CHAP. XVII. 
THE BOOMAH PASS. 
129 
was like the laws of the Medes and Persians. Sir 
Harry Smith was at the time Grovernor and Commander- 
in-Chief in the colony of the Cape of Grood Hope. 
The rebellious and warlike indications of the 
Kafirs were reported to him at Cape Town. He was, 
however, at first incredulous of their intentions, and in 
reply to a petition from the frontier farmers quoted the 
non-existence of certain indications which always pre¬ 
cede Kafir wars. He was therefore much surprised 
afterwards to find that the very circumstances on the 
absence of which he relied were actually at that mo¬ 
ment taking place on the frontier. 
Sandilli, the paramount chief of ail Kafirland proper, 
was at the head of the war party ; and seeing that war 
was inevitable, Colonel Mackinnon ordered a column of 
troops to march from King William’s Town to Fort 
Cox, where a camp was formed. Each of the two great 
chiefs of Kaffraria had a Resident Commissioner residing 
at their great kraal; thus, Mr. Charles Brownlee re¬ 
sided with Sandilli at Burns Hill, near Fort Cox ; whilst 
Colonel Maclean was Umhala’s, or the Tzlambie Com¬ 
missioner, residing at Fort Murray. Sandilli’s tribes 
were called the Graikas. 
When the troops were collected at Fort Cox a 
demand was made on Sandilli—through Commissioner 
Brownlee, for restitution of the property stolen from 
the Colony, and compensation for the murder of British 
K 
