INTERESTING SWAGGER STICK WITH ANGLO-ZULU WAR CONNECTION

A thorn-wood swagger stick 27 ins long with a good age-related patina. It bears an engraved metal (silver?) band with the words 'John Adams from South Africa 1879', together with an attached auctioneers label stating 'John Adams - fought in the Zulu War'. There are surprisingly new men with the name John Adams on the medal roll; the two most likely are Trooper John Adams of the Buffalo Border Guard who, with his father William (of the same regiment) survived the battle of iSandlwana, and Trooper John George Adams of the Natal Mounted Police, who died of injuries sustained in a fall from his horse in Greytown on 2 July 1879. Whilst the Buffalo Border Guard were recruited from local settlers along the Natal/Zulu border, the Natal Mounted Police were recruited in the UK; is it possible that Trooper Adams' swagger stick was sent home to his family as a memento, and his demise commemorated with the engraved band? An intriguing piece nonetheless.