It was late the following afternoon when we again halted at the Kowie River, at the foot of the mountain, and the oxen being too much exhausted to drag the waggons up, we encamped there for the night. Having neither bread nor biscuit left, we made a supper of beef and cold water, refreshing ourselves, after sleeping three nights in our clothes, by a moonlight bathe in the cold stream. Next morning all were under way at three o'clock, and before day dawned were near the top of the mountain road looking down on the fires we had left, glimmering far below in the yet dark valley. The camp at Fort England was reached in time for a somewhat late breakfast, during which we had more than enough to do between satisfying our own voracious appetites and the eager inquiries of those who had so unwillingly been left behind.
General Somerset, on his return to Graham's Town, received despatches from the Commander-in-chief of such a nature as to induce him to march us at once up the country to Fort Hare. Accordingly we struck tents next morning, though it was Sunday, and proceeded to Bothas Hill that afternoon, whence we had our first view of the lofty rugged chain of the Amatolas, gazing upon them in the blue distance, with no little interest, as our reported destination, and feeling that at last we were fairly off for Kaffirland. The view from this hill was splendid: endless chains of mountains; dark and wooded kloofs; sunny valleys, and grassy plains, dotted with mimosa; all clad in a depth and variety of colouring forming a picture as difficult to describe as to forget.
The following morning we entered the Ecca Pass, the terror of waggon-drivers and "post-riders," and notorious as the scene of many fatal ambuscades. The road winds along a deep narrow valley between high hills covered with dense thorny bush, and has a high wall of rock on the one hand, on the other a precipitous ravine, with admirable cover for Kaffirs everywhere, and is, perhaps, one of the most villanous specimens of a high road in the known world, abounding throughout its entire length with rocks of all sizes, from that of a "company's arm-chest" downwards; holes in the middle of it as deep as an ordinary horse-pond. On the one side the yawning precipices encroach on the crumbling path; while on the other some communicative driver points to overhanging crags and unapproachable cliffs, from which unsuspecting escorts and parties of horsemen are frequently fired upon by lurking bands of the enemy; with what fatal effect is evidenced by the bones and dried up hides of oxen and horses lying in the track. At a turn in the road, where only three days before a mounted express had been attacked, and four of the party wounded, we disturbed a troop of gorged vultures, which, rising from the half-devoured carcase of one of the horses, alighted on the rocks above, from the concealed crevices of which the rebels had taken aim. Within three weeks after this attack they again waylaid a like party, but with more fatal effect, two men being killed and four wounded. We were suffered to pass without molestation. The appearance of our long line, as it moved down the valley, was very striking; wild-looking Fingoes, strings of oxen and waggons, the glittering forest of bayonets, straggling Levies, pack-horses, and camp followers, winding along the hill-side, through the glowing bush, which was varied by magnificent euphorbias, rivalling forest trees in height.
Among the rocks were numbers of dossies[7](a sort of rabbit, with a rat's head and monkey's hands) and some large baboons.
We emerged from the valley by a steep rough road, called Brak River Hill, and after a few miles level trek through a sandy country, sprinkled with thorn bushes, arrived at Fort Brown, a lonely quadrangular fortification, close to the Great Fish River, on the opposite bank of which we encamped for the night.
At the Koonap River, where we outspanned for a couple of hours next morning, two magnificent koodoo were seen, but they disappeared in the thick bush before any of the stalkers were within rifle range; one of them was a splendid fellow, as large as a mule, with long upright spiral horns, full three feet high.
From this the road for some distance ran along the base of a lofty range of cliffs called the Blue Krantz, an unbroken precipice of grey rock, at least 100 feet in height, and so perpendicular that a stone thrown from it would have fallen right among us; its summit fringed with aloes and overhanging trees, scarlet geranium springing from every crevice.
After crossing the river by two deep drifts, a few hundred yards apart, the diverging roads re-united at a deserted military post, destroyed by the enemy, and we commenced the ascent of the Koonap Hill, a long winding steep road, strewed, like the pass of the previous day, with the bones and carcasses of horses and bullocks, victims, not of savages, but of civilized cruelty; in our own case, one after another, twenty-one oxen were left dying or perfectly exhausted on the hill-side, and it was with the greatest difficulty that the remainder, weakened by long scarcity of pasture, were goaded to the top, though each waggon was drawn up by a double span, or team, driven by four or five screaming swearing Totties, who, besides their terrific whips, every cut of which left a long bare bleeding streak, used a heavy "jambok" of rhinoceros hide, six feet long, and as thick as a man's wrist at the handle, and at every stand-still, when these failed, bent the unfortunate animals' tails till they broke, biting them savagely.
The extensive range of country seen from this hill increased in beauty as we ascended the road which ran along the edge of the ravine, fringed with majestic euphorbias; in the distance deep blue mountains, and plains of red sand, then wavy bush-covered hills, and in the valley below us the winding river, and our rear guard, with their long line of waggons slowly advancing.
It was not till the afternoon that the last waggon reached the top of the ascent. No longer shaded by high wooded banks, we found the sun oppressively hot as we trekked along through endless clumps of dusty spek-boom, or elephant tree. In the evening we had a magnificent sunset view of the Amatolas; and just as night set in came to a halt (after a march of about two and twenty miles) at Lieuw Fontein (lion's spring), close to a small military post standing alone in a desolate country, and garrisoned by some Hottentot Levies, under an officer of the line, who must have had a lively time of it, as no one dare go beyond the gates, except with a strong mounted escort.
Orders were issued to march at eight next morning, a most gentlemanly hour, as all agreed, and the more cordially as the distance to be performed was only six miles, to the Kat River, to pasture the oxen, which now absolutely required rest and food. They were turned out to graze under the protection of a subaltern's guard, while we hastened to purify ourselves in the rocky stream, protected by an armed party on the willow banks; for some dozen Kaffirs in red blanketswere seen on a low hill about a mile off, their attention apparently divided equally between the herds and the bathers.
After this welcome rest we resumed our march next morning, but before many miles were accomplished, the waggons in front came to a stand-still at the foot of a steep short hill. Judging from its apparently moderate height we thought the stoppage would only be brief, but to our surprise, soon observed the more knowing drivers in rear of the train begin to make deliberate preparation for breakfast, those nearer the front contenting themselves with a biscuit. Fires were made, coffee pounded, dirty bags rummaged, and lumps of raw meat drawn out, studded with copper caps and bits of broken pipe, and plentifully dusted with crumbs and powdered biscuit; and they were soon at work, tooth and nail. As for the troops, no orders having been given for breakfast, from the uncertainty of our movements, we went without.
The last forelouper had finished his scanty pickings and wiped the greasy clasped-knife on his woolly pate, the drivers had smoked out a digestive pipe, and were fast asleep under their waggons, before the "fall in" sounded, and we moved forward. We had wondered at the long delay, but were more astonished, when we came to the ascent, that it had ever been accomplished with such heavily laden waggons.
This achieved, the road was tolerably level, and we jogged on at a good pace to a ruined and deserted missionary settlement, where we were again brought to a stand by the breaking down of a waggon in the middle of a drift. There was nothing for it but to unload and carry everything to the opposite bank, when officers and men set to and spoked it out, inch by inch; the driver, meanwhile, manufacturing a new "dissel-boom" or pole out of a young tree.
On approaching Fort Hare, we were met by a large mounted party of officers who had come out to welcome us, and shortly the place came in sight, which appeared, from the hill, of considerable size, consisting of white wooden houses, and dark Fingoe huts, widely scattered round the fort. Though covering a large extent of ground, the works hardly deserve the name, being in reality nothing more than a small village of thatched mud cottages, enclosed by picketting and low walls mounting a few guns and old musquetoons.
Our arrival was greeted with lively demonstrations of joy by the coloured population, who headed the band, yelling and dancing in a state of complete nudity. Our camp, with two others consisting of Europeans and Fingoe Levies, was on a green level plain, between the fort and the River Chumie, beyond which rose a fine range of lofty mountains.
Anything more miserable in the shape of barrack accommodation than the officers' quarters in the fort can hardly be conceived; uneven floors of dried cow-dung, bending walls of "wattle and daub," smoke-blackened rafters and thatch, crazy doors, and ill-fitting windows, which exclude the light and admit in turn, wind, rain, and clouds of sand, are the characteristics of the best.
We took advantage of our stay here to ride over in a party to the scene of the engagement mentioned, which took place on the 29th December, in attempting to open a communication with the Governor, then blockaded in Fort Cox; when out of a band of only 230 men, after a hand-to-hand fight, two gallant officers, Lieutenants Melvin and Gordon, 91st regiment, and twenty-one privates, were killed, and many wounded. The ground, a thorny valley, still bore marks of the struggle: rags of uniform, and old forage-caps, with bones of Kaffirs, lay scattered about; while from thegrave of the soldiers, bones were protruding, scratched up by jackalls and hyænas, which we carefully buried again in the best way we could.
About thirty Kaffir and Hottentot prisoners were confined in the fort, who sat, for the greatest part of the day, sunning themselves outside the cells, hand-cuffed, and chained two and two. The Hottentots, who had been taken at the capture of Fort Armstrong, and were awaiting their trial by court-martial as rebels, looked sulky, and scowled with a vindictive and villanous expression. The Kaffirs, on the contrary, laughed and chatted with us, through an interpreter, displaying the most magnificent teeth,—a feature common, also, to the Fingoes, and of which both are not a little proud. A fine young Fingoe was pointed out to us among the Levies, who, having had a front tooth accidentally knocked out, got it replaced by an artificial one, for which he willingly paid five-and-twenty shillings.
The resemblance between these two races is such as to make it difficult, except to those who have lived long among them, to tell one from the other. In complexion they are identical, speak the same language; both alike are tall and well made: their women, well proportioned and exceedingly graceful in carriage; to which may be added the similarity of national dress—viz., a kaross of the skins of wild beasts, a bull's hide, or a loose blanket, with earrings and necklaces of tiger's teeth, shells, or seeds; while anklets and armlets of black and white beads, tastefully worked, are worn by the women, with smooth, brightly polished brass rings reaching from the wrist to the elbow, gradually increasing in size.
The Hottentots differ in every respect from both, being very short and slightly made, lean, and with ugly yellow monkey-looking faces, very prominent cheek bones, small turned-up snub noses, and little twinkling cunning eyes, and invariably wearing European garments,though in modesty the naked Fingoe and Kaffir immeasurably surpass them.
Just as the regiment was assembling for service in the centre of the camp, on Sunday morning, we were startled by hideous yelling and cries from the Fingoe camp, whereby the service was delayed for some time. For seeing the Commandant of the garrison galloping over, followed by other officers, one and all bolted after them to see what was going on, and found the Fingoes fighting about the division of rations. There were several hundreds of them struggling like demons, in clouds of dust, yelling out their war-cry, and challenging each other. All were perfectly naked, the blood running down the black faces and breasts of many from the blows of "knobkerries," or clubs, which they applied to each other's heads with such astounding force that the very report was enough to give one a headache. Not satisfied with this, some seizing their assegais, rushed furiously into the crowd, yelling savagely, and stabbing right and left. It was with the greatest difficulty, on the part of the Commandant and the officers of the Levies, backed by the efforts of the native sergeants, that the Fingoes were at length quieted, and dispersed. Most of them were more or less marked with the fray, and several had received severe assegai wounds, to which, however, they appeared perfectly indifferent, for, twisting up a tuft of dry grass into a small plug, and stuffing it into the gash, they lighted their wooden pipes, and smoked away as if nothing particular had happened.
General Somerset arrived, and we received orders to prepare for the march on the morrow, on our way to the famed Amatolas, the Gibraltar of the Gaikas, and head-quarters of Sandilli, who was said to be strongly posted in their almost impregnable fastnesses. Commissariat and baggage-waggons kept pouring into camp all day long; arms were cleaned and examined;saddle-bags and pack-saddles, patrol-tents and cooking utensils overhauled and fitted; and all was bustle and preparation. The patrol-tent, by the way, is a canvas affair, about six feet long and three feet high, not much unlike a dog kennel, into which the owner creeps on hands and knees, and is supported by a couple of poles of about four feet high, steadied by guys and pegs, and folds up into a small enough compass to be carried under the arm, though it is generally stowed away on the pack-saddle.
HOTTENTOT WAGGON-DRIVER.
HOTTENTOT WAGGON-DRIVER.
HOTTENTOT WAGGON-DRIVER.
FOOTNOTES:[1]Foreleaders.[2]Asterocarpus typicus.[3]Schotia speciosa.[4]Calla Ethiopica.[5]Lamproternis nitens.[6]Ant-eaters. Echidna.[7]Hyrax.
[1]Foreleaders.
[1]Foreleaders.
[2]Asterocarpus typicus.
[2]Asterocarpus typicus.
[3]Schotia speciosa.
[3]Schotia speciosa.
[4]Calla Ethiopica.
[4]Calla Ethiopica.
[5]Lamproternis nitens.
[5]Lamproternis nitens.
[6]Ant-eaters. Echidna.
[6]Ant-eaters. Echidna.
[7]Hyrax.
[7]Hyrax.
Early on the morning of the 24th June, tents were once more struck, baggage packed, and the long train of waggons stood ready inspanned.
The General, with his Staff, appeared on the ground, where the whole division, amounting to 2000 men, artillery, cavalry, infantry and irregulars, stood drawn up in column; the advance and rear guards were formed; and we moved off to the inspiriting air of "Hieland Laddie," from the 74th band, which accompanied us, at the head of the column, for about a mile; when, halting by the road side (as it had to remain at Fort Hare,) the quickstep changed into the farewell melody of "Auld lang syne," as the long waving line of hardy sun-burnt troops marched steadily past in column of sections; not ceasing till all were hidden from sight in the cloud of dust that floated along the side of the hill called "Sandilli's Kop." The pipers then struck up "Over the Border," and played us across the frontier, into Kaffirland, through the whole of which the "pipes" afterwards accompanied us, inspiriting the men on many a long and weary march, and enlivening our camps with the familiar strains of the "auld country."
Our way lay through level grassy plains along thebase of the Little Amatolas, whose sloping verdant sides were beautifully relieved by fine bold crags and perpendicular krantzes, or cliffs, of grey basaltic rock, and varied by deep belts of wood, marking the course of some invisible mountain stream. On these plains, the advance cavalry patrol, about a quarter of a mile ahead, fell in with some Kaffirs, with whom we saw them exchanging shots among the scattered bushes; and being ignorant of their numbers, began to feel excited, as a troop of horse, detached from the main body, gallopped forward to reconnoitre, or render assistance if needed. It proved to be a marauding party who had been surprised returning with stolen cattle, to one of their villages which we saw a little way up the side of the mountain, and on coming up we found they had recaptured forty head of cattle, and killed three Kaffirs. The corpse of one lay close to the track, his hand still clutching a bundle of assegais. A mounted party was sent to set fire to the village, where they found only a Gaika woman; the rest of the inhabitants having fled to the fastnesses above on the first alarm of our approach. Hundreds of Kaffirs were moving along the summit of the lofty heights on the right, watching our movements below; their figures appearing like specks against the clear blue sky.
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. Theheat 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 onsotto 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 withinstructions 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 peculiarping, 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.
74THHIGHLANDERS STORMING THE AMATOLAS.
74THHIGHLANDERS STORMING THE AMATOLAS.
74THHIGHLANDERS 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 beenheld 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 wordforwardwas 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, theblood-spoorshowed 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 withbaboon-ropesand 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, withoutits being known, till half consumed, that they contained a number of wounded Kaffirs.
We continued skirmishing as they retired before us, dodging from tree to rock, and from rock to bush, taking advantage of every cover to give us a shot, while we kept up an incessant "independent-file-firing," as they retreated, step by step, till lost in thickets, impervious to anything but wild beasts or Kaffirs. Having driven them into their inaccessible retreats among the extensive forests clothing the higher steppes of the mountain, and inflicted a considerable loss upon them, we skirmished through a belt of wood on our right, and after completely scouring it debouched on anopen, where we halted in column, and for the first time for nine hours sat down to rest our weary limbs. Here we assisted the surgeon in performing different operations on the wounded, whose cries for water were so constant, that our canteens were soon left without a drop to moisten our own lips, parched and blistered by the sun.
It was now two o'clock, and as not one of us had yet broken his fast, it may easily be imagined with what appetite we gnawed at our black biscuit. While thus engaged the enemy was observed stealing out, one by one, from the forest, and collecting on the open table-land, where our gallant fellows lay dead; and to our indignation we saw them, through the telescope, stripping the bodies, without our being able to prevent it, a deep gorge separating us; a few well-directed conical balls, from heavy metalled rifles by Egg and Purday, dispersed them at a distance of three-quarters of a mile; one was seen to fall. The party were rebel Hottentots (Cape Corps deserters), and Kaffirs, the latter perfectly naked, and armed with guns and assegais; two or three we could distinguish wearing the kaross, with head-dresses of feathers, from which fact, and theirbeing the centre of divers knots, we concluded they were chiefs andheadmen, holding councils of war.
We were joined here by the General and the rest of the forces, including Colonel Sutton's column, which had successfully attacked the enemy on the Victoria Heights, driving them from their position, and killing twenty, but with a loss of three men killed and five wounded (two of them mortally), and had burnt and destroyed two of their villages, which we saw blazing away fiercely, and sending up volumes of smoke on the Little Amatola across the valley. During our brief rest the rebels sent a messenger of truce to say they wished to surrender. Lieut.-Col. Sutton, riding out by desire of the General, held a parley with about fifty or sixty of them at the edge of the wood. They stated that they wished to leave their Kaffir allies, and requested a week to collect their own people, when they would give themselves up. But, as the General, of course, insisted on immediate surrender, and granted only half an hour instead of a week, they quickly disappeared into the forest, their object having evidently been only to gain time.
Observing the enemy again assembling on their former ground, the General ordered the 74th to return through the forest once more. As we worked our difficult way through the underwood, taking care not to lose sight of our right and left files, we kept a sharp look out every step of our way; for each thicket, hollow trunk, or jackal's hole, tuft of grass, or lofty tree, may conceal the stealthy Kaffir when least expected; in an instant the silent forest is suddenly peopled with a legion of naked savages, springing, as it were, out of the earth, with a deadly volley from their unsuspected ambuscade.
We passed the dead body of one of our men stripped naked, lying in the jungle with a ghastly wound in his chest; but having orders to advance through the belt,and join the column on the other side, it was impossible to stop to bury or remove it. When the column came up, a grave was dug for the other men; and the Colonel, on my reporting having seen the body, sent me back with half a dozen men to bring it in. We had, therefore, to retrace our steps about a quarter of a mile through the forest, at the edge of which a guard was placed to render us assistance if attacked. The magnificent trees, and the fallen trunks in various stages of decay, overgrown with creepers, or green with moss, forcibly reminded one of the backwoods of Canada. We proceeded in perfect silence, with arms ready at a moment's warning, and again came up to the body. The stems of two or three young trees, picked up by the way, and tied together by wild vine, served as a stretcher, on which we bore the body back, and without interruption, nearly to the edge of the wood. As we stopped at this point to change bearers, a sound like the sharp crack of a dry stick was heard; but as we could see no one, and a dead silence reigned around, we resumed our burden, from whose reopened wound a pool of blood had flowed where it had rested. We had just gained the open ground, when suddenly along the face of the wood there blazed a sharp fire of musketry, and the enemy sprang from every bush; our comrades of the extended company at the same moment briskly returning their fire. The balls again whistled past us, lodging in the trees with a sharpthud, or ploughing up the ground. One of our men was severely wounded in the knee, and died afterwards while undergoing amputation; the rest plunged into the forest in pursuit of the enemy, who left seven dead on the ground, carrying off many more dead and wounded. This interruption passed, we proceeded with the corpse to the grave, which the men had dug in the soft soil with their hands, billhooks,and bayonets, where we buried it with the two other bodies of the poor fellows who had fallen; and, having filled up the grave, carefully sprinkled it with dead leaves and sticks, a precaution which, as we afterwards learned from a Kaffir prisoner, was of no avail, for the crafty wretches soon found the spot, and dragging the bodies out, exposed them, as they said white men ought to be, "to the sun and the vulture."
We learned that whilst we were returning with the dead body an armed party of Hottentots came up, and sat down with Lieut. Gordon, who was posted with the company extended along the edge of the forest, and asked for bread and tobacco, stating themselves to belong to one of our native Levies, at that time at no great distance, and whom they strongly resembled in dress. Among them was a man in the Cape Corps uniform, who, when questioned as to his being on foot and in the bush, said he belonged to "troop A, Captain C——'s" and had, with several others, been ordered to dismount, and skirmish with the Levies, their horses being done up. Strongly suspecting they were rebels, but not liking to act on mere suspicion, Gordon went to request the Colonel to see them; but the moment the rascals saw them approaching the spot where they sat talking to our men, they jumped to their feet, and just as the Colonel shouted, "Shoot them down," fired a random volley, followed so instantaneously by the fire of the company that the two appeared as one report, three of the rebels falling on the spot, beside those killed and wounded at the moment we emerged from the wood.
Simultaneously with the above attack, a combined movement was effected by the 2nd division, under Colonel Mackinnon, which was separated into two columns; the first, under his own immediate command, moving from the Quilliquilli along the left bank of theKeiskamma; and the second, under Lieut.-Col. Michell, proceeding to the Keiskamma Hoek. In conjunction with the operations of the two main divisions, the troops from the garrison of Fort Cox, under the command of Lieut.-Col. Cooper, harassed the enemy in the valleys of the Keiskamma, thus "penetrating the mountains in four columns, converging to a common centre upon the principal strongholds of the enemy." A large native force, under Captain Tylden, R.E., was also placed in position on the Windogelberg, in order to prevent them making for the country beyond the Kei.
It was now near dusk, and having been out since five in the morning we were not sorry to hear the order to return to camp. As we descended the steep pass, stormed in the morning, the lines of camp-fires were seen blazing cheerfully on the darkening plain below, where the rest of the division was already bivouacked. Having again forded the river, on approaching the lines, the officers and men of the 91st came out to meet us. They had got fires lighted, and wood and water ready for our wearied men, and helping to carry in our wounded, shared their coffee with us. Whilst sitting round the fires we talked over the stirring events of the day, lamenting the fate of the brave fellows who had marched out with us that morning in as high health and spirits as ourselves, and now lay in their lonely graves on the heights above.
Shortly after nightfall it was discovered that there was no water left in camp, and, being the orderly officer, I was sent with an armed party to bring a supply from the river, about a quarter of a mile from the sentries, and (being thickly skirted with bush) a very likely ambuscade for Kaffirs, who have a taste for lurking round camps at night. We left the lines quietly, made our way across the dark plain, and soon reached theriver, which we heard, rather than saw, rushing along between its shady banks. The water-party filled their load of canteens without interruption, but the return to camp, which on this side was occupied by the Levies, was rather a hazardous affair, for the Fingoes have a stupid way of firing first and challenging afterwards. As a precautionary measure, therefore, before he could see our approach, we commenced shouting "Friend!" to the sentry who had passed us out, and also been specially warned of our return; a bright flash was the immediate answer, and a ball whizzed close over our heads: down we all went flat on our faces, shouting "Friend!" more lustily than before, as a second shot was fired at us; the stir and jabber among the rest of the Fingoes, which also prevented our being heard, promised a general sortie, in which case we should be shot or assegaied to a moral, so we took advantage of the sentry's reloading to jump to our feet, and make a dash for it; to their great astonishment, rushing almost into their arms, shouting "Friend, friend, you scoundrels, friend!"
The wounded, who lay groaning all night by a fire on the open field, suffered acutely from the cold; their distressing cries, together with the unusual hardness of the ground, kept us awake a great part of the night.
We afterwards learned that the enemy's loss was considerably greater than we had imagined, several Chiefs were amongst the slain; Beta, and Pitoi Son-of-Vongya, two of great note. Sandilli, who was present, and directing the movements of his men, was very nearly taken prisoner, escaping only by creeping on his hands and knees through the thickest part of the bush.
The morning after the fight rose dull and misty, and the top of the mountain range was hidden bywhite fleecy clouds that rolled half-way down. Not long after daylight a Gaika woman, with a child tied on her back, approached the camp, and coolly walked about among the tents and fires, looking for anything she could appropriate.
The Kaffirs were heard on the heights, every word distinctly audible, shouting to us, "Nina Ez'innqulo! yinina ukuba niyalusa pzu kwentaba enje izinqulala?" (Halloa, you Tortoises! why do you keep us up here in the cold?) They distinguished the 74th by this soubriquet, on account of a fancied resemblance between the regimental tartan, and the chequered tortoises that abound on their plains; it afterwards became general among all the other tribes, and was not unfrequently used by our own people.
After sending off our wounded in waggons, under a cavalry escort, to the standing camp at Quesana, we again ascended the same range, though at another point, and by three different routes; the 91st and native Levies by a pass about a mile to our right; the cavalry by another, at some distance on our left; ours, in the centre, though a somewhat shorter course, was by far the steepest and most trying. The men, loaded with their rations, blankets, great coats, firelocks, and sixty rounds of ball cartridge, were so fatigued under the overpowering heat of the noonday sun, that the whole column constantly halted, literally unable to move for the moment. During our ascent, the enemy showed in small bodies on several points, but did not attempt in any way to oppose us; and all three columns met on the table land above, without having fired a shot. After marching about seven miles further, without seeing anything of the enemy, we descended into the Zanooka valley, a beautiful green basin completely surrounded by a splendid amphitheatreof high wooded mountains. The Fingoes plundered a Kaffir village of considerable quantities of maize, discovered buried in large circular holes, neatly plastered over, in the floors of the huts, to which they afterwards set fire. Here we bivouacked, while General Somerset, taking with him the Cape Corps, and Hottentot and Fingoe Levies, proceeded along the head of the Liguey Stream; where, observing a party of the enemy posted in the forest intersecting the ridge of Mount Macdonald, he moved forward to attack them with the cavalry, and after a brisk skirmish and heavy firing on both sides, drove them back, and on the Levies coming up completely routed them. Descending into the valley of the Keiskamma, he returned, by a long circuit, to the bivouac, about dusk, when the enemy began to creep in nearer, and fire long shots at the groups gathered round the blazing fires. A few bullets dropped amongst us now and then; by one of which a Levy officer was shot in the leg, as he was drinking his coffee. At length, becoming bolder and more troublesome, a party of skirmishers was sent out to disperse them; and we sat watching the singular conflict, of which nothing was visible but the two long straggling broken lines of flashing musketry; one retiring as the other advanced up the dark mountain side. The beauty of the effect was heightened by the prolonged rolling of the reports echoing among the crags.
The whole column moved out of the basin shortly after sunrise, and ascended Mount Macdonald, reaching the summit at ten o'clock, where we halted; while the corps of Levies were detached into the valley of the Zanooka to intercept the enemy's cattle, the spoor of which was traced in that direction. Small parties of Kaffirs were observed at some distance descendingby different paths, into the valley of the Keiskamma, and the bivouac we had just left was soon covered with their dusky figures. The view from this elevation was most beautiful, comprising the whole of the Zanooka valley with its dark and extensive forests, sheltered glens, and smooth grassy slopes, through which wound the Tsimuka, now roaring along, foaming among masses of red rock, then lost among the overhanging trees to appear again between smooth and verdant banks, dancing and glittering in the dazzling sunshine.
The standing camp of the 2nd Division was clearly visible on a large plain about ten miles off: the troops were patrolling in the wooded valleys between us, and in communication with the General.
After completely scouring the bush at our feet, the Levies passed down the valley, skirmishing with scattered parties of rebels, and setting fire to their huts; finally returning under cover of the Cape Corps, which occupied the heights above under the immediate command of the General, with three hundred and fifty head of cattle, which we escorted along the ridges to our former bivouac of the 26th in the Amatola valley; leaving two companies of the 91st regiment to cover the return of the Levies. This they effected leisurely and without molestation, till the top of the pass was gained, leading down to the plain on which we were already bivouacked; when, just as it was growing dusk, they were attacked in the rear by a few straggling Kaffirs, who, taking advantage of the bush which commanded the pass, opened a dropping fire upon them, severely wounding the Captain of the Levies in the arm, which was afterwards amputated. The 91st fired a volley into their cover, which silenced them for a few minutes; but the Levies, exasperated by the wounding of their officer, kept up an incessantroll of musketry in spite of our bugles; which, in front of the General's patrol-tent, sounded the "cease firing" for full ten minutes. As the darkness increased the combatants were gradually lost to sight, and the flashing of their muskets grew brighter, but less frequent, till they ceased altogether. The wounded man, Captain Melville, was shortly after borne into the camp on a stretcher by the Fingoes, and the weary 91st found their fires lighted by our men, who shared their supper, scanty as it was, with their exhausted companions.
At eight o'clock on Sunday morning, unwashed and unshaven, with tattered clothes and rusty arms, we marched for our standing camp on the Quesana; climbed the face of the intervening mountain, and crossing its ridge, saw the white tents spread on the plain below, which we gained in a couple of hours, and lost no time in realizing the longed-for luxuries of a bathe and a clean shirt.
The officers left behind, had got ready a large camp-kettle of coffee, round which,tin-totin hand, we all squatted, from the Colonel downwards, and read the General's Despatch, and the honourable mention made of our exertions.
For three days the camp remained stationary, the General being absent at Fort Hare, and the troops awaiting commissariat supplies from thence. On the 2nd July, however, we were again in motion, ascending at day-break another part of the same range as before, for the purpose of clearing the eastern range of the Victoria Heights, and of again attacking the enemy's fastnesses in the forests at the southern point of the Hogsback.
After a tedious climb, we gained the top of the path, and looked down on the plain we had just left, where the pack-horses and mules, like pigmies, wound alongtowards the foot of the ascent. We halted for a couple of hours on the top of a lower ridge, extended in skirmishing order, lying down among the rocks and shrubs along the edge, looking down into the dense bush below, in which were numerous scattered kraals. From these, as the Fingoes crashing through the underwood were heard advancing through the cover, firing, yelling, and setting everything combustible in flames, the naked Kaffirs stealthily crept, unaware of the sharpshooters above.
In the meantime, a party of the 91st and European Levies attacked the forest stronghold at the southern point of the Hogsback, and thoroughly cleared it of the enemy, burnt their huts, and obliged the inhabitants to take refuge in the highest fastnesses of the lofty Chumie. Two large villages, which, from being of the same colour as the rocks among which they stood, had hitherto escaped our notice, now broke out in flames, sending up into the still air clouds of heavy white smoke, which were seen twenty miles off. The Fingoe and Hottentot Levies, who had been despatched down the valley of the Amatola, burning every kraal on their way, came on a lair, or hiding-place, from which we on the heights could now see the Kaffirs hastily escaping in an opposite direction, their chief, Oba, "son-of-Tyali," plainly discernible riding off amongst them, just as the patrol reached the place; so sudden and unexpected was the discovery and attack of this retreat, that everything was abandoned, and Tyali's wives and children, and those of Oba and other Kaffir grandees, were taken prisoners. A large quantity of karosses, arms, ornaments, and skins, were taken, also the chiefs head-dress of cranes' wings (the insignia of rank), with the full-dress jacket and cap presented to him by Sir H. Smith. The whole of the kraals were burnt to the ground. The capturedwomen were marched through our ranks shortly afterwards, on their way to the General: their stately carriage and dignified step were most striking, as they moved haughtily along with the indescribable ease and grace of manner peculiar to both Kaffir and Fingo women. Having been examined and interrogated to little purpose by the General's interpreter, they were set at liberty, and wending their way back towards their kraal, now a heap of smoking ruins, descended the hill, and were soon lost to sight in the bush below.
The pasturage round our standing camp having become particularly scanty, we moved, the following morning, to the N'caga, or Yellow-Woods, three miles distant.
Just as we had pitched tents, the English mail arrived; and as the welcome news spread like wildfire, hurrying from all sides, we flocked towards the panting post-horses, and as the dusty leather bags were emptied on the grass, crowded eagerly round for the anxiously-expected letters, considerably bewildering the Camp-Sergeant-Major by our zealous assistance in sorting them. Those lucky enough to get letters from home retired to their tents, or to the shade of some tree beyond the bustling camp, to enjoy them—the disappointed vowing never to write home again. The escort with the mail had been attacked in the Ecca valley; the officer in charge (Ensign Gill, C.M.R.), having had his horse shot under him, one of his men killed, and two wounded.
We were permitted to rest in camp next day, though parties of Fingoes were out in all directions, burning and destroying the deserted Kaffir kraals. The whole afternoon they kept pouring into camp laden with their spoils; large quantities ofamazimba, Kaffir corn,[8]ornaments, head-dresses, and every kind of Kaffir traps and toggery. Several women were also brought in prisoners, but sent about their business after an interview with the General's interpreter, much to the disappointment of their Fingoe captors, who, finding they were not to have the pleasure of putting them to death as they had anticipated, and highly incensed at their being allowed to return unharmed to their own people after the trouble they had been at in taking them, followed the liberated captives out of the camp, heaping on them every curse and abuse in the Kaffir vocabulary, and thrashing them with theirkeeries(long heavy sticks), which, however, was summarily put a stop to by us, as soon as noticed.
The part of the camp allotted to these most zealous allies presented a variety of novel and striking scenes. On all sides the eye encountered black fellows of stalwart frame, arraying themselves in the ornaments and insignia of despoiledInkosiandAmapakati,[9]singing to themselves in a deep guttural chant, and dancing in a slow jerking step to some monotonous measure. In a wide clear space a ring of some three score of these athletic forms, blankets and karosses thrown aside, began a war-dance to the strange chorus of their deep voices, accompanied by regular tapping on a shield of ox-hide. The performers shook their gleaming assegais in the air, and jerked their supple frames to and fro, lifting their feet alternately, or jumping with both, as they sung, in perfect harmony, a wild air, swelling from a low organ-like hum to the full power of their lungs; hissing like serpents, and creeping with bent bodies round and round, and in and out, as if on the spoor of the enemy; then breaking out into cries and yells, stabbing furiously at the imaginary victim in their centre, and shaking their bodies backward and forward, from the knees upward, till the perspiration streamed from every pore. Each verse of the war-song, which was an improvised commemoration of their late achievements, was given by a single voice in a loud recitative, and then caught up by the whole in an astounding chorus,