Anxious groups of men were waiting about the square, and at the public offices, for any fresh gleam of intelligence, and the busy hum of voices did not cease till morning dawned. On the 23rd, barricades were raised, fourteen feet high, with gates in the centre, of sufficient width only to admit one carriage or cart at a time. Iron chains were laid across the streets, as it was rumoured that the Caffres intended coming in amongst droves of cattle; seemingly supposing that, from the colour of the cattle being mostly black, and the confusion that would ensue, they would be better able to screen themselves. Cannon were also placed at the corners of the streets and the barricades. All day long, families came pouring in from the surrounding districts, adding to the alarm and dismay by their separate tales of sorrow and woe; some had lost husbands and fathers, others had lost all their earnings and savings of years, and the husband and father of their children. On the morning of the 24th, a militia was formed, and a mounted corps established, called the Graham's Town Volunteers, companies of which were sent off to assist the troops in intercepting the progress of the Caffres, others to escort the families of the farmers who were hurrying to town. Before night, every male capable of handling a musket was under arms. A picket of men were placed at night on the flat-roofed houses of a Mr. N., a merchant whose block of buildings occupied a large portion of one side of the square, and which were considered in the best position to protect their stronghold the church. In the stables, large yards, &c., &c., of these houses, one hundred mounted men were billeted; a guard was also placed at each barricade, and the gates were ordered to be closed at six in the evening, and could not be opened except by a written order from a commanding officer. Mounted patrols and soldiers were placed at night on the surrounding hills. On the morning of the 25th, Christmas Day, the militia first came to parade. Their appearance at any other time would have been ludicrous enough, for never have I beheld a more motley assemblage; and, to judge from the gesticulations and rage of the old sergeant who drilled them, they did not take kindly to their new profession of arms. I must not forget to say, though, that they managed much better after some experience; and some ladies presented them with a splendid set of colours, very nicely embroidered. Just before they dispersed, a mounted express came in, bringing, amongst other intelligence, the frightful news that a respectable merchant of Graham's Town, and his father-in-law, had been cruelly murdered, and that the wife of one of the sufferers and her grandchild were then within two miles of town. A carriage was immediately despatched for them, and they soon drove up the square, where they were greeted with tears of sympathy and distress by all; for Mr. H. was deservedly loved for his many noble and good qualities. The little girl had her dress stained with the blood of her father, and as she looked around her, she held up her arm, and said, "See, see the blood of my poor papa." I think I still hear the shriek of the agonised and bereaved mother, as, coming up, anxiously expecting her family, the fearful truth burst upon her. Mr. H. had been for some time seriously ill, and had been staying at the farm of his father-in-law, with two of his children. On the intelligence reaching them of the outbreak, the whole party, conMarch-VOL. XCIV. NO. CCCLXXV. sisting of Mr. and Mrs. M., Mr. H., and his two children, left the farm in a bullock-waggon, and were within six miles of Graham's Town, when they were attacked by Caffres; and while some of the marauders unyoked the oxen and drove them off, others attacked the waggon. Poor Mr. H. lay sick and helpless; and as the Caffres commenced stabbing him with assegys, his little girl, a most beautiful child, fearlessly attempted to pull them out; until a Caffre threw her from the waggon, and giving her a shawl, told her and her grandmother to be off, or they would murder them. They then crushed poor Mr. H.'s head with the waggon-chest. Mr. M. ran about six hundred yards, endeavouring to escape; but they quickly pursued him, and he fell dying, in the act of stanching a wound in his neck. A little boy, son of Mr. H., was lost in the mêlée, and supposed by poor Mrs. M. to be also murdered, as no trace could be seen of him when she left. Strange to say, amongst such ruthless savages they do not willingly molest either women or children; and during the whole of the war I only heard of one woman being killed, and that was through an assegy being thrown through the window of a lone farm-house, the owner of which was a marked man. It was a redeeming point in their character, as women and children must have been constantly in their power, for many families were hid in bushes and holes until a favourable opportunity occurred of joining some patrol to town. The Sunday following these early events was also worthy of being marked. I never can forget the appearance the church presented as we entered it for morning service. Round the pulpit and reading-desk were piled stands of arms; and barrels and heaps of gunpowder, and other ammunition, were up at the communion-table, and a guard of soldiers was mounted to protect them. Groups of Fingoes (who also came into town for protection), Dutch families, poor people, all were bivouacked— may I make use of the expression-in the house of prayer. Solemn and impressive was the service of that day; and, to judge from the sobs and emotion of the congregation, the beautiful portion of Scripture and sermon selected must have sunk deep into the hearts of all, and carried consolation and hope even unto the most desolate. After service, an immense sensation was created in town, by the appearance of a Caffre, with the missing child of poor Mr. H. in his arms. The Caffre, it appeared, had been, up to the month preceding the outbreak, in the service of Mr. M., and had grown fond of the child. He happened to be one of the party who attacked the father; and although he assisted in the murder, his heart failed him at the sight of the child, and apprehensive for its safety, he fled with it into a bush, and there fed it for some days on wild berries and flour and water, until the health of the child (previously delicate) caused him so much alarm that he came into town with it in his arms, fearless for himself until he had placed it in safety, when he attempted to get away, but he was stopped; and on being asked what could have caused him to assist in the murder of Mr. H., who was so ill, he said that he thought he was doing Mr. H. a service, as he was so ill he could not get better. The poor child, only four years of age, did not long survive its escape, for the exposure to cold and privation it had suffered, caused it to bring on a complaint from which the poor little sufferer soon died. On the Monday, a company of volunteers from Algoa Bay, with a captain of the Graham's Town Volunteers in command, went as an escort to a bullock-waggon, to bring in the bodies of poor Mr. H. and M. Soon after arriving at the spot, a false alarm arose that the Caffres were in sight, when immediately the gallant Algoa Bay people turned, mounted their horses, and fled, leaving their captain and the driver to bring in the bones of the poor sufferers (for the hyæna and wolf had done their work) in safety to town. A few days now elapsed, although each day brought its own tale of bloodshed and arson, some well-known farmer or individual coldly murdered, yet people were almost beginning to view these things calmly, they happened so often; and they were still too anxiously expecting to hear that the Caffres were upon them, for each patrol that came in had been pursued, or had had chance shots fired at them within a mile or two of town. At last, on the night of the 8th or 9th of January, an alarm was given by the out-pickets on the hills that an immense body of Caffres were assembled in Grobler's Kloof, and others were seen coming up from all directions. The inhabitants of the town soon caught the alarm. The church bell again tolled forth. The houses were all illuminated; lighted tar-barrels were placed every six hundred yards in the streets; additional guards were placed at the barricades. The militia were called out; an extra company of them sent to guard the Skit Kraal, or Pound, where there were 800 head of cattle; and from the Caffres generally trying to sweep them off first if they can, it was of course necessary to double the guard. At length everything appeared ready for action. For a little while a rather smart fire was kept up by the hill guards, and of course caused the people in town the greatest possible anxiety; but at length it ceased, and morning dawned with no appearance of a renewal of the promised invasion. It has been supposed that the Caffres had got alarmed at the sudden lighting-up and commotion in the town, and so, after a slight skirmish, when a few of them were wounded, they retired to their jungle (the Cowie Bush). It was stated that the Caffres at one time were round the town in such overwhelming numbers, that the parties on the hills could scarcely bear the horrible effluvia that always accompanies them. On viewing all the occurrences of that memorable night, the people congratulated themselves indeed that no further mischief had been done; for I have often heard it stated, by people who could be allowed to judge, that had the Caffres actually come into the town, half of it would have been burnt down, and the people sacrificed, before any resistance could have been made, in spite of arrangements so well carried out. For imagine, gentle readers, one of our gallant captains of militia, put on guard at a most distinguished post, actually sank fainting into the arms of his men at the first tocsin of alarm! A major of militia turned pale, and declared himself so ill, that he also forsook his post, and was carried home (to run away another day)! A gallant cavalier of the mounted corps, dressed in a peagreen cloak, and a wide-awake hat with a splendid ornament of ostrich feathers, and the butt-end of his rifle sticking up by the side of his neck, forsook his troop altogether, and galloping about furiously, with his wife following in her carriage, hoping to make their escape, as soon as the Caffres appeared, to Algoa Bay, or some other place! I think it was a night or two after this that another alarm sounded, and the militia turned out, and it was even said that the Caffres were already in the town; and as a drove of cattle was seen hurrying down the hill to the main entrance of the town, the excitement increased. It turned out to be a poor Irishman and some women and children. This poor fellow had heard of the murder of his brothers-in-law, and that their wives and children were alone in the bush, and gallantly resolved to set out in search of them, alone; and he was rewarded in finding them, and this drove of cattle, that had by some means strayed from the Caffres, and succeeded in bringing them in safety to town. Acts of bravery and courage, almost unprecedented, were frequently occurring amongst the poor settlers and farmers; and I have often heard of them managing to beat off the Caffres, when they were sometimes twenty to one of them. One particular instance, I recollect hearing, of six Dutch farmers, who, stationed on a small hill, found themselves surrounded by 500 Caffres, and managed to defend themselves until they were unexpectedly relieved, although they had been the whole day on the hill, and had fired till their guns had become so hot that they could scarcely load them. A few days again elapsed, when intelligence came in of another gentleman from Graham's Town having fallen a victim to the Caffres. He, Mr. B., had a farm close to that of Mr. M. before mentioned; and as he had built a substantial stone house, with a flat roof on it, he felt himself comparatively safe, as he knew the Caffres too well to suppose they would molest him whilst in it. The Caffres, however, hovered about it for days, and endeavoured by all manner of means to get Mr. B. out, but of no avail, until at last they entreated him to come and speak to their chief, and he most foolishly agreed to the proposition, when they seized him, dragged him up a hill, and beat him to death with their knobkerries. The Caffres scarcely ever forget an injury, and several people who had fallen under their displeasure were sought for at the outbreak, and followed until they could wreak their vengeance upon them. Poor Mr. M. and Mr. B., whose farms adjoined, were both marked men. Their farms abounded in the red clay or ochre that the Caffres rub their bodies with, and as these fellows were continually in the habit of stealing horses and cattle whenever they came, they were warned repeatedly that an example would be made of them by being sent to Graham's Town Gaol; and as they did not heed the threats, a party of them were seized and sent; and this was the cause of their waiting so determinedly around the house of Mr. B., until they gained their object, in revenging their imprisonment by his death. A The Caffres are well-known cowards, and never openly attack a house. party of them will first secure the cattle and horses, and another will set fire to the house, and wait until the inhabitants come out, to murder them; for they are always afraid of being overpowered by numbers, and never enter the house until they are pretty certain the fire has brought all out that were in it; they then commence breaking and destroying every thing within their reach, nothing escapes them. In one instance, a gentleman had to fly with his family from his house, before he had even secured his plate; and the Caffres, finding it, took it and melted it up for bullets. They always secured all the iron-pot legs they could find, for when they were short of ammunition for their guns, they made no scruples in placing bits of iron two and three inches long in them; and I remember a poor young officer that was wounded having two pieces of iron taken out of his leg and thigh, almost three inches in length. An interval of some weeks had now elapsed, and all further apprehension of another attack on the town gradually subsided. Other evils were now felt. The increase of so large an addition to the population, caused provisions to be so raised in price, that the inhabitants formed a board of relief for those who had been rendered destitute by the ravages of the Caffres. A fever, too, broke out, of so virulent a character that it carried off a great number of people in a very short time, and it continued in the town, increasing and lessening in its severity, until the end of the war. The 72nd Regiment had arrived some three weeks after the first outbreak, and Colonel Smith was also there to take command. Martial law was proclaimed; and several ludicrous scenes occurred about this time, from merchants refusing to mount guard, and being marched off by a file of soldiers to the guard-house. And during this time several conflicts had ensued between the Caffres and the troops in Caffreland; and so little advantage had we gained by them, that Colonel Smith at last went up himself with a large force, and there remained until he brought the war to a peaceful conclusion. I need not, after what I have already written, continue repeating the sufferings of the poor frontier colonist; they are already too well known. I can only pray, that if the war which is now raging be brought to as good a conclusion as the first was, that no representations from individuals will ever deter the home government from keeping a strong force of European soldiers in the heart of Caffreland, and never trusting for a moment to either Hottentot, Fingoe, or Caffre. They are all utterly faithless. This will be found, I am convinced, the only effectual way of preventing future war. THE DUKE DE RIVAS, AND THE MODERN POETRY OF SPAIN. BY MRS. BUSHBY. THE literature of Spain has amply shared in the decay, political and social, of that noble and once-flourishing country, which, in years gone by, stood forth so proudly pre-eminent, the home of heroism, of chivalry, and of loyalty, and of their handmaidens, imagination and poetry. The golden age of Castilian literature was that when Spain, after the struggle of centuries, arose to the highest pitch of grandeur, and seemed destined to extend its dominion over more than half the world. That exaltation of mind which gives rise to elevated sentiments, and kindles poetic fire, was then at its height; and that love of the beautiful and the sublime, that craving for the marvellous, which form the elements of romance, were everywhere prevalent, as well among the gentle dames of these times as among the hidalgo and other heroes who were Firm in trial, bold in peril, |