THE LITTLE WAR IN SOUTH AFRICA.

Otago Witness, 14 December 1893, Page 40

THE LITTLE WAR IN SOUTH AFRICA.

Lo Bengula, the King of the Mata-

Daspite the sweeping condemnation of Mr Rider Haggard and of others wha have known Lo Bengula only by repute, it is open to gcava question whether the Matabale king ia a treacherous and bloodthirsty savage. That the Matabelc generally are a truculent, turbulent, and untrustworthy people cannot bo denied. Their descent, the traditions and customs of their race, and the impunity with which they have hitherto murdered and robfcei, have all tended to maintain the lawlessness and arrogance which so strongly characterised their ancestors, the Zulus. That they would, sooner or later, have to be dealt with has long been foreseen, but until recently it has never been said or suggested that Lo Bengula had ever given or was likely to give just cause for complaint. The feeling of insecurity, if it has really existed, has nob been due to distrust of the king, but to a fear of what would happen if the king died. The younger regiments have always burned to flesh their spears, and the one thing that restrained them was the influence of the intelligent and far-seeing man who ruled over them, and ruled, be it understood, by will of hia father, and not by right of seniority. This latter fact has a somewhat important beating upon the hostilities at present in progress. It will be remembered that the rebel Zulu general, Umzilikatze, crossed the Crocodile river, and, intending to settle to the north of the Zambesi, was forced by the prevalence of " fly" in the Zambesi Valley to retrace his footsteps and eettle in what is now known as the Matabele country, where he murdered a number of deserters from his army, and afterwards turned his attention to wipiDg ont the peaceful and industrious MakalaDga. In the fulnets of time he was blessed with two eons named respectively Kuruman and Lo Bengula, and in the ordinary course of things Kuruman would have succeeded him. But in an evil hour for them certain of his people conspired to put Kuruman on the throne, and Umzilikatze discovering the plot, not only had them butchered, but orderad a couple of his men to take Kuruman into the bush and " wrirg his neck." He then named Lo Bengula heir-presumptive, and although, by means of a pious fraud, Kuruman did not die, Lo Bengula succeeded to the throne at Buluwayo, or the " Place of Killing," on January 24, IS7O, attended by the late Thomas Baines and eight or ten other white roen. He was then, we are told, a well-built man of about 30 years of age, dressed in drab or brown moleskin and cord coat and breeches, and wore a high-crowned felt hat surmounted with a single feather of the kapi crane, underneath which was tied a handkerchief of a very gaudy description. At that time tbe po&ition of La Bsngula was not very secure, but it is characteristic of the man th<*t when Thomas Baines, the one-time companion of David Livingstone, and pioneer missionary of Zimbesia, asked a favour at his hands, he freely conceded mining rights over the whole of his country " between the Gwailo and Ganyona rivere," and behaved in a manner that won him Baines's lasting friendship la his book, " The Gold Regions of South-eastern Africa," Baines says : "We had a little conveisation with the king, who was free from prejudice on tho subject, but who very reasonably urged the impropriety of offending his people. I pledged my word to comply with the terms in which the concession was granted, and would not exceed bis permission. If I required other privileges I would return and ask for them." Later wa were told by Flora L. Shaw, in an article on the Britiah South Africa Company, published in the Furtnightly Review, that the king was extremely hard-working and intelligent, " possessing a prodigious memory, and spending his cUjs in transacting: the business of government, and in hearing lawsuit?," in which he pcted the part of judge and jury. " Although he held absolute power of life acd death in his hands, he wa 5 ! reputed to be nob blocdthirsthy or unmerciful r.y nature, bu 1 ; rather to possess a genial temperament 1 , del'ghtiog in social intercourse and in long informal talks." His tact and natural abilities were great, but he was, and is, jealous of power, and has " cevar been known to give a conc3ssion conveying administrative rights." In " A Hunter's Wandering"," by Mr F. 0. Sslouf, published iv 1890, there is nob a word against Lo Benguli ; and it is significant that Mr E. A. Maund, who some two years ago accompanied the Matabele iadunas to England, named his son " Loben." i For many years past Lo Bengula has discarded European costume, and returned to the monkey skins, ostrich feathers, and wildcat tails of his forefathers, and although slightly inferior in physique to Cetewayo he is every inch a warrior and a king. At the present moment he is about 54 years of age, about sft llin in height, and very corpulent. Wherever he has bseD treated with consideration he bag not failed to mete out justice, and hitherto Mo«rs Colebbrander, Paillips, Bslous, and Maund do not appear to bavj discovered tlie hideous vices with which ho is now credited. As a man ruling pciforcedly with an iron hand ho must be ac times arbitrary; as a Zulu, ho matter how emiyi'lcncd, he must necessarily permit hia young men to cypress their neighbours ; but in nil this thore is nothing new, and it is jaoc pos&iolc that those who adveca'e the extermination of tbe Matabele have their own reason? for , exaggerating Lo BsnguLv's inhumanity to

man. It is, for instance, an open secret that Matabeleland is 'much risher in minerals than Mashonaland ; but, however that may b?, the king is not deserving of unqualified blame. His hold upon the younger regiments has for years been somewhat precarious, and, being always in fear of rebellion, an open insult, a snub in the face of his people, could not bub placs him upon the horns of a dilemma. He had to choosa between the anger of the white man and the mora dangerous contempt of those who&e contempt means disgrace and death. Forced into a war with the Chartered Company, he could at least fly, if the worst came to the worst, and found a new kingdom, as his father had done. Migration is a feature of the Zulu character, and the prospect perhap3 was not without its attractions. It he lives this is what he will no doubt do. Report has it that he has already sent his cattle northwards, and got together a flotilla of canoes with which to cross the Zambesi, there to attempt renewed conquest— and to fail. There can be no question about hia people. They must be subdued before Zambesia can be colonised, and they can only be subdued by force of arms. It is quite within the bounds of possibility that an armed demonstration followed by an Indaba may have the effect of restoring peace. If not, those who know him best will probibly regret the man, however much they may rejoice at the downfall of the king.— Pall Ma.l Budget.