THE BATTLE ON JULY 5. 739 break up this hostile gathering. Another column under Colonel Beal, which was coming in from Belingwe and was approaching Bulu-"It is to be distinctly understood by all ranks that during the continuation of operations,clemency is to be shown to the wounded, women and childreu are not to be injured, and prisoners are to be taken on all possible occasions." wayo,received orders by a mounted messenger toco-operatein the attack.

Spreckley's men— about 250 mountedrifles— marched from Buluwayo with Beal's small detachment pushed forward on their right, to turn the flank of the Matabele if they made a stand. But, as oneof thecombatants remarked, "it was a very one-sided fight." Charged in front, the Matabele gave wayat once, and were ridden over and shot down as they ran, Beal's men breaking in on their flank and joiningin the pursuit. The Matabele lost heavily, and after this day didnot venture again to approach the town. Colonel Spreckley marched out to Shiloh and Inyati after the engagement, but found norebelgatheringsnear these places.

This wise and humane policy was persevered in, although just as these orders were being issued the startling news arrived that the rebellion had spread toMashonaland and begun with a number of cold- blooded murders. " The Mashonas," writes Colonel Plumer, "had always borne the character, among those who knew the country, of a peaceful, timid, and down-trodden race, incapable of any fighting at all,but in any case whose sympathies, it was naturally imagined, would have been with us against their oppressors and hereditary foes, the Matabele. However, there was no doubt that, whether incited by the latter or on their own initiative, they had joined the rebellion and commenced proceedings by a series of cruelt cold-blooded murders of settlers and their families. The Imperial troops had been sent for, the Mounted Infantry, underLieut.-Colonel Alderson, having been despatched by sea to Beira, where they were joined by a party ot Royal Engineers under Captain Haynes anel other detachments, who were on their way to Mauritius ;while the 7thHussars,under Colonel Paget, and detachments of mounted infantry from the 2nd Battalion York and Lancaster Regiment, and from the 2nd Battalion West Riding Regiment, under Major Rivett-Carnac, were working their way up from Mafeking by way of Macloutsi to Tuli and Victoria." A detachment of the 10th Mountain Battery R.A. had already reachedBuluwayo.

By the middleof June this was the situation. The rebels had been cleared out of the country near Buluwayo. Away to the north-eastward there was a gathering of Matabele in the group of rocky hills known as Tabas-i-Mhamba, which they had made a kind of citadel. Nearlyall the rest of the Matabele who were still in arms against the Government had taken refuge in the fastnesses of the Matoppo Hills Sir F. Carrington resolved first to capture Tabas-i-Mhamba and then to clear the Matoppos of the enemy. Rumour said that most of the rebelswere by this time tired of the war. The expectedmiracles had not been worked in their favour, and the white men, far from being annihilated, had made a good fight and inflicted heavy loss on every Matabele army that had ventured to meet them. A proclamation was therefore issued promising pardon to all who surrendered, with the exception of those who were directly implicated in the murders at the beginning of the outbreak,and a number of chiefs whose names were given. The list of exceptions was so long that the proclamation led to very few surrenders. The fact was, the natives hardly dared to come in. No prisoners had been taken and no quarter had been given in the earlier battles, and they had ceased to expect it. Considering the wholesale murders of men, women, and children by the Matabele, one can understand the wild acts of vengeance of the settlers;but such conduct was likely to prolong the rebellion,andSir F. Carrington was anxious to have the war conducted with more civilised methods. He issued a general order on June 16th,in which he said:— Tabas-i-Mhamba was attacked by a column under ColonelPlumer onJuly 5th. Theforceemployed was made up of four hundred mounted men of the Relief Force, with four Maxims ;a detachmentR.A., with two mountain guns; 25 mounted and 75 dismounted menof the Buluwayo force ;75 of Colembrander's " friendlies" ; and 107 of Major Robertson's " Cape Boys," another native corps— in all, 752 men. The column assembled near Buluwayo on June 29th and marched next day by way of Inyati. Mr. Cecil Rhodes and hisbrother,Colonel F.Rhodes, joined the expedition. " We also," says Colonel Plumer," received an important recruit in the person of Father Bartelemy, who remained with the column until the closeof the campaign. He endeared himself to us all by his kindly,simple manners,and won our admiration and affection