"The Cape Government, indeed, appears to me to have done all and much more than could have been expected from it. It has spared a regiment and a half of her Majesty's forces, taken its own recently subdued rebellious districts entirely under its own charge, and is sending to Natal very useful contingents of volunteers, native levies, waggon drivers, supplies of arms, and means of transport in mules, horses, etc. [Sidenote: _Public spirit at the Cape._] "The tone and spirit generally shown by the Cape Government and people will naturally be compared with that shown by the sister colony of Natal, whose interests are so much greater; and without any reflection on Natal, the population of which has risen to the occasion, the comparison will be by no means unfavourable to the Cape. "It must not be forgotten that the nearer we approach the seat of war, actual or threatened, the greater will be the natural disinclination of colonists to volunteer for any but home service, and to leave their houses defenceless. This is, I feel sure, the principal reason of any disinclination to encourage volunteering for service in Zululand; and the threatened disturbance in Basutoland will naturally disincline the Cape colonists to weaken too far their own means of defence." The services of the navy during the entire war were of the utmost value. In a despatch dated the 15th of February, the High Commissioner brings specially to the notice of her Majesty's Government the excellent service performed by the naval brigades landed from H.M.S. _Active_ and _Tenedos_ by Admiral Sullivan, and subsequently from the _Boadicea_. These men, in arduous and prolonged military operations, earned most thoroughly the title of "bravest of the brave." No sailor ever turned his back on an enemy during the war, and it was with difficulty that their impetuous heroism could be checked. The _Active_ men helped to win the battle of Ineyezane, and were with Colonel Pearson at Ekowe; Fort Tenedos was manned by the men of the ship of that name. This important fort commanded the crossing of the Tugela river near its mouth. Men-of-war cruising on the coast produced an excellent effect, but it is the services of the gallant "blue jackets" in the field which are specially deserving of eulogium. So soon as the news of the Isandhlwana disaster had been received at St. Helena, Governor Janisch obtained the consent of the military and naval authorities to send off at once every available man to Natal. This was done with promptitude. And the first real ray of sunshine from home reached our troops in Zululand when they heard that 650 gallant men in H.M.S. _Shah_, Captain Bradshaw, had arrived in Natal to assist them. CHAPTER VI. THE ZLOBANE MOUNTAIN—PIET UYS—THE BATTLE OF KAMBULA—THE INTOMBE DISASTER—BATTLE OF GHINGHELOVO—RELIEF OF EKOWE. It is now necessary to refer to the operations of Colonel Wood's column.