d, and he repaid them by constant protection
and encouragement. But though he listened, like so many Kafir chiefs, to
sermons, enjoyed the society of his French friends, and was himself fond
of quoting Scripture, he never became a Christian and was even thought
to have, like Solomon, fallen in his old age somewhat more under heathen
influences. Many were the wars he had to sustain with the native tribes
who lived round him, as well as with the white settlers in the Orange
River territory to the north, and many the escapes from danger which his
crafty and versatile policy secured. Two of these wars deserve special
mention, for both are connected with the place I am describing. In
December, 1852, Sir George Cathcart, then Governor of Cape Colony,
crossed the Caledon River a little above Maseru and led a force of two
thousand British infantry and five hundred cavalry, besides artillery,
against the Basutos. One of the three divisions in which the army moved
was led into an ambush, severely handled by the nimble Basuto horsemen,
and obliged to retreat. The division which Sir George himself led found
itself confronted, when it reached the foot of Thaba Bosiyo, by a body
of Basutos so numerous and active that it had great difficulty in
holding its ground, and might have been destroyed but for the timely
arrival of the third division just before sunset. The British general
intrenched himself for the night in a strong position; and next morning,
realizing at length the difficulties of his enterprise, set out to
retire to the Caledon River. Before he reached it, however, a message
from Moshesh overtook him. That wary chief, who knew the real strength
of the British better than did his people, had been driven into the war
by their over-confidence and their reluctance to pay the cattle fine
which the Governor had demanded. Now that there was a chance of getting
out of it he resolved to seize that chance, and after a consultation
with one of the French missionaries, begged Sir George Cathcart for
peace, acknowledging himself to be the weaker party, and declaring that
he would do his best to keep his tribesmen in order. The Governor, glad
to be thus relieved of what might have proved a long and troublesome
war, accepted these overtures. The British army was marched back to Cape
Colony, and Moshesh thereafter enjoyed the fame of being the only native
potentate who had come out of a struggle with Great Britain virtually if
not formally