Xhosa spear, 1835 (c)

Iron double edged, leaf shaped blade with lower part of iron shaft ornamented with indentations, South Africa, 1835 (c).

This weapon is reputed to have been the spear thrown at Lieutenant-Colonel (later Lieutenant General Sir) Harry Smith during the 6th Cape Frontier War (1834-1835). After the Rharhabe Xhosa invasion of Cape Colony in December 1834, the Governor dispatched Smith, his second-in-command of the troops of the colony, to take command of the eastern frontier.