Untitled

Manawatu Herald, Volume I, Issue 50, 18 February 1879, Page 2

Sinoe our last issue news has come to hand per cable of a disaster to our troops who were fighting against the Zulus under Cetewayo. We gather from the cablegrams, which are necessarily very brief] that the Zulus tempted the 24th Eegiment and a small native contingent out to battle, and when they were in a difficult position, the main body of the Zulu army, numbering 20,000 men, and wnich had lay in ambush, poured down upon the devoted Britons, and massacred them. The loss on the British side is estimated at 30 officers and 570 men. They sold their lives dearly, however, over 5000 of th<3 enemy being slain The affair created intense consternation at home. Fifteen large transports nave been engaged to "ronvey reinforcements to our troops, as the colony of Natal is threatened ; and the British Government have offered to subsidise a cable. The total white population is only 35,000 souls, whilst the Zulus are one of the most powerful African tribes, being a branch of the great Kaffir race. The Zulu war will rank in the annals of British battles, judging from its sanguinary commencement, as one of the most bloody conflicts Great Britain has waged against an uncivilised people.