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This item is filmed at the reduction ratio cheeked below/ Ce document est film* au t.«ux de reduction indiqu* ci-dessous. 10X 14X ItX 22X 20X 30X y n 32X 12X 18X aox a4x The copy filmed here has been reproduced thanks to the generosity of: Library of the Public Archives of Cansdia L'exemplaire tilm(l to hfcve been "taken Brom'tni beforp bpfskfait, hul verjr ctaanctertetto " Photo, by H. n. Ilaninrd, rapp Town. J ■ . . p..' CONTENTS. BOOK I. THE HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICA. PART I. GENERAL SKETCH OF THE STATES AND RACES OF SOUTH AFRICA. CHArTER I. The Geography and Gimate of South Africa *^ CHAPTER II. The Dutch Occupation, 16501806 '■ 37 CHAPTER III. The Colony of Natal.... 41 CHAPTER IV. The Orange Free State. . . 48 CHAPTER V. Z;2!'uland . . 70 CHAPTER VI Basutoland « 91 „ ^ CHAPTER VII. Beehua^iijland 09 m.^, OH>^PTER vin. M lOS 14 CONTENTS. CHAPTER IX. Pac* Cape Colony, 1814-1900 126 CHAPTER X. THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC 139-199 Section 1. The Earlier History of the Transvaal 139 Section 2. The Transvaal, 1864-1877 144 Section 3. Characteristics of the Boers 151 Section 4. The Transvaal Government and Native Races 161 Section 5. The Annexation of the Transvaal 169 Section 6. Through Imperial Rule to Independence 166 Section 7. The Constitution of the Two Republics 190 CHAPTER XJ. The Native Races 200-214 Section 1. Gariepine Races 201 Section 2. The Bantu Race 204 CHAPTER XIL The Animals of South Africa 216 CHAPTER XIIL The Chief Industries of South Africa 281 PART II. FAMOUS MEN AND LRADING TOWNS OF SOUTH AFRICA. CHAPTER I. POLITICAL WORKERS 239284 Section 1. Earl Grey 230 Section 2. Dr. Jameson 241 Section 3. General Joubert 250 CONTENTS. jg Section 4. Sir Hercules Robingon J^ Section 5. Olive Schreiner Sectione. SirT^eophiluB SheVstone .'.".'.' .' 2f? Section!. Hon. W. P. Schreiner fz Sectiona Sir Jno. G. Sprigg zlz Sections President Steyn .........!.'!![** HI CHAPTER II. Khtdma, CJhief of the Bamangwatos 284 CHAPTER III. CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES ggg^gg Section 1. The Influence of Missions ««« Section 2. Robt. Moffat ^"^ Section 3. David Livingstone .' «? ! Section 4. John Mackenzie oio Section 5. Prancoia Coillard of* o55 CHAPTER IV. <^PeTown .". ^^ CHAPTER V. Johannesburg CHAPTER VI. Kimberley and the Diamond Mine* g^g CHAPTER VII. OTHER LEADING TOWNS g^gg^^ Section 1. Bloemfontein Section 2. Buluwajo " 11° Section 3. Durban " '. " " ^^" Section 4. Grahamstown '!?? B«'ction 5. Port Elizabeth nnl Section 0. Pretoria ..... 1 ..!...' ool 16 ^^^^^^ CONTENTS. BOOK 11. CECIL J. RHODES. CAPITALIST AND POLITICIAN. CHAPTER I. Introdactoiy pm» CHAPTER II. The Earlier Life of Mr. Rhodes _^_ ^q4 CHAPTER III. His Early Political Life .-« »1d CHAPTER IV. Mr. BhodcB and the British South Africa qhartered Co 427 CHAPTER V. Mr. Rhodes as Prime Minister .^ ^ ^ ^ ^09 CHAPTER VL Ml'. Rhodes and the Jameson Raid aaq CHAPTER VIL Mr. Rhodes Since the Raid ^gg BOOK III. STEPHANUS JOHANNES PAULUS KRUGER. CHAPTER t The Earlier Life of Mr. Kruger ^-* CONTENTS. 17 CHAPTER II. Mr. Kpuger and Transvaal Politics. " '^ 475 CHAPTER III. Mr. Kmger and the War of Independence ^ CHAPTER IV. Mr. Kruger'g First Presidency CHAPTER V. President Kruger and the Outlanders 496 CHAPTER VI. President Kruger and the Raid President Kruger's Last Stand ^11 517 BOOK IV. THE BRITISH BOER WAR~1899-1900. PART I. THE CAUSES OF THE WAR CHAPTER I. The Transvaal and South Bechuanaland. . . ' 626 CHAPTER II. The London Convention, 1884. 631 CHAPTER IIL The SettlpniAnf «# o^.,*!, ¥>__!.„ r~-rsiLu xsccnoanaiaiKi. ... ■' " £'»' •"■"■^ --r—m^^-i~K~ 18 CONTENTS. \ - i CHAPTER IV. rasa The Outlanders of the Transvaal 551 CHAPTER V. The Story of the Jameson Raid. ..... « 557 CHAPTER VI. The Colonial Office and the Raid 577 CHAPTER VII. The Transvaal After the Raid 582 CHAPTER VIII. The Afrikander Bond and the Presidents' Hope. 590 CHAPTER IX. Diplomacy and the Ultimatum 60S Summary of the Causes of the War 623 PART II. THE PROGRESS OF THE WAR. CHAPTER I. The Invasion of Natal 627 CHAPTER II. The Invasion of Cape Colony 660 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. ^°*5SL*h* ^"'"t"^ ^"'s '» South'*' Africa by Dr. Jno. Mackenzie, the Author'8 Father Frontispiece David Livingstone and John Mackenzie Frontispiece President Kruger. ^j Cecil J. Rhodes jg Cape Town ^i House of Parliament in Cape Town..., 22 A Pretty Suburb of Cape Town 31 Hon. W. P. Schreiner 32 Sir Alfred Mllner. . 33 Soldiers' Monument 33 , A Queen's Memorial 34 Pletermarltzburg, Capital of Natal 43 Chief Tetelukl, Natal 44 Sir W. Hely Hutchinson 53 Conyngham Greene, C. P 53 Sir J, Oordon Sprlgg .,._ 53 J. H. Hofmeyer -„ Soldiers' Graves 54 A Pineapple Fif>ld 55 Going to Market gg Boers Outspanned gg A Traveler's Difficulty gg Zulu Kraal gj Zulu Ladles' Reception 84 Dagga Smokers j^jj A Native Wizard j^j xt £iu!u Kiiitary Kuview 110 19 Pace .120 137 138 156 174 191 192 Zulus Defying the Lightning..., A Family Group Inside the House Zulu Warriors.. ^ Zulu Warriors Unciv.-.zed igg Zulu Warriors Civilized jsj Sifting Gravel for Diamonds 173 DeBeers Compound ^.... Chief's Kraal, Zululand Native Kraal Building a Homestead Waiting for the Vultures 210 The Tugela River 32? Mica Deposit In a Donga 227 Natives of Amatongaland 228 Olive Schreiner Dr. Jameson Barney Barnato Muster of Town Burghers at Pretoria.. 24« Majuba Hill Going to Work Going Home from the Mines Diamond Field Claims In 1869... Ostrich Farming Native Miners.. Native Compound • ••• Old Workings - Klmberley Diamond Mines „, Durban— Main Street j,g .246 .246 .246 .263 .264 .281 .282 .282 .299 .300 20 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Page Durban— Road to Berea. .318 Charging the Boers' Laager 335 The Middle Mugan River-Natal 335 A Street in Johannesburg 336 Civil Prisoners Entering Pretoria 363 Oiineral View of Johannesburg 354 Gold Mines at Johannesburg 371 Wrecking an Armored Train 372 The Charge of the Lancers 389 A Boer Scout ^ 390 Wounded Boer Prisoners 407 A Warm Day at Ladysmlth 408 Front Door of Mr. Rhodes' House 425 Mr. Rhodes' Library 426 The Home of Cecil Rhodes 443 Mr. Rhodes' Farm 444 General Jan Koch's State Funeral 461 Pretoria Commando Leaving for Ser- vice . .462 General Joubert Ready for War 479 General Joubert Ready for the Plat- form 479 Dr. Leyds ^ .' . . 480 General Piet Cronje 480 President Steyn 480 Lord Roberta — ^ Face [<28 General Kltcltener " B28 Page General White pace 529 General BuUer " Gen. Sir A. Hunter " Gen. Sir Cornelius F. Clery " MaJ-Gen. Sir Wm. Gatacro " Lt.-Gen. Sir F. W. E. Forestier Walker " General Methuen " Col. Baden-Powell " Lt.-Col. Otter and Officers " Lady Minto " Lt.-Col. Otter " Highlanders " I'he First Canadian Contingent in Street Parade " Group of Canadian Officers " First Canadian Contingen!: at Toronto " Group of Artillery Officers " Farewell Manitoba '* Boers in the Trenches " General Warren " General French " A Wagon Breakdown " The Battle of Splon Kop " Hauling the Guns Up Coles Kop.. " 629 644 644 644 644 646 546 560 561 661 676 577 592 593 608 609 624 625 626 628 640 «41 >>& s So n H if si ill III d 13 <• •Jfgui •< S « lii BOOK I. The History of South Africa. PART I. CHAPTER I. THE GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE OF SOUTH AFRICA inland. This fact h«, „!,^„ I! „ navigable for any distance 8J "' "'*"'^' ™*°y "^"e* it consists 11 it- U GEOGRAPHY AMD CLIMATE OF SOUTH AFRICA. exclusively of barren hills and sandy plains, with only here and there a small oasis or a river channel which contains water only after the fall of rain. Some day it may be that this harbor will be of great value, when a railway, which was proposed more than ten years ago, runs from this point across the desert into Bechuanaland., The next break in the coastline is found at the mouth of the Orange River. While this is the largest river in South Africa the estuary is barred by sandy banks and thereby rendered useless for shipping. Fifty miles further south is Port Nolloth, a small harbor from which cargoes of copper found in Namaqualand are shipped to Europe. Thence we come to St. Helena Bay, which is 30 miles across, but as yet con- nected with no inland industry and therefore of no importance, and Saldanha Bay, which, while a fine natural harbor and the best on this coast, is also rendered valueless by being far removed from any town or sources of production. At the extreme southwest corner we come upon Cape Agulhas; from that it is but a short run to Table Bay, on which Cape Town is placed, and False Bay. The former has been made comparatively safe 'ar shipping by means of breakwaters, but with a northwest wind the anchorage is still precarious. The much larger bay, known as False Bay, contains within it a still smaller one known as Simons Bay, which is thoroughly well protected and has been for many years the Imperial naval station. It is of the utmost value to the British Empire alike for its safety and its importance as a coaling station. The southern coast has only a few small indentations and useless fiver mouths. The harbor at the outlet of the Knysna River is available for small ships, which must find their way over a double bar ere they can reach security. At the southeast corner of the continent lies the well known Algoa Bay, which is 35 miles across from point to point. On this bay stands the prosperous town of Port Elizabeth, which is the chief shipping place for the entire eastern province of Cape Colony and has in recent years run a race with Cape Town for commercial leader- ship in South Africa. It has the advantage of being the central landing place for Cape Colony, lying as it does about midway between Cape Town and Durban. It is now connected by railway with the important regions north and northwest and pr-op >k "Is are made for a railway along n GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE OP SOUTH AFRICA. 25 the coast which will still further add to its nrn«no,.i,„ k industries iu regions hitherto practical^^ s„Iated H th ™™»"«'''B world. Algoa Bay, while now'so Jwratlptverus^ toT^^ dangerous anchorage owing to its exposure to The ;e"mc We .ftt southeast winds. Storms from this direction have somettae! in » \ night thrown many vessels upon the shore BeJlTh^ ^ ""^^ which thence passes on through the Oranire Proa «to* j ^l^ """'"y' the Transvaal Ti,. i.„.i • ^"^ "'a^ge Free State and thus reaches lue i-ransvaal. The land journey from this point to the gold fields i. much shorter than either from Port Elizabeth or Cape Town Passing Port St. John at the mouth of the Umzimvubu Tjiver w. come to the coast line of the important colony of Natar Natl^ronTv one harbor of importance, formerly known as Port Natal n^7 ^ years as Durban. The bay is shallL throu^houl wutau ^HZ tTs square mile. It ha, been well dredged and'the ;ntrauoe taTb^n „Ir rowed by means of breakwaters so as to measure only about a o^rt^Jf a m, e across. On the south side of the entrance is the bluff™^* tte no'fth sM/o'fTe T' T* ""^"* '" *"^ '"'""^ "»" '"— »» T2r ^- '* " »«rtooked by the beautiful Berea Hill on whose slopes are built most handsome and picturesque resMtnces The name IS derived from a mission station which in fomer dayirs s tuated here Beyond this the only important break cTnltoTnZ strange shaped lake of St. Lncia and the mouth of the Kosi B^er aI yet the former is too shallow to be of much use for shippingr^^ugh lake into the finest harbor on the eastern coast of Africa. Beyond these port the Portuguese settlement known as Lorenzo Marques, "hs plait to the south. It IS the nearest harbor to the Transvaal, who.. h„.H„ ,. «niy 0, miies westwards, Is situated in the territo.7 of Portuguese'Eart 26 GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE OF SOUTH AFRICA. I Africa, and has attained great importance in recent years through the very large increase of shipping caused by the development of the Trans- vaal gold mines and the building ot an important railway between Pre' toria and Lorenzo Marques. For a number of years Great Britain has had a treaty with Portugal affording the former the right of pre-emi>tion of Delagoa Bay, and it has long been the opinion of South African states- men that at some no distant date that most important point must, for the development of a vast portion of Austral Africa, indeed for the good of the entire country, pass into the hands of the British, Delagoa Bay is 12 miles wide, over 50 feet deep at the entrance, and affords well shel- tered anchorage for the largest vessels. Hitherto the development ^r T^elagoa Bay has been much hindered on the one hand by the incapacity and corruption of the local Portuguese officials, and on the other hand by the extremely heavy charges upon goods carried from this point to Pretoria Ly railway. When VY^e come to study South Africa by moving inland from the coast line the first fact of importance is that along the coast, almost around the entire region, there is a narrow strip of land not exceeding 500 feet in height, sometimes vjry narrow, at one point broadening to a few miles and at Delagoa Bay extending even to 15 or 20 miles, which is properly speaking the 'oast belt. On the east coast this belt is the un- healtbiest part of South Africa, and its dangerous character increases northwards towards the tropics. Europeans especially find that in this strip of coast land they are liable to malarial disorders. Beyond this low strip of coast land the hills lead up to a second region. Except in the far northeast and in the neighborhood of Cape Town the rise is somewhat gradual, while at the plnccK named it is nbriipt and rugged. The second region is healthier than the first, but it again gives way to a third. As the traveler passes inland he finds himself mounting towards yet another terrace, through ranges of hills. When he has traveled from 30 to 50 miles from the sea he finds hinmelf a^ a heij^ht of from 3,000 to 4,000 feet above sta level, and this is increased in some regions again to a loftj- plateau land only (10 miles from the sea coast, which rises to a height of from 5,000 to 0,000 feet. These hills intersected with narrow valleys or passes belong to the long range of mountains which extends « distance of 1,000 miles from Cape Town right up to the valley of tlte GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE OF SOUTH AFRICA. 37 Zambezi River. No name has been given to the entire range, although the tendency .s to extend over the whole the name Drakensb rg, which was first confined to that portion of the range forming the Ltern boundary of the Orange Free State. Only in Basutoland do the peals of thi. range attain the height of 10,000 and 11,000 feet. Here thev are even covered with snow for several months of the year. Beyond this range of mountains one goes down only from 1,000 to 3,000 fP^t to find one s self on a vast table land. This table land is generally flat as the flatt^st praine land in America, or it is gently undulating its ro 1 ng contours being broken here and there by abrupt and rocky hills, a? some poinvs this plateau is even 6,000 feet above sea level. This third region th:s great plateau we may say, is South Africa itself, since it consists of no less than seven-eighths of the entire region .0 named. In the far north it descends slightly to the channel of the Zambesi, to the west It slopes gradually dc vn and descends less abruptly to the sea level ban on the eastern coast. No one can thoroughly und^.stand the possi- bilities of colonization and the prospects of developmei . in South Africa who does not clearly realize the peculiar characteristics which result from the extension of this plateau region. We have referred to the importance as a geographical feature of the Drarensberg Mountains. They form the most important, if we may not even say the only, water-shed dotcrmming the direction of the South wlereth"""' /' '" '"" """''"^ ^^"* ^^^'"" ^^"^ ^« the land where the rivers have no water and Iho ]>ird. have no song., where there may be thunder without lig,,„i„g. n is true that ...ny of wl at a known as r:vers of South Afri.-a are practically just dry channels fr most of the year and contain water only during what is known as the rainy season. This is true, however, in the main only of the rivers wh ch flow from the Dra'ensberg Mountains westwards, and Is not tru If t e rivers wh ch from the mountain heights take the shorter course east- wards to the Indian Ocean. The greatest river system of South Africa is that of the Orange River whose chief tributaries are the ('aledon and the Vaal. The Vnal is S a large r ver with tributaries <,f its own. A. the Orange River fhws west on Its iniimiov /.# 1 nnn ...M.- X .. .... *^ "ivt^i iiowB its fHhr/n..r"r ■" "" '*""■" '"""'' '" '""^ ^^tJfl"i'«' "eean. the number of it« tributaries decreases. In many parts it flows through rough and 28 GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE OF SOUTH AFRICA. wild scenery and at one point passes over what are Icnown a^ the Great Falls, to which some day no doubt many tourists will go as they go to Niagara, or as they will go to the still more beautiful Victoria Falls on the Zambesi. The Orange River with its tributaries drains an area of about 300,000 square miles. The Limpopo River, otherwise known as the Crocodile River, having its source in the hills near Pretoria, flows northwards and then eastwards and forms the northern boundary of the Transvaal, falling into the Indian Oc^ean north of Delagoa Bay. This river also suffers from the irregularity of its water supply. There are signs not a few that in past ages the entire region of south centrrl Africa possessed a much more abundant water supply than it .'oes to-day, and it is one of the interesting problems of the future whether by means of irrigation and the extension of verdure over the C3ntral desert region a change in the annual rain fall may not be grad- ually secured. South Africa at present enjoys two principal seasons of tho year which ary known, not as summer and winter, but as the wet and dry seasons. The wet season is caused by the moisture laden winds from the east and southeast. As the clouds are driven towards the land they are caught up on the sharp peaks of the Drakensberg Mountains and pour their rains upon the highly favored eastern coast. This causes of course the swollen rivers, the many floods familiar in that region; but the abundance of rain is also the reason for the remarkable productivity of the eastern coast, which stands in strange contrast with the barren and sandy wastes of the western shores. The rest of South Africa is watered from those clouds which succeed in passing tho Drakensberg range. In some parts of the western region the annual rain fall is only from 5 to 10 inches. The value of this, however small it may be, vanishes almost altogether owing to the intense lieat of the sun and the pei*petual thirst of tho arid soil. It is the opinion of many explorers that even the great Kalahari Desert, which extends from Kuruinan northwards and westwards, can be made to blossom like the rose in spite of its almost complete destitution of rain-fall by menns of artesian wells. Such wells have been opened at various nnproml.sing points with remarkable suc- cess. If this can be done on an extensive scale results orght to be ob- tained cods over the valleys, naturally leaving the bases of the mountains higher than the central depression. If a Persian col.>nist came here he wouhl sav: 'How admirable for my purpose. I shall b.^gin my draining ditches o; canauts from the bases of those hill, and train ti.en. down towards the lower pn.t.s <.f these valleys, by which tin.e 1 shall hav. as many constant nl ogular rnnn.ng streams as 1 have ditches, and my fh.ks and herd, and fields shall have abundance of the necessary element.' A thousand of Huch 1 ers.ans would .-rente thus n central stivam with the surplus water flowing along the valley, and its borders wonhl become one continuous grove. As th.. Persians would do, the English colonists whose luck mav be to irmu. in thSu 1.11..1 ....... „!„„ 1 _ , ... "•* it ii „" K , . T ' ""'"^ ^'^" '"'» "«^ euTUh themselves faster thnn by laboring at gold-mining. i I ;i 30 GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE OF SOUTH AFRICA, "These dry river-beds, now filled with sand, need only to have stone dama built across, every few hundred yards, to provide any number of reservoirs. They have been formed by rushing torrents which have fur- rowed the lowlands down to the bed rock, and the depth and breadth of the river courses show us what mighty supplies of water are wasted every year. As the torrents slackened their flow, they deposited th'»ir sediment, and finally filtered through underneath until no water was visible, but by digging down about two feet it is found in liberal quanti- ties, cool and sweet." One of the remarkable features of south central Africa is its destitu- tion of trees. Through great tracts of the country the forests are sparse and the individual trees small and scrubby. Thorn trees abound, but these are usually somewhat short and possess little beauty of form or color. There are many wild fruit trees and it is possible that from some of these may be developed new and luscious contributions to the break- fast tables of the world in years to come. In some districts, as for example at Shoshong, the former capital of the Bamangwato tribe, it is known that long ago trees abounded where now few are to be seen. The fact is that they have been destroyed by the native tribes themselves who needed them for building their huts as well as for fire-wood. A great change has been wrought in such formerly treeless districts as Johannesburg and Kimberley by the planting of suitable trees and shrubs, and careful watering of them. Beautiful parks and shady ave- nues are now seen where all was sandy, stony and desolate twenty years ago. This of course has been facilitated by the fortunate introduction of the blue gum tree (Eucalyptus) from Australia. This tree has evi- dently taken to South Africa in a most lively and happy manner. It grows rapidly, throwing a fine shade, and has done more than any other plant to make unlovely places cool and beautiful. The climate of the counti^ of course varies from the coast belt where, in many parts, malaria is frequent, to the intense heat of the sultry in- land valleys; but by far the larger part of South Africa is high and dry. The result is that on the whole the climate is one of the most healthy in the world and oiiiinently suitable for European colonization. Sun-stroke {o .,r>,,ui,ni allhm.i.irh thp direct ravs of the HUn can he very fierce, espe- cially in those parts that are within the tropics. Europeans, however, SOLDIERS' MONUMENT ;^;i:::^"'2fW^K-r;r;A»,::„ra'!K-i«?- A QUEEN'S MEMORIAL The iDicrlptlon on this plain rross In far-off Zululand tells Iti own ■tory. ntMiCtS TCTCI ItUI^l«»X*l Noi a Bird of Paradise— a 7,\\\it wnrrlor— llic professional rapine and slaughter maker of South Africa. GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE OF SOUTH AFRICA. 35 neither on first going nor in the third or fourth generation show any sign and women. Many parts of South Africa will become famous as health resorts, especially for those who suiler from chest complaints in more northerly regions. This salubrity of the country is due of course to th! iZr'h . ^*^7^e'e, to the height of the plateau land above sea leva which renders heat less trying and the air more invigorating than wouJd otherwise be the case in that latitude. There is a danger encoun- tered by newcomers which arises from the fact that at nightfall, as soon as the sun has set, a sudden coolness penetrates the air. In th^ winter season the contrast between the heat at noonday and the often ve^ intense cold at midnight is most remarkable. This requires the exercise of care a^d prudence on the part of all at night time. Many of the native tnbes suffer greatly from pulmonary complaints through the use of in- sufficient covering during sleep at night But where this alternation between heat and cold is prudently prepared for it rail 3r adds to the exhilaration of the system, the cold night doing much to refresh the wearied frame to endure the heat of the ensuing day The deadly pest of malarial fever has been already referred to as prevalent especially in the tropical coast belt, but inland it is to be found in some parts, especially in the northeastern Transvaal. In fact the early Boer settlers were driven back from some portions of the Ke^ public rather by the attacks of fever than of natives. Pretoria, which lies in a well r,atered area among the hills, is said to suffer considerably during tb .o,on from nalaria, but Johannesburg, which is only forty miles .0 fever at all, as it lies on the top of a dry, stony ridge. Far u, orth the fever is found as you reach the valley of the Zambesi, b. . Matebeleland, much of which is 4,000 feet above the sea, it is practically unknown. 8o„th f/- ""'"!' ?! '""'"*' '"' "' '''' "^««* remarkable portions of South Africa is that known as the Karroo, which was formerly described ing from Cape Town northwards to Bechuanaland. It is a vast prairie country between the second and third ranges of hills from the coT Scarcely a tree or shrub is sppt, nn h. „,5^. _.__x. ,. , "^"^^ ^^oa*"- , . , TTi^c cAicui: ii IS covered bv n strong, wiry looking grass which, unpromising as it seems, has proved to 36 GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE OF SOUTH AFRICA. be full of succulence and makes the Karroo one of the finest stock rais- ing districts in the world. Sir Henry M. Stanley describes the air of the Karroo as strangely appetizing. Mr. Bryce says: "The brilliancy of the air, the warmth of the days, and the coolness of the nights remind one vho traverses the Karroo of the deserts of western America between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevadas, although the soil is much less alkaline, and the so-called 'sage-brush' plants characteristic of an alka- line district, are mostly absent" And again he says: "In a landscape so arid one hears with surprise that the land is worth ten shillings (about 12.50) an acre, for one or two of the smaller shrubs give food for sheep, and there are flowers scattered about sufficient for the flocks. The farms are large, usually of at least 6,000 acres, so one seldom sees a farm house. The farmers are all of Boer stock. ... At Matjesfontein, an enter- prising Scotchman has built a hotel and a number of smaller villas to serve as a health resort; has dug wells and planted Australian gums for shade, making a little oasis in the desert" This entire territory of South Africa is divided between three Euro- pean countries. Germany now owns since the year 1884 the regions on the west coast known as Namaqualand and Damaraland. On the far northeast a strip on the coast has hitherto belonged to Portugal. The remainder has been developed under the influences of the British Em- pire, and the war of 1899-1900 has for one of its main objects to deter- mine how those influences henceforth are to be exercised and what they are to secure. Cape Colony occupies the southern portion, with the Orange River for its northern boundary, while South Bechuanaland has since 1890 been annexed to it. The area of Cape Colony is 270,551 square miles. In the east we have the colony of Natal with 20,461 square miles. The native territories under the Imperial Government consist of Zulu- land and Amatongaland with 15,000 square miles altogether, Basuto- land with 10,293 square miles, North Bechuanaland with about 200,000 square miles. In addition to these we have Southern Rhodesia, which is administered by the South Africa Chartered Company and whose area is about 210,000 square miles. Besides these we have the two independ- ent states mainly ruled by Europeans of Dutch descent, namely, the South African Republic (the Transvaal) with 114,000 square miles an4 the Orange Free State with 48,000 square miles, CHAPTER II. THE DUTCH OCCUPATION. 1650-1806 encountered such terrific ftfnt.rv,« +1. ^ , continent. Here he It was his king wbHwik TtL '"^"^ '* """"^ "' «">™^" benefits .M.l^'mX^Z^^^Z ""' T"^'"^' "''''^P^' *"« Hope." So„e years latr^^LTSlo'"^'^'' " "^''^^ <" «°°'' round the southern end of recoZenttTr '"""' '^''^* ''«''' coast and thence to India TM^.T ' "^ "" ""^ »? ">« '='"'t Which ^enceforth^r ;:ta leTKarCeeTs*:; ^™! ^'^"^ ""'' plying between Europe and the East Indls TheO ' ""^^' called, did not seem inviting in Mf tlJ !?T' °' " "'""'"• "« shores. They stopped there onlvM^M T^ *''™' '"■° P"'^'"' "» eailors ou land fo^a fe^s ^^tt^" IT "T ""' *° "^^^ '"^'^ Which yet lay between them^nd the r deTnatTon "-.f ' "' ^' "'* About the same time the En<.Ii,i. „„r*i, T '" *""'""■ '"'rection. thought 0, placing s me Mn^ora^l'^ l"*:t^"* '""'•'^ ^""'P-- mating it , regular port of calUu thlt re.L T"'^'" "••"" ''"'' two ships, belonging to the EnJLT ^ Accordingly, in 1620, English ilagaud foot Lrma,^?;;lr^"J;;^ "^'^'^ ™» "<• ""■ to the English government tlZT ^'"'" *""' '«^t'»» was reported were taken toTar^Z l! I '"^T"' "' " """ ™ ""rt"''' «teps ^Ms is the tir. "Z^ Z^ZZZTZ^^^I: '"■"-""'• »«r story, in which Great Britain first toniT! ! , *"" "'""'"'' »' i" ber dealings with South Afri a T , h "but" """ "'™ ""'"''™ " an African chief a few „„„ '"""" ^" ^lArmed that ."vernmeut th':? i! XTgoirC" ^'^ "''"" "^^™-™* """^ nut.„ Eus. .„a.a «,mpany. with the full consent of theTr ■o;7er^ 9' 38 THE DUTCH OCCUPATION, 1650-1806. ment. The crew of a ship which had been wrecked had spent some months on the very spot where Cape Town now stands; they had planted a few seeds, had found the climate pleasant, the soil productive, and some of them reported their happy experiences to the authorities in their homeland. A number of people; amongst whom '^ere a very few women, were accordingly sent out under Jan van Riebeck to establish a hospital for sick sailors, to cultivate gardens for the supply of ships with fresh food, to barter with the natives for cattle and to build a fort for their own protection. They were not considered as colonists in the ordinary sense; they were all servants of the East India Ompany, living there in order to facilitate the movements of their great merchant fleets. It was found necessary, however, at a later date, to have the land in the immediate neighborhood of the fort parcelled out into farms and to give these over to colonists of another type. Towards the end of the seven- teenth century the number of these colonists was very largely re- enforced by the arrival of French and Swiss Protestants, who, having fled from persecution in their own countries to Holland, were sent out, with their own consent, to the Cape. These new arrivals added elements of the greatest value to the little Dutch community. To them is traced the beginning of that grape culture, for which Cape Town has since become so famous. These French families became gradually absorbed. They were forced to give up their language for Dutch and soon lost all direct relationship with their own country. At first these European settlers came into contact with the natives of South Africa in the trading of cattle and sheep. As their numbers increased, they gradually occupied lands which the natives had used for the pasture of their cattle, and over this land question the first quarrels arose. To begin with, the Dutch sought to buy the lands. At a later date they gave up this formality and formed the habit of seizing what they wanted for their farms. At a still later date they even went the length of employing the former owners of the soil as their slaves in its cultivation. The slave movement was, most unfortunately, stim- ulated by the introduction of negro slaves from the west coast. It must not be imagined that the early Dutch governors of South Africa found it an easy task to administer their singular dominion. To begin with, some of the governors themselves were self-seeking and THE DUTCH OCCUPATION. ,65o.i!o6. 39 nD«rnp«lo»s men They were apt to break the n.le» of their office by attempting to make their own fortune,. Thi, brought them into com petU,on of a commercial kind with the ve,, people over whO«e in3, they were supposed to rule. Further, they fell into the blunder ofTm! P08.ng heavy rates of taxation, which created great and in^aZ .mpafence. These, and other such circumstances. induced mln^f he farmer, or Boers as they were called, to move farther away f^m the seat of authority and tyranny. They passed northwards anTea^ wards, occupyn,g all the desirable lands, often encountedng thTnatTvt n warfare and enduring great hardships. But they foanf it not Z to .solate themselves and become sovereigns of their own domata The Dutch governors follow- i them over mountain ranges and across larse mers .nto their distant homes and insisted on treating them e thlr » ct.zens stUl responsible to the Dutch government, or as rebels lteb!e to the severest punishment. " * rf^nf • J T^ '* ^^''^^''y '''^"''y- Their habits of life were simple and regular. They performed their journeys, drawn sIowlTat ItJltt ^ir:' *"™*^ ■""" " '"''' "y ">"S '-- <" «-t They bmlt their httle house, tilled their patch of land, looked after their ever..«creas,ng herds, fought off any of the natives who threatened to be troublesome, paid their rare visits-once or twice a yearltothl nearest church for the celebration of the "nacbtmaal" o^ holv com! munion. Nevertheless, the life was by no means elevating, for as Zy spread northwards they became less and less of an agricn tuirmo^ and more of a pastoral people. Their farms became la^er untU ;o on^ was contented with less than three miles square; they came toi^lish manual labor less and less and depended wholi; upon the inrffl^i^S «>rv.ce of .gnorant natives. They formed no large towns wbl^rtrv ould v.s.t and whe.* something of civilization conid lay hold o them "r.Tjfatrs:."""''^ -" *-'-"- -^ ^"^ - '«- Towards the end of the eighteenth century, three or four European «u-, or ti^^iaaa, ^r ^ugituia snouia iead the destinies of '.masso MamMu s 40 THE DUTCH OCCUPATION, 1650-1806. vast regions through the nineteenth century. It was impossible that the importance of the Cape should remain unnoticed by these fierce con- testants, and hence we find that the South African colony changed hands several times with the changing fortunes of war in Europe. The European nations were contesting for supremacy in the East and the Cape route was the only one available; it was therefore important to determine whether France, Britain or Holland should own the Cape Colony. From 1795 to 1802 it was held by Britain and was then restored by treaty to Holland. But in 1806, when Napoleon was crush- ing Europe, Britain felt compelled to keep the Cape from his grasp. It was not then formally annexed by the British Government, which looked forward to the possibility of restoring it to its former owners at the conclusion of the war. In the meantime two Governors were sent out successively from London who acted with great wisdom, and on the whole succeeded in allaying the first intensity of bitterness felt by the Dutch colonists at being conquered and made subject to a foreign power. In 1814, when she had finally overwhelmed Napoleon, Great Britain had many treaties to make. She had saved Europe at infinite cost to herself, and was entangled in many complicated rela- tions as a consequence. At the treaty of London, accordingly, provision was made with Holland for the purchase by Great Britain of certain Dutch colonies, including the Cape Colony. For these Great Britain paid the sum of £6,000,000 (about f30,000,000), the interest on which was more even at that time than these colonies could possibly have paid in cash to the purchasers. The history of the Dutch occupation of South Africa legally ended in that year and the history of British supremacy in that region began its curiously uncertain and perplexing courst. I< 1 K CHAPTER III. THE COLONY OF NATAL ABOU* two years after the Great Trek out of r^n. n„- Of ta leaders discovered .be pleasantjand of Lui ^71^^ except f .oag tbe eTs t ^^t rt'C^aHrlr' ' "" '^ '"'"""'"" wliere Durban now stand, a few .n^ ' '"'°"' °' ""^ '""■''°'- number of years been eWedinsr."":""^ Englisumen bad for a already obtained a ^0":! flft, ""y 1 "'™' ° "'"''" "«'""' '""' t^t territory. T„isTu::ir ^^^'Z'^, ".'.T "^ "' historians. Tb«,e Englishmen petitioned i^vain to he Br,tf7«°-' ernment for the formal annexation of their reTn an I H " tection by British power. They from the w ""V »'™ P™" being united with, or consider ^istpart of ?alT, "" "'" °' to have a new history and a eoun.^ ofCir 'wr '" """ "'^''""' —us. „i.d ..J ::•,----;- -^^^^^^ f:u:::;raX~^^ of a vast circle of liutH surronn.lMwr .. 1 V *'*'''" eoiKsiHtod .as the spot Where 1 : ^ ^w r"'^^^^^^^^^^^^ "' T""'^ *"'' •■■.gaged in their vast fen-*. ,.f bwf n, 1 h ""V """" '"•" "'"^ weird and terHb.e war .Ian..es. VV^. ," , I;: tbl'^T" '" "'™ (lie most powerful man In that ,o„„(r„ i . Dlngnan was rriendly Nations w, Z Se"" \TT\ '•" ";'" ""•"" ""»'" '- ""■■ "'« t-aty by which iz^: i:z:::.±.!'i"^""!' "» .rantt.hi. and his Boer fonuwersaiargesliceofVo;:;^;:,;.'!;;;:::^ 42 THE COLONY OF NATAL. Hi w hoped to be able to settle in a region over which the British Government had as yet established no authority, and where the Boers might hope at last to erect an independent republic of their own. Retief was received by the chief with every sign of good-will and a large territory was offered to him on condition of his compelling a distant chief to repay some thousands of cattle which he had taken from Dingaan. This con- dition Retief fulfilled, and, returning with the cattle, he brought also from the Orange Free State, we are told, nearly 1,000 wagons containing the families and movi ble property of those who hoped, under his leader- ship, to establish the new state. When they descended upon the region which they expected to make their home, Retief went with some 50 Boers and about 40 black men to make their final agreement with Dingaan. The chief received them as before, displayed his warriors and held war dances, and then with foul treachery, at a moment when the Boer party were collected before him without their arms, he shouted to the dancing warriors, "Kill the wizards," and not one of Retief's entire party was allowed to escape. Swift as a thunderbolt Dingaan hurled his army upon the encampments of Boers. The first was reached at a. place of sor- row, ever after named We len (place of weeping). Here they surprised a party of 41 white men, 56 white women and their children to the num- ber of 185, besides more than 200 black servants, and put everyone to death except one young man, who hastily rode to the other encampments and warned them of their danger. In the year '38 the various companies united under a powerful leader called Andries Pretorius, and under him they succeeded at last in crushing Dingaan's power. But several most fierce and terrific battles were necessary ere this was accomplished. The Englishmen at Port Natal also assisted. With more than 1,000 na- tives, they attacked Dingaan. After fighting for many hours they were overwhelmed by thousands of Zulus and only four Englishmen and some hundreds of blacks escaped, having rushed through the Tugela River. The most memorable day of battle was the KUh of December, 1838, when about 450 Boers mot many thousands of Zulus, defeating and scat- tering the very flower of Chaka's army. This day has ever since by the Boers of the Transvaal been celebrated as Dingaan's Day, with religious wuniiiip aiid Buiemli i^joiciug. lii uivmofy of tiieir vlctury liiey aiiQ v^ernment it hope at i received tory was to repay This con- ught also Dntaining is leader- ?ected to about 40 an. The held war oer party a dancing arty was his army ice of sor- surprised the num- eryone to mpments onipanies ndor him eral most nplished. 1,000 na- hey were and some 'la River. )er, 1838. and scat- ce by the religious Uiey aiBQ ^H H H or r . w s»< ill c «. 1 S s^ ■ or &% l^ll H 0^ il ^H M go ■ (R S ■ s 1 "J 11 " a THE COLONY OP NATAL. ^ ."ll'l' l!^t 1 "" *"''" ^"^'^ '"^^ P"'™^«' •» ^^t^Wi^h a»d which they called P.etermarlt.burg. They were enabled anally to crul he Zulus by means of an alliance with one Panda, who revolt^ with a largl section 0, the tribe against Dingaan, the chief. The latter fled no fu and was assassinated in 1840. No one can fail surely to admire the courage and almost sublime de- gaan. Whether one reads of the heroic women who urged their bus- 6ands on to punish the chief for his act of treachery, or the men who set themselves w.th a fierce will to rid the land of this blood-thirstyTyrant or even the young boys who went into battle with the passion of filial de vofon; or whether we think of the religious fervor which charl™ them all through their campaigns, which enabled them to pray nVgM by n.gh; on the.r marches, and to praise the God of battles after eve^vi/ ory, we cannot but feel that this story of the conquest of Natal des^ve, to be placed as a mere story of brave deeds and dauntless eatrrnrLe among the most remarkable in the history o' men ^»»«P"se All the more must we sympathize with the keen disappointment of these farmers when it came to their knowledge tha, the 'Zish Oovem TolZ" "^"T '"r""" "' ""'""'"^ »"' *'"">• '»<■*» cameio Cape lown of certain efforts which the farmers were making to drive other nbes away from desirable locations and to move them south and west ^wards Cape Colony itself, thus intending to make comfort f" them selves at the expense of the citizens of the older colony. When a srn^l party „ soldier at Port Natal claimed authority over t'hem the bZ a once attacked them and laid siege to their camp. At last, however"in for ements came and the Boers at once submitted. At a meeting of thti Volksraad, prolonged and bitter debates took place, which ended li,. resolution to accept the inevitable and come under the a thority of ^he Queen. Some hundreds of families remained in Natal, and have etcr snce enjoyed the peace, the security and prosperity ^f a st^dv and strcmg oovernment, but the majority, it is sL, cfuld not brookThl ide of renmm.ng under authority It is probable that not a mere preiVdice ZuX:r"" "' """' "'""'" '"' *" *-^" '-" -Igratfo^^ The fact Is that they were onie more bronchi Into nnn*»-. .-..^ .... -...., mental principle upon which Great Britain de.l^swith"n"atre™T^ 46 THE COLONY OP NATAL. That principle in its humbling application by British Governors had dnven them from Cape Colony, and the prospect of its application drove them from Natal. One of the chief reasons given for the assertion of British authority in that region was the protection of the rights of native tnbes, and three conditions were announced as necessary to be ooserved by all who would settle there as subjects of the Queen. First, there should not be in the eyes of the law any discrimination founded upon distinction of color or language or creed. Second, no attacks* -!->..iJ h- made by private persons or bodies of men upon natives resi rond the limits of the colony without direct authority of the Go jment And, thirdly, slavery in any form and under any name must be consid- ered as unlawful within the Queen's dominions. It was in 1842 that Port Natal was taken; in 1845 it was constituted a Colony. Between these years various parties of the Boers crossed the Drakensberg Mountains and settled in various parts of the Orange Free State and the Transvaal. In 1856 Natal was granted a still larger measure of self-government, the affair^ of the colony being managed by a council consisting partly of representatives chosen by the white inhab- itants and partly of officials appointed by the Crown. One of the imme- diate results of the British occupation and government was that the de- populated country became a haven for tribes and remnants of tribes and vast numbers of individuals who had for years been practically without homes. As they flocked into the country, locations were assigned them. Now the population is estimated at between 400,000 and bOO,000 natives Many of these live under tribal laws and have been hardly touched by either Christianity or civilization. They are increasing with enormous rapidity and the wisest statesmen in Natal look forward with anxiety to the problem which they will present in a few years to that Government Natal, with its warm climate, its rich soil, its abundant rivers, yields many most valuable products, but these can only be grown by means of native labor. Inasmuch as the African natives are lazy beyond com- pare, the enterprising Natal Europeans hit upon the idea of importing coolies from the East. Many thousands have been brought from Tnd^a of whom it was thought that they would all return to their homes, but most of them find Natal as good a place to die in as India; and there they remain. As they were British subjects before coming to Natal their THE £OLONY OF NATAL. 47 presence there has constituted a distinct and serious problem for colon- lal politicians. Like the Cape Colony it is a self-governing colony, complete self- government having been granted in 1893. The Legislature consists of the Governor, a nominated Legislative Council, and an elected Legisla- tive Assembly. The Legislative Council is composed of eleven mem- J-T'-r.Tf f ^^ '^' ^^^"'""' "" *^^ ^^^^«« «^ hi« °»i«i«ter8, and distributed between the eight counties into which the colony is divided A member of the Legislative Council must be 30 years of age, a resi* dent m the colony of ten years' standing, and possessed of immovable property within the colony to the net value of £500. He holds his seat for ten years. The Legislative Assembly consists of thirty-seven mem- bers, elected by ballot to represent thirteen constituencies. The quali- fica ion for membership of the Assembly is the same as the electoral qualification Electors must be 21 years of age, and possess immovable property to the value of £50, or rent such property to the annual value of £10 or have resided three years in the colony, with an income of not less than £96 per annum. The life of the Assembly lasts for four years, If It IS not previously dissolved by the Governor. Members of the Council and Assembly are not paid, but are entitled to a travelling allowance. ® The executive power is in the hands of the Governor and his Execu- tive Council, the latter consisting of the Ministers for the time beinir They are not more than six in number, and may sit and speak in either house, but vote only in the house of which they are members. Under the Constitution Act a Civil List is reserved, one item in which is the sum of £10,000 to be devoted annually to promoting the welfare and education of the natives. CHAPTER IV. THE ORANGE FREE STATE. THE Boer farmers, who in large numbers were moving north- wards, met with many strange and dreadful experiences, but large numbers of them settled down in regions where they en- joyed comparative peace and prosperity. Amongst these were the set- tiers in what is now known as the Orange Free State. This region, lying north of the Great River— now invariably called the Orange Riveiv-and south of the Vaal River, has for its eastern base the remarkable highlands of Basutoland and the range known as Dracken- berg. The country itself consists, for the most part, of rolling prairies intersected with many streams. It is a rich farming country. When the Boer farmers first reached it, they found that it had been recently devastated by a section of the Zulu tribe under a brilliant but ruthless leader called Moselekatse. These savages, afterwards called Matebele, had swept the country, slaying the people, destroying their fields and carrying off their cattle. They spared only the young boys and girls, who were destined to be brought up as members of their tribe. The Boers could not escape a contest with these terrible and bloodthirsty warriors. One section of the Boers, under a man named Potgieter, left at a certain point the women and children of their larc^e company in order that the men might explore the country further north. In their absence, the families were attacked and a large num- ber of them put to death by a band of these Zulu warriors. The Zulus went to their headquarters for re-enforcements, and in the meantime Potgieter and his company returned. He proceeded immediately to form what is called in South Africa a "laager," which is a rough circle of camp material formed by drawing the wagons together and filling up the space between the wheels with earth and branches of trees From behind this breastwork the Europeans could use their guns stead' lly and with comparative safety, while the Zulus, not possessinir fire TH I ORANGE FREE STATE. 49 arms found themselves unable to break through the barriers and use their ternble spears. By these means Potgieter inflicted a severe defeat upon the Zulus and drove them off. The savages were so driven to despair at not getting through the wagons to reach their enemies that they attempted to attack them by throwing their spears over the roofs cLd^^g"^^^"""'* '^^^' ""^ ''''''^' ''^' ^ comparatively harmless pro- Having, in several skirmishes, thrashed these Zulus and taken some thousands of cattle from them, they found themselves at last attacked by Moselekatse himself at the head of twelve thousand warriors The Boer farmers only numbered 135, but they were on horses and armed with guns and for nine days they kept up an incessant battle against the hosts of their enemies. Their method was simple, daring and most effective. They approached to within a short distance of the Mate- bele, used their guns with terrific precision and 'then galloped awav from the rushing onslaught immediately made upon them, thus keeping beyond the reach of the Matebele assegai and shooting down no one knows how many of the masses opposed to them. They at last fairly disheartened Moselekatse and his famous regiments. Invincible these ' had proved themselves against natives armed as they themselves were and invincible also they had deemed themselves against the white men Great was their amazement and horror to find themselves defeated, and they fled, northwards they fled, spreading death and destruction throughout the whole region which they traversed. Manv years after- wards visitors to Matabeleland. now called Rhodesia, wher^ Moselekatse settled, were wont to hear the older warriors of his tribe speak of their ancient battles with the Boers. Always they spoke with tones of respect and even of awe as of men they had found superior warriors to themselves. At the place where one of their victories was gained, namely at Wmburg, the emigrants formed themselves into an organized com- munity, adopting articles for their self-government. That was in the year 1837. It was not long before they found themselves pursued, a^ heretofore, by the long arm of British authority. In 1846 there arrived ^.aiig. «iver uce ui xae mosi famous governors of South Africa, Sir Harry Smith by name. He found himself involved in dis- 60 THE ORANGE FREE STATE. putes with these farming communities that were establishing them- selves at various parts north and east from the Cape Colony. In the conduct of these disputes, the British authorities were not always right. They frequently made mistakes, especially in their dealings with the immense variety of native tribes, many of whom were quarreling amongst themselves for the possession of the lands of which also the Boer farmers were taking possession. If the Cape governors and their officials had known all about South African ethnology, about the cus- toms and laws of native tribes, which is known now, many of their worst blunders might have been prevented. Moreover, the principle had been adopted and was sedulously maintained, that the Boer farm- ers, being actually British subjects, could not expect to be allowed to pass beyond the control of the Queen. Wherever they went, they went m British citizens, responsible to the Governor at the Cape; wherever they went he was responsible for them. The fact that they settled among natives in territories which wer» not British did not seem to the latter authorities any reason for disavowing their citizenship. Bather d;d their presence, and the positions of pre-eminence which they gained itt regions hitherto occupied by native tribes involve their rulers in serious obligations regarding their conduct. This principle had been maintained by the Dutch government before the British came, and has been generally acted upon, it is believed, bj' every European govern- ment when groups of its citizens have settled in savage lands or unoc- cupied territories. It was in pursuance of this principle that Sir Harry Smith, in 1846, established what he called the Orange River riovereignty over the region described above. The Boer farmers were many of them contented to have it so, but others of course were discontented. These latter placed themselves under Commandant Pretorius, who, in the year 1848, drove the English officials . "mss the Orange River and proposed to rule the country without them. Sir Harry Smith imme- dit.ely returned and in a fierce fight at Boomplats defeated them. Pretorius, and those who were thoroughly irreconcilable, forthwith Bet out on another trek. This time they crossed the Vaal River and settled down in the region which came speedily to be known as the Tm^SrYs^l, xiie comiuuiilUeei which remained io the region betwe^i THE ORANGE FREE STATE. 51 the Orange and the Vaal Rivera were, on the whole, well content to be under British government. Unfortunately, the Governor was able to leave in that region only a very small military force. When Moshesh, a powerful chief of the Basutos on the eastern border, offended the Orange River authorities by making raids upon the farms and carrying off thousands of cattle, this little force attempted to attack him. They were driven back and the farmers were in constemaiion. The British forces were already engrossed in a protracted and severe struggle fur- ther east with the natives of Kaffraria and no immediate help could be expected from them. The farmers accordingly appealed for help to their former commandant, Pretorius, who at this time was treated by the British as an outlaw. He at once saw his opportunity and gave the British their choice between recognizing iiis community across the Transvaal as an independent republic, or meeting him again at the head of the disaffected farmers oi' the Orange River Sovereignty. Finding themselves in this dilemma the British accepted the former alternative and in that year, 1852, at the Sand River convention, agreed to those articles which created an independent Transvaal State. And now Sir Harry Smith found all his plans upset from an entirely new quarter. The home government in London were becoming thor- oughly tired of incessant struggles in South Africa with natives they could not love and Boera they could not understand. It seemed as thougL Cape Colony were only a burden and an expense, which brought no return either of wealth or of glory. Accordingly, it hud been resolved that the Orange River should henceforth form the northern boundary of British dominions in South Africa. Sir George Cathcart was there- fore commanded to abandon the Orange River Sovereignty and to enter into a treaty recognizing the Europeans there as an independent and self-governing State. "He called upon the European inhabitants to elect "a body of represpntatives to take over the government; but when the "representatives asi^mbled, they objected in the strongest terms to be "cbandoned by Great Britain, for even while they were debating. Mo* "hesh was crushing Sikonyela and another of his opponents, and adding "their territory to his own. In effect, the representative assembly said "to Sir George Clerk (the British special commissioner) that they held "England in honor bound to reduce the great barbaric power she had 52 THE ORANGE FREE STATE. Iff done «, moch t. build up. When that was done, they would not need mmta^ assistance, and would be prepared to taie over the govern- ment of the country, though the, wished to remain permanently co" •nected with the British Empi,^. The special commissioner, however rr„7:. I'J '"^'-*™«- '"•- P«^-g any attention tTlau: t on.sts. The assembly then sent two dHegates to England to implore he Queen s government and the parlia. ut not to abandon thernVto "those gentlemen met with no success in their mission." (Theal 1 After a considerable amount of negotiations, the Governor at last succeeded in persuading the assembly of delegates to ag.«,°olcep ndependenc^it was asserted that it was even necessao^bribe some to vote for this measure. The following e«erpts from the artlcl»"f convention, which were at last agreed to between the QueeX snTci^ :rgrti^rnr '''"'"™*' "''■'' -^"-''-^ -^^^^^^^ In Article I: "Her Majesty's special commissioner, in entering into a convention for finally transferring the govemmen of throfango Knrer temto,^ to the representatives delegated by the inhabitant to receive It guarantees, on the part of her Majesty's government the future independence of that country and its governmfnt." TpLia mation is promised "finally freeing them from their allegiaucerthe British crovvn, but declaring them to all intents and purposes a fr« ^l ndependent people, and their government to be treated and con^e,^ thenceforth as a free and independent government." The seconnrti^ declares that the British government has no alllauce whateverTth auy native chiefs or tribes north of the Orange River, with the «:epC of one whose case is afterwards dealt with. It is, moreover, ass^rt^ hat this government has no wish or Intention ti form anyT^t "which may be injurious or prejudicial to the Interests of the ^n^ Biver government." The seventh article declares that the OrangS TJ^fT A""" '^™" "" ^'""^'^ "' *™«* '" «'"«» t" their t^trito^ north of the Orange River. lermoiy Thus did Or^t Britain take a great step backwards, not mer^lv r»olTing to push no farther but actually to withdraw from Trich temtoij and a prosperous community where her continued exer.1^ „, SIR W. HELY HUTCHINSON Governor of Natal and Zululand. CONYNGHAM GREENE, C. B. British Consular Agent at Pretoria. SIR J. GORDON SPRIfifi Late Prime Minister of Cape Colonr, MO I MM W»t\w»mmm%^pm^ fwfi^j *^T Sit ssxmrsaj J Bj 7.eader of the Dutch Party In Cape Colony. u % o m ft w a Oo is II « o 55 -S* «g « u |i 1| 's ki tl 5w l| 8| I at |l ^& S ■•< m If * —-a si THE ORANGE FREE STATE. 57 authority was freely and profoundly desired. This is the second in- stance of British withdrawal, made with as much sincerity as spon- taneity, but destined, like nearly all the other instances which we shall have occasion to record, to bring forth troubles more numerous and more perplexing than those which it was intended to ward off. One reason why the fifteen thousand white inhabitants of this territory feared to stand alone was their fear of that powerful Basuto tribe which already had caused them so much loss in possessions and in valuable lives. Nevertheless, the little republic settled down to its extraordinary task among these ominous circumstances with a courage which proved itself indomitable. The British government has never had reason to interfere with the internal administration of this country from that day to this. The Free Staters have proved themselves both wise and firm, and good-hearted citizens. They have had the inesti- mable advantage of being led by several presidents who were men of great ability and high soul. They have administered their affairs with care and with singular success. They have gradually increased in wealth; they have paid much attention to education and thus have earned for themselvos the hearty respect and good-will of their former rulers— their permanent friends— the British government. Within five years of the acceptance of their independence the people of the Orangt^ Free State found themselves in such difflculUes that they actually petitioned the British govtinment to receive them again into the British Empire, annexing them to the Cape Colony. After some consideration, this petition was finally refused. On only two occasions have the British government and the Orange Free State found themselves in serious difficulties with one another. The first of these events occurred in the year 1867, when the Free State found itself once more at war with the Basutos. On a former occasion the Governor of the Cape Imd intervened to save the Beers from the Basutos. On this occasion, Moshesh, the Basuto king, finding himself hard pressed, sent a message to the Governor imploring his interven- tion and flood offices. The Governor acquiesced, much to the indigna- tion of the Boers, who hoped on this occasion to finally crush their J -,tr.Tv^ -^tru ..-^-uiivJ J ,iiiu M1153 UIKO OHC lODg SICp tOWaTliS the sea coa«t. It waa one of the arabitioni of this young republic to •WHMIWl 58 THE ORANGE FREE STATE. Stretch its territory across the continent eastwards until it should pos- sess a seaport of its own and become one of the States of the world, with an international importance. The Governor of the Cape, wit' tingly or unwittingly, shut this project off forever by making Basuto- land a protectorate under the British crown. Very naturally the Free State felt a bitter chagrin at this most unexpected move on the part of Great Britain. They could point to the words of the second article of the convention, quoted above, and apply the promise there made to this case. The British Governor could, on the other hand, very fairly argue that the protectorate assumed over the Basutos could not be proved to be injurious or prejudicial to the interests of the Orange Free State as it then existed. It simply made impossible the scheme of extension which was not in contemplation at the time of the convention and could not be fairly included under that article. The other occasion on which the two governments clashed with one another was in the year 1869-70 over the discovery and development of the diamond fields. At this time the President of the Orange Free State was one Jan Hendrick Brand, who was first elected in 1865 and was repeatedly re-elected until his death in 1885. He was a man of high character, great ability and consummate tact; one of the noblest figures of South African history and one of the best beloved. If he had not conducted the prolonged and sometimes embittered controversy regard- ing the territory in dispute, worse troubles might have arisen. Elsewhere in these pages, the diamond industry of Kimberley is described. Suffice it here to say that the first diamond identified in that region was found in 1867. In 1869 a native was found wearing as a charm a large stone which is now always known as the "Star of South Africa." When a few more had been found, it became evident that the region lying in the narrow angle between the Vaal and the Moddor rivers was diamondiferous and the inevitable rush of prospectors and fortune seekers began. No railway came within several hundred miles of this district and the thousands of people who flocked thither from all over the worid had the hanlest experiences in attempting to roach the object of their journey. They had o travel either in wagons, or crowded day after day in small coaches, or they had to tramp over the whole \iii9t«4QC€* Of course, thry Weie of many nationalities and of many varie- THE ORANGE FREE STATE. m ties of character. Campg that were speedily formed at the spots where diamonds were said to have been found became centers of the usual free and reckless life associated with mining populations. The first question that arose had regard to the government which was responsible for the maintenance of law and order among these camps. Over this difficulty the British government came into its most serious collision mth the Orange Free State. The negotiations were protracted. At times they verged on bitterness, but they were brought to a termination without an open rupture, and that very largely through the calm wisdom and magnificent self-control of President Brand. Of course there were great divergences of opinion regarding the merits of the dispute but it is ever more widely agreed, among those who have investigated the story, that the Orange Free State had by far the best of the argument; that the British governors at the Cape committed a grievous error in law when they seized and occupied the territory of the Diamond Fields. The territory of the Diamond Fields, as we have pointed out, lies in the narrow angle betweon the Vaal River on the north and the Modder on the south. To the north of the Vaal there lived a Griqua chief by name Waterboer, who employed as his business agent an exceedingly clever European named David Arnot. Under the advice of Arnot, and guided by his skilful diplomacy, Waterboer laid claim to the territory of the Diamond Fields before an arbitration court which had been constituted to settle a dispute regarding his territory on the other or northern side of the Vaal River. The arbitrator does not appear to have investigated at all closely this particular claim and he did not summon ihe Orange Free State to say whether their interests were involved in it. When the arbitrator, Governor Keate of Natal, issued his award, it was discovered that he had assigned to Waterboer this territory of the Diamond Fields. Waterboer, under the advice of his agent, immediately applied to the British government for advice and aid in the control of this region. Now the Orange Free State have their story to tell conrerning this most valuable territory. They assert that it was bought by then in earlier days from the Korannas, who had, in the ordinarv ooupsp nf South African events, conquered and driven out its original own^ri. IMMM wmmak 60 THE ORANGE FREE STATE. This purchase by the Boers appears to have been freely acknowledged so far back as 1850 by the British Resident, while the Orange Free State was still under the British authorities. Moreover, it wa« afterwards proved that the British authorities had themselves granted title deeds to certain farms in that very district, which were filed in the office at Bloemfontein the capital of that country. Copies of these deeds were produced by President Brand and shown to the Governor at the Cape. In that district President Brand proved that a hundred more farms had been allotted and their title deeds likewise filed. Moreover, a mag- istrate had been appointed whose authority was also understood by the Free State government to extend over the region where the diamonds were discovered. That region itself was almost entirely barren, and hence had not been settled. When the first rush of miners came, the F^e State authorities immediately sent a new magistrate, placing his office at the little village of Pniel. He was already there and beginning to exercise his office when the Governor at the Cape, having received the appeal above mentioned from Waterboer, sent another magistrate, appointing him to that very district. He began his work on the north side of the Vaal River, but speedily crossed over with a band of police and entered upon the duties of his office on the Diamond Fields There might, of course, have arisen a very serious condition of affairs if the Free State had not been guided by President Brand. He immf>. diately issued a proclamation, in November, 1871, characterized by g-eat wisdom as well as dignity. He firmly and frankly described this pro- ceedmg of the Governor as an hostile invasion in time of perfect peace and a violation of the territory of the Free State, but he at the same time ordered and enjoined the officers and citizens of tbe State to avoid any action which might lead to a collision between the two countries He expressed the fullest confidence that the information and explana- tions which were to be placed before the govemm -nt in England would secure the acknowledgment and recognition of their rights. The British government in London was, so far as regards accurate information, at the mercy of its represpntatives in Cape Town. Accordingly the Colonial Office threw the responsibility upon the Cape government, ex- pressing willingness to have this temtory annexed only if the Cape fV»lf»Tlt7 <1oa{Tir><1 i-j^ nm.n>.««, li. I ■% M . .. - ~ «• — • '^ '^^ Fvo^cna ii «iiu agrevu 10 roie il. This the Cape gov- THE ORANGE FREE STATE. ei erament at first seemed willing to do, but later it declined the responrf, bility. *^ Here then was a strange complication. The authorities in London agreed to take Waterboer's territory if the ministers atCapeTown would annex it to Cape Colony. The colony, after hesitation, declined. Now the Governor of Cape Colony had already taken the momentous step of sending a magistrate and the policemen to occupy the territory, practi- cally, on his own responsibility. He therefore found himself in the unhappy predicament of ruling a small territory which neither England nor the Cape Colony desired to possess or had empowered him to annex But such a step is more easily taken than withdrawn, and the Governor proceeded to treat the Diamond Fields, with the surrounding country as a British protectorate under the name of Griqualand West. Throughout all these events a voluminous correspondence waa of course, passing between the two governments at Bloemfontein and Cape Town. President Brand on one occasion paid a visit to Cape Town when a new Governor had arrived. On this occasion he complained of the length to which the correspondence had grown, and in illustration Baid that one letter alone had extended to a certain very large number of paragraphs. "It must be a very poor case, said the Governor, that needs such a long argument." "But, your Excellency," replied the President, "that was your own letter." Curiously enough it was a British court that put the strongest argument in the hands of the Free State government. It has been ever the custom of the British government, when it was settlinir a new country and found conflicting land claims, to appoint a court with full power to investigate and determine these claims This happened in Griqualand West, and one of the conclusions to which this court came was that Waterboer had no right to the terri- tory and, therefore, that no claims to any portion of the land which were based upon a transaction with him, could be held as valid As soon as President Brand obtained this powerful argument, he went straight to London and there presented his case. He was very warmly received, and very generously treated. But when it came to deciding as to whether the Diamond Fields territory, which had now been ruled " -= ~ ^--«x:r, nisuuiu uu uanuea oacK lo the Orange Free 62 THE ORANGE FREE STATE. State, practical difficulties arose. The population was equal to fully half that of the Orange Free State, and was composed of the most diverse elements from all parts of the world, forming a community notoriously difficult to control. The expediency of retrocession w^s at least debatable. The British government finally said to President Brand that they desired, without attempting to decide the merits of the original dispute, to pay to the Free State a solatium of ninety thousand pounds (about |450,000.00). President Brand does not seem to have struggled very long over this offer. He accepted it, and on returning to his own country applied that sum to the reduction of their public debt No doubt the Free State did feel sore over this apparent wrong, and the gradual discovery that the Diamond mines were worth far more than was anticipated even in 1876, may have tended t6 inten- sify their disappointment. But, on the other hand, it must be con- sidered that in the development of this region they have found a splen- did market for the produce of their splendid farms, and that it has brought to them a large increase of wealth without adding to the burden of their administrative responsibilities. In 1880 Grequaland West was annexed to the Cape Colony. The development of the Orange Free State after the settlement of the difficulties about the Kimberley diamond fields was on the whole characterized by steadiness rather than rapidity. It was the policy of that wise and far seeing President Brand to avoid all complications which would in any wise drag his people into war or bring disorder among themselves. In 1881, for example, when the Transvaal Boers weie preparing for their war of independence President Brand rebuffed all overtures for co-operation which would have dragged him into the strife. Again in 1887, when President Kruger came to Bloemfontein and proposed an alliance which would have brought the two Republics into the closest possible union both for commercial and for military pur- poses, President Brand, in whose hands his Volksraad left the decision, firmly but finally declined the proposal. Even when the Transvaal President offered to pay the sum of £20,000 ($200,000) annually for ten years to the treasury of the smaller and less wealthy Republic, the stal- wart self-respect of President Brand thrust the temptation aside. The result of President Brand's generous attitude was such as to give him a THE ORANGE FREE STATE. 63 position of great influence, where he enjoyed the confidence of everj statesman in South Africa and the ministers of the Queen. The honor in which he was held in London was manifested when in 1882 he was offered the decoration of K. C. M. G. by Queen Victoria. This he had both the courtesy and the strength to accept, and he became henceforth known as Sir John Brand. In commercial affaire the Orange Free State has had to depend on the whole upon the gradual development of its farming system. 1^ is true that a diamond mine was discovered at Jagersfontein, but it has never reached large proportions, and the prospecting craze which seized the population at the time of this discovery has made it practically cer- tain that every corner of the land likely to yield diamonds has been searched and found wanting. One of the most important stages in the commercial prosperity of this plucky and peace-loving Republic was reached when the railway was built from Cape Town and carried through to the Transvaal. Customs arrangements were made with Cape Colony which have proved peculiarly favorable to the Orange Free State. The country is subject to the affliction of recurrent droughts which are severely felt by the large farming population; but these now produce less of real affliction, owing to the general level of comfort which the people enjoy. On July 14, 1888, the beloved and honored President Sir John Brand passed away. The Volksraad immediately met and in the following month elected Mr. F. W. Reitz to the presidential chair. It was this Mr Reitz who a few years later forsook the Orange Free State for Pretoria and became Secretary to the Government of the Transvaal. In recent years there have been repeated quarrels between the two Republics ou the matter of the tariff, but these became finally adjusted. When Mr Reitz resigned, the present President, M. T. Steyn, was elected to succeed him in the year 1896. Mr. Steyn is a son of the land, his father is an honored farmer who was induced to send his promising boy to Europe to complete his education. During six years of study both in Holland and in London President Steyn became a master of the legal profes- sion, gained an insight into the larger life of European countries, and returned to become speedily a man of influence and a maker of history in the Orange Free State. A snlpmn f,.«ot- ».",i u *__ , ... .. ,„i^ „„Q uccii lurmeu witn in« 64 THE ORANGE FREE STATE. Transvaal in which each state promised to assist the other if its inde- pendence should be threatened or attacked. It is this treaty which has dragged the Orange Free State into the present war. President Steyn all last year (1898) took a prominent part in the events which led up to the catastrophe of war. He it was who helped to secure the conference at Bloemfontein between President Kruger and Sir Alff ed Milner. At a later stage in the discussions he interposed with a striking and powerful letter of protest and entreaty which he sent to the British Government. In this despatch he wired that his Government had "done all in its power to obtain a peaceful and satisfactory solution of the differences between Her Majesty's Government and the South African Republic," recommending important reforms in the matter of the franchise and representation for British subjects who were desirous of becomi^or burghers of that Republic. He complains that while the Boer Governm' nt was trying to induce the Volksraad to accept the sug- gested reforms, a change was noted in the tone of the despatches ema- nating from London. "The British Government,— it is urged —had in fact departed from the basis oa which negotiations were opened— that of not interfering in tie internal affairs of the Republic. The request for the Joint Commission of Inquiry emphasized that fact beyond any shadow of doubt." Still, he says, the Free State Government persisted in their efforts and "once more advised the Government of the South African Republic to make yet another concession, and to give yet an- other proof of its willingness to meet the British Government by con- senting to accept the invitation of the British Government to take part in such a Joint Commission." He asserts that this advice was adopted by the Boer Govertment, and that only then did tbey discover that the concessions hitherto made by the South AMcan Republic were unavail- ing. The despatch goes, on to assert that while the British Government had promised new proposals it had persisted "in tlie absence of any apparent cause" in the work of making extensive military preparations in Sonth Africa. "This Government cannot conceive at present that the points of difference that may exist on this subject justify those extensive and ever increasing military prep— tions being carried out on this bor- der, not only in South African Republic, but also in the Ormge Free State, and they are therefore reluctantly compelled to conclude that they r DUTCH BOERS OUTSPANNED el*rT*'h»t^'M.°M!'J!!"«^" '^^•° '*•'*" .^."' ■"'' P'"*"*"! "'»•>"' 'he IncloBure for 'he night. The Bo«r tr»T. J If THE ORANGE FREE STATE. 67 ml u h n er u OS ts fife III •Sgf "52 I -sis I o £ a >> o So pi O M fl si" eo w ^ Ik ■oSg so -^ ?"•' So must be intended to secure other objects at present unknown to the Gov- ernment of this State." The President begs therefore that no effort be spared to effect a peaceful settlement if possible of the points in dispute and urges that pending the issue cf the new proposals which were being prepared by the British Government, "any further movement or increase of troops on or near the borders" should be stopped. It is now a matter of history that this despatch, powerful as it was, proved powerless to arrest the course of events. While the British Gov- ernment was still preparing its new proposals the Government at Pre- toria suddenly issued its ultimatum and the war began. President Steyn then published his "Manifesto," from which we extract the follow- ing powerful and stirring paragraphs: "Burghers of the Orange Free State! "That moment, which we have tried to avoid by all means in our power, and which we are driven to oppose against wrong stad shameful oppression, has now tome. "Our sister Republic north of the Vaal River is on the eve of being attacked by a remorseless enemy, who already for many years past has looked for pretexts and has prepared for the act of violence of which they are now guilty; the object of which is to end the independence of the African nation. "We are related to our sister Republic, not only by tiei* of blood, of compassion, and of common interest, but also by a formal treaty, ren- dered necessary by circumstances, and we are bound to assi6,t them whenever they should be unlawfully attacked, which, alas, we have had reason to expect for a long time already. "We therefore cannot tolerate that wrong to be done to them, and our own liberty, acquired at so high a price, to be endangered, but are as men bound to oppose it; trusting in the Almighty Lord, in the firm belief that He will never suffer wrong and injustice to triumph, and confiding in our good right in the eyes of Him and all the world. "Thus if we oppose a mighty enemy, with whom we have always been desirous of living in friendship, in spite of wrong and injustice suffered from them in the past, we solemnly declare, in the presence of the Al- mighty Lord, that we are driven to do so through the wrong done to our Mwmaasa aa as THE ORANGE FREE STATE. relations, and througH the knowledge that the end of their independence will render insignificant our own existence as an independent nation, and that their fate, should they have to fall before an overwhelming force, will involve us, too, in a short time. "Solemn treaties have been of no avail to our sister Republic against annexation, against conspiracy, against claims of a suzerainty no longer existing, against constant oppression and meddling with their affairs and now against a repeated attack, the sole object of which is their rum." Then follows a statement of the grievances which the Orange Free rftate feels itself to have received from the British Government in the early days of the Basuto quarrels. This leads to an important statement regarding the franchise question which can.:,t but make the reader wonder how far President Steyn had been sincere and earnest when he was urging President Kruger to deal with that problem in a spirit of compliance with the demands of the Outlanders. "The consequence of this claim (i. e., of the franchise on reasonable terms), if acquiesced in, will be that from those or their ancestors, who have saved the country from barbarism and have opened it to civiliza- tion and light with their blood and their tears, will be taken away the measure of control over the affairs of their country to which they are entitled according to Divine and human laws; and that an excess of power will be placed in the hands of those who, foreigners by birth enjoy the privilege of emptying the country from its most important treasure, whereas they never evinced any loyalty but to a foreign Oov- ernment. Moreover, the unavoidable consequence of giving way to these claims would be that the independence of the country, as also their autonomy and sovereignty, would ho irreparably lost." Two short paragraphs cast the blame of the war upon Britain's move- ments of her troops and her diplomacy. And the manifesto concludes as follows: "On their heads be the blood, and may an equitable Providence nun ish those who deserve it by their acts. "BuFgher» of the Orange Free fcJtatel Rise to a man against the op. THE ORANGE FREE STATE. 69 pressor and violator of justice. Let none of your deeds in the war, to which we are forced now, be such as would not beseem a Christian and burgher of the Orange Free fetate. "Let us trust for a favorable end to this war, relying upon the aid of Him without whose ssistance human arms are of no avail whatever. May He bless our arms. Under His banner we go to the war for Liberty and for Fatherland. "These passed under my hand and the Grand Seal of the Orange Free State at Bloemfontein. (Signed) M. T. Steyn "State's President" CHAPTER V. ZULULAND. IMmA THIS name is given to a narrow strip of territory which lies oi the northern borders of Natal between the southeastern border of the Transvaal and the sea coast. It runs north until it borders with Tongaland, a small territory which again borders with the Portuguese territory. The general geographical features of Zululand are much the same as those of Natal. The name is derived from the race which inhabits it, and they derive their name Zulu, according to some authorities, from one of their early chiefs whose name was Zulu. As the Zulus have, more than any other South African race except the Basutos made history in South Africa, it is worth while to describe them and their political relations and influences during this century. The remarkable and unique thoroughness of their organization as a military tribe has been tracees; his mouth was wide, and his teeth large and wide. I was told after he left that this was one of the chiefs executioners; and from the frequency of his domiciliary visits he was called by the Matebele 'the chiefs knife.' I thought his face befitted his office. Waiting in the neighborhood till his victim has drunk the last cup of beer, he gives him time to fall into that stupor of sleep and drunkenness out of which he is never to awake. The chief's knife has his assistants, who are in readiness to 'mak siccar' any bloody work; for Moselekatse could not carry on his paternal administration with only one 'knife' According to the testimony of one o,' the missionaries, it is nothing for him to send in one night four or five different parties of ven- geance, to hurry the inhabitants of four or five different villages into eternity. . . . "The captives taken in their raids grow up in the service of their captors, or of tho«e to whom they sell them within the tribe. They herd cattle in time of peace; tb^y parry the irape"«"l«»ion, appointed by the Bnfsh Government, attempted to investigate the clai™ of both parhes, and to reach a final and authoritative con.I..;™, ft ./said ttM hey declined to consider written documents .. ,.,. .sidenrwhen dispute that, m many instances, white men ia South Africa have at- tempted to flich land from native chiefs by getting them to agree to - documen and to sign it, which, when read aloud i/a native trfn laL o the chief, s ated one set of conditions, and which, when ■ resemed o ~" 'if ^r "' ^"™>"'" '^''"■"" •" -- -rt. was rund to contain entirely different conditions. Such might easii; have been the metLod employed in this instance, and the commissioned theref^e shut out the evidence of documents which Zulus could not read Hav- ing heard and considered the evidence of both sides, the commissioners decided m favor of the Zulus. Not long after this Sir Bartle Pi^re, fflgh Commissioner for South Africa, came to Natal and among other mattl™ mquired into the findings of this commission. He was difappoinHand attemoTed r " "" ■"" "' "^^ "'"' """""^ "^ -"»- -Tustict^ He attempted to atone in some measure for this injustice by warnins Oetv wayo that when land had been occupied so long a« this land had been by these European farmers they, although brought under his autho^ty Z Chief of the country, yet had rights in their homesteads and farms wit" Which he must not interfere, t'etywayo was in no mood to ricdve ir "'■ '""• r '""" ' "'"' ■""■'• "'"' "* ""«"^* ""» warning and d^tate »»">eBteads were set ablate and a fair .and became ™-^*"'-TT?T''"" ''^'"'' "' ^"'"'' '"'<' P"'^«<^'> '"e "i'^tims of their raids luto Natal itself, and there in defiance of local authorities had seized and earned them off to be put to death. Protests against tWs wer» made in vain, the chief offei^d to pay compensation in money, but auy further promise was declined The result of their attitude and of the successes of Sekukuni against the Boers, as well as of the peculiar uncertainty regarding the intentions of Oreat Britain in relation fo the extension of her South African dominions, spread, as we have «e J ZULULAND. 79 unrest throughout the entire region. The position is briefly summarized as follows;, 'Col. Lanyon had written in May, from a place on the Orange River, that for 150 miles of his march thither from Kimberley he had found the country deserted and all the farmers in laager, the attitude of natives being insolent, and cattle stealing, accompanied by acts of violence, not uncommon. In Pondoland there was apprehension of trouble with the natives. In the Transvaal discontent was on the in- crease among the Boers; and Sekukuni, who had successfully defied the Boer levies, and was closely allied with Cetywayo, was ready to break out again. . . . There were Cetywayo's unwashed spears, a thunder cloud on the frontier. Everywhere the outlook was stormy." ("Life of Sir Bartle Frere," by J. Martineau.) The main fact which the rulers of southeastern Africa had to con- sider was the mere existence of this great and ever-increasing tribe, its thorough and stern military organization, and its complete sub- jection to the will of a man who showed himself ambitious, self-con- fident, and who manifested the conviction that he could overthrow the power of the white people. This temper began to express itself in definite acts which he knew could only be received as hostile to Natal on the one hand, and the Transvaal on the other. Before the award of the commissioners regarding the disputed territory was reached, Cetywayo sent his soldiers into that region and drove many Boer families away. On more than one occasion the soldiers crossed the Tugela River into Natal in order to capture fugitives from his own tribe. These invaders secured their victims and carried them off in spite of protests of the local Natal authorities. Remonstrances from the Governor of Natal were treated by Cetywayo with something amounting to disdain. Those who know less practically of the temper of such a race would no doubt to this day urge that pacific measures might have maintained peace, and that it was better in any case to stave off the evil day; but men ^ ke Sir Bartle Frere, the High Commissioner for South Africa, who had behind him a long and great experience of savage tribes and vho knew the enormous dangers which accumulated upon the heads of those who imagine that a tribe of professional war- riors can consider pacific measures as anything but weak compromises on the part of their opponentB, were and ai'e probably unanimous that i '•rrig"'! m-icinii. Mi 80 ZULU LAND. sooner or later the Zulu army organization must have been faced and beaten by British soldiers. Exactly the same story was repeated some years later in Matebele- land. Here again it was from the beginning perfectly obvious to those who knew the facts that the country could not be opened to European settlement, nor the surrounding territories peacefully inhabited until the military organization of the Northern Zulus there had been com- pletely smashed. Sir Bartle Frere was a man who loved peace more than war, but who also lived and worked under a high sense of responsibility and guided by an experience of extraordinary breadth and variety. Cruel and most unjust assertions have been made against him by some his- torians of South Africa in connection with the Zulu and other tribal wars which took place in his time. But a reading of the despatches which he sent to London throughout this period will speedily prove to most that his soul desired only peace. Those documents reflect also the sad conviction which grew upon him as he became acquainted with the facts, that since war with the Zulus was inevitable at some time, the sooner the terrible necessity was faced the easier would be the victory and the more certain the arrangement of an abiding peace. He did not create conditions which made the war necessary. He says in one of his l«>tters, "The die for peace or war had been cast long before I or Duller or Sir Garnet Wolseley came here." And again he says, with pathetic emphasis, "I certainly did not come here to spend the fag end of my life, away from all I care for, in setting up strife. I hoped and still hope to do something for permanent peace and good government in South Africa, and should be sorry to be regarded as the evil spirit of war." Frere resolved that in sending to Cetywayo the announcement of the final award regarding the disputed territory, he would also send him a demand in the form of an ultimatum regarding those matters of dispute between the Zulus and the Natal Government. In this ulti- matum a demand was made for the surrender within 20 days of those who had carried the refugees from the Natal territory, and the payment of a fine both for those ofi?ences and the delay which had already oc- curred in atoninsr for them. anf\ aimfhot. fin^ #^.. ..« -» .^ - ZULULAND. 81 on two English officials. The most important points of the ultimatum consisted in a demand that the existing military system of the Zulus should be thoroughly reformed; that, for this end, the law enforcing celibacy upon the Zulu soldiers must be abrogated and the men allowed to marry and have homes of their own; that, while the law demanding military service from every member of the nation need not be repealed, the regiments were not to be assembled on the mere will of the king without permission of the council of the Zulu nation and the council of the Natal Government. To see that all these provisions were honorably carried out a British Resident must be received in Zululand, to represent the Governor and to act as the friend and adviser of the king. These demands were most wisely conceived, whether they were made at the right time or not; for the threatening power of Zululand con- sisted in the fierce devotion of all its people to the practices of war, the ambition of every Zulu soldier to wash his spear in human blood. This spirit could only be changed by a radical change in the social organiza- tion of the people, and this could only be done by such alterations as Frere demanded. The right to make these demands undoubtedly be- longed to any or all the surrounding peoples to whom the existence of the Zulu army was a constant menace and a source of unsettlement and dread. The ultimatum was issued in December, 1878, and from 20 to"^30 days were allowed to the Zulu king for considering and obeying its demands. The time passed without any action on his part, and there remained nothing to do but to march British troops upon Zulu- land to secure by force the perfectly righteous results which could not be secured by persuasion. At this time there were available for the purpose of this war only about 5,500 British troops. The Commander-in-Chief was Lord Chelms- ford. Before the war began Natal volunteers were secured and some Basuto troops were prepared for service. The authorities strove very hard to imbue the military leaders and officers with a sense of the peculiar nature of the war in which they were entering and the abso- lute necessity for adopting plans not recognized as necessary or digni- fled in European warfare. Boers who had fought in the famous war in 1838 were consulted and their evidence and advice was printed and cir- culated among the troops. Just at this time Mr. Paul Kruger, after- ll-i.-UiX-IUlilJUlflUl l lJ 80 ZULU LAND. wards President of the Transvaal, was returning from England through Natal, disappointed with the efforts which he had made in London to secure the granting of independence to his country. He was consulted by Sir Bartle Frere, who brought him to an interview with Lord Chelmsford himself. We are told that "Mr. Kruger gave much valuable information as to Zulu tactics, and impressed upon him the absolute necessity of laagering his wagons every evening, and always at the approach of the enemy. He urged the necessity of scouting at con- siderable distances, as the movements of the Zulus were very rapid, mentioning how even he had once been surprised, and was extricated only by clever hand to hand fighting inside the laager." Kruger at one point said: "Ask what precaution the General has taken that his orders should be carried out e%«7 evening, because if they are omitted one evening it will be fatal." Alas! these efforts to bend th( military leaders from their tradi- tional methods or to draw them from t'.eir fatal contempt for black enemies were in vain, as we shall see. The invasion of Zululand was arranged to take place from three separate points, which of itself was .1 bad plan, inasmuch as it divided up an already small forte into three widely separated columns, between whom no communication was pos- sible. The plan was that they should converge upon Ulundi, the capital of the country and seat of Cetywayo's power. What was called the headquarters column, commanded by Lord Chelmsford himself, crossed the Tugela at a place known as Rorke's Drift. Another column enteren near the sea on ihe east, in which the leader of the cavalry force was Major Redvers Duller, who to-day (January, 1900) is Commander of the British forces in Natal. Another column entered from the northwest, under the command of General Evelyn Wood, who was very deeply indebted for his own deliverance from disaster and for his success, to the presence and advice of a venerable and noble Boer by name Peter Uys who, with his two sons, fought in this war as loyally as if they were members of a Boer commando. On the Natal side of Rorke's Drift Lord Chelmsford left about u hundred soldiers in charge of the commissariat. The General, having crossed the river, pitched his camp under the hill called Isandhlwana. in fcrming his camp be ignored completely all the advice which had land [e in was with luch the ^s at con- ipid, ated one flers one adi- lack was iree [)OS- ital the sed re« vaa the ?8t, ply to ter ?ro : u la. ad •1-14^ gs «a rf3 ., ^ Q) £) »H xt II -M ^"2 ■c.*. a w o»5 i£ ta si^ *§8 >> s s «« J3Zq> t-S_g . ?■ S^? t-T"" f J:« la: «-< .s ■Orta OS «c- 09 03 ' K i!^-^ O ual tas >>e sub South (U •o*j u -0!^ 1a| — — ja So.* oo g'£ u j3 ^o ■■ i u Q sSo :s ■^3* a s»a a .aa » N »-r* 'gt til 2 S SS-s •S*5 "" >>^! u. 9i 5pp 1^1 «- " 4) Si- a X a< k.0 CI ^1 r: 311 Ojt oSg Nida ^1 ZULULAm. 85 been given to him. The work of scouting was so inefficiently done that a vast Zulu army was able to assemble within striking distance, unno- ticed and unsuspected. The camp itself was without entrenchments, the tents were scattered and so placed in a hollow at the foot of the hill that if an enemy attacked the front only one mode of escape was pos- sible, back to the river, through an opening in the side of the hill, called in South African parlance a "nek." On the morning of January 22, 1879, Lord Chelmsford left in the camp about 800 soldiers, and with as many more moved forwards, hoping to attack and destroy a certain kraal of Zulus a short distance off. After he left, scouts were sent out who suddenly came in contact with a large force of Zulus. Firing at once began, and the entire Zulu army, amounting to more than 10,000 men, rose for a united attack. They came on in front, rushing in great masses upon the camp. The British soldiers were scattered about, en- gaged in all kinds of employment; their ammunition was not within the reach of all; they were compelled very hurriedly to assume the defen- sive in disordered groups wherever it was possible; a few of them rushed up the hillside to secure a retreat through the nek back to the river, but almost with the swiftness of cavalry the right horn of the Zulu host had swept behind Isandhlwana hill and met them at the narrow pass. With irresistible force they now rusued upon the despair- ing and disorganized British soldiers. A small band of brave men on the hillside used their guns with terrific effect until the last moment, and then their officer, with a fierce sweep of his sword, leapt upon the encircling spears. The entire 800 soldiers were put to death in that horrible pit of blood. The Zulu gives no quarter, dreams of no mercy; every man who is a foe is put to death. A few broke through the crowds and made for the river; two especially were determined to carry the colors of their regiment safe to the other shore. They reached the river and jumped in to swim across; the natives shot one, and the other, missing his companion, turned to find him, as if his own life were valueless where the life of a comrade is at stake. He helped him to the shore, and both attempted the oppo- site bank. Exhausted and wounded they could run only a short dis- tance ere their fleet pursuers were upon them, and they, too, lay deai 86 ZULU LAND. The colors were found long afterwards, for whose honor they so bravely fought and gave their lives. The victorious Zulus made of course for the Tugela River, and crossed into Natal. There they came upon the hundred soldiers on the opposite bank. These had in some way received warning and nobly determined not to flee, even in such an extremity. Thej had hurriedly made a rude laager for themselves out of stores which they were guard- ing; sacks of corn and packed biscuit boxes were piled to form a circular wall around them, and behind this rude defence they awaited the tri- umphant and blood-thirsty Zulus. On they came, in rush after rush, only to be met with steady, cool and accurate fire from the brave little force. Time after time the dusky force recoiled and at last, cowed and afraid, they made for the river and betook themselves to their own land again. That heroic stand saved Natal from being overrun with men as fierce as vild beasts and worse in* the damage they could do, Poor Lord Chelmsford returned to his camp only to behold the heaps of dead. His force actually slept there on that fearful field; a strange and tortured sleep it must have been, full of startled awakenings and horrible apprehensions. At dawn they woke and made for the river. Back the discomfited General came to Pietermaritzburg, worn and sick at heart, an object of universal pity and sympathy. The brave and noble Sir Bartle Frere alone presented a courageous front in the days of gloom which followed. All Natal citizens were thrown into indescrib- able panic by the idea that Cetywayo would immediately invade the colony and overrun their farms and towns with his cruel and irresistible hosts. They did not realize the effect produced upon him and his soldiers by the resistance which they met from the brave band of less than one hundred men. Of course, the only thing to do was to send Immediately to England for re-enforcements. Sir Bartle Frere tele- graphed to all of the nearest points where British garrisons were estab- lished for help, and within a few weeks squadrons began to arrive from liere and there; the news spread through the land and up into Zulu- land that hosts of soldiers were arriving from England to take revenge for Isandhlwana. Meanwhile the eastern column was content to in- trench itself and await developments, especially re-enforcements. But General Wood, well advised and courageous at heart, on the northwest ZULULAND. 87 pressed on. He formed strong intrenchments at a place called Kam- bula. Here on a hill, from which a gentle slope led down to a wide plain, he awaited the onslaught of his self-confident enemies. They came in their own terrific style, with yell and rush, but were thrown back time after time and at last returned, baffled and ashamed, to their indig- nant and angered king, leaving a thousand of their dead upon the field. As speedily as possible Lord Chelmsford reorganized his troops and once more entered Zululand. It was not until the end of June that this was possible. With scarcely any resistance he waa allowed to proceed as far as Ulundi itself, and there the final battle took place. Forming his infantry into a hollow Square, with gatling guns at each v,omer and in the center of each front, with squadrons of cavalry moving swiftly from point to point according to the needs of the moment, he met the onslaught of Cety wayo's entire army. The regiments of young warriors were allowed to approach until within two or three hundred yards and then the full fire of the lines opposite them broke upon their compact masses. They fell literally in hundreds as they came within a Landred yards in their impetuous way. When the fiercely concentrated hail of bullets struck them they wavered and fell back. At the right moment the signal was given to the Lancers, and they chars;ed through and through the panic-stricken hosts, scattering them to the winds. Cetywayo, who had watched the battle from a distance, was now a fugitive. The enormous kraals which formed his capital, some of them measuring 500 yards across the open space in the center, were burned to the ground and the war was over. Not long afterwards the king was caught and taken to Cape Town, where he was kepi prisoner. This battle took place on the 4th of July, 1879, and as soon as it was over Lord Chelmsford resigned his command into the hands of Sir Garnet Wolseley, who had been sent out from England to take chief command, and to act as Iligh Commissioner in southeastern Africa. He came with full power to establish the new order of things in Zululand. Wolseley was a man of undoubted ability as military commrnder, but without any valuable e,.wrvme as administrator of native terri- tories. He was, In r meat 1( cllrh and Indefenslbie moment in Londt j, appointed to ^cke the place ni ?ir Bartle Prere, and to act as High Commissioner for that region in direct correspondence with Londoj. 88 ZULULAND. Wolseley appears to have, either on his own motion or actuated by sug- gestions from home, resolved not to consult Frere regarding the future of Zululand. The result was that he adopted a plan as ingenious as it was foolish, utterly impracticable, because based upon no experience of the facts with which he professed to deal. He proposed to break up Zululand into thirteen districts and to appoint a chief for each; he gave the chieftainship of the largest district of all to an Englishman, John Dun, a clever and kind-hearted man, but one who had lived for many years practically as a Zulu, having adopted most of their customs, including polygamy. This degenerate Europeai: was made the most powerful person in Zululand! As soon as Sir Bartle Frere heard of the plan he, in the most courteous way, pointed out its serious effects to Wolseley; but his advice was received with ill-concealed contempt Zululand was not according to this plan to be governed by any Europpan, nor were Europeans to be allowed to settle in it, and the Zulus were even half encouraged to discourage missionaries. What Frere suggested \ as the plan which, in 1883, on the complete collapse of Wolseley's plan was begun, and was fully adopted in 1887! In 1883 Cetywayo was restored, but soon died. His son, Dingizulu, had to fight against another chief, Sibepu, for the succession, and in order to make success sure accepted the aid of Boers living in what had been the disputed territory. He promised to cede to them a large and valuable region in return for their aid. Of cours?, he won and became chief. It thus happened, in the most strange whirl-i-gig changes of British policy and foolish alterations of purpose, that part of the very country which Great Britain had conquered ot so heavy a cost of men and money was handed over to the Transvaal Government, at a time when not one foot of that territory belonged to Britain, the conqueror herself! As a formal annexation of Zululand to Great Britain had not been announced by Sir Garnet Wolseley, the large district known as Vryheid thus b'^came a portion of the Transvaal. In 1887 this annexation actually took place. Something like the very plan which Sir Bartle Frere proposed, in 1879, was finally adopted and operates with the utmost ease and comfort to-dav. The counirv is divided into sections, over each of which a Europe&u magistrate ia ap- ZULULAND. 89 pointed. The Governor of Natal is also Governor of Zululand, a light hut-tax cheerfully paid by the Zulus defrays all expenses of local gov- ernment. The Zulus are being encouraged to accept education, the Christian religion, and various elements of civilized life. Their country is rich and productive, and the ease with which food can be obtained tends to keep them lazy as well as cheerful, unprogressive because content. The hope of Zululand lies in the work of Christian missionaries who have given their lives to the salvation of that degraded people. For many years it was of course impossible to establish extensive missionary operations in Zululand itself. The first success was gained by the Nor- wegian Missionary Society, whose representative, Schreuder, began work about the year 1844 and won his way to the approval of the Zulu chief by means of his medical work. Schreuder was a man of high character and great ability, who in time gained the complete confidence of the Zulu monarchs with whom he had to do; so powerful indeed was nis position in the land that when the war broke out between Cetywayo and the British, while many Europeans had to flee, Schreuder's station was left untouched. No higher tribute could be paid to any man's personality than that one fact. Some of the most successful workers among the Zulu people have been the missionaries of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Their work has been confined until recent years almost entirely to Natal, but through them principally was the entire Bible translated into the Zulu language and foundations were laid for an extensive system of Zulu education. To this department of the work they have, with singular foresight, paid very earnest and constant attention. Through thoir normal schools and theological seminaries they have aimed to provide a comparatively high type of native evangelists and preachers. Through their boarding schools for Zulu girls they have aimed at reaching the motherhood of the land. It is from these educational centers that the strongest in- fluences are now streaming throughout Zululand. One of the greatest names connected with American missions in Natal to the Zulus is undoubtedly that of Dr. Lindley, who gained for himself a very high place in the regard of the European and native peoples as well as of the Dutch. He has emphasized the enormous Influence exercised upon the MU ' W i MK i l' i ■-" 90 ZULULAND. native tribe by the advent of a missionary amongst thiem. It is the con- verts to the Christian religion who became the healthy nucleus of a new and high development among the people. Their radicalism in religion leads these converts to break away more easily from the cus- toms of their tribes in other matters. They most quickly adopt Euro- pean costume, build square houses rather than huts, use tables and chairs instead of squatting on the ground. It is they who most readily depart from native methods of agriculture, who use American ploughs, and thus begin the healthy but remarkable change of sending the men into the fields to do the work instead of women. It is they who begin to protest against witchcraft and other heathenish and abominable prac- Her i, " • is they who have learned to read and to write, and, thereby gair/uig -reat power in many waySy stimulate the desire amongst their felfnv countrymen to gain the same advantages. It is not unlikely that with tue enormous increase in population which is taking place in ZuIoliBd, as elsewhere in South Africa, the problem of a livelihood will become Auore acute than it is at present. In that case, when men must work harder and a new energy is thus infused into the people, it will be from the mission stations and those whom they have influenced that the guidance of those new departures in history which economic cnanges will make necesaary, must Ibe provided. CHAPTER VI. BASUTOLAND. BASUTOLAND is always described as the Switzeriand of South Africa. A traveller of so wide experience and a mountaineer so intrepid and enthusiastic as Mr. Bryce goes into ecstasies over the glories of Basutoland scenery. "Its peaks," he says, "are the highest in Africa, south of Mount Kilimandjaro, for several of them reach 11,000 feet. On the southeast this mountain-land, the Switzerland of South Africa, faces Natal and East Griqualand with a long range of formidable precipices, impassable for many miles. The interior contains valleys and glens of singular beauty, some wild and rugged, some clothed with rich pasture. The voice of brooks, a sound rare in Africa, rises from the hidden depths of the gorges, and here and there torrents plunging over the edge of a basaltic cliff into an abyss below make waterfalls which are at all seasons beautiful, and when swollen by the rains of January, majestic. Except wood, of which there is unhappily nothing more than a little scrubby bush in the sheltered hollows, nearly all the elements of beauty are present, and the contrast between craggj' summits and the soft, rich pasture, and corn-lands which lie along their northern base gives rise to many admirable landscapes." This wonderful country is the home of the Basuto people, who now comprise portions of various tribes. In the beginning of the century the region was divided among several rival tribes, but about the year 1824 there began the work of consolidation under a young man known to the English-speaking worid as Moshesh. This youth, while belonging to a family by no means of first rank and even while his father was alive, displayed extraordinary gifts of diplomacy as well as a wariike courage! He succeeded in bringing under his control one set of people after another, conquered some small tribes, and added them to his followers, and then, as his power grew, proceeded deliberately to select a capital for his little kingdom. With the keen eye of a born strategist he selected the top of a mountain, overlooking the western plains, which can g;:'- 91 92 BASUTOLAND. be reached by one narrow roadway through the rocks. The top of this hill is a flat plateau, with its own supply of spring water, and extensive enough to pasture cattle. It could therefore be Loped that it would prove impregnable against direct assaults and would be able to with- stand the trials of a long siege. The name of this famous and hitherto unconquered citadel ic Thaba Bosigo. As the renown of Moshesh spread more of the native tribes of this region willingly came under his sway. This fame was much increased by the cleverness with which he treated Moselekat^e, the head of the rebellious Zulu regiments who had swept the Transvaal with desolation. When they attacked Moshesh, they found him of course beyond the reach of the regiments; but as they retired they were surprised by an embassy from Moshesh, which brought to them provisions for their journey homewards. This unexpected appeal appears to have been successful, for the soldiers of Moselekatse never again attempted to attack Moshesh. In 1843 Moshesh agreed to a treaty with the British Government which recognized him formally as the head of the Basuto people, and which assured him not only of the moral support of the British Govern- ment over his rivals, but also an annual subsidy of £75 (about $375). This document had in after years to be rescinded, and there are many critics of the past who assert that it was a great blunder thus to aid in consolidating the power of a man whose people were able in after years to do great damage both to the English and to the Boers. It is a great question, however, whether after all it has not been easier to deal with the Basutos as one people when the rational process of trying to govern and to civilize them was seriously undertaken, than if they had been left as separate rival bands, each having to be dealt with on its own account. When, in the year 1852, Sir George Cathcart heard that the soldiers of Moshesh were committing depredations upon the Boer farmers of the Orange River Sovereignty, he proceeded north to punish his un- faithful allies. He met with an unexpected reverse when he had come close to Moshesh's seat of power. No doubt by pressing on and adopting other methods of warfare he might have pushed the war to a satis*^ factory conclusion, and no doubt Moshesh, if he had been a shallow BASUTOLAND. 98 patc'd and conceited man instead of a far-seeing and cautious states- man, would have remained in his fastness, and for long have defied the onslaught of English soldiers. But Moshesh once more displayed his diplomatic gi ■!. After consultation with one of his missionaries, the well known 2i. Casalis, he sent to Sir George Cathcart what has been called "the most politic document that has ever been penned in South Africa," It ran thus: "Thaba Bosigo, "Midnight, 20th Dec, 1852. "Your Excellency: "This day you have fought against my people, and taken much cattle. As the object for which you have come is therefore a compensa- tion for Boers, I beg you will be satisfied with what you have taken. I entreat peace from you — ^you have chastised — let it be enough, I pray you; and let me be considered no longer an enemy to the Queen. I will try ail I can to keep my people in order in the future. "Your humble servant, Moshesh." This letter does not mention the reverse which the enemy had sus- tained, but simply the success he had enjoyed in carrying off some cattle. The letter very prudently requests peace and confesses wrong. Along with the letter a message was sent in which the South African habit of making familiar and quaint illustrations was employed. "I am still," he said, "the child of the Queen. Sometimes a man beats his dog and the dog puts his teeth into his hand and gives him a bite; but the uog loves his master, and the master loves the dog, and will not kill it. I am ashamed of what happened yesterday; let it be forgotten." Inevitably such wisdom secured its end, for Sir George Cathcart was only too glad in such a pleasant way to find a close, so soon and so unexpected, to a campaign which he dreaded. Some of his soldiers and many of the farmers would have preferred to see him press on and pu.iish Moshesh, and no doubt it is, taking human nature aa a whole, a unique thing to treat an enemy generously if he has defeated you. Generosity is apt to be mistaken for weakness. But Moshesh was not the man to miscalculate an enemy, and he knew that if the English chose they could destroy him and his people. He therefore accepted Sir George Cathcart's compliance with his letter in the right spirit and boasted not that he had beaten the English. iH^ ^.^tQ^ V^, .9u^^^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) ■**' V ^, . 4'V/ ^ V/.^ '^^i /O^l^i^y. Sciences Corporation «^ ^^ ^\ ^^ 33 WIST MAIN STRUT WIBSTIR, N.Y. 14510 (716) •7a-4S03 ^1.^ •%^ ■> •^"jtif ii ^^% 2i 04 BASUTOLAND. Moshesh had one great ambition, which wag to push his territorial possessions westwards so as to include a large region formerly inhabited by some portions of his tribe ere they were driven out by Moselekatse and the Boers. This ambition led to depredations made upon the farm- ers by some of his regiments, and that led to war. In this war, in the year 1858, he pressed the Boers so hard that at last they appealed to the Governor of Cape Colony for mediation. Re stepped in, persuaded Moshesh to cease fighting and settled some of the disputes about land, taking some at one part from Moshesh and some at another from the Boers. The Boers of course complained that they had got the worst of the bargain. The peace did not last long. In the year 1868, after the struggle had lasted off and on for two or three years, the Boers pressed close to the famous citadel itself. On one occasion they had actually got up the narrow footpath and within a few yards of the flat plateau. One final rush and the history of Moshesh would have been suddenly closed, but one bullet which struck the leader of the Boers settled the matter, the rest fled back, the attack was over and Moshesh had breathing time. Xow it was his turn to sue, and he begged the Governor to intervene on his behalf, as an earlier Governor had intervened on behalf of the Boers ten years before. On this occasion Sir George Grey not only gave a considerable slice to the Free Staters, thus giving them a reward for their long struggle, but sought to make an end of these border disputes by proclaiming the Basutos as English subjects. A resident was ap- pointed and Basutoland entered on a new phase of its history. In 1871 the Imperial Government, in pursuing thoir fatuous policy of retiring from every direct responsibility which they could possibly escape, persuaded the Colonial Government, though young and inex- perienced and in many ways unsuited to the task, to annex Basutoland and rule it. The Cape politicians, unfortunately for their own country, accepted the heavy task. In the disturbances tc which we have made frequent reference, dur- ing the years 1877-1879, the Basutos did not escape the infection of restlessness which spread from the eastern coast through to Bechunna- . land. When, at the close of the wars in the southeast, a peace protec- tion act was passed at Cape Town, whose principal measure for ■' .I ' " ii i 'l Ul i J, ii ' "mv "T^i BASUTOLAND. 95 preserving peace waa the disarming of all native tribes witliin their borders, they sought to apply this cure to the Basutos also. A few of the better disposed obeyed immediately, but the vast majority of the people considered this an indignity and war broke out. TheBasutos had by this time acquired the use of flnjarms and had raised a race of ponies, always known now as the Basuto pony in South Africa, which enabled them to move with great rapidity and security along their mountainous country. They were, accordingly, foes of a formidable nature whom the forces of Cape Colony were unable to conquer. The sorry story ended when, in 1884, an act was passed by which Basuto- land was once more separated from Cape Colony and placed under Imperial authority. The Home Government accepted the responsibility, on condition that the colony should help to defray th,: expenses of government by paying the amount of customs received at the seaports of Cape Colony upon goods going to Basutoland. The British Government at once appointed a Resident, who made his abode at Masura. They were fortunate in finding Sir M. Clarke, one who was supremely fitted for this difficult post. The problem before him was on the one hand fully to respect the authority of the chief, to sus- tain him in the exercise of his office, and yet at the same time gradually to take over those functions which had become too complicated for the untrained native mind to exercise. Some white men were appointed as magistrates, about 200 native police were drilled by a British officer, and these dealt with all cases of a more serious nature which occurred amongst the various sections of the tribe. But the ordinary tribal laws regarding the distribution and use of land and minor offences were left in the hands of the chief, who thus retains a real, though limited, sovereignty. The name of the present chief is Lerothodi, a grandson of the great Moshesh. At this date the population amounts to about 230,000 natives, with more than 600 Europeans; the latter consist almost entirely of Brit- ish officials, the missionaries and traders. No European is allowed to settle in the country, even traders must obtain license before doing busi- ness there. Some suspect that precious minerals abound among the mountains of Basutoland, but all investigation is strictly forbidden and relentlessly prevented. The aim of the Imperial Government \e gradu- 96 BASUTOLAND. ally to develop the Basutos by keeping tbem intact, preserving them from the disintegrating influences of a European influx. This splendid experiment has been splendidly carried out during the last fifteen years with the utmost possible success. The sore feelings left by the struggle with Cape Colony against the indignity of disarma- ment are passing away. The native respect for the Queen is firmly fixed. With the absence of wcr more attention is being given to agri- culture, stock raising and industrv of various kinds. Many thousands of Basutos sally forth to Kimberley, where they work in the diamond mines, and return home with their wages, thus bringing money ard increased prosperity into the country. Basutoland has been the scene of one of the most remarkable mis- sionary enterprises in all South Africa. When Moshesh heard while still a young man of the advantage to be obtained from the presence of European missionaries, when perhaps especially he realized that they might stand as intermediaries between himself and the Boer farmers, he petitioned for missionaries. It was some years before his request could be met. When missionaries did reach his country they were Frenchmen sent by the Paris Evangelical Mission, men of Hugue- not blood and tradition. The most important of the first group was Mons. Casalis. Moshesh received them with great gladness, and him- self assigned to them a spot for their station on the rich ground beneath his steep and rugged fortress. He took a personal interest in their work, frequently descending to their Sunday services and gradually coming to an understanding of the principles of the Christian religion. He himself, however, never became a professor of Christianity. He attempted to use its social and political benefits* while escaping its personal claims of a more intimate nature upon himself. A character- istic retort was made to him by one of the chiefs who had become con- verted and whom he had reproved. "You told me," said the chief, "when you bade me take care of the missionaries, ihat I was only to put one foot into the church, and keep the other out; that I was only to listen with one ear, and keep the other closed; I put one foot into the church, but I could not keep the other out." When Moshesh was in political difficulties with his white neighbors, his trusted French missionaries proved themselves most valuable ad- BASUTOLAND. 97 visers. They earned for themselves, as so many missionaries did in other parts, the hatred of the Boers, who attempted to destroy their stations and whose wrath against them was so great that when, in 1868, a portion of Moshesh's territory which contained four mission stations was handed over to the Boers, the stations had to be abandoned by the Frenchmen. The French missionaries have succeeded in bring- ing into the church large numbers of Basuto people. They have estab- ished many schools, and among them an industrial school where work of a high grade is performed. In 1897 there were 23 French Protestant missionaries, 16 main stations and 140 out-stations. There were said to be no less than 1,500 adult professing Christians. Prof. Bryce records that at recent public examinations at Cape Town "The French Protestant missionaries sent 20 Boer boys, of whom 10 passed in honors and 10 in high class, the standard being the same for whites and blacks." "There are now," he adds, "150 schools m the country, all but two of which are conducted by missionaries. Some of these of course are mis3ion«r5es who have been sent in more recent years to Basuto- land by Roman Catholic and English Episcopalians, but their num- bers are few and their power as yet is small." ("Impressions of South Africa," by James Bryce.) The history of Basutoland during the last fifteen years is a remark- able proof of the wisdom of those who have for many years very strongly and persistently urged that purely native territories in South Africa ought to be administered by Imperial officers, working under and responsible to the High Commissioner for South Africa. If Great Britain had 60 years ago adopted this plan, when strongly recom- mended by Sir Benjamin Durban, or if even nearly 25 years ago it had been adopted when afresh urged by Sir Bartle Frere, with all his ex- perience of Indian administration to strengthen his advice, much of the saddest side of British history in South Africa would not have been written. The British Government were afraid of expense, afraid of difficulties raised from time to time by the prejudices of the Dutch and the ambitions of the colonists in general. But these oppositions would long ago and very speedily have been stilled, if only the policy had been clearly grasped in London and had been consistently carried out He would be a bold politician either in South Africa or London to-day who 98 BASUTOLAND. should propose to change tne political relations of Basutoland, and what has been realized it that country might have been realized also in other territories where less wise methods have been adopted and where difficultieB are yet to be eucfiuntered. 1 1 and ilso and CHAPTER VII. BECHUANALAND. THIS word as a geographical term is only of comparatively recent use. The natives of South Africa do not call any territory by such a name. Bechuana is a racial term including within it a large number of tribes, who early in the century must have occupied more territory than any other one race in South Africa. It was they who lived in the best parts of the Transvaal and upon whom Moselekatse descended before the Boers reached that country. A few of their tribes remained in broken remnants here and there. Most of them moved westwards and northwestwards. The divisions of the tribes were by no means fixed and constant; kaleidoscopic rearrangements were constantly taking place as this or that V lage waxed or waned. For (example the Barolong people included a number of tribes, each with its chief who had headmen under him, and among these chiefs there was a considerable unanimity as to who occupied the position of paramount chief. This paramountcy, however, was a matter of keen contest and both British and Boer author- ities have been frequently puzzled therewith. The Bechuanas have not gone farther west than the Kalahari r>e8ert, out they have extended their territory all over central South Africa. The leading tribes have ap- parently always been independent of one another, often making war upon one another and yet feeling a certain coiumunity of interest which united them against attacks of all who were not of their race. Hence they would help one another against the Matabele, while willing enough to quarrel among themselves when occasion offered. They are not on the whole a warlike race, rather do they, in contrast to the Zulus, present the appearance of quietness and submissiveness. They are a fairly intelligent race and ha^e produced several men of great vigor of character, able to hold their own jven against the white man. Amongst these must be named Montsioa, who for so many years pre- sented a bold front to the aggressions of the Boers, whom the British 100 BECHUAN ALAND. Government treated so ill by deserting him in his hours of need, bnt who yet was clear sighted enough to know that safety for him lay in coming under the white Queen's rule. Into his hands loyal British subjects in the Transvaal actually gave their possessions in goods and money and cattle during the war of Independence in 1881. He ful- filled his trust most honorably and his reward was neglect and aban- donment to the mercy of his lifelong enemies, the Boers, until the year 1884. Another man of vigor was Monkoroane, whom the humorou. c^fflcers of the Warren expedition loved to identify among themselves as "Macaroni." He, like Montsioa, stood faithful to the British Gov- ernment on various occasions, remaining loyal when the Boers threat- ened him with destruction if he did not side with them at the time of the war of independence, and for his pains and loyalty was for a time deserted to these enemies of his by the Government which he had supported. Truly, it may be said here parenthetically that if any people in South Africa have reason to complain that Great Britain has not dealt fairly with them it is these native tribes of South Bechuanalaad. They have been in the strange position of always feeling and knowing that Great Britain would be their best protector, and finding that she repeatedly disappointed them and left them the prey to their relent- less enemies on the east. Another of these chiefs of vigor and power was Sechele, whose station it was at Kolobeng that the Boers attacked when they destroyed Livingstone's mission premises. Yet another was Sekhomi, and yet another his remarkable son, Khama, of whom we shall give a much fuller account. These four paramount chiefs prac- tically controlled the territory from the Orange River to the Zambesi River for many years. Bechuanaland came to be used as a geographical term probably from about the year 1871 and is now universally understood to de- scribe the region occupied by the tribes owning the paramountcy of the four chiefs we have named. South Bechuanaland entered into British problems in the year 1877 and caused considerable trouble in succeeding years. As we have shown elsewhere the region was for awhile placed under the administration of Great Britain and was in 1881 abandoned. Then it became the scene of terrible confusion and NATIVE WIZARD wl«rd and doctor is allowed to weSr the ikln of ceru/n animal. '^'"'"""'- ^"^ ''°'°*' *■■'*•*• '•"'^ »"• a BECHU AN ALAND. 103 strife through the incursion of freebooters and filib' sters from various white races, but almost entirely under the leadership of certain weU known Boers of the Transvaal. In 1884 South Bechuanaland, which includes all the territory south of Mafeking, wa« proclaimed as a British territory. This proclamation was followed by the strange, incoherent events, which we describe elsewhere, connected with the names of Mac- kenzie and Rhodes, and which came to an end with the Warren expedi- tion. On Sir Charles Warren»s departure from South Africa the country was placed under the administratorship of Sir Sidney Shippard, whose chief and most onerous task was that of instituting a land commission. This land commission considered the multitudinous conflicting claims for the best farms and farm lands in South Bechuanaland, and endeav- ored to do justice both to black and white people in their settlement. For about ten years the country was known as a Crown Colony, being ruled directly by Imperial officers under the High Commissioner, and gave promise of steady development under, that political arrange- ment The natives were proud and content to have peace and to^be guarded by the "white Queen." The Europeans settled in increasing numbers upon territory that was so highly adapted to stock raising as well as to agriculture. In 1895 the happy arrangement was disturbed by the agitation for annexing the country to the Cape Colony. The Blue Book, which preserves the story of the annexation of South Bechuanaland, represents it as opening with favorable petitions from that very region. These petitions recite the desire of the signator- ies for annexation to the Cape Colony, describe the advantages which, they think, will accrue from that step, and boldly assert that it had always been intended to transfer the country from occupation "by her Majesty's Government" as soon as "the Colonial Government" was prepared for annexation. It is a peculiar fact that among the names of the signatories are to be found some of those who took part years before in the "Stellaland" troubles, Mr. Rhodes's friends of the dark days of 1884-5. They represent distinctly the Afrikander Bond interest, and the documents which they sent in were redolent of the spirit and full of the phrases which one is accustomed to find in the productions of that remarkable association. 104 BECHUANALAND. While these petitions were being circulated fop signature alarm was taken by the native chiefs, and both Montsioa, with 48 headmen, and Monkoroane, with 300 headmen, sent in earnest counter petitions against the proposed step. It detracts little from the significance of these counter petitions that, after they found the annexation to be an inevitable fact, they were induced to withdraw them and substitute the statement of a certain number of conditions on the fulfillment of which they agreed to annexation. Those who are familiar with the manipulation of native chiefs at once understand this story. Any chief would decide that when the event had become inevitable, his duty and his interest directed him to make peace with those who soon were to be his masters. It is significant that the petitions in favor of annexation were arranged for and sent in before the opponents of the plan could be organized. When these at last became aware of the dangerous move that had been inaugurated, they sent in one petition signed by three sets of men, namely Dutch speaking farmers, English farmers and merchants and Indian subjects of her Majesty. Their petition IS much more powerful than those referred to above. It states the reasons against annexation with great firmness and persuasiveness. But they were too late. Mr. Rhodes and Sir Hercules Robinson had already been in constant telegraphic communication with London, were pressing for an immediate decision and had got the Colonial Office so far committed that withdrawal was practically impossible. Accord- ingly Mr. Chamberlain, who in this summer became Colonial Secretary sent out a message to assure the numerous inhabitants of South Bechuanaland who desired to remain under Imperial control that they were mistaken in their fears, that the Home Government had consid- ered all their interests and the interests of all South Africa and were oon- vinced that every interest would be best served by handing over that Crown Colony to the Cape Government! The last steps were rapidly taken, the Act was passed without a hitch through the Cape Parlia- ment, was brought with surprising promptitude to the notice of her Majesty, and Sir Hercules Robinson was able so early as in the month of October to announce that British Bechuanaland was annexed to end henceforth formed a part of the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope No adequate reasons have ever been offered for this change in the 1 I BECHUANALAND. job circumstances either of Cape Colony or of Bechnanaland. Colonial poll- ticians had quite enough territory and quite enough native problems to discuss at Cape Town and to deal with on the spot; the addition of South Bechnanaland to their responsibilities could add no wealth to their treasury nor glory to their political standing. Nor did Bechu- analand need for its good to be transferred from the standing of a Crown Colony to become a portion of the older colony. The natives feared and had good reason to fear the change. The white people knew that it would bring, and it has brought, no conceivable benefit to them. But in spite of these facts the measure for annexation was carried through. The fact is that Mr. Rhodes had his reasons for desiring it, reasons which bore neither on the good of Cape Colony nor the good of Bechnanaland, nor any peculiar blessing which he desired to confer upon the Colonial Office in London. His desire for this important and hazardous step was due beyou'' all doubt to further plans which he cherished regarding Rhodesia and the British South Africa Company. Already certain schemes were rapidly maturing in his and other mindfi with regard to the insurrection at Johannesburg and its support by Dr. Jameson's force, and these could not be carried out aa long as Bechnanaland was under direct Imperial control. That factor must be eliminated once more. These matters were in those years treated by the British public at large ivith silence, in spite of the efforts of many earnest and fsu seeing men in London and elsewhere who strove to have the truth known and prevent the wrorg from prevail- ing. One of the sad results of this annexation came in the war which broke out in 1896 between the Cape Colony and the native tribes occu- pying the western portion of South Bechnanaland. The history of this war has yet to be fully told. It was the direct result of Mr. Rhodes's ^'Colonial Imperialism." Suffice it to say that it ended in a measure whose significance and shame the British public has not yet fully appre- ciated. It was a measure which could have only been carried through by men determined to act in thorough harmony with the Boer spirit itself, a measure which for the first time allowed to happen within British territory what has happened, and has been by British authorities most severely condemned over and over again, in the Transvaal. That 106 'BECHVANALAND. is to say the natives who were conquered in this Langeberg region were carried wholesale into Cape Colony and divided up among various farming districts, where thej were appr^inted to serve farmers for a considerable term of years. This barbarous proceeding, this touch cf slavery within the British Empire, is of course an unspeakable disgrace. The fact that it has been allowed can only be explained by the other fact already mentioned that it was carried througn not by Imperial officers nor by Cape ministers of the Imperial type, but by men who were under the dominance of the Afrikander Bond and who, alike through their subservient ministry and their acquiescent Governor, were able to prevent the Colonial Office from dealing with Ihe facts straightforwardly and abruptly. North Bechuanaland conaists foi' the most part of the teriitories oc- cupied by the Bakwena and Bamangwato tribes. The history of the latter is told with practical completeness in the account given else- where of Khama, its powerful chief. Suffice it here to say that one of the most remarkable treaties ever proposed was that which Kharaa submitted to Sir ':;Larle8 Warren in 1885. According to this treaty he offered himself as a subject to the Queen, and he resigned to the Imperial GovernkT.ent one of the richest portions of his great territory. This he proposed thai the Imperial Government should allot to white settlers on terms which would repay tho Government for its expense of administra- tion He claimed foi himself that a certain portion, which he described, should be reserved for himself and his tribe; within this region his tribe should continue its own history and he himself retain his chieftainship. This remarkable and wise offer the world can hardly believe that the British Govornment, which is universplly accused of land-grabbing in South Africa, ignored for many months and finally decHr^ed. But in the year 1895, when Mr. Rhodes was working for the annexation cf couth Bechuanaland to the Cape Colony, he was working also for the annexation of North Bechuanaland to Rhodenia. The on*, plan can only be undei. stood in the light of ibe other. He, as It wore, said to his friends at Cape Town, «I will give you tJonth Bechuanaland and I will take North Bechuanaland, and of course if we are only deter- mined upon !t the old fogies in London will give way. ' But Mr. Rhodes had reokontrd wifhont his host^ his host beinsr !n th^>. esse h-- In^snHsH BECHUANALAND. iqj subject and tribntary Khama, chief of the Bamangwato. He with m^..r 'T '? "!,"'** """^ ^'^""'' *^" neighboring chiefs, proceeded directly to England, and there, by his tour through the country and the rowerful plea which he personally placed in one great meeting after another before the public, produced so powerful an impression that the Government did not dare to accede to Mr. Bhodes's desire. There can be little doubt that Mr. Chamberlain would at this time have actually y elded even this rich and magnificent territory into the hands of the hitherto omnipotent Chartered Company. But as the well-known tele- grams which passed in that crowded Autumn between London and Cape Town sufficiently revealed, Mr. Chamberlain was pulled up by Bnash sentiments in favor of Khama and this huge injustice was prevented. It will need all the alertness of those who stand for the right to prevent this wrong from being yet consummated. North Bechuanaland is now a Britich protectorate and a Resident lives with Khama. There are many who very earnestly hope that if the present war should lead to a re-adjustment of territorial conditions in South Africa, South Bechuanaland will be once more separated from the Cape Colony and united with North Bechuanaland in one great and trulv Imperial crown colony. This colony should stand between Rhodesia and the Cape Colony, the center of direct Imperial administration, until the day comes when the influx of a white population and the civilization of the blacks shall make the granting of responsible government pos- / CHAPTER VIII. RHODESIA. TO THE north of the Transvaal there lies a large and magnificent region into which there swept about sixty years ago the terrible regiments of the Zulu chief, Moselekatse. We have elsewhere described the ruthless manner in which this people destroyed the vil- lages that lay in their way northwards. The tribe gave its name, so far as Europeans are concerned, to that part of South Africa, and it has always been known as Matabeleland. Eastward there lay the region called Mashonaland, inhabited by a peace-loving and industrious race. Ihey became the victims of annual massacres by Moselekatse's terrible regiments. The result was that a country which at one time supported a large population was practically denuded of human beings. Here and there villages were still to be found, inhabited by shrinking and terrified creatures who knew not the day nor the hour or rather the night on which they might not hear the fierce yell and irresistible onrush of the dreaded Matebele. In the year 1889, as we have described elsewhere, the British South Africa Chartered Company was established by the British Government to which was granted administrative authority as well as exclusive com- mercial privileges in these territories. As soon as the charter was granted vigorous steps were taken to begin the building of the railway from Kimberiey northwards, for the erecting of a telegraph right into North Bechuanaland. Within a year we are told that the railway was extended to V^burg, a distance of 148 miles, and the telegraph to Palapye, a distance of 350 miles from Kimberiey. A pioneer force of about 200 men was organized under the immediate command of Major Johnston for the purpose of making a road 400 miles long from the Macloutsie river as far as Mt. Hampden in Mashonaland. The dlrectom had been earnestly advised to avoid even the appearance of touching Matabeleland and so arousing the jealous ahum of Lobengnla on their first entry into these territories. It was accordingly agrl that tW iOi '' RHODESIA. 109 should go eastwardg into the great and practically unoccupied terri- tories of Mashonaland The Company occupied at this time a most puzzling and dubious position. They had received a charter empowering them to carry out the terms of their concession with Lobengula and giving them authority to exercise government, after the power to exercise it should have be- come theirs; but as yet they had no territory of their own, they had not bought an inch of soil nor had any been granted to them. How were they then to begin their work? How could they introduce coloi ists into a land where they could give them no titles and how could they exercise sovereignty in a land where they held no possessions? They were entering a country in the name of commercial transactions with Loben- gula, with whom they were, or were supposed to be, on terms of peace and mutual understanding. And yet when they proceeded to occupy Mashonaland they felt bound not only to send forward 200 pioneers for the purpose of opening the way, but found it necessary to send after them a military force of 500 volunteers. This force included some of the flower of the English aristocracy, some of the dashing young officers of the British army, as well as seasoned colonists of different races and of many varied kinds of experience. The money necessary for the equipment of these forces was partly found by drawing upon the reserve of the De Beers Consolidated Mines at Kimberley. The charter had been signed on October 29, 1889, and In the Sep. tember of the following year Mashonaland was already occupied by the pioneers and police of the Chartered Company. They started from Mafeking on June 10, 1890, the pioneers leaving first and having as their task the making of a road and fixing upon sites for the forts which it was intended to establish at vai-ious points on the long road They performed their work with great skill and courage. Their movements were, for South African methods of traveling, remarkably quick. More- over, the road which they chose under wise advice was one which kept them outside of I-obengula's acknowledged dominions; so that while his mind was in an uncertain rondltion and his regiments were full of wrath no excuse was found by him or them for making an attack. The uhartereu Uoiupauy-B forces moved, nevertheless, with all the 110 RHODESIA. wariness of an invader. Thej formed the laagers carefully at night and kept the steam up in the engine for their search light; they also maintained strict picket duty at night and careful scouting on the march. The search-light produced a ^ x?at effeet upon the few Mashona natives whom they came across. As it swept the country at frequent intervals it seemed to them as if the white man had chained the light- ning for his use. The military leader of the pioneer force wa« Major Johnston, who was accompanied by Mr. Ck)lquhoun, and also by Mr. F. C Selous, the famous South African explorer and hunter. On September 12th they reached the high rounded hill known as Mt.-Hampden, at the foot of which it was intended to make the terminus of their long journey of 400 miles. Here Fort Salisbury was erected, which has now grown into the town of Salisbury. Other forts which were placed on the route were named Ft. Tuli, near the Transvaal border. Ft. Victoria and Ft. Charter. The Chartered Company's leaders were men of marvellous ambition and energy, and their energy is by nothing more remarkably displayed than their action in relation to the territory known as Manicaland They knew that here there had been discovered old and long disused gold mines sucli as are found in some parts of Mashonaland itself, and they had reason to believe that Manicaland still contained large quantities of the precious metal. Mr. Colquhoun and Mr. Selous accordingly, in September, 1890, made a journey to the kraal of the chief Umtasa in Manicaland. Now, this territoiy had not as yet been effectively occu- pied and claimed by any European country. The Portuguese had at one time hoped to establish a great colonial empire throughout the region south of the Zambesi, but they had been driven back by the natives themselves and by their own weakness, so thai their attempted occupation embraced only a few points on the coast. But the Mozam- bique Company had trading stations at various places and one of these was in Manicaland. When the representatives of the British South Africa Company interviewed Umtasa, they were on the whole favorably received and were assured by him that neither he nor any ancestor had ever made any treaty with Portugal, nor sold nor granted any concession to any Portuguese individual or comoanv. Havinir aa*taA^A 4.x. ,___ • - S -" -^-crii J-iiCSiiSvi » c» OH RHODESIA. Ill thig point these forceful Britons induced hhn to make a treaty with the company which they represented. In this treaty Umtasa bound him- self to grant no land in Manicaland to any foreigner except with the consent of the Company in writing. He now granted to that Company the entire mineral rights of his country and gave them permission to construct and establish public works of all kinds, including roads, rail ways, tramways, banks, etc. For these concessions the king wa* to receive the assurance of British protection and the payment of an an- nual subsidy either in money or in goods, at his option. Not far distant there was an European trader, through whom these transactions became speedily known in Portugal. The result was that ceriiain Portuguese officials appeared from the coast at Umtasa's kraal and endeavored to coerce him into renouncing that treaty and entering into relations with themselves. These officials, who were accompanied with a large native coilvoy armed with rifles and swords, were, by about forty police of the Chartered Company, put under arrest and disarmed The trader was released, the other officials were taken to Ft. Salisbury and sent to Cape Town. This produced considerable excitement in Portugal -and a volunteer force consisting of 100 Europeans and 300 or 400 blacks invaded Manicaland. They were met by about fifty of the Company's police, and in the battle which ensued they were put to an ignominious flight. Of course this led to negotiations between Great Britain and Portugal, with the result that for the first time a western^ boundary for Portuguese possessions at this point was fixed, Manica- land falling into Charteriand. It was arranged that a railway should be built from the nearest Portuguese seaport, named Beira, which has since that time considerably grown and promises to become a most important place. In fact it in through the development of the «Yans- vaal and of Mashonaland that Delagoa Bay and Beira have become busy places and Portuguese possessions have become valuable to her . After their arrival and after making sure of a sufficient garrison for each of their forts, the Chartered Company allowed the volunteers to disperse all over the country as prospectors for the precious miner- als. The conditions under which they were to receive claims and farms were fully made known to them. The terms appeared by no if . tg too iavorable to the Individual prospectors, although perhaps in 112 RHODESIA, actual practice they may turn out to be more favorable, tor it must be undemood that most of the gold found in Charterland is embedded in quartz rock and cannot be extracted in paying quantities without the use of expensive and elaborate machinery. Each man therefore who found a claim must either be able to form a company for the purpose of working his claim or he must allow the Chartered Compauy to do it In either case half the produce in gold must be given to the Chartered Comply, the remainder being reserved by the claim owner for himself. The Company had the good fortune to acquire soon after their arrival in the country what seemed to be a secure title to their owner- ship of the soil. Without this they could not have allotted farms nor planted towns. A man, Lippert, persuaded Lobengula to grant him the right to sell lands and form townships. Lobengula thought him- self quick-witted when he granted this concession. He imagined that it would prove to be a checkmate of what he now saw to be the extraor- ainary ambition of the Chartered Company. But Lippert almost im- mediately sold his concession to the Chartered Company, which now had the whole thing in its hands! On this ba«is and in the most lavish manner titles were granted right and left to white people. Sites for towns were selected and the work of active colonization was begun. The news that Mashonalaud had been successfully and peacefully occupied and that the pioneer Europeans were now p.-ospecting all over the country in safety, finding what promised to be magnificent mining grounds, spread like wild-fire in the cities and towns of older lands and a regular stream of people from Europe as well as from the colonies of South Africa moved northwards. Large numbers of these never got to MasLonaland. Some of them died on the way of hard- ship and fever and accident; many turned back in disgust after a few weeks of familiarity with wagon travel; some, when they did get Into Mashonaland, were bitterly disappointed that the towns were still scrubby villages, the mines still existed only In the hopes of their dis- coverers, the price of living was extremely high, the comforts of clvlllza- tlon lay some hundreds of miles away behind them, around them appeared only the rolling plains of unoccupied territories varied with abrupt rocky hills here and there, and covered with scrubby thorn hllflhAfi nr dwjirfAtl nnrl anoKiutlv a/io4-^.»»<>^ i-..^ -^r ... -_ ..^ y. ~^„5.i^i^;r« ticca. oiauj', even or tlie RHODESIA. 113 pioneers, were disappointed. Nor did the first visit of Mr. Rhodes him- self in the year 1891 succeed in putting any heart into the depressed citizens of Mashonaland. During that and the following year or two they became exceedingly critical of ttie Chartered Company and its administration. They began to ask hew it was that the railway was not being built from Salisbury to Berea, a distance of only 380 miles, and Why it was that the machinery for the gold mines was not being hurried into the country on that shorter and cheaper route instead of being brought 1,200 miles from Cape Town. They began in fact to find that Mr. Rhodes, as at once Prime Minisi:er of Cape Colony and manager of .ae Chartered Company, had, like his chief, the Governor of Cape Colony and H. ti Commissioner for South Africa, two functions to fulfill whose interests were sometimes gravely antagonistic. It ap- peared of great importance to him as a nhareholder and director of the mines both at Kimberley and Johannesburg that he should retain the friendship of the Cape Colony and hold his position as Prime Min- ister there. But this position would te seriously endangered if his friends at the Cape found that he had built a railway to the eastern coast of Africa, had opened a commercial traffic in that direction in- stead of through Cape Colony, and was thus developing south central Africa without benefiting the older colony itself. It appea/ed therefore to the settlers in Mashonaland that their interests were being sacrificed for political reasons, or at least for reasons which they could not appreciate and which affected other ini;erests not their own. Mr. Rhodes is a man not easily swerved from whatsoever policy he ha« adopted, and they did not find themselves able to obtain from him either any modification of the conditions on which mining claims were allowed, or any promise of an immediate improvement in their commer- cial relations generally. That improvement was not possible until the war against the Mate- bele had taken place in the year 1893. As we have seen, Lobengula viewed with great jealousy the advent of the Chartered Company. He saw that on the strength of the concessions which he had sold to them the Company had entered, not as he expected in the capacity merely of commercial seekers after gain, but as a veritable government whlnh tnreatened to become a powerful rival of his own. This rivalry ap- 114 RHODESIA. w< < peared in a curious form when in the year 1893 some of his regiments went into Mashonaland on their usual annual raid. The poor and help- less Mashona people fled to the CJompany's settleme_'-t for protection. Lo- bengula demanded that they should be delivered up to him and would listen to no arguments advanced from a European point of view re- garding personal rights and liberties. He held that the Mashona were as much his property as the cattle of his kraals, and were his to be dealt with by himself at his good pleasure. The controversy became so acute that everyone saw war to be impending. Lobengula, however much he may have desired it, could not have restrained his ferocious regiments. He manifested what for a savage Zulu chief was a high degree of honor by warning the missionaries and white traders at his capital that they remained at their own peril; that he himself did not desire to injure them, but that he might not be able to hold in his warriors in their passion for blood. Many of the white people, therefore, hastily left the country. Two traders remained who were found as the only living inhabitants of Buluwayo, when the chief hid fled and left the town in ashes. The invasion of the Matabele was carried on by the Chartered Company's forces from the east with about 600 men under Major Forbes and a column composed largely of imperial police volunteers under Col. Goold- Adams, numbering about 450, who advanced from the south. The latter column was greatly assisted by a force of 1,700 or 1,800 men led by Ehama, the chief of the Bamangwato. These were of use as scouts and in other ways. They remained with the British force until Khama ascertained that Lobengula had been beaten and that the war was virtually over. Without attempting to join in the triumphal march into Buluwayo, he immediately returned to his own country. Loben- gula was pursued under the orders of Dr. Jameson, who was Adminis- trator of the territories of the Chartered Company, with a view to his capture. It was while engaged on this mission that the sad and yet thrilling disaster overtook Maj. Alan Wilson and a small company of mounted men who were riding with him in pursuit of the fugitive chief. They found themselves cut off from the main body, and sur- rounded by large numbers of Matabele. Some of them had their horses shot down from under them and the rest, who could have fled, remained with their comrades to the last. As the Matabele closed in around the RHODESIA. 115 devoted band they stood back to back until the last cartridge was spent, then the fierce savages rushed in upon them and left not one alive to tell the tale. It turned out afterwards that before this disaster Lobengula had sent two white men as messengers to Dr. Jameson, giving them £1,000 (about f 5,000) in gold to hand to him as a pledge cf peace, re- questing that the terms of a treaty should be sent to him. The black- hearted messengers could not resist the temptation to keep the money and the message to themselves. Their treachery was not discovered until some time afterwards, when they were arrested and of course amid universal execration condemned to a severe sentence. Loben- gula spent some miserable months in wandering and exile and finally died in January, 1894. Buluwayo, which had been the capital in Loben- gula's time, was immediately pitched upon as the best center for the government of Matabeleland by the Chartered Company. Immediately there was a rush of white people to that place, and it is said that no town in South Africa, not excepting Johannesburg itself, passed through the early stages of development so rapidly and successfully as Buluwayo. After the first conquest of Matabeleland in 1893 it was proposed to organize the administration of Matabeleland under the Char- tered Company. This accordingly was done by the British Govern- ment in May, 1894. The main features of the administration were as follows: The executive power was placed in the hands of an Admin- istrator and a council. The council consisted of a judge who could only be removed by the Secretary of State in London, and three other mem- bers whose appointment by the Chartered Company was subject to the approval of the Secretary of State. The Administrator had very large powers and was under no final obligation to secure the approval of his intentions from the council, but he was bound to report all action to the council. Legislation took place when the Administrator framed and issued regulations which had se- cured the concurrence of at least two members of the council and the approval of the High Commissioner for South Africa. The judge had separate jurisdiction over all legal procedure both civil and criminal; and legal procedure was to be modelled as far as possible after that which obtains in the Cape Colony. In cases between native litigant» .116 RHODESIA. native law was to be observed in so far as that law was not repugnant to the principles of morality or to the legislation of the new Adminis- tration. Local magistrates were to be appointed by the (Company with the approval of the High Commissioner. These simple and sensible arrangements appear to have worked fairly well. Much importance attaches naturally to the laws bearing upon the treatment of the native tribes. Everything was done to pro- vide for full recognition of the rights of the natives as the original occu- 'pants of the soil, and in the following regulations a remarkable contrast is presented between the spirit of the Imperial Government even when acting through a Chartered Company and the spirit manifested by most of those Europeans who hitherto have seized native lands in South' Africa. Very careful restriction was placed upon the power of the European communities to levy fines on native chiefs or tribes. Fines could only be imposed by the Administrator, sitting with his council, and every case of the kind must be immediately reported with full particulars to the High Commissioner. Natives were to receive special legislation and careful treatment so as to prevent the sale of liquor, arms and ammunition to them. In order to safeguard the interests of the natives in the land, a special Land Commission was organized. It was composed of three persons, namely, the judge, one member ap- pointed by the Secretary of State in London, and one member appointed by the Company. The decisions of this Land Commission are subject to revision by the Secretary of State. When the Land Commission shall have completed its labors and the reason for its continuance has ceased, all its powers and duties will pass to the judge. Its first task was to' assign to the natives then inhabiting Matabeleland, sufficient and suit- able land for their agricultural and grazing requirements, and cattle sufficient for their needs. They were to be carefully secured and pro- tected in the ownership of the land, and hence no contract for the purchase or encumbering of a native's land is valid in Rhodesia unless it is made before a magistrate, who must satisfy himself that the native understands the bargain and must himself attest the contract. All natives, of course, have the same rights as white people to acquire and nold and dispose of landed property in any other part of the country with perfect freedom and on their own responsibility. Should the RHODESIA. 117 company require any of the land aasigned by the CommiBsion to natives, either because of its mineral wealth, or its adaptation for townships or public works, the Company must bring its plea before the Land Com- mission. Upon good and suificient cause being shown the Commissioui may order the land so required to be given up, but the natives con- cerned must receive full compensation in land elsewhere, and this land must be, as far as possible, equally valuable for their purposes as that from which they are removed. The inquiry leading up to any such im- portant a::tion must be made upon the spot by the Commission. Such regulations promise a fair future for the relations of the Company to the natives. But, alas! the law may propose— it Is the citizens who dispose. Even in Rhodesia the actual relations of the Company to the native races were such, after the Matabele had been conquered, as to cause irritation and fan the smouldering fires of resentment into flames of open rebel- lion. Many of the settlers acted in the spirit of Olive Schreiner's hero, "Peter Halkett," and the natives were unable to obtain redress, or did not know by what steps redress could be obtained. The Matabele were chiefly annoyed by thfe administration of their affairs in respect to their cattle and to the question of labor. The Company required large quan- tities of cattle; they divided the country into districts and placed over each district a native chief or induna who was held responsible for the payment of as many head of cattle as the Company through its local officers might at any time demand of him. No method of conducting commerce or collecting tribute could possibly betray more ignorance of the native spirit or be better calculated to quicken rebellion. Scarcely less foolish in the circumstances was the method of obtaining native labor by requiring from every induna as many black men as were re- quired in this or that district. The Matabele had come to regprd them- selves as an aristocratic class, superior to those, like the contemptible Mashonas, who engaged in manual labor. To be forced to labor even for the Company and even for fixed wages, was to have the sense of their defeat and subjection driven into their proud hearts day after day and month after month. There seems abundant evidence that at certain times even force had to be employed in order to bring a sufficient num- ber of laborers to serve the whites. Matters were brought to a head 118 RHODESIA. when the news spread late in 1895 that Dr. Jameson and his force of vol- unteers had left Rhodesia. Only about 40 European members of the police force were left to control the large number of native police, who had been drawn from Lobengula's fierce regiments, and the coun- try as a whole. It is scarcely possible to think with patience of the blind folly of the administration at this time. They appear to have been blinded in Matabeleland by the intensity of their gaze upon Johan- nesburg. The fascination of the expected revolution in the Transvaal and the illimitable possibilities which that suggested to the ambitious minds of the Chartered Company, confused their judgment regarding the state of matters in Matabeleland. For some months they were iiice people standing over a volcano, heedless of the quaking earth and the rumbling sounds. All at once the volcano burst. When Dr, Jixviiesoni was a prisoner at Pretoria, defeated and disgraced, the native police felt their strength and wondered why they had allowed men to beat them in '93 who were so easily crushed by the Boers in '96. In spite of strict regulations against the sale of guns and ammunition many of the natives had been able to purchase these from European smugglers, who brought them into Matabeleland through Portuguese territory and the Transvaal. Swiftly as news spreads through native territories the word passed from kraal to kraal that liberty was at hand and that the whites were at their mercy. On March 24, 1896, the terrible rebellion of the Matabele broke out All over the land defenseless farmers with their wives and children were suddenly overwhelmed andmurdered,their bodies mutilated, their homes burned over their heads. Instantly every living white man in the coun- try put himself under arms and made for Buluwayo or Salisbury. There were many wonderful feats of courage, wonderful deeds of heroism per- formed in those days by desperate white women and passionate white men. Forces were raised also in the Colony end sent north, with the result that in a short while there were more tii ;'. 5,0 iO troops in Mata- beleland under the command of Gen. Fredf '>! k ■r.F.vagton. The chief officers under him were Col. Plumer and Col. Baden-Powell. As these troops, under magnificent and skilful management, were broken up into parties who scoured the country, rescuing the whites wherever they could find tbem and punishing bands of wandering native warriors, they grad- ZULUS DEFYING THE LIflHTNINO uHuui-r romn. tu* warrlora lake their ahleldi tnA apeara and defy tbe power that "hrnatena them. RHODESIA. 121 nally drove tLe Matabele from the open country. Among the Matoppo hills the natives took refuge, whence the white men soon found that it was practically impossible to dislodge them within a reasonable time. The only plan was to starve them out. Towards the end of August, 1896 the natives lost heart. The time for sowing their crops was at hand; there was no prospect which they could see of winning the victory; they had indeed learned once more the humiliating but necessary lesson that they were no match for the white people. Accordingly peace was concluded with the leading commanders, who brought their regiments back to their kraal*, and to their locations, and set them to work upon the sow- ing of their seeds and the raising of their crops. The CJompany were WJse enough to provide the natives freely with seed corn in order to tide them over the critical period lying before them. Mr. Rhodes fresh from the humiliation of the Jameson Raid was in Matabeleland during the war and distinguished himself by the frank courage with which he walked unarmed into the presence of the leaders of the rebellion and offered them p ace. They were deeply impressed, as savages always are when a white lan defies them and their weapons in this way, and hence- forth regarded Mr. Rhodes with new awe. In Mashonaland the natives had also risen encouraged by the Matabele and irritated by certain doings of the white people, but they were soon overwhelmed. By this time the country was under the administration of Earl Grey, who had succeeded Dr. Jameson. Partly as a result of this second war as well as of the misuse of their power by the leaders of the Chartered Company in the organization of the Jameson plan, the British Government readjusted the methods of administration in Rhodesia. The necessary modifications in the admin- istration of Rhodesia by the Chartered Company were made in 1898 under an Order in CV)uncil issued by the Queen, x'he main alterations and additions in the relations of the Chartered Company, as a governing body, to the Imperial authorities were intended to obviate the repetition of any such arbitrary action as the Jameson Raid. The British public thought that it had been proved unsafe to leave the Company in absolute possession of the territories under Its charge, and that some check mart be plu-ed upon the possibility of disloyal prooeedingi The mfiin feature of the now order consisted in the appointment of 122 RHODESIA. li- E' \h a Resident Commissioner, who derives his authority as well as his salary directly and solely from the Imperial Government, is ex-officio member both of the Executive and Legislative Councils, with iwwer to attend all their meetings and the meetings of any committee tliereof. He may discuss whatever matters are brought before such meetings, but has no vote. It is his duty to make constant and full reports of all proceedings to the High Commissioner at Cape Town. An equally important alteration was made with regard to the Rhodesian police. These were taken entirely out of the hanu;^ of the Company and placed under tho direct control and authority of the High Commissioner. The Commandant-General and subordinate officers are all appointed by the Secretary of State in London and paid from the Imperial treasury. In any case where the Commandant-General as an Imperial officer differs from the military plans of the administration under the Company, he may apply for instruction to the High Commissioner, whose authority is final. A High Court was also constituted by this order, whose judges are appointed by a Secretary of State on nomination of the Company; the Company, however, has no right to remove any judge who has once been appointed, this being reserved solely for the Secretary of State in London. Fur- ther and more elaborate plans were drawn out for the conduct of native affairs. These were placed under the Native Secretary with a body of assistants called native commissioners, who are all appointed by the Administrator acting for the Company; but the High Commissioner and Secretary of State have reserved to them ultimate power in the matter of appointment, salaries and the removal from office of these officials. It is thus apparent that it has been found necessary within ten years of the granting of the charter to the British South Africa Company, on account ox the policy and conduct of the directors and officers of that Company in South Africa, very seriously to curtail the powers originally , granted to it. Practically the present system of government of Rhode- sia consists in this: First, the Company, in return for the possessions and privileges granted to it, and through which it hopes to mnke a great Income for its shareholders, pays all the expenses of the actual admin* Istration and legislation, and has power to nominate its principal officers and to appoint BUOGrainate omcers. Dut on xhv otucf huiiu, uil tiie»6 kHODESIA. 123 nominations and appointments must be laid for final approval before the High Commissioner and the Secretary of State. The Imperial Gov- ernment has reserved to itself direct control of the military forces, and has made arrangements for a constant scrutiny of the entire conduct of affairs both legislative and executive, as carried on by the Company. Every check has been placed upon the power of the Company in any way to wrong the natives or to misuse its forces in relation to neigh- boring states. Many of the wisest supporters of the Chartered Company and defenders of the policy of colonial development by means of a chartered company, are thankful for the present arrangement. They allege that it enables Britain and South Africa and the Company to get out of the system all the advantages of enterprise and skill which the members of a commercial company must exert in their own interests, while it secures also all the advantages of direct Imperial guidance and control Since the year 1896 the development of Rhodesia has proceeded at a rate hardly equalled by the early history of any colony in the world. The work of administration of the natives has been carried out on much wiser plans and on the whole with great smoothness and success. Peace has reigned throughout Matabeleland and Mashonaland. The original inhabitants of the country have shown that they realize the position in which they were left by the operations of 1896. They implicitly obey the orders of the administration, and, what is of ve.y great significance, they pay the hut-tax, which goes towards the expenses of administra- tion, with promptitude. For the year 1899 this tax was expected to produce £42,000 (about |200,000). Even in Matabeleland, where the tax was levied for the first time in July, 1899, the amount collected was £22,000 (about |100,000), which was considerably in excess of the estl- mates made by the native officials. The tax per cap'ta is small, of course, but it is sufficient to make the people feel that thoy are under authority and that they have a personal stake in the righteous admin- istration of the law in their midst. The great difficulty, which presses hard upon the administration, is thnt of persuading the natives to work. The wages are for thorn fairly high and a man can by working a few- weeks make enough to keep himself and family for a year. This puts a premium upon laalness, aud laziness is the foe of development. Th© .1 il tm RHODESIA, I chief practical problem in many South African native regions is the same —how the natives can be turned from useless, often loathsome, idlers into active and progressive workers. Perhaps the most striking feature of Rhodesian history is the build- ing of the railways which connect that country with Cape Town in the south and Beira on the east coast. In 1896 the railway had reached Mafeking, about 850 miles north of Cape Town, in November, 1897, it had actually been built as far as Buluwayo, 1,360 miles from Cape Town. To celebrate this event invitations were made to eminent men in Lon- don, some of whom availed themselves of the opportunity, made the long voyage to Cape Town and traveled upon the new railway to Bulu- wayo itself. Among these was Sir Henry M. Stanley, who, in letters to the London Times, which have since been published in a volume entitled "South Africa," describes his experiences and the opening of the rail- way after an interesting manner. He appears to have been surprised at the energy, the foresight and the ambition displayed by the Chartered Company and the inhabitants of Rhodesia. The town of Buluwayo itself, which had been formerly Lobengula's kraal and which within one year after its selection as the capital of the country received a popu- lation of no less than 3,000 white people, seemed typical to the British traveler of the rapidity with which the whole country is likely to develop. Of course, to start with, the class of men who settle in Rhodesia is, on the whole, of very high average in character and intelligence. The happy-go-lucky miner, the mere wayward adventurer has no chance in that country, where prices are high and an income is only made by hard work and by the exercise of intelligence. As soon as the railway was opened machinery and goods of all kinds poured into the country and were disposed of at prices far below anything attainable before. The hope cherished by the majority of those who go to Rhodesia is, of course, that they may become discoverers of gold mines. Undoubtedly there are still gold districts which will become important as they ari further developed, but no district in Rhodesia yet approaches the value of the Rand in the Transvaal. The country, however, contains other attractions. In the north along the valleys of the Zambesi there are rich and splendid coal fields. In some parts rice can be grown in large quan- titles and cereals, inclndinir whonf nnnfid, i. liivcu iu tiiuse RHODESIA. 125 parts which are not likely to be so productive in fruit and grain crops, there are excellent facilities for stock farming. Perhaps one of the most important facts connected with the histoiy of the Chartered Company in South Africa is the fact that the territories which we have been describing are known as Southern Rhodesia and that across the Zambesi there is another enormous territory known as Northern Rhodesia. Through the eastern part of this territory it is proposed to continue the railway and the telegraph, which have already reached Salisbury. The plans have been laid out for that tremendous undertaking and the estimates received. As soon as favorable circum- stances arise, the task will be rndertaken to carry railway communica- tion from the northern bank of the Zambesi right up to Lake Tanganyika. Since the advent of the pioneer force in 1890 Southern Rhodesia has developed with extraordinary rapidity. The sums expended upon pub- lic works are large and they include a considerable amount which has to be employed in the maintenance of roads to the extent of 2,485 miles. The native population has not as yet begun to increase. In the prov- ince of Mashonaland it is estimated that there are nearly 200,000 natives and in the province of Matabeleland about 115,000, making a total native population for Southern Rhodesia of more than 300,000. Since the opening up of the country by the Chartered Company, in spite of the. wars which ha\e taken place, the difllculties of travel, the high price of livinp: and the many other practical problems which face the miner, the merchant and the farmer alike, the population has grown to more than 13,000 Europeans. The capital city, Buluwayo, is said to have now a population of more than 7,000 Europeans. When the pres- ent war is over, when the railway line to Beira on the eastern coast has been made more useful and transportation upon it cheaper, which will be the case soon, it is to be expected tlmt there will be a large influx of white people into these territories. It is not unlikely that Southern Rhodesia may yet in many respects become the rival of the Transvaal and the superior of all other South African states in its mineral wealth, its agricultural facilities and, above all, in the energy of its colonists. Sir H. M. Stanley suggests that Buluwayo may become the Chicago of Africa— and what more can be said? CHAPTER IX. CAPE COLONY, 1814-1900. FOR some years after the occupation of the Cape by the British Gov eminent at the Cape they were singularly successful in their con- trol of Colonial affairs. They sent out as Governors able and high-minded representatives of their country who neither sought to advance their personal wealth nor found pleasure in tvrannizing over any portion of the countrjr under their care. Lord Charles Someset, for example, had the good fortune to be warmly supported by the best Dutch officials in the Colony. One of these especially, a Mr Stockenstrom, received from him the very highest encomiums for the fidelity, ability and energy of his services both as a judge and militarv officer. •' It is a significant fact that even in those early days the first bitter troubles between the Government and the Dutch arose over the treat- ment of the natives. One of the most unhappy episodes, and one that has left Its influence on the entire history of the Colony down to this day arose from this cause. A farmer near the frontier, of the name of Bezuidenhout, was accused by a black servant of having grossly ill- treated him. The latter brought his complaint before the Landdrost at Graaff-Reinet who ordered a subordinate to investigate the complaint and deal with it. This subordinate was also a Dutchman. Bezuiden- hout resented what he thought to be an invasion of his private authority over his servants, and it was necessary to issue a warrant for his appre- hension. This the farmer resolved to resist with force of arms He prepared himelf by carrying a large supply of ammunition to a cave near his house which could only be approached by one man at a time Thither when hard pressed he retired and warned his would-be captors* that he would shoot every man who came to the mouth of the cave He had companions with him to support him in his struggle. The matter was soon over, however, for one of the Government officers, stepping to the front, shot him down before he could take aim. The immediate relatives of this Bezuidenhout deeply resented what iio CAPE COLONY, 1814-1900. 127 had bean done and his brother actually collected a band together to take vengeance of a murderous kind upon th V J3 «<3 CHAPTER X. THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. SECTION I. THE EARLIER HISTORY OF THE TRANSVAAL. ONE of the Boer leaders in the fierce battle of Boomplaats, in 1848, where the British were victorious, was A. W. J. Pretorius. He fled northwards, followed by a large party of the more determined and irreconcilable immigrants. A reward of £2,000 (about 110,000) was offered for his apprehension. The British did not pursue him across the Vaal River, especially as their small available force was engaged in fierce fighting with the Kaffirs in the east. While the British authorities were involved in these and other difficulties the Boers across the Vaal River resolved to appeal once more for ^ecogni- tion as an independent state. The Governor, Sir Harry Smith, decided to grant their request and a conference was held within the Orange Free State, which resulted in what has ever since been known as the Sand River Convention. It mn.t be clearly observed that in this act the Queen of Great Bntam. tnrough her representatives, was in no position of submitting to terms dictated by victorious enemies nor making a treaty with any organized nationality having an independent standing. She was deal- ing with men whom she considered as her subjects and who were so considered by the rest of the world, so far as it thought of them at all In the next place in granting them the powers of self-government the Queen did so on certain conditions, on whose fulfillment the continu- ance of that self-government must be supposed to have rested. The document is a very simple and a very short one, and was signed on the lah day of January, 1852. The names of the signatories are curious- ly mixed up, those of the British commissioners standing amongst those of the representative Boer farmers with whom the agreement was made. The important parts of the convention are as follows: Her Majestv's assistant commissioners are represented as settling and adjusting the affairs of the eastern and nnrthoaai^vn k«.,^^ .• *^. ^ . .,. ,...„„^^„^^ y^ j^g uoiony of the 119 140 THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. t Cape of Good Hope, and thoy have held a meeting with a deputation from the immigrant farmers residing north of the Vaal River. "The assistant commissioners guarantee in the fullest manner, on the part of the British Government, to the immigrant farmers beyond the Vaal River, the right to manage their own affairs and to govern themselves according to their own laws, without any interference on the part of the British Government; and that no encroachment shall be made by the said Government on the : -mtory beyond, to the north of the Vaal River, with the further ; .e that the warmest wish of the British Government is to promo. .oe, free trade, and friendly intercourse with the immigrant farmers now inhabiting, or who may hereafter inhabit, that country, it being understood that this system of non- interference is binding upon both parties. "Should any misunderstanding hereafter arise as to the true mean- ing of the words the Vaal River, this question, in so far as regards the line from the source of that river over the Drakensberg, shall be settled and adjusted by commissioners chosen by both parties. "Her Majesty's assistant commissioners hereby disclaim all alliances whatsoever and with whomsoever of the colored nations to the north of the Vaal River. "It is agreed that no slavery is, or shall be, permitted in the country to the north of the Vaal River by the immigrant farmers." The remaining four paragraphs deal with matters of trade, courts of law, certificates of imirriage, and the free movement of individuals from one side of the Vaal River to the other in either direction. It is distinctly laid down that "mutual facilities and liberty shall be afforded to traders and travellers on both sides of the Vaal River." It must be observed that the ambitious name of the "South African Republic" claimed by the immigrant farmers is not used or recognized by this document. Further it is of importance to notice that nothing was said, or probably could have been said, regarding the boundaries of the Gov- ernment here recognized. Much of the region into which they had gone was practically unexplored, and therefore unknown to the British authorities. Mr. Theal has risked the statement that "roughly speaking, they (the boundaries) were the Limpopo River on the north, the Vaal THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. ui River and a line a little above Kuniman on the south, the Kala- hari desert on the west, and the mountainous country corresponding with the Drakensberg on the east." This statement concedes too much even although it does not go to the extreme length which the Transvaal delegates went when they placed their proposals before the Earl of Derby in London in the year 1883. It is of significance that the docu- ment always uses the phrase "north of the Vaal River" as the one geographical term adequately describing the territory in question. Of course, only a small part of the immense territory now covered by the South African Republic was at that time actually occupied by the immigrant farmers, and the question is how much territory eastwards westwards and northwards may fairly be said to have been in view of both parties at the time of the Convention. To say that Mr. Pretorius stretched his ambition as far as Kuruman on the west or the northern- most point of the Limpopo River, is surely to give him credit for a much larger ambition than was possible at that time. What is per- fectly evident is, that, by the strict terms of this Convention at least no land west of the western end of the Vaal River could have been claimed by the immigrant farmers. If they had at that time announced it as their conception of the case that their territory included the region of Bechuanaland ./hich had for many years now been penetrated by the missionaries of the London Missionary Society, with Moffat and Livingstone among them, and by the traders who followed the route which they opened up, the British commissioners would, beyond doubt have disallowed this claim. In determining the actual meaning of such a document the entire circumstances on both sides must be taken into account; and they, as subsequent conventions have proved, indicated that the terms of that Convention applied, not to an unlimited territory reaching more than half way across the continent, but to the territorv already occupied, or which could be easily occupied within a reasonable time and without injury to other interests by the immigrant farmers The Article which states that the British Government disclaim all alliances with natives to the north of the Vaal River must be inter- preted In the same way; and it can be proved that no such alliances have ever been made since that date by Great Britain until more than thirty years afterwards, when native chiefs in Bechuanaland, after 142 THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. m repeated appeals to the British Government for protection from the Boers, were declared to be under the British protectorate. But that story shall be told later. Hie fourth Article is of immense importance not only as indicating what was the prevailing and acknowledged idea concerning the attitude of the Boers towards the slavery question, and their reputed treatment of natives, but as forming a political basis for inquiry into the question whether the conditions of the Sand River Convention were actually observed by the Transvaal Boers in this as well as in other particulars. This also is a story for later pages. The immigrant farmers who had received recognition as a self- governing community did not for a number of years exceed 20,000 men, women and children. They were farmers distinctively and exclusively, and they therefore selected from the vast territory at their disposal those sections most favorable for agricultural and pastoral pursuits. It is a recognized law of human history that the pastoral represents a lower stage of development than the agricultural; it is therefore of great significance that the Boer farmers of the Transvaal tended to become less and less of agriculturists and to attach their ideas of wealth and prosperity to the extent of their flocks and herds. This meant that every farm must be large, must consist of from 4,000 to 6,000 morgen or from 2,000 to 3,000 acres, and must be merely superin- tended by the Boer owner; the actual work of attending to the stock or raising the small crops necessary being left almost entirely in the hands of native servants, as soon as these could be obtained and trained for that purpose. It is an interesting fact that the Transvaal Boers formed themselves not into one but into several small republics. For twelve years there were at least four of these, whose centers were respectively known as Potchefstroom, Zoutpansberg, Lydenburg and Utrecht. Between these several republics there were differences which became so bitter that on more than one occasion there were brief and slight battles among them. The bloodshed was happily not abundant, and the strife did not prevent them from uniting in strong sympathy as soon as any movement out- wards on native tribes was necessary. Efforts at the union of the four began in 1857, when Pretorius, who was called President of the republic THE TRANSi^AAL REPUBLIC. 143 at Potschefstroom, gradually obtained the assent of the other three centers to a constitution, and at last, in 1864, the one Republic was actually established. Its President was Martinus Wessel Pretorius and the Commanding-General was one whose name was destined to become famous far and wide in after days, namely Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger. > •, It is strange to discover that in this very year, 1852, on November 22d, the famous and high-souled Robert Moffat wrote a letter to London m which he announced that the very Ck)nvention which we have de-' scribed was being made the basis and reason by the Boers for carrying on war against tribes far distant from the main centers of the Boer populations. After describing various attacks made upon different tribes in which mission work had been begun, he goes on to say, "The Boers can give no reason whatever for all this, except it be that all the apprentices must become their vassals; and they conceive that they have a special right to engage in wars and to depose chiefs of the lands of their forefathers, on account of the late treaty between them and the British Government, in which their independence north of the Vaal River is acknowledged and proclaimed. Every account of rapine and bloodshed is carried on with the excuse that the country is theirs by authority of the Queen of England. This strange note jars horribly on the ears of the natives. Their estimation of England was once verv high." '' In the year 1857-58 the Republic began to cast its eyes westwards and entered upon a policy of territorial expansion towards Bechiiana- land. Thf trouble for the Bechuanas was begun bv ». Bushman, who committed depredations in the Orange Free State and carried his booty across the Vaal River into Bechuanaland. Here he was unfortunately allowed to settle by the paramount chief of the Batlaping tribe. His success and apparent immunity encouraged several others to follow his example, and they too succeeded in making raids both into the Transvaal and the Orange Free State and bilnging home a con- siderable amount of live stock and ::ome fine horses. As soon as pos- Bible a party of Dutchmen was sent into this district, the leaders were killed and the ch^ef himself, who had given them custody, was shot and Deneaiied. Tbe Dutchmen, not content with punishing so severely the 144 THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. other depredators, pushed on to the village of Taungs, where a number of refugees from the already punished tribe had taken refuge. The chief of this district, Mahure by name, had himself disapproved the raids and none of his people had taken part in them, but the Dutchmen compelled him to promise payment of an exceedingly heavy indemnity, amounting to 8,000 cattle, 300 horses, and 500 guns, besides 10 men accused of murder. This fine was of course an impossible one, and it is probable that Mahure did not know its real amount when he agreed to it. The missionaries have always asserted that none of the Christian chiefs of the Batlaping tribe villages had taken any part in these raids, and they felt, therefore, that the threats uttered by the Dutchmen against the whole Batlaping tribe were unjust. Nevertheless the Dutchmen issued a warning that in the following year they would carr- their raids westwards, even as far as Kuruman. About that time they heard that the representatives of the London Missionary Society, who were considerably increased in numbers, were contempkting, under the inspiration of Moffat and Livingstone, an extension of their missionary work as far north as the Zambesi River. A letter was therefore sent to Dr. Moffat informing him that no mis- sionaries would be allowed to proceed north without permission granted by the Presier to the white men. The Boers themselves conld not be aroused to any fresh effort A special meeting of the Raad was called and H was decided to entrust the further operation of the war to a body of volunteers. These were to be raised by a foreigner named Schhekmann, who was succeeded later by a very clever and unscrupu- lous Irishman called Aylward. The latter, some years later, found it so necessary to clear his name and to attack the British relations to the TransvaaJ, that he wrote a considerable volume, which failed in both of these aims. These men secured as their volunteers a strange mixture of desperadoes from different parts of South Africa, men who for the most part were wandering about in search of excitement, who were attracted by the prospect of a war which was legitimized by a Govern- ment and by the prospect of liberal rewards in lands and plunder which were offered to them. Some of the horrors performed by these "fllibus- ters," as the newspapers of South Africa speedily nicknamed them are too dieadful for record. Of course they failed in their main object,'and the war lingered on in the most miserable fashion, increasing the pres- tige of the black men and strengthening the convictions of the Zulus and Swazis that their day of vengeance had come. As a matter of fact Cetywayo, the powerful Zulu chiof, made up his mind that his hour had come for washing his spears in the blood of the Boers. In the spring of 1877 he made quiet but effective preparations for an attack upon the Transvaal. The Boers then, after twelve years' effort at self-government, had utterly failed. No other word can be written across the history of those years than the word "collapse." These people had asked for self- government from the Queen, who gave it to them; they had failed egregiously not only in maintaining right relations to the native peoples but in managing their own affairs; their taxes were unpaid; their officers received their salaries long after they were due, and in very un- certain installments. Bitterness among themselves was now approach- ing a very intense degree, inasniucl. as an election of representatives was approaclilng and a supreme oonti st was rujfing befwoen Kruger and Burgers for the Presidentship. Observers of the country at this time predicted that, if such an election took place war would break out amonirst tlie white men th(>niiu*lvnB nnriT^ito i.».i «^.t-j i i . ... s- - "«vi liiuu iu vain 10 ODtaiii THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. 161 loans in Ettrbpe; he had even sought alliances with various European powers including Germany and Holland, but these had consistently de- clined. The country therefore had a gradually increasing debt, abso- lutely no credit, no administration, no taxes, nothing in fact of all the activities that constitute a living government. This was the position of affairs in 1876 when the British Government first stepped in. •BOTION III. OHARAOTERISTICS OF THE BOBRS. It has been wittily said that the Boers went to South Africa in the seventeenth century and have been travelling backwards ever since. This, of course, is not true of the Dutch inhabitants of the Cape Colony and of the Orange Free State. The fact is that circum- stances have divided the entire Dutch people of South Africa roughly into two classes. One class consists of those who have had the good fortune to live in or near European towns, or have possessed farms on some of the main roads of travel. These have of course made gt'eat progress in culture of various kinds. They are quite equal t" any ol their white neighbors of whatever descent, German or English or Scotch. As one travels north and west in Cape Colony one flndd that the people gradually deteriorate in character and attainments until, in the Orange Free State, the quality of the Dutch farmer suddenly rises again. Hence it is that we find such contradictory accounts and such confusion of mind in many directions, both in England and America, when the Dutch of South Africa are being discussed. People contra* diet each other with the utmost heat when they are not discussing the same subject! In Africa the name Boer is now given to those of the Dutch population who have pushed farthest away from centers of civilization, and the name has been long ere this used in a special manner concern- ing the inhabitants of the Transvaal. The world is today chiefly inter- ested not in those Dutch people who have grown into the possession of an ordinary European education and civilization, but in the Boers who have pursued other ideals and who today confront Great Britain for the preservation, as they imagine, of those ideals. In the first place, be it observed that the Boers entered the Trans- vaal fighting; that they have extended the border* of the Transvaal until to-day it is larger than Fpantie, by Oghilug; iliat their whole career T'^'''"»''S"f?»'^?'^?!!ST^»^BVP 162 THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. is a career of warfare, and their principal national organizations have hitherto been created for the purposes of war. Hence we must be pre- pared to find the Boer a man of great vigor and independence and deter- mination. His vigor is nurtured by his healthy life in the open air; his independence is nourished by the largeness of his farms» for it is a small farm which measures less than three square miles in extent; and his determination of will is strengthened by every attack which he makes successfully upon a native tribe, by every call which his leaders address to him to fear and resist the approach of an English "tyranny " The kind of life which thus the Boer determined to pursue has re- sulted in the creation of what we must call land-hunger. This is one of the most curious and striking characteristics of the Boer people in the Transvaal. The possession of land is the supreme social ideal. It is this which gives a man status among his fellow citizens; it is this which 18 a test of his worth, the more land the greater the man. The man who owns none is an object of pity, if not of contempt. This passion has exercised a very powerful influence over the entire history of the country. The annual, or still more frequent, wars with native tribes have always had for their main object the gaining of more land for hungering farmers. The treaties made with natives upon which afterwards gov- ernmental authority was usually established had to do first of all with land. Land is the Boer gold, and perhaps it may be called his god Closely connected with this must of course bo mentioned the family life of the Boer. They are famous for their large families. One man IS said to have boasted that he had given thirty-two citizens to his country. The families usually range from six to twelve or fourteen children. Of course as these grow up, provision must be made for them, and the only provision possible is either the division of the paternal estate or the obtaining of new farms. As marriages take place very early in life the population thus increases at an enormous rate and the demand for new farms makes a constant pressure upon the borders of the country, forcing them out over neighboring tribal terri- tories. As ib always the case with people who live far separated from oni another, who have to take long journeyg on various social and busines occasions, hospitality becomes a highly valued virtue. Away from ih THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. 158 high roads this hospitality ia open and genuine. Every white face is welcome, and the family arrangements are without hesitation com- pletely upset that the visitors may be warmly treated. Beside the high roads the farmers became liable to visits from wandering travellers of various descriptions and were often made the victims of cruel jokes and unjust dealings. This tended to make them suspicious and even hard or greedy in their dealings with all "uitlanders" who approached them. Travellers who have come long distances with wagons and oxen have many needs to satisfy when they reach the verges of civilization, and the Boer can help them or refuse to help them in many little ways which concern their comfort. Where such travellers are frequent it has become necessary for the farmers to make charges both for attentions ahd for provisions which, away from the high roads, would be gladly bentowed without charge. In a Boer household the position of woman is by no means a high one. She is hard worked, deprived of the privilege of much travel or intercourse with her fellows; she is uneducated and not expected to show any intelligent interest in other than domestic affairs. Visitors to Pretoria have described the evident inferiority of the position which even Mrs. Kruger occupies in her own household. The women go out little, it is said, from the fear lest the sun destroy their complexion; the result is that they are almost without exception very stout, as well as very large, and that their faces have an unnaturally bleached look. Some travellers and observers have m^^de hard assertions upon the households and personal habits of the Boers. It is not easy to find excuse for whole families living in houses of two or three rooms, for the neglect of the simplest habits of personal cleanliness, for the gen- eral untidiness and dilapidation presented by the majority of their farm buildings and agricultural methods. At the same time justice must be done to them from the consideration that their life had, until the last few years, taken them many hundreds of miles from any rail- way; that they had no roads, and therefore little communication with the outside world. Few were the influences brought to bear upon them to rebuke their neglect of such matters. It was hard to obtain furni- ture or ornaments, clothing, or other minor but necessary appurte- xttsxxtxti^ l/C \JU^ 154 THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. tained only for cash, and of cash the Boer usually saw little. His wealth consisted in the land which he occupied, in the flocks and herds, the grain and vegetables and fruit which his extensive farm or estate so abundantly yielded. In all these things he might be said t© be rich beyond the average of such farmers anywhere. Education is by the Boers of the Transvaal by no means openly despised, but almost totally neglected. So far as it is carried on it is mainly by itinerate teachers who pass from farm to farm or district to district, instructing the children. Their chief object is to prepare them for the examination in reading the Scriptures and reciting catechism, without which they cannot be received into the church, nor be allowed to many. Thus the education of the majority of the Transvaal Boers has been gradually growing poorer and poorer, and it is said that a veiy large proportion of the aduUs can neither read nor write. Next to their commandos and land extension, the Boers are interested in their church. Perhaps it is not fair to say next, in this manner, for much of their conduct in relation to land grabbing is stimulated by their religious ideas. It is, as we shall see on the authority of one who knew them well and as is so often described by so many travellers, the literal fact that the Boers of the Transvaal apply the Old Testament language concerning Israel literally to themselves, and its language concerning the Canaanites, who were to be destroyed and crushed out, literally to the native tribes. It is hard to say how much of hypocrisy there is in this; it must be confessed that in a very large number of instances it is no hypocrisy, but a clear belief in which they have been trained from childhood. The great church events of the year are the Nachtmaal seasons, when they travel by ox wagon shorter or greater distances to the nearest church for the purpose of celebrating the communion. The language which the Boers speak is hardly intelligible to Dutch- men from Holland. It is practically a new colloquial tongue which during nearly three centuries has developed on South African soil It has become differentiated from Holland Dutch alike in pronunciation and idioms, some of which are drawn from native languages and all of which together combine to render it a very uncouth and imperfect medium of communication. It has not even the richness and smooth- ness of the colloquial native tongues. In church of course pure Dutch ZULU WARRIORS ZULU WARRIORS, UNCIVILIZED The first picture shows part of a Zulu regiment with its strange head-gear &nd shields and spears, crouching on the ground with only their commander standlug in front. ZULU WARRIORS, CIVILIZED The second shows the same class of men after they have come under the training of British offlccrs. They are armed with rifles and bayonets, and wear the light and useful clothing of the native volunteers. THE TRkNSVAAL REPUBLIC. 157 Is spoken, and in their Bibles they read it, but it requires more frequent church attendance than many of them are able to give to enable them to become proficient in the understanding of etermonic Dutch. It is an interesting and remarkable feature that one of the favorite characteristics of the Boers, one which they admire most in every one, is expressed by the word "slim." When a Boer farmer speaks affection- ately and admiringly of General Joubert he nicknames him "slim Piet." The word means cunning. °nd is applied to those who in their business and political dealings have shown themselves adepts at "taking in" their rivals and competitors. The man who can most effectively "take in" a native chief or an English trader who thinks himself smart, or the English Government conscious of its power and easily making agreements with its weaker neighbors, thereby displays to his admiring neighbors the quality described by "slim." On the whole, concerning the average Boer of the Transvaal, the judgment of travelers and close observers has generally been that he is a man of natural power whose circumstances had until the last few years been dragging him backwards into barbarism, but Vv ho has shown in various ways his capacity to develop rapidly into an enlightened citizen of this generation. The following paragraphs, which se'^im to have a certain value as coming from a close student of the facts and a sympathetic observer of human nature in white race or black, were written by the late John Mackenzie. In his -'Ten Years North of the Orange River," which was published in 187i,he says: "A few years ago, religious strife and party-spirit ran high in the Transvaal country; and on more than one occasion the opposing forces took the field. They kept, however, at long range from one another, and happily not much blood was shed. A description of the causes of the combats would take us back more than two hundred years in the history of our own country. The "Doppers," as they are called, occupy the position of dissenters from the Established Dutch Church in South Africa; although they do not object to receive aid from the State. The only difference between them and their opponents which an elder of the Dutch Church could mention to me, was first that (like the Cameronians in HpntlnnHt thpv nincr nnlv tho PraIitir nt TinviA in niih1ir> -nrrkrahin* all - 1 i 168 THE TRANSl^AAL REPUBLIC. other Mcred hymns being "carnal." Then there was a certain cioth or covering used by th© Doppers in public worship and at the Table of the Lord, different from that used in the Church. Beyond these two points in "religion" my informant could not go; although the differ- ence had been the cause of bloodsheu. He went on to say that in their own dress the Doppers, like the Quakers, do not approve of the changes of fashion. Their costume is usually a hat of the very largest dimen- sions; a short jacket, part of the cloth for which would seem to have gone to make the trousers, which are very roomy; a large vest, buttoned tc the chin; and the usual "veld-schoen." My informant admitted that the Doppers were very good people, although he thought that they could be improved by "conforming" both as to the singing of hymns And the wearing of longer coats. The remaining i)ortlon of the Dutch community Is divldetl eceleslnstically into Orthodox and "Liberaalen," or RationalistPj as they are calUnl In England. In Potchefstroom these three sections had separate congregations— all consisting of Dutch- spooking people. It was perhaps better that they should differ and even fight about a hymn or a vestment thaa remain in the torpid routine of formalism. The existence of the Orthot Ox, Liberaalen, and Doppers, in the Transvaal, and also in the Cape Colony, Is an evidence of Increas- ing life and thought nmong the people. "The frontier Dutchman prefere the Old to the New Testament. He is at home among the wars of the IsratHtes with the doomed Inhabitants of the Promised Land. And no one wIic) has freely and for years min- gled with this people can doubt that they have persuaded themselves by some wonderful mental process that they are God's chosen people, and that thr blacks im» the wicked and condemnetl Canaonltes over whoHe„head8 the Divine anger lowers continually. Accradlngly, in their wain* with the natives, the question of religion is at once brought into continual and prominent mention. Dutchmen will tell you that In a certain engagement the "heathern" loss was bo many, and there were so many Christians mnrd«-red. Wors jlp Is conducted in the laager or camp by some ofBcial of the church, who probably exercises mlH tary rule as well. In their prayers the languag • of the heroes of the Old Testament is freely appropriated; they are God's people, and their enemies are His enemios-. And here a s'^ovrsnhirftl THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. 159 ii^Xt to their minds. If tliey are the chosen people, they must be either ia or out of the Promised Land. The iatter is the received opinion: "Man never is, but always to be, blest" In their journeys northwards they would seem to have cherished the hope of speedily reaching the land of Canaan. A map of the world drawn by a Dutch colonist would be a curiosity. At a certain mission station some Dutchmen laughed to scorn the idea that the earth was round. Those, therefore, whose cosmos is what they have seen on horseback, or heard described by "traveled" neighbor^-, are to be excused if their ideas of the distance between South Africa and Palei*. tine are peculiar to themselves. I have been often privately questioned on this point by some grave house-father. "Was Canaan near^» "Where was Egypt?" "Could one go there in his wagon?" In this con- nection it is somewhat affecting as well as amusing to know that the farmers in some of the most northerly districts inhabited by the Dutch have names given to them indicating the longing of the farmers to reach the land of promise and of rest. "The faith and the simplicity of the devout and humble Dutch colon- ist are changed into fanaticism and superstition in the case of those who have only the "form of godliness," without loyally submitting them- selves to its "power." What they want in their own life and character they strive to make up by wonderful "experiences," of which they them- selves are the only witnesses. I have listened a whole evening in a company of Dutchmen, to the recital by one and another of anecdotes of Divine interpositions and warnings; of people who were told as in Old Testament times, that they would get better of some sickne^ how long they would live, etc.-the event always tallying with the predic- tion. It is a fact that some Dutch hunters resort to the use of dice before going out to the day's sport, a native diviner being called upon to declare by this means in which direotioo game is to be found on that day. A Dutchman in the bowler districts will often submit to the charms and necromancy of a heathen priest and doctor, uijder the de- lusion—which the native of course encourages— that he has been hpwit*»hpd- Nb^" Inner airn a TiQ+itr/i /?^«+r»- .™_„ j-ifi . 1 o -c '-■ "^•••.vi -.- as uc-iiwermei^ rewarded by a Dutchman, who had long been without an heir, because through the . 160 THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. said doctor's charms and spells the farmer's wife had at length brought forth a son. Ignorance has thus been gradually lowering the tone of the people, especially in the case of those coming into contact with the natives. The remark which I have often heard made by Englishmen who had long resided among the frontier Dutch might no doubt have been made with equal justice for several generations — ^that the "young Dutchmen are seldom such fine men on the whole as their fathers." This of course could not apply to those who have come under European influence, but to those who have fled from it. "The farther the Dutch-speaking population is removed from centers of civilization, from chuiches and from schools, the ruder are their man- ners and the more uncouth the dialect which they speak. Their fellow countrymen to the south affect great contempt for their restless connections on the frontier, and sometimes call them "Vaalpensen," which is the Dutch for Bakalahari, the ill favored and lean vassals of the Bechuanas. I have observed that many young Dutchmen, sur- rounded from their youth by Bechuana servants, introduce certain Bechuana idioms into their own language in ordinary conversation. For instance, the Bechuanas have a hyperbolical way of speaking about pain or sickness, which is ridiculous when reproduced in Dutch. If a Bechuana man has a headache, the idiom of his language requires him to say, "I am killed by my head;" if he has a sore finger, "I am killed by my firger." This is now in constant use in Dutch in certain districts. Again, when a Bechuana wishes to arouse or to hasten his servant, he will say, although it should be before sunrise, "Make haste, the sun has set." The Dutchmen on the frontier are learning to say the same thing, not only to their servants but to one another. "The hospitality of the Dutchmen residing in the remoter districts may be said to be wonderful, and it is a most worthy trait in their character. No person, black or white, leaves a frontier farm without having partaken of food. Natives travelling through these districts count upon such entertainment along with the farm servants, and Europeans know that they may quite reckon upon a place at the far- mer's own table. On much frequented roads this habit is gradually changing; and a "bondle-drager," a person on foot, who carries his all in a bundle, is not very welcome at far-m house's, and for sumci^it rea- THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC:- 161 sons. In the Transvaal, when gold diggers in large numbers were expected through the country, I had an opportunity of observing the high place which hospitality occupies in tl^e mind of the Dutch house^ holder. Not wishing to invite suspicious characters to his house, a farmer whom I knew proposed to build on his premises a little ''house of entertainment," where he intended to supply food and a night's lodg- ing to passing strangers. "The bad character of the people must not cause us to fail in what is our duty," said this Dutchman; and I believe he gave utterance to the feelings of many ot his neighbors. But the white-skin passport to the Dutchman's table sometimes leads to amus- ing incidents. For instance, a gentleman living in a certain distant village rode out one day to visit a Dutch neighbor. To his surprise, when all had assembled at dinner, he found his own coachman among the guests. He had obtained leave of absence that morning, and, not knowing his master's intentions, was paying a visit here on his own account." SECTION IV. THB TRANSVAAL GOVERNMENT AND NATIVE RACES. During the years 1864-1876 the history of the Transvaal Republic is chiefly concerned with the wars carried on by the Burghers against strong native tribes in the nci'theast, east and southeast. The student of their character and social organization will also be much concerned during this period with the question of their treatment of natives within their own territory. According to the fourth article of the Sand River Convention (1852) they were bound to have no slavery, but in the "Grondwet" or Fundamental Constitution of the Republic, drafted in 1855 and adopted in 1858, which is the basis of the South African Republic to-day, it is determined that 'the people (the Boers) will suffer no equality of whites and blacks, either in State or in Church." The black man possesses practically no status in the eyes of the law, except in relation to such laws as limit his freedom of movement and his possession of property. The policy of the Transvaal was, in a few districts where they found tribes existing, to allow tribal law to continue, and it has sometimes been represented as the policy through- out the country; but the same class of writers also urge in another breath and for another purpose that the larger part of the central 162 THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. il Transvaal had been denuded of population by the terrific raids of Moselekatse and his blood-thirsty Zulu regiments. When the Boers settled in these unoccupied territories, the problem pressed upon them how they were to obtain native labor. Natives did not and would not flock to service under them as they have flocked to the diamond mines or the gold mines under the British Government, nor volunteer to serve the farmers in the Transvaal as they have willingly done in many parts of Cape Colony. The Boers, on the other hand, had already received into their souls the poison which white people so often have contracted where they are in the presence of such races; namely, that of a contempt for manual labor. Servants, therefore, had to be found, and one of the interesting questions vital to the understanding of the economical history of the Transvaal during these twelve years bears upon this question. How did they find this labor? There can be little doubt that durir:r these early years the Boers were much less scrupulous about the way in which they treated the native tribes than they have become in recent years under the severe criticism of outlander whites and of their own higher-minded fellow Dutchmen in the south. The people who gave the blacks no equality in State or in Church could not, if their principles were to be carried out, allow natives to own land, even when they had made enough money to purchase it Hence it became the custom for blacks here and there who desire 1 to own land to purchase it through, and hove- it registered in the name of some missionary or other white man, in whose honesty they trusted' This was all that the black man could possibly attain. Further no native was allowed to move about from place to place without a pass which, needless to say, could not be obtained without some little dim' culty. The operation of those two laws resulted in this, that the native adults in the Transvaal were wholly dependent for their work, rate of wages and opportunities for purchase, upon the Boer farmers o'n whose land they happened to live. Mi.reover, every farmer had the right to inpcse hut-taxes upon all natives living on his lands. Needless to say, little or nothing was done by the Boers for the e