anion in British East
Africa. Under them were less than two hundred white men, including
Captain Heany, an American, who now invaded a country where
Lobengula had an army of 20,000 trained fighters, organized into
_impis_--(regiments)--after the Zulu fashion and in every respect a
formidable force. Although the old chief had granted the concession, no
one trusted him and Jameson and Selous had to feel their way, sleep
under arms every night, and build highways as they went.

Upon Lobengula's suggestion it was decided to occupy Mashonaland first.
This was achieved without any trouble and the British flag was raised on
what is now the site of Salisbury, the capital of Southern Rhodesia.
Most of the members of the expedition remained as settlers, and farms
sprang up on the veldt. The Company had to organize a police force to
patrol the land and keep off predatory natives. But this was purely
incidental to the larger troubles that now crowded thick and fast. In
the South the Boers launched an expedition to occupy Matabeleland by
force and it had to be headed off. To the east rose friction with the
Portuguese and a Rhodesian contingent was compelled to occupy part of
Portuguese East Africa until the boundary line was adjusted.

In 1893 came the first of the events that made Rhodesia a storm center.
A Matabele regiment raided the new town of Victoria and killed some of
the Company's native servants. The Matabeles then went on the warpath
and Dr. Jameson took the field against them. For five weeks a bitter
struggle raged. It ended with the defeat and disappearance of Lobengula
and the occupation of Bulawayo by the Company forces. This brought the
whole of Matabeleland under the direct authority of the British South
Africa Company. The campaign cost the Company $500,000.

Three years of peace and progress followed. Railway construction
started in two directions. One line was headed from the south through
Bechuanaland toward Bulawayo and another from Beira, the Indian Ocean
port in Portuguese East Africa, westward toward Salisbury. Gold mines
were opened and farms extended. At the end of 1895 came the Jameson
Raid. Practically the entire force under the many-sided Doctor was
recruited from the Rhodesian police and they were all captured by the
Boers. Rhodesia was left defenceless.

The Matabeles seized this moment to strike again. Ever since the defeat
of 1893 they had been restless and discontented. Various other causes
con