The Southern Gates of Mashonaland.

Manawatu Herald, Volume III, Issue III, 18 February 1892, Page 3

The Southern Gates of Mashonaland.

» ■ The following article is by a son of the Key H. G. Watson, vicar of St Leonards, near Tring. Being in the service of the British South African Company he was sent on an expedition on the Limpopo, to stop the Boer Trek, and this article gives some of the results of his experience. It will doubtless be read with interest. Some more than nine months ago Fort Tuli,Mashonaland, was nothing more than its name implies, a fort named after the River Tuli. As a matter of fact, it is not on the River Tuli, and is not in Mashonaland. It lies on the Shashi River, a northern tributary of the Crocodile or Limpopo River; while the Tuli flows into the Shashi at a point some twenty miles above the fort which bears its name. It is, more over, situated on the western side of the Shashi, and hence lies in that belt of country bounded by this and the Macloustie rivers, known hither to as the " disputed territory," for which Khama and Lo Bengui have been the rival claimants, and Khama the successful one. As a fort, and as the base of the quasi military operations of the British South Africa Company, Tuli has baen the subject of not a few ' sketches, and not a few articles, which have come before the public. As one of the Southern Gates of Mashonaland then, we have only to consider its non-military aspect and development. After the growth of one dry season, a small civil settlement has sprung up on both sides of the river. Where nine months ago there was one store, there are now four. There is that very early accompaniment of mining camps and outlying settlements, a billiard room. Two restaurants on the west side of the river, and a canteen on the east beyond Khama's strictly temperance jurisdiction, supply meals at fashionable hours, and the correct drinks for most occasions. A coolie has set up a parti-coloured pole, and keepS hia scissors and razors in continual employment ; while a white barber is just commencing what seems likely to prove a lucrative business. Two photographers at least have resided in the settlement for a time, and found plenty of work. Bakers —and butchers are flourishing. The blacksmith's shop generally appears to be in a state of siege. An auctioneer and an aerated water manufacturer are now erecting the foundations of a future fortune. The first brick building is completed and there are a considerable number of excellent huts for divers purposes. The camp area during the dry season has constantly been the place of outspan for the mule carts at and Scotch ox carts of prospectors entering the promised land, while waggons of provisions and goods have halted there in immense numbers. There is a weekly post from and to "the Colony" (Cape Colony), travelling via Macloutsie and Mafeking, by what may be known as the " Selons Road." There is also a weekly post to and from the Transvaal, and the same weekly communication with Fort > alisbury and the other "up country" stations, and with the various stations along the northern bank of the Crocodile River, where it separates the Transvaal from the country under Lo Bengula's sway. In the Magistrate's Office at Tuli, there is plenty of occupation for all employed there, and the Postmaster is overburdened with work. Finally the last two or three months have seen the completion of the telegraph wire to Tuli, and its extension all but to Fort Victoria ; and by means of it news has just (Oct. 15th) come of a splendid find of gold in the neighbourhood of the latter fort. True it may be that this sketch of Tuli Camp does not give the idea of a " gold rush." But it must be borne in mind that Tuli is not a gold centre, but strictly one of the Gates of Mashonaland ; and it must furthermore be considered what numerous elements of opposition combine to prevent Mashonaland being rushed as quickly as the districts of Bendigo or Johannesburg. Tuli, the gateway, is five hundred miles from Vryburg. the railway terminus, and that five hundred miles lies on roads which are mostly impassable in the wet season, and on which, after two or three dry motiths, the traveller is ' not unfrequently distressed for want of water. Fort Salisbury, the centre, is four hundred and thirty miles from Tuli. Mashonaland is lorded over by the cruel Matabele tribe, under a somewhat crafty king, and it is not everyone who is ready to put his life in their power in his search for a fortune. Those who are driven by civilised competition to seek a living in a new country may do so ; but there are far larger numbers only waiting for the assured peaceful state of the country to pour in and reap the harvest sown by the more daring early husbandmen. (To be» Continued.)