A history of the Zulu Rebellion, 1906, and of Dinuzulu's arrest, trial, and expatriation

A HISTORY OF THE ZULU REBELLION, 1906

MACMILLAN AND CO., Limited

LONDON · BOMBAY · CALCUTTA
MELBOURNE

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

NEW YORK · BOSTON · CHICAGO
DALLAS · SAN FRANCISCO

THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd.

TORONTO

COLONEL SIR HENRY E. McCALLUM, R.E., G.C.M.G.,
(Governor of Natal, 1901-1907).

A HISTORY

OF

THE ZULU REBELLION

1906

AND OF

DINUZULU'S ARREST, TRIAL AND EXPATRIATION

BY

J. STUART

CAPT. NATAL FIELD ARTILLERY; INTELLIGENCE OFFICER, 1906-1909
EX-ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR NATIVE AFFAIRS, NATAL

WITH FIVE MAPS, SIX PLANS
AND TWENTY-FIVE ILLUSTRATIONS

MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED
ST. MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON

1913

COPYRIGHT

Dedicated,

BY PERMISSION,

TO

HIS EXCELLENCY,

COLONEL SIR HENRY EDWARD McCALLUM.

R.E., G.C.M.G., AIDE-DE-CAMP TO HIS MAJESTY THE KING, ETC., ETC.

GOVERNOR OF NATAL (1901-1907),

WHOSE FIRM AND CAPABLE ADMINISTRATION
OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE COLONY,
IN A TIME OF PUBLIC DANGER,
WILL LONG BE REMEMBERED WITH GRATITUDE
BY EVERY NATALIAN.

[PREFACE.]

Although the object of this book is stated in the opening paragraph, it is, perhaps, proper that the circumstances under which it came to be written should also be set briefly before the reader.

Towards the end of the campaign, probably the first to be conducted by a British colony without the assistance of the Mother Country,[1] the Government of Natal decided that a history of the military operations should be compiled. On being asked, I consented to undertake the task. But, though promptly entered upon, the greatest difficulty was experienced in carrying it to a conclusion. This arose from my being a civil servant and being obliged to continue discharging certain special as well as ordinary official duties. As, when the Union of South Africa was established, the work had not been completed, the attention of the Minister of Defence was drawn to the matter. General Smuts intimated that the new Government was unable to ratify the original instructions, and that if the book was ever to be published (which he personally hoped would be the case) it would have to be on my own responsibility and at my own expense. In these circumstances, particularly as an opportunity occurred of severing my twenty-four years' connection with the Civil Service, I resolved to go on with it and appeal for support to those who had taken part in the campaign. This appeal was made to a somewhat limited extent in 1912, and it is owing very largely to the guarantee then obtained that the heavy costs of publication have been incurred.

But, although the volume can no longer claim to be an official publication, it is in the unique position of being based as much on official information as, perhaps, any exclusively official history could have been, for I am pleased to say that considerable assistance has been given by the Government, especially by all records, e.g. commanding and other officers' reports, statistics, maps, etc., being placed freely at my disposal. The reader will, however, soon perceive that the subject has been treated with a fulness and freedom that could hardly have been expected in a more formal production. Owing, for instance, to having for years specialized in Zulu history, habits, and customs, I have not hesitated to incorporate information, germane to the subject, which I felt the reader might wish to have, especially as some of it is not procurable elsewhere. Moreover, instead of being limited, as at first intended, to the events of 1906, the narrative includes a detailed account of the Dinuzulu Expedition, and other topics incidental to that important sequel of the Rebellion.

Although I had the privilege of serving as intelligence officer throughout the campaign, as well as during the Expedition, and therefore was an eye-witness of many of the operations, it became necessary, as it was desired that the history should be comprehensive, to obtain exact information regarding several actions, operations, etc., at which I was not present. A party, which included a first-class surveyor and professional photographer, was accordingly organized by direction of the Commandant, as early as November, 1906, for the purpose of visiting the battle-fields. The members were selected for their personal knowledge of what had occurred at the places in question. Quantities of accurate information, not previously available, were thereupon collected by me at each spot, the surveyor at the same time preparing the maps and plans included herein.

So abundant is the material accumulated then, as well as on various other occasions, that it would have been easy to compile a much larger work than the present one. That the book is as full as it is, is due to the fact that no general account exists of an occurrence that must for long loom large in the history of the Native races of South Africa. To some extent, owing to my recent intimate connection with the Native Affairs Department, the book may even claim to be an introduction to and a study of some of the more fundamental aspects of the Native Question—no doubt the greatest problem with which South African statesmen will ever be called on to deal.

The main object throughout has been to ensure accuracy. Working, as I have had to do, practically alone, the task has proved long and difficult. This is the sole reason why the time originally fixed for publication has, I regret to say, been exceeded by a few months.

I cannot conclude without acknowledging my indebtedness and expressing my thanks to the many officers, non-commissioned officers and men, and others not in the military service, who, from time to time, have given valuable information and helpful suggestions or advice. To name but a few of these would be invidious. I can only say that the uniform readiness and unfailing courtesy of all to whom I was obliged to appeal have been greatly appreciated, and have gone a long way towards rendering the undertaking less arduous than it otherwise would have been. To say that the greatest assistance has come from the Government, especially the Militia and Police Departments in Natal and the Volunteer Department in the Transvaal, is but to state what will be patent to everyone.

The despatches from the Governors, Sir Henry McCallum and Sir Matthew Nathan, to the Secretary of State for the Colonies in various blue-books have been invaluable. Captain W. Bosman's and Mr. W.J. Powell's well-known books have, of course, also been consulted; the help derived from them, especially the former, is very gratefully acknowledged.

My thanks are also due to J. Windham, Esq., and my mother for reading several of the chapters and suggesting various improvements.

The index is the work of Miss M. Marsh, of the Encyclopædia Britannica staff; no pains have been spared in rendering it as complete and accurate as possible.

J. STUART.

London, June, 1913.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] But see p. 63.

CONTENTS.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

(a) ILLUSTRATIONS.

[Colonel Sir Henry E. McCallum, R.E., G.C.M.G.], Frontispiece
[Hon. C.J. Smythe],
[Hon. Sir Thomas Watt, K.C.M.G.,]
[Hon. T.F. Carter, K.C.,]
[Hon. H.D. Winter,]
[Colonel H.T. Bru-de-Wold, C.M.G., D.S.O.,,]
[Major-General Sir J.G. Dartneli, K.C.B., C.M.G.,,]
[Colonel G. Leuchars, C.M.G., D.S.O.,,]
[Sir Abe Bailey, K.C.M.G.,,]
[Mr. H.M. Stainbank],
[Mr. Oliver E. Veal],
[Sub-Inspector S.H.K. Hunt],
[Trooper G. Armstrong],
[Bambata],
[Cakijana],
[Sigananda],
[Mangati],
[Brigadier-General Sir D. McKenzie, K.C.M.G., C.B.,]
[Mveli],
[Sitshitshili],
[Sibindi],
[Mankulumana],
[Bambata's Wife],
[Usutu Kraal],
[Group: Dinuzulu, Hon. W.P. Schreiner], K.C., AND OTHERS,

(b) MAPS AND PLANS.

[Key Map, and Area of Operations], End of Index
[Mpanza],
[Bobe],
[Mpukunyoni],
[Manzipambana],
[Mome, showing Tate Gorge],
[Otimati],
[Peyana] (Hlonono),
[Insuze],
[Ponjwana] (Sikota's Kraal),
[Izinsimba and Macrae's Store],

ABBREVIATIONS.

GLOSSARY.

[I.]

INTRODUCTION.

The main object of this book is to describe the military operations of the Rebellion of 1906-08, a rebellion in which a considerable section of the Zulus of Natal and Zululand took up arms against the Government of Natal. Such conflict was, of course, between a race of savages on the one hand, and a number of Europeans or representatives of Western Civilization on the other. An account of the campaign that ensued might, indeed, succeed in holding the reader's attention and even afford information of practical value. However that may be, whenever great and sudden outbursts of hostility occur in human society, no one is quite satisfied unless he can, at the same time, learn something of the inner or underlying circumstances under which they came to take place. Particularly is this the case when, as in the present instance, the hostilities were planned by people with whom the British race had been in close contact and on terms of amity for upwards of eighty years. This aspect of the matter will, therefore, be kept carefully in view, in the hope that some of that fuller information, which, it is assumed, every reader naturally desires to have, may be afforded. In order that this better understanding may be obtained, it is necessary to begin with the first coming into contact of the colonists with the Zulu people.

It was in May, 1824, that the first group of European settlers arrived in Natal by sea from the Cape Colony.[2] They found large tracts of country about Port Natal almost uninhabited.[3] Learning that the King of that important section of the Bantu family, the great and terrible Tshaka, then residing in what is now called Zululand, claimed the territory as his, they immediately repaired to the royal headquarters, Bulawayo,[4] obtained from the despot permission to take up their abode at the Port and enter into commercial dealings with his people. Notwithstanding the ease with which a footing was obtained, their position was, for many years, one of very considerable insecurity, which, indeed, was inevitable under the prevailing mode of government.

The circumstances might have been different had the Zulu dynasty been long in power. As it was, for barely a decade had any kingdom existed in those parts, its existence having been brought about by Tshaka himself by means of a newly-created and remarkable military system, to be described in a later chapter, under which practically every man and youth capable of bearing arms was bound to serve. As, through the King's aggressive tactics, the borders of the country were being rapidly expanded, it can be seen his forces were constantly being augmented in proportion.

Owing, then, to the existence, on the north side of the Tugela, of this large, efficient and highly-organized army of warlike barbarians, an army whose movements were dependent on the caprice of as absolute an autocrat as it is possible to conceive—an army prepared and able, upon emergency, as was proved upon various occasions, to mobilize 40,000 to 50,000 men (inhabiting roadless, mountainous regions) within a week—it became a matter of vital importance for such state of affairs to be borne perpetually in mind; for these early colonists, it must be remembered, were, from 1824 to 1837, but a handful of strangers in a strange land. It became their first duty to maintain a strictly friendly disposition towards the Zulu monarch, and to avoid, by all means in their power, a conflict which must have severely crippled them, if it did not result in the complete annihilation of themselves, their families and dependants.

There were, however, not a few influences at work, feeble though these were, in the direction of placating the Zulu monarch, and securing, as far as possible, his continual friendly co-operation and goodwill. Among these, practical services of various kinds were rendered by the pioneers from time to time, in a collective as well as individual capacity. For instance, they were occasionally called on to assist in military expeditions; when not so engaged, they established and developed a commerce in sundry commodities, notably blankets, cloth, bangles and beads of different colours and sizes, in exchange for ivory, cattle, goats, corn, maize, etc., which proved as beneficial to the aborigines as it was lucrative for the settlers. Then again, men like Henry F. Fynn, the first European to settle permanently in Natal, ministered unceasingly to the numerous sick, indigent and wounded people, including the King and his relations, whom he found about him on every side during his journeys of exploration. In these and other ways, the foundations of a warm friendship (soon extended to every member of the party, and, later on, to all other Europeans that came to Natal) were gradually and successfully built up. Alive to the material advantages arising out of having the British settlers so close at hand—for were they not the makers of firearms?—not to refer to the intense interest undoubtedly aroused through his coming into contact with a strange, exceedingly capable and amicably-disposed race, apparently so situated at Port Natal as not to be a source of domestic or political annoyance, Tshaka, on being appealed to, readily agreed to cede to them, "their heirs and executors," a tract of country stretching some thirty-five miles along the coast, north and south of Port Natal, and running "about one hundred miles backward from the sea-shore,"[5] and there, in 1835, at the Port, was laid off the now beautiful town of Durban.

Thus, the earliest provisions consisted in nought else than the establishment and consolidation of a bond of friendship between the little band of adventurers and the rulers of the land, and, so long as that bond was faithfully observed, so long was there peace between the parties, whatever else might have been the position in respect of the adjoining states.

From 1824 to 23rd September, 1828 (the date of Tshaka's assassination), the British settlers averaged about twenty-five souls in number. Between the latter date and 1834 they fell to a smaller figure. But, from then on to 19th October, 1837,[6] when a party of Boers under Piet Retief arrived at Durban from the Cape Colony, the numbers, through the coming of traders and missionaries, and their families, were considerably increased.

The policy of the pioneers, indeed, could be no other than, for the time being, to place themselves wholly and unreservedly under the protection of the Zulu sovereign, first Tshaka, their declared and, as it proved, real and constant friend, and subsequently, Dingana, perfidious autocrat as he soon revealed himself to be. The kindly feelings entertained by Tshaka towards his Europeans (abelungu), as he always called them, and the invaluable services and substantial concessions extended to them up to the day of his assassination, are not borne in mind in these days as much as they deserve to be. This disposition carried with it, as a matter of course, an unqualified attitude of amity and respect on the part of the entire Zulu nation, only too eager to render immediate obedience to their tyrant.

With his successor and brother Dingana, the position became greatly altered. So far from cherishing a friendly disposition towards the immigrants, he regarded them as sources of peculiar inconvenience, if not as an insidious and growing menace to his very throne and person. He resented their harbouring refugees from his country at Port Natal, notwithstanding that Tshaka had always refrained from troubling himself with such escapades, on the ground that, in quitting Zululand for the abelungu at Isibubulungu (as the Zulus called Port Natal), they had but gone to his friends, and were, therefore, within reach whenever required. So uneasy and hostile did Dingana eventually become that, in 1834, he dispatched a strong raiding-party to massacre every soul, white as well as black, settled in the neighbourhood of the Port, and this vindictive order would have been carried out to the letter, had they not fled precipitately either towards the Cape Colony, or concealed themselves in the numerous bushes round about. As it was, a party, headed by Fynn, consisting of a considerable number of his Native adherents, was overtaken by the raiders south of Umzimkulu, and exterminated almost to a man, Fynn himself escaping. Nor was this the only occasion on which this King betrayed his hatred of the British settlers.[7]

With the arrival overland from the Cape Colony of the Boer voortrekkers, however, a great change came over the scene. Momentous events followed one another in quick succession. Here was a well-armed, mounted and efficient force, extremely small in numbers as compared with the Zulus, and very desirous of occupying the land they found vacant in the northern portions of Natal. Although in no way intending to be aggressors, the entirely amicable and co-operative spirit in which they entered upon negotiations with Dingana being evidence of this fact, they were undoubtedly regarded ab initio in that light by the Zulus. The Boers, however, had arrived in these practically unexplored regions prepared for all contingencies, war included; Dingana saw this, and war they were compelled to enter upon forthwith. The treacherous and brutal massacre of Piet Retief, along with some sixty followers and forty Hottentot and Native servants, at the principal royal kraal, Mgungundhlovu, on the 6th February, 1838, followed almost immediately by the cold-blooded murders of 281 Boer men, women and children, together with 250 of their coloured servants, at Bushman's and Blauwkrantz Rivers in Natal, were the initial acts of that wholly unprovoked war. The valiant manner in which 460 voortrekkers subsequently went forth to oppose an army outnumbering them by at least 40 to 1; the readiness with which they moved about the roadless country with cumbersome transport, notwithstanding the traps occasionally laid by a crafty foe; their crushing victory over some 9,500 Zulus at Blood River on 16th December, 1838; and their further expedition of January-February, 1840, when, as the result of a battle between Dingana and their ally Mpande, the former's power was finally shattered, will always stand to their credit, and be a lesson as to how operations can be conducted with success against a race of barbarians.

Subsequently to the death of Dingana, probably from poisoning, in January, 1840, his brother, Mpande, who, towards the end of 1839, had crossed over into Natal with a vast concourse of adherents to seek the protection of the Boers, was later on formally installed by the latter as Paramount Chief of the Zulus.

Between 1840 and 1843, the relations between the English settlers on the coast and the Boers, who had taken up their residence further inland,[8] unhappily became so strained that open hostilities broke out between them in the winter of 1843, the former having been strengthened by a regiment sent overland to Durban in 1842. This regrettable conflict resulted in the formal annexation of Natal by the British Government, the majority of the Boers falling back to establish themselves in territory across the Vaal, then already partly occupied by their own countrymen, and now known as the Transvaal.

After being invested by the Boers, as already stated, Mpande maintained and even elaborated the Zulu military system. This system continued to exist, not only to the end of his reign in 1872, but throughout that of his son Cetshwayo, that is, until the Zulu War of 1879.

During this long period, notwithstanding that numerous immigrants arrived in Natal, nothing in the shape of regular military organization took place among the white settlers, beyond the formation, from time to time, of volunteer corps[9] (this, however, does not apply to the Boers who, between 1837 and 1843, were well organized). Lagers[10] were erected in various parts of the Colony, as well as a few magazines for arms and ammunition. Where magazines existed, rifle associations soon began to be formed.

If it was never possible to determine how long it might be before trouble arose, the Government was aware that a general rising could originate only in Zululand. From the time the first colonists arrived in Natal, up to the end of the Zulu War, August, 1879, the principal arbiter of savage warfare in South Africa was the Zulu sovereign. It was to him that the whole of the tribes of Zululand—the real storm-centre of South Africa—looked, including those of Natal, who were without any hereditary King. The latter were, indeed, only too glad to place themselves under the protection of the British Government, and even actively assist against their former King in the campaign of 1879. The majority of the Natives of Natal then, and the same is still the case, consisted of people who, at various times, had fled from Zululand, fearing lest they should be put to death on some bogus charge of practising witchcraft, of infringing the very stringent and remarkable marriage regulations, or of neglecting to conform to a hundred and one instructions or directions. Ever since the days of Dingana, the King became exceedingly incensed on hearing of any of his subjects breaking away to place himself under the notoriously milder European rule south of the Tugela. Any neglect to conform to his pleasure, where, in former days, similar desires would have been carried out with alacrity and without the least demur, appeared to be no less than outrageous defiance, and, as such, punishable with the utmost rigour. The tendency of fleeing to Natal from the despotic laws, which became even more arbitrary as the possibility of infringing any of them with impunity appeared greater, grew to such formidable proportions, that special regulations were introduced in Natal to cope with the situation. Refugees, for instance, were required to indenture themselves as labourers to European house-holders, farmers, etc., for a period of three years. But, by the time Cetshwayo, long the de facto ruler of Zululand, actually began to reign (October, 1872), the prestige of the Imperial Government had become so firmly established in Natal, and to such numbers had the farmers and other Europeans grown, backed up by an Imperial garrison at Fort Napier, Pietermaritzburg, that the King perceived that any attack was not only destined to fail, but must result in the prompt dispatch of irresistible forces to bring an end to his rule. The fact, however, remained that the relations between Cetshwayo and the representatives of Imperial authority in Natal became more and more strained, and the outbreak of war between the two races sooner or later inevitable.

No one appreciated better the position than did the Natives in Natal. Because, in most cases, their having come to the Colony was tantamount to flagrant defiance of the royal will, so, no one knew better than they, that, in having placed themselves under alien protection, they had thereby burnt their boats behind them and incurred the unappeasable wrath of the Zulu dynasty. It is for this reason that Natal Natives were, formerly, at all times only too eager to co-operate with their protectors in the direct or indirect destruction of the Zulu power.

In these circumstances, as actual warfare between the colonists and the Zulus was never imminent, notwithstanding sharp differences in civilization, manners and customs, till shortly before 1879, it was unnecessary to promote systematic enrolment and organization of the local forces.

There was, however, an important factor in the situation to which reference should be made. Natal became a British Colony in 1843, and remained such, though at first, for a few years, annexed to the Cape Colony, until the grant of responsible government in 1893; thus, during the long critical period preceding and succeeding the Zulu War, it devolved on the Imperial Government to provide continually for the protection of its recently-acquired possession. A regiment was stationed at Fort Napier. With the existence of this organized and well-armed force, capable of quelling any local disorder of limited proportions, there was still less necessity for organizing the Colony's fighting material. For all ordinary purposes, the Volunteers and the Natal Mounted Police, commanded for many years by Major (now Major-General Sir John) Dartnell—the first to organize the Volunteers into a military body—were sufficient, with the Imperial troops behind them, to preserve order. After responsible government was granted, however, it became imperative for Natal to consider how to defend herself by means of her own resources against an internal or external foe.

Although there was no regular Native war in Natal proper between 1824 and 1906, there were periodical disturbances, limited, however, to particular districts. Among these may be named: the Fodo Revolt (Unkomanzi River), 1846; the Sidoyi Expedition (Ixopo division), April, 1857; the Matshana Expedition (Umsinga division), March, 1858; and the Langalibalele Rebellion (Estcourt division), November, 1873.

The most important occurrences outside, though near, the borders of Natal were: the conquest of Zululand by the Boers, assisted to some extent by British colonists, 1838-9; a raid by a Boer commando from Natal on Ncapayi, (Pondoland), 1841; battle between Cetshwayo and Mbuyazi, sons of Mpande and rival claimants to the Zulu throne, near the mouth of the Tugela (Ndondakusuka), December, 1856; the Bushman Expedition, 1866; the Sikukuni Rebellion, 1878-9; the Zulu War, 1879; and the Zululand disturbances, 1883-8.

Other battles or campaigns, in which, however, the Natives were only indirectly concerned, were: Battle of Congella, 1843; the Boer War, 1881; and the Boer War, 1899-1902.

Of the foregoing campaigns, etc., it is proposed to refer specially to two only, the Langalibalele Rebellion and the Zulu War.

The Langalibalele Rebellion, the only internal warfare of any importance prior to that of 1906, and for that reason worthy of notice here, occurred in 1873. It was directly connected with the Kimberley diamond fields, which began to be developed in the year 1870. Contractors recruited labourers in Natal for the mines. Many of these Natives received guns in lieu of wages and returned with them to Natal. The Government, objecting to unregistered arms being held, proceeded to call them in for registration, or confiscation, where any owner was regarded as unfit to possess a firearm. Langalibalele, Chief of the Hlubi tribe, living near Estcourt, refused, in the name of those of his tribe concerned, to comply with the order, although aware of instructions issued by the Government prohibiting the introduction and holding of guns, except under the usual conditions. It was believed most of the unlawfully-held weapons were in possession of this particular tribe. A force, accompanied by the Lieutenant-Governor and consisting of 200 regular troops, 300 colonial volunteers, and some 6,000 Natives, marched on 30th October to enforce obedience. Langalibalele, with a large following, fled at once into Basutoland. Many of his cattle, etc., as well as those of a Chief, Putili, who was associated with him, were seized. In attempting to hold a difficult pass in the Drakensberg Mountains,[11] by which it was correctly supposed the fugitives would travel, Major A.W. Durnford[12] and his men[13] who had been directed "not to fire the first shot," were attacked by about 200 rebels on the 4th November—three Natal Carbineers and two Natives being killed. It was found necessary to proclaim martial law on the 11th of the same month over the disaffected area, but only, as it happened, for a period of fourteen days. During the operations, some 200 rebels were killed. Langalibalele himself was followed up in December by a force under Capt. A.B. Allison, one of the Magistrates of the Colony. Finding himself opposed by Natal forces, Cape Colony troops (which had been specially sent to co-operate), as well as by the Basutos, Langalibalele, after offering some resistance, surrendered. Of the 7,000 cattle captured from him in Basutoland (besides 200-300 horses), 2,000 were awarded to the Basutos, Allison conveying the remainder, with the Chief and a number of other prisoners, back over the mountains to Natal. The Chief, with some of his sons and followers, were afterwards tried at Pietermaritzburg. He was deposed and banished to Robben Island, Cape Town, and his tribe broken up. After some years, however, he was permitted to return to Natal, where he subsequently died a natural death.

With regard to the Zulu War, the fundamental causes were disputes with Transvaal Boers over land matters, notably territory lying between the Buffalo River—then part of the eastern border of Natal—to as far down as where the Blood River enters it, and the Pongolo River. Another cause was, violation of Natal territory in July, 1878, by three sons and a brother of Sirayo, a Zulu. One of these sons was Mehlokazulu, of whom more will be heard when the Rebellion itself is being dealt with.

The land matters were investigated by a Commission. Whilst the award to be made was under consideration, various incidents occurred, thereby complicating still further an already strained position. An ultimatum was sent, by direction of the High Commissioner (Sir Bartle Frere), to the Zulu King, Cetshwayo. This, inter alia, required that certain promises, alleged to have been made by Cetshwayo at his coronation in respect of governing his people should be observed, e.g. that his army should be disbanded; that the military system should be discontinued, except on certain specified lines; that, on arriving at man's estate, Zulus should be free to marry, without waiting to receive special royal sanction; that a British resident, whose duty it would be to see that these and other stipulations were observed, should henceforth reside in Zululand.

The King failed to meet the demands, whereupon his country was invaded by three columns. During the campaign, which lasted just under eight months, several severe engagements were fought. Among these were Inyezane, Isandhlwana, Rorke's Drift, Hlobane, Kambula, Gingindhlovu and Ulundi.[14]

The last battle, Ulundi, when the Zulu power was broken up, was fought on the 4th July, but it was not until 28th August that the King was captured.

On the conclusion of the War, the country was divided into thirteen districts, over which as many Chiefs, with very extensive powers, were appointed by Sir Garnet (later Viscount) Wolseley. The arrangement soon proved calamitous and unsatisfactory, notwithstanding that a British resident was stationed in the country to supervise internal and external affairs.

After his arrest, Cetshwayo was imprisoned for a time at Cape Town. In 1882, he was allowed to visit England, where he had an audience of Her Majesty, Queen Victoria. He was subsequently repatriated, but, owing to the refusal of two or three of the thirteen appointed Chiefs to recognize him as head of the district assigned him, his position became untenable. He attacked one of these Chiefs, Zibebu, who, retaliating, forced the ex-King to take refuge in reserved territory south of the Mhlatuze River, first at Nkandhla, then at Eshowe. Cetshwayo died at the latter place on the 8th February, 1884. His body was conveyed by his people to the vicinity of the Nkandhla forests and there interred. Of this grave and forests a good deal will be heard later.

The disturbances that had broken out between Zibebu and the royal family continued down to the middle of 1888, by which time Dinuzulu, eldest son of Cetshwayo and bearer of his father's tattered mantle, had reached his majority.[15]

As the part played by Dinuzulu both before and during the Rebellion was of the greatest importance, it would be as well to include here, by way of introduction to what has to follow, a somewhat fuller notice of his antecedents. He was born about the year 1868. As Zulus are nothing if not expressive in the selection of names, so, in devising one for his eldest son, Cetshwayo gave evidence of the well-known national characteristic. Dinuzulu means "one who is a source of worry to the Zulus."

Under Sir Garnet Wolseley's settlement, Ndabuko, Dinuzulu's uncle, and, next to Cetshwayo, the man of greatest rank and influence in Zululand, was placed under one of the thirteen "kinglets," Zibebu, a blood relation of the King. During Cetshwayo's imprisonment, Ndabuko became Dinuzulu's guardian. As the result of endeavours by this prince to secure the return of Cetshwayo, friction arose between him and Zibebu. It was not long before civil war broke out between the royalist party and that of Zibebu. Ndabuko's cause became the cause of Dinuzulu. The British Government had, in the meantime, definitely refused to take over the government of the country.

In 1883, when, at Ulundi, Cetshwayo was surprised and defeated by Zibebu, Dinuzulu was saved by a faithful adherent Sitshitshili, who will be referred to later.

On the death of Cetshwayo, the heads of the nation nominated Dinuzulu as successor.[16] The claim of his younger brother, Manzolwandhle,[17] to the heirship has, however, always been regarded by the majority of Zulus as superior to his own.

Dinuzulu soon found it necessary to seek the assistance of the Boers against Zibebu and Hamu (another of the "kinglets" and an uncle of Dinuzulu). The latter (Dinuzulu) called in the support of Boers of the Transvaal, who, on the 21st May, 1884, went through the farce of "crowning" the prince "King of the Zulus," thereby recalling the occasion on which, forty years before, they had installed his grandfather as Paramount Chief. On the 5th June following, Dinuzulu's adherents, aided by 600 Boers, attacked and completely routed Zibebu and his followers at Tshanini.[18] The Boers, for their moral assistance—hardly more than moral—induced the young "King" to sign a document ceding them a large tract of north-eastern Zululand, extending down to the sea at St. Lucia Bay. This they cut up into farms and created the "New Republic," afterwards the Vryheid district of the Transvaal. In Sir A. Havelock's settlement with the Boers, this Republic was recognized by Britain, its limitations were defined, and a large portion of country alleged to have been ceded was recovered for the Zulus, including all the coast land round St. Lucia Bay.

In May, 1887, the Imperial Government assumed full control of the affairs of Zululand, the Governor's proclamation of formal annexation being read at Eshowe in the presence of some 15,000 Zulus.

Other disturbances arose between Dinuzulu and Zibebu in 1887-8, but as the country had been formally annexed by the Imperial Government, and as it appeared Dinuzulu and his two uncles, Ndabuko and Tshingana, had deliberately contravened the law, of whose provisions they were fully aware, they were arrested on a charge of public violence. Their trial took place at Eshowe before a specially-constituted court, when all three were convicted and sentenced to ten, fifteen and twelve years' imprisonment, respectively. Early in 1889, they were deported to St. Helena. There they remained until the end of 1897, when they were taken back to Zululand. Their return followed immediately upon the annexation of Zululand to Natal, when, of course, the Imperial Government ceased to directly control the affairs of the former territory. The terms of Dinuzulu's repatriation will call for particular notice in a later chapter.

In the Act of Annexation[19] it was provided that "until other provisions shall have been made ... with the approval of Her Majesty, no grants or alienation of Crown Lands ... shall be made, nor till then shall the Natives be disturbed in the use and occupation of any lands occupied or used by them at the time of the taking effect of this Act." In 1902, a Commission was appointed for the purpose of delimiting tracts of country to be reserved for occupation of the Natives, on the one hand, and those for immediate and future European occupation, on the other. About seven-twelfths of the country (whose total acreage is 6,695,000), or approximately 3,887,000 acres, divided into twenty-one separate locations, were reserved for the exclusive occupation of the Natives, whose numbers, at that time, fell just short of 200,000. Much of this land, however, was and still is unsuitable for human habitation, either because of its being too arid and stony for cultivation, of malarial fever being prevalent therein, or of its being infested with the tsetse fly. The total area set apart for European occupation was 2,808,000 acres. The recommendations of the Commission received the approval of the Imperial Government, whereupon the blocks set apart for Europeans were surveyed into farms not exceeding 500 acres apiece, mainly on the coast belt south of the Mhlatuze River, and disposed of to sugar planters. Similarly reserved lands in other parts were not so readily taken up. This opening of the door on a large scale to European settlers undoubtedly went a long way towards unsettling the people.

HON. C.J. SMYTHE,
Prime Minister and Colonial Secretary.
HON. SIR THOMAS WATT, K.C.M.G.,
Minister of Justice and Defence.
HON. T.F. CARTER, K.C.,
Attorney General, 1907-10.
HON. H.D. WINTER,
Minister for Native Affairs.

FOOTNOTES:

[2] Natal was discovered by a Portuguese navigator, Vasco da Gama, when engaged in his quest for a sea-route to India, on Christmas Day, 1497. But little more was heard of the country until Farewell and Fynn, having proceeded in 1823 as far as St. Lucia Bay and Delagoa Bay respectively, returned to Cape Town and organized the party referred to in the text.

[3] The notorious Zulu King Tshaka's catastrophic reign began about 1814. Great tribes were, at quick intervals between then and 1820, driven headlong into Natal, only to sweep the peaceful inhabitants of the land away with them into the Cape Colony and elsewhere. Three or four of these appalling exoduses, taking place by no means only on the south-west boundary of Zululand, soon denuded Natal, and other adjacent territories, of the greater portion of their aboriginal population. The country was transformed into a howling wilderness, overrun with lions, hyænas, and wolves; and any stray wight, who had succeeded in evading the Zulu fury and was eking out an existence on wild-roots or shell-fish, was hunted by members of his own species, so far de-humanized, within half-a-dozen years, as to have become converted into expert and voracious cannibals.

[4] It was after this kraal that Mzilikazi, "the lion of the North," named his own principal kraal—a name subsequently adopted by the Chartered Company of Rhodesia for the already well-known town established on the site of the kraal.

[5] Bird, Annals of Natal, 194.

[6] Ibid. i. 326.

[7] Much of the earlier history of the Colony will be found in the following works: N. Isaacs, Travels and Adventures in Eastern Africa, 2 vols. London, 1836; Capt. Allen F. Gardiner, A Journey to the Zoolu Country, London, 1836; H.F. Fynn, Papers, printed in part on pp. 60-124, vol. i. Bird's Annals of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1888.

Up to the day of his death, Fynn, the friend of Isaacs and the source from which the latter drew much of the information in the work above quoted, was the final authority on all matters appertaining to the Natives of South-East Africa. He, fortunately, left a number of valuable manuscripts. These are being prepared for the press by the author. They include a large quantity of matter connected with early Zulu history, customs and habits hitherto unpublished.

[8] Pietermaritzburg, the capital of Natal, was laid off by them.

[9] Among these were the Natal Frontier Guards, Weenen Yeomanry, Victoria Mounted Rifles, Alexandra Mounted Rifles, Natal Hussars, Royal Durban Rifles, Natal Carbineers, Natal Mounted Rifles, Border Mounted Rifles, Natal Field Artillery, Durban Light Infantry, Natal Royal Rifles, also the Natal Mounted Police and Natal Native Police. (The corps in italics have either ceased to exist or been merged in those printed in ordinary type.) The last-named corps, organized in 1848, and about 150 strong, was disbanded by the Government in 1854, without any reasons being given as to why such action had become necessary. To this day, Natives wonder what the reasons could have been. Mr. (later, Sir) Theophilus Shepstone, was its captain-in-chief.

[10] Often wrongly spelt "laagers." See Glossary.

[11] Known as Bushman's Pass.

[12] It was this officer who, on 22nd January, 1879, was Colonel in command when the Imperial and Colonial troops suffered their reverse at Isandhlwana.

[13] Consisting of one officer, one sergeant and thirty-three rank and file of the Natal Carbineers (with forty rounds of ammunition per man), and twenty-five mounted Basutos; of the latter, seventeen had various kinds of guns (with about three charges apiece); the other eight were armed only with assegais.—A Soldier's Life and Work in South Africa, edited by Lt. Col. E. Durnford, London, 1882, p. 32.

[14] The strength of columns at 11th January was: European troops—85 Staff and departments, 263 Royal Artillery (20 guns—7 and 9 pdrs., 2 rocket tubes, 8 rocket troughs), 5,128 infantry and 1,193 cavalry = 6,669 (of these, 292 were from Natal mounted volunteer corps and 80 Natal Mounted Police). Native troops—315 mounted, 9,035 infantry = 9,350; making a grand total, including 1,910 conductors, drivers and voorloopers, of 17,929 officers and men.

After the Isandhlwana disaster, another 10,000 men from England, Ceylon and other parts were sent as reinforcements, disembarking at Natal at the beginning of April.

The losses in action were: Killed—(Europeans) 76 Officers (including the Prince Imperial of France), 1,007 N.C.O. and men; (Natives) 604. Wounded—(Europeans) 37 Officers, 206 N.C.O. and men; (Natives) 57. The returns are incomplete as regards Native casualties. Between 11th January and 15th October, 1879, 17 Officers and 330 men died of diseases consequent on the operations. The total cost of the war was £5,230,323.—Narrative of the Field Operations connected with the Zulu War of 1879. War Office publication. London, 1881.

A Natal official return (1880) shows that, in addition to a reserve of 360 Europeans and 2,500 Natives, the Natal forces called out were: Natal Mounted Police, 130; Volunteers, 582; Levy leaders, etc., 86; Natives, 20,037. Total, 20,835.

[15] Dinuzulu's mother, a daughter of a commoner, Msweli, was a concubine and never became Cetshwayo's chief wife. There was a posthumous son by the chief wife, called Manzolwandhle, now a Chief in Nqutu district, Zululand, who would, under ordinary circumstances, have succeeded his father, but, with the country in an unsettled condition at the ex-King's death, it was decided that Dinuzulu, because the only son then living, should be recognized as head of the Zulu House.

[16] The Imperial Government did not at any time recognize Dinuzulu as a king.

[17] The name means "water of the ocean," in memory of the voyage that was made by his father to England.

[18] Where Mkuze River passes through the Ubombo Range.

[19] No. 37, 1897 (Natal).

[II.]

SYSTEM OF NATIVE ADMINISTRATION IN NATAL.

When the first colonists arrived, there were, as has been seen, but few aboriginal inhabitants, so few that nothing in the shape of formal government could exist. Gradually, however, refugees from Zululand and various parts of Natal proper began to attach themselves to the British settlers. And so, by 1835, the population at Port Natal had grown to about 4,000. Capt. Allen F. Gardiner, R.N., who arrived in the year referred to, accordingly found it necessary to enter into a treaty with Dingana (May, 1835) in the name of the settlers at Port Natal, wherein the latter engaged themselves "for the future never to receive or harbour any deserters from the Zulu country ... and to use every endeavour to secure and return to the King every such individual endeavouring to find an asylum among them."[20] In the following year, the British Government appointed Gardiner, at his own request, a Justice of the Peace, without, however, providing for the execution of the powers so conferred. The result was a protest on the part of the pioneers, and an immediate and complete failure by Gardiner to assert his authority.[21] A petition from the residents to the effect that Natal, to which they had given the name of "Victoria" in honour of our late revered Queen, then Princess, should be recognized "as a Colony of the British Empire," met with no encouragement from the Imperial Government. And so it happened that practically no regular government existed when the Boers arrived in 1837-39.

The relations between the voortrekkers and the Zulus have been already touched on. Although, with the defeat and death of Dingana, the menace of the Zulu power had been temporarily removed, the installation of his brother Mpande as Paramount Chief meant a continuance of the military and tribal systems, though in a modified degree. The Boers governed on somewhat similar lines such aboriginals as they found already in the country, or those who, since the arrival of the Boers, had fled there from across the Tugela.[22] No reservations were at that time set apart for the occupation of the Natives, the Boer custom being to treat them as squatters when living on lands occupied by Europeans, and require them to render service in lieu of paying rent.[23] No equality as between Europeans and Natives was permitted. Had Boer administration continued in Natal, steps would probably have been taken to prohibit further ingress of refugees; such as were unprepared to serve would, probably, have been refused an asylum and compelled to return to Zululand or to the district between Umkomanzi and Umzimkulu Rivers, if not still further south.[24] As it was, in 1843, when that administration came to an end, there were between 40,000 and 50,000 refugees in Natal (exclusive of some 5,000 or 6,000 original inhabitants), notwithstanding the treaty above referred to.[25] The British settlers at the Port, however, looked upon themselves as wholly independent both of the Boers and of the Zulu King, and accorded the refugees and all others living under their protection similar concessions in the matter of self-government, if somewhat more liberal.

The same disposition to allow Natives to live in accordance with their ancient laws, habits and customs—so long as these were not repugnant to civilized usages—is seen in the Instructions issued in March, 1848, by the Imperial Government to the first Governor. By that time, the Native population had increased to over 100,000. So significant is the 28th clause and so pivotal in the long government subsequently maintained, that it would be well to notice it in its original, though slightly abbreviated, form: "And whereas the said District of Natal is inhabited by numerous Tribes, ... whose ignorance and habits unfit them for the duties of civilized life, and it is necessary to place them under special control, until, having been duly capacitated to understand such duties, they may reasonably be required to render ready obedience to the Laws ..., We do hereby declare it to be our Will and Pleasure ... that, in assuming the sovereignty thereof, we have not interfered with or abrogated any Law, Custom or Usage prevailing among the Inhabitants previous to the assertion of sovereignty ... except so far as the same may be repugnant to the general principles of humanity recognized throughout the civilized world...."

The same Instruction, whilst further declaring that, civil or criminal jurisdiction of the Chiefs had not been abrogated, went on to reserve to the Crown the right of amending Native laws, and providing for better administration of justice among them, "as may be found practicable."

It is not intended here, of course, to trace, step by step the development of Native policy from the issue of the Instruction here quoted to the introduction of responsible government in 1893, and on to the establishment of the Union of South Africa. It will suffice, perhaps, to observe that the key-note thereof has, all along, been to govern these people in accordance with principles inherited from, and followed by, their race from time immemorial. It has been a cardinal feature of this policy "to make haste slowly," on the ground that a change, not spontaneously desired by the majority of the people, is detrimental to their interests. Moreover, it is productive of unrest if forced on by a government pledged to administer the affairs of its own race on lines radically and obviously different. Consequently, in the endeavour to maintain what every humane man will agree is a laudable practice, Natal, by steadily marking time in the interests of the people, and in order to fulfil what, after all, is the greatest function of government, viz. to endeavour to promote the happiness and contentment of all her subjects, has laid herself open to the charge of doing nothing. If what she has done for the Natives in the way of prohibiting cherished habits and customs of untold antiquity; abrogating laws of various kinds long familiar to the people; urging them to hasten to educate themselves and their children in accordance with European, that is, foreign standards; persuading them to forsake their own creeds to adopt one or other of the numerous forms of Christianity—if these be the only evidences of action, then it would seem Natal has not a great deal to advance. But, if there be other standards by which a government that presides over the destinies of a lower race may be judged, if any merit attach to a government which, while it does not actively repress legitimate aspirations, reasonably assists the people, whilst penalizing practices such as witchcraft, putting to death without trial and marrying off girls without their consent, and ordains "that there shall not be in the eye of the law any distinction or disqualification whatever, founded on mere distinction of colour, origin, language, or creed, but that the protection of the law, in letter and in substance, shall be extended impartially to all alike," also "that slavery in any shape or under any modification is absolutely unlawful"; if, we say, there be any merit in these things, then the policy of Natal in the past, if it appears to have been somewhat wanting in energy, has at least been friendly; if it has not caused the people to 'progress' with leaps and bounds, it has at least recognized that natura non facit saltum is as true to-day as it was in the time of Aristotle, and as it will be ten thousand years hence; if it has not sought to impress the European character in all its complexity on a race fashioned in moulds vastly different to those of Europeans, it has preferred to rely on nature to produce such a character as she will produce, regardless of any well-intentioned efforts of impassioned promoters of a civilization which, to say the least, would appear to be not altogether without spot or blemish.

The government of the lower races is a problem of stupendous difficulty, not because of any fear lest, being badly ruled, they will combine à la militaire to wreak vengeance on those they consider their oppressors, but chiefly because of the ever-changing legal, political and social position that has to be accorded them within the limits of the British system, framed, as that was, for people whose members are admittedly on a footing of equality with one another.

But, although government of the Natives mainly in accordance with their own laws and customs has been the outstanding feature of Natal's policy, changes being introduced with care and deliberation as they appeared to be necessary, there have not been wanting occasions on which, instead of being sympathetic, her administration has been cold and artificial; instead of being content with advance in harmony with nature's slow processes, she has imposed laws involving sudden and widespread change; instead of being occasional and simple to understand, the laws have been frequent and to some extent unintelligible, having in view rather the benefit of the higher than of the lower race. Instances of such inconsistency will be given later; for these, indeed, are the stuff out of which the bonfire of the Rebellion was built up. Had Natal been true to herself, had she but steadily adhered to the general principles above outlined, it is not too much to say, there would have been no Rebellion.

On the initiation of Native "own-laws" policy in Natal, the Imperial Government took steps to see that it was followed in the letter as well as in the spirit. The officer selected as the principal exponent thereof was Theophilus Shepstone, a young man of but twenty-eight years of age, who, having arrived in the Cape Colony with his father in 1820, with the Albany Settlers, had lived nearly the whole of his life in Native areas north-east of Grahamstown. The proficiency attained by him in the Native dialects was remarkable, so much so, that he was able, on the one hand, materially to assist the Rev. W.B. Boyce in discovering the underlying philological principle of the Bantu languages known as the euphonic concord, and, on the other, to be employed by the Imperial Government in the Cape Colony at the age of eighteen as interpreter and negotiator of treaties with important Native Chiefs, during a critical period. No more competent officer could have been found for the post of Diplomatic Agent, as it was at first called, especially as he had recently and for seven years been in personal charge at Peddie of various Zulu tribes—locally known as amaMfengu or Fingos—who had, since 1820, been driven out of Natal and Zululand by Tshaka and Dingana's inhuman tactics.

The story of Shepstone's early connection with the tribes on the then eastern frontiers of the Cape Colony is itself matter of history, and we cannot stay to consider it, it being enough to note the experience brought by this brilliant young officer to the discharge of the peculiarly difficult duties of his new post.[26]

Shortly after his arrival, he, along with Dr. William Stanger, Lieutenant Charles J. Gibb, R.E., and Messrs. N. Adams and D. Lindley (American Missionaries), were commissioned to lay off tracts of country known as "locations," suitable for Native occupation, and conveniently situated in respect of areas inhabited, or in the near future to be inhabited, by Europeans.[27]

At first, six or seven locations of about 50,000 acres each, were laid off, followed later on by others, until, in 1906, the aggregate area so set apart amounted to 2,262,066 acres. Arrangements were made for the whole of these lands to be vested in trustees appointed under Letters Patent.[28] A singularly wise provision by the Imperial Government was that such trustees should be the officer-administering-the-government for the time being, together with the members of the executive council. By this means, Native interests were effectually protected against any pressure that might be brought on the Government in the future by would-be European or Asiatic purchasers.

Another early work of importance which Shepstone performed with tact, and credit to himself, was the levying of a tax of 7s. on every Native hut. By 1845, the coloured population had risen to nearly 100,000. As control of so great a number, scattered over many parts of the Colony, involved considerable expense, it was only fair that the people should contribute to the revenue, seeing they were securing the very real benefit—of which the younger generations are too often oblivious—of being completely protected against the tyranny of their quondam rulers. The odd amount of 7s. was made up thus: 5s. "in respect of each hut; it being understood that every kraal, having the usual establishment of a Native kraal, that is, cattle and cultivated ground, whether in a location or on private farms, should be subject to this property and protection tax";[29] and 2s. "as a quit rent for land on all kraals or villages residing either in the locations or on government land without any location."[30] Some twenty years later, the tax, which in reality was in respect of wives—Zulus, like all Bantu races, being polygamists—was doubled. By that time, however, the people were earning far higher wages, whilst labour was readily procurable among the steadily increasing European immigrants.

Shepstone, in 1856, when, under "Royal Charter," a representative legislature was first established in Natal, ceased to be styled Diplomatic Agent. He then became Secretary for Native Affairs. This office he only relinquished some twenty years later, on proceeding to the Transvaal in connection with a mission too well known to need explaining here. Throughout this long period (1845-1876), he had controlled the Natives with consummate tact and ability and, on several occasions, undertaken missions of much delicacy and importance to Zululand and elsewhere, invariably with success and credit to the Government. Although his policy, so well known as to be usually referred to as the "Shepstonian policy," has been charged with being one of laissez faire, the mere absence of war between 1845 and 1906 is eloquent and abundant testimony of its worth. To this day, thousands of Natives deplore the setting aside of such natural and well-tried methods for those more in accordance with European civilization.

One of the consequences of upholding Native law was the introduction of a system of labour known as the isibalo or modified corvée. This system originated about the year 1848, on the occasion of the road between Durban and Pietermaritzburg being in a bad and impassable state. The Lieutenant Governor, in his capacity as Supreme Chief, thereupon called out a party of Natives, who were paid fair wages, to effect the necessary repairs. Owing to certain political excitement, the system was discontinued shortly after 1854, but, on its resumption in 1858, it remained continuously in vogue until 1911, when the Union Government, instead of introducing regulations to correct the prevailing abuses, merely refrained from using the power of requisitioning labourers, which still, however—the people being as uncivilized as they are—rightly exists in the law.

During the Zulu regime, it was customary for the king to call at any time on young men to serve on public works, such as building royal apartments, erecting cattle enclosures, hoeing and weeding crops. Under the new order of things, the necessary authority being vested in the Supreme Chief, steps were taken, from time to time, to call youths out for service on public works, notably those connected with roads, the difference between the old system and the new being that, whereas in former days Natives received no remuneration whatever for their labour, they were, under European government, paid a fair wage, even though somewhat less, as sometimes happened, than what was obtainable in the open market.

Notwithstanding that excellent and plentiful rations were supplied, and the hours and conditions of labour all that could be desired, the isibalo became unpopular, owing largely to the favouritism shown, in later years, by Chiefs,[31] and to the ease with which some of these officers were induced to accept bribes from those anxious to be exempted. Abuses of this kind could, of course, have been effectually put a stop to by modifying the system and controlling it with better-framed regulations.

Special mention of the isibalo has been made here because, being unpopular, its systematic enforcement, especially in later days, when many Natives had become educated and capable of earning higher wages than those allowed, may be said to have contributed in some degree to the dissatisfaction with European administration that prevailed prior to the Rebellion. However, it is but fair to remark that, in practice, only one in thirty of those liable and able to work was ever called on in any year, and then for never more than six months at a time. The duty of seeing that individuals were not too frequently enrolled, that they were not physically unfit, and that each of the 238 tribes in Natal proper furnished its right proportion of labourers, devolved on the Native Affairs Department and the Magistrates. These duties were generally discharged in a careful manner, irregularities being checked as soon as they were brought to notice. Owing, however, to changes in conditions of living, the system, originally adapted to a state of pure tribalism, could not be carried out in all respects with the desired fairness. It called not so much for abolition or discontinuance as for modification, at any rate at that particular time (1910). The practice of exacting labour, within the restricted limits referred to, proved to be a valuable stimulus, especially in earlier days, when the people knew practically nothing about manual work. Boys living in far-off, secluded locations, who would otherwise have devoted their lives to courting girls, drinking beer, and faction fighting, were compelled to go out and work—not on the public roads unless specially ordered to do so, but wherever they chose—and, in so doing, were soon in the position of being able to benefit themselves as well as their parents and relations in ways they had not dreamt of.

After Magistrates had been appointed in different parts, varying considerably inter se in their knowledge of Zulu habits, customs and language, it was not long before the desirability of preparing for their use a Code of Native law (i.e. an attempt to codify Native tribal law) made itself felt. As matters stood, uniformity in judicial pronouncements was practically impossible. Such uniformity, essential in every community, is especially so among savages, who should at once be impressed with the idea of justice under British rule. The periodical meetings of Magistrates that were convened, were of much assistance in attaining consistency before promulgation of the Code in 1877. On being brought into practice, it was soon found that this Code, though ably drawn, was not sufficiently comprehensive (as a matter of fact, it was never intended to be comprehensive), but it was not until 1893 that a more elaborate instrument was enacted by Parliament. The Code, as then expanded, with sundry later amendments, is still the law by which the great majority of Native conditions of life are regulated. On the whole, the Code and the manner in which it has been administered have given considerable satisfaction to the Natives. At time of writing, it has not been extended to Zululand; to do so may facilitate administration, but it would probably result in disappointment and discontent among people happy enough under the proclamations issued from time to time whilst the territory was under immediate control of the Imperial Government.[32]

In addition to the Magistrates, over forty of whom had, by 1906, been appointed in Natal and Zululand, civil and criminal business of a more important character was dealt with by a Native High Court. This court, now consisting of four Judges, but originally of only one, was first created in 1875, to relieve the Supreme Court of a class of work it was incompetent, and had insufficient time, to deal with.

From what has been said, it is seen that, in 1906, and since 1893, when responsible government was granted, Native affairs were presided over by a Supreme Chief, appointed by the Imperial Government, though bound to conform to the advice of his ministers, except on certain important, rarely-occurring occasions. The portfolio of Native Affairs was held by one of the cabinet ministers, assisted by a permanent Under-Secretary and staff.

The Under-Secretary selected for the post was Mr. S.O. Samuelson. This painstaking officer, with an unsurpassed knowledge of the Zulu language and customs, did a vast amount of useful and varied work under difficult conditions. During his long tenure of office, which extended from 1893 to 1909, there were several changes of ministry and, with each, came a new Minister of Native Affairs, holding views sometimes, as it happened, widely differing from those of his predecessor. It seemed so strange to the Natives to have movable ministers in charge of their affairs, that they tended to focus their attention rather on Mr. Samuelson than on the minister, with the result that the former stood constantly in a false light, as unfair to himself as to the people. This mutation of ministers and frequent introduction of new policies, were radical defects in the Constitution Act of 1893. They opened the door, not only to modifications arising out of the personal predilections of the minister, but, what is far more important, to those dictated by the party in power for the time being in Parliament. As this party depended on the support of their constituents, needless to say, the latter, with brains ever active in devising solutions of the Native problem, and not unnaturally anxious to promote their own interests, brought pressure, through their members, to bear on highly-placed officials, and, through these, on Magistrates and other established officers, not excluding Native Chiefs—all with the cumulative effect of unsteadying the entire fabric of Native administration and imperilling the general welfare of the people.

After Zululand was annexed to Natal (December, 1897), the office of Resident Commissioner and Chief Magistrate of that territory was converted into one of Commissioner for Native Affairs. Under the Under-Secretary and Commissioner came the Magistrates, the thirty[33] of Natal proper, as ex-officio Administrators of Native law, coming under the former, and the eleven of Zululand under the latter, officer. After the Magistrates came the Chiefs of tribes, 238 in Natal proper,[34] and 83 in Zululand. Salaries and allowances were paid to 227 of the Natal Chiefs,[35] and stipends to seven of those in Zululand.[36] All Chiefs were required to control their tribes in accordance with the tribal system and keep in close touch with the Magistrates of their respective wards.

Some attempt must now be made to describe the tribal or patriarchal system (analogous in many respects to that of the ancient Jews), the very backbone of Native administration and still the most prominent and radical feature of the South African Native population.[37]

Confining attention to the Zulus, we shall begin by observing that they are polygamists and occupy circular huts of beehive formation, invariably constructed of wattles, thatched with grass, and supported inside by poles. Each wife has a hut of her own. There are, especially in larger homesteads or kraals,[38] additional huts for the occupation of young men, storing grain, etc. If, then, a man has four wives, we shall expect to find him in possession of five or six huts. Now, it is universal custom to arrange these huts in circular formation, from which method, indeed, the word "kraal" has evidently been derived. For sanitary reasons, the rule is to select for the kraal-site slightly sloping ground, though, when this is done, the floor of each hut is carefully levelled. At the highest point of the site is built the hut of the head or principal wife, not necessarily the one first married, whilst subsequent wives' huts are placed in a sequence determined by the kraal-owner, who, however, is compelled to act in terms of rigid tribal practice. The intervals between the huts are so regulated as to preserve the symmetry of the kraal as a whole. But, in connection with the circular arrangement referred to, must be considered the indispensable cattle-pen or enclosure, locally known as a cattle-kraal. This, too, is invariably round or oval, the gate being at the lowest, with one or two wickets in the topmost, portion. When it is realized that cattle are given for every woman taken to wife, the close association of cattle and their milk with the huts becomes more intelligible, though the fact of the pen being inside rather than outside the huts as arranged, is possibly also accounted for by the numerous lions, leopards and other beasts of prey that existed before the introduction of firearms, not to refer to human foes.

The cattle handed over by the bridegroom to his bride's father are known as lobolo. For two or more generations it was customary for five, six or seven cattle to be so delivered (afterwards restricted by the Natal Government to a number not exceeding ten). This passing of cattle was not, as is commonly supposed, by way of purchase, but as compensation for loss of the girl's services, and, further, as a living and visible guarantee that she would receive proper treatment at the hands of her husband.

The next essential to consider is this. When a young man marries, he either continues for a time in his father's kraal (his wife, of course, having a hut of her own), or moves, along with his mother (if she can be spared), to some site at a distance, approved by the Chief or his representative, and there proceeds to act on the same principles that governed his father's domestic affairs. In time, other sons leave to establish themselves on similar lines. And so, like the pumpkin plant (a favourite simile among the people), the family expands, throwing out fruitful off-shoots here and there, only, in their turn, to do the same.

In the case of Chiefs, the number of wives is frequently beyond a dozen in number, and, in respect of Kings, without limit. Owing to this and other reasons, such as jealousy among the women and rivalry among the male children, it was and is still found convenient to erect different kraals, though on the same general lines as those already outlined.

So much for the domestic side. Let us now glance at the administrative.

The King was assisted by a privy council of some five or six members and a general assembly of non-elected and more or less elderly men. The latter deliberated in public, anyone being permitted to listen to, and even take part in, the proceedings. In view of the fact that the assembly included men of high rank, those of inferior status usually remained silent. But as, when the Rebellion broke out, there was no Native King, it is necessary to confine attention to the actual machinery in vogue at that time.

The King's place had been taken by the Supreme Chief (Governor), whilst the functions of the privy council were discharged by the executive council, and those of the assembly by the Legislative Assembly and Council. It is needless to remark that Native opinion, under such arrangement, where not only the Supreme Chief, but the councils consisted entirely of Europeans, and where no Native council existed at all, except occasional and partially representative gatherings called together by the Magistrates—more to assist the Government in communicating its laws or regulations than to discussing their necessity or suitability—did not find more than apologetic, and the feeblest, expression.

In regard to the various tracts of land specially set apart for Natives, the same tenure was in vogue as had existed under tribal rule from time immemorial. The land was held in common. And this rule applied as much to the Chief as to his humblest followers. There was no such thing as alienation of land; no freehold, no leasehold, no rents. Occupancy depended on good behaviour, together with ready and loyal discharge of all civic and military duties. Considerable care was taken by the Chief, in allotting building and garden sites, not to interfere with the commonage or existing rights. If these arrangements, in the face of an increasing population, were not always judicious, pressure of circumstances had begun to teach lessons, as it does all other nations.

Anything required by the Government to be done was communicated by Magistrates to the Chiefs, whose tribes varied greatly in size. These then passed the order on to responsible headmen—generally conveniently situated in different parts of the ward or wards[39]—who, in their turn, transmitted it to the various individual kraal-owners in their areas. When, on the other hand, anything of importance occurred in a Chief's ward, such as commission of crime or outbreak of disease, it was, under Native law, the duty of the one nearest whose kraal such incident had happened, to report to the headman, who, after taking such immediate action as appeared necessary and within his power, sent the intelligence on to the Chief, and so on to the local Magistrate. And it is wonderful with what rapidity these reports were transmitted, notwithstanding that Natives, as a rule, are unable to read or write, and are not possessors of horses or any other means of locomotion. The obligation resting on all, on pain of heavy penalty, to report crime, transformed members of every tribe into an organized and efficient police force. It is owing to this fact that the expenditure of the Colony on account of police was, in earlier years, as surprisingly small as it was.

Among the most important crimes was cattle-stealing. Every kraal-owner in regard to cattle—the greatest of all forms of Native property—was exceedingly vigilant, never allowing a beast to be driven past his kraal unless he knew where it had come from, where it was going to, etc. This principle of "collective responsibility," as it is called, had the effect of preserving order in the tribe and even guaranteeing to every member and the Chief that order would be maintained.

Enough has, perhaps, been said to enable the reader to infer that the position of women was a low one. They could not, except in rare cases, inherit or hold property. Generally speaking, they fell much into the background, and it devolved on them, not only to perform all domestic duties, draw water at the spring or stream and collect firewood, but to cultivate and keep clean the crops as well.

It can also be readily understood that the tribes of Natal and Zululand (whatever may have been their interrelation when Tshaka began his iron rule and the process of welding the nation together), had, in the main—albeit within a couple of centuries—sprung from but three or four parent stocks. It is this universal intermingling of types which, as in England, has gradually evolved a people well-nigh homogeneous and possessing a remarkable degree of solidarity. Although, in 1906, many feuds and differences—some of these dating back two or more generations—existed among many of the tribes, when anything powerful enough to inflame particular sections occurred, it required but little effort and time to bring on a conflagration of the whole. There is nothing puny or dilatory about a Zulu when he begins to sharpen his assegais and cut shields for war. It will be seen in a later chapter how strained the relations between Natives and Europeans became, and how the black race came to feel that the white man's civilization was oppressing it. With such resentment latent in a million warlike savages, living under such system as has been outlined above, the danger of the tribal system, as well as its meaning, become, perhaps, sufficiently clear; at any rate, for the understanding of the story narrated in these pages. And yet, of all people on this earth, the Zulus are the most respectful, the most amenable to discipline, and the most easily managed—chiefly because of the many excellences inherent in the tribal system.

Having regard to the profound differences in social organization between the Zulus and the British people, differences which, chiefly because of their immense scope and variety, have been but briefly indicated herein, it has, ever since Natal became a British Colony, been a problem of extreme difficulty to devise a method whereby, whilst safeguarding Native interests, their affairs could be managed in a completely satisfactory manner. The elimination of the higher machinery of Native government, e.g. the King and his councils, has imposed on an alien people, animated by vastly different ideals, the duty of controlling present Native progress, if such, in fact, it be. If evidences of imperfect grafting of the Native system of administration into our own have often been conspicuous during the last seventy years, it will surprise no one; nor will anyone be astonished to hear that strong Commissions have been appointed at different times specially to investigate the condition of the Natives. One of these bodies was at work in 1852-3, another in 1882-3, and yet another, in the interest of South African Natives as a whole, in 1902-4. What is remarkable is the apparent apathy displayed by the public, its representatives and the Government, whenever the result of such investigations and reports thereon are in their hands. Not that the various recommendations should all be adopted, but one would think a little time could be spared to examine the development of a problem, probably greater than all other problems put together, that South Africa will ever be called on to deal with, and to consider seriously if such development is or is not proceeding on sound lines. A further Commission was appointed in 1906, on the conclusion of the Rebellion; it, indeed, fared better, but into the sincere and liberal administrative reconstruction brought about by the Government, it is unnecessary to go at this stage.

In the Constitution Act of 1893, provision was made whereby a sum of £10,000 a year was set apart "for the promotion of the welfare and education of the Natives." More than half this sum was, latterly, placed annually at the disposal of the Education Department for furthering Native education, whilst the balance was applied to other Native purposes, such as industrial training, cottage hospitals, irrigation, dipping tanks (East Coast Fever), and barrack or shelter accommodation. With the increase of Native population from 500,000 in 1893 to 945,000 in 1906,[40] this sum soon became inadequate, particularly when regard is had to the fact that the beneficiaries have contributed, on the average, about £250,000 per annum in direct taxation since the annexation of Zululand to Natal.

In addition to this contribution, however, the Government, as long ago as 1862, began making extensive grants of land upon trust to missionary societies, "that the same might be used for missionary work amongst the Natives by the ecclesiastical or missionary bodies named in the several deeds of grant."[41] By 1887 (the date of the last), seventeen of these reserves, aggregating 144,192 acres of the best agricultural land, had been so set apart. Numerous other, for the most part, smaller blocks have since been granted in Zululand. By way of still further assisting these societies, Parliament, in 1903, passed an Act transferring the administration of the trusts to the Natal Native Trust[42] and authorizing this body to charge rent from Natives living on the reserves.[43] One half of these monies was to be handed over to the missionaries for purposes of Native education and industrial training. It was not feasible to adopt such course in respect of the Zululand lots. Thus the education and general welfare of the people was promoted directly as well as indirectly.

Difficulty has always been experienced by the Government in inducing the people to take up industrial pursuits. On more than one occasion, large sums of money were voted and spent in erecting suitable buildings and providing instructors, but all to no purpose. Lack of enterprise on the part of the Natives was also exhibited in the matter of tree-planting, even when necessary for fuel, and this as to areas in regard to which they had every reason for thinking their occupancy would continue undisturbed for many years.

There are other directions in which difficulty has been met with when striving to promote material development. In some instances, disinclination to adopt European ideas is due to almost ineradicable superstitious notions.

Although Native law is in force in Natal, the Government, many years ago, foresaw the necessity of enabling individuals who had shown a disposition to adopt civilized habits, to obtain exemption therefrom. A law affording facilities, but, in practice, not free from difficulty, was accordingly passed in 1865.[44] Many men, women and children have availed themselves of its provisions.[45] It was also foreseen that these people, according as they conformed to civilized conditions of life, would stand in need of means whereby their voice could be given expression to. Hence, the passing of the law[46] under which a male Native, who has been resident in the Colony for a period of twelve years, who has the necessary property qualification, and has been exempted from the operation of Native law for a period of seven years, is entitled to be registered as a qualified elector in the district in which he possesses property qualification. In practice, but little advantage had been taken of this law. This tends to show that the Native per se has no special desire to obtain European franchise.

There are two disabilities all classes of Natives suffer from, viz. the impossibility of possessing firearms, except with the special consent of Government, and of obtaining European liquor, except on the production of a medical certificate.

FOOTNOTES:

[20] Bird, Annals of Natal, i. 307.

[21] Among the reasons of the protest drawn up about May, 1837, were: That Natal was not part of the British dominions, but belonged to the resident European inhabitants; that the power given to Gardiner extended only to British subjects, and did not empower him to punish acts of aggression committed by Natives upon British residents; that Gardiner had been given no civil jurisdiction. The colonists, moreover, expressed the hope that the Imperial Government would take over the country and appoint Magistrates.—Bird, Ibid. i. 320.

[22] The military system, however, was not permitted to operate universally as in Zululand, though there was no objection to Chiefs maintaining a certain amount of military organization within their respective tribes.

[23] The policy was to distribute the refugees over the European farms. "Each farmer was allowed 5 families on his farm, but not any more without consent of the authorities."—Proceedings, Native Affairs Commission, 1852-3, i. 20, 25.

[24] Henry Cloete, Evidence, Native Affairs Commission, 1852-3, i. 18. 25.

[25] Ibid. i. 25. 27.

[26] Shepstone arrived in 1845, but did not begin to hold office till January, 1846.—Proceedings, Native Affairs Commission, 1852-3, i. 58.

[27] The very able report of this Commission was dated 30th March, 1847, and will be found in extenso in i. pp. 62-67 of the publication referred to in the preceding note.

[28] Dated 27th April, 1864.

[29] Memorandum, T. Shepstone to Legislative Council, 18th June, 1849.

[30] Ibid.

[31] Chiefs were called on by Magistrates to supply labourers according to the size of their tribes.

[32] Zululand was annexed to Natal in December, 1897, when practically the same system of Native administration in vogue at that time was permitted to continue.

[33] The statistics here given are for the year 1906.

[34] These include those (23) of the so-called Northern Districts—a tract of country annexed to Natal on the conclusion of the last Boer War.

[35] Total, £2,618 for the year.

[36] Total, £1,200, of which £500 was paid to Dinuzulu, £60 to each of three of his uncles, and £300 to Mciteki (formerly Zibebu).

[37] At the last Census (May, 1911), the total number of Natives in South Africa was 4,019,006 (males, 2,012,949; females, 1,996,057).

[38] The word "kraal" which will henceforth be used, is derived from the Dutch "coraal."

[39] For many years past, many Chiefs had portions of their tribes living in two, three or more Magisterial divisions. In such cases, a Chief was called on to nominate a headman, with powers almost equal to his own, to control each section. It was, moreover, the Government's policy, on the death of such Chief, to make an arrangement whereby the outlying sections would be absorbed by Chiefs actually resident in the Magisterial districts in which such sections happened to be.

[40] Zululand, with a Native population of about 170,000, became, as has been seen, a province of Natal in 1897.

[41] Preamble, Act No. 49, 1903.

[42] See p. 24. A separate Trust, though consisting of the same personnel, was created in 1909 for Zululand. In this territory alone, the area reserved for Native occupation amounts to nearly 4,000,000 acres.

[43] £3 a hut was at first levied, subsequently reduced to 30s.

[44] Law No. 28, 1865.

[45] Some 1,800 men, women and children had been exempted by 31st December, 1908.

[46] Law No. 11, 1865.

[III.]

STATE OF MILITARY ORGANIZATION ON THE OUTBREAK OF REBELLION.

When it is borne in mind that the campaign which forms the subject of this history is probably the first to be conducted from start to finish by a British Colony, independently of other than merely moral assistance of Imperial troops, the contents of this chapter will probably prove of greater interest to the reader than would otherwise have been the case. No apology is, therefore, needed for attempting to describe the beginnings and development of military organization in Natal, and to show how it became possible for the Colony, aided to some extent by her sister Colonies, to deal as successfully as she did with the Rebellion.[47]

In 1893, when the Imperial Government granted responsible government to Natal, it was arranged that the Colony should assume direct control of her large Native population. It was, at the same time, decided that the garrison of Imperial troops should remain for a period of five years, so as to afford the colonists time within which to organize a defence force.

After the expiry of the five years, the Imperial Government began gradually to withdraw the troops.

A Volunteer Act was passed by Natal in 1895. The post of Commandant of Volunteers was conferred on Colonel (now Major-General Sir John) Dartnell, K.C.B., C.M.G., who, in addition to having for years controlled the various, though small, volunteer corps, had, for twenty-two years, been in command of the Natal Mounted Police. On his resignation from the former office in 1898, he was succeeded by his staff officer, Major W. Royston, who, promoted to the rank of Colonel, continued in command until his untimely death in 1902. Colonel H.P. Leader, of the Imperial Army, succeeded. He was assisted by the four District Adjutants who were in charge of a like number of military districts into which the Colony was divided.

Much useful work was accomplished between 1893 and 1902 towards increasing the strength and efficiency of the force, as well as placing it on a sound war footing. To Colonel Royston belongs a large measure of credit for the high degree of organization achieved, notably in connection with the Boer War. During this war, of course, all Natal troops took the field to assist in repelling invasion. The alacrity with which they responded to the calls, and the smartness with which the duties assigned them were carried out, were commented on in the most favourable terms by the distinguished general officers in charge of the operations. But, notwithstanding the promptness displayed, it was impossible to disguise the fact that, out of an available manhood of 12,000, only 2,000 were actually liable for service.[48] It is, therefore, not surprising that Parliament should have been ready to provide for a better and more comprehensive system of defence than was possible under the Volunteer Act.

Organization proper, in the sense of exclusively local adjustment and systematization of local forces and matériel, could not and did not begin until some years after the bestowal of autonomy on Natal, and the first step in the process was the passing by the legislature of the Militia Act (1903) imposing on every class of the European inhabitants, between certain ages, the liability to undergo military training and service. By exacting compulsory service universally, with, of course, certain exceptions, a powerful instrument was placed in the hands of the Commandant of Militia, and one which enabled the Colony to be put in a more thorough-going state of defence than had ever before been attempted.

The word "organization" is used here in a precise and definite sense, and is taken to mean establishment of the requisite regiments or corps, personnel, horses, arms, transport, etc., and a placing of the same by constant training, inspection or otherwise, in a condition of readiness, with the object, on the outbreak of hostilities, of realizing, in the shortest possible time, the general purpose in the minds of those in authority. Connected with such organization is the ascertainment by the responsible officer of the resources of his command in regard to provisions, labourers, horses, the means of transporting troops and stores, and the obtaining of accurate knowledge of all the strategic features of the country, of fortified places, and the means of defence, the erection of lagers, making of roads and means of communication, and of every particular which may increase his power of acting with advantage against an enemy.[49] But it is one thing to enact a law and frame accompanying regulations, quite another to see that the various provisions are complied with by the three arms and administrative services in such way as will conduce to efficiency and the smooth working of every part when the force is called upon to take the field.

General peace organization, of course, in the way of holding annual camps of exercise, rifle meetings, sending of patrols from time to time through Native locations, arranging for the conveyance of camp equipment, saddlery, etc., by railway or by ox and mule waggon, purchase and hire of remounts, registration and insurance of horses, etc., continued just as they had done for years prior to the passing of the Militia Act, except that improvements on the efforts of preceding years were continually being introduced.

Having regard to the great importance of the new Act, it is proposed to allude briefly to the genesis thereof, to some of its principal features, and to the way in which it was administered. Unless the fundamental provisions are grasped at the outset, it is not unlikely that indistinct impressions will arise in the mind of the reader, with the result that the achievements of the Colony during an important crisis, full of meaning as they are and of lessons for the future, will be insufficiently appreciated.

In 1902, a motion, introduced into Parliament by Mr. (now Sir) Thomas Watt, K.C.M.G., member for Newcastle, in favour of universal compulsory service, was carried unanimously. A bill was next drafted and formally introduced by the Prime Minister, Sir Albert Hime, K.C.M.G., but was withdrawn. This was followed by the appointment of a Commission in November, 1902, under the chairmanship of Mr. Ernest L. Acutt, C.M.G., "to consider and report upon the general measures proper to be taken for the defence of the Colony and to advise as to the most suitable mode of constituting a defence force according to the general object of the bill (No. 36), which was introduced into Parliament at its last ordinary session."

This Commission reported in favour of compulsory military service, drafted another bill and recommended the enactment thereof. The recommendations were supported by the then Commandant of Volunteers (Colonel Leader, whose services had been specially lent to Natal by the Imperial Government). This officer was appointed to take command of the troops during the period of their transition from a volunteer to a militia force, or otherwise to institute such other radical changes as might appear imperative.

The bill was passed into law with but little opposition towards the end of 1903.[50] The labour of initiating, drafting and supporting in Parliament this statesmanlike measure was undertaken chiefly by Sir Thomas Watt.

Among its principal features were the following:

"That the Militia, with the Governor as Commander-in-Chief, and a Commandant of Militia, with the rank of Colonel, as responsible for the administration of all Militia and Defence matters, should consist of all the male inhabitants of European descent in the Colony, from the age of 18 to the age of 50 years inclusively ... not being aliens." Certain exemptions were allowed.

The Force was divided into four classes:

"(a) Active Militia, consisting of all men who may volunteer and who may be accepted for service in this class, and all other men who may be balloted for service.

"(b) Militia First Reserve, consisting of all unmarried men from 18 to 30 years of age inclusive, who are not in the Active Militia.

"(c) Militia Second Reserve, consisting of all married men between 18 and 30 years of age inclusive, and all men from 31 to 40 years of age inclusive, who are not in the Active Militia.

"(d) Militia Third Reserve, consisting of all men from 41 to 50 years of age inclusive, who are not in the Active Militia...."

The strength of the Active Militia was to be determined from time to time, by the Governor-in-Council, but, in time of peace, might not exceed 4,000 men.

Whenever called out for active service, it became competent for the Governor-in-Council to place the Militia "under the orders of the Commander of His Majesty's Regular Forces in the Colony, provided such officer shall not be below the substantive rank of Major-General in the Army."[51]

In the event of the Active Militia being mobilized for military service, the Commandant was required to advertise in the Government Gazette and the press for volunteers, and "should enough men have not volunteered and been accepted in any district to complete the quota required for that district," within the time specified, "the men enrolled in the Militia First Reserve shall be balloted for" and "any man balloted for ... shall be attached to such corps in his military district as the District Commandant may notify."

The period of service in time of peace was not less than three years, irrespective of age at time of enrolment.

The Militia Reserves were liable to be called out by the Governor-in-Council for active service in time of "war, invasion or insurrection, or danger of any of them." Their officers (designated Chief Leaders and Sub-Leaders) were appointed "at the instance of the Commandant of Militia in pursuance of a vote passed by a majority of the members of such Militia Reserves," in accordance with the regulations.

In so far as the Native, Indian or coloured male population (outnumbering the European by about 10 to 1) was concerned, the Act empowered the Governor to call out any portion thereof, being British subjects, for military training or service in time of peace, or for active service in time of war, and to form the same into contingents for employment as scouts, drivers, labourers, stretcher-bearers, etc., under officers subject to the Commandant of Militia.

An amending Act, passed in 1906, enabled the Commandant to call out the Reserves for training, and so introduce some degree of organization among them, impossible under the main Act.

Although, during 1906, the entire European population was under 100,000, it was found that 5,000 men (all volunteers) were at the disposal of the State as Active Militia, with about 15,000 Reserves, divided into the three classes referred to.

A defect in the principal Act was the concession to Reserves of the privilege of electing their own officers (Chief Leaders and Sub-Leaders), as the selections, in many cases, were not determined by the military knowledge, military service, firmness of character and so forth of the candidate, but simply by the degree of wealth possessed, or popularity enjoyed, by him in the district. When the Reserves of certain parts were called out for active service, the seriousness of this mistake speedily manifested itself, with the result that the best efforts of which some of the corps were capable were not put forth. Having regard to the numerical strength of the Reserves, it was of the greatest importance that only efficient officers should have been selected.

But, given the power of exacting compulsory service and the availability of matériel, there was wanting another and most important factor, namely, something which could so co-ordinate and systematize the heterogeneous elements as to weld them into that for which they were intended, namely, an engine of war, endowed with the power of life, movement and destruction. There was wanted, in short, an organizer. It was one thing for the legislature to provide the law, the money, the men, the horses, the equipment, ordnance and transport, but he that was to transform these masses of incongruous material into the desired entity could only be born, not made.

Without the active sympathy of a Government, an organizer can accomplish but little. To prepare for war is a task which, in order that it may be properly fulfilled, exacts tribute in numberless directions. Its dimensions are of universal scope and variety, and, unless the State is prepared to meet the reasonable demand of its agent, his efforts are foredoomed to failure. As the goal is to transform the material at hand into a living thing, it devolves on a Government to see that means are forthcoming or the efforts of the artificer become lacking both in efficiency and usefulness. This lesson the Government of Natal had learnt far better than did Canning and his Council at the time of the Indian Mutiny. Instead of refusing offers of assistance from local volunteers, every expedient was adopted by Natal to encourage volunteering; instead of an unsympathetic ruler, the Colony found in the Governor, Sir Henry McCallum, an ideal helmsman, who, supported by a strong and capable Ministry[52] and a far-seeing Commandant, strained every nerve to suppress the Insurrection in a swift and vigorous manner, well knowing that clemency and indecision would help only to aggravate the situation and imperil the State.

On the Militia Act becoming law in 1904, the Government appointed its Commandant of Volunteers, Col. H.P. Leader, as the first Commandant of Militia. He, thereupon, temporarily assumed the rank of Brigadier General. A District Commandant was also appointed to each of the three military districts into which the Colony was then divided.

Assisted by these officers, his staff and the various commanding officers of corps, the Commandant took early steps to establish the system envisaged by the Act.

It will be remembered that May 31st, 1902, saw the conclusion of hostilities between England and the South African Republics. In that great conflict, Natal had thrown all her regular volunteer forces, numbering only about 2000 men, into the field.[53] Such forces, distinctly well-organized, were maintained at a high state of efficiency as long as the war lasted.

There can be no question but that the exacting discipline undergone by the troops during the Boer War prepared them and the rest of the Colony for the compulsory service imposed by the 1903 Act. But for the serious risks and trials of that war, even though commonly said to have "killed volunteering" in Natal, it is highly probable greater objection would have been offered than was done when the Militia bill was debated in Parliament. The War was, indeed, a blessing in disguise for Natal. It taught her manhood what defensive warfare was, as well as the necessity of establishing an adequate and constantly efficient force. In these circumstances, Leader found his task much easier than it would have been under ordinary conditions. His commanding and other officers were all ready and eager to co-operate. If he was crippled for the want of funds, owing to the Colony passing through a time of severe financial depression, an excellent spirit prevailed, men being anxious to enrol in the various corps and help forward the realization of the general purposes of the Act.

Among the District Commandants was Lieut.-Col. (now Colonel), H.T. Bru-de-Wold, D.S.O., C.M.G., V.D., J.P.[54] This officer, whilst discharging the ordinary duties of his post, observed, not long after peace had been concluded with the Boers, what, no doubt, a number of other colonists also did, namely, that there was a certain amount of restlessness and disregard of authority among the younger sections of the Natives of his district which, on its south-western side, bordered on Pondoland. He made a point of visiting European homesteads in various parts, where he found his observations frequently corroborated, whilst his attention was drawn to other suspicious indications. He took steps to gather, from all available sources, information regarding the tribes, including those living along the border in the Cape Colony. Their probable fighting strength was ascertained, as also tribal differences, distinctions being drawn between hereditary blood-feuds and those of a minor character. Those tribes that had established intimate relations by marriage, etc., or were off-shoots of existing older stocks, though commonly designated by different names, were also noted. These particulars were tabulated so as to show which group was likely to take the field against another in the event of hostilities, and so on. By degrees, there grew up in his mind the idea that an open rupture between the white and the black races would occur in the near future, and on such presentiment appearing more reasonable and palpable as time went on, he set himself to consider how far he would be ready should any such contingency arise in his particular district. He prepared mobilization schemes on a small scale, that is to say, assumed a revolt had broken out at a particular point within the Colony, and then devoted himself to utilizing all available resources so as to grapple with the imaginary outbreak in the most effective manner. These schemes, along with others on somewhat similar lines by the other district officers, were submitted to headquarters. Those by Bru-de-Wold evoked a special interest, with the result that he was invited to prepare others. This time, he was not limited to the resources of his own district, but was instructed to lay under tribute those of the entire Colony. This "day-dreaming," as persons devoid of a military sense may choose to style it, soon turned out to be, not only an amusing and engrossing pastime, but the thing of all others that the Colony stood most in need of at that particular juncture. That this view is correct, will become clearer the further we proceed.

On the post of Commandant being vacated by Leader in August, 1905, Bru-de-Wold was appointed thereto with the rank of Colonel.

But, although Col. Bru-de-Wold was so mindful of the necessity of preparing for war, it is only fair to remember that the foundations of Militia organization were laid whilst the first Commandant was still in office, not to refer to the various other and important contributory efforts in earlier days. The organization of the Volunteers during the Boer War, for instance, was everything that could have been desired, though, of course, it differed in character from a scheme which had in view hostilities with savages, who might rise in a number of places at the same moment. Royston had in view and prepared for possible hostilities with civilized forces living beyond the borders of the Colony, a very different undertaking to operating against barbarians residing within the Colony. "For the latter, one must have each division complete in itself, but, in organizing for a European war, one knows perfectly well that he must collect his men together in the bulk before there is to be any resort to arms at all. So long as one's brigade is organized as a brigade, that is sound. In Native warfare, however, there should be organization practically of the individuals, for each of these might be called on to deal with a Native enemy in his immediate vicinity. Just before the Rebellion, each little unit was absolutely complete and prepared to take the field as it stood."[55]

Manuals of instruction based on those of the Imperial army, but adapted to local requirements, were prepared and issued. In these, the various duties of each arm, on receipt of an order to mobilize, were fully and clearly set forth.

Had Leader not felt obliged to resign, it is more than probable that with, for instance, so enthusiastic a lieutenant as Bru-de-Wold, the highly creditable system subsequently developed by the latter would have fully matured. But, whatever may have happened in his time, cannot be allowed to obscure well-deserved distinction and prevent the bestowal of that meed of praise the Colony owes to the man who, if he did not actually initiate, took infinite pains, in season and out of season, assisted by an efficient and willing staff, to further the scheme, until it actually assumed the solidarity it did and that capacity for simultaneous and harmonious movement which are the leading characteristics of every sound system of defence. Natal, therefore, owes her gratitude to Col. Bru-de-Wold as to one who, keenly alive to her best interests, in the face of much political and other discouragement, resolutely held to the course he had embarked on, until the long-entertained idea had been fairly realized. Without him, it is conceivable, the Colony might have become so involved during the Rebellion as to have been unable to suppress it without appealing for help to the Mother Country, when the command of the whole of the operations would have passed automatically from her own hands to those of the Imperial Government. That is to say, a Colony which, but a dozen or so years previously, had deliberately resolved to take on the burden of responsible government and all attendant risks, would have been so far incapable of exercising control and utilizing her own resources as, at the first sign of trouble in connection with purely internal affairs, to seek the aid of external authority to set them in order. Had any such assistance been invoked and rendered, Natal must inevitably have forfeited, especially in the eyes of the Natives, much of the prestige she had so long enjoyed and which she was determined, if possible, to maintain. But let no one suppose these remarks to be made in any ungenerous spirit or unmindfully of that bond of sympathy and warm attachment that will for ever endure between the Motherland and her sons in Natal. It is impossible to gauge the degree to which Natal is indebted to the "old block" of which she is but a chip; her social system, laws, education, and institutions were, for the most part, "made in England," so, too, were many of the better features of the military system of which she is so justly proud. She is not oblivious of the instruction and encouragement her officers have received from innumerable representatives of His Majesty's army, in South Africa and at home, or of the keen interest that has constantly been shown in the general development of her forces.

COLONEL H.T. BRU-DE-WOLD,
C.M.G., D.S.O.,
Commandant of Militia.
MAJOR-GENERAL SIR JOHN G. DARTNELL,
K.C.B., C.M.G.
COLONEL G. LEUCHARS, C.M.G., D.S.O.
SIR ABE BAILEY, K.C.M.G.

COMPOSITION AND STRENGTH OF THE MILITIA.

Active Militia.—The strength of the Active Militia was limited to 4,000 in time of peace. This figure, as a matter of fact, was never reached, owing to the severe financial depression the Colony passed through in the years 1902-1906, and later. Although the strength rose from 1,864 officers and men in 1902 to 3,449 in 1904—that it did not increase beyond the latter figure was due to Government fixing 3,500 as the temporary maximum strength—it decreased in 1906 to 2,854. Consequently, there was a shortfall of no less than 1,146 men on a maximum authorized peace establishment at the outbreak of the Rebellion. In his report, dated January, 1907, Bru-de-Wold says: "Assuming office in October, 1905,[56] during a period of great financial depression, I was confronted with the task of immediately reducing expenditure.... At the same time, I was convinced that, at no period since I became connected with the Defence Forces of the Colony, had there been a greater urgency for efficiency and readiness to take the field. I felt sure that the Native trouble, which I had seen for some years past drawing nearer and nearer, was now within a measurable distance, and in my own mind I fixed the latter end of May or June as the most probable time for the disturbance to break out. I was instructed to reduce the Active Militia to 2,500 of all ranks...."[57] Again: "To organize the Force with its reduced numbers, and still to retain its efficiency as an effective fighting force, I arranged a Peace and War establishment for each regiment, the ranks to be filled up when required for war purposes by supernumeraries, or special service men...."[58]

Nothing could show more clearly than the foregoing facts how severe must have been the financial depression through which the Colony passed in 1905 and 1906, and how great the risks run by being compelled to reduce to 2,500 men, the first line of defence of a Colony controlling about a million warlike savages. When, as then situated, Natal determined to deal with the trouble by means of her own resources, she took a bold and even hazardous course. But it was just such decision that appealed to the imagination of the staunchest of her colonists, and it was not long before she had the satisfaction of knowing that her courageous attitude was amply justified by the results.

Having decided, in 1904, to recruit to a figure falling short by 500 of the maximum peace strength authorized by law, and again, in 1905, directed a further reduction by 1,000 men, it would be thought the Government, on the first acts of rebellion occurring in February and April, would have been only too glad to avail themselves of the power to ballot for recruits,[59] to raise the depleted ranks to at least the maximum peace establishment. By rights, the final word as to when the ballot should be brought into force, should rest with the officer responsible for the defence of the country. Experience has shown that an elective ministry will not so act if it can possibly be avoided.[60] If not imperative, so as to restore the authorized establishment, such necessity certainly appeared to arise when the character of the terrain selected by the rebels came to be closely considered. For operations in connection with Nkandhla forest alone—an area covering 100 square miles, i.e. equivalent to that of Greater London, some 10,000 European troops were declared by competent military advisers to be required. If others advised lesser numbers, it was because they were confident (though having no military reasons for saying so) that their extremely elusive foes could be hoodwinked at their own game, and in a country, too, as well-known to them as a cornfield is to the mice that run up and down and between the growing stalks.

The Government, of which The Hon. C.J. Smythe was Prime Minister and Sir Thomas Watt Minister of Defence, declined to use the ballot. The reasons for such paradoxical attitude were briefly these: Owing to the reports of unrest and threatened attack received almost daily from widely-separated parts, in some cases panic-stricken men, women and children taking refuge in lagers and clamouring for help, it was desirable to allay the panic; this alarm must have been greatly heightened had there been sudden recourse to the ballot, which the unexpected initial success of the April rising appeared to demand. Owing to there being no general organization among the rebels, it was highly probable outbreaks would occur here and there, until, having acquired sufficient momentum, a large force had been successfully massed on ground favourable to their tactics. Thus, to denude any particular district of men, was practically to offer it to the enemy as a convenient point of attack. It should be borne in mind that the scanty European population was so distributed as to be almost in every direction in the immediate vicinity of what are known as Native locations. These, laid off for the exclusive use of the Natives as far back as 1845, were made numerous and kept separate for the very reason that, through one large group of Natives gradually losing touch with the others, their power for mischief, in the event of hostilities, would be reduced, whilst Europeans, taking up their abode, either as farmers or as townsmen, on the intervening territory, would serve to leaven the aborigines with civilized habits, and promote their spiritual and material advancement.

On the other hand, it is no less true of savage than of civilized warfare, that the best defence consists in attacking the enemy wherever he may be found, and not leaving the initiative to be taken by him. The latter method, it is true, leaves exposed numerous vulnerable points, at each of which, owing to greater numbers, he ought in theory to succeed.

The Government decided to call for volunteers among the colonists and to attract the many soldiers of fortune and adventurous spirits in South Africa by offering them inducements to join specially-raised corps. It was in this way that the required number of men was obtained. Those Militia Reserves in the various districts who had not taken the field were thereupon able to assemble, elect officers, select lagers and take other measures for the defence of their respective districts.

The Reserves.—In view of the necessity of hastening on the organization of the Active Militia, and of the difficulties in preparing rolls, as required by law, complete lists of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Reserves could not be made until the Rebellion was over and, indeed, not until after the conclusion of the Dinuzulu expedition (December, 1907 to March, 1908).

At the beginning of 1906, the numbers of the Reserves were approximately: First, 5,050, Second, 6,875, Third, 3,175; Total, 15,100.

In January and February, 1906, beginning at Dundee, meetings were convened for the purpose of electing Chief Leaders in terms of the Act. After the various classes of Reserves had been organized, Lieut.-Col. (now Colonel) A.T.G. Wales was placed in command.

Among these men were to be found many ex-soldiers and volunteers, who had fought in nearly all the campaigns of the preceding thirty years. There were also many Dutchmen who had fought against England during the Boer War, but who had since become valuable acquisitions to South Africa's fighting material.

Notwithstanding the presence of "old campaigners," it was soon patent that the majority of the men had not received any military training worthy the name. To remedy this serious defect, only one way seems to be open—do as Australia did later, in 1908, viz. compel every man and boy within the State to undergo a systematic course annually.

As in the case of the Militia, the Government was obliged to keep down expenses in regard to the Reserves. Such action was felt more by the latter forces than by established corps, and yet nothing was more reasonable than that the Active Militia should, whenever necessary, be in a position to draw without delay on the younger branches of the Reserves.

Cadets.—See p. 65.

Intelligence and Maps.—In this connection again, nothing but the want of funds rendered it impossible to employ officers and other agents to collect necessary and readily-accessible information before the Rebellion began. Practically all the Magistrates, however, Police, farmers, planters, etc., were emissaries of the Government, though not placed directly or indirectly in touch with the Militia department as they might have been. Many of these employed Native servants, who, in their turn, were in intimate and constant touch with their own countrymen.

"Immediately previous to the outbreak of the Rebellion," says the Commandant, "I received a great deal of information from people in outlying districts, but, as there was no intelligence department to classify, sift and deal with this, it was very difficult to place much reliance on the information thus obtained. Ultimately, the acting Chief Commissioner of Police (Lieut.-Col. W.J. Clarke) gave orders to the police in the rural districts to collect information from farmers and others and to send everything direct to him."[61] This Police officer, owing to his excellent knowledge of the country, and the various informants, was able to condense and appreciate all that came to hand and thereafter place classified summaries at the Commandant's disposal, and very valuable these proved to be. "Subsequently all this was stopped as, for some reason unknown to me, the Commissioner, i.e. the permanent officer, was either unwilling or unable to continue the system."[62]

As regards maps, not the Commandant, but the state of the treasury was to blame. "The want of maps (on military lines, normal scale) has been greatly felt in Natal and has rendered combined action practically impossible. The failure of the Langalibalele expedition was due to the want of reliable maps."[63] Surveying was habitually confined to areas set apart for European occupation, that is, the most accessible portions, whilst the great Native locations, situate for the most part in broken, bushy and untraversable regions, remained unsurveyed. Thus, when, on hostilities occurring, the rebels selected as their terrain the great Tugela valley (to a distance of 10 or 12 miles on either side and some 60-80 miles along the river), the Nkandhla-Qudeni district, and the Umvoti valley, their choice was, in each instance, ground the Staff and the Surveyor General's department knew either very little, or nothing at all, about. There were, indeed, the map by Altern—of the Zululand side—and that by Middleton—of Nkandhla district, but, insufficient as these excellent maps were, they did not become available for the troops until long after the Rebellion had started, and when most of the information therein had already been ascertained by commanding officers by personal observation, inquiry of local residents, or direct reconnaissance.[64]

In so far, however, as the various columns in the field were concerned, they were singularly well-equipped with intelligence of every kind. This arose from rapidly adapting themselves to circumstances—a characteristic usually displayed by colonial volunteers of long standing. They, fortunately, experienced but little difficulty in securing capable European and Native agents in every direction.

Transport.—The authority given by law to the Commandant to "prepare a register of all animals and vehicles suitable for transport or military purposes throughout the Colony or any part thereof" was taken advantage of in good time, with the result that, when the Rebellion broke out, full particulars as to where vehicles, drivers and animals could be obtained, had been collected.

The same law empowered the Governor, in the event of war, invasion or insurrection, to "authorise the issue of requisitions, requiring all persons to furnish such animals, vehicles and other necessary things as may be demanded from them for military use." On failure to supply, the property could be taken possession of by, or on behalf of, the Commandant. There was, however, a proviso to the effect that "not more than fifty per cent. of the animals and vehicles suitable for transport or military purposes belonging to any person" might be requisitioned. Payment, fixed by the regulations, was, of course, made to persons from whom animals, etc., were taken.

When the first mobilization at Pietermaritzburg and other centres took place early in February, there was but one officer in the department, Captain (now Major) C. Victor Hosken, with one sergeant. No plant of any description belonged to that or any other Militia department. But, so thoroughly had the preliminary preparations been made, that Hosken was able to supply the force then called out with all necessary vehicles, draught animals, drivers, leaders, etc., on the day appointed for it to take the field. The mobilizations of 5th and 19th April, 3rd May, etc., were all dealt with with similar promptitude and equally satisfactory results. On none of these occasions was there any recourse to commandeering (impressing) for the Transport department. Such action was not resorted to until the troops moved from Zululand to Mapumulo division (June 19), when, owing to the impossibility of obtaining transport in any other way, seven or eight waggons were commandeered. The otherwise invariable rule was to hire in the ordinary way. To be able, however, to do this with rapidity and success, it was necessary to ascertain beforehand exactly where, what kind and how many vehicles, animals, etc., could be obtained.

On June 11th, when the largest number of troops was in the field, the Transport staff had increased to 5 officers, 12 n.c.o.'s and 30 men. The largest number of waggons in the field at one time—11th July—(including those for supply and regimental purposes), was 440, together with 14 mule waggons, 18 ambulances and 10 water-carts, with approximately 12,000 oxen and 364 mules. In addition to the foregoing, the mounted contingent from the Transvaal (T.M.R.) had its own mule transport, though the department supplied it with ox-waggons for carrying supplies, ammunition, etc.

It fell, moreover, to the department to arrange for the movement of men, horses, equipment, etc., from point to point by rail, such arrangements, both on mobilization and demobilization—thanks to the ever prompt and unfailing co-operation of all Natal Government Railways officials, whose loyal endeavours contributed very materially to the success of the campaign—were uniformly satisfactory, although they had, as a rule, to be carried out on the shortest notice.

The Commandant, in his report for 1906, drew attention to pack transport being indispensable when mobilizing mounted forces. The mounted corps were possessed of such transport. "When, however, the regiments have taken the field, the true first line of transport must be provided, and this must consist of mule transport." The system of transport, as a whole, was deficient in so far as what is here referred to as the "true first line" was concerned.

Medical.—The Natal Medical Corps was in a position to provide officers and men to all the forces, including detachments, as soon as they took the field. The ordinary medical equipment, similar to that in use in the Imperial service, was adequate and up-to-date. Lieut.-Col. J. Hyslop, D.S.O., Principal Medical Officer, points out that "there was, however, a shortage of ambulance waggons, which had to be made up by the most suitable vehicles we could find. These latter ... were not nearly so useful as the 'Natal ambulance,' which is specially constructed to meet the conditions of the country. Arrangements had been made some time prior to the Rebellion whereby, in case of necessity, civilian hospitals were to be available as base hospitals, and several were so used." Among these was the Victoria Hospital at Eshowe. Authority was given for the Principal Medical Officer to call on District Surgeons "to attend troops stationed in their respective districts, by way of relieving the Militia Medical staff," thereby enabling them to devote more attention to field duties. With the enrolment of irregular troops, it became necessary to increase the personnel of the corps; later in the campaign, the stretcher-bearers, supplied by the Natal Indian community, were a further welcome addition.

General medical assistance was rendered, not only to Europeans, but to various Native contingents and levies, and to a number of the rebels as well.

Veterinary and Remounts.—The Veterinary Corps was insufficiently organized, with the result that, generally speaking, officers were called on to treat more animals than they were able to cope with.

The supply of remounts became a serious matter. "It is much easier," says the Commandant, "to get men than to get horses on which to mount them. During the late operations, the horse supply of the Colony was exhausted practically within the first month, and, within a few months, it was a very difficult matter to purchase a fairly good horse, either in the Transvaal, Orange River Colony, or Cape Colony, and we had to import a shipment of horses from South America. Fortunately, the campaign ended about the time these horses arrived, so that they were not required for the field. But, had the campaign been prolonged, as it easily might have been, shipment after shipment of horses would have had to be imported, and these would necessarily have been unbroken horses, as the contractor was unable to complete his contract to supply the requisite number of broken horses for the first shipment."[65]

Ordnance and Equipment.—The withdrawal of the Imperial troops carried with it the closing down of the Imperial Ordnance stores in Pietermaritzburg. This necessitated stocking by the local Ordnance department of material considerably in excess of what it had been the rule to keep. Instead of limiting the stock to peace requirements, it had to be expanded to those of war.

When mobilization took place, the whole of the Militia forces were duly equipped, whilst demands from the field were promptly and satisfactorily met.

"In dealing with the equipping of irregular corps and Militia Reserves," says the Ordnance Officer, Major F. Choles,[66] "for which no provision was made, the success ... attained ... was due to the foresight of this department in having placed to 'reserve stocks,' from time to time, such stores as were necessary for contingencies, such as the late Rebellion. These stores were a portion of stocks obtained under the ordinary annual votes during the last few years." Owing to recommendations in respect of reserve clothing not having been given effect to, uniforms had to be obtained from such local sources as were available, with the result that inferior materials at high prices were the only goods to be had.

At various troop headquarters, armouries had been provided. These proved most useful and time-saving, especially as the system mobilization of the mounted forces was always "forward" to the scene of disturbance.

In so far as arms, ammunition and equipment were concerned, the Colony, on the outbreak of hostilities, was fully prepared to meet all reasonable demands likely to be made. The rifles and ammunition were, moreover, of the best and latest types. This satisfactory state of affairs was owing chiefly to continued representation by the Commandant to his Minister to the effect that, although the country was evidently on the eve of a rising, there was an insufficiency of both arms and ammunition, particularly the latter. There was, for instance, little or no Mark V ammunition in stock. During November, 1905, authority was given to indent for 1,000 stand of arms and 5,000,000 rounds of ammunition. The first lot arrived in Durban late in January, and the first outbreak of rebellion occurred on the 8th of the following month.

Service Corps (Supplies).—This department, when the first mobilization occurred, had a staff of 2 officers and 24 men. This strength was increased as necessity arose, until it stood at 2 officers, 38 clerks, 9 bakers, 7 butchers, 55 grocers and issuers; total, 135. Some 30 Natives were also employed.

The officer in charge, Captain Ambrose Prior, found it necessary to establish no less than twenty depôts in different parts of Natal and Zululand, whilst, in addition, a supply detachment accompanied each of five operating columns.

The want of properly-trained men at the outset was severely felt, involving, as it did, considerable risk in handling large quantities of supplies. It was fortunate that intelligent out-of-work men were readily procurable. These were trained and distributed among the depôts as soon as they became efficient.

Field bakeries were formed at Nkandhla, Thring's Post, and Mapumulo, and proved very successful. At one time, those at Nkandhla and Thring's Post turned out as much as 4,000-5,000 lbs. of bread daily. Owing to lack of system in the management of loot stock, field butcheries proved a failure, the Government, in consequence, being put to needless expense in procuring meat.

Co-operation between this and the Transport department was everything that could have been desired.

Telegraph Corps.—This corps, under Captain F. Fraser, was most efficient and well-equipped. It was, however, handicapped owing to its small establishment, so much so that it was necessary to apply to the Cape Colony for signallers. Some of the corps members had gone through an army class of instruction at Pretoria. The good effects of that training were very noticeable.

Engineer Corps.—Owing to the peace establishment of the Active Militia having been reduced to 2,500, the formation of an Engineer Corps was impossible. As, however, searchlights are very desirable accessories in Native warfare for defensive purposes, arrangements were made, with the assistance of Captain Mills, of the Natal Government Railways, to secure a couple of instruments and appurtenances, together with the necessary trained men for working them. Another of these instruments (under Major W.H. Pickburn) was lent by the Transvaal Government and proved especially useful at Nkandhla.

THE NATAL POLICE.

Although forming no part of the Militia, the Natal Police, a smart, well-equipped and efficient force, under the command of Lieut.-Col. G. Mansel, C.M.G., took a prominent part throughout the operations. Its personnel consisted of Europeans and Natives; the latter, however, were not called out for service. The European section numbered 40 officers and 1,126 of other ranks. Over two-thirds were mounted, but it was found impracticable, owing to there being 143 police stations to look after, to put more than 210 into the field.

RIFLE ASSOCIATIONS.

There were no fewer than 117 of these Associations in 1906 in various parts of the Colony, with an aggregate membership of about 7,000.