The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-07-19 00:00:00

THE ZULU WAR.

The 19'nion Steamship Company's steamer Durban arrived
on Monday morning at Plymouth, her passage having been
almost the fastest on record. _ _ _

The Times of Natal correspondent with General
Wood explains the message sent by Lord Chelmsford
to Cetewayo. He did not agree to cease hostilities at
once, but stated that if his preliminary demands were
acceded to there should be an armistice, pending a re-
ference home. One of Lord Chelmsford's conditions
of peace is that our troops should march to Ulundi,
and certain of Cetewayo's regiments disarm there.
Apparently no reply has been received. It is not
expected that Cetewayo will yield to the demands.
The Cape Times' summary of the latest news says:
—" Our troops are at last advancing in Zululand.
The Umbalasi River has been dredged by our en-
gineers, and the enemy who were supposed to be in
force on the north bank have hitherto given no sign of
opposition to our progress. The negotiations for peace
seem to be hanging fire. The Zulus have not yet been
so vanquished that we can expect them to submit to
such terms, and it appears at present as if the war
must be fought out in order to bring about peace with
security. Negotiations have been entered into with
the Amatonga King, the effect of which, it is expected,
will be to secure the neutrality of his tribe, together
with a safe passage for our troops through his country,
should it be deemed advisable at a later stage to attack
Cetewayo from the north.

The Stand,arel and Mail correspondent says :--
" Cetewayo's new kraal is embedded in a deep ravine,
which is only approachable through rugged defiles, be-
sides being protected by a strong fortress. The whole
neck leading to Cetewayo's fort is covered with mili-
tary kraals, and is about six miles in length. There
is no other known way of getting into the place; and
unless one can be discovered—which is, so far as is
known, improbable—the difficulty of taking the place
will be of the most serious character. Of course, much
execution can be done by shelling and the like military
operations; but even with all the appliances of modern
warfare it will call for much skill and strategy as well
as bravery and determination."

Sir Bartle Frere, in his speech from the Throne at
the opening of the Cape Parliament, said :—" Her
Majesty's Government has seen fit to relieve me of
my duties as High Commissioner, and I am glad to
say that my successor, Sir Garnet Wolseley, brings to
their performance a knowledge of South Africa and
much experience as an administrator and a soldier. I
can honestly say that in all I did I acted for the best,
and that I fell into error with the great mass of the
South African community. Her Majesty's Govern-
ment have instructed me to request the payment of
£3,000,000 sterling as the first instalment by the Cape
of its share of the expenses of the Zulu war, leaving
the balance to be adjusted between Great Britain and
the colony when the accounts have been finally made
up."

A special correspondent of the Times of Natal gives the
following particulars of the condition of the body of Prince
Louis Napoleon :
"Short of a postmortem examination, it would be
impossible, of course, to speak with any exactitude,
but there was sue longish wound on the right breast
which was evidently mortal, for the assegai had passed
through the body, and the point had penetrated the
akin of the back. There were two hurts in the
left side also which might well be mortal, and
lees serious wounds all over the upper part of the
chest, and one in the right thigh. The right eye
was out, but whether by the thrust of an assegai
or by the impact of a bullet of some kind was
impossible to say. If a bullet or stone from a sling, it
could not have been projected with any force. There
was a large gash in the abdomen exposing the in-
testines, which were, as in the case of the trooper, un-
injured. Close by the left shoulder of the corpse, half
trodden in the bloody mire, was a sock and a pair of
spurs, which had evidently belonged to the Prince,
and round his neck was found, when Dr. Scott
moved the body, a small gold chain, holding a few gold
and atone trinkets. lam inclined to think that Zulu
superstition had something to do with this being left.
The witch doctors carry their magic mattria medico
round the neck, very much after the same fashion,
and I am pretty sure that they looked upon the bunch
of trinkets as the Prince's witch apparatus, and
thought it best to have nothing to do with it. The
gash too in the abdomen is not. I feel sutured, inflicted
with any idea of mutilating the corpse of a slain enemy
but simply because it is a belief among them that if
this coup is not given, and the body swells, as it
would by the generation of the gases of decom-
position, the war:icor who had neglected this
precaution is destined to die himself by his body swel-
ling. Apart from the gash which was in every case
inflicted after death, for no blood had flowed, there
was no mutilation whatever. Many of the wounds
were so slight that I think they too must have been
inflicted after death, all the members of the party pro-
pably 'washing their spears,' in pursuance of some
ceremonious regulation on the subject of a dead
enemy. '

When the Prince Imperial's remains were about to
be sent through Durban, Assistant-Adjutant•General
Buller issued a general order, in which he said "In
following the coffin which holds the body of the late
Prince Imperial of France, and paying to his ashes the
final tribute of sorrow and honour, the troops in garrison
will remember, first, that he was the last inheritor
of a mighty name and of a great military renown;
secondly, that he was the son of England's firm ally in
dangerous days; thirdly, that he was the sole child of
a widowed Empress who is left throneless and childless
in exile on English shores, deepening the profound
sorrow and the solemn reverence that attaches to these
memories. The troops will also remember that the
Prince Imperial of France fell fighting as a British
soldier."

The following is an extract from a letter in the Daily News,
sent by their Special Correspondent, under date Upoko
Camp, June 17 :

_
"As yet we have heard nothing from Cetywayo as
the result of the vizit of his emissaries the week before
last. Those who are supposed to know beat, continue
to entertain the behalf that if he only means to paher
with us, he will nevertheless keep up negotiations,
and indeed send in the two 7-pounders taken at
Isandhlwana, seeing that these can be of no use to him.
Some further emissaries have come in on the Lower
Tugela side and have been sent into Maritzburg for
the amusement of General Clifford. It is said here
that Cetewayo has asked that three prominent
colonists be sent to him to explain the situation.
The three persons named are Sir Theophilus
Shepstone, his son (who is his father's namesake),
and John Dunn. The first.named is on his
voyage to England, the second is here with us,
the third is at the Lower Tugela. It is com-
monly understood that they are the three men Cetewayo
hates worst of all the colonists, his neighbours. Under
these circumstances, I do not imagine the two who are
available will readily volunteer for the duty. Plenty
of volunteers would be forthcoming, and I have little
doubt would be perfectly safe, but Finch a concession
at present would surely be a confession of weakness.
"It was a fine sight this morning to witness General
Wood's military waggons come over the ridge behind
our camp. The bringing of this convoy is a feat of
which any chief might well be proud, and is a triumph
of alertness, method, and organization that redounds
more than a victory, in the highestsense of the word. To
travel thirty miles with empty waggonP' to load up at
two distinct points, twenty miles apart, to concentrate
again his convoy, and to re-conduct 750 loaded
waggons and 9,000 oxen over the return distance of
thirty miles, the whole operation from start to finish
occupying only seven days, is an achievement of which
it is impossible to speak too highly, and which will
compel the admiration of competent military critics
both at home and abroad."