,.'^.. ^<^w, IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) :/j 1.0 1.1 1.25 21 12.5 ■ 50 1S6 Wj^ 1^ 2.2 lUil U 11.6 A" o t ■^J Photographic Sciences Corporation ^ i\ ^> \^^ •N? ;\ \ ^<b V <S^ 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. MS80 (716) 873-4503 ^ '\^;^- n,^- CIHM/}CMH Microfiche Series. CIHIVI/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques Technicti and Bibliographic Notaa/Notat tachniquca at bibliographiquaa Tha Inatituta haa attamptad to obtain tha baat originai copy avaiiabia for filming. Faaturaa of thia copy which may ba bibliographically uniqua, which may altar any of tha imagaa in tha raproduction, or which may significantly changa tha usual mathod of filming, ara chacked balow. D D D D D D D Colourad covars/ Couvartura da coulaur I I Covars damagad/ Couvartura andommagia Covars rastorad und/or laminated/ Couvartura rastaurAa at/ou pallicutia □ Covar titia missing/ La titra da couvartura manque |~~| Coloured maps/ Cartes giographiquas en couleur Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/ Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire) I I Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur Bound with other material/ RaiiA avec d'autres documents Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin/ La reliure serrie peut causer de I'ombre ou de la distortion le long de la marge intirieure Blank leaves added during restoration may appear within the text. Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajou;.ies lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte, mais, lorsque cela Atait possible, ces pages n'ont pas AtA filmies. Additional comments:/ Commentairas suppi^mentaires; L'Inatitut a microfilm^ la maillaur axemplaira qu'ii lui a At A ooaaibia de aa procurer. Lea dAtaila da cat axemp«aira qui aont paut-Atra uniquaa du point da vua bibliographiqua, qui pauvent modifier une image raproduite, ou qui pauvent exigar una modification dans la mAthoda normala de filmaga aont indiquAa ci-daaaoua. I — I Colourad pagaa/ \K D Pages de couleur Pages damaged/ Pagaa andommagtas □ Pages reatorad and/or laminated/ Pages restaurias at/ou pelliculAes Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ lAJ Pages d^colortes, tachattes ou piquAes □ Pages detached/ Pages d6tach6es The( to th Tliei poss of th filmi Origi begii the I sion, othe first sion, or ill Showthrough/ Tranaparance I I Quality of print varies/ Quality in^gaia da I'impraaaion Includes supplementary material/ Comprend du materiel suppKmantaire Only edition available/ Seule Mition diaponibla The shall TINL whic Map: diffe entir begli right requ mett Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata slips, tissues, etc., have been refilmed to enaura the best possible image/ Lea pages totelement ou partiellement obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata, une pelure, etc., ont 6t6 filmies A nouveau de fapon d obtenir la mailleure image possible. This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document est filmi au taux de reduction indiquA ci-dessous. 10X 14X 18X 22X 26X aox 7 12X 16X 20X 24r 28X 32X 1 re I«tail8 M du Tiodifier •r una ilmage The copy filmed here has been reproduced thanks to the generosity of: National Library of Canada Tlie images appearing here are the best quality possible considering the condition and legibility of the original copy and in keeping with the filming contract specifications. L'exemplaire filmi fut reproduit grAce A la g6n6rosit6 de: Bibliothdque nationale du Canada Las images suivantes ont 6t6 reproduites avec le plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition at de la netteti de l'exemplaire film6, et en conformity avec les conditions du contrat de filmage. Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed beginning with the front cover and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All other original copies are filmed beginning on the first page with a printed or illustrated impr^^s- sion, and ending on the las* nage with a printed or illustrated impression. es Les exemplaires originaux dont la couverture en papier est imprimde sont filmis en commenpant par le premier plat et en terminant soit par la dernidre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration, soit par le second plat, salon le cas. Tous les autres exemplaires originaux sont fiimis en commengant par la premidre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la dernidre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol •—*► (meaning "CON- TINUED "), or the symbol V (meaning "END"), whichever applies. Un des symboles suivants apparaftra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbols — ► signifie "A SUIVRE ", le symbols V signifie "FIN". Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre filmds A des taux de reduction diffdrents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clich6, il est filmd d partir de Tangle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en has, en prenant le nombre d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mithode. errata I to t B pelure, on d n 32X 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 A HISTORY OF THE TRANSVAAL BY H. RIDER HAGGARD TORONTO GEORGE J. McLEOD NEW YORK NEW AMSTERDAM BOOK COMPANY 1900 .-r.; 230759 J I AUTHOR'S NOTE. It has been suggested that at this juncture some students of South African history might be glad to read an account of the I^oer liebellion of 1881, its causes and results. Accordingly, in th" following pages are reprinted portions of a book wliich I wrote so long ago as 1882. It may be objected that such matter must be stale, but 1 venture to urge, on the contrary, that to this very fact it owes whatever value it may possess. This history was written at the time by one who took an active part in the sad and stir- ring events which it records, immediately after the issue of those events had driven him home to England. Of the oridnal handful of individuals who were con- o cerned in the annexation of the Tran-^vaal by Sir Theophilus Shepstone in 1877. of whom I was one, not many now survive. When they have gone, any further accurate report made from an intimate personal knowledge of the incidents attendant on that act will be an impossibility ; indeed it is already im- possible, since after the lapse of twenty years men can scarcely trust to their memories for the details of intricate political occurrences, even should they be VI AUTJIOU'S NOTK, prumpU'd lo alUnnpt their rt'cord. U ia for this reason, when the melancholy rosnlts which its pa^'es foretell have overtaken us, that I ventuit: to lay them again before the piiMie, so that, any who are intereslcil in the matter may read and find in the tale of 1881 the true causes of tlie war of 1S99. I have written "which its paj^es foretell." Here are one or two pas^ai^^es taken from ih^m almost at hazard that mfiy he thought to justify the words: "It seems to me, however, to lie a question worthy of the consideration of those wlio at present dir<'Ct the d(!stinie8 of the Km]>ire, wlicther it W(.u!d not he wise, as they havt j^^djh' so far, to go a litLlc farther, and favour a scheme for the total abandonment of South Africa, retainintr onlv Tahle \V,\v. U thev do not. it is now quite within th(; lioiui'ls of possibility that they may one day ha\v. to face, a fresh Tninsraal rebrllicn, only on a ten times larger scale, and miglit lind it difficult to retain even Table Bay." And again : " The curtain, so far as this country is concerned, is down for the moment 0.1 the South African stage ; when it rises again, there is but too much reason to fear that it will reveal a state of confusion which, unless it is more wiselv and con- sistendy dealt with in the future than it has been in the past, may develop into chaos."' One more quotation. In speaking of the various problems of South Africa, I find that I said that " unless they are treated with more honest intelligence, and I ATTIIOR'S NOTE. VI 1 i'^'lit too of fon- in on ft more settled jilaii than it lias hitherlt! lu'cn thou^lit ncrt'ssary to a]i])iy to tlieni, tlio liritish tax- ver will tiiul that ho has by no means he.-i-'l the i...>i of that country and its wars." Perhaps in a year from the prrscnt date the i'ritish taxpayer will be in a ju^^ition to admit iho value of this propiiecy. Nearly two decades have ltoiu' by since these words were written. I'ut very brielly, what has happene(l in that time? In 1884, at the rei^uest of the Trans- vaal Government, th(> "Ministry, of wliich the late Lord ])erby was a mendier, consenle(l to modify the (.'on- vention of 1881, and to substitute in its }i!aee what is known as the London Convention. This new agree- ment ami'nded the terms of the former document in certain particulars. Xotably all mention of the suze- rainty of the Queen was omitted, from which circum- stance the Boers and their impassioned advocates have argued that it was abrogated. There is nothing to show that this contention is correct. Mere silence does not destroy so important a stipulation, and it appears to be doubtful whether even a Lord Derbv would have been prepared to nullify the imperial rights of his sovereign and his country in this negative and novel fashion. It is more probable to suppose that had such action been decided oii, eflect would have been given to it in direct and unmistakable language. TUit even if it could be proved that this view of the cckZQ is wrong, the general issue would scarcely be affected. Vlll AUTHORS XOTP:. Thai issue, as I uiiik'rstund it, is as follows: Tlu; Coiivciilioii of 1 88 1 j^iiiiranteed to all inhabitants of tho Transvaal ccjual rights — "Complete self-governnu'iit subject to the suzerainty of her Majesty, her heirs and successors, will be accorded to the inhdjitanta of the Tnnisvnal tnritori/'' — Mr. Kruger ex])laining verbally at a moetin<4 of tlie confereiue. that the onlv din'erence would bo that in the case of young persons who became resident in the Transvaal, there might be some sliglit dt'lay in granting full l)urgher privileges, limited, it would n])])ear, to on(» year's residence.^ After that time, then, according to the terms of this solemn agreement, which in these particulars were not modi- fied or even touched, by the sup])lementary and amend- ing paper of 18S4, any one who wished to claim the advantages of Transvaal citizenship might do so. Some years later an event occurred fated profoundly to inlluenco the destinies of South Africa, namely, tho discovery of the Witwatersrand gold deposits, perhaps the richest and the most permanent in the whole world. Instanlly adventurers, most of them of Anglo- Saxon origin, Hocked in thousands to the place where countless wealth lay buried in the earth, and on the plains over which I have seen the wild game w\ander- i ' In iSSi, when the Convention was bein<; discussed, President Kniger was asked by our representative what treatment would be given to British subjects in the Transvaal. He said, "All strangers have now, and will always have, equal rights and privileges to tho Burghers ot the Transvaal."— Q(/o<a<ion fy<m Speech of MlJ. J. CHAMBKULAIN, June 26, 1899. AUTHOR'S NOTK. Ix int^, sprang' up the city of .Tohaniu'.sbiirf^ with its motley and cosmojxilitan ixipulutinu, its spo(Milati»rs, conipany proiiintcrs, traders, iiiiiier.>, and labouriii;^' iiiuii. To th Transvaal, at any rate in iIk; iie^Mnnini,', the arrival of these weMlth-eiiL'end'rin'^ horde.s was what tliL fall (»f cojticju^ r.iin is to the sun-parched veld. I^>y this tinn; the country was once ni(jre ahiiost bank- rupt, liut now. as thouLdi by the waving' cf a ina<^deian's wand, money Itepan to llow into its eolfers. ( )iie ol the eharae! eristics of the IliH-r is his haired of taxa- tion ; one of his m)tions of terrestrial bliss is to live in u land wliere ihe necessary ex}»enses of admiiuslration are jiaid by somebody else, an advantaj^e, 1 understand, that among all the fi\ilis(,Ml natifms of the earth is enjoved alone bv the inhabitants of the I'rineipalitv of Monaco. It is not usual, eiil *r in the instance of communities or individuals, that such ideals shouhl be absolutely attained. Vet to the fortunate possessors of the South African Republic this ha})pened. For quite a Iomlt period they lived at ease in their dorps and on their farms, while the dwellers at Johannes- burg, delving like gnomes in the reefs of the Kand, pro- vided them with magnificent and never-failing supplies of cash. Then questions began to arise, as they will do in this imperfect sphere. The Uitlanders, as the strangers were called, remembering the terms of the Conventions, drawn under a very diflerent condition of affairs but still binding, hinted at a wish for burgher rights. wmmm^ t AUTIIOK'S NOTK. The Hours, who if they liki'd thuir money ob- ject fd to tht! motiey-iimkers, instantly tnok aliuiii. If th«; voti! wore j^iven to the L'itlanch'rs it was obvious that very soon th<!y would oulnunibor the ori,L,dnal eiectorH. Tlicn in a natural, but to thciii terrifyin;^, seciuencc would ronu' a redistribution ot th(! burd(!n.s of taxation, the abolition ot monopolies, the punishment of corruption, the Just trealine'iit of the native races, the absolute; purity of the courts, and all the other things and institutions, in their eyes abominable, which mark the ailvent of Anglo-Saxon rule. 13ehind these also l(>omed another danger, that of the ultimate reappearance of the English Hag. So legislation was resorted to, and bit by bit the Uitlanders were stripped of the riglits in- herent to their position as " inhabitants of the Trans- vaal territory," till at last none were left to them at all. Indeed Press laws wore passed and other enact- ments controlling the privilege of free speech and public meetings. Of course had the llrilish (lovern- ment put down its foot firmly and at once at the first symptom of a desire on the part of the lioers to whittle away such advantages as the Conventions secured to our fellow-subjects, the present sad situation need never have arisen. But British Governments are seldom fond of doing things at the right time, more especially if the issue is not sutliciently distinct to be appreciated by the masses of the electorate. There- fore matters were allowed to drift, and they drifte(? ''?f#!S?«{i^jfiii;;i?s;?i 's^a AUTHOR'S NOTK. XI ;ions lion are uore o be lere- ftec* into that outrageous ti.iaco, the Juiiiesuik Uaid v>f 1895. Into tlie history of that event 1 do n<jt propose to enter; it is .sullk'iently well known. SulVie.' it to say in tliis brief sunimarv, thai it was the result of a eonipact under which 1 )r. .Jameson was to come to .Johannesburg with a large armed force of Hliodesian })olice, with the view of assisting the Uitlanders to obtain by arms wliat was denied to their petitions. 'J'he agreement is undoubted and admitted, luit all tiie rest is chaos. Failure in a hundred shapes dogged the steps of these inellective conspirators. l)r. .Jameson, with 500 nitMi instead of 1200, took the l)it between his teeth and started at the wrong time. The l)ithunlers did not sally Unlh to meet him, the wires were not cut, the railway liui' was not destroyed, the Hoers were warned, and a.ssend)led in great numbers. Dr. Jameson, who ap]Kuently lost his way on the veld, was entrap|)ed into a bad position, where, after a s^Kice of somewhat feeble combat, he and his whole force surrendered, their lives being guaranteed to tliem. The despatch- box of the raiders, with the ciphers and sundry in- crinunatiug documents, was allowed to fall into the h.inds of the enemy, and, on their own ammunition- waggons, the i)ersonnel of tlie Ifaid performed the journey to that city of Pretoria, which when reinf<jrced by the Uitlanders tl.'ey were to have ente:ed in tri- umph. Thence they were in due course despatched to London for trial. The members of the Ueturni zu AUTHOR'S NOTE. Comrnitlee were also seized and tried at Pretoria, several of them being condemned to death, a sentence which was not executed ; the whole story, coming to its end to an accompaniment of the clash not of swords, but of gold ; the fines inllicted up(jn tlie con- spirators by the Transvaal GovernmenL amounting to a total of many tens of thousands of pounds. Such, except for mutual recriminations which still continue, was the end of Johannesburg's armed attempt to throw oil' the yoke of the Boer, and of the efforts of the ruling powers of Rhodesia to assist them in the task. Of course the upshot was that the poor Uitlanders fell into a still d'jep';r pit of oppression and despair. Lord Kosmead, then Sir Hercules Robinson, never a proconsul remarkable for an iron will, it is true visited the Transvaal in a great flurry, and assured, or caused Sir Sidney Shippard and the British agent, a gentleman of the somewhat alien--".ounding name of Sir Jacobus de Wet, in substance to assure the Uitlanders that if only they would disarm probably their wrongs must shortly be righted by a beneficent BoCx president, assisted to the task by a Itaad full of forgiveness and charity. Moreover, Sir Jacobus de Wet told them explicitly that the lives of Jameson and his men depended upon their laying down such v/eapons as they possessed, although of course those lives were already guaranteed by the terms of the surrender. But this raid had wider issues of an imperial nature. Thus it provoked the famous telegram from the -i I 14 pjiBmrrTSPirps? AUTHOR'S NOTE. ziii Emperor William II., which at one time threatened to bring about a war between Great Britain and Germany. Also, so far as these South African troubles were concerned, it put ovir country hopelessly in the wrong in the eyes of the civilised world, whom it proved difficult to persuade, although in fact this was the case, that .such strange and toituniis develop- ments of political and martial activity were purely local in their origan. A^aiu it armed the Boer with a sword of wondrous power. If Providence had sent all the German legions to his aid it could scarcely have served him better. Xow indeed he was able to point to his land violated by the foot of the in- vader, and to talk of raids as though such a wicked word had never detiled the innocence of his ears ; as though in truth he had never heard or the plains of Stellaland, and of a certain exj»edition sent by the liritish Government under ilie command of Sir Charles Warren to preserve those territories to the peaceful enjoyment of their owners ; nor of that stretch of country which once belonged to the Zulus, but is now called the New Republic ; nor of the trek into Bhodesia that was " damped " ; nor of the extension of authority over Swaziland in defiance of the provisions of the Convention, and of other kindred matters. Also it enabled him to claim " moral and intellec- tual damages " to a considerable amount, although, so far as the public is aware, these have never been satisfied, and indeed caused Pharaoh to harden his XIV AUTHOR'S NOTE. heart, and while demandiug from the new Israelites of Johannesburg an even heavier tale of bricks in the shape of direct and indirect taxation, to deprive them one bv one of their last straws of freedom. Thus things fell back into their former courses, the old abuses flourished like bay trees, the lucky holders of dynamite and other monopolies grew fabulously rich, and — so powerful is the love of gold — auri sacra fxinci — so much more do men value it than freedom and pure government — the population of Johannesburg still increased. More than two years have gone by since Sir Alfred Milner was sent as Ili'di Commissioner to South Africa, during all which time, backed by her Majesty's present Government, he has been doing his best to secure redress for the Uitlanders, and to arrange various difl'erences that have arisen between the Empire and the Transvaal Kepublic. At length these el^'^rts re- sulted in the meetiii'^ between himself and President Kruger, known as tlie Bloemfontein Conference, which took place about four months ago. At ihat Conference Sir Alfred Milner advanced the request, modest enough seeing that they are entitled to nothing less than equal lights with the other " inhabitants of the Transvaal," that those Uillanders who wished to adopt the country as their home should be entitled to the franchise after five years' residence. This was refused by I'resident Kruger as endangering the independence of the State, and the Conference broke up. It was from this time '^ AUTHOR'S NOTE. Vf \ \. <. forward that war came to be looked upon as probable. In reply to various despatches and representations of the Imperial Government, the President and Volksraad made certain offers of a franchise which, if they were ever seriously meant, were hampered with provisos, such as rendered them impossible for this country to accept. Thus the five years' offer of August 19 was coupled with the conditions that in the future there should be no interference in the internal affairs of the Republic, that her Majesty's Government would not further insist on the assertion of the suzerainty, and that the principle of arbitration in the event of future differences arising should be admitted. Had the Government agreed to these terms it would have meant, of course, that the last shadow of the Queen's authority would have vanished from the Transvaal, and as they had bound themselves not to in- terfere in future, that they might be forced to look on while the franchise which was granted one year was repealed or rendered nugatory the next. Also, it must be remembered that this question of the franchise does not cover all the grounds of difference between the two parties ; indeed, it seems that a great deal too much importance has been given to the matter. Even if a certain number of Uitlanders elected to become citizens of a Boer state, it is difficult to see, however advantageous that circumstance might prove to them- selves, in what way it would directly assist the Imperial power on such a question, let us say, as the treatment 6 ■ irT'VJn "Tiin "fun ' 1 XVI AUTHOR'S NOTE. of our Indian subjects settled in the Transvaal. To begin with, the new-born burghers might be indifferent to the needs and wishes of the country they had re- nounced. They might even consider that their oath of allegiance bound them to oppose those wishes. At the least, even if they had the power to help us, which could not be the case for many years, surely it would be neither wise nor dignified for the Power to which they once belonged to trust solely to their good offices. In the newspapers and elsewhere Johannesburg and its Uitlanders are spoken of continually as though they made up the sum of the situation. It is the common cry of Liberal Forwards and of those gentle- men who might perhaps be called Kadical Backwards, that this war is to be waged for the Uitlander and the millionaire. Of course this is not in the least true. The Uitlander, with his woes, is only the blister that has brought the sore of Transvaal misrule and Dutch ambitions in South Africa to so proud a head, that at last the South African liopublic has come to describe itself as "a Sovereign independent State." That he and his " Magnates," as Band millionaires are called, will profit enormously from a successful war waged by the Imperial Power is admitted; but because the effect of such a struggle will be ultimately to put a number of annual millions into certain pockets, it does not follow that the war is fought for that purpose. Indeed the veriest "jingo" could scarcely show himself ^elf-sacrificing and altruistic. nanr AUTHOR'S NOTE. xvii This is no local but an Imperial question to be decided in the interests of the Empire. To return to the course of the negotiations. Offers, withdrawals, stipulations, palliativ . clauses, proposals for further conferences followed each other in be- wildering variety, till at length, worn out, Mr. Chamberlain, on September 22, intimated to the Government of the South African liepublic, througli Sir Alfred Milner, that it was " useless to further pursue a discussion on the lines hitherto followed, and her Majesty's Government are now compelled to consider the situation afresh, and to formulate their own proposals for a final settlement of the issues which have been created in South Africa by the policy con- stantly followed for many years by the Government of the South African liepublic. They will communi- cate to you the result of their deliberations in a later despatch." It is rumoured that this later despatch has been delivered at Pretoria, but has as yet received no reply. Three days later, however, namely, on September 25, that industrious body, the Liberal Forwards, was honoured with a telegram from the State Secretary of the Transvaal, which runs as follows : — " Liberal Forwards, London. Many thanks for your telegram. We stick to the Convention, and rely upon England doing the same, as Convention does not allow interference in internal affairs." When, however, it ia remembered that the Con- xvin AUTHOR'S NOTE. vention did allow equal rights to all the "inhabitants of the Transvaal," it will be admitted that this cable is about the strangest of the remarkable series of State documents which of late have emanated from Pretoria. Very aptly it crystallises the spirit of Boer diplomacy — a bold disregard of inconvenient facts. Meanwhile in South Africa various events of im- portance have happened. The Orange Free State has openly thrown in its lot with the Transvaal. The Uitlanders have fled by thousands from Johannesburg. The Boers have massed their commandos at various points on the N \tal and other British borders, pre- sumably for offensive purposes, since at present they can expect no invasion of their territory. The first of these occurrences reveals the hidden purpose of the Dutch party in South Africa, as at night a sudden flash of lightning reveals the face of the veld. We he.ve never threatened the Orange Free State ; it has no grievance, no cause of quarrel, yet suddenly it appears in arms against us. Why? Because its citizens believe that the time has come to translate into action the old dream of the Boers, which so long as five-and-twenty years ago was familiar to the late President Burgers when he spoke of the coming Dutch Eepublic, with its eight millions of inliabi- tants ruling supreme in the vast territories between the Zambezi and the Cape. Now the great conspiracy that it has proved so hard to persuade the l^ritish public, or a Hind section of it, to credit stands un- ilSSfilililiiiiiiiiH^iiriliit ^^^mm AUTHOR'S NOTE. lis veiled, and it has for object nothiug less than the expulsion of the English power from Southern Africa — a vain thing fondly imagined, but still a thing with which we must reckon, and it is to be feared by the last stern expedient of arms, since here soft words and diplomacy are of no avail. Difficult as it is to make the fact understood among a proportion of the home electorate and publicists, it cannot be stated too often or too clearly that this war., which is to come, is a war that was forced upon us by the Boers in their blind ignorance and conceit. The mass of them believe, because they defeated our troops in various small a^airs in i88i, that they are a match for the British Empire. Their leaders are better instructed. They trust not so much, perhaps, to the rifles of their compatriots as to the prowess of certain party captains in England, and to the en- thusiasm of ♦■heir advocates among the English Press and public. They remember that the activity of these forces eighteen years ago was followed by a miserable surrender on the part of the English Government, and not understanding how greatly opinion has changed in this country, they hope that history may repeat itself, and that England, wearying of an unpopular struggle, will soon cede to them all they ask. They are mistaken, but such is their faith. They hope also, perchance with better reason, that other complications may force us to stay our hand. If no more telegrams can be extracted xz AUTHOR'S NOTE. from the German Emperor, still there in a German regiment fighting on their side who will take with tliem the sympathies of the Fatherland, and they know that the hearts of the great Powers of Europe will go out towards any people who try to strike a blow at the root of the ever-growing tree of the might of the British Empire. Buoyed up by bubbles such as these they have determined to tempt the stern arbitrament of battle.^ Can it still be avoided ? It would seem that except by our surrender, which is out of the question, for that means the loss not only of South Africa, but of our prestige throughout the wor!d, this is not in any way possible. Already acts of war have taken place, such as the seizure of the gold from the mines, and the commandeering of goods belonging to British subjects, and perhaps days before these lines can appear in print the guns will have begun their reasoning.^ After the rebellion of 1881 a Boer jury, to whom the case was committed by the tender mercies of Mr. Gladstone's Government, with the murdered man's * See the very remarkable letter of the Boer " P. S." to the Times of October 14th, printed as Appendix III. to this book, p. 241. ^ Since the above was written, in the swift march of events, the Transvaal has despatched its *' ultimatum," perhaps the most egregious document ever addressed to a great Power by a petty State. In effect it is a declaration of war, and hostilities have now commenced with the destruction by the Boers of an armoured train at Kraaipan, and the capture or slaying of its escort. \ l^h October 1899. H. R. H. AUTHOR'S NOTE. ui H. bullet-riddled skull lying before them upon the table of the Court, acquitted the brutal slaughterers of Captain Elliot, not because they had not done the deed with every circumstance of horrible treachery and premeditation, but because to find them guilty was against their brethren's wish. In much the same way, with all the facta staring them * ^ the face, there are men in England, some of them of high position and character, who urge the righteousness of the Boer cause, and with tongue and pen paint our national iniquity in hues black as ink and red as blood. They write of the " Objects of the War," which they do not hesitate to describe as self-seeking and infamous, so far of court' 3 as the English people are concerned, for according to the same authorities, the Boer objects are uniformly pure and noble. Would it not be better if they looked back a little and tried to discover the causes of the war ? I think that if they could have witnessed a certain scene upon the market-square at Newcastle, at which it was my misfortune to be pre- sent, on that night of the year 1881 when the news of the base betrayal of the loyalists by England became known, they would win a better understand- ing of the question. In the spectacle of that mad- dened crowd of three or four thousand ruined and deserted men, English, Boer, and Kaffir, raving, weeping, and blaspheming in the despair of their shame and bitterness, they might have found enlighten- ment. Even now a study of the following forgotten xxii AUTHOR'S NOTE, letter written by Mr. White, the chairmau of the Committee of Loyal Inhaljitants, to Mr. Gladstone, might give to some a food for thought : — " If, sir, you had seen, as I have seen, promising young citizens of Pretoria dying of wounds received for their country, and if you had had the painful duty, as I have had, of bringing to their friends at homo the last mementoes of the departed ; if you had seen the priva- tions and discomforts which delicate women and children bore without murmuring for upwards of three months ; if you had seen strong men crying like childi*en at the cruel and undeserved desertion of England ; if you had seen the long strings of half-desperate loyalists, shak- ing the dust off their feet as they left the country, as I saw on my way to Newcastle ; and if you yourself had invested your all on the strength of the word of Eng- land, and now saw yourself in a fair way of being beggared by the acts of the country in whom you trusted, you would, sir, I think, be ' pronounced,' and England would ring with eloquent entreaties and threats which would compel a hearing. . . . We claim, sir, at least as much justice as the Boers. We are faithful subjects of England, and have suffered and are suffering for our fidelity. Surely we, the friends of our country, who stood by her in the time of trial, have as much right to consideration as rebels who fought against her. We rely on her word. We rely on the frequently repeated pledges and promises of her ministers in which we have trusted. We rely en her sense of moral right "iisi^in A ^TIIOR'S NOTE. XZlll not to do us the grievous wrong which this miserable peace coutemplates. We rely on lier fidelity to oblit,M- tions, and on her ancient reputation for honour and honesty. We rely on the material consequences which will follow on a breach of faith to us. England cannot afford to desert us after having solemnly pledged her- self to us." *' England cannot afford to desert us ! " but England, or her rulers, could and did afford itself this luxury. In vain did such men as the late Lord Beaconsfield, the late Lord Cairns, and Lord Salisbury protest and point out dangers. In vain did agonised loyalists flourish their own words and promises in the face of her Majesty's Government ; the spirit of party, or the promptings of a newly acquired conscience proved too strong. Her Majesty's loyal subjects were sneered at, insulted, and abandoned, and the Boer, who had butchered them, was bid to go on and prosper. Now, nearly twenty year-^ afterwards, England is called upon to pay the bill of what is in effect, what- ever may have been its motives, one of the most infamous acts that stains the pages of her history. From the moment that the Convention of 1881 was signed it became as certain as anything human can be, that one of two things would happen — either that the Imperial Power must in practice be driven out of South Africa, or that a time would come when it must be forced to assert its dominion even at the price of war. « I XXIV AUTHOn'S NOTE. Now that miserable hour is with us, and we are called upon to suppress by arms a small, but sullen and obstiuttte people, whom we have taught to believe themselves our equals, if not our superiors. Unless they will yield at the last moment, which seems im- possible seeing that the war is of their own choosing, the new settlement of South Africa must be celebrated by a mighty sacrifice of their blood and our blood. Not to dwell upon other griefs and dangers, when, I ask, will the smoke and the smell of it depart from llie eyes and nostrils of the dwellers in that unhappy land ? As they troop back merrily to their mines and workshops the money-spinners of Johannesburg may forget a past of which, in many instances at least, their chief impression will be that it was unpleasant and un- profitable. But after the liand is worked out, when tlie stamps cease to fall heavily by day and night, when the great heaps of tailings no longer increase from month to month, when the broker's voice is quiet in the Exchange, and the promoter inhabits some new city, still the Boer women in the farmhouses will tell their children how the "damned English soldiers" shot their grandfathers and took the land. In South Africa new Irelands will arise, and from the dragon's teeth that we are forced to sow the harvest of hate will spring, and spring again. Thus must we eat of the bitter bread which we have baked, and thus the ill fowl that we reared have come home to roost, bringing their broods with them. Again and again we have blundered in our treatment AUTHOR'S NOTE. zxv of the Dutch. Fur iiistauce, with kinder and fairer management they would never have trekked from the Cape sixty years ago. Also, had the promises which were made to them at the annexation in 1877 been kept, and had not Sir Theophilus Shepstone, who grew up amongst them and to whom they were attached, been removed in favour of a military martinet, there would have been no rebellion, let the Cupe wire-pullers working under a cloak of loyalty to the Crown strive as they might. But the rebellion came and the defeats, and after these that surrender whereof this country is called upon to pluck the fruit to-day, which, by the Boers, is attributed to those defeats with the fear of their prowess and to nothing else. And now, in due season, the war comes ; an inevit- able war which cannot be escaped, and must be fought out to the end. There is only room for one paraii\ount pow^r in Southern Africa ! How all these things happened is told briefly, but 1 trust clearly, in the following pages. My excuse for reprinting them must be the desire which, it is said, exists among some readers to become better acquainted with the facts that engendered the present fateful crisis. gth October 1899. H. RIDER UAGGARD. i^lip^ip?^. CONTENTS. -M- Adthob's Notb CHAPTER I. Its Inhabitants, Laws, and Customs. Invasion by Mosilikatzi— Arrival of the emigrant Boers— Estab- lishment of the South African Republic— The Sand River Convention— Growth of the territory of the republic— The native tribes surrounding it— Capabilities of the country- Its climate— Its inhabitants— The Boers— Their peculiarities and mode of life— Their abhorrence of settled government and payment of taxes— The Dutch patriotic party— Form of government previous to the annexation— Courts of law— —The commando system— Revenue arrangements— Native races in the Transvaal .... FAOEt 22 CHAPTER II. Events Preckdino the Annexation. Mr. Burgers elected president— His character and aspirations— His pension from the English Government- His visit to England— The railway loan— Relations of the republic with native tribes— The pass laws— Its quarrel with Cetywayo —Confiscation of native territory in the Keate Award- Treaty with the Swazi king— The Secoccetii war— Capture of Johannes' stronghold by the Swazi allies— Attack on Secocoeni's mountain— Defeat and dispersion of the Boera —Elation of the natives— Von Schlickmann's volunteers- Cruelties perpetrated— Abel Erasmus— Treatment of natives by Boers— Public meeting at Potchefstroom in 1868— The slavery question— Some evidence on the subject— Pecuniary position of the Transvaal prior to the annexation-Internal troubles— Divisions amongst the Boers— Hopeless condition of the couptry ••.#,,. o 49 xxviu CONTENTS. I CHAPTER III. The Annexation. PAOEI Anxiety of Lord Carnarvon — Despatch of Sir T. Shepstone aa Special Commissioner to the Transvaal — Sir T. Shepstone, his great experience and ability — His progress to Pretoria, and reception there — Feelings excited by the arrival of the mission — The annexation not a foregone conclusion — Charge brought against Sir T. Shepstone of having called up the Zulu army to sweep the Transvaal — Its complete false- hood — Cetywayo's message to Sir T. Shepstone — Evidence on the matter summed up — General desire of the natives for English rule — Habitual disregard of their interests — Assembly of the Volksraad — Rejection of Lord Carnarvon's Confederation Bill and of President Burgers' new con- stitution — President Burgers' speeches to the Raad — His postiiumous statement — Communication to the Kaad of Sir T. Shepstone's intention to annex the country — Despatch of Commission to inquire into the alleged peace with Secocoeni — Its fraudulent character discovered — Progress of affairs in the Transvaal — Paul Kruger and his party — Restlessness of natives — Arrangements for the annexation — The annexation proclamation .... . . • . 50-S6 CHAPTER IV. The Tuansvaal under British Rule. Reception of the annexation — Major Clarke and tlie Volunteers — Effect of the annexation on credit and commerce — Hoist- ing of tho Union Jack — Ratification of the annexation by Parliament — Messrs. Kruger and Jorissen's mission to England — Agitation against the annexation in the Cape Colony — Sir T. Shepstone's tour — Causes of the growth of discontent among the Boers — Return of Messrs. Jorissen and Kruger — The Government dispenses with their services — Despatch of a second deputation to England — Outbrnak of war with Sfcocccni — Major Clarke, R.A. — The Gunn of Gunn plot — Mission of Captain Paterson and Mr. Sergeaunt to Matabeleland — Itp: melancholy termination — The Isand- blwana disaster — Departure of Sir T. Shepstone for England Srtii*''*! CONTENTS. ZX1X PAOBI PAOia —Another Boer meeting — The Pretoria Horse — Advance of the Boers on Pretoria— Arrival of Sir B. Frt-re at Pretoria and dispersion of the Boers — Arrival of Sir (larnet Wolse- ley — His proclamation — The Secocccni expedition — Proceed- ings of the Boers — Mr. Pretoriua — Mr. Gladstone's Mid- Lothian speeches, their eflfect — Sir G. Wolseley's speech at Pretoria, its good results — Influx of Englishmen and cessation of agitation — Financial position of the country after three years of British rule — Letter of the Boer leaders to Jlr. Courtney 87-II9 CHAPTER V. Thk Bokr Rf.bklmon. ko-S6 Accession of Mr. Gladstone to power — His letters to the Boer leaders and the loyals — His refusal to rescind the annexation — The Boers encouraged by prominent members of the Radi- cal party — The Bezuidenhout incident — Despatch of troops to Potcliefstroom — Mass meeting of the 8th December 1880 — Appointment of the Triumvirate and declaratio^n of the re- public — Desjiatch of Boer proclamation to Sir O. Lanyon — His reply — Outbreak of hostilities at Potchefstroom — De- fence of the court-house by Major (;larke — Tiie mass.vcre of tlie detachment of the 94ih under Colonel Anstruther — Dr. Ward — The P>oer rejoicings — The Transvaal placed under martial law — Abandonment of their homes by the people of Pretoria — Sir Owen Lanyon's admirable defence organisation — Second proclamation issued by the Boers — Its complete falsehood — Life at Pretoria during the siege — Murders of natives by the Boers — Loyal conduct of the native chiefs — Difficulty of preventing tliem fnan attacking the Boers — Occupation of Lang's Nek by the Boers — Sir George Colley's departure to Newcastle— The condition of that town — The attack on Lang's Nek — Its desperate natiire — EfiFect of vic- tory on the Boers — The battle at the Ingogo — Our defeat — Sufferings of the wounded — Major Essex — Advance of the Boers into Natal — Constant alarms — Expected attack on Newcastle — Its unorganised and indefensible condition — Arrival of the reinforcements and retreac of the I'oers to the Nek — Despatch of General Wood to bring up more re- inforcements — Majuba Hill — Our disaster, and death of Sir George CoUey — Cause of our defeat — A Boer version of the disaster — Sir George Colley's tactics . , . . 120-155 XXX CONTENTS. CHAPTER VI. The Rstrookssion of thk Transvaau II PAOU The Queen's Speech — President Brand and Lord Kimberley — Sir Henry de Villiers — Sir George Colley's plan — Paul Kruger's oiTer — Sir George Colley's remonstrance — Complimentary telegrams — Efifect of Majuba on the Boers and English Government — Collapse of the Government — Reasons of the surrender — Professional sentimentalists — The Transvaal 'In- dependence Committee — Conclusion of the armistice — The preliminary peace — Reception of the news in Natal — New- castle after the declaration of peace — Exodus of the loyal inhabitants of the Transvaal — The value of property in Pretoria — The Transvaal officials dismissed — The Royal Commission — !M()de of trial of persons accused of atrocities — Decision of the Commission and its results — The severance of territory question — Arguments pro and con — Opinion of Sir E. Wood — Humility of the Commissioners and its cause — Their decision on the Keate Award question — The Montsioa difficulty — The compensation and financial clauses of the re- port of the Commission — The duties of the British Resident — Sir E. Wood's dissent from the report of the Commission — Signim,' of the Convention — Burial of the Union Jack — The native side of the question — Interview between the Commissioners and the native chiefs — Their opinion of the surrender — Objections of the Boer Volksraad to the Con- vention — Mr. Gladstone temporises — The ratification — Ita insolent tone — Mr. Hudson, the British Resident — The Boer festival — The results of the Convention — The larger issue of the matter — Its effect on the Transvaal — Its moral aspects — Its effect on the native mind ..... 1 56- 202 CHAPTER VII. Extract from Introduction to new edition of 1888 . • 203 APPENDIX. I. The Potchefstroom Atrocities, &c 231 II. riedifes given by Mr. Gladstone's Government as to the Retention of the Transvaal 239 III. A Boer on Boer Designs . , , . , , , 241 •jtliapiPP Pioia "» THE TRANSVAAL. 203 241 CHAPTER I. ITS INnABITANTS, LAWS, AND CUSTOMS. The Transvaal is a country without a history. Its very existence was hardly known of until about fifty years ago. Of its past we know notliing. Tlie -ener/ tions who peopled its gr.at plains have passed "utterly out of the memory and even the tradition of man eavmg no monument to maik that they have exis(e<l' iiut e\en ;» tomb. ' Kuring the reign of Cliaka, 18 13-1828 whose nstory has been sketched in a p.evious cha pte" o, h.s mos famous generals. Mosilikutze. surnan.ed tl,e I- on, seceded from him with a h.rge nmnber of his so d.ers and striking up in a north-westerly diroctio^ e t,e, ,n or about what is now the Afnrico'distr c of pted r" ■„ ''"'°"'"^^' "'™"8'' ^^'-'' '^fo^^'katze oTtl,e r f Vr- "''^'^'^P'^P'-'atcd wiih natives tSr M, .T""""'- ^^'^^^ '^•''pressed the cclmgs of h,s tr.be in a practical n:anner, by mas- -enng every hving soul of then, that can.e ^vith^n A 2 THE TRANSVAAL. his reach. That the numbers slaiighte.ed were very great, the numerous ruins of Basuto kraals all over the country tc-tify. It was Chaka's intention to follow up Mosilikatze and destroy him, hut he was himself assassinate<l be- fore he could do so. ])iiigaan, his successor, how- ever, carried out his brutlier's design, and despatched a large force to punish him. This army, after marching over 300 miles, burst upon Mosilikatze, drove him back with slaughter, and rt'tunieil home triumphant. The invasion is important, because the Zulus claim the greater part of the Transvaal territory by virtue of it. About the time that Mosilikatze was conquered, I 83 5-1 840, the discontented Tioers were leaving the Cape Colony exasperated at the emanci})aLion of the slaves by the Imperial authoiiiies. First they made their way to Natal, but being followed thither by the English flag they travelled further iidand over the Vaal liiver and founded the town of Mooi Iiiver Dorp or Totchefstroom. Here they were joined by other mal- contents from the Orange Sovereitrntv, which, though afterwards abandoned, was at that time a British possession. Acting upon "Tlie L,'')i)d oM mil", the simple ]ilan, or let him take who has the power, Aii'l let 111 111 keep who csiii," the Boers now procet'ded to possess themsi'lves of as much territory as they wanted. Nor was this a diffi- cult task. The country was, as I have said, peopled by Macatees, who are a poor-spirited race as compared to the Zulus, and had had wdiat little courage they % ■^MWMWWm^^w^^^^^^^^^^^^^^y- ITS INHABITANTS, LAWS, AND CUSTOMS. 3 ■e very 11 over ilikatze ,tc<l be- ', how- tclied a arching v^e liim iipli;int. 5 claim i virtue iqiUM'cd, ■\\\'^ the . of the y made hy the 'ur the r Dorp er raal- thoii<jjh British of as la (liffi- l)eopl(3d mjtared they f possessed cruslied out of them l»y the rough handling they liad received at the liands of ^losilikatze and Diiigaan. Tlie Boers, tliey arguel, could not treat them worse than th'j Zulus had done. Occasionally a cliief, bolder than the rest, would hold out, and then such an exam|ile was made of him and his people that few cared to follow in his fo(jt.-teps. As soon as the Boers were fairly settled in their new home, tliey begun to think about setting up a (Joverninent. First they tried a system of Comman- dants, with a Connnaudant-general, but this does not seem to have answered. Next, those of their number who livt'd in i.yilenburi: district (where the gold-fields now are) set up a liepublic, with a President and Vulksr.uiil, or popular assembly. This example was followed by the other white inhabitatits of the country, who formed a^'otlier liepublic and elected another President, with Pretoria for their capital. The two republics were sub.^(!q'u;ntly incorporated. In 1852 the Imperial authorities, having regard to the ex[ier:se of maintaining an effective government over an unwilling people in an undeveloped and half- conquerei' country, concluded a convention with the emigrant Boers " beyond the Vaal liiver." The fol- lowing were the principal stipulations of this conven- tion, drawn up between IMajor Hogg and ^Ir. Owen, Iler Majesty's Assistant-Commissioners for the settling and adjusting of the affairs of the eastern and north- eastern boundaries of the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope on the one part, and a deputation representative of the emigrant farmers n(jrth of the Vaal Iliver on the other. It was guaranteed " in the i'ullest manner on the part of the British Government to the emigrant ^^^mmm. THE TRANSVAAL. fanners beyond the Vaal Elver the right to manage their own affairs, and io govern themselves according to their own hiws, without any interference on the part of the Dritisli Government, and tliat no encroach- ment shall he made by the said Government on the territory beyond to tlie north of the Vaal liiver, willi the further assurance that the warmest wish of tlie British Government is to promote peace, free trade, and friendly intercourse with the emigrant iarmers now inhabiting, or who hereafter may inhabit that country, it being understood that this s} stem of non- interference is binding on both parties." Next were disclaimed, on behalf of the British Government, " all alliances whatever and with whom- soever of the coloured nations to the north of the Vaal Kiver." It was also agreed " that no slavery is or shall be I)erinitLed or practised in the country to the north of the Vaal liiver by the emigrant farmers." It was further agreed " that no objection shall be /iiade by any British authority against the emigrant Buers purchasing their supplies of ammunition in any of the British colonies and possessions of South Africa ; it being mutually understood that all trade in ammunition with the native tribes is prohibited both by the British Government and the emigrant farmers on both sides of the Vaal Kiver." These were the terms of this famous convention, which is as slipshod in its diction as il is vague in Hs meaning. What, for instance, is meant by the territory to the north of tlie Vaal Paver ? According to the letter of the agreement, Messrs. Hogg and Owen ceded all the territory between the Vaal and Egypt j a I 1 % I I manage ccordin<' on the ticroacli- ; on the er, Willi . of the e trade, farmers bit that of non- British whorn- of the hall be orth of hall be nigrant in any South trade libited ligrant intion, 5ue in y the ordins: Owen 1 I i. I ITS INHABITANTS, LAWS, AND CUSTOMS. 5 This historical document was the Charta of the new- born South African Jiepublic. Under its provisions, the Boers, now safe from interference on the part of the British, establisliod tlieir own Government and promulgated their " Grond Wet," or Constitution. The history of the Republic between 1852 and 1876 is not very interesting, and is besides too weari- some to enter into here. It consists of an oft-told tale of civil broils, attacks on native tribes, and encroacli- msnt on native territories. Until shortlv before the Annexation, every burgher was, on coming of age, en- titled to receive from the Government 6000 acres of land. As these rights were in the early days of the Republic frequently sold to speculators for such trifles as a bottle of brandy or half a dozen of beer, and as the seller still required 'his 6000 acres: for a Boer considers it beneath his dignity to settle on less, it is obvious that it required a very large country to satisfy all demands. To meet these demands, the territories of the Republic had to be stretched like an elastic band, and they were stretched accordingly, — at the expense of the natives. The stretching process was an ingenious one, and is very well described in a minute written by Mr. Osborn, the late magistrate at Newcastle, dated 22d September 1876, in these words : — " The Boers, as thev have done in other cases and are still doing, encroached by degrees on native terri- tory, commencing by obtaining permission to iiraze stock upon portions of it at certain seasons of the year, followed by individual graziers obtaining from native headmen a sort of right or license to squat upon certain defined portions, ostensibly in order to 5 THE TRANSVAAL. keep other T'oer squatters away from the same laiul. These liceiisu.s, temporarily intended as Crieiidly or neij,dil)uuily acts by uiuuithorised heailmeii, after a few seasons of occupation by the Boer, are construed by him as title, and his permanent occupation taisues. Damage for tivspuss is levied by him from the very man from whon) he obtained the right to squat, to which the natives submit out of fear of the matter reaching the ears of the paramount chief, who would in all probability severely punish them for opening the door to encroachment by the I>oer. After a while, however, the matter comes to a crisis in consequence of the incessant disputtjs between the lioers and the natives ; one or other of the disputants lays the case before the puraniount chief, who, when hearing both parties, is literally frightened with violence and threats by the Boer into granting him tlie land. Upon this the usual plan followed by the Boer is at once to collect a few neighbouring Boers, including a field cornet, or even an acting provisional field cornet, appointed by the field cornet or provisional cornet, the latter to represent the Government, although without instructions authorising him to act in the matter. A few cattle are collected among themselves, which the party takes Lo the chief, and his signature is obtained to a written document alienating to the Eepublicau Boers a large slice of all his territuiy. The contents of this document are, as far as I can make out, never clearly or intelligibly explained to the chief, who si.^^ais and accepts of the cattle under the impression tliat it is all in settlement of hire for the grazing licens.'S granted by his headmen. This, I have no hesitation in saying, is the usual method by which the Boera i ITS INHABITANTS, LAWS, AND CUSTOMS 7 me land. endly or after rt jonstrued 11 (iiisuea. tlio very squat, to e ruattor 10 would !iiing the a vvliile, sequence and the the case ing both .1 threats pen this once to a lield cornet, nut, the witliout er. A ich the jtaiiied ublicau onteuts never signs )n that icens.'S dtatioa Boers i obtain what they call cessions to tlieni of territories by native cliiefs. In Secoc(vni's case tiiey allege that his fatlier Sequati cedes to them the whole of his terri- tory (hundreds of s([u;ire miles) for a huiidn.'d head of callle." So rapidly did this process go on that the little Kepublic to the ' North of the Vaal liiver " hud at the time of the Annexation grown into a country of the size of Franco. Its boundaries had only been clearly defined where they abutted on neighbouring White Communities, or on the territories of great native powers, on which the Government had not dared to infringe to any marked degree, such as those of Lo IJengula's people in tlie north. ]>ut wheresoever on the State's borders there had been no white Tower to limit its advances, or where the native tribes had found themselves too isolated or too weak to resist aggressions, there the Kepublic had by degrees en- croached, and extended the shadow, if not the sub- stance, of its authority. The Transvaal has a boundary line of over i6oo miles in circumference, and of this a hirge portion is disputed by different native tribes. Speaking generally, the territory lies between the 2 2° and 28° of South Latitude and the 25" and 32° of Ent^t Longitude, or between tl e Orange Free State, Natal and Griquahuid "West on the south, and the Limpopo liiver on the north ; and 1 etween the Lehombo mountains on the cast, and the Kalihari desert on the west. On the north of its territory live three great tribe.s — the Makalaka, the Matabele, (descendants of the Zulus who deserted Chaka umler Musilikatze), and the Matyana. These tribes are all warlike. On the west, following ^mmwrnm^i 8 THE TRANSVAAL. tlm liiuj down to the I)iainon<l Field territory, are the Sicholi, the l»;iii;4();il<i'tsi, tlie Jlariiloni,', and th(i Kuiannu trihi'S. rassiu'^ round })y Clriciualand West, the Free State, ntid Natah we rcich Zuliiland on tli(! south-east corner; tlicn come the Lfhoinho mountains on the cast, sej^aratin^' the Transvaal from Amaton^^a land, and from the no-calh'd Portu^iuese ])ossessions, which are entirelv in the hands of native tril)es, most of them suhject to tlie jjreat Zidu chiijf, Unizeihi, wlio has liis stron"'lM»M in tiic north-east. It will 1)0 ol)S(rved that the country is almost sur- rounded by native trihes. J>esides these tliere arc about one million native inhabitants living witliin its borders. In one district alone, ZoutpausberL,', it is computed that there are 364,250 natives, as compared to al)0ut 750 whiles. If a beautiful and fertile country were alone DQcessary to make a state and its inhabitants ha])py and prosperous, hapifiness and pros])erity would rain upon the Transvaal and the Dutch lioers. The capa- bilities of this favoured land are vast and various. ^Vithin its borders are to be found highlands and low- lands, vast stretches of rolling veldt like gigantic slieep downs, hundreds of mih-s of swelling bushland, huge tracts of mountainous countrv, and even little glades spotted with timber that remind one of an English park. There is every ])Ossible variety of soil and scenery. Some districts will grow all tropical produce, whilst others are well suited for breeding sheep, catlle, and horses. Most of the districts will produce wheat and all other cereals in greater per- fection and altundance than any of the other South African colonies. Two crops of cereals may be I \ .yiSpitn^^pii>$^%!ig:t;ja(H;i|.aiai;!f-;Hji) ^^ f, aro tho Kuianiiit the Frei! oil Lli -cast is on tlie v^n. l;m(l, IS, which most of I'ihi, who iiost sur- .lioro an.' vithiri its 3r,t,', it is !oinj);iri?(] 'e alone ts )ia])py •111 J rain he capa- various. md low- gigantic ushlaiid, n little of an of soil tropical ren(lini]j cts will er per- ' South lay be ITS INHABITANTS, LAWS, AND CUSTOMS. 9 obtained from the soil every year, and both the vine Aiul tobarr'o are cultivated with great success. Coflee, sugar-cane, and cotton have been grown witii profit in the northern parts of the State. Also tlie un- deveh^Ited i.ineral wealth of tlie country is very great Its Known minerals are gold, copjier, lead, cobalt, iron, coal, tin, and plumbago: copi)t'r and iron having lowg bt'cn worked by the natives. Altogether there is littl-' doubt that the Transvaal is the richest of all tlie South African states, and had it remained under English rule it would, with the aid of Knglish entt^rprise and capital, have become a very wealthy and prosperous country. However there is little chance of that now. IVrhaps the greatest charm of iXhi Transvaal lies in its climate, which is among the best in the world, and in all the southern districts very healthy. During the winter months — that is, from A])r:l to October — little or no rain falls, and the climate is cold and bracing. In summer it is rather warm, but not over- poweringly hot, the thermometer at Pretoria averaging from 65° to 73° and in the winter from 59° to 65°. The ]>opulation of the Transvaal is estimated at about 40,000 whites, mostly of Dutch origin, consisting of about thirty vast families; and one million natives. There are several towns, the largest of which are Pretoria and Put( hefstroom. Such is the country that we annexed in 1877, and were drummed out of in 1881. Kow let us turn to its inhabitants. It has been the fashion to talk of the Transvaal as though nobody but IJoers lived in it. In reality the iidiabitants were divided int*:? three classes : I. Natives; 2, I'oers ; 3. English. I say were divided, because the English class can now ,;.::p^**^f5^?Sma-* '! lO THE TRANSVAAL. hardly be said to exist, the country having been made too hot to hold it since the war. The natives stand in the proportion of nearly twenty to one to the whites. The Boers were in their turn much more numerous than tiie English, but tlie latter owned nearly all the trading establishments in the country, and also a very large amount of property. The Transvaal Boers have been very much praised up by members of the Government in England, and others who are anxious to advance their interests, as ii"ainst Eniilish interests. Mr. Gladstone, indeed, can hardly liad words strong enough to express his admiration of their leaders, those " able men," since tliey inflicted a national humiliation on us ; and doubt- less they are a people with many good points. That they are not devoid of sa;_:acity can be seen by the way they have dealt with the English Government. The Uoers are cerlainly a peculiar people, thougl: they can hardly be said to be " zealous of good works." They are very religious, but their religion trikes its colour from the darkest portions of the Old Testa- ment; lessons of mercy antl gentleness are not at all to their liking, aLa they seldom care to read the Go.ipels. ^Vhat they delight in are the stories of wholesale butchery by the Israelites of old ; and in their own position they lind a reproduction of that of the first settlers in the Holy Land. Like them they think they are entrusted by the Almighty with the task of exterminating the heathen native tribes around them, and are always ready with a scriptural precedent for slaughter and robbery. The name of the Uiviaity is continually on their lips, sometimes in connection with very doubtful otatements. They are divided I , |j|3n?!f#!f^p>rf|p!)§p<fi^^ ITS INHABITANTS, LAWS, AND CUSTOMS. ii into three sects, none of which care much for the other two. These are tlie Doppers, who number aliQUt half the popilntion, the Orthodox Keform, and the Lii'iral Reform, which is the least numerous. Of tiiL'se three sects the Doppers are by far the most un- compromising and dilficult to deal with. They much resemble the Puritans of Charles the First's time, of tlie extreme IIow-A^'ag-in-pieces stamp. It is diilicult to agree with those who call the Boers co\vard>, an accusation which the whole of their history belies. A Boer does not like lighting if he can avoi"! it, because he sets a high value on his own life ; but if he is cornered, he will fight as well as anybody else. The Boers fou;^ht well en(jugh in the late war, tliough that, it is true, is no great criterion of courage, since they were througliuut flushed with victory, and, owing to the poor shooting of the British troops, in but little personal danger. One very un- I)li'asant characteristic they have, and that is an absence of regard tor the trutl^ especially where land is concerned. Indec.-d the national characteristic is crystallised into a proverb, " I am no slave to my word." It has several times happened to me to see oue set of highly respectable witnesses in a land case go into the box and swcar distinctly that they saw a beacon placed on a certain spot, whilst an equal number on the other side will ov/ear that thev saw it placed a mile away. Filled as they are with a land hunger, to which that of the Irish peasant is a weak and colourless sentiment, there is little that they will not do to gratify their taste. It is the subject of constant liti-ation amongst them, and it is by no means uncommon for a Boer to spend several thousand ■.m^ii'smm^^ r^ 12 THE TRANSVAAL. pounds in lawsuits over a piece of land not worth as many hundreds. Tersonally Uoers are fine men, but as a rule ugly. Their women-folk are good-looking in early life, but get very stout os they grow older. They, in common with most of their sex, understand how to use their tongues ; indeed, it is said that it was the won)en who caused tbe rising against the English Government None of the refinements of civilisation enter into the life of an ordinary Transvaal Doav. lie lives in a way that would shock an English labourer at twenty-five shillings the week, although he is very prnbaUy worth fifteen or twenty thousand pounds. His home is but too frequently squalid and iilthy to an extraordinary degree. He himself has no education, and does not care that his children sliould receive any. He lives by himself in the middle of a great plot of land, his neari'St neiuhbour being perhaps ten or twelve mile:' away, caring Vmt little for tlie news of the outside world and nothing for its opinions, doing very little work, but growing daily richer through the increase of his flocks and herds. His expenses are almost nothing, and as he gets older wealth increases upon him. The events in his life consist of an occasional trip on " commando " against some native tribe, attending a few political meetings, and tlie journeys he makes with his family to the nearest town, some four times a year, in order to be present at " Nachtmaal " or communion. Foreigners, especially Englishmen, he detests, but he is kindly and hospitable to his own people. Living isolated as he does, the lord of a little kingdom, he naturally comes to have a great idea of himself, and a corresponding contempt for all the rest of mankind. ITS INHABITANTS, LAWS, AND CUSTOMS. 13 Laws and taxes are things distasteful to him, and he looks upon it as an impertinence that any court sliould venture to call him to account for his doings. He is rich and prosperous, and the cares of poverty, and all tlie other troubles that fall to the lot of civilised men, do not affect him. He has no romance in him, nor any of the higher feelings and r.-5pirations that are fctind in almost every other race ; in short, unlike the Zulu he despises, there is little of the gentleman in his composition, though lie is at times capable of acts of kindness and even generosity. His happiness is to live alone in the great wilderness, with his children, his men-servants, and his maid-servants, his Hocks and his herds, the monarch of all he surveys. If civilisa- tion presses him too closely, his remedy is a simple one. He sells his farm, packs up his goods and cash in his wafjcron, and starts lor regions more conffeniallT wild. Such are some of the leading characteiistics of that remarkable product of South. Africa, the Trausvaai Boer, who resembles no other white man in the wcjrhl. Perhaps, however, the most striking of all his oddities is his abhorrence of idl government, more esj)ecially if that government be carried out according to English principles. The Boers have always been more or less in rebellion; thev rebelled against the rule of the Company when the Cape belonged to Holland, they rebelled against the English Govern- ment in the Cape, they were always in a state of semi- rebellion against their own Government in the Trans- vaal, and now they have for the second time, with the most complete success, rel elled against the English Government. The fact of the matter is that the bulk of their number hate all Governments, because Govern- .^^ ' :) '4 THE TRANSVAAL. ments enforce law and order, and tliey hate the English Government worst of all because it enforces law and order most of all. It is not liberty they long for, but license. The " sturdy independence " of the Boer resolves itself into a determination not to have his affairs interfered with by any superior power what- soever, and not to yxxy taxes if he can possibly avoid it. But he has also a specific cause of complaint against the Englisli Government, which would alone cause him to do his utmost to get rid of it, and that is its mode of dealing with natives, which is radically opposite to his own. Tliis is the secret of Boer patriotism. To understand it, it must be remembered tliat the En'jlishman and the Boer look at natives from a very different point of view. The Englishman, tliough he may not be very fond of him, at any rate regards the Kafir as a fellow human being with feelings like his own. Tlie average J>ocr does not. He looks upon the " black creature " as having been delivared into his hand by the " Lord " for his own purposes, that is, to shoot and enslave. He must not be blamed too harshly for this, for, besides being naturally of a somewhat hard disposition, hatred of the native is hereditary, and is partly induced by the history of many a bloody struLigle. Also the native hates the Boer fully as much as the Boer hates the native, though with better reason. Now native labour is a necessity to the Boer, because he will not as a rule do hard manual labour himself, and there must be some one to plant and garner the crops and herd the cattle. On the other hand, the natives are not anxious to serve the Boers, which means little or no pay and plenty of thick stick, and sometimes worse. The Bnf!?^**!Pi?53i5!tj^l«tft'-H!»!iri!ii5: ITS INHABITANTS, LAWS, AND CUSTOMS. 15 result of this state of affairs is tliat the Boer often has to rely on forced labour to a very great extent. But this is a thing that an English Government will not tolerate, and the consequence is that under its rule he cannot get the labour that is necessary to him. Then there is the tax question. If he liv(!S under the English Hag the money has to be paid regularly, but under his own Government he pays or not as he likes. It was this habit of his of refusing payment of taxes that brought the Eepublic into difiiculties in 1877, and that will ere long bring it into trouble again. lie cannot understand that cash is necessary to carry on a Government, and looks upon a tax as though it were so much money stolen from him. These things are the real springs of the " sturdy independence " and the patriotism of the ordinary Transvaal farmer. Doubtless there are some who are really patriotic ; for instance, one of their leaders, Paul Kruger. But with the majority, patriotism is only another word fur unbounded license and forced labour. These remarks must not be taken to apply to the Cape Boers, who are a superior class of men, since they, living under a settled and civilised Government, have been steadily improving, whilst their cousins, living every man for his own hand, have been deterio- rating. The old Voortrekkers, the fathers and grand- fathers of the 'iVansvaal Boer of to-day, were, without doubt, a very fine set of men, and occasionally you may in the Transvaal meet individuals of the same stamp whom it is a pleasure to know. But these are geneially men of a certain age, with some experience of the world ; the younger men are very objectionable Ml their manners iiiinaiMMiiMiri<nir' 16 THE TRANSVAAL. i| The real Dutch Patriotic party is not to be found in tlie Transvaal, but in the Cape Colony. Their object, which, as afl'airs now are, is well within the bounds of possibility, is by fair means or foul to swamp the English element in South Africa, and to establish a great Dutch licpublic. It was this party, which consists of clever and well educated men, who raised the outcry against the Transvaal Annexation, because it meant an enormous extension of English influence, and who had the wit, by means of their emissaries and newspapers, to work upon the feeling of the ignorant Transvaal farmers until they persuaded them to rebel ; and iinally, to avail themselves of the yearnings of English radicalism for the disruption of the P^mpire and the minimisation of liritish authority, to get the Annexation cancelled. All tiirough this business the Boers have more or less danced in obedi- ence to strings pulled at Cape Town, and it is now said tliat one of the chief wire-pullers, i\Ir. Hofmeyer, is to be asked to become President of the Republic. These men are the real patriots of South Africa, and very clever ones too — not the Transvaal Boers, who vapour about their blood and their country and the accursed Englishman to order, and are in reality inlhienced by very small motives, such as the desire to avoid payment of taxes, or to hunt away a neigh- bouring Englishman, whose civilisation and refinement are as oflensive as his farm is desiiable. Such are the Dutch inhabitants of the Transvaal. I will now give a short sketch of their institutions as they were before the Annexation, and to which the community has reverted since its recision, with, I believe, but few alterations. ^ii^>fHSfp^!fiflj^i«8»im«HiS:^ ITS [NHARITANTS, LAWS, AND CUSTOMS 17 iigh- luent are I now vere [nity few The form of government is repu1)Hcan, and to all intents and purposes manhood sull'rage prevails, siqireme power resting in the peoido. The exccntive power of the State centres in a President elected hy the people to hold oflice for a term of five years, every voter having a voice in his election. lie is assisted m the execution of his duties by an Executive Council, consisting of the State Secretary and such other three members as are selected for that purpose by the legis- lative body, the Volksraad. Tlie State Secretary holds office for four years, and is elected by the Volks- raad. The members of the Executive have all seats in the Volksraad, but have no votes. The Volksraad is the legislative body of the State, and consists of forty-two members. The ccuntry is divided into twelve electoral districts, each of v;Iiich has the right to return three members ; the Gold Fields have also the right of electing two members, and the four prin- cipal towns one member each. There is no power in the State competent to either prorogue or dissolve the Volksraad except that body itself, so that an appeal to the country on a given subject or policy is impossible without its concurrence. Members are elected for fuur years, but half retire by rotation every two years, the vacancies being filled by re-elections. Members must have been voters for three years, and be not less than thirty years of age, must belong to a Protestant Church, be resident in the country, and owners of immovable property therein. A father and son cannot sit in the same Raad, neither can seats be occupied by coloured persons, bastards, or officials. For each electoral district there is a magistrate or LaudUrosL, whose duties are similar to tliose of a Civil B t j^^s^m%.'. 18 THE TKANSVAJLL. I '. ! Coiiiinissioner. Tliese districts care again subdivided into wards presided over by field cornets, who exercise judicial powers in minor matters, and in times of war have considerable authority. The lioman Dutch law is the common law of the country, as it is of the colonies of the Ca])e of Good Hope and Natal, and of the Orange Free State. Prior to the Annexation justice was administered in a very primitive fashion. First, there was the Landdrosts' Court, from which an appeal lay to a court consisting of the Landdrost avid six councillors elected by the public. This was a court of first instance as Well as a court of ai)peal. Then there was a Supreme Court, consisting of three Landdrosts from three dif- ferent districts, and a jury of twelve selected from the burghers of the State. There was no appeal from this court, but cases have sometimes been brought under the consideration of the Volksraad as the supreme power. It is easy to imagine what the administration of justice was like when the presidents of all the law courts in the country were elected by the mob, not on account of their knowledge of the law, but because they were popular. Suitors before the old Transvaal courts found the law surprisingly uncertain. A High Court of Justice was, however, established after the Annexation, and has been continued by the Volks- raad, but an agitation is being got up against it, and it will possibly be abolished in favour of the old system. In such a community as that of the Transvaal Pioers the question of public defence was evidently of the first importance. This is provided for under what is known as the Commando system. The President. ITS INHABITANTS, LAWS, AND CUSTOMS. 19 ibdividod I exercise .'S of war utch law is of the il, and of liiiistered was the ;o a court rs elected stance as Supreme :hree dif- from the from til is gilt under supreme nistration the law 3, not on because Transvaal A High after the Volks- st it, and the old Transvaal dently of der what i*resident. with the concurrence of the Executive Council, has the riglit of declaring war, and of calling up a com- niamlo, in which the burghers are placed under the field cornets and commandants. Tliese last are chosen by the field cornets for each district, and a Com- mandant-general is chosen by the whole laager or force, but the President is the Commander-in-Chief of the armv. All the inhabitants of the State between sixteen and sixty, with a lew exceptions, are liable for service. Young men under eighteen, and men over fifty, are only called out under circumstances of emergency. Members of the Volksraad, oflicials, clergynien, and school-teachers are exempt from per- sonal service, unless martial law is proclaitned, but must contribute an amount not exceeding ;^i 5 towards the expense of the war. All legal [)rocecdings in civil cases are suspended against persons on com- manilo, no summonses can be made out, and as soon as martial law is proclaimed no legal execution can be prosecuted, the pounds are closed, and transfer dues payments are suspended until after thirty days from the recall of the proclamation of martial law. Owners of land residing beyond the borders of the Republic are also liable, in addition to the ordinary war tax, to place a lit and pro])er substitute at the disposal of the Government, or otherwise to pay a fine of ;^I5. The first levy of the burghers is, of men from eighteen to thirty-four years of age ; the second, thirty-four to fifty ; and the third, from sixteen to eighteen, and from fifty to sixty years. Every man is bound to provide himself with clothing, a gun, and ammunition, and there must be enough waggons and oxen found between them to suffice for their joint use. Of the ri \\\ 20 THE TRANSVAAL. booty taken, one quarter goes to Government, and the rest to the hurjh .rs. The most difiagreeahle part of the comnianileerinL; system is, however, yet to come ; personal service is not all tliat the resident in the Transvaal liL'pu)>lic has to endure. The right is vt^sted iu Held cornets to commandeer articles as well as individuals, and to call upon inliabitants to furnish requisites for the commando. As may be imagined, it goes very hard on these occasions with the property of any individual whom the field cornet may not happen to like. Each ward is expected to turn out its contingent ready and equipped for war, and this can only bo done by seizing goods riglit and left. One unfortunate will have to find a waggon, another to deliver over his favourite span of trek oxen, another his riding- horse or some slaughter catlle, and so on. Even wlien the officer making the levy is desirous of doing his duty as I'airly as he can, it is obvious that very gieat hardships must be inflicted under such a system. Requisitions are made more with regard to what is wanted than with a view to an equitable distribution of demands ; and like the Jews in the time of the Crusades, he who has got most must pay most, or take the consequences, which may be unpleasant. Articles which are not perishable, such as waggons, are sup- posed to be returned, but if they come back at all they are generally worthless. In case of war, the native tribes living within the borders of the State are also expected to furnish con- tingents, and it is on them that most of the hard work of the campaign generally falls. They are put in the front of the battle, and have to do the hand- t, and the >le part of to come ; [it in the is vested 1 well as :o furnish agiiied, it rt^perty of )t happen ontingent only be ifortuiiate iver over s riding- II. Even of doing hat very system, what is ribution of the or take Articles are sup- all they hin the sh con- le hard are put e hand- ITS INHAi'JITANTS. l.AWS, AND CUSTOMS. n to-haml tightii:/, wliich, liuwuver, if of the Zulu race, they do not object to. Tlie revenue t»f the State is so arraiiL,'ed that tlie burden of it sh(nild full as much as possible on the trailiiii; cotniiiunity, and as little as pos.-ible on the fanner. It is chielly derived from licenses on trades, professions, and callings, 303. per annum quit-rent on farms, transfer dues and stamps, auction dues, court fees, and contributions from such native tribes as can be made to pay them. Since we have given u{) the country, the Volksraad has put a very heavy tax on all imported goods, lioping thereby to beguile the Boers into paying taxes without knowing it, and at the same time strike a blow at the trading community, which is English in its proclivities. The result his been to paralyse what little trade there was'leil in the country, and to cause great dissatisfaction amongst the farmers, who cannot understand why, now that the I'^nglish are gone, they should have to pay twice as much for their sugar and colFee as they have been accustoiiied to do. I will conclude this chapter with a few words about the natives who swarm in and around the Transvaal. They can be roughly divided into two great races, the Amazulu and their offshoots, and the Macatee or Basuto tribes. All those of Zulu blood, including the Swazis, ]\Iapock's Kafirs, tl.'c Matabele, the Knob- noses, and others are very warlike in disposition, and men of fine physique. The Basutos (who must not be confounded with the Cape Basutos), however, differ from these tribes in every respect, including their lan- guage, which is called Sisutu, the only mutual feeling between the two races being their ( >mmoij detestation I' h THE TRANSVAAL. of tho I'otTS. Tliey do nut luvc war; ia fact, tlicy ui'o timid and cowardly l)y naturo, and only fight when they aro obliged to. Uulike the Zulus, they lire mucii addicted to the arts of i)eace, show consider- able capacities for civilisation, and are even willing,' to become Christians. There would liave been a far better field for the Missionary in the Transvaal than in Zuluhmd and Natal. Indeed, the most successful mission station 1 liave seen in Afiica is near Middle- burg, under the control of Mr. Mennsky. In person the Iiasutos are thin and weakly when compared to the stalwart Zulu, and it is their consciousness of inferiority both to the white men and their black brethren that, together with their natural timidity, makes them submit as easily as they do to the yokt of the IJoer. ma^ivmi'W-^ 'act, they nly fight lus, they coii.sider- rvilliii*^ to en a far v^aal than UCCL'S.sful Middh- II porson i pared to Lsness of ;ir black timidity, the yokt I ClIAPTKR II EVENTS PKECEI)IN'(; THE ANNEXATION. In or about tlie year 1872, the burghers of the Republic elected Mr. Burners tlieir President. This remarkable man was a native of the Cape Culony, and passed the tirat sixteen or seventeen years of his life, he once in- formed me, on a farm herding sheep. ]Ie afterwards became a clergyman noted for the eloquence of his preaching, but his ideas proving too broad for his con- gregation, he resigned his cure, and in an evil moment for himself took to politics. President Burgers was a man of striking presence and striking talents, especially as regards his oratory, which was really of a very high class, and would have commanded attention in our own House of Commons. He possessed, however, a mind of that peculiarly vola- tile order that is sometimes met with in conjunction with great talents, and which seems to be entirely with- out ballast. His intellect was of a balloon-like nature, and as incapable of being steered. He was always soaring in the clouds, and, as is natural to one in that elevated position, taking a very ditl'erent and more sanguine view of affairs to that which men of a more lowly, and perhaps a more practical, turn of mind woiUd do. I ! I. THE TRANSVAAL. m. But notwithstanding bis fly-away ideas, Piesident Burgers was undoubtedly a true patriot, labouring night and day for the welfare of the State of which he had undertaken the guidance ; but his patriotism was too exalted for his ? luroundings. He wished to elevate to the rank of a nation a people wlio had not got tlie de':i''e to be elevated ; \s iih this view he contracted railway loans, made wars, minted gold, &c., and then suddenly discovered that the country refused to support him. In short, he was made of very diiferent clay to that of the people he had to do with. He dreamt of a great Dutch llepublic " with eight millions of inhabi- tants," doing a vast trade with the interior through the Delagoa Bay Eailway. They, on the other hand, cared nothing about republics or railways, but fixed their affections on forced labour and jjetting rid of the neces- sity of paying taxes — and so be u ween them the llepub- lic came to grief. But it must be borne in mind that President Burgers was throughout actuated by good motives ; he did his best by a stubborn and a stiff-necked people ; and if he .^ailed, as fail he did, it was more their fault than his. As regards the pension he received from the Englisli Government, which has so often been brought up against him, it was alter all no more than his due after live years of arduous work. If the Eepublic had continued to exist, it is to be presumed that they would have made some provision for their old Presiflent, more especially as he seems to have exhausted his private means in paying the debts of the country. What- ever may be said of some of the other ofiicials of the Republic, its I'resident was, I believe, an honesL man. In 1875, Mr. Burgers proceeded to Europe, having, he says in a posthumous document recently publisheii I EVENTS PRECEDING THE ANNEXATION. 25 cared i -■ i;iheii been empowered by the Volksraad " to carry out my plans for the development of the country, by opening up a direct communication for it, free from the tram- mels of Briti=;h ports and inlluence." Acc(jrdint; to tliis document, during his absence t\vo powerful parties, viz., " the faction of unprincipled fortune-hunters, rascals, and runaways on the one hand, and the fact'jn of the extreme orthodox party in a certain branch of the Dutch Ileform Churcii on tne otlier, began to co-operate against ^he Government o<^ the Republic and mo per- sonally Ill as I was, and contrary to tlie advice of my medical men, I proceeded to Europe, in the be- ginning of 1875, to carry out my project, and no sooner was my back turned on the Transvaal than the con- spiring elements began to act. The new coat of arms and flag adopted in the Ilaad by an almost unanimous vote were abolished ; the laws for a free and secular education were tampered with ; and my resistance to a reckless inspection and disposal of Government Mnds, still occupied by natives, was openly defied. Tlie Ilaad, filled up to a large extent with men of ill repute, who, under the cloak of progress and favour to the Government view, obtained their sea^s, ^\.1s too weak to cope with the skill of tlie conspirators, and granted leave to the acting President to carry out measures diametrically opposed to my policy. Kalive lamh were insjiected and giveTi out to a few speculators, who ludd large numbers of claims to lands which were destined for citizens, and so a war was prepared for me, on my return from Europe, whicli I could not avert." This extract is interesting, as showing the state of feeling existing between the President and his ofiicers previous to the outbreak of the Secocoeni war. ll also shows I 1 26- THE TRANSVAAL. how entirely he was out of sympathy with the citizena, seeing that, as soon as his back was turned, they, with ^Ir. Joubert and Paul Kruger at their head, at once undid all the little good he had done. When Mr. Burgers got to England, he found that city capitalists would have nothing whatever to say to his railway scheme. In Holland, however, he succeeded in getting ^90,000 of tlio ;^ 300,000 he wished to borrow at a high rate of interest, and by passing a bond on five hundred Government farms. This money was immediately invested in railway planL which, when it arrived at Delagoa Bay, had to be mortgaged to pay the freight on it, and that was the end of the Delagoa Bay railway scheme, except that the ^^90,000 is, I believe, still owing to the confiding shareholders in Holland. On his return to the Transvaal the President was well received, and for a month or so all went smoothly. But the relations of the Kepublic with the surrounding native tribes had by this time become so bad that an explosion was imminent somewhere. In the year 1874 the Volksraad raised the price of passes under the iniquitous pass law, by which every native travelling through the territory was made to pay from £1 to ;^5. In case of non-payment the native was made subject l<> a fine of from jQi to ;^io, and to a beating of from ' ten to twenty-five lashes." He was also to go into service for three months, and have a certificate thereof, for which he must pay five shillings ; the avowed object of the law being to obtain a supply of Kafir labour. Thi:j was done in spite of the earnest protest of the President, who gave the Kaad distinctly to understand that by accepting this law they would, in point of fact, annul EVENTS PRECEDING THE ANNEXATION. 27 i treaties concluded with the chiefs on the south-western borders. It is not clear, however, if this amended pass law ever came into force. It is to be hoped it did not, for even under the old law natives were shamefully treated by Boers, who would pretend that they were authorised by Government to collect the tax; the result being that the unfortunate Kafir was frequently obliged to pay twice over. Natives had such a horror of the p;)S3 laws of the country, that when travelling to the Diamond Fields to woik they would frequently go round some hundreds of miles ratlier than pass through the Transvaal. That the Volksraad should have thought it necessary to enact such a law in order that the farmers should obtain a supply of Kafir labour in a territory that had nearly a million of native inhabitants, who, unlike the Zulus, are v/illiiig to work if only they meet with decent treatment, is in itself an instruclive commentary on the feelings existing between Boer master and Kafir servant. But besides the general quarrel with the Kafir race in its entirety, which the Boers always have on hand, they had just then several individual differences, in each of which there lurked the possibilities of disturbance. To begin with, their relations with Cetywayo were by no means amicable. During Mr. Burgers' absence the Boer Government, tlien under the leadership of P. J. Joubert, sent Cetywayo '^. very stern message — a message that gives the leaaer the idea that ^Mr. Joubert was ready to enforce it with ten thousand men. After making various statements and demands with reference to the Amaswazi tribe, the disputed boundary line, &C., it ends thus : — n 28 THE TRANSVAAL. "Although the Government of the South African Republic has never wislied, and does not now desiro, that serious disafiection and animosities should exist between you and them, yet it is not the less of tlie greatest conse(|uence and importance for you earnestly to weigh these matters and risks, and lo satisfy them ; the more so, if you on your side also wish that peace and friendship shall be maintained between you and us." The Secretary for Native Affairs for Natal comments on this message in these words : " The tone of this message to Cetywayo is not very friendly, it has tlie look of an ultimatum, and if the Government of the Transvaal were in circumstances different to what it is, the message would suggest an intention to coerce if the demands it conveys are not at once complied with ; but I am inclined to the opinion that no such intention exists, and that the transmission of a copy of the mes- sage to the Natal Government is intended as a notifica- tion that the Transvaal Government has prochiinK d the territory hitlierto in dispute between it and the Zulus to be Republican territory, and that the Republic intends to occupy it." In the territories marked out by a decision known as the Keate Award, in which Lieutenant-Governor Keate of Natal, at the request of both parties, laid down the boundary line between tlie Boers and certain native tribes, the Loer Government carried it with a yet higher hand, inso.nuch as the natives of those districts, being comparatively unwarlike, were less likely to resist. On the 1 8th August 1875, Acting President Joubert issued a proclamation by which a line was laid down far 10 the southward of that marked out by Mr. Keate, i ler lert ite, EVKNTS PRECEDING THE ANNEXATION. 29 and consequently included more territory within the elastic boundaries of the Kepublic. A Government notice of the same date invites all claiming lands now declared to belong to the Kepublic to send in their claims to be settled by a land commission. On the 6th March 1876, another chief in the same neighbourliood (Montsoia) writes to the Lieutenant- Governor of Griqualand West in these terms: — " IMy Friend, — I wish to acquaint you with the doings of some people connected with the Boers. A man-servant of mine has been severely injured in the head by one of the Boers' servants, which has proved ffital. Another of my people has been cruelly treated by a Boer tying a rein about his neclc, and then mounting his horse and dragging him al)0ut tlie pla.y\ My brother Molema, who is the bearer of this, will give you full particulars." Molema explains the assaults thus : " The assaulted man is not dead ; his skull was fractured. The assault was committed by a Boer named Wessels Badt-nhorst, who shamefully ill-treated the man, beat him till he fainted, and, on his revival, fastened a rim round his neck, and made him run to the homestead by the side of his (Badenhorst's) horse cantering. At the home- stead he tied him to the waggon- wheel, and flogged him again till Mrs. Badenhorst stopped her husband." Though it will be seen that the Boers were on good terms neither with the Zulus nor the Koate Award natives, they still had one Kafir ally, namely, Um- bandeni, the Amaswazi king. This alliance was con- cluded under circumstances so peculiar that they are worthy of a brief recapitulation. It appears that in the winter of the year 1875, Mr. Kudolph, the Land- 30 THE TRANSVAAL. drost of Utrecht, went to Swaziland, and, imitating the example of the Natal Government with Cety- wayo, crowned Unibandeni king, on behalf of the Boer Government. He further made a treaty of alliance with him, r,nd promised him a commando to help him in case of his being attacked by the Zulus. Now comes the curious part of the story, On the 1 8th May 1876, a message came from this same Umbandeni to Sir 11. Bulwer, of wiiich the following is an extract: — "We are sent by our king to thank the Government of Natal for the information sent to him last winter by that Government, and conveyed by ]\Ir. lludolph, of the intended attack on his people by the Zulus. We are further instructed by the king to thank the Natal Government for tlie influence it used to stop the intended laid, and for instructing a Boer commando to go to his country to render him assistance in case of need ; and further for appointing Mr. lludolph at the head of the commando to place him (Umbandeni) as king over the Amaswazi, and to make a treaty with hira and his ])eople on be- half of the Natal Government. , . . The Transvaal Government has asked Umbandeni to acknowledge himself a subject of the Eepublic, but he has dis- tinctly refused to do so." In a minute written on this subject, the Secretary for Native Affairs for Natal says, " No explanation or assurance from me was sufTicient to convince them (Umbandeni's messengers) that they had on that occasion made themselves sub- jects of the South African Republic; they declared it was not their wish or intention to do so, and that they would refuse to acknowledge a position into which they had been unwittingly betrayed." I must -i,i..u(i»trt.)MHHi EVENTS PRECRDLVG THE ANNEXATION. 31 it D- conclude this episode by quoting vhe kst paragraph of Sir H. Bulwer's covering despatch, because it con- cerns larger issues than the supposed treaty : " It will not be necessary that I should at present add any remarks to those contained in '^he minute of the Secretary for Native Affairs, bui: I would observe that the situation arising out of the relations of the Government of the South African Republic witli the neighbouring native States is so complicated, and pre- sents so many elements of confusion and of danger to tlie peace of this portion of South Africa, that I trust some way may be found to an early settlement of questions that ought not, in my opinion, to be left alone, as so many have been left, to take tlie chance of the future." And now I come to tlie last and most imminent native difiiculty that at the time faced the Iiepublic. On the borders of Lydenburg district there lived a poweiful chief named Secocoeni. Between this chief and the Transvaal Government difTiculties arose in the beginning of 1876 on the usual subject — land. The Boers declared that they had bought the land from the Swazis, who had conquered portions of the country, and that the Swazis offered to make it " clean from brambles," i.e., kill everybody living on it; but that they (the Boers) said that they were to let them be, that they might be their servants. The Basutos, on the other hand, said that no such sale ever took place, and, even if it did take place, it was invalid, because the Swazis were not in occupation of the land, and therefore could not sell it. It was a Christian Kafir called Johannes, a brother of Secocoeni, who was the immediate cause of the war. This Johannes used to r 19 THE TRANS VAAIi. \ I live at a place called Botsobelo, the mission-station of Mr, Alcrensky, but moved to a stroii^liold on the Spek- boom liver, in the dispi^tcd territory. The Boers sent to him to come back, but lie refused, and warned tlie Boers off his land. Sccocoeiii was then appealed to, but d(.'cliired Ihat tlie land belonLicd to his tribe, and would be occuiiicd by Joliann(,'S. He also told the Boers " tliat he did Tii>t wish to fi,i,dit, but th;it he was qiiite ready to do so if they preferr'^d it." Thereupon the Transvaal Gov'ernment declaretl war, although it does not appear that the natives committed any out- rage or acts of hostility before the declaration. As regards tlie Boers* right to Secocceni's country, Sir H. IJarkly sums up tlie quesiion thus, in a despatch addressed to Brosident Burgers, -lated 28th Nov. 1876: — " On the wliole, it seems perfectly clear, and I feel bound to repeat it, that Sikukuni was neither de jure or dc facto a subject of the Kepublic when your Honour declared vvar against him in June last." As soon as war had been declared, the clumsy commando system waj set working, and about 2500 white men collected; the Swazis also were applied to to send a contingent, which they did, being only too glad of the opportunity of slaughter. At first all weut well, \nd the President, who accom- panied the commando in person, succeeded in reducing \ mountain stronghold, which, in his high-llown way, he called a " glorious victory " over a " Kafii Gibraltar." On the 14th July another engagement took place, when the Boers and Swazis attacked Jjhannes' strong- hold. The place was taken with circumstances of great barbarity by the Swazis, for when the signal was given to advance the Boers did not move. Nearly I i V EVENTS PRECLDINO THE ANNEXATION. 33 all the women were killed, and the brains of the chil- dren were daslied out a'^'aiiist the stoni-s; in one instance, before the captive mother's face. Joliannes was badly woiuuled, and died two days afterwards. When he was dying, he said to liis brother, " I am goin^,' to die. I am thankful I do not die by the hands of these cowardly Boers, but by the hand of a black and courageous nation like myself . . ." He then took leave of his people, told his brother to read tiie liible, and expired. Tlie Swazis were so infuriated at the cowardice dis- played by the Boers on this occasion that tliey returned home in great dudgeon. On the 2d of August Secocoeni's mountain, which is a very strong fortification, was attacked in two columns, or ratlier an attempt was made to attack it, for when it came to the pinch only about forty men, mostly English and Germans, would advance. Thereupon the whole conmiando retreated with great haste, tlie greater part of it going straight home. In vain the President entreated them to shoot him rather than desert him ; they had had enough of SccocaMii and his stronghold, and home they went. The President then retreated with what few men he had left to Steelport, where he built a fort, and from tlience returned to Pretoria. Tlie news of the collapse of the commando was received throughout the Transvaal, and indeed the whole of k-^outh Africa, with the greatest dismay. For the first time in the history of that country the white man had been compU'toly worsted by a native tribe, and that tribe wretched Basutos, people wdiom the Zulus call their " dogs." ft was glad tidings to every native from the Zambesi to the Cape, who learnt thereby that the white man was not so invincible as he used to be. o 34 THK TRANSVAAL. \\\ Meanwhile- tlio iuhabitiiiita of Lydeiiburg were filled with aliiiin, and again and again petitioned tlio Governors of tiie Cape and Natal for assistance. Their fears were, however, to a great extent groundless, for, witli tlie exception of occasional cattle-lifting, Secocanii did not follow up his victory. On the 4th September the President opened the special sitting of the Volksraad, and presented to that body a scheme for the establisliment of a border force to take the place of the commando systetn, announcing that he had appointed a certain Captain Von Schlick- mann to command it. He also requested the liaad to make some provision for the expenses of the expedition, which they had omitted to do in their former sitting. Captain Von Sclilickmann determined to carry on ihe war upon a dillerent system. He got together a band of very rough characters on the Diamond Fields, and occupied the fort built by the President, from whence he would sally out from time to time and destroy kraals. He seems, if we may believe the re- ports in the blue-books and the stories of eye-witnesses, to have carried on his proceedings in a somewhat savage way. The following i. an extract from a private letter written by one of his volunteers : — " About daylight we came across four Kafirs. Saw them first, and charged in front of them to cut off their retreat. Saw they were women, and called out not lo fire. In spite of that, one of the poor things got her head blown off (a d d shame). . . . Afterwards two women and a baby were brought to the camp prisoners. The same night they were taken out by our Kafirs and murdered in cool blood by order of . Mr. and myself strongly protested against it, but without a ■ 11 EVENTS PRECEDING THE ANNEXATION. 35 avail. I never heard such a cowardly piece of business in my life. No good will come of it, you may depend. . . . says he would cut all the women and chil- dren's thrijat.s he catrlius. Tuld him distinctly he was a d d coward." Schlickmann was, however, a mild-mannered man when compared to a certain Abel Erasmus, afterwards denounced at a public dinner by Sir Garnet "VVolseley as a fiend "in human form." 'J'his gentleman, in the month of October, attacked a friendly kraal of Kafirs. The incident is de3crib(;d tlius in a correspondent's letter : — " The people of the kraals, taken quite by surprise, fled when they saw tlnnr foes, and most of them took ihelter in the nei'dibourin<' bush. Two or three men were distinctly seen in thvir fliglit from the kraal, and one of them is known to have been wounded. Accord- ing to my informant the remainder were women and children, wlio were pursued into the bush, and there, all shivering and shrieking, were put to death by the l>oers' Kafirs, some being shot, but the majority stabbed with assegais. After the massacre he counted thirteen women and three children, iKit he says he did not see the body of a single man. Another Kafir said, pointing to a place in the road where the stones were thickly strewn, 'the bodies of the women and children lay like these stones.' The Boer before mentioned, who has been stationed outside, has told one of his own friends, whom he thought would not mention it, that the shrieks were fearful to hear." Several accounts of, or allusion to, this atrocity can be found in the blue-books, and I may add that it, in common ^^■it}l others of the same stamp, was the talk of the country at the time. 36 THE TRANSVAAL I do not rcl.'itu tliese horrors out of any wish to rake up old stories to tlio prejudice of tiie P)oers, hut bf.'cause I am dc'ScriljinLj th(3 fslatc of tlio country hefoni tho Annexation, in wliicli tluiy form an interestiiiLj and important it(;ni. Also, it is as well that j.eoplo in ]*!ii;^dand should kuow into what li;mds they have delivered over the native tribes who trusted in their protection. What ha})p<>ned in 1876 is ])rol)ahly hap- pening airain now, and will certaiidy happen again and again. The character of tlie Transvaal Boer and his sentiments towards the native races have not modified during the last five years, but, on the contrary, a large amount of energy, whioh has been accumulating during the period of British protection, will now be expended on their devoted heads. As regards the truth of these atrocities, the majority of ihem are beyond the possibility of doubt; indeed, to the best of my knowledge, no serious attempt has ever been made to refute such of them as have come into public notice, except in a general way, for party pur- poses. As, however, they may be doubted, I will quote the following extract from a despatch written by Sir II. Barkly to Lord Carnin-von, dated i8ih December 1876:—" " As Von Schlickmann has since fallen fighting bravely, it is not without reluctance that I join in affixing this dark stain on his memory, but truth compels me to add the following extract from a letter which I have since received from one whose name (which I communicate to your Lordship privately) forbids disbelief : ' There is no longer the slightest donht as to the murder of the two women and the child at Steelport by the direct order of Schlickmann. and in EVENTS PRECEDING THE ANNEXATION. 37 iber tlic attack on tlie kraril m>ar wliich tlicso women wcro CiiptuiL'd (or some attack about that periofl) lie onlcruil hi3 men to cut the tliroata of all the wounded ! Tiiis is no men; report; it is jjositively true.'" He concludes by e.\})ies.sin^' a ho})e that the course of events will enable Her Majesty's Cioveiunient to take such st»'j»3 "as will terminate this wanton and useless bloodshed, and prevent the recunence of the scenes of inji'stice, cruelty, and nijmie which abundant evidence is every da/i fortheuming to 2»'ov^ have rarely ceased to di.syrace i/'ie li'ejmhlics beyond the Vaal ever since they first sprang into existence" * 'J'hese are strong words, but none too stion;^' for the facts of the case. Injustice, cruelty, and rapine have always been the watchwords of the Transvaal Pjoers. The stories of wholesale slaughter in the earlier days of the Republic .ire very numerous. One of the best known of those shocking,' occurrences took }»lace in the Zoutpansbcrg war in 1865. On this occasion a lar^^e number of Kafirs took refuj^e in caves, where the lioers smoked them to death. Some years afterwards Dr. Wangeman, whose account is, 1 believe, thoroui,ddy reliable, describes the scene of their operations in these words : — " The roof of the first cave was black with smoke ; the remains of the logs which were burnt lay at the entrance. The Hoor was stiewn with hundreds of skulls and skeletons. In confused liea]ts lay karosses, kerries, assegais, pots, spoons, snuff-boxes, and the bones of men, giving one the impression that this was the <jrave of a whole people. Some estimate the number of those who perished here fmm twenty to thirty thousand. This * The italics are my own. — AuTHOH. i li I 3» THE TRANSVAAL. is, I believe, too high. In the one chamber there were from two Imndred to three liundred skeletons ; the otlier chambers I did not visit." In 1868 a yniblic mcetinfr was held at Potchefstroora to consider the war tlien "oincj on with the Zouti)ans- berg natives. Ace irding to the report of tlie ])roceed- ings, the Rev. Mr. Ludorf said tliat "on a particular occasion a number of native cliildren, who were too young to be reinoNcd, had been collected in a heap, covered with long grass, and burned alive. Other atrocities had also been committed, but these were too horrible to relate." When called upon to produce his autliority for this statement, ]\Ir. Ludorf named his authority " in a solemn declaration to the State Attor- ney." At this same meeting Mr. J. G. Steyn, vho had been Landdrost of Potchefstroom, said, " there now was innocent blood on our hands which had not yet been avenged, and the curse of God rested on the land in consequence." Mr. Rosalt remarked that "it was a cinc;u]ar circumstance that in the different colonial K;iur wars, as also in the Basuto wars, one did not hear of destitute children being found by the commandoes, and asked how it was that every petty commando that took the field in this liepublic invariably found num- bers of destitute children. lie gave it as his opinion that the present system of apprenliceship was an essen- tial cause of our frequent hostilities wiuh the natives." Mr. Jan Talyard said, "Children were forcibly taken from their parents, and were then called destitute and apprenticed." Mr. Daniel Van Xooren was heard to day, " If they had to clear the country, and could not have the chiliren they found, he would shoot them." Mr, Field-Cornet Furstenburg stated "that when he I y 1 EVENTS PRECEDING THE ANNEXATION. 39 was at Zoutpansberg with his burghers, the chief Katse- Kats was told to come down from the mountains ; that he sent one of his subordinates as a proof of amity ; that whilst a delay of five days was guaranteed by Commandant Paul Kruger, who was then in command, orders were given at the same time to attack the natives at break of day, which was accordingly done, but which resulted in total failure." Truly, this must have been an interesting meeting. Before leaving these unsavoury subjects, I must touch on the question of slavery. It has been again and again denied, on behalf of the Transvaal Boers, that slavery existed in the Ee])ublic. Now, this is, strictly speaking, true ; slavery did not exist, but apprentice- ship did — the rose was called by another name, that is all. The poor destitute children who were picked up by kind-hearted Boers, after the extermination of their parents, were apprenticed to farmers till they came of age. It is a remarkable fact that these children never attained their majority. You might meet oldish men in the Transvaal who were not, accordiiifr to their masters' reckoning, twenty-one years of age. The asser- tion that slavery did not exist in the Transvaal is only made to hoodwink the English public, I have known men who have owned slaves, and who have seen whole waggon-loads of " black ivory," as they were called, sold for about ;^I5 a-piece. 1 have at this moment a tenant, Carolus by name, on some land I own in Natal, now a well-to-do man, who was for many years — aljout twenty, if I remember right — a Boer slave. During those years, he told me, he worked from morning till night, and the only reward he received was two calves. He finally escaped into Natal. ■ 11 40 THE TRANSVAAL. h ' If other evidence is noeded it is not difficult to find, 80 I will quote a liule. On the 22d August 1876 we lind Kharna, king of the Bamangwato, one of the most worthy cliiefs in South Africa, sending a message to "Victoria, tlie great Queen of the English people," iu these woi'ds : — " 1 write to you, Sir Henry, iu order that your Queen may preserve for me my country, it being in her hands. The Boers are coming into it, and I do not like them. Their actions are crue' among us black people. We are like money, they sell us and our children. I ask Her Majesty to pity me, and to hear that which I write quickly. I wish to hear u])0ii what conditions Jler Miijesty will receive me, and my country and my people, under her protection. 1 am weary with fighting. I do not like war, and I ask Her Majesty to give me peace. I am very much distressed that my people are being destroyed by war, and 1 wish them to obtain peace. I ask Her ]\Iajesty to defend me, as she defends all her people. There are three things which distress me very much — war, selling people, and drink. All these things I shall find in the Boers, and it is these things which destroy people to make an end of them in the country. The < ustom of the Boers has always he en to cause people to he sold, and to-day they are still selling j^cople. Last year I saw them pass with two waggons full (jf ])eople whom they had bouglit at the river at Tanaue " (Lake Ngate). The Special Correspondent of the Cajye Argus, a highly respectable journal, writes thus on the 23th November 1876: — "Tiie P>oer from whom this infor- mation was gh^nned has furnished besides some facts which may not be uninteresting, as a commentary on I \ EVENTS PRECEDING THE ANNEXATION. 4> to in the repeated denials by Mr. Bur<!crs of the existence of slavery. Durinuj the last week slaves have been offered for sale on his farm. The captives have been taken from Secocconi's country by Mapoch's people, and are haiu'i exciianired at the rate of a child for a heifer. He also assures us that the whole of the High- veld is being replenished with Kafir children, whom the Uoers have been lately ])urcha.sing from the Swazia at the rate of a horse for a child. I should like to see this man and his father as witnesses before an Imperial Commission. He let fall one or two incidents of the past which were brought to mind by the occurrences of the present. In 1864, he says, 'The Swazis accom- panied the Boers against Males. The Boers did nothing but stand by and witness the fearful massacre. The men and women were also murdered. One poor woman Silt clutching her baby of eight days old. The Swazis stabbed her through the body, and when she found that she could not live, she wrung the baby's neck with her own hands to save it from future misery. On the return of that commando the chiMren who became too weary to continue the journey were killed on the road. The survivors were sold as slaves to the farmers.' " The same gentleman writes in the issue of" the 12th December as follows : — " Tiie whole world may know it, for it is true, and investigation will only bring out the horrible details, that through the whole course of this Eepublic's existence it has acted in contravention of the Sand River Treaty; and slavery has occurred not only here and there in isolated cases, but as an unbroken practice, and has been on-.^ of the •j/eculiar institutions of the country, mixed up with all its social and political life. It lias been at tiie root of most of ti • 42 THE TRANSVAAL. its wars. It lias been carried on regularly even in times of peace. It has been characterised by all those circumstances whicli have so often roused the British nation to an indignant })rotest, and to repeated efibrts to banish the slave trade from the world. Tlie Boers have not only fallen on unsuspecting kraals simply for the purpose of obtaining the women and children and cattle, but they have carried on a traffic through natives who have kidnapped the children of their W{?aker neighbours, and sold them to the white man. Again, the Boers have sold and exchanged their victims among themselves. Wairgon-loads of slaves have been conveyed from one end of the country to the other for sale, and that with the cognisance of, and for the direct advantage of, the highest officials of the land. The writer has himself seen in a town, situated in the south of the Eepublic, the children who had b'^pti brought down from a remote northern district. One line morn- ing, in vralking through tlie streets, he was struck with the number of little black strangers standing about certain houses, and wondered where they could have come from. He learnt a few hours later that thev were part of loads which M-ere disposed of on the outskirts of the town the day before. The circumstances con- nected with some of these kidnapping excursions are appalling, and the barbarities practised by cruel masters upon some of these defenceless creatures during the course of their servitude are scarcely less horrible than those reported from Turkey. It is no disgrace in this country for an official to ride a fine liorse which was got for two Kafir children, to procuie whom the father ftnd mother were shot. No reproach is inherited by the mistress who, day after day, tied up her female ! EVENTS PRECEDING THE ANNEXATION. 43 I \ i servant in an agonising posture, and had her beaten until there was no sound part in her body, securing lier in tlie stocks durins^ the intervals of torture. That man did not lose caste who tied up another woman and had her thrashed until she brou'jlit forth at the whip- ping-post. These are merely examples of tliousaiids of cases which could be proved were an Imperial Commis- sion to sit, and could the wretched victims of a prolonj^ed oppression recover suflicieiitly from the dread of their old tyrants to give a trutliful report." To come to some evidence more recently addi'.ced. On the 9th May 1881, an affidavit was sworn to by the Rev. John Thorne, curate of St. John the EvaiiLielist, Lydenburg Transvaal, and presented to the Royal Com- mission appointed to settle Transvaal affairs, in which he states : — " That I was appointed to the charge of a congregation in Potchefstroom, about thirteen years ago, when the Republic was under tlie presidency of Mr. Pretorius.^ I remember noticing one morning as I walked througli the streets, a number of young natives, whom I knew to be strangers. I inquired where they came from. I was told that they had just been brought from Zoutpansberg. This was the locality from which slaves were chiefly brouglit at tliat time, and were traded for under the name of ' Black Ivory.' One of these natives belonged to Mr. jMunich, the State Attorney. It was a matter of common remark at that time that the President of the Republic was himself one of the greatest dealers in slaves." In the fourth paragraph of the same affidavit Mr. Thorne says, "That the Rev. Doctor Nachtigal, of the Berlin Missionary Society, Mas the interpreter for Sliatane's peo])le in the ' One of the fainouK Triumvirate. m 44 THE TRANSVAAL. private ofifice of Mr. Rotli, and, at the close of the in- terview, told me what liad occurred. On my exi)ressiii'^' surj)ri.se, he went on to relate that he hail information on native matters which would surprise me more. ITe then produced the copy of a register, kej)t in tlie Land- drosL's office, of men, women, and children, to the num- ber of four hundred and eiizhty (480), who had been disposed of by one Boer to anotlier for a consideration. In one case an ox was given in exchange, in another goats, in a third a blanket, and so forth. Many of these natives he (Mr. Nachtigal) knew personally. The copy was certilied as true and correct by an official of the Republic, and I would mention his name now, only that I am persuaded that it would cost the man his life it' his act became known to the Boers." On the i6Lh May 1881, a native, named Frederick Mole})o, was examined by the Royal Commission. The following are extracts from his examination: — " {Sir E. Wuod.) Are you a Cliristian ?— Yes. " {Sir II . de Villicrs.) How loug were you a slave ? — • Half a year. " How do you know tiiat you were a slave ? Might you not have been an apprentice ? — No, I was not apprenticed. " How do you know? — They got me from my parents, and ill-treated me. " {Sir E. Wood) How many times did you gei. the stick ? — Every day, " {Sir n. de Villiers.) What did the Boers do with you when they caught you ? — Tiiey sold me. " How much did they sell you for ? — One cow and a big pot." On the 28th May 1881, amongst the other documents II I EVENTS PRECEDING THE ANNEXATION, 45 I handed in for the consideration of the Eoyal Coniniission, is the statement of a heathnan, whose name it has been considered advisable to omit in the blue-book for fear the Boers should take vengeance on him. He says, "I say, that if tl;e Kniilish government dies I shall die too ; I would rather die tlian be under the Boer Govern- ment. I am the man v.dio liidped to make bricks for the church you see now standing in the square here (Pretoria), as a slave witiiout payment. As a represen- tative of my people I am still obedient to the English Government, and willing to obey all commands from them, even to die for their cause in this country, ratlier than submit to the Boers. " I was under Shambok, my chief, who fouglit the Boers formerly, but he left ns, and we were put up to auction and sold f.mong the r)oers. I want to state this myself to the Royal Conimission in Newcastle. I was bought by Fiitz Botha and sold by Frederick Botha, who was then veld cornet (justice of the peace) of tho Boers."! It would be easy to find more reports of the slave- trading practices of the Boers, but as the above aie fair samples it will not be necessary to do so. My readers will be able from them to form some opinion as to whether or not slavery or apprenticesnip existed in the I * I have taken the liberty to quote all these extracts exactly as they itand in the original, instead of Wfaviiig their sub.-tance into my nar- rative, in ordei that I may not be accused, aa sn often happens to authors who write upon tliis subject, of haviii;^' pro ented a garbled Version of the truth. The original of every extract is to be found in blue-books presented to rarlianient. I have thought it best to confine myself to these, and avoid repeating stories of cruelties and slavery, however well authenticated, that 1 ave come to my knowledge privately •uih stories being always mur« or less open to auspicion. 46 THE TRANSVAAL. Transvaal. If they come to the conclusion that it did, it must be borne in mind tliat what existed in the past will certainly exist again in the future. Natives are not now any fonder of working for Boers than thoy were a few years back, and Boers must get labour some- how. If, on the other hand, it did not exist, then the Boers are a grossly slander" I pe^iij, < nd all writers on the si.ljeci, from Li ingstouo down, have combined to take away their character. Leaving native questions for the p;';sent, we must now return to the general nfl\iirs of the country. When President Burgers opened the special sitting of the Volksraad, on the 4th September, he appealed, it will be remembered, to that body for pecuniary aid to liquidate the expenses of the war. Tiiis ap[.3al was responded to by the passing of a war tax, under which every owner of a farm was to pay ;^io, the owner of half a farm ;^5, and so on. The tax was not a very just one, since it fell with equal weight on the rich man wlio held twenty farms and the poor man who iield but one. Its justice or injustice was, however, to a great extent immaterial, since the free and indepen- dent burghers, including some of the members of the Volksraad who had imposed it, promptly refused to pay it, or indeed, whilst they wer-e about it, any other tax. As the Treasury was already empty, and creditors were pressing, this refusal was most ill-timed, and things began to look very black indeed. Meanwhile, in addi- tion to the ordinary expenditure, and the interest pay- able on debts, money had to be found to pay Von Schlickmann's volunteers. As there was no cash in the country, this was done by issuing Government promissory notes, known as ** goodfors," or vulgarly as EVENTS PRECEDING THE ANNEXATION. 47 "good for :iotliiiigs," and by prcmisiug them all booty, and to ea- , man a ftnin of two thousand acres, lying east and :\ ..l\ -cast of th. Loulu mountains — in other words, in '" 3Coca'ni's ierrit')ry, whicli did not belong to the Gover; nent to give awav. Tho jlficials were the iicixt to siiiTer, am^ for six iniths before tlie Annexation these u!ifortunate individuals lived as bis: they could, for they certainly got no salary, except in the case of m postmaster, who was told to help himself to his ]iay iu stamps. The Government issueil large numbers of bill.-), but the banks refused to discount them, and in some cases the neighbouring colonies had to advance money to the Transvaal post-cart contractors, who were carry- ing the mails, as a matter of charity. Th. Government even mortgaged the great salt-pan near Pretoria for the paltry Sum of ;^400, whilst the leading olhcials of the Government were driven to pledging their own private credit in order to obtain the smallest article necessary to its continuance. In fact, to such a pass did things come that when the country was annexed a single threepenny bit (which had doubtless been overlooked) was found in the Treasury chest, together with acknow- ledgments of debts to the extent of nearly ;:{i"300,000. Nor was the refusal to pay taxes, which they were powerless to enforce, the only difficulty with which the Government had to contend. Want of money is as bad and painful a thing to a State as to an individual, but there are perhaps worse things than want of money, one of which is to be deserted by your own friends and household. This was the position of the Government of the Eepublic; no sooner was it involved in over- whelming difficulties than its own subjects commenced to bait it, more especially the English portion of its i i 48 THE TRANSVAAL. Vi subjects. They coin])laino(l to the Eii<,'li.5h authorities about tlie coniinaiKk'oring of liiciubers of tlieir family or ooods; they jjetitioned the liiitish Government to interlere, and geneially made themselves as unph'a.saiit as ])Ossible to the local authorities. Such a course of action was perhaps natural, but it can hardly be said to be either quite logical or just. The Transvaal Government bad never asked them to come and live in the country, and if they did so, it was presumably at their own risk. On the otlier hand, it must bo remembered that many of the agitators had accunui- lated ]>roperty, to leave which would mean ruin; and they saw that, unless something was done, its value would be destroyed. Under the pressure of all these troubles the Buers themselves split up into factions, as they are always ready to do. The Dopper party declared that they had had enough progress, and proposed the extremel}' conservative Paul Kiuger as President, Burgers' time having nearly expired. Paul Kruger accepted the candidature, although he had previously promised his support to Burgers, and distrust of each other was added to the other difficulties of the Executive, the Transvaal becoming a house very nmch divided against itself. Natives, Dojipers, Progressionists, Officials, Eng- lish, were all pulling difierent ways, and each striving for his own advantage. Anything more hopeless than the position of the country on the ist January 1877 it is impossible to conceive. Enemies surrounded it ; on every border there was the prospect of a serious war. In the exchequer there was nothing but piles of over- due bills. The President was helpless, and mistrustful of his officers, and the officers were caballing against \ EVENTS rRECEniNO THE ANNEXATION. 49 the President. All the or.linarv functions of Oovern- ment lia.l cease,!, and trade was paralysed. Now and then wild proposals were made to relieve tlie State of Its burdens, some of which partook of the nature of repudiation, but these were the exception; the majority of the inhabitants, who would neither fi-rht nor pay taxes, .at still and awaited the catastrophe, utterly careless of all consequcucea. li T) f CHAPTER lit THE ANNKXATION. The state of affairs described in the previous cliaptn was one tliat filled the Secretary of State for the Colonies witli alarm. iJuriii'' his tenure of oHicd Lord Carnarvon evidently had the permanent welfare of South Africa much at heart, and he saw with a])pr(!hension that the troubles that were brewing in the Transvaal were of a nature likely to involve ihe Cape and Natal in a native war. Though there is a broad line of demarcation between Dutch and English, it is not so broad but that a victorious nation like the Zulus might cross it, and beginning by fighting the Boer, might end by fighting the while man irrespective of race. When the reader reflects how terrible would be the consequences of a combination of native tribes against the Whites, and how ea.sily such a combination might at that time have been brought about in the first flush of native successes, he will understand the anxiety with which all thinking men watched the rourse of events in the Transvaal in 1876. At last they took such a serious turn that the Home Government saw that some action must be taken if the catastrophe was to be averted, and determined to despatch Scr Theophilus Shepstone as Special Comiuis- THK ANNEXATION. It sioncr to tho Tran^vnal, with powers, should it he neces- sary, to aiinox the country to Her Majesty's (U)iuinions, "in order to secure the peace aud safety of Our said coh>iiies aud of Our suhjects elsewliere." Tiie terms of his Conimission were uuusually hir^'e, h'aviuL,' a ^Tcat deal to his discretionary power. In choosing tliat ollieer for the execution of a nio.st diflieult aud di'lieale nii.«.sion, the Govern uieut, doubt- less, niaile a very wise selection. Sir I'heophilus Shepstoue is a man of reniaik;ible tact aud ability, combined with great openness and sinipl icily of mind, and one whose name will always have a h-adini,' place in South African history. During a long otUcial life- time he has had to do with most of the native races in South xVfrica, and certainly knows them and their ways better tliau any living man ; wliilst he is by tliem all regarded with a peculiar and affectionate reverence. He is par excellence tlieir great white chief and " father," and a word from him, even now that he has retired from active life, still carries more weight than the formal remonstrances of any governor in South Africa. With the Boers he is almost equally well ac- quainted, having known many of them })ersonally for years. He possesses, moreover, tlie rare power of winning the reijard and affection, as well as the respect, of those about ha in such a marked degree that those who have served him once would go far to serve him again. Sir T. Shepstoue, however, has enemies like other people, and is commonly re])Orted among them to be a discijile of Machiavelli, and to have his mind steeped in all the darker wiles of Kafir policy. The Annexation of the Transvaal is by them \l 52 THE TRANSVAAU attributed to a successful and vij^'orous use of those arts that distinguished the diplouiacy of two centuries ago. Falseliood and bribery are suj)posed to have been the great levers used to eflect the cliange, toL:ether with threats uf extinction at the hands 01 a savage and unfiiendly nation. That tlie Annc'xation was a triumph of mind over matter is quite true, but wliet'ier or no that triumph was unwortliily obtained, I will leave those who road tliis shoi* clironicle of th(3 events connected with it to j'hlge. I saw it somewhat darkly remarked in a newspaper the otlier day that the history of the Annexation had evidently yet to be written ; and I fear tliat tiie remark represents tlie feeling of most people about tlutt event, implying as it did that it was carried out by means certainly mysteriously and presumably doubtful. I am afraid that those who think thus will be disappointed in what I have to say about the matter, since I know that the means employed to bring the Ijoers — " Fracti b'jUo, fatisque repulsi " — under ITer ^Majei^ty's authoiity were throughout aij fair and honest as the Annexation itself was, in my opinion, right {ih<l necessary. To return to Sir T. Shepstone. He undoubtedly had taults as ruler, one of the most prominent of which was that his natural mildness of character would never allow liini to act with severity even wlien severity was necessary. The very criminals condenmed to death ran a good chance of reprieve when he had to sign their death-warrants. He has also that worst of faults (so-called), in one fitted by .i^SteiiSS*^* ill i THE ANNEXATION. 53 nature to become great — waut of ambition, a failiii.,' that ill such a man marks him the possessor of an even ami a phiioso{)hic mind. It was no s-'okinLT of his own tliat raised bim out of obscuriLv, and r.ben his work was done to comparative obscurity lie elected to return, thou^'h whether a man of bis ability ami experience in South African ait'airs should, at the present crisis, be allowed to remain there, is another question. On the 20th December 1876, Sir T. Shepstone wrote to President lUirLjers, infui'ming him of his ap- proacliing visit to tbe Transvaal, to secure, if ])Ossible, the adjustment of existing trouldes, and the adoption of such measures as might be best calculated to pre- vent their recurrence in the futuie. On his road to Pretoria, Sir Tlniophilus received a hearty welcome from the lioer as W( 11 as the P^milish inhabitants of the country. One of these addresses to him savs : " Be assured, hiuh lionouralJe Sir, that we burghers, now assembled together, entertain the mo<t friendly i'eeling towards your Government, and that we shall agree with anyt.hing you may do in conjunc- tion with our Government for the })rogress of our State, the strenL^tliening against our native enemies, and 'or the general welfare of all the inhai itants of the whole of Soutli Afi'ica. Welc(Kiie in IfeidellK'i'' and welcome in the Transvaal." At Pretoria the rece])tiou of the Special Commis- sioner was positively euthu^ia-tic ; the whole town came out to meet him, and the horses haviiiu' ben taken out of the carriage, he was drai'.ged in triuiujih throuirh the streets. In his re})ly to the addre.^s picoeiilod Lu hiUA, Sir Theophihia sliadowed forth ♦he f (1 54 THE TRANSVAAL. objects of his mission in these words: " TJocont events in til is country have shown to all thinking men the absohite nect ssity for closer union and more oneness of purpose among the Christian Governtnents of the southern portion of tliis continent: the h'est interests of the native races, no less than the peace and pro- sperity of the white, imperatively demand it, and I rely upon you and upon your Government to co- operate witli nie in endeavouring to achieve the great and glorious end of inscribing on a general South African banner tlie appro])riate motto — " Eendnigt maakt magt " (Unity makes stren'.:th). A few (lavs after his arrival a commission was ap])ointed, con-i-ting of Messrs. lb nderson and Osborn, on behalf of the Special Commissioner, and Messrs. Kruger and Jorissen, on behalf of the Transvaal Government, to discuss the state of the country. This commission came to nothing, and was on both sides nothing more than a bit of iiy-play. The arrival of the mission was necessarily regarded with mixed feelirgs by the iidiabitants of the Trans- vaal. By one party it was eagerly greeted, viz., tlie English section of the jjopulation, who devoutly ho]^ed tliat it had come to annex the country. With the exception of the Hollander element, the officials also were glad of its arrival, and secretly hoped thnt tlie countrv would be taken ovir, when there woidd be more chance of their getting their arrear pay. The better educated Boers also were for the most jiart satisfied that there was no liope for the country unless England helped it in some way, though they did not like having to accept the help. But the more bigoted and narrow-minded among them were undoubtedly i THE ANNEXATION. S5 ans- the )]'»ed ihe a 1.^0 the l.e )ie [iurt \ opposed to English interference, and under their leader, Paul Kru<:er, wlio was at the time running; for the President's chair, did their best to he rid of it. They found ready allies in the Hollander clientelle, with which Mr. Buri^^ers had surrounded himself, headed by the famous Dr. Jorisson, who was, like most of the rulers of this singular State, an ex-clergyman, but now an Attorney-L'oneral, not learned in the law. These men were for the most part entirely unfit for the positions they lield, and feared that in the event of the country changing hands they might be ejected from them ; and also, they did all Englishmen the favour to regard them v/ith that peculiarly vindent and general hatred which is a put of the secret creed of many foreigners, more especially of such as are under our protection. As may easily be imagined, what between all these different part/ies and the pre- sence of the Special Commissioiuir, there were certainly [iliMity of intrigues going on in Pretoria during the first few months of 1877, and the political excitement was very great. Xobody knew how far Sir T. Shepstone was prepared to go, and everybody was afraid of putting out his hauil further than he could pull it back, and trying to make himself comfortable on two stools at once. Members of the Volksraad and other prominent individuals in the country wdio had during the day been denouncing the Commissioner in no measured terms, and even proposing that lie and his staft' should be shot as a wainiig to the English Government, might be seen arri/ing at his house under cover of the shades of evening, to have a little talk with him, and express the earnest hope that it was his intention to annex tlie country as soon as 56 THE TRANSVAAL. ll •] possible. It is necessary to assist at a peaceable aiinexatiou to learn the dej !>h of meanness human nature is capable of. In Pretoria, at any rate, the ladies were of great service to the cause of the mission, since they were nearly all in favour of a change of government, and, that being the case, they naturally soon brought their husbands, brothers, and lovers to look at things from the same point of view. It was a wise man who said that in any matter where it is necessary to obtain the goodwill of a population you should win over the women ; that done, you need not trouble yourself about the men. Tliough the country was thus overflowing with political intrigues, nothing of the kind went on in the Commissioner's oamp. It was not he who made the plots to catch the Transvaalers ; on the contrary, they made the plots to catch him. For several months all that he did was to sit still and let the rival passions work their way, iigliting what the Zulus afterwards called the " tight of sit down." When anybody came to see hiin he was very glad to meet them, pointed out the desperate condition of the country, and asked them if tl.ev could suggest a remedv. And that was about all he did do, beyond iniorniing himself very carefully as to all tliat was going on in the country, and the movements of the natives witnin and outside its borders. There was no money spent in bribery, as has been stated, though i* is impossibie to imagine a state of ^itTairs in wliich it would have been more easy to bribe, or in ndiicl^, it could have been done with greater (Jfect : unless inde-ed the promise that some peiisioL should \vc jiaid to Tiesident Burgers can THE ANNEXATION. $7 be called a bribe, which it was certainly never intended to be, but simply a guanintee lliat alter having spent all his private means on behalf uf the State he should not be left destitute. The statement that the Annexa- tion was eflected under a threat that if the Goveinment did not give its consent Sir T. Shepstune would let loose the Zulus on the country is also a wicked and malicious invention, but with this 1 shall deal more at length further on. It must not, however, be understood that the An- nexation was a foregone conclusion, or tlii^t Sir 'i'. Shei)5tone came up to the Transvaal with the lixed intention of annexing the country withoiit reference to its position, merely with a view of extending Ihitish influence, or, as has been absurdly stated, in oru^r to benefit Natal. lie had no fixed })urpose, whether it were necessary or no, of exercising the full powers given to him by his commission ; on the contrary, he Mas all along most anxious to find s^me interm4 resources within the State by means of which Annexa- tion could be averted, and of this fact liis various letters and despatches give full proof. Thus, in his letter to President lUirgers, of the 9th A]>ril 1877, in which he announces his intention of annexing the country, h'j says : " I have more than once assured your Honour th.at if 1 could think of any p'an by which the independence of the State could be main- tained by its own internal resources I would most certainly not conceal tliat plan i'rom you." It is also incidentally remarkably confirmed by a })assage in Mr. I'urgers* posthumous defence, in whieh he says : "Jlence 1 met Shepstone alone in my house, and opened up the aubiect of his mission. With d caniour , 5i> THE TKANSVAAL. that astonished me, he av(AV( d that his purpose was to annex tlie country, as he had suificient grounds for it, unless I could so alter as to satisfy his Government. My plan of a new constitution, modelled after that of America, of a standing' police force of two hundred mounted men, was then proposeti. Ho promised to give me time to call the Volksraad together, and to aliandon his dcsiyii if the Volksraad would a(lo})t these measures, and the country be willing to suhmit to tluun, and to cany them out." Further on he says : " In justice to Shopstone I must say tliat I would not consider an ollicer of my Government to have acted faithfully if he had not done wliat Shepstone did." It has also been frequently alleged in England, and alwavs seems to be taken as the groundwork of ar'ju- ment in the matter of the Annexation, that tlie Special Commissioner represented that the majority oi' the inhabitants wi.slied for the Annexation, and that it was sanctioned on that ground. This statement .shows the great igu(jrance that exists in this country of South African aflairs, an ignorance which in this case has been carefully fostered by Mr. Gladstone's Government for party pur}joses, they having found it necessary to assume, in oider to make their position in the matter tenable, that Sir T. Shepstone and other officers had been guilty of misrepresentation. Un- fortunately, the Government and its supporters have been more intent upon making out their case than upon ascertaining the truth of their statements. If they had taken the trouble to refer to Sir T. Shep- stone's despatches, they would have found that the ground on which the Transvaal was annexed was, not because the majority of the inhabitants wished for it THE ANNEXATION. 19 but because tbo State was driftirif' into anarchv, was bankrupt, and was about to be destroyed by native tribes. Tbey would furtber bave found tbat Sir T. Sbepstone never r'jpresented tliat tbo majority of the Boors w^re in favour of Annexation. Wliat \ni did say was tbat most tliinkiuc,' men in tbe country saw no otber way out of tbe uillicn! y ; but wbat pro- portion of tbe Boers can be called " thinking men ? ' lie also said, in tbe fifteenth paragrapb of bis des- patcb to Lord Carnarvon of 6i\\ Marcb 1877, tbat petitions signed by 2500 peo}iIe, n-pie-enting every class of tbe community, out of a total adult male jiopulation of 8000, bad been presented to tbe Govein- ment of tbe Republic, setting fortb its diibculties and dangers, and praying it " L(j treat witli me for tbeir amelioration or removal." lie also stuteii, and with perfect trutb, tbat many more would bave signed bad it not been for tbe terrorism tbat was exercised, and tbat all tbe towns and villages in tbe country desired tbe change, wbicb was a patent fact. This is tbe foundation on which the charge of misrepresentation is built— a charge wliiob has been manipulated so skilfully, and with such a cbarnnii^ disregard for the trutb, that lib: Ih'itisb public has been duped into believing it. When it is examined into, it vanishes into thin air. But a darker charge has been brcnigbt against tlie Special Commissioner — a charge affecting bis lionour as a gentleman and his character as a Christian ; and, strange to say, has gained a eonsiderable credence, especially amongst a certain party in England. I allude to the statement that be called up tbe Zulu army with the intention of sweeping the Transvaal i hi k 60 THE TRANSVAAL. Si if tho Ar.iiL'xaliuu was objected to. I may btate, from my own ]ioisomd kiiowl. d;^e, that the report is a complete falsehood, and that 110 such threat was ever made, either by Sir T. Shej'Sloue or by anyboily (ouiucted with him, and 1 will brielly prove what 1 say. Wlien the mission first arrived at I'retoria, a niessa,L;e came from Cetywayo tu the ellect tl at lie had heard that the P>ours had nred ai " Somi»seu " (Sir T. Shepstone), and announcing li^ intentio)i of attacking the Transvaal if " iiis father "' was touched. About the middle of March alarming rumours began to spread as to the intended action of Cetywayo with reference to the Transvaal ; but as Sir 'J'. Shepston<i did not think that the king would be hkely to make any hofrtihi movement whilst he was in the countrv, he took LiO steps in the niatler. Neither did the Transvaal Government ask his advice and assistance. Indeed, a remarkable trait in the JJoers is their supreme sidi-conceit, which makes them believe that th(!y are cai)able of subduing all the natives in Africa, and of ihrashinL' the whole liritish army if necessary. Uniortuuately, the recent course of events has tended to contirin tluMU in tludr opinion as regards their white enemies. To return : towards the second week in April, or tlu; week belore the proclamation of Annexation was issued, tilings began to look very serious ; indeed, rumours that could hardly be dis- credited reached the Special Cummissiou(;r that the wdiole Zulu army was collected in a chain of Inipis or battalioris, with the intention of bursting into the Transvaal and sweejiing the country. Knowing how terrible would be the catast»'ophe if thi« wero to THE ANNEXATION. 61 "happen, Sir T. Sluipstone was much alarmod about the matter, and at a miotiiiL^ with the Executive Council of tiie Transvaal Government ho pointed out to them tlie great danger in which the country w is placed. This was done in the presence of sevei;»l officers of his staff, and it was on this friemlly exposi- tion of the state of a Hairs that the cliarge that he iiad threatened tlie country with invasion by the Zulus was based. On the i ith April, or the day before the Annexation, a message was despatched ^o Cetywayo, telling liim of the re{>orts that had reached I^retoria. and stating that if thev were true lie must I'orlhwitli give up all such intentions, as the Transvaal would at once be placed under the sovereignty of Her Majesty, and that if he liad assembled any armies for puiposes of aggression they must be disbanded at once. Sir T. Shepstone's message reached Zululand not a day too soon. Had the Annexation of the Transvaal been delayed by a few weeks even — and this is a point which I earnestly beg Englishnien to remember in con- nection with that act — Cetywayo's armies would have entered the Transvaal, carrving death before them, and leaving a wilderness behind them. Cetywayo's answer to the Special Commissioner's message will sulliciently show, to use Sir Theophilus' own words in his despatch on the subject, "the pin- nacle of peril which the Republic and South Africa generally had reached at the moment v. hen the Annexation took place." He says, "I thank my Father Sompseu (Sir T. Shepstone) for his message. I am glad that he has sent it, because the Dutch have tired me out, and I intended to fight; them once and once only, and to drive them over the Vaal. Kabana h 62 THE TRANSVAAL (iiamu of messenger), you sec my Iinpis (armies) are gatliered. It was to fi^'ht the Dutch I called them together; now I will send them back to their homes. Is it well that two men ('amadoda-amabili ') should be made ' iziula ' (fools) ? In the lei^n of my father Umpauiha the Jjuer.s were constantly moving their boundary fuilher into my country. Since his death the same thing has been done. ^ .J therefore deter- mined to end it once for all!" The message then goes on to other matters, anil ends with a request to be allowed to fight tlie Amaswazi, because " they tight together and kdl one auijther. This," says Cety- wayo naively, " is wrong, and I want to chastise them for"^it." This quotation will sufhce to convince all reason- able men, jiuLting aside all other matters, from what immincint danger the Transvaal was delivered by the much-abused Annexation. Some months after that event, however, it occurred to tlie ingenious mind of some malicious individual in Natal that, properly used, much political capital might be nuide out of this Zulu inci lent, and the story that Cety wayo's army had been called up by Sir Theophilus himself to overawe, and, if necessary, subdue the Transvaal, was accordingly invented and industriously circulated. Although Sir T. Shepstone at once caused it to be authoritatively contradicted, such an astonish- ing slander naturally took firm root, and on the 12th April 1879 we have Mr. M. W. Pretorius, one of the Boer leaders, publicly stating at a meeting of the farmers that " previous to the Annexation Sir T. Shepstone had threatened the Transvaal with an attack from the Zulus as an argument for advancing the ! THE ANNEXATION. 63 Annexation." Under such an iniputalion the (Jovern- ment couM no h)nL:er keep silence, and accnrdiii^'ly Sir Owen JiUnyou, who wms then Administrator of the Transvaal, caused the matter to be otlicially investi- rrated, witli these results, which are summed uj) by him in a leUur to Mr. Pretorius, dated ist May 1879:— 1. 'J'lie records of the Jiepublican Executive Council contaiuL'd no allusion to any such statement. 2. Two members of that Council filed sta'ements in which they unreservedly denied tliat Sir T. Shepstone used the words or threats imputed to him. 3. Two oHicers of Sir T. Shepstone's statT, who were always ]>resent with him at interviews with the Kxt;- cutive Council, filed statements to th(3 same eH'cc . " I have no doubt," adds Sir Owen Lanyon, " that the report has ')een originated and circulated by some evil-disposed person." Ill addition to this evidence we have a letter written to the Cohmial Oflice by Sir T. Shepstone, dated Lon- don, August 12, 1879, in which he points out that Mr. Pretorius was not even present at any of the interviews with the Executive Council on which occa- sion he accuses him of havin;^ made use of the threats. He further shows that the use of such a threat on his part Would have been the depth of folly, and " know- ingly to court the instant and ignominious failure of my mission," because the Boers were so persuaded of their own prowess that they could not be convinced that they stood in any danger from native sources, and also because " such play with such keen-edged tools as the excited passions of savages are, and especially such savages as 1 knew the Zulus to be, is not what IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) .^O 1.0 1.1 1^121 ■ 2.5 1^ 1 2.2 L25 il.4 6" I 1.6 V] y^ /: M Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 V 37 ^\ rv Q^ '<<^J« ■^ ■^ ^ l 64 THE TRANSVAAL. an exporience of forty-two years in managing theio inclined me to." And yet, in the face of all this accu- mulated evidence, this report continues to be believed, that is, by those who wished to believe it. Such are the accusations that have been brought against the manner of the Annexation and the officer who carried it out, and never were accusations more groundless. Indeed, both for party purposes, and from personal animus, every means, fair or foul, has been used to discredit it and all connected with it. To take a single instance, one author (Miss Colenso, p. 134, "History of the Zulu War") actually goes the leniith of putting a portion of a speech made by President lUirgers intc the mouth of Sir T. Shepstone, anil then abusing him for his incredible profanity. Surely this exceeds the limits of fair criticism. Before I go on to the actual history of the Annexa- tion there is one point I wish to submit to my reader. In England the change of (Jovernment has alwavs been talked of as though it only affected the forty thousand wliite inhabitants of the country, whilst everybody seems to forget that this sam.e land had about a million human beings living on it, its original owners, nnd only, unfortunately for themselves, pos- sessing a black skin, and therefore entitled to little consideration, — even at the hands of the most philan- thropic Government in the world. It never seems to have occurred to those who have raised so much out- cry on behalf of the forty thousand Boers, to inquire what was thought of the matter by the million natives. If they were to be allowed a voice in their own dis- posal, the country was certai^ily annexed by the wish of a very large majority of tl;e inhabitants, it is true THE ANNEXATION. 65 that Secocceni, instigated thereto by the Boers, after- wards continued the war against us, but, with the exception of this one chief, the advent of our rule was hailed with joy by every Tiative in the Transvaal, and even he was glad of it at the time. During our period of rule in the Transvaal the natives have had, as they foresaw, more peace than at any time since the white man set foot in the land. They have paid their taxes glad*/, and there has been no figliting among them- selves ; but since we have given up the country we hear a very different tale. It is this million of men, women, and children who, notwithstanding their black skins, live and feel, and have intelligence as much as ourselves, who are the principal, because the most numerous sufTerers from Mr. Gladstone's conjuring tricks, that can turn a Sovereign into a Suzerain as airily as the professor of magic brings a litter of guinea-pigs out of a top hat. It is our falsehood and treachery to them whom we took over " for ever," as we told them, and whom we have now handed back to their natural enemies to be paid off for their loyalty to the Englishman, that is the blackest stain in all this black business, and that has destroyed our prestige, and caused us to be looked on amongst them, for they do not hide their opinion, as " cowards and liars." But very little attention, however, seems to have been paid to native views or claims at any time in the Transvaal ; indeed they have all along been treated as serfs of the soil, to be sold with it, if necessary, to a new master. It is true that the Government, acting under pressure from the Aborigines Protection Society, made, on the occasion of the Surrender, a feeble effort to secure the independence of some of the native ■4 ifi 66 THE TRANSVAAL. tribes; but wlien the Boer leaders told them shortly that they would have nothing of the sort, and that, if they were not careful, they would reoccupy Laing's Nek, the proposal was at once dropped, with many assurances that no oflence was intended. The worst of the matter is that this treatment of our native subjects and allies will assuredly recoil on the heads of future innocent Governments. Shortly after the appointment of the Joint-Com- mission alluded to at the beginning of this chapter, President Burgers, who was now in possession of the Special Commissioner's intentions, should he be unable to carry out reforms sufficiently drastic to satisfy the English Government, thought it best to call together tlie Volksraad. In the meantime, it had been an- nounced that the "rebel" Secocoeni had sued for peace and signed a treaty declaring himself a subject of the Eepublic. I shall have to enter into the question of this treaty a little further on, so I will at present only say that it was the first business laid before the Eaad, and, after some discussion, ratified. Next in order to the Secocoeni peace came the question of Confederation, as laid down in Lord Carnarvon's Per- missive Bill. This proposal was laid before them in an earnest and eloquent speech by their President, who entreated them to consider the dangerous position of the Republic, and to face their difficulties like men. The question was referred to a committee, and an adverse report being brought up, was rejected without further consideration. It is just possible that intimi- dation had something to do with the summary treat- ment of so important a matter, seeing that whilst it was being argued a large mob of Boers, looking very I THE ANNEXATION. 67 formidable with their sea-cow hide whips, watclied every move of their representatives through the windows of the Volksraad Hall. It was Mr. Chamberlaiu's caucus system in practical and visible operation. A few days after the rejection of the Confederation Bill, President Burgers, who had frequently alluded to the desperate condition of the Eepublic, and stated that either some radical refi)rin iimst be eilected or the country must come under the British Hag, laid before the Ilaad a bran new constitution of a very remarkable nature, ass'utin;^ that they must either accept it or lose their independence. The first part of this strange document dealt with the people and their rights, which remained much as tiiey were before, with the exception that the secrecy of all letters entrusted to the post was to be inviolable. The recognition of this right is an amusing incident in the history of a free Kepablic. Under following articles the Volksraad was entrusted with the charge of the native inhabitants of the State, the provision for the administration of justice, the conduct of education, the regulation of money-bills, &c. It is in the fourth cha})ter, however, that we come to the real gist of the Bill, which was the endowment of the State I'resident with tlie authority of a dictator. Mr. Burgers thought to save the State by making himself an absolute monarch. He was to be elected for a jieriod of seven instead of live years, and to be eligible for re-election. In him was vested the power of making all appointments without reference to the Legislature. All laws were to be drawn up by him, and he was to have the right of veto on Volksraad resolutions, which body he could summon and dissolve I 1*1 r ; I 6 68 THE TRANSVAAL. at will. Finally, his Executive Council was to consist of heads of departments appointed by himseif, and of one niemljer of the Volksraad. The Volksraad treated this Bill in much the same way as they had dealt with the Permissive Confederation Bill, gave it a casual consideration, and threw it out. The President, meanwhile, was doing his best to convince the Raad of the danger of the country ; that the treasury was empty, whilst duns were pressing, that enemies were tlireatening on every side, and, finally, that Her Majesty's Special Commissioner was encamped within a thousand yards of them, watching their deliberations with some interest. He showed them that it was impossible at once to scorn reform and reject friendly ofVers, that it was doubtful if anything could save them, but that if they took no steps they were certainly lost as a nation. The " Fathers of the land," however, declined to dance to the President's piping. Then he took a bolder line. He told tliem that a guilty nation never can evade the judgment that follows its steps. He asked them " conscientiously to advise the people not obstinately to refuse a union with a powerful Government. He could not advise them to refuse such a union. . . . He did not believe that a new constitution would save them ; for as little as the old constitution had brought them to ruin, so little would a new constitution bring salvation. . . . If the citizens of England had behaved towards the Crown as the burghers of this State had behaved to their Government, England would never have stood so long as she had." He pointed out to them their hopeless financial position. " To-day," he said, " a bill for ;^ 1 1 00 was laid before me for signature ; but I i i THE ANNEXATION. 09 would sooner have cut ofif my right hand than sign that paper — (cheers) — for I have not the slightest ground to expect that, when that bill becomes due, there will be a penny to pay it with." And finally, he exhorted them thus : " Let them make the best of the situation, and get the best terms they possibly could ; let them agree to join their hands to those of tlieir brethren in the south, and then from the Cape to tlie Zambesi there would be one great people. Yes, there was something grand in that, grander even than their idea of a Kepublic, something which minis- tered to their national feeling — (cheers) — and would this be so miserable ? Yes, this would be miserable for those who would not be under the law, for the rebel and the revolutionist, but welfare and prosperity for the men of law and order." These powerful words form a strong indictment against the Eepublic, and from them there can be little doubt (liat President Burgers was thoroughly convinced of the necessity and wisdom of the Annexation. It is interesting to compare them, and many other utter- ances of his made at this period, with the opinions he expresses in the posthu. lous document recently pub- lished, in which he speaks somewhat jubilantly of the lessons taught us on Laing's Nek and Majuba by such "an inherently weak people as the Boers," and points to them as striking instances of retribution. In this document he attributes the Annexation to the desire to advance English supremacy in South Africa, and to lay hold of the way to Central South Africa. It is, however, noticeable that he does not in any way indi- cate how it could have been averted, and the State continue to exist ; and he seems all along to feel that 70 THE TRANSVAAL. I f I I .1 his case is a weak one, for in explaining;, or attempting to exj)lain, why he had never defended himself from the charges brought against him in connection with the Annexation, ho savs : "Had I not ondnred in silence, had I not borne })atiently all the accusations, but out of selfishness or fear told the plain truth of the case, the Transvaal would never have had the con- sideration it has now received from Great Britain. PTow- ever unjust the Annexation was, my self-justification would have exposed the Boers to such an extent, and the state of the country in such a way, that it would have deprived them both of the sympathy of the world and the consideration of the English politicians." In othor words, " If I had told the truth about things as I should have been obliged to do to justify myself, there would have been no more outcry about the Aimexa- tion, because the whole world, even the English Kadicr.lc, would have recognised how necessary it was, and what a fearful state the country was in." But to let that pass, it is evident that President Burgers did not take the same view of the Annexation in 1877 ^^ ^6 ^i^^ ^^ 1 88 1, and indeed his speeches to the Volksraad would read rather oddly printed in parallel columns with his posthumous statement. The reader would be forced to one of two conclusions, either on one of the two occasions he is saying what he does not mean, or he must have changed hi' mind. As I believe him to have been an honest man, I incline to the latter supposition ; nor do I consider it so very hard to account for, taking into consideration his natural Dutch proclivities. In 1877 Burgers is the despairing head of a State driving rapidly to ruin, if not to actual extinction, when the strong hand of THE ANNEXATION. 71 the English Government is held out to him. What wonder that he accepts it gladly on behalf of Ids country, which is by its help brought into a stite of greater prosperity than it has ever liofore known ? In 1 88 1 the wheel lias gone round, and great events have come about whilst he lies dying. The enendes of the Boers have been destroyed, the powers of the Zulus and Sceocooni are no more ; the country has prospered under a healthy rule, and its finances have been restored. More, — glad tidings have come from ]\Iid-Lothian to the " rebel and the revolutionist," whose hopes were flagging, and eloquent words have been spoken by the new English Dictator that have aroused a great rebellion. And, to crown all, Englisli troops have suflered one massacre and three defeats, and England sues for peace from the South African peasant, heedless of honour or her broken word, so that the prayer be granted. With such events before him, that dying man may well have found cause to change his opinion. Doubtless the Annexation was wrong, since England disowns her acts ; and may not that dream about the great South African Republic come true after all ? Has not the pre-eminence of the Englishman received a blow from which it can never recover, and is not his control over Boers and natives irredeemably weakened ? And must he, — Burgers, — go down to posterity as a Dutchman who tried to for- ward the intftrests of the English party ? No, doubt- less the Annexation was wrong ; but it has done good, for it has brought about the downfall of the English : and we will end the argument in the very words of his last public utterance, with which he ends his statement : ** South Africa gained more from this, and I' I : 7t THE TRANSVAAL. has made a larger step forward in the march of freedom, than most people can conceive." Who shall say that he is wrong? the words of dying men are sometimes prophetic I South Afnca has made a great advance towards the " freedom " of a Dutcli Eepublic. This has been a digression, but I hope not an un- interesting one. To return — on the ist March, Sir T. Shej)stone met the Executive Council, and told them that in his opinion there was now but one remedy to be adopted, and that was that the Trans- vaal should be united with the English colonies of South Africa under one head, namely the Queen, say- ing at the same time that the only thing now left to the Re])ul»lic was to make the best arrangements it could for the future benefit of its inhabitants, and to submit to that which he saw to be, and every thinking man saw to be, inevitable. So soon as this information was officially communicated to the Kaad, for a good proportion of its members were already acquainted with it unofficially, it flew from a state of li?tless indifference into vigorous and hasty action. The President was censured, and a committee was appointed to consider and report upon the situation, which reported in favour of the adoption of Burgers* new constitution. Accord- ingly, the greatest part of this measure, which had been contemptuously rejected a few days before, was adopted almost without question, and Mr. Paul Kruger was appointed Vice-President. On the following day, a very drastic treason law was passed, borrowed from the statute-book of the Orange Free State, which made all public expression of opinion, if adverse to the Government, or in any way supporting the Anneza- THE ANNEXATION. 73 tion party, high treason. This done, the Assembly proroguod itself until — October i88l During and after the sitting of the Raad, rumours arose that the chief Secoc(cni's signature tc the treaty of peace, ratified by that body, had been obtained by misrepresentation. As ratified, this treaty consisted of three articles, according to which Secocoeni con- sented, first, to become a subject of the Republic, and obey the laws of the country ; secondly, to agree to a certain restricted boundary line ; and, thirdly, to pay 2000 head of cattle; which, considering he had cap- tur(,'d quite 5 000 head, was not exorbitant. Towards the end of February a written message was received from Secocoeni by Sir T. Shepstone, dated after the signing of the supposed treaty. Tiie original, wliich was written in Sisutu, was a great curiosity. The following is a c >rrect translation : — i February 16, 1877. " For :Myn Heer Sheepstone, — T beg you, Chiet come help me, the Boers are killing me, and I don't know the reasons why they should be angry with me ; Chief, I beg you come with Myn Heer Merensky. — I am SiKUKUNi." This message was accompanied by a letter from Mr. Merensky, a well-known and successful mis- sionary, who had been for many years resident in Secocoeni's country, in which he stated that he heard on very good authority that Secocoeni had distinctly refused to agree to that article of the treaty by which he became a subject of the State. He adds that he cannot remain " silent while such tricks are played." 4 74 THE ITIANSVAAL. i' Upon this information, Sir T. Shepstono wrote to Prcsiiinnt Hurgers, stating' tliat "if tlie ofTicer iu whom you have placed confitlenccj has withhehl any portion of the trutli from you, espocially so serious a portion of it, he is L,'uilty of a wronf» towards you personally, as well as towards the Governmont, hccause ho lias caused you to assume an untenable position," and 8uj:t,'esting that a joint-commission should be despatched to Secocfr'ni, to thoroughly sift the question in the interest of all concerned. This sugLjestion was after some dehiy agreed to, and a commission was appointed, consisting of Mr. Van Gorkom, a Hollander, and Mr. Holtshaus'^n, a member of the Executive Council, on behalf of the Transvaal Government, and IVFr. Osborn, li.M., and Captain Clarke, ll.A.,^ on behalf of the Commissioner, whom I accompanied as Secretary. At Middleburg the native Gideon who acted as interpreter between Commandant Ferreira, C.M.G. (the oHicer who negotiated the treaty on behalf of the Boer Government), and Secoca?ni was examined, and also two natives, Petros and Jeremiah, who were with him, but did not actually interpret All thesa men persisted that Secocoeni had positively refused to be- come a subject of the Republic, and only consented to sign the treaty on the repiesentations of Commandant Ferreira that it would only be binding as regards to the two articles about the cattle and the boundary line. The Commission then proceeded to Secocoeni's town, accompanied by a fresh set of interpreters, and had a long interview with Secocoeni. The chiefs Prime Minister or " mouth," Makurupiji, speaking in his ' Now Sir Marshall Clarke, Special Commissioner for Basutoland. THE ANNEXATION. 7J presence and on his bolialf, and mfikiiiL' use of tin? pronoun " I " l»c'foro all tlu; asscinMed hoadincn ol tlio tribe, ^^avo an account (»f the interview between Com- mandant Ferreira in the presence of that gentleman, who accompanied the Commission, and Secocceni, in almost the same words as had been used by the in- terpniters at Middle imrg. Ife distinctly denied having consented to become a subject of the IJepublic or to stand under the law, and added that he feared ho "had touched the featluir to" (signed) things that hu did not know of in tin; treaty. Commandant Ferreira then put some questions, but entirely failed to shake the evidence ; on the contrary, he admitted by his questions that Secocccni had not consented to becoiuo a subject of the Itepublic. Secoccrni had evidently signed the piece of paper under the impression that he was acknowledging his liability to ])ay 2000 head of cattle, and lixing a certain portion of his boundary line, and on the distinct understanding that he was not to become a subject of the State. Now it was the Secocoeni war that had brought the English Mission into the country, and if it could be shown that the Secocccni wtir had come to a successful termination, it would go far towards lielp- ing the Mission out again. To this end, it was necessary that the chief should declare himself a subject of the State, and thereby, by implication, acknowledge liimself to have been a rebel, and admit his defeat. All that was required was a signature, and that once obtained the tn'aty was published and submitted to the Raad for contirmation, without a whisper being heard of the conditions under which this ignorant Basuto was induced to sign. Had no i 'I i I i ■1. ^' I: ti f 7© THE TRANSVAAL. Commission visited Secocoeni, this treaty would after- wards have been produced against him in its entirety. Altogether, the history of the Secocoeni Peace Treaty does not reassure one as to the genuineness of the treaties which the Boers are continually producing, purporting to have been signed by native chiefs, and, as a general rule, presenting the State with great tracts of country in exchange for a horse or a few oxen. However fond the natives may be of their Boer neiglibours, such liberality can scarcely be genuine. On the other hand, it is so easy to induce a savage to sign a paper, or even, if he is reticent, to make a cross for him, and once made, as we all know, litera scripta manet, and becon-es title to the lands. During the Secocoeni investigation, affairs in the Transvaal were steadily drifting towards anarchy. The air was filled with rumours; now it was reported that an outbreak was imminent amongst the English population at the Gold Fields, who had never forgotten Von Sclilickmann's kind suggestion that they should be " subdued ; " now it was said that Cety wayo had crossed the border, and might shortly be expected at Pretoria ; now that a large body of Boers were on their road to shoot the Special Commissioner, his twenty-five policemen, and Englishmen generally, and so on. Meanwhile, Paul Kruger and his party were not letting the grass grow under their feet, but worked public feeling with great vigour, with the double object of getting Paul made President and ridding themselves of the English. Articles in his support were printed in the well-known Dutch pa4)er Die Patriot, published in the Cape Colony, which are so typical of the Boers and of the only literature that I not )rked )uble Iding )port Die re so that I I THE ANNEXATION. 77 has the slightest influence over them, that I will quote a few extracts from one of them. After drawing a very vivic^ picture of the wretched condition of the country as compared to wliat it was when the Kafirs liad " a proper respect " for the Boers, before Burgers came into power, the article proceeds to give the cause of this state of affairs. "God's word," it says, "gives us the solution. Look at Israel, while the people have a godly king, every- thing is prosperous, but under a godless prince the land retrogrades, and the whole of the people must suffer. Read Leviticus, chapter xxvi., with attention, &c. In the day of the Voortrekkers (pioneers), a handful of men chased a thousmd Kafirs and made them run ; so also in the Free State war (Deut. xxxii. 30; Joe. xxiii. 10; Le\. xxvi. 8). But mark, now, when Burgers became President, he knows no Sabbath, he rides through the laud in and out of town on Sunday, he knows not the churc^ and God's service (Lev. xxvi. 2, 3), to the scandal of pious people. And he formerly was a priest too. And what is the consequence ? No harvest (Lev. xxvi. 16), an army of 6000 men runs because one man falls (Lev. xxvL 1 7, &c.). What is now the remedy ? " The remedy proves to be Paul Kruger, " because there is no other candidate. Because our Lord clearly points him out to be the man, for why is there no other candidate ? Who arranged it this way ? " Then follows a rather odd argument in favour of Paul's election. " Because he himself (Paul Kruger) acknow- ledges in his own reply that he is incompetent, but that all his abilitv is from our Lord. Because he is a warrior. Because he is a Boer." Then Paul IP I \ 78 THE TRAIJSVAAL. Kruger, the warrior and the Boer, is compared to Joan of Arc, " a simple Boer girl who came from behind the sheep." The burghers of the Transvaal are exhorted to acknowledge the hand of the Lord, and elect Taul Kruger, or to look for still heavier punishment. (Lev. xxvi. 1 8 et seq.) Next the Patriot proceeds to give a bit of advice to " our candidate, Taul Kruger." He is to deliver the land from the Kafirs. "Tiie Lord has given you the heart of a warrior, arise and drive then)," a bit of iiJvice quite suited to his well-known character. But this chosen vessel was not to get all the loaves and fishes ; on the contrary, as soon as he had fulfilled his mission of " driving " the Kafirs, he was to hand over his office to a "good" President. The article ends thus : ** If the Lord wills to use you now to deliver this land from its enemies, and a day of peace and prosperity arises again, and you see that you are not exactly the statesman to further govern the llepublic, then it will be your greatest houour to say, ' Citizens, I have delivered you from the enemy, I am no states- man, but now you have peace and time to choose and elect a good President.' " An article such as the above is instructive reading, as showing the low calibre of the minds that are influenced by it. Yet such writings and sermons have more power among the Boers than any other rrguments, appealing as they do to the fanaticism and vanity of their nature, which causes them to believe that the Divinity is continually interfering on their behalf at the cost of other people. It will be noticed that the references given are all to the Old Testament, and nearly all refer to acts of blood. THE ANNEXATION. 79 These doctrines were not, however, at all acceptable to Burgers' party, or the more enlighterjed members of the community, and so bitter did the struggle of rival opinions become that there is very little doubt that had the country not been annexed, civil war would have been added to its other calamities. Mean- while the natives were from day to day becoming more restless, and messengers were constantly arriving at the Special Commissioner's camp, begging that their tribe might be put under the Queen, and stating that they would fight rather than submit any longer to the Doers. At length on the 9th April, Sir T. Shepstone in- formed the Government of the Eepublic that he was about to declare the Transvaal British territory. He told them that he had considered and reconsidered his determination, but that he could see no possible means within the State by which it could free itself from the burdens that were sinking it to destruction, adding that if he could have found such means he would certainly not have hidden them from the Government. This intimation was received in silence, though all the later proceedings with reference to the Annexation were in reality carried out in concert with the authorities of the liepublic. Thus on the 13 th March the Governineut submitted a paper of ten questions to Sir T. Shepstone as regards the future condition of the Transvaal under Eni^lish rule, whether the debts of the State would be guaranteed, &c. To these questions replies were given which were on the whole satisfactoiy to the Government. As these re- plies formed the basis of the proclamation truarantees, it is not necessary to enter into them. )i to THE TRANSVAAL. 1 1 i It was further arranged by the Eepublican Govern« ment that a formal protest should be entered against the Annexation, which was accordingly prepared and privately shown to the Special Commissioner. The Annexation proclamation was also shown to President Burgers, and a paragraph eliminated at his sugges- tion. In fact, the Special Commissioner and the President, together with most of his Executive, were quite at one as regards the necessity of the proclama- tion being issued, tlieir joint endeavours being directed to the prevention of any disturbance, and to secure a good reception for the change. At length, after three months of inquiry and nego- tiation, the proclamation of annexation was on the 1 2th of April 1877 read by Mr. Osborn, accompanied by some other gentlemen of Sir T. Shopstone's staff. It was an anxious moment for all concerned. To use the words of the Special Commissioner in his despatch home on the subject, "Every effort liad been made during the previous fortnight by, it is said, educated Hollanders, and who had but lately arrived in the country, to rouse the fanaticism of the Boers, and to induce them to offer * bloody * resistance to what it was known I intended to do. The Boers were appealed to in the most inflammatory language by printed manifestoes and memorials; .... it was urged that I had but a small escort, which could easily be overpowered." In a country so full of desperadoes and fanatical haters of anything English, it was more than possible that, though such an act would have been condemned by the general sense of the country, a number of men could easily be found who would think they were doing a righteous act in i'H THE ANNEXATION. 8i greeting the " annexationists " with an ovation of bullets. I do not mean that the anxiety was personal, because I do not think the members of that small party set any higher value on their lives than other people, but it was absolutely necessary for the success of the act itself, and for the safety of the country, that not a single shot should be fired. Had that happened it is probable that the whole country would have been involved in confusion and bloodshed, the Zulus would have broken i-i, and the Kafirs would have risen ; in fact, to use Cety wayo's words, " the land would have burned with fire." It will therefore be easily understood what an anxious hour that was both for the Special Commis- sioner sitting up at Government House, and for his staff down on the Market Square, and how thankful they were when the proclamation was received with hearty cheers by the crowd. Mr. Burgers' protest, which was read immediately afterwards, was received in respectful silence. And thus the Transvaal Territory passed for a while into the great family of the English Colonies. I believe that the greatest political opponent of the act will bear tribute to the very remarkable ability with which it was carried out. When the variety and number of the various interests that had to be conciliated, the obstinate nature of the individuals who had to be convinced, as well as the innate hatred of the English name and ways which had to be overcome to carry out this act successfully, are taken into con- sideration, together with a thousand other matters, the neglect of any one of which would have suflBced to make failure certain, it will be seen what tact and i 82 THE TRANSVAAL. skill and knowledge of human nature was requ\red to execute so difllcult a task. It must be remem- bered that no force was used, and that there never was any threat of force. The few troops that were to enter the Transvaal were four weeks' march from Pretoria at the time. There was nothing whatso- ever to prevent the Boers putting a summary stop to the proceedings of the Commissioner if they had thought fit. That Sir Theophilus played a bold and hazardous game nobody will deny, but, like most players who combine boldness with coolness of head and justice of cause, he won ; and, without shedding a single drop of blood, or even confiscating an acre of laud, and at no cost, annexed a great country, and averted a very serious war. That same country four years later cost us a million of money, the loss of nearly a thousand men killed and wounded, and the ruin of many more confiding thousands, to surrender. It is true, however, that nobody can accuse the retrocession of having been conducted with judgment or ability- — very much the contrary. There can be no more ample justification of the issue of the Annexation proclamation than the pro- clamation itself. First, it touches on the Sand River Convention of 1852, by which independence was granted to the State, and shows that the " evident objects and in- citing motives " in granting such guarantee were to promote peace, free-trade, and friendly intercourse, in the hope and belief that the Eepublic " would become a flourishing and self-sustaining State, a source of strength and security to neighbouring European com- requ\red remem- e never at were jh from whatso- ly stop ley had LzarJous ITS who istice of ;le drop , and at [ a very ter cost lousaud ly more owever, having Y much of the le pro- ition of to the nd in- rere to irse, in )eoome rce of I com- THE ANNEXATION. «3 munities, and a point from which Christianity and civilisation might rapidly spread toward Central Africa." It goes on to show how these hopes have been disappointed, and how that " increasing weakness in the State itself on the one side, and more than corresponding growth of real strength and confidence among the native tribes on the otlier, have produced their natural and inevitable consequence . . . that after more or less of irritatinj' conllict with aboriijiual tribes to the north, there commenced about the year 1867 gradual abaiulonnient to the natives in that direction of territory settled by burghers of the Trans- vaal "in well-built towns and villages and on granted farms." It goes on to show that " this decay of })ower and ebb of authority in the north is being followed by similar processes in the south under yet more dan- gerous circumstances. People of this State residing in that direction have been compelled within the last three months, at the bidding of native chiefs, and at a moment's notice, to leave their farms and homes, their standing crops ... all to be taken possession of by natives, but that the Government is more powerless than ever to vindicate its assumed rights or to resist the declension that is threatenimj its existence." It then recites how all the other colonies and communi- ties of South Africa have lost confidence in the State, how it is in a condition of hopeless bankruptcy, and its commerce annihilated, whilst the inhabitants are divided into factions, and the Government has fallen into "helpless paralysis." IIow also the prospect of the election of a new President, instead of being looked forward to with hope, would in the opinion of 84 THE TRANSVAAL. all parties be the signal for civil war, anarchy, and bloodshed. How that this state of things affords the very strongest temptation to the great ni'ighbouring native powers to attack tlie country, a temptation that they were only too ready and anxious to yield to, and that the State was in far too feeble a condi- tion to repel such attacks, from which it had hitherto only been saved by the rt'pealed representations of the Government of Natal. The next para^Tuphs I will quote as they stand, for they sum up the reasons for the Annexation. " Tliat the Secocoeni war, which would have pro- duced but little eflect on a healthy constitution, has not only prov ^d suddenly fatal to the resources and reputation of the llepublic, but has shown itself to be a culiuinuting point in the history of South Africa, in that a Makatee or Basuto tribe, unwarlike and of no account in Zulu estimation, successfully withstood the strength of the State, and disclosed for the lirst time to the native powers outsi^le the Kepublic, from the Zambesi to the Cape, the great change that had taken place in the relative strength of the white and black races, that this disclosure at once shook the prestige of the white man in South Africa, and placed every European community in peril, that this common danger has caused universal anxiety, has given to all con- cerned the right to investigate its cause, and to protect themselves from its consequences, and has imposed the duty upon those who have the power to shield enfeebled civilisation from the encroachments of bar- barism and inhumanity." It proceeds to point out that the Transvaal will be the first to suffer from the results of its own policy, and that it is for every t THE ANNEXATION. 85 reason perfectly impossible for Her Majesty's Govern- ment to stand by and see a friendly white State ravaged, knowing that its own possessions will be the next to suflfer. That Her Majesty's Government, being persuaded that the only means to prevent such a catastrophe would be by the annexation of the country, and, knowing that this was the wish of a large proportion of the inhabitants of the Transvaal, the stop must be taken. Next follows the formal annexation. Together with the proclamation, an address was issued by Sir T. Shepstone to the burghers of the State, laying the facts before them in a friendly manner, more suited to their mode of thought than if. was possible to do in a formal proclamation. This document, the issue of v">uch was one of those touches that insured the success of the Annexation, was a powerful summing up in colloquial language of the aiguments used in the proclamation, strengthened by quotations from the speeches of the President. It ends with these words: "It remains only for me to beg of you to consider and weigh what I have said calmly and without undue prejudice. Let not mere feeling or sentiment prevail over your judgment. Accept what Her Majesty's Government intends shall be, and what you will soon find from experience, is a blessing not only to you and your children, but to the whole of South Africa tlirough you, and believe that I speak these words to you as a friend from my heart." Two other proclamations were also issued, one notifying the assumption of the office of Administrator of the Government by Sir T. Shepstone, and the oiher 86 THE TRANSVAAL. repealing the war- tax, which was doubtless an unequal and oppressive impost. T have in the preceding pages stated all the prin- cipal grounds of the Annexation and briefly sketched the history of that event In the next chapter *j propose to follow the fortunes of the Transvaal ^uider British Jlule. nequal B prin- :etched pter * I under CHAPTER IV. ! THE TRANSVAAL UNDKH liRITISH RULE. The news of the Annox.ition M-as received all over the country with a sigh of relief, and in many parts of it with great rejoicings. At ihe Gold Fields, for instance, special thanksgiving services wore lield, and " God save the Queen" was sung in church. Nowliere was there the slightest disturbance, but, on the contrary, addresses of congratulation and thanks literally poured in by every mail, many of them signed' by Boers who have since been conspicuous for their bitter opposition to English rule. At first, there was some doubt as to what would be the course taken under the circum- stances by the volunteers enlisted by the late Republic. Major Clarke, RA., was sent to convey the news, and to take command of them, unaccompanied save by his Kafir servant. On arrival at the principal fort, he at once ordered the Republican flag to be liauled down and the Union Jack run up, and his orders were promptly obeyed. A few days afterwards some mem- bers of the force thought better of it, and having made up their minds to kill him, came to the tent where ho was sitting to carry out their purpose. On learning their kind intentions, Major Clar^ie fixed his eye-glass in his eye, and after steadily glaring at them through 87 I I ' 88 THE TRANSVAAU it for some time, said, " You are all drunk, go back to your tents." The volunteers, quite overcome by his coolness and the fixity of his gaze, at once slipped off, and there was no further trouhle. About three weeks after the Annexation, the I-I3th li(»j:^inient arrived at Pretoria, having been very well received all along the road by the IJoers, who came from miles round to hear the band play. Its entry into Pretoria was quite a sight ; the whole population turned out to meet it ; indeed the feeling of rejoicing and relief was so pro- found that when the band began to play " God save the Queen" some of the women burst into tears. Meanwhile the effect of the Annexation on the country was perfectly magical. Credit and commerce were at once restored; the railway bonds that were down t;0 nothing in Holland rose with one bound to par, and the value of landed property nearly doubled. Indeed it would have been possible for any one, know- ing what was going to happen, to have realised large sums of money by buying land in the beginning of 1877, and selling it shortly after the Annexation. On the 24th May, being Her Majesty's birthday, all the native chiefs who were anywhere within reach were summoned to attend the first formal hoistins of the English flag. The day was a general festival, and the ceremony was attended by a large number of Boers and natives in addition to all ♦•he English. At mid- day, amidst the cheers of the crowd, the salute of artillery, and the strains of " God save the Queen," the Union Jack was run up a lofty flagstaff, and the Trans- vaal was formally announced to be British soil. The flag was hoisted by Colonel l^rooke, RE., and the present writer. Speaking for myself, I may say that THE TRANSVAAL UNDER BRITISH RULE. 89 ,all each g oi and Joers niid- of tlie ans- The the hat it was one of the proudest moments of my life. Could I have foreseen that I should live to see that same Hag, tliun hoisted with so much joyous ceremony, within a few years shamefully and dishonourably hauled down and buried,* I think it would have been tlie most miserable. Tlie Annexation was as well received in Endand as it was in the Transvaal. Lord Carnarvon wrote to Sir T. Shepstone to convey "the Queen's entire approval of your conduct since you received ]Ier Majesty's com- mission, with a renewal of my own thanks on behalf of the Government for the admirable prudence n,ud discretion with which you have discharged a great and unwonted responsibility." It was also accepted by Parliament with very few dissentient voices, since it was not till afterwards, when the subject became useful as an electioneering howl, that the Liberal party, headed by our " powerful popular minister," discovered the deep iniquity that had been perpetrated in South Africa. So satisfied were the Transvaal Boers with the change that Messrs. Kruger, Jorissen, and Bok, who formed the deputation to proceed to England and present President Burgers' formal protest against the Annexation, found great difhculty in raising one-half of the necessary expenses — something under one thou- sand pounds — towards the cost ol the undertaking. Tlie thirst for independence cannot have been very great when all the wealthy burghers in the Transvaal put together would not subscribe a thousand pounds towards retaining it. Indeed, at this time the members of the deputation themselves seem to have looked upon their ' The English flag was during the Hi^'ning "f the Convention at Pre- toria formally buried by a large crowG Oi Kugliubmen and loyal nativtVi J il h i 90 THE TRANSVAAL. !i i\ undertaking as being both doubtful and undesirable, since they informed Sir T. Shepstone that they were going to Europe to discharge an obligation which had been imposed upon them, and if the mission failed, they would have done their duty. Mr. Kruger said that if they did fail, he would be found to be as faitli- ful a subject under the new form of government as he had been under the old; and Dr. Jorissen admitted with equal frankness that " the change was inevitable, and expressed his belief that the cancellation of it would be calamitous." Whilst the Annexation was thus well received in the country immediately interested, a lively agitation was commenced in the Western Province of the Cape Colony, a thousand miles away, with a view of inducing the Ilome Government to repudiate Sir T. Sliepstone's act. The reason of this movement was that the Cape Dutch party, caring little or nothing for the real interests of the Transvaal, did care a great deal about their scheme to turn all the white communities of South Africa into a great Dutch Republic, to which they thought the Annexation would be a deathblow. As I have said elsewhere, it must be borne in mind that the strings of the anti-annexation agitation have all along been pulled in the Western Pruvince, whilst the Transvaal Boers have played the parts of puppets. The instru- ments used by the leaders of the movement in the Cape were, for the most part, the discontented and unprincipled Hollander element, a newspaper of an extremely abusive nature called the Volkstem, and another in Natal known as the Natal Witness, lately edited by the notorious Aylward, which has an almost equally unenviable reputation. [rmg3 THE TRANSVAAL UNDER BRITISH RULE. 91 On the arrival of Messrs. Jorissen and Kruger in England, they were received with great civility by Lord Carnarvon, who was, however, careful to explain to them that the Annexation was irrevocable. In this decision they cheerfully acquiesced, assuring his lord- ship of their determination to do all they could to in- duce the Boers to accept the new state of things, and expressing their desire to be allowed to serve under the new Government. Whilst these gentlemen were thus satisfactorily ar- ranging matters with Lord Carnarvon, Sir. T. Shepstone was making a tour round the country which resembled a triumphal progress more tlian anything else. lie was everywhere greeted with enthusiasm by all classes of the community, Boers, P^nglish, and natives, and numer- ous addresses were presented to liim couched in the warmest language, not only by Englishmen, but also by Boers. It is very difficult to reconcile the enthusiasm of a great number of the inhabitants of the Transvaal for English rule, and the quiet cquiescence of the remain- der, at this time, with the decidedly antagonistic atti- tude assumed later on. It appears to me, however, that there are several reasons that go far towards accounting for it. The Transvaal, when we annexed it, was in the position of a man with a knife at liis throat, who is suddenly rescued by some one stronger than he, on cer- tain conditions which at the time he gladly accepts, but afterwards, when the danger is passed, wishes to repu- diate. In the same way the inhabitants of the South African Republic were in the time of need very thank- ful for our aid, but after a while, when the recollection of their difficulties had grown faint, when their debts ii' r !i 92 THE TRANSVAAL. had been paid and their enemies defeated, they began to think that they would like to get rid of us again, and start fresh on their own account with a clean sheet. Wliat fostered aiiitntion more than anything else, how- ever, was the perfect impunity with which it was allowed to be carried on. Had only a little firmness and decision been shown in the first instance there would have been no further trouble. We might have been obliij^ed to confiscate half-a-dozen farms, and perhaps imprison as many free burghers for a few months, and there it would have ended. Neither Boers or natives under- stand our namby-pamby way of playing at government; they put it down to fear. What they want, and what they expect, is to be governed with a just but a firm hand. Thus when the Boers found that they could agi- tate with impunity, they naturally enough continued to agitate. Anybody who knows them will understand that it was very pleasant to them to find themselves in possession of that delightful thing, a grievance, and, in- stead of stopping quietly at home on their farms, to feel obliged to proceed, full of importance and long words, to a distant meeting, there to spout and listen to the spouting of others. It is so much easier to talk politics than to sow mealies. Some attribute the discontent among the Boers to the postponement of the carrying out of the Annexation proclamation promises with re- ference to the free institutions to be granted to the country, but in my opinion it had little or nothing to do with it. The Boers never understood the question of reponsible government, and never wanted that in- stitution; what they did want was to be free of all English control, and this they said twenty times in the most outspoken language. I think there is little doubt THE TRANSVAAL UNDER BRITISH RULE. 93 re- the to piou in- all the ubt the causes I have indicated are the real sources of the arritation, though there must be added to them their detestation of our mode of dealing with natives, and of heing forced to pay taxes regularly, and also the cease- less agitation of the Cape wire-pullers, through their agents the Hollanders, and their organs in the press. On the return of Messrs. Kruger and Jorissen to the Transvaal, tlie latter gentleman resumed his duties as Attorney-General, on which occasion, if I remember aright, 1 myself had the honour of administering to him the oath of allegiance to Her Majesty, that he afterwards kept so well. The former reported the pro- ceedings of the deputation to a Boer meeting, when he took a verv different tone to that in which he addressed Lord Carnarvon, announcing that if there existed a majority of the people in favour of independence, he still was Vice-President of the country. Both these gentlemen remained for some time in the pay of the British Government, Mr. Jorissen as Attorney-General, and Mr. Kruger as member of the Executive Council. The Government, however, at length found it desirable to dispense with their services, though on difTereut grounds. Mr. Jorissen had, like several other members of the Republican Government, been a clergyman, and was quite unfit to hold the post of Attorney-General in an important colony like the Transvaal, where legal questions were constantly arising requiring all the attention of a trained mind ; and after he had on several occasions been publicly admonished from the bench, the Government retired him on liberal terms. Needless to say, his opposition to English rule then became very bitter. Mr. Kruger's appointment expired by law iu November 1877, and the Governmeut r i 94 THE TRANSVAAL. ${■ did not think it advisable to re-employ him. The terms of liis letter of dismissal can be found on page 135 of Blue-book (c. 144), and involving as they do a serious charge of misrepresentation in money matters, are not very creditable to him. After this event he also pursued the cause of independence with increased vigour. During the last months of 1877 and tlie first part of 1878 agitation against British rule went on unchecked, and at last grew to alarming proportions, so much so that Sir T. Siiepstone, on his return from the Zulu border in March 1878, where he had been for some months discussing the vexed and dangerous question of the boundary line with tlie Zulus, found it necessary to issue a stringent proclamation warning the agitators that their proceedings and meetings were illegal, and would be punished according to law. This document, which was at the time vulgarly known as the " llold- your-jaw " proclamation, not being followed by action, produced but little eflect. On the 4th April 1878 another Boer meeting was convened, at which it was decided to send a second deputation to England, to consist this time of Messrs. Kruger and Joubert, with Mr. Bok as secretary. This deputation proved as abortive as the first, Sir. M. Hicks Beach assuring it, in a letter dated 6th August 1878, that it is "impossible, tor many reasons, . . . that the Queen's sovereignty should now be withdrawn." Whilst the Government was thus hampered by in- ternal disafTection, it had also many other difHculties on its hands. First, there was the Zulu boundary question, which was constantly developing new dangers to the country. Indeed, it was impossible to say what THE TRANSVAAL UNDER BRITISH RULE. 95 gers might happen in that direction from one week to another. Nor were its relations with Secocoeui satisfactory. It will be remembered that just before the Annexation this chief had expressed his earnest wish to become a British subject, and oven paid over part of tlie fine demanded from him by the ]3oer Government to the Civil Comniissi( uer, Major Clarke. In March 1878, however, his conduct towards the Government under- went a sudden change, and he practically declared war. It afterwards appeared, from Secocceni's own statement, that he was instigated to tliis step by a Boer, Abel Erasmus by name — the same man wlio was concerned in the atrocities in the first Secocojni war — who con- stantly encouraged him to continue the struggle. 1 do not propose to minutely follow the course of this long war, which, commencing in the beginning of 1878, did not come to an end till after the Zulu war: when Sir Garnet Wolseley attacked Secocceni's stronghold with a large force of troops, volunteers, and Swazi allies, and took it with great slaughter. The losses on our side were not very heavy, so far as white men were con- cerned, but the Swazis are reported to have lost 400 killed and 500 wounded. The struggle was, during the long period preceding the final attack, earned on with great courage and ability by Major Claike, It.A., C.M.CJ., whose force, at the best of times, onlv consisted of 200 volunteers and 100 Zulus. With this small bodv of men he contrived, however, to keep Secocceni in check, and to take some important strongholds. It was marked also by some striking acts of individual bravery, of which one, per- formed by Major Clarke himself, whose reputation for cool courage and presence of mind in danger is unsur- ' !l 1 96 THE TRANSVAAL. I r passed in South Africa, is worthy of notice ; and which, had public attention been more concentrated on the Seco- coeni war, would doubtless have won him the Victoria Cross. On one occasion, on visiting one of the outlying forts, he found that a party of hostile natives, who were coming down to the fort on the previous day with a flag of truce, liad been accidentally fired on, and had at once retreated. As his system in native warfare was always to try and inspire his enemy with perfect faith in the honour of Englishmen, and their contempt of all tricks and treachery even towards a foe, he was very angry at this occurrence, and a'u once, unarmed and unat- tended save by his native servant, rode up into the mountains to the kraal from which the white Hag party had come on the previous day, and apologised to the chief for what had happened. When I consider how very anxious Secocoeni's natives were to kill or capture Clarke, whom they held in great dread, and how terrible the end of so great a captain would in all probability have been had he been taken alive by these masters of refined torture, I confess that I think this act of gentle- manly courage is one of the most astonishing things I ever heard of. When he rode up those hills he must have known that he was probably going to meet his death at the hands of justly incensed savages. When Secocoeni heard of what Major Clarke had done he was so pleased that he shortly afterwards released a volun- teer whom he had taken prisoner, and who would other- wise, in all probability, have been tortured to death. I must add that Major Clarke himself never reported or alluded to this incident, but an account of it can be found in a despatch written by Sir 0. Lanyon to the Secretary of State, dated 2d February 1880. THE TRANSVAAL UNDER BRITISH RULE. 97 ntle- I must t hia Vhen was 3luil- ther- I led or n be 10 tlie Concurrently with, though entirely distinct from, the political agitation that was being carried on among the Boers having for object the restoralion of independence, a private agitation was set on foot by a few disaffected persons against Sir T. Shepstone, with the view of ob- taining his removal from office in favour of a certain Colonel Weatherley. The details of this impudent plot are so interesting, and the plot itself so typical of the state of affairs with which Sir T. Shepstone had to deal, that I will give a short account of it. After the Annexation had taken place, there were naturally enough a good many individuals who found themselves disappointed in the results so far as they personally were concerned; I mean that they diJ not get so much out of it as they expected. Among these was a gentleman called Colonel Weatherley, wlio had corae to the Transvaal as manager of a gold-mining company, but getting tired of that had taken a pro- minent part in the Annexation, and who, being subse- quently disappointed about an appointment, became a bitter enemy of the Administrator. I may say at once that Colonel Weatherley seems to me to have been throughout the dupe of the other conspirators. The next personage was a good-looking desperado, who called himself Captain Gunn of Gunn, and who was locally somewhat irreverently known as the very Gunn of very Gunn. This gentleman, whose former career had been of a most remarkable order, was, on the annexation of the country, found in the public prison charged with having committed various offences, but on Colonel Weatherley 's interesting himself strongly on his behalf, he was eventually released without trial. On his release, he requested the Administrator to pub- I hi h n I\ 98 THE TRANSVAAU lish a Government notice declarinf,' him innocent of the charges brouglit against liim. This Sir. T. Shepstoiie declined to do, and so, to use his own words, in a des- patch to the Higli Commissioner on the subject, Captain Gunn of Gunu at once became " what in this country is called a patriot." The third person concerned was a lawyer, wlio had got into trouble on the Diamond Fields, and who iVlt himself injured because the rules of the High Cu»ut did not allow him to practise as an advocate. Tiiu quartette was made up by Mr. Celliers, the editor of tlie patriotic organ, the Volkstem, who, since he had lost the Government printing contract, found that no language could bo too strong to apply to the personnel of the Government, more especially its head. Of course, there was a lady in it; what plot would be complete without? She was !Mrs. Weatherley, now, I believe, Mrs. Gunn of Gunn. These gentlemen began operations by drawing up a long petition to Sir Bartle Frere as High Coiu- missioner, setting forth a string of supposed grievances, and winding up with a request that the Administrator might be " promoted to some other sphere of political usefulness." This m(3morial was forwarded by the "committee," as they called themselves, to various parts of the country for signature, but without the slightest success, the fact of the matter being that it was not the Annexor but the A.nnexation that the Boers objected to. At this stage in the proceedings Colonel Weatherley went to try and forward the good cause with Sir Bartle Frere at the Cape. His letters to Mrs. Weatherley from thence, afterwards put into Court in the celebrated divorce case, contained many interesting accounts of I t THE TRANSVAAL UNDER BPITISH RULE. 99 f the dcs- ptiiiu try is had 10 iVlt Cuuvt Tho of tlio )st the village of tiio 3, there ithout? iunn of rawing Coai- vances, istrator litical y the various )ut the that it e Boers itherlcy r Eartle itherley "lehrated lunts of ;oi his attempts in that direction. I do not think, liowever, that he was cognisant of what was being concocted by his allies in Pretoria, but being a very vain, weak man, was easily deceived by them. With all his faults he was a gentleman. As soon as he was gone a second petition was drawn up by tlie " committee," showing "tlie advisability of immediately suspending our present Administrator, and temporarily appointing and recom- mending for Her Majesty's royal and favourable con- sideration an English gentleman of high integrity and honour, in whom the country at large has respect and confidence." The English gentleman of high integrity and honour of course proves to be Colonel Weatherley, whose appointment is, further on, " respectfully but earnestly requested," since he had " thoroughly gained the affec- tions, confidence, and respect of Boers, English, and other Europeans in this country." But whilst it is comparatively easy to write petitions, there is some- times a difficulty in getting people to sign them, as proved to be the case with reference to the documents under consideration. When the " committee " and the employes in the office of the Volkstem had affixed their valuable signatures it was found to be impossible to induce anybody else to follow their example. Now, a petition with some half dozen sili natures attached M'ould not, it was obvious, carry much weight with the Imperial Government, and no more could be obtained. But really great minds rise suj^erior to sucli difficul- ties, and so did the "committee," or some of tliem, or one of them. If they could not get genuine signaturej to their petitions, they could at any rate manufacture them. This great idea once hit out, so vigorously was S I IO«i THK TUANSVAAL. I! i it prosecuted that they, or some of them, or one of th(;m, produced in a very little while no less than 3883 sij^'natures, of which sixteen were proved to be genuine, five were douhtful, and all the rest fictitious. liut the genthnnan, whoever he was, who was the working part- ner in the scheme — and I may state, by way of paren- thesis, that when Gunn of Gunn was subsequently arrested, petiti(jns in process of signature were found under the mattress of Ids bed — calculated without his host He either did not know, or had forgotten, that on receipt of such documents by a superior officer, they are at once sent to the officer accused to report upon. This course was followed in the present case, and the petitions were discovered to be gross impostures. The ingenuity exercised by their author or authors was really very remarkable, for it must be remembered that not one o" the signatures was forged; they were all invented, and had, of course, to be written in a great variety of hands. The plan generally pursued was to put down the names of people living in the country, with slight variations. Thus "De F'illiers " became "De W^illiers," and " Van Zy\ " " Van ZuV I remember that my own name appeared on one of the petitions with some slight alteration. Some of the names were evidently meant to be facetious. Thus there was a " Jan Verneuker." which means "John the Cheat." Of the persons directly or indirectly concerned in this rascally plot, the unfortunate Colonel Weatherley sub- sequently apologised to Sir T. Shepstone for his share in the agitation, and shortly afterwards died fighting bravely on Kambula. Captain Gunn of Gunn and Mrs. Weatherley, after having given rise to the most remarkable divorce case I ever hear(]l — it took fourteen a r t THE TRANSVAAL UNDER BRITISH RULE. loi inht in this sub- share hting I and most urteen days to try — were, on the death of Colonel Weatherley, unit(?d in the bonds of holy matrimony, and aro, 1 believe, still in Prt;t")iia. The lawyer vanished I know not where, wliilst Mr. Celliirs still continues to edit that adiuiiably conducted journal the Vulktitem ; nor, if I may judge from the rejjort of a speech made by him recenlly at a Boer fusLival, which, by the way, was graced by the presence of our representative, Mr. Hudson, the British Resident, lias his right hand for- gotten its cunning, or rather his tongue lost the use of those peculiar and recherche epithets that used to adorn the columns of the Volkstem. I see that he, on this occasion, denounced the English element as being " poisonous and dangerous " to a State, and stated, amidst loud cheers, that " he despised " it. Mr. Cellier's lines have fallen in pleasant places; in any other country he would long ago have fallen a victim to the stern laws of libel. I recommend him to the notice of enterprising Irish newspapers. Such is the freshness and vigour of his style that I am confident he would make the fortune of any Hibernian journal. Some little time after the Gunn of Gunn frauds a very gad incident happened in connection with the govern- ment of the Transvaal. Shortly after the Annexation, the Home Government sent out Mr. Sergeaunt, C.M.G., one of the Crown Agents for the Colonies, to report on the financial condition of the country. He was accom- panied, in an unofficial capacity, amongst other gentle- men, by Captain Patterson and his sou, Mr. J. Sergeaunt; and when he returned to England, these two geutlenien remained behind to go on a shooting expedition. About this time Sir Bartle Erere was anxious to send a friendly mission to Lo Bengula, king of the Matabele, a branch of ^i I 102 THE TRANSVAAL the Zulu tribe, livint; up towards the Zambesi. This chi(if liad btjuu making himsolf uupleasuiit by causing traders to bo robbed, and it was thought desirable to establish friendly relations with him, so it was suggested to Captain Patlerson and Mr. Sergeaunt that they should eombine business witli pleasure, and go on a mission to Lo liengula, an oiler which they accepted, and shortly afterwards started for Matabeleland with an inter])reter and a few servants. Tiiey reached their destination in safety; and having concluded their busi- ness with the king, started on a visit to the Zambesi Falls on foot, leaving IIm interpreter with the waggon. 1'he falls were about twelve days' walk from the king's kraal, and they were accompanied tliither by young Mr. Thomas, the son of the local missionary, two Kafir servants, and twenty native i)earers supplied by Lo Bengula. The next thing that was heard of them was tliat they had all died througl- drinking poisoned water, full details of the manner of their deaths being sent down by Lo 15engula. In the first shock and confusion of -"ch news it was not very closely examined, at any rite by the friends of the dead men, but, on rellection, there were several things about it that appeared strange. For instance, it was well known that Captain Patterson had a habit, for which, indeed, we had often lauglied at him, of, however thirsty he might be, always having his water boiled when lie was travelling, in order to destroy ijnpurities, and it seemed odd that he should on this one occasion have neglected tlie ])recaution. Also, it was curious that the majority of Lo Bengula's bearers appeared to have escaped, whereas all the others were, without exception, killed ; nor eveu iu that district is THE TRANSVAAL UNDEll BRITISH RULE. 103 it usual to find water ao bud tliiit it will kill with the rapidity it hud been supposed to do in this case, uiiU.'IjS indeed it had been designedly poi.s()ne».L Tlieao doubts of the puisoning-by-bad-water-story resolved thenihelves into certainiv when the wa-'-'on returned in charge of tlie inlerprei-er, when, by putting two and two together, we were able to piece out the real history of tlie diabolical murder of our poor frictnds with con- siderable accuracy, a story which shows what blood- thirsty wickedness a savage is capable of when he fancies his interests are threatened. It a})peared that, when Cuptain Patterson first inter- viewed Lo Bengula, he was not at all well received by him. I must, by way of explanation, state that lliere exists a pretender to his throne, Kruman by name, who, as far as I can make out, is the real heir to tlie kingdom. This man had, fur some cause or other, lied the country, and fur a time acted as gardener to Sir T. Shepstone in Natal. At the dale of Messrs. Patterson and Sergeaunt's mission to Matalxdeland he was living, I believe, in the Transvaal. Captain Patterson, on finding himself so ill received by the king, and not buiiig sufliciently acquainted with the character of savage chiefs, most unfortunately, either by accident ur design, dropped some hint in the course of conversation about tliis Kruman. From that moment Lo Bengula's conduct towards the mission entirely changed, and, dropping his former tone, he became profusely civil; and from that moment, too, he doubtless determined to kill them, probably fearing that they might forward some scheme to oust him and place Kruman, on whoso claim a large portion of his p(>ople looked favourably, on the tliroue. 3^ 104 THE TRANSVAAL. f'i When their business was done, and Captain Patter- son told the king that they were anxious, before returning, to visit the Zambesi Falls, he readily fell in with their wish, but, in the first instance, refused permission to young Thomas, the son of the missionary, to accompany them, only allowing him to do so on the urgent representations of Captain Patterson. The reason of this was, no doubt, that he had kindly feelings towards tlie lad, and did not wish to include him in the slaughter. Captain Patterson was a man of extremely methodical habits, and, amongst other things, was in the habit of making notes of all that he did. Ilis note-book had been taken off his body, and sent dowa to Pretoria with the other things. In it we found entries of his preparations for the trip, including the number and names of the bearers provided by Lo Bengula, We also found the chronicle of the first three days* journey, and that of the morning of the fourth day, but there the record stopped. The last entry was probably made a few minutes before he was killed; and it is to be ouserved that there was no entry of tlie party having been for several days without water, as stated by the messengers, and then finding the poisoned water. This evidence bv itself would not have amounted to much, but now comes the curious part of the story, showing the truth of the old adage, " Murder will out." It appears that v. hen the waggon was coming down to Pretoria in charge of the interpreter, it was outspanned one day outside the borders of Lo Bengula's country, when some Kafirs — Bechuanas, 1 think — came up, asked for some tobacco, and fell into conversation with the driver, remarking that he had come up with a full THE TRANSVAAL UNDER BRITISH RULE. 105 ■ the waggon, and now he went down with an empty one. The driver replied by lamenting the death by poisoned water of his masters, whereupon one of the Kafirs told him the following story: — He said that a brother of his was out hunting, a little while back, in the desert for ostriches, with a party of other Kafirs, when hearing shots fired some way olf, ihey made for the spot, thinking that white men were out shooting, and that tliey would be able to beg meat. On reaching the spot, which was by a pool of water, they saw the bodies of three white men lying on the ground, and also those of a Hottentot and a Kafir, surrounded by an armed party of Kafirs. They at once asked the Kafirs what they had been doing killing the white men, and were told to be still, for it was by " order of the king." They then learned the whole story. It appeared that the white men had made a mid-day halt by tlie water, when one of the bearers, who had gone to the edge of the pool, suddenly shouted to them to come and Icok at a great snake in thv, water. Captain Patterson ran up, and, as he leaned over the edge, was instantly killed by a blow with an axe ; the others were then shot and assegaied. The Kafir further described the clothes that his brother had seen on the bodies, and also some articles that had been given to his party by the nmr- derers, that left little doubt as to the veracity of his story. And so ended the mission to Matabeleland. No public notice was taken of the matter, for the obvious reason tho j it was impossible to get at Lo Ben- gula to punish him ; nor would it have been easy to come by legal evidence to disprove the ingenious story of the poisoned water, since anybody trying to reach the spot of the massacre would probably fall a victim till ii| if' \ I: I 106 THE TRANSVAAL. to some similar accident before he got back again. It is devoutly to be hoped that the punishment ha deserves will sooner or later overtake the author of this devilish and v/holesale murder. The beginning of 1879 was signalised by the com- mencement of operations in Zululand and by the news of the terrible disaster at Isandhlwana, which fell on Pretoria like a thunderclap. It was not, however, any surprise to those who were acquainted with Zulu tactics and with the plan of attack adopted by the English commanders. In fact, I know that one solemn warning of what would certainly happen to him if he persisted in his plan of advance was addressed to Lord Chelms- ford, through the officer in command at Pretoria, by a gentleman whose position and long experience of the Zulus and their mode of attack should have carried some weight. If it ever reached him, he took, to the best of my recollection, no notice of it whatever. But though some such disaster was daily expected by a few, the majority both of soldiers and civilians never dreamed of anything of the sort, tlic general idea being that the conquest of Cetywayo wa.^ a very easy under- taking ; and the shock |)rodu3ed by the news of Isandhl- wana was proportionately great, especially as it reached Pretoria in a much exaggerated form. I shall never forget the appearance of the town that morning; busi- ness was entirely suspended, and the streets were filled with knots of men talking, with scared faces, as well they mi'iht : for there was scarcely anybody but had lost a friend, and many thought that their sons or brothers were among the dead on that bloody field. Among others. Sir T. Shepstone lost one son, and thought for some time that he had bst three. THE TRANSVAAL UNDER BRITISH RULE. 107 icd Shortly after this event Sir Theophilua went to Eng- laud to confer with the Secretary of State on various matters connected with the Transvaal, carrying with him the affection and respect of all wlio knew him, not excepting the majority of the malcontent Boers. He was succeeded hy Colonel, now Sir Owen Lanyon, who was appointed to adnJ^iister the Government during the absence of Sir T. Shopstone. By the Boers, however, the news of our disaster was received with groat and unconcealed rejoicing, or at least by the irreconcilable portion of that people. England's necessity was their opportunity, and one of which they certainly meant to avail themselves. Accordingly, notices were sent out summoning the bur'diers of the Transvaal to attend a mass meetinj^ on the 1 8th March, at a place about thirty miles from Pretoria. Emissaries were also sent to native chiefs, to excite them to follow Cetywayo's example, and massacre all the Engli3h within reach, of v/hom a man called Solomon Prinsloo was one of the most active. The natives, however, notwitlistanding the threats used towards them, one and all declined the invitation. It must not be supposed that all the Boers who attended these meetings did so of their own free will; on the contrary, a very large number came under com- pulsion, since they found that the English authorities were powerless to give them protection. The recal- citrants were threatened with all sorts of pains and penalties if they did not attend, a favourite menace being that they should be made "biltong" of when the country was given back (i.e., be cut into strips and hung in the sun to dry). Few, luckily for them- selves, were brave enough to tempt fortune by refusing '! loS THE TRANSVAAL. K I! to come, but those who did have had to leave the country since the war. Whatever were the means employed, the result was an armed meeting of about 3000 Boers, who evidently meant mischief. Just about this time a corps had been raised in Pre- toria, composed, for the most part, of gentlemen, and known as the Pretoria Horse, for the purpose of pro- ceeding to the Zulu border, where cavalry, especially cavalry acquainted with the country, was earnestly needed. In the emergency of the times officials were allowed to join this corps, a permission of which I availed myself, and was elected one of the lieutenants.^ The corps was not, afier all, allowed to go to Zululaud on account of the threatening aspect adopted by the Boers, against whom it was retained for service. In my capacity as an officer of the corps I was sent out with a small body of picked men, all good riders and light weights, to keep up a constant communication between the Boer camp and the Administrator, and found the work both interesting and exciting. My headquarters were at an inn about twenty-five miles from Pretoria, to which our agents in the meeting used to come every evening and report how matters were proceeding, whereupon, if the road was clear, I des- patched a letter to headquarters ; or, if I feared that the messengers would be caught en route by Boer patrols and searched, I substituted difierent coloured ribbons according to what I wished to convey. There was a relief hidden in the trees or rocks every six miles, all ' It ifl customary in South African volunteer forces to allow the members to elect their own otficers, provided tha men elected are such as the Government approves. This is done, so that the corps may not afterwards be able to declare that they have no confidence in theii officers in a/:tion, or to grumble at their treatment by them. THE TRANSVAAL UNDER BRITISH RULE. log day and most of the night, whose business it was to take the despatch or ribbon and gallop on with it to the next station, in which way we used to get the despatches into town in about an hour and a quarter. On one or two occasions the Boers came to the inn and threatened to shooi us, but as our orders were to do nothing unless our lives were actually in danger, we took no notice. The officer who came out to relieve me had not, however, been there more than a day or two before he and all his troopers were hunted back into Pretoria by a large mob of armed Boers whom they only escaped by very hard riding. Meanwhile the Boers were by degrees drawing nearer and nearer to the town, till at last they pitched their laagers within six miles, and practically besieged it. All business was stopped, the houses were loopholed and fortified, and advantageous positions were occupied by the military and the various volunteer corps. The building, normally in the occupation of the Government mules, fell to the lot of the Pretoria Horse, and, though it was undoubtedly a post of honour, I honestly declare that I have no wish to sleep for another month in a mule stable that has not been cleaned out for several years. However, by sinking a well, and erecting bas- tions and a staging for sharpshooters, we converted it into an excellent fortress, though it would not have been of much use against artillery. Our patrols used to be out fJl night, since we chiefly feared a night attack, and generally every preparation was made to resist the onset that was hourly expected, and I believe that it was that state of preparedness that alone pre- vented it. Whilst this meeting was going on^ and when matters 1 1 ill no THE TRANSVAAL. \'i had conio to a point that seemed to render war inevi- table, Sir Bartlo Frero arrived at Pretoria and had several interviews with the Boer leaders, at which they persisted in demanding their independence, and nothi?ig short of it. After a great deal of talk the meeting finally broke up without any actual appeal to arms, though it had, during its continuance, assumed many of the rights of government, such as stop[)iiig post-caits and individuals, and sending armed patrols about the country. The principal reason of its break-up was that the Zulu war was now drawing to a close, and the leaders saw that there would soon be plenty of troops available to sup- press any attempt at revolt, but they also saw to what lengths tliey could go with impunity. They had for a period of nearly two months been allowed to throw the whole country into confusion, to opjnly violate the laws, and to intimidate and threaten Her Majesty's loyal subjects with war and death. The lesson was not lost on them ; but they postponed action till a more favourable opportunity offered. Sir Bartle Frere before his departure took an oppor- tunity at a public dinner given liim at Potchefstroom of assuring the loyal inhabitants of the country that the Transvaal would never be given back. Meanwliile a new Pharaoh had arisen in Egypt, in the shape of Sir Garnet AVolseley, and on the 29th June 1879 we find him communicating the fact to Sir O. Lanyon in very plain language, telling him that he disapproved of his course of action with regard to Secocceni, and that "in future you will please take orders only from me." As soon as Sir Garnet had completed his arrange- ments for the pacification of Zululand, he proceeded THE TRANSVAAL UNDER BRITISH RULE. ui to Pretoria, and having caused himself to be sworn in as Governor, set vij^orously to work. I must say that in his dealings wilh the Transvaal he showed great judgment and a keen appreciation of what the country needed, namely, strong government; the fact of the matter being, I suppose, that being very popular witii the Home authorities he felt that he could more or less command their support in what he did, a satisfaction not given to most governors, who never know but that they may be thrown overboard in emergency to lighten the ship. One of his first acts was to issue a proclamation, stating that, "Whereas it appears tliat, notwithstand- ing repeated assurances of contrary effect given by Her Alajesty's representatives in this territory, uncertainty or misapprehension exists amongst some of Her Mnjesty's subjects as to the intention of Her IVIajesty's Govern- ment regarding the maintenance of British rule and sovereignty over the territory of the Transvaal: and whereas it is exjiedient that all grounds for such uncer- tainty or misapprehension should be removed once and for all beyond doubt or question : now therefore I do hereby proclaim and rnak(3 known, in the name and on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen, that it is the will and determination of Her Majesty's Government that this Transvaal territory shall be, and shall continue to he for ewr, an intej-iral portion of Her ^lajesty's dominions in South Africa." Alas ! Sir G. Wolsoley's estimate of the voluo of a solemn pledge thus made in the name of Her Majesty, whose word has hitherto been held to be sacred, difTered greatly to that of Mr. Gladstone and his Government. Sir Garnet Wolseley's operations against Secocoeni i'l "f^-,- ii: THE TRANSVAAL. ■l; ■ii^li i 1 i proved eminently successful, and were the best arranged bit of native warfare that I have yet heard of in South Africa. One blow was struck, and only one, but that was crushing. Of course the secret of his success lay in the fact that he had an abundance of force ; but it was not ensured by that alone, good management being very requisite in an affair of the sort, especially where native allies have to be dealt with. The cost of the expedition, not counting other Secocoeni war expendi- ture, amounted to over ;^300,ooo, all of which is now lost to this country. Another step in the right direction undertaken by Sir Garnet was the establishment of an Executive Council and also of a Legislative Council, for the establishment of which Letters Patent were sent from Downing Street in November 1880. Meanwhile the Boers, paying no attention to the latter proclamation, for they guessed that it, like other proclamations in the Transvaal, would be a mere hru- turn fulmeny had asse'hibled for another mass meeting, at which they went forward a step, and declared a Government wliich was to treat with the English authorities. They had now learnt that they could do what they liked with perfect impunity, provided they did not take the extreme course of massacring the English. They had yet to learn that they might even do that. At the termination of this meeting, a vote of thanks was passed to " Mr. Leonard Courtney of London, and other members of the British Parlia- ment." It was wise of the Boer leaders to cultivate Mr. Courtney of London. As a result of this meeting, Pretorius, one of the principal leaders, and Bok, the secretary, were arrested on a charge of treason, and THE TIlANSVAAL UNDER BRITISH RULE. 113 led rht ate Liie Ind umlerwent a preliminary examination ; but as the Secretary of State, Sir M. Hicks ]>each, looked rather timidly on the proceeding, and the local authorities wero doubtful of securing a verdict, the prosecution was abandoned, and necessarily did more harm than good, being looked upon as another proof of the im- potence of the Government. Shortly afterwards, Sir G. Wolseley changed his tactics, and, instead of attempting to imprison Pre- torius, offered him a seat on the Executive Council, with a salary attached. This was a much more sensible way of dealing with him, and hb at once rose to the bait, stating his willingness to join the Government after a while, but that he could not publicly do so at the moment lest he should lose his influence with those who were to be brought round through him. It does not, however, appear that Mr. Pretorius ever did actually join the Executive, probably because he found public opinion too strong to allow him to do so. In December 1879 a new light broke upon the Boers, for in the previous month Mr. Gladstone had been delivering his noted attack on the policy of the Con- servative Government. Those Mid-Lothian speeches did harm, it is said, in many parts of the world ; but I venture to tliink that tliey liavo proved more mis- chievous in South Africa than anywhere else; at any rate, they have borne fruit sooner. It is not to be supposed that Mr. Gladstone really cared anything about the Transvaal or its independence when he was denouncing the hideous outrage that had been perpe- trated by the Conservative Government in annexing it. On the contrary, as he acquiesced in the Annexa- u 114 THK TRANSVAAL. u, :, I tion at tlio time (when Lonl Kiinberley stated that it was evidently unavoidalde), and doclinod to rescind it when he came into ])uwer, it is to be supposed that he really a])proved of it, or at the least looked on it as a necessary evil. However tliis may be, any stick will do to beat a dog with, and the Ti'ausvaal was a con- venient point on which to attack tlie Government, IIo probably neitlun* knew nor cared what elFcct his reckless words might have on ignorant l>oers thousands of miles away; and yet, humanly speaking, many a man would have been alive and strong to-day whose bones now whiten the African Veldt liad tlioso words never been spoken. Then, for the lir.st time, tlie Boers learnt that, if they played their cards properly and put on suflicieiit pressure, tliey would, in the event of ihe Lilieral jiarty coming to oilice, have little dilliculty in coercing it as they wished. There was a fair chance at the time of the utterance of the Mid-LoLliian speeclies tliat the agitation would, by degrees, die away ; Sir G. WoLseley had succeeded in winning over Pretorius, and the Boers in ',^eneral were sick of mass meetings. Indeed, a memorial was addressed to Sir. G. Wolseley by a number of Doers in the Potchefstroom district, protesting against the main- tenance of the movement against Her ]\Iajesty's rule, which, considering the great amount of intimidaliou exercised by tlie malcontents, may be looked upon as a favourable sign. But when it slowly came to be understood among the Boers that a great English Minister had openly espoused their cause, and that he would perhaps soon be all-powerful, the moral gain to them was incal- culable. They could now go to the doubting ones and THE TRANSVAAL UNDEK BRITISH RULE. 115 say, — we must be riglit about the iiKittcr, because, putting our own feelings out of the question, the great Gl:ulstone savs we are. We finil the coumiittt'e of the DfiLT Tualconteiits, at their meeting in March 1880, reading a letter to Mr. (lladstoiu', "in whieli lie was tlianked for the great sympathy shown in Uieir fate," and a hope ex{>re.>?ed that, if he succeeded in getting power, he would not forget them. Tn fact, a charming unanimity prevailed between our great Minister and the Boer rebels, for their interests were the same, the overthrow of the Con.-ervaiive CJovernnH nt. If, how- ever, every leader of the Opposition wcie to intrigue or countenance ititrigues with those who are seeking to undermine the authoriiy of Her Majesty, whether tliey be Boers or Irishmen, in order to help himself to power, the country might suffer in the long run. But whatever feelings may have prompted Hei Majesty's Opposition, the Home Government, and the.ii agent, Sir Garnet Wolseley, blew no uncertain blast, if we may judge from their wopIs and actions. Thus we find Sir Garnet speaking as follows at a banquet given in his honour at Pretoria : — " I am told that these men (the l>oers) are told to keep on agitating in this way, for a change of Govern- ment in England may give them again the old order of things. Nothing can show greater ianorance of English politics than such aii idea; I tell you that there is no Government, Whig or Tory, Liberal, Con- servative, or Radical, who would dare under any circum- stances to give hack this co^intry. Tliey would not dare, because the English people would not allow them. To give back the country, what would it mean ? To give it back to external danger, to the danger of attack by :i!l •il I tl6 THE TRANSVAAL. ill''' t, ' ! hostile tribes on its frontier, and wlio, if the Eiv^lish Government were renKJved for one day, wouM make tliemselves felt the next. Not an oflicial of Government paid for months ; it would mean national bankruptcy. No taxes being paid, the same thing recurring a^^ain which had existed before would mean danger without, anarchy and civil war within, every possibhi misery; the strangulation of trade, and the destruction of property." It is very amusing to read this passage by the light of after events. On other occasions Sir (Jarnet Wolseley will probably not be quite so confident as to the future when it is to be controlled by a Radical Government. Tins explicit and straightforward statement of Sir Garnet's produced a great eiroct on the loyal inhabitants of the 'J'ransvaal, which was heightened by the publica- tion of the following telegram from tlie Seerutary of State: — "You may fully confirm explicit statcMiient:^' made from time to time as to inability of Her Alajesty's Governniont to entertain any proposal for withdrawal of tlie Quteii's sovereignty." On the faith of these lieclarations many Englishmen migrated to the Tiansvaal and settled there, whilst those who were in the country now invested all their means, being confident that tliev would not lose tlieir pro])erty through its being returned to the Boers. The excitement produced by Air. Gladstone's speeches began to quiet down and be forgotten for the time, arrear taxes were paid up by the malcontents, and generally the aspect of affair? was such, in Sir Garnet Wolseley's opinion, as justified him in writing, in April 1880, to the Secretary of State expressing his belief that thfl THE TMANSVAAL UNDER BRITISH RULE. 117 agitation was dying out.^ hulied, «o 8uii<,'uiiie was he on that i)oiiit that he is reported to liavo advised tht; Nvitlith'awal of the cavahy reginieut stationed in the territory, a piece of economy that wad one of the immediate causes of the revolt. The reader uill lemember the tinancial condition of tlie country at ilic time of the Annexalion, which was one of utter li;inkru|'ti'y. After three year.s of Iiriti^h rule, however, we lii;d, notwilh.slan(lin<^' the constant agitation that hail been kept up, that the total revenue recei}»ts for the first quarter of 1879 and 1880 amountetl to/"22,773 and ^^47,982 respectively. That is to say, that, duriuj^ the last year of British rule, the revenue of the country more than ioubled itself, and amounted to * lu IJlup-Book No. (C. 2866) of S'ptemlMT 1881, which Ih (k-Kcrip- tive of viirioiiB eveuta coiuit.'ctt'd with the Boer rlBiiij,', ia piiblishtd, aa an apjitiidix, adtapatch fruiu .Sir (Jaruct Wol^elfy, diiteij ()ct()l)er I1S79. Thin despatch declan-s thi- wiittT's opininii that tlie lioer di-coiitiut ia nil til',' incri'utit'. Uh jmblicutii'ii tlius ajjrnjxia des bvtta — nearly two y(!ars after it was writltii, la rather an anuising incidont. It certainly gives one tlie idea that Sir (Jarnt t Wolt-t ley, fearing that his reputatinu f(ir infallibility might be attacked liy t^cullVrd fur not having fnrisr.'n the Boer rebellion, and perliapa uneasily con.-cioua of other de.spateliea very different in tenor and aulmequent in date : and, mindful nf the withdrawal of the cavalry regiment by hia advice, had caused it to be tacked on to the Blue-Bt>ok as a docunu ntary "I told you so," and a proof that,, whoever else was blindtd, he fureHiiw. It containa, how- ever, the following reniarkal)ly true passage : — " JCven were it not i:ii. poasiblc, for many other rea.sons, to contemplate a withdrawal of our authority from the Tran-vaal, the pobitinn of in.seeurity in wliicli we ahnuld leave tliis loyal and important section of the commuiuty (tlie English inhabitants), by expo.sing them to the certain retaliation of the Boers, would constitute, in my opinion, an insuperable obstacle to retrocession. Sulg'ected to the same danger, moreover, would be tho-e of the Boers, whose superior intelligence and courageous character haa rendered them loyal to our Government" As the Government took thj trouble to republish the despatch, it ia » pity that they did Dot think fit to pay more attention to ita couteutd. w W' Tl8 THE TRANSVAAL. 4 ( '; about j^i6o,'XX) a-year, taking the quarterly returns at the low average of ^^ 40,000. It must, however, be re- membered that this sum would have been very largely increased in subsequent years, most probably doubled. At any raie the .-evenue would have been amply suffi- cient to make the province on(3 of the most prosperous in South Africa, and to have enabled it to slioicly repay all debts due to tlie British Governm.ent, and further to ])rovide for its own defence. Trade also, which, in April 1877, was completely paralysed, had ino't-ased enor- mously. So early as the middle of 187), the Com- mittee of the Transvaal Chamber of Commerce pointed out, in a resolution adopted by them, that the trade 0' the country had in t^vo y'?ars risen from almost nothing to the considerable sum of two millions sterling per annum, and that it was entirely in the hands of those favourable to British rule. They also pointed out that more than half the land-tax was paid by Englishmen, or other Europeans adverse to Boer Government. Land, too, had risen greatly in value, of which I can give the following instance. About a year after the Annexation I, tocfether '"•itli a friend, bought a little property on the outskirts of Pretoria, which, with a cottage we put up on it, cost some ;^300. Just before the rebellion we fortunately determined to sell it, and had no difficulty in getting £6c,o for it. I do not believe that it would now fetch a iifty-pound note. I cannot concbule this chapter better tliau by draw- ing attention to a charming specimen of the correspond- ence between the Boer leaders and their friend Mr. Courtney. The letter in question, which is dated 26th Jxme, purports to be written by Messrs. Kruger and Joubert, but it is obvious that it owes its origin to some THE TRANSVAAL UNDER BRITISH RULE. 119 member or members of the Dutch party at the Cape, from whence, indeed, it is written. This is rendered evident both by its general style, and also by the use of such terms as " Satrap," and by references lo Napoleon HI. and Cayenne, about whom Messrs. Kruger and Joubert know no more than they do of Peru and the Incas. After alluding to former letters, the writers bbw a blast of triumph over the downfall of tlie Conservative Government, and tlien make a savage attack on the reputation of Sir Baitle Frere. The "stubborn Satrap" is throughout desciibed as a liar, and every bad motive imputed to him. Eeally, tlie fact that Mr. Courtney should encourage such epistles as this is enough to give colour to the boast made by some of the leading Boers, after the war, that they had been encouraged to rebel by a member of tlie British Government. At the end of this letter, and on the same page of the Bhie-Book, is printed the i.-^legram recalling Sir Barile Frere, dated ist Auijust 1S80. It really reads as tliough the second document was consequent on the first. One tiling is very clear, the feelings of Her Majesty's new Govciiinient towards Sir Bartle Frere difl'ered only in the method of their expression from tl:ose set forth by the Boer leaders in their letter to Mr. Courtrey, whilst tlieir object, namely, to be rid 01 him, was undoubtedly identical with that of the Dutch paity in South Africa. t ■ li ii Tr-ri- lI'S Hi I !:■ CHAPTER V. TUE BOER REBELLION. When the Liberal ministry became an accomplished fact instead of a happy possibility, Mr. Gladstone did not find it convenient to adopt the line of policy with reference to the Transvaal that might have been ex- pected from his utterances whilst leader of the Opposi- tion. On the contrary, he declared in Parliament that the Annexation CDuld not be cancelled, and on the 8ch June 1880 we find him, in answer to a Boer petition, written with the object of inducing him to act up to the spirit of his words and rescind the Annexation, writing thus : — " Looking to all the circumstar.ces, both of the Trans- vaal and the rest of South Afric.i, and to the necessity of preventing a renewal of disorders which might lead to disastrous consequences, not only to the Transvaal, but to the whole of South Africa, our judgment is, that the Queen cannot be advised to reliuquiali her sovoreigiUy over the Transvaal; but, consistently with the mainten- ance of that sovereignty, we desire that the white in- habitants of the Transvaal should, without prejudice to the rest of the population, enjoy the fullest liberty to manage their local afifairs. We believe that this liberty may be most easily and promptly conceded to the Trans- vaal as a member of a South African confederation." THE BOER REBELLION. 121 Unless words have lost their signification, this pas- sage certainly means that the Transvaal must remain a British colony, but that England will be prepaieil to grant it responsible government, more especially if it will consent to a confederation scheme. Mr. Gladstone, however, in a communication dated ist June 1881, and addressed to the unfortunate Transvaal loyals, for whom he expresses " respect and sympatliy," interprets his meaning thus: "It is stated, as I observe, that a promise was given by me tliat the Transvaal never sliould be given back. Tliere is no mention of the terms or date of this promise. If the reference be to my letter, of 8th June 1880, to Messrs. Kruger and Joubert, I do not think the language of that letter justifies the de- scription given. Nor am I sure in what manner or to what degree the fullest liberty to manage their local affairs, which I ther said Her Majesty's Government desired to confer on the white popuhition of the Trans- vaal, differs from the settlement now about being made in its bearing on the interests of those whom your Committee represents." Such twisting of tlie meaning of words would, in a private person, be called dishonest. It will also occur to most people that Mr. Gladstone miglit have .spared the deeply wronged and loyal subjects of Her ^Majesty whom he was addr-'^ssini; the taunt he levels at them in the second panii^r.iph I have quoted. If asked, he would no doulit say that he had not the slightest inten- tion of laughing at them ; but v/hen he deliuerately tells them that it makes no uillerence to their inteiv . • whether they remain Her Majesty's subjects under a responsible Government, or become the servants of men uhu were but lately in arms against them and llo.r \ <<i 111 il 122 THE TRANSVAAL. \w \ I Majesty's authority, he is either mocking them, or offer- iug au insult to iheir understaudiiigs. By way of comment on his remarks, I may add that he liad, in a letter replying to a petition from these same loyal inhabitunts, addressed to him in May 1880, informed thoni that he had already told the Boer repre- sentatives that the Annexation could not be rescinded. Although Mr. 0' idstone is undoubtedly the greatest livinf» master ui the art of wtting two distinct and opposite sets of meanings out of one set of words, it would try even his ingenuity to make out, to the satis- faction of an imp irtial mind, that he never gave any pledge about the retention of the Transvaal. Indeed, it is from other considerations clear that he had no intention of giving up tlie country to the Boers, whose cause he appears to have taken up solely for electioneering purposes. Had he meant to do so, he would have carried out his intention on succeeding to oiUce, and, indeed, as things l.ave turned out, it is deeply to be regretted that he did not; for, bad as such a step would have been, it would at any rate have had a better appearance than our ultimate surrender after three defeats. It would also have then been possible to secure the repayment of some of the money owing to this country, and to provide for the iToper treatment of the natives, and the compensation of the loyal inhabi- tants who could no longer live there: since it must naturally have been easier to make terms v;ith the Boers before they had defeated our troops. On the other hand, we should have missed the grandest and most soul-stirring display of radical theories, prac- tically applied, that has as yet lightened the darkness of this country. But although Mr. Gladstone gave hia o 1 THE BOER REBELLION. '23 official decision against returuing the country, there seems to be little doubt that communicatious on the subject were kept up with the Boer leaders through some prominent members of the Eadical party, wlio. it was said, went so far as to urge the Jioers to take up arms against us. Wlu'U Mr. White came to this country on behalf of the loyalists, after the surrender, he stated that this was so at a public meeting, and said furtlier that he had in his possession proofs of his state- ments. He even went so far as to name the gentleman he accused, and to challenge him to deny it. I have not been able to gather that Mr. White's stateuicnts were contradicted. However this may be, after a pause, agitation in the Transvaal suddenly recommenced with redoubled vigour. It began througli a man named Bezeidenhout, who re- fused to pay Ids taxes. Thereupon a waggon was seized in execution under the authority of the court and put up to auction, but its sale was prevented by a crowd of rebel Boers, who kicked the auctioneer off the wat/ijfon and dragged the vehicle awav. This was on the nth November 1880. "When this intelligence reached Pre- toria, Sir Owen Lanyon sent down a few companies of the 2 1st Et>giment, under the command of Major Thorn- hill, to support the Landdrost in arresting the rioters, and appointed Captain Eaaf, C.^I.G., to act as special messenger to the Landdrost's Court at Potcliefstroom, with autliority to enrol special constables to assist him to carry out the arrests. On arrival at Potcliefstroom Captain Eaaf found that, without an armed lorce, it was quite impossible to eftect any arrest. On the 26th November Sir Owen Lanyon, realising the gravity of the situation, telegraphed to Sir George CoUey, asking h •sf^ 124 THE TRANSVAAL. H ' il'i |! ,1 ;?i that the 58th Regiment should be sent back to the Transvaal. Sir George replied that he could ill spare it on account of " daily expected outbreak of Pondo3 and possible appeal for help from Cape Colony," and that the Government must be supported by the loyal inhabitants. It will be seen that the Boers had, with some astuteness, chosen a very favourable time to com- mence operations. The luuiiis of the Cape Government were full with the Easuto war, so no help could be expected from it ; Sir G. Wolseley had sent away the only cavalry regiment that remained in the country, and lastly, Sir Owen Lanyon had quite recently allowed a body of 300 trained volunteers, mostly, if not altoi^ether, drawn from among the loyalists, to be raised for seivice in the Basuto war, a serious drain upon the resources of a country so sparsely populated as the Transvaal. Meanwhile a mass meeting had been convened by the Boers for the 8th January to consider Mr. Glad- stone's letter, bat the Bezeidenhout incident had the efiect of putting forward the date of assembly by a month, and it was announced that it would be held on the 8 til December. Subsequently the date was shifted to the 15th, and then back a'iain to the 8th. Every eflbrt was made, by threats of future vengeance, to secure the presence of as many burghers as pos- sible ; attempts wi're also made to persuade the native chiefs to send representativv^s, and to promise to join in an attack on the English. These entirely failed. The meeting was held at a place called Paarde Kraal, and resulted in the sudden declaration of the Repub- lic and the appointment of the famoup triumvirate THE BOER REBELLION. 125 Kruger, Joubert, and Pretorius. It then moved into Heidelberg, a little town about sixty miles I'roni Pre- toria, and on the 16th December the Kepublic was formally proclaimed in a long proclamation, contain- ing a summary 0^ the events of the few preceding years, and declaring *-lie arrangements the malcontents were willing to make with the English authorities. The ttrms offered in this document are almost iden- tical witli those finally accepted by Her Majesty's Government, with the exception tJiat in the procla- mation of the 1 6th December the IJoer leaders declare tlu'ir willingness to enter into confederation, and to guide their native policy by general rules adopted in concurrence " with the Colonies and States of South Africa." This was a more liberal offer than that wb.ich we ultimately agreed to, but then the circumstances had changed. This proclamation was forwarded to Sir Owen Laiiyon with a covering letter, in wliich the follow- ing words occur : — " We declare in the most solemn manner that we have no desire to spill blood, and that from our side we do not wish war. It lies in your hands to force us to a]>peal to arms in self-defence. . . . We expect your answer within twice twenty- four hours." I beg to direct particular attention to these para- graphs, as they have a considerable interest in view of what followed. The letter and proclamation reachod Government House, Pretoria, at 1 0.30 on the evening of Friday the 17th December. Sir Owen Lanyon's proclama- tion, written in reply, was handed to the messenger at noon on Sunday, 19th December, or within about I: |i 126 THE TRANSVAAL. i iii i\k: M\y- hi ' [I !M thirty-six hours of liis arrival, and could hardly have reached thv. cvhel camp, sixty miles off, before dawn the next day, the 20lh December, on which day, at about one o'clock, a detachnuint of the 94th was ambushed and destroyed on the road between ^lidiile- burg and Pretoria, about eiglity miles off, by a force def;patched from Heidelberg for that purpose some days before. On the i6th December, or the same dny on whicl,^ the Triumvirate had despatched the pro- clamation to Pretoria containiiig their terms, and ex- pressing in the most solemn mannc' that they had no desire to shed blood, a large Boer force was attacking Potchefstroom. So much then for the sincerity of the professions of their desire to avoid bloodshed. The proclamation sent by Sir 0. Lanyon in reply lecited in its preamble the various acts of which the rebels had been guilty, including that of having " wicL'edly sought to incite the said loyal native inhabitants throughout the province to take up arms against Her Majesty's CJovernment," announced that matters had now been put into the hands of the officer commanding Tier Majesty's troops, and pro- ndsed pardon to all who would disperse to their homes. It was at Potchefstroom, wiiich town had all along been the nursery 0^ the rebellion, that actual hostili- ties first broke out. Potchefstroom as a town is much more Boer in its sympathies than Pretoria, which is, or rather was, almost purely Engl'sh. Sir Owen Lanyon had, as stated before, Si^nt a small body of soldiers thither to support the cxvil authorities, and had also appointed Major Clarke. C.M.G., an officer THE BOER REBELLION. t37 of noted coolnoss iind ability, to act as Special Com- Tiiissionor for the district. Major Clarke's first step was to try, in conjunction with Captain Raaf, to rai.-i' a corps of vohmteers, in which he totally failed. Those of the townsfolk who were not Boers at heart had too many Imsiness relations with the surrounflinijj fanners, and perhn]>3 too little faitli in tlie stability of l-hi^^lish rul(3 after Mr. Gladstone's utterances, to allow them to indub^^e in patriotism. At the time of the outbreak, between seventy and eighty thousand sterliuL: was owin;^ to firms in Potchcistroom by neighbouriu'^' Boers, a sum amply sufficient to account for their lukewarmness in the English cause. Subsequent events have shown that the Potchefstroom shopkeepers were wise in their generation. On the 15th December a large number of Boers came into the town and took possession of the print- ing-office in order to print the proclamation already alluded to. JMajor Clarice made two attempts to enter the othce and see the leaders, l»ut without success. On the l6tli a Boer patrol tired on son;e of the mounted infantry, and the tire was returned. These were the first shots fired during the war, and they were fired by Boers. Orders were thereupon signalled to Claike by Lieutenant-Colonol Winsloe, 21st Regi- ment, now commanding at the fort which he afterwards defended so gallantly, that he was to commence firing. Clarke was in the Landdrost's office on the IMarket Square with a force of about twenty soldiers under Captain Falls and twenty civilians under Captain Raaf, C.M.Gr., a position but ill-suited for defensive purposes, from whence fire was accordingly opened, i ! h «kf' 128 TIl?^ TRANSVAAL. the I'ours takinc,' up positions in the surrounding houses command iu'^f tho onice. Sliortly after the com- mencement of the fij^litinir, Captain Falls was shot (lead whilst talking to ^lajor Clarke, th(i latter having a narrow escajx', a hullet gr;)zing his head just above the ear. The lighting continued during the r7th and till the morning of the iSth, when tlie Hoers suc- ceeded in firing the roof, which was of thatch, by throwing fire-balls on to it. Major Clarke then ad- dressed the men, telling them that, though personally he did not care about his own life, lie did not see that they could serve any useful pur[)Ose by being burned alive, so he sliouid surrender, which he did, with a loss of about six killed and wounded. The camp meanwhile had repulsed with loss the attack raaile on it, and was never a^ain directly attacked. Whilst these events were in progress at Potchef- strooni, a much more awful tragedy was in preparation on the road between Middle))urg and Pretoria. On the 23d November, Colonel Bellairs, at the request of Sir Owen Lanyon, directed a concentration on l^retoria of most of the few soldiers that there were in tlie territory, in view of tlie disturbed condition of the countrv. In accordance with these orders, Colonel Anstruther marclied from Lydenbur-.;. a town about 180 mil.^s from Pretoria, on the 5th December, with the headquarters and two companies of the 94th Pegiment, being a total of 264 men, three women, and two children, and the disproportionate!} large train of thirty-four ox-waggons, or an ox-waggon capable of carrying five thousand pounds' weight to every eight persons. And here I may remark that it is this enormous amount of baggage, without which it THE BOBB REBELLION. 119 i appears to be impossible to move the smallest body of men, that renders infantry regiments almost useless for service in Soutli Africa except for garrisoning pur- poses. Both Zulus and Boers can get over the ground at thrice the pace possible to the unfortunate soldier, and both races despise them accordingly. The Zulus call our infantry " pack oxen." In this particular in- stance, Colonel Anstruther's defeat, or rather, annihila- tion, is to a very great extent referable to his enormous baggage train; since, in the first place, had he not lost valuable days in collecting more waggons, he would have been safe in Pretoria before danger arose. It must also be acknowledged that his arrangements on the line of march were somewhat reckless, though it can hardly be said that he was ignorant of his danger. Thus we find that Colonel Bellairs wrote to Colonel Anstruther, warning him of the probability of an attack, and impressing on him the necessity of keeping a good look-out, the letter being received and acknowledged by the latter on the 17th December. To this warning was added a still more impressive one that came to my knowledge privately. A gentle- man well known to me received, on the morning after the troo[)S had passed through the town of Middleburg on their way to Pretoria, a visit from an old Boer with whom he was on iriendly terms, who had pur- posely come to tell him that a large patrol was out to ambush the troops on the Pretoria road. My in- formant having convinced himself of the truth of the statement, at once rode after the soldiers, and catching them up some distance from Middleburg, told Colonel Anstruther what he had heard, imploring him, he said, with all the energy he could command, to take ji H 13° THE TRANSVAAL. ■I! better precautions a<,'aiiist surprise. The Colonel, how- ever, laughed at his fears, and told him tliat if the lioers came " he would I'liyhteu tiieui away with the big drum." At one o'clock on Sunday, the 20th December, the column was marching along about a ndlo and a half from a place known as Brunkcr's Splint, and thirty- eight miles from Pretoria, wlicn suddenly a large num- ber of mounted Boers were seen in loose formation on the left side of the road. The band was playing at the time, and the column was extended over more than half a n.ile, the rearguard being about a hundred yards behind the last waggon. The band slopped playing on seeing the Boers, and the troops halted, when a man was seen advancing with a white Hag, whom Colonel Anstruther went out to meet, accom- panied by Conductor Egerton, a civilian. They met about one hundred and fifty yards from the column, and the man gave Colonel Anstruther a letter, which announced the establishment of the South African Republic, stated that until they heard Lanyon's reply to their proclamation they did not know if they were at war or not ; that, consequently, they could not allow any movements of troops, which would be taken as a declaration of war. This letter was signed by Joubert, one of the Triumvirate. Colonel Anstruther replied ihat he was ordered to Pretoria, and to Pretoria he mudi: go. Whilst this conference was going on, the Boers, of whom there were quite five hundred, had gradually closed round the column, and took up positions behind rocks and trees which allbrded them excellent cover, whilst the troops were on a bare plain, and before THE BOER REBELLION. ISI I ; 1 1 cover, before Colonel Anstruther ruuched his men a murderous tire waa poured in upon Uiem from all aides. Tho tire was holly returned l>y the soldiers. Most of the otlicero were struck down l>y tiie first volley, huviiii,', no doubt, been picked out by the niarkiuiun. Tlio tiring lasted about lilLeen minutes, and at the end of lliat time seven out of tins nine oihccrs were down killed and wounded ; an ei^lith (Ca])luin Kllit^t), one of the two who escajx'd untouclied, beinj^ reserved for an even more awful fate. The majority of tlie men were also down, and had the hail of lead con- tinued mucli longer it is clear that nobody would have been h-ft. Colonel Anstruther, who was lying badly Wounded in live places, seeing what a lio])eleos state aihiirs weie in, ordered the bugler to sound the cease tiring, and surrendered. One of the three ollieers who Were not much Inirt was, most providentially, Dr. Ward, who had but a slight wound in the thiudi ; all the others, except Captain Elliot and one lieutenant, Were either killed or dieil from tlu; elfects of their wounds. There were altogether 56 killed and 10 1 wounded, including a woman, Mrs. Fox. Twenty more afterwards died of their wounds. The Bi»er loss appears to have been very small. After the tight Conductor Egerton, with a ser<'eant, was allowed to walk into Pretoria to obtain medical assistance, the Boers refusing to give hiui a horse, or even to allow him to use his own. The Boer leader also left Dr. Ward ei'jhteen men and a few stores for the wounded, with which he made shift as best he co.Jd. Nobody can read this gentleman's report without being much impressed with the way m which, though wounded himself, he got through his terriide nr^ l! m h i 'I : I IMI ii 132 THE TRANSVAAL. task of, without assistance, attending to the wants of 10 1 sufferers. Beginning the task at 2 p.i>.., it took him till six the next morning before he had seen the last man. It is to be hoped that his services have met with some recognition. Dr. Ward remained near the scene of the massacre with his wounded men till the declaration of peace, when he brought them down to Maiitzburg, having experienced great dilliculty in obtaining food for them during so many weeks. This is a short account of what I nmst, with reluct- ance, call a most cruel and carefully planned massacre. I may mention that a Zulu driver, who was with the rearguard, and escaped into Natal, stated that the Boers shot all the wounded men who formed that body. His statement was to a certain extent borne out by the evidence of one of tlie survivors, who stated that all the bodies found in that part of the field (nearly three-quarters of a mile away fr "jm the head of the column), had a bullet hole through the head or breast in addition to their other wounds. The Administrator of the Transvaal in council thus comments on the occurrence in an official minute : — "The surrouiiding and gradual hemming in under a flag of tmce of 1 force, and the selection of spots from whicli to direct their fire, as in the case of the unpro- voked attack by the rebels upon Colonel Anstruther's force, is a proceeding of which very few like incidents can be mentioned in the annals of civilised warfare." The Boer leaders, liowever, were highly elated at their success, and celebrated it in a p.'oclamation of which the following is an extract : — " Inexpressible ia the gratitude of the burghers for this blessing con- ferred on them. Thankful to the brave General F. THE BOER REBELLION. »33 Joubert and his men who have upheld the honour of the Eepublic on the battlefield. Bowed down in the dust before Almighty God, who had thus stood by them, and, with a loss of over a hundred of the enemy, only allowed two of ours to be killed." In view of the circumstances of the treacherous hemming in and destruction of this small body of un- prepared men, most people would think this language rather high-flown, not to say blasphemous. On the news of this disaster reaching Pretoria, Sir Owen Lanyon issued a proclamation placing the country under martial law. As the town was large, stra.ijgling, and incapable of defence, all the inhabitants, amounting to over four thousand souls, were ordet*ed up to camp, where the best arrangements possible were made for their convenience. In these quarters they remained for three months, driven from their comfort- able homes, and cheerfully enduring all the hardships, want, and discomforts consequent on their position, whilst they waited in patience for the appearance of that relieving column that never came. People in England hardly understand what these men and women went through because they chose to remain loval. Let them suppose that all the inhabitants of an ordinary English town, with the exception of the cla?s known as poor people, which can hardly be said to exist in a colony, were at an hour's notice ordered — all, tlie aged and the sick, delicate women, and tiny children — to leave their homes to the mercy of the cn'^niy, and crowd up in a little space under shelter of a fort, with nothing but canvas tents or sheds to cover them from the fierce summer suns and rains, and the coarsest rations to feed them ; whilst the ' i :ii »34 THE TRANSVAAU ! I t I I i i husbands and brothers were daily engaged with a cun- ning and dangerous enemy, and sometimes brought home wounded or dead. They will then have some idea of what was gone through by the loyal people of l*retoria, m their weak confidence in the good faith of the English Government. The arrangements made for the defence of the town were so ably and energetically carried out by Sir Owen I.anyon, assisted by the military officers, that no attack upon it was ever attempted. It seems to me that the organisation that could provide for the penning up of four thousand people for months, and carry i^. out without the occurrence of a single un- pleasantness or expression of discontent, must have had something remarkable about it. Of course, it would have been impossible without the most loyal co-operation on the part of those concerned. Indeed everybody in the town lent a helping hand ; judges served out rations, members of the Executive inspected nuisances, and so forth. There was only one instance of " striking ; " and then, of all people in the world, it was the five civil doctors who, thinking it a favour- able opportunity to fleece the Government, combined to demand five guineas a-day each for their services. T am glad to say that they did not succeed in their attempt at extortion. On the 2 3(1 December, the Boer leaders issued a second proclamation in reply to that of Sir 0. Lanyon of the 1 8th, which is characterised by an utter absence of regard for the truth, being, in fact, nothing but a tissue of impudent falsehoods. It accuses Sir 0. Lanyon of having bombarded women and children, of arming natives against the Boers, and of firing on the Boers I I THE BOER REBELLION. 135 without declaring war. Not one of these accusations has any foundation in fact, as the Boers well knew ; hut they also knew that Sir Owen, being shut up in Pretoria, was not in a position to rebut their charges, which they hoped might, to some extent, be believed, and create sympathy for them in other parts of the world. This was the reasoa of the issue of the pro- clamation, which well portrays the character of its fraraers. Life at Pretoria was varied by occasional sorties against the Beer laagers, situated at different points in tlie neighbourhood, generally about six or eiglit miles from t?ie town. These expeditions were carried out with coixsiderable success, though with some loss, the heaviest incurred being when the Boers, having treacherously hoisted the white flag, opened a heavy fire on the Pretoria forces, as soon as they, beguiled into confidence, emerged from their cover. In the course of the war, one in every four of the Pretoria mounted volunteers was killed or wounded. But perhaps the most serious of all the difficulties the Government had to meet was that of keeping the natives in check. As has before been stated, they were devotedly attached to our rule, and, during the three years of its continuance, had undergone what was to them a strange experience, they had neither been murdered, beaten, cr enslaved. Naturally they were in no hurry to return to the old order of things, in which murder, flogging, and slavery were events of everyday occurrence. Nor did the behaviour of the Boers on the outbreak of the war tend to reconcile them to any such idea. Thus we find that the farmers had pressed a number of natives from Waterberg into 1 Ml . . I i ¥ 136 THE TRANSVAAL. 'iltc. 11 m if w. ■ I one of their laagers (Zwart Koppies) ; two of them tried to run away, a Boer saw them and shot them both. Again, on the 7th January, a native reported to the authorities at Pretoria that he and some others were returning from the Diamond Fields driving some sheep. A Boer came and asked them to sell the sheep. They refused, whereupon he went away, but returning with some other Dutchmen fired on the Kafirs, killing one. On the 2d January information reached Pretoria that on the 26th December some Boers fired on some natives who were resting outside Potchefstroom and killed three; the rest fled, whereupon the Boers took the cattle they had with them. On the nth January some men, who had been sent from Pretoria with despatches for Standerton, were taken prisoners. Whilat prisoners they saw ten men returning from the Fields stopped by the Boers and ordered to come to the laager. They refused and ran away, were fired on, five being killed and one getting his arm broken. These are a few instances of the treatment meted out to the unfortunate natives, taken at haphazard from the official reports. There are plenty more of the same nature if anybody cares to read them. As soon as the news of the rising reached them, every chief of any importance sent in to offer aid to Government, and many of them, especially Montsioa, our old ally in the Keate Award district, took the loyals of the neighbourhood under their protection. Several took charge of Government property and cattle during the disturbances, and one had four or five thousand pounds in gold, the product of a recently collected tax, given him to take care of by the Com- THE BOER REBELLION. 137 missioner of his district, who was afraid that the money would be seized by the Boers. In every instance the property entrusted to their charge was returned intact. The loyalty of all the native chiefs under very trying circumstances (for the Boers were constantly attempting to cajole or frighten them into joining them) is a remarkable proof of the great affec- tion of the Kafirs, more especially those of the Basuto tribes, who love peace better than war, for the Queen's rule. The Government of Pretoria need only have spoken one word to set an enormous number of armed men in motion against the Boers, with the most serious results to the latter. Any other Government in the world would, in its extremity, have spoken that word, but, fortunately for the Boers, it is against English principles to set black against white under any cir- cumstances. Besides the main garrison at Pretoria there were forts defended by soldiery and loyals at the following places: — Potchefstroom, Rustenburg, Lydenburg, Mara- bastad, and Wakkerstroom, none of which were taken by the Boers.^ One of the first acts of the Triumvirate was to despatch a large force from Heidelberg with orders to advance into Natal Territory, and seize the pass over the Drakensberg known as Lang's Nek, so as to dispute the advance of any relieving column. This movement wa'!^. promptly executed, and strong Boer troops patrolled N"atal country almost up to Newcastle. The news of the outbreak, followed as it was by f ti 1 i! !! i ' Colonel Winsloe, hoT^ever, being short of provisions, was b*^(^iiled by the fraudulent representations and acts of the Boer c«)mmander into ■urrendehog the fort at Putcbefstroom daring tbe arniistiofi. w \¥ ■ ; 138 THE TRANSVAAL. that of the Bronki^r's Spruit massacre, and Captain Elliot's murder, created a great excitement in Natal. All available soldiers were at once despatched up country, together with a naval brigade, who, on arrival at Newcastle, brought up the strength of the Imperial troops of all arms to about a thousand men. On the 10th January Sir George CoUey left Maritzburg to join the force at Newcastle, bat at this time nobody dreamt that he meant to attack the Nek with such an insignificant column. It was known that the loyals and troops who were shut up in the various towns in the Transvaal had sufficient provisions to last for some months, and that there was therefore nothing to necessitate a forlorn hope. Indeed the possibility of Sir George Colley attempting to enter the Transvaal was not even speculated upon until just before his advance, it being generally considered as out of the question. The best illust.ation I can give of the feeling that existed about the matter is to quote my own case. I had been so unfortunate as to land in Natal with my wife and servants just as the Transvaal troubles began, ray intention being to proceed to a place I had near Newcastle. Y'rr Konie weeks I remained in Maritz- burg, but finding that the troops were to concentrate on Newcastle, and being besides heartily wearied of the great expense and discomfort of hotel life in that town, I determined to go on up country, looking on it as being as safe as any place in the colony. Of course the possibility of Sir George attacking the Nek before the arrival of the reiniorcements did not enter into my calculations, as I thought it a venture that no sensible man would undertake. On the day of THE BOER REBELLION. 139 my start, however, there was a rumour about the town that the General was going to attack the Boer position. Though I did not believe it, I thought it as well to go and ask the Colonial Secretary, Colonel Mitcliell, privately, if there was any truth in it, adding that if there was, as I had a pretty intimate knowledge of the Boers and their shooting powers, and what tlie inevitable result of such a move would be, I should certainly prefer, as I had ladies with me, to remain where I was. Colonel Mitchell told me frankly that he knew no more about Sir George's plans than I did ; but he added I might be sure that so able and prudent a soldier would not do anything rash. His remark concurred with my own opinion ; so I started, and on arrival at Newcastle a week later wns met by the intelligence that Sir George had advanced that morning to attack the Nek. To return was almost impossible, since both horses and travellers were pretty nearly knocked up. Also, anybody who has travelled with his family in summer-time over the awful track of alceruate slough and boulders between Maritzburg and Newcastle, known in the colony as a road, will under!^:tand that at the time tho adventurous voyagers would far rathtr risk being shot than face a return journey. The only thing to do under the circumstances was to await the course of events, which were now about to develop themselves with startling rapidity. The little town of Newcastle was at this tim^e an odd sight, and rem&ined so all through the war. The liotels were crowded to overflowing with refugees, and on every spare patch of land were erected tents, mud huts, canvas houses, and every kind of covering that 1 . 'I 140 THE TRANSVAAL. w :i U i ' could be utilised under the pressure of necessity, to house the many homeless families who had succeeded in effecting their escape from the Transvaal, many of whom were reduced to great straits. On the mc; ling rS tie 28th January, anybody listening atijnL^v.ly in tLo .leighbourhood of Newcastle could hear the dJ li.'it i )om of heavy guns. We were not kept long in Suspen, v. for in tlie afternoon news arrived that Sir George haa attacked the Nek, and failed with heavy loss. The excitement in the town was intense, for, in addition to other considerations, the 58th Eegiment, which had suffered most, had been quartered there for some time, and both the officers and men were personally known to the in- habitants. The story of the fight is well known, and needs little repetition, and a very sad story it is. The Boers, who at that time were some 2000 strong, were posted and entrenched on steep hills, against which Sir G(!orge Colley hurled a few hundred soldiers. It was a forlorn hope, but so gallant was the charge, espe- cially that of the mounted squadron led by Major Bronlow, that at one time it nearly succeeded. But nothin<4 could stand under the withering fire from the Boer schanses, and as regards the foot soldiers, they never had a chance. Colonel Deane tried to take them up the hill with a rush, with the result that by the time they reached the top, some of the men were f.ctually sick from exhaustion, and none could hold a rifle steady. Thore on the bare hill-top they crouched and lay, whilst the pitiless fire from redoubt and rock lashed them like hail, till at last human nature could bear it no longer, and what was left of THE BOER REBELLION. t4i ihem reti/«icl dlowly down Ihe slope. But for many that pillar t charge was tli.r last earthly action. As t'ley chargjd they fell and where they fell they were afterwards buried. Tlie casualties, killed and wounded, CcinoiuiLCci to 195, which, considering the small number of troops engaged in the actual attack, is eiiorni.ously heavy, and shows more plainly than words can tell the desperate nature of the undertaking. Amongst the killed were Colonel Deane, Mujor Poole, >L.j'T Hingeston, and Lieutenant Elwes. Major Esr '.v '- « the only stafif officer engaged who escaped, t:'.e iiiUie officer who was one of t}.e fortunate four wno Mved through Isandhlwana. On this occasion His usual good fortune attended him, for though his ;; je was killed and his helmet knocked off, he was not touched. The Boer loss was very trivial. Sir George Colley, in his admirably lucid despatch about this occurrence addressed to the Secretary of State for War, does not enter much into the question as to the motives that prompted him to attack, simply stating that his object was to relieve the besieged towns. He does not appear to have taken into con- sideration, what was obvious to anybody who knew the country and the Boers, that even if he had suc- ceeded in forcing the Nek, in itself almost an impossi- bility, he could never have operated with any success in the Transvaal with so small a column, without cavalry, and with an enormous train of wa,L:gons. He would have been harassed day and night by the Boer skirmishers, his supplies cut off, and his advance made practically impossible. Also the Nek would have been re-occupied behind him, since he could not have detached sufficient men to hold it, and in all proba- pf^ 14: THE TRANSVAAL. W • i I bility Newcastle, his base of supplies, would have fallen iuto the hands of the enemy. The moral efiect of our defeat on the Boers was very great. Up to this time there had been many secret doubts amongst a large section of them as to what the upshot of an encounter with the troops might be ; and with this party, in the same way that defeat, or even the anxiety of waiting to be attacked, would have turned the scale one way, victory turned it the other. It gave them unbounded confidence in their own superiority, and infused a spirit of cohesion and mutual reliance iuto their ranks which had before been wanting. Waverers wavered no Ioniser, but gave a loyal adherence to the good cause, and, what was still more acceptable, large numbers of volunteers, — whatever President Brand may say to the contrary, — poured in from the Orange Free State. What Sir George Colley's motive was in making so rash a move is, of course, quite inexplicable to the outside observer. It was said at the time in Natal that he was a man with a theory : namely, that small bodies of men properly handled were as useful and as likely to obtain the object in view as a large force. Whether or no this was so, I am not i>repared to say ; but it is undoubtedly the case that very clever men have sometimes very odd theories, and it may be that he was a striking instance in point. For some days after the battle at Lang's Nek affairs were quiet, and it was hoped that they would remain 80 till the arrival of the reinforcements, which were on their way out. The hope proved a vain one. On the 7 th February it was reported that the escort proceeding from Newcastle to the General's camp with THE BOER REBELLION. M3 1. the post, a distance of about eighteen miles, had been fired on and forced to return. On the 8th, about mid-day, we were all startled by the sound of fightinLT, proceeding apparently from a hill known as Sclieins Hoo^'te, about ten miles from Newcastle. It was not known that the General con- templated any move, and everybody was entirely at a loss to know what was going on, the general idea being, however, that the camp near Lang's Nek hud been abandoned, and that Sir George was retiring on Newcastle. The firing grew hotter and hotter, till at last it was perfectly continuous, the cannon evidently being dis- charged as quickly as they could be loaded, whilst their dull booming was accompanied by the unceas- ing crash and roll of the musketry. Towards three o'clock the firing slackened, and we thought it was all over, one way or the other, but about five o'clock it broke out again with increased vigour. At dusk it finally ceased. About this time some Kafirs came to my house and told us that an English force was hemmed in on a hill this side of the Ingogo iliver, that they were fighting bravely, but that " their arms were tired," adding that they thought they would be all killed at night. Needless to say we spent that night with heavy hearts, expecting every minute to hear the firing begin again, and ignorant of what fate had befallen our poor soldiers on the hill. Morning put an end to our suspense, and we then learnt that we had suffered what, under the circumstances, amounted to a crush- ing defeat It appears that Sir George had moved out with a force of five companies of the 6oth Kegiment, il ▼-^ 144 THE TRANSVAAL. IP <i \' two guns, and a few luuunted men, to, in his own words, " patrol tlie road, and meet and escort some wn(,';4ons expected from Xe\vc«'istle." As soon as he passed the; Inj^'o^ro he was surrounded by a body of l>(jers sent after him from Lan^''s Nek, on a small triangular plat;jau, and sharply assailed on all sicU-s. With a break of about two liours, from three to live, tlie assault was kept up till nightfall, with very bad results so far as we were concerned, st'cing that out of a body ot" about 500 m(;n, over 150 were killed and wouniled. The ri'iuforcements sent for from the camp apparently did not come into action. For some uu- explaincd reason the Boers did not follow up their attack that night, perhaps because they did not tliiuk it possible that our troops could eliect their escajie back to the camp, and consideretl that the next morn- ing would be soon enough to return and finish tlie business. The General, however, determined to get back, and scratch teams of such mules, riding-horses, and oxen as had lived through the day being harnessed to the guns, the dispirited and exhausted survivors of the force mauiiged to ford the Iuu();,o, now swollen by rain which had fallen in the afternoon, poor Lieutenant Wilkinson, the adjutant of the 60th, losing his lil'e in the operation, and to struggle tb rough the dense dark- ness back to camp. On the hill-top they had lately held the dead lay thick. There, too, exposed to the driving rain and bitter wind, lay the wounded, many of whom would be dead before the risiiig of the morrow's sun. It must indeed have been a sight never to be forgotten by those who saw it. The uight — I remember well — was cold and rainy, the great expanses of hill and THE BOER RKHKLLION. '45 ■d lay and lid be must ill by 'ell — I'lain hii'\T\(* soimtiiiius lit by the liioktn <^'leains of ;in uncertain nioun, and sonietinus plumbed into inten.s^.'^l darkness by the passing of a heavy cloud. Now and again Hashes of lightning thniw every crag and nutlino into vivid ndicf, and the dtcj) muttering of distant thunder made the wihl ghjom more solemn. Tlien a gust of icy wind would come tearing down the valleys to be followed by a pelting thunder slunver — and thus the night wore away. AVhen one reflects what discomfort, and even danger, an ordinary heaUhy [lerson would suller it left after a liard day's work to lie all night in tlu; rain and wind on the top of a stony mountain, without food, or even water to assuage his thirst, it becomes to some de'jree possible to realise what the sufferings (jf our wounded after the battle of Ingogo must have been. Tliose vvho survived were next day taken to the hospital at Newcastle What Sir George Colley's re.al object was in expos- ing liimself to the attack has never transpired. It can hardly have been to clear the road, as he says in his despatcli, because the road was not held by the enemy, but only visited occasionally by their patrols. The result of the battle was to make the lioers, whose losses were trilling, more conlident than ever, luid to greatly dejiri ss our soldiers. Sir George had now lost between tlir* e and four hundred men out of his column of little over a thousand, which was tliereby entirely crippled. Of his stall' olficers ^lajor Essex now alone survived, his usual good fortune having carried him safe throuuh the battle of Inuou'o. W1:hI makes his repeated escapes the more remarkable 3S that he was generally to be found in the heaviest rrMI«lM;i-i.:;^:-._i;;--.::,-.;. ■ ■;,.: - ' 146 THE TRANSVAAL. iihi nil firing. A man so fortuiiate as Major Essex ought to be rewarded for his good fortune if for no other reason, though, if reports are true, tnere would be no need to fall back on that to find grounds on which to advance a soldier who has always borne hini-elf so well. Another result of the Ingogo battle was that the Jjoers, knowing that we had no force to cut them off, and always secure of a retreat into the Pree State, passed round Newcastle in Free State Territory, and descended from fifteen hundred to two tlioiisand strong into Natal for the purpose of destroying the reinforce- ments which were now on their way up under General Wood. This was on the nth of February, and from that date till the iStii the upper districts of Natal were in the hands of the enemy, who cut the telegraph wires, looted waggons, stole herds of cattle and horses, and otherwise amused themselves at the expense of ller Majesty's subjects in Natal. It was a very anxious time for those who kacw what Loers are capable of, and had womon and children to protect, and M'ho were never sure if their houses would be left standing over their lieads from one day to another. Every night we were obliged to place out Kafirs as scouts to give us timely warning of the approach of marauding parties, and to sleep with loaded rifles close to our hands, and sometimes, when things looked very black, in our clothes, with horses ready saddled in tiie stable. Nor were our fears groundless, for one day a patrol of some five hundred Boers cLcamped on the next place, which by the way belonged to a Dutchman, and stole all the stock on it, the property of an Englishman. They also intercepted a train of waggons, THE BOER REBELLION. 147 ght to ■eason, leed to ivauce lat the em off, State, 0'. and [ strong in force- General id from f Natal jlegrapli . liorses, )ense of ;\v wliat .(ire 11 to would day to a firs as oacli of OS close ed very I in tiie le dav a ou the itch man, y of an waggoiLS, destroyed the contents, and burnt them. Numerous were the false alarms it was our evil fortune to experi- ence. For instance, one night I was sitting in the drawing-room reading, about eleven o'clock, with a door leading on to the veiandah slightly ajar, for the niglit was warm, wlien suddenly 1 heard myself called by name in a muffled voice, and asked if the place was in tlie possession of the Boers. Looking towards the door 1 saw a full-cocked revolver coming round the corner, and on opening it in some alarm, I could indistinctly discern a line of armed figures in a crouching attitude stretching along the verandah into the i:arden beyond. It turned out to be a patrol of the mountetl police, who had received information that a large number of IJoery had seized the place and had come to ascertain the trutii of the report. As we gathered from them that the Boers were certainly near, we did not pass a very comfortable niirht. Meanwhile we were daily expecting to hear that the troops had been attacked along the line of march, and knowing the nature of the country and the many opportunities it affords for ambuscading and destroying one of our stra<]f"ling columns encumbered with innunier- able waggons, we had the worst fears for the result At length a report reached us to the effect that the reinforcements were expected on the morrow, and that ihey were not going to cross tlie Ingagaan at the ordinary drift, which was much commanded by hills, but at a lower drift on our own place, about three miles from Newcastle, which is only sliglitly com- manded. We also heard that it was the intention of the Boers to attack them at this point and to fall bark on my house and the hills behind. Acc<.«rdingly, wo Z48 THE TRANSVAAL. ; I! thought it about time to retreat, and securiug a few valuables, such as plate, we made our way into the town, leaving the house and its contents to take their chance. At Newcastle an attack was daily expect(id, if for no other reason, to obtain possession of the stores collectiid there. The defences of the place were, however, in a wretched condition, no proper outlook was kept, and there was au utter want of effective organisation. The military element at the camp liad enough to do to look after itself, and did not concern itself with the safety of the town ; and the mounted police — a colonial force paid by the colony — had been withdrawn from the little forts round Newcastle, as the General wanted them for other purposes, and a message sent that the town must defend its own forts. There were, it is true, a large number of able-bodied men in the place who were willing to fight, but they had no organisation. The very laager was not finished until the danger was past. Then there was a large party who were for surrender- ing 'die town to the Boers, because if tliey fought it might afterwards injure their trade. With this section of the population the feeling of patriotism was strong, no doubt, but that of pocket was stronger. I am con- vinced that the l>oers would luive found the capture of Newcastle an easy task, and I confess that what 1 then saw did not inspire me with great hopes of the safety of the colony when it gets responsible government, and has to depend for piotectiou on burglier forces. Colonial volunteer forces are, I think, as good troops as any in the world ; but an unorganised colonial mob, pulled this way and that by different sentiments and THE BOER REBELLION. 149 a few ito the :e their pected, } stores I'etched 3re was ailitary )k after 1^ of the ce paid le little iiem for Tu must a large 10 were 1. The ;er was rreiuler- )Uidit it O section strong, am con- pture of t 1 then i safety runient, r forces, roops as lal mob, 3UL8 and Interests, is as useless as any other mob, with the difference that it is more impatient of control For some unknown reason the Boer leaders provi- dentially changed their minds about attacking the rein- forcements, and their men were withdrawn to the Nek as swiftly and silently as they had been advanced, and on the 17th February the reinforcements marched into Newcastle, to the very great relief of the inhabitants, wlio had been equally anxious for their own safety and that of the troops. Persontdly, I was never in my life more } leased to see Her Majesty 'p uniform ; and we were equally rejoiced on returninj.' home to find that nothing had been injured. After this we had quiet for a while. On the 2 1st February, we heard that two fresh regi- ments had been sent up to the camp at Lang's Nek, and that General Wood had been ordered down country by Sir George Colley to bring up more reinforcements. This item of news caused much surprise, as nobody could understand why, now that the road was clear, and that there was little chance of its being again blocked, a General should be sent down to do work which could, to all appearance, liave been equally well done by the officers in command of the reinforcing regiments, with the assistance of their transport riders. It was, however, understood that aix agreement had been entered into between tlu; two Generals that no offensive operations should be undertaken till Wood returned. With the excejjtioi of occasional scares, there was no further excitemen; till Sunday the 27th February, when, whilst sitting on the veraadah after lunch, I thought I heard the sound of distant artillery. Others present diifered with me, thinking the sound was caused by thunder, but as I adhered to my opinion, we deter- 1! I i!«P^ 150 THE TRANSVAAL. ill' mine'i to ride into town and see. On arrival there we found the place full of rumours, from which we gathered that some fresh disaster had occurred ; and that messages were pouring down the wires from Mount Prospect camp. We then went on to camp, thinking that we should learn more there, but they knew nothing aboat it, several ollicers asking us what new "shave" we had got hold of. A considerable number of troops had been marched from Newcastle that morning to go to Mount Prospect, but wlien it was realised that something had occurred, they were stopped, and marched back again. Bit by bit we managed to gather the truth. At first we heard that our men had made a most gallant resistance on the hill, mowing down the advancing enemy by hundreds, till at last, their ammunition failing, tliey fought with tlieir bayonets, using stones and meat tins as missiles. I wish that our subsequent information had been to the same effect. It appears that on the evening of the 26th, Sir George Colley, after mess, suddenly gave orders for a force of a little over six hundred men, consisting of detachments from no less than three dilTerent regi- ments, the 58th, 6oLh, 92d, and the Naval Brigade, to be got ready for an expedition, without revealing his plans to anybody until late in the afternoon; and then witliout more ado, marched them up to the top of iVfajuba — a great square-topped mountain to the right of, and commanding the Boer posit 'on at .ang 3 Nek. The troops reached the top about three in the morning, after a eomewhat exhaustmg climb, and were 8tatio\i'ad at difietent points of the plateau in a scientific way, Whilst the darkness lasted, they could, by the I there lich we d; and 13 from ) camp, it thoy IS what iderable iwcastle vlien it ;y were bit we ,rd that on the mdreds, ht with iiissiles. jeen to ith, vSir s for a tinf' of it recfi- o jade, to inij his n ; and the top to the Lanijj'a in tlie id were jientific by the THL BOER REBELLION. 151 glittering of the watch-fires, trace from this point of vantage the position of tlie Boer laagers that lay 2000 yards beneath them, whilst the dawn of day revealed every detail of the defensive works, and showed the country lying at their feet like a map. On arrival at the top, it was represented to the General that a rou'di entrenchment should be thrown up, but he would not allow it to be done on account of the men being v/earied with their marching up. This was a fatal mistake. Behind an entrenchment, however slight, one would tliink that 600 English soldiers might have defied the whole Boer army, and nmch more the 200 or 300 men by whom they were hunted down Majuba. It appears that about 10.15 ^•^•) Colonel Stewart and Major Fraser again went to General CoUey •' to arrange to start the sailors on an entrenchmeiit." . . . " Finding the ground so exposed, the General did not give orders to entrench." As soon as the Boers found out that the hill was in the occupation of the English, their first idea was to leave the Nek, and they began to inspan wi i that object, but discovering that there .fere no gu com- manding them, they changed their mind, an set to work to storm the hill instead. As far as I have been able to gather, the number of Boers who jok the mountain was about 300, or possibly 400 l do not think there were more than that. The . oers them- selves declare solemnly that they were only 100 strong, but this I do not believe. They slowly advanced up the hill till about 11.30, when the real attack began, the Dutchmen coming on more rapidly and confidently, and shooting with ever-increasing accuracy as they found our fire quite ineffective. M i'f^ 152 THE TRANSVAAL. in About a quarter to one, our men retreated to the last ridge, and General Colley was shot through the head. After this, the retreat became a rout, and the soldiers rushed pell-mell down the precipitous sides of the hill, the Boers knocking them over by the score as they went, till they were out of range. A few were also, I heard, killed by the shells from the guns that were advanced from the camp to cover the retreat, but as this does not appear iv the reports, perhaps it is not true. Our loss was about 200 killed and wounded, including Sir George Colley, Drs. Landon and Cornish, and Commander Romilly, who was shot with an explosive bullet, and died after some days' suffering. When the wounded Commander was being carried to a more sheltered spot, it was with great difficulty that the Boers were prevented from massacring him as he lay, they being under the impression that he was Sir Garnet Wolseley. As was the case at Ingogo, the wounded were left on the battlefield all night in very inclement weather, to which some of them succumbed. It is worthy of note that after the fight was over they were treated with considerable kindness by the Boers. Not being a soldier, of course, I cannot venture to give any military reasons as to how it was that what was after all a considerable force was so easily driven from a position of great natural strength ; but I think I may, without presum})tion, state my opinion as to the real cause, which was the villainous shooting of the Brii.ish soldier. Tliough the troops did not, as was said at the time, run ,.hort of ammunition, it is clear that they fired away a great many rounds at men who, in storming the hill, must necessarily have exposed THE BOER REBELLION. 153 themselve3 more or less, of whom they managed to hit — certainly not more than six or seven — which w.'is the outside of the Boer casualties. From this it is clear that they can neither jiidL^e distance n(ir hit a moving object, nor did they probably know tliat when shooting down hill it is necessary to aim low. Such shooting as the English soldier is capable of may be very well when he hns an army to aim at, bnt it is useless in guerilla warfare afrainst a foe skilled in the use of the rifle and the art of taking shelter. A couple of montlis after the storming of Majnba, T, together with a friend, had a conversation with a Boer, a volunteer from the Free State in tlie late war, and one of the detachment that storme I ?Tajuba, who gave us a circumstantial account of tiie 'ittack with the greatest willingness. He said that when it was discovered that the English had possession of the mountain, they thought that the game was up, but after a while bolder counsels prevailed, and volun- teers were called for to storm the hill. Only seventy men could be found to perform the duty, of whom he was one. They started up the mountain in fear and trembling, but soon found that every shot passed over their heads, and went on with greater boldness. Only three men, he declared, were hit on the Boer side; one was killed, one was hit in the arm, ami he himself was the third, getting his face grazed by a bullet, of which he showed us the scar. He stated that the first to reach tne top ridi^e was a boy of twelve, and that as soon as the troops saw them thoy fled, when, he said, he paid them out for having nearly killed him, knocking them over one after another "like bucks " as they ran down the hill, adding that it wae 154 THE TRANSVAAL. "alter lecker" (very nice). He asked us how many men wo had lost durinc^ the war, and when we told him about seven hunilied killed and wounded, laughed in our faces, saying he knew that our dead amounted to several thousands. On our assuring him that this was not the case, he replied, " Well, don't let's talk of it any more, because we are g ^od friends now, aiui if we go on you will lie, and I aiiall lie, and then we shall get angry. The war is over now, and I don't want to quarrel with the English; if one of them takes ofT his hat to me I always acknowledge it." He did not mean any harm in talking thus ; it is what Eng- lislimen have to put up with now ii: South Africa; the Boers have beaten us, and act accordingly. This man also told us that the majority of the rilles they picked up were sighted for 400 yards, whereas the latter part of the fighting had been carried on within 200. yii rieorge Colley's death was much lamented in the colony, where he was deservedly popular ; indeed, any- body who had the honour of knowing that kind-hearted English gentleman, could not do otherwise than deeply regret his untimely end. What his motive was in oc- cupying i\[ajuba in the way he did. has never, so far as I am aware, transpired. The move, in itself, would have been an excellent one, had it been made in force, or accompanied by a direct attack on the Nek, but, as undertaken, seems to have been objectless. There were, of course, many rumours as to the motives that prompted his action, of which the most probable seems to be that, being aware of what the Home Government intended to do with reference to the Transvaal, he de- termined to strike a blow to try and establish British THE BOKU HEBELLION. 55 snpromacy first, knowinf^ how niiscliievoiis any ap- parent surrender would be. Whatever his faults may have been as a General, lie was a brave man, and had the honour of his country much at heart. It was also said by soldiers wlio saw him the nit,dit the tMops marched up Majuba, that the General was "not himself," and it was hinted that continual anxiety and the cliagrin of failure had told upon his mind. As against this, however, must be set th(! fact that his telegrams to the Secretary of State for War, tlie last of which he must have despatolied only about half an hour before he was shot, are cool and C(»Hected, and written in the same unconcerned tone — as though he were a critical spectator of an interesting scene — that characterises all his communications, more es[)(;- cially his despatches. They at any rate give no evi- dence of shaken nerve or unduly excited brain, nor can I see that any action of his with reference to the occupation of Majuba is out of keeping with the details of his generalsliip upon oiher occasions. He was always confident to rashness, and possessed by the idea that every man in the ranks was full of as liigli a spirit, and as brave as he was himself. In- deed, most people will think, tliat so far from iis being a rasher actium, the occupation of ]\Iajuba, bail generalship as it seems, was a wiser move than eitlier the attack on the Nek or the Ingogo fiasco. But at the best, all ids movements are difficult to be understood by a civilian, though they nmy, for ought we know, have been part of an elaborate plan, perfected in accordance with the rules of military i^cience, of which, it is said, he was a great student. I* ■T^ UHAPTER VI. THE RETROCESSION OF THE TRANSVAAL. m iii^ When rarliament met in January 1 88 1, the Govern- ment announced, througli tlie mediumsliip of the Queen's Speech, that it was their intention to vin- dicate Her Majesty's authority in the Transvaal. I have already briefly described the somewhat unfor- tunate attempts to gain this end by force of arms ; and 1 now propose to follow the course of the diplo- matic negotiations entered into by the ministry with the same object. As soon as the hostilities in the Transvaal took a positive form, causing great dismay among the Home authorities, whose paths, as we all know, are the paths of peace — at any price ; and whilst, in the first confusion of calamity, tliey knew not where to turn, President Brand stepped upon the scene in the character of " Our IMutual Friend," and, by the Govern- ment at any rate, was rapturously welcomed. This gentleman has for many years been at the head of the Government of the Orange Free State, whose fortunes he had directed with considerable ability. He is a man of natural talent and kind-hearted dis- position, and has the advancement of the Boer cause in South Africa much at heart The rising in the 156 THE RETROCESSION OF THE TRANSVAAL. 157 head Trausvaal was an event that <^ave him a 'jjreat and tlireefuhl opportunity: first, of interfering with tlie genuinely henevolent ohjcct of checking hloodshed; secondly, of a<]vanciug the iJutch cause tlirougliout South Africa under the cloak of amiable neutrality, and striking a dangerous blow at liriLish suprenmcy over the Dutch and British prestige with tlui natives ; and, thiriily, of putting the Euglish Governn mt under a lasting obligation to him. Of tins oppor- tunity he has availed himself to the utmost in each particular. So soon as things began to look serious, Mr. I -rand put himself into active telegraphic communicatiou with the various British autliorities with the view of pre- venting bloodshed bv inducing the ]*]nglish Govern- ment to accede to the Boer demands. He was also earnest in his declarations that tue Free State was not supporting the Transvaal ; which, considering that it was practically the insurgent base of supphes, where they had retired their women, children, and cattle, and that it furnished them with a large number of volun- teers, was perhaps straining the truth. About this time also we find Lord Kimberley tele- graphing to Mr. Brand that "if only the Transvaal Boers will desist from armed opposition to the Queen's authority," he thinks some arrangement might be made. This is the first indication made public of what was passing in the minds of Iler Majesty's Governmtnt, on wdiom its liadical supporters were now beginning to put the screw, to induce or threaten them into sub- mitting to tlie Boer demands. Again, on the nth January, the President tele- graphed to Lord Kimberltoy through the Orange Free IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) ^/ % :/., 1.0 I.I 1.8 1-25 1.4 1.6 ^ 6" ► % <^ /a ^^ >^ Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, 4. Y. M580 (716) 872-4503 <i i/.A W Is \ \ ^ \ 158 THE TRANSVAAL. <f State Consul in London, suggesting that Sir H. de Villiers, the Chief Justice at the Cape, should be aj)- pointed a Commissioner to go to the Transvaal to settle matters. Oddly enough, about the same time the same proposition emanated from the Dutch party in the Cajie Colony, headed by Mr. Hofmeyer, a coincidence that inclines one to tlie oi)inion that these friends of tlie Boers had some further reason for thus urging Sir Henry de Villiers' appointment as Commissioner beyond his apparent fitness for the post, of which his high reputation as a lawyer and in his private capacity was a sufficient guarantee. The explanation is not hard to find, the fact being that, riglitly or wrongly. Sir Henry de Villiers, wlio is himself of Dutch descent, is noted throughout Soutli Africa for his sympathies with tlie Boer cause, and both President Brand and the Dutch party in the Cape shrewdly suspected that, if the settling of dif- ferences were left to his discretion, the Boers an*! their interests would receive very gentle handling. The course of action adopted by him, when he be- came a member of the lioyal Commission, went far to support this view, for it will be noticed in the Keport of the Commissioners that in every single point he appears to have taken the Boer side of the contention. Indeed so blind was he to their faults, that he would not even admit that tlie horrible Botchefstroom murders and atrocities, which are con- denmed both by Sir H. Robinson and Sir Evelyn Wood in language as strong as the formal terms of a report will allow, were acts contrary to the rules of ci\ilised warfare. If those acts had been perpe- trated by Englishmen on Boers, or even on natives, THE RETROCESSION OF THE TRANS VaAL. i59 Sir I venture to think Sir Henry de Villiers would have looked at them in a very different light. In the same telegram in which President Brand recommends the appointment of Sir Henry de Villiers, he states that the allegations made by the Triumvirate in the proclamation in which they accused Sir Owen Lauyon of committing various atrocities, deserve to he investigated, .>3 they maintain that the collision was commenced by the authorities. Nobody knew better than Mr. Brand that any English official would be quite incapable of the conduct ascribed to Sir Owen Lanyon, whilst, even if the collision had been com- menced by the authorities, which as it happened it was not, they would under the circumstances have been amply justified in so commencing it This re- mark by President ]3rand in his telegram was merely an attempt to throw an air of probability over a series of slanderous falsehoods. Messages of this nature continued to pour along the wires from day to day, but the tone of those from the Colonial Office grew gradually humbler. Tims wo find Lord Ivinibeiiey telegraphing on the 8th February, that if the Boers would desist from armed opposition all reasonable guarantees would be given as to their treatment after submission, and that a sclieme would be framed for the "permanent friendly settlement of difficulties." It will be seen tliat the Government hud already begun to water the meaning of their declara- tion that they would vindicate Her Majesty's autho- rity. No doubt Mr. Chamberlain, Mr. Courtney, and their followers had given another turn to the Kudical screw. It is, however, clear that at this time no idea of i6o THE TRANSVAAL. tu III I the real aims of the Government had entered into the mind of Sir George CoUey, since on the 7th Feb- ruary he telegraphed home a plan which he proposed to adopt on entering the Transvaal, which included a suggestion that he should grant a complete amnesty only to those Boers who would sign a declaration of loyalty. In answer to tliis he was ordered to do nothing of the sort, but to promise protection to everybody and refer everything home. Then came the battle of Ingogo, which checked for the time the flow of telegrams, or rather varied their nature, for those despatched during the next few days deal with the question of reinforcements. On the 13th February, however, negotiations were reoT3eued by Paul Kruger, one of the Triumvirate, who offered, if all the troops were ordered to withdraw from the Transvaal, to give them a free passage through the Nek, to disperse the Boers, and to consent to the appointment of a Commission. The offer was jumped at by Lord Kimberley, who, without making reference to the question of with- drawing the soldiers, offered, if only the Boers would disperse, to appoint a Commission with extensive powers to develop the " permanent friendly settle- ment " scheme. The telegram ends thus : " Add, that if this proposal is accep.ed, you now are authorised to agree to suspension of hostilities on our part." This message was sent to General Wood, because the Boers had stopped the communications with Colley. On the 19th, Sir George Colley replies in these words, which show his astonishment at the policy adopted by the Home Government, and which, ii .i THE RETROCESSION OF THE TRANSVAAL. i6i in the opinion of most people, redound to hia credit — " Latter part of your telegram to Wood not under- stood. There can be no hostilities if no resistance is made, but am I to leave Lang's Nek in Natal territory in Boer occupation, and our garrisons isolated and short of provisions, or occupy former and relieve latter?" Lord Kimberley hastens to reply that the garrisons must be left free to provision themselves, "but we do not mean that you should ma. eh to the relief of garrisons or occupy Lang's Nek if an arrangement proceeds." It will be seen that the definition of what vindica- tion of Her Majesty's authority consisted grew broader and broader; it now included the right of the Boers to continue to occupy their positions in the colony of Natal. Meanwhile the daily fire of complimentary messag^^s was being kept up between President Brand and Lord Kimberley, who alternately gave " sincere thanks to Lord Kimberley " and " fully appreciated the friendly spirit" of President Brand, till on the 21st February the latter telegraphs through CoUey : " Hope of amic- able settlement by negotiation, but this will be greatly facilitated if somebody on spot and friendly disposed to both could by personal communication with both endeavour to smooth difficulties. Offers his services to Her Majesty's Government, and Kruger and Pre- torius and Joubert are willing." Needless to say his services 'were accepted. Presently, however, on 27th February, Sir George CoUey made his last move, and took possession of Majuba. His defeat and death had the effect of causing ! it \\ m . }] f; i m'! 'I !i .> i6a THE TRANSVAAL. another temporary check in the peace negotiations, whilst Sir Frederick Roberts with ample reinforcements was despatched to Natal. It had the further effect of increasing the haughtiness of the Boer leaders, and infusing a corresponding spirit of pliability or gene- rosity into the negotiations of Her Majesty's Govern- ment. Thus on 2d March, the Boers, through President Brand and Sir Evelyn Wood, inform the Secretary of State for the Colonies that they are willing to negotiate, but decline to submit or cease opposition. Sir Evelyn Wood, who evidently did not at all like the line of policy adopted by the Government, telegraphed that he thought the best thing to do would be for him to engage the Boers, and disperse them vi et armis, with- out any guarantees, '* considering the disasters we have sustained," and that he should, " if absolutely neces- sary," be empowered to promise life and property to the leaders, but that they should be banished from the country. In answer to this telegram, Lord Kimberley informs him that Her Majesty's Government will am- nesty everyhody except those who have committed acts contrary to the rules of civilised warfare, and that they will agree to anything, and appoint a Commission to carry out the details, and " be ready for friendly com- munications with any persons appointed by the Boers." Thus was Her Majesty's authority finally re-estab- lished in the Transvaal. It was not a very grand climax, nor the kind of arrangement to which Englishmen are accustomed, but perhaps, considering the circumstances, and the well- known predilections of those who made the settlement, it was as much as could be expected. i THE RETROCESSION OF THE TRANSVAAL. 163 tions, nents effect 3, and gene- Dvern- isident tary of Totiate, Evelyn line of sd that him to s, with- ve have ; neces- lerty to rom the nberley ill am- ed acts lat they sion to y com- Boers." e-estab- kind of aed, but le well- blement, The action of the Government must not be considered as though they were unfettered in their judgment ; it can never be supposed that they acted as they did because they thought such action right or even wise, for that would be to set them down as men of a very low order of intelligence, which they certainly are not. It is clear that no set of sensible men, who had after much consideration given their decision that under all the circumstances the Transvaal must remain British territory, and who, on a revolt subsequently breaking out in that territory, had declared that Her Majesty's rule must be upheld, would have, putting aside all other circumstances, deliberately stultified tliemselvec by almost unconditionally, and of their own free will, abandoning the country, and all Her Majesty's subjects living in it That would be to pay a poor tribute to their understanding, since it is clear that if reasons existed for retaining the Transvaal before the war, as they were satisfied there did, those reasons would exist M'ith still greater force after a w;ir had been under- taken and three crushing defeats susiained, which if left unavenged must, as they knew, have a most disastrous effect on our prestige throughout the South African continent I prefer to believe that the Government was coerced into acting as it did by Radical pressure, both from outside and from its immediate supporters in the House, and that it had to choose between making an unconditional surrender in the Transvaal and losincr the support of a very powerful party. Under these circumstances it, being Liberal in politics, naturally followed its instincts, and chose surrender. 1 64 THE TRANSVAAL. If such a policy was bad in itself, and necessarily mischievous in its consequences, so much the worse for those who suffered by it ; it was clear that tho Government could not be expected to lose votes in order to forward the true interests of countries so far off as the South African Colonies, which had had the misfortune to be made a party question of, and must take the consequences. There is no doubt that the interest brouglit to bear on the Government was very considerable, for not only had they to deal with th-^ir own supporters, and with tlie shadowy caucus that was ready to let the lash of its displeasure descend even on the august person of Mr. Gladstone, should he show signs of letting slip so rich an opportunity for the vindication of the holiest principles of advanced Radicalism, but also with the hydra-headed crow J o! visionaries and professional sentimentalists who swarm in this country, and who are always ready to take up any cause, from that of Jumbo or of a murderer to tliat of oppressed peoples, such as tlie Bulgarians or the Transvaal Boers. These gentlemen, burning with zeal, and filled with that confidence which proverbially results from the hasty assimilation of imperfect and erroneous informa- tion, found in the Transvaal question a great oppor- tunity of making a noise; and — as in a disturbed fiiruiyard the bray of the domestic donkey, ringing loud and clear among the utterances of more intelli- gent animals, overwhelms and extinguishes them — so, and with like effect, amongst the confused sound of various English opinions about the Boer rising, rose the trumpet-note of the Transvaal Independence Com- mittee and its supporters. jarily ^orso b tho es in so far id the must bear t only i with lash of 'son of ig slip holiest Lth the issional d who that of )eoples, d with )m the forma- oppor- sturbed ringing intelli- im — so, und of 12, rose 5 Com- THE RETROCESSION OF THE TRANSVAAU 165 As we liave seen, they did not sound in vain. On the 6th of March an armistice with the Boers aad been entered into by Sir Evelyn Wood, which was several times prolonged up to the 21st March, when Sir Evelyn Wood concluded a preliminary peace with the Boer leaders, which, under certain conditions, guaranteed the restoration of the country within six months, and left all other points to be decided by a Royal Commission. The news of this peace was at first received in the colony in the silence of astonishment. PersonaLy, I remember, I would not believe that it was true. It seemed to us, who had been witnesses of what had passed, and knew what it all meant, something so utterly incredible that we thought there must be a mistake. If there had been any one redeeming circumstance about it, if the English arms had gained a single decisive victory, it might have been so, but it was hard for Englishmen, just at first, to understand that not only had the Transvaal been to all appearance wrested from them by force of arms, but that they were henceforth to be subject, as they well knew would be the case, to the coarse insults of victorious Boers, and the sarcasms of keener-witted Kafirs. People in England seem to fancy that when men go to the colonies they lose aU sense of pride in their country, and think of nothing but their own advantage. I do not think that this is the case, indeed,. I believe that, individual for individual, there exists a greater sense of loyalty, and a deeper pride in their nationality, and in the proud name of England, among colonists, than among Englishmen proper. Certainly the humili- * 166 THE TRANSVAAL. f ^l|i>l I! ation of the Transvaal surrender was more keenly felt in South Africa than it was at home; but, perhaps, the impossibility of imposing upon people in that country with the farrago of nonsense about blood- guiltincoS and national morality, which was made such adroit use of at home, may have made the dif- ference. I know that personally I would not have believed it possible that I could feel any public event so keenly as I did this ; indeed, I quickly made up my mind that if the peace was confirmed, the neiglibour- hood of the Transvaal would be no fit or comfortable residence for an Englishman, and that I would, at any cost, leave the country, — which I accordingly did. Newcastle was a curious sight the night after the peace was declared. Every hotel and bar was crowded with refugees, who were trying to relieve their feel- ings by cursing the name of Gladstone with a vigour, originality, and earnestness that I have never heard equalled ; and declaring in ironical terms how proud they were to be citizens of England — a country that always kept its word. Then they set to work with many demonstrations of contempt to burn the effigy of the Right Honourable Gentleman at the head of Her Majesty's Government, an example, by the way, that was followed throughout South Africa. Even Sir Evelyn Wood, who is very popular in the colony, was hissed as he walked through the town, and great surprise was expressed that a soldier who came out expressly to fight the Boers should consent to become the medium of communication in such a iirty business. And, indeed, there was some excuse THE RETROCESSION OF THE TRANSVAAL. 167 for all this bitterness, for the news meant ruin to very many. But if people in Natal and at the Cape received the news with astonishment, how shall I describe its effect upon the unfortunate loyal inhabitants in the Transvaal, on whom it burst like a thunderbolt ? They did not say much, however, and indeed there was nothing to be said. They simply began to pack up sucli things as thoy could carry with them, and to leave the country, wliich they well knew would henceforth be utterly untenable for Englishmen or English sym- patliisers. In a few weeks they come pouring down through Newcastle by hundreds ; it was the most melancholy exodus that can be imagined. There were people of all classes, officials, gentlefolk, work-people, and loyal Boers, but they had a connecting link ; they had all been loyal, and they v are all ruined. Most of these people had g^ne to the T''ansvaal sinca it became a British colony, and invested all they liad in it, and now their capital was lost and their labour rendered abortive ; indeed, many of them whom one had known as well to do in the Transvaal, came down to Natal hardly knowing how they would feed their families next week. It must be understood that so soon as the Queen's sovereignty was withdrawn the value of landed and liouse property in the Transvaal went down to nothing, and has remained there ever since. Thus a fair-sized house in Pretoria brought in a rental varying from ten to twenty pounds a month during British occupation, out after the declaration of peace, owners of houses were glad to get people to live in them to keep them from falling into ruin. Those who owned laud or had il 168 THE TRANSVAAL nil :i I. I iuvested mouey in businesses suH'ered in the same way; their property remains neither profitable or saleable, and they tlieinselves are precluded by their nationality from living on it, the art of "Boycotting" not being peculiar to Ireland. Nor were they the only sufferers. The officials, many of whom had taken to the Government service as a permanent profession, in which they expected to pass their lives, were suddenly dismissed, mostly with a small gratuity, which would about suffice to pay their debts, and told to find their living as best they could. It was indeed a case of vae victis, — woe to the conquered loyalists.* The Commission appointed by Her Majesty's Govern- ment consisted of Sir Hercules liobinsou. Sir Henry de Villiers, and Sir Evelyn Wood, President Brand being also present in his capacity of friend of both parties, and to their discretion were left the settlement of all outstanding questions. Amongst these, were the mode of trial of those persons who had been guilty of acts contrary to the rules of civilised warfare, the question * The following extract is clipped from a recent issue of the Trans- vaal Advei'tiser. It describes the present condition of Pretoria : — •' The streets grown over with rank vegetation ; the water-furrows nncleaned and unattended, emitting offensive and unhealthy stenches ; the houses showing evident signs of dilapidation and decay ; the side paths, in many places, dangerous to pedestrians — in fact, everything the eye can rest upon indicates the downfall which has overtaken thia once prosperous city. The visitor can, if he be so minded, betake him- self to the outskirts and suburbs, where he will perceive the same sad evidences of neglect, public grounds unattended, roads uncared for, mills and other public works crumbling into ruin. These palpable signs of decay most strongly impress him. A blight seems to have come over this lately fair and prosperous town. Rapidly it is becoming » 'deserted village,' a 'city of the dead' " THE RETROCESSION OP THE TRANSVAAL ,69 of severance of ten-itory from the Tratisvaal on the eastern boundary, the settleineiit of the boundary in the Keate-Award districts, the coniper.'satioii for losses sustained durin;,' the war, the functions of the Hritish Resident, and other matters. Tlieir place of meeting was at Newcastle in Natul, and from thence they pro- ceeded to Pretoria. The first question of importance thiit e.une before the Commission was the mode of trial to be adopted in the cases of those persons accused of acts contrary to the usages of civilised warfare, such as murder. The Attorney-General for the Transvaal stronjjjly ad- vised that a special tribunal should be coustituied to try these cases, principally because " after a civil war in which all the inhabitants of a country, with very few exceptions, have taken part, a jury of fair and impartial men, truly unbiassed, will be very diflicult to get together." It is satisfactory to know that the Commissioners gave this somewhat obvious fact " their grave consideration," which, according to their Ileport, resulted in their determining to let the cases go before the ordinary court, and be tried by a jury, because in referring them to a specially constituted court which would have done equal justice without fear or favour, " the British Government would have made for itself, among the Dutch population of South Africa, a name for vindictive oppression, which no generosity in other affairs could efface." There is more in this determination of the Commis- sioners, or rather of the majority of them — for Sir E. Wood, to his credit be it said, refused to agree in their decision — than meets the eye, the fact of the matter being that it was privately well known to them, that* ii I70 TIIE TRANSVAAL. Hm m ■J Ell I'll though the Boer leaders might be willing to allow a few of the murderers to undergo the form of a trial, neither they nor the Boers themselves meant to permit the farce to go any furtlier. Had the men been tried by a special tribunal they would in all probability have been condemned to death, and then would have come the awkward question of carrying out the sentence on individuals whose deeds were looked on, if not with gei.eral approval, at any rate without aversion by the great mass of their counLrymen. In short, it would probably have become necessary either to reprieve thorn or to figlit tlie Boers again, since it was very certain that they would not have allowed them to be hung. Therefore the majority of ihe Commissioners, finding themselves face to face with a dead wall, determined to slip round it instead of boldly climbing it, by referring the cases to tlie Transvaal High Court, cheerfully con- fident of what the result must be. After all, the matter was, much cry about little wool, for of all the crimes committed by the Boers — a list of some of which will be found in the Appendix to this book — in only three cases were a proportion of the perpetrators produced and put through the form of trial Those three were — the dastardly murder of Cap- tain Elliot, who was shot by his Boer escort whilst crossing the Vaal river on parole; the murder of a man named Malcolm, who was kicked to death in his own house by Boers, who afterwards put a bullet through his head to make the job " look better ; " and the murder of a doctor named Barber, who was shot by his escort on the border of the Free State. A few of the men concerned in the first two of these crimes were tried in Pretoria; and it was currently reported ■i .fil THE RETROCESSION OF THE TRANSVAAL. 171 at that time, that in order to make their acquittal certain our Attorney-General received instructions not to exercise his right of challenging jurors on behalf of the Crown. Whether or not this is true I am not prepared to say, but I believe it is a fact that he did not exercise that right, though the counsel for the prisoners availed themselves of it freely, with the result that in Elliot's case, the jury was composed of eight Boe'-s and one German, nine being the full South African jury. The necessary result followed , in botli cases the prisoners were acquitted in the teeth of the evidence. Barber's murderers were tried in the Free State, and were, as might be expected, acquitted. Thus it will be seen tliat of all the pe 'petrators of murder and other crimes during the course of the war not one was brought to justice. The ofTence for which their victims died was, in nearly eveiy case, that they had served, were serving, or were loyal to Her Majesty the Queen. In no single case has England exacted retribution for the murder of her servants and citizens ; but nobody can read tlirough the long list of these dastardly slaughters without feeling that they will not go unavenged. The innocent blood that has been shed on behalf of this country, and the tears of children and widows, now appeal to a higher tribunal than that of Mr. Glad- stone's Government, and assuredly they will not appeal in vain. The next point of importance dealt with by the Commission was the question whether or no any territory should be severed from the Transvaal, and kept under English rule for the benefit of the native inhabitants. Lord Kimberley, acting under pressure • * ! • i7a THE TRANSVAAL. Ml iMl; put upon him by members o! the Aborigines I'rotection Society, instructed the Commission to consider the advisability of severing the districts of Lydenburg and Zoutpansberg, and also a strip of territory bordering on Zululand and Swaziland, from the Transvaal, so as to place the inhabitants of the first frwo districts out of danger of maltreatment by the Boers, and to interpose a buffer between Zulus, and Swazis, and Boer aggression, and vice versd. The Boer leaders had, it must be remembered, ac- quiesced in the principle of such a separation in the preliminary peace signed by Sir Evelyn Wood and themselves. The majority of the Commission, however (Sir Evelyn Wood dissenting), finally decided against the retention of either of these districts, a decision which, I think, was a wise one, though I arrive at that conclusion on very different grounds to those adopted by the majority of the Commission. Personally, I cannot see that it is the duty of England to play policeman to the whole world To have retained these native districts would have been to make ourselves responsible for their good govern- ment, and to have guaranteed them against Boer encroachment, which I do not think that we were called upon to do. It is surely not incumbent upon us, having given up the Transvaal to the Boers, to undertake the management of the most troublesome part of it, the Zulu border. Besides, bad as the abandonment of the Transvaal is, I think that if it was to be done at all, it was best to do it thoroughly, since to have kept some natives under our protection, and to have handed over the rest to the tender mercies of the Boers, would only be to THE RETROCESSION OF THE TRANSVAAL. 173 render our injustice more obvious, whilst weakening the power of the natives themselves to combine in self-defence, since those under our protection would naturally have little sympathy with their more un- fortunate brethren — their interests and circumstances being different. The Commission do not seem to have considered the question from these points of view ; but putting them on one side, there are many other considerations con- nected with it which are ably summed up in their Eeport. Amongst these is the danger of disturb- ances commenced between Zulus or Swazis and Boers spreading into Natal, and the probability of the fomenting of disturbances amongst the Zulus by Boers. The great argument for the retention of some territory, if only as a symbol that the English had not been driven out of the country, is, however, set forth in the forty-sixth paragraph of the Eeport, which runs as follows : — " The moral considerations that determine the actions of civilised governments are not easily understood by barbarians, in whose eyes successful force is alone the sign of superiority, and it appeared possible that the surrender by the British Crown of one of its possessions to those who had been in arms against it, might be looked upon by the natives in no other way tlian as a token of the defeat and decay of the British power, and that thus a serious shock might be given to British authority in South Africa, and the capacity of Great Britain to govern and direct the vast native popula- tion within and without her South African dominions —a capacity resting largely on the renown of her name —might be dangerously impaired.** M < f \i\ 174 THE TRANSVAAL. I I J': These words, coming from so unexpected a source, do not, though couched in such mild language, hide the startling importance of the question discussed. On the contrary, they accurately and with double weight convey the sense and gist of the most damning argument against the policy of the retrocession of the Transvaal in its entirety; and proceeding from their own carefully chosen Commissioners, can hardly have been pleasant reading to Lord Kimberley and his col- leagues. The majority of the Commission then proceeds to set forth the arguments advanced ly the Boers against the retention of any territory, which appear to have been chiefly of a sentimental character, since we are informed that "the people, it seemed certain, would not have valued the restoration of a mutilated country. Sentiment in a great measure had led them to insur- rection, and the force of such it was impossible to dis- regard." Sir Evelyn Wood, in his dissent, states that he cannot even agree with the premises of his colleagues' argument, since he is convinced that it was not senti- ment that had led to the outbreak, but a " general and rooted aversion to taxation." If he had added, and a hatred not only of English rule, but of all rule, he would liave stated the complete cause of the Transvaal rebellion. In the next paragraph of the Keport, how- ever, we find the real cause of the pliability of the Commission in the matter, which is the same that influenced them in their decision about the mode of trial of the murderers and other questions — they feared that the people would appeal to arms if they decided against their wishes. Discreditable and disgraceful as it may seem, nobody THE RETROCESSION OF THE TRANSVAAL. 175 have can read this Eeport without plainly seeing that the Commissioners were, in treating with the Boers on these points, in the position of ambassadors from a beaten people getting the best terms they could. Of course, they well knew that this was not the case but whatever the Boer leaders may have said, the Boers themselves did not know this, or even pretend to look at the matter in any other light When we asked for the country back, said they, we did not get it ; after we had three times defeated the English we did get it ; the logical conclusion from tlie facts being that we got it because we defeated the English. Tliis was their tone, and it is not therefore surprising that whenever the Commission threatened to decide any- thing against them, tliey, with a smile, let it know that if it did, they would be under the painful necessity of re-occupying Lang's Nek. It was never necessary to repeat the threat, since the majority of the Com- mission would thereupon speedily find a way to meet the views of the Boer representatives. Sir Evelyn Wood, in his dissent, thus correctly sums up the matter : — " To contend that the Eoyal Commission ought not to decide contrary to the wishes of the Boers, because such decision might not be accepted, is to deny to the Commission tlie very power of decision that it was agreed should be left in its hands." Exactly so. But it is evident that the Com- mission knew its place, and so far from attempting to exercise any " power of decision," it was quite content with such concessions as it could obtain by means of bargaining. Thus, as an additional reason against the retention of any territory, it is urged that if this territory was retained " the majority of your Commia- ^i ii\ 176 THE TRANSVAAL. ii.-i m ii 1 ". sioners . . . would have found themselves in no favour- able position for obtaining the concurrence of the Boer leaders as to other matters." In fact, Her Majesty's Commission, appointed, or supposed to be appointed, to do Her Majesty's will and pleasure, shook in its shoes before men who had lately been rebels in arms against her authority, and humbly submitted itself to their dicta. The majority of the Commission went on to express their opinion, that by giving way about the retention of territory they would be able to obtain better terms for the natives generally, and larger powers for the British Kesident. But, as Sir Evelyn Wood points out in his Keport, they did nothing of the sort, the terms of the agreement about the Resident and other native matters being all consequent on and included in the first agreement of peace. Besides, they seem to have overlooked the fact that such concessions as they did obtain are only on paper, and practically worthless, whilst all bond fide advantages remained with the Boers. The decision of the Commissioners in the question of the Keate Award, which next came under their consideration, appears to have been a judicious one, being founded on the very careful Report of Colonel Moysey, R.E., who had been for many months collect- ing information on the spot. The Keate Award Terri- tory is a region lying to the south-west of the Transvaal, and was, like many other districts in that country, originally in the possession of natives of the Baralong and P>atlapin tribes. Individual Boers having, however, more suo taken possession of tracts of land in the dis- trict, difficulties speedily arose between their Govern- THE RETROCESSION OF THE TRANSVAAL. [177 ivour- 3 Boer jesty's minted, in its 1 arms self to ixpress tention r terms tor tho points )rt, the d other icluded y seem ions as ctically mained uestion their us one, Colonel collect- i Terri- msvaal, ountry, aralong owever, the dis- jlovern- ment and the native chiefs, and in 1871 Mr. Keate, Lieutenant-Governor of Natal, was by mutual consent called in to arbitrate on the matter. His decision was entirely in favour of the natives, and was accordingly promptly and characteristically repudiated by the IJoer Volksraad. From that time till the rebellion the ques- tion remained unsettled, and was indeed a very thorny one to deal with. The Commission, acting on the prin- ciple in medio tuLissimus ibis, drew a line through the midst of the disputed territory, or, in other words, set aside Mr. Keate's award, and interpreted the dispute in favour of the fJoers. This decision was accepted by all parties at the time, but it has not resulted in the maintenance of peace. The principal chief, Montsioa, is an old ally and staunch friend of the English, a fact which the Boers are not able to forget or forgive, and they appear to have stirred up rival chiefs to attack him, and to have allowed volunteers from the Transvaal to assist them. Montsioa has also enlisted some white volunteers, and several fights have taken place, in which the loss of life has been considerable. Whether or no the Transvaal Government is directly concerned it is impossible to say, but from the fact that cannon are said to liave been used against Montsioa it would appear that it is, since private in- dividuals do not, as a rule, own Armstrong guns.* Amongst the questions remaining for the consider- ation of the Commissioners was that of what com- pensation should be given for losses during the war. * I beg to refer any reader interested in this matter to the letter of " Transvaal " to the Standard^ whi«h I have republished in the 4i)nendix to this book. 178 THE TRANSVAAL. 4 r n I :i! Of course, the great bulk of tlie losses sustained werp of an indirect nature, resulting from the necessary and enormous depreciation in the vahie of land and other property, consequent on the retrocession. Into this matter the Home Government declined to enter, thereby saving its pocket at the price of its honour, since it was upon English guarantees that the country would remain a British possessi(.)n that the majority of the unfortunate loyals invested their money in it It was, however, agr(3ed by tlie Commission (Sir H. lie Villiers dissenting) that the ]>'.>ers should be liable for compensation in cases where loss had been sustained through commandeeiirig seizure, confisca- tion, destruction, er dam; ge of property. The sums awarded under these heads have already amounted to about ;^iio,ooo, wliicli sum has been defrayed by the Imperial Government, tlie lioer authoiities stating that they were not in a position to pay it. In connection with this matter I will pass to the financial clauses of the Report. When the country was annexed, the public debt amounted to ^^30 1,727. Under British rule this debt was liquidated to the extent of ;^i 50,000, but the total was biouglit up by a Parliamentary grant, a loan from the Standard Bank, and sundries to ;^ 390404, which represented the public debt of the Transvaal on the 31st December 1880. Tliis was further increased by moneys advanced by the Standard Bank and English Exchequer during the war, and till the 8th August 1881, during which time the country yielded no revenue, to ;;^457,393. To this must be added an estimated sum of ;^200,ooo for compensation charges, pension allowances, <fec., and A further sum of ;^383,ooo, the cost of the successful i were icssary id and Into enter, lonour, ;ountry lajority J in it Sir H. Lild be id been onfisca- e sums lounted lyed by stating to the country ^01,727. to tlie ^lit up Landard esented cember dvanced during which 1^57.393. 200.000 &c., and cessful ^\ THE RETROCESSION OF THE TRANSVAAL. 179 expedition against Secocoein, that of the unsuccessful one being left out of account, bringing up the total public debt to over a million, of which about i^8oo,ooo is owing to this country. This sum, with the characteristic liberality that distinguished them in their dealings with the Boers, but wliich was not so marked whei loyals were con- cerned, the Commissioners (Sir Evelyn Wood dissent- ing) reduced by a stroke of the pen tO;^265,ooo, thus entirely remitting an approximate sum of ^^ 500,000, or ;{^ 600,000. To the sum of ;^ 265,000 still owing must be added say another ;^i 50,000 for sums lately advanced to pay the compensation claims, bringing up the actual amount now owing to England to something under half a million, of which I say with confidence she will never see a single ^^ 10,000. As this contingency was not contemplated, or if contem- plated, not alluded to by the Koyul Commission, pro- vision was made for a Sinking Fund, by means of which the debt, which is a second charge on the revenues of the States, is to be extinguished in twenty-five years. It is a strange instance of the proverbial irony of fate, that whilst tl.'.e representalives of the Imperial Government were thus showering gifts of hundreds of tliousunds of pounds upon men who had spurned the benefits of Her Majesty's rule, made war upon her forces, and murdereil her subjects, no such con- sideration was extended to those who had remained loyal to her throne. Their claims for compensation were passed by unheeded ; and looking from the win- dows of the room in which they sat in Newcastle, the members of the Commission might have Svjen ISO THE TRANSVAAL. > fi^' III I ' .'I tliftm flocking down from a country that could no longer be thuir home ; those that were rich among them made poor, and those that were poor reduced to destitution. The only other point which it will be necessary for me to touch on in connection with this Keport is the duties of the British Resident and his rela- tions to the natives. He was to be invested as repre- sentative of the Suzerain with functions for securing the execution of the terms of peace as regards — (i) the control of the foreign relations of the State; (2) the control of the frontier afifairs of the State ; and (3) the protection of the interests of the natives in the State. As regards the first of these points, it was arraugod that the interests of subjects ol the Transvaal sliould be left in the hands of Her ATajesty's representatives abroad. Since Boers are, of all people in the world, tlie most stay-at-home, our ambassadors and consuls are not likely to be troubled much on their account. With reference to the second point, the Commission made stipulations that would be admirable if there were any probability of their being acted up to. The Eesident is to report any encroachment on native territory by Boers to the High Commissioner, and when the Resident and the Boer Government differ, the decision of the Suz^^rain is to be final. This is a charming way of settling diilficulties, but the Com- mission forgets to specify how the Suzerain's decision is to be enforced. After what has happened, it can hardly have relied on awe of the name of Enfiland to bring about the desired obedience ! But besides thus using his beneficent authority to THE RETROCESSION OP THE TRANSVAAL. i8i uld no among •educed cessary Keport 13 rela- 3 repre- ecuring ■d3-(l) ate; (2) ,te ; and tivea in irrang d I should ;ntative8 3 world, consuls account, amission if there to. The a native ner, and nt differ, This is ,he Corn- decision d, it can norland to ihority to prevent subjects of the Transvaal from trespassing on their neighbour's land, the llesident is to exercise a general supervision over the interests of all the natives in the country. Considering that they number about a million, and are scattered over a territory larger tliau France, one would think that this duty alone would have taken up the time of any ordinary man ; and, indeed, Sir Evelyn Wood was in favour of the appoint- ment of sub-residents to assist him. The majority of the Commission refused, however, to listen to any such suggestion — believing, they said, ** tliat the least possible interference with the independent Government of the State would be the wisest." Quite so, but I sut>- pose it never occurred to them to ask the natives what their views of the matter were 1 The Piesident was also to be a member of a Native Location Commission, which was at some future time to provide land for the uatives to live on. In perusing this Eeport it is easy to follow with more or less accuracy the individual bent of its framers. Sir Hercules Rooinson figures throughout as a man who has got a disagreeable business to carry out, in obedience to instructions that admit of no trilling with, and who has set himself to do the best he can for his country, and those who suffer through his country's policy, whilst obeying those instructions. He has evidently choked down his feelings and opinions as an individual, and turned himself into an official machine, merely registering in detail the will of Lord Kimberley. With Sir Henry de Villiers the case is very differ' nt. One feels throughout that the task is to him a congenial one, and that the Boer cause has in him an excellent i ' .1 182 TlIK TRANSVAAL. 'i> I friend. Indeed, hud lie been an advocate of tlieir cause instead of a nicinber of the Commission, he could not have espoused their side on every occa- sion with {greater zeal According to him they were always in the rij^dU, and in them lie couhi find no guile. Mr. IIofMieycr and President lirand exercised a wise discHition I'loni their own point of vi(3W when they nr^cd his appointment as S})ecial Coni- nii.ssioner. 1 nov.' come to Sir Evelyn Wood, who was in the position of an in'iependent Englishman, neither prejudiced in favour of the ]}oers, or the revei'se, and on whom, as a military man, Lord Kimberley would lind it dillicult to put the oflicial screw. The results of his happy position are obvious in the paper attached to the end of the Keport, and signed by him, in which he totally and entirely dillers from the majority of the Commission on every point of any importance. Most people will think that this very outspoken and forcible dissent deducts somewhat from the value of the Eeport, and throws a shadow of doubt on the wisdom of its pro- visions. The formal document of agreement between Her Majesty's Government and the "Boer leaders, com- monly known as the Convention, was signed by both piirties at Pretoria on the afternoon of the 3d August 1 88 1, in the same room in which, nearly four years before, the Annexation Proclamation was signed by Sir T. Shepstone. Whilst this business was being transacted in Govern- ment House, a curious ceremony was going on just outside, and within sight of the windows. This was the ceremonious burial of the Union Jack, which was TIIK UETllOCESSION OF THE TRANSVAAL. .183 followed to iho ^'lavo by a crowd of about 2000 loyalists iind native chiefs. On the outside of the cotlin was written the word "Re.surgam," and an eloquent oration was delivered over the grave. Such demonstrations are, no doubt, foolish enough, but they are not entirely without polilical si;_;nificance. But a uiuro unplca-^ant duty awaited the Comniis- aionera than that of attiiching thoir siL;natures to a ducuniL'Ui, — consisting of the necessity of conveying Her Miiji'sty's dcci.siou as to the retrocession to about a hundred native chiefs, until now Her Majesty's sub- jects, who had been gathered together to hear it. It must bo borne in nund that the natives had not been consulted as to the disposal of the country, although they outnumber the white people in the proportion of twenty to one, and that, beyond some worthless paper stipulations, notliing had been done for their interests. Personally, I must plead guilty to what I know is by many, especially by those who are attached to the Boer cause, considered as folly, if not worse, namely, a sufficient interest in the natives, and sympathy with their sufrerings, to bring me to the conclusion that in acting thus we have inflicted a cruel injustice upon them. It seems to me^ that as they were the original owners of the soil, they (N'ero entitled to some consideration in the question of its disposal, and consequently and incidentally, of their own. I am aware that it is generally considered that the white man has a right to the black man's possessions and land, and that it is his high and holy mission to exterminate the wretched nrtive and take his place. But with this conclusion X venture to '. f. M 184 THE TRANSVAAL. I'ii differ. So far as my own experience of natives has gone, I have found that in all the essential qualities of mind and body they very much resemble white men, with the exception that they are, as a race, quicker-witted, more honest, and braver than the ordinary run of white men. Of them might be aptly quoted tlie speech Shakespeare put'^ into Shylock's mouth : " Hath not a Jew eyes ? hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, pas- sions ? " In tiie same way I ask, Has a native no feelings or aflections ? does he not suffer when his parents are shot, or his children stolen, or when he is driven a wanderer from his home ? Does he not know fear, feel pain, affection, hate, and gratitude ? Most certainly he does ; and this being so, I cannot believe that the Almighty, who made both white ^nd black, gave to the one race the right or mission of exterminating or even of robbing or maltreating the other, and calling the process the advance of civilisation. It seems to me, that on only one con- dition, if at all, have we the right to take the black cien's land; and that is, that we provide them with an equal and a just Government, and allow no mal- treatment of them, either as individuals or tribes, but, on the contrary, do our best to elevate them, and wean them from savage customs. Otherwise, the practice is surely undefensiblo. I am aware, however, that with the exception of a small class, these are sentiments which are not shared by the great majority of the public, either at home or abroad. Indeed, it can be plainly seen how little Eympathy they command, from the fact that but scanty remonstrance was raised at the treatment meted out THE RETROCESSION" OF THE TRATsSVAAL. ig; i *"o our native subjects iu the Transvaal, wlieu they were, to the number of nearly a million, handed over from the peace, juslice, and security tliat ou the whole characterise our rule, to a state of things and possi- bilities of wrong and suftering which I will not try to describe. To the chiefs thus assembled Sir Hercules Robinson, as President of the Eoyal Commission, read a state- ment, and then retired, refusing to allow them to speak in answer. The statement informed the natives that "Her Majesty's Government, with that sense of justice which belits a great and ]>owerful nation," had returned the country to the Boers, " wlio.se representatives, Messrs. Kruger, Pretorius, and Joubert, I now," said Sir Hercules, "have much pleasure in introducing to you." H reports are true, the native chiefs had, many of them personally, and all of them by reputa- tion, already the advantage of a very intimate acquaint- ance with all three of these gentlemen, so that an introduction was somewhat su peril uous. Sir Hercules then went on to expla: i to them that locations would be allotted to them at some future time ; that a British Ecsident would be appointed, whose especial charge they would be, but that they must bear in mind that he was not ruler of the country, but the Government, '' subject to Her Majesty's suzerain rights." Natives were, no doubt, expected to know bv intuition what suzerain rights are. The state- ment then goes on to give tliem pood advice as to the advantages of indulging in manual labour wlien asked to do so by the Boers, and generally to show them how bright and hapj^y is the future that lies before thern. Lest they should be too elated by such good tidings, I « M i86 THE TRANSVAAL. 11 ''|! ; I .li they are, however, reTiiiuded that it will be necessary to retain the law relating to passes, which is, iu the hands of a people like the Boers, about as unjust a reguLition as a dominant race can invent for the oppres.sion of a subject people, and had, in the old days of ttie Ecpublic, been productive of much hard- ship. The statement winds up by assuring them that their "interests will nevcjr be forgotten or neglected by Her Majesty's CJovornment." Having read the document the Commission hastily withdrew, and after their withdrawal the chiefs were "allowed" to state their opinions to the Secretary for Native Affairs. In availing themselves of this permission, it is notice- able that no allusion was made to all the advantages they were to reap under the Convention, nor did they seem to attach much importance to the appointment of the British Besident. On the contrary, all their attention was given to the great fact that the country had been ceded to the Boers, and that they were no longer the Queen's subjects. We are told, in Mv. Shepstone's Beport, that they " got very excited," and " asked whether it was thought that they had no feelings or heaits, that thev were thus treated as a stick or piece of tobacco, which conld be passed from liand to hand without questicn." Umgombarie, a Zoutpanslerg chief, said : " 1 am Umgombarie. I have fought with the Boers, and have manv wounds, and they know that what I say is true. ... I will never consent to place myself under their rule. I belujig to the English Government. I am not a man who eats with both sides of his jaw at once; I only use one side. 1 am English, 1 have said." Silambu said : ^ I belong to the English. I will never return under ;tl. I never bcioijg I THE KKTROCESSION OF THE TRANSVAAL. 187 the Boers. You see me, a man of my rank and posi- tion ; is it right that sucli as 1 sliould be seized and laid on the ground and flogged, as has been done to rae and other chiefs ? " Sinkanhla said : " We hear and yet do not hear, we cannot understand. We are troubling you, Chief, by talking in this way ; wo hear the chiefs say that the Queen took the country because the people of the country wishud it, and a;^'ain that the majority of the owners of the country did not wish their rule, and that therefore the country was <:iven back. We should like to have the man pointed out from among us black people who objects to the rule of the Queen. We are the real owners of the country ; we were here when llie Boers came, and without asking leave, settled down and treated us in every way badly. The English Government then came and took the countrv ; we have now luul four years of rest and peaceful and just rule. We lui.ve been called here to-day, and are told that the country, our country, has been given to the Boers by the Queen. This is a thing which surprises us. Did the country, then, belong to the Boers ? Did it not belong to our fathers and forefathers before us, long before the Boers came here ? Wo have heard that the Boers* country is at the Cape. If the Queen wishes to give them their land, why does she not give them back the Cape ? " I have quoted this speech at length, because, although nuide by a despised native, it sets furth their case more powerfully and in happier language tban I can do. Umvethile said : " We have no heart for talking. I have returned to the country from Sechelis, where I had to ily from Boer oppression. Our hearts are I: J, (■:. 11 ina THE TRANSVAAL. ■II black aud heavy with grief to-day at the news told us, we are in agony, our intestines are twisting and writliinL,' inside of us, just as you see a snake do when it is struck on the head. . . . We do not know what has btconie of us, hut we feel dead ; it may be that the Lord may change the nature of the Boers, and that we will not be treated like dogs and beasts of burden as formerly, but we have no hope of such a change, and we leave you with heavy hearts and great ap})re- liension as to the future." In his Report, Mr. Shep- stone (the Secretary for Native Affairs) says : " One chief, Jan Sibilo, who ha.i been, he informed me, ptjrsonally threatened with death by the Boers after the English leave, could not restrain his feelings, but cried like a child." I have nothing to add to these extracts, which are taken from many such statements. They are the very words of the persons most concerned, and will speak for themselves. The Convention was signed on the 3d August 1881, and was to be formally ratified by a Volksraad or Parliament of tlie Burghers within three months of that date, in default of which it was to fall to the ground and become null and void. Anybody who has followed the course of affairs with reference to the retrocession of the Transvaal, or who has even taken the trouble to read through this brief history, will probably come to the conclusion that, under all the circumstances, the Buers had got more than they could reasonably expect. Not so, however, the Boers themselves. On the 28th Sep- tember the newly-elected Volksraad referred the Con- vention to a General Committee to report on, and on THE RETROCESSION OF THE TRANSVAAL. 189 1 : 1 the 30th September the Report was presented. On the 3d October a tele.Ljjram was despatched through the British Resident to " His Excellency W. E. Gladstone," in which the Volksraad states that the Convention is not acceptable — (i.) Because it is in conflict with the Sand River Treaty of 1852. (2.) Because it violates the peace agreement entered into with Sir Evelyn Wood, in confidence of which the Boers laid down their arms. The Volksraad consequently declared that modifica- tions were desirable, and that certain articles must be altered. To begin with, they declare that the " conduct of foreign relations does not appertain to the Suzerain, only supervision," and that the articles bearing on these points must consequently be modified. They next attack the native question, stating that " the Suzerain has not the right to interfere with our Legislature," and state that they cannot agree to Article 3, which gives the Suzerain a right of veto on Legislation connected with the natives ; to Article 13, by virtue of which natives are to be allowed to acquire land; and to the last part of Article 26, by which it is provided that whites of alien race living in the Transvaal shall not be taxed in excess of the taxes imposed on Transvaal citizens. They further declare that it is infra dignitatem for the President of the Transvaal to be a member of a Commission. This refers to the Native Location Commission, on which he is, in the terms of the Con- vention, to sit, together with the British Resident, and a third person jointly appointed. if M ! I 190 THE TRANSVAAL. They next declare that the amount of the debt foi whicli the Commission has made them liable should be modified. Considering that England had already made them a present of from ;{i"6oo,ooo to ;^8oo,ooo, this a most barefaced demand. Finally, they state that "Articles 15, 16, 26, and 27 are superfluous, and only calculated to wound our sense of honour " (sic). Article i 5 enacts that no slavery or apprenticeshi]( shall be tolerated. Article 1 6 provides for religious toleration. Article 26 provides for the free movement, trading, and residence of all persons, other than natives, con- forming themselves to the laws of the Transvaal. Article 27 gives to all the right of free access to the Courts of Justice. Putting the " sense of honour " of the Transvaal Volksraad out of th(3 question, past experience has but too plainly proved that these Articles are by no means superfluous. In reply to this message. Sir Hercules Eobinson telegraphs to the llrilisii llesident en the 21st October in the following words : — " Having forwarded Volksraad Resolution of 15 th to Earl of ICiniberley, I am desired to instruct you in reply to repeat to the Triumvirate that Her jMajesty's Government cannot entertain any proposals for a modi- fication of the Convention until after it has been rati- fied, and the necessity for further concession proved by experience." 1 wish to draw pvirticular attention to the last part v'hich is extrcnu message ^ly ty; line of policy adopted throughout in the Transvaal TUE RETROCESSION OF THE TRANSVAAL. 191 :{ business. The English Govern mcnt dared not make any further concession to the Boers, because they felt that they had already strained the temper of the country almost to breaking in the matter. On the other hand, they were afraid that if they did not do something, tlie Boers would tear up the Convention, and they would find themselves face to face with the old diiliculty. Under these circumstances, they have fallen back upon their temporising and un-English policy, which leaves them a back-door to escape through, whatever turn things take. Should the Boers now suddenly turn round and declare, which is extremely probable, that they re- pudiate their debt to us, or that they are sick of the presence of a British Ilesident, the Government will be able to announce that " the necessity for further Concession " has now been " proved by experience," and thus Ci^cape the diiliculty. In short, this tele- gram has deprived the Convention of whatever tinal- ity it may liave possessed, and made it, as a document, as worthless as it is as a practical settlement. That this is the view taken of it by the Boers themselves, is proved by the text of the Batilicatiun whicli followed on the receipt of this telegram. The tone of this document tliroughout is, in my opinion, considering from whom it came, and against whom it is directed, very indolent. And it amply confirras what I have previou.^ly said, that the B^oers loctked upon themselves as a victorious people n\aking terms with those they have conquered. The Buitifica- tion leads off thus : " The Volksraad is not satisfied with this Convention, and considers that the members of the Triumvirate performed a fervent act of love for the Fatherland when tliey upon their own responsibility '■ t II < i I'l !i <\ 193 THE TRANSVAAL. jif ( til ■■' signed such an unsatisfactory state document." This is damning with faint praise indeed. It then goes on to recite the various points of objection, stating that tlie answers from the English Government proved that they were well founded. " The English Government," it says, "acknowledges indirectly by this answer (the telegram of 21st October, quoted above) that the difficulties raised by the Volksraad are neither fictitious nor unfounded, inasmuch as it desires from tcs the con- cession that we, the Volksraad, shall submit it to a practical test." It will be observed that England is here represented as begging the favour of a trial of her conditions from the Volksraad of the Transvaal Boers. The Ratification is in these words : " Therefore is it that the Raad here unanimously resolves not to go into further discussion of the Convention, ajid maintaining all ohjeciions to the Convention as made before the Eoyal Commission or stated in the liaad, and for the purpose of showing to everybody that the love of peace and unity inspires it, for the time and provisionally sub- mitting the articles of the Convention to a practical test, hereby complying with the request of the English Government contained in the telegram of the 13th October 1881, proceeds to ratify the Convention." It wouhl have been interesting to have seen how such a Eatification as this, which is no Eatification but an insult, would have been accepted by Lord Beacons- field. I think that within twenty-four hours of its arrival in Downing Street, the Boer Volksraad would have received a startling answer. But Lord Beaconsfield is dead, and by his successor it was received with all due thankfulness and humility. His words, however, on this subject still remain to us, and even his great I'' THE RETROCESSION OF THE TRANS V/ AL. 193 This )e3 on y that d that ment," r (the it the ;titious h,e cou' t to a and is of her Boers. re is it go into \taining Koyal lurpose ce and ^y sub- iractical VEnylish e 13th n." en how ion but eacons- of its would tonsfield 'ith all however, lis great rival might have done well to listen to them. It was in the course of what was, I believe, the last speech he made iu the House of Lords, that speaking about the Transvaal rising, lie warned the Government that it was a very dangerous thing to make peace with rebellious subjects in arms against the authority of the Queen. Tiie warning passed unheeded, and the peace was made in the way I have described. As regards the Convention itself, it will be obvious to the reader that the Boers have not any intention of acting up to its provisions, mild as they are, if they can possibly avoid them, whilst, on the other hand, there is no force at hand to punish their disregard or breach. It is all very well to create a Resident with extensive powers ; but how is he to enforce his deci- sions ? What is lie to do if his awards are lauLihed at and made a mockery of, as they are and will be ? The position of Mr. Hudson at Pretoria is even worse than that of Mr. Osborn in Zululand. For instance, the Convention specifies in the first article that the Trans- vaal is to be known as the Transvaal State. The Boer Government have, however, thought fit to adopt the name of " South African Eepublic " in all public documents. Mr. Hudson was accordingly directed to remonstrate, which he did in a feeble way ; his remon- strance was politely acknowledged, but the country is still officially called the South African Republic, the Convention and Mr. Hudson's remonstrance notwith- standing. Mr. Hudson, however, appears to be better suited to the position than would have been the case had an Englishman, pure and simple, been appointed, since it is evident that things that would have struck th.«» latter as insults to the Queen he represented, N t>» i I jM i9» THK TRANSVAAL. i liii ii ilp ; ;' and bis country generally, are not so understood by him. In fact, lie admirably represetits hi;^ official superiors in his capacity of swallowing rebuffs, and when smitten on one cheek delight<'dly offering the other. Thus we find him attending a Boer meeting of thanks- giving for the success tliat had waited on their arms and the recognition of their independence, where most people will consider he was out of place. To this meeting, thus graced by his presence, an adtlress was presented by a branch of the Africander ]iond, a powerful institution, having for its object the total uprootal of English rule and English customs in South Africa, to which he must have listened with pleasure. In it he, in common with other members of the meeting, is informed that "you took up the sword and struck the Briton wit)' such force " that " the Britons through fear revived that sense of justice to which they could not be brought by petitions," and that tlio "day will soon come that we shall enter with you on one arena for the entire independence of South Africa," i.e., independ- ence from English rule. On the following day the Government gave a dinner, to which all those who had done good service during the late hostilities were invited, the British .Resident being apparently the only Englishman asked. Amongst the other celebrities present I notice the name of Buskes. This Eian, who is an educated Hollander, was the moving spirit of the Potchefstroom atrocities; indeed, 80 dark is his reputation that the Royal Commission refused to transact business with him, or to admit him to their presence. Mr. Hudson was not so particular. And now comes the most extraordinary part of the .'I . ! THE KETUOCESSION OF THE TRANSVAAU 195 )od by official la, and ng the tlianks- ir arms re most To tlii3 'ess was liond, a he total .11 South [)lcasure. meeting, d struck through ould uot n\\ soon Liena for idepend- a dinner, during Hesident Amongst Buskes. was the indeed, m mission imit hira >articular. t of the episode. At the dinner it was necessary tliat the health of ITer Majesty as Suzerain should he proposed, and with studied insolence this was done last of all the leading political toasts, and immediately after that of the Triumvirate. Notwithstanding this fact, and tliat the toast was couched by Mr. Joubert, who stated that " he would not attempt to explain what a Suzerain was," in wliat iippear to be semi-ironical terms, we find that Mr. Hudson " begi^ed to tender his thanks to the Honourable Mr. Joubert for the kind way in which he proposed the toast." It may plea^^e Mr. Hudson to see the name of the Queen thus metaphorically drairged in triumph at the ^'.hariot wlieels of the Triumvirate, but it is satisfac- tory to know that the spectacle is not appreciated in England : since, on a question in the House of Lords, by the Earl of Carnarvon, who characterised it as a deliberate insult, Lord Kimberley replied that the British Resident liad been instructed tliat in future he was not to attend public demonstrations unless he had previously informed himself that the name of Her Majesty would he treated with proper respect. Let us hope that this oflicial reprimand will have its efTect, and that Mr. Hudson will learn therefrom that there is such a thing as trop de zele — even in a good cause. The Convention is now a thing of the past, the appropriate rewards have been lavishly distributed to its framers, and President Brand has at last prevailed upon the Volksraad of the Orange Free State to allow him to become a Knight Grand Cross of Saint Michael O and Saint George, — the same prize looked forward to by our most distinguished public servants at the close of the devotion of their life to the service of theii li 't 196 THE TRANSVAAL. I' (1i 1^ ' I '•' if couiilry. But its results nro yet to come — though it woull be (liilicult to fuiL'Cust the details of tlieir deVL'lopineut. CJue tliiii,!^, liowever, ia cleiir : the signing of that docuiiiunt si[;iialisi'(l an entirely new <lej)arturo in South African aflairs, and brou'^dit us within a measurable distance of the abandonment, for the pre- sent at any rate, of the supremacy of English rule in South Africa. This is the larger issue of the matter, and it is already bearing fruit. Emboldened by their success in the Transvaal, the Dutch party at the Cape are demanding, and the demand is to be granted, tliat the J.)utch tongue be admitted ^ari^jassw with English, as the ofhcial language in the Law Courts and the House of Assembly. AViien a country thus consents to use a foreign tongue e(iually with its own, it is a sure sign that those who speak it are rising to power. But "the Party" looks higher than this, and openly aims at throwing off English rule altogether, and declaring South Africa a great Dutch republic. The course of events is favourable to their ab^'n-atioa. Responsible Government is to be granted to Natal, which country, not being strong enough to stand alone in the face of the many dangers that surround her, will be driven into the arms of the Dutch party to save herself from destruction. It will be useless for her to look for help from Eniiland, and any feelings of repugnance she may feel to Boer rule will soon be choked by necessity, and a nmtual interest. It is, however, possible that some unforeseen event, such as the advent to power of a strong Conservative Ministry, may check the tide that now seta so strongly in favour of Dutch supremacy. 1 THE IIETIIOCESSION OF THE TRANSVAAL 197 ough it if tln.'ir signing .'piirture 'ithiti a ,hu pre- rule in ;id it is success Jape are I'd, that English, and the consents , it is a power, d openly her, and ic. The j^'ii'atiou. Natal, .ud alone and her, party to leless for r feelings 1 soon be It is, mt, such iservative 3 strongly I It seems to me, however, to Ite a question worthy of the con^idt'ration of those wlio at present direct the desLinica of the Empire, wlf thcr it would not be wise, as they have gone so far, to uo a little tiirther and favou** a scheme for the total abandonment of South Africa, retaining' oidy Talde l^iy. If tlu-y do not, ii; is now quite within the hounds of sol'cr jiossi- bility that they may one day have to face a fresh Transvaal rel)ellion, only on a ten times larL^^er scale, and might find it diflicult to n.'taiu even Tahle ]>ay. If, on the otlier hand, they do, I believe that all tlie White States in South Africa would confederate of their own free-will, umler the pressure of the necessity for common action, and the Dutch element Iteing pre- ponderant, at once set to work to exterminate the natives on general principles, in much the same way, and from much the same motives that a cook exter- minates black beetles, because she thinks them ugly, and to clear the kitchen. I need hardly say that such a policy is not one that commands my sympathy, but Her IVIiji'sty's Government having put their hand to the plough, it is worth their while to consider it. It would at any rate be in perfect accordance with their declared sentiments, and command an enthusiastic support from their followers. As regards the smaller and more immediate issue of the retrocession, namely, its effect on the Transvaal itself, it cannot be otlier than evil. Tlie act is, I believe, quite without precedent in our history, and it is difficult to see, lookini? at it from those bi'di grounds of national morality assumed by the Govern- ment, what greater arguments can be advanced in its 198 THK TRANSVAAL. til favour, than could be found to support the abandon- ment of, — let U3 say, — Ireland. Indeed a certain parallel undoubtedly exists between the circumstances of the two countries. Ireland was, like the Transvaal, annexed, though a long time ago, and has continually agitated for its freed(.'m. The Irish hate us, ao did the Boers. In Ireland, Englishmen are being shot, and England is running the awful risk of blood- guiltiness, as it did in the Transvaal. In Ireland, smouldering revolution is being fanned into flame by IMr. Gladstone's speeches and acts, as it was in the Transvaal. In Ireland, as in the Transvaal, there exists a strong loyal class that receives insults instead of su})port from the Government, and whose property, as was tlie case there, is taken from them witiiout conjpeusiition, to be ilung as a sop to stop the mouths of the Queen's enemies. And so I might go on, finding many buch similarities of circumstances, but my parallel, like most parallels, must break down at last. Thus — ■ it niattered little to England whether or no she let the Transvaal go, but to Lt Ticland go would be more than even Ilr. loadstone dare attempt. Somehow, if you follow these things far enough, you always come to vulgar fir^t principles. The dif- ference between the case of the Transvaal and tliat of Ireland is a ddforence not of justice of cause, for both caus'/s are equally unjust or just according as wli'^y are viewed, but of mere common expediency. Juuging from the elevated standpoint of the national morality theory, however, which, as we know, soars above such truisms as the foolish statement ihat force ir. a remedy, or that if you wish to retain your prestige you must not allow defeata to pa.-.a unavenged, 1 tan- i| \. THE RETROCKSSIOX OF THE TRANSVAAL. 1^9 not see why, if it was righteous lo auandou the Trans- vaal, it would now be CMjually rigliteous to abaudon Ireland 1 As Lr the Transvaal, that country is not to be congratuiatf-d on its success, for it has destroyed all its hopes of pernuuK'nt peace, iiaa ruined its trade and credit, and has driven away the most useful and productive chiss in the comnmnity. The lioers, elated by their success in arms, will be little likely to settle down to peaceable occupations, t'/id still less Tkely to pay their taxes, which, indeed, I hear they are already refusing to do. They have learnt how easily even a powerful Government can be upset, and the less(>n is not likely to be forgotten, for want of repeti- ti(^n to their own weak one. Already the Transvaal Government hardly knows wliich way to turn f(;r funds, and is, perhaps fortu- nately for itstdf, c|uito unable to borrow, through want of credit. As regards the native question, I agree with Mr. H. Siiepstone, who, in his iieport on this subject, says that he does n^rt believe tliat the natives will inaugurate any action against the Doers, so long as the latter do nol trv to C'llect taxes, or otherwise interfere with them. But if ttie Buer Government is to continue to exist, it will be hound to raise taxes from the natives, since it caniift collect much from its white subjects. Tiio iirst genei'al attempt of the sort will be the sigruil fur active resistance on the part of the natives, wh' iu, if they act without concert, the Boers will be abb; to cru.-h in detail, though with considerable lu>s. If, on the otlier hand, they should 1- !\e happened, durin'j tlie la.-t fesv years, to have iearnt m r 200 THE TRANSVAAL. i^^ / , the advantages of combination, as is quite possible, perhaps they will crush the Boers. The only thing that is at pre.-eiiL certain about the matter is that there will be bloodshed, and that before long. For instance, the Montsioa difhculty in the Keate Award has in it the possibilities of a serious war, and there are plenty such difhculties ready to spring into life within and without the Transvaal. Ill all human probability it will take but a sm.all lapse of time for the Transvaal to find itself in the identical position from which we relieved it by the Annexation. What course events will then take it is impossible to say. It may be found desirable to re-annex the country, though, in my opinion, that would be, after all that has passed, an unfortunate step ; its inhabi- tants may be cut up piecemeal by a combined move- ment of native tribes, as they would have been, had they not been rescued by the English Government in 1877, or it is possible that the Orange Free State may consent to take the Transvaal under its wing : who can say ? There is only one thing that our re- cently abandoned possession can count on for certain, and that is trouble, both from its white subjects, and the natives, who hate the Boers with a bitter and a well-earned hatred. The whole question can, so far as its moral aspect is concerned, be summed up in a few words. \Vh(!ther or no the Annexation was a necessity at the moment of its execution — which I certainly maintain it was — it received the unreserved sanction of the Home authorities, and the relations of Sovereign and subject, with all the many and mutual obligations THE RETROCESSION OF THE TRANSVAAL 201 involved in that connection, were established between the Queen of England and every individual of tlie motley population of the Transvaal. Nor was this change an empty form, for, to the largest proportion of that population, this transfer of allegiance brought with it a priceless and a vital boon. To them it meant freedom and justice — for where, on any portion of this globe over which the Ihitisl. ensign iJoats, does the law even wink at cruelty or wrong ? A few years passed away, and a small number of the Queen's subjects in the Transvaal rose in rebellion against her authority, and inflicted some reverses on her arms. Thereupon, in spite of the reiterated pledges given to the contrary — partly under stress of defeat, and partly in obedience to the pressure of " advanced views " — the country was abandoned, and the vast majority who had remained faithful to the Crown, was handed to tlie cruel despotism of the minority who Lad rebelled against it. Such an act of tieachery to those to whom we were bound with double chains — by the strong ties of a common citizenship, and by those claims to England's protection from violence and wrong which have hitherto been wont to command it, even where there was no duty to fulfil, and no authority to vindicate — stands, I believe, without parallel on our recoras, and marks a new departure in our history. I cannot end these paues without expressing my admiration of the extremely able way in which the Boers managed their revolt, when once they felt thot, having undertaken the thing, it was a question of life and death with them. It shows that they have good atufif in them somewhere, which, under the I02 THE TRANSVAAL. r, < !; lit. >'■ i 1 firm but just rule of Her Majesty, might have been much developed, and it makes it the more sad that they should have been led to throw off that rule, and have been allowed to do so by an English Government. In conclusion, there is one point that I must touch on, and that is the effect of the retrocession on the native mind, which I can only describe as most disastrous. The danger alluded to in the Eeport of the Eoyal Commission has been most amply realised, and the prevailing belief in the steadfastness of oui policy, and the inviolability of our plighted word, which has hitherto been the threat secret of our hold on the Kafirs, has been rudely shaken. The motives that influenced, or are said to have influenced, the Government in their act, are naturally quite unin- telligible to savages, however clever, who do believe that force is a remedy, and who have seen the in- habitants of a country ruled by England defeat English soldiers and take possession of it, whilst th>)se who remained loyal to England were driven out of it. It will not be wonderful if some of them, say the natives of Natal, deduce therefrom conclusions unfavourable to loyalty, and evince a desire to try the same experiment. It is, however, unprofitable to speculate on the future, which must be left to unfold itself. The curtain is, so far as this countrv is concerned, down for the moment on the South African stage ; when it rises again, there is but too much reason to fear that it will reveal a state of confusion, which, unless it is more wisely and consistently dealt with in the future LLan it has hcmi in the past, may develop into chaos. I CHAPTEK Vir. The ibllowing pages, extracted from an intro- duction to a new edition to " Cetywayo and His White Neighbours," written in 1888, are reprinted here, because they contain matter of interest con- cerning the more recent history of the Transvaal Boers. Edrad from Introduction to New Edition 0/1888. The recent history of the Transvaal, now once more a republic, vill fortunately admit of brief treatment. It is, so far as England is concerned, very much a history of concession. For an account of the first Convention I must refer my readers to the remarks which I have made ■MM I/- ■ i • ' if'i ! '■] •l '< iii ill 204 THE TRANSVAAL. in the chapter of this book headed " The Eetroccs- sion of the Transvaal." It will there be seen that the Transvaal Volksraad only ratified the first convention, which was wrung from us (Sir Evelyn Wood, to his honour be it said, dissenting) after our defeats at Lang's Nek, Ingogo, and Majuba, as a favour to the British Goveinment, which in its turn virtually pro- mised to reconsider the convention, if only the Volks- raad would be so good as to ratify it. This conven- tion was ratified in October 1881. In June 1883 the Transvaal Government^ telegraphs briefly to Lord Derby through the High Commissioner thai the Volksraad has ** resolved that time has come to re- consider convention." Lord Derby quickly te' 'graphs back that " Her Majesty's Government consent to inquire into the working of convention." Human nature is frail, and it is impossible to help wishing that Lord Palmerston or Disraeli had been appointed by the Fates to answer that telegram. But we have fallen upon different days, and new men have arisen who appear to be suited to them ; and so the conven- tion was reconsidered, and on the 27th of February 1884 a new one was signed, which is known as the convention of London. It begins by defining bound- aries to which the " Government of the South African Republic will strictly adhere, . . . and will do its utmost to prevent any of its inhabitants from making any e. uoachments upon the said boundaric?." The » [0. 3659J, 1883. k i {! THE TRANSVAAL. 30; The existence of the New Republic in Zululand is a strik- ing and practical comment on this article. Article ii. also provides for the security of the amended south- west boundary. The proclamation of i6th September 1884 (afterwards disallowed by the English Govern- ment), by which the South African llepublic practically annexed the territories of Montsioa and Moshette, already for the most part in the possession of its free- booters, very clearly illustrates its anxiety to be bound by this provision. Art. xii. provides for the indepen- dence of the Swazis ; and by way of illustrating the fidelity with which it has been observed, we shall pre- sently liave occasion to remark upon the determined attempts that have continually been made by Boer free- booters to obtain possession of Swaziland — and so on. In order to make these severe restrictions palatable to the burghers of a free and haughty Republic, Lord Derby recommends Her ^Majesty's Government to re- mit a trifling sum of ;£^ 127,000 of their debt due to the Imperial Treasury, which was accordingly done. On the whole, the Transvaal had no reason to be dissatisfied with this new treaty, though really the whole aflfair is scarcely worth discussing. Convention N"o. 2 is almost as much a farce and a dead letter as was Convention No. I . It is, however, impossible to avoid })eing impressed with the really remarkable tone, not merely of equality, but of superiority, adopted by the South African Republic and its officials townrds this country. To take an instance. The Republic had 2<>6 THE TRANSVAAL. rut I ; / ; !i yfi' m 'i! i /fi!'! ' illh .! ii found it convenient to wa^'o n war of extermination upon some Kafir chiefs. Two of these, Manipocr and Njahel, fell into its hands. Her Majesty's Government was, rightly or wrongly, so impressed with the injus- tice of the sentence of death passed upon those un- fortunates, that, acting through Mr. Hulson, the British Eesident at Pretoria, it strained every nerve to save them. This was the upshot of it. In a tone of studied sarcasm, Ilis Honour the State President " observes with great satisfaction the great interest in thep.e cases which has been manifested by your Honour and Her Majesty's Government." He then gr.es on to say that, notwithstanding this interest, iMaiiipoer will be duly and effectually hung, giving the exact time and place of the event, and Njabel imprisoned for life, with hard labour. Finally, he once more con- veys " the hearty thanks of the Government and the members of the Executive Council for the interest manifested in these cases," ^ and remains, &c. The independence of Swaziland was guaranteed by the convention of 1884. Yet the Blue-books are full of accounts of various attempts made by Boers to obtain a footing in Swaziland. Thus in November 1885 Umbandine, the king of Swaziland, sends messengers to the Governor of Natal through Sir T. Shepstone, in which he states that in the winter Piet Joubert, accompanied by two other Boers and an interpreter, came to his kraal and asked him to sign a paper " to » [0. 384'!. '884, p 148. THE TRANSVAAL. 207 1 at ion r and iment injus- e un- iritish save me of sident -est in lonour •es on iinpoer 1 exact risoned re con- ^d the ntercst ;e'ed by are full ) obtain 1885 isengers epstone, Toubert, rpreter, per " to say tliat he and all the Sv^azis agreed to go over and recognise the authority oC the Boer Government, and have nothing more to do with tlie English." ^ Um- bandine refused, saying that he looked to and recog- nised the En-lish Government O'liereon the Boers, growing angry, answered, " Those fathers of yours, the English, act very slowly ; and if you look to tliem for help, and refuse to sign this paper, we shall have scattered you and your people, and taken possession of the land before they arrive. Why do you refuse to sign the paper ? You know we defeated the English at Maju])a." Umbandine's message then goes on to say that he recognises the English Government only, and does not wish to have dealings with the Boers. Also, in the following month, we find him making a direct application to the Colonial Office through Mr. David Forbes,* praying that his country may be taken under the protection of Her Majesty's Government. More than one such attempt to secure informal rights of occupation in Swaziland appears to have been made by the Transvaal Boers. Mr. T. Shepstone, C.M G., is at present acting as Resident to Umbandine, though he has not, it would seem, any regular commission from the Home Government authorising him to do so, probably because it does not consider that its rights in Swaziland are such as to justify such an assumption of formal authority over the Swazis. However this may be, Umbandine could not have found a better » fO. 4645], 1886, JN 64. " Ibid, p 7a «PI 208 THE TRANSVAAU W 1I) M ,. i i\\ man to protect his interests. Of course, when acts like tliat of Piet Juubeit are reported to the Govern- ment of the South African Republic and made the subject of a remonstrance by this country, all know- ledge of tliem is repudiated, as it was repudiated in the case of the invasion of Zululand. It is part of the policy of the Transvaal only to become an accessory after the fact. Its subjects gc forth and stir up trouble among the natives, and then probably the Boer Government intervenes " in the in- terests of humanity," and takes, or tries to take, the country. This process is always going on, and, unless the British Government puts a stop to it, always will go on. We shall probably soon hear that it is de- veloping itself in the direction of Matabeleland. A country the size of France, which could without diffi- culty accommodate a population of from eight to ten millions of industrious folk, is not large enough for the wants of a Boer people, numbering something under fifty thousand souls. Every young Boer must have his six or more thousand acres of land on which to lord it. It is his birthright, and if it is not forth- coming he goes and takes it by force from the nearest native tribe. Hence these continual complaints. Of course, there are two ways of looking at the matter. There is a party that does not hesitate to say that the true policy of this country is to let the Boers work their will upon the natives, and then, as they in turn fly from civilisation towards the far interior, to ioVLoTi THE THANSVAAU 909 on their path and occupy tlie lands that they have swept. Tliis plan is supported by arguments about the superiority of the wliite races and tbeir obvious destiny of rule. It is, I confess, one that I look upon as little short of wicked. I could never discern a superiority BO great in ourselves as to authorise us, by right divine as it were, to destroy the coloured man and take his lands. It is difficult to see why a Zulu, for instance, has not as much right to live in his own way as a Boer or an Englishman. Of course, there is another extreme. Nothing is more ridiculous than the length to which the black brother theory is sometimes driven by enthusiasts. A savage is one thing, and a civilised man is another; and though civilised men may and do become savages, I personally doubt if the converse is even possible. But whether the civilised man, with his gin, his greed, and his dynamite, is really so very superior to the savage is another question, and one which would bear argument, although this is not the place to argue it. My point is, that his superiority is not at any rate so absolutely overwhelming as to justify him in the wholesale destruction of the savage and the occupation of his lands, or even in allow- ing others to do the work for him if he ;an prevent it. The principle might conceivably be pushed to in- convenient and indecent lengths. Savagery is only a question of degree. When all true savages have been wiped out, the most civilised and self-righteous among the nations may begin to give the term to those whom It o 210 TUK TIIANSVAAU !!•' Ill m ;i thoy consider to be on a lower scale than themselvcG, and apply the argument also. Thus there are " cul- tured " people in another land who do not hesitate to say that the humble writers of tliese islands are rank and rude barbarians not to be endured. Supposing that, being the stronger, they also applied the argument^ it would be inconvenient lor some of us, and perhaps the world would not gain so very much after all But this is a digression, only excusable, if excusable at all, in one who has endured a three weeks' course of unmitigated Blue-book. To return. The process of absorption attempted in Swaziland, and brought to a successful issue in Zululand, also went forward merrily in Bechuanaland, till recently, under the rule of Mankorane, chief of the Batlapins, and Montsioa, chief of the Baralongs. These two chiefs have always been devoted friends and adhe- rents of the English Government, and consequently are not regarded with favour by the Boers. Shortly after the retrocession of the Transvaal, a rival to Mankorane rose up in the person of a certain Massou, and a rival to Montsioa named Moshette. Both Massou and Moshette were supported by Boer fiUibusters, and what happened to Usibepu in Zululand happened to these unfortunate chiefs in Bechuanaland. They were defeated after a gallant struggle, and two Republics called Stellaland and Goschen were carved out of their territories and occupied by the fiUibusters. Fortunately for them, however, they had a friend in THE TRANSVAAL. an the person of the Kev. John Mnckenzio, to whose valuable work, " Austral Africa," I beg to refer the reader for a fuller account of these events. Mr. Mackenzie, who had for many years lived as a mis- sionary among the Bechuanas.had also mastered the Tact that it is very difficult to do anything for South Africa in this country unless you can make it a question of votes, or, in other words, unless you can bring pressure to bear upon the Government. Accordingly he com- menced an agitation on behalf of Mankorane and Mont- sioa, in which he was supported by various religious bodies, and also by the late Mr. Forster and the Aborigines Protection Society. As a result of this agitation he was appointed Deputy to the High Com- missioner for Bechuanaland, whither he proceeded early in 1884 to establish a British protectorate. He was gladly welcomed by the unfortunate chiefs, who were now almost at their last gasp, and who both of them ceded their rights of government to the Queen, Hostilities did not, however, cease, for on the 31st July 1884 the fiUibusters again attacked Montsoia, routed him, and cruelly murdered Mr. Bethell, his English adviser. Meanwhile Mr. Mackenzie's success was viewed with very mixed feelings at the Cape. To the English party it was most acceptable, but the Dutch,^ and more numerous party, looked on it with * By the Dutch party I mean the anti-Imperial and retrogressive party. It mu^t be remembered that many of the now educated and progressive Boers do not belong to thid. 211 THE TR'.NSVAAL alarm and disj^ust. The^ did not at all wish to see the Imperial power esKblished in ]'>echTianaland ; so pressure was put upon Sir Hercules Kohinson, and through him on ^-.Ir. Mackenzie, to such an extent indeed as to necessitate the resignat'on of the latter. Thv'ireou the HiL[h Coinmissioner despatched a Cape politician, Mr. Cecil Khodes, and his own private secretary, Captain Bower, Il.N., to Bechr.analand. These gentle- men at once set to vork to undo most of what Mr. Mackenzie had done, and, generally speaking, did not advance eith(.'r Ihitish or native interests in Becliuanc- land. At this point, taking advantage of the general confusion, the Government of the South African He- public issued a proclamation placing both Montsioa and Moshette under its protection, as usual " in the interests of humanity." But the agitation in England had, fortunately for what remained of the Bechuana people, not been allowed to drop. Her Majesty's Government dis- allowed the Boer proclamation, under Article iv. of the convention of London, and d''spatched an armed force to Bechuanaland, comniandcil by Sir Cliarles AVarren. This good act, I believe I am right in saying, we owe entirely to the firmness of Sir Charles Dilke and Mr. Chamb-.Tlain, who insisted upon its being done. Meanwhile Messrs. Upington and Sprigg, mem- bers of the Cape Government, hastened to Bechuanaland to elTect a settlement before the arrival of Sir Charhs Warren's force. This settlement, though it might i ,untvm^^immm^^mHm»'^u>simmiii^m'Mmi^<.i' THE TRANSVAAL. 213 bare been agreeable to the fillibusters and the anti- Imperialists generally, was disallowed by Her Majesty's Governnxent as unsatisfactory, and Sir Charles Warren was ordered to occupy Bechuaiialand. This he accord- ingly did, taking Mr. Mackenzie with him, very much against tlie will of the anti-English party, and, be it added, of Sir Hercules Eobinson. indeed, if we may accept Mr. Mackenzie'? version of these occurrences, whicb seems to be a fair one, and adequately supported by documentary evidence, the conduct of Sir Hercules Rol)inson towards Mr. Mackenzie would really admit of explanation. As soon as the freebooters saw that the Imperial Government was really in earnest, of course there was no more trouble. They went away, and Sir Charles AVarren took possession of Bechuana- land without striking a single blow. He reniained in the country for nearly a year arranging for its per- manent pacification and government, and as a result of his occupation, on the 30th September 1885, all the territory south of the Molop'^ River was declared to be British territory, and nuide into a quasi crown colony, the entire extent of land, including the districts ruled over I'y Khama, Sechele, and Gasitsive, being about 160,000 square miles in area. I believe that the new colony of British Ijechuanaland is proving a very con- siderable success. Every provision bus been made for native wants, and its settlement goes on a]iaco. There LB no reason why, with its remarkable natural advan- tages, it should not one day become a great country, isimnaTTwtitrotmmmii'irt'fr^r*'*'''''*'"""!'''^'*""'''''^ 214 THE TRANSVAAL. with a prosperous white, and a loyal aud contented native population. When this comes about it is to ba hoped that it will remember that it owes its existence to the energy and firninoss of Mr. Mackenzie, Sir Charles Dilke, Mr. Chamberlain, and Sir Charles Warren. It is probably by now dawning upon the mind of the British public that when we gave up the Trans- vaal we not only did a cowardly tiling and sowed a plentiful crop of future troubles, ve also abandoned one of the richest, if not the richest, country in the world. The great goM-ficlds which exist all over the surface of the land are being opened up and pouring out their treasures so fast that it is said that the Transvaal Government, hitherto remarkable for its impecuniosity, does not know what to do with its superiluous casli. To what extent this will continue it is impossible to say, but I for one shall not be sur- prised if the output should prove to be absolutely unprecedented. And with gold in vtst quantities, with iron in mountains, and coal-ljods to be measured by the scores of square miles, with lead and copper and cobalt, a fertile soil, water, and one of the most lovely climates in the world, what more is required to make a country ricli and great ? Only one thing, an Anglo-Saxon Government, and that VN'e have taken away from the Transvaal. Whether the English flag has vanished for ever from its bordens is, however, still an open question. The discovery of gold in such quantities is destined to exercise a very remarkable i I I :f>ft>nmi^ THE TRANSVAAL. 215 inlluence upon the future of the Transvaal. Where gold is to be found, there the hardy, enterprising, Koglish-spealdng di.egers flock together, and before them and. their energy the Boer retreats, as the native retreats and vanishes before the rifle of the I'oer. Already there are many thousands of diggers in the Transvaal ; if the discoveries of gold go on and prove as remunerative as they promise to be, in a few more years their number will be vastly increased. Sup- posing that another five years sees sixty or seventy thousand English diggers at work in the Transvaal, is it to be believed that these men will in that event allow themselves to be ruled by eight or nine thousand hostile-hearted Boers ? Is it to be believed, too, that the Boers will stop to try and rule them ? From such knowledge as I have of their character I should say certainly not. They will trek^ anywhere out of the way of the Englishman and his English ways, and those who do not trek will be absorbed.^ Should this happen, it is, of course, possible, and even probable, that for some time the diggers, fearing the vacillations of Imperial policy, would prefer to remain independent with a Republican form of Government. But the Englishman is a law-abidiii'^ and patriotic creature, and as society settled it^.-lf in the new community, it would almost certainly desire to be united to the Empire and acknowledge the soveroicjnty of the Queen. So far as a judgment can be formed, if only the gold * The occupation of Rhodesia has now made it impossible tor the Boera to trek out of r*:'ach of the English and their flag. — II. R. IT » :»»|l;»«jji«i&iiiiy::4; 4.';a«tt!ii»«jUiiaawB®a»stttt^itiifi!«c.:;vs8i.»;.'.:; 2l6 THE TRANSVAAL. 141; l\ holds out the Transvaal will as certainly fall into the lap of the Empire as a green apj'Io will one day drop from the tree — that is, if it is not gathered. Now it is quite possible that the Germans, or some other power, may try to gather the Transvaal apple. The Liters are not blind to the march of events, and they dislike us and our rule. Perhaps they might think it worth their whi'" ^o seek German protection, and unless we are pr^; ared to say " no " very firmly indeed — and who knows, in the present condition of Home politics, what we are prepared to do from one day to another ? — Germany would in such a case almost certainly think it worth her while to give it. Very likely the protection, when granted, would in some ways resemble that which the Boer himself, his breast aglow with love of peace and the " interests of humanity," is so anxious to extend to the misguided .lative pos- sessor of desirable and well-watered lands. Aery likely, in the end, the Boer would be sorry that he did not accejtt the ills he knew of. But that is neither here nor there. So far as we are concerned, the mischief would be done. In short, should the position arise, everything will depend upon our capacity of saying •* no," and the tone in which we say it. It will not do to rely upon our London convention, by which the Transvaal is forbidden to conclude treaties with outside powers without the consent of this Govern- ment. The convei)tion has been broken before now, and will be broken again, if the Boers find it con- venient to break it *^nd know that they can do sc THE TRANSVAAL. 217 with impunity. Meanwhile we must rest on our oani and watcli events. One thing, however, miglit and should be done. Some person having weight and real authority — if he were quite new to South Africa so much the better — sliould be appointed as our Consul to watch over the welfare of Englishmen and our Imperial interests at Pretoria, and properly paid for doing so. It is difficult to find a suitable man unless he is adequately salaried and supported. But quite recently this country has awakened to the knowledge that Delagoa Bay is important to it^s South African interests, though how important it per- haps does not altogether realise. For years and years the colony of Natal has been employed in the inter- mittent construction of a railway with a very narrow gauge, which is now open as iar as Ladysmith, or to within a hundred miles of the Transvaal border. Natal is very pour,' and in common wilh the rest of South Africa, and indeed of the world, has lately been passing through a period of great commercial depres- sion. The Home Government has refused ^o help it to construct its railways (if it had done so, how many hundreds of thousand pounds would have been saved tj the British taxpayer during the Zulu and Boer wars !), and has equally refused to allow it to borrow sufficient money to get them constructed, with the result that a large amount of the interior trade has already been deflected into other channels. And now 9. fresh and very real danger, not only to Natal, but to 2l8 THE TRANSVAAL. i I 'I '! I all Imperial interests in South Africa, has sprung into sudden prominence, that is, in this countiy, for in Africa it has been foreseen for many years. Above Zululand is situated Amitongaland, which reaches to the southern shore of one of the finest harbours in the world, Delagoa Bay. This great bight, in wliich half a dozen navies could ride at anchor, the only really good haven on the coasts of South Africa, is fifty-five miles in width and twenty in depth, that is, from east to west. It is separated from the Transvaal, of which it is the natural port, by about ninety miles of wild and sparsely inhabited country. The ownership of this splendid port was for many years in dispute between this country and the Portu- guese, with whose dominions of Mozambique it is con- nected by a strip of coast, and who have a smaH fort upon it. This dispute was finally referred by Lord Granville in 1872 to the decision of Marshal MacMahon, and on this occasion, as on every other in which this country has been weak enough to go to arbitration, that decision was given against us. Into the merits of the case it is not necessary to enter, further tlian to say, as has already been recently pointed out by a very able and well-informed corre- spondent of the Morning Post, that it is by no means clear by what right the matter was referred to arbitra- tion at nil. The Amatcngas are in possession of the iouthein shore of the bay, including, I believe, the Inyack Peninsula and Inyack Island, and they are TIJE TRANS VAAU S19 an independent people. The Swazis also abut on it, and tliey are independent. Wliat warrant had we to refer their rights to the a'*bitration of Marshal MaoMahon ? The evidence of the exercise of any Portuguese sovereignty over these countries is so shadowy that it may be said ir'ver to have existed; certainly it does not exist now. This is a point, but it is nothing more. We must take things as we find them, and we find that the Portuguese have been for- mally declared and admitted by us to be the owners of Delagoa Bay. Now, 80 long as we held the Transvaal it did not so much matter who had the sovereignty of the Hay, since a railway constructed from there could only run to British territory. But we gave up the Transvaal, which is now virtually a liostile slate, and the contingency which has been so long foreseen in South Africa, and so blindly overlooked at home, has come to pass — the railway is in course of rapid completion. What does this mean to us ? At the best, it means that we lose the greater part of the trade of South-eastern Africa; at the worst, that we lose it all. In other words, it means, putting aside the ([uesuion of our Imperial needs and status in Africa, a great many millions a year in hard cash out of the national pocket. Let us suppose that the worst hap- pens, and that the Germans get a footing either in the Transvaal or Delagoa Bay. Obviously they will stop our trade in favour of their own. Or let ua 220 THE TRANSVAAL. r ilk ii! IV BUppose that the Transvaal takes advantage of one of our spasms of Imperial paralysis, suuh as afflicted us during the regime of Lord Derby, and defies the pro- vision in the convention which forbids them to put a heavier tax upon our goods than upon those of any other nation. Jn either event our case would be a bad one, for our road from the eastern coast to the vast interior is blocked. But it is of little use crying over spilt milk, v)f anticipating evils which it is our duty to try to avert, and which in all probability still could be averted by a sound and consistent policy. To be^^in with, both Swaziland and Amaton^aland can be annexed to the Empire. It is true that the in- dependence of the first of these countries is guaranteed by Article xii. of the convention of London of 1884. Here is the exact wording : — '* The independence of the Swazis within the boundary-line of Swaziland, as indicated in the first article of this convention, will be fully recognised." But England has for years exercised a kind of protective right over Swaziland— a right, as I have already shown, fully acknowledged and frequently appealed to by the Swaus themselv.^s. And for the rest, what is the obviouo m'^auing of this provision ? It means that tne independence of Swazi- land is guaranteed against Boer encroachn ents ; its object was to protect the Swazis from extermination at the hands of the Boers. Further, the Eoers have again and again broken this article of the convention / THE TRANSVAAL. 221 in their repeated attempts to get a foothold in Swazi- land. It has now become necessary to our interests that the Swazis should come under our rule, as indeed they are most anxious to do, and a way sliould be found by which this end can be accomplished. Then as to Amatongaland, or Maputaland, as it is sometimes called, only a month or two ago an embassy from the Queen of that country waited on the Colonial Office, praying for British protection. It is not known what answer they received; let us trust that it was a favourable one.* The protection that should be accorded to tb.e Amatongas, both in their interests and our own, is annexation to the British Empire upon such terms as might be satisfactory to them. The management of their country might be left to them, subject to the advice of a Resident, and the enforcement of the ordinary laws respecting life and property common to civilised states. Drink and white men might be strictly excluded from it, unless the Amatongas should wish to welcome the latter. But the country, with its valuable but undefined rights over Delagoa Bay, should belong to England, for whoever owns Swaziland and Amatongaland will in course of time be almost certain to own the Bay also. It must ^ I understand that the treaty which we have conchided with Amatongaland (where, by the way, it is said a new harbour has been discovered) binds the authorities of t'.iat country not to cc-de territory to any other Power. But there is notiiing in such a treaty to prevent, ■ay Portugal or the Boers, from taking pos-usf-ion of the land by force of armi. Were the country annexed to th<e Crown, or a British Tro tectorate established, they would not dare to do this. Note, — This has since been done. — U. R. H, ^- \^-':'\'-rSt 223 THE TRANSVAAL. : i t further be remembered that circumstances have already given us certain rights over the Amatongas. They regarded Cetywayo as their suzerain, and it was, I believe, at his instance that Zambila was appointed regent during the minority of her son. As we have annexed what remains of Zululand, Cetywayo's suze- rainty has consequently passed to us. Meanwhile, can nothing be done by direct treaty with the Portuguese ? A little while ago the Buy could no doubt have been acquired for a very mode- rate consideration, but those golden opportunities have been allowed to slip from hands busy weaving the web of party politics. Now it is a difl'erent affair. Delagoa Bay is of no direct value to Portugal except for the honour and glory of the thing. Portugal has never done anything with it, any more than she has with her other African possessions, and never will do any- thing with it. But it has become very valuable, indeed, so far as its South African interests are con- cerned, almost vit-nl, to this country, and of that fact Portugal is perfectly well aware. Consequently, if we want the Bay we must pay for it, if not in cash, at the offer of which the Portuguese national pride miudit be revolted, then in some other equivalent. Surely a power like England could find a way of obliging one like Portugal in return for this small concession. Or an exchange of territory might be effected. Perhaps Portugal might be inclined to accept of some of our possessions on the West Coast THE TRANSVAAL 223 or an island or two in the West Indies. It i3 hard to suppose that there is no way out of the truubhi ; but if indeed there is none, wliy, then, one must be found, or we must be content to lose a great part of our African trade. The reader who has followed me through this brief and imperfect summary of recent events in South Africa will see how varied are its interests, how enormous its areas, and how vast its wealth. In that great country England is still the paramount power. Her prestige has, indeed, been greatly shaken, and she is sadly fallen from her estate of eight or nine years gone. But she is still paramount ; and if she has to face the animosity of a section of the Boers, she can, notwith- standing her many crimes against them, set against it the love and respect of every native in the land, with the exception, perhaps, of a few self-seekers and intriguers. The history of the next twenty years, and perhaps of the next ten, will decide whether this country is to remain paramount or whether South Africa is to be- come a great Dutch, English-hating Kepublic. There are some who call themselves Englishmen, and who possessed by that strange itch which prompts them to desire any evil that can humble their country in the face of her enemies, or can bring about the advantage of the rebel to the injury of the loyal subject, to whom this last event would be most welcome, and who have not hesitated to say that it would be welcome. To Buch there is nothing to be said. Let them follow 114 THK TRANSVAAL their false lights and earn the wonder of true-hoartod men and the maledictions of posterity. But, addressing those of other and older doctrines, I would ask what such an event wuuld moan ? It would mean nothing less than a great national cala- mity; it would mean the utter ruin of the native tribes ; and, to come to a reason which has a wider popularity, for as I think Mr. S. Little says in his work on South Africa, " the argument to the poci\et is the best argument to the man," it would mean the loss of a vast trade, which, if properly protected, will be growing while we are sleeping And this calamity can yet be averted ; the mistakes and cowardice of the past can still be remedied, at any rate to a great extent ; the door is yet open. We have many didiculties to face, among the chief of which are the Transvaal, the question of Delagoa Bay, and last, but not least, the question of the Dutch party at the Cape, which may be numerically the strongest party. When, in our mania for representative institutions, we thrust responsible government upon the Cape, we placed ourselves practically at the mercy of any chance anti-English majority. It is possible that in the future we may find some such majority urging upon an English Ministry the desirability of the separation of the Cape Colony from the Empire, and may find also that the prayer meets with favourable attention from those to whom there is but one thing sacred, the rights of a majority, and especially of an agitating majority. Tin- TUANSVAATi. "5 But let not tlie country be deceived by any such representations, The natives too have a right to a voice in the disposal of their fortunes and their lands. They are the majority in the proportion of three to one, and let any doubter go and ask of them, any- where from the Zambesi to Cape Agulhas, whether they would rather be ruled by the Queen or by a Boer Kepublic, and hear the answer. When it was a question of surrendering the Transvaal we heard a great deal of the riglits of some thirty thousand Boers, and very little, or rather nothing, of the rights of the million natives who lived in the country with them, and to whom that country originally belonged. And yet, if the reader will turn to that part of this book which deals with the question, he will find that they had an opinion, and a strong one. No settlement of South African questions that does not receive adequate consideration from a native point of view can be a just settlement, or one which the Home Government should sanction. Moreover, the Cape is not by any means entirely anti-English at heart, as was shown clearly enough by the number and enthusiasm of the loyalist meetings when its Ministry was attempting to undo Mr. Mackenzie's work in Bechuanaland in the interests of the Patriot-party. Still, it is possible that movements may arise under the fostering care of the Africander Bond and its sym- pathisers, having for object the separation of the colony from the Empire, or other ends fatal to Imperial in- 236 '1 iii: TIIANSVA \r,. tciests ; and in this case the Home (Jlovernment should be prepared to disallow and put a final stop to them. We cannot afi'ord to lose our alternative route to India and to throw these f,'roat territories into tlie hands of enemies, i'rom which they would very jtrubably pass into those of commercial rivals. In such an event all that would be required is a show of nrmness. If once it was known that an English Ministry really meant what it said, and that its promises made in the Qiu-en's iiaiii'; were not liable to be <,dven the lie by a succeeding:; set of politicians elected ou another platform, there would be an end to disloyalty and ajitation in Soutli Africa. As it is, loyalists, rememberiu'^ the experiences of the last fcv/ years, are faint-hearted, never knowing if the}' will nieei >vith support at honie, while agitators and eneniK'S wax exceeding bold. Our system oi party governnk-nt, \\ hatever may be its nierits,if any,as api>liedto Home i)0litics,is agreateneuiy to the welfare and ja-ogrcss of our Colonies, the affairs of which are, es})ecially oi late years, frocpiently used as stalking-horses to covv'r an attack upon the other p.ide. Could not the two great pr.ities ajree to rule Colonial aflairs, and especially South African alTairs, out of the party game ? Could not the policy of the Colonial Oillce be guitled by a Commission composed of members jf dill'erent political opinions, and responsible not to party, but to Parliament and the country, instead of by a succettsion of Ministers as variable and as transitory as shadows ? Lord liosebery and Mr. Chamberiam, ^ MiiiiiiwiMiHiii timm ti^wiiiiUHiSui TlIK TRANSVAAL. 227 ; should o tliem. to India laiids of iiiss into all that [ once it lut what i's iiaiii''. cceedin*.; ;n, there in South lorieucea knowing agitators lay be its ateneni/ lie affairs y used as dier p.ide. Colonial ut of the dal Ofllce ;mbers jf to p-irty, of hy a .ransitory nibcfhiin, for instance, are Radicals ; but, putting aside party tactics and exigencies, are their views upon Colonial matters so widely different from tluise of, let us say, Sir Michael Hicks iieach and Lord Carnarvon that it would be irapossilde for these four gentlemen to act together on such a Comnassion ? Surely they are not ; and perhapi5 a day may come when the common-sense of the country will lead it to adopt some such system which wou'd give to the Colonies a fixed and intelli- gent control aiming at the furtherance of the joint interests of the Empire and its dependencies. If it ever docs, that day will be a happy one for all concerned. Meanwhile, there is .so far as South Africa is con- cerned, a step that might be ttiken to the great benefit of that country, and also of our Imperial aims, and tliat is the appointment of a High Commissioner who WGidd have charge of all Imperial as dibtinguished from the various Colonial interests. This appointment has already been advocated with ability by Mr. Mackenzie in the last chapter of his book, " Austral Africa," and it is undoubtedly one that should receive the consideration of the C.overnment. Such an olhcer would uot supersede the Governors of the various colonies or the administrators of the native territories, although, so far as Imperial interests were concerned, they would be primarily responsible to him. At present there is no central authority except the Colonial Office, and Downing Street is a long way off and somewhat overwoiked. Each Governor must necessarily look at I 228 THE TRANSVAAL. South African affairs from liis own standpoint and through local glasses. What is wanted is a man of the first ability, whose name would command respect abroad and support at home; and several such men could be found, who would study South African politics as a whole as an engineer studies a map, and who would set himself to conciliate and reconcile all inter(3.sts for the common welfare and the welfare of the mother-country. Such a man, or ratlver a succession of such men, might, if properly supported, succeed in bringing about a very different state of affairs from that which has been brietly reviewed and considered in these pages. They might, little by liltle, build up a South African Con- federation, strong in itself and loyal to England, that shall in time become a great empire. For my part, notwithstanding the difficulties and dangers wiiich we have brought upon ourselves, and u]ion the various South African territories and their inhabitants, I be- lieve that such an empire is destined to arise, and that it will not take the form of a Dutch Republic. X I int and man of respect en could :ics as a ould set 1 for the countrv. , might, about a las been They m Gon- ad, that ny part, liich we various 3, I be- nd that APPENDIX, "fltfiiF PiiiiWSilii .■.'■: n I ;|f!B»1if} APPENDIX. f THE POTCHEFSTROOM ATROCITIES, &c There were more murders and acta of cruelty committed during the war at Potchefstroom, where the behaviour of the Boers waa throughout both deceitful and savage, than at any other place. When the fighting commenced a number of ladies and children, the wives and children of English residents, took refuge in the fort. Shortly after it had been invested they applied to be allowed to return to their homes in the town till the war was over. The request was refused by the Boer commander, who said that as they had gone there, they might stop and '* perish " there. One poor lady, the wife of a gentleman well known in the Transvaal, was badly wounded by having the point of a stake, which had been cut in two by a bullet, driven into her side. She was at the time in a state of pregnancy, and died some days afterwards in great agony. Tier little sister was shot through the tliroat, and several other women and children sufTered from bullet wounds, and fever arising from their being obliged to live lor months exposed to rain and heat, with insufficient food. The moving spirit of all the Potchefstroom atrocities waa a cruel wretch of the name of Buskes, a well-educated man, who, as an advocate of the High Court, had taken the oath of allegiance to the Queen. 232 APPENDIX. m vu One deponent swears that he saw this Euskes wearing Captain Fall's diamond ring, v/luch he had taken from Sergeant Ritchie, to whom it was handed to be sent to England, and also that he had possessed himself of the carriages and other goods belonging to prisoners taken by the Boers.^ Another deponent (whose name is omitted in the Blue Book for precautionary reasons) swears, " That on the next night the patrol again came to my house accom- panied by one Buskes, who was secretary of the Boer Com mittee, and again asked where my wife and daughter were. I replied, in bed ; and Buskes then said, * I must see for myself.' I refused to allow him, and he forced me, with a loaded gun held to my breast, to oi)en the curtains of the bed, when he pulled the bedclothes half off my wife, and altogether off my daughter. I then told him if I had a gun I would si loot him. He placed a loaded gun at my breast, when my wife sprang out of bed and got between us." I remember hearing at the time that this Buskes (who is a good musician) took one of his victims, who was on the way to execution, into the chapel and played the " Dead March in Saul," or some such piece, over him on the organ. After the capture of the Court House a good many English- men fell into the hands of the Boers. Most of these were sentenced to hard labour and deprivation of " civil rights." The sentence was enforced by making them work in the trenches under a heavy fire from the fort. One poor fellow, F. W. Finlay by name, got his head blown off by a shell from his own friends in the fort, and several loyal Kafirs suffered the same fate. After these events the remaining prisoners refused to return to the trenches till they had been "tamed" by being thrashed with the butt end of guns, and by threats of receiving twenty-five lashes each. But their fate, bad as it was, was not so awful as that suffered by Pr. Woite and J. Van dcr Linc'3n. ' BuNke« was afterwards forced to deliver up the ring. Kiitfi THE POTCHEFSTROOM ATROCITIES, ETC. 733 Dr. Woite Lad attended Ihe Boer meeting which was held before the outbreak, and written a letter from thence to Major Clarke, in wliich he had described the talk of th(3 IJoers as silly bluster. lie was not a paid spy. This letter wa8, unfortunately for him, found in Major Clarke's pocket-book, and ])ecause of it he was put through a form of trial, taken out and shot dead, all en the same day. He left a wife and large family, who afterwards found their way to Natal in ft destitute condition. The case of Van der Linden is somewhat similar. He was one of liaaf's Volunteers, and as such had taken the oath of allegiance to the Queen. In the execution of his duty he made a report to his commanding officer about the Boer meeting, and which afterwards fell into the hands of the lioers. On this he was put through the form of trial, and, though in the service of the Queen, was found guilty of treason and condemned to death. One of his judges, a little less stony-hearted than the rest, pointed out that " when the prisoner committed the crime martial law had not yet been proclaimed, nor the State," but it availed him nothing. He was taken out and shot. A Kafir named Carolus was also put through the form of trial and shot, for no crime at all that I can discover. Ten unarmed Kafir drivers, who had been sent away from the fort, were shut down in cold blood by a party of Boers. Several witnesses depose to having seen their remains lying together close by Potchcfstrcom. Various other Kafirs were shot. None of the perpetrators of these crimes were brought to justice. The K(;yal Com- mission comments on these acts as follows : — " In regard to the deaths of "Woite, Van der Linden, and Carolus, the Boer leaders do not deny the fact that those men had been executed, but sought to justify it. The majority of your Commissioners felt bound to record their opinion that the taking of the lives of these men was an act contrary to ^34 APPENDIX. i !i! r' li I t 'I i: the rules of civilised warfare. Sir H. de Villiera was of opinion that the executions in these cases, haying been ordered by properly constituted court martial of the Boers' forces after due trial, did not fall under the cognisance of your Commissioners. "Upon the case of "William Finliy the majority oi' your Comr/isioners felt bovtid r<> re<v;;U tl. '^ opiui'^ia that the sacrifice of Finlay's life, thiough forced labour under fire in the trendies, was an act coiftrury »>> the rules of civilised warfare. Sir II. de VilUers did not fet> j.^'Mfutd hy the fads of the case injoininff in this expression of opinion (sic). A^. to the case of the Kafir Andries, your Commissioners decided that, althougli the shooting of this man appeared to them, from the information laid before them, to be not in accord- ance with the rules of civilised warfare, under all the cir- cumstances of the case, it was not desirable to insist upon a prosecution." " The majority of your Commissioners, although feeling it a duty to record emphatically their disapproval of the acts that resulted in the deaths of Woito, Van der Linden, Finlay, aud Carolus, yet found it impossible to bring to justice the persons guilty of these acts." It will be observed that Sir H. de Villiers does not express any disapproval, emphatic or otherwise, of these wicked imirders. I)Ut Potchefstroom did not cujoy a monopoly of murder. In Decomber 1880, Captain Elliot, who was a survivor from the Eronker Spruit massacre, and Captain Lambart, who hui been taken prisoner by the Eoers whilst bringing remounts from the Free State, were released from Heidel- berg on parol on condition that they left the country. An escort of two mer brought them to a drift of the Vaal river, where they refus(id to cross, because they could not get their cart through, the river being in flood. The escort then returned to Heidelberg and reported that the officers would TUE POTCHEFSTROOM ATROCITIES, ETC. 235 Ah not r aa. A civil nota wt'« then sent back to Captain Elliot 'uJ Lambart, B'jjned by P. J. Joubert, telling them "topftss the Varl rivjr immediately b the road that will be 8l >wn t you." What secret orders, if any, were sent with tnis letter has never transpired ; but I decline to be- lieve that, P'thnr ii^ tuid or in Barber's case, the Boer escort took upon themselves the responsibility of murdering their prisoners, without authority of some kind for the deed. The men despatched from Heidelberg with the letter found Lambart and Elliot wandering about and trying to find the way to Standerton. They presented the letter, and took tliem towards a drift in the Vaal. Shortly before they gut there the prisoners noticed that their escort had been rein- forced. It would be interesting tu kno /, if those extra men were not sent to assist in the murder, how and why thov tu.ned up as they did and joined themselves to the escoi! The prisoners were taken to an old and disused drift of the Vaal river and told to cross. It ^vaa now dark, and the river was much swollen with rain ; in fact, impassable for the cart and horses. Captains Elliot and Lambart begged to be allowed to outspan till the next morning, but were told that they must cross, which thoy accordingly attempted to do. A iew yards from the bank the cart stuck on a rock, and whilst in this position the Boer escort poured a volley into it. Poor Elliot was instantly killed, one bullet fracturing his skull, another passing through tlio back, a third shatter- ing the right thigh, and a fourth breaking the left wrist The cart was also riddled, but strange to say, Captain Lambart was untouched, and succeeded in swimming to the further bank, the Boers firing at him whenever the flashes of lightning revealed his whereabouts. After sticking some time in the mud of the bank he managed to effect his escape, and next day reached the house of an Englishman called Groom, living in the Free State, and from tuence made his way to NataL 2 36 APPENDIX. I Two of the murderers were put through a form of trial, after the couciusion of peace, and acquitted. The case of the murder of Dr. Barber is of a aomewhat similar cliaracter to that of Elliot, except that there is in this case a curious piece of iudirect evidence that seems to connect the murder: directly with Piet Jouhert, one of thf Triumvirate. In the month of Fehruary 1881, two En^'lishmen came to the Bo'jr laager at Lang's Nek to oiler their ^erviced as doctors. Their names were Dr. Barber, who was well known to the Boers, and his assistant, ]\Ir. Walter Dyas. and they came, not from Natal, but the Orange Free State. On arrival at the Boer camp they wore at first well received, but after a little while seized, searched, and tied up all night to a disselboom ([)ole of a waggon). Next morning they were told to mount their horses, and started from the camp escorted by two men who were to take them over the Free State line. When they reached the Free State line the Boers told them to get off their horses, which they were ordered to bring back to the camp. They did so, bade good-day to their escort, and started to walk on towards their destina- tion. Wlien they had gone about forty yards Dyas heard the report of a rifle, and Barber called out, *' ^[y God, I am shot ! " and fell dead. Dyas went doMU on his hands and knees and saw one of the escort deliberately aim at him. He then jumped up, and ran dodging from right to left, trying to avoid the bullet. Presently the man iired, and he felt himself struck through the thigh. He fell with bis face to the men, and saw his would-be assassin put a fresh cartridge into his rifle and aim at him. Turning his face to the ground he awaited his death, })ut the bullet whizzed past his head. He then saw the men take the horses and go away, thinking they had finished him. After waiting a while he managed to get up, THE POTCnEFSTROOM ATROCITIEa, ETC. 237 and struggled to a house not far off, where he was kindlj treated and remained till ho recovcrod Some time after this occurrence a Hottentot, named Allan Smith, made a statement at Newcastle, from which it appears that he had been taken prisoner by the Boers and made to work for them. One night ho saw Barber and Dyas tied to the dis.solboom, and overheard the following, which I will give in his own words : — *' I went to a fire wluTe some Boers were sitting ; among them was a low-siz(Hl man, moderately stout, with a dark brown full beard, apparently about thirty-five years of age I do not know his name. He ions Mliwj ft in comrades that he had brought an order from Piet Jouhert to Viljoon, to take the two prisoners to the Free State liriu and shoot them there. He said, in the course of conversation, ' Piet Joubert het gevraacb' waarora was de mensche neet dood geschiet toen hulle bijde eersto laager gekom het.' ('Piet Joubert asked why were the men not shot when they came to the first laager.') They then saw me at the fire, and one of them said, 'You must not talk before that fallow; he understands what you say, and will toll everybody,* " Next morning Viljoen told me to ^0 away, ami gave mo a pass into the Free State. Ho said (in Dutch), * You must not drive for any Englishman again. If we catch you doing so we will shoot you, and if you do not go away quick, and we catch you hanging about when we bring the two men to the line, we will shoot you too.' " Dyas, who escaped, made an affidavit with reference to this statement in which he says, " I have read the foregoing affidavit of Allan Smith, and I say that the person described in the third paragra[)h thereof aa bringing orders from Piet Joubert to Viljoen, corresponds with one of the Boers who took Dr. Barber and myself to the Free State, and to the best of my belief he is the man who shot Dr. Barber." The actual murderers were put on their trial in the Frae I 2^8 APPENDIX. ' ! 1 I State, and, of course, acquitted. In his examination at the trial, Allan Smith says, "It was a young man who said that Joubert had given orders that liarber had to be ahnt. . . , It was not at night, but in the morning early, when the young mun spoko about IMct Joubort'a order." Most j)eoplo will gather, from what I have quoted, that thore exists a certain connection between tht dastardly murder of T)r. I'arbcr (and the attempted muider of Mr. Dyas) and Piet Joubert, one of that "able" Triumvirate of which Mr. Gladstone speaks so highly. I 8hall only allude to one more murder, though more are reported to have occurred, amongst them that of Mr. Mal- colm, who was kicked to death by Boors, — and that is Mr. Green's. !Mr. Green was an English gold-digger, and was travelling along the main road to his home at Spitzcop. The road passed close by the military camp at Lydenburg, into which he was called. On coming out ho went to a Boer patrol with a flag of truce, and whilst talking to them wua shot dead. The Kev. J. Thome, the English clergyman at Lydenburg, desciibes this n*Tirder in an affidavit in the following words : — " That I was the clergyman who got together a party of Englishmen and brou^'ht down the body of Mr. Green who was murdered by the Boers and buried it. I have ascertdined the circumstances of tho murder, which were as follows : — Mr. Green was on his way to the gold-fields. As he was passing the fort, he was called in by the officers, and sent out again with a message to the Boer commandant. Immediately on leaving the camp, he went to the Boer guard opposite with a flag of truce in his hand ; while parleying with the Boers, who proposed to make a prisoner of him, he was shot through the head." No prosecution was instituted in this case. Mr. Green left a wife and children in a destitute condition. n. % PLEDGES GIVEN BY UK. GLADSTONE'S GOVERN. MENT AS TO THE RETENTION OF THE TRANSVAAL AS A liRITLSH COLONY. TiiK following extracts from the speeches, dcspatchos, and telegrams of members of the present Government, with rofer- enco to the proposed retrocession of the Transvaal, are not without interest : — During the month of May 1880, Lord Kimherley des- patched a telegram to Sir Bartlo Frere, in which the follow- ing words occur : " UmUr no circiwistances can the Qiieen't mithority in thi Transvaal he relinqnklieiV' In a despatch dated 20th May, and addressed to Sir Bartle Frere, Lord Kimherley says, '* That the sovereignty of the Queen in the Transvaal could not bo relinquished." In a speech in the House of Lords on the 24th May 1880, Lord Kimherley said : — "There was a still stronger reason than that for not reced- ing ; it was impossible to say what calamities such a stop as receding might not c. ise. "We had, at the cost of much blood and treasure, resti^red peace, and the effect of our now reversing our policy would be to leave the province in a state of anarchy, and possibly to cause an internecine war. For such a risk, he could not make himself responsible. The number of the natives in the Transvaal was estimated at about 800,000, and that of the whites less than 50,000. Diffi- 939 740 Al'PKMDIX. cultiefl wilh the Zulua and frontier triliea would agam arifirt, and, l(.K»kin^' as tluiy nin>t to S'Uth Afiv'a as a whole, the GovornnnMit, after a cai.'ful cMi.^idonti'in of tlio <iue?tion, came to tin' conclunon thit ire ci'ull nut reliii'iuiah the Transvaal. Nothiii;^' cuM bo more unfortunate than un- certainly in re?:j)f'ct to such a matter." On th.' 8th June t8So, ^fr. Gladstone, in reply to a V><^f'r niernoriah wn^tii as follnw-i : — " It is undou])tedly a matter for much re^Tot tliat it should, siui'' ".n! Annexation, ha^■e appi-ared that so lai^'c a Tuimlinr of the jwipulation of l>:;tch or!<^'in in the Tratisva.'il arc opposed to the annexation of that tturit-iry, hut it is impossible now to consider that (pie-ti'-n as if it wM-re presented for the first time. \\ L' liave to do witli a s^ate of things which has exi-ted fur a consid'Table period, during whidi obiiijatimin hare hern r(mfra'ip(l, especia'h/, thoU'jfi not t\rclusively^ townrh. the natirt' pnpnlalioii^ icJiv'li rnrtnot be s t a-n-lf. T/!oking to all tlie circumstances, both of tlio Transvaal and the rest of South Africa, and to the riocessity of prevending a renewal of disord(^rs which miglit lead to disastrous consequoTices, not only to tiie Transvaal but to the wdiolo of South Africa, our jndijnwnt is that the Quren canvi he advised to relin<[7iifh tin Transvaal." Her Majesty's Sp<.cch, deli\<'rel in ParlianituiL on the 6th January iSSt, contains the following words; ''A rising in the Trausvaii has recently imposed upon me the duty of vindiratinij my aidhoriti/." These extracts are r;VLhtT curious reading in faie of the pMJiey adojittd by the (juvernmeut, after our troops had been defeated. ! ) ga!n ansft, • vholt), tho »i;ip.-tion, 'luish the ' than un- V to a T'oer '1 i it sliould, % a mim1)f>r :^ible nov? r tbo first vh\c]i has hliijdtinns /, toicavh lOoking to he R'st of enewal of ince.=', not fri(>a, our I'juif'h ths u the 6th A rising 3 duty of e of the liad been I I'.KPid.vi horc u h-tUM' |)iil'!i lie'! ii; 7'/%,- Ttnie,< <•; 1 41 h (.N'^iher iS9(j, louetiH'i' with a [iffatijiy hdIl' ad'lo^l liv the I'ditnr (if iliat jouiiial. I iii-- ejiistle >t(.'ni> 10 iiif wi.itl:}' of till' study of thild-riii:.' lui-w. M Ufh I't it, i;H)>L of it iiii]-.d, ii !iit-ro l)i'ut;d \ :t[ioiiring, fa'.so i!. its facts, ■al-f iri its li.-durt ioh.^ ; iuuiarkai>le only f(n' tiii' livid iuK,> i)f Late witli wliiijli it is colouird. Vvt in thi.- vilf co!.('i<c(ion, iho wofk ovidt-ntls' of a haif-t'ihu'a! cd nii'iiilu 1- iif the ('a[io I^iitcli {'ai'ty, or pt.'rliajis of an Afrikandi I' hi-iniaii uf tlio .Mnmp (d' liio laio t.otoi'ious l'\-nian Ay; w aid, .vppear statements huilt upon a luisi- iA trnth which we .-houM do well to lav to in-ai-t. 1 aliiido [.liiicipally to tiio quest i mi of oiir food suii[ily and to tho possihlo hehavini'i' of the fle.'toiate iri tho .-vt't't of a gieat war utnier ) ressu''e of want and high pi'ifes. (S.c j>araL.'!ap'i 3 (jf the letter of "I*. S.") In a \t fy diU'elent wuik, "A I'ariiici 's ^'ear,' [)a<^es iji) and 380, i haVr att{-!;i[»ted to treat of thi> ;.'ri'at njatU'i' whieli eL>e\vhcie has lieen dialt with also ';y oth»;rs more ahle and {.erha[i.-; hotter qoaliiled. Fntil it !> rea>onab]y eertain that nndei' atiy (•ircuiii>tance-, ui icii \\< can conee've tlio price of food stud's will not 1*' laised to a [iinhii-itive jtoint, !■_ can i!c\-er lie s;id that thiO future of CJivat Dritain is as.-nred beyon<l idl proliaMt' doubt, \\ licii v, ill tlds pmb- Icni receive the ;;ttentiou it desei ves at the i;an<l.-^ <.>F ou;- riovernnients and of tho-e over whom thiv rule? \N"e have received lii' ilicwiuu lettei'. appri.priati-'\ luaded ■' iSocr Junoratu i'." I'iie writer heal .> a wel! kin^wu hutch i;an;e, and Lux'e- a.> his late addle-- tiio nauie if 1 welhki.ouii town in a !> ilch. district of Cape r.ih/ny : — Al'l'KXDIX, /'" *}ip K<ldiir (if the " 'J\' //('.. ".' Siiij — In your ])i)ifM' vmu h.-ivc often coinraonted on whnt ymi uif ]il(';isf'ii to call tlio i^iioiaiice of my countrvnu'n, the Jjoers ^V(' fire Tiot so ignoi'ant as tlif Hritisji statos- Uicn aiul iif'\v>))a['ei ui-itcrs. wnv nrc we micIi fools as you lliiii-li are. Wo know our policy, and we do not clianire it. \\'o have no opposition l>arty lo fear nor to truckle to. ^'our boasted TonsorvatiN'O Tnajority has l)oen the obedieiit toiil of tlie Kadical minority, and the i^adical niinority has li'cn the blind tool of dur farsceini: and intelli^'enfc I'lesi.lent. Wt: iiave desired (i<'lay, and we have had it, and we are now })raetically masters of Airica from the / imhezi to the tJapc. A!! t Ke Afiikanders in Cape Colony iiave l)een w.iivkini' for vears for this end, foi' thev and wo i-;no\v 1 he fa<'ls. 1. Tilt' actual value of gold in the Transvaal is at lea.^t 2co,ojo millions of pounds, and this fact is as well known to the Mmj'erors of Germany and Jiu^sia as it is tc us. V(m <'Mimate the value of the <,'old at only 700 millions of pounds;, or. at Icfe-t, that is what you pretend to estimate it at. Ihit (iermany, llussia, and France do not tiesire ynu to uet ])ossession of this vast mas.s of gold, and so, after encouraging you to believe that they will not inter- feri' in South Africa they will certainly do so, and very ea.'-ily lind a i-ksi/s /»"'/'. and tliev will assist lis directly ,inil indirectly to utive you out of Africa. .^ We know thai you dare not. take any procautio.ns in ad\ancc to ]ae\ent t he onslaught (jf the (ii'eat Powers, as tlie < i]ipo-ition, the great peace party, will raise the ques- tion oi e.xpense, and this will win o\er your lazy, <lirty, dri;nki'n working classes, who will never airain permit liiemselves to be tawd to supj;oi' your J'.ntjdii', or <'ven to pr"-ii\'c your existence as a nali'in. ^, \\ I know from all the military authorities of the I'huopean and Aimai-.'an continents that you exist as an independent Power merely on sutVeranoe, and that at any moment the great l^iin^eror William can airange with I 'ranee or Kus.-ia to wipe you oil' the face of the eanli. A BOE'-^c ON' HO'LTv HH^K^tX.^. ^4.^ >Ti what Li'vnK'ii, 1 stilt es- as you clianire ickle to. )boilif';it liinoriry had it, •oui the i Colony an<l no at Ica.^t known s tc us. llions ot" pstitiiate t dosire ami so, )t i rite I'- ll (1 vorv directly tioii-' in wers, as he ques- iliny, peruiit or even ■ of the t as an : at any ge with (' f.inh. I Tliev I'an at anv tiuie >*.arvt' \o!i into surren'ie''. ^^aI nni.st } i<'ld in all thinir^ to the I'tiited States also, or \"iir supph' of eorn will he >o re'liici'd by tlic Americans tiiat vt)ur wiii'kin;^' cla.s^es W(n;ld he compelled to pay liiirh prices for thi'ir food, and rather ;lian do that tliey wouhl have civil war, and invite any t'oreii^ni Powei- to :issist them ))y invasion, lor there is no patriotism in the working classes (-.f l-hm!and, W'a !(■>-, 'T Ireland. 4. We know that youi' country has been more pros- perous than anv othff country di^ring the last fifty years (vou have had no civil war like the Americans and Frcuich to tone up your nerves and slrength"U youi' manliness), and cons(M|Uent]y your .abl(-bodied nu-n will not enlist in voiir so-calli d voliui;.iry army. 'I'iieiifore you have to Idie tlie dregs of your po[)ulation to do viMir lighting, and they are dehcieut in physique, in moral and mental abilit\-, and in all the (pialities that make good lighting men. ;. 'S'our military olhccis we know to be mti-'ly I'dhmtie scliolais or fi'ivcjicus society nnn, without ai.y cipacity for ]iractical warfare with whiff men. Tic Alri<lis wtue uiore tiiau a match for you. and your victory over the Sudanese was achieved because those poor people had no* a rille aniong>t tlieui. 6. We know that your men, being the dregs of your {)eople. ai-e natui'ally feeble, and that they are also s.atura ted witii the mo.'-t horrible sexual diseases, a> ail your Government I'eturnf jdainly sltow, and that they cannot (uiduro the hardships of w.ar. 7. We kiiow that the entire iJritish race is tapidly decaying, your birth-rate is rapidly falling, your children are born wt'.ik, disea^ecl. and deformed, ami that the majoi part of your population con.sists of females, e.ipples, epi h'ptics, consumptives, canceron.-^ }ie(~'{)l(', inv;ili<ls, and lunatic-^ of all kinds wliom you carefully nourish and preserve. 8. We know that nine-tenths of your statesmen an<l hiiifher olhcials, milMai'V ami rav.al, are stillerirn,' fro}ii kidney di.><eases, wiiieh weal;en tii"ir cotiraije and will jM'Wer and uiake.-^ tlieni .-hitk ad ' e,-j'i 'n.-l!'ilir\ as far a.-^ po^silile. V. We know that youi Xa\_v i.^ big, but w(> Icnow that it !44 APPEN'IifX. is not powerful, and that It is lioneycombeJ with dis- loyalty — as witness tlie theft of the .signal-books, the assaults on otiicers. the (!e.>ertions, and the wilful irijury of the boilers and maciiinery, which all the viifilance of the olHcers is powerless to present. lo We know that tlio Conservative Ciovernment is a mere sham, and that it lar,L,'ely reduced the strength of the Dritish artillery in 1888-89. -'^''''' ^^t' know that it does nor dare now to call out the Militia for training, nor to mobilise the Fleet, nor to give sufficient grants to the Line and Volunteers for aniiuunitiou to enable them to become good marksnaeu and efficient soldiers. We know that British soUliers and sailois are immensely inferior as mai'ksmen, not only to Germans, French, and Americans, but ."dso to Jaj)anese, Afridis, Chilians, jru villus, Belgians, and Russians. J 1. We know that no J^ritish (lovernment dares to pro- pose any form of compulsory military or naval training, for the British people would rather be invaded, coiKpiered, and governed by Germans, Russians, or Frenchmen than be compelled to serve their own Government. 12. We Boers know that we will not be governed by a set of Britisli curs, but that we will djive you out of Africa altogether, and the other manly nations which have com- pulsory military service — the armed manhood of Europe — will very quickly ilivide all your other possessions between then.'. Talk no more of the ignorance of the Boers or Cape 1 Hitch ; a few days more will })rove your ignorance of the British position, and in a short space of time you and your t^ueen will be imploring the good offices of the great German Fmperor to deliver you from your disasters, for your hunnliations are not yet complete. For thirty years the Cape Dutch have been waiting their chance, and now their day has come; they will throw off their mask and your yoke at the same instant, and 300,000 Dut:-li b.;roe.- will trample you under foot. We c;iu afl"oid to toll vou the truth now, and in this lottr-r vou Inve 5<ot it. — Yours, ^Scc, P. S. (K-tot- 12 IMiiil.uivU ."- I.rn.l.u i th dis- ks, the ijury of 3 of the lilt is a h of the , it does ng, nor rants to )le them ^s. We imensely nch, and Chilians, (S to pro- training, >nquered, aen than cned by a of Africa lave corn- Europe — 3 between , or Cape ace of the and your the great asters, for iting their throw oil id 300,000 ad in this P. S.