<P> Lobengula would die from smallpox on 22 or 23 January 1894 . Meanwhile, the Ndebele warriors gradually succumbed to the company's superior firepower . Soon after the king's death, the Ndebele izinDuna submitted to the British South Africa Company . Charges were later made in the British House of Commons against the company, accusing them of having provoked the Ndebele in order to secure their territory . However, after enquiry the company was exonerated from the charge by Lord Ripon, the Colonial Secretary . </P> <P> Following the end of the war, one of Lobengula's izinDuna said that just before Forbes' column had reached the Shangani on 3 December 1893, the king had attempted to buy the pioneers off . According to this story, two Matabele messengers, Petchan and Sehuloholu, had been given a box of gold sovereigns, and instructed to intercept the column before it reached the river . They were to tell the whites that the king admitted defeat, and offered this money in tribute if the BSAP would turn back . "Gold is the only thing that will stop the white men," Lobengula reportedly said . Petchan and Sehuloholu reportedly reached the column on 2 December 1893, and gave the money and the message to two men in the rear guard . No man who had been attached to the column confirmed this, but company authorities thought it unlikely that the Matabele would simply invent such a story . Two officers' batmen were accused of accepting the gold, then keeping it for themselves and not passing on the message . The evidence against them was inconclusive, but they were found guilty and sentenced to 14 years' hard labour by the Resident Magistrate . They were released after two years, however, because the maximum term the Magistrate could give was three months; the convictions were ultimately quashed altogether on a re-assessment of the evidence by the High Commissioner's legal team . The truth of the matter has never been conclusively resolved . </P> <P> In every step taken by the company, the guiding hand was that of Cecil Rhodes, a fact which received recognition when the company's territory officially received the name "Rhodesia" on May 3rd, 1895 . During this year there was great activity in exploiting Matabeleland, with "Stands" or plots being sold at extraordinary prices in Bulawayo . Within nine months the rebuilt town of Bulawayo had a population of 1,900 colonials with over 2,000 more prospectors in the various goldfields . A new company, the African Transcontinental Company, was founded under the auspices of Col. Frank Rhodes, brother of Cecil, with the ultimate purpose of connecting the Cape with Cairo . The railway from Cape Town passed Mafeking, and approached the Rhodesian frontier, reaching Bulawayo in 1897 . The east coast line to connect Salisbury (now Harare) with Beira, Mozambique (then Portuguese East Africa Colony) was completed in 1899 . </P> <P> The First Matabele War was the first wartime use of a Maxim gun by Britain and it proved to have a decisive impact . In less than optimal situations, such as hilly or mountainous terrain or dense vegetation with poor lines of sight, the Maxim gun resulted in little direct impact on enemy deaths . But as a psychological weapon, the Maxim gun was truly phenomenal . It generated a sense of fear in the Ndebele and made the British South Africa Police seem invincible . In one engagement, for example, 50 company soldiers with just four Maxim guns fought off 5,000 Ndebele warriors . </P>

Who led the war of resistance to british rule in 1893