The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-04-25
ers at Buluwayo are willing to ad-
THE UNOFFICIAL ACCOUNT

THE UNOFFICIAL ACCOUNT
of the sortie places matters in a some
what different light. It says that there
was a good deal of unnecessary delay
in getting the troops away from Bull
uwayo and that it was almost day
light when they started, consequently
when they encountered the Matabeles
they found the latter fully prepared to
receive them. There was determined
fighting on both sides at close range,
and the British when almost surround
ed. retreated fighting stubbornly with
the loss CT many killed and wounded.
In brief, the sortie was a failure, a
defeat for the British. and what is
worse under the circumstances there
was an expenditure of much of the
small stock of ammunition remaining
at Buluwayo.
The Matabeles are believed to be
flushed with victory They have driven
back into BulIwayo a strong force,
about half the garrison of that place,
and although they suffered severely,
the loss in prestige and ammunition to
the British is much more severe.
F. C. Selous, the explorer, with a
squad of fifty troopers, was last re-
ported on his way to Mangwo to COM
plete the repairs of the telegraph line
at Fig Tree and protect the line as far
as possible from
MARAUDING BANDS OF MATABE-
LES
The rinderpest is still making terri
BILE ravages in Bechuanaland where the
natives are killing what remains OF
their herds in order to provide supplies
with which to sustain themselves
famine is in prospect as the herds are,
~, hal v-iJO
out of existence. To make matters
worse, the plague is attacking the
sheep and goats.
Politically, there seems to be slight
change for the better, due, no doubt,
to the influence of Berlin. 1t is ru-
mored that the members of the reform
committee are to be leniently dealt
with on condition that they plead
guilty of conspiring against the gov
eminent of Pretoria, and it is added
that the ''reformers" are only too glad
to escape at any cost from the tight
fix in which they find themselves.
The chances of President Kruger
visiting England, it is also said, have
improved during the past few days.
The news which has reached here
from England that reinforcements of
British troops are to be hurried to the
Cape has given great satisfaction to
the British portion of the population
and may have a good effect in other
quarters.
FURTHER. PARTICULARS
received from Buluwayo in regard to
the sortie show that when the Mata-
belle main body was first made out
about four miles west of Buluwayo,
the enemy occupied ridge, on top of
which were the oarthworks and stone
parapets, and were prepared to receive
the British force. Consequently slight
detour was made so as TO bring the
column slightly north of Buluwayo.
The enemy were found to be covering
four miles of well-selected positions
on the north bank of the Umgumza
river After fierce fighting the natives
drove the British back and down the
bank. Crossing the river in the re-
treat, F. C. Selous had q narrow es-
cape. His horse was killed in mid
stream and he bee7n.s7 entangled in the
stirrups, and when he extficated him
self he was half drowned and would
have sunk had :, not been for Lieuten-
ant Windley, who swan his horse out
into the middle Of the river in the
face of the fire OF the enemy, rescued
Selous, and reached the left bank
without injury.
When the British rallied and drove
back the Matabeles. they were en-
gagged with only a pOrllOn OIL lllS Md
tabele force and so soon as the enemy
SWARMED OVER THE RIDGE
in large numbers, they almost sur
rounded the British and the latter
were compelled to retreat.
The squad of troopers, previously
said to have been for time quite cut
off and only able to eXtricate itself by
a brilliant charge through the Mata-
belle Gordon, was Captain Gray's scouts.
They were, to a certain degree, am
pushed and almost in the hands of the
enemy, when, by a desperate rush,
they extricated themselves.
1t is now said that both the Hotch-
kiss and the Maxim rapid fire guns
worked badly, and that they were
only used for comparatively short
time, as the mechanism damned con-
tinuously.
No correct estimate of the killed or
wounded has yet been received, the
only statement made on the subject
being that of the unofficial report
which says that the British loss was
very slight, and that the Matabeles
lost very heavily.
The opinion is gaining that the Brit
ish suffered a bad defeat, and that the
Matabele loss was not so great as at
first rumored.