The British having taken from the Boers the land the Boers had taken from the Zulus, the region settled down to a period of relative calm. The Tugela River was acknowledged as the boundary between the colony and the kingdom but the coastal strip, and additional territory surrounding St. Lucia Bay, was returned to Zululand. Reckoning the commencement of Mpande’s reign from the time of Dingane’s death, his kingship would last thirty-two relatively peaceful years, a period without any serious confrontation with his white colonial neighbours. Less than two decades had passed since the first white men had waded ashore to pay their respects to King Shaka and, as little better than castaways, had been received with generosity while they in turn had had little to offer except a few firearms and macassa hair oil. Nevertheless, the white man had acquired half the territory over which Shaka had once held sway. Apart from the battle the Boers had fought on the banks of what they called ‘Blood River’, the territory had, strangely enough, been acquired by either the white men fighting between themselves or having the Zulus fight against each other. By the white man’s own reckoning, 3,000 Zulus had perished at Blood River and a further 2,000 in the more recent battles. On the other hand, white casualties inflicted by the Zulus, including those of Piet Retief and his men, were little more then 100 whilst casualties inflicted, white upon white, between the Boers and redcoats, numbered more or less the same.
At the time Mpande became king, the borders of Zululand were contained by the Indian Ocean to the east, the new colony of Natal to the south, the Swazi kingdom in the north while to the west the border drifted into the lands of vassal clans and tribes beyond which there were other African kingdoms yet to be explored and exploited by the white man. Nevertheless, by the time of Mpande’s death, the Zulu kingdom would be all but surrounded by white dominated territory, and with its army of 40,000 warriors with no-one to fight, would be reckoned as an archaic but dangerous hindrance to the white man marching north. However, that was for the future; for the present Mpande and the Zulu people would be left to get on with their ancient way of life without too much interference from their bossy colonial neighbours. There would still be desertions from the kingdom with runaways seeking protection and employment, but these defectors were absorbed by the colony and were no longer marched back to Zululand for punishment. Generally, the Zulus shunned working as labourers for the white man but there were those willing to do so, adding to the mounting number of Natal Zulus who would soon vastly outnumber the colonial whites.
Encounters with the Zulu people who were still living their traditional way of life, were now confined to those who would, for whatever reason, journey north beyond the Tugela River: traders, hunters and the odd missionary who happened to be fortunate enough to obtain Mpande’s permission to preach within his kingdom. However, most missionaries had to be content to evangelise amongst the ever-growing number of defectors from the kingdom who were known, in colloquial terminology, as ‘Natal kaffirs’. Just such a missionary was Wilhelm Posselt, a German of the Berlin Missionary Society.
When Posselt arrived in Natal, Mpande had been king for four relatively peaceful years but Posselt, like other missionaries, would exaggerate the savagery and barbarism of the Zulu people in order to excite and awe his sponsors and to exaggerate the dangers of his mission. He told his German kin:
The amaZulu, on the north-eastern border of the Colony, are the most powerful and warlike nation . . . Its constitution represents the most complete despotism of the lowest and rudest kind. There the king sits like a demi-god in his large kraal. His people approach him on their knees only to within a given distance, which may not be transgressed, adoring him and with loud voices exalting him to the highest heavens. The only purpose for which this monster the king, lives and to which he devotes his wild life is to satisfy the lust of his unclean heart to the fullest degree and to secure his life and his reign through the elimination of whole sections of his people, his relatives, parents, wives and children.
Posselt, having described Mpande and his people, neither of whom he had ever seen as yet, went on to describe his congregation:
The Zulu kaffirs [those Zulus who had defected to Natal] are also robust, broad-chested, well-built people of average height. However, there are many who, like Saul, are one head taller than the rest. Among the men one often finds really good looking fellows and one such a fellow stands before me, straight as a dart, with well-formed limbs and a broad chest, I always wish that our own king might have a few regiments of guardsmen of this quality.
Once they reach adolescence, young men will dress their hair according to the dictates of their latest fashion, much as the Parisian ladies do in regards to their clothes. Now they will rub their hair with smelly lard and red ochre and turn it into little balls; then they will let it hang down in shaggy strands like sheep’s wool; or they will shape it into a series of crests, or they will comb it forward to form a horn on their forehead etc. Men will shape their hair into a high, round nest on their crown and harden the outer rim with gum, which is polished.
Then, describing the girls, one can almost hear Posselt’s voice, hushed with disapproval: ‘Girls just wear a string around their waist from which a few short frills are suspended, and walk about in this shameless state till they get married. Only then will they cover at least the lower part of their body, while the top part continues to remain uncovered.’
If Posselt disapproved of those Zulus as yet untouched by civilisation, he was equally critical of those who had become urbanised, especially those seemingly converted to Christianity, who came to church to swank and be admired:
Once a Zulu takes to wearing of European clothing, as is the custom among converts, there is, especially among the young no limit to their desire for ostentation and dressing up. . . . Not only must their boots be highly polished, but must also ‘cry’, as they say, that is, they must squeak. A white handkerchief is put into the pocket not only a corner is visible but at least half of it hangs out. One does not walk with the gait of a normal human being, but one struts, or ‘staps’, as they say here, that is walking haughtily. The girls insist on wearing the confounded crinoline, an apron around the waist, and a sash over the shoulders. When they come to church they arrange to arrive when the service has already begun in order to draw attention and admiration.
He and Allen Gardiner would have got on well.
While white missionaries were almost queuing up for a share in saving Zulu souls, trader/settlers began to flood Natal. Between 1849 and 1852, 5,000 arrived, the vast majority from England. Most came through entrepreneurial immigration schemes and many with barely the minimum resource needed for survival.
Perhaps typical of would-be trader/settlers, was William Clayton Humphreys, a cocky young Englishman of good education, aged twenty-two. With the little capital he had on arrival at Port Natal in 1851, he joined up with a Mr Holden bound on a trading expedition into ‘the interior’. It is interesting to note that at the time, twenty-eight years after Farewell had first seen Port Natal, the forests of magnificent timber that Farewell had so admired were still in evidence, as was much of the game.
Port Natal for fifteen miles from the coast, has the appearance of a dense forest full of fine timber either for ship or wagon building. The pasturage is extremely rich. The whole face of the country is covered with grass from one to eight feet high. The country a short distance inland abounds in elephants, lions, tigers, panthers [leopards], hyenas, buffaloes, elands, buck, hippopotami, wild boars, wolves [wild dogs], porcupines, monkeys, ant-eaters, etc. In the rivers there are seacows, crocodiles, otters, etc. Of reptiles there are a fine variety of serpents.
Having got his kit ashore and being unemployed, Humphries had nothing better to do than spend the next month attempting to shoot birds (with little success) along the Umgeni River, a little way out of town. But within that short period of time he seems to have become an authority on local affairs including King Mpande: ‘The Zulu country belongs to His Highness King Panda [sic], one of the most cruel, bloodthirsty and despotic monarchs I ever heard of. He can muster fifty thousand warriors and is continually quarrelling and fighting with the neighbouring nations.’ Such were the nightmare tales told by the locals that Humphries almost abandoned the idea of venturing into Zululand: ‘Mr. Holden told me such awful accounts of the cruelty of the brutes that he almost frightened me from going.’ But once the little expedition consisting of Holden, the wagon (which Humphreys called a cart), six oxen, a small white boy to lead the beasts and three ‘kaffir’ servants-cum-trade negotiators was under way, Humphreys assumed the mantle of swaggering white supremacy, the colour of his skin automatically putting him above the Zulu people, no matter what their rank or standing or on which side of the Tugela he encountered them. Their kindness and hospitality towards him and to whites in general, he assumed as a right and unashamedly cadged and stole almost as though bestowing a favour on those he abused. Seldom did the expedition offer to pay for food or for the overnight accommodation that they scrounged.
There are hundreds of kraals on the Umvoti. It is a missionary station and as usual the kaffirs who call themselves Christians are more inhospitable and saucy than any other. They would not give us any milk or beef though they had been killing an ox that afternoon, however, as I was exceedingly hungry I determined to have a piece of their meat either by fair means or foul.
Thus the traders trundled on into Zululand, Humphreys incessantly thinking of food. Near the Umvoti River, ten miles from Port Natal, they came upon an eland – ‘The handsomest beast I ever saw’ – with a calf. Humphreys immediately perceived possibilities for his dinner and, with three assegais in hand, set off in pursuit of the calf but, alas for him, it easily made its escape.
Along the way there was no lack of missionaries. One Sunday morning the traders encountered an impressive gathering:
At about 10 o’clock a Zulu boy went on all the surrounding hills with a Chinese gong and struck it for about five minutes on each; in a short time the Zulus began to assemble until they numbered 163, principally females, many had come a long way. It was one of the most interesting sights I had ever witnessed. They squatted altogether on the grass in front of the hut and a service commenced by the missionary praying, he afterwards read a chapter from the bible (in the Zulu language of course) and they afterwards sung a hymn very nicely. The missionary then put up a placard with the Zulu alphabet on and they pronounced each letter after him. Altogether it was a most pleasing sight. Most of the congregation was composed of young females, many of them positively pretty, I never saw any before to equal many of them.
Just outside present-day Eshowe, which was once deep in Zulu country, there is a prominence known as ‘Martyrs Rock’. Legend has it that the one and only Christian convert was visited by a deputation from the King – which King, whether it was Dingane, Mpande or Cetshwayo, remains uncertain. However, the induna of the deputation posed the question: ‘did the convert believe there was a King residing in the sky who was greater than his own Zulu King?’ The convert replied: ‘Yes’, that was his belief. Theindunaresponded that he was sure the convert would understand that the King of the Zulus could not condone such a belief and the convert was invited to retract his statement, failing which the induna would have no option but to execute him forthwith as an example to others. Undeterred the convert held firm and was led away to where his execution – made more impressive by its location on the rocky prominence – was duly carried out.
Back to Humphreys again who, having heard that a ‘great chief’ resided near his camp, decided to visit, indicating the confidence Humphreys and his like had in the supremacy of a white skin; Humphreys, in reality, being little better than a white vagrant. In comparison the man who would receive him with courtesy and hospitality was a kingmaker, none other than Nongalaza kaNondela, Mpande’s renowned general, once commander of an army 20,000 strong, who it will be remembered had defeated Dingane in open battle eleven years previously and in doing so had procured the throne for his king. Indeed one of the greatest chiefs.
I arrived there about 4 p.m. and was surprised to see a larger kraal than I ever saw before. He had certainly not less than 2,000 head of beautiful cattle besides sheep and goats. He had about two hundred wives and three to four hundred children. He was exceedingly kind to me and treated me to a pot of thin amas with boiled mabele in which I made a first rate meal of and afterwards drunk more than a quart of tchualla or beer . . .
Journeying on, a day or two later Humphreys discovered that he was only twenty miles from King Mpande’s royal home and nonchalantly commented in his journal: ‘I would have gone to see him if I had been well.’ As it was he and Holden had arrived at one of the king’s military kraals occupied by a regiment of soldiers:
I had no idea that the Zulus ever had such a kraal as the one I was now at. It was built up as the rest but the outer fence was fully a mile and greater in circumference and enclosed about a thousand huts. About a score of soldiers came out to the cart but they were a saucy lot of devils and were most of them drunk with tchualla. We met the queen of the kraal (one of Panda’s wives), she was very kind and agreeable but [much to Humphreys’ indignation] did not give us anything.
And so the expedition made its way deeper into the Zulu kingdom, the two traders abusing Zulu hospitality and shooting game as the whim took them. There is little mention as to their trading activities, the enterprise seemingly being left in the hands of their native employees who, needless to say, were suspected of skulduggery.
Having been on their trading venture for two months with nothing to show for it, and with their staff having gone to barter their goods but having failed to return, Humphreys and Holden began to fear the worst. So it was with great relief that he saw his men reappear driving before them fifty head of cattle. According to Humphreys’ calculations the number should have been fifty-five: the men were five short and despite loud protests were immediately accused of having sold them. They pleaded that the missing beasts had died on the road.
So the trading expedition, of indifferent success, made its way back to Port Natal, stopping briefly at Verulam in order to bring the men before the magistrate, Mr Cleghorn, on a charge of stealing the ‘missing’ cattle. One would think Mr Cleghorn had little in the way of evidence to consider but, given by the white men, it was enough, and all the herders were found guilty and fined two cows each (their homesteads were nearby from which the fines could be secured). One of the men protested; protested too loudly, it seems, for Mr Cleghorn, considering him to be ‘saucy’, ordered him to be flogged. No doubt they all wondered whether it would not be preferable to be back in Zululand again, under the rule of King Mpande.
Humphreys must have admired Cleghorn’s power and authority as immediately on return he apprenticed himself to a local law firm, qualifying as an attorney five years later. Eventually he became the town treasurer of Durban and in 1866 ‘apparently absconded with the town treasury funds’ and fled. History does not record whether or not he was caught and brought before Mr Cleghorn for justice.
White female visitors to the Zulu kingdom were rare whilst those who, in addition, could speak the Zulu language were unique. Such a woman was Catherine Barter who had followed her trader brother Charles out from England in order to keep house for him. Of a good county family the siblings, in social standing, were several cuts above that of the average Natal settler. Nevertheless, either for amusement, or out of necessity, Charles was happy to engage in trade: beads, baubles and cloth in exchange for cattle. In addition he led hunting expeditions for wealthy clients into Zululand.
Catherine wrote a short account of an expedition that she and her brother made into Zululand and published her tale under the dramatic title of Alone Amongst the Zulus. She made this particular journey for the most part, unaccompanied by Charles or any other white person and her story reflects the tranquil and easygoing state of affairs that existed between the colony and the kingdom. The colonists, either as traders or hunters, required little, if any, formal permission from the Zulu monarch in order to carry out their enterprises within his kingdom.
Proceeding deep into Zulu country Catherine recalled a visit paid on a previous occasion to a rather rough old Zulu worthy whose prickly manner could well have been brought about by too many scrounging whites (such as Humphreys) taking advantage of traditional Zulu hospitality:
From the plain of the Matikulu, we soon came to the kraal of a great prince called Nongalazi, he was the king’s uncle [also, as we have heard, the King’s renowned General], and reported to be rich, so we hoped he might sell us a cow or two. We outspanned not far from his gate, but he did not appear. We sent to let him know that we were there and after some delay he came out with a few followers, but was very short in his answers. ‘He had a white man of his own, whose blankets were now heaped up in one of his huts; he could take some of those if he needed them.’
Perhaps Catherine, who was more skilful with the Zulu language than her brother, had taken it upon herself to personally bargain with the prince. She, the prince no doubt thought, needed to be put in her place and turning to Charles enquired why, if he wanted cattle, did he not sell his sister? Catherine with wry humour observed: ‘He did not, however, go as far as to offer to purchase me.’
Yet, within two years of Catherine’s tranquil journey into Zululand the country erupted in civil war culminating in one of the most bloody battles in the history of southern Africa. However, apart from a few white men, the traders were not involved; it was Zulu against Zulu in a war of succession fought between the forces of the ageing King Mpande’s two sons, the half-brothers Cetshwayo and Mbuyazi.
Cetshwayo was not only Mpande’s first son by his chief wife, it was he whom Mpande had presented to the Boers as his heir back in 1839. Despite this, Mbuyazi was Mpande’s favourite, as the king had made clear on several occasions; also, he had implied that Mbuyazi was to be his successor. By 1856 Cetshwayo, highly intelligent and courageous, found the situation intolerable and decided to establish his succession by conquest.
Throughout the kingdom, both princes had their supporters, each group bearing a name that would become its battle cry. Cetshwayo’s warriors were known as the ‘uSuthu’ while Mbuyazi’s were called the ‘iziGqoza’. Of the two factions, Cetshwayo’s was by far the most numerous.
King Mpande, aware of the rivalry between his sons, had attempted to put distance between them and their respective armies but the young princes, strutting with pride and ambition, were determined to meet in battle. Mbuyazi, having examined the advancing uSuthu army, suddenly realised how numerically superior it was and decided to retire south with all his people towards the Tugela River where he hoped not only to enlist further Zulu support but, with offers of land and cattle, to entice white men with their guns to join his cause.
Hurrying south, Mbuyazi first called upon a trader, Ephraim Rathbone, who at that time, had an abode ten miles from the Tugela on the Zulu side of the river. Mbuyazi found him with several other traders who were making their way back to Natal with a large herd of cattle. But the white men wisely refused to get involved. Instead, Rathbone sent word to the Natal Border Agent, Captain Joshua Walmesley, advising that there was a bloody conflict in the making. Walmesley had as his administrative assistant a young white man by the name of John Dunn, a man destined to greatly influence the future of Cetshwayo and the fate of the Zulu nation. Dunn was a man of pure colonial lineage being the offspring of a hunter/trader, Robert Dunn, who had settled in Natal during Shaka’s era and had married Ann, a daughter of Alexander Biggar. From an early age the Dunns’ had allowed their son – ‘Janteni’, as the Zulus called him – to run wild in the untamed country above Durban Bay that still teemed with game including lion and elephant. With a gun, a pony, and accompanied by Zulu companions, young John Dunn roamed free, his education in the ways of the wild being as thorough as his formal education was sparse. When he was thirteen years of age, his father was killed while hunting elephant, whereupon his mother decided to return to the eastern Cape and to take with her John and her three daughters. But the boy had other ideas and evading all efforts to have him embark with the rest of the family, he remained in Natal and for several years lived with the Zulus, becoming as fluent in their language as his own and completely at ease with their customs and way of life.
After a couple of years, young Dunn, now in every respect a Zulu except for the colour of his skin, was approached by – or even apprehended by – Joshua Walmesley; no doubt Walmesley thought that it was ‘not on’ that a white youth should ‘go native’. In any event, Walmesley restrained Dunn from continuing with his carefree existence and, in a fatherly way, gave him the formal education that he lacked. In addition Walmesley tutored Dunn in the intricacies of white social behaviour and etiquette, so much so that within a few years Dunn was equally at ease as a Zulu, and a confidant of the Zulu monarch, as he was as a colonial gentleman hobnobbing with the nabobs of the British Empire. By the time he was twenty-two Dunn, by virtue of his hunting skills and by acting as a guide to wealthy visitors had, in addition to his post as assistant border-agent, made enough money to acquire the beginnings of a transport business, all the time improving the quality of his oxen and wagons. It was at this stage of his career that a panicking Mbuyazi arrived across the Tugela begging for armed assistance for which he promised to pay in cattle and land. Walmesley prevented Dunn from getting involved but, the story goes, gave him permission to cross the river with a 130 armed men, some from the Border Police and the remainder being Dunn’s black hunters, many of them mounted. Ostensibly Dunn’s involvement in the affair was that of a negotiator endeavouring to broker a peace between the warring princes, but his subsequent actions make it clear that he was in it for the loot that would fall to the victors. Writing thirty years later, Dunn maintained that Walmesley was aware that he intended to fight for Mbuyazi but, as an official of the colonial government, it is extremely unlikely that Walmesley would have condoned Dunn’s participation.
The following day Dunn crossed into Zululand:
It was a raw, cold, drizzling morning when the call to arms was sounded. On our army being assembled, I asked Umbulazi if our scouts knew anything of the movements of the enemy. The answer was that he did not know. This I took to be a bad omen, and so did the warriors, for there was a murmur amongst them. I now had a strong suspicion that an attempt would be made by the enemy to cut us off from the Tugela. I therefore immediately called upon my men to follow me, and rode off towards the river. This was the last I saw of Umbulazi. What I suspected turned out to be true; and as luck would have it, I rode straight for the head of the right wing of the uSuthu that was trying to cut us off. I rode to within about 400 yards, and called out to them to wait for us [so that we could fight them] if they were not cowards, and then galloped back and hastened my small force of about 250, with shields and assegais, and about 40 more men with muskets of every queer variety. Seeing a man on horseback caused a feeling of uneasiness amongst the uSuthu, a horse being at that time an object of terror to many of them, and for a time the uSuthu remained rooted to the spot on which they stood and where I had left them. As soon as I got my men up – although there must have been ten to one opposed to us – I went straight at them, seeing that that was the only chance of getting out of the now fast-closing circle. Seeing such a small force daring to attack such odds caused a panic amongst the uSuthu, as they felt sure that I must be backed up by a very much larger force, and after very little fighting we drove them before us for about half a mile, killing many. I then re-called my men, and although my intentions had been to have only cut my way through, and make for Natal, I now felt confident from the success we had, and being excited, I made up my mind to see the end of it.
It was a rash decision as, having underestimated the enemy, it was not long before Dunn and his little band were fighting to keep at bay the whole of the uSuthu right horn, it being only Dunn’s dubious firepower that was keeping the enemy in check. Nevertheless, Dunn’s audacious act allowed many of Mbulazi’s women, children and stragglers to reach the Tugela and a remote chance of survival, rather than being overrun en route and slaughtered. Yet, when the fleeing host had its back to the river a panic set in, not only amongst Mbulazi’s followers, but likewise amongst Dunn’s men: ‘A panic had seized all, and the scene was a sight never to be forgotten.’
Dunn goes on to describe the beginnings of the massacre that followed and to mention that the white traders, who had been at Rathbone’s homestead a few days earlier, were at that moment camped on the banks of the river. On seeing the carnage that was about to descend on them, the traders abandoned their wagons and cattle and plunged into the river, fortunately being saved by the ferryman who brought his boat to the rescue. Dunn continues:
As soon as I got to the river I was at once rushed at by men, women and children begging me to save them. Several poor mothers held out their babes to me offering them to me as my property if I would only save them. And now the uSuthu were fairly amongst us, stabbing right and left without mercy, and regardless of sex, and as I saw that my only chance was try and swim for it, I urged my horse into the water, but was no sooner in than I was besieged from all sides by men clinging to me, so that my horse was, so to say, completely rooted to the spot. I now jumped off, stripped myself, all but hat and shirt, and taking nothing but my gun which I held aloft, swam with one hand. Yes, I handed over my horse to a Hottentot and swam for dear life.
Dunn goes on to relate how he got out into deep water, losing his gun in the process, to be rescued by the ferry boat, whilst in the shallows the slaughter continued without mercy, men, women and children alike being the victims of the victorious warriors: ‘The uSuthu were, with terrible earnestness, hard at work with the deadly assegai.’
1 Utimuni, a nephew of King Shaka, painted by Angas. His uniform, as an officer of an elite Zulu regiment, contains items of finery such as the globulus tufts in his headdress from the feathers of the green roller, a bird found only in the interior of Africa. (Campbell Collection, Durban)
2 Two rival regiments, one is distinguished by black shields and the other by white, parade before King Mpande. (Amafa, Durban)
3 Adolphe Delegorgue, a young French naturalist and hunter, travelled widely within Zululand during the reign of King Mpande. (Amafa, Durban)
4 The Boer women were equally adept at defending a laager. Note the nonchalance of the lady on the left as, with a ramrod between her teeth, she pours black powder down the muzzle of a gun.
5 Piet Retief anxiously discusses whether or not to enter Dingane’s palace without firearms while, at the gate, a Zulu induna entices another Boer to step inside.
(Don Collection, Durban Municipal Library)
6 King Dingane’s capital of Mgungundlovu, with Retief and his party surrounded in the middle of the parade ground. (Don Collection, Durban Municipal Library)
7 Following the murder of Piet Retief, Dingane sent his impis to destroy all the Boer encampments along the Drakensberg foothills.
8 Dingane’s vast palace of Mgungundlovu before it was torched by his own hand.
9 King Shaka kaSenzangakhona, as drawn by Captain Allen Gardiner. The shield appears to be extraordinarily large and unwieldy and the spear bears no resemblance to a Zulu assegai.
10 King Mpande kaSenzangakhona Zulu, seated on his elaborately carved throne, is protected against the sun by his shield bearer. (Amafa, Durban)
11 The coasting vessel Mazeppa escapes to the open sea seeking a British warship. Boer riflemen ineffectually pursue. (Local History Museum, Durban)
12 Joseph Cato, in later life, who captained the Mazeppa in 1842. (KZN Archives, Pietermaritzburg)
13 Ndongeni in later life. As a youth he accompanied Dick King for much of the way to Grahamstown. (Campbell Collection, Durban)
14 The Boers, having captured several British canons, continuously bombarded the besieged camp. Note the canon shot holes through the tents and wagons. To the right, some of the wives take shelter. (Africana Museum, Johannesburg)
15 The Conch, towing naval longboats, crammed with troops, into Port Natal harbour. Note the white smoke from Boer guns situated on the Bluff. (Local History Museum, Durban)
16 Lieutenant-Colonel Abraham Cloete, who commanded the assault on Port Natal. (Africana Museum, Johannesburg)
17 The type of warrior who would have attended Cetshwayo’s coronation in their thousands. (KZN Archives, Pietermaritzburg)
18 Chief Langalibalele at the time of the Hlubi rebellion. His hat and old military coat give him a piratical appearance. (KZN Archives, Pietermaritzburg)
19 Prince Dabulamanzi kaMpande, Cetshwayo’s half-brother, who challenged the colonials to a shooting competition.
20 The gunners of the Natal Volunteer Artillery who fired a 17-gun salute as King Cetshwayo was crowned. (Local History Museum, Durban)
21 The Durnford brothers: Anthony, right, with his young brother Arthur. This photograph was taken before Anthony grew his distinctive moustache that reached to his shoulders. (Campbell Collection, Durban)
22 The summit of Bushman’s Pass today. Nothing has changed except for the cross erected above the grave of Troopers Erskine, Potterill and Bond. It is a place seldom visited. (Campbell Collection, Durban)
23 Lord Chelmsford, Officer-Commanding British forces in southern Africa. (Local History Museum, Durban)
24 The British made every effort to enlist native allies. Warriors of the amaNgwane tribe, who had a score to settle with the Zulus, were recruited by Durnford for the Natal Native Horse. (KZN Archives, Pietermaritzburg)
25 The splendid physique of the Zulu warriors was much admired by the British. (Ron Lock Collection)
26 Native allies were recruited as far away as Swaziland. One British officer made the comment ‘... I saw some Swazis, splendid looking fellows indeed in their wonderful clothing of skins and feathers.’ (Ron Lock Collection)
27 The feathers of a Sakabuli bird headdress and a lion claw necklace indicate a regimental commander of high rank.
28 A warrior, fully fledged but most likely about to participate in a wedding ceremony or other peaceful pursuit. (Local History Museum, Durban)
29 The Battle of Isandlwana raged for about an hour. One Zulu coming in sight of the camp remembers that the whole place was a twisting mass of soldiers and Zulus.
30 For the benefit of the young soldiers, an old warrior describes how the Zulus won the Battle of Isandlwana. (KZN Archives, Pietermaritzburg)
31 The defenders of Rorke’s Drift, outnumbered twenty to one, fought for twelve hours without a break in the fighting. Eleven Victoria Crosses were awarded for this action, drawing attention away from the disaster of Isandlwana.
(Ron Lock Collection)
32 Cetshwayo’s portrait by Carl Sohn, commissioned by Queen Victoria, presents a very different countenance, one of intelligence and humour. (By gracious permission of Her Majesty the Queen; Local History Museum, Durban)
Dunn endeavoured to beg or buy another gun from the traders but for fear of retribution should the uSuthu cross the river, the traders were playing it as safely as possible and were not parting with any of their firearms.
Originally Dunn rode into the river but had abandoned his horse in mid-stream in an attempt to save it from the many grasping hands who desperately hoped the beast would tow them from the prospect of a watery grave. This thoughtful action saved the horse while most of Dunn’s little army of 310 men perished.
Having survived, Dunn realised news of the slaughter would spread like wildfire to Port Natal where it would cause an unprecedented panic, provoking more mischief and bloodshed. So, borrowing a pair of trousers, he having discarded his own in the river, he mounted his horse and, at a gallop, rode for the port.
As for Mbuyazi, his body was never identified, giving rise in later years to the rumour that he still lived; but there is no doubt that he was numbered amongst the slain.
There was understandably alarm amongst the Natal settlers, many believing that the Zulu army would, with dire consequences, invade the colony. But Cetshwayo, having eliminated his rival, withdrew immediately the slaughter was over, leaving behind thousands of corpses whose bones would litter the banks of the Tugela for decades to come. In their excitement some of Cetshwayo’s triumphant warriors had made off with all the cattle that the traders, in panic, had abandoned during their flight across the Tugela. Dunn, having clearly backed the wrong man, was undeterred and smartly set about turning the looted cattle to his advantage. With his intimate knowledge of Zulu character and custom, he was confident that, the battle over, Cetshwayo would harbour neither resentment nor a desire for revenge.
The traders had appealed to the colonial authorities to assist in the recovery of the livestock, which numbered close on one thousand, and an attempt had been made to negotiate their return by sending no other than Henry Francis Fynn, now a man in his mid-fifties, to parley with Cetshwayo. But Fynn, having returned empty-handed, Dunn volunteered to go. It would seem to have been a perilous step to take bearing in mind that Dunn and his gunmen had caused significant slaughter in the uSuthu ranks during the recent battle. Nevertheless, with Walmesley’s reluctant permission, Dunn set off, supposedly to hunt buffalo and, unmolested, finally met up with Cetshwayo. The meeting was cordial and after waiting for several days for the scattered cattle to be collected, Dunn and his hunters herded them back across the Tugela with Dunn eventually being rewarded with £250 for his trouble.
It seems that there had been an immediate rapport between Cetshwayo and the white man with Cetshwayo seeing in Dunn not only a means of better communication with the colonial government but also a go-between and personal advisor in all his dealings with his white neighbours. In fact, it was not long before Dunn was acting as a conduit for the procurement of firearms.
In time Cetshwayo’s regard for Dunn would blossom into affection and he would regard him as a brother – indeed, Dunn, having taken several Zulu wives including one of Cetshwayo’s royal sisters, became the future king’s brother-in-law. Yet, Cetshwayo’s recollection of their first meeting, which he recorded many years later, markedly differs to Dunn’s account:
One very cold and stormy night in winter I was seated before a large fire in my hut when there was a noise without as if someone was arriving. I asked the cause from my attendants and they told me that a white man in a miserable state of destitution had just arrived and claimed my hospitality. I ordered the servants to bring him in, a tall, splendidly made man appeared. He was dressed in rags, for his clothes had been torn to pieces in fighting through the bush, and he was shivering from fever and ague. I drew my cloak and asked him to sit by the fire, and told the servants to bring food and clothing. I loved this white man as a brother, and made him one of my indunas, giving him land and wives, daughters of my chiefs.
It is likely then that Dunn, during the time that he roamed with his Zulu companions prior to his association with Walmesley, had made the acquaintance of Cetshwayo which would explain Dunn’s lack of concern at re-entering Zululand to seek the traders’ cattle. It was lucky for Dunn that at the time Cetshwayo did not hold the opinion he formed of him twenty-three years later, for then he said of Dunn, speaking metaphorically: ‘Who would stay with a rat in his hut that ate his food?’