NOTES ABOUT NATAL

NATAL, a maritime province of the Union of South Africa, situated nearly between. 27° and 31° S., 29° and 33° E. It is bounded S.E. by the Indian Ocean, S.W. by the Cape province and Basutoland, N.W. by the Orange Free State province, N. and N.E. by the Transvaal and Portuguese East Africa. It has a coast line of 376 m.; its greatest length N. to S. in a direct line iS 247 m.; its greatest breadth E. to W., also in a direct line, 200 m. Natal has an area of 35,371 sq. m., being nearly threequarters the size of England. (For map see SOUTH AFRIcA.) The province consists of two great divisions, namely Natal proper and Zululand (q.v.). Natal proper has a seaboard of 166 m. and an area of 24,910 sq. m., Zululand, in which is included Amatongaland, a seaboard of 210 m. and an area of 10,461 sq. m. It lies north-east of Natal. In this article the description of the physical features, &c. refers only to Natal proper.

Physical Features.—The terrace formation of the land characteristic of other coast regions of South Africa prevails in Natal. The country may be likened to a steep and gigantic staircase leading to a broad and level land lying beyond its borders. The rocky barrier which shuts off this land is part of the Drakensberg range. From the mountain sides flow many rivers which dash in magnificent waterfalls and through deep gorges to the sea. FaIling 8000 or more feet in little over 200 m., these streams are unnavigable. The south-eastern sides of the mountains arc in part covered with heavy timber, while the semi-tropical luxuriance of the coast belt has earned for Natal the title of “the garden colony.”

The coast trends, in an almost unbroken line, from S.W.to N.E It extends from the mouth of the Uintamvuna river (31° 4’ S. 30° 12’ E.), which separates Natal from the Cape, to the mouth oi the Tugela (29° 15’ 5., 31° 30’ E.), which marks the frontie] between Natal and Zululand. The only considerable indentatior is at Durban, about two-thirds of the distance from the Umtam vuna to the Tugela, where there is a wide and shallow bay covering with its islands nearly 8 sq. m. The coast, though by and sandy in places, is for the most part rocky and dangerous The warm Mozambique current sweeps down from the N.E. setting up a back drift close in shore. The southern entranc to Durban harbour is marked by a bold bluff, the Bluff of Natal which is 250 ft. high and forested to the water’s edge. Opposite the Bluff a low sandy spit called the Point forms the northern entrance to the harbour. North of Durban the coast belt, hitherto very narrow, widens out and becomes more flat. But the greater part of the coast region, which has an average depth of 15 m., is broken and rugged. Ranges of hills lead to the first plateau, which has an average elevation of 2000 ft. and is of ill-defined extent. Here the land loses its semi-tropical character and resembles more the plains of the Orange Free State and the Transvaal. The second plateau, reached by a steep ascent, has an elevation of from nearly 4000 to fully 5000 ft. It is an undulating plain, grass-covered, but for the most part without trees or bush. It continues to the foot of the Drakensberg range, the mountains rising towards the S.W., with almost perpendicular sides, 6000 to 7000 ft. above the country at their base. Northwest, towards the Transvaal, the mountains are of lower elevation and more rounded contours.
 

Mountains. Although the division of the country into terraces separated by ranges of hills is clearly marked in various districts, as for instance between Durban and Colenso, the province is traversed by many secondary chains, as well as by spurs of the Drakensberg. The highest points of that range, and the highest land in Africa south of Kilimanjaro, lie within the borders of Natal. The Drakensberg (q.v.), from Majuba Hill on the N.W. to Btishinan’s Nek in the S.W., form the frontier of the province, the crest of the range being generally within Natal. This is the case in the Mont-aux-Sources (11,170 ft.) and Cathkin Peak or Champagne Castle (10,357 ft.); the top of the third great height, Giant’s Castle (9657 ft.), is in Basutoland, but its seaward slopes are in Natal. From Giant’s Castle to Mont-auxSources, in which, forsalling their general direction, the Drakensberg run S.E. to N.W., the mountains attain an elevation of 10,000 to 11,000 ft., with few breaks in their face. North of Mont-aux-Sources the mountain ridge sinks to 8000 and less feet, and here are several passes leading into the Orange Free State. Laing’s Nek is a pass into the Transvaal. The chief heights in Natal between Mont-auxSources and Laing’s Nek are Tintwa (7500, ft.), Inkwelo (6808 ft.) and the flat-topped Majuba (7000 ft.). Spurs from the Drakensberg, at right angles to the main range, cross the plateaus. The most northern, which runs E. from Majuba to the Lebombo Mountains, coincides roughly with the northern frontier of Natal. It is one of the transverse chains connecting the eastern coast range with the higher terraces and goes under a variety of names, such as Elands Berg and Ingome Mountains. A second range, the Biggarsberg, starts from the Drakensberg near l\’Iount Malani and goes E.S.E. to the junction of Mooi, Buffalo and Tugela rivers. This range contains, in Indumeni (7200 ft.), the highest mountain in Natal outside the main Drakensbcrg. A third range runs N.E. from Giant’s Castle towards the Biggarsberg. It lies north of the Mooj river, and its most general name is Mooj River Heights. A fourth range also diverges from Giant’s Castle and ramifies in various branches over a large tract of country, one branch running by Pietermaritzburg to the Berea hills overlooking Durban. The chief height in this fourth range is Spion Kop (7037 ft.), about 25 m. S.E. of Giant’s Castle. This is not the Spion Kop rendered famous during the Anglo-Boer War of 1899—1902. That Spion Kop, with Vaal Kranz and Pieter’s Hills, are heights on the northern bank of the upper Tugela.

Secondary ranges with heights of 5000 and more feet are numerous, whilst lofty isolated mountains rise from the plateaus. The greatest of these isolated masses is Mahwaqa (6834 ft.), in the south-west part of the country. Of many flat-topped hills the best known is the Table Mountain east of Pietermaritzburg.

Rivers. All the rivers of Natal not purely coast streams have their origin in the Drakensberg or its secondary ranges. The largest and longest, the Tugela, with the Buffalo, Mooi, Klip and other tributaries is treated separately. The Tugela basin drains the whole country north of a line drawn in a direct line east from Giant’s Castle. The .Umkomaas (“ gatherer of waters “) rises in Giant’s Castle and flows in a south-easterly course to the sea. Though it makes no large sweeps it, has so tortuous a course that its length (some 200 m.) is twice that of the valley through which it flows. Its banks in its upper course are wild and picturesque, with occasional wide deep valleys, with climate and vegetation resembling the coast belt. The Umzimkulu river rises in Bamboo Castle, in the Drakens. berg, and, with bolder curves than the Umkomaas, runs in a coursc generally parallel with that stream S.E. to the sea, its mouth being about 40 m. south of that of the Umkomaas. The Ingwangwani rises in the Drakensberg south of the Umzimkulu, which it joini after a course of some 50 m. Below the junction the Umzimkult forms for some distance the frontier between Natal and the Griqua’ land East division of the Cape. The scenery along the river valle) (120 m. long) is very striking, in turns rugged and desolate, verdan’ and smiling, with patches of dense forest and heights wooded ti their summit. Port Shepstone is situated at the mouth of the river which, like that of all others in Natal, is obstructed by a bar. As the result of harbour works, however, a channel has been cleared and steamers can ascend the river for 6 m.

The Pongola rises in the Transvaal in high ground N.E. of Wakkerstroom and flows E., forming, for the greater part of its course, the northern frontier of the province. After piercing the Lebombo Mountains, it turns N. and joins the Maputa, a river emptying into Delagoa Bay. The Umgeni, which rises in the Spion Kop hills some 30 m. S.E. of Giant’s Castle, passes through the central part of Natal and reaches the sea 4 m. N. of Durban. It flows alternately through mountainous and pastoral country, and is known for two magnificent waterfalls, both within 12 m. of Pietermaritzburg. The upper fall is close to the village of Howick. Here the Umgeni leaps in a single sheet of water down a precipice over 350 ft. high, more than double the height of Niagara, forming, when the river is swollen by the rains, a spectacle of rare magnificence. Some 12 m. below are the Karkloof or Lower Falls, where in a series of beautiful cascades the water descends to the plain. Other rivers of Natal which rise in the spurs of the Drakensberg or in the higher terraces are the Umvoti, which runs south of the Tugela and gives its name to a county division, the Umlaas (which gives Durban its main water supply, the Illovo, which traverse the country between the Umgeni and Umkomaas, and the Umtamvuna, noteworthy as forming the boundary between Natal and Pondoland. There are also seventeen distinct coast streams in the colony.

General geological structure of Natal and Zululand is simple. It consists of a series of plateaus formed of sedimentary rocks which mainly belong to three formations of widely separated ages, and which rest on a platform of granitic and metamorphic rocks. The geological formations represented include Post-Cretaceous and Recent  Cretaceous . Littoral of Zululand. Plateau Basalts.  Karroo Cave Sandstone. Red Beds. Stormberg Series. L. Karroo Ecca Glacial Series (Dwyka Conglomerate) Cape System . Table Mountain Sandstone Series. (Quartzites, Conglomerates and Shales of Nkandhla, Umfolosi river.
Gneisses, Schists, Marbles, Granites (Swazi. land Series).
 
Pre-Cape Rocks.—The granites and schists occur in close association. The series covers considerable areas in the lowest parts of the valleys and near the coast. The widest areas are in Zululand. In the Umzimkulu river and in the Tugela river below its junction with the Buffalo, metamorphic limestones are associated with schists, gneisses and granites. A group of highly inclined quartzites, altered conglomerates and jasperoid rocks which crop out on the Umhlatuzi river, between Melmoth and Nkandhla and on the White Umfolosi river above Ulundi Plains, is considered by Anderson to represent some portion of the Lower Witwatersrand series. The~conglomerates are true “banket” and are auriferous, but the gold has not been met with in payable quantities.

Table Mountain Sandstone Series.—T his rests unconformably on the pre-Cape rocks. Traced northwards, the series becomes thinner and finally dies out. As a rule denudation, which has acted on a magnificent scale, has removed all but a few hundred feet of the basement beds. The maximum thickness of 2000 ft. occurs near Melmoth. The beds are usually thin false-bedded sandstones with an almost complete absence of shales. A conglomerate at the base contains traces of gold. Griesbach mentions the occurrence of some small bivalves in the shales of Greytown, but Anderson failed to find any fossils.

Ecca Glacial Series.—A great unconformity separates the Table Mountain and Ecca series. In the Cape this gap is represented by the Witteberg and Bokkeveld series. The Dwyka conglomerate rarely attains any great thickness though forming wide outcrops. It is usually a hard compact rock containing striated stones. The Umgeni quarries, where the rock is used for road-metal, furnish the best exposures.

Ecca Series.—With the Beaufort series this occupies over twothirds of the western portion of the province and has wide outcrops in Zululand and in the Vryheid districts. The Ecca shales’contain some of the best coals of South Africa, but the seams contain much unmarketable coal. Around Dundee and Newcastle the coals are bituminous. In Zululand they are chiefly anthracitic. The fossils include several species of Glossopteris among them: Glossopter’is
 
See C. L. Griesbach, “On the Geology of Natal in South Africa,”
Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xxvii. pp. 53-72 (1871); P. C. Sutherland, “ Notes on an Ancient Boulder Clay of Natal,” Quart. Journ.
Geol. Soc. vol. xxvi. pp. 514-517 (1870); ~V. Anderson. Reports,
Geol. Survey, Natal and Zululand (Pietermaritzburg, 1901; London, 1904); and “Science in South Africa,” Handbook, Brit. Assoc. pp. 260-272 (Cape Town, 1905). brownjancz var indica; Bunb. Phyllotheca Zeiheri elk. fil.; Estheria Greyii, Jones, indicating a Permo-Carbonifer~,’.~s age.

Beaufort Series.—The Ecca series graduates upwards into the highly coloured sandstones and shales of the Beaufort series. Fossil reptilian remains, chiefly Dicynodon, are abundant.
Stormberg Series.—This consists of sandstones and shales with thin seams of coal. The chief outcrops occur around Biggarsberg and along the upper slopes of the Drakensberg. Inc fossil flora—Thinnfeldia odontopteroides, Morr. and a Pterophylluni—indicate a Rhaetic age. No reptilian remains have been found.
Upper Karroo.—The Red beds and Cave sandstones occur along the eastern flanks of the Drakensberg.
Cretaceous.—De posits of this age are confined to the littoral.
They are exceedingly prolific in fossils which prove them to be of
Upper Cretaceous age. A long list of fossils has been obtained from
Umkivelane Hill, Zululand. W.G.*l

Climate.—With a rise in level (not reckoning the mountain tops) of 5500 ft. in a distance of 170 m., Natal possesses several varieties of climate but is nowhere unhealthy. The climate is comparable to that of north Italy. The valleys and coast belt, though practically free from malarial fever, are hot and humid, and fires in dwelling houses are seldom required even in the coolest months; the lower plateaus are cool and the air dry; the uplands are bracing and often very cold, with snow on the ground in winter. The year is divided into two seasons, summer, which begins in October and ends in March, and winter, which fills up the rest of the year. Summer is the rainy season, and May, June and July the driest months of the year. The mean temperature at Durban, records taken at 260 ft. above the sea, is 70° F., varying from 42° in winter to 98° in summer. The average summer humidity is 76%, that of winter 74%. At Pietermaritzburg, 41 m. inland and 2200 ft. above the sea, the temperature is about 64°. In the uplands the heat of summer is often greater than on the coast, but the air is less humid and the nights are generally cool. Both the humidity and the temperature are increased by the great mass of water, the Mozambique current, flowing south from the equatorial regions. At Durban the annual rainfall is about 40 in., at Pietermaritzburg 38. The average for the province is believed to be about 30 in. In 1893, the year of highest recorded rainfall, 70 in. fell on the coast districts. Thunderstorms, averaging nearly one hundred in the year, and violent hailstorms, occur in summer, being most severe in the interior. The storms serve to modify the intense heat, though the lightning and hail cause considerable damage. The prevailing winds on the coast are north-east, warm and humid, and south-west, cool and bracing, though in summer the south-west wind brings rain. Inland, chiefly in early summer, a hot dry wind, often accompanied by a dust storm, blows from the north. These winds, which blow on an average twenty-five days in the year, seldom reach the coast and are generally followed by rain. Inhabitants of Natal are practically exempt from chest diseases.

Flora.—Botanically, Natal is divided into three zones: (I) the coast belt, extending from the sea inland to heights of 1500 ft., and in some cases to 1800 and 2000 ft.; (2) the midland region, which rises to 4000 ft.; (3) the upper regions. In these zones the flora varies from sub-tropical to sub-alpine. The heaths and proteads common at the Cape peninsula, in Basutoland and other parts of South Africa, are rare in Natal, but almost any species of the flora of semi-tropical and temperate countries introduced attains perfection. The trees and plants characteristic of each zone are not always confined to that zone, but in several instances, when common to the coast belt and the midlands, their character alters according Lo the elevation of the land. The dense bush or jungle of evergreen trees, climbers and flowering shrubs, which up to the middle of the 19th century covered the greater part of the coast belt, has largely disappeared. There are still, however, in the coast belt woods of leguminous evergreens bearing bright-coloured flowers. The trees in these woods ar~ generally from 20 to 50 ft. in height and include the knob-thorn, water-boom, kafir-boom (with brilliant scarlet flowers), the Cape chest-nut and milkwoods (Mimusops). But the most striking of the coast-belt flora are the tropical forms—the palm. mangrove, wild banana (Strelitzia augusta), tree-ferns, tree euphorbia, candelabra spurge and Caput medusae. Of palms there are two varieties, the ilala (Hyphaene crinila), found only by the sea shore and a mile or two inland, and the isundu (Phoenix reclinata), more widespread and found at heights up to 2000 ft. or even higher. The amatungulu or Natal plum, found chiefly near the sea, is one of the few wild plants with edible fruit. Its leaves are of a glossy dark green, its~ flower white and star-shaped’ and its fruit resembles the plum. Other wild fruits are the so-called Cape gooseberry (not native to Natal) and the kaw apple or Dingaan apricot, which grows on a species of ebony tree.

The midland region is characterized by grass lands (the Natal grasses are long and coarse) and by considerable areas of flat-topped thorn bush mimosa. The bush is not as a rule dense, nor is it of any great height. A tree peculiar to this zone is the Alberta magna. It has dull pink flowers,’ succeeded by seed vesseis, each of which is crowned by two scarlet-coloured leafy lobes. A grass belt separates the thorn bush from the districts carrying heavy timber, found mainly in the upland zone, along the sides of the mountains exposed to the rains and in klocfs. The i~idigenous timber trees are principally the yellow wood (Podocarl,us), sneezewood (Pteroxylon utile), stinkwood (Oreodaphne bullata), black ironwood (Olea laurifolia), white ironwood ( Vepris lanceolata) , and umtomboti (Exoecaria africcina); all are very useful woods, and the yellow wood, sneezewood, stinkwood and ironwood when polished have grain and colour equal to maple, walnut and ebony. The “rooibesje,” red pear and milkwood trees are used for boatbuilding. The Australian Eucalyptus and Ca suarina in great variety, and many other imported trees, including syringas, wattles, acacias, willows, pines, cypress, cork and oak all thrive when properly planted and protected from grass fires. The black wattle has been extensively planted and flourishes at elevations of from 1000 to 3000 ft. Its bark forms a valuable article of commerce.

Flowers which bloom in the early spring are abundant, especially on the edges of forests. Among those found throughout the country are the Dierama pendula, the orchid and the “everlasting.” As a rule flowers conimon to all zones are on the coast smaller and with paler colours than they are in the midlands. Aloes are common; in part of the midland zone they form when in bloom with abundance of orange and scarlet flowers a most picturesque sight. Of Cycadaceae the Stangeria paradoxa is peculiar to Natal. There is but one cactus indigenous to Natal; it is found hanging from perpendicular rocks in the midlands. There are, however, several species of euphorbia of the miscalled cacti. Climbing plants with gorgeous flowers are common, and there are numerous species of Compositae and about a hundred cinchonaceous plants. Bulbous plants are also very numerous. The most common are the Natal lily with pink and white ribbed bells, the fire-lily, with flame-coloured blossoms, ixias, gladiolas, the lfafa lily, with fuchsia-like clusters, and the arum lily. A conspicuous veld plant is the orange and crimson leonotis, growing 6 ft. high. Geraniums are somewhat scarce. Fern life is abundant; I2~5 species are indigenous, two being tree-ferns. One of these, Cyathea dregei, found in moist places and open land, has a stem 20 ft. high; the stem of the other, Hemitelia capensis, sometimes reaches 30 ft. The ferns are most common in the midland zone and in the heavy timber forests. Sixty different species have been identified in one valley not more than I m. long and about 100 ydi. in breadth. Among fruit trees, besides the wild fruits already mentioned, are the pineapple, mango, papua, guava, grenadilla, rose apple, custard apple, soursop, loquat, naartje, shaddock and citrous fruits.

Fauna.—The larger animals which abounded in Natal in the first haif of the 19th centuryhave beenexterminated ordrivenout of the country. This fate has overtaken the elephant, giraffe, the buffalo, quagga, gnu, blesbok, gemsbok and ostrich. If the Vryheid district be excluded, the lion and rhinoceros may be added to this list; and the Vryheid district belongs geographically to Zululand. Hippopotami are still found in the Umgeni river and crocodiles in several of the coast streams. Leopards and panthers are found in thickly wooded kleofs. Hyenas, jackals, wild pig, polecats and wild dogs (Canis pictus) of different species are still found in or about bush jungles and forest clumps; elands (Antilope areas) are preserved on sonie estates, and there are at least ten distinct species of antelope (hartebeest, bushbok, duiker, rietbok, rhebok, rovibok, blauwbok, &c.). In the Vryheid district the kudu, blue wildebeest, waterbuck, reedbuck, impala, steinbok and klipspringer are also found. Several of these species are now preserved Ant-eaters (Orycteropus capensis), porcupines, weasels, squirrels, rock rabbits, hares and cane rats are common in different localities. Baboons (Cynocephalus porcarius) and monkeys of different kinds frequent the mountains and rocky kloofs and bush and timber lands. The birds of Natal i are of many species; some have beautiful plumage, but none of them, with the exception of the canary, are to be considered as songsters. Among the larger birds are cranes, herons, the ibis, storks, eagles, vultures, falcons, hawks, kites, owls, the secretary birds, pelicans, flamingoes, wild duck and geese, gulls, and of game birds, the paauw, koraan, pheasant, partridge, guinea fowl and quail. The other birds include parrots, toucans, gaudily coloured cuckoos, lories, swallows, shrikes, sun-birds, kingfishers, weavers, finches, wild pigeons and crows. The otter is found in some of the rivers, which are also frequented, near their mouths, by turtles. These last are also found in the coast lagoons and sometimes are of great size. Iguanas, 4 and ~ ft. long, are found on the wooded banks of the rivers; small lizards and chalneleolis are common, and there are several varieties of tortoise.

Of snakes there are about forty distinct species or varieties. The most dreaded by the natives are called “imamba,” of which there are at least eight different kinds; these snakes elevate and throw themselves forward, and have been known to pursue a horseman. One sort of imamba, named by the natives ‘indhloñdhlo,” is crested, and its body is of a bright flame colour. The sluggish puff-adder (Clotho arfetans) is common and very dangerous. A hooded snake (Naja haemachates), the -imfezi of the natives, is dangerous, and spits or ejects its poison; besides this there are a few other varieties of the cobra species. The largest of the serpent tribe, however, is the python (Horiulia natalensis), called inhiwati by the natives; its usual haunts are by streams amongst rocky boulders and in jungles, and instances are recorded of its strangling and crushing adult natives. It is common in the coast districts, and is sometimes 20 ft. long. Insects abound in great numbers, the most troublesome and destructive being the tick (Ixodes natalensis), which infests the pasturage, and the white ant (Termes mordax). Occasionally vast armies of locusts or caterpillars advance over large tracts of country, devouring all vegetation in their line of march. The fish moth, a steel-gi-ey slimy active fish-shaped insect, is found in every house and is very destructive. Fish of excellent quality and in great quantities abound on the coast. They include shad, rock cod, mackerel, mullet, bream and soles; sharks, stingrays, cuttlefish and the octopus are also common in the waters off the coast of Natal. Prawns, crayfish and oysters are also obtainable, and turtle (Chelonia mydas) are frequently captured. Freshwater scale-fish are mostly full of bones, but fine eels and barbel are plentiful in t,he rivers. Trout have been introduced into some of the higher reaches of the rivers.
 

Inhabitants.—At the census of 1904 the population of the province, including Zululand, was 1,108,754.2 Of this total 8.8%, or 97,109, were Europeans, 9%, or 100,918, Asiatics and the rest natives of South Africa, mainly of Zulu-Kaflir stock. Of the 824,063 natives, 203,373 lived in Zululand. The white and Asiatic population nearly doubled in the thirteen years since the previous census, allowance being made for the Utrecht and Vryheid districts, which in 1891 formed part of the Transvaal. Of the total population 985,167 live in rural areas, the average density for the whole country being 3I~34 per sq. m. The white population is divided into 56,758 males and 40,351 females. Of the white inhabitants the great majority are British. Some 12,500 are of Dutch extraction; these live chiefly in the districts of Utrecht and Vryheid. There are also about 4500 Natalians of German extraction, settled mainly in the New Hanover and Umzimkulu districts. The Asiatics at the 1904 census were divided into 63,497 males and 37,421 females. They include a few high caste Indians, Arabs and Chinese, but the great majority are Indian coolies. The Asiatics are mainly congregated in the coast districts between the Umzimkulu and Tugela rivers. In this region (which includes Durban) the Asiatic population was 61,854. In none of the inland districts did the Asiatic inhabitants number 2000. The coolies are employed chiefly on the sugar, coffee, cotton and other plantations, a small proportion being employed in the coal-mines.

The native inhabitants of Natal proper were almost exterminated by the Zulus in the early years of the I 9th century. Before that period the natives of what is now Natal proper were estimated to number about 10,000. In 1838 when the Zulu power was first checked the natives had been reduced to about 10,000. The stoppage of intertribal wars by the British, aided by a great influx of refugees from Zululand, led to a rapid increase of the population. With the exception of a few Bushmen, who cling to the slopes of the Drakensberg, all the natives are of Bantu stock. Before the Zulu devastations the natives belonged to the Ama-Xosa branch of the Kaffirs and are said to have been divided into ninety-four different tribes; to-day all the tribes have a large admixture of Zulu blood (see KAFFIRS, ZULULAND and BANTU LANGUAGES). The Natal natives have preserved their tribal organization to a considerable extent. Nearly 50% live in special reserves or locations, the area set apart for native occupation being about 4000 sq. m. exclusive of Zululand. Most of the remainder are employed on or live upon farms owned by whites, paying annual rents of from LI to ~5 or more. There were, however, in 1904, 69,746 male natives and 10,232 female natives in domestic service. Of the tribes who were in Natal before the Zulu invasion about 1812, the two largest are the Abatembu (who are in five main divisions and number about .30,000) and the Amakwabe (seven divisions and about 20,000 people). Other large tribes are the Amanyuswa (ten divisions— 38,000 people), the Amakunu (three divisions—26,000 people), and the Amabomvu (five divisions—25,000 people). The three last tribes are among those which sought refuge in Natal froth Zulu persecution, before the establishment of British rule in 1843. The number of half-castes is remarkably small, at the census of 1904 the number of “ mixed and others,” which 2 The following is the official estimate of the population on the 31st of December 1908: Europeans 9I,~3, natives 998,264 (including 7386” mixed and others “), Asiatics 116,679; total I,206,.~86. includes Griquas and Hottentots and non-aboriginal negroes, was only 6686.

Chief Towns.—The seat of the provincial government is Pietermaritzburg (q.v.), commonly called Maritzburg (or P.M.B.), with a population (1904) of 31,199. It is 71 rn. by rail N.N.W. of Durban (q.v.), the seaport and only large city in Natal, pop. 67,842. Ladysmith (qv.), pop. 5568, ranks next in size. It is in the north-west of the province, is famous for its investment by the Boers in 1899— 1900 and is an important railway junction. North-east of Ladysmith are Dundee (2811) and Newcastle (2950). Dundee is the centre of the coal-mining district. Newcastle is also a mining town, but depends chiefly on its large trade in wool. It is named after the duke of Newcastle who was secretary for the colonies in 1852 and 1859. Vryheid (2287) is in the centre of a highly mineralized district. Utrecht (860) lies between Newcastle and Vryheid, and was one of the first towns founded by the Transvaal Boers. There are coal-mines on the town lands. Greytown (2436), a wool and wattle trading centre, is in central Natal. Verulam (1325), 19 m. along the coast north of Durban, serves as centre for sugar, tobacco and fruit plantations. It was founded by emigrants from St Albans, England—whence the name. Port Shepstone, at the mouth of the Umzimkulu river, is the natural outlet for south-west Natal. Estcourt is a trading centre, 75 m. by rail N.N.W. of Pietermaritzburg and is 29 m. distant from the village of Weenen (“ Weeping “), so named by the first Boer settlers in memory of a Zulu raid. Another village, Colenso, on the south bank of the Tugela, I6 m. by rail south of Ladysmith, was the headquarters of Sir Redvers Boiler at the battle of Colenso on the I 5th of December 1899.

Communications.—-Durban (Port Natal) is in regular communication with Europe via Cape Town and via Suez by several lines of steamers, the chief being the boats of the Union-Castle line, which sail from Southampton and follow the west coast route, those of the German East Africa line, which sail from Hamburg and go via the east coast route and those of the Austrian Lloyd from Trieste, also by the east coast route. By the Union-Castle boats there is a weekly mail service to England. There are also two direct lines of steamers between London and Durban (a distance of 6993 nautical miles), average passage about twenty-six days; the mail route taking twenty to twenty-two days. Durban is also in regular and frequent communication by passenger steamers with the other South African ports, as well as Mauritius, Zanzibar, &c., and with India, Australia, the United States and South America. The works which have made Port Natal the finest harbour in South Africa are described under Do RBAN.

The first railway built in South Africa was a 2-m. line from The Point (or harbour) to the town of Durban. It was opened for traffic in 1860 and in 1874 was extended some 4 m. to the Umgeni river. This line was of 4 ft. 83/4 in. gauge and was privately owned, but, when in 1876 the Natal government determined to build and own a railway system which should in time cover the country, the existing line was bought out and the gauge altered to 3 ft. 6 in. On this, the normal South African gauge, all the Natal railways, save a few 2-ft. branch lines, are built. The main line starts from Durban, and passing through Pretermantzburg (71 m.), Ladysmith (190 m.) and Newcastle (268 m.) pierces the Drakensberg at Laing’s Nek by a tunnel 2213 ft. long, and 3 m. beyond Charlestown reaches the Transvaal frontier at mile 307. Thence the railway is continued to Johannesburg, .&c. The distances from Durban to the places mentioned by this route are: Johannesburg, 483 m.; Pretoria 511 m.; Kimberley, 793 m.; Bulawayo, 1508 m.; Delagoa Bay, 860 m.

From Ladysmith a branch line runs north-west into the Orange Free State, crossing the Drakensberg at Van Reenen’s Pass. This line is continued via Harrismith and Bethlehem to Kroonstad (~i~ m. from Durban) on the main Cape Town, Bloemfontein and Johannesburg railway and is the shortest route between Durban and Cape Town (1271 In.). It also affords via Bloemfontein the shortest route (622 m.) between Durban and Kimberley. From Glencoe Junction, 42 m. north of Ladysmith on the direct line to Johannesburg, a branch railway goes N.E. to the Dundee coalfields, Vryheid (59 m.) and Hlobane (76 m.). Two lines branch off from Pietermaritzburg. One (62 m. long) goes N.E. to Greytown, serving the east-central part of the province; the other line (108 m. long) goes S.W. to Riverside Station, forming a link in the scheme for direct communication between Natal and East London and Port Elizabeth.

Durban is the starting-point of two coast lines. The south coast line, which runs close to the sea, goes to Port Shepstone (7~ m.). A 2-ft. gauge railway (Io2 m.), which leaves the south coast line at Alexandra Junction (44 rn from Durban), runs N.W. by Stuartstown and joins the Pietermaritzburg-Riverside line. The north coast railway (167 m. long) crosses the Tugela 70 rn. from Durban and continued through Zululand to Somkele, the centre of the Santa Lucia coal-fields.

As might be expected in a country possessing the physical feature1 of Natal, the gradients and curves are exceptionally severe. Not less than 43 m. are upon grades of I in 30 and I in 35, and curves 01 300 to 350 ft. radius, while on over 100 in. more there are grades under I in 60 and curves of less than 450 ft. radius. The main trunl line reaches an altitude of 3054 ft. at a point 58 m. distant from Durban; after falling 1000 ft. in its farther progress to Pietermar’itzburg, it again rises, 12 ni. after leaving that city, to a height of 3700 ft. above the sea; at a point 134 m. from Durban it has reached an altitude of 5152 ft., but on reaching Ladysmith, 191 In. from Durban, the altitude has decreased to 3284 ft. The summit of the Biggarsberg chain is crossed at a point 233 m. from the port, at a height of 4800 ft., and at Laing’s Nek the altitude is 5399 ft. The Orange Free State line, after leaving Ladysmith, ascends by steep gradients the whole of its own course in Natal territory, and when it gains the summit at Van Reenen’s Pass it is 5500 ft. above the sea. The mileage open in 1910 was I 173. The cost of construction, to the same year, exceeded £14,000,000, the interest earned per cent since 1895 not being less than £3 I 2s. in any one year. In outlying districts post carts and ox wagons are the usual means of conveyance. There are about 5000 m. of high roads kept in repair by the government.

There is a well-organized postal and telegraphic service. Land lines connect Natal with every part of South Africa and with Nyasaland and Ujiji. A submarine cable from Diirban goes to Zanzibar and Aden, whence there is communication with every quarter of the globe. The first telegraph line in Natal was opened in 1873; in 1878 communication was established with Cape Town and in the following year with Delagoa Bay.

Agriculture and Allied Industries.—The diversity of soil and climate leads to a great diversity in the agricultural produce. The chief drawback to farming in the midland and upper districts is the considerable proportion of stony ground, and, in some cases, the lack of running water. The area of land under tillage is less than a twentieth of the whole surface, the crop most extensively grown being maize or “ mealies.” This is universally grown by the natives and forms their staple food; it is also grown by the Indians, and by the white farmers for export. Besides maize the crops cultivated by the natives are Kaffir corn or amabele (Sorghum caffrorum)— used in the manufactur’e of utyuala, native beer—imfi (Sorghum saccharalum), tobacco, pumpkins and sweet potatoes. The chief wealth of the natives consists, however, in their large herds of cattle (see infra). While maize thrives in every part of the country, wheat, barley and oats—cultivated by the white farmers—flourish only in the midlands and uplands. More important than the cereal crops are the tropical and sub-tropical products of the coast zone. Besides fruits of nearly all kinds there are cultivated in the low moist regions the sugar-cane, the tea, coffee and tobacco plants, arrowroot, cayenne pepper, cotton, &c. The area under sugar in 1905 was 45,840 acres and the produce 532,067 cwt. (a large quantity of sugar-cane is grown for feeding stock). In the same year the production of tea was 1,633,178 lb; of coffee, 24,85’9Th; of maize, 2,101,470 bushels; of potatoes, 419,946 bushels; and of sweet potatoes, 181,195 bushels. The tea plant was first introduced in Natal in I85o, but little attention was paid to it until the failure of the coffee plantations about 1875, since when only small quantities of coffee have been produced. In 1877 renewed efforts were made to induce tea cultivation, and by 1881 it had become an established industry. The variety chiefly grown is the Assam indigenous. Most of the tea estates are situated in the coast belt north of Durban. The sugar cane, like tea, was first introduced in I850, the first canes being brought from Mauritius. The industry is steadily growing, as are the dependent manufactures of molasses and rum. The fruit industry is of considerable importance and by 1905 had reached a turnover of over £100,000 a year.

Extensive areas in the midland and upland districts are devoted to the raising of stock. Horse-breeding is successfully carried on in the upper districts. The higher the altitude the healthier the animals and the greater their immunity from disease. Horsesickness, a kind of malarial fever, which takes an epidemic form in very wet seasons, causes considerable loss. The Natal horse is small, wiry, and has great powers of endurance. Cattle-breeding is probably the most lucrative branch of stock-farming, the country being pre-eminently adapted for horned cattle. Rinderpest in 1896—1897 swept through South Africa, and probably carried off in Natal from 30 to 40 % of the stock of Europeans, while the natives’ losses were even heavier. Serum and bile inoculation were the means of saving a considerable percentage of the herds. The farmers soon began to recover from their losses, but in 1908—1909 another serious loss of stock resulted from the ravages of East Coast fever. The cattle consist chiefly of the Zulu and Africander breeds, but attention has been given to improving the breed by the introduction of Shorthorn, Devon and Holstein (or Friesland) stock. The chief market for cattle is Johannesburg. The principal breed of sheep is the merino, winch does well in the higher altitudes. A Scab Act is in force, and is stringently carried out by government fnspectors with most satisfactory results. The Angora goat thrives well in certain districts. Ostriches do well in the dry, arid valleys of the Tugela and Mooi rivers. In 1908 Europeans were returned as owning 32,000 horses, 220,000 horned cattle, 765,000 sheep, 68,00c goats, 25,000 pigs, 960 ostriches and 384,000 poultry. Large herds of cattle—over 500,000 in the aggregate—are owned by the natives, who also possess vast flocks of goats and sheep. The dairy industry is well established, and Natal butter commands a ready sale.

Valuable timber is ‘obtained from the forests. Stinkwood is largely employed in the making of wagons, and is also used for making furniture. Black ironwood is likewise used in building wagons, while sneezewood is largely utilized for supports- for piers and other marine structures, being impervious to the attacks of the Teredo navalis. More important is the cultivation of the black Wattle (Acacia mollissima) , which began in 1886, the bark being exported for tanning purposes, the wood also commanding a ready sale. This’ wattle thrives well in most localities, but especially in the highlands of central Natal. In 1905 the production of wattle bark was 13,620 tons, and the area planted with the tree over 6o,000 acres. Aloes and ramie are cuitivated to some extent for their fibre.

The government maintains experimental farms and forestry plantations and a veterinary department to cope with lung sickness, rinderpest, East Coast fever and such like diseases. It also conducts campaigns against locusts and other pests and helps irrigation settlements. By means of an Agricultural Bank it affords assistance to farmers.

Mining.—T here are several highly mineralized areas in the country. The existence of coal in the north-east districts on or near the surface of the ground was reported as early as 1839, but it was not until 1880 that steps were taken to examine the coalfields. This was done by F. W. North, who reported in 188f that in the Klip river (Dundee) district there was an area of 1350 sq. m. that might be depended upon for the’ supply of coal, which is of all characters from lignite to anthracite. In 1889 the extension of the railway from Ladysmith through the coal area first made coalmining profitable. In 1896 the total output of coal was 216,106 tons (valued at £108,053 at the pit’s mouth), in 1908 it had increased to 1,669,774 tons (valued at the pit’s mouth at £737,169). There is a considerable trade in bunker and export coal at Durban, the coal bunkered having increased from 118,740 tons in 1900 to 710,777 in 1908 In the last-named year 446,915 tons of coal were exported. Besides the mines in the Newcastle and Dundee district there are extensive coal-fields at Hlobane in the Vryheid district and in Zululand (q.v.) Iron ore is widely distributed and is found in the neighbourhood of all the coal-fields. There are extensive copper and goldyielding areas, and in some districts these metals are mined. On the lower Umzimkulu, near Port Shepstone, marble is found in great quantities.

Commerce.—The chief exports, not all products of the province, are coal, wool, mohair, hides and skins, wattle bark, tea, sugar, fruits and Jams. The import trade is of a most varied character, and a large proportion of the goods brought into the country are in transit to the Transvaal and Orange Free State, Natal affording, next to Delagoa Bay, the shortest route to the Rand. Textiles, largely cotton goods, hardware, mining and agricultural machinery, tobacco and foodstuffs form the bulk of the imports. In 1896 the value of exports was £1,785,000; in 1908 the value was £9,622,000. In 1896 the imports were valued at £5,437,000, in 1908 at £8,330,000 (a decrease of £2,300,000 compared with 1905). The bulk of these exports are to the Transvaal and neighbouring countries, and previously figure as imports, other exports, largely wool and hides, are first imported from the Transvaal. Over three-fifths of the imports are from Great Britain, and about one-seventh of the exports go to Great Britain. The shipping, which in 1874 was I26,000 tons, was in 1884 1,013,000; in 1894, I,463~ooo; in 1904 4,263,000; and in 1908, 5,028,000. Over six-sevenths of the shipping is British.

Government and Constilution.—Natal was from 1893 to 1910 a self-governing colony. It is now represented in the Union Parliament by eight senators and seventeen members of the House of Assembly. The qualifications for electors and members of the Assembly are the same, namely men of full age owning houses or land worth £50, or who rent such property of the yearly value of £10; or who, having lived three years in the province, have incomes of not less than £96 a year.

Coloured persons are not, by name, excluded from the franchise, but no persons “ subject to special laws and tribunals,” i in which category all natives are included, are entitled to vote. Another law,f directed against Indians, excludes from the franchise, natives, or descendants of natives in the male line, of countries not possessing elective representative institutions. Exemption from the scope of these provisions may be granted by the governor-general and under such exemption a few Blacks are on the roll of electors.

At the head of the provincial government is an administrator, appointed by the Union Ministry, who holds office for five years. He is assisted by an executive committee of four members elected by the provincial council. This council to which is ‘Act No. 2 (of the Natal Legislature) of 1883. ‘Act No. 8 ot 1896. The Indians whose names were “rightly contained “ in the voters’ rolls at the date of the act retain the franchise.

The management of affairs purely provincial consists of 25 members, elected by the parliamentary voters and each representing a separate constituency. The council sits for a ;tatutory period of three years. For local government purposes the province is divided into counties or magisterial divisions; lululand being under special jurisdiction. The chief towns— Durban, Maritzburg, Ladysmith, Newcastle and Dundee—are governed by municipal corporations and minor towns by local boards.

Revenue and Expenditure.—Revenue is derived chiefly from customs and excise, railways, land sales, posts and telegraphs and a capitation tax. The expenditure is largely on reproductive works (railways, harbours, post office, &c.), on the judiciary and police, education and military defence. The majority of these services are, since 1910, managed by the Union Government, but the provincial council has power to levy direct taxation, and (with the consent of the Union Government) to raise loans for purely provincial purposes. Its revenues and powers are those pertaining to local government. Some particulars follow as to the financial position of Natal previous to the establishment of the Union.

In 1846, the first year of Natal’s separate existence, the revenue was £3073 and the expenditure £6905. In 1852 the revenue was £27,158 and the expenditure £24,296, and in 1862 the cortesponding figures were £98,799 and £85,928. In 1872 revenue had risen to £180,499 and expenditure to £132,978. Ten years later the figures were, revenue £657,738, expenditure £659,031. The rise of Johannesburg and the opening up of the Dundee coal-fields, as well as the development of agriculture, now caused a - rapid increase on both sides of the account. In 1888 the revenue for the first time exceeded a million, the figures for that year being, revenue £1,130,614, expenditure £781,326; in 1898—1899 the figures were £2,081,349 and £1,914,725. The Anglo°Boer War (1899—1902) caused both revenue and expenditure to rise abnormally, while the depression in trade which followed the war adversely affected the exchequer. In 1903— 1904 there was a slight credit balance, the figures being, revenue

£4,160,145, expenditure £4,071,439. For the next four years there were deficits, but in 1908—1909 a surplus was realized, the revenue being £3,569,275 and the expenditure £3,530,576. For 1909-1910, the last year of Natal’s existence as a colony, the revenue, £4,035,000, again exceeded the expenditure. The public debt, £2,101,500 in 1882, had risen at the close of the Boer War in 1902 to £12,519,000, and Was in June 1909, £21,420,000.

Defence.—A small garrison of imperial troops is quartered at Maritzburg. The provincial force consists of a militia, fully equipped and armed with modern weapons. It is divided into mounted riflemen, about 1900 strong, four field batteries of 340 men and two infantry battalions, each of over 800 men. There is also an armed and mounted police force of 870 Europeans. Military training is compulsory on all lads over ten attending government schools. The boys are organized in cadet corps. A senior cadet corps is formed of youths between sixteen and twenty. There are also many rifle associations, the members of which are liable to be called out for defence. Durban harbour is defended by batteries with heavy modern guns. The batteries are manned by the naval corps (150 strong) of the Natal militia. Natal makes an annual contribution of £35,000 towards the upkeep of the British navy.

Law and Justice.—The South Africa Act 1909 established a Supreme Court of South Africa, the former supreme court of Natal becoming a provincial division of the new supreme court. The Roman-Dutch law, as accepted and administered by the courts of Cape Colony up to 1845 (the date of the separation of Natal from the Cape), is the law of the land, save as modified by ordinances and laws enacted by the local legislature, mostly founded upon imperial statute law. The law of evidence is the same as that of the courts of England. Natives, however, are not justiceable under the RomanDutch law, hut by virtue of letters patent passed in 1848 they are judged by native laws and customs, except so far as these may be repugnant to natural equity. The native laws were first codified ip 1878. in 1887 a board was appointed for their revision, and the new code came into operation in 1901. Provision is made whereby a native can obtain relief from the operation of native law and be subject to the colonial law (Law No. 28 of 1865). Special laws have been passed for the benefit of the coolie immigrants. The ad— ministration of justice is conducted by magistrates’ courts, circuit courts and the provincial division of the supreme court. The magistrates have both civil and criminal jurisdiction in minor cases. Appeals can be made from the magistrates’ decisions to the provincial or circuit court. The provincial court, consisting of a judge~ president and three puisne judges, sits in Pietermaritzburg and ha~ jurisdiction over all causes whether affecting natives or Europeans. The judges also hold circuit courts at Durban and other place~ Appeals from the circuit courts can be made to the provincial courri and from the provincial court appeals lie to the appellate divisio,~ of the Supreme Court of South Africa, sitting at Bloemfontein, Criminal cases are tried before a single judge and a jury of nine—~ of whom not fewer than seven determine the verdict. There is ~ vice-admiralty court, of which the judge-president is judge and commissary. In native cases the chiefs have civil jurisdiction in disputes among their own tribesmen and criminal jurisdiction over natives except in capital cases, offences against the person or property of non-natives, pretended witchcraft, cases arising out of marriages by Christian rites, &c. An appeal lies to a magistrates’ court from every judgment of a native chief, and from the magistrates’ judgment on such appeal to a native high court. This native high court consists of a judge-president and two other judges, and sits in full court at Maritzburg not less than three months and at Eshowe not less than once in the year. There is no jury in this tribunal and single judges may hold circuit courts. With certain exceptions reserved for the provincial court (such as insolvency, ownership of immovable property and divorce), the native high court exercises jurisdiction when all parties to the suit are natives; it also has jurisdiction when the complainant is not a native, but all other parties to the suit are natives.

Religion.—The majority of the white inhabitants are Protestants, the bodies with the largest number of adherents being the Anglicans, Dutch Reformed Church, Presbyterians and Wesleyans. The Anglicans are divided’ into two parties—those belonging to “ the Church of the Province of South Africa,” the body in communion with the Church of England, and those who act independently and constitute “ the Church of England in Natal.” The schism arose out of the alleged heterodox views of Bishop Colenso (qv.), who had been created bishop of Natal by letters patent in 1853. In 1863 the metropolitan of Cape Town, as head of the Church of the Province of South Africa, excommunicated Dr Colenso and consecrated a rival bishop for Natal, who took the title of bishop of Pietermaritzburg. Dr Colenso, who obtained a decision of the privy council confirming his claim to be bishop of Natal and possessor of the temporalities attached to the bishopric, died in 1883. After his death those members of the Anglican community who objected to the constitution of the provincial church maintaioed their organization while the teinpoi-alities were placed in the hands of curators. Reunion in spiritual matters has, however, been practically effected. Moreover, an act of the Natal parliament passed in 1909 placed the temporalities into commission in the persons of the bishop and other trustees of the Natal diocese of the Provincial Church; reservations being made in favour of four congregations at that time unwilling to unite with the main body of churchmen.’ At the census of 1904 the Anglicans numbered 40,880. The Presbyterians numbered 12,184, the Wesleyan Methodists 11,992, the Dutch Reformed Church 11,340, the Lutherans 4852, and the Baptists 2193. The Roman Catholics, at whose head is a vicar-apostolic, numbered 10,419. All these figures are exclusive of natives, of ~~hom the churches named—notably the Anglicans and Wesleyans—have many converts. The Jewish community in 1904 numbered 1496. Of the Asiatics, 87,234 were classed as Hindus and 10,111 as Mahommedans.

Education.—Education other than elementary is controlled by the Union government. Public schools, and private schools aided by provincial grants provide elementary education for white children. Education is neither compulsory nor free; ,but the fees are low (Is. to 5s. a month) and few children are kept away from school. There are government secondary and art schools at Durban and Maritzburg, and a Technical Institute at Durban. For higher education provision was made by the affiliation of Natal to the Cape of Good Hope University and by exhibitions tenable at English universities. An act of the Natal legislature, passed December I9o~, provided for the establishment at Maritzburg of the Natal University College, the course of studies to be such as from time to time prescribed by the Cape University. In 1910 ~3o,0oo was voted for the University College buildings. State aid and inspection is given to private schools for natives. In the native schools—almost all maintained by Christian missions—Zulu and English are taught, the subjects taken being usually reading, writing, arithmetic, grammar, geography and history. The state provides elementary and higher grade schools for Indian children. In 1908 there were 52 government schools and 472 schools under inspection; 304 European, 21 coloured, 168 native and 31 Indian, with an aggregate attendance of 30,598 scholars. There are in addition many private and denominational schools and colleges not receiving state aid. Of these, two of the best known are Hilton College and Hermansberg College, many prominent Nataliañs having been educated at one or the other of these establishments. To encourage the instruction of children who by reason of distance cannot attend a government or government-aided school, grants-in-aid are made for each pupil attending farm schools.

The Press,— The first newspaper in Natal was the Natalier, a Dutch print published at Maritzburg; it was succeeded by the Patriot. The first English paper was the Natal Witness, started in 1845 and still one of the leading organs of public opinion. In 1851 the Natal Times appeared, and is now continued as the Times of Natal. Another leading paper, the Natal Mercury, dates from 1852. It is a morning newspaper and is issued at Durban. The Natal Advertizer is a Durban evening paper. Sir John Robinson, the first premier of Natal under responsible government, was the editor of the Mercury from 1860 until he became prime minister in 1893. i For a summary of the Natal church controversy see The Guardian (London March II, 1910).

In 1886 a new Dutch paper, Dc Afrikaner, was started at Maritzburg. The Kaffirs have their own organ, Ipipa to Hiunga (the paper of grievances), issued at Maritzburg, and the Asiatics, Indian Opinion a weekly paper started in 1903 and printed in English, Gujarati, Hindi and Tamil. Local papers are published weekly at Ladysmith, Dundee and Greytown. The Agricultural Journal, a government publication issued fortnightly, is of great service in the promotion of agricultural knowledge.
 

History, -- Vasco da Gama on his voyage to India sighted the bluff at the entrance to the bay now forming the harbour of Durban on Christmas Day 1497 and named the country Terra Natalis. Da Gama made no landing here and, like Discoveiy and early the rest of South Africa, Natal was neglected by the history.

Portuguese, whose nearest settlement was at Delagoa Bay. In 1576 Manuel de Mesquita Perestrello, commanded by King Sebastian to explore the coast of South Africa and report on suitable harbours, made a rough chart, even then of little use to navigators, which is of value as exhibiting the most that was known of the country by its discoverers before the advent of their Dutch rivals, who established themselves at Cape Town in 1652. Perestrello states that Natal has no ports but otherwise he gives a fairly accurate description of the country—noting particularly the abundance of animals and the density of the population. The first detailed accounts of the country were received from shipwrecked mariners. In 1683 the English ship “ Johanna “ went ashore near Delagoa Bay and the crew made a remarkable journey overland to Cape Town, passing through Natal, where they were kindly received by the natives. About the same time (in 1684) an English sI~ip put into Port Natal (as the bay came to be known) and purchased ivory from the natives, who, however, refused to deal in slaves. In May 1685 another English ship the “ Good Hope “was wrecked in crossing the bar at Port Natal and in February 1686 the “ Stavenisse,” a Dutch East Indiaman, was wrecked a little farther south. Survivors of both vessels lived for nearly a year at Port Natal and there built a boat in which they made the voyage to Cape Town in twelve days. They brought with them 3 tons of ivory. This fact and their reports of the immense herds of elephants which roamed the bush led Simon van der Stell, then governor at Cape Town to despatch (1689) the ship” Noord “to Port Natal, with instructions to her commander to open up a trade in ivory and to acquire possession of the bay. From the chief of the Amatuli tribe, who inhabited the adjacent district, the bay was “purchased” for about £50 worth of goods. No settlement was then made and in 1705 the son of the chief repudiated the bargain. In 1721 the Cape government did form a settlement at the bay, but it was soon afterwards abandoned. Thereafter for nearly a hundred years Natal was again neglected by white men. A ship now and again put into the bay, but the dangerous bar at its entrance militated against its frequent use. When in 1824 the next attempt was made by Europeans to form a settlement at the bay, Cape Colony had passed from the Dutch into the possession of Great Britain, while in Natal great changes had come over the land as a result of wars between the natives.

Bantu, -- From the records of the 17th and 18th centuries it is apparent that the people then inhabiting Natal were Bantu-negroes of the Kaffir (Ama Xosa) branch. There is no mention of Hottentots, and the few Bushmen who dwelt in the upper regions by the Drakensberg did not come into contact with Europeans. The sailors of the “ Stavenisse “ reported the most numerous and most powerful tribe to be the Abambo, while ,that which came most in contact with the whites was the Amatuli, as it occupied a considerable part of the coast-land. These Kaffirs appear to have been more given to agriculture and more peaceful than their neighbours in Kaifraria and Cape Colony. But the quiet of the country was destroyed by the inroads of Chaka, the chief of the Zulus (see ZULULAND).

Chaka between 1818 and 1820 ravaged the whole of what is now known as Natal, and after beating his foes in battle, butchered the women, children and old men, incorporating the young men in his impis. The population was greatly reduced and large areas left without a singl inhabitant. By right of conquest Chaka became undisputed master of the country. Such was the situation when the first British settlement was made in Natal, In 1823 Francis George Farewell, formerly a lieutenant in the British navy, with other merchants of Cape Town, formed a company to trade with the natives of the southeast coast. In the brig “ Salisbury,” commanded by James S. King, who had been a midshipman in the navy, Farewell visited Port Natal, St Lucia and Delagoa Bays. The voyage was not successful as a trading venture, but Farewell was so impressed with the possibilities of Natal both for trade and colonization that he resolved to establish himself at the port. He went thither with ten companions, among them Henry Francis Fynn. All the rest save Farewell and Fynn speedily repented of their adventure and returned to the Cape, but the two who remained were joined by thrce sailors, John Cane, Henry Ogle and Thomas Holstead, a lad. Farewell, Fynn and the others went to the royal kraal of Chaka, and, having cured him of a wound and made him various presents, obtained a document, dated the 7th of August 1824, ceding to “F. G. Farewell & Company entire and full possession in perpetuity “of a tract of land including “the port or harbour of Natal.” On the 27th of the same month Farewell hoisted the Union. Jack at the port and declared the territory he British had acquired a British possession. In 1825 he was settle- joined by King, who had meantime visited England went, and had obtained from the government a letter of recommendation to Lord Charles Somerset, governor of the Cape, granting King permission to settle at Natal. Farewell, King and Fynn made independent settlements at various parts of the bay, where a few Amatuli still lingered. They lived, practically, as Kaffir chiefs, trading with Chaka and gathering round them many refugees from that monarch’s tyranny. Early in 1828 King, accompanied by two of Chaka’s indunas, voyaged in the “ Elizabeth and Susan,” a small schooner built by the settlers, to Port Elizabeth. He appears to have been coldly received by the authorities, who were even unable to ascertain the nature of Chaka’s embassy. Soon after his return to Natal King died, and in the same month (September 1828) Chaka was murdered by his brother Dingaan. In the December following Farewell went in the “Elizabeth and Susan” to Port Elizabeth. On this occasion the authorities were more hostile than before to the Natal pioneers, for they confiscated the schooner on the ground that it was unregistered and that it came from a foreign port. Farewell was not daunted, and in September 1829 set out to return overland to Port Natal. He was, however, murdered in Pondoland by a chief who was at enmity with the Zulus. Fynn thus became leader of the whites at the port, who were much at the mercy of Dingaan. In 1831 that chief raided their settlements, the whites all fleeing south of the Umzimkulu; but at Dingaan’s invitation they soon returned. Dingaan declared Fynn his representative and “ great chief of the Natal Kaffirs.” In 1834, however, Fynn accepted a post under the Cape government and did not return to Natal for many years. It was in this year that a petition from Cape Town merchants asking for the creation of a British colony at Natal was met by the statement that the Cape finances would not permit the establishment of a new dependency. The merchants, however, despatched an expedition under Dr Andrew Smith to inquire into the possibilities of the country, and’ the favourable nature of his report induced a party of Dutch farmers under Piet Uys to go thither also. Both Dr Smith and Uys travelled overland through Kaifraria, and were well received by the English living at the bay. The next step was taken by the settlers at the port, who in 1835 resolved to lay out a town, which they named Durban, after Sir Benjamin d’Urban, then governor of Cape Colony. At the same time the settlers, who numbered about 50, sent a memorial to the governor calling attention to the fact that they were acknowledged rulers over a large tract of territory south of the Tugela, and asking that this territory should be proclaimed a British colony under the name of Victoria and that a governor and council be appointed. To all these requests no official answer was returned. The settlers had been joined in the year named (1835) by Captain Gardiner, a naval officer, whose chief object was the evangelization of the natives. With the support of the traders he founded a mission station on the hill overlooking the bay. In 1837 Gardiner was given authority by the British government to exercise jurisdiction over the traders. They, however, refused to acknowledge Gardiner’s authority, and from the Cape government he received no support.f It was not until their hand was forced by the occupation of the interior by Dutch farmers that the Cape authorities at length intervened.

The British settlers had, characteristically, reached Natal mainly by way of the sea; the new tide of immigration was by land—the voortrekkers streamed through the passes of the Drakensberg, bringing with them their wives and of the children and vast herds of cattle. The reasons which Dutch caused the exodus from the Cape are discussed else - it  isonly necessary to point out that those emigrants who entered Natal shared with those who settled elsewhere an intense desire to be free from British control. The first emigrant Boers to enter the country were led by Pieter Retief (c. 1780—1838), a man of Huguenot descent and of marked ability, who had formerly lived on the eastern frontier of Cape Colony and had suffered severely in the Kaffir wars. Passing through the almost deserted upper regiPns Retief arrived at the bay in October 1837. He went thence to Dingaan’s kraal with the object of securing a formal cession of territory to the Dutch farmers. Dingaan consented on condition that the Boers recovered for him certain cattle stolen by another chief; this task Retief accomplished, and with the help of the R&. F. Owen, a missionary then living at Dingaan’s kraal, a deed of cession was drawn up in English and signed by Dingaan and Rctief on the 4th of February 1838. Two days after the signature of the deed Retief and all of his party, 66 whites, besides Hottentot servants, were treacherously murdered by Dingaan’s orders. The Zulu king then commanded his impis to kill all the Boers who had entered Natal. The Zulu forces crossed the Tugela the same day, and the most advanced parties of the Boers were massacred, many at a spot near where the town of Weenen now stands, its name (meaning wailing or weeping) commemorating the event. Other of the farmers hastily laagered and were able to repulse the Zulu attacks; the assailants suffering serious loss at a fight near the Bushman’s river. Nevertheless in one week after the murder of Retief 600 Boers—men, women and children—had been killed by the Zulus. The English settlers at the bay, hearing of the attack on the Boers, determined to make a diversion in their favour, and some 20 men under the ‘command of R. Biggar and with a following of 700 friendly Zulus crossed the Tugela near its mouth. In a desperate fight (April 57) with a strong force of the enemy the English were overwhelmed and only four Europeans escaped to the bay. Pursued by the Zulus, all the surviving inhabitants of Durban were compelled for a time to take refuge on a ship then in harbour. After the Zulus retired, less than a dozen Englishmen returned to live at the port; the missionaries, hunters and other traders returned to the Cape. Meantime the Boers, who had repelled the Zulu attacks on their laagers, had been joined by others from the Drakensberg, and about 400 men under Hendrik Potgieter and Piet TJys advanced to attack Dingaan. On the 11th of April, however, they fell into a trap laid by the Zulus and with difficulty cut their way out. Among those slain were Piet Uys and his son Dirk, aged 15, who rode by his side. The Boel farmers were now in a miserable plight, but towards the end of the year they received reinforcements, and in December 460 men set out under Andries Pretorius to avenge themselves on the Zulus. On Sunday the 16th of December, while laagered near the Umslatos river, they were attacked by over 10,000 Zulus. The Boers had firearms, the Zulus their assegais only, and after a three hours’ fight the Zulus were totally defeated, losing thousands killed, while the farmers’ casualties were under a dozen. (This memorable victory is annually commemorated by the Boers as Dingaan’s Day, while the IJmslatos, which ran red with the blood of the slain, was renamed Blood river.) Dingaan fled, the victorious Boers entered the royal kraal, gave decent burial to the skeletons of Retief and his party, and regarded themselves as now undisputed masters of Natal. They had recovered from a leather pouch which Retief carried the deed by which Dingaan ceded “to Retief and his countrymen the place called Port Natal together with all the lands annexed . . . as far as the land may be useful and in my possession.” This was the 5th or 6th cession made by Chaka or Dingaan of the same territory to different individuals. In every case the overlordship of the Zulus was assumed.

Returning south, Pretorius and his commando were surprised to learn that Port Natal had been occupied on the 4th of December by a detachment of the 72nd Highlanders sent thither from the Cape. The emigrant farmers had, with the assent of the few remaining Englishmen at Port Natal, in May 1838 issued a proclamation taking possession of the port. This had been followed by an intimation from the governor of the Cape (MajorGeneral Sir George Napier) inviting the emigrants to return to the colony, and stating that whenever he thought it desirable he should take military possession of the port. In sanctioning the occupation of the port the British government of the day had no intention of making Natal a British colony, but wished to prevent the Boers establishing an independent republic upon the coast with a harbour through which access to the interior could be gained. After remaining at the port just over a year the Highlanders were withdrawn, on Christmas Eve 1839. Meantime the Boers had founded Pietermaritzburg and made it the seat of their volksraad. They rendered their power in Natal absolute, for the time, in the following month, when they joined with Panda, Dingaan’s brother, in another attack on the Zulu king. Dingaan was utterly defeated and soon afterwards perished, Panda becoming king in his stead by favour of the Boers. ( Captain Allen Francis Gardiner (1794—1851) left Natal in 1838, subsequently devoting himself to missionary work in South America, being known as the missionary to Patagonia. He died of starvation in Tierra del Fuego)

At this time, had the affairs of the Boer community been managed with prudence and sagacity they might have established an enduring state. But their impatience of control, reflected in the form of government adopted, led to disastrous consequences. Legislative power was vested, nominally, in the volksraad (consisting of twenty-four members) ,while the president and executive were changed every three months. But whenever any measure of importance was to be decided a meeting was called of het publiek, that is, of all who chose to attend, to sanction or reject it. “ The result,” says Theal, “ was utter anarchy. Decisions of one day were frequently reversed the next, and every one held himself free to disobey any law that he did not approve of. . . . Public opinion of the hour in each section of the community was the only force in the land” (History of South Africa 1834—1854, chap. xliv.). While such was the domestic state of affairs during the period of self-government, the settlers cherished large territorial views. They were in loose alliance with and in quasi-supremacy over the Boer communities which had left the Cape and settled at Winburg and at Potchefstroom. They had declared themselves a free and independent state under the title of “The Republic of Port Natal and adjacent countries,” i and sought (September 1840) from Sir George Napier at the Cape an acknowledgment of their independence by Great Britain. Sir George, being without definite instructions from England, could give no decisive answer, but he was friendly disposed to the Natal farmers. This feeling was, however, changed by what Sir George (and many of the Dutch in Natal also) thought a wilful and unjustifiable attack (December 1840) on a tribe of Kaffirs on the southern, or Cape Colony, frontier by a commando under Andries Pretorius, which set out, nominally, to recover stolen cattle. Having at length received an intimation from London that the queen “could not acknowledge the independence of her own subjects, but that the trade of the emigrant farmers would be placed on the same footing as that of any other British settlement, upon their receiving a military force to exclude the interference with or possession of the country by any other European power,” Sir George communicated this decision to the volksraad in September 1841. Under the arrangement proposed the Boers might easily have secured the benefits of self-government, subject to an acknowledgment of British supremacy, together with the advantage of military protection, for the British government was then extremely reluctant to extend its colonial responsibilities. The Boers, however, strongly resented the contention of the British that they could not shake off British nationality though beyond the bounds of any recognized British possession, nor were they prepared to see their only port garrisoned by British troops, and they rejected Napier’s overtures. Napier, therefore, on the 2nd of December 1841, issued a proclamation in which he stated that in consequence of the emigrant farmers refusing tO be treated as British subjects and of their attitude towards the Kaffir tribes he intended resuming military occupation of Port Natal. This proclamation was answered in a lengthy minute, dated the 21st of February 1842, drawn up by J. N. Boshof (afterwards president of the Orange Free State), by far the ablest of the Dutch who had settled in Natal. In this minute the farmers ascribed all their troubles to one cause, British namely, the absence of a representative government, and which had been repeatedly asked for by them while Dutch in still living in Cape Colony and as often denied or conflict. delayed, and concluded by a protest against the occupation of any part of their territory by British troops. An incident which happened immediately after these events greatly encouraged the Boers to persist in their opposition to Great Britain. In March 1842 a Dutch vessel sent out by G. G. Ohnig, an Amsterdam merchant who sympathized warmly with the cause of the emigrant farmers, reached port Natal, and its supercargo,

J. A. Smellekamp (a man who subsequently played a part in the early history of the Transvaal and Orange Free State), concluded a treaty with the volksraad assuring them of the protection of Holland. The Natal Boers believed the Netherlands to be one of the great powers of Europe, and were firmly persuaded that its government would aid them in. resisting England.

On the 1st of April Captain T. C. Smith with a force of 263 men left his car~p at the Umgazi, on the eastern frontier of Cape Colony, and marching overland reached Durban without opposition, and encamped, on the 4th of May, at the base of the Berea hills. The Boers, cut off from their port, called out a commando of some 300 to 400 men under Andries Pretorius and gathered at Congellaat the head of the bay. On the night of the 23rd of May Smith made an unsuccessful attack on the Boer camp, losing his guns and fifty men killed and wounded. On the 26th the Boers captured the harbour and settlement, and on the 31st blockaded the British camp, the women and children being removed, on the suggestion of Pretorius, to a ship in the harbour of which the Boers had taken possession. Meantime, an old Durban resident, Richard (commonly called Dick) King, had undertaken to convey tidings of the perilous position of the British force to the commandant at Graham’s Town. He started on the night of the 24th, and escaping the Boer outposts rode through the dense bush and across the bridgeless rivers of Kaifraria at peril of his life from hostile natives and wild beasts, and in nine days reached his destination—a distance of 360 m. in a direct line, and nearly 600 by the route to be followed. This remarkable i-ide was accomplished with one change of mount, obtained from a missionary in Pondoland. A comparatively strong force under Colonel A. J. Cloete was at once sent by sea to Port Natal, and on the 26th of June Captain Smith was relieved. ‘The besieged had suffered greatly from lack of food. Within a fortnight Colonel Cloete bad received the submission of the volksraad at Pietermanitzburg. The burghers represented that they were under the protection of Holland, but this plea was peremptorily rejected by the commander of the British forces.

The British government was still undecided as to its policy towards Natal. In. April 1842 Lord Stanley (afterwards 14th earl of Derby), then secretary for the colonies in the second Peel Administration, wrote to Sir George Napier that the establishment of a colony in Natal would be attended with little prospect of advantage, but at the same time stated that the pretensions of the emigrants to be regarded as an independent community could not be admitted. Various measures were proposed which would but have aggravated the situation. Finally, in deference to the strongly urged views of Sir George Napier, Lord Stanley, in a despatch of the I3th of December, received in Cape Town on the 23rd of April 1843, consented to Natal becoming a British colony. The institutions adopted were to be as far as possible in accordance with the wishes of the people, but it was a fundamen.tal condition “that there should not be in the eye of the law any distinction or disqualification whatever, founded on mere difference of colour, origin, language or creed.” Sir George then appointed Mr Henry Cloete (a brother of Colonel Cloete) a special commissioner to explain to the Natal volksraad the decision of the government. There was a considerable party of Natal Boers still strongly opposed to the British, and they were reinforced by numerous bands of Boers who came over the Drakensberg from Winburg and Potchefstroom. Commandant Jan Mocke of Winburg (who had helped to besiege Captain Smith at Durban) and others of the “war party” attempted to, induce the volksraad not to submit, and a plan was formed to murder Pretorius, Boshof and other leaders, who were now convinced that the only chance of ending the state of cQmplete anarchy into which the country had fallen was by accepting British sovereignty. In these circumstances the task of Mr Henry Cloete was one of great difficulty and delicacy. He behaved with the utmost tact and got rid of the Winburg and Potchefstroom burghers by declaring that he should recommend the Drakensberg as the northern limit of Natal. On the 8th of August 1843 Natal the Natal volksraad unanimously agreed to the terms annexed proposed by Lord Stanley. Many of the Boers who would not acknowledge British rule trekked once more over the mountains into what are now the Orange Free State and Transvaal provinces. At the end of 1843 there were not more than 500 Dutch families left in Natal. Cloete, before returning to the Cape, visited Panda and obtained from him a valuable concession. Hitherto the Tugela from source to mouth had been the recognized frontier between Natal and Zululand. Panda gave up to Natal all the territory between the Buffalo and Tugela rivers, now forming Klip River county.

Although proclaimed a British colony in 1843, and in 1844 declared a part of Cape Colony, it was not until the end of 1845 that an effective administration was installed with Mr Martin West as lieutenant-governor, and the power of the volksraad finally came to an end. In that year the external trade of Natal, almost entirely with Cape Colony, was of the total value of £42,000—of which £32,000 represented imported goods.

The new administration found it hard to please the Dutch farmers, who among other grievances resented what they considered the undue favour shown to the Kaffirs, whose numbers had been greatly augmented by the flight of refugees from Panda. In 1843, for instance, no fewer than 50,000 Zulus crossed the Tugela seeking the protection of the white man. The natives were settled in 1846 in specially selected locations and placed under the general supervision of Sir (then Mr) Theophilus Shepstone (qv.). Sir Harry Smith, newly appointed governor of the Cape, met, on the banks of the upper Tugela, a body of farmers preparing to recross the Drakensberg, and by remedying their grievances induced many of them to remain in Natal. Andries Pretorius and others, however, declined to remain, and from this time Pretorius (q.v.) ceased his connexion with Natal. Although by this migration the white population was again considerably reduced, those who remained were contented and loyal, and through the arrival of 4500 emigrants from England in the years 1848—1851 and by subsequent immigration from oversea the colony became overwhelmingly British in character. From the time of the coming of the first considerable body of British settlers dates the development of trade and agriculture in the colony, followed somewhat later by the exploitation of the mineral resources of the country. At the same time schools were established and various churches began or increased their work in the colony. Dr Colenso, appointed bishop of Natal, arrived in

1854. In 1856 the dependence of the country on Cape Colony was put to an end and Natal constituted a distinct colony with a legislative council of sixteen members, twelve elected by the inhabitants and four nominated by the crown. At the time the white population exceeded 8000. While dependent on the Cape, ordinances had been passed establishing Roman-Dutch law as the law of Natal, and save where modified by legislation it remained in force.

The British settlers soon realized that the coast lands were suited to the cultivation of tropical or semi-tropical products, and from 1852 onward sugar, coffee, cotton and arrow-root Indian were introduced> tea being afterwards substituted for coolies coffee. The sugar industry soon became of importance, ~ and the planters were compelled to seek for large numbers of labourers. The natives, at ease in their locations, did not volunteer in sufficient numbers, and recourse was had to coolie labour from India. The first coolies reached Natal in 1860. They came under indentures, but at the expiration of their contract were allowed to settle in the colony.’ This proved one of the most momentous steps taken in the history of South Africa, for the Indian population rapidly increased, the “free” Indians becoming market gardeners, farmers, hawkers, traders, and in time serious competitors with the whites. But in 1860 and for many years afterwards these consequences were not foreseen, and alone among the South Africa states Natal offered a welcome to Asiatics.

In 1866 the borders of’ the colony were extended on the southwest by the annexation of part of Elaffraria that had formerly been under the sway of the Pondo chief Faku, who found himself unable to maintain his authority in Ke:te a region occupied by many diverse tribes. The newly awards. acquired territory was named Alfred county in memory of a visit paid to Natal by Prince Alfred (afterwards duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha). In 1867 R. W. Keate (1814—1873) became lieutenant-governor, a post which he filled until 1872. His administration is notable, not so much for internal affairs, but from the fact that he twice acted as arbitrator in disputes in which the Boer states were involved. In a dispute between the Transvaal and the Orange Free State he decided (February 1870) that the Klip river and not the upper VaaI was the frontier stream. A more famous decision, that known as the Keate Award, was given in October 1871. It concerned the southwestern frontiers of the Transvaal, and the award, which was against the Transvaal pretensions, had important effects on the history of South Africa (see TRANSVAAL and SOUTH AFRICA).

During all this time little was done to alter the condition of the natives. There was scarcely an attempt to copy the policy, deliberately adopted in Cape Colony, of educating and civilizing the black man. Neither was Natal faced with the Cape problem of a large half-caste population. The Natal natives were left very much in the state in which they were before the advent of the white men. While this opportunity of educating and training a docile people was in the main neglected, savage abuse of power by their chiefs was prevented. Under the superintendence of Shepstone the original refugees were quiet and contented, enjoying security from injustice and considerable freedom. This ideal lot, from the native point of view, drew such numbers of immigrants from disturbed districts that with the natural increase of population in thirty years the native inhabitants increased from about 100,000 to fully 350,000. New generations grew up almost as ignorant as their fathers,’ but not with the same sense of dependence upon the white men. In this way was sown the seed of fut~r~ trouble between the’ two races. The first serious collision betweei, ~±‘~ natives and the government occurred in 1873. The Amahlubi, one of the highest in rank of the Bantu tribes of South Africa, fleeing from the cruelties of

Between 1860 and 1866 some 5000 Indians entered the colony. Immigration then ceased, and was not resumed until 1874. By that year the natives from Portuguese territory and elsewhere who had found employment in Natal had been attracted to the Kimberley diamond mines, and the Natal natives not coming forward (save under compulsion), the importation of Indian coolies was again permitted (see the Natal Blue Book, Report of the Indian Immigration Cornmission, 1000).

Panda, had been located by the Natal government under their chief Langalibalele (i.e. the great sun which shines and burns) in 1848 at the foot of the Drakensberg with the object of preventing the Bushmen who dwelt in the mountains plundering the upland farmers. Here the Amahlubi prospered, and after the diamond fields had been discovered many of the young men who had been to Kimberley brought back firearms. These Langalibalele refused to register, and entered into negotiations with several tribes with the object of organizing a general revolt. Prompt action by Sir Benjamin Pine, then lieutenant-governor of the colony, together with help from the Cape and Basutoland, prevented the success of Langalibalele’s rebellion, plan, and his own tribe, numbering some 10,000 persons, was the only one which rebelled. The chief was captured, and exiled to Cape Colony (August 1874). Permitted to return to Natal in 1886, he died in 1889.

This rebellion drew the attention of the home government to the native question in Natal. The colonists, if mistaken in their general policy of leaving the natives in a condition of mitigated barbarism, had behaved towards them with uniform kindness and justice. They showed indeed in their dealings both with the natives within their borders and with the Zulus beyond the Tugela a disposition to favour the natives at the expense of their white neighbours in the Transvaal and Orange Free State, and their action against Langalibalele was fully justified and the danger of a widespread native revolt real. But there were those, including Bishop Colenso, who thought the treatment of the Amahlubi wrong, and their agitation induced the British government to recall Sir Benjamin Pine, Sir Garnet Wolseley being sent out as temporary governor. Sir Garnet reported the natives as “happy and prosperous——well off in every sense.” As a result of consultations with Shepstone certain modifications were made in native policy, chiefly in the direction of more European supervision.

Meantime the colony had weathered a severe commercial crisis brought on in 1865 through over-speculation and the neglect of agriculture, save along the coast belt. But Colenso the trade over berg largely developed on the dis ..... affair. covery of the Kimberley diamond mines, and the progress of the country was greatly promoted by the substitution of the railway for the ox wagon as a means of transport. There already existed a short line from the Point at Dtirban to the Umgeni, and on the 1st of January 1876 Sir Henry Bulwer, who had succeeded Wolseley as governor, turned the first sod of a new state-owned railway which was completed as far as Maritzburg in 1880. At this date the white inhabitants numbered about 20,000. But besides a commercial crisis the colony had been the scene of an ecclesiastical dispute which attracted widespread attention. Bishop Coleriso(q.v.),condemned in 1863 on a charge of heresy, ignored the authority of the court of South African bishops and was maintained in his position by decision of the Privy Council in England. This led to a division among the Anglican community in the colony and the consecration in 1869 of a rival bishop, who took the title of bishop of Maritzburg. Colenso’s bold advocacy of the cause of the natives —which he maintained with vigour until his death (in 1883 )— attracted almost equal attention. His native name was Usobantu (father of the people).

For some years Natal, in common with the other countries of South Africa, had suffered from the absence of anything resembling a strong government among the Boers of the Transvaal, neighbours of Natal on the north. The annexation of the Transvaal to Great Britain, effected by Sir Theophilus Shepstone in April 1877, would, it was hoped, put a period to the disorders in that country. But the new administration at Pretoria inherited many disputes with the Zulus, disputes which were in large measure the cause of the war of 1879. For years the Zulus had lived at amity with the Natalians, from whom they received substantial favours, and in 1872 Cetywayo (qv), on succeeding his father Panda, had given assurances of good behaviour. These promises were not kept for long, and by 1878 his attitude had become so hostile towards both the Natal and Transvaal governments that Sir Bartle Frere, then High Commissioner for South Africa, determined on his reduction. During the war (see ZULULAND) Natal was used as the British base, and the Natal volunteers rendered valuable service in the campaign, which, after opening with disasters to the British forces, ended in the breaking of the Zulu power. (F. R. C.)

Scarcely had the colony recovered from the shock of the Zulu War than it was involved in the revolt of the Transvaal Boers (1880—1881), an event which overshadowed all Natal domestic concerns. The Natalians were intensely and the British in sentiment, and resented deeply the policy 7~7o°8’l adopted by the Gladstone administration. At Ingogo, Majuba and Laing’s Nek, all of them situated within the colony, British forces had been defeated by the Boers. And the treaty of retrocession was never regarded in Natal as anything but a surrender. It was clearly understood that the Boers would aim to establish a republican government over the whole of South Africa, and that the terms of peace simply meant greater bloodshed at no distant date. The protest made by the Natalians against the settlement was in vain. The Transvaal Republic was established, but the prediction of the colonists, ignored at the time, was afterwards fulfilled to the letter. In justice, however, to the colonists of Natal it must be recorded that, finding their protest with regard to the Transvaal settlement useless, they made up their minds to shape their policy in conformity with that settlement. But it was not long before their worst fears with regard to the Boers began to be realized, and their patience was once more severely taxed. The Zulu power, as has been ‘recorded, was broken in 1879. After the war quarrels arose among the petty chiefs set up by Sir Garnet Wolseley, and in 1883 some Transvaal Boers intervened, and subsequently, as a reward for the assistance they had rendered to one of the combatants, demanded and annexed 8ooo sq. m. of country, which they styled the “New Republic.” As the London Convention had stipulated that there should be no trespassing on the part of the Boers over their specified boundaries, and as Natal had been the basis for those operations against the Zulus on the part of the British in 1879, which alone made such an annexation of territory possible, a strong feeling was once more aroused in Natal. The “ New Republic,” reduced in area, however, to less than 2000 sq. m., was nevertheless recognized by the British government in 1886, and in 1888 its consent was given to the territory (the Vryheid district) being incorporated with the Transvaal. Meantime, in I887, the remainder of Zululand had been annexed to Great Britain (see ZULU~LAND).

In 1884 the discovery of gold in. De Kaap Valley, and on Mr Moodie’s farm in. the Transvaal, caused a considerable rush of colonists from Natal to that country. Railways were still far from the Transvaal border, and Natal not only sent her own colonists to the new fields, but also offered the nearest route for prospectors from Cape Colony or from Europe. Durban was soon thronged; and Pietermaritzburg, which was then practically the terminus of the Natal railway, was the base from which nearly all the expeditions to the goldfields were fitted out. The journey to De Kaap by bullock-waggon occupied about six weeks. “Kurveying” (the conducting of transport by bullock-waggon) in itself constituted a great industry. Two years later, in 1886, the Rand goldfields were proclaimed, and the tide of trade which ‘had already set in with the

Transvaal steadily increased. Natal colonists were not merely the first in the field with the transport industries. traffic to the new goldfields; they became some of the earliest proprietors of mines, and for several years many of the largest mining companies had their chief offices at Pietermaritzburg or Durban. In this year (1886) the railway reached Ladysmith, and in 1891 it was completed to the Transvaal frontier at Charlestown, the section from Ladysmith northward opening up the Dundee and Newcastle coalfields. Thus a new industry was added to the resources of the colony.

The demand which the growing trade made upon the one port of Natal, Durban, encouraged the colonists to redouble their efforts to improve their harbour. The question of a fairway from ocean to harbour has been a difficult one at nearly every port on the African coast. A heavy sea from the Indian Ocean is always breaking on the shore, even in the finest weather, and at the mouth of every natural harbour a bar occurs. To deepen the channel over the bar at Durban so that steamers might enter the harbour was the cause of labour and expenditure for many years. Harbour works were begun in 1857, piers and jetties were constructed, dredgers imported, and controversy raged over the various schemes for harbour improvement. In 1881 a harbour board was formed under the chairmanship of Mr Harry Escombe. It controlled the operations for improving the sea entrance until 1893, when on the establishment of responsible government it was abolished. The work of improving the harbour was however continued with vigour, and finally, in 1904, such success was achieved that vessels of the largest class were enabled to enter port (see DURBAN). At the same time the railway system was continually developing.

For many years there had been an agitation among the colonists for self-government. In 1882 the colony was offered self-government coupled with the obligations of govern- self-defence. The offer was declined, but in 1883 the in eat legislative council was remodelled so as to consist of granted. 23 elected and 7 nominated members. In 1890 the elections to the council led to the return of a majority in favour of accepting self-government, and in 1893 a bill in favour of the proposed change was passed and received the sanction of the Imperial government. At the time the white inhabitants numbered about 50,000. The electoral law was framed to prevent more than a very few natives obtaining the franchise. Restrictions in this direction dated as far back as 1865, while in 1896 an act was passed aimed at the exclusion of Indians from the suffrage. The leader of the party which sought responsible government was Sir John Robinson (1839—1903) who had gone to Natal in 185o, was a leading journalist in the colony, had been, a member of the legislative council since 1863, and had filled various official positions. He now became the first premier and colonial secretary with Mr Harry Escombe (q.v.) as attorneygeneral and Mr F. R. Moor as secretary for NativeAffairs. The year that witnessed this change in the constitution was also notable for the death of Sir Theophilus Shepstone, Natal’s most prominent citizen. In the same year Sir Walter HelyHutchinson became governor. His immediate predecessors had been Sir Charles Mitchell (1889—1893) and Sir Arthur Havelock (1886—1889). Sir John Robinson remained premier until 1897, a year marked by the annexation of Zululand to Natal. In the following year Natal entered the Customs Union already existing between Cape Colony and the Orange Free State. Sir John Robinson had been succeeded as premier by Mr Harry Escombe (February-October 1897) and Escombe by Sir Henry Binns, on whose death in June 1899 Lieut.-Colonel (afterwards Sir) Albert Hime formed a ministry which remained in office until after the conclusion of the Anglo-Boer War. Meantime (in 1901) Sir Henry McCallum had succeeded Sir Walter Hely-Hutchinson as governor.

For some years Natal had watched with anxiety the attitude of increasing hostility towards the British adopted by the Pretoria administration, and, with bitter remembrance of the events of 1881, gauged with accuracy the intentions of the Boers. So suspicious had the ministry become of the nature of the military preparations that were being made by the Boers, that in May 1899 they communicated their apprehensions to the High Commissioner, Sir Alfred Milner, who telegraphed on the 25th of May to Mr Chamberlain, informing him that Natal was uneasy. The governor expressed his views to the prime minister that the Natal government ought to give the British government every support, and Colonel Hime replied that their support would be given, but at the same time he feared the The war consequences to Natal if, after all, the British government should draw back. In July the Natal ministry learnt that it was not the intention of the Imperial government to endeavour to hold the frontier in case hostilities arose, but that a line of defence considerably south of the frontier would be taken up. This led to a request on their part that if the Imperial government had any reason to anticipate the breakdown of negotiations, “such steps may be at once taken as may be necessary for the effectual defence of the whole colony.” Sir William Penn Symons, the general commanding the British forces in Natal in September, decided to hold Glencoe. On the arrival of Lieut.-General Sir George White from India, he informed the governor that he cofisidered it dangerous to attempt to hold Glencoe, and urged the advisability of withdrawing the troops to L~dysmith. The goveinor was strongly’ opposed to this step, as he was anxious to protect the coal supply, and also feared the moral effect of a withdrawal. Eventually Sir Archibald Hunter, then chief of staff to Sir Redvers Buller, was consulted, and stated that in his opinion, Glencoe being already occupied, “it was a case of balancing drawbacks, and advised that, under the circumstances, the troops be retained at Glencoe.” This course was then adopted. On the 11th of October 1899 war broke out. The first act was the seizure by the Boers of a Natal train on the Free State border. On the 12th Laing’s Nek was occupied by the Boer forces, who were moved in considerable force over the Natal border. Newcastle was next occupied by the Boers unopposed, and on the 20th of October occurred the battle of Talana Hill outside Dundee. In this engagement the advanced body of British troops, 3000 strong, under Symons, held a camp called Craigside which lay between Glencoe and Dundee, and from this position General Symons hoped to be able to hold the northern portion of Natal. There is no doubt that this policy strongly commended itself to the governor and ministers of Natal, and that they exercised considerable pressure to have it adopted. But from a military point of view it was not at all cordially approved by Sir George White, and it was atterwards condemned by Lord Roberts. Fortunately Symons was able to win a complete victory over one of the Boer columns at Talana Hill. He himself received a mortal wound in the action. Brigadier-General Yule then took command, and an overwhelming force of Boers rendering the further occupation of Dundee dangerous, he decided to retire his force to Ladysmith. On the 21st of October General Sir George White and General (Sir John) French defeated at Elandslaagte a strong force of Boers, who threatened to cut off General Yule’s retreat. He again attacked the Boer forces at Rietfontein on the 24th of October, and on the 26th General Yule reached Ladysmith in safety. Ladysmith now became for a time the centre of military interest. The Boers gradually surrounded the town and cut off the communications from the south. Various ‘engagements were fought in the attempt to prevent this movement, including the actions of Farquhar’s Farm and Nicholson’s Nek on the 3oth (see TRANSVAAL). The investment of Ladysmith continued till the 28th of February Igoo, when, after various attempts to relieve the beleaguered garrison, Sir Redvers Buller’s forces at last entered the town. During the six weeks previous to the relief, 200 deaths had occurred from disease alone, and altogether as many as 8424 were reported to have passed through the hospitals. The relief of Ladysmith soon led to the evacuation of Natal by the Boer forces, who trekked northwards.

During the Boer invasion the government and the loyal colonists, constituting the great majority of the inhabitants of the colony, rendered the Imperial forces every assistance. A comparatively small number of the Dutch colonists joined the enemy, but there was no general rebellion among them. As the war progressed the Natal volunteers and other Natal forces took a prominent part. The Imperial Light Horse and other irregular corps were recruited in Natal, although the bulk of the men in the forces were Uitlanders from Johannesburg. As the nearest colony to the Transvaal, Natal was resorted to by alarge number of men, women and children, who were compelled to leave the Transvaal on the outbreak of the war. Reftigee and Ijitlander committees were formed both at Durban and Maritzburg, and, in conjunction with the colonists, they did all in their power to assist in recruiting irregular corps, and also in furnishing relief to the sick and needy.

As one result of the war, an addition was made to the territory comprised in Natal, consisting of a portion of what had previously been included in the Transvaal. The Natal government originally made two proposals for annexing new territory:—

1. It was proposed that the following districts should be transferred to Natal, viz, the district of Vryheid, the district of Utrecht and such portion of the district of Wakkerstroom as was comprised by a line drawn from the north-eastern corner of Natal, east by Volksrust in a northerly direction to the summit of the Drakensberg Range, along that range, passing just north of the town of Wakkerstroom, to the head waters of the Pongola river, and thence following the Pongola river to the border of the Utrecht district. In consideration of the advantage to Natal from this addition of territory, Natal should take over £700,000 of the Transvaal debt.

2. It was proposed to include in Natal such portions of the Harrismith and Vrede districts as were comprised by a line following the Elands river north from its source on the Basutoland Ac border to its junction with the Wilge river, and thence  drawn straight to the point where the boundaries of Natal, the Transvaal and the Orange River Colony meet on the Drakensberg. In consideration of this addition to her territories, territory, Natal shotild take over a portion of the Orange River Colony debt, to be raised at the end of the war, to the amount of £200,000.

The Imperial government decided to sanction only the first of these two proposals. For this course there were many reasons, the Transvaal territory annexed, or the greater part of it (the Vryheid district), having been only separated from the rest of Zululand in 1883 by a raid of armed Boers. “In handing over this district to the administration which controls the rest of Zululand, His Majesty’s government,” wrote Mr Chamberlain, under date ~‘Iarch 1902, “feel that they are reuniting what ought never to have been separated.”

With regard, however, to the proposed transfer of territory from the Orange River Colony, the circumstances were different.

There is,” said Mr Chamberlain, “no such historical reason as exists in the case of Vryheid for making the transfer. On the contrary, the districts in question have invariably formed part of the state from which it is now proposed to sever them, and they are separated from Natal by mountains which form a welldefined natural boundary. In these circumstances, His Majesty’s government have decided to confine the territory to be transferred to the districts in the Transvaal.”

The districts added to Natal contained about 6000 white inhabitant,s (mostly Dutch), and some 92,000 natives, and had an area of nearly 7000 sq. m., so that this annexation meant an addition to the white population of Natal of about one-tenth, to her native population of about one-tenth also, and to her territory of about one-fourth. An act authorizing the annexation was passed during 1902 and the territories were formally transferred to Natal in January 1903. CA. P. H.; F. R. C.)

The period following the war was succeeded by commercial depression, though in Natal it was not so severely felt as in other states of South Africa. The government met the crisis by re,newed energy in harbour works, railway construedepression tions and the development of the natural resources and of the country. A railway to the Zululand coalfields was completed in 1903, and in the same year a line was opened to Vryheid in the newly annexed territories.

Natal further built several railway lines in the eastern half of the Orange River Colony, thus opening up new markets for hex produce and facilitating her transit trade. Mr Chamberlain or his visit to South Africa came first to Natal, where he landed ir the last days of 1902, and conferred with the leading colonists~ In August 1903 the Hime ministry resigned and was succeedec by a cabinet under the premiership of Mr (afterwards Sir) Georg Sutton, the founder of the wattle industry in Natal was one of the pioneers in the coal-mining industry. In May 1905 Sij George Sutton was replaced by a coalition ministry under M.C.J. Smythe, who had been colonial secretary under Sir Alber Hime. These somewhat frequent changes of ministry, char acteristic of a country new to responsil~le government, reflected chiefly, differences concerning the treatment of commercia questions and the policy to be adopted towards the natives Towards those Dutch colonists who had joined the enemy during the war leniency was shown, all rebels being pardoned.

The attitude of the natives both in Natal proper and in Zululand caused much disquiet. As early as July 1903 rumours were current that Dinizulu (a son of Cetywayo) was disaffected and the power he exercised as representative of the former royal house rendered his attitude a matter of great moment. Dinizulu, however, remained at the time quiescent, though the Zulus were in a state of excitement over incidents connected with the war, when they had been subject to raids by Boer commandoes, an1 on one occasion at least had retaliated in characteristic Zulu fashion. Unrest was also manifested among the natives west of the Tugela, but it was not at first cause for alarm. The chief concern of the Natal government was to remodel their native policy where it proved inadequate, especially in view of the growth of the movement for the federation of the South African colonies. During 1903—1904 a Native Affairs’ Commission, reoresentative of all the states, obtained much evidence on the status and conditions of the natives. Its investigations pointed to the loosening of tribal ties and to the corresponding growth of a spirit of individual independence. Among its recommendations was the direct political representation of natives in the colonial legislatures on the New Zealand model, and the imposition of direct taxation upon natives, which should not be less than LI a year payable by every adult male. The commission also called attention to the numerical insufficiency of magistrates and native commissioners in certain parts of Natal. With some of the recommendations the Natal commissioners disagreed; in 1905, however, an act was passed by the Natal legislature imposing a poll-tax of LI on all males over 18 in the colony, except indentured Indians and natives paying hut-tax (which was I4s. a year). Every European was bound to pay the tax. In 1906 a serious rebellion broke out in the colony, attributable osteilsibly to the poll-tax, and spread to Zululand. It was suppressed by the colonial forces under Colonel (afterwards Sir) Duncan McKenzie, aided by a detachment of Transvaal volunteers. An incident which marked the beginning of this rebellion brought the Natal ministry into sharp conflict with the Imperial government (the Campbell-Bannerman administration). Early in the year a farmer who had insisted that the Kaffirs on his farm should pay the poll-tax was murdered, and on the 8th of February some forty natives in the Richmond district forcibly resisted the collection of the tax and killed a subinspector of police and a trooper at Byrnetown. Two of the natives implicated were court-martialled and shot (February 15); others were subsequently arrested and tried by court martial. Nineteen were sentenced to death, but in the case of seven of the prisoners the sentence was commuted. On the day before that fixed for the executron Lord Elgin, then Secretary of Conflict State for the Colonies, intervened and directed the with the governor to postpone the execution of the sentence. home Thereupon the Natal ministry resigned, giving as their governreason the importance of maintaining the authority of men. the colonial administration at a critical period, and the constitutional question involved in the interference by the imperial authorities in the domestic affairs of a self-governing colony. The action of the British cabinet caused both astonishment and indignation throughout South Africa and in the other selfgoverning states of the empire. After a day’s delay, during which Sir Henry McCallum reiterated his concurrence, already made known in London, in the justice of the sentence passed on the natives, Lord Elgin gave way (March 30). The Natal ministry thereupon remained in office. The guilty natives were shot on the 2nd of April.i It was at this time that Bambaata, a chief in the Greytown district who had been deposed for misconduct, kidnapped the regent appointed in his stead. He was pursued  and escaped to Zululand, where he received considerable help. He was killed in battle in June, and by the close of July thc rebellion was at an end. As has been stated, it was ostensibly attributable to the poll-tax, but the causes were more deepI seated. (Subsequently three other natives, after trial by the supreme court, were condemned and executed for their share in the Byrnetown murders).Though somewhat obscure they may be found in thigrowing sense of power and solidarity among all the Kaffir tribes of South Africa—a sense which gave force to the “Ethiopian movement,” which, ecclesiastical in origin, was political in its development. There were moreover special local causes such as undoubted defects in the Natal administration.i Those Africans whose “nationalism” was greatest looked to Dinizulu as their leader, and he was accused by many colonists of having incited the rebellion. Dinizulu protested his loyalty to the British, nor was it likely that he viewed with approval the action of Bambaata, a comparatively unimportant and meddlesome chief. As time went on, however, the Natal government, alarmed at a series of murders of whites in Zululand and at the evidences of continued unrest among the natives, became convinced that Dinizulu was implicated in the rebellious movement. When a young man, in 1889, he had been convicted of high treason and had been exiled, but afterwards (in 1897) allowed to return. Now a force under Sir Duncan McKenzie entered Zululand. Thereupon Dinizulu s~irrendered (December 1907) without opposition, and was removed to Maritzburg. His trial was delayed until November 1908, and it was not until March 1909 that judgment was given, the court finding him guilty only on the minor charge of harbouring rebels. Meantime, in February 1908, the governor—Sir Matthew Nathan, who had succeeded Sir Henry McCallum in August 1907—had made a tour in Zululand, on which occasion some 1500 of the prisoners taken in the rebellion of 1906 were released.

The intercolonial commission had dealt with the native question as it affected South Africa as a whole; it was felt that a more local investigation was needed, and in August 1906 a strong commission was appointed to inquire into the condition of the Natal natives. The general mission, election which was held in the following month turned on native policy and on the measures necessary to meet the commercial depression. The election, which witnessed the return of Tour Labour members, resulted in a ministerial majority of a somewhat heterogeneous character, and in November 1906 Mr Smythe resigned, being succeeded by Mr F. R. Moor, who in his election campaign had criticized the Smythe ministry for their financial proposals and for the “theatrical” manner in which they had conducted their conflict with the home government. Mr Moor remained premier until the office was abolished by the establishment of the Union of South Africa. In August 1907 the report of the Native Affairs’ Commission was published. The commission declared that the chasm between the native and white races had been broadening for years and that the efforts of the administration—especially since the grant of responsible government—to reconcile the Kâffirs to the changed conditions of rule and policy and to convert them into an element of strength had been ineffective. It was not sufficient to secure them, as the government had done, peace and ample means of livelihood. The commission among other proposals for a more liberal and sympathetic native policy urged the creation of a native advisory Board entrusted with very wide powers. “Personal rule,” they declared, “ supplies the keynote of successful native control “—a statement amply borne out by the influence over the natives exercised by Sir T. Shepstone. The unrest in Zululand delayed action being taken on the commission’s report. But in 1909 an act- was passed which placed native affairs in the hands of four district commissioners, gave to the minister for native affairs direct executive authority and created a council for native affairs on which non-official members had seats. While the district commissioners were intended to keep in close touch with the natives, the council was to act as a “deliberative, consultative and advisory body.”

Concurrently with the efforts made to reorganize their native policy the colony also endeavoured to deal with the Asiatic question. The rapid growth of the Indian population from about 1890 caused much disquiet among the majority of the white inhabitants, who viewed with especial anxiety the activities of the “free,” i.e. unindentured Indians. An act of 1895, which did not become effective until 1901, imposed an annual tax of ~3 on time-expired Indians who remained in the colony and did not reindenture. In 1897 an Indian Immigration Restriction Act was passed with the Indians. object of protecting European traders; in 1903 another Immigration Restriction Act among other things, permitted the exclusion of all would-be immigrants unable to write in the characters of some European language. Under this act thousands of Asiatics were refused permission to land. In 1906 municipal disabilities were imposed upon Asiatics, and in 1907 a Dealers’ Licences Act was passed with the object, and effect, of restricting the trading operations of Indians.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.—R. Russell, The Garden Colony. The Story of Natal and its Neighbours (London, 1910 ed.), a good general account; H. Brooks (edited by R. J. Mann), Natal, a History and Description of the Colony, &c. (London, I876); J. F. Ingram, Natalia, a Condensed History of the Exploration and Colonization of Natal and Zululand (London, 1897); C. P. Lucas, Historical Geography of the British Colonies, vol. iv. “ South and East Africa “(Oxford, 1897), also general surveys. Twentieth-Century Impressions of Natal (London, 1906) deals with the peoples, commerce, industries and resources of the colony: the Census of the Colony of Natal, April 1904 (Maritzburg, 1905) contains a large amount of authoritative information; The Natal Almanac is a directory and yearly register published at Maritzburg. See also the official Statistical Year Book. For the native inhabitants, besides the works quoted under KAFFIRS, valuable information will be found in Native Customs, H.C. 292 (1881), the Report of the Native Affairs’ Commission, 1ç~o6—I9o7, Cd. 3889 (1908); the Report of the South African Native Affairs’ Commission, ‘903—1905, Cd. 2399 (1905); and other parliamentary papers (consult The Colonial Office List, London, yearly).

For detailed historical study consult G. M. Theal, History of South Africa, 1834—1854 (London, 1893), with notes on early books on Natal. Among these the most valuable are: N. lsaacs, Travels and A dventures in Eastern Africa. . . with a Sketch of Natal (2 vols., London, 1836); H. Cloete, Emigration of the Dutch Farmers from the Cape and their Settlement in Natal . . . (Cape Town, 1856), reprinted as The History of the Great Boer Trek (London, 1899), an authoritative record; J. C. Chase, Natal, a Reprint of all Authentic Notices, &c. (Grahamstown, 1843); W. C. Holden, History of the Colony of Natal (London, 1855); J. Bird, The Annals ‘of Natal, 1495 to 1845 (2 vols., Maritzburg, 1888), a work of permanent value, consisting of official records, &c.; Shepstone, Historic Sketch of Natal (1864). See also South Africa Handbooks, useful reprints from the paper South Africa (London, N.D. ); Martineau’s Life of Sir Bartle Frere, the Autobiography of Sir Harry Smith, and Sir J. Robinson’s A Lifetime in South Africa (London, 1901); George Linton, or the First Years of an English Colony (London, 1876). Bishop A. H. Baynes’s Handbooks of English Church Expansion. South Africa (London, N~D. ) gives the story of the Colenso controversy and its results.

For further historical works and for information on flora, fauna, climate, law, church, &c. see the bibliography under SOUTH AFRICA. (See also ZULULAND: Bibliography.) (F. R. C.)
 

CONCH. Schooner, also described as a brigantine (Trading in South African coastal waters from 1828. Wrecked 1847) 100 tons burden, about 69 x 19 ft. In 1842 her Master was William BELL and I am indebted to Rosemary Dixon-Smith, his great-great granddaughter, for sending me his narrative.(see also CONCH 1828-1847 for full version. CONCH was at Algoa Bay when a colonist, Richard King, made a ten day ride to Grahamstown with the news that rebellious Boers in Natal had blockaded a detachment of the 27th regiment encamped in Durban. William BELL, well aware of the difficult harbour entrance at Port Natal immediately volunteered his ship and services to carry reinforcements there, although his crew were less enthusiastic and pleaded illness until the captain talked of "three dozen each." About 100 men from the 27th regiment were embarked with some local volunteers and she sailed with a northwest wind for Port Natal which she reached 13 days later on Friday 24 June. The wind obliged them to anchor in the outer road where they could hear firing ashore. Meanwhile SOUTHAMPTON,60, Capt. Thomas OGLE, had arrived from Simon`s Bay with a portion of the 25th regiment, and she was anchored near the bar to a buoy laid by CONCH. CONCH fired a couple of shells ashore, followed by several from SOUTHAMPTON, before it was decided to land the troops as soon as the tide was high enough. With 50 more soldiers on board, CONCH towed the boats, full of soldiers and seamen and with a carronade in the bow of each, into the bay under a covering fire from SOUTHAMPTON. A hail of bullets struck CONCH, where the men were hiding behind temporary bulwarks of thin wooden planks and blankets, resulting in a few dead and wounded. As soon as the boats touched ground the seamen, armed with cutlasses, were ashore, racing to cut down the rebel flag and replace it with a boat ensign. The troops soon disembarked and chased the Boers into the bush. The soldiers in the besieged garrison had suffered terribly. The only shelter from the hot sun by day and the cold at night was the hides of the horses they had killed for food, the blackened strips of horseflesh were hanging from the broken wagons.
 
 

THE CONCH, 1828 - 1869
 by

Rosemary Dixon-Smith
 
 

Historical Background by M.P.

In 1824 the British signed a treaty with the Zulu king Shaka in which he ceded Port Natal and about 50 miles of coastline to a depth of some 100 miles. This was followed in 1835 with a second treaty with his successor Dingane ceding the southern half of Natal. The empty interior was entered by Voortrekers (Boers) from the Great Trek out of Cape Colony in 1837. After victories over the Ndebele of the Transvaal they were anxious to secure an access to the sea and came down through the passes and inflicted a crushing defeat on the main Zulu army. In 1838 the Cape government had sent a small garrison to protect the British settlers at Port Natal (Durban) but withdrew it in 1839. The Boers, having set up their own Zulu king, Panda, proclaimed Natal to be the independent Republic of Natalia. Cape government sent up a detachment of the 27th regiment but they were defeated by the Boers and besieged in their camp at Port Natal. A settler, Richard King, made a ten days` ride to Grahamstown with the news and Rosemary Dixon-Smith, the great-great grandaughter of William Bell, drawing on his "Narrative", tells what happened next ............
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       C ONCH, 100 tons, first appears in Cape records in 1828. Variously described as a brigantine and as a schooner, she traded in South African coastal waters during the 1830s and 1840s calling at ports such as Algoa Bay, Mossel Bay, Saldanha Bay, Simons Bay, Port Beaufort and Port Natal.

In 1842, CONCH under her captain, WILLIAM BELL, happened to be at Algoa Bay when news was received of the siege of the British garrison at Natal by rebellious Boers. BELL, well-acquainted with the notoriously-difficult harbour entrance at Port Natal, and aware that CONCH "was the only vessel in the bay fit to cross the Bar", immediately volunteered the services of himself and his ship to assist in transporting reinforcements for the relief of the garrison.

BELL's "Narrative of the Entrance of the Conch", told in his own inimitable style, makes it clear that his crew were less enthusiastic, the mate informing the captain that they "had been suddenly taken ill". Their captain reminded them that they would have "three dozen each" if they refused duty, after which "they got a little better" and were able prepare the vessel for the reception of the troops.

About a hundred men of the 27th Regiment were duly embarked. Some local "young fellows", moved to patriotic fervour by the news, felt that the Boers "ought to have a licking" and volunteered their services. "After hauling the new hands on board, one of them made a furious attack on the cook; I suppose he took him for a Boer."

"About midnight the wind came from the N.W., and before daylight we were under weigh, the soldiers cheering the ships in the harbour as we passed them. At 6 p.m. we were off the Kowie, where we fell in with the schooner MARGARET, bound to Algoa Bay, and which had been reported lost. Here one of the volunteers came upon deck for the first time; he looked very wild and enquired the name of the vessel, and where she was bound ...

We had to contend against adverse winds and currents, and only reached Natal (on Friday 24 June 1842) after a passage of thirteen days ... Nevertheless the time passed merrily ... On sighting the Bluff (at Port Natal) I told Capt. DURNFORD, Commander of the troops, that we could not enter the harbour with the wind then blowing, and that we should be obliged to anchor in the outer roads, and wait for a fair wind.

The men were ordered below ... leaving the hatches off to give them as much air as possible ... On coming round the Bluff we were soon convinced that the rebels were in full possession of the harbour and entrance, and could distinctly hear firing between the Boers and the troops at the camp. We came to anchor in the usual way, making it appear that we were unconscious of what was going on."

Meanwhile, SOUTHAMPTON, 50 guns, Captain OGLE, had been dispatched from Simon's Bay with a portion of the 25th Regiment under Colonel CLOETE. Arriving at Natal, the frigate found CONCH waiting. Consultations between the captains of the two vessels followed. BELL "took a buoy and anchored it as near the bar as was considered safe for the SOUTHAMPTON to lie. After this ... both vessels commenced to warp up to the bar. I succeeded in getting the CONCH so near that I could only give her about 30 fathoms of chain. The SOUTHAMPTON did not reach up to the buoy, which we had laid down, but the gale she encountered shortly afterwards showed that she was quite near enough ...We now decided on landing the troops ... in the frigate's boats, and that I should pilot them in over the bar.

Lieutenant TURNER, R.A., considered our position good, and wished to try range. I put a spring on the cable and laid her broadside to the intrenchment, and the second shell apparently caused some confusion amongst them (the enemy). The SOUTHAMPTON followed our example by throwing a few shells upon the Bluff. We then ceased firing, and waited for the tide to rise... At noon, the tide made, and with it a light air from the eastward. This change of wind altered all our plans, and it was at once decided that the CONCH should go in, taking the boats in tow. Col. CLOETE asked me if I could take more men on board. I told him that I could take fifty...those I intended to put into the hold, as taking more than one hundred on deck would be an obstruction to Lieut. TURNER and his men working the guns."

As CONCH's bulwarks were very low, and the men would be exposed to enemy fire, yellow wood planks were placed on their edge along the rail to form a temporary topgallant bulwark, leaving the lower edge of the plank loose. When they were found to be short of planks, a line was run along and soldiers' blankets thrown over it: "although it did not resist the bullets, it prevented the Boers from singling out individuals; still we were indebted to the lightness of the wind for the small loss we sustained. ... All this time the SOUTHAMPTON's boats were hanging astern of the CONCH, full of men, with a carronade in the bow of each, and the British ensign aft. Impatient for the onset, I had to pacify them by pointing out the necessity of half an hour's more rise of tide to admit us over the bar. ...

The CONCH was now got under weigh. I was at the helm with one of my best men, also a boy. The latter disappeared at the first volley. When questioned about leaving the helm, he said he felt very thirsty and went down into the hold to get a drink of water. Here the surgeon endeavoured to get him on deck, but he begged to be excused, as he was very frightened and did not ship on board the CONCH to be shot at. He was but a boy, and therefore was pardoned.

The firing was now at its height, and bullets whistling in all directions. One struck the main boom about six inches above my head. This caused me to make a low bow.

When off the marks (i.e. the leading marks for ships entering the Bay) two of the boats were cast loose for the purpose of attacking the Boers on the Bluff side. ... We were now completely enveloped in smoke, so much so that I found it difficult to see the channel ... We were now rounding the Point, and fast approaching the anchorage, our shells ploughing up the sand hills... During all this time the SOUTHAMPTON was not idle, the shot and shell dropping too close to us and the boats to be pleasant; the troops were now landed but by this time the Boers were trying their rate of speed through the bush. Orders had been given for the sailors not to leave the boats but ... No sooner had the boats touched the ground than Jack was out and over the sandhills, cutlass in hand, towards the flagstaff, at the risk of being knocked over by the shot from their own ship. ... The boats were soon alongside the CONCH, which had now anchored, and the troops speedily disembarked. We hauled our boat alongside to assist, but found her so riddled by the shot that the water was up to the thwarts; however by plugging the holes up with pieces of blanket we made her serviceable. The Enniskillings were no sooner landed than they rushed into the bush like so many bloodhounds, Captain DURNFORD at their head, and the 25th nothing behind ...

The flagstaff of the Boers, being unsupported by rigging, gave way at the foot when one of the men of the SOUTHAMPTON was upon it taking down the rebel flag, and both came to the ground. A boat's ensign was substituted for that of the Boers, but in the hurry it was made fast, union down. This caused the firing on board the SOUTHAMPTON to cease. ... they feared we had received some damage, as one of their shells had fallen close to the CONCH. The error ... was discovered and soon rectified ... we landed the dead and wounded and I was introduced to the brave Major SMITH (in command of the besieged garrison) ... He was very much reduced by the hardships he had endured; his rigging much chafed and out of order; but his interior remained sterling steel."

Even the hard-bitten Captain BELL was appalled by the deplorable conditions prevailing in the camp ... "men with their legs and arms off, and some suffering from dysentery. The only shelter they had from the hot sun by day, and the cold by night, was the hides of the horses they had just killed for food ... I observed the long strips of horseflesh which the camp had to subsist upon hanging up to the broken wagons. They were by no means tempting; the weather had made them quite black ..."

The siege having been successfully raised, and with the Boers in full retreat, BELL "returned to the peaceable old CONCH."

Captain WILLIAM BELL was later appointed Port Captain at Natal, and remained in this post until his death in 1869. CONCH, under Captain W. MOSES, was wrecked at Port St Johns in November 1847 when the wind failed.

The artist THOMAS BAINES immortalised CONCH's "moment of glory" in a painting done from a sketch by an eye-witness of the event. It shows the schooner crossing the bar, with boatloads of troops behind, against the background of the Bluff; smoke can be seen issuing from Boer guns, and a hail of bullets striking the water around CONCH.

"Narrative of the Entrance of the 'Conch' at Port Natal with Troops, To Relieve Captain Smith, When Blockaded by the Boers, in June, 1842. By William Bell, Who commanded the 'Conch' And Late Port Captain at Port Natal." Printed by the 'Natal Mercury' Durban 1869.
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© Rosemary Dixon-Smith. 2000. dixonsmithbygad@eastcoast.co.za
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Peril at Sea Read about the rescue of detachments of the 27th regiment from the Abercrombie troop-ship in Table Bay in August 1842.
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Ben Carton (Department of History, USA) and Malcolm Draper (Department of Sociology, University of Natal), le Zoeloe Blanc: A Powerful Pedigree

In 1920 the black father of the concept called “whiteness,” W.E.B. DuBois, wrote in his stingingly lyrical book, Darkwater, “always, somehow, some way, silently but clearly, I am given to understand that whiteness is the ownership of the earth forever and ever, Amen.” With this mocking prayer, Du Bois intended to remind whites in America and the colonial world of what it meant to be black. Later Du Bois recognized that some agents of racist capitalist societies, especially white men maneuvering on the frontier of “somnolent writhings in black Africa,” wanted to appropriate “blackness,” if only to reclaim a noble savagery that included ideals of primordial masculinity and patriarchal respect. The “noble savage,” a mythic man above all, expressed the virility of an African continent untouched by civilization and time. Martial Zulu men became one of the most enduring modern symbols of the “noble savage” convention that evolved throughout New World explorations, Atlantic slavery, and Western imperialism.

This paper suggests ways to explore the intersections between “noble savage” masculinities, “white Zuluness,” and real and imagined miscegenation in South Africa over the past two centuries, focusing on the agents of Empire, frontier colonialism, and racial/ethnic hierarchy in KwaZulu and Natal. From the nineteenth century onwards, we trace some of the white Zulus who established patriarchal (Zulu-inflected) colonialism as the system that best afforded settlers in South Africa the “ownership of the earth forever and ever.” We highlight the legacies of early isiZulu-speaking British pioneers of Port Natal such as Wohlo (John Ogle), who like his cohort, Mbuyazi (Henry Francis Fynn), lived under royal Zulu power with “a number of [African] wives and ordinary native kraals, [enjoying] sexual intercourse with these wives . . . on the Zulu plan,” according to Dinya, James Stuart’s informant in 1905. By way of sketching modern continuity and contrast, we examine the twentieth-century processes (in the wake of the destruction of the Zulu kingdom) that gave birth to modern white Zulus who have wholeheartedly embraced the status accorded to them, yet keep their white lives and identities distinct in varying degrees. Here we introduce characters such as the late Induna John Aspinall, who lived and died as an Englishman, yet forged intimate personal and economic ties with Zulu political leaders. Another is local farm boy and anthropologist gone (half) native, Mkhomasi (Barry Leitch), champion of ubunto botho, showman, businessman and, in David Webster’s term, consummate cultural entrepreneur. These colourful lives serve as a backdrop for reflection on questions of hybridity, creolisation, masculinity and the negotiation of boundaries: a significant act in the drama of privileged white adaptation to South Africa.
 
 last updated: 16/06/2001

The Birth of the Zulu Nation

The hills of Natal soils have been washed with the blood of hundreds of battles. Her beauty and rich soils made her a prize worth fighting over. One group of people will be remembered for all time, and the story of their fearless reign of terror over the hills of Natal has become a legend. These people struck fear into the hearts of the British armies, and Boer settlers. These people are the Zulu's of Natal. This is the story of their origins and the culture that grew to make them legendary.

More than 300 years ago, at the beginning of the 17th century, two groups of African people arrived in Natal from central East Africa. They are known as Nguni, after their leader. They settled in an area in what is now known as Zululand, in the Northern inland region of Natal. Here they found only a handful of Bushman hunting groups, and a group known as Lala. They split up into central clans, of one or a few families. They recognised no central ruler, and remained independant of each other. There was fighting between the clans over women and cattle, but there were no other ethnic groups to challenge the unique culture that was beginning to emerge.

One of these small clans, led by Malandela settled in the fertile Mhlathuze River Valley. When Malandela died, his elder son Qwabe laid his rightful claim to the land, and so the younger son, Zulu, (Nguni for Heaven) along with his mother set off to find another place to claim as their own. They found a beautiful valley, watered by the Mkhumbane River, with Nhlazatsho (mountain of green stones), a flat topped mountain to the west, and a high ridge, Mthonjaneni (place of the little fountain) to the east. Here Zulu lived until he died, his grave marked by a Euphorbia tree.

Zulu was succeeded by his son Phunga, then Mageba, Ndaba and then Jama. With each generation, the clan grew into a small village, and by the time that Jama's son was born, they called themselves abakwaZulu (people of Zulu). Senzangakhoma, his son, became chief in about 1785. The whole clan still lived in the small valley, in beehive grass huts. Senzangakhoma, met a young girl from the neighboring village called Nandi. When he heard that she was pregnant, he thought that it could not be true, and that she must have iShaka (intestinal beetle). When a lusty baby boy was born, he was immediately named Shaka.

Perhaps it was because Shaka was teased about his illigitimacy as a young boy, or perhaps he was born with such a character, but he grew up to be a great warrior. At 16, he invented a short, broad-bladed stabbing spear that was later to become a devestating weopan in his armies. He became chief at about the age of 30, and wasted no time in mustering his army. All men under the age of 40 were called to battle, and he systematically raided all the neighboring clans, ordering their surrender to him, or thier death.

By 1823, the Zulu nation had grown incredibly. The army had gained warriors from the new integrated tribes. The people had gained cattle, land and women. The small little valley had become too small to contain them all. Shaka began to build a new capital in the winter of 1823. He called it Bulawayo (the place of the persecuted man). In the humid summer months, he drilled his warriors, teaching them to become fearless and to bear great pain. One of his methods was to have the warriors run barefoot through thornfields, and anyone who cried out in pain was put to death. While the warriors trained, the women built huts, and tilled the fields. Armourers made spears and shields. By winter, the great army would set out on another campaign.
 

By 1826 Shaka needed to build another hut city, farther to the south, on the site that is today the town of Stanger. he called it kwaDukuza (the place of the lost person) because of the massive maze of huts. English settlers had befriended Shaka, brining him gifts of guns and othre trinkets. They were aware of his volatile moods, but not ready for an episode in 1827, when he heard that his mother Nansi had passed away at kwaBulawayo. The shocked Ivory hunters from Henry Fynn's party were witness to Shaka's explosion of grief in which he had about 7000 tribal people massacred at kwaDukuza.

In 1828 Shaka led his last great raid, down the South Coast of Natal into the Pondo country of the Transkei. He returned to spend the summer at kwaDukuza. On the 22 September, shaka was enjoying the festivities of a ceremony while waiting for a visiting Tswana tribe to come and pay him tribute, when Dingane and Mhlangana, his two half brothers strode into the kraal and stabbed him to death. Shaka had built a great Zulu nation out of a small family settlement, but he was a tyrant, and the handful of men who opposed Dinganes claim to the throne were killed.

Dingane burnt Shaka's city, and took the people back to their original homeland by the Mkumbane river. He called the new capital Mgungundlovo (the secret plot of the elephant), referring to his own plot to kill Shaka. Dingane ruled his empire well. The hut city thrived and grew. Armies were sent on raids, bringing back cattle, and other wealth. European visitors were welcome, providid they brought gifts for the king. They camped on a hill overlooking the city, and many accounts of it were recorded, as these early pioneers found themselves confronted by the spectacle the huge labyrinth of huts, all seething with life.

But, as war has always been a way of life in South Africa, this city was destroyed by fire after the great Battle of Blood River by the triumphant Voortrekkers.

Fortunately, this was not the end of the Zulu nation. Today, although the Zulu people are integrated into the modern way of life, many still live in remote areas, and their rich culture of beliefs and superstitions still thrives in rural life. The Zulus were, and still are a proud nation. There is still a King that rules today, and the social heirarchy is still present outside of the cities. Zulu men still follow the custom of labola, where the father of the bride recieves wealth in the form of cattle from the prospective husband. After all, Shaka's reign ended less than 200 years ago.

(http://members.tripod.com/~africaburning/zulu.htm)

The South African
Military History Society
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Die Suid-Afrikaanse Krygshistoriese Vereeniging
 

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Military History Journal - Vol 4 No 4

THE ZULU MILITARY ORGANIZATION AND THE CHALLENGE OF 1879
by Cmdt S.Bourquin, DWD

Introduction
On the battlefield of Ulundi stands a domed monument, and let into the wall of the south passage is a simple marble plaque bearing the inscription 'In Memory of the Brave Warriors who fell here in 1879 in Defence of the Old Zulu Order'
As far as can be ascertained this is the one and only war memorial commemorating the Zulu dead. The erection of memorials with inscriptions is foreign to the Zulus, but credit must be given to the originators of this memorial tablet for having considered the fact that the Zulus also had something to fight for. White soldiersoften fight and die for some well expressed ideal: liberty, 'the flag'; home and hearth; God, king or queen, and country.
The proverbial Spartan discipline owed its existence to strict adherence to stern rules and harsh laws. At Thermopylae a tablet commemorates, in the words of Herodotus, the heroic stand to the last man which King Leonidas and his Spartans made in 480 BC, as follows:
'Go tell the Spartans, thou that passeth by,
That here, obedient to their laws, we lie.'
This is the sort of language the Zulus would readily have understood. Through generations thev had been taught, on the pain of death, to obey the laws of their kings, and when this law demanded that they should die, they too obeyed.
The tablet on the wall of the Ulundi memorial salutes their memory for having given their lives 'in defence of the old Zulu order'.
Few persons stop to reflect on the old Zulu order; for a century has passed and a new order is still in the making. Barely a thousand yards from the Ulundi monument Chief Gatsha Buthelezi sits in his office as Chief Executive Officer of the KwaZulu Government. His great-grandfather, Mnyamana, was Cetshwayo's Prime Minister and Army Commander at the battles of Isandlwana and Khambula. Chief Gatsha once stated that 'another of my hopes for my people is the return of Zulu pride - pride in what they were, are and can be. Somehow, without the intention to do so, a feeling has been inculcated that we should be ashamed of everything that constitutes our past.
'To many people the old Zulu kingdom means just bloodshed, but it had other positive aspects in the sense that our political and social system was based on it. With the overthrow of the Zulu kingdom came the shattering of much of the Zulu national consciousness. We can get back this national consciousness, step by step, in the best possible way, if our people have the right once more to make decisions about their own future.'

The Old Tradition
Tribal Warriors. Towards the end of the 18th Century a large number of Nguni tribes were scattered over the length and breadth of Natal and Zululand. The Nguni organisation provided for the grouping of boys into age-sets or circumcision-guilds on reaching the age of puberty, when a collective ceremony would be held. Each age group (iNtanga), consisting of about fifty boys, was placed in the charge of an older boy who would remain their leader throughout their military career. As a result of military exigencies and at the instance of the Mthethwa chief Dingiswayo the practice of circumcision was beginning to fall into disuse in some tribes.
The armed force of a tribe consisted of all able-bodied men and represented a combination of all established age groups. There was no formal organization or training, experience in handling their weapons being gained through games of skill, the hunt, and actual fighting. Their outdoor existence, their entire boyhood having been spent on the veldt tending cattle, turned them into the robust and vigorous tribesmen that they were.

The Weapons. These consisted of a bundle of assegais with long slender shafts which were used, like javelins, for throwing. In addition a stick or knob-kerrie wascarried. An oval oxhide shield was unsed for protective purposes only and there was no uniformity as regards size or colours of shields.

Traditional Practices. Originally, the only idea which the tribesmen had of warfare was a desultory kind of skirmishing, in which each man fought independently, and did not reckon on receiving any support from his comrades, each of whom was engaged in fighting on his own account. In fact, war was little more than a succession of gladiatorial duels, and, if a warrior succeeded in killing the particular enemy to whom he was opposed, he immediately sought another.(19) But the idea of large bodies of men acting in concert, and being directed by one mind was one that had not occurred to them.
In a paper prepared by Theophilus Shepstone he states that prior to 1812 'a quarrel was settled by a periodical fight, but those fights were then by no means such serious matters as they afterwards became. In those days armies never slept in the open, i.e., away from their homes. The day was fixed beforehand, the men of the rival tribes met in battle on that day, and the result of the single encounter decided the quarrel. They did not fight to shed blood, or burn houses, or capture cattle, or destroy each other, but to settle a quarrel.'(1)
Shepstone has specifically mentioned the year 1812 because in that year the spark that had been struck in the heart of Zululand some six years earlier had singed its first victim and from then onwards was to grow into an all-consuming flame.
In about 1806 Godongwane, the exiled son of the Mthethwa chief Jobe, returned to his homeland mounted on a horse, an animal unknown to the Zulus of that day. Old King Jobe had died and a younger son had succeeded him. Mystery shrouds the years of Godongwane's absence. It has been suggested that he must have reached the Cape Colony where he must have had contact with the colonists, allowing him to observe how troops were trained and handled as compact bodies of men, under the command of specially appointed officers. MacKeurtan,(20) however, believes that, more likely, he observed a troop of Hottentots under Lieut Donovan which had accompanied Dr Cowan, who was murdered by Chief Phakathwayo and whose horse and gun Dingiswayo subsequently acquired. He had no sooner ousted his younger brother from the chieftainship and ascended his father's throne under the new name of 'Dingiswayo' - the Wanderer, than he set to work to organize the fighting men of his tribe in accordance with these new, albeit somewhat uncertain, ideas. He formed all the young men into regiments, each with its own name, by grouping together a number of age-grades (iziNtanga), with commanders in due subordination to each other. Their weapon was the long-handled spear (umKhonto), which was thrown at the enemy from a distance. Very soon he had a formidable regular force at his command. With this force, actively supported and enhanced by some innovations introduced by a tributary chief, Shaka, he attacked the Amangwane under Matiwane about 1812 and drove them across the Buffalo. The fugitives forced their way with rapine and bloodshed through the country of the Amahlubi who in turn became the first Natal tribe displaced and scattered by the warlike wave from the north.

Shaka's Reforms
Shaka the Man. Shaka Zulu had come into his own when, by force, he took over the chieftainship of the abakwaZulu, the small tribe over which his own father Senzangakhona had been the hereditary chief. Senzangakhona has disowned his first, but illegitimate son, Shaka, while he was still a child. After many years of hardship and wandering Shaka and his mother found refuge with the emDletsheni clan which dwelt directly under the powerful Mthethwa and their aging king Jobe, who, in due course was succeeded by his long-lost son Dingiswayo (Godongwane), mentioned in the preceding paragraph.(3)
Shaka was about twenty-three years old when Dingiswayo called up the emDlatsheni iNtanga, of which he was part, and incorporated it in the iziCwe regiment. He served as a Mthethwa warrior for six years. Shaka readily absorbed Dingiswayo's new-fangled ideas, expanded them, and thought them out to a clearer conclusion than his mentor had done. He distinguished himself early in his career by his courage and self-command, being always the first in attack, and courting every danger. By the time he was given a captaincy he had already woven a legendary allure around his name, to which were soon added praise names such as Sigidi ((Conqueror of) thousands), Sidlodlo sekhandla (Pride (ornament) of the regiments), and 'Dingiswayo's hero'.(10)
However, as a subordinate commander in the Mthethwa army the opportunities for expression of his ideas and development of his individuality were restricted. The means whereby these fetters could be removed were placed at his disposal in the year 1816 when he succeeded to the chieftainship of his own tribe the abakwaZulu, descendants of Zulu Nkosinkulu. After in stalling himself in a new kraal which he named kwaBulawayo, the place of killing (the first of three kraals by this name), Shaka called up the entire adult male population of the abakwaZulu for military service. At a time when only about 1 500 people made up this clan barely 400 answered his call.
During the first year of his chieftainship, Shaka continued to acknowledge Dingiswayo as his overlord. The experience he had gained during his attendance on Dingiswayo, and his own ambitious views, could not find scope for action as long as his protector was alive. At the first opportunity Shaka betrayed his benefactorinto the hands of his arch-enemy Zwide of the Ndwandwes, who kept the old king bound for three days, and then put him to death. The Mtethwas were defeated and scattered.

Shaka's Warriors
Human Material. After the Mtethwa collapse, Shaka hastened to increase his strength by bringing as many tribes as possible under his control. Whereas Dingiswayo saw combat as an unfortunate but inevitable necessity and would at once accept the submission of a vanquished adversary, Shaka preferred to smash a clan the first time, incorporating the fragments into his own tribe in so far as they were assimilable, but otherwise he fought for total annihilation.(19) In due course he absorbed nearly sixty other tribes into his own, and extended his dominions nearly half across south-eastern Africa.
In order to preserve his manpower Shaka followed up the practice introduced by Dingiswayo of deferring circumcision till his conquests were completed, by imposing a complete and permanent ban on this practice. In time to come the Zulus regarded themselves superior in this regard and despised the races distinguished by this custom.
The Zulu of that time, and particularly the Zulu who had been moulded by men like Shaka and his successor Dingane are vividly described by Adulphe Delegorgue,(1) the French naturalist who visited Natal in 1838 and subsequent years, as being born haughty, and possessing a feeling of nationality in a high degree. Valiant and brave in war the Zulu would even be generous to his enemies if his system of warfare were different. In peace he is ready to oblige, and very hospitable, though very distant with strangers. But, his confidence once gained, he is ready to place himself at the disposal of the traveller. The Zulu is easily excited to enthusiasm. One sees him bound like a lion under the influence of political passion; then blood may flow in streams. The brother spears his brother, in disregard of the cries of his relatives. He becomes fanatical, frantic: devoted to the service of his chief, and boasts of excesses committed for his sake. Besides this, discipline is respected by him far more than by any European people. He walks in the direction of death without hesitating or flinching, and this equally whether he is to inflict or undergo it, for, according to his ideas, nothing is more beautiful than to die for the service, or at the bidding of, his king.
As we shall see when dealing with the question of discipline, not only was it considered 'beautiful' to die for the king, but, more often than not, death without glory would be the alternative, and thus men were prepared to die anyway. In order to keep his warriors in this state of disregard and recklessness Shaka frowned on the care, anxiety, and caution which the married state brought in its wake, and thus marriage without the king's special permission was simply prohibited. Permission would normally only be granted to a regiment as a whole, after it had served sufficiently long and satisfactorily. By that time the average age of the prospective grooms would be between thirty-five and forty years.
The psychological effect was that war was regarded as the ideal state, the only state which gave a man what he wanted. Until he was old and wealthy, and naturally desired to keep his possessions in tranquillity, a time of peace was a time of trouble. He had no chance of distinguishing himself; and if he were a young bachelor, he could not hope to be promoted to the rank of 'man' and be allowed to marry, for many a long year. It is true that in a time of war he might be killed; but that was a reflection which, in those days, did not in the least trouble him. For all he knew, he stood in just as great danger of his life in time of peace. He might unintentionally offend the king; he might commit a breach of discipline which would be overlooked in wartime; he might be accused as a wizard, and tortured to death; the eye of the king mightjust happen to fall on him when the king thought that his vultures overhead might be hungry and needed some food or that an antbear hole should be filled with some corpses.(34) Knowing therefore, that a violent death was quite likely to befall him in peace as in war, and as in peace he had no chance of gratifying his ambitious feelings, the young Zulu was all for war.

Training. Formal training of soldiers in any of the arts of war was not thought of until Shaka began to introduce his reforms which will be explained later. The considerable skill which the Nguni tribes exhibited in hurling the assegai was attributable not to their bodily strength but to the constant habit of using the weapon. From infancy, through games of skill (stabbing of the insema)(33) and hunting, and, in later life, through skirmishing, they became so accustomed to hurling their weapons that they always preferred those which could be thrown; but when Shaka introduced the short stabbing assegai and changed the traditional tactics he found it necessary to introduce a measure of instruction and training, which, although not comparable to the organised 'drill' in the European sense, sufficed to acquaint the soldiers with new methods and ideas. The simple movements they performed; forming circles of companies or regiments, or forming a line of march, came naturally; but the new battle order, the skirmishing and flanking movements, were explained, discussed, and practised until they became extremely adept, and the movements were performed with the utmost order and regularity, and, in subsequent contact with white adversaries, even under heavy fire.
Shaka also gave attention to the training of the individual. A warrior had to be strong and agile; dancing, Zulu fashion, was thus part of the military syllabus. He had to be capable of enduring any amount of hardship. The cow-hide sandals, in normal use on account of the many thorns and stony terrain, were regarded by Shaka as an encumbrance which impeded the speed and sure-footedness of his soldiers. His armies had to learn to march barefoot and, to test whether the soles of their feet were sufficiently hardened, they had to dance at times on ground covered with thorns.

Another innovation was the development of individual leadership in the persons appointed to command regiments and their sub-units.
The commander of each regiment and section of a regiment was supposed to be its embodiment, and on him hung all the blame if it suffered a repulse. Shaka made no allowance whatever for superior numbers on the part of the enemy, and all his warriors knew well that, whatever might be the force opposed to them, they had either to conquer or to die.
They were taught to be utterly ruthless towards any opponent as well. Dingiswayo's practice of taking prisoners, but releasing them on ransom, did not fit into Shaka's philosophy. His soldiers fought to kill and to annihilate, not only armed enemies, but every one connected with them, including women and children. They learnt to kill on command anyone who had incurred the king's displeasure or anyone who was considered to be no longer of any use to the Zulu cause. Thus periodically all infirm or aged persons would be despatched as being so many extra mouths to be fed unnecessarily. These exterminations were carried out without flinching or hesitation, even though the victim was a parent, brother, sister, or child. To keep this spirit alive he even named one of his military kraals Gibixhegu (take out the old men (to be killed)).

Discipline. One of the outstanding features of the Zulu military organization was the iron discipline which prevailed and which became almost a way of life - or perhaps also of death! One of the basics of upbringing of a Zulu youngster, and a factor which developed his character and made him into a natural soldier, was his complete submission to the authority of his elders.(31) When he was enrolled in his age-grade (iNtanga) his section leader would take over. Eventually this absolute authority would be exercised by the king, either directly or through his military commanders. To demur meant death - and in such instances usually death of a particularly horrible kind.

Thus it was also in war-time. There is little to suggest that the Zulus, as a nation, were any braver in fighting than many other tribes. Individuals were undoubtedly brave and skilled fighting men; but it is doubtful whether there are any acts which bespeak immense devotion mingled with heroic virtue. They understood how to die admirably in battle, rather than to suffer the fate of an alleged coward; but no Zulu would devote himself to death to save his captain. He appeared to know nothing of courage as the result of reflection and virtue.

Upon the return of his armies from battle the king would call his soldiers together and hold a review in the great enclosure of one of the garrison kraals if not at the principal royal kraal. First he called on the commander-in-chief to report as a prelude to the meting out of award or punishment. If fortunate a regiment might be rewarded by the permission to marry and thereby to advance from being a 'boy', even though perhaps forty years of age, to the estate of a man with the right to wear the head-ring (isiCoco, izi-) of a married man. Individual bravery or meritorious service was recognized by a special grant of cattle or the decoration of a hero either with a wooden necklace carved vertebra-like from the wild willow, the uMyezane, by which name it is also known, or a shining iNgxotha. This latter decoration consisted of a heavy, broad brass armlet with fluted exterior, worn around the lower arm and bestowed as a royal honour only on the greatest of captains.

Next came the terrible scenes when the officers pointed out those who had disgraced themselves in action, or had the misfortune of losing either shield or assegai. The unfortunate soldiers were instantly dragged out of the ranks and, at the king's nod, they were at once killed by impalement or the more merciful way of being clubbed with a knob-kerrie, or by having their necks twisted and broken. It is easy to see how this custom of holding a review almost immediately after the battle must have added to the efficiency and discipline of the armies.

Strengthening the Army,(Doctoring). Like all primitive nations the Zulus were most susceptible to superstitions and fear of the mysterious or unknown. Never afraid of the normal, they were completely cowed by the abnormal. It is true that Shaka, with greater prescience than that shared by his countrymen, had seen through the machinations of some of his witchdoctors (isAngoma, isAnusi) and had publicly exposed them; yet he believed like everybody else in the effect of rituals and 'medicines', and he was fully aware also that despite what little intrinsic potency they might have, they had an immensely powerful psychological effect on his warriors and were therefore of value in conditioning them for success and victory. The more powerful one's own medicine was believed to be, the greater the confidence of defeating the enemy. This belief in prowess and invincibility through supernatural means and protection, coupled with their discipline and special tactics, worked wonders when the Zulus met their enemies on what were otherwise about equal terms; but it had disastrous results when they charged opponents armed with firearms in the utter belief that their properly doctored shields were impenetrable to assegai - or bullet!

Space does not permit the consideration in detail of the normal practices of 'doctoring'; but, basically, they comprised three aspects: the 'doctoring' and protection of the individual, the 'doctoring' or strengthening of the army, and lastly, the cleansing ceremonies after the battle. No warrior would go to war unless he had first visited his home to solicit the protection of his ancestral spirits, to fortify himself with certain charms such as a piece of skin of a hedgehog, or the bulb of a certain kind of iris, and to refrain from eating certain foods which were believed to cause loss of courage, such as amaDumbe, the marrow of any animal, fish or birds.(16)
The Zulu army, as such, never went to war without being specially strengthened by the doctors (iziNyanga) of the king, a process which took a few days, and which was begun as soon as all the warriors had arrived at the royal kraal. The whole process was gone through to 'bring together the hearts of the people' and entailed sprinkling the troops with liquids containing substances having magical properties, the ritual of bare-handed killing of a bull and disposal of the carcass in prescribed ways, and the cleansing of the individual warriors by inducing communal vomiting through the use of emetics and ablutions.

It was considered essential that the liquid used for the sprinkling should contain material particles (inSila) connected with the person of the chief whose people were about to be attacked. Secret messengers would have been sent out beforehand to obtain such substances, which could have been as powerful as some of the chiefs hair, parings of his nails, or his spittle scraped from the ground, or as innocuous as scrapings from the floors of his huts or any utensils he may have used.

But the most potent of all these medicines was human flesh, and in the war of 1879, for instance, a white man O.E. Neal, was killed by the Zulus, and parts of his body were used for 'doctoring' the army.(16)
On return from battle, and especially after having killed in battle, it was equally important to return for the cleansing ceremonies without which the future health and happiness of the warriors would be doomed.

Casualties. Among the iziNyanga (doctors) there was one class which specialized in the medicinal use of plants and the treatment of sickness and wounds. In wartime these were directed to accompany the army as army doctors and would deal with wounds and injuries as best as they could. These services were, as a rule, applied only to their own people because Shaka's ideology did not permit the taking of prisoners. A severely wounded enemy would thus be killed on the spot, and anyone whose wounds permitted him to get away would do so in an endeavour to save his own life.
In the case of the injured who managed to get away, the wounds caused by assegais would be flesh-wounds and would readily respond to treatment. Severely wounded men, even their own men, had their skulls subsequently cracked by a blow from a knob-kerrie and needed no further treatment. For this reason, to this day, the knob-kerrie is regarded as the symbol of mercy, as it was the tool by which a wounded man could be speedily released from his misery.

The Weapons
The Shield. The Zulu language has at least a dozen names describing different types of shields, ranging from small courting and dancing shields, to the man-sized war-shield (isiHlangu). The war-shield ought to be just so tall that, when the owner stands erect, his eyes can look over the top. Shields are always made of oxhide, two shields being normally cut from one hide. They are oval in shape and are decorated by two rows of slits cut lengthwise into the shield intertwined with strips of hide (i(li) Gabelo) of a contrasting colour. These strips primarily serve as a mode for fastening the handle and for securing a stick which runs along the centre of the shield and is long enough to project at both ends. This stick serves several purposes, its chief use being to strengthen the shield, to keep it stiff, and to assist the warrior in swinging it about in a rapid manner. The projection at the lower end is sharpened, and is used as a rest on which the shield can stand, or as an additional means for jabbing in an emergency. The top projection, covered with fur, is decorative, but also gives additional protection to the face or head.
With his introduction of a regimental organization Shaka used shields in such a way that they became part of a soldier's uniform, viz, shields of uniform colour andmarking would be allotted to individual regiments. Junior regiments had all-black shields or shields in which black predominated; married men and mixed regiments wore predominandy red shields; seniority and battle-experience was indicated by an increasing whiteness, all-white shields reflecting the greatest honour. At this time shields were up to six feet high and three feet wide.
Shaka also turned the shield from a purely defensive into an offensive implement. He taught his soldiers, in close combat, to hook the left edge of their shield behind the outer edge of the enemy's shield and by wrenching that shield aside to expose the enemy's left flank to the attacking assegai.
In Shaka's, and subsequent, days, shields, which thus constituted an important part of the uniform, were not private property, but were given out by the king or bychiefs or indunas on his behalf. The skins of all the cattle in the garrison kraals belonged by right to the king and were retained by him for the purpose of being made into shields.
Shields were therefore kept in special storage huts in the royal kraal, high off the ground to protect them against vermin and insects. Before a battle they were distributed and after battle they had to be returned. The taking of the shields from the royal kraal was a great occasion.
When the army was strengthened ('doctored') before battle some of the treated water which was sprinkled over the warriors naturally also fell onto the shields which thereby became 'doctored' instruments, imbued with magical properties. No shield should therefore be allowed to fall into the hands of the enemy.
On the march, particularly in windy or rainy weather, the shield was frequently rolled up and carried on the back, but only when the enemy was thought to be distant.

Zulus regard the shield as the symbol of benevolence, peace, and protection. On a hot day the king would be literally 'shielded' by his attendants against the sun. A shield would protect the little herd-boy cowering in the rain. During a thunderstorm a warrior would stand in the open and shout defiance at the heavens and would parry each flash of lightning with his shield, as he was quite sure the shield's magic would ensure his safety. What he still had to learn in later years was that, whilethis might be true in regard to the bolts from heaven, it did not apply to the bullets of the white man.

The Assegai. Shaka's most often-quoted innovation is his introduction of the iKlwa, the short stabbing assegai. It did not replace entirely the throwing spear (um-Khonto) because the stabbing assegai was carried, more often than not, in addition to one or more throwing assegais.
According to legend, Shaka, having conceived the idea, induced his most trusted blacksmith, under cover of night, to forge a blade to his new specification. He altered the conventional shape and made the whole a much shorter and heavier weapon, unfit for throwing and only to be used in hand-to-hand fighting. A sorcerer supplied the human liver and fat with which the blade was fortified. Zulus believe the liver, not the heart, to be the seat of valour. Shaka then personally supervised the hafting of the blade into a shaft of his selection and to his specification.
Having tested the efficacy of the new weapon he collected all the throwing assegais, threw away the shafts, and sent the blades to every smithy he could reach to be turned into stabbing assegais.
Then he issued them to his troops and instructed them in their use and enjoined every warrior that he should take but one assegai, which was to be exhibited after the fight, stained by the blood of the enemy. Failure to do so meant death by impalement as a coward. The struggle could only be hand to hand, with only one conclusion: death or victory.
Delegorgue observed that "this new way of fighting, unknown to the neighbouring nations, and which seemed to speak of something desperate, facilitated Shaka's conquest to such a degree that in the twelve years of his reign he succeeded in destroying more than a million men, women, and children. This is the number estimated by Captain Jervis, who, during my stay in Natal (i.e., 1838 and following years) busied himself with the history of these people."(1)
Assegais as such, were a necessity of everyday life, being the only cutting implement the Zulus knew. The assegai blade was used as a knife for cutting, carving, and shaving. The assegai was indispensable in the slaughtering of cattle, for hunting, and fighting. As with the shields, so the Zulu vocabulary contains more than a dozen words to describe different kinds of assegais. The assegai is regarded as the symbol of order, law, and justice.

The blacksmiths were a respected and highly important guild in which the secrets of their trade were jealously guarded and handed down from father to son. Their services were much sought after, for only they could supply the weapons of war and the implements of peace such as the hoes with which to cultivate their gardens. They also knew how to smelt brass and forge it into ornaments. They knew where to mine the iron ore and how to smelt it in sandstone crucibles over charcoal fires, and how to construct the necessary bellows both for smelting and forging. Using stone hammers and stone anvils their workmanship with such primitive implements was admirable and taking circumstances into account they could hardly be surpassed in this art.

Their manufacture had the property of resisting damp without rusting. The blade of the assegai was made of soft iron, yet so excellently tempered, that it took a very sharp edge: so sharp, indeed, that it was used even for shaving the head.

The tang of the assegai was fitted into a hole burnt into one end of a suitable shaft, glued in with scilla sap and then bound with a plaited sleeve of wet fibre or strips of raw hide which contracted on drying. Instead of the foregoing method the tip of the tail of an ox, or that of a calf, was taken, a piece about four inches in length cut off, the skin drawn from it so as to form a tube and this tube was slipped over the joint. As in the case with the hide or fibre lashing, the tube contracted and a very firm fixture was achieved. The shaft usually had a bulbous thickening at the end to prevent it slipping through the hand on being withdrawn from a body, during which process the blade would cause the sucking sound which gave it its name: iKlwa.

The Knob-kerrie. The large-headed knob-kerrie (i(li)Wisa) was in general use in civilian and military life, as a weapon for both throwing and striking. Herd-boys, especially when working in pairs, developed an early skill in killing birds on the wing with this missile. Warriors used it normally only for striking. Its recognition as the symbol of mercy has already been mentioned, but in the days of Shaka, tens of thousands of people who had no need of this kind of mercy fell victim to the knob-kerrie merely at a nod from the king.

Knob-kerries, always made of some hard-wood, are extremely variable in size and form. As it was contrary to etiquette to carry an assegai into the presence of, or, worse, into the hut of, a superior, that weapon could be exchanged with impunity for a kerrie. It was also contrary to etiquette to use the real assegai in dances, and again the knob-kerrie doubled as a substitute.

The Uniform. As has been stated already, Shaka matched the shields of his regiments by a colour code, but in addition each regiment, in time, acquired its own distinctive uniform, made from various furs and feathers. This consisted basically of a head-dress, the frontal loin-covering of skin or fibre (umuTsha), the skin buttock-covering (i(li)Beshu), and ornaments made of ox-tails (i(li) Shoba), worn on legs and arms. Supplementary items were the furry isiNene, composed of tassels of soft, twisted leather, also called isiDlaka when made of genet skin, or other material stripped or slit down, but not twisted; the war-kilt made of genet skins (inSimba), or a similar one made of monkey tails (iNsimango). Obviously the variety and colour combinations were innumerable and allowed each regiment to develop a distinctive uniform. The various furs and feathers were chosen with great care and artistry, so that the overall effect was highly dramatic. Leopard-skin ornaments were usually reserved for chiefs or persons of rank.
The most ornate and elaborate designs were reserved for the head-dress, especially among the younger regiments not yet given permission to wear the head-ring (isiCoco) indicating a man's estate. In these regiments the hair was grown, stiffened with clay and then cut into weird shapes around which the parts ofthe head-dress would be centred. Head-bands made of otter skin served as the foundation for a fantastic variety of plumes from cranes, finches, and ostriches. The head was normally protected by a pad of otter-skin or oxhide.(1) On the right and left two pieces of jackal or green-monkey skin, cut square, six inches long, dropped from under the pad covering the ears. The Zulus said that these ear-covers had a very useful purpose: that of making the warrior incapable of hearing either the maledictions or entreaties of his enemies, so that he was out of reach of the influences of fear or compassion.

The Organisation
In Peacetime
The Regiments. Having brought his search for a more formidable weapon than the throwing assegai to a satisfactory conclusion, Shaka gave his attention to the subject of tactics. He evolved a formation which for its implementation required at least four separate groups, although each of these four tactical units could be composed of numerous subdivisions. The only organization of males which existed among the Nguni tribes of that time were age-sets or circumcision-guilds (iNtanga), each of which consisted of about fifty men of the same age, organized on a district basis. When Shaka assumed the chieftainship over his own tribe the oldest of these Zulu age-sets had been circumdsed, but not the younger ones, for the custom had been suspended by Dingiswayo, though the classification of groups according to age had continued. Shaka thought these groups too small to meet his military purposes, so he decided to regard them as sub-units or companies (i(li)Vioy) of a larger unit, viz, the regiment (i(li)Butho). His eldest groups, the last of the Zulus to be circumcised, he drafted into the amaWombe regiment; the next group he named uDubinhlangu and prohibited circumcision as a matter of state policy, and the younger men were called umGamule. The pattern was thus set and was expanded to absorb the ever-increasing flow of recruits. The original size of an iNtanga was increased to approach one hundred, rather than fifty, men and to form a company (i(li)viyo) under a captain who had from one to three junior officers, depending on the size or nature of the company. Among the functions of these junior officers was the daily distribution of meat to their men and the supervision of the manufacture, storage, and, when necessary, the handing out of shields.
There was no limit to the number of companies in a regiment, which had its own distinctive name and uniform, and consisted from one to two thousand men, although some even larger regiments are known to have existed. Each regiment had its own commander or colonel (inDuna) with a second-in-command and two wing officers.
It became an inescapable 'moral' obligation for every young man to serve in the king's army. Only the unfit and diviners were exempt. As a regiment grew older one or more younger regiments were affiliated to it so that the younger warriors could benefit from the experience of their elders and also keep up the name and prestige of the kraal. In this manner three, four, or five regiments could be formed into one corps, such as the Undi Corps in the reign of Cetshwayo, which consisted of 9 900 men in the age group 24, 28, and 43 to 45 years.

Garrisons. With the advent under Shaka of what amounted to a standing army it became necessary to establish military kraals (i(li)Khanda) which became the headquarters or garrisons where the various regiments were accommodated. There was a constant coming and going because, whereas the establishment operated on a full-time basis, its individual members were given home leave for months at a time.
Captain Allen Gardiner wrote: 'The whole kingdom may be considered as a camp, and every male belongs to one or other of the following orders:- "Umpakati", veterans; "Izimpohlo" and "Insizwa", younger soldiers; "Amabutu" lads who have not served in war. The two former are distinguished by rings on their heads; the others do not shave their hair. Throughout the country there are "Ekanda", or barrack-towns, in which a number of each class are formed into a regiment, from six hundred to a thousand strong, and where they are obliged to assemble during the half year. . . . In the whole country there are said to be sixteen large "ekandas" and several of a smaller size, and it is supposed that they can bring fifty thousand men into the field.'(12)
The kraal was under the supervision of the regimental or corps commander who was responsible for order and discipline, and general administration. For political reasons Shaka even went so far as to appoint women of the royal household as honorary colonels and administrative heads of a kraal. In commenting on the fact that Shaka appointed Senzangakhona's chief wife as colonel-in-chief of the regiment known as 'The Obstacles' and his own sister of the Ndabhakawombe, Graham McKeurtan(20) remarks dryly: 'Shaka had nothing to learn from the War Office."

Employment of Troops. The men garrisoned at a military kraal had to be kept busy and there was much for them to do. Bryant says: 'While ease and freedom were abundant, stern discipline continuously reigned, but it was wholly a moral force, the young men being thrown entirely on their honour, without standing regulations and with little supervision.... They were there for the sole purpose of fulfilling the king's behests. They acted as the state army, the state police, the state labour gang. They fought the clan's battles, made raids when state funds were low. They slew convicted and even suspected malefactors and confiscated their property in the king's name; they built and repaired the king's kraal, cultivated his fields, and manufactured his war-shields, for all of which they received no rations, no wages, not one word of thanks.'(3)
The king's herds of cattle were distributed over all the military kraals for the purpose of herding. The only contribution the king made towards the feeding of his warriors was by allowing cattle to be slaughtered for this purpose, the hides being turned into shields. For the rest the garrison had to fend for itself either by their own plantings or by receiving contributions from their families in the surrounding district.

In Wartime
The Warriors. Periods of peace were regarded by the soldiers as a necessary evil, for war was to them the natural and desirable state. As has been explained, the risks to life and property in peacetime were no less than in wartime; but war brought the added advantage of booty (cattle and women); the opportunity for personal honour and distinction, and, collectively, the permission for a regiment which had served and fought well to marry, and to don the head-ring. Thus Shaka's Zulus were all for war.
The organization to which a warrior belonged while garrisoned at one of the military kraals was retained on campaign, but the commandant of a military kraal was not necessarily a commander in the field. In addition to the regimental commanders there was also a recognized commander-in-chief of the army, assisted by a competent staff.
The time for campaigning was generally in winter after the crops had been harvested. To mobilize the army the king sent messengers to the commandants in charge at the different military kraals, ordering all warriors to proceed to the royal kraal.
So swift were the movements of the regiments that the concentration of the whole Zulu army at the royal kraal could be effected within two to five days; the regiments garrisoned within a distance of some fifteen miles from the royal kraal could assemble within twenty-four hours. At the assembly area each regiment camped by itself, some distance apart, to prevent quarrels. Rivalry between regiments was so keen that faction fights were not uncommon. Through the mechanism of the regimental organization and the honour which membership of a tightly knit and highly polarized group would bestow, an esprit de corps had developed to a far greater degree than could ever have been derived from membership of a clan or even one nation. So great was the regimental pride that individual soldiers would identify themselves by reference to their regiment in preference to their own clan name e.g., 'I am a Fasimba', 'I am a Thulwana' or 'I am a Gobamakhosi'.
While this esprit de corps provided a tremendous driving force, it had to be sustained by a sense of security and confidence. This was provided by the strengthening rituals, the 'doctoring', not only of the army as a whole, but also of its individual soldiers who thereafter firmly believed that they were invulnerable and impervious to assegai or bullet. The strength of their medicine (umuThi) would ensure that from the outset victory was theirs.
The third factor which determined a soldier's actions and attitudes were the sanctions which the king's law and discipline imposed. Weakness and cowardice were not tolerated under any circumstances; the result being torture and death. Apart from impalement, the just reward for a coward, the king might personally carry out a trial by ordeal. He would order the accused to raise his left arm and would prod his side with an assegai. Every time the victim flinched or cried out in pain the king would exclaim 'He is indeed a coward, as he cannot stand pain', and would eventually drive the assegai home. The corpse was then fed to the vultures.

The Commissariat. While stationed at the military kraals soldiers refrained from eating sour milk (amaSi, pl. only) but were exhorted to live on 'hard' foods which would give them strength, such as meat, beer, and cooked mealies. At the royal kraal meat and beer were supplied by the king. At the other military establishments meat was supplied to a lesser extent from the royal herds and the warriors had to rely on supplies from home, cultivate their own fields, or seek supplies from other sources when and where they could. They also had to supply their own uniforms and weapons, assegais
and knob-kerries. The shields, however, were generally manufactured at the military kraals from the hides of beasts slaughtered there and thus belonged to the 'state'. As previously mentioned they were stored and were only issued on mobilization and had to be returned at the end of the campaign. Captain Allen Gardiner gives an interesting account of an application for shields made by a party of young soldiers, and their reception by the king, who at that time was Dingane. 'I shall give you no shields until you have proved yourselves worthy of them; go and bring me some cattle from Mzilikazi, and then shields will be given you' was Dingane's curt reply.
During wartime the provision of supplies was effected, in the short term by carriers, and in the long term by capture. For the purpose of raising the equivalent of the 'supply and transport companies' of sophisticated armies, Shaka enrolled youngsters between the ages of ten or twelve to eighteen years as baggage carriers (u(lu)Dibi). The izinDibi were attached to the regiments which on reaching military age they would eventually join. They normally marched at the rear and either to the right or left flank of the main body at a distance of a mile to three miles. They carried mats, cooking pots, and mealies, and some spare, rolled-up shields. They also acted as drovers of small herds of cattle which were required to be slaughtered for food for the army, but which were used mainly as guide animals to lead any captured cattle back to the home kraals.
In addition to the dibi boys, groups of girls from the warriors home kraals, carrying beer and mealies, accompanied the army for a day or two at the beginning of its march. When the supplies they had been carrying were depleted they and some of the smaller baggage boys, who were no longer needed, or who could not keep up with the army, returned home. From then onwards the army had to fend for itself either by helping themselves to food at the various kraals they passed while still within their own country or by plundering food stores in enemy territory.
In order to defeat a numerically superior enemy Shaka had, in his earlier career, invented and successfully applied 'scorched-earth' tactics as will be explained later. This practice was subsequently followed by some tribes who burnt their mealie fields, hid or destroyed their stores, and drove their cattle into the bush. On prolonged forays Shaka's armies, unable to obtain food-supplies in enemy territory, had to endure incredible hardship. On the last expedition sent out by him, the return of which, however, he did not live to see, his warriors were reduced to such straits that they had to gnaw at their shields to remain alive, and in marshy terrain had to swallow liquid mud for lack of free-standing water.

Intelligence. The genius of Shaka was fully alive to the concepts of military intelligence, secrecy, and security. He had set up a spy system which not only kept himadvised about conditions within his country, but supplied him with all the necessary military intelligence before and during a campaign. Spies were sent in twos and threes to explore the lie of the land, to locate the enemy, establish his strength, his strongholds or refuges, and the hiding places of corn and cattle. These then operated in addition to, or ahead of, the scouts who preceded an army on the march.
Passwords and countersigns were given out to enable Zulu warriors to distinguish between friend and foe when marching at night or when encamped. Shaka had learnt from experience, when his men had infiltrated in enemy camp at night, what havoc an unidentified, hostile element could wreak once it had got behind the enemy's lines.
As part of his security arrangements Shaka more often than not concealed the object of a campaign and the route which was to be followed until the moment of setting out. Even then, unless he led the army himself, he would take only the commander-in-chief into his confidence and appraise him of the army's true destination. Even in his parting speech to the army, the king might suggest a direction different from that which was to be taken in order to prevent any treacherous communication with the enemy.

Tactics and Strategy

It was inevitable that having developed Dingiswayo's rudimentary regimental system to perfection, having introduced a type of uniform and an iron discipline, having invented a new assegai pattern, and having re-armed his warriors and instructed them in the use thereof, that Shaka should also introduce a new method of warfare including a new battle formation and method of attack.
On leaving the royal kraal, after a stirring address by the king, the army marched in one great column, in order of companies. Upon reaching hostile territory it was split into two divisions of close formation, viz, the advance guard and the main body. The advance guard, in regiment strength, say, up to ten companies, moved ahead of the main body at a distance of ten to twelve miles, and purposely refrained from concealing itself The intention was to lead the enemy into believing that this was the main body.
The advance guard was preceded by skilled scouts who were also deployed on either flank and to the rear of the army. As soon as the advance guard found it had been seen by the enemy, and that an action was developing, fast runners were dispatched to warn the main body and to lead it up along the best and fastest route.
Shaka's leading principle for the attack was to encircle the enemy and force him into combat at close quarters. Immediately preceding an engagement the troops were rapidly drawn up in a semi-circular formation and briefed by the officer in supreme command in regard to the positions to be taken up by the various regiments. There was a final sprinkling of the army by the witchdoctors to ward off injuries.
The classical Shakan battle formation represented the head of a steer, and consisted of four formations. The chest (isifuba) composed of veteran regiments formed the centre and faced the enemy fairly squarely. A large reserve force was positioned a short distance behind them. The elderly warriors composing it were directed to turn their backs on the scene of battle so that they were unable to watch and become either dejected or unduly elated at the fortunes of battle. Two horn-like formations (u(lu)Pondo, izim-) on either flank were composed of the younger, eager, fleet-footed regiments. The commanding officer and his staff took up a position on high ground to watch the course of battle, and to issue any further directions, which were then transmitted by runners.
Ideally, the Zulu army would be committed to battle in the following stages:

1. The Chest, i.e., the veterans, would move towards the enemy, halt, and feign a withdrawal in an attempt 'to draw' the enemy and cause him to break his ranks. Then, suddenly, the veterans would change from withdrawal to attack, the dislocated enemy force would be thrown into confusion, and, having thrown its assegais, would then be at the mercy of the Zulu iKlwa.
2. In the meantime the two horn-formations would deploy in a flanking movement. Either, both would remain concealed and take the enemy by surprise by attacking his flanks and rear, or, one horn would move openly, causing a distraction and growing fear, while the other horn would move undetected under cover of bush and grass to spring a surprise attack.

These movements required training, discipline, and timing. A break-down in their timing some sixty years later, in 1879, when the Zulu right horn was in position before the camp at Khambula long before the left horn had arrived, ended in disaster for another Zulu king.
As an imaginative, intrepid, and resourceful general Shaka always came up with new ideas and tactics which were unheard of and which always took his adversaries by surprise. The 'scorched-earth' policy, earlier referred to, he employed when, in order to tire out a numerically far superior enemy, Shaka led his impi (army) in a deliberate withdrawal in such a way that the enemy was enticed to keep up the pursuit. In withdrawing, the Zulu warriors scorched the earth behind them, their own fields and kraals were burnt, and whatever food they could not carry away was destroyed. Not a single head of cattle was left behind. The pursuing army which depended on captured food-stuffs was reduced to starvation. At this point he changed his tactics into harassment and attack on the weakened and disheartened enemy, driving them back across vast expanses of scorched and resourceless country while his own troops remained well supplied from the rear.

After Shaka

Dingane
After Shaka's assassination his brother Dingane followed very closely in his footsteps and expanded his armed forces by creating new regiments and strengthening existing ones. His campaigns against neighbouring tribes followed the pattern of the preceding decade, even if not on such a vast scale. Whereas Shaka had observed the individual effect of the firearms carried by the white pioneers and settlers it was left to Dingane to be the first Zulu monarch to come into armed conflict with European fighters and this only towards the end of his reign. In 1830 the Port Natal settlers, on one of their visits to Dingane, appeared on horseback for the first time. The king was amazed; he had never seen a horse before. He remarked that it would be impossible to make a stand against such animals, as they carried terror in their very appearance, and were calculated to do considerable execution. The Zulu also discovered subsequently, when they came to encounter the Boers, that the stabbing assegai was almost useless against fast-moving, mounted enemies, and they were obliged to resort, increasingly, to the original - throwing - form of the weapon.
After the murder of Piet Retief and his companions on the orders of Dingane at his royal kraal in February 1838, Zulu impis attacked the Voortrekker camps and aided by the element of surprise scored initial successes. Whenever the Boers were in a position to prepare for an onslaught and to fight from a laager, or protected localities, neither Zulu valour nor the war-doctors' treatment availed them much. At Veglaer, near Estcourt, in Natal, the Boers held their ground against a sustained attack. In the same vicinity, on a hillock, now known as Rensburg's Kop fourteen men of the Rensburg and Pretorius families beat off an attack by a whole Zulu regiment numbering close on fifteen hundred warriors. Not so fortunate was a party of seventeen English settlers who, accompanied by eight hundred of their black retainers, mainly fugitives from Zululand, took the field against Dingane, in order to relieve the pressure on the Voortrekker camps, at Ndondakasuka on the north banks of the Tugela. Although the settlers fought bravely thirteen of them, and six hundred of their followers, lost their lives. Hundreds of Zulu were mown down by their guns, but numbers told in the end.
The final test came in December of that year, at Blood River, and demonstrated convincingly the futility of Zulu fighting methods in the face of firearms, especially if these were used in conjunction with defensive positions. From a wagon laager a commando of 464 straight-shooting Voortrekkers under Andries Pretorius defeated the attacking Zulu army, which left 3 000 warriors dead on the field of battle, or floating on the waters of the Ncome, now turned into a river of blood.

Mpande
One of Shaka's half-brothers, Mpande, had survived the turmoil of the past three decades. He was believed to be politically incompetent and harmless and had beenspared when Dingane was destroying potential rivals. After Dingane's defeat at Blood River, and the sacking of his royal kraal, Umgungundlovu, he had to seek sanctuary in the northernmost corner of his erstwhile domain. Mpande refused to follow Dingane and, instead, fled across the Tugela into Natal where he sought Boer protection. The number of his followers increased steadily while those of Dingane dwindled until Mpande felt strong enough for an attempt to seize the Zulu throne. His army recrossed the Tugela supported by a Boer commando which marched separately. The forces of the Zulu rivals fought the severe battle of Magongo in February 1840. Dingane was defeated and fled north to seek sanctuary in the tribal lands of the Nyawos. Traditional enemies, the Nyawos could not overlook his presence, and he was captured, tortured, and put to death. The Zulu war machine had thus temporarily destroyed its own fighting potential.
Mpande was proclaimed king of the Zulus, not so much by the Zulu nation as by the Voortrekker government of the Republic of Natalia. His reign really marked the beginning of a second phase in the history of the Zulu kingdom. During his lifetime he maintained good relations with the Boers and the British government which succeeded them in Natal. The Zulus were thus left alone and were able to recoup their forces. For some years before and in the immediate aftermath of Dingane's defeat the kingdom was weakened by the mass desertion of people who fled into Natal to seek the protection of the settlers. However, in the long peace that followed, these losses were restored by natural increase. Mpande's reign was one of feasting rather than fighting. No that he did not kill people - that would have been asking too much - but he was most moderate in his executions. Regimental discipline was relaxed in the absence of war, but it was not abandoned, and only awaited an energetic leader to bring it again to the high pitch of Shaka's day.
Only one military campaign was undertaken. It was a half-hearted raid against the Swazi. Its purpose was less of a political nature, or to loot cattle, than an exercise to show the young men, including Mpande's heir, Cetshwayo, who served in the Thulwana regiment, how to conduct military affairs. How much Cetshwayo benefited from this exercise will be shown later.

Cetshwayo
The tranquility of Mpande's reign, with no large-scale killings or war was so unusual for the Zulus that sooner or later they had to find relief from an increasing 'blood pressure'. For want of foreign adventure, they started blood-letting among themselves. In 1856 a brief but bloody civil war broke out. For some considerable time rivalry had arisen between two of Mpande's sons, Cetshwayo and Mbulazi, as to the succession to the throne. Both parties had engaged in mustering support and the building up of private armies. To avoid an open clash Mpande endeavoured to separate the two by separating them territorially. He allocated to Mbulazi a kraal on the Mfoba hills where he was to live with his mother and his adherents, known as the iziGqoza.
Cetshwayo was directed to occupy the old Mthethwa kraal, eMangweni, where Shaka had served as a trooper. Here he was joined by his mother, Ngqumbazi, and his followers, known as the uSuthu.
The clash was inevitable, however, and took place on December 2nd, 1856, again at Ndondakusuka, not far from the spot where the fight between the settlers fromPort Natal and Dingane had taken place eighteen years earlier. On this occasion only three white men became involved by attaching themselves to Mbulazi's faction,but deserting him as soon as they realised that Mbulazi was facing defeat. One of them was John Dunn. With an army of 20 000 men Cetshwayo attacked Mbulazi's 7 000 warriors and wiped them out, together with 3 000 women and children who formed part of this faction. Thus 10 000 iziGqoza, including Mbulazi and five other sons of Mpande, perished in battle or found a watery grave in the Tugela as they were trying to cross the flooded river to seek refuge in Natal. Cetshwayo was thereafter recognized as the undisputed successor to the throne, both by his own people, and the Natal Government. On account of the growing incapacity of Mpande he virtually became regent until Mpande's death from old age in the year 1872, whereupon, in the following year, Cetshwayo was ceremoniously crowned king of the Zulus by Theophilus Shepstone.

The War of 1879
Attitudes
Under Cetshwayo the Zulu military system was restored to its full vigour and the Zulu fighting force reached what was probably the highest point of its perfection, consisting of some twenty-six regiments. Shepstone's influence, however, prevented the army from being used on any major campaigns. This attitude did not, however, prevent Cetshwayo from collecting the old regiments and forming new ones, and selecting his commanders and subordinate officers with great care. He formed numerous military kraals, and regularly assembled his regiments for training and exercise. He lost no opportunity of encouraging the military spirit of his army and of strengthening the cords of discipline in his regiments. Death was again the punishment for most offences; the king's nod must be obeyed, no matter what consequences followed.
Captain Parr(25) relates that not long before the Zulu war broke out, a missionary was expatiating to Cetshwayo, who had one of his regiments seated around him, of the danger he ran of hell fire. 'Hell fire!', repeated Cetshwayo, 'Do you frighten me with hell fire? My army would put it out. See!' he continued, pointing to a veld fire which was burning over a considerable tract, and calling to the officer commanding the regiment, 'Before you look at me again, eat up that fire.' In an instant the whole regiment, shouting the war cry, was bounding towards the fire, which was 'eaten up' without regard to those who were maimed and permanently impaired.
Out of a population of over half a million people on the eve of the Zulu War, Cetshwayo could call on almost 50 000 of probably the fastest infantry and finest close-combat troops in the world at that time. It was Cetshwayo's tragedy to be caught up in the politics of Boer and Briton. Like Shaka and Mpande before him, he was anxious to avoid conflict with white forces, but the mere existence of his army was a cause of offence. Its individual members had again developed a very high opinion of themselves which showed itself at times in truculence and arrogance towards, and a kind of contempt for, every European. There was also a growing dissatisfaction at the growth of the black population of Natal, largely at the expense of the Zulu nation. The unity which the Zulu nation had presented in the early stages of Shaka's reign had crumbled somewhat in subsequent times when not only individuals but whole clans had fled Zululand under the terror rules of Shaka and Dingane, and again as a result of the revival of stricter discipline and lesser freedom under Cetshwayo. Shortly before the Zulu War a whole section of the Gobamakhosi regiment had defected and had sought refuge in Natal. The attitude of these, at the time so called 'Natal Natives', notwithstanding that many were of Zulu origin, was far from sympathetic towards the Zulu regime. On the contrary, many were openly hostile and were thirsting for an opportunity to take revenge for real or imaginary injustice, hardship, or injury they had suffered. They willingly assisted the whites to break the military system which had broken them. This fact explains, amongst others, why it became possible for the Natal Government on the eve of the Zulu War, to recruit close on 7000 'Natal Natives' within a matter of weeks, to serve in the Natal Native Contingent (NNC) on the side of the British against Cethswayo.

Adaptations
Weapons
The basic weapons of the Zulu Army were those introduced by Shaka. By 1879, however, in addition, a crescent-shaped battle-axe which had been in use by tribes to the north, as well as to the west, of the Drakensberg, had found its way into the hands of Zulu warriors and was being used in small numbers.
In regard to the shields, the traditional large war-shield (isiHlangu) had been modified by Cetshwayo before his fight at Ndondakusuka in 1856. He had produced a war shield which was about three and a half to four feet long by two feet wide and was more sturdy and less unwieldy than the isiHlangu. This new pattern, which became known by the name of umBumbuluzo came into general use in the Zulu army and was the popular pattern during the Zulu War, although a few of the veteran regiments may have retained the larger type.
During the long reign of Mpande and under Cetshwayo there was a growing demand for firearms and gun-running, although frowned on and declared illegal by the white governments in Natal and Transvaal, became a lucrative business in certain quarters. The generality of Zulu warriors, however, would not have firearms - the arms of a coward, as they said, for they enable the poltroon to kill the brave without awaiting his attack.
The firearms which had found their way into Zulu hands were mainly muzzle-loaders of cheap commercial manufacture. Individual Zulus, such as Chief Zibebu, one of Cetshwayo's generals, had become excellent marksmen; most others were mediocre shottists who tended to shoot high or close their eyes when pulling the trigger.
However, the large number of rifles captured at Isandlwana were put to good use by the Zulus, and even if their fire was not highly accurate it had considerable nuisance value. Instances of this kind were reported in connection with the defence of Rorke's Drift and the attack on Khambula.

Tactics
The military system developed by Shaka had prevailed, as had to be the case, when there was no very great inequality between the opposing forces, and discipline was all on one side. But when discipline was opposed to discipline, and the advantage of weapons lay on the side of the latter discipline, the consequences were disastrous to the former. Thus it was with the Zulus. The close ranks of warriors, armed with shield and assegai, were irresistible when opposed to men equally armed but without any regular discipline, but, when they came to match themselves against firearms, they found that their system was of little value.
The shield could resist the assegai well enough, but against the bullet it was powerless, and though the stabbing-assegai was a terrible weapon when the foe was at close quarters, it was of no use against an enemy who could deal destruction at the distance of several hundred yards, and who, when mounted, could outdistance even the fleetest warrior on foot. Moreover, the close and compact ranks, which were so efficacious against the irregular warriors of the country, became an absolute element of weakness when the soldiers were exposed to heavy volleys from the distant enemy. Therefore the whole course of battle needed to be changed when the Zulus fought against the white man and his firearms.
True enough the traditional tactics had achieved the desired success, almost at Inyezane, but certainly at Isandlwana, Intombi, and Hlobane; but they had failed at Rorke's Drift, Khambula, Gingindlovu, and ultimately at Ulundi. In other instances the Zulus found themselves obliged to revert to the old system of skirmishing, although the skirmishers fought under the commands of an induna, instead of each man acting independently, as had formerly been the case. However, there was no time for re-training the regiments.

Casualties
In the Zulu army there had been no changes in the treatment of the wounded since Shaka's days. Seriously wounded friends or foes were put out of their misery through the merciful application to their skulls of the knob-kerrie. The walking wounded had their assegai wounds, invariably flesh wounds, treated by herbalists and other iNyanga, but bullets caused far more horrible wounds, shattered bones and the like which no Zulu 'doctor' could treat. Many warriors who escaped fromthe battlefields died on the way, or at home, or remained crippled for the rest of their lives. In their fight against the white man the Zulus endeavoured to remove their own dead whenever circumstances and numbers permitted this to be done. At Isandlwana, for instance, the Zulu dead who could not be removed at once were subsequently removed and disposed of in dongas or in the grain pits of the abandoned kraals in the vicinity. As the latter were filled to capacity many kraals were relocated on the return of the inhabitants.
Contrary to general belief amongst whites, it was not Zulu custom to torture fallen wounded soldiers. They were killed on the spot, but according to Zulu custom a dead enemy had to be disembowelled to release evil spirits and to prevent the swelling up of a corpse. Exceptions to the rule were notable, such as the case of trooper Raubenheim, captured and tortured to death by the Zulus at Ulundi. No prisoners were taken on either side; any encounter ended either in escape or death.

Assets and Liabilities
The war of 1879 forced the Zulu army, for the first time in over sixty years of its existence, to take stock and to 'balance its books'. Time-honoured assets had become liabilities, and the net result was liquidation. Their discipline, their weapons, their tactics, their courage, and their belief in the strength of their war medicine, had been tremendous assets in fighting an enemy of similar background and standing but who lacked these attributes. However, these assets were either equalized or turned into a liability when they faced the British troops.
The incredible speed at which a Zulu impi could move could only be off-set, to a degree, by mounted troops. Over broken terrain Zulu warriors were still faster than horses. British army orders directed commanders who contemplated action against a Zulu impi to plan as if facing enemy cavalry. But British troops matched Zulu discipline with their discipline, and their firepower and means of defence turned what in the past had been a Zulu advantage into a liability, inasmuch as the Zulus suffered extraordinary losses on account of their very courage and magic beliefs. Massed rank after rank bit the dust under volley fire, bullets which should have turned to water, and fallen like rain-drops off the doctored shields, found their mark.
Their subservience to ritual and magic beliefs, which in the past had sustained them and encouraged them under difficult and adverse circumstances became an encumbrance when, after every battle, the warriors had to return home to undertake certain cleansing ceremonies, and when before every battle the army and its individual members had to be 'doctored'. These requirements inhibited the evolution of new tactics such as hit-and-run actions, relentless harassment, and pursuit, attacking troops on the march, and many other methods which would have saved their manpower and would have prolonged the war even if they had lost it in the end.

Conclusion
In retrospect the only conclusion that one can draw is that the Zulu War was unjust. Circumstances and the views prevailing at the time demanded that the Zulu must be humbled. A pretext was found for war and Cetshwayo was faced with an ultimatum, which was physically impossible of implementation within the given time, and which, furthermore, demanded the demolition of the entire Zulu state system. There is ample evidence that Cetshwayo was completely unprepared for war and that he believed that war could be averted, and that when war came his heart was not in it. As late as January 9th, 1879, the day before the expiry of the ultimatum, two of Bishop Schreuder's men arrived from Cetshwayo's kraal and reported that the king was sitting still, in a miserable state of indecision and dejection; that no regiments had as yet been assembled and no preparations had been made to resist the British troops - adding, however, that they would fight, no doubt, if they must. They would fight to defend their country but the king had no intentions of invading Natal.(8)
That they did fight, with the utmost bravery, is common knowledge. Whatever other motives or ideals might have imbued them, whether 'in defence of the old Zulu order' or merely for freedom and independence is open to speculation. Certain, however, is the fact that, like the Spartans under Leonidas, they fought as their laws demanded - the king's laws.
At one stage during the battle of Isandlwana, the British fire was so hot that the Zulus seemed to have had enough and a movement of withdrawal became noticeable, when, according to tradition, a lone voice filled a moment's silence and trailed across the field of battle: 'Ihlamvana bul' umlilo kashongo njalo!' The little branch which extinguished the fire (started by Walmsley and Rathbone at the battle of Ndondakusuka in 1856: a euphemistic reference to Cethswayo the king) never gave such an order!' The backward movement stopped immediately, the Zulu army rose as one man and made its final devastating rush upon the British camp.
Even though they achieved this signal success at Isandlwana neither Cetshwayo, nor the Zulus generally, were much elated by it - they paid too dearly for it. With pride, tinged with deep sorrow the victory hymn of Isandlwana was sung throughout the country:
S'ya y'vum inkani (we admit to dauntless
na Se Sandlwana defiance,
Se sa b'ehlula even at Sandlwana;
be zil' abelungu! we have by now defeated
Imnandi, Si y'xox the white invaders.
'enkosin'! It is good; we report this to the king!)
Cethswayo's repeated peace overtures were disregarded. The Natal government demanded that the war, once begun, had to be fought according to Shaka's rules: no quarter given - unconditional surrender or death. There was no surrender. Thrice after Isandlwana the Zulu warriors faced the concentrated firepower of an entrenched modern army: Khambula, Gingindlovu, Ulundi.
Captain Geoffry' Barton of the NNC observed in a letter written after the battle of Gingindlovu: 'The Zulus fought magnificently .... they are certainly fine fellows, and have a beautiful country to fight for.'
There was no surrender - only death, the death of the Zulu army, and with its death the betrayal and capture of the king and the collapse of the Zulu state. It was unable to meet the challenge of 1879.

Bibliography and Notes

1. Bird, John The Annals of Natal 1495-1845. Pietermaritzburg, 1888.
2. Bourquin, S. and Johnston, T.M. (Eds) The Zulu War of 1879 as reported in The Illustrated London News. Durban 1971. (Cyclostyle).
3. Bryant, A.T. (a) A History of the Zulu and Neighbouring Tribes. Cape Town 1964.
(b) Olden Times in Zululand and Natal. London 1929.
(c) The Zulu People. Pietermaritzburg 1949.
4. Bulpin. T.V. Natal and the Zulu Country. Cape Town. 1966.
5. Colenso, F.E. The Ruin of Zululand. London. 1884.
6. Colenso, F.E. and Durnford, E.C.L. History of the Zulu War and its Origin. London. 1880.
7. Doke, C.M. and Vilakazi, B.W. Zulu-English Dictionary. Johannesburg. 1972.
8. Fannin, J.E. Pioneer Days in South Africa. Durban. 1932.
9. Faye, Carl. Zulu References. Pietermaritzburg. 1923.
10. Fynn, H.F. (Ed. James Stuart and D. McK. Malcolm). The Diary of Henry Francis Fynn. Pietermaritzburg. 1950.
11. Fynney, F.B. The Zulu Army. Pietermaritzburg. 1878.
12. Gardiner, Allen. Narrative of a Journey to the Zoolu Country in South Africa, Undertaken in 1835. London. 1836.
13. Gibson, J.Y. The Story of the Zulus. London. 1911.
14. Holden, W.C. History of the Colony of Natal. London. 1913.
15. Kirby, P. (Ed.) Andrew Smith and Natal. Cape Town. 1955.
16. Krige, Eileen Jensen. The Social System of the Zulus. Pietermaritzburg. 1957.
17. Ludlow, W.R. Zululand and Cetewayo. London. 1882.
18. McBride, A. The Zulu War. London. 1976.
19. McKenzie, J.R. Uncivilized Races in all Countries of the World. Vol.1. New York. 1880.
20. MacKeurtan, G. The Cradle Days of Natal (1497-1845). Pietermaritzburg. 1948.
21. Mitford, B. Through the Zulu Country. London. 1883.
22. Mood ie, D.C. F. The History ofthe Battles and Adventures of the British, the Boers, and the Zulus, etc. in Southern Africa from the Time of Pharaoh Necho, to 1880. Cape Town. 1888.
23. Morris, D.R. The Washing of the Spears. New York. 1965.
24. Omer-Cooper, J.D. The Zulu Aftermath. London. 1966.
25. Parr, H.H. A Sketch of the Kaffir and Zulu Wars. London. 1880.
26. Ritter, E.A. Shaka Zulu. The Rise of the Zulu Empire. London. 1957.
27. Russell, R. Natal, The Land and its Story. Pietermaritzburg. 1911.
28. Samuelson, R.C.A. Long, Long, Ago. Durban. 1929.
29. Stuart, J. A History of the Zulu Rebellian, 1906. London. 1913.
30. Tracey, H. Zulu Paradox. Johannesburg. 1948.
31. Wilkinson-Latham, C. Uniforms and Weapons of the Zulu War. London. 1978.
32. Zulu spelling. In presenting Zulu names and words the rules of current Zulu orthography have been followed, with one modification. In order to assist the uninitiated in distinguishing between the prefix and the stem of a noun the stem is commenced with a capital letter, whereas normally no distinction is made. This distinction becomes necessary, however, if one wishes to look up a word in a Zulu dictionary, where nouns are listed alphabetically according to the stems. Only singular prefixed are given.
33. Stabbing of the insema (Ukuhlaba insema). A game of skill involving a round tuber (iNsema) the size of a football. This was hurled down a slope in between two rows of boys standing at a distance, armed with pointed sticks (uKhandi), and was used as a moving target at which the boys flung their izinKhandi.
34. When chancing upon an antbear hole Shaka would exclaim 'That hole is hungry'. His escort would react immediately by clubbing to death as many bystanders as were necessary to fill the hole with corpses.
35. Regiments. Complete lists of Zulu regiments in existence during different reigns are readily available in many reference books on the Zulu war. To save space they are therefore not included here.
 

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