strong, and against these some 500 or 600 of our troops were engaged.
We had only eight Europeans killed and four natives, and about twenty
wounded. The next day Colonel Pearson reached Ekowe. The position was
a strong one, as the place stood upon rising ground; it had been a
missionary station, and there was a church which could at the worst be
converted into a citadel.

"Colonel Pearson at once set to work to fortify the position. The same
evening the news arrived of the disaster at Isandula. After a
consultation with his officers Colonel Pearson decided to hold the spot
at which he now was, convinced that, without further supplies of
reinforcements, he could hold the place for two months. In order to
economise food, the mounted men and most of the natives were sent back,
and there remained 1200 British troops.

"Colonel Pearson at once commenced his preparations for a siege. Three
moderate-sized brick erections were turned into store-houses, and the
church into a hospital, the tower making a capital look-out; from this a
splendid view was obtained, the hill by the Tugela being clearly
visible. The men set to work to fortify the place. The intrenchments
were of a six-sided form, about sixty yards across, with a ditch outside
them eighteen feet deep and twelve feet wide. Assegais were planted in
the bottom. Added to the south side was a kraal for cattle and horses,
also defended by a small wall. Outside the fort were entanglements of
rows of felled trees and bushes. The supply of water was obtained from
a good well, outside the walls, but covered by the fire of the fort.
The guns were placed in position, and the garrison was ready for any
attack that might be made upon them. All these details we learned in
the early days of the siege by occasional messengers, who managed to
find their way through, but these had been few and far between; of
twelve messengers sent out the first week of February, only one got
through. The garrison had made several sorties, and had destroyed
Dabulamanzi's kraal. They also went out and cut off a large convoy of
cattle on its way to Ulundi."

"But how have they found out what is being done at Ekowe, if the first
week only one messenger got through out of twelve?" Dick said.

"By a very ingenious plan, Dick. For three weeks we knew nothing of
what was going on, and then it struck an engineer that communication
might be established by flashing signals."

"What are flashin