them, during which time I espied the Zulus coming round the hill to intercept us. I informed Sergeant Booth of this, and he kept up a steady fire upon them, and made the enemy retire back into the hills. I cannot speak too highly of the conduct of Sergeant Booth on this occasion; he fought most pluckily, and lost four of his small band here. It was entirely owing to their doing so well that any of us managed to get through at all. The Zulus would have entirely surrounded us, and not a soul could have escaped. Seventeen leaders and drivers were killed altogether, amongst them being Whittington, Campbell, and Goss. As I got in camp, I met Major Tucker going out with his men to the relief." [Sidenote: _Hair-breadth escape._] One of the most sensational events which occurred during April at the head-quarters camp of the fourth (Colonel Wood's) column, was the arrival there of a man whose hairbreadth escapes enable us to realize that truth is stranger than fiction. Captain Mayne Reid could scarcely venture on imagining what our readers will find stated below as sober fact. There may be exaggeration or colouring, but in the main the narrative is correct. Mr. Rudolph, landrost of Utrecht, when out scouting on the Zunguin Neck with five men, encountered a party of forty Zulus, of whom he killed four. He picked up about the same time a Frenchman named Grandier, who had belonged to Colonel Weatherley's troop of Border Horse, and was made prisoner by the enemy when so many of his comrades fell at the Zlobane mountain. The story was told to Colonel Wood and the staff—Captain Maude taking notes, the substance of which is as follows:—He (Grandier) was one of the very few who succeeded in charging through the mass of Zulus by whom they were beset in front and rear. He had got on to fairly good ground, and had set a comrade on his horse, he running by the side, when a Kafir caught him by the leg, and he was immediately overpowered by numbers and made prisoner. His captors took him to Umbellini's kraal, on the south side of the Zlobane, about half-way up. He saw that chief, who asked him where Shepstone was, and who was the commander of the commando to which he belonged. He was kept prisoner that night in a kraal, and sent out the next morning to work in the mealie fields. Soon after he was taken by two or three mounted men to the middle of a big commando, all of whom threatened him with death, while the chief, Manymane, ordered him to be sent prisoner to Cetywayo. He stopped one day after that at the Zlobane, starting the next day for Ulundi in charge of four men riding, while he was made to walk and carry their provisions. He was quite naked, all his clothes having been taken from him. They took four days to make the journey, arriving in the evening, when a messenger was sent forward to announce their coming to the king. He remained all that night and next day tied in a field. On the following day, at noon, he was