THE EMIGRANTS COLLECT THEIR FORCES--BATTLE WITH DINGAAN, THE ZULU
CHIEF--FORMATION OF THE NATAL SETTLEMENT--THE TREACHERY OF THE ZULU
CHIEF--BROTHER AGAINST BROTHER.
Having partially recovered from the defeat that Dingaan had given them,
the emigrants endeavoured to obtain sufficient aid from their countrymen
who had hitherto failed to join them, to enable them to attack the Zulus
and recover their lost cattle. Not only was this aid promised, but
supplies of food and ammunition were sent from the Cape, so that the
winter of 1838 was passed over, though not without considerable
suffering and privation.
Scarcely had the winter passed, and spring commenced, than Dingaan, who
had been carefully preparing his army, and who had been employing his
spies so as to learn the state of his neighbours, suddenly gave the
word, and in August of the same year the Zulu army suddenly rushed into
the Natal district, and attacked the emigrants. The farmers, however,
were now on the alert. They had sent out scouts, and these brought them
timely notice of the advance of their enemies. The waggons were used as
fortifications, and every precaution was taken to make as effective a
defence as possible. The result was that the Zulus failed to obtain an
entrance into any one of the lagers, and were beaten off with great
loss. This victory on the part of the emigrants, although a barren one,
had the effect of encouraging those who had before been undecided about
joining them, and small parties continued to come in until the beginning
of December, when a party of above four hundred and fifty men were
assembled, all mounted, and armed with good guns. These were joined by
another party from the Bay of Natal, the whole combined being a
formidable force.
The leader of this force had formerly been a field-cornet at Graaf
Reinet, and was acquainted in a measure with some of the precautions
used in military manoeuvres or movements. The advance was cautiously
conducted, and each night a camp was formed and defences prepared. The
advance had been thus conducted until the Umslatoos river was reached,
when Hans, who had joined this party, and had ridden on before in order
to guard against surprise, saw the first portion of the Zulu army.
Instantly riding back, he gave the alarm, and the camp was at once on
the alert, making every effort for defence. Instead of following the
plan of Uys, and entering the enemy's country, and thus giving him the
advantage of position, enabling him to attack where it best suited him,
the new commander had from the first decided on forcing the enemy to
attack him, and there now seemed every probability of this desire being
accomplished. During the whole night a careful watch was kept, and each
map slept with his weapons beside him; but it was not until the first
gleams of daylight that the enemy showed themselves.
It was an important day in the history of this now well-known
settlement, this 16th of December, 1838,--a Sunday too. On that day a
trial of strength took place between the whole of Dingaan's warriors,
amounting to from ten to twelve thousand men, and about four hundred and
fifty emigrant farmers. Even considering the difference in the weapons,
yet twenty to one were great odds; and should the Zulu warriors succeed
in forcing the camp, their numbers would enable them to annihilate their
enemy, even though they sacrificed thousands in the endeavour.
Forming themselves into a dense mass, the Zulus rushed on to the
farmers' defences, and endeavoured to tear a way through them. Met
every where with a shower of bullets, the dark-skinned soldiers fell
fast, and their first effort was a failure. Nothing daunted, however,
they again and again renewed their charge, and for three hours never
relaxed their efforts. At length a vast number of the enemy having
concentrated on one side of the camp only, a party of two hundred
mounted farmers dashed out from the opposite side, and, charging both
flanks, poured in volley after volley, which soon discomfited the
bravest of Dingaan's chieftains:
"Even as they fell they lay,
Like the mower's grass at the close of day,"
and a panic seizing them, they at length retreated, leaving not less
than three thousand men dead upon the field. The emigrants' loss was
most disproportionate, three men only being killed, and some half-dozen
wounded.
Immediately after this victory the emigrants pushed forward to Dingaan's
kraal, which they found burning, he having retreated to the bush with
the remnant of his forces. Here, on a hill outside the town, they found
the remains of their ill-fated countrymen, Retief and his party, many
individuals being recognised by the leather pouches they wore. A fierce
retribution had, however, been now taken for the treacherous slaughter
of these guests, and the power of the great Zulu chief was broken by a
mere handful of well-trained men.
Finding that their ammunition was falling short, and their horses losing
condition, the farmers did not consider it advisable to continue their
attacks on Dingaan in their present state; they therefore seized about
five thousand head of cattle, and gradually returned to their lager.
After this decisive victory the emigrants' position was much improved.
They could now venture upon many of those agricultural pursuits which
they had before considered it useless to attempt. A town was laid out
and named Pietermaritzberg, and at the Bay of Natal another town was
formed, now called D'Urban. _Landdrosts_ were appointed at both places,
and a regular system of government was established, and the Dutch
emigrants were under the impression that they would peaceably possess
the land for which they and their relatives had suffered so much; but
this was not yet to be. The intelligence of the scenes of bloodshed
which had been going on between the emigrants, who were still considered
British subjects, and the Zulus, had reached the English government at
Cape Town, which, justly claiming the district of Natal as a portion of
South Africa belonging to England, despatched a party of troops to
occupy the district, and to endeavour to put a stop to these scenes of
bloodshed. Very serious results might have occurred between the British
troops and the Boers, had not the officer in command acted with
considerable judgment, he having received orders to seize the arms and
gunpowder of the emigrants, in order to stop their slaughter of the
Zulus. As it was, however, the English and Dutch maintained friendly
intercourse until the winter of 1839, when the British troops were
withdrawn, and the emigrants left for a time in undisturbed possession
of Natal. The Zulu chief Dingaan gradually recovered his defeat, and
recruited his army; but being bent on the destruction of the emigrants,
he proceeded cunningly to discover what they were doing. In order to
throw them off their guard, he sent to them above three hundred horses
which he had captured from them, and promised to return cattle and guns,
desiring to make terms with them. The emigrants replied that when he
had returned the whole of the cattle he had taken, and had made
restitution for the losses he had occasioned them, they would make peace
with him, but not before. The crafty Zulu promised to do this, and
therefore employed ambassadors to visit the emigrants occasionally, in
order to convey messages backwards and forwards, these ambassadors being
actually used as spies, in order to discover whether the emigrants
continued together in force, or whether they were scattered, and thus
offered a chance of success should an attack be made on them. This
treacherous proceeding having been discovered by the emigrants, they
dared not yet settle down, and they were in uncertainty what to do, when
a singular event occurred in connexion with the native politics.
Dingaan had but two brothers remaining alive: one a youth, the other
just reaching manhood, and called Umpanda. Umpanda was unlike Dingaan,
inasmuch as the latter lived only for war, the former was a lover of
peace. Many of the Zulus, having suffered severely in consequence of
the many battles in which Dingaan had engaged, were disposed in favour
of peace, and of "Panda," as he was sometimes called. This fact coming
to the ears of Dingaan, this able savage politician decided upon getting
rid of his brother by murdering him. Panda, having friends at court,
heard of this decision of his worthy brother, and at once fled, and
crossing the Tugela river with a number of followers, stopped there, and
sent messengers requesting the aid of the emigrants against his
treacherous brother. The result of these negotiations was, that the
emigrants, finding that there was no chance of safety as long as Dingaan
was chief of the Zulus, decided to aid Panda, which they did, and the
result was a great and last battle between the Zulus under Dingaan and
the Boers with Panda's forces. During this battle two whole regiments
deserted from Dingaan, and joined Panda, whilst the Boers took little or
no part in the battle. The result, however, was the total defeat of
Dingaan, who was driven from his kingdom far up the country, where he
soon after perished; and thus an ally of the farmers occupied the
chieftainship of the Zulus, and they could now rest in peace, each
seeking the location that suited him best, and requiring his ammunition
and gun no longer for the purpose of slaying his enemy, but merely to
supply himself with game; and thus the wishes of the emigrants seemed
about to be gratified.