These measures proving useless, five prisoners were flogged to make them speak—yet they held their peace. An interpreter, who accompanied Major Barrow’s party, writes: “I had been a long time in Zululand. I knew the people and their habits, and although I believed they would be true to their king, I never expected such devotion. Nothing would move them. Neither the loss of their cattle, the fear of death, or the offering of large bribes, would make them false to their king.”
For many days this work of trying to persuade or force the people to betray their king was continued, and, at last a woman was frightened into giving a clue, which resulted in taking prisoners three brothers, at whose kraal the king had slept the night before. “They were questioned,” says the interpreter, “but denied in the most solemn way that they knew anything about the king. We threatened to shoot them, but they said: ‘If you kill us we shall die innocently.’ This was about nine o’clock at night, a beautiful moonlight night, and the picture was rather an effective one. There were all our men sitting round at their fireplaces, our select tribunal facing the three men, who were calm and collected, whilst we, as a sort of inquisition, were trying to force them to divulge their secret. As a last resource we took one man and led him away blindfolded behind a bush, and then a rifle was fired off to make believe that he was shot. We then separated and blindfolded the remaining two, and said to one of them: ‘You saw your brother blindfolded and led away; we have shot him. Now we shall shoot you. You had better tell the truth.’ After a good deal of coaxing (?) one told us where the king had slept the night before, and which was about fifteen miles away, and also where he had seen him that very morning ... it was now eleven o’clock. Lord Gifford gave orders for our party to saddle up, which was smartly done, and we started off with the two brothers as guides. We left the one brother behind so as to keep on the screw, to make the two believe he had been shot. They took us over as ugly a piece of country as ever horse crossed, and at daybreak we surrounded the kraal. But disappointment was again in store for us, for our bird had flown about twelve hours previously.”
The direction he had taken being pointed out, the party followed until they got within four or five miles of a kraal, where the king had halted for the day. Lord Gifford sent off a note addressed to Captain Maurice, saying he was on the track and hoped for speedy capture; and, finding the kraal could not be approached without his being seen, seems to have made up his mind to wait till nightfall. It is perhaps fortunate that this arrangement was not carried out, as, in the darkness and hurry of a night attack, it is possible that we might have had the additional wrong laid upon us of having shot the Zulu king.
Amongst other patrols sent out to look for Cetshwayo was one under Major Marter, King’s Dragoon Guards, consisting of one squadron Dragoons, ten men Mounted Infantry and Lonsdale’s Horse, and one company Natal Native Contingent, their orders being to get on the king’s track and capture him, if possible, and to reconnoitre the Ngome Forest, and report if it could be traversed.
This force started on the 27th August, Major Marter sending two natives on in the direction of the Ngome to impress upon the people that until the king was captured they could not have rest, as troops would be constantly on the move amongst them, and require supplies, etc., and to suggest it would be to their advantage to give him some hint or sign about the king. He had found the natives friendly, but they said frankly that if they knew the king to be close by they would not tell him; he, therefore, remembering the language of symbols was pleasant to the native mind, endeavoured, by indirect means, to obtain the information he sought. Having got over about twenty-four miles of rough country, the little column halted on the summit of the Inenge Mountain, and, starting at daylight next morning, had crossed the Ibuluwane River about ten o’clock, when a Zulu came from the hill in front, sent by a headman to whom the scouts had been, and began to talk on indifferent subjects, not appearing to wish to speak about the king. After some time he casually remarked: “I have heard the wind blow from this side to-day,” pointing to the Ngome Forest, “but you should take that road until you come to Nisaka’s kraal,” showing a track leading upwards and along the side of the range.
About half an hour afterwards a native brought a note addressed to Captain Maurice. As this officer was out in another direction on the same service, Major Marter opened and read it. It was from Lord Gifford, who said he was on the track again and hoped for a speedy capture of the king, but gave no information as to where either the king or Lord Gifford were. Sending the man on in Captain Maurice’s direction, Major Marter proceeded to Nisaka’s kraal, some distance up the mountain. After some talk a suggestion of guides was made to Nisaka, who said they had better go to his brother’s kraal on top of the mountain, and called two men to go as guides. On reaching this kraal the guides made signs for the party to halt where trees hid them from being seen from below, and then took Major Marter on to the edge of the precipice, crawling along on hands and knees; they then stopped, and told him to go to a bush a little farther on and look down. He did so, and saw a kraal in an open space about 2000 feet below, in a basin, three sides of which were precipitous and covered with dense forest. He considered it would be useless to approach the kraal from the open side, as one minute’s warning would enable the king to escape to the nearest point of the forest; and therefore decided to venture down the side of the mountain under cover of the forest, feeling that the importance of the capture would warrant the risk.
Having rejoined his men, Major Marter ordered the natives to take off their uniform, and, with their arms and ammunition only, pass down the precipitous mountain to the lower edge of the forest nearest to the kraal, and remain concealed till the cavalry were seen coming from the forest on the other side; they were then to rush out towards the open side of the kraal and surround it. The cavalry left led horses, pack-animals, and every article which could make a noise or impede their progress, and followed Major Marter, leading their horses down the descent in single file. They left the upper part of the mountain at 1.45 P.M., and, after a scramble over rocks and watercourses, floundering in bogs, and hampered everywhere by trees and gigantic creepers, reached the foot about three o’clock, having lost two horses killed in the descent, and one man having his arm badly hurt. In a little dell they mounted, and at a gallop dashed out—one troop to the right, one to the left, the irregulars straight to the front—over boulders, through high grass and every impediment, up to the kraal; the natives reaching it at the same moment.
Seeing that the men in the kraal were armed with guns as well as assegais, Major Marter desired his interpreter to call out that if any resistance were offered he would shoot down every one and burn the kraal; and then dismounting, with a few of his men, he entered the enclosure, which was strongly stockaded. A chief—Umkosana—met him, and was asked where the king was; after some delay, seeing it was a hopeless case, he pointed out a hut on the farther side of the enclosure. Major Marter called on the king to come out, but he insisted the officer should go in to him. A threat of setting fire to the hut was then made, when the king asked the rank of the officer, and, after some further parley, came out and stood erect and quite the king, looking at Major Marter, saying: “You would not have taken me, but I never thought troops could come down the mountain through the forest.”