Hence, let all affairs be submitted to me in writing, and no mistakes can
possibly arise.
Sandilli and his headmen were disappointed, for they liked quick results
in their diplomacy. Noting this, the Governor whipped the talk to
thoughts agreeable to them. He carried them off in a happy flight, and
their faces changed from gloom to mirth. When he had ridden from the
kraal, and they could reflect, it was perhaps in the sense, 'We cannot
quarrel with that Governor whatever may happen. He gives us no chance,
but, on the contrary, entertains us.'
While Sir George Grey was King of the Cape, Moselekatsi was King of the
Matabele, and the two exchanged greetings and gifts. 'Moselekatsi,' Sir
George remarked, 'had left the Zulus, and set up a new nation. We never
met personally, but we were on very good terms. In those days there was a
great hunter in South Africa, an Englishman who had come from India, and
he presented Moselekatsi with a coveted uniform. It was of the old-
fashioned kind, with bulky epaulettes on the shoulders; and what must
Moselekatsi do, but remove them from there and add them to the tails! A
humorous picture he must have made, in his distorted white man's finery.'
In South Africa Sir George had the companion-ship of Colenso, as in New
Zealand he had that of Selwyn, He likened them to each other, in their
simple sincerity of nature, in their devotion to the ministry, and in
their elevated ideals.
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