3 1822 00541 9023 LIBRARY CALIFORNIA SAN DIW©° THE BASUTOS THE BASUTO CHIEF MASUPHA IN UNIFORM, AND HIS STANDARD-BEARER. Frontispiece Vol. I. THE BASUTOS THE MOUNTAINEERS & THEIR COUNTRY BEING A NARRATIVE OF EVENTS RELATING TO THE TRIBE FROM ITS FORMATION EARLY IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY TO THE PRESENT DAY BY SIR GODFREY' LAGDEN, K.C.M.G. Formerly Resident Commissioner in Basutoland WITH 70 ILLUSTRATIONS AND 9 MAPS IN TWO VOLUMES VOL. I London <& <& HUTCHINSON & CO. PATERNOSTER ROW ^ <& 1909 TO THE BASUTO AMONGST WHOM THE AUTHOR LIVED AND WORKED FOR MANY YEARS PREFACE r ~n , HIS book is the result of my investigations and ^ experience during a long association with Basutoland. I commenced the outline after fifteen years' residence in that territory ; but, in consequence of being unexpectedly transferred in 1901 for per- manent duty in the Transvaal, was compelled to suspend the work until retirement from there in 1907 when Responsible Government was granted to that Colony. In the following pages the purpose is to give a narrative of the principal events leading up to the situation in Basutoland to-day, and to show how it has developed under British protection and control. It has been my endeavour to familiarize the reader in some degree with the country, and to relate so much of the annals of the Basuto, and of the govern- ment to which they have been subject, as would offer a picture of their past and present conditions of life. The book does not pretend to recount all the incidents in their somewhat eventful history ; to do viii Preface so would require several volumes. The difficulty has been to determine what to omit. I am conscious that much has been left untold that might prove of deep interest. Neither does it pretend in any way to deal with what is called the " Native Problem " in South Africa. That is a very large question the full meaning of which is often obscured. A large section of Colonial thought associates it with the doctrine of keeping the natives in rigid subordination to the whites. But it is a question of more profound significance. It involves considerations affecting the present status and evolution of the aboriginal races, and the relation in which they shall in future stand to the Europeans who are the dominant race and who desire to direct advancement of the natives upon lines in harmony with natural development. From that point of view the growth of the Basuto affords useful material for study. I have fortunately been in a position to gather authoritative information from various sources upon all historical points since the tribe came into close contact with civilization. But I have had also the great advantage for reference and use of a mass of official Basutoland Records collected from the archives at Cape Town and edited with introductory notes by Dr. G. M. Theal, Colonial Historiographer for Cape Colony. In common with many others, I am deeply sensible of the great public Preface ix services he has rendered to the cause of historical research and wish to express my indebtedness to him for much information derived from his several volumes of South African history. 1 I have also gained considerable help from the various journals and publications of the Paris Evangeli- cal Mission Society as well as from the memoirs of Messieurs Casalis, Mabille and Coillard, all of which I have been permitted to refer to. My best thanks for the loan of books and docu- ments and for other kind assistance are due to Mrs. Tucker, representing the French Protestant Society in England ; Miss MacKintosh ; Mr. Atchley, Librarian at the Colonial Office ; Mr. Boose, Librarian at the Royal Colonial Institute ; Mr. Sloley, Resident Com- missioner, and Mr. Wroughton, Government Secretary of Basutoland ; Dr. E. C. Long for meteorological statistics ; and to the Rev. E. Jacottet for allowing me to adopt his notes on the Sesuto language. I am grateful for the use of photographs placed at my disposal by Mrs. Tucker, Mr. T. Lindsay Fair- clough, Captain French of the Army Intelligence Department, Mr. Kennan and other kind friends. G. Y. L. 1 "History of South Africa from 1795 to 1872"; "Ethnography of South Africa : 1505 — 1795," vol. i. (Sonnenschein.) CONTENTS VOL. I CHAPTER I Physical and other features : a glimpse at the wild country pp. 1-7 CHAPTER II Of the difficulties in tracing origins. The Bushmen and Hottentots pp. 8-14 CHAPTER III Of the Bantu race, and the tide of settlement in Basutoland pp. 15-22 CHAPTER IV The rise of Moshesh : his antecedents . . . pp. 23-32 CHAPTER V 1820 — 1831 Rise of the Zulus : its effect upon Basutoland, Tshaka and Moselekatse ... pp. 33-47 xii Contents CHAPTER VI 1832— 1835 Moshesh has a respite and turns it to account : the introduction of Missionaries : how it was accomplished and some reminiscences pp. 48-61 CHAPTER VII 1835— 1843 Moshesh is perplexed by the approach of the Emigrant Farmers and appeals to the Governor of Cape Colony with whom he makes a Treaty : sends three of his sons to school at the Cape pp. 62-73 CHAPTER VIII 1844 — J ^47 Moshesh is drawn into the entanglements of British policy directed by Sir Henry Pottinger and Sir Harry Smith : is abused by one and praised by the other : the Queen's Sovereignty is proclaimed pp. 74-90 CHAPTER IX 1848— 1850 The revolt of the Emigrant Boers is crushed : Moshesh becomes embarrassed by the ambition of his sons and loses the confidence of the British Authorities, who make Boundaries and send him an Ultimatum pp. 91-114 CHAPTER X 1850 — 1852 The plot thickens against Moshesh who is attacked by Government forces and comes off victorious : the vacillating policy of H.M. Government : removal of Sir Harry Smith and Major Warden, and general disorder pp. 11 5-1 35 Contents xiii CHAPTER XI 1852 Sir George Cathcart, the new Governor, is impulsive : underrates the Basuto : sends an Ultimatum : invades Basutoland and comes off second best : the battle of Berea pp. 136-160 CHAPTER XII 1852— 1854 The Sovereignty is abandoned : Sir George Clerk sent from England to compromise with Boers and Basuto : the Free State is given absolute independence but no boundaries are settled : Moshesh crushes the Batlokoa in a decisive battle . . . pp. 161-184 CHAPTER XIII 1854— 1858 General Cathcart is replaced by Sir George Grey as High Com- missioner : border disputes about land and thieving lead to exciting correspondence, complications and rupture : another Ultimatum pp. 185-216 CHAPTER XIV 1858 The Ultimatum is followed by a Declaration of War : hostilities follow with disastrous results to the Free State : the horrors of war : an Armistice proposed ... .... pp. 217-242 xiv Contents CHAPTER XV 1858 An Armistice agreed to : Free State are obliged to make overtures for peace : Sir George Grey called in and makes a fine effort to mediate and adjust the boundary : Moshesh after seeking and accept- ing arbitration fails to attend a Conference to further it and shows up badly pp. 243-275 CHAPTER XVI 1858— 1862 Scares and conflicts caused by Jan Letelle : Basuto expansion to the East : Pretorius succeeds Boshoff as President of Orange Free State, and holds Conferences with Basuto : Sir George Grey mys- teriously and abruptly recalled in the midst of important work : is immediately reinstated and finally retires : a retrospect : some of Moshesh : s sound laws pp. 276-308 CHAPTER XVII 1862— 1864 Sir Philip Wodehouse succeeds Sir George Grey : makes proposals, which are approved, for placing Agent in Basutoland but they are not acted upon : sends Commission to ascertain feelings of Basuto : is implored to adjust boundaries : is hampered by Imperial policy, hesitates, agrees, withdraws and finally does so : its value discounted by indiscreet statements : his award is in favour of Free State which strengthens it but disappoints Basuto : prospect dark . pp. 309-337 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS VOL. I THE BASUTO CHIEF MASUPHA IN UNIFORM, AND HIS STANDARD- Frontispiece FACING PAGB 4 BEARER MALETSUNYANE FALLS IDOLS, ETC. THE KETANE FALL MOSHESH IN 1833 BEAD WORK, KAFFIR DOLLS, ETC MOSELEKATSE, KING OF THE MATABELE FALLS ON THE TSUNYANE, LERIBE CAVE DWELLINGS, LERIBE . REEF BARRIER ACROSS TSUNYANE RIVER, LERIBE SIR HARRY SMITH, BART. POTTERY WIRE WORK BOLAHLA SLOPES . HAIRDRESSING A KETANE RIVER GORGE ON THE ROAD TO MAKHALING RACECOURSE, MASERU ; LANCERS* GAP ON THE HORIZON M 20 26 32 44 50 62 74 82 90 102 114 122 134 150 XVI List of Illustrations YOALA BOHOLO, SIKONYELA's STRONGHOLD BATLOKOA GIRLS DANCING MOSHESH IN 1854 SIR GEORGE GREY, K.C.B. THE BROKEN ASSEGAI BOYS' INITIATION SCHOOL THE GORGE OF THE MALETSUNYANE RIVER BELOW THE MORIJA TRAINING INSTITUTION : VIEW FROM WEST KETANE RIVER GORGE .... MUSHROOM ROCK, FOBANE NEK, LERIBE BALANCED BOULDER, NEAR SEKUBU, LERIBE SEKUNYANE NEHEMIAH, SON OF MOSHESH . GIRLS AT HEATHEN SCHOOL SIR PHILIP WODEHOUSE .... SIR JOHN BRAND FACING PAGE 168 174 I8O 188 198 212 FALLS 224 234 260 276 276 288 298 308 322 MAPS OF BASUTOLAND I. AS DEFINED IN THE TREATY BETWEEN SIR GEORGE NAPIER AND MOSHESH IN 1 843 ..... 72 II. SHOWING TERRITORY CLAIMED BY MOSHESH, THE TRACT ALLOTTED TO SIKONYELA BY SIR H. G. SMITH IN 1 848, AND THE BOUNDARY BETWEEN THE BOERS AND THE BASUTOS PROPOSED BY SOUTHEY IN 1848 . . . 102 III. SHOWING TERRITORY GOVERNED BY MOSHESH IN 1 849, AND THE TERRITORIES OF OTHER CHIEFS . . . 106 IV. AS DEFINED IN THE TREATY OF 29TH SEPTEMBER, 1 858 272 V. BOUNDARY BETWEEN ORANGE FREE STATE AND BASUTO- LAND, IN TERMS OF TREATY OF 29TH SEPTEMBER, 1 858 274 LARGE GENERAL MAP End of Volume THE BASUTOS CHAPTER I Physical and other features: a glimpse at the wild country THE map of South Africa will show Basutoland to be a small country of oval shape tucked up in the folds of the Quathlamba or Drakensberg mountains which pervade the whole of Southern Africa from the Cape to the Limpopo, running almost parallel with the eastern coast-line at varying intervals of distance. It has not infrequently been called the Switzerland of South Africa by travellers, reminded after pro- longed journeys, before the advent of railways, across the flat plains of the Cape Karroo and parts of the Orange River Colony through which it is most easily approached, of its similarity in size and configuration to the little European Republic of that name. Comprising an area of a little over 10,000 square miles, it lies between 29 and 30 degrees South Latitude and between 27 and 28 degrees East Longi- tude, having irregular but strong physical boundaries demarcating it from the Cape, Natal and Orange River Colonies into which it is securely wedged. vol. 1 1 2 The Basutos From extreme north to south it has a river frontier extending almost without interruption along the Caledon from its source in the Drakensberg to the Cornet Spruit or Makhaleng, and thence with a short break to the Senqu or Orange River, the remaining bound- aries being wild mountain barriers or water divides roughly denned. Disputes have frequently arisen and, in times past, conflicts and serious wars have been waged over disputed points in these natural boundaries ; but, though the country has not been surveyed, beacons have now been erected in doubtful quarters which clearly indicate the general line and leave no cause for serious misunderstanding with the contiguous States. The main axis of the territory extends for about 150 miles in a north-easterly direction with a breadth varying from 50 to 100 miles, the greater part being broken and mountainous dispersed with well-watered fertile valleys loaded with rich deposits, brought down in the flood seasons, particularly favourable to agri- culture where cultivation is possible. Lying between the outer mountain slopes and the Caledon-Orange river systems is a belt of open country cultivated from end to end from which the natives produce enormous crops of grain. In that part the population is prin- cipally massed. The Drakensberg, the superior mountain range of the Southern continent, at its loftiest points to be found principally on the side facing Natal, attains to an altitude approximately of 12,000 feet. These mountains form a semi-circle extending from the source of the Caledon to that point of the Orange where the Physical and Other Features 3 river frontier ends. Within them lie subsidiary ranges commonly known as the Maluti, a term signifying in the native language simply " Chain of Mountains." They traverse a great portion of the territory, so that the general elevation of the plateaux upon which the bulk of the population resides varies between 5,000 and 7,000 feet. The people may therefore truly be described as mountaineers, and their environment has shaped in some degree their characteristics and pursuits. With a mean average temperature of 6o°, seldom exceeding 90 in summer, and ranging to 14 in winter which can be excessively cold, the tendency is to produce the vigour and health usually associated with those races who have established themselves permanently at high elevations. The climate is perhaps one of the finest in the world. Pure atmosphere, invigorating breezes, a crisp winter and abundance of sunshine combine to make it exhilarating and attractive ; but the wide range of temperature and tonic influence of high altitude are not without effect upon the nervous systems of Europeans who cannot profitably endure long residence without change to sea level. As might be expected of a country so situated and with such surroundings it is picturesque in the extreme. Forming as it does the watershed of the Orange, Tugela and other considerable rivers, it is prolific in springs and beautifully watered from end to end. Pouring down from the mountains are a multitude of crystal streams which wash into the larger systems, fertilizing the lower plateaux where cultivation is 4 The Basutos pursued and cooling the sun-baked soil. Much mois- ture becoming well distributed is caused by the com- mingling of currents of air of different temperatures which gives off extensive mists that form a chain round the peaks or float about the hill-sides until borne down by a warming sun to the surface of the ground and absorbed. In few parts of the world probably are to be found wilder and more beautiful scenery. Once on the summits of the upper range, the traveller beholds a wonderful panorama not easily forgotten. Towering at intervals above the landscape are majestic peaks full of bold outline, girt about with giant slopes dipping proudly to a sea of lesser peaks below, which again shade off to deeply broken country in a rich setting ; where for every sweet valley that is seen there may be hundreds screened away, and where silvery streaks looking insignificant from above are powerful streams cutting their way by force and fall until lost in some deep gorge. Where the Divides are abrupt the water system accommodates itself in Falls of considerable height — one of the glories of Basutoland. Below these Falls, the most conspicuous of which are the Maletsunyane and Ketane, at a depth in the case of the former of over 630 feet and of the latter about 400, is a world of the weirdest description where the solitary wanderer experiences a sense of awe, for he feels almost to have sunk into the bowels of the earth. The mighty rush of water from above after floods has cleft the ground asunder and, quickening its course downwards through innumerable channels, has left gigantic pillars which in P- 4] MALETSUNYANE I Al A Glimpse at the Wild Country 5 fantastic shape stand there frowning and threatening to fall upon the observer if he but stares at them. In these places true solitude is to be found, for the natives as a rule have a superstitious dread of such forbidding haunts which are therefore frequented only by tigers and other carnivora who there find an un- disturbed lair. But not only do the natives shun the abysses, which they associate with the presence of snakes and evil spirits, they fear also to approach the head of the Falls. It will be within the experience of many white people who have gone there that scarcely any native can be induced to follow them to the brink, without which it is impossible to get a fair view of the great plunge into the caldron below. These Falls are not distinguished so much for their volume of water, inconsiderable in the dry season, as for their height, the suddenness of approach and the singular grandeur of their surroundings. To reach the level of the plateaux below the Falls, winding paths are available down which the hardy and clever ponies of the country can if their heads are left alone pick their way for the most part over rocks and boulders. But nervous riders generally prefer to dismount and lead, in view of the risk of falling, for a fall in steep places may be fatal to man and beast. In descending to the lower plateaux it is a striking picture to see wreaths of blue smoke curling up from tiny villages, and fields of corn and mealies interspersed along the terraced slopes, which on closer acquaintance are found difficult to arrive at over the rugged ground beset with unforeseen impediments. The marvel always seems to be, however were ploughs got up to such 6 The Basutos places ? It appears almost as if the inhabitants were imprisoned within ring upon ring of mountain walls, there being no signs of egress in any direction. But Passes, invisible until you wind into them, are available to which minute tracks lead along circuitous routes generally towards the higher shoulders where the gradient is, though steep, not excessive ; but the pace is slow and the wind is cold. At first sight the traveller on being told his direction is inclined to dispute with his guides as to why he cannot make straight for points which to the eye appear so possible to reach without deviation. In due time, however, the course which seemed so easy is found to be traversed by deep inaccessible ravines hidden from view, and those who are decoyed into taking direct lines pay the penalty of having to return, sometimes of being night-bound in parts where is neither firewood nor shelter. Shelter is a thing the wayfarer must religiously seek, though it be but a cave or nook, for when the wind blows cold it is hard to endure, and when rain or mist comes on there must be a full stop as the paths become dangerously slippery under rain and movement through thick mist is impracticable. One conspicuous drawback to the scenic beauty is the almost entire absence of forest or even trees. With the exception of kloofs concealed in the folds of the mountains where the wild thorn and short scrub com- bine to form an impenetrable thicket, and a fringe of willow at intervals along the larger rivers, there is little or no wood to be seen, so that fuel at all times is a serious consideration. In the vicinity of the highest peaks overlooking Natal which is unfit for habitation A Glimpse at the Wild Country 7 there is no wood at all, the ground being boggy and the outlook bare and inhospitable. From swamps in that locality called the Mont-aux- Sources flow westward the head-waters of the Orange and Caledon rivers, while at no great distance the Tugela finds its source and after an almost pre- cipitous drop of several thousand feet flows eastward, establishing the fact that at that point is the great Divide between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. It is not possible in a brief sketch to do justice to the picturesqueness of this interesting little country situated in the heart of the Drakensberg. More of it may be traced as the story of its people is related. CHAPTER II Of the difficulties in tracing origins. The Bushmen and Hottentots IT would not be material to the purposes of this book to enter upon any elaborate thesis as to what is supposed to have been the origin of the native races from whom the Basutos are derived, or seriously attempt to single them out as an entity from the large number of Bantu tribes who joined the great migration from the north centuries ago. The attempt would mean a vast amount of con- jecture. In the first place neither the Basuto nor any of their kindred tribes possessed records or even a written language when their country was first explored. It was the missionaries who constructed a grammar for them and translated the first standard work appearing in their language, viz. the Bible. In so doing the vocabulary was increased by many terms which had no meaning to the natives before their contact with civilization. To give one out of many instances of the borrowing of words, we are told that when the language was being framed there was nothing corresponding to " horse," which was not an indigenous animal, its nearest approach being " pitsi," meaning zebra. A new word Difficulties in tracing Origins 9 " pere " was therefore coined, that being a phonetic variation of the Dutch word " paard," pronounced " peart." In this way the vocabulary which was originally of a most limited order has been helped by the introduction of foreign words and expressions ; but the interpretation at all times from the native to a European language is cumbrous. Thus an English word, taken at random, " appeal," has no corresponding word in Sesuto, its dictionary signification being rendered in the following sentence associated with removal of cases from one court to another : " ho tlosa taba lekhotleng le leng ho e isa ho le leng le phamaheng, biletsa motho bopaki, ipeletsa ho motho e mong." And without a written language there was no litera- ture. Consequently, what remains of their very early history and traditions has come down to us in the form of narrations recorded mostly by missionaries in the style repeated to them at intervals by old men who had good memories and could be humoured into the relation of reminiscences. It is no easy matter at any time to get an aged person who is full of a long story of adventure and strife, partly his own personal experiences and partly what he learnt from others, to impart it freely. Still harder is it to get a connected account, for with the necessary breaks for business and rest the thread of it is bound to be a little lost and the charm of it to suffer. In order to resume after a break, it is necessary first to put the relator in a sympathetic frame of mind and then to establish the line of continuity. With natives particularly both of these are difficult matters. How many people under the importunities of io The Basutos little ones in the "children's hour" resist the pressure to go on where the old story half-ended ? It seems so much easier to invent a new one, and even that is laborious, for it entails a mental effort which the inclination is always prone to fight against. But a native simply cannot take up a thing half-way. It doesn't seem possible for him to utilize that cell in his brain which by the touching of some chord will give him the power of resumption where he left off. Many indeed are those having had to learn and adapt them- selves to native ways and idiosyncrasies who have writhed under their tediousness in giving evidence when, in reply to a magisterial question on points of fact, the witness begins at a far-off beginning and labours through a labyrinth of incidents having ap- parently no bearing upon the question. Yet, to get the fact effectively brought out, it is essential to bear with the witness, to endure the long process of that story in which the fact is wrapped up, without check, or else the whole thing breaks down. Only by assiduous toil and long-suffering have a few earnest people bent on the interesting pursuit of historical research been able to write down and preserve what was in the memories of old men intelligent enough to recapitulate it, and then only to learn a good deal that was irrelevant and coloured. No great advantage will however be gained by the repetition of legends gleaned from the minds of ancient warriors, captivating nevertheless as they are. It will be more to the point here to relate briefly what is generally accepted as fact in respect of the antecedents of the country prior to its occupation under the great wave The Bushmen 1 1 which carried the Bantu races with irresistible force over the whole Southern continent, depositing them so promiscuously as to necessitate their re-grouping. It is commonly believed and stated by those who have devoted themselves to the study of the Ethno- graphy of South Africa that, for a considerable period at any rate before the first discovery of the Cape of Good Hope, the greater part if not the whole of the Southern continent was inhabited by a tribe or people called Bushmen. These Bushmen, who though originally very prolific have now almost disappeared from the face of the earth, were of the lowest type of mankind and were deemed to be incapable of assimilating themselves to European civilization. They were coarse in feature, dwarfish of frame and of a yellowish brown colour. Their low order of intelligence and somewhat repulsive appearance, coupled with the fact that they were endowed with strong thieving propensities, made them a mark for destruction by all other people with whom they came in contact. Even the aboriginal African races who swept through and eventually re- placed them regarded them as little better than wild animals to be exterminated, and this was ultimately their lot. Having no language other than consisted of clicks and hoarse sounds which could find no significance in writing, and no means of verbal communication with the rest of humanity, they were unable to appeal for help to those who might otherwise have preserved them, and naturally went down fast before the advance of higher orders. 12 The Basutos Their story is of course a pathetic one. The efforts of a few enthusiasts to collect and preserve living specimens with the hope of constructing a language and exchanging elementary ideas were admirable but met with poor success. Traces of them are still to be found in cave dwellings where their impressions of the animals and creatures with which they were familiar are depicted in rude paintings of great durability, coloured apparently with iron oxides, that have with- stood the ravages of time and weather. They stand alone amongst aboriginal races as capable of this artistic kind of work, the singular character of which has found admirers who have at great pains and expense made facsimiles of the paintings, a selection of such being lately on view at the Anthropological Institute in London. 1 When hunted from the plains, the Bushmen took shelter, amongst other exclusive places, in the inner mountains of Basutoland where a small colony of them were relentlessly pursued and destroyed like baboons in quite recent times. A good many accounts have been written of these interesting people, of their characteristics as formidable hunters without weapons other than bows and arrows, of their roaming and homing instincts, their wonderful capacity for mimicry and their unique habits of life. But the general verdict is that their intelligence was too low for development, and that, being unable to emerge from their wild condition and usages, they had to disappear because their existence was no longer possible. 1 A book relating to these paintings, with coloured plates, by Miss Helen Tongue and Miss D. Bleek, is now in the press. The Hottentots 13 Allied to the Bushmen in many respects were the Hottentots, but where the common ancestors of both originally dwelt is unknown. There is evidence that the former issued at a remote period from Central Africa, to be followed at a great interval by the Hottentots who, with a coarse language of clicks but more intelligible, had learnt the art of smelting minerals and the manufacture of lethal weapons. In their superior way they looked upon the Bushmen as little better than wild game to be slain at pleasure. In pursuance of that idea they took possession of the country occupied by their inferiors, killing the men whenever possible and preserving the women for con- cubinage. Thus they levelled downwards by blood association with lower orders and prepared the way for their own extinction. In appearance the Hottentots were not altogether dissimilar to the Bushmen, though larger in stature, more pronounced yellow in complexion and having a greater amount of hair which was however but sparsely dotted about in small tufts. Their language in spite of its abundance of clicks was capable of reduction in a rough form to writing. They had learnt the value of possessing cattle and sheep as a medium of wealth, lived in huts, manufactured cooking-pots and other articles of domestic use, and believed in the direct agency of superior powers in certain affairs. But unlike the Bushmen, from whom they were clearly a step removed, they proved capable of assimi- lating certain habits of civilized life and adapting themselves to association with Europeans to whom they became most useful as shepherds and wagon- H The Basutos leaders. Remnants, here and there, abandoning the nomadic life so characteristic of them, settled down peacefully under the restraints imposed by European government, learning the use of implements for the cultivation of land in the production of crops. But in the end they paid the penalty of degeneration and, losing both their language and entity, gradually sank until their identity as a tribe amongst the races can scarcely now be discerned. p. 14] CHAPTER III Of the Bantu race, and the tide of settlement in Basutoland WHEN we come to the Bantu, of whom the Basuto are a section, we find a picturesque and virile race who after many vicissitudes are the survivors of a great struggle from which they have emerged in a fit and lusty condition. The term Bantu is a native word meaning "people." No conjecture even, in the absence of positive information, will give us the date when, in following the route taken by their predecessors the Hottentots, they began or completed the great migration they are believed to have made from North and Central Africa southwards across the Zambesi. Neither is it deter- mined from whom they originally sprung, for, although their languages bear some affinity to those of dark races in other continents and spheres, their variation as regards physiognomy and characteristic is distinctly marked. It is sufficient for the purpose to state that at least three centuries ago the struggle for existence in the north drove them southwards in bands, and that, over- coming the Hottentots and scattered Bushmen, neither 15 1 6 The Basutos of whom were able to offer serious or combined resist- ance, they made settlements first of all in the arid region of the west known as the Kalahari. Con- tinuing to migrate as the years rolled on, in the same direction and being dissatisfied with the lack of moisture in those parts they gradually pressed forward, extending over the whole Southern continent and estab- lishing themselves in favoured localities where they federated their strength and then carried on the pur- suit of making war upon each other. The most peaceful in character seem to have clung tenaciously to the ill-watered tablelands of the west, where marauding expeditions directed against them were more difficult of execution and the approach of enemies along defined water-routes could be more easily detected. The warlike tribes on the other hand being more impulsive and adventurous gravitated towards the east which was bushy and more fertile. It is not known who if any other than Bushmen were in those early days the inhabitants of Basutoland, for no traces have been discovered which give a clue to it. But we have information that the country was eventually peopled by clans separated or driven from the various groups into which the Bantu invaders from the north had divided themselves. Of these groups, two in principal stand out conspicuously as having figured in the modern history of South Africa, viz. : (i) The Amaxosa, Abatembu, Amapondo, Amabaca, Amazulu, Amatonga, Magwamba and Matshangana, all of whom bent their way in the first instance towards the east coast. (2) The Baralong, Bakwena, Batlapin, Bahurutsi, The Bantu Race 17 Bamangwato, Bangwaketsi, Bavenda, Makalanga and Basuto. There were many other tribes not here mentioned and many subdivisions. Thus the Basuto in the above classification are not identical entirely with the present tribe of that designation who, as will hereafter appear, are formed of a cluster of various tribes. There are for instance great numbers known under the same name living in the Transvaal, who, though speaking more or less a similar language, owe allegi- ance to Sekukuni, a direct descendant of Mokhatla, the founder of the Bakhatla tribe, and not to the reigning family of chieftainship in Basutoland. The two groups above mentioned were distinguished from each other in appearance, language and charac- teristics. Neither group consisted of pure negroes such as are found in North and West Africa but were evidently descended from them by mixture with other races, predominantly the Semitic race. As the process of mixture spread over a long period, the result was to produce, in the Bantu, types representing all shades of the colour peculiar to African aboriginals varying from black to light brown, and all diversities of character, mental and physical. Thus in the same tribes would be found some men having features of the lowest type with thick lips, flat noses and narrow foreheads, and others of a manifestly higher order with well-formed features in respect of nose, lips and forehead such as might easily have belonged to an ancestor derived from one of the subdivisions of the Caucasic race. VOL. I 1 1 8 The Basutos But the great majority were Negroid, that is of a mixture in which the negro strain preponderated. Those in group i classified as Zulu-Kaffirs who may be termed the East-coast Tribes were as a rule black of complexion, tall, well-developed men remarkable for muscular strength and powers of endurance. The second group classified as Bechuana-Basuto or Interior Tribes, who distributed themselves over the inland plateaux, were generally of a somewhat lighter colour, smaller in stature and build but rather more active of disposition. Between them they had many languages or dialects but not one in particular that could be regarded as a medium of universal communication, though, as many of the roots are identical, all seem to have been drawn originally from a common stock. In respect of language the tribal grouping was fairly well marked, that is to say amongst the Zulu-Kaffirs the sound corresponding to the letter R was wanting, whilst amongst the Bechuana-Basuto tribes in place of the letter L a soft D was substituted. (Some notes upon the Sesuto language will be given in an appendix.) In course of time some of the various tribes in the second group were forced by continuous pressure upon them from the north and other circumstances to break away from their settlements in the vicinity of what is now known as Bechuanaland towards the midlands. They had become a good deal subdivided, adopting sometimes the names of their chiefs as a national designation and at others that of some animal or vegetable. Thus, the Bakwenas were people of the crocodile ; Batlapis, those of the fish ; Bachuenengs, of The Tide of Settlement in Basutoland 19 the monkey ; Bataung, of the lion ; Banares, of the buffalo ; Batlous, of the elephant ; Bamoraras, of the wild vine. Sections of these and many other tribes to be mentioned wended and fought their way towards Basutoland, occupying the country all around it which had become famous for perennial springs such as were almost unknown on the Kalahari side where water had to be burrowed for in dry river-beds. The most powerful branch at that time were the Bakwenas (of the crocodile) who eventually asserted and established themselves as the paramount family. However, at the beginning of the last century five tribes in particular were in occupation of the wild country comprised in the Maluti mountains and the valley of the Caledon river. They were called the Bamonaheng, Batlokoana, Baramokhele, Makhoakoa and Mayiane. This combination of tribes, speaking more or less the same dialect and claiming descent from common ancestors, became known at that time as the Basuto. Several other tribes had established themselves at no great distance, choosing strong natural positions from which they could make a show of defence against aggression ; but they were constantly attacked and overcome, some being so completely broken as to lose their entity and be compelled to submit to absorption with other tribes led at the moment by chiefs of strong individuality. Following the course of the Vet and Sand rivers with their cattle and belongings came a strong section of the Bataung (people of the lion) who formerly held a dominating position amongst the Bechuana tribes. Inter-tribal quarrels and a desire for 20 The Basutos new pastures induced this section to feel its way cautiously along until they reached and effected a settlement in what is now known as the Harrismith District ; thence to be driven after much loss to Mekuatling and finally to that part of South Basuto- land where the Cornet Spruit or Makhaleng river forms a junction with the Caledon and where they have ever since remained. The Bataung were more given to pastoral habits than to fighting and were notorious for border-thieving, a propensity which led them and the Basuto in later years into serious trouble with other tribes as well as with the Boers who became their neighbours in the Orange Free State. They were a prolific race but were not distinguished for stamina or intelligence, and the hand of their daughters was not often sought in marriage by the Bakwena Chiefs. They became however in due course a corporate part of the Basuto nation. Another tribe which played a great part in the incessant border warfare which prevailed for many years prior to the consolidation of the Basuto were the Batlokoa who frequented the valley of the Wilge river and afterwards infested the broken country between it and the lower Caledon. Their chief Makotsho married a daughter of the Basia chief, a warlike and determined woman subsequently named Ma-Ntatisi. Her second child, a son named Sikonyela, was a man of tyrannical and bellicose disposition and, together with his mother, figured conspicuously in the history of the disturbed time. Their fierce restless- ness afforded no peace for their followers who deserted in considerable numbers and helped to swell the ranks p. 20] The Tide of Settlement in Basutoland 21 of the Basuto nation then forming, a course which tribes weaker and less important than the Batlokoa were finding it expedient for other reasons to follow. In Southern Basutoland along the inaccessible upper reaches of the Orange River were settled a clan called the " Baphuti." Of mixed blood and speaking at first various languages, they congregated in in- dependent units under a chief named Mokuane, whose son Moirosi amalgamated them and later on proved himself so formidable in numbers and prowess that the Basuto were glad to incorporate them in their consolida- tion scheme, as a buffer for protection against the sudden incursions of hostile armies from Natal and other parts which threatened the eastern flank of the country. Similarly, the Baralong under Moroko, a de- scendant of Morolong, a noted Bechuana chief, who were located in the open country round the Modder River, deemed it desirable to make friendly overtures to the Basuto with the result that, though not actually incorporated, they were taken over as vassals on the understanding that the territory extending from the Leeuw river to near the present site of Bloemfontein then under their occupation should be held under feudal tenure and allegiance to Basuto chieftainship which, by accessions of this character, grew in dimensions and influence without going through the process of conquest by force of arms. It is of interest to note what a wide tribal area was drawn upon for contributions to this communal formation. Some idea of it may be gathered from the memoirs of Nehemiah, one of the elder sons of Moshesh, a student and educated man of vast memory 22 The Basutos who, in describing the constitution of the Basuto nation, stated as follows : — " The tribes which form the Basuto nation are, Bafuking, Bakwena, Batlokoa, Basia, Bachuening, Banareng, Batloung, Bataung, Baputing, Baphuti, Bakhatla, Bakulung, Bahaleroa. These are from the Siboko, or coat-of-arms. Then there were clans named after persons such as the Bahamaieane Basili, Bamokoteri, Bamotlumi, Bamonaheng, Bamoshesh, Baramokheli, Bakwakwa, Batlakwana, Bamakkatong (who were Bat- lokoa separate from those of Sikonyela). All these claim to be Basutos. " The principal clan among the Basutos were the Bakwena. The Bafuking are considered real Basutos, and chiefs always try to marry Bafuking wives. The Bafuking were considered a royal race, but their clans were much scattered through the Bakwena country, and their Siboko (coat-of-arms) was the Dew, or the Rheebok (Letsa), for they did not eat that animal, or the Hare, of which they would only eat a portion of the ear, not cooked." From whatever source information is sought the weight of evidence goes to show that the Basuto, on reaching a state of maturity solid enough to be termed a " Nation," had been formed of a con- glomerate of clans as above indicated which for the common purpose of offence and defence had com- bined together for residence in and about the great stronghold of the Quathlamba mountains called Basutoland. That combination was effected principally through the genius of a great chief named Moshesh. CHAPTER IV Men, like cattle, follow him who leads. Byron. The rise of Moshesh: his antecedents WITH the rise of Moshesh we begin to get in touch with memoirs and records of a reliable character which introduce us to the history of the Basuto but lack many of those fascinating details that went to make it up ; when the times were savage, the actors wild and brave, and the ruling passion was contest for supremacy amongst chiefs and people not altogether deficient in chivalry. It was all the more exciting because no man who rose to momentary power could calculate from the hazy intelligence then at disposal from what quarter he might be smitten and vanquished by unknown and stronger foes, or how soon his women and children would be wrenched from him and his villages and lands destroyed — how soon in fact the power rapidly gained by him would vanish under the touch of a mightier. No wonder, then, that after generations of strife and uncertainty there was a profound longing for rest and security and that the tendency was toward any form of blending of forces which might lead to it. 23 24 The Basutos As in the history of all nations during the process of rising to any kind of enduring prominence the inspiration of the moment at a critical period has furnished the man of action, so it was that one of the required prescience and ability was forthcoming for the task in respect of Basutoland. We have indicated some of the components loosely drawn together to form the nucleus of the nation and may now inquire something of the man who embodied them, his antecedents, character and aims. Moshesh, who derived his name from Mosheshwe meaning Shaver or Leveller, together with his near relatives the Ba-monaheng, was descended from Chol- wani, one of the progenitors of the great Bakwena family. He was the son of Mokachane and was born at Monkhoaneng near Butha-Buthe in the vicinity of the Thlotsi river of North Basutoland a few years before the year 1800, the exact date of his birth being unknown. His father and grandfather were also said to have been born there but that question is wrapped in doubt. It is recorded that Pete the grandfather of Moshesh was not a natural son of his reputed father Sekake who was a Bakwena chief; that is to say, when Sekake died young his youthful widow should, according to native custom, have been taken over by his brother for the purpose of preserving succession. But the brother would not, and therefore a distant relative but intimate friend of Sekake (a member of the Amahlubi tribe who were Batlokoa and a relation of Umtimkulu father of Langalibalele) openly took the position which the brother should have taken. He it was who The Rise of Moshesh 25 became the actual father of Pete who was thereupon accounted to be the son of Sekake " by cattle," refer- ring to the cattle given for the mother. The unfortunate Pete, when in his old age he had come to reside under his grandson Moshesh, and whom he was following in a migration from one stronghold to another, lagged behind the main party with the women and children, and being caught with five other men was ambushed, killed and eaten by cannibals. Mokachane was therefore not of very direct descent ; nor, though a great hunter, did he possess any of those rare qualities for fighting and zeal which brought an hereditary leader into prominence in those days. Moreover, he was of unattractive appearance. As however he was the father of a great man, it is in- teresting to know the impressions formed of him by the first missionaries who made his acquaintance. But few white people had then seen him, for he shunned the society of strangers. In memoirs of early missionary life in Basutoland, by the Rev. E. Casalis, he is thus described : — " Mokachane was a dry old man with a cynical look, abrupt and brief of speech. Our appearance in the country appeared to interest him very little. . . . Sugar was in his opinion the only good thing we had brought into the country. . . . After having looked at us a moment, making a shade of his hand in order the better to take in our features, he said to his son, ' Very good : you have now the direction of affairs ; I have seen your white men ; do with them what you judge best ! ' 26 The Basutos " He was in truth a singular personage. Suspicious and mocking, a thorough egotist, he despised men and did not conceal the fact. . . . He loved to compare his subjects to flies who are only drawn together by the sweet morsel which they find in the plate. At bottom he was more roguish than wicked. Without being warlike he had more than once made war, like other chiefs ; but, either from superstition or from scruple, he had imposed on himself a law never to slay any one with his own hand. He directed the action and made all the combinations necessary to prevent the enemy from escaping him, but he left the work of blood entirely to his subordinates. Surrounded by people extremely superstitious, he lent himself to their practices, but not without rendering himself guilty of many profanations. In paying the diviners for instance he did not hesitate to tell them that he regarded them as the biggest impostors in the world." We have happily a description of both father and son drawn by the same authority who was fortunate enough to see them together on the same day in the year 1833 when the French missionaries made their journey of exploration to feel the way for settlement in Basutoland. Relating the story of their arrival at the summit of Thaba Bosigo (Mountain of Night) where they were to be received by the Basuto, M. Casalis portrays Moshesh in the following terms : — " Suddenly a personage attired in the most fantastic fashion advanced, a long wand in his hand, growling and snapping like a dog. At his appearance every- body retreated and fell into line, making in this way MOSHESH IN 1833. p. 26] The Rise of Moshesh 27 an immense semi-circle behind a man, seated on a mat. There is Moshesh, said Krotz to me. The chief bent upon me a look at once majestic and benevolent. His profile, much more aquiline than that of the generality of his subjects, his well-developed forehead, the fulness and regularity of his features, his eyes a little weary as it seemed, but full of intelligence and softness, made a deep impression on me. I felt at once that I had to do with a superior man trained to think, to command others, and above all himself. " He appeared to be about forty-five years of age. The upper part of his body, entirely naked, was perfectly modelled, sufficiently fleshy but without obesity. I admired the graceful lines of the shoulders and the fineness of his hand. He had allowed to fall carelessly round him from his middle a large mantle of panther skins as lissom as the finest cloth and the folds of which covered his knees and feet. For sole ornament he had bound round his forehead a string of glass beads to which was fastened a tuft of feathers which floated behind the neck. He wore on his right arm a bracelet of ivory — an emblem of power — and some copper rings on his wrists." This may be taken to be a correct picture of the man who was to bring into life the new Basuto nation and to shape its destinies through many storms in its early career. Moshesh had nothing much to boast of in his im- mediate ancestors, who had left him a poor inheritance and many enemies. His lineage could not be traced beyond his great-grandfather, Sekake. His marriage 28 The Basutos brought him no accession of strength. He had married Mamabela, afterwards named Mamohato on the birth of her first son ; she was a daughter of Seephephe son of Ntatli third son of Modise, a chief of the Bafuking, his maternal grandfather. His cousin, Motlumi, of an elder branch had en- joyed the paramountcy over a section of the people then called Basuto. Caring little for war or great possessions, he was remarkable for his knowledge of men and medicines, and his name was handed down for generations as that of one whose memory should be revered. At his death about the year 1 8 1 5 he predicted that, of all the young men he saw around him, Moshesh alone would achieve distinction and attain paramount authority on a large scale by uniting under him many of the clans who had not only dis- tracted the country by their feuds but had weakened themselves to such an extent as to become a prey to every marauding expedition that came along. Moshesh was made acquainted with this announce- ment and, though by no means grasping or unduly ambitious, took up the burden and determined to fulfil the prophecy. And he commenced, as he con- tinued throughout his life, by avoiding the cruel and tyrannical line of conduct which had brought fame to chiefs who had gained eminence in other parts of South Africa. He displayed early promise of leader- ship in a variety of ways. Not only had he won dis- tinction by personal bravery and good generalship in his many previous encounters, but on finding himself elevated to a commanding position over a medley of tribes which had gathered round him, he realized the The Rise of Moshesh 29 situation and characterized his advent to power by prompting reforms in the method of government. These reforms were not as a rule acceptable to other chiefs who had been brought up to regard the brutal exercise of power as the only medium of success ; nor did the common people, who were accustomed to and content with harsh and despotic treatment, believe in them. They consisted of the introduction of humanity and justice, and mildness when possible, into a form of government which had of necessity to be autocratic and firm. Moshesh recognized that, by sparing his enemies who submitted to him and protecting all who came under his banner, he would gain in numbers and exact the tribute of respect and affection. In so doing he justified the great expectations formed of him by Motlumi and soon became the central figure amidst groups of tribesmen who were all eager to safeguard their holdings and, with some exceptions, anxious for a respite from internecine warfare and plunder. His attitude had the effect of rallying to him from all sides tribal fragments seeking security under a ruler who had manifested his strength and whom they regarded as an exalted personage, who was capable of tempering mercy with justice, and by whom agricultural lands could be assigned and occupied in safety. It will be seen that the character and qualifications displayed by Moshesh on the threshold of his career were of no mean order. Later events proved the capacity which he possessed. It enabled him to sustain his reputation, to bear down the troubles and oppo- sition which beset him, and to emerge from the severe 30 The Basutos test with credit and a name honoured in the memory of the native nations. His primary task was to humour and blend the miscellaneous forces gathered under him, a savage crew accustomed to prey upon each other like wild animals, who, when not amenable to advice, needed firm re- straint. The task was harder because they spoke a lot of different dialects and were dissimilar in habits, customs and other manners not easy to reconcile. It required no mean effort and was not accomplished without stern opposition as well as resentment and intriguing even on the part of the members of his own family. Indeed, they often broke away from control and involved the chief in serious complications which defeated his policy and forced his hand. But he stuck to them so far as he could, bringing them and himself out of unforeseen difficulties, eventually landing them in a masterly way under the protection of the Queen of England. Though he showed early signs of a desire to pro- mote progress amongst them, their condition, which at the time was one of extreme backwardness and unsettlement, did not yield to the idea ; their super- stitions, barbarous demeanour and reluctance to ad- vance to any higher state of life made the prospect look hopeless. Nevertheless, by his example, his invitation to and reception of Christian missionaries against the popular will, and a genius for foresight remarkable in its clearness, he led them in spite of their inclinations gently along the path of improve- ment. In so far as his struggles and negotiations with The Antecedents of Moshesh 31 white people are concerned, the bald facts are on record. But the many impediments and dangers that encompassed him in the affairs of state were known in full to few but his old councillors and they were not chroniclers. He naturally shared the faults and weaknesses common to humanity. Of these his de- tractors made the most ; yet none could deny that he was a great man in his day. For the information of the reader, certain terms in common use affecting Basutoland are given below : also genealogical trees showing the principal members of Moshesh's family some of whose names will appear in the ensuing pages. Mosutu means a single individual. Basuto, two or more individuals, or the tribe collectively. Sesuto, the language. Lesuto, the country. Basnto, an adjective, as relating to people or things. Sekake I GENEALOGY OF MOSHESH I I Mpiti Pete Masotwane Makvvai Dibe Mokochane Ramakha Moshesh Makhabane Lesoana or Ramanella Poshudi Mohali Moperi Moema Job Mokhamaledi Mpoto 32 The Basutos X CO s CO O O z w Q _) M ' Mohalinyane Motsoai Kuidi Peane Tsita Mathlole Makebe Tlalele Tsekelo Mota Ntsane K o a JS -, 3 o p A .s s o n cd I. V ai 3 J*4B< H «, J4 o ! — S C .c ■;? rttn" .Su.gu.gjaaM.eOooo-g Makhobalo Nehemiah Matsoso Nena Sofonia George Thladinyane Mokheili Selebalo BEAD WORK AND OTHER PRODUCTIONS. W&&2' KAFFIR DOLLS, WEAPONS, ETC. P- 32] CHAPTER V Rise of the Zulus : its effect upon Basutoland, Tshaka and Moselekatse 1820 — 1831 WHILST Moshesh was engaged in the effort to hold together the fragments that unexpectedly grew to him and was steadily feeling his way to power, stirring events were taking place at no great distance on the East Coast where a mighty chief of a different character had arisen whose daring and ferocity changed the course of affairs and filled the whole country with dismay. So much were the early associations of Basutoland influenced by that chief, viz. the Zulu, Tshaka, that it will be relevant here to give some account of his origin and policy, the effects of which were so far-reaching. Not only was he responsible for breaking up and pursuing many of the powerful tribes who first fell upon the people of Moshesh and then in a desultory way sought that chief's protection, but he was the means of initiating the Bantus into the art of fighting in masses, the knowledge of which made them more destructive to each other and more formidable there- vol. i 33 3 34 The Basutos after to the white races when black and white came into collision as the forces of civilization advanced northwards. Moreover, failing in the end to carry his ravages completely into the Lesuto mountains and annihilate all there as he had done elsewhere, he was content at the last to tolerate a certain friendly " under- standing " between the Zulus and Basuto, a course which his successors secretly adopted and which continued unbroken down to the end of the reigns of Cetywayo and Lobengulu, with whom presents, including girls sent in marriage, were periodically exchanged. This " understanding," apparently unimportant, became nevertheless a distinct future menace to the white races who could never be certain when and how it might ripen. We are indebted to the late Sir Theophilus Shep- stone, who had an unrivalled knowledge of the subject, for valuable information in respect of Zulu history. According to that great authority the story of the rise of the Zulus to power under Tshaka runs, in brief, as follows. Occupying the neighbourhood of the Black and White Umfolozi rivers in Zululand was a prominent tribe of considerable dimensions called the Umtetwa. The Zulus were a tribe of less importance tributary to the Umtetwa. The Umtetwa chief, Jobe, on the approach of old age, fearing dissensions after his death resolved to adjust the matter of succession by timely nomination of his heir. Of his two principal sons he appointed the elder, Tana, who was however not content to await his turn of chieftainship but con- Rise of the Zulus 3S spired with his younger brother Godongwana to take their father's life. The old man on being apprized of the plot chafed with indignation and took secret measures to have both of his sons put to death, his anger against the younger being intensified in the belief that he was the instigator and would be the more dangerous it at large. Thereupon he caused the hut in which the boys slept to be surrounded at night by ruffians charged with peremptory orders to butcher every person inside, particularly the younger son. Including Tana, the elder, all were assegaied except Godongwana, the younger, who, rushing the doorway and leaping the outer fence, eluded the murderers but not without receiving a terrible wound in the back from a double-barbed assegai. Concealing himselt in the bush he avoided capture in a marvellous way and was discovered next day by a faithful sister who, after extracting the assegai and feeding him, aided his escape by disguise and other desperate hazards. Sir Theophilus Shepstone ascribes the date of this escape approximately to the year 1790 and attributes to it many of the changes in habits, condition and destiny of the Kaffir tribes south of the Zambesi. Surviving miraculous adventures, badly wounded and friendless, Godongwana passed from tribe to tribe until he reached the far south where he found the white people from whom he learnt the art of combina- tion in warfare and other devices. Hearing after about ten years of the death of his father Jobe he fearlessly returned to the tribe and claimed the chief- tainship, the scar upon his back serving to identify him 36 The Basutos where doubt existed. His impressive entry riding upon a horse, an animal then unknown, together with his daring and presence fascinated the people who at once acclaimed him. The reigning chief with his immediate adherents fled but was overtaken and killed as well as others who ventured upon opposition. Thus, Godongwana won back the Umtetwa chieftainship which he retained for many years under the new name of Dingiswayo, meaning " He who was caused to wander," conferred upon him in celebration of his valour and exploits. Dingiswayo, upon finding himself firmly established, gave effect to his ambitious designs by immediately founding the martial system which he had studied from the whites. But he was to have no monopoly of it. The surrounding tribes caught the infection and as a measure of protection and preservation adopted a similar organization. At this time the name of the Zulu chief, who owed allegiance to the Umtetwas, was Senzangakona. He had an illegitimate son, Tshaka, a youth of energy and promise who, having roused the jealousy and hostility of the legitimate members of the family, was compelled to flee with his mother and take refuge with Dingis- wayo into whose military service the boy promptly entered about the year 1805 and immediately won his way to distinction. After serving long enough to acquaint himself with the merits of the new military system and the defects, as he thought, of Dingiswayo's lenient policy, it was his fortune, though not in the true line of succession, to be appointed Chief of the Zulus in succession to his father Senzangakona who Tshaka 3 7 died about 18 10, and was celebrated as being also the father of Dingaan and Panda. He then, in alliance with Dingiswayo by whom he was already held in respect, carried on combined operations against other tribes, particularly against Zwide the most powerful local chieftain who had on one occasion been defeated and captured by Dingis- wayo but magnanimously liberated. Later on the tables were turned ; Zwide beat and captured Dingis- wayo and would in the same generous spirit have spared the prisoner but for the intervention of his mother at whose instigation he was put to death ; whereupon, his tribe, without a strong commander, were overcome after heavy loss and, being reduced to extremities, threw themselves under the protection of Tshaka who in this way became chief over both the Umtetwas and Zulus — a position to which he had been raised by the voice of the men-at-arms who delighted in dashing leaders. Tshaka thus reinforced in numbers and influence commenced a series of aggressive movements having the effect of enlarging his fame and spreading the terror with which his name was associated. Unlike Dingis- wayo whose policy it was, after inflicting defeat, to spare women and children and leave tribes behind him willing to recognize his paramountry, Tshaka held to the view that entire extermination was as a rule the only practicable course— a course which he pursued relentlessly. He still had to reckon with his formid- able neighbour Zwide by whom, taken unawares, he was viciously attacked, compelled to evacuate his country and followed up. His fate then hung in the 3 8 The Basutos balance ; but he was equal to the occasion. Cleverly- retrieving the disaster, he outgeneralled Zwide, struck and dispersed Zwide's army with such fury that what remained of it surrendered to take service in his Zulu regiments. This action removed the last check upon Tshaka's victorious career. Of the wild and murderous excursions of this re- markable man, whose devastating operations extended from the great Fish River in Cape Colony to the Limpopo, his utter depopulation of some tribes and incorporation of others to augment his power, it is not possible here to dwell upon. He met a violent death in 1828 at the hands of his brother Dingaan by whom he was succeeded. More than any other leader of the time he perfected the military organization of the warlike coast tribes. The short stabbing assegai was reserved for single combat at close quarters ; in its place long throwing assegais were introduced, capable by dexterous handling of being flung a considerable distance, the operators being screened by large hardened shields. The old style of desultory conflict was abandoned for new tactics consisting of the delivery of attack by massed regiments in a form designed to envelop the enemy, with reserves ready at hand to meet counter-attacks or push home a victory. Discipline of a severe character was maintained. Men were not allowed to marry without permission and that was not given until their regiments had in the opinion of the chief won glory that deserved reward. Acts of insubordination were punished by summary execution of the offenders. The result in general upon tribes under this system was Tshaka 39 to form the entire manhood into a body of trained soldiers ready and eager to take the field, with war as their only occupation. It is of importance to note before leaving Tshaka how widely his character differed from that of Moshesh previously referred to. Both chiefs attained great ascendency and exercised a powerful influence upon the destiny of the native races of South Africa. Their methods were not, however, at all identical. The latter found his strength in homage accorded by followers whose respect he had gained and whose intellectual qualities he developed and utilized in their government. The former crushed every vestige of opposition and was a tyrant who neither sought advice nor tolerated compromise but enforced obedience to an iron will in such an effective manner as to dry up the springs from which progressive ideas flow. From this kind of rule he constructed a nation of magnificent warriors before whom English armies have since recoiled. Yet he left them in a condition of back- wardness inclining even to retrogression, with a traditional legacy of savagery and violence which admitted of no motive for intellectual growth. In an able survey of the period, the historian Theale, sum- ming up the character of Tshaka, says : — " Tshaka governed his people with such cruelty as is hardly comprehensible to Europeans. Every one who displeased him in any way was put to death. All who approached him did so unarmed and in a crouching posture. He never admitted any woman to the rank of wife, though at his various places of 40 The Basutos residence over twelve hundred females were main- tained. His custom was to distribute to his favourite officers such of those women as he no longer cared for, when their places were supplied by captives. To prevent rivalry by members of his own family he allowed no son of his to live. And yet his people were devoted to him, so proud were they of the military fame which his genius enabled them to acquire." The effect of Tshaka's operations was to drive from the latitude of his fury certain clans who though strong in numbers were unable to withstand the onslaught and, after suffering much loss, prudently retired ; some fled to Natal to get protection from the British authorities ; some to the Cape Colony, others to the north, and others again, prominently the Amangwane, with whom we are particularly concerned, followed one of the retreating waves to the westward and clung to the skirts of the Drakensberg mountains encircling Basutoland. In this course they tumbled upon and overwhelmed other tribes with the same ruthless vigour as that from which they were recoiling. A writer of acknowledged authority describing the savage procession of the Amangwane under their chief Matiwana quotes from the narrative of a mis- sionary who soon afterwards visited the scene : — " It is impossible to paint in colours sufficiently dark the atrocities committed by these cruel and bloodthirsty miscreants. Any one travelling along the mountains will find convincing proof in the burnt kralls and human skeletons on all sides of the desolating warfare The Amangwane 41 carried on by the people of Matiwana. There is an old man dwelling on the Bunting station who was for many years with Matiwana during his predatory mode of living who states that he himself saw upwards of thirty captains, whose people he had previously destroyed, brought before him and murdered in cold blood in order that he might drink their galls to make him strong. The people under these captains may at the lowest computation be reckoned as from three to four thousand to each captain. All these amounting to at least 100,000 souls were utterly destroyed by the bloody Matiwana." The Amangwane upon being first attacked by Tshaka about the year 18 19 were in their enforced retreat intercepted by the Amahlubi, then occupying the country between the Buffalo and Tugela rivers, whose power of resistance was unequal to the task with the result that they were badly beaten and fled before their adversaries, losing their chief Bungane and his eldest son Mtimkulu. A section of the defeated Amahlubi under Umpanganzita a son of Bungane were led by the memory of an old feud to direct their flight right across the Maluti mountains in a swift expedition to exact vengeance. The story related is that, some little time before, Umpanganzita had quarrelled with his relative Motsholi who thereupon departed about the year 1820 with a considerable following and sought refuge with the Batlokoa then residing round the north-east spurs of the Drakensberg in what is now known as the Harrismith district. 42 The Basutos Ma-Ntatisi, referred to in a previous chapter, was at the time acting for her minor son Sikonyela as Regent over the Batlokoa. Motsholi was hospitably received and well treated but was nevertheless suspic- ious of foul play and did not disguise his mistrust of the Batlokoa, showing it more especially by his refusal to partake of the food they presented him. This was an insult to the whole clan and it so roused Sikonyela, then a youth anxious to signalize his entrance to manhood by some notorious act, that with a band of young men who had been his associates in the school of circumcision rites, he stealthily fell upon Motsholi and murdered him, cutting off his head in order to obtain a much-coveted necklace charm forged in metal round his neck. This act of mutilation was in due course communicated to Umpanganzita who treasured up the injury and resolved upon some fitting oppor- tunity to take satisfaction and recover the necklace. In pursuance of this resolve, after a rapid march through the mountains by paths from which his approach could not be detected, he made a sudden descent upon the Batlokoa who, taken by surprise, were roughly handled and driven in confusion towards the north-eastern Lesuto frontier. The general position was then, that a running fight raged between the fierce Amangwane under Matiwana and the retreating Amahlubi who had in turn fallen upon the Batlokoa : the torch of war was in fact lighted so effectually as to involve every tribe living round the entire borders of Basutoland. This prolonged death struggle, resulting from all accounts in the destruction of hundreds of thousands, gradually trended towards Basutos Attacked 43 the mountain localities where Moshesh, with his nation in the forming, found it necessary to open his doors to refugees and to defend himself against a host of strange enemies who turned on him at intervals. Though the odds were many, that chief made a gallant stand. He must however have given way but that the most powerful of the marauding forces were diverted. The Amahlubi under Umpanganzita, driven to a last stand, and the Amangwane under Matiwana engaged furiously in a great battle in the valley of the north Caledon which resulted in the absolute defeat and death of Umpanganzita. The victorious Amang- wane were then attacked by an army of Tshaka's and vanquished. Their chief Matiwana after raiding in and being expelled from the Cape Colony, and other vicissitudes, returned eventually to Zululand with a small following, intending to offer submission to Tshaka. That chief had meanwhile been assassinated and his successor Dingaan, while affecting to receive the refugee kindly, had him put to death. In this way Moshesh was delivered unexpectedly about the year 1824 from a swarm of invaders, set in motion by Tshaka, who must otherwise have crushed him between them. A considerable number of the Amangwane and Amahlubi after their exhausting struggles with each other, finding themselves cut off, were content to suffer incorporation by the Basuto and represent in that country to-day that distinct and fairly numerous section known as Fingoes who still cling to the Zulu language and habits. There still remained the Batlokoa who, in spite of having been hunted away from their various settle- 44 The Basutos ments, were still restless and formidable. With them Moshesh had immediately to deal. Led by Ma-Ntatisi and Sikonyela operating from stronghold bases in the upper reaches of the Caledon river, they laid siege to Moshesh in his fortress at Butha Buthe with such vigour that he was compelled to abandon the position and retreat over the hills to Thaba Bosigo, an eminence of great strength lying under the shadow of Mount Machache — so impregnable indeed that, though reso- lutely attacked in later years by various forces white and black, it was never wrested from the Basuto chiefs whose future home and burial-place it was to be. In the retreat the people of Moshesh endured great hard- ships, losing most of their property ; it was on this occasion that his grandfather Pete met his death at the hands of cannibals. Things might have been worse but that Moselekatse, a chief who had broken away from the Zulus, attacked the Batlokoa savagely in rear and drew them off from the retiring Basutos. The name of Moselekatse suggests a passing note, for it was he who founded the Matebele nation after he had ravaged a great portion of central South Africa exterminating vast numbers of the docile people of the plains. The son of an independent chief named Matshobane who fell under the Zulu domination, he at once attracted, on account of his fine physique and daring, the attention of Tshaka by whom he was entrusted with the command of an army corps. Having won the attachment of his warriors by a series of successful exploits he became arrogant and in that frame of mind ventured on one occasion to appropriate spoil which should have gone to his superior. There- SSlfS^^--^- 5 ' From a drawing by Capt. Harris in 1839. MOSELEKATSE, KING OF THE MATABELE. P 44] Moselekatse 45 upon Tshaka, enraged at the man's ambition and the insult from his inferior, despatched an army to annihilate him and his adherents ; but Moselekatse, warned of the danger, fled northwards laying waste the whole country he traversed, evidence of which is to be seen to this day in thousands of krall ruins between the Vaal and Limpopo rivers. Up till 1831 he terrorized an immense tract killing off many thousands who had escaped from the Amangwane, sparing none. He cast his eyes upon the Basuto mountain fastnesses with the idea possibly of securing himself there from the vengeance of Tshaka ; but his army, thwarted by want of provisions and the tactics of the sturdy mountaineers, failed to take Thaba Bosigo by storm. Moshesh humoured him by sending presents of food and peaceful messages which so pleased him that he exchanged salutations and swerved off to the westward devastating en route the whole area up to the Kalahari where he held despotic sway until 1837 when the Emigrant Boers after several bloody encounters hurled him precipitously over the Limpopo. There, after a reign of terror, he established the Matabele kingdom and was succeeded in 1870 by Lobengulu of recent history. In the report published in 1836 of an expedition sent by the Cape Colonial Government to explore in the year 1834 what was then called Central Africa, the Superintendent after an interview with Moshesh de- scribed the methods of Basuto defence as follows : — " As soon as it was evident that the tribes hurled upon the Basuto by the wars of Tshaka were too 46 The Basutos powerful for them upon the plains they retreated to the hills whose flattened tops render them not inconvenient residences, whilst their precipitous sides constitute natural fortresses of such strength as to enable a mere handful of men to defend them against a powerful enemy. To the few points at which these can be assailed all fly on the approach of danger and, from the piles of stones which are purposely collected there, each individual supplies himself with one of such a weight as he is able to manage, and those they hurl with dreadful effect upon the advancing foes. By this simple plan they have for years been able to maintain their position and even to set at defiance the practised warriors of Moselekatse and Tshaka." The general condition of the people at the end of this phase was one of extreme misery. Lands had gone out of cultivation ; scarcely any villages remained except those screened from view under rocky ledges dangerous of approach, and the surviving population dwelt in a state of expectant attack. The destitution and stress caused by the manner in which they had been hunted about produced one most unhappy result in particular. When in desperate circumstances and threatened by hunger, they were betrayed into the fatal resource of tasting human flesh. This led to a certain section of them becoming cannibals. The habit seems to have originated in Natal, for Sir Theophilus Shepstone writing upon the subject said : — " The country became filled with small parties of starving and desperate men ; there was but one step to Cannibalism 47 cannibalism, and this was soon taken by a man named Umdava, who conceived the idea of eating human flesh, and a considerable band soon gathered round him : his example was followed by others, until the fragments of four tribes had become cannibals : they hunted for human beings as men do for game and became a far more terrible scourge to the country than Tshaka's armies. I have myself conversed with several men who escaped after having been captured by these * man- eaters,' and after having been told off to furnish the next feast of their captors ; and with one, a chief still living in this Colony, who was compelled to carry the vessel in which he was told he would himself be cooked ; the scene of his escape is not five miles from the spot on which this paper is written, and at present forms part of the episcopal property held by the Bishop of Natal." CHAPTER VI Moshesh has a respite and turns it to account: the intro' duction of Missionaries: how it was accomplished and some reminiscences 1832—1835 GRIMLY the chief Moshesh, like an old Baron of the feudal ages, fortified and held the barriers to his stronghold at Thaba Bosigo where we find him permanently established in 1832. He had been enabled there for a short space to survey the movements of his enemies, showering missiles, in the absence of firearms, upon the bloodthirsty Zulu and Matabele invaders and while not defeating them had driven them off. Tshaka had fallen by an assassin's hand ; Moselekatse was gone never to return. Enemies there were still, but no desperate chiefs near who were eager enough to venture upon mountain expeditions against hidden foes. Meanwhile, fragments continued to filter in to swell his numbers. At intervals, predatory bands of Griquas and Korannas mounted on horses, of which the Basuto had as yet scarcely any, and armed with guns descended unexpectedly upon the Lesuto, raiding, rob- bing, murdering and returning to their lairs along 48 Condition 49 the lower Orange River. But at times they were met and reversed until finally they got entangled with the Boer emigrants pushing up from the Cape Colony by whom they were cut off and silenced. The Batlokoa and other disturbing elements were content for the moment to suspend open hostilities whilst they seized upon derelict lands for cultivation of maize and millet required for sustenance. Cannibalism though still rife to a certain degree was repulsive to many. Some cattle remained but not for slaughter, being regarded as national wealth — the means of exchange and barter, in marriage particularly. The Basuto were thankful for a truce which would allow them to till the ground and get green food again. Unperturbed by the dangers he had passed through and which for all he knew of outside affairs might recur, Moshesh viewed the respite with satisfaction as affording him the opportunity to gather round him in council his crowd of miscellaneous tribesmen. Composed as it was of many who had but recently engaged in deadly conflict with each other, it is hard to realize the existence of unanimity between them. But they now had one cause in common, viz. mutual protection, and that led more than anything to a burial of the hatchet. The chief considered it a favourable moment to make proposals which he felt assured would not meet with universal approval ; they were indeed opposed by certain members of his own family and by some of his vassals. But he clung to his purpose and determined upon a course which appealed strongly to his imagination and which as it happened was vol. i 4 50 The Basutos destined to exercise a supreme influence over the fate of the Basuto nation. That was, the introduction of white missionaries. For some considerable time he had been hearing from native wanderers from the west of the work of Moffat and other agents of the London Missionary Society ; of their wisdom and kindness, their capacity to prevail over savage game by the aid of new weapons in the form of firearms, and of their magical skill in the use of potent medicines known only to themselves. These reports fascinated him so much that he resolved if possible to have a missionary of his own. It so happened that a half-caste by name Adam Krotz, a Christian convert living on the lower Orange River, in pursuing his calling as a hunter amongst the hordes of game then frequenting the Orange Free State, wandered on one occasion close to the Basutoland frontier where he was visited by two men who begged him to go and see their chief. He did so and found himself in the presence of Moshesh by whom he was received courteously. What passed at the interview is best related in the exact words of Krotz : — " Moshesh told me that for several years he had been the victim of incessant attacks by which three- quarters of his subjects had been destroyed or dispersed. He had asked me there to know if I could give him any good advice, if I could show him any means of securing peace for the country. I thought at once of the missionaries ; I spoke to him about Moffat and about our own men. I tried to make him understand Introduction of Missionaries 51 the services which such men could render him. The idea of having near him permanently wise men, friends of peace, disposed to do all in their power to aid him in his distress, pleased him greatly. He wanted to have some at once. ' Do you know any,' said he to me, ' who would be disposed to come ? ' I replied that such men sometimes came our way. * Oh ! I beseech you tell the first you meet to hasten here. I will give them the best possible welcome. I will do everything they advise me to do.' Shortly after my return home I found that he, in doubt whether I should have the means of fulfilling my promise, had sent me two hundred cattle in order that I might procure him in exchange at least one missionary. But the cattle had been intercepted en route by the Korannas." Though Krotz failed to get the cattle to pay for missionaries he did not forget his promise, becoming eventually the medium by which they were to hear of the chiefs desire and be attracted to the Lesuto for settlement. He chanced to meet at Philippolis three members of the Paris Evangelical Society lately arrived in South Africa from France, to whom he repeated what had transpired between himself and Moshesh and promptly offered to serve them as guide and introducer. These three members, viz. Messieurs Casalis, Arbousset and Gossellin, had not then been dedicated to any definite sphere nor had determined the final locality to which their ministrations should be directed. They were inclined at first to regard the statements of Krotz as a romantic dream ; but his pertinacity, coupled with the offer to accompany them, at length persuaded them 52 The Basutos that Providence had distinctly called to them. They started accordingly for the Basuto country in June 1833- The memoirs of M. Casalis are rich in description of the interesting and adventurous journey to a land where Europeans were for the first time leaving the imprint of their footsteps. They relate that, after a wearisome trek across flats for some days due north of Philippolis, they came to the first great gateway in the road to their mountain destination, viz. a pass between the forbidding hills at Thaba-nchu (Black Mountain), then occupied by a petty chief named Moseme tributary to Moshesh. According to orders, he showed suspicion to the strangers but after a long parley permitted them to view from his village on the summit the panorama it gave of the country inter- vening from the border, a distance of fifty miles, beyond which were to be seen the snow-topped peaks separating Basutoland from Natal. They were struck by the agreeable appearance of the people met with (the Baralongs had not yet arrived), who are described as soft of skin, bronze rather than black in colour, dignified in bearing, graceful of move- ment and courteous in address. Human bones were found lying about everywhere and there were plain indications of massacres and devastation. Arrived at the Caledon river, to be crossed by wagons with difficulty only after strenuous operations, they were greeted by a noisy cavalcade led by the two senior sons of Moshesh, Letsie and Molapo, riding bareback upon horses captured from the Korannas in a recent encounter. It was according to custom Missionaries Arrive S3 deemed advisable to at once respond to this greeting by leaving the wagons and proceeding on horseback to the great chiefs residence on the crest of Thaba Bosigo. En route, the heads of villages saluted them, whether in a friendly manner or not is doubtful, as the "foreigners of Moshesh." They were received cordially by Moshesh, a descrip- tion of whom at this meeting is given in a previous chapter, with the words " Welcome, white men." Then, having conducted them through a throng of people and a maze of mud huts surrounding an open space where for safety the cattle were penned at night, he introduced them to his chief wife Mamohato and his thirty or forty junior wives. The narrative of M. Casalis, full of incident and characteristic features, leading up to the final understanding with Moshesh and the search for a site, shall here speak for itself in the following extracts : — " Mamohato received me in the manner customary with the housewives of the country seated before a fire in the midst of the palisaded court surrounding her hut. . . . Each of the other wives of the chief had her household apart. A sign was made to me to seat myself on a mat. A pot of milk, a loaf of sargho of the size and form of a cannon-ball were then placed before me. ... As I hesitated to eat they understood the cause of my embarrassment and fetched me a horn spoon. . . . As soon as I could do it from conviction and with a reason for it I hastened to utter the word Monate, 'good,' and my hosts smilingly repeated it after me. 54 The Basutos " Krotz soon came to inform me that our wagons had arrived at the foot of the mountain. I therefore took leave. . . . Moshesh was not long in coming to see us. He greatly admired a little tent we had pitched (the first he had seen) and retired after order- ing some provisions to be sent to us, evidently touched with the interest we seemed to show in him. . . . One thing astonished us. It was to be shivering with cold in this Africa which we had expected to find every- where parched and burning — we were in the middle of winter — at an elevation of five thousand feet above sea level. It snowed during the two or three days following our arrival. . . . The natives at such times are with difficulty persuaded to come out of their huts. . . . " Spite of our complete ignorance of the culinary art and of the poverty of our larder, we had the hardihood to invite Moshesh to dinner. The repast consisted of hashed mutton with pumpkin and several bowls of coffee. The colour of this beverage seemed at first somewhat repulsive to our guest, but we succeeded in making it delicious by putting into it some handfuls of raw sugar. He inquired very particularly as to the source of this priceless sand the taste of which was better than honey. Great was his surprise when he learnt that we made it out of a plant resembling the sweet sarghos which he and his people daily sucked. I remember that we sent to our venerated directors in Paris a description of this dinner. . . . We had the coolness to inform them that the King received his portion on the saucepan lid. What a way of treating . . . one of the most distinguished chiefs ! Missionaries and Moshesh 55 We forgot to add that we had not such a thing as a plate, and that we ourselves ate together out of the saucepan itself. " The moment came for explaining the object of our arrival and we did it after this memorable dinner. " c Here,' said Adam Krotz, ( are the men whom I promised you ; it is for them to explain their plans and arrange matters with you.' To this Moshesh replied by warm acknowledgments. We said how greatly we had been moved by the description which had been given us of the misfortunes of the Basuto and of their present sad position. . . . We believed that we had for all these evils a sovereign remedy. ... If Moshesh and his people consented to place themselves with us under the care and direction of God we had the most perfect assurance that He would undertake to make the incursions of their enemies cease and to create in the country a new order of belief and of manners which would secure tran- quillity, order and abundance. " In order to prove to our new friends the firmness of our convictions on this subject and the purity of our intentions we offered to establish ourselves de- finitely in their midst, and to share their lot, what- ever it might be. . . . "'My heart is white with joy,' replied the chief; ' your words are great and good. It is enough for me to see your clothing, your arms and the rolling houses (wagons) in which you travel, to understand how much intelligence and strength you have. You see our desolation. This country was full of inhabi- tants. Wars have devastated it. Multitudes have $6 The Basutos perished ; others are refugees in foreign lands. I remain almost alone on this rock. I have been told that you can help us. You promise to do it. That is enough. It is all I want to know. Remain with us. You shall instruct us. We will do all you wish. The country is at your disposal. We can go through it together and you shall choose the place which will best suit you.' " The mass of the people were . . . absorbed in studying us. . . . If we happened to turn sharply round, or seemed as though we were about to approach them, the whole crowd rushed away with loud cries. . . . The men were not free from similar emotions but they made it a point of honour to conceal them. We found that these poor people had difficulty to believe that we were really men . . . not ghosts. . . . It was a great consolation for all parties when . . . we encouraged the bolder spirits to make an examina- tion and thus reassure themselves. It was then dis- covered that our hair, spite of its resemblance to that of baboons, was real hair, that our boots and stockings covered toes, and that my spectacles did not form part of my physical structure. By seeing us eat and drink, it became evident to them that this act was accompanied by the same sensations with us as with other mortals. They learned with pleasure that we had fathers and mothers. Why had we not wives ? To this our interpreter quietly replied that it was because we were as yet too young : that white men married late. " After some days of waiting, everything was ready for the projected excursion. A great lover of venison, Land for Missions 57 the chief profited by the slowness of our march to bring down a good many specimens of big game. He threw the javelin with astonishing precision and power. We saw moreover that in this country, as well as in the forests of St. Germain and of Compiegne, the beaters knew how to arrange easy shots for royal hands. " After a long search our choice finally fastened on a spot which appeared to us to offer all the advan- tages we sought : abundant water, fertile land, wood for building huts and firing, as well as charming scenery. It was some twenty miles from Thaba Bosigo at the entrance of a deep valley stretching away to the foot of one of the most remarkable peaks of the Malutis. This locality which war had caused to be deserted bore the name of Makhoarane. We gave it that of Moriah, in remembrance of the difficulties through which we had passed and of the providential guidance which had brought us thus far — the 9th July 1833-" The introduction by Moshesh of these missionaries was part of a well-considered scheme. At heart no doubt he loved the wild habits and customs of his people, even their quaint superstitions, from all of which he never shook himself entirely free ; for, although late in life he accepted Christianity, his best friends never went so far as to believe that he fervently adopted it. That he earnestly desired to preserve his country and elevate his people there is no question. He knew however from constant reports of the conflicts between kaffirs and whites in the Cape Colony that the tide of European advance was set in his 58 The Basutos direction and must in due time be reckoned with. His natural shrewdness therefore dictated to him that, whilst the admission of missionaries might be danger- ous as a precedent for white occupation, there were counter-advantages to be gained in the education of his children and in the advice and protection he would receive against activities, perhaps oppression, with which he alone could never effectively cope. How his far-sightedness and sound reasoning were justified appeared later on when the influence of resident missionaries was successfully exerted in complicated matters of state involving negotiations with the British and Boer governments which had to be conducted on behalf of the Basuto by means of letters, petitions and personal conferences. Not infrequently, blame was imputed to them for their partial attitude. The records show however that in all their correspondence they were animated only by a high sense of duty to the people they were serving. In a later chapter, questions relating to missions and missionary effort will be dealt with. But this seems to be a suitable place for the insertion of a few notes illustrative of the time, viz. 1833, in respect of the wild fauna then abounding, and a few refreshing stories of experiences with lions quoted from the narrative of M. Casalis. u There were innumerable multitudes of springboks, blesboks, gnus ; less numerous hordes of elands, rheboks and rietboks . . . everywhere immense troops of quaggas. . . . The hyena has received a reputation which he does not merit ... we have met four or Missionary Reminiscences 59 five of them together under a tree in full daylight and have put them to flight by a single shot. ... As to the lion, I have found him prosaic, although there is some discount to be taken off the legendary account of his bravery. . . . " Here are two well-authenticated facts which show how he (the lion) in his relations with the human species will commit at times singular blunders. A Boer was travelling with his wife and children . . . one clear moonlight night. The good man was astonished to see shadowed on the thick canvas which closed the entrance of the wagon the outline of a lion seated on his haunches. . . . He had found it convenient to install himself on the driver's seat. . . . The Boer picked up his rifle, placed the end of it close to the ear of the too confident beast and blew out his brains. " Another incident happened in the Basuto country shortly after our arrival. The natives make a court- yard round their hut by a palisade of reeds. The entrance is by a narrow winding passage ... a lion took it into his head one fine morning to penetrate into one of these enclosures. A man and his wife were within squatting before the fire. . . . The man, without giving the strange visitor time to recover himself, leaped on his back astride as on a horse, telling his wife to take a javelin and plunge it into the animal's side. The thing was done in a moment without any kind of struggle. Nothing remained except to call the neigh- bours to come and see. " The carrying off of one of the wives of Moshesh by a lion was one of the most frightful episodes . . . 60 The Basutos it was midnight and very dark when the lion had leaped upon her. Moshesh and a number of his men . . . armed themselves as for a battle and advanced in close order. The lion, finding himself hard pressed, dropped his victim . . . and uttering a frightful roar threw him- self upon the band who immediately took to flight. A moment after, the cries of the woman recommenced ; the animal had once more seized her in his jaws and was making off with her. There was a rally, a fresh attack, a fresh rout, renewed cries from the poor victim who, after a moment of respite, felt herself once more in that terrible grip. This scene was repeated six or eight times over a course of five miles, the woman's cries being fainter and fainter. . . . The next day, they found only a few half-crunched bones. " We were approaching one of the ill-looking defiles . . . when I saw something coming towards us apparently in rational manner, with none of those suspicious movements which indicate the presence of evil passions. Oh, joy ! it was a dog. . . . He was of russet colour, of good size, with a well-fed appear- ance. He was travelling with an air of quiet assurance, as of an animal that knew its way. . . . Unfortunately he was going in a contrary direction from that which a confused remembrance counselled me to take. He hardly paid any attention to us. . . . Hastily repeating the proper names most in use at the Cape amongst the canine tribe, I tried to stop this most respectable animal. It was lost labour. . . . Some instants after- wards, what should I see but a monstrous head which appeared in a thicket of mimosas and an entire animal disengaged itself from the brushwood. It was as to Lion Stories 61 size like a small pony. My spectacles did not allow of my distinguishing the outline in detail, but the whole appearance awakened in me certain recollections of the menagerie which were anything but agreeable, to wit a mane, a bearing assured and menacing, and a tail ceaselessly lashing the hollow flanks. Without doubt it was a lion and of a large size. What was I to do ? . . . Having no weapons, any idea of resist- ance was out of the question. ... I looked fixedly at the monster, but still without seeing him distinctly. There was nevertheless in his attitude something that seemed to betray uneasiness : a brusque movement forward, followed by a recoil and stampings, appar- ently of inquietude rather than of anger. I do not recollect now of which eye my horse was blind, but he went on as if he saw nothing. Thanks to the steadiness of his trot, I soon found myself at a reassur- ing distance. . . . c That's enough for one day in the way of a fright,' I said to myself. . . . ' I have had the honour of exchanging looks with a lion in full daylight and in his own domains.' " CHAPTER VII Moshesh is perplexed by the approach of the Emigrant Farmers and appeals to the Governor of Cape Colony with whom he makes a Treaty : sends three of his sons to school at the Cape 1835—1843 DURING a space of comparative quiet now inter- vening Moshesh began to observe and experience pressure upon his country from various sides. Descended from an ancient Bechuana chief named Morolong, one Moroko, head of a large section of the Baralong tribe, escaped some years earlier from the clutches of Moselekatse to find temporary refuge along the banks of the Vaal River. Whilst there he was visited by certain members of the Wesleyan Missionary Society who, despairing of success so long as they were liable to continual harassment by pre- datory parties, decided to abandon the locality where they had for a few years carried on their labours and came to an understanding with Moroko to migrate with them. Thereupon the tribe, under the guidance of these Wesleyan missionaries, viz. Messrs. Arch- bell, Jenkins, Edwards, Allison and Sephton, wended 62 ~* •••jnflr-- fc»-. - ' - 2? w Moshesh's Sons sent to School 73 Thus matters remained for a time. Meanwhile, Moshesh took another important step in 1 844 by sending three of his sons to the Governor for education, requesting that they might be afforded the opportunity of acquiring the English language and gaining an insight in the manners and laws of the English nation. It was a confiding act to banish his sons to the care of strangers. He took advantage of the occasion to write that the tribe was surrounded by Boers to whom it was equally dangerous to yield or to resist. Al- though they had been suffered, according to native custom, to let their cattle graze on certain parts of his territory, it was not without their being warned not to construe an act of mere sufferance into a right. The net was spreading fast round the Lesuto, so fast indeed that the Chief was urged to repeat an application for a Government representative to reside with him provided the choice fell upon a person capable of sympathizing with the tribe. CHAPTER VIII It is good discretion not to make too much of any man at first, because one cannot hold out that proportion. Bacon. Moshesh is drawn into the entanglements of British policy directed by Sir Henry Pottinger and Sir Harry Smith : is abused by one and praised by the other : the Queen's Sovereignty is proclaimed 1844 — ^47 GOVERNOR Sir Peregrine Maitland now found himself in an awkward dilemma. Des- patches from England made it clear that Her Majesty's Government were not unwilling to be praised for their " pious resolution " to protect the native States but at the same time " cannot be held responsible either for the conduct or protection of such of her white subjects as thought lit to migrate into the interior." Still, as the man on the spot, he had to move with the times regardless of the fact that one of his recent pre- decessors had been recalled for the very same sort of action that he was about to take. It was indeed impossible for him to carry out Imperial policy without disobedience of the general instructions laid down for his guidance. 74 Sir Peregrine Maitland 75 In July 1 844, new to the country and its problems, he had recorded to the Secretary of State his conviction against any interference on his part with the settlement of native boundary and other questions. But just one year later we find him at a conference with Moshesh, after a long journey to the frontier, proposing and presenting a new draft Treaty involving upon all concerned greater obligations than the preceding Treaty : it had the effect also of prejudicing the boundary imbroglio inasmuch as, after hearing all parties at issue, the area of jurisdiction over which the new Treaty extended excluded that portion of country in dispute which the Chief claimed. His influence over it, which he was nevertheless called upon to exercise, was therefore undermined. According to the official minutes of that conference, dated June 30, 1845, the chief provisions of the new Treaty offered to and subsequently accepted by Moshesh were : — 1. A boundary to be declared exclusive of the terri- tory in dispute. 2. A portion of the undisputed country to be specified and set apart for the occupation of white British subjects. 3. Religious teachers and white persons desirous of carrying on trade and other business to be enabled to acquire land for building. 4. A British Resident to be appointed with power to enforce order and obedience among all British subjects in the territory : his Court to be a tribunal for the trial of natives accused by British subjects : 7 6 The Basutos the punishment of such natives upon sentence to be inflicted by Moshesh. 5. The British Resident and Moshesh to determine the form and duration of leases of occupation to be granted to white men, upon which quit-rents were to be paid, one half to go to the Chief and the other half to the Resident for the cost of his establishment and a police force. 6. The Colonial Government to be prepared to march troops to coerce its subjects contravening the provisions of the Treaty and to protect Moshesh in the enjoyment of his rights. Sir Peregrine Maitland in his long and nervous despatch of August 1, 1845, apologized for what he had felt bound to do. His object, he said, had been to secure their lands and freedom to the native tribes for hundreds of miles beyond the Colony to the north- east against the encroachment and aggression of self- expatriated British subjects superior in combination and arms and too often ready as well as able to dispute successfully with the rightful owners. But his task was made embarrassing : — First, by the character of the Emigrant Farmers who were impatient of restraint, disaffected towards the British Government and indifferent to native rights. Secondly, by the character of the natives who were uncivilized and ignorant, were new occupants of their present abodes and were most difficult to treat with. Thirdly, on account of the scanty means at his disposal as he could only contemplate measures which entailed no expense upon Government. Maitland Treaty 77 The general effect of his action was : — by enforcing from Moshesh a gift of land for settle- ment, to open a wide door for the Emigrant whites against whom Sir George Napier's Proclamation inveighed ; to establish a Resident with responsibilities and duties which it was hopeless to suppose he could fulfil without financial means or force on the spot to meet resistance. The Governor's arguments in support of his action were sound. Having suffered himself to go forward as the representative of the Queen he sought to lessen the causes of disorder. He could not remove the white men and therefore felt bound to locate them on farms defined by treaty under restraining regulations to be administered by a Resident empowered to arbitrate between Europeans and natives who would otherwise, in seeking redress from wrongs, take the law into their own hands. In endeavouring to secure the reign of justice at which he aimed, he had practically no alternative to the course he took. But the result was to constitute a new colonial dependency in the wilds and to build up a problem for his successors, in defiance of the reiterated policy of Her Majesty's Government. If, he pleaded, he had fallen into error it was not from the want of anxious and laborious inquiry or an earnest desire to promote impartially the interests of all classes in Southern Africa. The next step in the business was to select an agent to follow up the arrangements. For that purpose Com- mandant Gideon Joubert was appointed with instructions 78 The Basutos to look into boundary questions, to convince the Emi- grants of the advantage of the proposed plans, and to warn all of the determination of Government to march troops when necessary for the maintenance of order and authority. The thin end of the wedge of British expansion was in this manner plainly inserted, as it has been often done in the annals of South Africa. Her Majesty's Government, refusing to consent, consented. Joubert sped upon his mission to find himself, as he said, soon plunged in the maze of boundary disputes between chiefs whose causes respectively were espoused with much warmth and party feeling by the French and Wesleyan missionaries. He expressed himself in favour of dividing the whole country into small native districts, recommended that the power of Moshesh be broken, otherwise he would become a tiresome and dangerous personage upon whose word no reliance could be placed, and favoured the promotion of dis- union among the missionaries who might then confine their attention to religion and be less able to carry on their party plans and proceedings. His mission proved singularly unfortunate for he returned having em- bittered the relations between Moshesh and his tributaries Moroko, Peter Davids, Carolus Baatje and Taaibosch, and having shown marked prejudice as in favour of the Boer settlers and against the missionaries. In October 1845 Captain Sutton of the Cape Mounted Rifles was appointed as British Resident under instructions based upon the provisions of the Treaty. His authority as a special magistrate was derived from the Act of Parliament 6th and 7th of William IV., cap. 57, together with a delegated A British Resident 79 authority from the chiefs. His jurisdiction, civil and criminal, was practically unlimited in cases between whites and natives. It is important to note, however, that he was not empowered to try cases where white people only or natives only were concerned. Captain Sutton resigned the office of British Resident and was succeeded in January 1 846 by Captain Warden, also of the Cape Mounted Rifles. That officer pro- ceeded immediately to Thaba Bosigo where on arrival he discovered disturbances impending between the Basuto and Mantatis (Batlokoa). His first act was to summon together the whole body of chiefs who disputed Moshesh's paramountry, in the hope that they might arrive at an amicable settlement of boundary questions. This they failed to do ; but they all, together with Moshesh, signed an application to the Governor for the appointment of an independent Commission with whose decision they bound themselves to abide and in the meantime agreed to refrain from hostilities with each other. Captain Warden approved and forwarded the applica- tion. The matter was, however, hung up owing to a Kaffir war in the Cape Colony which occupied the deep attention of Sir Peregrine Maitland, who in the midst of it was " recalled " to be replaced by Sir Henry Pottinger upon whom was conferred an addi- tional commission as High Commissioner for the territories adjacent to the Cape Colony. Moshesh availed himself of the change to address to the new Governor and High Commissioner a com- prehensive review of the past and present state of affairs in which he repeated his claims to territory 80 The Basutos previously advanced. The Governor in reply expressed his appreciation of the conduct and fidelity of the Chief but stated that the complicated questions con- nected with the Basuto country must lie over till a period of more leisure. Shortly afterwards Sikonyela, in violation of his bond to suspend hostilities, with a body of Mantatis accom- panied by some Boers under Piet Botha fell upon a clan living near the source of the Caledon under Moshesh, killing three men and capturing several hundred cattle. Captain Warden promptly intervened, placed the blame upon Sikonyela, fined him and the Boers for their share in the business and ordered restoration of the plunder. It was only partly re- stored ; but the presence and decisive action of the Resident prevented immediate retaliation. The war in the Cape Colony, commonly known as the " War of the Axe," had caused much disturbance and movement of the Kaffir tribes, some of whom, particularly the Tambookies, were believed to have retreated with stolen cattle into the lower reaches of the Orange River, then under the chieftainship of Moirosi. Captain Warden upon being directed to make inquiries went beyond his instructions. He ascertained the whereabouts of the refugees upon whom he suddenly marched with a corps of 250 Emigrant Farmers and Basuto auxiliaries whom he enrolled and seized 3,000 head of cattle in their possession. The High Commissioner upon receipt of the report expressed his unqualified disapprobation of the exploit, rebuking the Resident severely for allowing himself to be the dupe of Moshesh whom Sir Henry Pottinger 81 he accused of duplicity and perfidy in having first encouraged and harboured the supposed Tambookie rebels in Basutoland and then assisted to rob them under cover of the presence of Captain Warden. The correspondence was forwarded, together with severe comments on the action of the Resident and the untrustworthiness of Moshesh, to the Secretary of State for the Colonies by Sir Henry Pottinger who was however immediately afterwards transferred for service in India, to be succeeded by Sir Harry Smith — a soldier of previous experience at the Cape. The records show clearly that Sir Henry Pottinger was as hasty in his conclusions as he was lacking in knowledge of the country. He even went so far as to reverse summarily much of the native policy of his predecessor — a most unsettling proceeding. His violent censures upon Captain Warden and Moshesh, before those persons had been fairly allowed time to explain or defend themselves, were passed without consideration of the mass of difficulties they had to contend with in a situation bolstered up by Treaties having no force behind them, and no properly defined spheres of jurisdiction, upon the delimitation of which everything pivoted. The position of Moshesh was not enviable. He was expected by Government to be answerable for peace and order amongst a mixed population spread over a wide stretch of country where his paramountcy was only partially acknowledged ; and, while groping about in the best fashion he could with the aid of his Resident, was denounced by the late Governor in no uncertain terms. His mortification found outlet in vol. i 6 82 The Basutos letters to Captain Warden who relieved his mind by expressing entire satisfaction with his past conduct and loyalty. A still greater measure of satisfaction awaited him at the hands of the new Governor. Sir Harry Smith was a man of much energy and resource, but volatile and eccentric. Within a month from the date of his arrival at the Cape he had ridden through that Colony rapidly, seemingly bent on en- larging its boundaries. By appointment he held a conference at Winburg with Moshesh to whom he abruptly announced his intention to proclaim at once the sovereignty of the Queen over the territories north of the Orange River, including the countries of Moshesh, and other chiefs as far north as the Vaal River and east to the Drakensberg. A Proclamation, more discursive than legal in phraseology, followed on February 3, 1848. It turned the tables with a vengeance on the declared non- intervention policy of Her Majesty's Government so frequently placarded. Denying profusely any desire to extend the Queen's dominions or deprive chiefs of their hereditary rights, it annexed at a sweep a vast tract of country, with the sole view, as stated, of affording protection and establishing good relations between the miscellaneous people dwelling upon it. For the purpose of better administration of the whole, the laws of the Cape of Good Hope were called into operation ; provision was made for the full organization of Government in respect of lands for whites and blacks, the settlement of boundaries, licensing of traders, building and endowment of churches and schools and the protection of missionaries. After a painting by Leven about 1856. From "The Autobiography of Sir Harry Smith," by permission of the editor, Mr. G. C. Moore Smith, and the publisher, Mr. John Murray. SIR HARRY SMITH, BART. Sir Harry Smith 83 The proclamation of this sovereignty was one of the great authoritative acts of British expansion in Southern Africa. In explanation of his conduct to Earl Grey, then Secretary of State for the Colonies, Sir Harry Smith, defending the bold outline he had adopted, reproduced the arguments used by Sir Peregrine Maitland in justification of his Treaties, adding as his excuse for bringing the white settlers again into the fold of Government that they had appealed pathetically to him in the following words : — " Look around you, sir ; we are under no authority, no Government. You see the barbarian provided with ministers and teachers of the Gospel, schools, etc., while we in consequence of our own voluntary expatriation cannot even marry or bury our dead and must even- tually fall back to savage life." As a document bearing largely upon the affairs of Basutoland and affecting the conditions of the entire population adjacent, it is one of interest as well as a landmark in the constitutional history of South Africa. " Proclamation " By His Excellency Lieut.-Gen. Sir Henry George Wakelyn Smith : — " Whereas, as Her Majesty's High Commissioner for the settlement and adjustment of the Boundaries, and an amicable and clear understanding of the affairs and relationships with the Chiefs, tribes, and People adjacent to the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope, I have placed upon a permanent foundation the preser- 84 The Basutos vation of peace, harmony, mutual confidence and the attainment of civilization on the eastern boundary, and have personally visited the countries upon the north and north-eastern boundary of the Colony, on the line leading to Her Majesty's Settlement of Natal, annexed to the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope, for the purpose of obtaining information from all the various parties concerned upon matters so involving the interests, not only of the Native Chiefs of the countries into which many of Her Majesty's legal subjects have established themselves, but also of those subjects themselves ; and have personally conferred with the leading Chiefs of the neighbouring Tribes, and with many of the meritorious and devout Mission- aries, as well as with the influential and thinking men of Her Majesty's subjects located aforesaid ; and have received several addresses very numerously signed by the inhabitants between the Orange, the Modder and Riet Rivers, as well as from those around Bloem- fontein, and from the Caledon River, and also those from the neighbourhood and at Winburg : " Now, therefore, by virtue of the several powers and authorities in me vested, and subject to Her Royal confirmation, I do hereby proclaim, declare and make known, the Sovereignty of Her Majesty the Queen of England over the Territories north of the Great Orange River, including the countries of Moshesh, Moroko, Molitsane, Sikonyela, Adam Kok, Gert Taaibosch, and other minor chiefs as far north as to the Vaal River, and east to the Drakensberg or Quathlamba mountains ; with no desire or inclina- tion whatever on the part of Her Majesty to extend Proclamation 8 5 or increase her Dominions, or to deprive the Chiefs and their People of the hereditary rights acknow- ledged and recognized by all civilized nations of the world as appertaining to the Nomadic Races of the earth ; but on the contrary, with the sole view of establishing an amicable relationship with those Chiefs, of upholding them in their hereditary rights, and protecting them from any future aggression or location of Her Majesty's subjects, as well as providing for their rule, and the maintenance of good order, and obedience to Her Majesty's laws and commands on the part of those of the Queen's subjects who, having abandoned the land of their fathers, have located themselves within the territories aforesaid ; and I hereby proclaim that all the Chiefs of the Territories aforesaid are under the Sovereignty of Her Majesty as the paramount and exclusive authority in all international disputes as to territory, or in any cause whatever tending to interrupt the general peace and harmony of South Africa, but that their authority over their own tribes shall be maintained, as well as their own laws, according to their customs and usages. " And I hereby proclaim that all Her Majesty's subjects within the territories aforesaid shall be governed by the Laws, Ordinances and Proclama- tions framed, and to be framed, for Her Majesty's Colony of the Cape of Good Hope, and that they shall henceforth be in full possession of the rights of citizens of the said Colony, and that Municipalities, Corporations and other privileges shall be granted to them, as their increase and improvement may require. " And I do hereby proclaim that Her Majesty's 86 The Basutos Government assumes the responsibility to the Chiefs as regards their just indemnification for all lands now occupied by these Her Majesty's subjects, upon the latter paying an annual quit-rent, according to a schedule which shall be established by a Commissioner appointed for the purpose, and upon the condition that every able-bodied man turns out in the defence of Her Majesty and her allies, either with arms, or as special constables, as may be required by the British Resident and Magistrates. " The appropriation of these quit-rents shall be : Firstly, for the fair and honest remuneration and indemnification of the Native Chiefs, in lieu of any and all Contracts or Leases entered into by Her Majesty's subjects, so that no breach of faith shall exist, in the faith of an agreement entered into by Her Majesty's High Commissioner with the great Chiefs Moshesh, Moroko, Sikonyela, Adam Kok and others. Secondly, for the defraying the ex- penses of their own government, viz. the British Resident at Bloemfontein, Magistrates, etc., as shall hereafter be appointed, with Sheriff's officers, Con- stables, etc., and Field-Commandants and Field- Cornets, etc., as the full organization of a Govern- ment may require, and for bearing the expense of sending into Colesberg all criminal cases which must be tried before the judges. " And I hereby proclaim and declare, that every Trader or other individual trafficking, or engaged in commerce, within the territories aforesaid, shall pay an annual license of £50, in like manner as the Traders in British Kaffraria ; these licenses to be British Sovereignty 87 obtained from any Commissioner within or without the Colony, who are hereby authorized to grant the same : and all sums which thus accrue, and whatever surplus remains of the sums collected as quit-rents, after the payment of the indemnification to the Native Chiefs for the Lands, and the expense of the Government aforesaid, shall be vested in a fund, under the control of a Commission composed of members of the Dutch Reformed Church, appointed by Her Majesty's High Commissioner, for the erection of churches on such spots as may be selected and sanctioned, and for the provision of ministers, and hereafter for the erection of schools and for their maintenance, for the improvement of roads, etc., all for the exclusive benefit of the popu- lation north of the Orange River. And whatever sums may be subscribed for the erection of any church or churches, as Her Majesty's High Commissioner, I pledge myself to advance on loan an equal sum. " And I hereby proclaim all the missionary stations in the territories aforesaid to be under the special protection of Her Majesty the Queen of England. " And I hereby proclaim and declare that the sove- reignty and paramount authority is for the sole pro- tection and preservation of the just and hereditary rights of all the Native Chiefs as aforesaid, and for the rule and government of Her Majesty's subjects, their interests and welfare. That no benefit whatever accrues, or is desired by Her Majesty, beyond the satisfaction Her Majesty the Queen will ever feel in the maintenance of a just peace, and the improve- ment of the condition of her people, and in their 88 The Basutos advancement in the blessings of Christianity, civiliza- tion, and those habits of industry and honesty which will elevate and civilize the barbarian, and support and uphold the Christian community, and thus will that peace be established which Her Majesty desires to effect, and has the power and determination to maintain. "Given under my hand . . . this 3rd day of February, 1848. « (signed) H . G. Smith." After issuing this grotesque Proclamation Sir Harry Smith returned to Cape Town full of hope and confidence. But the course of affairs did not run smoothly. He had misread political feeling ; all was not peace. No sooner was his back turned than Moshesh was approached by Commandant-General Andries Pretorius, leader of the Boers in the Sovereignty, now numbering over a thousand, who demanded an answer to the following question : — " We perceive an arrangement which you made with the Governor Sir Harry Smith, in which you have ceded to him all the land which we occupy, and which is the cause that British jurisdiction is now extended over us. We therefore, as your old friend, know not what to say of you, whether you are our friend or enemy ? If we are to judge of your acts it is not friendship. We ask you from whom do you obtain security, the Boers or the Government ? Consider what may happen to you in the ten years to come. On that account we wish to know the truth." Moshesh, being cornered, replied in conciliatory and assuring terms. At the same time he wrote to Sir Boers and Basutos 89 Harry Smith calling attention to the base conduct of some of the Dutch farmers going about inciting to revolt and adding, — "I know Smith, the brave and generous, will not make me repent of having cast my lot into his hands." The fact was that he was left alone to settle accounts with the farmers, whom he feared, and he was guilty of that finesse^ almost inseparable from the situation, which his detractors have always laid to his charge. The emotional feelings of Sir Harry Smith were touched by the entreaties of Moshesh, to whom he replied on March 23, 1848 : — "Respected Chief and friend Moshesh, 1 hear with regret that there are wicked men going about who desire to disturb that Peace which you and I have established and will maintain. Such vile men after all we have done to render them happy and settled must be taught their duty to God and to man. I rely upon your good faith as I pray you to believe in mine. . . . Your gun is in the hands of the gun-maker. . . . Depend on my word. . . . We will not forget the snuff." And again, dated May 28 : — " My worthy and valued friend, the great Chief Moshesh, ( - I have received copies of the communications which have passed between you and Pretorius which is a further proof that you are a true Ally to Her Majesty of England. Rest assured, Chief, that is the line for you to pursue. Her Majesty, through me, will allow 90 The Basutos no one, great or minor, Chief or Peasant, Black or White, to be imposed on or tampered with, with impunity. . . . " Believe me, Chief, I often think of the pleasure I had in meeting you at Winburg. I at once discovered the dignity of your character and worthiness to be a Chief. I have now only one ardent wish to express to you, — that you provide for the future blessed state of your immortal Soul and that you become a convert to the Christian Faith, and worship Almighty and Omnipotent God through his Son our Lord Jesus Christ. Apply at once therefore to your Excellent Missionary, who will explain to you how all good men will meet hereafter in Heaven and enjoy eternal Bliss." Whether Moshesh was moved in spirit by these letters is unknown, but no doubt they occasioned him some anxiety. If he felt flattered by their fulsomeness after the abuse poured upon him by Sir Henry Pottinger, he was also perplexed at the many changes in policy and temper experienced in the last few years. He felt certain that the Boers had come to stay, were in ill-humour about the future, and were a power he would have to reckon with. His difficulty was to reconcile the visionary support of the British Governor, who came for a day or two with fine promises and vanished, with the ever-present strength of the Dutch settlers whose numbers were daily increasing. They were the enemy in the gate and could not be despised notwithstanding Imperial pledges. Whilst puzzling over this quandary the curtain dropped for a new scene. The Sovereignty Boers revolted. WIRE AND OTHER WORK. p. no] CHAPTER IX The revolt of the Emigrant Boers is crushed : Moshesh becomes embarrassed by the ambition of his sons and loses the confidence of the British Authorities, who make Boundaries and send him an Ultimatum 1848—185O THE Emigrant Boers had solemnly declared that in quitting Cape Colony they were leaving the fruitful land of their birth, where they had suffered continual vexation, and were about to enter a strange and dangerous territory under the full assurance that the English Government had nothing more to require of them and would allow them to govern themselves without its interference in future. It has been held by many who have written about their struggles and vicissitudes that they were doggedly followed up and persecuted by the British from whose rule they repeatedly retired at great sacrifice rather than endure it. The Proclamation of the Sovereignty lent colour to that view. But whether it was morally right or politically justifiable are questions apart from the facts necessary to relate in so far as they affect Basutoland. The central idea in Sir Harry Smith's mind appears to have been to set aside two distinct 91 92 The Basutos areas, one for white people to be governed by the Colonial Authorities, and the other under the High Commissioner's control exclusively for natives who should be allowed to manage their own domestic affairs. The Emigrants, now united under command of Andries Pretorius, disliked both the new conditions which bound them to military service and subservience of any sort to the Government they hated. Those living in close proximity to the native frontier had deluded the Governor into believing they represented the feelings of all their brethren in praying for his intervention. But the great majority were of a different opinion. Incensed, after their labours and dangers, that the fruits of success in their designs upon native lands had been snatched from them, they broke into open rebellion in July 1848, compelling the British Resident with his staff of officials and handful of police to evacuate Bloemfontein, where the head-quarters of the Sovereignty Government had been established. Sir Harry Smith, angry at seeing his plans and policy so outrageously defied, at once repaired to the Orange River, which he crossed with a considerable force of British troops drawn from the Cape, and after several skirmishes came into action at Boomplaats with the Boers who were beaten and dispersed, both sides suffering serious losses. An order for the Basuto to co-operate with the British forces against the Boers was happily countermanded just in time to prevent such a catastrophe as must have followed had they done so. Bloemfontein was re-occupied, and Boer Revolt Crushed 93 an indiscreet Proclamation issued praising Moshesh and other chiefs, "who although tampered with by the Arch-rebel Pretorius, who by means of falsehood and fraud endeavoured to convince them that their cause was abandoned by Her Majesty, nevertheless remained unshaken in their faith and firm reliance on the resolve of Her Majesty's Representative to march immediately to their protection." Such ebullitions were always reactionary, for they naturally tended to exasperate the Boers when held up to the contempt of the natives. Authority having been again established, the Governor held a large meeting at Winburg attended by many ot the Emigrants and by thousands of armed natives led by Moshesh who was made such a hero that he bubbled over with pride and faith in the British. Several days were given up to revelry, military reviews and Kaffir dances. Some account of this carnival and the Governor's vague promises is given in the follow- ing extract of a letter from the Rev. Mr. Casalis to Mr. Rolland, President of the Conference of French Missionaries in Basutoland. " Thaba Bosigo, 14/A February, 1848. " Dear Brother, " Moshesh begs me to communicate to you the result of his interview with the Governor. . . . " Starting from here we went and slept in the fields one hour's ride from Thaba Nchu, having been unable to reach the village. At three o'clock in the morning we were about to put foot to stirrup when two dragoons appeared and told us that they were ordered 94 The Basutos to conduct us to Winburg, for it was there that His Excellency Sir Harry Smith wished to meet Moshesh. Ten hours of forced marching brought us to our destination. The Governor had not yet arrived. The following morning the people of Winburg received an invitation from him to go and meet him. . . . He was on horseback, without an escort, not even a Hottentot. . . . " His Excellency was very gracious, spoke to me in French (very well) ; recalled the Pyrenees and the battle of Orthez, at which he had been present ; com- plimented Moshesh on his skill in horsemanship ; told him that he knew him well, and had often heard him spoken of ; made him a present of two new saddles of the latest make, of a marquee tent, a gold watch (all this whilst cantering for half an hour) ; asked him if the country of Winburg belonged to the Basutos, to which Moshesh replied in the affirmative. . . . We entered the village under a fire of musketry. " ' Moshesh,' said Smith, * that is the sound which war generally makes, but to-day it is a sign of peace. I bring peace. I have fought much, but I declare that there is not a man in the world who has as great a horror of war as I have. It is a horrible thing.' Moshesh said that ' Peace is the mother of nations.' " We off-saddled, and an hour afterwards the Conference began. ... I was called to act as inter- preter. The Governor opened the proceedings by thanking Moshesh in the name of the Queen for the kind and wise conduct he had exercised towards Her Majesty's subjects who had emigrated from the Colony without her permission. He said that in all Sir Harry Smith meets Moshesh 95 these matters Moshesh had shown himself a Chief, a man at the height of his social position. His Excellency then announced that he was expressly sent by the Queen to place everything on a solid footing. That the great object they sought to obtain was a durable peace between the natives themselves, and between the natives and the Colony and all British subjects. Further, that after having minutely examined the subject in all its aspects, he could not see how it was possible to displace the Boers ; it would pro- voke war, and what good could result ? Wherever they might be placed, it would be on somebody's land. That provided the Boers confined themselves to what they had obtained till now, were prevented from making further encroachments, and were governed where they now were, it seemed to him (Sir H. Smith) the ill done might be repaired, at least as far as reparation was possible. " Therefore, with the view of, first, assuring a durable peace between all parties ; secondly, in order to preserve intact the hereditary rights of the Chiefs ; and thirdly, to oblige the Boers to remain within the locations at present occupied by them — i. " He would at once proclaim the Sovereignty of the Queen of England over all lands held now by the Boers. ii. " He would establish magistrates . . . iii. " He would send up a Commission to determine the Boer locations. iv. " He would issue orders for the erection of Churches and Schools to prevent the spread of infidelity and immorality among the Emigrant Farmers, seeing 96 The Basutos that some were fallen nearly to a level with the natives. . . . " Moshesh then brought forward the disputes exist- ing between Sikonyela, Moroko, and himself with regard to the land. His Excellency replied these would be discussed later on, the Commission would take the matter in hand, if necessary. ' But for my part,' he added, ' I believe you are quite right, and I would beg of you not to be uneasy about it. In proclaiming the Sovereignty of the Queen, it is as much to protect Moshesh against his internal as his external enemies. Trust to me, and no one will dare to raise his hand against the Great Chief of the Basutos.' Then, raising his right hand about a foot above the desk, His Excellency added, ' Moshesh is like this ' ; then raising his left hand another foot above the right, he said, ' but Her Majesty is as this.' . . . " His Excellency then with a stentorian voice called for a Councillor of Makomo to come in, that he might relate to Moshesh the circumstances concluding the Kaffir war. The poor fellow gave his account with a pretty good grace, Moshesh speaking to him in Kaffir, which agreeably surprised Sir Harry, who joined in the conversation, speaking Kaffir rightly or wrongly mattered not. At the conclusion of the history of the close of the war, the Governor leant his head upon his hand and began to snore with all his might, then said to Moshesh, ' Every one is to sleep in that way now.' He then cried out in a loud voice, which might have been heard half a mile off, c Come here, come near, Sir ! ' The poor Councillor, half bewildered, hardly knew what he was doing. ' Come here, shake hands Eccentricities 97 with the Great Inkosi of the land.' In coming out of the meeting he followed me, and said, * Do not be in trouble about your Mission Stations ; I will attend to them and protect them.' " Shortly after he called a meeting with the Boers, and presented Moshesh to them. Holding him by the hand, he said to them it was to this man they were indebted for the peace they had enjoyed. He then explained to them his plan, adding, ' Let no man move from his place on which he is, and let no man presume to encroach upon Moshesh ' ; but if they (the farmers) still spoke of revolt and were determined to go and recommence their oppressions in other lands, he, the Governor, would follow them up, even though it were to the gates of the infernal regions ! . . . The Governor proceeded to say, ' We must set to work at once and begin to build a church. There is ^25 for my share. You are living without divine worship, without schools. What a state of degradation ! ' He then invited me to offer prayer over the stone. On my concluding, His Excellency came forward and knelt reverently upon the stone. Then rising, he took me by the arm, saying, 'Let us go.' To my great surprise the tears were flowing down his cheeks. He tried to speak with me, but was unable to do so. Upon reaching the house he said to me, ' I never felt so much in all my life.' 1 could hardly trust my ears. What a man ! I never met with one having such a diversity of character — an iron will joined to a surprising simplicity. " His Excellency insisted that I should remain with him to have a little conversation. . . . " ' When business is done,' he said, ' I am no more VOL. I 7 98 The Basutos the Governor.' I had been referring to the difficulties of the situation. ' Sir,' he exclaimed, ' it is useless to speak of difficulties ; they are to be met with wherever you go ; perhaps Moshesh and I will both be dead to-morrow. Between two evils we must just choose the least.' . . . " At four o'clock the next morning he was already on the road towards Natal. Commandant Joubert com- plains that he allows no one to sleep. " Believe me, etc., " (Signed) E. Casalis." After this meeting Sir Harry Smith, before hurrying back to Cape Town, wrote effusive letters denouncing the Emigrant Boers to Moshesh who, estimating cor- rectly the idiosyncrasies of the writer, replied in the same strain, as will appear from the following extracts from his valedictory letter of September n. Moshesh to Sir Harry Smith " Go, Great Warrior of your Nation, go under the shield of your mighty God Jehovah by whose help, you tell me, you have been able to do such great things in this country. " Go, Great Leader of the soldiers of the Lady your Queen, tell Her Gracious Majesty in my name that I love her Government, I love her Warriors whose deeds of valour have filled me with wonder. Tell Her Majesty I am sensible of the great debt I owe to the brave General of her troops who has in a few days driven back and scattered the host of the wicked Ill-considered Letters 99 Rebels, who would have been a scourge to my nation ... if they had succeeded in their plot. . . . Tell, Great Warrior, tell Her Majesty this is the heart of Moshesh the faithful Mosutu. " Now, I commend to your Excellency my people's cause. Let your wise Commissioners for arranging the farms with the Boers be told to remember that my people are very numerous — that much of their country is possessed by Boers who have never received permis- sion from me. . . ." These ill-considered letters of exultation were of course published. The High Commissioner having really done nothing to remedy the causes of unrest, had again vanished with his troops, leaving Moshesh to face the music with those he had maligned, and they were not forgiving. But, since Boomplaats, they feared to take open revenge, so resorted to the policy of intriguing — a policy of profit and enjoyment con- sisting of setting one chief against another in the hope that they would exhaust each other and then, in order to gain help at a crisis, be ready to sell their rights for a trifle. A willing tool was found at hand in Sikonyela whose restless spirit always responded when chances offered to start his turbulent Batlokoa on the war path. Between them and the Basuto the old feud smouldered only, awaiting opportunity for kindling. The opportunity was prompted. Sikonyela lent his ear to whispers that he should resist the aggressive encroachment of Basuto villages deliberately built on lands claimed by him. He did so by the usual method of burning the villages and ioo The Basutos seizing cattle, drawing on at once a conflict that was to flare up intermittently for a long time and to introduce new factors. These were the sons of Moshesh who were destined to beget for their father more trouble and anxiety than he had ever yet experienced and eventually to bring his grey hairs with sorrow to the grave. The young chiefs of whom there were now many were ambitious and headstrong. On arriving at a state of manhood they were eager to signalize it by deeds worthy of their ancestors, and their ideas upon that subject did not synchronize with those of their father with whom they were dissatisfied on account of his leanings towards peace. The education of some had only sharpened their intelligence. Each wanted a large inheritance of his own and that was not in their opinion to be successfully won in a country that was being hedged about according to the whims of tran- sient High Commissioners. They were not content therefore with their father's tolerant acquiescence in boundaries and pushed forward outposts that came into contact with the Boers and neighbouring Chiefs. In this they were supported by some of the old Councillors who publicly upbraided the Chief for yielding up land required for the children. Sikonyela's pugnacious action lighted the torch they were longing to see. He was attacked viciously by a body of Basuto led in person by three of the senior sons, viz. Letsie, Molapo and Nehemiah, with disas- trous results, his brother Mota's wife and twenty men being killed, many wounded, villages burned and a lot of cattle captured. Reprisals followed in which other Basuto attack Batlokoa 101 chiefs were involved and a general conflagration was arrested only by the timely intervention of Mr. Southey, Secretary to the High Commissioner, and the British Resident, who pluckily got in between the combatants at a spot near the Caledon River midway between their respective strongholds, inducing them to suspend hostilities. With the approval of Sir Harry Smith, Major Warden presided over a Court of Inquiry on November 8, 1848, having for its object a settlement of the differences and delimitation of boundaries subject to confirmation by the High Commissioner to whom the Proceedings were transmitted. In his covering remarks upon them Major Warden expressed surprise that Moshesh objected to delimitation and reluctantly stated that the Boundary question had come to be a matter having more relation to the Wesleyan and Paris Mission Societies than to the Chiefs themselves. He added, " The Rev. Mr. Hartley (Wesleyan) during the whole sitting of the Commission was in a very excited state . . . the occurrences of the last few days had so worked upon the mind of the Rev. Gentleman that he was seized with brain fever from which I lament to say he expired shortly after reaching his home." Sir Harry Smith, while admitting faults on both sides, wrote to Moshesh a mild censure for appealing to arms, commanding obedience to his decision, and concluding : " Peace and the word of Christ is to be your motto, and if you write to me and say such is your heart's desire, I will write to England for two seals like mine for you, with this motto, ' Peace and the word of Christ,' " 102 The Basutos Decision of the High Commissioner " Decision on the violent dispute causing wickedly the shedding of blood between the Tribes of Moshesh and Sikonyela, which ought to have been avoided by an appeal to me : — " i. The Boundary line between Moshesh and Sikonyela shall be as follows, and according to the Sketch accompanying this, thereby annulling all previous engagements as to those Territories — viz. : From the source of the Nquoti river to its junction with the Caledon, thence with a straight line through the source of the Thlotsi to the high-land between the Caledon and Putiatsana rivers, thence along the said high-land to the junction of the Caledon and Putiatsana. " 2. All cattle, horses and goats that have been seized are to be restored to their respective and rightful owners, upon which the boundary is to be considered as completed and defined. " 3. [Irrelevant.] "(Signed) H. G. Smith, at Cape Town, 7th December, 1848." The Decision in general was unpractical and was laughed at. The line, based upon faulty intelligence maps, was imaginary, taking no account of the fact that villages of the belligerents lay upon either side of it. Moreover, the river sources and high-lands named were all disputable features. There was no force to compel removal of the villages or the return of spoils each had captured. Each side had lost about the same number of killed and were intent upon further ■"5 c P s ; llfl|!l|l^ * 111 fflSrl? b - gffi?? So S Troops from Bloemfontein 103 hostilities, Sikonyela adding fuel to the fire by claiming Inta, a daughter of Moshesh, as a blood hostage to be put to death in revenge for the killing, alleged to be accidental, of Mota's wife. On the preceding sketch map No. II. will be seen a line indicating the tract of country which Mr. Southey proposed to the High Commissioner should be cut off from Basutoland for definite allotment to the Emigrant Farmers, and another line showing the portion offered by Moshesh for the purpose to Sir Peregrine Maitland. The sons of the Chief, exhorted by Letsie the elder, opposed this proposal, avowing, it was said, that when the Governor came to make the line Moshesh would assemble his forces, that where his skull lay there should the first beacon be planted, and that a stream of blood would that day run as large as the Caledon river. Threats of this character caused amongst the farmers great alarm, shared equally by the British Resident, who wrote to the High Commissioner, after several vain attempts to calm excitement by conferences, that he was doubtful of the honesty of Moshesh, whose young sons were determined to prevent any amicable settlement with anybody ; that nothing less than the presence of a strong Government force would bring the people to order and clinch the important boundary question upon which future peace depended. There- upon he took upon himself the responsibility of ordering the despatch of troops from Bloemfontein to the disturbed districts, where further tumult had in the interval arisen in consequence of Molapo and the Bataung under Molitsane in combination having 104 The Basutos swept off quantities of cattle belonging to Sikonyela and killed many men. The High Commissioner first reproved Major Warden for assuming an " unwarrantable responsi- bility " and then approved the plan to make a display of force. On its arrival, Major Warden convened a meeting of Chiefs near the Basutoland border, no Basuto representatives being present, and after hearing evidence gave an Award to the effect that Moshesh should withdraw all his people improperly placed on Sikonyela's land, and that 73 horses, 6,303 cattle, 2,420 sheep and 2,966 goats seized from him should be restored within three weeks. Similarly, all stock (unnumbered) captured from the Basuto by the Batlokoa were to be returned. In reporting to the High Commissioner, the Resi- dent expressed, as he frequently appears to have done without sufficient justification, his satisfaction at the promise of a speedy and amicable settlement. But he blamed Moshesh for procrastinating and contempt which he ascribed to the overbearing of his sons whose evil influence over their father was obvious. This report was followed by a letter couched in gloomy terms exhibiting for the first time want of confidence in Moshesh, adding, " the country cannot enjoy peace until the Basuto tribe, of late years become powerful, be put under some restraint. ... At present they are most insolent to their neighbours of other nations and establish Kralls wherever they please." Sir Harry Smith also began to waver in his admiration for the Chief, for in replying to the Resident in August 1849 he wrote: — . Moshesh Condemned 105 " It is evident to me that Moshesh is acting dis- honestly and that the ambition of his sons has prompted him to the improper line he has pursued. Your sug- gestion therefore that this Chief must be humbled . . . must be carried out . . . you should point out to him your determination and make it evident that if war ensue he bears the responsibility. ... If Moshesh shuts himself up in his mountain, Thaba Bosigo, I believe some howitzer shells may be thrown upon him. . . . But accusations of the other chiefs must be carefully received, for they are all jealous of him." In these words are to be read the first rumblings of the wars to follow later. Sir Harry Smith had clearly flung away the scabbard. Major Warden, whose capacity to comprehend and deal successfully with natives has been much questioned, must be given the credit for the exercise at this moment of considerable patience. He communicated with Moshesh time after time in most temperate language, invoked the aid of his missionaries and left no stone unturned to promote common understandings. But he could not get promises kept, nor captured stock returned, nor restrain the unruly passions of the younger chiefs. Out of 1 1,000 head of stock alleged to have been raided from the Batlokoa, Moshesh was held to have absolved himself by handing over two thousand odd animals in poor condition ; but from Molitsane comparatively few could be extracted and while negotiations were proceeding the situation was compromised by Sikonyela aided by other clans falling suddenly upon the Bataung, killing 50 men and destroying many villages. 106 The Basutos The British Resident now felt that the position was desperate. He was being pressed by the Boers, who saw a favourable opportunity when most of the tribes were well involved, to get the land marked off in the lower Caledon District, which they had occupied in a precarious manner since the Treaty of Sir Peregrine Maitland ; he was tired of the incessant strife and disputes arising out of boundaries. In despair he held another large meeting of chiefs, Moshesh excepted, animated with the belief that the safest guarantee for the future was to form a League binding all to unite and suppress any chief disturbing the peace of the country. In pursuance of that idea an alliance was planned by him of tribes nearly all inimical to the Basuto. Thus equipped he summoned Moshesh to come and discuss boundaries. That Chief wrote several letters in September 1849 pleading his inability from fear, illness and other causes to attend, the real reason however being that he dreaded being forced personally to assent to boundary lines because he felt certain his sons, who had already committed themselves by dis- placing temporary beacons, would reject the idea and resist any agreement. He did not therefore attend but sent his son Letsie as a mere spectator with instructions to listen only The Resident was insulted and after waiting twelve days and giving the Chief fair latitude he sent for his signature a rough sketch of a line between Basutoland and the Emigrants as shown in Map III. attached. This was signed by Moshesh under protest that it took from him much land allowed to him under the Napier Treaty, and was returned accompanied with a Jt w o . W i» u, ^63 Hb HHS-o'H -- i .- re ft 3- re SqZ 2 -" c - Jfjq — O.B &{■ 5"^S os; n^oj 1 * Issjhf 3 r £ c o - ~ ■ - ti I 6 k z ~. a o * i« o Y-v ~ -. 1*3 2 S .- n — ~ I s : * re ?2 srJS o S a" 1 oi »Q 2 3 O H » n a" § O Si o n' J) 3 ~> o x i c 5 ^z «S 335 5 re a Ef O ~ 3- = ° n ~c ° S? 3 | a pL 2 51 S Boundaries Made 107 memorial to the High Commissioner from the French missionaries who urged the iniquity of removing, as required, 100 Basuto villages or including them in the country allotted to the Boers, and represented that the document had been unwillingly signed out of fear, but it had created feelings of dangerous discontent in the tribe. Major Warden then assiduously applied himself to the completion of other delimitations for Sikonyela, Taaibosch, Molitsane and Moroko, each draining a portion of the territory claimed by Moshesh, a little here and a little there. But they were approved and confirmed by the High Commissioner who issued a Government Notice contemplated to mark out, in respect of the entire Sovereignty, the spheres of occupation relatively of all the native tribes beyond the Orange River and of the Emigrant Farmers. This Notice, as appended, like many others promul- gated by Sir Harry Smith, was badly framed, leaving abundant room for dispute. The natives were at a disadvantage in having to trace if they could physical features quoted under Boer names, whilst the identity of certain mountains and ranges, unnamed, proved to be a matter of conjecture. " Notice. " Government House, Cape Town, 18 Dec. 1849. " His Excellency Her Majesty's High Commis- sioner has been pleased to approve and confirm the undermentioned boundaries between the several districts of the Sovereignty beyond the Orange River and the 108 The Basutos Native Chiefs, as arranged by the British Resident and Land Commissions, in conjunction with the Native Chiefs, and laid down by the Surveyor F. Rex, Esq., viz. : — " From the junction of Cornet Spruit with the Orange River to Vecht Kop, thence to Leeuw Kop, thence to Jammer Drift on the Caledon River, thence to the source of Modder River at the farm oi Paul Smit, from thence down the said Modder River to its junction with Koranna Spruit until abreast of a rocky hill north of said spruit, from thence up to and over said rocky hill to a beacon erected by the British Resident and the Chief Moroko, thence in a straight line to a beacon on a low ridge east of Hans Stein's homestead, thence in a direct line to the south-west corner beacon of the farm Roelofsfontein of Roelof I. van Rooyen, thence to a hill called Gouverneur's Kop, thence to a remarkable fracture in a hill called Lot's Pillar, thence passing the northern edge of a moun- tain (not named) to a remarkable feature (on a range of mountains running from north to south) called Sikonyela's Hoed, and from thence in an easterly direc- tion to a high mountain terminating a range running from east to west. " By order of His Excellency the High Commis- sioner. " (Signed) Richard South ey, Secretary." Though no boundaries could satisfy all parties, the determination of land rights was a step towards some sort of finality. But the effect was to circumscribe Basutoland, to cut away nearly all the land of chiefs Basutos Indignant 109 claimed by Moshesh as tributaries, and to leave the Batlokoa under Sikonyela dangerously wedged in under the Maluti mountains across the main arteries of traffic between north and south Basutoland (vide Map III.). The sons and councillors of Moshesh did not disguise their objection to thus being hemmed in, feeling that the country left to them below their mountains was absurdly inadequate to their wants and aspirations. They did not prevent the Chief from accepting the Notice but resolved to ignore it. Sir Harry Smith's dream of paper boundaries by Government Notice being made to produce the magical effect of separating the Sovereignty into camps containing happy and contented populations of whites and natives, all at daggers drawn, was not under the circumstances capable of fulfilment. Numbers of each race were still squatting promiscuously under no kind of control on forbidden ground on either side. There was no organization to remove them, so that festering sores were plentiful. Moshesh was playing the part of a loyal subject of the Queen by submitting painfully to conditions im- posed upon him whilst his sons schemed to win back by contumacy what he was allowing himself to be squeezed out of. They realized that their vassals had, through boundary making, been given independence and had slipped away from them — even more, were being utilized by a League to check the power of the Basuto. The result was mistrust of the British Government and estrangement. In this frame of mind, led by impetuous young chiefs, the Basuto sought excuses to violate the terri- no The Basutos tory torn from them in the hope that by diplomatic or worrying tactics they might recover what was lost. Their designs were facilitated by their old enemy the Batlokoa whose unfortunate placement so near the enceinte at Thaba Bosigo was a source of intense irritation. Sikonyela, unable to remain long quiet, plundered and murdered some Bataung under Moli- tsane who, secretly aided by his allies the Basuto, retaliated by a murderous incursion against a mission station upon which Batlokoa were residing, killing twenty men and looting a quantity of stock. These acts so annoyed Major Warden after his hopeful despatches to the High Commissioner that he obtained leave to take a body of troops and Boers to punish the delinquents for their contempt of authority and if necessary to pursue them into Basutoland. Ac- cordingly in September 1850 he attacked the Bataung at Mekuatling, killed 20 and captured 3,468 cattle. Whilst so employed, outlying bands of Bataung assisted by Basuto surprised some villages of Moroko near Thaba Nchu and swept off 3,000 cattle which were rushed across the border into the mountains of Basutoland. Moshesh was in despair over this un- foreseen complication, which personally he had neither sought nor condoned, knowing how difficult it was to prevent cattle so acquired being eaten and hidden. In response to the angry demand of the Resident who was in the neighbourhood with armed forces he collected by contribution 2,000 cattle for restoration to the Baralong of Moroko. Major Warden received them as an in- stalment but was not appeased and plied the Chief for a considerable time with pressing demands for more. Major Warden's Expeditions 1 1 1 Meanwhile attention was diverted to two other directions where the Baphuti under Moirosi, tributary to Moshesh, were, under suspicion of aiding rebel refugees from the Cape Colony, attacked by the Colonial Government forces on the lower Orange River ; and the Tambookies, also tributary, came to blows with the Emigrant Farmers in the newly made Caledon District. Major Warden, without properly consulting Moshesh, with an irregular force and levies stiffened by some troops from Bloemfontein, took the field, in each case inflicting loss and capturing booty. Against the Tambookies he wrongly and without per- mission enlisted the help of Moshesh's brother Poshudi, who amongst other atrocities barbarously murdered three envoys; on that occasion also a number of children were captured and sold or allotted as slaves at the instance of one Captain Baillie. Regarding this ex- pedition Moshesh wrote to Major Warden — " The late conflict with Moirosi and your people has surprised and exasperated the Basuto." These affairs embittered the Basuto who felt that the Government was more and more disposed to harass them and alienate their vassals. Moshesh was now forced to the conclusion that he had lost the confidence of the British Resident, to whom he wrote in September 1850 : — " I have repeatedly protested that I am willing to make every effort to preserve peace, and I have ever regretted that others, even some of my family, as well as chiefs of other tribes, should have attempted to disturb it. I acknowledge I am not free from faults ; and ii2 The Basutos have you found one in authority who is free ? But I have given you so many positive proofs of my desire to repair injuries done by me that I trusted I should secure more of your confidence than I have done. You may therefore suppose I have been exceedingly surprised to hear that because of contemptible and lying reports you have again been led to suppose I wish war. And, you were preparing Griquas and Boers to attack me ! I am ready to stand before any evi- dence which can be produced to prove me guilty. . . . I am also grieved to hear that any of my people should behave with rudeness, or cause the farmers uneasiness, and I cannot but admire the just conclusion you come to as to the cause. It is ignorance. We are ignorant. I would desire to restrain my people, but late events have caused my task to be most difficult." It was in fact true that Major Warden had changed his tone and attitude to the Chief. He had written to the High Commissioner a series of letters in that sense of which the following are extracts : — " Should Moshesh refuse to give up the cattle seized from Moroko I purpose crossing his boundary and the troops will make the requisite seizures. . . . The Basuto people are proud and insolent towards their neigh- bours. . . . The time is not distant, I imagine, when it will be necessary to place them under restraint. . . . The Basuto require humbling, and should such be found necessary it can easily be done and at little cost to Government. The Griquas, Baralongs, Mantatis and Korannas with a small British support would in a few days overrun the whole of Basutoland." Moshesh to be Humbled n3 To Moshesh he wrote : — " Depend upon it that, however strong you may imagine yourself to be there is a stronger hand ready to punish the wicked doings of a people ten times more powerful than the Basuto." It was plain that he had worked himself up into a state of indignation drifting towards war, and was prepared not only to employ Moshesh's own vassals against him but to sever the alliance of Moirosi by annulling the Basuto sphere of influence over the left bank of the Orange River. The making of boundaries, instead of proving a solution of trouble, had landed the Sovereignty in complete anarchy. The Basuto, realizing the attempts to isolate them, were evidently determined to try and reassert ascendency over their late tributaries. Free fighting became general, the Boers being drawn into it. Major Warden then announced to the High Com- missioner that there was no alternative but a severe humbling of the Basuto nation, for which purpose he had called out 300 Burghers to co-operate with British troops and native contingents, numbering in all 3,000 men. Sir Harry Smith in approving the measures wrote : — " The conduct of the Chiefs Moshesh and Molitsane is most condemnable — especially Moshesh. For his aggressive conduct towards the neighbouring chiefs he merits the course you are pursuing ; but he has been likewise for many months coalescing with the restless Chief Kreli and the Rebel Sandile (in Kaffraria) and vol. 1 8 ii4 The Basutos many of his tribe have been engaged against Her Majesty's Forces in several of the recent conflicts . . . but his sons are turbulent men and have that control over their father of which they must as dis- turbers of the general peace of the Sovereignty be deprived. You are therefore authorized to prosecute the war . . . until those chiefs have made restitution for the spoliation committed on the peaceable and exemplary Chief Moroko (whom I regard as the Para- mount Chief in the Sovereignty, from his hereditary descent, his peaceful demeanour and his attachment to the British Government) and on others. . . . You should come to the point with Moshesh and if you have sufficient force attack him at once if necessary." Sir Harry Smith, finding a new charmer in Moroko, thus had no scruples in renouncing his previous declarations that Moshesh was the Great Paramount Chief, and loosely sanctioning warlike operations. Major Warden was pleased with the approval of his plans and sent the Chief an ultimatum. Both officers had underrated their enemy. HAIRDRESSING. P. 114] CHAPTER X The plot thickens against Moshesh who is attacked by Government forces and comes off victorious: the vacillating policy of H.M. Government: removal of Sir Harry Smith and Major Warden, and general disorder 1850 — 1852 NO doubt the ambitious designs, marauding and reputed insolence of the young chiefs had caused much commotion and tumult in the Sovereignty such as to call forth the displeasure of the British Resident and High Commissioner who, believing Moshesh had absolute power, attributed to him mendacity and deceit without making reasonable allowance for the grievances he laboured under or for the passions which political events had provoked. But faults were not all on one side nor were the Basuto without champions. Amongst others, the Rev. J. J. Freeman in the year 1850 arrived in Basutoland as a Deputation from the Directors of the London Missionary Society for the purpose of inspection and inquiry. He at once entered the lists against the High Commissioner, voicing a public appeal to the Secretary of State for a Commission of inquiry and investigation and for "5 n6 The Basutos suspension of approval of Sovereignty Administration on the grounds that the measures of Sir Harry Smith in reference to the Basuto were : — 1. Essentially and radically unjust on account of the robbery of a large section of country belonging to a friendly, deserving but defenceless people. 2. Ungenerous and cruel. 3. Impolitic, as having rendered the Basuto cold and suspicious — irritated, goaded and maddened them with vexation and disgust. Sir Harry Smith, in defending himself to the Secre- tary of State from these strictures upon his procedure, wrote : — " When society consists of the heterogeneous ele- ments of which it is composed beyond the Orange River, and when opposite interests prefer conflicting claims, that course is the best which contributes best to the general good. The great principle which guided me was, as I have already stated, not to disturb but clearly to define the existing occupation ; and my arrangement has consequently improved the condition of all. With regard to Moshesh, that Chief has been deprived of no part of his territory ; its limits have merely been established, a measure tending as much to his own protection as to that of others. ... I cannot refrain, my Lord, from adding that if reverend gentlemen in the position of Mr. Freeman would take a comprehensive and not a contracted view of matters ... a greater degree of benefit would accrue to the parties whom their laudable exertions are intended to civilize." Sir Harry Smith Charged 1 1 J The charges levelled by Mr. Freeman at Sir Harry Smith were admittedly extravagant, and the latter's retort about missionaries was not entirely undeserved, for in some instances their partisanship as disclosed in the records had often led to bitter feelings and con- fusion. But it cannot be denied that Moshesh had been made to concede territory for the Emigrant Boers, and was in addition deprived of land, over which he had fairly asserted his chieftainship, by the granting of independence to and the making of boundaries for minor chiefs who were his tributaries until then. Sir Harry Smith warmly recognized his paramountcy over all the minor chiefs when convenient to do so and then brushed it aside lightly under ill advice without realizing probably what far-reaching consequences it would produce upon the native mind. He would have been better advised to have clung to one strong chief than to trust in a lot of small ones who could not combine and whom he could not support nor protect. It does not transpire what opinion Her Majesty's Government formed of the correspondence ; but a reflection of their view was seen a few months later by the issue of Letters Patent constituting the whole Sovereignty north of the Orange River, as proclaimed by Sir Harry Smith, into a district under a Govern- ment to be administered separately by the Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Cape of Good Hope, or a Lieutenant-Governor, to be known by the name of the Orange River Territory, with a Legislative Council empowered to make laws for peace, order and good government. n8 The Basutos The policy underlying the issue of these Letters Patent may be construed to mean that Her Majesty's Government were not satisfied with the shadowy control hitherto exercised over the Sovereignty and were driven to create a new Government unfettered by Cape laws and usages, with a council nominated by the Crown charged with authority to administer the affairs, not only of the white settlers but of all the native tribes within its jurisdiction. It was a step in the dark soon to be recanted. The ultimatum alluded to in the previous chapter, and the threats preceding it, were acts of folly consider- ing the insignificant forces available for their execution. It was launched in the following letter from the British Resident to Moshesh. " Platberg, 2$ June, 1851. " Chief Moshesh, " In my two last communications I intimated a desire to see you, but as you have thought proper not to avail yourself of the opportunity of an interview with me it now becomes my duty to make a final demand, viz. : — " 1. The restitution of the stolen property of the Chief Moroko ; " 2. The fine imposed on you for having assisted in the attack made on the Chief Moroko in conjunction with the people of Molitsane ; " 3. The fine imposed on you for having aided the enemies of the Colonial Government on the other side the Orange River in the month of March last ; " 4. The fine imposed on you for the late attack on Ultimatum to Moshesh 119 the Chief Moroko in his own territory, the attacking party having been headed by your own son Nehemiah ; " 5. Restitution of stolen property taken from the Caledon River Burghers ; " 6. Restitution of stolen property taken from Mr. Shepstone ; u 7. Restitution of stolen property taken from the Platberg people ; " 8. Restitution of property taken from the Fingos ; " 9. Compensation to the Burghers of Caledon River District for the destruction of their homesteads, gardens and crops. " Now, I have therefore to demand of you six thousand good cattle and three hundred horses. With these I may perhaps be able to make good the losses sustained by H.M.'s subjects and her allies. And I further demand that these cattle or horses be delivered to me on or before the 4th July next. " (Signed) H. D. Warden, British Resident." The demand was equally vague and unreasonable seeing that much of the property referred to had been changing hands frequently by counter-reprisals. In any case the time allowed for collection, viz. less than ten days, was so inadequate and the gathering of troops on the border so menacing that the Basuto deemed it of strategic importance, in defence of their main position at Thaba Bosigo, to take up and hold certain salient military points in the foreground of the Caledon River ; further, in order to emasculate Major Warden's force, to coquette with the Boers who formed part of it, in the hope that they would waver 120 The Basutos in adhesion to him. A letter was therefore addressed to Wessels, Commandant of the Burghers, in friendly- terms, warning him of the consequences to which they were exposed on their solitary farms if they followed the Resident in any hostile movement across the border into Basutoland. These overtures had the desired effect of causing many of the Boers to desert, partly out of fear of reprisals on their farms and partly out of dislike for British methods. The advance guard of the British came into touch with the Basuto outposts near Mekuatling some days before the ultimatum expired when Major Donovan in command of the troops, rinding the scouts had pre- cipitated a general action, attacked a mountain called Viervoet on which the Basuto were observed in great numbers. His force consisted of 160 Imperial troops and two guns, 120 Burghers, 800 Baralongs under Moroko and a few hundred Griquas and other native levies. Under cover of the guns the position was suc- cessfully assaulted, to all appearances. The enemy feigned retreat, allowing the Baralongs to their intense delight to capture an immense herd of cattle which they were about to drive down, after leisurely plunder- ing some villages on the top, when they were sur- rounded by three bodies of Basuto who assailed them with such vigour that over 150 were immediately killed, the remnant having many wounded falling in disorder upon the supports who were compelled to retire in confusion. The cattle were of course a trap and were recaptured by the owners. This was a great blow to British prestige. Major Warden attributed the disaster to the failure of so Warden attacks Basuto 121 many of the Boer settlers to obey his commandeering orders to take the field, as well as to desertions, making no secret of their excuse that they preferred Moshesh to the British Government. Failing to get them to rally to him after the reverse, he was under the painful necessity of falling back twenty miles on Thaba Nchu, there taking up a defensive position with the panic- stricken Baralongs clinging to him for food and pro- tection. He then reported the condition of affairs to the High Commissioner and, in a state of alarm, solicited without authority help from Natal ; the Governor of that Colony responding in good faith to the requisition, despatched some troops and 1,000 natives, whose services were expensive but valueless. The general result of these ill-timed operations was to place the Government in a state of siege at Thaba Nchu against the victorious Basuto who traversed the whole country at pleasure, spreading consternation amongst the tribes employed against them, as well as the farmers who had lent their aid to the British. The High Commissioner poured in Minutes of Instructions which were hopelessly wide of the mark, for the Resident was powerless to move or act, British influence everywhere being lost when, after threatening so often, he retired with his forces and accepted defeat. Recent events moved the French missionaries in Basutoland with evident reluctance then to address an appeal to the Imperial Government for a Commission composed of men capable of ascertaining the real feelings and complaints of the people and determined upon framing measures adapted to the present emer- gency. Their memorial, extracts of which are given, 122 The Basutos represented feelingly but temperately the impressions they had formed from actual knowledge, and gave an eye-witness account of the late fight. " Memorial " The French missionaries in Basutoland, after having witnessed near their station of Mekuatling the most awful scene of bloodshed, feel it their duty to protest against the causes which have changed their once peaceful and happy field of labour into an abode of agitation, of strife and of carnage. Hitherto they have generally abstained from publishing their senti- ments on matters of a political nature and have endeavoured to avert the evils they saw in preparation by private correspondence. . . . But there are moments when no consideration . . . can prevent the human breast relieving itself by a shriek of distress. . . . And if whilst hundreds of vultures, preparing to feast on the victims of war, hover above them on one of their stations, the French missionaries remained silent, would they not justly deserve a charge of insensibility to the evil already accomplished, and of indifference to that misery which may still be forthcoming ? . . . " On the 30th of June at daybreak a considerable force composed of Baralongs, Korannas, various other native allies, Boers, Cape Mounted Rifles and English soldiers with artillery made a simultaneous attack on the Bataung under Chief Molitsane and on the Baramokheli subjects of Moshesh near Mekuatling. The Baramokheli were at first worsted and all their cattle fell into the hands of the Baralongs and Korannas. But very soon after a large body of warriors, headed by the eldest son Missionary Remonstrance 123 of Moshesh (Letsie), made their appearance, retook the cattle and cut in pieces a body of Baralong and Korannas who offered resistance. This part of the battle was fought on an extensive flat-topped mountain which is edged with perpendicular rocks. The Basuto, after having thus killed a great number of their opponents on the flat above, drove the rest to near the brink of the precipice. There a desperate struggle took place, the assegai, the battle-axe and the gun making incessant execution . . . those who did not fall by those weapons were hurled down on the awful crags below. At the same moment the British artillery supported by the Cape Mounted Rifles and a large body of natives was repulsed by Molitsane and driven back towards the camp of Major Warden in great confusion. The following morning the British Resident began his retreat to Thaba Nchu. " We do not intend to discuss the merits of the attack made in this instance by the Government forces. It is in our opinion a fatal continuation of that series of international disputes, desultory fights and promiscuous pillaging which have disturbed and distracted South Africa since the Sovereignty was proclaimed. . . . "We think there has been an unwarrantable dis- regard of the rights, the past history, the different habits, the relative position and the respective wants of the native population. This had led the natives to suspect the Government of a disposition to divide in order to reign. . . . Natural rights, past grievances, past benefits, past engagements and treaties, feudal allegiances kindred ties, family bonds, have been discarded and overlooked. . . 124 The Basutos " Moshesh has been placed on a level with chieftains whom he had received in the land. . . . This astounding mode of government has been crowned by employing one tribe against another. ... A chief who would have had no objection to meet the British Resident personally is filled with indignation by the prospect of finding himself surrounded by men with whom he has been at war in bygone days and who are ready to exult in his humiliation. . . . Limits have been made in the very centre of the territory of Moshesh contrary to the solemn promises made to him in conferences with the highest English authorities. . . . Nothing less than the prospect of irretrievable ruin could prompt us to speak as we do this day. The perversion of the feelings of the people is already frightful. War will drive them completely back to barbarism. No resource remains to them if vanquished than to take refuge in the recesses and strongholds of their mountains. This once accom- plished, it may be safely predicted that the Sovereignty will be untenable for civilized men during many years." This memorial was undoubtedly partial to the transgressions of Moshesh and his sons ; but it came with weight from men on the spot who were cognisant of every event and well known to be warm advocates of peace. They were correct in pointing to the reaction upon the mass of the native people who had received a bad check in the progress they had shown evident signs of making. The British Resident was in an unhappy position, having practically retired upon Bloemfontein and lost his personal influence with both the white people now Messrs. Hogge and Owen Arrive 125 including many English, and natives. He had to witness silently the vengeance of the Basuto falling upon those Boers and native allies he had called to his help, and to see the domination of Moshesh being riotously restored over his late tributaries. Sir Harry Smith, too, worried by a Kaffir rebellion in the east of Cape Colony, was much embarrassed by the turn of Sovereignty affairs. He could no longer rely upon the white inhabitants or natives for help or loyalty and saw no alternative but to hold on to Bloemfontein and remain passive until reinforcements from England enabled him to re-establish effectively the authority of Government. Meanwhile he sought to ease the situation by announcing that two Assistant Commissioners, viz. Major Hogge and Mr. Mostyn Owen, sent from England to advise him would proceed to the Sovereignty shortly on a mission of inquiry, "before the Chief Moshesh is attacked in force." Moshesh also, in spite of gaining the advantage of the late contest, was alarmed for he knew that Sir Harry Smith was too great a warrior to submit long to defeat. Moreover he realized the supreme difficulty of controlling his young sons now inflamed by passion and elated by victory. Casting round for succour, he opened friendly negotiations with the Boers so success- fully as to lead to a private treaty between them. It took the form of Declarations as hereunder : — " Declaration ''Thaba Bosigo, 3 Sept. 1851. " The great Chief Moshesh declares hereby that from this time he has stopped and caused to cease all 126 The Basutos hostile proceedings with the African Burghers, and declares that he makes peace with them, and makes known that he will employ no war or lifting of weapons against them, as long as the Burghers do not come over the Boundary with an armed force to attack him ; and will from this time cause all plunder or thieving to cease, and promises to deliver out the stolen cattle. " Mark X of Moshesh." " Declaration "Thaba Bosigo, 3 Sept. 185 1. " The undersigned hereby declare, as Commissioners of a Deputation of Burghers, with knowledge of the British Resident, to the Chief Moshesh that in case of dispute or fighting among the coloured chiefs or tribes, they will not in such cases take up their weapons against them. The Burghers simply consider themselves obliged to take up their weapons against any chief who makes an invasion or plundering expedition within the boundaries. . . . " (Signed) G. F. Linde, (Signed) Jan Vermaak. As Commissioners." This understanding, on becoming known, together with a communication from the Secretary of State, combined to disturb the mind of the High Commis- sioner. Lord Grey, from his despatch of September 15, 1 851, was evidently much concerned with the state of affairs. He observed that, so far as he could form a judgment from the imperfect information hitherto received, he doubted the prudence and propriety of Lord Grey's Views 127 the course taken by Major Warden. It should be remembered that Her Majesty's Government, in giving a very reluctant sanction to the measure by which the territory was added to the Queen's dominions, were mainly influenced by definite reports that this was desired by the inhabitants in general who considered the establishment of British authority the only means by which disorder and bloodshed could be prevented. But it was clearly laid down and understood that the course was sanctioned only for the sake of the in- habitants, with no object other than that of meeting their wishes and promoting their welfare, and on the express condition that the whole cost of the arrange- ments made for this purpose was to be met by those for whose benefit they were intended. The grounds of approval were that the tendency of the measures would be to give more regularity and greater strength to that rude system of government which had grown up of itself, and to provide the people in question the assistance they required for the purpose of settling disputes amongst themselves, by the interposition of an authority to which all the different races of men whom circumstances had brought together in a singular relation with each other might look up with respect. But it was essential that the management of their own concerns, the provision for their own defence and for the expense of that system should be thrown entirely on the Emigrant Boers and on the natives among whom they were settled. Major Warden had not sufficiently borne in mind the nature and extent of the interference Her Majesty's Government were prepared to exercise and had failed to impress upon the inhabitants that 128 The Basutos upon them lay the responsibility and duty of main- taining the peace. He appeared to have committed the great error of interfering too much in matters of government and assumed improperly the administra- tion of affairs. Should this error have been committed it must be corrected as speedily as possible. It was absolutely necessary to confine strictly within limits the authority to be exercised by the servants of the Crown. If the inhabitants would not support that authority, but on the contrary desired to be relieved of it, the Resident and forces under him must be withdrawn without delay. Lord Grey felt, however, that before such a step could be taken with safety and honour it would be necessary to distinctly assert the superiority of the British arms over those by whom they had been re- sisted, and that the interests of our native allies might be served by providing them with lands sequestered from the Kat River Kaffirs in Kaffraria. This despatch leaves the impression that Her Majesty's Government experienced no misgivings about extending British rule over the Sovereignty and painting the country red so long as it would cost nothing. It lost sight of the fact that Sir Harry Smith's Proclamation, published eighteen months earlier, clearly contemplated an organized form of government by the Crown. It is idle to suppose that the u interposition of authority " alluded to could have meant anything less than Imperial control as commonly understood. Having once assumed the liability, which his Pro- Policy of Her Majesty's Government 129 clamation clearly did, the High Commissioner could not withdraw. Every act committed by him in good faith hoping to mend matters, acts approved at times by the Secretary of State, sunk him deeper in the mire. If half-measures only were intended, he had been allowed for a long time to proceed unchecked with an impossible task. He could not be dissociated in the responsibility from Major Warden who had kept him fully informed, and upon whom therefore it was unfair, whether he was capable or not, to cast the entire blame. He had, poor man, pathetically offered to surrender half a year's salary if it could be the means of restoring peace. Finally, Her Majesty's Government were prepared to abandon their high- principled policy and retire from the Sovereignty, after vindicating the national prestige by asserting the superiority of British arms over those Boers and natives who had resisted ; that is to say, the High Commissioner was prompted to conduct expensive military operations which, if effective, were bound to carry him into the heart of Basutoland, and to saddle him with obligations to protect afterwards those whites and blacks who should respond loyally in terms of the law to his summons for aid and be left in a helpless plight at the mercy of avengers under no curb. However much Sir Harry Smith smarted under this reversal of his policy his impetuous nature and reputa- tion as a soldier urged him to follow up the injunctions of the Secretary of State in exacting redress. But he was crippled by want of men and money, with the knowledge that the Imperial Government had no confidence in Warden's fitness to deal with the situation vol. 1 9 i3° The Basutos and that the Boer-Basuto coalition, such as it was, would deter many of the Emigrant Farmers from lending him assistance. In order to gain time for preparations and reinforce- ments, the Assistant Commissioners Hogge and Owen were pushed up to the Sovereignty in December 1 85 1, there to be inundated on arrival with representations from the different factions of all colours. Having to all appearances a free hand and an open mind they immediately set about to reduce expenses and make their authority felt. First of all declining to sanction some proceedings of the British Resident unfairly directed against Moshesh of employing mercenaries to worry him into violence by pillaging his people in outlying villages, they then took up a decided stand against political missionaries, writing to the Rev. Mr. Cameron of Thaba Nchu whose active interference annoyed them as follows : — " The Assistant Commissioners were under an im- pression, perhaps a mistaken one, that the Wesleyan missionaries confined themselves as a rule to the sphere of their pastoral exertions. They recommend Mr. Cameron to adopt this course for the future." Next, they administered through the High Com- missioner what can only be regarded as a stern rebuke to the Secretary of State for his hasty resolution productive as it was bound to be of grave unsettlement. Concluding a most practical report they observed : — " The Assistant Commissioners are fully aware that, however rapid may have been its advance, a great Attitude of Assistant Commissioners 131 nation cannot retreat from a territory over which it has assumed sovereign rights without great caution and a due consideration of the interests involved. They will in the course of their investigation carefully weigh every circumstance, which may tend to prove that the retirement, which Your Excellency so much deprecates, is as inexpedient as it must be lamentable in its consequences to the inhabitants of every colour and denomination." Messrs. Hogge and Owen made early arrangements for a meeting with Moshesh with whom they were prepared to come to terms if possible, involving his complete submission, and then, according to instructions but contrary to their convictions, to allow the native tribes to arrange their own affairs and fight their own battles. The Chief was called to confer with them at Winburg but, apprehensive of treachery along the road at the hands of Sikonyela, was forbidden by his own people to go, his sons Molapo and David Masupha being substituted with plenipotentiary power to consent in his name to any agreement. Accordingly, they together with Molitsane signed an agreement, after- wards confirmed by Moshesh, in the following terms : — " Winburg, io February, 1852. " We the undersigned, acting with full powers in the name of Moshesh, promise faithfully to comply in every respect with the terms Her Majesty's Assistant Commissioners have imposed on us, viz. : — " To give up all cattle and horses stolen from the Boers within fourteen days from this date, and to 13 2 The Basutos indemnify in full the said Boers for any that may be missing or have been made away with. " Also to compensate the Baralong Chief Moroko for all the cattle and horses he lost while serving on the Commando with Major Warden in September 1850. " Any cattle that may have been taken since September 1850 by the Baralongs shall be considered as an off-set in the payment to them above specified. " I, Molitsane, also bind myself in every way to comply with the same terms. " Mark X of Molapo. Mark X of David Masupha. Mark X of Molitsane." This was another of those vague undertakings almost impossible of fulfilment because of its indefinite character. It imposed a burden to which even a highly organized Government was unequal, viz. the collection within a few days of unknown quantities of cattle that might or might not be secreted in the recesses of a wild country hard to penetrate. As the Agreement was not complied with, Major Hogge met Moshesh personally at the Orange River on the 22nd February in the presence of large numbers of Basuto with the object of making known the views of Govern- ment and effecting a compromise if possible. On that occasion, after much evidence, he announced as the authoritative decision of himself and his colleague that the Administration had committed great faults against the Basuto, whose well-founded grievances he was prepared to redress ; he was in a position to say that Major Warden would be dismissed from the office Pledges of Major Hogge 133 of British Resident ; that the boundary line between the Lesuto and the Caledon River District, as con- firmed by the High Commissioner, would be no longer binding ; that all the boundary lines proclaimed between the minor clans and the Basuto would be abolished ; that Captain Baillie, accused of murder, seizing, bartering and enslaving sixty Tambookie children, should be arrested and the children restored ; and that henceforth the Government would not inter- fere in purely native quarrels. In exchange for all this, Moshesh was simply to surrender in toto all plunder mentioned in the Winburg Agreement and to consent to a new line between himself and the Emigrant Farmers. This was in fact a violent volte-face. It meant almost a return to the status quo ante. The offer of such favourable terms to the Basuto after admitting the justice of their grievances was almost enough to intoxicate them. Whilst professing their gratitude they were induced, in view of past experience about promises, to wait and see how far Major Hogge was able and willing to carry out his pledges. As a matter of fact, the Assistant Commissioner, whose sincerity cannot be questioned, found himself unable to manifest it by carrying out one of them. Meanwhile the Basuto as an earnest on their part offered and gave up hundreds of cattle gradually recovered ; but they were wanted in thousands instead of hundreds and the demand came again and again for more. There was, however, nothing unreasonable in the dilatory response. Here were two parties to an understanding, the one representing a great civilized nation, the other 134 The Basutos a wild and suspicious people : if the one failed in its contract the example was bad and the failure of the other excusable. Moreover, there was grave doubt that the demands were excessive, as both the Boers and Moroko had intermittently recovered some of their losses, and above all there was a lack of con- sistency in Imperial policy which neither satisfied nor convinced any one that it would be backed up. Some time now passed with the exchange of re- criminating correspondence in every direction. Moshesh was charged with wily and evasive tactics, retorting that he had done his best to preserve peace and perform his engagements but had been cruelly pressed to make good thousands of cattle and horses, many of which his people had never seen, and further that he was girt about with enemies paid by the Government to harass him. He instanced the conduct of a desperate character named Van der Kolf who with a band of brigands roved about the country stealing and levying toll of cattle from farmers and natives and then falsely circulating reports that the Basuto had done it. This man Van der Kolf was at a later date run down by a Boer Commandant of good repute who had watched his villainous career and, according to report, shot him dead on the veldt as a pest to humanity. Whilst communications were going on, Sikonyela, encouraged by the British Resident, by whom he and others known as allies were supplied with guns and ammunition, seized the opportunity to make a sudden raid on the Basuto, killing some unprotected men and sweeping off to the shelter of British camps a column of cattle. Moshesh in desperation headed in person a Political Changes 135 commando of his own in May 1852 against the Batlokoa, inflicting such punishment that they were glad to come to terms, Sikonyela with much difficulty escaping with his life. Then, a series of changes came over the scene. Major Hogge, after performing an immense amount of work, died. The Secretary of State signified his desire to place in other hands the authority hitherto entrusted to Major Warden, who in his opinion had entered rashly and hastily upon the war with Moshesh and in whose judgment and prudence he had not reason to be satisfied. He was succeeded as British Resident by Commissary-General Green. To crown all, the Secretary of State expressed his dissatisfaction with the administrative policy of Sir Harry Smith who was censured and recalled, to be succeeded by General Sir George Cathcart. Simul- taneously a change of Government in England brought Sir John Pakington to the Colonial Office. The Assistant Commissioners, describing the con- dition of affairs as one of muddle and disorder, laid before the new High Commissioner a comprehensive view of the Sovereignty history together with their opinion, the prevailing note of which was that they did not believe the Basuto would fulfil the engagements into which they had entered unless compelled to do so by force, seeing that no trust could be placed in Moshesh, with whom further correspondence was useless. It is not on record that the pledges made by Major Hogge were reported to the High Commissioners or given any serious consideration. CHAPTER XI Terror is not always the effect of force ; and an armament is not a victory. If you do not succeed, you are without resource ; for, conciliation failing, force remains ; but, force failing, no further hope of reconciliation is left. Burke. Sir George Cathcart, the new Governor, is impulsive : under- rates the Basuto : sends an ultimatum : invades Basuto- land and comes off second best : the battle of Berea. SIR GEORGE CATHCART succeeded to a burden- some heritage but entered upon his duties apparently with a light heart. He issued two or three casual Proclamations, wrote a few letters, commendatory and advisory, to Moshesh and others, and then assured the Secretary of State hopefully as his predecessors had done that the native chiefs evinced a readiness to comply with his demands. He was naturally influenced by the opinions of his Political Officer, Owen, and the British Resident, Green. The former held consistently to the view that the Orange River Sovereignty could not be retained with dignity to the Crown without the presence of a considerable force, recommending that, should Her Majesty's Government decline to maintain it at the risk of incurring expense, abandonment should follow as soon as it could be done with honour. The latter 136 Signs of War 137 was more emphatic : assuming that peace could never be established until Moshesh was humbled, he advised that if an additional military force were to be employed for such a purpose it should consist chiefly of cavalry and the Burghers, 800 of whom could be called out as well as 300 mounted Griquas as auxiliaries ; other native aid to be relied upon consisted of : Bastards, 150 mounted; Taaibosch's Korannas, 100 ditto; Sikonyela's men, 600 foot ; Moroko's, 300 ditto. To these communications Sir George Cathcart replied, " If I make war on Moshesh, it must be on good grounds and a well-established casus belli, and then it must be no small war." He then intimated in despatches of November 14, 1852, written from Grahamstown to the Secretary of State, his intention to proceed without delay to the Sovereignty, with the object of enforcing Her Majesty's authority and control over any native chief or other party who might be refractory ; for that purpose to take a sufficient British force, viz. 2,000 Infantry, 2 guns, 500 Cavalry, so that no necessity would exist for calling to his assistance either petty native tribes, Burghers or Griquas or Korannas, and thereby sowing seeds of future discord similar to that which had been previously engendered by the unfortunate employment of such auxiliaries who, if so employed, naturally demanded for the obligation permanent protection afterwards. This policy of condemning the intervention and aid of local auxiliaries was in direct conflict with that of Sir Harry Smith and of the British Resident Green. Had it been adhered to, much trouble and 138 The Basutos future complication would have been avoided. It will be seen later that General Cathcart went back on his laudable intentions because, like others who preceded him, he fell into the error of underrating the opposition he was likely to encounter and over- rating the capacity of Imperial troops limited in number to carry war against a formidable enemy at a great distance from their base whilst called upon to hold a long line of communications. In the course of a long summary of past events and the present position of the Sovereignty, addressed to the Secretary of State for the information of H.M. Government, he centred his remarks on Moshesh, the following extracts relating particularly to that Chief and the adjustment of affairs in which he was concerned : — "... Moshesh ... by his own energy and enter- prise . . . managed ultimately, out of the wreck of petty nations, to become a centre of aggregation . . . selecting a well chosen and defensible mountain fastness, Thaba Bosigo, as his seat of government. . . . So plausible are the excuses for the acts of aggression committed by his people against his neighbours, and so ably set forth are instances of his forbearance and moderation, that there is scarcely anything tangible as a cause of quarrel. ... It is but just to admit that, from the earliest period of any official recognition or even knowledge of the Chief Moshesh as the paramount ruler of the Basuto, that Chief, though engaged in constant quarrels with his neighbours, never came into collision with Her Majesty's troops, but, on the contrary, refused all solicitations to join the Boers General Cathcart's Views 139 in their rebellion, which was terminated by the battle of Boomplaats, and his conduct on that occasion was duly acknowledged as that of a faithful ally. " But, you are aware, since that event Major Warden, the late Resident . . . took occasion of some recent forays and reprisals ... to call upon some weak native auxiliaries and loyal burghers ... in support of the feeble escort of regular troops . . . and with this inadequate force commenced a little war against the great Chief. The result was . . . humiliating, and has unfortunately left a disadvan- tageous impression in that quarter as to the real power of the British nation. Her Majesty's Assistant Commissioners visited Moshesh and . . . considering it their duty to call that Chief to account . . . they drew out a document . . . demanding reparation which Moshesh assented to. . . . " It is to be regretted that the terms of the demand then made . . . were so vaguely worded, no precise amount of fine having been named, that not only were they open to evasion but scarcely capable of being complied with without engendering fresh disputes . . . between parties with whom it was desired that an equitable adjustment should be made, and consequently the Chief has only partially fulfilled his engagement. . . . Recent reports . . . show that the same unfortunate state of things in respect to plunder between Moshesh and his neighbours still prevails and ... it is difficult ... to judge on which side the primary aggression originated. . . . " So convinced am I . . . that it is my imperative duty to proceed thither . . . and administer strict 140 The Basutos justice with a strong arm, in vindication of the Sovereign honour and authority. Whatever may be the policy ultimately adopted . . . British authority having once been asserted, it could neither be retained nor abandoned with honour in the present unsatisfactory state of things. . . . The object how- ever of this intended expedition is not necessarily for war, but for the establishment of peace. . . . The duty ... I consider to be : — " First, after due investigation on the spot, to fix and define the equitable amount of compensation due by the Chief Moshesh, and then exact . . . prompt payment. Secondly, to adjust all other claims ... as to boundaries between Chiefs, and compensation for their mutual reprisals. . . . Thirdly, to declare certain definite fines as cautionary penalties for the infringe- ment of such injunctions as I may see cause to leave, in order to guard against future irregularities. . . ." To carry through only a fraction of this portentous programme would have required several months, ex- clusive of time employed in fighting. Had Moshesh drafted the despatch himself he could not have put his own defence better ; he was declared to have been loyal .; there was no tangible cause of quarrel : it was not practicable to comply with demands so vaguely worded ; he had partly fulfilled his engagements and had always solicited investigation on the spot to ascertain the true facts. General Cathcart reached Burghersdorp on Novem- ber 27, 1852, where he wrote to Sir John Pakington detailing the force under him to be : — Mobilization of Forces 141 " Royal Artillery : 1 demi battery horsed : 2 demi rocket batteries. Rank and file : 12th Lancers, 202 ; Cape Mounted Rifles, 250 ; Queen's, 400 ; 74th Regt., 400 ; 43rd Regt., 320 ; 73rd Regt., 330 ; Rifle Brigade, 100." He added that the force assembled both in respect to commanders and men was as perfect as he could desire and sufficient for all purposes ; and that should Moshesh prefer the issue of battle to restitution on a scale to be estimated by the Assistant Commissioners, it might be necessary to take it and in any case destroy the citadel : whilst, should resistance be offered, all his enemies should be let loose upon him and the mountains no longer be a shelter for his cattle. It was plain that Sir George Cathcart, while admitting there was room for misunderstanding and professing not to prejudge the case, had in effect done so. Neither the Assistant Commissioners nor any other persons were competent from personal knowledge to frame a true estimate of the actual losses for which damages were to be claimed. The Chief had restored a lot, some through official channels, some independently, and much had been retaken in reprisals. A full investigation on the spot might have determined a good deal, but to complete it thoroughly would have required a prolonged expenditure of labour and forbearance. Time however, with over two thousand soldiers eager for fighting, was too precious to be frittered away in hearing evidence : the fates were against it. General Cathcart arrived on the frontier of Basuto- 142 The Basutos land early in December, and at once summoned Moshesh to meet him at Platberg on the Caledon River on the 13th. That day the river dividing them was in dangerous flood impossible for the Chief to ford : but — and it reads like a page from a story of chivalry in the middle ages — two of his sons pluckily swam through the flood to explain the cause of their father's detention and plead for him. The General refused to receive them on his behalf, and next day having made up his mind that with an expensive army in the field a three days' ultimatum was the appro- priate solution, sent it in the form of a letter that rendered any chance of investigation or parley hopeless. Letter from Governor Sir George Cathcart to Chief Moshesh " Platberg, 14 December, 1852. "Chief Moshesh, " When I was sent by the Queen to be Governor and to command her army in this part of the world, about six months past, I wrote to acquaint you and other Chiefs, and I told you I would visit you as soon as the rebellion of the Gaikas and the Tambookies and the Hottentots was ended. This has been done as you have no doubt learnt ; and I am now come to visit this country, and desire to see you and the other chiefs as my friends at my camp at Platberg without delay. " My Proclamation will have told you the righteous cause in which I come and what it is my duty to do. " As I told you in my letter, I hope my visit to you may be in peace ; but I must do justice, whether it be Cathcart writes to Moshcsh 143 by war or in peace. I have been told that you are a great Chief and a good man ; but I find that though you are a man of good words, you have not done what you promised. I find, not only that you have not paid the fine of cattle imposed on you by the Assistant Commissioners, and which you promised to pay, for the robberies of cattle and horses committed by your people and with your knowledge up to the time of your agreement with them, but since then you and the people over whom you rule, including Molitsane and Moirosi, and your own son Letsie and certain robbers called Letele and Poshudi, have been stealing cattle from your neighbours, and otherwise doing them harm ; even murders have been committed by them, and this village has been plundered and destroyed. In short, the Basuto people under your rule have become a nation of thieves. This state of things must not be, and I have come to put an end to it, and to restore peace between you and your neighbours, if I can ; and if not, to put you and your people out of the way of doing them wrong, and this I must do promptly. " I will not therefore stop to talk, but tell you now once for all, that having carefully inquired into the business, and judging as mercifully and justly as I can what is the amount of cattle and damage you should be required to restore, I demand of you ten thousand head of cattle and one thousand horses, to be delivered over to the British Resident at this place within three days' time, in order to be restored to those from whom they have been stolen. " If this be not done I must go and take either cattle or other things from you and your people, and 144 The Basutos from Molitsane and his people ; and if resistance be made it will then be war between us, and I must then take three times the amount of cattle, as well as kill many of your people and destroy their kralls, which I should be very sorry to be obliged to do ; but if this cattle be paid within three days, and I am assured that peace is restored, I will take the army back again in peace. " Now, Chief, if you are an honest man, it is for you to pay the just fine, which is not more than the cattle stolen, and save yourself and your people from ruin, or else prepare for war, for on the fourth day I must bring you to account. " You must also pay back to Sikonyela what you have stolen from him and be at peace with him. Carolus Baatje and his people must return to Platberg, and the boundaries fixed by Governor Sir Harry Smith must be respected. " When all this is done, you must remain at peace with all your neighbours, and the Basutos must cease to be a nation of thieves, for if I come again it will not be to talk, but to make an end of the Basuto nation as has been done of the Gaikas and the Tam- bookie tribe of Mapassa. " (Signed) Geo. Cathcart, " Governor and High Commissioner." This letter reversed without comment the pledges of Major Hogge given in the Queen's name ; it falsified any idea of dispensing strict justice after investigation in the manner suggested in the High Commissioner's magnanimous despatches ; it acknow- Moshesh Prepares 145 ledged Moshesh's rule over Moirosi which Sir Harry- Smith had denied. It was virtually judgment without trial, for the accused were not even allowed to state their case, and were ordered to pay a fine valued at ,£50,000 for damage assessed by the Assistant Com- missioners at £25,000, which latter amount General Cathcart afterwards admitted to be absurdly excessive. The position was quickly grasped by Moshesh, who now knew for certain that, in addition to the formidable army camped within sight of his home evidently bent on war, enemies of smaller calibre were yapping all round ready to spring at him directly he was securely in the grip of the soldiers. Like a stag at bay he stood with his sons resolutely facing the crowd of adversaries — in a sorry plight, yet full of that mettle which never fails to command admiration. But, before the clash of arms when it seemed almost certain they must bow to defeat, he sought and obtained one personal interview with the General. The record of it is remarkable for brevity and directness of speech. Minute of Conference between Governor Sir George Cathcart and Moshesh December 15, 1852. Governor. I am glad to see you and make your acquaintance. Moshesh. I am glad to see the Governor, as since his arrival in this country I have been expecting a visit from him, which his letter to me in October has led me to expect. Governor. I told you in that letter that I hoped vol. 1 10 146 The Basutos to meet you in peace, and I still hope so, as I look to you as the great Chief in this part. Moshesh. I hope so too, for peace is like the rain which makes the grass grow, while war is like the wind which dries it up. You are right in looking to me, that is in accordance with the treaties. Governor. I will not now talk much, but wish to know whether you received my message yesterday, in which I made the demand of cattle and horses. I have nothing to alter in that letter. Moshesh. I received the letter, but do not know where I shall get the cattle from. Am I to under- stand that the ten thousand head demanded are a fine imposed for the thefts committed by my people, in addition to the cattle stolen ? Governor. I demand but ten thousand head, though your people have stolen many more, and consider this a just award which must be paid in three days. Moshesh. Do the three days count from yesterday or to-day ? Governor. To-day is the first of the three. Moshesh. The time is short and the cattle many. Will you not allow me six days to collect them ? Governor. You had time given you when Major Hogge and Mr. Owen made the first demand, and then promised to comply with it but did not. Moshesh. But I was not quite idle. Do not the papers in the Commissioner's hands show that I collected them ? Governor. They do, but not half of the number demanded. Moshesh interviews Cathcart 147 Moshesh. That is true ; but I have not now control enough over my people to induce them to comply with the demand, however anxious I may be to do so. Governor. If you are not able to collect them, I must go and do it ; and if any resistance be made it will then be war, and I shall not be satisfied with ten thousand head but shall take all I can. Moshesh. Do not talk of war, for, however anxious I may be to avoid it, you know that a dog when beaten will show his teeth. Governor. It will therefore be better that you should give up the cattle than that I should go for them. Moshesh. I wish for peace ; but have the same difficulty with my people that you have in the Cape Colony. Your prisons are never empty, and I have thieves among my people. Governor. I would then recommend you to catch the thieves and bring them to me, and I will hang them. Moshesh. I do not wish you to hang them, but to talk to them and give them advice. If you hang them they cannot talk. Governor. If I hang them they cannot steal, and I am not going to talk any more. I have said that if you do not give up the cattle in three days I must come and take them. Moshesh. I beg you not to talk of war. Governor. I have no more to say. I must either leave this in peace in three days or go to Thaba Bosigo. I therefore advise you to go and collect the cattle as quickly as possible. H 8 The Basutos Moshesh. Do not talk of coming to Thaba Bosigo. If you do I shall lay the blame on the Boers from whom the cattle were stolen, and whom I requested to come and point out to me their cattle that I might restore them. I will go at once and do my best, and perhaps God will help me. This interview availed the Chief nothing. The die was cast. But he made a final request before parting that the day of conference should not count as one of the three days. This was granted and he then returned rapidly to his mountain home. On the third day Nehemiah, one of his senior sons, drove into the General's camp 3,500 head of cattle, which were received and distributed as follows : 1,000 to Moroko, 250 to Gert Taaibosch, 250 to Carolus Baatje, and the remainder to the Imperial Commissariat. None appear to have been awarded to the Boer farmers who were alleged to have been the chief sufferers. It might have been expected that the General would have adhered to his oft-expressed resolves to conduct operations with his own compact body of troops only, and not enlist the aid of native auxiliaries at the cost of future discord which their employment would certainly engender. But he did nothing of the sort. Before a shot was fired, before it was known whether the fine would be paid or not, whether it would be peace or war, he supplied the Batlokoa, the most uncompromis- ing enemies of the Basuto, with arms and ammunition, telling Sikonyela in a published letter dated Decem- ber 17 he did not wish to set one chief against another yet demanding his assistance if there was fighting ; Troops Advance 149 and he called upon Moroko to place a string of guards extended between his camp and Bloemfontein in order to protect his line of communication from attack. Sir George Cathcart was by common report led to think that Moshesh could, had he wished, easily have paid up within three days not only 10,000 cattle and 1,000 horses but three times those numbers. There is every reason, however, to believe that it was not possible for him to do so. To have raised in three days many more than the 3,500 surrendered he must have swept ofF summarily the entire herds of his followers living near. This would have meant alienating their attach- ment and that he dared not do on the verge of war. Their only wealth was cattle for which they were always ready to die in defending. There were con- siderable herds spread over the territory of 10,000 square miles ; but the numbers within the power of the Chief to handle were grossly exaggerated. One of the French missionaries escorted messengers to report that great efforts were being made to collect the fine and to entreat for more time. No answer was given, so the Basuto were led to expect a final notice before fighting commenced. But, as no more cattle appeared, General Cathcart was inexorable and on December 1 9 issued orders for an immediate advance, the troops crossing the Caledon river into Basutoland at daybreak on the morning of the 20th at a drift almost directly opposite Thaba Bosigo distant therefrom about twelve miles. Leaving the Head-quarter camp strongly entrenched and the eighty-mile line of communication to Bloemfontein to 150 The Basutos be held by Moroko's Baralongs, the troops marched in a direct line towards the fortress at Thaba Bosigo, formed in three columns for a concerted movement, one under personal observation of the General him- self, the other two commanded respectively by Col. George Napier and Col. William Eyre of the 73rd Regiment- The divisional orders set forth that the object was to chastise the chief Moshesh and capture cattle. Directly across the line of march there lay the Berea, a long, narrow flat-topped mountain of irregular shape with precipitous sides broken through in one or two places by tortuous passes closed up at the crest almost in the form of gateways. The plan of campaign was for the army to take this mountain in its stride, the column under Col. Napier, mostly cavalry, to work round the left or north-eastern corner to connect with that under the General who took the right or western side, whilst the centre column under Col. Eyre should ascend the heights, traverse the mountain and effect a junction at midday with the other columns on the far side, driving in front of him a large herd of cattle exposed to view on the top. General Cathcart proceeded almost unmolested to the proposed point of junction within sight of the Mission Station nestling under the brows of Thaba Bosigo upon the banks of the Little Caledon river. The other two columns, according to the official reports, were tempted by the sight of cattle to vary their instructions, and not only failed to rendezvous at the time and place appointed but got into serious difficulties which entailed considerable loss. Disasters 1 5 1 Col. Napier observed going up a steep cattle path winding through one of the passes a large drove which he promptly followed with his whole force, secured, and was leisurely driving down when a body of Basuto, watching their opportunity when soldiers and cattle were well mixed up in the pass, charged down upon them so fiercely that a troop of the 12th Lancers was nearly wiped out, another small party of Lancers getting into a cul de sac by mistake being entirely destroyed. Col. Napier with great difficulty released his column from the perilous position. He was compelled, however, to abandon the route indi- cated in his orders and, instead of linking up with the other columns, fell back in some confusion to the main camp on the Caledon he had started from in the early morning, pursued for several miles and attacked in flank by the Basuto who made frantic efforts to recover a herd of two or three thousand cattle driven along by the troops. Eventually the column recrossed the Caledon with the assistance of a company of the 74th Highlanders pushed forward to cover the retreat, having lost during the day thirty men killed of whom twenty-seven were Lancers. Col. Eyre, following his instructions to cross the mountain, stormed it bravely in the face of opposition. Gaining the crest with little loss, he found the enemy dispersing in all directions, apparently disheartened, leaving in their flight a large mob of cattle which he proceeded to round up and drive off when a strong force of Basuto under Molapo, some of them wearing white caps and bearing lances just seized from those of the 1 2 th Lancers who had been killed on the other 152 The Basutos side, suddenly appeared in front, and dashing in plunged the column into confusion. Captain Faunce of the 73rd and three soldiers mistaking the enemy in white caps for Lancers, were taken prisoners and at once killed and mutilated in revenge for the death of some native women accidentally shot, it was sup- posed, by the soldiers. Col. Eyre extricated his men only with great difficulty, descending after a running fight to the plain below, whence he joined General Cathcart at the appointed place about sunset, bringing in several hundred cattle as the result of his day's work. General Cathcart was during that night far from comfortable. He was attacked at intervals while in bivouac in some old kralls, was cut adrift from Napier's cavalry column, his communications were dangerously threatened and supplies limited. The day's casualty list was 38 killed and 15 wounded ; that of the enemy, though reported to have been heavy, was afterwards stated not to have exceeded twenty, but probably both dead and wounded were carried off by the natives. The whole affair was a ' repetition of the old error of underrating the adver- sary and ignoring experience, for the cattle had been merely snares, as they were to Major Donovan at Viervoet. In his published despatches and papers, General Cathcart complained of having been left in the lurch by his column commanders who went mad after cattle in despite of his orders which were to make recon- naissances in force and unite with him under Moshesh's mountain. ■ -^ / f / '^^^jS'^Sf ORANGt RIVER y p. 274 1 Obscure Points 275 The whole effort bore traces of the Governor's indefatigable labour ; it was unfortunate, however, that he left the two points referred to in the above letter to be determined by the generosity of the Free State in whose favour the survey slightly turned. His request for the concession was not complied with ; but the Basuto, to whom it was made known, took it to be an order and thereafter regarded the mountain slopes in question as available to them from the base upwards. It was just sufficient to afford excuse for keeping open the sore between the farmers and the natives, both of whom seemed destined time after time to reach the verge of a good understanding but not to achieve it. CHAPTER XVI Who bravely dares, must sometimes risk a fall. Smollett. Scares and conflicts caused by Jan Letelle : Basuto expansion to the East: Pretorius succeeds Boshoff as President of Orange Free State, and holds Conferences with Basuto: Sir George Grey mysteriously and abruptly recalled in the midst of important work : is immediately reinstated and finally retires : a retrospect : some of Moshesh's sound laws 1858—1862 ALTHOUGH the signature of Moshesh appears on the Treaty of Peace recorded in the preceding chapter it was not obtained without grave difficulty. The document was sent to him by the hand of Makwai but was mysteriously returned to Sir George Grey unsigned. Mr. Burnet was then sent by the Governor on October 12, 1858, to Thaba Bosigo in order to obtain the signature and afford any explanations. He found the Chief in a most refractory mood refusing absolutely to affix his seal. The chief obstacle was that part of Article I. where the boundary was said to follow the Warden line. It was unfortunate that the expression was used because as a matter of fact the 276 Moshesh Signs under Protest 277 Warden line was only confirmed in so far as related to the northern portion ; thereafter the boundary followed the Caledon River via Jammerberg to Beersheba. But the expression deceived many others besides Moshesh who could not clear his head of the idea that it meant the whole Warden line. He was also reluctant to agree to the stipulations about thieving and hunting for game, alleging that to sign a paper pledging him- self to stop thieving, which must always go on, or to stop hunting game which God had sent to his people for food, was like signing a Great Lie. He also fenced bitterly about the inclusion in Free State territory of the Beersheba Mission farm which had been his original gift to the French missionaries. However, after de- taining Mr. Burnet several days and much vacillation he signed it, declaring that he did so out of necessity and respect for Sir George Grey and not because his heart was in it. The Treaty and boundary had the merit of being condemned by both parties for what it took away from each and gave to the other. In no way could topo- graphical requirements have been easily satisfied. The Free State President in addressing his Volksraad on November 22, 1858, voiced the opinion of its members when he stated that the advantages of the arbitration lay wholly on the side of the Basuto ; he affirmed his own in saying that the sacrifices in respect of land and otherwise which the burghers were called upon to make were unavoidable in the restoration of peace. No doubt Moshesh endeavoured to appease his people in a similar way but we have no records of his parliament. Both he and the President recognized in 278 The Basutos communications afterwards published the forbearance and patience of Sir George Grey who was entitled to the gratitude and esteem of all. It cannot be doubted that, taking all circumstances into consideration and comparing the new sketch-map with those of Sir Harry Smith and others, Sir George Grey accorded to the Basuto equitable treatment and a larger tract of land than they would ever have expected unless, as happened, they were successful in arms against he Boers. It was the fact of their having so succeeded, and failed in their full demands, that caused discontent amongst them and disposed the unruly section to trample on the Treaty directly the Governor's back was turned. There is no evidence that Moshesh lent himself to such tactics ; others did so and he was blamed. On the contrary, he sent just at that moment three of his sons to follow up and kill if necessary a notorious thief belonging to Poshudi. They caught the thief red-handed, put him to death in Poshudi's presence, and restored the stolen property to the Boer owner. On many occasions drastic measures of this sort are known to have been taken by the Chief but were unnoted. President Boshoff in his speech to the Volksraad lamented that the hopes of permanent peace were shaken, for the Basutos or some of them, especially Poshudi and Molitsane, had not ceased since the day the truce was signed by robberies and wanton acts to impoverish the country and make it unsafe for the frontier burghers to return to their devastated farms. But, at a later session in February 1859, he felt bound to admit activity on part of the Basuto chiefs, especially Lehana and Letelle 279 by Molapo on the northern side, in maintaining good relations so that the farmers there were able to occupy their lands in safety and peace. One of Sir George Grey's excellent designs for preserving peace after his arbitration was to remove from the centre of late disorders some of those restless spirits who had done so much to promote them, viz. Poshudi, Lehana the son of Sikonyela, and Jan Letelle. The first-named would not budge. The other two accepted a provisional offer he made them to settle below the Drakensberg near the Umzimvubu River, bordering Pondoland and Natal, and were allowed to inspect the proposed ground under guidance of Mr. John Austen, the magistrate of Herschel. They were so pleased with the new country that Lehana returned and prepared for migration which was carried out some months later in spite of a refusal by the officer acting as Governor of the Cape, in the absence of Sir George Grey who had been suddenly recalled, to endorse the arrangements of his predecessor. This defeated Sir George Grey's plans, for Jan Letelle, unable to re- move at that moment, was hung up between the offer and refusal and remained for some years longer in the danger zone as a scourge to all the neighbours white and black. So great a robber was he that Moshesh positively refused at that time to consider Free State claims for the restoration of stolen stock on the ground that his thefts from Basutoland exceeded those committed by the Basuto in the Free State. In the negotiations for his removal the following curious letter passed from him to Sir George Grey, through Mr. Austen : — 28o The Basutos " KOESBERG, "22nd May, 1859. " I write to you, my Lord and Father, Sir George Grey, K.C.B., Governor. " I, John Letelle, I hope still upon your word that you have said to me, my Lord, at Blesbok Fontein, the place of Hans van Rooyen. Your word was to assist me with wagons if I move, and when I arrived there, with powder and lead. " Upon your word, my Lord, and also with utensils [gereeds chap] and also with a plough. My father, I trust in your word, my Lord, Sir George Grey, and I hope you will take as good care of me as of Adam Kok. And, my Lord, the country is to my taste, Lord and father, and I hope to go as soon as possible. My father, the children wish still to plant if possible, and I hope in two years that I and Sikonyela's son shall have good means of living, for we have for a long time had no rest, but I hope that our God may go with us, and Mr. Austen as you write. I hope that my father prays for us, because we go as the children of Israel in the wilderness, you also I. Oh be then as a friend and father, and I hope that where I have not done right, you will write me what is right. " To the Lord Sir George Grey, with my best com- pliments, and my compliments to you J. Austen. " I remain your friend, " (Signed) Jan Letelle." Meanwhile, Moshesh received the credit of scheming to appropriate the Umzimvubu country by introducing there his son Nehemiah in command of a small colony Nehemiah crosses Drakensberg 281 of Basuto. He certainly had an eye to it as will appear hereafter : but it is more likely that at the moment he rather countenanced than promoted the idea in order to let some of his restless sons who were quarrelling with each other carve their own way out ; his own hands were too full for him to seek new adventures. He would have liked to see Jan Letelle go there or anywhere so as to be rid of his mischief- making and get the ground that he occupied. It happened that Sir George Grey was attracted by the versatility and character of Nehemiah to whom, when conversing about the Treaty of Peace at Morija, he had given a qualified consent to the Umzimvubu project. Accordingly Nehemiah with about 100 male followers established himself there in March 1859 and then requested the Governor's sanction, which was neither actually given nor refused. That part of the country was by virtue of Treaties within the sphere of British influence but under no Government control. As adherents gradually joined Nehemiah it had the effect of disturbing the native tribes on the east of the Drakens- berg who estimated the greatness of Moshesh at a high value and regarded this approach of his son as the thin end of Basuto expansion. But in any case it definitely sufficed to deter Jan Letelle from planting himself in juxtaposition to one of the cubs of the lion of Basuto- land and was the secondary cause of his remaining as a festering sore on the sensitive boundary line. Political changes then occurred in the Orange PVee State. Early in 1859 President Boshoff", worn out with the cares of office, resigned in favour of Mr. E. R. Snyman who in January i860 met a deputation 282 The Basutos from Basutoland on the border to discuss matters relating to prevailing disorders. At that meeting Moshesh made a definite proposition, as an alternative to the abortive plan of Sir George Grey, viz. that Jan Letelle and his crew of ruffians should be handed over to him with their land. He undertook to keep them in order ; but, failing that course, he would not be responsible for peace and would have to trespass in the Free State in punishing law-breakers. As the proposal was rejected, robberies and reprisals continued freely. Then in February i860 the Presidentship of the Free State was in response to a largely signed requisition assumed by Marthinus Wessels Pretorius, at that time President of the Transvaal Republic. One of the first acts of Pretorius was to hold a Conference with the Basuto. It took place near Winburg on April 30, i860, when, after a carousal, peace was ratified anew and something akin to a mock Treaty entered into. Jn reporting the affair to the High Commissioner Pretorius claimed in pretentious language that he had surmounted the difficulties his predecessors had failed in, viz. in establishing peace on a more solid footing. The proceedings of the Conference as recorded at the time by an official witness were grotesque : the extracts given below tend to show what a hollow sham the whole thing was. Account of a Conference between the Presi- dent of the Orange Free State and the Chief Moshesh . . . On 29th April, His Honour M. W. Pretorius, attended by his suite, and Josiah, Great Councillor and Moshesh meets Pretorius 283 Premier of Moshesh, arrived from the S.A. Republic at . . . Wonderkop, the appointed place of meeting ; and immediately after His Honour's arrival he was waited upon by Paulus Moperi, brother of Moshesh, and David, Tsekelo and George, Moshesh's sons, to pay their respects and inform Mr. Pretorius that Moshesh had arrived . . . for the purpose of con- ferring with His Honour as requested by him. In the evening Divine Service was held at Mr. Senekal's, in which the Chiefs and their attendants took part with the Boers. On the evening of the 30th Josiah informed the President that Moshesh desired that he would select three of his sons as hostages, to be kept in the President's Camp, and requested that Messrs. Howell, Senekal and Schoeman might be sent in exchange to Moshesh. This was agreed to. Mr. Pretorius was further informed that on his arrival near Wonderkop Moshesh would advance and meet him. At 10 o'clock a.m. Mr. Pretorius, attended by about twenty burghers (he having declined to allow a larger number to be present), and the hostages left for Wonderkop. At noon, near Wonderkop, Mr. Cornelius du Ploy, and one of Moshesh's sons met Mr. Pretorius and informed him that Moshesh was on the move, and that hostages would be dispensed with. Upon this Mr. Pretorius gave orders that the hostages on the part of Moshesh be allowed to return to the Basuto army. A party of 70 mounted Basutos then made their 284 The Basutos appearance, advanced, and drew up in a line at about 250 yards distance. Messengers then arrived to announce that Moshesh was coming. . . . Moshesh and two of his principal men . . . then came on, and the President and Landdrost proceeded to meet him. On meeting Mr. Pretorius, the old King dismounted, and shook hands very warmly, Moshesh saying that he was glad to meet Pretorius again. The Chiefs then proceeded to the appointed spot, and, sitting down, were immediately surrounded by the 70 Basutos before mentioned, but all unarmed. After an exchange of the usual greetings, it was agreed upon that the President's escort should also come up. . . . The Great Chief then got upon his legs and made an oration of three hours' continuance, in which he gave the history of the Basuto country and the Boer emigration. After concluding, he was followed by several of his Chiefs in the same strain. Mr. Pretorius then rose and said : — Great Chief, Father Moshesh, and Chiefs of the Basuto nation ! You have brought with you a white flag, so have I. These flags are emblematic of peace. I have come to establish a peace, not a hollow peace, but a sub- stantial and everlasting peace. I have come to place you Moshesh, Captains and people of the Basuto nation, in my arms, and there you shall all rest in security, lovingly (clapping of hands on the part of Moshesh and people). But I must have security and peace for my people also. Therefore, if you will have peace, you Moshesh and your Captains must assist The Conference 285 in maintaining it between our nations, and that can only be done by your assisting me to put down thieves. (Moshesh and Chiefs : " We will, — they must be put down.") Remember what you were not many years ago, a poor, helpless tribe : who made you what you are now ? (Moshesh and Chiefs : "The Boers, they lifted us up from the ground.") Who gave you food when you were starving ? (Moshesh and Chiefs : "The Boers.") . . . Well then, I have now come again to lift you up from the ground upon which you are now lying morally prostrate, by reason of your thieving and encroachments on the white man's land. My object in coming here, is to restore your character as a nation of Basutos, to take away from you the reproach of being a nation of thieves. To effect this, you Moshesh and Captains must help me, and that honestly. We must establish authorities, police and laws, to put down theft and aggression. Moshesh : " It was my intention to offer you a police, and I shall assist you to the utmost. Peace therefore is ratified." The old Chief then with his own hands planted the flag saying : " Let this be a remembrance to all, White and Black, that peace is now for ever more." Moshesh and his Captains said that their earnest desire was to live in peace with the Boers. It was then arranged that the Chiefs and their Councillors should meet the next morning 10 ratify the peace, and come to a proper understanding by treaty. • • • The next morning the President and Moshesh, attended by their respective Councils, again met. . . . 286 The Basutos Mr. Pretorius and his Raad . . . assisted to draw up the treaty in English and Dutch . . . and a treaty to the following effect was agreed upon : — Peace between the Free State and the Basuto Country is hereby ratified and guaranteed by the Chiefs in the name of their people. A court consisting of a Resident and two members appointed by the President and the same number appointed by Moshesh shall constitute a Court for the punishment of thefts and settlement of all disputes between the Whites and the Blacks. The decision of this Court to be final. The laws for the punish- ment of theft to be agreed upon between the President and Moshesh. Moshesh to provide ten policemen to assist the Court at the Residency and 200 police at different points to be in readiness when called upon. The Residency shall be at the old Mission Station Merumetsu, and shall be named Ga Bokhotso, The ^Mother of Peace. The Laws shall be equal to all. A further agreement was entered into, to the effect that the owners of the abandoned farms return to their homesteads, Moshesh guaranteeing their safety and protection. Moshesh agreed that the cases of theft since the truce between the Free State and the Basutos be referred to the Resident's Court for decision. . . . The treaty then having been read was solemnly signed by Moshesh, the President, and their Coun- cillors. The party then retired to partake of a dejeuner, during which several toasts were drunk, An Abortive Agreement 287 Moshesh proposing " alle oude questies tot niet," to which Mr. Pretorius replied : " Old Father Moshesh, that won't do. Everlasting friendship, if you like, from henceforth, but all the old questions we can't settle in this way " — a retort which the old Chief enjoyed exceedingly. Other toasts were then drunk, and songs sung by Moshesh's sons to the tunes of " God save the Queen " and " Sweet Home." Moshesh passed the night in Mr. Pretorius's tent, and the next morning he and Mr. Pretorius reviewed a portion of the Basuto Army, numbering about 6,000 cavalry. . . . Moshesh danced like mad, and thus the Conference broke up. There was nothing genuine in the asseverations of either party, whose meeting on this occasion did more harm than good ; nothing whatever was done to carry out the terms of the agreement in respect of the Resident's Court or police force and the whole ar- rangement collapsed under general ridicule. The Chief promised at the Conference to remove a location of Bushmen who were continually marauding in the vicinity of Vechtkop but neglected to do so, with the result that a party of them one day attacked the house of a farmer named Hever, brutally maltreated a woman and killed a child. Exaggerated reports connecting the Basuto with the crime caused intense alarm as it was said that Poshudi had incited and aided the culprits. Consequently the burghers flew into laager and several hundred took the field under Pretorius who immediately followed up the Bushmen, killing all that were to be found in the neighbourhood. Moshesh 288 The Basutos also sent his son Letsie to pursue a band who had fled to Poshudi for protection ; these were hunted down and the whole rascally clan nearly exterminated. For the next twelve months nothing exciting occurred. According to reports of the time, the Basuto ignored the northern boundary laid down by Sir George Grey in 1858 and encroached upon the farms in Winburg District with impunity. The President was irritated, complaining again and again, but was content to meet Moshesh occasionally to patch up individual disputes and adjust the line where it was possible to do so for mutual advantage. In the interval Nehemiah came into serious collision with the Pondomise Chief Umbali in Kaffraria. Moshesh was not altogether displeased at the oppor- tunity of interfering upon the excuse of going to the rescue of his son who had been roughly handled and forced back. He always feared that in time to come he would have to recoil before the Boers over the Treaty line of 1858, and cherished the hope of gaining a hinterland below and east of the Drakensberg which was but sparsely populated by the Kaffrarian tribes, and where he claimed to enjoy a cession of territory from Faku, chief of the Pondos ; but he was nervous of taking effective measures in that direction lest he should come under censure of the High Commissioner who exercised a shadowy protectorate there. As a feeler, however, he approved the proposal of his fighting son Masupha to go with an impi to Nehemiah's assistance. Against the wish of Letsie, the eldest son, Masupha accompanied by Poshudi proceeded across the mountain on a roving expedition which proved rather disastrous. SEKUNYANE XEHEMIAH, SON OF MOSHESH. p. 28 Frontier Excitement 289 He found Nehemiah in retreat and himself fell into an ambuscade laid for him by the Pondomise and being weak in numbers and pressed for food returned home ignominiously without booty or honour. A galling sensation was caused in September 1861 by rumours of insults offered to Mr. Van Zoelen, Landdrost of Bloemfontein, when on a mission from the President to Thaba Bosigo to adjust if possible, yet without personal knowledge of the facts, certain dis- putes regarding the line in Winburg District where no proper beacons had ever been erected. It was publicly stated and believed at Bloemfontein that Van Zoelen had been threatened and ejected by Moshesh who was alleged to have openly declared that his meetings and treaties with President Pretorius amounted to nothing more than the interchange of gossip ; that he had never acknowledged any boundaries and would never do so. The reports were denied by Mr. Orpen who frequently intervened to try and give the true complexion of these distorted affairs. But the public mind of the Free State was so possessed of its truth that it despaired of ever being able to regulate matters without another war against the Basuto, whose defiance and violation of promises were held to be unbearable. Early in January 1862, Mr. Austen on his way back to Herschel after a visit to Moshesh observed unusual movement of armed men as if on the war-path and discovered that Poshudi was in the field with a strong force near Vechtkop bent on exacting vengeance on account of thefts and the murder of one of his principal men by the retainers of Jan Letelle. That chieftain got scent of the expedition and fled ; but many of his vol. 1 19 290 The Basutos people awaited the attack which was delivered with swiftness and the usual ferocity ; kralls were burned, cattle swept off and several men killed. Moshesh was aware of the raid and enjoined upon its leaders the necessity of being careful to limit their attentions to Jan Letelle only. In the scuffle, however, amongst other things 600 sheep belonging to a farmer named Aldum were captured and driven off. Extravagant rumours at once spread through the Free State ; the farmers formed laagers and the Presi- dent hurriedly raising a burgher commando concen- trated at Smithfield from whence he sent a vigorous letter demanding immediate reparation from the Basuto, who in turn became excited and the whole country was convulsed. There were bellicose people on both sides favourable to blows ; the locality was a hot-bed of bad characters, white and black, always ready to receive and dispose of stolen property or to foment disturbance. The incident might easily have ripened into an open rupture but for the further good offices of Mr. Orpen at whose instiga- tion matters were suspended until he could ascertain more of the facts and interview Moshesh over whom he had a commanding influence. With his usual promptness he proceeded to Thaba Bosigo and calmed the natives. By his advice Moshesh sent his son Tsekelo as a hostage to Pretorius suggesting that restraint be placed upon Letelle and an inquiry set on foot. Pretorius agreed and the excitement subsided ; a Commission appointed to investigate the affair came to the conclusion that the entire blame rested upon the Free State protege Letelle whose removal was strongly The Causes of Alarm 291 urged. The President therefore informed Moshesh that he would not go to war for the sake of that chieftain, upon whose side he found too much filth. " I will not," he wrote, " pick an assegai out of the dung to throw at you." The sheep and other property of Mr. Aldum inadvertently taken in the melee were returned with compensation and the matter ended, though it all showed how ready the country was to be plunged into war by any alarm, real or artificial. Mr. Burnet, the Civil Commissioner of Aliwal North, deputed to make political reports to the British Government, put the dangerous aspect of affairs like this very clearly in his letter to the High Commissioner of 13th January, 1862 (extract) : — " . . . The whole affair appears to have been a plundering foray with no intention of bloodshed. " In this way, however, a war may commence at any moment. It is only wonderful that Jan Letelle, being an ally of the Free State ever since the war of 1858, — living under Boer protection on the border, continually plundering his own countrymen, without any sort of supervision being exercised over him by his present patrons, — but on the contrary being encouraged to steal all he possibly could lay hands upon from the Basutos, as well as from the Boers, by a set of bad white men, traders and others, who purchase all he can steal and send it off", all these things considered, it is really surprising that some of the powerful Basuto Chiefs have not long ago combined and annihilated him ! 292 The Basutos " He is allowed by the Free State Government to get as much ammunition as he can purchase, and no notice is taken of it. " The only way in which it is at all possible to explain this egregious folly, which is certain at no very distant day to lead to the most calamitous results, is that the border Boers find it much cheaper and more convenient to get Jan Letelle to go in and steal horses, for which they pay him very low prices, than to go into Basutoland themselves, in terms of the treaty, and try to find what they pretend to have lost. This course of conduct warrants Poshudi and others in making such reprisals as the present upon Letelle, following them up far within the Free State territory. These Boers fear the exposure of this most iniquitous system, and cry aloud, ' If Letelle be moved from this frontier, we must all trek and abandon our farms.' " Whereas so long as this vagabond is upon this border, there will be no end of disturbances and mis- understandings with the Basutos. " (Signed) John Burnet." At that date Sir George Grey, whose capricious recall though temporary caused much inconvenience and irritation, finally renounced the office of High Commissioner, to be succeeded by Sir Philip Wode- house. This change marks an epoch in the story of Basutoland and serves for the purpose of a brief retrospect of the preceding stormy years. History had made itself fast. The Basuto had formed the acquaintance of and alternately come into contact with a strange variety of Governors, Presidents A Retrospect 293 and other high personages. Naturally strong in diplo- macy, the experience gave them a higher education in that art which nevertheless failed them as it failed their adversaries when associated with too much subter- fuge on the one side or with too much bluff on the other. They had good reason as a nation for feeling at intervals the intoxication of their success ; but that feeling if enjoyed by the people as a whole did not exert the same influence over the mind of Moshesh ; he was growing old and anxious as the years crept on, for his sons though able enough individually were ambitious and divided amongst themselves. The knowledge of that inspired him more and more to crave for the extension over his country of some kind and fatherly control such as the great Queen of England could grant if it could only be done without too much " ruling." It was true that the Free State had been demoralized by failure ; but the white population, including many English settlers, was fast increasing, and Moshesh knew better than any that an hour of reaction would set in when, unless pro- tected, he must succumb to the superior forces of civilization. Indications of his failing powers are to be found in several contemporary records. The Wesleyan missionary Mr. Daniell, a warm friend of the Basuto, wrote in 1861 that the infatuation of Moshesh was leading to his own destruction ; that he had grasped land in violation of treaties the obligations of which he could not appreciate ; and that the only thing to save the country was by making it a British Protec- torate. This opinion was fortified by that of Mr. 294 The Basutos Mabille, one of the most eminent of the French Protestants, who added that the missionaries were weary of the old Chief and anxious to be rid of him. Mr. Burnet, whose cordial admiration of the Chief for many years was conspicuous, in a letter of July 29, 1 86 1 , to the High Commissioner for the first time expressed a changed opinion. He said : — "... Moshesh has not the slightest confidence in anybody, British, Colonial, Free State or Basuto, save only in himself. ' I am Basutoland.' In spite of all my friend Orpen's bolstering up, Moshesh will never be anything but a great humbug, an old liar and deceiver, without one particle of truth, faith, honesty or sincerity. Major Warden's words are true : ' You cannot trust Moshesh.' " It was a very hard character to give the old Chief; but it seemed to represent the estimate formed of him by nearly all who tested him long enough. Yet it must be remembered that he had to deal with keen adversaries and to feel his way at every turn round their devices : nor could he forget that he had often been duped by pledges given in the best of faith by British officers who, when called away, left them to be fulfilled, or not, by others. Wariness and deception are freely quoted against him ; but, little reckoning is taken of his innumerable acts of good faith. Age however did not obscure from his mind the true drift of affairs, pointing as it did to the stern necessity of placing Basutoland in safe hands if possible. The visit of His Royal Highness the Duke of Edin- Proposal for a British Agent 295 burgh to South Africa gave him a chance to lead the way in August i860. On that occasion, though shaky in health, he travelled to Aliwal North, distant there and back about 300 miles, in great state to meet the Prince to whom he poured forth his loyalty in copious showers and handed a letter for presentation to the Queen praying to be restored to the same position as he formerly held as one of Her Majesty's subjects. The meaning of that appeal was not lost upon the ever sincere Sir George Grey who at a later date wrote to the Secretary of State (now the Duke of Newcastle) recommending the delegation of a Special Aerent to ascertain the true sentiments and wishes of the Basuto. He wrote at the same time to Moshesh as follows : — Letter from High Commissioner to Chief Moshesh " Cape Town, \n,th August, 1861. " Great Chief Moshesh, " Before quitting the Colony I think it right as an old friend of yours to write to you, wishing you goodbye. I hope happiness and prosperity and good order may be the lot of yourself and of your people, and that you may continue to preserve peace as a most inestimable treasure. ... I am sorry that no complete settlement has yet been come to of your relations with the British Government, which you would regard as altogether satisfactory to me before leaving the Colony. I have written to the Home Government to know if they would approve of an Agent being sent especially to inquire into your wishes, who, when he had fully 296 The Basutos ascertained these, could with you reduce them to writing in such form that they could be clearly under- stood. My successor will write further to you on this subject. In the meantime I wish yourself and your children farewell. Goodbye. From your friend, " (Signed) G. Grey." To the proposal to send an Agent for the purpose named Her Majesty's Government assented in a despatch of 17th October, 1861 ; but it was not immediately acted upon owing to the interregnum caused by the unfortunate displacement of the Governor. Subsequently Moshesh returned to the subject when addressing a letter of welcome and petition to await the arrival of the new High Commissioner Sir Philip Wodehouse. The essential points in his petition are contained in the following extracts from a long letter relating the history of past years and the grievances of his countrymen : — From the Chief Moshesh to High Commissioner Sir Philip Wodehouse " Thaba Bosigo, 6th December 1861. " . . . Therefore I now ask to be recognized as the Queen's subject, and that my subjects, the Basutos, may, on account of and through my chieftainship, be Her subjects too. I ask this of Her generosity, for we have nothing to offer in exchange but our gratitude and fidelity ; though, if it were asked or necessary, every Basuto would willingly offer his life in Her service. . . . Moshesh to Sir Philip Wodehouse 297 " I am not perhaps altogether unable to defend my own country, but this I am unable to do — to keep from it the constant expectation of being attacked ; this does my people no good. Such security Govern- ment alone can give me. It is, therefore, that I ask to be received, that my people may never again be disturbed with thoughts of war, and may build and cultivate, and grow in civilization. " If it should please Her Majesty to appoint an agent to reside with me and communicate with me, and be Her ears and eyes, (such an appointment as Sir George Clerk recommended, and Sir George Grey also spoke of,) I would receive him with gladness. It is an arrangement provided even in my original treaty, and had it been carried out much mischief might have been prevented. . . . " If I should be received I would wish that the land of the Basuto should continue to be recognized as mine, as it remains at present, for other tribes dispute it with me. . . . " In one part my country extends beyond the Quathlamba. It is where my son Nehemiah is established. The boundaries of this part as they have been agreed upon with the surrounding native tribes, I cannot to-day exactly describe, but I will shortly point them out to your Excellency in a letter. . . . " I do not anticipate that the inhabitants of the Free State will have any objection to make against my being received, for the thing I ask is a security for peace between us, and those who desire war and cause it are in all lands few, and those who suffer by it many. Besides, the document they have received from the 298 The Basutos Queen giving them the right to govern themselves, gives them no right whatever to object either to my being received or to my receiving ammunition. No such promise was ever made to them or implied, and even if it were, my alliance is older than their in- dependence, f 'X " Mark X of Moshesh. ( Seal. J " I, the Chief of the Basutos, have confirmed this." It is almost unreasonable to expect material changes for betterment to have come over the Basuto country or people during a period of stress when all thoughts were centred upon war and its possibilities. The nation had been latterly standing at military attention ready to present arms at an instant word of command. The most fertile source of agitation arose from the ever present boundary dispute, often springing from causes other than contempt of treaty delimitations. As previously stated, some of the boundary points were notoriously ambiguous ; roads used for demarcation in any one year might disappear or become worn out and deserted in the next ; hills and spruits changed names according to the whims of local authorities until their original identity was lost ; and occasionally mutual adjustments were made without being officially re- corded. Yet withal, organic changes were taking place almost unperceived. Continual intercourse with civilized people experienced by those natives, an increasing quantity, who went out to work ; intercourse with enlightened visitors, even that occasioned by war and GIRLS AT HEATHEN SCHOOL. p. 298] Tribal Changes 299 the conferences attending it — each produced its effect in cultivating intelligence and general knowledge. But above all the French missionaries, unaffected by dis- appointments and the devastation of their settlements, had pursued faithfully the aim to which they had devoted themselves, namely, that of educating and elevating the race to a higher standard of life. The result, small as it might appear, was perceptible in the reformed habits of such as embraced Christianity who set an example of conduct and decency which found many disciples. European clothing, implements and other manufactured goods came into general use through the agency of traders established near the villages of all important chiefs. Though many of the wilder spirits could not shake off the habits of brigand- age, the majority of the Basuto, in spite of the common allegation that they revelled in war, disliked it then as they have always done, for they were not a pug- nacious people. In the midst of his many perplexities, Moshesh had not been entirely unmindful of his duties to promote improvements in tribal conditions. Thus we find that of his own accord, though stimulated probably by his missionaries, he issued soon after the abandon- ment of the Sovereignty, before new laws were enacted to replace those in operation under the British regime, what was termed an " Ordinance " intended to check the liquor traffic. It did not entirely effect the object desired because the number of blackguards infesting the border who lived on the spoils of that traffic was too large for him to contend with ; but it reveals his sentiments on the subject which acquired 300 The Basutos emphasis from the fact that he obstinately refused to drink brandy himself. This curious document is doubly interesting on account of its odd phraseology : — Ordinance against the Introduction and Sale of Spirituous Liquors in the Territory of the Basutos (l Whereas the spirituous liquors of the whites were unknown to former generations of our tribe, Matie, and Motlomi until Bomonageng, — and our father Mokhachane, now very advanced in age, has never used any other drink than water and milk ; and whereas we deem that a good Chief and Judge cannot claim to be competent to execute his duties, if he make use of anything of an intoxicating nature ; and whereas spirituous liquors create quarrelling and strife, and pave the way to the destruction of society (for surely the spirituous liquors of the whites are nothing else than fire) : " It is therefore hereby made known to all, that the introduction and sale of said spirituous liquor within Basutoland is henceforth prohibited, and provided any person, whether white or coloured, contravene this order, the spirits shall be taken from him and poured out on the ground, without excuse or indemnification. " And this order shall be printed in the Sesuto and Dutch languages, and posted up at the places of public meetings, and in the villages of the Basuto. " Given with the advice and concurrence of the great men of our Tribe, by us the Chief of the Basutos, at Thaba Bosigo, the 8th of November, 1854. " (Signed) Moshesh, Chief." Moshesh on Witchcraft 3 QI Again, as regards witchcraft and sorcery, to which Moshesh in common with the great mass was supposed to be firmly wedded. It is related that in a fit of humour he once ordered a trusty attendant secretly to conceal a weapon he was particularly partial to and then sent a herald first to proclaim the loss, then to call upon the great Medicine men to " throw the bones" and divine the thief. They set to work in earnest, and as was customary, named or " smelt out " as the thieves certain individuals inimical either to the craft or to the Chief. He then informed them that he had designedly hidden the weapon in order that he might prove the mockery of their profession. The story is easy of credit, for as will be seen from another quaint proclamation, he forbade the practice of witchcraft under severe penalties : — Proclamation bv Moshesh "Thaba Bosigo, 27th August, 1855. "The word of Moshesh on witchcraft. — I am Moshesh, I write to my people and say to them : you remember that formerly when any one resorted to the witch, the public heard of it, that it was well known before anything was done, and that one would go far to consult the wizard, even to Zululand. " But at the present day witches abound among the Basutos, and it is our people, sitting quietly, see one come unexpectedly to announce that some man has been killed on the word of the witch, and sometimes also that many have been killed, though the public be ignorant of the time and cause for having resorted to the enchanter. These wizards are wild dreamers, they 302 The Basutos ought to be brought together, and one propose them this hard question as a text : The lung sickness, where does it come from, destroying flocks everywhere throughout our land ? Where has it originated ? When shall it end, and what time, that plague which covers the whole earth ? that would be a question worth putting to witches. Instead of this, they are only told of a man that is ill, and upon this some one is killed. It is generally known that these men are mere dreamers of fantastic imaginations. . . . " At Mokhachane's, people do not resort to the witch, neither at Moshesh's, nor at Letsie's, nor Poshudi's, Mogalie, Ramanela, Molapo, Masupha or Moperi. But in the smaller towns, people go to the witch constantly, making of this custom a sort of gametrap (profitable trade) ; let that trap ensnare them, and no one will have pity on them. " However the people must be told of it first, that they may know of it beforehand ; they have heard of Mpatsi, how he has lately killed Ramothibila. 1 No one is to suppose, that though a rare thing sentence of death is not passed among us when a man kills another (and who knows but Mpatsi was insane ?). Now, when any one is killed in a case of witchcraft, the murderer will be most severely judged and sen- tenced to death. This word is for public information, and will stand as law, and is assented to by Letsie, by all my brothers, and by all men in the tribe, who spit on the lie of witchcraft, and cover its face with their spittle. " Mark X of Moshesh, Chief of the Basutos." 1 Ramothibila was killed, on the word of the witch, and the murderer Mpatsi sentenced to death by the chief Letsie. Moshesh's Legislation 303 The question of higher education also was not allowed to slumber. Under warm encouragement and the promise of financial support from Sir George Grey in the name of H.M. Government, the foundations of the establishment, under supervision of the French missionaries, of a Normal School for the preparation of native teachers were laid. Religious and moral training were to be the basis of instruction ; but it was to be associated with the rudimental teaching of such useful trades and handicrafts as were likely to advance the natives towards civilization. As a con- tribution towards this effort, the Chief, in a document subscribed to by himself and his heir, allocated a substantial area within which the missionaries were to have absolute control and liberty to conduct their operations. But probably the most important act of the Chief was to proclaim a law under which traders might obtain sites for their shops within Basutoland. In that docu- ment he laid it down most clearly that land allotted to white people in Basutoland for trading or other purposes was not to be construed as property granted on title or to be sold from one to another. In this enactment, crude as it was, underlay the future system of land tenure by foreigners ; from it there has never since been any variation. It had the effect of making the Paramount Chief the Trustee of the whole country and prohibiting all chiefs from ceding permanently on any terms the land of their inheritance owned in community. No provision could have been wiser ; it was the means of saving an infinity of trouble for generations to follow. 3°4 The Basutos The Law for Trade "Bethesda, 6th September, 1859. " I, Moshesh, write for any trader, whoever he may be, already in my land, and for any who may come to trade with the Basutos ; my word is this : " Trade to me and my Tribe is a good thing ; I wish to promote it. " Any trader who wishes to establish a shop, must first obtain permission from me. Should he build a house, I grant him no right to sell it. Further, I do not grant him liberty to plough the fields, but only to plant a small vegetable garden. The trader who fancies that the place he is sojourning in belongs to him, must dismiss the thought ; if not, he is to quit ; for there is no place belonging to the whites in my land, and I have granted no white man a place, either by word, or by writing. Further, any trader who leaves a debt there from whence he comes, and he who contracts any whilst in my land, any such debt, if brought to me, I will inquire into, in our Court of Justice, that I may settle it ; and the debt will be paid up in the manner the Basutos pay their debts. But the suer is to appear before me, and the debtor likewise, that justice may be done. . . . " Mark X of Moshesh, Chief of the Basutos." While therefore Moshesh had his share of faults consisting chiefly of the cunning order that baffled friend and foe alike, and savoured so much of insin- cerity — a palpable feature in his character — it cannot be denied that his reign thus far was characterized by statesmanship and by repugnance to acts of barbarism Sir George Grey Retires 305 from which he manfully strove to restrain a nation still prone to outbursts of fury. Furthermore, his three acts of primitive legislation erecting barriers against liquor- drinking, witchcraft and land alienation are outstanding tributes to the forethought and wisdom he displayed. We have here to take leave of Sir George Grey who, after an association but slightly broken of eight years with his friends the Basuto and other tribes whom he befriended, was in 1862 to bid farewell to them and to South Africa. Throughout his South African experience he could never divorce from his mind that his predecessors had, with the sanction of Her Majesty's Government, entered upon various Treaties with the Native States, and that, however lightly we may have shuffled out of them, they left obligations which no right-minded representative of the Queen dare forget or ignore. It is impossible to trace in any letter or despatch bearing his name, thoughts that were not lofty or proposals not in the main sound. That occasionally his suggestions were held to be unsound was due more to the fact that at times they involved expense or inconvenience which those above him were reluctant to face. It is recorded that at one critical period of his career at the Cape he was compelled by the culpable negligence of Downing Street to adopt the unprecedented course of advancing £6,000 of his private income to carry on the Government of British Kaffraria. 1 As observed in a previous chapter, Sir George Grey gave public utterance to the opinion that the future peace and prosperity of South Africa depended upon the federa- 1 "Life and Times of Sir George Grey," by W. L. Rees. VOL. 1 20 306 The Basutos tion of the different Colonies, including the Native States if they wished it, upon all of whom should devolve a large measure of self-government. He went so far as to place this view before the Cape Houses of Parliament in a minute containing the following sentence : — " You would, in my belief, confer a lasting benefit upon Great Britain and upon the inhabitants of this country if you could succeed in devising a form of federal union, under which the several provinces com- posing it should have full and free scope of action left to them, through their own local governments and legislatures, upon all subjects relating to their in- dividual prosperity or happiness ; whilst they should act under a general federal government in relation to all points which concern the general safety or weal." These words, delivered without previously consulting Her Majesty's Government, gave offence at the Colonial Office in London, then in the hands of Sir E. B. Lytton and Lord Carnarvon who charged the Governor with unconstitutional behaviour and, upon this flimsy pre- text, in a long despatch of June 4, 1859, reviewing his whole administration, called upon him to surrender his government and return to England. In the course of this communication the Secretary of State said : — " I acknowledge the large and comprehensive nature of your views, the mixture of firmness and benevolence which has ^characterized your dealing with the native races, the sagacity with which you have foreseen and averted probable collisions, and the able policy by which you have availed yourself of unexpected and Sir George Grey on his Defence 307 strange events in their history, so as to use them at once for their advantage and for the security of the Colony. I am very conscious of the serious nature of the steps taken by Her Majesty's Government when they deprive themselves of the services of one so highly endowed as yourself ; but I am also satisfied that no other alternative is left them. They could not safely continue to entrust with your present functions one committed, as you have committed yourself, to a policy of which they disapprove on a subject of first im- portance ; nor could they expect from you the necessary assistance when steps, which you have taken without that authority, have of necessity to be retracted." Sir George Grey did not require to defend himself. He remonstrated in a dignified manner ; but it was only necessary for him to make a few plain statements. He reminded the Secretary of State that the problems he had had to combat were the inevitable consequence of Her Majesty's Government resolving hurriedly to rid itself of costly and troublesome possessions in the Sovereignty without taking due precautions to leave behind it any established form of government. Was a man, he asked, who assumed responsibility on a distant and exposed frontier surrounded by difficulties, with invasions of H.M. territories threatening on several points, to be fairly judged in respect of the urgency of that responsibility by those who in the quiet of distant offices in London know nothing of the anxieties or nature of the difficulties he had to en- counter ? " If," he added, " Her Majesty's possessions and subjects are saved from threatening dangers, and 308 The Basutos they gratefully acknowledge this, whilst the Empire receives no hurt, is it a fitting return that the only reward he should receive should be the highest punish- ment which it is in the power of Her Majesty's Ministers to inflict ? This may be the reward they bestow : but the true one of the consciousness of dim- cult duties performed to the best of his ability, with great personal sacrifice, they cannot take from him. . . . " With regard to any necessity which might exist for my removal on the ground of not holding the same views upon essential points of policy as Her Majesty's Government hold, I can only make the general remark that during the five years which have elapsed since I was appointed to my present office there have been at least seven Secretaries of State for the Colonial Depart- ment, each of whom held different views upon some important points of policy connected with this country." Sir George Grey returned to England to find Sir E. B. Lytton and Lord Carnarvon replaced at the Colonial Office by the Duke of Newcastle who almost angrily reversed their policy. He had in fact en- deavoured to intercept the recalled Governor on his way home with the news that his recall was cancelled and that it was the urgent desire of Her Majesty's Government that he should resume at once his duties at the Cape, in his performance of which the fullest confidence was reposed. He did so ; but the sting of the treatment he had received never left him. His work lived after him, and lives, in the monumental form of Hospitals, Libraries, Schools established by him, and affection graven in the memory of South Africa. Photo by Alexander Bassano, 25 Old Bond Street. SIR PHILIP WODEHOUSE. p. 308] CHAPTER XVII Sir Philip Wodehouse succeeds Sir George Grey: makes proposals, which are approved, for placing Agent in Basutoland but they are not acted upon: sends Conr mission to ascertain feelings of Basuto: is implored to adjust boundaries: is hampered by Imperial policy, hesitates, agrees, withdraws and finally does so : its value discounted by indiscreet statements: his award is in favour of Free State which strengthens it but dis' appoints Basuto : prospect dark 1862—1864 SIR PHILIP WODEHOUSE no sooner landed in Cape Town on January 12, 1862, than he set to work upon the northern problem which his predecessor had struggled so hard to solve. Whether upon his own initiative or upon instructions from England he started off with the new policy of associating the Cape Colonial Government closely with the general administration of all those South African affairs pertaining to the High Commissioner, claiming not only their assistance in the conduct of business that must be of deep interest to themselves but the aid of their finance if needs be. In a minute to that government of January 23rd he dealt with the petition by Moshesh, referred to in the previous chapter, for British protection, point- 309 310 The Basutos ing out the serious consequences of assent, viz. the responsibility involved in undertaking the adminis- tration of Basutoland and the control of its relations with other States ; if those relations became strained, British intervention with all its risks and cost must follow ; therefore it was necessary to proceed with the utmost circumspection and not to comply with the Basuto application without positive assurance that any conditions imposed would be fully observed. He then introduced himself by letter to Moshesh and President Pretorius. He informed Moshesh that the Queen had approved a Commission being sent to ascertain the views and wishes of the Basuto respecting the present and future position ; for that purpose Messrs. Burnet and Orpen had been selected ; but they would have no power to do more than submit a report. To Pretorius he wrote in terms of strong remon- strance and emphatic warning stating that, if war ensued with the Basuto on account of the unrestrained depredations of Jan Letelle, a chieftain domiciled within the Free State, he could only regard the neglect of the Free State to curb him as unfriendly to the Queen's Government who would feel at liberty to set aside existing Treaties and enter upon new arrangements for the preservation of order. At the same time he acquainted the President with the plans for despatch of a Commission to Moshesh. In reporting his action to the Secretary of State he felt bound to admit that the language of his urgent remonstrance to the Free State was not endorsed by the Cape Ministry; he felt however unable to yield to their protest as it was necessary to claim in plain terms Policy of Sir Philip Wodehouse 311 the right of adopting protective measures which the misconduct of our neighbours forced upon us. President Pretorius, in a reply of February 17, did not conceal his ill-humour with this opening com- munication from the new High Commissioner. He regretted the threatening tone in which it was couched, attributing it to the animus of persons ill-disposed to the Free State who had not allowed the Governor to become acquainted with both sides of the question ; he justified the conduct of his government towards Letelle, who was less to blame than Poshudi, and in turn threatened the Governor that should an attempt be made to set aside the existing Convention, a direct appeal against such a course would be made to Her Majesty. Meanwhile, he protested against the conclusion of any arrangements with Moshesh unless approved by the Free State Government. This early correspondence caused an unfortunate breach in relations which never really mended ; it gave the impression that the Governor was indifferent to the sufferings of the farmers and prejudiced in favour of the natives. Messrs. John Burnet and Joseph Orpen, upon receiving their commissions together with written instructions for their guidance on the mission to Basutoland, proceeded there on the nth February 1862. Moshesh received them cordially ; having heard their instructions he begged to be supplied with a memorandum of the points for discussion and a few days' adjournment whilst the chiefs and people were summoned. As this meeting brought out clearly the true feelings of the Basuto in respect of the form of government they desired and served as a basis from which to frame the administrative 312 The Basutos Charter eventually granted to them, it is important to record the character of the proceedings. Memorandum by the Commissioners for the guidance and consideration of the Chief Moshesh, during the Conference to be held betiveen the Chief and Messrs. Burtiet and Orpen, appointed by the authority of His Excellency the Governor, dated 2&th January, 1862, for the purpose of ascer- taining the Chief's views and ivishes in respect of his present and future relations with the Colonial Government The Commissioners have no power or authority to treat with Moshesh in any way, — the object of their mission is simply to confer with the Chief, and to endeavour to ascertain distinctly his views and wishes on the above subject. The letters at different times addressed to the Government by Moshesh have not been sufficiently definite to enable the Government to arrive at any practical result from them. The Commissioners are therefore to point out the impossibility of any action being taken upon them unless Moshesh clearly and distinctly expresses his feelings, and opens his mind freely and without reservation. It is by no means clear from Moshesh's letter of the 6th December, 1861, which of the treaties or agree- ments recited therein is the one preferred by Moshesh, whether that made by him with Sir George Napier, Sir Peregrine Maitland or Sir Harry Smith. Should Moshesh be desirous of again placing him- self and his people under the sovereignty of the Queen and should her Majesty assent to such a proposition Moshesh's position would then be this : — Burnet>Orpen Mission 313 Neither he nor any of his subordinate Chiefs could thereafter be permitted to exercise unrestricted juris- diction, but they would be bound to act both within and beyond their own limits in strict conformity with such rules and regulations as would be from time to time promulgated for that purpose by Her Majesty's Government ; and the Basuto Chiefs and people would also be required to submit to the jurisdiction of European magistrates should it be found expedient to appoint such officers. His Excellency the Governor, without further informa- tion than he at present possesses, is not prepared to form a definite opinion upon the claim of Moshesh to the country occupied byNehemiah,southof the Drakensberg, as a part of his territory, or in any way to admit it. The Conference extended over several days and was of a most interesting description. Moshesh, after being patiently allowed to have translated all the old treaties and agreements, addressed his people as follows in the supposition that they were considering definite proposals for the British Government to take them over : — " You must now listen that you may know what I have done for you when I was young and strong ; how I have watched over your interests. Now I am old and about to become blind like an old goat. The treaties you have been listening to were only temporary arrangements, but now ... I am going to make arrangements which will last for ever." The Commissioners pointed out to the Chief that he had asked to be received by the Queen as a subject, 3 14 The Basutos one of the conditions of which was that Government should have the power of appointing magistrates, so that both he and other Chiefs must be under certain restrictions and be bound to conform to rules and regulations for the conduct of affairs. Those words made him nervous and fearful of imposing a Govern- ment upon his people which they were not prepared to accept or obey. He replied : — u If the Government send magistrates the Basutos will not understand. It will be like a stone that is too heavy for them to carry. What I desire is this : that the Queen should send a man to live with me, who will be her ear and eye, and also her hand to work with me in political matters. He will practise the Basutos and gradually teach them to hear magistrates, while he is helping me in political matters. He will show them how these things are done in Cape Colony. He should be a man who would be fully trusted by everybody, and he must know our ignorance and our ways. I fear to put my people under something which they cannot understand ; they are like little children who must first be taught the A B C." He went on to state in response to further questions what was really in his heart, viz. to gain British protec- tion without severe control. Even at that early period in their history the nation seemed to cling tenaciously to the desire for independence and home rule. " If," he said, " I obtain an Agent, I will be under the Queen as her subject, and my people will be her subjects also, but under me. I am like a man who has a house ; the man rules the house and all that is in Moshesh and the Commission 315 it, and the Government rules him. My ' house ' is Basutoland. So that the Queen rules my people only through me. The man whom I ask from the Queen to live with me will guide and direct me and communi- cate between me and the Government. I shall then consider myself to be under the Queen's authority. I shall be like a blind man, but when he directs me I shall be considered wise ; when the Agent and I agree as to what is right I shall carry it out and he will report it to the Government. I wish to govern my own people by native law, by our own laws ; but if the Queen wish after this to introduce other laws into my country, I would be willing ; but I should wish such laws to be submitted to the Council ot the Basutos ; and when they are accepted by my Council, I will send to the Queen and inform her that they have become law. . . . " I do not want anything further at present from the Government in relation to my being received as the Queen's subject, for, as I have already explained, I cannot fulfil the conditions attached by the Governor to my being received in the way I requested in my letter. My people are not ready for it. I said in my letter that if I were received by the Queen, nobody would ever think of attacking me, and I think if what I now ask were acceded to, the affairs of my country would become satisfactory to Government." These remarkable words uttered by a Kaffir Chief in the year 1862 are worthy of attention — not only as a true forecast of what happened in time to come but as affording an object-lesson in the art of self-government suitable to many parts of the Queen's dominions. 3 16 The Basutos The Commissioners in forwarding their Report ex- pressed the difficulty experienced in unravelling the mind of Moshesh who appeared mistrustful, fearing the mission had some deep design. Messrs. Burnet and Orpen iare entitled to gratitude for the patience displayed on this occasion whilst listening to days of desultory conversation. By such means only were they able to obtain in clear form a reflection of the feelings of the Basuto people — feelings which have animated them from that time until this present day as may be seen on reference to the petition presented to His Majesty the King in February 1909, relative to the position of Basutoland under Unified South Africa. The substance of the Report is contained in the following extract : — " The views and wishes of the Chief with regard to his relations with Her Majesty's Government, as clearly as they appear to the Commissioners to present themselves to his own mind, may be summed up as follows : — " Moshesh considers himself to have been from the commencement of his relationship with Government Her Majesty's subject, and that more especially so since the arrangements made by him with Sir Peregrine Maitland in 1 845 placed him under Her authority as a ' soldier.' " He does not and will not acknowledge that this connection has ever been severed, but he maintains that it has been strengthened by the subsequent arrangements with Sir Harry Smith in 1848. " He considers that the establishment by Her The Commission Report 317 Majesty's Government of an agency in his country, as desired by him, would confirm him as Her subject, and be the means of establishing and the medium of exercising Her authority over himself and his people under him. " While thus maintaining his right to be considered a British subject, he does not see any other mode of governing his people at present except by native law administered by himself (as a feudal chief). " The establishment of European magistrates he thinks could not at present be effected in his country, as his people are too ignorant to understand such a measure. " The establishment of an Agent to whom he would bind himself to listen on all important matters would, he considers, pave the way gradually for the introduc- tion of British magistrates and British law. " Moshesh would be willing to support the intro- duction of British laws by the Queen's Government, provided these were submitted to his council for approval. " Were a Government Agent appointed, and his own views of his relations as a British subject thus recog- nized, he would at once relinquish his right to inflict capital punishment without the sanction of Govern- ment, and also the right of making war without the Queen's consent. " Under such an arrangement Moshesh would con- sider himself entitled to acquire supplies of ammunition in such measure as Government might think the conduct of his people showed them to deserve. " As far as the Commissioners could incidentally ascertain, the most influential of Moshesh's sons and 3i 8 The Basutos chiefs, and the great majority of his people, coincide with him in these views and wishes. " (Signed) John Burnet ) T tv/t r\ r Commissioners. Joseph M. UrpenJ " Thaba Bosigo, " 22nd February, 1862." Sir Philip Wodehouse in a despatch of 1 9th April transmitting the Report and full minutes of the Commission to the Secretary of State strongly recom- mended the appointment of an Agent to be resident in Basutoland, if it were possible to obtain the services of a trustworthy and judicious person, with limited duties of an advisory character and instructions to furnish political information of value to Government : such an appointment would in his opinion operate powerfully for the preservation of peace and good order. The Secretary of State " entirely approved " of the proposal in a despatch of 5th June 1862. Yet, strange to say, though everything pointed to the wisdom of such a course and all parties were favourable to it, no steps whatever were taken to give effect to it. Thus, another great opportunity to avert disorders was neglected by the British authorities who were content to let misunderstandings grow until the fair land became a welter of bloodshed. Although these negotiations proved fruitless of any useful result as between the Basuto and the British Government, they were not without effect upon the minds and conduct of the parties in antagonism. Whilst the Free State felt irritated in consequence of what it deemed unnecessary Imperial interference cal- culated to weaken its resolve to insist upon observance A Free State Commission 319 of treaty rights in respect of boundaries, the Basuto felt encouraged to keep open their claim to territory by plaguing the border farmers with encroachments in the northern districts from Harrismith down to Me- kuatling. Many of the settlers failed through the unsettled state of affairs to occupy effectively farms to which they were entitled under Sir George Grey's award. This nervousness on their part was attributed to tear and the sight of unfilled land tempted the natives to cultivate and overrun it with cattle. To such an extent was this carried on that the boundary lines ceased to have any meaning and, in one of the encounters that naturally arose, a young Boer was killed in protecting his rights. Commandant Every in a patrol report stated that practically all the farms within i\ hours of the border were deserted and in possession of Basuto who destroyed everything thereon ; wherefore, the burghers refused to pay their taxes and the State was impoverished of revenue. These incidents induced the Volksraad in March 1862 to send a Commission headed by J. J. Venter to Thaba Bosigo with somewhat loose instructions to demand amongst other things reparation in the shape of a cession ot land as compensation for thefts, and the surrender of the men accused of the murder above mentioned. This badly represented Commission, according to Venter's Report, was treated with the utmost contempt ; they were kept dallying about some days before being received, and finally, it was alleged, Moshesh utilized the occasion to work off his spleen against the Free State as a whole, blaming the President and burghers alike for all the past troubles, and refusing 3 2 ° The Basutos to respect boundaries or to surrender the murderers to Courts where no justice was obtainable, but offering to console the relatives of the deceased with cattle if similar compensation was paid in return for numbers of Basuto who had been slaughtered. President Pretorius was indignant at this treatment of his envoys and, summoning his Volksraad, received instructions to proceed to Cape Town for the purpose of personally remonstrating with the High Commissioner whose recent attitude and correspondence was held to be as damaging to the Free State as it was emboldening to the Basuto. Sir Philip Wodehouse gave him a courteous reception, regretting to learn that so many farms on the border were untenable owing to aggressive encroachment from Basutoland. In response to urgent representations that he should appoint a Commission to determine the Winburg-Harrismith boundary he agreed to do so subject to an unqualified acceptance of the decision by both sides. In that sense he wrote to Moshesh on August 26 ; yet he unfortunately incurred the risks of delay, allowing months to pass without any attempt to follow up his promise. His own mind was apparently clear upon the subject, but he had the example of Sir George Grey's sacrifice and was without doubt enervated by the repeated warnings from England on no account to take any action likely to commit Her Majesty's Government. He was under that spell per- haps when on November 9 he wrote in a comforting way to the President saying he had received frequent reports of the proceedings of the Basuto " prophets " (a certain Mantsupha and others suffering from dreams and revelations from the spirits of ancestors), which Moshesh's Cannon 321 did not lead him to apprehend disturbances at present. A letter from the President to him two days earlier which crossed in the post stated : " In Winburg blood has been shed. The other day a Boer shot a Basuto, and the next day they murdered the farmer's son." So matters drifted on, varied by incidents that would be amusing if they had no dangerous side. For instance, on December 1, Letsie wrote to the President complaining of a troop of burghers who at midnight rushed a village on the slopes of Thaba Bosigo for the purpose of spiking his father's gun — the only one the Chief possessed. The party was piloted by Tsekelo, a renegade son of Moshesh ; it was an old brass ship cannon most dangerous to those who manned it. The attempt failed ; but it afforded the Basuto an opportunity to complain of such action in time of peace. Another matter showed the contempt of good relations. The Free State Government despairing of the delay in the boundary question wrote to Moshesh naming a date and place for a Commission to meet him and settle it. To this a reply was sent : " I am directed by the Chief Moshesh to inform you that he has duly received your letter. As regards the meeting of the Land Com- mission, he says the Basutos are very busy in their gardens and have no time to spare to do anything else for the moment." Then on January 14, 1863, President Pretorius reminded the High Commissioner in so many words that a lot of dirty water had run under the bridge since many months ago he had offered his services, and of the necessity of His Excellency taking some immediate steps to indicate the northern boundaries which had VOL. I 21 322 The Basutos been left obscure by his predecessors, who were alone to blame for present troubles. This letter instead of moving Sir Philip Wodehouse to redeem his promise caused him apparently to waver, for on February 3 he wrote circular letters to Bloemfontein and Basutoland intimating that he much preferred the idea of the responsible parties making an effort to settle their affairs mutually by friendly negotiation. Pretorius was so disturbed in mind by this kind of diplomatic vacillation that he threw up the Presidency in despair and returned to the Transvaal, leaving Mr. J. J. Venter to act in his place until a final election could be held. The acting President, who always managed to keep on amicable terms with the Basuto, deeming it his duty to make an effort to ameliorate conditions on the northern border, immediately repaired there to meet Makotoko, one of the most capable men in Basutoland, sent by Moshesh to verify beacons and calm if possible the alarm of the farmers. That meeting, though un- attended with any show or demonstration, was not without significance. Venter, after toiling hard for some days over the inhospitable country, gave up the beacon verification, admitting that the farmers who had been foremost in complaint had failed to come forward and assist him. " I am alone," he said, " an old man and grey-headed, and have come far, but the Boers do not come to help me ; when their stock is lost they easily recover it from Molapo in Basutoland with compensation, and that is the reason they don't come to see the line or want any change." Makotoko and his colleagues had other suspicions, \ By permission of the Illustrated London News, SIR JOHN BRAND, President of the Orange Free State, p. 322] President Brand 323 viz. that some of the early beacons had been " altered " to the disadvantage of many long-established Basuto villages and hence the origin of many altercations. But, if the meeting had no material result, it drew from the President a letter dated March 30, 1863, to Moshesh warmly acknowledging his kind reception and reciprocity of effort on this occasion. It is necessary to place that on record as a set-off to the many charges of contemptuousness against the Chief. Other abortive Commissions followed ; but the reports were unanimous that Moshesh when brought to close quarters would only agree to a line of boundary proposed by himself that would cut out about 250 Free State farms. On the 6th July, 7th August and 30th December 1863 the President renewed his solicitations to Sir Philip Wodehouse who replied at intervals that he was willing to act if all parties consented but took no effective steps to obtain that consent. Imperial policy was so hampering as to lead him to view with un- concern the deplorable trend of affairs, though occasion- ally he broke away, blaming his predecessors and Her Majesty's Government as in a letter of January 14, 1864, for guaranteeing the independence of the Orange River Territory without entering into complete defini- tion of its limits. The correspondence of the time discloses a studied neglect on the part of Her Majesty's Government to mend the errors and omissions of the past, and an unbecoming retreat from difficulties. In February 1864 we are introduced to a new factor in the situation, viz. Mr. John H. Brand, the courteous and accomplished President of the Orange Free State then elected to that office. For many years he presided 324 The Basutos over the destinies of that State with a combination of firmness and gentleness which won the admiration alike of his subjects and neighbours in South Africa. Mr. Brand at once realized the danger of drifting. The day after being sworn in he addressed a powerful letter, dated February 5, 1864, to Sir Philip Wode- house which stirred him a little to the recollection of his ancient promises. Recalling the Treaty of 1858 promoted by Sir George Grey, the uncompleted and obscure northern boundary with Basutoland, and the obligations due to South Africa from its High Com- missioner, he urged His Excellency to tackle the vexatious boundary question and remove the great cause of dissension, so far-reaching in its effects, by proceeding to the spot and acting with that authority to which, as coming from the representative of the Queen, all parties would assuredly bow. To Moshesh, Mr. Brand wrote in the same lofty though kind tone affirming his intention to uphold right and justice and inviting for investigation any reasonable complaints against past injustice towards Basutoland. Sir Philip Wodehouse replied in the stereotyped form, viz. that he was prepared to offer his services in extricating the parties from their painful and em- barrassing position if his mediation was distinctly accepted by both. The expression had worn itself threadbare. However, his good intentions advanced a stage, for he named a month hence as the date he would reach Aliwal North to commence operations. All concerned were so informed and made preparations. President Brand in reply on the 19th February stated that when announcing the glad tidings to his Volksraad Wodehouse meets Brand 325 a glow of satisfaction was to be seen on the countenance of each member. Moshesh, in accepting mediation, wrote with some irony to His Excellency : u Your letter is so full of good precepts that I should like to bring it under the notice of all my Chiefs." The Chief assented unconditionally in formal documents under his hand and seal, relying upon the strength of his rights and the Governor's sense of justice. Two months were taken up with a flaccid corre- spondence between the High Commissioner and President Brand as to the terms upon which the former would mediate. No sooner had he agreed to under- take it than a dread of the responsibility which might recoil upon the Imperial Government overcame him. Writing from Grahamstown on 26th February he dwelt upon the uselessness of a long journey unless his decision was to be considered final ; therefore he must feel sure in advance that he would be allowed to make such modifications of the strict description of the northern line as he might consider fair and reasonable. President Brand in his letter of March 8 th repeated the assurance that the Free State would be bound by the decision ; but, he stated, he was not empowered by his Volksraad to vary in principle from the Treaty line, which was binding upon all, except in so far as it was necessary to stabilitate it. Eventually the High Commissioner and President both reached Aliwal North. From camps one mile apart on either side of the Orange River a laboured exchange of letters took place between them on March 16. The Governor, not satisfied with the assurance offered him, expressed himself bound to 326 The Basutos withdraw from the transaction, leaving it to the two principal parties to adjust their own boundaries — a thing which it had been long manifest they were absolutely unable to do. The President, aghast at this unhappy impasse, pleaded for an interview : they met on March 17 but without arriving at any understanding. Sir Philip Wodehouse then signified his refusal to proceed further with the matter, his reason being that the Free State Volksraad was not prepared to grant him that authority and discretion which he held to be essential in determining what was just and reasonable. This fiasco at an end, Sir Philip Wodehouse rode to Thaba Bosigo a week later in order to explain to Moshesh the position of affairs and the reason of his withdrawal from the negotiations. It was lamentable that they should have broken down in this lame fashion for, in addition to the loss of valuable time, the Basuto were certain to interpret the misunderstanding as favourable to themselves and to presume upon it, as they did. The points at issue between Governor and President were not insuperable. The one demanded absolute discretion ; the other was agreeable to it provided a proclaimed Treaty was taken as a basis. The only real difficulty requiring solution turned upon the doubtful sphere of influence claimed by Moshesh after he struck and vanquished Sikonyela and Taaibosch. The Warden line skirted this sphere and both sides were in partial occupation of it. President Brand did not subside under this tem- porary reverse. He called his Volksraad together in special session to explain matters. That body there- upon passed a resolution in the following terms and Attitude of Volksraad 327 further invested him with power to remove any obstacle that would hinder its fulfilment. "Resolution : 5 May 1864 u . . . The Volksraad therefore, placing full reliance in the good cause of the Orange Free State and in the justice and impartiality of His Excellency the Governor, has after mature deliberation resolved again to call in the mediation of His Excellency, in virtue of Article 2 of the said Treaty, for the purpose of pointing out the boundary line and deciding the disputes at present existing in respect thereof, and to empower His Excel- lency to make such modifications in the strict descrip- tions of the line of Major Warden to the north of Jammerberg Drift, mentioned in Article 1 of the said Treaty of 1858, as His Excellency may consider just and reasonable and calculated to ensure the maintenance of peaceful relations, and that His Excellency's decision will be considered as final. . . ." This resolution was communicated to the High Commissioner in a letter of the 6th May (extract) : — President of Orange Free State to High Commissioner " . . . I sincerely hope and trust that Your Excel- lency will now be willing to proceed with the good work, which will be productive of lasting benefits. It is of great importance that the decision of this question should take place as soon as possible, since the natives are daily encroaching more and more on our territory, and our farmers, aware of the pending negotiation and 328 The Basutos desirous of avoiding everything that may in the mean- time lead to collision, have temporarily come further inward. Thefts are of daily occurrence, and it is not expedient or desirable to take stringent measures at this very moment. But as soon as the vexed question has been satisfactorily settled by Your Excellency's media- tion, we shall be able to inaugurate such measures as may tend to secure the peaceable enjoyment of their property by our frontier farmers. " (Signed) J. H. Brand, " President." Sir Philip Wodehouse in possession of this resolu- tion and request giving him the full powers he demanded had no alternative but to accept : he notified the parties to be ready five months hence and on the 6th October arrived at Jammerberg Drift on the Caledon River where had assembled a great concourse of people in- cluding President Brand with his commandants and officials, Moshesh surrounded by his sons, councillors and people, together with many missionaries, farmers and interested spectators. A brief Conference ensued. A well-written and carefully prepared memorandum read by President Brand, similar in character to that laid before Sir George Grey, exhibited the case of the Orange Free State and claimed, in addition, confirmation in all essentials of the Warden line as amended and partly beaconed under the Treaty of 1858. The case for Basutoland was badly presented, con- sisting of the claim to a vague tract of country as far as Bloemfontein and the Vaal River on which Conference at Jammerberg 329 had lived 33 tributary clans whose names were handed in and whose deserted villages and ruined kralls were the standing evidence. No heed was paid to past Agreements or Treaties to which Moshesh, willingly or not, had subscribed. By filing his claim in this preposterous form Moshesh committed a grave error which alienated from him much sympathy otherwise felt for him by the Governor and others. But, it must be remembered that there were no strong minds at hand ready to advise him though many perhaps were willing. His prompters on the other hand were his headstrong sons and Chiefs elated with success at the successful defiance of all previous agreements. That at heart the old Chief wanted settlement and was sincere in submitting to arbitration is unquestionable. He was however overwhelmed by the noisy clamour of the wilder factions and his reason forsook him. Had he maintained against odds that day a judicious attitude and moderated his pretensions, he might have been spared the disasters soon to follow. No serious effort seems to have been made to promote such a discussion as might have brought the conflicting claims back to some common point from which they might all have started on the way to a mutual understanding upon the issues involved — a discussion, that is, led off in the spirit of compromise. It is obvious that a dispute of such long standing might easily have absorbed several days in debate and elucidation, and that then some reason might have dawned on the minds of the natives who, however obstinate at first, are notoriously amenable if allowed unrestrained speech. But it was not so. The Governor, 33° The Basutos repeating the error committed and regretted by General Cathcart, abruptly closed the Conference after bare opening formalities, upon which Moshesh returned disconsolate to Thaba Bosigo, being nearly drowned as he crossed the swollen river in a rotten boat, clutch- ing in his hand as a passport the rags of an old Union Jack. Next day, viz. October 8, the Governor started on a laborious journey to the furthest extremity of the disputed border in the vicinity of Natal, accompanied by Commissioners from both sides, and, after inspecting carefully all the principal points in the line, hurried back to Aliwal North whence he announced his decision in a Proclamation. Proclamation of Boundary Line " I, Philip Edmond Wodehouse, Governor of the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope, having under- taken, in terms of the Treaty signed at Aliwal North on 29th September, 1858, at the request of the Government of the Orange Free State and with the full consent of the Chief Moshesh, to mark out the Boundary Line between the Districts of Harri- smith, Winburg, Bloemfontein and Caledon River, down to Jammerberg Drift, and Basutoland, do hereby declare that the following shall be the Boundary Line between the said Districts and Basutoland, that is to say : — " From Jammerberg Drift the Line shall be that agreed upon between Mr. Pretorius, the late President of the Orange Free State, and the Great Chief Moshesh, at Maboela, in the month of April 1861, and de- The Wodehouse Award 331 scribed in a Proclamation dated the 1 8th of that month, to a point named Karee Fontein. (Here commences the Boundary between the Orange Free State and the lands of the Chief Moroko, which con- tinues to Klipplaats Drift, on the great Vet River.) From Klipplaats Drift the Line shall proceed to the crossing of the old trek-path from Thaba Nchu to Leeuwkop and the road from Mekuatling to Winburg, at a point bearing due west from the Northern ex- tremity of Korannaberg. " From thence to the K. B. B. Beacon on the Morabadi Tsoga ; from thence to Gouverneur's Kop ; from thence to Lot's Pillar ; from thence to Sikonyela's Hoed ; from thence to the Western extremity, bearing 87! ° from Sikonyela's Hoed, of the Roods Berg Range, dividing the waters of the Caledon from those of the Vaal ; and from thence along that range to a high peak at its summit, surrounded on all sides by perpendicular rocks, and immediately overlooking the farm of Groen Draai. " Given at Aliwal North this 28th day of October, 1864. " (Signed) P. E. Wodehouse." This delimitation was, if anything, more vaguely worded than either of its forerunners and was neither surveyed nor beaconed off effectively. In those respects it fell far short of being useful ; but a good deal depended upon the considerations by which the Governor was guided ; those he proceeded to state to Moshesh, President Brand and the Secretary of State as follows : — 33 2 The Basutos Letter from the High Commissioner to the Chief Moshesh (Extract.) "Aliwal North, 28 Oct., 1864. "Great Chief, " Having now finished my inspection of the lands situated near the boundary between the Orange Free State and the Territory of the Basutos, and being in a position to point out what, in my opinion, should form the Boundary Line between them, I think it right to accompany the description of the Line, here- with enclosed, with some explanatory observations for your information. . . . " It is not disputed that in times gone by all the lands now forming the Free State, the Transvaal and Basutoland were in the possession of different Tribes, some Basutos and some not, and that all in the course of the many wars that occurred passed into the possession of various owners. " Neither is it disputed that, before the establishment in this part of the country of any European Govern- ment, European farmers migrated from the Cape Colony, and obtained the consent of the Chiefs to occupy farms within their respective territories. " After this had occurred the British Government became possessed, by force of arms, of the country now forming the Orange Free State, and granted to those whom it found in occupation of the farms certificates admitting their right to them, and promising that surveys should in due time be made. The British Government likewise, on the 1 8th December 1849, published a Proclamation defining the Boundaries that Moshesh Informed 333 should in future be observed between their own possessions (the present Free State) and the lands of the several Chiefs, including yourself, by which they were surrounded. " These Boundaries were described in the Proclama- tion as those arranged by the British Resident, Major Warden. Subsequently Her Majesty relinquished her possessions, which were constituted into the Orange Free State, and in the course of a few years from that time, a war broke out between that state and yourself, which was brought to a close through the mediation of Sir George Grey. The Treaty which was signed at Aliwal for that purpose on the 29th September 1858, by your duly authorized Commissioners, contained a distinct recognition of the so-called Warden Line, subject to modification by the Governor of the Cape Colony . . . and received your ratification on the 15th October, 1858. . . . " What is the present state of affairs ? From one end of the Line to the other, and in most cases to a considerable distance within the Line, parties of your tribe, without a pretence of right, and without any formal declaration on your part, have squatted on the several farms, have established villages, cultivated large tracts of land, introduced large quantities of cattle, and have, by intimidation, driven off the lawful owners. Everywhere are to be seen deserted and roofless farm houses, with valuable orchards fast going to destruc- tion. M It seems impossible for any one called upon to act as a mediator between two parties, to countenance acts so completely lawless in character, possessing no claim 334 The Basutos to be viewed in a more favourable light than ordinary thefts. " Moreover, if I could under any circumstances have reconciled myself to supporting in some degree this lawless system of appropriation, the inclination to do so must have been wholly extinguished by the pre- posterous pretensions set up by those whom you selected to accompany me as Commissioners. " Each in his turn, as we were passing through the lands in which he was immediately interested, put forth claims which in the aggregate would have involved the extinction of the Orange Free State. . . . The only modification, therefore, of the Warden Line which appeared to me admissible was that assented to by the British Authorities, before the establishment of the Free State ; for the accommodation of Gert Taaibosch and his tribe, then occupying that part of the country. . . . u I am, your Friend, Governor and High Com- missioner, "(Signed) P. E. Wodehouse." From the High Commissioner to President Orange Free State (Extract.) "Aliwal North, 2%th Oct., 1864. "... I beg to enclose copy of a letter I have addressed to Moshesh. . . . " You will observe that the Warden Line has been maintained except in so far that ... an alteration in favour of Gert Taaibosch should be allowed ; and that I have pointed out in strong terms to Moshesh the Effect of Award 335 impropriety of the acts which have led to this nego- tiation, and the necessity for his checking anything of the kind in future. "But I am in justice bound to express my extreme regret that the Government of the Free State did not at the very commencement of these encroachments make a determined effort to repress them. Had the first intruders been promptly punished, we may reason- ably suppose that the evil would have been arrested. The absolute impunity they have hitherto enjoyed has tempted one party after another to advance into the Free State, until what was at first the act of mere squatters has come to assume a national character. "... I consider that the Free State should allow the Chief full time for the removal of his people from the farms on which they are living ; and that it may be found both practicable and advantageous to per- mit some to remain within the Free State upon conditions to be fully explained, and subject to instant removal for violation of them. . . . " (Signed) P. E. Wodehouse." The decision, confirming to all intents the Free State claim, fell upon Moshesh with a shock. Was it fair or wise to throw upon him the entire blame for disputes arising from an admittedly ill-defined boundary ? It was calculated to make him desperate and did so. The blow was however mitigated in large degree by the announcement made previously by the Governor that every one concerned must clearly understand that he had neither the intention, nor the 336 The Basutos disposition, nor the authority to take the slightest step for enforcing compliance with his award, in the event of either party breaking off from his present agreement : he was confident Her Majesty's Govern- ment would entirely disapprove of any such inter- ference in the dispute, and that therefore they must take on their own shoulders the consequences of the arrangement. It had lain in the Governor's power, in virtue of the great office he held, to perform a memorable service, the enduring effect of which was imperilled by this countervailing statement neither called for nor ex- pected. Nothing in fact could have tended more to vitiate it and neutralize the effort he and all had undoubtedly made to secure a settlement ; in the absence of compelling force, it was almost an in- vitation to either party to despise the whole pro- ceeding. In reporting to the Secretary of State after returning to Cape Town on November 26, Sir Philip Wode- house confidently maintained that throughout the trying ordeal he had adopted the only alternative consistent with substantial justice and reason ; but he was not sanguine that the Free State would act with patience and forbearance in fufilling the award, for their first steps, in spite of his advice, appeared hasty and ill-advised in respect of the summary orders for ejectment of natives affected, the consequences of which would fall on their own head as he had little confidence in their power to contend successfully with the Basutos. If that however was his opinion, it is hard to Position in 1864 337 reconcile it with his letter to the President of October 28 above quoted wherein he censured the Free State for not being sufficiently bold and demonstrative. From every point of view the Governor's task was always difficult — doubly so by delaying as he did to face it twelve months earlier. He had not disguised beforehand a certain partiality towards the Basuto but felt in honour bound to give a decision wholly favourable to the Free State. If any sanctity was to be placed in Treaties and Solemn Agreements, we must admit that his decision could not have been otherwise. The flaws in it were that the Basuto were not encouraged to accept it in advance by permitting them to argue their case freely, and by telling them in the end that no force would compel them to obey it. The position at the close of 1864 was thus : — The Free State had appealed to Caesar and were satisfied ; they felt morally justified before the world in defending or fighting for the land awarded to them. The Basuto were disappointed and should have honoured the award but failed to do so. END OF VOL. 1 VOL. I PRINTED BY HAZELL, WATSON AND VINE?, LD LONDON AND AYLESBURY. UC SOUTH! HN HI (ilONAL LIBRARY FACILITY AA 000 906 965 9