the proper filling of which many qualifications are required. Possessed
of an intimate knowledge of the Zulus, their language, and their mode of
thought and life, and being besides a very able and energetic officer,
Mr. Osborn would have saved the settlement from breaking down if anybody
could have saved it. As it is, by the exercise of ceaseless energy and
at great personal risk, he has preserved it from total collapse. Of the
dangers and anxieties to which he is exposed, the account I have given
of the Sitimela incident is a sufficient example. He is, in fact,
nothing but a shadow, for he has no force at his command to ensure
obedience to his decisions, or to prevent civil war; and in Zululand,
oddly enough, force is a remedy. Should one chief threaten the peace of
the country, he can only deal with him by calling on another chief for
aid, a position that is neither dignified nor right. What is worst of
all is that the Zulus are beginning to discover what a shadow he is, and
with this weakened position he has to pit his single brains against all
the thousand and one plots which are being woven throughout Zululand.
The whole country teems with plots. Mnyamane, the late Prime Minister,
and one of the ablest, and perhaps the most influential man in Zululand,
is plotting for the return of Cetywayo. Bishop Colenso, again, is as
usual working his own wires, and creating agitations to forward his
ends, whatever they may be at the moment. John Dunn, on the other hand,
is plotting to succeed Cetywayo, and so on _ad infinitum_. Such is the
state of affairs with which our unfortunate Resident has to contend.
Invested with large imaginary powers, he has in reality nothing but his
personal influence and his own wits to help him. He has no white man
to assist him, but living alone in a broken-down tent and some mud
huts built by his son's hands (for the Government have never kept their
promise to put him up a house), in the midst of thousands of restless
and scheming savages, amidst plots against the peace and against his
authority, he has to do the best he can to carry out an impracticable