y; they answered in the affirmative, and he gave the word,
'Prepare to mount.' At this moment I turned round, and saw the
Prince with his foot in the stirrup, looking at the men. Presently I
heard him say, 'Mount,' and turning to the men saw them vault into
their saddles. At this moment my eyes fell on about twenty black
faces in the mealies, twenty to thirty yards off, and I saw puffs of
smoke and heard a rattling volley, followed by a rush, with shouts
of 'Usutu!' There was at once a stampede. Two men rushed past me,
and as every one appeared to be mounted, I dug the spurs into my
horse, which had already started of his own accord. I felt sure no
one was wounded by the volley, as I heard no cry, and I shouted out,
'Keep to the left, and cross the donga, and rally behind it!' At the
same time I saw more Zulus in the mealies on our left flank, cutting
off our retreat. I crossed the donga behind two or three men, but
could only get beyond one man, the others having ridden off. Riding
a few hundred yards on to the rise, I stopped and looked round. I
could see the Zulus after us, and saw that the men were escaping to
the right, and that no one appeared on the other side of the donga.
The man beside me then drew my attention to the Prince's horse,
which was galloping away on the other side of the donga, saying, 'I
fear the Prince is killed, sir!' I immediately said, 'Do you think
it is any use going back?' The trooper pointed to the mealies on our
left, which appeared full of Kaffirs, and said, 'He is dead long
ago, sir; they assegai wounded men at once.' I considered he had
fallen near the kraal, as his horse was going from that direction,
and it was useless to sacrifice more lives. I had but one man near
me, the others being some 200 yards down the valley. I accordingly
shouted to them to close to the left, and rode on to gain a drift
over the Tombokala River, saying to the man at my side, 'We will
keep back towards General Wood's camp, not returning the same way
we came, and then come back with some dragoons to get the bodies.'
We reached camp about 6.30 P.M. When we were attacked our carbines
were unloaded, and, to the best of my belief, no shots were fired. I
did not see the Prince after I saw him mounting, but he was mounted
on a swift horse, and I thought he was close to me. Besides the
Prince, we lost two troopers, as well as the friendly Zulu. Two
troopers have been found between the donga and the kraal, covered
wi