DEFENCE OF EKOWE. 
453 
well—-we did not notice a single case of “ blind 99 shell, although 
40 rounds of this nature were fired. The rockets, as I expected, 
proved of little value; so much had been said of their moral effect 
on savages, but, to my mind, the Zulus displayed the utmost 
contempt for them. The enormous 24-pr. Hale's war rocket fired 
from tubes by the Naval Brigade seemed to cause as much anxiety 
to our own men as to the enemy. 
The column now pursued its route with delay, and bivouacked for 
the night on a ridge about three miles from the battle field. We 
started again at daybreak on the following morning and arrived at 
Ekowe mission station about noon. 
This Norwegian mission station is built on a high range of hills 
overlooking the sea; in the distance were large rugged mountains^ 
over which lay our path to Ulundi. The station itself consisted of a 
small church, the parsonage, school, and a few out-houses, built of 
brick with thatched roofs, all being hidden away among plantations, 
orange groves and gum trees—it was a most picturesque spot;. The 
approach to the station was across fairly level meadow-land, with 
clumps of magnificent trees and patches of bush here and there; 
while close to the church was a lovely little bubbling stream shaded 
by forest trees. It seemed such a pity to destroy a beautiful, peaceful- 
looking little spot of this sort. The site was well adapted for a 
mission station, but was by no means a position on which to build 
a fort. It was commanded on three sides by rising ground within 
rifle range, while on the fourth side a ravine covered with bush ran 
up within a few yards of it; but, of course, the church and out¬ 
houses were invaluable as a hospital and storehouses, so that this site 
was chosen in preference to others which were better suited for defence. 
Our orders were to form an advanced depot at Ekowe, to construct 
a fort there, and, having completed our work, to move forward on 
Ulundi, leaving a sufficient garrison behind us. We were naturally in 
high spirits; our column had so far progressed admirably. We had 
encountered and defeated the enemy, and were fully convinced that 
with good honest work we ought to be on our way to Ulundi within 
two weeks' time. 
Having, therefore, pitched our camp round the mission station, 
with the parsonage as Head-Quarters, we commenced to clear away 
everything which could afford cover to an enemy; the magnificent 
trees gradually disappeared, the gardens and orange groves were cut 
away, and out-houses, too far distant for use, were blown up. When 
this clearance was completed, ground was broken and the fort itself 
commenced. 
It was now 28th January, but such a miserable system of inter¬ 
communication between the different columns existed, that at this date 
we were in total ignorance of the disastrous battle of Isandhlwana, which 
had been fought on the same day and at the same hour as the action of 
the Inyezane—so much so, that we actually sent down our empty 
56 
