. Battles of the nineteenth century . rol had found anative to guide them, had followed the Kingsspoor for distance, and passed several 112 BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. scherms full of women, children, and they fell in with some of the Kings men,who offered no resistance, possibly imaginingthat this was the advance guard of the wholecolumn, and that the dreaded Maxims were closebehind. An officer, who was acting as inter-preter, shouted to the natives that the whitemen would not injure them, but wanted to talkto the King. Just as it was getting dark, theyapproached some
. Battles of the nineteenth century . rol had found anative to guide them, had followed the Kingsspoor for distance, and passed several 112 BATTLES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. scherms full of women, children, and they fell in with some of the Kings men,who offered no resistance, possibly imaginingthat this was the advance guard of the wholecolumn, and that the dreaded Maxims were closebehind. An officer, who was acting as inter-preter, shouted to the natives that the whitemen would not injure them, but wanted to talkto the King. Just as it was getting dark, theyapproached some scherms, in one of which, the at once despatched Captain Borrow to MajorWilson with a reinforcement of twenty men,while he explained in a letter that he wouldcross the river at daylight with the column tojoin him. At dawn, the column under Major Forbesprepared to advance, and, while doing so, hea^yfiring was heard across the river, showing thatWilsons party was already in action with theenemy. Major Forbes followed the Kings spoor i. TWHoris MR. RILEV. UMJAN. MR. DAWSON.(The waggon is the one in which Messrs Dawson and Riley returned from the Shangani with the Kings wives as described.) guide told them, was the King himself. Anumber of armed Matabele came out withthreatening action ready to protect the waggons,and were surrounding the patrol. A heavyrain-storm now rendered the obscurity intense,so Major Wilson was compelled to retire, andtook up his position for the night in the bushhalf a mile away. Major Forbes, hemmed in as he was by the■enemys impi, would have been guilty of extremerashness had he ventured to take his whole forceand his Maxims across a difficult river andthrough dense bush on a dark night, when theMatabele could have easily rushed the columnwith their assegais and annihilated it ; but he towards the Shangani drift, and no sooner hadthe column reached the high river bank than aheavy fire was opened on it by the enemy con-cealed in the surrounding bush. Th
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublisherlondo, bookyear1901
