On the afternoon of the 27th, vedettes signalled the approach of some natives, accompanied by a large number of cattle. These proved to be further messengers from Cetywayo, bringing 150 of our oxen captured at Isandhlwana, together with a pair of elephants' tusks and a letter, written in English by a captive dealer. The letter was fairly expressed, and said that the king could not comply with all Lord Chelmsford's demands, as the arms taken from us at Isandhlwana were not brought to him, and that it was beyond his power as a king to order or compel any of his regiments to lay down their arms. The letter also said that Harness's guns should be sent, and on receipt of the cattle and these weapons the English must retire from Zulu territory. Whoever had written the letter must have been a bold and plucky fellow, as he had added in a corner in pencil a few words of warning, and an intimation that Cetywayo had with him at Ulundi and the neighbouring kraals a large and picked impi, amounting to 20,000 men. Even without this message Lord Chelmsford would have considered these overtures as suspicious; but, as it was, increased precaution against surprise or treachery was taken. Lord Chelmsford accordingly declined the tusks, and told the messengers in the plainest language that, before he thought of retiring, all the original conditions must be complied with, more especially as regards the formal laying down of arms by the regiment. The messengers were then escorted from our column, and later in the day several large bodies of Zulus, amounting to some thousands, were noticed moving in a lateral direction from the side of Ulundi, and passing along by the left flank. The following day was a busy one for all. Lord Chelmsford was so anxious to complete the main details of the depôt laager that he deferred his march till sundown. Wood, however, moved on in the morning as far as the left bank of the White Umvolosi, where he bivouacked and waited for the main body. After waiting until all the more prominent and essential matters were completed in regard to the garrison left in the depôt, Lord Chelmsford ordered the parade for 5.30 in the evening, and they then marched on to the next bivouac in a compact and well-organized column. It was still daylight when the White Umvolosi was reached, and they saw across the river, on the left bank, the flying column and the Lancers already bivouacked. The scene as on the right bank of the river was most picturesque. On the left bank of the Umvolosi Wood had admirably chosen the ground for his bivouac. Here was a firm, wide plateau, bounded on the east and north by a hilly country, broken up by knolls and tall cone-like eminences, whose slopes here and there were covered by patches of dense jungle or bordered by young forests, whose shades seemed to invite shelter during the fierce heat of the day. Away in the extreme distance the landscape differed materially in aspect from the country near.