On the fifth day of December, 1894, I sailed on the City of Berlin from New York.
We started in a storm, continued in a storm, and landed in a mud bank off the Isle of Wight, just below the Needles. This caused quite a commotion among the passengers, and all seemed inclined to make the last stand at those points of the deck nearest to the life-boats. By reversing the screws, the old death-trap, after a few hours' hard work, succeeded hi releasing itself, and we were again on the high sea.
On the 14th, we landed, and I saw a foreign land for the first time. I spent a week in London trying to see something, but the fog was so thick that I could scarcely see myself, so I decided to move on toward South Africa.
I left Southampton December 22nd, 1894, on board the Lismore Castle for Cape Town where I arrived January 12th, 1895. On the voyage I could hear nothing talked but C. J. Rhodes and Dr. Jameson. We had them for breakfast, dinner and supper, and at all intervening hours.
Connected with these names was a country known as Rhodesia, lying north of the Transvaal, and it was always Golden Rhodesia, a land overladen with diamonds and gold. I made up my mind on that voyage to look up this C. J. Rhodes and his "pal," Dr. Jameson. One thing was certain in my mind, and that was that either these two men were really great men or monstrous rascals, and that Golden Rhodesia was either a marvellous land or a smartly advertised fraud. I said to myself: "I will investigate both the men and the new country before I am in South Africa many months." On arriving at Cape Town, a city that expired many years ago, I immediately went to Johannesburg, the Golden City of the Transvaal.
January 16th I beheld this lively, wonderful city that rested then and rests now on the greatest gold bed known in the world. Money was so plentiful that there were no poor men in the city and I was simply appalled by the very prosperity of the place. I had never seen anything like it before and shall probably never see anything like it again. Yet in this phenomenally prosperous city, I heard from the lips of everyone with whom I conversed, of that far more wonderful country lying far to the north, the land of Golden Rhodesia. Strange to say, however, I could not find anyone who had visited this country so heavily laden with gold.
First I will tell how Rhodesia received the name and became the property of the notorious Chartered Company.
In 1889, C. D. Rudd, R. Maguire and F. R. Thompson, aided by a missionary who knew a few Kaffir words, induced Chief Lobengula, of Matabeleland and Mashonaland, to sign a paper which was first interpreted to Lobengula and his Indunas, (sub chiefs) by the missionary. This fellow told them that the three white men had said in the paper that they would give the chief $500 per month, 1,000 rifles and 100,000 cartridges, for the right to put up a mill on a certain piece of gold bearing ground. Lobengula told them to bring the money, rifles, etc., and then he would show them the ground and they could mine it. The white men also agreed to give Lobengula a steamboat, to run up the Zambesi River. This missionary convinced Lobengula that there was nothing more in the paper, and he signed. By the document, he had given Rudd, Maguire and Thompson, all the mining rights of his whole domain; but, of course, he did not know it, as it had not occurred to him that possibly the missionary had lied. In a short time, Lobengula learned the truth and at once assembled his Indunas and called the white men to attend.
He could get no satisfaction, so in April, 1889, he wrote the following letter to Queen Victoria: To Her Majesty, Queen Victoria :
Some time ago, a party of men came into my country, the principal one appearing to be a man named Rudd. They asked me for a place to dig for gold and said they would give me certain things for the right to do so. I told them to bring what they would give me and I would show them what I would give. A document was written and presented to me for signature. I asked what it contained and was told, that in it were my words and the words of those men. I put my hand on it. About three months afterwards,! heard from other sources that I had given by that document, the rights to all the minerals in my country. I called a meeting of my Indunas and also of the white men, and demanded a copy of the document. It was proved to me that I had signed away the mineral rights of my whole country to Rudd and his friends. I have since had a meeting of my Indunas and they will not recognize the paper, as it contains neither my words nor the words of those who got it. After the meeting, I demanded that the original document be returned to me. It has not come yet, although it is two months since and they promised to bring it back soon. The men of the party who were in my country at the time were told to remain till the document was brought back. One of them, Maguire, has now left, without my knowledge and against my orders. I write to you, that you may know the truth about this thing and may not be deceived. With renewed and cordial greetings, I am your friend, LOBENGULA.
Rudd, Maguire, Thompson and C. J. Rhodes were all in the same Company, and working to the same end. They were determined to rob Lobengula of his country. The Queen took no notice of Lobengula's letter, but Rudd and his men knew that they could not swindle Lobengula without a fight. He was honest, and in earnest, and did not know that he was dealing with unscrupulous people. In the past, Lobengula and his father, Umsiligaas, had befriended Dr. Livingston and other white men who had ventured into their far away land, and had always in return been treated honorably; so they were'not prepared for sharpers. The English boast of fair play and justice, but they give neither, unless forced to it.
Now I will tell how just the Queen was to Lobengula and how humane her subjects were to his people. Whether Lobengula told the truth or lied, in his letter to the Queen, made no difference, for the British Government on October 15th, 1889, granted a charter to C. J. Rhodes, Alfred Beit, George Cawston, A. H. G. Grey, Duke of Abercorn and Duke of Fife, as petitioners, under the corporate name of the British South Africa Co., commonly known as the Chartered Company.
The Charter having been granted under the impression that Lobengula had voluntarily given his country away, the Chartered Company must continue to keep the English people in the dark. C. J. Rhodes now employed and armed about seven hundred men, with the permission and approval of the High Commissioner. That everything might appear well on paper, he sent Jameson to Lobengula to get permission for this armed, christianizing force to enter Mashonaland. Of course Jameson soon returned and reported that Lobengula was delighted with this idea of such an armed force entering his country.
Now everything being made satisfactory to the outside world, by deliberate lying, the march began and was continued for four or five months, when the band of humanity lovers reached Mount Hampden, without the loss of a single life; and, having established Fort Salisbury in honor of their Lord, declared the Chartered Company Monarch of Mashonaland. The Company then hoisted its flag, bearing its motto of "Justice, Commerce and Freedom," and all set to work to spread civilization and Christianity. Sir John Willoughby, in the ecstasy of joy, now wrote for the benefit of the general public that the "Government in granting the Royal Charter, had secured 'Fairest Africa' to England and spread blessings of hope, peace and security, among all the nations of the land."
It required about two and a half years to completely relieve the Mashonas of all they possessed, spread terror among their women, and rob the innocent public of about half a million pounds sterling, by floating as gold mines a large number of sand hills. Now that their real object in Mashonaland had been gained, and that it was evident the Company would soon be forced again into hard straits, unless a new field was opened up, all set to work to prepare the public mind for the invasion of Matabeleland.
They sent out reports to the effect that Lobengula was making raids on his own people, the Mnshonas, killing many of them, and taking their cattle, and that every effort was being made to convince him that such conduct was highly condemned by his loving friends in England. Such reports were sent out daily, for some time, that the public might be thoroughly aroused as to the awful state of affairs, and finally, it was made known that Dr. Jameson, Rhodes' most willing tool, had determined to invade Matabeleland, in order to instil into Lobengula and his people the principles of love and humanity, and, by example, make known to them the good effects of civilization and Christianity.
So in July, 1893, he mustered together his band of 600 full fledged angels, and Major Wilson and Colonel Forbes, of the English Army, and proceeded to old Buluwayo, the Royal Kraal ; where he arrived without scarcely seeing a Kaffir, till the end of his journey. Here he found a fellow Scotchman and another white man, and expressed himself as much astonished to see them safe and sound among a people so bent on war. Strange to say, they knew nothing about a war till Jameson arrived. He learned from them, that Lobengula was not in old Buluwayo, so having nothing to fear, he proceeded to slaughter about 800 old men, women and children.
Now they hoisted the British flag on top of a a tree, to wave in peace and love over the many hundred women and children whom they had murdered, in the name of humanity. Then the band set out to kill Lobengula, and having found him and his soldiers, on the banks of the Shangani, they turned loose upon him and his men, as so many engines of wholesale slaughter, but they soon found out that they had something else to contend with besides women and children ; for in a short time, Major Wilson and his whole command, excepting two men, were completely destroyed, and then Colonel Forbes' command made a rapid retreat to old Buluwayo.
The two men who escaped were Americans, one being known as "Burnham the Scout," and the other as "Ingram the honest man." As this man Burnham often ran to America to boast and deceive, I will say half a dozen words about him. He first claimed that he was a scout in America, but all soon learned that there was no truth in his claim. At the time of the Matabele War in 1896, he showed himself in his true light. He was of no earthly use at Buluwayo, for all knew him, so he went to Hang we, a few miles to the south. Here he shot an innocent, unarmed Kaffir, if he shot one at all, and reported that he had shot and killed M'Limo, the Kaffir war-god. He was told that he was really a wonderful man and undoubtedly the greatest shot in the world. So ignorant is he, that Burnham did not know that M'Limo was a myth, a great Spirit, to whom the Matabele would pray and look to as their guide.
But Burnham, the scout, managed to shoot and kill the great Spirit, and, on receiving a report of this wonderful achievement, the London Graphic brought out his picture and his long story of how he killed M'Limo, the war-god, and the terror of the Rhodesians. The Americans in Rhodesia made it so warm for him, that Burnham left for the United States to give a course of lectures. He now wears Khaki and is in the British service, and his native land feels thankful.
Lobengula now sent in word that there was no cause for war with his white brothers, and that he could not understand why they had suddenly appeared in such a state of frenzy. Captain Blank, the famous scout, and another man, or beast, were now employed, and sent out to negotiate with Lobengula, and after a few days absence, returned to report that he had died suddenly on the Zambesi River, which, you know, is about three hundred miles distant. They were sure he was dead, Because Poison Seldom Lies.
The Matabeles had no desire to fight, and did not know that the whites contemplated attacking them, till it was too late, otherwise it might have been a very different thing. Lobengula, who had ever been a warm friend of his white brother, who had fed him, protected him and granted him his every wish, within reason, had now, in return for his many kindnesses, been foully murdered, because he was chief, and controlled thousands of cattle which the Chartered Company must have, in order to postpone, for a few years, its inevitable downfall. The truth is, that Jameson sent word to Lobengula, that some of his people had come in and killed some of the Mashonas, and that he must arrest and punish them. Lobengula immediately sent a party to arrest the murderers, and Jameson at once, on their approach, made it an excuse to invade Matabeleland. The men who composed the police force tell the truth when they say it was a put up job, and the Chartered Company and its officials maliciously lie, when they say the war was provoked and prosecuted for the cause of humanity. Matabeleland and Mashon aland together were now christened Rhodesia. There was nothing more to fear, now that Lobengula was dead, and the great Rhodesian swindle prospered for several years, or until the Jameson raid.
