third attempt. The new party consisted of Christina Coillard, four Basuto evangelists, and Elise Coillard (a niece to Coillard). When they arrived in Pretoria in May 1877, they found that the British crown had annexed the Transvaal Republic, which was now ruled under the governorship of Theophilus Shepstone. After the missionaries crossed the Limpopo River, Shona chiefs would not welcome the group; instead, the party was forced to go to Bulawayo, the headquarters of King Lobengula of the Ndebele. Lobengula prohibited the missionaries from preaching in his domains, so Coillard led the group southwest to the territory of Khama III, a Christian Tswana ruler. Khama suggested that the group could try their luck with Barotseland (the Lozi kingdom), north of the Zambezi River, where a Sotho-related language was spoken. The missionaries failed to arrange a meeting with the recently elected Lozi king, but Coillard convinced the PEMS to support an attempt to establish mission stations in Barotseland. This plan was delayed by a trip Coillard made to Europe in 1880–82 and other complications in Basutoland. Coillard finally mounted his expedition to Barotseland in 1884. The country was in turmoil with Lewanika, the former king, exiled and a usurper on the throne. Soon after Coillard established friendly relations with the usurper, another revolution brought Lewanika back to power. Coillard’s credibility was compromised by his initial diplomacy with the usurper, and it was only in March 1886 that he was received by Lewanika at Lealui, the capital of the kingdom. From 1886 until 1891 Coillard worked to establish strong mission stations at various locations in Barotseland: Sesheke, Lealui, and Sefula. In an attempt to strengthen his grip on the kingship, Lewanika enlisted Coillard's assistance in negotiating for a British protectorate to be declared over Barotseland, similar to the one that had recently been extended over neighbouring Bechuanaland. However, the king and the missionary misunderstood the connections between the British crown and the British South Africa Company (BSAC) of Cecil Rhodes. Lewanika and Coillard were gradually entangled in a web of intrigue, which resulted in the signing of the Lochner Concession, which assigned the Lozi kingdom to the BSAC's domains on 27 June 1890. During the first seven years after signing the Concession, the BSAC failed to make any of its promised annual payments of £2000 or to provide any of the educational assistance that it had pledged to Lewanika. Christina Coillard died