Captain McLeod knew the Swazis well, and how little chance there would be of keeping them under control if once let loose upon the helpless Zulu people; he therefore begged that they might be used only as a last resource. With the view of still further spreading alarm through the Zulu country, Sir Garnet sent a message to the Amatongas that he might “possibly ascend the Maputa River with a force and use their territory as a base of operations against the Zulus from the north” (_ibid._ p. 149). On the 30th, after a long conference with General Clifford and Commissary-General Strickland, Sir Garnet Wolseley had an interview with about seventy Natal native chiefs, who had been assembled at his request, and addressed them, through an interpreter, to the effect that the great English Queen had sent him to carry on the war against Cetshwayo, and to thank them for what they had already done. That the chiefs need have no fear but that the Queen would send as many armies as are necessary, if the troops sent were not sufficient. “They may depend upon it, and the past history of our nation is a guarantee thereof, that when we give a promise we will perform it. Our war is not against the Zulu people, but against Ketshwayo, who has broken all his promises. We have no wish to rob the Zulu people of their property or their land; but tell the chiefs this, that I say this war is going to be finished by us, and finished in a satisfactory manner. The Queen is most anxious that the war in Natal should be finished.” Then (as there was a scarcity of grass for draught-oxen) Sir Garnet requested the chiefs to furnish a certain number (2000) of their young men to carry provisions for the troops; the men to carry their arms whilst so employed, and to be paid and fed by him. Once more, then, we hear the words: “_Our war is not against the Zulu people!_” These “carriers” were taken from the Tugela Valley, which had lately suffered from the Zulu raid, and where many of the men had belonged to the native levies raised for the defence of the border; they naturally did not appreciate an employment which removed them from the protection of their families, and which was at variance with their customs[175] and prejudices. There was not much work for these “carriers” after all; they were assembled at the Lower Tugela, and marched up to Fort Chelmsford, each man with a fifty-pound mealie-bag on his head.[176] Their commander, Major Schwabe, left the loads there, and took the men on to Port Durnford, where they were employed as required. Having, after some time, received their pay, the “carriers” quietly walked off to their homes.