THE MATABELE RISING.

Otago Witness, Issue 2200, 30 April 1896, Page 19

THE MATABELE RISING.

Capetown, April 21. It i« reported that Baluwayo is completely surrounded, and that the food supplies there {tan scarcely last a fortnight. % ' Two thousand Boers are within 25 miles fcf Mafekißg. Their object is ostensibly to _}prevent the spread of fiaderpeat, but they axe really preparing for an emergency in case the rising among the natives becomes general. Major-general Sir F. Oarrington sails from XoaQon for Capetown on Satmday. The rebels are raiding cattle cloho to Buivswayo. Several sharp stdrminhes have 'take^i plscd, but the laagar bo far is impregnable. What is most feared is treachery jbam within. - Dr Macfariane, with 60 men, fought 1500

Mft'ubale three miles from Baluwayo. The

■figjbt lasted : two hours, when Dr Macf arlane fxetired in perfect order, owicg to the Maxim ''gun btcoming jammed and thus rendered .unfit for nse. The Ecglisbmen lost only two aen, while the natives had 50 killed. April 22. - Buluwayo is provisioned for two months, Winch in sufficient to last until relieved. Operations ar« now confined to clearing a *or,e of three miles around tbe laager. It is estimated that 1000 Matabele and 800 whites were killed in the recent engagement!.

.. April 23. < The telegraph wires have been out 20

miles south of Bnluwayo. ', The column from Mafeking to Buluwayo is I inarchirg 25 miles a day, and is expected to ' seaoh Makeloutßie on the 13th Msy. April 24. A sortie, from Buluwayo drove tbe Mata--tfele across tbe Umguza river. Mr Selous ifcad his horse killed under him. Several f*— bites were wounded. Corporal Wise was ouuded in the sortie but escaped. Trooper axter, while in the act of lending him bis orse, was assegaied. The spies discovered in Baluwayo have , *,aen hanged. h Rinderpest is spreading in tbe Northern f TTransvaal and Bechuanaland. Koama has £ lost all his oattle. *j" The people of Gwelo, who are threatened '|t>y the rebels, have obtained several loads of Brain.

April 25. -■ Three spies found ia Buluwayo were llangecL 7 The Hafeking column will reach Marglre

jiextweek. - - r Two hundred and sixty-three women and 850 children are still in Bulawayo. Many jbave left for Maff king. k. Napier's column, consisting of 300, tbe rebels. The country over which 1 the fight took plaoe extended for four miles jpfloog the Umguaa river. Selous'e party was %r*flTiHrr^, and they «ccaped by the slcto of

their teeiibt Grey*B scouts fell into aa ambush, and were rescued with difficulty. Lieutenant Hook was severely wounded, and Lieutenant <3rew_ slightly so. Tbe latter .gave his horse to the former, and in doing so was nearly aßsegated. The natives lost heavily.

April 26. The rebels were within half a mile of Buluwayo on Saturday, but a sortie drove them back into the bush with heavy loss.

April 27. The residents of Baluwayo watched Saturday's engagement. The rebels attacked in orescent form, similar to the Zulus, but were driven into the busb. Massed on a ridge, the Hotchkiss and Maxim guns caused great havoc, and tbe skirmishers completed the defeat after a desperate struggle. The : attack was intended as a crushing blow on Buluwayo. Tne rebels lost 500, the British two. Captain White, who is a witness in the Jameson "trial in London, said in an interview that the Matsbele rising was caused by the knowledge of the natives that Dr Jameson's officers were tibseut* in England, and that the Matabele country was without its u*utl patrols. He believed that the rising wai unimportant; except for the massacres of Scott'h settlers. He thinks it can be easily crushed on tha spot. He saw plenty of Maxims, and fl>ld guns available when at Baluwayo, and is confident that the local forces can crush the blacks if firm measures 'are taken at once.