The Sun.
London, England, 1852-08-11 00:00:00

TUE SUN, LONDON,

THE lAA FIR WAR.

" The amount of risk we run by employing natives,
whether Hottentots or Fingoes, several suspicious in-
stances seem to prove. It will be remembered that Cap-
tain Bevil, of the Levies, was shot accidentally by a
Hottentot of his party, and that doubt still bangs over
Major Wilmot's lamented death, whether or not it was
by Fingoes of his own party. Two or three (several
during the month) of the Rifles also have been
wounded, either by the awkward precipitance of the
Fingoes, or by their being mistaken for Kafirs. Such
friends are little less dangerous than enemies.
" May 26.—Some Kafirs from Waterkloof visited
Colonel Napier's camp at Blinkwater, and took 27 oxen
out of the kraal. On the following morning a patrol
started off and captured in reprisal 51 Kafir women, who
were safely lodged in Beaufort Gaol. It is very desir-
able that these women should be prevented hereafter
from carrying back ammunition and ictelligence to our
enemies. The complaints made of the successful espion-
age of these viragos are quite vexatious. The p%ilan-
tbropy which c,,nnives at the cunning practice. occasions
the loss of na,:ey a waggon, and exposes the life of many
a brave soldier and colonist. Our humanity is, there-
fore, exercised at the price of blood. We are glad to see
that the Commander-in-Chief has, by an ord-r dated
May 30, prohibited the practice among the Levies of
selling their ammunition to the Kafirs under pain of

" May 29.—Eleven waggons, belonging to Mr. Pohl
t and others, were attacked near De Bruin',i Poort while
bringing produce to Graham's Town; Mr. Humphries
was mortally wounded, and 27 oxen and two horses
were driven off. Mr. Pohl was attacked three several
times before emerging from the bush into the open
country. The death of Mr. Humphries is one of
those events that rivet public attention upon
the miserable details of the war. His family had
been previously in comfortable circumstances, but hav-
ing lost nearly all they possessed, the deceased and his
brother became waggon drivers. The same mail ac-
quaints us with the death of Mr. T. Phillips, Justice of
the Peace, another victim to this slow, consuming war.
`Like hundreds of others,' writes one of the frontier
papers, he had been forced to become a houseless
wanderer,' until at length he sank under the effects of
hardship and exposure.
"June 2—About half-past 11 at night a body of Hot-
tentots, under Uithaalder, attacked the cattle-kraal be-
longing to the Missionary Institution of Mount Coke.
Seven men of the place were killed and nine wounded;
but the cattle cut from the waggons would have been
preserved, had not a large mounted reserve appeared.
The firing was heard at Fort Murray, and Genera!
Yorke dispatched a squadron of Lancers and Cape
Corps, under Major Tottenham, who joined in the pur-
suit as far as Debe Neck.
June 3—From Eland's Kloof, four miles east of Gra-
ham's Town, four spans of oxen and other cattle, worth
3001., were driven off and secreted in one of the bushy
valleys at the confluence of the Kat with the Fiah River.
"Concurrently with these depredations, the news from
the remote districts bordering Tam bookieland tell of suc-
cessive forays;—from Domo Stein, of Mooi Pleats, 500
sheep having been taken.
" June 13.—The rebel Hottentots attacked five wag-
gons while proceeding from Graham's Town to Fort
Beaufort, though guarded by a detachment of 31 Sappers
and Miners, under the command of Captain Moody. The
rebels on this occasion had posted themselves in the
thick bush of the Konap-hill, and as soon as the small
convoy appeared they opened a sudden volley, by which
the leading mule-waggon was disabled, and seven of the
small convoy killed. During the contest, which lasted
for some time, nine more were wounded, but the re-
mainder were brought off in good order by the cool gal.
wwahgigeohnisatetoenr twaienreed, ec)me
uni
!entry otfiConapatnadinmMinolo6d
how-
ever,ammunition
rendered useless by the precaution of removing
the nipples. my.uskTehtse,

On the, 15th, 40
"On the same day, the mail from Graham's Town
was seizcl near the lleka station by ten rebel Hotten-
tots, but was again recaptured by Tiabai (Uwkei's) san.
June
hout s place, Highlands.
oxen were taken from H. Beauiden-
exed
supported by Colonel Michel and Colonel Eyre, mar-
was Yorke, with a large force,
again the camp of the rebel Hottentots, which
was r
A Capee next morning (a day before the Hot-
tentots_peoted to be attacked). Our success was signal
part of the atnnaunitio
immediately Corpuors sergeant, who
hanged,
found. Among the slain
who had a gold watch was
Three of the Minis rifles, and
n lately taken at the Konap were
iaclosed a Cape Corps deserter,
pouch full of soverei and chain; and a soldier found a
the mode of replenishing
the stores of the enemy.
Fort Beauf,,rt, who dFns. A Kafir boy was taken in
Ina thde sunning, women, car-
rying wool, enters the town
yoebrou
nremains till 10 at night,
ladenh with supplies.
aotytewho
whi,eTn
otehelyastmmanaaiigheatso laelas
the sickening in-
telligence of a brutal murder at (Itifta Elohekas.
ftJ.lhenisiins
ofntots within ten
the second victim of wanton barbaritnt's
this place by the hands of rebel
noratice for a
days, but we trust that the reign
humbug is drawing to a close, phaanthrophic
We purposely reserve our concluding
review of General Cathcart's dispositions and
but we feel our inability to detail plans knuavarc'sce,"l era;
himself, and which will receive their first laistoricnalydeto-
lineation in the field. We are persuaded that the Co .
marider-in-Chief has not been idle. His judicious wen:-
sures have already impressed the enemy with wholesome
awe, and we perceive in the capture of Toise merely the
cumbrous device of a bewildered rebel to convey a letter
to his Excellency.
"In the Sovereignty, affairs were really brightening,
for Pretorius had found matins to persuade the Yolks.
rand to confirm the peaceful compact which had been
entered into between the War Council and her Majesty's
the fact of procuring gunpowder from this chitf.
Assistant Conamissianers. Moshesh still pursues a
very equivocal policy. Apprehended rebels have be
trayed
" While ,e write, our he:-.rts are saddened and our
prospects cl,tideti by the melancholy
trieug,."'Vl"'h• Thi,,, gentlernan'A c lonia' .experience,
tiding., of Aaj-r
,•,,,nt (;J,u'lgEnent and prudence, qualified him in tic t'mi-
nat•rit or tAlh"e.
withouuetgreo or
, the 'a-k. whien he hid und-rtaken.
untimtay
• I
feel
eursc.ves '
'ol'4ghtest
.intention of disparaging the
u en, his surviving colleague, we ye,t,
rprno,aatstifi. d in pm-40111,6,g Major Hogge b
ClUiet
lainitY• Thv retw,n ouch a crisis, to be a public ca-
his s,,rrowing Widow 11_1 s)fiaparhy of all classes with
"In Natal all waa aeco
our shores. Enplanes her departure from
4,000/ of the hut-tax hld
been cull (-T. ed The p0,,,L
as shown by the success of ilitY
"t itatiuf.cturing sugar,
Mr morewood's experimen;

PLvatouTir, TUESDAY.—The Gereral Screw Steam
Shipping Company's steam-ship Propontis, Comman-
der Thomas W. Glover, arrived here last evening,
about seven o'clock.
The intelligence by this mail is far from satisfactory.
Disorder and danger exist all along the border, and
it is feared that the enemy is establishing himself in
the mountains and forests near Uitenhage and Fort
Elizabeth.
General Cathcart has commuted the sentence of
death on Cornet Audries Botha, the rebel Hottentot,
into transportation for life with hard labour.
Head-quarters continue At Fort Beaufort.
Colonel Eyre, of the 734 Regiment will, from ill
health, be obliged to quit the field, at least for a
short time.
.Msj-,:r Rogge, one of her Mjesty's Assistant-
Commissiont rs for settling affairs on the frontier,
died at Bloom Foutein, Orange River Sovereignty,
on tree 9th of June. He left England thirteen months
previously, and lost his life through fever, caught by
exposure in the rain at a meeting of chiefs in Mo-
sheh's country.
The following monthly summary of proceedings
on the frontier is taken from the Gape Town Mail, of
the Ist ult. :
" Our last was published on the 29th of May, bu'
subsequent mails from some of the remote cltstric,s
brought intelligence of much earlier dates. Thus, from
Whitile..ea a letter of May 3 reports the circumstances.
Captain Tylden's camp, and the apparent mustering of
the e,leiny in the neighbourhood. Tne difficulties of an
English officer commanding native levies consists not so
much in long and laborious marches over a rugged
country, as in getting their coloured squads to stand
the tug of war.' The native, whether friend or foe, is
but a ' trembling coward,' if without the cover of a rock
or tree to serve at ones as embrasure and breastwork.
Hence in amhuaeides the deadly precision of their attack
while aiming at some unsuspecting wayfarers.
"From Lynittlesea a letter, dated May 11, states the
Kafirs to be getting troublesome.
" May 14—From Mr. Sydserff's place at Eildon 600
sheep were carried off. Three men from Lyndoch joined
in the pursuit, and after various expeditions the sheep
were found on the 18th, near the boundary of Somerset
and Cradock, when 400 were re-taken.
May 15—At Fort Cox the Kafirs surprised and
murdered one of the 2d Queen's, who had been cutting
wood not 300 yards outside the fort; and a few days
after three of the 6th were wounded at Mount Macdonald
similarly engaged.
" May 20—A letter from Waterk/oof reports that re-
gular attacks are made twice a week by the Rifles, who
are encamped there.
" May 22---Mr. Robey's cattle, on Manley's Flat, were
attacked. Two of the herdsmen were shot on the first
fire. Ono of the survivors (a native) then ran for help,
leaving the fourth (an Englishman) to provide for him_
self and the cattle. The prompt arrival of Mr. Robey
rescued him from his perilous situation. On the same
day, in the Addo, two waggons belonging to Mr. Whit-
ing, on their way from Port Elizabeth to Graham's
Town, were attacked by 40 Hottentots. Captain Pullen
directed Commandant Hurter, also of the Levies, to co-
operate with him in pursuit of the robbers. But in the
twilight indistinctness of the following wet morning,
Captain Pollen's men mistook their comrades for the
enemy they were seeking, and fired into their rear,
wounding four men. The spoor of the retreating Hot-
tentots was traced to the Zuurberg, towards Z wane
Hoogte, and into Slagtboom; then five spoors were seen
leading to Enon station. Tee missionary there denied
having seen any but two friendly visitors! Thus far the
guerilla escaped detection and pursuit.
" Same day.—Fifty Hottentots surrounded the kraal
of the chief Toise, who is friendly to us, stripped his
wives naked before his face, and carried him off as a
prisoner to Sandilli. Reports are conflicting as to the
precise disposition that was manifested towards the cap-
tive by the two parties, Kafirs and Hottentots. Some as-
cribe the atrocity to the Hottentots alone; others allege
that Sandilli commanded the Hottentots to kill Toise,
and that they refused. The whole may have been a
premeditated ruse. Toise brought back a letter from
Uithaalder to the Commander-in-Chief, reading him a
grave lesson of peace without consulting his Kafir allies.
This, we have reason to believe, was the real aim in
view.

on a small scale, bad excited the attention of all the in
habitants.

" .SUMMARY FOR THE WEEK.