IV. And be it further enacted, That nothing herein or in any such Commission or Commissions contained shall extend or be construed to extend to invest His Majesty, His Heirs or Successors, with any Claim or Title whatsoever to Dominion or Sovereignty over any such Territories as aforesaid, or to derogate from the rights of the Tribes or People inhabiting such Territories, or of Chiefs or Rulers, to such Sovereignty or Dominion. V. And be it further enacted and declared, That for the purposes of this Act any Person lawfully administering the Government of the said Colony shall be deemed and taken to be the Governor thereof. P.R.O., bound in C.O. 48/224. CESSION OF TERRITORY. No. 95. Cession of Natal Territory to EMIGRANT FARMERS, by DINGAAN, KING OF THE ZULUS. Know all men by this: UNKUGINSLOAVE, 4th February 1837. That whereas Pieter Retief Gouvernor of the Dutch Emigrant South Africans has retaken my Cattle which Sinkonyella had stolen which Cattle he the said Retief now delivered unto me. I, Dingaan, King of the Soolas, do hereby Certify and declare that I thought fit to resign unto him the said Retief and his Countrymen the place called Port Natal, together with all the Land annexed,-That is to say from the Togala to the Omsaboobo River, and from the Sea to the North as far as the Land may be useful and in my Possession. Which I did by this and give unto them for their everlasting Property. As Witness- MVARA, G. Raad. We certify that the foregoing is a true Copy of what was found by us by the bones of the late Mr. Retief in Dingaan's Country. (Signed) A. W. PRETORIUS, Chief Officer. K. P. LANDMAN, Commandant. I hereby certify that the above Document is a true Copy of the original Grant made by Dingaan to the Emigrant Farmers and found on the murdered Body of the late Pieter Retief, in my presence by Swart Potgieter on or about the 23d day of Decr. 1838. (Signed) E. D. WARD PARKER. P.R.O., MS. copy in C.O. 48/200. No. 96. CESSION OF NATAL TERRITORY TO THE DINGARN KING OF THE ZOOLUS to the KING OF ENGLAND. I have always treated your White people well, I have given them plenty of ground to hunt upon, but they have been continually at variance, & dispute among themselves and with my people & I now wish them to be called back to their own country-I have always taken great care of them, have never killed one of them, nor have I ever had such intention-I wish Capt Gardiner & all the Missionaries to remain, as I can talk pleasantly with them. I wish a Chief to be sent to Port Natal to pursue peace & to see that my people do not go down there, & to tell them that they are not to remain there-If this is done the White people who are there now may all stop, but if this is not done I should wish them to be removed-Capt. Gardiner is the Chief you have sent to Port Natal, but he says that he has no power to send my people back who desert from me--I wish him to send them back & I wish him to be the Chief there-If my people who desert to Port Natal are sent away & not permitted to remain there, I shall be satisfied-I do not ask for them to be sent back, as Capt" Gardiner tells me it is contrary to the custom of White Kings. This is what I ask—All the ground on which the White people live about Port Natal I give to the King of England-I give him the whole country between the Umgăni river & the territory occupied by Fāku & Napai, from the sea coast to the Quathlamba mountains with the exception of a district on the Umgăni belonging to me which commences at the mountain called Issicālla Sinyōka. DINGARN King of the Zoolus X His sign. Signed in the presence of the following chiefs this 21st day of June 1837 at Nobamba : BRITISH AUTHORITY. No. 97. Protest against a Magistrate's Authority. [July 1837.] [On 21st April 1837 Captain Allen Gardiner of the Royal Navy was commissioned by Governor D'Urban to proceed to Natal as a Magistrate possessing criminal jurisdiction under Act 6 & 7 Wm. iv. cap. 57. His office was to be exercised "within the Territory extending from the left Bank of the Umzimvoobo to the Northermost limit of the Zulu Territory, and from the Sea Coast to the Quathlamba Mountains; including also the whole of the Zulu Country, and its Dependencies." He could not find there a single white man ready to assist him by performing police duties, and the few Englishmen then at Port Natal protested against his appointment.] Protest of the INHABITANTS OF NATAL against the appoint ment of Captain A. GARDINER, R.Ñ., as a Magistrate over them for the following reasons: Ist. That the Country of Natal is not an acknowledged part of the British Empire, but a free settlement. 2nd. That this said Country of Natal was granted to the resident Inhabitants by Chaka the late King, and confirmed to them by Dingarne, the present King of the Zoolas, and stiled by them the Whiteman's Country. 3rd. That the power so invested in Capt. Gardiner is contrary to the principles of equity, inasmuch as it extends to British Subjects only, not empowering the said Capt. Gardiner to punish any act of aggression committed by the Native population or by other Europeans upon the British residents of Natal. 4th. That the said Capt. Gardiner is not empowered to decide upon civil cases, which would have much more materially benefited this settlement by the increased confidence it would have given to mercantile and mechanical men to settle at Natal. 5th. That the appointment of Capt. Gardiner to take cognizance of criminal causes only, might open the door to acts of tyranny and oppression inasmuch as he is obliged by the tenor of his Commission to forward and transmit to the nearest Magistrate in the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope, the depositions taken before him of any alleged offence committed, during which time the supposed offender must remain in custody until a decision upon the report is made in the Colony, and returned to Natal. 6th. That no mode of redress is pointed out in the event of acts of oppression being committed by the said Captain Gardiner or by his order upon the Inhabitants of this Free Country, and ruin might be the result of the person so oppressed. 7th. That the said Capt. Gardiner before his leaving this Country for the avowed purpose of soliciting the British Government to take possession of, and annex Natal to the British Empire, has materially injured the interests of the Inhabitants by advising the King of the Zoolahs to stop the trade with his people, which fact has been communicated to them by Dingarne. That the Inhabitants in thus stating their reasons for thus protesting against the appointment of Capt. Gardiner as a Magistrate over them, are not actuated by factious motives, but do so on the principle that this is not an acknowledged part of the British Empire, nor has ever been officially taken possession of by His Britannic Majesty, but is decidedly a free Country. Yet they ardently wish that his Majesty's Government would recognize it and appoint Magistrates not to hold out threats and imprison only; but to protect and encourage them. Yet although protesting against (: being a free people :) the authority attempted to be set over them in the Commission of Captain Gardiner: yet they will cheerfully render obedience to such competent authority, as may have the power as well to protect as to punish. (Signed) DANIEL CHAS. TOOLY, ALEXR. BIGGAR, ROBT. BIGGAR, JOHN CANE, HENRY OGLE, JOHN STUBBS, CHAS. BLANCKENBERG. [Encl. in a Desp. of 26 July 1837.] P.R.O., MS. copy in C.O. 48/193. No. 98. THE OCCUPATION OF PORT NATAL BY A [4 Dec. 1838.] [In 1838 Governor Napier sent a small body of troops under a certain Major Charters to take temporary possession of Port Natal in order to prevent the emigrant farmers from encroaching on native rights. Major Charters also held a commission, dated 16 Nov. 1838, as a Magistrate under Act 6 & 7 Wm. IV. cap. 57. It was from his letters that the news of the defence of the wagon camp of the emigrants on 16 Dec. 1838 reached Cape Town. The victory is commemorated annually as Dingaan's Day.] Pursuant to the Orders of His Excellency Sir George Napier, K.C.B., Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope, I hereby take Military Possession, in the name and on behalf of Her Britannic Majesty Queen Victoria, of the Port of Natal and adjacent territory-the boundaries of which territory are now to be described. A curved line following the . . .1 of the bay, every point ! One word is indistinct in the MS. of which shall be two English statute Miles distant from the High Water mark of the said Bay or Harbour, will define the boundary of the Military occupation, and I hereby declare the whole of the territory thus defined to be under Martial Law, according to the English Articles of war, without prejudice however to any of the aboriginal tribes who may at this date be inhabitants of the territory above described; which aboriginal tribes shall not only be suffered to pursue their quiet occupations, but be directly protected in their persons and properties, in so far as it shall be in the power of the Military force at Natal to protect them. It is clearly to be understood that there is nothing in this declaration, which shall be in any way construed into an intention of Her Majesty's Government to colonize, or keep permanent possession of this Country, unless it be Her Majesty's pleasure so to order. Be it Known therefore that this military occupation has taken place in consequence of the orders of His Excellency the Governor of the Cape of Good Hope, for the purposes set forth in his Proclamation of the 14th November 1838. I also make known that it has been the pleasure of His Excellency the Governor of the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope for the better protection of the native Tribes to invest me with a Magisterial authority under the Act of Parliament of His late Majesty, King William the Fourth, entitled an Act for the Prevention and Punishment of Offences committed by His Majesty's Subjects, within certain Territories, adjacent to the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope,-13 August 1836. The above declaration shall bear date from the day Her Majesty's troops landed at Port Natal, viz., the 4th of December 1838. SAMUEL CHARTERS, Major Commg. (Signed) A True Copy. T. SHEPSTONE. P.R.O., MS. in C.O. 48/199. No. 99. THE REPUBLIC IN NATAL. Early Legislation in Natal. PIETER MAURITZ BURG, Be it known that at a Meeting of the Council of the people held on the 27th, 28th, and 29th Instant it was resolved and determined that: Ist. That after publication hereof all young Men of 15 Years of Age, who shall cause themselves to be enrolled for |