CAPE COLONY AND SOUTH AFRICA. 



125 



still to harass the Mashonas and Makalaka. 

 Tlic .Mashnnas who lived within the protection of 

 British forts had become defiant. Early in 1892 

 a .Maial>dc iinpi entered Mashonaland and killed 

 u chief and a large number of men, carrying off 

 tin- women and children into captivity. The 

 Administrator of Mashonaland sent a warning 

 to Lobengula, who replied that he was punish- 

 ing the theft of his cattle, and that his impi had 

 st rict orders not to interfere with the white man. 

 In .luly, 1893. Lobengula, yielding to pressure, 

 ordered an impi into Mashonaland to chastise 

 tin- Mashonas for another theft of cattle. The 

 .Matabele fell upon the native settlements near 

 Fort Charter, killing the men, burning the 

 kraals, and carrying off the young women. The 

 king's orders were to take all the women and 

 oat tic they could, but not to molest his friends 

 the whites or touch their property. They rav- 

 aged the country between Fort Charter and 

 Fort Victoria, burned the grain and kraals 

 around those places, and on July 8 pursued fu- 

 gitives into both places, and hunted fleeing 

 Mashonas up to the walls of the latter fort, 

 where there was a force of 400 men, demanding 



A MATABELE WARRIOR. 



of the commander the surrender of the slaves of 

 the king whom he harbored. This demand was 

 promptly refused. The whites were as eager for 

 the inevitable conflict as the savages. Capt. 

 Lendy ordered the Matabele to return to their 

 own side of the border within a certain number 



of hours. They asserted their right to be in the 

 country and were slow in withdrawing. Captain 

 Lendy led 40 mounted riflemen in pursuit of a 

 returning impi, and to punish their insolence, the 

 British attacked them, killing 2 indunas ami :;o 

 men. Dr. Jameson, the Company's Administrator 

 of Mashonaland, sent a message to Lobengula 

 demanding reparation for the invasion of Brit- 

 ish territory and for cattle belonging to white 

 men which the Matabele had driven off. To 

 this he sent a friendly reply ; but at that time he 

 did not know of the shooting of his indunas and 

 warriors. On Aug. 20 another message was 

 received from Lobengula, in which he said he 

 had sent his impis to punish the Makalaka for 

 stealing his cattle, and that he would not return 

 any cattle or pay for any damage unless Rhodes, 

 the managing director of the South Africa Com- 

 pany returned to him the captives, with their 

 women and children, cattle, goats, and sheep, 

 that the Victoria people were keeping from him. 

 If he had known beforehand what he now knew, 

 he said, he would have ordered his people to 

 take everything belonging to the whites that 

 they could lay their hands on. Sir Henry 

 Loch's message asking him to punish the indunas 

 who were responsible for the violation of the 

 white men's territory he answered diplomat- 

 ically by denouncing the whites as the aggres- 

 sors and insisting on his rights over Mashona- 

 land. When the Company's officials tendered 

 an installment of the king's subsidy he refused 

 to receive what he called " blood money." The 

 British Government promised to uphold the offi- 

 cers of the company in their determination not 

 to surrender the fugitives, but cautioned them 

 to confine themselves to defensive measures. 

 Soon, however, an aggressive policy was adopted, 

 with the sanction of the imperial authorities. 

 Dr. Jameson sent an ultimatum to Lobengula, 

 and both parties began to prepare for hostilities. 

 A regiment of imperial troops was moved up 

 the country toward Mashonaland, and reserves 

 were sent out from England. A Boer trek 

 had recently arrived in the north, but the Boers 

 declined to engage in a war with the Matabele 

 as allies of the English, and made arrange- 

 ments to return to their own country. The 

 Matabele continued their raids throughout Ma- 

 shonaland without check. The Boers, who had 

 settled in the south, returned to the Transvaal 

 by order of Commandant Raaf, of Tuli. Loben- 

 gula, who had sent his strongest impi on a raid 

 beyond the Zambesi, recalled it quietly, and be- 

 fore the middle of September impis were ad- 

 vancing toward the border to attack Victoria 

 and Tati. The latter post was deserted by the 

 whites, who abandoned most of the mines and 

 farms everywhere to seek refuge within the for- 

 tifications at Victoria, Charter, and Salisbury, 

 which were provisioned for a long siege. The 

 Matabele sent all their women, children, and 

 cattle back from the border districts for safety. 

 Before Oct. 1 some of the impis, which had col- 

 lected along the border, entered British terri- 

 tory and ravaged the native settlements. The 

 Company then had 1,000 men and 600 horses in 

 Mashonaland. Chief Khama sent a large body 

 of his native soldiers, trained in the use of fire- 

 arms, to re-enforce the Bechuanaland police, and 

 under their protection the miners returned to 



