The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1920-02-15
She and Allan

oAsoVs WY NV 49, ~
covered By trees. many Of them
fruitAbeartng. between which mean
dersd streams Of water. 80. IN,
About ten O'Clock we reached the
foot OF the sncircling cliffs and be-
gan the climb Of the escarpment.
which was steep. tortuous and dtfi-
cult. BY noon We reached its crest
and here found all our little army
encamped. and except for the sen
tries sleeping. rs seemed to be tho
custom OF these people In the day
time. .t
l caused the chief captains to DO
awakened. and with them made q
circuit OF the camp. reckoning the
numbers Of the men. which came to
about $3.50, and learning, what I
could concerning them and their
way of lighting. Thep. accompsr
MED by Umslopogass and Hans.
with the Zulus as q guard. also the
three head captains OF the ANA
hsgger, I walked forward to study
the lie Of the land.
Coming to the further edge OF
the escarpment found that at this
place two broad ridges like those
that spring from the boles Of GER
tain forest trees, ran from It's crest
to the plain beneath at q somewhat
gentle slope. Moreover. ] saw that
on this plain between the ends OF
the ridges an army was camped,
which, by the aid of my glasses. !
examined and estimated to number
at least ten thousand men.
This army, the Amahagger cap
tains informed mo. was that of
Rezu, who, they said. intended to
commence their attack at dawn on
the following morning, since the
People of ReSu being sun-worship-
pers would never fight until their
god appeared above the horizon.
Having studied all there was to
see I asked the captain TO set out
their plan Of battle. II they had
plan.
The chief of them answered that
It was to advance halfway down
the right-hand ridge to q spot
where there was q marrow nat
piece of ground. and there await
attack, since at this place their
smaller numbers would not SO
much matter, whereas these made
It Impossible for them to assail tho
enemy. :,
"But suppose that Rexu should
choose to come % the other ridge
and get behind You. what would
happen then?" / inquired.
He replied that he did not know,
his ideas Of strategy being, 1t was
clear, Of q primitive order.
"Do your people fight best at
nieht or In the dayr I went on.
He said undoubtedly ut night;
indeed, in MI their history there
was no record Of their having done
so in the daytime.
"And yet you propose to let ReSu
Join battle with you when the sun
IA hiRh, or, In other, words, to court
defeat," ! remarked.
Then I went aside and discussed
thinEs for while with Umslopo-
xaas and Hans, after which l 70
TUNED and gave my orders. declin-
ink al argument. Briehy. these
were that in the dusk before the
rising of the moon our Amahagger
must advance down the right-hand
ridge In complete silence, and hide
themselves among the scrub which
saw grew thickly near It's root.
A small party. however. under
the leadership 81 0oroko. whom l
knew to be q brave and clever cap
tain. we're to pass halfway down
the left-hand ridge and there light
fires over q wide area, 30 as to
make the enemy think that our
whole force was encamped there.
Then ut a proper moment. which
had not yet decided upon. We
would attack the army OF Rezu.
Now + will get on quickly with
the story of this fight, whereof the
preliminary details do not matter.
At the proper time Goroko went on
with two hundred and fifty men
and one of the two Zulus to light
his fires, and at an agreed signal
namely, the firing of two shots :
rapid succession by myself; to Der a
shouting and generally make as
much noise as. they could. We
also went on with the remaining
three thousand. and before the
moon rose crept as quiet as ghosts
down the right-hand ridge.
Being such a silent folk who
were accustomed to move at night
and could see in the dark almost
as we'll as cats, the Amahagger ex-
ecuted this manoeuvre splendidly,
wrapping their spear-blades In
bands OF dry grass lest light should
CLINT on them and betray our
movements. So in due course We
came to the patch Of bush where
the ridge widened out about five
hundred yards above the level Of
the plain, and there lay down in
four companies or regiments. each
of them seven hundred and fifty
strong. .....".. .5..
Now the moon had risen, but be-
cause Of mist which covered the
surface of the plain we could see
nothing ~ the camn NJ Rezu which,