DIAMONDS,GOLD,AND BRITISHIMPERLAlUSM
across ethnic and regional ties. The Swazirulers maintained good relations
with the Transvaal and with Natal, because the Zulu had tried to destroy
the state in the time of Shaka and Dingane and continued to threaten it
under Mpande and Cetshwayo. After the defeat of the Zulu in 1879,
however, white stock-farmers, gold prospectors, and adventurers of all
sorts pestered the Swazi king Mbandzeni and his councillors with gifts
ranging from greyhounds to champagne, and promises of more to come, if
the Swazi would only sign the documents they thrust at him; the Swazi got
into the habit of putting their crosses to documents and enjoying the pro-
ceeds without understanding their significance. Bythe time of his death in
1889, Mbandzeni had signed away almost the entire resources of his king-
dom, actual and potential: the land, the minerals, and the right to create
and operate industries, customs duties, licenses, railroads, telegraphs, and
postal services. Finally, a superconcession gave the holder the right to
collect all the king's revenues, including his concession revenues, for an
income of twelve thousand pounds a year.
By that time, the Transvaal government was determined to annex