ches, in which, as no one save himself had any notion of boating, he
shoved off alone. The stream was too strong for him, and he had to
return and obtain the help of the only good swimmer among his party. With
him he crossed, but with no food save a canister of sugar! However, the
native swam back and fetched a loaf of bread, while Captain Gardiner
waited among the reeds, hearing the snorting and grunting of hippopotami
all round. The transit of the natives was secured by the holding a sort
of float made of a bundle of reeds, and in the morning, as the river was
too high for the rest of the party to cross, he brought over a few
necessaries, and a horse, with which the Captain was able to proceed to
Port Natal, where he found English traders, and sent back supplies to
those in the rear.

The Zulus, on whom his attention was fixed, inhabit a fine country to the
north of the Tugela, which is considered as the boundary of the British
territory. The nation is full of intelligence and spirit, and by no
means incapable of improvement, and their princes have been for
generations past men of considerable natural ability, and of iron will,
but often savagely cruel. The first known to Englishmen was named
Charka, a great warrior, who kept his armies in a rude but thorough
discipline, and had made considerable conquests. About the year 1829,
Charka had been murdered by his brother Dingarn, who had reigned ever
since, and was the terror of the English settlers, who were beginning to
immigrate into the fertile terraced country of Natal. His forays might
at any time sweep away farms and homesteads; and his subjects were
continually fleeing from his violence across the Tugela, and thus might
bring him down as a pursuer.

Allen Gardiner's plan was to go to the fountain head and endeavour to
deal with the chief himself, so as to make him a Christian instead of an
enemy. With this end he set out absolutely unaccompanied, except by
Cyrus the interpreter, and a Zulu servant whom he had hired named
Umpondombeni, and this with the knowledge that an English officer had
shortly before been treacherously murdered, and that Dingarn was a blood-
stained savage.

The king had been informed of his coming, and had pronounced that he was
_his_ white man, and should make haste to Umkingoglove, his present
abode. The first view of this place, with a double circular fence around
it, resembled a race-course, the huts being ranged along the rin