MODESIA OF TO-DAY

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NATIVE LABOVE

I will commence this work by describing the present condition and the attitude of the natives in Mashonaland and Matabeleland ; for that we should secure their friendliness and obtain their labour at a moderate cost are matters of the first importance to the white settlers.

Up to this year the progress of Mashonaland has been kept back by the perpetual menace of the Matabele raids. Capitalists hesitated to invest in so dangerous a land; it appeared a reckless venture to send valuable mining plant to the rich reefs on the ever-disturbed border. In cases where men attempted to develop their properties and put up batteries, repeated Mata-

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