292 
VISIT TO SOUTH AFRICA. 
particularly for roofs ; certainly ‘ made in England,’ but not very 
suitable to hot climates. 
In the centre of the town is a fearful dust trap of a Market Square. 
Here the laager was situated when the town was attacked. 
There is a capital club. Unfortunately, owing to rinderpest, the 
furniture had not arrived. 
The men I met in the club were as pleasant a lot of men as one can 
meet anywhere, and as hospitable ; amongst them several who had been 
in the service. I met an ex-gunner, now president of the Chamber of 
Mines, and together we held a board on the C.C.’s 7-pr. guns. 
There is a good hospital, erected in memory of the Shangani river 
disaster and the brave men who fell there. Red dust, red bicycles, and 
a coatless population complete the scene. 
Euluwayo, everything considered, is a wonderful place, for in 1893 
it was Lobengula’s kraal. Government House is built on the spot 
where Lobengula’s house stood. 
The very sanguine reports about the termination of all native troubles 
are to be doubted. It is quite possible there may be another native 
rising. 
But see on this sketch map that forts are now dotted about the 
country held by police, and with a rapidly-approaching railway a rising 
can never again assume such serious proportions. 
There still remain about 15,000 armed natives ; a menace to safety. 
They have given up some assegais, but firearms, even those belonging 
to the revolted police, are not easily to be found. 
That the settlement is satisfactory is certainly not the case, but it was 
essential. The fight between natives in the Matoppos and troops with¬ 
out transport may be compared to a fight between a dog and a fish. 
The native mind of South Africa has not received the salutary lesson 
it requires to avenge the many fearful atrocities, and sporadic outbreaks 
have since occurred elsewhere. The Matabele are not disposed to look 
upon the war as a defeat, and in some districts are still truculent. 
I must refer you to Selous’ book “ Sunshine and Storm ” for the 
causes of the war, and many interesting details.* 
The result of the war is that, although the Matabele have failed to 
abolish the white man, they have improved their- status. But it is 
absolutely essential for the peace of the country that the natives should 
be completely disarmed, and we may shortly hear of that question being 
tackled. The idea in Buluwayo was that when the crops were ready 
for cutting a raid would be made and firearms obtained, or crops 
destroyed. However, as the police force there is only 600 men, and as 
the Matoppo Hills cover a great extent of country, I do not see that is 
quite feasible. 
I might tell you a little story about the Matabele high priest, the 
M’Limo, who directed the natives so much in their fighting. He told 
them on one occasion that the white men’s bullets and powder were to 
turn into water, and that they need not mind being fired at as all would 
go well. The natives attacked the town accordingly, and to the surprise 
of the force that went out to meet them they allowed a large number 
of their fellows to be shot down before retreating. At length they 
turned and bolted. They went to the M’Limo and interviewed him, 
* Vide also published, since these remarks, books on the war by Col. Baden Powell 
and Major Plumer. 
