The Sun.
London, England, 1838-06-08 00:00:00

told not to bring their guns with them. While in the act of
drinking beer and milk, they were suddenly seized, and
dragged about half a mile to their place of execution. Re-
tie( was then taken apart, and kill d first ; they then fell upon
the rest, and with knob-kieries (snicks) murdered them all. One
young man of Port Natal (Thomas Halstead) had been cm-
Ployed as Interpreter, and was privately informed of their in-
tention, and we hear did tell R( tief and Party of what he
had been informed, but they put no faith in it, as Dingaan
had been so kind to them. He having his fears, carried his
open knife, and, when about being seized, stabbed one
Zcola through the throat, and gave another a deep wound
in his side. He was kept a spectator of the murder of the
Boers, and then shared their fate. After this dismal tragedy
Dingaan dispatched a Commando to surprize the Boers. The
news did not reach me until the 13th, when, in the utmost
alarm for the safety of my dear George, I instantly dispatched
two trusty men with a letter, to apprise him of the sad event,
and to communicate the sad tale to the Boers, but Providence
had ordered it otherwise. They did not reach the camp until
the day after the surprise, which took place on the dawn of
the 17th February.
The Boers were quite unprepared, never contemplating an
attack from that quarter. The numbers killed we have not
heard—the rivers being full, our communication with them has
been cut off. How they could have been so fatally blind to
their danger is much to be wondered at. That Dingaan
meant to kill the Boers whenever he could, there is abundant
proof. Retief and his party owed their safety on a former
occasion to the refusal of a Chief, to whom Dingaan had
given orders to kill them, and for r,hich refusal he was nearly
destroyed by Dingaan, and obliged to fly to this place for
safety.
I wrote to Retief, to caution him to be on his guard, and he
had warnings from other quarters not to place too much con-
fidence, but all proved unavailing—they arc gone to " that
bourne from which no traveller returns." Peace to their
manes !

The massacre took place on the 6th February. A Com-
mando from the place sets off to-day to co-operate v.ith the
Boers. My lameness prevents my accompanying it, and the
death of my son at present overpowers me. I remain to
command this place. • • • The departure of the Ameri-
can Nlissionaries creates no other uneasiness, than that their
return to the Colony will give a darker tint to our present un-
settled state. We shall feel no loss to our society, as they
exclusively confined their labours to the Black population,
and with very little success, whatever they may say to the
contrary.

We (tally receive deserters, vrho report the Zoola nation
in great confusion, from their severe defeat, the Boers having,
on recovering from the suddenness of the attack, killed vast
numbers.

Dingaan has called out the whole nation, but our in-
formants state their refusal to renew the attack, alleging
that " It was of no use to go ag.'inst a people they could not
get at ; as they were killed before they could get near enough
to stab."

The critical arrival of the Mary with lead has put all
into good spirits, as we had little indeed before she came.
Of gunpowder tine have al ample stock. • • • On the
night of the surprze. the Boers took a Zoola prisoner, from
whom they learned the fate of Retief's party. He enume-
rated to one of my Coffers the names of the ten Zoola regi-
ments which made the attack, and as they are composed of
about 1,000 each, the force employed must have been about
10,000 men.

Captain Gardiner received a letter from Lord Glenclg de-
clining to acknowledge this place, and afford him any support.
I beg of you not to be led ata ay by any absurd accounts the
Missionaries may give of this place—they must of course tell
a fine tale to excuse their hasty flight. The Ligonier, by her
charter, was to remain twenty-one days after her arrival, and
she is to be kept on until the arrival of the Comet, so that they
had a place of safety to fly to if necessary. Our Commando
left on the 13th in the direction of the Boers, not to join but
co-operate with them. I was disappointed in the turn out,
which I expected would bc greater. It amounted to about
1,000 men, of which 250 had arms. You shall hear further
from me per Ligonier, in the mean time you are at liberty to
make what use you please of this letter.
PORT NATAL, March 20, 1:,35.
Since my last, Natal has been paralyzed with the intelligence
of the treacherous massacre by Dingaan of Re.tief and his
party. It appears that Rctief, who had succeeded against
the Batuan Chief, went to Dingaan accompanied by 60 &Ars
and 40 out-riders, to deliver up the cattle, &c., taken (700
cattle, 30 guns, and about 60 or 70 horses), and to treat
about land. Dingaati promised every thing they required,
and to the last moment seemed most friendly. On the 6th
February, as they were preparing to saddle up. he proposed
their taking milk, &e„ and he would order his people to
dance to amuse them. Whilst dancing, :his people (about
2,000) alternately advanced and retreated. Upon a signal
from Dingaan, they suddenly rushed upon the Boers, and drag-
ged them across the river, and there killed them by twisting
their necks. Thomas Halstead, an old English resident, who
acted as Interpreter, shared the same fate. Dingaan im.
mediately ordered his people off, to attack the Boers' en-
campment, which they succeeded in doing in the night (17th
February), killing about '2OO, mostly women and children.
They were eventually beaten off, after many of' their number
had been killed.

The whole of the inhabitants of Natal, who could possibly
leave, have gone to join the Boers i❑ an attack upon Din-
gaan, %tho has assembled his forces for a counter attack upon
us and them.

The whole of the American Missionaries, their people and
Captain Gardiner, leave per Mary.
The Rev. Mr. Owen has decided to wait for the Comet,—
r.ll here hourly expecting an attack.
While writing, a messenger has arrived from our Com-
mando, stating that they have met three Boers who were on
their raid to us to request our assistance against Dingann ;
they were well pleased to see our muster, and immediately re-
turned with our Commando to their camp, to proceed at once
in company against the Zoolas."
We have nothing later than this, and when we obtain any
further information on this unfortunate and interesting occur-
rence, we shall lay them before our readers.