THE DOWNFALL OF WEDZA
_14th October to 21st October_
We clear out Matzetetza’s Stronghold—Paget unable to co–operate with
us, we determine to tackle Wedza unaided—Plan of Attack—The Mounted
Infantry gain the Commanding Heights, but are threatened by the whole of
the Enemy’s Force—We make a successful Diversion by a Ruse—We shell the
Strongholds—A Patrol has a Narrow Shave—Prince Teck to the Fore—A Night
Investment of the Stronghold—The Enemy evacuate the Place—Destruction
of the Kraals—We go in pursuit of Wedza—Raiding Kraals among the
Mountains—Ancient Ruins—Having pursued Wedza, we go in pursuit of our
own Camp, which has moved—Satisfactory Result of the Patrol.
_14th October._—About three miles to the westward of the mountain
which we had harried yesterday, lay the solitary mountain peak on
which is the kraal of Matzetetza, the place which Parkyn and I visited
yesterday morning. Owing to alarm–fires having been shown on this hill,
we determined now to finally clear it out, so I moved the column soon
after daybreak in that direction, sending a message to our camp for
the guns to join us near the stronghold. We lay up for the heat of the
day within a mile of it, and were joined by the guns in the afternoon.
Although there was a good deal of spoor about, and several rebels
visible on the mountain, we could see none in the kraal; nevertheless,
we put the 7–pounder in position and shelled the stockaded entrance
and one or two of the caves; this was done partly to make sure of
clearing out any defenders who might be lurking there, but more for the
purpose of giving our new gun’s crew a little real practice, and also,
especially, with a view to letting Wedza know that we were in earnest
about shelling strongholds. For we were not five miles from him, and he
would hear the gun and see the conflagration when the kraal was burnt.
We then sent a strong party up into the kraal, with covering parties
posted to protect their advance in the event of any surprise on the
part of the enemy. But the enemy had evidently seen our approach and
had hastily cleared to the northward that day in large numbers; they
had left behind them a large store of grain and a number of goats and
poultry, to which we freely helped ourselves. It was after dark before
we had finished our work, and we camped near water within a mile of the
place.
At length, runners arrived with a letter from Paget to say that, after
all, he would be unable to join us, as had been arranged, for the
attack on Wedza.
_15th October._—After Paget’s message I determined to do as best I
could without him; therefore, at a very early hour this morning, we
started to tackle Wedza’s. It seemed a large order for so small a
force—we were only a hundred and twenty all told; Wedza’s mountain, as
I have already said, was nearly three miles by two in extent, and had
eight large kraals on it. His people, therefore, must have numbered
something like sixteen hundred, of whom six or seven hundred would be
fighting men, but worth double that number by reason of their almost
impregnable position. I naturally felt somewhat anxious about it. I had
prepared a plan of attack for Paget’s information, on the supposition
that our two combined forces would be available for the purpose, but
now that my small party was to do it alone, that plan would not work.
To make a direct attack would merely involve certain heavy loss to gain
nothing. The only thing we could do was to try and bluff the enemy out
of the place.
Wedza’s mountain is a kind of promontory standing out from a range
of smaller mountains, so I ordered the mounted infantry (York and
Lancaster Regiment), under Lieutenant Thurnall, to leave their horses
in the open valley at the foot of the mountain, and to gain the neck
which joined the mountain to the range of mountains northward. From
this position the mounted infantry would command a large part of the
stronghold with their fire, and would cut off the enemy’s line of
retreat to the mountains. This party were ordered to take up with them
their greatcoats, water, and two days’ rations, for they would have to
stay there the whole day and night, and possibly part of the following
day; there were only about twenty–five of them, but they were ordered
to act as if they were two hundred and fifty, and right well they
played their part. My idea was, that, so soon as this party should have
established themselves in their position on the neck, I would bombard
the central part of the position systematically with artillery and
machine gun fire, and, at the same time, threaten the left (southern)
flank, and the rear of the position with parties of 7th Hussars.
I intended to keep up this demonstration during the day and to–night,
hoping that such action, combined with the moral effect already
afforded by the object–lesson at Matzetetza’s yesterday, would so work
on the feelings of the defenders, that they would take my previous
advice and surrender; or if they did not do that, that, at least, they
would be so demoralised that an assault could be carried out with
some chance of success on the morrow. For these natives will stand
your coming at their position so long as you do so from the expected
direction, but if you come at them some other way, or look as if you
were likely to cut off their line of retreat, they are very liable to
become frightened, and therefore, in dealing with them, it sometimes
becomes necessary to disregard the teachings of books on tactics, and,
instead of concentrating your force, to spread it about in a way that
would invite disaster were you acting against civilised troops. In
order to gain our positions to carry out this plan, I took the mounted
infantry by one route, and sent the Hussars and guns by another more
southerly path—under Major Ridley—to take up their places as ordered.
It was yet early in the morning when, with the mounted infantry, I
arrived at the foot of the northern end of Wedza’s mountain; here
the men left their horses under charge of seven of their number,
and started off to gain their position on a dome–shaped mountain
overlooking the stronghold. It took them nearly an hour to get up to
within reasonable distance of this spot, and before they reached it,
their presence was discovered by the enemy, and fire was opened on them
as they neared the top. A small but determined party of the enemy,
foreseeing their object, established themselves among the rocks of
this mountain, and stubbornly opposed their advance; but the mounted
infantry, working steadily forward in admirable order, very soon drove
these men from their position, and presently signalled down that they
were occupying the post assigned to them.
But meantime the sound of the firing had roused the whole of the
mountain; from hilltop to hilltop the rebels were shouting to each
other, and through my telescope I could see from where I was, with the
led horses, that the enemy were rapidly collecting from all the kraals
fully armed, and were all making towards the position of our little
party of mounted infantry. It looked to me that if this movement was
allowed to develop, it might prove not only dangerous, but fatal to
our handful of men up there. I therefore sent a message to the spot
where the guns should be, requesting them to open fire without delay,
and thus create a diversion, and retain the defenders of that portion
of the stronghold at their proper post. But the guns were not there!
It afterwards transpired that Ridley’s party had been detained to an
unexpected extent by waggons bringing away grain from Matzetetza’s.
Something had to be done, and that quickly, so, leaving the led horses
to take care of themselves,—no enemy would venture down to attack them,
even if they could see no guards with them, as they would be sure to
look upon them as a lure,—I took the seven horse–holders, mounted, at
the best pace we could command, to the southern end of the mountain,
and, crossing with some difficulty the Chingweze River, we worked our
way through the bush round to the left rear of the stronghold. Here
there was a large village part of the way up the side of the mountain,
and, spreading ourselves out in the bush, we opened fire at it as hard
as we could go, using magazine–fire, and continually moving about from
bush to bush, in order to give the appearance of a large force of men.
In this particular village the natives were considerably startled,
and ran out in large numbers into the caves among the rocks close by.
But we cared not so much for them as for the defenders on the upper
part of the mountain; and immediately after our first volley, we
could hear the startled cries of alarm from their look–out men on the
uppermost peaks, and very soon they began to collect in large numbers
on the skyline overlooking our position. On the great look–out rock, in
particular, a mass of them were collected, so, directing the attention
of my little band to them, we sighted for 1200 yards, and gave them a
volley; the look–out man on the topmost pinnacle of rock fell among
the crowd, which lost no time in seeking better shelter! Leaving my
small army still in their position, with orders to make a show every
now and then with heavy firing, I made my way back to the front of the
position, and found that the ruse had been perfectly successful; the
mass of the enemy, who had been collecting to attack Thurnall, had been
surprised by this new attack in their rear, and were now still evenly
distributed in the different defensive posts of the mountain. By and by
the Hussars and Artillery began to arrive, and it was perhaps better in
the end that they did come late upon the scene, because it gave a fresh
and increased feeling of alarm to the natives, who, as soon as they
appeared in sight, began once more to shout further warnings to other
parts of the stronghold. I thought now that possibly the enemy might
think it advisable to come and surrender. The heat of the day was
well on, and so soon as the troops had arrived in position, we called
a rest; and the doctor, Surgeon–Captain Ferguson, called a rest for
_me_, as apparently the flying about this morning round the stronghold
had made me look a bit tired, so I lay in the ambulance in comfort,
and sucked down some of his excellent bovril, while the hussars, after
feeding and resting their horses, proceeded to take up the positions
allotted to them. But no message came down from the enemy, and so,
after a time, I thought it desirable to recommence stirring them up,
and, getting the 7–pounder in position, we opened fire with shells on
the more important points in turn. Before many rounds had been fired,
the enemy got on the move within the stronghold, and in doing so,
kept giving chances to Thurnall’s men up on their mountain, of which
they were not slow to avail themselves. By and by came a signal from
Thurnall, saying that his men were suffering from the want of water,
and we endeavoured to send some up to him, but the party going up were
attacked and driven back by the fire of the enemy, and in the end
Thurnall’s men did not get their water until they had sent down a party
after dark to assist the others coming up.
[Illustration: PRINCE ALEXANDER OF TECK
to the fore in the attack on Wedza’s stronghold.]
Then another signal came from Thurnall towards evening, to say that
numbers of the enemy were making their way out to the rear of the
position by a path that was out of his range; so, leaving word with
Prince Teck to bring on some of the 7th to that point, I got a fresh
horse, and, accompanied by Jackson, the Native Commissioner, once more
made my way round to the back of the mountain. In passing by the little
party that I had left there in the morning, we took three of them on
with us, and, riding along the well–worn tracks of the natives, we got
into a labyrinth of small valleys at the back of Wedza’s mountain.
Then, leaving our horses concealed, we clambered up on to the ridge,
looking into the heart of the stronghold from the rear. Kaffirs were
all about near us, but not in any large number,—single men here and
there on the look–out, women and children gathering up their goods,
evidently preparatory to making a move; but we could see no large
parties of them going away as yet, nothing that we could attack if we
brought a force round there; however, we saw the position of their main
paths toward the mountains to the north and eastward, and just about
sunset we came down again, and made our way back.
Owing to the broken nature of the country at this point, we were
forced to carry out what I always consider a most dangerous practice,
and that is, to return by the same path which you used in coming,
and the danger of it was practically demonstrated on this occasion.
Riding quietly along in the dusk, we had just got out of the bad part,
thinking all danger was over, when there was suddenly a flash and a
crash of musketry from a ridge of rocks close to us, dust spurted up
all round, and a swish of bullets whizzed past our heads. My hat was
violently struck from my head as if with a stick, and in an instant
we were galloping across the thirty yards of open which separated us
from a similar parallel ridge; dismounting here, we were very soon
busy replying to the firing of the enemy, whose forms we could now and
again see silhouetted against the evening sky. We had had a marvellous
escape; Jackson himself had been grazed on the shoulder, his horse had
a bullet–hole in its temple, the bullet had lodged in its head, and
beyond possibly a slight headache, the gallant little horse appeared
to be none the worse. Our position here was not too good a one: the
enemy were evidently a fairly strong party, and would merely have
to work among the rocks, a little to the right, to cut us off from
rejoining our main body. Moreover, they had practically possession,
or, at least, command of fire over my hat, which I badly wanted. But it
looked as though we ought at once to be making good our retreat, if we
meant to go away at all. We were just mounting to carry this out, when
out of the gathering darkness behind, there trotted up a strong party
of hussars, under Prince Teck, who, hearing the firing, had at once
hurried to the spot; his coming was most opportune, and reversed the
aspect of affairs. After a few minutes of sharp firing, the rocks in
front of us were cleared and occupied by our men, and my hat came back
to me.
[Illustration: 7TH HUSSARS AT WEDZAS
Our small party of scouts in getting engaged with a stronger party of
the enemy stood some chance of being cut off by them. But just as we
were thinking of effecting our retreat, a party of 7th Hussars, under
Prince Teck, came opportunely on the scene.]
Teck then posted piquets for the night, extending all round the left
flank and rear of the enemy’s position. These piquets built fires at
intervals, which were kept alight throughout the night by patrols
moving from one to the other. Thurnall had similar instructions to
light fires on heights round the northern end of the stronghold; while
the men in camp did the same on the plain in front of the central
portion of the position. This was done with a view to making the enemy
believe that our force was a very large one, encamped on every side of
them, and they evidently quite took this view of the case, for during
the night they made frequent sallies against one fire after another,
never venturing to attack it, but, as a rule, pouring in a sudden
volley from a short distance, and then retiring, probably boasting that
they had killed untold numbers of the white devils sleeping round their
fires. As a matter of fact, the white devils were specially ordered not
to sleep or to remain in the neighbourhood of the fires for that very
reason. But our men had a hard night of it, for they had orders not to
let the enemy rest, and they carried out their orders well; patrols
were constantly on the move opening fire now and then from unexpected
points. Sometimes they could see the lights of the enemy moving about
among their kraals, and these they fired on as a matter of course, but
often they fired without any actual object to aim at, merely with a
view to keeping up the enemy’s state of alarm. It was moonlight up till
four in the morning, so that any moves on the party of the enemy in
force could easily be seen by our scouts, but none took place; but so
soon as the moon set, bands of them were reported getting away by the
paths leading towards the mountains.
_16th October._—As soon as there was light enough, we began to hammer
away with the 7–pounder, the Maxims, and Nordenfeldt, taking each
koppie and its kraal in turn. Through the glass I could see the natives
move from the kraals into the caves, and when we shelled these, we
could see them stealing away through the rocks and bush, evidently
anxious to make their escape. Then I sent up the party of volunteers
who had joined us from Belingwe to assist Thurnall. He then advanced
along the ridge, attacking the koppies in turn after they had been
shelled, and very soon the flames shot up, and a cloud of smoke rolled
out, showing far and near that the first of the villages was taken.
This was Wedza’s own particular kraal, and in it were found large
numbers of Matabele arms, which showed that Wedza’s people, although
of the Makalaka race, were assisted by a number of Matabele warriors.
In this kraal was also found a large store of stolen dynamite, and
Thurnall was not slow to make use of it; for presently, with a splendid
boom, the koppie on which the kraal stood was blown to smithereens.
[Illustration: WEDZA’S KRAAL
A village and granaries on the top of a mountain peak. The only path
stockaded and defended by loopholes from caves, with which the mountain
is undermined.]
[Illustration: “LITTLE MISS TUCKET SAT BY A BUCKET”
A small girl and her puppy, captured at Wedza’s stronghold (on the
mountain in the background). She was content to sit for hours by a
bucket, and play with empty meat–tins.]
While the mounted infantry were thus taking the kraals in succession,
the hussars were recalled from their outlying positions around the
stronghold; and, though pretty well fagged out with the almost
incessant work of the last twenty–four hours, they eagerly volunteered
to clamber up the mountain and take part with the mounted infantry
in completing the destruction of the stronghold; and Major Ridley,
with his usual energy, led them up there. All through the heat of
the day they were at work, over most awful ground and clambering on
to inaccessible peaks, to effect the complete destruction of the
enemy’s villages and the clearing of their grain stores. It was not
till after dark that they were all safely down again, with their work
well accomplished, and the blazing evidences of it gleaming out their
message to all the rebels for miles round.
_21st October._—Excuse bad writing; but the light is waning; it is
sunset, the yellow–red sky is cut by the black skyline of the next
ridge and its wooded crest in strong silhouette. Looking from my lair,
through the frame of great black tree–stems, our bivouac fires in the
gully just below look like ragged bits of the orange–coloured sky
dropped into the dark abyss of the bush, and their blue misty wreaths
of smoke rise slowly on the breathless air like a circle of ghostly
sentries. The men are busy at their evening meal, the murmur of their
voices and the crunching of the horses, with their muzzles deep in
looted corn, are only sounds that go to emphasise the stillness of the
forest. Overhead, in the darkening sky, “Celangobi” (C stands for a
Matabele click, with a sound of Kts), the matron evening star, beams
calmly on our rest; but, over her shoulder, little, laughing stars are
already twinkling at the humour of the thing, for they can see her
peaceful gleam glinting sharply from the rifles and sword–scabbards
on the ground below; the peace of the scene is but the peace of
the hour—to–morrow there will be war again.—What nonsense it is to
write all this! but when one is tired, it is as when one is ill: one
likes to review such trifles in a dreamy way. I am tired,—we all are
tired,—nature herself seems tired to–night. And we’ve some reason for
it. On the evening of the 19th, we (a party of forty mounted men,
hussars and mounted infantry) moved out from camp without encumbrances,
but taking two days’ rations in our wallets, to follow up Wedza’s
people in their flight through his country, and to harry them into
submission.
An evening march, off–saddle in the woods, and on again at 3 a. m. No
pipes nor talking as we pass along the foot of the rocky ridge on which
the rebels have their kraals. Then clamber up on foot, lugging our
horses after us, along the steep and rocky cattle track. No cattle now
are here—the spoor is old. We break up into small patrols, to each of
which is assigned a bit of mountain and its kraals.
With my patrol we have a weary trudge—for only twenty per cent. of the
men have boots still fit for walking—(and I am one of the remaining
eighty per cent.; my feet are partly through the soles and on the
ground; I go, like Agag, “treading delicately”). We see no kraal; but
the fresh spoor of men, women, and children lies before to guide us.
It turns and leads into the boulders on the mountain–side. There, just
round the corner of a rock, one spies the eaves of a thatched hut, and,
close beside a cave, a few dead branches show there is a cattle kraal.
We press through thorny bush, and clamber up the slippery granite path,
some men working up the right and others up the left. Behind some rocks
we come upon a few huts, all empty but for some calabashes of water
and some fetish rags. Then a nasty slit between the rocks has to be
approached with care, or others stepped across in haste—these are the
caves in which Mashonas love to lie when danger visits their kraal. The
caves are labyrinths of little passages between the rocks below the
ground; and a few men with guns, well posted, can hope with ease to
stop a host of enemies.
The path leads up a kind of stair of rocks to a gap between two heavy
boulders, and in the gap is fixed a strong stockade of roughly–trimmed
saplings. To either hand, interstices between the rocks have been
blocked up with stones, and made into loopholes. These defences are
without defenders—and we are soon among the better huts of the kraal
proper, and among the corn–stores.
Each man carries an empty nose–bag, and as soon as these are filled,
and some errant chickens killed with sticks, and curios taken from the
huts, we burn the kraal, commencing on the windward side. There is a
roar, as the pillar of flame shoots up its twenty feet into the sky,
the pots and calabashes crack up from heat with the report of pistols,
and in a few minutes the village is a heap of smoking ruins—a warning
far and near to watching rebels.
After burning two such kraals, we make our way back to the horses, the
whole patrol reassembles and continues its march, having destroyed five
kraals among us. Through woods and stony hills into the Sabi Valley.
Off–saddle by a convenient water–hole, for breakfast and midday rest.
On again in the afternoon, to a bold, upstanding, solitary peak, a
regular acropolis, on the top of which are clustered the huts of
Monti’s stronghold. Keeping under cover of the woods, we divide into
two parties, and rapidly surround it. Dismount; and half an hour’s
arduous climb brings us past caves and barricades up to the summit.
Nobody there! Splendid view, fine kraal, good huts; fill our nosebags
and baskets, clear out, light up, and gingerly, among the sharp stones,
down we go again, to the music of the crackling huts behind us. Then
through the forest—up over stony mountains—alternately walking and
riding—to ease our worn–out nags. Over the Fisu range; then down
into an ideal cattle–robbers valley, full of kloofs and glades, with
a grassy, marshy bottom. Cliffs tower up on either hand, and from
their tops we can hear the rebel look–outs shouting their warning of
our approach, confound them! They soon know miles ahead that we are
there—and the path is far too bad for night marching!
[Illustration: TIRED OUT
Prince Alexander of Teck (from Life).
The Prince never spared himself when there was work to be done, and
after a heavy spell of night–work he would just lie down on the ground
and recuperate himself with a good sleep—too tired to be disturbed by
the flies playing about his bare legs or by the ants entering through
the gaping slits in his boots.]
At sundown we off–saddle and bivouac for the night where the gorge
opens out a little. High above us towers the rocky Mount Ingona, on
the top of which we see the kraal of chief Masunda. At dusk voices can
be heard in all the rocks around us. It looks as though we were in for
an attack—but the niggers vanish like smoke when a patrol goes out
to investigate. Lights are seen flitting about Masunda’s kraal, so we
shout to them not to disturb themselves, that if they like to come and
talk, we will not fight them. No reply.
Consequently, after coffee at 3 a. m. this morning, we started on
foot to clamber up the mountain. The path was steep and the boulders
slippery, but we are getting fit at mountain–climbing—still it took
us nearly an hour to reach the top. An ordinary kraal, with stone and
stockade defences, all abandoned. And such a glorious view of the
wooded mountains of this Belingwe district, with the many blue ribbons
of streams between, so different from the usual South African scenery.
We helped ourselves to all the corn that we could carry, as well
as to some little bits of loot, such as a Kaffir piano and some
tambourines—the piano being a small flat board on which is fixed a row
of iron tongues, and these when struck give each a different note of
soft, metallic sound. We also found some small hard–wood tablets, which
are the “cards” by which witch–doctors tell one’s fortune.
Then we set the village in a blaze, and made our way down from the
breezy height to our tiny laager by the stream below. Got our horses,
saddled–up, and after clambering and lugging them over a rocky ridge,
we got into the lower valley of the Sabi—a wooded plain, in the centre
of which there stood a fine acropolis with another kraal on top.
Surrounded it. As usual, no one there, but lots of fresh spoor—people
evidently gone to earth in the caves below. So we sat down to bathe,
breakfast, and sleep (for which the heat, flies, and ants were too
much), while the horses grazed. We had already done a pretty good day’s
work, but at 2 p. m. we paraded for the koppies, in three parties to
take the different villages, and in half an hour three fine bonfires
were raging, and with more corn in our nosebags and a few chickens at
our “saddle–bows,” we rode away to the part of the valley that belongs
to our old friend Wedza. Here he had his Counting–house–_i.e._ his
residential and farming kraals. The former was a fine, well–built
kraal, very neat and clean, but so well concealed among the rocks that
it took our patrol some time to find it. In this kraal, as in many
others we had visited, there was a forge for making nominally hoes, but
really assegais. The sharpening–stones lying about proved the latter.
The furnace, which is of clay, is in every instance built on this
model, which is a very ancient one. Doesn’t Bent say Phœnician?
[Illustration: A SMELTING FURNACE
Used by the Makalakas for iron–smelting for the manufacture of
assegais, etc. This form of furnace is said to be of ancient origin.]
The same march we passed by one of the many ancient (Phœnician) ruins.
A small circular fort on a smooth rock; walls, and except where pulled
down intentionally, in wonderfully good preservation. Dressed stones
without mortar, and the well–known form of ornamentation; a course of
herringbone, tile–like stones, and a dice–board course.
A theory about these forts is, that since they extend in a chain round
the gold districts, in which are remains of ancient workings, they were
probably built with the object of simplifying the labour question, and
keeping the workers in and the agitators out. Couldn’t something of the
sort be devised for the benefit of England?
[Illustration: ANCIENT RUINS
Several walls and forts of ancient origin are to be seen in Rhodesia,
sparsely dotted about the country, and usually in the neighbourhood of
gold districts.]
Our rations were now at an end; all this clambering of koppies had not
only pretty well tired us out, but had taken many hours to accomplish;
so that evening found us still a long way from the camp near Wedza’s
stronghold, and we bivouacked, as I began by saying, under the eye of
Celangopi on the forest hillside, as tired as dogs.
We reckoned that a twelve–mile ride next morning would bring us to
breakfast at camp. But it didn’t.
_22nd October._—After making a very early start, on such tea and scraps
of bread as we had been able to save, we arrived by eight o’clock, very
tired and empty, at the foot of Wedza’s mountain. From this (eastern)
side it looked not unlike Gibraltar in shape and size; and we really
felt a bit pleased with ourselves at ever having had the presumption
to go for this place, not to mention at having succeeded in taking
it. As we passed round the foot of it, we rather pressed on the pace,
in the hopes of breakfast, and in doing so we let three native boys,
belonging to Jackson, the Native Commissioner, drop rather behind us.
Some lurking rebels were quick to see this, and had a few shots at them
(one boy afterwards said that a bullet passed between the top of his
ear and his head!), and compelled the boys to drop their bundles, which
included Jackson’s mess–kit, blankets, and, worst of all, a few rounds
of ammunition. We were too far ahead to render assistance till too late.
At last we reached our camp–ground. There were the camp–fires cold and
white, meat–tins, etc., in profusion, but no camp. A letter from Ridley
hanging from a post informed us that in our absence a message had come
from Colonel Paget, saying he wanted us to co–operate with him against
Monogula near Gwelo, and that, therefore, he (Ridley), as next senior,
had moved camp in that direction. We were just about played–out. But we
hoped to find him at the next water, six miles on, and so we struggled
on.
No; here was another note, saying he had moved a few miles farther on!
We off–saddled and sat down, some only to think, others to express
their thoughts in words. Then I found a little tea, and Jackson some
Boer meal (coarse flour). Of the latter we made a really very good
porridge, and had a few spoonsful round and a sip of tea, and on we
went through good–looking rebel country, kraals on koppies, that I had
always meant to reserve as our _bonne bouche_—and now they had already
been warned by the sight of the waggons, and we were unable to go and
tackle them through physical inability. Twelve more miles, many of them
on foot, driving our horses over hot, shimmering plains—and at last, in
the afternoon, we reached our waggons and our food.
That night, Ferguson (A.D.C.) rode into camp with a note from the
General, telling me to co–operate with Paget (which we were already
on our way to do), and also bringing a note from some natives he had
passed on the way, which was to the effect that they were messengers
from Wedza and Matzetetza, who, after the destruction of their
strongholds, had now changed their tone, and were both anxious to
surrender, together with their people. So all our toil had not been
without effect, and the sixty–mile patrol was rewarded.