ABSTRACT
The selection of the “Pioneers”—the men who were to cut a road into the country and form the nucleus of the future settlement—was a different matter. In fact the occupation of Mashonaland was conducted in so public and conspicuous a manner that the achievements of the Chartered Company’s pioneers in other fields were to a certain extent overshadowed and eclipsed by it. The two hundred “Pioneers” were mainly recruited in South Africa, and were of many trades and professions. The command of the combined force of Pioneers and Police was entrusted to Lieut.-Colonel E. G. Pennefather, who had served with distinction in the Zulu and Boer campaigns. Preparations were made for allotting farms to those of the Pioneers who would undertake to occupy them, and for a small establishment of civil officials who could form the embryo of an administrative service.
