ched battles: that of the Shangani on October 25, and that of the
Imbembezi on November 1. They fought bravely, even with desperation, but
their valour was broken by the skill and the cool courage of the white
man. Those terrible engines of war, the Maxim guns and the Hotchkiss
shells, contributed largely to our success on these occasions. The
Matabele, brave as they were, could not face the incessant fire of the
Maxims, and as to the Hotchkiss they developed a curious superstition.
Seeing that men fell dead in all directions after the explosion of a
shell, they came to believe that as it burst out of each missile numbers
of tiny and invisible imps ran forth carrying death and destruction to
the white men's foes, and thus it happened that to their minds moral
terrors were added to the physical dangers of warfare. So strong was
this belief among them, indeed, that whenever a shell struck they would
turn and fire at it in the hope that thus they might destroy the 'live
devils' who dwelt within it.

After these battles Lobengula, having first set fire to it, fled from
his chief place, Buluwayo, which was occupied by the white men within a
month of the commencement of the campaign.

In reply to a letter sent to him by Dr. Jameson, demanding his surrender
and guaranteeing his safety, Lobengula wrote that he 'would come in.'

The promised period of two days' grace having gone by, however, and
there being no sign of his appearance, a force was despatched from
Buluwayo to follow and capture him. This force, which was under the
leadership of Major Patrick W. Forbes, consisted of ninety men of the
Salisbury Column, with Captains Heany and Spreckley and a mule Maxim gun
under Lieutenant Biscoe, R.N.; sixty men of the Victoria Column
commanded by Major Wilson, with a horse Maxim under Captain Lendy; sixty
men of the Tuli Column, and ninety men of the Bechuanaland Border
Police, commanded by Captain Raaf, C.M.G., accompanied by two horse
Maxims and a mule seven-pounder, commanded by Captain Tancred.

The column, which started on or about November 14, took with it food
for three days only, carried by natives, and a hundred rounds of
ammunition per man. After several days' journeying northward the patrol
reached the Bubye River, where dissensions arose between Captain Raaf
and Major Forbes, the former being of opinion, rightly enough as the
issue showed, that the mission was too dangerous to be pursued by a
small body of men withou