Campaigning in Kaffirland; Or, Scenes and Adventures in the Kaffir War of 1851-52. William Ross King
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 the Keiskamma; 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 the river, 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 by white 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 amphitheatre of 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 descending by 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