56 A COLONY IN THE MAKING chap. 



law into their own hands and even gone further than 

 mere thought. I fear that it is impossible to con- 

 sider the question without, at the same time, con- 

 sidering the case of the deportation of the Hon. 

 Galbraith Cole, which excited such deep indignation 

 in the Protectorate, and even a certain mild wonder 

 at home. The facts were shortly these. Mr. Cole 

 was a pioneer sheep-farmer, a man who devoted 

 himself to his business and left politics and agitation 

 alone. He was, perhaps, the man most universally- 

 respected by farmers and natives alike in the 

 country. Mr. Cole began to suffer from sheep-theft, 

 and informed the police ; they proved powerless. 

 The thefts increased ; he vainly tried to protect 

 himself by legal means ; but finally gave fair warning 

 that unless he could get adequate protection he must 

 take the law into his own hands. A little later he 

 caught two Kikuyus red-handed with the skin of one 

 of his freshly-killed sheep ; this being the third 

 occasion on which these self-same men had been 

 detected. They attempted to escape and he called 

 on them to stop. They refused to do so and he 

 fired at one, killing him. He then made an un- 

 doubted error of judgment in not reporting the 

 matter to the authorities. The Kikuyu who escaped 

 did report the matter, and Mr. Cole was arrested and 

 tried for murder. The jury without leaving the box 

 found him not guilty. 



A month or two later Mr. Cole was deported 

 as being dangerous to the peace of the country, 

 nominally by order of the Governor, actually by 

 order of Mr. Harcourt, Secretary of State for the 

 Colonies. 



Now, for the benefit of those who sit at home at 



