garrison to the king, and the remaining four were told off to attack
Lord Chelmsford at or near Ekowe. Very early on the morning of the 29th,
Oham's friendly Zulu, feeling anxious about his own safety, persuaded
some of the Zulu braves to accompany him some distance from their camp,
under the pretence of obtaining them some drink. Taking a favourable
opportunity, however, he managed to elude their vigilance and give them
the slip, when he made the best of his way to Raaf's party, who at once
sent him on to the Kambula camp, with the information given above. This
fellow gave an admirable account of the state of feeling in the Zulu
armies, and his opinion was that great numbers of the men were now
serving entirely against their will, as they found that, instead of
getting plenty of booty in the shape of cattle, stores, arms, and
ammunition, they were the losers, as during their absence with the army
the English attacked their kraals, and carried off their oxen, sheep,
and goats. This man, although quite a chief at Oham's kraal, would seem
to be a sort of headman, and to be in the habit of conversing familiarly
with those in authority; for, he added, that it was rumoured that
Dabulamanzi would, if another reverse fell upon the Zulu arms, in all
probability follow Oham's example, and proffer submission.
On receiving the intelligence of the Zulu advance, Colonel Wood had few
preparations to make, for in the camp at Kambula each corps, each
company, each subdivision, each section, and each man had a place
allotted, and had been taught to be in that place at one sound of the
bugle. The little fort was in an exceptionally strong position, being
laid out upon an elevated and narrow ridge of table-land. A complete
precipice, perfectly inaccessible to a white man, even though a born
cragsman, guarded the right flank. On the left a succession of steep
terraces had been utilised, and carefully entrenched with lines _en
crémaillère_, or outworks, each successive line defilading its
neighbour. In front there was a narrow slip of land, hemmed in by ledges
of rock, and swept by two 7-pounders, while immediately in rear, upon an
eminence about 120 feet above the fort was a small _lunette_, with open
gorge, and armed with two guns. The camp at first consisted of one
laager, but an outer defence with a hundred waggons, and an inner one
with fifty, had been subsequently added. Deep and wide ditches flanked
by _caponnières_ protected the outer boundary, and were traced in the
form of an irregular hexagon. As soon as Oham's Zulu had made his
report, the garrison were called to arms without the slightest fuss,
excitement, or confusion, and messengers were at once despatched to
order the return of a fatigue party which had been sent out in the early
morning wood-cutting. These men reported on their return that they had
seen Zulus scouting about five miles to the west, and had they not been
recalled they would have stayed to get further intelligence. As soon as
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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