New-York tribune., 1896-05-04
MATABELE TACTICS.
THE SOUTH AFRICAN SAVAGES READILY
ASSIMILATE EUROPEAN MILL
TARY IDEAS
From The London Globe.


against he he Maabe rebes will A be
Of their ne rass aSsc' tSe S not rSns
s'Tsnsth but II al IiksIihooa + between 100 a"5
the Zulu race is their great power OF absorbing the
military IDEAS OF white men It was thus that their
matter fell out thus: Dingtslwayo. the heir to the
chiefainship Of the Aba Tetua' wandered, IN the
noted the great value Of the discipline exercised in
the training Of European soldiers. and also the
Accordingly or MS return to his tribe. he organ
s an n sabns
as substitute @ for the bayonet Chaks: who sp.n;
@ N h hs ' 6 e
model But he went further. and introduced per
Zulu nation no. known as Matabele set forth to
conquer a new kingdom. under the leadership OF
Accordingly. the Matabee retained. and carried
TO the. highest perfection the famous hgntng tao
Two projecting horns pushed forward, which
try to outnank and snrroInI the enemy, and then
against the enemy when thrown into confusion
d @ SSe % Dst
ever given to Englishmen to Judge Of the Zulu
in s at square inS
horses inside it, will remember the triple line OF
black mass Of men who came from Ulund itself, and
attack. to the fury OF their charge In the dark
ness OF the night they try to steal near their foe.
with the daybreak. charge with fierce shouts 1t is
wonderful how closely they can lie On October 2l.
1899, a strong patrol went out 10 burn the Ineu-
cameni Kraal. The patrol had TO pass through the
somabuli Forest TO reach the kraal, and on its
way disturbed encampment OF the Matabele.
These had secuted and seen the laager after
sunset and had actually got between the Chartered
forces scouts and the camp unnoticed 1t was only
the patrol on thts .c Occasion again two days later
out 10 bring In Edward Burnett, wounded scout.
As It was feared the patrol had missed the camp.
a rocket signal was sent up. II afterward trans
pIred that a Matabele mpi had been posted be-
tween the patrol and laager. but when the warriors
heard the report and the falling stars they put
II down to witchcraft and refrained from attack
ing the patrol Again, the description given OF the
beginning Of the battle OF the Shangani tells much
the same tale. When night closed In. the Char
tered force quite unsuspecting that the enemy
was near. The scouts had reported that the cOun-
at dawn. rather Just before It. a fierce attack
made.
Certainly the lessons OF the former should not
be forgotten. The Matabele then were proved to be
termined In delivering their attack and sullen and
defiant even when beaten back. In fact, II must be
said that they dispersed rather than beaten.
1t Ia plain that they have benefited by the lessons Of
that war: they have been quick to modify their tao
tics to enable their men to face the deadly. sweep
ing fire OF the Maxims. and the training given to
native police has manifestly not been given in
vain. II may be questioned also whether there have
is strange that the rebels have been so we'll sup
piled with arms and ammunition II Is therefore 10
be hoped that the leaders In the future operations
will bear In mind the nature Of the Matabele tao
enemy for In that way lies defeat, since II must b.
owned that In all the recent engagements the Mata-
belle have proved far dangerous foes than they
did at any time during the former war.