The last paragraph of this despatch requires comment. A great victory had been gained, and certainly should have been improved upon. It was known that Cetywayo was with the army, and subsequent intelligence proved that a very little effort would have resulted in his capture. The new kraal of the king was only twelve miles distant, and if a forward movement had been made to that place, an enormous advantage, which was merely a logical sequence of the battle, could have been secured. Sir Garnet Wolseley's instructions about retiring to Entonganini are quoted, and he is apparently made responsible for a retrograde step. Thus was the war still further protracted in an unnecessary manner. As regards the battle of Ulundi itself, Lord Chelmsford did not attack, but was attacked. Both at home and in the colonies, throughout the Empire, there was a generous thrill of joy among all classes, not only for the decisive victory, but because it had been gained by a general who had been previously so unfortunate.[49] The beginning of the end had now arrived, and evident signs were not wanting that the Zulus accepted their defeat at Ulundi as a settlement of the question of supremacy. Lord Chelmsford resigned, and proceeded with a large staff from Entonganini to Pietermaritzburg. On this long journey he met not the slightest attempt at interruption or any sign of hostility. No enemy lurked in the Umhlatusi Bush, and in every direction the Zulus could be seen rebuilding their huts and cultivating their fields. The sword was turned into the ploughshare, and the ruling of fate was submitted to. Still serious doubts filled the minds of old colonists, who ranked above all their other qualities the supreme cunning and dissimulation of the Zulu race. It was felt as a calamity that no forward move had been made after Ulundi, and that there was no real finality to the war, until Cetywayo was either killed or captured. [Sidenote: _Banquet at D'Urban._]