Page:Seven Years in South Africa v2.djvu/523

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
Last Visit to the Diamond Fields.
445

be an absolute prohibition of its introduction into any of the adjacent native independencies. The rulers of a few tribes are already rendering considerable assistance in this way by preventing the sale of alcohol in any form upon their territory; and I am glad to testify that in at least a part of Africa the measure has been beneficial both to white men and blacks. Beyond this, I pointed out that it was necessary, alike for the Government and for private individuals, to pay particular attention to the separate characters of the tribes and of the chiefs with whom they were holding intercourse; and I went so far as to point out that the application of several native rulers to be incorporated with the English colonies ought to be entertained with the utmost caution.

The cases of Mankuruane, the Batlapin ruler, of Sechele, the Bakuena king, and still more recently that of the Damara people, and that of Khame, the sovereign of the Bamangwatos, have proved much of what I stated in my pamphlet; and I am now more than ever satisfied that the portrayal I made of the Zulu character was in every respect accurate. Whatever opinion I may once have held, I have long ceased to think that after once quelling the Zulu power it is desirable for Great Britain to extend her colonial possessions in South Africa. I am convinced, on the other hand, that it would work far better for the interests of trade and for the ultimate opening up of the continent, if one or more commissioners, duly authorized, were maintained permanently at the separate independent native courts—arms and ammunition being, of course, excluded as articles of traffic.