§ SIR ROBERT FOWLER (London)asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies, Whether there is any truth in the report, which is current in Natal, that certain Boers are pasturing in the Native districts of British Zululand, and that they are also claiming to levy taxes on. and to exact labour from, the Zulus; and, if this statement be true, what steps have been taken to protect the Natives?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE (Sir HENRY HOLLAND) (Hampstead)According to the information I have received, the Boers have completely left Zululand, except those settled in the Entonganeni, or Proviso B District, where their right to settle has been recognized. The reports mentioned as to levying taxes and exacting labour probably refer to a brief period of uncertainty, now terminated, during which a field cornet of the New Republic, named Van Rooyen, was under the mistaken impression that his authority over the Entonganeni District was not yet ended. The misunderstanding has now 345 been set right by the action of the Boer authorities, and by the appointment of a British Sub-Commissioner and magistrate, who will be supported by some of the Zululand Carbineer Police Force.