Author: Frederick Selous

Publisher:

Published: 2018-04-08

Total Pages: 210

ISBN-13: 9781987650389

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During the brutal 1896 Matabele tribal uprising in Rhodesia, Selous the famous South African big-game hunter and pioneer led a group of pioneers turned irregular soldiers in their desperate quest for survival against overwhelming odds. In March 1896, the Ndebele (Matabele) revolted against the authority of the British South Africa Company in what is now celebrated in Zimbabwe as the First Chimurenga, also called The Second Matabele War, or the Matabeleland Rebellion. In this uprising the Ndebele people waged a war of extermination against the British South Africa Company and all British and Boer pioneers in the area. As narrated by Frederick Courteney Selous (1851 -1917) in his 1896 book "Sunshine and Storm in Rhodesia," during the Matabele uprising after abandoning his homestead in Rhodesia he took the command of a volunteer force, constructed forts, and took part in numerous military engagements. "Sunshine and Storm in Rhodesia" is the work of a man who probably knew the country more intimately and understood its natives better than anyone else. He tells us the story of a struggle fuller of tragic incidents and hairbreadth escapes than any equally brief period of Colonial history. The book begins with a short sketch of the author''s life at Essexvale, a farm some 35 miles to the south-east of Buluwayo, at a time when the natives were friendly, the prospects bright, and only one prophet foretold a revolt. The natives on the whole seemed satisfied. Selous says that the Chartered Company was governing the natives "as humanely as possible, but, after all, in their own interests, instead of in the interests of the conquered people." He denies that any systematic cruelty, injustice or oppression was being inflicted. Some of the reforms enforced, he admits, were "very unpalatable to the conquered." He tells us that "no impartial critic can deny that the confiscation of so large a number of their cattle, and more especially the manner in which that confiscation was carried out, was impolitic, if not ungenerous; whilst the manner in which the labour regulations were enforced was sometimes calculated to provoke serious discontent." Later he repeats that in some cases natives "lost their all, both in cattle and faith in the honesty and justice of the Government of the Chartered Company, which they deemed had broken the promise given to them, as indeed was the case, though the mistake was made inadvertently, and through not considering the investigation of the whole question of sufficient importance to take any great trouble about." He also repeats the bitter complaints made by the natives of the ill-treatment they received from the black police. Selous, however, is very emphatic that these acts of injustice alone would not have led to an insurrection. King Lobengula''s family and the old Matabele chiefs were hostile, but they could never have roused the people unless the British and Boers had appeared to be at their mercy. The opportunity for revolt came after what Mr. Selous describes as "the recent deplorable invasion of Transvaal territory by a British force in defiance of all international law." The natives knew "that the entire police force of Matabeleland, together with most of the big guns and munitions of war up till then stored in Buluwayo, had been captured by the Boers "; and they despised the apparently "unarmed and defenceless" civilians. Accordingly, after another month of preparations the massacre began. The story of the struggle is not pleasant reading; for blood was up on both sides. The rebellion was inaugurated by what Selous calls "a series of the foulest murders it is possible to conceive"; it was crushed by men "vowing a pitiless vengeance." Selous was not only a mighty hunter, but a man of deep sympathies and a true conscience and one may regret more than blame any blemish of his valuable contribution to South African history.

Download or read book Sunshine and Storm in Rhodesia: Being a Narrative of Events in Matabeleland Both Before and During the Recent Native Insurrection written by Frederick Selous and published by . This book was released on 2018-04-08 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the brutal 1896 Matabele tribal uprising in Rhodesia, Selous the famous South African big-game hunter and pioneer led a group of pioneers turned irregular soldiers in their desperate quest for survival against overwhelming odds. In March 1896, the Ndebele (Matabele) revolted against the authority of the British South Africa Company in what is now celebrated in Zimbabwe as the First Chimurenga, also called The Second Matabele War, or the Matabeleland Rebellion. In this uprising the Ndebele people waged a war of extermination against the British South Africa Company and all British and Boer pioneers in the area. As narrated by Frederick Courteney Selous (1851 -1917) in his 1896 book "Sunshine and Storm in Rhodesia," during the Matabele uprising after abandoning his homestead in Rhodesia he took the command of a volunteer force, constructed forts, and took part in numerous military engagements. "Sunshine and Storm in Rhodesia" is the work of a man who probably knew the country more intimately and understood its natives better than anyone else. He tells us the story of a struggle fuller of tragic incidents and hairbreadth escapes than any equally brief period of Colonial history. The book begins with a short sketch of the author''s life at Essexvale, a farm some 35 miles to the south-east of Buluwayo, at a time when the natives were friendly, the prospects bright, and only one prophet foretold a revolt. The natives on the whole seemed satisfied. Selous says that the Chartered Company was governing the natives "as humanely as possible, but, after all, in their own interests, instead of in the interests of the conquered people." He denies that any systematic cruelty, injustice or oppression was being inflicted. Some of the reforms enforced, he admits, were "very unpalatable to the conquered." He tells us that "no impartial critic can deny that the confiscation of so large a number of their cattle, and more especially the manner in which that confiscation was carried out, was impolitic, if not ungenerous; whilst the manner in which the labour regulations were enforced was sometimes calculated to provoke serious discontent." Later he repeats that in some cases natives "lost their all, both in cattle and faith in the honesty and justice of the Government of the Chartered Company, which they deemed had broken the promise given to them, as indeed was the case, though the mistake was made inadvertently, and through not considering the investigation of the whole question of sufficient importance to take any great trouble about." He also repeats the bitter complaints made by the natives of the ill-treatment they received from the black police. Selous, however, is very emphatic that these acts of injustice alone would not have led to an insurrection. King Lobengula''s family and the old Matabele chiefs were hostile, but they could never have roused the people unless the British and Boers had appeared to be at their mercy. The opportunity for revolt came after what Mr. Selous describes as "the recent deplorable invasion of Transvaal territory by a British force in defiance of all international law." The natives knew "that the entire police force of Matabeleland, together with most of the big guns and munitions of war up till then stored in Buluwayo, had been captured by the Boers "; and they despised the apparently "unarmed and defenceless" civilians. Accordingly, after another month of preparations the massacre began. The story of the struggle is not pleasant reading; for blood was up on both sides. The rebellion was inaugurated by what Selous calls "a series of the foulest murders it is possible to conceive"; it was crushed by men "vowing a pitiless vengeance." Selous was not only a mighty hunter, but a man of deep sympathies and a true conscience and one may regret more than blame any blemish of his valuable contribution to South African history.