Very little remains to be told. Lobengula endeavoured to arrange terms with the British force, but his messengers and money never reached their destination. Babyane and four other indunas—followed after a few days by others—came to inquire what terms of peace would be granted. They were required to surrender their arms before returning to their kraals, which they did with alacrity. Most of the natives followed their example, being well satisfied with British rule. The death of Lobengula, of fever and gout, in January 1894 put an end to further complications.
RHODESIA—CIVILIZED
So far we have seen the establishment of the British in a hitherto absolutely savage arena. It may be interesting to hear what travellers have had to say regarding the region that has recently become our own. Its present aspect, and its prospects for the future, are best learnt from authorities who have personally inspected the place. Mr. Charles Boyd discourses thus on the subject:—
"When you have got out of the train before the corrugated iron building which stands on the edge of the illimitable grey, green veldt, to mark where the great station of the future is to arise, there is one feature of Buluwayo which is making ready to seize hold upon you. It is not, perhaps, the most important feature, but it is conspicuous enough to entitle it to a first place in any jotting of local impressions. It is what a logician might call the differentia of Buluwayo. Put it bluntly it comes to this, that you have arrived in a community of gentlemen. A stranger making his way about the brown streets, neat brick and corrugated iron buildings set down on red earth, and divided into alternate avenues and streets—'little New York,' said a policeman complacently—a stranger pauses to ask himself if he dreams, or if the Household Brigade, the Bachelors' Club, and the Foreign Office have depleted themselves of their members, and sent them, disguised in broad-brimmed hats and riding-breeches, to hold the capital of Matabeleland. Young men of the most eligible sort are everywhere. Some of them are manifestly youthful, others are well on in the thirties, there is even a sprinkling of men of years; but the mass of the population presents the same aspect of physical fitness, that indefinable something besides, which is perhaps not to be expressed save under the single head of 'race.'" In fact, our authority asserts that nowhere can be found a healthier, shrewder, or friendlier set of men. He believes in them, and in the discipline that has toughened them to meet the real needs of life, and kept them alive to a sense of their political and social importance. He says—
"Buluwayo now possesses a population of 5000, a mayor and corporation, daily and weekly papers, and several public buildings, including banks, clubs, and an hospital built as a memorial to Major Wilson.
"The rapid increase in the value of land at Buluwayo is shown by the fact that whilst in 1894 the average price of a town stand was £103, in 1897 it had advanced to £345. By the opening of the railway, in November 1897, it is placed in direct communication with Cape Town, and a still greater increase in value may be anticipated."
"TO THE MEMORY OF BRAVE MEN."
THE LAST STAND OF MAJOR WILSON ON THE SHANGANI RIVER, 1893.