The chief, Umki, who had been received under the protection of the
English, at Fort Peddie, had frequently warned them of projected attacks
by his brother chiefs, but as frequently, when these warnings were
given, and the troops kept on the alert within the range of the post,
parties with waggons, or expresses, were arrested in their progress in
some other direction. Umki was more than once suspected of raising
false reports at Fort Peddie, with a view to keep the troops at home.
His words, however, were verified on the 28th of May, 1846, when the
I'Slambie and Congo warriors had assembled, in a body of nine thousand,
on the plains below the eminence on which the garrison and other
buildings stand. On the previous day, some spies had brought Colonel
Lindsay information that the Kaffirs were in the neighbourhood, in
straggling parties. At this intelligence, Colonel Lindsay ordered out
Sir Harry Darell's troop of the 7th Dragoon Guards, fourteen of the Cape
Mounted Riflemen, and a light 6-pounder, to patrol the hills and protect
the cattle. An hour afterwards, on hearing the gun at work about two
miles off, a hundred infantry were sent out, under the command of Major
Yarborough, to support the gun and cavalry. This party met the gun
retiring disabled, a wheeler being shot. The cavalry were found in
extended order, engaged with the enemy near a dense bush. The infantry
advanced in extended order, firing. It was on this occasion that Major
Yarborough, ordered them to feign a retreat, as I have already
mentioned, in order to draw the enemy into an open space; this _ruse_
succeeded, and Sir Harry Darell, who had retired behind the infantry and
closed, had an opportunity of charging with his troop, and sabred
fifteen or twenty before they could get into the bush. Then the
infantry advanced, and again feigned to retire, and the enemy came out a
little way, keeping up a brisk fire, though at a long range. The 91st
then halted, and ceased firing, waiting for the enemy to come on; but
they did not do so, and, night advancing, the troops retired to
quarters; Sir Harry Darell, and Mr Gore, 7th, returned with their hands
imbued in Kaffir blood, and their swords bent and broken. The number of
the enemy was estimated at eight hundred, or a thousand. More than
forty were killed and wounded in the skirmish and charge, besides those
who fell by the shells thrown into the kloof before the infantry came
up. The casualties on our side were slight. The troop Serjeant-Major
of the 7th was wounded, and the charger Sir Harry rode; some other
horses were also killed and wounded. The skirmishing of the enemy was
perfect, hiding themselves, and advancing and retiring behind the
smallest ant-heaps and stones. With the infantry were a hundred of the
Fort Peddie Fingoes, who assisted the troops, and worked bravely with
them. Thus, about one hundred and fifty of our own troops, with a
hundred Fingoes, succeeded in driving eight hundred or a thousand
Kaffirs from their position, killing and wounding at least fifty!
This check, though, was only for the night,--this advance by the enemy
towards the post, only the prelude of the morrow, the morning of which
presented the awful spectacle of the gathering of the tribes on the
hills around the open plain on which the buildings of Fort Peddie stand
in somewhat scattered order. From my long residence there I know the
place well; a solitary tree is the only thing of the land on which the
eye rests in looking from the green plain forming the parade-ground of
the garrison. All around are open, undulating plains, studded with
ant-heaps, and cultivated here and there by the poor Fingoes, with
Indian and Kaffir corn and pumpkin vines. These vast and almost
desolate plains are bounded by steep ascents, and here and there a dark
shadow in the landscape indicates the entrance of a kloof. It was here
I once witnessed the gathering of the Fingoes from those hills, to a
war-dance. Their wild war-cry issued from their kraals, and then,
coming forth, they united in phalanx and advanced, with their triumphant
chant. Such a gathering as this is a savage sight. As they approach an
imaginary enemy, they shout and yell, then form circles, while some
stern old warrior goes round with his war-club as if striking down the
strangling bodies of the wounded and dying foe; then, extending
themselves in skirmishing order, they again advance, assegai in hand,
while, with shrill and exciting cries, and beating their shields, their
leaders spring and leap with the activity of the tiger.
When I witnessed this wild exhibition, the Fingoes became so much
excited with the semblance of a fight, that they threw their assegais
from them, as though in earnest; so much so, that the Resident Agent,
Mr Shepstone, who knew their habits and dispositions well, warned the
soldiers, who were looking on, from the front. I was inclined to run
myself; but Mr Shepstone assuring me that they would not do our own
party any harm on purpose, but that he could not answer for the effect
of a stray assegai, if we moved, we were fain to stand still amid a
shower of spears; and, as one passed near me, there was a shout on
seeing I stood my ground.
Imagine the approach of nine thousand savage enemies; all _in earnest_,
towards the little garrison of Fort Peddie! It must have been an
appalling sight. An eye-witness, and credible person, has published the
following description in a frontier paper. I extract it, being sure of
its truth, as it coincides exactly with the accounts I have read and
received from officers present during the engagement. I have chosen
this one as the most graphic:--
"I am afraid," says the writer, "I can give you no description of the
attack itself. Were it not that life and death were concerned in it, I
should have pronounced it a most beautiful sight. The Kaffir commanders
sent their aides-de-camp from one party to another, just as you would
see it done on a field-day with European troops. The main bodies were
continually increasing with horse and shot-men, and soon after eleven
the array was truly terrific. The largest body was to the westward.
Finding their scheme of drawing the troops out did not succeed, small
parties advanced in skirmishing order, and then the two divisions of
Pato and the Gaikas moved towards each other, as if intending a combined
attack on some given point. Colonel Lindsay was superintending the
working of the gun himself, and, as soon as a body of the Gaikas came
within range, a shot was sent into the midst of them, which knocked over
several, disconcerted them a little, and threw them into confusion;
rapid discharges of shot and shell followed. The Kaffirs now extended
themselves in a line six miles in length. These advancing at the same
time, so filled the valley that it seemed a mass of moving Kaffirs;
rockets and shells were poured rapidly on them, and presently a
tremendous fire of musketry was poured, happily, over our heads. The
enemy, however, did not come near enough for the infantry to play upon
them, and only a few shots were fired from the infantry barracks. While
they were rifling a store, a few shots from the howitzer sent them
flying, carrying off their booty, blankets, etc; a rocket was then sent
after them, causing them to drop their plunder.
"The guns having frightened the cattle of the Fingoes under the fort,
they (the cattle) ran off, and were captured by the Kaffirs, but the
brave Fingoes, following them, took a considerable number. The actual
fighting was between the Fingoes and Kaffirs: the troops could not have
gone out without exposing the forts to danger, as there were masses
ready to pour in at all quarters.
"The dragoons were ordered out, and, though rather late, followed up
some of Pato's men, who fled at their approach, Sir Harry Darell
galloping after them with his troop. The daring Fingoes followed the
Kaffirs to the Gwanga river, four miles off. Twelve of the Fingoes were
killed, including a woman and child. The two latter were destroyed by
the bursting of a shell over the trench under the fort, in which the
poor Fingo women, and their families, were placed for safety."
Upwards of two hundred of the enemy fell, and more were afterwards
ascertained to be dead and dying, but they carried off the greater part
of the cattle. It has always been a matter of astonishment to me that
they did not fire the outer residences of the inhabitants, civil and
military, built of wood or unburned brick, thatched, and abandoned by
their inmates, with furniture and stores standing in them. Plunder was
the Kaffir's aim, however; and he obtained the plunder he loved best--
cattle. The force, for the protection of such a post as Fort Peddie,
was only sufficient to act on the defensive; and it was a horrible
reflection to all, that, if the enemy did succeed in making an entrance,
every soul would be murdered, unless some unhappy women were spared to
swell the number of some savage chieftain's wives.
In spite of their numbers, these wretches were scattered in about two
hours; but they bore off the cattle. Not one white man fell on that
memorable day: and, so intent was Colonel Lindsay on the working of the
gun with Lieutenant King, R.A., that he was unconscious or careless of
the balls whistling round his elevated position, until reminded of it by
his Adjutant, Lieutenant Jennings.
While this fearful warfare was going on at Fort Peddie, Colonel
Somerset, with an immense train of waggons, containing supplies and
ammunition, and a force of dragoons, Cape Mounted Riflemen, and Burghers
of all sorts, sizes, colours, and denominations, was moving thitherwards
through the bush, avoiding the defiles near Trumpeter's, and making a
_detour_ by Commatjes. Colonel Richardson, with a division of the 7th,
was sent from Graham's Town, in the middle of the night, to draw the
attention of the enemy from Colonel Somerset's party, but did not meet
any Kaffirs. The enemy were on the alert, as usual, having their scouts
watching the country; and, before Colonel Somerset could reach his
destination, he was warned of the proximity of the foe by shots fired at
the leading oxen of a foremost waggon; but Colonel Somerset,
ready-witted in the bush as a Kaffir, had anticipated this, and provided
spare oxen. With admirable coolness and speed, the dead oxen were cut
away, and fresh ones "inspanned," and in this manner, under the fire of
the enemy, did Colonel Somerset and his gallant band make their way
through the dense bush, up narrow and precipitous defiles, down the
valleys, and across the dangerous drifts, and succeeded in reaching Fort
Peddie, with the loss of four men of his own regiment; two or three also
being wounded. Major Gibsone, 7th Dragoon Guards, and Lieutenant
Stokes, R.E., had their horses shot under them at the first attack, and
some troopers were killed.
This division left Graham's Town on the 29th of May, the day after the
engagement at Peddie, but before any intelligence of it had been
received. On the 30th, at midnight, we heard the 7th Dragoon Guards
gathering under our windows, in Graham's Town, previously to starting to
make their demonstration; and on Sunday, the 31st of May, Sir Peregrine
Maitland, with a small escort, proceeded to a tower about ten miles from
town, from which he observed Colonel Somerset bivouacked. It was not
known till the next day that Colonel Somerset had encountered the enemy.
No news was received from him, till he could add that he had passed the
bush, and was within sight of Peddie.
Never happy in idleness when there was an enemy at hand, Colonel
Somerset only remained long enough to Peddie to refresh his men and
horses, and then again moved into the bush. Well acquainted with the
disposition, habits, and superstitions of the Kaffirs, Colonel Somerset
is the kind of foe they most dread; brave, hardy, active, and
high-spirited, he is just the man to lead the hardy Cape Corps against
such barbarians. And now, again, he was soon upon some of the
stragglers who had attacked Fort Peddie on the 28th of May. They had
assembled "to breakfast," in a kloof, thickly wooded; but on one green
spot, lit by the sun, there was gathered a tolerable array of them,
little dreaming that am enemy as wary as themselves was at hand. The
green and sunlit spot was soon darkened by the smoke of British
artillery, and the kloof and mountains gave back the thundering echoes
to the astonished ears of the savages. Such as escaped death slipped
through the bush, and along the wooded ravines, to warn their friends of
danger.
Colonel Somerset then moved with his division to a place where wood and
water offered the means of a pleasant bivouac, and the troops were about
to open their haversacks and turn their horses, knee-haltered, out to
grass, when Lieutenant Bisset, Cape Mounted Rifles, who had gone out
with Lieutenant Armstrong, of the same corps, to reconnoitre (the latter
having observed a few Kaffirs skulking near the bush, and surmised that
more were in the neighbourhood), rode back with the intelligence that,
his horse having carried him up the slope of a hill, he had found
himself just above a body of about six hundred Kaffirs. These savages,
having had a long march, were halting on their way, preparatory,
perhaps, to attacking the waggons, which they did not know had passed
through Commatjes Bush; or, it may be, they had been stayed in their
progress by the sound of the shells thrown into the kloof, to rout the
"breakfast-party," two hours before. There they were, however, a
regular "clump of Kaffirs." Down the slope flew the fiery steed, which
could only be guided, not stopped, in its career, and right past the
dark mass was borne the rider, while they, bewildered at the unexpected
sight of the "wild horseman" in that sequestered valley, never moved,
but gazed in silence at him as he sped past them. "Wearing round," in
sailor's phrase, his impetuous and hard-mouthed horse, he managed to
bring it up at the halting-place of the division, where he reported the
near proximity of the enemy to Colonel Somerset, who, lifting has cap
from his head, gave three hearty cheers and shouted to Major Gibsone
(7th Dragoon Guards), "Return carbines, draw swords, and charge!"
"Hurrah!" was echoed back; and on they dashed, Dragoons, Cape Corps,
Burghers, Hottentots, and Fingoes. They found the enemy up and in
position; but they had never intended to be caught in an open plain.
They had never before had an opportunity of judging fairly of a charge
of English cavalry. Such a _melee_. The cavalry dashed through the
phalanx of Kaffirs, and, for want of more cavalry to support them,
_dashed back again_. A Hottentot soldier, one of the Sturdy Cape Corps,
having two horses given him to take care of, charged _unarmed_, save his
sword, and _with a horse in each hand_! There was great slaughter among
the enemy. Captain Walpole, R.E., who had gone out as an amateur, was
severely wounded in two places; Sir Harry Darell was again wounded, but
not severely, with an assegai, as was also Lieutenant Bunbury, 7th
Dragoon Guards. Such Kaffirs as could not escape fell down exhausted,
and cried for mercy: there was a great deal of cunning in this,--they
would have stabbed any one who approached near enough to them to offer a
kind word. They had all had enough, however, of meeting a combined
force of cavalry and Cape Corps, and no doubt the latter tried to
surpass themselves. Those gallant little "Totties" are an untiring,
determined band. How little do we know in England of the smartness and
courage of the Hottentot!
So excited were the troops by this victory over the enemy--more than two
hundred savages being killed, and an immense number carried off
wounded--that they galloped back to Fort Peddie with the news, and
without refreshing themselves or their horses. Had the enemy been a few
minutes earlier in leaving _their_ bivouac, or had the troops been a few
minutes later in reaching _theirs_, the parties would never have met.
Only one man fell on our side, a Cape Corps soldier, who had often been
reproved for his rashness.
This action on the Qwanga served to damp the ardour of the Kaffirs for
some time. They bore off their wounded and dying to the kloofs, where
they had established hospitals in the clefts of rocks, or under bush,
screened by karosses and sheepskins, and mourned the death of many a
chieftain's son, captain, or councillor. The superior chiefs themselves
seldom fall, and no paramount chief is expected to lead his men to
action. In the attack on the Mancazana, Macomo, Sandilla's uncle, beat
his warriors to the advance with his knob-kiurries; and then, seating
himself on a hill, waited the result of the attack and the capture of
the cattle.
While these operations were going on "across the border," the Boers
began to show their teeth on the other side of the Orange River, and the
Griquas, in alarm, moved towards Philippolis, a mission station, with
their families and cattle. The Boers had resolved on taking advantage
of the times to recover the cattle and sheep which the Government had
given to the Griquas, in compensation for their losses in their war with
the Boers, in which we had assisted them. These were the Boers who had
deserted the Colony and tracked over the Orange River ten years before.
It is irrelevant, however, to my present purpose to touch upon the Dutch
question; nevertheless, it may be remarked that we had great occasion to
regret this disaffection. Captain Warden, (formerly of the Cape Corps),
the representative of Government at the Modda River, soon settled the
question, in a spirited and judicious manner. Six rebel Boers were
taken prisoners, and sent to await their trial in gaol.
The Burghers continued to move up from all quarters. I watched one body
on their entrance into Graham's Town, and saw them winding through the
streets; the cavalcade of horsemen alone must have been at least a mile
in length. Strong, hardy, daring fellows they looked, too; but there
was something very melancholy in the thought, that they had left their
homes and families to meet a ruthless and savage foe, whom they had in
no wise injured, or treated otherwise than with humanity and patience.
How many might never return! I turned sorrowfully away, as this thought
passed through my mind.
Still the Colony was overrun with Kaffirs. As fast as they were put
down in one place, they started up in another. The mails could not pass
in safety, the enemy sometimes waylaying them, murdering the post
riders, and destroying the letter-bags, or stealing the relay horses
from the mail contractors. The inhabitants of the different districts
received the most garbled statements of affairs, and discontent
prevailed in all directions at the delay in the warfare; a delay
entirely unavoidable, and as ruinous to the Government as to the
colonists.
In spite of some attempts to foster enmity between the military and
burgher forces, it was pleasant to observe the manner in which the
_fighting men_ worked together; and I therefore give the substance of a
dispatch from a Burgher officer, which was published by order of the
Commander-in-Chief, and was dated--
"Trumpeter's Post, 24th June, 1846.
"Sir,
"I have the honour to report to you that, in compliance with your
orders, I left this on the 22nd instant, at four o'clock, a.m., taking
with me 240 men of the Provisional Infantry, and 120 Fingoes, under
Captain Symonds, for the purpose of scouring the kloofs on the left bank
of the Fish River. At seven o'clock the same day, we came upon the
enemy, whose spoor (trail) we had followed up from the Fish River drift.
Sending a flanking party down each side, under Captain De Toit and
Captain Symonds, I proceeded down the Gwanga Kloof. Scarcely had we
entered, when we heard the enemy talking distinctly about fifteen paces
in advance of us. We immediately rushed up, and found that their fires,
ninety-three in number, had been deserted a few moments before we came
up, and that cattle had also been driven past. We soon after fell in
with the enemy, who, being fired at, fled in all directions, leaving
their cattle behind them. We captured them, 120 in number, with four
horses, and went back up another kloof, where we found the enemy in
strong force hid behind rocks hanging over our heads, opening their
musketry on us. The fire was returned briskly by our men, who faced the
enemy with much coolness. By this time, Captain De Toit had joined us,
having had a brush in another kloof. The skirmish lasted for three
hours. One Kaffir, I supposed to be a chief, was seated on a hill,
directing the movements of the enemy, telling them to surround us and
take the cattle back.
"After we came out of the kloof, the Kaffirs tried all they could to cut
us off, waylaying us in every ravine, and firing long shots at us. They
followed us up within five miles of Fort Peddie, when they gradually
retreated, with the loss of six men. No casualties on our side. I
suppose the enemy to be about a thousand strong. I beg leave to state
that I think it impossible to drive the enemy out of the kloof alluded
to, and those immediately beyond it, without a very strong force of
infantry and a piece of artillery. I beg to bring to your notice the
conduct of Lieutenant Lange, who on all occasions when we have met the
enemy has particularly distinguished himself.
"I have the honour to be, etc,
"Thos. J. Melville.
"To Commandant Size."
On receiving this dispatch, the Commander-in-chief caused the kloofs in
question to be scoured, and it was found that the enemy had abandoned
their strongholds in that quarter. This was only for a time. A troop
of dragoons was ordered out six weeks after to clear the "Clay Pits,"
near Trumpeter's. The name is derived from the red clay which is found
in the neighbourhood by the Kaffirs, who paint their bodies with it. It
is, however, an unseemly name for the spot, which I know well. It is
quite a fairy place, with a tiny valley of emerald green, and a crystal
spring, flanked on three sides by steep rocks clothed with thick bush,
and the stately euphorbia tree. There the conies have their
dwelling-places; there the large starry jessamine of the Cape scents the
air, and contrasts its graceful wreaths with the deep green foliage of
the shrubs; there the wild convolvulus forms its own bright bowers,
intermingled with the ivy geranium; and there the chandelier plant waves
its bells near the clear spring where the lions come down to drink in
the deep twilight so peculiar to South Africa. There the baboons shout
to each other from rock to rock; and there, through the gay plants that
enamel the turf, winds the glittering and fatal snake. There the pretty
lizards--"the friend of man," as they are called by those who assert
that they warn the sleeping traveller of the serpent's approach,--creep
about in the sunshine; and there--ah! there we made one day a pleasant
resting-place on a journey. We were very merry, _then_, and the valley
rang with laughter and with song, as we tried the echoes. And _now_ the
savage lurked there, like the lion lurking for his prey. I remember
that the day we did rest there, when I expressed myself enchanted with
the spot, some one said, in an indifferent voice, "This is where poor--
was killed in the last war; and where the waggon was stopped, and the
poor creatures with it were murdered!"
It was now found necessary, in consequence of the dense bush near
Trumpeter's being full of Kaffirs, to open a communication between
Graham's Town and Fort Peddie, by a route near the sea. The marines,
sailors, and a party of sappers were therefore sent thither to form a
raft for the conveyance of some expected supplies for the troops across
the Great Fish River, near the mouth.
Sir Peregrine Maitland, with a very moderate escort, made his way
through the bush, and established his head-quarters at Peddie for a few
days; but on the 23rd of June, he took the field, and encamped with a
large body of troops, part of the 7th, 90th, 91st, Cape Mounted Rifles,
Burghers, Hottentots, and Fingoes, at the mouth of the Fish River; and,
in compliment to the Admiral of the Cape Station, the locality was named
Fort Dacres.
On the 26th, an express arrived from the Admiral, recalling the sailors
and marines to rejoin the "President," under orders for the Mauritius,
and probably Madagascar. Their removal, at this moment, was much to be
regretted; British energy, patience, courage, and perseverance, however,
surmounted difficulties hitherto unconsidered, and the "Waterloo," with
her cargo, was soon anxiously looked for. Supplies, too, reached the
troops, who were occasionally without any food but meat for days, and
even that was scarce and bad. A shilling was once offered for a glass
of fresh water, without success, and two shillings and six pence for a
biscuit! At Fort Peddie, too, they were in a miserable plight, the
horses almost starving. No comforts whatever for the men, some of them
being badly off for clothing, of the arrival of which they had been
disappointed by the destruction of the baggage-waggons near Trumpeter's,
in May. By the way, some days after the attack on Fort Peddie, Pato's
people brought some of the store-waggons to the hill, in sight of the
garrison, and set fire to them, in order to decoy the troops from the
buildings; but without success.
A discovery was made near the Fish River mouth, by some soldiers, of a
leaf which they substituted for tea; but the water, from being so near
the sea, was very brackish and unwholesome, and thus no good judgment
could be formed of the quality of the substitute. Some Boers arriving
at Fort Dacres, having never seen the sea, rushed down to it in
amazement at the "Groete Vley" (Big River), and, stooping down to drink,
were much disappointed at finding it "brack" (salt).
Difficulties of various kinds now beset the path of the
Commander-in-chief. The enemy had stolen most of the colonial cattle,
and what was left was in such a wretched state, from fatigue and bad
pasturage, that, independently of present hunger, the trek oxen could
make but very little way. On the 6th, Major Yarborough, 91st, in
command of the regular infantry, consisting of about 120 of the 91st,
and part of the 90th, made his first march from the Fish River mouth,
along the sea-shore, to the mouth of the Beka: here they encamped the
first night, and had a taste of the rough service in which they were
engaged. The waggons did not reach them till morning, so that they had
but slight provision, and no tents. However, they made the best of it,
and, rolling themselves up in such cloaks and karosses as they could
muster, lay down by the fires to sleep. Those who had saddles made
pillows of them,--and a saddle makes no bad resting-place for a weary
head, as I can testify from experience. On the 10th, all was bustle
again; tents were struck, and a hasty meal was made of tough beef and
ration biscuit, hard and mouldy most likely, and the division again
moved on at five o'clock in the afternoon.
After sleeping five nights in the open air--in consequence of the
waggons with the tents being in the rear, from the state of the oxen--
they reached the Buffalo River. During this march, they experienced
much discomfort from bad weather, as well as want of provisions. On one
occasion, they could not see their way for twelve hours, and were
obliged to stand under a heavy rain, the ground being so saturated with
wet that they could not lie down. For four days, the men never tasted
meat, and the officers had only such provisions as their horses could
carry. The poor Fingoes were reduced to eating their shields of
bullock-hides, and the Hottentots tightened their girdles of famine.
Fortunately, Captain Melville's Hottentot Burghers overtook some Kaffir
women, from whom they captured three hundred cows,--a great god-send to
a starving army, for a long march was before them, the Kaffirs having
gone as far as the Kei. The General, who shared the privations and
sufferings of the troops under his command, determined to follow them
up, but for a time the division halted till the waggons came up with
comforts, in the shape of coffee, biscuits, sugar, rice, etc; and at the
same time vessels continued to arrive at the Fish River mouth, whence
stores could be forwarded, though literally at a "snail's pace," to the
troops in front.
On the 17th of July, Colonel Somerset, with three days' provision,
headed a large force of 1,600 cavalry and infantry, the latter
provisional forces, which were to recapture the stolen cattle from Pato;
it will be seen with what success. From the state of the trek oxen, it
was quite impossible for the regular infantry to follow in support of
Colonel Somerset's division; they therefore proceeded to the Debe flats,
_via_ King William's Town, headed by the untiring and brave General
Maitland, on their way to the Amatolas, to intercept the Gaikas. The
poor oxen could scarcely crawl, many of them dropping dead on the way.
The Cape ox is certainly the most patient and gentle creature of its
kind. And now the last issue of meat was again made, and sad prospects
were before the troops on their way from the sea, whence other supplies
alone could be looked for. Happily, a few straggling sheep were
afterwards captured: and thus fed from day to day, in the wilderness, by
Providence, the troops moved forty miles in ten days. On the 21st of
July, they encamped four miles from King William's Town, where in the
war of 1834-5, Sir Harry Smith, the present Governor of the Cape, met
the Kaffir chiefs.
On reaching the spot where the troops were to encamp, on the other side
of King William's Town, through which they had passed--finding it
ransacked by the Kaffirs--they were unpleasantly surprised by the return
of twenty empty waggons, which had left them two days before for the
Fish River mouth, with an escort of one hundred Burghers, who had fired
away all their ammunition and retired, having one man wounded, and
losing six oxen. The Kaffirs informed them, as they set fire to one of
the rear waggons, that "unless we made peace with them, they would stop
all our convoys."
Colonel Johnstone, 27th Regiment, who had left Graham's Town on the 8th
of July, for the Fish River mouth, where he was relieved by the second
division of the 90th, joined the General's Camp on the 26th of the same
month, bringing with him some welcome and long-looked-for supplies.
While thus encamped, a Kaffir woman, pretending to be the sister of the
Chief, Umhala, made her way to the Governor to sue for peace, asserting
that Umhala was "sitting still." Many such messages had been sent, but
were quite unworthy of obtaining a hearing. The Kaffirs having driven
their booty across the Kei, were of course anxious for peace, and
Sandilla had the cool impudence to send four ambassadresses to the
Lieutenant-Governor at Fort Beaufort, to ask "why we had made war upon
him," and to request permission to "plant his corn!" After the affair
at Fort Peddie, Stock, an I'Slambie chief, sent messengers to complain
of _our attacks on him_, when he, too, was "sitting still," and only
wished to be allowed to "watch his father Eno's grave!" Very pathetic
indeed! Stock _was_ no doubt "sitting still" beside "his father's
grave," but his people were at work, plundering, burning, murdering,
torturing and mutilating the troops and colonists, _while_ he "sat
still," and _approved_. He should have _protected_ that sacred spot,
and kept the neighbourhood of Fort Peddie clear of marauders. When his
father died, after the commencement of the war, he was buried decently;
the military at Fort Peddie witnessing the funeral, and receiving the
promises of fidelity which Stock offered. But, in spite of these
promises, in spite of the Kaffir law that "no tribe shall engage in war
for twelve moons after the death of its chief," Stock's people were
among the _first_ who made their ruthless way through the helpless
Colony with brand and assegai!
The chief, Umki, took refuge at Peddie, at the commencement of
hostilities, leaving his people, or rather permitting his people to
surrender at will. He was received at Graham's Town, where, with his
wives and ragged retinue, he was provided with "board and lodging" at
the expense of Government. There is no faith to be placed in any chief
but the Christian, Kama, who, with the remnant of his people, took an
active part in the defence of the Winterberg district, thirty miles from
Fort Beaufort. Kama proved himself true to his religion, to us, and to
himself, in every way sacrificing worldly distinctions and property,
and, as I have before remarked, putting his life in jeopardy by the
deadly offence he gave the Tambookies in refusing a second wife from
that royal race. Yet I have never heard the voice of public
philanthropy raised in favour of Kama.