Page:George McCall Theal, History of South Africa from 1873 to 1884, Volume 1 (1919).djvu/107

 1878I The Ninth Kaffir War. 87 factory that little good was expected of them, went with him. Another son, a good English scholar who was leading a highly useful life, died the year before the time of trial came to his family. One of Sandile's sons, who was called Gonya by his people and Edmund Sandile by Europeans, had been educated at Zonnebloem, and was a professed Christian. He had been for some time a clerk in the office of the magistrate at Middle Drift, and in addition had a farm given to him by the government, which he let at high rent, so that he was in fairly good circumstances. He was too conceited and two weak minded to command the respect of Europeans, who thought much more highly of his brother Matanzima,* a fine specimen of a crude barbarian. Both of them followed their father, both were captured some months later, and were tried for rebellion at the same time. But very different was their attitude in the dock : Edmund whining and beg- ging for mercy, Matanzima with his head erect and not a muscle quivering, as calm and firm as if he was a disinterested spectator. A great change came over Sandile himself when he went into rebellion. He had been a drunkard for ten years, a wretched stupid sot, by Europeans deemed irre- claimable. Yet now he told his people they were not to procure strong drink for him, as this was not the time to use it, and those who were with him to the end, when months later he was mortally wounded by a chance bullet, reported that he never once touched it, not even when suffering from cold and hunger and stormy weather, when some of his attendants managed to procure a little brandy and pressed it upon him. It would be hard to find an instance of a man having more command over himself than this changeable bar- barian certainly had. Irresolute in everything else, in this one matter he was decidedly firm.
 * Sonlof the second wife in rank of Sandile.