It appears that Captain Patterson had entered into some agreement with Lo-Bengulu which was not pleasing to the Indunas, therefore to put an end to the agreement it was arranged to put an end to them. Rumours of foul play got abroad, and young Mr. Thomas, son of the missionary at Shiloh, who was one of the three, went as guide; he was warned, but would not believe the report. Mr. Palmer, who was going to accompany them, also heard strange rumours, and he declined, which saved his life. The very fact of rumours of foul play going to be perpetrated was proof that their death had been planned before they were on their way to the Zambese to visit the Victoria Falls, and as confirmation of this, Lo-Bengulu said afterwards to some of the white people, "Now Captain Patterson is dead, the agreement goes for nothing." It is supposed the three were killed when they were bathing, but no document was found amongst Captain Patterson's effects to throw light on this matter, and Mr. Thomas, the father, was afraid to express any opinion, or to have a full inquiry made in the affair, as he was living in the country and would have been killed if he had said what he thought. He died last year. That they were murdered there is no question. Captain Patterson was in the employ of the British Government, and was in Matabeleland on official duties, therefore it was the duty of the Government to investigate the matter and to have sent up an officer competent to carry it out, instead of making inquiries of the British residents on the spot, who dare not speak what they knew, and to have given Lo-Bengulu to understand that British subjects were not to be murdered in his territory with impunity. It is this shirking of responsibilities that lead to dire results, and is unbecoming the dignity of a great nation like Great Britain. This has been the fatal policy of the British Government in South Africa, which has caused the misery and bloodshed that has swept over South Africa these last few years, and paralysed the whole trade of the country. It is not only detrimental to the Colony, but our British workmen at home suffer, from the stoppage of the trade to those regions that so largely consume British merchandise. If the people of England were to look a little more into these matters, instead of wasting their time in that petty party spirit which seems to be on the increase, and devote that time in improving and developing our trade in our colonies and elsewhere, it would be more conducive to their welfare than employing it in quibbling over who should have votes or not, and woman's suffrage, that will not bring one penny more into the pockets of the people; and such other trifling matters, unprofitably employing the time of the House of Commons, which should be devoted to the general interests of our country abroad, and in our colonies, that are the main source of our prosperity and wealth, which means, in other