Sunshine and Storm in Rhodesia

"A rough-and-ready soldier narrates the late events in Matabeleland, in which he himself played a conspicuous and distinguished part." -Daily Telegraph, Nov. 5, 1896

"Selous in his book 'Sunshine and Storm in Rhodesia' ...tells us of many a brave deed of heroism performed by colonists in the suppression of the rebellion." -The Graphic (London), Feb. 6, 1897

"Selous' book 'Sunshine and Storm in Rhodesia,' gives the best and most authoritative account of the recent rebellion." -London Daily News, July 22, 1897

"An eyewitness to a narrative of murder and bloodshed such as have never been related since the days of the Indian Mutiny...the most stirring part of the book is undoubtedly that which deals with the part which Mr. Selous himself played in suppressing the rising...and the various accounts he gives of the brave deeds done by the little band...against the swarms of warriors...the marvel is how so few...could have successfully defended themselves against such a bloodthirsty enemy for so long." -The Morning Post, Nov. 5, 1896

"In 'Sunshine and Storm in Rhodesia'...Selous...gives us an excellent narrative of the rising in Rhodesia...disclaims that it was the result of the ill-treatment of the natives." -Gloucester Journal, Nov. 7, 1896

What events led to the 1896 Matabele uprising in which 244 settlers were slain in Matabeleland and Mashonaland, and in which hundreds of homes, ranches and mines were burned, and what role did famous big game hunter Frederick Selous play in rescuing the surviving settlers?

In 1896, Frederick Selous would publish a stirring personal narrative of the uprising and his role in saving the lives of numerous settlers in his book titled "Sunshine and Storm in Rhodesia."

In March 1896, the Matabele revolted against the authority of the British South Africa Company. According to Selous, the Matabele knew "that the entire police force of Matabeleland, together with most of the big guns and munitions of war up till then stored in Buluwayo, had been captured by the Boers"; and they despised the apparently "unarmed and defenceless" civilians. Accordingly, after another month of preparations the massacre began. The story of the struggle is not pleasant reading; for blood was up on both sides. The rebellion was inaugurated by what Mr. Selous calls "a series of the foulest murders it is possible to conceive"; it was crushed by men "vowing a pitiless vengeance."

Rather than wait passively, the settlers immediately mounted patrols, called the Bulawayo Field Force, under such figures as Frederick Selous and Frederick Russell Burnham; these rode out to rescue any surviving settlers in the countryside and went on attack against the Matabele. Selous raised a mounted troop of forty men to scout southward into the Matobo Hills.