The force, with Mansel in command, not having seen anything of the enemy, although it had passed through Mpanza valley, arrived at the drift at 4.30 p.m. It left again at 6.15, escorting the ladies and child. The latter travelled in an open carriage drawn by two horses. The police detachment at Keate's drift continued to hold the post under Sub-Inspector Ottley. Mpanza hotel was reached just after sunset. A short halt was made, when the column continued its march along the road. There was an advanced guard of twenty-six men. The carriage occupied a position in the centre of the main body. Every precaution was taken. Connecting files were posted between the guard and main body (about 150 yards apart), but, in Mpanza valley and for some miles further on, the nature of the country was such that flankers could not be thrown out, not even five yards on either side of the road. The density of the bush about that part is remarkable. The trees, though not more than twenty feet high, are so closely intermingled, some of thorn, others of cactus variety, as to make it difficult for a man to make his way through, even on foot. Add to this, a three-strand wire fence running five yards from the road on either side--the road itself not being more than thirty feet wide--and the predicament the column would be in, in the event of attack at night, can better be imagined than described. The worst is what actually did happen. After the force had marched barely a mile from the hotel, and just as the advanced guard, under Major O. Dimmick, 100 to 150 yards ahead of the main body, was passing through the worst section of the forest along the route, and one of the nastiest spots to be found either in Natal or Zululand--the time being about 8 p.m.--a sudden and determined rush was made by the savages at the right rear of the guard. As they rushed, they simultaneously shouted, at the top of their voices, their newly-adopted war-cry "Usutu!"[140] Almost instantly the rest of the right flank of the guard was attacked. Every horse took fright, and, although each man was marching with his rifle drawn, it was impossible to use it. The attack had come from the higher side of the road, where the whole of the enemy, about 150 in number, were in hiding, the spot being beside a huge solitary rock at the foot of a steep, bush-covered hill, known by the Natives as Hlenyane. The enemy's object was evidently to cut the advanced guard off the main body. Owing to the narrowness of the road, the way it was hemmed in by the bush on either side, and the darkness--there being but half-moon, with clouds about--the guard succeeded, only with great difficulty and after considerable delay, in making their way back to the main body. As it was, the leading section was completely cut off, and, with three horses wounded, made its way on to the camp as best it could.