cover 1890 (27 Feb.) letter headed "Private" on Government House, Cape Town crested notepaper from Sir Henry Brougham Loch, the British High Commissioner, to Colonel Sir Frederick Carrington K.C.M.G. at Mafeking, together with the original stampless envelope signed "Loch" at left and with Government House and Crown on the reverse. Part of the letter reads "As the responsibility for sanctioning the entry of the Police of the Chartered Company into Matabele and Mashonaland will in the main rest with me..." and goes on to request details of the composition of the column - number of Officers, N.C.O.s and men, number of horses, amount of ammunition per man, number of machine guns, list of Officers and service records, sources of recruitment etc. The letter is dated just 12 days after Carrington's appointment to command British South Africa Company's Police, and just before the appointment on March 1st of Major S.G. Pennefather to command the B.S.A.C. Police. The letter reveals that at this time the occupation of Matabeleland was also being considered. An important historical document