The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-10-18 00:00:00

CETYWAYO AS A CAPTIVE.

The following particulars were furnished to the reporter
of the Cape Times by Mr. Longcast, the able Zulu inter-
preter, who accompanied Lord Chelmsford's force to Ulundi,
and who is now in official attendance upon Cetywayo in the
Castle, Cape Town:—

"At about eleven o'clock ois the morning of the 3lsl
of August Cetywayo was marched into Ulundi under
the escort of Major Marter's party. There was no
one to receive him with the dignity which even a
captured savage monarch could command, for he
had rejected the overtures of Sir Garnet Wolseley,
as he had those of Lord Chelmsford. It was not
as a defeated monarch, but as a fugitive from law
and order he was brought into the English camp,
and he was treated accordiugly. Cetywayo, who ap-
preciates nicely the courtesies due to rank—so those
who know him tell me—felt this keenly. Sir Garnet
Wolseley did not see him at all, and Mr. John Shep-
stone only had an interview with him to tell him that
he would leave under the charge of Major Poole for
—no one knew where. The instructions to the Major
were, on leaving Ulundi, to proceed to Pietermaritz
burg, rid Rorke's Drift; but the camp had not been
left many miles behind before a messenger to the
Major from the General gave Port Durnfori as the
port of embarcation. Cetywayo spent less than three
hours amid the ruins of Ulundi, and when he left
them he was not aware of his destination. His hope
was that he was going to Pietermaritzburg. He
used to say :—` I am no longer a King; let me
go and live at Pietermaritzburg like any other
poor Zulu.' This he believed Was where he was
going until he came to Kwagmagwaza. and he said :
'This is not the way to the 'Tugela.' He grew moody
after this, and used to moan that it was better to be
killed than sent over the sea. That Major Poole used
all diligence in getting to the sea is certain. Cety-
wayo, with his women, travelled in an ambulance
drawn by 10 mules; the remainder of his party were
in common buck-waggon drawn by 10 mules, and yet
on the first day no less a distance than 40 miles was
accomplished, the halt being made at Fort Victoria;
next day Kwagmagwaza (22 miles) was reached; next
day, St. Paul's (23 miles); next day, Fort Inverary ;
and, finally, Port Durnford was arrived at on the 4th
of September, and the whole party was immediately
embarked.

A special reporter of the Cape Times, accompanied Cot),
wayo on his voyage to Simon's By and he gives an interest-
ing account of the trip and his interviews with the de-
throned monarch, from which we make the following
extracts. He says :

"As soon as it was known at Port Durnford that
the Natal had been selected to convey Cetywayo from
Zululand, great preparations were made for his con-
veyance. The wonderful stories of the king's size
perhaps account for the fact that a bridge was made
for the passage from the boat to the ship, and also for
the erection of what is knowiCas The Kraal' on the
poop. This kraal is a wooden framework covered with
heavy tarpaulin, and the atmosphere inside of it, on
the arrival of the Natal in Zululand, must have re-
minded Cetywayo of the huts of his beloved land.
In the surf boat Cetywayo had his first experience
of mal de mer, and if he wanted to be shot when
caught by Major Marter, it is certain that he wished
he were dead ten minutes after embarking upon the
pleasant waves which break on such thundering lines of
surf along the coast of the country over which he
once ruled. All the dignity with which Cetywayo had
borne his captivity gave way as he saw the sea and
realised his fate, whilst the antics of the whole party
in the surf boat are said to have been ludicrous. Nothing
could persuade them to sit down quietly and when
they moved they did so crawling on all fours. In the
transhipment from the surf-boat to the steamer they
were handled not only with gentleness, but with a tender
consideration which approached homage. This has
been considerably developed as those in charge of him
grew upon terms of intimacy. Cetywayo has been
treated very much like a spoiled child, or perhaps
rather as a magnificent brute, whose claws having been
cut, it is rather fuu to pet. Cetywayo is given to much
resting, and of this luxury there was no stint. Every.
thing in the way of personal comfort that he asked
for has been given to him, and Mr. Interpreter Long.
cast has had a pretty lively time of it, for whenever the
King requires anything which has to be communh
cated to the Europeans, Mr. Longcast is in request.
During the voyage of the Natal there was one rough
night, and the King had a very bad time of it, but he
generally kept up his spirits and conveyed in his cheerful
moods his impressions of new sights. The first morn-
ing when there was no land in view he, after looking
round, held up his hands in intense astonishment;
but, like all natives, he does not permit himself to
appear to be much surprised at anything. . .
has not given over the assertion of his dignity; and in
this, I think, he has been much encouraged by the
amount of waiting upon which he has received. On
Saturday last, after promising to have his photograph
taken, he kept photographer and every one else
waiting upon his pleasure for some hours. . . . The
photograph will show Cetywayo to be an mot.-
mons man, of a little under six feet high; a hand-
some over-fed specimen of humanity, with nothing
repulsive whatever about him. A tape measure round
the chest would probably show 60 inches, and each thigh
half that number of Inches; and this should convey
what an immense fellow the King is. Yet he is not
ungainly in figure, and there is an unmistakable
dignity about him, which, together with his fits of
sociability, have drawn towards him the good feeling
of his escort. He is not unappreciative either of the
duties of his rank, and I mention these incidents to
indicate in some degree what the Zulu Court was like,
and that, barbaric as it was, it must have had a eighty
of its own, For instance, on Saturday last the medical
officer in charge introduced his superior officer to the
King, when the latter reported that the medical at-
tendance during the voyage was all that could be
desired. The whole party evince a very earnest wish
for clothes, and Cetywayo was in great delight on wear-
ing a suit sent him by the Commodore, and strutted
about quite proudly with a black 'tile' which he had
managed to squeeze over his head ring. He has lately
developed a wonderful taste for scribbling, and in a few
months, under the careful tuition of Major Poole,
would probably become a polite letter writer. Indeed,
Major Poole has the King, excepting the sulks, which
are exceedingly inconvenient, perfectly under control,
and the attempts at letter writing are an infinite source
of amusement. The wives of the King, who are his fellow
captives, are four in number, and are tall, lithe, shapely
women of about twenty years of age. The photographs
are not just to them, for their attractions seem to be
in their vivacity and their good temper, Like their
lord and master, they are anxious about their dress,
and at the present rate of ' petting ' to which they are
indulged we may expect before long to hear of their
subscribing to the Ladies' Journal. On Sunday Cety-
wayo was taken on a tour of inspection of her Majesty's
ship Boadicea, which visit seems to have given
him a terrible shock; such a visit a year ago might
have saved England some millions of money. The
Chief talks very openly about the war. A few words,
the result of my conversation on Sunday, may be
worth reproducing. Cetywayo asserts that the first
intelligence he had of the death of the Prince Imperial
was conveyed by Lord Chelmsford's demand for the
return of the sword of his Imperial Highness. The
King at once sent to the district in which the Prince
had been killed, and the sword was sent to him. It is
difficult, says Mr. Longcast, to get an accurate
number of the Zulus who fought at Isandula, because
the Zulu has no idea of numbers. When they speak
of the strength of an army they say there were so
many companies, and inasmuch as the Zulu companies
range from 80 to 200, it is impossible thus to get the
exact figures. The conclusion I have arrived at, after
hearing many stories, from the King downwards, is
that were at least 25,000 Zulus under Maveurn-
mentnwava and Dululamanzi at,lsandula. The fight
taking place on the day it did was an accident. To
use a Kaffir metaphor, the moon was dead. The
following day would have seen a new moon, and it is
a Kaffir's superstition never to do any work or busi-
ness on the day before the new moon. The day is
always kept as a holiday. The main body of the army
arrived at the range of the Ingutu, overlooking the
valley of Isandula, on the night of the 21st January,
and the stragglers only came upon the morning of the
22nd January, which was the morning of the battle;
so when we pitched our camp in this valley on the
19th there were no Zulus in the neighlocurhood. On
the morning of the 22nd the Zulu army was about
five miles from the camp, and it was disturbed by
the mounted Basutos, who were sent out by Colonel
Durdford to draw them on. The Zulu army
was sitting in an immense half-circle, retaining
its battle array, when the left horn was fired on
by the Basuto, the result being that the Zulus
rushed to the fight without any order whatever.
The two horns were composed of four regiments of
unmarried men, the chest of the army being older
men. The two horns rushed away to the attack, but the
married regiments moved steadily up to the right
until they out flanked the British position, when they
doubled down to the left, and tlun the English were
completely surrounded. The Zulus say tbe battle
lasted for a little while, certainly not an hour, They
did not lose heavily until the lest, when they got into
close quarters, and they tell with admiration of how
sometimes four or five soldiers would get back to back,
and hold their numerous enemies at bay for ever so
long. One square of about 60 men defied the repeated
attacks of 100 of the army, and 50 courageous did it
become that the men used to oeckon the Zulus to
come on. At last, by overpowering numbers, or by
the exhaustion of smulanitiall, and through repeated
charges, the little square was thatroyed. The Zulus
say that was the only square tliey fought that day,
Cetywayo estimates his Isanciula bsses at 1,000. It was
reported to him that the whcie column had been
destroyed. and he reckoned that the column was 4,C00
strong. His victory at Isandult and his defeat by
Colonel Pearson's column were almost reported to him
simultaneously. He said, however, We have done
very well ; there is one colums we shall hear of
agein.' Nis fighting force he sta. reckoned at close on
60,000, se he decided on inveaing the column at
Ekowe, and, by *machine Woods column, to lay the
Transvaal at his feet. Isandula save him great hope
of saving his kingdom, and he oily lamented that he
had not in his kraals some of the officers who died at
Liao:luta. I mention this to shove what the effect of
Isandula was upon his mind. The arrangements for
the attack upon the camp at Kambula were made
with the greatest care and the King never dreamed of
failure. The result a the fight settled in the King's
mind what the end of the war %valid be, and when he
heard of the arrival of reinforcements he was in
earnest in his desire for peace. But his warriors, less
sagacious than himeelf, would nit confess that they
were beaten, and the young bloods were eager to
destroy the small force with vhich Lord Chelms-
ford advanced upon Ulundi. Aid thus it is that the
Zulus cannot understand why Cetywayo has been
taken captive. Dabulanianzi my be taken to repre-
sent the Zulu nation in his tuestion, as he saw
the King carried into captivity. What has
he done that he should be purished ? It is not he
who has been beaten, but liii soldiers.' On the
other baud, Cetywsyo quite recognises the wisdom
of the policy which takes hia away from Zulu-
land, and his only surprise new is that a nation
so powerful as England has peeved herself to be
should have ever given him so much consi-
deration as she has dope. IL acknowledges the
generosity with which his people hive been treated, and
is slow to understand the lenieniy shown to them.
From what I can gather he is notch more concerned
at present with his own future tkan with that of his
people; and the ms'y bargaining ue is now prepared
for is that which will advance mot his own comfort,

It is singular that he has not the least conception of
the great distance he is from his native land; and
although he has seen travellers, he is not aware of the
power of England or the extent of the Continent in
which he lives. He was in Natal when he was ten
years of age. He is said to be now 54 years old,
although he does not look much more than 40, yet he
never saw a ship until he was taken on board of the
Natal."

The photographer who " took " Cetywayo gives a very
amusing account of the process :

"On Saturday morning the steamer was roiling
too much to be suro of success. We however, were
obliged to do the beat possible under the circumstance.
Having placed everything in readiness, we informed
the King, through his interpreter, that we were ready,
and received the answer that the King was "going
to sleep," and did not wish to be distrubed. After
a while we could hear him speak, so we once
more informed him that we were waiting for him.
He did not seem inclined to appear, and Captain
Poole thought it best to give him some induce-
ment to do so, which was accomplished by catching
a fish. This made him come out at once, and
after some palaver the King was persuaded to seat
himself near the compass, with his back against the
rudder wheel. He appeared to be very nervous, and
requested that it might be done at once in order to
have it over. He seemed to dread the camera, and
did not like the look of the lens. We succeeded, how-
ever, in getting our first double negative. He was
more at ease when he found that it was done without
his being hurt, but, in order to show him what we
were doing, Commander Caffyn showed him a photo
of Dabulamanzi, at which he seemed pleased, and ,
at once disencumbered himself of his blanket
to show his figure, of which he appears to
be very proud. We succeeded in taking a
second double negative, and then he sternly refused
to have any more taken. We were at that time
not certain of success, as the ship was rolling, it
was raining all the while, and our negatives were
finished only partially, in order to obtain as many
negatives as possible while the King was in a good
mood. After that came the King's wives; they ap-
peared eager to be photographed, and after they had
been placed in position, we requested the King to sit
in the centre of the group, which he declined to do,
saying that he had to undergo it alone, and they would
have to do the same. Upon his being told that we
wished to have him in the middle, he answered that
we could cut the photos, and then place him wherever
we liked. He would not sit again, so we contented
ourselves with taking two more double negatives of his
wives while he was smoking his cigarette, and this
finished our day's work, leaving the King on deck
I trying his hand at fish-catching.

"A. S. IL" wiles to The Times :
Sir,—Cannot Cetywayo be brought to England, and,
as a prisoner on parole, allowed to estimate the re-
sources of the nation by whom he has been beaten?
I venture to say such a course would be found the
most humane and useful; and that he could with
safety be after, say, six months' detention Bent back to
his own country.

When Caffre servants return to Natal after a visit in
England and ielate their experiences they are always
disbelieved.

Cetywayo, especially if some chiefs would be in-
duced or obliged to accompany him here, would have
weight with his own people and teach them some-
thing.
There must be many in England who can testify as
to the effect of a visit to this country on the Caffre
mind, and I believe if the suggestion were carried out
with judicious privacy we should certainly get rid of a
troublesome prisoner and might make a useful ally.