THE BASUTO WAR.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XV, Issue 263, 29 December 1880, Page 4

THE BASUTO WAR.

In the London " Times" of October 18, there appeared tho followiug letter from ita " military correspondent," which will bo read with iottreat just now :— Tho preornfc position of tffairß in Basutoland "jvill give ioierest to a plight nolico of Ihe field of operation?. Busutolarru rony be dencrihed ns the Walee of SoufcU Africo. It is a little province fitted in tit (he torth-east corner of tbe Capa Colony, between the Oranpo Frve State, tho Cape Colony, and Nfttsl Ii is about 150 oiLs long by 50 brootf, its length running pa^ol'tl to the Oracle Free State, or, roughly speaking, nearly pf.rallrl ut Bomn dis anecinlouri tsi:h she com linp. J*oma of its tnblo \v.x)\? are nearly 5000 ft above the soft, wltile iis !ofti.e.-t n-.oaot»iM \t credited with n height- of owr 10,000 feot. Tbu col .l throughout ihu wbole of B>ieu(r>li'rnl is v^iy eevere is the jnon'.liß of Junr, July, Auiiuefc, n:.O. even September, One of tho wiugfl ol the Cope Mounted Rifle 3, machine Up from Koktt^'i iD Gnqualond lliosi, to Mnsmi, tht? ciiiel stasion in Bituiolnne, was tiflayeii come dnys by a heavy fall of snow which Mocked tbe pa?ses and reuderon marching a'o;v mid tedious. Though Bneutoland tnuy be B. id to be 150 n.iiW'B by 50 miles in s Z\ tho esstern eide of its breadth is scarcely inhabited on account of the extreme cold, nnd of the ioaocr-seiblfl chanetH of the mountains. The non thickly populated diatrictu of «he little couuiry extend nearly along its whole Un ; ih but ai'£ of v hreadih oi übout 30 uiileiooly — tho 30 miles to the nonii-weEt and lyir.fi! u ( xt to tho Orange Fre* State. It is from the Free S fite, then, that B*eutoland enn be u;ott f.aeiK entered, and iia et.^f ess ic:>s, which lie wiiJiio a f< w Lours of ihe Fa< Stole fcor-ler, most s fey and e.osiK reached Ttien j are oiht r rout* s (teen the eoutb, but tiny presnt f>reat diflicalfieß to the m iroh of troops oni are open to grave oljuclioDS from a miliiarv point ot view. The Baeutoe ore mostly rpmennta ol tribes who kmim driveu befoie the CBifreß. Eaily iv the century they took refuse in the unountaio ißSincsses of Basntolend to escwpe tbe pitilees soldiery ot fcho Zulu conquerer, Ohbkß. It WbQ on the steep and rocky hill ol Thaba Bosigo (now fortified and ht-U epeinst the oVtrinment by the rebel chief MfiSi'plia) that Moshesli, the first paramount chief of the Baeutos, rallied the starved an i desperftte meo of the different clans of his race, made a successful stand against the Zulu?, ond laid the foundation of the Basuto nation. The roraantia history of Mo3heeb, his power ond skill in lending his people from partial cannibalism to comparative civilization, his military And diplomotic victories over white bdi! block foe might tempt ue to linger werf we not dealing with the eulject solely from a militaty point of view. To speak ot the Bosutos «s < qual or nearly fqual to the Zulus in fighting qualities (as is eometimes done) is a mieteke. The Basutos lack the dieciplice, the recklesbrr.very,a»d the toste for fighting posseesed by the Zulu soldiere. Tlip Bosufos hove no military orgtnizaliin, merely turning out or being turned out by their chic-fa for fi-btiDp by tribes or clans. Thxy ore not Foltiiers like the Zulus were before the Zj!u ermy vcae broken up, but nre merely hardy niountaiiifeie. Unlike the Zulu?, the Basufos fi-iht, 8B a rule, moun>:ed, pos. eees ir jj: haiJy and active ponies which tntike light of the Kiflieuhits of tlie mnHntrtin tr.-.rka of their country. Almost bII the Baeutoa have taken to clothinp, portly Uom their progress in oivilizition, r«ud p-.rtly frotu the eevere climate of their land. If is mentions d in the laet letters from the Ctpo that bodjo of the Bueutoe lately in action against the Colonibl troops are posfieeeed of a cerbioe carryicg further than the weapon with which our troops are ermed. ThU carbine is probtib'y the Weetley Kicbards capping rifle, with falling block. It is a fevcuriie riflo with the Souih African farmers, and hes beet exported in greut numbers to the Sout( African color.ies. The Baeutnp, how ever, can take but little advantage o an accuiate weafon. A f*w m^y be able to shoot fniny, hut the mgorit«re a 9 dangerous wi h a Tower muskt-i bb with a Mortioi rifle. Indetd throughout the South Africen coloDiet it is rare to find a native a good sho unless he huß received special instruction from o white man. In using th< rifle a Dative rarely avails himself o 1 tbe fore&iph», and still more rarely oi tbe batkßipht. If he poyß any attention to the latter arrarjpement b» generally regards it as a contrivance ol tbe white man's to mflke the gun hi* bard, and considers that he tray as well use it tit its full strength if he uses ii at all. He consequently puts up the flap ond pushes up the sliding bar, though he may be firing at point-blonh rarjge. It may he here remarked thu tbe Baeutos who did cucb gooservice in the Zulu war were chiefly Natal Baeutoe, end were drawn fron the Na at slopes of the Drackeosberg. Tbe military trait to be remarked in the Baeutos is their aptitude for fortifying or enschoncing themselves, and the intelligence -with which they strengthen any position they may desire to hold. Indeed, our chief difficulties will probably commence when tbe Basutoe, worsted in the open, betake themselves to their mountain strongholds. Thaba Boßigo, the stronghold now held by the rebel chief Masupha, is a good example of a Basu'o position. Jt is an isolated hill about 400 ft. high, with a flat or table top, and with sides scraped away by natural causes, dhe table is only accessible by three or four patbp. £ome of these paths are said to have been rendered inaccessible, others to be barred by linehof sehaDzes, or stone barricades loopholed and possessing flanking defence, On the mountain is good pasture to graze the cattle, plenty ol water, nnd etoreß of grain and ammunition. We have as yet no data to guide us as to the numbers of the rebel Basuton. There is no doubt that any fightiug iv their neighborhood is a great temptation to tho young men of the tribe, who have as yet no stake in the country — in other words, no cattle or possessions to

loae. Any reverse to our anna would probably cause young "warriors from the loyal clans to join more or less secretly the ranks jof the rebels, but they, it may be supposed, have been proportionately discouraged by the defensive, but successful actions fought by the Cape Mounted Rifles, under Lieutenant-Colonel Carrington. Not having formed a high estimate of the old corps of police, Ihe rebels, it is said, had expressed themselves confix dent of driving back the colonial troops directly they ventured to enter their country. We may now briefly notice the diapositiona and movements of the Colonial forces which seem probable at the present juncture Most of the supplies for the ibrcea operating againßfc the Basutos will bo drawn from the sea base oi East London or from the colonial stores at E/ng William's Town, 40 n.iles from tlie port. There is a line of railway from Enst London to Queen's Town (with a branch to King William's Town), a distance of about IGO miles of rtiil. .From Queen's Town the line of communications will run to Jumes Towu, Dordrecht, and Aliwal North, thence to Wepenerj in the Free State, where, it Beems, an advanced depot is being formed. From Wepener the advance on Maseur, the most important station in Basutolfctnd, and the usual residence of the Governor's Agent, will be made. The distance from the Bea base at East London to Maseru is aboui 380 miles It may be remarked that tiiia line of advance appears on he map somewhat circuitous and that there would seem to be a more direct lin9 of advance into Bisutoland on Maseru from the South. There is a route from the South which is considerably shorter in distance, but it is open to grave and sound objections. The country through which the road runs is extremoly rugged ; the road iteelf is bad, crossing n;cky streams and running through gorges and defilep, and affording evesy facility for surprises and sudden attacks. By taking the longer route to Maseru and penetrating the enemy 'a country from the north-west, the lino of communications will run through a friendly country until within a few hours march of the point aimed at. To sum up, theD, tbe posiiion iv Basutolaod, the colonial troops are ' oldiug the two principal stations iti Busutolam! — Maseru and Mafettng — which are about seven hours' ride Bpari. At Wepener, a village in the Pr.et Mate, a Geld force is being orytniaed which is intended to enter Basutoland and to reduce the rebel chiefs to aubmiseion. Until the organisation oi this force is completed the colonial troops will probably act on tbe defensive. This, delay in assuming the offensive might prove disastrous if tbe busutoa were located in the midst of a European population, is not a matter of such importance in the case of Basutoland, where there are few Europeans and these collected in safety at the fonfiad posts. It is reported (hat tbe Tambookies have joined the Basuto rebels. This tribe or clan numbers, it is said, abou 1 8000 men. They ere badly armed * and are not very formidable foee, nor have tbey much inclination for fi^htinp, only following the lead of Stock Tyali, their troublesome und turbulent- chief.