select for his observations a spot, which would be probably free from
unequal attraction, and fix its position by triangulation. In this he
was quite successful. The point was “so far to the east as to be out of
the direct meridional line of attraction of the hills lying south of
Cowhythe,” and by this series of observations it was ascertained, “that
the deflection existing at Cowhythe, is not general in those latitudes,
and that the discrepancy between its observed and calculated latitude,
is not due to an error in the figure used in computing the geodetic
result, but to local attraction affecting the astronomical
latitude.”[60] The fact of local attraction was now fully established;
but from some peculiarities of its influence in particular districts,
the inference derivable from it is, notwithstanding the skilful
conclusions of scientific men, that the figure of the earth is
_different_ to the commonly-received opinion of its form.
In these later services he and his party were alike exposed to dangers
at sea, and to trials and privations on land; and besides encountering
many perils in difficult boat service, and in landing on almost
inaccessible coasts and islets, they were on several occasions nearly
shipwrecked.
A small party at Rona was subjected to severe hardships. Its number
consisted of corporal Michael Hayes and ten civil labourers, who
embarked with sergeant Steel’s party on the 29th of August, 1850, to
survey the island. On the following day, by a desperate effort, the
corporal and his labourers pushed into the boat, and taking with them a
little provisions scrambled amid the surf on shore; but as the weather
was boisterous, and there was no harbour or anchorage in which the
schooner could lie-to, she was compelled to return that evening to
Stornoway with sergeant Steel and the sector party. Several days were
now spent in intrepid attempts to regain the island, but such was the
roughness of the sea, and such the fury of the wind, that all efforts to
do so proved fruitless; thereupon, the master of the vessel considering
the undertaking to be impracticable threw up his contract, and it was
not until the 7th of September, when another vessel had been engaged for
the service, that Rona was approached, and a landing effected. All this
time, seven days and eight nights, corporal Hayes and his party were
pent up in Rona upon a very scanty allowance of food, and exposed
without shelter of tent or hut, or even the comfort of warm clothing, to
the cold and tempestuous storms of that dreary and desolate island.
-----
Footnote 48:
The accidental destruction of the three smaller chambers was
providential, for had they exploded, the battery-shed, with Captain
Frome and his assistant, would inevitably have been carried away, and
crushed among the falling masses: as it was “the electricity of the
two Grove’s batteries, on igniting the powder in the larger chambers,
caused an instantaneous disconnection of the Smee’s battery from the
smaller chambers, and, at the same time, the table on which they stood
was jerked violently forward between two and three feet, upsetting the
Smee’s battery on the floor, and throwing out from the others also a
quantity of the acids.”—‘Illust. Lond. News,’ September 28, 1850.
Footnote 49:
‘Professional Papers,’ i., N. S., 68-86. Colonel Lewis’s Paper in
‘Jones’s Journal,’ November, 1850.
Footnote 50:
Now a quartermaster-sergeant. In his early career he was employed in
the chronometrical determination of the longitude of Valentia, and for
many years rendered very useful services in filling in the railways on
the one-inch map. His talents and energy have singled him out at
different times for the execution of particular duties. He was
intrusted with the local superintendence of the survey, &c., of Her
Majesty’s domain at Osborne, in the Isle of Wight; and as a mark of
approbation for the “attention and care” he exercised in discharging
the duty, His Royal Highness Prince Albert presented him with a cheque
for ten pounds. He also had subordinate charge of the survey made for
the military encampment at Chobham Common.
Footnote 51:
‘Professional Papers, R. E.,’ iii., N. S., p. xxiii.
Footnote 52:
Captain Yolland, ‘Sector Volume,’ p. xiii.
Footnote 53:
Private B. K. Spencer took a few observations at these stations.
Footnote 54:
A few observations were taken at this station by Corporal Jenkins.
Footnote 55:
Captain Yolland, ‘Sector Volume,’ xiii.
Footnote 56:
Ibid., xiv.
Footnote 57:
On journeying from Roach, in Cornwall, to Exeter, he sat by the side
of the Astronomer Royal, who made various inquiries concerning the
survey. At length, he asked, “What _instrument_ have _you_ been
using?” “Professor Airy’s zenith sector,” was the reply. “Indeed, _I_
am Professor Airy!” The surprise and pleasure of the sergeant, before
unconscious of the presence of the eminent astronomer, may be left to
the imagination of the reader to conceive. The incident is memorable,
on account of the introduction, thus singularly obtained by sergeant
Steel, and of the information he received from the Professor in the
efficient use of the instrument, as well as in some salient points
connected with astronomy.
Footnote 58:
Captain Yolland’s ‘Sector Volume,’ pp. xi. xii.
Footnote 59:
When oppressed by the monotony of his employments sergeant Steel
sometimes resorted to the study of extraneous subjects to hold his
mind fresh for his public duties. In this way he learned phonography
and the grave game of chess. The latter he acquired, not by the
teaching of any interested instructor, but by an examination of a
series of numbers of the “Illustrated London News.”
It may be allowed to expatiate a little on this matter. A gentleman,
who had visited the Shetland group, being kindly entertained by Mr.
Spence of Haroldswick in Unst, quitted the country favourably
impressed with the homestead of that good man. Shortly after, “The
Illustrated London News” was sent to Mr. Spence, and has ever since
been regularly forwarded to him, either by the unknown visitor or the
proprietor himself. The mystery which Still hangs over the generous
transaction is not without interest in Unst. From Mr. Spence the
illustrated journal was weekly supplied for the perusal of the
sergeant, then encamped on the lonely island of Balta, who, after
devouring its contents, turned his attention to the study of chess.
Discovering no analogy between the powers of the puppets and their
forms or designations, he first applied himself to manufacture a suite
of men, which should at least have the merit of corresponding in
character with the authority they possessed. Eschewing those fantastic
shapes in which chessmen are usually carved, and which, indeed, seem
as ancient as the grotesque figures on the court cards of a genuine
pack, he devised a simple scheme to remind him of their powers.
Thirty-two cubes of wood, sixteen stained white and sixteen black,
were marked with lines on all their faces, agreeably to the ranks of
the warriors, and the liberty they possessed in moving over the board.
The definitions were shown by black lines on the white cubes, and
white on the black. The bishop having power to roam, under certain
restrictions, in diagonal directions, a piece was assigned to his
reverence with diagonal lines marked across the square. The rook
having a rectangular motion was indicated by a rectangular figure,
while the redoubtable knight, always moving obliquely, was reticulated
with lines which pointed out the avenues of his march in quest of the
enemy. The queen, combining in her will, the power of motion exercised
both by the rook and knight, exhibited on her royal square the
necessary lines to make plain the extent of her liberty. Just so with
the king, who, in this respect had equal power with his consort; but
as the queen had authority to move forward or backward as far as the
chequers were open, and the king could only plant his royal foot in
one check at a time, Steel, to show the curious difference between
their majesties, introduced into the king’s escutcheon, a pellet
between each pair of lines to mark the limit of his government and
distinguish him from his royal spouse. The pawn—the common soldier of
the board—permitted only to move forward perpendicularly, and to
capture like his knight obliquely, was singled out from the other
puppets by three lines issuing from a common centre—one directed
upwards to the edge of the square and the other two diverging
obliquely to the angles. By this facile application of geometrical
combinations he never required to charge his memory with the relative
powers and movements of the several pieces, and thus became a fair
player at the game of chess.
Footnote 60:
Captain Yolland’s ‘Sector Volume,’ p. xii.
1851.
Malta—Portsmouth—Swan River—Brown Down batteries—Kaffir war—Strength of
sappers at the Cape—Corporal Castledine—Attack on Fort
Beaufort—Whittlesea, &c.—Skirmish near Grass Kop Tower—Also in
Seyolo’s Country—Patrol—Fight at Fort Brown—Patrol—Storming Fort
Wiltshire—Patrols—Action at Committy’s Hill—Gallantry of corporal
James Wilson at Fort Cox—Patrols—Increase to the Cape by withdrawal of
Company from the Mauritius—Sir Harry Smith’s opinion of the
sappers—Eulogies concerning them by Lieutenant-Colonel Cole and
Captain Stace, R.E.
The fourth company under the command of Captain Craigie, R.E., was
removed from Portsmouth on the 3rd January, and sailed from Southampton
for Malta, where it landed on the 17th of that month. This was a new
station for the corps, and its employment there was recommended on the
ground that its services would be of great advantage in the erection of
the proposed fortifications, and in providing an efficient force for the
purpose of defence, in the event of the contingencies of the times
rendering its co-operation desirable. Head-quarters were established at
Valetta, and a large detachment was sent to St. Clement’s to build new
barracks. Much opposition was shown by the working people to the
employment of the company for months after its landing, and even
violence in some instances was resorted to. The press of the island also
entered into the controversy, and the ‘Mediterraneo’ used its agency in
strong editorial articles against the company to effect if possible its
removal from the island; but the ‘Malta Times’ ably defended it, and
successfully exposed the statements of its contemporary. Malignant as
the ‘Mediterraneo’ was, it nevertheless concluded one of its articles
thus:—“The sappers and miners are, we admit, a most efficient and
therefore highly useful body of men everywhere.”
Immediately on the removal of the company to Malta another from Chatham
succeeded it on the works of the royal engineer department in the
Portsmouth district.
The small party of five men at Freemantle, Western Australia, was this
year increased to a company by the arrival of ninety-five
non-commissioned officers and men under Lieutenant Wray, R.E. The
additional force was sent out to superintend the convicts in the
erection and repair of the various public works and buildings, and to
afford military protection to the colonists in the event of any
demonstration of the convicts against authority or the settlers. The
first detachment of sixty-five non-commissioned officers and privates
embarked at Woolwich 10th September, 1851, under Lieutenant Wray, and
anchored in Gage’s Roads 17th December, 1851. The second, under
Lieutenants Crossman and E. F. Du Cane, R.E., of two sergeants and
twenty-eight rank and file, embarked as a convict guard 21st October,
1851, and landed 2nd February, 1852. The number of women and children
that accompanied the parties were seventy-one of the former and ninety
of the latter, and ten children were born on the voyage. Located for a
time as a sanitary expedient on a slip of land running into the sea,
called Woodman’s Point, the company was removed, as soon as the
restriction was rescinded, to Freemantle, where the projected works for
the formation of the convict establishment at once commenced. Many of
the men were appointed instructing-warders, with working pay at 2_s._
a-day each. The company was soon after distributed in small sections
through the penal district, superintending the formation of labour
depôts for ticket-of-leave men, or working at their trades at the
different convict buildings, bridges, &c., and also in the making of
roads. One man for many months assisted in the duty of exploring and
surveying a portion of the colony under the Surveyor-General; and
another—private John Cameron—did good service as a diver in recovering
from the wrecks of vessels on the coast, treasure and valuable property.
An additional company was added to the Portsmouth district by the
arrival at Gosport from Woolwich on the 10th December, of the second
company under the command of Captain J. H. Freeth, R.E. The object of
this reinforcement was to enable the commanding royal engineer to
construct two large earthen batteries on the sea-shore at Brown Down,
some two or three miles below Gosport. As soon as the works were
completed, the company, early in April, 1852, was removed to Chatham for
instruction in the field duties of the corps.
Hostile irruptions had occasionally been made on the frontiers of the
Cape of Good Hope by the Kaffirs from the adjacent territories, and
murders of peaceable subjects perpetrated, which rendered it essential
to check by force of arms their incursions and their crimes. With that
intention the first movement of troops took place in December, 1850. The
opposition of the enemy was determined and furious, and there was every
appearance in the onslaught to induce the belief that the contest would
be severe and protracted.
At the period of the outbreak the total of the sappers in the colony,
scattered to fifteen posts and forts on the frontiers, was about 200 of
all ranks, and notwithstanding that their services were much required in
carrying on the temporary defences in the several localities, they were,
in this war, called upon for a more general co-operation than in any
previous struggle in the colony.
From the unexpected firing of a field-piece from the tower of Fort
Beaufort on the 20th January, 1851, it was feared that the enemy by some
means had entered the place unobserved. Corporal Benjamin Castledine of
the corps, without any delay, reported the circumstance to Colonel
Sutton, Cape mounted rifles, and received his orders to assemble the
troops under arms at their several posts. The order was promptly obeyed;
but scarcely had it been effected when a reinforcement of the Graaf
Reinet levy rode up, and the tumult was readily explained. The firing
was given as a salute to the reinforcement by some imprudent civilians
who had not communicated their intentions to the authorities. The people
who had thus so alarmed the fort were arrested, so that the affair might
be fully sifted; but while measures were being taken with this object by
Captain Pennington and a detachment of the 91st regiment to secure the
persons of the offenders, a concourse of people assembled at Colonel
Sutton’s quarters, where his lady was alone and unprotected, and there
deported themselves with gross outrage, at the same time demanding an
entrance. Corporal Castledine arrived at the moment, threw himself
between the garden-gate and the excited people, and effectually
prevented, by his firmness and military bearing, the ingress they so
valorously sought. The party then made off, but all concerned were
afterwards arrested to await the result of a full inquiry into their
conduct. At this investigation, the explanations given being
sufficiently satisfactory to exonerate them from the perpetration of
intentional alarm or of complicity with the enemy, the Colonel at once
released them from restraint. The “Graham’s Town Journal” of the 8th
February, contained some animadversions on the conduct of corporal
Castledine in this matter, which led Colonel Sutton, in the impression
of that Journal for the 22nd February, to vindicate in every particular
the corporal’s conduct, and added “Corporal Castledine is one of those
well-educated, respectable, and efficient soldiers which are only at
present occasionally met with.... During twenty-four years’ service as a
regimental officer I have never met corporal Castledine’s superior in
his position—seldom his equal.”
In the attack on Fort Beaufort in which Hermanus was killed, corporal
Castledine was posted with seven sappers in charge of a tower where the
ammunition was kept, and commanded a 24-pounder howitzer mounted on it.
The post of honour was given to this trustworthy non-commissioned
officer in anticipation of an attack from Sandilli, who showed in force
on the opposite side of the town. At the commencement of the action
corporal Castledine was nominated to be garrison sergeant-major, and
held the appointment until ill health compelled him to resign. This
occurred in February, 1852, when Major-General Somerset, in a division
order, acknowledged that “corporal Castledine had performed its arduous
duties with the highest credit.” Colonel Sutton, for many months, was
the only officer at Fort Beaufort, and on many occasions, when the
nature of the service required his presence elsewhere, corporal
Castledine commanded the garrison in his absence. Often he had to send
escorts of provisions and ammunition to supply General Somerset’s
division, which service was always so satisfactorily performed that both
the General and Colonel Sutton repeatedly commended him for his
judgment, promptitude, and zeal.
Five rank and file attached to Captain Tylden, R.E., employed surveying
in the territory of the chief Mapassa, being interrupted in the duty,
were now necessarily occupied in adopting expedients for protection.
Early in the year they assisted the inhabitants of Whittlesea in
strengthening their houses against attack, and in converting the village
into a strong defensible position. Afterwards they constructed a small
musket-proof redoubt of dry stones, twelve feet square, with walls three
feet thick and seven high, round their own camp, to protect the field
guns, military stores, and equipment. The waggons were also brought into
requisition, and stone walls were built up under them to render them
defensible. By the evening of the second day everything was completed.
Into this miserable post the Captain with his five sappers, one officer,
a sergeant of police and his wife and four children, took refuge. The
sappers worked so hard during the day that the Captain had to take his
turn at sentry during the night.[61] Soon after these precautionary
services, repeated actions took place between the garrison with the
levied troops raised by Captain Tylden, and the neighbouring tribes, in
every one of which, though attacked by an immensely-superior force, the
little band beat off their assailants with severe loss, and gained for
it the admiration and thanks of the General commanding-in-chief. The
desperation and difficulties of their isolation, coupled with the
paucity of their numbers, whetted their spirit of enterprise, and though
their endurance and heroism might be equalled, they could never be
excelled. In all the operations at Whittlesea, and in the actions with
the tribes at adjacent places, as many of the few sappers as could be
spared from the redoubt and the village were engaged, who participated
with credit in the frequent desperate attacks, exceeding twenty in
number, which it fell to the good fortune of Captain Tylden to repel,
and to his strategical tact and prowess to win.
Sergeant John Poole accompanied a patrol of fifteen mounted men on the
18th February, under Ensign Gill of the Cape mounted rifles, in pursuit
of Kaffirs. Near Grass Kop Tower the spoor of cattle was discovered and
followed up to within sight of Double Drift, where some cattle were seen
in charge of about twenty of the enemy. Taking at once to the bush, half
the detachment advanced, unperceived, until within a few yards of the
kraal, where the Kaffirs fought for a short time, and then fled to the
river. In crossing the stream, sergeant Poole shot one of the rebel
Kaffir police, and one of the two other Kaffirs who were killed on the
occasion. In this gallant affair the patrol captured 106 head of cattle,
2 guns, 3 horses, &c., and received the approbation of Sir Harry Smith.
Sergeant Poole was second in command of the party.
One sergeant and twenty rank and file were attached, on the 28th March,
to a patrol of 900 men under Major Wilmot, R.A., and assisted in the
devastation of Seyolo’s country until the 31st March. With a detachment
of the 6th regiment the sappers remained in charge of the pack-horses
and ammunition, and when attacked, vigorously dispersed the enemy.
Private George Wilson killed two Kaffirs in this skirmish, and private
Charles Jarvis was wounded, the ball striking the fore-finger and thumb,
and lodging in the stock of his carbine.
Two rank and file under Lieutenant Jesse, R.E., were present in the
field with Major-General Somerset’s division from the 27th March to 9th
April. During this patrol the country was scoured near the old Tyumie
Post, Hertzog, Eland’s Post, and the adjacent highlands. The two men
were found very useful in repairing the numerous bad drifts through
which the guns and waggons had to pass, and in the execution of various
incidental services of a professional character.
Sergeant John Poole and one corporal of the corps were present in
repulsing a midnight attack on Fort Brown on the 9th April. The enemy
consisted of ninety-three Hottentots and fifteen Kaffirs. Robert Dunlop
of the corps was the corporal of the guard that night. Hearing the dogs
barking more than usual, he went out to see that the sentries were on
the alert; but finding the Hottentot posted over the cattle, away from
his post in a cloak, he was satisfied of the existence of some
traitorous design, and discovered that the enemy was already in the
kraal. Giving the alarm, the guard and the military in the fort were
quickly assembled, and, under the command of Ensign Gill of the Cape
mounted rifles, a sharp action for two hours was maintained, when the
enemy was driven from the fort with great loss. The rebels attacked both
the tower and the kraal; but from the latter they succeeded in carrying
off about 200 head of cattle.[62]
From the 20th to the 24th April, four sergeants and seventy-six rank and
file under Lieutenant Pasley, R.A., were despatched, with Major Wilmot’s
patrol, into the country of Stock and Seyolo. Near the Keiskama the
sappers and artillery were placed in ambush to attack the flank and rear
of the enemy, while the main body of the patrol engaged the Kaffirs in
front. The country through which the division passed was very perilous,
consisting of high kloofs and dense bush, broken by precipices. In this
march the sappers assisted in destroying about 100 huts, several large
gardens of the enemy, and capturing some large granaries of corn. In
returning, the detachment, acting with the 6th regiment as skirmishers,
kept the enemy at bay and desolated their crops.