the internal administration of Zululand in Panda's reign have been aggravated during the reign of Cetywayo, and his relations with his neighbours have been conducted in a spirit fatal to peace and security beyond the Zulu border."[18] [Sidenote: _Natal in danger._] The well-organized and peculiarly formidable military power of the Zulus was still further consolidated and strengthened by Cetywayo, so that a standing menace and threat of a very serious nature existed against both Natal and the Transvaal. Nothing can better prove the danger than the fact that the Zulu monarch formally and repeatedly requested the consent of the British Government to wars of aggression, which he proposed for the ostensible purpose of initiating his young soldiers in bloodshed, and reviving the system of unprovoked territorial aggression which had been so successfully carried out by the model and demi-god of the nation—Chaka. A large tract of land on the western boundary of Zululand, between the Buffalo and Pongolo rivers, which had long formed part of the Transvaal, was claimed by the Zulus, and they had requested the Natal Government to arbitrate in this matter. Eventually a Commission was appointed, which decided that Cetywayo's cession of a tract of land relied on by the Transvaal claim was promised when he was only heir apparent, and that the cession had not been subsequently formally ratified by his father Panda, nor by the great council of the Zulu nation; therefore the country in question had never ceased to belong to them. Private rights of _bonâ fide_ settlers, which could not in justice be abrogated, were confirmed, but otherwise the sovereignty of the territory was ceded to the Zulus. Since his installation the tone of Cetywayo had become entirely altered. When a remonstrance was sent against a barbarous murder of young women by the king, replies of extreme insolence were sent to the Natal Government, and the opportunity was taken to state that no responsibility was admitted; at the same time, the solemn installation promises were distinctly denied, and Cetywayo affirmed his intention of shedding blood in future on a much greater scale. In the latter part of July, 1878, the Zulu chief Sirayo entered British territory, carried off two women—British subjects—and forcibly put them to death. Redress was demanded, but not given. On the 11th of December, 1878, a final message was sent to Cetywayo, in which the reasonable and just demands of the Government were summarized. He was called upon to give up the offenders who had violated British territory, and to effect various reforms in the administration of his government, in accordance with the solemn promises made at his installation. A few informal messages made and retracted only served to show the cunning and deceit of Cetywayo, and it was clear to demonstration that the Zulu potentate and the Zulu army had determined upon war. [Sidenote: _Hostile attitude of the Zulus._]