464 
DEFENCE OF EKOWE. 
as yet there was little stir. I was looking over the parapet at the 
horses in the ditch below, when I heard quite distinctly the boom ” 
of a gun in the distance. I at once said to myself “ the column is 
about to commence its march.'” I ran towards the middle of the fort 
to inform Colonel Pearson, but he was already astir; in fact, the whole 
camp was alive as if by magic. We listened for the second gun; the 
clear sounding “ boom ” again fell on our ears, but was quickly fol¬ 
lowed by a third report! The battle had commenced ! It was no 
march ! In no time we were running as hard as our legs could carry 
us to the nearest point whence we could see the laager in the plain 
below. This point was about 300 yards from the fort. On arriving 
there I saw the laager enveloped in smoke, and could distinctly hear a 
terrific rattle of musketry and the booming of guns, and could see the 
rockets flying in all directions. It was a lovely, still, clear morning 
with a slight mist at first rising from the plain, but this soon cleared 
off, and with the aid of glasses and telescopes we made out fairly well 
what was taking place. The Zulus seemed to have surrounded the 
laager and to have made a most desperate rush, for their fire was 
apparently close to the wagons. They were met by a perfect blaze of 
fire which checked them. The incessant roar of musketry went on 
for about twenty minutes, when the enemy appeared to be retreating 
slowly and the fire slackened. 
We did not for a moment doubt what the result of the battle would 
be; but at the same time our excitement was intense as we felt that on 
the issue depended our safety, and should anything unforeseen occur 
whereby the Zulus would gain the day we knew that the only hope was 
to try and cut our way back to the Tugela, for at this time we had only 
three more days provisions left. 
There was a deep sense of relief amongst us when we observed the 
Zulus commence to waver. Those looking through the telescopes 
informed the remainder of the different movements observed. “ Now 
the cavalry are coming out from the laager,” I heard. We knew that 
victory rested with us. Sure enough the mounted men had emerged 
from the square and were charging the enemy. The Zulus were now 
retreating precipitately, keeping up a dropping fire. In a few minutes 
firing ceased altogether, and this short but decisive battle was over, 
having lasted only 40 minutes. The Zulu loss in this engagement was 
700 killed. They fought with the greatest determination, many dead 
bodies being discovered within 30 yards of the trenches, while four 
were found within a few yards of the muzzle of the Gatling gun. 
The loss on our side was comparatively small, two officers and six 
men killed, two officers and 30 men wounded. The Zulu force engaged 
in this spirited attack was estimated at 12,000 men, while the “ relief 
column ” was composed of 4,000 whites and 3,000 blacks. 
We “ flashed” congratulations to Lord Chelmsford on his success, 
and were in turn informed that three regiments of infantry would 
march to our relief next day, and that Fort Ekowe was to be abandoned 
altogether as the General considered that the coast road was preferable. 
This latter piece of news was as disagreeable to us as the former was 
pleasant. It was too annoying to think that all our work had been 
