| CHAPTER I. | |
| PAGE | |
| FIRST CAUSES | [1] |
| CHAPTER II. | |
| LANGALIBALELE | [20] |
| CHAPTER III. | |
| TRIAL OF LANGALIBALELE | [38] |
| CHAPTER IV. | |
| THE BISHOP’S DEFENCE | [51] |
| CHAPTER V. | |
| THE PUTINI TRIBE | [63] |
| CHAPTER VI. | |
| SIR GARNET WOLSELEY: WHAT HE CAME FOR, WHAT HE DID, AND WHAT HE DID NOT DO | [78] |
| CHAPTER VII. | |
| THE MATSHANA INQUIRY AND COLONEL COLLEY | [89] |
| CHAPTER VIII. | |
| THE ANNEXATION OF THE TRANSVAAL | [112] |
| CHAPTER IX. | |
| THE DISPUTED TERRITORY | [138] |
| CHAPTER X. | |
| THE BOUNDARY COMMISSION | [163] |
| CHAPTER XI. | |
| SIHAYO, UMBILINI, AND THE MISSIONARIES IN ZULULAND | [192] |
| CHAPTER XII. | |
| THE ULTIMATUM, DECLARATION OF WAR, AND COMMENCEMENT OF CAMPAIGN | [235] |
| CHAPTER XIII. | |
| ISANDHLWANA | [ 273] |
| CHAPTER XIV. | |
| RORKE’S DRIFT—HELPMAKAAR—COURT OF INQUIRY, ETC. | [302] |
| CHAPTER XV. | |
| THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST SIKUKUNI | [325] |
| CHAPTER XVI. | |
| NO. 4 COLUMN—INTOMBI—INDHLOBANE—KAMBULA—KING’S MESSENGERS | [344] |
| CHAPTER XVII. | |
| THE LOWER TUGELA—INYEZANE—ETSHOWE | [368] |
| CHAPTER XVIII. | |
| NGINGINDHLOVU—RELIEF OF ETSHOWE—BORDER RAIDING | [380] |
| CHAPTER XIX. | |
| REINFORCEMENTS—ISANDHLWANA REVISITED | [394] |
| CHAPTER XX. | |
| THE PRINCE IMPERIAL | [418] |
| CHAPTER XXI. | |
| ULUNDI | [433] |
| CHAPTER XXII. | |
| SIR GARNET WOLSELEY—CAPTURE OF CETSHWAYO | [453] |
| CONCLUSION | [475] |
THE ZULU WAR.
CHAPTER I.
FIRST CAUSES.
England’s collisions with the savage races bordering upon her colonies have in all probability usually been brought about by the exigencies of the moment, by border-troubles, and acts of violence and insolence on the part of the savages, and from the absolute necessity of protecting a small and trembling white population from their assaults.
No such causes as these have led up to the war of 1879. For more than twenty years the Zulus and the colonists of Natal have lived side by side in perfect peace and quietness. The tranquillity of our border had been a matter of pride as compared to the disturbed and uncertain boundaries between Zululand and the Transvaal. The mere fact of the utterly unprotected condition of the frontier farmers on our border, and the entire absence of anything like precaution, evinced by the common practice of building houses of the most combustible description, is a proof that the colonists felt no real alarm concerning the Zulus until the idea was suggested to them by those in authority over them.[1] The only interruption to this tranquil condition of the public mind about the Zulus was in the year 1861, when a scare took place in the colony, for which, as it afterwards proved, there were no grounds whatsoever. A general but unfounded belief was rife that Cetshwayo,[2] king, or rather at that time prince, ruling Zululand, was about to invade Natal, in order to obtain possession of his young brother Umkungo, a claimant of the Zulu crown, and who had escaped over the border at the time of the great civil war of which we shall presently treat. This young prince had been placed—by the Secretary for Native Affairs, Mr. Shepstone—at Bishopstowe,[3] for his education in the Native Boys’ School there; and it was not until he had been there for years that the fancy arose, suggested and fostered by the border farmers and traders in Zululand, that Cetshwayo intended to take him by force from amongst us, or at all events to make the attempt.
Under the influence of this belief the troops then stationed in Natal were ordered to the frontier, the colonial volunteers were called out, the defence of the principal towns became a matter for consideration; while outlying farmers, and residents in the country, hastened to remove their families to places of comparative safety.
Bishopstowe was supposed to be the special object of the expected attack; but the Bishop himself, having occasional opportunities of learning the state of things in Zululand, through his missionary there, could never be brought thoroughly to believe in the gravity of the danger. It is true that, as a matter of precaution, and in deference to the strongly-expressed opinion of the Lieut.-Governor of the Colony and of Mr. Shepstone, he sent away the threatened boy to some of his own people, in a more remote and safer part of the colony. But he was extremely reluctant to take the further step, strongly urged upon him, of removing his family and people to the adjacent city of Pietermaritzburg, and only consented to do so under protest. During the night following his consent, but before the project had been carried out, he had reason for a few hours to suppose that he had been mistaken in his own judgment. The family at Bishopstowe was knocked up at one o’clock in the morning by a messenger from a passing Dutch farmer, who, on his way into town with his own family, had sent word to the Bishop that Cetshwayo’s army had entered the colony, was already between him and Table Mountain—that is to say within a distance of nine miles—and was burning, killing, and destroying all upon the way to Bishopstowe. There seemed to be no doubt of the fact; so, hastily collecting their native villagers,[4] the Colensos left their homes and started for the town, which they reached, most of them on foot, about daybreak. The consequence of their being accompanied and followed by a considerable party of natives (of both sexes and all ages!) was that the townspeople immediately supposed that the “Zulus had come;” and some of them actually left their houses, and took refuge in the various places of safety—such as the fort, the principal churches, and so on—previously decided upon by the authorities in case of necessity. In common South African terms they “went into laager.”