 Rorke's Drift, known as "kwaJimu" ("Jim's Land") in the Zulu language, was a mission station and the former trading post of James Rorke, an Irish merchant.It was located near a drift, or ford, on the Buffalo (Mzinyathi) River, which at the time formed the border between the British colony of Natal and the Zulu Kingdom.On 9 January 1879, the British No.