re killed, only a few, scarce 50 escaping. It was a
hand-to-hand combat against thousands, and from the Zulus themselves,
for no white man saw the end, come the accounts of how firmly the
soldiers stood. The Zulus, who had a keen appreciation of gallantry,
tell many tales of how our men stood fighting till the last. "How few
they were and how hard they fought," they said; "they fell like stones,
each man in his place."

There was only one sailor in the camp. He belonged to HMS _Active_, and
throughout the terrible fight displayed the utmost courage. At last,
when all was nearly over, he was seen in a corner of the laager, leaning
against a waggon wheel, keeping the Zulus at bay. One after another
fell as he stabbed them with his cutlass. The savages themselves were
lost in admiration at his stern resistance. At last a Zulu crept round
at the back of the waggon, and stabbed him through the spokes of the
wheel.

It would have been the height of rashness to have advanced farther, as
the column would now have been exposed to the whole force of the Zulus.
Colonel Pearson determined, therefore, to fortify Ekowe, and to maintain
himself there until reinforcements came up. The cavalry and the native
contingents who had accompanied the column were therefore sent back, the
sailors being retained to assist the regular troops in holding the
place.

The first step was to erect fortifications, and, as the enemy attempted
no attack, these were made strongly and massively. Here for many weeks
the little garrison held out. The Zulus surrounded the place closely,
but never ventured upon any sustained attack upon it. The garrison,
however, suffered severely from fever, heat, and the effects of bad food
and water. For some time they were cut off entirely from all
communication with Natal; but at length an officer, upon the top of the
church, observed one day, far among the hills to the south, a twinkling
light. From the regularity with which it shone and disappeared, he came
to the conclusion that it was caused by signallers endeavouring to open
communications. The flashes were watched, and were found to be in
accordance with the Morse alphabet; and the joyful news was spread that
their friends were telegraphing to them.

After some trouble, a mirror was fixed and signals returned, and from
that time, until relief, regular communication was kept up by this
means. There was disappointment at first when it was found that