There is little or no fresh news from Matabeleland. Loben-
gula's Impis are, it is said, gathering round Fort Salisbury, and Mr. Cecil Rhodes has gone to the scene of action, yid the route of the Beira railway, of which some sixty-five miles are already open. It is reported that there are one thousand armed and mounted settlers in Mashonaland, and that three hundred English volunteers are hurrying up from the Trans- vaal; but if Lobengula puts his whole force of eighteen thousand men into the field, this can hardly prove adequate, and it is quite conceivable that the next news from the front will be that the Company's forts are being besieged, and that help will have to be sent them. That must, of course, be done if neces- sary, no matter the cost; but the situation, as Mr. Buxton admitted, is very grave. It is just possible, however, that Mr. Cecil Rhodes's great readiness and resource will be able to find a way out of the difficulty, and that at the last moment he will contrive to " placate " Lobengula.
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