Some of these rumours and many others, circulating at that time and up to the outbreak of rebellion, were either untrue or exaggerated; their mere existence, however, shows the great importance that attached to Dinuzulu in the estimation of Natives far and wide. Here is another sample, taken from a despatch by the Governor to the Secretary of State:[86] "For some little time past, rumours have been current of unrest and disaffection amongst the Natives.... The name of Dinuzulu has been freely mentioned as promoting the unrest, and as putting himself at the head of a Native army to invade Natal proper from Zululand." To show the strangeness and absurdity of some of the rumours, the following, which (except the last) can be vouched for as widely current in 1906, may be cited: that Dinuzulu was in the habit of visiting Natal _incognito_, notwithstanding that his physical condition incapacitated him from travelling; that he once visited Pietermaritzburg and went to the top of the Town Hall tower, when he was observed at one moment to turn into a cow, at another into a dog; that, when in Pietermaritzburg, he was presented with a beast by the Government. This was taken to the market square, where some white man fired at it twice without effect, owing to Dinuzulu having charmed it. On Dinuzulu firing, however, it fell dead. Here we have one of the origins of the rumour, subsequently to be referred to, that bullets fired at Natives by Europeans would not 'enter'; that, on the conclusion of the Boer War, the Europeans intended to compel Native girls to marry the soldiers then still in the country, whilst unmarried Native youths would be compelled to serve in the British Army. In consequence of the foregoing, many girls, though still quite young, had their hair done up and were married off before attaining the customary age. The content of mere rumour is, of course, of no value as history, but, in the history of a Native rising, that rumours of a disturbing or unsettling character were constantly afloat, and nearly always associated with a particular person, is a fact of considerable significance, and, therefore, worthy of record. When any rumour arose likely to agitate Europeans or Natives, it became the duty of the Government to trace and contradict it in the best way it could. This, indeed, was done as effectively as possible on several occasions.