of the Cape, who went out in 1877, entered heartily into
Lord Carnarvon's plan, which continued to be pressed till 1880, when it
was rejected by the Cape Parliament, largely at the instance of envoys
from the Transvaal Boers, who urged the Cape Dutch not to accept it
until the Transvaal (which, as shall be presently set forth, had been
annexed in 1877) should have regained its independence. This failure of
the proposals of the home government seriously damaged the prospects of
future federation schemes, and is only one of several instances in South
African history that show how much harm impatience may do, even when the
object is itself laudable.

The next step in the forward march of British rule took place far to the
south-west, on the borders of Natal. That territory had, in 1856, become
a separate Colony, distinct from the Cape, and with a legislative
council three-fourths of whose members were elective. It had still a
relatively small white population, for many of the Boer immigrants had
quitted it between 1843 and 1848, and though a body of English settlers
arrived soon after the latter year, there were in 1878 only some 25,000
white residents, while the natives numbered fully 300,000. The Zulu
kingdom, which adjoined it on the east, had passed (in 1872) from the
sluggish Panda to his more energetic son Cetewayo (pronounced
"Ketshwayo"), whose ambitious spirit had revived the military
organization and traditions of his uncle Tshaka. Cetewayo had been
installed as king by a British official, and had lived ever since at
peace with the Colony; but the powerful army which he possessed roused
disquiet among the Natalians, and alarmed the then Governor of the Cape
and High Commissioner for South Africa, Sir Bartle Frere. Differences
had arisen between him and Cetewayo, and when the latter refused to
submit to the demands which the High Commissioner addressed to him,
including a requirement that he should disband his regiments and receive
a British resident, war was declared against him. This act was justified
at the time on the ground that the Zulu military power constituted a
standing menace to Natal and to South Africa in general, and that the
vast majority of the natives living in Natal itself might join the Zulu
king were he to invade the colony. Whether this risk was sufficiently
imminent to warrant such a step was then, and has been since, warmly
debated in England. Most of those who have given impartial study to