Natal, and to such numbers had the farmers and other Europeans grown, backed up by an Imperial garrison at Fort Napier, Pietermaritzburg, that the King perceived that any attack was not only destined to fail, but must result in the prompt dispatch of irresistible forces to bring an end to his rule. The fact, however, remained that the relations between Cetshwayo and the representatives of Imperial authority in Natal became more and more strained, and the outbreak of war between the two races sooner or later inevitable. No one appreciated better the position than did the Natives in Natal. Because, in most cases, their having come to the Colony was tantamount to flagrant defiance of the royal will, so, no one knew better than they, that, in having placed themselves under alien protection, they had thereby burnt their boats behind them and incurred the unappeasable wrath of the Zulu dynasty. It is for this reason that Natal Natives were, formerly, at all times only too eager to co-operate with their protectors in the direct or indirect destruction of the Zulu power. In these circumstances, as actual warfare between the colonists and the Zulus was never imminent, notwithstanding sharp differences in civilization, manners and customs, till shortly before 1879, it was unnecessary to promote systematic enrolment and organization of the local forces. There was, however, an important factor in the situation to which reference should be made. Natal became a British Colony in 1843, and remained such, though at first, for a few years, annexed to the Cape Colony, until the grant of responsible government in 1893; thus, during the long critical period preceding and succeeding the Zulu War, it devolved on the Imperial Government to provide continually for the protection of its recently-acquired possession. A regiment was stationed at Fort Napier. With the existence of this organized and well-armed force, capable of quelling any local disorder of limited proportions, there was still less necessity for organizing the Colony's fighting material. For all ordinary purposes, the Volunteers and the Natal Mounted Police, commanded for many years by Major (now Major-General Sir John) Dartnell--the first to organize the Volunteers into a military body--were sufficient, with the Imperial troops behind them, to preserve order. After responsible government was granted, however, it became imperative for Natal to consider how to defend herself by means of her own resources against an internal or external foe. * * * * * Although there was no regular Native war in Natal proper between 1824 and 1906, there were periodical disturbances, limited, however, to particular districts. Among these may be named: the Fodo Revolt (Unkomanzi River), 1846; the Sidoyi Expedition (Ixopo division), April, 1857; the Matshana Expedition (Umsinga division), March, 1858; and the Langalibalele Rebellion (Estcourt division), November, 1873.