The Emashlabatini country was originally occupied by a small tribe called the Abanguni; of its more ancient kings little is known beyond that they seem to have been of peaceful habits, making no wars, but breeding cattle; also that the name of one was Zulu. In their own country the appellation of Abanguni in course of time died out, though still used by their neighbours, and for it was substituted Abakwa-Zulu (sons of Zulu), Zulu and Undabezita. The tribe was composed of several families or clans, each having its own chieftain. In the time of Cetywayo's reign the names of these clans and their respective chiefs were as follows:—The Uhutilezi, a family having two branches; Umnyama, Cetywayo's prime minister, was chief of one, and Umtyubane of the other; the Ubixela and Umgazi, who were divisions of one family, the former owning Umvumhlana as chief, the latter Sigodi—subsequently slain at Isandhlwana—whose predecessor was Panda's prime minister Masipula, and his successor Mapoko; the Umtombelo and Umblalosi, also two branches of one family, whose respective chiefs were Mabanda and Segetwayo; the Uquabe, whose chief was named Rouhlo; the Uzimgu, whose chieftain rejoiced in the appellation of Unfanawenklela; the Fakazi, whose chief was Umkasana; the Umtanzi, with a chieftain Umbono by name; and the Igazi, whose head was Umkanyile; the Amagungebe, their chief was the notorious Sirayo; the Ukanyile, whose chief was Upagatwayo; the Ulanga, their chief Umhlaka; the Umpingose, whose chief was Ganse; and the Umhloben, a scattered family having no head.

The word Zulu, or Undabezita, was invariably employed in addressing any member of these families, whatever his rank or station might happen to be.

The first king of whom any particulars are known was Senzagacone, son of Ufaina. When this king began to reign he had no legitimate offspring: he had, however, a natural son by Unamdi, daughter of Umkeki, chief of the Langmene tribe, named Chaka (the bastard). He afterwards married this Unamdi, by whom he had a daughter Nuncoba, but no sons. She being his favourite wife, the king, according to the custom of the country, "gave her for a son," his natural son Chaka, thus legitimating him. When Chaka was fifteen, his father, thinking he might become troublesome, sent to kill him; but Chaka, being warned, fled to Dingiswayo, chief of the Umtwetwa, where he remained until the king's death, though on the occasion of his legitimation an invitation was given him to return to the paternal kraal.

Meanwhile Chaka had become an Induna of great influence and popularity in the land of his refuge; so when on the death of Senzagacone the Zulu tribe sent to him requesting him to be their king, and he consented, all the tribes through which he passed on his way to the Zulus accompanied him; and the whole of the Zulu clans assembled to meet him, and he was made king with great rejoicings. In the interim between Senzagacone's death and Chaka's accession, Umkaibye (paternal aunt of Chaka) ruled the Zulus and arranged for Chaka's return. It was now that the jealousy long smouldering between the Umdwandwe and the Umtwetwa, the two most powerful tribes in that part of Africa, broke into an open quarrel. Uzwidi, chief of the former, attacked and utterly routed the latter, killing their chief, Dingiswayo, Chaka's friend and protector. The worsted tribe naturally applied to Chaka for help. Thereupon Uzwidi immediately marched to attack the Zulus, and a great battle ensued on the south of the White Umvolosi. The result was that the left wing of either army was victorious; but both lost so heavily that they retired to their respective countries.

On his retreat, Chaka was attacked by the Langmeni, but failing in their assault, this tribe then deserted their own country and joined the Umdwandwe. Having defeated another coast tribe which assailed him, Chaka occupied both these countries, leaving the Emashlabatini district waste and uninhabited.

Uzwidi had now gathered a fresh army, which Chaka, by a night march, surprised and defeated between Kwagmagwasa and the Umhlatuzi river. He then retreated, but was rapidly followed up by Uzwidi, who had soon regathered his forces, and who succeeded in capturing much Zulu cattle and slaying a number of men, women, and children, surprised in their kraals by the swiftness of his advance. He then again retreated. Uzwidi now made a great and final effort to crush his adversary. All the tribes around were pressed into his service, and the result was that he soon had an army—collected from ten tribes—far superior in point of numbers to the Zulu force, which represented only two tribes. Chaka therefore retreated before Uzwidi's advance, and eventually occupied a strong position on the Inkankla range. Here he awaited his opponent's onset. In place of the old missile weapon, Chaka had armed his men with a shorter and stronger assegai, intended for use at close quarters; he therefore gave them strict orders not to throw their assegais but to charge the foe and fight them hand to hand. He also skilfully placed his force amidst broken ground, so that it was impossible for the enemy to attack in a compact and organized body. The battle, as usual, began in the early morn and continued till after midday. The Zulus, carrying out their leader's instructions, waited till the assault was delivered, and then charged so vigorously on the foe that they swept everything before them. Chaka following up this defeat utterly dissipated the Umdwandwe army. Uzwidi fled beyond his own country, which Chaka annexed, and thus became the chief potentate in that part of Africa, levying tribute from all the tribes around him. Chaka now waged several wars. First he attacked and despoiled the Mangwani, a tribe on the Drakenberg; then he fell upon and extirpated the clan of Zulukanafu, a chief residing to the north of that range. Soon after he sent an army against the Pondos, which captured a considerable amount of cattle and then retreated. Again, in the following year, there was a similar expedition, and the Pondos sued for peace, which was granted. By this time Chaka claimed to rule over the entire country, from the sea to the Pondola, to the Drakenberg, and to the land of the Pondos. His next object was to consolidate his power. Accordingly, the petty kings under his rule were no longer recognized as such, but became tributary chieftains; if any one of these was remiss in payment of his tribute, an "impi" was sent "to eat him" up. From time to time Chaka would also call up these chiefs to his royal kraal, where he would receive them with marks of distinction, and ask their advice on state matters. Another important step to weaken the power of the chiefs, and at the same time to augment his own, was the establishment of a standing army. Military service was made compulsory on all males, each being told off to a certain regiment according to his age. Thus a man ceased to serve under the chief of his own clan, but belonged to a king's regiment, which was composed of men of all tribes. Similar divisions were also made amongst the females, who had to marry into regiments at the king's commands, though on a marriage cattle was still handed over to the bride's father or brother. Furthermore, regiments were not allowed wives till they were entitled to wear "head-rings," and this did not occur till men had reached forty years of age. Chaka's next war was against the Swazis, whom he defeated and made to pay tribute.

In the following year an immense expedition was despatched against the Sotshangana, a people dwelling across the Somba Mountains, beyond Delagoa Bay.

So large was this army that Zululand was almost denuded of warriors, an event which was taken advantage of by Dingaan and five more of the king's brothers, to treacherously fall upon Chaka, whom they slew, together with his chief councillor, Umxamana.

The benefits conferred on his people by Chaka can hardly be over-estimated; he had raised them from a small tribe to a nation, and that nation a dominant one. As the Quirites were amongst the component tribes of the earlier Roman kingdom, so were the Zulus or Undabezita amongst the various tribes subject to the central Zulu authority, and curiously enough this resemblance extends still further; the Quirites were subdivided into gentes, or families, each with a distinctive name, and in a precisely similar manner, as has been before stated, the Undabezita were divided into sub-tribes or clans, each with its own gentile or family name. Nor were his people ungrateful to the memory of their first great king, for after the time of Chaka, the bastard, that name was never employed in its original signification, but to the present day a substitute, "Umlandhwana," is always used by a Zulu to express that idea.

That Chaka was not averse to civilization and white men was evinced by his treatment of Fynn and five others who were rescued from a shipwreck in St. Lucia Bay. He even went so far as to accompany Fynn the whole way to Durban, to see him embark on a ship sent round from Cape Town for him, and to send at considerable expenditure in the shape of cattle two envoys to England, which he contemplated visiting himself, if their report should prove favourable. But this latter project failed in consequence of the king's murder, and the messengers got no further than Cape Town.

A year or two after his departure Fynn returned, and with Chaka's sanction established a trading-station at Durban (1824). Once Fynn and some white men, being called upon for aid, assisted Chaka to punish a refractory tribe. When Chaka's army for the second time invaded the Pondos, it was through Fynn's representations that they would come into collision with the white men that the army proceeded no further.

On the army returning from the Sotshangana expedition, Panda, a brother of Chaka, was requested to assume the chief authority, but he declined, so Dingaan became king. Dingaan commenced his reign by killing all his brothers, except Panda, and all the late king's most trusted ministers. This caused great uneasiness amongst the chiefs, one of whom named Umquetu wishing therefore to withdraw from Dingaan's rule, departed with all his clan and cattle to the south. Coming into collision with the Pondos they were extirpated; hereupon Dingaan despatched an army to recover the cattle, which he regarded as his, from the Pondos. About the same time another chief, Umzilikazi, also revolted, and withdrew himself to the spot where Pretoria now stands. An expedition was in a similar manner despatched against him, and after capturing nearly all his cattle, returned therewith to the king.

Meanwhile the Boers had appeared on the scene at Natal, and they now claimed from Dingaan a considerable quantity of the cattle captured from Umzilikazi, alleging it had been originally stolen from them. To this Dingaan replied by bidding them recover some cattle that a petty chief had taken from him. Having done this and imprisoned the captured chief at Maritzburg, the Boers again applied for their own cattle, and a party under the command of one Peter Retief was sent to Dingaan. There now ensued a game of "diamond cut diamond," the Boers trying to outwit the king and capture him in his kraal, and Dingaan acting in much the same way to the Boers. The exact course of events is unknown, but for certain in the result Retief and his party were surprised and slain (Feb. 5th, 1838). Dingaan then invaded Natal, slaughtered many of the Boers, and captured much cattle. His forces penetrated as far as Ladismith, whence, after a heavy repulse in an attack on the Dutch laager, they retired home. Encounters from time to time continued to occur between the Zulus and the Boers with varying success to either side, till at length a peace was patched up. Panda showed himself so active in this war as to excite Dingaan's jealousy, in consequence of which he, with all his people went over and joined the Boers. Soon after this (Jan. 1840) the Boers, in conjunction with Panda, invaded Zululand. The great fight occurred at Magongo, on the Umkusi river. Dingaan was utterly defeated, and retiring with a few attendants beyond the Bomba range, was killed by the Swazis. Panda now became king, and peace was made between the Zulus and Boers, the former ceding to the latter the Natal territory as far as the Tugela.

It was about this time that there occurred a struggle at Natal between the English and Dutch, in which the latter, being worsted, retired to the Utrecht district, where they received permission from Panda to dwell; Utrecht, it is said, being assigned as their outside limit.

Panda waged no more external wars, but lived peaceably in his kraal, breeding cattle. Most conspicuous amongst the sons of Panda were Cetywayo and Umbulazi; these two, having quarrelled, waged a sort of civil war one against the other, and in the result Umbulazi was defeated and killed. Amongst the army of Umbulazi were John Dunn and about thirty other white men armed with rifles. Cetywayo then quarrelled with another brother, and the same state of disorder continued till Panda's death, which occurred in October, 1872.

Cetywayo being thereupon accepted as king by the Zulu nation, applied to the English Government to recognize him. Accordingly, Sir Theophilus—then Mr.—Shepstone was sent as envoy, and publicly crowned Cetywayo at the Umlambongmenya kraal, on which occasion he spoke thus to the assembled Zulus: "Here is your king. You have recognized him as such, and I now do also, in the name of the Queen of England. Your kings have often met violent deaths at the hands of their people, but if you kill this one, we shall surely require his blood of you." He then went on to say, "that as the English had recognized him as king, they would expect him to give all men a fair trial before condemnation. Even a witch should be let off, and merely sent away to another district." To this the Zulus returned that they would kill any man who went with the king's women, any man who ran away with another's wife, any thief of cattle, royal or otherwise; that a witch should not be put to death on a first accusation, but should any persist in witchcraft, he should be killed. And to this Shepstone signified his assent. The chiefs then rose in a body and said, "We will so govern the country under our King Cetywayo, and we look to England to support him as the king of the Zulu nation." Shepstone replied that he hoped the Zulus would live peaceably under the new king, whom England would expect to adhere to the terms to which he had just assented.

But these promises were broken on more than one occasion. Cetywayo having called up his army, and finding them tardy in response, and many absentees on the plea of illness, forthwith sent a regiment to slay all those thus absent, saying, "Sick men are no good; I will save the doctors the trouble of attending them." Again, one of the divisions of females being ordered to marry a certain regiment, objected that they were too few. Another regiment was named, and further objections raised. Then an impi was sent to punish these women, and a great number were killed. Great abuses in the practice of "smelling out" by witch-doctors also prevailed, though in this respect Cetywayo appears slightly better than his predecessors.

It is now time to turn attention to what is called the Boundary Question.

It has been previously stated that in Panda's time the Boers had settled in the Utrecht district. From time to time cattle undoubtedly was passed between the Boers and the Zulu king. The former assert that it was the price for the absolute ownership of the land they occupied, whilst on behalf of Cetywayo it is urged that it was merely a tribute from the Boers, whose outside limit had been fixed at Utrecht. Be this as it may, there kept occurring at frequent intervals outrages, robberies, and reprisals on either side, Sirayo, whose kraal was nearest the border, being the most prominent actor in these scenes.

Umbelini also now appeared, to further complicate matters. Originally a Swazi, he had fled from his native land, and settled in Zululand, together with his uncle Umbeliani and his people. This uncle joined the Boers, taking his cattle with him. Land was assigned to Umbeliani by the Boers close to where Umbelini was dwelling. No sooner, therefore, had the former built himself a kraal than the latter attacked and destroyed it. Thus ensued a contest between the Boers and Umbelini. The Boers drove Umbelini from his stronghold, but failed to capture him. He, retreating, erected a new kraal on the Dumbe range, north of the Zlobani, whence he continued to make raids into Swaziland and the Transvaal, which had now become British soil.

At Cetywayo's coronation this vexed question of the boundary had been referred to Mr. Shepstone, and he, in accordance with a promise then given, subsequently met the Zulu envoys at Conference Hill to hear their claims in this matter. They then claimed the Buffalo river as their original and proper boundary. In reply, Mr. Shepstone said that he considered this was asking too much; but that a fair line would be the Blood river and the old hunting road running close by the Kambula Kop to the Pongola or Zulu side of Luneberg. He would, however, examine the question more closely before coming to a final decision, which, when arrived at, would be communicated to them.

During all this time the Zulu army had been growing more and more restless, and the younger men especially were clamorous for an opportunity of "washing" their spears. For this sole purpose they contemplated a raid on the Swazis, then in alliance with England. But on Cetywayo's applying to the British Government for its sanction to this project, it naturally declined to allow its allies to be thus wantonly attacked.

There also existed amongst the Zulu an intense antipathy to the Boers; and Cetywayo, after his capture, himself admitted that had the Transvaal not been annexed, it was a mere question of time how soon a war broke out between his people and the Dutch settlers; nor can this afford much ground for wonder, when the characteristics of a Boer are had well in mind. The typical Boer is doubtless a pattern of hospitality, simplicity of heart, fondness for his home and family, and of those general domestic attributes which are so dear to an Englishman. But in his relations and contact with the native races and real owners of the soil, the Dutch Boer seems to lose all sense of reason and justice, and to remember only those early and blood-stained annals of pioneering, when the white man and the black neither gave nor asked for quarter in their struggle for supremacy in the land. Indeed his intolerance of a native is so intense that he cannot be induced to look upon him as a human being, but he regards the unfortunate aboriginal as a wild beast to be hunted and shot down. But the Boer has his fairer side, although his type has as yet been unchangeable. As he existed when he ruled in Cape Colony in 1808, so he now exists in the present day in his settlements in the interior. He is uneducated, uncultivated, unprogressive, and obstinate; but he developes qualities under adverse circumstances which must command English respect. He is certainly domestic as far as his own family circle is concerned, but, at the same time, the reverse of gregarious in regard to the world in general. When he first commences to farm and settle he likes to possess not less than 6000 and not more than 20,000 acres of good undulating "veldt." When he has obtained this, he starts in his waggon with his wife, his children, his scanty supply of goods and chattels, his cattle and sheep, and his only literature, the family Bible. He selects a good spring of water, being careful that no neighbour is located within at least ten miles. He builds his house with one large central hall, with the kitchen in rear, and four or five bedrooms opening out of the hall, all on the ground floor, and sometimes with a wide verandah outside. Kraals for his cattle, fences to his garden, and enclosures of 50 or 100 acres, are quickly run up; and so fertile is the soil and so favourable the climate, that in four or five years his garden will be full of oranges, lemons, citrons, peaches, apricots, figs, apples, pears, and vines. His herds and flocks multiply, his wheat and Indian corn thrive, and thus he lives in a rude but grateful abundance. His sons arrive at manhood and marry; his daughters are sought as wives, and if the land is good and plenty they remain and farm near, and for each generation and new family a new house is built a few hundred yards from the original. More acres with each generation are brought under the plough, and the man who is a good farmer, good father, and good husband cannot be brought to see that he must not covet his neighbour's land when that neighbour happens to be a black man! Without sentiment, without tenderness, and without a particle of enthusiasm, and with the most circumscribed intellectual horizon, he has a stubborn practicability which is admirably suited for the work of a pioneer, but which never developes into a power of civilization amongst savage tribes.

As has been shown in the preceding narrative the relations between the Zulu king and the English Government had been growing more and more tense. Two conspicuous outrages in the early part of 1878 at length brought matters to a climax. These two events were the Sirayo affair, and the Middle Drift difficulty. To understand the Sirayo business it is necessary to enter somewhat into detail. Sirayo and his tribe had a quarrel with one of the royal tribes—the Ischeni. This, like many another tribal dispute common enough in Zululand, never grew to an "assegai" matter, but encounters frequently occurred, in which sticks only were used, and the object of the rival factions was to drive off the opponent's cattle. The result of this, and a "law-suit" between the parties, settled by the king, was that Sirayo lost all his cattle. Shortly after this, one of Sirayo's wives, who had already been put aside on account of having a son whose legitimacy was suspected, being again in the family-way, fled with her paramour into Natal. Another wife, in a similar condition, also accompanied her. Nothing was done at the time, but Sirayo's sons subsequently learning that these women were in kraals close to the border, having collected an armed band, crossed the river Buffalo in broad daylight, seized one of the women, recrossed the stream, and then killed her. The Natal Kaffirs armed and threatened a rescue, but made no attack on Sirayo's party, who, on the same night, made another incursion, and the second woman suffered the same fate as the first.

Thereupon the English demanded the surrender of Sirayo's sons. Cetywayo sent to Sirayo advising him to hand over cattle instead of his sons. Sirayo replied that in consequence of the Ischeni dispute he had no cattle; that he was aware that his sons had transgressed; and that he was sorry. Again the English insisted on the surrender of the two young men. To this Cetywayo replied that they were very young, and therefore their conduct should be excused, and mercy shown to them. He added, that beyond all doubt they had done wrong; that the English had good cause for anger, and that he himself was displeased with Sirayo for not sending either his sons or cattle.

The Middle Drift affair occurred thus:—At the very beginning of 1878 the English were constructing a road from Kranz Kop to the middle drift of the Tugela. The men at work on this were interrupted, and driven away from their task by the Zulus living in the district, and Smith, the road engineer, who had landed on the island at this drift, was seized, stripped of all his clothing, and much maltreated by the same people. Reparation was demanded by the Government for this outrage. Furthermore, from June, 1877, it was evident that Cetywayo was instigating Secocoeni to hostilities; and even allowing that part of this chief's claim for compensation was just, it was necessary that the former chief should be made to understand that while arbitration was going on the law could not be broken by either side. With great tact, Sir T. Shepstone kept the peace until the Galeka and Gaika war was over, when Lord Chelmsford and his forces were freed, and it became possible to support words by action. Such were the events which led to the sending of an ultimatum by Sir Bartle Frere.

In the beginning of December, 1878, therefore, Messrs. John Shepstone, Brownlie, Walker, Fynn, and Fyney were selected to be the messengers to Cetywayo, to whom they were to communicate a message, of which the following was the purport:—The boundary-line was to be drawn from the junction of the Buffalo and Blood rivers to the Magedala Mountains, and thence on to the district of Roundhill and the source of the Pongolo. All the farmers on the frontier and disputed territory who could produce any tangible evidence of damage or loss due to Zulu menace or warlike demonstration were to receive a moderate but fixed compensation. A fine of 500 head of cattle and the surrender of the guilty members of the tribe was imposed upon Usirayo's (Sirayo) people, and twenty days only allowed for the payment of the penalty; 100 head of cattle to be paid for the outrage upon Lieut. Smith; Umbelini, who had given so much trouble, to be handed over to and dealt with by the Transvaal Government; the whole of King Cetywayo's large army at once to be disbanded; freedom of marriage to be allowed when the parties thereto were of age; justice to be impartially administered; missionaries to be allowed to return to the Zulu country; British Residents to be appointed; all disputes between Europeans to be referred to the king and the resident; and, finally, no expulsion from Zulu territory to be carried into effect without the distinct approval of the resident.

It was further intimated to the king that unless he showed his compliance with these terms, on or before December 31st, then on January 1st, 1879, the British army would commence the invasion of his land, and would enforce them at the point of the bayonet. The advance, it has been said, originally was to have been made on the 1st; but his Excellency the High Commissioner, allowing for the possibility of letters being delayed by the swollen state of the river, the Tugela being then in flood, extended his term of grace to the 11th. A Gazette extraordinary was published on January 6th, containing a declaration from Sir Bartle Frere, demanding from Cetywayo unqualified submission, stating that the general would after the 11th instant demand redress, and that the Zulu people were to be protected. The following was its form:—

"Notification by his Excellency the High Commissioner

"In July last two armed bodies of Zulus, retainers of the Chief Usirago, led by his sons and brothers, entered Natal and took away by force refugee women, who were claiming protection from the resident magistrate of Umsinga. These women were dragged across the border, and, it is believed, murdered. These acts of outrage were promptly brought to Cetywayo's notice by his Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor of Natal, but no explanation or redress could be obtained from Cetywayo. Twenty-one days were allowed to the Zulu king to surrender the three sons and brother of the Chief Usirago for trial, and as this term expired on 31st December, 1878, the High Commissioner entertains no hope that it is the intention of the Zulu king to afford the redress which her Majesty's Government has a right to demand.

"Therefore I hereby make known, for the information of Cetywayo and all the Zulu people, that I have placed the further prosecution of this and all other demands for redress and reparation in the hands of his Excellency the Lieutenant-General Lord Chelmsford, commanding her Majesty's Forces in South Africa, with the request that he will take such steps as he may find necessary to protect the British territory from further aggression, and to compel the Zulu king to comply with all the demands made on him for satisfaction due to the British Government, or for the greater security of the British territory, or for the better and more peaceable government of the Zulu people. Lieutenant-General Lord Chelmsford will carefully notify to all Zulu chiefs and people who may come within his reach that the commands of the British Government are made on Cetywayo, as much in the interests of the Zulu people as of the English nation, and that till the 11th January the Lieut.-General will be willing to receive and to transmit to me any intimation of the unqualified acceptance by Cetywayo of all the terms offered to him. If such intimation of unqualified and complete acceptance be received by the Lieut.-General before the 11th January no further hostile movement will be made, unless rendered necessary by the action of the Zulu forces, and up to the above date Lord Chelmsford will be ready to consider any steps which the Zulu king may propose for the purpose of giving real and permanent effect to the demands of the British Government. But unless all these terms be fully complied with by the above date, the Lieut.-General will no longer be bound by the terms of the 11th December, but will take such measures as the forces under his command will permit for compelling the submission of the Zulu king; always bearing in mind that the British Government has no quarrel with the Zulu nation, and that the future good government and well-being of the Zulus is as much an object of the steps now taken as the safety and protection of the British territories of Natal and the Transvaal. And I do hereby warn all residents and inhabitants of her Majesty's possessions and colonies in South Africa, of whatever race, to be guided by this, my notification, and I do strongly charge and command all her Majesty's officers, ministers, and subjects, and all others whom it may concern, to govern themselves and to act accordingly, and to take due notice of and to pay due regard to the tenor thereof.