damsels, accustomed at home to a free and idle life.[86] Within a few weeks they all elected to return home and marry the very men on whose account they had fled; and the conclusion finally arrived at concerning them was, that their escapade was rather for the sake of attaching a little additional importance to the surrender of their freedom, than from any real objection to the marriages proposed for them. Now let us see what means had been taken by the English to institute a better state of things and greater liberty for the women. In Natal itself, of course, any serious act of violence committed to induce a girl to marry would be punished by law, and girls in fear of such violence could usually appeal for protection to the magistrates or missionaries. Let us suppose that a girl, making such an appeal, receives protection, and is married to the man of her own choice by English law and with Christian rites. What is the consequence to her? She has no rights as a wife, in fact she is not lawfully a wife at all, nor have her children any legal claims upon their father; the law of the colony protects the rights of native women married by native custom, which it virtually encourages by giving no protection at all to those who contract marriages by the English, or civilised system.[87] So much for our dealings with the Zulus of Natal; and even less can be said for us concerning those over the border. Until quite lately the practice existed in the colony of surrendering to Zulu demands refugee _women_, as well as cattle, as “property,” under an order from the Natal Government, which was in force at the time of Sir H. Bulwer’s arrival, but was at some time after rescinded.[88] It was well known that, by the laws of Zululand, the offence of a woman’s escaping from her husband with another man was punishable by death, therefore unhappy creatures thus situated were delivered up by the Natal Government to certain death, and this practice had been continued through a course of many years. The law being altered in this respect, and cattle only returned, Sir H. Bulwer writes, on February 3rd, 1877: “Some few weeks ago I had occasion to send a message to Cetywayo on account of the forcible removal from Natal territory of a Zulu girl, who had lately taken refuge in it from the Zulu country. A party of Zulus had crossed the Tugela River in pursuit, and taken the girl by force back to Zululand. I therefore sent to inform Cetywayo of this lawless act on the part of some of his subjects” (1776, pp. 86, 87); and Cetshwayo replies with thanks, saying that he knew nothing previously of what had happened, and that “should anything of the same kind take place to-morrow he (the Governor of Natal) must still open my ears with what is done by my people.”