270 THE BRIG MARY WRECKED. 



tribes, great apprehensions were afterwards enter- 

 tained at the Cape for the safety of Mr. Farewell and 

 his party, some length of time having elapsed with- 

 out receiving certain intelligence respecting them. 

 Captain King having arrived from England, in 

 a brig called the Mary, about this period, when 

 many rumours were afloat concerning their dis- 

 tressed situation, he volunteered to proceed with 

 his vessel to Natal, in order to ascertain their precise 

 condition, and render such assistance as might be 

 required. Several merchants and other inhabitants 

 of Cape Town generously subscribed towards the 

 expenses of the voyage. He sailed accordingly with 

 these intentions ; but his vessel was unfortunately 

 wrecked at the entrance of the Port. He found, 

 however, that Lieutenant Farewell and his party 

 were not in the unpleasant circumstances which the 

 fears of their friends in the Colony had led them to 

 apprehend. With the assistance of his crew, Cap- 

 tain King constructed a small schooner out of the 

 materials of the wreck, and called it the Elizabeth 

 and Susan, in which he returned to Algoa Bay in 

 May, 1828, with the two ambassadors sentbyChaka, 

 to learn what reception their Chief was likely to 

 meet with on approaching the Colonial frontier. It 

 was understood that Chaka would await an answer 

 at St. John's River, with a force sufficiently strong 

 to overcome any opposition that might be offered to 

 him by the intermediate tribes. 



