Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1906-03-06
NO. 49,.
Mistrllanuus 8adiag.
ZULU ALLIES.
Not That They Loved Enslishnen,
But Hated the Beers.

Not That They Loved Enslishmen,
But Hated the Beers.
While waiting for Gen. Butler to
begin his advance toward the Tugela
river learned that the arrival of
only one more detachment was need
ed to complete the efficiency of the
army. One afternoon / was return
ing to camp after a long ride when
/ saw a cloud of dust rolling across
the veldt In such volume as to indi-
cate the approach Of a compact mass
Of men or teams. AS It was coming
from the south-opposite to the front
facing the enemy-I rode some dis
tance beyond the camp to meet this
column.
Pulling up to windward Of the
dense dust cloud raised by the new
corners, I saw six companies Of men
advancing at an easy jog trot. There
were about fifty in each line, keeping
fairly regular front and a regular
interval between the companies.
I could not comprehend why they
were advancing In apparently threat
ening fashion upon the camp Of the
British troops, one company of which
could have killed them all In two
minutes.
The weather was very warm. and
the clothing worn by most Of the
Zulus was limited to a pair of dilap-
idated trousers. Some Of them, how
ever, were proudly looping along
dressed in heavy overcoats, cutaways
and even an occasional Prince Albert
coat The company leaders were old
men, and they seemed to emphasize
their position by wearing as many
could get on. Naturally they felt the
heat more than the rank and file,
but they seemed to glory In the priv
ilege of shedding their sweat literally
at the head Of their respective impis.
Most of the men carried stout knob
kerries; which they swung about their
heads as they trotted along.
An impi in the halcyon days Of the
Zulus contained 5000 men, so my
man. Aleck, told me; but each of
these companies, he said, had form
erly belonged to separate impi, and
they still retained the skeleton Of
the organization that had been so
powerful in the past.
AS each company passed me II set
up a chant or cry distinctively its
own. Knowing nothing Of the Ian
guage, was of course unable to dis
tinguish the words they used, but
noticed that each impi had its In
dividual time and manner Of uttering
its cries. The first one howled long
and loud, the men swaying their
bodies from side to side and waving
their knobkerries in a vertical half
circle from left to right and back
again. 1t was miracle they
did not crack each others heads
with these heavy clubs. The second
impi was led by Methuselah dressed
in a silk hat and we'll ventilated
waterproof coat He shouted sew
eral syllables staccato and his, men
repeated them when he paused to
catch his breath. The third impi
walled a lot of high-pitched cries
like the notes thrown out of seago-
ing steamships siren.
1t was apparent that all these men
had worked themselves up to a state
of nervous tension in which they
were not wholly aware of what they
were doing.
When I noted the expression on
the faces Of many Of them 1 should
not have been surprised to see them
attack the British soldiers who began
vances as they entered the crowded
camp. Their wicked-looking knob
kerries would have been terrible
weapons in a hand-to-hand fight.
However, though it was certain that
they had no love for the white SOL
diers, they held their course through
the camp peaceably and finally squat
ted on a low piece of ground on the
bank Of the Blauwkraantz river,
where they howled and chanted
nearly all night.
Aleck interpreted to me the char
acter of their songs and explained the
reason why these natives-all Of the
unmixed Zulu blood-had come to
the. camp of their British conquerors
in time of war and on the eve OF an
important battle. The nature Of the
country through which the fighting
was to be done was such, that II the
Beers should make a stubborn re-
sistance the fighting force would have
its hands full without looking after
it's wounded, and these Zulus were
to bring in and transport the dead
and wounded Of the British army.
Now. the Zulus have no love for
the British, and against any other
foe they would have hardly been
persuaded to help the relocated
white men; but they hated the Beers
with a hatred that had endured
since the earliest days Of their in
tercourse with whites OF any nation
ality. Way back in 1885, after the
Zulus had killed many OF the Beers,
there was a final battle in which the
native ruler, King Dlngaan, led his
impis to what ne hoped would be
the annihilation Of the whites; but,
having made a miscalculation Of his
own strength and that of his ene--
mics, 1t was the Zulu king who was
annihilated with most of his follow
ers. Consequently the 18th day of
December is known I'm South Africa
as Dingaan's day, and It is an ami
versary of rage and sorrow for the
Zulu people Subsequent illtreat-
ment Of the Zulus by the Beers had
kept alive the bitterness Of the
former, so that when they learned
that Gen. Butler was about to move
against the Boer army 1t was easy
to secure the services Of these 800
descendants Of the Dingaan's day
survivors to accompany the British
troops to the battlefield, where they
expected to see the Beers slaughter
ed and routed.-Joseph L. Stickney,
in Chicago Evening Post