'Throwing the Assegai'

Coloured lithograph by Day and Son after Captain T J Lucas, Cape Mounted Riflemen.

A Xhosa warrior in the typical dress of pre-colonial times. In action, the individual warrior would run at his enemy, shielding himself with a cloak wrapped around his left arm, and throwing spears with his right. By the times of the 8th Frontier War (1850-1853) many Xhosas were also armed with firearms.

Frontispiece from the series 'Pen and Pencil Reminiscences of a campaign in South Africa', 1861.