1-150-821 - The Cartoon Collector/Heritage-Images

'A Black White Elephant', 1879. This cartoon shows the Zulu Chief Cetewayo who had recently been captured by a detachment of dragoons under Major Master. John Bull, the representative of the British people, wonders what on earth to do with him, whilst the man at the right of the cartoon is a Mr Farini, a showman who often displayed ethnological curiosities for the public amusement. This relate to the war against the Zulus which had been going on since late in 1878. It started when Chief Cetewayo rejected British demands for the establishment of a protectorate over Zululand. An invasion was started in January 1879, although the British suffered heavy losses in a battle on 22nd January. Lord Chelmsford, who was leading the British attack, defeated Chief Cetewayo in the battle of Ulundi on 4th July 1879. From Punch, or the London Charivari, 27 September 27, 1879.