- 
 mised that I would remain with him, according to his 
 request, for a month after Mr. Farewell, Mr. Peterson, and 
 their party should return to Natal. 
 
 On the following morning, Tshaka requested me to take 
 a walk for about 12 miles to see one of his chiefs, who 
 was very ill. When I arrived, I bled him and gave him 
 medicine, and in five days after I heard of his complete 
 recovery. Umbekwana informed the king that Mr. 
 Peterson, too, had medicines, and he (Mr. P.) was asked 
 to produce them and to state their qualities. He produced 
 a box of pills, which he said was good for all diseases, and 
 strongly recommended Tshaka to take two. The king 
 took four, and gave one of them to each of four chiefs, 
 desiring Mr. Peterson also to take four. Mr. Peterson 
 tried to argue that four were too many for one person, but, 
 the king insisting, Mr. Peterson took them. The chiefs 
 were then asked what was the taste of the pills, and said 
 that having swallowed them as directed, they had 
 discovered no taste at all. The king now swallowed two, 
 and desired Mr. Peterson to keep him company and take 
 two more. This request met with a positive refusal, but, 
 the king insisting, and the chiefs adding the pressure of 
 the argument that one who recommended medicines should 
 not refuse to take them himself, Mr. Peterson was 
 compelled to swallow two more, that is, six in all. The 
 consequences of this to a person of the age of 63 years do 
 not require to be explained in detail. On the following 
 dav, Tshaka having understood that Farewell and Peter- 
 son intended to return to Natal next morning, collected all 
 such of his forces as were in the neighbourhood, male and 
 female, numbering about 25,000. At about 10 o'clock 
 they began, as on the first day, to dance, and at intervals 
 to display their cattle. They had marked their faces with 
 clay of various colours, white, rei, black, and other 
 
NUMERATION. 
 
 899 
 
 shades. When these amusements had been continued till 
 4 o'clock, the king desired his people to look at us, to see 
 the wonder of white men. and to consider his own 
 greatness. He was able to tell the origin of his nation, 
 and he was proud to be able to say that those men were 
 the subjects of King George. His own forefathers and 
 theirs were cowards, who would not have dared to admit a 
 white man to their presence. He stated an instance of a 
 -white man, who had escaped from a wreck only three 
 Tears before, and who was put to death by his neighbour, 
 the King of the Kwabis, because he supposed the 
 unfortunate shipwrecked sailor to be a mere animal sprung 
 from the sea. He should expect his nation to look on us, 
 -and pay us the respect due to kings, and not consider us 
 -their equals. This speech being concluded, we dispersed 
 .and went to our tents. 
 
 The next morning I accompanied Mr. Farewell 
 .and Peterson, when they went to bid farewell to 
 Tshaka. After receiving presents of cattle, &c, 
 they started, while I, according to promise, remained, as 
 •did also a Hottentot servant. At 12 o'clock he presented 
 me with twelve oxen, and then left the kraal to go to 
 another 15 miles distant. On the following day he sent 
 ■for me. and on my arrival asked me to look at a large 
 ■drove of cattle, which I had not vet seen, and to count 
 them. I did so. There were 5,654. When I stated this 
 result of my count, it caused very general laughter : and 
 they asked how it was possible that I could count so 
 miaiiy, since I had not once reckoned ten with my fingers. 
 They came to the conclusion that I had not counted them 
 at all, and the interpreter could not persuade Tshaka of 
 the possibility of counting without the use of the fingers. 
 The Zulus have no other mode of reckoning. They 
 -commence from the little finger of the right hand, the 
 thumb of the left hand representing six, and so in 
 rotation to ten, which is the little finger of the left hand ; 
 twenty being two tens, thirty three tens, until they come 
 to ten tens, or a hundred, which they call a " great " ten. 
 There are some who have an idea of a thousand, which they 
 call a u great" Ingwanu. 
 
 Tshaka went on to speak of the gifts of Xature. 
 He said that the forefathers of the Europeans had 
 
400 FYXX's PAPERS. 
 
 bestowed on us many gifts, by giving us all the^ 
 knowledge of arts and manufactures, yet the)' bad 
 kept from us the greatest of gifts, a good black skin : for 
 tbis did not necessitate tbe wearing of clotbes to bide tbe 
 wbite skin, wbicb was not pleasant to tbe eye. He well 
 knew that for a black skin we would give all we were 
 wortb, our arts and manufactures. He tben asked wbat 
 use was made of tbe bides of tbe oxen slaugbtered in our 
 country. Wben I told bim tbat tbey were made into 
 sboes and otber articles wbicb I could not distinctly 
 explain, be exclaimed tbat tbis was anotber proof of tbe 
 unkindness of our forefathers, wbo had obliged us to 
 protect our feet with bides, for wbicb there was no 
 necessity — whilst the forefathers of the natives had shown 
 that tbe bide should be used as a more handsome and 
 serviceable article, a shield. This changed the con- 
 versation to the superiority of their arms, wbicb, he said r 
 were in many ways more advantageous than our muskets. 
 Tbe shield, he argued, if dipped into water previous to an 
 attack, would be sufficient to prevent tbe effect of a balL 
 fired wbilst they were at a distance, and in tbe interval of 
 loading they would come up to us at close quarters : we, 
 having no shields, would drop our guns and attempt to 
 run ; and, as we could not run as fast as bis soldiers, we 
 must all inevitably fall into their hands. I found it 
 impossible to confute bis arguments, as I bad no 
 acquaintance with bis language, and bis interpreter, 
 on whom I had to depend, would not have dared 
 to use strong arguments in opposition to tbe king. I was 
 obliged, therefore, to accept all his decisions. * * * 
 I remaiued till late in the evening, conversing on different 
 matters relating to England. He placed the worst con- 
 struction on everything, and did this in the presence of his 
 subjects, ridiculing all our manners and customs, though 
 he did tbis in perfect good humour. He would listen with 
 tbe greatest attention, when none of his people were with 
 us, and then could not help acknowledging our superiority. 
 He expressed, however, his aversion to our mode of 
 punishing for some crimes by imprisonment, which be 
 said must be the most horrid pain that man could endure. 
 If he were guilty, why not punish the deed with death. If 
 suspicion only attached to tbe individual, let bim go free ; 
 
TSHAKA STABBED. 
 
 401 
 
 his arrest would be a sufficient warning for the future* 
 
 This argument had. risen from the circumstance of his 
 
 interpreter having been taken prisoner and sent to Robben 
 
 Island, and through him, therefore, it was out of my 
 
 power to explain how wishful we are to save the lives of 
 
 the innocent, and in how few instances life was despised 
 
 by its possessor. I had to give way as before. 
 
 The following day was spent in dancing, and this was 
 
 kept up till the evening. Having spent the afternoon in 
 
 reading, I was induced to take another peep at the 
 
 dancers. As it was dark when I came, the king ordered 
 
 a number of people to hold up bundles of dried reeds, 
 
 kept burning, to give light to the scene. I had not been 
 
 there many minutes when I heard a shriek : and the lights 
 
 were immediately extinguished. Then followed a general 
 
 bustle and a cry. Having left Jacob (as I shall hence** 
 
 forth call the interpreter) and Michael, the Hottentot, at 
 
 the hut, I endeavoured to ask of every one who would 
 
 give me a hearing 1 what was the occasion of this extra- 
 ct , C3 . . _ Z j 
 
 ordinary commotion. I found at length that Tshaka, 
 while dancing, had been stabbed. I immediately turned 
 away to call Michael, whom I found at no great distance., 
 shouting and giving the hurrah, mistaking the confusion 
 for some merriment. I immediately told him what I had 
 heard, and sent him to prepare a lamp, and to bring some 
 camomile, the only medicine I had by me. I also desired 
 him to send the interpreter. The bustle and confusion 
 was all this time very great. Jacob and Michael arriving 
 we proceeded to Tshaka's hut in the palace, where we 
 supposed him to be. Jacob, joining in the general uproar 
 fell down in a fit, so that now I could ask no questions or. 
 gain information as to where Tshaka was. I attempted to 
 gain admittance into his hut. There was a crowd round 
 it. My lamp was put out. The women of the seraglio 
 pulled me, some one way, some another : they were in a 
 state of madness. The throng still increasing, and the 
 uproar, with shrieks and cries, becoming dreadful, my 
 situation was awkward and unpleasant in the extreme- 
 Just as I was making another attempt to enter the hut, in 
 Avhich I supposed the king to be, a man, carrying some 
 lighted reeds, attempted to drag me away, and on- my 
 refusal to accompany him * * he made a second effort to 
 Id 
 
402 
 
 fynn's papers. 
 
 pull me along, and was then assisted by another. I 
 thought it best to see the result, and, if anything were 
 intended against myself, to make the best of it. I walked 
 with them for about five minutes, and my fears and 
 suspicions were then relieved, for I saw the king in a kraal 
 immediately near. I at once washed the wound with 
 camomile-tea and bound it up with linen. He had been 
 stabbed with an assagai through the left arm, and the 
 blade had passed through the ribs under the left breast. 
 It must have been due to mere accident that the wound 
 had not penetrated the lungs, but it made the king spit 
 blood. His own doctor, who appeared to have a good 
 knowledge in wcunds, gave him a vomit, and afterwards 
 repeated doses of purging medicine, and continually 
 washed the wound with decoctions of cooling roots. He 
 also probed the wound to ascertain whether any poison had 
 been used on the assagai. Tshaka cried nearly the whole 
 night, expecting that only fatal consequences would 
 ensue. The crowd had now increased so much that the 
 noise of their shrieks was unbearable. 
 
 Morning showed a horrid sight in a clear light. 
 I am satisfied that I cannot describe the scene in 
 any words that would be of force to convey an 
 impression to any reader sufficiently distinct of 
 that hideous scene. Immense crowds of people were 
 constantly arriving, and began their shouts when they 
 came in sight of the kraal, running and exerting their 
 utmost powers of voice as they entered it. They joined 
 those already there, pulling one another about, throwing 
 themselves down, without heeding how they fell, men and 
 women indiscriminately. Many fainted from over-exertion 
 and excessive heat. The females of the seraglio more 
 particularly were in very great distress, having over- 
 exerted themselves during the night, suffering from the 
 stifling hot air, choked by the four brass collars fitting 
 tight round their necks, so that they could not turn their 
 heads, and faint from want of nourishment, which they 
 did not dare to touch. Several of them died. Finding 
 their situation so distressing, and there being no one to 
 offer them relief, I procured a quantity of water and threw 
 it over them as they fell, till I was myself so tired as to 
 be obliged to desist. Then, however, they made some 
 
TSHAKA DOCTORED. 
 
 4oe 
 
 attempt to help each other. All this time I had been so 
 busily employed as not to see the most sickening part 
 ■of the tragical scene. They had begun to kill one 
 another. Some were put to death because they did not 
 weep, others for putting spittle into their eyes, others for 
 sitting down to cry, although strength and tears, after 
 such continuous exertion and mourning, were wholly 
 exhausted. We then understood that six men had been 
 wounded by the same assassins who wounded Tshaka. 
 From the road they took it was supposed that they had 
 been sent by Zuedi, King of the Endwandwe, who was 
 Tshaka's only powerful enemy. Accordingly two regiments 
 were sent at once in search of the aggressors. 
 
 In the meanwhile the medicines which Mr. Farewell had 
 promised to send had been receive 1. They came very oppor- 
 tunely, and Tshaka was much gratified. I now washed 
 his wound frequently, and gave him mild purgatives. I 
 dressed his wounds with ointment. The king, however, 
 was hopeless for four days. During all that time people 
 were flocking in from the outskirts of the country, joining 
 in the general tumult. It was not till the fourth day that 
 cattle were killed for the sustenance of the multitude. 
 Many had died in the interval, and many had been killed 
 for not mourning, or for having gone to their kraals for 
 food. On the fifth day there were symptons of improve- 
 ment in the king's health and wounds, and the favourable 
 indications were even more noticeable on the day following. 
 At noon, the party sent out in search of the malefactors 
 returned, bringing with them the dead bodies of three men 
 whom they had killed in the bush (jungle). These were 
 the supposed murderers. The bodies were laid on the 
 ground at a distance of about a mile from the kraal. The 
 ears having been cut off from the right side of the heads, 
 the two regiments sat down on either side of the road, 
 then all the people, men and women, probably exceeding 
 30,000, who had collected at the kraal, passed up the road 
 crying and screaming. Each one coming up to the bodies 
 struck them several blows with a stick, which was then 
 dropped on the spot ; so that before half the number had 
 come to the bodies, nothing more of these was to be seen ; 
 only an immense pile of sticks remained, but the formal 
 -ceremonv still went on. The whole body now collecting, 
 1d2 
 
401 
 
 FYNN S PAPERS. 
 
 and three men walking in advance with sticks on which' 
 were the ears of the dead men, the procession moved up to 
 Tshaka's kraal. The king now made his appearance. The 
 national morning-song was chanted; and, a fire being made 
 in the centre of the kraal, the ears were burned to ashes. 
 
 From the moment that Tshaka had been stabbed, there 
 had teen a prohibition to wear ornaments, to wash the 
 body or to shave ; and no man whose wife was pregnant 
 had been allowed to come into the king's presence. All 
 transgressions of these regulations being punishable with 
 death, several human beings had been put to death. 
 
 There being now every appearance of Tshaka's com- 
 plete recovery, the chiefs and principal men brought cattle 
 as an offering of thanksgiving ; and on the next day the 
 chief women did the same. Tshaka then offered victims 
 to the spirit of his deceased father. 
 
 The restoration of the king to health made some great 
 changes. The tumult gradually ceased. A force of about 
 a thousand men was sent to attack the hostile tribe, and 
 returned in a few days, having destroyed several kraals, 
 and taken 800 head of cattle. Mr. Farewell and Mr. 
 Isaacs, having received a letter from me stating particulars 
 of the recent occurrence, came to visit Tshaka, and had 
 not been seated many minutes when a man, who had, in 
 defiance or neglect of prohibition, shaved his head, was 
 put to death. After this the privilege of shaving was 
 again conceded. 
 
 A present to the king from Mr. Farewell had been 
 brought to the kraal during the king's illness, and he had 
 on that account been unable to accept it. It was now 
 called for. Tshaka now made a grant of land to Mr. 
 Farewell, who noted the particulars in a document drawn 
 up by him. The grant extended fifty miles inland, and 
 twenty-five miles along the coast, so as to include the 
 harbour. 
 
 Tshaka, no longer suffering from his wound, quitted the 
 kraal in which he had been stabbed and removed to the 
 one in which we had first visited him. Farewell, Davis,, 
 and I accompanied him, the natives singing all the way. 
 On the day after our arrival, four thousand men were sent 
 inland, with orders to conceal themselves in an ambush r 
 until they should be joined by another detachment, to 
 
DRESS OF REGIMENTS 
 
 405 
 
 march next day. These were mustered in the kraal, about 
 3,000 in number, and, being ordered to march out, they 
 ran, in four divisions, to the spot at which they were, 
 directed to halt, and there formed three sides of a square. 
 A fire was lighted in the middle, and a pot with a mixture 
 of roots aud plants was kept boiling. An "Inyanga," or 
 doctor, in his ceremonial dress, kept dipping an ox-tail 
 frequently into the decoction. The men in turns placed 
 themselves with their backs towards him, and he sprinkled 
 them with the mixture, which was supposed to have the 
 effect of giving them strength in war, and ensuring a good 
 result. A speech was made by Umbekwana, in which he. 
 showed with every aggra vating circumstance the cause that 
 called for revenge — the attempt .on the life of their king. The 
 order to march was given, and they were directed to spare 
 neither man, woman, child, nor dog, to burn their huts, to 
 break the stones on which the corn was ground, to prove 
 their attachment to their king. The command was given 
 to Benziwana, an elderly chief. The force marched off in 
 the following order : — 
 
 The first division wore a turban of otter-skin, with a 
 •crane's feather, two feet long, erect on the forehead : 
 ox-tails round the arms : a dress of cow-tails hanging over 
 the shoulders and breast ; petticoat of monkeys and genets, 
 made to resemble the tails of those animals, and ox-tails 
 irouud the legs. They carried white shields chequered at 
 the centre with black skim The shields were held by sticks 
 attached to them, and at the top of each stick was the tail 
 of a genet. They carried each a single assagai and a 
 knobbed stick. 
 
 The second division wore turbans cf otter-skin, at the 
 upper edge of which were two bits of hide resembling horns. 
 JFrom these hung black cow-tails. The dress round the 
 breast and shoulders resembled that of the first division, a 
 piece of hide cut so as to resemble three tails hanging at 
 the back. They carried red-spotted shields. 
 
 The third division wore a very large bunch of eagle- 
 feathers on the head, fastened only by a string that passed 
 under the chin, trappings of ox-tails over the breast and 
 ishoulders, and, as the second division, a piece of hide 
 jresembliiig three tails. Their shields were gray. Each 
 man carried an assagai and knobbed sticlc 
 
406 
 
 FYXX'S PAPERS. 
 
 The fourth division wore trappings of ox-tails over the 
 breast and shoulders, a band of ox-hide with white cow-tails 
 round the heads : and their shields were black. 
 
 The force descended the hill in the direction of the enemy's 
 country, They held their shields downards at the left side, 
 and at a distance very much resembled a body of cavalry. 
 The first and third divisions marched making a shrill noise, 
 while the second and fourth uttered a sound of dreadful 
 howling. 
 
 Mr. Farewell and Mr. Davis, as well as myself, having 
 expressed our gratification at the King's recovery, parted 
 from him on the next day, and arrived at Port Natal in 
 six days, the distance being 125 miles. 
 
CHAPTER XLIV. 
 
 TSHAKA. [fYNN, 1824.] 
 
 CAMPAIGN AGAINST SIKONYANA, KING OF THE END WAND WE. 
 
 Impuyna, brother of Sikonyana, present King of the 
 Endwandwe, fearing that his life was in danger from 
 his brother, fled to Tshaka, and gave him such informa- 
 tion as could not have been procured through the agency 
 of spies, 
 
 I had not been at Natal [after my return] many days 
 before messengers from Tshaka arrived to call all hands, 
 white and black, to resist an attack expected to be made 
 at any moment on Tshaka's kraal. This placed us in an 
 awkward situation. We were far from being 1 in fighting 
 order. Powder was scarce, and our arms out of repair. 
 We considered that, taking part with the king, we should 
 be violating the laws of our country, and following a 
 course that could in no way be beneficial to ourselves ; 
 but we were fearful of the consequences that might ensue 
 from our refusal, and after a general consultation on the 
 matter, agreed to proceed to Tshaka's residence. 
 
 On our arrival we found all in peace and tranquillity B 
 But the whole nation had been called to arms. Tshaka 
 acquainted us with his intention, and spoke of the necessity 
 of our accompanying him. it being the custom, when the 
 king proceeded in person to war, for every individual to 
 attend him. Our explanation of the laws of our country 
 called forth some very unpleasant observations from him, 
 such as that vecsels seldom, or never, visited Natal ; that he 
 could destroy every one of us so that none might tell the tale ; 
 and if the English should seek revenge for our blood, they 
 would be terrified at his power. Mr. Farewell refusing to 
 lend Jacob a musket, one was taken from him by force. 
 Finding that the more ready we showed ourselves to pro- 
 ceed the better it would be for us, we ceased from object- 
 ing, and retired to rest, after hearing from Tshaka that 
 there would be no necessity for our fighting, only we must 
 
408 
 
 fynn's papers. 
 
 accompany him. The next morning, to onr surprise, we 
 found that the whole nation had made a move during the 
 night, two chiefs only being left to accompany us. We 
 made all possible baste to overtake them, but were unable 
 to do so until we reached Nobamba, after we had travelled 
 sixty miles from Tshaka's abode. JNobamba had been 
 the residence of Tshaka's father, and was now the 
 general rendezvous of the forces. Thence the army 
 was to proceed in separate divisions and by different routes. 
 Here we rested two days. The divisions having been sent 
 off, and spies having been despatched to watch the enemy, 
 we proceeded witn Tshaka at the head of the remaining 
 forces, each regiment being headed by its chiefs. The 
 day was exceedingly hot, and every man was ordered to 
 roll up his shield and -carry it on his back, a custom 
 observed when the enemy is supposed to be distant. In 
 the rear of the regiments were the baggage boys, few 
 above the age of twelve years, and some not more than 
 six. These boys were attached to the chiefs and principal 
 men, carrying their mats, pillows, tobacco, &c.,and driving 
 the eattle for the army. Some of the chiefs were also 
 accompanied by girls, carrying beer, corn, and milk : and 
 when this supply had been exhausted, these carriers 
 returned to their homes. The whole number of men, boys, 
 and women amounted, as nearly as we could reckon, to 
 50,000. All proceeded in a close body, and at a distance 
 nothing could be seen but a cloud of dust. We had not 
 rested from the time we started, and were parched and 
 almost perishing from thirst, when, coming to a marshy 
 stream about sunset, the craving to obtain water caused a 
 general and excessive confusion. After the first regiment 
 had passed, the whole marsh became mere mud, yet that 
 mud was swallowed with avidity. Several men and boys 
 Svere trampled to death ; and although there was a cry of 
 " shame" raised by many, and a call to help the unhappy 
 beings, every one was too much occupied to attempt to 
 extricate them. We travelled on until about nine at night, 
 when we arrived at some kraals belonging to a once power- 
 ful nation, the Isindani, of whom no more than 150 or 200 
 souls now remained. They were a different people from any 
 Ave had yet seen. They were of a strong, muscular 
 build, more active than the Zulus, and not having their 
 
KILLED BY FROST. 
 
 409 
 
 heads shaved, but wearing their hair about six inches long 
 and twisted in strings of the thickness of whip-cord. 
 
 As these people and a perfect knowledge of the country, 
 Tshaka took them as guides and spies. 
 
 Next morning we proceeded at daylight, marching over 
 extensive plains of stony ground. At 11 o'clock we rested, 
 and Tshaka employed the Hottentots in making sandals of 
 raw-hide for his use, Cattle were killed for the use of the 
 army. 
 
 We encamped at the end of the plain, and the army 
 Tested here for two days. On re-commencing our march 
 Tshaka requested me to join the first detachment. He did 
 this merely to please his own fancy. The frost of thp 
 preceding night had been so severe that many of the 
 detachment, from the excessive cold, had slept to wake no 
 more. 
 
 During the whole of the day's march not a bush vras to 
 be seen. We roasted our meat with dry grass. . 
 
 On the following day Tshaka arrived with the remainder 
 of the forces, and next morning we proceeded in one body 
 to a forest, where we rested for two days, awaiting the 
 return of the spies. Several regiments were sent to kraals 
 ■deserted by the hostile nation, the people having betaken 
 themselves to a general rendezvous. They returned on 
 the evening of the following day, loaded with corn, a great 
 luxury to us who had had nothing but meat for several 
 days. . . . The spies returning, the army moved 
 forward and encamped in an extensive forest, from which 
 the enemy was not far distant. We had generally marched 
 ahead to relieve ourselves from dust, and we had done so 
 this morning till we came within sight of the enemy, when 
 we thought that we ought to join Tshaka. We found that 
 he was on the opposite mountain, and seeing a regiment 
 with white shields I directed my course to it at once. 
 . . When I reached the bottom of the hill, and wa? 
 ascending the opposite one. expecting to find Tshaka there, 
 I met one of his servants, who informed me that the king 
 remained at the forest, and advised me to turn back, as, the 
 .ascent being difficult the regiment would leave me a long 
 way behind. Being a stranger to their mode of attack, I 
 determined to ascend the mountain and be a spectator of 
 parsing events. The hill from which we had first seen the 
 
410 
 
 FYNN S PAPERS. 
 
 enemy presented to our view an extensive valley, to the- 
 left of which was a hill separated by another valley from 
 an immense mountain. On the upper part of this there 
 was a rocky eminence, near the summit of which the 
 enemy had collected all his forces, surrounding their cattle : 
 and above them the women and children of the nation in a 
 body. They were sitting down awaiting the attack. 
 Tshaka's forces marched slowly and with much caution,, 
 in regiments, each regiment divided into companies, till 
 within twenty yards of the enemy, when they made a halt. 
 Although Tshaka's troops had taken up a position so near, 
 the enemy seemed disinclined to move, till Jacob had fired. 
 at them three times. The first and second shots seemed 
 to make no impression on them, for they only hissed, and 
 cried m reply, " That is a dog." At the third shot, both 
 parties, with a tumultuous yell, clashed together and 
 continued stabbing each other for about three minutes, when 
 both fell back a few paces. Seeing their losses about 
 equal, both armies raised a cry, and this was followed by 
 another rush, and they continued closely engaged about 
 twice as long as in the first onset, when both parties again 
 drew off. But the enemy's loss had now been more severe.. 
 This urged the Zulus to a final charge. The shrieks now 
 became terrific. The remnant of the enemy's army sought 
 shelter in an adjoining wood, out of which they were soon 
 driven. Then began a slaughter of the women and children. 
 They were all put to death. The cattle, being taken by 
 the different regiments, were driven to the kraal lately 
 occupied by Sikonyana. The battle, from the commence- 
 ment to the close, did not last more than an hour and a 
 half. The numbers of the hostile tribe, including women 
 and children, could not have been less than 40,000. The 
 number of cattle taken was estimated at 60,000. The sun 
 having set while the cattle were being captured, the whole 
 valley during the night was a scene of confusion. * * * 
 Many of the wounded had managed to crawl to the spot, but 
 for the wounded of the enemy there was no hope. Early next 
 morning Tshaka arrived, and each regiment, previous to its 
 inspection by him, had picked out its " cowards" and put 
 them to death. Many of these, no doubt, forfeited their 
 lives only because their chiefs were in fear that, if 
 they did not condemn some as being guilty, they would be 
 
ORNAMENTS OF HEROES. 41 1 
 
 suspected of seeking a pretext to save them, and would 
 incur the resentment of Tshaka. xso man who had been 
 actually engaged ia the fight was allowed to appear in the 
 king's presence until a purification by the doctor had been 
 undergone. This doctor gave each warrior certain roots to 
 eat, and to every one who had actually killed an enemy 
 an additional number. To make their bravery as public as 
 possible, bits of wood are worn round the neck, each bit 
 being supposed to reckon for an enemy slain. To the ends 
 of this necklace are attached bits of the root received from the 
 doctor, part of which had been eaten ; they then proceeded 
 to some river to wash their persons ; and until this has 
 been done, they may not eat any food except the meat of 
 cattle killed on the day of battle. Having washed, they 
 appear before the king, when thanks or praise are the last 
 thing they have to expect ; censure being loudly expressed 
 on account of something that had not been done as it 
 should have been ; and they get well off if one or two 
 chiefs and a few dozen soldiers are not struck off the army 
 list by being put to death. 
 
 During the afternoon, a woman and a child of the- 
 defeated tribe, the latter aged about ten years, were 
 brought before the king, and he made every enquiry 
 respecting Sikonyana ; what had been his plans when he 
 heard of the intended attack, and what was the general feel- 
 ing as to its result. To induce her to set aside all fear, he= 
 gave her some beer and a dish of beef, which she ate, 
 while giving all the information she was possessed of. 
 When her recital was finished, both mother and child were 
 sentenced to instant death. Being present, I begged the- 
 life of the child, that it might become my servant. Au 
 application to save the life of both was little likely to 
 succeed. From her information, Tshaka found that 
 Sikonyana with a few men had escaped, and a regiment 
 was ordered to pursue them, whilst another was detached 
 to kill the wounded of the enemy. The army then com- 
 menced its return home. 
 
 When we had been three days on the march, orders were- 
 given for the army to be divided into three corps ; one of 
 which was to accompany Tshaka ; the other two were to at- 
 tack the tribes under Um lots ha and Batya. These chiefs 
 had formerly been under Zuedi, the late king of the defeated 
 
412 
 
 PYNN S PAPERS. 
 
 enemy. In an unsuccessful attack on Tsbaka, these two 
 tribes had been cut off from the main body, and were 
 induced to join Tshaka. Believing that they had joined 
 him only from motives of policy, he dealt kindly with 
 them at first, but the moment their former king had been 
 subdued, and they could have no opportunity of revenge, 
 they were attacked. 
 
 Umlotsha took up his position on the Umpondwana 
 mountain, where his father had several times successfully 
 defended himself. This was in the centre of a plain, and 
 could only be ascended by two difficult passes, guarded by 
 men who hurled down masses of rock on their assailants. 
 Tha women kept up the supply of these boulders for the 
 men. This mountain-hold was usually well stored with 
 provisions ; but being now taken by surprise, they had 
 neglected the store. His provisions being exhausted, 
 Umlotsha submitted himself to Tshaka, and was again 
 received into favour. 
 
 Batya's capabilities of defence were equally good. He, 
 too, had a strong position among the rocks, and succeeded 
 in cutting to pieces one of Tshaka's regiments, raised only 
 two months previously, and numbering two thousand men. 
 This regiment had the name of the regiment of " Dust." 
 A few escaped and came to the army, now on its return 
 homeward ; but orders were given to put them to death 
 at once, as men who had dared to fly. 
 
CHAPTER XLV. 
 
 DEATH OF TSHAKl's 3IOTHEE. [FYXX. ] 
 
 While Tshaka was engaged in hunting elephants, he- 
 received intelligence that his mother was seriously ill r 
 which induced him to suspend the hunt, and proceed 
 immediately to her residence, a distance of 80 miles from 
 the hunting ground, which distance was travelled during 
 the latter part of the day and the night. Fynn # had been 
 with Tshaka some time, and various cases had occurred in 
 which he had been successful in restoring health to sick 
 natives, and once healing Tshaka himself when severely 
 wounded. Implicit confidence was placed in his skill, and 
 he was on this occasion requested to visit Tshaka's mother. 
 He found her in the agonies of death, and she expired an 
 hour after his arrival. Fvnn in two previous instances 
 had been at mournings, but little anticipated the scene he 
 was now to witness, or the alarming height to which it 
 was to be carried. The whole scene was a political scheme 
 in furtherance of Tshaka's vain imaginations, and to keep 
 the minds of his people filled with wonder. Xo sooner 
 was her death announced than the people tore from their 
 bodies every description of ornament. When Tshaka, 
 accompanied by his chiefs in their war-attire, appeared 
 near the hut in which she had died, he stood for twenty 
 minutes in a silent melancholy attitude, while his tears 
 dropped on his shield. At length his feelings were un- 
 governable ; he became frantic. The chiefs and people, to 
 the number of about 15,000, commenced the most dismal 
 and horrid yells ; the inmates of the neighbouring kraals 
 came pouring in. Each body, as they came in sight, 
 although at the distance of half a mile, followed the 
 example. The cries continued during the night, no one 
 daring to sleep, or even to take water to refresh himself^ 
 By morning the numbers had increased to upwards of 
 
 * Mr. Fyim frequently made use of the ''third person" in- 
 writing of matteis relatieg to himself. 
 
414 
 
 FYNN S PAPERS. 
 
 60.000. The cries now became indescribably horrid. 
 Hundreds were lying faint from excessive fatigue and 
 want, although no less than forty oxen had been 
 slanghteied as offerings to the spirits, the flesh of which 
 was not allowed to be eaten. About 10 o'clock the war- 
 song was snug, which slightly revived them. When it 
 was concluded they became uncontrollable. Tshaka had 
 several executed upon the spot. The multitude, bent on 
 convincing their chief of their extreme grief, commenced a 
 general massacre. Those who could no longer force tears 
 from their eyes, those who were found near the river 
 panting for water, were furiously beaten to death ; and 
 towards midday, each took this opportunity of revenging 
 an injury, real or imaginary, the weak falling by the 
 hands of the stronger. By 3 o'clock, not less than 7,000 
 had fallen in this unjustifiable massacre. The adjacent 
 river became impassable, and on the ground blood flowed 
 in streams. The horrid cries continued till ten the 
 following morning, when Tshaka became somewhat pacified, 
 and the people were permitted to take some refreshment. 
 Till then the scene had been local, but the chiefs, anxious 
 to show further their excited feelings, despatched bodies of 
 their soldiery to all parts of the country, and massacred all 
 who had not been present to lament the death of Tshaka's 
 mother. When the seat of majesty was quiet, several 
 tspeeches were made by the chiefs 4 The following 
 resolutions were strictly to be observed. As the Great 
 Female Elephant, the goddess or rather the overruling 
 spirit of vegetation, had died, and it was not improbable 
 that heaven and earth would come together, no cultivation 
 was to be allowed that year, no milk was to be taken as 
 food, the milk of the cattle to be spilled on the ground ; 
 and all women who should be found in a state of preg- 
 nancy during the following twelve months should, with 
 their husbands, be punished with death. For the three 
 ensuing months these orders were strictly adhered to, and 
 the latter for a whole year. The first two were permitted 
 to be withdrawn on the chiefs and principal warriors 
 offering a forfeiture of cattle. During the following year, 
 the tribe were three times called together to repeat their 
 lamentations for the death of the Female Elephant. On 
 the last occasion the cattle of the whole tribe were 
 
TEAKS SHED. 
 
 415 
 
 -collected, the bellowing of which was to be figurative of 
 their lamentation. On this occasion Tshaka was to be 
 washed from all un cleanness. Every individual possessing 
 •cattle killed a calf by ripping open its side : then took out 
 the gall, while the animal was still living, and sprinkled it 
 round their chief. The calves were allowed to die in 
 agony, and it was not permitted to eat their flesh. As a 
 -concluding resolution, it was decreed that as the death of 
 •so great a personage ought to be generally felt throughout 
 the land, and as tears could not be forced from foreigners, 
 an attack should be made on the frontier tribes, whose 
 cattle should be considered as tears shed for Tshaka's 
 mother.* 
 
 On the third day after the death of the Great Female 
 Elephant, a grave was dug near the spot where she died, 
 in which she was placed in a sitting posture : and Fynn 
 learned from some of the attendants, though it is now 
 •endeavoured to deny the fact, that ten females of her 
 retinue were buried alive with her. Fynn was prevented 
 from being an eye-witness to this scene, as he would, 
 .according to custom, have been compelled to remain at the 
 burying-ground for twelve months after. All those 
 present were formed into a regiment, and resided on the 
 spot for a year, and cattle to the number of 15.000 were 
 -contributed by all cattle-holders for the use of this regi- 
 ment. 
 
 * The Zulu custom of " Hlonipa " videlicet "be shy of" or 
 reverence " is a strange one. When a great person dies, their 
 names, or the component parts of them, are not allowed to be 
 spoken. Owing to the death of Tshaka's mother "Umnandi" 
 the n£me of a river in isatal was changed. In those days the 
 name of the river -was " Amarz'amuandi " or " Sweet Water," but 
 it was at once changed to " Amanz'smtoti." The latter syllable 
 being Lurseiy Zulu for "Nice" or "Sweet." 
 
CHAPTER XLVI. 
 
 DEATH OF MR. KING. [FYNN.] 
 
 DEATH OF TSHAKA, 1828. BFGINNING OF DINGAAn's 
 
 REIGX. 
 
 After leaving the King, I had not been more than two- 
 days at Natal when Tshaka's army was again sent off,, 
 scarcely a single able-bodied man remaining in the- 
 country. They had been on their march two days when 
 Tshaka sent after them, and directed that the- 
 boys employed in carrying the baggage of the chiefs and 
 principal men should be sent back, thus obliging the 
 headmen to carry their own baggage. With these boys 
 he formed a regiment, whom he named the " Bees," and 
 kept for his personal emergencies. During the absence of 
 the army, reports of their proceedings were brought to the- 
 King, until the distance put an end to these communi- 
 cations. In their first onset, they attacked the tribe ■ of 
 Contelo, a small nation whose offence had been that they 
 had formed alliances with females, and had worn bead 
 ornaments during the period when, by reason of Nande's- 
 death, these things had been prohibited. This nation 
 they destroyed entirely. They then attacked and defeated 
 the Isinda, and proceeded to make Avar on Sotshangana, 
 King of the Umdwandise, whose people occupied caves 
 and rocks, in which they were able to defend themselves,, 
 though they were not more than three hundred in number, 
 against 30,000 assailants. During the attack, Sopusa cut 
 off the communication with Tshaka, patrolling the roads r 
 and killing all who passed to and fro. 
 
 Shortly after the departure of fciie army Mr. King 
 returned to Natal with Sotose and Bosambosa, the chiefs 
 who had been sent by the Zulus on a mission to the Cape,, 
 in which they had been disappointed. They had turned 
 back at Algoa Bay. Mr. King landed in ill-health, and 
 was' prevented from visiting the king in person. He sent 
 the chiefs, and with them , his companion, Mr. Isaacs ; 
 
TREACHERY. 
 
 Tshaka's disappointment being great. Mr. Isaacs was 
 treated with the usual courtesy. He returned to the Port, 
 and had not been there long before Mr. King, who had- 
 been dangerously ill ever since he landed, breathed his 
 last. Having paid the tribute of respect to the dead, we, 
 the remaining party, went to pay our farewell visit to 
 Tshaka. He condoled with us in the loss of one whom he 
 so much respected, and said that although he had 
 expressed his displeasure as to the failure of the mission, 
 the things he had said were not words from his heart. 
 Mr. King deserved much respect from him, and it was 
 now in his power to boast of more than any of his 
 forefathers could have done, by saying that a white chief 
 had died a natural death in his country, not the victim of 
 "brutal treatment, or by any act of his. 
 
 During the absence of the army, Tshaka could not long 
 remain quiet, or abstain from bloodshed. He took on 
 himself the title of " dream-doctor." . . . He had 
 professed himself, six or eight months previously, capable 
 of undertaking that function, the duty of which would 
 consist in interpreting the dreams or doubts as to thefts, 
 cases of poisoning, sickness, &c. Xow he took it on 
 himself as an employment. He collected the women of 
 the kraals, and subjected them in rotation to some 
 operation, selecting some who were to be put to death. 
 Though he went through the ordinary customs of the 
 dream-doctors, yet those who were not selected for death 
 did not on that account escape their fate. He enquired 
 of them whether they were possessed of cats : and whether 
 the answer was in the affirmative or negative, the result 
 was the same. During three days, the dead bodies of 
 women, numbering not less than three or four hundred, 
 were seen carried away to the rivers, or left for the 
 wolves ; and that in the absence of their husbands. 
 
 The design of killing Tshaka had, no doubt, long been 
 contemplated, and the conspirators only waited for an 
 opportunity to effect their purpose. Only three were in 
 the secret, namely, Dingaan and Amaclangana, sons of 
 Senzagakona, and Umbopo, Tshaka's body-servant, with- 
 out whose aid it could not have been accomplished, as 
 it was, at midday, on 24th September, 1828. 
 
 Tshaka had been dreaming. He dreamt that he was 
 
 1 E 
 
418 
 
 fynn's papehs. 
 
 dead, and that Umbopo was serving another king. On 
 waking, he told his dream to one of his sisters, who within 
 an hour mentioned the circumstance to Umbopo. He, 
 knowing that in consequence of the portent he would 
 not have many hours to live, urged the confederates to 
 take the first opportunity to assassinate the king ; and this 
 shortly occurred. Some Kafirs arriving from remote parts 
 of the country with crane's feathers, which the king had 
 sent them to procure, the king was dissatisfied at their 
 having been long absent. He came out of his hut and 
 w r ent to a small kraal fifty yards distant. There these 
 people sat down before him. Inguazonca, brother to 
 JNande (the king's mother), an old man much in favour 
 with the king, was also there. Tshaka asking in a severe 
 tone what had detained them so long with the feathers, 
 Umbopo ran up to them with a stick and called on 
 them to state why they had delayed so long to fulfil the 
 king's orders, and then struck them.' Being aware that 
 their lives were in danger, and supposing that Umbopo 
 had, as is usual when some one is ordered to death, 
 received the private signal, they all ran away. Tshaka, 
 seeing them run asked Umbopo what they had done to 
 deserve to be driven off in this way. Amaclangana and 
 Dingaan had hidden themselves behind a small fence 
 near which Tshaka was standing, and each had an assagai 
 •concealed under his kaross. The former seeing the 
 people run off, and the king by himself, stabbed him 
 through the back on the left shoulder. Dingaan also 
 closed upon him and stabbed him. Tshaka had only time to 
 ask : " What is the matter, children of my father ?" But 
 the three repeated their stabs in such rapid succession 
 that he died after running a few yards beyond the gate of 
 the kraal. The few people at the kraal and in the 
 neighbourhood ran to the bush, believing that " Now Heaven 
 and earth would come together." The news flying 
 rapidly through the country, every one was filled with 
 terror ; and it was with difficulty that Dingaan, 
 Amaclangana and Umbopo could induce them to return. 
 They collected a few to whom they said that the act was 
 Senzagakona's. With threats and promises they prevailed 
 •on them to raise the war-whoop. Inguazonca, Nande's 
 brother, was killed at the same time, as was also a chief 
 
TSHAKA KILLED. 
 
 419 
 
 named Umxamama, one of Tshaka's favourites. After 
 i:he war-whoop an ox was killed as an offering of thanks- 
 giving to the spirit of their forefathers. . . . The 
 body of Tshaka remained out all night. In the morning 
 people were selected to bury him ; and his body was then 
 placed in an empty corn cellar, and every private article 
 of property that had touched his person was buried with 
 him. This cellar was in the same kraal in which he was 
 stabbed. . . . Until the return of the people, by 
 whom the claim of succession to the kingdom could be 
 discussed, Umbopo assumed the direction of affairs, and 
 set on foot an expedition against Engwade, another of 
 Xa'nde's sons (by Ingindiyana), who no doubt would have 
 aspired to succeed Tshaka. It was not likely that he 
 would succeed in that object, but the attempt might have 
 caused much unnecessary bloodshed. The first thing 
 Umbopo did was to have all the cattle collected and 
 brought to him that had been taken from the .Amapondas. 
 These cattle had been left at large in the uninhabited 
 country between the Umzimkulu and Port Xatal, and 
 might have been retaken by the Amapondas without more 
 trouble than that of driving them, and they would no 
 doubt have done so had they not so much feared the 
 dreadful name of Tshaka. Whilst the cattle were being 
 collected, many slight quarrels occurred between Dingaan 
 and Amaclangana, on subjects apparently the most 
 trifling. Once a dispute about two sticks rose to a very 
 high pitch, and showed evidently that these disagree- 
 ments were only occasioned by their broodings on the 
 subject of the grand point which each was wishing to 
 attain. However, their better sense induced them to set 
 such feelings aside, and prepare to attack Engwade. They 
 started from Tugusa under the command of Umbopo, in 
 two divisions, one being the regiment of "Bees " raised 
 by Tshaka, and the other consisting of all the stragglers 
 that had remained at home from sickness or other cause. 
 Engwade, during Tshaka's reign, had been much in his 
 favour, and reigned as a king over his own kraals in a 
 very independent way, not adhering to Tshaka's orders, 
 unless when they related to himself personally. When 
 the nation was ordered to the eastward, Engwade 
 remained at home with his division. This force being so 
 1e2 
 
420 
 
 FYNN S PAPERS. 
 
 greatly superior to that under Umbopo, the greatest 
 secrecy was required on the part of his assailants, in 
 order that he might be cut oft' before the kraals in his 
 neighbourhood should know of the attack that impended 
 over their chief ; and in this Umbopo succeeded so far as 
 to be able to make the attack at break of day. It being 
 a custom among the chiefs to assume names of distinction,. 
 Engwade claimed that of our sovereign, George, adding 
 to it the prefix of " Um," for the Kafirs do not use any 
 word of one syllable. The inhabitants of his kraal rushed 
 out to the fight from their huts, swearing (like Britons) 
 " by George " to die for their king ; and that they did to 
 the letter. Although their number was small compared 
 to that of their aggressors, not one attempted to escape.. 
 All fought to the end. and killed more than their own 
 number before they were destroyed by the few left of 
 Umbopo's army. Engwade himself killed eight men 
 before he fell, stabbed in the back by a boy. This 
 obstacle to their designs being removed, Umbopo and his 
 associates returned to one of Tshaka's kraals, to await the 
 homeward march of the great army when a king would 
 be elected. But Amaclangana could not endure long 
 suspense, being under the impression that there was more 
 hope for his brother than for himself. Dingaan saw him 
 sharpen an assegai, and suspected that it was intended to 
 take his life. He informed Umbopo of the circumstance,, 
 and requested him to sound his brother as to his intentions 
 so that he (Dingaan) might know how to act. Umbopo 
 accordingly went to Amaclangana, and ridiculed the idea of 
 his sharpening an assegai for his brother, since the murder 
 would not attain his object without the approbation of the 
 army. Amaclangana replied that Dingaan was such a fool as 
 not to be capable of filling the throne as well as the least 
 of his brothers, and that positively he should not be king^ 
 Umbopo expressed his concurrence in this, assuring 
 Amaclangana that the act he was meditating was unneces- 
 sary, as he, Umbopo, intended from the first to do all in 
 his power for him, and only awaited the return of the army 
 to convince him of his good wishes; but he strongly 
 recommended him to set aside his present intentions, as 
 the whole of the community was still in terror from what 
 had already occurred. This pacified him so as to give 
 
MISERABLE PLIGHT. 
 
 421 
 
 T T mbopo time to tell Dingaan the result of his visit. This 
 the latter had no sooner heard than, collecting a few 
 -people on the spot, he made them surround the hut, from 
 which Amaclangana was brought out and put to death. 
 This removed every obstacle that stood in Dingaan's way, 
 until the return of the army, which occurred in about four- 
 teen days after. The troops on their arrival were in a 
 miserable plight. They had passed by Delagoa Bay into 
 Ihe interior and had marched as far as Inhambane, 
 frequently losing their way, and suffering much from 
 famine and sickness. They had been reduced to feeding 
 on locusts, and fully half the force had remained behind, 
 enfeebled or prostrate through illness, and did not reach 
 home for two or three months after the return of the main 
 body. Fortunate it was for the nation that Tshaka did 
 not live to see them come home. Xo such thing had 
 occurred during his reign. To return without the defeat 
 of an enemy, without the trophy of cattle, would have 
 .aroused his severest anger ; his independence of all self- 
 control would have hurried him to such acts as would 
 have compelled the nation to revolt and destroy him, or to 
 suffer sa.lly. Under these circumstances there were few 
 who did not bless the spirits of their forefathers for allow- 
 ing them to enter their huts and rest themselves : 
 few who did not contemplate their late sad position, and 
 compare it with the present, and that which the promises 
 made them led them to expect. For Dingaan promised to 
 set the minds of his people at ease by not imitating the 
 conduct of Tshaka, in such matters as he considered to be 
 hurtful to them. He composed, or caused to be composed, 
 national songs, containing the denunciations against the 
 former state of things ; he adopted mild measures, and 
 thought that he was establishing himself freely, when 
 obstacles occurred which showed him the true state of 
 things, and the motives that had driven his predecessor to 
 such extreme lengths of severity and cruelty. I shall not 
 be in the least surprised to see repeated by Dingaan the 
 very acts for which he punished Tshaka with death. I 
 shall recount the obstacles to tranquillity as they occurred 
 to Dingaan. For reasons no doubt of political purpose, he 
 put to death the commander-in-chief, who had held that 
 position from the commencement of Tshaka's reign, had 
 
422 
 
 FYNN S PAPEHS. 
 
 had the entire management of the army, and had always 
 led them successfully, conquering every nation whom he 
 attacked. He had given great satisfaction to Tshaka,. 
 though it was never acknowledged. But his protector no 
 longer living, his days were numbered. Then the des- 
 truction of human beings went on as it had done in 
 Tshaka's time, and many familiar customs were retained, 
 contrary to the expectation of the people in general. The 
 Zulu nation, however, being composed of a multitude of 
 tribes, which had been combined and formed into one by 
 Tshaka, and which he alone had the ability to control, 
 became insubordinate under Dingaan, who was regarded 
 by the tribes that had been annexed as having no claim on 
 their allegiance^ Cetu, the heir apparent to the supreme 
 authority among the Quambe tribe, revolted, with a portion 
 of the nation. Advancing into the heart of the country 
 by night, with a general cry of the rebels, proclaiming 
 liberty to the oppressed, and lavish of promises of good, 
 he collected a body of men, who committed many out- 
 rages ; and, as Dingaan did not act promptly in repressing 
 these, many more were induced to follow Cetu, in the 
 belief that Dingaan had been terrified by this sudden 
 rising. In a few days they had a skirmish with a small 
 division of Zulus, who retreated with a small loss : and 
 this still added confidence to Cetu's army, which was fast 
 increasing in numbers. They formed their camp in the 
 midst of a small tribe, the farthest to the westward of the 
 tribes that had been attached to the Zulus. Cetu required 
 Mangi, the head of the tribe, to join him ; but Mangi was 
 irresolute, not knowing how to act ; as, however, Cetu's 
 men had destroyed all his corn, he would not consent to 
 join them, and in consequence was attacked on the follow- 
 ing morning. He retreated with the loss of only one man, 
 but his cattle remained in the hands of his aggressors. 
 
 [The narrative (in an incomplete manuscript) here 
 digresses from matters relating especially to Dingaan. — 
 J. B.] 
 
CHAPTER XLVII. 
 
 DEATH OF TSHAKA AXD OF MR. FAREWELL. [FYXX.J 
 
 Ox our arrival at Port Xatal (1824), Tshaka's curiosity 
 was much excited. When we reached his residence, he 
 held a festival which lasted three days. Many circum- 
 stances concurred to induce him to think well of us. 
 
 Our party consisted principally of Dutchmen. The 
 expectations with which they left the Cape not being 
 realised, they returned to the colony, leaving a few to 
 follow on the return of the vessel. They, too, ultimately 
 sailed away in her, but, unfortunately, were never again 
 heard of. We were therefore left, only seven Europeans,, 
 with little chance of being able to communicate with the 
 colony, there being no possibiity at that time of passing 
 overland. In our position we were wholly dependent on 
 Tshaka. We had no articles fit for traffic, were almost 
 destitute of clothing and provisions, and, his sway over 
 his subjects being despotic, our weakness taught us that„ 
 to be safe, we must submit to many of his whimsical- 
 customs. By our intercourse with the natives, we soon 
 acquired a knowledge of their language, manners, and 
 customs, and Tshaka became daily more attached to us. In 
 this situation we remained four years, though in the interval 
 we received several chance supplies from ships : these,, 
 however, were not of the description suited to our market. 
 It was not till in 1828 that an overland communication 
 was opened up with the Cape Colony, and this was only 
 effected in consequence of the fear of the frontier Kafirs 
 that they would be attacked by the Colonial forces under 
 Colonel Somerset. In October of the same year, Tshaka 
 was assassinated by his brother. 
 
 After this event several parties of colonists visited Fort 
 Xatal : and, owing to this circumstance, a change came 
 over the affairs of the country. 
 
 Mr. Farewell, who had visited the Cape Colony, was on 
 his return overland. Qetu, # of the Kwabi tribe, who had 
 
 * Alluded to above as " Cetu." 
 
424 
 
 pynn's papers. 
 
 been tributary to Tshaka, had revolted from Dingaan, and 
 had taken up his station at the Umzimvubu. Dingaan 
 had two spies among the Amapondas, who were watching 
 their movements. Qetu, however had intelligence of their 
 purpose. Mr. Farewell, who had known Qetu, relying on 
 his acquaintance with him, visited him on his way towards 
 the port. But he had with him one of Dingaan's spies, 
 whom he tried to disguise by making him wear a great- 
 coat. This did not escape the discerning eyes of Qetu, 
 who recognised the man. This alone would have angered 
 the chief ; but he also knew that all Mr. Farewell's 
 articles of barter would £0 to enrich Dingaan, whilst the 
 opportunity offered itself to Qetu not only to enrich him- 
 self, but to annoy his enemy. He determined, therefore, 
 to murder the party. On the same night the tent-ropes 
 were cut, and they were put to death. 
 
CHAPTER XLVm, 
 
 DEATH OF JOHN KANE. [fINx] 
 
 The few English in Natal (on the advent of the Boers) 
 had suffered much by Dingaan's hostility and oppression. 
 Thev had sufficient motive for revenge, and took the 
 opportunity to revenge themselves. 
 
 After the death of Retief and his party, and the attack 
 on the Boers' encampments, they (the Boers) proceeded in 
 force and entered the Zulu country. 
 
 John Kane, the most experienced of the English, planned 
 an expedition. He had with him eight hundred armed 
 natives, and made an attack on one of Dingaan's regiments 
 in their encampment. The slaughter was great. The 
 English fought as Englishmen sometimes do, and not one 
 of them on that day disgraced his country. 
 
 I\Iuch has been said by Natal colonists of the order in 
 which the natives were kept by the Boers, and the sub- 
 jection they continued in, until Natal became a British 
 colony. From 182-4, when natives Avere first brought 
 from a distance of hundreds of miles by myself and others, 
 to occupy the country from which they had been driven, 
 up to the period when I quitted it. no people of any 
 country could have been more under subjection, more 
 honest and faithful than these natives, who looked up to 
 the several white men as their protectors and chiefs. This 
 was not attributable to the wisdom or good judgment of 
 the white inhabitants, but to the circumstances in which 
 we and they were placed. The power had been given 
 us to protect : and the natives knew that without that 
 protection destruction was their lot. 
 
 In the attack made by Kane and his party, two white 
 men only escaped. The natives on this occasion fought 
 most desperately, fulfilling an assertion which they 
 frequently make use of, " that they will die round the body 
 of their chief." Where a white man fell, they rushed to 
 cover his body, and were killed in heap. This has been 
 related to me both by the natives themselves and by the 
 Zulus. That the natives in Natal, since it became an 
 English settlement, can no longer be spoken of in such 
 high terms, is our misfortune and theirs. 
 
CHAPTER XLIX. 
 
 EVIDENCE OF HENRY FRANCIS FYNN BEFORE NATIVE 
 COMMISSION, 1852. 
 
 1 am Assistant Resident Magistrate, Pietermaritzburg, 
 which office I have filled only three months. Immediately 
 previous to this appointment, I was British Resident with 
 the chief Faku for three years. From 1837 to 1849 I 
 filled the office of Resident Agent of the northern boundary 
 of the Old Colony. I had entered the Government service 
 as headquarter interpreter to Sir Benjamin D'Urban at the 
 breaking out of the Kafir war in December, 1834. Anterior 
 to this period I had resided in Natal from 1824 to 1834. 
 I came here in connection with Lieut. Farewell, R.N., on a 
 mercantile speculation, and, having opened a communica- 
 tion with Tshaka, I shortly afterwards proceeded south- 
 ward, travelling through Faku's country, on the Umzim- 
 vubu. I proceeded as far as the Umtata. 
 
 These journeys gave me an early opportunity of knowing 
 the extent of the devastation occasioned by the wars of 
 Tshaka on this side of the Drakensberg Mountains : for 
 from the Itongati River, twenty-five miles N.E. of Port 
 Natal, up to within a few miles of the Umzimvubu, I did 
 not find a single tribe, with the exception of about thirty 
 natives residing near the Bluff, under the chief Amatubane r 
 of the Amatuli tribe, now under Umnini. There were 
 neither kraals, huts, Kafirs, nor corn. Occasionally I saw 
 a few stragglers, mere living skeletons, obtaining a pre- 
 carious existence on roots and shell-fish. Some of these 
 sought refuge under the English, and in time several tribes 
 had established themselves at Port Natal. 
 
 I would here remark that at this period, and in fact until 
 the Boers entered into a treaty with Panda, the southern 
 boundary of the Zulu country was the Itongati, the tribes 
 between that river and the Utukela being conquered tribes 
 tributary to Tshaka, and their ancestors had dwelt in that 
 part of the country from time immemorial. These tribes 
 were Amacwabi (in part), Amakabela, Amahlubi, Ama- 
 pamulo, Abakwanhlovu. 
 
FTXVS EVIDENCE. 
 
 427 
 
 On my arrival in Natal in 1824, I commenced taking 
 notes, and continued doing so until 1834, for a future 
 history of this country. Having been the first European 
 who travelled through it, I had the advantage of obtaining 
 information from the natives unmingled with any notions 
 which they might have formed from an intercourse with 
 white men. These notes enable me to lay before the 
 Commission certain historical points, which 1 believe may 
 be relied on. There are probably no people, possessing an 
 equal amount of intellect and intelligence, who are less 
 acquainted with their own history than the Kafirs ; while 
 each individual retains a strong recollection of some re- 
 markable circumstance in which he was, more or less,, 
 personally concerned. It is the white man alone who, 
 having lived many years in this portion of South Africa, 
 and possessed of many sources of information, can give a 
 clear, correct, and connected narrative of events which 
 haA-e occurred here during the last forty or fifty years. 
 
 From what I ascertained at different times in the Zulu 
 country, during the reign of Tshaka, from my communica- 
 tions with the Portuguese of Sofala, and from what I 
 subsequently traced among the Kafir tribes on the frontier, 
 I am convinced that all these tribes formed originally one 
 nation : that about four centuries or more ago they were 
 driven from the region of Sofala, and those now known as 
 the Colonial frontier Kafirs were probably the first who 
 appeared in this direction. There is some reason for 
 believing that they came originally from Arabia, and have 
 ever been pastoral, and more or less nomadic, in their habits. 
 
 The first natives who appeared in this country as 
 refugees from the Zulu country arrived in 1827 or 1828, 
 and on being reported to Tshaka were permitted by him to 
 reside at Natal. 
 
 The tribes dwelling between the Itongati and Umzim- 
 ktilu rivers, previous to my leaving Natal in 1834, were as 
 follows : — 
 
 Tribe. Chief. 
 
 Amabiy a . Umabiy a . 
 
 Amabombo. Umtukuteli. 
 Amacwabi.* 
 
 * Only a portion of this tribe veie here as stragglers. 
 
428 
 
 FYXX'S PAPERS. 
 
 Tribe. 
 Amadume. 
 Amadvmge. 
 Enhlangwini 
 
 Chief. 
 Duma. 
 
 Dontsela. 
 Fodo 
 
 Amakanya. 
 Amalanga. 
 Amanyape. 
 Izinkumbi.'j" 
 
 Amahlongwa. 
 
 Umjulela. 
 Umkuta. 
 
 Umkalipi. 
 Vundhlazi. 
 Umahizo. 
 Umatubani 
 
 Ufiyedwa (Regent). 
 
 Abasembotweni. 
 
 Amatuli. 
 
 # 
 
 # 
 
 To account for the difference in the statement of different 
 witnesses as to the number of natives in Natal when the 
 Dutch came, I mar explain that I removed several tribes 
 in 1833 into Faku's country ; but on Major Smith's passing 
 to Natal with troops they commenced returning. 
 
 All the refugees may be said to have fled from Zulu rule 
 and despotism, and from the period above-mentioned they 
 have continued to enter Natal, either individually or in 
 bodies, up to the present time. 
 
 The war between the Dutch and the Zulu nation produced 
 a revolution in the Zulu country, when Panda embraced the 
 opportunity of establishing his chieftainship, which he 
 could not have accom plished without the aid and counten- 
 ance of the Dutch. 
 
 During the unsettled state of the country at the time of 
 this revolution, a greater number of refugees entered this 
 district than at any previous or subsequent period. 
 
 In a former part of my evidence I have stated that on 
 my arrival in this country in March, 1824, there were no 
 inhabitants in the district south of the Itongati. There 
 were neither huts, cattle, nor grain. There were, however, 
 many natives scattered over the country, the remnants of 
 tribes destroyed by Tshaka, seeking sustenance from noxious 
 as well as harmless roots ; so that more were destroyed by 
 this wretched fare than preserved. Seldom more than two 
 natives were then seen together. This .was occasioned not 
 only by the great difficulty they experienced in obtaining 
 food, but from distrusting each other. Some of these from 
 necessity became cannibals. 
 
 t Consisting ot rt-mnante of tiibes ui der one chief. 
 
NATAL BLUFF KAFIRS. 
 
 429 
 
 The only instance in which any number of a tribe kept 
 together was in the case of the Amatuli, under the regent 
 chief, Matubana, uncle of the present chief, Umnini, who 
 recently occupied the Bluff:. 
 
 This tribe have dwelt on the " Kenya," or Bluff-land,, 
 through twelve generations of their chiefs ; prior to which 
 they lived in the Amehikulu country north of this district, 
 where they were dispossessed of their cattle, and being 
 driven away took possession of the Ifenya. Owing to their 
 destitute condition, they caught fish for food, an abomina- 
 tion to all other Kafir tribes 
 
 In a few years they again possessed cattle, but fish and. 
 Indian corn had become their favourite and regular diet. 
 
 When the Zulu army invaded Natal, theAmatuli lost all 
 their crops and cattle, and so great was the danger of appear- 
 ing in the open country, that the remnant of the tribe 
 seldom left the bush or the Bluff, excepting to take fish 
 when the tide ebbed. A little straw was all they had in 
 the bush to protect them from the rain or cold. They had 
 no grain to cultivate, if they had dared to venture on the 
 open land. Such was the condition of this tribe when, in 
 1824, I arrived at Xatal. From that period they built 
 kraals, cultivated the soil, and became again a small tribe^ 
 
CHAPTER L. 
 
 NATHANIEL ISAACS ON TSIIAKA. 
 
 Mr. Isaacs spent several years in Zululand, with Lieut. 
 Farewell, Fynn, and Capt. Gardiner. He produced a 
 book in 1836 entitled "Travels and Adventures in 
 Eastern Africa. 1 ' As a supplement to the papers of Mr. 
 Fynn, I here give a few pages from the work alluded to. 
 It appears that some of the Hottentots attached to the 
 European party of hunters, traders, &c, in Zululand, had 
 outraged a young female belonging to a chief. On the 
 fact being reported to the king, he was, of course, very 
 much incensed against the Europeans. Just at this time 
 a report reach Tshaka that a force which he had sent 
 against the Umbatio race of Kafirs, who live in very 
 iuaccessible rocks, had been again beaten. He then pro- 
 posed that Isaacs and his friends, to the number of ten, 
 should proceed against the enemy, and by the thunder 
 and destruction of their fire-arms, reduce the foe to sub- 
 mission. Isaacs & Co., wishing to pacify the rage of the 
 despot in the matter of the outrage by the Hottentots, 
 assented. Isaacs says : — " While I was reclining in my 
 hut, facing the position of the enemy, I observed them 
 herding their cattle ; at this moment Brown came to 
 inform me that our party (of Zulus) were going to engage 
 the enemy and take their cattle, while the latter were 
 herding ; that if we did not now make an effort, we might 
 lose the most advantageous moment for attacking them 
 successfully. At this moment, seeing my comrades rush 
 out at the gate of the kraal, I seized my musket (putting on 
 also my accoutrements, a small leathern wallet with cartridges 
 fixed round my waist), and ran after them. I soon over- 
 took them, and we proceeded slowly to enable the chiefs to 
 overtake us, which they did, and pressed us much to delay 
 the attack until next day ; but while they were engaged 
 with me, a party of our men rushed forward, and took 
 possession of the cattle of the enemy, who had fled to 
 the forest to summon their friends to their aid. The 
 
ISAACS ON THE WAR PATH. 
 
 431 
 
 .Zulus, seeing what had been done, now came up to the 
 number of 5,000, formed in front of the enemy's 
 position, and began to perform the usual superstitious 
 ceremonies of their nation — such as anointing the 
 body with a preparation made by the war doctors from 
 roots only known to these " Inyangas " who with an 
 ox-tail attached to a stick -about two feet in length, 
 sprinkle the decoction upon the warrior, who rubs it over 
 himself, and immediately not only conceives that he is 
 likewise invulnerable, but certain of achieving a victory 
 •over his enemies. Our interpreter, who had been long with 
 us, and whom we had hoped we had somewhat divested 
 of such superstitious notions, was the most elated among 
 the whole host of barbarians. I could not help smiling at 
 his absurd apprehensions one moment, and his confidence 
 another. 
 
 At this particular juncture I felt no ordinary sensations 
 of anxiety and apprehension. I was young and in- 
 experienced, and had never yet been in an engagement. 1 
 did not feel the want of courage, but in physical power I 
 knew my own deficiency and regretted it. I reflected also 
 that on the cast, of the die all our hopes depended. That 
 if we were triumphant, the lives of my companions and 
 myself would no longer be in jeopardy ; but on the con- 
 trary, should we be discomfited, we should be condemned 
 to immediate death. 
 
 The enemy having taken up their jDOsitions in small 
 detachments on the several heights, we advanced and 
 ascended the hill that led immediately to them, expecting 
 that the Zulus would follow, but in this we were deceived, 
 for we observed them getting off as fast as they could to 
 the opposite side of the river, about a mile from our 
 station. This was a critical moment to us, but we did not 
 want resolution, and with one accord we pushed on to the 
 summit of the hill, or rather the large rugged rocks 
 behind which our enemy had taken shelter. In front of 
 us we saw a small party of about fifty whom we attacked 
 and defeated. The reports of our muskets reverberated 
 from the rocks and struck terror into the enemy ; they 
 'shouted and ran in all directions, and the Zulus were 
 observed all lying on the ground with their faces under 
 -and their shields on their backs, having an idea that in 
 
432 
 
 ISAACS ON TSHAKA. 
 
 this position the balls would not touch them. This 
 singular manoeuvre of the Zulus had a terrific effect upon 
 the enemy, who, on seeing the others fall on the report of 
 the guns, concluded they were all dead, and ran off to 
 avoid coming in contact with us. We had just finished 
 loading when we perceived a large body of them approach- 
 ing us in the height of rage, and menacing us with 
 destruction. My party for a moment felt some doubt. 
 On perceiving it, I rushed forward and got on top of a 
 rock, one of the enemy came out to meet me, and at a 
 short distance threw his spear at me with astonishing 
 force, which I evaded by stooping. I levelled at him and 
 shot him dead. My party fired and wounded some others, 
 when the whole ran off in great disorder and trepidation. 
 We now felt some confidence, exulted at our success, and 
 advance*! along the sides of the rocks to dislodge some 
 few Avho had halted with a design to oppose us again. 
 They got behind the bushes and large trees, and hurled 
 stones at us with prodigious force ; the women and 
 children aiding them with extraordinary alacrity. I 
 received a contusion from one of their missiles, and 
 our interpreter had his foot wounded with another. 
 Advancing a little further, we reached some huts, which 
 we burnt, and killed their dog* ; this we did in order to 
 induce them to surrender without further bloodshed. We 
 continued on their track, however, encountering 
 occasionally their missiles, which did us no injury, until 
 we arrived at the place where their cattle usually stood ; 
 from hence, like the women and children, they had dis- 
 persed iu all directions, there being occasionally three or 
 four only to be seen at a time. The position of the enemy 
 was of a triangular form, one portion of it protected by 
 rocks, and the other by a swamp ; the former were almo»t 
 inaccessible, and the latter was difficult to get through. 
 The whole, besides, was greatly sheltered by trees and 
 bushes, making it not an easily assailable point. 
 
 The commander of the enemy's forces came from the 
 thicket to view us, and then said to his warriors, " Come 
 out, come boldly : what are you afraid of ? They are only 
 a handful ? " Thus encouraged, his warriors came from the 
 bushes. When it appeared that they had reassembled for 
 the purpose of deciding the battle, both parties paused a. 
 
ISAACS WOUNDED. 
 
 433 
 
 little ; the chief showed great anxiety, and, urging his 
 warriors, ran furiously towards our Hottentot, leaving his 
 people at a distance. Not having sufficient confidence in 
 my .own skill in firing, and knowing that if every shot did 
 not tell we must be crushed by their force, now one 
 thousand men, I allowed the chief to approach Michael,, 
 while I aimed at one of the main body, thinking that if 
 I missed him I might hit another. The Hottentot's piece 
 missed fire at first, but at last went off and shot the chief 
 just as he was preparing to throw his spear. Just as I 
 had pulled my trigger, and saw the man fall, and another 
 remove his shield, I felt something strike me behind. I 
 took no notice, thinking it was a stone, but loaded my 
 musket again ; on putting my hand, however, behind, I per- 
 ceived it to be bloody, and a stream running down my leg- 
 Turning my head I could see the handle of a spear which had 
 entered my back. John Cane tried to extract it, but could 
 not ; Jacob and four others tried successively ; I, there- 
 fore, concluded that it was one of their barbed harpoons.. 
 I retired a short time in consequence, when my native 
 servant, by introducing his finger into the wound, managed 
 to get it out. All this time I felt no pain, but walked to 
 a small stream at a short distance, and washed myself, 
 when I found that the wound made by the spear had 
 lacerated my flesh a good deal. I now was more anxious 
 than before to renew the attack, but felt myself getting 
 weak from loss of blood ; I therefore descended the hill,, 
 and got to the position where a regiment of Zulu boys had 
 been stationed. I requested some of them to conduct me 
 to the kraal, as I had to go along the side of the bush 
 where the enemy had small parties, but they refused to. 
 lend me the least assistance. I took a stick and began to 
 beat them, and levelled my piece at them, but not with the 
 intention of firing, at which they all ran off in great con- 
 fusion. My party now came up, the enemy having 
 retreated, and we proceeded towards the camp in a body, 
 but I had not gone far before I was compelled to drop, and 
 my wound being extremely stiff and painful, I was 
 obliged to be carried on the backs of my boys. 
 
 At sunset we arrived at the kraal whence we had 
 started. All night 1 endured excruciating pain, and wa& 
 weak from the loss of blood. On the morning of the 8th. 
 1 F 
 
434: 
 
 ISA ACS ON TSHAKA. 
 
 February, it being clear and fine, and the enemy quite 
 still, and not to be seen making any disposition to annoy 
 us, it was deemed advisable, as my comrades thought the 
 attack of the day before had terrified them, to advance 
 and show them that the loss of one person's services 
 could not deter us from following up our success ; this we 
 thought might have the effect of bringing the enemy to 
 terms. The Zulus at this juncture, seeing us determined 
 on making a second attack, assembled their forces, and at 
 10 a.m. the whole repaired to the enemy's position, leaving 
 me at the kraal to be doctored, or rather to undergo a 
 superstitious ceremony, before a wounded man can be 
 permitted to take milk. For this purpose, the inyanga, or 
 doctor, has a young heifer killed as a sacrifice to the Spirit 
 for the speedy recovery of the patient ; or rather, as I 
 conceived, for the purpose of having the beef to eat. The 
 excrements are taken from the small entrails, which, with 
 some of the gall and some roots, are parboiled and given to 
 be drunk. The patient is told (quite uselessly, I think) 
 not to drink too much, but to take three sips, and sprinkle 
 the remainder over his body. I refused to drink the 
 mixture ; my olfactory organs were too much disturbed 
 during the process of preparing it to render partaking of 
 it practicable. The inyanga, from my refusal, broke & out 
 in an almost unappeasable rage, and said, " that unless I 
 drank of the mixture, I could not be permitted to take 
 milk, fearing the cows might die, and if I approached the 
 king I should make him ill ;" expostulation was vain, and 
 being too weak to resist, I took some of the abominable 
 compound ; he then directed me to take a stick in my 
 hand, which he presenced to me, told me to spit on it 
 point three times at the enemy, say " eczie " every 
 time, and afterwards throw it towards them. This was 
 done in all cases of the wounded, as a charm against the 
 power of the enemy. After this I was directed to drink 
 of a decoction of roots for the purpose of a vomit, so that 
 the infernal mixture might be ejected. The decoction was 
 not unpleasant, but it had no effect in removing the 
 nauseous draught, the pertinacity of which to remain 
 baffled the doctor's skill. I, however had his permission 
 10 take milk, the only thing in my situation the least 
 palatable, the more so as it indicated the doctor's foolish 
 
SPITTING- P1EE. 
 
 435 
 
 ceremony to be at an end, which gratified me, as I wanted 
 repose. He brought me some powder, which he wished to 
 apply to the wound, but I resisted, and he did not force it, 
 but left me to sleep if possible. 
 
 In the afternoon I was roused by th« noise of the 
 warriors, who had returned ; and my comrades amused me 
 with a detail of their successful operations. Our forces 
 had arranged themselves for the attack, and, as they 
 thought, in front of the enemy, — but it turned out to be 
 in front of the forest, for no enemy was to be seen. Thp 
 Zulus became then apparently bold, and began a dis- 
 turbance among themselves. The Amabutu, or young 
 warriors, being jealous of the success of my comrades, and 
 seeing no enemy, anticipated an easy victory : they set off, 
 therefore, without the concurrence of their chiefs, and ran. 
 towards the enemy's position ; the chiefs followed, 
 overtook them, and beat them back : and while they were 
 engaged in debating on the subject of their conduct, three 
 people from the enemy made their appearance, unarmed, 
 on a conspicuous part of the mountain. Some of the Zulus 
 went towards them, and our party soon ascertained, to 
 their great joy, that they were chiefs sent by the enemy 
 to announce to the king's white people that they had 
 surrendered, and were willing to accept of any terms of 
 peace, as they did not understand our manner of fighting ; 
 or, in their terms, " they did not understand the roots or 
 medicines we used, therefore could not contend with 
 people who spit fire as we did."* This was an agreeable 
 parley, and my comrades directed them to descend from 
 the rock, which they were afraid to do : but after some 
 persuasion they came down and approached the Zulus ; 
 when, however, the white people went near them, they 
 seemed to be struck with inconceivable terror. After a 
 short time, their fear subsiding, they addressed us, and 
 said, " that they would be glad to join Tshaka ; that they 
 were now convinced of the power of his maloongos, or 
 white men, and rather than encounter them again, they would 
 submit to any condition that might be demanded." The 
 chiefs did not wait to hear our propositions, as they have 
 
 * They ignorantly sapposoi the fire from our muskets came out 
 of our mouths. 
 1 f2 
 
436 
 
 ISAACS ON TSHAKA. 
 
 only one term, namely, to give up their cattle, and become* 
 tributary to the conqueror. They did not hesitate to 
 comply with this, but promptly brought forward their 
 half-starved cattle and goats. One of our seamen pro- 
 posed that they should give ten young maidens by way of 
 cementing their friendship by nuptial ties. To this they 
 also assented with the same willingness as they gave up 
 their cattle. 
 
 The affairs being settled to the satisfaction of all 
 parties, my comrades accompanied the chiefs to their 
 quarters, where they had an opportunity of observing the 
 lamentable condition of the enemy, who were in strange 
 consternation respecting their dead and wounded ; not being 
 able to discover the cause of death, and attributing it to 
 some unnatural power of the spirit,* whom they might 
 have offended ; and as they could not discover any other 
 cause, they determined not to contend with us any more. 
 
 * lh S( irit of their forefathers, whom tl ey alwajs i) vote. 
 
Murra y % St. Leger. Cape Town. 
 
 CHIEF JOHN DUNN EMANGETE, ZULULAND. 
 
CHAPTER LI. 
 
 JOHN DUNN'S NOTES. 
 
 1 NOW beg to present the reader with the following 
 ■valuable extracts from " John Dunn's Notes " edited in 
 1886 by myself, and then printed in Maritzburg, Natal, 
 where I was then living, hut the little work has only lately 
 been published abroad by the author. " John Dunn's Notes " 
 make an important addition to my high authorities like Mr. 
 Charles Brownlee, Sir Theophilus Shepstone, his brother the 
 Hon. John Shepstone, and Mr. Isaacs, All these gentlemen 
 are men of high intelligence, and who, being brought up 
 amongst the natives, speak their languages like themselves, 
 and otherwise thoroughly understand them. : — 
 
 This work was commenced in the year 1861, and was 
 intended to have been the History of the Zulu Race, com- 
 bined with a history of my life, my experiences in Zulu- 
 land since 1858, and my "advice to hunters." In 1878 I 
 was on the point of having all my MSS. published, but 
 seeing the drift of affairs, and noticing that there was 
 every likelihood of a war breaking out, either with the 
 Boers or the Amaswazis and Zulus (I must say that I did 
 not then calculate on a war breaking out between the 
 English and the Zulus), I deferred the publication of them 
 until all was again settled. But in the meantime I was 
 deceived by the Natal G-overnment, go that the Zulu War 
 of 1 879 came so unexpectedly upon me that I had not 
 time to get my effects secured. At this time I was stay- 
 ing at Emangete, my place near to the Tugela River, and 
 I sent a messenger to my upper place, Ungoye, to rescue 
 my papers from the approaching Zulus ; but most unfor- 
 tunately he brought the wrong box, the contents of which 
 were comparatively worthless, whilst the box containing 
 the MSS. was left behind and was consumed in the flames 
 when the Zulus shortly afterwards set fire to the place. 
 This was, of course, a great blow to me. as the studiously 
 gathered and interesting records which I had been care- 
 fully collecting for twenty years were thus lost to me for 
 
4 5 
 
 JOHN DUNN'S NOTES. 
 
 ever, and it is impossible for me to call to mind more than 
 fragments of the contents of the papers thus destroyed, 
 and so perished the results of many a long conversation 
 with old Zulu Chiefs regarding the very origin of their 
 power, and the peculiarities of their customs, &c. 
 
 I will, however, endeavour to give, as well as I can, an 
 account of the rise and fall of the Zulu power ; but in this 
 place, by way of a preliminary canter, I must give a short, 
 rough sketch of my life. My father died when I was 
 about fourteen years of age, and my mother when I was 
 about seventeen, after which I took to a wandering exis- 
 tence, having always been fond of my gun and a solitary 
 life. In 1853 I was engaged, as was also my wagon, to 
 go into the Transvaal with a gentleman, since dead, who 
 was then proprietor of a D'Urban paper. On our return, 
 when the time for my honorarium came, I was told I was 
 not of age, and that by Roman-Dutch Law I could not 
 claim the money. This so disgusted me that I determined 
 to desert the haunts of civilization for the haunts of large 
 game in Zululand. I had already had an apprenticeship in 
 the hunting of large game, having often enjoyed this kind 
 of sport with Dr. Taylor, of D'Urban, and the officers 
 of the 27th Regiment, then at D'Urban. We often went 
 out at night to get a shot at the elephants which at that 
 time used to come down on to the flat, where the race- 
 course now is, and w r ander all about, often to within a few 
 yards of my father's house at Sea View, near Clairmont. 
 The old house and the gigantic old fig trees have now 
 vanished, and where the elephants then trumpeted, other 
 rushing monsters, called locomotives, now shriek. 
 
 Captain Drayson, in his book written some years ago, 
 mentions having met a " white lad " when on the track of 
 elephants in the Berea Bush. This lad was myself. But, 
 telling these tales to the present generation of D'Urban,. 
 sitting in comfortable arm-chairs in their well-built houses,, 
 will seem like romancing to them. At the time I speak of, 
 D'Urban was nothing but a wilderness of sand heaps, with 
 a few straggling huts called houses. 
 
 I started for Zululand in 1853, where I had no fixed 
 place of abode, but wandered about shooting, with varied, 
 success, till 1854, when I met Capt. Walmsley, who 
 persuaded me to return to Natal, and take office under him 
 
SWAPPING. 
 
 439 
 
 whieh I did, and a kind friend he proved to me — more a 
 father than a master. I had not been with him long when 
 luck began to befriend me. Capt. Lucas, the present 
 Magistrate of Alexandra, came through on a hunting trip,, 
 and on his return sold me his wagon and oxen for £84. 
 From this time I may date the turn of my luck for good. 
 I exchanged the team of oxen, which was a good one of 
 full grown bullocks, for two teams of unbroken ones.. 
 These I broke in, and kept on exchanging and selling 
 until I had the good fortune to get together a nice lot of 
 cattle. 
 
CHAPTER LII. 
 
 john dunn's notes. 
 
 I noav approach the subject of my first introduction to 
 Cetywayo, Avhich led to the position in which I now stand. 
 
 From my knowledge of the Zulu Kafir, and from what 
 I could glean from Natal Kafirs who had been in Zululand 
 at the time of the fight, I felt sure that I could get back 
 the cattle of the traders without much difficulty, the only 
 risk being to myself ; but. this I did not think much 
 of, as I was aware of their character for not harbour- 
 ing revenge after a battle, I therefore got permission 
 from Capt. Walmsley — who did not at all like the 
 idea of my going — and started. I made a hunting 
 trip a pretext for going, but I was looked upon as 
 mad, and going to my certain destruction. However, 
 I started, keeping my destination a secret even from 
 my own party. I kept with my wagon as far as Eshowe, 
 where I left it with my hunters to " shoot buffalo," 
 starting however, for Pande's kraal, which I reached on the 
 third day. Old Umpande, the father of the late Cetywayo, 
 received me well, and requested a private interview with 
 me, for he had heard who I was, and that in the late battle 
 1 had helped his deceased sons. When I explained to him 
 the object of my mission he seemed rather disappointed, 
 but did not say much then, and as it was rather late in the 
 evening he told me he would speak to me the next day 
 Accordingly, the next morning, shortly after sunrise, he 
 sent for me and my headman, Xegwana. He was sitting 
 at the head of the Nodwengo kraal when we reached him, 
 but as soon as we had seated ourselves he said, " This is 
 not the place in which I intend to sit." He then — 
 unaccompanied by his shield-bearer, whose duty it was to 
 hold the shield over him as an umbrella, to keep the sun 
 off — walked into the centre of the cattle kraal, ordering 
 my headman and myself to go with him. Before he sat 
 down he looked round carefully, bade us be seated, a:id 
 then remained silent awhile. After which he said : 
 
UMPANDE. 
 
 441 
 
 Child of Mr. Dunn, — I thought you had come on 
 other matters when I heard it was you who died (meta- 
 phorically) with my children ; that is why I said nothing 
 to you last night. As far as the cattle are concerned you 
 must go to Cetywayo — they are ready to be given up. 
 Sifili (the name Mr. Fynn then went by) left them ; I 
 don't know why, but I can't let you go without speaking 
 what is in my heart. I must first thank you for the part 
 you took to help my sons who were being killed. I now 
 thank you with my mouth, but when all is settled and 
 quiet you must come to me again, and I will give you some 
 cattle as my thanks for what you have done for my 
 children. Although you escaped, I still look on you as 
 having seen their last, but still there is something in my 
 heart I must tell you, and that is that although Cetywayo 
 and Umbulazi fought for my place, I gave the preference 
 to neither. The one in my heart is yet young, and I am 
 afraid to mention who he is, even to you. Of the two 
 that have been killing each other — Cetywayo and Umbu- 
 lazi — Cetywayo was mv favourite, but it was not he 
 whom I intended to take my place. As I said before, he 
 "is still too young, but I will send and tell Somseu (Sir 
 Theo. Shepstone). You see I am afraid of letting the 
 sticks of the kraal hear what I am saying." After a long 
 talk, during which he made me give him a full description 
 of the battle — the first true account he had heard — he told 
 me to go to Cetywayo's kraal — Mangweni — about 75 miles 
 down the coast. Xegwana did not like this, and told the 
 old King so ; but I said I did not mind, provided he would 
 give me a messenger to go with me. To this the King 
 assented, and told Xegwana not to be afraid, and to me he 
 :said, '* You are a man, child of Mr. Dunn ; your father 
 was my friend ; try and do your best that no harm comes 
 to my children from them taking the cattle of the white 
 men." I promised that if the cattle were restored no 
 further notice would be taken. Xext morning I started 
 for the Mangawni Kraal, which I reached on the third day. 
 On my being reported to Cetywayo he immediately sent 
 for me, and, on explaining my mission, he at once said the 
 cattle had been collected, but had been scattered amongst 
 the kraals again, and if I would wait a few days he would 
 have them collected and handed over to me. This fact 
 must be particularly noted, that I was never asked by 
 
442 
 
 john dunn's notes. 
 
 Umpande or Cetywayo if I had been sent by the Natal 
 Government. Neither did I say upon what authority I had 
 come. 
 
 This was my first introduction to Cetywayo. 
 
 The next evening I received a letter from Capt. 
 Walmsley, as, not having heard of me since my leaving him, 
 he was getting anxious, and so asked rne to let him know 
 all particulars. The next morning Cetywayo sent to me 
 to say I was not to mind what the letter said, and begged 
 me to stay and wait for the cattle. I sent back word to 
 say that I had promised to do so, but said he must have 
 them collected as quickly as he could, as I wanted to get 
 back. On further inquiry I found out that a rumour had 
 got afloat — how, no one knew — that the letter was to recall 
 me, as the troops were coming up, and that I had been 
 ordered to abandon the cattle. I remained two days longer 
 with Cetywayo, and on the third he sent me word to 
 say that the cattle were ready, and sent me messengers to 
 take me to the G-inginhlovo kraal to hand them over to 
 me. He said they were a thousand head. On parting Avith 
 Cetywayo, he thanked me for staying for the cattle, and 
 said I was to return if the cattle were received ail right and 
 then receive some cattle he intended to give me. I got to 
 the G-inginhlovo kraal the next day, and found the cattle 
 all collected to the number of one thousand and one. The 
 odd beast I killed, and started for Natal with the 
 thousand. 
 
 I forgot to say that, on leaving Umpande's kraal, I sent 
 two men to my wagon to tell my hunters not to be uneasy 
 and to keep on hunting until I sent for them, so I had only 
 four men left to drive the lot of cattle, which I can assure 
 my readers was a difficult task, as I had to go through 
 miles of country thickly covered with bush. The country 
 I allude to was in the neighbourhood of the Matikulu, 
 between the Gringinhlovo kraal and the Tugela. However, 
 I got down all safe, and with the assistance of a trader 
 whom I found near the Tugela, and who kindly lent me 
 some men, I got the cattle across the river with the loss of 
 three trampled to death in the struggle out of the steep 
 and muddy bank. On my arrival in Natal I sent to the 
 Secretary of the Traders' Committee informing him of 
 what I had done, and also stating that if he would pay me 
 £250 I would hand the cattle over to him for the benefit 
 
ACQUAINTANCE WITH CETTWATO. 
 
 443 
 
 of the traders. He wrote back to say that the Govern- 
 ment ought to pay me. I then went to Maritzburg, and 
 the present Sir Theophilus Shepstone asked me if I had 
 claimed the cattle in the name of the Government, and on 
 my saying I had not done so, he said " Why not ? You 
 must have known that the Zulus were under the impression \/ 
 that your authority was derived from the Government."' 
 My answer was that although they might have thought so 
 I had nothing to do with it as long as I succeeded in 
 getting the cattle without committing myself. I further 
 said that, supposing I had said so, and not succeeded in 
 getting the cattle, "Would you not have blamed me for 
 assuming an authority I had not ?" The Government, 
 however, ignored my claim, so that I held the cattle until 
 I got the amount I claimed from the traders, which was 
 paid me about two weeks after I got back. I then handed 
 the cattle over, and glad I was to get rid of them, and 
 considering that I had not spent more than two weeks over 
 the job I had made a good " spec." 
 
 Shortly after the occurrence of the events above related 
 I went back to Zululand to claim my " present of thanks "' 
 from my friend Cetywayo. This I received in the shape 
 of ten fine oxen. 
 
 Thus commenced my first acquaintance with Cetywayo. 
 Not long after my second return he sent to me to beg me to 
 go and live with him, as he wanted a " white man as a friend 
 to live near him and advise him." The first message he sent 
 was by Sintwangu, and subsequently by a man named 
 Umlazana, as also by others, all bound on the same errand. 
 I at first demurred, but afterwards thought on the hardships 
 I had had to undergo owing to my not being allowed by 
 the Roman Dutch Law to receive the money I had 
 honestly earned, and the inducements held out by Cetywayo,. 
 including the promise of land in his country. Considering 
 all this, I say, I made up my mind to accept his offer and 
 remove to Zululand for good. When I informed Capt.. 
 Walmsley of my determination, he at first tried to ridicule 
 the idea, but on seeing that I meant what I said, he tried 
 hard to persuade me not to go, and as an inducement held 
 out a promise of giving me a title to some land on his- 
 farm Chantilly in Natal, he, poor fellow, forgetting that he 
 had already told me in confidence that all was mortgaged 
 in his father's name. Otherwise I think I might have^ 
 
444 
 
 JOHN DUNN S NOTES. 
 
 been induced not to leave, as I really was sincerely 
 attached to him, and I believe for the time I was with him 
 very few had more control over him than I had. Often 
 in his mad freaks, still remembered by many Natalians, he 
 would stand being severely spoken to by me, although he 
 would say "Dunn, if any other man presumed to speak to 
 me as you do I would have him out with pistols." To 
 this I used to say, in a jocular way, " I'm game to argue 
 the point with you with any weapons you may choose," 
 which style of talk always brought him round, and he 
 would then slap me on the back and say " You're the boy 
 for me : let's have something to drink." Notwithstanding 
 all his eccentricities, he was one of the most generous- 
 hearted men I ever had anything to do with. May he 
 rest in peace. 
 
 But to proceed. The lung-sickness had broken out 
 amongst the cattle in Natal, and a law had been passed 
 that no cattle were to be allowed to cross the Tugela into 
 Zululand. I therefore had to sell all the cattle I had 
 remaining to me from this disease, and buy a span of young 
 oxen from a trader in Zululand. These were all unbroken, 
 and a tough job I had in catching them and breaking them 
 in, and when I started, it took me six days going a dis- 
 tance of twenty-rive miles, i.e., to the site of my selected 
 dwelling in Zululand, the Ungoye forest, which was a 
 part of the country totally uninhabited, and aboundng in 
 game. But my main object in selecting this spot was the 
 advantage of the forest. Cetywayo himself laughed when 
 he heard which part of the country I had chosen, and all 
 the people said I would soon leave, as no cattle would live 
 there, and the wild animals would also soon drive me away. 
 Sure enough wolves and panthers abounded, but I had a 
 good pack of dogs, and as I had picked out the place 
 on account of the forest, and game, I soon made the 
 panthers and wolves scarce, albeit Avith the loss of a good 
 dog now and then. I had now shooting to my heart's 
 content, as often, whilst building my house, I used to see 
 buffaloes, and go off and bag a couple without anyone miss- 
 ing me until they heard the shots. I was always fond of 
 going by myself, with sometimes one boy whom I used to 
 take with me, more for the purpose of despatching him for 
 •carriers when I shot game than for anything else. I never 
 liked taking a fellow hunter with me. 
 
CHAPTER LIII. 
 
 johx dunn's xotes. 
 
 Shortly after I was settled, I got mixed up with the 
 polities of the country, and was constantly being sent for 
 by Cetywayo to advise him in any emergency. In 1860 I 
 started with a friend on a shooting excursion towards St. 
 Lticia Bay. We arrived there after about a week's trekking 
 with our wagons. This friend was Lewis Reynolds. The 
 next day we went out to try our luck and bagged a couple 
 of Koodoo and a few other buck. On our return to camp 
 we found messengers from Cetywayo to recall me, as, 
 owing to some unexplained cause, he had got into some 
 misunderstanding with the ]Satal Government, and there 
 was a fear of invasion from both sides, and troops 
 had been ordered up to the Tugela. So we decided to 
 return, and next morning started back, and kept with our 
 wagons that day, but the day following decided to leave 
 the wagons and ride on to my place at Umgoye, a distance 
 of about 25 miles, which we did. The next day we went 
 on to Cetywayo, who was at a new kraal he was building 
 at the Etshowe. On arriving there he received me very 
 coldly, and said that he had not thought that I would have 
 deceived him so soon, and openly said that he was sure 
 I had purposely gone out of the way, as I knew the 
 English was coming in. This I assured him was not the 
 case, and offered to take any message for him to 2\atal 
 should he really not mean war. On my saying this, his 
 tone began to alter, and he said he had already sent 
 messengers, but he would be glad if I would also go and 
 confiim his words by them. We again saddled our horses, 
 and rede on, doing another good day's journey. Our poor 
 horses now began to feel the effects of the continuous 
 work, and that of Reynolds began to go lame. We, how- 
 ever, got to the Tugela the next morning, and after seeing 
 the Commanding Officer, !Major Williamson, of the 85th 
 Regiment, we went on to Captain Walmsley, the Border 
 Agent, and delivered our message, and returned and slept 
 
446 
 
 john dunn's notes. 
 
 at the camp at the Tugela. The next day, as Reynolds' 
 horse was completely knocked up, we started back home 
 with the remaining one only, riding and walking turn and 
 turn about, until we got to about six miles from my house 
 at Umgoye, when I rode on to order the preparation of 
 some food. On my arrival I waited until about six o'clock 
 in the evening, and as my companion did not put in an 
 appearance, I sent in search of him, but without any 
 favourable result, so, thinking that he had got tired and 
 gone to a kraal, I did not wait dinner any longer for him. 
 Next morning he turned up. Poor fellow ! He had lost 
 his way in the dark and had passed my place, and, not 
 finding any kraal, he had passed the night under a rock, 
 cold and hungry. He was one of the best fellows Natal 
 ever saw. All being now quiet, we again, after a few days' 
 rest, started back to the hunting ground, and a good time 
 we had of it, killing no end of game of all kinds, but as so 
 many books have already been written on the subject of 
 hunting, I do not intend to give many hunting tales, with 
 the exception of a few remarkable incidents. 
 
 Reynolds saw me shoot my first rhinoceros. We both 
 stalked him at the same time from different directions, un- 
 known to each other, but I luckily got up first and fired 
 first. He, not knowing that the shot came from me, 
 jumped up and used rather strong language at having his 
 shot spoilt. The rhinoceros started off as fast as his legs 
 could carry him, and we were standing talking (after 
 Reynolds had apologised for the language used, and ex- 
 plained that he had thought the interruption had come 
 from a native hunter) when we heard, some 400 yards off, 
 something like the squeaking of a big pig. This sound 
 Reynolds had heard before, and he shouted out " By jove ! 
 you've got him — that is his death cry ;" and sure enough 
 when we reached the spot from whence the sound came 
 we found my fine fellow stiff. He was a very fine bull of 
 the white species. A few days after this I had shot a 
 couple of buffalo, and was on the track of another wounded 
 one, which led me to the bank of the Hluhlue River, where I 
 .saw what I thought to be a black rhinoceros, and, not 
 having shot one, I left the buffaloes for the new game. On 
 getting nearer I was surprised to see it was a " sea-cow" (or 
 .hippopotamus), an unusual thing to come across, feeding 
 
HUNTING ADVENTURES. 447 
 
 in broad daylight. The spot being rather open, with tufts 
 •of grass here and there, I had to go on my hands and 
 knees, and had got up to within about 100 yards of it, 
 when suddenly I came upon an enormous wild boar (Ylak 
 Vark). He was lying within three yards of me, fast 
 asleep. I did not know what to do. Should I startle 
 him, I would frighten the sea-cow, and I could not well 
 crawl past him without being seen. Whilst considering 
 what was best to be done, he arose, and immediately saw 
 .me, and not knowing what I was, turned to me, champing 
 his tusks. I kept very quiet, but at once cocked my gun, 
 as I expected him to charge me, and I was also strongly 
 tempted to bag him, as he had the finest tusks I had seen 
 on a Ylak Vark. In fact I have never since seen such a 
 fine pair, and have often regretted not having got him, as 
 many hundreds of sea-cows have I killed since. Well, to 
 go on with my pig. He did not keep me long in a fix, for 
 after a few loud snorts and foaming at the mouth he 
 quietly began to turn and edge off. I expect he began to 
 smell that mischief was in store for him. I was in great 
 fear lest the sea-cow might take the alarm, as it was in 
 sight all the time, but it had either got hold of a nice feed 
 of grass, or else had been fasting, as it looked up 
 twice and went on grazing again as soon as the pig was 
 out of sight. I again crawled on and got to within about 
 50 yards, and waited until the animal got into such a 
 position that I could give a telling shot. As it was facing 
 landwards, I gave it one barrel behind the left shoulder, 
 and as it turned for its watery home I gave it the second 
 barrel behind the right before it plunged into the river and 
 disappeared. For about ten minutes I sat patiently on 
 the bank, and when it came up in its dying struggle, I 
 fired two more shots into its head, which settled it. 
 
 When I got back to the camp my companion and the 
 hunters were much surprised to hear that I had shot a 
 sea-cow, as that animal had never been found so far 
 up-country in those parts, especially in the daytime. 
 
 After having had some very good shooting and bagging 
 between 50 and 60 Buffalo between our party, besides a 
 great number of other game, we struck camp, and returned 
 home. In those days I don't think there was another spot 
 in South Africa where in one day such a variety of game 
 
448 
 
 john dunn's notes. 
 
 could be met with. Baldwin, the hunter, trader, &c, shot 
 here on his way to the Zambesi, and he, in his book 
 published some time ago, says that, with the exception of 
 elephants, this was the finest spot in South Africa for 
 game, and even in these days very good shooting is to be 
 got there, although not to be compared with that of the 
 days I am now writing about. 
 
 Whilst on the subject of shooting I might as well 
 give a little friendly advice to intending sportsmen. 
 Don't mind expending ammunition before you start 
 on your hunting trip, for then you . will thoroughly try 
 your gun and know it well. As a rule the charge put 
 into the cartridges by the gunmakers is too feeble, and the 
 bullet does not penetrate the large game. The best way 
 is to lead the cartridges yourself, and then you will see the 
 effect beforehand. In saying all this I speak from 
 experience, and will mention an instance in proof. The 
 first breechloader I ordered from England was a double- 
 barrelled one — rifle and smooth bore — the former 16, 
 the latter 12. The charge of powder measured out by the 
 maker for the rifle barrel was 2^ drams — that of the smooth 
 barrel was not regulated, as it was supposed to be intended 
 for shot and small game. My gun arrived on the eve of my 
 starting on a shooting trip, and I made up my mind to do 
 wonders with it. On the way to the hunting ground I loaded 
 it according to the gunmaker's instructions, and the effect 
 was pretty good on small buck, but I was surprised at 
 finding that the bullet had not gone through those that I 
 had shot. On getting amongst the large game I wasted 
 no end of ammunition, and only killed a koodoo and a 
 waterbuck. As for rhinoceros and buffalo, they did not 
 seem to feel the charge. I was naturally disgusted — 
 especially as one day the matter nearly cost me my life. 
 Just on leaving camp early one morning, I espied a large 
 buffalo bull returning to cover from the pasturage. I 
 ran and squatted down in the track he was taking to the 
 Dush, and let him come to within about twenty yards,, 
 when I gave a slight whistle, and, as he raised his head I 
 fired at his chest. With a properly loaded cartridge the 
 shot would have killed him even if he had not dropped on 
 the spot. He at once charged straight at me. I rolled on 
 one side, and he passed ; I jumped up and put in another 
 
THE SNIDER RIFLE. 
 
 449 
 
 cartridge, and followed his blood track, expecting to come 
 Tipon him every minute. But he had vanished. This so much 
 disgusted me that I determined to load some cartridges 
 with my own charge, even if I spoilt the gun in doing so. 
 So I returned to camp and loaded a lot with three and a 
 half drams in the sixteen (rifle) and five drams in the 
 twelve (smooth) bore, and again went out. After firing a 
 few shots I soon found out that my gun threw its shots 
 much higher, and that it kicked me, which it had not done 
 before. But I had my reward, as on coming across 
 rhinoceros I killed three, and out of a herd of buffalo 1 
 killed two, two koodoo, and one waterbuck, all on the 
 same day. In the evening I reached the camp well 
 pleased, but rather sore in the shoulder from kicking of 
 the gun. The next day I bagged five rhinoceros, and soon 
 got used to the kicking of the gun. In fact, I 
 found that by grasping it more firmly whilst firings 
 it hardly hurt at all. On these grounds I say that 
 I advise anyone who does not know his gun to try it 
 well with different charges before he starts on a hunting 
 trip in search of large game. 
 
 The behaviour of the Snider rifle is the only thing that 
 is, perhaps, an exception to the efficacy of my theory 
 regarding heavy charges. One season I started on a 
 shooting tour with two officers — Captains Carey and 
 Webster. Whilst shooting at a sea-cow from our boat, 
 the heavy charges of powder that I was using in con- 
 junction with hardened bullets, caused the catch of my 
 gun to fly off, and if I had not had a firm grip of the barrels 
 they would have sprung into the water and been lost. Well, 
 the only other spare gun was a long Snider rifle at the 
 camp which used to throw very high ; but not wishing to 
 detain my friends, I sent my gun to the gunmaker in. 
 D' Urban, and knocked the back sight off the Snider and 
 took it for a makeshift, not thinking that I would be able 
 to kill anything but small game with the small charge 
 with which that rifle is loaded. The accident to my gun 
 happened at the Umhlatuzi, a few miles beyond Port 
 Durnford, and we now started for St. Lucia Bay. I had 
 told my messenger to hasten with the gun, and begged 
 the gunsmith to send him back as soon as possible. Oil 
 arriving at the juncture of St. Lucia and the Umfoloii, L 
 1 G 
 
450 
 
 john dunn's notes. 
 
 launched our boat and went to give Carey and Webster 
 some shooting at the sea-cow. We had not long been 
 on the water before we saw one, and rowing within shot, 
 I told Carey to fire, which he did, and missed. On the 
 sea-cow rising again I could not resist, but fired. I 
 heard my shot tell, but saw the bullet strike the water some 
 distance beyond. Both my friends said I had missed. I 
 said I had not. And for a while we saw no more of the 
 animal, but on going a little distance, and looking back to 
 where I had fired, 1 saw him floating. (In order that I 
 may not appear paradoxical, I must explain that in alluding 
 to a Sea Cow as " him " I used the generic term " Sea 
 Cow " by which this animal is spoken of in South Africa.) 
 On taking him to land, we found the bullet had gone right 
 through the top of his head. This, as I said, is an 
 exception to my theory of the efficacy of heavy charges 
 and hardened bullets. However, my gun got back from 
 D 1 Urban a day or two after, and putting away the Snider 
 took it into use again. 
 
 On another occasion I was out shooting with a rifle pre- 
 sented to me by a young friend of the Hon'ble Guy 
 Dawney's. It was a peculiar one, made by Holland, and 
 taking the Snider cartridge. It used to carry very accu- 
 rately, and I used to kill a lot of koodoo, wildebeest 
 {gnu), and such game, but I never used to take it out for 
 rhinoceros or buffalo. One day I had been shooting 
 wildebeest, and had just killed one, on which I was sitting 
 — my horse feeding under saddle close by — I heard several 
 shots, the sportsmen evidently coming nearer and nearer, 
 when all of a sudden, about six hundred yards away, I saw 
 one of our party approaching rapidly, galloping alongside 
 of two rhinoceros, and firing as quickly as he could. I 
 immediately jumped up on my horse and rode for him, and 
 then kept turning the beasts in order to give my friend 
 good shots at them. At last, as the game did not seem to 
 slacken in speed, and as my horse was the fastest, I galloped 
 past them, for they were leading us a long way from the 
 game 1 had killed, as also from the camp. I jumped off 
 my horse, and, as the foremost came on, I fired at her, 
 taking aim between the neck and shoulders, with the 
 intention of turning her ( it was a large cow, with a half- 
 grown calf.) As soon as the bullet struck, the blood burst 
 
ADVENTURES WITH A LION. 
 
 451 
 
 out of her nostrils, and running about ten yards, she 
 ■dropped. My friend still stuck to the others. On examining 
 the rhinoceros on the side that was uppermost, I could not 
 find a single bullet wound, and so I thought mv friend 
 might have hit her on the side she was lying on, but on his 
 return — not having killed the one he had galloped after — 
 we got assistance from a kraal and turned the animal over, 
 and, much to his disgust, we could not find a single shot of 
 his — the only wound being mine — although he had fired at 
 least six or eight times at her. This was the second 
 instance of the penetrating power of the Snider cartridge. 
 After this I had more confidence, and killed many a sea- 
 cow with the same rifle ; but these cases, as I have before 
 said, are the exceptions. The great secret in hunting is to 
 know what your gun can do, and to shoot straight, with 
 plenty of power to drive the ball home. You must 
 also know the vital spot, and place your lead there. 
 
 If the above tale of the rhinoceros ever reaches the eyes 
 of my friend, he will be amused at the recollection of 
 having missed the animal. Whilst relating the incidents 
 of this trip, I may as well mention an adventure one of our 
 party had which nearly cost him his life. I refer to a 
 Watson Capt. of the 11th Regiment. I had constantly 
 been warning my companions not to go about alone, saying 
 that if they would persist in doing so one of them would 
 get chawed up by a Lion. Well, one day we shifted camp 
 to be nearer good ground for game. On near in g the fresh 
 hunting ground the Captain turned off to a mound to scan 
 the neigbourhood with his glass. Lying at the edge of a 
 ravine he saw what he took to be some Impala bucks some 
 four hundred yards off. Tying his horse to a tree, he crept 
 down the ravine, out of sight, and then stalked his game 
 np it, when he suddenly came face to face with, not harm- 
 less Impalas, but about twenty lions. A good shot would 
 have bagged a couple, if not more, but Watson was none of 
 the best of shots, and, besides, had a rifle which did not 
 carry true. He fired, and, as he thought, gave the 
 finest lion a mortal shot, the rest moving quietly off, 
 Watson following and firing at them until he had ex- 
 pended all his cartridges but the two with which his 
 gun was loaded, not having, however, wounded any 
 other. He now went back to where he had left the lion, 
 1g2 
 
452 
 
 John dunn's notes. 
 
 to see if it wanted settling. On reaching the spot he- 
 could not see anything of his quarry until, suddenly, he- 
 heard a growl in the long grass close beside him, and at 
 the same instant the lion sprang at him. He was, at this 
 moment, standing on the edge of the ravine on a bank 
 about ten feet high, overhanging a large pond of water 
 about fifteen feet wide. As the lion sprang at him Watson 
 had just time to fire both barrels — the cocks of which he 
 had carefully drawn over — and at the same instant jumped 
 backwards, over the bank, into the water-hole, with the 
 lion on top of him. The brute now caught hold of him, 
 with his mouth on his side, clawing Lim on the head with his 
 paw, but the water being deep, the lion could not get a 
 footing, which fact was the saving of Watson's life, as 
 every time the beast tried to make a firmer bite at him, he 
 ducked himself, as well as his victim, under water, thus- 
 swimming about with him as a dog would with a duck, 
 the banks being too high for the lion to climb out with 
 him. This game went on for some time, which must 
 have seemed an age to a man in the fix described. At last 
 the brute let him go, and swam a little distance off and 
 got out on to a small bank in the ravine. He there sar 
 growling and watching Watson, who by this time had 
 been nearly drowned, and was very weak from loss of blood, 
 but he had just strength enough to swim to the opposite 
 bank, catch hold of a branch that was hanging down the 
 bank and clamber out and make for his horse. 
 
 In the meantime we hsd gone on and pitched camp, and 
 I had gone out and shot a wildebeest out of a herd that 
 was grazing about a mile off. I was just cutting off its 
 tail— (the custom of all hunters, as a display of the tail is 
 a proof of their prowess) — when I saw a Kafir running 
 towards me and calling out to me to come quickly. I 
 started off running to him, as I made sure something serious 
 must have happened, and when I met him the first words 
 were " the white man has been killed by a lion." Well — 
 said I to myself — -here is a pretty mess ; it has happened 
 just as I told them. When I got to camp, there, sure 
 enough, was Watson lying in the tent, and his companions 
 standing around, not one of them, however, knowing what 
 to do, and afraid to touch hmi. He was a pretty sight. 
 His clothes all wet, torn, and bloody — his head cut open 
 
WONDERFUL ESCAPE. 
 
 453 
 
 from the back to the eyebrow — like a splendid sabre cut — 
 and his black beard one mass of clotted blood. I at once 
 stripped him and washed his wounds with warm water — 
 cut his hair and bandaged him. He had a wound on his 
 side through which the lung could be seen, and smaller 
 wounds all over his body, but the most remarkable wound 
 was a welt, or whale, from the middle of his back to near 
 the large open wound: I could not understand how he 
 could have got this, as it looked exactly as if it had been 
 caused by a blow from a heavy stick of the thickness of 
 one's wrist. This wound turned out to be the most 
 dangerous of all. I was not afraid of the open flesh 
 wounds, and the one on his head was only a scalp 
 wound. But I did my best to make him more easy, and 
 then got a description of the place where the encounter 
 occurred. The next morning we started in search of his 
 gun and hat, and, from what he said, we expected to find 
 the lion dead. We found the lion, sure enough, not dead, 
 but very savage. We killed him and found that Watson's 
 shots had done very little damage. His first shot had merely 
 broken the lion's hind leg, low down, just above the paw. 
 The shots he fired as the brute sprang upon him had resulted 
 in the breaking of one of the fangs. The welt across the 
 back was thus accounted for, as it had evidently been caused 
 by* the broken tooth. This breaking of the tooth saved his 
 life, because if it had not been broken and gone in at his 
 back it must have killed him. On looking about we found 
 his gun and his hat on the top of it, as if carefully placed 
 there, and the lion's tooth not a yard from the muzzle of 
 the gun, showing how close he must have been. 
 
 This escape of Watson's is the most wonderful one I 
 have ever heard of. I forgot to say that whilst looking 
 for Watson's gun we came across the skeleton of a 
 crocodile, which plainly showed that the pool was infested 
 by that reptile — so that the triple escape from the 
 lion, from drowning, and from the crocodile, may be 
 described as extraordinary. 
 
 We had to wait about a month in this camp before 
 Watson was strong enough to move again. However, 
 not a day passed without our getting plenty of game, and, 
 as good luck would have it for Watson, when he had 
 barely strength to handle a gun. one day, while we were 
 
454 
 
 JOHN DUNN S NOTES. 
 
 away from camp, a rhinoceros trotted up to within about 
 fifty yards of it, and Watson, who always had his gun by 
 his side, managed to crawl to the tent-door and shoot it. 
 He was so pleased at this that I believe it helped to bring 
 him round more than anything. What used greatly to 
 delight him was to sit under a tree and look at the skin 
 of his lion, which was a very fine black-maned one. I 
 had it hung up in a tree before his tent. I thought this 
 would be a lesson to the others not to go about wandering 
 by themselves, though I was mistaken, but luckily we 
 had no more accidents, although my friend, Dawney — 
 from what I could make out from the native gun-carriers 
 who used to go with him — had a couple of narrow 
 squeaks from rhinoceros, but he was a capital shot and a 
 plucky hunter. I often look back to those days ; though 
 dangerous, they were the happiest of my life. 
 
 The finest bag I ever made was — one morning before ten 
 o'clock — twenty-three sea-cows. One would think that, 
 with all these carcases, there would be great waste, but 
 not a bit was lost. The natives around St. Lucia Bay 
 used to come down in hundreds and carry every particle of 
 meat away. I shot well that day. I took out thirty-six 
 cartridges, and two in my gun. I brought back 
 six and two in my gun — killing twenty-three with 
 thirty shots. That season I killed to my own gun two 
 hundred and three sea-cows, besides a lot of other game, 
 and was only away for under three months from the day 
 of starting. Colonel Tower and Captain Chaplin were 
 with me that year, the one in which the horse " Hermit" 
 won at home. Sea-cow shooting from a boat is capital 
 sport, as there is just sufficent danger to make it exciitable, 
 and the hunter must be very quick in shooting, as the 
 animal shows his head above water only for a very short 
 time. From land it is comparatively tame sport. 
 
 Whilst away shooting I constantly received messages 
 from Cetywayo, and on my return he always used to bully 
 me for running the risk of being killed by game. 
 
CHAPTER LIT. 
 
 john dunn's notes. 
 
 Upon Um"Pande's death, in 1872,1 discontinued ray long 
 hunting trips. Cetywayo had succeeded his father. 
 Previous to this time he had not troubled me much, only 
 occasionally sending for me when he wished to consult me on 
 any important subject. On one of these occasions he had all 
 his headmen with him at the Mangweni Kraal. (This was- 
 before he was made King.) On my arrival he told me he 
 intended to send out an impi (army) to some petty tribe in 
 the Swazi country. At this time there was a great division 
 in the Zulu country, Uhamu being the favourite in all 
 the upper parts, and it was said that Usibepu would side 
 with him in the event of an outbreak. I, knowing this, 
 as also the feeling of Cetywayo's own party on the subject,, 
 strongly dissuaded him from taking such a step as he con- 
 templated. He, however, held out, and said he was 
 determined to sent forth his impi. Had I followed my first 
 inclination, and not thought of the future, I should have 
 liked nothing better than to have joined an impi, but as I 
 had made up my mind to make the Zulu country my home,, 
 and as I should have been a great sufferer by any defeat 
 Cetywayo might sustain, I made up my mind to do my best 
 to dissuade him from taking the course he intended. After 
 failing in all arguments, I told him to recollect that all 
 tribes out of Zululand were now armed with guns, and that 
 he must remember what the few guns I had had at the 
 battle of Undondakusuka (fought between him and his 
 brother Umbulazi in 1856, as I have related) did, and that 
 he knew that he had not the whole Zulu nation on his side, 
 but only a small portion, and that if he suffered the slightest 
 defeat the whole country would turn on him, and that I 
 would also suffer. I said, " Wait until you also have guns.'* 
 After a while I could see that my arguments began to tell 
 on him. " But," said he, " where am I to get guns ? The 
 Xatal Government will not let people bring them into my 
 country, and you won't help me." I answered that if he 
 
456 
 
 john dunn's notes. 
 
 would put off sending his impi out I would try what I could 
 do, and I would go to Natal and see the Governor. This 
 promise gained my point. The next day I started back 
 home, and a day or two afterwards started for D'Urban. 
 On my arrival I luckily found the then Governor, Mr. 
 Keate, and the present Sir Theo. Shepstone, at the Royal 
 Hotel, where I also put up. 1 went at once to Mr. 
 Shepstone (as he was then) and told him plainly the position 
 T had taken in Zululand, and that it was my object to arm 
 Cetywayo's party as strongly as I could, because I believed 
 that in so doing it would be the cause of preventing 
 I another civil war in Zululand, as, -if it was known that 
 Cetywayo had guns, he would soon get all the nation on 
 his side. Mr. Shepstone advised me to go straight to the 
 Governor and state my views to him — he himself did not 
 think I was far out. Mr. Shepstone then went and saw 
 the Governor, and after a short absence returned and told 
 me to go in to His Excellency. By his look I was 
 encouraged to state my case plainly, which I did, and con- 
 cluded by saying that as I did not wish to smuggle, I would 
 take it as a great favour if His Excellency would grant 
 me a permit, on behalf of Cetywayo, to purchase 150 guns, 
 and ammunition for them. This, after consideration, he 
 promised to do, and afterwards carried out. On a sub- 
 sequent occasion he also granted me another permit to 
 purchase 100 more guns and necessary ammunition, but 
 owing to the people of Natal taking up and opposing the 
 course pursued, I was requested not to make any more 
 applications, which I refrained from doing, and as the 
 Government had acted very liberally towards me, I deter- 
 mined not to smuggle any guns or ammunition through 
 Natal — a resolution I stuck to, although often tempted to 
 break it, as many influential people offered me guns, &c, 
 at low prices. 
 
 On my return to Cetywayo, with the guns and powder, 
 he was greatly delighted, and said he now really saw that 
 I was his friend, and was advising him for the best. 
 When I went on the trip during which Watson was mauled 
 by the lion, Cetywayo gave me a number of young 
 men to take with me in order that I might teach 
 them to shoot. Some of them went with me when 
 we started to search for the lion, which, when killed, 
 
STARTING A TRIBE. 
 
 457 
 
 they ate every particle of. He was very fat, and 
 Dawney and his friend also tried some of the meat, which 
 they said was not bad, I hope my readers will not go 
 •away with the idea that the lion was eaten raw, for a 
 large fire was made, and all was well roasted first. 
 
 Being now in good favour, and no more being said 
 about the impi going out, I tried to carry out a scheme I 
 had in view, videlicet, that of getting, a further grant of 
 land on the Tugela. which was totally uninhabited. This 
 was a belt of country lying between the Tugela and 
 Matikulu Rivers. After a time I succeeded, and upon this 
 fact becoming known amongst a lot of Natal Kafirs — who 
 had been attached to me whilst 1 was residing in Natal — 
 a number got permission from the Natal Government to 
 come across the border and reside with me. This I also 
 .got Cetywayo's consent to and was the commencement of 
 my starting an independent tribe, acknowledging me as 
 their chief and head. Any Natives leaving their headmen 
 or chiefs in Zululand, and coming to reside in the district 
 •over which I was chief, were looked upon as having left 
 the Zulu country, and the King's service, and they were 
 not subject to the King's call to arms, unless under me, and 
 they were as free from allegiance to their former master as 
 Zulus who had crossed into Natal, but, they were not 
 .allowed to remove their cattle, which were considered to 
 be forfeited to the King. This those inclined to me did 
 not mind, as long as they were permitted to come under 
 my protection, although many a squabble I had to prevent 
 my people being taken away and killed — life was held very 
 cheap in Zululand in those days, and if Cetywayo has, in 
 some future day, to give an account of all the lives he has 
 taken in cold blood, he will have a heavy score to settle. 
 
 The object I then had in view was to try to get the 
 whole of the district (which was sparsely populated by the 
 Zulus) from the Tugela to beyond the Ungoye, under me. 
 I had succeeded, so far, in obtaining both ends, and in- 
 tended gradually to try and populate the middle district, 
 itnd to get a title from the King and Zulu nation to a strip 
 all along the coast and the Tugela, to be, as I have said, 
 under me as an independent chief, and being a favourite of 
 the people, I knew that many a Zulu who had got into 
 trouble with his own people would come to me for 
 
458 
 
 john dunn's notes. 
 
 protection, thinking nothing, as stated, of the loss of his' 
 cattle, owing to the knowledge of the fact that I would 
 never let a child starve for want of milk if I had any 
 cattle. 
 
 My position had now become one of some conse- 
 quence in the country, and I was looked on as being 
 second to Cetywayo in authority — the poor old King 
 t Pande only holding a nominal position. I now began to' 
 feel a difference, as I no longer had the free and easy time 
 I had had of it before, but had constantly to receive some 
 big man as a visitor — Cety wayo's brothers included — and 1 
 was now more frequently sent for by Cetywayo. On one 
 of the occasions on which I went to him he was at one of 
 the Ondini Kraals. On my arrival he said Somseu (Mr. 
 Shepstone) was at Nodwengo, and had sent for him, and 
 he wished to know why ? On my saying this was the first 
 I had heard of it, he said he thought I would have heard 
 why he had been sent for, and after a long talk, we 
 separated, and I turned in. Whilst lying in the hut that 
 had been assigned to me, a little before daybreak I heard 
 someone asking " Where is the hut John Dunn is sleeping 
 in ?" I jumped up quickly and got hold of my gun, and.' 
 crept to the sliding wicker-work that forms the covering of" 
 the low door, which I quietly pushed aside, and looked 
 out. Presently I heard Cetywayo's voice calling to me, 
 and on my answering, he said, " Come out — I want to 
 speak to you." On my going out he said, u I have not 
 slept the whole night. My head has been thinking 
 why Somseu sent for me. I wish you to go ahead 
 before I see him, I will follow, and you can tell him 
 I am coming, but send me back word should you 
 see anything wrong." I knew what he meant. 
 As I had left word at home that I should be back the next 
 day, having just inoculated a lot of cattle I had got from 
 Cetywayo, I sent word home about looking after these 
 cattle during my absence, as I could not say when I should 
 be back, and as soon as it was light I started for 
 Nodwengo. 
 
 On my arrival there I delivered my message,, 
 which Mr. Shepstone was glad to get. The next day 
 Cetywayo arrived, and the one following he held an inter- 
 view with Mr. Shepstone, and returned to the kraal he; 
 
TJXGOZA S PRESUMPTION. 
 
 459' 
 
 was staving at. I did not return until late in the after- 
 noon. On my arrival I found Cetywayo in a very bad 
 temper, and talking a great deal. As soon as I sat down,, 
 he spoke to me and said, Does Somseu know about the 
 way his Induna, Ungoza, is going on ? Walking about the- 
 King's Kraal as if it was his own, and even going into the 
 Isigohlo (the Harem). What does he think he is ? What 
 is he but a dog ? If it was not from fear of the ' White 
 House ' I would kill him at once." When I spoke to some 
 of Cetywayo's men about this, I found that it was true, 
 and than Ungoza was presuming too much, and making 
 himself too big a man. 
 
 On going to Mr. Shepstone's camp the next day, I 
 mentioned this, and advised him to caution Ungoza, or else 
 he would get into trouble. Mr. Shepstone thanked me 
 for telling him. 
 
 After waiting at Xodwengo a couple of days for the 
 headmen, who did not arrive, the meeting was put off, and 
 seeing nothing to detain me, and as I was anxious to get 
 back to look after my inoculated cattle, to which Cety- 
 wayo did not object, I returned home. A day or two after 
 my departure the meeting between Mr. Shepstone and 
 Cetywayv) took place which meeting, according to all 
 accounts, was rather a stormy one, owing to Cetywayo 
 speaking so strongly on the actions of Ungoza, but with 
 no disrepect or danger to Mr. Shepstone. Much to my 
 surprise, I heard some years afterwards that Mr. Shepstone 
 had stated that his life had been threatened, and that, 
 knowing of the danger, I had left without warning him. 
 If I had seen any necessity for remaining, or if Mr. 
 Shepstone had thrown out the slightest hint that he wished 
 or expected me to remain to the last, I would willingly 
 have done so, even at the sacrifice of my private affairs. 
 I was warned and told to be on my guard, as Mr. Shepstone 
 was one of my bitterest enemies. This I heard confirmed 
 lately by one who ought to know well. 
 
 The above shows how one's actions can be misrepresented 
 by one who should know better, and how easily one makes 
 enemies without just cause. At the same time, Mr. Shep- 
 stone has never said an indignant word to me on the subject, 
 but, on the contrary, whenever he met me he always pro- 
 fessed a friendly and fatherly spirit, and always expressed his 
 
460 
 
 JOHN DUNN S NOTES. 
 
 pleasure at my getting on. As far as I am concerned, I 
 can assert that, at the interview with Cetywayo, there was 
 no knowledge of danger, or intention on my part to leave 
 him in hostile hands, hut my action was simply ruled hy 
 my domestic affairs. I am certain there was no danger, as 
 I knew Cetywayo's aim, at the time I am writing of, was 
 to keep on good terms with the English Government, and 
 it was nothing but the conduct of Ungoza which ex- 
 asperated him and made him speak in the way he did, as 
 intrusion into the harem by a common-born man like 
 Ungoza was a flagrant violation of Zulu etiquette. 
 
 It was some years after this time that CetyAvayo's feel- 
 ings towards the English began to change, and the fault 
 lay with the Government, and the messengers they sent, 
 assuming a tone of authority he did not recognise. This 
 feeling was also fanned, at first, by a light breeze from 
 the late Bishop Colenso, and that breeze eventually broke 
 into a whirlwind which ruined the Zulu nation. 
 
 I now had to do all Cetywayo's correspondence, and no 
 messenger was sent to the Natal Government without his 
 first consulting me, and when the Natal messengers returned, 
 I had to write the letter. I always heard the verbal 
 message, and read the answer from the Government. 
 
CHAPTER LY. 
 
 johx dunn's notes. 
 
 Thus matters went on until Unipande's death, in 1872. ^ 
 Some time after this Cetywayo requested me to go with a 
 deputation to the Natal Government at Pietermaritzburg, 
 and ask that Mr. Shepstone might be sent to represent the 
 English Government, in London, at his installation as King. 
 This request was acceded to by the Government, and in 
 July, 1873, preparations were made to go up to the 
 Amathlabatini, where Panda died, Cetywayo being at his 
 kraal Ondini, near the coast, and eight miles from the 
 former place. 
 
 At the time of starting my eldest son was taken dan- 
 gerously ill, and I was called home, where I daily received 
 messengers from Cetywayo. Eventually he put off going 
 to Mathlabatini, as he said he would not go without me. , 
 His principal reason for this was that some mischief- 
 makers had been spreading a report that his late rival 
 Umbulazi had not been killed in the fight, but had escaped 
 to Natal, and that now Pande was dead, it was the inten- 
 tion of the Government to make Umbulazi King instead of 
 him. Hence his saying he would not go without me. as he 
 wanted my advice and assistance in the emergency. On mv 
 riding over to him one day and telling him it would be 
 impossible for me to leave home, as I daily expected my 
 sou to die, he really burst into tears, and said " If you can't 
 go, I will not, the Spirits would not be with me if you did 
 not go." He, however, sent his principal Doctor, and the 
 next day, miich to my surprise, two of his incekus or 
 household servants, came with a large black ox. They had 
 orders to sacrifice this animal in order to appease the 
 Spirits, and thus beg of them to allow me to go up. I told 
 them that I did not believe in this, and would have nothing 
 to do with it. But the men said that, whether I liked it 
 or not, they must obey their orders, and before stabbing 
 the ox they went through a lot of incantations ancL 
 exhortations. Although I had often listened to their 
 
462 
 
 JOHN DUNN S NOTES. 
 
 sermons at their own kraal, I bad never been so impressed 
 as I was now with what was said. It was quite a prayer. 
 Strange to say — whether he was carried away by the 
 excitement or the novelty of the thing or not — but my boy, 
 who had hardly been able to move in bed without help, 
 much less to rise up, begged to be lifted out of bed, and, 
 with help, walked to the door to witness the ceremony, 
 and smiled as he looked on — the first time he had done so 
 for a couple of weeks. I can assure you, reader, it had a 
 strange effect upon me. You can laugh at the super- 
 stition, but an incident of this kind goes a long way with 
 the Zulus. Further on I will relate another incident of 
 this kind that happened, to my knowledge, some two years 
 afterwards. 
 
 Shortly after this my son began to show signs of 
 getting better, and I was able to return to Cetywayo, 
 and we then made a start. The muster was a grand sight, 
 thousands on thousands of plumed warriors with women 
 and boys — the two latter being the commissariat train. I 
 was in charge of, and driving his carriage, one I had 
 bought for him. It was the best in D'Urban at the time, 
 and a fine trap. I had four of my own horses in, all greys. 
 I was afterwards sorry I had promised to take charge of the 
 trap as I lost all the sport, but it was Cety wayo's wish to go 
 in the carriage, and he would not trust himself to anyone but 
 me. But it subsequently turned out that he had been per- 
 suaded by the Indunas not to go in the carriage, as they 
 Avere afraid I might serve them the same as I did upon 
 ■our journey to the Mangwini kraal, and leave them 
 behind, so their argument was urgent, more especially as 
 the rumour had got afloat that Umbulazi was coming with 
 Mr. Shepstone, and that therefore Cetywayo required 
 extra looking after. 
 
 After starting and proceeding about a mile, the 
 commencement of a grand hunt was made, and 
 the whole of the following was thrown out to form an 
 immense circle of about five miles in diameter, taking in 
 the site appointed for our camping ground, to which I 
 drove as fast as I could, as getting through the crowd of 
 followers was a very difficult task. As soon as I had 
 unharnessed my horses, I took my gun and made for a 
 good position, but the country was so SAvarming with 
 
A GRAND HUNT 
 
 463 
 
 -people (as well as with game) that although I had many 
 ;u good chance of a shot, I was afraid to fire in case I 
 might hit someone, especially as, as usual, they closed in 
 with a rush at the termination of a hunt of this sort. The 
 slaughter of game was great, and since this hunt, which 
 took place in the Umhlatuzi valley, the game has been 
 very scarce here. So many bucks were killed that they 
 sufficed for the food of the vast concourse, and Cetywayo 
 had no occasion to give his followers any cattle to kill. 
 Only two beasts were served out that evening, one for his 
 brothers and one for myself. My own men had also 
 killed a lot of game. We had a severe thunderstorm that 
 uight — a most unusual thing at that time of the year — 
 which drenched us all. 
 
 The morning was fine, and a start was made in 
 the same order. Cetywayo announced his intention 
 of walking a certain distance this morning, and 
 then of getting into the carriage. So I drove on to where 
 he said he would get in, and, on arriving there, left the 
 trap in charge of a boy, and went to try and get a shot, 
 but again the same drawback occurred ; no sooner did a 
 buck show itself than there were a dozen heads in a line 
 with him. At the foot of Inkwenkwe hill, as Cetywayo 
 was coming up, a fine bush buck came running towards 
 me, but I no sooner made towards him than there was a 
 general rush for him. This turned him towards Cety- 
 wavo, and one of his Incekus, making a good shot with an 
 assegai, bowled him over within ten yards of his Chief. 
 Just as Cetywayo got in sight of the carriage, the horses, 
 for some reason, took fright, and swerving round, broke 
 the pole. I was not in view at the time, and a boy came 
 running from Cetywayo to tell me. On getting there I 
 found a pretty mess, but with the help of some bush-wood 
 I made a splice of the pole. Cetywayo had in the 
 meantime gone on, and, on my overtaking him, I wished 
 him to get in, but he shook his head and declined, saying 
 that 1 was to go on to look for a place to camp. I found 
 out afterwards that he looked upon the breaking of the 
 ^pole as a bad omen. I must not forget to mention that I 
 liad bought him some tents, so that, in camping out, he 
 ^vas quite comfortable, and seemed to enjoy the noveltv. 
 This day a great number of small buck were again killed, 
 
464 
 
 john dunn's notes. 
 
 but wood being scarce where we camped, the people had ab- 
 oard night of it, as it was very cold and there was very 
 little shelter. 
 
 The next morning we started in the same manner, 
 hunting on the way. In the evening a lot of the 
 men of Upper Zululand, under Cetywayo's brother, joined 
 us. Cetywayo, in order to show off, had all his men, who 
 bad guns, collected in a body and on our arrival at the 
 kraal we were going to sleep at that night, he made them 
 fire two volleys. He had me always close to him to show 
 the up-country Zulus that he had made me his friend. On 
 starting from this place — the Umkindwini — he said that, 
 after the first hunt, he would ride in the carriage, and that 
 I was to go on and wait for him, as he saw that the broken 
 pole stood all right. So I went on for about six miles 
 and waited for him. On reaching me, after a little hesita- 
 tion, he got in. I think more on account of feeling tired 
 than of any inclination to ride for riding sake. But after 
 we had gone on about a mile or two, he seemed to enjoy it, 
 and was greatly delighted to see some of his big, stout 
 followers who were — an odd collection — our escort on 
 horseback, making ludicrous exertions to keep up with our 
 pace, as I had four good horses in front of me ; so that, as 
 I say, they had to do their utmost to make their ponies 
 keep at all near to us. The escort included several 
 dignitaries, such as Sirayo, Grouzi, and several others of 
 the same stamp. They could not possibly have kept up to 
 us if I had not taken compassion on them, in spite of 
 Cetywayo's urging me to push on. I knew from experience 
 that I would only have caused a bad feeling against me for 
 leaving them behind, as some time elapsed before they for- 
 gave me for out-pacing them in going to the Mangwini 
 kraal. Cetywayo was in high glee when we got to our 
 camping place in the evening, and said he would ride the 
 whole distance in the trap the next day. But the night's 
 rest again made him alter his mind, or perhaps he had 
 again been persuaded not to ride. So that in the morning 
 he walked. 
 
 We got to our camping ground on the Intonjanini early. 
 It was on the exact spot where Cetywayo was reinstalled 
 in the year 1883, on his return from England. We 
 expected to meet all the people from the northern parts- 
 
PERPLEXITY. 
 
 465 
 
 this day. This evening he was very liberal, and gave his 
 followers sixty head of cattle to kill for their suppers. It 
 was the custom for the head Indunas to come to my camp 
 every evening to have something to warm them, as the 
 weather was very cold. On this evening I asked Sirayo 
 what the order of proceedings was to be on our meeting 
 the up-country people. He said, " You ask of us who 
 have come every evening to ask of you. How should we 
 know what is to be done ? Have we ever put a King on 
 the throne before ? You must tell us. Have you not 
 spoken to Cetywayo as to what is to be done ? " I said I 
 had not and as there were so many rumours about what 
 was to take place, one being that the northern Zulus were 
 going to take Cetywayo by force, we had better go to him 
 in a body and ask him, as, if there was any fighting to be 
 done, we ought to be prepared, but I told them I was 
 surprised at their not knowing the order of procedure, as 
 also at their not consulting Cetywayo about it. My 
 proposal was agreed to, and so we went in a body to the 
 tent of the latter, which was about a hundred yards away, 
 We found him in very good spirits, and, on my mentioning 
 the purpose of our errand — as I was spokesman — he 
 seemed much amused and burst out laughing. He said, 
 " Are you then afraid ?" I said, " Xo, 1 am not, but the 
 Indunas here are, as they don't know what is to take 
 place." He was surprised, however, at what I had told 
 him, and at the Indunas — much older men than he — being 
 so thoroughly ignorant, and said, "Is it then true what 
 John Dunn says ? Are you really not joking ? Why did 
 you not speak to me before ?" He then went into a lot of 
 details with them, in which I took not much interest as I 
 began to think seriously of the situation, and began also to 
 be a little suspicious of their (the Indunas') interest in 
 what was to take place, and that if they were really 
 anxious about the King, why they had not consulted with 
 him as to what was to be done, as I thought that, as a 
 matter of course, everything had been settled. 
 
 I now recollected that on several occasions, when I 
 had asked any of them about Uhamu, I had always got an 
 evasive answer, and as no one seemed to knovr 
 what Uhamu's intentions were, or whether he would 
 be with the northern people or not, I began to feel 
 1 ii 
 
466 
 
 john dunn's notes. 
 
 that there was every likelihood of a fight, and if so, 
 I Cetywayo would not be the favourite of his own party, 
 which they professed he was. After sitting with him till 
 late, I returned to my camp, having learnt what the order 
 of the proceedings was to be, which was, that the whole of 
 the following were to collect in a body, and not to scatter. 
 
 Accordingly next morning, as soon as it was warm enough, 
 a move was made, and all the armed force was collected 
 and formed into a circle, and the order for the advance 
 given. It was a fine sight to see these thousands move off. 
 Cetywayo, with myself, and few followers, took the lead, 
 he still walking. Our course lay over the brow of a hill, 
 on arriving at which he ordered a halt of the followers : 
 whilst we — the staff— proceeded about half a mile in 
 advance to a knoll, his object being to have a good view of 
 his followers. He then ordered an advance, and so we 
 went on for about three miles and encamped, as this was 
 the spot he had decided to remain at until the whole nation 
 was collected. This spot was the Makeni, not far from the 
 place of slaughter of the Boers by Dingaan. We were at 
 this spot for about three days until that of the great meeting 
 was at length announced. I had secured a photographer for 
 this occasion, but owing to the cloudy weather and the 
 water being bad, he could not succeed in taking a good 
 picture. I had stationed him at a capital spot, and led 
 Cetywayo, in full dress, and with all his staff, to within 
 fifty yards of where he was. The failure was a great 
 disappointment, and a very great loss to the public in 
 general and to posterity, as such a sight no man will ever 
 again have the opportunity of witnessing, and I believe the 
 photographer, and myself, are the only white men who have 
 ever seen a similar sight. 
 
 From what I could make of the gathering, there were 
 three distinct bodies, firstly, Cetywayo and his followers ; 
 then came Uhamu and Umnyamana, and a lot of their 
 followers, and then the largest body of all, who were from 
 v the north-east, and led by Usibepu. Masipula, although 
 Prime Minister, made his appearance, but with no particular 
 followers. I was very much surprised at there being no 
 one who seemed to know what was to take place. 
 
CHAPTER LVI. 
 
 johx dunn's notes. 
 
 "The ground round about where the photographer was 
 stationed was selected for the assembly, and as soon as we 
 
 i.e., Cetywayo, myself, and the staff of the former — 
 
 arrived on the spot, the north-eastern party moved insight, 
 and, on getting about half-a-mile from us, they commenced 
 "to form in order. From what I could make out from the 
 remarks made around me, I gathered that our people were 
 beginning to feel uneasy, and now believed in the rumour 
 that Cetywayo was to be taken by force. I now thought 
 it time to speak to Cetywayo, which I did, and while I 
 was talking, Sibebu's party made an advance. Uhamu, 
 Uinnyamana, and their party were setting on a mound to 
 the west, so that, if mischief was meant, we were between 
 two fires, which showed very bad generalship on the part 
 of Cetywayo. Usibepu's party first advanced slowly, and 
 then came on with a rush, and some of Cetywayo's staff — 
 Undconewane, who subsequently was with him when he 
 was presented to the Queen in London, amongst others — 
 began to prepare for flight. I alone told Cetywayo that 
 unless the advancing party was stopped there would be a 
 fight. I had nothing in my hand, by the way, but my 
 hunting-crop. From the expression on Cetywayo's face 
 when he answered me, I could see that he had never con- 
 sidered the danger. " Imbala," said he (meaning, ''You 
 don't say so ?") I said, "Yes, don't you see ? Send some 
 Incekus at once to stop them," which he immediately did. 
 
 On looking round to the hill on the west of us, I could see 
 that the party with Uhamu and Umnyamana had also taken 
 the alarm. I could now see that Cetywayo began to take 
 ;a more serious view of the sitna'i n. He gave quiet orders 
 for our party to arm themselves, as we had come on to the 
 ground unarmed- — at least Cetywayo's followers had, but I 
 had 200 of my hunters with me. These were always in 
 the habit of carrying their guns and ammunition with them, 
 .so that I, with them, could make a stand. Fortunately, on 
 1h2 
 
468 
 
 JOHN DUNN S NOTES. 
 
 the arrival of Cetywayo's messengers, the leaders of 
 Usibepu's party had influence enough to stop the advance,, 
 or else there certainly would have been great slaughter.. 
 This fact I found out long afterwards. As soon as 1 saw 
 the check in Usibepu's party, I left Cetywayo, who I could 
 see did not know exactly how to act, and passing through 
 my men to give them confidence — telling them, however,, 
 to prepare for the worst — and after telling one of my men 
 who I knew to be a bad shot, that, in the event of a 
 scrimmage, I would take his gun, I walked quietly up to 
 where Umnyamana was sitting. As soon as he saw me 
 he got up and came towards me, calling out to Uhamu to 
 come also. As soon as he reached me he took hold of my 
 hand, and said, '* What is this you aie doing ? Why are 
 you arming your party ? " This I laughed at, saying, 
 " Why should we arm ? Who have we to fear ? " He said,. 
 " All right ; remain with us, then " ; to which I assented. 
 I had left Cetywayo without telling him where I was 
 going. Shortly after I had been with Umnyamana, I saw 
 Cetywayo's party coming up to where we were. Whether 
 he had missed me, and not knovving where I was had got 
 uneasy, or whether he had changed his mind as to the 
 place of assembly, I can't say, but he came up to where I 
 was, and the whole of the parties then came up and formed 
 a great circle. 
 
 As each lot came up it fired blank charges, but 
 they fired so close to one another in some instances 
 that there was a serious danger of being knocked over by 
 the powder. In fact, Sedcweledcwele, one of the princi- 
 pal men on our side, and Colonel of the jNgobamakosi 
 Regiment, had a charge so closely fired behind him that 
 the paper and wadding from the gun cut a hole in his cows 
 tails, which comprised a principal part of his dress, and 
 also burnt a hole in his shoulder. If the man who had 
 fired the shot had had his gun loaded with a heavy charge 
 of powder the affair might have proved fatal. Everything 
 however, passed off quietly, and I firmly believe that it 
 was owing to my advising Cetywayo to send messengers to 
 check Usibepu's party in their advauce that a general 
 massacre was avoided. Another check on the opposite- 
 party was the knowledge of the fact that my hunters were 
 there with their deadly guns, and the opposite chiefs also^ 
 
PROCLAIMING A KING 
 
 469 
 
 ~k:new that those of Cetywayo's men who were armed with 
 
 g:uns, and considered to be under me, were also present. 
 The whole ceremony seemed to be a novelty to all, old as 
 well as young, as they had no precedent to go by. After 
 
 rail was over Cetywayo sent for me and we returned to his 
 private tent (a photograph of which was taken) and after 
 
 •a talk on various matters, and a drink of Kafir beer, which 
 I much enjoyed, I returned to my camp. This night the 
 whole of the nation were assembled. That is to say, the 
 male part, but as a matter of fact a good portion of the 
 girls and young married women were also present. I felt 
 very much disappointed again at the photographer not 
 having been able to take a good picture. 
 
 The next day another meeting took place, but the number 
 of the people had greatly diminished. On this day Cetywayo 
 was proclaimed King by Masipula, the Prime Minister, and, 
 so far, the ceremony ended for a time. All this time we were 
 awaiting the arrival of Mr. Shepstone, and after the lapse 
 of three days without any news of him, the King decided 
 to move on to the vicinity of Nodwengo Kraal. On arriv- 
 ing close there he, owing to some superstition, struck ofC 
 from the main road, across country, not going near the 
 Xodwengo Kraal. His object in thus doing was to keep 
 the site of the intended kraal a secret in order that the 
 abatagati (according to Xative superstition) or wizards 
 might not bewitch the spot. 
 
 Nothing of any particular interest took place for several 
 days. At last it was announced that Somseu had crossed 
 the Tugela on his way up, and eventually reported as 
 being at the Intonjanini, from where he sent a messenger 
 to say he expected to have found the King awaiting him 
 there, and that, as he had not done so, he hoped to see 
 Cetywayo there as soon as convenient. But the latter 
 strongly objected to this course, as did most of his head- 
 men. The King then asked me to go to Mr Shepstone 
 with some of his messengers, but I objected, as J did not 
 wish to be involved in the dispute. I said, at the same 
 time, that I thought he (the King) was quite right, but 
 advised him to send some men of standing instead of the 
 usual class of messengers. He sent Sibepu aud Sirayo to 
 settle matters, and it was a day or two after their return 
 that a party of Mr. Shepstone's escort rode over. Amongst 
 
470 
 
 JOHN DUNN S NOTES. 
 
 them were Lewis Reynolds, and the late Mr. Baines, the* 
 traveller, and two officers, one of whom was Major Clark, 
 of Transvaal notoriety, their object being to see if every- 
 thing was on the square, as they expressed it. On my 
 slating my views, they quite agreed with me that there was 
 no danger, and they themselves were anxious to come on. 
 
 I must not forget to mention an amusing incident con- 
 nected with this party. No sooner they were seated in my tent 
 than old Eaines asked for a piece of paper, and he at once 
 commenced to make a sketch with his pencil, which on. 
 finishing, he handed to us, saying, " I defy any of you to 
 sketch yourself in the act of falling from a horse." It 
 appeared that that morning, whilst en route to me, they 
 had galloped across country, and Baines' horse had put his 
 foot in a hole and fallen with him. It was a very good: 
 natural sketch. They returned to their camp the same day 
 well pleased with their ride, and fully determined to 
 persuade Mr. Shepstone to come on to a spot near to where 
 I was with the King. Whilst waiting to receive Somseu,. 
 the King decided to have a hunt, and to sleep out. We did 
 not, however, go far the first afternoon, as it was late- 
 before a start was made, and only a few small buck were 
 killed. We encamped for the night in the Bush. 
 
 The next morning an early start was made, and the people 
 thrown out to surround a tract of country about four miles in 
 diameter, and by twelve o'clock a lot of game of all sorts 
 were killed. I only managed to get a shot at one buck,, 
 which I killed, as there was difficulty in free firing owing 
 to the people about ; indeed, it was wonderful that no 
 accident happened, for the bullets were flying about m every 
 direction. About one o'clock the King gave the order to- 
 return home. It was a very hot day, and as he had 
 had nothing to eat since supper, I expect he began to feel 
 the want of something. I myself had taken the precaution 
 to put a couple of biscuits in my pocket. As I said be- 
 fore, it was a very hot day, and 1 expected to see the 
 King perspiring profusely ; but, on the contrary, to my 
 surprise he kept as dry as a bone. This shows what hard 
 condition he must have been in. To all appearance he was 
 fat, but on touching his flesh it became apparent that it 
 was all firm flesh. This is a peculiarity of all his family.. 
 They have all immense thighs. There are only two of his, 
 
CETYWAYO'S PHYSIQUE. 
 
 471 
 
 relations, to my knowledge, who are given to be flabby, 
 viz., Uhamu and Mahanana. This peculiarity points to 
 the fact that they are a distinct tribe, and it is a great 
 pity that no history has been traced. This, as I have 
 said, I attempted to do, but was frustrated by the loss of 
 all my notes, notes which no man will ever again have the 
 opportunity of taking. 
 
CHAPTER LVII. 
 
 john dunn's notes. 
 
 Cetywayo's ancestors descended from the younger son, 
 Zulu ; his elder brother being Quabe, the founder of the 
 present races known by that title, the representatives of 
 whom are the present Musi and Mafongonyana, now 
 living in Natal. The quarrel between Quabe and Zulu, 
 the two brothers, occurred about a white cow, bought by 
 their mother, and given by her to Zulu. This much 
 enraged Quabe, and hence the strife and the breaking up 
 of the family. Pongosi, the ancestor of the present tribe 
 of that name, of whom the late Gauzi (one of the Chiefs 
 appointed by Sir Garnet, now Lord Wolseley) was head 
 Induna, and he sided with Zulu, and collected all his tribe 
 together. 
 
 But, to return to our hunt story. On our way back, a 
 hare jumped up, at which several shots were fired. Cety- 
 wayo also fired, and made a good shot, and bowled him 
 over at about sixty yards. This was not bad, considering 
 that it was a bullet he fired with. He was in high glee, 
 and said J could not now laugh at him. But soon after 
 that I had an opportunity of distinguishing myself, as I 
 fired when the whole of the men of the hunt were looking 
 on. As we were walking along there was suddenly heard 
 a shout of " Inyamazana ! " (game) and two rhee bucks 
 came cantering over the brow of a hill about 200 yards 
 off. I called to the King to shoot, but he would not do 
 so, saying they were too far. I then took sight and made 
 a good shot, hitting one in the head, and so, of course, 
 rolled him over. Cetywayo shouted out some expression 
 of praise, when the whole lot took up the shout. From 
 this day my reputation as a good shot was established 
 amongst the nation. The King said to me. " I have often 
 heard of your shooting, but now I am satisfied." At this 
 moment two men came running towards us, and, on 
 reaching us, reported that the kraal was on fire. The 
 King immediately ordered all the men to run as hard as 
 
FIRE. 
 
 473 
 
 "they could and extinguish the flames, and we followed at 
 .a good pace, broiling hot as it was, and still he did not 
 perspire. Sure enough, as soon as we got in sight, we 
 saw the King's kraal was in a blaze, but, before we got up 
 to it, the fire had been put out, but not before it had 
 demolished a great portion of the huts, and scorched a 
 good many people ; one man and a girl in particular were 
 badly burnt. Although the fire at the kraal had been 
 extinguished, it had passed on, and was still raging in the 
 grass (which was very dry) away to the West. The 
 King's huts and tents had fortunately escaped, so on 
 getting to these, we went in, and he called for some beer, 
 but before taking any he took a drink of water. I never 
 saw such a change come over a man. About ten seconds 
 after he had drunk the water he broke out into profuse 
 perspiration, which simply streamed from him at every 
 pore. This lasted for about a quarter-of-an-hour, when he 
 began to get dry. 
 
 After finishing the beer I went to my camp, which I 
 had just reached when there was a cry of fire again, and 
 on going out I saw that the wind had changed, and the 
 fire was raging along, making for the kraal, which it soon 
 reached, burning down the huts, and a few minutes after 
 came charging for my camp, where stood a wagon of 
 mine with a lot of ammunition. I at once set all the 
 hands I could muster on to it, and ran it into an old 
 bare mealie garden, not however, before the fire had 
 overtaken it, and scorched some of the fellows' legs, but 
 they bravely stuck to it and saved it. In the meantime I 
 had collected all the men I could to carry water in cala- 
 bashes to me. These I emptied all round the enclosure 
 where my tents were standing, which checked the flames 
 and gave us time to beat them out, not, however, before 
 some of the fence had caught fire within two yards of my 
 sleeping tent. I can assure you, reader, I breathed with a 
 rsense of relief when the furious flames passed on beyond 
 my camp without doing any serious damage. In the 
 adjacent kraal — one of Cetywayo's — more than half of the 
 huts were consumed, his own again escaping. Many of 
 the poor people had a hard night of it, as no shelter was to 
 be had, and all their blankets were destroyed, as the fire 
 ■came on so suddenly that they had no time to save any- 
 
474 
 
 JOHN DUNN S NOTES. 
 
 thing, and there was a good deal of grumbling and ironical 
 good wishes for Mr. Shepstone for detaining them so long- 
 At last the Natal Representative was reported as ap- 
 proaching, and he shortly after took up his position about 
 three miles from us. All this time the people were under 
 the impression that Umhulazi was being brought up by 
 Mr. Shepstone, and all his actions were therefore looked 
 upon with suspicion, and closely watched. A day of 
 meeting was at length fixed on. The King first intended 
 to go with me in the carriage, but he was persuaded by 
 his headmen from doing so, as they were afraid that, if any 
 treachery was brewing, I might drive off with him at a 
 gallop and hand him over to the English, so he asked me 
 to go on with the carriage and await him. He shortly 
 afterwards followed, with about fifty of his principal men. 
 Whilst I was talking with' Mr. Shepstone they came in 
 sight, but walking very slowly, the pace getting slower as 
 they got nearer. I could see the King expected someone 
 to come and meet him, so I asked Mr. Shepstone to allow 
 me to do so. He answered that he would be glad if I 
 would do so, and thus give Cetywayo confidence, also 
 saying that when the King came w r ithin a hundred yards 
 he would also step out to meet him. This was accordingly 
 carried out, and after a short talk, Mr. Shepstone, with 
 Cetyw T ayo and some of his followers, retired to a tent to 
 consult on different subjects. Whilst this was going on 
 inside, an amusing scene was taking place outside between 
 two Izibongi (jesters or praisers), each yelling out the 
 strings of praises of their respective Chiefs — Mr. Shepstone- 
 and Cetywayo — and trying to outdo each other. At last 
 they got so excited, being urged on by the crowd of 
 whites and blacks who had formed a ring round them, that 
 they were very nearly coming to blows. Seeing the matter 
 was getting serious I stepped in and separated them by 
 taking Cetyway's man away. The scene had indeed been 
 highly diverting. The lively and extraordinary grimaces 
 and the other visual contortions of the men must have been 
 very edifying to anyone who had never witnessed such a. 
 scene before. After a day had been fixed for another 
 preliminary meeting to consult, the King and I drove to 
 my camp. 
 
 The second meeting took place at the Umlambang- 
 
AMATONGA LABOUR. 
 
 <±75 
 
 wenya Kraal, at which the King was staying for a time. 
 This assembly took place in the middle of the cattle kraal, 
 and was attended only by Mr. Shepstone and one of his 
 sons, and the late Colonel Durnford, and also by three or 
 four of Mr. Shepstone's ISative Indunas, on the one side, 
 and of Cetywayo, myself, and a few of his men on the 
 other. jSothing of importance transpired, and after a talk 
 which lasted some time, I opened a couple of bottles of" 
 champagne and claret — a favourite blended drink of mine 
 — and mixed them in a tin can, when several of us refreshed 
 ourselves, Cetywayo included. 
 
 At this meeting the subject of Amatonga labour was 
 brought up, and Mr. Shepstone proposed that an agent 
 be appointed by the Government. The King agreed to 
 the introduction of the labourers, but, turning to me, he 
 said, " There is no need to appoint anyone ; here is one 
 that will do." Mr. Shepstone remarked to me that he did 
 not know if I would accept the position. I said that L 
 would if I was well paid for it. 
 
CHAPTER LVIII. 
 
 john dunn's notes. 
 
 Before proceeding further, I must retrace my steps and 
 finish the story about the fire. The evening after the day 
 of the great fire, I was sent for by the Indunas who 
 wished to consult me on some matters, and whilst sitting 
 with them in the hut, a cry of fire was again raised. The 
 grass was so dry that before anything could be done 
 twenty or thirty huts were burned down so close to 
 Cetywayo's quarters that the people of his household 
 huddled all the things out and carried them some distance. 
 A good deal of pilfering went on, and many of the things 
 were never seen again. Amongst the things was a tin 
 box containing about two dozen bottles of Chlorodyne 
 that I had bought for him. This pilfering showed what 
 little fear these people have for death, well knowing that 
 on the slightest thing being found in their possession, and 
 which belonged to the King, death followed for a 
 certainty. Cetywayo was very down-hearted on account 
 of these fires, and said openly that he did not think they 
 were the result of accident, but were lit intentionally, and 
 he began to be very suspicious. 
 
 The day was now finally fixed for the great ceremony 
 of the Coronation of Cetywayo by Mr. Shepstone, with 
 which, however, the former was not at all satisfied. 
 What he had expected he never revealed, but expressed 
 himself as being disappointed with what took place, which 
 was nothing but a lecture of advice. There was a very 
 small show of people, most of them being tired of waiting 
 so long, and having returned to their homes. The 
 photographer again failed to take a picture although I had 
 secured him a good position within the kraal. This was 
 again a disappointment as it ought to have been a good 
 picture. There had been a large marquee erected, which, 
 with a lot or things, were made a present to Cetywayo 
 after the ceremony was over. After Mr. Shepstone and 
 all the escort had left, the King went into the marquee to 
 
AMATONGA AGENT. 
 
 477 
 
 inspect the things. Here he was again disappointed, as- 
 there was not a single thing he could put to his own use. 
 And so all the ceremony was over. He had been 
 proclaimed King by Masipnla before the arrival of Mr. 
 Shepstone, and now this had merely been confirmed by 
 him, and now he was the acknowledged King of the 
 country by the Natal Government, as well as by the 
 Zu]us. 
 
 The next day Mr. Shepstone broke up his camp and set 
 off for Natal, and so we were once more left to ourselves 
 to do as we liked, a proof of which was shown a few days 
 afterwards. As the last of the staff of Sir Theophilus (as 
 he is now known — having received this title in 1876) was 
 moving off, I was sitting with the King in his hut, when 
 two messengers from Sir Theophilus were announced. . 
 They stated that they had orders to deliver their message 
 personally to the King, and he gave orders for them to be 
 brought in — at the same time saying to me " Sit on one 
 side so that the messengers cannot see you." On their 
 ai rival he told them to sit outside the hut and deliver their 
 message, which was simply relating to me. They said 
 they had been sent by Sir Theophilus, and that though 
 he had assented to my being appointed Amatonga Agent, 
 the King must not deem this to be conclusive, as the 
 Governor of Natal might object to me and appoint 
 someone else. On the King asking if that was all, they 
 assented. He then said, "Tell Somseu that that question 
 is settled, I want no one else." 
 
 Soon after the above, Sir Theophilus wrote me a rather 
 severe letter, I thought, warning me not to assume too 
 much authority, as he could not recognise it. At this I 
 felt much hurt, as I had given no cause for his saying so,, 
 and in answer, wrote him to that effect. 
 
 However, I got the appointment of Amatonga Agent at 
 a salary of £300 a year, and retained it until the war broke 
 out. I encountered a deal of difficulty for some time, as it- 
 had been the custom of the Zulu people to look upon the 
 Amatongas as objects of legitimate plunder ; but having 
 been fully authorised by Cety wayo to do as I thought fit, I 
 soon set matters right, and they still continue unmolested to- 
 this day. 
 
 One afternoon it was reported by one of the King's- 
 
478 
 
 john dunn's notes. 
 
 Incekus, or household servants, that a tin can resembling the 
 one that had disappeared on the night of the fire, with the 
 chlorodyne in it, was at the kraal of another Inceku, who 
 had gone home the day after the fire, and who was residing 
 on the coast. The King at once sent off a man to see. 
 This man pretended to be on a visit to the suspected man, 
 and whilst at the kraal of the latter the tin was produced 
 by the thief, saying he was going to give his visitor a treat 
 of some grog he had bought, and which was very nice. On 
 this he took out about half-a-dozen bottles of chlorodyne 
 and emptied them into a pot of beer, which he gave to his 
 wives. The stuff, being sweet, would naturally give a good 
 flavour to the beer, which the ladies soon finished. The 
 description that I got from the witness of the scene that 
 follows was very amusing, as these people are very happy 
 in their manner of relating anecdotes, &c. Shortly after 
 the women had finished the beer, they began to yawn and 
 laugh consumedly at each other, each accusing the other of 
 making her yawn. This went on for some little time, much 
 to the amusement of the spectators and the husband, who 
 himself was getting nearly as bad, owing to having taken 
 a couple of mouthfuls of the drug himself. At last they 
 could not keep their eyes open, and they were eventually 
 taken out of the hut insensible, and their state was put 
 down to the strength of the supposed spirits. The women 
 were, of course, very ill for some days afterwards, and one 
 was nearly dying. As soon as the man who had been sent 
 by the King saw the effects of the chlorodyne he quickly 
 sent off to inform the latter, and in about two days a 
 messenger came to summon him, as well as the man who 
 had stolen the can. One morning, about eight o'clock, I 
 was sitting in front of one of my wagons talking to some of 
 my men when I saw a gathering of the Indunas at the gate 
 of" the King's kraal, I remarked that there was some 
 mischief brewing. After they had been talking for some 
 little while, I saw at once a scrimmage, and a man knocked 
 down and pounced on. Seeing me in view, the Indunas 
 sent to tell me that they had been trying the thief, and that 
 he was to be killed. The poor fellow lay on the ground for 
 a short time, for he had only been stunned. His arms had 
 been twisted right round behind his head and tied together 
 straight bolt upright over his head. As soon as lie re- 
 
MASIPULA. 
 
 479 
 
 ^covered his senses he prepared to march. Having often 
 witnessed a similar scene, nek new, from terrible experience, 
 the routine. Sohe got up of his own accord, and, without 
 being told, took the path to the place of execution, and was 
 followed by about half-a-dozeu men, who had been told 
 off to go and finish him. 
 
 This was the first man killed after the coronation of 
 Cetywayo, almost before Sir Theo. Shepstone could have 
 reached Maritzburg. But it served the fellow right, as he 
 was guilty of a great breach of trust. The Zulu is only to 
 be ruled by fear of death, or the confiscation of his entire 
 property. 
 
 The policy at present adopted by the Home Government 
 is onlv making the fine Zulu nation a race of rogues, who 
 will eventually stick at nothing. The alteration in them 
 during the last five years is something astonishing. The 
 most noticeable but unaccountable thing is the spirit of in- 
 vention — to put it mildly — that seems to have sprung up 
 suddenly amongst them. At onetime almost anything told 
 was to be believed, but, in these days, one has to be very 
 cautious in believing anything, as many of them will invent 
 ■and twist, and turn a tale to suit their own views, without 
 the slightest regard to truth. 
 
 I must not omit to mention an event of great note which 
 took place about the time of the Coronation. This was the 
 death of Masipula, the Prime Minister. He had been to a 
 meeting of the principal Indunas held at a temporary kraal 
 or encampment where Cetywayo was residing until he took 
 up his position as king. The meeting was rather a strong 
 one, I was told, as I was not at it, having received a hint 
 that my presence was not necessary, as the subject of dis- 
 cussion was only the rule of the late King Umpande. On 
 the breaking up of the meeting Masipula called on me as he 
 was passing to his kraal where he resided. After sitting 
 with me for some time in my tent, he got up to leave, and 
 turning to me, said, " G-ood-bye, child of Mr. Dunn, I have 
 finished my part and am now going to lie down — / am 
 now going to sleep — look after your own affairs — I have no 
 more a voice in matters " — meaning that he wished to retire 
 from public life, as Umpande, to whom he had been chief 
 Induna, was dead, and he now wished to end his days in 
 peace. The poor old fellow little thought, when he thus 
 
480 
 
 john dunn's notes. 
 
 spoke, that his end was so near — that the words he then 
 said to me were among his last, and that the sleep he wishecl 
 for was to be everlasting, for that same evening, as soon 
 as he got to the Umlambangwenya kraal, where he was 
 staying, on entering his hut he was suddenly taken ill, and 
 died before morning. There was, of course, much con- 
 sternation amongst the people, and, as usual, many rumours 
 afloat, one of which was, that having displeased the King, 
 something had been put into his beer. 
 
 Shortly after the killing of the chlorodyne man, one of 
 Pande's old servants was put to death, and this was the 
 opening of the ball of killing without trial which was usual 
 in CetyAvayo's reign. 
 
CHAPTER LIX. 
 
 JOHX DUXX's NOTES. 
 
 About a month after his coronation, Cetywayo gave 
 orders for all of the late King's cattle to be collected and 
 brought to him. In due course of time the cattle were re- 
 ported to be in the vicinity, and he appointed a day for the 
 first lot to be brought. It was a wonderful sight to behold 
 the continuous stream of cattle, from day to day for more 
 than a week. As soon as one lot passed, another came, 
 according with the different military kraals, the system of 
 the apportioning of these cattle also according with the 
 numbers taken in battle, which, as above stated, were dis- 
 tributed amongst the military kraals. The cattle were now 
 again distributed by the Indunas to men who became re- 
 sponsible to them, and reported to them all deaths of cattle, 
 and they in their turn again reported to the King. Con- 
 sequently, rightly speaking, these cattle were the property 
 of the State, the same as the land was, and were supposed 
 to be drawn upon for state purposes, even although con- 
 sidered to be the property of the King. But he himself 
 would not take any number from any particular kraal, 
 without first consulting the Indunas in charge of such cattle, 
 even if he wanted any for slaughter. In the same way he 
 would not part with any of the land of the country without 
 first consulting the leading men, and only with their 
 consent could he do so. I will quote an instance. Some 
 years ago, the Natal Laud and Colonization Company 
 made a proposal to me to try and secure for them 
 the title of a certain tract of land in the Zulu 
 Country. Accordingly I spoke to Cetywayo on the sub- 
 ject, although he was not King then. He seemed well 
 pleased with the tempting offer I made him, and appointed 
 a meeting with me, as also with some of the Company, to 
 meet him and his head men. Accordingly I went to 
 D' Urban and the Company selected a man to return with 
 me. On getting near the Tulwana kraal, I went on to 
 announce my arrival, and a meeting was appointed for next 
 li 
 
482 
 
 john dunn's notes. 
 
 day. On our arrival at the kraal we found a large gather- 
 ing of the headmen seated with Cetywayo. After the 
 usual greeting, Cetywayo said to me " Speak." I then 
 spoke on the subject in hand. After several of the In- 
 duuas had asked a few questions, Umnyamana spoke and 
 said, " Yes, what you say, child of Mr. Dunn, is very 
 good, but our land is our home, we don't like parting with 
 it ; besides, we are afraid of you white men. If we give 
 you a piece for more than one to live on, they will want 
 more, and so on until they get the whole, and we will have 
 to wander about as if we had no land. It is well with you 
 personally. You are living with us — you are one of us, 
 but we don't know any other white man." Cetywayo 
 turned to me, and said, " You hear ? I can say no mor3 — • 
 the Indunas have conquered me." Thus ended our land 
 scheme, all this proving that the King was ruled by the 
 voice of the Indunas in matters of cattle and land. 
 Cetywayo though not King at the time, yet had all the 
 power of the King. 
 
 The cattle came pouring in day after day. Out of each 
 lot the King selected some fancy coloured, and gave many 
 cattle away as presents. He obliged me to be with him 
 the whole of the time, and I g^ot heartily sick of sitting 
 with him and looking on. I estimated the number of 
 cattle at about one hundred thousand head. After all was 
 over he made me a present of one hundred head of young 
 stock, and the whole lot again dispersed. But this particu- 
 lar muster ended in serious disaster. It was the death- 
 blow to cattle-breeding in Zululand. " Lungsickness " 
 had been, and was very busy with many of the herds 
 •collected, and mixing them up spread the disease all over 
 the country, and judging: from the number of hides that 
 the traders carried from the country during the two 
 following years, the number of cattle must have been reduced 
 by at least a half. So that Zululand, from being one of 
 the richest, is now one of the poorest cattle countries in 
 this part of South Africa, and I believe it will never be 
 one-half as well off in cattle as in the olden days. Oxen 
 are at present very scarce, and the Zulus set a greater value 
 on an ox than a white man does. After having been with 
 the King four months from the time of my starting from 
 the Ondine, he gave his consent to my returning home,, 
 and right glad was I to do so. 
 
" WASHING THE SPEARS." 
 
 483 
 
 Things after this went on well and peacefully, owing, 
 I am sure, to nothing but my having advised Cety wayo, and 
 shown — to the intimidation of tha rival factions — that 
 he could produce a good stand of arms. Otherwise I am 
 convinced that there would have been bloodshed at the 
 first meeting of all the Zulu tribes before the arrival of 
 •Sir Theo., who established him as King, so that he owed his 
 'position to the countenance of' the English, when he was 
 not a favourite with the Natives. 
 
 All now remained quiet until he took it into his head 
 that he ought to establish his supremacy by following out 
 •an ancient custom of washing the spears of the nation in 
 the blood of some neighbouring tribe. When he conceived 
 this idea, he sent for me to write a letter to the Natal 
 Government, stating his wish to go against the Amaswazi. 
 In reply to this letter the Natal Government signified its 
 " Entire disapproval of the warlike step in contemplation." 
 
 The answer of the Xatal Government made the King 
 change his plans, although it enraged him, as I could 
 plainly see. A journey of eighty miles which I had 
 frequently to make to the King's place was no joke for 
 .me, but there was no help for it • and, as my argument 
 had weight with him, whenever he had a difficult question 
 to unravel, the Indunas always advised him to send for me, 
 consequently I had constantly to be going backwards and 
 forwards. On one of these occasions he sent for me to 
 read a letter purporting to have come from the Govern- 
 ment in Pietermaritzburg. On his handing the supposed 
 despatch to me, I was surprised to find it to be an appoint- 
 ment of a Dr. Smith and a Mr. Colenso to act for him 
 (the King) as his agents in all diplomatic affairs connected 
 with the Colonial Government. On my saying to him, 
 " This is no message — where is the other letter ?" — think- 
 ing there was some mistake, he said that it was the only 
 Tie. I then told him the purport of the document, at the 
 same time asking him who these men were that he had 
 appointed. His answer was, " I am the same as you ; I 
 don't know them — or anything written on that paper ; the 
 words are not mine." He then sent for the messengers 
 {his own, who had returned to him), and on their arriva, 
 he asked them the meaning-of what was in the letter they 
 had brought. Their answer was, " Yes, we delivered the 
 li2 
 
484 
 
 JOHN DUNN S NOTES. 
 
 King's message as it was given to ns, but on going to 
 Sobantu (the late Bishop Colenso) he advised us to make 
 the statement we did, and as we thought it was for the 
 good of our King, we did so — Sobantu further stating that 
 if the King trusted to the Inhlwana of Sonzica (meaning 
 the Little House of the Shepstone's) he would go astray,, 
 as they (the Shepstone's) had to leave the Amaxoza 
 country for having got them (the Amaxoza) into trouble 
 with the whites, and they would treat Cetywayo likewise 
 unless he appointed some white men to look after his 
 interests with the Government of Natal, proposing the 
 before-named gentlemen to be such agents." I advised 
 Cetywayo at once to rectify the mistake, whic^ he agreec. 
 to, and sent off messengers to the Government. Not long 
 after the return of the messengers from Natal, Mr. Colenso 
 came into Zululand to get an explanation from Cetywayo, 
 and to claim certain expenses whicli he thought himself 
 entitled to in consequence of the appointment. On arriving 
 at the Amahlabatine he took up his quarters with Mr. 
 Mullins, a trader, and one morning he came over to my 
 camp and explained his mission to me, requesting me to 
 assist in his recovering frcm Cetywayo the sum of five 
 hundred pounds, a sum he said he felt he was entitled to.. 
 I, knowing the circumstances, tried to persuade him that 
 he was wrong, and that there was small probability of his 
 getting redress, at the same time declining to intercede for 
 him. At a meeting between himself and Cetywayo I was 
 present, and after going into particulars, Cetywayo spoke 
 out very straightforwardly, saying that although he 
 looked upon Sobantu (Bishop Colenso) as a friend and a 
 father, he did not wish him or his to interfere between 
 him and the Government. 
 
 Not long after this the King confided to me that he had 
 been told not to put his trust in me, as I had been offered 
 a box full of money, and all the land along the coast, if I 
 would kill him, at the same time saying "I tell you 
 because I don't believe this, but I wont tell you who says 
 this. It is, however, one of your own race. I think this 
 is said against you frcm jealousy." I tried hard to get 
 him to reveal who had been trying to make this mischief 
 between him and me, but he would not divulge the secret- 
 
CHAPTER LX. 
 
 JOHN DUXX'S XOTES. 
 
 _About this time a fight took place between two sections 
 of the Undini kraal, the Tulwana and Ngobamakosi, two 
 separate regiments, but located in the same kraal. This 
 was at the Umkosi, or Meeting of the Feast of First 
 Fruits. I was sitting with the Kiug ir the Xodwengo 
 kraal, where he was holding state, and several regiments 
 had been going through the prescribed ceremonies, when, 
 on looking towards the Ulundi kraal (which was about a 
 mile and a half away) to see if the regiments mentioned 
 were coming out, I saw that some scrimmage was going 
 on, and said so to Cetywayo, but he asked "Between 
 who ? They all belong to the same kraal." But I still 
 persisted, and said that although it was so, yet there was 
 something wrong. Just; at that moment we could 
 distinctly see that one body was charging another right 
 -through my camp, which was opposite the Ulundi kraal. 
 The King then said I was right, and sent olf some men to 
 see what was wrong. They were not away long before 
 they returned stating that there was a severe fight 
 between the Tulwana and Ngobamakosi regiments, and 
 that they (the messengers) could not approach within a 
 certain distance for fear of being killed, as the latter 
 regiment gave no quarter to a man with a ring on. (For 
 the information of such of my readers as may not be 
 acquainted with the peculiarities of this people, I may say 
 that at a certain mature age the men are allowed to 
 encircle their heads Avith a ring which is worked on to a 
 rim of hair left on the clean shaved head, and composed 
 of cow-dung, ungiane — a sticky exudation from the 
 Mimosa and other trees — grease, &c. This ring is then 
 highly polishedj Fresh messengers were sent by the 
 King to stop fighting, but without effect, and so it went 
 on until nightfall, and as I saw no chance of the fight 
 .abating I went back to my camp, telling my men to 
 1:3 ep close to me, knowing that they would not be 
 
486 
 
 john dunn's notes. 
 
 molested so long as it was known that they were in my 
 personal charge. On onr way, several parties of Ngobama- 
 kosi, who were lying in ambush to cut oft' any of the Tulwana 
 who might be returning, sprung up and ran close up to my 
 party with assegai drawn, but as soon as I called out, 
 saying it was me, they drew back. 
 
 On getting back to my camp I found a sanguinary mess.. 
 On lighting up my tent I found that one poor fellow must 
 have run for refuge there and been stabbed in the tent, 
 as there was a squirt of blood right round the canvas,, 
 over the table, and covering a Worcester Sauce bottle and 
 salt cellar all over. On going to my sleeping tent I also 
 found the front of it all covered with blood, and my servants 
 told me that one man had been killed there, whom they had 
 dragged outside, and there he lay about three yards from 
 my wagon. Another was lying against the fence where 
 my cook had his kitchen. This poor fellow was not dead, 
 but unconscious, and moaning frightfully. I tried to get 
 him to drink some water, and tried to make him swallow- 
 some spirits, but he was too far gone, and died during the 
 course of the night. All round the cattle kraal the dead 
 and wounded were lying, and everything was covered with 
 blood, the hottest of the fight having taken place there. Feeling 
 rather hungry after the long day, and having performed 
 my ablutions, I went to my dining tent expecting to find 
 the table laid as usual, but was surprised to find no 
 preparations. On calling to my cook and asking for an 
 explanation, the fellow stared at me and said, " Where am 
 I to put your food." I told him, where it was always put.. 
 " What," said he, ' with all this blood ?" and he pointed 
 to the tent and table. But I told him to get some water 
 and wash the table, a job he did not at all like, for although 
 Zulus do not mind shedding blood, and ripping a man up 
 in battle, they have, in their cooler moments, a great dread 
 of touching a dead body, or the blood of men. After I 
 had finished dinner ana the servant had cleared the table, 
 he said, leaving the tent " You white men are monstrous,. 
 I you eat your food where blood has been spilt, as if it was 
 water." I gave him a good night-cap and told him not to 
 mind, as neither he nor I would be the worse for it. I 
 turned in after taking a walk round, and doing what I could, 
 for all the poor fellows who were lying near wounded, but- 
 
MOURNFUL SCENES. 
 
 487 
 
 could not get much sleep owing to the groans of the 
 wounded, swelled by the cries of friends and relatives call- 
 ing out to find some missing one the whole night long 
 Early the next morning Dr. Oftebro, and the Rev. Mr. 
 Gunderson, Norwegian Missionaries, came to my camp. \y 
 and we took a walk round to see if we could do any good 
 in relieving the wounded. The doctor had a lot of ban- 
 dages, &c. Many a mournful family, sitting in groups 
 did we meet with, and sympathetically heard them moaning 
 over some dead or badly wounded relative. Others again 
 were carrying some of the dead to be buried. One poor 
 old man we saw, with his two daughters, sitting over the 
 corpse of his only son. He seemed quite stupefied with 
 grief, and sadly said to me " He was my only one." We 
 met with several pools of blool from where the victims 
 had either got up and gone away, or had been carried off, 
 by their relatives. One poor girl had only just arrived the 
 same day, having brought food from home for her two 
 brothers, but since the fight she had heard nothing of 
 them. She went in search of them and found them lving" 
 side by side, both killed, which so much affected her that 
 she gave one heart-rending, piercing shriek, and dropped 
 down dead by their side. 
 
 We estimated the killed on both sides to amount to 
 between sixty and seventy. To give an example of the 
 absurd difference of opinion between some people as to the 
 number of killed, I was riding with the present Lord 
 Wolseley, after the battle, over the field of Ulundi, which 
 was near where the fight above described took place, and 
 talking about the probable number of killed, when I heard 
 a man say to the then Sir Garnet that there were more killed 
 in the fight between the two Zulu regiments than by the 
 troops at Ulundi, and on Sir Garnet asking him what 
 number, he said he thought seven and eight hundred. I 
 have said that my estimate was between sixty and seventy. 
 
 A great many of the wounded were carried to Mr. 
 Gundersen's Mission Station^ and were taken care of by ^ 
 Dr. Oftebro, and he must have had a very trying time of 
 it. With kind attention we brought many round, but some 
 died. I also took charge of several of the wounded who 
 made the fence of my cattle kraal their home for the time, 
 and I did my best for them. A great many of them were 
 
488 
 
 JOHN DUNX S NOTES. 
 
 buried about two hundred yards from my camp, in gullies 
 and ant bear holes, and the neighbourhood being infested 
 with wolves, they made a hideous howling and great noise 
 over some unfortunates, whilst, strange to say, others were 
 untouched. This particularly struck me one morning 
 when I went to the scene of the conflict. One body lay 
 apparently quite exposed, but whilst the wolves had not 
 touched it, on the other hand they had disinterred a man 
 who had been very securely buried, having a heap of stones 
 over his grave. 
 
 The scent getting rather high around my camp, I was 
 glad of an excuse of returning home, but before doing so 
 I was fortunate enough to be the means of saving the life of 
 
 l/ lTsidcweledcwele, Colonel or Commander of the Ngobama- 
 kosi Regiment. After this I went over to the Indaba- 
 
 , kaombi Kraal, where the King was staying, as he — deterred 
 by superstition from passing over the ground where so 
 many had been killed — could not come to me. On my 
 entering his hut he said " Have you heard what happened 
 last night ? The Baboon was here again, and left evidences 
 of its presence in the enclosure." This referred to a belief 
 that Usidcweledcwele made use of a Baboon which he had 
 power over, to send around his charms of witchcraft, and 
 that he had constantly sent this animal at night to lay his 
 charms at the door of the King's hut, in order that he 
 might be continually in favour. So if any dog got into 
 the enclosure about the huts of the King, and left its traces, 
 the matter was laid to the charge of the said Baboon ; a 
 rather knowing excuse for the gate keepers to get out of 
 a scrape, and out of clearing up any impurity, as such dirty 
 work was the duty of certain medicine doctors. Well, to 
 continue with Cetywayo's account, he said to me, " He 
 does not do this to injure me, but to turn my heart so that 
 I may not get angry with him. Usidcweledcwele has 
 sent his isilwana (wild beast) as he was afraid I might 
 kill him after what took the otber day," meaning; the fight 
 between the regiment of the Colonel in question and the 
 Tulwana. After a long talk with him, in which I tried to 
 persuade him not to listen to what was said against 
 the slandered Colonel, as I knew he was one of his staun- 
 chest adherents, and that what was said against him was only 
 from jealousy, I went out, and whilst walking amongst 
 
SAVING A COLONEL. 
 
 489 
 
 the different groups of headmen, I heard a conversation 
 between three of the Indanas, who were sitting apart, 
 which was to the effect that a message was to be sent to 
 the Colonel to saj that the King wished him to return, 
 and nothing further would be thought of the fight, and 
 that as soon as the messenger returned and reported that 
 he was on the way, men were to be sent to way-lay 
 and kill him. To explain the cause of ill-feeling on this 
 occasion, I must go back to the fight ; which was supposed 
 to have been caused by the Colonel's assumption of 
 authority in ordering his regiment to break through the 
 Tulwana one, on which Uhamu went straight home in 
 high displeasure, and on being sent for, refused to return 
 until Colonel Usidcweledcwele had been brought to 
 task, and as the King had refused to have him 
 Tolled, this tale of the Baboon had been trumped up in 
 hopes of inducing Cetywayo to comply with their wishes. 
 There was also a deadly hatred against the Colonel, on 
 account of his being so great a favourite with the King, 
 who persisted in shielding him. therefore the antagonistic 
 party determined to act for themselves, and have him 
 quickly put out of the way. On hearing this conversation, 
 X at once started back to my camp, and sent one of my 
 men off to the Colonel, to warn him not to take any notice 
 of any message he received which recalled him, any such 
 message would be a deluding one. This course saved his 
 life, for sure enough a day or two afterwards, messengers 
 were sent to recall him in the King's name, but having 
 been put on his guard by me he made some excuse for not 
 going. This diabolical plan I managed to frustrate, 
 before going home, without anyone but the intended 
 victim and my messenger knowing auy thing about it. 
 
CHAPTER LXI. 
 
 john dunn's notes. 
 
 From this time the tone of Cetywayo towards the English 
 Government began to change, and I could see from the 
 constant secret meetings which took place, that his 
 intention was to make war somewhere, but I did not for a 
 moment believe it was his intention to fight against the 
 English, although I could see that he was greatly 
 exasperated at the tone of the Government, assuming 
 authority over him that he did not think they had a 
 right to. 
 
 About this time I could perceive that there was a deter- 
 mination on the part of the English Government to make 
 war with the Zulus, and to try and avert the evil, I wrote 
 to the " Aborigines Protection Society " in England, 
 pointing out the unfairness of favouring the Boers against 
 the Zulus, and saying that otherwise the Zulus were 
 well disposed towards the English. I was, however,, 
 persuaded not to send the letter. 
 
 In the earlier pages of this book I mentioned an incident 
 connected with the illness of my son and the sacrcific of 
 an ox. the termination of which served to strengthen the 
 Zulus in their superstitions belief. I think it was in 1877 
 that a severe drought occurred, which lasted some months, 
 and, after all the rain doctors had expended all their 
 charms and devices, some of the Zulus persuaded the King 
 to resort to the old custom of offering a sacrifice of oxen 
 at the graves of the departed Kings. To this he at first 
 demurred, being rather stingy with his cattle. At last 
 he agreed, and a number of oxen — I think ten — were 
 collected, and the principal old Indunas went with 
 about two thousand men with these oxen to Um'Pande's 
 grave, and from there to the graves of ancient Kings. 
 Strange to say, they had not been gone an hour when, 
 although there had been no sign of rain, the sky became 
 overcast with heavy clouds, and as soon as they reached 
 Um'Pande's grave and solemnly commenced the deep and 
 
MATTERS GETTING SERIOUS. 
 
 491 
 
 impressive National Chant, the rain began to descend, and : . 
 continued for about a week. I was so much surprised at 
 this that I wrote a letter to the Colonist stating the facts 
 of the case, and saying that the thing would probably be 
 stigmatised as heathenish superstition, but that if a 
 congregation of whites had prayed in Church for rain, and 
 it had descended from God in answer to their prayers, the 
 matter would have been alluded to as an additional 
 illustration of the wonderful efficacy of prayer. If this 
 holds good with one, why not with the other ? They are 
 both creatures of a Great Creator. 
 
 Matters now began to assume a very serious aspect, and. 
 not long after I arrived at my home — which, as I have 
 said, was more than eighty miles from where the King 
 resided — he again sent for me. Messengers were now 
 constantly passing between Cetywayo and the Govern- 
 ment, and reports began to be rife that a move was being 
 made by the troops in Natal towards the borders. On my 
 arrival at Maizekanye (meaning " Let it come — i.e., the 
 enemy — all at once — if it is determined on coming ") 
 where the King was, I found that none of the head. 
 Indunas were there. After being with him a little while, 
 and writing two letters — I think to the Natal Government 
 — he wished me to write a letter conveying rather an 
 angry message. This I refused to do, saying that I now 
 plainly saw that it was his intention to quarrel with the 
 English. I would not have anything more to do with his 
 messages until Umnyamana and all the principal Indunas, 
 including Uhamu, had come, as, in the event of an open 
 rupture with the English, they would try to throw the 
 blame on my shoulders. I further said tnat I did not 
 believe he would have gone so far in sending word to the 
 Governor with only Sirayo and Rabanina to advise him,, 
 as he knew they were not recognised as Indunas of any 
 position. After bandying a few worHs with me, he 
 acknowledged that I was right, and next day he sent off 
 to summon Umnyamana and the others. I could now see 
 he was in earnest, and intended to fight, as I noticed a 
 marked change in him, and I wrote to that effect to the 
 Governor of Natal. His manner towards me became also 
 quite changed, and he sent to me one morning saying 
 that as we two had the country to look after, and that 
 
JOHN DUNN S NOTES. 
 
 there were now so many reports, I had better leave and go 
 home, and watch what was going on in the lower part of 
 the country, and report everything to him, and he would 
 likewise report to me. This I could see was only an 
 excuse to get me out of the way. 1 sent back word to 
 him to say that I would go as soon as the Iudunas 
 ITmnyamana. Uhamu, Sibepu, and others had arrived, as I 
 wished to talk to them first and explain to them the 
 course I had taken. He did not say anything, but I could 
 perceive he did not like my remaining, I, however, waited 
 until the Indunas arrived, and I explained to them what 
 had taken place, and that I refused to go further with 
 Cetywayo in sending messages to the G-overnment with 
 only Sirayo and Rabanina as his advisers, as I could 
 plainly see they were leading him astray. A day or two 
 after this, after a meeting of all the headmen, about dusk 
 one of the King's servants came to me and warned me to 
 fly, as Sirayo and Rabanina had advised that I should be 
 killed, as I would report everything they said now that it 
 was decided to fight with the English. This I suspected 
 was only a ruse to try and frighten me away. I, 
 however, that night slept with my double-barrelled gun close 
 beside me, determined, if mischief was really their 
 intention, not to fly, but settle a couple before they 
 killed me. However, all passed quietly off that night. 
 Next morning I made up my mind to go to Cetywayo 
 and tell him I knew everything that had been said 
 the day before, and that if he thought fit to kill me just 
 for giving him good advice, that 1 was not the only white 
 man on earth, and that he would find out his mistake 
 before he had finished. I said that my only reason for 
 staying was my desire to explain everything to Umnya- 
 mana and the Indunas, but having done that, I was now 
 ready to leave. I never in my life saw a man look so 
 ashamed of himself. He would not look at me, but bent 
 on one side, pretending to take snuff. After remaining 
 silent for some time, he spoke in a very subdued voice. 
 " Yes," he said, " you are right ; the people look on you 
 as a spy, and don't like your being here, this is why I 
 wanted you to leave, but now you have spoken I want 
 y r ou to remain." This I refused to do, saying, " No, now I 
 ■can go, as I know that no one can blame me if anything 
 
WAR MEASURES. 
 
 493 
 
 goes wrong between you and the English." All this time 
 he was getting his soldiers up and marshalling them. On 
 the day after I had spoken to him he had two regiments : 
 up before him in order to talk war, and lay wagers, and 
 challenge each other, as is their custom when preparing 
 for Avar. I had been sitting on a mound a short distance 
 off looking on, and being disgusted with the turn affairs 
 were now taking, I returned to camp and told my people 
 to prepare, as I intended to start for home next day. From 
 my camp I could see the gathering, which broke up in an 
 unusual manner, as the soldiers shouted in an excited way, 
 and a great number left their usual course and came in the 
 direction of my camp. My people began to get ve~y 
 uneasy, but I told them not to be alarmed but to remain 
 sitting quietly. The soldiers of the gathering came 
 swarming past, and several went right through my tents.. 
 On my speaking to them they shouted out, That is past 
 (meaning my authority) : a white man is nothing now in 
 this country ; we will stab him with an assegai and 
 disembowel him." I had hard work to keep my temper, 
 but several of their captains, who had come to me for a 
 drink of water, and were sitting beside me, persuaded me 
 to keep quiet. That same evening I went to bid Cety- 
 wayo farewell. He tried hard to persuade me to remain, 
 saving, " I am not a child ; I see the English wish to 
 have my country ; but if they come in 1 will fight." I 
 said, " Yes, I see, it is no use talking to you any more ;. 
 your soldiers are leading you to a precipice over which 
 you will go headlong — they will turn back, and you will 
 be pushed over yourself." This forecast turned out to be 
 too true, as he was captured almost alone. Several Indunas 
 and many of the soldiers were not for war, as I understood 
 from several private conversations with them. On one 
 occasion Umyamana said to me, " What are you troubling 
 yourself for any more ? Cetywavo will not listen to what 
 we say — leave him alone and he will see what he will see."* 
 In a conversation I had with Uhamu, he made use of 
 words to the same effect. 
 
CHAPTER LXII. 
 
 john dunn's notes. 
 
 On reaching my home, I sent several messengers to 
 Cetywayo in succession, trying to persuade him to 
 relinquish the idea of fighting with the English, but with- 
 out effect. In the meantime troops were being massed in 
 Natal, and were on their way to the border, and eventually 
 I received a message from Cety wayo, and also, at the same 
 time, a letter from the Secretary for Native Affairs, in 
 answer to a letter of mine begging him to inform me 
 whether it was the intention of the Government to make 
 war, as, in such an event, I should wish to quit the 
 country or remain neutral. The answer was that a message 
 had been sent to Cety wayo telling him to send some of his 
 headmen to meet certain officials despatched by His 
 Excellency to convey him the terms on which peace could 
 be maintained, and requesting me to be present at the 
 meeting. The message from Cetywayo was to the same 
 effect, saying that the Indunas were coming, and re- 
 questing me to go with them. Accordingly a day was 
 fixed and a meeting was held, as we all now know, at 
 Tugela Drift, overlooked by what was afterwards named 
 Fort Pearson, after Colonel Pearson of the Lower Column 
 at Inyezane, &c, and the famous Ultimatum was read 
 to the Indunas, and then handed to them to convey to 
 Cetywayo. They returned with me and slept at my lower 
 station, Emangete, four miles or so from Tugela Drift 
 (Ford). They tried to persuade me to accompany them 
 back to Cetywayo in order that I might read the Ulti- 
 matum to him. Seeing that matters were coming to a 
 crisis, I refused their request. They then left the written 
 Ultimatum with me, and 1 have it now in my possession. 
 
CHAPTER LXIII. 
 
 john dunn's notes. 
 
 Although the Ultimatum never reached Cetywayo, but 
 ^svas left at my place at Emangete — about four miles from 
 the Tugela — I nevertheless despatched one of my own men 
 to the Zulu King, conveying through him the full purport 
 of the document, as I felt convinced that his own messen- 
 gers would not tell him one-half of it. My men arrived 
 some days before the King's own messengers reached him, 
 and brought back a message from Cetywayo, complaining 
 of the short time given to collect the cattle demanded, and 
 at the same time sent another message to me, saying that 
 if it came to fighting I was to stand o.j one side. I wrote 
 a letter to the Natal Government stating the King's com- 
 plaint as to the shortness of the time given to collect the 
 cattle, and received for reply that the word of the Govern- 
 ment, as already given, could not be altered, and 
 saying that unless the prisoners and cattle were 
 given up within the time specified Her Majesty's troops 
 would advance, but, in consideration of the disposition 
 expressed to comply with the demands of the Government, 
 the troops would be halted at convenient posts within the 
 Zulu border, and would await the expiration of the term of 
 thirty days, without in the meantime taking any hostile 
 action, unless it was provoked by the Zulus. 
 
 About the time of the above date, Lord Chelmsford and 
 Commodore Sullivan came up to the Tugela, and so I 
 crossed that river and requested an interview with them, 
 which was granted. 
 
 In course of the conversation Lord Chelmsford asked me 
 what course — in the present aspect of affairs — I intended 
 to take ? I told him that my intention was to remain 
 neutral. To this he answered, " I cannot allow you to do 
 that. You must either take one side or the other — join 
 us, or take- the consequences." I told him that I had no 
 quarrel with the Zulus, and did not like taking up arms 
 against them, but begged him to advise me what to do. 
 
496 
 
 john dunn's notes. 
 
 After considering for a little while, be said, " Take my 
 advice, Mr. Dunn, and cross over to this side of the river 
 (the southern boundary of Zululand) with all your people, 
 and bring as many more with you as you can. We will 
 give you room to locate them, and will feed them free of 
 expense to you ; and after the war is over I promise to see you 
 reinstated in your possessions." For this advice I 
 thanked him, and promised to act on it. Up to this time 
 I did not believe that matters would culminate in war, but 
 now I could see that it was not to be avoided. 
 
 Lord Chelmsford said he was afraid that he would not 
 get the Zulus to fight. But, from my experience, I knew 
 that if the fighting die was once cast, Cetywayo would 
 concentrate his forces, and risking everything on one 
 great battle, fall upon the column that he thought would 
 give him most trouble, so I advised Lord Chelmsford to 
 divide his forces into two strong columns, so that either 
 would be strong enough to cope with the whole of the 
 Zulu army. Lord Chelmsford laughed at this idea, and 
 said, " The only thing I am afraid of is that I won't get 
 Cetywayo to fight." I said, " Well, my lord, supposing 
 you get to his kraal, and he won't fight, what will you 
 do ?" His answer was, " I must drive him into a corner, 
 and make him fight." 
 
 I asked the above question, as I had begged Cetywayo 
 not to fight, even if the English army invaded his kraal. 
 
 I felt sure that no real grounds for war — beyond an 
 unreasonable dread on th part of the public of the Zulus — 
 existed, hence my advice to Cetywayo, 
 
 1 must not forget to mention that, before meeting Lord 
 Chelmsford, I had written to the Natal Goverment, 
 impressing upon them the imperative necessity of sending 
 two very strong columns into Zululand if war was once 
 entered on, as I felt sure Cetywayo would try to take them in 
 succession, and I also knew that if the Zulus were 
 properly met at the start, and were defeated, the war 
 would very soon be over. But Sir Bartle Frere and Lord 
 Chelmsford much underrated the Zulus, and hence the 
 disaster at Isandhlwane and the prolonged war. Whereas,, 
 as I say, if the Zulus had been properly met at first, the 
 war w r ould have been over in tw r o months, and the best of 
 terms made. 
 
MOTESTG A. TRIBE. 
 
 497 
 
 My people all this time were in a great state of 
 perplexity, as they were at a loss as to mj intentions, for 
 I had not divulged them to anyone beyond leading my 
 people to believe that I was " going to take them coast- 
 wards out of the way. But on the 30th of December, 
 1878, I gave notice to all my people at the Ungoye (about 
 35 miles from the Tugela River) to collect bag and 
 baggage and join me, the time being opportune, as most of 
 Celywayo's men — who might have interfered with mine — 
 had gone up to the King's kraal to attend the Feast of 
 First Fruits. My people, with their cattle, got down safely 
 the next morning to Emangete, from which place I went on 
 to the Tugela. The latter river was full, and the scene can 
 be imagined. The river and its banks were crowded with 
 thousands of natives and cattle. I had three thousand 
 head of my own — and the lowing, or rather bellowing, 
 of the cows and calves, the bleating of sheep, goats, 
 &c, the crying of babies, blended with the shoutings of 
 women, made a perfect babel of confusion. However, 
 with the kind assistance of the Xaval Brigade, I managed 
 to get all safely across the river in two days, but the dis- 
 comfort of the first night on the Xatal side I shall never 
 forget. Before I could get shelter for my family, a cold 
 rain set in, and so everything was wet and miserable, and 
 ic was only owing to the perseverance of my cooks that 
 we got anything to eat ; my people meanwhile shifting 
 for themselves amongst the bushes, &c. When my people 
 arrived on the Xatal side of the river they were deprived 
 of all the guns they had, which were mine, and which 
 were given to the Xatiye Police for the defence of the 
 border. For this loss I was never compensated. 
 
 The next day being fine was passed in drying and 
 getting ready to start, which was effected during the course 
 of the day, my people and cattle going on to a site selected 
 for my location near the Border Agency. The next day I 
 followed with my family. My natives, I must say, before 
 leaving the river were very much disheartened on seeing 
 what they thought was the whole force of whites, 
 and I had hard work to dissuade many of them from going 
 back to Zululand, and throwiug in their lot with the Zulus. 
 However, the arrival of more troops gave them fresh confi- 
 dence. 
 1 K 
 
498 
 
 john dunn's notes. 
 
 The spot I was located on turned out to be a very un- 
 healthy one for both people and cattle. Hardly a day 
 passed without some deaths occurring among my people, 
 and during the time I was there I lost three hundred of 
 my catile, but I was fortunate enough to sell a consider- 
 able number to the Government at a very good price. 
 
 Lord Chelmsford broke his promise as to feeding my 
 people, and I had to do so myself at a very heavy expense, 
 having to kill cattle for them and supply them with 
 mealies, which were only to be had in any quantity from 
 the Government, who parted with them as a favour and at 
 a high price. Fortunately I had wagons and oxen at my 
 disposal, and I could send to D' Urban for supplies, other- 
 wise the expense of transport, which was, at that time, 
 very high, would have been very heavy. While I was 
 staying at this place, and shortly after the Isandhlwane 
 disaster had happened, an amusing false alarm occurred. 
 One evening I had just finished my dinner when I heard 
 a cannonading going on at the Lower Tugela Drift, where 
 the troops were stationed. I was then living about three 
 hundred yards from the Border Agency Station. I jumped 
 up and at once went over there, knowing that, the river 
 being in flood, if there was an attack by Zulus at all, and 
 it must be on the further bank of the stream, at Fort 
 Tenedos, where the Naval Brigade was stationed, as I felt 
 sure the Zulus would not cross the river in the dark. On 
 reaching the hut of the Border Agent, I found his horse, 
 ready saddled, standing outside, and on entering his hut I 
 found him fumbling among some things. He was ready 
 booted and spurred. On my asking him what he was 
 doing, he said — handing me a pistol — " Good God ! where 
 is your horse ! let's be off to a place of safety, don't you 
 hear ? the Zulus must be across." I said, " What ? and 
 leave my people to look after themselves ? No, I won't do 
 that ; where are my guns that you took from my people ? 
 let me have them back, I will not leave." I then told a 
 couple of men, who were with me, to shout out the call of 
 my tribe, and within ten minutes I had all my men with 
 me eagerly calling out to be armed. I asked the Border 
 Agent to give me out the arms, at the same time asking 
 him if he had sent out in the direction of the firing 
 to see what was wrong ? He said he had not 
 
FALSE ALARM. 
 
 499 
 
 done so. He then went with me, and opened a 
 place he called his magazine, where my guns were 
 supposed to be, I, in the meantime, having sent some of 
 my own men to run and ascertain the cause of alarm. On 
 his opening th« " magazine " only about a dozen guns were 
 there, and none of those mine. He only then recollected 
 that my guns had been given to the Xative Police. Any- 
 one in my (then) position can imagine my feelings, and I 
 could not help making use of a strong expression, saying, 
 u Here ar^ my men, who really could be of some service, 
 hemmed in like a lot of old women with nothing to defend 
 themselves or families with." Whilst I was looking over 
 the guns to see if I could select a serviceable one, the 
 Border Agent said to me, " Dunn, will you take charge ? 
 I am off to give the alarm." The firing, by this time, had 
 ceased, and away he went. His own police were very 
 much disgusted with his leaving them without any orders. 
 He had not been away half-a-hour when my men, whom I 
 sent to learn the cause of alarm, returned, saying that the 
 affair was a false alarm which had occurred on the further 
 side of the river. 
 
 I at once sent off a man to Mr. Jackson, the Magistrate 
 at Stanger (to where the Border Agent had gone) with a 
 short note stating that the alarm was a false one, and that 
 there was no danger at all. The troubles of the Border 
 Agent, however, were not over. In taking a short cut to 
 get into the mam road, he had to go through a cane field. 
 The night was very dark and a drizzling rain was falling. 
 J nst as he got on to a slippery siding, he heard a number 
 of Coolies, who had taken the alarm, jabbering, shouting 
 and making night hideous, and having Zulu on the brain 
 himself, he turned his horse to fly, when the animal lost 
 his footing, and great was the fall. In the scrimmage up 
 he lost his spurs, and was altogether in a deplorable plight, 
 scared, covered with mud, wet, and miserable. He told 
 me the tale himself, acknowledging that he was in a great 
 fright, as, he said, he was no fighting man, and had a great 
 dread of having an assegai sticking in him. The man I 
 sent reached Stanger, and found that the alarm had already 
 been given, and all the people about were going into 
 laager. My note, however, reassured them and they 
 returned to their homes next morning. 
 1k2 
 
500 
 
 john dunn's notes. 
 
 At daylight en the ensuing day it was found that the 
 only damage done by the cannonading of the Marines was- 
 a dead horse and a tattered bag of mealies, both of which 
 were riddled with bullets. Thus ended this farce. 
 
 The crossing of the tioops into Zululand, and the march 
 to Etshowe, I will leave to others to describe, but after 
 Isandhlwane, the Colony was in a constant state of alarm.. 
 
CHAPTER LXIV. 
 
 john dunn's notes. 
 
 'Some time after the happening of the events, as above 
 described, when I was on my way back from D' Urban, and 
 when I was at the Umhlali Hotel, I received a note from 
 -the late Mr. Reynolds, saying that Lord Chelmsford was at 
 his place, and would very much like to see me. So the 
 next morning, about nine o'clock, I started in compliance 
 with his wishes, but met the General — who had also 
 -started to see me — on the road. He got off his horse and 
 asked me to allow him to get into my trap, while my 
 groom, who was with me, could ride his horse, as he 
 wanted to have some private conversation with me. I 
 then turned back and drove him part of his way on his 
 journey. We had a long conversation, the purport of 
 which was that he had been greatly misled by people who 
 knew nothing of Zululand or the Zulus, and that he would 
 "be glad if I would give him my advice and assistance. I 
 promised to raise a body of one hundred and fifty of my 
 own men to act as scouts and hand them over to the officers 
 in command of the Forces afrthe Tugela, which I did as soon 
 as I got back to where I was staying. These men that I 
 raised were attached to Major Barrow's Horse, and did 
 good service. 
 
 The force at the Etshowe was now entirely cut off, and 
 no communication could be had with them, and I was again 
 asked for assistance, and high reward offered if I could get 
 .anyone I could depend on to run despatches to the besieged. 
 This I succeeded in doing, as I started two men at dark, 
 who went right through during the night, reaching Etshowe 
 at daybreak. The first time they met with no adventure, 
 but the second time they walked right in amongst a lot of 
 Zulus, who were on a watch. They were chased, and 
 several shots fired at them, but, the night being dark, they 
 escaped. On the last occasion, however, they were again 
 chased, and one of them — the one who had the despatches 
 — was killed. Lord Chelmsford promised that these 
 
502 
 
 john dunn's notes. 
 
 messengers should be rewarded, and the relatives of the 
 man who had lost his life compensated. But nothing came 
 of it, beyond what I paid myself and a couple of sovereigns 
 given by the Rev. Robertson. So much for the word of 
 anyone representing the authority of a military Govern- 
 ment. In the first place, I had to pay for all the food I got 
 from the Government at a much higher rate than I could 
 have bought it for privately, and this supply, which was 
 granted as a great favour, was so insufficient that I had to 
 keep on killing cattle for my people. In the second place 
 my despatch-runners, one of whom, as I have said, was 
 killed, got no reward ; and in the third place I had, to suit 
 political purposes, been appointed a Chief, and after all was 
 over, was quietly told to resume my old position, which 
 was simply an impossibility. 
 
 Some little while after I had supplied my men to act as 
 scouts, the detachment entrenched at Etshowe under 
 Colonel Pearson proclaimed that they were running short 
 of provisions, and could not hold out a certain time, so, as 
 we know, a relief column was organised under Lord Chelms- 
 ford himself. He asked me to put down in writing what J 
 thought the duty of tho scouts to be. This I did, and sent 
 him the writing, in reply to which I received the follow- 
 ing letter : — 
 
 "Lower Tugela, 25th March, 1879. 
 
 "Dear Mr. Dunn,— 
 
 " I am much obliged to you for your suggestions regard- 
 ing the employment of your men as scouts, which will be 
 carried out. 
 
 I think it will be very advantageous if you yourself 
 were to accompany me as far as the Inyezani River. I 
 would not ask you to go further. Your presence with me 
 would ensure the efficient scouting of your men, and I feel 
 sure that I should myself derive much assistance from your 
 experience of Zulu warfare and from your knowledge of 
 the country passed through. 
 
 " I quite understand that you do not feel justified in 
 running the risk of depriving those who look to you 
 for support of your helping hand, but I do not think what 
 
LORD CHELMSFORD. 
 
 503 
 
 I ask you to do entails any particular risk. Awaiting 
 jour reply, 
 
 " I remain, 
 
 " Faithfully yours, 
 
 " (Signed) Chelmsford." 
 
 " I should not of course ask you to do any work with 
 the scouts, but simply to accompany me as an adviser." 
 
 "C." 
 
 " I shall probably start the day after to-morrow." 
 
 Lord Chelmsford backed up the foregoing letter by 
 sending one of his staff to induce me to comply. How- 
 ever, I replied to neither letter or message, but rode over 
 next morning and had an interview with the General. 
 After a loug talk, during which I explained to him my 
 reason for not wishing to join against the Zulus, he said, 
 " Well, Mr. Dunn, I feel sure you can be of much service 
 to me, which, if you will render, you will receive 
 the thanks of Her Majesty's Government, to say nothing 
 of my own personally, but if you do not, you know what 
 will be thought of you for witholding the assistance 
 you can give, and you can expect nothing after the war 
 is over." I then asked him to allow me until next 
 morning to consider, which he did. On reaching home 
 I began to think earnestly of the situation. I could see 
 that I could be of service in pointing out the means of 
 averting another disaster, and besides, I knew that in the 
 fighting between the Boers and the English at the Bay, 
 (D' Urban) my father had suffered by remaining neutral, so 
 I made up my mind to go with Lord Chelmsford to the 
 relief of the Etshowe garrison. The next morning I rode 
 over and conveyed my decision to the General, at which he 
 was very much pleased. 
 
 A few days afterwards a start was made, and at the end 
 of the fourth day we had done a distance of about eighteen 
 miles and I selected a good position for the Ginginhlovu 
 camp, as I felt sore there was a strong force of Zulus in 
 the neighbourhood, and I did not like the idea of being 
 caught on the line of march with men of whom I knew 
 nothing — martially or otherwise. Shortly after Ave formed 
 
504 
 
 JOHN DUNN S NOTES. 
 
 laager at Ginginhlovu a heavy thunder-shower fell, which 
 drenched everything. As soon as it was over Lord 
 Chelmsford asked me to go out with him to reconnoitre. 
 This we did, hut found the Inyezani river so full from 
 the heavy rains that we could not cross. On our way back 
 to camp I saw several small columns of smoke rising here 
 and there in the vicinity, and I was at once conxinced 
 that they arose from the Zulu camp, and told Lord 
 Chelmsford so, and advised that mounted men should be 
 sent next morning to draw them on to an attack before 
 we broke camp for a forward march. This he agreed to. 
 On our return to camp we found everything in a pretty 
 mess of slush and mud in general. Tents there were 
 none, and so we had to pick out the driest spots under the 
 wagons, the General doing the same as the others. There 
 was no distinction, and so no grumbling, and we were all 
 most thankful for something to eat. 
 
 The next morning, about daybreak, there was a call to 
 arms, and shouts of " There they are ! " and, sure enough, 
 on my getting up on to a wagon, I could see dense masses 
 of Zulus coming down on to us, and trying — with their 
 usual tactics — to encircle us. When they came to with- 
 in about fifteen hundred yards the order was given to fire. 
 I got on a buck wagon — i.e., a wagon without a tent — with 
 my rifle. This was an ammunition wagon. I reserved 
 my fire until the Zulus got within three hundred yards, 
 and when I was picking off my men at that range, I 
 noticed that the bullets of the volleys fired by the soldiers 
 were striking the ground a long way beyond their mark, 
 and on looking at their rifles I found that they still had the 
 long range sights up, and that they were firing wildly in 
 anv direction. I then called to Lord Chelmsford, asking 
 him to give orders for lowering the eights. This was done, 
 and the soldiers began to drop the enemy faster, and 
 consequently check the advance, but again, when I had 
 my sight down to one hundred yards — as the Zulus came 
 nearer, I noticed that the soldiers had up the three hundred 
 yards sights. The bullets from the Zulus were now 
 flying thickly, and several passed unpleasantly near to me, 
 as, being on the top of the w T agon, I was rather a good 
 mark. The battle only lasted for a short time, but for 
 that short time it was very hot. At last we beat them off 
 
VICTORY ! 
 
 505 
 
 :and followed them for some distance, my men doing good 
 work. I know I fired over thirty shots, and missed very 
 few. I was much disappointed at the shooting of the 
 soldiers. Their sole object seemed to be to get rid of 
 ammunition or firing so many rounds per minute at any- 
 thing — it didn't matter what. I calculated the loss on the 
 side of the Zulus to he about seven hundred. Our loss 
 was comparatively very small, although many oxen and 
 mules were killed. I had three of my men wounded. 
 The battle was over early, and the rest of the day was 
 spent in burying the dead and preparing for a forward 
 march. 
 
 Whilst acceding to the request of Lord Chelmsford to 
 accompany him, I had only agreed to go as far as the 
 Inyezani Eiver with him, my intention being, however, to 
 go the whole way to Etshowe, but this I had not told him 
 until now, and he seemed much pleased when I so 
 announced my intention. 
 
 From the way that the Zulus scattered, I could see that 
 it was a complete defeat for them, and that there was no 
 danger of their again molesting us on the line of 
 march, which turned out to be the case. We made an 
 early start and reached the garrison at Etshowe late that 
 evening, having travelled a distance of about fifteen miles. 
 On the morning of the second day we again made a start 
 on our return, as we had accomplished our object, viz., the 
 relief of the Etshowe garrison, and right glad was it to be 
 free again. We returned to our laager at Ginginhlovu and 
 then went on to Fort Pearson, on the Tuge'a, but we did 
 not reach our destination that evening. We had to camp 
 in a very nasty spot amongst bushes, but the moon being 
 full it was a splendid night, so that a man could be seen 
 plainly at a distance of a hundred yards. We turned in 
 anyhow, as our blankets had miscarried. Towards 
 morning there was a false alarm, and I was roused from a 
 sound sleep by hearing firing and shouts. I seized my 
 rifle and jumped up, but what was my horror when I 
 recognised the voices of some of my unfortunate native 
 scouts calling out " Friend ! Friend !" which they had 
 been taught to respond to the challenge of the sentries. I 
 ealled out, " G-ood G-od ! they are shooting my men 
 down !" and ran out, calling out to the soldiers to stop 
 
506 
 
 john dunn's notes. 
 
 firing. On passing the line of fire I came upon one of 
 my men lying dead in the trench with a bayonet wound in 
 his chest. On examining the lot I found ten more 
 wounded, two of whom died the next day. To account 
 for this mishap, I must describe the mode that had been 
 adopted as regards the placing of the night picquets that 
 were stationed all round the encampment. My men were 
 stationed outside as fielders to the soldier picquets, with 
 orders that, on any alarm being given, they were to retire in 
 order on the soldiers, and each lot to retreat to the 
 enclosure. Well, it appears that an alarm had been given 
 for no cause whatever, and my men had retired and were 
 coming on with the soldiers, when, although it was known 
 that there was a picquet in that direction, they were taken 
 to be Zulus. The picquet, being of the 60th Rifles, wore 
 dark uniforms. The soldiers, without waiting to be 
 certain, commenced firing. The white picquet took the 
 brunt of the firing off my men, five of them being hit, and 
 in trying to rush into the enclosure eleven of my men 
 were bayonetted, three of whom died. 
 
 As soon as it was fairly day we moved on until we 
 reached the laager at G-inginhlovu, but the smell from the 
 dead being unpleasant, Lord Chelmsford did not stop 
 there, but we went on and formed camp about two miles 
 further on the main road. 
 
CHAPTER LXV. 
 
 john dunn's notes. 
 
 During the short time I was with Lord Chelmsford, the 
 opinion that I formed of him was that he was a thorough 
 gentleman and a good and brave soldier, but no General. 
 Should this ever meet his eye, I hope he will forgive me, 
 but my reason for forming this opinion was that I could see 
 that his personal pluck led him to have no regard for the 
 safety of his men. He would select any spot for a night 
 encampment without studying the surroundings. Another 
 of my reasons for my opinion was that he did not keep his 
 men sufficiently together on the line of march, so much so 
 that if the Zulus had been properly led they would have 
 given us much trouble, and cut many a column up. Colonel 
 Crealock — one of Lord Chelmsford's staff, and brother to 
 General Crealock (who was subsequently appointed to 
 the command of the Lower Column) — came to me and said 
 that he had been sent by Lord Chelmsford to beg me to 
 join the Lower Column officially as Chief of the Intelligence 
 Department, as he fully saw my worth, and felt assured I 
 could be of much service to the Imperial Government, and 
 of great assistance to General Crealock, who had just 
 arrived in Natal, and was appointed to take command of 
 the Lower, or Coast Column ; and that as he was a new 
 man in the field, he would require some reliable assistance 
 I asked Colonel Crealock to give me time to think of the 
 offer, which he did, and I saw I could be of service by 
 inducing the Zulus to give up fighting, and perhaps might 
 even persuade Cetywayo to come to terms, and thus put a. 
 stop to unnecessary bloodshed. Up to this time nothing 
 had been said to me as to remuneration for my services, 
 past and to come. Ultimately I decided to accept the 
 offer, and so went to Lord Chelmsford and announced my 
 intention of joining the Lower Column under General 
 Crealock. He expressed his pleasure at my decision, and 
 said that, " as regards pay, you will receive the pay of a 
 Commandant, that is, thirty shillings a day, with rations- 
 
508 
 
 john dunn's notes. 
 
 for yourself and two horses." This, he said, would 
 commence from the first day of my joining him at the 
 Tugela, my time being my own until I joined General 
 Crealock. 
 
 I must not omit to mention one of those in command in 
 this column of the relief of the Etshowe garrison. I allude 
 to Commodore Richards of the Naval Brigade. I liked 
 him very much, and we took to each other from the first 
 night we met, when we slept under a wagon together. He 
 was a very pleasant fellow. The Naval Brigade did good 
 service. I much preferred their style of going to work in 
 action, travelling, and things in general, to that adopted by 
 the other branch of the service. 
 
 As soon as we reached the Tugela Lord Chelmsford 
 went on to D'Urban to meet General Crealock and the 
 Prince Imperial of France, of whose arrival he had been 
 apprised on the night of our return. I followed a few 
 days afterwards in order to be introduced to General 
 Crealock. On this occasion I was fortunate enough to be 
 introduced to many a good fellow, amongst whom was 
 Major Poole of the Artillery, who, on the capture of 
 Cetywayo, took charge of him, and was with him at Cape 
 Town, until he (the Major) was ordered to join the force 
 sent against the Boers, and lost his life at Laing's Neck, 
 shortly after his arrival there. 
 
 On my being introduced to General Crealock by Com- 
 modore Richards, he said to me that from what he heard 
 he had no doubt we would get on well together, that he 
 did not know the exact date of his being able to take 
 command at the front, but in the meantime I was to let 
 him know of any information that I might obtain. 
 
 An advance post had now be^n established at the Inye- 
 zane River, called Fort Chelmsford, near the Ginginhlovu 
 battle field, about twenty-five miles from Fort Pearson on 
 the Tugela River. General Crealock was not detained 
 long in D'Urban, and in due time arrived at Fort Pearson. 
 The work of moving forward now commenced. Trains of 
 transport wagons with provisions, and escort, were now 
 being constantly despatched to Lord Chelmsford, and 
 troops of cavalry and bodies of infantry sent forward until 
 there was a considerable force there, and a large supply of 
 provisions. 
 
CHAPTER LXVT. 
 
 johx dunk's notes. 
 
 Mt work now also commenced in earnest. Messengers 
 from Cetywayo used to arrive at Fort Chelmsford, and 
 were detained at that place, and I had to ride over there 
 and received these messages and send back the answers to 
 them. On my arrival, on one occasion, at Fort Chelms- 
 ford, I was greatly amused to see a batch of these 
 messengers being taken ont for an airing by the soldiers, 
 with nosebags covering their heads. This was a pie- 
 caution taken to prevent spying. They certainly did look 
 very ridiculous figures as they were led along thus 
 blindfold. 
 
 It took some considerable t : me before GeneraJCrcalcck 
 could manage to get sufficient supplies to the front, owing 
 to the slow transport, and as I was now in full swing of 
 work, the delay was tedious to me, so I got permission to 
 go in advance to Fort Chelmsford. Luckily, we had not 
 to wait many days after my arrival there before General 
 Crealock, with the main force, came up, and an advance 
 was made towards Port Durnford. I was ordered to go 
 with the advance column under Colonel Clark. I went 
 on in front scouting with some of my men, with the object 
 of trying to light on some Zulus and endeavouring to have 
 some communication with them, and persuade them to 
 come in and give themselves up, and by doing so enable 
 me to send them round again and persuade many others 
 of the folly of holding out. I felt convinced that as soon 
 as it was known that I was with the troops many would 
 listen to my voice and surrender, especially if it was 
 known that all who did so would not be molested nor 
 have their cattle taken from them. After a w r hile I was 
 fortunate enough to see a few stray Zulus, and on sending 
 some of my men to them, two of them came up to us. I 
 kept these two with us that night, and in the morning 
 sent them with messages to different people of theirs. 
 They were glad to be set free, saying that they would 
 
510 
 
 SUBMISSION. 
 
 not have come in at all if they had not known my 
 messengers personally, and therefore were certain that it 
 was I who sent for them. I was now leading the column 
 a short cut in the direction of Port Durnford, so after 
 two days' march we came to the Umlalazi River, 
 and as, owing to the heavy rains, it was too deep 
 to ford, a bridge of pontoons had to be made. This 
 took two days, and in the meantime the whole force 
 came up. I rode over with a few of my men, and again 
 espied a few Zulus sitting on a hill. I again sent a man 
 to call them, and one came to me, and I at once sent him 
 off to a man named Gkizana, whom I knew well, telling 
 him to come to me the next day with his people. On my 
 return I informed General Crealock of what I had done, 
 and he arranged with me to go next day and meet Guzana. 
 The next day 1 got a message from the latter to say that 
 he sent the hearer first to ascertain whether it was really 
 my own self who wanted to see him, and if it was, the 
 man was to say that he would meet me at a spot a few 
 miles off, which I Avas to name, as he was afraid to come in 
 among the soldiers. 
 
 Accordingly, about two o'clock we went over and met 
 him, with about six men, and Ave, including the General 
 and myself, only .numbered five. After a little talk, the 
 General told him the terms of submission, and told him to 
 bring all his family in the uext day. This ne promised to 
 do, and did, coming in with about a hundred and fifty men, 
 women, and children. We had a nice little family now on 
 our hands, but as food was plentiful they were not much 
 trouble. I uoav had plenty of available men to carry on 
 communication with, and whom I could uoav send to the 
 different head men I knew and advise them to come in. 
 
 We uoav advanced to Port Durnford. But before pro- 
 ceeding further, I must not omit to mention an unfortunate 
 accident that happened to the General. The day after 
 Guzana came in we were riding round in the direction of 
 Guzana's kraals, Avhen we espied a cow running toAvards 
 us. The General called out, " The first man that reaches 
 her can claim her," and he started off. I was in adA^ance, 
 and was reining in my horse to give the General the lead, 
 which, fortunately for me, he took. As soon as he got up 
 to the cow she charged him, and before he had time to get 
 
GENERAL AND THE COW. 
 
 511 
 
 out of her way she struck his horse with her horn 
 between his hind legs, ripping out his entrails. I then 
 shot the cow ; but the General lost a good horse, as it 
 died shortly afterwards. The General was a very good 
 :shot with the rifle. One day we were riding along, and 
 saw a Paauw (Bustard). I always used to carry my rifle, 
 and I handed it to the General to have a shot at the bird, 
 which was a couple of hundred yards away. He took aim, 
 and dropped it. 
 
 When we got to Port Durnford we found a vessel wait- 
 ing for us there, and we had not been there many days 
 before the effects of the peaceful messages to the Natives 
 became apparent. Hardly a day passed without someone 
 coming in with his family, and in a short time the country 
 was swarming with people who had surrendered, and 
 brought all their cattle with them. I received instructions 
 to select all the cattle that had belonged to Cetywayo. and 
 -to return the remainder to their owners. About this time 
 we received the news of Sir Garnet Wolseley's landing 1 at 
 Natal. He had come to supersede both Lord Chelmsford 
 and General Crealock, and, at a certain day, was to be at 
 Port Durnford. That day having arrived, he appeared, and 
 signalled from his ship that he wished to see me as soon as 
 he had landed, and I received orders to be down on the 
 beach in waiting, but owing to the weather turning out to 
 be too rough, he could not land, and had to return to Natal 
 and come by land. Before he arrived at our camp, how- 
 ever, we received the news that Lord Chelmsford had 
 fought a battle at Ulundi, and that the Zulus had, even 
 by their own account, been completely defeated. People 
 from all over the country now began to come in to where 
 they heard I was, and that from distances of sixty and 
 seventy miles. 
 
 A day or two afterwards, Sir Garnet held a meeting of 
 all the chiefs who had surrendered, and after his telling 
 them the condition of surrender, he asked them if they had 
 anything to say. Undhlandaga, one of the principal head- 
 men, acted as spokesman, and said, "Our word is but one — 
 we wish no more for a Black King — we wish for a white 
 one, and the white one we mean is that one (pointing to 
 me) John Dunn. He knows us, and knows our ways, and 
 we know him and like him." The rest of the men then 
 
512 
 
 john dunn's notes. 
 
 said " our voice is one, we say the same." Dr. Russell,, 
 the correspondent of the London Times, who was present, 
 turning to me, said, " Well, Dunn, that is a great compli- 
 ment, and one that you might well be proud of." After 
 the meeting was over, Sir Garnet took me to his tent, and 
 on thanking me for my services, said that he understood 
 that I held a tract of country with a tribe under me as an 
 independent Chief, and asked me if I should like this tract 
 extended. I said, yes, I should be glad of it, and after a 
 conversation as to the future settlement, and examining a 
 map, we separated. Preparations for breaking up now 
 began ; we, that is the part of the column that was to 
 proceed with Sir Garnet to the IJlundi (for the purpose 
 of getting Cetywayo to surrender or capture him) and 
 General Crealock and his staff. I had got on well with 
 the General, who was a very pleasant gentleman, and 
 many a fat fowl had I helped to demolish at his table. 
 
 The opinion that I formed of this General was that he 
 was a good commanding officer, looking well after his 
 commissariat, and sick in the Hospital, but if ever he 
 should read this, he must excuse me for saying that if 
 fighting had occurred he would not have shone as a General. 
 But I might be wrong. 
 
CHAPTER LXVII. 
 
 JOHN BUM'S NOTES. 
 
 I was now under command of my third General, Sir 
 Garnet Wolseley, who was accompanied by his brilliant 
 staff. Our part of the column, under Colonel Clark, now 
 moved on to the Umhlatuzi River, from which encamp- 
 ment it was the intention of Sir Garnet to go and meet 
 Lord Chelmsford, who was on his way homewards from 
 Ulundi, and on his (Sir Garnet's) return, start back for 
 Natal and join a column that was to be formed in an up- 
 country division of that column, and proceed with it and 
 meet us near Ulundi. Large numbers of people and cattle 
 continued to come in daily, and messages also from 
 Cetywayo, but without any tone of submission. From 
 here I sent three of my own men to him trying to persuade 
 him to come in himself and surrender, offering, if he would 
 do so, to go and meet him. On Sir Garnet's return from 
 meeting Lord Chelmsford, I had some misunderstanding 
 with a Mr. Fyimey who was acting as an interpreter to 
 Sir Garnet. As he was meddling in my business, which 
 very much annoyed me, I went to Sir Garnet and begged 
 him to allow me to resign, stating my reason. This- 
 request of mine Sir Garnet would not listen to, saying, 
 " No, Dunn, I think you will find it to your advantage to 
 remain with me until this business is over. Mr. Fynney 
 returns from here with me." On these conditions I con- 
 sented to remain, and proceeded with Colonel Clark ; Sir 
 Garnet and his party returning to Natal. Nothing of any 
 note happened on the way to Ulundi. One night as I was 
 returning to my wagon, having dined with Colonel Clark, 
 I was much amused on hearing a conversation between 
 some young soldiers going to relieve guard, and who were 
 walking in front of me. It was a very cold wet night, 
 and one of them was saying something that I could not 
 catch. One of his companions said to him, however, 
 " There is not a bit of use in your grumbling, my fine fellow % 
 when a man once enlists to be a soldier not even his blessed 
 1 L 
 
514 
 
 john dunn's notes. 
 
 tongue is his own ; even every hair of your head is all 
 fixed bayonets." I thought this was very good, as it 
 proved how much a good soldier thought himself a mere 
 machine. Sir Garnet overtook us at the foot of the Inton- 
 janini — the site of Cetywayo's late installation by Sir 
 Theo. Shepstone. The General was accompanied by Mr. 
 J. Shepstone, the Acting Secretary for Native Affairs. I 
 was glad to see thi,s as it did away with my friend 
 Mr. Fynney. This was, I think, the coldest night I ever 
 felt. I dined with Sir Garnet that night, and I know I 
 was very glad to reach my wagon and get between the 
 blankets. On the line of march I had the advantage of 
 many in having my own wagon and provisions with me, 
 as also plenty of liquor stuff, so as not to be dependent 
 upon rations. 1 was fortunate enough to give many a 
 hungry fellow a good feed and drink. 
 
 On the morning after this cold night, one hundred and 
 seven oxen were found dead and tied to the yokes — a great 
 loss. My own team I had directed my driver to allow to 
 run loose to take their chance, which was fortunate, for they 
 found a sheltered nook in a ravine, and were, consequently, 
 all right. From this place we went on, leaving the column 
 to follow, as Sir Garnet had made up his mind to camp on 
 the site of the Ulundi Kraal. On arriving there the time 
 was passed in looking for curios. Amongst those found was 
 a portrait of the Queen, which was dug up by some of Sir 
 Garnet's Staff. It had suffered much by its burial, but 
 was nevertheless atrophy. This picture, I well recollected, 
 used to hang in Cetewayo's European cottage which he 
 had had built inside the kraal. Often when I had been 
 sitting with him, before he had been spoilt by the faction 
 I have spoken of, he, on looking at the picture, had said, 
 " There is my mother — I would be glad to see her." He 
 little thought then how soon his wish was to be fulfilled in 
 a way he never dreamed of. We only spent one night on 
 the site of the Ulundi Kraal, and the next day Sir Garnet 
 moved on about three miles further. 
 
 The messengers I had sent to Cetywayo had, in the 
 meantime, returned without having been able to see him, 
 his place of hiding being kept secret. The day we arrived 
 here a Hollander of the name of Vijn, who had been with 
 Cetywayo during the whole time of the war, came with a 
 
NATAL TONE. 
 
 515 
 
 message from the latter to Sir G-arnet, and was sent back 
 with an answer. As Cetywayo now refused to give him- 
 self up, parties were organised to search for and capture 
 him. After considerable trouble he was at length taken. 
 Thus ended his reign for a time, and thus was the Zulu 
 power broken. 
 
 A day was now fixed for a meeting of all the headmen 
 of the country, and the appointment of Chiefs, as Sir 
 Garnet had decided to cut the country up into thirteen 
 different independencies. He sent his Private Secretary 
 with a copy of the conditions under which the Chiefs were 
 -to be appointed, asking me if I would accept a Chieftain- 
 ship. After reading the conditions over / assented, on 
 condition that Cetywayo should never hold any position in 
 the country again. To this Sir Garnet gave his word, 
 and on this condition I accepted the Chieftainship. 
 
 Such was the rise and fall of Cetywayo, and the end of 
 an unjust war — not to Cetywayo, but to the Zulu nation. 
 It was a tine race, and if it had only been properly handled 
 and treated as an independent power, it would have been a 
 staunch ally of England. The prime cause of the ruin of 
 the Zulu nation was the tone of authority assumed towards 
 the Zulu Kings by those wielding the Government of 
 Xatal — a tone presumed on by the native messengers sent 
 by that Government, and a tone which rankled in the 
 breast of the last King until it broke out into expressions 
 of disgust towards the Government, which, being spoken 
 out publicly, were taken up by the people, and eventually 
 led to a bad feeling towards the whites. 
 
 I say the war was unjust, because I think that there 
 was no valid reason for it, although, as long as the Xatal 
 Government held their dictatorial tone, it would have come 
 sooner or later. The so-called settlement of Zululand was 
 the maddest piece of policy ever heard of, as the Zulu 
 people, after their defeat, naturally looked upon themselves 
 as subjects of the Government, and then they would 
 willingly have allowed themselves to be moulded into any 
 shape. The country ought to have been annexed and 
 brought under British rule at first, without sending 
 Cetywayo away. 
 
 The Settlement as made by Sir Garnet Wolseley, 
 Jiaving no alternative, would have worked well for some 
 1l2 
 
516 
 
 JOHN DUNN S NOTES. 
 
 years if the Resident bad been vested with greater 
 authority, and a small force bad been at bis command to 
 carry out bis orders. But seeing that be bad not been 
 vested by tbat authority, be should bave been content, 
 with bis nominal position, and merely advised the Cbiefs 
 instead of doing what be did. If any trivial complaint 
 against an appointed Chief was brought to bim, he would 
 go through the form of taking down the complaint 
 in writing, which course naturally gave rise to the 
 idea that any commoner could bring a complaint against a 
 Chief, and tbat the Cbiefs were assuming an authority 
 tbey did not possess. I spoke to the Resident shortly 
 after his appointment to the above effect, but I suppose 
 he had his instructions. ' The Settlement would have 
 worked well, had it not been only an experiment, for some 
 time. If it had not been for this, and the outside 
 agitation, I say things would bave gone better, But the 
 Resident had no power to check this outside agitation. 
 Another great cause of failure has lain in the fact of tbe 
 Resident assuming, I say again, a power he did not 
 possess, and yet being afraid of acting on bis own 
 responsibility in any caee wben he saw tbat by so doing he 
 could do good. The Resident's fear of criticism, combined 
 with the interference of the late Bishop, have also added 
 to the failure. 
 
 The War against the Zulus was an unjust one, but the 
 restoration of Cetywayo to power, after having taken him 
 away from his people and dividing them into sections, has 
 proved itself a much greater act of injustice, as witness 
 the great loss of life that has taken place in the short time 
 tbat passed since his return. A calamity that I pre- 
 dicted in letters to my friends. 
 
 The next morning after the Settlement, preparations 
 were made for a break-up, Sir Garnet to start off for the 
 subjugation of Sekukuni, and I to return with Colonel 
 Clarke's Column to take possession of my territory. 
 
 Let self-considered wiser beads tban mine say what 
 they like, I am confident that if my services had been 
 more utilised, even after the restoration of Cetywayo, I 
 could greatly have assisted in bringing about a more 
 peaceful settlement of affairs in Zululand, from my 
 actual knowledge of the feelings of the people. But no ; I 
 
OPINION OF GENERALS 
 
 517 
 
 *was set up by a certain faction, to suit their end, as a rival 
 to Cetywayo, hence the consequences. 
 
 The opinion that I formed of Sir Garnet was that he 
 ivas a good General, a thorough soldier, and, in fact, a 
 man fit for any emergency. I had got on very well with 
 him and liked him, and in pointing out different important 
 situations to him we had many a pleasant ride together. 
 
 I have now recorded the opinions I have formed con 
 cerning the three Generals under whom I served in my 
 capacity as head of the Xative Intelligence Department. 
 Shortly after getting settled in my territory I received a 
 most amusing number of letters from all parts of the 
 world, some containing applications for situations — others 
 for pecuniary assistance — others from people (of the same 
 name as myself) claiming relationship with me as 
 daughters, sons, nephews, nieces, &c, but the most 
 amusing one I got was from a woman claiming to be my 
 wife. She said I had deserted her thirty-six years ago in 
 Ireland. I need hardly say that I did not know one of 
 the writers ; in fact, never heard of them before. Some 
 other local letters I received from people begging me to 
 secure their safety when Cetywayo was on the eve of 
 attacking the Transvaal Boers. 
 
APPENDICES. 
 
 Appendix A. 
 
 General Chronology pertaining to South Africa. 
 
 Prince Henry of Portugal first sends ships southward ... 1415 
 Bartholomew Diaz sent by King John II of Portugal 
 down the west coast of Africa to try and discover a 
 wav to India, August ... ... ... ... 14«6 
 
 Landed" Algoa Bay ... ... ... ... ... i486 
 
 Cape of Good Hope discovered ... ... ... I486 
 
 De Gama doubles the Cape of Good Hope; arrived atXatal, 
 
 December 25, having discovered St. Helena inXov.... 1497 
 
 Vasco de Gama reached Calicut (India) via the Cape, 
 
 May 20 ... ... ... ... ... 1498 
 
 He returned to Lisbon from India, Sept. ... ... 1499 
 
 King Emanuel of Portugal sent out a fleet of thirteen 
 ships to the east, under Cabral, B. Diaz and his 
 brother accompanying it. In this voyage, the vessel in 
 which B. Diaz was, was wrecked, and he was drowned 
 
 on May 23 .. ... ... ... ... 1500 
 
 Cabral in Mossel Bay ... ... ... ... 1500 
 
 St. Helena Biy entered by Joan de Xona ... ... 1501 
 
 De Gama sailed from Portugal on his second voyage to 
 
 the east with a fleet of twenty ships ... ... 1502 
 
 Sofa la and Mozambique established ... ... ... 1502 
 
 Francisco and Alfonso d" Albuquerque sail for the east 
 
 with two squadrons, but do not touch at the Cape ... 150-3 
 Antonio de Saldauha leaves Portugal for India. He gave 
 
 his name to the present Table Bay ... ... „ 
 
 Another fleet of thirteen ships left under Lopo Soares, 
 
 but did not touch at the Cape ... ... ... 1504 
 
 A fleet of twenty-two ships sailed under command of 
 Francisco d' Almeida, first viceroy of the Portuguese 
 conquests in the east, doubles the Cape without seeing 
 laud, and anchors at Mozambique ... ... 1505 
 
o20 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 Eight ships sailed and arrived at Delagoa Bay, but the 
 crew were repulsed, and some massacred by the 
 natives in return for Portuguese treachery ... 1505 
 
 A fleet of fourteen ships under Tristano d'Acunha sailed 
 
 for the Cape. The islands were named after him ... 1506 
 Viceroy d Almeida, and sixty men of his fleet, were killed 
 in a fight with Hottentots on the shores of Table 
 Bay, March 1 ... ... ... ... ... 1510 
 
 De Gama's third trip to India ... ... ... 1524 
 
 Died at Cochin, December ... ... ... ... 1525 
 
 First murder ; — natives kill David Janssens, October 19 ... 1553 
 First account of the Cape by a Catholic priest, wrecked 
 
 at Agulhas ... ... ... ... ... 1579 
 
 Sir Francis Drake passed the Cape on return of his 
 
 voyaye round the world, July ... ... ... 1580 
 
 Archbishop Vincenti Fonseca sailed from Lisbon, April 1583 
 Drake was followed by Candish, who also passed without 
 
 calling ... ... ... ... ... 1588 
 
 Three ships, Penelope, Royal Merchant and td Bona 
 Ventura left Plymouth under Captain Raymond as 
 Admiral ... ... ... ... ... 1591 
 
 Penelope being lost, Captain James Lancaster took com- 
 mand, and anchored in Table Bay (Agoado de 
 Saldanha), August 3 ... ... ... ... 1591 
 
 A Dutch fleet under Cornelis Houtman sight the Cape, 
 
 April 2 ... ... ... ... ... 1595 
 
 The first of Linchoten's valuable books published ... 1595 
 Fleet of Dutch vessels sailed by the Cape to India. They 
 
 saw the Cape, August 2 ... ... ... 1595 
 
 Four Dutch ships under Pieter Both (after whom the 
 high peak in Mauritius was named) sailed for the 
 Indies, December ... ... ... ... 1599 
 
 Three Dutch vessels sail for the Indies under Spilbergen, 
 
 May 5 ... ... ... ... ... 1601 
 
 Paulus van Corinden touched at St. Sebastian's Bay ... 1601 
 Dutch Admiral Speilberg called at St. Helena Bay ... 1601 
 Lancaster again arrives at Saldanha Bay (Table) Sept 9 1601 
 Spilbergen reached Cape anchorage under Table Moun- 
 tain, and transferred the name Saldanha to another 
 bay, and then christened the place " Table Bay" ... 1601 
 The Company of the States General came into existence 
 
 March 20 ... ... ... ... ... 1602 
 
 Sir E. Michalborne visited Table Bay ... ... 1605 
 
 Davis, the Arctic Voyager, visits Table Bay ... ... 1607 
 
 Henrv Middleton visits Table Bay ... ... 1607—1609 
 
 Capt. Sharpey visits Table Bay ... ... ... 1608 
 
 Capts. Keely and Kealing visit Table Bay ... ... 1609 
 
APPENDIX A. 521 
 
 Dutch Fleets from this date, put into Table nearly every 
 season, establishing post offices by burying letters 
 under stones ... ... ... ... ... 1616 
 
 Directors of Dutch East India Company reject overtures 
 made by English East India Company to join in 
 building a fort at the Cape ... ... ... 1619 
 
 Fleet of 14 ships put into Table Bay under Shillinge and 
 Fitz-Herbert, English colours hoisted on Lion's 
 Kurnp (which they then called King James' Mount) 
 July 3 ... ... ... ... ... 1620 
 
 Return Fleet under Wollebrandt Geleynsen put into 
 
 Table Bay ... ... ... ... ... 1648 
 
 Dutch ship Haarlem bound home from India wrecked in 
 
 Table Bay ... ... ... ... ... 1648 
 
 Jantz and Proot return to Holland after their enforced 
 
 sojourn at the Cape ... ... ... ... 1648 
 
 Jantz and Proot present to the directors of the Dutch 
 East India Company Service a document setting forth 
 the advantages to be derived from the occupation of 
 Table Bay, July 26 ... ... ... ... 1649 
 
 .Jan van Riebeeck. with the Dromedaris, Reijger and 
 Goede Hoop, with a large fleet of Merchant, start for 
 the Cape, Sunday. December 24 ... ... ... 1651 
 
 Van Riebeeck oft the Cape de Verde Islands, January 20 1652 
 
 The chief mate of the Dromedaris sights Table Moun- 
 tain, April 5 ... ... ... ... ... 1652 
 
 Tan Riebeeck enters Table Bay, April 7 ... ... 1652 
 
 Tan Riebeeck and family leave the Dromedaris and take 
 
 up their residence on land, April 24 ... ... 1652 
 
 The ships Walvisch and Olifant left Texel, Jan. 3, and 
 
 dropped anchor in Table bay. May 7 ... ... 1652 
 
 Ship Hqf van Zeeland arrives at Cape and lost 37 men on 
 
 passage, May 25 ... ... ... ... 1652 
 
 Dromedaris sails back to Holland, and left party of 
 
 occupation to its own resources, May 28 ... ... 1652 
 
 The wife of Willem Barends Wylant (a passenger by the 
 Dromedaris ) gives birth to the first European child 
 born in Cape Colony, June 6 ... ... ... 1652 
 
 Scouts from the Kaapmans (Hottentots) arrive at the 
 
 fort and say that their clan is approaching, Oct. 1 1652 
 
 First fires of the Kaapmans began to be visible to the 
 
 northward, October 1 ... ... ... ... 1652 
 
 JFirst wheat reaped at Cape, January 13 ... ... 1653 
 
 "The Galiot Zwarte Vos arrived in bay — Skipper Theunis 
 Eyssen, left Texel 4th preceding September, reported 
 war broke out between the Netherlands and Common- 
 wealth of England, January 18 ... ... ... 1653 
 
.522 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 The Haas started from Holland at the same time and on 
 
 the same errand, but did not arrive until March 26 1653 
 Van Riebeeck directs Chamber's attention to Ophir near 
 
 Mozambique, May 4 ... ... ... ... 1 653 
 
 Roode Vos arrived June 2 ... ... ... ... 1653 
 
 First movement against the natives by Van Riebeeck, Oct. 1653 
 Second child of European parentage born in the fort 
 Good Hope. (The infant was the son of the Com- 
 mander Jan Van Riebeeck, and afterwards in 1709, 
 when he was 56 years of age, Governor General of 
 Netherlands India which he held until his death 
 in 1713), October 18 ... .. ... ... 1653 
 
 First expedition against aggressive natives — Strandloopers 
 Herry's tribe — Corporal Jan Herwarden and seven- 
 teen soldiers were sent October 23 ... ... 1653 
 
 Thanksgiving held on second anniversary of arrival of 
 
 Van Riebeeck and party, April 6 ... .. 1654 
 
 First Malays banished for crimes arrived from Java, July 1654 
 Ship Vlieland arrives, August ... ... ... :654 
 
 Vines first introduced from the Rhine, season of ... 1654 
 
 Beginning of Boers, the Company first resolved to locate 
 
 free families about the fort ... ... ... 1655 
 
 An English ship, the East India Merchant, arrived, 
 informing Van Riebeeck of cessation of hostilities, 
 December 19 .. ... .. ... ... 1655 
 
 First ground allotted to the first Burghers (Boers) of 
 South Africa, according to arrangements entered 
 into with the Company. The first party of free 
 Burghers consisted of five men, named Herman 
 Remajeune, Jan de Wacht, Jan Van Passel, Warnar 
 Cornelissen, and Roelof Jansen. They had selected 
 a tract of land just beyond the Liesbeek. As 
 Remajeune was the principal person amongst them, 
 they called themselves Hermanus Colony. Feb 21 ... 1657 
 Native difficulty first felt ... ... ... ... 1657 
 
 Labour being urgently needed, ships were sent out to look 
 for Slaves, and the India man Amerspoort arriving in 
 Table Bay, with remainder of slaves — (170) captured 
 from Portuguese vessel — the rest died miserably. 
 March 28 ... ... ... ... ... 1657 
 
 European population at the Cape, 134 souls, April ... 1657 
 Company's servants move away from its garrison, and 
 
 squat inland. Beginning of Boers trekking ... 1657 
 
 Herry banished to Robben Island, (but was afterwards 
 
 pardoned, but sent back there in July), June ... 1658 
 First Maize brought in the Hasselt from the Coast of 
 
 Guinea, brought to the Cape ... ... ... 1658 
 
APPENDIX A. 
 
 523 
 
 Ship West Friesland took half Aum Cape Beer. So that 
 
 brewing malt preceded wine making at Cape, Xov 18 1658 
 
 First passage through Berg river mouutains ... ... 1658 
 
 Culture of Vine extended beyond Table Valley. Van 
 Biebeeck planted out 1200 vines at place beyond 
 Bondebosch, and so-called Wynberg ... ... 1658 
 
 A small quantity of wine, for the first time in South 
 Africa, was made in this season, Beibeeck superin- 
 tending ... ... ... ,.. ... 1658 
 
 Expedition against Kaapmans under Doman (Successor 
 to Herry the Interpreter) ; the Kaapmans had 
 murdered, plundered farms, and were generally 
 aggressive, June, July and August ... ... 1659 
 
 Hottentots on coming to the Cape Peninsula for pas- 
 turage, and finding the Europeans all over their 
 land, try to drive them out by raiding on their cattle 
 at night. Early in ... ... ... ... 1659 
 
 First Dutch Bose gathered, November 1 ... ... 1659 
 
 First Bipe Cherry, November 13 ... ... ... 1659 
 
 Cape Settlement measured and found to be a distance of 
 
 3,673 roods, February 25 ... ... .. 1660 
 
 A party under Jan Danckert, including Wreede and 
 
 P. van Meerhof, start north to find Monomotopa ... 1660 
 
 Peace renewed with the Kaapmans, April 6 ... ... 1660 
 
 Ship Marechal. bound to Madagascar, wrecked in Table 
 Bay, with her crew, amongst whom were 44 Hugue- 
 nots, who enter the Company's servics at the Cape, 
 MayS ... ... ... ... ... 1660 
 
 Zacharias Wagener welcomed as successor to Commander 
 
 Van Biebeeck, April 2 ... ... ... ... 1662 
 
 First ripe apples plucked, April 17 ... ... 1662 
 
 Commander Wagener duly installed, May 6 ... ... 1662; 
 
 Van Biebeeck and family sail for Batavia bv the Mars, 
 
 May 7 ... ... ... "... ... 1662 
 
 After ten years and one month of Government at the 
 Cape he was afterwards appointed head of Com- 
 pany's Establishment at Malacca till 1665, and 
 subsequently Secretary of the Council of India ... 1662 
 
 Thirteen volunteers under Cruythof start off north to 
 
 find the city of Vigiti Magna. October 21 ... ... 1662 
 
 Towards the close of this year six Dutch ships left the 
 Cape in order to wrest Mozambique from the 
 Portuguese, but fever, scurvy, &c, drove them back 1662 
 
 The first South African author. George Frederick 
 Wreede, a run-away German student, who had 
 enlisted as a soldier, writes a vocabulary of Dutch 
 and Hottentot words ... ... ... ... 1663- 
 
524 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 Site of Castle of Cape of Good Hope, selected by Com- 
 missioner Isbrand Goske and Board, August 26 ... 1664 
 
 First English slave brought to Cape October 10 ... 1664 
 
 •Company re -occupy Mauritius, which they deserted in 
 
 1662, after turning loose many cows, goats and pigs 1664 
 
 "Vocabulary of Ottento language sent to Holland by Gov- 
 ernor Wagener. It was by G. P. Wreede, Chase says: 
 " Air. Moodie when compiling the Cape Record could 
 find no trace of it. Sir George Grey in vain applied 
 for it to the Hague through the Secretary of State" 1664 
 
 Wreede sent as Commandant to Mauritius ... ... 1665 
 
 Information having been received that the English were 
 sinking Dutch ships in the Channel, Commandant 
 Goske founded the present Castle whereon to mount 
 heavy guns, August ... ... ... ... 1665 
 
 First resident Dutch Clergyman arrived (Rev. Johann van 
 
 Arkel) in the ship Nieuw Middelburg, August 18 1665 
 
 Commander Wagenaar tried to capture the Royal George, 
 an English Indiaman, which put into Table Bay, 
 September 21 ... ... ... ... 1665 
 
 Foundation stone of Castle laid Saturday, January 2 ... 1666 
 
 Van Qualberg — Wagenaar's successor — reached South 
 
 Africa, August 25 ... . . ... ... 1666 
 
 Took over Government, September 27 ... ... 1666 
 
 Wagenaar and his daughter sailed in the Dordrecht for 
 
 Batavia, October 1 ... ... ... ... 1666 
 
 Escutcheon of Dutch dignitaries removed from walls of 
 Dutch Reformed Church to its tower (where they 
 still are, 1888) ... ... ... ... 1666 
 
 Sixteen free families living in Table Valley. Of these 
 four kept canteens, one a retail grocery, one a 
 baker, and the remainder mechanics ... ... 1666 
 
 Letters describing De Ruyter's exploits up the Thames 
 
 received, May ... ... ... ... 1667 
 
 Mr. Borghost, Wagenaar's successor, arrived in Table 
 
 Bay, the evening of June 16 ... ... ... 1668 
 
 Assumed control of affairs, June 17 ... ... 1668 
 
 Mr. Van Qualberg left for Batavia, August 12 ... 1668 
 
 The yacht Voerman sent to examine coast as far as Xatal, 
 
 but stopped at St. Francis Bay, August ... ... 1668 
 
 Corporal Cruse sent for cattle to George district, comes 
 for the first time in Cape history, in contact with the 
 Bushmen or Sonquas. They attack him, and he is 
 obliged to shoot a lot ... ... ... ... 1668 
 
 Qualberg having dismissed Wreede as Governor of 
 Mauritius, he appealed to the Holland Directors, who 
 sent him back to his post in the Grundel ... ... 1669 
 
APPENDIX A. 
 
 A large party of miners and assayed sent from Europe. 
 
 to search for metals in vicinity of the Cape ... 1669 
 
 Commissioner Mattheus Van der Broek arrived early in 1670 
 
 Pieter Hackius, successor of Mr. Borghorst, reaches 
 
 Table Bay, March 18 ... ... ... 1670 
 
 Protestants begin to leave France owing to cruelty of 
 
 Louis XIV ... ... ... ... 1670 
 
 Pieter Hackius installed in office, March 25 ... ... 1670- 
 
 Died, Xovember 30 ... ... ... ... 1671 
 
 During the ten years from January 1, 1662. to the 31st 
 December, 1671, 370 of the Company's ships put 
 into Table Bay. Also twenty-six French, nine 
 English, and two Danish ... ... ... 1671 
 
 Commander Albert van Breuzel arrived in ship Macassar 
 
 from Texel, March 23 ... ... ... 1672 
 
 First farce of buying land from natives (Schacher) took 
 place for "£800" but the value of goods actually 
 transferred to him was £2 16s. od. The document is 
 dated April 19 ... ... ... ... 1672 
 
 William of Orange appointed Stadtholder of Holland ... 1672 
 
 Brandy first distilled at Cape ... ... ... 1672 
 
 Isbrande Goske installed as '* Governor" of Cape, Oct. 2... 1672 
 
 Population of Cape settlement — the founders of a great 
 Colony — numbered sixty-four burghers, thirty-nine 
 of whom were married, sixty-five children, fifty- 
 three Dutchmen, servants of the Company, in all 
 with slaves, not exceeding 600 souls ... ... 1672. 
 
 First step to extend the settlement towards the interior. 
 Sergt. Cruythof and twelve men left to commence 
 putting up necessary buildings at Hottentots 
 Holland, October 18 ... ... ... ... 1672 
 
 Party of hunters murdered over the Berg Biver by 
 
 Gonnema's people, June ... ... ... 1673 
 
 Ensign Cruse and party go in revenge, and shoot twelve 
 Hottentots and bring back 800 head of horned 
 cattle and 900 sheep, July 25 ... ... ... 1673 
 
 At the beginning of winter the old fort demolished, and 
 
 garrison went into new Castle ... ... ... 1674 
 
 Intelligence received of peace with England. Working 
 
 at Castle therefore not hurried on ... ... 1674 
 
 First large armed expedition sent against the Gonnema's, 
 
 March ... ... ... ... ... 1674 
 
 Orphan Chamber created. First President Hendrik 
 
 Crudo. And the first Secretary Johannes Pretorius 1674 
 
 English make peace with Holland, July ... ... 1674 
 
 The black girl, Eva, married to Van Meerhof (she was in- 
 terpreter to the Company after Harry), died Jaly 29 1674- 
 
526 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 Gonnemas attack Hottentots ... ... ... 1675 
 
 Matrimonial Court established ... ... ... 1676 
 
 Commander Johann Bax — successor of Goske — arrived 
 
 in Simon's Bay, January 1 .... . .. ... 1676 
 
 Johann Bax installed as Commander, March 14 ... 1676 
 
 Death of Van Riebeeck at Batavia, January 18 ... 1677 
 
 Governor and wife and little son set example and work 
 
 at the Castle, November 25 ... ... ... 1677 
 
 Jochim Marquard and Hendrik Alberts lease land at 
 
 Hottentots Holland, and so become the pioneer 
 
 colonists of the interior, January ... ... 1678 
 
 Henning Huising and Nicholas Gerrits and Cornells 
 Botma became sheep farmers there. These were 
 the only pioneers who settled beyond the isthmus at 
 this period On so small a scale was the commence- 
 ments of the occupation of the interior districts 
 of the Colony, February ... ... ... 1678 
 
 Bosjesmans living at the back of Wynberg hills descend 
 at night on farmers kraals. The prisoners caught 
 were sentenced to death as highwaymen ... 1678 
 
 The little wooden Church inside the fortress being full 
 of graves, it became necessary to select a site for a 
 new Church, and so a foundation was laid. That 
 stone rests under the Church to this day, 1888, the 
 present building being only an enlargement of the 
 original one, April 9 ... ... ... ... 1678 
 
 (First service held in it under Rev. Petrus Calder on 
 
 January 6, 1704) 
 Commander Bax died, Hendrik Crudop acting, June 29 ... 1678 
 Intelligence of peace between France and Netherlands 
 
 received, February 10 ... ... ... ... 1679 
 
 Census taken of settlement, eighty-seven free men ; 
 fifty-five women; 117 children; thirty European men 
 servants; 133 men slaves, and twenty slave children 
 April 9 ... ... ... .. ... 1679 
 
 Permission given to Hendrik Huising and his partner to 
 
 graze their sheep alon^ the Eerste River, August ... 1679 
 Ship Vrye Zee arrives at Cape with Commander Van der 
 Stell (the elder) successor to Bax, and family. (Van 
 der Stell was born in Mauiitius November 14th 
 1639) October 12 ... ... ... ... 1679 
 
 In the afternoon the Commander and his attendants rode 
 
 into a lovely valley — afterwards Stellenbosch, Nov. 6 1679 
 Eight jajBilies — having secured good terms from the 
 
 colonising Governor, settle at Stellenbosch, May ... 1680 
 First farmer who put his plough into the ground at Stel- 
 lenbosch followed the above May ... ... 1680 
 
APPENDIX A. 
 
 527 
 
 The Company's garden (now at top end of Adderley 
 Street) greatly improved. For nearly a hundred 
 years from this date writers of various nationalities 
 could hardly find words to express their admiration 
 of this famous garden ... ..' ... ... 1680 
 
 "Ships put into Table Bay from 1st January, 1672, 368. 
 Of these 344 belonged to the East India Company — 
 eleven were English, ten were Danish, and the re- 
 maining three were French. This is up to Dec. 31 1681 
 
 The Governor General, Ryklof van Goens, visits the Cape 
 
 in search of health, February 16 ... ... 1682 
 
 English East Indiaman Joanna wrecked to westwards 
 
 of Cape Agulhas on night of June 8 ... ... 1682 
 
 To provide for trivial disputes of burghers, Court of 
 
 Heemraden instituted, August 30 ... ... 1682 
 
 Specimens of Copper having been brought in by Xamaquas, 
 an Expedition was sent to >iamaqualand, and returned 
 empty handed, October ... ... ... 1682 
 
 Larger one seut out under same leader, Ensign Olof 
 
 Bergh, failed, August 27 ... ... ... 1683 
 
 First School at Stellenbosch established, first teacher, 
 
 Sybrand Mankadan ... ... ... ... 1683 
 
 Third expedition returned north with party of Xamaquas, 
 under Schryver, collected some ore, the pure metal 
 of which sent to Directors in Holland, February ... 1684 
 
 First export of Grain from Cape took place ... ... 1685 
 
 Ryklof van Goens, (the younger) formerly Governor of 
 
 Ceylon, arrives at Cape, October ... ... 1684 
 
 Johannes Mulder appointed first Landdrost of Stellen- 
 bosch. Salary £2 a month, with 15s. m intainance 
 allowance. He named thp burghers Gerrit Van der 
 Byl, Henning Huising, Jan Mostert, and Herman 
 Smidt, as Heemraden, July 16 ... ... ... 1685 
 
 Van der Stell (the Elder) starts on journey to Xamaqua- 
 
 land. August 25 ... ... ... ... 1685 
 
 Louis XIV, having annulled the Edict of Xantes, Chamber 
 of Seventeen determine to send out French refugees 
 to the Cane, October 3 ... ... ... 1685 
 
 Van der Stell returns with his expedition, January 26 1686 
 
 Dutch Ship the Stavenisse wrecked seventy miles south of 
 
 Xatal, February 16 ... ... ... ... 1686 
 
 Yearly fairs established at Stellenbosch ... ... 1686 
 
 Court house & residence for Landdrost built at Stellenbosch 1686 
 
 Portuguese Ship, Nostra Senora de los Milagros wrecked 
 
 between Capes Agulhas and False, April 16 ... 1686 
 
 The ketch Bona Ventura of London wrecked at St. Lucia 
 
 Bay in Zululand, December 25 ... ... ... 1686 
 
528 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 Crew of Stavenisse with the help of crew of Good Hope 
 wrecked at Natal Bay, build a little vessel which they 
 name Centaurus and sail for Cape, February ... 1687 
 
 Stone of first Church laid at Stellenbosch, Feb. 14 ... 1687 
 Centaurus arrived Table Bay, March 1 ... ... 1687 
 
 Three of the crew of the Good Hope and an Englishman 
 and a Frenchman belonging to the wreck Bona 
 Ventura, of London, wrecked at St. Lucia Bay, having 
 formed connections with the Kafirs, at the last 
 moment prefer to stay in Natal ... ... ... 1687 
 
 Church opened for use in Stellenbosch, October 19 ... 1687 
 Drakenstein established, named after the Lord of Mydrecht 1687 
 The Commander Simon Van der Stell personally in- 
 spected False Bay and called it after himself 
 "Simon's Bay" ... ... ... ... 1687 
 
 Centaurus purchased by Company and then sent back to 
 look for missing crew of Stavenisse. Rescued seventeen 
 of them and a French boy — only survivor of a boat's 
 crew left behind by a passing ship beyond the Kei off 
 Cove Rock. Reached Cape again (Feb. 19, 1688) ... 1687 
 The Voorschoten sailed with twenty-two French Hugue- 
 nots from Delftshaven, for the Cape, Dec. 31 ... 1687 
 The Boi-ssrnburg sailed with Huguenots tor Cape — 
 
 January 6 ... ... ... ... ... 1688 
 
 The Oosterland left Middelburg with twenty- four Hugue- 
 nots for Cape, January 29 ... ... ... 1688 
 
 The China sailed from Rotterdam with thirty-four 
 
 Huguenots for Cape, twelve died on voyage, March 20 1688 
 Voorsehoten turned up at Saldanha Bay, April 13 ... 1688 
 The Zuid Beveland sailed from Middelburg, passengers 
 
 all lost, except Parson Simond and wife, April 22 ... 1688 
 First Huguenot emigrants arrive at Cape, April ... 1688 
 
 The galiot Noord dispatched to look for the missing men 
 from the Stavenisse, who started to walk overland to 
 the Cape, October 19 ... ... ... ... 1688 
 
 First schoolmaster of Drakenstein appointed, salary £l 
 
 18s. per mouth, November 8 ... ... ... 1688 
 
 Noord arrives Delagoa Bay, November 15 ... ... 1688 
 
 And leaves there, De ember 29 ... ... ... 1688 
 
 And anchors off the Bluff at Port Natal, January 4 ... 1689' 
 Where they picked up two of the crew of the Stavenisse 1689 
 Noord leaves Natal, January 23 ... ... ... 1689* 
 
 Old man, one of the crew of the Stavenisse, swims off from 
 near Cove Rock — said that two white men had lately 
 started for Natal, January 28 ... ... ... 1689* 
 
 Huguenots arrived in Wapen van Alkimaar from Texel, 
 
 January 29 ... ... ... ... ... 1689- 
 
APPENDIX A. 
 
 529 
 
 Noord reached Table Bay, February 6 ... ... 1689 
 
 Zion arrives with Huguenots. Abraham, Pierre, and Ja:iob 
 de Villiers, vine dressers from Rochelle, came in her, 
 May 6 ... ... ... ... ... 1689 
 
 The Company import stud horses from Persia, and asses, 
 
 and Spanish rams .. ... ... ... 1689 
 
 Noord is again sent eastwards to survey Algoa Bay, and 
 buy that and Xatal from the Natives, also to try and 
 find the nine missing crew of the Stavenisse, Oct. 28 1689 
 She arrived in Natal, December 9 ... ... ... 1689 
 
 And three men of the Stavenisse were found and taken on 
 
 board, and the desired purchase of territory effected 1689 
 Noord sails from Natal, January 11 ... ... ... 1690 
 
 Arrives at Baya de Lagoa (Bay of the Lake) Algoa Bay, 
 
 January 15 ... ... ... ... ... 1690 
 
 Noord wrecked 15 miles west of Cape St. Francis, Jan. 16 1690 
 Eighteen of her crew started on foot for the Cape, taking 
 
 muskets and provisions, Jan 23 ... ... 1690 
 
 The mate of the Noord, Theunis Van der Schelling 
 with three companions, arrived at Cape, and reported 
 the loss of the Noord, March 27 ... ... 1690 
 
 Huguenots allowed by Chamber of Seventeen to have a 
 Church at Drakenstein under certain restrictions, 
 December 6 ... ... ... ... ... 1690 
 
 Simon Yan der Stel promoted from Commander to be 
 Governor — he was the last of the Cape Comman- 
 ders—December 14 ... ... ... ... 1690 
 
 Instructions arrive to give out ground so that Huguenots a nd 
 Dutch will be obliged to mixup — consequently in two 
 generations there was no perceptible distinction, June 1691 
 Mr. Cornelis Liunes appointed Landdrost of Stellenbosch. 
 He was the second one, Johannes Mulder having 
 been the first, June 12 ... ... ... 1691 
 
 Four hundred and twenty-four ships, i.e. 339 Dutch — 
 forty-six English, twenty-three French — thirteen 
 Danish and three Portusuese — appeared in Table 
 Bay during the ten years that ended, Dec. 31 ... 1691 
 Simon Van der Stel abdicated, succeeded by his sou 
 
 (Elder died) 1712 ... ... ... ... 1699 
 
 2,000 Cattle taken from Hottentots by foraging party, ... 1702 
 Eig-ht of Company's ships wrecked in Table Bay, 2J7 
 
 lives lost, May 20 ... ... ... ... 1737 
 
 Swellendam takes its uame from Commander Hendrik 
 
 Swellengrebel, ... ... ... ... 1739 
 
 Gamtoos River the eastern boundary, ... ... 1742 
 
 1 M 
 
o30 
 
 APPENDIH A. 
 
 La Caille, the French Astronomer, took up his residence 
 No. 2 Strand-street, Cape Town, and measured an 
 arc of the Meridian, ... ... ... ... 1715 
 
 Ship Doddington wrecked near Algoa Bay, 197 lives 
 
 lost, July 17 ... ... ... ... ... 1755 
 
 Kaapmans and Gomachquas fight against Burghers, first 
 
 Native War, ... ... ... ... ... 1759 
 
 Census taken — Company's servants' 1,356 — sick in 
 Hospital, 399 — Colonists ot European extraction, 
 7,949— slaves, 7,187— 917 children —Cattle, 3,231— 
 Horses, 307— Sheep, 244— (Martin British Colonies) ? 1 769 
 Sparrman, the traveller, arrived at the Cape ... ... 1772 
 
 Capt. Cook's second visit to the Cape ... ... 1772 
 
 Thunberg visits the Cape ... ... ... ... 1772 
 
 The Jonge Thomas wrecked in Table Bay (Woltemaade) 1773 
 Beginning of series of Commandos against native races 
 
 begun ... ... ... ... ... 1774 
 
 Commander Anson visits the Cape ... ... 1774 
 
 The English fleet — Bomney 50 guns, Commodore John- 
 stone ; Hero, 74 guns ; Monmouth, 64 guns ; Jupiter, 
 50 guns ; Isis, 50 guns ; Apollo, 38 guns ; Jason, 
 36 guus ; Active, 32 guns ; Diana, 28 guns ; 
 Infernal, Fireship ; Terror, Bomb. Cruizers, cutters, 
 &c, &c, in all forty-six sails, sail from Spithead, 
 but being knocked about in engagement with 
 SufFren, return to Europe and India — ... ... 1781 
 
 First Xoxa — Commando under Van Jaarsveld ... 1781 
 
 Amsterdam Battery built at Cape ... ... ... 1781 
 
 Several buildings in the Castle re- built ... ... 1782 
 
 Grosvenor wrecked a little north ef the Umzimvubu 
 
 mouth, August 4 ... ... ... ... 1782 
 
 Governor Plettenberg issues paper currency ... 1782 
 
 Van Reenen's expedition in search of suivivors of the 
 
 Grosvenor ... ... ... ... ... 1790 
 
 A strong Commando against Bushmen went out under 
 
 Van der Walt ... ... ... ... 1792 
 
 Nine English ships sailed into Simon's Bay — Monarch, 74 
 guns, Vice- Admiral George Elphin stone ; America, 64 
 guns, Capt. Blankett ; Buby, 64 guns, Capt. Stanhope ; 
 Stately, 64 guns, Capt. Douglas ; Arrogant, 74 guns, 
 Capt. Lucas ; Victorieuse, 74 guns, Capt. Clark ; 
 Sphinx, 24 guns, Capt. Brind ; Echo, 16 guns, Cant. 
 Hardy ; Battlesnake, 16 guns, Capt Spranger, June... 1795 
 Boer rebellion ■ in Graaff-Reinet and Swellendam, 
 
 in Sluysken's time ... ... ... ... 1795 
 
 English ships open fire upon Muizenburg position, 
 
 August 8 ... ... ... ... ... 1795 
 
APPENDIX A. 
 
 531 
 
 Fifteen English ships containing 3.000 men arrive at 
 
 Cape, September 4 ... ... ... ... 1795 
 
 5.000 men marched to Wynberg and took possession of 
 the camp there, while 4 ships were sent to make a 
 demonstration in Table Bay, September 14 ... ... 1795 
 
 Sluysken surrenders Cape to British, and General Craig 
 
 takes possession, September ... ... ... 1795 
 
 Capture by the British of the Dutch fleet under Lucas, 
 
 August 17 ... ... ... ... ... 1796 
 
 The Earl of Macartney arrived at the Cape, and assumed 
 
 the reins of Government, AT ay 4 ... ... 1797 
 
 The Earl of Macartney leaves the Cape for England, 
 
 November 20 ... ... ... ... 1798 
 
 Funds of the Dutch Church at the Cape £22,168 ... 1798 
 South African Missionary Society established ... 1799 
 
 A convict ship, the Hillsborough, bound from England to 
 Botany Bay, lands the first missionaries of the 
 London Society, March ... ... ... 1799 
 
 First Cape Gazette"published, October 24 ... ... 1800 
 
 Large Dutch force took possession of the Cape according 
 
 to the treaty of Amiens. (27th March, 1802.) ... 1803 
 Commissary General De Mist left Cape in February ... 1805 
 Fleet under General Baird anchored off Table Bay, Jan. 4 1806 
 Battle of Blaauwberg, January 8 ... ... ... 1806 
 
 Cape Town capitulates to British, January 10 ... 1806 
 
 Dutch again give up Cape to Geueral Baird and Sir Home 
 
 Popharn at Hottentots Holland, January 18 ... 1806 
 
 Sir David Baird caused a corps of Hottentot infantry to 
 be formed who were afterwards the celebrated Cape 
 Mounted Riflemen, (regulars) .. ... ... 1806 
 
 Sir David Baird left the Cape by the Paragon, leaving the 
 Commander of the forces, Lieut. General Grey, as 
 Lieut. Governor, January 24 ... ... ... 1807 
 
 Du Pre, Earl of Caledon, proclaimed Governor of the 
 
 Cape, May ... ... ... ... ... 1807 
 
 Dr. Burchell the traveller arrived at Cape ... ... 1810 
 
 Sir John Cradock appointed Governor ... ... 1811 
 
 Dr. Van der Kemp died ... .;. ... ... 1811 
 
 First Kafir (and English) war ... ... 1811—1812 
 
 Colonel Graham with large force of military and burghers 
 
 forces 20,000 natives across the Fish Kiver 1811 — 1812 
 The Missionary Campbell made his first journey north- 
 wards in ... ... ... ... ... 1812 
 
 Cape Colony finally surrendered to England, April 13 1814 
 Lord Charles Somerset Governor ... ... ... 1814 
 
 Possession of Cape by England ratified (finally) by the 
 
 Congress of Vienna ... .. ... 1815 
 
 1m2 
 
532 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 Dr. Latrobe arrived ... ... ... ... 1815 ; 
 
 Boer Rebellion Graaff-Reinet ... ... ... 1815 
 
 Slachter's Neck affair, March 6 ... ... ... 1816 
 
 Wesleyan Missions first established ... ... ... 1816 
 
 AVorcester founded ... ... ... ... 1816 
 
 Three thousand three hundred and fifty two military and 
 burghers assembled under Colonel Brereton to restore 
 Ngqika to his supremacy and dominions. The latter 
 brought 6,000 fighting.men into the field, December 3 1818- 
 
 Secoud Kafir War ... ... ... 1818 
 
 Ex-President M. W. Pretorius born, September ... 1819 
 
 European Hunters begin to penetrate the country between 
 
 Cornet Spruit and the Caledon ... ... ... 1819 1 
 
 The two first vessels bringing the first of the Albany 
 Settlers, the Chapman and Nautilus, left Gravesend 
 on the 3rd December, 1819, and arrived in Table Bay 
 (Algoa Bay first discovered by Diaz 1486 — Taken 
 possession of by Dutch 1785. The English in 1798 
 built a stone defence on the Hill above the landing 
 place), March 17 ... ... ... ... 1820- 
 
 Port Elizabeth founded by settlers, April 20 ... ... 1820 
 
 Captain Duncan Campbell (the godfather of the present 
 writer) and Mr. Miles Bowker appointed as 
 " Assessors ; ' or " Ileemraden," under Col. Jones, for 
 the district of Albany ... ... ... ... 1821 
 
 W'aterboer succeeds Adam Kok in Griqualand West ... 1821 
 President Brand born, December 6 ... ... ... 1823- 
 
 Waves of war emanating from Zululand, began to roll over 
 
 the Barolong country ... ... ... ... 1823 
 
 Ljeut. Farewell arrives at Xatal ... ... ... 1823 
 
 First number of the South African Commercial Advertiser 
 published by Mr. John Fairbairn and Pringle the 
 Poet. It was printed in Cape Town by Mr. George 
 Greig, January 7 ... ... ... ... 1824 
 
 Lord Charles Somerset suspends the Advertiser, May 17 1824 
 In the winter Moshesh takes possession of Thaba Bosigo 1824 
 Mr. Fvnn and twenty-four others sail from Table Bay to 
 
 Port Natal ... ... ... ... ... 1824 
 
 Paul Kruger born, October 10 ... ... ... 1825 
 
 First steamer (the Enterprise) entered Table Bay, Oct. 13 1825 
 Sir Richard Bourke arrives as Governor of Cape, Feb. 9 1826- 
 Lord Charles Somerset leaves the Cape, May ... ... 1826 
 
 Major Dundas, Landdrost of Albany, sent by the Governor 
 
 of Cape on mission to Tshaka, July ... ... 1828 
 
 Matiwane's power completely broken, August ... 1828 
 
 King at Port Xatal, September ... ... ... 1828- 
 
APPENDIX A. 
 
 533 
 
 'Tshaka murdered by Dingaan and tTmhlungwaria near 
 
 Stanger, September 23 ... ... ... ... 1828 
 
 Dutch Courts of Law first abolished at the Cape ... 1828 
 
 Free Press granted on appeal, April 30 ... ... 1829 
 
 Eev. Shaw visits Faku at his place at the Umgazi. May 1829 
 Rev. W. Shepstone founds the " Morley Station" among 
 
 Depa's people ... ... ... ... ... 1829 
 
 X)r. Cowie of Albany visits Dingaan ... ... ... 1829 
 
 Missionaries from the Paris Evangelical Society arrive in 
 Lesuto. and spread themselves, i.e. Bisseux, Holland, 
 Lemue, and Pallissier ... ... ... ... 1829 
 
 The Buntingville Mission commenced by Revs. Boyce 
 
 and Tainton ... ... ... ... ... 1830 
 
 Urnziligazi and the Lions " master'' of the region of the 
 
 Transvaal and Free State .. ... ...1830-1 
 
 T^mziligazi with his Madebele* falls upon the Bangwaketse 1830-1 
 L'mziligazi's (Madebele) Impi attempt to take Thaba 
 Bosigo — failed — and being beaten by Moshesh retired 
 and never returned ... ... ... ... 1831 
 
 Dingaan sends a regiment to destroy John Cane and his 
 Kafirs — People at Natal bolt, but return — Isaacs 
 does not ... ... ... ... ... 1831 
 
 JBarend Barend Griquas attack L'mziligazi ... ... 1831 
 
 Sir Lowry Cole leaves the Cape and Lieut. Col. Wade 
 
 takes his place. August ... ... ... 1833 
 
 Sir Benjamin D'Lrban (the Good) arrives as Governor, 
 
 January 16 ... ... ... ... ... 1834 
 
 10,000 hostile natives poured into the Cape Colony in the 
 
 night between Dec. 21 and 22 ... ... ... 1834 
 
 Piet Lys, C. L"ys, H. de Lange. S. Maritz, and Gert 
 Rudolph arrive at Port Xatal. and return to Cape 
 Colony on hearing of the '34 war ... ... 1834 
 
 Dingaan retires north of Tagela ... ... ... 1834 
 
 Sir Benjamin D'Urban makes Convention with Andries 
 
 Waterboer about defending northern boundary ... 1834 
 Capt. Allen F. Gardener pays first visit to Xatal, Jan. ... 1835 
 
 Hintza shot by G. Southey^May 13 ... ... ... 1835 
 
 Jn consequence of what Mr. Chase calls " unscrupulous 
 rumours," circulated and sent home by the members 
 of the Londou Society's Mission House, Cape Town. 
 Lord Glenelg reversed the policy of Sir Benjamin 
 D'L^rban, and a sad string of troubles set in. The 
 first was the Great Boer Trek of 1835, Dec. 28 ... 1835 
 Third Kafir War, ... ... ... ... 1835 
 
 First American Missionary arrived in South Africa, ... 1835 
 
 * Properly Amandebele. The comparatively mild Bechuana tribes are 
 terrified at the very name of li Le-Debele." - 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 First Pioneer of the Great Trek left after the close of 
 thirty-five war with forty-eight others — men 
 women and children. This man. Louis Triechard 
 was violently anti- English. Sir Harry (then 
 Colonel) Smith had offered 500 head of cattle for 
 his apprehension, which led to his leaving at once ... 1835 
 Potchefstroom laid out, January 25 .. ... ... 1836 
 
 Triechard and Rensburg reach Zoutpansberg, May ... 1836 
 Madebele attack the Camp of Erasmus and kill two 
 
 Boers, October ... ... ... ... 1836 
 
 Embassy sent by Sir Benjamin D'Urban for peace, and to 
 re-establish missions destroyed to Kreli. Vadana, 
 and Faku. Capt. Delaney, (75th Regt.) Revd. 
 Palmer, and William Fynn went with it ... ... 1836 
 
 Potgieter's party of Emigrants settle in the Orange 
 
 River Free State, ... ... ... ... 1836 
 
 Battle between Boers and Umziligazi, ... ... 1836 
 
 Boers and Griquas under Maritz leave Thaba Nchu to 
 
 invade Umziligazi's country, January 3 ... ... 1837 
 
 Boers capture the capital of Umziligazi, Mosega, Jan. 17 1837 
 Retief s band of Emigrants arrive at Thaba Nchu, and the 
 former was then elected Commandant-General over 
 the 1,000 collected emigrants, April ... ... 1837 
 
 Capt. Gardiner visits Natal again, bringing Revd. Owen, 
 
 from England, June ... ... ... ... 1837 
 
 Arrival of Peter Retief and first party of Dutch 
 
 Emigrants in Natal, October 19 ... ... 1837 
 
 First Boers settled in Natal, October 22 ... ... 1837 
 
 Hendrik Potgieter and Piet Uys' Commando attack the 
 Madebele at Marikwa, and chase Umziligazi over 
 the Limpopo, November ... ... ... 1837 
 
 Sir George Napier arrives as Governor, January ... 1838 
 
 Murder of Retief and party by Dingaan, February 4 ... 1838 
 Triechard reaches Delagoa Bay, where fever decimates 
 
 his party, April ... ... ... ... 1838 
 
 Prince of Orange visits the Cape, May ... ... 1838 
 
 Slaves declared free in Cape Colony, December 1 ... 1838 
 
 Capt. Jarvis lands at Natal, December 3 ... ... 1838 
 
 Dingaan and his party of 10,000 routed by Pretorius and 
 460 Boers, 3,000 of the Zulus being killed, and only 
 three Boers wounded, December 16 ... ... 1838 
 
 Faku moves from the Umgazi to the Umzimhlovu, short 
 
 distance North of St. John's ... ... ... 1838 
 
 Hendiik Potgieter takes up his residence on the Mooi 
 
 River — Transvaal, — and founds Potchefstroom ... 1838 
 
 * Properly " Dingana." 
 
APPENDIX A. 
 
 335 
 
 Piet Uys, (the elder) killed by Zulus ... ... 1838 
 
 Bloody Battles near the mouth of the Tugela River, 
 between Xatal armies of white and black and Zulus 
 under Dingaan ... ... ... 1838 
 
 Major Charteris takes possession of Xatal ... ... 1838 
 
 Dr. Adams and Revd. D. Lindley return to Xatal June ... 1839 
 Mazeppa sent for Triechard and remnant of party (25) 
 
 land at Port Xatal, July ... ... ... 1839 
 
 Capt. Jarvis and his .roops abandon Xatal, Dec. 24 ... 1839 
 BoeT declaration of war against Dingaan. January 4 ... 1840 
 Pande installed by Pretorius as king of Zululand, but as 
 a vassal — Zululand to be an appanage to the 
 "Republic of Xatal," February 14 ... ... 1840 
 
 Wreck of Steamer Hope at Zitzikama, March 11 ... 1840 
 
 Revd. Alden Grout returns to Xatal and joins Dr. Adams 
 
 at the Umlazi. June ... ... ... ... 1840 
 
 Village of Weeuen laid out, .. ... ... 1840 
 
 Combined forces of Boers and Zulus (under Pande) put 
 
 Dingaan to flight, ... ... ... ... 1840 
 
 Capt. J. C. Smith (27th Regt.\ Cape Mounted Rifles 
 under Capt. Varden, a Lieutenant of Artillery, 
 with a few guns and gunners, and a company of 
 Engineers marched from Fort Peddie to take up 
 position at theUmgazi to support Faku — Two subs in 
 the Cape Mounted Rifles ( regulars ) were afterwards 
 Generals — Somerset and Bisset, January 28 ... 1841 
 
 Smellekamp arrives at Port Xatal in Brazilia, March 24 1842 
 Smellekamp and J. X. Boshof leave Maritzburg via Graaf- 
 
 Reinet for Cape Town, April 30 ... ... 1842 
 
 Capt. Smith leaves the Umgazi for Xatal, April ... 1842 
 
 Second military occupation of Xatal bv the British. May 4 1842 
 Battle of Kongella. Capt Smith defeated, May 23 "... 1842 
 Boers capture guard at the Point and a party under 
 Servaas van Breda seize the Pilot and Mazeppa and 
 cargoes — including Smith's personal property. Two 
 soldiers and Charlie Adams shot by Boers at the 
 Point, May 26 ... ... ... ... 1842 
 
 After truce of five days Boers invest and open fire with 
 
 three guns taken — on Smith's camp, May 31 ... 1842 
 
 Pretorius sends Revd. Archbell to propose Smith's women 
 
 in camp leaving by Mazeppa, June L ... ... 1842 
 
 Hundred men of the 27th Regt. under Capt, Durnford, 
 left Algoa Bay in the Conch, to relieve Smith 11th 
 June 1842, and arrived at Port Xatal, June 24 ... 1842 
 Southampton, frigate, sails from Simon's Bay, with wing 
 of 25th Regt. under Colonel Cloete (14th June) and 
 arrived at Xatal during night of. June 25 ... 1842 
 
536 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 Col. Cloete lands troops and takes Port Natal, June 26 ... 1842 
 
 Colonel Cloete, Major D'Urban, Lieuts. Napier, Maclean 
 
 and Fuller go to Maritzburg to palaver, Jul}' 14 1842 
 
 Grout having gone to Zululand, Pande wipes his mission 
 
 station off the face of the earth, July 25 ... ... 1842 
 
 The large Spanish vessel the Sabina twenty souls and 
 cargo (£90,oOO) lost off Cape Receife, near Algoa 
 Bay, August 7 ... ... ... ... 1842 
 
 Sir George Napier appoints Advocate Henry Cloete 
 (brother of the Colonel, and after, Recorder of Natal, 
 and Puisne Judge at the Cape) Her Majesty's Com- 
 missioner for the district of Port Natal, April 23 ... 1843 
 
 Sir George Napier sends 200 rank and file 45th Regt. to 
 
 D'Urban, where they reached, July 21 ... ... 1843 
 
 The Volksraad at Maritzburg signed the peace agreement 
 before Mr. Commissioner Henr}- Cloete — their names 
 were. J. Maritz, President, M. J. Potgieter, P. A. R. 
 Otto, P. M. Zietsman, B. Poortman, M. J. Pretorius, 
 J A. Celliers, G. R. Van Rooyen, G. J. Naude, C. F. 
 Rotman, L. J. Moyer, G. F. Potgieter, P. R. Nel. A. 
 J, Spies, P. G. Human, J. A. Kriei, M. A. Van 
 Aardt, G. C. Viljoen, Gert Snyman,H. J. Van den 
 Berg, A. Z. Visagie, M. Prinsloo, C. A. Ruthman, 
 N. J. S. Basson, J. Bodenstein Secretary, August 8 ... 1843 
 
 Overberg farmers, under Mocke, leave Maritzburg in 
 
 disgust and wrath, August 9 ... ... ... 1843 
 
 Major Smith occupies Fort Napier at Maritzburg with 
 200 men and two guns to protect "submission" 
 Boers against their " rebel " brethren, August 31 ... 1843 
 
 Mr. Henry Cloete leaves D'Urban to go to Pande in 
 Zululand. Mr. C. J. Buissinne, Clerk ; Mr. Joseph 
 Kirkman, Interpreter ; Gerrit Rudolph and Henry 
 Ogle. Mr. D. C, Toohey went as guide, Sept. 8 ... 1843 
 
 Mr. Cloete interviews Pande, October 1 ... ... 1843 
 
 An agreement drawn up in writing, and signed by Pande, 
 extending the boundary of Natal to the Umzinyati 
 from the Tugela to the westward of its junction 
 with it. Natal then recognised the independence 
 of the Zulus. St. Lucia Bay ceded by Pande to 
 British, October 5 ... ... ... ... 1843 
 
 Mr. Cloete returns to D'Urban, October 21 ... ... ]843 
 
 First Civil Servants appointed to the New Colony of 
 Natal viz : — Samuel Woods, Collector of Customs, 
 and George Prestwich, tide waiter, November 21 ... 1843 
 Joachim Prinsloo, Gerrit Rudolph Cornelis Coetzee, and 
 young Buizuidenhout go to Delagoa Bay on horseback 
 to see Mr. Smellekamp, December ... ... 1843 
 
APPENDIX A. 
 
 537 
 
 'Sir P. Maitland succeeds Sir George Xapier as Governor, 
 
 March 18 ... ... ... ... ... 1844 
 
 Celebration by the British Settlers of 1820 in Graham's 
 Town, Port Elizabeth, find other parts, of the jubilee 
 on the 25th year of their sojourn in South Africa, 
 April 10 ... ... ... ... ... 1844 
 
 X^tal to be part of the Cape Colony, by Letters Patent, 
 
 May 31 ... ... ... ... ... 1844 
 
 The Fawn, an old tender with an armed crew, under 
 
 Lieut. Xourse, left Port Xatal, June ... ... 1844 
 
 Faku gets land south of Umzimkulu by treaty signed by 
 
 Sir Peregrine Maitland at Fort Beaufort, Oct. 7 ... 1844 
 Theophilus Shepstone and William Fynn, sent with 
 treaty to Faku, who signed it — Witnesses — Shep- 
 stone, Fynn, Revd. T. Jenkins, Faku's son Xdamasi 
 and four Pondo indunas, October ... ... 1844 
 
 First Postmaster, Mr. William Cowie, D'Urban, Dec. 22... 1844 
 The first Harbour Master, Capt. William Bell, late 
 master of the Conch Likewise Surveyor-General 
 and staff, Dr. William Stanger, appointed January 2 1845 
 Battle of Zwaartkopjes between British and Boers, 
 
 April 30 ... ... ... ... ... 1845 
 
 Ohrigstad founded, July 30 ... ... ... 1845 
 
 Xcapai (father of Makaula) killed in battle with the 
 
 Pondos, July ... ... ... ... .. 1845 
 
 Sir P. Maitland issues Proclamation defining boundaries 
 
 of Xatal, August 21 ... ... ... 1845 
 
 .Mr. Martin West appointed Lieut-Governor for Xatal, 
 Advocate Henry Cloete, Recorder. Donald Moodie, 
 11. X., Secretary to Government. Walter Harding, 
 Crown Prosecutor ; and a few days later, Mr. 
 Theophilus Shepstone, Diplomatic agent for Xative 
 Affairs, December 4 ... ... ... ... 1845 
 
 War "of the Axe" declared, March 31 ... ... 1846 
 
 Forces took the field, April 11 ... ... ... 1846 
 
 .Sandilli attacks troops under Sir Henry Pottinger, 
 
 June 16 ... ... ... ... ... 1847 
 
 Sandilli surrendered, October 19 ... ... ... 1847 
 
 Affair on the Goolah Heights, ... ... ... 1847 
 
 Battle of Boomplaats, between the British and the Boers, 
 and Orange Free State taken from the latter, 
 August 29 ... ... ... ... ... 1848 
 
 Agulhas lighthouse started, March 1 ... ... ... 1849 
 
 .Arrival of Convict Ship Neptune, September lo ... i849 
 
 Colonel Boys, 45th Regt, appointed administrator of 
 
 Xatal, August 2 ... ... ... ... 1849 
 
 First Bishop of Cape Town, Dr. Gray appointed, ... 1849 
 
538 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 Anti-Convict movement at Cape, ... ... ... 1849- 
 
 Order of revocation received and the unfortunate Neptune 
 left Simon's Bay, after a five months' detention, and 
 the Anti-convict Association was dismissed, Feb. 13 1850 
 Fourth Kafir War (British Kaffraria, lasting about two- 
 and-a-half years, ... ... ... ... 1850 
 
 His Honour B. C. C. Pine appointed Lieut. Governor of 
 
 Natal, ... ... ... ... ... 1850 
 
 Battle of the Boomah Pass, Dr. Stewart shot, and Capt. 
 
 Bisset wounded by Sandilli's Kafirs, Dec. 24 ... 1850 
 
 Expedition against Dushani, ... ... ... 1850 
 
 Between December 24th 1850 and 2lst of October 1851, 
 twelve officers were killed — eighteen wounded ; 195 
 soldiers killed and 364 wounded, — ... ... 1851 
 
 Orange Sovereignty declared separate British Colony, ... 1851 
 Sikwate (Swaziland) died, September 21 ... ... 1851 
 
 Battle of Berea between British and Basutos, ... ... 1852 
 
 Andries AVaterboer died, and Nicholas his son succeeded 
 
 him, ... ... ... ... 1852 
 
 Tranrvaal declared independent by Cathcart, ... ... 1852 
 
 Attack on Water Kloof by Kafirs, March 3 ... ... 1852 
 
 Sand River Convention approved by Yolksraad, March 18 1852 
 Engagement of Koonap Heights, June 17 ... ... 1852. 
 
 Execution of Pieterse at Potchefstroom, June 25 ... 1852 
 
 General Andries Pretorius, President of Transvaal 
 Republic, died, and his son, Martinus Wessels 
 Pretorius, succeeded him, July 23 ... ... 1853 
 
 Discovery of Zambesi Victoria Falls, ... ... 1853 
 
 Treaty of Peace, Transvaal with Montsiwa, October 14... 1853 
 Orange Sovereignty abandoned to the Boers by the 
 
 British, ... ... ... ... ... 1854 
 
 Introduction of Steam Press printing at the Cape, 
 
 August 10 ... ... ... ... ... 1854 
 
 After withdrawal of British authority from Free State, 
 first Boer Volkraad assembled at Bloemfontein, and 
 shortly afterwares elected, J. P. Hoffman as Presi- 
 dent of Executive, March 28 ... ... ... 1854 
 
 Mr. John Burnet appointed Civil Commissioner and 
 Resident Magistrate of Aliwal North, by Sir George 
 Gray in lieu of his position as British Agent at 
 Bloemfontein, April ... ... ... ... 1855 
 
 Free State Burgher force march against Witsi — son of 
 
 Moshesh with them, May ... ... ... 1855 
 
 Mr. Jaco' us Nicholas Boshof, installed as President, 
 
 August 27 ... ... ... ... ... 1855 
 
 Battle between Cetywayo and Umbulazi, on the banks of 
 
 the lower Tugula, Deeember 2 ... ... ... 1856 
 
APPENDIX A. 
 
 539 
 
 The head-quarters of the German Legion arrived in the 
 
 Cape Colony, men. including officers — 351 — women 
 
 373— children 178 — January 28 ... ... ... 1857 
 
 False Prophet tells Xosas to kill cattle, February 18 ... 1857 
 Lydenburg: secedes from Transvaal Republic, March 1L 1857 
 First Transvaal paper issued — i.e. the " Oude Emigrant " 
 
 October 15 ... ... ... ... ... 1857 
 
 The Affair of Matyaua. ... ... ... ... 1858 
 
 M. W. Pretorius re-elected President of Transvaal, Fed. 18 1858 
 War against the Basutos proclaimed at Bloemfontein, 
 
 March 19 ... ... ... ... ... 1858 
 
 Moperi and Molitsane defeated at Korrannaberg, by 
 
 Commandant Pretorius, March 25 ... ... 1858 
 
 Xehemiah and Poshuli repulsed. March 28 ... ... 1858 
 
 Eeersheba Mission station under Mr. Holland, wrecked 
 
 by Basutos.March 28 ... ... ... ... 1858 
 
 Senekal elected Commandant General in place of Weber, 
 
 April 25 ... ... ... 1858 
 
 Boshof writes to Sir G. Grey to intercede ' ; as a humane 
 
 and Christian act." April 27 ... ... ... 1858 
 
 Boshof sues Moshesh for peace : armistice arranged. June 1 1858 
 Sir G. Grey reaches Bloemfontein, August 20 ... ... 1858 
 
 Treaty with Moshesh signed October 15 ... ... 1858 
 
 Mr. J. X. Boshof resigns (Snyman acting) Feb. 21 ... 1859 
 Mr. M. Pretorius made President of Orange Free State, 
 
 February 21 ... ... ... ... ... i860 
 
 Boer union with Lydenburg, April 4 ... ... 1860 
 
 Bushmen with Poshuli's Basutos plunder farm house 
 
 June 20 ... ... ... ... ... i860 
 
 Prince Alfred (Duke of Edinburgh) arrives at Cape Town, 
 
 July 24 ... ... ... 1860 
 
 Moshesh with twenty-five of his chiefs, and an escort of 
 
 300 men wait on Prince Alfred at Aliwal Xorth 
 
 August 24 ... ... ... ... ... 1860 
 
 Sir Harry Smith dies. October 11 ... ... ... i860 
 
 Adam Kok abandons his land to Free State, Dec 26 ... 1861 
 Sir Philip Wodehouse arrives, January 15 ... ... 1862 
 
 Two of Poshuli's captains with Moshesh's concurrence 
 
 attack Jan Letele, January 3 ... ... ... 1862. 
 
 Kok arrives and occupies Lmzimvubu Yalley, Jan. .. 1863 
 Griquas under Adam Kok trek to Southern slopes of 
 
 Drakenberg,. .. ... ... ... ... 1863 
 
 Sir Philip Wodehouse appointed High Commissioner, 
 
 January 15 ... ... ... ... ... 1863 
 
 Pretorius resigns in Free State, J. J. Tenter acting, 
 
 March 5 ... ... ... ... ... 1863 
 
 Mr. John H. Brand assumes office as President, Feb. 2 ... 1864. 
 
540 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 Sir Philip Wodehouse arrives at Aliwal North, March 16 1864 
 M. W. Preterms third time President of Transvaal, 
 
 May 10 ... ... ... ... ... 1864 
 
 Ramelana's Basutos attack the Border Guard near Harri- 
 
 smith, December 27 ... ... ... ... 1865 
 
 Griquas drive robber bands of Nehemiah and Poshuli 
 
 from their fastnesses, March ... ... ... 1865 
 
 Fearful storm in Table Bay. Eighteen vessels were 
 
 driven on shore, including the Mail Steamer Athens, 
 
 in which every soul perished. Loss of life, seventy 
 
 souls— Loss of Property £100,000, May 17 ... 1865 
 
 The President calls the Burghers to arms, June 9 ... 1865 
 General Fick attacks Moperi. June 14 ... ... 1865 
 
 Poshuli and Morosi ravage country, junction Caledon 
 
 and Wilgeboom Rivers, killing thirteen white men, 
 
 June 20 ... ... ... ... ... 1865 
 
 Murder of Pretorius' family by Ramelana's Kafirs on the 
 
 Drakensberg, June 27 ... ... ... ... 1865 
 
 Sir Philip Wodehouse proclaims neutrality at Cape Town. 
 
 Ramelana raids into Natal, June 27 ... ... 1865 
 
 Two hundred and fifty Boers engage large army of 
 
 Moshesh, and beat it, June 28 ... ... ... 1865 
 
 Wepener with 240 storm Vecht Kop, Poshuli's stronghold, 
 
 and take it, July 14 ... ... ... ... 1865 
 
 General Fick takes the Berea Mountain, Chapman, 
 
 Oliver and Bertram first men on top, July 25 ... 1865 
 Five hundred Barolong under T'sepinare, join the Free 
 
 State Forces, July 26 ... ... ... ... 1865 
 
 Wepener routs Letsia's force, July 31 .. ... 1865 
 
 Attempt of Free State forces to take Thaba Bosigo by 
 
 storm, failed, August 8 ... ... ... 1865 
 
 Another assault on Mountain made, and Wepener killed, 
 
 August 15 ... ... ... ... ... 1865 
 
 Paul Kruger and Transvaal Burghers attacked by 
 
 MoJapo's followers, six Boers killed — and fifty-four 
 
 Basutos, September 29 ... ... ... 1865 
 
 •Combined Burgher forces have victorious engagement 
 
 with enemy in large force by Cathcart's drift on the 
 
 Caledon, October 23 ... ... ... ... 1865 
 
 Engagement between 450 Burghers under Fick, and some 
 
 300 Basutos at Platberg, December 6 ... ... 1865 
 
 Expedition against Isidoi, December 6 ... ... 1866 
 
 Expedition against Ukane, December 6 ... ... 1866 
 
 Molapo's warriors attack the village of Bethlehem, 
 
 January 22 ... ... ... ... ... 1566 
 
 Commandant de Villiers with 200 men defeated 2,000 of 
 
 Molapo's and Ramelana's warriors, February 19 ... 1866 
 
APPENDIX A. 
 
 541 
 
 Mr. F. Senekal — Commandant in 1858 — killed while 
 
 leading a partrol belonging to above force, Feb. 21 1866- 
 Treaty between Free State and Molapo entered into, 
 
 March 26 ... ... ... ... ... 1866 
 
 Mr. Hendrik Oostenwald Dreyer killed in returning forage 
 
 on Basutos in Witsi's Hoek. March 29 ... ... 1866 
 
 Peace made with Moshesh, April 3 ... ... ... 1866 
 
 Great rejoicing in Boer Commando, April 4 ... ... 1866 
 
 First Diamond found in South Africa, ... ... 1867 
 
 Two Free tate Commandos under J. I. J. Fick and J. 
 
 G. Pansegrouw enter ceded territory, March 12 ... 1866- 
 Moshesh in letter to High Commissioner, recedes from 
 
 treaty of March 18 ... ... ... ... 1867 
 
 An English Trader — Bush — murdered uear Makuatling, 
 
 by grandson of Molitsane, June ... ... ... 1867 
 
 The President of Transvaal calls out Burghers and pro- 
 claims Martial Law, July 16 ... ... ... 1867 
 
 A great natural fortress, Makwai's Mountain taken by 
 
 Commandant Pansegrouw division, Sept. 25 ... 1867' 
 Tandjesberg taken by storm by Pansegrouw. Poshuli, 
 
 brother of Moshesh killed, January 28 ... ... 1868 
 
 Pansegrouw brigade take Kieme, the stronghold of 
 
 Letsia, February 22 .... ... ... ... 1868 
 
 Basutoland proclaimed British Territory by Wodehouse, 
 
 March 12 ... ... ... ... ... 1868 
 
 Free State deputation leaves for England, May 26 ... 1868 
 Sir Walter Currie with Police received by Moshesh at 
 
 Thaba Bosigo, March 26 ... ... ... 1868 
 
 First Diamond found on Diamond Fields in Griqualand 
 
 West ... ... ... ... ... 1869 
 
 Sir P. Wodehouse visits Noman'sland, March ... 1870 
 
 Moshesh died, March 11 ... ... ... ... 1870 
 
 Deed of Submission of Waterboer, March 1 ... ... 1871 
 
 Diamond Fields annexed ... ... ... ... 1871 
 
 Mr. M. Pretorius resigned, Mr. Burgers succeeding him 1871 
 Governor Keate awards Bloemhof Arbitration, October 17 1871 
 Griqualand West ceded to British by Nicholas Waterboer, 
 
 he receiving an annunity of £1,000 per annum, 
 
 October 27 ... ... ... ... ... 1871 
 
 Annexation of Basutoland to the Cape ratified by the 
 
 Queen in Council, November 3 ... ... ... 1871 
 
 President Burgers sworn in at Transvaal, July 1 ... 1872 
 
 Urn Pande died, November 19 ... ... ... 1872 
 
 Responsible Government Established at Cape Town, 
 
 November 23 ... ... ... ... .. 1872. 
 
 Livingstone died, May 4 ... ... ... ... 1873 
 
 Coronation of Cetywayo, September 1 ... ... 1873- 
 
'42 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 Troops march against Langalibalele, October 30 ... 1873 
 Langalibalele Rebellion. Three Volunteers phot at Bush- 
 man's Pass, November 4 ... ... ... 1873 
 
 First trsk of Boers to Damaraland, May 27 ... ... 1874 
 
 Second trek of Boers to Damaraland, April 29 ... 1875 
 
 Sir Christopher Brand died, May 18 ... ... 1875 
 
 Sekukuni's Rebellion began, against Boers, March 7 ... 1876 
 
 President Burgers returned from Europe, April 21 ... 1876 
 
 Battle at Mothibi's Kop, July 5 ... ... ... 1876 
 
 Boer attack on Sekukuni's Mountain failed, August 2 ... 1876 
 
 Sekukuni's Kafirs attack Fort Burgers, September 30 ... 1876 
 
 Mathebi's engagement with D.F.Y. ? December 2 ... 1876 
 
 Sixth Kafir War, Gcaleka ... ... ... ... 1877 
 
 Sekukuni signed treaty of peace with Boers, February 16 1877 
 
 Cape Town Exhibition opened, April, 4 ... ... 1877 
 
 Annexation of Transvaal to England, April 12 ... 1877 
 
 Railway opened to King William's Town, May 5 ... 1877 
 
 British Flag hoisted at Pretoria, May 25 ... ... 1877 
 
 Gcaleka invasion of Fingoland, August 9 ... ... 1877 
 
 Fight between Gcaleka and Fingoes, August 29 ... 1877 
 
 Mr. Trollope visited Natal, September 15 ... ... 1877 
 
 Kreli deposed, October 11 ... ... ... ... 1877 
 
 Mabel wrecked, four lives lost, October 28 ... ... 1877 
 
 Gcaleka War, November 13 ... ... ... 1877 
 
 Fight at Umtata, November 14 ... ... 1877 
 
 Stanley arrives. November 15 ... ... ... 1877 
 
 Opening of Telegraph to Cape, January 24 ... ... 1878 
 
 Second Sekukuni's War began, February 8 ... ... 1878 
 
 Zulu border commission appointed, April 12 ... ... 1878 
 
 Smith Palmer, a .Griqua, and eighteen of his men, shot by 
 
 Capt. Blyth's Party in Griqualand East, April 14 ... 1878 
 
 Korannas attack Damaras in Namaqualand ... ... 1878 
 
 Battle Burns Hill, Cape Colony, April 30 ... ... 1878 
 
 Tini Macomo taken prisoner. May 28 ... ... 1878 
 
 Sandilli killed ... ... ... ... ... 1§7« 
 
 Engagement at Koegas, June 6 ... ... ... 1878 
 
 Engagement at Magnet Heights, June 17 ... ... 1878 
 
 Eugagement with Korannas, Griquas, and Ngqikas, at 
 
 Kuruman, July 2 ... ... ... ... 1878 
 
 Sir Bartle Frere arrives at D'Urban. September 23 ... 1878 
 
 Publication of Zulu award, December 13 ... ... 1878 
 
 Seventh Kafir War, began in Zululand*, Jan. 11 ... 1879 
 Sir Bartle Frere's proclamation of War against the Zulus, 
 
 January 4 ... ... ... ... ... 1879 
 
 Zulu War began, January 11 ... ... ... 1879 
 
 * The seven important Kafir wars in South Africa run thue :— 1811 : 1818-19 : 
 1834-5 ; 1846-8 : 1C50-3 ; 1«?7-S ; 1879. 
 
APPENDIX A. 343 
 
 Attack on Sirayo's Kraal, January 12 ... ... 1879 
 
 Battle of Isandblwane and Iiiyezane, January 22 ... 1879 
 
 Defence of Rorke's Drift (afternoon), January 22 ... 1879 
 
 Insurrection of Morosi, February 24 ... ... ... 1879 
 
 Sir O. LaiiTon sworn in as Administrator of Transvaal. 
 
 March 4 ... ... ... ... ... 1879 
 
 Affair at the Intombi River, March 12 ... ... 1879 
 
 Affair at the Zlobane, March 28 ... ... ... 1879 
 
 Piet Uys (the younger) killed by Zulus at Hlobane 
 
 Mountain, March 28 ... ... ... ... 1879 
 
 Battle of Kambula, March 29 ... ... ... 1879 
 
 Prince Imperial arrived at Durban, March 31 ... ... 1879 
 
 Battle of Ginginhlovu, April 2 ... ... ... 1879 
 
 Relief of Etshowe, April 4 ... ... ... ... 1879 
 
 Colonial Defeat at Morosi's, April 8 ... ... ... 1879 
 
 Death of Umbelini, April 9 ... ... ... ... 1879 
 
 Orange River rebels defeated, April 28 ... ... 1879 
 
 Home Government announce appointment of Sir Garnet 
 
 Wolseley as Governor ofXatal and Transvaal. May 26 1879 
 
 Prince Imperial of France killed by Zulus, June 1 ... 1879 
 Body of Prince Imperial of France arrives in Maritzburg, 
 
 Jnne8 ... ... ... ... ... 1879 
 
 Body arrives at D'Urban, June 10 ... ... ... 1879 
 
 Boadieea sails with body for Simon's Bay, June 12 ... 1879 
 
 Body arrives at Simon's Bay, June 16 ^ ... ... 1879 
 
 Orontes leaves with the body for England, June 16 ... 1879 
 
 Sir Garnet Wolseley arrives at Cape Town, June 22 ... 1879 
 
 His second arrival in Xatal, June 28 ... ... ... 1879 
 
 He arrives at Greytown, June 30 ... ... ... 1879 
 
 Battle of Ulundi. July 4 ... ... ... ... 1879 
 
 Body of Prince Imperial reaches Spithead, July 10 ... 1879 
 Funeral of Prince Imperial at Camden Place, Chislehurst, 
 
 July 12 ... ... ... ... ... 1879 
 
 Lord Chelmsford arrives at D'Urban from Zululand, 
 
 July 20 ... ... ... ... ... 1879 
 
 Telegraph opened to Lorenco Marquez, July 23 ... 1879 
 
 Amampondos attack Xesibes ... ... ... 1879 
 
 Douker Malgas, his brother and seven Griqualand rebels, 
 
 shot dead. Outbreak considered quelled, July 28 ... 1879 
 
 Sir Garnet Wolseley arrives at Rorke's Drift, August 14 1879 
 
 Capture of Cetywayo, August 28 ... ... ... 1879 
 
 Cetywayo arrived in Cape Town, September 15 ... 1879 
 
 Telegraph opened to Pretoria, September 20 ... ... 1879 
 
 Sir Bartle Frere anived in Xatal. September 23 ... 1879 
 
 Sir Garnet Wolseley arrives at Pretoria, September 27 ... 1879 
 Sir Garnet Wolseley sworn in as Governor of Transvaal. 
 
 September 29 ... ... ... ... ... 1879 
 
544 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 Remainder of Principal Zulu Chiefs surrender to Sir 
 
 Garnet Wolseley, September 29 ... ... ... 1879* 
 
 Storming of Sekukuni's stronghold by Wolseley, Nov. 28 1879 
 
 Sir Henry Bulwer left Natal ... ... ... 1880 
 
 Empress Eugenie arrived at D'Urban, April 23 ... 1880 
 
 Arrival of Sir George Colley, July 2 ... ... 1880 
 
 Recall of Sir Bartle Frere, August 2 ... ... ... 1880 
 
 Basuto and Cape War (1880-81) ... ... ... 1880 
 
 Lerothodi's kraal burnt, October 22 ... ... ... 1880 
 
 Railway opened to Fietermaritzburg, December 1 ... 1880 
 
 Rising of Transvaal Boers, December 16 ... ... 1880 
 
 Attack on 94th Regt. by Boers at Brontkos Spruit, Dec. 19 1880 
 
 People of Pretoria go into camp, December 22 ... ... 1880 
 
 Damaraland Trek Boers enter into Convention with 
 
 Portuguese Government (Mossamedes), Dec. 28 ... 1880' 
 Engagement between British and Boers, at Zwartkops near 
 
 Pretoria, January 6 ... ... ... ... 1881 
 
 Arrival at CapG of Governor Sir Hercules Robinson, Jan. 21 1881 
 
 Battle of Laing's Neck, January 27 ... ... ... 1881 
 
 Battle of In-ogo, February 8 ... ... ... 1881 
 
 Engagement at Red House Kraal, February 12 ... 1881 
 
 Battle of Amajuba, and death of Sir George Colley, Feb. 27 1881 
 
 Armistice arranged, March 21 ... ... ... 1881 
 
 Peace proclaimed in the Transvaal, March 23 ... ... 1881 
 
 Transvaal independence begins, August 8 ... ... 1881 
 
 Loss of U.S.S. Co.'s steamer Teuton, with 227 lives, Aug. 30 1881 
 
 Ratification of Convention by Transvaal Volksraad, Oct. 25 1881 
 
 Last British troops leave Pretoria, November 17 ... 1881 
 
 Ex-President Burgers died, December 9 ... ... 1881 
 
 Sir Evelyn Wood left Natal, December 22 ... ... 1881 
 
 Responsible Government offered to Natal, and refused by 
 
 the country at general election, February 2 ... 1882 
 Sir Henry Bulwer, for second time Governor of Natal, 
 
 March 6 ... ... ... ... 1882 
 
 First sod of Ladysmith Railway Extension turned, May 3 1882 
 Cetywayo visited England, and obtained his restoration to 
 
 Zuluiand, August ... ... ... ... 1882 
 
 Sekukuni murdered by Mampoer, August 13 ... ... 1882 
 
 Cetywayo landed at Port Durnford (from England) (Lord 
 Chelmsford crossed the Buffalo River on the same day 
 
 of the same month exactly four years before), Jan. 11 1883 
 
 Cetywayo reinstated, January 29 ... ... ... 1883 
 
 President Krugcr sworn in for five years, May 9 ... 1883 
 
 Execution of Mampoer, November 22 ... ... 1883 
 
 Death of Cetywayo, Februaiy 9 ... ... ... 1884 
 
 London Convention signed, February 27 ... ... 1884 
 
 British Resident (Mr. George Hudson) left Pretoria May 20 1884 
 
APPENDIX A. 
 
 545 
 
 Dinizulu succeeds Cetywayo, May 21 ... ... 1884 
 
 Battle between Kafirs and Boers at Mamusa — Captain 
 
 Scliwietzer killed, December 2 ... ... ... 1885 
 
 British Protectorate of Bechuanaland proclaimed, Jan. 27 1885 
 
 Railway opened to Kimberley, November 29 ... ... 1885 
 
 First sod Delagoa Bay Railway turned, June 2 ... 1886 
 
 Railway opened from Maritzburg to Ladysmith, June 21 1886 
 
 Dubulamanzi shot by Boers, September 22 ... ... 1886 
 
 LIST OF CAPE COMMANDERS AND GOVERNORS 
 UNDER THE BAT AVIAN GOVERNMENT. 
 
 Jan van Riebeeck ... ... ... ... ... 1652 
 
 J. Wagenaar ... .. ... ... ... 1662 
 
 Cornelius van Quaelberg ... ... ... ... 1666 
 
 Jacob Borghorst ... ... ... ... ... 1668 
 
 Peter Hackius ... ... ... ... ... 1670 
 
 Conraad van Breitenbach ... ... ... ... 1672 
 
 Albert van Breugel ... ... ... ... 1672 
 
 Isbrand Goske ... ... ... ... ... 1672 
 
 Johan Bax ... ... ... ... ... 1678 
 
 Hendrik Crudop ... ... ... ... ... 1678 
 
 Simon van der St el ... ... ... ... 1678 
 
 William Adrian van der St el ... ... ... 1699 
 
 John Corn elis d'Abling ... ... ... ... 1707 
 
 Louis van Assenburg ... ... ... ... 1708 
 
 William Helot ... ... ... ... ... 1711 
 
 Mauritz Pasques de Chavonnes ... ... ... 1714 
 
 Jan de la Fonteine (Acting) ... ... ... 1724 
 
 Pieter Gysbert Noodt ... ... ... ... 1727 
 
 Jan de la Fonteine (Acting) ... ... ... 1728 
 
 Jan de la Fonteine (Effective) ... ... ... 1730 
 
 Adrian van Kervel ... ... ... ... 1736 
 
 Daniel van den Hengkell ... ... ... ... 1737 
 
 Hendrik Swellengrebel ... ... ... 1739 
 
 RykTulbagh ... ... ... ... ... 1751 
 
 Joachim van Plettenberg ... ... ... ... 1771 
 
 Pieter Baron van Rheede van Oudtshoorn died on passage 
 
 to Colony on the Asia ... ■ ... ... ... 1773 
 
 Cornells Jacob van de GraafF ... ... ... 1785 
 
 Johannes Isaac Rhenius ... ... ... ... 1791 
 
 Abraham Josias Sluysken (Commissioner) ... ... 1793 
 
 BRITISH GOVERNORS. 
 
 J. H. Craig ... ... ... ... ... 1795. 
 
 Earl Macartney ... ... ... ... ... 1797 
 
 In 
 
546 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 Sir Francis Dundas (Lieut. -Governor) ... ... 1798 
 
 Sir George Young ... ... ... ... 1799 
 
 Sir Francis Dundas (Lieut.-Governor ... ... 1801 
 
 UNDER THE BATAVIAN GOVERNMENT. 
 
 Jan Willem Janssens ... ... ... ... 1803 
 
 BRITISH GOVERNORS. 
 
 Sir David Baird ... ... ... ... ... 1806 
 
 Hon. H. G. Grey (Lieut -Governor) ... ... ... 1807 
 
 Du Pre, Earl of Caledon ... ... ... ... 1807 
 
 Hon. H. G. Grey (Lieut.-Governor) ... ... ... 1811 
 
 Sir John Francis Cradock ... ... ... ... 1811 
 
 Hon. Robert Meade (Lieut.-Governor) ... ... 1813 
 
 Lord Charles Henry Somerset ... ... ... 1814 
 
 r ir Rufane Shaw Donkin (Acting) ... ... ... 1820 
 
 Lord Charles Somerset (relieved) ... ... ... 1821 
 
 Hichard Brooke (Lieut.-Governor) ... ... ... 1826 
 
 Hon. Sir (ialbraith Lowry Cole ... ... ... 1828 
 
 Lieut.-Col. T. F. Wade (Acting) ... ... ... 1834 
 
 Sir Benjamin D'Urban ... ... ... ... 1834 
 
 Sir Andries Stockenstrom, Baronet, Lieut.-Governor of 
 
 Eastern Province, ... ... ... ... 1836 
 
 Sir George Thomas Napier, K.C.B., ... ... ... 1838 
 
 €olonel John Hare, Lieut.-Governor of Eastern Province 1839 
 
 Sir Peregrine Maitland, ... ... ... ... 1843 
 
 Major General Right Hon. Sir Henry Pottinger, Bart. ... 1847 
 
 Sir H. F. Young, Kt. Lieut. Governor Eastern Province 1847 
 
 Lieut.-General Sir Henry G. W. Smith, Bart.... ... 1847 
 
 Lieut.-General Hon. G. Cathcart ... ... ... 1852 
 
 C. H. Darling (Lieut.-Governor) ... ... ... 1852 
 
 Sir George Grey, K.C.B. ... ... ... ... 1854 
 
 Lieut.-General ft. H. Wynyard, C.B., (Lieut.-Govenor ... 1859 
 
 Sir G. Grey, K.C.B. ... ... ... ... i860 
 
 Sir Philip Edmund Wodehouse, K.C.B. ... ... 1861 
 
 Sir Henry Barkly, G.C.M.G., K.C.B. 1870 
 
 Sir H. Bartle E. Frere, Bart., G.C.B., G.C.S.I. ... . . 1877 
 
 Major General Sir H. H. Clifford, V.C., K.C.M.G., C.B., 
 
 Administrator ... ... ... ... 1880 
 
 Major Sir G. C. Strahan, K.C.M.G., Administrator ... 1880 
 
 Sir Hercules G. R. Robinson, G.C.M.G. ... . ... 1881 
 
APPENDIX B. 
 
 547 
 
 Appendix B. 
 
 It may be interesting to my readers if I here introduce in an 
 '•' 011a Podrida " form, some accounts of events, anecdotes, &c, 
 &c, which I have not had an opportunity of inserting before. 
 The following is from the book of Aichibald Forbes on Gordon : — 
 
 While Gordon was staying at Lausanne in the spring of 1881, 
 he had received and had declined an offer from the Government 
 of the Cape of Good Hope of the command of the colonial forces, 
 at a salary of £1.500 a year. He had made a tender of his 
 services in a sphere of wider responsibility, to which the Colonial 
 Ministers had apparently not seen their way to accede. But 
 troubles had been thickening upon them ever since ; and they 
 bethought themselves again of a man whose administrative genius 
 stood so high. They applied to the Home Government for 
 consent to utilise Gordon's services, and this accorded, the 
 Premier of the Cape Government, on March 3rd, 1882, sent him 
 the following communication : " Position of matters in Basuto- 
 land grave, and of utmost importance that Colony secure services 
 of some one of proved ability, firmness, and energy. Govern- 
 ment resolved therefore asking whether you are disposed to 
 renew offer which you made to former Ministry. They do not 
 expect you to be bound by salary then stated. Should you agree 
 to place services at disposal of this Government, it is very im- 
 portant you should at once visit the Colony, in order to learn 
 facts bearing on situation. Could you do this you would confer 
 signal favour on the Colony, leaving your future action un- 
 pledged. . . . It is impossible within limits telegram to enter 
 fully into the case, and in communication with you, Government 
 rely upon same devotion to duty which prompted former offer, 
 to excuse this sudden request." Gordon's former offer had been 
 of " his services for two vears to assist in terminating war and 
 administering Basutoland." 
 
 He immediately took ship, and reached the Cape in May. 
 Governor and Ministers found themselves in a difficulty. Mr. 
 Orpen was Administrator of Basutoland, and him they were 
 reluctant to remove. They wanted Gordon's services, yet they 
 did not see how to utilise them, since Gordon and Orpen would 
 clash. The object of the former in coming to the Cape was clear. 
 He had once already declined the appointment simply of Com- 
 mandant of the Colonial Forces. He wished to engage himself 
 in the settlement of the Basutoland troubles, and the Cape 
 Government were anxious that he should do so, but could not 
 make up their minds to clear the way for Gordon by the re- 
 moval of Mr. Orpen. Most men in Gordon's position would, 
 under those circumstances, have declined the Cape service 
 1x2 
 
548 
 
 APPENDIX B. 
 
 altogether ; but he, hoping disinterestedly to find some method 
 whereby he might be of use, took the appointment of Comman- 
 dant-General which he had refused a year previously. It was 
 told him that the appointment was but a temporary expedient. 
 He studied the native problem carefully, and sent in a 
 memorandum giving as his opinion that the Basutos should have 
 been consulted as to their transference from the Imperial to the 
 Cape Government, and suggesting that they should be summoned 
 to a conference concerning the terms of agreement with the 
 Colonial Government. To this memorandum no reply was 
 accorded, and Gordon proceeded up country to King William's 
 Town, and there prepared the report on the colonial forces 
 which the Premier had requested of him. It was full of 
 suggestions for reforms, and Gordon showed how the Colony 
 could, by the adoption of economies he pointed out, maintain an 
 army 8,000 strong, instead of the existing force of 1,600, at an. 
 expense of £7,000 less than the smaller force cost. Neither on 
 this, nor on suggestions in regard to other matters which he had 
 been asked to make, did any action follow. In July the Govern- 
 ment requested him to visit Basutoland, to which his reply, 
 accompanied by a memoradum as to the line of action he would 
 recommend there, was that there was uo use in his going to 
 Basutoland, unless the Government were prepared to acknow- 
 ledge his presence and take account of his proposals. To this, 
 apparently, the Government did not see their way, and Gordon 
 remained at his military post in King William's Town, until 
 next month, when the Cape Secretary for Native Affairs came 
 up and requested him to accompany him to Basutoland, whither 
 Mr. Sauer was going to see Mr. Orpen, the Ministerial repre- 
 sentative. Gordon demurred. He pointed out that he was 
 opposed to Mr. Orpeirs policy, and could do no good ; but 
 Sauer pleaded hard, and he went. As the issue, Gordon became 
 more and more convinced of the futility of a policy which con- 
 sisted in trying to settle matters by using one set of Basutos to 
 coerce another, and wrote a memorandum embodying his 
 opinions. Then Mr. tauer asked him to go, as a private 
 individual, to Masupha, the hostile Basuto chief, and try to win 
 him over. Gordon went with neithercredentials nor instructions 
 on an errand ot no inconsiderable risk. Masupha fortunately 
 was a gentleman, although a "nigger." While Gordon w r as 
 negotiating with him in the name of the Cape Government, the 
 emissaries of that Government inspired Letsea, the opposition 
 Basuto chief, to assail Masupha. The latter might have held 
 Gordon as a hostage ; instead, he magnanimously allowed him to 
 go in peace. 
 
 Conduct of this description Gordon, with all his self- 
 abnegation, was not the man to brook. The moment he got. 
 
APPENDIX B. 
 
 549 
 
 iDack from Masupha into what of civilisation South Africa any- 
 where afford?. he telegraphed to Cape Town : i: As I am in a 
 false position here, and am likely to do more harm than good, I 
 propose leaving for the Colony, and when I have finished some 
 reports I will come down to Cape Town, when I trust Govern- 
 ment will accept my resignation." The reply was : !< The 
 Premier has no objection to your coming to Cape Town as pro- 
 posed." But Gordon had taken service under certain conditions 
 which he was prepared to fulfil, and intimated accordingly. The 
 Premier was severe in a little Pedlington fashion, but after the 
 same fashion grandly magnanimous. This was his reply: "In 
 answer to your telegram proposing to come to Cape Town and 
 expressing a wish that Government would accept your resigna- 
 nation. and to subsequent messages intimating that when you 
 telegraphed it had escaped your memory that you had stated 
 your willingness to remain until Parliament met. I have to state 
 that I have no wish to hold you to your promise, and am now 
 prepared to comply with the desire expressed, that your resig- 
 nation should be accepted : after the intimation that you would 
 not fight the Basutos, and considering the tenor of your 
 communication with Masupha. I regret to record my conviction 
 that your continuance in the position you occupy would not be 
 conducive to public interest." 
 
 It was a minor thing to have earned the gratitude of an 
 Emperor for the subjugation of a rebellion that was striking at 
 the vitals of his Empire : it was a trifle to have been Viceroy of 
 the Soudan, and to have won the admiration of the world because 
 of the resolute skill with which he had pacificated that vast and 
 turbulent region. What availed Gordon all these things so long 
 as he had been unsuccessful in giving satisfaction to the Premier 
 of the Cape Colony ? He has lived through much, through what 
 would have proved fatal to most men : but the most surprising 
 proof of tenacious vitality he has given is that he should have 
 survived that august functionary's recorded conviction that his 
 continuance in office " would not be conducive to public interest." 
 He staggered back to England, there to recover from the 
 prostration of despair. It is surprising, indeed, that, after so 
 authoritative an imprimatur of his incapacity, wanton reckless- 
 ness could tempt greater powers than the Cape Government to 
 entrust him with responsibility. Yet this has been done. 
 
 * Whatever Mr. Archibald Forbes may think of the colossal intellect of Mr. 
 Saner, he might omit his impertinent remarks on South Africa, although there is 
 a reason for his soreness considering that he was expelled from the D' Urban 
 Club in Natal for continual drunkenness. "Square Bottle Forbes" as this 
 irrepressible person was known as during the Zulu campaign, <fec, although a 
 " ranker " is yet a fairly good showman and postman, but he should modestly 
 confine himself to his show business and flunkeyism, and not venture out into 
 waters wherein he may be ducked— even in poor despised South Africa. 
 
550 
 
 APPENDIX C. 
 
 Appendix C. 
 
 Sir Gordon Sprigg. 
 As a sequel to John Dunn's remarks on Zulu affairs quoted in 
 the foregoing text, the former words of Sir Gordon Sprigg (who 
 has so steadily and pluckily brought up the finances of this 
 Colony that we may this quarter repeat an excess over estimated 
 revenue, of £200,000) might well be quoted. I accordingly beg 
 to re-produce what this praiseworthy Colonial statesman sa d in 
 London, as reported by the South African then Edited and 
 owned in London by Mr. R. W. Murray Senr. : — 
 
 The Hon. J. Gordon Sprigg, late Premier in the Cape Town 
 Parliament, on Monday night addressed the members of the 
 Earl's Court Conservative Club, on South Africa, f ir Sibbald 
 Scott, who presided, read a letter and telegram which had been 
 received from Sir Bartle Frere regretting that he was unable to 
 be present, and adding, "I know of no subject more worthy of 
 the attention of Conservative Associations than our Colonial 
 Empire, and few men who are better entitled to be heard on it 
 than Mr. Gordon Sprigg. 7 ' Mr. Sprigg, in the course of his 
 address, said that at this moment there was more unrest, more 
 distrust of the future prevailing in every part of South Africa 
 than at any time during the presen t century, and that feeling 
 was, in his opinion, largely traceable to the action of her 
 Majesty's Government within the last two years. When the 
 Cape Government offered lenient terms to the defeated Basuto 
 rebels her Majesty's Government put up Mr. Grant Duff in the 
 House of Commons to state, on the authority of the Government 
 that a censure had been sent out to the Cape Government for 
 the terms they had proposed. The statement was telegraphed 
 to South Africa, and its effect was to encourage the Basutos in 
 rebellion against the authority of the Crown. How was it 
 possible for loyal men in the Cape to carry on successfully the- 
 government of the country, uphold the authorit}' of the Crown,, 
 and ensure obedience to the law, if Ministers at home cast 
 their great weight on the side of rebelliou? But he was not 
 surprised at what her Majesty's Government had done in South 
 Africa, seeing what they had done in Ireland. Sir Garnet 
 Wolseley's settlement of Zululand had left that country in 
 absolute anarchy, and if Cetywayo were once sent back to his 
 native land it would be the signal for the rising of every bar- 
 barian in South Africa against civilised government. Zululand 
 ought to have been annexed — (hear, hear) — and whether the 
 authorities io Downing- street liked it or nor, it must be annexed 
 
APPEXDIX C. 
 
 and governed like other parts of the Queen's dominions. (Hear r 
 hear.) What they complained of in South Africa was that they 
 had been sacrificed to party exigencies in England. Referring to 
 the appointment of Air. Sendall to the Lieutenant-Governorship 
 of Xatal the speaker condemned it as another example of the per- 
 sistent determination of the present Government to do the wrong 
 thing. But if the colonists rose in arms against the appoint- 
 ment, perhaps the Government, who always paid respect to the 
 wishes of those who icere in rebellion, would then give way. 
 (Laughter, and hear, hear.) A vote of thanks was given to the 
 hon. gentleman for his address. 
 
 About this time the Times, alluding to some vindication of the 
 rights of the Cape Colony remarks : " We readily give every 
 honour to the leading colony of South Africa for recognising and 
 fulfilling its duty, and Mr. Sprigg, who is the advocate of full 
 colonial responsibility, and, at the same time, champion of all 
 that is loyal at the Cape, is, of all our high minded colonial 
 statesmen, well entitled to hearing when he protests against 
 what appears to him a misrepresentation of his colony with a 
 view to its gradual abandonment by the mother country Mr. 
 Sprigg's vindication of the Cape Colony serves to set in relief the 
 position of the outlying colonies of South Africa." It strongly 
 urges confederation, which it believes would be the surest way to 
 enable South Africa to possess full autonomy and yet remain 
 closely linked to the mother country. 
 
 DoXALD MoODIES CAPE " ReCOKD." 
 
 I am glad that our worthy Knight, Sir Gordon Sprigg, is 
 achieving the financial success alluded to elsewhere, because the 
 Government may see their way clear to resuscitate ancient Cape 
 literature. The above " Record *' might well be taken in hand, 
 as it is at present quite a rara avis. Five years ago the Hon. 
 Richard Southey, C.M.G., was good enough to go about Cape 
 Town with me in the endeavour to get a copy. The late Mr. 
 Juta, inter alia, was applied to without success, and he surmised 
 that success would be attended by the disbursement of about 
 forty shekels of gold. The Eastern Star of Graham's Town, 
 dated July 15, 1887, says, alluding to my advertising the 
 present volumes : — 
 
 Mr. D. 0. F. Moodie's advertisement, which appears in 
 another column, reminds us of that invaluable work of his 
 father's, Donald Moodie, R.N., entitled the " Cape Record." 
 In our archives there are still papers of correspondence between 
 Sir George Grey and our late eminent ethnologist and philologist, 
 
oo2 
 
 APPENDIX C. 
 
 Dr. Bleek, regarding the desirability of our Government re- 
 publishing this solid laadmark of ancient Cape history, from 
 ■which subsequent writers have so largely helped themselves — 
 sometimes without acknowledgment. The fact that none of our 
 libraries have a complete copy of this high authority reflects 
 badly upon our forethought. The gentleman mentioned at the 
 head of this note has, however, a complete copy containing an 
 autograph parchment letter of ' Jan Van Riebeeck ' — as he 
 clearly signs himself in all his earlier despatches. Mr. A. 
 Wilmot, writing to Mr. D. C. F. Moodie, says : — ' In writing 
 my History of the Cape Colony to 18201 found Moodie's Records 
 of the greatest value. There can be no doubt that their impor- 
 tance has never been adequately appreciated, as they are to our 
 History of the Cape Colony what such works as " Froissart's " 
 Chronicle are to our History of England. The foundation and 
 publication of these Records by your father placed the people 
 of this Colony under a deep debt of gratitude to him ' " 
 
 Dr. Bleek, in writing to the author of this " Record " on the 
 3rd of Xovember 1855, after an exordium, says, "I can, there- 
 fore, conceive no undertaking better calculated to give a 
 thorough insight into South African Ethnography than the re- 
 publication otthis ' Record, ' .... and I cannot but consider 
 it a great loss to the History of this Colony, and to that of its 
 inhabitants, that circumstances obliged you to discontinue your 
 work." 
 
 " The object was, indeed, rather historical and political than 
 ethnological or scientific. Yet I beg to assure you that I never 
 me' icit'i a '>ook hat appear- d to m? of so much value for impart- 
 ing an i c umte hnoio edge of the ethnography of South- rn Africa, 
 and none so rich in facts. 
 
 "It is my ■ andid opinion that these Rec >rds will long for.n the 
 bases of ethnographical stud es, and thar it will be long before 
 all the mater als contained in them can be thoroughly 
 mastered. . . . 
 
 I fullv bel eve, therefore, that contributi >ns towards the 
 ethnography of Africa will now comman I attention. I deem it 
 highly desirable that the contents of he Cape Record should be 
 more generally ac essible, and finally, I congratulate you most 
 sincer ly on having devo ed your leisure to a work so useful and 
 beneficial. — I am &c, W. H. J. Bleek." 
 
 Sir Gordon Sprigg, writing to the author of thes 3 volumes 
 ("Battles " &c.) then in Australia in July, 1882, says " I should 
 have written before, but have delayed in the hope of being able 
 
 * The italics are the Doctor's, of course. 
 
APPENDIX C. 
 
 to send you a copy of the " Cape Record."' I am sorry to t&y I 
 Tiave not been successful. It is a very scarce work— out of print. 
 The bookseller- know it. a d they have promised to let me know 
 if a copy ^ould come into their po-session. One gentleman in 
 Cape Town lent me a copy, and I perused it with very great 
 interest, but he would not part with it. Your relative. Thomas 
 Moodie. w o lives near Port Beaufort, told me he had a copy, 
 bnt I could not induce 1 im to give it up." I have since secured 
 thi~ copy. 
 
 Upon obtaining the promise of Government assistance, my 
 father set to work and learnt the Dutch language, and also 
 acquired the peculiar power which enabled him to decipher the 
 enigmatically written quaint old Dutch Documents. When the 
 very valuable old papers upon which he worked had been 
 Tescued from neglect and decay by him, they were taken up to 
 the office set apart for him — at present (1888) in the occupation 
 of the Surveyor General of the Cape. Mr. Abraham De Smidt. 
 and an old Cape civil servant related to me, the other day. the 
 following story almost in these words : t: I was the clerk of Colonel 
 Mitchell, and 1 heard his voice crying out 'For goodness sake, 
 come here Bell (the late John Bell, then Secretary to Govern- 
 ment) and look at old Moodie ' ! The day was suffocatingly 
 "hot, and there was the old gentl man in the very warm, close 
 Toom, coat and waistcoat off, sleeves up, and spectacles perched 
 •on crown of head, standing neck deep amid a mass of dirty old 
 cobwebbv documents, which he was. by dint of patient toil, 
 endeavouring to reduce to some order." 
 
 Touching the " Record,"' Mr. G. M. Theal, the careful author 
 of the Chronicles of the Cape Commanders. &c." says " This 
 work, now unfortunately so rare that a copy is only obtainable 
 dv chance, is a literal translation of a great number of original 
 documents relating to the Xative tribes of South Africa, from 
 1651 to June 1690, and from 1769 to 1809. A vast amount of 
 labour and patience must have been expended in the preparation 
 of this large and valuable book. 
 
 o c * o # c c- 
 
 " It would be an act of injustice on my part not to acknowledge 
 the eminent service performed by Mr. Moodie in this field of 
 literary labour forty years before the Archives were entrusted 
 to my care." 
 
 The Editor of the Cape Argus of May 7, 1888, says <; We 
 fully recognise the value of the late Lieut. Moodie's " Record."' 
 The ;i Record"' a monument of research, is fit for students. It 
 is a pity that so valuable a work as Lieut. Moodie's should be 
 out of print. Copies are now obtainable, if at all, only at 
 collectors" fancy prices. " 
 
554 
 
 APPENDIX D. 
 
 The " Record " as published by A. S. Robertson of Cape Town 
 in 1838 is a large and unwieldy book, which it is the desire of all 
 who prize valuable scientific research to have reproduced in 
 succinct, neat, and handy form. It contains, by the way, much 
 more than matters relating to the native tribes, as the whole of 
 the first part of the work contains the journals of the earlier 
 Cape Commanders, besides a mass of important particulars 
 regarding the days of the occupation of the Cape by the Dutch 
 East India Company, which particulars almost all subsequent 
 writers on Cape History, such as AVatermeyer, Napier, Chase, 
 Wilmot, &c, &c , have taken as the bases of their writings. 
 
 I should deem the labour of reproduction, in the form 
 indicated, a pleasure and an honour if the Cape Government 
 should see fit to assist in the matter as, of course, I take a great 
 deal of interest in the Cape. First, I am Cape born. My father, 
 and his brothers Benjamin and John Moodie, imported the first 
 mass of Immigrants in 1818. They helped to start the first 
 Scientific Society at Cape Town (sat on by Lord Charles Somer- 
 set). My father produced the first book, as we have seen, and 
 the late Major Pigot, late of the Dragoon Guards, my maternal 
 grandfather, imported the first merino sheep into Albany, as 
 may be seen by the early files of the local " Journal." 
 
 Appendix D. 
 South African Rhymes. 
 
 For a philological reason, and in order to fix the character 
 of d people, I give the original " Kaatje Kekkelbek, : ' which I 
 have had a deal „f trouble in running down. Mr. Bain and Mr. 
 George Rex composed it long ago — about 1834. 
 
 [For the same reason above given I also present to my readers 
 some selections from the " Rijmpjes " of Mr. Reitz, reprinted 
 from various South African publications, and published by Juta 
 in Cape Town in 1884. Competent judges, that i* those who are 
 in happy possession of the knowledge both of the English and 
 of the Cape Dutch languages, all say that these verses of Mr. 
 Reitz are remarkably clever, as selection of subject, the wit, and 
 the shrewd adaptation are all to be praised.] 
 
APPENDIX D. 
 
 555 
 
 KAATJE KEKKELBEK or LIFE AMONG THE 
 HOTTENTOTo. 
 
 As sung with unb-undel applause at the Graham's Town 
 Amateur Theatre. 
 
 Tune " Calder Fair " or " How cruel was the Captain ! " 
 (Kaatje Kekkdbek enters, playi-ig a Je v's harp J 
 
 My name is Kaatje Kekkelbek, 
 
 I come from Kat Rivier 
 Daar s van water geen g-brek, 
 
 But scarce of wine and beer. 
 Mijn A.B. C. at Ph'l | es school, 
 
 1 learnt a kleiue beetje, 
 But left it just as great a fool 
 
 As gekke Tante Meitje. 
 
 Spoken. — "Regt, dat's amper waar wat ouw Moses in theKaap 
 zegt "Dit is alles flausen and hornboggery." Met mij Tol de 
 Roi, &c. 
 
 But A. B. C. and I. N, in 
 
 Ik dagt met uncle Plaatje, 
 Ain't half so good as Brandy wijn 
 
 And ve'te Karbonatje. 
 S ) orT we set — een heele boel, 
 
 Stole t fa: cow, and sacked it, 
 Then to an Engels settlers fool 
 
 We had ourselves contracted. 
 
 Spoken. — ;; Ja. jong, jij kau mijn g'loo, dat ons het de settlars 
 gehad. En hij denk altoos dat het ander volk is wat zijn goed 
 steel. Zoo een Jan Bull is een domme moerhond — een kleine 
 kind kan horn vernuik. Met mijn Tol de rol." 
 
 We next took to the Kowie Bush, 
 
 Found sheep that was not lost, aye, 
 But a schelm Boer het ons gevang, 
 
 And brought us voor McCro.-ty 
 Daar was Zaa tje Zeekoegat, en ik, 
 
 En ouw Dirk Douderwetter. 
 Klaas Klauterberg, en Diedrick Dick, 
 
 All sent to theTronk together. 
 
 Spoken. — " Regt, zoo een Boei is een moer slimme ding ! Hij 
 was eerst net so stoaa als de settlars, en christemense, maar 
 
556 
 
 APPENDIX D. 
 
 Hotnots en Kajfe^s liet horn slim gemaakt. Ja ! rasnavel ! Ons 
 het de dag zoo lekker sit kramnatjes eet, dat de vet zoo lans de 
 bek a if loop. Hier kom de Boer bj ons uit ! met zijn over- 
 gehaalde haan, en sleep ons heele spul na de Tronk. Maar nou 
 trek hij weg oor Groot Rivier, die moervreter — hij zegt dat hij 
 ni t meer kan klaar kom met de Engelse Gorment ! Met 
 zijn tol, &c." 
 
 Drie months we daar got banjan kos, 
 
 For stealing ons een hamel, 
 For which, when I again got los 
 
 I thanked for Capt. Campbell. 
 The judge came round — his sentence such 
 
 As he thought just and even. 
 " Six months hard work " which means, in Dutch, 
 
 Zes m amid en lekker leven. 
 
 Spoken. — So een Jud ! Hij verbeel hem dat hij slim en geleert 
 is, als hij daar zit met zijn witte kop, wat net zoo lijken als de 
 ding waar de Engelse de.vloor mee schoon maak, en zijn mantel 
 en bej net als een predikant, maar, ons Hotnots, wil jij gloo ? is 
 banjan slimmer — oris weet wel wanneer ouw Kekevis rond kom 
 — dan steel ons de meeste, want zijn straf is altoos " Six months 
 hard labour." Maar de kwaaye ouw met de rooye bakkies, wat 
 hulle zeg " Menzie," die is beetje straf. Hij gee ons twee yaar 
 en de bandiet, en laat ons klop zoo als in ouw Breslar zijn tijd. 
 Die lange Spitzies van Seur Jan Wyl, daar geef ons niks om ! 
 Maar ouw Kekevis het hulle afgezet, om dat hij te goed was 
 voor ons, en Musgraaf in zijn plaats gesteld. Daar is ook een 
 Montakee die Secretaris, die net zoo goed als Gouverneur in de 
 Kaapstadt is tegenwoordig. Niemand kan de kerel fop. Hij 
 laat al de Hotnots werk op de hard way, which is a very hard 
 way of dealing met de poer Hotnots. Met hulle " Tol de 
 toI, &c." 
 
 Die Tronk is een lekker plek 
 
 Of 't was not joost so dry, 
 But soon as I got out again, 
 
 At Todd's 1 wet my eye. 
 At Vice's house, in Market-square, 
 
 I drown my melancholies, 
 And at Barrack Hill found solders there 
 
 Who treated me with jollies. 
 
 Spoken. — Rasnavel jong ! Jij kan mij gloo dat de ouwe 
 •dikke kerel zijn brandewijn lekker is, maskie ouw Pratt zijn ook, 
 maar ons neem altoos sluk bij ouw Todd als ons uit de Tronk 
 ikom. Dan smaak hij reg lekker. Met zijn " Tol de rol, &c." 
 
APPENDIX E. 
 
 Next morn they put me in Blackhole 
 
 For one rix-dollar stealing, 
 And knocking down a vrouw that had 
 
 Met niijn sweetheart some dealing. 
 But I'll go to the Governor's self, 
 
 And tell him in plain lingo, 
 I've as much right to steal and fight 
 
 As Kafir has, or Fingo. 
 
 Spoken. — " Dats onregt. Het is de grootste onregt in de 
 wereld. De teef het mijn man afgeronseld, en hulle het mij in 
 the Blackhole ingesteek. Ik moet gelijk krij. De Engelse 
 Gorment moet mij gelijk geef, anders zal ek toon wat Kaatje 
 Kekkelbek kan doen." Met haar " Tol de rol, &c." 
 
 Spoken. — " Begt, jong, I wish toch dat de mis — den — vaar- 
 heid Syety would send me to England to speak the trut. net 
 zoo as oom Andries (Andries StoflPels, Esq.) en Jan Zatzoedone 
 in Extra Hole, waar al de Engels kom met ope bek om alles in 
 te sluk wat ons Hotnots vert el I not want Dr. Philipse to 
 praat soetjes in mijn oor wat ik moet zeg, zoo hij done met Jan 
 Zatzoe, en ouw Riet met oom Andries. Kaatje Kekkelbek het self 
 een tong in haar smoel, en is op haar bek niet gevalle. Ik zal ver- 
 tel hoe de Boere en de Settlaars ons hier vernuik en verdruk, en 
 dat hulle een Temper Syety hier wil oprigt om ons niet meer 
 brandewijn te laat drink, dan zal ik plenty va'rlands t'wak en 
 dacha krijge om te stop, en brandewijn en half kroons ; want 
 als een menswil rijk word in England, jij moet maar banjankwaad 
 spreek van de Duits-volk, maar hulle zal voor mij niet laat 
 gaan, hulle is bang voor Kaatje Kekkelbek ! Maar mijn regt wil 
 jk hebbe. Ik gaat verdomd na de Govneur ! ! — {Exit Kaatje.) 
 
 Signed Klipspringer. 
 
 Appendix E. 
 The Sekuexni Stronghold. 
 
 Times of Natal, March 31st, 1880. 
 
 The Inverness Courier has the following : — The employment 
 of the Swazies in the attack on Sekukuni has been animadverted 
 on in one of the London papers, these men, our allies in the 
 expedition, having been changed with the commission of horrible 
 atrocities, and the statements, which it appears had no founda 
 tion in fact, have been reproduced by other journals, and thus 
 
558 
 
 APPENDIX E. 
 
 been widely circulated. I think, therefore, it is only fair that 
 the public should have an opportunity of seeing portions of three 
 letters which I have received recently from my son, Capt. 
 Macleod, late 74th Highlanders, whe raised the Swazie force, 
 led them to the attack, and returned with them afterwards to 
 their own country. I send them to you rather than to any 
 other paper, because in consequence of my son's name not 
 appearing in any despatch, bis friends in the Highlands have 
 been anxious about him, and the Courier is sure to be seen by 
 them. The first letter was written before the fight : — 
 
 "Lydenburg, 17th November, 1879. 
 
 " One line to say I have succeeded so far beyond my fondest 
 hopes. Sir Garnet wrote to say he attached the greatest import- 
 ance to getting 2,000 Swazies, 5,000 if possible, both for them- 
 selves, and because their presence, on account of their fighting 
 reputation, would give heart to the other Kafirs. He authorised 
 me to offer any terms, but here I am with 8,000 without any 
 terms beyond keeping the cattle they take, within sixteen days, 
 of first getting the order, having marehed 150 miles from the 
 King's kraal. When you consider I had to ride fifty miles to 
 the King, collect the chief men to consult from long distances, 
 then call up the people, many 100 miles away, just in the thick 
 of planting their gardens, yon will see I have done well. No 
 one believed I would get an impi at all, and I think nobody but 
 myself could, for from twelve months' experience they have learnt 
 to place confidence in me, and believe what I say. I have had a 
 very hard time, what with the hills and ravines, rivers and 
 swamps, rough Kafir paths, rain every day, and scarcely 
 anything to eat. For four days, the Kafirs had nothing 
 and I only had a bit of mouldy bread. The troops are not 
 ready yet, so I go on by easy stages to Fort Burghers, and 
 expect to advance on the 24th. I am sorry for the Coon, as he 
 is called. From all accounts it will be very nasty work, and we 
 shall lose a good many men. The Boers and people here say 
 they have never seen so big a Swazi impi, nor such order kept. 
 I have had them under perfect control, and though almost 
 starving they have not even taken a fow r l from the farms." 
 
 The second letter is also dated from Lydenburg, but after the 
 fight, and was written on the 8th December. In it he says : — 
 
 £< I am now on my way back with the Swazi army. I hope to 
 reach the King's kraal and hand them over on the 15th, and get 
 back to Derby on the 16th. I cannot tell you how glad I shall 
 be. I am nearly done up with the constant hard work. We 
 have it much harder than the soldiers, and no comforts. On the 
 27th November I left camp with the clothes I stood in, a rifle 
 
APPENDIX E. 
 
 559 
 
 and a pistol, and got back as I went on the 3rd December, 
 having been fighting more or less all the time, and .having had 
 to keep up with Swazies over the most frightful ground on foot. 
 The fighting has been very severe. I think I have lost at least 
 600 Swazies killed, and with them poor Alister Campbell. The 
 success has been most complete, and most important at this 
 juncture. It may save much bloodshed, and whatever may be 
 said about employing the Swazies I can assure you it could not 
 have been done without them. A very large force could have 
 done it in time, but the loss would have been very heavy, and no 
 white men living could have swept over that hillside as the 
 Swazies did. They have behaved very well, and done no mischief 
 either going or returning, and two days more will see me over 
 the border." 
 
 Thft third letter, dated Derby, 20th December, is as follows : — 
 "I got here yesterday thoroughly tired out with the last 
 month's work. I took my army back to their own country, 
 without doing any mischief on the way, which is really a 
 wonderful thing, for a Kafir impiis supposed to have free licence. 
 Everybody was astonished at their behaviour, and the Landdrost 
 of Lvdenburg eomplimeuted me upon it. I am myself surprised 
 when I think that I got 8,000 Kafirs to Lydenburg within 
 sixteen days of first getting the order to call them out, and 
 brought them back without any damage having been done to 
 anyone. They fought like tigers, and to them beloug the chief 
 credit of the complete success. As yet I have not seen sufficient 
 justice done to the Swazies in the official reports in the papers, 
 but I have only seen the first telegrams. Sir Garnet says— 
 Ferreira followed Sekukuni and surrounded him, and that he 
 surrendered to Ferreira. The truth is, that I with 1,000 
 Swazies was after him first, and surrounded him two hours 
 before Ferreira's came up. Sir Garnet probably did not know 
 this, as Ferreira sent back word by mounted men, and his 
 despatch was written at once. But I told him afterwards, and I 
 believe if we had not been so close on Sekukuni he would have 
 got into a much stronger place, full of fighting men, two miles 
 further on. I suppose an outcry will be made at home about 
 employing the Swazies, but I think it was necessary. It would 
 have taken a very large force of white men, and I consider that 
 my 8,000 Swazies were more effective than an equal number of 
 soldiers. I do not believe Sir Garnet or anyone knows the 
 places we swept over. In another way the result will be good 
 also. The soldiers and Swazies fraternised, and each almired 
 the other's pluck. The Swazies do nothing but talk about the 
 soldiers, and tell the Boers to their faces that it is ridiculous 
 their talking of fighting against such men. I tried hard to find 
 
."60 
 
 APPENDIX E. 
 
 Alister Campbell's body, but failed. I am very sorry about it r 
 bat we did all we could. I was unable to search myself till after 
 we had taken Sekukuni, and then I searched the hillside till I 
 could not put the one leg before the other. It was not pleasant 
 work. The whole place was covered with dead bodies, Swazies 
 at the mouths of the caves and Basutos inside. I estimate the 
 Swazie loss at between 500 and 600 killed, and about the same 
 wounded, but I cannot say for certain. They are wonderful 
 fellows. Many with fearful wounds walked back the 200 miles 
 as if nothing had happened." — I am, sir, your obedient servant, 
 
 Macxeod of Macleod. 
 
 London, 9th February, 1880. 
 
 Attack ox Umzoet. 
 
 The Cape Times of October 23rd, 1878, says :— The Trans- 
 vaal Volunteers, thirty mounted infantry under Major Russell 
 and 300 native contingent under Commandant Xel, and 200 under 
 Ekersley, and three guns under Lieut. Nicholson, R.A. attacked 
 L'mzoet's kraal. The fighting lasted for about two hours, when 
 the kraal was taken and burnt, and a large quantity of grain 
 destroyed. Thirty-six head of cattle and a quantity of goats 
 taken wifh many guns and assegais. Casualties eleven men 
 wounded — some seriously, Sergt Tegg. died next morning and 
 little hope entertained of Peak's life. 
 
 I now go on to another account of the Capture of Sekukuni's 
 Town : — 
 
 The Grand Attack. 
 
 Total Defeat of the Enemy at all Points. 
 
 {Traansvaal Argus.) 
 
 The attack on Sekukuni — writes an eye-witness — commenced 
 on Friday, the 28th November, 1879, at about four o'clock in 
 the morning. Ferreira's horse entered Sekukuni's stad, and 
 immediately a volley was poured into them by the enemy, which 
 wounded six troopers. The redcoats and volunteers advanced 
 simultaneously, and in a short time the town was in their hands. 
 At 1 1 a.m. Sir Garnet gave the order to storm the Vechtkop, which 
 was quickly done in grand style by the Volunteers, soldiers, and 
 Swazies, the white men leading. The caves were then blown 
 up with dynamite. Sekukuni is hemmed in a cave, and strict 
 watch is being kept on him. The enemy's losses were heavy, 
 over two hundred dead bodies lie in the open, and the caves are 
 full of dead as well. Our losses are about fifteen whites killed and 
 thirty wounded. Xo correct estimates yet made of losses oF 
 our native allies ; it is put down at present at fifty killed ancL 
 over 100 wounded. Umzoet is to be attacked next. 
 
APPENDIX E. 
 
 561 
 
 Furthee Particulars. 
 
 We have been favoured by a gentleman at Pretoria, who was 
 present at the attack, and has just returned to town, with the 
 following paiticulars : — 
 
 We staited from Fort Albert Edward at four o'clock on the 
 morning of the 20th Xovember, and trekked to Sevenmile 
 Spruit, where we waited until five o'clock, when Sir Garnet and 
 the staff joined us. We then proceeded to Sekukuni's stad, 
 trekking the whole night through urtil four o'clock in the after- 
 noon of the 27th, when we outspanned about two miles outside of 
 Sekukuni's. The trek was. it need hardly be said, a most 
 arduous one. apart from its mere duration, rain falling the most 
 of the time, and the roads being rough, wet, and slippery in the 
 highest degree. The camp having been pitched in front of 
 Sekukuni's, all arrangements were made for an attack at day- 
 break. We went to bed in a very expectant state, and " thought 
 of the morrow." At half-past two next morning the whole 
 camp was quietly astir. At three o'clock all the Volunteers left 
 the camp on foot to the several posts assigned to them, including 
 Commandant Ferreira. to whom was given the honour of 
 opening the attack, and his corps, with Sekukuni's brother 
 • ; Ramrod," as their guide. They proceeded quickly and quietly 
 towards the foot of the mountain, hoping to get under cover 
 of the boulders before daybreak ; but when about 500 yards 
 from their cover at the foot of the " Berg,'' daylight enough 
 appeared to allow the Kafirs on the mountain to see them, who 
 iustantlv poured in a tremendous volley from all sides which 
 was returned with interest by all the volunteers and soldiers. 
 Thereupon the signal was given to charge the mountain. Ferreira's 
 men were the first on the mountain, and worked their way up 
 from stone to stone, from krantz to krantz. until they had taken 
 a large krantz overlooking the whole of the King's part of the 
 stad, and commanding another large one on the other si le of the 
 mouirain, from which the Kafirs were pouring a very heavy fire 
 on o r her portions of the attacking party. This latter krantz had 
 to be at once silenced, which was speedily done by a few weD 
 directed and heavy volleys by Ferreira's men : others at the 
 same time pouring a heavy fire down on the stad, and driving 
 the whole lot of the Kafirs before them to take shelter in higher 
 parts of the mountain. Now came a well-timed and splendid 
 volley of musketry, accompanied by a deafening cheer, from the 
 top of the mountain, which at once told us that the red- 
 coats and Swazies from the other side of the attack had reached 
 the top. And now began the grand chase, as the Kafirs had all 
 taken refuge in the higher paits of the fastness. The 8,000 
 10 
 
562 
 
 APPENDIX E. 
 
 Swazies set to with a will to " rouse " them out, and drove them 
 before them like flocks of sheep, stabbing them as fast as they 
 could come up to them, the Makatees staying occasionally in 
 their flight to turn round and discharge their guns, dropping a few 
 of their pursuers. In the meantime one half of Ferreira's men 
 had gone below to set fire to the stad ; the others with the rest 
 of the voluntee s firing at the enemy as they fled before the 
 Swazies, wherever they could see them. By half-past ten the 
 whole stad was in flames, and the entire position was ours, when 
 a few British cheers and Swazie yells told the people at the 
 camp that everything had been successful. All then mustered 
 on the flat round the Vecht Koppie, which the artillery had been 
 shelling with two guns since 4'30 in the morning, but with no 
 more effect than had they been blowing peas against an iron 
 target. When the koppie was surrounded by the volunteers, 
 Swazies, and red-coats, two rockets were sent up as a signal to 
 charge, and with a deafening cheer every one rushed on to the 
 koppie. And now appeared the grand sight of the morning, 
 when 7,000 Swazies spread themselves into open order, and 
 " swarmed " up the kopje like cats. But we must not forget 
 Ferreia's men, who were here very much to the fore, with their 
 Commandant at their head. They were the first on the kopje, 
 and received a heavy volley from the Kafirs, who remained on 
 the krantzes until the attacking party were within a few yards 
 of them, when the Kafirs took refuge in their caves, the entrances 
 to which were natural clefts in the granite boulders. From 
 thence they shot a large number of the attacking party as they 
 forced their way up. But they were very soon silenced by a 
 a heavy fire of musketry from our fellows at the mouth of the 
 caves, and took refuge further in. The kopje having been 
 cleared of the enemy on the outside, the blasting was then 
 commenced by the Engineers, and large charges of gun-cotton 
 were fired at the entrance. The only visible effects were the 
 disturbance of a few of the blocks at the mouths of the caves. 
 Towards evening the kopje was surrounded by strong picquets 
 of volunteers and soldiers. The night came on very dark, with 
 heavy rain, which, favouring the Kafirs in the cave, they fired a 
 heavy volley and numbers of them made a charge to get away, 
 in which nine of them were shot, while a number of them 
 escaped to the mountain. On Saturday morning, the 29th, the 
 blasting was commenced again, and about ten o'clock 400 
 or 500 of the enemy came out and gave themselves up, 
 together with a number of women and children. During 
 the charge of the kopje, Captain Laurell, on the staff, was 
 shot dead through the head from one of the caves as he was 
 climbing up with his revolver in his hand. I must not forget 
 to mention that at the charge of the kopje all the staff took 
 
APPENDIX F . 
 
 563 
 
 part in the attack. Poor Campbell was killed while leading the 
 Swazies on the top of the mountain, but his body was not found. 
 Commandant Macauley was one of the first who was killed in 
 the charge upon the mountain. During the whole of the 
 morning half a million shots must have been fired, as bullets 
 were flying about like hail. Some of the prisoners taken say 
 that there was an immense number of Makatees on the moun- 
 tain — many more than all the force engaged on our side. As to 
 the kopje it is about 300 feet long and 200 broad, composed of 
 huge granite boulders, one on top of another, and wherever any 
 natural entrances appeared they were closed up by built 
 schanzes. 
 
 Altogether it was a hot morning's work, if not one of the hottest 
 that has been in South Africa. Our loss is estimated at from 
 thirty to fifty whites killed and wounded, and upwards of 500 
 Swazies and men of the Native Contingents. The enemy's loss 
 it is difficult to ascertain, probably double that of ours. 
 
 Appendix F. 
 
 Griqtjaland West Fights — Our Losses. 
 
 {From the Independent.') 
 
 The losses we have sustained, in killed and wounded, during 
 -the three months' war in which we have been involved, are 
 terribly severe. So far as we have been able to ascertain they 
 are as follows : — 
 
 Killed. — Arnold, Burness, Burness, Burness, Burgher? 
 Campbell, Davis, Ford, jun., Louw, Muller, Paterson, Bawstorne, 
 Thompson, sen., Walton, Woodward, Williams, Westhuyzen, 
 and six Zulus. — Total twenty-three. 
 
 Wounded. — Caldecott, Crewel, Druton, Yon Essenwein, Ford, 
 sen., Hutton, Horsley, Hunter, Hill, Hughes, Japp, Muller, 
 Xesbitt, Percy, Policeman, Policeman, Policeman, Poulton, 
 Shepherd, Thompson, jun., Williams, Wood, one Griqua, and 
 eight Zulus. — Total thirty. 
 
 A total of twenty-three killed in action, murdered at their 
 homes, and deaths from wounds, and of thirty wounded, forms a 
 ghastly proportion out of the numbers engaged, and the com- 
 paratively small numbers of the inhabitants exposed to the fury 
 of the enemy. The worst passions of our numerous foes are 
 aroused, and it would be difficult to find a tribe that is' not 
 hostile to us. The loss of property in three raids alone exceeds 
 lo2 
 
564 
 
 APPENDIX F. 
 
 ten thousand pounds sterling — viz., Van Druten's sacked and 
 destroyed by Griquas, assisted by a heterogeneous gathering of 
 murderers; at Burntss's committed by Mora's people principally ; 
 and at Thompson's, in which Gasibone and Mankorane's people 
 were the perpetrators. In addition to these we must remember 
 the loss of property in Klein Boetsap, and several other home 
 steads, and the value of cattle stolen throughout the Province 
 which would, together, make a sum total of not less than ten 
 thousand pounds. Besides this it is not supposed that the cost 
 of the war, and the loss by injury to trade has been less than 
 seventy-five thousand pounds. In other ways, no doubt, losses 
 and expenses have been incurred by private individuals, so that 
 the loss in property has been up to the present time not one 
 penny less than one hundred thousand pounds. TVe trust that 
 punishmeni will be duly meted out to the chiefs and the people 
 who have thus injured us and caused the loss of so many lives.. 
 The chiefs must not be sent to Hopetown, to tide over present 
 emergencies. They must be hanged, and their people hunted 
 until they submit, when they may be taken care of for a time. 
 
 The following is as nearly as can be ascertained a correct list 
 of killed, wounded, and missing in the fighting before Sekukuni's 
 town on November 28th and 29th : — Staff — Killed — Comman- 
 dant Macaulay, late 12th Lancers, and Capt. Laurell, 4th 
 Hussars. "Wounded — Captain Maurice, 11. A., slightly ; Lieut. 
 l)ewar, K.D.G., severely. Missing — Captain Campbell (late 
 B.N.) Native contingent. 21st Fusiliers. — Killed — Corporal 
 McNully, Privates Weston and Donoghue. Wounded — Captain 
 Gordon, severely ; Captain Willoughby, slightly ; Corporal 
 Leedham, severely ; Private Whitty, dangerously ; Privates 
 Law, Barrett, Dale, Durham, Steenly, and Morrison, slightly. 
 94th Regiment. — Killed — None. Wounded. — Lieut. O'Grady 
 shot through arm ; Private Woods (orderly to Colonel Russell),, 
 mortally ; Privates Finn, Griffiths, Moloy, Wiley, Downey, and 
 Brady, severely ; and Lyons, slightly. Ferreira's Horse. — 
 Wounded — Quartermaster-Sergeant Arthur de St. Croix, 
 dangerously ; Sergeant-Major Washburn, mortally ; Corporal 
 Win ham and Troopers Releinzer and Hendrikson, danger- 
 ously ; Troopers Simly, Garton, Saunders, and Bates, slightly. 
 Boruer Horse. — Killed — Quartermaster-Sergeant Norman, 
 McLcod and Corporal Mitshell. Wounded. — Troopers Chasey 
 u.d Masters. Rustenburg Native Contingent. — Captain Beeton 
 shot through leg — leg amputated. Total eight killed and 
 thirty-two wounded up to the evening of the 28th: but on the 
 morning of the 29th two volunteers were killed and several 
 wounded, the names of whom we have not yet received. The 
 rumber of Swazies killed and w« unded is estimated to be about 
 15(.;. Enemy's loss great, but not known, and according to- 
 their leader, Capt. McLeod, between 500 and 600 Swazies. 
 
APPENDIX G-. 
 
 565 
 
 Appendix Gr. 
 
 Jan Company's Affairs at the Cape. 
 
 On the 31st December, 1687, when the yearly, census was 
 -taken, it appears that the Company had in Rustenburg, in round 
 numbers, 100,000 vines bearing, and had on the several farms 
 1,164 head of horned cattle. 140 horses, and 9,218 sheep, says 
 Mr. Theal. 
 
 The returns in connection with the Colonists, their stock,, and 
 corps were as follows : — 
 
 Burghers ... ... ... ... 254 
 
 Wives of Burghers and Widows 
 Children of Do. Do. 
 European men servants ... 
 Men slaves • 
 
 Women slaves 
 
 Slave children 
 
 Horses ... 
 
 Horned cattle 
 
 Sheep ... 
 
 Muids Wheat, 
 Do. Rye 
 Do. Barley 
 
 Vines, bearing 
 
 t crop 
 
 231 
 39 
 230 
 44 
 36 
 155 
 2,951 
 30,142 
 1,857 
 197 
 205 
 402,900 
 
 List of Huguenot emigrants sent out from Holland to the 
 Cape. Names copied from documents at the Hague by Mr. Theal. 
 
 The first ship was the Vo )rschoten. She sailed from Delfts- 
 haven on the 31st of December, 1687, with the following 
 passengers, according to a despatch from the Chamber of Delft 
 -to the Cape Government : — 
 
 Charles Marais, of Plessis, 
 Catherine Taboureux, his wife, 
 Claude Marais, 24 years old ^ 
 Charles Marais, 19 years old 
 Isaac Marais. 10 years old 
 David Marais, 6 years old 
 Philippe Fouche, 
 Anne Fouche, his wife, 
 Anne Fouche, 6 years old 
 Esther Fouche, 5 years old J> his children 
 Jacques Fonche, 3 years old 
 Jacques Pinard, carpenter, 23 years old, 
 Esther Fouche, his wife, 21 years old 
 
 his children 
 
566 
 
 APPENDIX G. 
 
 Marguerite Bache, unmarried, 23 years old, 
 
 Etienne Bruere, wagonmaker, bachelor, 23 years old, 
 
 Pierre Sabatier, bachelor, 22 years old, 
 
 Jeau le Roux, bachelor, 21 years old, 
 
 Gabriel le Roux, bachelor, 17 years old, 
 
 Gideon Malherbe, bachelor, 25 years old, 
 
 Jean Paste, bachelor, 25 years old, 
 
 Paul Godefry, bachelor, 22 years old, 
 
 Gaspar Fouche, bachelor, 21 years old. 
 
 The Borssenbwg sailed on the 6th of January, 1688. Her 
 passenger list — says Theal — seems to be lost from the Archives 
 of the Cape Colony, and also from those at the Hague. 
 
 The Oostenand left Middelburg on the 29th of January, 
 1688, having as passengers, according to a despatch from the 
 Chamber of that place to the Cape Government : — 
 
 Jacques de Savoye, of Ath, 
 Marie Madeleine le Clerc, his wife, 
 Antoinette Carnoy, his mother-in-law 
 Marguerite de Savoye, 17 years old, \ 
 Barbere de Savoye, 15 years old, > his children 
 Jacques de Savoye, 9 months old, ' 
 Jean Prieur du Plessis, surgeon, of Poitiers, 
 Madeeline Menanteau, his wife, 
 Sarah Avice, young unmarried woman, 
 Jean Nortier, agriculturist, 
 Jacob Xortier, agriculturist, 
 Daniel Nortier, carpenter. 
 Marie Vytou, his wife, 
 Isaac Taillefer, vine dresser of Thierry, 
 Susanne Breit, his wife, 
 Elizabeth Taillefer, 14 years old, 
 Jean Taillefer, 12 years old, 
 Isaac Taillefer, 7 years old, ( , . , ., , 
 
 Pierre Taillefer, 5 years old, 
 Susanne Taillefer, 2£ years old, 
 Marie Taillefer, 1 year old, 
 Jean Cloudon, shoemaker of Conde, 
 Jean der Buis, agriculturist of Paris, 
 Jean Parisel, agriculturist of Paris. 
 
 The China sailed from Rotterdam on the 20th of March 
 1688, with the following passengers, according to a despatch 
 from the Chamber of that place. 
 
 Jean Mesnard, 
 
 Louise Corboime, his wife, 
 
APPENDIX G. 
 
 567 
 
 Jeanne Mesnard, 10 years old, 
 Georges Mesnard, 9 years old, 
 Jacques Mesnard, 8 years old, ^ hig chiMren 
 Jem Mesnard, i years old, 
 Philippe Mesnard, 6 years old, 
 Andre Mesnard, 5 months, old, 
 Louis Corbonne, bachelor. 20 years o d, 
 Jean Jourdan, bachelor, 20 years old, 
 Pierre Jourdan of Cabriere, bachelor, 24 years old r 
 Marie Roux, 10 years old, ") orphan nieces of Jean and 
 Marguerita, 7 years old, ) Pierre Jourdan 
 (A second) Pierre Jourdan, also bachelor, 24 years old, 
 Pierre Joubert, 23 years old, 
 Isabeau Richard, his wife, 
 Susanne Rene, 20 years, young, unmarried, 
 Jacques Yerdeaa, 20 years old, ) brothers 
 Hercule \ erdeaa, 16 years old, ) 
 Pierre la Grange, bachelor, 23 years old, 
 Matthieu Fracasse, bachelor, 26 years old, 
 Andre Pelanebron, bachelor, 15 years old, 
 
 And twelve others that died before the ship reached her 
 destination. 
 
 More names. Arrived about this time, 1688-90 : Pierre 
 Lombard, Pierre Jacob, Abraham de Villiers, Matthieu Arniel, 
 Hercule du Pre, Louis Cordier, Jean le Long, Widow Charles 
 Privot, Marguerite Perrotit, Jean du Plessis, Daniel de Buelle, 
 Nicolas de Lanoy, Pierre Bousseau, Guillaume Xel, Nicholas 
 Kleef, Eseas and Susan Costeux, Jean ilargra, Louis Fourie, 
 Jacob and Etienne Yivet, Jean Cloudon, and Jean Durand, 
 Louis Barre, Jacques Therond, Francois Retif, David Senechal, 
 Solomon Gounnai, Daniel Couvat, Pierre Meyer. Jean Boi, 
 Daniel Hugod, Michel Martineau. Antonie Gros, Daniel Ferrier, 
 Jacques Malan, Niehola la Tatte and Jean Garde, Abraham and 
 Pierre Vivier, Elizabeth du Pre, Pierre Batte, Antonie Martin, 
 Zacharie Mantoir, Pierre Rochfort, Jean Magnet, Pierre Reneset, 
 Abraham Beluze, Jean Mysal, Pierre Le Tebre, G-uillaume du 
 Toit and wife Francois, Revd Pierre Simond and wife aod child, 
 Louis de Pierron, Pierre Barille, Andre Gaucher, Guillaume 
 Basson, Abraham du Plessis, Paul Brasier and Paul Roux. The 
 Holland list gives a total of 177 souls, while in despatches of 
 nearly the same date from the Cape Government the number of 
 Huguenots of all ages in the Colony is stated to be 155. But in 
 the last case those in service of the Company were certainly 
 not included, and possibly tho-e who had married into Dutch 
 families would not be reckoned. In the latter portion of this 
 list I have omitted women and children. 
 
 Johannes Mulder, the first Landdrost of Stellenbosch, retired 
 
568 
 
 APPENDIX G. 
 
 from office at his own repuest, and on the 12th of June, 1691, 
 was succeeded by Mr. Cornells Linnes. In the Heemraad and 
 in the consistory men were taking part whose descendants are 
 to be found there to the present day. The same may he said 
 of many of the members of the various Boards at the Cape, for 
 in the Burgher Council, the Consistory, the Orphan Chambers, 
 the Matrimonial Court, and the Court of Commissioners for 
 Petty Cases were men with names now well known throughout 
 South Africa. In a roll call of the Militia, a large proportion of 
 the names would be familiar to-day anywhere between Cape 
 Point and the Limpopo. 
 
 The most notable Burghers in the Cape Cistrict, at this time 
 (1691) were Van As Luow, Barille, De Beer, Van der Bol, Botma, 
 Boewman, Van Brakel, Brasier, Burger, Coetsee, Colyn, 
 Cornelissen, Diepenbout, Eems, Esterhuis, Gerrits, Gildenhuis, 
 Gunnwoud, Harst, Hartog, Van Heusden, Heyns, Huising, 
 Jurgens, Kruywagen, Loubser, Louw, Lubbe, Merhuisen, 
 Michielsen, Mostert, Mulder, Myburgh, Persyn, Phyffer, du 
 Plessis, Van der Poel, Potter, Pousioen, Pretorius, Piinsloo, 
 Ras, Reyniers, Van Schalkwyk Simons, Smit and Smuts, 
 Sneewind, Strydon, Verschuur, Victor, Villion, Vesagie, Visser, 
 Vlok, Vogel, Wessels, Van der Westhuizen, De Witt and 
 Russouw. 
 
 The most notable inhabitants of Stellenbosch were, Appel, 
 Boom, Boshof, Botma, Brand, Van den Brink, Brouwer, Van 
 der Byl, Campher, Cloete, Coetsee, Van Daalen, Van Dyk, Le 
 Febre. Gerrits, Greef, Grunf, Groenewald, Van Hof, Hoider, 
 Jacobs, Janssen, Jooste, Kleef, Kok, Konterman, Linnes, Van 
 der Lit, Mankadan, Mol, Morkel, Mulder, Nel, Van Oldenbiz, 
 Van Oudbeyerland, Van Oudtshoorn, Pasman, Paterborn, Pyle, 
 Schiepers, Steyn, Tas, du Toit, Venter, Verbrugg, Vosloo, de 
 AVereld and Wismer. 
 
 The most notable inhabitants of Drakenstein were Barre, 
 Basson, Bastiaans, Batte, Becker, Beluize, Boy sen, Binere, de 
 Bruyn, du Buis, Van der Byl, Classen, Cioete, Cloudon, 
 Corbonne, Cordeen, Convat, Van Deventer, Durand, Van Eek, 
 Van Eden ; Eechhof Erasmus, Ferrior, Fouche, Fourie, Fracasse, 
 Garde, Gaucher, Godefroy, Goumai, la Grange, Gros, Hatting, 
 Van der Heyden, Hugo and Jacob, Joubert, Jourdan, Kruger, 
 de Lanoy, Lombard, de Long, Van Maarseveen, Magnet, Malan, 
 Malherbe, Manteor, Margra, Marais, Martin, Martmeau, Van 
 der Merwey, Mesnard, Meyer, Mysal, Van Niekerk, Nortier, 
 Oosthuizen, Parisel, Pelanchon, de Pierron, Pinard, du Plessis, 
 du Pre, Reneset, Retif, Rochefort, Roi, Romond, Roussean, 
 Roux, de Ruelle, Sabatier, de Savoye, Senechal, Simond, Snyman, 
 Van S aden, Swart, Sevol, Taillefer, La Tatte, Therond, du 
 Toit, Vordeau, Vermey, Verwey, de Villiers, Vivet, Vivier, Van 
 Vuuren, Van Wyk, Van Zyl. 
 
APPENDIX H. 
 
 Appe>~dix H. 
 VOLKSLIEDEREN. 
 
 569 
 
 3IA_rD OF ATHENS, ERE VfE PART. 
 Zoifj fiov. crag a-fairw. 
 
 3Laid of Athens, ere we part. 
 Give, oh, give me back my heart ! 
 Or, since that has left my breast, 
 Keep it now, and take the res t! 
 Hear my vow before I go, 
 
 Zcof/ fiov, crag ci~;a~Z. 
 
 By those tresses unconfined, 
 Woo'd by each .Egean wind ; 
 By those lids whose jetty fringe 
 Kiss thy soft cheecks' blooming tinge 
 By those wild eyes like the roe, 
 
 Zcorj /J.ov, crag ci' ; {nrw. 
 
 By that lip I long to taste ; 
 By that zone-encircled waist ; 
 By all that token-flowers that tell 
 What words can never speak so well ; 
 By love's alternate joy and woe, 
 
 Zwf] aov, crag a-, a.7rS. 
 
 SAEmE BEYERS. 
 
 Sannie Beyers, eer oris skei, 
 Gee mij hart terug aari mrj ! 
 Of. nou dat dit al verloor is, 
 Vat dit maar, met al wat oor is ! 
 Voor ik weggaan sweer ik nou, 
 Hartje ik Jiet lief ver jou I 
 
 Ach ! die lokkies ongebiud. 
 
 Die heen en weer wiai met de wind : 
 
 Ach ! die wange rond en mooi, 
 
 Xes en perske zacht en rooi ! 
 
 Ach ! die oogies. hemelblauvr ! 
 
 Hartje ik het lief ver jou ! 
 
APPENDIX H. 
 
 Maar o ! die lippies ! Al mijn vee 
 Zal ik ver een zoentje gee ; 
 Mij hart wil soommer overstort, 
 En woorden kom mij nou te kort ; 
 Altijd blijf ik aan jou trouw, 
 Harje ik het lief ver jou I 
 
 Sannie, ik gaan van jou weg, 
 Maar als gij zoo alleenig leg 
 Dink om mij ; bij jou dich bij 
 Zal mij hart en ziel nog blij : 
 Kan mij liefde ooit ophou ? 
 Hartje ik het lief ver jou. 
 
 KLAAS GEZWINT EN" ZIJN PAERT. 
 
 (Burns' ' Tarn o' Shanter' vrij gevolgd.) 
 
 Als jij misschien nog met jou maat, 
 Boo in de dorp zit lach en praat ; 
 Vergeet jij, jij moet huis toe gaan, 
 Anders zal Elsie voor jou slaan, 
 Zij zit al bij die vuur en brom, 
 1 Ik krij hem, zoos hij huis toe kom." 
 
 Jammer dat mans zoo zelde hoor, 
 Als hulle vrouvvens voor hul knor : 
 Dit is maar zoo, hul kan m iar praat, 
 Ons luister toch nie na hul raad. 
 Dat dit zoo is, het Klaas Gezwint 
 Een donker nacht ook uirgevint, 
 Ilij 't leelijk in die knijp geraak, 
 Toen hij terug rij van die Braak, 
 
 Had Klaas geluister naar zijn vrouw, 
 Dan het dit hem nog nooit berouw ; 
 Geen dag gaat om of zij vertel hem, 
 " Maar Klaas, jij is toch al te schellem, 
 Nog nooit is jij van huis gewees, 
 Of jij gedraag jou als een bees, 
 En loop Klaas Titus met jou mee, 
 Dan gaat dit woes met julle twee." 
 
APPENDIX H. 
 
 Een aant, plaas van na huis te gaan, 
 Blij Klaas nog in de dorp in staan, 
 " !N~ou, arrie ! moet jul mij trakteer, 
 Kom, kerels, gooi maar nog een keer." 
 Hulle gee oom Kiass ook nog een dop, 
 Toe was hij net mooi hoenderkop. 
 
 Xou scheel dit nix, al wordt dit nach, 
 Hij blij maar daar gezels en lach ; 
 Als Klaasie eerst begin te slinger, 
 Dan kan jij gloo, hij zal maar linger. 
 
 Plezier is nets een jong komkommer, 
 Als jij hem pluk, verlep hij sommer : 
 Of nets een schulpad in zijn dop iu, 
 Zoos jij hem vat, dan trek hij kop in. 
 Als Klaas van aant zijn huis wil haal, 
 Dan word dit tijd om op te zaal. 
 Zoo klim hij " Kol" maar zaggies op 
 En druk zijn hoet vas op z jn kop. 
 
 Een fhikse merrie was ou Kol, 
 
 Al was haar rug een bietje hoi ; 
 
 Eerst fruit de ou — want hij was bang — 
 
 De neen-en-neentagsre gezang, 
 
 Dan kijk hij weer een slaggie om 
 
 Of daar misschien geen spook aankom. 
 
 Yoor hij van aant zijn huis kan krij, 
 
 Moet hij de kerkhof noch verbij 
 
 Die drank is toch een snaakse goed, 
 Hij gee die bangste kerel moed. 
 Al is een Hotnot nog zoo oolik, 
 Een zoopie maak hem net nou vroliik ; 
 Steek hij maar net een dop of drie, 
 Dan stuit hij voor geen d — v — 1 nie. 
 
 Maar Klaas het daarom naar gelijk, 
 Toe hij daar in de kerkhof kijk ; 
 Zijn bloed het wonderlijk gekook 
 Toe hij gewaar hoe dit daar spook. 
 Daar speul de d — v — 1 op een tromp 
 Yoor veertig spooke in een klomp ; 
 Hul dans daar rond, dat dit zoo gons 
 Geen ouderwetze cottiljons. 
 Maar eers "Alexander Klip salmander"' 
 Trap hulle algaar met malkander, 
 Toe was dit weer die " honde krap," 
 Tot dat die zweet zoo van hul tap. 
 
572 
 
 APPENDIX H. 
 
 Die goed was bijna poedel kaal, 
 En zie, die vrouwens was te skraal, 
 Maar een daarvan, een bietje dikker, 
 Maak zoo een uitgehaalde flikker, 
 Dat Klaas, plaas van zijn bek te hou, 
 Schree, " Arie ! dit was fluks van jon." 
 
 Zoo, hij dit zegh, toe moet hij jaa, 
 Die heel boel zet hem, achterna ; 
 " Kol, loop nou dat de stof zoo staan, 
 Anders is Klaas van aant gedaan ; 
 Kom jij m3ar net die drif voorbij, 
 Dan dalkies raak jou baas nog vrij ; 
 
 Een spook is nets en bok kapater, 
 Hij loop nie zoomaar in die water, 
 Toe Kol die d — v — 1 snij jou spoor." 
 Hier leg de drif" MerV zij's daaroor, 
 Haar stert het hul glat uitgeruk, 
 Maar Klaas is los, dits een geluk. 
 
 Yoor die wat lushet om te draai, 
 Wil ik maar net een woortje raai ; 
 Gedenk aan Klaas Gezwint zijn paert, 
 En vraag jou zelf : waar is haar staert ? 
 
 DAANTJIE GOUWS. 
 
 Een vertaling van Burns zijn 1 Duncan Gray.' (Op die wijsie van ' Pry, Try 
 Try, Again.') 
 
 Daantjie kom hier om te vrij, 
 
 Ja, met vrijers gaat dit soo ; 
 
 Sondagsaants het hij ver moet rij, 
 
 Ja, met vrijers gaat dit soo. 
 
 Martjie steek haar kop in die luch, 
 
 Kijk zoo skeef en trek terug, 
 
 Sit ver Daantjie glat op vlug ; 
 
 Ja, met vrijers gaat dit soo 
 
 Daantjie smeek en- Daantjie bid, 
 Martjie's doof en blij maar sit ; 
 
 Ja, met vrijers gaat dit soo 
 Daantje such vir ure lang, 
 Vee die trane van sijn wang, 
 Praat van hemzelve op te hang ; 
 
 Ja, met vrijers gaat dit soo. 
 
APPENDIX H. 
 
 Die tijd versach maar ons gevoel 
 Yerachte liefde word ook koel ; 
 
 Ja, met vrijers gaat dit soo. 
 " Sal ik," seg hij, " nets een gek, 
 " Om een laffe meisie vrek ? 
 " Zij kan naar diehoenders trek ; " 
 
 Ja, met vrijers gaat dit soo. 
 
 Hoe dit kom lat dokters vertel, 
 Martjie word siek en hij word wel ; 
 
 Ja, met vrijers gaat dit soo. 
 Daar 's iets wat an haar borsie knaa, 
 En hartjie-seer begin haar plaa, 
 Haar oogies glinster ook mar braa ; 
 
 Ja, met vrijers gnat dit soo. 
 
 Daantje was een sachte man, 
 En jVlartje trek haar dit soo an ; 
 
 Ja, met vrijers gaat dit soo. 
 Daantjie krij jammer in sijn hart, 
 De liefde groei weer an sijn part. 
 Nou leef sulle same sonder smart ; 
 
 Ja, met vrijers gaat dit s u. 
 
 ALIE JBRAJSD. 
 
 Wxsie.— 'Gaily the Troubadour.' 
 
 Ach mijn lieve Alie Brand, de liefste van mijn hart, 
 Laat ons onze schaapjes op een klompje maak, 
 Gee mij permissie, mijn liefste Alie Brand, 
 Om morre naar die dorp te rij, en haal die predikant 
 
 Mijn vader en mijn moeder is alie bei al oud, 
 En als hulkom te sterven, dan erf ik banja goud, 
 Een plaats zal ik dan ki.ope, en ook zoo bauja vee, 
 Daarom mijn liefste Alie, zeg mij toch met nee ! 
 
 Pluimvee en blomtuin, alles kan jij krij, 
 
 Koeijen om te melken, perde om te rij, 
 
 Koffie en koekies voor die tantes en die ooms, 
 
 En daarom nog geld genoeg voor die dochters en die zoons. 
 
 Als gij zeh nee, dan weet ik wat ik doet, 
 Ik neem een lange riem. en hang mij aan een boom, 
 AY ant zonder mijne Alie, wat maak ik met miju nek, 
 "Want zonder mijne Alie ! dan wil ik lievers vrek. 
 
574 
 
 APPENDIX H. 
 
 JAjST jurgens. 
 
 (Cowper's ' John Gilpin,' vrij gevolgci. 
 
 Jan Jurgens was een burgerman 
 Van aanzien en van roem, 
 
 Een vrede-regter was hy ook 
 Op die fontein van Bloem. 
 
 En Jan zyn vrouw zeg aan haar man 
 
 Ons twee is nou getrou 
 Al twintig jaar, en ons het nog 
 
 Geen " hollidey " gehou. 
 
 Nou morge is ons bruilofs dag 
 
 Zoo laat ons dan toch ry 
 Na Uithoek, daar op Modderspruit, 
 
 Waar onze tanta bly. 
 
 Myn zuster en myn zuster's kind 
 
 En ik en Griet en Jan 
 Die maak en vrag, zoo kom jy maar 
 
 Te paert ons agter an. 
 
 Hy antwoord toe, daar is maar een 
 
 Ou vrouw die ik bemin 
 En jy is det, myn liefste hart, 
 
 Zoo doet maar na jou zin. 
 
 Ik is een eerlyk winkelier 
 
 Det weet toch iedereen, 
 En myn ou vrint die timmerman 
 
 Zal myn zyn paert wel leen. 
 
 Zeg Juffer Jurgens det is goed, 
 Maar " serri-wyn " is duur, 
 
 Zoo neem ons maar een fles pontak 
 Die is toch nie zoo zuur. 
 
 Jan Jurgens zoen zyn lieve vrouw 
 
 Verblyd was hy vervas, 
 Te zien al hou zy van plesier 
 
 Det zy toch spaarzaam was. 
 
 Die dag was daar, die kar gereed, 
 
 En alles in die hak 
 Met al die kinders binne in — 
 
 Was det maar zwaar gepak. 
 
APPEXDTX H. 
 
 Bly was zhI' toe die paerde trek, 
 
 En toe die wiele draai, 
 Det gaat ook det die stof zoo staat 
 
 En det die klippers waai. 
 
 Jan Jurgens staat daar by zyn paert, 
 En gryp hem aan zyn maan, 
 
 Hy spring flux op. maar klim weer af, 
 Om in die huis te gaan. 
 
 Want skaars was hy mooi in die zaal 
 
 En wou zyn reis begin, 
 Of daar kom botre na hem toe 
 
 En wjl die winkel in. 
 
 Zoo klim hy af, want tyd verzuim, 
 Hoe hem det ook mag spyt, 
 
 Is daarom nie zoo'n groot yerlies 
 Als schade van profyt. 
 
 Det het ook taamlyk lank geduur, 
 Yoor det zul' klaar kon kry, 
 
 En toe det oo'r was skree die meid, 
 " Die wyn had t'huis gebly." 
 
 Magtig zeg hy — daar het jy det, 
 
 Det's nou en lieve las, 
 Maar wag, bring hier myn bandelier, 
 
 Hy hang daar in die kas. 
 
 Xou JivfFer Jurgens (zorgzaam ziel) 
 
 Had daags te voren mooi 
 Twee aerde kanne uitgewas, 
 
 En wyn daarin gegooi. 
 
 Elk bottel het en kromme oor, 
 Die bind hy met zyn band 
 
 Vas op zyn lyf, en voor balans 
 Hang een aan ieder kant. 
 
 En over det, dat hy mog zyn 
 
 Gekleet van top tot toon 
 Trek hy zyn nienwe overjas 
 
 Zoo netjes en zoo schoon. 
 
 ISTou zit hy weder op zyn paert, 
 
 Een triplaar van belang, 
 Hy ry voorzigtig deur die straat, 
 
 Op echte burgher gang. 
 
o76 
 
 APPENDIX H. 
 
 Maar toe die pad gelyker word 
 
 Trek hy op een galop, 
 Toe snork die paert en loop zoo hart, 
 
 Det Jan hem nie kon stop. 
 
 " Ho-ha !" zeg Jan, " ho-ha" nou paert 
 
 Maar nou was det te laat, 
 Want al hoe verder det hy loop 
 
 Hoe harder det hy gaat 
 
 Een man die tog geen ruiter is 
 Mott aan die maanhaar hou, 
 
 Zoo gooi ou Jan die lyzels weg, 
 Om aan die paert te klaau. 
 
 Die paert die was det ongewoond 
 
 Det hul' zoo aan horn vat, 
 En wis nie wat ver ding det was 
 
 Det boven op hem zat. 
 
 Ily neem die loop met Jurgens zaam r 
 
 Zyn hoed is na die maa , 
 Hy 't nooit gedoch toe hy vertrok, 
 
 Det det toch zoo zou gaan. 
 
 Zyn jas die wapper net's een flag, 
 Daar skeur die laaste knoop, 
 
 Die wind die warl det van zyn rug r 
 En gooi det op een hoop. 
 
 Toe kan die mense algaar zien 
 
 Die bottles aan zyn band, 
 Twee eerde kruikies om zyn lyf 
 
 Een hang aan ieder kant. 
 
 Die honde blaf, die kinders huil r 
 
 Hul' skuif de vensters op, 
 En algaar skreef horn agterna 
 
 Zoo ja — nou druk maar op. 
 
 Daar gaat ou Jan, det is mos hy, 
 
 Zeg iedereen terstorit, 
 Hy draag gewig — hy ry en rees, 
 
 D'es voor een duizend pond. 
 
 Die tolman gooi die tolhek oop, 
 
 Geluk voor Jan zyn nek, 
 Die kerel gaat die dokter haal 7 
 
 Of anders is by gek. 
 
APPENDIX H. 
 
 577 
 
 Nou bet die bottels al verskuif, 
 
 Tot agter op zyn rug, 
 Toe slaat hul al twee teun makkaar 
 
 En waai daar in die luch. 
 
 Die wyn die loop toe in die pad 
 
 Tot det die paert zoo rook, 
 Die wasem slaat zoo uit zyn blad, 
 
 Als of hy w as gekook. 
 
 En hoe Jan Jurgens ook mag rem 
 Zyn paert die gaat maar vort, 
 
 Daar hang die bottel-nekke nog, 
 Vas om zyn lyf gegord. 
 
 Hy gaat by Uithoek oo'r die werf 
 
 Zyn vrou staat op die stoep, 
 En zoo's zy haar Jan Jurgens ziet 
 
 Begon zy uit te roep. 
 
 Stop Jan ! Stop Jan, hier is die huis 
 
 Hier is die huis zeg zy, 
 Des opgeskep — en tyd voor ons : 
 
 Zeg Jan des tyd voor my. 
 
 Jan doch det was al ver genoeg : 
 
 Zyn paert die het nog haas, 
 Want nog en half uur verdor leg 
 
 Die woonhuis van zyn baas. 
 
 Dus net zoo skerp als ooit een koe'i 
 
 Maar uit en roer kan Suit, 
 Zoo loop die paert en nou is ook 
 
 Myn storie net half uit 
 
 Daar gaat Jan Jurgens amper rlou 
 
 En teu'n zyn wensch en wil 
 Tot by zyn vrint die timmerman, 
 
 Daar staat hy eindlyk stil. 
 
 Die timmerman was glad verbaas 
 Oo'r die toestand van zyn maat, 
 
 Hy zet zyn pyp ook daadlyk neer 
 En dus begon hy praat. 
 
 Wat nieuws, wat nieuws, zeg myn toch gau, 
 
 En wat zoek jy dau hier, 
 En waarom kom jy zonder hoed, 
 
 Magtig hoe zweet die dier. 
 
 IP 
 
578 
 
 APPENDIX H. 
 
 Jan Jurgens was een vrolyk man, 
 Die 'n grappie nooit kon laat, 
 
 Dus zeg hy aan die timmerman 
 Ik zal jou zeg ou maat. 
 
 Ik kom om det jou paertd wou kom, 
 
 En het ik det nog reg, 
 Dan zal myn hoed ook haas trier wees 
 
 Hy is alreeds op weg. 
 
 Die timmerman was bly te zien 
 
 Zyn vrint nog opgeruim, 
 Dus geef hij ook geen antwoord toe, 
 
 En maak ook geen verzuim. 
 
 Maar hy gaat haastig in die huis 
 
 En haal een ander hoet ; 
 Die was nie al te bestig, maar 
 
 Hy was nog daarom goet. 
 
 Die timmerman het toe getoon 
 
 Det hij ook grappig was, 
 Hij zeg die hoet is veuls te groot 
 
 Dus zal hy zeker pas. 
 
 Maar krap dan toch die modder af 
 
 Jij lyk mos zommer vaal, 
 En jy zal zeker honger wees, 
 
 Zoo moet jy maar afzaal. 
 
 Zeg Jan, det is myn bruilofs dag — 
 
 Die mense zal mos praat, 
 As mijn ou vrouw by Uithoek eet, 
 
 En ik hier bij myn maat. 
 
 Zoo zeg hy aan die paert " Jy 's hier 
 
 Voorjou plesier gekom, 
 Zoo gaat jy nou maar nog een slag 
 
 Voor myn plesier weerom." 
 
 Maar skaars het hy die woord gezeh 
 
 Of by het horn berouw, 
 Die Ezel hengs die skree zoo hart, 
 
 Zyn paerd det nooit kan hon. 
 
 Hy beef en snork en gaat te keer 
 
 Als of hy 'n leeou hoor, 
 En spring zoo skielyk weg det Jan 
 
 Slaat amper agter-oor. 
 
 Daar gaat Jan Jurgens en daar gaat 
 Zijn hoet weer in die sloot, 
 
 Det val ook nou veel gauwer af, 
 Om det het was te groot. 
 
APPENDIX H. 
 
 579 
 
 ^Nou Juffer Jurgens toe zy zag, 
 Haar man gaat zoo voorbij, 
 
 Wys zy en half kroon aan en jong, 
 En zeg det zal jy kry. 
 
 Als jy die ou baas nou gaan baal 
 En breng bom veilig bier : 
 
 -Ja zeg die jong, des goed ou nooi, 
 Det doet ik mot plesier. 
 
 T3n toe hij Jurgens aan ziet kom 
 Wou hy ook dan probeer 
 
 Om dwars voor in die pad te staan, 
 En zoo bom nog te keer. 
 
 Hij het dan ook zyn bes gedaan 
 
 Die lyzels beet te kry, 
 Maar ongelukkig vat hy mis, 
 
 Toe was die paert weer vry. 
 
 Daar gaat Jan Jurgens en daar gaat 
 
 Die jong ook agteraan, 
 Die paert die loop maar altijd voort 
 
 Zoo hard als hy kon gaan. 
 
 En toe die mense langs die pad 
 Ziet hoe det Jan hem weert, 
 
 .Zez zulle algaar " wat is det 
 Daar's zeker iets verkeerd." 
 
 Toe jaa zul' almaal agtenan 
 Want daar was een geruch, 
 
 Det Jurgens was een paerde dief, 
 En det by wou ontvlug. 
 
 Die tolhek gaat nou nogmaals oop, 
 Zul' denk det is een grap, 
 
 Die tolmctn zeg zul' ry zoo bard 
 De's voor en weddenschap. 
 
 Det was ook zoo' hy won det ook, 
 Want hy was eerste t'huis, 
 
 Zyn paert die staat nie eerder stil 
 Als vlak voor die kombuis. 
 
 Die Yry-Staat boo ! ik zeg ook zoo, 
 En Jurgens lank leef hy ! 
 
 Maar mag ik daar wees om te zien 
 Als hy ooit weer gaat ry ! 
 
 1p2 
 
580 
 
 APPENDIX H. 
 
 DIE BOER ZIJN ZAT& RDAG AAND. 
 
 (Na Burns' ' Cottar's Saturday N 
 
 igW.') 
 
 Die Noordewind Avaai koud in Junijmaand, 
 Om vijf uur is die zon al weggezak, 
 Die osse, moe van ploeg. is blij dis aand, 
 Die kraaie trek ook hu's toe oor die vlak. 
 Die boer gaat van die land af, klaar met werk 
 — Hij het dit zwaar gekrij, die laatste week — 
 Hij word al oud, hij voel nie meer zoo sterk, 
 Maar morge kan hij rus, nou gaat hij pijpopsteek, 
 En zoetjes, in die voor, naar huis toe hou hij streek 
 
 Hij maak nog schaars die draai. kort bij zijn huis, 
 
 (Wat hij nog zelf gebou het toen hij trouw,) 
 
 Die kinders loop en kruip uit die kombuis, 
 
 En hang om hem en trek hem aan zijn mouw, 
 
 Zijn stoel staat klaar, zijn vrouw geef hem een zoen, 
 
 Die misvuur brand, die waterketel kook, 
 
 Zy kom ook zit, want dear's niks meer te doen ; 
 
 Hy blaas zyn koffie en hou op met rook, 
 
 En hy vergeet zoomaar zyn werk en moegheid ook. 
 
 Die ander kinders kom ook almal thuis 
 Jan met een bok wat in die wyngerd plaa, 
 
 En Gert het ver oom Piet om zaad gaat vraa. 
 
 Die oudste docter Sannie kom toe net 
 
 Met rooie wange, ooge groot en zwart, 
 
 Zoos Kaapse meisjes net alleenig het ; 
 
 Pa wil nog zeh : ' Dag, Sannie, dag mijn hart,'"' 
 
 Zy zoen hem eer hy praat, en zit by hem apart. 
 
 Die broers en zustres kortswyl met malkaar, 
 
 En praat oor wat hul morge zal gaan maak, 
 
 En hulle is nog met nieuws vertel nie klaar 
 
 Of Gert zyn oog val toe al van die vaak. 
 
 Die ou man en zyn ou vrouw wensch en hoop 
 
 Dat al die kinders duegdzaam op mag groei ; 
 
 Die ou vrouw stop die kouse, deurgeloop 
 
 En zeg ver Jan : " Kyk al die gate, foei 
 
 "Wag maar, als ik my nie meer met jou goed bemoei !" 
 
 Die ou man waarschmv vrindlyk en vermaan, 
 Die jong volk om toch goed en vroom te wees, 
 Om nooit lui rondteslenter en te staan, 
 Jrlulle plicht te doen en altyd God te vrees. 
 
APPENDIX H. 
 
 581 
 
 Om te bly staan, zeg hy, is bainkeer zwaar 
 
 Als die verzneking om te verlei, 
 
 3Iaar vraa ver God, lat hy ver julle verklaar 
 
 Hoe julle nioet maak kom om goed en vroorn te bly, 
 
 Myn kinders, doet toch nooit wat met Gods wette stry. 
 
 Daar word geklop. Ma vraa, wie kan dit wees ? 
 Dis al zoo laat. dis amper zeven fl.ur : 
 Maar Sannie raai zoomaar. dis zeker Kees, 
 En haar gesig wordt net zoo rooi als vimr. 
 Haar slimme moeder ziet hoe sterk zy bloos, 
 Zy merk dat Sannie rooie wange kty ; 
 Zy vraa : u Wie's dit ?" en zy ontstel haar boos, 
 Zy denk, dis zeker een wat hier kom vry ! 
 Maar toe zy hoor dis Kees, is zy gernst en bly. 
 
 Kees is een frisse kerel van oor zes voet. 
 
 Gedamasseerd met hande grof van werk ; 
 
 Dit is een goeie kens wat Sannie doet 
 
 En daadlyk het die ou vronw alles gemerk. 
 
 Die on man praat met hem van boerdery 
 
 Van paerde en van koeie en van ploeg 
 
 Al het Kees ook gekom om hier te vry, 
 
 Hy moet zit aanhoor, maar is lang al moeg ; 
 
 Die moeder merk dat Kees by Sannie hem wil voeg. 
 
 Die liefde is een wonderlyke ding 
 Die grootste zaligheid wat kan bestaan ; 
 Ik het al bain op aarde doorgebring 
 En dis die les wat ik het opgedaan : 
 Daar 's niks nie wat 7 n mensch zoo wonderlijk lat voel 
 ^N"iks wat een mensch zijn hart zoo goed kan doen, 
 Als 's avonds als die lucht is afgekoel 
 Een jonkman ver zijn meis-ie te zien zoen 
 .Als die maan schijn op die boome, nitgeloop en groen. 
 
 Is daar een mensch wat hart het in zijn lijf 
 
 Een schelm, een schurk, zoo innerlijk versleg 
 
 In list en slinkschheid zoo geheel verstijf 
 
 Wat meissies bring op die verkeerde weg J 
 
 Vervloekt is hij, met zijn geslepe taal ! 
 
 Het hij geen eer, gewete i en geen God ? 
 
 Als hij haar later met een hart van staal 
 
 Verstoot en oorlaat aan haar bitter lot, 
 
 Dan kom daar rouw en wauhoop zeker aan die slot. 
 
.582 
 
 APPENDIX H. 
 
 Die tafel wordt gedek. en hulle zit aan, 
 
 Daar 's ryssop van van middag oorgeschiet, 
 
 Een schottel stoofvlees nie ver daar van daan, 
 
 En dikmelk zoos een mensch maar zelden ziet. 
 
 Om ver die vrijer vrindelijk te wees, 
 
 Haal tante boogoe zoopies uit die spens 
 
 Zij vraa : Hoe drink dit "? " Voorentoe," zeg Kees : 
 
 Zij zeg dat boogoe goed doet ver een mensch, 
 
 Dat almal matig drink is net al wat zij wensch. 
 
 Die meid neem nou die kos weg en die sop ; 
 
 Eerbiedig wag die kinders almal stil, 
 
 Pa slaat de groote Statenbijbel op, 
 
 En zoek in al zijn zakke naar zijn bril. 
 
 Uit die ou erfstuk lees hij hulle voor. 
 
 Die oue psalme wat ver almal stich ; 
 
 Die kinders zit aandachtig aan te hoor 
 
 Hoe die ou man met een ernstig gezicht 
 
 Die woorde lees van Leven, Liefde, Vrede, Licht. 
 
 Die oue Testament word eers gelees 
 
 En toe een Hoofdstuk uit die Xieuwe ook, 
 
 Oor hem wat eens op aarde was gewees 
 
 En door zijn volk, door priesters aangestook, 
 
 Onschuldig werd gekruist als moordenaar. 
 
 En toe zit Sannie in die aandgezang 
 
 " O Groote Christus" — die wijssie 's te zwaar, 
 
 Om te blij steek, nee, daarvoor is zij bang, 
 
 Zij zing die liederenwijs met draaie regte lang. 
 
 Toe kniel hulle almal voor hulle stoele neer ; 
 
 Die huisgezin zijn hoofd doet een gebed, 
 
 Hij bid dat onze Vader, aller Heer 
 
 Van kwaad en van gevaar hen toch wil red. 
 
 Zoon vroomheid, dis wat onze God wil heh 
 
 Geen aanstellings en geen dwaze huichelarij 
 
 Daar 's bain wat bain lang op die knie leh 
 
 En wat Gods wette heelmal gooi op zij, 
 
 En doen wat heelmal met die wil des Yaders strij. 
 
 Die zeuns zeh ver die oudjes nou : goe nag, 
 
 En Sannie gaat ook naar haar kamer toe. 
 
 Hulle ouers kan ook nie meer langer wag 
 
 En voel ook regte afgemat en moe. 
 
 Gerus gaat hulle leh in stille hoop 
 
 Dat Hij die ver die vogeltjies wil klee 
 
 En ver die lelies langs die waterloop, 
 
 Ook al wat noodig ver hulle zal gee 
 
 Hij zorg toch net zoo goed voor menschen als ver vee 
 
APPEXDIX I. 
 
 583 
 
 Dis die eenvoudigheid waarvan ons lees 
 Die kinderlijkheid wat het Rijk beerf, 
 Wat stil zijn plicht en recht doet en God vrees 
 Rijkdom wat mot en roest nie kan bederf. 
 Grootheid en geld span net yer ons een strik 
 Geen schande is dit om gering te wees 
 Daar is geen grooter werk van God als dit : 
 Een eerlijk man, wat zonder menschenvrees 
 Zijn naaste liefhet en zijn God het allermees. 
 
 D. P. 
 
 Appendix L 
 
 Extract From the "Quarterly Review," December, 1835. 
 
 " PR INGLE AND MOODIE." 
 
 " We now come to the work of Lieutenant J. W. D Moodie T 
 of the 21st Fusiliers, who, like Pringle, left this country for the 
 Cape in 1819, and, like him, abandoned the colony after a 
 residence and struggle of ten years. This gentleman however 
 had no immediate connection with the Government scheme, for 
 which £50,000 was granted by Parliament in the year above 
 mentioned. His attempt was dependant on the isolated experi- 
 ment of the family to which he belongs — a family which had for 
 ages held a high station amongst the gentry of the Orkney 
 Islands. 
 
 ' ; The Lieutenant informs us that, soon after the peace of 1815 ? 
 his family found their resources so straitened by the pressure 
 of debts that they were obliged to make up their minds to part 
 with the extensive property in that remote region, which had 
 descended to them from the period of Xorse dominion. But 
 how the debts and difficulties had accumalated to this grievous 
 extent he does not explain ; nor had we any particular right to 
 expect that he should do so. We know nothing from any other 
 source of the particular case, but we are but too well acquainted 
 with the causes of the ruin that about this time overtook many 
 of the most ancient and distinguished families in the Hebrides 
 and Orkney Islands, as well as on the other Highland coasts of 
 Scotland, and the kindred shores of Connaught and Ulster. 
 
 " The high price of kelp during the war swelled their rentals to 
 an amount of which their forefathers never had had the remotest 
 anticipation. The rise was of the kind with that of agricultural 
 rentals throughout the kingdom generally, but far more extrava- 
 
o84 
 
 APPENDIX t. 
 
 gant. Like the other landlords of the time, these gentlemen 
 accommodated their modes of living to this extraordinary change, 
 but the imprudence was more than usually absurd upon their 
 part, in consequence of the absolntely frail tenure on which the 
 increased annual income depended. When the peace disturbed 
 their fragile monopoly, they did not at once comprehend that it 
 was in reality gone for ever — at least for their lifetime, — and they 
 continued to live on as they had done during the war, in the 
 vain hope of better days coming back to thom. But indeed it 
 would not have been easy, even for the most prudent persons in 
 their " situation, to change their habits suddenly. A young 
 generation unaccustomed to the frugal manners of the old time 
 had grown up — new houses had been built on the scale of great 
 English mansions — the whole arrangements of every domain, as 
 well as household, had been framed according to this luxurious 
 style of modern English life. It cost years of struggling and 
 shifting before the stern hand of necessity was able to enforce 
 • its painful lessons, and, in numerous notorious instances, the 
 ancient property in the soil had at last to be abandoned 
 altogether. Such, or nearly similar, was in all likelihood the 
 fate of the Moodies of Melsetter — a name familiar to every one 
 who has visited or read any books about the bleak Archipelago 
 of the Udallers. 
 
 ' By stack andi skerry, by noup and by voe, 
 By air and by wick", and by helyer and <rio, 
 And by every wild shore which the northern wind knows.' " 
 
 The young Laird of Melsetter — (Benj. Moodie) — his land 
 having been disposed of — determined on removing to the Cape 
 Colony, and he assembled about him some 200 Scotch families of 
 the common sort, who were willing to place themselves under his 
 guidance, and who entered into regular indentures, by which, in 
 return for the expense of the exportation and outfit, they bound 
 themselves to work for Mr. Moodie on a certain fixed rate of 
 wages, during a certain number of years after their arrival in 
 South Africa, or to buy up their indentures at a reasonable rate, 
 also fixed and determined beforehand. The ex-Laird, however, 
 made a sad mistake in this matter, or rather a whole heap of 
 mistakes. First of all, these people were not from his own part 
 of Scotland, but from the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, and thus 
 neither had they that attachment and respect for his person, 
 which he would probably have found in a similar congregation 
 of Orcadians, nor had he that intimate acquaintance with their 
 manners and habits of industry which is so desirable in the leader 
 of a colonial settlement. Moreover, while they had no habitual 
 veneration for him, they were closely allied with each other. 
 He was like the foreign captain of a troop all raised in the same 
 village. Mr. Moodie relied implicitly on the solemn contracts 
 entered into with these people. He had been careful in admitting 
 
APPENDIX I. 
 
 585 
 
 none who could not produce certificates of good character, and 
 would not suspect that, once removed from the eyes of all 
 neighbours and connections, except those who were exposed to 
 exactly the same temptation with himself, the austere and 
 sanctimonious Presbyterian could make up his mind to a deliberate 
 fraud — indeed, a plain theft and robbery. Such, however, was, 
 in all but a very few cases, the result. 
 
 Mr. Moodie had not been long in South Africa before the 
 great majority of his people broke all their contracts, abandoned 
 him for ever, and scattered themselves over the vast colony 
 wherever they could get good wages, without the least regard to 
 his interests, and in such a manner as to baffle him and his agents 
 most completely. The Laird, however, was not wholly out of 
 his element as the master of a huge grazing district, in whatever 
 part of the world it might be placed. Some of his people did 
 keep their faith, and by their assistance, and that of Hottentots 
 hired in the room of the fraudulent fugitives, he by degrees 
 overcame the worst difficulties of his new position. His country 
 education and previous habits were in no small degree adapted 
 to the colonial existence. His old experience as Justice of Peace 
 was found valuable, and he seems ere he had been many years in 
 South Africa to have earned for himself great personal con- 
 sideration amongst all classes of his neighbours. So much for 
 the Laird ! 
 
 His two younger brothers — the one a naval, the other a 
 military officer — had both been reduced to half-pay about the 
 same time when his rental sustained its cruel reduction. These 
 gentlemen no sooner heard of his African scheme than, from 
 opposite parts of the compass, they both hastened to join him in 
 his new location of the Penates ; and the soldier it is whose 
 narrative now lies before us. The Laird was near enough 
 failing. We have noticed some of the circumstances to which he 
 owed his escape ; but perhaps the main secret after all was that, 
 however reduced, he had still some considerable capital at his 
 back. The cadets wanted this important ally, as well as his 
 habits of rural life, and practical acquaintance with farming and 
 grazing operations. Under such circumstances, one would 
 naturally expect to find them placing themselves under the elder 
 brother's experienced eye, and as near him as possible, but, 
 though the whole book seems full of proofs of strong fraternal 
 affection amongst the three Moodies, such was not the case. 
 Even the soldier and sailor* — though they pitched their tents 
 together for a time, soon parted company also. The latter is 
 now, it appears, settled in a respectable station in the Civil 
 Service of the Colony. We infer that, in some way or other, all 
 his farming attempts had failed before he solicited such employ- 
 
 * The sailor was the father of the present wriier of " Batlles, &c" 
 
586 
 
 APPENDIX I. 
 
 ment. As for our author, the gallant fusilier, his book contains 
 a full and particular account of all his ups and downs ; but we 
 must be content with mentioning two of the leading occurrences. 
 
 First, then, the grant of land which he originally obtained, and 
 on which he built his house and settled his establishment, had 
 been marked out for him at the time when Sir Rufane Donkin 
 filled the situation of Acting-Governor in the absence of Lord 
 Charles Somerset ; and when Lord Charles returned to the 
 Colony, he found that his deputy had made a serious blunder ; 
 the said grant, and a great number of grants besides, being within 
 a district which the English Government had by treaty recog- 
 nised as neutral — which in short had never been ceded, Lord 
 Charles considered that faith had been broken, though of course 
 undesignedly, and would not continue to protect these new 
 settlers. He withdrew the troops which had been stationed for 
 their defence against the forays of the indignant CafFres, and they 
 were soon obliged to abandon their houses and farms entirely. 
 We certainly think that, as the Acting-Governor could have 
 been guilty of nothing worse than an oversight, he ought to have 
 been reprimanded indeed, but the poor settlers who had laid out 
 time and money on reliance on his geographical and official 
 authority, shouM have been compensated in some way for the 
 losses thus sustained. Lieut. Moodie, however, say> that all 
 their petitions to this effect were fruitless. Lord Charles thought 
 they might have taken the trouble to examine the map before 
 cutting out their farms and erecting their hou-es, and they left 
 to select new settlements for themselves at their own discretion, 
 and on the usual terms. The Lieutenant chose a very beautiful 
 place, by a fine stream, not far from the sea coast, though in a 
 remote part of the colony, and hired some servants and reared a 
 cottage, and for a time his herds multiplied about him, and all 
 seemed to go well. But presently the distance and solitude of 
 the location became distateful to his servants, and one by one 
 they all left him. For some weeks the poor gentleman remained 
 actually alone in the midst of the wood and wilds, with 500 head 
 of cattle to take care of. Under kucIi circumstances, the courage, 
 even of a Fusilier, might pardonably give way, and though a 
 lucky accident brought him help and company, and he once more 
 resumed his efforts, yet he seems never to have quite recovered the 
 shock of his Robinson Crusoe desertion, and to have, in short, 
 contracted a fixed disgust for the very name of South Africa. The 
 Lieutenant sold his lot and stock, and came over to England, and 
 wrote his book. But before it could be published he was already 
 on way to Upper Canada. We sincerely hope he may have better 
 luck there than at the Cape; but there seems some reason ta 
 fear that he is of an unsettling disposition. We doubt if he will 
 reclaim any considerable section of the Canadian forests ; but he 
 will, if his views are moderate, find his half-pay a very comfort- 
 
APPENDIX I. 
 
 587 
 
 able income : and certainly he will be at no loss either for hearty 
 cheer or jolly company, if he chooses to locate himself within 
 dining distance of that epicurean of the woods, Dr. Dunlop. 
 
 (After numerous extracts from " Ten Years in South Africa,") 
 " Here we close our extracts from one of the most amusing- 
 books we have latelv met with."" 5 
 
 History of South Africa. 
 
 To the Editor of the Cape Argus. 
 
 Sir, — In your justly favourable review of the above work,, 
 lately issued by our worthy friend, Mr. G. M. Theal, to whose 
 matured powers of research South African (and indeed other) 
 readers are so greatly indebted, you write as if you thought the 
 range taken by Mr. Theal was new ground. In simple justice 
 to the memo r y of my late father, our friend will agree with me 
 that this matter, once for all. should be made plain. 
 
 The Cape • Record " (which 1 submit to you), produced by my 
 father. Donald Moodie, and published by A. S. Robertson, of 
 Cape Town, in 1838, really (with some exceptions) embraces all 
 the ground gone over by subsequent writers on South African 
 history. 
 
 The wording on the title page of the {i Record " is. indeed, 
 misleading, inasmuch as it relates to the " condition and treat- 
 ment of the native tribes/' whereas a perusal of the voluminous 
 text will show that it is. in point of fact, a retailed history of the 
 Dutch occupation of the Cape to the arrival of the Huguenots. 
 
 The journal of deserter Jan Blanx. or Blank : Van der Stell's 
 journal of his expedition to Xaniaqualaud and back ; Ensign 
 Scryver's trip to the Inquas : the stories and diaries concerning 
 the ships Stavennisse, Bona Ventura, Hooker Centaur, Koord, &c, 
 are all given in the " Record " in minute details, the stories of' 
 the adventures of the ships occupying forty-six large pages. 
 Yet I have taken, for the " History of Battles and Adventures " 
 that I am bringing out. Mr. Theal's clear and condensed 
 accounts regarding them, in preference to the long-drawn detaiL 
 
 The Cape " Record " (I must say in proof of my above asser- 
 tion) opens with a Remonstrance " from the " Inkomende 
 Brieven," from Janz and Proot. on the 26th July, 1649. This 
 paper explains to the Dutch Company in Holland the value of 
 the possession of the Cape Peninsula. 
 
 * The Lieut, died in Belleville in Upper Canada in 1868. Being a bit of an 
 anttqnarian, he had visited Scone and all the very ancient offices of " Record."" 
 
588 
 
 APPENDIX I. 
 
 Then follows Van Riebeek's report upon it, and the Com- 
 pany's instructions to the commanders of ships sent to the Cape 
 by it (issued on the 12th December, 1651.) 
 
 Then come 233 pages of a large (quarto I believe) size, con- 
 taining copious extracts from the journals of Van Riebeeck, 
 embracing every minute particular of the doings and adventures 
 of the first-comers, to May, 1662, when Commander Wagenaar 
 was duly installed. These pages also contain all the orders 
 from Holland. 
 
 Then, extracts from the journals and chronicles of Commanders 
 Cornells van Quaelbergh, Borghorst, Hackius, Van Brugel ; 
 Governor Isbrand Goske ; the journal of Jan van Meersden, 
 regarding the expedition under Ensign Cruse, against the rebel- 
 lious " Gonnema Africans'' on July 12th, 1672, and following 
 days. 
 
 Then follow extracts from the journals of Governor Bax 
 (1677), Provisional Commander Crudop, Van der Stell (1681), 
 Governor-General R. van Goens (1685), and Van der Stell's 
 journey to Namaqualand, occupying seven pages. 
 
 The text of the ''Record" then suddenly breaks off in the 
 middle of a sentence regarding some extract from a despatch 
 from Van der Stell to the Chamber of XVII in Holland, May 
 24th, 1690. 
 
 The last entry is on June 12th, 1690, beginning " The 
 French refugees landed here with your concurrence," &c. 
 
 The " Record " then closes, the compiler saying in a note, 
 M Among the journals included in the inventories of the Reords 
 of the Colonial Office, taken on the capitulation of the colony in 
 1795, and its cession to Holland in 1803, those of the years 
 1688-90-91-2-3-4 and 5 are wanting ; and have been in vain 
 advertised for in the Government Gazrtte of the 29th March, 
 1839. As they must contain very material information upon 
 several important points, it is not intended to proceed any 
 further with the publication of this portion of the ' Record/ 
 until an endeavour has been made to supply these and some 
 other deficiencies by application to the proper authorities in 
 Holland and Batavia." 
 
 The " Record" opens again in Governor Ryk Tulbagh's time, 
 and gives Council proceedings, dated November 14th, 1769, and 
 also copies of official reports of Landdrosts and every other 
 . Drost " ; Governor Plettenberg's correspondence, and also 
 numerous reports of officials regarding native disturbances and 
 commandos down to July, 1781. 
 
 Then a long journal of a " Tour to the North-Eastern Boun- 
 dary, the Orange River, aud the Storm Mountains," by Colonel 
 Collins, in 1809. and also a report upon the " Bosjesmans " by the 
 same gentleman. And then, and only then, a vast mass of 
 papers relating to the various Kafir and Bushmen races. 
 
APPENDIX I. 
 
 589 
 
 A great deal of other tributary matter, and an autograph 
 parchment letter of Jan van Riebeeck, concludes a large book of 
 703 pages, — I am, &c, 
 
 D. C. F. Moodie. 
 
 Valhalla, Cape Town, May 6th, 1888. 
 
 [We fully recognise the value of the late Lieutenant Moodie's 
 " Records " ; but to Mr. Theal belongs the undivided honour of 
 having populari.-ed the study of the times of the Cape Com- 
 manders. The ''Records/' a monument of research, are fit only 
 for students. Mr. Theal. moreover, has gone to the fountain 
 head for his information, and has depended upon no previous 
 publication, however valuable. It is a pity that so valuable a 
 work as Lieutenant Moodie's should be out of print. Copies are 
 now obtainable, if at all, only at collectors' fancy prices. — Ec 
 Cape ArgusJ] 
 
 THE LATE COMMANDANT BAR END M. WOEST. 
 
 September 1886. 
 
 Another Kafir war veteran (says the Journal^) has departed 
 this life. The name of the brave, genial, hospitable Barend 
 Woest has been a household word in many a frontier home. 
 "When the British Settlers of 1820 landed on the bleak shores of 
 Algoa Bay, Mr. Woest was one of those who conveyed many of 
 them to their no less bleak-looking locations in Lower Albany, 
 and many are the amusing and interesting stories and anecdotes 
 the writer has heard him ielate of these i! raw " Settlers when 
 sitting round the bivouac fire while on patrol in the Kafir war 
 ofl8ol-52 Mr. Woest served in every Kafir war since the 
 year 1829. He at one period of his life resided near Salem, on 
 the farm Providence, and was then celebrated as a keen sports- 
 man and supporter of Graham's Town turf, on which his horses 
 took many plates. He was passionately fond of a good horse, 
 and never kept a bad one. In the Kafir war of 18ol he was 
 residing in Oliphant's Hoek, near the present village of 
 Alexandria, and when the war broke out the inhabitants of that 
 locality formed a •"laager" at the village and kept that part of 
 the country not only clear of Kafirs, but it served as a depot to 
 supply the large demand for oathay for the cavalry regiments, 
 and other mounted men, A Committee of Safety was formed 
 of which the following were members : — P. J. Woest, Com- 
 mandant. C. G. Hall. J. A. Yogel, C. F. Scheepers, F. son, L. 
 H. Meurant, B. M. Woest, C. V. Buchner, nearly now all gone 
 to their last homes. bin the fight took place near Theopolis' 
 
-590 
 
 APPENDIX 1. 
 
 army, near Unkunginhlove, when Piet Uys the elder met his 
 between the Oliphant's Hoek Burghers, Lower Albany men 
 under liekl-cornet Gray (who was shot dead), and the 
 Graham's Town Sporting Club, under the late Commandant 
 Thomas Stubbs, and the rebel Hottentots under Uithaalder Mr 
 W. Stubbs was wounded in the forearm (broken), and Com- 
 mandant John Woest (younger brother of B. M. Woest) was 
 wounded in the knee. Commandant B. Woest, jointly with the 
 late M. C. T. Scheepers, sen., then took command of the camp 
 and commanded numerous patrols which came into conflict with 
 Kafirs and rebel Hottentots. At the conclusion of the war M. 
 B. Woest had a farm granted to him in the beautiful Chumie 
 Valley (under the Cathcart system), which he named Welte- 
 vreden, and upon which he erected a fine double-storied 
 dwelling-house and a water-mill, and there he displayed the 
 same energy for which he was jo conspicuous. Few men served 
 their Queen and country better, or as well. During the latter 
 period of his life Mr. Woest resided in the village of Alice 
 (Victoria East). He departed this life on the 22nd of September 
 1886, after a short illness of about a week. He was ailino- a 
 little before, though nothing serious was apprehended ; but & he 
 took to his bed, from Avhich he never rose again alive'. Up to 
 nearly the last he was riding his horse and driving his own cart 
 and working in his garden. Only a week before his death he 
 drove his cart to the farm of Mr. Cairns, to get timber to build 
 a new^ house. He died a true Christian, in his eighty-fifth year. 
 JFTe was a total abstainer for over fifty years. 
 
 Natal Times, August 4th, 1884. 
 
 Death of an old Voortrekkek. — The Wakkerstroom 
 correspondent of the Echo writes on July 26th : — Another of 
 the old voortrekkers has gone to his rest. Last Wednesday died 
 at the good age of 73, Johannes Andreas Martinus Laas. He 
 was well known in Natal, for he spent fifty years of his life in 
 this colony, and only came to the Transvaal from Greytown 
 about nine years ago. Mr. Laas was in some sense a historical 
 character, for in conjunction with the late John Meyer he 
 crowned Panda King of Zululand, and their sons Andreas Laas 
 and Conrad Meyer performed the other day the same ceremony 
 for the grandson, Dinizulu. 
 
 A Veteran. — Our correspondent with the mounted volun- 
 teers writes to the effect that there is in the Natal Hussars the 
 
 corps now stationed at Pot spruit — a simple trooper, was was by 
 no means under fire for the first time at the battle of Inyezane. 
 In the year 1838, when a mere boy, he took an active part in the 
 then great fight between the two Boer commandos and DingaanY 
 
APPENDIX I. 
 
 591 
 
 death. This " hussar " of Xatal gives a telling account of the 
 battle. Again, he was engaged in the memorable battle of Con- 
 gella, when Captain Smith was beleaguered by the Boers in 
 1842. On several other occasions, both with the Zulus and the 
 Aniaponda, this man has fought for his wagons and his flocks, 
 and now we find him with his two sons, grown men, enrolled as 
 troopers in the Xatal Hussars, and fighting side by side with 
 Englishmen against the common enemy ! On being asked why 
 he came into the field he replied ; " because I want to fight once 
 more, and to be with my sons." The Inyezane engagement, on 
 the 22nd January, 1879, this man counts as his seventh battle. 
 His Swinburne-Henri Carbine he regards as an incomparable 
 weapon, and one that would have told well in the hands of the 
 Boer pioneers against the forces of Tshaka and Dingaan. He 
 truly remarks, if we Avith the old " Brown Bess " (when the 
 Zulus had those they had obtained from Retief'.s party and other 
 sources) were able to beat off an army of overwhelming numbers, 
 how now is it they sweep down upon a British force and 
 exterminate it ? In those days a laager was formed half an hour 
 after the wagons had outspanned. The Boers stood shoulder to 
 shoulder, fired steadily, and by bullets alone kept the savage 
 hordes from advancing on their laager. 
 
 While in King William's Town, some time ago, I had the 
 privilege of spending a few pleasant hours with Mr. Charles 
 Brownlee C.M.G., who is, as is well known here, an unimpeachable 
 and colossal authority upon matters Colonial speaking, as he 
 does, all the native languages perfectly. Men possessed of 
 the isolated qualities of Mr. Brownlee and Sir Theo. Shepstone 
 are now rapidly passiug away, and their knowledge, so vitally 
 essential to the ethnologist and the philologist will die with them. 
 For this reason their material evidence should be carefully and 
 faithfully given. Mr. Brownlee is a Hottentot as well as a 
 Kafir scholar. 1 know the (Xosa) Kafir names of the various 
 rivers in the Eastern Province, but the Hottentot ones I was 
 not aware of until my venerable oracle spoke. The following 
 are the Hottentot names of these rivers : — 
 
 The Knysna ... ... ... Xqeisnqua 
 
 Komadaga ... ... ... Qabadora 
 
 Koonap ... ... ... Xaharanxhap 
 
 Buffalo ... ... ... Qonce 
 
 Keiskama . . ... ... Xesixama 
 
 Great Fish ... ... ... Xxuba 
 
 Cowie ... ... ... Cowe 
 
 Kareiga ... ... ... Cerera. 
 
 According to the accepted and settled Missionary mode of 
 spelling Hottentot and Kafir, the "r" is guttural ; the " c " is a 
 
592 
 
 APPENDIX T 
 
 dental click, i.e, the tongue is placed against the inside of the 
 upper teeth and suddenly withdrawn, resulting in a noise we 
 usually make to denote pity. The " q " is a palatal click and 
 the " x " a lateral dental one, resembling the sound made in 
 urging on a horse. The only remarkable variation in the above 
 rule is that in the concluding name of the river " Cerera " the 
 first "r" is pronounced as in the Scotch. 
 
 MOROSI'S AFFAIR.— GALLANT SURMON ! 
 
 A bare record of Captain Surmon's death is all that has 
 appeared as yet in our column. That gallant officer of the Cape 
 Mounted Rifles died the other day from the efleets ot the 
 wounds he received when attacking Moiosi's mountain. It may 
 be remembered that while he was leading the stormers he was 
 shot, and rolled down the steep declivity into a gulley, where he 
 would have died a lingeri g death had he not been discovered 
 and rescued in a most gallant manner by a native adherent. 
 Captain Sunnon's name deserves well to be cherished in Natal, 
 inasmuch as it was he who, in conjunction with Inspector Grant, 
 led through the deep defiles of the Drakensberg the detachment 
 of Cape Mounted Police sent to co-operate with our own forces 
 in the capture of Langalibalele, They had to traverse a track- 
 less and well-nigh inaccessible couutry, but they did so success- 
 fully, and were primarily instrumental in securing the capture 
 of the fugitive chief who now basks in exile at Uitvlugt. — Natal 
 Mercury. 
 
 y A combatant and an eye witness in Capt. Smith's (of the 27th) 
 fight with the Boers in Natal, in May 1842, while in entrench 
 ments, tells me that a man named Nelson shot a Boer named 
 Klopper. Another Boer, named Marais, was shot by either Hardy 
 or Gardner, who fired at the same time. The Boer was shot bang 
 in front of the head — Gardner afterwards gave his Hottentot 
 the bloody hat of the victim. 
 
 Mr. Brownlee says that the Amaxosa names of the rivers 
 mentioned below are as follows : — 
 
 The Kei Nciba 
 
 The Buffalo ... ... Qongqe 
 
 Keiskama ...*" ..." ..." ... Cesi 
 Great Fish River" ' ... " ..." ... Nquba 
 Koonap ..." ... ... ... Qobanqaba 
 
 Kowie ... ... ' ... ... Cuwe 
 
 Kareiga (as in Hottentot) ..." ... Cerera 
 Bushmans ... ..." ... Qora 
 
 Sunday's River '*' ... " ... N'Qweba 
 
 Further Eastward begin the names yvith the Zulu prefex, i.e.,. 
 Umbashe, 'Umtata, Umgazi, Umzimvubu, U-mzimkulu, &c 
 
APPENDIX J. 
 
 595 
 
 Appendix J. 
 
 BOOM PLAATS. 
 
 On a tomb stone in the small enclosure round St. Goerge's 
 Cathedral, Cape Town, is inscribed the following 
 
 LN T REMEMBRANCE OF 
 
 Captain Arthur Stormont Murray 
 
 of the Rifle Brigade, who died of wounds, 
 received in action at Boom Plaats, 
 on 30th August, 1848. 
 
 Here also rest six men of his company, — John Barrett, 
 Charles Martin, John Dannahy, James Day, James Thomas, 
 George Hollister, who, emulating the example of their captain, 
 fell in performance of their duty. This memorial is erected by 
 his affectionate wife Elizabeth Mary. 
 
 From the Sporting Times, March, 1888. 
 
 A Reminiscence. 
 
 \_Mr. Gladstone, Jfr. Childers, Mr. Morley, and the rest are 
 full of nolle sentiments {see newspapers). Some of us have 
 memories — of Gordon Jor example.] 
 
 Oh shame ! Are these the men to walk 
 
 Where Cromwell and where Chatham trol ? 
 
 They weary patient heaven with talk ; 
 They would chop logic with their God. 
 
 We sicken at their ghastly prate — 
 
 That nauseous flow of glozing breath ; 
 Silence ! We think ol Gordon's fate 
 
 Our King so foully done to death. 
 
 The dastard crew who slew that king 
 
 Flaunt boldly in cur presence now ; 
 The echoes of their falsehood> ring, 
 
 Untroubled is each brazen brow. 
 
 Where is our ancient manhood fled ? 
 
 Has our proud loyalty basely gone ? 
 The flower of all our race is dead, 
 
 And Gladstone lives to babble on ! 
 
 1Q 
 
594 
 
 APPENDIX J. 
 
 The hero dies. The other lives,' 
 He cannot feel the pinch of shame ; 
 
 "While England graciously torgives 
 
 The poor poltroon who smirched her name. 
 
 In that far Land where Time is not, 
 
 Where cares and wrongs no more are borne, 
 
 Gordon, with all his pain forgot, 
 
 Smiles down on us with solemn scorn. 
 
 Report of Native Commission, 1883, on Native La cs, Customs, &fc 
 
 The following is included in the evidence of Sir Theo. 
 Shepstone : — 
 
 List of tribes which anciently occupied the territory now 
 forming the Colony of Natal, prior to their being disturbed by 
 Tshaka's wars, which began to affect them about 1812. 
 
 TRIBE. 
 
 TRIBE. 
 
 Amacele 
 
 Amandciu 
 
 Amahlongwa 
 
 Amasomi 
 
 Abalumbi 
 
 Amanhlovi 
 
 Amakanyao 
 
 Amatuli 
 
 Amazelemu 
 
 Amanganga 
 
 Amahlongrra 
 
 Inyamvini 
 
 Amadunge 
 
 Amancolosi 
 
 Tshsngase 
 
 Amakabela 
 
 Amapepeta 
 
 Amazondi 
 
 Amanxamalala 
 
 Amampumuza' 
 
 Magenge 
 
 Amaxasibe 
 
 Amafunze 
 
 Amagwanyana 
 
 Amasani 
 
 Amazizi 
 
 Amakuze 
 
 Amatolo 
 
 Amancwabe 
 
 Amagamedse 
 
 Aniankabaue 
 
 Amahlanyao- 
 
 Amauqoodo 
 
 Sibenya ka Sali 
 
 Amandhlovu 
 
 Sivuku 
 
 Emacindwaneni 
 
 Amantshele 
 
 Amakalalo 
 
 Amantambo 
 
 Amayoba 
 
 Amatolo 
 
 Nomabunga 
 
 Amatambo 
 
 Amacekwana 
 
 Jojo 
 
 Abatshwau 
 Amavundhle 
 Amandonyela 
 Komanhla 
 
APPENDIX J. 
 
 595 
 
 TRIBE. 
 
 Amabaca 
 
 Amambedu 
 
 Macibise 
 
 Amanyamari 
 
 Amahlanyoka 
 
 Amanji o 
 
 Unqinambi 
 
 "Unondaba 
 
 Emkuhvini 
 
 Amabombo 
 
 Amawushe 
 
 UmbonjeDi 
 
 Amahlanyao 
 
 Amavengane 
 
 Amahlubi 
 
 Amabele 
 
 Amazi?i 
 
 Amakuze 
 
 Abatembu 
 
 Abakwamiy 
 
 Amaz-zi 
 
 Amazizi 
 
 TRIBE. 
 
 Tshobeni 
 Tshangasi 
 Amambovani 
 Grwai 
 
 Amapuraulu 
 
 Amaqwabe 
 
 Amanyuswa 
 
 Amaqadi 
 
 Amaosiyane 
 
 Amabombo 
 
 Amahlala 
 
 Elangeni 
 
 Emalangeni 
 
 Amangcobo 
 
 Amabiya 
 
 Amakanya 
 
 Amamemela 
 
 Enhlangwini 
 
 Amapemvu 
 
 Abamkulisa 
 
 Amangongoma 
 
 Amalanga 
 
 Aboriginal Tribes, which now inhabit Natal, having retained 
 or regained their original tribal 07ganization. 
 
 TRIBE. 
 
 Araaclee 
 
 Amandelu 
 
 Amahlongwa 
 
 Amasomi 
 
 Amanhlovu 
 
 Amatuli 
 
 Amanganga 
 
 Inyamviui 
 
 Amadunge 
 
 Amancolosi 
 
 Tshangase 
 
 Amakabela 
 
 Amapepeta 
 
 Amazondi 
 
 Amanxamalala 
 
 Amampurnuza 
 
 Magenge 
 
 Amafunze 
 
 Amambedu 
 
 Amanyamvu 
 
 Amabombo 
 
 TRIBE. 
 
 Amahlubi 
 
 Amabele 
 
 Amazizi 
 
 Amakuze 
 
 Abatembu 
 
 Amapumulo 
 
 Amaquabe 
 
 Amauyusu 
 
 Amaqadi 
 
 Amaosiyane 
 
 Amahlala 
 
 Elangeni 
 
 Emalangeni 
 
 Amabiya 
 
 Amakanya 
 
 Amamemela 
 
 Enhlangwini 
 
 Amapemvu 
 
 Abamkulisa 
 
 Amangongoma 
 
 Amalenga 
 
me 
 
 APPENDIX J. 
 
 The Battle or Kongella, 1842. 
 
 The following names of the soldiers killed at the above battle 
 in the night between the 23rd and 24th of May, 1842, and shortly 
 afterwards, appear on the tombstones on theD'Urban (.Natal) flat. 
 The graves are under a large old wild fig tree. I have a photograph 
 of the place, which I am sorry I forgot to insert amongst the 
 pictures. The inscription runs : — 
 
 SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF 
 
 The following brave soldiers H.M. 27th Inniskillings Regt., 
 who fell in the cause of their Queen and country, near Camp. 
 D'Urban, Natal, South Eastern Africa, in May and June 1842. 
 Sergeant Dwyer, Privates J. Bowles, J. Brislin, J. Brown, A, 
 Callaghan, R. Donoghue, J. Fitzpatrick, M. Griffin, T. Grim- 
 mers, R. Kerr, T. Barone, T. Doogan, T. M Gee, T. Micham, 
 J. Kelly, T. Kelljy T. Hardy, C. Jennings," J. Canes and W. 
 Stewall. Twenty in one grave. 
 
 SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF 
 , Ensign H. R. M. Prior, 
 
 H.M. 27th Inniskillings Regt., who was killed in action at 
 Port Natal on the 18th of June, 1842. Ag^d 19 years. Also 
 Privates John Miles, J. O'Biien, and Patrick Conroy, on the 
 same day wounded, who died on the 30th of June following. 
 
 Privates A. W. E. Wessels, and C. Jacobus, Cape Mounted 
 Rifles, who were killed in action at Port Natal, the 28th of June, 
 1842 ; also John Beattie, R.E.j 
 
 SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF 
 Lieut. George Wyatt, R.A. 
 
 Who was killed near Kongella at the head of the Bay of Port 
 Natal, oil the night of the 23rd May, 1842, also of Gunner 
 Drivers Thomas Stead, William Springall, Samuel Hawkes, 
 and Matthew King, w r ho were killed on the night of the 25th 
 and morning of the 26th May J 1842, A.D., in fighting for their 
 Queen and country against th^ rebel Boers. 
 
 I take the particulars of thejabove from the memorial photo- 
 graphs^, I notice the Gunnerjs, &c, killed on the night of the 
 23r J are not mentioned. j ;.; \ 
 
APPENDIX J. 
 
 597 
 
 FREE STATE. KILEED. (WHEN BAMELAJfA RAIDED NATAu). 
 
 Names of four Boers murdered at their transport wagons 
 conveying goods to the Transvaal for Munro and Co. of 
 D'Urban. They were killed close to the Drakensberg, and as the 
 tombstone (erected to their memory) un.'er one of the huge 
 hills shows, their names were : — This was on the 27th of June. 
 I860 — the wagons belonged to certain "Smits." The inscription 
 on the stone is H. P. K Pretorius, born 18th August, 1800 ; 
 J. L. Pretorius, born 11th March, 1835 ; J. J. Pretorius, born 
 -20th April, 1841 and A. W. Pretorius, born 10th January, 1847. 
 The incription is, however, in Dutch. 
 
 Boers' eoss in attack ox Secheli's town, Monday, 
 30th August, 1852. 
 
 Jan de Clerk, Mr. G-. Wolmarans, F's son. On August 31 st, 
 1852, young Smit died of wounds received the day before, also cne 
 JBastard auxiliary. 
 
 Names of some of the Boers kieeed in their "Wars with 
 the basutos. 
 
 In the month of June, 1865, an engagement took place at 
 Paulus Moperi's place, where fell : 
 
 Daniel Roberste — Hendrick Robertse — Piet TVessels — Jacobus 
 Grayling — Jacobus Kotzee — Louis Taljaard — Jurie Human — 
 H. Struben — Peter Bay — Barend Olivier — J. Robertson, and 
 Piet Swanepoel. 
 
 On the 15th of August, 1865, at the storming of Moshesh's 
 stronghold of Thaba Bosigo. 
 
 Commandant Louw Wepener — Sampson Daniel — John Hors - 
 pole — Wilhelm Hovels — Gerrit Joubert — Dorus Yan Eede— 
 Adam Ranbeuheimer — Johannas Dry — Jacobus Ingelbrecht — - 
 and Jacob Stolz — were killed, and eight others, including 
 English volunteers, wounded. Many volunteers were mentioned 
 with praise, including Captain Hunton — who the present writer 
 knew — who was knocked orf the precipice by the rocks thrown 
 from above. 
 
.598 
 
 APPENDIX J. 
 
 On the 29th of September, 1865, a fight took place at Nauw- 
 poort, near Bethlehem, where forty-eight Basutos fell, and the 
 following burghers. Piet de Beer — Michael Henu — Edward 
 Russow — Jan Minnaar. and A. Pretorius and eight wounded. 
 
 Night attack on camp of Detachment of 3rd Yeomanry 
 stationed at junction of Quthing and Orange Rivers. 29th May 
 1879. Amongst those killed were Thomas Johnstone, B Troop, 
 Frederick Meyer, B Troop, Cornelius Lourens, B Troop, A. 
 Hastings, B Troop, C. Mason, C Troop, W. Kay, C Troop 
 
LIST OF AUTHORITIES. 
 
 The following are some of the authorities I have referred tc 
 in writing these works : — 
 
 Herodotus. 
 
 Diodorus Siculus. 
 
 Livy. 
 
 Barros 
 
 Camoens. 
 
 The Cape "Record" by Donald Moodie, R.K, Cape Town, 1838 
 The late Judge Watermeyer. 
 Geo. McCaU Theal. 
 The Cape Monthly. 
 
 The South African Commercial Advertiser, Cape Town, 
 January, 1824- 
 
 The Cape Quarterly. 
 
 Smiles' History of Huguenots. 
 
 Cape Times and Cape Argus files. 
 
 The Library of C. A. Fairbrldge, Esq., gave me many details 
 re The Wreck of the Grosvenor. 
 
 George Thompson — !827. 
 
 Cols. Napier and Sutherland, founded on the Cape " Record. ' 
 Judge Cloete's Lectures. 
 S retch on Mokanna Rebellion. 
 The Hon. Charles Brownlee. 
 Hon. Richard Southey, C.M.G. 
 Sir Theophilus Shepstone, K.C.M.G. 
 ( Rev. Dugmore (" Albany Settlers' Reminiscences ".) 
 \Capt. Gardiner R.N. 
 
 ■ 
 
600 
 
 LIST OF AUTHORITIES. 
 
 Hon. R. Godlonton. 
 
 Chafe's Natal Papers. 
 
 Capt. Harris— on Trek Boers— 1835. 
 
 Andrew's Personal Reminiscences. 
 
 General John Bisset (Sport and War.) 
 
 Holden's History of Natal. 
 
 Dr. Mann's History of Natal. 
 
 Annals of Natal (John Bird), 1st two parts. 
 
 Official Cape Records of Basutoland. 
 
 " With the Cape Mounted Rifles," by an Ex C.M.R. 
 
 The Imperial Blue Books. 
 
 Fred Jeppe's Transvaal Almanac. 
 
 Hofstede's History of the Free State. 
 
 " Journals of the Trek Boers " in the ' Thirstland," between 
 Rustenberg in the N.W. of the Transvaal, and the River 
 Cunene on the West Coast of Africa, compiled by W. W. 
 Jordan, and long account given by J. J. Debrits (one of the 
 Trekboers) to the Editor of the Cape Times (January, 1880). 
 
 Fynn's Papers. 
 
 Nathaniel Isaacs. 
 
 John Dunn's Notes. 
 
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