Again on August 10, Lobengula wrote to the Queen to the effect that:
- The white people are troubling me much about gold. If the Queen hears that I have given away the whole country it is not so.
But these pathetic appeals from an untutored African ruler, victim of trickery, or guilty of misjudgment, had no effect upon the course of events. No scruples as to taking prompt advantage of what was manifestly an action repented of directly its significance became apparent, appear to have been entertained. The white man was determined to assume the "White man's burden," which offered prospects of being an exceedingly light one. The negotiations for the charter went through, and it was in a very different tone to that adopted in his communication of March 26, that the Queen's advisor, Lord Knutsfoid, replied on November 15—a fortnight after the charter had been conferred upon a company with which the ducal husband of the Queen's granddaughter was intimately connected—to Lobengula's protest. Lobengula was now told that it was "impossible for him to exclude white men," and that it was in the interests of himself and his people to make arrangements "with one approved body of white men who will consult Lobengula's wishes and arrange where white people are to dig, and who will be responsible to the chief for any annoyance or trouble caused to himself and his people." The letter went on to say that the Queen had made inquiries as to the persons concerned and was satisfied that they "may be trusted to carry out the working for gold in the chief's country without molesting his people, or in any way interfering with their kraals,[2] gardens,[3] or cattle."
