Chapter V: Progress of India and the Colonies (2)

3. The animals peculiar to Australia are even more strange than its plants. Of all the useful animals belonging to other countries, not a single representative was found here. All our domestic animals, however, have been introduced, and thrive remarkably well. One, indeed, the rabbit, has thriven so well as to form a serious pest. So rapidly do these animals multiply here that the colonists are obliged to incur much expense in the effort to keep down their numbers. Of the quadrupeds found elsewhere Australia only possessed, when first discovered, some species of rats and mice and a sort of wild dog, or dingo. Most of the native animals are pouched, like the kangaroo.

4. Dingoes cannot be trained for the service of man. They are always ready to prey upon his flocks. So great a pest are these animals, in certain parts, that each man on a sheep-station is expected to carry strychnine, in order to poison the carcase of any dead animal he may chance to find in his wanderings, with the view of destroying the dingoes that may happen to feed upon it. These animals destroy far more than they devour. On entering a sheepfold they bite and kill without stint or stay. There is, however, one drawback to their wholesale destruction, as they are the natural enemies of the kangaroo. Since the dingoes have become scarce, the kangaroo has multiplied greatly. In some districts droves of these animals are still seen, eating up every blade of grass and starving the sheep off the land.

5. As the native productions of Australia are of little service to man, it is not surprising to find the natives a low order of savages. There is no bond of union between them. They consist of many tribes, always ready to go to war with each other. It is supposed that about 50,000 survive, but through intemperance, wars and diseases, their numbers are gradually dwindling. They have already almost disappeared from the more settled parts, but as such a large proportion of Australia is uninhabitable by white men, they will probably long linger in the more remote quarters of the continent.

6. Like all wandering savages, their senses are remarkably acute, and their skill and cunning in hunting and snaring beasts and birds can hardly be surpassed. Advantage is taken of this fact by the Australians, who employ them to track out fugitives, when offenders against the law have to be pursued, or when cattle have strayed.

7. The natives were at first a source of great trouble to the settlers. They stole their sheep and ran off with their horses, caused their cattle to stampede, and killed their shepherds and herdsmen. But as the colonist never moved out of doors without his firearms, they soon gained a wholesome dread of his power. One tribe of "blacks" also was always ready to help the white man to pursue and punish the men of another tribe. In Queensland, indeed, a body of native police, officered by Europeans, was formed to cope with the disorders and depredations of the savages, who are bolder and more numerous in that part of Australia. But the experiment was attended by dreadful results, for a member of one tribe displays savage enjoyment in the slaughter of members of any other tribe. Among the settlers also were men who had been dangerous criminals, and who had no compunction in murdering "blacks," as if they were devoid of human souls.

8. One of the great bars to progress in Australia is the irregular supply of rain. Whilst droughts are not infrequent, there is occasionally an excessive downpour, causing disastrous floods. The amount of rain that falls from first to last would probably be sufficient to make Australia a well-watered country. But owing to the extreme irregularity of the rainfall the plains are liable to be alternately deluged and burnt up. Explorers have often been in danger of perishing with thirst from this cause; for instead of finding a large lake, where they had seen one on a former occasion, they find nothing but a stretch of baked mud.

9. In times of drought the rivers, too, dwindle into mere threads of water, or become too shallow for navigation. Even the Murray, the largest of Australian rivers, is at times but an indifferent waterway. Still worse, its mouth consists of shallow channels of shifting sand, so that no steamer can enter it from the sea. Large sums have been expended in trying to remove the bar at its mouth and form a harbour; but the attempt has been abandoned, for as fast as the sand is dredged away, fresh deposits of silt take its place.

10. These are some of the difficulties and drawbacks which the Australian colonists have had to fight against. But in spite of them an extraordinary advance has been made, thanks to their own energy and enterprise, to the mineral wealth of their country, and to their freedom from war. Contrary to the experience of nations, in other continents, the Australians have never had to fight a regular battle in their own land. This immunity from war they owe, in large measure, to the protecting arm of the mother-country, and to the wisdom she has shown in granting self-government to her Australian colonies as soon as they became fit to manage their own affairs.

(9) EFFECT OF THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD

(Australia).

1. Next to wool as a source of Australian wealth comes gold. The discovery of gold, in 1851, had a wonderful effect on the progress of Australia. The discovery was made, near Bathurst, in New South Wales, by Hargraves, one of the numerous adventurers that left the colony in 1848 to dig for gold in California. The first thing which impressed him on his arrival in the gold country was the resemblance between it and the district around his own home in Australia. The more he saw of the gold-diggings in California, the more he was struck with the likeness. At length he resolved to return, and on searching a creek near his old home, he found it rich in gold.

2. At the news of this discovery, thousands hastened to the diggings from all parts of the colony. The news of this "rush" for gold had hardly reached the people of Victoria, when it became known that there was a still richer gold-field at Ballarat in their own country. The gold fever seized upon the Victorians, and in a few weeks most of the men in the colony were grubbing for gold. Workshops were left without workmen, ships without crews, and houses without tenants. The squatters were left to look after their own sheep, and farmers saw their crops spoiling for want of labourers to harvest them. Ordinary business came to a standstill, and even schools were closed for want of teachers.

3. To the streams of men from every part of Australia was soon added a flood of adventurers from all quarters of the world, including numbers of escaped convicts from Tasmania. Of those who came in the hope of rapidly making a fortune at the diggings, the majority were doomed to disappointment. But a few picked up gold nuggets of considerable size, and one miner at Ballarat hit upon the largest mass of gold ever found. It was called the "welcome stranger," and was worth upwards of £8000. The scene at the gold-fields is thus described in the "Story of the Nations:"--

4. "The banks of the Yarrowee presented a strange appearance, with the eager line of men standing shoulder to shoulder, washing in the muddy water the dirt brought them from time to time by a companion. A little further back the earth was cut into innumerable holes, flanked by great mounds of red soil, in and around which men busily ran or dug with feverish energy. At night the scene was even more weirdly curious, for the glaring lights of the theatres and grog shanties, with the flaring torches and fires of the miners, joined in throwing into strong relief the shadows of the tents and their wild surroundings. Above all rose the hum of a city, broken now and again by bursts of noisy revelry. Wealth easily won was as readily squandered, and the lucky digger showered gold with a free hand. Prices were exorbitant, for the miner, drunk with fortune, seldom asked for change, and the style of living generally was recklessly extravagant."

5. The value to Australia of the discovery of gold within her territory has been far greater than the worth of the gold itself, though that, in forty years from its first discovery in 1851, amounted to the extraordinary sum of £300,000,000. It has been the means of bringing to her shores hundreds of thousands of enterprising men, who on leaving the gold-fields have settled down in the country to gain a livelihood, if not a fortune, by steady industry in some useful employment. Thus, just before the discovery of gold, the population of Victoria was less than 80,000; now, half a century later, the population is nearly one-and-a-quarter millions.

6. Gold-mining is now one of the regular industries of Australia. But gold is no longer to be picked up on the surface. It is now only obtained by sinking shafts, and much expensive machinery is required in working the mines. The yield of gold in Victoria and New South Wales is, of course, much less than it was, but the annual value is still considerable.

7. Gold-mining has also been long carried on in Queensland. Indeed, the Mount Morgan mine in that colony has proved itself one of the richest mines in the world. Its story is a curious one. A young squatter had bought a farm near Rockhampton, but it was on a rocky hill, and he found that for grazing or cultivation it was useless. He was, accordingly, glad to sell it to three brothers, named Morgan, at £1 an acre. The dirty grey rocks of which the hilly farm was composed turned out to be so rich in gold, that the hill, which had cost the Morgans £640, was sold for £8,000,000. And now West Australia, which has long lagged behind the sister colonies, can also boast of its gold mines, and has fairly started on its onward march.

8. Australia has lately followed the example of Canada, and formed her six colonies into one great dominion, under the name of the _Commonwealth of Australia_, which started on its new career on the first day of the twentieth century. Each colony, or state, retains control over its own local affairs, but the Parliament of the Commonwealth is empowered to decide all questions relating to defence, railways and telegraphs, customs duties and postal rates, and all other matters common to the whole country.

(10) EXPLORATION AND ITS MARTYRS

(Australia).

1. The story of Australian exploration tells of hardships and hazards innumerable. It is a story that is highly creditable to the dauntless courage and persevering energy of our brothers in Australia. As landlords of a vast estate, they have endeavoured to ascertain its nature, and to learn how best to turn it to profitable account. This knowledge could only be gained at the expense of many lives, and at the cost of great self-sacrifice. The explorers who have lost their lives in the fulfilment of their self-imposed task, if not entitled to a place on the roll of martyrs, have certainly earned a place among the makers of our empire. Of such men we can only give one or two examples in this brief account.

2. The vast interior is worse to cross than the Sahara, for while it is often quite as hot and quite as dry, it is covered in many parts with a dense "scrub," consisting of prickly shrubs and the dreaded porcupine grass. The constant pricking of this grass causes raw and bleeding swellings round the horses' legs; and to escape from it, they will prefer to force their way through the densest scrubs. Here they rush along, frequently forcing sticks between their backs and their loads; then comes a frantic crashing through the scrub, packs are forced off, and the horses are lost sight of for hours or even days.

3. Mr. Kennedy, who explored in Queensland, describes the difficulty of travelling in the tropical jungles of that colony. He speaks, in particular, of the terrible lawyer vine and the equally-dreaded tree-nettle. The former is a species of rattan, armed with hooks and spurs, which once fast never let go. The other is a forest-tree belonging to the nettle family, and its broad leaves sting so severely as to cause serious inflammation; horses, indeed, which have plunged about and got stung all over, sometimes die from the effects.

4. For exploring the interior, Adelaide, in South Australia, has been a favourite starting-point; in 1840 Mr. Eyre made his perilous journey along the shores of the Australian Bight to King George's Sound, a distance of 1,200 miles. The greatest difficulty was to find water. He had with him ten horses and six sheep. Before moving the animals from their halting-place it was necessary to secure water for them, and Eyre himself explored in advance, sometimes five or six days at a time, without finding a drop, being reduced to collecting dew with a sponge and rags. When 600 miles from his destination Eyre was left with one native servant, two horses, 40 lbs. of flour, and four gallons of water. It was 150 miles further before they obtained a fresh supply of water. Thus they struggled on for a month, living on horse-flesh, with a little flower-paste or damper. They had then the good luck to attract the notice of a whaling ship near the shore, and were kindly received on board for a fortnight. Being sufficiently recruited, they continued their journey, and after undergoing further hardships for twenty-three days, succeeded in reaching King George's Sound.

5. In 1860 an expedition set out from Melbourne to cross the continent from south to north. Burke and Wills were first and second in command. These two men accomplished the last part of the journey alone, and on foot, for all the camels had sunk with fatigue. Having reached the shores of Carpentaria, they retraced their steps in the expectation of coming across the men and stores they had left at a certain place on the route. Four months and a half after leaving the depot they reached it again, only to find a notice stating that their friends had left that same morning. The word "dig" was cut on a neighbouring tree, and buried beneath it they discovered a small supply of provisions.

6. On their way back to the depot they had been rejoined by one of the party. The three deserted wanderers rested for a couple of days, and then started for Adelaide. They were rapidly dying of hunger when they met some natives, who treated them in a friendly manner. After resting with them for four days they resumed their journey. But first Wills, and then Burke, completely broke down and died. The only survivor wandered on until he met with a tribe who permitted him to stay with them. He was afterwards found by a rescue party from Victoria, but so weak that he could scarcely speak. The blacks were rewarded for their kindness with gifts of looking-glasses, gay pieces of ribbon, and other articles of finery.

7. While the explorers just mentioned were crossing the continent from Melbourne, another expedition, under Stuart, was attempting to cross from Adelaide. About the centre of the continent Stuart reached a mountain, which has been named Central Mount Stuart. He had penetrated within 200 miles of the Gulf of Carpentaria, when he was forced to turn back through the hostility of a numerous tribe of natives. Nothing daunted, Stuart set out again from Adelaide on New Year's Day, 1861, and got about 100 miles beyond the point already reached, when his further progress was barred by an impenetrable scrub. He made strenuous efforts to pass the obstacle, but without success. Reluctantly compelled to turn back for want of provisions, he arrived safely in the settled districts, north of Adelaide, and for the third time attempted to reach the goal; and this time with well-earned success. Neither on this, nor on any of his previous journeys, did Mr. Stuart lose a single man of his party.

8. This journey had important results. It showed that through the centre of the continent was a chain of fertile spots and grassy plains, through which a track might be found for a telegraph line, stretching from Adelaide in the south to Port Darwin in the north. But the difficulties to be overcome in carrying this line across the continent were considerable. For one thing, the two ends of the wire were 1,600 miles apart, and for no small part of the way it had to pass through a desolate region void of water and pasture. The northern section of the work proved the most difficult to accomplish; for there were no trees for posts, and the tropical heat was too great for European labour. Indian coolies and Chinese labourers were hired, wells were dug along the route, iron posts were imported, and by great exertions the task was, in 1872, completed.

9. It is by this telegraph line that Australia is in constant communication with the rest of the world. Thanks to this magical wire, Australians are able to read at their breakfast tables events which had occurred on the opposite side of the globe a few hours previously. Thanks to the same wire, if an important cricket match is being played in Australia, we at home can almost stand round the field and watch it in progress. Whilst the telegraph has brought us within easy speaking distance of Australia, the steam-ship has also wrought its wonders. It is worth remembering that at the time when Australia received its first ship-load of settlers, the Orkneys and other remote parts of Scotland were as far distant from London, in respect to the time taken in travelling, as are the Australian colonies to-day, whilst the difficulties and risks of the journey were considerably greater.

(11) MUTUAL ADVANTAGE OF MOTHERLAND AND COLONY

(New Zealand).

1. Of all the colonies, with the exception of Tasmania perhaps, New Zealand most resembles the mother-country both in climate and scenery. At the same time it is wholly unlike Australia. If a long-sleeping Briton could be set down among the Otago hills, and, on awaking, be told that he was travelling in Galway or the west of Scotland, he might be easily deceived, though he knew those countries well; but he would feel at once that he was being hoaxed, if he were told in any part of Australia that he was travelling among Irish or British scenery.

2. Everything English seems to flourish here. The only quadrupeds seen are those imported from Europe. The complaint is that many of our English animals and plants thrive only too well. Hosts of pigs run wild; rabbits also spread over the country in battalions, and do great damage to the crops. Gorse and sweet-briar, brought by the early settlers from "home" are with difficulty kept in check. Even the English grasses are displacing those of native origin. Our house-sparrow is now the most common bird in New Zealand, and our house-fly seems likely to be as often seen there as here.

3. In colonising Australia little account had to be taken of the natives, who were both few and feeble. It was otherwise with the natives of New Zealand. The _Maoris_, as they called themselves, were a fierce, warlike race, strong and brave, who were not content with killing their enemies, but fed upon their flesh afterwards. They were not, however, mere naked savages. They wove mats and clothing from flax, and cloaks of great value from the dressed skins of dogs. In the narrative of the wars between the Maoris and the colonists, one is constantly reminded of the war between the ancient Britons and the Romans; in both cases the natives were brave and skilled in war, and owed their final defeat to their own divisions and to the superior arms of their enemies.

4. The first settlement was made here in 1840 after a friendly treaty had been made with the Maoris. By this treaty they took Queen Victoria for their sovereign, but on the express understanding that their lands should remain at their own disposal. "The shadow of our lands," said an old chief, "will go to the queen, but the substance will remain in our own hands." Emigrants began to pour in and to purchase lands at a low price. At the end of twenty years the Maoris began to awake to the fact that the settlers were increasing very rapidly, and now outnumbered themselves, whilst their lands were continually passing out of their hands. A movement, accordingly, soon took place among themselves for the purpose of stopping the sale of land to the stranger.

5. The war that ensued lasted, off and on, for ten years. Aided by British troops, the colonists at last convinced the Maoris that their cause was hopeless. They consented to live at peace on the terms offered, and have ever since been as good as their word. All, except a few of the older people, call themselves Christians. They have become to a certain extent educated and civilised; many of them have farms and ships. But with the change in their habits has come a change in their spirit. They seem to feel themselves a doomed race. "As the white man's rat," they say, "has extirpated our rat, as the European fly is driving out our fly, as the foreign clover is killing our ferns, so the Maori himself will disappear before the white man."

6. Since 1870, when the war ended, the whole of New Zealand has made steady progress. In the course of the next ten years, such a stream of emigrants came flowing in that the population almost doubled itself. All skilled labourers who came found ready employment and good pay. It was a time when much money was spent on public works. The New Zealand Government had raised a loan of ten millions from men of capital in England. The money thus borrowed was devoted to three purposes: (1) to improve the means of communication by constructing roads, railroads, bridges, telegraphs, and coasting-vessels; (2) to purchase lands from the natives whenever they were willing to sell; and (3) to aid men of the right stamp to emigrate from Britain.

7. New Zealand is, as I have intimated, an eminently _British_ Colony. The colonists are almost entirely of British descent. Their trade is nearly confined to the British Empire, seven-tenths of it being with the mother-country, and nearly all the rest with Australia, India, and Fiji. The discovery of the method of keeping meat frozen in cold air chambers during the passage of a vessel through the tropics has been a great boon to New Zealand, and a great advantage to our own land, enabling British workmen to purchase excellent meat at a moderate price.

8. A moment's reflection on these facts will serve to bring home to our minds the mutual advantages accruing to the mother-country and her colonies, when in friendly relations with each other. We observe that New Zealand has received the aid of British troops in her war with the natives; she has been able to raise a large loan for public works at a moderate rate of interest from men of property at home; and she enjoys here a ready market for her produce.

9. The mother-country, on her part, has been able to provide new homes for her surplus population in a country like their own; she has secured seven-tenths of the trade of New Zealand, increasing thereby the amount of profitable employment for her workpeople; she has drawn from the colony supplies of cheap food to help fill the hungry mouths of her millions, and quite recently she has received the substantial aid of 6,000 New Zealand troops in her war in South Africa.

(12) A DIFFICULT BRITISH STATE TO BUILD

(South Africa).

1. The story of South Africa, since the British gained a footing there, is marked by many a dark spot of misfortune and disaster that we would gladly forget. When Britain, in 1806, took possession of the Cape, the country was occupied by Boers, Hottentots, and Kaffirs. The building up of a British state, with such conflicting elements, has been a work of extreme difficulty, which has put the best qualities of the British race to a severe test, and much of the work still remains to be done.

2. The Home Government, for many years, only valued the Cape as a military post and naval station, occupying a commanding position on the waterway to India. They shrank, accordingly, from extending British rule in South Africa beyond the narrowest limits, and for many years made no attempt to colonize the country. It was not until 1820 that a body of picked emigrants, numbering 5,000, were landed at Algoa Bay, and, having been taken 100 miles inland, were put in possession of farms of 100 acres each.

3. The first three years were years of blight which killed the growing grain, and then came a flood which washed away their cottages and gardens. Many of the emigrants were good artisans but bad farmers. They had been set out like so many plants, in well-ordered rows, and told to grow where they were placed. But the experiment was bound to fail. Before long many of the men deserted their farms and found work as artisans, whilst those who were fitted for farm-work added the derelict farms to their own, and thus in time each one found himself in the sphere for which he was best adapted.

4. The coming of the British settlers had a marked effect on the government of the colony. The governor was no longer able to rule simply as he thought best. The new-comers were not disposed to be treated as children. They wanted law and government, but insisted on their right to question the acts of the governor, and to see that he governed according to law, and not merely according to his own will and pleasure. It is interesting to find from an official report made to the House of Commons that,--"The introduction of the English settlers, and the right of discussion which they claimed and exercised, have had the effect of exciting in the Dutch and native population a spirit of vigilance and attention, that never existed before, to the acts of the government, and which may render all future exertion of authority objectionable _that is not founded upon the law_."

5. The history of South Africa, for more than thirty years after the first British settlement, is marked by two special features, both arising from the fact that three races--British, Boer, and Kaffir--were contending for the mastery. One feature was the repeated migrations of the Boers to get away from British rule and taxation, and from British justice, which was dealt out even-handed to black men and white men alike. The Boers succeeded in forming two republics--the Transvaal and the Orange Free State. They also attempted to settle in Natal, but that colony was annexed by the British government (1843).

6. The other feature of those early days was the frequent necessity of going to war with the Kaffirs. Several serious wars had to be fought with the natives, who were very numerous, before they were convinced that the white man had come to stay, and that his arm was stronger than theirs. Each war with the Kaffirs ended in an extension of British territory, and by the middle of the century nearly the whole country south of the Orange river was taken under British rule.

7. The governor that did most for the peace of the colony was Sir George Grey, who had already done a good work for the empire in South Australia and New Zealand. He secured the good offices of the Kaffir chiefs by taking them into his pay, and he opened schools where their young men might be trained in some useful occupation, as farming, gardening, and carpentry. But he met with only moderate success. Like the negroes of the West Indies, most Kaffirs hate work and have no desire to better their condition. Given a noisy musical instrument, a bright sun, and a gaudy dress, and their mirth and gaiety seem boundless.

8. Sir George Grey also tried to cure the natives of their belief in witchcraft, but in this he miserably failed. He did much, however, to put down the practice of "smelling out" witches. The Kaffirs believe that diseases and disasters of all kinds are caused by wizards and witches, and in every tribe there was a professional witch-finder whose duty it was to go through certain forms, calling "smelling-out," and then point out the individual, who was supposed to have caused the mischief. This practice did not commend itself to the governor's sense of justice, and he did all he possibly could to put it down.

9. The superstitious belief of the Kaffirs was the cause of a terrible tragedy during Grey's term of office. Thousands of their cattle had been carried off by a pestilence, when a Kaffir prophet consoled the poor natives by assuring them that the Kaffir chiefs, long dead and gone, were about to return to earth with a new breed of cattle, which disease could not touch, and that their coming would result in the triumph of the black men over the white. But all this, he said, would only happen if all the present cattle and corn were destroyed. Thousands took the madman at his word and made away with their corn and cattle. The great day of deliverance was fixed for February 18th, 1857, and to their amazement the sun rose and set as usual, leaving the poor dupes face to face with starvation. The Kaffirs suffered so dreadfully from the scourge of famine, and their numbers were in consequence so much reduced, that we hear of no more wars during the next twenty years.

10. During this peaceful time Cape Colony made steady but slow progress, but, in 1870, an event occurred which awoke the colony to new life. This was the discovery of a rich diamond-field around Kimberley. Men and capital began to flow into the country and the wheels of industry began to turn more rapidly. Farmers obtained a good market, trade became brisk, railways were speedily laid down. The diamonds are found in a kind of "blue ground," which is nothing but a stream of volcanic mud cast up in ages past. So rich is it in diamonds that the mines have yielded, since 1870, a yearly revenue of between two and three million pounds.

11. The blacks in 1878 made one more hopeless attempt to oust the white men. The struggle ended in the British government taking possession of all the Kaffir lands, except Basutoland, and adding them to Cape Colony. Basutoland is a native state under the direct rule of the British Crown. This arrangement was made in response to the prayer of a Basuto chief: "Let me and my people rest and live under the large folds of the flag of England."

(13) A GREAT EXTENSION OF BRITISH TERRITORY

(South Africa).

1. No sooner had we put down the Kaffirs and annexed their territory to Cape Colony than we had to advance into Zululand and finally add that country to the Empire. The Zulus were then under the rule of their king Cetewayo, who kept a large army, well drilled and armed with musket and assegai. This force was a standing peril to Natal, and to save this colony from the horrors it feared, a British force crossed the Tugela--which separates Natal from Zululand--to destroy, if possible, the Zulu king's "man-slaying machine."

2. The invading army crossed the river at a ford called _Rorke's Drift_ (1879), and a division of the troops suffered a great disaster, not far from there, at Isandlana. Happily, a small detachment had been left to guard the passage at the ford. The command of this post was in the hands of Lieutenants Chard and Bromhead, whose names deserve an honoured place in our memory. With a force of 104 men they made an heroic defence against a savage host of 3000 warriors, who had reddened their assegais in the blood of our countrymen, taken by surprise, at Isandlana.

3. During the fight a building used as a hospital was set on fire by the Zulus. The brave defenders gallantly repulsed every attack whilst the sick were removed. A sort of redoubt was then constructed of bags of mealies in the centre of the camp, and when hard pressed to this they retired. The vigour of the siege continued from four in the afternoon until midnight. With the first light of morning the Zulus retired, on hearing of the approach of the British main-body, leaving three hundred black corpses on the ground. Of the gallant defenders seventeen were killed and ten wounded.

4. When the British General first came in sight of Rorke's Drift and saw smoke rising from the burning hospital, he felt certain that the depot had been captured, and that Natal, at that moment, lay at the mercy of a horde of savages. But he was quickly relieved at the sight of a British flag and the sound of a British cheer, and then he learned the story of the defence of that isolated post by the undaunted resolution of a little band of heroes, by whose conduct Natal was saved from invasion and massacre.

5. After a large force had landed from England, the invasion of Zululand was renewed, and a pitched battle, fought at Ulundi, brought the war to a close. To prevent the country from falling into the hands of the Boers, Zululand was annexed to Natal, and now forms part of the British Empire. The Zulus have ever since lived in peace and contentment.

6. It also became necessary to take under our wing the country of the Bechuanas on the west of the Transvaal; for there also many of the Boers were settling and making themselves at home on their neighbour's territory. Khama, a king of the Bechuanas sent to ask for British protection. "There are three things," he wrote, "which distress me very much--war, selling people, and drink. All these I shall find in the Boers, and it is these things which destroy people to make an end of them in the country." A part of Bechuanaland was, accordingly, brought under British rule, and the remaining part under British protection.

7. The next addition to the empire in South Africa was a vast country now known as _Rhodesia_, a country that owes its name to Cecil Rhodes, to whose marvellous enterprise its possession is mainly due. From its fertility, climate, and mineral wealth, it now bids fair to become a flourishing British Colony.

8. It was, however, difficult at first to make a settlement here, because it was partly occupied by the warlike Matabele, a tribe akin to the dreaded Zulus. Their king, Lobengula, kept an army of 10,000 warriors, who lived only for the joy of fighting. Permission, however, was purchased from Lobengula to search for, and work, the minerals within his territory. And a pioneer force was sent to turn this permission to account (1890). Before two years had passed it became quite clear that the Matabele warriors must be crushed before any progress could be made. Thanks to our machine-guns and modern rifles, this was soon effected.

9. A decisive engagement was fought near Bulawayo, the Matabele capital. The enemy foolishly hurled themselves against our small force when some were laagered, the rest entrenched. After an hour's carnage, they began to retreat with the loss of 1000 killed and wounded. A day or two later a loud report rent the air, and huge columns of smoke were observed to rise from Bulawayo. The king had fled after ordering his magazine to be blown up. Lobengula died shortly afterwards of fever, and his kingdom was placed under British rule.

10 The patriot that secured Rhodesia for the empire, has, unhappily, had his work cut short by an early death. Much as he had done for his country he hoped to do still more. His keen disappointment finds utterance in his last words: "So little done, so much to do."