The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-12-06 00:00:00

AN INTERVIEW WITH BECOCIOENI.

Under date " Sir G. Wolseley's Headquarters, Fort Weeber,
Oct. 29," the Correspondent of The Times writes :

Secocoeni has given his reply to Captain Clarke,
and declared he will accept no terms of peace, but
will fight. On the 23rd Clarke sent messengers to
Secocoeni to explain the terms of peace the English
would give, and promised that if these terms were
accepted he would himself come to Secocoeni and die.
cuss the arrangement of details. The same night
messengers reached Secocoeni's town, and the follow-
ing morning a council of headmen began to assemble
from the neighbourhood. Secocoeni opened council
by stating that messengers had arrived to offer peace,
and for his part he was tired of war and wanted
peace, and that every man must bring two or three
head of cattle. according to his means, to pay the
fine demanded. Then a petty chief broke forth,
saying :
"Secocoeni, you are a coward, if the white people want
cattle let their rod men (soldiers) fight for them. We will
not be subject to the English, we will pay no fine to them nor
taxes. We might give a white man a few cattle, but that
would be as a gift, not as a fine. We will fight."
_ _

The whole c,o- uncil applauded this bpeech, Then
Secoooeni retorted :

" You wrong me when you call me a coward. I, too, wish
to fight, but I hide my words that I might hear your words
and learn what you wish. Now my words are your words.
I know the white men are on the road, but I will not speak
of peace. I will speak of peace only if the English give up
the forts and go back to Pretoria."
Captain Clarke's messenger then said that the chief
men should go and see Captain Clarke; that a greater
white chief than Clarke was coming, and that they
would know then what the English meant. The
chiefs answered they were not fools to let them.
selves be caught in a trap by Captain Clarke. They
would fight. They would send no one to Captain
Clarke. It was not the Basutos but the Eaglish who
asked for peace, and the English must come to them;
as for the fine of cattle, they would not pay it. They
had promised the fine to the Boers only to make a
hole to get out by and to make the Boers blind. They
would never have paid the cattle. Then the English
came and took the Boer land and asked for the cattle.
When the English asked for the cattle the Basutos
knew it was a snare being made to trap them with.
The English were no better than the Boers. Captain
Clarke's messenger reminded the Council that the
Zulus had been conquered and that they were certain
to share their fate. Some chiefs replied that Captain
Clarke had told lies about the Zulus, that if the Zulus
were conquered where were the cattle for sale
in the towns and where were the captives for work
as slaves ? The messenger then said, "But
you know Cetywayo has been made a captive
and sent across the sea." The council answered
" Yes ; the English people are great warriors, are
strong in settling difficult affairs by wise words. but
they are the greatest liars in the world." The chiefs
shouted with acclaim that they would fight. There
is thus little doubt that war must be prosecuted
against Secocoeni. It is just possible that there was
in the demeanour of the council before Captain
Clarke's messengers an air of unreal bombast, assumed
with the hope of frightening us from fighting, and
that at the last moment or after the first skirmish
Secocoeni may sue for peace. But this possibility is
regarded by those who can best judge es very
remote.