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I can get through. And even Umhlonhlo has himself been a suitor, and has on three occasions appeared as a plaintiff in my Court; and I find that I have now seldom to take any active steps to enforce my judgments, for in almost every case, whether civil or criminal, the amount of the judgment is paid at once.
Hut Tax – I find that few, if any, people have paid their tax for 1877, and none for 1878, and even for 1876 many are in arrear. I intend, however, to enforce the payment of all arrears up to date.
Licences – There are only four trading-stations, of a very inferior class, in this district; but I have hopes that some merchant from the Colony may be induced to open a respectable and extensive business here, as it is much needed.
Timber Licences – A small revenue is annually derived from this source, but I have reason to believe that for want of proper supervision, timber is frequently cut and taken away without licences. I shall, however, take steps to prevent this for the future.
Roads – The roads in this district are for the most part good; and if a reasonable sum is expended upon putting them into thoroughly good order, it will require but a very small annual expenditure to keep them in repair.
Ponts – Two ponts are urgently required, at the Tsitsa and Tina drifts respectively, for as both these rivers are frequently impassable for weeks at a time during the rainy season.
Socially – I am afraid not much improvement has taken place amongst these people, who are wedded to all their old traditional customs and superstitions, and they appear for the most part to have profited but little from the few advantages they possessed; although in fairness to them, it must be said, that their position has been isolated, and they have, until lately, lived in such a constant atmosphere of strife, that they have not had many opportunities of seeing the advantages that are to be gained from civilization.
Religion – It is, I fear, still a sealed mystery to the majority of the tribe, who look upon it as an eccentricity of the missionaries more than anything else; but the energy and good example of the Rev. Mr. Davis, of the Wesleyan Society, who is Resident Missionary at Shawbury, are doing much towards breaking down the prejudices of these people.
Education – The Rev. Mr. Davis has several teachers actively engaged with infant schools at various places in the district; and at Shawbury there is, besides the usual school, a large girls’ seminary, where girls of all ages from five or six to eighteen are making considerable progress in the various branches of education: and I think that Mrs. Davis, and her able and accomplished assistant, have every reason to be satisfied with the progress they are making.
Generally, I have reason to feel hopeful for the future, as I find, the people far more docile and amenable to reason than I expected.
    HAMILTON HOPE
, Resident Magistrate, District of Qumbu.

Saturday February 8, 1879

    Malangana was as drunk as a little bird that overindulged on the nectar of
garingboom
flowers. He sat on Magistrate Hamilton Hope’s bench giggling and belching. Occasionally he shouted ‘Silence in the court’ and hit the bench with a gavel. He paged through the Book of Causes and pretended to read the names of culprits, their crimes and their sentences as enumerated in the book. But the blue squiggles from the magistrate’s nib did not make sense to him. He had learned to speak some of the white man’s language, but not to read it.
    The Tears of Queen Victoria were burning in his belly and sending tingling sensations to his head.
    It all started when he arrived in the morning to clean the House of Trials. It was his weekly assignment as a prisoner to sweep, scrub the floor and dust the furniture in the courtroom. On weekdays he did the same at The Residency and also tended the garden, comfortable jobs that were envied by the rest of the inmates of Qumbu Jail who had to dig quarries and haul rocks for