Besides the Chief Umkosana, there were with Cetshwayo seven men and a lad, five women and a girl, of his personal attendants.
There were twenty guns in the kraal, four of them rifles that had belonged to the 24th Regiment, much ammunition, some belts of the 24th, and many assegais, one of which—the king’s—was sent by Sir Garnet Wolseley to the Queen.
Taking the most open line of country, the party set out for Ulundi, Major Marter taking personal charge of the king, who was in good health, and showing no signs of over-fatigue.
On the evening of the second day three men and a woman sprang suddenly into the thick bush through which they were passing and tried to escape; but two of the men were shot. They had been repeatedly warned that anyone trying to escape would be shot.
On the morning of the 31st August, Major Marter safely reached the camp at Ulundi with Cetshwayo; who is described by his captor as “a noble specimen of a man, without any bad expression, and the king all over in appearance and manner.”
Sir Garnet Wolseley did not receive the fallen king himself, or accord him any of the signs of respect to which he was entitled, and which at least generosity demanded. That this was deeply felt is apparent from the words of an eye-witness, the interpreter attached to Major Barrow’s force. “Cetywayo,” he says, “who appreciates nicely the courtesies due to rank—as those who knew him tell me—felt this keenly. Sir Garnet Wolseley did not see him at all, and Mr. John Shepstone only had an interview with him to tell him that he would leave under the charge of Major Poole, R.A., for—no one knew where. The instructions to the Major were, on leaving Ulundi, to proceed to Pietermaritzburg viâ Rorke’s Drift, but the camp had not been left many miles behind before a messenger to the Major from the General gave Port Durnford as the port of embarkation.
“Cetshwayo spent less than three hours amidst the ruins of Ulundi, and when he left them he was not aware of his destination. His hope was that he was going to Pietermaritzburg.... This he believed was where he was going until he came to Kwamagwasa, and he said, ‘This is not the way to the Tugela.’ He grew moody after this, and used to moan, ‘It was better to be killed than sent over the sea.’”
The party reached Port Durnford on the 4th September, and was immediately embarked for Cape Town. There the king met with a fitting reception, and was conveyed to the castle, where he remained under strict surveillance in the custody of Colonel Hassard, C.B., R.E., Commandant at Cape Town.
One peculiarity regarding the treatment of Cetshwayo may be illustrated by the following personal anecdote: