longest?" asked Margetts.
"Yes, sir. One company had moved back against the steep rock and stoodin three sides of a square. They were the last."
"Ay; that was Younghusband's company. I saw them retreating to the baseof the precipice just as Hardy and I rode off the ground. They kept theZulus _off_ the longest, did they?"
"Yes, sir. They stood side by side, and couldn't be attacked frombehind. They shot the blacks down by twenties at a time, till therewere great heaps of dead in front of them. The Zulus kept back at last,and only threw at them from a distance. By and by all their cartridgeswere used up. Then the blacks rushed at them again. But the soldierskept them off ever so long with their bayonets. At last the Zuluspicked up the dead bodies and threw them on the bayonets, and so brokeinto the square and killed all."
"And how did you manage to get off yourself?" inquired Redgy.
"I contrived to pull off my uniform, bit by bit, and hid it under thehorse's neck. Then I took the big Zulu's feathers and bracelets and putthem on, and tied his cowtails round my waist. No one came near thepart of the field where I was lying while I was doing it. Then I gotup, took the Zulu's assegay, and nobody guessed that I was not a Zulu.I went first to Mr Ernest, meaning to bury his body. But he was alive,and did not want to be buried!"
"Ernest alive!" exclaimed George. "Why, I saw the assegay pierce himthrough and through?"
"No, it only grazed his ribs, and the handle remained in his side, sothat the blood had stopped. As soon as it got dark, I carried him intothe wood, to a cave which I found there. There he has been lying eversince, and I have nursed him. I got some supply of food from the campbefore the Zulus took it all. But it was all done yesterday, and MrErnest would have died of hunger, so I came here."
"And you would have died of hunger too, you good fellow, though younever seem to think of that," said Redgy. "Where have you left Ernestnow?"
"He is still in the cave, Mr Margetts. He is much better, but not ableto walk yet. But he might be brought here quite safely."
"I'll go and speak to the lieutenant, or to Evetts, whichever of them Ican find first," said George. "I have no doubt he will send out a partyto fetch Ernest in. But tell me, Matamo, are the Zulus still in greatnumbers about there? Would they attack our fellows if they went out tobring him here?"
"The Zulus have been gone from Isandhlwana a long while ago," saidMatamo. "If they had remained about there, they must have discoveredMr Ernest. No; they have carried off the cannon and the rifles and therevolvers, and everything they fancied. There are nothing but deadbodies there."
"Very well. As soon as you are rested, a party shall set out. I willgo with it myself."
"Thank you, sir, I want no rest. I can go at once."
CHAPTER FOURTEEN.
A long interval had passed since the occurrence of the events recordedin the last chapter. It was now July, the depth of the southern winter.Although Zululand is on the border of the tropics, there is often atthat season damp and chilly weather, which is extremely trying toEuropeans. When our story re-opens, George, Vander Heyden, and Redgywere lying on some tiger-skin karosses, under the shelter of a Capewaggon, enjoying the warm beams of the sun, which in the forenoon hadconsiderable power.
The scene was very different from that surrounding Rorke's Drift, beingextremely picturesque and beautiful. A rich undulating plain was spreadout before them, terminating in woody heights. The green surface wasvaried by patches of mimosa scrub and groves of acacias and date palms.Under the hills to the right, which were mostly covered with thorns, thecourse of the noble Zulu river, the White Umvalosi, was distinctly to betraced, now lost between graceful masses of feathery foliage, nowflashing out from behind its screen into the full sunlight.
"Do you know what that mound is yonder?" inquired Margetts, pointing toa vast green tumulus, conspicuous in the distance in the direction ofthe north-east. "Has a battle been fought there, or what?"
"That is King Panda's tomb!" said Vander Heyden,--"Cetewayo's father,you know. He was interred there in a sitting attitude, as is the customof the country. The meaning of it, I suppose, is to signify that he isstill ruling the land, as they have a sort of superstitious belief thathe does. They are very particular about their funeral ceremonies. Theyhave an idea that the spirits of the dead will punish severely anyomission of them!"
"And they have an unpleasant custom of killing some hundreds of peopleto do honour to the dead, haven't they?" inquired Redgy.
"Yes, they have," assented Vander Heyden; "but to do your EnglishGovernment justice, they would not allow that. One reason why Iresolved to follow this out to the last, is because I know Cetewayo'sbarbarity has only been kept within any bounds by the power of theEnglish. Were he to be able to defy that, the horrors of the past wouldbe revived."
"Shall we pass Panda's tomb on our way to attack Ulundi to-morrow?"asked Margetts. "I am not sure that even now I know the exact positionof the royal kraal!"
"It is there," said Vander Heyden, pointing with his hand, "in thecentre of those masses of the mimosa scrub. It is as much as fifteen orsixteen miles from here. If we are to march to attack it to-morrow, asyou say, Margetts, and as is generally believed in the camp, it will bea long day's work over a country like this."
"I agree with you," said George; "but, nevertheless, the attempt will bemade. In a very few days, perhaps in a single day, the opportunity willbe lost to Lord Chelmsford of recovering the laurels he lost atIsandhlwana. Sir Garnet Wolseley has already arrived from England, andmay take the command over any day."
"I don't suppose we shall ever get very near Ulundi without having abrush with these black fellows," observed Margetts. "They are about ingreat numbers, and will never allow the royal kraal to be taken, if theycan prevent it."
Much had happened during the last few months of public interest, as wellas affecting the personal concerns of the characters of our story. Inthe first place, hostilities had altogether been broken off after theaction at Rorke's Drift. Lord Chelmsford, over-estimating perhaps thegravity of the situation, as he had before certainly underrated it,resolved not to recommence operations until he was in command of a forcesufficient to bear down all resistance. He argued, and perhaps rightly,that, after his experience at Isandhlwana, the native troops could notbe relied upon in any action with the Zulus; and without them the forcesat his command were insufficient to face the vast multitude still underCetewayo's orders. Pearson had had to intrench himself at Ekowe, wherehe would be obliged to defend himself, until troops sufficient for hisrelief could be got together. Colonel Wood was in like manner under thenecessity of fortifying a camp on Kambula Hill, unable to advance;though the terror in which his name was held, and his own extremevigilance, rendered any attack upon him too dangerous to be attempted.
Lord Chelmsford's demands for powerful reinforcements were promptlygranted. Two regiments of cavalry, five of infantry, two fieldbatteries of artillery, and a company of engineers, were sent out inlarge and powerful steam-vessels, placing, with those already in Natal,not less than twenty-two thousand men at his disposal.
But, notwithstanding all the exertions made, a long delay ensued, duringwhich the prestige of England seemed to be continually on the wane, andthe terror inspired by Cetewayo continually on the increase. Thegeneral belief throughout Natal--it might be said throughout the wholeof Southern Africa--was that if Cetewayo, leaving a sufficient force tokeep Wood and Pearson within their camps, were to lead say thirtythousand of his braves into the colony, no resistance could be offered.The inhabitants would have to shut themselves up in the towns, which hadbeen fortified in anticipation of such a danger, leaving their villages,their farm and country houses, their cattle and their crops, anundisputed prey to their invaders.
The anxiety was in a great measure relieved when, early in April, thebattle of Ginghilovo was fought and the relief of Ekowe effected. Butthe disaster at Intombi, occurring at nearly the same time, which provedonly too plainly how com
pletely the blacks were masters of the country,and not long afterwards the melancholy death of the Prince Imperial,saddened all hearts. The universal feeling throughout the country wasthat, if the lustre of the British arms was to be vindicated, it must beby some brilliant achievement, which would throw all previous disastersinto the shade.
All our friends, George and Redgy and Hardy and Vander Heyden, had beenembarrassed by the untoward course of events. George had obtained leaveof absence from camp duties. The Mounted Volunteers indeed had beenreduced to a mere handful, and though he and Margetts and Vander Heydenall intended to accompany the British forces to the end of the campaign,they had to wait until they were drafted into