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Bundu Times October - November 1998 Bundu Times October - November 1998We're still on the move . . .
WE ARE still on the move - this time to Emerald Hotel ( formerly Mounts Bay Inn).
SO See you all the first Friday in each month at our new venue.WELL - Functions. Support has dwindled quite considerably and other than the proven events the committee for next year will have to seriously consider cutting back events.
Only committee members attended the bowling night (but I do apologise to two of our more supportive members who came and did not find the others - Thank you for coming).WELL - Editorial contributions. These are virtually nil. To enable a full magazine, articles from other sources are now included as a routine. This is a members' magazine. I am sure there are a lot of members out there who have had some unique experiences in their lives Please share them. I, for one, would love to here some of the earlier stories from some of the Mdalas - this is the time to record them otherwise they will be lost forever.The same applies to all members. AND lack of time can be no excuse.
Functions which are coming up is the Houghtons Winery BBQ on October 18th. Please note well that this is not the same weekend as Spring in the Valley and our big 20th anniversary dinner dance at the Kings Park Historical House. The M'dalas are having a BBQ in the Hills on November 5th .
My cousin Avril Bushell married Chas Lotter who is now trying to capture as much information and photographs of our times in Rhodesia for future history (Is that double Dutch). Read about him in this edition and I encourage you all to help. Also included is some details of some interesting pictures of Rhodesian Senior school halls.
Clem Barratt - Editor
MDALAS REPORT
Absences force trip cancellation
MEETINGS of M'dalas held in July and August have been rather poorly attended as some members are on holiday and others unfortunately on the sick list. Those who are currently having health problems include Doreen Hutson, Rhona Barker and Joan Dickinson. We wish them well and a speedy recovery to good health. It is with regret that we record the death of Dorothy Truran and Eirene Riesenfeld and we extend our sympathies to the respective families.Of our M'dalas on holiday - Denis and Jay Hoyes are in UK, Sheila Tully is in South Africa and John Seward has been in Argentina, South Africa, and now in Zimbabwe. Lionel Miles will leave in September to spend a year in South Africa and we hear that Pat Bromfield will shortly be leaving Australia to live in Bristol UK.
A day tour to look at Wild Flowers on 3rd September had to be cancelled due to lack of support, which can be understood when reading the above comments. Other events being planned for M'dalas are a BBQ in the Hills at 37 Helena Street on November 5th and the annual Christmas lunch at Wentworth Plaza Hotel on December 17th.
Brian and Nora Best have recently had to endure the traumas of moving house. They now live in Willagee and their new phone number is 93316631.
In the absence of Denis Hoyes at our August meeting, the Zimbabwe Report was presented by Carol Hoyes. We are very grateful to Carol for the time she has given in preparing and presenting this report which is always of great interest to our members.
DOUG. LYON, Chairman
School prints will bring fond back memories
MANY Rhodesians/Zimbabweans are fiercely proud of the schools where they were educated. As proof, the Rhodesia contact pages on the Internet are dotted with messages urging people to attend reunions in various parts of the world. So the following is likely to spark the interest of some of our members, or others living here in Australia.Terrence Jansen, of Johannesburg, has contacted the Association asking us to publicise a limited edition lithographic print of top schools. Two of the schools depicted are reproduced here Chaplin and Prince Edward. Here is his letter.
Dear Rhodesian Association of Western Australia,
I am sure you and your fellow Rhodesian friends have fond memories of your schooling days within Rhodesia.
It is this that has prompted me to have commissioned a limited edition of a superb lithographic print featuring six Rhodesian/Zimbabwean senior boys schools. This 51cm by 76cm print of pen and ink original by Liz Upshon can be personalised with your name and period of attendance if you so wish.
The work has been produced in two versions (both limited in number), one, entitled Zimbabwean senior boys high schools, the other simply Rhodesian senior boys high schools. No political stance intended. One has the choice of either version.
The print itself is in deep brown on a heavy corn-coloured stock and suitabley framed it will make a superb talking point in your home. The cost of a print is R200 plus R45 for postage and package. A copy of the order form can be obtained from Doug Capper on 93074790
Author soldiers on for Rhodesia's pictorial legacy
THE Rhodesian Association of WA has a proud tradition of supporting Rhodesian diligence and talent. In particular, authors documenting Rhodesia's history have found a warm welcome in the pages of Bundu Times. This issue we feature author/poet Chas Lotter, who is in the throes of compiling yet another Rhodesian book, This one is an attempt to document photographically the war years.His appeal for photographic contributions went world-wide earlier this year when he posted an appeal on the Internet for people to send in their long-buried photographs.
So far, he has had a phenomenal response, but emphasises he would like people to keep sending him pictures as once his book is completed the contributed pictures will make up an invaluable archive which he intends to put on CD Rom. Here, then, is Chas's profile:
CHAS LOTTER, the soldier poet of the Rhodesian bush war, had an unusual apprenticeship in the craft of poetry. Life began for Lotter in Germiston, South Africa in 1949. His family moved to Rhodesia in 1953 and it was there that Chas grew up on farms in the Bindura and Gatooma (Kadoma) areas. Chas moved to Salisbury (Harare) in 1974 where he met his wife, Avril. The early years of their marriage were typical of Rhodesians of their generation. Family life and daily routine were overtaken by the increasing demands of army commitments as the war gathered in intensity...
He now lives in Pretoria with Avril. They have two children, Melissa and Carl. As a field medic, Sergeant Chas Lotter served for nine years with frontline units of the Rhodesian Army. It was these nine years of action, emotion and savage experience that fuelled the poet's fire in Lotter. He started writing poetry "on the backs of cigarette boxes" in an attempt to deal with the realities of the war that surrounded him. From such humble beginnings emerged a series of vivid pictures of an African nation at war.
Lotter's work was first published in Peter Badcock's volume, Shadows of War.
Subsequently, Lotter collaborated with Badcock on another successful work, Faces of War, that blended Badcock's pencil sketches and Lotter's poetry. Then, in 1984, Chas published his highly acclaimed book - Rhodesian Soldier. This remarkable volume is now a scarce and much sought after collector's item. Rhodesian Soldier blends photographs and verse to form a wide-ranging monograph of the Rhodesian bush war. Chas Lotter has won recognition for his work far beyond the borders of his home country. His work has earned him membership of the English Academy of Southern Africa and his poetry has been published around the world as follows: Zimbabwe: Two Tone, Mahogany, Touch, Faces of War, Shadows of War, Mambo Book of Zimbabwean Verse in English, The Gatooma Mail, Zimbabwe Poetry Review. South Africa: Rhodesian Soldier, African White Tribes, None But Ourselves, Armed Forces, Carapace, Contrast, RASA, Sunday Star, The Bloody Horse, imPRINT United States of America: Infantry, The New Carp, The Glow Within Canada: The Rhodie England: Hostage Internet: Isibongo; Rhodesians at War; Rhodesians World Wide; Rikkie's Place
His new book, Echoes of an African War, is due for release in September 1999. It will tell the story of a troopie’s experiences from basic training until the 1980 election and after. Chas feels that everyone who served in the Rhodesian forces, whether it was with the Army, Air Force, Police, Intaf; whether he was regular or territorial, can relate to the events and emotions in Echoes and, therefore, their photos can help illustrate the poems.
The troopie's story will be told in chronological sequence using alternating pages of photos and poems. People who own a copy of the scarce and long out of print Rhodesian Soldier will remember how effectively the combination of genuine period photos and his poetry brought back to life the daily experiences of anyone who served in the Rhodesian forces.
Chas also strongly feels that much of the Rhodesian history and heritage that should be recorded and preserved is slowly being lost in the uproar of people moving from place to place around the world or, even worse, being trashed when Rhodesians die. Over a year has been allocated to the search for photos ( March 1998 to April 1999) as Chas feels that no stone must be left unturned in the effort to find exactly the right photos. He points out that he needs all photos; not just the action shots but also the mundane and the everyday; not just the picture snapped after the contact when the Sarge wasn't looking but also life in the bush, in camp, in the bases and even just " me and my mate Joe". He maintains that, when Echoes of an African War is published in September 1999, it will be a lasting and fitting tribute to the Rhodesian serviceman which will make "echoes" in the memory of every reader who was there. After publication, the photos will be stored in a CD photo archive and made available to serious writers and historians (on condition that they first request permission from the contributors). Some of the 900 photos already received from contributors can be viewed at the Echoes of an African War website at : http://members.tripod.com/~Rhodesian/echoes.html Chas may be contacted - by email at : chaslotter@pixie.co.za, by snailmail at: PO Box 114, Irene, 0062, South Africa or by phone at : Pretoria 6674127
Zimbabwe's natural high-rise
FORGET Viagra. There's a natural alternative in Zimbabwe that's bound to keep you up all nightIf you've lived in Zimbabwe, you have probably heard the stories: of dusk-to- dawn erections that exhaust women. The stories are true. Scientific research backs them up.
Forget Viagra. Vusankunzi (wake up the bull, in isiNdebele), is the indigenous aphrodisiac. On the streets it is called vuka-vuka (wake up, wake- up), or chipikiri in Shona. It works, and is cheaper than Viagra. At the market, less than $A3 will buy you a week's supply. At the surgery of one Harare healer, it costs five times more - but still less than Viagra, which sells illegally in Zimbabwe at $Z1800 a tablet.
In Bulawayo and Harare, healers agree vuka-vuka is the most popular muti sought by male patients. Taken a few hours before intercourse, it provides enormous erections. Many healers feel cheated by the Viagra craze. "The herbs were stolen from us. I can tell because some side-effects, like dizziness, are the same," says one healer. "They discovered this now? We have had it for centuries, it is just that we don't talk about it," he adds. His father had nine wives and 120 children. The healer has several wives and 18 children. "Thanks to my natural vuka-vuka," he says. Some young men believe vuka-vuka contains baboon's urine, another known aphrodisiac. But reputable inyangas say that ingredient should not be used, because a child conceived with it would be a thief, like a baboon.
Healer Sam Sithole warns: "Don't drink it for a whole month or you will go raping." Peter Sibanda recalls a night of passion with a Venda woman known for her art in aphrodisiacs. "In the morning I went home, and the erection tortured me for the next two weeks. "My wife was desperate because she couldn't handle my sex drive, I had become a sex lunatic." - Elctronic Mail&Guardian
Social calendar
Friday, October 2: PUB NIGHT 5.30pm Emerald Hotel (previously Mounts Bay Inn) 24 Mounts Bay Rd Tuesday, October 6: COMMITTEE MEETING 5.30pm Emerald Hotel (previously Mounts Bay Inn) 24 Mounts Bay Rd Wednesday, October 14: COFFEE MORNING 10am Details: Contact Helen Hamley on 94576970 or Yvonne Beesley on 94574047. Thursday, October 15: M'DALAS INDABA 9.30am - 11.30am Venue: Citiplace Community Centre, Railway Station, Perth. Contact Douglas Lyon on 92953490. All welcome. Sunday, October 18: HOUGHTONS WINERY BBQ (see map, page 13) Tuesday, November 3: COMMITTEE MEETING 5.30pm Emerald Hotel (previously Mounts Bay Inn) 24 Mounts Bay Rd Friday, November 5: PUB NIGHT 5.30pm Emerald Hotel (previously Mounts Bay Inn) 24 Mounts Bay Rd Wednesday, November 11: COFFEE MORNING 10am Details: Contact Helen Hamley on 94576970 or Yvonne Beesley on 94574047. Thursday, November 19: M'DALAS INDABA 9.30am - 11.30am Venue: Citiplace Community Centre, Railway Station, Perth. Contact Douglas Lyon on 92953490. All welcome. Friday, November 20: ANNIVERSARY DINNER DANCE Kings Park Historical House Sunday December 6: CHRISTMAS BBQ AT KINGS PARK 11am onwards
Zimbabwe rugby out of World Cup
THE Zimbabwe national rugby team has failed to qualify for the 1999 Rugby World Cup in Wales after a disastrous trip to Casablanca.
The team lost twice against Namibia and the hosts Morocco, and won convincingly against the Ivory Coast to finish second from the bottom in the four-team log. This seems to confirm the fact that Zimbabwe has lost its position as the best African rugby playing nation north of the Limpopo.
Price of essential drugs doubles
THE price of some essential drugs has doubled as pharmacists recoup runaway import costs spawned by the crumbling Zimbabwe dollar. The increases, which pharmacists warned could rise by a further 70 percent by year-end, are being made just when the sub-sector is experiencing a drop in sales brought about by harsh economic realities which are making drugs unaffordable to most people."Yes, I confirm that some drugs have gone up largely because of the fall of the local dollar," Retail Pharmacists' Association of Zimbabwe chairman Keith Gael said.
"Other drugs have not been increased but people should expect increases of between 60 and 70 percent by November when the present stock of drugs is exhausted," he added.
Insulin, an essential drug used to control diabetes, now costs an average of $440, up from only $220 less than a month ago. The range of increases is between 10 and 100 percent, a Harare-based pharmacists said.
In addition to the weakening Zimbabwe dollar, the pharmacists are also levied 20 percent duty on all imported pharmaceutical products, a cost which is passed on to the consumer.
"Prices will continue being adjusted upwards as long as the local currency continues to fall," one Harare-based pharmacy operator said.
"This is bad for most of us because we are already suffering from low sales. It's a matter of time before some players close shop."
Prices of pharmaceutical products went up by between 120 and 150 percent last year, putting them beyond the reach of most of the country's 12 million people, 60 percent of whom are already living below the poverty line..
- Financial Gazette
. . . now for the big beef
THE wholesale price of all grades of beef went up last with the promise that the rise would inevitably be passed on to consumers .
This follows an agreement between the Cold Storage Company (CSC) and the Cattle Producers Association (CPA) to increase producer prices by 10%.
CPA chief executive, Paul D'hotman, confirmed that members of his association had been granted a 10% price increase by the CSC. "We have agreed with the CSC for a 10% producer price increase and that is probably why they will be increasing their whole- sale price," said D'hotman. He said the increase would bolster the viability of 2 300 commercial cattle producers especially at this time of the year when they have to use a lot of stockfeed.
According to well-placed sources super hindquarter will increase from $28,90 to $33 a kg, super forequarter from $27,80 to $29,90, choice hindquarter from $27,30 to $31,75, while the choice forequarter rises from $25,75 to $28,75.
The price of commercial hindquarter will be increased from $26,80 to $31,20 and that of commercial forequarter will move from $25,20 to $28,20. The economy grade will now cost $26,20 from $22,25.
The chief executive of the CSC could not be reached for comment.
Will the bones of Rhodes rest in peace?
A black pressure group in Zimbabwe wants the grave of Cecil Rhodes removed from its splendid Matopos site and tossed into the Zambesi. MERCEDES SAYAGUES filed this report for South Africa's Electronic Mail & Guardian.FEW places are as charged with spiritual energy as the Matopos hills in Zimbabwe. Granite boulders twist into contorted sculpture, thorny vegetation is splashed with flowers and 20 000-year-old San paintings adorn caves. This is the place to touch base with the ancestors, forces of nature, God, or whatever you wish to worship.
From time immemorial, spirit mediums have conducted war-making and rain-making ceremonies in its caves. During Zimbabwe's liberation war in the 1970s, commanders sought ancestors' blessings in Matopos. Today's cultural guerrillas still do. Here in south-western Zimbabwe are secret burial sites of kings and spirit mediums; a national park with endangered white rhino; a posh lodge on a kopjie with breathtaking views; and the tomb of Cecil John Rhodes. For his grave, Rhodes chose the top of a central granite outcrop, known as Marinda-Dzimu Matosi-po, or World's View Matopos. Here he was buried in 1902.
Just 15km away is the obscure grave of the Ndebele king Mzilikazi, father of King Lobengula. Today, nearly 100 years after Rhodes's death, a proposal to remove foreigners' graves from Marinda-Dzimu is stirring deep emotions in Zimbabwe. Behind the campaign is Sangano Munhumatapa, a strident pressure group.
"Rhodes's choice was an act of cultural aggression to a holy place and to African religion," explains Lawrence "Warlord" Chakaredza, the group's president. "We seek the restoration of revered African sites, starting with the Matopos Mwari shrine." He was a bit blunter when he first went to the local press, threatening to throw Rhodes's bones in the Zambezi if the British didn't want them.
"If not harnessed, Rhodes's spirit will haunt and harm the British ...," warns Sangano's resident spirit medium, Mathisa. He says Sangano wrote to the British High Commissioner in Harare, recommending the Commissioner's involvement in disposing of both bones and spirit. The only reply was that Sangano's request had been "channelled appropriately". Chakaredza (29), a former social sciences student leader expelled from the University of Zimbabwe in 1994 for fomenting student unrest, has metamorphosed into Chief Mhunumatapa III - "a spiritual leader for all Zimbabweans, not a colonial chief with limited geographical jurisdiction", he explains.
Sangano is a cultural group with a business side, Munhumatapa Empire Ltd. It cuddles up to crusaders for indigenous empowerment, like flamboyant businessman Philip Chiyangwa. The organisation sometimes toes the ruling party line, sometimes operates "like a misguided missile", says a political columnist. A skilled media manipulator, with a flair for catchy phrases and wild ideas, Chakaredza gets himself and Sangano in the news frequently. It may not be what Sangano had in mind, but its proposal has sent tremors along Zimbabwe's ethnic faultline between the Shona - 75 per cent of the population - and Ndebele, 20 per cent.
In Bulawayo's business district, many said something along this line: "Why don't the Shona go un-bury the dead in their provinces? Rhodes is our guest, and we choose who is buried in our land." Matopos is in Matabeleland South - the Cinderella among Zimbabwe's eight provinces. In the ethnic hierarchy, the Ndebele, along with the Tonga of Lake Kariba, are the last to get to the cookie jar. That investment on development has bypassed this part of the country is obvious in its inferior infrastructure, bad roads, bad sanitation, bad everything. But the people who live here have a rich culture, a proud sense of being different - and discriminated against.
The wounds of dissident massacres in the 1980s, when the government sent the Fifth Brigade to torture and kill across Matabeleland, are still fresh. So is President Robert Mugabe's recent refusal to acknowledge the massacre of at least 10 000 people. Understandably, Ndebele people bristle at the idea of interference from the capital on their sacred place. "People in Harare are jealous that the Matopos shrine is in Bulawayo," says taxi driver Prosper Masvosva.
Many in Bulawayo point out that colonial rule is part of Zimbabwe's identity and Rhodes is part of the cultural landscape. "History cannot be swept under the carpet, like the massacres in Matabeleland," says Thulani Timile (25). "Let us accept the misdeeds of the past, learn from them, and build a better future." Timile, a Bulawayo clerk, popped into The Chronicle, Bulawayo's daily newspaper, to challenge Chakaredza to a televised debate. "It is not good to let rubbish like this pass because it tends to build up," he says.
Governor Stephen Nkomo, who in his maiden speech at Parliament 17 years ago first proposed to remove Rhodes from Matopos, spoke against it. "We fought against Rhodes's evil deeds. We are still demanding our land from the whites. But we will not tolerate people from Harare to disturb our peace," he was quoted in the press as saying. Villagers around Matopos were more concerned about losing their livelihoods selling curios to tourists than about the disposition of Rhodes's bones. Some welcomed the removal of the bones if it meant the national park would cease to exist and they could move in to plant crops and graze their cattle, as they did before it was created. Among the few approving the proposal was the Vugani Matabezulu cultural society through its chair, traditional healer George Moyo. But not all healers agree. Moyo's cousin, Barbara Sibanda, daughter of Lizzie Sikosana, a famous spirit medium, and herself a traditional healer, calls the idea nonsense.
At Makokoba M'kambo market, some n'angas (healers) worry about Rhodes's evil spirit roaming loose. Sangano's Mathosi appeases their worries: "We have ways of directing the energy of spirits." Some suggest the energy of the living be directed elsewhere. "The issue is not the bones of Rhodes but our values. Why are we still putting so much value on his grave but not on Lobengula's or Mzilikazi's or the many spirit mediums buried in the sacred hills of Matopos?" asks Cont Mhlanga, Bulawayo's cultural promoter and popular public figure.
"So far, it has been a shallow debate but it is important to discuss these issues," says Mhlanga. "The only way to bring our politicians down from the clouds where they engage in club politics, like sending soldiers to Congo, is by saying radical things or having radical gestures, like land invasions."
He points out that Rhodesians built a road to the grave, maintained it and turned it into a tourist landmark. "The whites enhanced history. If the bones were thrown into the Zambezi, that spot would become a monument." In many ways, Bulawayo lives off its past, from the 500-year-old impressive stone ruins at Khame to the old steam engines and Rhodes's personal Pullman coach at the Railway Museum.
But it is largely because economic development has largely bypassed Matabeleland since independence that colonial buildings have not been torn down to build modern offices. The director of National Museums and Monuments, Dawson Munjeri, warned that any person tampering with Rhodes's grave would be arrested for vandalism. How Sangano will carry out its threat to throw Rhodes's bones into the Zambezi is not clear. Chakaredza said Sagano members will not act in their human form, but the removal of the graves will happen, "even if we have to dynamite the place". - E M&G
Zimbabwe to introduce $500 note
THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe will soon start minting coins locally, breaking with its traditional producers in the United Kingdom. And responding to the erosion of the local unit it will also be introducing a $500 bill, possibly carrying Robert Mugabe's image. Meanwhile, the dollar tumbled again on import demand. It traded at 32,50 against the US dollar late last month and was 52 to the British pound.Exchange Rates
On September 27, $100 Australian was worth:Zimbabwe: $Z1855.35 ($Z100 = $A5.3898) South Africa: R344.270 (R100 = $A29.0470) Zambia: K116,033 (kwacha) (K100 = $A0.08618) Mozambique: 707,271 metical (MZM 100 = $A0.01414) Namibia: $N343.390 ($NAD 100 = $A29.1214) UK: £34.6200 (£100 = $A288.850) US: $58.9000 ($US100 = $A169.779)
EXTRACT FROM "THE PENNY ILLUSTRATED PAPER"
dated 2 May 1896THE MATABELE WAR
TROOPER BAXTER'S DEATH. SELOUS'S NARROW ESCAPE.
MAXIM'S DEADLY EXECUTION.
BULUWAYO DAY BY DAY has occupied the attention of London Day by Day. Our warmest sympathies have gone forth to Captain Nicholson's brave band of fighting men who, with the loyal and trusty natives, have in repeated engagements beaten back leviathan hosts of the enemy.
An exciting and engrossing diary indeed has it been which Reuter's prompt and active agent at Buluwayo has communicated to the public via the land and cable lines of the Eastern Telegraph Company, in founding and establishing which Sir John Pender, M.P. G.C.M.G., rendered a service to the state which the present Government doubtless value most highly at this momentous crisis.
Captains Duncan's Fight on April 22 was a very serious one. At daylight that morning Mr Duncan and Captain Napier, at the head of a hundred whites, a hundred Cape Boys, and a hundred raw natives, with one Maxim and one Hotchkiss gun, left Buluwayo and marched three miles to the west, where they found a Matabele force occupying a lofty ridge right ahead.
The British did not attack this position but made a detour, bringing the column out four miles to the north of Buluwayo, where the enemy appeared in force. They were, however, driven down the bank of the Umguza River to the stream itself under a heavy fire from the rebels posted on the opposite bank.
In advancing towards the river the formation ordered was as follows: The Maxim and the Hotchkiss were placed on the central kopje, the Afrikanders being stationed on the extreme left, and Mr Grey's scouts on the extreme right. Mr Selous, at the head of the Cape Boys, who formed the centre, crossed the river. Mr Selous had His Horse Killed under him in Mid-Stream, and narrowly escaped death. The Cape Boys fought well. The Afrikanders rushed the Matabele into the river, but the enemy, swarming up from the Drift, attempted an outflanking movement, which obliged the Afrikanders to gallop back in order to intercept them. Mr Grey's scouts fell into an ambush in the valley, and had to make a rush to extricate themselves. Trooper Baxter was killed, and two other men wounded. Three horses were killed. Mr Grey himself had a most narrow escape, a bullet passing through his hat and grazing his head. The Hotchkiss and Maxim became jammed, and were only fired twice. Trooper Baxter's Heroism well deserved commemoration. In the fighting on the Umguza River Trooper Frank William Baxter was killed under distressing circumstances, Corporal Wise having been severely wounded, and had his horse shot under him, Trooper Baxter gave up his own horse to his wounded comrade, who was thus able to escape; but Baxter himself was assegaied by the Matabele. Lieutenant Hook was severely wounded, and Lieutenant Crewe, who was slightly hurt, made the former take his horse.
Both got off safely; but Lieutenant Crewe only succeeded with great difficulty in escaping the fate that befell Trooper Baxter. The Morning after this grave combat there was a parade at Buluwayo of six hundred and thirty men, who presented a fine appearance. Captain Napier, addressing the force, spoke feeling of Trooper Baxter's heroism, and eulogised Lieutenant Crewe. He also commended the Afrikander Corps, which so ably defended the left wing in the previous days' fight. The women in lager at Buluwayo on that day numbered two hundred and sixty-three, with forty- six children. Mr Selous and a party of fifty men left on April 23 to repair the telegraph line.
Battle Near the Umguza River.
On Saturday morning, April 25, the Matabele surrounded Buluwayo (says Reuter's plucky agent) "on the east, north and west. In no case were their pickets more than four miles distant. At seven o'clock, a column, consisting of 100 whites, 100 Cape Boys, and 100 natives, with one Maxim and one Hotchkiss, under Captain McFarlane, left the town and proceeded five miles to the north-east, in the direction of the Umguza River.As the column was crossing a tributary of the Umguza, it was attacked by the Matabele, who were 3000 strong. The enemy advanced in crescent formation, their front extending three miles. Captain McFarlane, with the guns, occupied a farmhouse on a kopje commanding the river. The weakest side of this position was at the south, where there was some rising ground, thickly covered with bush. Here the enemy were strongly posted, and directed a hot fire against the force on the kopje. The native contingent, commanded by Messrs Taylor and Bisselt, with Captain Dawson's troop, charged into the bush, and succeeded in driving the enemy back. Two of Dawson's men were killed.
Meanwhile the Maxim and Hotchkiss Guns, planted on the north side of the kopje did great execution. The Afrikander detachment and Grey's scouts successfully charged down the slope and drove the enemy back to the river, shooting many of the Matabele as they were crossing at two hundred yards range. The enemy attempted to encircle the column, and at one point in the engagement almost succeeded in accomplishing this movement, being only prevented from completing the manoeuvre by the open nature of the ground towards Buluwayo, where the Maxim had free play and worked great havoc in their ranks.
I accompanied Grey's scouts when they charged. I saw the waters of The Umguza Dyed with Blood, and forty of the enemy lying dead within a small circuit, victims of the Maxim fire. Our Casualties Were: Killed, Henry George Whitehouse and Charles Gordon; severely wounded, Edward Appleyard, Roland Venables Lovell; wounded, Thomas Easton Howell, Francis Henry, Talbot Price, Lieutenant Lymons, Sergeant-Major Dotha, two Cape Boys, and one friendly induna."
Letter to the Editor
Dear Doug, Clem etc,
I HAVE been contacting all the Rhod/Zim people I hear of in our area and now have five pages of names and addresses.The RWW group in Brisbane is very active and also the Gold Coast, and there are enough of them to keep ourselves as a separate group from the Africa Club. (I have not yet met people from there, but know of them). Recently we had a R & F picnic near us and 120 people came despite the rain. Brisbane set the ball rolling and I have got a large number of people up here to meet " halfway ".
We all meet up again in Brisbane on 11 November for a dinner. So if anyone is coming to Queensland they can either contact me on the Sunshine Coast, Yvonne Burgess for the Gold Coast (07) 55333685, Joy & George Brink for Brisbane (07) 33439154 or Ian Newberry for Brisbane (07) 38785635. And the Mdalas is run by Ruth Phillips (07) 33514410. Regards to all, Val Chapman, Nambour, Queensland.Phone 54422256
To Let/For Sale
TO LET
Secluded cottage situated in beautiful bushland in Margaret River. Available for holiday accommodation. Phone Doreen 9448 5574FOR SALE
METAL soldiers 54mm BSAP set 7 R350 (AUSD$100), RLI set of 4 R200 (AUSD$60). Assembled and painted. Inclusive of packaging. Contact L Barr, PO Box 53149, Kenilworth, Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA 7745