And

might have a weapon concealed beneath them-an incident which had already occurred at the arrest of one Matyana, when Mr. John Shepstone, while in friendly parley with Matyana, is said and believed by the natives to have suddenly produced a pistol and fired twice at him, killing one of his companions and wounding another. as for the tale of prodding with assegais, it was a pure invention altogether. But the story did its work; the colonists were amused with accounts of preparations for war supposed to be made by this wretched chief and his tribe, who were simply in so great a fright that they did not know what to do; and the government, devoured by that desire to show energy which is the cause of so much wickedness, began to assemble an armed force within reach of these "rebels," as they were now freely called.

Under these terrible circumstances Langalibalele, so far from thinking of offering any resistance, sought only how he might escape the dire and dreadful fate he saw impending over him and his tribe. As he had run away from Panda, so he resolved to run away from the Supreme Chief of Natal. And this, be it remarked, he had a perfect right to do, so that he did it peaceably and without violence. He had been received by the colonial government with his tribe and his cattle, had had allotted to him a location and done service for it; and there was nothing either in Kafir law or in the law of the colony to prevent him from again peaceably migrating over the border with his tribe and their cattle. The step, indeed, was a desperate one, for it involved the abandonment by these ten thousand of their smiling homes and of all the fruits of their labour during a quarter of a century. But then the occasion was desperate. Some charge, dreadful and serious, nobody knew what, hung over the head of the chief.

It

must be something very grave indeed, for he had applied to be fined, and had indeed sent to Maritzburg an envoy with a small bag of gold as an earnest of what the tribe could raise. This mes

that the Supreme Chief had already set out at the head of a large force to "eat up" the tribe. There was no choice therefore; and, with heavy hearts and miserable forebodings, the tribe and the chief gathered their cattle and drove them up the mountain side, still asking themselves what they had done to be thus inhospitably driven out. There can be no doubt they had a perfect right, if they wished, to take and to carry out this resolution of flight with their cattle; and if there were any doubt, it would be disposed of by the fact that they had originally been received and adopted by the Natal government itself on flying with their cattle in a similar manner from Zululand. The resolution itself is sufficient to show that nothing was further from Langalibalele than any intention to resist or to defy the government, and that he was, on the contrary, moved entirely by the fear of being, in accordance with the threat that had been made to him by the government messenger, "eaten up," and destroyed with his tribe. "We really," says Mbaimbai, one of his sons, "had no fixed plan. Langalibalele's idea was to get out of the way, and subsequently to make terms and return with his family again. We thought the waters of the sea were coming, seeing that the governor was coming, and that nought could escape.' The simple truth is, that these poor people were flying in a distraught manner from the force which they had learnt was being sent to destroy them, and that their one only object was to save their lives and as much of their means of subsistence as possible, even at the cost of abandoning their cherished homes.

But Sir Benjamin Pine, the governor of the colony, saw in this panic stricken exodus "something like treason," "deemed it" his "duty to take decisive measures," called out troops and volunteers, and decided to accompany them in person in order to "capture the offenders and bring them to justice." Impressed by the magnitude and danger of the task he had set himself, indeed, he wrote to the Colonial Secretary a vale

indicates his notion of his own merits in these words :-"I think it my duty, should any misfortune happen to me, to most earnestly pray your lordship not to send to this very difficult government any but a governor of the first class, and of first-rate resolution, talent, and energy." Herewith he issued a proclamation, started for the scene of war, and began those "decisive measures " which he had discovered to be necessary. The first of these was to send a force of thirty-four volunteers and twenty Basutos, armed to the teeth with breechloaders, to seize the Bushman's Pass, by which Langalibalele himself had already escaped, and by which the remainder of the tribe were still escaping. This was on the 4th of November, 1873, and Major Durnford, the officer in command, found the natives already in the pass, "flying in every direction.' Now it so happens that the spot where the volunteers then found themselves, and in which the whole of the subsequent affair took place, is beyond the boundary of the colony of Natal as settled and fixed by the Order in Council taking effect on the 1st of June, 1859. Consequently it would seem that any crime or offence committed there comes under the act which prescribes that crimes or offences committed within "any territory to the southward of the twenty-fifth degree of south latitude, and not being within the jurisdiction of any civilized government" (which was the case here), shall be cognizable "in the courts of the colony of the Cape of Good Hope or of the colony of Natal." This has an important bearing on the subsequent conduct of the government, as will be seen.

This, then, was the situation. A great number of the tribe had escaped over the mountains, most of the rest were "concealed in caves," and a few, amounting to "100 at the outside, half of whom were armed with shooting weapons," were "flying in all directions" in sight of the fifty-five fully-armed men who had occupied the pass. Major Durnford commanded them to "take their cattle and go down," and was answered

coming up the pass did in fact obey the order to retire. But now the Major was informed that the Carabineers, a mounted force of white volunteers, "could not be depended upon." He gave therefore the order to retire, when Langalibalele's people began to fire, and killed five of Major Durnford's men. There is evidence that some of his force had far exceeded the spirit of the orders which he himself gave, that they had seized guns and had killed a cow; but this does not of course excuse the firing for those who took part in it. Strictly speaking, however, the natives had a good right to resist this unlawful attempt to stay and to interfere with them, accompanied as it was by a seizure of their property while engaged in a perfectly lawful act, and that beyond the boundary of the colony; but their submission to the first orders given to them shows that they had no intention of doing so, and that the shooting was provoked and brought about entirely by the disgraceful panic of the Carabineers, which caused some of the natives to get too excited to be kept in hand by their elders, who exercised their authority even to the extent of blows to secure obedience to the orders given. But Langalibalele himself was then far away. He had given strict and imperative instructions to his men not to fire or to use any force, not even if the government men got in among the cattle. His guilt therefore, if guilt there were, was of a purely constructive nature.

But the government had too far committed itself to think of law or to listen to reason, and the same cowardice which prompted the needless flight of the volunteers prompted a craving for a swift and bloody revenge. A nonsensical pretence was made on November 4th and 5th of "proclaiming" the country by sending out two heralds to "call out among the bushes and gorges " of this immense tract, that "those who intend to adhere to the government must return to-night, as to-morrow an armed force will be sent against those who remain in the bushes and the

And

might have a weapon concealed beneath them-an incident which had already occurred at the arrest of one Matyana, when Mr. John Shepstone, while in friendly parley with Matyana, is said and believed by the natives to have suddenly produced a pistol and fired twice at him, killing one of his companions and wounding another. as for the tale of prodding with assegais, it was a pure invention altogether. But the story did its work; the colonists were amused with accounts of preparations for war supposed to be made by this wretched chief and his tribe, who were simply in so great a fright that they did not know what to do; and the government, devoured by that desire to show energy which is the cause of so much wickedness, began to assemble an armed force within reach of these "rebels," as they were now freely called.

Under these terrible circumstances Langalibalele, so far from thinking of offering any resistance, sought only how he might escape the dire and dreadful fate he saw impending over him and his tribe. As he had run away from Panda, so he resolved to run away from the Supreme Chief of Natal. And this, be it remarked, he had a perfect right to do, so that he did it peaceably and without violence. He had been received by the colonial government with his tribe and his cattle, had had allotted to him a location and done service for it; and there was nothing either in Kafir law or in the law of the colony to prevent him from again peaceably migrating over the border with his tribe and their cattle. The step, indeed, was a desperate one, for it involved the abandonment by these ten thousand of their smiling homes and of all the fruits of their labour during a quarter of a century. But then the occasion was desperate. Some charge, dreadful and serious, nobody knew what, hung over the head of the chief. It must be something very grave indeed, for he had applied to be fined, and had indeed sent to Maritzburg an envoy with a small bag of gold as an earnest of what the tribe could raise. This mes

that the Supreme Chief had already set out at the head of large force to "eat up" the tribe. There was no choice therefore; and, with heavy hearts and miserable forebodings, the tribe and the chief gathered their cattle and drove them up the mountain side, still asking themselves what they had done to be thus inhospitably driven out. There can be no doubt they had a perfect right, if they wished, to take and to carry out this resolution of flight with their cattle; and if there were any doubt, it would be disposed of by the fact that they had originally been received and adopted by the Natal government itself on flying with their cattle in a similar manner from Zululand. The resolution itself is sufficient to show that nothing was further from Langalibalele than any intention to resist or to defy the government, and that he was, on the contrary, moved entirely by the fear of being, in accordance with the threat that had been made to him by the government messenger, "eaten up," and destroyed with his tribe. "We really," says Mbaimbai, one of his sons, "had no fixed plan. Langalibalele's idea was to get out of the way, and subsequently to make terms and return with his family again. We thought the waters of the sea were coming, seeing that the governor was coming, and that nought could escape." The simple truth is, that these poor people were flying in a distraught manner from the force which they had learnt was being sent to destroy them, and that their one only object was to save their lives and as much of their means of subsistence as possible, even at the cost of abandoning their cherished homes.

But Sir Benjamin Pine, the governor of the colony, saw in this panic stricken exodus "something like treason," "deemed it" his "duty to take decisive measures," called out troops and volunteers, and decided to accompany them in person in order to "capture the offenders and bring them to justice." Impressed by the magnitude and danger of the task he had set himself, indeed, he wrote to the Colonial Secretary a vale

indicates his notion of his own merits in these words :-"I think it my duty, should any misfortune happen to me, to most earnestly pray your lordship not to send to this very difficult government any but a governor of the first class, and of first-rate resolution, talent, and energy." Herewith he issued a proclamation, started for the scene of war, and began those "decisive measures which he had discovered to be necessary. The first of these was to send a force of thirty-four volunteers and twenty Basutos, armed to the teeth with breechloaders, to seize the Bushman's Pass, by which Langalibalele himself had already escaped, and by which the remainder of the tribe were still escaping. This was on the 4th of November, 1873, and Major Durnford, the officer in command, found the natives already in the pass, "flying in every direction." Now it so happens that the spot where the volunteers then found themselves, and in which the whole of the subsequent affair took place, is beyond the boundary of the colony of Natal as settled and fixed by the Order in Council taking effect on the 1st of June, 1859. Consequently it would seem that any crime or offence committed there comes under the act which prescribes that crimes or offences committed within "any territory to the southward of the twenty-fifth degree of south latitude, and not being within the jurisdiction of any civilized government" (which was the case here), shall be cognizable "in the courts of the colony of the Cape of Good Hope or of the colony of Natal." This has an important bearing on the subsequent conduct of the government, as will be seen.

This, then, was the situation. A great number of the tribe had escaped over the mountains, most of the rest were "concealed in caves," and a few, amounting to "100 at the outside, half of whom were armed with shooting weapons," were "flying in all directions" in sight of the fifty-five fully-armed men who had occupied the pass. Major Durnford commanded them to "take their cattle and go down," and was answered

coming up the pass did in fact obey the order to retire. But now the Major was informed that the Carabineers, a mounted force of white volunteers, "could not be depended upon." He gave therefore the order to retire, when Langalibalele's people began to fire, and killed five of Major Durnford's men. There is evidence that some of his force had far exceeded the spirit of the orders which he himself gave, that they had seized guns and had killed a cow; but this does not of course excuse the firing for those who took part in it. Strictly speaking, however, the natives had a good right to resist this unlawful attempt to stay and to interfere with them, accompanied as it was by a seizure of their property while engaged in a perfectly lawful act, and that beyond the boundary of the colony; but their submission to the first orders given to them shows that they had no intention of doing so, and that the shooting was provoked and brought about entirely by the disgraceful panic of the Carabineers, which caused some of the natives to get too excited to be kept in hand by their elders, who exercised their authority even to the extent of blows to secure obedience to the orders given. But Langalibalele himself was then far away. He had given strict and imperative instructions to his men not to fire or to use any force, not even if the government men got in among the cattle. His guilt therefore, if guilt there were, was of a purely constructive nature.

But the government had too far committed itself to think of law or to listen to reason, and the same cowardice which prompted the needless flight of the volunteers prompted a craving for a swift and bloody revenge. A nonsensical pretence was made on November 4th and 5th of "proclaiming" the country by sending out two heralds to "call out among the bushes and gorges of this immense tract, that "those who intend to adhere to the government must return to-night, as to-morrow an armed force will be sent against those who remain in the bushes and the

the armed force was let loose against the miserable remnant of the tribe; the hiding-places were attacked and in some cases smoked out; the fugitives, including some women, were killed; and even a wounded man brought out of his refuge was then and there shot by order of the officer in command. At least 200 of the tribe are admitted to have been thus killed; the kraals, many of them stored with grain, were burnt to the ground; and on the 22nd of November, 1873, Governor Pine felt himself able to write to the Colonial Secretary that "armed resistance within the colony has been fully suppressed," and to express his "high acknowledgment of the zeal and good conduct of the volunteers and Dutch Burgher force, who have taken so active and important a part in putting down the insurrection;" as though that could be called an insurrection which consisted in hiding away in caves and bushes, and as though immense valour had been displayed by the volunteers in smoking out and killing 200 miserable and desperate fugitives. But this was not all. Before long, Langalibalele was betrayed into Governor Pine's hands by an act of treachery to which it is revolting to think any English authorities should have been parties, as they were; the whole of the cattle of the tribe, amounting to some 8,000 or 10,000 head, were seized and confiscated; and as many as 1,500 women and children were carried off by the government force into slavery, disguised under a euphemism. Meantime, Sir Benjamin Pine, after having been "in the field," as he says, "five weeks," had returned to Government House with the proud consciousness of having shown his "first-rate resolution, talent, and energy." To these great qualities there was the testimony of the devastated homes, of the 200 dead, of the 10,000 subjects of the Queen driven out of her territory, of the women and children led away into slavery, of floggings and confiscations without end, inflicted not only upon the tribe which had " belled," but also upon another supposed

re

But this is of slight importance compared with what followed. Langalibalele and his tribe, be it remembered, had committed no one single act of violence in the colony. They had neither killed, injured, nor robbed any man, nor had they committed any act of rebellion against the government. When indeed they had left the colony and were out of it, some of them had resisted an unlawful attempt to oppose their free progress, and to seize their property; but even this had been done in a casual, impulsive manner, which showed that it was the act of a few, goaded at last to desperation by the cruel treatment the tribe had received, and not in any way a matter of concert or the result of any general plan of resistance. Nevertheless, they were solemnly outlawed and branded as rebels and traitors, and when at last Langalibalele was taken, it was resolved to make an example of him. But it was soon discovered that, as we have pointed out, the prisoner had really committed no crime that could, if he were lawfully tried before any of the ordinary courts, draw upon him the punishment which it was already resolved he should suffer. "It may be questioned," we are told in a document drawn up by the legal advisers of the governor, "whether the acts of Langalibalele could have been taken cognizance of by a court whose guide is colonial law, and whose jurisdiction is bounded by territorial limits. It might therefore have happened that the crime of rebellion as charged . . . would have remained unpunished, and thereby have been directly encouraged." It is not possible to admit. more plainly that it was felt there was no case against the chief before the established tribunals, and that what was sought was not to have him tried by law but punished without law. Accordingly, since it was felt that the ordinary courts would not do that business, it was resolved to form an extraordinary court, which was done by a very simple method. Governor Pine summoned Mr. Shepstone, his Secretary for Native Affairs, his executive council, some magistrates, and some