r march was to send on in advance a
number of women and boys, each carrying a large basket full of mealies.
These were deposited at the end of our first day's march. The women and
boys then collected as much corn as they could procure from the villages
near them, and went on another day's march, so we had plenty to eat on
the journey.

The chiefs at the Umlass were very glad to see us, and were quite
astonished when they beheld me. They asked all sorts of questions about
me, and treated me with the greatest respect. I knew quite well how to
behave with the dignity of a chief, and I soon impressed the visitors
with my importance. They had heard of the power of my guns, and seemed
terribly afraid of them, and looked at them with great awe. I told them
that I could easily kill a man at the distance of three throws of an
assagy, a statement that Inyati corroborated.

We heard from these chiefs that Chaka might come down upon us any day,
and that he would try to surprise us; but that men were on the look-out
beyond the Umganie, and runners were placed at various points to convey
the news and signal when the enemy came in sight. The army of these
Umlass Caffres was concealed in the bush along the coast, and amounted
to nearly 8,000 men; whilst the cattle had been driven westward, and
concealed in places from which it would be most difficult to drive them.

Our army was placed on a hill west of the Umlass river, which river
opens into a wide bay near the mouth; and to attack us on this hill
would entail great loss on the enemy.

We lay down to rest after our march, and slept; for it was a practice
among these Caffres to sleep as much as possible before any great work,
as they seemed to think that men could lay in a stock of sleep which
would be of use to them two or three days afterwards. I am inclined to
believe that this idea was correct, and that by sleeping a great deal
during three or four days, we can go the next three or four days with
scarcely any sleep.

The third day after our arrival at the Umlass, runners came from the
east bringing the intelligence that the Zulu army, as numerous as a
flight of locusts, had crossed the Tugela, and were spreading down the
country. Quick as were the movements of this army, the Caffres in the
country were equally rapid in their movements, and more than 3,000 men
joined us, and several thousand cattle were driven across the Umlass
river, and secreted in the bushy country