t the chief, Dingaan, should be
interviewed as to the approaching settlement of the Boers. The wily
Zulu received his late enemies with every show of amity. He offered
them refreshments, he made entertainments for their amusement. He
finally agreed to cede such territory as was demanded by the Boers,
provided they would secure to him certain cattle that had been
stolen from him by a chief named Sikonyela. This the Boers agreed to
do. They promptly travelled to see Sikonyela, and by threats,
persuasions, or other mysterious means, extracted from him his
ill-gotten gains. With the restored cattle the whole party of Boers
then passed on their way from Drakensberg to Natal, full of the hope
of finally making a settlement in a region so well suited to their
pastoral instincts.

On again visiting the chief Dingaan, they were again received with
honour. More festivities were arranged, and the date of the signing
of the treaty was fixed for the 4th of February 1838.

The day came. The burghers arrived in the customary picturesqueness
of woollen shirts, round hats, rough coats, and leathern
veldt-broeks. Dingaan, amiable to excess, insisted that they should
accompany him to his kraal, and there make a formal leave-taking.
They were requested to leave their arms outside as an earnest of
good faith, and, with some suspicion, they acceded. Their reception
was splendid. Their health was drunk, the calabash passed round, and
then--then, at a given signal from the chief, the Zulu hordes rushed
in, fully armed and raging. In less time than it takes to describe
the deed, the defenceless company of Boer farmers were slaughtered
in cold blood--slaughtered before they could lift even a fist in
self-defence! This horrible act of treachery served to do away at
one fell swoop with the whole Boer party. Their bones, piled in a
heap without the kraal, alone remained to tell to their kindred the
tale of their undoing. The Zulus then proceeded in their tens of
thousands to attack the nearest encampment, and cut down all who
came in their way. Men--women--children--they spared none. The
tidings being carried to the outer encampments of the Boers, they
prepared themselves for the worst. They and their gallant _vrows_,
who fought with as cool and obstinate a courage as their husbands,
resisted the onslaught staunchly and successfully; but they paid
dearly for their boldness. Their cattle were demolished, and their
numbers were miserably thinned.