Thus every precaution was taken by the Government to conform to the requirements and spirit of the Act. But, in conveying to uneducated savages the information that, although the tax became _due_ on 1st January, and would begin to be collected after the 20th of that month, there was no _compulsion_ to pay before 31st May, the greatest difficulty was experienced by the Magistrates. So used are Natives, under tribal rule, to regarding instructions from competent authority as peremptory that anything in the shape of a concessive order is extremely liable to be construed as requiring compliance on the day first notified by the Magistrate as that on which he would be prepared to receive the tax. This is evidently what happened in the case of a Chief shortly to be dealt with, otherwise he would not have called on his people to pay in the way he did. On so important an occasion it would, perhaps, have been wiser to have adopted a different procedure, such, for instance, as was followed by Sir Theophilus Shepstone when the first tax of 7s. was imposed, and when, many years later, it was raised. That officer, as head of the Native Affairs Department, was, of course, familiar with the whole position. The same could not be said of any of the Magistrates. As the communication to be made was obviously one of delicacy and called for thorough explanation, he resolved to make it himself, and considerably in advance of any attempt at collection. In so acting he secured both accuracy and uniformity, besides keeping a firm hold on the situation. It is true that the Minister for Native Affairs, whose position was very different to that of Sir Theophilus Shepstone, having arrived at somewhat similar conclusions, toured most parts of Natal and Zululand to hold meetings with the Native Chiefs, etc. These were effective and pacifying; but, when the action was taken, most of the Magistrates had already explained the law to the best of their ability, with the results already indicated.