186 Blade Population of Natal. 



vating small patches of maize in hidden ravines, or living upon 

 wild roots and shell-fish. Beyond the military posts of the 

 Zulu conqueror the entire country was a 'desert. 



After some preliminary negotiation, Chaka gave the English 

 settlers permission to occupy territory at the Bay, and pro- 

 mised them his protection. One of the settlers, Mr. H. Fynn, 

 was raised to the dignity of subordinate chieftainship. In 

 the year 1828 Chaka's term of power came to a violent end. 

 He was murdered at the instigation of his brother Dingaan, 

 who thereupon proceeded to throw the royal skin over his 

 own shoulders, and as one of the first acts of his rule, 

 summoned all chieftains, who had shown fidelity to his brother, 

 to appear before him. Mr. Fynn knew too well what this 

 meant, to obey the summons; and retired with his followers 

 beyond the Umzinkulu, until he was able to come to an under- 

 .standing with Dingaan. He returned in 1831, and was then 

 recognized by Dingaan as the " Great Chief of the Zulu 

 Kaffirs. 



So early as the year 1827, refugee Kaffirs had commenced 

 to return into Natal under the guarantee afforded by the 

 presence of the pale faces. Some of these refugees came 

 from the north, and some from the south. The influx now 

 increased. In 1836 there were 1000 adult male Kaffirs in 

 Natal, able to bear the shield and assegai, and paying alle- 

 giance to the English. Two years subsequently the white chiefs 

 could muster a following of 2100 armed Kaffirs. The Kaffir 

 population at that time numbered 10,000 individuals, men, 

 women, and children. 



It was in this year, 1 836, that the party of Dutch emigrants, 

 under the guidance of Jacobus Uys, Hendrick Potgietei*, and 

 Pieter Beiteif, descended into Natal by a central pass which 

 Beiteif had discovered through the Drakenberg Mountains. 

 From this time fresh accessions of Dutch rapidly flowed down, 

 and a period of conflict between these Dutch pioneers, and the 

 Zulu chieftain ensued ; which, after a series of vicissitudes, 

 ended finally in the year 1839, in the destruction of Dingaan, 

 after a signal defeat of his regiments, and in the establishment 

 of Umpanda, the brother of Dingaan, who had been for some 

 time a fugitive in the Natal territory, as supreme chief of the 

 Zulus. Umpanda assumed his seat on the principles of white 

 alliance, and in the interests of peace. He paid a subsidy of 

 36,000 head of cattle to the Dutch when he began his reign. 



The Dutch settlers in their turn became involved in dis- 

 putes with the British Government, as has already been stated. 

 When, in the year 1842, the Dutch flag finally went down 

 before the British, and the Dutchmen within the Natalian 

 territory became subjects of the British Crown, the friendly 



