There being no necessity for detaining him at Nongoma beyond a few days, arrangements were made for his removal to Pietermaritzburg, in order that a preliminary examination might be begun as soon as possible. Such examination, which is of a formal character, is invariably held in the case of a person charged with a serious offence. An escort of 100 N.R.R., 100 N.N.C. (Hoare) and a battery of N.F.A. (Wilson), under Major J. Fraser, N.R.R., having been provided, Dinuzulu and his attendants left Nongoma by mule cart and waggons on the 14th en route for Pietermaritzburg, viâ Hlabisa and Somkele. He reached his destination a couple of days later, no incident of any importance having occurred on the way.
With the surrender and removal, the principal object of the expedition had been accomplished. There remained: (a) the securing of unregistered firearms known to have been secreted by Dinuzulu at Usutu; (b) the calling in of those belonging to other members of the Usutu tribe, and other tribes closely connected therewith, notably some of those which lived in Ngotshe and Vryheid districts; and (c) the arrest of various outstanding rebels. Many of the notorious and other rebels, who had been deliberately harboured by Dinuzulu, had been obliged, in consequence of his arrest, to disperse in various directions. It afterwards transpired that, on the 9th, a couple of hours before his surrender, Dinuzulu had addressed them in the following terms: "I am going, men; here is a letter from the white people calling me on account of the ... Chiefs who have been killed.... I now tell you all to scatter and go and hide with your relatives, you must not be arrested here.... I will send and let you know if the white people are going to come down to search this place."[325]
As it was considered the foregoing objects could be effected with a much smaller force than was then in the field, the escort in charge of Dinuzulu received orders to demobilize on reaching its destination.
The arrangements for dealing with the Zululand situation had included the locating of a column at Vryheid. This column, formed on the 10th December, consisted of N.D.M.R. and Utrecht, Newcastle (town and district), Vryheid and Ladysmith (town) Reserves, with Lieut.-Col. B. Crompton, D.S.O., in command, and Capt. O. Schuller as Adjutant. As, however, Dinuzulu's arrest had taken place quietly, the necessity for the column soon ceased to exist. It was demobilized on the 18th.
On the 15th December, the Natal Carbineers, under Weighton, left Nongoma and, moving viâ Ngome forest[326] and Louwsburg through Ngotshe district—dealing en route with allegations against two important Chiefs of that part, Mapovela and Maboko—reached Vryheid on the 22nd.
As directed by McKenzie at Usutu kraal on the 13th, about 500 members of Dinuzulu's tribe came during the same day to hand in their guns and assegais, when, on the advice of Sir Charles Saunders (whose presence at this time at Nongoma was most opportune), it was arranged that control of the tribe, until the Government's pleasure had been ascertained, should be carried on by certain twenty-one headmen, whose names were publicly announced. Only twenty-four guns were handed in. Not many assegais were brought, owing to a misunderstanding.
In consequence of Dinuzulu's having been arrested and to their being subjected to other inconveniences through the arrival of the troops, members of the Usutu party became much incensed with such rebels as had been harboured at Usutu and elsewhere in the tribe. It was to them that they attributed the misfortunes which had come upon Dinuzulu and themselves. So angry were they that it was commonly reported that any rebel not leaving forthwith would be stabbed to death. If Dinuzulu had been a "father" to them, the tribe was not prepared to extend the same consideration.
The U.M.R. (Newmarch) and B.M.R. (Arnott) remained at Nongoma on Weighton's moving to Vryheid, but, after marching out on two occasions to search for concealed arms, they left the magistracy on the 20th viâ Somkele to demobilize in Natal.
Instructions were, at the same time, issued for the whole of the Police force to remain in Zululand, subject to such dispositions as the Commandant might wish to make. The Chiefs, moreover, were held responsible for the "maintenance of law and order, for the delivering up to the authorities of all persons implicated in or suspected of crime, and for the surrender of all unregistered firearms."