AFRICANWARSAND WHITEINVADERS
the emigrants' victory over Mzilikazi's people. Pondering these events, the
Zulu king and his councillors concluded that the emigrants were threaten-
ing their vital interests. They decided to make a preemptive strike to end
white settlement in their vicinity. On February 6, 1838, after Dingane may
have put his mark to a treaty purporting
to cede the land between the
Tugela and the Mzimvubu
rivers, he lured Retief's party, unarmed,
to a
final beer drink, where his warriors clubbed them to death. Zulu impis then
attacked the emigrants'
encampments
around the sources of the Tugela
River, killing 40 more white men, 56 white women, 185 white children,
and over 200
Coloured servants and capturing
about
35,000
cattle and
sheep.45
During the next few months, the Zulu seemed to be masters of Natal. In
December, however, having received reinforcements from the Cape Colo-
ny, the emigrants mustered a powerful commando,
five hundred strong.
Led by Andries Pretorius, it trekked with fifty-seven wagons toward the
heart of the Zulu kingdom. Every white member of the commando
pos-
sessed at least one gun, and the expedition also had two small cannons. As
they advanced,
they formed a laager at night by lashing their wagons