Incwadi Yami; or, twenty years' personal experience in South Africa

by J. W. Matthews

Protest Against Annexation Presented by President Burgers To Sir Theophilus Shepstone on April 12th, 1877.

Whereas I, Thomas Francois Burgers, State President of the South African Republic, have received a despatch (dated the 9th inst.) from her British Majesty’s Special Commissioner, Sir Theophilus Shepstone, informing me that his Excellency has resolved, in the name of her Majesty’s government, to bring the South African Republic by annexation under the authority of the British crown; and whereas I have not the power to draw the sword with good success for the defence of the independence of this state against a superior power like that of England, and moreover feel totally disinclined, in consideration of the welfare of the whole of South Africa, to involve its white inhabitants in a disastrous war by any hostile action on my part, without having employed beforehand all means to secure the rights of the people in a peaceful way: Therefore, I do hereby, in the name and by authority of the government and the people of the South African Republic, solemnly protest against the intended annexation.

Given under my hand and under the seal of the state, at the government office at Pretoria, on this the 11th day of April, in the year 1877.

Proclamation.

Whereas her Majesty’s Special Commissioner, Sir Theophilus Shepstone, has thought fit, in spite of my solemn protest entered yesterday against his Excellency’s intention communicated to me by missive dated 9th of April, to carry out that intention, and has to-day proclaimed the authority of her Britannic Majesty’s government over the South African Republic; and

Whereas the government has decided to submit provisionally under protest for the purpose of, in the meantime, sending to Europe and America a deputation, in the persons of Messrs. S. J. P. Kruger and E. P. Jorissen, for the purposes of defending the right of the people and for endeavoring to arrive at a peaceful solution of the matter:

Now, therefore, I, Thomas Francois Burgers, State President of the South African Republic, hereby, on behalf and by advice of the executive, command all officials, burghers and inhabitants, to abstain from every word and every deed of violence by which the work of the deputation may be made fruitless, and I exhort all burghers and inhabitants to assist in maintaining the decision of the government and in the preservation of order and the prevention of bloodshed.

Thos. Burgers,

State President.

Government Office, Victoria, April 12, 1877.

Shortly after the proclamations were read, most of the officials assembled in the Volksraadszaal, where his Honor the President addressed them, in a state of great emotion, very nearly in the following words:

“Gentlemen, officials of the South African Republic: You are no strangers in the land. You also know what the government has resolved to do. We bow only to the superior power. We submit because we cannot successfully draw the sword against that superior power, because by doing so we would only plunge the country into deeper miseries and disasters. We have resolved to appeal to England herself; and if we get no redress there, then we will seek the friendly intervention of other powers that have acknowledged our independence. I have called you together to make one request to you: continue to occupy your offices in abeyance of the result of this appeal. No other oath of office will be demanded from you, and you can continue to serve under the oath once sworn to the Republic. I have pledged my word for you, and I know I can depend upon you that you will not disappoint me. Serve the new government with the same honesty and fidelity with which you have served our government, for by that you will serve the people. I am leaving my office under protest on behalf of myself, of the government, of the officials, of the Volksraad, and of the people. Grant me therefore this one favor, that you serve the people so long, and redeem the pledge that I have given for you. I thank you for the fidelity which you have shown me in your posts as officials. I leave my office with the certainty that I have not offended any one of you willfully, and if I have perhaps done so from weakness, I ask you to forgive me.”

Mr. Consul of Belgium: “You are the only representative of a foreign power present here to-day. You know what has happened here to-day, and you know also what has caused this event, and of course you will communicate every thing to your government. I thank your government, your king, your people and yourself, for the brotherly hand offered by Belgium to this youthful Republic. Be you my spokesman to your king and people, and tell them that, although the government be altered, yet the people remain. Meanwhile I request you, Mr. Consul, that you remain here at your post until the result of the protest shall be known. And now, gentlemen, for the moment I leave the scene. I wish you God’s richest blessing. Farewell. Be true to yourselves, to the people and to the government.”

Mr. Swart briefly addressed his Honor in a few words of farewell, uttering the hope that the day may soon come when we would again welcome him as head of the state. He then handed to his Honor the key of the government office.

His Honor said: “Here is the key of our office. I hand it over to the superior power and thereby give it into the hands of God, who will at the proper time deliver it to the right man. I order you—it is my last order—to deliver it to the chief of the new government and conduct yourselves worthily as men and officers. Farewell.”

The Zulu Ultimatum.
Message from his Excellency the Lieutenant Governor of Natal to Cetywayo, King of the Zulus and chief men of the Zulu nation.

1. The Lieutenant Governor of Natal sends, in the name of the Queen’s High Commissioner, these further words to the Zulu king and nation.

2. These are the words of the High Commissioner and they are sent by the Lieutenant Governor, through the same officers who delivered the words of the Award in respect of the disputed boundary question, namely:—The Hon. John Wesley Shepstone, Secretary of Native Affairs, Natal; the Hon. Charles Brownlie, Resident Commissioner for Native Affairs in the Cape Colony, at present attached to the staff of the High Commissioner; Mr. Henry Francis Fynn, Resident Magistrate, Umsinga Division, Natal; and Colonel Forester Walker, of her Majesty’s Scots Guards, lately attached to the staff of the High Commissioner; to be delivered by them to the Zulu representatives, that they may be duly communicated to the king and council and people of the Zulu nation.

3. The king and nation will recognize in the Award that has just been given on the matter of the disputed boundary, the determination of the British government to give effect to the words which have been spoken at different times by its representatives in this country regarding the matter.

4. The dispute respecting the boundary was one that had existed for many years. It was a question between the government of the Transvaal Republic and the Zulu nation. The latter made many and frequent representations to the Natal government on the subject. The government of Natal was always anxious that the dispute should be settled by peaceful means, and always counselled the Zulu king accordingly. It considered that the dispute might be and could be settled properly and satisfactorily, by means of an impartial inquiry; and was always ready to use its good offices for that purpose. The opportunity for doing so, however, did not occur. The years passed without any settlement of the question, and at length last year the Transvaal came under British rule. Now when that took place, the Zulu king, if he trusted the British government, had every reason to believe that whatever rights the Zulus might have in the disputed territory would be investigated and accorded to them. But, without waiting, the king sent armed Zulus on to the disputed territory, and by threats obliged the European settlers in it to leave their homes. This proceeding on the part of the Zulu king might well have been resented by the English government: but having regard to the promises and words of its representatives in times past, and desirous to avoid all appearance of prejudging a long-standing question in which its own interests had become involved, it withheld its hand in order that the inquiry so long spoken of might be held.

5. The inquiry was instituted by the government of Natal, and was held by trusty persons appointed by the Lieutenant Governor of Natal. It was held in the presence of the representatives both of the Transvaal government and the Zulu king and nation, and all that was said and put forward in support of these claims by both parties was heard and considered.

6. It is clear from the inquiry that some negotiations took place between Cetywayo and the Boers in 1861. Cetywayo’s right of succession to the late king Panda was then very uncertain. Two other sons of Panda were in the hands of the Boers, and the evidence goes to show that certain promises to cede land were made by Cetywayo, partly in order to obtain the surrender of these two sons of Panda, and partly in consideration of presents of cattle.

7. What were the extent and character of the promises made by Cetywayo has since been disputed, but promises of some sort there undoubtedly were. Certain land was also beaconed off, but no recognition or confirmation of the cessions said to have been promised appears ever to have been given by the king Panda, or by the great council of the Zulus, and accordingly the commissioners who inquired into the dispute, after careful deliberation, recorded their finding against any authoritative or sufficient cession of that land having been made by the king or nation. This decision has been accepted by the High Commissioner and has now been communicated to the Zulu king and nation. This Award assigns as belonging to the Zulu nation, and as subject to the Zulu king, a great portion of the disputed land claimed by the king, which lies between the Buffalo and Pongola Rivers.

8. But while the British government in this way gives up to the Zulu king and nation land which is thought by the commissioners to be by strict right belonging to the Zulus, and while the British government has, and always will have, a due regard for it, at the same time will strictly require all that is due to its own honors and the just rights and interests of the Queen’s subjects.

9. It has already been intimated in connection with the Award, which was an Award regarding the territory lying on this or the south side of the Pongola River, that on the other, or north side of that river, the Zulu king must not, as he has of late appeared inclined to do, attempt to take any action in respect of that territory, as if he had any right or jurisdiction there, but that if the king has, or thinks he has, any claim of any nature in that direction, he must state them to the British government, by whom they will be duly considered.

10. The High Commissioner has under his consideration the proceedings connected with the outrage that was committed some months ago in Natal territory by Zulu subjects, the sons, relatives and people of the Zulu chief Sirayo. This has been a grievous and gross outrage committed on British territory. Mehlokazulu, Inkumbokazulu and Tyekwana, sons of Sirayo, and Zuluhlenza, a brother of Sirayo, with a large number of armed attendants, crossed the Buffalo River into Natal territory in two parties, and by force and violence took out of Natal territory two Zulu women. Having taken these women back into the Zulu country, they there, as it is reported, killed them.

11. The Lieutenant Governor of Natal, when he heard of these occurrences, sent messages, one on the 1st and another on the 6th of August, to the king, stating what had occurred, and requesting that the sons and relatives of Sirayo, the ringleaders of the outrages, should be given up to the Natal government for punishment for the offences committed by them in Natal territory. Cetywayo, in reply, admitted that Sirayo’s people had done wrong, but he has endeavored to make light of the offence, and he has not given up the men as desired. Instead of doing this, they sent £50, which he wished the Natal government to accept as a fine in lieu of the punishment of Sirayo’s people. The money was not accepted, and the king was told that such a fine would be no punishment for those guilty of the offence, and no reparation for the outrage. The king said, however, that he would lay the matter and demand of the Lieutenant Governor before his great council; but many weeks have passed and no further intimation has been received by the Natal government to show that the king has laid the matter before the council, or what the deliberations of the council has been.

12. Her Majesty’s High Commissioner has now therefore to require that the Zulu king will forthwith send in to the Natal government for trial under the laws of the Colony, for the offence committed by them in the Colony, the persons of Mehlokazulu, Inkumbokazulu, and Tyekwana, the sons of Sirayo, and also Zuluhlenza, the brother of Sirayo, who was wrongly accused, as he was not one of the party who came into Natal territory, but was at Umhlan-den-Hlorn at the time; he is accordingly exempted from this demand, but the others now demanded must be sent in and delivered over to the Natal authorities within twenty days from the date that this demand is made. The Zulu king is required, in addition, to pay to the British government a fine of 500 head of cattle for the outrage, and for his delay in complying with the request of the Natal government. These cattle must also be sent in within the period above named.

13. There has also been another offence committed by Zulu subjects on the persons of British subjects at Middle Drift on the Tugela River, below Fort Buckingham. These two British subjects, Messrs. Smith and Deighton, were, while at or near the drift in the month of September last, surrounded by a party of fifteen Zulus who, armed with guns and assegais, in an excited state, took hold of the two white men, and made them sit down, demanding what they were doing there, as the ground belonged to Cetywayo. Gradually the Zulus became more quiet, and after detaining the two white men for an hour and a half, or thereabouts, they allowed them to go. This interference with and treatment of two British subjects was an interference and treatment which was unwarrantable. It was an offence against the persons of two British subjects which cannot be passed over without notice, and as a punishment for the offence, and a warning against the commission of similar offences in the future, the High Commissioner requires that a fine of 100 head of cattle shall be paid to the British government. This fine must also be paid within the period of twenty days from the date of the communication being made.

14. The two cases referred to have been cases of offence—one of them of a most serious and outrageous nature—committed by individual Zulu subjects on British territory, or against the persons of British subjects, for which it has been found necessary to demand that reparation shall be made in the manner above stated.

15. There is also the case of Umbelini, a Swazi refugee living in the Zulu country, who is charged with having recently made a murderous raid into the country north of the Pongola River, which is claimed as British territory by the Transvaal government. It will be necessary for the offenders in this case to be given up to be tried by the Transvaal courts for the offence of which they have been accused, and a further communication will be made to Cetywayo when the Transvaal government has stated who, besides Umbelini, must be given up to be tried.

16. But beyond these matters which relate to certain offences committed by certain Zulu subjects against the British government, the attention of her Majesty’s Commissioner has of necessity been given to the state of government and the state of affairs in the Zulu country, as affecting both the conditions of the Zulu people and the peace and safety of the Queen’s dominions lying adjacent to Zululand, and of other tribes and peoples, the allies or friendly neighbors of the British government.

17. In the time of the late king Panda the relations of the British government and the Zulus had always been of a friendly nature. The English government and the Zulus were near neighbors, and all the Zulu nation can bear witness that the English government never did anything unfriendly, or showed in any way otherwise than most friendly and well disposed towards the Zulus. Panda, it is well known, was established in the chieftainship by the Dutch emigrant farmers, who defeated the Zulu king Dingaan. It was after this that the English came into Natal and established relations with Panda and the Zulu nation.

18. Panda’s reign was a more peaceful one than those of his predecessors, and his rule was milder and more tolerant. He encouraged trade. He allowed Christian missionaries to settle on the land, and set aside stations for them and gave them land, and there was good promise of an improvement in the condition of the Zulu people.

19. Unhappily, during the latter part of his reign, and when he became old, trouble came upon the land in consequence of the difference between Cetywayo and his brothers as to who should be successor to the king.

20. Panda had always behaved in a loyal and friendly manner to the British government, and when, on account of the continued excitement and uneasiness in the Zulu country, he asked the Natal government to interfere, the government sent Mr. Shepstone, the Secretary for Native Affairs, to recommend Panda to nominate a successor, and so remove the uncertainty on that point, and the cause of dispute among the brothers. The result was the nomination of the house of Cetywayo, which, settling the dispute of succession, gave quiet again to the Zulu country.

21. After the death of Panda, the sons of the late king, and the headmen of the Zulu nation, assembled and sent messengers to the government of Natal saying that the nation found itself wandering because of the death of the king. “There was no king,” they said, and the messengers brought from the nation four oxen, representing the “Head of the king” to the Natal government. They further asked that Mr. Shepstone, who had been present at the nomination of Cetywayo, might go and establish what was wanted, and, at the same time, breathe the spirit by which the nation should be governed. They said, moreover, it was the will of the nation that the new king should be the son of the British government.

22. The government of Natal had no wish to mix itself up with these arrangements of the Zulu people; but eventually it consented and sent Mr. Shepstone to take part in the installation. It was the wish of Cetywayo that this should be done—it was the wish of the whole Zulu nation. In consenting to this, the British government had no selfish object of any kind. It did not seek to obtain a single foot of land for itself, nor any advantage nor any privilege whatever. It wanted nothing for itself, and demanded nothing for itself. Its only motive in complying with the wish of the Zulu nation, and in taking part in the coronation of the new king, was that in doing so it might help to assure the peace of the Zulu country and promote in some degree the welfare of the Zulu people.

23. In taking part, therefore, the only conditions it made were in favor of the good government of the people. At a formal meeting held previous to the installation between Mr. Shepstone, Cetywayo and the headmen of the Zulu nation, several matters were discussed, chief among which were certain regulations or laws for the better government of the Zulu people, which were to be proclaimed on the occasion of the installation. Subsequently, on the day of the installation, the laws were formally proclaimed by Mr. Shepstone.

24. It was proclaimed:

1. That the indiscriminate shedding of blood should cease in the land.

2. That no Zulu should be condemned without open trial and the public examination of witnesses, for and against, and that he should have the right of appeal to the king.

3. That no Zulu’s life should be taken without the previous knowledge and consent of the king, after such trial has taken place, and the right of appeal had been allowed to be exercised.

4. That for common crimes, the loss of property, all or a portion, should be substituted for the punishment of death.

25. Now these laws were formally proclaimed by Mr. Shepstone, who represented the British government in Natal, and proclaimed with the formal consent of Cetywayo, of the chief men of the nation, and of the natives then assembled. It was not done as a mere idle ceremony or form: it was not done in secret but in public; it was not done in the dark, but in the open day; it was not done in solitude, but at the royal kraal, in the presence and the hearing of the king, the chiefs and the assembled people. They were laws for the good government of the Zulu people. The subject of them had been carefully and deliberately discussed beforehand between the British representatives and Cetywayo and his councillors, and agreed upon, and then afterwards, in the hearing and presence of the people, the laws had been solemnly affirmed.

26. These laws for the well-being of the Zulu people were the conditions required by the British government, in return for the countenance and support given by it to the new Zulu king, by the presence of its representative, and by his taking part in the king’s coronation; and once spoken as they were, they cannot be broken without compromising the dignity, the good faith, and the honor of the British government.

27. The British government now asks, How has it been in this matter? Have the promises then made been kept? Have the laws which were then proclaimed been observed? Let the Zulu king answer!

28. There is but one answer. The king and people know very well that the promises have not been kept. They know that these laws have not been observed, but that they have been broken time after time, and that they are almost daily broken in the Zulu country. They know very well that the lives of hundreds of Zulu people, men, women, old and young, have been taken since that day without any trial at all, that the indiscriminate shedding of blood has not ceased, and that the killing of Zulu people has gone on as if no promise had ever been made, and no law ever proclaimed.

29. Hence it is that all Zulus live in fear to lose their lives any day. No man knows when he may be suddenly set upon and killed, and all belonging to him destroyed or taken away.

30. How can these things be? Were the words which were spoken at the coronation mere empty words, meaning nothing? The Zulu king knows that it is not so, and that it cannot be so. The British government in Natal did not want, and it did not ask, to take any part in the installation of Panda’s successor. It wished well to the Zulu country and the Zulu people, but for itself it wished for nothing, it asked for nothing. It was Cetywayo himself, it was the Zulu nation assembled together, that sent to the government to ask it to take part. Even then the government did not desire to take any part in what was being done, but it consented to do so, asking nothing for itself, but asking certain conditions for the good of the Zulu people.

31. The conditions which it asked were conditions for the protection of the lives of the Zulu people, that they might not be condemned and slain without trial, without knowing what their offence was, without cause, and without chance of justice. These were the laws proclaimed.

32. The British government cannot, then, allow that the words which were once spoken on its part should be empty words, or that the promises which were made to it, and for which it became the mouthpiece and the guarantee to the whole Zulu nation, should be treated as if they were mere idleness and empty sound. But for five years they have been so treated, and now it can be no longer so.

33. The promises have not been kept, and how is it possible they can be kept so long as the present system of government is maintained by the king?

34. The present system of government is destroying the country. All the young men, all the able-bodied men of the country, are taken as soldiers. They are taken from their homes at an age when they are becoming useful to their parents, and are kept for several years in the compulsory service of the king. They are not allowed to marry, as the other men around them, as in Natal, as among the Amaswagi, as among the Amapondo. They cannot marry when they desire to do so, but they must await the permission of the king, and they are often kept for seven years without the permission to do so. They are not allowed to labor for themselves, or to plant, or to reap, or to live in quiet and in peace with their families and relatives. They are constantly summoned up to the king’s kraals, as if for war, although there is no enemy to fight with, and thus they come to fight among themselves, and blood is shed, and there is distress and moaning in the land; or they are sent out in parties to surround the kraals of those who have given offence to the king, or who are accused by private enemies, and who then, without trial and without a word, are killed, their kraals laid desolate, and their families, and all they have, carried off and destroyed.

35. Thus the army is made an instrument, not for the defence of the country but for the oppression of the people. All the best interests of the Zulu country and the happiness of the Zulu people are sacrificed in order that the king may keep up this large army. For what purpose is this army kept up? Is there an enemy? Where is the enemy? Cetywayo knows very well that there is no enemy, and that there is no occasion for this large army. In the days of Chaka or Dingaan it might be different, but now on all sides of the Zulu country is the territory of the British government, or of its allies and friendly neighbors. The king knows very well that the British government is a peaceful and friendly power, and that it wishes well to the Zulu people, and that it wishes them to live in peace and comfort. The king knows this well, for did not his father live to become an old man under the shelter of the British government, and has not Cetywayo himself grown up to manhood under the eye of the English?

36. With regard to the native neighboring tribes, the Basuto, Amapondo, the Amaswagi, and others, they are either the subjects or the allies or neighbors of the British government, and the Zulu king knows he has nothing to fear from them. They are, besides, peaceful people and not given to war and aggression.

37. For what purpose then does the Zulu king keep up this large army, which brings so much hardship and so much misery upon the Zulu people themselves? It can serve no good purpose. It can be made of no use, except it be used for the oppression of the Zulu people or for aggression upon British subjects or the allies and neighbors of the British government.

38. There is, therefore, no real need for the army. The present system is working the destruction of the Zulu people. The army was used against the very people of the country to which it belongs. It is the strength of the nation destroying the nation itself.

39. Let the natives say if this is not so? Besides, while the king keeps up this army, while he is continually calling it together, it is impossible for his neighbors to feel secure. They never know what may happen, and the British government is obliged to keep large numbers of the Queen’s troops in Natal and the Transvaal in order to protect British subjects against the dangers of a possible aggression by the Zulu king.

40. This state of things cannot last. It is dangerous to the peace of all the countries adjoining Zululand, and it is hurtful to the Zulu people themselves. The British government cannot allow it to continue. It has become absolutely necessary that some change should be made.

41. It is necessary that the military system which is at present kept up by the king should be done away with as a bad and hurtful one, and that he should instead adopt such military regulations as may be decided on after consultation with the great council of the Zulus, and with the representatives of the British government.

42. It is necessary that the Zulu army, as it is now, shall be disbanded, and that the men shall return to their homes.

43. Let the obligation on every able-bodied man to come out for the defence of his country, when it is needed, remain, but until then let it be that every man shall live, if he please, quietly at his own home.

44. Let every man then be free to remain at his home, and let him plant and sow, and reap and tend his cattle, and let him live in peace and with his family.

45. Let him not be called out for war or for fighting or for assembling in regiments, except with the permission of the great council of the nation assembled, and with the consent also of the British government.

46. Let every man, when he comes to man’s estate, be free to marry. Let him not wait for years before he gets permission to do this, for oftentimes the king forgets to give the permission, and the years pass on and the man becomes old. But let him be free to marry when he pleases, as it is in Natal.

47. So will the king have contented subjects.

48. Then with respect to the promises made at the coronation, let rules at once be laid down that any Zulu, man or woman, old or young, who is accused of any crime, be tried by properly appointed indunas before punishment, that no one may be punished without cause, and that the life of no one be taken until the offence of which he is accused be heard openly against him; and on answers given by him in self-defence, in order that those by whom he is tried may say whether he is guilty or not before he is punished: and if any one is declared guilty let him not be killed before the king has given his consent, and until the person declared guilty has been able to make an appeal to the king.

49. Thus it was promised it should be at the time of the coronation, but the promises have not been kept.

50. But in future it will be necessary that the promises be kept, for the British government holds itself bound to see that this is so; and in order that they may be kept, and that the laws regarding them may be duly carried out, the Queen’s High Commissioner, on behalf of the British government, will appoint an officer as his deputy to reside in the Zulu country, or on its immediate borders, who will be the eyes and ears and mouth of the British government towards the Zulu king and the great council of the nation.

51. What words the king or the council of the nation may desire to say to the British government can then be said through this officer, and also what words the British government may desire to say to the king and the great council can be said through him, so that all misunderstanding and questions that arise between the two countries, or between the subjects of the two countries, may be dealt with and settled through this one officer speaking with the king and the great council.

52. This officer will see that the rules regarding the trials of all Zulus before punishment are kept, and that no man is killed without trial, but that all men may have an opportunity of answering the accusations brought against them, and if need be of appealing to the king.

53. He will see also that the arrangements to be made regarding the army are carried out; that no one is called out for war without necessity; that all men are allowed to live at their homes in peace; and that every young man is free to marry. So will it be well with the Zulu people.

54. The late king Panda allowed several European missionaries to settle in Zululand. Cetywayo also allowed them to stay in the country, but during the last two years some of the natives living on the mission stations were killed without trial, or form of trial, and others were terrified, and thus the missionaries have, most of them, been obliged to abandon their stations; and the High Commissioner desires that all those missionaries who, until the last year, lived in the Zulu country and occupied stations, as also the natives belonging to the stations, be allowed to return and occupy their stations. He desires also that all missionaries be allowed to teach, as in Panda’s time, and that no Zulu shall be punished for listening to them. If any Zulu wishes, of his own choice, to listen to the missionary he is free to do so. If any native living on a mission station does wrong, he will be liable to punishment, but he must be tried first.

55. If any case of dispute occurs in which any of the missionaries, or in which any European is concerned, such dispute should be heard by the king in public and in the presence of the British resident; and no sentence of expulsion from Zululand shall be carried out until it has been communicated by the king to the Resident, and until it has been approved by the Resident.

56. These are the words of her Majesty’s High Commissioner, which the Lieutenant Governor of Natal sends to the Zulu king and the chief men of the nation, and for the whole Zulu nation,

57. These are the conditions which her Majesty’s High Commissioner, in the name of the British government, considers necessary for the establishment of a satisfactory state of things in the Zulu country, and for the peace and safety of the adjoining countries. Let, therefore, the king and the chief men of the nation consider them, and let them give their answer regarding them within thirty days from the day on which this communication is made to the Zulu representatives, in order that her Majesty’s High Commissioner may then know if the king and the great council agree to the words which are here given, and will give effect to these conditions, which are necessary both for the peace and safety of the Queen’s subjects and allies and also for the safety and welfare of the Zulu people, to which the Queen’s government wishes well.

(Signed)

Henry Bulwer,

Lieutenant Governor.

John Dunn’s Letter.
To the Aborigines Protection Society—

I beg to write, for the information of your honorable Society, and state that I am an Englishman by birth, and have been a resident of the Zulu country, and living among the Zulus, for the last twenty years, and I can confidently say that there is no white man in this part of South Africa so fitted to judge of their feelings towards the English race as I am.

I would not now address your honorable Society if it were not that I have noticed a very strong, wrong and arbitrary feeling gaining ground against the Zulu nation on the side of the white population in this part of South Africa. A strong feeling of color and jealousy I cannot understand, unless it is on account of the independency of the Zulu race, a feeling taken up without any just cause, and that feeling is now on the verge of breaking out on the pretext of a false claim of land boundary; a claim pretended to being upheld for the Dutch Boers, who are no friends of the English race, and are well known in this part of South Africa for their encroaching propensities on any land belonging to the natives of this country, to evade English laws, on the pretext of getting permission to graze cattle, on the grass becoming scarce on their own farms, and afterwards claiming the land. A claim in which the Natal government have always upheld the Zulus, and now, since the annexation of the Transvaal (in 1877), the head of the government there, who professed to side with the Zulus while he was in Natal, has now turned round and claimed for the Dutch a country thickly inhabited by the Zulus.

I write this for the information of your honorable Society, in the hope that you will try and put a stop to proceedings which will, if carried out, be the cause of bloodshed in an unjust cause, as I can assure you nothing but the grossest act of encroachment and oppression will cause the Zulus to take up arms against the English race, who wish to live at peace with them, not being ripe enough for civilization or civilized laws.

The standard rule that is gone by against the black races in this part of South Africa is the Amaxosa, or Cape Frontier Kafir, who is not to be compared to the Zulu; nothing but forced Christianity or civilization will spoil the Zulus, and the class of foreign missionaries we have in the country does more injury than good to them. Let them say what they like in their reports to the societies, they make no converts to their faith, besides the pretended ones or vagabonds, who imagine that by being clothed and under the garb of Christianity they will be exempt from all king’s service and laws of the country, and be allowed to roam about and do as they please.

The Zulu nation, judiciously dealt with, would remain a firm ally and friend to the English, and it would be a shame for any false notions of power on the English side to take advantage of such power, and destroy the Zulu race, which would undoubtedly be the case if they were overthrown; they would then become a lot of bold rogues, and eventually give much trouble.

One of the most unfair features in the case is this, that the head of the Transvaal government (Sir T. Shepstone) has always advised Cetywayo to remain quiet, and not to go to war with the Boers in disputing the boundary, promising him to see him righted, when, if it had been left to the Zulus and Boers themselves, I am sure the Boers would have got the worst of it. He now turns round and is prepared to fight himself, when he knows he is only too well backed up by England for the Dutch, England not knowing the real facts.

The Zulus acknowledge no individual title to land, permission only being given to squat, the land being looked on as belonging to the squatter only so long as he occupies it.

But before sending the above letter, I thought I would consult Mr. H. Escombe, and he advised me not to send the letter, as he had no doubt it was the intention of the English government to disarm all the native tribes in South Africa, and that I would only be making a fool of myself, or words to that effect, but at the same time advising me to wait the arrival of Mr. I. Sanderson, who was editor of the Natal Colonist, a colonial newspaper, now defunct, and who was expected out from England shortly. I acted on Mr. Escombe’s advice, and on the arrival of Mr. Sanderson had a conversation with him, and gave him the letter. He pretended to think well of my proposal, but before he had time to carry it out, affairs, as regards Zulu matters, came to a crisis, and Mr. Sanderson died shortly afterwards, and so ended this matter.