Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1906-06-01
HE FOUNDED THE ZULU NATION.
Made Strong the People that are Now
Eiuhtinu Great Britain.

A large section of the Zulus are
again at war with the British. Many
Of them are armed only with assegals
and seem to have forgotten the les
son the white men taught them once
that the hurting javellns with which,
under the lead of their King Tshaka,
they conquered the country far and
wide, are no match for modern rifles.
They are doomed to defeat. For
sixty years they did not know the
meaning of the word, but they can
not do with the whites as they did
with every tribe Of South Africa that
ever faced them in battle.
It Is only about ninety years since
Tshaka took the warpath with the
military machine he had evolved. He
was the petty chief Of petty tribe
whom nobody feared. But while the
tribes around thought no danger
could come from such a source,
Tshaka was hard at work on his mil
itary machine and they heard from
him, when 1t was ready for use.
He told his people that war was
the only fitting vocation for strong
men. He forbid any man to marry
till he was forty. Before that time
his life and service were the kings
and he was nothing but a cog wheel
in the military machine.
The, time came when Tshaka told
lot Of retired soldiers that they
must get married. A crowd Of the
girls put their heads together and de-
cided to rebel. They said there were
plenty Of young men, they did not
want old husbands and rather than
marry the castoffs from the army
they would remain single.
1t was the last time that the maid
ems of Zululand ever dared to beard
the lion of his people. Tshaka killed
about 200 Of them and no further
objection to old husbands was heard.
Tshaka's army soon became supe-
rior in numbers to that Of any other
single chief, and he made Of his SOL
diers a compact fighting machine
that would march to death at the
word of command. There were no
fiinchers, because all flinchers were
killed.
He led his army on long marches
and annexed every tribe he con-
quered. for he defeated them all. He
| became master Of vast territories, and
| was never able to occupy all the land
he conquered.
The effect of his operations was to
| the little chief became king. At a
days notice he could put thousands
into the field, and the women and
boys who carried supplies for his
| army, on one occasion at least, num-
| bered $4,000.
The awe and fear he inspired made
| his will absolute among his people.
1t was his habit to mete out death to
those who failed to carry out his in
structions.
In all his life this remarkable man
enjoyed few luxuries. that were be-
yond the reach Of the poorest Of his
people. He knew no choicer food
than boiled beef and beer. His eyes
were Redeemed by the smoke of his
ventless hut.
He slept on straw mat, with a
wooden pillow supporting his head
and a mantle Of skins covering his
body, and his clothing was as COM
mon as that of any ordinary Zulu
All he wanted was power and he won
it in full measure. European writers
have called him the African Napo-
leon, and yet this man Of iron and
savagery wept like a child at the
deathbed Of his mother after trav-
cling eighty miles in an almost in:
credibly short time to reach her be-
fore she died.
Tshaka's great grandchildren are
still alive in Zululand, or over the
border in Natal Some of his de-
scendants are facing foe whom even
the founder Of the nation could not
have subdued. They may make a
good deal of trouble, but, of course,
the end Of it all will be the bitter
humiliation of the rebellious Zulus.