A few miles more brought us at last to a halt on the Amatola Flats; where, after a continued march of above 250 miles, we pitched tents by the banks of the Quesana River, at the foot of the Great Amatolas. The sun sank behind the purple mountains in a flood of crimson; and as the darkness gathered around, and troops of wolves and jackals commenced their nightly howling, the flames of the burning village grew brighter and more distinct on the dark hill side. The heat of the day was succeeded, as usual, by a cold sharp air, and the cheerful camp-fires were quickly surrounded by men and officers; some in blanket-coats and pea-jackets, squatting cross-legged around a steaming camp-kettle; others in the midst of culinary cares, chopping wood, replenishing the fire, or lifting the pot lid to taste the soup; while those who had already dined, were enjoying their pipes. Our evenings in camp were occasionally varied, either by a round of large parties, when each guest invited brought with him his own "tin-tot," knife, spoon, and biscuit; or by musical soirées in our tents; where, with a guttering tallow candle fixed in the socket of a bayonet stuck in the ground, we sipped thick coffee and sang duets and solos with very loud choruses till a late hour, and generally with more satisfaction to ourselves than our neighbours.
The following forenoon several Kaffirs were killed in a skirmish with the Cape Corps, and their huts burnt and destroyed. The expected order was issued for the attack next day, and the division directed to be under arms at five o'clock in the morning, "to turn out without bugle sound, or any noise whatever." A camp-guard of 300 men was to be left behind under a captain; and, lastly, all lights and fires in the camp were ordered to be extinguished at seven o'clock. Till then we sat discussing the anticipated attack, when the curfew put an end to our councils, we groped our way to the dark tents, and lay down to rest in our clothes.
It was still quite dark when my servant shook me by the shoulder, and with some difficulty succeeded in making me comprehend that the troops were already "falling in," and that he wanted to pack up the blanket and plaid on which I lay. Accordingly I jumped up, and after loading the pack-horse with three days' rations, patrol-tent, kettles, and other requisites for the bivouac, we made our way, stumbling along in the dark, over tent-ropes and picketing pegs, to the parade-ground, where the first brigade was rapidly assembling. The motionless ranks were inspected as far as the imperfect light allowed, and all in silence; and at five o'clock precisely, the General having arrived on the ground, the word of command was passed on sotto voce, and we moved noiselessly away to the foot of the mountains, commencing the ascent of the Western Amatolas by the pass in front of our encampment, reaching the summit just at day-break.
Here we were halted in line along the ridge, while General Somerset proceeded with a detachment of the Cape Corps to reconnoitre the position of the enemy on the Victoria heights on our right flank. On reaching the southern point of the range his party was sharply attacked, and a brisk skirmish maintained for a time on both sides. Moving forward a column of two companies of the 91st, and three of European and native Levies, under command of Lieut.-Col. Sutton, the General returned to our brigade to direct the movements of the main attack.
We saw the smoke of the enemy's fires curling slowly up from the dark bush, on a steppe or lower ridge of the elevated range in front, and on the opposite side of a lovely valley which lay at our very feet, carpeted with the smoothest and greenest grass, and dotted with mimosa, protéa, and clumps of tangled bush. On our left towered the lofty peak of the Hogsback, the highest point of the whole chain; and below it lay a finely wooded deep ravine, down the centre of which foamed a milk-white cataract, the dark forest stretching away on either side, and filling the kloof.
In a few moments an aid-de-camp rode up with instructions for our brigade to move forward and descend into the valley below; the cavalry and pack-horses making a detour of about a mile to our left, to a point where the descent was somewhat less precipitous. After scrambling down to the bottom, we formed "column of sub-divisions," and moved across the valley, perceiving as we neared the lofty bridge opposite several hundreds of the enemy gathering on its summit, their arms flashing and glittering along the edge of the cliff in the morning sun. There was only one point at which this apparently impregnable position was accessible, and that was by a long steep exposed grassy ridge, destitute of all cover, and completely commanded from the top by a perfect fortification of huge detached rocks, behind which we could perceive the enemy strongly posted and quietly waiting our attack, confident in the security of their position. Up this formidable ascent, bare and slippery as the roof of a house, the 74th were ordered to advance and storm the natural citadel at its summit. In the meantime heavy firing, about a mile distant on our right, announced that Col. Sutton's column was engaged with the enemy in that direction; while the different corps of native Levies were moved round to our right and left flanks, those on the left skirmishing through the bush and setting fire to a number of Kaffir huts. Pushing rapidly on to the point of attack, we waded the river, and commenced the arduous ascent, up which, in spite of a burning sun, the men mounted like true Highlanders. To our surprise the enemy allowed us to come considerably within range, and we were beginning to imagine the position was abandoned, when suddenly they opened fire upon us from the shelter of the crags, sweeping every inch of the smooth approach, themselves invisible, the tops only of their black heads peeping over the rocks as they took aim, and disappearing again as instantaneously as the flash of their guns. Showers of balls whistled past us, with the peculiar ping, whit, so well known to those who have been under fire; as we mounted, we returned their fire with steady well-directed volleys every time their heads were seen above the parapet of rocks, and deployed into line under a rattling fire, and the fight begun in earnest. A private fell shot in the foot. For a quarter of an hour there was an incessant roar of musketry and whistling of bullets. As we neared the top, scrambling with hands and knees up the crags, which were now discovered to be of enormous size, and in places insurmountable; the fire became hotter, the balls striking the ground and sending the earth and gravel flying in our faces. One man fell shot through the arm and side; I passed another sitting on the ground wounded in several places, and two more awaiting the surgeon's aid; one with a shattered hand and the other a wound in the head, his face deluged with blood. Lieutenant Bruce received a shot in the arm, and a sixth man fell badly wounded in the leg.
74TH HIGHLANDERS STORMING THE AMATOLAS.
The men's mess-tins and folded coats were grazed and torn on every side, and their firelocks shattered in their hands; in one or two instances the barrels were perforated as though they had been soft lead.
Under this fire we sent out two companies in skirmishing order, and climbing from rock to rock, exchanging shots with the enemy at close quarters, crowned the ridge with a cheer, and carried the position, driving off the defenders, who took refuge in a dense forest a few hundred yards in the rear. We now stood in their fortress, which was scattered with remains of roasted marrow bones and torn cartridge covers, the rocks stained with fresh blood. We were astonished at the strength of the position, which might have been held by a hundred regular troops against such a force as ours, with great loss to the assailants. Towards this forest (of fine timber, the first we had seen in the country), we quickly advanced across the intervening belt of turf-covered table-land. Here again they had the advantage of position; for unseen themselves, they opened a severe fire on us, killing one of our non-commissioned officers at the first volley, the ball passing right through his heart. Our Colonel and the Major very narrowly escaped, a bullet cutting through the clothes of the former by the waist; while the Major's haversac was shot through. Two more men fell wounded, and another, shot through the brain, dropped dead without a groan. The word forward was given by our gallant Colonel, who himself set the example, and we dashed into the wood under a rattling fire, and gave them another volley, which must have told severely; for though they always carry off their dead and wounded to prevent their casualties being known, we found as we advanced the bodies of five lying dead in one place, and twelve in another; and as we plunged after them into the tangled forest, the blood-spoor showed where others had fallen. The change was so great from the glare of the sunshine to the gloom of the forest, its thick foliage overhead interwoven with baboon-ropes and creepers, that we could hardly distinguish our enemies as they darted swiftly from cover to cover. Five rebel Hottentots were killed in a hole or pit half-hidden by bush. Another of our men was shot dead by a Kaffir perched in the thick branches of a lofty tree, from which he was brought down, riddled with balls, the body tumbling with a crash into the thicket beneath. A cluster of Kaffir and "hartebeest" or Hottentot huts (the former shaped like a huge bee-hive, the latter like a patrol-tent) was set fire to, without its being known, till half consumed, that they contained a number of wounded Kaffirs.