Everyone's heard of Cecil Rhodes, mining magnate and driven son of the Empire, but perhaps you've forgotten his Pioneer Column, guided by the legendary Frederick Selous. The Column set north from today's South Africa to what would become Rhodesia in 1890. According to something called "Pindula":
The Pioneer Column was made up of individuals of various expertise. It was led by Frank Johnson who was formerly of the Bechuanaland Protectorate Police, and Rhodes's military advisor, before he became leader of the column. Johnson employed the services of Fredrick Selous who was a professional hunter with vast knowledge of Mashonaland. He was the guide for the Column.
He then began to recruit volunteers to take part in the colonisation of Mashonaland. The volunteers were to be offered 3000 hectares of arable land and 15 mining claims as a reward for their services. The Pioneer Column was placed under the military directorship of an Irish Commander Lieutenant Colonel Edward Pennefather.
The Pioneer Column was made up of 180 sappers, 200 volunteers and 62 wagons. No women were allowed. Another group soon joined the Column. It added 110 men, 16 wagons, 130 horses and 250 cattle. They set out from Mcloutsie (Fort Tuli, on the Shashe River, border with Bechuanaland) on 28 June 1890 and arrived at Fort Victoria on 12 September. The British flag was hoisted, symbolising occupation.
It's said that the 200 volunteers were chosen from amongst thousands of applicants for their exceptional qualities of character and ability. And go figure, their immediate descendants went on to create a civilised state from land occupied by hunter gatherers and savages.
Remarkable men, not least Selous himself, and, let the record show, Great Britain sold those pioneers down the river, ceding a once prosperous nation into the hands of corrupt communists, it's laughably called Zimbabwe now. What a betrayal.
That aside, and it's a large aside, can you imagine Rhodes and Curzon meeting, perhaps in the "Secret Society" or over a brandy at the Rand Club or at White's in London. "I say, Rhodes, you do try hard," pan to cigar smoke, flashing eyes and, "Yes!" Or something like that. And what can we say.
There were giants in those days,
LSP
