Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1879-07-25
the SLAIN PRINCE.
The Manner OF SITS Death, ~ Ne.
lated by His Surviving Conn
radea.

6th, the story told by the survivors Of the
little guard which, under Lieutenant Cary.
accompanied the Prince Imperial oil tho
fatal accommodating expedition on the I'd
June. There were in tho party 81 tho
Prince Lieutenant Carey. six selected men
from tho Natal Horse, and one Kafllr. They
loft camp ct 10 O'Clock, and att Lieutenant
Carey, with only four men, returned. The
Prince, three men, ivo horses aud four
rides were left behind. The survivors did
not then know that the Prince had been
killed, although they believed that he had
been. Immediately after the return OF the
troopers, Captain Bettinston. OF the Natal
HorSe, examined the men, who gave the
following evidence:
Sergeant willis-we rode till 8. when
we descended . hill to . kraal about . hun.
dred yards from the Imbanaui river. The
krssl contained four or Ave huts: There
vas clear ground In front, but high grass
and standing crops all round tho other
aides, We we're ordered by the Prince to
otf.ssddle, and. after knee.haltering. turned
our horses into the grass. We lay down
outside the huts, and took some cooked
coffee, while the Kafir looked after the
watering OF the horses. At3:50 the Prince
rave the time, saying, LOT the horses
have ten minutes more" The Kafir drove
M our horses. and ct 1 We were ordered TO
saddle. The KafHr said he had seen Q Zulu
across the river going up the hill opposite.
We saddled - quickly a. we could. The
Prince then gave the order to mount, aud
all Of rs did 30 except trooper Rogers, who
WAS trying to catch his led horse. Asudden
yolley was ct that instant fired and we all
made our way out ct once except Rogers,
aud I saw him lying against the hut. Tho
Zulus continued firing after us as wa gal.
Hoped for 200 yards and yelling. There
were about fifty Of them l should Judge
from the shots. The first volley was fired
from about twenty yards. The Zulus
shouted "Usutu" and Here arc the
English towards" turned round, saw
the Zulus. and put spurs to my horse.
When we had got . few yards from tho
krsals 4 bullet struck Abel full In the
back, about an inch below his bandoleer.
He was half . length In front OF me. i
saw they were firing high. and no lay along
my horse. Letocs passed me-. saying,
''Put spurs to your horse. boy; the Prince
10 down" I looked back and saw the
Prince was clinging TO tho stirrup.lesther
and saddle underneath his horse for q few
lengths, aud he then fell. His horse, a.
far a I could make out, trampled upon
him. / unstrung my carbine to have .
shot ct the Zulus, but the horse Iust then
plunged into the donga, and l fell forward
his neck aud lost my csrbins. When |
my seat I found the Princes
horse close beside mo. ] could not catch
IL, 80 I got behind II and drove II along
till I caught up to Lieutenant Carey. He
then said. "Some one must catch the
Princes horse" and I replied, AS my
horse 10 tagged. ! will catch II and ride II
into camp" I dismounted and caught
the horse and rode II into camp. saw
more OF the Prince. From the whiz OF
the bullets, I know the Zulu's were armed
with Martini.H Henry rides.
Trooper Cochrans-The Prince gave the
word prepare 10 mount" and afterward
Mount" was next TO him. We mounted.
but ! did not sec him do no. He was, !
think, doing something to his bit. All Of
Q sudden Q volley was fired ut US. the Zu-
lus giving q tremendous shout. The
horses were frightened and we could
hold them. Some broke away and
the rest bolted with US. When j got
across the dogma, or about fifty yards
from the kraal, I saw the Prince on foot,
closely pursued by Zulus. His horse was
then galloping of In another direction.
NO more OF the Prince. i followed
Carey. We made no attempt
to rally. halt, or save the Prince, having
only three rifles with Us. We galloped
miles without stopping.
Trooper Letocq-Just ~ wc were spring.
Ing Il our saddles the yOlley was fired
from the mesliss at fifteen or seventeen
yards. I dropped my carbine and had TO
dismount for Il. In r%emounting ! was
TO get my feet into the stirrups, my
horse was ~galloping so hard from fright.
I lay across the saddle. I passed the
Prince, but was unable TO stop for him,
no power over the reins. As ! got
clear away from the kraal I passed the
Prince. He then had hold Of the stirrup-
leather and tho cantle Of the saddle and
was trying to get his foot into the stirrup,
but his horse was going too fast. ] said TO
him {: "Depeohez vous, sill vous plat,
ct montez votre cheval." He
made NO reply. He had not caught hold
Of the bride ; he could not keep up with
the horse, and I saw IL tread on him and
the Prince fell down. The Zulus were
dring oil the time. but l could not zee
them. saw 10 more OF the Prince. /
followed Lieutenant Carey. He was lead.
Ing ct first, but some VI us passed him.
wo gslloped two or three miles.
Tho correspondent says: Tho Prince
and his escort, ~supposing the ground had
been thoroughly reconnoitered. were not
20 strictly on their guard a. they might
otherwise have been. No precautions
whatever were taken against surprise. In
itself the position was . dreadful one for
. strong party to tako up. and pre-.
sented all the natural features demanded
by Zulu tactics to insure success, Q steep
hill shutting Of retreat on two sides. q
river on the third, and Q steep and difficult
ionga on the fourth, with tho space thus
enclosed filled with dense cover. At this
season Of the year the Tambookio grass 10
II its highest. and round the Kafir krasls
the maize and millet. sprung from grain
In carriage from the field to the
huts, 10 always found scattered among the
grass. The whole formed . very close
Of . fairly uniform hight Of six
leet. Through this the Zulus securely
stalked their enemies. When the volley |
was fred the party were standing to their
In line. with their backs TO the
kraal and their faces eastward. The Prince
Was In front OF the mon at the left Of the
line. and therefore nearest to the Zulus.
never reached his horse. and when
last seen was behind . hut, rife in hand,
evidently prepared to defend himself. but
before he could Are the poor follow was
shot from the mealios. Abel was killed
before reaching the donga. The Kafir
probably rushed to cover at once. and was
surrounded. and tho rest Of the par.
~, six men In all, made for the donga,
Carey and two others crossing Il at . worry
dificult point, while two others took an
easier place. more on their left, the Prince
following the latter. He was not seen to
reach the dongs, but Carey when crossing
u saw the Princes horse galloping across
II st the easiest point.
The Zulus must have como up with the
Prince Ut the gully. where he must have
upon his pursuers. He never
called for help. but faced the savages with
tho sword In his hand carried by the frat
Napoleon through many . famous day.
Whether he killed any Zulus Is not known.