A DAY or two after the Mome fight a signal came by heliograph, with the last rays of the sun, ordering the police, under the command of Sub-Inspector White, to join Colonel M'Kenzie's force about ten miles away at once. From the neighbourhood of Cetewayo's grave they were to march through the bush that night, leaving their wagons behind. Afterwards Sub-Inspector White admitted that that march was as trying as any he ever undertook.

The sun had set long before they started, and there was only the faintest light. With the officer in charge, at the head of the party, there were " Tricky " Johnson, Oliver, and Deeley (the Zulu Mounted Rifles men who took the dispatch to Colonel Barker which led to the Mome fight), Sergeant-Major Ingle, and Ndhlovu, a native sergeant who has seen warfare under many conditions, and whose assistance has at times been most useful. Sub-Inspector White knew the path over which his men had to travel, having been over it before, and what he knew of it was not reassuring, especially as they dared not show a light, for it was not known where the enemy might be lurking in wait for them.

There was danger of a sudden attack every yard, for the bush was supposed to be infested with rebels, and the path was so narrow that it would only admit of one horse being led at a time.

When they got into the bush they encountered inky darkness, and the men there were well over a hundred of them had to keep hold of the tail of the horse in front of them as they crept through the gloomy place, hemmed in with thick trees, each of which might have concealed natives. They had gone about half-way along this track, and the men were beginning to congratulate themselves on the fact that they would soon reach the main road a wider track closely hedged in with bush, where they would at least have been able to make some sort of resistance when those in front pulled up sharply. Ndhlovu, feeling his way along the path, at the head of the procession, with Mr. White at his heels, found the way was blocked. A number of large trees had been felled by the Zulus and lay right on the track. The detachment had walked straight into a deadly trap and were so closely wedged in that had the natives been in the bush on either side the troopers would have been massacred in a few moments. It was too dark to see anything at all, and the track was so narrow that it was utterly impossible for the horses to turn. There seemed to be no prospect of going either forward or backward.

Ndhlovu, baffled for a few moments, began to feel his way through the felled trees. They had been placed lengthways on the path, with their tops facing the troopers a hopeless barrier in the circumstances. At last he came back to Mr. White and reported that he had found a possible passage through. With almost uncanny skill in the darkness he led the way over fallen trunks, round bushes and between trees, until at last they came to the track once more, and the whole detachment, hanging close on to one another, followed, nobody daring to strike a light lest he should be instantly pierced with a Zulu's assegai or hit on the head by his nearest comrade as punishment for his folly. They had come out on the " main road " to the top of the bush where there was a little more room ; and owing to the nature of the cover on either hand the men marched on foot in sections of fours, leading their horses with one hand and holding their revolvers with the other, the rifles being slung on the saddles.

The party owed their lives to the fact that the Zulus never dreamed that a force would go through the bush at night. They had laid their clever trap to operate in the daylight, and had actually been on the spot up to a little while before the troopers arrived, this being shown by fires which were still smouldering in the bush when the police came upon them.

Once they reached the open country they soon got to the place where Colonel M' Kenzie had pitched his camp only to find that he had moved. Weary and hungry, they hunted about, and it was midnight before they found the column. There must have been a curious feeling of security in the camp, for the sentry had to be awakened at the headquarters' lines before the arrival of the police could be reported. It was impossible to procure fodder for the horses, which had 'to be ringed for the night as they were. The men were without food, and only had a blanket each as extra covering. For many days they suffered bitterly in consequence, getting their meals anyhow and lying awake half the night shivering with cold. Some of them even dug holes in the ground in order to get a little shelter, and it was weeks before they recovered their wagons with such comforts as they contained.

During the operations round Cetewayo's grave, Sub-Inspector White on one occasion had charge of the transport, some of the wagons belonging to the Durban Light Infantry. As the roads were bad and it was necessary to move quickly, Mr. White had given strict instructions that nobody was to ride on the wagons. He was astonished, a little later, to notice a figure huddled up on the top of one of the vehicles, and, riding over quickly, told the man somewhat curtly to get down.

“ Don't speak to him like that, sir, please," said some one attached to the infantry ; and the huddledup figure remained motionless.

" What do you mean ? " replied Mr. White. " I gave orders that nobody was to ride."

" But he always rides, sir. Please leave him there."

Somewhat puzzled, the sub-inspector looked more closely at the figure and found it was that of a very old, grey-bearded, wrinkled man who could not have walked the distance to save his life.

" And pray how long has he ridden ? " asked the sub-inspector.

" Oh, for many years, sir. We take him about with us everywhere. He's our mascot ! "

And Methuselah was left undisturbed on the wagon.

One of the most remarkable figures in the rebellion was one Cakijana. There is no doubt that but for him the trouble would never have reached the proportions it did.

Coming of lowly stock he had four brothers pulling rickshas in Pietermaritzburg Cakijana had a wonderful brain, and remarkable power over his fellow-Zulus. In the early stages of the rebellion he reported to various chiefs that he had come from the Usutu kraal. Dinuzulu subsequently denied that Cakijana was his emissary, but many of the natives believed it ; and in this way Cakijana first obtained his influence.

He became a veritable fire-brand, travelling rapidly about northern Natal and Zululand, stirring up strife wherever he went. Before this he had been imprisoned for theft ; but he was no ordinary thief. By the sheer power of his own personality he became one of the great Zulu generals. He took part in the attack in the Impanza Valley, and murdered four natives during 1906 because their views did not agree with his plans.

After the storm and stress of the rebellion, Cakijana, with Mayatana, Rolela, Tobela, and several others, wandered about Zululand, armed. Cakijana always stated that he was the agent of Dinuzulu, and created much unrest. Finally he gave himself up in Pietermaritzburg, but was only sentenced to seven years' imprisonment, turning King's evidence against Dinuzulu, who was charged at Grey town with having caused the rebellion. After a lengthy trial Dinuzulu was acquitted on all counts excepting that of harbouring rebels, and was deported to the Transvaal, where he still remains.

Since the rebellion ended, the Natal Police have had a comparatively quiet time. One portion of the field force was sent to bury the bodies of those who had fallen at Insuzi, where the Transvaal Mounted Rifles had beaten the rebels; a strong detachment was sent to patrol the district of Nongoma, under Assistant-Commissioner Clarke ; and Inspector Dimmick took a body of men through the native locations in Zululand, the object of this being to impress the Zulus and show that the white men still had a good fighting force at their disposal. There were about 130 men under Inspector Dimmick. A patrol covering many hundreds of miles was started from Nongoma, the force going up into Zululand in September 1907, and passing through the districts of Nkandhla, Mahlabatini, Ceza Bush, and the Usutu country to Nongoma, where they were kept on patrol until the arrest of Dinuzulu in December.

There was a large display of British activity at the time, besides the police there being over a thousand militia near when Dinuzulu surrendered to the authorities at Nongoma.

The troopers, under Inspector Dimmick, resumed their forced marches after that, many natives in various districts being compelled to surrender their arms. The orders were to " keep on the move." Both men and horses were severely tried by the continuous marching, which lasted practically without a break until the end of the year.

Another wave of economy swept over the colony shortly afterwards, and the Government reduced the strength of the Natal Police by 226 men, this practically abolishing the field force. Since then there have been one or two small disturbances, such as faction fights, both in Natal and Zululand, but these were quickly suppressed ; and the natives to-day are more tractable and peacefully inclined than they have ever been.

The present Chief Commissioner of Police, Colonel W. J. Clarke, was appointed to that office in November 1906. He has a longer record of service with the police than any other man in the corps to-day, and he has done that which no other man in the force has ever succeeded in doing he joined as a trooper and, working his way up gradually from the ranks, became Chief Commissioner. Colonel Clarke was a recruit in April 1878, and took an active part in the early troubles. He was with Lord Chelmsf ord 's column when it arrived at Isandhlwana on the night of the disaster there, and has acted as dispatch rider on several occasions.

Mr. Clarke was promoted to be lance-corporal in 1880, and corporal a few months afterwards, becoming sergeant in 1882, sub-inspector in 1889, and inspector shortly afterwards. He became Assistant Commissioner of Police in 1904, and was acting Chief Commissioner during the greater part of 1905.

Colonel Clarke was practically the first officer commanding the field force in 1896-97, under General Dartnell. The statement will probably not be disputed that he is the cleverest police officer in Africa. He has a genius for organization, and it is largely due to this that the Natal Police, with their fine fighting record, are the only body of men in Africa who are at the same time highly efficient policemen and good soldiers.