"January 18th.--The mournful news has just been received of the murder of three officers and four soldiers, by Kaffirs, on the banks of the Kei. They lost their lives in the following manner:--They belonged to a party sent to guard a drift at the Kei, and, having been some days without meat where they were, a patrol went in search of some, and, seeing cattle at a distance, those mounted, namely, the three officers (namely, Captain Gibson and Dr Howell, Rifle Brigade; and the Hon. Mr Chetwynd, 73rd Regiment), and four provisional Hottentots, went in advance, leaving the infantry, about forty men, some way behind them; they had secured some cattle, and were returning, when a horde of Kaffirs rushed from a neighbouring kloof and overpowered the party, killing the officers and two of the Hottentots. The infantry were too far away to be of any assistance. On reaching the spot where they expected to find the officers, not a trace of them was to be seen, nor were the bodies found for two days after the event. The three murdered officers died nobly. They made a stand at once on the approach of the treacherous enemy from his lair. Dr Howell's horse fell wounded at the first fire, and the others, determined not to desert him, fought by his side till their ammunition was expended. The remaining Hottentots gave information, after their escape through the bush, of the scene of strife, and the bodies were sought for. There were at first some rumours of mutilation, but there is scarcely a doubt now of their having been shot dead at once. Mr Chetwynd received a ball through his heart, and Captain Gibson had no less than six gun-shot wounds. "Ten miles beyond the Kei, these brave spirits now lie at rest. Beside a spot called Shaw's Fountain, they were buried by their sorrowing comrades. Far from the habitations of the white man are their simple graves; no monument marks the burial-ground in the mighty wilderness, but the memory of these gallant spirits is embalmed the breasts of their fellow soldiers, and their lonely abiding places in the far desert will be henceforth hallowed spots in an enemy's country. "The act by which they fell a sacrifice to savage treachery was an imprudent one, but they were `strangers in the land,' and knew not that it is a common trick of the Kaffirs to show cattle at the edge of the bush, and lie in wait." [See Appendix.] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Note 1. "On the 7th of May," says Sir James, "I witnessed a most interesting sight, and one which causes this day to be one of immense immense importance in the annals of South Africa. It was no less than the flight of the Fingo nation, seventeen thousand in number, from Amakosa bondage, guarded by British troops, and on their way across the Kei, to find a new country under British protection."--See Sketches in Western Africa for the rest of this description, volume two, chapter 23.