Advance of 1st column--Description of route--Forts Crealock and
Chelmsford--Causes of delay--Sickness of troops and its
origin--Capture of cattle--Proposals for peace by Umsintwanga--His
interview with Crealock--Surrender of Umguelumgwizi--Advance of 2nd
division--Details of troops composing it--A fortified kraal--Fort
built by Wood on the Umlatoosi--Patrol by Buller--Burning of five
kraals in the Usipexi district--Amhlabatini--Depôt there
described--Envoys from Cetywayo--Advance to White Umvolosi--Wood's
camp--Lord Chelmsford's ultimatum to Cetywayo.
The actual advance of the 1st division may be said to have commenced on
the 17th of June, when the gallant bluejackets and Marines (the Naval
Brigade), one troop of Lonsdale's Horse, and one troop of Royal
Engineers effected an important though short movement from Fort Pearson,
the so-called base, to Fort Chelmsford; while the 57th Foot and Barton's
Contingent pushed on to Fort Crealock. General Crealock, with his
headquarters, arrived at Fort Crealock on the following day, and on the
19th reached Fort Chelmsford.
The road at starting from Fort Pearson led up a steep ascent and across
a table-land, gradually sloping towards the west, with occasional slight
undulations, until it came to the steep and almost cliff-like descent
into the valley of the Amatikula. Here frequent outcrops of sandstone
and quartz were noticeable to the engineers, whose professional
enthusiasm was excited at seeing before them the materials for building
a permanent fort in the district. Crystalline pebbles were plentiful,
and the soil, which was in some places of a reddish hue, was at other
points a pure white silver sand, both, however, being covered by a
considerable layer of vegetable mould.
Many beautiful flowers gladdened the eye on the march, amongst which
were tiger lilies, convolvuli, primulas of a rich deep yellow, and
another species having the appearance of a foxglove opened back. In the
valley of the Amatikula were some thorn-bushes of osier-like growth,
which the natives use for fencing their kraals, and these bore large
purple bell-shaped flowers. On the coast grow some of a similar nature,
and a full mile further on were white primulas, large yellow daisies,
and small red and blue flowers not unlike forget-me-nots. After this
came some rough marching, excessively trying to the waggons and oxen,
over very steep hills, through patches of tiger-grass, and across
ravines forty and fifty feet deep, with almost precipitous sides, at
each of which it became necessary to unload the more heavily-laden
waggons and carry the contents up by hand. All the hills were
exceedingly rocky, being composed mostly of granite, but in some
instances of nearly pure quartz, thickly clothed, however, with trees
whenever the inequalities of the ground and surface allowed the soil to
accumulate. The greater number of these trees were acacias in full
bloom, their red, white, and yellow blossoms, and those of other
flowering trees standing out in rich masses of gorgeous and Turneresque
colour. Late in the afternoon the column arrived at the camping-ground
near Fort Crealock, where the works were proceeding rapidly towards
completion, and every preparation was being made to reconnoitre on to
the Umlalasi. The laager was formed above a rocky pass, having at the
bottom pools of water in splendid granite basins. Out of these two small
streams issued, one running west and the other east, and falling
ultimately into the Umlalasi and the Umlatoosi. The next day a patrol
was sent out to explore a deserted kraal five miles distant. Barrow,
with about 100 horsemen, also went out scouting; but after riding a
couple of miles found the hills so closed in on either side and the path
so blocked with bamboo cane grass that his men were compelled to
dismount and lead their horses. The thick growth also shut out most of
the view of the hills, the prospect of which, however, when a peep was
obtainable, was delightful. By the side of the path was a torrent bed
more than twenty feet deep, with nearly perpendicular sides, and over
this slope went one of Barrow's men, horse and rider rolling over each
other until the stream below was reached, luckily without causing any
injury to the trooper--a Dutchman, whom Barrow congratulated by telling
him he suffered no injury as he fell upon his head. A little hair rubbed
off a remarkably sun-browned forehead was all the damage done, while the
horse had only a few scratches. The latter part of the pass, the same
afternoon, when the march was continued to Chelmsford, was very slippery
sandstone and quartz; and at one point, where the waggons had to wind
round in single file, the hills, clothed to their summits with trees,
rose to some 300 feet in height. These heights were scouted as the
troops advanced, but nothing but old women and children were seen.
The valleys through which the column passed were very fertile, with
pleasing alternations of open wood, jungle, grass, and cultivation. The
torrents, however, from the hills in the rainy season must do great
injury to the crops of mealies, and several spruits and streams were
crossed, flowing knee-deep between thickets of bamboo and tall rushes,
which, when flooded, would have been impassable.
The second brigade was behind encamped on the Inyezani, and included the
Buffs, Naval Brigade, 88th, and Sandham's battery, and came on to
Chelmsford as the first brigade marched into camp at Napoleon hill.
The two main causes of the seemingly protracted delay in the advance of
General Crealock's division were want of transport beasts, among which a
severe epidemic had broken out, and the large amount of fort-building
and road-making requisite in and around Port Durnford. Still, the time
taken up in regard to this new base was by no means wasted, as it
sufficed to keep a large and well-armed portion of the Zulu army idle in
this vicinity, and thus gave Lord Chelmsford immense facilities for
pushing on his men to the left front, whilst General Crealock was able
to utilise his force towards the coast while waiting for transport to
move up into the interior.
The sick-list still continued somewhat heavy, a very large proportion of
officers and men being _hors de combat_. Much of the malaria, the
medical authorities considered, arose from the effluvia caused by the
decomposition of the numerous carcases of oxen and horses which lay all
along the road, and literally tainted and poisoned the air. These
carcases lay where the convoys had to pass, and the consequence was that
whenever a detachment had to come or go to or from the fort, some
portion, often a large percentage, reported themselves ill with fever.
The remedy seemed easy, but was not so. The men were worked so hard at
digging and entrenching, that it was impossible to detail fatigue
parties to bury or remove the carcases, which, therefore, were left to
breed pestilence in the camp.
On June 22nd General Crealock decided to make another strong
reconnaissance towards the sea on the following day, and orders were
given overnight that the entire cavalry force, consisting of two
squadrons of mounted infantry, the Natal Horse, and the native Basuto
scouts, should parade at daybreak with the whole of the 91st
Highlanders. The General's object was to utilise his stay at Fort
Napoleon by doing as much to open communications with Port Durnford as
possible, and particularly to effect what improvements could be made in
the road between the fort and that place.
The only result of this expedition was that the troops accidentally came
upon a body of 250 Zulus, driving away a large number of oxen; of which,
after a sharp skirmish, though without the loss of a man, they captured
192 fine head, as well as numerous women and children, who came to the
General imploring protection. This was of course assured to them; and as
they appeared hungry and half starved, biscuits and mealies were served
out to them upon the ground. On the homeward march to Fort Napoleon they
were overtaken by two very good-looking young Zulus, fully armed and
equipped in war panoply. These men stated that they belonged to Cuzame,
a powerful Zulu chief, who was now on his way with his wives and head
men to Fort Napoleon to surrender. On arriving at the fort later on in
the evening, this was found to be the case. After a long interview with
General Crealock, in which Cuzame gave some valuable information in
regard to Cetywayo's army then collecting for the defence of the big
kraals, the chief was ordered by the General to leave his family and
some of his warriors, and return to his kraal for his arms and cattle.
This he expressed himself most willing and anxious to do.
It was now discovered that it was an error to suppose that the Zulus
were a united nation, all regarding Cetywayo as their supreme autocrat
and head. On the contrary, there were other chieftains with objects and
ambitions of their own. Thus, a chief named Umsintwanga (or the "Old
Fox") came in on the morning of June 26th, with the usual ivory tusk and
proposals for peace. He and his party were seen at daybreak about two or
three miles from the camp trying to ford a small stream, tributary to
the Umlalazi. The vedettes could not quite make out their proceedings,
as, when halfway across the stream, they turned back, ascended a
neighbouring kop, and spent a considerable time in reconnoitring the
position of the fort. This naturally excited the suspicions of the
patrol, to whom the mounted vedettes reported, and a small mounted body
of men was sent to make a circuit and cut them off in case they
attempted to retire. Whether this movement was observed is uncertain,
but eventually, after considerable delay, and after approaching the
camp from several different points, the chief and his attendants, four
in number only, came boldly up to the patrol, and requested to be
brought into camp, to the presence of the great chief. At eight o'clock,
Umsintwanga, who is a rather finely built, elderly man, inclined to be
corpulent, was brought into the presence of General Crealock, who
treated him with the greatest courtesy and respect. The countenance of
the chief showed a curious mixture of dogged determination, savage
cunning, and treachery. His hair was frizzed, and plastered elaborately
with red clay and grease, while he wore a belt with some foxtails round
his waist, and a species of garters of smaller tails tied below the
knee. His mantle seemed to be an old and much-stained horse-blanket, and
above this was a small tippet of leopard-skin, worn something like a
herald's tabard. He carried no weapon save a stout knobkerrie, and his
attendants, who were four splendidly stalwart Zulus, carried the tusk
with the greatest ease and dignity. Care had been taken that the place
of conference should be out of sight of the fort, and for this purpose
the base of a small hollow near the camp had been chosen, where the
rising ground intervened and prevented any observation of what was going
on in the trenches and about the lines. The conference was not of long
duration, for after waiting a reasonable time to allow the chief time to
collect himself, the general at once and shortly asked what was the
meaning and purport of his mission, and why he had come into camp. To
this Umsintwanga, through an interpreter, replied that he was sent by
the king and his indunas to sue for peace, and in proof of their
overtures being sincere he desired to present the immemorial symbol of
peace and friendship, the ivory tusk. He said further, that he was
deputed to ask the stoppage of the 1st Division, the proceedings of
which had much grieved and astonished the king, and he, therefore, was
desired to ask that it should advance no further towards the king's
kraal, while he, the ambassador, might be allowed to go through our
division to Natal. Umsintwanga spoke tolerably well, and seemed not to
have learnt his speech off by heart, as he occasionally hesitated,
stopped, and now and then exchanged words and phrases for others which
he thought more suitable. General Crealock, who listened with the utmost
deference and patience to the somewhat long tirade, then rather abruptly
said, "Am I to understand you distinctly, and without any reservation,
that you, Umsintwanga, induna, come direct and with full authority from
the king?" This query seemed to astonish and somewhat confuse the
ambassador, who, after some little circumlocution, admitted that he had
come, if not quite with the king's authority, at least with his
knowledge and sanction. On being pressed a little more, the old chief
further admitted that it was principally by the desire of the indunas,
more than by that of the king, that he had come, and he still most
positively adhered to the statement that his proposals were official and
in good faith. Umsintwanga was then informed that he had not come to the
proper camp with his proposals, that it was to Lord Chelmsford, and no
other, that he must apply, and that even if he went to Lord Chelmsford
he would not be listened to unless the demands specified in his
lordship's ultimatum were complied with to the letter. The whole of the
interview did not occupy more than a quarter of an hour or twenty
minutes; and when it was over, it would have been quite impossible to
have told, from the imperturbable countenances of the induna and his
suite, whether they were disappointed or not. They seemed to take their
rebuff as if they expected it, and were then conducted by a circuitous
route away from our camp, and left, with the tusk, two miles upon their
road.
It must here be remarked that Lord Chelmsford had throughout the
campaign shown the greatest suavity and patience to any attempt at
peaceful proposals, but he had by this time seen the necessity of a
certain degree of firmness, and General Crealock, although he doubtless
would have given a similar answer had he not been instructed, had a
complete understanding with the Commander-in-chief that no proposals
were to be listened to unless accompanied with the fulfilment of the
conditions laid down in the chief's message to the last messengers.
Brigadiers Bray and Rowlands, together with the whole of the General's
staff, were present at the interview, and the induna and his attendants,
although unwilling to manifest any surprise, were evidently impressed
with the quietude and promptitude with which every wish and order of the
General were carried out. Again on June 21st, General Crealock, then
engaged in completing the fortifications at Napoleon hill, rode out
across the Umlalazi river with a small staff and escort, to interview a
chief named Umguelumgwizi, who had just made friendly overtures and
expressed a wish to consult the General as to what his future line of
conduct should be. Umguelumgwizi's kraal was some miles off, but the
chief said he would come and meet the General; and not more than two
miles in his direction had been traversed when he was seen coming,
accompanied by several of his sons and head men. The Zulu chief was
known to be rich in cattle, and possessed of considerable local
influence. He was a man apparently about fifty-two or fifty-three years
of age, and, in spite of a somewhat sinister expression, had a tolerably
open and apparently honest manner of speaking. He was not by any means
long in coming to the point, declaring emphatically that he had no
quarrel with the English, or, for the matter of that, he added, with the
Dutch. He had heard of and understood the award given by the English
Commissioners in regard to the Dutch boundary, and he thought "Sompsen"
and "Bartle" had behaved most generously to Cetywayo. He had been
obliged to go out to fight on Cetywayo's side, but neither he nor his
young men wished to go out again. If he refused, he would be accused of
witchcraft, "smelt out" and "eaten out." What was he under these
circumstances to do? General Crealock, who had listened very patiently
to this somewhat long harangue, said he had spoken honestly and well,
that as a soldier he did not wish to advise any man to desert his king
or his chief, but that he could not be doing wrong in refusing to fight
in what he considered an unjust cause. If he chose to come in and
surrender, with his arms, his cattle, his wives, children, and his
tribe, all should be protected, and all should be held for him in trust
till peace was made. The chief, who seemed much pleased with General
Crealock's kind and manly advice, consulted a few moments with those of
his advisers who were with him, and then asked the General to give him
one day for consideration. "Willingly, my friends," said Crealock, "and
I will meet you on this side of the river to-morrow, when you can tell
me your decision." Upon the Monday (June 22nd), therefore, directly
after the General had made his usual tour of inspection among the road
fatigues, he crossed over, this time with a couple of troops of Barrow's
men, and met Umguelumgwizi with an immense following, consisting of his
wives and children. The General, however, explained to the chief that he
could only accept this surrender in part, and that it would not be
complete until all his cattle and all his fighting men came in. This the
chief promised to attend to.
On the 25th the 1st Brigade, under General Rowlands, crossed and moved
down the river, encamping about six miles from here. The day following
this brigade moved on to Port Durnford, and reinforced the small force
there. On the 27th Clarke's Brigade started from this place, and moved
on to support Rowlands', encamping and laagering up two hills in sight
of the 1st Brigade. From this encampment a splendid view of Fort
Durnford can be obtained.
The long ranges of mountains, which completely separate the coast-line
from the interior, here stand out in magnificent relief, and although
they are at a distance of fifty to seventy miles, they present a sharply
defined outline in the morning air, their ravines, watercourses, and
terraced heights appearing with almost supernatural distinctness. Here
is a country where the light is rich and brilliant, where the atmosphere
is surpassingly bright and clear, and the scenery bold, spacious, and
grand. The characteristic beauty of light in South Africa is not seen
in its blending with manifold forms of cloud so much as in the full and
even splendour with which it penetrates the air. Distant objects, that
in a less brilliant atmosphere fade away in hazy outline, stand out with
perfect distinctness. Let a spectator place himself at a distance of
twenty or thirty miles from the Drakenberg, or any of the big ranges of
this country, and contrast the effect he will obtain with that he would
experience with Snowdon, Mangerton, or any of our home mountains at a
similar distance. Small boulders, cavernous hollows in the rocks,
patches of bush at the head of the kloofs, at an elevation of 2000 or
3000 feet, are seen with the naked eye without difficulty. A northern
mountain at home, at either of these elevations, will appear in more or
less of hazy outline with all details of face and profile obscured, but
here in the clear atmosphere of Zululand, the very direction of the
watercourses, the curves of the kloofs, and, indeed, every bold wrinkle
on the face of the slopes of the mountains can be most clearly
discerned.
We must now leave Crealock building his forts and making his roads,
while we turn our attention to the movements of Newdigate and Wood.
Every facility had been given to Crealock's (1st) Division to make the
first forward movement on the king's kraal. Lord Chelmsford considering
that after the difficulties General Crealock had encountered it would be
only fair to him and to those under his command to give him every chance
of winning first blood in the final attack. However, the coast sickness
proved so fatal to Crealock's transport train that he was utterly unable
to take advantage of Lord Chelmsford's generosity, and it was to the
2nd column that the final honours of Ulundi fell. On Saturday, the 21st
inst., General Newdigate with this column reached the right bank of the
Umlatoosi, while Evelyn Wood, with his strong flying column, had
slightly preceded him, and had encamped a little lower down on the left
bank. Newdigate's brigadiers were Glynn and Collingwood, with Marshall
in command of the cavalry; and his corps were two batteries of artillery
and an ammunition column, the 2nd company of Engineers, the King's
Dragoon Guards and 17th Lancers, the 21st, the 1-24th, 58th, and 94th
Regiments, Shepstone's Horse, No. 3 Troop, and the Mounted Natives. This
force made up 1870 Europeans, 530 Natives, and eight guns. Wood's field
state of this date gave the Gatling Battery, the Engineers, the 13th,
90th, and a wing of the 80th Regiment, with Buller's Cavalry, consisting
of the Mounted Infantry, Frontier Light Horse, Transvaal Rangers, and
Wood's Irregulars, making a force of 2192 Europeans, and 573 Natives,
four guns and two Gatlings. These two columns, therefore, gave Lord
Chelmsford a compact and admirably-welded and homogeneous body of 4062
Europeans, 1103 Natives, 12 guns, and two Gatlings, and with this force
he justly considered that he held Ulundi in the hollow of his hand.
On the day following (the 22nd), while Newdigate, whose oxen much
required it, gave the division a holiday in camp, Wood pushed on about
four miles, taking care to note every bush, rock, stream, and salient
point _en route_. The march was through a mixture of jungle, long grass,
and occasional outcrops of granite, mixed with unpleasant-looking
boulders of grey sandstone, but which would have been well appreciated
by an engineer for the construction of a permanent work of defence. Ten
small streams were passed, besides tributaries of the Umvolosi, and many
tracks of buffalo and elephant were seen, while some of Wood's
enthusiastic sportsmen were positive they could at times hear the
well-known trumpet of the latter in the jungle. The road then led along
a narrow valley, flanked by rocky hills on either side. On the banks of
the stream which flowed in this spot some deserted kraals were seen,
with broken utensils, stone fireplaces, and small pits where mealies
were stored and still left. The huts which composed these kraals were
not built in the same way as others they had seen, but seemed
constructed with more skill and an eye to greater comfort. First of all
were stout posts planted in the ground, and the interstices filled up
with clay. The roof, instead of being of the general umbrella shape, was
flat, and with a slight slope to the front; and the rafters were covered
either with sheets of bark or with bushes and grass, over which was
spread a thick coating of earth. Sweet potatoes, cut in slices, pumpkins
and gourds, and other vegetables of a succulent nature, were laid on
some of the roofs to dry for the winter's provision. The interior of
these huts had, instead of one, as is usual in Zululand, two, and
sometimes three divisions. The first contained a small raised space for
a bed-place, covered with hides, and here was the almost universal
African fireplace, consisting of the three cones of clay, which in many
instances are hollow, and form a most ingenious oven. The only cooking
utensils were earthen pots, nearly everything in this part of South
Africa being prepared for eating by boiling. In the next division lambs
and goats were kept, and the innermost one was used as a granary, where
corn is stored in "lindo," band-boxes made of bark, with the lids
carefully luted on with clay. These lindo are sometimes of enormous
size, and are sufficiently large to contain a dozen or more sacks. Light
is admitted only through the one door, which also provides the sole
means for the escape of smoke, and as a consequence the rafters and
walls are black and shiny, and the cobwebs with which they are festooned
are loaded with soot. Among the rafters walking-staves, and knobkerries,
assegais, and other primitive weapons of war, are usually stored, so as
to get them good and due seasoning by the smoke. The largest of the
villages was clean and surprisingly well-built, said to be after a model
one made by the late King Panda. It was surrounded by a stockade, in
addition to the outer walls of houses, and the part where the chief had
evidently lived was divided off from the rest of the village, and was
also the gateway. The gates were heavy slabs of wood, hewn out of the
solid trunk, and those wanting to enter could only go up to the
principal gate one at a time, as a wing of palisading projected on
either side in the form of a long U, with holes to use assegais through,
so that it would be no pleasant attempt to try to force an entrance
against the will of the dwellers therein. There were some other smaller
doorways in the outer walls of the house, forming part of what might be
termed the _enceinte_, which closed in a sort of portcullis fashion. A
number of heavy logs had holes in their upper ends, and the wall plate
was rove through them. When the doorway is open, these logs are triced
up inwards and out of the way, and when closed the outer sides of the
lower ends butt, as it were, against a strong fixed log, and are secured
by a strong movable log inside.
On the 23rd, Brigadier-General Wood halted, still on the left bank of
the Umlatoosi, for the purpose of building a fort, which was to be held
by two companies of the 58th, two of Harness's field-guns, and some
irregular cavalry. The outlines and profiles were soon traced by
experienced though not professional engineers, and on the evening of the
same day the place was securely defensible.
The spot chosen by Wood to build the fort is on the Umlatoosi, and in a
position naturally of great strength, for the river there makes a rapid
bend and affords a ready means of both banks being swept and commanded
from the work. A rude and most insecure bridge, formed of a couple of
huge trees, already existed, but this was now under water, while the
strength of the current was so great when the survey was being made that
several of Wood's men were washed off, and only saved themselves by
catching at bushes on the bank. In the centre of the stream there is an
island, and upon this an outwork was constructed. This island is
situated amongst numerous rapids and cascades, breaking out from the
rocky hillside. The difficulties of getting across seemed at first sight
almost insuperable, but after a time it was discovered that there were
places where it was possible to jump from rock to rock, and then to wade
through the rapids themselves on narrow shelves, holding meanwhile "like
grim death" by ropes of creepers, stretched from side to side for that
purpose. It will be, of course, understood that a single false step, or
the snapping of the creeper-rope, at these points would be fatal, for
nothing could save the traveller in that case from being dashed to
pieces amongst the rocks beneath. The stream below this was about fifty
yards wide, very deep, and running like a sluice. Happily a passage was
effected without any casualty. Looking back from the other side a most
striking sight is presented by this mass of water bursting out of the
precipitous hillside, and broken by the rocks and little bushy islands
into foaming cascades. Many small streams are passed, which occasionally
flow for some considerable distance in subterranean channels. They work
in amongst loose stones, covered with soil and vegetation, the
underground portions of their course being sometimes not more than forty
yards of their length, while in other instances they seem to have
disappeared altogether, and no doubt help to supply those mysterious
fresh springs which are known to exist even on the beach at Port
Durnford.
The eastern portion of the Umlatoosi district, and that leading to the
sea is moderately level, with rocky hills, on the summits of which are
situated the villages of the chiefs; but as the western portion is
reached, the country breaks into mountains of every shape and form,
amongst which the more numerous are needles and cones of granite. In the
foreground the hills are of red sandstone, crowned with groves of
magnificent trees, festooned with jasmine and other sweet-scented
creepers. Many of the rivers appear to have been crossed in former days
by bridges, constructed either by the Zulus or by the missionaries, or
possibly by both. Poles were planted in the bed of the stream, and upon
others lashed at the top smaller poles and branches were laid to form
the footway. When first constructed these were doubtless secured to the
cross-pieces by lashings, but by this time they had rotted away, and
consequently afforded but a very precarious foothold.
Between the 24th and the 26th both columns--that is to say, the
headquarters and Wood's--advanced but six miles, but Buller was not more
idle than Wood, as, while the latter was building a fort to hold a
couple of hundred men in the heart almost of a formidable enemy's
country, the former had patrolled in almost every direction to the
front, rear, and both flanks. On the 25th Buller and his "merry men"
were in the saddle and away more than nine miles to the front, and by
noon there came an orderly, "bloody with sparring, fiery red with
haste," who brought news that "Redvers," with his usual good fortune,
had pounced upon about seventy or eighty Zulus busily engaged in
grass-burning, to bother the advance in regard to grass for the horses
and oxen. Buller made extremely short work of these fellows, whose
surprise was so complete that the whole lot might have been annihilated
if humanitarian principles had not interposed. As soon as the grass was
effectually saved, Buller proceeded on a few miles, and, although
watched here and there, suffered not the slightest molestation. The same
evening (25th) Buller came back from his own camp to the headquarter
camp with full information in regard to the five kraals that had been
observed on the 24th in the district of Usipexi, which he reported were
guarded by a tolerably formidable Zulu impi. A small and select council
of war was at once held in General Newdigate's tent, under the
presidency of the Commander-in-chief. After a very short conference, in
which Lord Chelmsford, Generals Newdigate and Marshall, and Colonels
Drury-Lowe and Buller were the principal speakers, it was finally
decided that an attack in force should be made upon the five kraals, and
any others that could be discovered at an early hour on the following
day. At daybreak accordingly the force was drawn up in line for Lord
Chelmsford's inspection, which, as was usual with him, was, though
rapid, most carefully minute. On the right were two guns and fifty men
of Le Grice's admirable battery, and next came two of Drury-Lowe's
splendid blue-and-white squadrons. These fellows would have won the
heart of any light cavalry colonel or adjutant, and it seemed almost a
pity that such glittering panoply of crest and spear and plume should
have to abide the thrust of a hidden assegai from behind a rock or bush.
Four hundred and fifty of Buller's best men, though not so smart nor so
well mounted as Drury-Lowe's gallant fellows, were not despised or
looked down upon by those who were present, and the more brilliantly
decked trooper, with his uniform and glittering _apanage_, felt proud to
ride with the men who had fought so well at Zlobani and conquered so
grandly at Kambula. Two companies of natives made up the force, which
perhaps was the largest patrol ever furnished in this war for such a
duty as the burning of kraals. The guns and part of the cavalry were
sent by a circuitous path which led to an eminence near the largest
kraal, and part of Buller's Horse bearing a little to the right, the
main body advanced along the road by which Buller had yesterday
returned. They first came to the large kraals of Udugwoosu and of
Udlumbedlu, which were found deserted, and shelled and burnt without
opposition; and when this was effected, the cavalry and natives
descended into the plains, to Uxixipi, which was also destroyed, after
shelling out about a thousand natives, who were at once pursued by the
Basutos and Frontier Light Horse. Not many Zulus were killed, as some
were old men and boys, and strict orders had been given to spare these.
On the 27th the flying column, under Wood, advanced nine miles on the
road to Ulundi; while the main division, under Newdigate, with
Brigadiers Glynn and Collingwood, and Marshall in command of the
cavalry, moved on eleven miles, both columns encamping at a place called
Amhlabatini, within a mile of each other. They carried no tents, but
took with them 200 ammunition-waggons, and ten days' full rations, which
on emergency could have been spun out to double that number. Soon after
the halt all the brigadiers were assembled by Lord Chelmsford, who
briefly but succinctly expounded to them his intentions and future
action. His lordship said the time had now arrived for a final blow to
be dealt, and he purposed, having first established a base of operations
by constructing a small depôt laager at Amhlabatini, pushing on at once
to the attack of Ulundi. Buller would clear the front and mask the
columns as they advanced, and would do all he could to provoke and
entice the enemy to attack in the open. The question now was what
details were to be left at the laager as a garrison, and it was decided
that these should be furnished by three companies of the 1-24th
Regiment, and some other contingents, making up 500 men. Soldiers, as a
rule, must accept all commands without question; but although no open
word is spoken, there are times when the bitterness of disappointment
will show itself without speaking. Such was the case when the order-book
proclaimed the duty detailed for the 24th.
The entrenched laager was most artistically made in an incredibly short
space of time. Within a radius of 500 yards all trees and bush were cut
down and cleared away. In the centre a rectangle of waggons was formed,
with earth thrown up above the axletrees, and at 15 yards' distance from
these a trench and an embankment three feet high were constructed.
Again, about 100 yards beyond this, strong and well made abattis were
placed. These consisted of whole trees and stout branches 12 and 15 feet
long, felled and placed side by side, with their butts inwards and
boughs interlaced, while the twigs and small leaves were stripped off
and the boughs sharply pointed. The butts were strongly picketed down,
and in some cases fastened by logs laid across several butts. These
abattis were fully five feet in height, and as green wood--not easy to
burn--was selected, they made a formidable obstacle. It took 200 men
only eight hours to construct 200 yards of abattis, and this,
considering that many of them had never done such work before, was most
creditable. All the officers were in the highest possible spirits, and
no inconsiderable amount of banter was carried on between the two
columns during the visits paid from one to the other. One of the most
fertile subjects for "chaff" was the increasing weight and sleekness of
Buller's men as compared with the visibly apparent attenuation of their
horses, and the joke was to affect to believe that these "African
Cossacks," as they were called, devoured all the oxen they captured,
while making their horse-rations into oatmeal cakes for themselves! This
story, if _ben trovato_, was singularly devoid of fact, for Buller's
horses presented a most favourable contrast to those of Marshall, as the
former would eat almost anything, and the latter were only just
commencing to put up with mealies. The constant work of the former
animals had naturally kept them devoid of superfluous flesh, but, for
all this, they were as hard as "nails" and good in their wind.
On the afternoon of the 27th, vedettes signalled the approach of some
natives, accompanied by a large number of cattle. These proved to be
further messengers from Cetywayo, bringing 150 of our oxen captured at
Isandhlwana, together with a pair of elephants' tusks and a letter,
written in English by a captive dealer. The letter was fairly expressed,
and said that the king could not comply with all Lord Chelmsford's
demands, as the arms taken from us at Isandhlwana were not brought to
him, and that it was beyond his power as a king to order or compel any
of his regiments to lay down their arms. The letter also said that
Harness's guns should be sent, and on receipt of the cattle and these
weapons the English must retire from Zulu territory. Whoever had
written the letter must have been a bold and plucky fellow, as he had
added in a corner in pencil a few words of warning, and an intimation
that Cetywayo had with him at Ulundi and the neighbouring kraals a large
and picked impi, amounting to 20,000 men. Even without this message Lord
Chelmsford would have considered these overtures as suspicious; but, as
it was, increased precaution against surprise or treachery was taken.
Lord Chelmsford accordingly declined the tusks, and told the messengers
in the plainest language that, before he thought of retiring, all the
original conditions must be complied with, more especially as regards
the formal laying down of arms by the regiment. The messengers were then
escorted from our column, and later in the day several large bodies of
Zulus, amounting to some thousands, were noticed moving in a lateral
direction from the side of Ulundi, and passing along by the left flank.
The following day was a busy one for all. Lord Chelmsford was so anxious
to complete the main details of the depôt laager that he deferred his
march till sundown. Wood, however, moved on in the morning as far as the
left bank of the White Umvolosi, where he bivouacked and waited for the
main body. After waiting until all the more prominent and essential
matters were completed in regard to the garrison left in the depôt, Lord
Chelmsford ordered the parade for 5.30 in the evening, and they then
marched on to the next bivouac in a compact and well-organized column.
It was still daylight when the White Umvolosi was reached, and they saw
across the river, on the left bank, the flying column and the Lancers
already bivouacked. The scene as on the right bank of the river was
most picturesque. On the left bank of the Umvolosi Wood had admirably
chosen the ground for his bivouac. Here was a firm, wide plateau,
bounded on the east and north by a hilly country, broken up by knolls
and tall cone-like eminences, whose slopes here and there were covered
by patches of dense jungle or bordered by young forests, whose shades
seemed to invite shelter during the fierce heat of the day. Away in the
extreme distance the landscape differed materially in aspect from the
country near. Mountains of loftier altitude, rising peak upon peak, tier
upon tier, and range upon range, met the eye everywhere. Green trees
covered their slopes in apparently endless expanse of vegetation.
Immediately behind the Lancer camp, and sheltering it from the night
breezes that swept across the plain, was a massive buttress of rock
covered with richly and delicately-hued velvety mosses, while down the
hard, steep, rocky beds of granite and sandstone, with here and there
basalt and porphyry, flint and quartz, foamed sparkling little streams,
which always seem so refreshing and so tempting on a South African
march. A deep gaping fissure in a high jutting wall of rock, through
which bubbled the clear water in volumes; a great towering rock with
perpendicular walls, to which clung, in spite of apparent impossibility,
ferns and plants and moss, thick and velvety; and a huge conical hill
which ambitiously hid its head in the clouds; these were wild and rugged
forms of nature to be treasured up long after their marching days were
gone and past. The camp was situated on a wide terrace or shelf of
ground rising above a body of water, which more resembled a long narrow
lake than a river. This part of the White Umvolosi, indeed, like many
other African rivers, loses its current in the dry season, and becomes a
series of long narrow pools, which in some places may be compared to
lakes for their length, according to the nature of the ground in which
depressions are found. If the ground is rocky or of clayey mud the water
is retained, instead of being absorbed, and here swarm multitudes of
silurus, or bearded mud-fish. Wherever mud-fish are abundant,
crocodiles, the great fish-eating reptiles of the African waters, are
sure to be found, and, singularly enough, wherever crocodiles are found
one is almost sure to find the hippopotamus--not because crocodiles and
hippopotami have any affinity for each other, but because the soil which
retains the water during the hot days of the drought season is almost
sure to produce in the vicinity of the pools abundance of rich grass and
tall cane, the favourite food of the hippopotamus. Two miles further in
the plain Wood's bivouac fires were seen in glittering and regular
ranks, marking out the exact ground which each regiment or corps would
occupy in order of parade or march. Far away, but in a line with each
angle of the bivouac, were the outlying pickets; while, again, beyond
these were those vigilant and unsleeping patrols which made this column
so secure and impossible to surprise.
At daybreak on the 29th the main body crossed the river and joined the
flying column on the left bank. They now were but fifteen miles from
Ulundi, and all the king's kraals were visible to the naked eye. On the
far slope of the hills that bound the plain were the two round kraals,
Likasi and Undabakawazi; next, and built in the shape of a crescent,
were Unodwengo, Panda's old palace, Ulundi, built by the present king,
while farthest of all was another, making five, called Umpanibougwena.
On the 30th Lord Chelmsford was ten miles from the Umvolosi; and he sent
a despatch to Sir Garnet Wolseley, to say that the king's messengers had
just left with an ultimatum for Cetywayo, to the effect that his
lordship must advance to a position on the left bank of the river on the
1st July, but that if no opposition were offered the troops would wait
there without any hostile movement until twelve at noon on the 3rd,
when, if the original terms sent to Cetywayo, namely, the delivery of
the guns taken at Isandhlwana, and the cattle, were complied with, 1000
captured rifles would be received instead of a regiment laying down its
arms, and peace negotiations would be entertained. On the following
morning, accordingly, the main body marched at an early hour, and,
preceded by the flying column and Buller's men scouring the country in
front and flank, arrived at the river and took up the position named
above.