THE back of the rebellion was broken by the massacre it was not a battle in the Mome Gorge, on the 10th June. The police, to the number of about a hundred, under Sub-Inspector Esmonde White, were attached to Colonel Barker's column in the vicinity of Cetewayo's grave, when three men rode through the bush to deliver a dispatch from Colonel M' Kenzie to Colonel Barker, giving him orders to waylay an impi. Colonel M' Kenzie was encamped on the 'top of the heights, and as the dispatch had to be carried a distance of about fourteen miles through the enemy's country, and through the Nkandhla forest, in the dead of night, he called for volunteers from amongst the ranks of the Zululand Mounted Rifles. Troopers Johnson, Deeley, and Oliver were chosen for the dangerous but important duty. Had they failed it is possible that very few of the enemy would have been killed in the Mome Gorge. They succeeded in reaching Colonel Barker at 1.15 a.m., and the dispatch they carried ran :
" You will please move at once with all available men (leaving sufficient for the defence of your camp) to the mouth of the Mome Gorge. I have information that an impi is coming from Qudeni to enter the Mome Valley between now and dawn. Try to waylay it. ... You must take your Maxims, in case you meet the impi, which is reported to be of considerable strength."
It was pitch dark when the police were ordered to saddle up. Colonel Barker's column consisted of three squadrons of the Transvaal Mounted Rifles, a section of the Natal Field Artillery, a Maxim and one Colt gun of the Transvaal Rifles, and 100 Zululand native police, besides the Natal Police. This force was moved along the valley of the Insuzi, strict orders having been given that the march was to be performed as quietly as possible because it was not certain where the enemy were.
About 50 of the Natal Police were told off to escort the gun of the Transvaal Rifles, and this, as it was hauled over the stones up the hills, made a row that could easily have been heard a couple of miles away, in spite of all the men's efforts to make as little noise as possible. On the force rounding the shoulder of a hill near the gorge they could see fires dotted about in the valley, which is shaped in the form of a horse-shoe. There were fully threescore different fires counted, the Zulus evidently having a rest after their long march. Either their sentries had not heard, or had ignored the rattle of the guns over the boulders, for no sign of alarm was observed, though nothing could be seen except the distant points of light. Hundreds of men lay sleeping in the depression, utterly unconscious of the presence of the British force, which gradually and silently spread over the hill-tops until the natives were surrounded, trapped, and doomed.
Strict orders were again sent round that the utmost care was to be observed in avoiding making noise, and Colonel Barker planted his men quickly and stealthily.
Inspector Fairlie, with the native police, and Lieutenant Bettington, with the native levies, were sent out to occupy a position over the gorge, with the object of blocking the entrance and preventing the Zulus from reaching the thick bush, at the edge of which they were sleeping. They lost their lives through superstition, for had they gone a little farther and slept in amongst the trees they would have been safe ; but no native would dare to enter the Nkandhla forest the place where Cetewayo's remains lie after nightfall.
Two squadrons of the Transvaal Rifles, with a Maxim, were placed on the ridge at the east of the horse-shoe, and another squadron, with the 50 Natal Police and big gun, took up their position on the western ridge. Other guns, with an escort of Natal Police, were placed on a kopje to the south, to cut off the enemy's retreat in the direction of the Insuzi.
All this time, apparently, the impi slept peacefully. Besides the darkness, there was a slight mist, and though not the form of a single Zulu could be distinguished, some one, through impatience or nervousness, fired a shot. A moment or two later pandemonium reigned.
No fighting force ever organized could have made much of a stand against such an appalling stream of lead as that which poured down on to the sleeping natives. At comparatively close range shrapnel was hurled into their midst, and from everywhere round them big guns, Maxims, pom-poms, and rifles were belching forth shot as fast as the men could work. Aiming was done by guess-work in the direction of the fires, but it was remarkably successful, for rows and rows of Zulus were afterwards discovered dead in their blankets. They had been riddled as they slept. Startled from sleep, many of the natives grasped their weapons hastily and tried to form up into a body, but the odds against them were so overwhelming that they could do nothing, and the slaughter was complete when the first streaks of dawn stole across the sky. A few Zulus crept away and escaped, but the valley was lined with hundreds of torn bodies, and the sight when day broke was one which brought a touch of nausea to nearly every white man who had taken part in the shooting.
Bambata and Mehlokazulu, and other leaders, were amongst those who got out of the valley. They, with the remnants of the impi, passed along the bed of the stream, but only fell into the hands of the column under Colonel M'Kenzie. Bambata was killed while endeavouring to escape into the main bush. For purposes of identification, his head was cut off. Mehlokazulu, who also fell, had been one of Cetewayo's fighting generals, and is said to have been in command of the force which crossed the border into Natal prior to the Zulu War of 1879, and, having secured two coloured women, refused to give them up. This incident to some extent helped to cause that war.
There was a small bush at one side of the gorge, and when it was light enough to see properly, the police were sent to clear it. A good many Zulus were turned out, and were shot as they ran, but Sub-inspector White's men had some narrow escapes owing to a number of the natives " playing 'possum." Pretending to be dead, they lay still, and then got up suddenly to stab the nearest white man. Several of the Zulus who had attempted this trick were shot just as they were going to use their assegai. One of the enemy was lying apparently dead across a path, and Sub-Inspector White and several others stepped over his body. A trooper, more inquisitive than the others, looked closely at him.
" This cove is alive. I swear I saw him wink," he called out, and fired point blank at the Zulu with his revolver. The shot missed, and the " dead " man promptly scrambled to his feet, starting to bolt down a side path. He would not have got far, for several revolvers were levelled at him, but Mr. White told his men not to fire. The trooper who shot at the native on the ground had had his opportunity ; now the Zulu was given a chance, and he disappeared, possibly escaping altogether.
Later in the day the troopers and Zululand native police joined Colonel M'Kenzie's column and drove the bush, many more rebels being killed, several of them being shot in the trees up which they had climbed. Only about twenty of the Natal Police were able to take part in this last drive, most of them being tired out. They had had sixteen hours' work, and the marches had been over the roughest possible ground. They had carried some rations, but were hungry, thirsty, and exhausted when, long after sundown, they arrived back at Colonel Barker's camp.
It was estimated that over five hundred Zulus were killed during the day, and only one of the British force met his death. This was Captain Macfarlane, D.S.O., of the Transvaal Mounted Rifles. Only eleven of the attacking force were wounded, one of these being Trooper F. Fergusen, of the Natal Police, who was stabbed in the groin with an assegai.
