The Young Colonists: A Story of the Zulu and Boer Wars Page 9

hard work they reached the summit,and then crossed to the front and sat down in a comfortable niche in therock, whence they could command a view far down the valley. They couldsee the two battalions of infantry marching steadily along, and thecavalry moving among the hills and undulations on both flanks. They hadtaken some biscuits and a bottle of beer up with them, and spent thewhole day on the look-out. The view which they gained was a veryextensive one, as the hill was far higher than those on either side, andin many places they could see small bodies of the enemy moving about.At sunset they descended.

  "I vote we go up again," Tom said the next morning. "The general hasgone forward with most of the white troops, and there is sure to befighting to-day. We shall have nothing to do, and may as well go upthere as anywhere else."

  After the general's departure there remained in camp five companies ofthe 1st battalion of the 24th, and one of the 2nd battalion, twofield-pieces with their artillery men, and some mounted men.

  Just as the boys were starting at eight in the morning, there was areport in the camp that the Zulus were gathering in force to the northof the camp. This quickened the boys' movements and half an hour laterthey gained the top of the hill, and from their old position looked downupon the camp lying many hundred feet below them. There wasconsiderable bustle going on, and the Kaffir drivers were hastilycollecting the cattle which were grazing round, and were driving theminto camp.

  "There is going to be a fight!" Dick exclaimed, as they gained theirlook-out; "there are crowds of Zulus out there on the plains."

  Could the boys have looked over the hills a mile away to their right,they would have seen that the number of Zulus down in the valley infront was but a small proportion of those gathering for the attack; for15,000 men had moved up during the night, and were lying quietly behindthose hills, 3000 or 4000 more were taking the road to Rorke's Drift, tocut off any who might escape from the camp, while as many more wereshowing down the valley. Altogether some 24,000 of the enemy hadgathered round the little body in the camp. To the boys, however, onlythe party down the valley was visible.

  At eleven o'clock Colonel Durnford came into camp with his 350 mountedmen from Rorke's Drift, and advanced with them to meet the enemythreatening the left flank, while two companies of the 1st battalion ofthe 24th moved out to attack their right. The Zulus, now reinforcedfrom behind the hills, moved forward steadily, and Colonel Durnford withhis cavalry could do little to arrest them. For an hour the infantrystood their ground, and the two field-pieces swept lines through thethick ranks of the enemy. The Zulus advanced in the form of a greatcrescent.

  "Things look very bad, Dick," Tom said; "what do you think we had betterdo?"

  "I think we had better stay where we are, Tom, and wait and see whatoccurs; we have a splendid view of the fight, and if our fellows meetthem we shall see it all; but if--oh, look there, Tom!"

  Over the hills on the left thousands of Zulus were seen pouring down.

  "This is terrible, Tom. Look here, I will crawl along over the crest,so as not to be seen, and look behind to see if it is clear there. Ifit is, I vote we make a bolt. It is of no use our thinking of goingdown for a couple of horses; the Zulus will be in the camp long beforewe could get there."

  Five minutes later he again joined his friend.

  "They are coming up behind too, Tom. They have really surrounded us.Look, they are close to the camp!"

  It was a scene of frightful confusion. Nothing could be seen of thecompanies of the 24th, which had gone out to meet the Zulus. The greatwave of the advancing army had swept over them. Below, the panic wascomplete and terrible, and soldiers, native drivers, and camp-followerswere running wildly in all directions.

  One party of the 24th's men, about sixty strong, had gathered togetherand stood like a little island. The incessant fire of their riflescovered them with white smoke, while a dense mass of Zulus pressed uponthem. Many of the soldiers were flying for their lives; others again,when they found that their retreat was cut off, had gathered in groupsand were fighting desperately to the last. Here and there mounted menstrove to cut their way through the Zulus, while numbers of fugitivescould be seen making for the river, hotly pursued by crowds of theenemy, who speared them as they ran.

  "It is frightful, frightful, Tom! I cannot bear to look at it."

  For a few minutes the fight continued. The crack of the rifles washeard less frequently now. The exulting yell of the Zulus rose louderand louder. On the right Colonel Durnford with his cavalry essayed tomake one last stand to check the pursuit of the Zulus and give time forthe fugitives to escape; but it was in vain, showers of assegais fellamong them, and the Zulu crowd surged round.

  For a time the boys thought all were lost, but a few horsemen cut theirway through the crowd and rode for the river. The artillery had longbefore ceased to fire, and the gunners lay speared by the cannons. Thefirst shot had been fired at half-past eleven, by one o'clock all wasover. The last white man had fallen, and the Zulus swarmed like a vastbody of ants over the camp in search of plunder.

  Horror-stricken and sick, the boys shrank back against the rock behindthem, and for some time sobbed bitterly over the dreadful massacre whichhad taken place before their eyes. But after a time they began to talkmore quietly.

  "Will they come up here, do you think, Dick?"

  "No, I don't think so," Dick replied. "They could hardly have seen uscome up here, even if they had been on the look-out on the hills, and asthey reached the back of the mountain before the camp was taken, theywill know that nobody could have come up afterwards. Lie back here; wecannot possibly be seen from below. They will be too much taken up withplundering the camp to think of searching this hill. What on earth isthe general doing?--I can see his troops right away on the plain.Surely he must have heard the guns? Our only hope now is that when hehears it he will march straight back; but, even if he does, I fear thatthe Zulus will be too strong for him. The whole force which he has withhim is no stronger than that which has been crushed here, and I don'texpect the native regiments can make much stand if attacked by such atremendously strong force."

  So long as the daylight lasted, the boys, peering occasionally over,could see the Zulus at the work of plundering. All the sacks andbarrels were taken from the waggons and cut or broken open, each mantaking as much as he could carry of the tea, sugar, flour, and othernecessaries; many of the yoke-oxen were assegaied at once, and cut upand eaten, the rest being driven off towards the north by a party ofwarriors.

  At nightfall the tents were set on fire; they soon burnt out, and theboys could no longer see what was taking place. Rising from theshelter, they walked back to the other side of the crest.

  "I can hear firing now," Dick said; "it seems to me that it is back atRorke's Drift."

  They were soon sure that they were not mistaken; as it grew darker aflittering light was seen in that direction, and a continued fire ofdistant musketry was heard. Later on there was a broad glare in thesky.

  "I fear it is all over there too," Dick said, "and that the place hasbeen burnt."

  Still, however, the firing continued, as heavy as ever, and long on intothe night the lads sat listening to it. At last they fell asleep, andwhen they awoke the sun was already high. Thus they missed their chanceof escape.

  At nine o'clock in the evening Lord Chelmsford's force, hearing at lastwhat had happened, marched back into the camp, and before day had fairlybroken continued their way down to Rorke's Drift. The defenders here, alittle garrison, under Lieutenant Bromhead of the 24th, and Chard of theRoyal Artillery, had made an heroic defence against some 4000 of theenemy. With mealy bags and boxes they built up a breastwork, and thisthey held all night, in spite of the desperate efforts of the Zulus tocapture it. The hospital, which stood at one end of the intrenchment,was carried and burnt by the Zulus, but the little garrison held outtill morning in an inner intrenchment round the store-house.

  Here was seen what could be done in the way of defence by th
e aid ofhastily-thrown-up intrenchments; and had breastworks been erected atIsandula, as they ought to have been the instant the troops arrivedthere, and still more so when the major portion of the column marchedaway, the force there, small as it was, would doubtless have made asuccessful resistance. Even had the step been taken, when the Zuluswere first seen approaching, of forming a laager--that is, of drawing upthe waggons in the form of a hollow square--at the foot of the steepmountain, the disaster might have been averted. It may be said that themassacre of Isandula was due entirely to the over-confidence andcarelessness of the officers in command of the column.

  The boys on waking crawled back cautiously to a spot where they couldobtain a view over the valley, and, to their surprise, the force which,on the afternoon before, they had seen out there had entirelydisappeared. Many bodies of Zulus were