The latest news from Zululand extends to the 27th April,
and is not satisfactory. Mr. A. Forbes telegraphs that there are 30,000 men in the field, including, of course, Volunteers and natives, and that this "miserable business " is rapidly assuming the dimensions of a Crimean war. The expense is endless, yet no advance has as yet been made, the army being arrested by want of transport. Neither oxen nor drivers can be obtained to proceed beyond the frontier, and proposals are made for " re- quisitions " which will end only in the concealment of the beasts and the flight of the teamsters. It is seriously doubted whether the columns can move before June, and then the grass will be burnt, and the huge convoys must carry their own forage. Meanwhile, sickness is breaking out among the horses, and dysentery among the men. At Ginglihovo this disease has become so bad that it is necessary to abandon the post, and the number of doctors with the army is entirely inadequate. The report of the demand for reinforcements is confirmed, the men being required to defend Natal against a possible dash of Cete- wayo through the wide space-120 miles—between the advancing columns. Mr. Forbes calls attention in every despatch to this dan- ger, but it appears to be believed that Cetewayo will not quit his own dominions. The only bit of comfort in the news is that the Boers are pacified, and intend to await the result of another memorial to the Queen, which Sir Bartle has promised to for- ward, though he will not support it. The drift of the whole in- telligence is that South Africa needs a man who shall be both High Commissioner and Commander-in-Chief, and who has some trace of genius for frontier war. At present, the immense means collected are rendered useless by the .cumbrousness of every movement.
