CAPE COLONY AND BRITISH SOUTH AFRICA. 



a heavy loss to the assailants. Twelve hundred 

 Basutos attacked Mohales Hoek, where the 

 magistrate had a small garrison, on the 20th of 

 September, and were beaten off. The attack 

 was renewed on the 21st, and was again re- 

 pelled. The position was relieved, a few days 

 afterward, by the arrival of colonial troops 

 under Colonel Southey. The situation in Ba- 

 sutoland had become by this time very grave. 

 The area of the rebellion was increasing, and 

 the discontent, which had at first been confined 

 to eastern Basutoland, broke out in the country 

 west of the Drakenberg. An English commis- 

 sioner and two magistrates, with about one hun- 

 dred men, had gone up to pacify the people of 

 the latter district, but without success. The sit- 

 uation had become alarming in East Griqualand, 

 and the Pondos and Galekas were restless. An 

 attack was made by the Basutos on Maseru, 

 which was held by Colonel Bayley with about 

 five hundred men, October 10th, and was con- 

 tinued from morning till midnight. The rebels 

 advanced in great force after dusk, and reached 

 to within seventy yards of Fort Gordon and to 

 within thirty yards of the residency. The 

 Government office and barracks, the church, 

 schoolrooms, dwellings, and stojes were burned, 

 after which the enemy retired, still holding 

 Colonel Bayley shut up. Lethorodi had in 

 the mean time been concentrating his forces 

 near Mafeteng, and had succeeded in isolating 

 Colonel Carrington, who was there with a 

 rather smaller force than that of Colonel Bay- 

 ley at Maseru. A body of sixteen hundred 

 and sixty men and officers, one thousand of 

 whom were mounted, with two guns, was 

 collected at Wapener, in the Orange Free 

 State, under Brigadier-General Clark, who had 

 taken command of the colonial forces, and 

 marched October 19th, and relieved Mafeteng 

 on the next day. The Basutos opposed a more 

 vigorous resistance to the relieving force than 

 had been anticipated, and compelled an active 

 contest, but were finally repulsed on every side. 

 The principal disaster to the British was suffered 

 by the First Regiment of Yeomanry, which was 

 charged upon by a large body of Basutos, and 

 lost forty-two killed and wounded. The relief 

 of the post was effected opportunely, for the 

 provisions of the garrison were running short. 

 After this success, a proclamation was issued 

 by the Government, offering protection to all 

 rebels who would surrender with their arms 

 and ammunition. Lethorodi's village was cap- 

 tured by Colonel Carrington on the 22d of Oc- 

 tober. Mr. Hamilton Hope, magistrate at Qum 

 bo, and his two clerks, were treacherously mur 

 dered by Pondos under Umhlonhlo, who, pro- 

 fessing loyalty, surrounded and stabbed them 

 under pretense of performing a war-dance, and 

 then destroyed the telegraph station. Other 

 Europeans at the place escaped. The Europeans 

 at Tsolo, with the magistrate, were threatened, 

 but were relieved with the assistance of friend- 

 ly Pondos. General Clark, having burned the 

 village of the chief Moletsane, successfully 



stormed his mountain stronghold on the 31st of 

 October. While this action was going on, a 

 large body of natives attacked the small num- 

 ber of colonial troops holding Lethorodi's vil- 

 lage and compelled them to evacuate it. 



On the 2d of November the rebels had been 

 driven out of the Matadile district in Caffraria ; 

 on the 12th the defeat of the rebel chief Umh- 

 lonhlo was announced, and the presence was 

 reported of a sufficient force to suppress the re- 

 bellion in Griqualand East. On the 20th the 

 Premier of Cape Colony telegraphed to the Brit- 

 ish Government that the resources of the colony 

 were apparently equal to the requirements for 

 suppressing the rebellion, and that the Govern- 

 ment had no intention of applying for imperial 

 troops. Sir Bartle Frere was recalled from 

 the office of High Commissioner at the begin- 

 ning of August, the dispatch announcing his 

 recall assigning the action of the Cape Parlia- 

 ment in refusing the conference on confedera- 

 tion as the reason for it. A considerable party 

 in the colony adhered to the late Commissioner, 

 a meeting of which at Cape Town passed reso- 

 lutions of sympathy with him in the difficulties 

 he had had to deal with, and asserted that before 

 long the people of England as well as of the 

 colonies would acknowledge the soundness and 

 justice of his policy. An address was presented 

 to him on his departure, September 15th, by 

 deputations which included delegates from the 

 eastern frontier and from Natal. Replying to 

 it, he said that the action he had taken with 

 reference to Natal and the Transvaal was either 

 a great service or a great crime, and he highly 

 valued the favorable verdict of the inhabitants 

 of Natal. 



On the 17th of November Colonel Carring- 

 ton was attacked on all sides by the enemy 

 when three days out from Mafeteng. The at- 

 tacks were repelled, and the main body of the 

 colonial detachment fell back to Mafeteng. A 

 colonial force under Captain Van Hinsingen 

 was attacked by Tembus in Caffraria, and the 

 Captain, four other white men, and fifty Fin- 

 goes were killed. Jonathan Moloppo and his 

 Basutos, who had hitherto been considered 

 friendly to the British, broke out into open 

 revolt, and twice attacked the residency at 

 Laribe, but were beaten back on each occasion. 

 Colonel Wavell went to the assistance of the 

 Resident, defeated the Basutos, and captured 

 large numbers of cattle. The Basutos were 

 afterward dislodged from the mountains near 

 Laribe, to which they had withdrawn. A col- 

 umn of troops was sent out near the end of 

 November for patrolling operations in Tembu- 

 land and Griqualand East, and met with suc- 

 cess in the capture of stock from the natives. 

 On the 1st of December Colonel Carrington 

 was out patrolling with six hundred men, when 

 he was almost entirely surrounded by the 

 enemy. His only gun was disabled, and he 

 was delivered from his precarious situation by 

 the infantry marching in square off from the 

 camp, and bringing with them another gun. 



