As Chief, he was harsh, extravagant and reckless, selfish and domineering. On one occasion he fined a man, but, as the latter would not pay, he attacked him with an armed body of men and forced him to comply. He rapidly squandered the property his father had left and, like his father, ran counter to the wishes of the tribe in selecting his principal wife. The elders were in favour of his promoting a particular woman, and opposed to his own choice, on the ground that the woman was a twin. He ignored their wishes and, after one of his wives (there were four in all), had committed adultery and been expelled, whilst another had deserted, he erected a solitary hut for the principal one--calling it Emkontweni (_the place of the assegai_)--thereby following once more the irregular example set by his father. In the meantime, the relations he stood in towards his European neighbours were even less satisfactory. The total strength of his tribe at the end of 1905 was 910 huts in Umvoti, 120 in New Hanover, 21 in Umgeni, and 91 in Lion's River, divisions, or 1,142 in all; representing a total approximate population of 5,000 men, women, and children, or about 500 capable of bearing arms. The system of recruiting regiments was followed in this as in some other tribes of Natal and Zululand. Owing, however, to limited numbers, there were incorporated into each regiment men of widely differing ages. During the twenty-four years Bambata was nominally Chief, he recruited only two regiments. Most of the kraals of the tribe, as well as his own, especially in the Umvoti division, were distributed over a number of private farms. The landlord of the farm on which he personally lived, viz. Aangelegen,[133] demanded a rental of £3 per hut, this, of course being apart from Government taxation. Such rent was undoubtedly high, although on other farms in the same district a similar, and even heavier, charge was not uncommon. Notwithstanding these obligations, he continued in his career of extravagance. He illicitly purchased European liquor and drank freely thereof, as well as of Native beer, though not so as to become a confirmed drunkard. In order to make good what he had squandered in drink and in other ways, he borrowed from lawyers who, not being less importunate or exacting than other people, usually got back their own with interest through the local Magistrate's court. Bambata was constantly being sued, either on account of loans or for outstanding rent, and to such indebtedness there seemed to be no end. Instead of bracing himself up and endeavouring to meet his obligations, he persisted in his reckless conduct, until he became a nuisance to Europeans, on the one hand, and the members of his tribe, on the other. A more perturbed spirit than he was at the close of 1905 it is scarcely possible to conceive. He, hereditary Chief of a tribe, which, though of humble origin as compared with many of the adjoining