After the battle of Ulundi and the destruction of the king's five great kraals, Lord Chelmsford marched his division back to Entonyani, where they remained some days, having had a storm of rain and thunder lasting thirty-six hours. As they had no tents the first night, the state of affairs may more easily be imagined than described. The rain came down in perfect torrents, sweeping away the bivouac fires and pouring through the camp like the overflow of a mighty river. The men behaved admirably, taking all the discomforts of their situation with the good humour and jocularity of disciplined troops. The horses naturally suffered most, although every attempt was made to picket them in a sheltered spot. On arriving at Entonyani they found tents waiting for them, and were thus enabled to get dry and refit. The nights were exceptionally cold and with heavy dews, causing some little sickness amongst the men. In fully estimating the importance of this battle, we must not forget the surroundings, nor the associations of the place. The valley of the Umvolosi is essentially the heart of Zululand. It is the richest and most fertile portion of the country, and as such was chosen as the royal abode. The two branches of the river, named after the district, converge through it towards the main stream which flows on to St. Lucia Bay. The one by which the king's great kraal but lately stood passes through a comparatively open country; and its waters, gleaming clear in the sunlight, are called "White," just as the waters of the other branch, which run through a more bushy and broken district, are called "Black." In the basin drained by this extensive water-system the Zulu nation was originally cradled. Thither Dingaan retired after he had slain his brother near the Nonoti. There the brave and bustling Dutchman Retief and his companions were treacherously murdered in 1838; and there, again, Bongore, led into a trap the unsuspecting Boers, who were again duped by his representations, they believing that the king was alone at Mahlabatini. The valley where this last battle was fought is with the Zulus a sacred and historic spot. It is rife with what is most dear to the Zulu pride--legends of bloody massacre, treacherous surprise, and savage revenge. Dingaan fled from thence; Panda died there; Cetywayo was first recognized and crowned there. Could the tall and wooded grey cliffs that looked down upon the combat speak, they could tell, in a direful tale of tyrannous cruelty and wrong, most of the annals of the Zulu nation. Year by year they witnessed the periodical gathering together of Cetywayo's legions, and watched the steady outgrowth of the savage power whose overthrow, by British troops and British discipline, they beheld but a few months since. But signal and satisfactory as this victory was, it could not be accepted as final until Cetywayo had completely submitted, though some of its effects were immediate and important.