HISTORY OF THE ZULUS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIV, Issue 63, 14 March 1879, Page 4

HISTORY OF THE ZULUS.

The "Hiy of Plenty Times" baa an interesting article on the history of tbe South African tribe with whom we are at present with war. We extract the following : — " It is admitted on all hands that the Zulus are one of the main off-shootß of the parent stem ihnt lias peopled the whole of Africa. The Zulu language, ■which is eaiJ ly linguists to be the most expreesive and the most grammaticaliy perfect in the world, has bern discovered in modifled forms in all parts of the continent, Bnd the same words will be found to express similar things in localities thousands of miles apart. All tribes spenkiug the Zulu tongue nre invariably found to bo desperate aud bloodthirsty maraudere. Thus Stanley found a nation of Zulus to ihe east of Tanganyika who were tbe terror of tbe couatry for hundreds of miles. The M;zitus mentioned by Livingstone as the scourges of the li<.ke Nyaasa country are pure Z'llus. Tbe teniblo Mfitahilte, who live 150 miles south of tbe Victoria Falls of the Zimbfzi, aud who, under their king — Mczilikaize — (a great uncle of Cetewayo) subjpcled all the Sooth Central African tribes, are quite a recent off. ebool. The great and powerful nation known as the Unrziilcs (the name of the king) which extends from 26° south latitude to the Zimbezi, an.i which will eorae dav give us plenty of trouble, are Zulus, and our troops are well acquainted with tbe fighting powers of tbe Ktfflrs of Kaffrariß, which belong to the same stock." The writir then traces lha history of the Zulus during tbe present century, describing tho attrocities of the bloodthirsty princes Chaka and Dingeao. Tbe reign of tbo latter was one continual succession of wars, and the name of Zulu became a terror to all African tribes. It wbs during this perio) that Nllul was oolonieed, first by the discontented Boers from the Capa Colony, who cstnedown tbe Drakensberg mountains ia their waggons, and afterwards by ihe English, who defeated the Dutch and took possession of their country about 1841. Tbe Boers and the early colonists wore in frequent conflict with Dignam and his warriors and, ia these coLfiict?, the latter, cot being then in possession of guns, were generally defeateJ, but sometimes ma'ie up by treachery for their weakness in arms, and on one occasion barbarously murdered some hundreds of men, women and children after baviug given them a safe conduct. The spot where this took place is still commemorated in Natal by a village on its site, which is called Weenan (weeping). On another occasion Dingaan treacherously murdered, after inducing them to give op their arms, a perty of ambassadors headed by a Boer named Retie', who had ventured into his power. Dingaan was eventually driven out of Nata l , and the northern boundary of tbe colony defined by the river Tugella. He was succeeded by bis brother Pun 3a, the father of the present king, who murdered his brother, and emulated tho deads of his predecessors by slaughtering hundreds of his sutjeefs ou most trifiiog pretexts. Panda died in 1869 v but, according to native custom, his death was kept secret for a time, and Cetewayo, who had acted as Regent for some years previous to his father's death, was " crowned " by Sir Tbeophilus Shepstone in 1873. The writer was present at this ceremony, and witnessed a war-dance executed simultaneously by 55,000 warriors. Of course the cruelties of these potentates dissatisfied many of their subjects, Bnd they trooped over the Tugela in thousands, attracted by the beneficence of the British rule in Natal. It was in this way that Natal acquired Us native " refugee " population, which numbers now probably hplf a million. (Sir George Grey, in bis recent memo.,' gays 220000, which ia absurd, for the official census five or six years a°o gave tbe number as 385,000, and they have been increasing rapidly ever since. Sir Garnet Woleeley in 1874 estimated* them at 450.000). Cetewayo is no wit behind his predecessors in cruelty of disposition, and in intellectual power is said to be greatly their superior, being a man full of deep and crafty ■chemee, and with a talent for diplomacy which is believed to be excelled by few Europeans. Time and circumstances, however, Blter cases, and for the last fifteen or twenty years the Zulus, with tbe exception of an occasional raid on their neighbors, the Amaswazis, have had little opportunity lor warlike deeds; for Cetewayo, afraid, to long as be was without firearms, of tbe strength of the English, restrained by the influence of Sir Tbeophilus Shepstone from measuring his strength with the Transvaal Boere, and with sense enough to see that internecine strife had no other effect than the weakening of his own power, ceased the slaughterous policy of his ancestors, and turned his attention to tbe consolidation of tbe nation. Thus they have been living tbe peaceful life of herdsmen, have increased enormously, and have been outwardly docile, amiable, aad agreeable, though the devil still lurks beneath. The stories one reads in the papers of Cetewayo still slaughtering his people by hundreds have no foundation in truth. Such monstrosities ceased years ago. The Zulu war cannot be classed among those agressive acts which have distint guiebed the regime of the prcßent Con■ervalive Ministry. It was forced upon them, and not until there was no possibility of avoiding it was tbe final step

thken. Instead of Cetewayo being, as has been asserted, the scapegoat of a policy of aggrandisement, be has for years past been treated with an amount of indulgence that no other potentate was ever the recipient of. The writer traces the commencement of tho war to the dut'es between the Boers end the Zulu with reference lo tbe Blord River boundary question. Sir T. Shepetone, Native Secretary of Natal, had great difficulty in preventing open hostilities. Eventually in 1875 three arbitrators, chosen by Cetewnyo, were appointed, who decided that in their opinion tbe Dutch had no real claim to the lands claimed by them, a decision fully anticipated when the names of tbe arbitrators became known, though it is difficult to see ou what evidence it was grounded. No action followed this, but after the Transvaal had become British, Celewayo demanded that these lands should be given to him, to whirh the Administrator, Sir T. Shepsioae, Cetewayo's former mentor, declined to accede. While these matters were in progress an event occurred which turned the currents of all t-'outh African probabilities. This was the ciscovery of diamonds on the Vail river in 1870 In all African states and colonies it is, and always has bean, jenal to stll arms acd ammunition to nativep, but a dispute arising between the Cape Colony, the Transvfl'l, the Orange Fiee State, aid the Giiiua chief Water ocr as to the ownership of these diamond lands, a email republic was established pacding the settlement of the dispute, and in this tbe sale of guns was legalized. The consequence was that natives docked from all parts to obtain them, and probably little Bhort of a million were (Hspereed far and wide throughout Southern Africa. This is tbe secret of all the recent broils. Cetewayo obtained possession of a large cumber, and having also facilities for getting them from the Portugese of Delagoa Bay, soon found himself at the head of a large wellarmed force. Then he became more aggressive and insulting in his demands He kept a large standing army on the frontier* of Natal as a menace, and refused to disband it ; be refused to give up some men who had murdered a number of Natal women ; be ordered some families off lands over the Pongala to which he had not the slightest claim. This sort of thing was bom for nearly two years, and although every effort was made to preserve peace, ifc was without avail, for Cetewayo, following his own inclinations, and urged by John Dunn, a great hunter, who has lived in the country for twenty years, and who while acting as Government Agent, played the part of a traitor, declined to second them. Eventually an ultimatum was sent calling on him to disband his army, and deliver up the murderers. This being unheeded, war was declared.