Cetshwayo’s next message, September 9th (2260, p. 32), after he had inquired into the matter of Sihayo’s sons, acknowledges again that they had done wrong, but observes that he was glad to find that they had hurt no one belonging to the English. What they had done was done without his knowledge. The _request_ of the Natal Government concerning the surrender of the offenders, he said, should be laid before the great men of the Zulu people, to be decided upon by them; _he could not do it alone_. He finally, with full and courteous apologies in the same tone, begs that the Natal Government will accept, instead of the persons of the young men, a fine of fifty pounds, which he sent down by his messengers, but which was promptly refused. Sir Henry Bulwer appears to have been inclined to allow of the substitution of a larger fine for the surrender of the culprits (2222, p. 173); but Sir B. Frere insists on severer measures, saying: “I think it quite necessary that the delivery up to justice of the offenders in this case should have been _demanded_,[91] and should now be peremptorily insisted on, together with a fine for the delay in complying with the reiterated _demand_.” John Dunn, who is supposed to have advised the king to send money as an atonement, affirms that the invasion had been mutual, fugitives from justice having been fetched out of Zululand by Natal officers; and he (Dunn) asks whether outraged husbands, even amongst civilised people, are prone to pay much respect to the rights of nations when upon the track of their unfaithful spouses. Plainly, neither he nor the king looked upon the matter in so serious a light as Sir Bartle Frere chose to do when he said, September 30th, 1878 (2220, p. 280), “and, unless apologised and atoned for by compliance with the Lieut.-Governor’s demands (?) that the leader of the murderous gangs shall be given up to justice, it will be necessary to send to the Zulu king _an ultimatum, which must put an end to pacific relations with our neighbours_.”[92] Sir M. Hicks-Beach, in reply to Sir B. Frere’s last-quoted despatch, writes, November 21st: “The abduction and murder of the Zulu woman who had taken refuge in Natal is undoubtedly a serious matter, and no sufficient reparation for it has yet been made. But I observe that Cetshwayo has expressed his regret for this occurrence; and although the compensation offered by him was inadequate, there would seem to have been nothing in his conduct with regard to it which would preclude the hope of a satisfactory arrangement.”—(P. P. [C. 2220], p. 320).