“Macomo, Sandilla’s uncle, appeared much dejected. He is the only one of the Gaika chiefs who may be said to be really anxious for peace. Some time since, he sent his eldest son an order not to fight. The dutiful son replied, that Macomo was a ‘drunken coward, and only wished for peace for the sake of the canteen.’ At the meeting the others expressed themselves pretty much as they had previously done. They stated that they had never heard of a conquered people being called upon to give up their arms: that they had bought them openly from British traders (Notre); that, as for the cattle, most of them were dead; that they were tired of the war, and would not fight any more—they were ‘under our feet;’ that our convoys might move through the countries unmolested; that we might slay the thieves now plundering the Colony—they were a banditti under no control; and that, ‘if we were resolved to continue the war, we must slay them at the doors of their huts.’!!! Cunning savages! they know that British troops will never kill unresisting men, much less the miserable tillers of the ground, the poor women of Kaffirland, and they imagine we are yet to be imposed upon.
“As Mr Calderwood approached Beaufort, on his way to this peaceful meeting, an assegai passed across him, thrown by the hand of some savage assassin. Eight Kaffirs sprang out of a bush close by, and Mr Calderwood and the Cape Corps orderly following him, galloped onwards into the town, scarcely half a mile distant. Probably, two days after this occurrence, these very men were among those ‘in the bush,’ who said, ‘their hearts were heavy; the teacher’s word was no longer good; they were under our feet,’ etc, etc! or of that party which, on encountering a detachment of the 91st, between Block Drift and Fort Cox, threw themselves on the ground, and suffered the troops to pass on.
“There is, however, no doubt that the inferior Kaffirs are heartily tired of the war, and suffering from disease, in consequence of starvation, cold, and change of diet. Some are living on the sea-shore, on shell-fish; this shows their state of destitution, as they have not hitherto been accustomed to eat fish of any description. Many would be glad to be under British rule; for, in spite of their old notions of chieftainship, and habits of vassalage, they have discovered how completely they have been misled and disappointed by their chiefs. Last February, when the 27th appeared at the mouth of the Kowie, they were extremely astonished; and, had they landed, it would have had a salutary effect. The disembarkation of a regiment like the Rifle Brigade at the Buffalo, in the heart of Kaffirland, would go far towards convincing these heathens more than ever of the power of the ‘Children of the foam, whose great sea-waggons from the broad waters spit forth red men.’
“October 19th.—The General’s camp has been deluged. Colonel Somerset returned from the Keiskama in the midst of torrents; the wind blew in such heavy gales, that the encampment, after a tempestuous night, occasionally presented a deficiency in tents. Here lay a sleeper overpowered with fatigue, quite unconscious that his canopy was removed, there a medley assortment of camp equipage, also shelterless, the tent that covered it blown many yards away, and flattened in the mud. The poor half-starved horses, with their tails turned towards the driving rain, and quite crest-fallen, neighed joyfully on the approach of any human being, in hopes of food. None to be had. The ‘Catherine’ lies a wreck upon the shore at Waterloo Bay, with little chance of saving her cargo of forage, none of landing it for some time, if saved.”
Note 1. This sale of arms and ammunition to the Kaffirs was prohibited by the Dutch Government, but had been tolerated by the Stockenstrom treaties; it is now again very properly forbidden.