Brazil, E. Sèrendat (on Leave.) Germany, Hamilton Stein. United States, T. T. Prentiss, Consul, Honourable A. P. Ambrose, Vice-Consul. Italy, Honourable A. P. Ambrose, Consul, R. W. Spain, Leopold Antelme, Vice-Consul. Honourable H. Adam, Acting Consul. Netherlands, W. R. Rogers (on Leave), F. C. Estill (Acting Consul). Belgium, R. W. Chamney. Switzerland, G. A. R. Bourguignon. Peru, J. Coutanceau, Consular Agent. NATAL. Discovery and Early History. The Colony of Natal derives its name from the fact of its discovery by Vasco de Gama, the celebrated Portuguese navigator, on Christmas-day, 1497. It lies on the south-east coast of Africa, about eight hundred miles from the Cape of Good Hope, and between 29th and 31st parallels of S. lat. it is bounded by the Tugela and Umtafuna Rivers, and by the Drakensberg Mountains. It comprises an area of about thirteen millions and a half of acres, and has a seaboard of one hundred and seventy miles. The country is broken and rugged, and transit is consequently difficult and costly. The scenery in Natal in parts is picturesque in the extreme; waterfalls abound. Natal is a well-watered country, no less than 23 distinct rivers running into the Indian Ocean in the one hundred and fifty miles of coast. Unfortunately none of them are navigable. From the discovery of Natal by Vasco de Gama, in 1497, but little is to be found respecting it until 1686, when a Dutch vessel was wrecked in the Bay of Natal. The crew spent some twelve months there engaged in building a small vessel from the fragments of the wreck. Having accomplished their task, they sailed for the Cape, leaving behind them four Englishmen, three of whom were subsequently taken off by a Dutch ship which visited the coast. The Dutch formed a settlement in 1721, but scon abandoned it. In 1824 Lieutenant Farewell, of the Royal Marines, having in the previous year visited Natal on an exploring voyage endeavoured to colonize it. Though the British Government declined to recognise or aid him in his plans, he induced some twenty enterprising individuals to join him in this undertaking. On their arrival they placed themselves in relation with the king of the country Chaka, a chief of the greatest talent, who had fused into a nation under his own despotic sway the various tribes inhabiting a vast tract of country. He sanctioned the formation of a settlement by this small band of white men, which, however, was broken up at his death, about four years later. Towards the close of the year 1837 a large body of Dutch Boers from the Cape Colony, taking offence at restrictions placed on them by the British Government in regard to their coloured servants, migrated to Natal. Many of them were treacherously murdered by Dingaan, then Zulu chief, the murderer of, and successor to his brother Chaka. During the next two years the Zulus and the Boers waged war with various success; but in 1839 the Dutch obtained a decisive victory, and placed Panda, an ally of theirs, and brother of Dingaan, on the Zulu throne. Owing chiefly to these disturbances, the Governor of the Cape decided to take military possession of the district, and sent there a detachment of This detachment was troops for the purpose. shortly withdrawn, but after the lapse of a brief interval a second force, under Captain Smith, was sent (1840). These troops came into collision with the Dutch Boers, were defeated by them, forced to entrench themselves, and completely blockaded until the arrival of considerable reinforcements under Colonel Cloete, with whom a junction was effected. The Boers submitted, on the 5th July, to Colonel Cloete at Pietermaritzburg. Constitution. In 1843 the district of Natal was proclaimed by the Governor of the Cape to be a British Colony. In August, 1845, Letters Patent were issued, constituting the district a part of the Cape Colony. Ordinances were passed by the Cape Legislature establishing Roman Dutch law, and providing for the administration of justice. And in November of the same year other Letters Patent were passed making Natal a separate Government. A Lieutenant-Governor was appointed, as well as an Executive Council created. The Lieutenant-Governor was subordinate to the Governor of the Cape, and the Legislative Council of the Cape continued to frame laws for Natal till 1848, when a separate Legislative Council was established. In 1856 Natal was erected into a distinct and separate Colony, and from that time has not been under the control of the Governor of the Cape. Its affairs are administered by a LieutenantGovernor, assisted by an Executive Council and a Legislative Council, composed originally of four official members, viz., the Colonial Secretary, the Treasurer, the Attorney-General, the Secretary for Native Affairs, and 12 members elected by the counties and boroughs. By instructions received from the Secretary of State in 1858 the Chief Justice was added to the Executive Council, and, under the Supplementary Charter of December, 1869, two members of the Legislative Council are elected members of the Executive Council, whilst the number of official members of the Legislative and Executive Councils was increased to five by the admission of the Protector of Immigrauts, for whom the Colonial Engineer has now been substituted by additional letters patent dated the 21st of December, 1876. The elected members of Council hold their seats for four years from date of election, unless the Council is dissolved by the Governor. Every male inhabitant who possesses property to the value of 507, or is in receipt of rents from property of an annual value of 101., or who has been a resident in the Colony, and whose income, inclusive of allowances, is equal to £8 per month, or £96 per annum is entitled to a vote; the usual provisions respecting the disqualification of aliens, and others hold good. No person can be elected a member of Council, unless he is a duly qualified and registered elector, nor unless he shall have been invited to become a candidate for election by at least 10 electors of the county or borough which it is proposed he shall represent: nor unless such requisition shall have been transmitted to the Resident Magistrate, at least fourteen days before the election. The Reserved Civil List is fixed at 40,1007. under the Supplementary Charter of 1872. By Law No. 1 of 1873 the number of official members of the Legislative Council was increased to 5, and the number of elected members to 15. By Law No. 3 of 1875 the number of nominated members was increased to 13, including the 5 official members. By Law No. 1 of 1883 the number of official members is raised to 7 in all, and the number of elected members to 23. Native Affairs. In autumn 1873, Langalibalele, chief of the Amalubi Tribe, residing in a location at foot of the Drakensberg Mountains, entered on a somewhat contumacious course of conduct towards the local government, ending in an attempt to escape from the Colony into Basutoland with his people and cattle. A Colonial force, consisting of regulars, volunteers, and natives, was dispatched against the Tribe, and at one point, in the Bushman's River Pass, a portion of the force came into collision with the rear-guard of the tribe, when three European volunteers were shot down, and two natives. Langalibalele and many of the tribe were met and secured in Basutoland by Mr. Griffiths and Mr. Orpen, Agents of the Cape Government, and given up to the Natal force which was in pursuit, Langalibalele, his sons, indunas, and certain of his tribe were brought to trial under what is called" native law," the principal offenders being tried by a Court over which the Lieutenant-Governor himself presided. About 290 prisoners were condemned to various terms of imprisonment. Langalibalele himself was condemned to banishment or transportation for life, and one of his sons to a similar punishment for five years. The cattle and land of the tribe were confiscated. The neighbouring tribe of Putini, which had harboured the women and cattle of the Amalubi Tribe, were subjected to similar confiscation, but the property of the Tribe has been restored to them. Langalibalele and his son were transported to Robben Island, in the Cape of Good Hope, by the Legislature of which Colony an Act was passed sanctioning their detention. Her Majesty's Government having formed the opinion that the punishment inflicted on the Chief was excessive, this Act was repealed by the Cape Parliament, by a second Act which provided for the removal of Langalibalele and his son to the mainland to be at large under regulations framed by the Governor of the Cape in Council. The members of the tribe were practically amnestied and accorded liberty to settle peaceably in the Colony, though not to occupy their former location as a tribe. The native population was debarred from the tranchise, but by an Act No. 28 of 1865, machinery was provided by which a native might procure his relief from the operation of native law, in which case he would be entitled to all the rights of an ordinary Colonist. The tribes live apart, upon locations provided for them by the Government. They have enjoyed their tribal organisation, and lived in polygamy. But besides these location natives there are many native squatters on Crown lands, and many living by regular labour on farms. It was decided, as a result of the recommendations of Sir Garnet Wolseley, and the deliberations of Her Majesty's Government, to supersede very gradually the tribal organisation, and the judicial and other authority of the Chiefs. A law (No. 26 of 1875) has been passed establishing a Native High Court to administer civil justice to the natives, and by this law they are placed under the ordinary criminal law of the Colony, except as regards political crimes, crimes arising out of native customs, and crimes declared triable under any local law by native law, all which crimes are reserved for the Native High Court. A whito magistrate is placed with every tribe, who is the administrator of justice in civil matters, and supersedes to a considerable extent the authority of the Chiefs; and it is hoped gradually to accustom the Kafirs to regular industry, and the individual ownership of property in the civilised way. By a law, No. 13 of 1875, a tax of 5. on native marriages was abolished, while at the same time the native hut tax was raised from 78. to 14s. The Zulu War. In 1879 Natal, without being actually to any great extent the theatre of war, became the base of hostile operations against the Zulu kingdom, which were at the time of momentous interest to the Colonists, and are likely in their result to have a great influence on the future of the colony. It is not proposed here to do more than merely sketch in the slightest manner the causes which led to the Zulu war, and give the outline of its events. In the latter years of King Panda, Zululand was distracted by the rival ambitions of his sons. This state of things appeared to be of such evil consequence to the general peace, that the Natal Government in 1861 sent Mr. (now Sir) Theophilus Shepstone, Secretary for Native Affairs, on a mission to Zululand, to induce the Zulus to recognise some one of Panda's sons as heir to his throne, and thus restore tranquillity to the country. The son chosen as heir, with the consent of the ration, the king, and the Natal Government, was Cetywayo, who from that time acted to a great extent as regent for his father until the latter died in 1873. When this happened, Cetywayo sent messengers to the Natal Government, suggesting that Mr. Shepstone should come back into Zululand and crown him, or, by his presence, sanction his coronation as king, in fulfilment of the understanding arrived at in 1861. This the Natal Government consented that Mr. Shepstone should do, and Cetywayo was crowned by him in the presence of the Zulu people. As part of this solemn transaction, Cetywayo, at the instance of Mr. Shepstone, proclaimed certain new laws, which in effect came to this, that he was not to kill his subjects without adequate cause and without trial. The relations between Cetywayo and Natal during the first years of his reign were not unfriendly, though they became occasionally strained through disregard by him of his coronation law. But after the annexation by England of the Transvaal, a ma L terial change in the relations of the two powers took place. Cetywayo had long hated the Boers, with whom he had a boundary dispute, dating from 1861, and after the annexation his enmity appeared to be transferred to the new government. The Zulu war party, with the prime minister at their head, wanted at once to occupy the whole territory in dispute, and a collision between the Zulus and the British Government of the Transvaal appeared imminent, but was averted by the suggestion of Sir Henry Bulwer, Lieutenant Governor of Natal, to refer the dispute to the arbitration of three Commissioners to be selected by himself. This was accepted, both by Sir T. Shepstone and Cetywayo, and approved by Her Majesty's Government; the final award being however by them reserved to Sir B. Frere as Her Majesty's High Commissioner in South Africa. The Natal Commission reported in June, 1878, and in September Sir B. Frere arrived in Natal and took up the consideration of the boundary dispute, and also of our general relations with the Zulus, which were becoming more and more strained. On the 11th of December his award in the arbitration was delivered to the representatives of the Zulu nation at the lower Tugela Drift, and at the same time these representatives were put in possession of the demands on other subjects, which Sir Bartle Frere, after consultation with the local authorities, decided that the lieutenant-governor of Natal should make upon the Zulu king and people. The document containing these demands is called in the history of the war "the ultimatum." In his award Sir B. Frere so far agreed with the report of the Natal Commissioners, as to give to the Zulus the political sovereignty of the disputed territory, which he held, upon the authorities before him, had never been validly ceded to the Transvaal Republic; but he made it part of the award that the farmers who had acquired farms in the disputed territory after 1861 should retain their farms. The ultimatum demanded from Cetywayo the surrender of Umbelini, a Swazi refugee resident in Zululand, who had recently raided upon certain of his own tribe living near a place called Derby, under British protection; also the surrender of the sons and a brother of Sihayo, a chief living near the Tugela; the offence of these persons being that they had followed two of the wives of Sihayo into Natal, whither they had eloped, and dragged them back into Zululand over the bed of the Tugela, and then, as Methlakazulu, son of Sihayo, has since admitted, shot them. It further demanded a fine of 500 cattle from Cetywayo for not having surrendered the criminals when first demanded of him by Sir Henry Bulwer, and also a fine of 100 cattle for the conduct of certain common Zulus in surrounding and hustling two surveyors of the Royal Engineer Department when engaged upon some observations in the bed of the Tugela. Besides these demands in respect of outrages, other requirements were made on Cetywayo in respect of the government of his country. These were that he should receive a British Resident; that he should allow missionaries to live securely in his country; that he should abolish his military system by which every man was a soldier belonging to one or other of the king's regiments, and liable to be called up to military service at the word of the king; that he should not go to war without the consent of his National Council and the British Resident; that he should observe his coronation promises against unjust killing, and that he should abolish the laws restricting marriage among his subjects. Twenty days were given to him to comply with the first class of demands, and thirty days to comply with the second. The longer of these periods having elapsed, and the king not having complied, the further enforcement of the demands was confided to Lieut.-General Lord Chelmsford, whose forces advanced into Zululand in three columns between the 11th and 14th of January, 1879, from the Utrecht district of the Transvaal, Rorke's Drift, and the Lower Tugela ford. On the 22nd of January two engagements were fought; one at Isandhlwana, the other at Inyezane. In the first an impi of 18,000 Zulus attacked the camp of the Rorke's Drift column, which was defended by about half the column, the other half having proceeded with the general to what was intended to be the next camping ground. The camp transport ammunition and artillery were taken, and about 1,000 Europeans slain-less than 40 escaping over the Buffalo River at a place since called Fugitive's Drift. On the same night part of the Zulu impi crossed the Buffalo and attacked the commissariat and hospital post of Rorke's Drift, which was held by one company of the 24th Regiment. The post was without defences; but the officer in command, Lient. (now Major) Chard, R.E., V.C., with great rapidity and skill converted the stores themselves into a defence, and throughout the whole night, the little garrison, behind a flimsy rampart of rice bags and biscuit boxes, successfully maintained an heroic defence. In the engagement of Inyezane, Colonel Pearson, in command of the Lower Tugela column, defeated the enemy and occupied the hill mission station of Ekowe, where he proceeded to entrench himself. The Rorke's Drift column, having lost its camp and transport, was compelled to evacuate Zululand, and take up a defensive position at Helpmakaar, in the colony. In the meantime, the northern column, under Colonel (now Sir Evelyn) Wood, continued to engage and harass the enemy. But even in this part British arms were not free from disaster. On the 12th of March a company of the 80th Regiment was surprised at the Intombi River, near Luneberg, by Umbelini, and nearly all killed; and on the 28th of March the cavalry and natives of Wood's column suffered a grievous loss in a reconnaissance at the Hloblane Mountain; but on the following day the whole Zulu army numbering 24,000 men, having attacked Wood's camp at Kambula Kop, suffered a defeat, which from their own testimony they seem to have regarded as the severest chastisement which they received in the course of the war. At the beginning of April reinforcements having begun to arrive from England and the neighbouring colonies, Lord Chelmsford advanced across the Lower Tugela to the relief of Colonel Pearson, who was shut up in Ekowe. His lordship defeated the enemy at Ginginhlovu on the 3rd of April, and the same day relieved the garrison of Ekowe, which place was then abandoned. No general engagement was fought after this until the 4th of July, when the main army advanc ing upon Wood's original line of march from Utrecht, fought the battle of Ulundi, when the military power of the Zulu kingdom was finally broken to pieces. Cetywayo fled to the bush, with a few followers. The Zulu army never again assembled in force. The people accepted their defeat with singular calmness, at once return ing to their usual avocations. Chief after chief submitted, and Cetywayo himself was cap tured on the 28th of August, by Major Marter of |