THE STORY OF THE ZULUS.

NZ Truth, Issue 214, 31 July 1909, Page 8

THE STORY OF THE ZULUS.

(By PERCIVAL R. WADDY, 8.A., LL.B., Barrister-at-Law).

Those who have never actually come m Contact with the native race of South [Africa are apt to picture them as so many uncultured and untutored "blocks" ■>vhose chief characteristics are their lack of clothing and their aversion to civilisation. Such an idea is entirely erroneous. There are quite a number of distinct native races m the great sub-continent some, of course, of a much higher class than others, of whom the Zulu race stands pre-eminent. They are a truly grand people, of splendid physique, essentially warriors, brave as lions, and born strategists m warfare, Discipline is their watchword, and disregard of the orders of the chief involves the . death penalty. Pride of race is inherent m them, and they 'have an aristocracy of their own which is far purer of its kind and still more conservative than that of England itself. There is "probably no nation m the world whose people are so absolutely moral, and where the marriage customs are so strictly observed as among the Zulus. " * • Their history is an epic— Ravage admittedly — and m its early part more or ifes's mythical and legendary, but throughout heroic and romantic, and always charmingly fascinating. In later years, unfortunately, conflicting Imperial politics have played no small part, and mismanagement of a lamentable order has ensued, the ultimate result of which has yet to be seen. Zululand itself is indissolubly associated with romance. It comprises about two-thirds of the country which was formerly under the Zulu King, and now forms part of Natal, embracing the most picturesque, mountainous, and densely-wooded portion of the "garden colony*." It is about two-fifths the size of Tasmania, or two-thirds that of Switzerland, being about 10,450 square miles (or 6,688,000 acres) m extent, and it is bounded on the north by Portuguese East Africa, on the west by the Transvaal and Swaziland, on the south and south-west by the Blood and Tugela rivfrs, and on the last by the Indian Ocean. EARLY HISTORY.. In order to understand the Zulu character, as well as to comprefiend • the present position, more, especially if one desires to. form any accurate idea of the potentialities of the ' future, some slight knowledge of the past history of, their nation' is necessary. The, race claims descent from a traditional king of early days named Zulu. ' Early m the nineteenth century, T'ChaWa, said to be seventh m •descent/ from Zulu, succeeded to the kjngship u and his rule was attended with terrible massacres, not only among the subdued tribes, but even amdng f; his own people. One tribe after another was decimated by wholesale slaughter, to the extent, it is said, of fully a million. Eventually T'OhaKawas assassinated m IS2B, and he was . succeeded by his half-brother, Dingaan, vrho .was noted for his treachery and bloodHthirstraess.. In 1836 the great Boer trek from Cape polony took place, and m i ' 13838 these Boers, under Andries Pretor:sßß, crossed the' Tugela to meet the crafty Zulu. On December 1& m tltat year, on the .banks of the < Blood river, Dingaan 'fwas taken prisoner, and, 3000 o£ his followers WBre laid m the dust. To this "day,- "Dingaan's Day" (December 16) is religiously observed -Hiroughoirt South 'Africa as a national 'holiday. < 'Mpaxrde, a brother of Dingaan, was "proclaimed aKirig of the Zulus on February 10, 1840. Dingaan, who had regained his freedom, fled across the Pongola river' and took refuge m the Umbobo Mountains^ Sobaza, King of Swaziland, to whom Dingaan appealed for protection, made Mfli a prisoner, eventually boring on* Ms c, yes with an assegai, as a result of winch; injuries he died. . * • • 'About this time >tho Boers (made an attempt to set up an indifcpenlient government at. Pietermarifebi'icg, but the .Governor of .Cape Colony , resisted the attempt,- and ie took n>£liiaxy possession of the district, and 'm" 1843 Natal was proclaimed as Britif/k, and annexed to Cape Colony. 'Mpanr/e tooK up his residence at Srxepeni K*raal, : near the abandoned site of tb# Mgungnndhloyu, but •he made no attempt to . establish civilised methods of eflLministra*ion, and great- dissfiectian: ensv/ed, .whiten was intensified by the quarrels of Tilpande's two sons, Cetewayo (and Ujmbulazi.; • " ■ f * ■ ■ , : 1 The position of affairs m 'England meanwhile was anything but inspiring. The mismanagement of the Crimean >Var, which broke out i/n l£s4y led to the overthrow of the Earl of Aberdeen's Cabinet, and the formation of a Whig Ministry under th.c Earl of Palmerstpn (m whose vigor everyone believed) on February 10, 18Jj5, and the new administration found its hands lull with a vengeance, for / a South lAfrican crisis was now fast approaching.' As a precautionary me3.sure, Natal was proclaimed a separate colony m 1885, and representative institutions were granted. Cetewayo and his forces then met Umbiilazi and his forces mi mortal combat, at 'Ndondakusuka. U.'/nbulazi was defeated, Cetewayo was ijecognised as Icing de facto, while 'Mande >was permitted to remain king de jure. «The arrangement, as might have been expected, -was not a success, and f amiJjy. quarrels ensued. In 1861, Mr (afljerwrfrdb .Sir TheophUus) ' 'Shepstone, Secrel*arg for Native • Affairs m Natal,, visited VMpan&e and obtained from Him the f'Armafl recognition of Cetewayo's right /to succeed. • • » . 'Mpande subsequently fell into ill health, becoming, In his old age, too fat to be able to warlk, and finally died m 1872; when Cetewayo became King. Cetewayo then sent Mr Shepstone a sack of upoko (millet) witifa the message :— "lf. you can count the /grains of it, then you may be able to count the Zulu people." JVJr Shepstone, m acknowledging the gift, sent back an ox.' hide with the message : "Each hair rep<resents a living Englishman.." As a nyatter of fact, the Zulus judged the importance of the British nation by the English they had seen m ..Cape Colony, and they honestly considered themseli*es a more powerful nation. In August, 1873, Mr Shepstone; with the full concurrence of Mr Gladstone, who was then Prime Minister of England for .the first time, formally crowned Ceteflvayo King of Zululand, at the same time endeavoring to impose certain restrictions mpon his! [power. It is undoubted that these restrictions were keenly resented by the Zulus, who, for the ensuing four or five years, were m a state of unrest. In England, meanwhile, political changes were taking place which were calatilated to play an important part m South {African affairs. 'Mr Gladstone suddenly dissolved Parliament, . proposing, if replaced m power, to abolish .the income. tax. A Conservative reaction, however, set m, and the Conservatives having gained a majority of 48 over all the other parties, Mr Disraeli came into, power on February 21, 1874. The new Ministry found that the Black races m South Africa were lifeely to present a very complex problem requiring solution. There is no doubt -mat they were aiming at the exclusion, of the whites from ;£South Africa. In. 18 77, when Sekufcuni "had defeated' the Boers, and a disastrous native war seemed imminent, Sir Theophilus Shepstone was deputed to annex 'the Transvaal, and proclaim it as British territory m order to save it from ruin. Matters came to a climax m 187>8, .when Kreli, Chief of the Galekas, declared war upon the Government of Cape and he was joined by Sandilli, Chief 'of the Gaikaa, while Cetewayo was credited with encouraging the movement. Great Britain then made preparations to meet a general rising of the oulua. Sir Battle Fxere, acting under in-

structions from the Imperial Government, despatched an ultimatum to Cetewayo on December 11, 1878, but it met with no satisfactory result. Troops were sent to Natal, and on January 11, 187'J, an advance was made against the Zulus. The disasters at lsandhlwana and Rorke's Drift were followed by the complete rout of the Zulus at XJlundi, when Cetewayo himself fled ;in alarm. Cetewayo was subsequently caught at a kraal on the southern slope of the Ingome Range, some distance west of the Ibuluwana steeam. He, however, made no resistance, and was conveyed to Capetown. A monument m honor of the defeat of the Zulus was erected at Pietermaritzburg, and Sir Garnet (afterwards Viscount Wolseley), who was then High Commissioner for .Natal, was specially commissioned to organise a new native regime. His plan was to establish a community of thirteen petty kings, probably with a view to place obstacles m the way of further combined action, but the scheme was not yet a success, ana the petty ■ jealousies which ■ ensued made confusion worse confounded. It is unfortunate that at this stage a change of Government again took place m England, and the control of South African affairs fell into different hands. Early m 1880 Mr Gladstone had succeeded m raising a great wave of indignation against the foreign and domestic; policy of the then Prime Minister (who had been created Earl of Beaconsfield) . The Liberals gained a majority of 108 at the general elections, after which Mr Gladstone retutned into power and became Prime Minister for the second time on April 28, 18SD, the Colonial Office being entrusted to the Earl of Kiniberley. It was this Government which m 1881, after some unsuccessful fighting which culminated m a British reverse at Majuba Hill, restored to the Transvaal its independence; thereby committing the colossal blunder of . the nineteenth century.; The Zulus had already began to note the different policies pursued by the several political parties m England, and, interpreting Majuba Hill as an evidence of weakness, Cetewayo fancied he saw m Mr Gladstone's return to office a fresh t opportunity for his own complete res- , toration <to power. Cetewayo requested itne Earl of Kimberley to allow him to proceed to England. It should Be borne m mind that Cetewayo's influence was .already on the wane, and it is difficult to see wha£ good result could possibly have •been anticipated by acceding to the deposed King's request ; nevertheless, his •request was granted, and therein lay a second blunder to be credited to this administration. Accordingly Oetewayo wen* to England m IS&2, accompanied by Mr (now. Sir) Henrique Charles Shepstone, Secretary for Native Affairs m Natal, and he was eventually presented to her late Majesty Queen Victoria. This was a grim farce. A movement m favor of. Cetewayo's restoration was set? on foot, with the result that he returned to Zululand and was reinstated m 18*83 as Paramount Chief of the Zulus. The evil result of his reinstatement was not long m becoming apparent. Cetewayo 's* halo had vanished, and he ceased to be able to control his people nominally under his sway. As a consequence, the country became more confused than ever, and iniertribal war ensued. Cetewayo fled m alarm, and for a time, he was believed to be dead, but he was afterwards discovered m a kraal near ,'Nkandhla bush. Mr Gladstone's Government, which had been the primary cause of all the ' mischief, was perplexed, and, not knowing exactly what to do m the emergency, did notlring, which was perhaps the wisest course to adopt. Meanwhile, Cetewayo bad developed fatty degeneration of the heart, and his death from that complaint on February 8, 1884/ put an end to an embarrassing situation. • • '* Dinizulu, a son of Cetewayo, and at that time a mere youth living at 'Nkan- : dhla, immediately "claimed the right to 'succeed as Paramount Chief of the Zulus by. virtue of a promise previously given by Cetewayo. The Zulus, however, wjio had not unanimously supported 'Cetewayo, were by no means unanimous as regards Dinizulu. The Transvaal Boers promised to support Dinizulu and to establish a suzerainty over Zululand provided he would cede a portion of Zululand to the Transvaal Republic. The scheme was an ingenious one, and, inasmuch as Mr Gladstone's Government (probably surfeited with South African affairs) declined to interfere, it eventuated. Probably the failure to act m this instance may be reckoned a third blunder on the part of the Liberal Administration. It was, perhaps, as well that when Parliament met this Government was defeated on its Budget ; Mr Gladstone then resigned, and the Marquis of Salisbury came into power on June 24, 1885. The Conservative Government however, was defeated on the Address-in-Reply, and Mr Gladstone became Prime Minister for the third time on February 6, 1886. Mr Gladstone's Home Rule Bill caused a division In. the Liberal party, and the Marquis of Hartington, Mr Joseph Chamberlain and others joined .with Mr Goschen and Mr Bright m resisting Mr Gladstone's scheme. The result, was that the Home Rule Bill was rejected by 341 votes to 311. Parliament was immediately, dissolved. The result of • the ensuing elections Jwas to give Mr Gladstone 278 followers and the Unionists 391 (818 Conservatives and 73' Liberal Unionists), whereupon Mr Gladstone resigned, and the Marquis of Salisbury came, into power /or the second time on August 3, 1886. This Ministry remained m office for six years, and during its term of office, while Earl Stanhope was Secretary of State for the Colonies, Zululand was annexed by Great Britain on May 14, 1887. At the general 'election of 1892, Mr. Gladstone was so successful that lie secured a" slight majority, and he returned to power for the fourth time on August 18, 185)2, but 18 months later, being then m his 85th year, he resigned, and the leadership of the party was handed over to the Earl of Rosebery on March 3, 1894, under whom, however, nothing of striking importance was accomplished, and the Ministry was, m the following J year, defeated on the vote about the Army, whereupon the Marquis of Salisbury returned to office on July 2, 1895, for, third ' time, including m his Cabinet Mr Joseph Chamberlain as Secretary of State for the Colonies. South African affairs loomed large during this Govern- ' ment's tenure of office, for it saw the notorious Jameson Raid of 1895, and the subsequent three years' war, which culminated m the annexation of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State, and their formation into British Colonies. Zululand was not omitted from notice. First of all, Amaputaland, which had been created a British protectorate by proclamation on November 22, 1897, was annexed to the province of Zululand by a further proclamation on December 27 of the same year. Then, under letters patent passed by Royal warraut on December 1, 1897, and m accordnace with an Act of Parliament of Natal, Wo. 37 of .1897, the province of Zululand was annexed to the colony of Natal from December 30, 1&i97, from and after which date it was to form part of that colony. The Dower of the paramount chief and that of his subordinate chiefs was not. entirely abrogated, but, while considerably curtailed, was made the means of keeping the Zulus m subjection to the Natal Government. Dinizulu was recognised as paramount chief, and his authority over his .subordinates was also duly recognised, but he himself was expected to acknowledge the supremacy of the Government oi Natal. The Zulus recogI nised .the reasonableness of the arrange-

ment, coupled with the fact that the Conservative Ministry m power m England would act m unison with.; the Natal Government and would countenance ho insubordination. For some years peace and quiet reigned m Zululand. In 1906, however, the Liberals again came into power m England, and the Zulus, seeing m the political changes the elevation to office, of men who espoused the native "cause," became restless, and a rising was threatened, ostensibly on the ground that the hut tax was burdensome and oppressive. Firmness and statesmanship were needed, but neither was shown by the British Government, which, instead of standing by her loyal colony m the. throes of a native rebellion, unduly hampered and harassed the Government of Natal, wnich vr.is , fully alive ±o the seriousness of the situation. Dinizulu open- ! ly flouted Sic authority of the colonial Governor. The British public never realised the extreme gravity of the Zulu rising of 1906. The Zulus,, ever increasing m number,' already exceed three-quarters of a million, and outnumbered the -white population of Natal by nine to one, and were all armed with deadly assegais. Thanks to ' the bravery and devotion of the colonial troops under Sir Duncan Mackenzie, the ' rising was effectually quelled without the assistance of a single Imperial soldier, for which reason alone the campaign stands unique m the -annals of South African warfare. British mismanagement of native aHairs m South Africa has .more, than once threatened, and may even yet .lead to a disastrous w&r, for supremacy between the Slacks and the whites, for they areV still increasing and far outnumber the whites: Only those who have lived among the natives and actually know them can thoroughly understand how to deal with them. ..'it is preposterous to' theorise and lay down doctrinaire rules for their guidance and control. The doctrine of the equality of mankind has proved pernicious m the case of the South African native; and the only results of attempts at so-called Christianising them has been ' to render the Amakolwa (or those so converted) insolent and insubordinate to the' whites, while education has made them demand the franchise. The inherent idea m the native mind is that the white is his enemy, and that the ' blades are the "chosen race" for whom Africa was always intended, and from whom it was taken by fraud, only to be restored m the fulness of time. »"■' i V » «" Kindness is not understood, nor is .it appreciated, by the South African native. He interprets it as a sign of weakness and fear. Give a native servant out of gratitude or generosity more than he actually earns and he actually puzzles his head to flnd out why you are trying to bribe him. Give him consideration or forgive him a fault, and he I. fancies you are afraid of him, and henceforth your control of him is gone for ever. For wrong-doing he expects severe punishment, and will not resent it; but for unfair, or. cruel treatment he will have his revenge even 41 he has to wait for it for years. , ♦ * . • The salvation of the white race m Soutn Africa at the. present time is sole-: ly due to the want of unity among the native, races ; they are, however, fast realising the importance of co-operation, and looming ahead, perhaps not very far distant, is the dreadful Armageddon which may bathe South Africa m blood from Buluwayo to Capetown, from Angra Pequena to.Lorenco Marques.