Sir T. Shepstone, however, was greatly alarmed when he first heard of the building of this kraal, and writes concerning it—November 16th, 1877 (1961, p. 224): “I feel, therefore (because of the irritating effect of it upon the Transvaal), that the building of this kraal must be prevented at all hazards.” The “hazards” do not appear to have proved very serious, as a simple representation on the part of Captain Clarke, R.A., and Mr. Rudolph, sent to the spot by Sir T. Shepstone, resulted in the Zulu force retiring, _having made only a small cattle kraal and chopped and collected some poles_, which they left on the ground, to be used for the building of the huts hereafter, but which were very soon carried off and used as firewood by the Luneburg farmers. But this did not satisfy Sir T. Shepstone, who sent messengers to Cetshwayo, complaining of what had been done, and of “finding,” as he says, “a Zulu force in the rear of where he was staying;”[78] and saying that, in consequence, and in order to restore confidence amongst those Boers living on the Blood River border, he (Sir T. Shepstone) had decided to send a military force down to the waggon-drift on the Blood River, to encamp there on our side of the river. Cetshwayo replies that he did not send to have the kraal built that trouble might arise, but because his people were already living on the ground in dispute. He admits that of course the administrator could do as he pleased about sending an armed force to encamp on his own borders; but he urges him to think better of it, saying that the Zulus would be frightened and run away, and, if he in his turn should send an armed force to encamp just opposite Sir T. Shepstone’s encampment, to put confidence into _his_ people’s hearts, he asks, somewhat quaintly, “would it be possible for the two forces to be looking at one another for two days without a row?” Many expressions are scattered through the Blue-books at this period concerning “Zulu aggressions;” and Sir T. Shepstone makes frequent, though vague and unproven, accusations concerning Cetshwayo’s “mischievous humour,” and the terror of the Boer frontier farmers. But, so far as these remarks allude to the border squabbles inseparable from the state of affairs, the score is so heavily against the Boers that the counter-charges are hardly worth considering. The only acts chargeable upon the king himself are, first, the building of this kraal, which really amounted to no more than a practical assertion of the Zulu claim to land north of the Pongolo; and, secondly, the execution of a (supposed) Zulu criminal there, which was an exercise of Cetshwayo’s authority over his own people living in the district. For the acts of violence committed by the robber chief Umbilini, the Zulu king could not justly be considered responsible; but of this matter, and of the raid committed by the sons of Sihayo, we will treat in a later chapter.