The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1879-10-07 00:00:00

13017 TR AFRICA.

The second edition of the Tina on Saturday con-
tained a long despatch from its correspondent at Cape
Town, in which an account is given of a conversation
between Getewriyo and Mr. Sprigg, the Premier of the
Cape Colony. The correspondent, writing on Sept. 16,
says —"At. noon yesterday the ex-King was visited by
Sir Bartle Frere, attended by the Hon. Mr. Littleton,
his private secretary; Captain Hallam Parr, military
secretary; and Lieut. Dalrymple, A.D.C. Later in
the day the Premier, Mr. Gordon Sprigg, and Mr.
Miller, Treasurer-General, visited the Royal captive's
quarters to see if the arrangements for his accom-
modation were satisfactory. During the course of the
Premier's interview, Getaway°, through Mr. Long-
cast, the interpreter, talked with apparent frankness
of many incidents of the war. 1. rum the accounts
his people gave him, it seems they greatly exag-
gerated the English losses and magnified the Zulu
successes in all the engagements which occurred. He
acknowledged, however, he had done wrong in allowing
his people to fight with us. Chaise,' he said, was •
child of the British Government. I was also a child and
subject. My father, the Government, came to chastise
me for my wrongdoing. I caught the stick with which
he wished to beat me, and broke it. I did wrong to
fight with him and am punished. lam no longer a
king; but the English, I find, are a great people;
they do not kill those who have fought with them.
lam satisfied to be in their hands. I hope the
great Queen will pardon me, and allow me to return to
my country, and, give me a place to build myself a
kraal, where I may live. lam sorry I did not follow
the advice of my father, Panda, on his death-bed ; he
told me to live at peace with the English, and never
make war with them.' When informed it was the wish
of our Government to treat him with every considera-
tion, and supply him with every necessary comfort, he
expressed his thanks, and asked that some of his favour-
ite wives, naming ten, might be sent to be with him, in
addition to those already here. His mind was anxious
about them, he said, for they had nobody to look after
them now, and he felt lonely without their companion-
ship. He further begged tnat his case might be put
before the great Queen in as favourable a light as
possible, and asked how many days it would take to
land a message and receive a reply from England.
He was told two months might elapse before her
Majesty's pleasure regarding him could be known.
He again thanked the -Premier for visiting him, and
the interest he had shown regarding hire, and said,
after what he had heard, he would sleep happier than
he had hitherto done. Cetewayo's personal appear-
ance is quite unlike any of the so-called portraits
which have appeared in the pictorial prem. He is an
, exceptionally fine specimen of .the noble savage—
• big, black man, about fifty years of age, standing
nearly six feet high, well proportioned and fully
developed frame, with a good-natured, broad, open
face of the prominent Zulu type. Major Poole speaks
favourably of his general amiability, and says he has
given little trouble, except on one or two occasions,
when he showed a sulky disposition, and demanded to
have an entire ox roasted for his daily meal. While
In Simon's Bay he was taken on board her Majesty's
ship Boadicea, and saw the men go through their
drill. He expressed wonder and admiration of
everything, remarking, '1 was only born yesterday.'
Many persons have applied for leave to visit the
Royal captive, but the Government wisely consider
that, as • prisoner of war, he should be spared from
Intrusive curiosity, and have given orders that the
public are not to be allowed to enter his apartments or
hold conversations with him until instructions
are received from Sir Garnet Wolseley or the home
authorities."