Cetewayo, the Zulu King.

Thames Star, Volume X, Issue 3219, 13 June 1879, Page 3

Cetewayo, the Zulu King.

The ..London co-respondent. ,6f , the paijyv'Clilppible^jsaysj^Cetevrayp,^ the 'King^ is;jn e!ye^jr, way ;a; remarkable inahir ''There is;spme resemblance,bet,ween his career and character and those of Hyder AH and Dost Mahomed. The Zulu chief is-.in.the .prime of l / ife,.and a friend'o? mine who has seen him says that his features are expressive and almost handsome..,.jPhysically hqiia aicpmplcte athlete.j t , I,',|le.V.ljfts.great. r strengt,h,pf> ; limb, and marvellous agility. "He is wily, adroit, courageous, and, with a view p|Uaccom> plishing..his..;,de,sign .capable ;pf, great crueltyV f Some curious insights into his character crop up in the voluminous blue-books that... .have, been, published within ■'the ! last,two, or f three.,.years concerning South African ,affairs. The conversations he had with Sir Theophilus Shepstone and other English representatives are strikingly picturesque, and at (times eloquent. •;; His (expressions Remind one of the mode, of address indulged in by the American Indians^ but Getawayo's '■ views J are :mbre, sanguinary than thPle' 4of the Spotted Tail,. 1 or Little Blanket. Haying apparently without f nifpose -'madi^war iupon a neighbouring tribe—the Sw"acis^he: was 1 asked by the English Commissioners why. he .did so. He answered with remarkable'frankness tba^Kis'^bjebt'waS'riot'to gain.;temtory notn tp t possess;,, hjmself of booty,, but nierely^ito'^ tup 1 .followersf pf,.Secocoeni, -l»ecftuse* f the^ werp his enemies. If ne had "been an .European.potentate he ; ..iW.puldi^have; [ covered, ihisv designs under some) fine^pbraseA LouisfJßonapare would have;Asaidiohe:;ha'd: begun the war for an idea ; or the Czar, apologising for attacking a weak neighbour* troulcL bate ■;-<justified'■''himself ( on l the ground of desiring to propagate the Gospel of Christ. But Cetewayo was.n.ot troubled with any such scruples, and lie openly said'thiat ?his -only; object for going to war was to kill' the men he had been taught to regard as his enemies. Asked on one occation how/many troops be had at his command, be^eolared with poetical exaggeration that tfreyfwere ,as',innumerable as the sands bof:an IJAfrican'desert, and that the dust they raised when pn the inarch was sufficient to obscure, the, sun. At another time',' jspeaking' to VBrHißh emissary who was striving tp,induce, hitn to pursue pasiror'or hunting pursuits rather than military^' !He said that the Zulus were born to fight, and that ..no young man among them .was allowed, to marry Funtil>h:e Had; |bMflo;wa|. IJ^hting was tbeifmissionon. carth 1/ He' was their kipg, and he was anxious, in,the first place, to prove his prowess as*"a TVanSior^yandvinextl to. give tlie - young braves anj'opportijnity '■ of wa*shing rtheir •pears in the blood of'their fodsi It' was jnatterles3' "fed ihinis whom <be!; quarrelled with so long as he could accomplish.the^e two purpqses';^dembnst r ating ■■-■■■ jjjg• g,^, n capacity-^as' a; chieftain and the courage of—his -people.- When—talking in "his kraal on the,sama.occasion t about.,the mis^pnariißS^,'|ie"said |Chnßtiknitytymi^|it '^ery^well:^o^' whiteinen andjlpr tEuropeans/ but hci did- not ; ;like, the Europeans,. ,\ because (.experience had shoirniihat a/Zulu Christian was a Zulu spoiled. Over the- wholet of the , intercourse^ betweetfthe'English arid'^his-abll, dauntless/but unscrupulousi'Eaffir, many instances could bequoted of savage'pictaresqueness of "expression, which throws a curious light upon the motives that mofia/thes* swjarfchy to faction.