SOUTH AFRICA.

Lyttelton Times, Volume X, Issue 600, 4 August 1858, Page 3

SOUTH AFRICA.

' By way of Sydney, we liave news from the *Cape".of Good Hope to the -13th of May. War between the Orange Free State and the SBaaufcos had -commenced -in earnest. Several -encounters had taken place between the belligerents, and in most instances the Boers had - gained the advantage. _ Dr. Livingstone had arrived, and the colonists * had presented him' with a complimentary testimonial. The Key.. Robert -Moffut was present, ; . and addressed the meeting. On Monday evening an "at home " took place - at Government House, to which the members of * all public institutions were invited, the next •evening Dr. Livingstone and his companions •were entertained-at dinner. It was expected that the Governor would leave, for England in the Penelope, and doubt was * entertained his Excellency contemplated returning to the colony. Total Discomfiture of -10,000 Basutos! — The " Zuid Afrikaan " of the 29th of April has the following—Yesterday's mail has brought the intelligence of the total defeat, on.the 14th, of the Basuto force, consisting of 8000 or 10,000 well-armedhorsemen, by the Winburg commando < numbering altogether 700 muskets. The action took place at Cathcart drift, about half an hour from the - spot (the Barea) where Mosesh encountered the British forces. The engagement commenced on the 12th, and was repeatedly renewed until the forenoon of the 14th, when the Basutos, with a force computed of 8000 men, kept up the fight for a space of four hours, and rafter they had made repeated unsuccessful attempts to force the camp, the burghers at length charged, and completely routed them. '.The field-piece is said to have done great execution. The loss of the burghers was only six men killed and some slightly wounded; that of the Basutos must be immense, as, though the commando were - entrenched in a favourable position, it was found necessary to shift the camp, on account of the many dead bodies lying around. * A question having arisen as to "the right of the Cape Government to permit the sale of arms and ammunition to the Free state Boers, theColobly Secretary had stated in the Legislative Assembly that such, sales were permitted by treaty. Mosesh is represented by the " Zuid Afrikaan " to ■ be an enemy to the British, and not an ally.

A correspondent of the "Bloemfontein Gazette"; alludes to the engagement at. Cathcart's Drift on the 14th ultimo, in these terms: —"Well, -after hard fighting for three days with thousands of Mounted and well-armed Basutos, the indomitable band of Winburg heroes have •' conquered again:' They have done that which. ••one of England's heroes, Cathcart, was unable to accomplish. They have Fought the same enemy engaged by him, and on the very spot where the British arms were compelled to retreat before a -barbarian force to the eternal disgrace of "Britain, and the result now is, a complete victory to the Winburgers, who are master of the' country from the confines of the Winburg district to the Caledon, and have taught the Basutos

a lesson .that they will long remember. The

tidings of Sir George Grey's proclamation, pro-, hibiting assistance from the old colony, were ' received with shouts of derision in our camp. He is afraid, says the Winburgers, that we alone -will do that which the greatest power in the -world is unable to accomplish. It- is contemplated by the Winburgers, in return for the. kindness and Christian feeling exhibited by Sir;, George Grey towards the Free State in the face of his protestations while here, to send him the . swords of the 12th Lancers, and the guns and cannon ball taken by them from the Basutos. If Sir George Grey had witnessed the engagements of the 12th, 13th, and 14th, at Cathcart's 'Drift, he must have felt convincedrthat his proclamation and gratuitous, nay more, that the deeds of valor performed by the winburgers on those days, deserve to be recorded on the page of history. The ' Zuid Africaan' says—The following account relative to the war between the Orange Free State and the Basutos. came to hand by Monday's (May 3rd) post: letters from Aliwal North, written on Monday afternoon, the 26th, ..give a melancholy picture of the,state of things on the opposite side of the river. We extract the following from letters before us with which we have been obligingly favoured:'—"The Boers have intercepted.a letter of Moshesh's to Adam Kok, in which, he informs them that he has been •worsted in a battle, and lost all his best men; that he intends trying one more general engage-, iment, and should he lose it, would flee to the •mountains. The Boars had the utmost difficulty in removing their camp, which the stench of the dead Kaffirs compelled them to do—as the Kaffirs poured down upon them in myriads. Had they attacked Weber's commando in the same .style, the Boers would, I think, have fled." The following postscript will be read with interest: ~" I re-open my letter to, give you the latest news. About nine o'clock this morning we saw .smoke rising in various directions a few miles from Aliwal, and half an hour afterwards various expresses came through stating that the Kaffirs were burning and destroying houses, carrying off stock in every direction; that some ..of the tarms on which were only four or five men, and a large number of women and children, ■were surrounded by.the enemy and fighting desperately, but begged assistance to save their lives. Iheir call was not unheeded, and as there were some hundreds of persons assembled for the Nachtmaal, every man who could borrow a gun galloped through, and the result is not yet known It, is, however, ascertained that nine farm houses within six miles of Aliwal are burned to the ground, one.Botha killed, and two other persons wounded, and all the stock of ■about twenty farmers swept, sheep, cattle and horses. While I am writing, women and'chil- • dren on foot, on horseback, and in wagons are ■.arriving from the Free State, seeking refuge. ''Four o'clock.—lt is almost impossible to write—the noise and excitement so great. Peo- ■ pie from all quarters going through, comman-•..-aaatß, field cornets, &c, Englishmen, Boers, and

Fingoes. A very large family named Hay ward write, praying for assistance. "Five o'clock. —Some of the people had justreturned, Stating that they had separated them-, selves into three parties, two parties having gone to the assistance of those whose houses had been burnt, and their cattle being captured they had no way of getting to a place of safety, while another and smaller party of about forty men followed after the cattle and sheep, which they overtook, but found the Kaffirs in such force (about 1,500, some say 2,000) that they dare not fire a shot. The Kaffirs showed a determined front. Many men -who were this morning opulent, are reduced to absolute destitution." The ' Anglo-African' of the sth May, contains the following:"*" A letter has been received this morning from a person on commando to his wife, in which it is stated that the two commandos have joined; that they attacked a large body of natives about 6000, at Letsea's, completely defeated them, burnt down Letsea's Town (the missionary station, Monija M. Arbousset), and were then en route to Moshesh's mountain."

The same paper states that Morosic appears troublesome or disposed to be so, being accused of having carried off 100 horses from the native reserve on the 28th, and that the Commandant Currie had called up his police from watching the drift, in closer proximity to him. It is thought not at all improbable that the Aliwal district may become involved in the war, affairs wearing a very ugly aspect. The ' Albert Times' says that it is stated as a positive fact that some 4000 Boers will leave Aliwal North, on Monday, for the Free State. If such be the case, what will Government say to this procedure? We believe Louis Wippenaar has sent in his resignation as field-cornet, but upon what grounds it is not stated. There are about 100 Boer waggons at Sand Drift, the owners, who are living in them having deserted their homesteads on account of the war.

According to the same paper, not less than 34 homesteads" have been burned down during the late foray, and the cattle swept off are said to be estimated at the astounding number of 10,000 sheep, 12,000 head of cattle, and 1,000 horses. It also says that old Piet Botha had a narrow escape. Stripped of all his stock and cash (£3000), he was ordered by the Basutos to leave his homestead at once, which order he had to obey to save his life. He is believed to be at present with one of the commandos.