many minutes had not elapsed before the whole host was effectually diverted from its object.

Here then their progress was arrested, until the Mission family had got to a distance which placed them in comparative safety; but the wretched hordes upon whom they fell were almost wholly destroyed. They remained revelling amongst the spoil until the following day, when Bodi, another subordinate Chieftain, gave them battle, repulsed, and killed some of their men. Whether they afterwards went on to the Mission village or not, is exceedingly difficult to determine; the buildings were indeed burnt; but by whom is not fully known. Suspicion rests upon one who before professed great friendship; and who, if guilty, did the deed, in all probability, not so much from really malicious motives, as with a view to secure the iron-work about the doors and windows, &c.

On every hand the most affecting objects of distress now presented themselves. The interpreter remained at a short distance from the station for some days after the Mission family left; during which period, a poor Umponedo and his wife came up, saying, they had hoped to have found refuge under "the white man's wing." Sorely indeed were they suffering from the cravings of hunger; and, having been obliged to flee for their lives, they had lost the whole of their children, save one, which was then hanging at the breast. Some of the natives had offered to take them in, provided they would rid themselves of the infant by casting it over a precipice. To this, however, they had not consented, but resolved on carrying it as far as they could. After pointing out the direction in which the waggons went, our pious interpreter advised them to follow with all possible speed; which they did, and, in the course of a day or two more, reached the Mission encampment on the banks of the Bashee. There the poor creatures remained until the return of

Mr. S. to re-commence the Mission, and they are no comfortably settled on the Morley station. Mr. D. one of the traders, while resting for a few hours at But terworth, informed me, that on his way back from the Zimvooboo, he had nearly ridden over a female who was laid prostrate in the path. Perceiving that she did not move out of the way, he was induced to alight; when, shocking to relate, he found her quite dead! A fine child, still alive, was also lying along side of the corpse, vainly endeavouring to draw nourishment from its life less mother.

But to finish the history of the Amaquabæ. Their career now drew to an end, and vengeance unmixed with mercy awaited them. Perceiving that they were bent upon carrying destruction through the land, and having been ap prized of their design respecting himself, Fakoo at length mustered his tribe, and determined on giving them battle. His first measure was to prevent all possibility of egress from the place of their encampment, which was in a detached part of the forest, and which, with his warriors, divided into ten or twelve companies, he completely encircled. Thither supplies of milk and other provisions were ordered to be taken, so that they were enabled to keep up the siege for several days, during which period, all remained perfectly quiescent. But when his plans were fully matured, and his men thoroughly acquainted with the part each division had to act, he ordered the young and most active of the warriors to advance towards the enemy, as if for the purpose of attacking them, and then again precipitately to. retire; which stratagem was to be repeated until the latter were aroused, and induced to sally forth from their umbrageous covert. The scheme had its desired effect; for, apparently unconscious of the strength of their opponents, and of the danger of their position, the Quabæ at length came out on to a narrow neck of land, headed by the wood, flanked with deep

ravines, and terminating in tremendous precipices on the right bank of the Umzimvooboo. Perceiving that his men were somewhat afraid to engage so sanguinary a foe, Fakoo is said to have taken his brother and two sons, and with these at his side hurried onwards to the battle, crying, "We, then, will die first; and our bones shall lie here alone!" But these spirit-rousing words had scarcely dropped from his lips ere the warriors all rushed to the combat with impetuous fury. Retreat to the forest was instantly rendered impracticable, and a dreadful slaughter ensued. Comparatively few could effect their escape; and numbers, in fleeing from the spear, leaped from the rocks and perished in the river.

A party of the Amaceisibæ then proceeded with all speed to the encampment of Quetoo, who still lay sick of the wound he had received in his rencontre with Lochenberg, and who was, therefore, not very well able to defend himself. His stores of spoil, however, rather than his person, constituted their object; and these were, of course, very considerable; for besides the cattle which his predatory bands had, from time to time, taken, he had still in his possession much of the property belonging to Lieutenant F. and his company. Hearing of the total discomfiture of his troops, and of the approach of pursuers, he sent off his female carriers laden with this booty, and committed his herds to the few servants he had around him; which done, he hasted away on horseback, accompanied by Umdingi, who had just before joined him. But while thus fleeing from the foe behind, they were unexpectedly met by Capye, another Arab-like freebooter,-whose father (Madikan) an Irish trader had shot some time before, at the suggestion of Umdingi,-who easily made himself master of almost every thing they possessed. Had not the swiftness of their horses speedily placed them beyond his reach, he would, in all probability, bave slain them also. Thus

closed the dreadful career of the Amaquabæ, whose circumstances, from first to last, cannot be contemplated without mingled feelings of pity and abhorrence.

CHAPTER XVI.

Remains of the Grosvenor-Port Natal-Slave TradeFarewell's Project-Civilizing Theories tested-Influence of heathenish Habits-Licentiousness of Adventurers—A murderous Act-Death of Captain King-Chaka's Forces -His Assassination-Barbarity-Fertility of the Zoola Country-Diseases of Caffraria-Cowie and Green's Adventure-Arrival at Portuguese Settlement-Their Death -Delagoa Bay-Its Advantages—Kingdom of Tembii— Rio de Senna-Infamous Conduct of Jesuits-Commerce of the Interior-Navigable Rivers.

THIRTY or forty miles eastward of the Umzimvooboo lie the remains of the unfortunate Grosvenor, consisting of guns and ballast, perceptible at low water, and constituting a lively memento to the traveller of the affecting scenes there witnessed in 1782; of the watery grave into which many of our countrymen were there plunged; of the heart-rending situation in which numbers of delicate women and children were there placed; and of all the horrid circumstances consequent upon the wreck of that noble vessel; the scattering of the parties; their conflicts with savages; their perils in the desert; their sufferings from hunger and likewise from thirst; together with the shocking fate of almost all the passengers and most of the crew, who were here and there left to perish, to languish and to die, or to be torn to pieces by beasts of prey. But the subject is too painful to dwell upon.

From hence to Natal, which is the next principal

point of interest, there is a fine but depopulated tract of country, from two to three hundred miles in extent, Messrs. Cowie and Green, two gentlemen who traversed it in the early part of 1829, inform us that it is in many places beautiful beyond description, the meadows being carpeted with luxuriant herbage, and watered every few hundred yards by copious rivulets, whose banks are level with the prairies through which they meander; rivers abounding with fish, hippopotami, and alligators; plains and hills here and there covered with woods of gigantic forest trees, attaining the height of seventy or eighty feet; and enlivened by herds of elephants. Vegetation also was rich beyond any thing they had ever seen in the most favoured parts of the colony. The coast was abundantly supplied with oysters of two descriptions; and one part is mentioned, twenty or thirty miles in extent, which was literally white with this delicious esculent. "The late Zoola conqueror completely desolated the whole of this district, leaving scarcely a single hamlet standing: individuals, however, have again established themselves. upon it; and, what is somewhat remarkable, on the Umzimkoolu there is a considerable horde of bushmen, who, although quite a distinct body, appear to be living on amicable terms with all around."

Port Natal, which lies between 29° and 30° south latitude, is said to have been purchased of the natives by the Dutch East India Company in the early part of 1690.* It long afterwards constituted a harbour for slave ships, as did Delagoa Bay also, where a factory was established by the Company about 1721. From official memoirs, published in Amsterdam, in 1718, it is sufficiently evident that Natal, which at that period was understood to commence at the Great Fish River, was

* See Maxwell's Account of the Cape of Good Hope, in 1706; -an original manuscript copy of which, together with other papers on the Cape, is still preserved in the British Museum,