iplatti otl 
MOUTH OF THE UMVOTI HIVHIt, ON THE INDIAN OCEAN, NATAL. 
Tins scene will lie better described by an extract from iny journal kept during my travels in South Africa; it bears 
date September 5th, 1*47. “Rode from the Umvoti Mission station, in com pan j with the Rev. Aldine Grout, to see the 
mouth of the river, where it empties itselt into the Indian Ocean. Our path lay for eight or ten miles along open 
grassy hills, with here and there a huge euphorbium-tree, or a clump of lmsh from which waved the graceful strafitzia, 
with its broad leaves split into ribands by the wind. From out of the long grass, which was frequently up to our 
horses’ middle, we put up antelopes and wild boars, and saw the secretary-bird, and the rhiuoceros-hombill feeding on the 
slopes of the hills where the grass had been burnt. Descending by an elephant-path to the shore, we found ourselves 
on the firm white sand, where the river, after taking a sharp angular turn, empties itself into the ocean. Just at this 
spot four lions, that had probably been dodging the timid riet-bucks behind the bushes, seeing they were surprised, 
bounded off into the adjoining reeds, carrying their tails erect in the air. The surf-rollers were dashing upon the shore, 
driven on by a fresh east wind, and the glow of evening had settled over the landscape, imparting a soft golden lustre 
to every object that composed this solitary, yet beautiful, scene. There were some alligators basking in the last rays of 
the sun upon the smooth yellow sand that formed the boundary between the river and the ocean; and a huge crane, 
with slow and steady Hap, winged its homeward flight across the marshes.” 
The scene in the Plate is looking along the coast towards the north-east, shewing the rich hills that rise beyond 
the reedy swamps that mark the mouth of the river. These reeds abound with hippopotami, which lie concealed during 
the day amidst mud ami water, leaving their hiding-places at. night to graze in the pastures around. The trees to the 
left are the strelltzia alba; the blue convolvulus, the palmetto, and the amaryllis, grow abundantly amongst the brushwood 
upon the shore. Not far from the mouth of the Umvoti is the site of King Chaka's great, kraal, which was the largest 
in the kingdom, and was totally destroyed after the assassination of that monarch by his brother Diugaan. 
Journal, .Sept. 3d. “ ( rossiug the river, we rode through a country pretty thickly scattered with mimosa-trees and 
low bushes till we arrived at the spot where the capital of the Zulus once stood. It was a lonely and desolate place, 
and it was not without some difficulty that we traced the ruins of ancient hearths and fireplaces beneath the almost 
impenetrable covering of weeds and bushes that now waved rank and green above the mouldering relics of the past. This 
great kraal was situated on the slopes of two hills, with a depression in the middle, unlike any other 1 have seen : at the 
upper end was the ‘ issigothlo, or seraglio, where C’haka was assassinated : his body lies buried beneath a heap of stones 
close by, but the exact locality is known only to one individual, who will on no account divulge the secret. It was here 
we met with many human bones, and heaps of others belonging to the oxen slaughtered by Umpanda to the spirit of 
Chaka lay whitening among the grass. The dancing-ground was more clear of bushes than the spot where Chaka fell, 
and some of the polished clay floors and fireplaces remained, distinctly marking the positions of the huts. But all is 
desolate now—the spoiler has been there; the soil where blood was poured out, and the despot of Africa held his 
court revels to the groans of his tortured victims, is now covered with a rank and waving wilderness. The pale 
glowworm shines beneath the dark bushes that shade the ashes of the harem; and the toad and the serpent lie in the 
damp places that once served as granaries for the busy multitude.” 
