“We are sent by the king straight to you. We were ordered not to go to the troop at the Umlatazi, as other messengers (Sintwangu) will go there.... The king asks you to speak to the great white Chief with the Upper Column, and ask to stay the advance of the troops till he (the king) can hear plainly what he has done, what great sin he has committed. If he ever killed a white man or white woman, or ever took cattle from a white man before the war? Did he ever walk over the words spoken at the Umlambongwenya Kraal by Somtseu? (Sir T. Shepstone). The king wished us to say if he is to be destroyed he could die happy if he knew first really what wrong he had done. The king begs you will speak to the great white Chief with the Upper Column to stay a further advance till chosen representatives from both sides can meet and hear really the cause of the war, and what wrong he has done. The king does not ask for favour if it is proved he has been wrong. He wants to hear, and he wishes the troops not to advance till he can hear; for if they do he cannot help fighting, as there will be nothing left but to try and push aside a tree if falling upon him.” “This is our message from the king to you, and he ordered us to tell you that it is from himself; even the indunas do not know he has sent it” (_ibid._ p. 154). On the same day (29th) Sir Garnet sent the following order to Captain McLeod: “Make arrangements at once, with Swazis, for massing north of Pongolo River, with view to invading Zululand. Spread abroad news that the invasion will take place immediately, but do not let them cross river without my orders. When they are ready to cross let me know, and I will send you further instructions. Impress urgently upon them that women and children must not be murdered, but promise them all cattle they take. This promise to be made as public as possible. I am now High Commissioner, with full powers to decide all terms of peace. All reports must be sent to me, care of General Clifford, ’Maritzburg” (_ibid._ p. 150). The object of this message was “to establish a standing menace, and to bring formidable pressure to bear in that quarter upon the Zulus.” The barbarity of the Swazis in warfare, and the keen delight with which they would have found themselves let loose upon their hereditary enemies the Zulus, whose army was either scattered or destroyed, was a well-known fact, and many wondered that such a course should be proposed. Captain McLeod, a hardy soldier and brave man, had been for many months in about as unenviable a position as can well be imagined—in an unsettled border district in war time, threatened both by Boers and Zulus. He had been posted at Derby, to guide and control the movements of our ally the Swazi king, who, it was imagined, would be stanch to us or not, according to the fortunes of the Zulu war.