Campaigning in Kaffirland; Or, Scenes and Adventures in the Kaffir War of 1851-52

by William Ross King

FOOTNOTES:

[13] Eupodotis Kori.

[14] Otis afra.

---

CHAPTER VI.
ATTACK ON THE WATERKLOOF—SUBSEQUENT OPERATIONS.

From the daily reports brought in from all sides, it appeared that the enemy was concentrating a large force, and that greater or less bodies frequently made their way through secret bush-paths by night from the Amatolas to the much discussed Waterkloof, so that it was with more pleasure than surprise that we received, on the 11th October, a sudden order for a general movement of the troops against that stronghold.

Next morning, a little before daylight, General Somerset left the camp with the Artillery and Cape Corps for the junction of the Mancazana and Kat Rivers, where he was to be joined by Lieut.-Col. Michell's Brigade (the 2nd, 6th, and 91st regiments, with two field pieces), marching from Fort Hare the same morning.

The next day they were to ascend the Blinkwater hills from the Kat River valley, and encamp on the heights north of the Waterkloof, to be in readiness to co-operate with the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Division by dawn of the 14th.

At ten o'clock on the night of the same day the General's party started, the 2nd Brigade under Lieut.-Col. Fordyce, consisting of the reserve battalion, 12th regiment, the 74th Highlanders, a squadron of Mounted Irregulars, and two companies of Fingoes, in all about 1150 men, marched through the silent moonlit streets of Beaufort, and crossing the bridge took the Klu-Klu road, halting after about fourteen miles march, at the Yellow-wood River; resting three hours, we again marched for the Goba River, five miles further. The heat of the sun was intense, and the barrels of our rifles and pistols became so hot that we could not bear to place the hand on them.

On reaching the foot of the Kroome, at the point of ascent, the men were ordered to rest till night, and all lay down under the grateful shade of the bushes. Our guide, it appeared, knew nothing of the pass by which he proposed taking us up the mountain; some said it was totally impracticable at any time for horses, and at night almost so for infantry; it was therefore determined to take another path more to the westward.

In the evening, a cold rain succeeded the hot day, and we lay shivering on the ground a confused mass of steaming blankets. A little before midnight we were roused for the march. Comfortless as our rest had been, it was with the greatest reluctance we crept out of our plaids and blankets into the bitterly cold foggy air and drizzling rain, to stumble drowsily along our night-march.

The Kroome rose black and frowning before us, its summit hidden in heavy clouds, which added to its apparent height. The ascent soon became so steep that the mounted men had to alight, and we were in momentary fear that the pack-horses would come to grief. No one who has not felt his entire subsistence for many days to be dependant on a slight accident—the turning of a pack-saddle, the falling of the horse, or the bâtman's awkwardness at some critical moment, can imagine the painful interest with which the ascent or descent of a difficult pass is regarded.

The first ridge gained, we moved along a grassy level for some distance, the greater part of us more than half asleep, and staggering along like drunken men; every now and then, as some sudden inequality endangered our balance, awaking with a start, again relapsing into a state of somnambulism, which was as painful as it was irresistible; the grassy path assumed the appearance of a carpet, of which I could distinctly trace the pattern; rocks and bushes became beds, chairs, and chests of drawers, which stood round distinct as reality; until with a stumble and a start, consciousness returned, the illusions vanished, and I still found myself plodding along with the same wearying tramp, tramp. This strange sensation was experienced by most of us, at different times, during our long and harassing forced marches by night; and for my own part, so unpleasant did I find it, that in trying to shake it off, I pinched my arms black and blue.

As day began to dawn, and we reached the higher ranges, the scene around and below was grandly desolate; the steep slopes we had ascended looked bare and black in the indistinct light; and the dark summits on every side appeared, and were lost again in the floating clouds.

The column, clambering up the steep laborious path, looked like flies swarming on the heights. The horses panted for breath; and the men were quite "pumped," having been marching two whole nights.

The summit gained, we halted on a burnt and blackened table-land, where we were facetiously ordered to breakfast, having nothing with us but black biscuit, which we sat down on the dewy ground to gnaw at.

A thick heavy cloud or fog hung around; so dense as to hide everything at a few yards distance, saturating our canvas blouses, and striking so chilly that we were heartily glad to move on again, after waiting two hours in vain for a glimpse of the General's column; it had, however, one advantage; enabling us to take up our position unseen, and totally unsuspected by the enemy, whose attention was occupied with the movements of the other Brigade.

At half-past seven we moved forward along the grassy undulating ridge, with flank-patrols thrown out right and left, and had not proceeded a quarter of a mile when the boom of a gun indicated the direction of the co-operating division; and almost immediately afterwards, through an opening in the driving clouds, we caught sight of the red coats and gleaming arms moving along the heights on the opposite side of the sunny valley, towards its head. The howitzers belched out their white smoke, and we saw a couple of shells burst over a Kaffir village; the cavalry moved rapidly forward, the battalion following, and again all was hidden in the mist. The rattle of small arms, and the occasional roar of the big guns told they were actively engaged; and, continuing for some time, created no little impatience and excitement amongst us.

Meanwhile, we had advanced about seven miles; and halting, piled arms near the spot where we had been attacked on the 8th of September, and about three-quarters of a mile from the belt of bush in front, separating us from the other division. Several companies of the 12th and 74th were extended, lying down to watch the forest, in case any of the enemy should attempt to escape from it: and detached parties of Fingoes were sent into the bush on the right, where they set fire to a number of huts, and with their usual activity, kept up an uninterrupted firing for a quarter of an hour, at some fifteen or twenty Kaffirs. The horses were off-saddled, and turned out to graze, not having had any food since the previous night.

After we had lain in this way for rather more than an hour, a party of the 91st, and Cape Corps was seen issuing from the forest, and an officer galloped forward with an order from the General for our brigade to join him. The picquets were instantly called in, and while the horses were being saddled, we crowded to learn news of the other column. They had had some severe fighting, and had driven a large body of the enemy from their position on the forest heights, into the Blinkwater and Waterkloof, though not without loss. Captain Addison, of the 2nd Queen's, had been severely wounded, Lieutenant Norris of the 6th mortally, two or three men killed or wounded, and Lieut.-Col. Burn's charger shot under him.

On entering the belt of wood, passable only by a narrow rocky path, we had to march in file. The timber was very fine, with luxuriant evergreens beneath, immense creepers and baboon-ropes hanging in festoons, or pendant to the ground, from branches fifty or sixty feet high.

The rear of our column had nearly gained the other side of the belt, from which the head had already emerged, when a sudden volley from a dark thicket above us made the forest ring, while the balls whistled past our heads and struck the trees on the opposite side the path, sending splinters flying on every side. We continued advancing, firing at every puff of smoke, the only indication of the whereabouts of our hidden enemy, until we gained the open, when we were saluted by a succession of volleys from an angle of the forest on our left, especially directed at each officer as he came up, though fortunately, without doing further injury than grazing a few of the men's accoutrements.

We were moving along the open to join the General, when an alarm was given that the 12th regiment, in rear, with the pack horses, was cut off in the pass. Our companies, just formed into open column, were ordered to the right about, and sent back again at "the double" to extend along the edge of the wood; when a very pretty skirmish took place; our men sheltered by the rocky ground, and the enemy dodging behind the trees and firing from breastworks of loose stones, thrown up in front of their village, along the edge of the forest. Under cover of our fire the 12th cleared the pass, bearing a wounded man with them; half a dozen of our mounted men were wounded, and several riderless horses galloped wildly past. The artillery, posted on a rising ground, about a quarter of a mile in our rear, opened on the bush, wherever the Kaffirs showed themselves in parties, and sent round shot and "spherical case" right in amongst them, whirring and hurtling over our heads with an astounding, and, at first, rather startling noise, splintering the trees and killing all within their deadly range. In the hottest of the fire, poor Ricketts, of the 91st, was carried past us, dangerously wounded in the chest. After a sharp skirmish, of about a quarter of an hour, the enemy's fire was completely silenced, and the wood apparently totally deserted;—the "recall" sounded, the skirmishers closed and retired, the regiments were re-formed, and the heavy masses of infantry, moving from all sides across the green flat, joined the General's party.

Having formed open column, we moved off across an extensive undulating table-land of the brightest green, extending for miles on every side, and bounded only by the distant peaks of the surrounding mountains. Far in front rode the reconnoitering party of irregular horse; then came the advance-guard of infantry, followed by the prisoners, carrying their pots, mats, and calabashes on their heads; then the sad train of wounded officers and men, borne on stretchers—Addison, Norris, and Ricketts, and a dozen more brave fellows; the long, steadily waving column—the 2nd Queen's; the stained and ragged 6th; the newly-arrived 12th, with their bright coats; the 74th Highlanders, in their service-like bush-dress; the gallant 91st; the lumbering artillery; the Cape Mounted Rifles; and a whole troop of pack-horses and mules.

Our retiring was the signal for the enemy to reappear, which they instantly did, following us out on the open plain, taking up every point of cover, and firing long shots, but we took no notice of them until they were drawn out far enough, when the cavalry charged them under Captain Carey, riding over and cutting them down right and left, wheeling round, and charging them again and again till they were totally dispersed.

Thoroughly exhausted, and scarcely able to drag ourselves over the last few yards, we halted at five in the evening, at Mundell's, a deserted farm in a hollow of the plain, after being under arms for nearly twenty hours, and without food.

One of our men, foot-sore and done up, who had fallen to the rear and got into the ranks of another regiment, was reported missing, but shortly afterwards limping into camp, abused his comrades right and left, for having thought him dead.

A mounted body of the enemy made their appearance a little before sunset, on a low hill, about a mile off, and went through a series of regular cavalry movements for our edification; unluckily they were out of range, and our horses and oxen, which had worked fasting since daylight, were just turned out to graze, otherwise they would have been treated to a round shot.

The wounded men had been placed in waggons to be sent to Post Retief, a small fort, about fifteen miles distant, but by the time they were ready to start it was getting too late, and as parties of the enemy's horsemen were hovering round, it was deferred till the morrow. Poor Norris, who had been rapidly sinking during the evening, died a little before "tattoo." His loss was deeply felt by his regiment and all who knew him.

Our bivouac was in a little hollow, and close to a detached piece of bush, where we found the bones of an elephant shot there a few years before. The camp fires looked singularly beautiful by night, scattered up and down the hill, and glowing among the trees of the little belt of wood in which our regiment had taken up its quarters.

All next day we remained in this spot, awaiting a fresh supply of ammunition from Post Retief. Numbers of mounted Kaffirs again made their appearance, and went through similar evolutions, but at a very respectful distance. In the afternoon we buried poor Norris, at the edge of the wood. It was an affecting scene. The corpse lay by the side of the open grave, sewn up in a blanket, through which oozed the blood from his death wound; around stood uncovered a reverent crowd of officers and men; grey-headed Colonels, and a host of younger bronzed and weather-beaten faces, in stained and tattered uniform; the soldier-like looking old General, with his snow-white hair and drooping grey moustache; the "funeral party" of the 6th, their red coats patched with leather, canvas, and cloth of all colours, with straw hats and wide-awakes, long beards, tattered trowsers, and broken boots revealing stockingless feet, leaning their sun-burnt cheeks on the butts of their "arms reversed," while the clergyman (the Rev. J. Wilson), who had ridden over from Post Retief with a small escort, to perform the last rites for one whom he had known in life, read the beautiful funeral service with unusual feeling. Scarcity of ammunition prevented the customary volleys being fired over the grave, and we turned away and dispersed in silence. Thus ended the brief but honourable career of a gallant young soldier, beloved and admired by all for his high principles and amiable qualities.

The General rode out afterwards with his Staff and escort to reconnoitre the enemy's position, and soon after his return orders were issued for the march at two o'clock in the morning.

It was pitch dark and bitterly cold, when we rose from our short rest, and we did not, for some reason or other, move off for more than an hour. At length Lieut.-Colonel Fordyce's brigade (12th, 74th, and 91st regiments, with four companies of Native Levies) moved towards the Bush Neck Pass, and a large Kaffir signal fire blazed up on the heights before us, no doubt announcing our approach to those in the valley, into which we soon began a difficult descent by a rocky and tremendously steep pass, slipping from rock to rock in the uncertain light of the grey dawn, or sliding in a sitting posture down the sheer gravelly face.

The valley at last reached, we halted for a few minutes (till the pack-horses and mules in rear scrambled down after us) near a solitary farm-house, a burnt and blackened ruin, with a fine garden full of vines, bananas, orange, lemon, citron, pomegranate, fig, peach, and almond trees, their blossom scenting the morning air. A drizzling rain came on, and we continued our march up the beautifully wooded valley, which was shut in by high mountains, half covered by the fleecy clouds resting on their bush-covered heights, the broad path, cut through a perfect grove of flowering bushes, followed the course of a winding rocky burn up the centre of the glen. As we advanced, the mountains were varied by grey crags, fine belts of lichen-covered forest, and soft smooth slopes of the greenest grass; the rain gradually ceased, and the clouds slowly lifted, revealing lofty krantzes of basaltic rock rising perpendicularly from the dark bush that clothed the higher ridges; the large forest trees on the summit appearing against the clear blue sky like a fringe of small shrubs. The sun at length broke through the clouds, and the bush, sparkling with dew drops, scented the air with its fragrance. Parts of the road were so strikingly like a park at home that one almost expected at each turn to come in sight of the house.

Along each side of the path, and close to the bush, we found, as we proceeded, the dead bodies of many of the enemy killed in the engagement of the 14th; clouds of flies rose with a startling buzz from the corpses, which lay literally broiling in the hot sun, some on their faces in the long grass, others with their swollen features exposed, and legs drawn up, while a few lay half-reclining under the trees, as though they had died there of their wounds; most were partially eaten by jackals and hyænas, whose spoor was traceable all round; eighteen lay in this way along our path, and the horrible stench in many places told that others were concealed by the dense underwood; among others, was an enormous "Bastaard" Hottentot, who must have been nearly six feet three.

The melancholy ruins of two more farm-houses were passed, levelled with the ground; the fine orchards, in full blossom, contrasting strangely with the forsaken appearance of the blackened heaps of what had been happy and comfortable homes. At the entrance of another valley running into this, on our right, we found the fresh spoor of horses, cattle and sheep, leading along the sandy path that ran up its centre. The column was halted, and a mounted force, with three companies of the 74th, was detached to follow it, while the rest remained at the point of separation. Some cattle were seen on the hills, about a mile in advance, and we pushed on up the glen as quickly as possible; but after tracing the spoor for two miles, it disappeared in twenty different directions, leading into an impracticable bushy gorge, and as the Colonel did not think it advisable to follow it further, and so delay our great object of clearing the Waterkloof, we returned to the main body.

We now got a sight of the General's column on the opposite heights, moving along the ridge like a train of ants. As we proceeded, they reached the enemy's position just above us, and opened fire from the howitzers; the rolling boom, and the report of bursting shells, was followed by the faint rattle of small arms, from the 2nd and 6th regiments, which through the glass we could distinguish along the edge of the precipice.

Our Irregulars were extended and sent into the bush, to the right and left, climbing to a great height up the hills, working beautifully through the thick forests, and completely scouring it up to the base of the krantzes, setting fire to a number of huts hidden in the thickest retreats; the effect of the blue wreaths of smoke curling up above the tops of the trees in the higher forest after each rolling report; the thick white smoke rising from the burning huts; and the echoing of the Fingoes' peculiar cries, far up on the heights, with the shrill voices of captured women, was most singular. Two companies of the reserve battalion of the 91st regiment were extended across the valley, advancing through the scattered bush in line with the Levies on the mountains; the 12th regiment, and the 74th Highlanders, with the mounted force, following by the road in the centre, in column of sections. None of the enemy were to be seen, beyond a few single individuals far out of rifle range, perched on lofty crags, which appeared quite inaccessible, and we proceeded up the kloof, destroying their huts without opposition. Along the base of the northern range, and at the edge of the forest, sheltered under its overhanging trees, were numbers of kraals neatly built of reeds, and plastered with mud; immediately in front spread a smooth green, separated from the road by the rocky stream, whose beautifully clear waters bubbled over the stones with a most refreshing sound; a more delightful and picturesque situation for a village could not be found. It had evidently only just been abandoned, for in most of the huts we found fires smouldering on the centre of the mud floors; in some, half-ground coffee lay on the flat grinding stones (proving the fact of their obtaining town supplies); calabashes and sheep-skin rugs were in all, while the large quantities of freshly chewed root showed that a considerable number of Kaffirs must have been there very recently. The whole of these dwellings, built on the property of the ruined farmers, whose sacked and gutted houses we had passed, were set fire to, and in a few minutes, roaring and crackling, sent up their flames high above the shrivelling trees; the whole glen behind, as we entered the narrow pass at its head, was smoking as far as the eye could reach.

The ascent from the valley was by a very steep, rocky path, cut through a cool shady forest, leading straight up the face of the mountain, and only wide enough in many places to admit the men in single file; the underwood was choked up with an endless variety of luxuriant shrubs, entwined with the sweet scented wild vine, baboon-ropes of extraordinary length hanging from the topmost branches of the lofty, bare poled trees, which in some places met overhead, and in others showed a narrow strip of the bright blue sky above. In the thicket, full of wood anemones and bright flowers, lay the dead bodies of one or two more Kaffirs, exhibiting frightful wounds from the splinters of a shell.

Felled trees lay across the path to obstruct our passage, but the General's column at the head of the pass, and the simultaneous advance of the Fingoes as flank-skirmishers, one party sweeping round the head of the valley on our right, and another clearing the bush on the left, secured our ascent without opposition, till just at the summit, when the head of the brigade having gained the open field or "Horseshoe" (so called from its shape, enclosed by forest), the rear-guard, consisting of the 12th reserve, a company of the 74th, and the mounted men, was sharply attacked from the bush on their left, the Kaffirs after firing a volley rushing out with their assegais. One man of the 74th was killed and one wounded; Gordon, bravely rushing back to his rescue as he was left struggling on the ground with four or five of the savages, shot one of them dead with his pistol, and wounded another, when a few of the men running up, drove off or killed the rest, and carried away the wounded man, whose appearance gave but little hope of recovery, his face being frightfully cut with assegais, and his skull battered by the blows from the butt end of a gun. At the edge of the forest we set fire to a cluster of huts, larger and differently shaped from any we had seen before, and faced with smooth shining reeds; they were believed to belong to Macomo.

On emerging from the bush we found the artillery, the 2nd and 6th regiments and the Cape Mounted Rifles on the ground, and the enemy showing in considerable force on some low rocks on our right, whence they opened fire on us at long range. One man of the 12th was wounded, and one of the mounted men, whose horse was also killed. Our brigade "formed line to the right," and lay under cover of a ridge, two companies of the 74th and two of the 91st advancing in skirmishing order towards the forest in front, from which the rebels kept up a hot fire, the bullets falling thickly among us. From this position they were quickly driven, and the General bringing two of the guns under Lieutenant Field to bear on the rocks, drove them out of that one also, the shells falling among them with wonderful precision.

It was now about two o'clock, and the Waterkloof having been cleared below, and the enemy driven from their positions on the heights, we were ordered to join the other column under Lieut.-Col. Michell, who had attacked and destroyed the whole of the enemy's camps along the ridge. On our way, the Kaffirs suddenly opened fire on us from a narrow belt of forest on the left; the skirmishers of the 2nd brigade were again thrown forward, a sharp fire ensuing on both sides. A large ball, weighing about three ounces, striking a piece of rock on which I stood, with a loud whirring, lodged perfectly flattened in a small crevice under my feet; and at the same moment one of our men fell severely wounded. The 6th regiment reinforced our line of skirmishers; part of the 74th charged into the little belt of bush; the Kaffirs bolted into the dense thickets of the main forest, throwing away their guns, and we re-formed in extended order on the open green on the other side, under fire from a second forest in front, towards which we rapidly advanced. The Kaffirs were seen in several of the largest trees further from the edge of the bush, from which they kept up a hot fire as we approached, and the bullets whistled over our heads much more thickly than was quite pleasant; another private of the 74th Highlanders was shot dead, one of the 12th wounded, four men of the 91st were severely wounded, two men of the Levies killed, and two wounded, with four or five horses killed and disabled. The bush was entered at "the double," and the belt cleared as before; several of the enemy, who were chiefly "Totties," armed with double barrel carbines, being shot, the rest escaping down the mountain, under cover of the thick forest, impenetrable to our soldiers. Not a living creature was to be seen, and the bugle sounding the recall, we returned and formed column on the open ground; and bearing our killed and wounded on stretchers, and marshalling our prisoners, marched at four o'clock for our bivouac of the previous night, moving across the open flat, as on the former occasion; with two guns, the 2nd, and 6th regiments, and Cape Corps as a rear-guard, under Lieut.-Col. Michell.

We had not gone more than three quarters of a mile, when from the very bush we had just left apparently totally deserted, some fifteen or twenty Kaffirs issued; and running forward, fired half a dozen shots after us, which fell some two or three hundred yards short. In less than a minute one of the guns was unlimbered and a shell sent among them, killing several, and so alarming the rest, that they fled in every direction, and disappeared in the bush. Late in the evening we approached our old position, and saw, to our surprise, a party of dismounted horsemen apparently awaiting our arrival. On coming up, we found them to be a party of Burghers from the Mancazana district. Wearied and exhausted as the men were after this long and trying day, they busied themselves at once in looking after the comfort of their wounded comrades, who had the hospital-tent pitched, and everything done for them that was possible; though a single blanket on the hard ground with a canteen for a pillow, or a large stone with a pocket handkerchief over it, was a poor bed for a wounded or dying man, and we had nothing better to give them.

A mounted party was sent off to Post Retief, to order commissariat supplies to meet us at our halting place the following evening. The women and children taken prisoners were examined by the Interpreter, but no reliable information could be obtained, and they were set at liberty at dusk. The Fingoes, washing down at a little stream beyond the camp, slily watching their opportunity, ran after them hooting and hissing and pelting them as they ran. Having fed our own horses, and picketted them for the night, we rolled ourselves in our plaids, and with the saddles under our heads, were soon sound asleep.

At five o'clock next morning, in a thick fog, we buried the poor fellows killed the day before, digging their graves at the edge of the little clump of trees, a few yards from that of poor Norris; the service was read by the officer-of-the-day, and large wood fires were made over all the graves for the purpose of scaring away the wolves and jackals after we had gone, and of hiding the position from the Kaffirs. At seven o'clock we marched, the clouds still resting on the heights, cold and raw, and preventing our seeing more than the ground we walked on; after five miles they gradually dispersed, and we halted at the edge of a small detached belt of forest, and encamped under it, close to the ruins of a farm house, of which but a very small portion of the outer walls remained standing, having been destroyed by the Kaffirs nine months before, since which it had never been visited. We found the skeleton of its former owner, Mr. Eastland, who was barbarously murdered by Hermanus' Kaffirs, and some others residing with him on his own farm. They had surprised him in his house, and after some parleying through the closed door, got him outside and killed him on the spot; after stealing all they cared for, they set fire to the premises. We collected the remains of the unfortunate man, and carefully buried them in his own garden.

Some of the soldiers, who, as usual, after divesting themselves of their accoutrements, had gone into the bush for firewood, to our surprise came running out, saying it was full of Kaffirs. A party of us seized our arms, spread ourselves across it at one end (it was not more than 500 yards by 900), and having placed parties at each angle, advanced through the underwood. Three Kaffirs were killed, which proved to be the whole party, evidently spies, who had been cut off by our unexpectedly halting here,—the level open nature of the ground, extending for miles on every side of the isolated wood, preventing their making a retreat.

After having been several days without a possibility of changing or removing our clothes, we greatly enjoyed a wash in some muddy pools, in spite of the tepid waters and the quantities of immense bull frogs which we surprised basking on the slimy reedy banks.

On the morning of the 18th, after our customary simple toilet and breakfast, that is to say, after pulling on a dirty pair of boots, and swallowing a tin of thick coffee, the 2nd brigade marched for Beaufort, to bring commissariat supplies, descending the Blinkwater Pass.

At the commencement of the war a party of Winterberg settlers, returning to their mountain farms from Fort Beaufort, were attacked here by the Kaffirs; two of them were killed, and their heads cut off and sent to the witch-doctor, Umlangeni; and two were dangerously wounded, one in seven places, who escaped only by remaining till dusk immersed up to his chin in the river among the reeds. The Pass is a rough and almost impracticable waggon road, winding down the mountain side through thick forest.

A magnificent perpendicular krantz or precipice, on our right, of immense height, completely commanding the road below, was crowned by the 2nd and 6th and artillery, while two guns, guarded by a detachment of Cape Corps, cleared the way before us, throwing shell from the heights on our left down into the forest, in a nook of which, snugly embosomed, lay a Kaffir kraal, which, together with several scattered huts, the Fingoes set on fire as they scoured through the bush. This fertile valley, now totally deserted, was formerly the location of the Gaika chief, Hermanus, or Hermanus Matross, who, it will be recollected, was killed in his attack on Fort Beaufort.

The Kaffirs, who had on our approach fled from the kraal, stood watching us from a rock, from which they were quickly driven by a shell, thrown over our heads right amongst them. After our warm march we luxuriated in a bathe in the river, on the banks of which, and close to the ruins of an old military post, we had made our bivouac; and having washed our own shirts, and dried them on the hot rocks, felt more comfortable than we had done for many days.

Kaffir fires on the heights above Hermanus' Kloof and Fuller's Hoek smoked till dusk, when their ruddy light became visible, and blazed brightly all night.

The following day we remained stationary, waiting for the supplies. The clouds came creeping down the hills all around, as if to envelop us, and ended in heavy rain, which continued steadily pouring down all the afternoon and evening. As we had not even patrol-tents, we sat crouching round the miserable fires in our steaming cloaks, mingling the smoke of our pipes with the heavy wreaths from the damp wood fires, which, circling and eddying round, filled our eyes with tears, giving us altogether, with our dripping forage-caps and damp clothes, a ridiculously forlorn aspect.

After a final pull from the flask of "Cape-smoke," to keep out the cold, we spread our plaids on the sloppy ground, which, at all events, had the advantage of being much softer than usual, and with a few green branches stuck into the turf to keep the wet off our saddle pillows, rolled ourselves up, and, in defiance of the rain, slept till daybreak.

19th.—Stiff and cold with the wet in which we had lain all night, we awoke at four. The 12th and 74th, under Lieut.-Col. Perceval, marched at five to meet the supplies coming from Fort Beaufort, leaving a party behind in bivouac with the pack-horses. The rain cleared off shortly after we had started, and our clothes soon dried on our backs. The General on the Waterkloof heights, with Lieut.-Col. Michell's Brigade, was occupying this interval in reconnoitering the enemy's positions, preparatory to further operations on our return.

We halted within sight of Fort Beaufort, about a mile and a half distant, to wait for the waggons coming up; a few of us having got leave to ride in to obtain a few necessaries for our prolonged patrol, on condition we were back again with the waggons, set off at full gallop, meeting them, to our great annoyance, about half way, and escorted by a reinforcement of the 12th and a fresh draft from the depôt, under Lieutenant Philpot; hastily welcoming him to the Cape, and begging the officer in command of the escort not to distress the oxen by pushing on too fast! we sped on our way, for we were only half a mile from the town, and there was no likelihood of our having such a chance again for weeks. We were soon rattling up the quiet streets of Beaufort, a most ruffianly-looking party, with rusted rifles, mud-caked horses, bronzed unshaven faces, and tattered clothes, torn to shreds in the thorny bush. To our surprise, we found the fashionably-dressed inhabitants going to church, for we had no idea of its being Sunday. The barracks were all in confusion, the 60th Rifles having just arrived, together with detachments of the 12th and 45th regiments, a strong body of Marines from the men-of-war on the coast, and a party of Sappers and Miners, in all about 1000 men; so there was nothing to be had there in the way of food. Dunbar, however, kindly took us to his quarters, and gave us such a breakfast as we had not seen for many a day; and as we sat on chairs round the well-spread table, with its snowy cloth, we felt as if we were in a dream, though we helped ourselves in a very wide-awake manner. Having each secured in the town whatever we could lay hands on, to take back to our less fortunate comrades, we returned full gallop. I had got a couple of loaves in my haversac, with an enormous cabbage, and a bottle of brandy. We overtook the waggons just as the last one had come up to the Colonel's party, and they were preparing to move forward.

An unusual number of Hottentot women accompanied the train; and as of late their conduct had excited much suspicion in Beaufort as well as in the field (for numbers infest all the camps, a nuisance to everybody but the Cape Corps men and waggon-drivers, from whom they are inseparable), the Colonel had made some inquiries as to their movements; and obtaining very unsatisfactory replies, ordered them to be searched by the Fingoes, who set to work at once with a mischievous alacrity. To the indignation of all, quantities of ammunition were found secreted in their bundles and on their persons, for the undoubted purpose of being clandestinely conveyed to the Rebels. On one woman ninety-five rounds of government ammunition were found; on another, eighty; others had smaller quantities; and one carried a canister of loose powder, and a bullet-mould and turnscrew. They must either have stolen or obtained the ball-cartridge from the Hottentots at Beaufort in government pay; and how and to what extent the practice was carried on, became a question of serious consideration. It was with the greatest difficulty the women were rescued from the infuriated Fingoes, who would have assegaied them on the spot but for the interference of the officers; they were sent back prisoners to Beaufort. By these wretches the enemy was provided, not only with means for destroying us, but of keeping themselves in absolute comfort. Ammunition and food it was accidentally found had been regularly forwarded to them by the Tottie women of our own camps, fed, by the way, at the government expense, who, under pretence of collecting firewood in the bush, hid their supplies in certain assigned spots, whence they were to be secretly taken away at night by the rebels.

Late in the afternoon our long train reached the bivouac in torrents of rain, which again poured down with a steady relentlessness that soon flooded the camp, and we made up our minds for another wet night. On rising, at three o'clock next morning, we found little pools of water collected in the hollows indented in the soft ground by our hips and shoulders. We fell in, and stood for half an hour in the ranks ankle deep in the mud, waiting for the waggons to move on, shivering like men with ague, our fingers so benumbed that we could scarcely hold our rifles. After creeping along for about half a mile we came to a complete stand-still at a small rise, the road being too slippery for the oxen, which cannot draw on wet ground, and we had to return to our bivouac once more.

Here we remained all day in the incessant rain, slushing about in the mud, and trying to keep our feet warm by pacing up and down as on board ship, for it was not safe in the thick fog to venture far enough from the camp for a walk. We busied ourselves also in trying to make the fires burn better; collecting stones, and building them up so as to raise the wood from the flooded ground. A cloaked and dripping cavalry express enveloped in steam, arrived in the afternoon from the Heights with a letter from the General, to know why we had not marched, as the covering party at the top of the pass had been waiting for us several hours. Shortly afterwards a second equally damp party came in with a despatch, "to be forwarded immediately" to Fort Beaufort, ordering the 60th Rifles to move to the Blinkwater the following day.

Next morning we made another attempt to get the waggons off, but after an hour's work had only got about 200 yards from the bivouac, and continued for the next three to crawl along at this snail's pace, suffering very much in our thin clothing from the frost. On entering the foot of the pass at its upper end a party of Kaffirs, perched on the summit of an isolated sugarloaf hill on our left, shouted to us, "Nina Ez'innqulo ez'ingafanela ukuze apa kanjako kulendhlela leyo!" (You Tortoise warriors had better not again attempt to come by this path.) Every word being perfectly distinct, though at first we could barely distinguish their forms; then they upbraided the Fingoes, "Nina Amafingo yinina ukuba niya silwa tina? Gokuba nina ezisicthloba zetu kanjaka sasimika amazimba nemasi kumi, nokuba nina inyabulala sina jeninja." (Why, Fingoes, do you fight against your friends? We gave you corn, and plenty of sour milk, and you fire at us as though we were dogs.) The ready retort, sung out with measured distinctness was, "Waza wapendula amanfingo, nina Amaxoso hiyenza amaqoboka tina into ufanela ukuba womtu wa nika uku 'dhle kwamasheshi ake, asibulela tina." (You made us your slaves, Kaffirs; a man must feed his horse; we do not thank you.) We desired our spokesman to inform them that if they intended to prevent the white faces coming that way they had better be prepared at once, for another war party was coming the same path to-morrow; to this they replied by firing a shot at us, which fell among the bushes a few paces short; a long shot, even for a Dutch roer, which from the report we had no doubt it was. Many of these heavy clumsy-looking weapons carry a four-ounce ball, and are of enormous length and weight. The nominal charge of powder is as much as will cover the ball placed on the flat palm of the hand, but as it is poured by guess out of the rough cow-horn powder-flask it generally exceeds even this liberal allowance, and if it does not dislocate the shooter's shoulder, or knock him down, seldom fails to send him reeling. On this challenge several of our long range rifles were immediately brought to bear on the group; Baird's, a heavy metalled 'polygroove,' by Dickson, of Edinburgh, throwing a ball right amongst them at a distance of at least 1200 yards, the effect of which was most absurd; one fellow, who had been standing conspicuously in a dark red blanket, throwing himself flat on his face, and the rest jumping right and left with uncommon agility. They fired several more shots at us, and Bruce, Gordon, and myself, each in turn brought our rifles to bear on them, completely silencing their conversation as well as the fire.

The wheezing oxen having recovered their breath for another spell, the creaking waggons again moved slowly on, and halting every five or ten yards, toiled wearily up the steep ascent, the slippery road constantly bringing a whole team on their knees in their efforts to move their load; so tedious was our progress that we were fourteen hours performing these eight miles. When about half-way up the Pass, at a turn in the road, we saw that "the krantz" was held by a strong party of the other brigade posted to cover our ascent, the red coats of the 6th and 91st appearing like specks along its lofty precipitous edge, peeping from among the bush and huge masses of rock some hundreds of feet above us. The heat of the sun in the narrow road, shut in between thick forest, was intense, and told fearfully against the cattle. We had barely gained the top of the Pass by three o'clock, and with the exception of a single cup of coffee, at two in the morning, had not yet broken our fast, for unfortunately none of us had any biscuit in our haversacs, as it was "ration day," and we had expected to gain the top of the hill for breakfast. I was, however, lucky enough to get a few raisins from a dirty but generous Dutchman, to the envy of the less favoured. When we had fairly gained the open flat above, the covering party of artillery and infantry was withdrawn, and formed our rear-guard, and in a couple of hours more we reached the camp, far more fatigued by the slow creeping pace and constant halting than we should have been by a long day's march, and were so hungry and tired that we could not wait for anything being cooked. As for myself, having secured a lead-like loaf of camp manufacture, I devoured the whole of it, and fell asleep on the grass.

It took us all next day to get the commissariat supplies distributed and the empty waggons escorted down the hill again to the Blinkwater. A sudden stir was caused in camp through one of the guard-fires having been incautiously made without the usual precaution of clearing a space in the long dry grass, which took fire; in a few minutes a large extent was blazing furiously. Independently of the danger to our camp, the loss of pasture was a serious consideration. The General was in a furious rage, and instantly ordered every one in camp to assist in putting it out. In a few minutes a whole brigade appeared on the ground, armed with green boughs, and spread over the smoking plain, switching away most vigorously at the blazing grass; luckily there was no wind, and it was very soon extinguished, though not before several acres were burnt black, and one face of the camp thrown into the greatest confusion by the hasty removal of the ammunition, blankets, piles of arms, and patrol-tents, from the way of the spreading conflagration. In moving the muskets, one of them went off accidentally, the ball striking the tent in which the General was sitting, with several of his officers; rather astonishing the party within.

On the morning of the 23rd, Lieut.-Col. Michell's Brigade marched from camp for the Blinkwater valley below, to be in readiness to ascend the Heights by Fullers Hoek at daylight the following morning, and assail the enemy's position from that quarter, simultaneously with the attack of the 60th Rifles from the Wolfsback range on the other, and Lieut.-Col. Fordyce's direct on their front. In the evening orders were issued for the march before daylight; it was a dark cold morning, and we were enveloped in the chilly mist as we moved along the ridge, until day broke, when the clouds lifting we got fine views of the valleys below, lighted up with the morning sun. Some Kaffir horses, which had been grazing during the night, and had been left out longer than usual, were seen near the edge of the bush, and some of our horsemen, after a short chevy, captured them, a few shots being fired at the party out of the thick fog. Soon after, a body of Kaffirs was observed making across the open, for the forest above the Waterkloof, about half a mile distant on our right, and the 74th immediately gave chase; the horse guns and Cape Corps galloped to an eminence on our left, and fired several rounds of shell into another body assembled on a ridge, leading down into the Blinkwater, to oppose the ascent of Lieut.-Col. Nesbitt's force, which was steadily ascending the steep face of the hill under fire, driving the enemy from point to point. We advanced rapidly in extended order towards the forest, and in a few minutes were warmly engaged with the enemy, who were strongly posted in the rocks among the trees, one of our men being shot dead at the first volley. Entering the wood, we drove them before us till they were lost in impenetrable underwood; the 12th and Fingo Levies covering our movement as we brought right shoulders forward, in direction of the village at the head of the Pass, near the old sawpits, where the enemy had posted themselves, and were with some difficulty dislodged. Colonel Fordyce sent me, with half-a-dozen volunteers, to set fire to the village, which we had great difficulty in effecting, owing to the huts being perfectly green, and during the operation were annoyed by firing from the wood. The regiment held on through the forest, driving the enemy step by step from their cover, but not without loss, one man being killed and another badly wounded, whilst arms and accoutrements were struck and smashed on all sides, though on the whole we escaped with comparatively little damage. One man, in the act of capping his musket, had his finger shot off by a ball, which broke the lock, and two others were slightly wounded, one in the leg, the other in the ribs; many Kaffirs were killed. By nine o'clock the 60th Rifles had gained the Heights and joined our left, while Colonel Michell's brigade, which had ascended the Pass, was seen advancing towards the south-west corner of the plain, through a narrow belt of wood on the right of the position to which the enemy were now driven, and on clearing the bush the rear of the column was attacked, though no opposition had been made to the passage of the main body. The 91st faced to the right about, and after a sharp skirmish, in which they suffered one or two casualties, drove the enemy back with some loss, when the column crossed the front of the enemy's position, and reinforced our right, which had for some hours maintained the brunt of the fire on the most difficult ground; after a continued roar of rolling musketry and booming guns the last body of the enemy was driven from their position, and retreated through the opposite belt of forest and across the ridge beyond it towards the Kromme.

It was now noon, and having been under arms and actively engaged since four in the morning, we were right glad of the short rest which was allowed on the whole Division uniting at this point; and halting near a spring, we broke our fast on biscuit and beef. The 60th Rifles had captured about sixty head of cattle, having had one man killed and another badly injured. The poor fellow was brought up with the rest of our wounded, and amputation being found necessary, his arm was taken off on the field at once; one of the Marines was also dangerously wounded, and died two days after. We buried the two Highlanders on the mountain top, and piled a cairn above their grave. Fresh ammunition was issued to all the regiments, from the reserve on the pack-mules, and after a halt of about two hours, the force separated in different directions; Lieut.-Col. Michell's brigade consisting of the 2nd, 6th, 91st, and artillery bivouacking on the ground, in the centre of the enemy's late position. Lieut.-Col. Nesbitt's column, consisting of the 45th regiment, the 60th Rifles, and Marines, was sent down again to the camp in the Blinkwater valley, by the eastern spur of the range, covered by the artillery; the Fingo Levies descending the valley to waylay the Blinkwater passes, and prevent the enemy escaping in that direction with cattle to the Amatolas; while the 12th, 74th, and cavalry marched with the General for our old bivouac at Mundells Krantz. On our route across the table-land we were suddenly fired on from a belt of bush skirting the edge of the precipice and running up from the Waterkloof forests below, but we continued our march without taking further notice of them than throwing out a flank patrol of the 74th, and a few Cape Corps; they were merely a straggling party, more intent on annoying us than fighting, and did no other harm than wounding a couple of horses. Our total loss this day was only three men killed and seven wounded, after having driven the enemy from an almost impenetrable stronghold—a dense forest with close thorny underwood, and endless barriers of huge masses of detached rock.

The shadows of evening were falling rapidly as we once more entered the lines of burnt out fires on our old bivouacking ground, and we were not long in turning in to rest, lying down round the fires. One or two of us now began to feel the effects of our late wet work, in the shape of acute rheumatism and lumbago, which kept us awake in spite of fatigue.

We marched early in falling sleet, to join the other brigade, on the ridge facetiously denominated "Mount Pleasant." Several large Kaffir fires were seen on the heights on the opposite side of the Waterkloof valley, the smoke hanging heavily in the damp air. The tops of the distant mountains and most of the nearer peaks were white with snow that had fallen during the night, and the breeze from that direction blew so bitterly cold on our saturated clothes, that we were perfectly benumbed in our light marching dress, which, though warmer than agreeable under the mid-day sun, was a very indifferent protection against such weather. On reaching the bivouac of the brigade in occupation, we found they had suffered much more than ourselves; the chill wind swept unbroken over the bleak exposed ridge which was covered with snow, and the trenches which the men had dug before the rain came on, to sleep in under shelter of the earth thrown out of them, were full of water. A consultation took place between the two Commanders as to the advisability, or rather practicability of making any movement in such weather. During this, partly to keep themselves warm, and partly to commemorate the death of an unfortunate Kaffir spy whom they had just assegaied, the Fingoes gathered in a circle and performed a war dance, with unusually savage yells and gesticulations. The rain was evidently determined to make a day of it, and about eleven o'clock we were driven back again to our old bivouac,—of the very sight of which we were thoroughly weary. It had been visited during our absence by the Kaffirs, the spoor of whose bare feet was traceable round nearly every fire, on which we found they had been roasting the offal of our slaughtered cattle, and actually eating the bones, which were gnawed off, as if by large dogs. The sloppy ground, after twenty-four hours' rain, and trampling of men, horses and cattle, had become a perfect bog, in which we sank at every step; and with the driving rain, which, like a white cloud, came sweeping across the bleak plain till it dashed in our faces, with the fitful gusts of wind that scattered the ashes of our wretched fires in every direction, our day's halt was anything but a lounge. One of our men, wounded in the fight of the day before, died in the afternoon, and was buried near the graves of Norris and the other brave fellows interred here. The pitiless rain changed only for sleet at night, and the men suffered very much, their blankets having been completely soaked as well as their clothes for many hours, while the ground was unfit even for the cattle and horses to lie on. In the morning we found ourselves whitened over with hail and sleet, the fog so thick that all operations, were out of the question, and another day in this cheerful spot was before us. All day long the belt of wood rang with the sound of the axe; Officers and men, for the sake of exercise, busily occupied themselves in cutting down trees, chopping up and carrying wood for the fires; those that could not borrow an axe or bill-hook, made fires round the standing trunks and burnt them down, when the branches were torn off and carried smoking to the camp, and piled on the fires, which at last burned up, high and cheerily, in spite of the descending deluge.

As there appeared to be no chance of the weather improving, the General determined to move the following morning at all hazards. The troops mustered without bugle call, and silently took their places, the blazing fires casting a bright ruddy light on the dripping ranks, standing motionless in the heavy rain in which the men had lain all night without a murmur. At five we moved off, and after an hour's march through very long grass reached the edge of the heights above the Waterkloof valley, into which we at once descended, scrambling down a tremendously steep rocky path leading abruptly into the deep glen, the advanced sections of the 12th looking like Lilliputian soldiers far beneath, as the breaking daylight showed them already landed at the bottom. Having re-formed our ranks, we proceeded up the valley to attack the new position taken up by the enemy on the southern head of the Kromme range. The big guns and musketry on the heights above our left told that the other brigade was already engaged, and soon after, as we got further up the valley, we saw heavy clouds of smoke rising from the huts they had fired. On reaching the point where the valley branches into two, we took the road leading up the one on our right, and presently came on a village prettily situated, and indeed almost hidden in the bush; the Kaffirs had but barely escaped, and one or two lurking in the bush were caught by the Fingoes; a small body of them were also seen creeping on hands and knees through the long grass over the crest of an opposite hill, and a party of our horse dashed after in pursuit, and cut them off. We ascended the mountain by a steep winding road; the rain had at last ceased, and the sun was now overpoweringly hot, though a few hours before we had thought it impossible to be too warm. We worked our way through two belts of wood on the ridge without finding any recent spoor of the enemy; and after marching some distance across the grassy table top of the Kromme came to the little basin, on several previous occasions the scene of our bivouacs. The 91st regiment detached from Michell's Brigade, which now held the belt of forest on the top of the range, between Fullers Hoek and Waterkloof, came through the forest in our front and reinforced the column, when we advanced on the enemy's position, and entering the bush had a sharp skirmish, killing several Kaffirs and capturing some horses, after which there being no further opposition, or, indeed, any one to be seen, we returned in a heavy shower to the flat, and bivouacked for the night.

Before dawn we entered the belt of forest separating us from the other brigade, and met with no obstruction; the bush was still as death, and at the top of the path leading out of it lay the corpses of the Kaffirs killed on the 14th. The stench was intolerable. It was impossible to remove them, and as they lay right along the centre of the narrow track we had to file singly past them. A few yards further on lay the clean picked skeleton of the Serjeant of the 12th, killed at the same time, which was recognised by the fragments of his red coat, torn to pieces, and trampled in the dirt by the hyænas and jackals, which invariably attack white flesh in preference to black. Just at the edge of the wood on the open, lay many dead Kaffirs, and the putrifying carcases of four horses shot on the above occasion; we were nearly all ill from the continued insufferable stench, and hurried along to escape it.

We now stood on the N.W. corner of the Horseshoe, and on the site of the principal Kaffir village; the ground was covered with the remains of burnt and levelled huts; native utensils and ornaments lay about, burnt dogs and dead horses, and here and there the corpse of a Kaffir or Tottie, with hundreds of flattened bullets and fragments of exploded shells that had torn up the rocks around. In front of the position was a line of small stone breastworks, ingeniously constructed of loose rocks, built up about three or four feet high, and from three feet, to twenty, in length, invisible at musket range, on account of their similarity to the rocky ground on which they stood.

We halted for some time here, and the sun was so blazing hot that we stretched blankets over the stands of piled arms, as a shelter from its burning rays; in front of us, rising in the distance above the dark forest that sloped abruptly into the valley below, stood the grand and lofty Winterberg, its lower ranges of a deep purple tint, the higher white with snow. Along the front of the forest the huts were totally destroyed, but just within its shelter we found many still standing, untouched and quite deserted, also cattle kraals and stables, made of young trees, felled and twined in and out between the larger standing ones; in the huts were all sorts of odd things—calabashes, beads, bridles, hatchets, karosses, bags of seeds and of the red clay with which they cover their bodies, rheims, large pieces of the root of the Noë-boom root, peeled for food; two or three litters of blind puppies, jealously guarded by half-famished curs; quantities of sheep-skins and piles of bullocks' horns, and all kinds of minor rubbish, with several bullet moulds, and a quantity of newly-cast balls. The trees around were scored with bullet marks high and low, and many shivered into splinters by the shells; one or two large and recently-made graves were found, and a sickening odour arose from the thick underwood, where there must have been many more bodies hidden among the tangled thickets. While clambering among the huge masses of creeper-grown rock, which were rudely thrown together in every size and form, among the forest trees growing out of their clefts, I accidentally observed, half covered by the wild vine, a narrow opening between two enormous crags, and peeping in with some trouble, found, to my astonishment, a cave or chamber capable of holding a dozen or fifteen men, the floor covered with grass matting and sheep-skins, while the entrance was naturally concealed by a clump of thick bushes. From such hiding places our troops were shot down by unseen enemies, and officers picked off at the head of their astonished men.

At noon a mule waggon was sent over to us from the General's party, across the "Horseshoe," containing a supply of meal, which, as we had not tasted food since the previous evening, was at once made into a sort of water porridge, and greedily devoured; an order arriving for us to move up to the support of the 2nd Queen's hotly engaged just in front, we took our half-emptied mess-tins in our hands, eating the parboiled mess as we went along. We were extended and lay down among the loose rocks in support, the firing heavy on both sides and stray shots each moment falling among us or striking the stones and flying off with a ringing whirr. For more than an hour we impatiently lay here inactive, though under fire. The 6th took up a flanking position in a clump of large trees and opened a steady fire on the enemy; the 2nd were then withdrawn, and retired through our line, their faces begrimed with gunpowder, bearing one dead and one wounded man. As soon as they were clear of the range, the artillery of the 2nd Brigade opened fire on the Krantz; the Kaffirs, however, maintained their ground, and greatly annoyed the 6th by a dropping fire from invisible marksmen. Shortly after, the howitzers of the other column were brought round to the south front of the position, all the guns were going at once, and in a few minutes completely drove the enemy from their stand in the rocky cover, scattering and killing the groups that kept appearing in front. A round shot striking a rock, ricocheted obliquely, and passed between our regiment and the 12th, and close to two officers, but fortunately did no harm, and went bounding and crashing through the forest, clearing its terrific course with a humming roar. The enemy completely dislodged by the infantry from their fastnesses in the bush, and now driven from their successive rallying points, by the admirable practice of the guns, under Lieutenant Field, were seen in the distance retreating over the hills and down the valleys in every direction towards the Kromme Forest, the women carrying large bundles on their heads, a sure sign of their "trekking."

Late in the evening we returned to our bivouac, and long before daylight were again trudging across the dark mountains. At dawn we came to the top of the Wolfsback Pass, and as we halted for a few minutes to allow those in front to file into its narrow shady path, we discerned, on the opposite hill across the dark intervening kloof, two or three fires, and a few Kaffir scouts creeping along its elevated ridge, in a stooping posture, though plainly visible to us against the brightening sky. We made our way down through the steep forest, and reached the ruined farm-house at the foot of the mountain, where we had halted for breakfast about six weeks before, and seeing no signs whatever of the enemy in these forests, in which it was thought they had taken refuge, again ascended the range by a path a little more towards the eastern extremity, and crossing its ridge, descended into the valley called Fullers Hoek. This is a deep wooded kloof of the Blinkwater, till lately in the territories of Hermanus, who found its thick forests and almost inaccessible retreats so favourable for the concealment of the horses and fat cattle of the colonists, that he was at last deprived of it by the Government, and allotted a more open tract of country in its stead, belonging to a burgher, named Fuller, who, taking possession of the Chief's valley, gave it the name it now bears. The General having moved down into the Blinkwater, with the artillery and horse, co-operated with us, as we scoured through the scattered bush, with companies extended right across the glen, clearing the cover from one end to the other, as we advanced, burning and destroying all the cattle kraals and huts in our way. Some Kaffirs, on the summit of a lofty perpendicular precipice crowning a steep wooded mountain on our left, shouted to us to let the kraals alone, and one of them gave us a song! they were far beyond rifle range.

At noon we reached the camp near the ruins of the old Blinkwater Post, and found the 45th regiment, the 60th Rifles, the Artillery, Marines, and Cape Mounted Rifles, already encamped. Commissariat supplies were sent up to Lieut.-Colonel Michell's Brigade, left in position on the Heights, at the head of the Waterkloof. A party of us rode into Fort Beaufort, and the 60th marched in in the evening, on their route back to King William's Town. We all dined together at the very humble inn, and slept at night on the chairs, tables, and floors, lots being drawn for an antiquated wooden billiard-table, in consequence of its superior accommodation.

We were to have returned with commissariat waggons next day, to the camp, but having mistaken the hour, I was left behind, and had to follow them alone. The road enjoyed no very desirable reputation, but as they could not have got more than three or four miles, I trusted to my horse's speed for that distance, and having ridden at a quiet pace for the first mile, set spurs to him at the entrance of the bush, and dashed along at a rate that would have made me a very difficult flying shot. When half way through the bush, four or five armed Hottentots stood, about two hundred yards before me, whom I at once concluded were some of the Levies belonging to the waggon escort, and congratulated myself on having so soon overtaken them. My horse's foot striking with a sharp click against a stone in the deep sandy road, made them look round, when to my surprise they all bolted into the bush and disappeared; but for this lucky panic, I should, the very next moment, have ridden into the midst of the Rebels, who must, no doubt, have thought that I was at the head of a party. Before they had time to discover their mistake I was round the next turn, and about a mile further on came up with the train.

"Winkel waggons" had come out to the camp, and the "winklers," or private traders, sold everything they had, from black sugar and meal to sardines and pickled salmon, at the most absurd and extravagant prices; the soldiers lavishly spending their accumulated pay in coffee, bread, and other comforts, which was rather encouraged than otherwise, as preventing the drunkenness that would otherwise ensue the first time they got into quarters.

In the evening the mail arrived from Beaufort, having seen several parties of Rebels on the road lurking among the bush and rocks, and on the hill-sides; the return-bag was despatched with a double escort, and an order issued forbidding any one to go into Beaufort without a proper escort. A Kaffir spy, found prowling in the bushes close to the camp, was chased, and for some time eluded discovery, having disappeared in a most sudden and mysterious manner at the edge of the river; he was, however, finally detected by the quick eye of one of the Levies, who, holding up his finger, quietly pointed to a small motionless black object on the water, near the branch of an old tree; this was the nose of the Kaffir, but so still and motionless was the muddy water that when the Fingo raised his firelock, and took a long steady aim, every one was ready to roar with laughter at the expected "sell;" bang went the old flint musket, and to their surprise the Kaffir leaped up and dropped again with a heavy splash into the blood-stained water.

The waggons had brought our tents, which we had now been without for nearly three weeks, and the camp was pitched with the greatest alacrity, and in half the usual time. Markers were placed and "covered," their bayonets stuck in the ground, streets marked out, and tents brought from the waggons; in a moment there was a hammering of pegs on every side, the tents were stretched out on the ground of each line or company, and at the sound of two notes on the bugle the whole rose up in their places; what had seemed confusion became the most exact order, and the bare plain was suddenly transformed into a canvas city, the whole being completed in less time than it took the wood and water parties to bring fuel from the neighbouring bush, or fill the camp-kettles at the river.

Heavy rain again came on in the evening with every prospect of a steady continuance, and, though in tents, we were now quite indifferent to it ourselves, we could not but pity the poor fellows on the heights, exposed to the full violence of the storm. We were in for another "three days rain."

The enemy having entirely abandoned the position, Colonel Michell's Brigade marched down into the Blinkwater during the afternoon of the 31st; they had seen the spoor of Kaffirs and cattle trekking out of the district, and had taken some Kaffir women prisoners, who stated that there were only a very few of their people still lurking in the bush, looking after the wounded whom they were unable to remove, and had secreted in their undiscoverable and inaccessible retreats in the twenty square miles of forest that clothe this rugged range of mountains. Some rebel Hottentot women had also been captured, who represented themselves as wandering lambs of the scattered flock of a Mr. Reid, of the Kat River London Missionary settlement. They were very dirty—disgustingly so—and were barely covered by their filthy rags; they were set at liberty, and advised to leave that part of the country as soon as possible. Several horses had been taken by this brigade, and amongst them we recognised that of our lamented Band-master, taken on the 8th of September, whose coat was also found in one of the huts.

The gallant brigade, literally in rags, marched steadily through our camp for Fort Beaufort in the storm of wind and rain, many with bare feet, and their thin and scanty clothes, so tattered as to be hardly decent. They had suffered very much in their exposed position, diarrhœa and dysentery having laid up whole sections.

For the next three days the rain never ceased for one minute, and the ground became so thoroughly saturated that the floors of our tents were as wet as the flooded plain outside. The wet trembling horses, with drawn-up bellies, and the damp soldiers, with turned-up trews, splashing about amongst the long rows of soaked canvas, looked nearly as wretched as the shivering blanket-covered Fingoes that crouched round the smoky fires.

---

CHAPTER VII.
FOURTH ATTACK ON THE WATERKLOOF.—DEATH OF LIEUT.-COL. FORDYCE, AND OTHER OFFICERS.

On the morning of the 4th of November the camp was left standing, guarded by the invalids and least efficient men of each regiment, and we marched, under command of Lieut.-Col. Fordyce, up the Blinkwater Pass, and bivouacked at Eastlands, the enemy being reported to be re-assembling on their former ground. The whole of the grassy plain was glowing with bright gladiolus, blue lobelia, everlasting flower, and the graceful sparaxis, of which we found a variety, peculiar to this mountain, of a deep indescribable colour, almost approaching to black.

The next day the 74th Highlanders moved to the head of the pass to cover the ascent of commissariat waggons. We lay under the shade of a spreading mimosa, a merry party, little dreaming this would be the last time we should all be together; some sketching, some sweeping the vast panorama with their glasses, and others practising long ranges with their rifles at the aloes on the opposite side of the kloof. The united contributions of our haversacs, spread on the grass, made a plentiful, but heterogeneous meal, of which, however, very shortly not a vestige remained, our voracity, with constant living in the open air, having become quite chronic.

During the day the other columns of attack were collecting from all quarters, and marching on their assigned rendezvous, in readiness for the grand simultaneous movement to be made the following morning at dawn.

Lieut.-Col. Michell's Brigade proceeded to the Blinkwater camp, to be ready to work along the foot of the Kromme and Fuller's Hoek. Lieut.-Col. Sutton, with two squadrons of the Cape Corps, and the Horse Brigade of guns, moved round the base of the Kromme Range, and past Haddon, to a point at the foot of Bush Neck, where he was to be joined by all the Fingo Levies, and detachments from Lowie and the Mancazana district. We remained in our camp of the night before. The evening passed in anticipation of the coming struggle, which it was generally thought would be decisive, if not severe. Our Colonel, who had just ridden in from Post Retief, joined us, and we remarked that he appeared more than usually interested that evening, and walked from fire to fire, conversing with each group of officers in a quiet tone of the movements of the other brigades during the day, the supposed strength of the enemy, and the prospects of the weather, which had become threatening since sunset. After our customary pipe, we wished each other an early good night, as we were to march to the attack before daylight, and withdrew to our patrol-tents.

At half-past four o'clock (November 6th), the word was given to move off in quarter-distance column of sub-divisions; not a bugle sounded, and with feelings of unusual excitement the brigade quitted its ground, and marched across the open flats towards the head of the Waterkloof Pass. The mountain was enveloped in clouds so dense that we could not see more than twenty yards before us, until about six, when a gentle breeze cleared the summit of the ridge, and left the clouds floating like a vast sea below our feet, completely shutting out the lower world, the tops of one or two of the higher hills, appearing through the motionless expanse, looked exactly like islands, some wooded, others bare and rocky, with jutting peninsulas stretching out, as it were, into the smooth water.

At seven o'clock Lieut.-Col. Sutton's force was reported to be moving up along the Waterkloof valley towards its head, and to cover its advance Colonel Fordyce immediately placed his brigade in position on the ridge, and extending four companies of our regiment, supported by two of the 12th, advanced towards the belt of bush intersecting the enemy's position, which we entered without much opposition, and occupied for the next six hours.

The village at the head of the Pass having been rebuilt, in a great measure, since our last attack, an order was given for volunteers to advance and set fire to it, and, with a party of four men, I had the pleasure a second time of burning the whole of the huts to the ground, with all they contained, together with a large quantity of bullocks horns and hides, stored up for future trading. I had a narrow escape of being shot by the Rebels, who kept up an irregular fire upon us from the wood the whole time; a ball whirring close past my ear as I was kneeling down blowing away at a bunch of lighted dry grass which I had stuck into the wall of a hut, and sending the reeds and mud plaster flying into my face. The village being destroyed, skirmishers were again thrown forward into the forest, and we were ordered to work our way through it to turn the left flank of the enemy's position on a ridge of rocks, unapproachable from the front. An occasional bang, bang, from the thickets, followed by the crashing of balls through the cover, as we advanced, kept us all on the qui vive. Nothing more difficult and trying can be imagined than our laborious progress through this all but impracticable forest, studded throughout with enormous masses of detached rock, overgrown with wild vines, twining asparagus trees, endless monkey ropes and other creepers, so strong, and so thickly interlaced as almost to put a stop to our advance; covered with dense thorny underwood, concealing dangerous clefts and crevices, and strewed with fallen trees in every stage of decay, while the hooked thorns of the "wait a bit" clinging to our arms and legs, snatching the caps off our heads, and tearing clothes and flesh, impeded us at every step.

The advantages which the Kaffir possesses on such ground over regular troops is immense; armed only with his gun, or assegais, free and unencumbered by pack, clothing, or accoutrements, his naked body covered with grease, he climbs the rocks, and works through the familiar bush with the stealth and agility of the tiger, while the infantry soldier, in European clothing, loaded with three days rations, sixty rounds of ball cartridge, water canteen, bayonet, and heavy musket, labours after him with a pluck and perseverance which none but British soldiers possess, and which, somehow or other, in spite of every obstacle in every clime, ever wins its way in the end. Sir Harry Smith, in his despatch of the 18th of December, 1851, to Earl Grey, gives a very just estimate of the character of the formidable enemy with whom we had thus to contend, whom he describes, as fully as much so as the Algerines or Circassians, and says, "Fraternized with the numerous and well-trained Hottentot race, they are, in their mode of guerilla warfare, most formidable enemies, as much so as I ever encountered; and I speak with some experience in war, to which I may lay claim." The situation of the officer on such occasions is one of no small danger and responsibility; himself leading through all impediments, a coveted mark to every lurking Tottie or Kaffir, he has not only to exercise the greatest vigilance to prevent his men being separated and cut off, but must carefully mark his proper route and bearings, lest he wander into the endless mazes of the trackless forest, and not only lose his whole party, but involve co-operating bodies in disaster.

DEATH OF LT. COLONEL FORDYCE
(Waterkloof Nov. 6^th 1851)

After leading our flank into the bush in person, and giving his final orders, Colonel Fordyce proceeded to the left of the regiment to direct their movements against the fastness held by the enemy, from the shelter of which they kept up an annoying fire. At this moment he had advanced to the edge of the bush in front, and was in the very act of directing the attack upon it, when he was shot through the body, and fell to rise no more; the last and only words of our brave chief were, "Take care of my regiment:" he was borne to the rear, and breathed his last in a few minutes.

Though our heavy loss was not immediately known, the regiment was for a moment thrown into confusion in consequence of his last orders having been but partly delivered. The rebels yelled in exultation, but the next instant were silenced by an avenging volley, which drove them in again behind the shelter of their protecting trees and rocks, which the regiment boldly and steadily advanced to storm under a fatal fire, which told fearfully among our ranks. Carey fell, pierced through the body, at the head of his company, and was carried off the field a corpse; and immediately afterwards Gordon was mortally wounded by a ball which passed through both thighs, and lodging in the body of a soldier close by, killed him on the spot. The loss in the ranks was equally severe; one man was cut down after another, until, maddened by the fall of their officers and comrades, the regiment, under Captain Duff (on whom as senior officer the command had now devolved), rushed to the fatal barricade with such infuriated and irresistible determination, as to clear all before them, killing numbers of the enemy, chiefly rebel Hottentots, who fled in confusion, and carrying the position, which we maintained almost unmolested until the troops were withdrawn in the afternoon.

Beside our deeply lamented officers, the casualties among our brave fellows were very heavy; Sergeants Cairnie and Diarmid, and two rank and file were killed; a Lance-corporal and one private mortally wounded; and a Corporal and five men severely, two of whom afterwards underwent amputation.

In the meantime Lieut.-Col. Sutton's Brigade had ascended the heights by Mundells Krantz, on our extreme right; and Lieut.-Col. Yarborough, with the 91st regiment, occupied the left of the position; while the 12th, lying down in extended order across the open, watched the belt of bush in the right centre, occasionally exchanging a shot or two at intervals with a few fellows perched in the trees. The guns, however, were got into position opposite this, the enemy's only remaining point of occupation, and dropped shot and shell among them wherever they appeared, with such precision that they must have suffered severely, and were finally obliged to abandon their last stronghold.

During this, we were holding the position gained at such cost; and while we lay half hidden among the forest-clothed rocks, along the edge of the ridge, observed the branches of the trees above our heads cut in two, and their trunks scored in all directions by the fire of the late encounter. Among the crevices of the rocks, which here were in cubical blocks of all sizes, from that of a large four storied house downwards, we found several of the enemy's caches, containing axes, bullet-moulds, lead, and cast bullets, and the usual assortment of ornaments and articles such as we generally found in every village.

After about two hours, the enemy,—who had again crept up to within range, at an angle of the forest which even the Fingoes had found impassable,—fired one or two shots at random into our cover, to see if we were still there, the balls dropping right among us. Presently a couple of black heads were slowly raised over the edge of a rock, but seeing us, were withdrawn so instantaneously that we had not time to fire. Some of our men lying flat on the large slabs of stone, and peering down into the deep forest on the sloping mountain side, made signs to me, pointing below, and quietly reaching their position, I had an opportunity rarely afforded of watching a party of Kaffirs cautiously advancing along the bottom of the thicket immediately below us, creeping stealthily through the underwood, perfectly naked, and armed with assegais and guns. Stopping every few feet to listen, they peered into the bush before them, their well greased bodies shining in the occasional gleams of sunshine that streamed down through the thick foliage of the trees, and again moved on, avoiding every rotten twig, and preserving a noiselessness perfectly marvellous. It was most exciting, as we lay crouched among the huge grey rocks, from which our bush dress was hardly distinguishable, to watch them pursuing their deadly mode of warfare in their own fastnesses. Our men waiting the moment to fire, had gradually brought the muzzles of their arms to bear; and without moving their heads, and hardly drawing breath, silently indicated to each other the whereabouts of fresh comers.

With rifles pointed through the creepers at the edge of the rock on which we lay stretched, we waited with fingers on the trigger for a fair shot, and I fancied I could hear my heart beating. At a signal, bang went twenty muskets, echoing from crag to crag in the silent wood, and the treacherous savages met the death they had been plotting for us.

We still remained here for some hours, the General requiring the position to be held during his other movements; the men took out their pipes and smoked to allay their hunger, which they had no chance of satisfying until the night's bivouac, while an occasional bullet lodged in the trees around us, fired by some skulking Tottie or Kaffir. One or two of us were so fatigued that notwithstanding the roar of the big guns, we fell asleep.

At three in the afternoon the clouds again settled on the ridge, and the fog became so heavy that all further operations were at an end, and the enemy having evacuated all his positions, and being nowhere visible, we were withdrawn from our tiresome duty of occupation. The whole of the troops were called in, and assembled in column on the open; a mule waggon came down for the wounded, and we bivouacked for the night on the bare bleak ridge close by.

The troops moved mournfully about their duties, every soldier appearing to feel the heavy loss we had sustained; the cries and groans of the wounded, which could be heard in every part of the little camp, added to the general feeling of sadness; and, like a pall hanging over the gallant dead that lay in the solitary tent, in front of which there slowly paced a sentinel, the cold dark clouds rested on the lonely peak, and enveloped us in a mist so dense that our evening fires were hardly visible at a few yards, and our moving figures loomed through it like giants. We went to take a farewell look at the bodies of our late gallant Chief, and poor Carey, as brave a young fellow as ever lived, highly talented, and beloved by us all. They lay side by side with the men who had fallen that day, the corpses ranged on the grass, each covered by a blanket; reverently uncovering their heads, we gazed silently on their familiar faces; the Colonel's was as tranquil as though he were sleeping, which, but for the blood that covered his uniform and hands, might have been supposed. A change had passed over poor Carey's. The men lay with fixed and rigid features, some with their stony eyes still open, or their lower jaws fallen; it was a mournful and touching spectacle. I could scarcely realize the death of two officers, whom I had daily met for years, and had only a few hours before conversed with in the full vigour of life. Slowly and silently we left the tent, and without speaking sought our own fires.

The wounded, who lay on their stretchers on the ground, received every possible attention; their own comrades, on such occasions, rough as they may appear, move gently about the sick man, anticipating such wants, and administering such comforts as are in their power, with a woman's delicacy and forethought. Poor Gordon, over whose head we had built a shelter of green boughs, suffered dreadful agonies all night. The doctors, when questioned as to his case, shook their heads in doubt; the ball had entered the outside of the right thigh, and, passing through it, entered the inside of the left one fracturing the bone close to the socket, and leaving two frightful lacerated wounds. So close was the Kaffir who fired it, that Gordon had attempted to seize his gun.

Soon after dark a drizzling rain came on, and the wind swept piercingly cold over our lofty resting place; the men threw up little walls of the loose stones and rock that lay about, or dug holes in the softer parts, and piling the earth round them and large slabs of stone over, crept in for shelter, and all but the orderly officers and weary sentinels were soon slumbering after the fatigues of the day, in happy forgetfulness of its horrors.

A white frost covered the ground when we were roused at dawn by the bugle's réveillé; the clouds still hung round us, and rolled along in the deep valley beneath, while officers and men crowded indiscriminately round the few still burning fires in vain endeavours to warm their half frozen feet and fingers. The bodies of the dead were placed in a mule waggon for burial at Post Retief, fifteen miles across the table-land, for which place it set off, accompanied by a party of officers, who had obtained permission from the General to join in this last sad office. I followed slowly after them with a strong escort guarding the wounded, accompanied by our surgeon, Frazer. Poor Gordon, from the nature of his wounds, was unable to bear the motion of a waggon, and was carried on a stretcher the whole distance, by the men of his company.

As we proceeded across the wide grassy plain, its cheerfulness after the dusky bush, and the brilliant flowers, as they waved joyously in the bright morning sun, seemed in strange contrast with our sad cortège. The whole ridge literally glowed with gladiolus, amaranth, aphelexis, and a host of other beautiful flowers; the slopes of the little Winterberg Mountain rising verdant from the plain, about half a mile off, were covered with patches of the scarlet gladiolus, which were so brilliant and thickly studded, that, as even the men observed, they looked like pieces of red cloth spread out on the grass. All along the way we gathered mushrooms in such quantities that we were soon laden with as many as we could conveniently carry. In one or two places belts of bush, running up from the wooded kloofs below, encroached on the green plain, and as Kaffir spies were hovering round, we kept out of musket range of the treacherous cover.

Heavy firing from the artillery in our rear now announced that our Division was again engaged, and we fervently hoped with happier results than the day before. After a few miles farther we looked down on our right into the celebrated Kat River Valley, well known, as the birthplace of the Hottentot rebellion, and one of the finest and most fruitful districts in the whole colony. Surrounded by vast chains of fine mountains, this extensive valley spread its smiling uplands and fertile holms, picturesquely relieved by belts of valuable timber, and watered by the winding Kat River; the villages and farms now levelled with the ground, and silent and deserted except by prowling Kaffirs and wild beasts. The whole hill-side was here covered with the Protea grandiflora, a bush about eight or ten feet high, very much resembling the rhododendron in leaf and general appearance, and bearing a large pink and white cup-shaped flower, something like an artichoke.

Gordon's sufferings were very great, though borne with a fortitude only equalled by his courage in the field; his thirst was insatiable. When about half way, one of the stretcher poles broke in two; we had, however, taken the precaution to bring a spare stretcher, which was laid on the ground, the other placed gently on it, its poles withdrawn, and we went on again as before.

We were still four miles from the end of our march, when it became evident that we were going to have a mountain storm; the lowering sky deepened into an intense indigo behind the distant mountains; eddying clouds of sand, dry grass, and leaves, caught by successive whirlwinds, came sweeping along our desolate track, until a bright blinding flash shot from behind the dark peak of the Didama, and the oppressive silence was suddenly broken by a terrific peal of thunder, followed, before its prolonged echoes had ceased among the crags, by a downpour of hail and rain, such as we never before witnessed. The hailstones were literally the size of walnuts, and fell with such force that the horses became frantic, and in a couple of minutes we ourselves were soaked to the skin. As we entered a narrow glen, down which foamed a genuine Highland stream, the road became much rougher, and was most trying to the wounded men, who yelled with agony as the waggon jolted over the rocks; seeing me removing the large loose stones out of the way of the wheels, a private, named M'Coll, with his left arm in a bandage, after amputation of the fingers, jumped out and walked the rest of the way, assisting me with his one hand.

At a turn in the narrow road, the little fort appeared about half a mile before us, standing dreary and lone on a rising ground in the centre of an amphitheatre of dark mountains half hidden in the clouds. As we approached it a detachment of the 12th came out to meet us, and helped to carry the sufferers into the hospital, already half full of wounded men. I was in time to take a last look at the bodies of our chief and poor Carey, which were laid out in the commissariat forage store, before the Sergeant-Major nailed down the hastily made coffins. The funeral will never be forgotten by those who were present. The thunder, mingled with the booming of the distant artillery, rolled grandly and solemnly among the mountains, as the motley groups from each regiment assembled in their worn and ragged uniforms. As the rough deal coffins were borne out, the "firing party," dripping wet, and covered with mud, "presented arms," the officers uncovered, and we marched in slow time out of the gate and down the road, the Pipers playing the mournful and touching "Highland Lament," to where the graves had been dug, a few hundred yards from the post, and close to three others newly made, the last resting place of our gallant men who had fallen on the 16th of October.

The funeral service was read by Captain Duff, the men with swarthy faces, and tattered dress, standing round, resting on their "arms reversed," while the thunder rolled unceasingly, and the inky black clouds threatened another downpour.

Captain Carey, C.M.R., stood by the grave side of his brave young kinsman, and as the bodies were lowered into the graves and solemnly committed to the earth, every one was visibly affected; the customary military honours were paid; three times the roar of a hundred muskets reverberated among the hills; the last faint echo died away in the distance; the hoarse word of command broke up the motionless group; one after another we stepped to the grave sides to take a farewell look; and marched back in silence to the Fort.

During our absence, a miserable barrack room with roughly paved floor, and smoke blackened rafters, had been hastily cleared for poor Gordon, into which we carefully bore him, and adding every obtainable blanket or plaid to the thin straw mattress, and doing all in our very limited power to cheer him and alleviate his sufferings, left him for the night with his trusty and attached servant Stuart.

On entering the crowded hospital, the groans of the wounded men were heart-rending, and their sufferings most acute, the heat of the climate and the loathsome flies and vermin (which no care can keep away from the smallest wound), adding to their misery. A Sergeant of the 12th and one of the 74th had each undergone amputation of the leg, and hardly appeared to understand our words of encouragement. We learned from one or two, who spoke feelingly of his kindness, that our late gallant chief had personally visited, and inquired into the wants of the sick, the very evening before he was killed (when it will be remembered he rode over from our camp), and the commissariat officer of the post showed us an order the Colonel had written on the spot, for every possible comfort for the wounded—wine, porter, sago, tea, milk, &c., to be provided at his own expense and responsibility. These were the last words he ever wrote.

We found Ricketts of the 91st, who was mentioned as dangerously wounded on the 14th of October, in the Waterkloof, lying alone in a small room in a very precarious state; he had no belief whatever in his danger, and talked gaily of what he should do when he got out again—though constantly interrupted by coughing and spitting blood, which bubbled out of the wound in his chest at every breath.

The hospitable detachment gave us, notwithstanding the great scarcity of provisions, a more substantial meal than we had seen for a long time, to which we sat down twenty-one in number, at a long deal table, in a bare whitewashed room; but as our kind entertainers had been unexpectedly sent up to the empty fort from the field in "patrol order," it was a much more difficult affair to provide a dinner service than a dinner. At night we lay in our blankets on the floor, side by side, and as we listened to the mountain storm raging without, congratulated ourselves on sleeping under a roof, a luxury we had only once before enjoyed since leaving Cork.

We visited Gordon again in the morning before starting for the camp, and assisted the surgeon to dress his wounds and arrange his bed; and sat as long as we possibly could wiping his brow and moistening his lips. On leaving, he begged us to come over as often as we could to see him during his probable long confinement in this lonely place, which we promised to do, but never saw him again. After three days of excruciating agony, the broken limb suddenly mortified, and he was carried off in a few hours; so died this young soldier, alone in a wild mountain fort, thousands of miles away from home and relatives, with only a servant to witness his last moments.

Poor Ricketts, whose exquisite songs had so often enlivened our long evenings, died the same day, having been gradually sinking for some time previously. His death, which occurred some hours the first, was purposely kept from Gordon, but the sound of the funeral volleys reached his ear, and in a quiet voice he blamed his servant for not telling him of it; in two hours after, a like salute was fired over his own grave. His loss was sincerely mourned both by officers and men, his honest sterling qualities, kindly heart, and dauntless bravery in the field having endeared him to all.

Having commissariat cattle to escort to the camp for the troops, I gave them in charge of the Fingoes, following in rear with the escort. When little more than half-way back to where we had left our camp, we saw the whole Division about two miles off, with its long retinue of waggons, trekking across the open plain, and while wondering what it could mean, a mounted express rode up, with an order from the General for us to continue on the road as far as the top of the Blinkwater Pass, where we halted till the division came up; eager to hear the results of their operations on the previous day.

They had cleared the whole of the Waterkloof Range, the 12th, 74th, 91st, and Levies, having succeeded in driving the enemy from the forest, with the exception of a few small scattered parties (doubtless in attendance on the wounded), who played at hide and seek with the wearied troops, and baffled all attempts to dislodge them. They had, however, suffered very severely; twenty bodies were found, and a much greater number must have fallen in the thick bush from the admirable practice of the howitzers. On our side, Captain Davenish, of the Levies, was mortally wounded, and seven men of different regiments more or less severely.

The road down the hill was almost impassable after the heavy rain; tremendous gullies, in many places four feet deep, constantly threatened to overturn the waggons, and it was several hours before we reached our old camp in the Blinkwater valley. It had been held in the interim by detachments of the 2nd and 6th regiments, which now marched out on one side for Fort Beaufort, as we entered at another. We were rejoiced to find ourselves once more under canvas. In the evening the following Division Order, on the death of our late Colonel, was published in camp:—

"Camp Blinkwater, November 9, 1851.

"It is with the deepest regret that Major-General Somerset announces to the Division the death of Lieut.-Col. Fordyce, commanding the 74th Highlanders.

"Lieut.-Col. Fordyce fell, mortally wounded, in action with the enemy, on the morning of the 6th, and died on the field.

"From the period of the 74th Highlanders having joined the 1st Division, their high state of discipline and efficiency at once showed to the Major-General the value of Lieut.-Col. Fordyce as a commanding officer; the subsequent period, during which the Major-General had been in daily intercourse with Lieut.-Col. Fordyce, so constantly engaged against the enemy in the field, had tended to increase, in the highest degree, the opinion which the Major-General had formed of Lieut.-Col. Fordyce as a commander of the highest order, and as one of her Majesty's ablest officers, whom he now so deeply laments (while he truly sympathizes with the 74th Highlanders in their irreparable loss) as an esteemed brother soldier. * * * *

"By command,
"C. H. Bell,
"Lieutenant, Field Adjutant, 1st Division."

This was followed a few days afterwards by the subjoined General Order:—

"General Order, No. 197.
"November 13, 1851.

"The Commander-in-chief has this day received the report from Major-General Somerset that the gallant and enterprising Lieut.-Col. Fordyce, 74th Highlanders, has fallen in action with the enemy on the 6th instant. His loss to her Majesty's service is a severe one, and his Excellency conceives he cannot express his regret in terms more applicable, than in the Division Order of Major-General Somerset, which is herewith published.

"Gallantly thus falling in the service of his Queen and country will perpetuate the memory of Lieut.-Col. Fordyce.

"The service has also to regret the loss of Lieutenant Carey, 74th Highlanders, a rising and promising officer.

(Signed) "A. J. Cloete, Lieutenant-Colonel,
"Deputy Quartermaster-General."

The day following was Sunday, and a small party of us having got leave set off on horseback to attend divine service at Fort Beaufort, this being the first time that any of us had had an opportunity of going to a church since landing in the country. Our dress excited no other emotion than respect among the well-dressed congregation, though our weather-stained and soiled uniform, patched with leather and every kind of cloth, and our worn-out boots burnt to a reddish brown, looked strangely out of place. As we once more heard the service read and chanted, a host of thoughts came crowding on my mind of home, and bygone days and scenes, with a feeling of thankfulness at having been preserved through so many dangers.

THE GRAVES AT POST RETIEF.

---

CHAPTER VIII.
CATTLE LIFTING—KAFFIR AND FINGO CUSTOMS, ETC.

Nov. 18th.—Between ten and eleven in the forenoon, parade and drill having been got over as usual in the early morning, the camp, in shirt sleeves, was hushed in its first siesta; we were all lying, like so many cucumbers under frames, in our sultry tents, which, in spite of wet blankets and "raised walls," were but a degree more bearable than the scorching summer sun outside, when distant shots were suddenly heard, and an alarm was given of an attack on the cattle out grazing at the foot of the hills, about a mile from the sentries. In an instant all were astir, a party of Cape Corps were in the saddle, and followed by a yelling posse of naked Fingoes on bare-backed horses, thundered past us as we stood outside the lines, telescope in hand.

A body of Kaffirs, who must have descended from the mountains before daylight, had concealed themselves in a deep sluit, or empty watercourse, running through the best pasturage, and waiting until the cattle had got between them and the hills, rushed out, and, after an ineffectual resistance from the outlying picquet of Levies, two of whom were wounded, had gone off at full gallop with the whole, which we now saw them driving in three separate herds up the grassy sides of the mountain; the ascent, however, was fortunately so steep that our horsemen had reached its foot before the Kaffirs were half way up; a very pretty skirmish took place through the bushes, and the slope was soon thickly dotted with puffs of blue smoke. The cattle were recaptured and brought in, with the exception of some dozen which had escaped into the bush. The trembling herdsmen got a reprimand, and a warning to keep nearer home in future. Many of the Hottentot women in camp seemed by no means pleased at the issue of the chase, and in fact, whenever they dared express it, their sympathies were evidently on the side of the enemy.

The merry Fingoes who had borne the most conspicuous part in this little affair, as a matter of course, made it an excuse for a jollification, and after sunset their camp, some few hundred yards from ours, resounded with loud shrieks and laughter, and their quaint and striking choruses, with the thumping obligato accompaniment, rose above every other sound in the evening air. It was a constant amusement to us to visit these happy good-natured fellows when in standing camp, and see their mode of life, which is exactly like that of the Kaffir in times of peace; their extraordinary habits and customs are most interesting. On this occasion, finding a blanketed group sitting apart in a circle smoking the dagha before described, I squatted down at their invitation, cross-legged, in the ring, and receiving the rude cow-horn pipe in my turn, took a pull at its capacious mouth, coughing violently at the suffocating fumes, as indeed they all did more or less, and after tasting the nasty decoction of bark which followed round in a calabash, took the politely-proffered spitting-tube of my next neighbour, signally failing, however, in the orthodox whistle, to the unbounded delight of the Fingoes, whose hearty ringing laughter was most contagious.

In this way they sat and passed the time until their grand banquet was ready, which we saw preparing on the fire in the shape of a large three-legged iron pot full of tripe and offal, from which issued a reeking steam of most unsavoury odour. Others with long festoons of unwashed intestines in their hands roasted them bit by bit on the glowing embers, and holding the frizzling end between their teeth cut it off with their sharp assegais so closely as to make one quake for the safety of their protuberant lips; after helping himself, the envied owner would do a few inches more for his neighbour, sticking it into his open mouth for him burning hot, and sever it in like manner.

The fondness of the Fingo for animal food is extraordinary, and when in the field he will do almost anything to obtain it; the daily ration is a mere trifle to him, serving only to whet his appetite, and in spite of the consequent severe self-punishment of being two days without, he cannot resist devouring the whole issue of "three days' rations" at one glorious meal. Marrow bones, however, are his especial weakness, and it is quite a picture to watch him roasting them in the hot wood ashes, affectionately turning them over, his happy face all beaming with oil and smiles, and then breaking the unctuous luxuries between two smooth stones, which, as well as the bones, are licked perfectly clean, and after a minute and repeated inspection reluctantly thrown away with a sigh of regret.

Notwithstanding this propensity for flesh, the Fingo, like the Kaffir, seldom touches it in time of peace, but keeps his cattle to look at and admire, living entirely on pumpkins, maize, Kaffir-corn, roots, and milk. The greater part of the latter is obtained from goats, of which they frequently possess very large flocks; it is never used except sour, a small quantity being always retained in the milking vessels to turn the new milk. It is most excellent; and in spite of the black, dirty looking grass baskets in which they keep it, we never could resist the cool refreshing draught. They believe that if the milk of a cow or goat is drunk in its natural state, the animal will at once cease to give any more.

As to religion, the notions of a people whose language does not contain a single word to express a Deity, may naturally be supposed to be very vague. The general belief with regard to the Creation, at least of those who think about it at all, is, that from a large cave (Uhlanga)[15] in the far East, where the very finest specimens of every production of the world grow of their own accord, all that moves on the face of the earth originally proceeded. Cattle first, and then man; the different animals, birds, fishes, &c., being subsequently turned loose for their joint use and amusement. Through some unaccountable mistake, however, one fine day, the cattle not being sufficiently wide-awake, allowed themselves to be circumvented and taken prisoners by the men, and have ever since been kept in subjection, ranking merely as second in the scale of beings.

Since the arrival of the white man in the country, these people have learned something of the existence of an invisible God under the title of Utixo[15] (an obsolete Hottentot word, meaning "my arm" or "safeguard"), though, as it is invariably used like the Italian "Felicita," or "Viva," after sneezing, it is very doubtful what idea they connect with it.

Superstition enters largely into their customs; they not only believe in spirits, and resort to the mummery and incantations of "witch doctors" to avert their evil influence, and wear charms to protect them from sickness, misfortunes, or violent deaths, but lest they should injure the prospects of their husbands or male relations, the women are prohibited from ever mentioning their names or cognomens, which are always verbs or nouns, with fanciful prefixes or terminations, one woman making use of a word which another of a different family dare not utter, and for which she has always to substitute one widely differing from that in use among the men. For instance, a woman whose husband's name is a compound or derivation of Umoya (air), instead of the forbidden word uses Umklengetwa; in like manner for Inkwenkwe (a boy), Ixagi; for Ipupa (a dream) Itongo, and so on.

This singular custom (called "uku'hlonipa") greatly increases the difficulty of learning this very complicated language, for as all Kaffir proper names are thus formed, and every man has from three to eight wives, or more, each with their own extensive circle of male kinsmen, and a woman must not use a word which contains the sound even of any of their names, its construction becomes doubly involved. The peculiar clicks, also, are another impediment to be overcome by the learner. The letters c, q, and x, represent three different sounds (such as a driver uses to encourage his horses), denominated respectively "dental," "palatal," and "lateral" clicks, which, when repeated in a double or treble click in the same word, as "ukunycabagcazela," to tremble; "uquqoqo," the windpipe, "Ukuququkaquka," changeableness, all uttered by the Kaffir with the greatest clearness and fluency, add to the striking sound of his beautiful language, every syllable of which ends with a vowel, and is spoken with a most musical intonation, dwelling generally on the penultimate vowel in a very remarkable manner. In its construction it is entirely a language of ever-varying prefixes, by which verbs, nouns, and pronouns, are conjugated, declined, and combined. Each of the twelve declensions of nouns has its own set of prefixes, which, also, by a singular and harmonious rule, govern the sound of the prefixes of the verb, or other words in the sentence connected with it, and which are thus assimilated into what is termed the euphonic concord, the third person of the pronoun, for instance, having 144 different prefixes to be used in combination with different words. On the proper use of these, no easy matter, the correct speaking of the language entirely depends, and in the study of it the European experiences the greatest conceivable trouble with the least satisfactory results to be found in the acquisition of any language under the sun, as any one who attempts it will soon confess. The similarity between the Kaffir and Fingo languages is so exact, they may be called one, there being no greater difference than there is between Highland and Lowland Scotch, if indeed as much.

The Fingoes are, in reality, only one of the three sections of the original Kaffir race, having been driven from their position on the north-eastern boundary of Kaffirland by the other tribes, who made incessant war upon them, in which many thousands were killed; the rest, having unluckily taken refuge in the territory of Hintza, a Kaffir chief, were enslaved by him, and kept in the most barbarous servitude. Sir Benjamin D'Urban, however, set them free in 1835, and assigned them a territory within the country lying between the Kei, Klip-Plat and Keiskamma Rivers, and they have, in consequence, ever since remained our faithful and active allies.

The Kaffirs are, undoubtedly, one of the finest races of savages in existence, and of a physical type very different from, and superior to all other South African races. Their customs and institutions also are, in many cases, so peculiar and remarkable, exhibiting strong traces of similarity to the wandering tribes of Arabia, that they have naturally led to the supposition of a distinct origin, and there is certainly much to confirm the belief that they are descendants of Ishmaelite tribes, who have wandered down the east coast by the Red Sea. In their divisions and sub-divisions into tribes and families, their system is patriarchal; their wealth, like that of the Arabs and other nomadic tribes of the east, consists almost entirely of flocks and herds, and in their abhorrence of pork they are as cordial as the most devout Mussulman or Jew. Polygamy is common, and what is most remarkable, circumcision is regularly performed by the Kaffirs, and about the age of fourteen, which has a singular correspondence with the recorded fact that Ishmael himself was in his fourteenth year when circumcised with Abraham. It is however, with them, a mere custom, and not a religious rite. They say they do it because their fathers did it before them. After the operation has been performed, the youths cover their bodies with white clay, and live apart for some days in huts built at a distance from the village. Many other traits, of Eastern origin, might be adduced, such as kissing the feet; shaving the head; either as a sign of grief, or while under a vow; the use of skins as bottles, for milk, &c. and of goads; in driving cattle, which, however follow the chief herdsman, who leads them from one pasture to another, calling them generally by name; the piling up stones before going out on an expedition; and offering burnt sacrifices on the commencement of a war, which, with many others, are the more conclusive as combined evidence in confirmation of the theory, as they are confined to the Kaffir race alone in South Africa. Polygamy is only restricted by the bovine riches of the men. A chief, or a wealthy individual, has generally seven or eight wives at least (all living amicably together), whom he has purchased from his various fathers-in-law, for certain numbers of oxen, in proportion to the rank and attractions of the ladies. This is left to the heads of the tribe to settle, and to ensure a fair valuation, the bride in prospect, "in native beauty clad," is made to walk round a ring of influential old gentlemen appraisers, seated on the ground, before each of whom she stops a few minutes; when, having been criticised by the circle, she retires, and a consultation is held to fix the number of cattle her charms are worth, the decision being final and without appeal either for father or suitor. The Kaffir women are universally well made, their symmetry being displayed to the greatest advantage by the most lofty and easy carriage; their teeth are brilliantly white, and moreover they preserve a degree of modesty far above the depraved Hottentots, though the latter boast the superior refinement of clothing.

It may be interesting, by the way, to state how their children are trained to that duplicity and cunning so much prized among them. As soon almost as they can run they are initiated into petty acts of theft; papas and mammas descanting together on the cleverness and proficiency of their respective children, will each back their own to steal something from the other's hut before sundown; the most successful competitor being warmly applauded. That they should succeed at all, when the owner of the hut to be plundered is, of course, on the look out, seems marvellous, but I was assured by a respectable Boer, that he had seen the children accomplish feats of this kind, bringing off articles of bulk and value, notwithstanding the whole family on whom the depredation was to be committed were on their guard. Lying also is another native accomplishment held in high esteem, and as diligently cultivated; with what success the celebrity of some of their first chiefs and counsellors in this form of diplomacy, bears ample witness.

The only covering worn by the Kaffir is the well-known kaross, which supplies the place of our own plaid; it consists of different skins; that of the tiger, is a distinctive mark of chieftainship, and not allowed to be worn by any other class; among the lower ranks a coarse blanket is now generally substituted. The married women sometimes wear a very small forked apron of leather, adorned with beads, over their breasts, and the wives of royalty have the privilege of a peculiar head-dress of fur, one of which, in my possession, taken from the Royal Gaika Kraal, on the Amatolas, is like a large loose fez, with the fur outside, turned up and ornamented with small beads, and on each side long broad "ribbons" of fur tipped with tiger skin. In necklaces, armlets, &c., they show great taste and ingenuity, and some of them are very interesting; here again the tiger's teeth are appropriated to aristocratic use; one, which was cut from the neck of a dying chief, and presented to me at the time, consists of alternate bunches of teeth and large white beads, on a cluster of strings of small black ones. Another is composed entirely of the lower joints of human finger bones strung through the knuckles, to the number of twenty-seven.

Both races, as is also usual with the Arabs, tattoo their chests and arms in a kind of serrated pattern; and the women, in addition, use a kind of red clay mixed with fat to smear their bodies and paint their faces, also daubing and moulding their crisp hair with it into clay ringlets, which have a very singular appearance. Sometimes they sprinkle their hair, after smearing it with fat, with glittering particles of mica, great quantities of which are left after heavy rains in the ruts and gullies of the roads. The men stick through their ears a straw, a porcupine's quill, or ostrich feather; and both Kaffirs and Fingoes use a strap or belt round their naked waist, called "lambele," which they tighten when hungry and unable to procure food.

Although, as stated above, their flocks and herds constitute their chief wealth, and cattle hold the highest place in their estimation, being supposed to have been created superior to man at first, and none but the grown up males are allowed the honour of milking them, or even entering the kraal, &c.; yet, in time of peace they never touch flesh, unless it be game, living almost entirely on milk, fruit, and vegetables, with berries, leaves, and roots, of various kinds; the principal of these are the Indian corn or mealies, Amazimba or Kaffir corn (a species of Sorghum), and the root of the Noë Boom tree,[16] very like a coarse stringy turnip.

Game they often kill with the knob-keerie, a short club, two or three feet long, generally made out of an olive stock, with a part of the heavy root attached, or shaped out of rhinoceros' horn, which they throw with wonderful force and accuracy, and can knock down a man as well as kill a hare or buck, at twenty or thirty yards, with the greatest certainty.

Their other and most formidable weapon is the assegai, of which each one in war-time carries a bundle of seven, loosely tied together by a thong or rheim of hide attached to a long "charm stick." One of these is large and heavy, for stabbing, with a broad blade or iron head a foot or eighteen inches long, and a shaft much shorter and stouter than the rest, which are used for throwing. They hurl them with incredible force; and, as I have myself seen, can send them clean through a man's body. We often used to put up a cap or other small article on a bush when in camp, for our friends the Fingoes, to try their skill at: they made excellent practice at thirty or forty yards, and could cast them with sufficient force to annoy a body of men at nearly double that distance, though their aim at a single individual would be, of course, uncertain.

With these effective weapons, serving both as bayonet and javelin in the hands of an athletic, sagacious, and undaunted race, who are trained from infancy to their use; combined with the musket, which they quickly learned to handle with considerable precision; and the adoption of just as much of military tactics and system (acquired from the Cape Corps and Kaffir Police deserters), as improved without hampering their skirmishing mode of bush-fighting; added to a marvellous concert and unity in their movements, the Kaffirs were a most formidable foe even to the flower of the British troops, who had to encounter and storm them in their own natural fortresses, rendered almost inaccessible by the dense bush of impenetrable thorns, &c.; too succulent to be burnt, yet affording to the crawling native, the opportunity of lurking in unexpected ambuscade at every point.

Such fearful odds against so comparative a handful of troops, not to mention the excessive hardships, privations, and vicissitudes of climate, render it less a matter of surprise that complete success was for a time delayed, than that it was ever ultimately achieved.

KAFFIR.