Wood then again moved his camp to the White Umvolosi. His position here
was a remarkably strong one, and from it he commanded the passage of the
White Umvolosi, the Pewana, while his day and night patrols held the
disputed territory south of the Pongolo. A raid was next made in the
direction of the Insulwa Kraal. The men got upon the road about seven
a.m., and steady marching for about three miles brought them opposite
the spot where, a few days before, a large force of Zulus had been seen
engaged at drill. A scout who had been sent out on the right front came
galloping back with the news that the Zulu cattle were in considerable
numbers at the lower end of the valley, while he also added that the
guard over these animals was not much larger than the English party.
Piet Uys at once concerted with a couple of his smart non-commissioned
officers, and decided, as they were exceedingly well mounted, to ride
for the kloof which formed the exit to the valley. To execute this
man[oe]uvre was the work of ten minutes, during which they were hidden
from sight of the Zulus by a tall ledge of scarped rocks which almost
divided the valley. In the meanwhile the remainder moved steadily on at
a walk, so as not to alarm their prey. In rather more than half an hour
they had so far gained upon the cattle that they could make a tolerable
guess as to their probable number, which was estimated at a couple of
hundreds. The main body had now arrived at a place which Piet Uys and
his Dutchmen seemed intimately acquainted with, and the Zulu cattle and
guard could be seen on a ridge running parallel to the one they
themselves were upon. Below was a deep kloof leading to the river. Some
of Buller's Horse were now sent round to the opposite side, to drive the
enemy down the kloof to the main party, while they continued to march
down the ridge to meet these men as they came on. But they had not
advanced very far when, as was expected, a much larger force appeared on
the neighbouring heights, but the cliff was so precipitous they could
not join their comrades. The seven-pounder was now brought into action,
and sent a couple of shells right in amongst them, one of the rounds
being a capital shot. Advancing still, the English leader saw that the
enemy lately on the heights had managed, by making a détour, to get to
the cover of a dense mimosa bush on his left. This move was answered by
several rounds of canister, which it was afterwards found were not
without effect. The foes were thus driven out into the open, and at one
moment it seemed as though they were going to fight; the Boers, however,
who had been detached to the neck of the valley now served their
comrades by an excellent ruse. They had taken with them one of the bugle
boys of the 13th, mounted on a wiry Kaffir pony, and the main party now
heard coming across the valley the echoes of his bugle sounding the
advance. The Zulus could not make out the meaning of this sound, and
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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