The Cape of Good Hope papers state, that, for the
first time in the annals of the colony, a entire chief had appealed to the courts of law for redress against the publisher of a libel on his character. A cor- respondent of the Colonial Times had charged Pato, the Caffre chief, with ordering a trader, Bezant by name, to he barbarously murdered : it was also suid that, for a "similar crime," Pato had been "disgrace- fully kicked out of the (mincers' quarters at Fort Peddle." The pro- ceedings were by criminal information, and Pato swore that he was innocent of the crime imputed to him. An objection, that Pato, not being a British subject, could not institute criminal proceedings, was overruled. The case of Bonaparte versus Peltier was cited by the plain- tiff's counsel. The trial was put off till the defendants could procure witnesses from CjIreland.
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